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 »
Sri Lanka Presidential Hopeful Says Won’t Honor Deal with UN
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 »