Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon announced that the controversial military-backed anti-narcotic crackdown ‘Operation Yukthiya’ would see “rehabilitation centres” opened across the island - including at least 50 in the North-East.
Preparations are currently underway at Mullivaikkal, the site of the massacres of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, as the homeland prepares to commemorate the 15 th anniversary of the Tamil genocide. Tamil men, women, youth, and the elderly all volunteered to help clean the area where a memorial has been constructed, to help prepare for a remembrance ceremony to be held on May 18. “Mullivaikkal is not only a symbol of sacrifice, but of hope and the resistance to all forms of oppression,” said Thavathiru Agathiyar Adikalar, a Hindu priest who was one of the volunteers. “We mark 15 years...
Tamil families of the disappeared served Mullivaikkal Kanji in Mannar yesterday to commemorate 15 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal. Tamil families have been searching for their loved ones who were forcibly disappeared by the state. In 2009, thousands of Tamil combatants, men, women and children surrendered to Sri Lanka's military and have not been seen to date. Several members of Mannar's Association of the Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared gathered to distribute the kanji and remember the victims of the massacre at Mullivaikkal. The Mullivaikkal Kanji was the only source of...
A Tamil man has died after Sri Lankan police kicked the motorbike he was travelling on, causing him to collide with a concrete pillar and sustain fatal injuries. The man has been identified as 41-year-old Selvanayakam Pradeepan, a resident of Koppay South. Sri Lankan police claim that Pradeepan failed to stop at a checkpoint in Jaffna. Officers further along the road were reportedly alerted, with one blocking Pradeepan’s path and kicking his motorbike. The bike veered off course and hit a concrete pillar. Pradeepan was seriously injured and rushed to Tellippalai Hospital by onlookers, where...
The start of Tamil Genocide Remembrance week is being marked today across the North-East, one week before May 18, when the Tamil nation will mark 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide. As part of the commemorations, Tamils in the North-East are boiling and serving kanji to honour the Tamils that were killed by Sri Lanka's armed forces in the massacre at Mullivaikkal. Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government declared 'No Fire Zones' as food, medicines and other necessities were heavily restricted from entering the...
Trigger warning: Distressing images depicting violence and death are featured throughout the article. An exhibition documenting the Mullivaikkal genocide and the global protests by the Tamil diaspora in 2009 is being held over the weekend in New Malden, London. The exhibition, organised by Tamil Solidarity and it's youth wing, the Young Revolutionaries in Soldiarity, showcases a series of photographs taken in the final months of Sri Lanka's genocidal offensive in Mullivaikkal's No Fire Zones in 2009. Many of the photographs featured in the exhibition were taken by Amarathaas, an independent...
As Eelam Tamils prepare to mark 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide next week, the international community seems to be grappling with a rise in violence and instability across the globe. From Sudan to Myanmar, and particularly in Gaza, conflicts are raging, and civilians are dying in massive numbers. International humanitarian law continues to be routinely, and in many cases blatantly, violated. As policymakers look at ways to tackle this wave of turmoil, they should reflect and act on the failures from Mullivaikkal.
Tamil baker Tharshan Selvarajah, who arrived in France from Sri Lanka in 2006, will become first Eelam Tamil to carry the Olympic torch at this year’s relay.
The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) served Mullivaikkal Kanji in Batticaloa to commemorate 15 years since the Tamil genocide in which as many as 169,796 Tamils were killed by Sri Lanka's military offensive. Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government-declared 'No Fire Zones' as food, medicines, and other necessities were heavily restricted from entering the Vanni during the final phase of the armed conflict. The Sri Lankan government denied the delivery of food into conflict zones, to use starvation as a weapon of war...
The United Kingdom and Sri Lanka held their annual strategic dialogue this week to discuss "common priorities and further UK-SL relations" including addressing "the legacy of the war and legislative developments affecting human rights." Ben Mellor, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Director for the Indo-Pacific was in Sri Lanka for a two day visit for a series of meetings. According to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs , the strategic dialogue meeting reviewed "developments in foreign and security policies, as well as progress in the areas of bilateral...