Author Archives: thuppahi

Observer from the Black Sea

On 3 January 2026, the U.S. launched a military operation (“Operation Southern Spear”) in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by U.S. special forces (Delta Force). They were flown to the United States and are currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.

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In TPS Courtesy of Charlees Schokman in Melbournev…. New Year Message from the Hon. Prime Minister

 As we move forward to the New Year of 2026, it is timely to reflect on the year 2025 that has passed. The year 2025 can be granted as a year having made a number of decisive and progressive steps with a people oriented government.
I am confident that, within a new political culture, we were able to strengthen transparency in state governance and lay the foundation for an efficient and corruption free public service. We can be satisfied with the progress achieved in several key areas during 2025, including economic stability, the increasingly positive and optimistic international perception towards our country, the establishment of transparent systems of governance, and the strengthening of the sovereignty of the legislation system.

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Professor Walter Perera, revewing The Ceylon Journal Volume 2 Number 2 in The Island, 4 January 2025,  where the  title reads ““New Year Dawns with more stories of Sri Lanka” …. with highlights being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi

In 2024, I helped launch the maiden issue of The Ceylon Journal [TCJ] to a full house at the elegant, near-patrician environs of the Sri Lanka Medical Association Auditorium. My encomium to the editor Avishka Mario Senewiratne for a well-wrought first issue was accompanied by a cautionary tale about the perils of editing. During my 16-year stint as editor of The Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities [SLJH], I had observed how editorships sometimes become vanity projects which last only as long as the individual who does the job for a substantial period of time, retains interest; consequently, there was a need to plan for the TCJ’s long term future even as its first issue was drawing praise.

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ALWAYS SUPPORT A GOVERNMENT THAT DOES GOOD!

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Nilantha ILANGAMUWA featured in DAILYFT, 24 January 2024  …. repeat 2024 … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

In his new book, “What I Heard,” journalist Nilantha Ilangamuwa explores the fundamental role of conversations in shaping human civilisation. Highlighting the backbone of societies, the book draws from ancient sources, emphasising the preservation of knowledge through dialogues in literature, politics, religion, and linguistics.

Ilangamuwa argues that without memory, civilisation faces internal decay and self-destruction. The book emphasises the essential role of conversations as the backbone of human civilisation, extending from tribes to the creation of nation-states. 

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Sunil Thenabadu

“I don’t intend to hang on”: Jayasuriya’s final push for World Cup glory

Sanath Jayasuriya has hinted that the upcoming T20 World Cup could mark the final phase of his tenure as Sri Lanka’s head coach, even as Sri Lanka Cricket has indicated it is open to continuing with him beyond the tournament.In an interview with the Sunday Times, Sanath Jayasuriya said his focus is firmly on the World Cup, suggesting he does not intend to remain in the role long-term despite his contract running past the global event.“My focus is the T20 World Cup and even though my contract runs beyond the global showpiece, I don’t intend to hang on,” Jayasuriya said.

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Lanka Lions in  Facebook, January  2026

He will always be remembered as the fast bowler who carried Sri Lanka’s hopes in their early Test years — the man who stood tall when the nation was still learning how to belong at the highest level.

Rumesh Ratnayake was the driving force behind Sri Lanka’s first-ever Test victory in 1985, a moment that changed the country’s cricketing self-belief forever. Against India, he ripped through the batting with nine wickets in the match and finished the series with 20 — a statement performance that announced Sri Lanka were no longer just making up the numbers.

Rumesh Ratnayake of Sri Lanka during the 1991 tour of England at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, circa August 1991. (Photo by Patrick Eagar/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Mohamed Harees, in Colombo Telegraph , 18 December 2025,  “What Bondi Beach Massacre Reveals About “Good Victims” & “Good Heroes”

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Observer in  a Black  Sea Town …. with highlights being those imposed by  The  Editor, Thuppahi

This cartoon, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (29/12), is a nice contrast to the RT Christmas song I sent a few days ago.

Admittedly, the song and the cartoon are both forms of propaganda. The key difference is that the cartoon is a distortion of reality, while the Russian song was relatively truthful in its depiction. Putin is often made the bogeyman for everything from the price of gas to the influx of migrants. Putin is seen as the architect of Europe’s current crises, real or perceived. By weaving sarcasm into the narrative, the RT video adopts an Euroskeptic slant that viewers may find either compelling or contentious.

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 An Item presented in FACEBOOK, 29 December 2025 by Piyasiri Wickremasekera of Sri Lanka …. on behalf of Peradeniya University Friends [PUF]

Remember the Past

When 740 children were dying at sea and every nation said ‘no,’ one man who had every reason to stay silent said ‘yes.’

The year was 1942. The ship drifted in the Arabian Sea like a floating coffin.

Inside were 740 Polish children. Orphans. Survivors of Soviet labor camps where their parents had frozen or starved to death. They’d escaped through Iran, only to discover something more crushing than captivity:

Nobody wanted them.

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