by M.K. Eelaventhan, date & source unknown ‘The first prime minister of Sri Lanka, D.S. Senanayake, when inaugurating the Padaviya scheme of colonization openly and with no qualms stated the objective of his government as follows: “Today you are brought here and given a plot of land. You are men and women who will carry… Read more »
Posts Categorized: History
There is a Thread Running Through Sri Lanka’s Cycles of Violence
Sri Lanka’s minorities – including its Christians and Muslims – have paid a high price for the state’s failure to protect them by Farah Mihlar, The Guardian, UK, April 23, 2019, modified April 24, 2019 As mass burials for some of the Christian worshippers killed in the Easter Sunday bombings take place today, claims that the… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 10
Lord Soulbury and his soulless report by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore Chapter 1 Chapter 9 On August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber named Enola Gay, piloted by Paul W Tibbets, dropped the “Little Boy” – a uranium atom bomb, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where more than 140,000 civilians died. Three… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 9
British Concordance and concoctions By K.T.Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, September 29, 2001 Chapter 1 Chapter 8 It became apparent that the British government had adopted a different agenda and new designs regarding the future of Ceylon to that which some people in the country desired. State Council member D S Senanayake was one of these,… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 8
Pan Sinhalese board of ministers – A Sinhalese ploy By K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore Chapter 1 Chapter 7 The first State Council, which came into existence on July 7, 1931, was scheduled to be dissolved on June 23, 1935, but its life was extended until December 7 of that year. This was done… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 7
State Councils – elections and boycotts by K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, September 22, 2001 Chapter 1 Chapter 6 In 1930, a delimitation commission was appointed to demarcate the boundaries of the 50 electorates for the proposed State Council. The Tamils agitated for seven seats to be allocated in the Northern province. The Commission,… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 6
Donoughmore – Tamils no more By K T Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore Chapter 1 Chapter 5 In 1927, the British government sent a Special Commission to Ceylon, consisting of the Earl of Donoughmore, Sir Mathew Nathan, Sir Geoffrey Butler and Sir Drummond Shiels, with the following terms of reference: “To visit Ceylon and report on… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 5
Political polarization on communal lines by K.T.Rajasingham, ‘Asian Times,’ Singapore, September 8, 2001 Chapter 1 Chapter 4 The Legislative Council was dissolved in August 1924 and elections for a new reformed council were held. According to the Order-in-Council, a candidate had to be over 25 years of age, be a British subject, able to read… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 4
The Ceylon National Congress and its intrigues This history series by K T Rajasingham is no longer available on the Asia Times website, so the links provided at https://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/AsiaTimes.htm are no longer active. As time permits, we will be re-posting this series, along with that by T. Sabaratnam, which has some chapters missing. Sachi Sri Kantha’s biographical series… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 3
Muslim riots and communal rumblings This history series by K T Rajasingham is no longer available on the Asia Times website, so the links provided at https://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/AsiaTimes.htm are no longer active. As time permits, we will be re-posting this series, along with that by T. Sabaratnam, which has some chapters missing. Sachi Sri Kantha’s biographical series is available… Read more »
The Shipping Technology of Cholas
by K V Ramakrishna Rao, Proceedings of the South Indian History Congress, Rajapalayam, India, 2007, pp.326-345. ark:/13960/t7mq2mb83 The Shipping Technology of Cholas 2007 https://archive.org/details/TheShippingTechnologyOfCholas Introduction: Of late, some researchers1 have started throwing doubt on the overseas expedition of Rajaraja Chola through Rajendra Chola on the plea that the Parasasti / Meikkirti could have been written… Read more »
Sri Lanka: The Untold Story, Chapter 2
Beginnings of British Rule [This history series by K T Rajasingham is no longer available on the Asia Times website, so the links provided at https://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/AsiaTimes.htm are no longer active. As time permits, we will be re-posting this series, along with that by T. Sabaratnam, which has some chapters missing. Sachi Sri Kantha’s biographical series is available… Read more »
Sri Lanka:The Untold Story, Chapter 1
[This history series by K T Rajasingham is no longer available on the Asia Times website, so the links provided at https://www.sangam.org/ANALYSIS/AsiaTimes.htm are no longer active. As time permits, we will be re-posting this series, along with that by T. Sabaratnam, which has some chapters missing. Sachi Sri Kantha’s biographical series is available at https://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/index.htm… Read more »
The Education of Jaffna
by Sen V., TamilCulture, January 16, 2013 This year marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to the Jaffna peninsula. January is Tamil Heritage Month. To mark this occasion, TamilCulture Magazine will publish a series of articles on Tamil history and heritage. Today’s article will reflect on the legacy of… Read more »
Tamil Women Freedom Fighters
by Usha Sriskandarajah, October 10, 2018 Remembering Malati and Celebrating Women’s Day of Awakening Today is a solemn day as well as a day that ought to inspire all Tamil women and men – to take the ideals of our freedom fighters and continue the struggle for the emancipation and restoration of Tamil Eelam. We… Read more »
The Outbreak of ‘Hell’ by the Portuguese on Jaffna
by G. Pathmanathan (Dept of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India) and Raghavan Pathmanathan (School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia), ‘Nalluran.com,’ January 14, 2014 OUR CHERISHED MEMORIES OF TWO LORD SRI KARTHIKEYA TEMPLES AT MAVETTAPURAM & NALLUR, JAFFNA PENNINSULA, SRI LANKA [Not sure why the section on the Portuguese is in this article, but it… Read more »
Losing Santhia, Part One
The death of a Tiger and the fate of a nation by Ben Hiller, ‘Red Flag,’ Australia, July 5, 2018 In October 2017, Santhia, a former high ranking cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“Homelands”), died in a Jakarta hospital. She was only 42. Almost a decade earlier, she had fled Sri Lanka, via… Read more »
Losing Santhia, Part Two
From cubs to Tigers by Ben Hiller, ‘Red Flag,’ Australia, July 20, 2018 In October 2017, Santhia, a former high ranking cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“Homelands”), died in a Jakarta hospital. She was only 42. Almost a decade earlier, she had fled Sri Lanka, via Tamil Nadu, India, with her young son…. Read more »
“In 1983, As Our Ship Left Colombo Port, I Saw Pettah Burning”
by Dimuthu Attanayake, ‘The Sunday Observer,’ Colombo, July 22, 2018 TNA Legislator M.A. Sumanthiran, recalls being 19 years old when communal violence rocked the capital city in July 1983. Packed off to Jaffna where the Government thought Tamil families residing in Colombo and other parts of the south would be safer, he recalls an arduous… Read more »
What Chelvanayagam Envisaged
Prabakaran was determined to achieve by M.K. Eelaventhan, March 31, 2015 According to Rt. Rev. D.J. Ambalavanar, “Chelvanayagam died like Moses himself without reaching the promised land, but the vision he saw he leaves behind as the heritage and challenge of his people.” What Chelvanayagam Envisaged