Sinhalaisation

Image: 5th  century Sigigiya frescoes in Sri Lanka; Will the rulers put on a   blouse with sleeves on them ? By P K Balachandran Sri Lankan woman in the now sanctioned sari and a COLOMBO: Female staff of the Sri Lankan parliament are barred from entering the Public Officers’ Box if they are wearing a sleeveless […]

(“Ezhuga Tamizh” -Tamils Arise- rally at Jaffna, image by Tamil Guardian) By PK Balachandran. COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, on Saturday gave a clarion call for a people’s movement to raise issues pertaining to the Tamil people and thereby strengthen the hands of their elected representatives. Speaking at […]

( BTF launched a booklet on Proliferating of Buddhist Structures in Tamil areas at HRC 33 yesterday) (SLB.23 Sep 2016) As number of Tamil political and civil organisations led by Chief Minister Wigneswaran are gearing for a massive demonstration in Jaffna tomorrow Tamil National Alliance led by R.Sampanthan faces a huge challenge of keeping its popularity […]

( Rajapaksa and Ranatunga ) Parliamentarian  and leading member of the former president Rajapaksa led so-called Joint Opposition Prasanna Ranatunga has warned the government  that LTTE being strengthened locally and internationally . He has said that in letter addressed to President Maithripala Sirisena says government controlled  Daily News. To prove his point, Ranatunge has cited the […]

By P.K.Balachandran. COLOMBO: The Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC) ,a non-partisan body floated by the Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, is inviting people to join a mass protest in Jaffna on September 24, to demand a stop to the construction of Buddha statues and Buddhist temples in areas in the Northern Province where there are no […]

BY Mirudhula Thambiah. Northern Provincial Council Member representing the Mullaitivu District Thurairaja Raviharan said during the war period Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi Districts were totally cut-off from government administration. But after the war the lands that had permits were converted to lands with deeds and new ownership was created during the Rajapaksa regime. However, the original […]

(The newly-built Buddhist temple at Ilankaithurai – re-named Lanka Patuna by the government. A bridge is being constructed to improve access to the site for the increasing number of Sinhala visitors. Tamil Guardian photo) Former Tamil National Alliance(TNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) Suresh Premachandran commenting on the recently passed […]

Several Sinhale flags were raised at the site of UPFA rally in Yatinuwara this afternoon, prior to the begining of the rally. A report by Lankadeepa said that its photo journalist had been ‘detained’ by a group claiming to be body guards of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. They had reportedly asked the journalist not to […]

(Military at the site in Kokkilaay last week (@uthayarasashali)) Sri Lankan police arrested the owners of land which was grabbed by the army to build a Buddhist vihara after they held a protest at the location in Kokkilaay, Mullaitivu. The owners, Thirugnanasambanthar Mannivannathas, Katharkamu Sivayogeswaran and Loganathan Jude Nimalan, held a symbolic fast outside the […]

[Dayan Jayatilleke reading Rajapaks’s message at the meeting] by Achintaka – Yesterday’s rally in Nugegoda organised by the hard-core Sinhala nationalists, i.e. Weerawansa, Dinesh, Gammanpila and Vasudeva with the blessings of former President Mahinda Rajapakse and their pseudo intellectual appendage Dayan Jayatilleke reminds us that the politicians who made a life out of Sinhala communalism/nationalism […]

By Waruni Karunarathne- The country has walked five years down the lane after the end of the war. Muslims in the Eastern Province still complain that resettlement and land issues prevail in the area even though the government claims to have completed the process of resettlement in most of the areas. The grave concern of […]

[BBS head with his body gaurds] By Jenny Gao This Thursday, Tudor Silva, Senior Professor of Sociology from the University of Peradeniya, gave a talk about Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), an organization of militant Buddhist monks, in Sri Lanka. With a Buddhist revival during the 20th century, Sri Lanka saw a rise of Sinhalese Buddhist […]

[This way Mr. President:Wimal Weeerawansa and Rajapaksa] President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised to implement 12 proposals presented by National Freedom Front (NFF), led by Wimal Weerawansa, reports Asian Mirror. ‘The 12 proposals were presented to the President a few months ago and the government appointed a committee to look into Weerawansa’s proposals. The committee included […]

By SLB- The Sinhala Buddhist extremists groups have now invaded the field of literature in Sri Lanka and have been able to force the organisers of the ‘Literary Award for Golden Book’ to change the decision of the highly experienced panel of judges. The award is given by the Publishers Union of Sri Lanka. Four […]

Notwithstanding the local and international pressure, violations of the right to freedom of religion and attacks on religious minorities continued unabated in Sri Lanka. In the month ofJune, Sri Lanka witnessed the largest anti-Muslim riots seen in the country after 1914. Led by the Buddhist extremist organization Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), mobs rioted in the […]

The Sri Lankan army is in the midst of constructing a statue of a mythical Sinhala giant, who fought against the Tamil Chola King Ellalan in a Tamil village in the Vanni. Sri Lankan Commander Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake toured the area last week, with the army publicising the building of the statue of the […]

By R. Sampanthan MP — Mr. Presiding Member, we are debating a Bill that deals with Prescription, a Bill that is being brought to bring about certain changes in the existing laws pertaining to prescription in regard to the category of persons defined in the new Bill as “disadvan taged persons”. That is, persons who […]

[Monks used abusive language; photo: Daily FT] Buddhist monks led violent mob entered by force the Centre for Society for Religion in Colombo today ( 04 Aug 2014) and disrupted a peaceful gathering of families of disappeared persons. Police as usual became mere onlookers, while monks and mob haul abusive language and threatened organisers. In […]

Following the intimidation given to Tamil speaking students by posters which mentioning the names of Tamil and Muslim first year students, calling for them to leave from Sabaragamuwa, one of the tamil students was attacked by persons wearing masks, on Sunday early morning. The victim identified is Santhirakumar Sutharshan from Mukamalai was assaulted and being […]

Hakeem at Aluthgama Not even ‘sufficient remorse’ from Govt for Aluthgama riots says Hakeem Nearly a month after the worst religious violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades, Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem has warned of a ‘virtual holocaust’ against the country’s Muslim community unless Islamophobia and hate speech by radical monks were nipped in the […]

A Muslim Lady was attack last sunday(29) 10.00pm at Battarmulla Junction Her Name Ms. Pathima has a small shop at Battramulla some elements thrown a stone she said she has narrowely escaped her face and eyesided affected this lady very innocent very poor. She every day selling Bettel (Buleth) this laday staying here last 65 […]

TNA leader Sampanthan ( The Hindu) TNA leader Sampanthan writes to TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha Dear Chief Minister, I write to you as the leader of the Tamil National Alliance , democratically elected to substantially representate the Tamil People, particularly in the North East of SriLanka, for instance in the last election held in the […]

C.V. Wigneswaran (photo: Nation.lk) Wiggie wants Mahinda to walk the talk “Going as part of President Rajapaksa’s entourage would give the impression that all is fine between the Northern Provincial Council and the Government of Sri Lanka, when in fact it is not,” said Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran. Wigneswaran, who hit […]

Excessively disproportionate, oppressive presence of the military (File photo) R. Sampanthan I write to you as the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, the political formation in Sri Lanka democratically elected at different levels of government, to substantially represent the Tamil people particularly of the North East in Sri Lanka. We extend to you on […]

Trinco by sunset (photo : Asia rooms) ”The experience of minorities in the beautiful eastern district of Trincomalee perfectly encapsulates the dark and depressing reality facing minority communities across Sri Lanka. Trincomalee’s remaking is part of a larger national-level project. The new Trincomalee is a microcosm of the post-war Sri Lanka. At the expense of […]

 National Shoora Council Press Release – on contempt of Quraan by BBS The National Shoora Council (NSC) urges the government and its principal law enforcement agency, the police, to ensure prompt prosecution of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) led mob which forcibly disrupted under threat of death the 9th April press conference of the respected […]

AFP A British tourist displays a tattoo of the Buddha on her upper arm, after she was arrested at Sri Lanka’s main international airport. A 37-year-old British nurse has recounted her “hellish” experience in Sri Lanka after she was arrested and sent to a deportation centre for sporting a Buddha tattoo deemed offensive by authorities.Naomi […]

Photo: Naomi Coleman, 37, was arrested  in Sri Lanka for ‘hurting religious feelings’ with her sleeve depicting Buddha on a lotus flower According to reports a 37 year old British nurse who arrived in Sri Lanka this Monday (21st April 2014) was taken by a taxi driver to a nearby police station where, according to […]

Rishad Badurdeen Government affiliate JHU says the government should take immediate legal action against the clearing of jungles and the setting up of illegal settlements by industries minister Rishad Badurdeen. JHU’s western provincial councillor Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe queries from the government as to why the law is not enforced against the minister who is violating […]

 Cartoon By Gihan de Chickera Sri Lanka in Geneva: Frozen In Fixed Positions  by DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA With almost exactly a week to go before a crucial vote in Geneva, Sri Lanka seems very much on the back foot. While William Hague, the Foreign Secretary of the UK makes a direct appeal to the readers […]