by 32 Civil Society Groups, Sri Lanka, April 19, 2022 Joint Statement by North East and South civil society on economic and political crisis We would like to state that these regimes have committed a crime against humanity against the Sinhala oppressed classes in 1971 and 1987-1989 and unleashed a genocidal process against the Tamils… Read more »
‘It’s Time Sinhalese People Understand Their Leaders Lied about Federalism’
Speech in Parliament by MP Gajen Ponnambalam, April 23, 2022 posted by Tamil Guardian, London Speaking in parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), stressed that the removal of the executive presidency is not sufficient, instead a total reform of the state on federal lines is needed. “For the first time,… Read more »
‘No Fire Zone’ in Sinhala
by Callum Macrae, Outsider TV, UK, 2015 vimeo.com/121541320
Sri Lanka’s Humanitarian Crisis could be the Start of a Political Upheaval
by Charu Lata Hogg, The Guardian, UK, April 24, 2022 Severe shortages of fuel, food and medicine appear to have unified Sri Lankans against the ruling Rajapaksa family Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented political and economic emergency, a result of government mismanagement and the effect of global crises. But the tiny island nation is… Read more »
My Neighbor the Suspected War Criminal
by Reveal News podcast, California, April 23, 2022 This month, atrocities in Ukraine have triggered new allegations of war crimes. While people around the world call for accountability, we look into why those who are suspected of committing war crimes in the past often walk free. Reporter and host Ike Sriskandarajah spent the past six… Read more »
Why Sri Lanka’s Protestors Must Topple the Statue of Bandaranaike in Colombo
by Thusiyan Nandakumar, Tamil Guardian, London, April 22, 2022 Just under two years ago, the US police killing of George Floyd reverberated around the world. In cities such as Bristol in the UK, protestors took to the streets. They marched to the city’s harbour and there, they toppled the statue of Edward Colston, a merchant… Read more »
Public Pummeling of Rajapaksa Rascals
by Sachi Sri Kantha, April 20, 2022 Well, well – you may call this commentary as schadenfreude. Rajapaksa rascals had it reaching their home territory – pummeled from left to right, head to heels and face to derriere for their family plundering in politics, since 2005. For those who have missed, I collect some excerpts… Read more »
This is What Caused Sri Lanka’s Worst Economic Crisis
Madhura Rasaratnam writes: Policies driven by Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, which have been the bedrock of the Rajapaksas’ governance vision, are no longer financially or politically viable by Marisa Rasaratnam, Indian Express, April 17, 2022 Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family is facing mounting public anger, calls for resignations and political defections amidst the island’s worst economic… Read more »
Seizing the Moment in Sri Lanka
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, April 7, 2022 Sri Lanka is in crisis. Protests have spread across the South, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It marks a remarkable turnaround in popularity, with demonstrations from the same electorate that less than two years ago delivered Rajapaksa a two-thirds majority in parliament. The speed in which protests have… Read more »
Potential Impacts of Sea-Level Rise upon the Jaffna Peninsula
How Climate Change Can Adversely Affect the Coastal Zone by Tharani Gopalakrishnan, Lalit Kumar, Journal of Coastal Research, J. of Coastal Research, 36(5):951-960 (2020). May 26, 2020 Abstract Gopalakrishnan, T. and Kumar, L., 2020. Potential impacts of sea-level rise upon the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka: How climate change can adversely affect the coastal zone. Journal of Coastal Research, 36(5),… Read more »
Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka
by UN Secretary-General, New York, March 31, 2011 POE_Report 2011 Executive Summary On 22 June 2010, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of a Panel of Experts to advise him on the implementation of the joint commitment included in the statement issued by the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General at the conclusion of the… Read more »
Sri Lanka Faces Worst-ever Economic Crisis
Triggering food and fuel shortages and protests by Neville Lazarus, Sky News, UK, March 29, 2022 In the past three months, fuel prices have increased three times, while essential food items have doubled. Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever economic crisis, which has driven up prices and triggered food and fuel shortages across the country…. Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 65
Ascendancy in Tamil Nadu Politics by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 30, 2022 Part 64 MGR biographer R. Kannan’s comments, on Part 64, received on Feb.20th was as follows: “Part-64 which I found most informative, tying together the various strands of that period of the cinematic and the political in MGR’s career. Marudhakasi’s memoirs are skillfully employed… Read more »
Annaipoopathy and Mothers Fighting for the Disappeared
by Nillanthan Maha in his blog, March 30, 2022 [translated by Google Translate, with some edits] The mothers of the missing opposed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Jaffna last Sunday. They have been rudely treated by the police. Annai Bhupathi is considered to be the forerunner of Ammuthiya mothers in modern Tamil politics. Thirty-four… Read more »
BTF Exhibit in Geneva
by British Tamils Forum, March 2022 Exhibition & Demonstration at UN Human Rights Council in Geneva March 31 & April 1, 2022 Information displayed at exhibition –> Land Occupied by Government Department in North in Acres Land grab P 3 FINAL Land grab P 4 FINAL
Random Thoughts of a Tamil Biographer
by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 25, 2022 Table – Select List of Eelam Tamil Biographies in English Having been an honorary columnist to the Sangam site for over the past 20 years, in frequently I do receive fan mail (mostly by email, but rarely by postal mail). Most are appreciative, but a few are pungent… Read more »
What are Thermobaric and Cluster Bombs?
A look at their use by the Sri Lankan army by Tamil Guardian, London, March 2, 2022 Russian manufactured cluster bombs used by the Sri Lankan military, photographed in Vanni, 2008. As Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine, it has been accused of launching deadly types of weaponry during its assault – thermobaric and cluster… Read more »
Sex, Repression & Sanskritization in Sri Lanka 1987
The 1987 Stirling Award Essay by Dennis McGilvray, Ethos, American Anthropological Association, Vol. 16, No. 2 (June 1988), pp. 99-127 The_1987_Stirling_Award_Essay_Sex_Repres Since 1952, when the concept of Sanskritization was first utilized by M. N. Srinivas in his study of the Coorgs of western India, the idea has been a useful, if at times ambiguous, tool… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget
Overspending and Underprotection by Daniel Alphonsus, ISAS South Asia Scan, National University of Singapore, November 18, 2021 Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget Sri Lanka’s internal and external security environments have changed considerably in the last decade. Internally, a three-decade long civil war ended, but the country experienced the first wounds of Islamic terrorism – the… Read more »
COVID-19: The Crossroads for Sinhala–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka
by Mohamed Imtiyaz Abdul Razak & Amjad Mohamed Saleem, Journal of Asian & African Studies, London, June 2021 https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096211021873 Covid 19 Sinhala-Muslim Relations Abstract Sri Lanka’s ethnic civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, and the government of Sri Lanka comprising the majority of the Sinhalese… Read more »