Yearly Archives: 2014

A Remittance Dependent Import-Export Economy

View(s): The Sri Lankan economy is increasingly becoming a remittance dependent import-export economy. In the first half of this year remittances amounted to US$ 3.36 billion — a 10.6 per cent increase from that of the first half of last year. These remittances in the first half of the year almost wiped out the trade deficit,… Read more »

‘Sinhala Colonisation a Great Worry for Tamils’

The most urgent step necessary in Sri Lanka is to halt the Sinhala colonisation programme being implemented by the government to change the very identity of the traditional Tamil areas, Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sambanthan said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Mr. Sambanthan said the programme was aimed… Read more »

Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Trial

by Sachi Sri Kantha, Sept. 4, 2014 Book Review: Rajiv Gandhi Kolai: Marmangalum Maraikkappadda Unmaikalum [Rajiv Gandhi Assassination: Secrets and Hidden Truths] by S. Doraisamy, Vikatan Publishers, Vikatan Pirasuram 806, Chennai, Dec. 2013, 229 pp, 115 Indian rupees. [in Tamil]   A derisive Tamil idiom used by Jaffna elders is ‘Suttri suttri suppanra kollaikulle’ [i.e.,… Read more »

Witness Testimony to OISL

http://www.canadiantamilcongress.ca/article.php?lan=eng&cat=pr&id=144     URGENT Appeal from CTC: Witness Testimony from Tamil Canadians Needed in Support of UN Investigation     Our Dear Community,   As many of you may know, on August 5th, 2014 the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced it will accept submissions pursuant to the mandate… Read more »

CEPA Forum in Colombo Live

Post-War Development in Asia & Africa http://cepasymposium2014.wordpress.com/live-stream/ Previous sessions have been posted on YouTube. TIME SESSIONS 5.00PM – 6.30PM Inaugural session – 31st August 2014 <Main Hall> DAY 1 – 01st September 2014 09.00AM – 10.00 AM Registration and tea 10.00AM – 10.30 AM Welcome and Introduction: <Main Hall > 10.30AM – 12.30 PM Panel 1: Development and… Read more »

Land Use Around Puttalam Lagoon

https://www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/asia/elg/mcp/initiatives/coastal_ecosystems_rehabilitation_and_conservation_in_sri_lanka_and_thailand__bmz_/resources___sri_lanka/ “This project forms a component of the Mangroves for the Future Initiative (MFF), a multicountry, multi-sector programme involving tsunami-affected countries of the Indian Ocean.” vvv

‘Where Serfdom Thrives’

Dear Sir,We are gradually republishing out-of print books about Tamils in Sri Lanka using print-on-demand.The latest one is titled “Where Serfdom Thrives – The Plantation Tamils of Sri Lanka” by Mayan Vije and published in 1987 by the Tamil Information Centre (TIC). [Madras, India : Published by Tamil Information & Research Unit on behalf of… Read more »

Monitoring Change in Sri Lanka’s Valikamam High Security Zone:

by Geospatial Technologies & Human Rights Project, American Academy for the Advancement of Science, Washington, August 2014 Full report http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/AAAS_Sri_Lanka_2014.pdf or AAAS_Sri_Lanka_2014 Between 2011 and 2014, large numbers of structures were added to the study area in a manner indicating that they were residential in nature. Left Image: DigitalGlobe | Right image: Airbus Defense and Space |… Read more »

Sri Lanka: Picturing Genocide and War Crimes

Sri Lanka may have given evidence against itself in the larger context of the “genocide” of Tamils in 2009, a widely accepted phrase in the legal community for what happened when the Sri Lankan Armed Forces bombed a “No Fire Zone” killing up to 75,000 Tamil civilians including children, women, and the elderly in just… Read more »

MGR Remembered – Part 20

Part 19 by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 24, 2014 A synopsis of MGR’s political career Was it Amma (aka Jayalalitha) magic or MGR magic? In the recently held India’s general election (May 2014), All India Anna DMK, founded by MGR in 1972 (and currently led by his protégé Jayalalitha) made a convincing sweep in Tamil… Read more »

‘This Divided Island’

from Atlantic Books: Pages: 336 ISBN: 9780857895950 In the summer of 2009, the leader of the dreaded Tamil Tiger guerrillas was killed, bringing to a bloody end the stubborn and complicated civil war in Sri Lanka. For nearly thirty years, the war’s fingers had reached everywhere: into the bustle of Colombo, the Buddhist monasteries scattered… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Intransigence

Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, said Tuesday that his government would not cooperate with the United Nations investigation begun last month into suspected human rights abuses, including possible war crimes, committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Mr. Rajapaksa’s intransigence puts Sri Lanka in the company of North Korea and Syria, two countries that also barred… Read more »

Sri Lanka – Hiding the Elephant

Ramu Manivannan, Ed., Sri Lanka – Hiding the Elephant: Documenting Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity (Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005), pp. 976, Price Rs. 2000/- Book review by Prof. V. Suryanarayan, ‘South Asia Analysis Group,’ August 13, 2014 Paper No. 5765            … Read more »

Dr. Grace Rajamalar Barr Kumarakulasinghe (1908-2013)

by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 19, 2014 ‘It’s better late than never’ – is a favorite working dictum of mine. Thus, I offer this brief late tribute to Dr. Grace Rajamalar Barr Kumarakulasinghe, who died on April 26, 2013, at the ripe age of 104 years! I presume, her longevity is a record for any… Read more »

RAW’s Cockamamie Story – 25th Anniversary

For the uninitiated, the acronym RAW in the title stands for Research and Analysis Wing, India’s equivalent of CIA. In my previous commentary on rebutting the baloney of Subramanian Swamy, I made reference to his evading answer on RAW’s activities in Sri Lanka.   Thus, I wish to reminisce on the 25 year old most… Read more »

Joint NPC/EPC Letter to UNHCHR

NpcEpc_JointLetterTo_OHCHR_17August2014 Joint Letter from the Members of the Northern Provincial Council and the Eastern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka August 17, 2014 The Hon. Navanethem Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland Dear Honorable Madam High Commissioner… Read more »