Today marks the 42nd birthday of Isaipriya, a famed Tamil newsreader that was executed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009. Shoba, better known by her nom de plume Isaipriya, was just 27 years old when she was killed. A regular figure as a newsreader and telecaster, she was a well known and much loved across the Tamil homeland and the large Tamil diaspora. She presented the news on TTN and featured in the LTTE’s Oliveechchu videos that were distributed around the world. Reportedly born in Neduntheevu, Isaipriya studied at the Vembadi Girls’ High School in Jaffna until 1996. Her family were...
The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santhosh Jha told reporters in Batticaloa that the ferry service between Kankesanthurai and Nagapattinam which was revived after 40 years and suddenly halted again, will resume later this month. The High Commissioner made these statements when he was on an official visit to Batticaloa to pay tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Park in Batticaloa. Jha was accompanied by a member of parliament for Batticaloa Govinthan Karunakaran and Engineer N Sivalingam from the Batticaloa Municipal Council. When asked of connectivity between the North-East...
Excavation work commenced at a mass grave in Pungudutivu this week after construction workers found several human skeletal remains during the construction of a warehouse. Sri Lankan police officers and the local magistrate watched as forensic officers began their excavation, unearthing several human skeletal remains. The construction workers are said to have suspended their work when realizing they had dug out a grave and informed the Sri Lankan police, who cordoned off the area. The excavation of the grave began after permission was granted from the magistrates courts. The grave is also...
Tamils in Mullaitivu thwarted the fourth attempt by Sri Lanka's land survey department to forcibly seize land belonging to Alampil Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery), reportedly to extend the 10th Sinha Regiment’s military camp. Families of fallen LTTE cadres, residents and former Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran were alarmed to see the presence of officials from the survey department and expressed their opposition over their attempt to survey the land where the LTTE cemetery is located. The land survey officials were forced to abandon their work after residents in the area...
The following account is written by a second-generation Tamil from London who was involved in organising the prolonged protest on Parliament Square in Westminster during April and May 2009, the peak of Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils. Theeban (not his real name), then in his early twenties, was studying at a London university.
Vavuniya The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) held a march in Vavuniya today reiterating the party’s stance in calling for justice, accountability, and an international mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by Sri Lanka. The rally was led by members of the TNPF including Selvarajah Kajendren, Kanagaratnam Sugash and several others. The public participated in the rally by holding placards calling on the Sri Lankan government to return lands presently occupied by various Sri Lankan government institutions and an international mechanism for truth and...
Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a statement refuting allegations made against him by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and claimed the Catholic leader “glosses over the responsibility of, or expressly absolves” the role of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Easter Sunday attacks. Referring to a speech given by Ranjith on the 5 th anniversary of the bombings, Rajapaksa accused the Catholic leader of lying, refuting claims that the two had spoken the day after Sri Lanka’s own Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the attacks was handed to the then-...
Tamil families of the disappeared held a rally in Vavuniya yesterday as they continue to call on the international community to investigate the fate of their loved ones, who were forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan state. The families have been calling for international justice and accountability for years as successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to address their demands. 15 years have passed since the end of the armed conflict in which many Tamil families surrendered their relatives to the Sri Lankan military. To this day, Sri Lanka has failed to provide answers on their...
Several human skeletal remains were uncovered in Muhamalai, alongside uniform believed to belong to an LTTE cadre, as yet another mass grave was discovered in the Tamil homeland.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has passed a resolution calling on Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister, Tiran Alles, to stand down after encouraging police to shoot at suspects , adding that his statement is “in direct contradiction to the fundamental principles enshrined in the Constitution”. Speaking before Sri Lanka’s notorious Special Task Force in Katukurundu, Alles told officers: “eliminating criminals from the country is not a sin. Don’t be afraid to use the weapon in your hand for the right thing, and we stand by you”. BASL responded stating: “The Minister’s statement...