Peel Regional Police must apologise to its Tamil constituents

In the nation-state identified as Sri Lanka, police and other security forces either committed atrocities toward Tamil citizens or stood by and allowed Tamil homes and communities to be pillaged and bombed. It is outrageous that the Peel Regional Police Chief would plan for a collaboration to strengthen the Sri Lankan police force that is currently led by Deshabandu Tennakoon, who has been deemed guilty by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court of violating many constitutional rights of citizens, police officers, and journalists alike and also personally tortured many while in the custody of the police force.

An Analytical Critique of the Himalayan Declaration

Several articles and opinions in publications such as the Tamil Guardian and on social media, have criticized and rightly so, the process undertaken by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) to develop the Himalayan Declaration (HD) and the subsequent meeting with the genocidal war criminal Mahinda Rajapakse. Nevertheless, it appears critical and objective analyses of the document itself are in short supply. An assessment is therefore overdue, on how effectively, this document, brought forward with so much fanfare, serves the interests of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. The assessment is based on two obvious...

TRC – a sophisticated get of jail free card?

Sri Lanka has published a bill to establish a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation. Though the bill superficially appears to tick several boxes for the international community, a close examination reveals it is deeply flawed and represents a total betrayal of justice for Tamil and Sinhala victims of mass atrocity crimes. This is aside from whether there is political will to implement any truth recovery regarding the country’s violent past.

Reclaiming the right to mourn

Impunity in Sri Lanka has deepened, given the Government of Sri Lanka’s failure to ensure any kind of accountability for those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed at the end of the civil war in May 2009. While the war may have ended, the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad continues.

An Open Letter to Ranil Wickremesinghe

My dear Ranil, I hope this letter finds you well. I was thrilled to watch your interview on DW News.

An Open Letter to Mahinda Rajapaksa

My dear Percival Mahendra, I hope this letter finds you in good health. What can impede your health as long as your buddy Ranil is there for you? Was it not because of the grace of Ranil you were saved from the electric chair? I mean, he claimed a few years ago that it was he who saved you from the electric chair. Not many people understood what he meant but I don’t recall even a bit of whining from you then, so I am assuming it was he who came to your rescue when the Americans were threatening to bring war crimes charges against you and your beloved brother Nandasena Gota. There was a lot of ‘silly’ talk in 2010 that the Americans were not happy with your election victory over Fonseka. And then came the presidential election of 2015. When the results came out, you really didn’t want to step down. Remember you summoned the commanders of the security forces and were contemplating staying in power through unconstitutional means. And then the warning shots came, and you decided to back down, or to be precise, step down.

Sri Lanka’s hypocrisy on Gaza needs calling out

The violence in Israel and Palestine over the last month has been horrific. Thousands have already been killed and it shows no signs of abating in the days and weeks to come. For many around the world, Eelam Tamils included, it has been difficult to observe. But what has added to the dismay for Tamils in particular, is the hypocritical response by Sri Lankans across the political spectrum to the violence in Gaza.

Dangerous and deadly - Sri Lanka's proposed bills threaten to worsen authoritarianism

Though Sri Lanka’s sweeping aragalaya protest moment that forced its then-president out of office is now over, long-awaited reforms on the island have not taken place. Instead, Colombo’s latest president, the purportedly Western-friendly president Ranil Wickremesinghe, has proceeded to slide the island further down the path of authoritarianism.

Not just one rotten apple - TG View

Last week the US State Department decided to sanction yet another Sri Lanka war criminal, former Naval Commander, Wasantha Karannagoda. For decades Karannagoda has enjoyed complete impunity for the crimes he committed against Tamil civilians. Despite his alleged involvement in the abduction and disappearance of eleven individuals, as a close ally of the Rajapaksa clan, Karannagoda appeared almost untouchable. Under the Sinhala state, Karannagoda was not held to account for the atrocities perpetrated against Eelam Tamil people but instead appointed as governor of the Tamil majority North-...

EDITORIAL - Wickremesinghe’s ultimatum

Illustration by Keera Ratnam / waves of colour In his Independence Day address, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe swore that he would oppose a “division of the nation” and put forward the prospect of “maximum devolution within a unitary state”. The statement comes as the latest attempt to dilute and dissuade Tamils from their calls for self-determination. During his address to the All-Party Parliamentary Conference, Wickremesinghe warned that the decades-old 13th amendment must either be adopted or abolished. Yet, whilst these proceedings unfolded, across the North- East Eelam Tamils...

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