Posts Categorized: Politics

How did Nepal Become a ‘Hindu Rashtra’?

[B]oth Nepal and Sri Lanka offer sobering reminders that in the Indian subcontinent, the forced imposition of a religion, whether ‘dharmic’ or not, inevitably creates more problems than it solves. by Anirudh Kanisetti, ThePrint.in, September 25, 2025 Nepal called itself ‘world’s only Hindu kingdom’ for much of the previous century. However, for most of history,… Read more »

Born in India, but Not Indian

‘Stateless’ man fights for citizenship by Saradha V, BBC, London,  September 24, 2025 Bahison Ravindran says he always believed he was Indian. Born to Sri Lankan refugee parents in the southern Indian Tamil Nadu state, the 34-year-old web developer had studied and worked there, and held several government-issued identity documents, including an Indian passport. But… Read more »

ICG: Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power Faces the Legacy of Civil War

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People’s Power government are struggling to build a more stable, inclusive political culture in Sri Lanka. A mix of bold action and political skill will be needed. Support from the UN Human Rights Council can help.  by Alan Keenan, International Crisis Group, Brussels, September 5, 2025 The election… Read more »

UN Human Rights Council 60th Session

Geneva, September/October 2025 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) oral report based on his written report, September 8, 2025 https://youtu.be/u_hebwD0fRE?si=BMN-_48S-QVsKH1Q Full interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka, September 8 HCHR, plus statements of country groups, starting at 2hrs, 57min, 54sec – 1st Meeting – 60th Session of Human Rights Council | UN Web TV Country statement,… Read more »

ITJP: Killing of Journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam

Killing Sri Lankan Journalists by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, September 7, 2025 Full report in English (Tamil & Sinhala also available) KILLING-SRI-LANKAN-JOURNALISTS_THE-CASE-OF-NIMALARAJAN-MYLVAGANAM_Final_ENGLISH_Web_compressed Press Release: Sri Lanka Has Shielded Killers of Journalists, Finds New Report Examining Investigation Failures in BBC Reporter’s Murder. Johannesburg – Sri Lanka has systematically shielded the killers of journalists… Read more »

Chemmani: Seven New Sets of Human Remains Exhumed

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan and T. Pratheepan – Jaffna, Ceylon Today, September 4, 2025 Seven new sets of human remains were fully exhumed from the Chemmani mass grave yesterday (3), while additional nine sets were identified. This marks the continuation of the third section of the second phase of excavations at the site, which began… Read more »

Fact Finding Report of HRCSL on Chemmani

by Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Colombo, September 2025 Fact-Finding-Report-of-HRCSL-on-Chemmani-Mass-Grave-Site This report details the main findings, observations, and recommendations of the HRCSL emerging from its visit and subsequent developments surrounding the exhumations and excavations at the mass grave site in Chemmani. The findings and observations are organised under specific themes: (1) the functions and… Read more »

Memories of Mass Murder

Unearthed bones in Chemmani reopen the wounds of Sri Lanka’s war years and the silence that followed. by Saikiran Kannan, Frontline, The Hindu, Chennai, September 1, 2025 The excavators kept digging in the midday heat, when something soft-blue rose above the dusty earth: a child’s school bag, its nylon straps still looped around a tiny… Read more »

Sri Lanka Faces Renewed Global Scrutiny Ahead of UNHRC Session

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, Colombo, August 16, 2025 Sri Lanka is once again under the global human rights spotlight as the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) approaches. With mounting momentum for the adoption of a resolution targeting the country’s human rights record, questions remain over how the newly… Read more »

Buried Tales of Past Violence from Chemmani

Chemmani is Sri Lanka’s collective shame and evidence of systemic failure to deal with extra-judicial killings and deliver truth, justice and accountability by Dilrukshi Hanunnett, The New Indian Express, Chennai, July 6, 2025 More recently reprinted from The Associated Press, NY, see below also: A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle,… Read more »

‘Quest for Human Rights: The Sri Lanka Ethnic Issue’

by Sunil C. Roy, VAP Enterprises, New Delhi, 1987 Comment by former Sangam Founder and Editor, Dr. Rajan Sriskandarajah: Just prior to the 1987 Indian military intervention in Sri Lanka’s national (ethnic) conflict, a booklet detailing the persecution of the Tamils, was widely distributed all over the world. Although it was printed & distributed privately,… Read more »

Argentina: Searching for the Children of the Disappeared

A new book examines the extraordinary decades-long campaign by Argentinean women to find their grandchildren. by Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, July 31, 2025 “Ispent five years researching and writing this story, and I still find it hard to believe,” Haley Cohen Gilliland told me during the launch of her book, “A Flower Traveled in… Read more »

HRW: Police Target Families of ‘Disappeared’

UN Human Rights Council Should Monitor Repression, Counterterrorism Law Abuses by Human Rights Watch, New York, August 20, 2025 (Geneva) – Sri Lankan security forces still harass families of victims of forced disappearances and misuse the country’s draconian counterterrorism law a year since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office with promises of reform, Human Rights Watch said today…. Read more »

Government Announcing Release of Lands in Jaffna Largely Political Rhetoric

by LankaFiles, July 28, 2025 It has been revealed that the repeated claims made by successive presidents, including the current head of state, regarding the release of ancestral lands in the Valikamam region of Jaffna district, are largely political rhetoric. At a press conference held in Jaffna, civil society activists and local residents asserted that… Read more »

AHRC: Island of Mass Graves 2014

by Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong, Feb-Apr 2014 These articles contain important information on Chemmani and other mass graves. AHRC Island of Mass Graves 2014 editorial AHRC Island of Mass Graves 2014 enforced disappearances AHRC Island of Mass Graves 2014 Chemmani unearthed yet untold SRI LANKA: The Island of mass graves – Asian Human… Read more »

Türk: Sri Lanka has Opportunity to Break from Past

by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, August 13, 2025 Non-official UN languages:Tamil version (PDF) Sinhala version (PDF) GENEVA – A report published today by the UN Human Rights Office calls on Sri Lanka’s Government to seize the historic opportunity to break with entrenched impunity, implement transformative reforms, and deliver long-overdue justice and accountability for serious violations and abuses… Read more »

OHCHR’s 2025 Report on Sri Lanka

by UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, August 12, 2025 a-hrc-60-21-auv.pdf OHCHR report on Sri Lanka Aug 12 2025 Summary The present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 57/1, provides a comprehensive analysis of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. It notes the new Government’s pledges to address… Read more »

HRW: UN Rights Report Details Security Force Abuses

UN Human Rights Council Should Adopt Resolution that Promotes Accountability by Human Rights Watch, New York, August 15, 2025 (Geneva) – The United Nations Human Rights office’s report on Sri Lanka details entrenched and systemic rights violations—including arbitrary detention, torture, and deaths in custody—under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Human Rights Watch said today. The new report by the UN High Commissioner… Read more »

BBC: Ancient Site Stirs Heated Political Debate on India’s Past

by Cherylann Mollan, BBC, London, July 27, 2025 ASI A view of an excavated site in Keeladi where archaeologists have found evidence of industrial activity The Keeladi village in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state has unearthed archeological finds that have sparked a political and historical battle. Amid coconut groves, a series of 15ft (4.5m) deep… Read more »