Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu yesterday for local election campaigning saw an intense security clampdown across the district, with heavy deployment of armed forces and police. Security presence was notably heightened in key areas including Mullaitivu town, Mullivaikkal, and Puthukudiyiruppu. Members of the public attending the meeting…

Sri Lankan President claims he will take 'immediate action' to address enforced disappearances

Speaking to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Sri Lankan President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that he would take "immediate action" to address the issues of enforced disappearances and "would not hesitate to grant a presidential pardon to the Tamil youths who have been in custody for a long time".

Senior Tamil journalist P.A. Antony Mark passes away

Senior Tamil journalist P.A. Antony Mark passed away at the age of 78 due to ill health in a Mullaitivu hospital on Tuesday. 

Mark had been involved in a number of activities throughout his long career and in particular, he made significant contributions to the movement for justice for the families of the forcibly disappeared Tamils and for the release of political prisoners. He had also been at the forefront of protests and collective action that demanded justice for the Tamil community. 

SL Justice Minister denies 'racial motive' in Ratwatte incident

Sri Lankan Justice Minister, Ali Sabry, has denied that there was a "racial motive" incident in Anuradhapura prison in which State Minister Lohan Ratwatte forced Tamil inmates to kneel before him at gunpoint.

Sabry maintained that he would appoint a committee to investigate the matter but so far the only consequence the Minister has faced is to resigned from his post as State Minister for Prison Management and Prisoners Rehabilitation. Despite this Ratwatte has been able to maintain different cabinet portfolio.

Jaffna Magistrate Court imposes ban on Thileepan commemoration

The Jaffna Magistrate Court issued a ban earlier today commemorating the 34th anniversary of Lt. Col. Thileepan’s hunger strike unto death.

TNPF MP released on bail following arrest by Sri Lankan police over Thileepan commemoration

Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarasa Kajendren has been released on bail after he was arrested earlier today for paying his respects to Lt Col Thileepan, who sacrificed his life in protest against the failure of the Indian government to honour the pledges made to the Tamil people. 

Lasting results can only be achieved through home-grown institutions' - Gotabaya Rajapaksa speaks at the UN general assembly


Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed a willingness to work with "all domestic stakeholders" but maintained that domestic institutions were "essential to achieve lasting peace".

"Fostering greater accountability, restorative justice, and meaningful reconciliation through domestic institutions is essential to achieve lasting peace" Gotabaya stated.

Remembering the Nagarkovil bombings 26 years on

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Nagarkovil massacre, where the Sri Lankan air force bombed a school in Jaffna killing dozens of Tamil school children.

On September 22, 1995, a SLAF aircraft bombed the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam schoolyard crammed with 750 children on their lunch break, killing more than 30 – of whom 12 were six or seven-year-olds – and injuring 150 others. The overall death toll from the raids reached 71. The bombing occurred just hours after the Sri Lankan government imposed press censor­ship on the reporting of military events.

Liberal Democratic leader calls on British Foreign Office to impose sanctions on Shavendra Silva

Leader of the Liberal Democratic party, Ed Davy, has called on the British Foreign Office to impose sanctions on Sri Lankan army commander, and alleged war criminal, Shavendra Silva.

“Now is the time for the government to prove its commitment to deliver justice for the victims of genocide in Sri Lanka” Davies said.

Sri Lankan police allegedly recover 'high-powered LTTE claymore explosives' in Varani

Sri Lankan polices officers attached to the Kodikamam police station in Jaffna have allegedly recovered claymore explosives that they claim to be "produced by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)" in a forested area in Varani.

‘Tamil prisoners are suffering mental distress’ - TNPF MP after visiting Anuradhapura prison

Selvarasa Kajendran, an MP from the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), visited the Anuradhapura prison to meet the Tamil prisoners detained in it. Speaking to the press, he said that they are “suffering great mental distress” following the episode with former Prisons Minister Lohan Ratwatte who threatened to kill them and forced them to kneel.

Kajendran went to see the prisoners at the urging of their relatives who were worried about their family members’ plight during detention.