Writing in Just Security , Tasha Manoranjan, founder and a director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) stresses that “accountability for atrocities against Tamils and curbing Sinhala Buddhist nationalism are key for the island’s future stability and prosperity”. In her article, she takes aim at Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, which she describes as “the poisonous thread that links the anti-Tamil chauvinism underpinning every Sri Lankan institution” and “is the root cause of Sri Lanka’s present political and economic crises”. It is this nationalism that has “explains why, just...
(Photo of Kilinochchi protest 20 February 2021) Writing in Just Security, Tasha Manoranjan, Executive Director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), highlights that a failure to address impunity in Sri Lanka has “very real consequences, even beyond the preservation of international rule of law”. “Its consequences are lived daily by Tamil survivors, who continue to live in a heavily militarised security state,” writes Manoranjan. In Mullaitivu, she notes, there is one soldier for every two civilians. She further remarks on the suffering of Families of the Disappeared stating: “...
As part of a series marking the atrocities of Mullivaikkal, we invited activists, journalists, and writers from around the world to share their experiences and reflections a decade on.
The following address was delivered by Tasha Manoranjan, a graduate from Yale Law School, and founder and director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), at the ' Feminisms, Structural Violence and Transitional Justice Conference ' held at York University, Toronto last month. "Tamil women have suffered disproportionately throughout Sri Lanka’s decades-long ethnic conflict. They have faced both the structural collapse of communities as well as the erosion of societal norms. In response, an increasing number of women joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) starting in the 1980s and throughout the years prior to 2009, and became an integral part of the armed resistance against the government.
Tasha Manoranjan, a graduate of Yale Law School and the founder and executive director for People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, has criticised the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies' decision to allow Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN to speak at the school, calling it 'contradictory to the values that are so actively inculcated in Yale students'. See the full piece entitled 'Genocidaire on Yale’s campus' here . Extracts have been reproduced below. "This Thursday, one of the key officials implicated in the White Flag incident will be speaking at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Sri Lankan Ambassador Palitha Kohona is Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the United Nations in N.Y., and is the subject of an investigation by the Australian Federal Police. There have also been requests from NGOs to the International Criminal Court that Kohona’s involvement in these extrajudicial killings be investigated." "Kohona is the official representative of an authoritarian and oppressive regime. Yale is disturbingly granting him a platform to whitewash Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils on the island and normalize Sri Lanka’s role within the international community."
Jaffna MP Pathmini Sithamparanathan, describes the stifling conditions of military rule and the deteriorating security situation.
Any meaningful steps toward a viable peace process, let alone a stable peace, must start with the demilitarization of Tamil areas.