File photograph: Karaitivu Beach (Gowshan Nandakumar)
It was a quiet morning on 12 April 1985 when Karaitivu, a small coastal Tamil village in the Amparai district of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, was plunged into terror. As villagers prepared to celebrate the Tamil New Year, armed mobs - composed largely of Muslim men and backed by Sri Lankan security forces - descended upon the village and…
"Kilinochchi within kissing distance". So said the disinformation warriors of Lt.Gen.Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan Army Commander, more than a week ago.
The government says that the 'liberated' east is an example of democracy in action and a model for areas recaptured from the LTTE. The reality is anything but. Killings and abductions are rife, and there is total impunity for horrific abuses.
WHILE the world focuses on the fallout from Mumbai, Sri Lankan government forces are reportedly closing in on the key rebel strongholds of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
The results of the U.S. presidential election this week are more an overwhelming rejection of the way the United States has been run in the recent past, particularly during the Bush administration, than merely a victory for Barack Obama.
The Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) of Bergen, Norway, launched an exhibition titled "No Home – Just Hope" displaying photos depicting the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Vanni, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka defiantly refused to allow a European Union (EU) investigation into rights abuses callit an "infringement of Sri Lanka's sovereignty, self respect and dignity', and announced plans to support the garment industry financially if existing trade concessions are not renewed by EU.
The all-party meeting chaired by Tamil Nadu's (TN) Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on October 14 passed a resolution that MPs from the state would resign if the Centre failed to ensure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka (SL) in two weeks.