A British Tamil man took his own life in 2005 after he was implicated in the Horizon IT scandal, but his family have now been denied compensation from the Post Office.

35 year old, Jayakanthan Sivasubramaniam, committed suicide after his Post Office branch in Putney came under investigation. The Post Office had alleged that £179,000 had gone missing from the cash machine and the safe. 

Between 1999 and 2015, around 900 postmasters and mistresses were charged with fraud and theft, based on evidence from a faulty computer system called Horizon. 

Mira and Dipha Thiruchelvam, of the award-winning Tamil folk rock band 9 Grader Nord, sat down with Tamil Guardian to speak about their music; life in Norway as second-generation Eelam Tamils; and for Eelam Tamils to find their own voice.

This interview comes as the band has just won the Spellemannsprisen, often described as 'Norway’s Grammy Awards’, for their latest album “Yalpanam”. “Yalpanam” is the historic Tamil name for Jaffna prior to colonialism. The band’s name is a reference to the fact that the coordinates for Jaffna are 9 degrees north of the equator.

Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren has called for the removal of a Buddhist temple, the Tissa Raja Vihara in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna, which was illegally constructed on privately owned land and is being occupied by Sri Lanka's military. 

Annai Poopathy's hunger strike and death were remembered by the Batticaloa Women's Organisation and the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) today. 

A garland was laid and a flame was lit at Poopathy Kanapathipillai's - fondly known as Annai Poopathy - resting place in Navalady, Batticaloa, to mark 36 years since Annai Poopathy's fast unto death. 

Sri Lanka’s military and police forces launched yet another investigation into what they saw as a dangerous threat last week – a flower decoration created for a school sports competition. The reaction from the security forces to the decorative display was because it was of a particular flower; the red and yellow karthigaipoo that is a symbol of Tamil Eelam. Soldiers visited the school and the management was instructed to attend the police station for questioning, with statements even recorded from the principal. Despite what Sri Lanka claims, this is neither peaceful nor normal. 

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs vowed to press ahead with ‘archaeology’ encroachments in the Eastern province, despite complaints from resident Tamils in the region who have pushed back against the government’s ‘Sinhalisation’ attempts.

“Is it something that we shouldn’t do?” questioned Vidura Wickramanayaka in a press conference last month. “We have been very myopic about these things,” he claimed.

Despite repeated requests for funding to complete the excavation work of the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave and following the postponement of two hearings over the lack of progress, the Sri Lankan government has finally said that the costs quoted for the excavation and research are too high, causing further delays to the protracted case. 

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe paid tribute to the late UNP minister Gamini Dissanayake last month, pledging to expand the controversial Mahaweli project, which has seen Sinhala settlers colonise the Tamil North-East.

Days following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's revival of a decades-old dispute surrounding Katchatheevu island, Sri Lanka has responded stating it has no intention to entertain further discussions on the matter.

Objections raised by Sri Lankan police over a decorative arch standing at the entrance of Mulankvail Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery) reached a new juncture as the case filed by the police was heard in Kilinochchi courts. The arch was erected in November 2023 to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.