[B]oth Nepal and Sri Lanka offer sobering reminders that in the Indian subcontinent, the forced imposition of a religion, whether ‘dharmic’ or not, inevitably creates more problems than it solves. by Anirudh Kanisetti, ThePrint.in, September 25, 2025 Nepal called itself ‘world’s only Hindu kingdom’ for much of the previous century. However, for most of history,… Read more »
A Critique on Rajani Thiranagama’s Assassin-Suspect ‘Bosco’
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 15, 2025 Introduction Sept 21st marks the 36th death anniversary of human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama (1954-1989). At the time of her death, she was affiliated to the University of Jaffna. Last July 26th, Prof. Michael Roberts re-posted chapter 3 of Dr. Rajan Hoole’s 2015 book ‘Palmyra Fallen, from… Read more »
Born in India, but Not Indian
‘Stateless’ man fights for citizenship by Saradha V, BBC, London, September 24, 2025 Bahison Ravindran says he always believed he was Indian. Born to Sri Lankan refugee parents in the southern Indian Tamil Nadu state, the 34-year-old web developer had studied and worked there, and held several government-issued identity documents, including an Indian passport. But… Read more »
ICG: Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power Faces the Legacy of Civil War
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People’s Power government are struggling to build a more stable, inclusive political culture in Sri Lanka. A mix of bold action and political skill will be needed. Support from the UN Human Rights Council can help. by Alan Keenan, International Crisis Group, Brussels, September 5, 2025 The election… Read more »
UN Human Rights Council 60th Session
Geneva, September/October 2025 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) oral report based on his written report, September 8, 2025 https://youtu.be/u_hebwD0fRE?si=BMN-_48S-QVsKH1Q Full interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka, September 8 HCHR, plus statements of country groups, starting at 2hrs, 57min, 54sec – 1st Meeting – 60th Session of Human Rights Council | UN Web TV Country statement,… Read more »
ITJP: Killing of Journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam
Killing Sri Lankan Journalists by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, September 7, 2025 Full report in English (Tamil & Sinhala also available) KILLING-SRI-LANKAN-JOURNALISTS_THE-CASE-OF-NIMALARAJAN-MYLVAGANAM_Final_ENGLISH_Web_compressed Press Release: Sri Lanka Has Shielded Killers of Journalists, Finds New Report Examining Investigation Failures in BBC Reporter’s Murder. Johannesburg – Sri Lanka has systematically shielded the killers of journalists… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 83
Besting the Karunanidhi-Indira Alliance by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 10, 2025 Exchanged comments with R. Kannan Comments received from Kannan, for Part 82, by mail of June 25th were as follows’ “You have skillfully employed the Kalki cartoons and write-ups from Kalki, Economic and Political Weekly, and India Today. Muhammad Ali’s visit and the AIADMK deserters… Read more »
Chemmani: Seven New Sets of Human Remains Exhumed
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan and T. Pratheepan – Jaffna, Ceylon Today, September 4, 2025 Seven new sets of human remains were fully exhumed from the Chemmani mass grave yesterday (3), while additional nine sets were identified. This marks the continuation of the third section of the second phase of excavations at the site, which began… Read more »
Fact Finding Report of HRCSL on Chemmani
by Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Colombo, September 2025 Fact-Finding-Report-of-HRCSL-on-Chemmani-Mass-Grave-Site This report details the main findings, observations, and recommendations of the HRCSL emerging from its visit and subsequent developments surrounding the exhumations and excavations at the mass grave site in Chemmani. The findings and observations are organised under specific themes: (1) the functions and… Read more »
Memories of Mass Murder
Unearthed bones in Chemmani reopen the wounds of Sri Lanka’s war years and the silence that followed. by Saikiran Kannan, Frontline, The Hindu, Chennai, September 1, 2025 The excavators kept digging in the midday heat, when something soft-blue rose above the dusty earth: a child’s school bag, its nylon straps still looped around a tiny… Read more »
Tamil Stories Go Global
This anthology of 22 short stories translated from Tamil prompts critical reflection on identity, belonging, and the boundaries of the medium. by Kiran Kesavamurthy, Frontline, The Hindu, Chennai, July 22, 2025 This collection is a long-overdue contribution to Indian literature. What distinguishes this volume of 22 Tamil short stories, in the relatively recent history of English… Read more »
Onomastics of Tamil Personal Names – Part 4
by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 27, 2025 LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s father Velupillai departed this world 15 years ago on Jan. 6, 2010, at the age of 86. To honor his memory, after 8 years, I pick up the thread on my Onomastics of Tamil Personal Names. In this Part 4, I focus on a specific… Read more »
Sri Lanka Faces Renewed Global Scrutiny Ahead of UNHRC Session
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, Colombo, August 16, 2025 Sri Lanka is once again under the global human rights spotlight as the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) approaches. With mounting momentum for the adoption of a resolution targeting the country’s human rights record, questions remain over how the newly… Read more »
ISGA Index
Originally posted as events unfolded at http://www.sangam.org/articles/indexes/isga/ (ordered from earliest to latest) – Interim Self-Governing Authority Proposal – The LTTE’s Proposals for an Interim Self-Governing Authority – …And It Is Time for Action in Colombo – SLFP Response to LTTE ISGA Proposal – A Nudge for Sri Lanka Peace – AFTA Media Release – Kumaratunge’s Coup and the Peace Process – LTTE’s… Read more »
Buried Tales of Past Violence from Chemmani
Chemmani is Sri Lanka’s collective shame and evidence of systemic failure to deal with extra-judicial killings and deliver truth, justice and accountability by Dilrukshi Hanunnett, The New Indian Express, Chennai, July 6, 2025 More recently reprinted from The Associated Press, NY, see below also: A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle,… Read more »
‘Quest for Human Rights: The Sri Lanka Ethnic Issue’
by Sunil C. Roy, VAP Enterprises, New Delhi, 1987 Comment by former Sangam Founder and Editor, Dr. Rajan Sriskandarajah: Just prior to the 1987 Indian military intervention in Sri Lanka’s national (ethnic) conflict, a booklet detailing the persecution of the Tamils, was widely distributed all over the world. Although it was printed & distributed privately,… Read more »
“The Jaffna” and the Bird Aeroplanes
by Capt. Elmo Jayawardena, Sri Lanka Guardian, Colombo, October 6, 2021 I like to think more light would be shed by people who may know some almost forgotten facts connected to these aeroplanes. Some years ago, I was writing a book for the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. They were commemorating 100 years of… Read more »
Rep. Bill Johnson One Minute Speech re Sri Lanka
by US.Representative Bill Johnson (R-OH), US Congress, Washington, DC, May 16, 2013
Argentina: Searching for the Children of the Disappeared
A new book examines the extraordinary decades-long campaign by Argentinean women to find their grandchildren. by Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, July 31, 2025 “Ispent five years researching and writing this story, and I still find it hard to believe,” Haley Cohen Gilliland told me during the launch of her book, “A Flower Traveled in… Read more »
HRW: Police Target Families of ‘Disappeared’
UN Human Rights Council Should Monitor Repression, Counterterrorism Law Abuses by Human Rights Watch, New York, August 20, 2025 (Geneva) – Sri Lankan security forces still harass families of victims of forced disappearances and misuse the country’s draconian counterterrorism law a year since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office with promises of reform, Human Rights Watch said today…. Read more »