by Usha Sriskandarajah, December 20, 2022 For the TGTE, Tamil Eelam is not a mere dream or aspiration or yearning or passion alone, it’s a commitment, an explicit, unequivocal and results-oriented goal that’s to be pursued and achieved using every peaceful means possible Text of the Keynote Address delivered by Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah, Member of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
All Party Conference, Division among Tamil Politicians & the Ethnic Question
by C.V. Wigneswaran, Colombo Telegraph, December 20, 2022 A Journalist from Colombo asked me: There seems to be a polarisation among you Tamil Politicians after the President invited you for discussions on the ethnic question. Some have condemned you “Et tu Brute” for attending the Conference. Do you think apart from dividing the Tamil politicians anything… Read more »
Policy in Tamil National Politics – A Public Challenge?
by J. Jathindra, Facebook post, July 19, 2022 [translated from the Tamil original by Google Translate with corrections by the editor.] It has been 16 years since the death of LTTE leader Anton Balasingham. December 14th was his sixteenth death anniversary. On that day, an all-party meeting led by Ranil Wickresinghe was held on the… Read more »
Everyone Hitched to a Slipping Horse?
by Nillanthan Maha on his blog, December 17, 2022 [translated from the Tamil original by Google Translate with corrections by the editor.] From the Ramanathan brothers to the Sambandars, they have been deceived by the Sinhala leaders. It is [the Tamil] political experience of almost a century. During the past one century, the talks, meetings… Read more »
Views Expressed at All-Party Conference on Ethnic Issue
by Morning.lk, Colombo, December 15, 2022 President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently emphasised that all political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem by the upcoming 75th Independence Celebration. President Wickremesinghe reiterated this at the All-Party Conference held at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (13). The President convened this… Read more »
SL Parties Agree to Find Solution to Ethnic Question by Feb 4, 2023
Analysis by P.K. Balachandran, Eurasia Review, December 14, 2022 There was agreement on the full implementation of the 13th Amendment first, and on the finalization of the contours of a new constitution with maximum devolution, by the 75th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence On the strong urging of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the All-Party Conference (APC)… Read more »
US Sanctions Another Sri Lankan War Criminal
Sri Lanka Prabath Bulathwatte (Bulathwatte), former head of a clandestine Sri Lankan Army platoon, known as the “Tripoli Platoon,” Pursuant to Section 7031(c), the Department of State is designating Bulathwatte for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights, namely torture and/or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of Sri Lankan journalist, Keith… Read more »
Will the Tamil Parties’ Talks with the Lankan President Bear Fruit?
by P.K.Balachandran, Daily Mirror, Colombo, December 7, 2022 Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be meeting the Tamil parties of the Northern and Eastern Provinces on December 11 to find a solution to the longstanding Tamil issue. But the chances of a solution emerging look extremely dim given the fact that the gulf between the… Read more »
Tamil Nationalist Parties and a Power Sharing Arrangement
Based on the Federal Idea by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily FT, Colombo, November 23, 2022 Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism has been primarily reactive in nature. The Tamils thought of themselves as being on par with the Sinhala people as co-founders of the modern nation of Ceylon. Universal franchise and territorial representation reduced them to a principal… Read more »
Thaainilam – Land Grabbing
The Real Pandemic for the Tamils in Sri Lanka – Documentary Film Youth Panel Discussion Sept.25, 2021 on ThaaiNilam: Land Grabbing Documentary at Film Premiere
No Space for Memory?
Monuments, Memorials and the Residues of the War in Sri Lanka’s North by Lia Kent, Arena Quarterly, Australia, May 29, 2020 The monuments are impossible to miss. Rising from the flat and otherwise featureless Vanni—the broad, scrubby northern region so different from the dense, fertile vegetation of the island’s south—these official markers to the end… Read more »
CPA 2008: Essays on Federalism
by Rohan Edirisinha & Asanga Welikala, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, 2008 Essays on Federalism in Sri Lanka is a new collection of essays and articles on the Federal idea in Sri Lanka, edited by Rohan Edrisinha and Asanga Welikala. CPA has since its inception been at the forefront of the advocacy of federalism as a… Read more »
Does Sri Lanka Need a Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism?
by Mirak Raheem, Groundviews, Colombo, November 26, 2022 Groundviews on Instagram: “In 2018, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government laid the groundwork for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Its…” In the lead up to the September session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) the Government of Sri Lanka floated the proposal of establishing… Read more »
‘Satygraha: Freedom Movement of Tamils in Ceylon’
by S. Ponniah, 1963 68740.pdf (noolaham.net) Satyagraha by S Ponniah 1963 Transcribed by Satchi Sri Kantha with commentary Satyagraha of February 1961 in Eelam Satyagraha of March 1961 in Eelam
Right-sizing the Sri Lanka Army
by Major General Boniface Perera, Ph.D., Daily Mirror Opinion, Colombo, November 29, 2022 [Also Time to make the Sri Lanka Army leaner and meaner – Hard talk | Daily Mirror] The prime responsibility of the Army is to provide protection to the citizens and safeguard territorial Integrity and Sovereignty The veteran Indian diplomat turned security… Read more »
Murugeysen Tiruchelvam and Koneswaram Issue
by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily Mirror, Colombo, November 19, 2022 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan wrote a politically important letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on September 14, 2022. In that detailed missive, the veteran Tamil MP pinpointed several measures being enacted under the current regime affecting the Tamil people…. Read more »
Sri Lanka at Brink of Humanitarian Crisis
Financial Partners Should Support Basic Needs, Promote Respect for Rights by Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch, New York, November 24, 2022 The dramatic fuel shortages that accompanied mass protests in Sri Lanka earlier this year may have eased, but for millions of Sri Lankans the economic crisis is worse than ever. This month, the United… Read more »
The Struggle of Memories against Oblivion
by Nillanthan Maha, November 27, 2022 [translation by Google Translate, with some corrections by the editor] This is the 14th Heroes’ Day since 2009. For the last 13 years, Heroes’ Day has been celebrated in one way or another, secretly and openly. Remembrance for the Tamil people has deeper dimensions than just crying and grieving…. Read more »
Indian Ocean Strategic Ocean Newsletter 2022
by Indian Ocean Strategic Studies, New York, January – August 2022 Indian Ocean Strategic Studies newsletter January 2022 Indian Ocean Strategic Studies newsletter March April 2022 Indian Ocean Strategic Studies newsletter May June 2022 Indian Ocean Strategic Studies newsletter July August 2022 Mission of the IOSS The Indian Ocean is at the heart of international… Read more »
UNHRC: Unlucky Seven For Sri Lanka
by S.V. Kirubaharan, Eurasian Review and The Morning, Colombo, October 11, 2022 Abraham Lincoln once said: “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the… Read more »