Posts Categorized: Demography

NESoHR: Massacres of Tamils 1956 – 2008

by North East Secretariat for Human Rights,  Vanni, 2010 This Book is dedicated to the thousands of Eelam Tamils who lost their life at the hands of the Sri Lankan and Indian State Armed Forces. NESoHR-Massacres-of-Tamils-1956-2008 English Originally posted on Sangam at Massacres of Tamil 1956 – 2008 Documented by North East Secretariat for Human… Read more »

Peasant Politics, Frontier Colonization and the Cunning State in Sri Lanka

The lure of land by Thiruni Kelegama & Benedikt Korf, Modern Asian Studies, Vol.57, Issue 6, UK, November, 2023 Abstract This paper studies the contradictions of peasant politics in Sri Lanka’s dry zone frontier in a highly militarized colonization scheme (‘System L’ of the Mahaweli Development Programme in Weli Oya in northern Sri Lanka). Through… Read more »

TCHR: Sinhala Colonisation 2000

by K Sachithanandan, Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, 2ooo Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March/April 2000 The original text was produced in Tamil by the Author in 1980s TCHR Sinhala Colonisation 2000 K Sachithanandan   SINHALA COLONISATION IN THE HEREDITARY TAMIL REGIONS OF THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA An appeal to… Read more »

TG: This Land Belongs to Us

This week, Tamils took to streets to send the Sri Lankan state a message – just as they did in the 1950’s. Tamil Guardian editorial, London, February 16, 2025 The issue of Sinhala colonisation of the North-East is not new. It is one that has plagued the island for decades, as successive Sri Lankan governments… Read more »

TGTE: Thaiyiddy Buddhist Temple, Symbol of Sinhala Occupation, Should be Removed

Tamil Cultural Genocide for Assimilation into Sinhala Buddhism by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, February 11, 2025 Following the 2009 Mullivaikkal genocide of the Tamils, the Sri Lankan State capitalized on Eelam Tamils’ relatively weak position domestically to brazenly engage in cultural and heritage genocide—forcing the assimilation (“Sinhalization”) of the Tamils and Muslims into the… Read more »

NESoHR Archives

by NorthEast Secretariat for Human Rights, Kilinochchi, Vanni NESoHR Charter-English NESoHR 2005-07-01 Annual Report after one year of operation NESoHR-Compilation-of Human Rights Reports With-Page-Numbers 2005 to 2009 NESoHR Massacres-of-Tamils-1956-2008 English Originally posted: Massacres of Tamil 1956 – 2008 Documented by North East Secretariat for Human Rights Manitham January 2010 NESoHR’s Publication about Massacres on Tamils… Read more »

The Quandary of the National Policy on Land

Reinventing The Wheel? by Austin Fernando, Colombo Telegraph, January 12, 2025 Last week, news appeared titled ‘Inter-linked mechanism mooted for lands.’ The Deputy Minister of Lands and Irrigation Dr. Susil Ranasinghe was quoted in it. Ranasinghe rightly lamented the absence of a proper land policy that creates disorganization of institutions involved in land use, i.e.,… Read more »

The Genesis of the Sri Lankan Unitary State

and the Call for Eelam Tamil Self-Determination by Sahithyan Thilipkumar, December 2023 Master Thesis at University of Zurich’s Faculty of Law Master_Thesis_Sahithyan_Thilipkumar_ZORA 6. Conclusion Contemporary discussions on the conflict in Sri Lanka often start with the country’s independence or the beginning of the war. My thesis examined how the basis of the conflict was laid… Read more »

Escalating Land Grabs Threaten Tamils & Muslims in Sri Lanka

by Oakland Institute, California, September 12, 2024 —FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— September 12, 2024; 6:00 AM PDT Media Contact: amittal /A_T/ oaklandinstitute /D_O_T/ org, +1 510-469-5228 As the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) addresses the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, a new report details how 15 years after the brutal end of the… Read more »

Impact of the Lack of Justice and Accountability

What impact has the lack of justice and accountability for the end of the Civil War meant for Tamil people in the present Excerpt from “The Lingering Economic Consequences of Sri Lanka’s Civil War” by Devana Senanayake, People’s Alliance to the Right to Land, Colombo, September 6, 2024 This year marks 15 years since the… Read more »

CPA: The Intersectional Trends of Land Conflicts in Sri Lanka

by Centre for Policy Analysis, Colombo, August 20, 2024 The-Intersectional-Trends-of-Land-Conflicts-in-Sri-Lanka.pdf (cpalanka.org) 15 years after the end of the Civil War, Sri Lanka continues to experience deep ethnic divisions and has failed to address the root causes of the conflict that halt moving to a post-conflict society. Unfortunately, the decades-long problem of land has continued in… Read more »

200 Years of Malaiyaha Tamil Labour in Sri Lanka

A brief history of 200 years of involuntary migration, imposed statelessness, exploitation and marginalization of Upcountry or Malaiyaha Tamil tea plantation workers. by SALAM & Maynmai, Jamhoor, India, June 6, 2024 View fullsize Tea Estate, Ceylon. Image: 1891 collection, V&A 200 years ago, the British empire brought Tamil plantation workers against their will from southern… Read more »

Population of Sri Lanka by Ethnic Group 1880 to 2020

by Subasium, Colombo, Dec 15, 2019 Source of data: http://www.statistics.gov.lk (Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012) http://www.statistics.gov.lk ( Population by ethnic group and census years) http://sis.statistics.gov.lk (Population by ethnic group)

Building Entrepreneurship: Nation Building

by Nillanthan Maha, June 22, 2024 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with some corrections by the Editor.] On the 16th in Jaffna, an award ceremony was held at a tourist hotel located at Pungakulam Junction. It was the event for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards of the Tamil Nadu’s Virudhu Nagar Rotary… Read more »

Am I A Settler Too?

Reflections of a Sinhalese from Sri Lanka after Gaza by Nalin Jayathunga, Polity.lk, Colombo, April 29, 2024 Mapping temporal and spatial lines between the past and the present, this reflection draws parallels between the Palestinian genocide and the Tamil genocide. It is premised on my moral conundrum of protesting the genocide currently unfolding in Gaza,… Read more »

The Burden of War Widows

Gendered consequences of war and peace-building in Sri Lanka by Karen Brounéus, Erika Forsberg, Kristine Höglund, Kate Lonergan, Third World Quarterly, Pages 458-474, Received 26 Aug 2022, Accepted 16 Aug 2023, Published online: 09 Sep 2023 Burden of War Widows Third World Quarterly Sept 2023 Abstract Research shows that war affects various groups of survivors… Read more »

Diaspora Tamil Archives

by Diaspora Tamil Archives, Norway புலம்பெயர் தமிழ் சுவடிகள் காப்பகங்கள் ABOUT US  

Caste System in Medieval Tamil Nadu

Not Manusmriti, British—caste system in medieval Tamil Nadu solidified after Cholas fell by Anirudh Kanisetti, ThePrint.in, March 24, 2024 Middle castes reveal a complicated social history. Caste is rooted in politics, not just religion Illustration of the castes and tribes of South India | Representational image | Commons As always with India’s historical debates, the… Read more »

Roots of Ethnic Contestation in the Eastern Province

As in the past, the contestation is over title to the land by PK Balachandran, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 10, 2023 Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province is again becoming a contested region between ethnic groups. This time round it is more between the Tamils and Sinhalese, with the Muslims in the periphery. This is because of the… Read more »

Uduvil Girls College’s Bicentenary

by Dr. Thayalan Ambalavanar, Jaffna, February 7, 2024 Report Tuesday morning (6th February) saw the inaugural function of the Bicentennial celebrations of Uduvil Girls’ College in their college hall. The program was titled ‘Anthizo’ which in Greek means blossom. It was 200 years ago that a young American missionary, Harriet Winslow, started this school which… Read more »