Record of a Recent Digital Duel Now connect the dots please: LTTE turncoat K.P – Kapila Hendawitharana – Chinese gumshoes. Hence, this note. by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 4, 2022 As one who enjoyed the sword fencing duels – MGR vs. Veerappa or MGR vs. Nambiar – in old Tamil movies in my teenage years,… Read more »
2022 – Tamil Eelam Politics?
by Jathindra, Samakalam, January 2, 2022 [translated from the Tamil by Google Translate with some edits] There is a claim in Naladiyar (a Tamil poetic anthology written 100 CE) “All the days that pass are your lifetime.” Does this apply to our politics? Because in a political struggle – as the years go by, people… Read more »
Seven Tamil Parties Seek Modi’s Help for Implementing 13-A in Full
by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily Mirror, Colombo, January 8, 2022 In a significant political move, seven political parties mainly representing the Sri Lankan Tamils of the Northern and Eastern provinces have written a joint letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his help to fully implement the provisions of the 13th amendment to the Constitution…. Read more »
Sumanthiran Charts Way Forward
by Marianne David, The Morning, Colombo, January 8, 2022 No need to reinvent the wheel in constitution making No response on building consensus on previous processes US will take leading role on Sri Lanka at UNHRC once again ‘One Country, One Law’ opposite to promises give to world TNA still awaiting meeting with Prez on… Read more »
Tamil Timing
Coming crack-up, President’s plans and Tamil timing by Dayan Jayatilleke, Daily FT, Colombo, January 6, 2022 … Tamil talks: Last trainThe process of negotiation among the Tamil and Muslim parties over a consensus document to be addressed to India with regard to the Accord and the 13th amendment in light of the coming Constitution, has… Read more »
Obituary: Margaret Trawick Wanted to Retire in the LTTE’s Vanni
by N. Malathy, January 7, 2022 I first heard about Margaret Trawick through the “Tamil Circle” email group during the late 1990’s. This was before internet-based news sites had become common. ‘Tamil Circle” was a way to share news about the homeland. From a university library, I borrowed Margaret’s book cum her PhD thesis, “Notes… Read more »
‘Executive Authoritarianism’ as Sri Lanka’s New Political Normal since COVID-19
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Social Scientists Association, Colombo. October 2020 or shortly thereafter The ways in which countries from the global North to the global South have politically managed the unprecedented public health emergency situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has both national and global dimensions, have given rise to much anxiety among democratic… Read more »
Planning the New Year
by Nillanthan on his blog, January 1, 2022 [translated from the Tamil by Google Translate with some edits] What awaits in a new political year? Or what to do? The decision can be a continuation of the last year, so the new year can be planned based on a compiled estimate of the previous year…. Read more »
Activating the Dormant 13th Amendment of 1987
by Thambu Kanagasabai – Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 26, 2022 The 1987 13th Amendment, a conceived and delivered baby of India under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 for adoption by Sri Lanka, has been lying in the constitution of Sri Lanka partly implemented and mostly ignored by the… Read more »
Mystery of the Murder of an American Priest in Batticaloa
The truth that came out 30 years later! [translated from the Tamil by Google Translate with some edits] by Niraj David, TamilWin, ~December 15, 2021 His name was Rev Fr. Eugene John Hebert. The locals affectionately call him Father Haybier. He belonged to Congregation of Jesus Christ of America and was a famous human rights… Read more »
The Tamils are the Original Inhabitants of Sri Lanka
by CV. Wigneswaran, Colombo Telegraph, December 16, 2021 C. V. Wigneswaran Someone asked me; We read in the press your response to a question recently. You seem to be making sweeping statements about the Sinhalese. As far as we know the Sinhalese were the original inhabitants of this Island and the Tamils came in the… Read more »
How the Tigers Got Their Stripes
A Case Study of the LTTE’s Rise to Power by Kate Cronin-Furman & Mario Arulthas, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (Special Issue on Consolidation of Nonstate Armed Actors in Fragmented Conflicts), Washington, DC, December 27, 2021 Abstract Over the course of six months in 1986, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) eliminated their rival… Read more »
Memoriam: Prof. Kandiah Balasubramaniam (1932-2021)
by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 1, 2022 Only in last September, I wrote about my memories of student days about Prof. A. A. Hoover and passingly mentioned Prof. Kandiah Balasubramaniam. Then, last November, the news of death of Prof. Balasubramaniam saddened me a lot. He died on November 9th, at the age of 89 in… Read more »
Nationality, Complex Identities & Multiple Belongings
by Dr. Rohini Hensman, Pravada/Polity, Colombo, December 2021 NationalityComplexIdentitiesandMultipleBelongings I am not arguing that the nation-state is on the verge of becoming defunct; this is far from being the case. Rather, I am arguing we should reject the notion that a unique and homogeneous ‘nationality’ is a marker of our identity. Indeed, with climate change… Read more »
Sangam Global Jan.1
by Sangam Global, January 1, 2022 www.sangam.global Saturday, January 1, 2022 11:00 am EST (US & Canada) 4:00 pm BST (UK) 9:30 pm IST (Tamil Nadu & Eelam) 10:30 pm Myanmar * Live links YouTube Facebook
MGR Remembered – Part 63
‘Manthiri Kumari’ (1950) movie – revisited by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 21, 2021 Fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan’s comments to my previous part 62, received on October 4th, was as follows: “You have discussed two difficult issues related to MGR. Annaism brought much flak. Most of what it said about nationalization and the right to… Read more »
Pure Tamil Movement
by Tamil Vaan Avai, Germany, December 26, 2021, 7am est, 1pm Europe, 5:30pm India
Poet Subramania Bharati’s Centenary of Death
Personal Thoughts by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 10, 2021 One hundred years have passed since Indian freedom fighter and the gifted Tamil poet of the 20th century, Subramania Bharathi (1882-1921) lost his life prematurely at the age of 39, on the early hour of September 12th. Quite many of the hagiographical accounts remembering his life,… Read more »
Myanmar Coup: Military Regime Seeks to Weaponize Religion
In a propaganda blitz, the military portrays itself as the guardian of Buddhism and stokes fear of a Muslim takeover. by Billy Ford, Zarchi Oo, US Institute of Peace, Washington, DC, December 16, 2021 Ten months have passed since Myanmar’s military overthrew the country’s elected government, and by now it’s apparent that arrests, executions, torture… Read more »
An Ancient Rice Bowl Complicates the Story of Civilisation
in India by The Economist, London, December 4, 2021 In Tamil Nadu, archaeology is part of a contest over history and identity CHENNAI Rarely can a spoonful of rice have caused such a stir. When M.K. Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, addressed the south Indian state’s legislature on September 9th, he celebrated a musty… Read more »