Mullaivayakal and the Meaning of Justice, 12 Bitter Years On
The first five months of 2009 brought immense and unprecedented pain to the people of northern Sri Lanka, and to their many Tamil relatives outside the country who looked on and received…
Memorialisation
Richard
Animals continue to crack in Sri Lanka, Richard. Lions don’t exist in the natural state, nor tigers roam through the brush. Elephants, yes, are still around, mostly straggly survivors in an orphanage…
Evoking the Undead Tiger, the Eternal Bogeyman: The Consequences of Forgetting the Past
“An alleged former combatant who was “rehabilitated”. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the armed group that the Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa government claim they defeated in May 2009.…
We Will Not Forget
We will not forget Mullivaikkal, the shot, the strafed, the scissored, and the cluster-bombed. We will not forget holes in roofs, holes in water tanks, holes in heads. We will not…
One Man’s Hero is Another Man’s Enemy
Maaveerar Naal, otherwise known as Heroes day, is celebrated on November 27 to remember those who lost their lives fighting for the LTTE. While this day has come to be a highly…
Corona with the Big Brothers
It is increasingly evident that the lasting impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic will not be merely health related. In the early stages of government efforts to contain the virus and over the…
Remembering Victims of Enforced Disappearances: Looking Back at Thenuwara’s Exhibition
Ten years ago, activist and contemporary artist Chandraguptha Thenuwara created an exhibition called The Vigil and Other Works, dedicated to remembering the disappeared and to the families who are forced to live…
Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terrorism
Today is the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terrorism. In Sri Lanka, the word terrorism embodies an experience that stretches over 30 years, the most recent being the…
Thenuwara’s At/Most/Fear: A Virtual Testament in Times of a Pandemic
For the past 22 years, activist and renowned contemporary artist Chandraguptha Thenuwara has been memorialising the horrific period of July 1983 through paintings, drawings, sculpture and installation. This year, undeterred by the…
Navaly Church Bombing – 25 Years On
In July 1995 the St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Navaly, Jaffna, was filled with displaced Tamils seeking refuge and safety from the war. People in Navaly, including members of the…
Our Departed Colleague, Saman Wagaarachchi – My Recollections
Comrade Saman Wagaarachchi had joined the JVP in early 1977 while we were still being held incarcerated for our role in the April 1971 uprising. Later I heard that he had supported…
