Theepan

Colombo does not need the Kfir — it needs Israel

Jun 30

On 11 June, the Sri Lanka Air Force conducted the first test flight of an upgraded Kfir C12 fighter at its Katunayake base, presenting the flight as a military milestone. The aircraft is one of five being rebuilt — four C2 and C7 jets plus a TC2 trainer — to C12 standard under a US$50 million contract signed with Israel Aerospace Industries in 2021. The expenditure makes little sense as procurement. It makes a great deal of sense as the maintenance of a relationship.

Between warships and warplanes - Sri Lanka’s balancing act and the ACSA

Sri Lanka’s refusal to allow two United States warplanes to land this month has been presented as a firm assertion of neutrality. Yet, placed alongside a parallel refusal of an Iranian naval request, and continued engagement with both states, the episode instead exposes something far less stable: a fragile balancing act that is increasingly difficult to sustain.

What has happened to Harini Amarasuriya?

When Harini Amarasuriya first entered Sri Lankan politics, she was hailed as a different kind of politician — a feminist academic, a human rights advocate, and a rare progressive voice willing to challenge entrenched power. Her early writings spoke about systemic discrimination, the “implicit exclusions and violence” that underpin the Sri Lankan state, and the need to confront Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism head-on.

Dissanayake’s hypocrisy on Gaza: a president who once marched against ceasefires

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s call at the United Nations for a ceasefire in Gaza drips with hypocrisy. The very man who stood on platforms railing against peace for Tamils now speaks the language of international humanitarianism. For Tamils on this island, his words are hollow and an insult.

‘Unfortunate incidents’ - Sri Lanka’s latest war crimes defence

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara wants you to believe that the genocide against Tamils consisted of just “unfortunate incidents.” A few massacres here, a mass grave there. Mere accidents, really. The kind of thing that just happens when your military shells hospitals, rapes civilians, and executes prisoners.

Starve, Bomb, Repeat: Gaza’s siege echoes Sri Lanka’s genocide

As Israel faces global outrage for imposing its siege on Gaza by cutting off food, water, and supplies to 2.3 million Palestinians, observers of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict hear chilling echoes.

The world let Sri Lanka get away with genocide and Gaza is the consequence

The genocide unfolding in Gaza today has shocked the world, but it should not come as a surprise. It follows a now-familiar playbook.

Why the Tamil genocide monument matters - and why we need more

Last month in Brampton, Canada, hundreds gathered as a new Tamil genocide monument was officially unveiled. It was an act of remembrance that resonated not only with the Tamil diaspora but with justice seekers across the world.

Bollywood’s Tamil Eelam Problem

From Madras Cafe (2013) to The Family Man 2 (2021) and now Jaat (2024), a consistent pattern has emerged — one that rewrites history, erases Tamil suffering and maligning resistance to oppression.