Tamil National Alliance [Editor’s note – we attempt not to become too involved in politics by supporting one party or another, because we feel there is no reason to make our dirty laundry public. We rarely post pieces on Tamil politics, but since the opinion stated here is such a common one at the moment,… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
In Idlib, Final Offensive in Syrian War May Come at Horrific Cost
by Margaret Coker, Hwaida Saad and Carlotta Gall, ‘The New York Times,’ September 2, 2018 BAGHDAD — On land, Syria’s government is mustering thousands of conscripts to bolster its depleted forces. At sea, a Russian naval flotilla is just offshore, ready to intervene with formidable firepower. In Idlib Province, millions of civilians are dreading what… Read more »
Myanmar Generals Should Face Genocide Charges Over Rohingya, U.N. Says
by Nick Cummings-Bruce, ‘The New York Times,’ August 27, 2019 GENEVA — Myanmar’s army commander and other top generals should face trial in an international court for genocide against Rohingya Muslims and for crimes against humanity targeting other ethnic minorities, United Nations experts said on Monday after a yearlong investigation. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing,… Read more »
Grassroots Leaders Provide the Best Hope to a Troubled World
Amid cruelty and suffering, there are heroes, says Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who steps down on September 1st The apparent powerlessness of those who suffer was also brought home to me in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, where Tamil communities dispossessed of their land by the military decades ago still… Read more »
Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on its isit to Sri Lanka
by Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, July 23, 2018 http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/39/45/Add.2 [Statement at end of Working Group visit] VI. Conclusions 73. The Working Group appreciates the willingness of the Government to submit itself to scrutiny through the visit, and considers that the findings in the present report offer an opportunity to support the Government in addressing… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Tamils at Crossroads
By: Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM {Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 15, 2018 Tamils in Sri Lanka, being the original inhabitants even before BC 500 according to legend, have ruled Sri Lanka before the arrival of Buddhism in BC 247 and formation of Sinhalese language during the 6th century AD, which… Read more »
The Dravidian Sun Sets
by A Kalaiyarasan & Karthick Ram Manoharan, ‘Economic & Political Weekly,’ Mumbai, India, August 8, 2018 When Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief and five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Muthuvel Karunanidhi passed away on 7 August 2018, he had outlived most of his friends and all of his rivals. “Kalaignar,” as he was popularly known among… Read more »
The Man Who was Muthuvel Karunanidhi
DMK patriarch Muthuvel Karunanidhi, a champion of federalism, showed how a regional party leader can become indispensible in the national political sphere by Dharani Thangavelu, ‘LiveMint,’ India, August 7, 2018 Chennai: It was the morning of July 15, 1953. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members had launched a protest against the renaming of Kallakudi to Dalmiyapuram, near… Read more »
UN SR Ben Emmerson’s Report on Sri Lanka
by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, July 24, 2018 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism on his mission to Sri Lanka Sri_LankaReportJuly2018.PDF A. Conclusions 59. In 2015, Sri Lanka seemed to have turned a corner. New elections brought to power a coalition government and with it the… Read more »
Sumathiran’s April Speech re Constitution
by M.A. Sumanthiran, University of Peredeniya, April 18, 2018 posted on TNA Politics.org in July 2018 Sumanthiran-SPEECH-PGIHS Keynote speech by M.A. Sumanthiran, 3rd April 2018, Research Congress, Inaugural session of the Post Graduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Peradeniya The Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Director,… Read more »
Tackling Sri Lanka’s ‘Torturers’
From Point Pedro to Dondra Head by [no author noted], ‘The Sunday Times,’ Colombo, July 29, 2018 There is little doubt that the findings of United Nations Special Rapportuer on Countering Terrorism, Ben Emmerson on the sorry fate of Sri Lanka’s justice system, particularly in regard to the continuance of a ‘culture of impunity’ are… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s New Right-Wing Politics
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, ‘The Sunday Observer,’ Colombo, July 8, 2018 There are two new developments in Sri Lanka’s contemporary politics which is getting crystalized and clearer these days. They are: (a) the consolidation of a hard right-wing alternative to a weak and shaky democratic regime option, and (b) the projection of an ex-military officer as… Read more »
Protecting or Facilitating?
A review of the humanitarian response to IDP detention in Sri Lanka, 2009 All too often however, humanitarian organisations were poorly equipped with the time, skills and attitudes to address a situation where the state was not representing the interests of the population. In these cases, supporting the vulnerable means contesting state agendas, even where… Read more »
Sri Lanka Military Caught Red Handed While Misleading Public Inquiry
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, July 18, 2018 Military authorities in Sri Lanka have been providing incorrect information about sexual abuse by its soldiers and officers while on a UN peacekeeping mission. A joint press release issued on Tuesday (17) by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) has… Read more »
Sri Lankan ‘War Criminals’ Deployed as UN Peacekeepers
by Mark Townsend, ‘The Guardian,’ Manchester, July 21, 2018 The UN has been sending alleged war criminals to act as peacekeepers in conflict zones, a confidential report claims. The document, seen by the Observer, and sent to the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations last month, claims that senior Sri Lankan officers accused of war crimes have… Read more »
Sri Lankan Lawmakers Target Reporters in Times Investigation
by Maria Abi-Habib, ‘The New York Times,’ July 3, 2018 NEW DELHI — Angered by a New York Times investigation detailing how China seized ownership of a seaport in Sri Lanka, a group of Sri Lankan lawmakers denounced the newspaper on Monday, focusing their ire on two local journalists for the newspaper. On Monday night, the lawmakers,… Read more »
Political Confrontation will not Solve Humanitarian Issues
by Ananth Palakidnar, Ceylon Today, Colombo, July 15, 2018 Chairperson of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) Rev Fr. S.J. Emmanuel in a candid interview with Ceylon Today spelt out the shortcomings affecting the people in the North and East. He said as far as strengthening peace and reconciliation, apart from depending on politicians all right-thinking… Read more »
Justification for a Referendum
For the Tamils of Sri Lanka by Thambu Kanagasabai, July 8, 2018 The current situation affecting the Sri Lanka’s Tamils fairly and justifiably need a referendum to decide their own fate to guarantee their existence in Sri Lanka, if they were to avoid their gradual extinction in a country where they being the original inhabitants… Read more »
The Office for Reparations
An empty shell? by South Asian Centre for Legal Studies, Colombo, July 4, 2018 A few days ago, the Office for Reparations Bill was gazetted. According to the Bill, the Office is expected to play a role in the formulation and implementation of reparations policies for violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have… Read more »
The Chronic and the Entrenched
Ethno-Religious Violence in Sri Lanka by Gehan Gunatilleke, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, 2018 http://ices.lk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Chronic-and-the-Entrenched-Mr.-Gihan-Book-FINAL-WEB-PDF.pdf …This study set out to establish the hypothesis that ethno-religious violence in Sri Lanka is ‘entrenched’ within cultural, socio-political and state structures, and requires radical interventions to overcome. It first reflected on the nature of communal violence in Sri… Read more »