Category Archives: political demonstrations

London’s “Aragalaya”? A Populist Revolt ….. From the Right!

A NOTE  from  AVI YEMENI to BERTRAM DANIEL,  September 2025 

Hey Bertram,

Finally, the world is uniting against the Cabal and the control

I’ve covered a lot of rallies in my time, but I’ve never seen anything like what unfolded in London on September 13.  An enormous number of people flooded the streets for Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally. The atmosphere was electric. It wasn’t just another protest; it felt like a cultural revolution in motion.

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AKD: ‘Palm Leaves’ For Tamils & Jaffna

Rajan Philips in    7 September 2025, where the title runs thus: “Crowded agenda includes Cricket but no visit to Chemmani”  … wth highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

The President goes to Jaffna! ... President Anura Kumara Dissanayake made yet another visit to Jaffna last week. With all good intentions, he may be on course to set a record for visiting Jaffna more times than all his predecessors combined. There is no Lyn Ludowyk among us to make a political satire of presidents going to Jaffna, reversing the time honoured old trope – “He Comes from Jaffna!”.

Foundation for Cricket Stadium

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Ranil Wickremasinghe’s Arrest placed in Broad Context

Brigadier Ranjan de Silva, whose preferred title is “The Arrest of Ranil Wickremasinghe, Democracy and the Rule of Law ” … with highlights at end in black being those of the Author; while the other colours are impositions by Te Editor, Thuppahi

 Upholding accountability: Democracy is often hailed as a system of government where the rule of law prevails over the rule of individuals. One of its most defining features is the principle that no one is above the law – not even the highest executive authority.
In recent decades, several democratic countries  have  demonstrated this commitment by arresting or prosecuting former heads of state for crimes ranging from corruption to abuse of power. These cases, while politically charged, underscore the resilience of democratic institutions and the importance of legal accountability.

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UNHRO Calls for Investigation of Past Killings in Lanka

 

Tamil and Sinhala versions attached

Sri Lanka has opportunity to break from past – Türk

GENEVA (13 August 2025) – A report published today by the UN Human Rights Office calls on Sri Lanka’s Government to seize the historic opportunity to break with entrenched impunity, implement transformative reforms, and deliver long-overdue justice and accountability for serious violations and abuses committed in the past, including international crimes.

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In Memoriam: Vijaya Kumaratunga

DBS Jeyaraj in 2022 at https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=67620 where the title reads “Vijaya Kumaratunga: Charismatic Actor-Politician May Have Changed Nation’s Destiny” …… Posted by Administrator on 21 February 2022, 1:11 am

The political landscape of Sri Lanka seems gloomy and desolate. Most of the actors who strut about the political stage posing as visionaries and leaders are in actuality empty vessels devoid of substance. Proverbial wisdom tells us that empty vessels make most sound. This is most apparent in the cacophony of voices currently prevalent in the polity. In the words of William Butler Yeats “ The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.” The positive dream of Sri Lanka evolving into an inclusive, plural nation is slowly turning into a numerical majoritarian hegemonic nightmare.

 Vijaya Kumaratunga in Jaffna

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Deciphering Patriotic Devotion: The Japanese in the 1940s & the Lankan Tamil People For the LTTE

Michael Roberts reproducing an article presented in a popular website during the final stages in Eelam War IV in 2008/09 within the context TODAY of a horrendous war-situation in Palestine and its environs — the website being GROUNDVIEWS: …………….. https://groundviews.org/2009/04/21/ltte-and-tamil-people-i-preamble/ ….. This article was just the first essay in a four-part enterprise.**

LTTE and Tamil people, I: preamble,” http://www.groundviews.org, 21 April 2009.

This set of essays on “LTTE and Tamil People” submitted to Groundviews is a sequel to the four articles on “Suicidal Political Action” reproduced in http://www.transcurrents.com from 2 April onwards. Both sets of essays are interconnected and involve a measure of repetition because they are set out as separate articles. All of them are a product of a comparative survey that I embarked on about five years ago: namely, reviewing the cultural ingredients which have motivated the projects of the jihadists (holy warriors) and mujahideen (fighters for cause) on the one hand and, on the other, the

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A Pathway to History: Biographical ‘Hits’ in Thuppahi, 22 July 2025

Michael Roberts

Biographical tales and investigations serve as one pathway to historical enquiry.  Because they resonate with readers interest in their own personal journeys this fascination seems to evoke continuous appeal. The WORD PRESS record of readers hits on items in THUPPAHI confirm this fact. Let me, therefore, provide TPS readers with a list of some of the items that drew at least one reader …. that is one HIT …. today/yesterday.

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Political Complexities in Jaffna & the Killing of Rajani Thiranagama

BEING Chapter 3 of Palmyra Fallen, from Rajani to War’s End, by Rajan Hoole ….. Published 2015 …. a book printed and bound by Global Printing Works, 5 Stork Place, Colombo 10 …. a chapter entitled Some Crucial Pieces of the Jigsaw” … [with the highlights here –– except for those in black — being impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi]

 “To everything there is a season…A time to be born and a time to die…A time to weep and a time to laugh: a time to mourn and a time to dance…I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it”- The Book of Ecclesiastes

Dayapala & Rajani Thiranagama in 1984 .. . well before her assassination in late 1989

Dayapala in later years

 

3.1 The Sands Run Out

More recently, we have been able to put together more detailed information about Rajani’s killing. Given that much water has since flowed under the bridge, we felt that while placing the truth about her murder on a record that adequately traces its manner, purpose and the parties involved, it would also be appropriate to bring out a publication that allows today’s reader to see her relevance to the present. As is evident from our account, Rajani’s killing was well planned, mobilising a network of LTTE contacts and agents. Here in Chapter 3, we detail the cold-blooded murder and cover-up by the LTTE and the names of those who were involved at the time. In Chapter 4, we discuss who within the LTTE was involved.

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Professor Sinnappah Arasaratnam: Historian Outstanding

Michael Roberts

Sinnappah Arasaratnam was one of my inspirational teachers in History at Peradeniya University in the late 1950s. In chancing upon a printed copy of one of his articles — entitled “Sri Lanka’s Tamils under Colonial Rule,” (date ??), I have been inspired to remind new generations, as well as older ones. of his contributions to scholarship in Lanka, Malaysia/Singapore and Australia.

It was to my benefit that I was able to interact with him on occasions after he moved to Malaysia and Australia. Alas, the details of these exchanges have not taken root in my fading memory.

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Donald Friend’s Acid Readings of the Sri Lankan Scenario, 1957-1962

EXTRACTS From The DIARIES Of DONALD FRIEND, Volume 3** …. The Ceylon Diaries cover the period 25th January 1957 to 22nd July 1962 and run into 180 pages in small print. During this period Donald Friend, the gifted Australian artist, based himself at Bevis Bawa’s ‘Brief’, Bentota.

“His diary entries are pithy, sarcastic, self-critical and wonderfully observant of people, places and events. I dare say he was a better writer than a painter. One can only look on aghast at how little things have changed in Sri Lanka in nearly 50 years of turmoil. ….”  .… (the author of this ASSESSMENT remains unclear; while the highlights are interventions on my part: Michael Roberts).

26th January 1957: Time drifts through all this…. carrying on his back, like a turtle, a weight of the idiotic likes and dislikes….

4th February: Who like Bevis, is a hypochondriac. They both make a fascinating hobby of pills and injections …

19th March: The horrid old guide jibbered on endlessly, telling whopping lies.

24th March: Ratnapura Resthouse – nauseatingly loud Americans and a rabble of Ceylon drunks.

11th April: Orientals fortunately regard madness as something allied to holiness.

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