Category Archives: working class conditions

September 22, 2025 · 10:40 pm

Anura Kumara Dissanayake: His Life & Career Thus Far

Sunil  Thenabadu, in Brisbane, in CEYLON TODAY, 22 September 2025, where  the title  runs thus: “Reflecting  on One Year of Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Presidency” … presented here with  highlighting imposed by The  Editor. Thuppahi

“The JVP totally declines violence/aggression.” Twice the JVP took up arms; however, in the future, we assure the people of Sri Lanka that this will never, ever recur. We guarantee the people that the only way we will come into power is by winning their trust. We assure the people of Sri Lanka that we will never, ever take up arms again. During the last 25 years, the JVP has been subjected to violence on numerous occasions; however, we never wish to resort to violence again. AKD has assured the public, so they need not have any fear—the JVP has ‘rejected violence forever’! This is the assurance given by the JVP’s leader, Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake, one of the most charismatic and extraordinary politicians ever to enter the local political arena. Dissanayake was unanimously named the leader of the JVP at the 7th National Convention of the Party, held on 2 February 2014.

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September 18, 2025 · 3:04 am

Lankan Tamil Migration in Wintry Norway: “Working For Our Sisters”

Oivund Fugleruud in  ???? where the the title runs  thus: ‘ “Working for  Sisters”  — Tamil Life on the 71st Parallel’

The article discusses the phenomenon of migration of Sri Lankan Tamils to Finnmark, the northemmost part of Nonvay. While most other groups of immigrants in Nonvay tend to settle in the larger Cities, this particular group has a tradition of settlement in the fishing villages in Finnmark, facing the Barents Sem.

[t is argued fhat there is a continuity in this pattem from the early migration workers in the 1970s ro present•day asylum-seekers. The “imicrohistory” of Tamil migration to one particular village is presented and discussed. It shows an overlap from one type of  migration to another.

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September 14, 2025 · 11:50 am

Tony Peries: First Lankan Director of George Steuarts

Being  CHAPTER ELEVEN of The George Steuart Story  1835-1985 ++

THE FIRST SRI LANKAN CHAIRMAN

When a young Sri Lankan walked into the office of George Steuart on February 1, 1953, no one is likely to have imagined that he would become not only the first Sri Lankan Chairman of what was then essentially a British firm, but also the youngest man to hold that important office.

The young man, whose name was John Francis Anthony Paul Peries, and was generally known as Tony Peries, had been edu cated at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, and had applied for a post as a trainee Tea Taster. His father, ·W. Peries, a Director of Mackwoods, was held in the highest esteem in agency circles.

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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.

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August 24, 2025 · 9:18 pm

Horrors Faced by Lankan Female Labour in Middle East

Aanya Wipulasena in Ceylon Today, August 2025

The decision to work overseas wasn’t easy. Burdened by debt, 25-year-old Nelum Niroshani, a mother of one from Anuradhapura, felt she had no choice. Her plan was simple: Take a job as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia, earn enough to support her family, repay her loans and then return home to her seven-year-old child. But her time in the Middle East quickly turned into a nightmare.

 

 

 

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August 1, 2025 · 12:12 am

Is Sri Lanka permanently Kota Uda?

Jehan Perera in The  Island, 29 July  2025, where the title runs thus:  “Engagement is essential for national progress”

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

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April 5, 2025 · 7:33 pm

Introducing A Cutting Edge Journal: SOUTH ASIA

Michael Roberts

SOUTH ASIA has been a form of Australian exploration — in the plural form of manifold journeys and investigations — in South Asia for several decades. I was a small cog in this cluster of activities some 20 years back; but, alas, fell away. Some old partners in arms are still part of the Editorial Advisory Board; but its a fresh and bright team that is bringing the Indian subcontinent into the Aussie arena. Sri Lankan scholars and readers need to take note of this work and chip in with their own ‘commentary’ — whether in article form or as avid readers.

Check https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/csas20 …. AND/OR write to ……….. OR ……………………….. priya.chacko@adelaide.edu.au

Cover image for South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Volume 47, Issue 6 Continue reading →

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March 31, 2025 · 5:39 pm

Reflections on Gananath’s Wide-Ranging Corpus of Work

Professor M.W. Amarasiri de Silva, about 3/4 years back in … … where the full title of the essay reads thus: “Sinhalese Society Through The Prism Of Religion: An Appreciation Of Gananath Obeyesekere’s Work On Sinhalese Buddhism”

This article celebrates the remarkable scholarly contributions of Gananath Obeyesekere, specifically in the field of popular Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Obeyesekere, now aged 93, embarked on his anthropological career at the University of Ceylon (now University of Peradeniya), where he earned his undergraduate degree in English. Subsequently, he served as a lecturer and professor in the Department of Sociology from the 1960s to 1972, before moving on to the United States. He was Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University from 1980 to 2000.

 

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March 26, 2025 · 10:05 pm

An Epitaph for Gananath Obeyesekere

Chandra R. De Silva, … with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi

I write to add a few words to the outpouring of appreciations of Gananath Obeyesekere, a scholar whose research in anthropology, religion, myth, and cultural practices  has won him accolades across the world. I will not comment on the advances in knowledge and the discussions he provoked by his many scholarly works of which among the best known are Land Tenure in Village Ceylon, The Cult of the Goddess Pattini, Buddhism Transformed (co-author), The Work of Culture, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific, and The Doomed King. There has been much written on this world renowned scholar, and there will undoubtedly be more comments by experts in the years to come.

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March 13, 2025 · 4:58 pm

Jaffna Women: Their Hidden Powers

Kenneth David ** whose article in  a book edited by Susan Wadley in  1980 (see end)  is entitled “Hidden Powers: Cultural and Socio-economic Accounts of Jaffna Women”

The general concern of this volume is the social position of Tamil women and cultural representations about them. This paper deals with both of these issues. The first part is a symbolic account of the life stages and associated ceremonies of Tamil women from the Jaffna region of Sri Lanka. In the course of showing the varying degrees of subordination or of influence that women have during their lives, I focus on two spe­cific strands of symbolism in these life cycle rites: binding and shaving. These are interpreted as a dual­ image of the woman as slave and renouncer, bound on the exterior but internally powerful. The second part is a socio-materialistic account. It contrasts the public images of female subordination with the practical reality in which women control property and covertly effect pro­ductive and other crucial decisions. The third part situates the first two in the context of a general theo­retical question. What are the pitfalls in studying a disadvantaged sector of society? My critique is di­rected towards the theoretical practice of linking pairs of descriptive terms and asserting that such linkage constitutes explanation. This practice is especially problematic when one is trying to understand a disadvantaged sector. Finally, the symbolic account is linked to the socio-materialistic account.

 

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