Category Archives: historical interpretation

August 29, 2025 · 1:30 pm

Sri Lanka’s Maritime Legacy: A Discerning Study … Many Revelations

Avishka Mario  Senewiratne in The Island, 24 August 2025, where the title is “A Mirror to the Sea: Revisiting Sri Lanka’s Forgotten Maritime Legacy” …. Review of “Sri Lanka, Serendib & the Silk Road of the Sea” by Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha …. with the highlighting here being impositions  by The Editor, Thuppahi

It is not often that a slim volume quietly arrives on the literary shore, only to awaken something dormant and forgotten within the national consciousness. Sri Lanka, Serendib & the Silk Road of the Sea, the latest work by Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha, is just such a book—a timely voyage through history’s less-traversed sea lanes, executed with scholarly rigour, personal charm, and a deep-rooted love for this resplendent isle.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, Muslims in Lanka, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes

August 26, 2025 · 7:43 pm

The Insidious Power-Brokers Aligned behind Israel in Today’s World

APOYI-APOYI 

The title and the highlights in this presentation have been  imposed by the Editor of Thuppahi –who receives The AUSTRALIAN and is aware of its heavy bias. Apoyi-Apoyi, incidentally, is a  White man

SEE …. https://youtu.be/dpkD0uGAE90?si=HroPfWPxaM3K1-1t…… Here, Malaysia’s PM Anwar Ibrahim describes Netanyahu as “truly insane and inhumane” and “sick.” He said he is 73 years old and in his lifetime has never seen such appalling inhumanity as is now occuring by Israel in Gaza. Very young children are killed as Netanyahu claims they too are Hamas.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, arab regimes, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, Fascism, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, military strategy, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, religious nationalism, sri lankan society, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes, zealotry

August 26, 2025 · 2:14 am

Facing NW Goonewardena’s Racist Comments

NW Goonewardena= Comment in Thuppahi  at THIS ITEM ……………………………. https://thuppahis.com/2018/09/13/anagarika-dharmapala-in-search-of-a-rounded-evaluation/

GET LOST YOU SOB, MICHAEL ROBERTS, THE PRODUCT OF A ONE NIGHT STAND BETWEEN A AFRICAN SOLDIER STATIONED IN SRI LANKA, AND A SRI LANKAN HARLET. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO SEND YOUR SHIT TO ME. I LEFT YOUR SHIT BLOG ALMOST AS SOON AS I CAME IN TO IT BECAUSE IT IS EVIDENT TO ANYONE THAT YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A SOCIAL PARASITE SUFFERING FROM A DEEP INFERIORITY COMPLEX. NOTE THAT EVEN AFTER 30 YEARS OF SERVICE IN UNIVERSITIES, MOSTLY AT ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY, THIS REPULSIVE PARASITE COULD NOT MAKE IT PAST THE GRADE OF SENIOR LECTURER. THIS PIECE OF SHIT SHOULD BE MADE PERSONAE NONGRATIA TO SRI LANKA. A IDIOT WHO WRITES “RESEARCH PAPERS” BASED ON AN INTERACTION OF AN AUSTRALIAN FIELDER ON THE BOUNDARY LINE AND TWO SRI LANKAN SPECTATORS!!! HIS SO-CALLED “RESEARCH ARTICLES” HAVE A BIBLIOGRAPHY CONSISTING OF 75% OF HIS OWN WRITING. A PARASITE, AN INFERIOR BEING, AND A CLOWN – THAT SUMS UP THIS UNFORTUNATE BIRTH OF AN ILLEGI5IMATE CHILD.

When “NW GOONEWARDENA” injected THIS highly abusive comment alluding to my supposed ancestry in a Comment within the Website that I run, several friends suggested that I should not respond and that I should delete the pejorative comment. That suggestion is well-meaning, but I have decided against such a course.

I am proceeding, here, to present the RACIALLY-PREJUDICED COMMENT as the frontispiece item. Continue reading →

12 Comments

Filed under accountability, Africans in Asia, Afro-Asians, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, communal relations, cultural transmission, disparagement, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, world events & processes, zealotry

August 24, 2025 · 3:08 pm

Bob Carr Reveals: Power of the Israel Lobby in Australia

VISIT FACEBOOK …https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=24703724925930545

My attempt to  place the digital  Reference  here was defeated [initiall] by the engines of the digital world. It seems that the Israel Jewish  maesros can  reach  far …. wide  …. and DEEP !!@!!

…aah …problem circumvented  -God knows how.

My thanks to Dulip Karunaratne  in Queensland for this item …. That old Aloysian lobby does some fruitful work eh! … the Green & the Gold esto perpetua!

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, religious nationalism, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes, zealotry

August 24, 2025 · 11:26 am

 Yasodhara Kumaratunga: “A Butterfly’s Wise Words”

YASODHARA’s Handwritten Inscription on the Cover Page of the  pamphlet in my hands …. courtesy of the copy held by my  late departed sister, Estelle Fernando 

To ….My dearest Aunty Estelle,

Thank you for starting me off on my long trek” through the world of learning.

With Love

Yasodhara XX

EDITORIAL NOTE: The collection of  short poems in this  loose-leaf pamphlet is NOT presented below in either chronological order or paginated  order [since  the  pamphlet is NOT numbered].

A Butterfly’s

Wise Words

&

Other Poems.

                                         Yasodhara Kumaratunga

                                                with Cover Design by Yasodhara Kumaratunga

 

To my beloved thaththi with love

in the hope that the blood which

flowed so vainly from your beautiful

face would mingle with the earth

of my land, to give forth

the blossoms of Peace & Brotherhood

for which you fought so passionately.

And to my ammi for

all that you have been to me

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, martyrdom, patriotism, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, trauma, unusual people, women in ethnic conflcits

August 22, 2025 · 8:44 pm

Charith Asalanka at Cricket: Richmond College & Sri Lanka

The  WIKIPEDIA Entry on The  Man captaining Sri Lanka Today  in the ODI Field

Kariyawasam Indipalage Charith Asalanka (born 29 June 1997) is a Sri Lankan professional cricketer who currently serves as the captain of the Sri Lanka national team in white-ball formats of T20I and ODI and is the 14th and current T20I captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman and trusted batter in the number five middle-order batting position, who bowls part-time handy off spin. On pitches that favour spin, he has the potential to take useful wickets and contribute significantly as an all-rounder. Asalanka made his international debut for Sri Lanka in June 2021.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, cricket selections, education, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, patriotism, performance, Sri Lankan scoiety, sri lankan society

August 22, 2025 · 7:28 pm

War Crimes Issue Develops in Sri Lanka: Chemmani & Beyond

N.  Sathiya Moorthy, in Ceylon Today, 22 August  2025, where the  title reads  “How Historic is the Opportunity” ... with highlighting being  the intervention of The Editor Thuppahi

 In what has become the ritualistic report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner to the UNHRC Council of 48-member nations, elected by rotation, incumbent Volker Türk seems to have settled for a credible, independent mechanism to probe Sri Lanka’s war crimes and other allegations of human rights violations. This is in contrast to the decade-plus-long attempts by the ‘international community’ (read: West) to impose an ‘independent, international mechanism’ for the purpose.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage

August 22, 2025 · 11:12 am

Sanjiva’s Silken “SILK ROAD” Launched Today

Sanjiva Wijesinha

1 Comment

Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, growth pole, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, migrant experiences, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, security, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

August 21, 2025 · 9:41 pm

The Ethnic Abyss in Sri Lanka Still Remains

Dr S.  I. Keethaponcalan,in where  the title reads “Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict: From Reconciliation To Reescalation – Analysis,” … pubd on 21 September 2023 at EURASIA REVIEW ++

The national discourse in Sri Lanka moved from conflict termination to reconciliation with the end of the war in 2009. This essay argues that the concerned parties should shift the discourse from reconciliation to de-escalation because (1) the reconciliation project failed, and (2) the ethnic conflict shows signs of reescalation. It also argues that the possibility of anti-Tamil riots in the future cannot be dismissed.

               Reconciliation Failed

When the war ended in 2009, domestically, none of the parties were interested in reconciliation. The Tamils had more severe problems to deal with. For example, mourning their dead, finding disappeared members of their families, and resettling the internally displaced community members were some of the immediate issues the Tamil community encountered. Reconciling with the Sinhalese was the last thought in their minds. Therefore, they were not concerned about postwar reconciliation. None of the Tamil leaders discussed the need to promote reconciliation.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, doctoring evidence, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, IDP camps, life stories, LTTE, NGOs, politIcal discourse, propaganda, refugees, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage, world events & processes

August 21, 2025 · 5:15 pm

Remembering Vijaya Kumaratunga Today

Michael Roberts

 SEE David Jeyaraj’s Vale ….. https://thuppahis.com/2025/08/10/in-memoriam-vijaya-kumaratunga/ … FOR the original Thuppahi version, which does not have the highlighting emphases from my hand that can be seen NOW.

A NOTE:  David Jeyaraj provides readers with a wide-ranging and incisive account – one which I recommend strongly. Sri Lanka’s political circles lost a visionary political figure when the JVP assassinated  Vijaya Kumaratunga  on the 16th February 1988. For Chandrika, Yasodhara and Vimukthi, of course, it was a tragedy.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, atrocities, communal relations, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, martyrdom, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, trauma, unusual people, vengeance