Sachi Sri Kantha, ... with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Introduction: Previously, I had studied the electoral performance of three prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politicians, namely Ganapathipillai Gangesar Ponnambalam (1901-1977), Appapillai Amirthalingam (1927-1989) and Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1024-2002). All three were electorally successful in most of their attempts, though suffering defeats intermittently.
E.W.-Abeyegunasekera-Rutnams-formidable-rival-in-1931-and-1936.jpg
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, communal relations, demography, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, historical interpretation, language policies, Left politics, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, unusual people
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.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, charitable outreach, communal relations, cricket selections, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, foreign policy, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, literary achievements, LTTE, military strategy, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, photography, plural society, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, prabhakaran, press freedom, religiosity, Royal College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, teaching profession, terrorism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people
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
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.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, disparagement, education, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, language policies, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, patriotism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, racism, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, teaching profession, terrorism, trauma, world events & processes, zealotry
DBS Jeyaraj, in the Financial Times, 28 March 2025 where the title reads “How UK-sanctioned “Col” Karuna was deported from Britain 17 years ago”
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias “Col” Karuna
After the UK sanctions were imposed the Tamil newspaper “Thamilan” interviewed Karuna about it. Karuna was dismissive saying that the UK sanctions would not affect him or his politics in any way. Karuna denied that he was responsible for any human rights violation. Speaking further he said that if he was guilty of any human rights violation, the UK could have penalised him when he sought refugee status there. “Why didn’t they do it then? Instead they sent me back home safely,” pointed out Karuna. He went on to say that he was not bothered by the UK sanctions.
It is indeed ironic that a man who was deported from the UK years ago has now been forbidden from travelling to the UK due to the sanctions imposed in a different context. Is Karuna being honest in saying that the UK authorities deported him instead of penalising him for alleged human rights violations because he was not guilty of any such offence? What were the circumstances under which he went to the UK 17 years ago and what exactly happened to him then?
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bull-mascot-team-logo-design-longhorn-133746227 Presented here at ……………………………………………………….. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/nationalism-the-past-and-the-present-the-case-of-sri-lanka/…. & thus in need of updating.; while being dedicated to a Peradeniya University buddy -alas deceased– with whom I shared notes and thoughts during undergraduate days and thereafter in the 1970s & 1980s in Chicago: namely, Ananda Wickremeratne …
Amunugama, Sarath 1979 ‘Ideology and class interest in one of Piyadasa Sirisena’s novels: the new image of the “Sinhala Buddhist” nationalist’ in M Roberts (ed.) Collective identities, nationalisms and protest in modern Sri Lanka, Colombo:: Marga Institute, pp 314-36
Anderson, Benedict 1983 Imagined communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of Nationalism. London: Verso
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, demography, devolution, discrimination, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, education policy, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, hatan kavi, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, nationalism, patriotism, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, transport and communications, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Michael Roberts
An ‘outfit’ named ACADEMIA.COM has sent me digital links to old articles from my ‘pen’ on web that have attracted HITS. This is a flattering nudge to my weakening memory bank. As new generations of ‘students’ of the Sri Lankan scene may be interested in these old engagements, I place the A1 generated summaries here.
ONE …. “Empowering the Body and Noble Death,” By Michael W Roberts in Social Analysis, 2006
AI-generated Abstract: The paper “Empowering the Body and ‘Noble Death'” explores how specific cultural practices in Asia, particularly those associated with martial arts, facilitate a sense of empowerment in the face of death. It discusses the interplay of mind and body in rituals and practices that foster a unity with cosmic forces, enabling practitioners to confront death fearlessly. Through a comparative analysis of various contributions in this domain, the authors reflect on the complexity of participant observation in ethnographic studies and the challenges faced by researchers in fully engaging with the cultural contexts they study.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, religiosity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, in Groundviews, …. https://groundviews.org/2025/03/07/sentiment-analysis-of-ranil-wickremesinghes-al-jazeera-interview-with-mehdi-hasan/
Renowned journalist Mehdi Hasan interviewed the former president Ranil Wickremesinghe on a programme of Head to Head, produced by Al Jazeera. The programme was released to YouTube and first broadcast on March 6.
At the time I studied 5,144 comments in response to it, the video had been watched over 218,620 times and liked over 8,000 times. Comments, views and likes are increasing at pace, which means that by the time this is read, the sentiments, trends and patterns analysed are not going to fully or accurately capture additional sentiment. What follows must be read as a study of the sentiments in the comments published at the time of writing this post.
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Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam, in LankaWeb, 10 February 2o25, with this title “The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam. Funding and Training of the Organization”
The LTTE got their training and funding from the PLO, which is the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the arms they gained or got from Pakistan. This is why the Indian Central Government was very much against the LTTE and its leadership group.
In fact, the LTTE was an organization which diversified their businesses and even sold things like oils and soups to more dangerous items such as drugs and weapons. It is true that Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in overseas countries funded LTTE. The real fact was most of the Sri Lankan Tamils did ordinary jobs in the Western Countries and if the LTTE did not have diverse business interests and support from overseas countries, especially Palestine for tanning (sic) and Pakistan for military equipment, they would not have been able to carry out a civil war against the army of Sri Lanka for more than thirty odd years. This is why if Kittu Master who was in the LTTE leadership group was able to smuggle the arms the government of Pakistan loaded in the ship he came on outside the port of Madras it would have been very hard to defeat and bring the LTTE down.
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WIKIPEDIA Item: … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kittu_(Tamil_militant)
Colonel Kittu (Tamil militant)
| Born | S. Krishnakumar
2 January 1960 |
| Died | 16 January 1993 (aged 33) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Years active | 1978 –1993 |
| Organization | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam |
Sathasivam Krishnakumar (Tamil: சதாசிவம் கிருஸ்ணகுமார்; 2 January 1960 – 16 January 1993; commonly known by the nom de guerre Kittu) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
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Mario Arulthas, in Al-Jazeera, 9 January 2025 …. with highlightinging emphasia imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
The Maaveerar Dead as A Perpetual Inspiration For Eelam
The nationwide electoral success of the anti-establishment NPP does not mean Tamil nationalism is on the decline.
An election official holding a ballot box gets off the bus outside a vote counting centre after the voting ended for the parliamentary election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 14, 2024 [Thilina Kaluthotage/Reuters]
“They’re trampling on our graves with their boots,” said Kavitha, a Tamil woman, as the torrential rain lashing our faces washed away her tears. Standing barefoot and ankle-deep in mud at the site of a former cemetery in Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was lamenting the adjacent military base built on the graves of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters, including that of her brother.
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thuppahi
