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 »
Posts Categorized: Diaspora
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 »
Jailing Activists & Pardoning Murderers
Monitoring ten issues of concern in Sri Lanka in 2021 by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, February 2022 Read the full report as a PDF Monitoring issues of concern In March 2021, the UN Human Rights Council passed Resolution 46/1: Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution identified ten… Read more »
Abolishing PTA is the Only Way Out
by Basil Fernando, Groundviews, February 2, 2022 The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill, a bill to amend the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA), has been gazetted by the order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The proposed amendment still leaves much that has been criticized as dangerous… Read more »
February 4 Black Day for Tamils in Sri Lanka
Independence Day for Sinhalese By: Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights, February 2, 2022 Postcolonial Sri Lanka has become worse than it was during the colonial period. The sad history of February 4th – the day of independence to the Sinhalese has turned out to be a BLACK DAY to the Tamils…. Read more »
Indian Ocean Strategic Studies Newsletter
by Indian Ocean Strategic Studies, New York, January 2022 Indian Ocean Strategic Studies newsletter January 2022 Mission of the IOSS Indian Ocean is at the heart of international geo-politics. Some 80% of the world’s maritime oil trade flows through three narrow passages of water, known as choke points, in the Indian Ocean. This includes the… Read more »
Nationality, Complex Identities & Multiple Belongings
by Dr. Rohini Hensman, Pravada/Polity, Colombo, December 2021 NationalityComplexIdentitiesandMultipleBelongings I am not arguing that the nation-state is on the verge of becoming defunct; this is far from being the case. Rather, I am arguing we should reject the notion that a unique and homogeneous ‘nationality’ is a marker of our identity. Indeed, with climate change… Read more »
Sangam Global Jan.1
by Sangam Global, January 1, 2022 www.sangam.global Saturday, January 1, 2022 11:00 am EST (US & Canada) 4:00 pm BST (UK) 9:30 pm IST (Tamil Nadu & Eelam) 10:30 pm Myanmar * Live links YouTube Facebook
Pure Tamil Movement
by Tamil Vaan Avai, Germany, December 26, 2021, 7am est, 1pm Europe, 5:30pm India