from the Booklet of Sangam’s 26th Annual General Meeting in 2003, when Mr. Rajaratnam was given a Lifetime Achievement Award: Mr. J.M. Rajaratnam, a graduate of University of Ceylon, was the winner of a five year open government Scholarship for studies in Accounting in the UK. He was the CEO and Chairman, Board of Directors… Read more »
Yearly Archives: 2014
Lessons from Nehru’s ‘The Discovery of India’(1946) Book
Last month, the political stock of the descendants of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) received severe thrashing at the recently held General Elections in India. As such, the commemoration of his 50th death anniversary that fell on May 27th was muted. After his death, politician Nehru’s visions for a socialist India or a non-aligned India also had… Read more »
Red Pottus, Black Burqas
by Nimmi Gowrinathan, “The Washington Post’ Monkey Cage, June 16, 2014 Kim Yi Dionne: This guest post by political scientist Nimmi Gowrinathandraws from her earlier research and ongoing analysis of gender and violence in Sri Lanka. **** Muslim or not, women are hiding indoors in many parts of Sri Lanka today. Rumors that a bus full of members… Read more »
Buddhist-Muslim Unrest Boils Over in Sri Lanka
“They finished the Muslims in this area,” said M. Farina, who added that the police watched impassively Sunday evening as Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim shops and homes…
The Rajapaksas are hoping to consolidate the Sinhalese majority vote, which is about 75 percent of the country, by demonizing minority Muslims and Tamils, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu,
USTPAC Condemns Violence Against Muslims
USTPAC Press Release Attack on Muslims June172014 USTPAC condemns the violence against the Muslims in Sri Lanka Stronger international oversight urged to ensure accountability and protection of ethnic and religious groups Washington, DC, June 18, 2014: The United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) strongly condemns the attack on the Muslims in the town of… Read more »
Celebrities Join the Fight to Stop Rape as a Weapon of War
Angelina Jolie and British foreign secretary William Hague are hosted the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Luke MacGregor/Reuters Raj, a 25-year-old Tamil student, is watching a play, “Unlocked,” about three young male victims of rape. One of the actors is playing a character based on him. Even though he is in London, thousands… Read more »
TULF, 13th Amendment & Devolution
TULF’s letter to Indian PM Rajeev Gandhi on 13th Amendment – TULFs_disappointment_with_13th_Amendment_Bill “We feel it our duty to also express our disappointment with the proposals to solve the Tamil problem contained in the two Bills – the 13th Amendment to the constitution and the Provincial Councils Bill – presented to Parliament by the Sri Lanka Government…. Read more »
Nigeria Mulling Sri Lankan Example to Fight Terror
Abuja (AFP) – Nigeria’s military indicated on Thursday that it could follow the example of Sri Lanka in fighting terror, to bring an end to an increasingly deadly insurgency by Boko Haram militants. Related Stories Nigeria military studies Sri Lankan tactics for use against Boko Haram Reuters A high-ranking military delegation from the South Asian island… Read more »
#TimeToAct on Sri Lanka
Why has the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict forgotten the Sri Lankan survivors? Murdered victims of the conflict, including the journalist Isaipriya, who was raped and executedThe Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict begins today, June 10-13, 2014, on the banks of the Thames here in London. The Summit is… Read more »
Looming Troubles For Rajapakse
by M.K. Eelaventhan, June 11, 2014 Modi’s thumping victory stunned the world including Rajapakses. They Consoled themselves when Modi obtained the majority government not depending on Jaya who would have spared no stones unturned increasing enough pressure to listen to her demands including Eelam Tamils’ issues. However, this is also a blessing in disguise as she… Read more »
Estimates of Sri Lanka 2014 Paddy Production
It contributes the decline to a 15% reduction in paddy planted area due to the prolonged dry weather since the beginning of the season, especially in the main northern and eastern paddy producing regions.
‘Proliferation of Micronarratives Assists the Logic of Counterinsurgency’
In the context of the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle, when a “micronarrative” discourse about gender, caste, region or other “special interest groups” claims autonomous status, “when it divorces itself from the primary contradiction between the Tamil nationalist metanarrative and the Sri Lankan state, it only ends up fracturing a resistance movement against genocide,” argues Karthick… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 18
by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 6, 2014 Part 17 In the previous chapter (Part 17), I reviewed MGR’s two volume autobiography. To this chapter, I received the following comment from my long standing friend Prof. Sundaram Gunasekaran of University of Wisconsin, Madison. His thoughts were as follows: “Very interesting, especially the story of his [MGR’s]… Read more »
It’s #Timetoact => William Hague
We think it is fantastic that William Hague is hosting the first ever Global Summit on Sexual Violence in London next week, but we are concerned that he does not seem to be taking sexual violence in Sri Lanka seriously.Hague’s Preventing Sexual Violence initiative consists of two parts. The first part consists of persuading countries…
Letters from Sri Lanka
by Anuk Arudpragasam, ‘The Caravan,’ India, May 1, 2014 SRI LANKAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE / AFP PHOTO This image, released by the Sri Lankan government, claims to show an army soldier carrying a child near Mullivaikal during the final offensive against the Tigers in 2009. DRIVING NORTH along Sri Lanka’s newly relaid A9 highway last August,… Read more »
Text of CM Jayalalitha Memo to PM Modi
Text of the Memorandum presented by Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 3.6.2014 II. SRI LANKAN TAMIL ISSUE There are very strong sentiments amongst Tamils and in Tamil Nadu on a range of issues relating to India’s relations with the present regime in… Read more »
With the Rohingya in Myanmar
The Rohingya gave us the names of some Buddhists who they said had been leaders in slaughtering Muslims, and we visited one of these men they named. A 53-year-old farmer, he denied any involvement in the violence, but it was an awkward, tense conversation, partly because the Buddhists are angry at aid groups and journalists for (as they see it) siding with Muslims. Their narrative is that Muslim terrorists from Bangladesh are invading the country, overpopulating so as to marginalize the Buddhists, and then being coddled by foreigners.
UN Expert re Sri Lankans Migrating Abroad for Work
COLOMBO / GENEVA (27 May 2014) – “The Government of Sri Lanka must boost the efforts it has made in recent years in order to prevent exploitation and abuse of Sri Lankans migrating abroad for work, during the recruitment stage, while in service in the destination country, and upon return to the country,” the United… Read more »
Modi’s Play on Sri Lanka
My assessment is that political ideology will not play much of a role in deciding Modi’s foreign policy towards Sri Lanka. The critical factor will be Modi’s policy towards US and China. If Modi wants to take India even closer to the US and be a part of the US ‘Pivot to Asia’ project then there is reason for Rajapaksa to be worried.
Remember to Remember Part 2
In the Vanni, through the unceasing waves, LTTE created areas of full control. And invested heavily in projects of statebuilding that gave people a sense of dignity, safety, limited freedom of movement. Before that meeting, Sivaram saw those projects as waste of precious resources during the time of war. He was of the opinion that, as a direct consequence of state building, LTTE focused too much on expanding conventional capabilities and on protecting territory at the expense of its guerrilla roots. But the witnessing of statebuilding exercise has left an everlasting impression on the Vanni people as well as on the visiting diaspora. That investment paid off in the form of willing participation and in unflinching loyalty to the LTTE even in its dying days.