April 21, 2020 Dear Sangam members, With deepest regrets, we inform you that Mr. Sri Thillaiampalam of Boston, MA passed away today peacefully due to natural causes. He was a founding member of the Eelam Tamil Association (ETA) in the late seventies, which pushed the passage of a resolution urging the US President and Congress to… Read more »
Monthly Archives: April 2020
From Sachi’s Files – Chapter 14
90 Published Letters on Sri Lanka and Eelam by Sachi Sri Kantha Long before President Donald Trump promoted ‘fake news’ in 2016, Eelam Tamils suffered from the fake news promoted by the intelligence agencies of Sri Lanka and India, and the infamous Lake House (aptly ridiculed as Fake House) news organization in Colombo, since 1980s…. Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Dismal Political Achievements
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 23, 2020 The Sri Lankan Government is claiming credit as the first country in the world to have successfully controlled the Corvid-19 virus spreading world-wide. However, it is to be noted that this claim is premature and has to be… Read more »
Tamil Prisoners’ Massacre 1983 Revisited by M. Nithyanandan
by Asian Tribune, Malaysia, July 26, 2004 Reliving the Welikade Prison massacres of 25 & 27 July 1983, is ‘horror revisited’ said M. Nithyanandan (54 yrs), a former Lecturer of the University of Jaffna and at present Head of the news and events divison of Deepam Television – a Tamil Language TV channel based in… Read more »
P. Sathiyaseelan Recalls Eelam Liberation Struggle
Posted in Tamil Diplomat, London, December 31, 2014 – February 25, 2017 Ponnadurai Sathiyaseelan formed the Tamil Manavar Peravai, or Tamil Students League/Union/Federation/Organization in 1970 in reaction to PM Bandaranaike’s ‘standardization’ of university entrance to which priviledged Sinhalese students over Tamil students. In November 1970 this movement held a protest in the North which drew… Read more »
ITJP: Sri Lanka’s Militarisation of COVID-19 Response
by International Truth and Justice Project, South Africa, April 8, 2020 ITJPSL.COM ITJPSL /A_T/ GMAIL /D_O_T/ COM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: YASMIN SOOKA English ITJP_COVID-19 press release (Merged) copy PRESS RELEASE: Sri Lanka’s Militarisation of COVID-19 Response Accompanying Infographic Johanesburg: The lack of civilian oversight over Sri Lanka’s militarised COVID-19 response raises some very serious human rights… Read more »
Dr. Siva Chinnatamby: 20 years after her Death
by Sachi Sri Kantha, April 8, 2020 Twenty years have passed since the death of Dr. Siva Chinnatamby (1923-2000), an eminent Eelam Tamil woman physician. For her times, she was one of the rare women bio-medical scientists from Ceylon who received international recognition for her contributions to women’s health. Recently, while net surfing, I came… Read more »
Justice for War Victims, Covid-19 & the Presidential Pardon
to a convicted criminal by Kumarathasan Rasingam – Secretary – The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org., April 9, 2020 President Gotabaya’s pardon of a convicted criminal to let him loose to prowl free on the streets is only a licence and encouragement for him and other similar minded criminals to embark on a… Read more »
Militarised Troika Intervenes in Civil Affairs of North-East
by TamilNet, March 31, 2020 Occupying Colombo is introducing a military-controlled troika to each of the eight districts in the North and East to determine who is permitted to venture out during the lockdown, now imposed as a curfew to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, informed civil sources in Mannaar told TamilNet on Tuesday…. Read more »
AI: Religious Minorities Must Have Their Final Rites Respected
by Amnesty International, London, April 3, 2020 Sri Lanka’s authorities must respect the right of religious minorities to carry out the final rites of their relatives in accordance with their own traditions unless they can show that restrictions are needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Amnesty International said today. Two of the early COVID-19-related… Read more »
HRCSL Deeply Concerned by Presidential Pardon Granted to Ex-soldier Convicted of Murder
by Daily FT, Colombo, April 2, 2020 HRCSL writes to President saying pardon sends negative message, reinforces allegations of impunity and lack of justice for victims of violations Says SC judgment in Mirusuvil case considered landmark judgment Granting Presidential pardon to convict of such a judgment sets very negative precedent Says HRCSL would have been… Read more »
Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion
by Iselin Frydenlund, pre-publication version for Oxford Research Encyclopedias, UK, September 26, 2018 Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion …Fundamentally, the conflict in Sri Lanka is about failed nation-building in the postcolonial state, demographic politics, access to resources, and political influence, and it follows ethnic and linguistic lines. Religion—that is, Buddhism—has… Read more »
Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila-Verugal
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), March 12, 2020 Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila – Verugal – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) PEARL is launching the 3rd installment of its “Sinhalization of the North-East” series, this time focusing on Seruwila-Verugal. This series examines the scope and impact of the… Read more »
Pres. Gotabaya’s Twisted Accountability & Justice
By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM {London} Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and PRESIDENT, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization. President Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s pardon and release of former Army Sergeant Ratnayake who was sentenced to death in 2015 for the brutal murder of 8 Tamil civilians including children in December… Read more »