08/02/2011
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Newsclick
Ahilan Kadirgamar, spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, suggests that the Tamil National Alliance's victory combined with international pressure after the Channel 4 Documentary and the UN Special Panel Report have brought upon added impetus for the Sri Lankan government to proceed with steps towards a "political solution" in that country. The peoples' mandate in the Northern Province in the local body elections held there in July this year, were clearly a rebuff to the Rajapaksa regime's efforts to limit the discourse to "development".
05/28/2011
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Newsclick
Spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, Ahilan Kadirgamar talks to Newsclick over phone from New York. He argues that the "Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka" brings about valid recommendations, which if heeded by the otherwise triumphalist and denialist Sri Lankan government could pave the way for true reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka following the brutal civil war in 2009.
03/10/2011
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Asia Society
Over the last week, the United States has raised its voice regarding accountability and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka. A US Senate resolution called for the establishment of an independent international accountability mechanism, and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake told AFP: "If Sri Lanka is not willing to meet international standards regarding these matters ... there will be pressure to appoint some sort of international commission to look into these things."
03/10/2011
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Asia Society
Over the last week, the United States has raised its voice regarding accountability and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka. A US Senate resolution called for the establishment of an independent international accountability mechanism, and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake told AFP: “If Sri Lanka is not willing to meet international standards regarding these matters … there will be pressure to appoint some sort of international commission to look into these things.”
03/05/2011
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The Island
By Ahilan Kadirgamar
Over the last week, I participated in two discussions on Sri Lanka in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Harvard University, as an activist with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, I was on a panel discussion with Ambassador Palitha Kohona and Prof. Vasuki Nesiah, moderated by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, former Under-Secretary under the Bush Administration and now on the faculty of the Kennedy School of Government. At the other discussion, I spoke at length to a number of graduate students at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Both events attracted individuals who had some interest in Sri Lanka, and while the Harvard event was politically charged with respect to recent events, the Fletcher discussion provided some room to delve into deeper historical and political questions about Sri Lanka’s place in the international order and the manner in which global political economy has shaped our state and society.
02/07/2011
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Asia Society
Sri Lanka on Feb. 4 celebrated 63 years of independence and “worryingly, in his Independence Day speech, President Rajapaksa did not address the problems of minorities nor political reconciliation with a constitutional settlement. The thrust of his message focused on economic development and the need for ‘discipline’ in society to achieve development,” says Asia Society Associate Fellow Ahilan Kadirgamar.
01/24/2011
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Asian Correspondent
“The last few weeks have seen some regions of Sri Lanka battered by heavy rains and floods affecting over a million people. Not only have tens of people died in the eastern and central regions, but agriculture has been affected in a major way — contributing to increasing living costs, particularly of food items. Sri Lanka is in need of considerable assistance by international agencies to address the consequences of the floods,” says Asia Society Associate Fellow Ahilan Kadirgamar.
09/20/2010
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Asia Society
“Over the next week, both President Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Peiris are likely to speak on post-war Sri Lanka at the U.N. and related forums in New York. Their messages are likely to claim the near completion of resettling the war displaced, economic development as the sole solution for war-affected people and having ‘defeated terrorism.’ Such messages, however, distort the ground realities,” says Asia Society Associate Fellow Ahilan Kadirgamar.
09/11/2010
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The Island
Nine years ago as two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, I was only one hundred meters away, and saw the debris of the twin towers eclipse downtown Manhattan. While the unpardonable attacks and the tremendous loss of life were shocking, what I did not expect was the reaction in the US. Within days fear and patriotism shook the liberal tradition in the US. While the Bush Regime and its neoconservative push to seek vast powers and place restrictions on civil liberties did not surprise me in the least, what worried me was the manner in which the Democrats caved in, and even more distressing was how liberal academics and intellectuals so easily surrendered to the fear mongering and thuggery of the Bush Regime.
09/07/2010
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Ahilan Kadirgamar, Asia Society
Thousands of Sri Lankans are joining demonstrations against a controversial new amendment to the constitution, which would abolish limits on the number of presidential terms and increase the president's powers. Asia Society Associate Fellow Ahilan Kadirgamar says the terms would allow the president to make direct appointments to bodies responsible for governance such as the judiciary and bureaucracy.