Expulsion from DMK by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 27, 2020 Part 56 I provide the exchange I had with friend and fellow MGR biographer R. Kannan. In his email of June 24th, he had noted, “Dear Sachi, Read chapter 56 with interest and could imagine why this must have been difficult without all the source… Read more »
A Trilingual Slab Installed in Sri Lanka by Admiral Zheng He
by R Shanmugananthan, August 28, 2020 TRILINGUAL-INSCRIPTION Admiral Zheng He made seven expeditions in the Indian Ocean. In Sri Lanka he set up a Trilingual slab (stele) with inscriptions in Devinuwara in circa 1409 CE. It was found in Galle in 1911 by a British Engineer. The Asian Voyage: In the Wake of… Read more »
Pres. Gotabaya’s Forward March towards an Exclusive Sinhala-Buddhist State
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 3, 2020 President Gotabaya’s throne speech on August 20, 2020 as expected does not spring any surprise or disappointments to the minorities particularly Tamils as it is a frank and forthright speech which is crowning Buddhism and Sinhalese and expressing… Read more »
Tamils Have Not Abandoned Human Rights for Economic Development
Sri Lanka’s ethnic minority remains committed to both, but not one at the expense of the other by By J. S. Tissainayagam, The Diplomat, Washington, DC, August 24, 2020 Sri Lanka’s August 5 parliamentary election results are being interpreted by some as an indication that the Tamils of the country are moving away from regional Tamil-nationalist parties… Read more »
Statements re International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearance North & Eastern Province Date 30.08.2020 Hon Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria, The High Commissioner Human Rights commission, Geneva Justice for the families that are suffering from enforced disappearance in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Today 30 August is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced… Read more »
The Challenges Facing Sambanthan and the TNA
by Harim Pieris, The Island, Colombo, August 26, 2020 The recent election results reveal interesting changes in Tamil politics in Sri Lanka. The predominant representative of the Tamil people, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which contest elections under its largest constituent party, the Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), saw its share of the national vote… Read more »
Space & Movement in the Sri Lankan Conflict
by Oivind Fuglerud, 2004 Space_and_movement_in_the_Sri_Lankan_conflict Concluding Remarks In approaching the different responses to the engulfing violence above I avoided framing this question in terms of ‘migration choice’. From an anthropologist’s point of view the application of choice models in migration research has provided limited insights. We should, I believe, in analyses of displacement and migration… Read more »
First Speeches in Parliament
Mr. CV Wigneswaran delivers his maiden speech in parliament. Gajan Ponnambalam gives his introductory speech. https://youtu.be/fATRnuxBTZg
In Sri Lanka, a People Living Off Borrowed Money
by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, August 22, 2020 As Sri Lanka struggles with outstanding foreign debt, rural households across the country have been living off borrowings after exhausting their savings. Meera Srinivasan reports on how those already struggling with severe economic hardships are now grappling with a pandemic-induced crisis After doing seven jobs in the last three years in and around Colombo,… Read more »
The Centrality of Devolution in Development
by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, August 17, 2020 In Sri Lanka, the Tamil people’s political and economic aspirations must not be separated The outcome of Sri Lanka’s August 5 general election had few surprises. The Rajapaksa family is decisively at the country’s helm for the next five years. The fragmented political opposition is struggling to come… Read more »
State-Sponsored Pogroms Against Tamils in Sri Lanka
And the need for a referendum in Tamils’ homeland [North & East of Sri Lanka] by Kumarathasan Rasingam, August 23, 2020 It is high time and urgent need for the United Nations, UNHRC, ICC and the International Community to find remedial justice to the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka. The following facts prove beyond doubt… Read more »
Why India Must ‘Win Back’ Sri Lanka Before China Casts Its Spell
Will Sri Lanka follow an ‘India First’ policy with regard to its strategic security? by Ashok K Mehta, The Quint, Mumbai, August 19, 2020 The stunning results of the parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka on 5 August are likely to break the prophecy of President Junius Jayewardene – in whose term, his party United National… Read more »
Struggling Tamil Nationalism
And Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 18, 2020 For the recognition of nationalism, the prerequisite are the existence of a nation, defined by J. Stalin as follows: “A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people formed on the… Read more »
Black Tiger Day Remembrance – Part 2
Devotion of Black Tigers by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 13, 2020 Part 1 Front Note Twenty five years ago, Prof. Michael Roberts [a Sri Lankan historian cum anthropologist of Sinhalese-Burgher descent, who is currently managing the informative tuppahi blog https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/about/ in his current domicile in Australia] published a short commentary on Black Tigers, in the… Read more »
For Several Groups, a Historic Candidacy
Harris is celebrated as not just first Black woman on a ticket, but also the first Asian-American by Dasia Moore, The Boston Globe, August 14, 2020 The initial headlines announcing Senator Kamala Harris’s candidacy for vice president heralded her selection as the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket. But soon, social media… Read more »
Rajapaksa, in a Landslide
After a major victory, the family will be able to reshape Sri Lanka to ensure their control for the long term by Neil De Votta, Foreign Policy, Washington, DC, August 11, 2020 In 2016, supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had been president of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015, rechristened a minor political party and… Read more »
Election Sends a Chilling Message
Election rides a Gotabhaya surge and blends to a Sinhala-Buddhist ethos by Kumar David, The Island, Colombo, August 8, 2020 Let everyone first congratulate Deshapriya, Hoole, N.J. Abeysekara and the election staff for conducting a truly first-rate election under trying circumstances – COVID, political interference, a not very helpful AG and numerous court challenges by… Read more »
Interpreting the Sri Lankan Mandate
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, The Hindu, Chennai, August 8, 2020 The results of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election held on Wednesday show a seismic shift in the country’s electoral map as well as the balance of political power. The near two-thirds parliamentary majority, easily achieved by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP — Sri Lanka People’s Front) by reducing… Read more »
Increasing Suppression of Dissent
Parliamentary Elections Heighten Fears of Renewed Crackdown by Human Rights Watch, New York, August 8, 2020 (New York) – The Sri Lankan government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is waging a campaign of fear and intimidation against human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and others challenging government policy, Human Rights Watch said today. The crackdown on dissent under the… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Possible Post-Election Scenario
By: M. K. Eelaventhan – Former Member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, July 28, 2020 Sri Lanka’s General election which is due on August 5th 2020 is pitting four main parties, UNP, SLPP, NPF, JVP led by Sinhalese leaders Ranil Wickremasinghe, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sajit Premadasa and Anurakumara Dissanayaka along with several other independent groups including… Read more »