Tamil Affairs

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Latest news from and about the homeland

This week, the number of skeletal remains uncovered at Chemmani reached a stark record of 387. With that figure, a patch of earth on the edge of Jaffna town became the largest mass grave ever uncovered on the island, surpassing the 376 remains recovered at Mannar. Recent days alone have seen the bodies of several children exhumed, alongside beads and bangles. These are the contents of the…

DMK chief urges Indian Prime Minister to boycott CHOGM

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 Responding to the Indian External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid's, assurance of his participation in the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the DMK party urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to announce India's boycott of the summit.

Will the real TNA please stand up?

After reports that the TNA had decided to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the new chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council, CV Wigneswaran is said to have rejected the decision.

According to the Sunday Times, “hardline Northern Provincial Councillors failed in their attempt to persuade Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran for a TNA boycott”.

British Tamils protest as SL envoy addresses Pre-CHOGM Forum in London

A Pre-CHOGM Forum entitled “The Commonwealth in Colombo: Prospects for the 2013 Commonwealth Summit” was held in Senate House last week, while Tamils protested outside against Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister GL Peiris, who was earlier reported to be one of the speakers, but he was replaced by Ambassador Chris Nonis.

Malaysian opposition calls for CHOGM boycott

One of Malaysia's leading political parties, the Democratic Action Party, has called on the government to boycott the upcoming CHOGM due to the crimes committed by Sri Lanka against Tamils.

DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng, had said in a statement,

TNA instructs Northern Province Chief Minister to boycott CHOGM

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told its Northern Province Chief Minister, C.V Wigneswaran, to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) today.

Cameron to approach Sri Lanka with 'tough message'

David Cameron  outlined, in a meeting with Burmese opposition leader Aung Suu Kyi, that he would travel to Sri Lanka with a “tough message” for the Rajapaksa regime.

During his meeting with Aung Suu Kyi, explaining his decision to attend CHOGM, he said,

Wigneswaran says Tamil people have rejected separatism

The first Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, CV Wigneswaran has said in his inaugural speech that people in the south need to understand that the Tamil people have rejected separatism.

Calling on Colombo to keep the Sri Lankan Army in their barracks, Wigneswaran also said the NPC would fully cooperate with the government to receive international assistance to rehabilitate Sri Lankan soldiers and integrate them into civilian life.

Kurshid confirms attendance at CHOGM

India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid has confirmed his attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka next month, despite a resolution passed unanimously in Tamil Nadu’s assembly, calling for an Indian boycott of the summit.

“I can say I will be there. The issue of Sri Lankan Tamils remains important to us,” Khurshid told Times Now.

Development not a substitute for justice - Jaffna diocese

The director of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, Father Managalarajah, has written to the Holy See’s representative in Colombo, explaining that development alone has not helped to settle the “basic unresolved issues of the people in the North and East.”

In the letter Mangalarajah describes human rights violations and lack of accountability for the ‘killing of thousands of innocent civilians’ in the final stages of the war, and also details threats and intimidation faced by Tamils wishing to register disappearances or give witness statements.

Tamil Nadu ill-informed on plight of Tamils – SL envoy

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam, warned that India will be isolated if PM Manmohan Singh boycotts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

“If PM Singh doesn’t go, we have to think about who it will affect. Who will be isolated? Every other country barring Canada is attending. So those who don’t attend will be in isolation.