Posts Categorized: Politics

‘Eezham Tamil and Sinhala Place Names’

Etymology, Environment, Economy, Settlement, Society and Culture by Ponnampalam Ragupathy, 2008 More than 15,000 Eezham Tamil and Sinhala Place Names have been taken up for this study covering Etymology, Environment, Economy, Settlement, Society and Culture, as seen through the toponyms. Text in English, Tamil and Sinhala. 2752 A4 size Pages. Hard Bound in Five Volumes…. Read more »

UN’s Cyclone Ditwah Situation Report #6

by United Nations office in Sri Lanka, January 23, 2026 UN Cyclone_Ditwah__SitRep #6 Jan 23 2026 Cyclone Ditwah has triggered the most extensive flooding and landslide damage in the past two decades in Sri Lanka, impacting approximately 2.2 million people across all 25 districts of the country. According to the Disaster Management Center, the cyclone… Read more »

Namal Rajapakse in Odisha

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Daily Sun, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Januaray 28, 2026 Editorial Namal Rajapaksa in Odisha Jan 28 2026 …Against this backdrop of decline, disgrace and diminishing legitimacy, Namal Rajapaksa has emerged as the principal political inheritor of the family brand. Despite facing multiple legal cases relating to corruption and alleged money laundering, he has… Read more »

HRW: Rohingya Genocide Case Moves to Judgment

World Court Concludes Hearings in Gambia’s Landmark Action Against Myanmar by David Esposito & Shayna Bauchner, Human Rights Watch, New York, January 29, 2026 On January 29, the three-week hearings on the merits of Gambia’s genocide case against Myanmar before the International Court of Justice came to a close. The case, filed in 2019, alleges that Myanmar’s… Read more »

OSLAP: Preserving Evidence

Advancing Accountability for Sri Lanka by OHCHR’s Sri Lanka Accountability Project, September 1, 2025 250919-infographic-oslap-s-repository-for sri lanka evidence A Snapshot of OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project’s Repository Understanding OSLap’s Repository What it is • OSLap’s repository contains over 112,000 materials documenting human rights violations, abuses, and serious crimes committed in Sri Lanka over the past… Read more »

HRW: UN Finds Systemic Sexual Violence During Civil War

Impunity Prevails for Abuses Against Women, Men; Survivors Suffer for Years by Human Rights Watch, New York, January 14, 2026 (Geneva) – A new United Nations report about sexual violence related to Sri Lanka’s civil war is another step forward in the struggle for accountability for crimes under international law that were committed in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch… Read more »

Amnesty: OHCHR Report Must Spur Government Action

On accountability for conflict-related sexual violence by Amnesty International, London, January 13, 2026 Responding to a new report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on accountability for conflict-related sexual violence committed in the context of Sri Lanka’s internal armed conflict, Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, said: “This important report… Read more »

OHCHR Brief on Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, January 13, 2026 Entire report: OHCHR CRSV brief English January 2026 and 2026-crsv-brief-english.pdf Executive Summary OHCHR brief on sexual violence in Sri Lanka Executive Summary January 2026 “We Lost Everything – Even Hope For Justice” OHCHR Brief on Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka… Read more »

Deep Learning From Operation Sindoor

Five Takeaways From a Four-Day War by Sameer Lalwani, Shailender Arya and David Brostoff, War on the Rocks, Washington, DC, January 22, 2026 Tensions between India and Pakistan — two countries that President Donald Trump claimed had been fighting for 1,500 years — escalated rapidly over a few days in May 2025. On May 7–10, the… Read more »

The Façade of Accountability

Disappearances in Sri Lanka by Wasana Punyasena, Boston College Third World Law Journal, Vol.3, Issue 1, January 2003 The Facade of Accountability Disappearances in Sri Lanka Punyasena 2003 Abstract: The current ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam marks a watershed moment for the government to finally implement effective… Read more »

Paranagama Commission Report 2015

by Paranagama Commission, August 2015 Paranagama Commission report Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Complaints of Abductions and Disappearances 2015 Acknowledgements In presenting this Report of our Commission to His Excellency the President I, as Chairman, wish to place on record my grateful thanks to all those who played a part in making this Report possible…. Read more »

BTF: Militarisation and Buddhisisation Continue in the Tamil Homeland

Exposing the Futility of Domestic Accountability in Sri Lanka by British Tamils Forum, London, January 4, 2026 BTF Militarisation and Buddhisisation Jan 2026 The British Tamils Forum (BTF) strongly denounces the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony for the illegal erection of the Tissa Vihara on privately owned land belonging to the Tamil people. Amid the systematic destruction… Read more »

‘Terrorism’ Versus Civil Liberties

The NPP’s clear betrayal of campaign promises by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene, Sunday Times, Colombo, December 28, 2025 President Anura Kumara Dissaayake’s determination to ‘repeal and replace’ Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with a law that balances security concerns and civil liberties for ‘rights focused governance’ was explained in great detail when interviewed by Newsweek… Read more »

What is Local Governance?

[This article is interesting because it is by a Sinhalese author.  Tamils have been advocating for more decentralized government since independence, to no avail.  Note that in the early 1980s the Sri Lankan government proposed District Development Councils to counteract calls for more autonomy for the North and Eastern Provinces.  The Tamils were not in… Read more »

Can a Corporation Be Complicit in War Crimes?

Sweden Is Trying to Find Out by M. Gessen, Opinion Columnist, The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2025 At the end of the 1990s, a Swedish company called Lundin Oil started drilling in a war-torn region of what was then Sudan. To secure the drilling sites, the company contracted with the Sudanese government. Over the… Read more »

HRW: Sri Lanka Struggles in Aftermath of Devastating Cyclone

Longstanding Discrimination Against Marginalized Communities Worsens Catastrophe by Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director, Human Rights Watch, New York, December 11, 2025 Sri Lanka is suffering a series of floods and landslides brought upon by Cyclone Ditwah this past November. Climate experts believethe intensity of seasonal storms, which also recently devastated Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, are likely… Read more »

The Great Flood

by B. Skanthakumar, Polity, Colombo, December 5, 2025 Cyclone Ditwah ripped through Sri Lanka between 27 and 29 November. The toll is devastating. Seven days later, the official count is 486 deaths and 341 missing. To which should be added five navy and one air-force officer killed in rescue operations; and an electricity board technician… Read more »

Ten Jolting Takeaways from Trump’s New National Security Strategy

by Rick Landgraf, War on the Rocks, Washington, DC, December 5, 2025 The new National Security Strategy is out, and it’s a shock to the system. It is not just the latest public articulation of principles, ambitions, and priorities around which the United States organizes its foreign policy. Instead, it reads like a manifesto for a radically… Read more »