Posts Categorized: Diaspora

Statements re International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearance North & Eastern Province Date 30.08.2020 Hon Ms. Michelle Bachelet Jeria, The High Commissioner Human Rights commission, Geneva Justice for the families that are suffering from enforced disappearance in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Today 30 August is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced… Read more »

State-Sponsored Pogroms Against Tamils in Sri Lanka

And the need for a referendum in Tamils’ homeland [North & East of Sri Lanka] by Kumarathasan Rasingam, August 23, 2020 It is high time and urgent need for the United Nations, UNHRC, ICC and the International Community to find remedial justice to the oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka. The following facts prove beyond doubt… Read more »

Struggling Tamil Nationalism

And Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 18, 2020 For the recognition of nationalism, the prerequisite are the existence of a nation, defined by J. Stalin as follows: “A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people formed on the… Read more »

COVID-19 and Pres. Gotabaya’s Military Rule

In North East Sri Lanka by Kumarathasan Rasingam, July 23, 2020 Tamils in Sri Lanka especially in the North and East are now living between the devil and deep sea. Heavy presence of the military [to the ratio of one soldier to every four civilians 1: 4] and on the other side they are scared of… Read more »

Empty Promises and Deceptive Politics of Tamil Leaders

by M K Elaventhan, Former member of Parliament, Sri Lanka, July 10, 2020 The third general election after the end of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam”s rule in the North and East is due to be held on August 5th 2020. At the outset, it has to be stated that the current Sri Lankan Government… Read more »

TIC: Discriminating And Disproportionate Actions Against Minorities.

18 June 2020 Sri Lanka: Discriminating And Disproportionate Actions Against Minorities. Withdrawal from UN Resolution Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa announced on 19 February 2020 that Sri Lanka would be withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 of 1 October 2015. The Resolution called for investigation into war crimes during the… Read more »

Sri Lankan Presidential Task Forces Signal Deepening Militarization

by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, June 3, 2020 (Washington D.C.; June 3, 2020) — PEARL strongly condemns this week’s establishment of two presidential task forces in Sri Lanka, which sets the country on a firm course to autocratic governance. The new presidential task forces are a serious escalation in the president’s move… Read more »

Different Ball Games by Members of the Same Political Parties

[We do not usually post such very political pieces — written in the inimitable South Asian take-no-quarter style — but since the next parliamentary election will be so crucial, we hope this article will at minimum start the dialogue.  We will be encouraging the author to provide our readers next his ideas for what is… Read more »

What’s Wrong with the TNA?

by Mario Arulthas, Financial Times Colombo, June 5, 2020     A few weeks ago, Tamil news cycles were dominated by coverage of an interview given by the Tamil National Alliance Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran to a Sinhala media site. During the course of the interview, he made several comments which created controversy and outrage amongst… Read more »

TG Editorial: Mask Off

Tamil Guardian editorial, London, June 1, 2020 Even before they returned to power in Sri Lanka last year, the Rajapaksas never sought to cloak their brash espousal of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism. As defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ran a ruthless offensive that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, which his brother Mahinda oversaw as president, with… Read more »

Continuous Human Rights Violations

Uninterrupted & Continuous Human Rights Violations Against the Tamils in Sri Lanka by Kumarathasan Rasingam. – Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org., June 2, 2020 There is no denying of the fact that Tamils in Sri Lanka have been at the receiving end since 1948, when power was transferred to the majority Sinhala… Read more »

Tamils Remember Genocide of Thousands on May 18

Tamils all over the World Remember the Genocide of Thousands on May 18, 2020 by Kumar Rasingam, May 12, 2020 Marking 11 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil… Read more »

The Dark Face of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka

by Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 8, 2020 The pandemic Covid-19 which originated in Wuhan province, China sometime in December 2019 made its cruel impact as a globally deadly disease in January 2020 and was declared as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It then… Read more »

Mr. Sri Pathe Thillaiampalam

April 21, 2020 Dear  Sangam members, With deepest regrets, we inform you that Mr. Sri Thillaiampalam of Boston, MA passed away today peacefully due to natural causes. He was a founding member of the Eelam Tamil Association (ETA) in the late seventies,  which pushed the passage of a resolution urging the US President and Congress to… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Dismal Political Achievements

by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 23, 2020 The Sri Lankan Government is claiming credit as the first country in the world to have successfully controlled the Corvid-19 virus spreading world-wide.  However, it is to be noted that this claim is premature and has to be… Read more »

Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila-Verugal

by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), March 12, 2020 Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila – Verugal – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) PEARL is launching the 3rd installment of its “Sinhalization of the North-East” series, this time focusing on Seruwila-Verugal. This series examines the scope and impact of the… Read more »

Pres. Gotabaya’s Twisted Accountability & Justice

By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM {London} Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and PRESIDENT, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization. President Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s pardon and release of former Army Sergeant Ratnayake who was sentenced to death in 2015 for the brutal murder of 8 Tamil civilians including children in December… Read more »

Arbitrary Release of a Convicted Military Officer Calls for a Rethink

On international strategies on Sri Lanka by Global Tamil Forum, March 28, 2020 PRESS STATEMENT 28 March 2020, London  Arbitrary release of a convicted military officer calls for a rethink on international strategies on Sri Lanka The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) strongly condemns Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s decision to pardon and release Sunil Ratnayake, an… Read more »