Despite crackdowns by the Sri Lankan state across the Tamil homeland, several Tamil politicians and civil society members held private memorials for Lt Col Thileepan on Sunday, the 34th anniversary of his passing following his twelve day fast-unto-death.

Students at the University of Jaffna defied threats and held a vigil at an undisclosed location on campus.

Speaking at the event hosted by Tamils for Labour, during the British Labour Party's annual conference, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Lisa Nandy, maintained that the party has been pushing for "concrete steps" on Sri Lanka, such as a referral to the International Criminal Court.

"We pushed in March for the UN resolution to include concrete measures, such as an International Independent Investigative Mechanism (III-M) and for a referral of cases to the international criminal court. These concerete steps are really important to us" she told the conference.

She further maintained that "human rights, the rule of law, freedom and democracy, will always be an essential component of Labour’s foreign policy". She also added that "if you threaten human rights anywhere you threaten human rights everywhere".

Today marks 34 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

Thileepan began his fast on the September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people gathered around the historic Nallur Kandwaswamy Temple in Jaffna.

On September 13, 1987, Thileepan put forward five demands  to the Indian government following the signing of the Indo-Lanka accord in July 1987: 

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Nagarkovil massacre, where the Sri Lankan air force bombed a school in Jaffna killing dozens of Tamil school children.

On September 22, 1995, a SLAF aircraft bombed the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam schoolyard crammed with 750 children on their lunch break, killing more than 30 – of whom 12 were six or seven-year-olds – and injuring 150 others. The overall death toll from the raids reached 71. The bombing occurred just hours after the Sri Lankan government imposed press censor­ship on the reporting of military events.

Today marks 34 years since Lt Col. Thileepan began his hunger strike at Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in protest against the failure of the Indian government to honour the pledges made to the Tamil people. 

A group of four Swiss guards have been acquitted over their roles in the death of a 28-year-old Tamil woman at a prison in 2018, after they delayed medical attention following a suicide attempt for 19 minutes.

The woman, identified only as “Kowshika”, had fled Sri Lanka but had her asylum application rejected by Swiss authorities who subsequently detained her at the Waaghof Prison in Basel.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan Air Force. 

Image courtesy of Action Contre la Faim (ACF)

On this day 15 years ago, Sri Lankan security forces summarily executed 17 aid workers from the French NGO, Action la Contre Faim (ACF), in Muttur, Trincomalee. 

On this day 32 years ago, up to 64 Tamil civilians were killed by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Valvettithurai in a massacre that was termed “India’s My Lai”.

The massacre, which saw dozens killed, came on the background of escalating violence and rights abuses committed by Indian forces across the Tamil homeland. As Tamil militant groups continued hostilities with the IPKF, the Indian forces imposed a curfew on August 2, 1989, following an ambush attack.

The United States says that all Sri Lankan soldiers continue to be fully vetted for involvement in human rights abuses before being allowed to train in the country. Recent appointments however point to holes in the vetting process and raise questions from survivors.