by Federation of Tamil Associations in the UK, March 31, 1996 Fed Tamil Assoc UK 1996 Letter SL military budget 1996
Posts Categorized: Politics
2nd Vaddukkodai Resolution
by DMK’s Minister of Fisheries A. Radhakrisnan, August 9, 2021 Report on ‘2nd Vaddukoddai Resolution’ video conference held on 1-8-2021 with the participation of Tamil Leaders from Tamil Eelam (North and East of Sri Lanka) and Tamil Nadu, India. —— Second Vaddukkodai Resolution 1 August 2021 2nd Vaddukoddai Resolution video conference seeking India’s immediate and… Read more »
The Taliban Has Seized More Cities, Despite U.S. Efforts to Build a Strong Afghan Military
What happened? Persuading partners to emulate the U.S. military approach doesn’t necessarily work, new research finds by Rachel Tecott, The Washington Post, August 9, 2021 On Sunday, the Taliban claimed the northern city of Kunduz, freeing dozens of Taliban fighters from the city prison. As U.S. troops continue to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban is seizing regional… Read more »
US Continues to Vet Sri Lankan Soldiers
– But are war criminals being let in? by Tamil Guardian, London, August 2, 2021 The United States says that all Sri Lankan soldiers continue to be fully vetted for involvement in human rights abuses before being allowed to train in the country. Recent appointments however point to holes in the vetting process and raise… Read more »
Reading the Southern Mothers’ Front with Malathi de Alwis
30 years later The report of the Commission of Inquiry for the Western, Southern and Sabargamuwa Provinces (CoI-WSS), the most detailed of all the reports, described the violence of 1988-1991 as a systemic and orchestrated phenomenon, in which those in political power and the law were deeply complicit. It is also unequivocal in concluding that… Read more »
Sri Lanka Sliding Down a Dark and Slippery Slope
Daily Mirror editorial, Colombo, July 14, 2021 Somewhere after defeating separatist terrorism in 2009, Sri Lanka missed a glorious chance of turning a destructive era on its head. In the aftermath of the near 3-decade-long separatist war, instead of pursuing a cherished dream of reconcilliation, our political leaders acted like Don Quixote who went tilting… Read more »
Racial Prejudice Rears Its Head in Singapore
Imperfect harmony The city state is less racially harmonious than its government likes to think by The Economist, London, July 31, 2021 DAVE PARKASH and his girlfriend were strolling down the street one evening in June when an irate man accosted them. Tan Boon Lee accused Mr Parkash of “preying” on his girlfriend, whom Mr Tan,… Read more »
In Sri Lanka, The COVID Response is Exacerbating Religious & Ethnic Tensions
by Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch in cooperation with Stanley Center for Peace & Security, June 22, 2021 Podcast interview with J.S. Tissainayagam at In Sri Lanka, The COVID Response is Exacerbating Religious and Ethnic Tensions | UN Dispatch In May 2009, the long running civil war in Sri Lanka ended with the defeat of… Read more »
Atrocities Cast Shadow on Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 Response
by J.S. Tissainayagam, Stanley Center for Peace & Security, Iowa, USA, May 17, 2021 Ranjini,* a housewife, lives in Kilinochchi, a town in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province. Earlier this year, the government began vaccinating the public against COVID-19. But this has made her fearful: she is not sure if she will be injected with… Read more »
TG: Echoes of the Past
by Tamil Guardian, London, July 23, 2021 This year marks 38 years since Black July: the anti-Tamil pogrom where thousands of Tamils were killed by brutal state-supported Sinhala mobs. It was a week of violence that saw Tamils murdered, tortured and displaced. It remains a premeditated and meticulously coordinated act of genocide. The remnants of… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Dynasty is Not as Secure as It Appears
by Banyan, The Economist, London, July 17, 2021 The family that runs everything is running out of cash Since winning the presidency in a landslide nearly two years ago, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has worried not that he has too many relatives in government, but that he has too few. One of the 72-year-old’s elder brothers, Mahinda, himself… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Falling Economy & Failing Good Governance
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 21, 2021 President Gotabaya acclaimed as un uncrowned king of Sri Lanka after defeating the Liberation of Tigers in the genocidal war with the assistance of 22 countries particularly from India, Pakistan and China as confirmed by his brother Mahinda… Read more »
The Myth of Security and the Prevention of Terrorism Act
False Promises by Ambika Satkunanathan, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, July 14, 2021 For decades human rights activists have highlighted the draconian nature of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which promises safety and security, yet in practice makes each citizen vulnerable to being arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and even convicted of an offence the person did not… Read more »
In Sri Lanka, the Government Looks Increasingly Like a Family Firm
Three brothers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa now hold top posts in his government. Two of his nephews have official positions, too. by Muib Mashal, The New York Times, July 11, 2021 The first attempt by a Rajapaksa to return to power in Sri Lanka was brief. In 2018, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as… Read more »
One Island, Two Nations
by Kumarathasan Rasingam, July 9, 2021 Sri Lanka formerly known as CEYLON is an island country in South Asia. Sri Lanka was historically comprised of two distinctive nations; the country’s history has been written or represented as if it were one nation. However, the two nations, namely Sinhalese and Tamils, have existed in Sri Lanka… Read more »
Report of the Consultation Task Force, Nov. 2016
by Consultation Task Force, Sri Lanka, November 17, 2016 CTF-Final-Report-Volume-I-Nov-16 As the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms no longer has a website and our link to this report of the Consultation Task Force at Consultation Task Force Final Report – Ilankai Tamil Sangam no longer works, we are posting the PDF here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A…. Read more »
US Congress Resolution 413
Option for Sri Lanka to choose confrontation or conciliation by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London], Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 23, 2021 The recently tabled US House Resolution 413 in the US Congress led by Rep. Deborah Ross breathes fresh air, confidence and hopes for the Tamils, particularly the victimized Tamils… Read more »
Bharatanatyam in Sri Lankan Sinhalese Films & in Sri Lanka
by Cinema Nrityagharana blog, June 24, 2014 While on a zealous search to see what kinds of dance could be found in the cinema of Sri Lanka, India’s island neighbor to the south, I was completely perplexed when I stumbled onto this Bharatanatyam-based dance in the 1965 Sinhala film Hathara Maha Nidhanaya: Starts :1:07 https://youtu.be/6RcYIYKk1AE My… Read more »
UN Human Rights Council 47
Core Group statement on Sri Lanka by UK Mission to UN, Geneva, Switzerland, June 22, 2021 The Human Rights Council takes place in Geneva. This statement is on behalf of Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK, the Core Group on Sri Lanka. Council resolution 46/1 called upon the Sri Lankan Government to… Read more »
‘Jagame Thandhiram’ Movie Review #2
by Natalia Winkleman, The New York Times, June 21, 2021 ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ Review: Scheme, Slaughter, Repeat An intrepid gangster maneuvers between rival crime lords in the glossy drama “Jagame Thandhiram.” The movie (on Netflix) follows Suruli (Dhanush), whose merciless killing sprees earn him an invitation to serve under a wealthy British megalomaniac. Seduced by a… Read more »