by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, February 7, 2019 Full statement The ICJ has submitted a written statement on Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council ahead of its 40th Session in Geneva. Almost ten years after Sri Lanka emerged from a period of conflict and massive human rights violations, the Government of Sri Lanka still… Read more »
NE Civil Society Letter to HCHR
by North East civil society, January 30, 2019 2019_january_tamil_mothers_to_michelle_bachelet Your Excellency, Re: Your Report to the UNHRC in March 2019 on Sri Lanka We the undersigned civil society groups, in particular from the North and East of Sri Lanka, members of war victims’ associations, other likeminded organisations and individuals concerned about the current state of… Read more »
MGR Remembered – Part 49
A Vibrant ‘Vaathiyar’ to the Illiterates by Sachi Sri Kantha, February 19, 2019 Part 48 Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was one of the pioneers in contributing to the origin of motion pictures. One of his quotes pertaining to this invention was, ‘I consider that the first mission of the motion picture is to make people happy,… Read more »
Reluctance Towards BJP Will Prevail In South
BJP’s simple majoritarian plank doesn’t work in the complex of southern India by Ramu Manivannan, ‘Outlook India,’ New Delhi, January 31, 2019 The BJP and its allies are in control of 22 states in India. This is a staggering proposition to boast vis-à-vis the Congress, notwithstanding the recent setbacks in assembly elections. Though the BJP’s… Read more »
Sri Lankan Poetry in English
Getting Beyond the Colonial Heritage by D. C. R. A. Goonetilleke, ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature, 21 : 3 , July 1990 THE CONTINUING AND growing vitality during the last three decades of Sri Lankan literature in English seems to be disproving the prophecies of gloom and doom made periodically about it. In 1964,… Read more »
ITJP: Shavendra Silva Dossier
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, January 29, 2019 http://www.itjpsl.com/reports/shavendra-silva Full dossier (Sangam mirror) ENGLISH தமிழ் සිංහල This is a dossier on Major General Shavendra Silva – appointed Chief of Army Staff of the Sri Lankan Army in January 2019. Shavendra Silva was arguably the most important frontline ground commander in the 2008-9… Read more »
Amnesty: Flickering Hope
Truth, Justice, Reparations & Guarantees of Non-recurrence by Amnesty International, London, January 24, 2019, Index number: ASA 37/9715/2019 In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council to demonstrate the newly elected government’s commitment to break with impunity for a past marked by serious human rights violations. While the Resolution was welcomed… Read more »
HRW: “Why Can’t We Go Home?”
Military Occupation of Land in Sri Lanka by Human Rights Watch, New York, October 9, 2018 https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/09/why-cant-we-go-home/military-occupation-land-sri-lanka Summary On April 29, 2017, the Sri Lankan navy high command announced it would release 100 acres of land that security forces had been occupying in the Mullikulam area since 2007 to the original owners. For the displaced… Read more »
George Fernandes (1930-2019) – A Requiem
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 »