Category Archives: trauma

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.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, demography, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, migrant experiences, military expenditure, military strategy, parliamentary elections, patriotism, photography, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, racism, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, violence of language, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry

Public or Private Health Care? The Dilemma Sri Lankans Face

Fazli Sameer, at Those Fuzzy Days where the title of the article runs thus: “Ethics of Health Care: Waiting, Paying and Weeping,” … with highlighting here imposed by The  Editor, Thuppahi

When my sister, Kumari, went for her annual cardiac check-up to the elite Makalanka hospital, we expected the usual strain, long hours of waiting, some tests, and maybe a bit of worry. What we didn’t expect was to be caught between two worlds: one where care came with a steep price and hidden payments, and another where care seemed trapped in endless waiting and fading patience.

Waiting. It’s the first and most universal experience patients face when seeking medical care in today’s clinics and hospitals. Whether public or private, the hours-long wait, without explanation or apology, has become the norm.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, Colombo and Its Spaces, disparagement, human rights, life stories, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, taking the piss, trauma

Israel’s NAZI Terror in Palestine … with US & European Backing

Bishop Duleep de Chickera in Colombo, in an  article  in  GROUNDVIEWS, 31 July  2025, entitled “From Toe Hold to Freehold: Zionist Occupation Strategies”

GV NOTE  INTRODUCING THE AUTHOR : In 2001 Duleep De Chickera was ordained the 14th Anglican Bishop of Colombo. Educated at Royal College, Colombo and representing the college at 1st XV Rugby, he gained his training for the ministry at the Theological College of Lanka in Pilimathalawa, earning a B.Th thereafter earning a M.Sc. from Keble College, Oxford.  He has served as chaplain and then as the sub-warden of S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia. And in 2008 was accorded the honour of preaching a key sermon at the Lambeth Conference in the presence of 650 Bishops from around the world.

When US President Donald Trump arrogantly suggested that the neighbouring Arab States should absorb the Gaza population as a solution to Israel’s decimation of Gaza, he announced what discerning persons the world over had already perceived – the earliest Zionist Israeli arrivals, courtesy Lord Balfour, had come to take it all.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, arab regimes, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, discrimination, disparagement, ethnicity, Fascism, historical interpretation, Jews in Asia, legal issues, life stories, Middle Eastern Politics, military strategy, Palestine, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

Bulawayo!@#! … One Feast. Two Massacres!

Firdose Moonda, in  ESPNcricinfo, August 2025 where  the headline reads “New Zealand script their biggest win after Foulkes and Co flatten Zimbabwe”

After New Zealand declared overnight, with a lead of 476, Zimbabwe were bowled out in 28.1 overs in an extended first session …………..  New Zealand 601 for 3 decl (Ravindra 165*, Conway 153, Nicholls 150*) beat Zimbabwe 125 (Taylor 44, Henry 5-40, Foulkes 4-38) and 117 (Welch 47*, Foulkes 5-37) by an innings and 359 runs

Zakary Foulkes picked up the best figures by a New Zealand player on Test debut as New Zealand recorded their biggest Test win. Their innings and 359 run victory over Zimbabwe emphasised the massive gulf between the two sides as Zimbabwe capitulated for their fourth-lowest score against New Zealand to suffer their heaviest defeat in the format.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under art & allure bewitching, cricket for amity, cricket selections, elephant tales, life stories, performance, trauma

About Sharika Thiranagama ……. Today

Rohan Gunaratna  in  FACEBOOK, August 2025

Rohan Gunaratna

nopordtesS43ag881f170i0ihg99ic5ay0ic8luml74u9m2l8 61t4Mct4a0 ·

Congratulations to Sri Lankan-born American Anthropologist, Prof. Sharika Thiranagama, on winning the Davidson Prize at Cambridge University, where she was appointed a Scholar of St Johns.

Winner of Stanford University’s “Lifetime award for Academic achievement in Archaeology and Anthropology”, Sharika wrote “In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka” published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 2011.

Sharika

…Rajini Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, life stories, literary achievements, performance, politIcal discourse, refugees, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, tamil refugees, teaching profession, trauma, unusual people, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry

Reflections on the Test Scenario from A Lankan Cricket Aficianados

Errol Fernando’s Email Note to Lorenz  Pereira

Dear Lorenz,
As someone who claims to always support the underdog I was delighted that India won the final Test by 6 runs and made it 2 – 2. Perfect result.  India was playing against a team that has the best ‘first five’ batsmen in the world –  Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root and Brook.  No one better.  By contrast Australia probably has the WORST first five  –  Khawaja, Konstas and three other jokers. However , the Aussies have the best quartet of bowlers in the world   –   Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon with Boland in the wings. No one better.
The 5 India-England Tests were totally riveting, and I couldn’t take my eyes off. High quality stuff.  Captain Gill made 754 glorious runs for the series and Rahul and Pant were also glorious. England’s top 5 were good too.

Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under cricket for amity, cricket selections, cultural transmission, ethnicity, life stories, performance, taking the piss, trauma

Chemmani Graves: The Site Today

Map  and Photos supplied by a friend


Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, counter-insurgency, Eelam, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, insurrections, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, photography, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war reportage

Chemmani Graves Site & OCHCR Finds

N. Sathiya Moorthy, in CEYLON TODAY, 1 August 2025,  with this  title “Hundred Not Out” **

For the uninitiated readers of the national media, and possibly the majority Sinhala media, Chemmani may yet to happen. But after weeks of digging up unmarked graves in Northern Jaffna town, Government officials under Court supervision have already taken out over a hundred human skeletons, including those of infants and grown-up children. The numbers are growing with each passing day of digging, which is at times halted for logistics reasons, one should assume.

Yes, only scientific studies would show if they are of recent origin, but the fact that they have been recovered from dig-outs six to eight metres deep may indicate that they are not ancient. Yet, they are historic in their own way, adding heft to the Tamils’ charges that the Armed Forces ruthlessly killed their civilians during the three-decade-long ethnic war – and are yet to be held accountable.

 

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, ethnicity, historical interpretation, human rights, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, war reportage

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

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, Eelam, ethnicity, governance, heritage, human rights, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military strategy, nationalism, Pacific Ocean issues, patriotism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, trauma, unusual people

In Appreciation of James T. Rutnam

Sachi Sri Kantha, whose preferred title is James T Rutnam (1905-1988): Noted Bibliophile and a Valued Mentor” with the highlighting in colour being impositions from The Editor Thuppahi

Introduction

My destiny to meet and interact with James T Rutnam came in the aftermath of the August 1977 anti-Tamil riots. Previously, I had written a little about the anti-Tamil riots that engulfed the island then, and my initial attempts to make a grade as a writer in English. [Please check this link. https://sangam.org/s-p-amarasingam-1977-anti-tamil-pogrom/].

I wrote to Mr. S.P. Amarasingam, the editor of the Tribune (Colombo). At that time, I was unaware that James Rutnam was an influential contributor to the Tribune, since its inception in 1954.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, historical interpretation, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, tamil refugees, trauma, travelogue, unusual people