Articles by Nirmanusan Balasundaram
We found 22 results.
Sri Lanka: How the UN Failed Tamil Civilians in 2009
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Al Jazeera,
3 Jun 2019
And how the legacy of this failure is still endangering lives in Sri Lanka and beyond. Today, May 18, 2019, marks one decade since the armed conflict in Sri Lanka came to a brutal end.
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The Living and the Disappeared: The Unending Battle for Justice in Sri Lanka
Nirmanusan Balasundaram | Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka - TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Mar 2018
19 March 2018 – The signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam engineered many prospects, promises and hopes about the fate of political prisoners, prisoners of war and the disappeared. For the families of the disappeared, despite darkening clouds, there is a glimpse of hope that their sons and daughters are alive somewhere and they will return home one day.
→ read full articleSri Lanka Wants the World to Forget about Justice for War Victims – Please Don’t
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – The Guardian,
4 Jul 2016
With the Sri Lankan government winding back commitments to reconciliation and justice measures, it’s up to the international community to hold them to account.
→ read full articleThe First Christmas without Our Santa Claus: Remembering Dietrich
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Dec 2015
He was a thoughtful human being born to strengthen a shared future that would uphold nonviolence, humanity and peace. Either ordinary life problems or peace building studies, Dietrich had answers to most situations, not through complex political theories but rather through simple short stories or jokes.
→ read full articleChallenges Ahead: Sri Lanka’s Mass Atrocities and International Justice
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
12 Jan 2015
After execution of mass atrocities and their failure to stop it, international actors have accepted their failure. Sri Lanka’s forthcoming presidential election will be the litmus test. Will international actors bring perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes in Sri Lanka to international justice and prove “Never Again” to be more than just a slogan?
→ read full articleSri Lanka: War Remembrance, Reconciliation and Nonviolent Resistance
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
9 Jun 2014
The Government of Sri Lanka has become more vigorous in its attempts to curtail the [Tamil] Diaspora’s moves, but this has only served to make committed activists in the Diaspora more confident in facing the challenges thrown towards them by the GoSL through further nonviolent strategies.
→ read full articleTruth and Reconciliation Commission: Trap or Trajectory for Sri Lanka?
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
17 Mar 2014
Recommendations: • Independent international investigation into mass atrocities that took place throughout the armed conflict in the island of Sri Lanka. • Immediate steps to stop the structural genocide of the Tamil nation, particularly the demographic changes through land grabbing, military occupation, Sinhala settlements process and sexual violence against Tamil women…
→ read full articleNorthern Elections: A Litmus Test for Democracy or Tamil National Aspirations?
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
23 Sep 2013
The increasingly widening gulf between the repressive policies of an ethnocratic state and the ongoing abstract ‘reconciliation discourse’ is not a false projection of the ‘Tiger propagandists’ but an undeniable ground reality. The northern election will not be a litmus test for Sri Lanka’s dysfunctional democracy, but it will certainly be a testing ground that would prove Tamil people’s resilience and will to be free.
→ read full articleIs the Tamil Diaspora Against Unity in Sri Lanka?
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Groundviews,
13 May 2013
The world has already learnt a bitter lesson from Sri Lanka. The question now is: Will the concerned actors grab the opportunity and walk in the right direction? If yes, the Tamil Diaspora will march alongside with them.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: The Intentions Behind the Land Grabbing Process
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka,
6 May 2013
In the so-called ‘post-war’ Sri Lanka context, land grabbing, Sinhalization and military occupation of the Tamil nation have become pivotal points in the political development discourse. The deep concerns that exist amongst the majority of the Tamils, which are directed towards their present and future existence, are these same issues.
→ read full articleRemembering Lasantha: Now They Come For “Everyone”
Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Jan 2013
Now, more than ever, with the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the vacuum left by Lasantha’s death and his importance can be felt by anyone who is concerned about human rights, democracy, rule of law, and, of course, the independence of the judiciary. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge , better known as Lasantha, was brutally assassinated four years ago. Lasantha noted in his last editorial, “I hope my murder will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration”.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Militarizing the Land and Terrorizing the Minds
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Nov 2012
Nearly four decades of asymmetric war between the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil guerrillas ended in a bloodbath that was seen by some as “unacceptably high”. Such statements arouse a cynical curiosity as to what could be an “acceptable level of bloodbath” and confirmed that the State’s victory was achieved by massacring hundreds of thousands of Tamils.
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Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Jul 2012
Even three years after a destructive and protracted war, the repressive and intransigent character of the ethnocratic Sri Lankan state remains same and nothing but naked brutality lies at its heart.
→ read full articleSri Lanka: Mu’l’livaaykkaal – The Slaughter Unheard and Unpunished
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – Colombo Telegraph,
21 May 2012
Criminal goals of ethnically cleansing as many Tamils by orchestrating the slaughter of at-least 40,000 unarmed Tamils in Mullivaaykaal during the finals day of the war. The denial of food and medicine prior to the final assault was intentionally and strategically coordinated by the regime.
→ read full articleHuman Rights in Sri Lanka: Impunity against Accountability and Justice
Nirmanusan Balasundaram, Groundviews - TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Sep 2011
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.” – Lord Buddha.
→ read full articleThe Reckoning: Press Freedom in Sri Lanka
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2011
We are living in a world where committed journalists write the news not only with ink, but also with their blood. This is the very reason that their souls still exist with us even after their tragic deaths. Sri Lanka is the very recent example for such context. Thirty-four journalists and media workers have been killed with no recourse to justice since the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government came into power in April 2004 with the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa as its prime minister.
→ read full articleA Mother’s Call for the Re-awakening
Nirmanusan Balasundaram - GroundViews,
2 May 2011
Mrs. B. Thilagamani began her nonviolent resistant activism when she was 18 years old and played a key role during the 1961 Satyagraha Campaign. During that campaign, Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) brutally retaliated against the nonviolent protesters. In the SLAF terror campaign of 18 April 1961 Thilagamani was sprayed with tear gas and her sari was partly burnt. Today, 18 April 2011, marks her 50 symbolic years in nonviolent activism.
→ read full articleThe Tamil Diaspora and the Future of the Tamil Struggle
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – GroundViews,
21 Feb 2011
Today, the 18th of February, finds us three months away from the second anniversary of the “Mullivaikal Massacre”. At this juncture it is important to ask the question: What constructive action can be taken by the Tamil Diaspora to build a better future for the Tamil nation?
→ read full articleAn Era of Sri Lanka’s President: From Mullivaikal to Oxford Union
Nirmanusan Balasundaram - TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Jan 2011
Mullivaikal is where the last phase of the war between Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) and Liberation Tiger of TamilEelam (LTTE) took place. According to the Government of Sri Lanka, this was the place war came to an end with the military defeat of LTTE, but for majority Tamils and international human rights activists, this was the place at-least 30,000-40,000 Tamil civilians were massacred by SLAF. The ‘controversy’ began from here and continues even after 19 months.
→ read full articleReconciliation in Sri Lanka: Breaking the Myth and Bringing the Truth
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Sep 2010
“There cannot be reconciliation without justice. Justice and equity are at the core of reconciliation” -– Professor Hizkias Assefa. The platform for an “genuine reconciliation” should be rooted via the democratic exercises, rights and participation of all citizens throughout a country. But, if people are under fear to express their grievances and aspirations, including opposition political parties, dissident voices, independent media and even some ruling party government ministers how can a national minority discriminated and oppressed for more than five decades practice their rights in Sri Lanka?
→ read full articleAdvocacy from Afar – Towards Human Rights for Victims of Sri Lanka’s Civil War
Nirmanusan Balasundaram – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Aug 2010
In 2009, the global media turned its attention to the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). At the time, many questions were raised on the treatment of the Tamil civilians trapped in the conflict.
→ read full articleSEARCHING FOR PEACE IN A KINGDOM OF VULTURES
Nirmanusan Balasundaram,
29 Aug 2009
“Peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.” The armed conflict in Sri Lanka came to an end by mid May 2009 – after more than three decades – with a ‘military victory’ of the Sri […]
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