by Krishan Francis | AP in The Washington Post, October 15, 2019 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A former Sri Lankan defense chief who is a front-runner in next month’s presidential election said Tuesday that if he wins, he won’t recognize an agreement the government made with the U.N. human rights council to investigate alleged war crimes during… Read more »
Identity, Choices and Crisis
A Study of Muslim Political Leadership in Sri Lanka by ARM Imtiyaz, Journal of Asian and African Studies 48(1) 47 –63, 2012 Identity_Choices_and_Crisis_A_Study_of_M Abstract This study attempts to understand the choices made by Muslim political leaders in general, and after independence in particular. Muslim leadership has been broadly classified into two categories based on their… Read more »
Tamil Parties in North-East Stipulate ‘Acid Test’ Terms to SL Presidential Candidates
by TamilNet, October 14, 2019 The demands translated from Tamil to English follow: New constitutional processes that uphold unitary system of rule should be rejected. The Tamil national question of Ilangkai [Ceylon] must be resolved through a federal framework with the realisation that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty and that nation is entitled… Read more »
Came Forward for the Rights of Minorities
– M.K. Sivajilingam by Morning Leader, Colombo, october 13, 2019 Sivajilingam told The Sunday Morning that it is high time a candidate was put forward to fight for the rights of the minorities. Below are excerpts of his interview with The Sunday Morning: What made you decide to contest the presidential election? This is the… Read more »
Do You Think The Tamil Ethnic Question Would Ever Be Solved?
by C.V. Wigneswaran, Colombo Telegraph, October 14, 2019 C.V. Wigneswaran Someone asked: Do you think the Tamil Ethnic question would ever be solved and all Sri Lankans could travel along a common path to peace and prosperity? My response was: Yes of course! The time is ripe now for the resolving of the so called… Read more »
Review: ‘The Vanni’
by Tamil Guardian, London, October 13, 2019 Former UN staffer Benjamin Dix released his first graphic novel this month, exploring the story of Tamil families trapped in the Vanni in 2009, as the Sri Lankan military launches an ominous offensive that kills tens of thousands civilians. The Vanni, based on interviews that Dix carried out… Read more »
Why was Ranil Politically Assassinated by Prabha in 2005?
by KKS Perera, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 14, 2019 Prabhakaran gambled hoping for an easier challenger Ranil’s meek reaction to Dissanayake rhetoric on Karuna and unreliable nature during the peace-talks The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) effectively chose the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. Yes, the Tigers did it – a few… Read more »
The Role of Emerging Technologies in Military Conflicts
by Izumi Nakamitsu, Inter-Press Service (IPS) Izumi Nakamitsu is UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs* STOCKHOLM, Oct 10 2019 (IPS) – Throughout history, technology has transformed armed conflict. The carnage of First World War battlefields is a stark example of what happens when advances in weaponry outpace the normative frameworks around its use. Today, we are experiencing… Read more »
Historicizing Nationalist Discourse of the Origins of the Communities of Sri Lanka among the Contemporary Sinhalese
A qualitative analysis by Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan, (periodical unspecified), Melbourne, Australia, November 29-30, 2017 Historicizing Nationalist Discourse Abstract In the post-war reconciliation context, the Sri Lankans need to develop constructive discourse on political harmony, cohesion and co-habitation to make a positive impact on legislative changes towards post-conflict reconciliation, sustainable peace and justice. Ideological discourse constitutes power… Read more »
Is Federalism a Solution?
by Bhimraj M, NUJS’ International Journal of Legal Studies and Research, Vol. 7, No.1, West Bengal, March 2018 Is Federalism a Solution Abstract The change of power in 2015 and Maithripala Sirisena becoming the President of Sri Lanka is said to have sowed hopes for a political solution to the ethnic conflict. But the President… Read more »
Reflection on the 13th Amendment
To the Constitution in light of settlement of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka by S. Dinesan, Jaffna, June 2016 Reflection on the 13th Amendment ABSTRACT Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religion and multi-language country even though it is a unitary state. The ethnic conflict is a major issue in the era. As with many civil… Read more »
Ignorance and Populism Puts Sri Lankan Muslims in the Crosshairs
by Farzana Haniffa, East Asia Forum, Australia, October 4, 2019 There is no locally-relevant social or communal cause that could explain the Easter Sunday 2019 attacks in Sri Lanka. Christian–Muslim relations are largely cordial. Mobilisation of Buddhists through anti-Muslim rhetoric after the war’s end in 2009 led to several incidents of anti-Muslim violence with large-scale… Read more »
Raghavan Plans to Distribute Uncultivatable Lands to Tamils
To compensate for loss of fertile lands ADB’s 2015 investment program description by TamilNet, October 3, 2019 SL Governor to Northern Province Suren Raghavan has come up with another deceptive offer to the uprooted Eezham Tamil land-owners in Mullaiththeevu. Raghavan is planning to release some plots of saline and brackish soil along the coast as… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 59
Queries over Premadasa’s slaying by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 58 On May 1, 1993, President Ranasinghe Premadasa was near Sulaiman Hospital, in Messenger Street, Colombo, mixing with the crowds, busy organizing the ruling United National Party’s (UNP) May Day procession, which was proceeding towards Galle Face Green, where the… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 58
Premadasa indicted by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 57 When President Chandrika Kumaratunga came to power, after putting an end to the UNP’s 17 years of rule in 1994, she launched a Special Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali, which had been an election promise. On December… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 57
Kittu: The LTTE legend by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 56 The modern history of Sri Lanka is not complete without a chapter on Satahasivam Krishnakumar, who was popularly called “Kittu”. He is considered a hero and more than a legend by Tamils all over the world. He was a… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 56
The execution of Mahattya by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 55 Mahendrarajah, alias Mahattaya, joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1978. He was born in 1956, but unlike most of the LTTE leaders he was not from Valvetiturai, but from Point Pedro East. He was educated at… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 55
The murder of Athulathmudali by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 54 In the 1989 presidential elections, Lalith Athulathmudali, who was then the Minister for National Security, Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa and the Minister for Mahaveli Development, Gamini Dissanayake, were widely believed to be the contenders for nomination from the ruling… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 54
More peace talks by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 53 In 1990, President Ranasinghe Premadasa negotiated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict tearing the island apart, but the Tamil militants reneged during the negotiations and launched the second Eelam war… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 53
The Kilaly Massacre by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 52 General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and nine other Sri Lankan security service personnel being killed in Araly Point Kayts on August 8, 1992, prematurely halting an impending onslaught on Jaffna peninsula, burst opened the floodgates of violent activities, both by the Government… Read more »