Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressed a campaign rally in Vavuniya this week, making a series of pledges ranging from land restitution to “national reconciliation”, ahead of local government elections next month. Dissanayake announced that all lands marked by the Sri Lankan Forest Department using Google Maps—including farmlands and reservoirs—would be re-evaluated and…

Tamil Nadu chief Minister withdraws representative from Sri Lankan visit

Criticising Sri Lanka's "anti-Tamil" approach, Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, announced her decision to withdraw her party's (AIADMK) only representative to an all-party Indian delegation to Sri Lanka next week.

Stating that she did not want this visit to be a "mere eye-wash like the previous one", Jayalalithaa expressed concern at the lack of opportunities to engage directly with victims and those affected. 

Jayalalithaa said,

Leftist says tortured in Sri Lankan custody

One of the two activists of a newly formed Leftist party abducted by Sri Lankan security forces and later released after Australia’s intervention says he was tortured in custody.

Speaking on his return to Australia after being deported, Kumar Gunaratnam told ABC:

Bilateral relations?


Sri Lankan immigration officials have been busy trying to spot and deport Indian Tamil traders who have been selling their wares in the north-eastern Tamil speaking areas of the island, the Sunday Times reported.

Sri Lankan Minister criticises India's 'killer blow'

Writing in The Nation newspaper, Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister, Patali Champika Ranawaka, warned India that it had "dealt a killer blow to India-Sri Lanka relations", whilst attempting to protect "Tamil fascism and Western imperialism".

Ranawaka wrote,

Democracy', the Sri Lankan way

Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, asserted it should be the priority of the state to ensure that "communal politics" be removed from the North, and replaced by "political leadership by national level political parties". Lest there be any confusion as to which party he was endorsing, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa clarified, "such as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)".

He added,

Australian Tamils pressure police to charge Kohona

The Australian Federal Police have confirmed they will be investigating the request to charge Palitha Kohona for alleged war crimes over his involvement in the 'white-flag' incident.

Jayatilleka defends himself

Soon after facing threats of losing his position as Sri Lanka's ambassador to Paris, Dayan Jayatilleka, vehemently rebutted the accusations. Responding to the letter stating that he should be charged under Sri Lanka's Penal Code, for "alleged wrongdoings" in the conduct of the affairs of the Embassy in Paris, Jayatilleka said,

Major General Silva set to flee Britain

Major General Prasanna de Silva, Sri Lanka's military attache at the high commission in London, is to return to Sri Lanka in the next few days, amid allegations of war crimes and an increasing moves towards legal action, reported The Guardian newspaper on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Sri Lankan government has refuted any connection between the legal proceedings and Silva's departure, claiming it to be a "routine transfer matter".

Speaking to The Guardian, he said,

It doesn’t pay to think

Dayan Jayatilleke’s position as Colombo’s ambassador to Paris is under threat because of opinions he aired in the wake of the recent UN Human Rights Commission’s resolution against Sri Lanka, press reports said.

IMF approves $427 million loan to Sri Lanka

The International Monetary Fund has approved the final tranche of the recently suspended $2.6 billion loan granted in 2009.

Sri Lanka has been struggling to implement economic reforms tied to the loan, however the IMF’s board of directors said in a press release on Monday that the implementation of certain measures has put Sri Lanka on the right path.