Posts Categorized: History

Can the Sri Lanka Army be Described as a Counterinsurgency Force?

by Rob Pinney, Small Wars Journal, Virginia, USA, June 23, 2014 SL military counterinsurgency force or not As potentially the ‘first counterinsurgency victory of the twenty-first century’, the Sri Lankan experienceturns much of this conventional wisdom on its head.  The ‘Sri Lankan model’, as it has become known,demonstrated a new way of conducting counterinsurgency operations – one… Read more »

India’s My Lai

Published by Hind Mazdoor Kissan Panchayat, 204, Rajaram Roy Road, Bombay 400 004, India. (Courtesy TamilNation.org, accessed 04/19/21) “The IPKF were given strict instructions not to use tactics or weapons that could cause major casualties among the civilian population of Jaffna, who were hostages to the LTTE. The Indian Army have carried out these instructions… Read more »

When a Kidnap Marred George H.W. Bush’s Only India Visit

Rebel Tamil outfit Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front abducted an American couple from their Jaffna residence in May 1984. by T. Ramakrishnan, The Hindu, Chennai, December 1, 2018 The only visit of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush to India in May 1984 was marked by the episode of abduction of an American couple by… Read more »

1949 Speech by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam

Remembering ‘Thanthai’ SJV Chelvanayagam ( Born: March 31, 1898, Ipoh, Malaysia. Died: April 26, 1977, Jaffna, Sri Lanka) on his 123rd birth Anniversary, March 31, 2021: I. T. A. K. Headquarters, Colombo 18-12-49.  Speech delivered on December 18, 1949 at the Inaugural business meeting of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam… Read more »

Karunanidhi: A Life

by A.S. Panneerselvan, Penguin, March 2021 Rather amusing video of a reading of a section of the book on ” Karunanidhi and the Sri Lankan Tamil Issue “ The definitive biography of a fascinating politician In Karunanidhi: A Life, A.S. Panneerselvan tells the story of the man who became a metaphor for modern Tamil Nadu, where… Read more »

The Tamil National Question

by Gail Omvedt, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scientists, Jan.-March 1984 Olvedt Gail Tamil National Question 1984 Last year [1981] a major wave of guerilla struggle broke out in Sri Lanka, followed by widespread rioting. It was just ten years after the youthful JVP insurrection shattered forever the peaceful image of an island which had achieved… Read more »

The Administration of Jaffna Kingdom

A historical view by Dr. K Arunthavarajah, Senior Lecturer Gr.1, Department of History, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, Vol.2, Issue.3, Jan-March, 2014. Administration of Jaffna Kingdom 2014 Abstract According to the historical and archaeological evidences, the Jaffna Kingdom had come into existence about the 13th century A.D… Read more »

A History of the Jaffnese Community in Klang, Malaysia

by Mr. Sivananthiram Alagandram, date unknown Transformation of the Jaffna Community in  Klang,1900-1950. They arrived as a minority towards the end of the 19th Century in Klang from an agrarian background and by 1950,  the community had transformed itself into an affluent middle-class society and as a community to be reckoned with. The Royal Town of… Read more »

Cooperative Movement in Jaffna District 1911 – 1970

by Kanthappoo Paraiiothayan, 1990 Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District 1911 to 1970 Abstract Using the problem analysis method advanced by Professor Brian Holmes,the study looks into the politico—economic and socio-cultural factors that gave special significance to the Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka when it was introduced nation—wide at the beginning… Read more »

Sri Lanka Before It Became Predominantly Buddhist

by Nakkeran, Canada, March 9, 2021 Before Sri Lanka became predominantly Buddhist following the conversion of the 3rd. Century King Devanampiya Tissa (247 BC-207 BC), the island had an amazing assortment of religious cults, practices and faiths including animism, Jainism, Shaivism, Brahminism and Buddhism. There were many gods, goddesses and deities of local and Indian… Read more »

ITJP: Death Toll in Sri Lanka’s 2009 War

by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, February, 2021 ITJP Death Toll in Sri Lanka‘s 2009 War NOT INCLUDING THE REPORTED DEATHS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS, LTTE CADRES AND CIVILIANS BEFORE 2009 Tamil https://itjpsl.com/assets/press/Tamil-translation-of-ITJP_death_toll-Amended.pdf Sinhala https://itjpsl.com/assets/press/Sinhala_translation_of_ITJP_death_toll.pdf

1985 Thimpu Talks

Sinhala-Tamil conflict and the India factor by S Sivanayagam, Tamil Information Centre, London, 2000 Thimpu Talks 1985 by Sivanayagam *** zfinal_Thimbu_080900_final (sangam.org)  

A Bloodied Accord

After 16 days of bloody battle, IPKF finally captures LTTE stronghold Jaffna After 16 days of bloody battle, the Indians finally captured Jaffna, the stronghold of the Tigers. But the losses have been heavy and could mount further. A report on the conflict and its implications plus exclusive eyewitness account and action pictures from Jaffna…. Read more »

In the Tiger’s Den

‘Any one of our Tiger cubs can take on the IPKF in man-to-man combat and defeat them’ India Today’s Shyam Tekwani was the only photographer present in the combat zone at the height of the battle for Jaffna. Having been taken into Jaffna, skirting the advancing IPKF columns, by the LTTE, Tekwani was witness to… Read more »

There are Constraints

Our immediate stress is on relief, renovation, and rehabilitation: Lt Gen Depinder Singh The overall commander of the IPKF in Sri Lanka is Lt-General Depinder Singh, 58, Masterminding Operation Pawan between Madras and Palaly, the General has so far avoided the press. by S.H. Venkatramani, India Today, November 15, 1987 UPDATED: December 13, 2013 16:29… Read more »

Sri Lanka: A Nation Disintegrates

by Steven R. Weisman, The New York Times, December 13, 1987 IN AN ISLAND in a pristine lake near Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, gunmen guard the sleek new Parliament building, which a terrorist bomb ripped through last August, wounding the Prime Minister and barely missing the President. Downtown, the scattered vacant lots and… Read more »

The Voice of Music – S P Balasubramanyam

by Anuradha Srinivasan, Chennai, December 6, 2020  Ezhunthu Vaa Baalu, the harmonium player called out to his friend, who was catching up on the cricket score on his radio backstage. The jovial young man took the mic with a smile and sang breezily as his friends on the harmonium and guitar wove in and out… Read more »

Rajapaksa Lied to ‘Powerful Ambassador’

Over evacuation of Tamils in 2009 – Sri Lankan MP by Tamil Guardian, London, November 24, 2020 File photograph: Mahinda Rajapaksa meets with former US Ambassador Robert O’Blake A Sri Lankan parliamentarian revealed how Mahinda Rajapaksa lied to “an ambassador of the most powerful country” about the evacuation of trapped Tamil civilians in 2009, in… Read more »

Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka

Compiled by Eng. Dr. K. Vigneswaran, Nov. 2020 Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka Cover Page Glimpses of Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka From the Compiler — “…Yet, the Government has appointed a Task Force for the management of archaeological remains in the Eastern Province, dominated by former military officials…. Read more »