Various political parties and members of the public have joined together to form a collective aimed at resisting the ongoing Sinhala colonisation and Buddhistisation of the traditional Tamil homeland in Vavuniya, while also protecting the properties of Tamil people.

The life and death of Annai Poopathy was commemorated at the Jaffna University on 12th April. The event marked the 35th anniversary of her hunger strike to death. Annai Poopathy, who was an active member of Batticaloa - Amparai Mother’s front, began a hunger strike demanding an immediate ceasefire to the violence by the Indian Peace Keeping Force and negotiations to take place with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam. The commemoration was organized by the Jaffna Univeristy Students' Union.

Photo credits: FreemalCruze(C) 2016 

Tamil journalist and human rights defender, Ramachandran Sanath, was summoned for interrogation by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). TID has refused to disclose the purpose of the inquiry. 

Around noon on 9th April, a Buddha statue mysteriously appeared in Cheddikulam, Vavuniya.

The statue, about a foot and half in height, was placed atop a few bricks that were stacked by unknown persons, in front of the old railway station, by the side of the Cheddikulam - Mannar highway.

On 23rd March 2023, the Sri Lankan naval forces arrested 12 fisherfolk on two boats near Analaitivu for illegal fishing within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Sri Lanka. They were then presented to the Kayts Magistrate Court for their charges.

One of the 12 individuals arrested had previously been arrested and produced in court for the same charges within the last 12 months, as was revealed during the court proceedings. This person was subsequently sentenced to 14 months in prison, while the other 11 fisherfolk were released.

Furthermore, since the owners of one of the boats were among the arrested fisherfolk, the boat was seized by the government of Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the owner of the other boat was not present during the hearing, and the date for the next hearing on the case has been fixed to the 8th of May.

The 17th anniversary of the assassination of Tamil activist Vanniasingham Vigneswaran was commemorated by the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) last week.

Several Tamil families in the village of Manarkerni have called on the Mullaitivu District Secretariat to clear their occuiped lands so they can engage in agricultural activities.

The families hold the deeds to the lands although they are currently occuiped by Sinhala settlers. 

A grand midnight mass was held at the St. Sebastian Cathedral in Mannar to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. The service was a joint service that combined the congregations of many parishes in Mannar and was led by Right Reverend Dr. Fidelis Lionel Emmanuel Fernando and other priests from neighbouring churches. Security for the service was provided by the Police and the Army, following the Easter Bombings, in 2019.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Sri Lankan government to repeal its proposed replacement to the Prevention of Terrorism Act and urged international partners that a failure to comply with international human rights standards may risk trade benefits.

The Sri Lanka Army is considering exporting army-farmed ration packs to foreign militaries in order to generate foreign exchange.