A dream or a reality? By: Thambu Kanagasabai LLM [Lond], Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s political and economic history from the day of independence in 1948 until 1956 was considered a role model for developing countries, even envied by the late Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew. Communal harmony… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
Invoking Nuremberg in Colombo
The writer clearly has a distance to travel to understand what took place during & after the war in Sri Lanka. Has she seen Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields,’ read the OISL Report or the proceedings of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka, or talked to anyone who was in Mullavaikkal at the end of the… Read more »
SR Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights
Video of SR Emmerson’s media conference at end of his visit https://lk.one.un.org/news/full-statement-by-ben-emmerson-un-special-rapporteur-on-human-rights-and-counter-terrorism-at-the-conclusion-of-his-official-visit/ Human rights and counter-terrorism: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism concludes visit to Sri Lanka Preliminary findings of the visit to Sri Lanka Colombo (14 July 2017) – The United Nations Special… Read more »
Thirumurugan Gandhi on Self-Determination & Autonomy
https://youtu.be/CFAQ7etGNYQ UNHRC Side Event on March 17, 2017 in Geneva in English.
Sri Lanka’s Current Political Impasse
Some additional thoughts by Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, July 4, 2017 Editors note: Read in conjunction with Sri Lanka’s deepening political crisis: Not losing an opportunity to lose another opportunity by the same author. Sri Lanka has entered another phase of political crisis. It is a three-fold crisis. The first is at the level of the… Read more »
Ex-Diplomat Carne Ross: the Case for Anarchism
How a high-flying diplomat and Middle East adviser lost his faith in western democracy – but put his trust in people power by Andrew Anthony, ‘The Guardian,’ UK, July 9, 2017 If you were to play a game of word association with the term “anarchism” what would be the likely responses? Perhaps the anarchy sign,… Read more »
Audacity of Hope in a Broken City
by Devin Jayasundera, ‘Echelon,’ Colombo, June 28, 2017 THE NORTHERN PROVINCE IS IN A STATE OF ECONOMIC ISOLATION. WHILE THE STATE IS IN A POLITICAL DREADLOCK, ORDINARY PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN CHARGE For the last three months, Kamalnath*, 26, has been arriving to work in Chunnakam two hours late, leaving two hours early and spending his free… Read more »
An Uphill Battle Ahead for India
to Sustain Strategic Ties With US by Constantino Xavier, ‘TheWire.in,’ July 3, 2017 The failure to address the clash between ‘Make in India’ and ‘America First’ policies, and any changes in the narrow business interests of the US in China could prove problematic for India. Contrasting with the optimism with which US President Donald Trump’s election… Read more »
Northern Provincial Council – A Boiling Pot
by Thambu Kanagasabai, Toronto, June 27, 2017 Northern Provincial Council is [NPC] a creation under the Indo-Ceylon Accord of 1987 and the 13th Amendment to the constitution, all of which are of Indian and Sri Lankan Government’s making without the backing and endorsement of the large majority of Tamils and the leadership of the Liberation Tigers… Read more »
TNA – Is It Taking the Tamils for a Ride?
by Kumarathasan Rasingam, June 25, 2017 Tamil National Alliance [TNA], a loose group of four parties, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi [ITAK] Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization [TELO], People’s Liberation of Tamil Eelam [PLOTE] and Eelam People’s Liberation Front [EPRLF] was formed in 2001 with the blessings of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE} leadership. TNA… Read more »
Netherlands-Funded CEPA Project Wages Political ‘Counter-Insurgency’
On Diaspora, elected NPC Colombo Establishment and its global backers are trying to isolate the Northern and Eastern provincial councils by intervening through Colombo-based authorities, ministries and departments coming under the Central Government. Certain NGOs operating in Colombo also operate in the same manner. There is also a hidden agenda of diverting ‘post-war development assistance’,… Read more »
HRW: Minister Threatens Defender of Minority Rights
by Human Rights Watch, New York, June 19, 2017 Investigate, Prosecute Attacks on Muslims, Christians (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately repudiate statements by the country’s justice minister threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The incident highlights the government’s… Read more »
A Betrayal, Repugnant & Lethal
There was a prehistory to Black July, consisting of the teaching of contempt and the spreading of fear. It was that seeding which enabled Black July. Today we are living through the pre-history of an anti-Muslim riot. The demonising of all Muslims as fanatics hell-bent on taking over our land, our economy and our women… Read more »
Normalising the Abnormalcy
Reflections on Self-Determination, Justice and Peace in Post-War Sri Lanka by Prof. K. Guruparan, Melbourne, Australia, June 12, 2017 Text of the Mamanithar Late Prof C.J. Eliezer AM Memorial Lecture delivered on 12 June 2016 at the Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne I am deeply honoured by this invitation to deliver the Maamanithar Prof Christopher Jeyaratnam… Read more »
What the Families of the Disappeared Want
by K. Guruparan tweet, June 12, 2017 Demands put forward by the reps of the families of the disappeared to Pres. Sirisena during his visit to Jaffna on June 11, 2017 1. Release a list of all those who surrendered or were detained by the Sri Lankan Armed forces during and after the war, and… Read more »
We Eelam Tamils Embrace the 150th Birthday Celebrations of Canada
By Eelaventhan Manickavasakar, June 6, 2017 Canada’s concept of unity and diversity has a special appeal to the Eelam Tamils. Sri Lanka should learn lessons from Canada for it to survive in dignity and self honour. – Canada is also a classic example of how a multi lingual, multi national, multi religious state can preserve… Read more »
BTF & USTPAC Press Release on the Campaign for the Missing, Marking 100 Days
BTF & USTPAC call for UNHRC intervention re intimidation at missing person protests_May302017 BTF and USTPAC call upon the UN Human Rights Council to, a) Request the High Commissioner or his high-level representatives to visit the protestors in Killinochchi to stop the intimidation of the people who are already traumatised… Read more »
How a Haiti Child Sex Ring was Whitewashed
UN PEACEKEEPERS: HOW A HAITI CHILD SEX RING WAS WHITEWASHED by Katy Daigle and Paisley Dodds, Associated Press in ‘The Washington Post,’ May 26, 2017 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The general sat on a plastic lawn chair in the garden of his mother’s home, the scent of tropical blooms filling the air as he… Read more »
Facing Sri Lanka’s Ghosts
by Devon Haynie, ‘US News & World Report,’ May 18, 2017 With thousands still missing, Sri Lanka’s postwar progress comes to a halt. VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — At some point during its brutal 26 years, the Sri Lankan civil war brought terror or loss to virtually everyone in the country. For Kasipillai Jeyavanitha, a mother… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere
by International Crisis Group, Brussels, May 16, 2017 ICG Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere Executive Summary Two years into President Maithripala Sirisena’s term, Sri Lanka’s fragile hopes for lasting peace and cooperation across party and ethnic lines are imperilled. Despite significant achievements in the coalition government’s first nine months, progress on most of its reform… Read more »