by, Vincent Bevins, The New York Review of Books, May 18, 2020 Suspected communists under armed guard, Jakarta, Indonesia, December 1, 1965 In May 1962, a girl named Ing Giok Tan got on a rusty old boat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her country, one of the largest in the world, had been pulled into the global… Read more »
Monthly Archives: September 2020
U.K. Conservation Society Details Links to Colonialism and Slavery
The National Trust said a third of the properties it manages had direct links to colonialism or slavery. Some have a “hugely uncomfortable” history, it said. by Elian Peltier, The New York Times, September 22, 2020 LONDON — The country house of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, an ardent imperialist; an estate in northern England… Read more »
Remembering Thileepan’s Sacrifice 33 Years On
by Tamil Guardian, London, September 26, 2020 Today marks 33 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people. Thileepan began his fast on the September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people… Read more »
Amazing Mum
The ‘amazing’ mum who fled two civil wars and ended up running a Flintshire petrol station by Kelly Williams, Daily Post, UK, September 19, 2020 Shanty Yoganathan’s daughter Niz shared her mum’s incredible tale as she gets set to celebrate her 50th birthday A proud daughter has shared the extraordinary tale of how her mum… Read more »
PEARL Condemns Sri Lanka’s Latest Assault on Tamils’ Right to Remember
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, USA (Washington D.C.; September 24, 2020) — PEARL is deeply concerned by reports that a Sri Lankan court has banned commemorations of Lt. Col. Thileepan, who died while conducting a hunger strike for Tamil rights in 1987. PEARL condemns the arrest, pursuant to the ban, of those… Read more »
Transitional Justice at the UN Security Council
International Community Commits to Nuanced, Comprehensive Transitional Justice at UN Security Council Open Debate by International Center for Transitional Justice, New York, September 21, 2020 As the world continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a global economic downturn, United Nations (UN) member states will convene this week for the annual General Assembly,… Read more »
A New Domestic Process in Sri Lanka
Will not bring reconciliation and justice Sri Lanka Campaign, London, Sep 25, 2020 At the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last week, the Government of Sri Lanka tried dismiss calls for greater international action on Sri Lanka, saying that it is committed to a domestic process to deliver reconciliation and justice. But how could… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Boiling Tamils
And failing Tamil political leaders by Thambu Kanagasabai: LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, September 21, 2020 There is no denying of the fact that the Tamils in Sri Lanka have been at the receiving end by the successive Governments in power and targeted in the agenda of GENOCIDE including structural GENOCIDE… Read more »
Joint Statement by United Nations Secretary-General, Government of Sri Lanka May 2009
by UN Department of Public Information, News and Media Division, New York, May 26, 2009 SG/2151 Following is the joint statement by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations at the conclusion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Sri Lanka on 23 May: At the invitation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri… Read more »
UNHRC Session 45
High Commissioner for Human Rights opening statement, September 14, 2020 In Sri Lanka, I am troubled that the new Government is swiftly reneging on its commitments to the Human Rights Council since it withdrew its support for resolution 30/1. Among other developments, the proposed 20th amendment to the Constitution may negatively impact on the independence… Read more »
Lyricist Maruthakasi’s Autobiographical Notes
An English translation by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 15, 2020 Front Note by Sachi Last year, I contributed a short memorial item on Aiyamperumal Maruthakasi (1920-1989), famed Tamil lyricist. on his 30th death anniversary. I had provided my English translations to three of his immortal movie lyrics. https://sangam.org/remembering-aiyamperumal-maruthakasi-1920-1989/ This year marks Maruthakasi’s birth centenary…. Read more »
Return of Executive Presidency
Threatens to undermine Sri Lanka’s pact with minorities The Tamil people opposed the Executive Presidency both for its centralisation of power and also for its corrupting influence on democracy. by M A Sumanthiran , Indian Express, New Delhi, September 14, 2020 9:04:46 am There is no doubt that the 20th Amendment to the Constitution Bill… Read more »
Tale of a Tiger
Facets of LTTE Chief Prabhakaran’s life by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily FT, Colombo, May 13, 2020 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 11 years ago in combat with the armed forces of Sri Lanka on 19 May 2009. The longest war in South Asia came to an end after the… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 57
Expulsion from DMK by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 27, 2020 Part 56 I provide the exchange I had with friend and fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan. In his email of June 24th, he had noted, “Dear Sachi, Read chapter 56 with interest and could imagine why this must have been difficult without all the source… Read more »
A Trilingual Slab Installed in Sri Lanka by Admiral Zheng He
by R Shanmugananthan, August 28, 2020 TRILINGUAL-INSCRIPTION Admiral Zheng He made seven expeditions in the Indian Ocean. In Sri Lanka he set up a Trilingual slab (stele) with inscriptions in Devinuwara in circa 1409 CE. It was found in Galle in 1911 by a British Engineer. The Asian Voyage: In the Wake of… Read more »
Pres. Gotabaya’s Forward March towards an Exclusive Sinhala-Buddhist State
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 3, 2020 President Gotabaya’s throne speech on August 20, 2020 as expected does not spring any surprise or disappointments to the minorities particularly Tamils as it is a frank and forthright speech which is crowning Buddhism and Sinhalese and expressing… Read more »
Tamils Have Not Abandoned Human Rights for Economic Development
Sri Lanka’s ethnic minority remains committed to both, but not one at the expense of the other by By J. S. Tissainayagam, The Diplomat, Washington, DC, August 24, 2020 Sri Lanka’s August 5 parliamentary election results are being interpreted by some as an indication that the Tamils of the country are moving away from regional Tamil-nationalist parties… Read more »
Statements re International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearance North & Eastern Province Date 30.08.2020 Hon Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria, The High Commissioner Human Rights commission, Geneva Justice for the families that are suffering from enforced disappearance in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Today 30 August is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced… Read more »
The Challenges Facing Sambanthan and the TNA
by Harim Pieris, The Island, Colombo, August 26, 2020 The recent election results reveal interesting changes in Tamil politics in Sri Lanka. The predominant representative of the Tamil people, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which contest elections under its largest constituent party, the Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), saw its share of the national vote… Read more »