by Sachi Sri Kantha, February 1, 2019 Indian politician George Fernandes, variously tagged as ‘a socialist firebrand’, ‘fighter of lost causes’ passed into history on January 29, 2019. Many Eelam Tamils and sympathizers of the demand of Eelam Tamils were undoubtedly saddened by this news. He was a rarity among Indian politicians, and his public… Read more »
Time to Deliver Justice
For War Victims in Sri Lanka UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’S MARCH 2019 SESSIONS By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The 40th Sessions of Human Rights Council is scheduled to be held in Geneva from February 22nd to March 22, 2019. This Session assumes greater importance… Read more »
Then There Were No Witnesses
Ahilan’s poetry bears powerful testimony to Sri Lankan civil war by Kavitha Muralidharan, ‘FirstPost,’ Delhi, October 6, 2018 We are here now. Eating without hands, Seeing without eyes Walking on wooden stumps We are here, Beneath your shining silk banners It is us. We are here, Under your umbrella, Splashing fire ceaselessly On the oozing… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 48
100 Movies and Beyond by Sachi Sri Kantha, January 16, 2018 Part 47 Khushwant Singh’s portrayal of MGR Khushwant Singh (1915-2014), the doyen among the Indian journalists of his generation, contributed a feature on the status of Indian movies, to the New York Times, in 1976. For this feature, he had interviewed a few prominent… Read more »
ITJP: Counting the Dead in Sri Lanka
To memorialize the dead, count them & strengthen the case for genocide. – Editor Counting the Dead form by International Truth & Justice Project & Human Rights Data Analysis Group, South Africa & San Francisco, January 7, 2019 Counting the Dead form in Tamil [Tamil description below] HRDAG and ITJP are working on a project… Read more »
The Education of Jaffna
by Sen V., TamilCulture, January 16, 2013 This year marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to the Jaffna peninsula. January is Tamil Heritage Month. To mark this occasion, TamilCulture Magazine will publish a series of articles on Tamil history and heritage. Today’s article will reflect on the legacy of… Read more »
HRDAG Report On Disappeared Tamils In Army Custody In Sri Lanka
by Christine Grillo, Human Rights Data Analysis Group, December 12, 2018 HRDAG-ITJPSL-2018-12-12-1 Today, in collaboration with the International Truth and Justice Project, HRDAG has published a report about the 500 Tamils who disappeared while in Army custody in Sri Lanka in 2009. The report is titled “How many people disappeared on 17-19 May 2009 in Sri Lanka?”… Read more »
The Crucial March 2019 Session of UNHRC
Judging Sri Lanka’s Credibility & Commitments to Human Rights By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka UN Human Rights Council’s March 2019 Sessions is poised to debate and discuss the Council’s Final Reports on Sri Lanka’s progress in implementing its 30-01-2015 Resolution which had more than 25… Read more »
Ying & Yan
by Sanjana Hattotuwa, his blog, December 12, 2018 Mahinda Rajapaksa issued two press releases on the 3rd of December. One in Sinhala, the other in English. The press release was in response to the interim stay order issued by the Court of Appeal, basically putting Rajapaksa out of the job he was unconstitutionally appointed into and… Read more »
Tamil Artist who is Preserving Memories of ‘Surviving the War’
Meet the Tamil artist who is preserving memories of ‘surviving the war’ in Sri Lanka Sanathanan Thamotharampillai’s art focuses on the themes of memory, loss, home and self. by S. Senthalir, Scroll.in, December 15, 2018 Home and self are the overarching themes that define Sanathanan Thamotharampillai’s perspective, both as an artist and art historian. Thamotharampillai… Read more »
Review: For India, ‘Our Time Has Come’
In the not-too-distant future, India could have a $10 trillion economy, the world’s third largest military and the world’s largest middle class. Tunku Varadarajan reviews ‘Our Time Has Come’ by Alyssa Ayres. by Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2018 When India won independence in 1947, there was every hope that it would… Read more »
Release of Land
Sri Lanka Army had released over 69,000 acres of land in North and East since 2009 by ColomboPage, December 17, 2018 Sri Lanka Army said over 69,000 acres of land that was used by the Army in the North East following the end of the war had been released since 2009. The Army said since… Read more »
ICES: Sex Ratio and Vulnerability in Northern and Eastern Provinces in Sri Lanka
by Kalinga Tudor Silva, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, 2018 ICES Sex-Ratio-and-Vulnerability-Book-No-2 Comparing the results of 1981 and 2012 population censuses in Sri Lanka, thecurrent study examined the impact of the war on the population dynamics in theNorthern and Eastern provinces with a focus on changes in the sex ratio. The sexratio in the… Read more »
Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka
Written by Dr. Rajesh Venogopal, November 2018 Publisher:Cambridge University Press Online publication date:November 2018 Print publication year:2018 Online ISBN:9781108553414 This book examines the relationship between ethnic conflict and economic development in modern Sri Lanka. Drawing on a historically informed political sociology, it explores how the economic and the ethnic have encountered one another, focusing in… Read more »
From Sachi’s Files – Chapter 6
A 20 year Old Letter to Dayan Jayatilleka by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 14, 2018 Front Note As of now, I have published five chapters in this series. Chapter 1 (posted May 17, 2015): https://sangam.org/sachis-files-chapter-1/ Chapter 2 (posted July 18, 2015): https://sangam.org/sachis-files-chapter-2/ Chapter 3 (posted Aug 21, 2015): https://sangam.org/sachis-files-chapter-3/ Chapter 4 (posted Oct. 16, 2015):… Read more »
Prevention of Terrorism Act No. 48 of 1970 [Certified on 20th July 1979]
See also https://www.sangam.org/2008/05/Sieghart2_1984.php & https://www.icj.org/ethnic-conflict-and-violence-in-sri-lanka-report-of-a-mission-to-sri-lanka-in-july-august-1981-on-behalf-of-the-international-commission-of-jurists-with-a-supplement-by-icj-staff-for-the-period-1981-1/ — Ed/ By: Kumarathasan Rasingam PTA: A true example of draconian legislation? Under Section 9 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), people can be arrested in the absence of formal charges filed against them and can be detained for up to 18 months under a detention order issued by the Minister… Read more »
ICJ 1981 – Ethnic Conflict & Violence in Sri Lanka
by Virginia Leary, International Commission of Jurists, 1981, with a supplement 1981-1983 https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1983/08/Sri-Lanka-ethnic-conflict-and-violence-fact-finding-mission-report-1983-eng.pdf Ethnic conflict and violence in Sri Lanka: report of a mission to Sri Lanka in July-August 1981, with a supplement for the period of 1981-1983 AUGUST 1, 1983 In view of the events of July – August 1983 in Sri Lanka, the… Read more »
Resolution of US Massachusetts House of Representatives
Resolution of US Massachusetts House of Representatives Calling for the Restoration of the Separate Sovereign State of Tamil Eelam 18 June 1981 [see also Proclamation of Eelam Day by Edward J.King, Governor of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 16 May 1979 Human Rights for Tamils in Sri Lanka – US Congress Resolution – Hon. Mario Baggio of… Read more »
Diasporas as a Force in Foreign Affairs
The case of Tamils in Britain and Canada by Matthew Godwin, London School of Economics, August 17, 2018 A number of factors impact whether or not diasporas influence host country foreign policy, writes Matthew Godwin. He looks at two major decisions facing Canada and the UK toward Sri Lanka, and explains how pressure from the Tamil… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 47
Comparison of Chaplin and MGR by Sachi Sri Kantha, December 9, 2018 Part 46 Front Note In the previous Part 46 covering the two MGR Pictures movies, ‘Nadodi Mannan’ (1958) and ‘Adimai Penn’ (1969), I had presented the emblem of MGR Pictures for the two movies. In the color emblem shown for ‘Adimai Penn’, there… Read more »