Displacement and degradation Sinhalese (Buddhist) farming households have more viable agricultural livelihoods than Tamil (Hindu) or Moor (Muslim) households. While all of the Tamil and Moor household in our sample reside in communities that were directly affected by the war, only a small subset of Sinhalese communities are within the former conflict zone. Notably, Sinhalese… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Economy
Peasants, Paddy and Ethnic Space in Sri Lanka’s Post-War Frontier
Marginal placeholders by Bart Klem & Thiruni Kelegama, The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol.47, Issue 2, 2020 ABSTRACT This study explores the political significance of peasant identities, rice cultivation and land struggles in the context of civil war. It comprises two agrarian settlements in Sri Lanka’s former war zone: a state-sponsored Sinhala settlement colony (Weli… 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 »
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 »
All Roads Run through Tamil Eelam
New Delhi must remember that any form of connectivity with Sri Lanka inherently involves the Tamil North-East. Tamil Guardian editorial, December 21, 2024 Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to India saw him receive the grandest of receptions, in a sign that New Delhi is firmly pressing ahead with its plans to increase its footprint… Read more »
The Tamil Nadu Model of Doing Business
From EVs to gorilla glass, the southern state bags marquee investments by Menaka Doshi, Bloomberg News India Edition Newsletter, October 3, 2024 This week: The Gujarat model may soon be replaced by Tamil Nadu, an excellent monsoon and Bengaluru’s new neighbor. Tamil Nadu vs. Vietnam It’s raining investments in Tamil Nadu, as the state nets… Read more »
Stupidity, Not Corruption, Crashed Our Economy
by Daniel Alphonsus on his Substack, October 6, 2024 Jail the corrupt and bring our money back! This is the cry of our times. It rings from the four corners of the island and echoes across the usual divisions of race, religion, language and class. For our woes were caused by corruption, and redemption will… Read more »
What Bangladesh Can Do to Get Back Laundered Wealth
by Tasneem Raihan, The Daily Star, Bangladesh, October 1, 2024 Over the past 15 years, people from various sectors—including politicians, businesspeople, bureaucrats, and police officials—have reportedly laundered over $100 billion abroad. This figure is likely underestimated, but even if it’s close to the actual amount, the implications are staggering. To put this into context, $100 billion is… Read more »
Dissanayake’s Push for Sri Lanka Economic Change
Leaves IMF deal, debt rework in limbo by Uditha Jayasinghe, Sudipto Ganguly and Libby George, Reuters, London, September 24, 2024 Summary Balancing pro-poor policies with IMF deal is new president’s biggest challenge IMF says to work with him, discuss timing of third review Leader has expressed willingness to renegotiate IMF terms COLOMBO/LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters)… 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 »
WikiLeaks: EPDP Sold Jaffna Children
Girls To Prostitution Rings And Boys To Slavery by Colombo Telegraph, September 13, 2013 “The children are sold into slavery, usually boys to work camps and girls to prostitution rings, through EPDP’s networks in India and Malaysia. Sunthararaj maintains that children are often smuggled out of the country with the help of a corrupt Customs and Immigration… Read more »
Is the IMF Setting Sri Lanka Up for a 2nd Car Crash?
by Theo Maret and Brad Setser, FinancialTimes, London, September 5, 20024 Theo Maret is a research analyst at Global Sovereign Advisory and writes a sovereign debt newsletter. Brad Setser is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Treasury Department official. Sri Lanka is bankrupt and restructuring its debts. But there’s a high… Read more »
The China Hangover Is Here
by Michael Beckley, The New York Times, August 19, 2024 Opinion | Once the Global Economy’s Savior, China Is Now Its Biggest Threat – The New York Times (nytimes.com) In the 2000s, former President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela bet his country’s economic future on a rising China, securing tens of billions of dollars in investments and loans-for-oil… 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 »
Thousands Still Living without Land Deeds in Mannar
by Tamil Guardian, London, August 7, 2024 The issues faced by the people in Mannar due to the occupation of land has left thousands feeling helpless, said Fr. S. Marcus, President of the Mannar Citizens Committee. “For the last five years, there has been much effort by various private companies to lay claim for a… Read more »
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 »
Assessing Shortcomings in the State Dept.’s Foreign Assistance Grants Process
Money is Policy by U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight & Accountability, Washington, DC, June 4, 2024 Money is Policy: Assessing Shortcomings in the State Department’s Foreign Assistance Grants Process Statement of Robert A. Destro, Former Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and Special… Read more »