Illustration by Keera Ratnam / waves of colour “I was born into a debt-free nation”, claimed Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe as he accepted yet another loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on behalf of the island. This will be the seventeenth time since independence that the country has turned to the IMF, which is not to mention loans received from other international institutions. Sri Lanka, once a poster child for economic development, touting an impressive literacy rate and a stable macro-economy, has rapidly descended into a failed state. In no small part, the...
Across Sri Lanka, the country’s flag is flown at half-mast on 12th July to mourn the sudden assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “We have lost a prime minister who gave leadership to Asia,” wrote Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe in an obituary guestbook commemorating the Japanese leader. Despite Sri Lanka’s melancholic posture towards the Japanese leader’s demise, Sri Lanka’s foreign policy has posed a consistent thorn in Abe’s vision for a “free and open Asia-Pacific”.
Writing in The Diplomat, Viruben Nandakumar stresses the need for Indian diplomats to end a policy of appeasement and soberly reflect on the currents of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, which prohibit further integration between India and Sri Lanka. In his inaugural speech, Sri Lanka’s current President Ranil Wickremesinghe signalled a shift in foreign policy to favour relations with India by praising their aid efforts and lamented on cancelled investment projects. Indian investment projects were abandoned for “baseless reasons”, claimed Sri Lanka’s president.
Writing in Foreign Policy, Viruben Nandakumar highlights that despite a change in figureheads, Sri Lanka’s military maintains an inflated role in the running of the state. “Not only must Sri Lanka’s protesters heed that call and refocus their efforts toward dismantling the militarization of the state, but so too must the international community”, he writes. The piece details not only the genocidal violence of the Sri Lankan military but also the continued impunity with war criminals such as Sunil Ratnayake being pardoned, despite his involvement in the slaughter of Tamil civilians. This...
In Vavuniya, Tamil Families of the Disappeared are continuing their protests on the roadside to demand to know what happened to their loved ones. Tomorrow marks 2,000 days since these demonstrations began and still, there has been no answers for the thousands of disappeared Tamils. Despite facing constant harassment from the security forces, these families continue to demonstrate against the government and to demand international action. “Where are our children?” they chant. During the final phase of the armed conflict, thousands of Tamils disappeared, with many last seen in military custody...
Writing in the Caravan, Viruben Nandakumar details the worrying militarisation of Sri Lankan society and the influence Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused security forces continue to wield. “While the country’s political establishment and civil government face a crisis of legitimacy, the military seems poised to weather the turmoil with its considerable might intact or even enhanced relative to other centres of power,” he writes. Drawing on the scholarship of Rajesh Venugopal, Nandakumar details how an embrace of market reforms by the Jayawardene administration led to deepening inequality and...
Reporting in the Sunday Times LK has indicated that four Tamil diaspora organisations and 318 individuals are to be delisted by the Sri Lankan government in a move to ward off a strong resolution in September when the 51 st session of the UN Human Rights Council will be held. The list includes the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). In March 2021, the Sri Lankan government issued a wide-reaching proscription on hundreds of Tamil individuals, including several on the island, and numerous diaspora...
Amidst Sri Lanka’s political and economic tumult, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, made a historic visit to Jaffna where she met with Tamil families of the disappeared, major Tamil political parties, civil society actors, religious groups, and business communities to discuss the impact of the crisis. “It was essential to me to visit the North early in my tenure as Ambassador,” said Ambassador Chung. “During the visit, I explored the history of the region and heard from people first-hand about their challenges and opportunities. I gained a much better understanding of the impact of the...
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, made visits to both the Hindu Ponnambalawaneswaram temple and the Buddhist Gangaramaya monastery amidst heightened concerns of religious persecution in Sri Lanka. When visiting the Buddhist temple, she noted that it “provided valuable insight into the role Buddhism plays in Sri Lanka’s history and culture” whereas the Hindu temple was a “beautiful representation of Sri Lanka’s rich diversity and historic cultural heritage”. Sri Lanka’s religious #diversity is unique and I’m looking forward to seeing temples, kovils, churches, and shrines across the...
Speaking in parliament, former Sri Lankan army commander, Sarath Fonseka accused UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet of harbouring LTTE sympathies and only listening to “one side of the story”. His remarks come ahead of the 49th session of the UNHRC which is due to start on the 28 th , where Sri Lanka is expected to face international scrutiny for its dire human rights record, failure to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, and continued lack of accountability. “Madam Bachelet you have heard one side of the story from those who are supporting LTTE or are...