by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 8, 2020 Front Note: My father Siva Sachithanantham (1923-2003) was a fan of G.G. Ponnambalam’s theatrics in the political platforms and legal arena. He developed this fascination during the 1930s (when he was a teenager, and ‘Ponnan’ was his first local political hero), when Ponnambalam first contested the Point Pedro… Read more »
Posts Categorized: History
Still Searching for Stephen Sunthararaj
by Tamil Guardian, London, May 7, 2020 On this day 11 years ago, Stephen Sunthararaj, an activist who had exposed the trafficking of Tamil children into international prostitution rings, was abducted and forcibly disappeared in Colombo by armed men in military uniforms. Sunthararaj, was the Project Manager of the Centre for Human Rights and Development… Read more »
Tamil Prisoners’ Massacre 1983 Revisited by M. Nithyanandan
by Asian Tribune, Malaysia, July 26, 2004 Reliving the Welikade Prison massacres of 25 & 27 July 1983, is ‘horror revisited’ said M. Nithyanandan (54 yrs), a former Lecturer of the University of Jaffna and at present Head of the news and events divison of Deepam Television – a Tamil Language TV channel based in… Read more »
P. Sathiyaseelan Recalls Eelam Liberation Struggle
Posted in Tamil Diplomat, London, December 31, 2014 – February 25, 2017 Ponnadurai Sathiyaseelan formed the Tamil Manavar Peravai, or Tamil Students League/Union/Federation/Organization in 1970 in reaction to PM Bandaranaike’s ‘standardization’ of university entrance to which priviledged Sinhalese students over Tamil students. In November 1970 this movement held a protest in the North which drew… Read more »
Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion
by Iselin Frydenlund, pre-publication version for Oxford Research Encyclopedias, UK, September 26, 2018 Tamil Militancy in Sri Lanka and the Role of Religion …Fundamentally, the conflict in Sri Lanka is about failed nation-building in the postcolonial state, demographic politics, access to resources, and political influence, and it follows ethnic and linguistic lines. Religion—that is, Buddhism—has… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Sixth Amendment
a Violation of UN Charter and Fundamental Human Rights by Thambu Kanagasabai, PRESIDENT, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization Late President JR Jayewardene of Sri Lanka after allowing and being complicit in the massacres of Tamils in the 1977, 1983 pogroms and justifying them as a normal reaction of Sinhalese to take revenge… Read more »
A Qualitative Analysis on Historicizing Nationalist Discourse
of the Origins of the Communities of Sri Lanka among the Contemporary Sinhalese by Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan, University of Vavuniya, Melbourne Australia Nov 29-30, 2017, 19 (11) Part XIV A_Qualitative_Analysis_on_Historicizing Abstract— In the post-war reconciliation context, the Sri Lankans need to develop constructive discourse on political harmony, cohesion and co-habitation to make a positive impact on… Read more »
Post-Tsunami Reconstruction Needs Assessment for the NorthEast
by Planning & Development Secretariat, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Kilinochchi, January 2005 Post-Tsunami Needs Assessment for the NE Jan 2005
Building the Tamil Eelam State
Emerging State Institutions and Forms of Governance in LTTE-controlled Areas in Sri Lanka by Kristian Stokke, Third World Quarterly, Vol.27, No.6, pages 1021-1040, 2006 Abstract Sri Lanka’s civil war has created a political–territorial division between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), where LTTE is engaged in a process… Read more »
The Sri Lankan Peace Process at a Crossroads
Lessons, Opportunities and Ideas for Principled Negotiations and Conflict Transformation by Tyrol Ferdinands, Kumar Rupesinghe, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Jayadeva Uyangoda, Norbert Ropers, January 2004 The_Sri_Lankan_Peace_Process_at_a_Crossroads__Lessons_Opportunities_and_Ideas_for_Principled_Negotiations_and_Conflict_Transformation Executive Summary and Recommendations The Sri Lankan peace process is at a crossroads. Seven months after it withdrew from the talks, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) presented their proposal… Read more »
ICRC 1995 Annual Report
by International Committee of the Red Cross, May 31, 1996 ICRC 1995 annual report for Sri Lanka
Trend in Sri Lankan Military Spending 1996
by ‘Erimalai,’ July 1996 SL military budget 1996
History of the Land Grab
Of the Tamil homeland by the Sinhalese by Marvanpulavu K. Satchithananthan, Kaathalaham, Chennai, [no date, but probably ~1995] M K Sachithananthan History of Land Grab
Statement by the President on the Situation in Sri Lanka and Detainee Photographs
by US President Barack Obama, Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, Washington, DC, May 13, 2009 For Immediate Release May 13, 2009 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE SITUATION IN SRI LANKA AND DETAINEE PHOTOGRAPHS South Drive 4:12 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see… Read more »
Tsunami Disaster & the People in the Northeast
of the island of Sri Lanka by Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, December 29, 2004 Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation Media Release Press Conference at Swiss TRO Headquarters, Geneva “Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation has grave concerns that our ability to respond in a timely manner is being hindered by excessive administrative, bureaucratic and control requirements ” Contact: Director, Disaster Management… Read more »
The LTTE and the 2002-2006 Peace Process in Sri Lanka
The Politics of Transformation by Suthaharan Nadarajah & Luxshi Vimalarajah, Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Switzerland, 2008 The_Politics_of_Transformation_the_LTTE Introduction The conflict in Sri Lanka is one of the world’s most protracted and multi-faceted. It has been aptly described as a conflict “where economic, political and cultural deprivation and grievances of a minority have… Read more »
2004 Tsunami
Note the divergence in information on number of casualties, etc. The NorthEast of Sri Lanka was one area severely under-counted due to lack of facilities and official interest. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-24/boxing-day-tsunami-how-the-disaster-unfolded/5977568 January 2007 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29459974_The_Economic_Effects_of_the_Asian_Tsunami_on_the_Tear_Drop_in_the_Indian_Ocean_A_General_Equilibrium_Analysis https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/dec/25/where-did-indian-ocean-tsunami-aid-money-go
Organized Encroachments on State Land by Indian Tamils
Results of physical survey done on 1983 Settled since 198(illegible) by Gandhian Movement Documents dated 22-Feb-92, difficult to read due to being a copy & age. Organized Encroachment on State Land by Indian Tamils Pages 1-2 Organized Encroachments on State Land by Indian Tamils
Reading List on Civil War and Political Violence
by Prof. Paul Staniland, November 2019 StanilandReadingsCivilWar11-18-19.pdf https://thepearsoninstitute.org/faculty/paul-staniland
Civil War Along Ethnoreligious Lines
by Berkley Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, August 1, 2013 This case study addresses the underlying ethnic and religious tensions behind the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009), a conflict led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on behalf of the Hindu Tamil minority against the Sri Lankan government and the Buddhist Sinhalese majority…. Read more »