by K Sachithanandan, Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, 2ooo Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March/April 2000 The original text was produced in Tamil by the Author in 1980s TCHR Sinhala Colonisation 2000 K Sachithanandan SINHALA COLONISATION IN THE HEREDITARY TAMIL REGIONS OF THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA An appeal to… Read more »
TG: This Land Belongs to Us
This week, Tamils took to streets to send the Sri Lankan state a message – just as they did in the 1950’s. Tamil Guardian editorial, London, February 16, 2025 The issue of Sinhala colonisation of the North-East is not new. It is one that has plagued the island for decades, as successive Sri Lankan governments… Read more »
TGTE: Thaiyiddy Buddhist Temple, Symbol of Sinhala Occupation, Should be Removed
Tamil Cultural Genocide for Assimilation into Sinhala Buddhism by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, February 11, 2025 Following the 2009 Mullivaikkal genocide of the Tamils, the Sri Lankan State capitalized on Eelam Tamils’ relatively weak position domestically to brazenly engage in cultural and heritage genocide—forcing the assimilation (“Sinhalization”) of the Tamils and Muslims into the… Read more »
The ‘Deshamanya’-tagged Tamils in Sri Lanka
A commentary by Sachi Sri Kantha The Sinhalese word ‘Deshamanya’ literally means ‘Pride of the Nation’, awarded since 1986 for ‘highly meritorious service’. According to the Wikipedia listing, between 1986 and 2025, a total of 119 individuals have been decorated with this tag. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deshamanya, accessed Feb 6, 2025] Among these 119, only 18 have been… Read more »
Navigating the Complex Terrain of Accountability in Sri Lanka
by PKI Global Justice Journal, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Winter 2025 Table of Contents Malliha Wilson, Janakan Muthukumar, and Ashwini Vasanthakumar, Introduction: Navigating the Complex Terrain of Accountability in Sri Lanka Malliha Wilson, Enhancing Justice for Sub-National Groups: The Role of Universal Jurisdiction in Sri Lanka Maxwin Paul Rayen, The Politics of… Read more »
The Death of Francis Boyle
A Great Progressive International Law Scholar and Practitioner by Prof. Richard Falk in his blog, February 6, 2025 [Prefatory Note: The following post represents my reflections on the outstanding progressive international law expert of our time, and takes notes of both pardonable faults and eternal gratitude for a courageous life well spent. Francis Boyle: In Memoriam;… Read more »
TWQ: 1989 Review of Books on Ethnic Conflict & Nation-building in Sri Lanka
by P. Saverimuttu, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4, Ethnicity in World Politics (Oct., 1989), pp. 313-320 (8 pages), London, October 1989 Reviewed Works: Sri Lanka: A History Chandra Richard de SilvaSri Lanka: The Conflict Within Somasundaram VanniasinghamEthnic Conflict and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka Chelvadurai ManogaranThe Break-up of Sri Lanka: The Sinhalese: Tamil Conflict A. Jeyaratnam WilsonJ R Jayewardene… Read more »
From Sachi’s File – Chapter 25
Re-visiting my Ethnophaulism Study of 1979 by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 19, 2025 Abstract pf Sachi’s Ethnophaulism study (1979) Introduction Ten years ago, Prof. Mimi Reisel Gladstein, an English language scholar affiliated to the University of Texas El Paso, published a study with the caption, ‘Immigration Issues: Steinbeck’s Continuing Relevance’ in the Steinbeck Review [2015;… Read more »
NESoHR Archives
by NorthEast Secretariat for Human Rights, Kilinochchi, Vanni 2004-2017 NESoHR-Compilation-of Human Rights Reports With-Page-Numbers 2005 to 2009 NESoHR Massacres-of-Tamils-1956-2008 English Originally posted: Massacres of Tamil 1956 – 2008 Documented by North East Secretariat for Human Rights Manitham January 2010 NESoHR’s Publication about Massacres on Tamils in German 2004 Opening of NESoHR July 9 2004 TamilNet… Read more »
Joint Letter: Press Freedom Protections in Sri Lanka
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/01/12/joint-letter-press-freedom-protections-sri-lanka January 13, 2025 President Anura Kumara Dissanayake Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Re: Press Freedom Protections in Sri Lanka Dear President Dissanayake, Congratulations on your recent election as president of Sri Lanka. We, the undersigned 25 civil society organizations, are writing to respectfully urge your leadership to ensure that Sri Lanka upholds press freedom and… Read more »
The Quandary of the National Policy on Land
Reinventing The Wheel? by Austin Fernando, Colombo Telegraph, January 12, 2025 Last week, news appeared titled ‘Inter-linked mechanism mooted for lands.’ The Deputy Minister of Lands and Irrigation Dr. Susil Ranasinghe was quoted in it. Ranasinghe rightly lamented the absence of a proper land policy that creates disorganization of institutions involved in land use, i.e.,… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 79
Acts of Compromise in Principles by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 14, 2025 Fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan’s thoughts about the contents in Part 78 of this series (received on Nov 10), were as follows: “ Part 78 of the MGR series Sachi, which I read with interest. I want to respond to the questions you pose in… Read more »
‘July and Everything After’
by Allie Nava, published September 2024 Maya’s Journey From America to Her Birth Country Was Meant to Be a Nostalgic Visit. Instead, It Became a Fight for Survival. Fans of Paolo Coelho, Amy Tan, Vaddey Ratner, and Khaled Hosseini will be captivated by July and Everything After, a modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary… Read more »
No, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Question Has Not Been Resolved
by Mario Arulthas, AlJazeera, Qatar, January 9, 2025 “They’re trampling on our graves with their boots,” said Kavitha, a Tamil woman, as the torrential rain lashing our faces washed away her tears. Standing barefoot and ankle-deep in mud at the site of a former cemetery in Visuvamadu, Sri Lanka, she was lamenting the adjacent military… Read more »
All Roads Run through Tamil Eelam
New Delhi must remember that any form of connectivity with Sri Lanka inherently involves the Tamil North-East. Tamil Guardian editorial, December 21, 2024 Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to India saw him receive the grandest of receptions, in a sign that New Delhi is firmly pressing ahead with its plans to increase its footprint… Read more »
Tamil Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Brutal Civil War Live in Fear
— and disempowerment, 15 years on by Krishnan Francis, Associated Press, New York, May 31, 2024 MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — At the site of a bloody battlefield that marked the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Singaram Soosaimuthu fishes every day with his son, casting nets and reeling them in. It is a skill… Read more »
Dead or Alive?
Parents of children gone in Sri Lanka’s civil war have spent 15 years seeking answers By Krishnan Francis, Associated Press, May 18, 2024 MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — For 15 years, Rasalingam Thilakawathi has been trying to find out what happened to her daughter at the end of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war. Or… Read more »
Prabhakaran at 70 – A Tribute by Sachi Sri Kantha
November 23, 2024 Had he been living, Velupillai Prabhakaran would have reached 70, on November 26th. In my still continuing ‘From Sachi’s Files’ series, posted four years ago I had collected 90 of my published letters on Sri Lanka and Eelam in Chapter 14. Quite many among these published letters (I’d say, mangled items from… Read more »
Locating Sri Lanka in Biden’s Indo-Pacific Strategy 2023
by Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, August 14, 2023 Introduction Since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1948,[1] Sri Lanka and the United States (US) have had a tumultuous relationship broadly spanning the following phases: From the 1950s to 1970s, the US viewed Sri Lanka through the lens of the Cold War;… Read more »
A Magic Wand
by Tisaranee Gunasekara, Colombo Telegraph, November 17, 2024 “Wishes come true, Not free.” Stephen Sondheim – In to the Woods The Grimm version is known wider but the Turkish one cuts deeper. In both tales, the boy goes in search of fear and finds a crown. In the Grimm version, fear comes when a pail of cold… Read more »