• India must play an active role in resolving the Tamil national question in Sri Lanka – GTF

    Feb 05
    The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) called on the Indian government to take “an active role in resolving the Tamil national question in Sri Lanka” and for closer engagement with Tamil diaspora groups across the world.

    Speaking to the New Indian Express, GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran said India’s role is vital “not just as the regional super power but as the closest neighbour who also has a large Tamil constituency”.

    “Historically, India has played an active role in attempting to resolve the Tamil national question,” he said and called for “formal engagement and acknowledgement” by the Indian government with the Tamil diaspora.

    Stating that although progress has been made on the island, Mr Surendiran said it has been “very slow” and highlighted a number of steps that the Sri Lankan government was yet to take.
  • UN Human Rights chief says he will 'listen to everything' as he arrives in Sri Lanka
  • Indian FM discusses political solution and militarisation with TNA

    India's minister of external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, met with a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Friday.
  • India to renovate schools and hospital in North-East
    India on Friday signed agreements with the Sri Lankan government to build a hospital in the East and renovate schools in the North.

    Twenty-seven schools in the North will be renovated and a surgical unit will be constructed in Batticaloa hospital, the spokesperson of India's ministry of external affairs, Vikas Swarup, said on Friday via Twitter.

  • Sri Lankan police construct Buddhist shrine in Jaffna

  • Sri Lanka: Looking for a deal, not truth and justice – Frances Harrison
    Deep rooted reform in Sri Lanka is not on the government’s agenda writes Frances Harrison, in a piece for Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka.

    The author of Still Counting the Dead and former BBC correspondent noted that for Sri Lanka, “it’s getting impossible to paper over embarrassing public differences between the country’s President and its Prime Minister on the issue of war crimes”.

    “The most immediate crisis is over interviews the President gave to the BBC and Al Jazeera in which he rolled back on the country’s commitments in Geneva regarding international involvement in a special court yet to be set up,” she said. “Tamil victims don’t have faith in a process that’s purely domestic - it’s not a question of ability and professionalism - but one of trust, given many of the alleged war criminals are still in positions of power.”

    “Worse still, the President now says there were no war crimes, perhaps just a few human rights violations by the odd rotten apple in the military,” she added. “No matter that a UN investigation has been very clear the violations were systematic and widespread and could result in convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity when tested in a court. “But perhaps not in the court currently envisaged for Sri Lanka.”
  • Swaraj says India 'fully satisfied' with Sri Lanka's programme - Daily Mirror

    The Indian government is fully supportive of Sri Lanka's programmes and is grateful to the new administration's policies on reconciliation and development, visiting foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said according to the Daily Mirror.

  • Tamils in Trincomalee call for return of disappeared persons

    Tamil protestors in Trincomalee marked Sri Lankan Independence Day on Thursday, by staging a demonstration calling for the return of their loved ones who have disappeared.

    The protests took place alongside others across the Tamil North-East, where families of the disappeared called for the government to be held accountable for the missing.

  • Zeid to arrive tomorrow for 4 day visit
    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein will commence his four day visit of the North-East and Sri Lanka tomorrow.

    "During his visit, the High Commissioner will discuss a range of current challenges and opportunities for strengthening the rule of law and protection of human rights in Sri Lanka, including reviewing the implementation of the recommendations made in his report to the Human Rights Council, and in its subsequent Resolution 30/1 on “promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka," his office said in a statement on Friday.

  • Wigneswaran appreciates national anthem being sung in Tamil
    The chief minister of the northern province, C V Wigneswaran welcomed the Sri Lankan government's decision for the national anthem to be sung in Tamil on Thursday at a ceremony marking Independence Day, reported Adaderana.

    "Although it is a very small action in the name reconciliation it should be appreciated and that now a background has been created to foster unity and brotherhood between communities," he was quoted by the paper as saying.

  • Tamil Nadu parties concerned about Sri Lanka's constitution plans
    Tamil Nadu's DMK and MDMK parties expressed concern on Friday, over the Sri Lankan president's statement that the new constitution will not be based on the idea of a 'federation', reported AFP.

    "If the doors of Federation are not opened and rights not devolved, how can Tamils live with dignity, relief and equality," DMK leader M Karunanidhi said.

    "Sirisena's announcement that there will be no possibility for federation amounts to rubbing salt to injury," he added, demanding that the Sri Lankan military should be withdrawn from the North-East.

  • World is watching says US on Sri Lanka's independence day

    Sri Lanka is being watched by the world said the US Under Secretary for Management Organisation of American States during an independence day address to Sri Lanka’s High Commission in the US.

    Welcoming Sri Lanka’s co-sponsoring of the UNHRC resolution and returning of some lands to Tamil owners, the Patrick F Kennedy said,

    “The world is watching Sir Lanka. Your solutions, if successful, can become the blueprint for future nations, who are trying to find their way back to peace, justice and harmony.”

    Full statement reproduced below.

  • India foreign minister meets Sri Lanka prime minister to discuss bilateral issues
    India’s External Affairs Minsiter Sushma Swaraj on Friday met with Sir Lanka’s prim minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss Indian investment and the Trincomalee harbour area, reports firstpost.
  • Tamils in Amparai mark Independence Day with protest for the disappeared

    Dozens of Tamils in Amparai held a protest demanding information regarding their missing relatives as the Sri Lankan government celebrated Independence Day in Colombo on Thursday.

    Women held photos of their missing loved ones, and demanded answers from the Sri Lankan government regarding their whereabouts.

  • Kilinochchi protestors demand information on their missing loved ones

    Protestors in Kilinochchi joined others across the North-East on Thursday, demanding the Sri Lankan government reveal the whereabouts of their missing relatives.

    Taking place as the Sri Lankan government held a military parade to celebrate Independence Day, Tamils in Kilinochchi joined others across the North-East in protest.

Subscribe to Tamil Affairs

Most-Read Articles

Velupillay makes history as first Tamil at a FIFA World Cup
Photograph: @Socceroos Nishan Velupillay has been selected in Australia's squad…
Tamil rapper arrested for ‘terrorism’ over TikTok video
A Tamil rapper from Kilinochchi has been arrested and remanded under Sri Lanka's…
Supreme Court challenge filed as Tamil artist remains jailed under PTA
A fundamental rights petition will be filed before Sri Lanka's Supreme Court seeking…
Catholic divide deepens as North-East clergy defend Tamil genocide recognition
A Tamil woman mourns in Mullivaikkal on Tamil Genocide Remembance Day, May 18. A…
Sri Lankan police halt Eelam song at Jaffna concert, summon singer Kokulan
  Three Tamils, including singer Kokulan, the son of late musician S.G. Santhan,…