The Proposed Constitution

… Will It Accomodate the Just Demands of the Tamils or Abandon Them to Choose Their Own Destiny? By: Thambu Kanagasabai, January 2, 2016 Sri Lanka, the tear shaped island, according to researchers, came into existence about 7000 years ago when the island separated from the Indian sub continent while the narrow strip of shallow… Read more »

Sovereignty can be Bought and Sold like a Commodity

by Stephen Presser, Aeon.co, January 2, 2017 Though it is not often thought of as a commodity, sovereignty resembles one in that it can be bought and sold. Indeed, the purchase of sovereignty was a primary vehicle of American expansion. In a series of treaties that helped create the United States of today, governments operated… Read more »

Narendra Modi’s Year of Living Dangerously

by Sanand Dhume, ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ December 29, 2016 When Narendra Modi stormed to power two-and-a-half years ago with India single-party majority in a generation, much of the world expected a vigorous economic reformer When Narendra Modi stormed to power two-and-a-half years ago with India single-party majority in a generation, much of the world… Read more »

Federalism Addresses Minority Rights: Prof. R. Sivachandran

by Kelum Bandara, ‘The Daily News,’ Colombo, December 30, 2016 Prof. R. Sivachandran, a Central Committee member of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), in an interview with the Dailymirror by email, advocates the Federal structure of government for the North and East. The ITAK is the dominant ally of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at… Read more »

Letter to Amb. Power

by S. Kanesathasan, February 15, 2016 This short submission highlights some unprecedented aspects of the Sri Lankan experience and makes a plea for a strong personal and early initiative by President Obama and Secretary Kerry to finally end the pernicious practice of Sri Lankan governments, including the current one, of unmet commitments made at its… Read more »

Verdict on Raviraj Murder Case

Another Travesty of Justice by M.K. Eelaventhan, December 27, 2016 The recent acquittal of six accused in the political murder trial of late MP Raviraj is not surprising. It is yet another expected verdict from the Sri Lankan judiciary. It would have been a real surprise if the accused were convicted, as in the Sri… Read more »

NPC’s Resolution on Genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils

by Colombo Telegraph, February 11, 2015 Northern Provincial Council yesterday (February 10, 2015) unanimously passed a resolution saying that genocide of the Tamil in Sri Lanka has been continuous since 1948, and that the UN must investigate it and submit a report at the March session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and refer its findings… Read more »

Tipping in Kilinochchi

Just as much as Perry does not have a guide in Kilinochchi to tell him that tipping is not expected, so the international system has painted the world so black and white between the system of nation-states and the ‘terrorists,’ that they cannot understand a place that is somewhere in the middle – a territory… Read more »

Nirvana in Reverse

by V Gunaratnam, September 28, 2005 That is what is happening in Sri Lanka today.  Everything is moving backwards.  It is as if the country is being sucked into a black hole by racial and religious intolerance, lawlessness, and political deception, dragging it through a tenuous ceasefire to confront the perils of war again. Jayantha… Read more »

A Vitiated Moderation

by Chandi Sinnathurai, September 28, 2005 THERE are shared historical events in Sri LANKA between the predominant Sinhalese and the Tamil-speaking communities.  However, these events of violence and violations circulate for the most part as oral history with diverse interpretations.  Perceptions of the history of ‘origins and ownership’ of the predominant community seem to establish… Read more »

Mr. Doolittle and the Tamil Diaspora Seek Help

by Satheesh Thadchanamoorthy, September 26, 2005 My generation never had the luxury of time that my father’s generation had.  I did not get the chance to read A Tale of Two Cities that my father said he had to read as part of his curriculum.  I have not had the chance to read Tolstoy, Trotsky, Marx, Lenin… Read more »

Development Alone Won’t End Sri Lanka’s War

by Jana Nayagam and Suren Manoharan, Tamil Guardian, September, 21 2005 The strategy being advocated by President Chandrika Kumaratunga today is a derivative of her ‘war for peace.’ President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s address to the Asia Society last week provided analysts of Sri Lanka’s conflict with insight into her government’s policy on the ethnic question and its… Read more »

TNA Press Release

by Tamil National Alliance, Colombo, September 23, 2005 Press Release September 22, 2005 The first step in the peace process in Sri Lanka, in what was agreed to be a step by step process, commenced with the signing of a ceasefire agreement (CFA) between the then United National Front (UNF) government of Sri Lanka (GOSL)… Read more »

Rising Challenge

by Tamil Guardian editorial, September 21 2005 The major international players in Sri Lanka – the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway – this week issued a stark assessment of prospects for peace in the island. Describing the Norwegian peace process as facing its “most serious challenge” since the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) came into force in… Read more »

2005 World Summit Outcome

A large meeting of world leaders at the UN summit September 14-16 agreed on the following points, many of which are of interest to Sri Lankan Tamils, especially those on development, terrorism, peacebuilding, human rights and the responsiblity to protect populations from genocide and war crimes: 2005 World Summit Outcome fact sheet

U.S. on Front Lines and in Backwaters

by Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times, September 23, 2005 Rather, he writes, “these men saw their charge in terms of developing a cadre of Westernized officers and useful contacts in both the Christian and Muslim communities who could be influential even in the event that the state broke up…Colonel Wilhelm does everything from overseeing new… Read more »

Democracy Dance in Diapers

by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 20, 2005 This September 11, the editor of the Sangam website directed an appreciative Tamil reader’s query to me.  The query posed by reader Elango was on the dilemma faced by the current Election Chief Dayananda Dissanayake on scheduling the next Presidential election in the island and the plight of… Read more »

TamilNation’s Commentary on Dhanapala’s Speech to SL Caucus

Briefing by Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating Peace Process & Senior Adviser to the President of Sri Lanka, to the US Congressional Sri Lanka Caucus, 8 September 2005 “A Sri Lanka caucus was formed in the House of Representatives in 1998. The caucus seems to be a cheerleader for the Sri Lankan government,… Read more »