by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM London, Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 22, 2022 Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils all over the world are very deeply concerned in relation to Sri Lanka’s past human rights violations including war crimes and the very minimal steps taken by Sri Lanka so far… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Diaspora
Interview with an IDP 2009
by Manisat blogspot posted on YouTube, 2009 Figuratively translated from Tamil to English in 2009 by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam. Ph.D. (Cornell) The host warned the young people who are not strong enough to see tragic scenes not to watch. She said that what you are about to see is what the Tamil brothers and sisters suffered…. Read more »
Without a Tamil Buy-in, Sri Lanka’s Quest for Change will Fail
by JS Tissainayagam, International Policy Digest, June 9, 2022 Tamils in Sri Lanka protesting economic mismanagement, abuse of power, and corruption are demanding structural change. One idea being floated around is changing the country’s constitution. However, the proposals being offered do little for structural change or stability because they disregard Tamil concerns. Tamils must put… Read more »
A Poisoned Chalice
How international aid bolstered Sri Lankan despots by Viruben Nandakumar, Tamil Guardian, London, September 7, 2022 “I was born into a debt-free nation”, claimed Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe as he accepted yet another loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on behalf of the island. This will be the seventeenth time since independence that… Read more »
PEARL: No Trials, Only Tribulations for Tamil Victims of Sri Lanka’s Conflict-related Sexual Violence
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, August 31, 2022 Report here. Press Release PEARL’s latest report: No Trials, Only Tribulations for Tamil Victims of Sri Lanka’s Conflict-related Sexual Violence Washington D.C.; August 31, 2022 — The Sri Lankan government is unwilling to investigate and prosecute those responsible for conflict-related sexual violence against Tamils, People… Read more »
The First Thamil Eelam Sports Festival – July 2004
by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, Ph.D., July 31, 2022 The First Thamil Sports Festival was held in the Kilinochchi Playgrounds in July 2004. The one-week of sports festival was organized under the guidance of the Sports Unit of the Thamil Eelam administration. Participants from the 8 Districts in the North-East took part in the Week-long competitions in Soccer,… Read more »
A Desperate Smokescreen
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, August 28, 2022 As the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council nears, Sri Lanka’s Sinhala leaders scramble to present the country as on the verge of a democratic breakthrough. Plans to reform Sri Lanka’s draconian counter-terrorism legislation, decriminalise same-sex relations, and delist select Tamil diaspora organisations have been met… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Dual Crisis
Ethnic Conflict & the Debt Economy by Nalika Gajaweera, Jamhoor, South Asia, May 4, 2022 Reimagining a pluralist Sri Lanka in the wake of the ‘Gota Go Home’ movement “Except for the home crowd cheering for our national team at an international cricket match, it was the first time I was seeing Sri Lankans united together… Read more »
Diaspora Groups Call for Singapore to Investigate ex-President
by People for Equity & Relief in Lanka, July 26, 2022 20220726 Joint Press_Release_Request_to_Investigate_Gotabaya_Rajapaksa Press Release: Global Coalition of Tamil and Human Rights Groups Urge Singapore’s Attorney General to Investigate Gotabaya Rajapaksa Washington D.C.; July 26, 2022 — Seventeen Tamil and human rights organizations from around the world issued a joint letter today, urging Singapore’s… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Crisis is Not Just About the Economy
But a long history of discrimination against minority groups by Niro Kandasamy, The Conversation, Australia, July 14, 2022 Sri Lanka is in the grip of an economic, political and humanitarian crisis. In a remarkable display of anger on Saturday, thousands of protesters disregarded government curfews, rampant military and police presence to storm the presidential palace… Read more »
Joint Tamil Civil Society Statement
Sri Lanka’s Political and Economic Crisis Joint-Tamil-Civil-Society-Statement-Sri-Lankas-Political-and-Economic-Crisis-14-July-2022 – Washington D.C.: July 14th 2022 – On July 13, 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka leaving the island in political chaos. Many among the island’s Sinhala majority and the international community have heralded this moment, a culmination of months of protest, as a potentially revolutionary moment. And indeed, the… Read more »
A Revolutionary Moment?
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, July 10, 2022 On July 9, thousands of protestors stormed the residence of Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in what appeared to be the climax of months of protest over the economic crisis on the island. Photos and videos that quickly made headlines around the world showed demonstrators rummaging through his wardrobe, working… Read more »
Sri Lanka, the Bamboo Lounge
by Roy Ratnavel, May 15, 2022 Some people like to collect coins, first edition stamps, retro comic books or sports memorabilia. I collect spoken words. I hunt and gather these words when I overhear them on the street while watching movies, in my living room via television. These words of the mouth include cultural sayings,… Read more »
Tsunami Disaster in the Island of Sri Lanka
by Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, date unknown, but probably 2005 (info in 2nd & 3rd tables are as of March 10, 2005) Tamil Centre for Human Rights – TCHR Centre Tamoul pour les Droits de l’Homme Email : tchrgs /A_T/ tchr /D_O_T/ net / tchrdip /A_T/ tchr /D_O_T/ net Website : www.tchr.net A… Read more »
Why Sri Lanka’s Protestors Must Topple the Statue of Bandaranaike in Colombo
by Thusiyan Nandakumar, Tamil Guardian, London, April 22, 2022 Just under two years ago, the US police killing of George Floyd reverberated around the world. In cities such as Bristol in the UK, protestors took to the streets. They marched to the city’s harbour and there, they toppled the statue of Edward Colston, a merchant… Read more »
This is What Caused Sri Lanka’s Worst Economic Crisis
Madhura Rasaratnam writes: Policies driven by Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, which have been the bedrock of the Rajapaksas’ governance vision, are no longer financially or politically viable by Marisa Rasaratnam, Indian Express, April 17, 2022 Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family is facing mounting public anger, calls for resignations and political defections amidst the island’s worst economic… Read more »
Seizing the Moment in Sri Lanka
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, April 7, 2022 Sri Lanka is in crisis. Protests have spread across the South, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It marks a remarkable turnaround in popularity, with demonstrations from the same electorate that less than two years ago delivered Rajapaksa a two-thirds majority in parliament. The speed in which protests have… Read more »
BTF Exhibit in Geneva
by British Tamils Forum, March 2022 Exhibition & Demonstration at UN Human Rights Council in Geneva March 31 & April 1, 2022 Information displayed at exhibition –> Land Occupied by Government Department in North in Acres Land grab P 3 FINAL Land grab P 4 FINAL
Trilingual Blunders
Signboards, Social Media, and Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Publics by Prof. Christina P. Davis, Signs & Society, Volume 8, Number 1, Winter 2020 ABSTRACT In Sri Lanka all public signs are required by law to be in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. This article investigates the multiple, clashing ways that Sri Lankan Tamil speakers (Tamils and… Read more »
Review: ‘The Red Tern’
by Zulma Publishers, France, Spring 2022 Originally in Tamil, translated into French as ‘La Sterne Rouge’ A major Sri Lankan voice Ala is born and raised in Sri Lanka, in a Tamil village prone to attacks from Sinhalese paramilitary groups. Exposed to inter-ethnic violence, she is still a child when she joins the Tamil Tigers…. Read more »