From Kamburupitiya … Malkanthi’s Multi-Faceted Journey

Fazli Sameer in Those Fuzzy Days, July 2025 … presented in fazli@substack.com with a slightly different title and the sub-title: “A trek through days of milk, honey, and roses”

In the small southern village of Kamburupitiya, nestled amidst the mist-covered hills of the southern coastal city of Matara, a determined teenage girl named Malkanthi prepared for a journey that would alter the course of her life. At sixteen, she was the pride of her village school, a bright, kind-hearted girl who had earned a scholarship to pursue her higher studies in Colombo.

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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.

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FIRE AND STORM analyses Sinhala-Tamil Confrontations Over the Decades

Neil Jayasekera introduces FIRE AND STORM by Michael Roberts … printed by Vijitha Yapa Publications in 2010 …. ISBN 978955-665-14-8  ….presenting 28 articles & an Amalgamated Bibliography …. Posted by  Feb 28, 2023 

Unique JewelsAnonymous Reviewer in Sunday Times, 21 July 2013 where the title runs Important contribution towards a dialogue on Lankan polity. Book facts”

When Michael Roberts left Peradeniya in the late seventies, he was part of an exodus of intellectuals from the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, arguably one of the best universities at that time. The exodus of academics at that time was compelled by the economic difficulties faced by university dons. It was the second wave of such emigration that diminished the intellectual life of the university and country.

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Pirapāharan and leading Tiger Commanders at the Indian sponsored training camp at Sirimalai in 1984

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James T. Rutnam (1905-1988): A Radical Activist in Ceylon Politics

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

 

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Featuring Andrekos Varnava’s Swathe of Political Studies

Andrekos Varnava is a Greek Cypriot and it has been the privilege of Flinders University in Adelaide and Australia-at-large to have him researching and teaching in their various reaches. CYPRUS is in a strategic location in the Eastern Meditteranian and has beenat the centre of many invasions and tussles.

Books by Andrekos Varnava

Exiting War: The British Empire and the 1918-20 moment, 2022
Exiting war explores a particular 1918-20 ‘moment’ in the British Empire’s history, between the F… more 
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Peradeniya University Convocation, July 2025

The Convocation of the University of Peradeniya; 23 and 24 July 2025

The 86 th Convocation of the University of Peradeniya is organised as a majestic ceremony in the presence of dignitaries and parents to witness the graduation of nearly 4450 graduands looking towards the future with optimism and determination. The convocation ceremony this year will be held in four sessions today and tomorrow in the Gymnasium of University of Peradeniya as a joyous and proud occasion while celebrating 83 years of service par excellence to University education in Sri Lanka.

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Facing the Algal Threat in Adelaide: Miller-Frost

Louise Miller-Frost’s Circular, July 2025

The coastline and waters are a great asset to Boothby residents, and many of us very much value the time we spend there walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, fishing off the jetties or small boats, or just sitting contemplating the spectacular views.

And so the Algal Bloom currently affecting much of the SA coastline is of great concern.

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St. Anthony’s College in Kandy: Its Heritage

Bernard VanCuylenburg  and  Sisira Weragoda  … whose title reads “From Little Things Big Things Grow – Antonians Who Excelled Beyond Excellence” 

Prologue

As an introduction to the subject of this article I had to choose a title which nails it all in just one line. It is the story of an academic miracle which emanated from a simple school in its infancy, St. Anthony’s College Katugastota, by a group of students who raised the bar of achievement and excellence in the prestigious London Matriculation Examination in 1934, with a 100% pass rate THUS OBTAINING THE BEST RESULTS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. It was a path breaking year for the College and a validation of the school’s excellence. Twelve students sat the examination that year of whom six obtained first division passes, and six obtained second division passes. Their names which should be emblazoned in letters of gold in the field of education will be mentioned in this article. Paraphrasing the title of the book by Rubeih Murray James, we should “Carve their names with pride”.

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A Ninth-Wkt Stand of Over 250 Runs in a County Match

Between the Aussie Chris Green and Tom Hartley batting for Lancashire vs Gloucestershire in a Div Two county match  

Day 4 – Gloucs trail by 70 runs.

Current RR: 3.19
 • Min. Ov. Rem: 92.5
Lancashire 1st Innings 
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
c †Bracey b Zaman Akhter 18 32 36 3 0 56.25
c Hammond b Murphy 32 79 107 5 0 40.50
st †Bracey b van Buuren 39 83 111 4 0 46.98
c & b Zaman Akhter 29 67 77 3 0 43.28
c Zaman Akhter b van Buuren 106 167 206 10 2 63.47
c †Bracey b Zaman Akhter 12 12 19 2 0 100.00
c †Bracey b Zaman Akhter 26 51 67 2 1 50.98
b Charlesworth 160 199 258 13 8 80.40
c Price b van Buuren 1 4 6 0 0 25.00
c Bancroft b Charlesworth 130 153 182 14 6 84.96
not out 2 3 12 0 0 66.66
Extras (w 2) 2
Total
141.4 Ov (RR: 3.93)
557
Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Luke Wells, 8.4 ov), 2-75 (Keaton Jennings, 26.3 ov), 3-106 (Josh Bohannon, 38.4 ov), 4-142 (Marcus Harris, 47.6 ov), 5-160 (Phil Salt, 53.1 ov), 6-209 (George Balderson, 70.6 ov), 7-292 (Matty Hurst, 91.6 ov), 8-302 (Jack Blatherwick, 93.3 ov), 9-514 (Chris Green, 139.2 ov), 10-557 (Tom Hartley, 141.4 ov)
Bowling O M R W ECON WD NB
5 1 20 0 4.00 0 0
26 4 96 0 3.69 0 0
25 4 85 4 3.40 0 0
41 6 133 1 3.24 0 0
9.4 0 62 2 6.41 0 0
27 4 117 3 4.33 1 0
6 0 36 0 6.00 0 0
2 0 8 0 4.00 1 0
Gloucestershire 1st Innings

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Cold War Proxies in Conflict: Ceylon & Palestine

Darini Rajasingham Senanayake,** at IDN-InDepthNews,… 24 July 2025, …. being Part II of an extended article with this title “From Ceylon to Palestine: Ethnic Conflict and Its Role in Cold War Proxy Dynamics” …. This is the second of a two-part series. Click here to read part one  .. .. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

There are remarkable patterns of history, organised violence, and disinformation between events leading to the pogrom and forced population displacements in Sri Lanka in 1983, and British occupied Palestine 35 years earlier as the Nakba unfolded amid Cold War escalating in Europe between the Allies and Soviet Union or Axis Powers.

Map indicating locations of Palestine and Sri Lanka. CC BY-SA 4.0 – Photo: 2025

 

 

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