Monthly Archives: November 2022

CPA 2008: Essays on Federalism

by Rohan Edirisinha & Asanga Welikala, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, 2008 Essays on Federalism in Sri Lanka is a new collection of essays and articles on the Federal idea in Sri Lanka, edited by Rohan Edrisinha and Asanga Welikala. CPA has since its inception been at the forefront of the advocacy of federalism as a… Read more »

Does Sri Lanka Need a Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism?

by Mirak Raheem, Groundviews, Colombo, November 26, 2022 Groundviews on Instagram: “In 2018, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government laid the groundwork for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Its…” In the lead up to the September session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) the Government of Sri Lanka floated the proposal of establishing… Read more »

Right-sizing the Sri Lanka Army

by Major General Boniface Perera, Ph.D., Daily Mirror Opinion, Colombo, November 29, 2022 [Also Time to make the Sri Lanka Army leaner and meaner – Hard talk | Daily Mirror] The prime responsibility of the Army is to provide protection to the citizens and safeguard territorial Integrity and Sovereignty The veteran Indian diplomat turned security… Read more »

Murugeysen Tiruchelvam and Koneswaram Issue

by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 19, 2022 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan wrote a politically important letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on September 14, 2022.    In that detailed missive, the veteran Tamil MP pinpointed several measures being enacted under the current regime affecting the Tamil people…. Read more »

Sri Lanka at Brink of Humanitarian Crisis

Financial Partners Should Support Basic Needs, Promote Respect for Rights by Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch, New York, November 24, 2022 The dramatic fuel shortages that accompanied mass protests in Sri Lanka earlier this year may have eased, but for millions of Sri Lankans the economic crisis is worse than ever. This month, the United… Read more »

The Struggle of Memories against Oblivion

by Nillanthan Maha, November 27, 2022 [translation by Google Translate, with some corrections by the editor] This is the 14th Heroes’ Day since 2009. For the last 13 years, Heroes’ Day has been celebrated in one way or another, secretly and openly. Remembrance for the Tamil people has deeper dimensions than just crying and grieving…. Read more »

A Powerful Display of Tamil Nationhood and Collective Defiance

by People for Equality & Relief in Lanka (PEARL) Washington D.C.; November 27, 2022 — Today, on Maaveerar Naal (Tamil National Remembrance Day), thousands of Eelam Tamils will gather together by makeshift cemeteries and memorial plaques around the world as they remember those who gave their lives and futures for the liberation of the Tamil nation… Read more »

Revisiting the Academic Fraud of Epigraphist Senarat Paranavitana

by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 5, 2022 Guruge’s conclusion was, “…at some point in the pursuit of this goal of filling gaps in history,…Paranavitana stepped beyond the thin line which separates reality from the imaginary.” Introduction Oct 4th marked the 50th death anniversary of Senarat Paranavitana (1896-1972), renowned Sinhalese epigraphist and the former archeological commissioner… Read more »

Sinhalese Settlements and Forced Evictions of Tamils in the North-East Province

by Dr. Chelvadurai Manogaran, TamilNation, UK, June 1, 2000 The planned settlement of Sinhalese peasants in the North-East Province has threatened the economic, social and cultural future of Sri Lanka’s Tamils and undermined the political power they have wielded in the province where they have a long-established history of settlement. Don Stephen Senanayake, the first… Read more »