Thuppahi's Blog

A CRICINFO Item, 11 November 2025. bearing this title “Sri Lanka’s spinners, Pakistan’s off-field cuteness among things to watch out for”

Continue reading →

Michael Roberts

Inspired by interaction with Richard A Koenigsberg of New York [who has experience in India and commanded a vibrant website], I initiated a WEB-SITE entitled sacrificialdevotionnetwork.wordpress.com in April-May 2009 –a date marking the final days of Eelam War IV.

This site focused on the total devotion to political cause by those attached to the LTTE and the title SACRIFICIAL DEVOTION was my coinage — a substitute for the pejorative smudge in the standard term “suicide terrorism”. As such, the concept could also embrace the acts of suicide-protest pursued by such personnel as Norman Morrison in Washington in 1965, Jan Palach in Prague in 1969) and  Thich Quanq Duc in Saigon in 1963.

This WEB SITE only survived a short time as my existing site –the THUPPAHI one – was adequate for my tasks. However, as time has passed, it is not out of place to reveal the few items within this site as important essays of historical import. 

The items are set out below in reverse order. It is a serendipitous outcome that the last item is from the ‘pen’ of JACOB COPEMAN, a scholar at a British university whom I had met at a conference n Portugal at some point earlier.

Copeman ……

Continue reading →

Item in The ISLAND, 4 November 2025… sent  to TPS by Charles Schokman

The Sri Lankan railway service, which has a history of around 165 years, is a collective endeavourers [???] of various positions assigned to the Sri Lanka Railways Department.The posts of Railway Engine Driver, Station Master and Railway Supervisor Manager under the Department are essential for maintaining the railway service.

Since the inception of the Railways Department, only male officers have been recruited for the posts of Engine Driver, Train Controller and Station Master, while female officers have been recruited for the posts of Supervisory Manager only in 2012 and 2015.

Continue reading →

Mayura Botejue

Aristocrats in fear as “Muslim Immigrant Communist” leads proletariat revolution in New York City.  Zohran Mamdani will be the new Mayor of New York City. He promised to take on the billionaires and better the lives of working-class New Yorkers. He tapped into anti-establishment, class anger that is growing.

Meanwhile, Emperor Donny has banned the import of guillotines from France!

Continue reading →

Michael Roberts

This November 5th evening  I had the  privilege of watching Kiwi captain Mitcheel Santner nearly snatcha miraculous triumph. As a batsman at No 8 not as a bowler! He  thumped sixes and boundaries in  the last three  overs  when it seemed that NZ  had no chance of a win. Bowlers Foorde were the principal victims  — being thumped …. in the 18th  and 19th  overs for. 23  and 13 runs respectively!

Arise Sir SANTNER!  What majestic striking! A captain’s effort !

Continue reading →

Shashik Silva, in Polity, 16 September 2025 where  the title  runs  thus: “Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and Political Legitimacy in Contemporary Sri Lanka” 

Cleavage politics has emerged as one of the most defining features of Sri Lanka’s party system and political behaviour since independence.^[1] Political commentators have identified several key fault lines that shape the country’s electoral landscape: some emphasise caste, religion, and ethnicity as particularly crucial cleavages (de Silva 1981), while others highlight the pivotal role of language in driving cleavage politics, particularly as a catalyst for the country’s prolonged ethnic conflict (DeVotta 2004).

 Image source: https://bit.ly/4676FAX

A closer examination of post-independence Sri Lankan politics reveals numerous examples that substantiate these claims, with ethnicity and religion consistently serving as the primary drivers of major political transformations throughout the country’s history. Politicians have repeatedly exploited ethno-religious divisions to mobilise popular support, as evidenced by their strategic use of both the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact of 1957 (Wriggins 1960) and the Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact of 1965 as rallying points for ethnic mobilisation (Wilson 1979; Ollapally and Anandalingam 2023).

Continue reading →

Personnel from Different Ethnic Backgrounds have  expressed Firm Accolades for Premila Thurairatnam’s Essay  on Alagu Subramanium, ….Michael Roberts in  Adelaide, November  2025

Continue reading →

News Item in The Island, 3 November 2025

Former All Ceylon cricket captain Mr. Michael Tissera was the Chief Guest at Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club’s 125th jubilee celebrations in Colombo on Friday. Mr. Tissera’s during his keynote address recalled his experiences of playing cricket at P. Sara Oval in the pre-Test era when he skippered Ceylon for some famous wins. During his address, he hoped that Test cricket returns to P. Sara Oval soon. Country’s first Test venue has not hosted a Test match since 2019.

Here are the excerpts of Mr. Tissera’s speech.

Mr. Ramesh Schaffter, President Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, Members of the Committee, Distinguished members and Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening,

Thank you Ramesh, for the honour and privilege bestowed upon me. I am deeply humbled and to say my knees are not knocking would be an understatement.

Continue reading →

Placed  in FACEBOOK by Nimal Jayasinha, 30 October 2025

On October 4, 2025, in Pench, India, a surreal moment was captured on CCTV. Raju Patel, a 52-year-old labourer, patted a tiger he mistook for a “big cat” after a late-night card game. Tipsy from homemade liquor, Raju stumbled onto a street where a sub-adult Bengal tiger, displaced by monsoon floods, had wandered from the nearby Pench Tiger Reserve. Unfazed, Raju gently touched its head. For 5-10 minutes, they stood together. He even offered it a swig from his bottle, which it ignored. Forest officials later arrived with spotlights and mild tranquilizers and guided the exhausted tiger back to the woods. No one was harmed, and Raju became a local legend, shrugging, “It was just a pussy cat.” As new information emerges, Raju is now under heavy police protection and has blocked his Social Media account. He was apparently being hounded by the entire local married male population who were demanding access to the recipe for the homemade liquor.

Continue reading →

The father of Melbourne teenager Ben Austin, who died after an accident at cricket training, has said his son would want others to keep enjoying the “great game” after the freak incident. “He loved the game.” This is a great game, cricket, and it wasn’t the game’s fault, that was just a freak accident, a freak accident,” Jace Austin said. “Please make sure you keep playing this great game. That’s what he would want.”

VISIT ITEM IN  ABC  NEWS .….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-31/victoria-ben-austin-cricket-death-tributes/105954270                                                       

 Distruaght father  Jace  Austin visits the club where his son died. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)

Continue reading →