Prabhakaran’s battlefield adversary from India by Sachi Sri Kantha, April 5, 2021 Introductory Note I provide a dossier of six items on Gen Krishnaswamy Sundararajan (aka Sundarji). He was a Tamilian by birth. Born in 1928 at Chingleput, Tamil Nadu, Sundarji’s 93rd birthday falls on April 28th. When the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) was dispatched… Read more »
When a Kidnap Marred George H.W. Bush’s Only India Visit
Rebel Tamil outfit Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front abducted an American couple from their Jaffna residence in May 1984. by T. Ramakrishnan, The Hindu, Chennai, December 1, 2018 The only visit of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush to India in May 1984 was marked by the episode of abduction of an American couple by… Read more »
1949 Speech by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
Remembering ‘Thanthai’ SJV Chelvanayagam ( Born: March 31, 1898, Ipoh, Malaysia. Died: April 26, 1977, Jaffna, Sri Lanka) on his 123rd birth Anniversary, March 31, 2021: I. T. A. K. Headquarters, Colombo 18-12-49. Speech delivered on December 18, 1949 at the Inaugural business meeting of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam… Read more »
TIC: UNHRC Resolution
TIC PRESS RELEASE 25 March 2021 Resolution of the UN Human Rights Council – March 2021 The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) welcomes the Resolution on Sri Lanka adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 23 March 2021 at its 46th Session, titled “Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka” (A/HRC46/L.1/Rev.1)…. Read more »
Tamil Genocide as ‘The Hindu’ Reported It
– 20 Years Ago by Sachi Sri Kantha, reposted from June 2004 One of the English words which had depreciated in value drastically is ‘genocide’. This is a pity, since it’s a relatively ‘new’ word, coined only 60 years ago, in 1944. The New Yorker of May 3, 2004, carried a short column on the genocide theme… Read more »
Strategies for the Renaissance of Irrigation Glory
by Nimal Wijesinghe, Daily News, Colombo, February 27, 2021 There is an awakening in the field of irrigation development in the country. The ancient kings treated rainwater as a highly precious national asset and constructed small, medium and large-scale tanks and anicuts for collecting and storing every drop of rainwater for irrigational, agricultural and drinking… Read more »
Opening Yan Oya Project Delayed
Families await compensation [Note that this article says the project is in Anuradhapura District, while in 2017, this Colombo Page article says it is in North Central & will irrigate land in both Anuradhapura District & Trincomalee District.] by Daily News, Colombo, February 26, 2021 A major inter-provincial Irrigation in Sri Lanka awarded to China… Read more »
Genocidal ‘Development’ Abetted by Global Partners Seeks to Wedge North-East
by TamilNet, Thursday, 04 May 2017 The occupying Colombo is trying to seize lands in the Tamil-speaking Kuchchave’li division of Trincomalee district in the Eastern Province to construct housing schemes for Sinhala settlers who have been moved out of their lands that were taken over by the SL Irrigation Department for the construction of Yan… Read more »
Discrimination against Muslims and Tamils is Getting Worse
Sri Lanka by Mario Arulthas, Middle East Eye, March 30, 2021 Under the cover of measures to deal with Covid-19, the state has introduced draconian measures against marginalised minorities Protesters denounce Sri Lanka’s policy of forced cremations for Muslims who die of Covid-19 in Colombo on 23 December 2020 (AFP) Sri Lanka recently passed regulations allowing detention… Read more »
UNHRC Resolution 46/1
A welcome move for the United Nations, Security Council and International Community to uphold accountability and rein in Sri Lanka. by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law; University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 31, 2021 At the 46th Session of UNHRC, the final Resolution on Sri Lanka was passed with 22 members voting… Read more »
Karunanidhi: A Life
by A.S. Panneerselvan, Penguin, March 2021 Rather amusing video of a reading of a section of the book on ” Karunanidhi and the Sri Lankan Tamil Issue “ The definitive biography of a fascinating politician In Karunanidhi: A Life, A.S. Panneerselvan tells the story of the man who became a metaphor for modern Tamil Nadu, where… Read more »
The Tamil National Question
by Gail Omvedt, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scientists, Jan.-March 1984 Olvedt Gail Tamil National Question 1984 Last year [1981] a major wave of guerilla struggle broke out in Sri Lanka, followed by widespread rioting. It was just ten years after the youthful JVP insurrection shattered forever the peaceful image of an island which had achieved… Read more »
Land and the National Question in Sri Lanka
by N. Shanmugaratnam, Groundviews.org, Colombo, July 13, 2012 Image courtesy Sainthan Sivanesan on 500px I am thankful to the Norwegian Tamil Study Forum for inviting me to address this Workshop and am looking forward to listening to the main speakers. In this brief intervention I wish to make some general comments and raise a few issues,… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 60
Tackling rivals Karunanidhi – Kamaraj and tending Sridhar by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 15, 2021 Part 59 Fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan’s comments on the previous chapter Part 59, which I received by email of Jan. 22, 2021, are as follows: “A well-documented piece again. The Malayali police officer who was quoted in Junior Vikatan… Read more »
Tamil Memes
Masters Politics, social tensions, and comedy all found a home in Tamil cinema. The Tamil meme needs all four things to work. by Aditya Shrikrishna, FiftyTwo.in, March 25, 2021 Nesamani was a contractor. On 26 May 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party was confirmed to have swept the seventeenth Lok Sabha elections. At some point on… Read more »
UNHRC Outlines Sri Lanka Abuses, But Demurs on Action
by Kate Cronin-Furman, JustSecurity.org, New York, March 26, 2021 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the spotlight placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the February 22 to March 23, 2021, session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The series includes voices from former… Read more »
The Administration of Jaffna Kingdom
A historical view by Dr. K Arunthavarajah, Senior Lecturer Gr.1, Department of History, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, Vol.2, Issue.3, Jan-March, 2014. Administration of Jaffna Kingdom 2014 Abstract According to the historical and archaeological evidences, the Jaffna Kingdom had come into existence about the 13th century A.D… Read more »
Suez Mishap Is a Foretaste of the New Cold War Stakes
by Peter Fickling, Bloomberg News, March 25, 2021 Ships so big they get stuck in the Canal literally define “chokepoint” but other waterways will play much more serious roles as the rivalry between China and the U.S. heats up. After a tumultuous year of pandemic, economic crisis and international tensions, it’s somehow comforting to be confronted with… Read more »
A History of the Jaffnese Community in Klang, Malaysia
by Mr. Sivananthiram Alagandram, date unknown Transformation of the Jaffna Community in Klang,1900-1950. They arrived as a minority towards the end of the 19th Century in Klang from an agrarian background and by 1950, the community had transformed itself into an affluent middle-class society and as a community to be reckoned with. The Royal Town of… Read more »
Cooperative Movement in Jaffna District 1911 – 1970
by Kanthappoo Paraiiothayan, 1990 Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District 1911 to 1970 Abstract Using the problem analysis method advanced by Professor Brian Holmes,the study looks into the politico—economic and socio-cultural factors that gave special significance to the Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka when it was introduced nation—wide at the beginning… Read more »