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Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
In Sri Lanka, a divided national memory of a brutal civil war
Written by Saurabh Sixteen years after the end of the decades-long civil war, Sri Lanka observed a period of remembrance on May 19. The annual commemoration honours the thousands of Sri Lankan military personnel who died during the conflict that drew to a close on May 18, 2009, following the death of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Speaking at the 16th War Heroes' Commemoration Ceremony in Battaramulla, Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said this commemoration is not merely a remembrance of the war's conclusion, but also a pledge to unite all communities — Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, and Malay — in building a nation rooted in brotherhood and harmony, rather than allowing divisions to reignite. Further, the President denounced the exploitation of ethnic tensions for political gain, stating that divisions were deliberately manufactured in the past to seize and sustain power. However, many Sri Lankan Tamils observed Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day on May 18 to mourn the thousands of Tamil civilians who lost their lives. Tamil diaspora communities around the world also held their own remembrance events, reiterating calls for justice, accountability, and a lasting political solution. Relatives of the victims have steadfastly called for accountability regarding the deaths of civilians, estimated at 40,000 by the United Nations, during the concluding conflict in Mullivaikkal, as well as the forced disappearance of numerous individuals, including those who surrendered to the military. Sri Lanka's civil war continues to deeply shape the nation's political landscape, social fabric, and quest for lasting peace and reconciliation in 2025. A major ongoing issue is the continued division surrounding remembrance and historical narratives. The government's commemoration of National War Heroes stands in contrast to the solemn observance of Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day. This divergence highlights the differing perspectives on the conflict's end and the ongoing struggle for a shared national memory that acknowledges the suffering of all communities. The critical issue of accountability and justice for wartime atrocities remains a point of contention. Despite reports by the United Nations detailing credible allegations of war crimes committed by both state forces and the LTTE, domestic mechanisms for accountability have been widely criticised as insufficient and lacking independence. Even after 16 years, victim families, particularly within the Tamil community, continue their long-standing calls for credible investigations and prosecutions. Canada has designated May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day and also inaugurated the Tamil Genocide Monument in Brampton. It has endorsed independent international initiatives aimed at achieving accountability. In response, Sri Lanka has expressed its 'strong objections', arguing that such measures 'complicate and undermine' the government's endeavours for reconciliation and national unity. For India, the human cost of the Sri Lankan conflict was officially recognised in April this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute at the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) Memorial in Sri Lanka. This event honoured the Indian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice during India's intervention in the conflict in the late 1980s, underscoring India's long-standing historical and humanitarian connection to the Sri Lankan civil war. India has consistently advocated for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which proposes devolution of power to provincial councils, as a means to address Tamil political aspirations. Prime Minister Modi reportedly reiterated this stance and emphasised the importance of holding provincial council elections to ensure greater political representation for the Tamil community. Meanwhile, many in Tamil Nadu too marked Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day. The emotional observances in the state highlight the deep linguistic, cultural, and familial ties with Sri Lankan Tamils and the enduring impact of the conflict on the Indian Tamil population and their continued solidarity with their kin across the Palk Strait. The contrasting nature of these commemorations underscores the ongoing process of healing and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. While the government's focus remains on honouring the armed forces and the restoration of peace, the Tamil community's remembrance highlights the urgent need to address the loss of civilian lives and the enduring impact of the war on their community. It demonstrates that while the fighting has ended, the journey towards a shared understanding of the past and a unified future for all Sri Lankans continues to be a complex and sensitive undertaking. The calls for truth and justice, particularly concerning alleged human rights violations during the war, remain a significant aspect of the remembrance for many. The writer is associate professor, Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Express Tribune
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Incredulous India
Listen to article In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber representing the banned separatist organization, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Subsequently, 21st May was declared Anti-Terrorism Day in India. A day dedicated topromoting peace through awareness and education by conducting trainings and workshops to curb the spread of terrorism. The 1991 assassination, however, was not the first time a terroristattack (even in the modern sense of the word),had occurred in India. The first Indo-Pak War was fought from 1947 -1948 over the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, marking the birth of separatist movements and militant groups in the country, regardless of alleged external support. Insurgent groups in the Northeastern states have fought for greater autonomy since the 1970s. The Meenambakkam Bombing was yet another terror attack by the Tamil Eelam Army in 1984. A plethora of terror incidents to draw from, in particularthe Bombay Bombings (1993) followed by the post 9/11 attacks (Indian Parliament Attack (2001), Mumbai Train Bombings (2006) and Mumbai Attacks (2008). Across the border, Pakistan too has bledin its fight against terrorism -losing more than 70,000 (The South Asia Terrorism Portal) people to terrorist incursions, regardless of who's 'war' was/is being fought. The fallout from the Afghan conflict in the late 70's and 80's sowed the seeds of extremism. Since then, not only has Pakistan fought homegrown militant groups but faced the reality of sectarian violence and weathered the storm of insurgencies with outside influence. The sacrifices of the soldiers, the unwavering spirit of the people facing a very real threat to life and the resulting heavy toll on the economy are undisputed facts. To brand a nation that has lost countless lives - both civilian and military - to terrorism as a 'terrorist state' isn't just insensitive; it's a blatant twisting of the truth. An example of 2009, Pakistan's worst hit year, with 2,586 terrorist, insurgent and sectarian related incidents reported, killing 3,021 people and injuring 7,334 according to the 'Pakistan Security Report, 2009' published by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). Armed with decades of such experience, in the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgham attack, Pakistan volunteered to allow an independent investigation into the matter; a call that fell on deaf ears. While the fight for terrorism within the two neighbouring countries is alive, it is rife with contentious statements of the other country's deep state machinations. The age-old blame game gives birth to patriotic fervor, which has sky rocketed post the latest skirmish in the decades long Indo-Pak patriotismin Pakistan played out with an explosion of nihilistic memes and TikTok videos taking jabs at our institutions and the neighbouring state machinery in equal parts. Another extreme, however, was on full theatrical display in India with calls for the annihilation of the state of Pakistan, fueled fervently by the national media itself. Suffice it to say, the root cause being the rise in tensions. What has also been on therise is Hindutva nationalism in India since Modi's election in 2014. The extreme hate for the Muslims, especially in Pakistan stems from a narrative that is very old and equally dangerous. The term 'Hindutva' was coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his writings, through which he changed the narrative Swami Vivekanandaestablished in late 1800s where Vivekanandastatedthat Hinduism was the only universal religion. Savarkar then traced the word Hindu to not be inclusivist, but exclusivist in nature. He prescribed that there are three essentials to Hindutva – a common nation, a common race and a common civilization in turn - making religious belief and practice secondary in nature and thereby excluding Muslims and Christians altogether. M.S. Golwalker, a prominent advocate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), further exploited the ever evolving Hindudtvaideology by declaring that Hindus came 'into this land (Hindustan) from nowhere, but are indigenous children of the soil always, from times immemorial and are natural masters of the country specifically referencingthe example of Nazi Germany and how it had shown that it was impossible for 'for Races and cultures, having differences to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for use in Hindustan to learn and profit by.' The RSS is the ideological mentor of The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Not surprisingly then, the recent attack on Pakistani soil, killing civilians, including two children by attacking civilian areas in the dead of the night has been dubbed by many as anattack reminiscent of the Israeli tactics being used in Palestine. Equally preposterous, and again seemingly taken directly from the Israseli textbook was the justification peddled out, when the Indian representatives, both state and media, deemedall the civilian casualties as terrorists, even children. Hence, hateful tweets from the Indian citizenry followed – one such asking for Pakistan to be flattened just like Gaza. What then, one may ask, is the significance of 21st May when the BJP and the ruling class presents terror and hate in the mainstream? To see the practical effects of such hateful rhetoric, one does not need to go too far back. The 2002 Gujrat massacre holds all the key elements of terrorism, played out under Modi, Chief Minister at the time, whose controversial role in the incident itself has been widely debated. So much so, he was even denied visa to the United States in 2005, reportedly based on serious concerns surrounding human rights issues. Bilawal Bhutto's words, if ever appropriate, certainly may be used in this context, 'Osama Bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujrat lives. And he is the Prime Minister of India'. What then does the future hold for the new Hindutva-led Bharat and subsequent Indo-Pak relations?
IOL News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
No accountability for murders at Mullivaikal
The Arutpa Kazhagam in Chatsworth honoured the memory of the dead and those brutalised in the Mullivaikal Massacre. At the event, Koven Jogianna unveiled the picture of late V Prabhakaran, who sacrificed his life during the conflict. Image: Supplied AN ESTIMATED 40 000 civilians lost their lives in the Mullivaikal Massacre on May 18, 2009, when the Sri Lankan military surrounded a village of 300 000 Tamil civilians, displaced persons and surviving members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was the final days of the long-running civil war from 1983 to 2009 where Sri Lankan Tamils were campaigning for an independent Eelam homeland. This past Sunday the Arutpa Kazhagam on Lenny Naidu Drive in Chatsworth gathered to honour the memory of the dead and those brutalised in the conflict. The street is named in recognition of another martyr, who was kidnapped and murdered by apartheid security forces at the height of the struggle for South African freedom in 1998. At the time when war crime atrocities were committed against the Sri Lankan Tamil community, Arutpa Kazhagam was at the centre of South African relief efforts and solidarity activism. A delegation that included South African Tamil leaders like Dr Kisten Chinappan travelled abroad to meet with Velupillai Prabhakaran, founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Deputy foreign minister and one of the first armed combatants of uMkhonto we Sizwe, Ebrahim Ebrahim was also key to efforts to broker a dialogue between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Their efforts were constantly stonewalled by the authorities in Columbo. Another constant voice of conscience was the humanitarian movement, Amnesty International, whose primary focus has historically been on the welfare of political prisoners. Speaking at an earlier Mullivaikal anniversary commemoration, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty, noted: '(This) anniversary is a grim reminder of the collective failure of the Sri Lankan authorities and the international community to deliver justice to the many victims of Sri Lanka's three-decade-long internal armed conflict... Ahead of this event, we have witnessed a clampdown on the memory initiatives, including arrests, arbitrary detentions and deliberately skewed interpretations of the Tamil community's attempts to remember their people lost to the war. Authorities must respect the space for victims to grieve, memorialise their loved ones and respect their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.' In a stark written and visual record, various institutions, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr Navaneetham Pillay, recorded that the Sri Lankan government forces and their armed political affiliates committed extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and acts of torture against Tamils suspected of links to the LTTE. The LTTE's own conduct in the armed struggle also came in for criticism. Like the staunch defenders of human rights and self-determination at the Arutpa in Chatsworth, none should be blind to the atrocities of armed conflict around the globe. Whether Palestine, Sudan, Congo and the Great Lakes Region, Myanmar, Yemen, Ukraine or the jungles of South America, it is unarmed civilians who bear the most vicious brunt of war – death, destruction of homes and livelihoods, rape, forced migration and other atrocities. The boat loads of people streaming into Europe and the United Kingdom are invariably victims of war and instability in their home countries. Similarly, the conflicts or instability in the Congo, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Horn of Africa are in large part the push factor for refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants crossing into South Africa. One can easily identify these communities setting up home in informal settlements in just about every major city and town or clamouring for piecemeal jobs at traffic lights or working as car guards. No one leaves their homes for strange lands without being forced to. Activism in support of peace and justice in Sri Lanka was no different from the present-day cries of, for example, Palestine, where ignoring international law banning indiscriminate shelling of protected zones results in the deaths of far more innocent civilians than armed combatants. In stark parallels with Palestine, the Sri Lankan government had initially declared the Mullivaikal area a 'no-fire zone' and told civilians to go there to be safe from the war. After corralling innocent civilians, the Sri Lankan army's indiscriminate shelling launched a mass artillery barrage on the men, women, and children trapped there. Other than the 4 0000 deaths, a large number of the 300 000 civilians were locked up in infamous detention camps where more than 12 000 men and women were arrested by Sri Lanka's anti-terrorism unit and detained in separate, secret camps. The civil war ended on May 18, 2009, when Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in action in the final months of the civil war. Every year since that tragic day on May 18, 2009, the Mullivaikal Massacre is commemorated around the world by the Tamil diaspora to memorialise the inhumanity of the Sri Lankan military and government. The Arutpa Kazhagam keeps alive this memory to remind us of United States civil rights leaders, Dr Martin Luther King's epic call to activism: 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' Kiru Naidoo Image: Supplied Selvan Naidoo Image: Supplied
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Houthis Target Ben Gurion Airport With Ballistic Missile, Sparks Panic In Tel Aviv; IDF Says…
Supreme Court Rejects Sri Lankan Tamil's Plea, Says India Not A 'Dharamshala' For Refugees The Supreme Court of India has made a strong statement while rejecting a plea for refuge by a Sri Lankan national, asserting that India is not a 'dharamshala' (free shelter) for refugees from across the world. The remarks came from a bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran, who were hearing a petition filed by a Sri Lankan citizen arrested in 2015 over alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a banned terrorist organization that was active in Sri Lanka. The court emphasized that while India has a tradition of providing shelter to those in need, it cannot allow its national security and legal framework to be compromised. The judges made it clear that granting asylum cannot be automatic or unconditional, especially in cases involving serious security concerns. This decision reflects a more assertive stance by the judiciary on matters of immigration and national security.#indiasupremecourt #refugeecrisis #srilankanrefugee #ltte #justicejudgement #legalruling #deportationcase #humanrights #immigrationlaw #toi #toibharat 87.9K views | 2 days ago
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'This Jerk': Trump Clashes With NBC Reporter During Ramaphosa Meet
Supreme Court Rejects Sri Lankan Tamil's Plea, Says India Not A 'Dharamshala' For Refugees The Supreme Court of India has made a strong statement while rejecting a plea for refuge by a Sri Lankan national, asserting that India is not a 'dharamshala' (free shelter) for refugees from across the world. The remarks came from a bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice K Vinod Chandran, who were hearing a petition filed by a Sri Lankan citizen arrested in 2015 over alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a banned terrorist organization that was active in Sri Lanka. The court emphasized that while India has a tradition of providing shelter to those in need, it cannot allow its national security and legal framework to be compromised. The judges made it clear that granting asylum cannot be automatic or unconditional, especially in cases involving serious security concerns. This decision reflects a more assertive stance by the judiciary on matters of immigration and national security.#indiasupremecourt #refugeecrisis #srilankanrefugee #ltte #justicejudgement #legalruling #deportationcase #humanrights #immigrationlaw #toi #toibharat 86.5K views | 2 days ago
