by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, ‘The New York Review of Books,’ September 7, 2018 Was Colvin’s sacrifice worthwhile? It is tempting to say no—that in an indifferent world, no story is worth dying for. But Colvin’s life is itself a rebuke to such pragmatism: she had risked her life before and saved many other lives as… Read more »
Sri Lanka Core Group Statement
by UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, September 11, 2018 This UK statement was delivered at the 39th session of the Human Rights Council during the Sri Lanka Core Group Statement This statement is delivered on behalf of Germany, Macedonia, Montenegro and the UK as members of the Sri Lanka core group. We welcome further recent… Read more »
A Sinking Ship
Tamil National Alliance [Editor’s note – we attempt not to become too involved in politics by supporting one party or another, because we feel there is no reason to make our dirty laundry public. We rarely post pieces on Tamil politics, but since the opinion stated here is such a common one at the moment,… Read more »
Thoughts on the Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. documentary
by a 1rst generation Tamil American, September 6, 2018 Film trailer. I recently had the privilege to see the documentary of the British rapper, producer, and activist M.I.A. at an advance screening hosted by Cinereach, the studio that produced the film. I’ve long been a big fan of her music, often revisiting her albums Kala… Read more »
Dance and the Sri Lankan Tamils
To this day, there is no Bharatanatyam style that is distinct to Sri Lanka. by Teevin Kulanthai, September 3, 2018 https://entamilculturalconsciousness.wordpress.com Dance is the aesthetic representation of culture through movement. As one of the earliest forms of storytelling, the enduring art form embodies and immortalizes the history and traditions of its creators. Apart from Koothu, which is more… Read more »
‘Kantarodai Civilization of Ancient Jaffna’
Kantarodai Civilization of Ancient Jaffna 500 BCE – 800 CE : A Study in Archaeology and Other Disciplines by Dr Siva Thiagarajah ISBN 9789556595260 Published 2016 by Kumaran Book House, Colombo Book is available at: Tamil Information Centre, Bridge End Cl, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6PZ Phone: 020 8546 1560 and http://www.marymartin.com/web/selectedIndex?mEntry=241252
GIJTR: Sri Lanka Case Study
by Global Initiative for Justice, Truth & Reparations, Global Reparations Summit, Belgrade, March 25-26, 2018 Case Study by International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, updated May 2018 Case_Study_-_Sri_Lanka Archives of the conference — https://www.globalreparations.com/live-stream/ Bhavani Fonseka on Day One, first segment at 2:15:45. Yasmin Sooka on Day One, second segment Summary of Reparations Efforts and Programs… Read more »
In Idlib, Final Offensive in Syrian War May Come at Horrific Cost
by Margaret Coker, Hwaida Saad and Carlotta Gall, ‘The New York Times,’ September 2, 2018 BAGHDAD — On land, Syria’s government is mustering thousands of conscripts to bolster its depleted forces. At sea, a Russian naval flotilla is just offshore, ready to intervene with formidable firepower. In Idlib Province, millions of civilians are dreading what… Read more »
Myanmar Generals Should Face Genocide Charges Over Rohingya, U.N. Says
by Nick Cummings-Bruce, ‘The New York Times,’ August 27, 2019 GENEVA — Myanmar’s army commander and other top generals should face trial in an international court for genocide against Rohingya Muslims and for crimes against humanity targeting other ethnic minorities, United Nations experts said on Monday after a yearlong investigation. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing,… Read more »
Amirthalingam, MGR and RAW Revisited
by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 31, 2018 Since 2001, I had covered Appapillai Amirthalingam’s life and politics in this website under various themes. Here is a select list of five items which have not been covered by other chroniclers of Eelam. Most importantly, details presented in these five items will hardly appear the Wikipedia version… Read more »
Grassroots Leaders Provide the Best Hope to a Troubled World
Amid cruelty and suffering, there are heroes, says Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who steps down on September 1st The apparent powerlessness of those who suffer was also brought home to me in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, where Tamil communities dispossessed of their land by the military decades ago still… Read more »
BBC: Dozens of Skeletons Found in Mannar
Sri Lanka mass grave by Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC, August 27, 2018 Experts in northern Sri Lanka are trying to identify the remains of dozens of bodies in a mass grave in the country’s former war zone. So far the skeletal remains of more than 90 people have been unearthed in the north-western town of Mannar…. Read more »
CPJ: Mahaweli Land Grabbing & Related Issues
edby Commission for Justice and Peace of Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, August 30, 2018 Mahaveli Development 180830 Condemnation of the Land grabbing by the Mahaveli-Development Authority and some other related issues The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna strongly condemn all the measures taken by the Mahaveli-Development Authority to acquire the… Read more »
Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on its isit to Sri Lanka
by Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, July 23, 2018 http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/39/45/Add.2 [Statement at end of Working Group visit] VI. Conclusions 73. The Working Group appreciates the willingness of the Government to submit itself to scrutiny through the visit, and considers that the findings in the present report offer an opportunity to support the Government in addressing… Read more »
The Outbreak of ‘Hell’ by the Portuguese on Jaffna
by G. Pathmanathan (Dept of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India) and Raghavan Pathmanathan (School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), ‘Nalluran.com,’ January 14, 2014 OUR CHERISHED MEMORIES OF TWO LORD SRI KARTHIKEYA TEMPLES AT MAVETTAPURAM & NALLUR, JAFFNA PENNINSULA, SRI LANKA [Not sure why the section on the Portuguese is in this article, but it… Read more »
Buddhism in Sri Lanka
A brief history by Barbara O’Brien, ‘Thoughtco,’ July 23, 2018 When Buddhism spread beyond India, the first nations in which it took root were Gandhara and Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. Since Buddhism eventually died out in India and Gandhara, it can be argued that the oldest living Buddhist tradition today is found in Sri Lanka. Today about… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Population
by World Population Review, accessed August 23, 2018 Sri Lanka Population by Year (Projections) Year Population % Male % Female Density (km²) Growth Rate 2020 21,084,042 47.94% 52.06% 321.35 x 0.00% 2025 21,349,942 47.75% 52.25% 325.41 0.25% 2030 21,474,701 47.56% 52.44% 327.31 0.12% 2035 21,491,895 47.40% 52.60% 327.57 0.02% 2040 21,397,716 47.27% 52.73% 326.13 -0.09% 2045… Read more »
Behind the Skeletal Excavations in Mannar
Grave secrets by Indunil Usgoda Arachchi & Vimukthi Fernando, ‘The Sunday Observer,’ Colombo, August 19, 2018 Sunday Observer journalists visit a grave excavation in Mannar, where forensic investigators are hard at work, painstakingly unearthing human skeleton after skeleton, determined that this time, the investigation into the suspected mass grave site will not be compromised- politically… Read more »
What Do ‘Human Rights’ Mean for Politicians in the South…?
By S. V. KIRUPAharan, France, ‘LankaENews,’ August 21, 2018 (Lanka e News – 20.Aug.2018, 5.45AM) ‘Human rights’ may be a new phenomenon for many Sinhala Buddhists – SB and for some Tamils including a few members of the diaspora. I have seen many participants in UN human rights forums in Geneva without any basic knowledge… Read more »
A (Tamil) Reading of Albert Camus’ The Plague
by Charles Sarvan, August 17, 2018 Colombo Telegraph (14 October 2017) reported that in Mullaitivu there’s one Sinhalese soldier for every two Tamil civilians. It added that this ratio does not include personnel belonging to the navy and air-force. Elsewhere too, demographic realities are being systematically and forcibly changed. (I gather that soon, if not… Read more »