Category Archives: sri lankan society

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.

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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.

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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.

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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]

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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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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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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 !

 

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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

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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.

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China and Lanka Today

Item in The Island, 22 August 2025,  with this title: “China, SL promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation-Ambassador Zhenhong” .… with highlights  imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Declaring that China and Sri Lanka share a time-honoured friendship, and the ancient Silk Road has long bound the two countries together, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong has said they are now working hand in hand to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

 The Chinese envoy said so at a reception held in Colombo to mark the 80th anniversary of their victory over Japan in WW Two..

Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said: “From the progress of the Hambantota Port to the rise of the Colombo Port City, and from infrastructure connectivity to the deepening of cultural exchanges, we are jointly writing a vivid chapter in the building of a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future through concrete actions. This epic new chapter of cooperation is the most vibrant tribute to history, the most solid foundation for peace, and will surely paint an even brighter picture for the future of Sri Lanka.”

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