by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene, The Sunday Times, Colombo, March 17, 2024 As familiar wrangling in Geneva takes place over the review of Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights Council, there is an eminently sound argument to be made, (ad nauseam until the point is acknowledged) that the country’s many ineffective bodies on transitional justice… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 75
Chief Minister – Tangling with the Cerberus dog of the Center by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 25, 2024 Kannan’s critical comments and my response I provide MGR scholar and my pal Kannan’s critical comments on the content of Part 74 (received on Jan 20, 2024) below: “Many thanks indeed for part 74 and the three… Read more »
Modi’s Party Doesn’t Control All of India. But He’s Working on It
As an election nears, political strife between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition-held states is straining the federal formula that holds India together. by Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar, The New York Times, March 23, 2024 Reporting from Chennai and New Delhi in India Published March 23, 2024Updated March 25, 2024, 12:09 p.m. ET It is the final frontier for… Read more »
Roots of Ethnic Contestation in the Eastern Province
As in the past, the contestation is over title to the land by PK Balachandran, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 10, 2023 Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province is again becoming a contested region between ethnic groups. This time round it is more between the Tamils and Sinhalese, with the Muslims in the periphery. This is because of the… Read more »
Stamp of Defiance and Aspiration
by Tamil Guardian, London, August 29, 2012 Stamps such as the one above were produced by Tamil protestors during the mass civil disobedience movement of February to April 1961 when Tamils across the North-East united to oppose the Sri Lankan government’s rapidly escalating ‘Sinhala Only’ policies. The protests brought the civil administration in the Tamil… Read more »
TG: Sinhala Buddhism Unleashed
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, March 17, 2024 The Sri Lankan state is on a concerted mission. Following a long history of killings and massacres, it is fervently pursuing a more insidious endeavour across the North-East, attempting to erase Eelam Tamil existence. Buddhist monuments are being purposefully constructed, whilst attempts to seize Tamil-owned land have persevered… Read more »
Tamil Tiger Fighters Killed in Sri Lanka War Buried ‘Chaotically’ in Secret Mass Grave
by Kithsiri Wijesignhe, Journalists for a Democratic Society, Europe, March 16, 2024 Latest findings from a secret burial site in Sri Lanka reveal that bodies of male and female Tamil Tiger combatants who died in war with state security forces have neither been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for… Read more »
Thinking as a Nation in the Time of YouTubers
by Nillanthan Maha, March 16, 2024 Published by Uthayan, Jaffna, March 17, 2024 [Translated from the original Tamil, with some improvement by the Editor.] On the 9th, the police raided the Shiva shrine on Vedukunari hill. Eight people were arrested. The day after they were imprisoned, on the 10th, on the last day of the… Read more »
“Col” Karuna’s Eastern Tiger Revolt
Against LTTE 20 years ago by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily Mirror, Colombo, March 16, 2024 Karuna projected himself as the “Eastern national leader”, second only to Prabhakaran in the Tiger hierarchy Karuna kept LTTE resistance alive during the days of the IPKF. He and his former deputy Reagan led the counter offensive against the ill-fated Tamil… Read more »
Vedukkunari Hill Aathi Lingeswarar Temple
by Centre for Policy Initiatives, Colombo, accessed March 19, 2024 High atop Vedukkunaari Hill in Sri Lanka’s Vavuniya district, an ancient temple stands at the precipice of a religious and legal storm. Revered by the local Tamil community as the Vedukkunaari Aathi Lingeswarar Temple for over 3,000 years, it now finds itself embroiled in a… Read more »
CPA: Elusive Justice and Emblematic Cases in Sri Lanka
by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, March 2023 CPA Elusive-Justice-and-Emblematic-Cases-in-Sri-Lanka-March 2023 INTRODUCTION Bhavani Fonseka In February 2023, victims who had filed habeas corpus cases in the High Court in Vavuniya had a small victory in their case with the judge making an order for the military to produce their family members who had surrendered to… Read more »
Eulogy to My Mother
by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 14, 2024 Front Note Puvaneswary Sachithanantham, my mother, died on March 2, 2024. Born in April 10, 1936, she had lived for 87 years and welcomed four great grandsons. For her memory, I provide excerpts of a 1995 essay I wrote in English. This was the title essay of my… Read more »
America’s Largest Hindu Temple Opens in NJ
By Lavina Melwani, Hinduism Today, Hawaii, January 1, 2004 All photos from BAPS You can now travel to india without boarding a plane or even leaving your home in America! Indeed, you will think you have arrived in 17th-century India, but you are actually in a small, very American town—Robbinsville, New Jersey. In this… Read more »
The Sri Lankan Civil War and Its History
Revisited in 2020 by Nithyani Anandakugan, Harvard International Review, August 31, 2020 On June 9, 2020, Sri Lankans occupied the streets outside the US Embassy in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, holding signs condemning the racism, police brutality, and other maladies plaguing the United States. Sri Lanka’s social issues also… Read more »
Core Group Statement at 55th UNHRC
HRC 55 Item 2 General Debate – Sri Lanka Core Group Statement Thank you, Mr President. This statement is on behalf of the Sri Lanka Core Group comprising Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the United States, High Commissioner, There have been several important legislative developments regarding human rights, reconciliation and civic… Read more »
Pasumai Thayagaam Oral Statement at UNHRC
by Iniya Ravikumar, Pasumai Thayagaam, March 4, 2024 Item 2 General Debate at the 55th UNHRC following UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report on Sri Lanka
HCHR Update on Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Geneva, March 1, 2024 Presentation of the High Commissioner’s annual reports on Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras Oral update on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua Presentation of the High Commissioner’s annual report on Cyprus Oral update on progress in reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka… Read more »
PEARL Oral Statement
by Sahithyan Thilipkumar, People for Equality & Relief in Lanka, Geneva, March 4, 2024 Item 2 General Debate at the 55th UNHRC
TRG: Addressing Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka
Challenges, Concerns, and the Call for International Intervention February 29, 2024 – Geneva, Switzerland TRG Addressing Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka Feb 2024 ARED-Amparai-APPEAL-Feb2024 Tamil Rights Group (TRG) met with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances in a private session and issued a comprehensive statement addressing the ongoing crisis of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. The statement highlighted critical challenges,… Read more »
Alternative Facts in a Parallel Universe
Daily FT editorial, Colombo, March 11, 2024 Many are talking about the book recently published by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa titled “The Conspiracy to Oust Me from the Presidency.” As the name indicates, the supposed tell-all by the ousted leader makes for some fascinating reading, despite it being far removed from reality. This is in… Read more »