A commemoration event has taken place at Kilinochchi, to mark thirty-five years since the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s State President, K. Annamalai stirred controversy in a tweet that claimed that only India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, could solve the problems of Sri Lanka and of the Eelam Tamil people.

The tweet featured an outline of Tamil Eelam with a tiger featured over the Tamil homeland.

Today marks thirty-five years since the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle.

Across the world, the day is being commemorated as Tamil Women’s Day, an opportunity to honour women’s involvement in the fight for Tamil rights.

Speaking in parliament, Tamil National Alliance MP, M.A. Sumanthiran slammed the Sri Lankan police’s response to a peaceful demonstration staged by Tamil fishermen in Mullaitivu and charged Sri Lanka’s fisheries minister with promoting illegal fishing methods.

Addressing Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena pledged to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 as well as to release all detained LTTE cadre, who have languished in prison for years.

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People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) called the recently adopted resolution on Sri Lanka a "step in the right direction" but noted that the it could have been "stronger and more critical" of the Sri Lankan state. 

In a statement reacting to resolution 51/L1, the organisation said:

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the green light to a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed against the former President and Prime minister, Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, over their responsibility for Sri Lanka’s economic collapse.

The leader of Tamil Nadu’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Seeman claimed that celebrated film director Vetrimaaran will work with him to create a movie about the life of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

National Award-winning film-maker Vetrimaaran called on the Tamil film industry to remain political and “connected”, as he slammed attempts to distort the secular nature of Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the 60th birthday celebrations of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, the celebrated film director said “constantly our identities are being taken away from us”.

Sri Lankan soldiers have been accused of providing protection for fishermen who have been involved in illegal activities in Mullaitivu, after police fired tear gas at demonstrators this week.

Tamil National Alliance MP MA Sumanthiran said that he and fellow party member Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had been followed by a Sri Lankan intelligence officer as they left for a meeting in Colombo, labelling the move “a threat to our lives”.

Sri Lanka’s president was forced to backtrack this week, after his claim that Japan had agreed to co-chair a meeting with negotiators over Colombo’s international debt was denied by government officials in Tokyo.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister told Economy Next that he expected that a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for mass atrocities would be passed, despite lobbying member states to water down the text of the document.