By D.B.S.Jeyaraj (This is an Enhanced Version of an Article written for the “Political Pulse” Column in the “Daily Financial imes” of Feb 18th 2021). February 20th 1961 is a very important date in the history of the Sri Lankan Tamil political struggle to regain lost rights. It was on this day, sixty-five years ago …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj (This Article written in December 2020 is re-posted without changes to denote the 20th death anniversary of former Batticaloa MP Joseph Pararajasingham) ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ is a drama written in verse by the great poet, essayist and playwright Thomas Stearnes Eliot known to the literary world as T.S. Eliot. It is based …
Continue reading ‘Murder in the Cathedral: Christmas Killing of TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham’ »
By Tisaranee Gunasekara On every side are seen the burial ground of dreams.” Faiz Ahmed Faiz (The Subject of Poetry) President Ranil Wickremesinghe expects Lankan rupee to appreciate further and reach 280 per dollar by June. Namal Karunaratna, a leading light of the NPP/JVP, states that rupee will start sliding soon, reaching 400-500 per dollar. …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The focus of this two part article is former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) deputy military chief Kandiah Balasegaran alias “Brigadier “Balraj regarded as the finest commander the tigers ever had. Balraj was a much admired military tactician reputed for leading from the front.He died of a heart attack fifteen years ago on …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Peoples Liberation Front)led Jathika Jana Balawegaya (National Peoples Power) has gone to courts seeking elections to local government bodies. A fundamental rights petition was filed in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka by Parliamentarian Dr.Harini Amarasuriya, former MP Sunil Hadunneththi and National Peoples Power (NPP) secretary Dr. Nihal Jayasinghe …
Continue reading ‘JVP led National Peoples Power Scents the Sweet Smell of Electoral Success.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) formed in May 1976, conducted a 33 year long armed struggle until May 2009 , to establish a separate state in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Although the LTTE known as the “tiger organization ” was basically a guerilla outfit, it adopted positional warfare …
Continue reading ‘“Brigadier” Theepan; Heroic Saga of a Northern Warrior’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Many Sri Lankan political leaders have been assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) in the past. Several of these LTTE victims were known to me in my professional capacity as a journalist. Some of them had over the years become personal friends. I remember them all with sadness and feel their …
Continue reading ‘Remembering Jaffna MP Yogeswaran who was Popular Among Tamil Youths.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Former Tamil Nadu state legislator and leader of the Tamil Nationalist Movement (Thamizh Thesiya Iyakkam) Pazhaniyappan Nedumaran created a stir on February 13 by making a sensational announcement. The 89 year old Tamil politician ( turns 90 on March 10) held a press conference in Thanjavur on Monday and attempted to resurrect Liberation …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The 1962 Coup Conspiracy – Part Two This is the second in a new intermittent series of articles by this column about the 1962 coup conspiracy. Last week’s article provided an outline of the coup conspiracy that aimed at seizing power through a well coordinated exercise codenamed “ Operation Holdfast”. A large …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj The 1962 Coup Conspiracy – Part One Sri Lanka formerly known as Ceylon is about to celebrate its 75th anniversary of independence from Britain on February 4th. The Island nation has in its 75 year post-independence period experienced several troubles and upheavals ranging from communal pogroms to internal civil wars.In spite of …
Continue reading ‘Objective of 1962 Coup Conspiracy was Overthrowing the SLFP Govt Overnight.’ »
by D.B.S.JEYARAJ These are trying times for Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former President and Ex-Defence secretary.Faced with a massive wide-spread peoples protest last year , the then President known popularly as Gota, deserted post and went abroad from where he relinquished office. Finding himself unwelcome in most countries,Gota returned home. Thereafter he has been …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj (This article written in May 2020 is re-posted here WITHOUT ANY CHANGES to denote the 68th birth anniversary of LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran on November 26) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 11 years ago in combat with the armed forces of Sri Lanka on 19 May …
Continue reading ‘Tale of a Tiger: Facets of LTTE Supremo Veluppillai Prabhakaran’s Life.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Patabandi Don Nandasiri Wijeweera known to the world at large as Rohana Wijeweera was killed 33 years ago on 13 November 1989.The revolutionary leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or People’s Liberation Front was 49 years old at the time of his death. The mastermind behind two bloody insurrections – in 1971 …
Continue reading ‘Sensational Capture and “Unofficial” Execution of JVP Leader Rohana Wijeweera.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The election of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka’s fifth executive president in November 2005 saw the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) intensifying. The new president appointed his US citizen younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the all-powerful secretary of Defence. Gotabaya retired colonel of the Sri Lankan army his erstwhile …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Fifteen years ago on 2nd November 2007, the former political wing chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTEE), Thamilselvan (spelled also as Tamilselvan and Thamilchelvan) was killed along with some other tiger operatives in an airstrike conducted by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF). The incident grabbed worldwide attention when it …
Continue reading ‘When an Air Force “Giant Bomb” Killed the LTTE’s “Smiling Face” 15 Years ago.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Prime Minister was the most poweful person in Sri Lanka known earlier as Ceylon during the first three decades of independence from Britain. The post of Prime minister lost its sheen after the Executive presidency was introduced in 1978. Until then the prestigious PM POST was a position much coveted by politicians.. …
Continue reading ‘How C.P. de Silva did not Become Prime Minister Due to “Salagama” Caste Factor.’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Sri Lanka’s nearest neighbour and closest friend, India celebrated her 75th anniversary of gaining freedom from British rule on the 15th of this month.. “Incredible” India also made history last month by electing a woman from a tribal community as the Republic’s 15th President . 64 year old Droupadi Murmu was sworn …
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Reaching a viable agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and forming an inclusive cabinet are currently the twin urgent priorities of the Government headed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. On the economic front both President Wickremesinghe and Central Bank Governor Dr.Nandalal Weerasinghe have been optimistic about reaching …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.” – William Shakespeare – “Julius Caesar” (Act 4 Scene 3) There were many in Sri Lanka and abroad who thought the …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankind,” wrote the metaphysical poet John Donne.The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has extracted a heavy human toll. In my personal capacity as a Sri Lankan Tamil and in my professional capacity as a journalist , I have lost count of the number …
Continue reading ‘Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, his Devolution Package and the LTTE’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj ( “The Sunday Leader” Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was born on April 5th 1958. This Article Published in Janury 2021 is reposted here without any changes to denote the 64th Birth anniversary of the brilliant and beloved Journalist) Twelve years ago on 8 January 2009, Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge, the Editor of The Sunday Leader …
Continue reading ‘Unbowed and Unafraid, Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge Spoke Truth to Power’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj Hell hath no fury as two Sri Lankan ministers ejected unceremoniously from the cabinet by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa! Both the sacked ministers wrathfully lay the blame for their ouster on Presidential sibling and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa. Wimal Weerwansa and Udaya Gammanpila who held the portfolios of Industries and Energy respectivey are …
Continue reading ‘Why Basil Rajapaksa Does not fit the “Ugly American” Label.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The controversial appointment of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero as chair of the ‘One Country, One Law’ (OCOL) Presidential Task Force (PTF) by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has created a political furore. The purported OCOL objective of the PTF as well as the alleged unsuitability of Gnanasara Thero to …
Continue reading ‘Tiruchelvam QC and Ali Sabry PC; A Tale of Two Ministerial Resignations’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj In my article ‘SWRD’s flirtation with federalism’ published in these columns on 29 September 2021, I had referred to the pact signed by the then Prime Minister Bandaranaike and Tamil political leader Chelvanayagam in 1957. What I wrote then was as follows: “The agreement signed by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and S.J.V. Chelvanayagam in …
Continue reading ‘JR Jayewardene’s Infamous Kandy March Against the Banda-Chelva Pact’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj United National Party Leader and National list MP Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed concern over the continued detention of Wanni District Parliamentarian, All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader and former Cabinet Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been a MP without a break since July 1977, said in Parliament on 4 October that …
Continue reading ‘Rishad Bathiudeen Targeted in Witch Hunt After his Fall From Rajapaksa Grace’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike known as S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was the fourth Prime Minister of Independent Sri Lanka known then as Ceylon. SWRD who was born on 8 January 1899 died due to assassination on 26 September 1959. This year therefore marks the 112th anniversary of his birth and 62nd anniversary of his …
Continue reading ‘SWRD Bandaranaike’s Flirtation With Federalism.’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj (Legendary Muslim Congress Leader MHM Ashraff was killed on September 16th 2000 in a Helicopter crash.This article was written last year for the “Political Pulse” column in the “Daily Financial Times” to Commemorate his 20th death anniversary. It is being re-posted here without any changes to denote the 21st death anniversary of “Marhoom”MM …
Continue reading ‘Legendary Muslim Congress “Thalaiver” MHM Ashraff and the Tamils of Sri Lanka’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Saumiyamoorthy (spelled sometimes as Saumyamoorthy or Saumiamoorthy) Thondaman was the legendary co-founder and long-time leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC). Thonda, as he was widely known, played a prominent role in the country’s post-independence politics for many decades. His political life was intertwined with the vicissitudes of the Indian Tamil people of …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Forty-five years ago on 5 May 1976, a section of militant Tamil youths in northern Sri Lanka re-grouped themselves into an organisation called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE, which became popularly known as the Tiger organisation, had as its fundamental objective the setting up of a separate Tamil state …
Continue reading ‘The Rise and Fall of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Today, 21 April, is the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings which rocked and shocked Sri Lanka and the world at large two years ago. On the morning of that fateful Easter Sunday, suicide bombers targeted three plush hotels and three churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa; 269 were killed and over …
Continue reading ‘Is Naufer “Moulavi” the Mastermind Behind the Easter Sunday Bombings?’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Former Catholic Bishop of the Mannar Diocese the Most Rev. Rayappu Joseph passed away peacefully in Jaffna on 1 April, just 15 days before his 81st birthday. He served as Mannar Bishop from 1992 to 2016. There was spontaneous grief and widespread mourning. Having served as Bishop for over two decades in Mannar, …
Continue reading ‘Mannar Emeritus Bishop Rayappu Joseph and the Madhu Church Crisis of 2008’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The final version of the proposed resolution to promote “reconciliation, accountability and human rights” in Sri Lanka was tabled on 12 March at the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. It was sponsored by the United Kingdom (UK) and co-sponsored by Germany, Canada, Malawi, Montenegro and North …
Continue reading ‘Is Sri Lanka Fighting a Lost Battle at the UNHRC in Geneva?’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The ‘Great Game’ in Geneva involving Sri Lanka is now underway at the UNHRC! The 46th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that commenced on 22 February at the Palais des Nations in Geneva is scheduled to end after 30 days on 23 March. The current membership (2021) of …
Continue reading ‘UNHRC, Gotabaya Government and the Great Game in Geneva’ »
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj It was widely reported in the media early this week that the National Anthem would be sung in Sinhala only at the official celebrations of Sri Lanka’s 73rd anniversary of gaining independence from Britain. Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne made it unambiguously clear at a press briefing that the National Anthem …
Continue reading ‘Excluding National Anthem in Tamil on Independence Day’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “Only God can save the Tamil people now” (Thamil Makkalai Inik Kadavul Thaan Kaappaatra Vaendum) was the anguished response of respected Sri Lankan Tamil political leader Samuel James Veluppilaai Chelvanayakam after the results of the 1970 Parliamentary Elections were known. The United Front (UF) led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike had swept the polls with …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Tamil Nadu, the Indian State closest to Sri Lanka, is gripped by a great deal of political excitement these days. Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections are due in May 2021. All political parties active in the State – from the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK/ADMK) to the chief opposition Dravida Munnetra …
Continue reading ‘Tamil Cinema Superstar Rajinikanth’s Political Party Plunge’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcibly expelled the Tamil-speaking Muslim people from the Northern Province in October 1990. Within a few days the Muslims were chased out of their homeland where they had lived for many, many centuries. This year 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of this cruel, inhuman episode in …
Continue reading ‘Mass Expulsion of Muslims From The North By The LTTE Thirty Years Ago’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Today (26 August) is the 93rd birth anniversary of well-known Sri Lankan Tamil political leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, known affectionately as Amir and Amuthar. Amirthalingam served as a Parliamentarian for 20 years in an illustrious political career spanning four decades. He was a stalwart of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) known as the …
Continue reading ‘Life and Times of Dynamic Tamil Political Leader Appapillai Amirthalingam’ »
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ Today (29 July) is the 33rd third anniversary of the Indo-Lanka Accord. It was on 29 July 1987 that former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene signed in Colombo the agreement between India and Sri Lanka known as the Indo-Lanka Accord along with two letters described …
Continue reading ‘The Indo -Lanka Accord and the Sri Lankan Tamils’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known earlier has faced many challenges and problems since Independence from Britain in 1948. We have had military coup attempts, communal riots, pogroms, armed revolts, external military intervention, assassinations of heads of State, terrorist violence and above all a long secessionist war that threatened to tear …
Continue reading ‘Poetry For Reflection On Sri Lanka’s Election Day’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The fourth week of July revives bad memories among most Tamils who lived in Sri Lanka during the month of July in 1983. It was in that week in July that large-scale violence was let loose upon Tamils living in various parts of Sri Lanka including Colombo and suburbs. The week long spree …
Continue reading ‘July 1983: Two Northern Attacks and One Island-wide Anti-Tamil Pogrom’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka known as Ceylon made history 60 years ago when Sirimavo Bandaranaike was sworn in as the world’s first woman prime minister on 21 July 1960. The first paragraph of a news report in the prestigious British newspaper ‘Guardian’ dated 22 July 1960 stated as follows: “Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike, Leader of the …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj It was the morning of Saturday 4 July. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had organised a meeting to discuss the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections at the ‘Ilankalainger Mandapam’ (Young Artistes Hall) in Nallur, Jaffna. The meeting was for all TNA past and present members of local authorities as well as Parliamentary Election candidates in …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj‘ With Parliamentary Elections being scheduled for 5 August, most political parties and independent groups contesting the polls have commenced their respective campaigns in a big way. The hopelessly-divided chief Opposition, seemingly bereft of valid issues to raise, has eagerly seized upon the ‘Karuna Amman admission of Elephant Pass killings’ to target the SLPP …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Vinayagamoorthi Muraleetharan alias “Karuna Amman” a.k.a. “Col” Karuna is currently very much in the news. The former Eastern Regional Leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who broke away from the LTTE in 2004 and collaborated with the Sri Lankan armed forces in combatting the Veluppillai Prabhakaran-led Tigers appears to be …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj JR Jayewardene and Gotabaya Rajapaksa:A tale of Two Executive Presidents – Part Three The entry of Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa into the presidential race in 2019 brought about a paradigm shift in the mode and manner of contesting elections by major political party fielded presidential candidates. In the past all candidates who fancied themselves …
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj JR Jayewardene and Gotabaya Rajapaksa: A Tale Of Two Executive Presidents -Part Two Junius Richard Jayewardene’s reign as Executive President which began in 1978 came to an end in 1988. Even at the tail-end of his tenure, the grandmaster of political chess did toy with the idea of contesting for a third term …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was sworn in as Executive President on 18 November 2019 has been in office for six months now. He has been compelled to cope – and continues to cope – with several challenges during his brief but eventful tenure. However, it is not my intention to evaluate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s …
Continue reading ‘JR Jayewardene and Gotabaya Rajapaksa: A Tale Of Two Executive Presidents’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj‘ ‘Traitorisation,’ the monster created over the years by Tamil nationalist politics, is running amok again. The current target is former Jaffna District Parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran. The lawyer-politician is being attacked as a ‘Tamil traitor’ for some of the comments he reportedly made in a Sinhala language …
Continue reading ‘The “Traitorisation” Tragedy Of Tamil Nationalist Politics.’ »