by Jayadeva Uyangoda, ‘The Hindu,’ Chennai, November 18, 2019 It can be achieved only through democratic, inclusive, and accommodative means The outcome of Sri Lanka’s presidential election has surprised the winners, the losers as well as the observers. The most obvious, arguably disquieting, and unanticipated trend is the re-sharpening of the majority-minority divide in electoral choices. Gotabaya Rajapaksa,… Read more »
Prof. Carlo Fonseka (1933-2019)
The Barnum of Sri Lanka by Sachi Sri Kantha, November 20, 2019 Prof. Carlo Fonseka, who died on September 2, 2019 at the age of 86, belongs to my tribe. Born in Sri Lanka 20 years apart (I’m his junior) and we both had a professional career as an academic in mostly university setting. Due… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Front-Runner Strikes Fear
Among Tamils Who Blame Him For Disappearances by Lauren Frayer, National Public Radio, Washington, DC, November 14, 2019 <iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/778638245/779041626″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe> On a roadside in northern Sri Lanka, a dozen women in bright-colored saris squat in the shade of an open canvas tent, waving tattered photographs at passing… Read more »
The Lesser Evil?
by Viruben Nandakumar, Tamil Guardian, London, November 11, 2019 In the lead up to the Sri Lankan Presidential election 16 November, both Sinhala and Tamil political commentators have quipped that this election is a clear cut choice between “two evils” and have insisted on drawing parallels to the 2015 and 2005 elections. These commentators have… Read more »
Still No Choice
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, November 4, 2019 Artwork by Keera Ratnam. As Sri Lanka gears up for a presidential election in just a few weeks time, Tamils on the island find themselves faced with a familiar decision. Almost five years after an election that was hailed as the dawn of a new era for Sri… Read more »
Civil War Along Ethnoreligious Lines
by Berkley Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, August 1, 2013 This case study addresses the underlying ethnic and religious tensions behind the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009), a conflict led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on behalf of the Hindu Tamil minority against the Sri Lankan government and the Buddhist Sinhalese majority…. Read more »
TNA on 2019 Presidential Election
http://tnapolitics.org/
Lurking Fears of Tamils After Presidential Election
On November 16, 2019 by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 9, 2019 The Presidential election on November 16, 2019 will usher in a new President, either Gotabaya Rajapaksha or Sajith Premadasa. Intensive campaign with promises suiting the locations and people are pouring from candidates to woo… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election & the True Face of the TNA
by Kumarathasan Rasingam, November 7, 2019 The cat is finally out of the bag. The secretly well-kept decision of TNA to back Sajith Premadasa of the United National Party is now disclosed 10 days before the election, after playing the hide and seek and cat and mouse games. TNA leadership particularly Sumanthiran and Sampanthan have… Read more »
Sri Lankan Clan With Close China Ties Plots Political Comeback
The Rajapaksa family’s prior rule was stained by allegations of human-rights violations and corruption, sparking worries in Western capitals by Saeed Shah, The Wall Street Journal, New York, November 7, 2019 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—A controversial political dynasty that made Sri Lanka a centerpiece of China’s efforts to expand its influence in Asia and defeated an… Read more »
A Belated Recognition of Genocide by the House
For too long, Turkey bullied America into silence. Not anymore. by Samantha Power, The New York Times, October 29, 2019 On Tuesday, by a vote of 405 to 11, the House of Representatives defied the Turkish government’s intimidation and, for the first time in 35 years, passed a resolution that recognized the Armenian genocide. In acknowledging… Read more »
Public Administration and Minority Language
The Case of District Administration in Amparai, Sri Lanka by Mohammad Agus Yusoff, Athambawa Sarjoon, Nordin Hussin & Azmi Awang, Public Administration Research; Canada, Vol. 4, No. 2; October 2015 ISSN 1927-517x E-ISSN 1927-5188 Abstract Even though minorities have gained international linguistic recognition, accepting and admitting minority languages in public affairs has been a contested issue in many countries. In… Read more »
The Internal and International Dimensions of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Elections
A Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency will have serious repercussions for both Sri Lanka’s internal governance as well as its international partnerships. by Ana Pararajasingham, ‘The Diplomat,’ Washington, DC, October 23, 2019 On November 16, Sri Lankans will go to the polls to elect their next president. Although more than 30 candidates have nominated themselves, the contest… Read more »
In Simple Terms, the Choice is Between Dictatorship & Democracy
Presidential election 2019 by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Sunday Observer, Colombo, October 19, 2019 With the presidential election campaign now well underway, it appears that the contest is between the two main candidates, Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In the absence of scientific polling in Sri Lanka, no credible voter sentiment analysis is available. Therefore we are… Read more »
Don’t Forget the Tamil Genocide
Victims of decades of racist pogroms, state violence, and military occupation, the Tamil minority has long fought for liberation in Sri Lanka. We should not ignore their struggle. Book review by Lee Rhiannon, Jacobin Magazine, October 20, 2019 Review of Losing Santhia: Life and Loss in the Struggle for Tamil Eelam, by Ben Hillier (Interventions, 2019)…. Read more »
This Digital Library Is Preserving Sri Lanka’s Tamil Literary Heritage
by Radhia Rameez, ROAR, Colombo, June 22, 2018 Over the course of history, the world has seen countless pieces of its heritage vanish forever with no chance for recovery. Vast contingents of knowledge are continuously being lost- to the passage of time, to natural causes like disasters, insects and mould, and to acts of… Read more »
World Bank: Making (De)centralization Work
by World Bank, Washington, DC, October 13, 2019 See Chief Economist for South Asia video summary here Full report here In a focus section, the report highlights how, as their economies become more sophisticated, South Asian countries have made decentralization a priority to improve the delivery of public services. With multiple initiatives underway across the… Read more »
On the Way to Mineral Sand Mining Area in Kokkilai Lagoon.
by tharindutmc on YouTube, December 5, 2014 this video was taken during a visit to Kokkilai lagoon to inspect the mining works carried out by Lanka Mineral Sands Limited (LMSL) in the southern part of the lagoon.
Sinhalization of the North-East: Kokkilai
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), October 16, 2019 Sinhalization of the North-East: Kokkilai – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) The south-east of the Mullaithivu District has been a target for state-sponsored Sinhala settlements for decades. As with Pulmoaddai, the Kokkilai region of Mullaithivu lies on the strategically important… Read more »
Sinhalization of the North-East: Pulmoaddai
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), September, 2019 Sinhalization of the North-East: Pulmoaddai – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) Pulmoaddai is a majority Tamil-speaking, Muslim town in the Trincomalee District. The town, part of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat, is located on the border to the Mullaithivu District, occupying the… Read more »