Born in Jaffna, Irupalai Koppai on 23-02-1928 and resided in Thoppu, Achuveli and Maryland, USA. Sabapathy Thillairajah passed away on Wednesday 22-11-2023 in America. Beloved son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Sabapathy. Beloved son-in-law of the late Mr. and Mrs. Vallipuram of Thoppu Achuveli, Tamil Eelam. Beloved husband of the late Rasamma. He is… Read more »
In Memoriams: Randor Guy and Prof. Robert L. Hardgrave Jr.
by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 19, 2023 Madabhushi Rangadorai, aka Randor Guy: DOB – 1937 Nov 8 and DOD – 2023 Apr 23 Prof. Robert L. Hardgrave Jr: DOB – 1939 Feb 6 and DOD – 2023 May 21. As one of the biographers of M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), an Indian movie star turned a successful… Read more »
Book Review: ‘Politics of Hate’
Religious Majoritarianism in South Asia by Knox Thames, Global Policy, Durham University, UK, May 18, 2023 Politics of Hate: Religious Majoritarianism in South Asia edited by Farahnaz Ispahani. HarperCollins India 2023. 336 pp., £17.99 paperback 9789356293557, $14.99 e-book 9789356290013 The history of the Indian subcontinent is as vast as the region’s size and population. Consequently, foreign… Read more »
Alapara Club: Is the Taste of Jaffna Changing?
by Nillanthan Maha, November 11, 2023 On the 4th, a party was held at Dilco Hotel, Jaffna. The Jaffna Municipal Council administration and the concert have contacted the hotel management and inquired about the event. The hotel management has given the contact information of the Colombo-based company called “Shuttle Vibe” which organizes the event. Some… Read more »
TGTE to Launch a Movement for New Norms for Peace & Justice
by EIN Presswire, October 26, 2023 Such a global campaign for peace and justice has become more urgent today due to the threat of the Israel-Palestine conflict spreading throughout Middle-East We need to keep evolving and creating other systems to create solutions to conflict.” — former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo NEW YORK, UNITED STATES,… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 73
Notes on the released Final Two Movies by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 9, 2023 About the contents in Part 72 of this series, pal and fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan on Sept 3rd sent me the following comments. “Thank you for part 72. You have pulled together the strands of that momentous period. Even AIADMK men… Read more »
2024 Budget
Prime focus on SOE reform and corruption [discusses budget going to the military – Ed/] by Daily FT, Colombo, November 14, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as Finance Minister, yesterday presented the Budget for 2024, a year which will start the election cycle. The welfare allocation for 2024 is close to Rs. 200 billion compared to… Read more »
Dr. Rajan Sriskandarajah (1943-2023)
Dr. Sriskandarajah graduated from the University of Ceylon, Colombo with a degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1969. After practicing in Sri Lanka he undertook post-graduate training in England, where he obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, England in 1977. Upon moving to the United States Dr. Sriskandarajah… Read more »
Book Review: Prisoner #1056 – How I Survived War and Found Peace
by Roy Ratnavel, Viking/Penguin Random House, Canada, 2023, 260 pp, US$27.00 by Sachi Sri Kantha, October 28, 2023 This book of memoir by Roy Ratnavel (born 1969), a naturalized Canadian of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, has achieved bestseller status in Canada this year. The memoir has 12 chapters altogether, among which the first three (in… Read more »
Palestine Israel War: Whose Side are the Tamils On?
by A. Nillanthan, October 21, 2023 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the armed struggle of the Tamil people began to gain momentum, Tamil movements like EROS, EPRLF, PLOT etc. received military training in Palestine. Those who received such training were called “PLO Rainies” in the homeland. Some of them – Suresh Premachandran,… Read more »
Why Britain Fails to Hold War Criminals to Account
Amal Clooney and Rupert Skilbeck on why Britain fails to hold war criminals to account Three reforms are needed to make its international justice efforts more robust, say the lawyers by The Economist, October 19, 2021 In the year and a half since Russia invaded Ukraine, Britain has repeatedly condemned Vladimir Putin’s illegal act of… 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… Read more »
Dairy Farmers & Livestock Left in the Lurch!
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, Colombo, October 1, 2023
Deeper Sufferings
Many Tamil writers from Jaffna peninsula have written both prose & poetry. But their readings have largely remained within smaller groups. Artists from Sri Lanka have also spoken through their creations by T.M. Krishna, The Telegraph Online, Calcutta, India, September 29, 2023 In 2011, when I travelled in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, I… Read more »
Notes on Reaching 70 Not Out – Part 2
Andy Rooney’s influence on my letter writing by Sachi Sri Kantha, October 9, 2023 I consider Andy Rooney (1919 – 2011), one of my favorite humorists, as a teacher in English writing for me. Twelve years had passed since his death on Nov 4, 2011. Rooney warned prophetically in one of his columns in early… Read more »
ICJ: Parliamentary Privilege Used to Undermine Independence of the Judiciary
Sri Lanka by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, August 30, 2023 The ICJ today expressed concern about attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka under cover of parliamentary privilege. On 22 August 2023, Sarath Weeresekera, a former Minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the country’s ruling political… Read more »
Reconstructing the Population History of the Sinhalese
The major ethnic group in Śrī Laṅkā by Prajjval Pratap Singh, 6 Sachin Kumar 6 Nagarjuna Pasupuleti, Niraj Rai, Gyaneshwer Chaubey 7 R. Ranasinghe Show all authors Show footnotes Open Access Published:August 31, 2023 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107797 Download .pdf (.15 MB) Highlights • Higher West Eurasian genetic component in Śrī Laṅkā than South India • A strong gene flow beyond the boundary of… Read more »
Tamil Coin Issued by King Ellalan during the Anuradhapura Era
by Prof. Paramu Pushparatnam, Ezhuna Online, September 6, 2023 [translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with improvements by S-J] As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, the ancient history of the Tamils is still shrouded in Mahavamsa darkness, but recent archaeological studies in various parts of Sri Lanka have revealed the biographical information… Read more »
RAW: Canada, India & Sri Lanka
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pulls down the pants of RAW rascals by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 27, 2023 As a long term observer of the sins of India’s gumshoes, I’d say ‘three cheers’ for Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for pulling down the pants of RAW rascals on September 18th. He claimed ‘Agents of the… Read more »
Partheeban alias Thileepan’s Death-Fast Weaponised Non-violence
by DBS Jeyaraj, Financial Times, Colombo, September 27, 2023 Rasiah Partheeban alias Thileepan engaged in a fast unto death protest on 15 September 1987. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) stalwart died after 12 days of fasting on 26 September without even drinking water. Thileepan’s 36th death anniversary was on 26 September 2023. This… Read more »