by Amnesty International, London, various dates *** Amnesty Annual Report on Human Rights, April 21, 2026 Sri Lanka 2025 A new government took office in late 2024, promising transformational change. However, the new administration continued to use the draconian anti-terror law and failed to reform other laws, negatively affecting freedom of expression and rights for… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
The Role of Sinhala Nationalism
In Political Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka by Louisa Steijger, Retrospect Journal, Edinburgh, Scotland, January 4, 2024 The complexities of Sri Lanka’s socio-political landscape have been deeply influenced by the ideology of Sinhala nationalism, which espouses belief in the ethnic and religious superiority of the Sinhalese majority, claiming that Sri Lanka is the primordial… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Complex Dance of Sinhala and Tamil Nationalist Politics
by Uditha Devapriya, Himal SouthAsian, Colombo July 30, 2024 With mainstream Sri Lankan parties feeling compelled to pander to Sinhala Buddhist voters, Tamil-led parties have been pushed to take more hardline positions to address Tamil voters’ frustrations – historically and today At present, the Sri Lankan government is caught in a tricky situation. Elections are… Read more »
Examiner: Will Sinhalese Nationalism Die?
by The Examiner, Colombo, April 24, 2026 Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory marked a high-water point for Sinhalese nationalism. But the NPP’s recent success in the North shows that its power is receding. Reading Rajesh Venugopal’s 2018 economic history suggests that the structural conditions which sustain this ideology are becoming weaker. The Examiner has more opinions than… Read more »
Karaitivu 1985
A Forgotten Anti-Tamil pogrom in the Shadow of Sri Lanka’s Genocide by Seelan Rasathurai, Tamil Guardian, London, April 21, 2025 It was a quiet morning on 12 April 1985 when Karaitivu, a small coastal Tamil village in the Amparai district of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, was plunged into terror. As villagers prepared to celebrate the… Read more »
‘India’s Fiscal Federalism Must Be Reimagined’
To ensure every vote carries equal weight’ Shruti Rajagopalan, economist and professor at George Mason University, argues that any future effort to enlarge the Lok Sabha and apportion seats by population requires fundamental changes to the Indian polity by: Shruti Rajagopalan, Indian Express, Mumbai, April 20, 2026 Delimitation is the act of drawing political lines…. Read more »
Decentralise or Decline: The South’s Warning
by Nilakantan RS, Off Beat Concerns, India, April 19, 2026 Though the move for delimitation has for now, failed in Parliament, the concerns it raised about federal balance, representation, and transparency remain unresolved—especially for the southern states. In this conversation with Shahina KK, author and commentator Nilakantan RS, known for his work South vs North, examines… Read more »
Intl Crisis Group: Sri Lanka’s Bumpy Road to a Political Reset
Twin elections in 2024 transformed Sri Lanka’s political landscape, bringing to power a president and parliamentarians who pledged sweeping reforms. So far, however, the new government has made little progress toward this end. It has work to do to show it can do politics differently. by International Crisis Group, Brussels, April 16, 2026 What’s new? Almost… Read more »
TG: Neelira – An Important Step
With a runtime of ninety minutes, ‘Neelira’ is a taut and tense thriller. . by Gop Selva, Tamil Guardian, London, April 2, 2026 . Having worked as an assistant director for Balu Mahendra and Karthik Subbaraj, Someetharan – who has previously created documentaries – has now directed his first narrative feature film. ‘Neelira’ is a… Read more »
Israel’s Shadows behind Settlers Policy in Sri Lanka
by Dr. Punsara Amarasinghe, South Asia Monitor, October 7, 2025 This controversial project of the mid-1980s, inspired by Israeli models, ultimately failed to achieve its intended outcomes. Nevertheless, Israeli involvement left a lasting imprint on the Mahaweli Development Project and agricultural settlements in Sri Lanka. The continuing association between the military and the Mahaweli Development… Read more »
Devolution Without Power is Meaningless
by Raj Sivanathan, Groundviews, Colombo, March 26, 2026 A version of this article is also on Jaffna Post at The NPP Must Deliver Devolution and Economic Justice Now – Sri Lanka News Sri Lanka stands today at a decisive and defining moment in its post-war political and economic journey. For more than three decades, the… Read more »
ITJP: Allegations of Human Rights Violations against Daya Ratnayake
by International Truth & Justice Sri Lanka, South Africa, March 13, 2026 ITJP Daya-Ratnayake_public Mar 2026 Section 1. Summary Daya Ratnayake is a retired army general who has allegedly been involved in a wide range of human rights violations and war crimes during his service in the army. Allegations against him range across two phases… Read more »
ITJP: Pathfinder for Norwegian Archive – Briefing Note
by International Truth & Justice Sri Lanka, South Africa, February 25, 2026 ITJP Pathfinder-for-Norwegian-Archive_2026-02-25-233802_jggz On 27 January 2026, Norwegian diplomat and former politician Erik Solheim (also the former Norwegian Special Envoy to the Sri Lanka peace process) inaugurated a repository of documents related to the ceasefire negotiations during the Sri Lanka civil war.1 The repository… Read more »
Trump Is Playing Chess. China Is Playing Go
by Raghu Raman, TheWire.In, March 19, 2026 Trump believes he is playing chess against Iran and winning. He is not only wrong about the chess, he is catastrophically wrong about the game. Chess originated in India. It is played on a board of 64 squares, with 16 pieces per side arrayed against each other from… Read more »
Declassified Documents Detail Israel’s Role at the Start of Sri Lanka’s Civil War
by Eitay Mack, TheWire.In, March 17, 2026 Not only did Israel ignore the severity of the human rights situation, it also knew from the outset that its military assistance had limited prospects of success. The Sri Lankan government has acknowledged that there could be as many as 65,000 people missing following three decades of civil… Read more »
The Vaddukoddai Resolution at 50
Historical Context, Political Impact, Legal Claims, and Contemporary Significance by Wimal Navaratnam‘s blog, Canada, March 9, 2026 Introduction The Vaddukoddai Resolution, adopted on May 14, 1976, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, stands as a pivotal moment in the political history of the island and in the evolution of Tamil nationalism. As the resolution marks its 50th… Read more »
US Global Magnitsky Sanctions Report 2025
by Human Rights First, New York, March 9, 2026 Magnitsky_0725to1225_FINAL This briefing provides an overview of recent developments in the U.S. government’s use of its targeted human rights and anticorruption sanctions programs from July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025. Notable Developments and Patterns of Use Infrequent Use of Targeted Human Rights and Corruption Sanctions:… Read more »
5th Anniversary of the Pottuvil to Polikandy People’s Uprising
and the Five-Year Journey of the Pottuvil to Polikandy People’s Uprising Movement by Pottuvil to Polikandy People’s Uprising, February 10, 2026 P2P 5th Anniversary After the Tamil people’s liberation struggle, which marched forward with determination until 2009, was brought down through injustice and betrayal, false propaganda was introduced claiming that the Eelam Tamil nation had… Read more »
Why Aren’t We Talking About Sri Lanka Anymore?
“Sri Lanka Solution” Followers Face Justice, but Not Sri Lanka by Anji Manivannan, OpinioJuris, February 26, 2026 [Anji Manivannan is the Legal Director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), where her work contributes to its international justice and genocide recognition efforts] In 2015, two UN documents instilled cautious hope for Tamil victims… Read more »
Welcome to the Indian Century
India is winning the standoff between America and China. Hosted by Ross Douthat, Produced by Victoria Chamberlin, The New York Times, February 19, 2026 Right now, 21st-century geopolitics seems like it’s defined by the struggle between America and China. But the major power with the world’s fastest growing economy and largest population isn’t China. It’s India. And right… Read more »