April 2, 2021 · 2:14 am

Debating Human Rights in Warring Contexts

Chandre Dharmawardana, 30 March 2021, in Email Memo entitled “Alleged Human Rights Abuses of the Sri Lankan Army” ………..  a memo commenting on responses to his previous Essay[i] … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Ramesh Somasundaram, (commenting on the Thuppahi website) is absolutely right in saying “that the Sri Lankan governments and the Sri Lankan military personal have been correctly accused of human rights abuses. “Sri Lankan Soldiers have been accused of grave crimes, and they should be investigated and brought to trial. Many of the soldiers were simply carrying out orders, and so the high command must bear the final responsibility except in cases where the soldiers exceeded their acts as soldiers and acted even more inhumanely than needed.

Situation Map 2 February 2009 — an excellent work by, I think?, the Daily Mirror

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, conspiracies, economic processes, education, ethnicity, Fascism, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes

April 1, 2021 · 1:23 pm

Demographic Graph of Principal Ethnic Groups within Lanka, 1940-2020

Chandre Dharmawardena, in response to THE COMMENTS drawn by the article https://thuppahis.com/2021/04/01/tamara-kunanayakam-in-dialogue-with-faraz-on-the-unhrc-vote-at-geneva-m-arch-2021/

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under economic processes, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, population, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes

April 1, 2021 · 10:53 am

Boom! 3rd May 1986: Air Lanka’s Tristar 36 blown up on Runway by LTTE

Menaka Ashi Fernando, whose chosen title is “The Deadly Flyaway Kit: Explosion in AirLanka Tristar, Part 1 –The Explosion and Its Immediate Effects”

Basil Marcelline.… (see Note at end,,,, indicating an error}

“Every 3rd of May, for the past 34 years, like a bunch of anxious surfers, we catch the rising wave of grief, glide on the intensifying emotions for a while and fall back to our senses as the wave of reality breaks. Although words can never remove the ache, I have worded this in memory of our dear friend Johann Chunchee who was killed that fateful day, and in honour of all my colleagues and other Air Lanka staff who survived the carnage” 

Continue reading →

14 Comments

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, historical interpretation, insurrections, life stories, LTTE, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, tourism, transport and communications, trauma, vengeance, war crimes, world events & processes

April 1, 2021 · 1:13 am

Tamara Kunanayakam in Dialogue with Faraz on the UNHRC Vote at Geneva, March 2021

VISIT http://www.independent.lk/un-geneva-how-will-it-impact-sri-lankans-tamara-kunanayakam-on-newslinesl%E2%80%8B-29th-march-2021/

UN GENEVA: HOW WILL IT IMPACT SRI LANKANS? – Tamara Kunanayakam on #NewslineSL​ – 29th March 2021

2,404 views
•Streamed live on Mar 30, 2021

Continue reading →

18 Comments

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, discrimination, disparagement, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, taking the piss, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

March 31, 2021 · 4:43 am

Randolph Ranjith Alwis of Sri Lanka & Adelaide: Epitaphs in Depth

ONE: from Victor Rebikoff OAM, and Former FECCA Chair 1992-96

I am deeply honored to have been asked by the Alwis family to provide this personal eulogy on my close friend Randolph Alwis AM whom I have known for over 35 years since we became the Presidents of our respective State and Territory Multicultural Communities Councils in the early 1980’s and as a consequence Deputy Chairs of Australia’s peak community body FECCA – viz, -the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia. At that time both of us were the ‘young guns’ at the forefront of Australia’s multicultural movement and became closely involved in working with Commonwealth, State and Territory governments in the initial introduction of culturally and linguistically appropriate services for migrants and refugees Australia wide.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, language policies, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

March 29, 2021 · 1:28 pm

Western Real-Politic at UNHRC Sesions in Geneva, 2021

Chandre Dharma-wardana,24 March 2021, whose preferred title is “The Real-Politik behind the UNHRC Actions and What the West Aims to Achieve in Sri Lanka” …  … note PS at end….. End Notes are by Thuppahi

The core-group of Western countries behind the UNHRC resolution have their own highly developed intelligence sources of information on the Eelam War as it was of intense interest to the Western nations – in fact the foreign ministers of UK and France actually came to Colombo to intervene personally.[1] Given that level of interest, they had reams of information on the Eelam War. Lord Naseby has exposed the tip of this hidden iceberg of information possessed by the British Government alone.[2] The US, the Indians, the French, Germans, and most of all the Norwegians possessed first-hand information. None of that has been exploited by the UN, but remain hidden because, in all probability, what is in them are of little use to the agenda of the core group of nations behind the UNHRC resolution.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, conspiracies, disparagement, doctoring evidence, education, Eelam, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

March 28, 2021 · 10:22 am

The “China Research Group” in UK: Frontal Picture …. and Possible Underground Chambers?

The Frontispiece on Google

The China Research Group was set up by a group of Conservative MPs in the UK to promote debate and fresh thinking about how Britain should respond to the rise of China. The group’s work looks beyond the immediate Coronavirus crisis or issues relating to Huawei, with the aim of considering the longer term challenges and opportunities associated with the rise of China and its industrial and diplomatic policies.

Tom Tugendhat & Neil O’Brien

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, conspiracies, disparagement, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes

March 28, 2021 · 7:52 am

The Ethics of History: Discussion to be built upon Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington’s Lecture

Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington to speak on THE ETHICS of HISTORY and thus promote a Live Discussion, 14 April 2021, courtesy of Merton College, Oxford

Since the pandemic began, we have adapted our events programme to move online, and we are pleased to announce that our next 40 Years Series online lecture, a part of our Merton Women: 40 Years celebrations, will be airing live at a time more suitable for our alumni in Asia, Australasia and the Pacific.

Hughes-Warrington & Irene Tracey

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, australian media, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, female empowerment, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes

March 27, 2021 · 1:05 am

Mirigama Expressway Soon Operational

Dinitha Rathnayake, in MorningLK, 25 March 2021, ….

The Mirigama-Kurunegala section of the Central Expressway (E04) is to be opened in May, making it possible to travel the approximately 39.7 km distance between the two points “within 25 minutes”. Mirigama is a town in the Gampaha District.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under architects & architecture, economic processes, governance, growth pole, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, performance, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, tourism, transport and communications, world events & processes

March 26, 2021 · 1:39 pm

Arjuna Ranatunga’s Wide-ranging Review of the World Cup Win in March 1996

Arjuna Ranatunga, in The Island, 7 March 2021, where the title runs thus: “Our fans were our biggest strength,” ….. with the highlights being the intervention of The Editor, Thuppahi

During one of my visits to South Africa, I came across an interesting saying — ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.’ 

This sentence is so true. As we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of us winning the World Cup, we owe the success to our wonderful team spirit. I treat each of the other 13 members of the World Cup-winning squad not as teammates, but as brothers. They mean so much to me. And I know they will do anything for me. This was the secret of our success.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, centre-periphery relations, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes