IMF loan strains Lanka‐Britain relations
Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the $ 2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka amid opposition from several countries including the US and Britain voicing concerns over human rights abuses. Britain abstained from voting on the loan.
Rajapaksa’s “Final Resolution” of the Tamil Problem and India’s Options
The death of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, circa May 18, 2009 remains an enigma wrapped in mystery. The exact details of what happened, we may never know. Things have never been what they appeared on surface. Colombo’s media management techniques are a legion. Therefore, peering through a looking glass into the future of Sri Lanka becomes quite problematic.
War Without End
The guns have fallen silent in Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, but the deep wounds of ethnic animosity have not even begun to heal. An estimated 300,000 Tamil civilians remain essentially prisoners in internment camps run by a Sinhalese-dominated government.
To begin easing the deep mistrust between the communities, donor countries will have to pressure the government to be as serious about securing a just peace as it was earlier this year about winning the war.
International Press Freedom Mission chase wild geese in Sri Lanka
Lasantha knew of the consequences of his being a true journalist in Sri Lanka and had to pay the price for being one.
The International Press Freedom Mission (IPFM) in their open letter to President Rajapakse of Sri Lanka (appended) have addressed him on the premise that they were addressing a Head of a state and government with an inclination and the receptiveness for the restoration of a strong and virile democracy.
13th Amendment ghosts still rule
The Presidential helicopter was busy from Saturday (18) onwards: The President choppered over to Embilipitiya to have a series of meetings and for lunch with the Chairman of ‘The Firm’ (‘without shares’ as he points out) Chamal. He used the Pelwatte Sugar Company’s auditorium to listen to his son Namal making his maiden speech in front of him.
Aid and a Quest for Change in Sri Lanka
The IMF approved a $2.6 billion dollar loan for Sri Lanka over the objections five states who wanted human rights and policy conditions attached to the loan. As reported earlier on this blog, there are concerns about possible violation of humanitarian law committed by the government towards the end of the 26 year conflict, as well as concerns about the current treatment of Tamil minorities being held en masse in government “welfare villages” that many human rights advocates argue are little more than prisons. The exact conditions within the camps are unknown though, as the Sri Lanka government refuses to allow aid workers or international journalists to visit them.
An open letter to ‘the man who tamed the tigers’
Upon reading the July 10th interview by Jyoti Thottam with you for the Time Magazine captioned “The Man Who Tamed the Tamil Tigers”, I am appalled as are rest of the majority of the Tamils prompting me to write this open letter to you through the traditional and electronic media. Thank God for free media elsewhere in the civilised world so that your views as well as mine could be aired to the world!
International probe into war crimes in Sri Lanka needed – Japan Times
The Japan Times today (Monday) in its editorial calls for a “complete, unvarnished international” investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.
“An investigation is required: If war crimes were committed — no matter which side is responsible — perpetrators must be held accountable. No government or rebel group must believe it is immune from the rule of law”, the paper said, adding: “If the government is telling the truth, it should have nothing to fear from an investigation.”
The Eelam Forecast
So why are they bursting crackers in Colombo as if some IPL match was won? Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE chief, may be dead or alive. But that’s completely beside the point. What everyone should be asking is whether the Tamil question in Sri Lanka is dead. Let’s make no fuzzy mistake. The answer is a resounding no.
Tamils should not fall prey to government lies
For the Tamils around the world the sad news of the destruction of the acknowledged Tamil leadership came as a tremendous shock. The LTTE leadership was of immense symbolic significance in that they provided a rallying point for the Tamils to orchestrate against the oppression and the aggressive actions towards the Tamils by the Sinhala polity.
