Scottish Tamils remember Maaveerar

Hundreds of Tamils in Scotland marked Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of commemorations held to remember those killed fighting for Tamil liberation.

Tamils in Finland mark Maaveerar Naal

Tamils in Helsinki observed Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of worldwide commemorations to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

Canadian city of Brampton to twin with Vavuniya

The Mayor of Brampton intends to sign a Sister City agreement in the coming weeks, that will see the Canadian city twin with Vavuniya in the North-East. “Brampton is one of Canada’s most culturally and linguistically diverse municipalities, and is home to a growing and dynamic Tamil community of approximately 20,000 residents who are actively engaged in commerce, politics and charitable activities,” said Mayor Linda Jeffrey in a statement released last week. “This agreement would strengthen existing economic and cultural ties while encouraging commerce and the exchange of goods and services...

Home of Tamil journalist attacked in Vavuniya

The home of a journalist attached to the Theepam newspaper was reportedly attacked in the early hours of Monday. The Island reports that the home of the paper’s Vavuniya provincial correspondent Kumarasingham Gokulan was damaged in the incident, but there were no injuries. Sri Lankan police are reportedly launching investigations.

Sri Lankan troops and Buddhist monks distribute supplies to Tamil school children

A group of Sinhala Buddhist monks and Sri Lankan soldiers from the 66 Division distributed school supplies to Tamil children in Ponnakari on Boxing Day, reports an official army website . Almost 200 Tamil schoolchildren from the Kiranchi Government Tamil Mixed School, some as young as 5 years old, were present at the military ceremony, which reportedly “got underway with the blessings of the Security Force Headquarters - Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN)”.

Sri Lankan Army offers 'helping hand' to Jaffna jobseekers

The Sri Lankan army has held employment awareness workshops for the unemployed youth of Jaffna, "with the sheer intention of exploring possibilities of getting employment openings for the unemployed in the Jaffna Peninsula" according to the official army website.

Sri Lankan military gives handouts to pregnant women in Kilinochchi

The Sri Lankan military's 66 Division this week gave handouts to pregnant Tamil women in Poonakary, Kilinochchi. The army's website described it as "another step forward to provide community assistance and reconciliation among the nations and in order to expect wealthy child birth from rural and low income families pregnant mothers".

PHU tells Ranil to reveal secret promise made to TNA

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) on Monday urged the Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to reveal what promises he had made to the Tamil National Alliance and western forces, the Daily Mirror reported. Highlighting statements made by the TNA spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran and the chief minister of the Northern province, C V Wigneswaran urging the government to fulfill its promises, the PHU general secretary MP Udaya Gammanpila reportedly said, “everyone stresses the Government to fulfill their promises, but nobody is willing to reveal what are these promises." "The government has...

Sri Lankan soldiers warns Sirisena of Ranil and OMP

A group of Sri Lankan soldiers met with Maithripala Sirisena last week to warn him that Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would fill the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) with those who “couldn’t stomach Sri Lanka’s victory over LTTE terrorism”. The National War Heroes' Unity headed by Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara met with the Sri Lankan president last week, reports the Ministry of Defence. The group told The Island that the president had been warned of attempts by both Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and TNA leader R Sampanthan would “utilise unsubstantiated accusations to...

Buddhist monks tell Ranil not to remove shrines from North-East

Photograph: The Island Senior Buddhist monks met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday, to urge him not to remove Buddhist shrines from the Tamil North-East and ensure that Buddhism continues to receive the foremost place in the island’s constitution. Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte and Asgiriya met with Mr Wickremesinghe in Kandy and complained that “archaeological sites” in the North-East “had been encroached upon by unscrupulous elements,” according to The Island. The Mahanayake Thera of Malwatte went on to state that the chief monks reiterated “the need to retain...

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