Posts Categorized: History

The Fearlessness of Kanji

by Pallavi Pundir, Eater, New York, January 2, 2024 How a simple rice dish became a Tamil symbol of resistance in Sri Lanka Photography by Steephan Sansigan; Interpreter: Gowthami Thillainathan The plan for a surreptitious meeting had been in the works for weeks. On the morning of November 7, Mariyasuresh Eswari got in touch with a… Read more »

Maaveerar Naal 2023

by Nillanthan Maha, November 25, 2023 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with help from the editor.] This is the fifteenth Veterans Day since the end of the armed struggle. Over the past 15 years, there have been legal issues in the widespread popularization of commemorations such as Heroes’ Day. Fear cannot be… Read more »

Palestine Israel War: Whose Side are the Tamils On?

by A. Nillanthan, October 21, 2023 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the armed struggle of the Tamil people began to gain momentum, Tamil movements like EROS, EPRLF, PLOT etc. received military training in Palestine. Those who received such training were called “PLO Rainies” in the homeland. Some of them – Suresh Premachandran,… Read more »

Roots of Ethnic Contestation in the Eastern Province

As in the past, the contestation is over title to the land by PK Balachandran, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 10, 2023 Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province is again becoming a contested region between ethnic groups. This time round it is more between the Tamils and Sinhalese, with the Muslims in the periphery. . This is because of… Read more »

Reconstructing the Population History of the Sinhalese

The major ethnic group in Śrī Laṅkā by Prajjval Pratap Singh, 6 Sachin Kumar 6  Nagarjuna Pasupuleti, Niraj Rai, Gyaneshwer Chaubey 7 R. Ranasinghe Show all authors Show footnotes Open Access Published:August 31, 2023 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107797 Download .pdf (.15 MB) Highlights • Higher West Eurasian genetic component in Śrī Laṅkā than South India • A strong gene flow beyond the boundary of… Read more »

Tamil Coin Issued by King Ellalan during the Anuradhapura Era

by Prof. Paramu Pushparatnam, Ezhuna Online, September 6, 2023 [translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with improvements by S-J] As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, the ancient history of the Tamils is still shrouded in Mahavamsa darkness, but recent archaeological studies in various parts of Sri Lanka have revealed the biographical information… Read more »

History of Tamils in Sri Lanka

by Laxshen in Reddit’s Eelam thread, late August, 2023 The Kingdom of Jaffna by S. Pathmanathan, Colombo, 1978 on Noolaham Primary sources for History of the Sri Lankan Tamils by Dr. Murugar Gunasingham, Sydney, 2005 on Noolaham Sri Lanka: The National Question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle by Satchi Ponnambalam, UK, 1983 on Noolaham The… Read more »

Prabakaran’s Suthumalai Speech 1987

Speech by V. Prabakaran at the Suthumalai Amman temple, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on August 4, 1987. Translation by Anton Balasingham in the second chapter of his book ‘War and Peace.’ ‘My Beloved and Esteemed People of Tamil Eelam, ‘Today, a turning point of immense significance has taken place in the history of our struggle. This… Read more »

Mass Graves & Failed Exhumations in Sri Lanka

by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Families of the Disappeared, Centre for Human Rights & Development and International Truth & Justice Project, June 13, 2023 ITJP Mass Graves and Failed Exhumations June 2023 This joint report examines Sri Lanka’s record of dealing with mass graves from multiple periods of conflict. All over the island,… Read more »

Map of Buddhist Sites in NE by Cyril Mathew in 1970

Posted on Facebook by Sarawanan Komathi Nadarasa, June 10, 2023 [Translated from Tamil by Google Translate with some changes by the Editor.]   Under the guise of Buddhist archaelology, a map of places to be occupied in the North and East was prepared in 1970. I don’t know how many of us know that Cyril… Read more »

Israeli Complicity in Sri Lanka War Crimes

Must be investigated by Eitay Mack, Al Jazeera, June 27, 2023 It has been more than 14 years since the civil war in Sri Lanka came to an end. Although a semblance of peace has returned to the parts of the country devastated by the 29-year conflict, its victims are yet to see justice delivered…. Read more »

Report of the Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence 1981-1984

by Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence 1981-1984, September 2002 Report of the Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence 1981-1984 – Report Report of the Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence 1981-1984 – Documents – A summary of the Nature and Extent of Damage suffered by Victims of Violence, PART 1 Report of the Presidential… Read more »

Batalanda Commission Report

by Commission of Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Places of Unlawful Detention and Torture Chambers at the Batalanda Housing Scheme, Colombo, 2000 Batalanda Commission Report – Book English From an introduction written by Nandana Weerarathne in March 2023 During the 1988/89 era, government forces and police were running torture camps. Also, there were… Read more »

Pirapaharan’s First Interview

by Anita Pratap, Sunday, Calcutta, India, March 11-17, 1984 [archived at TamilNation, accessed 6/17/2023] Velupillai Pirabakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam, tells Anita Pratap. Q: What made you opt out of a conventional system and spearhead a liberation movement which you knew would be outlawed? A: The democratic parliamentary system, or what you refer… Read more »

UNP Leaders Who Set Jaffna on Fire in 1981

by Nandana Weerarathne, Facebook& Substack May 27, 2023 Why is it important for the present and future generations to know what happened in Jaffna from the end of May to June 8th, 1981? That is the question we asked ourselves prior to writing this book. The concealment of these atrocities from history is a significant… Read more »

Amirthalingam Speech in Parliament re 1981 Burning of Jaffna Library

by Sri Lanka Parliamentary Debates, June 9, 1981, vol.15, no.1, columns 67-92, posted on Facebook by Sivakumar Subramaniam, May 30, 2023 The speech made by then Leader of the opposition Mr A. Amirthalingam in Parliament. A verbatim transcript is provided below. Honorifics of participants have been omitted for convenience. A.Amirthalingam: Sir, I wish to place… Read more »

Civilian Killings and Disappearances during Civil War in El Salvador

by Amelia Hoover Green and Patrick Ball, Demographic Research, Vol. 41, Article 27, pps. 781-814, October 1, 2019 DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.27 ABSTRACT Background: Debate over the civilian toll of El Salvador’s civil war (1980–1992) raged throughout the conflict and its aftermath. Apologists for the Salvadoran regime claimed no more than 20,000 had died, while some activists… Read more »