by T. Sabaratnam, published April 30, 2004 Introduction to Volume 2 Original index to series The Ambush Pirapaharan and his men alighted from the minibus which Sellakili parked along the crossroad that connected Point Pedro Road with Palaly Road. They walked up to the junction, in small groups of two or three, turned towards Jaffna and… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.2, Introduction
by T. Sabaratnam, April 21, 2004 Volume One Index Original index to series Introduction In the first volume, I chronicled the birth, childhood, growth and the political environment which conditioned the thinking of Pirapaharan. His was a conservative family. His father, Velupillai, was a land development officer in the Sri Lankan government whose ambition was to… Read more »
The Many Pongals of the Tamil People
by Anuradha Srinivasan, January 12, 2021 Jewel-coloured saris and spotless white “veshtis” mingle as people bustle about in the pale grey dawn, preparing for the sunrise. Young girls and boys dressed in their best pavadais [woman’s skirt] and shirts laugh and run around gleefully. Everyone is excited to prepare a feast and welcome their honoured guest, the… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 59
The Risk Taker by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 4, 2021 Part 58 I provide fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan’s comments on the previous chapter Part 58, which I received by email of Nov.15, 2020. “I think the story of MGR’s angst on the insinuations is well brought out in the way the story is told… Read more »
Sri Lanka: A Nation Disintegrates
by Steven R. Weisman, The New York Times, December 13, 1987 IN AN ISLAND in a pristine lake near Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, gunmen guard the sleek new Parliament building, which a terrorist bomb ripped through last August, wounding the Prime Minister and barely missing the President. Downtown, the scattered vacant lots and… Read more »
From Sachi’s File – Chapter 15
Sexuality Studies at the Peradeniya Campus in 1980 by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 14, 2020 Presentation script for 1980 Ceylon Studies Seminar Ragging at Peredeniya 1980 Published paper Report on Sexual Aspects of Hazing at University Residence in Sri Lanka 1986 Recently while searching for details on Sri Lankan universities, I came across a Ph.D dissertation (313… Read more »
Thamilar Sangamam 2020 Live Links & Program
YouTube Facebook Links go live at 8am EST Saturday.
Waves Across the South
A New History of Revolution and Empire by Sujit Sivasundaram, August 2020 Sujit Sivasundaram was born and educated in Sri Lanka (in ‘Sinhala medium’ until 1992) and came to Cambridge in 1994 to study engineering and then natural sciences and history and philosophy of science. In 2012 he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for… Read more »
The Disappearance of ‘Father Basketball’ in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Jesuit Missionaries in Post-Colonial Conflict Zones by Bernardo E. Brown, Journal of South Asian Studies, November 15, 2015 Disappearance of ‘Father Basketball’ in Batticaloa 2015 Abstract In August 1990, Father Eugene John Hebert SJ disappeared while trying to reach his home in the Sri Lankan city of Batticaloa. Caught in the midst of the turmoil… Read more »
MP Gajen Ponnambalam’s Speech in Parliament on Defence Budget
by MP Gajen Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Parliament, December 3, 2020 2021 வரவு செலவு திட்டத்தில் பாதுகாப்பு… – கஜேந்திரகுமாரின் நண்பர்கள் (facebook.com) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=580756212763661 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1316233665388400&id=100010053368465&sfnsn=mo
When Big Powers Clash, the UN’s Most Powerful Body Disappears
by Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service, New York, December 4, 2020 UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 2020 (IPS) – At the height of the Cold War back in the 1960s, a Peruvian diplomat, Dr. Victor Andres Belaunde, characterized the United Nations as a politically wobbly institution that survives only at the will– and pleasure– of the five… Read more »
Rajapaksas Seek Sinhalese Supremacy in Sri Lanka
by Salman Rafi Sheikh, Asia Times, Hong Kong, December 3, 2020 Ruling clan is pushing new form of ethnic majoritarianism to marginalize and dominate historically restive Tamil minority With Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa clan back in power, the island nation is by any measure firmly back on a path to elected authoritarianism. But the Rajapaksas aspire… Read more »
The Voice of Music – S P Balasubramanyam
by Anuradha Srinivasan, Chennai, December 6, 2020 Ezhunthu Vaa Baalu, the harmonium player called out to his friend, who was catching up on the cricket score on his radio backstage. The jovial young man took the mic with a smile and sang breezily as his friends on the harmonium and guitar wove in and out… Read more »
Waves: Tamil Musicians on Global Music Scene Dec. 12 4-5pm EST
ITJP & JDS: Dossier on Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Sarath Weerasekara
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka & International Truth & Justice Project, Europe & South Africa, November 2020 rear-admiral-sarath-weerasekera August 2020: State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs November 2020: Appointed as Minister of Public Security1 (with control over the Police department, Civil Security department, Police Training College and the Multi-Purpose Development… Read more »
Amnesty: Deliver Justice, Truth and Reparation to Families of the Disappeared
by Amnesty International, London, November 27, 2020 Following the announcement of the release of a list of complaints and information received by the Office on Missing Persons regarding people who were disappeared during Sri Lanka’s internal conflicts, the country’s authorities must now deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families, Amnesty International said today. On 26 November… Read more »
Rajapaksa Lied to ‘Powerful Ambassador’
Over evacuation of Tamils in 2009 – Sri Lankan MP by Tamil Guardian, London, November 24, 2020 File photograph: Mahinda Rajapaksa meets with former US Ambassador Robert O’Blake A Sri Lankan parliamentarian revealed how Mahinda Rajapaksa lied to “an ambassador of the most powerful country” about the evacuation of trapped Tamil civilians in 2009, in… Read more »
A Tribute to 240 MaaVeerars (Great Heroes)
by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 25, 2020 The 240 MaaVeerar (Great Heroes), to whom I pay tribute have been already recognized in the Sooriya Puthalvargal (November 2003) booklet, published as a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam memorial souvenir. Previously on June 23, 2004, I contributed a review of this souvenir. In it, I had listed… Read more »
Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka
Compiled by Eng. Dr. K. Vigneswaran, Nov. 2020 Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka Cover Page Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka From the Compiler — “…Yet, the Government has appointed a Task Force for the management of archaeological remains in the Eastern Province, dominated by former military officials…. Read more »
PTA: Terrorising Sri Lanka for 42 Years
Socio-economic and psychological impact on families of PTA detainees following the Easter Sunday Attacks by Marisa de Silva, Law & Society Trust, Colombo, November 2020 PTA_Terrorising-Sri-Lanka-for-42-years-English “When I was in prison, I met and spoke with other Tamil PTA prisoners, some who had been there for 10 years, with their files not even taken up… Read more »