by T. Sabaratnam, October 19, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 12 Original index of series| Chapter 13: Militants come to the Fore Jayewardene’s media attack on Amirthalingam, the police rampage in Jaffna and the 1977 riots had the combined effect of pushing the Tamil moderates aside and brought the militants to the fore. Jayewardene’s expectation that… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Biography
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.12 Moderates Ignore Mandate
by T. Sabaratnam, September 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 11 Original index of series| Original Chapter 12 Opposition Leader Tamils of the north and east of Sri Lanka had declared “their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own territory” since the Kankesanthurai by-election held on 6 February 1975. As Thanthai Chelva declared… Read more »
Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.11 The Mandate Ratified
by T. Sabaratnam, September 25, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 10 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 11 Thanthai’s Final Declaration For five reasons 1977 was an important year in the history of the Sri Lankan Tamil problem. In that year both major Sinhala parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United… Read more »
G. G. Ponnambalam (1902-1977): His Power and Plight as a Tamil Leader
by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 8, 2020 Front Note: My father Siva Sachithanantham (1923-2003) was a fan of G.G. Ponnambalam’s theatrics in the political platforms and legal arena. He developed this fascination during the 1930s (when he was a teenager, and ‘Ponnan’ was his first local political hero), when Ponnambalam first contested the Point Pedro… Read more »
Dharmaretnam Sivaram: ‘Appa died doing what he loved most’
By Vaishnavi Sivaram, Vaitheki Sivaram & Andrew Seralaathan Dharmaretnam, Journalists for a Democracy in Sri Lanka, April 29, 2020 This year marks the 15th anniversary of our father’s death and to this day, no one has been convicted for his murder. We are not surprised by this and neither is our family looking for justice. The Sri… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.10 The Mandate Affirmed
by T. Sabaratnam, September 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 9 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 10 Chapter 10: The Mandate Affirmed Vaddukoddai Resolution Nine days after Pirapaharan founded the LTTE, the Tamil United Front held its first national convention at Pannakam in Vaddukoddai in the Jaffna Peninsula. It passed the historic ‘Vaddukoddai Resolution’… Read more »
Piraparaharan: Vol.1, Chap.9 TNT Matures into the LTTE
by T. Sabaratnam, September 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 8 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 9 Chapter 9: TNT matures into the LTTE The need for a Veeran The Duraiappah murder delivered the message Pirapaharan wanted to convey: a new force prepared to hit back had entered the Tamil scene. That created a… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap. 8 First Military Operation
by T. Sabaratnam, September 1, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 7 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 8 Pirapaharan Returns Pirapaharan did what Sivakumaran failed to do. He killed Alfred Duraiappah. Sivakumaran’s death was one of the factors that induced Pirapaharan to return to Jaffna, the scene of action. With the death of Sivakumaran, the… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol. 1, Chap. 7 The Cyanide Suicide
by T. Sabaratnam, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 6 Original index of series| Original Vol. 1, Chapter 7 Sivakumaran The death of nine spectators during the closing ceremony of the Fourth International Tamil Research Conference ended all the efforts Sirimavo Bandaranaike government had been making in 1973 to pacify the Tamil United Front. The deaths pained… Read more »
Pirapaharan: Vol.1, Chap.6 Birth of Tamil New Tigers
by T. Sabaratnam, August 15, 2003 Volume 1, Chapter 5 Original index of series Original Volume 1, Chapter 6 Pirapaharan entered the freedom struggle in the role of a leader of an armed group when he was 17 years old. He led a bomb attack on 17 September 1972 at the carnival held at Duraiappah… Read more »
Tanthai Chelvanayagam Remembrance
by M K Eelaventhan, March 26, 2019 M.K. Eelaventhan spoke at the Mullivaikal May 18th Remembrance Day at Queens Park, Toronto, Canada: Tamils’ freedom struggles have undergone three stages of development. First thirty years was unarmed struggle headed by Thanthai Chelvanayagam, the venerated leader of the Tamils. But the Sinhala fanatics refused to give a… Read more »
Losing Santhia, Part Four
Tiger power by Ben Hiller, ‘Red Flag,’ Australia, March 28, 2019 Santhia of died of kidney failure in a Jakarta hospital in October 2017. She was only 42. Years earlier, she and her infant son fled Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. They tried to reach Australia, but were stranded in… Read more »
Losing Santhia, Part Three
Exodus from Jaffna, war in the Vanni by Ben Hiller, ‘Red Flag,’ Australia, September 23, 2018 Santhia, a former high-ranking member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died in a Jakarta hospital in October last year. She was only 42. Almost a decade earlier, she fled Sri Lanka, via Tamil Nadu, India, with her… Read more »
TIC Note on Varadakumar
by Tamil Information Centre, London, March 23, 2019 TIC Note on Varadakumar
Passing of Varathakumar
Head of Tamil Information Centre, London, passed March 13, 2019 at home. http://www.thamilnaatham.media TIC 2011 – National Security Laws in Sri Lanka TIC 2008 – TIC Mourns Fr. Karunaratnam TIC 2007 – Abduction of Sinhalese Journalists TIC 2006 – Tamils of Sri Lanka: The Quest for Human Dignity TIC 2006 – The UN Human Rights… Read more »
Tribute to Chelliah Kodeeswaran
by MK Eelaventhan, February 24, 2019 See also https://www.sangam.org/articles/view/?id=66 Mr. Chelliah Kodeeswaran is not an ordinary individual but a unique personality. He challenged the atrocious Sri Lankan government against the Sinhala Only Act. By his legal action he has become part and parcel of history. Kodeeswaran passed away on February 15th 2019 at the age of… Read more »
M.I.A.’s Critique of Wokeness
by Spencer Kornhaber, ‘The Atlantic,’ New York, October 5, 2018 CINEREACH M.I.A. wants to talk foreign policy. I called up the 43-year-old pop star Maya Arulpragasam last Friday to talk about Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Stephen Loveridge’s fascinating documentary about her life. But she immediately brought up the latest news about her birth nation, Sri Lanka, which her family of ethnic… Read more »
Mamma M.I.A.: Influence of an Icon
Comedian Jack Rooke profiles his idol, Sri Lankan-British rapper M.I.A. by BBC Radio 4, October 9, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/m0000np5 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000np5
Believing Women, and the Gaslighting of M.I.A.
by Mallika Rao, ‘Vulture,’ New York, October 2, 2018 The big revelation of the documentary titled MAYA / MATANGI / MIA, which hit U.S. theaters last weekend, is how it vindicates the singer at its heart. At The Guardian, Laura Snapes draws a connection between Christine Blasey Ford and Maya Arulpragasam — nom de guerre, M.I.A. — two… Read more »
Film Review of “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”
My personal take on this documentary film. by Lorenzo Fiorito, ‘Tamil Culture,’ September 21, 2018 The London autumn evening is winding down. After dinner, my sweetheart and I sit together on the sofa in front of the TV, and patch in the laptop video feed. I click on the link to an advance viewing of… Read more »