Responding to the planned visit of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to the UK to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, British Tamils have expressed their concerns.
In Britain and in the Tamil homeland, Tamils commemorate the passage of Britain’s longest-ruling monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on 8 September.
The latest draft United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for massacres in Sri Lanka shows yet again the ineptitude of the international system to deliver justice for crimes committed more than 13 years ago. Following years of growing militarisation, crackdowns on civil society actors, and ongoing human rights violations, the latest resolution asks victims and survivors to place their faith in the Sri Lankan state. This is the same Sri Lankan state that the former UN High Commissioner acknowledges has actively reversed progress on accountability by appointing war criminals to head government ministries. The latest draft falls far short of what has been needed for years.
A remembrance event was held in Mullaitivu yesterday to mark 23 years since a Sri Lankan military airstrike killed at least 24 Tamil civilians in Manthuvil.
To date, no one has been held accountable for the killings.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) parliamentarian Angajan Ramanathan paid tribute to Lt. Col. Thileepan this week, as he shared a video to mark 35 years since the LTTE political leader began his hunger strike.
I have always considered Gautham Vasudev Menon a vastly overrated director. Other than ‘Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu’, his films seemed cold and ultimately hollow. His most recent feature film ‘Enai Noki Paayum Thota’ continued this trend of stylish metropolitan storytelling, despite some interesting visual choices. For Vendhu Thanindhadhu Kaadu, Menon collaborates with Silambarasan TR and AR Rahman for the third time following 2010’s ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’ and 2016’s ‘Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada’. Third time might indeed be the charm, because VTK is mostly a success.
Tamils across the North-East held various events in the homeland to mark the 35th anniversary since Lt Col. Thileepan’s began his hunger strike in Jaffna, demanding the Indian government honour the pledges made to the Tamil people.
Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE, began his fast on September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people gathered around the historic Nallur Kandwaswamy Temple in Jaffna.
Today marks 35 years since Lt Col. Thileepan began his hunger strike at Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in protest against the failure of the Indian government to honour the pledges made to the Tamil people.
Thileepan began his fast on 15th September 1987, surrounded by over 100,000 supporters, and died 11 days later, on the 26th September 1987.
In a new report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that 30 percent of the population in Sri Lanka is “experiencing acute food insecurity” and need urgent assistance.
Tamils in Batticaloa and Jaffna held demonstrations today calling on the Sri Lankan government to protect the human rights of civil society organisations and human rights defenders.
Leaders of the Mullaitivu Association of Relations of Enforced Disappearances condemn Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry's statements at the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in which he rejects international accountability mechanisms citing a need to protect the "sovereignty of the people of Sri Lanka."
A draft United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka has called for the "re-energising" of failed Sri Lankan mechanisms ignoring long-standing calls from Tamils for a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
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