Jaffna Challenge(r)s
Two contrasting insights into reconciliation were on display in the last ten days – one in the field of sports and the other in the field of politics. The former relates to…
Jaffna
3 years on, a hurting stalemate in Sri Lanka
Picture courtesy JDS Last month saw the official marking of three years after the end of the 28 year old war that plagued Sri Lanka, killing thousands and setting the country back…
MOVING OUT OF THE MAZE
Image courtesy ITV The ubiquity of the Tiger flags was the most dramatic aspect of the demonstrations in London during the President’s visit for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The Diaspora Tigers were…
ITAK and the New Chapter in Post-War Politics of Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy , via dbsjeyaraj.com From its inception in late 1949 as the Tamil Federal Party, the (ITAK) – a party which, as the late Lakshman Kadirgamar once claimed in Parliament, was founded…
Responding to comments whether the End of the War should be Celebrated or Mourned
Photo courtesy Given the comments to the article I wrote on 19th May, I felt it was better to respond to them substantially. The first question point I raise is still debatable…
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on ethnicity in Northern Sri Lanka post-war
Image courtesy 3mana In my interview with the Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, broadcast on the BBC a week ago, his comments on the demography of the North aroused particular interest. DBS…
THE ‘AUTONOMIST-SECESSIONIST CONTINUUM’ IN TAMIL POLITICS
Photo courtesy news360.lk Professor Urmila Phadnis the late of Lankanology in Indian academia was utterly discerning when she concluded over two decades ago in her last book (‘Ethnicity and nation-building in South…
The burning of the Jaffna library: 31 years on
31 years ago, the public library in Jaffna was burnt. As noted online, at the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books…
On the (Non)sense of Being ‘United’ and/nor/or ‘Unitary’
Image courtesy I must admit that reading Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke’s (DJ) recent piece, on Groundviews and elsewhere, on Mr. R. Sampathan’s (RS) speech at the ITAK convention, left me very disturbed. In…
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: What? Why? How?
Photo courtesy: Steve Chao /Al Jazeera via JDS With our Government busy defending itself from war crime allegations, protecting the sovereignty of the country and advising the common man to say ‘no’…
Where brevity cripples and distorts reportage
Image courtesy eHow Once upon a time, after I presented a public talk in Oslo courtesy of Kumar Rupesinghe, a Norwegian journalist provided me with a refreshing insight into the difference between…
ITAK’S PLAN OF ATTACK: THE BREAKOUT STRATEGY
The keynote speech by Mr. R Sampanthan, the leader of the main Tamil parliamentary party at the recent congress of that organization is in many respects a landmark event. It sheds light…
Parama Weera: What it takes, and what it means
Image credit Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images via The Baltimore Sun The eyes stared expressionlessly back at me from the fifteen small pictures, some clear, and some blurred; reflections that only hinted at the…
Operation Liberation: 25 years on
Twenty five years ago, on May 26th 1987, the Sri Lankan military forces launched ‘Operation Liberation’, which, at the time, was the biggest military operation in Sri Lanka since independence. At least…
Truth and Dialogue as Theatre: Some Reflections on the Frontline Club Panel on Sri Lanka
I watched the Frontline Club panel on Sri Lanka, belatedly and reluctantly. I am skeptical about such public enquiries and debates into complex matters, which threaten to reduce the dialogue and truth…