HRW: Still No Justice on Sri Lanka War Anniversary

UN Pursues Accountability in Response to Government Inaction by  Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director, Human Rights Watch, New York, May 16, 2023 On May 18, Tamils in Sri Lanka will mark Mullivaikkal Memorial Day, in remembrance of those who died in the final stages of the country’s brutal civil war that ended in 2009. Thousands… Read more »

Conference on Antiquity, Continuous Existence & Political Rights

Of the Tamil nation in the island of Sri Lanka by Council of Eelam Tamils, United Kingdom, House of Commons, UK, May 15, 2023 Conference May 2023 Papers delivered — Introduction Professor R. Sri Ranjan, President, International Council of Eelam Tamils Chairperson, National Council of Canadian Tamils Safeguarding women and children from Sri Lankan state’s… Read more »

Notes on Reaching 70 Not Out

Part 1 by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 8, 2023 [Felicitations to our long-time contributor!!! – Editor] by Sachi Sri Kantha I reached 70 today (May 8th). I’m quite happy about this landmark, because when I was born in Sri Lanka in 1953, the then life expectancy for male babies was only 58. And my mother… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s New Anti-terrorism Law is Old Wine in New Bottle

If torture is to be eradicated in Sri Lanka the institutions of the magistrate and police need to be reformed. by J.S. Tissaiyanagam, The Diplomat, Washington, DC, May 5, 2023 Sri Lanka’s government is desperate to quash dissent. It faces opposition on multiple fronts – people protesting onerous austerity measures to combat an economic crisis,… Read more »

Amnesty: Widespread Protests re ATA

Widespread Protests in Sri Lanka Highlight Unifed Opposition to Anti-Terrorism Act by Amnesty International, May 2, 2023 In response to increasing protests throughout Sri Lanka in response to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), the proposed replacement legislation to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Amnesty International USA Asia Advocacy Director Carolyn Nash said: “The ATA poses… Read more »

USCIRF Recommends Sri Lanka for Special Watch List

by US Commission on International Religious Freedom, May 1, 2023 USCIRF Annual Report 2023 – Sri Lanka RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ■ Include Sri Lanka on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA); ■ Direct U.S. Embassy officials to… Read more »

America’s Bad Bet on India

New Delhi Won’t Side With Washington Against Beijing by Ashley Tellis, Foreign Affairs, New York, May 1, 2023 For the past two decades, Washington has made an enormous bet in the Indo-Pacific—that treating India as a key partner will help the United States in its geopolitical rivalry with China. From George W. Bush onward, successive… Read more »

Designation of Sri Lankan Governor

Due to Involvement in a Gross Violation of Human Rights PRESS STATEMENT ANTONY J. BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 26, 2023 The United States is designating Wasantha Karannagoda, Governor of North Western Province in Sri Lanka, pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023, due to his involvement in a… Read more »

The Ethnology of the ‘Moors’ of Ceylon

by the Hon. P. Ramanathan [read April 26, 1888] Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 1888; 10(36): 234-262. Ramanathan Ethnology of ‘Moors’ of Ceylon 1888 Introductory Note by Sachi Sri Kantha 135 years ago, Ponnambalam Ramanathan (1851-1930) read a paper entitled ‘The Ethnology of the Moors of… Read more »

The Smell of Terror

by Tissaranee Gunasekera, Groundviews, Colombo, April 23, 2023 “On land a tiger, in the water a crocodile.” A Bengali proverb In Sri Lanka terror means Tamil or Muslim. When the J.R. Jayewardene government responded to the ethnic problem not with the promised political reforms but with repression and the PTA was born, the concept of… Read more »

Ancient Hindu Shrine on Kurunthoormalai Hill was Destroyed by Soldiers

led by Minister Vidura Wickramanayake states Jaffna District MP Sumanthiran in Parliament;Urges Govt not to Continue in Racist Direction 9903_25th+april+2023.pdf (amazonaws.com) (Excerpts from Speech made in Parliament on 25 April 2023 by Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran PC) Video of the speech at https://fb.watch/kcEU-YAWeR/ I am mentioning this Kurunthoormalai issue and according to the… Read more »

Tamils Flag Escalating Attacks on Temples in Northern Sri Lanka

by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, April 23, 2023 Several Tamil political parties have called for a protest on April 25 against the recent temple attacks, among other issues Tamils in Sri Lanka have witnessed an escalation in the attack on Hindu temples in recent weeks, a trend that they note is part of the… Read more »

Sudan is at Risk of Unravelling from Decades of Injustice

by Azza Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Middle East Eye, April 25, 2023 The civil war raging in Khartoum is a culmination of the violence to which the Sudanese state has subjected its citizens over many years )n 13 April, I happened to send a family member based in the UK a short WhatsApp video of a… Read more »

Myanmar’s ‘Forgotten War’ Lurches Deeper into Horror

by Guy Dinmore, InterPress Service, April 17, 2023 KAYIN STATE, Myanmar, Apr 17 2023 (IPS) – Food is passed around a campfire, and a guitar strums as cool night air tumbles down mountain cliffs, relieving the jungle of its heat. A dozen or so young Myanmar activists – some having just travelled long distances evading military… Read more »

Civilian Killings and Disappearances during Civil War in El Salvador

by Amelia Hoover Green and Patrick Ball, Demographic Research, Vol. 41, Article 27, pps. 781-814, October 1, 2019 DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.27 ABSTRACT Background: Debate over the civilian toll of El Salvador’s civil war (1980–1992) raged throughout the conflict and its aftermath. Apologists for the Salvadoran regime claimed no more than 20,000 had died, while some activists… Read more »

‘Prisoner #1056’ by Roy Ratnavel

From the publisher, Penguin Random House, April 18, 2023 ABOUT PRISONER #1056 An incredible immigrant story from a prominent Canadian Tamil who fled torture and imprisonment, arrived in Canada with $50 in his pocket, then rose from the mailroom to the executive suite of the country’s largest independent asset management company. Roy Ratnavel’s astonishing journey began… Read more »

Premadasa’s Saber-Rattling with Rajiv

And RAW’s rascality in 1989 by Sachi Sri Kantha, April 2, 2023 Former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s (1924-1993) 30th death anniversary falls on May 1st. 15 years ago, I wrote about the puzzles of his assassination, alleged to be by the LTTE (but NOT proved legally!), in this website [https://www.sangam.org/2008/05/Premadasa_Assassination.php?uid=2906]. As such, for his… Read more »

Idol Politics: Knowledge and Action

by A.Nillanthan, March 25, 2023 In the North, more than three statues have been opened in the last one week alone. Along with Nataraja statue, Valluvar statue, Sangliyan statue, there is a bell obelisk in Tirunelveli market. We looked at the politics behind these idols in last week’s article.The religious politics behind these idols should… Read more »