by Congo Research Group, Anushani Alagarajah, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Laxana Paskaran, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Nyathon H. Mai, The Sudd Institute, Zachariah Mampilly with Daniel Solomon, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, July 21, 2020 Preventing Atrocities in a State Unwilling to Address its Past by Anushani Alagarajah, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Laxana Paskaran, Adayaalam Centre for… Read more »
A Deadly Combination
Militarisation, Sinhala-Buddhist Supremacy and Absence of Rule of Law Compiled and edited by Sunanda Deshapriya, Sri Lanka Brief, July 2020 A DEADLY COMBINATION-SriLanka Briefing Note 17-July-2020 BACKGROUND Sri Lanka is slowly emerging from the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and heading towards the General Elections that is scheduled to be held on the… Read more »
July 1983 Anti-Tamil Violence
by Canadian Tamil Congress, July 2013
UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances Letter to SLG
by UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, May 11, 2020 Working Group on Enforced Disappearances letter to SLG May 2020 Mandates of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; ; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and the Special… Read more »
Empty Promises and Deceptive Politics of Tamil Leaders
by M K Elaventhan, Former member of Parliament, Sri Lanka, July 10, 2020 The third general election after the end of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam”s rule in the North and East is due to be held on August 5th 2020. At the outset, it has to be stated that the current Sri Lankan Government… Read more »
Potential State of Candidates: Who Can Deliver on Tamil National Agenda?
by K. Anaga, July 6, 2020 At the outset I am inclined to believe that the TNA has done more harm than good. They have beaten Douglas, a known enemy for so many years and Karuna who is a spent force. Of course ,Karuna has come into limelight by his recent utterances that he has… Read more »
ITJP: Sri Lanka – A Parallel State?
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, July 7, 2020 ITJP PTF press release & infographic July 7 2020 7 July 2020 Press Release: Sri Lanka – A Parallel State? Johannesburg: A new infographic reveals how President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is ruling Sri Lanka, as if he is autonomous, through powerful militarised task… Read more »
Navaly Church Bombing – 25 Years On
by Ruki Fernando, Groundviews, Colombo, July 7, 2020 In July 1995 the St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Navaly, Jaffna, was filled with displaced Tamils seeking refuge and safety from the war. People in Navaly, including members of the church youth club, were helping the displaced by providing them with food and setting up… Read more »
TIC: Discriminating And Disproportionate Actions Against Minorities.
18 June 2020 Sri Lanka: Discriminating And Disproportionate Actions Against Minorities. Withdrawal from UN Resolution Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced on 19 February 2020 that Sri Lanka would be withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 of 1 October 2015. The Resolution called for investigation into war crimes during the… Read more »
‘Perennial Number 2’ Nedunchezhiyan (1920-2000)
Birth Centenary Remembrance by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 8, 2020 For the past 20 years, as a ‘distant observer’ (literally and figuratively) I have been chronicling the lives of Dravidian Front leaders in this site. C.N. Annadurai’s (Anna, 1909-1969) activities were covered in four parts during his birth centenary year in 2009. [https://www.sangam.org/2009/09/Anna_Centennial_4.php?uid=3688]. MGR’s story… Read more »
Thoothukudi: Outrage after Father, Son Die in Police Custody
by Al Jazeera, June 27, 2020 Deaths of P Jayaraj and his son J Bennix in police custody in India, have caused an outcry against custodial deaths. The death of a father and son in police custody in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has caused outrage after the victims’ family accused the police… Read more »
Vital Statistics
2019 estimates for all provinces http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/VitalStatistics/MidYearPopulation/Mid-year%20population%20by%20district.pdf
MGR Remembered – Part 56
Formation of a Political Love Triangle by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 21, 2020 Part 55 [Front Note: Due to lack of resources available at hand now, comprehending the undercurrents of MGR expulsion from the DMK in October 1972, this had been the most difficult chapter for me to write.] Three autobiographies deserve notice. Though MGR… Read more »
Militarisation of Governance, Demographic Change and the Future of Democracy in Sri Lanka
For immediate release 18 June 2020 Militarisation of governance, demographic change and the future of democracy in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced an all-Sinhala Task Force on Archeological Heritage Management on June 2, which includes Buddhist monks, military officers and the head of the Derana media network, to “preserve the historical heritage… Read more »
The Appointment of Two Presidential Task Forces
by Center for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, June 5, 2020 5th June 2020, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by the appointment this week of two Presidential Task Forces by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. These appointments came soon after the Supreme Court refused leave to proceed to all petitioners on the… Read more »
Sri Lankan Presidential Task Forces Signal Deepening Militarization
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, June 3, 2020 (Washington D.C.; June 3, 2020) — PEARL strongly condemns this week’s establishment of two presidential task forces in Sri Lanka, which sets the country on a firm course to autocratic governance. The new presidential task forces are a serious escalation in the president’s move… Read more »
Different Ball Games by Members of the Same Political Parties
[We do not usually post such very political pieces — written in the inimitable South Asian take-no-quarter style — but since the next parliamentary election will be so crucial, we hope this article will at minimum start the dialogue. We will be encouraging the author to provide our readers next his ideas for what is… Read more »
Don’t Whitewash the Sri Lankan State’s Many Crimes
by Taylor Dibbert, Modern Diplomacy, Europe, June 12, 2020 A recent article in these pages examines the Sri Lankan government’s battle against the Tamil Tigers, the activities of the Tamil diaspora and more. Unfortunately, the article whitewashes the Sri Lankan military’s horrendous wartime abuses. One cannot fully understand or appreciate modern-day Sri Lanka and the… Read more »
The Vaddukoddai Resolution of the Tamil Nation of Sri Lanka
An Appraisal on the Legal Dimensions of the Resolution by Dr. Sandrasegaram Paramalingam, June 11, 2020 [On 22 May 1972, the first native Constitution of Sri Lanka was adopted and enacted by the Constituent Assembly. It proclaimed Ceylon as Republic of Sri Lanka. Though this Constitution survived only for six and a half years, the… Read more »
Looming Dictatorship in Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, June 11, 2020 Alarm bells are ringing and heard from various quarters about the direction of Sri Lanka being piloted by the military machine of Rajapakahe’s clan led by the military mindset President Gotabaya Rajapakshe who has a penchant to in tolerate criticism and opposition from any source and not hesitating to… Read more »