Education, Citizenship and Development
Siri Hettige Professor of Sociology University of Colombo Education is recognized the world over as a means of achieving wider social and economic objectives. Modern education systems are designed in such a…
Author: CHA
War IDPs
The IDPs from Trincomalee District are scattered, in the Ampara District. There are few from the Mannar District too. Some are willing to return to their original places, some do not. These…
Fate of the Displaced – Mannar
As soon as the security forces arrived at Arrippu, in September 2007, we were escorted out of our villages, some with personal belongings many with only what they were wearing. We sheltered…
Doesn’t she have the right to live with her daughter?
My mother in law, age 55 is from Kalliyaddy, Mannar, (an LTTE controlled area) came to live with her daughter, who is married to me in Sinnakarishal, Pesalai on 15.01.08. Kalliyady is…
Anti-competitive Activities, the source of rice crisis
Rice, which is the staple food in Sri Lanka, has become the subject of a national issue today. Government appears to being in the dark as to how to tackle issues confronting…
No one to listen to our pleas
“The cost of living is sky rocketing like the Kfir jets,” said an old man standing along the road side with great sigh. He was holding his loaf of bread tightly as…
Elections in the East: The dawning of democracy or fostering of violence?
By K. Ratnam It is as if the city of Batticaloa has become a red hot furnace due to the scorching sun. Yet at high noon there is a pall of gloom…
My abducted brother found in Colombo National Hospital
An armed group abducted my younger brother this month. He was 25 years old. They came in a van in early February at around 8.30 in the night. I am the eldest…
A narrow escape and a great tragedy
I am the director of a convent in Madhu. Our convent was shifted from Adampan to Madhu at the end of January this year due to the heavy shelling & aerial attacks…
The psychological trauma of an age old war
Puthiyavan A recent survey conducted by a social organisation in Savatkadu, Anaikodai Jaffna under a the supervision of a psychiatrist, revealed the silent suffering of generations who’ve witnessed the war first hand.…
Forgotten IDPs from the North
‘Cries from Puttalam’ For those familiar with the fairytales of the Grimm Brothers, the story of the young girl who equals her love for her father to her love for salt is…
GRIEVANCES OF AN IDP
Due to the civil war that erupted in the Trincomalee District between the LTTE and the Government forces, the families that had been living at Muthur and Sam poor areas had been…
The divide between Muslims and Tamils: Perspective of an IDP
“I was eight year -old, when we were forced out of Jaffna. I was crying throughout the journey from Jaffna to Puttlam. We came to Puliyankulam, Vavuniya and Puttalam. It took three…
‘I want a decent Education’ – A twelve year old’s plea
The field officer was on his usual rounds… visiting camps accommodating internally displaced personnel (IDPs). A young boy trots along and asks him what he is looking for. The field officer states…
The cost of liberation…
I do not have any words to express my agony and the untold hardship that I had faced in my village during the liberation of Seelavathrai, south of Mannar by the Sri…