Posts Categorized: Government

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 »

We Will Continue to Agitate for Devolution

Only a total of 1876 million rupees has been allocated for capital expenditure out of a total sum of 15,520 million rupees. When we divide these paltry 1876 million rupees among all five districts of the North, one could realise the insufficiency of funds to each district of the Northern Province. This amount is sufficient only to construct about 17 kms of road at present cost.

“Tamil People Are Gravely Harmed”

by TNAPolitics.org, January 30, 2014 The Central Committee meeting of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi was held on January 26, 2014 at the Town Hall, Trincomalee. The meeting was attended by representatives from all districts in the Northern and Eastern provinces.  The meeting which commenced at 10.30 a.m. under the chairmanship of R. Sampanthan M.P…. Read more »

Why International Pressure Has Become Necessary

There is a belief that a presidential or general election will be held later this year or early next year, following on the provincial elections. The government’s reluctance to accommodate a political solution to minority ethnic grievances at this time would seem to come from its calculation that it cannot afford to lose its hold over the Sinhalese majority electorate in the context of impending elections. This is an electorate that can give the government a permanent majority and the prospect of long term rule so long as it does not fracture. The issue on which the Sinhalese electorate is most likely to get divided on is that of a political solution to the ethnic conflict. Therefore the government is unwilling to change its policy with regard to the ethnic minorities or implement the devolution of powers to the North.

NPC Chief Minister Wigneswaran on Good Governance

by ‘Colombo Telegraph,’ January 20, 2014 New Year 2014 is starting well for us. The War had got us into a cocoon in which we  managed howsoever we could, not really appreciating the changes taking place locally and globally all around us. We failed to appreciate the nuances of political or administrative terminology too. We… Read more »

The Irrelevancy of the 13th Amendment

by Kumaravadivel Guruparan, ‘Junior Bar Law Review,’ October, 2013 Article_on_13A_for_Junior_Bar_Law_Review_(Oct_2013) 4. Conclusion I have tried to demonstrate in this article that given the structural deficiencies of the 13th!Amendment that it fails to even perform the role of a reference point to a discourse on a political solution. This article calls for and tries to provide the… Read more »

Colonization Schemes

by Hon.R.Sampanthan-MP, TNAPolitics.org, December 15, 2013 I am happy to follow the Minister, the Hon. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, who, I think, in the course of his statement referred to the multifarious problems that exist in the North and the East pertaining to State land. I will be dealing with some of these issues in the course… Read more »

A List of Commissions and Committees Appointed by GoSL (2006- 2013)

by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo 9 January 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has produced a table that contains basic information pertaining to Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) and committees appointed by the Government since coming into power in November 2005. Section I of the table examines the CoI and Section… Read more »

Tamil Council to Count Sri Lanka War Casualties

COLOMBO, December 26, 2013 (AFP) – The provincial government in Sri Lanka’s main Tamil region said Thursday it would compile its own death toll from the country’s ethnic war, saying an ongoing census would play down the number of casualties. Tamil officials said the census ordered by President Mahinda Rajapakse last month would give a… Read more »

Tamil Tragedy

by Bhekuzulu Khumalo, ‘Washington Times’ Communities blog, December 12, 2013 WASHINGTON, December 12, 2013 — Congress recently created the Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka. The Caucus was initiated by efforts of Congressmen Bill Johnson (R-OH) and Danny Davis (D-IL). The objective of the Caucus is to bring the attention of the… Read more »

Sampanthan Speech on Land Issues

I am happy to follow the Minister, the Hon. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, who, I think, in the course of his statement referred to the multifarious problems that exist in the North and the East pertaining to State land. I will be dealing with some of these issues in the course of my speech. Lands, Sir,… Read more »

British Commonwealth and the Sovereignty Claim of the Tamil Nation

In 1796, according to the Armenian Treaty, the British East India Company became the ruler of the Maritime Provinces of Ceylon which were ruled by the Dutch who ruled the Tamil and Sinhala territories separately. At the time of this change, there were two independent native kingdoms namely Vanni and Kandy which existed in the island of Ceylon. British administration considered that these native kingdoms, which were ruled, respectively by Panadra Vanniyan and Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe were obstacles for the expansion of their rule to the rest of the territory. These original kingdoms and their rulers were conquered in 1804 and 1815 respectively.

India Won’t Rest till Implementation of 13th Amendment P Chidambaram

“None can deny that there was genocide. We will continue to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government for an elaborate probe. I call upon the people of India, including Tamils here to support the government’s efforts to protect the 13th amendment, while Lankan government is trying to not implement it,” he said.

Money Where the (Sinhala) Mouth Is

Following the money trail often leads to interesting findings. Sri Lanka’s 2014 budget is no exception. It is as Sinhala Buddhist as its constitution is but this analysis only focuses on one aspect which is the militarization. Reference in the title to the Sinhala mouth is intentional.  It is to highlight how it is being… Read more »

Tamils: Need for Change

The prime consideration of the Tamils is security, which determines their very existence. Now that the conflict is ended by the war, there will be an extended period to recast relationships between the state and Tamils, the Sinhalese and Tamils, to overcome past iniquities and focus on the future.

The Tamils must have the assurance that their security won’t be compromised again on any account. While the international community is there to afford relief, it takes time to assemble and implement their directives. It needs an effective local mechanism to prevent such a development.

One clear and unambiguous way of ensuring this would be to embed a self-determination clause in the Sri Lanka constitution as a clear safeguard against any excesses or discriminatory action by the state. At the same time, there must also be safeguards to prevent it being invoked frivolously.

India for Lasting Political Solution in Tamil Areas: Khurshid

When the Indian Foreign Minister brought up the issue of meaningful political devolution in his meetings, the Sri Lankan side – both President Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris, in response, seem to have pointed to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)…

Speaking to the Indian media in Jaffna before his meeting with Mr. Khurshid, Chief Minister Mr.Wigneswaran said it was important that the PSC lay down explicitly its parameters and matters related to its forward movement…

Having indicated to Sri Lanka that it was a “historic opportunity to start dialogue afresh”, he said India would be there to “help, assist and advise.”

Devolution of Powers under the 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka

by MCM Iqbal,  ‘Groundviews.org,’ Colombo, July 19, 2009 (The writer was one of the secretaries of the first Provincial Council of the Western Province)   1. Introduction In the aftermath of the defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, many expected the government to put forward the promised political solution to the problems of the Tamils which… Read more »

Tamil Voters Hope Provincial Election is Step toward Autonomy

by Associated Press in ‘The Washington Post’ Asia/Pacific section, September 20, 2013 JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — The ethnic Tamils of Sri Lanka tried to gain autonomy in their northern heartland first through three decades of protests and strikes, then through three decades of civil war. Northern cities were reduced to rubble and at least 80,000… Read more »

State Facilitated Colonization of Northern Sri Lanka

by Watchdog, ‘Groundviews.org,’ Colombo, September 19, 2013 On 25th September 2012, the Menik Farm camp in Vavuniya, which at its peak, housed close to 300,000 internally displaced persons, was officially closed down when the Government of Sri Lanka relocated the last batch of IDPs. This formally marked the closure of all post-2009 IDP camps in the… Read more »