The elder statesman who never was Sampanthan’s death prompted glowing tributes from Colombo but relative indifference in the Tamil community, which gained nothing from his and the Tamil National Alliance’s compromises with the Sri Lankan state by Mario Arulthas, Madura Rasaratnam, Himal, Colombo, July 10, 2024 “I will make my people ungovernable!” Rajavarothiam Sampanthan exclaimed,… Read more »
HRW: Authorities Target Religious Minorities
Renewed UN Resolution Needed to Counter Government’s Divisive Campaign by Human Rights Watch, New York, July 28, 2024 (New York) – Sri Lankan authorities are conducting a campaign to deny Hindus and other religious minorities access to places of worship and other property and redesignate locations as Buddhist sites, Human Rights Watch said today. Government agencies, including the… Read more »
HRW Briefing Note on Human Rights in Sri Lanka
by Human Rights Watch, New York, June 21, 2024 Introduction Resolution 46/1 was adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2021 and is due for renewal in September 2024. It mandates the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project, which gathers evidence of international crimes for use in future prosecutions, as well as ongoing reporting by OHCHR. Renewing the… Read more »
UK PM to PM Jayawardene re Black July 1983
by British Prime Minister, London, November 28, 1983, thanks to Mario Arulthas, July 26, 2024 https://x.com/MarioArul/status/1816552074169008428
Black July 1983: 40 Years On
by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, London, July 2023 An overview of the events of the Black July Pogrom of 1983, and its relationship to Sri Lanka’s continued cycles of violence and impunity. SLCPJ 2023-July-Black-July-40-Years-On Introduction Forty years ago today, on 23rd July 1983, a mass anti-Tamil pogrom broke out in Sri Lanka,… Read more »
Harris’s Indian Heritage Is Deeply Felt
If Little Advertised Many Indian Americans see Kamala Harris as another example of the diaspora’s success and influence. by Anupreeta Das, The New York Times, July 24, 2024 Reporting from New Delhi To most who saw the quotation being circulated this week as a meme, it was just something funny that Kamala Harris said in a… Read more »
Who is Kamala Harris?
A look at her Tamil roots by Tamil Guardian, London, July 21, 2024 As US President Joe Biden dramatically dropped out of the upcoming presidential race earlier today, he announced his support for current Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for the US 2024 presidential election. If nominated, she would be the… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Pre-Presidential Election Politics
Uncertainty or Turmoil? by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Polity.lk, July 7, 2024 The coming few months have the potential to produce major political changes in Sri Lanka. The presidential election is constitutionally due to be held on a date decided by the Election Commission between 17 September and 16 October. It will certainly mark a crucial moment… Read more »
Population of Sri Lanka by Ethnic Group 1880 to 2020
by Subasium, Colombo, Dec 15, 2019 https://youtu.be/HFO_L3Hw4b8?si=xLRcFY6Ww41V8_At Source of data: http://www.statistics.gov.lk (Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012) http://www.statistics.gov.lk ( Population by ethnic group and census years) http://sis.statistics.gov.lk (Population by ethnic group)
Building Entrepreneurship: Nation Building
by Nillanthan Maha, June 22, 2024 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with some corrections by the Editor.] On the 16th in Jaffna, an award ceremony was held at a tourist hotel located at Pungakulam Junction. It was the event for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards of the Tamil Nadu’s Virudhu Nagar Rotary… Read more »
Notes on Reaching 70 Not Out – Part 5
A Zest for Writing by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 25, 2024 Generativity in Three Countries The word ‘generativity’ is defined as ‘the desire to care for and contribute to further generations; desire to leave a legacy’. [International Encyclopedia of Psychology, vol.1, Frank Magill (ed), 1996]. Normal humans, of both sexes, possess this desire. That’s why… Read more »
UNHRC 56: Sri Lanka Core Group Statement
Delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, Geneva, June 19, 2024 Thank you Mr President, This statement is by the Sri Lanka Core Group comprising Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the United States. High Commissioner, Thank you for your recent report on accountability for enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka… Read more »
Chopstick Travel: Jaffna Kool
by Luke Martin, Chopstick Travel, March 2024
Review: ‘Brotherless Night’
‘Brotherless Night,’ an ambitious novel about Sri Lankan civil war, wins $150K prize by National Public Radio, Washington, DC, May 13, 2024 Audio at V.V. Ganeshananthan’s ‘Brotherless Night’ The writer V. V. Ganeshananthan has won this year’s Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, for her novel Brotherless Night. This is the second year of the prize, which… Read more »
Review: ‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens’
‘Trojan horse’ novel tackling colonisation and war wins Miles Franklin Award by Jason Steger, The Sydney Morning Post, July 25, 2023 Shankari Chandran has pulled a fast one. Her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens has the sort of title and cover that suggest readers are in for a gentle read about the funny old residents of… Read more »
TRG Calls for Action and Accountability Following UNHRC Report
on Sri Lanka’s Enforced Disappearances by Tamil Rights Group, Markham, Canada, June 25, 2024 Markham, Canada – Over fifteen years following the end of Sri Lanka’s Genocidal war against Eelam Tamils, families of the forcibly disappeared are still searching for answers about the whereabouts of their loved ones. The recent UN Human Rights Office report released on… Read more »
Opening Statement of Elizabeth K. Horst, Nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka
by Senate Foreign Relations Commitee, Washington, DC, May 9, 2024 Video – Hearing: [2024-06-13] NOMINATIONS | United States Senate Committee on… (Sri Lanka starts at 1 hour, 13 minutes, plus the introductory statement by the Chair early on.) Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Rickets, and distinguished Members of the commitee, thank you for holding this hearing…. Read more »
Assessing Shortcomings in the State Dept.’s Foreign Assistance Grants Process
Money is Policy by U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight & Accountability, Washington, DC, June 4, 2024 https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/money-is-policy-assessing-shortcomings-in-the-state-departments-foreign-assistance-grants-process/ Statement of Robert A. Destro, Former Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and Special Representative for Tibetan Issues Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Crow, and Members of… Read more »
Australian Company’s Multibillion Sandmining Project Mired in Mannar Protests
by Mimi Alphonsus and S. Rubatheesan, The Sunday Times, Colombo, June 16, 2024 Protests hinder progress towards mining licence Residents allege large-scale land robberies involving brokers working for company Environmentalists fear existential threats such as soil losing fertility and contamination of water sources Company representative downplays impacts of the project on people’s livelihood For over… Read more »
M.K. Eelventhan – Appreciation; Part 2
by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 22, 2024 Part 1 Eelaventhan as an Author Having been in public life for nearly six decades, most Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu do recognize Eelaventhan as a persuasive bilingual speaker, in the oratorical traditions of Dravidian leaders Anna (1909-1969) and Nedunchezhian (1920-2000). But Eelaventhan’s skills as a… Read more »