Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Namal Rajapaksa, parliamentarian and son of accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, has called on the Sri Lankan government to summon the Canadian High Commissioner to formally protest the unveiling of a Tamil Genocide Monument in Brampton, Canada, claiming it promotes a “false genocide narrative” and “distorts history.” In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter), Rajapaksa accused the…

Lal Salaam - cloying and annoying

Nine years since her last film, Aishwarya Rajinikanth returns with ‘Lal Salaam,’ a film that unsuccessfully melds numerous genres. It stars Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth and the director’s father Rajinikanth in an extended cameo. 

Strongly opposed to Indo-Lanka accord,' confirms JVP

“As a political party we strongly opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord decades ago, and dedicated our initiatives to safeguarding Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, at the cost of many lives," said Vijitha Herath of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Power (NPP). "This stance has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters in Colombo. 

Sri Lankan High Commission issues travel document for Santhan to return home

Santhan, alias T. Suthenthirarajah, a former Tamil prisoner who was released after decades in prison over the Rajiv Gandhi assassination has finally been given a travel document by the Sri Lankan High Commission - but must wait until the Regional registration officer in Chennai provides an exit permit to leave India and return home

Canada’s Conservative Party leader pledges to take Sri Lanka to the International Court of Justice for genocide

Canada’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said he would look to prosecute Sri Lanka at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and appoint lawyers to pursue charges against accused war criminals in international criminal courts.

Giving interviews to two Tamil media outlets in recent months, Poilievre said his plan includes "Magnitsky sanctions to specifically target guilty members of the Rajapaksa regime for their role in the genocide”.

Sri Lankan government to lodge complaint over Tamil protest in London

Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry said his government would "express its displeasure with the British government" against the protest held by Tamils in London, at a time when Sri Lanka was holding its 76th Independence Day Celebrations and Tamils worldwide marked it as a 'Black Day'.

Tamil journalist killed in No Fire Zone remembered by TNPF

Tamil journalist Puniyamoorthy Sathiyamoorthy, who was killed by a Sri Lankan artillery barrage inside the ‘No Fire Zone’ in February 2009, was remembered by the Tamil National People's Front.

The TNPF held a remembrance event in their Jaffna office today to mark 15 years since his death. 

Murugathasan's sacrifice remembered 15 years on

Murugathasan Varnakulasingham, the 26 year old who self-immolated in protest outside the United Nations in Geneva over the inaction of the international community in the face of the 2009 genocide of Tamils, was remembered in London today. 

Remembering the Kumarapuram massacre 28 years on

This week marks 28 years since the Kumarapuram Massacre took place in Trincomalee, where the Sri Lankan military killed 26 Tamil civilians and gang-raped a 15-year-old girl. 

On the evening of February 11, 1996, a group of soldiers, some of them under the influence of alcohol, charged into the village of Kumarapuram and indiscriminately beat up Tamil civilians in the locality.

Legalising repression

There has been much consternation in recent weeks as the Sri Lankan government passed the Online Safety Bill, a new piece of legislation that essentially allows the state to police and prosecute what individuals and organisations post online. There have been remarks from the United Nations human rights office, diplomats from various Western countries and a host of NGOs – all of whom have expressed concern over the risks to freedom of expression on the island. In the Tamil North-East, however, those concerns have long been a reality. Left unabated and unchallenged by the international community for years, that climate of repression has solidified and is now being rolled out across the island.

Land grabbing attempt halted by resident protests in Jaffna's Valikamam North

Sri Lankan government officials, tasked with surveying 500 acres of land for transfer to the Civil Aviation Authority in Jaffna's Valikamam North, were compelled to retreat in the face of vehement opposition from local residents.