Vetting our way to trust
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, via Al Jazeera The conversation on Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka has hitherto focused almost exclusively on the government’s stated commitments to establish an Office of Missing Persons, a…
Jaffna
The fabrications of Yahapalanaya: 65,000 metal houses for the North & East
Photograph courtesy Reuters In late December 2015, the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs opened bids from various contractors to build 65,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern…
One Year After the January 8th Victory: Winners And Losers
Photo via Bloomberg “That was both the opportunity and the problem. Suddenly, subjects were told they had become Citizens; an aggregate of subjects held in place by injustice and intimidation had become…
Copies of Loss
cc: Ravi, Priya, fighters both, taken before their time. Three pictures hang in my study. (Not my study actually, contractually; the bank retains the mortgage. I do not write in, from a…
Appeal by the Families of the Disappeared
We, the Families of the Disappeared have been searching for our loved ones and calling for justice, for many years. Many Commissions were established by the previous government to carry out inquiries…
Disappearances in Sri Lanka and the visit of the UN Working Group on Disappearances
Picture from ICMP In the 35 year history of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (“WGEID”), Sri Lanka ranks number two, shamefully, in the numbers of disappearance cases…
PTA detainees in Sri Lanka: Prospects for justice
Image via 91News The fast by prisoners last month has given rise to fresh debate about justice for them. It is a sad reflection on Sri Lankan people and the new Government…
Of Tamils and Tigers (Part I and II, by Ben Bavinck) and Palmyra Fallen (by Rajan Hoole)
Picture courtesy panoramio These three books are essential reading for those interested in the events in the North and East of this Island, and their impact on the people of that region…
Enforced Disappearance: A Tamil Perspective
Picture courtesy RepublicSquare Members of the families of those forcibly disappeared, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank the organising committee for the invitation to deliver this speech on…
THE GENEVA RESOLUTION AND POLITICS: A NOTE OF CAUTION
Photo courtesy The recent Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka is a remarkable document. Crafted in the immediate aftermath of the devastating OISL Report on Sri Lanka whose central recommendation was…
The Enduring Relevance of Puthiyathor Ulagam
I When Govinthan penned (A New World) in 1985, the intelligence wing of a Tamil militant group was hunting for him across Tamil Nadu. Govinthan (real name: Soosaipillai Nobert) joined the People’s…
Court acquits Tamil mother after 15 years of detention under PTA
Image courtesy Last week, Tamil children in the North of Sri Lanka reportedly took to the streets to demand the release of their parents detained for years[1] under anti-terror laws[2]. This was…
Designing the future: Plotting change, planning reform
PANEL DISCUSSION: ‘Designing the future: Plotting change, planning reform’, 5.30-7.00pm, 22nd September JDA Perera Gallery, Horton Place, Colombo Free & open to public. Parking available inside the venue. Seating limited. If architecture…
Final guided tour of ‘Corridors of Power’
JDA Perera Gallery, Horton Place, Colombo 22 September, 4 – 5pm, at the venue Exhibition ends today Led by the input of Asanga Welikala and in collaboration with Channa Daswatta, ‘Corridors…
The ‘F’ word and the Tamil National Question
KEYNOTE: ‘The ‘F’ word and the Tamil National Question’ by Shiral Lakthilaka, 5.30-7.00pm, 19th September JDA Perera Gallery, Horton Place, Colombo Free & open to public. Parking available inside the venue….