originally published November 29, 2003 http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/english/srilanka/slpoutcome.asp In December 2002, 130 delegates from 47 nations chose Sri Lanka as the site of the first Nonviolent Peaceforce pilot project. The Nonviolent Peaceforce is recruiting, training, and sending 50 international civilians to help establish a foundation for sustainable peace in Sri Lanka between 2003 and 2005 The first… Read more »
Monthly Archives: November 2003
For Family That Fled War
by Kari Haskell, The New York Times, November 29, 2003 THE NEEDIEST CASES For Family That Fled War, Safety, and Some Help, Too Zeenathul and Mohamed Zawril, back row, with their son, Ifraz, and daughters, Sahla, left, front row, and Sara. Mr. Zawril feared for the safety of his family because of war in their… Read more »
New Tamil School in Cranbury, NJ
originally published November 28, 2003 We are pleased to announce a new Tamil school in Cranbury. This is a branch of the existing Bharathi Tamil School and will start classes in January 2004 in the Chimaya Mission classrooms in Cranbury. There will be an open house for enrollment on December 14th at 1.30 pm at the Mission…. Read more »
Next Phase of Negotiations
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 28, 2003 Next phase of negotiations: Don’t wait Is the Southern polity ready to do serious political business with the LTTE? Unless the Sinhalese political class makes up its mind in the next few weeks to do pretty serious political business with the LTTE in the coming months, the… Read more »
“We Are Not Making Preparations for War”
by V. Pirapaharan; LTTE Peace Secretariat, November 27, 2003 LTTE LEADER REJECTS PRESIDENT’S ALLEGATION: “WE ARE NOT MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR WAR” Mr Vellupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in his annual statement commemorating the Heroes’ Day has vehemently rejected accusations made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga that his organisation was strengthening… Read more »
Appeal to President and Prime Minister
by Dr. Victor Rajakulendran; originally published November 26, 2003 Her Excellency, Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumarathunga The President of Sri Lanka His Excellency, Ranil Wickramasinghe The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Your Excellencies, Re: The current power struggle between both of you I am making this appeal to both of you at a time when your country, which… Read more »
The “Wisdom” of Mr. H.L. de Silva
by Shan Suntharam; originally published November 26, 2003 Ostensibly, it was an address to mark the 50th anniversary of his call to the Bar by Mr. H. L. de Silva, who was described as a constitutional “luminary.” Thus, the expectation was of feast of constitutional wisdom distilled from fifty years of immersion in the law. However,… Read more »
Indictment Against Sri Lanka
by Nadesan Satyendra from a 1993 booklet of the same name published in London by the Legal & Human Rights Division of the International Secretariat of the LTTE The island of Sri Lanka (known earlier as Ceylon) is 25,000 square miles in extent, situated about twenty miles from the southern extremity of the Indian sub continent…. Read more »
The Three-State Solution
by Leslie H. Gelb, The New York Times, November 25, 2003 President Bush’s new strategy of transferring power quickly to Iraqis, and his critics’ alternatives, share a fundamental flaw: all commit the United States to a unified Iraq, artificially and fatefully made whole from three distinct ethnic and sectarian communities. That has been possible in the past only… Read more »
A Truce is Not Enough
by Ana Pararajasingham; The Sunday Leader, Colombo, November 23, 2003 originally published November 24, 2003 A truce is not enough Despite the occasional violations, the truce between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels has held for almost two years. The long awaited proposal by the Tamil Tigers for an interim governing authority had revived… Read more »
It’s the Constitution, Stupid
by M. Nadarajan; originally published November 21, 2003 When the current US president’s father, the first President Bush, tried to get re-elected the catch phrase “It’s The Economy, Stupid” was used effectively to defeat him, blaming the state of the country’s economy on him. The current problems in Sri Lanka are being blamed on the Constitution…. Read more »
Workshop on Environmental Management
originally published November 20, 2003 Workshop on Environmental Management in North-East of Sri Lanka. December 1- 4, 2003. Venue: University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka http://www.esn.ac.lk/emnes2003
Tamil Student Volunteer Program
originally published November 20, 2003 Click here to find more information about The Student Volunteer Program (TSVP), an international development NGO coordinated by Canadian high school, college and university students: http://www.TSVP.ca. —————————————— The site had been updated with the Program’s latest experiences in the North and East of Sri Lanka, including: i) Progress reports from Fall… Read more »
Power Unchecked
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, November 19, 2003 Power Unchecked – Peace is jeopardised in the name of power The constitutional deadlock in Sri Lanka continued this week as President Chandrika Kumaratunga, now comfortably entrenched in her usurped positions at the head of the ministries of defence, interior and media, stood firm against Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s toothless… Read more »
Playboy Interview with Nehru
by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 18, 2003 Revisiting That Unusual Playboy magazine Interview of Nehru Introductory Note by Sachi Sri Kantha I was a bit amused to read recently a column by Gouri Chatterjee [The Telegraph, Calcutta; November 6, 2003] in which she had made passing reference to that unusual Playboy magazine interview by the then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal… Read more »
Promises to Keep
by Anne Henry; Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 18, 2003 A report released by UNICEF last week on catch-up education for children in the North and East makes for uncomfortable reading. While the Board of Investment trumpets Sri Lanka’s achievements in “lead[ing] the South Asian region… with its high literacy rate of 91% placing it way ahead… Read more »
The ISGA Compared to the B-C Pact
by Wakeley Paul, Esq.; originally published November 18, 2003 THE INTERIM SELF-GOVERNING AUTHORITY COMPARED TO THE BANDARANAIKE-CHELVANAYAGAM PACT A modest set of demands by Wakeley Paul The unimplemented B-C PACT was the closest we came to achieving a Federal Constitution. Under Section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution, Parliament was the sole legislative organ of the nation…. Read more »
A Reply to ‘A Case Against Federalism’
by Wakeley Paul, Esq.; originally published November 17, 2003 A REPLY TO “A CASE AGAINST FEDERALISM” [Published in The Island, Oct.29, 2003] http://www.island.lk/2003/10/29/featur01.htmlSinhala Supremacy for everyone’s good? OR Is it a monstrous injustice for a Tamil to be a Sri Lankan Citizen? Should we not refuse to remain a species Half Extinct? BY Wakeley Paul BARRISTER AT… Read more »
THO-USA Flyer
originally published November 17, 2003 THO USA flyer Nov 2003
Observations of the UN HRC re Sri Lanka
originally published November 17, 2003 This report comes to us thanks to the Tamil Centre for Human Rights http://www.tchr.net. Note in particular reference to impunity, disappearances, torture, and the PTA. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE(CPR/CO/79/LKA/Future) 79th session CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee SRI… Read more »