Aftermath of the Indian withdrawal by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 42 Indian interference in Sri Lankan politics came to a final halt when the last of the Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) left the territorial waters of Sri Lanka on March 24, 1990. Maverick Indian Prime Minister Viswanath Pratab Singh,… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 42
Unilateral declaration of Eelam by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 41 Viswanath Pratab Singh, the new prime minister of India and leader of the five-party National Front coalition government, announced the withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) from Sri Lanka, by March 31, 1990. This was his major… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 41
Confusion as Indians withdraw by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 40 The basic idea behind raising the Citizen Volunteer Force (CVF) was the provision of an armed force to ensure the safety and security of Sri Lankan Tamils in the absence of any law-enforcing agency in the Jaffna Peninsula. In… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 40
Rohan Wijeweera’s killing still a mystery by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 39 On July 30, 1983, along with the Nawa Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna (JVP – People’s Liberation Front), led by Rohana Wijeweera, was proscribed by President J R Jayewardene. The JVP… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 39
Amirthalingam eliminated by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 38 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arranged to deliver his final letter, dated July 11, 1989, to Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa through his Principal Secretary, B G Deshmukh. In the concluding paragraph, he brought to the notice of the president, the… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 38
Badgering for Indian Withdrawal by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 37 Shanmuganathan Sivasankaran was the head of the “Aiyanna group” – the dreaded intelligence network of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Sivasankaran was popularly called “Pottu Amman”. . He joined the LTTE in 1981 and enjoyed enormous power… Read more »
Sri Lanka, The Untold Story, Chapter 37
Talking Peace by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 36 On December 20, 1988, the eighth parliament was dissolved and nominations for the ninth were fixed for between December 30 and January 6. The polling date was set for February 15, with the new parliament scheduled to be summoned on March… Read more »
Sri Lanka, The Untold Story, Chapter 36
Indians rule the roost by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 35 The Tamils of Sri Lanka, for the first time, experienced the full might of the Indian Army. Indians, who for many years had played the role of saviors, suddenly turned their guns against the very Tamils they had come… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 35
Accord turns to discord by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 34 Subsequent to the token surrender of arms by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the Sri Lankan Army, in the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), ceremonies connected with the surrender took place throughout North… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 34
Accord and its Ramifications by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 33 India began to a show keen interest in evolving an acceptable political package to bring an end to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. There were many compulsions behind the desire, none the least of which was the need… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 33
India Shows its Hand by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, 2002 Chapter 1 Chapter 32 The second round of peace talks, in August 1985, between Tamil groups and the Sri Lankan Government, in Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan, ended suddenly in failure when the Tamil militants and TULF leaders walked out. The militant leaders… Read more »
“Minorities” in “One Country”
Where Sajith is not alone by Kusal Perera on his blog, September 2, 2019 The Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) “….which will become the fundamental law of Sri Lanka deriving its power and authority solely from the People, do on this the Tenth day of the waxing moon in the month of… Read more »
From Sachi’s Files – Chapter 10
An American Nurse in Jaffna – 80 years Ago by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 30, 2019 Eighty years ago, the American Journal of Nursing published a four page article of by Ms. Annette Beals, in its Sept. 1939 issue (vol.39, pages 991-994). See below. She had visited the Green Memorial Hospital in Manipay and reported… Read more »
Elections & Urgent Need for Unity
THE FORTHCOMING PRESIDENTAL, PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: THE URGENT NEED FOR THE UNITY OF ALL TAMIL POLITICAL PARTIES AT THIS CRITICAL TIME FOR TAMILS. By: Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org., August 23, 2019 As far as Tamils are concerned the forthcoming elections [Presidential and Parliamentary] is not going to solve any of… Read more »
JDS & ITJP: Time for Sri Lanka to Come Clean on Cluster Munitions
Time for Sri Lanka to come clean regarding cluster munitions ITJP_JDS_cluster_munitions_report 28 August 2019 Johannesburg: As members of the Convention on Cluster Munitions meet 2- 4 September 2019 in Geneva , the President of the organisation needs to come clean on its own record with these devastating weapons. For the last year Sri Lanka has led… Read more »
ATC, CTC, BTF & USTAG: Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2019 Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice FINAL Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), British Tamils Forum (BTF), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and US Tamil Action Group (USTAG) once again on the International Day of the Disappeared draw attention to the large number of enforced disappearances… Read more »
PEARL: International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances
by People for Relief and Equality in Lanka, August 30, 2019 International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances (Washington, D.C.; August 30, 2019) – Today we mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. We stand with Tamil relatives of the disappeared who today marked Day 922 of their years-long protest for answers… Read more »
Investigating Truth re Enforced Disappearances
Investigating The Truth Of What Happened To Enforced Disappeared Tamils In Sri Lanka International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, August 30, 2019 – TGTE’s Call for International Action The necessity for international action, to investigate what happened to enforced disappeared Tamils in Sri Lanka, has become that much greater and more urgent now…. Read more »
“Death, Beauty, Struggle’
Untouchable Women Create the World by Margaret Trawick, University of Press, 2017 304 pages | 6 x 9 Cloth 2017 | ISBN 9780812249057 | $75.00s | Outside the Americas £62.00 Ebook editions are available from selected online vendors “This is the work of the most important anthropologist working in South India and Tamil-speaking Sri Lanka in the past fifty… Read more »
Listening to the Song of Singamma
by Shefali Jha, The Book Review Literary Trust, New Delhi, 2018? Enclosures and boundaries have a conflicted meaning for women. Enclosures are often not safe spaces for them and women have to constantly resist boundaries in order to live their lives. The book under review looks at how ‘conventional Tamil symbols—unbroken enclosures like bangles, pots,… Read more »