by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 14, 2013 Anti-Tamil riots of July 1983 Eminent bibliographer H. A.I. Goonetileke (1922-2003; long affiliated to the University of Peradeniya as its chief librarian) was one among the handful of contemporary Sinhalese scholars whom I respect very much. His bibliography on the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983 appeared in the… Read more »
Monthly Archives: July 2013
#99Eelamtamil Problems. but Unity Ain’t One
If we were not a united people, the struggle would not have lasted for 3 generations… Dissent should not be confused for disunity… The diversity of diaspora organizations, each operating in different spaces but united in the end goal is a strategic asset.
Rape: Sri Lanka’s Weapon of Genocide
My fellow Tamil women What have you done for peace in the isle? Take off your clothes and open up your vagina For the Sinhala warriors of the land of Buddha – Poem by an Angry Tamil Woman On February 26th 2013, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on sexual violence perpetrated on Tamil… Read more »
Interview with Callum Macrae
Interview by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, July 13, 2013 Tamil Guardian’s correspondent based in Toronto, Canada, caught up with the director of the documentaries ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ and ‘No Fire Zone – the killing fields of Sri Lanka‘, Callum Macrae, at the sidelines of FETNA 2013, to find out how he viewed Sri Lanka’s reaction to… Read more »
UK Immigration Court Rules on Sri Lanka Human Rights
Based on the evidence presented to them, the judges said they could make some factual findings, such as that between 40,000 and 100,000 Tamil civilians died in in the final days of fighting in 2009…
In terms of current human rights abuses, the UK ruling said, “year on year, the number of such disappearances is increasing during the peace, rather than decreasing”.
More Autonomy is Key to Sri Lanka’s Stability
History bears witness to the fact that no community can be kept in subjugation for long. India has rightly taken the stand that the amendment needs to be strengthened to instill greater confidence in the minds of Tamils that their interest lay in a united, peaceful Sri Lanka.
T.M. Soundararajan
Tribute video by Sangam. by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 20, 2013 Poets or lyricists provide the substance to their poem or lyrics. But, it is the singer’s voice (and to an equal extent the music director or the one who arranges the score) who offers the form for those poems or lyrics. Good examples were… Read more »
Island of a Thousand Mirrors
What it fails to entirely achieve is historical perspective—not everyone is well acquainted with the origins and details of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict. But what it does achieve, and quite remarkably so, is an idyllic, near-perfect picture of the island, beaded together from the childhood nostalgia of generations…
Rumblings of upheaval are too distant from their lives in Colombo. But when violence steps across their threshold, it tears the family asunder; Nishan, Visaka and their children flee to the United States,
Bahukutumbi Raman (1936-2013)
by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 3, 2013 In light of the recent death of Bahukutumbi Raman (1926-2013), I offer the following sentiments from an Eelam Tamil’s angle. What humorist Andy Rooney wrote once, “Spies are, generally speaking, maladjusted social misfits who can’t make a living at anything else”, fits perfectly to B. Raman who promoted… Read more »
A Writer Who Fought and Died for Tamil Eelam
Book title: War Journey – Diary of a Tamil Tiger Author: MalaravanPublisher: Penguin BooksPages: 123 This is the English version of a war diary that a LTTE fighter, known by his nom de guerre Malaravan, maintained – and which was found by fellow guerrillas after his death in November 1992. This diary of combat – and emotions – is an important piece of historical… Read more »
On the Sacrificial Ideology of the Liberation Tigers
…The concept of tiyakam, abandonment (of life), i.e. a rather specific Indian form of martyrdom, is cultivated by both male and female fighters. A martyr of the LTTE has not chosen like the Christian martyr to suffer in the mind the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. He has taken up arms against the sea of troubles trying to end them by opposing them. The concept of tiyäkam that has its roots in the last section of the Bhagavadgitä was revived in the struggle for independence of India…
Resistance and Martyrdom
by Peter Schalk, TamilNation.org, UK, 1997 Professor Peter Schalk has written extensively on subjects related to the struggle for Tamil Eelam. This essay is excerpted from* Martyrdom and Political Resistance : Essays from Asia and Europe (Comparative Asian Studies, 18) edited by Joyce Pettigrew published by VU University Press for Centre Asian Studies, Amsterdam. The book is essential reading for… Read more »
Birds of Freedom?
While some scholars argue that recent wars have thrust women into new roles, enabling them to transform their social situations, identities and destinies, others question whether females achieve ‘emancipation’ through active participation in warfare…
Malnutrition Among Northern IDPs
Attached is a report of a project started a year ago to lower malnutrition in IDPs in the Northern Province by 10%, paid for by Japan through the World Bank for US$2.7 million. A year ago the malnutrition figures were: Prevalence of anemia (Hb < 11.0g/dL) among children 0-23 months = 61.60% Prevalence of anemia… Read more »
Archaeological Sites Plundered
The North-Central and Wayamba Provinces are the worst affected. Since the war ended, archaeological and historical sites in the North and East are subjected to relentless pillaging.