Category Archives: sri lankan society

Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, hatan kavi, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, theatre world, unusual people, world events & processes

September 7, 2025 · 10:05 pm

Ramifications From Past Killings in Sri Lanka … Burgeoning Issues

Meera Srinivasan, in The Hindu 1 September 2025, where the title runs thus: “Decades Later A Difficult Story Finds Its Way to the Sinhala South” … with highlights being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi

Forensic experts has been unearthing human remains from a mass grave in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka. The number of skeletons retrieved has now crossed 200, including some of children.

The grave site and the mounting toll of human remains found in it dominate daily headlines in the country’s Tamil media, while receiving little attention in the country’s mainstream English and Sinhala media. In response to this gnawing gap, three young journalists decided they must tell the story to the majority community, Sinhala-speakers. Wasting no time, they pooled resources and made multiple reporting trips and conducted several interviews with locals and experts over the last few months to write Chemmani, a Sinhala-language book on the mass grave site in the locality, believed to contain the remains of Tamil civilians, and dating back to the mid-1990s, shortly after the Sri Lanka military captured Jaffna.

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, terrorism, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes

September 7, 2025 · 9:26 pm

Confronting Vicious Vituperation……

A RESPONSE From Thiru Kandiah in Perth – to – A Vituperative Verbal Assault on Michael Roberts From A Person who Signed Himself as “N W Goonewardena” **

My horror of involving myself in exchanges in public fora (to participate in which, I recognise, I am in any case ill-equipped) has been increasing considerably across the decades, and this has led me to send my response to your messages mentioned above via your private email rather than through your blog (is that what it is termed?).

The responses made to those messages on your blog are absolutely consistent in their complete rejection/censure of the appalling attack on you by Goonewardene that you forwarded to us in them, even while mentioning a range of reasons for the position they have adopted on it. Perhaps C.R.’s characteristically considered and dispassionate response clearly and succinctly (and without getting on your nerves as I am doing!) sums up the basic issues that underpin the consensus they together all reveal.

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, disparagement, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, racism, sri lankan society, world events & processes, zealotry

September 7, 2025 · 2:57 pm

Indigenous ‘Touches’ within the British Colonial Era of Capitalist Expansion

Vinod Moonesinghe, IN Factum Perspectives March 3, 2025, where the title runs thus: “Tindals, Dhonis, and Sampans – The interconnectedness of historical Indian Ocean commerce” …. NB: the two photos & the map are insertions by The Editor, Thuppahi

In the days of the British Raj, bullock carts were used to transport goods inland and to bring coffee beans (and later tea) from the montane plantations down to Colombo, for shipment overseas.

The distance from the coffee plantations to the main seaport of Galle caused the colonial government to override the wishes of the British Admiralty and of the steamship lines (who all wished to operate from Galle, which was closer to the main sea route to the Orient) and to develop Colombo harbour at a considerable cost.

2 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, export issues, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, plantations, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, working class conditions

September 5, 2025 · 4:01 pm

Vale: Bishop Kenneth Fernando

From Wikipedia …………… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Fernando

Kenneth Michael James Fernando (25 July 1932–3 September 2025) was a Sri Lankan Anglican clergyman who was Bishop of Colombo.^[1][2][3]

Born in Moratuwa and educated at Prince of Wales’ College, Moratuwa and Royal College, Colombo and at the University of Oxford, he served as the Secretary of the Diocese before he was elected as the Bishop of Colombo. He served as the Vicar of Maharagama Anglican Church prior to his ordination. Fernando died on 3 September 2025, at the age of 93.^[4][5]

Filed under Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, heritage, language policies, life stories, patriotism, performance, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people

September 5, 2025 · 12:42 pm

Vale … Lareef Idroos: A Gathering in Los Angeles

Dr Mohamed Lareef Idroos of La Canada, Ca. passed away on September 1st, 2025.

Beloved husband of Nabila and father of Shireen, Sabrina and Samira

Funeral will be on Thursday, September 4th …..at Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3900 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, Ca……………..at 10 am

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Dr Lareef Idroos, was a past pupil of St Thomas College……….. He headed the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hollywood, Ca……………….A highly respected and loved doctor to all his patients.

Lareef Idroos was a successful leg-spin and googly bowler for S. Thomas’ College in the late 1950s; entered the Medical Faculty circa 1960 and was a member of the University of Ceylon cricket team under Carlyle Perera which secured the Sara Trophy during a spectacular season 1962/63. After he migrated to USA in the 1970s, he played for USA in the ODI tournaments conducted by the ICC in the late 1970s.

“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”

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Filed under art & allure bewitching, charitable outreach, cricket for amity, cricket selections, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, life stories, patriotism, performance, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, unusual people

September 4, 2025 · 2:04 pm

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.

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, electoral structures, governance, legal issues, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, vengeance, world events & processes

September 3, 2025 · 4:40 pm

Vale: Lareef Idroos

Errol Fernando in Melbourne

I am deeply saddened to hear of my very old friend Lareef’s death. He was my neighbour in Kollupitiya, Colombo 3. From the time I was 6 or 7 years old I played cricket with him under the coconut trees. The railway line and the sea were just behind the batsman! Lareef loved to bowl, and I loved to bat and so we were both happy! I spent hours, days, weeks, months and years facing his bowling. He came up with new tricks all the time and used the sea breeze very effectively! I have no memory of him batting and me bowling !

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Colombo and Its Spaces, cricket for amity, cricket selections, cultural transmission, education, heritage, life stories, patriotism, performance, plural society, politIcal discourse, S. Thomas College, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

September 1, 2025 · 8:10 pm

Learning Law with Aid From Colvin R de Silva

A Guy named Talagalla, … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

I am just penning this note after finishing my research for the day, before the thoughts dissipate into the quiet of the evening. The cases I read, the legislation I examined, and the scholarly writings I consulted all converged in my mind, and they brought me back to a lesson I once received from my senior, Mr. D.S. Wijesinghe, President’s Counsel, passed down from his own mentor, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva. The story of how Dr. de Silva engaged with the law has lingered in me for years, and it bears repeating, for stories carry the weight of wisdom in ways instructions never can.

Dr Colvin R de Silva

Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, education, historical interpretation, legal issues, life stories, meditations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people

September 1, 2025 · 11:50 am

High Rise Overkill in Colombo City Centre

Sanjiva Wijesinha, in Facebook, where the title runs “The loss of habitat and heritage”

Last Sunday morning I went for my usual walk to Galle Face Green.

It is a habit I have cultivated over the years – an early morning walk before the sun gets too hot, when I can inhale the fresh ozone-laden air coming in from the Indian Ocean and invigorate my physical body while refreshing my mind. My custom used to be to start where the Galle Face Hotel stands, walk out towards Galle Buck and the old light house or even as far as the Port Maritime Museum and then walk back, which would take me about an hour. In recent times, I have changed my route from time to time – turning round at the roundabout opposite the old Parliament (now the Presidential Secreta-riat) and walking along the road that passes behind the Shangri-La, the ITC Ratnadipa and the Taj Samudra hotels back to my starting point. As I return along this road I can see on my left across the Beira Lake the Cinnamon City of Dreams hotel.