by Al Jazeera, June 27, 2020 Deaths of P Jayaraj and his son J Bennix in police custody in India, have caused an outcry against custodial deaths. The death of a father and son in police custody in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has caused outrage after the victims’ family accused the police… Read more »
Monthly Archives: June 2020
Vital Statistics
2019 estimates for all provinces http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/VitalStatistics/MidYearPopulation/Mid-year%20population%20by%20district.pdf
MGR Remembered – Part 56
Formation of a Political Love Triangle by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 21, 2020 Part 55 [Front Note: Due to lack of resources available at hand now, comprehending the undercurrents of MGR expulsion from the DMK in October 1972, this had been the most difficult chapter for me to write.] Three autobiographies deserve notice. Though MGR… Read more »
Militarisation of Governance, Demographic Change and the Future of Democracy in Sri Lanka
For immediate release 18 June 2020 Militarisation of governance, demographic change and the future of democracy in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced an all-Sinhala Task Force on Archeological Heritage Management on June 2, which includes Buddhist monks, military officers and the head of the Derana media network, to “preserve the historical heritage… Read more »
The Appointment of Two Presidential Task Forces
by Center for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, June 5, 2020 5th June 2020, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by the appointment this week of two Presidential Task Forces by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. These appointments came soon after the Supreme Court refused leave to proceed to all petitioners on the… Read more »
Sri Lankan Presidential Task Forces Signal Deepening Militarization
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, June 3, 2020 (Washington D.C.; June 3, 2020) — PEARL strongly condemns this week’s establishment of two presidential task forces in Sri Lanka, which sets the country on a firm course to autocratic governance. The new presidential task forces are a serious escalation in the president’s move… Read more »
Different Ball Games by Members of the Same Political Parties
[We do not usually post such very political pieces — written in the inimitable South Asian take-no-quarter style — but since the next parliamentary election will be so crucial, we hope this article will at minimum start the dialogue. We will be encouraging the author to provide our readers next his ideas for what is… Read more »
Don’t Whitewash the Sri Lankan State’s Many Crimes
by Taylor Dibbert, Modern Diplomacy, Europe, June 12, 2020 A recent article in these pages examines the Sri Lankan government’s battle against the Tamil Tigers, the activities of the Tamil diaspora and more. Unfortunately, the article whitewashes the Sri Lankan military’s horrendous wartime abuses. One cannot fully understand or appreciate modern-day Sri Lanka and the… Read more »
The Vaddukoddai Resolution of the Tamil Nation of Sri Lanka
An Appraisal on the Legal Dimensions of the Resolution by Dr. Sandrasegaram Paramalingam, June 11, 2020 [On 22 May 1972, the first native Constitution of Sri Lanka was adopted and enacted by the Constituent Assembly. It proclaimed Ceylon as Republic of Sri Lanka. Though this Constitution survived only for six and a half years, the… Read more »
Looming Dictatorship in Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, June 11, 2020 Alarm bells are ringing and heard from various quarters about the direction of Sri Lanka being piloted by the military machine of Rajapakahe’s clan led by the military mindset President Gotabaya Rajapakshe who has a penchant to in tolerate criticism and opposition from any source and not hesitating to… Read more »
A Knee on the Neck of the Next Parliament
By Dayan Jayatilleke, Lanka Guardian, Colombo, June 11, 2020 http://www.ft.lk/columns/A-knee-on-the-neck-of-the-next-Parliament/4-701439 For the first time in our post-independence political history, we have a leader who does not regard it as necessary to appoint a Task Force that reflects to any extent, the composite reality of the area or citizenry concerned. It is a leadership that ignores… Read more »
Touring “Terrorism”: Landscapes of Memory in Post-War Sri Lanka
by Jennifer Hyndman & Amarnath Amarasingam, Geography Compass 8/8 (2014): 560–575, 10.1111/gec3.12149 Touring_Terrorism The Sri Lankan state’s power to narrate the war and characterize the enemy is an expression of “triumphalist nationalism” and is a selective remembering of war. Based on photographs taken during several field visits to these sites by both authors between December 2012 and… Read more »
What’s Wrong with the TNA?
by Mario Arulthas, Financial Times Colombo, June 5, 2020 A few weeks ago, Tamil news cycles were dominated by coverage of an interview given by the Tamil National Alliance Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran to a Sinhala media site. During the course of the interview, he made several comments which created controversy and outrage amongst… Read more »
TG Editorial: Mask Off
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, June 1, 2020 Even before they returned to power in Sri Lanka last year, the Rajapaksas never sought to cloak their brash espousal of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism. As defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ran a ruthless offensive that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, which his brother Mahinda oversaw as president, with… Read more »
PTF on Archaeology in the Eastern Province has no Muslims or Tamils
Why the Presidential Task Force on archaeology in the Eastern Province has no Muslims or Tamils By P.K. Balachandran/Daily Express, NewsIn Asia, Colombo, June 5, 2020 Colouring a narrative to advance an ethno-religious political agenda Colombo: The Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province, which was gazetted on 2 June, has… Read more »
Continuous Human Rights Violations
Uninterrupted & Continuous Human Rights Violations Against the Tamils in Sri Lanka by Kumarathasan Rasingam. – Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org., June 2, 2020 There is no denying of the fact that Tamils in Sri Lanka have been at the receiving end since 1948, when power was transferred to the majority Sinhala… Read more »
Battle of Elephant Pass: Twentieth Anniversary
When Tamil Tigers aimed for jugular at the Battle of Elephant Pass in 2000: Twentieth Year Remembrance by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 22, 2020 Sri Lankan President Gothabaya Rajapaksa made the following observations at the National Ranawiru Day commemoration held on May 19, 2020. Excerpts: “May 19th is a very important milestone in the history of… Read more »