<p><a></a>The Tamil National Alliance, condemned President Sirisena’s act of using presidential powers to pardon the infamous leader of the Bodu Bala Sena Gnanasara Thero, as taking majoritarianism to ‘another level.’</p> <p>In a statement released today, TNA spokesperson, MA Sumanthrian said,</p>

The international community continues to fail the Tamil people, ten years on from the Mullivaikkal genocide, by rewarding Sri Lanka’s lack of progress with increased engagement and bilateral support, the Washington-based advocacy group PEARL has said.

“Ten years later, the Sri Lankan government has taken limited action to address Tamil grievances, including demands for accountability,” the organisation said in a statement on May 18.

As part of a series marking the atrocities of Mullivaikkal, land protestors from Keppapilavu shared their reflections on their experiences and the struggles they continue to face a decade on. 

<p>Amnesty International calls for accountability in Sri Lanka warning that a continued failure to deliver on the transitional justice process would further fuel violence.</p> <p>Amnesty’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, warned that “as long as there continues to be impunity for series crimes under international law, Sri Lanka will not be able to decisively break from that [violent] history”. He further stated, “the wounds of the past will only heal if there is justice, truth and reparation”.</p>

Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena has granted a pardon to Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the leader of the extremist Buddhist monk organisation, Bodu Bala Sena. 

Students at the University of Jaffna yesterday called for the charges against two student union leaders and a canteen owner to be dropped and said they would boycott classes until then. 

Sri Lanka today extending the state of emergency by one month, following the Easter Sunday attacks by Islamist extremists last month. 

Issuing a special gazette the Sri Lankan president said, "I am of the opinion that by the reason of a public emergency in Sri Lanka, it is expedient, so to do, in the interest of public security, the preservation of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community." 

The emergency regulations, which grant the state's security forces additional powers, have been used to carry out widespread search operations, detentions and arrests. 

Events were held in Toronto and Ottawa this week, as thousands of Tamils gathered to mark a decade since the genocide at Mullivaikkal.

At Albert Campbell Square in Toronto, Tamils were joined by parliamentarians and community leaders as they laid flowers before a Tamil genocide memorial.

 

 

The victims of the Easter Sunday bombings were remembered this week, one month on from the attacks which left over 250 people dead. 

An exhibition was held by the Tamil Information Centre this weekend, showcasing the history, culture and politics of the Tamil people on the island in memory of the massacres in Mullivaikkal a decade ago.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Tamils of Lanka: A Timeless Heritage’, brought together a variety of artwork, historical texts and carefully preserved artefacts that provided a glimpse of Tamils throughout the ages on the island.