Posts Categorized: Government

A Garrison State?

The Sri Lankan military is Sri Lankan in name only. In actuality, it is predominantly Sinhalese and Buddhist in composition, and Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist in ethos. How will the militarisation of an ethno-religiously pluralist society by such a monolithic military impact on inter-communal relations and on the rights and security of minorities?

Traditionally, Sinhala-Buddhist supremacists strongly advocated the state-aided internal colonisation of Tamil-majority areas. They realised that the consequent demographic changes would cause a drastic electoral disempowerment of Tamils. State-aided colonisation schemes implemented by successive Lankan governments contributed to the worsening of Sinhala-Tamil relations.

In the post-war period, this project has been embraced by the Rajapaksas for their own purposes. Having decisively lost the 2013 provisional election in the Tamil-majority Northern Province, the Rajapaksas desire to change Northern demographics for electoral reasons just as much as Sinhala-Buddhist supremacists yearn to do so for ideological reasons. The military has become the willing executioner of this joint Rajapaksa-Sinhala/Buddhist supremacist project to render Tamils thinner on the northern ground.

Military Presence in the North of Sri Lanka

Five years since the end of the war, a significant military presence still remains in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. This despite repeated assurances by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that the military presence is, and will be phased out in order to pave way for post-war reconciliation efforts. In a context of… Read more »

Losing Battles but Winning Wars

by Fred Carver, Independent Policy Digest, Washington, August 9, 2014 Jean-Marc Ferré/UN Photo To many external observers the Government of Sri Lanka appeared to lose the plot somewhat during the recent UN Human Rights Council (HRC) session. A series of overt and heavy handed attempts to silence dissent, even as the session was discussing a… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s NGO Clampdown

The shrinking space for NGOs can be viewed as a microcosm of broader trends on the island. Peoples’ freedom of movement and freedom of association are consistently curtailed, especially in the north. A restrictive media environment illustrates the fact that the freedom of expression is limited. The government’s unwillingness to promote human rights, reconciliation, or accountability has made a complex post-war environment even more unsustainable. And continued (and unnecessary) militarization has only made things worse. The regime’s recent crackdown on NGOs is another example of the government’s relentless effort to further centralize power and stifle dissent.

Northern Education System Review Report 2014

NPEduReviewReportEng 2014 NPEduReviewReporttamil Provincial Dept. of Education – Northern Province Executive Summary The Northern Education System Review (NESR) was conceived by the newly elected Hon. Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs Mr. Thambirajah Gurukularajah soon after the election of the first Provincial Government of the North. He invited all the senior members… Read more »

Sri Lanka Moves to Silence NGOs, Press Groups

The Sri Lankan government has taken yet another step to silence critical media coverage, banning non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from holding press conferences and issuing press releases, as well as running workshops or training sessions. The action, announced Sunday by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defense, left the country’s many press groups wondering whether they are even… Read more »

US Dismayed by P’ment Vote on Non-Cooperation with UN Probe

Asked why US-led resolutions at the UNHRC were increasingly harsher, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary noted that five years after the war ended there had been little progress on issues related to accountability and a political solution to share power with the island’s Tamil community.

“Five years since the war ended I have not seen any meaningful negotiations of the very tricky political issues related to federalism,” Keshap asserted.

TULF, 13th Amendment & Devolution

TULF’s letter to Indian PM Rajeev Gandhi on 13th Amendment – TULFs_disappointment_with_13th_Amendment_Bill “We feel it our duty to also express our disappointment with the proposals to solve the Tamil problem contained in the two Bills – the 13th Amendment to the constitution and the Provincial Councils Bill – presented to Parliament by the Sri Lanka Government…. Read more »

War, Peace and the Manufacturing of Rajapaksa Myths

The post-war Rajapaksa meta-narrative is aimed buttressing the connection between the majority ethno-religious community and the country’s new rulers. It is premised on three main myths – the myth of eternal national insecurity, the myth of miraculous development and the myth of the infallible hero-king. The three myths reinforce each other; in confluence they create and sustain the socio-psychological soil necessary for the new Rajapaksa dynasty to take root and flourish.

NPC Resolution Requesting Assistance on Teachers & MDs

SriLanka_NPC_Resolution_22May2014_English SriLanka_NPC_Resolution_22May2014_Tamil —- The recent resolution by the Northern Provincial Council requesting assistance from India and Tamil Nadu governments. The following resolution was tabled by the Council Member Hon M.K. Shivajilingam and adopted by the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka on May 22, 2014 RESOLUTION Calling upon India to provide Tamil speaking doctors, and teachers for… Read more »

CPJ: Impunity Index 2014

4 Sri Lanka
Impunity Index Rating: 0.443 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants
Last year: Ranked 4th with a rating of 0.431

The Case for Nationalism

Another factor in this resurgence is a change of intellectual fashion toward bigness. Fewer people in all classes are still confident that the future belongs to the big battalions. They have noticed that smaller states are likely to be richer, easier to manage and closer to the people than larger states. As the Economist magazine pointed out a few years ago: “Of the 10 countries with populations of over 100 [million], only the U.S. and Japan are prosperous.”

These economic facts remove an important obstacle to secession. And if there ever was a link between prosperity and bigness, it has been dissolved by free trade and globalization, which ensure that the size of a nation need no longer coincide with the size of the market open to it. At the same time, a government can shrink to the size that its citizens find most convenient to control.

The U.S. is the exception to these rules—it is both large and prosperous—because its federalism distributes power to states and localities, where it can be better controlled. Switzerland is another example. Europe might imitate America’s success if it were to model itself on Switzerland and distribute power downward. But the opposite is happening—in both Europe and America.

Spreadsheets and Global Mayhem

Using machine-learning tools to draw inferences about the effects of each piece of information they analyzed, the researchers compiled a list of 15 countries facing the highest risk of genocide between 2011 and 2015. Central African Republic, which had been on no one’s radar at the time, came out at the top, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Also on the list were some obvious contenders with continuing strife: Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria. They didn’t get everything right: Sri Lanka was on the list, but has witnessed no outbreaks of mass violence since 2011 — not yet, anyway.

TAG: Sri Lanka’s ‘Rehabilitation’ of LTTE

TAG Rehabilitation Report January 2014 Figures’ vary,’ but’ approximately’ 12,000′ former’ Liberation’ Tigers’ of’ Tamil’ Eelam’ (LTTE)’ members’have’been’‘rehabilitated’’since’the’end’of’the’war’and’‘reintegrated’’back’into’society.1… Having’ focussed’on’ the’details’of’ the’programme,’on’what’ the’GoSL’claims’it’ to’be,’and’what’ TAG’s’sources’report’of’it,’we’look’beyond’the’programme’itself,’to’wider’government’policies,’ to’historical’events’including’the’conduct’of’the’war’and’to’consideration’of’the’nature’of’the’Sri’ Lankan’state.’In’light’of’this’we’contend’that’rehabilitation’is’one’aspect’of’a’coordinated’plan’of’ different’actions’aimed’at’the’destruction’of’essential’foundations’of’the’life’of’the’Tamil’people’ of’Sri’Lanka. 2” also at

Tamil Lawyers Forum Statement

Yet another Presidential Commission was appointed in August 2013 to look into the allegations of disappearances in Sri Lanka due to the incessant demands of the families of the disappeared and the international community.  The Commission began its sittings in January this year starting with public sittings in Killinochchi. The Commission is mandated to look into… Read more »

Speeches at London Conference

In English Prof. Guruparan Speaks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXjY2c3a6bA Indian activist Mrs Medha Patkar Pravin Speakshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2ehSCkdgro In Tamil  MP Ariannendran Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld3CjBvnjEM EPC Councillor Thadayuthapani Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3RjeXarrI MP Mavi Senathirajah Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_0qweETQ8 MP Sritharan Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a28d07mA_t4 Prof. P.Ramasamy Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK70gcjNsAs http://sangam.org/london-conference-explores-nature-land-grabs-tamil-homeland/ http://sangam.org/conference-state-grabs-tamil-land/  

London Conference Explores Nature of Land Grabs in Tamil Homeland

Academics, legal experts, activists, journalists, and Eezham Tamil politicians gathered in London to discuss Sri Lankan state facilitated land grabs in the Eezham Tamils homeland, its nature, its effects, and possible solutions, at a conference on Saturday. While all of the presenters were in consensus that land grabs in the Tamil homeland was a phenomena… Read more »