Tamils in Jaffna held a protest against the ban of Jallikattu in Tamilnadu. Showing support to thousands of protestors across Tamilnadu, demonstrators gathered in front of Nallur temple. The proposed ban of Jallikattu, a traditional form of bullfighting, has caused demonstrations across Tamilnadu as well as in Tamil-speaking communities across the globe.
The former army commander, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday said there was no grouses between the Sinhalese and Tamils over the 13th Amendment. “We have given that message to the majority community in the south also. There are no grouses with the majority community with the people in the north now. We didn’t want to make the same mistakes,” Fonseka told ANI in an interview. "The present government is considering all aspects to go ahead with the 13th amendment taking care of the legal and political issues," he reportedly added. “There are few legal and political issues to a certain...
Drought in the North has resulted in drinking water shortages for over 12,000 families in Kilinochchi. Research presented at a political meeting on tackling the ongoing drought, found that around 12,200 families will suffer from a lack of clean, drinking water. Families in several districts across Kilinochchi lack access to wells and tanks, and also lack the resources to import clean water from other areas. Continual drought in the North has already resulted in damage to thousands of acres of crop fields across the region.
The ‘North-East Development Conference: Quest for Knowledge’ which took place in Scarborough, Ontario, brought together representatives from the North-East of Sri Lanka, as well as diaspora members involved in development and education. The conference provided a space for representatives from the North-East to present information on the state of education in their respective provinces, as well as overlapping concerns. Structural issues such as poverty and the mismatch between labour market needs and education were examined. In addition, the need for an ‘Institute of Tamil Medium Education’...
On January 10, a Canadian Federal Court judge upheld the deportation order of Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam, an alleged LTTE fundraiser who has been resident in Canada for 26 years. Mr. Manickavasagam's case has wound its way through Canadian Courts for over 2 decades since he was first arrested in 1995 for allegedly posing a security risk. The Canadian authorities alleged that Mr. Manickavasagam, as co-ordinator of the now banned World Tamil Movement in Toronto, was fundraising for the LTTE and tried to deport him on a 'security certificate'. Mr. Manickavasagam fought his case up to the Supreme...
The European Commission's decision to restore GSP+ to Sri Lanka sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the EU compliance regime, the British Tamils Forum has said. In a statement on Monday the BTF said it was disappointed in the decision, highlighting that "Sri Lanka has a long history of consecutive governments failing to deliver on its international commitments." Full statement reproduced below. "The British Tamils Forum (BTF) is deeply disappointed with the European Commission's proposal to re-instate the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka in exchange for “commitments” from the Sri...
Chief Minister Wigneswaran and City of Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti signed a memorandum of understanding to officiate the friendship agreement between Markham and Mullaitivu. The CM reiterated the Northern Provincial Council’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goals, while emphasizing the need to address issues of violence, militarization, accountability, rule of law, access to justice and representative governance in order to achieve sustainable and holistic development. “The continuation of the draconian “Prevention of Terrorism Act” does not ensure equal access for all. An all-...
A Tamil National Alliance MP has promised to build statues to honour the sacrificies of Maaveerar, fallen LTTE cadres, in his Mullaitivu constituency. TNA MP Dr Sivamohan spoke on Monday at the unveiling ceremony of a new statue of Thiruvalluvar - the Sangam era Tamil poet and philosopher - built under his budget in his constituency of Puthukudiyiruppu. "No matter what obstacles lie in the future of my political journey, I will build statues for the Maaveerar who fell for us," he said.
A racial-hate group from the South has been found by Sri Lankan intelligence to be responsible for the vandalism of Buddha statues in the North-East, reports the Uthayan . While some incidents of damage to Buddha statues was attributed to wild elephants, special police forces investigating have reportedly found that the majority of incidents were perpetrated by a racial-hate group in order to stoke ethnic tensions and undermine reconciliation. Police have reportedly identified the perpetrators and are preparing to arrest them.
Kilinochchi locals have criticised the recent appointment of two Sinhalese workers to a local government office. The new appointees at Karaichchi Divisional Secretariat reportedly do not speak any Tamil, drawing criticism from locals who have questioned the new recruits’ suitability to serve an entirely Tamil-speaking division.