• I'll fight any attempt to arrest me' - Ananthy Sasitharan

    Jan 14
    Ananthy Sasitharan said that she would fight against any attempt by the government to arrest her, responding to a report in The Island yesterday that an official within Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence said that she should be arrested and 'rehabilitated' in order to curtail her 'separatist tendencies', reports Tamilwin and the
  • Military does Thai Pongal..
    Photograph Uthayan

  • Over Rs. 2 billion loss by state owned power company
    Sri Lanka's state owned Ceylon Electricity Board claimed over Rs. 2 billion was lost last year, due to the frequently faltering Chinese-built Norochcholai coal power plant.

    The plant was shut completely for a total of 72 days in 2013, resulting in the state owned company spending Rs. 2.19 billion in purchasing power from private power companies.
  • A Fleeting Moment In My Country': Interview with Dr N Malathy
    Tamil Guardian caught up with the author of  ‘A Fleeting Moment in My Country’, Dr N Malathy, to speak about experiences described in her book.

    Dr N Malathy, a Tamil diaspora     activist, currently working as an analyst and programmer at the University of Cantebury, has lived in New Zealand for over 4 decades.

    She spent 4 years working for various human rights and social welfare institutions, within the Tamil de-facto state in Vanni from 2005 to 2009.     ‘A Fleeting Moment In My Country’ describes, Malathy’s experience and reflections of the LTTE administered de-facto state after returning to the region to engage in social welfare work.

    See below for a summarised transcript of our interview with Malathy.

  • Abuse of power in Asian democracies

    Examining the aftermath of Bangladesh’s elections, marred by violence and a boycott by the opposition, other countries in Asia have also been failing democracies, wrote Victor Mallet in the Financial Times this week.

    Citing the cases of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, Mallet said,

  • Stop digging for war crimes evidence - SL Justice Minister

    The Sri Lankan government has urged the United States to reconsider its position on Sri Lanka, reports Colombo Gazette.

    Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem reportedly asserted that the international community, including the US, should look to supporting mechanisms like the Truth Commission instead of 'polarising' the country.

  • Tamil bishops reiterate call for international independent investigation
    Speaking to the Catholic News Service on Tuesday, the Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar and Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam Emmanuel of Jaffna reiterated reiterated their demand for an international, independent investigation into the final stages of the armed conflict.
  • Ananthy Sasitharan may be rehabilitated to prevent separatist tendencies – The Island

    The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence has said it is seriously considering admitting Ananthy Sasitharan, a prominent and popular member of the Northern Provincial Council, to a rehabilitation centre, to prevent her from propagating separatist ideas, reported The Island

  • Deputy Minister accuses bishops in North of being terrorists
    Sri Lanka's deputy minister for workers relations, and former Sri Lankan Navy official, Rear Admiral Sarath Veerasekar, accused bishops in the North of being terrorists, reports Uthayan.
  • Video footage emerges of Buddhist monks' attack on churches
    Video footage has emerged of the attack led by Buddhist monks on two Christian places of worship yesterday.
  • Sri Lanka accused of manipulating numbers

    Sri Lanka's Joint Chambers of Commerce have called for an investigation into allegations that the government has manipulated statistics in order to boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers.

    The statement, released last week, noted that doubts had been cast over the credibility of the figures released by the government on the country's GDP. It stated,

  • Church attacks by Buddhist monks to be investigated…by Ministry of Buddha Sasana

    A police spokesperson has told media that all investigations of incidents at protests and demonstrations in regards to religion will be handed to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs.

    Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that the ministry will be informed of this today.

  • Sri Lanka does not deserve more time' - Labour MP
    British MPs and local councillors of the London constituency Ilford North met with members of the Tamil community today to discuss the issue of seeking ‘Justice for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.'
    Left to Right: Jim Murphy, Wes Streeting & Mike Gapes                                                     (Photo:John Howard)

    Labour’s candidate for Ilford North, Wes Streeting chaired the event with local councillor T Jeyaranjan, the Shadow Secretary for International Development , Jim Murphy and Ilford South MP, Mike Gapes joining his panel.

    Opening the event, Mike Gapes outlined that the continued subjugation of Tamils by the Sinhala majority had been the main cause of the ethnic conflict which ended with the brutal atrocities committed against Tamil civilians. Gapes went on to stress that recent documentaries and credible reports proved that an international investigation into war crimes was required as the Sri Lankan government did not have the capacity to perform their own. Arguing that calls for an international investigation should be immediate Gapes said,

    “Sri Lanka do not deserve to be given yet more time to perform an independent inquiry by March.”
  • Check your caste privilege
    The social, political, and economic arrangements of a society can place some people in a privileged position relative to others, particularly with respect to important goods, like institutional representation, economic resources, and even less tangible goods like “respect” and “welfare”. Since societal arrangements are not always brought into reflective awareness, it is unsurprising when even well meaning and well-intentioned members of privileged groups are unaware of how they may benefit from social arrangements relative to members of other groups.

    Many times have we experienced “upper-caste” Tamils unable and unwilling to recognize the privilege they hold vis-à-vis “lower-caste” Tamils in Sri Lanka and beyond. Sometimes they may well be aware of some of the difficulties faced by oppressed caste members. Sometimes they may even work for the betterment of other communities in the island, but this hardly ever translates into wider acknowledgment of the privilege centred around their “upper-caste” Tamil identity.

  • 7 new Buddhist temples, 54 Army camps in Batticaloa since 2009
    Seven new Buddhist viharas (temples) had been built in Batticaloa alone since the end of the armed conflict, along side a total of 54 Sri Lankan military camps, said P. Selvarajah of the TNA, reported Tamil Mirror.
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