Dec 20-26:
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Celebrating birth of Jesus: Song by poet Vairamuthu [TW]
In Pictures: “Nobody’s people” caught in the “buffer zone”
by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
Today is the 5th anniversary of a tsunami that devastated our country. Five years on, but how many of us still care for the people who suffered? [HA]
Internally displaced persons on the A9 highway – victims of heartless politics
By: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) had become the bone of contention between the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), many governments and institutions in the international community, and the Tamil community at large-both within Sri Lanka and the Diaspora, after the war ended. [TC]
In Thiraaimadu, Batticaloa: Self-confidence and courage amidst multiple tragedies
by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
"I lost my house in Tsunami in 2004 in Kallady. I built the house not with my sweat, but with my blood " recalls Rajeswary Sithravadivel.
She got displaced twice in her life-In 1983 from Colombo to Batticaloa after Black July riots & in 1990 from Batticaloa to Colombo. [HA]
In Saainthamaruthu: Indelible memories of kith and kin [HA]
In Maruthamunai: Tears, trial and triumph of humanity [HA]
Tamil politics: Too much thinking might be going on
by Rajan Philips
It is not that there is no thinking in Tamil politics; there might be too much thinking going on. There is no institutional apparatus to screen out bad thinking and try out better options. And the free license of the internet has provideed the medium for unsupervised circulation of idiotic thinking. [TC]
Presidential aspirant views sought on 14 issues by Tamil professionals
Presidential elections are always of great importance to all citizens. In the context of the recent civil war defeat of the LTTE, as well as other developments over the years, the forthcoming Presidential Election is of very special relevance to ethnic minorities, human rights activists and journalists. [TC]
A nasty, cruel war followed by a nasty, dirty election
by Dr. Packiyasothy Saravanamuttu
Philip Alston the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions has asked the Government of Sri Lanka for explanations regarding the deaths of three senior LTTE leaders and members of their families in the final stages of the war. [TC]
SL Govt. withdraws Rajiva Wijesinghe’s letter to UN
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
Much to its embarrassment, the Sri Lanka government on Thursday announced that the letter sent by the Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe, in response to a letter sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions Phillip Alston, on charges made by former Army Chief Sarath Fonsenka against the Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa about the sequence of events in the last phase of the Eelam War IV (May 16 to 19), should be treated as withdrawn. [TC]
The 2010 Elections: Finishing the War on Terror & Beginning the Battle for Democracy
By Kanishka Ratnapriya
The 26th of November 2009 went by without Vellupillai Prabhakaran making his annual Mahaveera Speech.[TC]
The President, the General and the Geo-politics of the Indian Ocean
by Gus Mathews
The unpredictability of Sri Lankan politics is a godsend to journalists and political analysts alike.[TC]
Lankan cricket star Dilshan manhandles Indian Photojournalist Dutta
Tillekaratne Dilshan, the star Sri Lanka opener who perfected the “Dil-scoop”, became so angry at being photographed in a nightclub that he chased a photographer of The Telegraph, Bishwarup Dutta, from the fifth-floor club down to the street to confront him on Tuesday night. [TC]
Thiruvempaavai-a ten day worship for Lord Siva begins [HA]
Ramifications of Corruption and Their Impact on Human Rights
by JC Weliamuna
As you know, Kanchana Abhayapala Memorial lecture is held in honour of a distinguished young colleague who was senselessly assassinated during one of the darkest periods of our recent history. [TC]
International LTTE seems to be divided into twin factions
By Col. R. Hariharan
The overseas supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been in disarray ever since the founder leader Prabhakaran and the entire insurgent leadership were eliminated in May 2009. [TC]
Trapped civilians in Sri Lanka cut off from aid deliberately, says Médecins sans Frontières
Civilians attacked, bombed, and cut off from aid in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), along with stagnant funding for treating HIV/AIDS and ongoing neglect of other diseases, were among the worst emergencies in 2009, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported today in its annual list of the "Top Ten" humanitarian crises. [TC]
UN Asks Sri Lanka to tell the truth about killing LTTE leader surrendees
Here is the full text of Alston's letter to Amb. Kshenuka Senewiratne, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations office at Geneva [TC]
On Sri Lankan Killings, Alston Asks Rajapaksas, Why Not UN's Nambiar?
By Matthew Russell Lee
So one wonders, given not only the UN's role in the final days of what even it called the "bloodbath on the beach" in Sri Lanka, but especially UN chief of staff Vijay Nambiar's reported role in the deadly surrenders, why Rapporteur Alston has not already demanded answers from the UN itself. [TC]
"Up to 95 percent of IDP's might be deprived of their voting rights"
By Ranga Sirilal
"Up to 95 percent of IDP's might be deprived of their voting rights at the presidential elections as a proper mechanism has not been in place," one of the monitors, Keerthi Thennakoon of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE), told Reuters. [TC]
Sri Lankan guards 'sexually abused girls' in Tamil refugee camp
by Gethin Chamberlain
Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed. [TC]
The absence of thinking in Tamil politics
by Dayan Jayatilleka
Of course I do not mean that there is no thinking among Tamils as a community, still less that Tamils cannot think! Nor am I complaining that there is an absence of systematic ideas and ideologies in Tamil politics. [TC]
By Chamara Lakshan Kumara
The allegation that the Sri Lanka Army shot dead a group of LTTE leaders who had come forward carrying white flags which was bandied about sometime ago has been raised again [TC]
Perversion of religion is possible when state and organized religion collaborate
by Prof. Charles Sarvan
Kumar Sangakkara Should Not Combine Responsibilities of Skipper,Keeper and Lead Batsman
by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam
Many records were broken in the recent run feast in India. One record went unnoticed [TC]
Sri Lankan tragedy: No exit from crisis even after military victory
by Dayan Jayatilleka
It is a fairly safe assumption that with the Southern province elections the Rajapakse administration hit its electoral ceiling and the UNP its floor [TC]
Paasikuda: Heavenly beach of the 'Green algae' bay
by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
Paasikuda means Green-Algae-Bay. It is a coastal resort which is situated 35 kilometers North West of Batticaloa [TC]
by Rajan Philips
The man who soared onto the American presidency unlike any other is now saddled with challenges that only a few among his forty three predecessors did have to surmount.[TC]
Sarath, Gota and the brutality shown to surrendered LTTE leaders
By Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne
Whatever maybe the outcome of the investigation promised by the parties involved, the war has not indeed created heroes but only suspects of war crimes. [TC]
Tamils must come out of the graveyard of boycott politics
by Kumar David
The 2005 presidential election was the graveyard of Tamil boycott politics. [TC]
Need for new "vibes" and emergence of a "home grown" Tamil leadership
By Gnana Moonesinghe
Too long just a few have done the thinking for the Tamils. Too long have the Tamils followed a few at the top. Too long have they been led by emotion and rhetoric. [TC]
Approximately 1,600 Sri Lankans receive priority processing to help reunite with family in Canada
The humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka prompted the Government of Canada to begin expediting the processing of new and existing sponsorship applications in June 2009 for Sri Lankans who were directly and significantly affected. [TC]