OPINION

Opinion

Latest news from and about the homeland

Colombo does not need the Kfir — it needs Israel
The Sri Lanka Air Force's upgraded Kfir C12 during its first test flight at SLAF Base Katunayake on 11 June. Photograph: Sri Lanka Air Force On 11 June, the Sri Lanka Air Force conducted the first test flight of an upgraded Kfir C12 fighter at its Katunayake base, presenting the flight as a military milestone. The aircraft is one of five being rebuilt — four C2 and C7 jets plus a TC2 trainer…

Transitional justice cannot exist without truth

Jun 29, 2026
Simhanjana Gopikrishna Sumathi
Seventeen years after Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka continues to stand as one of the starkest examples of how states accused of genocide and mass atrocity survive not through exoneration, but through denial, delay, and international exhaustion.

Did Mullivaikkal End History?

May 26, 2026
Father Jeewantha Peiris
The full text of a speech delivered by Father Jeewantha Peiris on May 16, 2026, at the SEDEC Caritas Hall, at an event organised by the Movement for Equal Rights.

The 'Emancipation Proclamation' and 'Vaddukoddai Resolution'

May 20, 2026
Balan Kugapalan

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed Presidential Proclamation 95, later known as the “Emancipation Proclamation,” freeing 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the Confederate States. More than a century later, on May 14, 1976, in Sri Lanka, S. J. V. Chelvanayagam led the adoption of the Vaddukoddai Resolution, a historic political declaration calling for the liberation and self-determination of 13.5 million oppressed Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Safeguarding Memories: Why Archiving Tamil Stories Matters

May 20, 2026
Krishihan Sivapragasam

'Our identity is not broken by what our people endured. It is built from it'

May 17, 2026

At the unveiling of the ‘Tamil Community Memorial’ in Sydney, Australia, Piraikumaran Perinparasa reflected on the courage and legacy of his father, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), paying tribute to his bravery and sacrifice.

Between warships and warplanes - Sri Lanka’s balancing act and the ACSA

Mar 23, 2026
Theepan
Sri Lanka’s refusal to allow two United States warplanes to land this month has been presented as a firm assertion of neutrality. Yet, placed alongside a parallel refusal of an Iranian naval request, and continued engagement with both states, the episode instead exposes something far less stable: a fragile balancing act that is increasingly difficult to sustain.

‘We must not wait for another massacre of Tamil people’

Feb 18, 2026
Jesse Jackson

Below is the full text of an address by Jesse Jackson in London, in 2009. He was addressing an event organised by British Tamils.

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Let me express my thanks sincerely for Father Emmanuel. Father Emmanuel is the Archbishop Tutu of the Tamil struggle. Please stand again.

Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill - The facade of ‘System Change’

Jan 29, 2026
Ambika Satkunanathan
The National People’s Power (NPP) Government that was elected to effect ‘system change’ is recycling drafts of former governments that the NPP themselves, when in opposition, said they would scrap if they were to be elected. 

After the fiction: Mark Carney's admission that 'rules-based order’ was never about rules

Jan 28, 2026
Thusiyan Nandakumar
It has been hailed as one of the most consequential speeches of the past half century, one that will be studied for years to come. Commentators have even described it as an inflection point in global history. They are not wrong.

When Douglas Devananda walked free through the United Nations

Jan 9, 2026
Thusiyan Nandakumar
I have only seen Douglas Devandanda in person once in my life. It was in the most unusual of places.
Transitional justice cannot exist without truth
Did Mullivaikkal End History?
The 'Emancipation Proclamation' and 'Vaddukoddai Resolution'
Safeguarding Memories: Why Archiving Tamil Stories Matters
'Our identity is not broken by what our people endured. It is built from it'
Between warships and warplanes - Sri Lanka’s balancing act and the ACSA
‘We must not wait for another massacre of Tamil people’
Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill - The facade of ‘System Change’
After the fiction: Mark Carney's admission that 'rules-based order’ was never about rules
When Douglas Devananda walked free through the United Nations
Transitional justice cannot exist without truth
Did Mullivaikkal End History?
The 'Emancipation Proclamation' and 'Vaddukoddai Resolution'
Safeguarding Memories: Why Archiving Tamil Stories Matters
'Our identity is not broken by what our people endured. It is built from it'
Between warships and warplanes - Sri Lanka’s balancing act and the ACSA
‘We must not wait for another massacre of Tamil people’
Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill - The facade of ‘System Change’
After the fiction: Mark Carney's admission that 'rules-based order’ was never about rules
When Douglas Devananda walked free through the United Nations