As we mark 25 years since the Jaffna exodus, which led to over half a million Tamil men, women and children fleeing their homes, we look back at press coverage from the time.

On 21 September 1995, as the Sri Lankan military prepared to launch its offensive, new emergency regulations were imposed, granting widespread censorship powers on all war-related reporting. All reports had to be run past a government-appointed Competent Authority for Censorship before publication.

Jaffna has been considered the cultural capital of Eelam Tamils for centuries, as well as being the crucible of the Tamil liberation movement and the armed struggle against Sri Lankan state operation which began in the 1970s following non-violent political campaigns.

Following the 1983 'Black July' pogrom in Colombo, fighting began between Tamil militants and Sri Lankan troops within the Jaffna peninsula - first against the Sri Lankan military and in the late 80’s, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).

On the day 25 years ago, over half a million Tamil men, women and children fled their homes in Jaffna as the Sri Lankan military launched a military offensive to capture the peninsula, under the leadership of then president Chandrika Kumaratunga.

On October 30, 1995, the entire town of Jaffna, the largest Tamil population centre on the island, streamed out in a mass exodus for the safety of the Vanni, which was then controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sri Lanka this week, he was asked repeatedly about a travel ban imposed on the head of Sri Lanka’s army Shavendra Silva over his role in overseeing war crimes.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned of China’s “predator” relationship with Sri Lanka as he held high level meetings with Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo today, with trade, accountability for rights abuses and a US travel ban on army commander Shavendra Silva also discussed.

A landmark judgement from Britain’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission found that the Home Office decision to keep the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) proscribed as a terrorist organisation was “flawed” and unlawful, and paves the way for the organisation to possibly being legalised in the United Kingdom.

This is only the second time in the Commission’s history that such an appeal has been heard in the past twenty years.

Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi has seemingly announced that he will no longer play controversial Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan in a biopic, by posting a letter from Muralitharan himself asking him to withdraw.

During their annual conference, senior British government ministers and MPs, within the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), raised “deep concerns” over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and withdrawal from the UN co-sponsored resolution.

During the conference, government officials maintained their commitment to the resolution and stressed that if Sri Lanka failed to meet said commitments, alternatives avenues will need to be pursued.

While elephants are under threat all over the world, elephants in the North-East have come under increased threat due to improper waste management.

Justice C.V. WIgneswaran, Jaffna MP and former Northern Province Chief Minister, delivered a speech to the New Indian Forum last Sunday on India’s role in the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, drawing on his own experience to call the amendment “fundamentally flawed”.

Briefly explaining the history of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord of 1987, Wigneswaran then held forth on how ineffective the 13th amendment has practically been in ensuring devolution of power to the Tamil provinces and bringing about regional autonomy.