Jul 20 - 26: " Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness " - Lucius Annaeus Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD), Roman Statesman
In pictures: School fear in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan airforce planes fly over the northern Tamil district of Kilinochchi. The planes were not attacking this area, but everyone rushed for shelter. [BBC]
Mounting Sri Lanka bombing campaigns curtail school attendance in Kilinochchi
The environment of war and hostilities is drastically reducing the school and education activities in Mullaitivu and Kilincochchi districts, reports premier Colombo Tamil daily Virakesari. [TW]
Pictorial: ‘Honouring the courage of all who have dared to rebuild’
By Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai
National Guilt and Expiation: What happened at the end of July 1983?
By Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe
Former Anglican Bishop of Kurunegala, Lakshman Wickremesinghe issued this message after the July violence of 1983. He passed away shortly afterwards thereby making this his last message. We reproduce it here as it is of poignant relevance at this time. Bishop Lakshman as he was popularly known is the paternal uncle of Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the maternal uncle of Rajiva Wijesinghe , secretary , ministry of human rights: [TC]
Survivors of Sri Lanka's infamous Black July riots 25 years ago recall the terror -- and their relief to find a haven in Canada. [TC]
25 Years later: The haunting spectre of 1983
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The last week of July this year would mark the 25th anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in the history of our island nation. It was the week when a racist rabble encouraged by those in power went against a helpless minority living within Sinhala majority regions of Sri Lanka. It was a shameful episode that created immense problems and caused great harm to the country’s image. Twenty five years have passed but the country is yet to recover from that fateful July. [TC]
Commemorating July 1983: Bridges that Continue to Hold
Statement by National Peace Council of Sri Lanka
In July 23, 1983 law and order in Sri Lanka virtually collapsed as mobs went on a rampage, inciting anarchy and fear, uprooting Tamil people, looting and burning their property and killing many of them. [FI]
Challenges facing the church today
The Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, was chosen by the Archbuihop of Canterbury to deliver the sermon at the opening Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference of all Anglican Bishops world-wide held once in ten years. It is being held this year at the University of Kent at Canterbury. The following is the text of his sermon delivered at the Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday 20th July 2008: [TC]
War after the fall of Vidattlthivu
By Col R Hariharan (Retd.)
Keeping up the momentum of their offensive, Sri Lanka army's 58 Division and Commando troops advanced another 10 km to the north to capture Illuppakkadavai on Sunday July 20, 2008 close on the heels of their success in capturing the Sea Tiger base of Vidattalthivu on the Mannar coast on July 16, 2008. According to Defence sources, the Commandos pursued and attacked the cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fleeing Iluppakkadavai, three km to the north on the A32 Mannar- Pooneryn road. [TC]
Impunity, a debilitating fixture in state culture
25 Years after the Welikada massacre
by Rajan Hoole
Colombo’s Welikada high security prison was the scene of two massacres of Tamil political prisoners during the communal violence of July 1983, first after lunch on July 25 claiming 35 prisoners and second, about 4.00 PM on the July 27 claiming a further 18.
On both occasions Secretary of Justice Mervyn Wijesinghe asked Colombo Magistrate Keerthi Srilal Wijewardene to hold inquests with the assistance of Tilak Marapone and C.R. de Silva (the present AG) from the Attorney General’s Department. No culprits were identified and the case was hushed up. [TC]
The infamous white van: A symbol of shame
By Dr. Baptist Croos F.S.C.
The colour white generally stands for purity, truth, innocence and cleanliness, virtues we proudly cherish; virtues that are pivotal for our well being.
Unfortunately, with the subtle deployment of the infamous white van, this time-honoured traditional notion, so sagaciously handed down to us by our venerable forefathers, has been shattered in our resplendent island where white stands for duplicity, treachery, trauma, suspicion, fear and death! [TC]
By Kshama Ranawana
An on-line poll by the Asian Tribune asks “Should the Sri Lanka Government appoint a Press Commission, with full powers to probe the media?
And, I’d rather ask, should the people appoint a commission to probe all the attacks, physical and verbal that have been carried out against the Sri Lankan media, with impunity, in the recent years? [TC]
All Lands Home
In Pictures: Treasures From the Mughal Empire
"Akbar Fights with Raja Man Singh," from a copy of the Akbarnama. (circa 1600-03) [NY Times]
In Pictures: Mandela celebrates 90th birthday
Nelson Mandela, one of the world's most revered statesmen and the icon of the anti-apartheid movement, has marked his 90th birthday by calling for the rich to do more for the poor. [BBC]
