by T. Sabaratnam, December 3, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 20 Original index of series| The Uma – Urmila Affair Pirapaharan could not believe his ears when his colleagues told him that Uma Maheswaran was having sex with Urmila. When convinced, he thundered: The chairman is flouting the code of conduct he is expected to strictly… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 20 Jaffna Turned Torture Chamber
by T. Sabaratnam, November 24, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 19 Original index of series| State Terrorism in Action Jaffna tasted state terror on a gruesome scale for the first time on the night of 13 July 1979. Around midnight that dark night two vehicles without number plates left the Jaffna Residency, which had been hurriedly taken… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 19 Balasingam Enters the Scene
by T. Sabaratnam, November 17, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 18 Original index of series| Chat Session #217 November 2003 Dear Readers, I think we have struck the correct wavelength. I received three mails, on 28, 29 and 30. In the second, A. Mylvaganam from Toronto, Canada pointed out the slip I made about the author of… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 18 Tamils Lose Faith in Commissions
by T. Sabaratnam, November 12, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 17 Original index of series| Lost Faith in Judiciary Police Inspector Gurusamy was killed by TELO as punishment for the role he played in the police cover game of the events connected to the August 1977 anti- Tamil riots. His assassination was the signal of the loss… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 17 Sinhala-Tamil Tension Mounts
by T. Sabaratnam, November 4, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 16 Original index of series Hate Campaign The Tinnaveli Bank robbery angered Jayewardene and annoyed the police and the army. Jayewardene and his backers stepped up their campaign against the TULF and the Tamils, and the police and the army increased their attacks on the Tamils. The… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 16 Wresting Weapons from the Enemy
by T. Sabaratnam, October 27, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 15 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 16 Chat Session Now that we have progressed to some extent we must start talking. Talking to the readers is one of the facilities the internet offers; we can talk as we progress. The purpose of this session… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1 Chap. 15: The Ban, J.R.’s Gift
by T. Sabaratnam, October 20, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 14 Original index of series| Typed in Amir’s Typewriter The group that killed Bastiampillai traveled in his Peugeot 404 to Kilinochchi where they burnt the vehicle in the midst of the thick jungle. They then split into small groups and went to their Vavuniya camp, Poonthoddam…. Read more »
Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.14 The LTTE Comes into the Open
by T. Sabaratnam, October 13, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 13 Original index of series| Destroying the Police Network The Sirimavo Bandaranaike government took Alfred Duraiappah’s murder as a challenge. It ordered the arrest of the killers before his funeral. The task was given to the police party headed by Inspectors Bastiampillai and Pathmanathan. Both had… Read more »
Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.13 Militants Come to the Fore
by T. Sabaratnam, October 19, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 12 Original index of series| Chapter 13: Militants come to the Fore Jayewardene’s media attack on Amirthalingam, the police rampage in Jaffna and the 1977 riots had the combined effect of pushing the Tamil moderates aside and brought the militants to the fore. Jayewardene’s expectation that… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.12 Moderates Ignore Mandate
by T. Sabaratnam, September 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 11 Original index of series| Original Chapter 12 Opposition Leader Tamils of the north and east of Sri Lanka had declared “their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own territory” since the Kankesanthurai by-election held on 6 February 1975. As Thanthai Chelva declared… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget
A systematic review by Kamanthi Wickramasinghe, Daily Mirror, Colombo, February 5, 2020 A systematic review of Sri Lanka’s post-war defence budget reveals that Sri Lanka spends too much on defence and the defence budget is spent inefficiently. The study done by Daniel Alphonsus, who had served as an advisor to Sri Lanka’s finance minister with… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 58
Bharath Award – for Artiste or Politician? by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 4, 2020 Part 57 For the contents of the previous part 57, my friend and fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan, had offered the following comments, in his email of Sept. 17th. “Another well-documented piece. As for how Indira viewed MGR I would still… Read more »
Betrayals After Betrayals by Sinhalese Leaders
by Kumarathasan Rasingam, November 10, 2020 Sinhalese leaders betrayed the Tamil leaders who fought shoulder to shoulder to gain independence from the British. On February 4th 1048 two million Tamils of Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] exchanged their white masters British for the brown master {Sinhalese] it was like jumping from a frying pan into fire…. Read more »
Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.11 The Mandate Ratified
by T. Sabaratnam, September 25, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 10 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 11 Thanthai’s Final Declaration For five reasons 1977 was an important year in the history of the Sri Lankan Tamil problem. In that year both major Sinhala parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United… Read more »
Sundarambal and Kittappa
MGR’s annotations on the elite Carnatic Music Couple Revisited by Sachi Sri Kantha, October 24, 2020 October 15th marked the 40th death anniversary of Carnatic diva K.B. Sundarambal (1908-1980). I wonder how many had watched the 29 minutes documentary on Sunderambal – the Legend, available in You Tube. It was posted two years ago. Narration… Read more »
Sinhalization of the North-East: Kankesanthurai (KKS)
by People for Equality & Relief in Lanka (PEARL), October 26, 2020 Sinhalization of the North-East: Kankesanthurai – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) Kankesanthurai (KKS) is a historic port suburb located in the Northern Province of the island of Sri Lanka. Formerly known as Gayathurai, the region is encompassed by a natural… Read more »
Tsunami and Civil War in Sri_Lanka
An Anthropologist Confronts the Real World by Dennis McGilvray, ‘India Review,’ New Delhi, , vol. 5, nos. 3–4, July/October, 2006, pp. 372–393 Tsunami_and_Civil_War_in_Sri_Lanka …Much of the anthropology of Sri Lanka in the last three decades would have to count as “public” scholarship, because it has been forced to address the contemporary realities of labor migration,… Read more »
Discussion with Anton Balasingam and Thamilchelvam of the LTTE
April 17, 1997 at Puthukudierruppu, Mullaithivu (In the presence of Adele Balasingam and Lawrence Thilagar.) by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam. Ph.D. (Cornell), Consultant in Education and Sports, Olympian 1952 and 1956, October 22, 2020 In April 1996, Harvard University’s Program for International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR) convened a consultation process with the Sinhala and Tamil Diaspora living… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Militarised Coronavirus Containment has Grave Consequences
by Thusiyan Nandakumar | MedAct, October 16, 2020 | As states around the world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, fears are mounting in many places for already disenfranchised and vulnerable communities. In Sri Lanka, a region that has been torn by decades of ethnic conflict and suffers from continued reports of human rights abuses, those… Read more »
Sri Lanka Turns to China Rather than IMF
To avoid default Relations with US-led multilateral lender strained by past misadventures by Marwaan Macan-Markar, Nikkei Asia, October 12, 2020 Sri Lanka’s government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion in foreign debt. (Source photos by Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s ultranationalist government looks set to receive a financial lifeline from China… Read more »