Tamil rights

(New York) – Respect for fundamental human rights in Sri Lanka is in serious jeopardy following Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as president in November 2019, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. Rajapaksa, along with his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was named prime minister, were implicated in numerous human rights violations during their previous years in […]

The Sri Lankan government is reportedly set to release a soldier who was sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, according to an opposition parliamentarian who applauded the move. “Now we have got information that the government has taken measures to release 34 members of the intelligence and Sunil Ratnayake, as mentioned […]

“If we lift the hideous rags of History, we find this: hierarchy versus equality and order versus liberty.” – Éric Vuillard (The Order Of The Day) The indications are clear, as are the implications. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected on a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist platform intends to rule as a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist president. For the first time in […]

Why no overtures will be made to Tamils and Muslims by the SLPP until after the parliamentary elections. (Daily Express) The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), whose Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the November 16 election without the support of the minority Tamils and Muslims, and is still to reach out to them in any […]

Image: TNA parliamentary group led by its leader R.Sampanthan meeting former president M. Sirisena to discuss issues related to devolution of powers. (file) ” The last 30 years have seen the country making such positive efforts towards resolving issues that have plagued it since Independence by meaningfully acknowledging the plural nature of our polity. We […]

Image: A Sri Lankan Tamil refugee cleans utensils outside her house in a refugee camp in Perambalur district, about 250km (155 miles) from Chennai [File: Nathan G/EPA] Nearly 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees living in India are not eligible for citizenship under a new law, sparking concerns they may be forced to return to the island nation they […]

A Sri Lankan brigadier who motioned death threats to Tamil protestors in London last year has been found guilty by a British court of violating the Public Order Act, after a protracted legal battle. Westminster Magistrate’s Court upheld a previous ruling that Sri Lanka’s Brigadier Priyanka Fernando “is  not  protected  by  diplomatic  immunity”, despite pleas […]

Leader of the Tamil National Alliance R.Sampanthan has told Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz that although the TNA is prepared to work with the economic development initiatives of the government which are beneficial to the people it  will not surrender the interest and the rights of our people at any point. He has further said that […]

Speaking at the press conference today held in New Delhi on the visit of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime minster of India has said that ” I am confident that the Government of Sri Lanka will carry forward the process of reconciliation, to fulfill the aspirations of the Tamils for equality, justice, peace and […]

Sri Lanka Brief Presidential Election Update No 02. Polarised vote The president elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) of SLPP and Sajith Premadasa (SP) of NDF respectively received 52.25% & 41.99 of the total votes polled in the presidential election held on 16 November 2019.  This numbers could be misleading. The result shows unprecedented level of polarisation […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with  India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on 20 Nov 2019. The Indian government expects Sri Lanka’s new government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to take forward the process of national reconciliation in order to meet the aspirations of the Tamil minority for “equality, justice, peace and dignity”. This was the […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at his supporters as he leaves, after the presidential swearing-in ceremony in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka November 18, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte. As was widely predicted, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), decisively won Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16. His opponent, Sajith Premadasa, of the United National Party […]

People’s democratic choices must be accepted, says the senior Tamil leader. Meera Srinivasan./The Hindu. It is unfair to attribute a “racist” dimension to the Tamil vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, according to senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan. His remark comes a day after the results of the country’s biggest election were declared. The winner […]

The people have spoken. President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been given a mandate by the people to govern the country for the next five years. The Elections Commission, public employees, Police and the voters deserve credit for the conduct of a free and fair Presidential Election where a record number turned out to exercise their franchise. […]

In the wake of his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory in the presidential election 2019, former strong man Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a statement on their immediate plans. They include (between the lines  reforming or removing the 19th amendment,  action to deliver justice for the persons persecuted for  corruption  and human rights violations since 2015 and steps to stop Tamil […]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the brutal crushing of Tamil Tigers a decade ago, stormed to power Sunday but promised to be a president for all Sri Lanka’s races and religions after a divisive election. Seven months after Islamist extremist attacks that killed 269 people, Rajapaksa was elected on Saturday on the back of a nationalist […]

 The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) urges Tamil people from the North-East and throughout Sri Lanka to freely exercise their franchise at the November 16 Presidential Election, giving careful consideration to the political formations and agendas of the major contenders.  After playing a decisive role in the political change of 2015 and experiencing disappointments on the […]

Image: Peter Ilancheliyan. Peter Ilancheliyan, a prominent member of ITAK’s youth wing and son of the late former deputy chair of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Anthony Jeyanathan, is the fourth Mullaitivu-based individual to be summoned for questioning in recent weeks. Journalist Shanmugam Thavaseelan, former NPC member A Puvaneswaran, and vice chair of the Puthukudiyiruppu […]

(File photo by AP) The upcoming Presidential Election seems far from the troubled mind of Pari Amma. Living in a partially built home on her land returned by government forces three years ago, her thoughts these days are consumed by raising funds to dig a much needed well in her garden. Having struggled during the country’s […]

 FILE PHOTO: Chief of staff of Sri Lankan army Shavendra Silva attends a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo (Swiss Info) WASHINGTON (Reuters). Sri Lanka’s president appointed Shavendra Silva as its army chief in August, drawing sharp criticism from the United States and the United Nations. A U.N. panel […]

Cartoon by @tmdsbekanayaka “Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance” – Oscar Wilde. Elections are here, time for pacts, pledges and promises – the time-tested Sri Lankan way of savouring democracy. The sooner you get them negotiated and sealed the better. Formation of alliances before a Presidential Election is normal in Sri Lanka. […]

Image courtesy of Tamil Guardian. Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna  and its presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa have rejected the demands submitted by five major Tamil parties to prsidential candidates, reports pro Rajapaksa web site lankaeyewitness,  Calling the demands as an Eelamist proposal,  It further says that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will only adhere to 13th amendment. Sajith Premadasa, […]

By Meera Srinivasan. “For three years now, Sri Lanka’s tea estate workers have been agitating for a daily basic wage of LKR 1,000.” A tea estate worker in the Dambatenne tea plantation in Haputale, Uva Province. Often described as the backbone of the economy, close to 1.5 lakh tea estate workers have been agitating for fair […]

The United Kingdom Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia and Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with the Tamil National Alliance Leader AR. Sampanthan and the Spokesperson Hon M A Sumanthiran in Colombo Yesterday (01.10.2019). Apprising the Minister on the resolution […]

TO THE ATTENTION OF HIS EXCELLENCY ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS. UN’s Participation is Vital to Establish Rule of Law and to Protect the Rights of Minorities in Sri-Lanka. Since 1948, we the minority people of Sri-Lanka have continuously been subjected to oppressions by the discriminatory ethnic policies of the governments that […]

Image; Tamil residents of Mullaitivu protest against BBS head Gnanasara, who led the illegal cremation . Northern Province Governor Dr. Suren Raghavan yesterday insisted that politicians should not create communal and religious tensions ahead of the presidential election, targeting the Northern voters and hindering their democratic rights. “As the Northern Province governor, I urge politicians not […]

Introduction On the late evening of 20 February 2009, two diminutive aircrafts swiftly approached Sri Lanka’s capital with the intention of launching an attack against the military’s defense base in Colombo. The Zlin Z-143 airplanes were flown by ferocious Air Tigers; the air-wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fueled with determination to […]

Image: People of kokkuthoduvai, Kokkilai and karunatkerni villages held a campaign in Mullitivu town to stop encroaching their lands under the name of Mahaweli “L” Zone development. Nearly 300 farmers both men and women who have been deprived from their  agricultural lands and water resources peacefully marched to the Mullaitivu Government Agent”s office and handed over […]

The European Union Delegation Comprising of Mr Riccardo Chelleri, (Policy Officer Democracy and Electoral Observation) and Ms. Anne Vaugier Chatterjee (Deputy Head, Political, Trade,and Communications Section) and others met with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr. R Sampanthan today in Colombo. Briefing the Delegation Mr. Sampanthan highlighted that the people in this country […]

Image: “So, please remember this and the earlier  you do it, the better. If you do not do it and abstain from doing the right thing, I do not think the Tamil people will take it lying down for too long,” Sampanthan tells the govt. NEW CONSTITUTION WITH NATIONAL CONSENSUS. R. Sampanthan. Mr. Deputy Speaker, […]