Thuppahi's Blog

Avishka Mario Senevratne in Facebook, April 2026, where the title runs thus: “When an imposter took the UN by storm as Sri Lanka’s “Foreign Minister.”

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A Lankan Reefcomber … provoked by Brig Ranjan De Silva’s Article in TPS dated 18 April 2026

The debate surrounding global governance is frequently reduced to a sharp, binary contrast between Western “democracy” and Eastern “autocracy.” However, these categorisations often rely on outdated tropes that overlook the nuanced ways in which power and dissent actually function. While critics frequently claim the United States offers a superior model of freedom compared to Russia or China, a closer inspection reveals that this “freedom” is often a refined facade. Furthermore, when applied to nations like Sri Lanka, these arguments frequently descend into chronological fallacies, driven by a diaspora perspective that is frozen in time.

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Brigadier Ranjan De Silva in USA now  …. responding to QUESTIONS raised & POSITIONS  taken in an Item within this SITE from  Jonathan Manz dated  April 18th, 2026 which is entitled  “Is the World Moving Towards a ‘One-World’ Dictatorship of the Oligarchs?” ... with highlighting imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi

Is Trump’s conduct demented, as portrayed? ………Neither demented nor portrayed. Trump is trying to remove once and for all the  existential threat to the rest of the world from the ideological designs of the Ayatollahs.

Or, are the Republicans, and the Democrats playing out a charade to hoodwink the world and the American people by working towards a ‘One-World’ Dictatorship’ of the Oligarchs as was planned at Bretton Woods in 1944?…. Pure conjecture of the author.

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Dash De Soysa

The controversy at Panadura or the Panadura Vadaya, which had its beginnings in 1873, may be considered a cornerstone of the modern society in which we live today. It is not a symbol of fanaticism but a landmark in the social transition which this island has undergone. 

The western engagement with Sri Lanka moved from curiosity and trading in the sixteenth century to dominance and exploitation in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries before autonomy and independence in the twentieth century. Portuguese, Dutch and British colonialists brought various forms of Christianity of which Roman Catholicism has proved the most enduring. Inadvertently they revived Buddhism and helped create the religious foundation for the modern state of Sri Lanka.

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Jonathan Manz, an article sent to me by Chulanand Goonasekera, one bearing this title: “Is the World Moving Towards a ‘One-World’ Dictatorship of the Oligarchs?”

Is Trump’s conduct demented, as portrayed? Or, are the Republicans, and the Democrats playing out a charade to hoodwink the world and the American people by working towards a ‘One-World’ Dictatorship’ of the Oligarchs as was planned at Bretton Woods in 1944?

The USA pays plenty of lip-service to Democracy. Is there democracy in the USA?

Today, the Oligarchs control the USA totally; the American peoples are helpless, tied down with a 4.5 trillion Dollar debt, owed to the oligarchs.

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Ajit Varuna Rodrigo-Candappa, … with highlights imposed by the Thuppahi who is cheered by AJIT’s free-wheeling baila-script

Hi Michael,  ………..Your site evokes warm hearts, kind reflections – it dispels the aralu-bulu-nelli of weasel political concoctions about race. The sheer puhu-manya behind this fellow’s odorous heaving-up is perhaps characteristic of what is afflicting Lanka – this hooniyama society seeks to exorcise – these obstacles to Development. Such corrosive virulence must surely come from a mortal fear lurking in that paathala-lokaya – he/she subsists in. [Ajit is referring here to an obnoxious personal jibe from one “Goonewardena” directed at me within this TPS site —Michael Roberts]

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ICG HEADLINE = “Sri Lanka’s Bumpy Road to a Political Reset”

Report  356 / Asia-Pacific 16 April 2026 20+ minutes

Twin elections in 2024 transformed Sri Lanka’s political landscape, bringing to power a president and parliamentarians who pledged sweeping reforms. So far, however, the new government has made little progress toward this end. It has work to do to show it can do politics differently.

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Dan Piachaud (1937-2026)

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Lokubanda Tillakaratne

 This past November and December, Ditwah showed us how dark, eerie, and haunting cyclones can be.  Past generations have suffered: per PWD records, in 1834, the Mahaweli rose 60 feet above its usual flood level at Gampola, and the Canberra Times reported in 1911 the great flood of Ceylon on December 30 of that year. It killed 200 people and left over 300,000 homeless. Half a century later, on December 25, 1957, a nameless cyclone brought severe rain to the North Central Province (NCP). The Nachchaduwa reservoir near Anuradhapura city breached, releasing its full volume into Malwatu Oya, a mid-level river flowing through the city, nearly washing away its colonial-era bridge near the Lion Tower.   A cyclone paid a visit to the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka on November 17-23, 1978.

Half a century later, Ditwah came with swagger.

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Professor Sandagomi Coperahewa …. in  Facebook 

Happy 89th Birthday, Professor J. B. Disanayaka

I first met Professor J. B. Disanayaka (fondly remembered by his students as “J.B. Sir”) during my first year, in his Introduction to Language course at the University of Colombo in 1992. That initial encounter left a lasting impression on me, as his teaching combined clarity, scholarly depth, and a remarkable ability to make complex linguistic ideas accessible to undergraduates. Since then, we have worked together on many occasions in the field of language studies in Sri Lanka for over 33 years. These professional engagements have further strengthened my respect for his intellectual contribution and his enduring role in shaping the study of linguistics and Sinhala language in the country.

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