Articles by Rohini Hensman

One of the most striking features of the report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka, 2015 is its consistent effort to be even-handed in its view of Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam responsibility for atrocities. Significantly, it does not find evidence that the government or its armed forces engaged in genocide, instead, the crimes are described by the report as consistent with war crimes and crimes against humanity. This analysis finds the report of OISL as contributing to a process of securing the rights of victims and their families, reforming institutions so that similar bloodbaths do not recur in the future, and bringing about reconciliation.

A tribute to the Tamil doctor, feminist and human rights defender of Jaffna, Rajani Thiranagama, on her 25th death anniversary. She was killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This is an occasion to revisit the issues of self-determination, the strategy to prioritise certain forms of struggle over others, and the question of rebuilding the left - matters which are relevant not only in Sri Lanka but everywhere in the world.

Narendra Modi’s famed model of economic growth will only exacerbate the disasters wrought by the neoliberal economics of UPA. Far from championing him, industries and the middle class should take note of how his policies will eventually harm their own economic interests in the long run.  

The conference on historical materialism in New Delhi recently was a major step towards the creation of a new culture of the left. Left-wing teachers, students, writers and activists from around the world and from diverse political backgrounds sharply disagreed in some of the sessions but the debates were respectful rather than polemical.

Histories of Labour: National and International Perspectives edited by Joan Allen, Alan Campbell and John McIlroy (The Merlin Press, 2010; Delhi: Aakar Books), 2011; pp vi+399, hardback, Rs 995.