by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Hausfeld & Co., LLP, Washington, DC, June 27, 2019 Rajapaksa-First-Amended-Complaint-Docket-No-35-6.26.19 27-June-2019-press-release on Amended Complaint TEN SRI LANKANS SUE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA FOR HIS ROLE IN TORTURE (Johannesburg, South Africa/Washington, DC) – June 27, 2019 Sri Lanka’s presidential hopeful, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, faces ten new… Read more »
Monthly Archives: June 2019
Reign of Sinhala-Buddhist Chauvinism in Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 17, 2019 Sri Lanka’s image as a prosperous and multi-racial peaceful country took a nose dive and u-turn from 1956 with the passing of Sinhala Only Act in 1956, a short-sighted political move by S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake to capture power at… Read more »
EPDP
by Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada, March 17, 2017 https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1047356/download 3. The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) Political Handbook of the World 2015 (PHW) states that Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) is a “Tamil-based” party (PHW 2015, 1373). The same source indicates it is a government party and that it “was formed in the… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Muslims Bloodied by Buddhism
by Ana Pararajasingam, ‘Asia Times,’ Bangkok, June 20, 2019 Sri Lanka has become more fragile, fractured and polarized following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks as the country’s Muslims are harassed and subjected to violence by mobs of Sinhala Buddhists who form the majority of the island’s population. Although those targeted by jihadist violence on Easter… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Strategic Use of Sexual Violence Against Tamils
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, June 19, 2019 International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict: Sri Lanka’s Strategic Use of Sexual Violence Against Tamils (Washington, D.C.; June 19, 2019) – On the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, PEARL condemns Sri Lanka’s ongoing conflict-related sexual… Read more »
Pursuing Accountability for Atrocities
by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Washington, DC, June 13, 2019 Announcement Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing to examine accountability for mass atrocities, with a focus on the tools and mechanisms available to the United States government. “Mass atrocities” are defined as large-scale, deliberate attacks against civilians, and include genocide, crimes… Read more »
Canadian House of Commons Passes Motion re Genocide of Tamils
by Canadian Parliament, June 19, 2019 https://openparliament.ca/debates/2019/6/19/cheryl-hardcastle-1/ (halfway down page) Sri Lanka Oral Questions June 19th, 2019 / 3:15 p.m. Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I am hopeful that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That the House, (a) extend its… Read more »
US Senate Resolution 184 on Sri Lanka
Passed by US Senate, June 10, 2019 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 184 Condemning the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, offering sincere condolences to the victims, to their families and friends, and to the people and nation of Sri Lanka, and expressing solidarity and support for Sri Lanka. IN THE SENATE… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 24
Tamil militancy – a manifestation by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Tribune,’ Singapore, January 26, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 23 The United Front government faced grave economic difficulties in 1973. It needed economic growth for its rampant nationalization programs. The government took over several business and industrial organizations from the private sector, employing over 100 people,… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 23
Srimavo’s constitutional promiscuity by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Tribune,’ Singapore, accessed October 17, 2017 Chapter 1 Chapter 22 “The Tamil-speaking people of Ceylon believe that only a federal type constitution would enable them to look after their own affairs alone and would safeguard them from total extinction. Only under such a constitution, the Tamil-speaking people… Read more »
Lessons from Sri Lanka’s War
by VK Shashikumar, Indian Defence Review, Issue Vol 24.3 Jul-Sep 2009 | Date : 19 Nov , 2014 http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/lessons-from-the-war-in-sri-lanka/, accessed June 19, 2019 Conduct of Operations This is how the Sri Lankan government described (through a Ministry of Defence Press Release) the war strategy of its defence forces on May 18, 2009 after the annihilation of the… Read more »
Sergei De Silva-Ranasinghe’s Review Of Eelam War IV
Reflections by Michael Roberts, Colombo Telegraph, Sept. 17, 2016 DeSilva-Ranasinghe’s article – how-sri-lanka-won-the-unwinnable-war Asia Pacific Defence Reporter Sept 2009 This article – https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sergei-de-silva-ranasinghes-review-of-eelam-war-iv-reflections/ ADDENDUM, 14 September 2009 In analyzing historical issues over the years, I came to the conclusion that a multiplicity of factors generates the events that are understood to be major transformations – so… Read more »
Nine Decisions that Helped Lanka Beat LTTE
by V K Shashikumar, Indian Defence Review, October 2009 Not available in 2019 on Indian Defence Review website, but copied at http://www.sify.com/news/nine-decisions-that-helped-lanka-beat-ltte-imagegallery-0-international-kexv2Lbdede.html , accessed June 19, 2019 What we don’t see Will a good number of soldiers, tanks and artillery ensure victory in a war? These are outward aspects of a war which alone are… Read more »
Lessons from the War in Sri Lanka
by VK Sashikumar, Indian Defence Review – July – Sept 2009 – Vol 24(3) Lessons from Sri Lanka’s War – Indian Defence Review 2014 version, PDF http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/lessons-from-the-war-in-sri-lanka/0/ “The news about the killing of Prabhakaran sparked mass celebrations around the country, and people poured into the streets of Colombo, dancing and singing. Looking back at the… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 22
‘Only God Can Save the Tamils’ By K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore Chapter 1 Chapter 21 “Aandavan than aeni Tamilarai Kappatra Mudyum” – Only god can save the Tamils – were the prophetic words of S J V Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Thamil Arasu Kadchi. Chelvanayakam sensed the gathering storms in the context of… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 21
A further lack of perspicuity By K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore Chapter 1 Chapter 20 Dudley Senanyake was sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time on March 25, 1965. A few weeks after resuming office, he was again afflicted with his peculiar stomach ailment. The pain affected him to the point… Read more »
Sri Lanka, MSF Amidst All-Out War
by Fabrice Weissman, Academia.edu, accessed June 2019 In Claire Magone et al. (ed.), Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed. The MSF Experience, London, Hurst & Co, 2011. Sri_Lanka_MSF_Amid_All-Out_War 2011 On 18 May 2009, the Sri Lankan government’s crushing victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) put an end to twenty-six years of civil war. Described by… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 52
Concepts on Humor and Comedians by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 9, 2019 Part 51 Correspondence with Kannan on Karunanidhi For additional clarification on the theme covered in Part 51, I provide the email correspondence (4 items) I had with fellow MGR biographer Kannan. I reproduce these below with his permission. Item 1: From Kannan to… Read more »
Tamils Are Haunted By Hope For Relatives’ Return
In War’s Aftermath by Laura Beltran Villamizar, National Public Radio, Washington, DC, June 2, 2019 https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2019/06/02/651883770/in-wars-aftermath-tamils-are-haunted-by-hope-for-relatives-return In the past 30 years, some 60,000 to 100,000 Sri Lankans have disappeared, Amnesty International reports. Ethnic and religious tensions have always been a part of Sri Lanka’s history, which includes a decades-long war between government security forces and… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 20
Tamil leadership lacks perspicuity By K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, December 22, 2001 Chapter 1 Chapter 19 This is a story of another agreement. This time between S J V Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi and Dudley Senanayake, the leader of the United National Party. In short, another agreement entered… Read more »