Yearly Archives: 2017

Early Inhabitants and the Rulers of the Island

By P. Sivakumar, November 8, 2017  During the early historic period (6th century BC to 3rd century AD), Lanka/ilankai (as first mentioned in the Ramayana) was a part of South India separated by a shallow sea and was only a walking distance before the sea levels rose.  Even today, one of the ancient bridges that… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Proposed Constitution Comes Under Attack

International interest, not international laws, will deliver autonomy to Sri Lanka’s Tamils. by Ana Pararajasingham, ‘The Diplomat,’ Washington, DC, November 7, 2017 The interim report on Sri Lanka’s proposed constitution released on September 21 has come under a spate of attacks. On October 24, a retired Sri Lankan army officer, Major General Kamal Gunaratne, insisted that those seeking to… Read more »

An Ineffective & Fragmented Political Opposition

By: Thambu Kanagasabai LLM [Lond.], November 6, 2017 Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo President, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization. In the last Parliamentary and Presidential elections in 2015, majority of Tamils and Muslims voted for the ‘good governance’ promised by the UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and SLFP led by Maithiripala Sirisena… Read more »

Dozens of Men Say Sri Lankan Forces Raped and Tortured Them

by Paisley Dodd, Associated Press, NY, November 9, 2017 (published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NY Post, The Guardian and many others.) Video on report at https://www.apnews.com/ced017bd441f46ba838aaedf6ff5dbe2 LONDON (AP) — One of the men tortured in Sri Lanka said he was held for 21 days in a small dank room where he was… Read more »

PEARL Condemns Ongoing Torture & Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka

Urges U.S. Government to Re-Consider its Partnership with Sri Lanka (Washington DC, November 9, 2017) People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) condemns the Sri Lankan government for the torture of over 60 Tamils who have now sought refuge in Europe. The International Truth and Justice Project has gathered testimonies from these Tamil men,… Read more »

Joint Press Release on Peacekeeping Conference in Canada

by 10 Tamil diaspora organization, November 8, 2017 The video of the press conference is uploaded to Youtube and may be viewed here:​​ https://youtu.be/qBNm2MBIsv4 ​​Demanding accountability for international crimes committed by Sri Lankan Armed Forces attending 2017 UN Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial Conference in Vancouver PRESS RELEASE peacekeeping conference – Ottawa, ON – Nov 8 2017 For Immediate Release November… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Military Aren’t Ready to be Peacekeepers

Given Sri Lanka’s history in Haiti, its treatment of Tamils on the island, and its history of impunity, its soldiers should not be allowed to wear the blue helmet, writes Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree. By Gary Anandasangaree, ‘The Star,’ Toronto, Nov. 3, 2017   The recent appointment of Robert Mugabe as the World Health Organization (WHO)… Read more »

Origins of English Education in Sri Lanka

by Mandalam’s Note, source & date unknown It should be recalled that amongst the many Colebrooke Commission changes, English was made the Official Language of the country in 1833. For reasons that have not been researched, large sections of the Tamils ended up in the barren North with poor rainfall once a year during the… Read more »

Second U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue

Joint Statement From the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka on the Second U.S.-Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue 11/06/2017 10:56 AM EST Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC November 6, 2017 The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of… Read more »

MGR Remembered – Part 40

Political Motive in the Case by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 1, 2017 Part 39 Testimony of Head Constable Lakshmanan One of the vital evidence in the MGR shooting case, which links the political angle of the case was a ‘letter’ or ‘report’ handed by M.R. Radha (prior to his admission to the Royapettah hospital) to… Read more »

From New Jersey to Pandatherippu

Dr. John Scudder and the First Western Medical Centre in South Asia By  Dr. D.C. Ambalavanar, Visiting Lecturer in Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Jaffna, October 29, 2017 On October 18th a public function was held by the Church of the American Ceylon Mission in the village of Pandatherippu in Northern Sri Lanka. This was the… Read more »

Map of Global Shipping

by Shipmap.org, accessed October 30, 2017 Access website for video of shipping movement.

Brazil Cannot be a Safe Haven for War Crimes Suspects

by Juana Kweitel and Sylvia Helena Steiner, Nexo Journal, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 24, 2017 (translated from the original Portugese by Google Translate) Sri Lanka’s ambassador is suspected of having participated in the deaths of more than 70,000 people in his country. Itamaraty, however, gave him diplomatic immunity and did not publicly pronounce on denunciations… Read more »

What You Should Have Been Taught About Sri Lanka

by Natalie Samarasinghe, ‘Explore Parts Unknown.com,’ CNN, October 25, 2017 Sri Lanka bills itself as a tropical paradise, and this is not an idle boast. I have yet to find a country that matches its combination of sleepy beaches, ancient cities, lush vistas, and tourist-friendly package of relatively short travel distances and locals who speak… Read more »

Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’ in Sri Lanka

by CNN, October 29, 2017 https://explorepartsunknown.com/destination/sri-lanka/                         partsunknowncnn Your guide to Sri Lankan cuisine   Spicy Fish Stew by Douglas Bullis and Wendy Hutton, October 25, 2017 Seer, or Spanish mackerel, is arguably Sri Lanka’s tastiest fish. Certainly, it is one of the most popular… Read more »

On Sri Lanka’s National Question – Part 2

By P. Sivakumar, October 27, 2017  In the first part of this article (http://sangam.org/sri-lankas-national-question/) I discussed about a section of the Sinhalese who are unable to differentiate between Federalism and Separatism. However, there are also enough of well-educated Sinhalese who know the difference very well but still oppose it. Their argument is that Ethno-federalism (federalism… Read more »

Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA Announces Lifetime Service Awards to Medical Team who Served the Civilians in the Last Phase of Civil War in Sri Lanka

Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA recognizes the medical profession team comprising doctors, nurses, technicians, ambulance drivers and other volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service to the internally displaced and war-affected people during the final phases of the civil war in Sri Lanka.  During the times of war and great distress, they heroically… Read more »

Sri Lanka Must Step Up Progress on Transitional Justice, UN Expert Finds

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, October 23, 2017 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22274&LangID=E GENEVA / COLOMBO (23 October 2017) – The Government of Sri Lanka has not made sufficient progress in fulfilling its commitments on transitional justice and related reform processes, a UN human rights expert has concluded after an official visit to the country…. Read more »

HRW: Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child

Concerning Sri Lanka by Human Rights Watch, New York, October 19, 2017 77th Working Group  This submission relates to Articles 28 and 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and focuses on the protection of students, teachers, and schools during armed conflict. In its 2010 Concluding Observations under the Optional Protocol on… Read more »