In Sri Lanka, women from the Tamil minority group have been protesting for years to demand information about sons and daughters who were kidnapped by state forces during the country’s civil war and never heard from again. Their activism has drawn international attention and some limited engagement from the country’s government. But when the women’s… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
COVID-19 and Pres. Gotabaya’s Military Rule
In North East Sri Lanka by Kumarathasan Rasingam, July 23, 2020 Tamils in Sri Lanka especially in the North and East are now living between the devil and deep sea. Heavy presence of the military [to the ratio of one soldier to every four civilians 1: 4] and on the other side they are scared of… Read more »
A Choice Between Existence or Extinction for the Tamils
by Thambu Kanagasabai, July 20, 2020 The forthcoming general election on August 5th 2020 is crucial for the Tamils for their survival as a race and live with respect, equal rights and dignity, and as a nation in Sri Lanka as Rajapaksas. Ranil Wickermasinghe. Sajith Premadasa and Buddhist clergy are openly advocating and moving to… Read more »
The Role of Civilians and Civil Society in Preventing Mass Atrocities
by Congo Research Group, Anushani Alagarajah, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Laxana Paskaran, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Nyathon H. Mai, The Sudd Institute, Zachariah Mampilly with Daniel Solomon, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, July 21, 2020 Preventing Atrocities in a State Unwilling to Address its Past by Anushani Alagarajah, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Laxana Paskaran, Adayaalam Centre for… Read more »
A Deadly Combination
Militarisation, Sinhala-Buddhist Supremacy and Absence of Rule of Law Compiled and edited by Sunanda Deshapriya, Sri Lanka Brief, July 2020 A DEADLY COMBINATION-SriLanka Briefing Note 17-July-2020 BACKGROUND Sri Lanka is slowly emerging from the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and heading towards the General Elections that is scheduled to be held on the… Read more »
UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances Letter to SLG
by UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, May 11, 2020 Working Group on Enforced Disappearances letter to SLG May 2020 Mandates of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; ; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and the Special… Read more »
Empty Promises and Deceptive Politics of Tamil Leaders
by M K Elaventhan, Former member of Parliament, Sri Lanka, July 10, 2020 The third general election after the end of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam”s rule in the North and East is due to be held on August 5th 2020. At the outset, it has to be stated that the current Sri Lankan Government… Read more »
Potential State of Candidates: Who Can Deliver on Tamil National Agenda?
by K. Anaga, July 6, 2020 At the outset I am inclined to believe that the TNA has done more harm than good. They have beaten Douglas, a known enemy for so many years and Karuna who is a spent force. Of course ,Karuna has come into limelight by his recent utterances that he has… Read more »
ITJP: Sri Lanka – A Parallel State?
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, July 7, 2020 ITJP PTF press release & infographic July 7 2020 7 July 2020 Press Release: Sri Lanka – A Parallel State? Johannesburg: A new infographic reveals how President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is ruling Sri Lanka, as if he is autonomous, through powerful militarised task… Read more »
Militarisation of Governance, Demographic Change and the Future of Democracy in Sri Lanka
For immediate release 18 June 2020 Militarisation of governance, demographic change and the future of democracy in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced an all-Sinhala Task Force on Archeological Heritage Management on June 2, which includes Buddhist monks, military officers and the head of the Derana media network, to “preserve the historical heritage… Read more »
The Appointment of Two Presidential Task Forces
by Center for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, June 5, 2020 5th June 2020, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by the appointment this week of two Presidential Task Forces by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. These appointments came soon after the Supreme Court refused leave to proceed to all petitioners on the… Read more »
Sri Lankan Presidential Task Forces Signal Deepening Militarization
by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, June 3, 2020 (Washington D.C.; June 3, 2020) — PEARL strongly condemns this week’s establishment of two presidential task forces in Sri Lanka, which sets the country on a firm course to autocratic governance. The new presidential task forces are a serious escalation in the president’s move… Read more »
Different Ball Games by Members of the Same Political Parties
[We do not usually post such very political pieces — written in the inimitable South Asian take-no-quarter style — but since the next parliamentary election will be so crucial, we hope this article will at minimum start the dialogue. We will be encouraging the author to provide our readers next his ideas for what is… Read more »
Don’t Whitewash the Sri Lankan State’s Many Crimes
by Taylor Dibbert, Modern Diplomacy, Europe, June 12, 2020 A recent article in these pages examines the Sri Lankan government’s battle against the Tamil Tigers, the activities of the Tamil diaspora and more. Unfortunately, the article whitewashes the Sri Lankan military’s horrendous wartime abuses. One cannot fully understand or appreciate modern-day Sri Lanka and the… Read more »
The Vaddukoddai Resolution of the Tamil Nation of Sri Lanka
An Appraisal on the Legal Dimensions of the Resolution by Dr. Sandrasegaram Paramalingam, June 11, 2020 [On 22 May 1972, the first native Constitution of Sri Lanka was adopted and enacted by the Constituent Assembly. It proclaimed Ceylon as Republic of Sri Lanka. Though this Constitution survived only for six and a half years, the… Read more »
Looming Dictatorship in Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, June 11, 2020 Alarm bells are ringing and heard from various quarters about the direction of Sri Lanka being piloted by the military machine of Rajapakahe’s clan led by the military mindset President Gotabaya Rajapakshe who has a penchant to in tolerate criticism and opposition from any source and not hesitating to… Read more »
A Knee on the Neck of the Next Parliament
By Dayan Jayatilleke, Lanka Guardian, Colombo, June 11, 2020 http://www.ft.lk/columns/A-knee-on-the-neck-of-the-next-Parliament/4-701439 For the first time in our post-independence political history, we have a leader who does not regard it as necessary to appoint a Task Force that reflects to any extent, the composite reality of the area or citizenry concerned. It is a leadership that ignores… Read more »
What’s Wrong with the TNA?
by Mario Arulthas, Financial Times Colombo, June 5, 2020 A few weeks ago, Tamil news cycles were dominated by coverage of an interview given by the Tamil National Alliance Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran to a Sinhala media site. During the course of the interview, he made several comments which created controversy and outrage amongst… Read more »
TG Editorial: Mask Off
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, June 1, 2020 Even before they returned to power in Sri Lanka last year, the Rajapaksas never sought to cloak their brash espousal of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism. As defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ran a ruthless offensive that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, which his brother Mahinda oversaw as president, with… Read more »
PTF on Archaeology in the Eastern Province has no Muslims or Tamils
Why the Presidential Task Force on archaeology in the Eastern Province has no Muslims or Tamils By P.K. Balachandran/Daily Express, NewsIn Asia, Colombo, June 5, 2020 Colouring a narrative to advance an ethno-religious political agenda Colombo: The Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province, which was gazetted on 2 June, has… Read more »