The leader of the Tamil National People's Front, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam MP was arrested at his home in Colombo this morning. The party have confirmed that after being taken to Kollupitiya police station, Mr Ponnambalam is being transported away from Colombo, purportedly to Jaffna.

Tamil Nationalist People’s Front (TNPF)  leader and MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has been issued an international travel ban by the Kilinochchi Magistrate Court until he produces himself at the Maruthankerny police station over an incident where Ponnambalam has been found to be an “accused person” after a Sri Lankan intelligence officer wielded his gun at the Tamil MP.

A message has been circulating on Whatsapp today stating that the Sinhala extremist group Sinhala Ravaya will submit a letter to the Speaker of Parliament regarding the “misbehaviour and misuse of parliamentary privileges” by the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) leader and MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.

Last week, Tamil commemorated the 33rd anniversary of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) massacre of nine civilians in Puthoor, Vatharawathai.

The memorial comes amidst an ongoing culture of suppression of Tamil memorials. 

A former political prisoner from Vavuniya, Selvanayagam Ananthavarnan, has been summoned by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on June 7th.

The Officer in Charge (OIC) at Maruthankerny police station has informed TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam that he is “an accused person” in last week’s Maruthankerny incident and that he may need to be questioned and arrested. 

Sri Lankan police have arrested the Tamil National People's Front's (TNPF) Vadamaradchi East Organiser Ms. Arulmathy days after an incident at Maruthankerny where a police intelligence officer pointed his gun at TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Sivagnanam Sritharan, condemned the intimidation of Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, after a Sri Lankan intelligence officer pointed his gun at the TNPF leader.

Sritharan slammed the incident as an illustration of “extreme repression”. He added that it shows the harm “the military and state investigators can pose to the normal lives of ordinary Tamil people”.

A Sri Lankan police intelligence officer pointed his gun to Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam after he was attacked during a meeting in Maruthankerny. 

On Monday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a US 350 million dollar loan for Sri Lanka. 

The loan comes as part of a broader financial assistance package anchored by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for the island. 

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved proposals to establish a South African style, “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” (TRC) despite continued demands from Tamil on the island for an international investigation into war crimes.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya remembered the 42nd anniversary of the burning of Jaffna library. 

Flowers were laid and candles lit to commemorate the burning which was orchestrated by the Sri Lankan state. 

^{Cover art by Sagi Thilipkumar}

At midnight on May 31, 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.