“News from Jaffna” by Aljazeera

“If the situation became precarious, I could always take a flight to my other home, the UK, but this is obviously not an option for your news reporter in the north.

Since returning to Sri Lanka, I often wondered what my life might have been like had my family not left. Would my life be so different from the journalists I met at Uthayan had my family stayed in Jaffna?”

Via http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/viewfinder/2014/09/news-from-jaffna-2014926135629688613.html

“Jaffna industrial estate promises jobs” by Meera Srinivasan

After over two decades of remaining shut over Sri Lanka’s civil war, a once-thriving industrial zone near Jaffna is abuzz with activity yet again.

via: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/jaffna-industrial-estate-promises-jobs/article6357567.ece

 

“Rapes surge in Sri Lanka amid weak laws” by Dinouk Colombage

In Features: Recent allegations that a naval officer in the northern city of Jaffna raped an 11-year-old girl have cast a spotlight on the growing problem of sexual violence in Sri Lanka. According to police figures, incidents of rape have increased by nearly 20 percent in the last two years, with 4,393 cases registered during 2012-2014 as compared to 3,624 in 2010-2012. “While this particular case has received significant media attention, thousands of others do not,” said Professor Savithri Fernando, who counsels victims of sexual abuse.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/08/rapes-surge-sri-lanka-amid-weak-marital-laws-201481772359790802.html

“Satellite images show that the High Security Zone is not being used as intended” by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice

Last year we ran a campaign around the Government of Sri Lanka’s seizure of land belonging to Tamil families forced from their homes by the civil war. Over 7,000 acres of land – potentially up to $2 billion worth at current prices – was seized in the Northern and Eastern provinces using land acquisition notices which gave little justification for the seizures. The vast majority of this land, 6,381 acres of it, is contained within the Valikamam High Security Zone in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

via: http://blog.srilankacampaign.org/2014/08/arial-photographs-show-that-high.html

“Jaffna Suicide Rate Increased After End Of War” by Asian Miror

“Daya Somasundaram, Professor of Psychiatry at Jaffna University said that suicide rate in Jaffna has gone up in the aftermath of the three decade long civil war in Sri Lanka.”

via: http://www.asianmirror.lk/news/item/2812-jaffna-suicide-rate-increased-after-end-of-war

‘No protests says Daily Mirror’, from Ravaya newspaper, 1st August 2014

Ravaya flags today that Daily Mirror threatened its own journalists to not participate in a media protest held on 31st July, noting that they would lose their jobs if they did so. See English translation of the article here –

via: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qKUCeRXbBqZdYsuTn-6RHwYpevkPjEIuOBV1_8F43V0/edit

“Sri Lanka : des journalistes tamouls agressés, empêchés de se former” par RFI

“La répression des journalistes s’intensifie au Sri Lanka, et particulièrement celle des journalistes de la minorité Tamoul. Plusieurs organisations de défense de la presse ont dénoncé ce week-end, des 26 et 27 juillet 2014, l’agression d’un groupe de journalistes tamouls de la région de Jaffna, qui se rendaient à Colombo, la capitale, pour suivre une formation à l’Institut de Presse.”

via: http://www.rfi.fr/asie-pacifique/20140728-sri-lanka-droits-homme-liberte-presse-enfants-sri-lanka-journalistes-tamouls/

“Media workshop at SLPI disrupted by mob” by Aanya Wipulasena

A workshop for journalists organised by a non profit organisation that was to be held at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) yesterday was called off abruptly after a mob protested outside the institute in Narahenpita.

via: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140727/news/media-workshop-at-slpi-disrupted-by-mob-108707.html

Report “Discriminating Against Excellence: Abuses in Recruitment Practices at the University of Jaffna”

“The most prevalent form of abuse documented is in the selection of probationary lecturers (or assistant lecturers), resulting in the most highly qualified candidates such as First Class degree-holders being systematically excluded from consideration or denied positions.”

to download the report: click here

source: http://jfnusta.blogspot.fr/2014/07/httpsdrive.html?spref=fb

“Navy Launches Investigation Into Rape” by Camelia Nathaniel

The navy has launched an investigation into the rape of a young girl in Jaffna.

The identification parade was held last Friday of seven naval personnel arrested for the rape of the 11-year-old Tamil girl in the Kytes area.

via: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/07/20/navy-launches-investigation-into-rape/

“Lack of trust slows Sri Lanka reconciliation” by Al Jazeera

Five years after Sri Lanka’s war with the Tamil Tigers ended, the group’s former members say that cultural insensitivity from the government is still an issue.

via: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia/2014/07/lack-trust-slows-sri-lanka-reconciliation-2014715102222303152.html

“Families seek answers over missing” by Colombo Gazette

Families of people reported missing in Puthukkudieruppu (PTK) appeared yesterday and today before the Presidential Commission to record complaints regarding missing persons.

via: http://colombogazette.com/2014/07/06/families-seek-answers-over-missing/

source: colombogazette.com

“Jaffna varsity teachers assert right to mourn” by Meera Srinivasan

“The Jaffna University Science Teachers’ Association has condemned the closure of the university between May 16 and 20, pointing to intimidation and repression of free discussion on campus.”

via: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/jaffna-varsity-teachers-assert-right-to-mourn/article6006123.ece

source: www.thehindu.com

“Social Stratification in Jaffna: A Survey of Recent Research on Caste” by Prashanth Kuganathan, in Sociology Compass Volume 8, Issue 1

Abstract

Since 1983, war has dominated the perception of Sri Lanka. This has affected scholarship on the country, such that the subjects of an overwhelming number of research proposals and publications have been on the war and the prospects and prescriptions for peace. This survey paper is an attempt to locate the system of caste in transition in the Jaffna Peninsula by reviewing recent literature written after the commencement of the war. While detailed ethnographies of caste in Jaffna may have temporarily come to a halt, caste practices have not and remain a salient part of everyday life among the Tamils in Sri Lanka. As the war ended in 2009, it is therefore important that social scientists on Sri Lanka revisit the topic of caste, that is an integral part of not just Tamil culture or society, but beingTamil itself. As the study of caste is dominated by research in India, a microanalysis of Jaffna and Sri Lanka, particularly the nuances of this system in transition due to war and militancy, could contribute to the macro-study of caste at a sub-continental perspective.

To read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soc4.12101/full

Reference: Kuganathan P., “Social Stratification in Jaffna: A Survey of Recent Research on Caste”, in Sociology Compass, Volume 8, Issue 1, January 2014, pages 78–88

source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com