The Tamil Sangam Rwanda held celebrations earlier this month, paying tribute to their Tamil heritage in an evening of cultural performances and traditional cuisine. Taking place in Kigali, dozens of Tamils gathered to participate in traditional festivities, which included bharatanatyam dance performances and koothu-style drama re-enactments.
The Tamil Nadu state government has decided to free all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, a move widely welcomed by all major parties in the state. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced the decision in the state assembly after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said the government would release the convicts, who include Eelam Tamils and Tamils from Tamil Nadu, V.Sriharan alias Murugan, A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Nalini, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran. "The state government will send the Cabinet’s decision to the Centre. If...
The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), was awarded $53,000 today in a successful defamation lawsuit against the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyyang Technological University in Singapore, Rohan Gunaratna. Justice Stephen E Firestone of the Ontario Superior court ruled in favour of CTC after a case was filed on 21 January 2014 against remarks made by Gunaratna that labelled the CTC as a LTTE proxy. Expanding on the reasons behind the verdict, Justice Firestone commented on Gunaratna’s remarks to Sri Lankan press, stating , “the statements were clearly defamatory , either directly or by innuendo, because they imply CTC is involved in the commission of violent and illegal activity. It is unequivocal and uncontroverted that these statements were, in fact, false and untrue. ” The National Spokesperson for CTC, David Poopalapillai, commenting on the court verdict, said, “The court's decision is vindication to CTC and its members and supporters. The surest way to attempt to destroy an ethnic group is to make its members afraid to even admit that they are part of that group for fear of being labelled terrorist sympathisers or terrorists themselves." He further added, " The Sri Lankan government and its sympathisers have labelled all Tamils as terrorists for far too long. This judgement is a victory not only for CTC but for Tamils everywhere.” A recent upper tribunal country guidance case on Sri Lanka, held in the UK also declared that Gunaratna was 'an insider in relation to the Government of Sri Lanka, and his views are interesting as a reflection of its mindset."
A resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council has called for transport links to be reestablished to connect the Tamil homeland to India. The resolution, presented by Councillor MK Sivajilingam and seconded by Kandaiah Sarveshwaran of the TNA, said flights should travel directly from Indian airports to the airports in Palaly in the Jaffna district and Trincomalee on the east coast. The resolution also called for a resumption of ferry services between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Thalaimannar in the Mannar district, and demanded that Kankesanthurai Harbour in Jaffna be named as a...
An international investigation into crimes by the Sri Lankan army will be supported by India, according to The Telegraph . The decision to support the campaign for an international probe, led by the UK and the US, will be a serious blow to the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the British daily said, adding that India’s status as a regional power will increase the likelihood that a resolution will pass at the Human Rights Council. Officials are waiting to receive the draft resolution, but "political considerations" rather than concerns over its relationship with Colombo will determine...
Members of the Indian parliament, headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa walked out of Lok Sabha earlier today, slamming India’s “inaction” over fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan security forces. In response to the question of what the government was doing to secure the safety of Indian fishermen from the Sri Lankan Navy, raised by the leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj as well as from members from AIADMK, DMK and Congress, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath stated that, “We share the concerns of the members over the situation faced by the fishermen. A large number of...
Sri Lankan police have continued to block access to a site in Trincomalee where skeletal remains were found last week, sources have told the Tamil Guardian. Workers, who were digging a well, uncovered skeletons at the playground in Trincomalee last Thursday and police have since blocked all access to the site. Video of the police blocking the Trincomalee grave site. Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, a witness who wished to remain anonymous stated that access to the site was still being blocked by the Sri Lankan police. A local judge was reported to have visited the area, but still the...
UN Human Rights chief Navaneetham Pillay’s forthcoming report to the Human Rights Council, extracts of which appeared this weekend in a Sri Lankan newspaper, makes a clear and unambiguous call: for an international investigation into the mass atrocities of the final months of the island’s civil war. The High Commissioner’s call will be welcomed by the diverse array of actors, both ‘local’ and international, who have been steadfastly campaigning for five years for accountability for the war crimes and crimes against humanity in which at least 70,000 people were systematically slaughtered in 2009. In particular, it will be enthusiastically welcomed by the Tamil people, for whom the mass killings – described by an earlier report by a UN panel of experts as amounting to ‘systematic targetting' and 'persecution’ of them – constituted genocide by the Sri Lankan state.
Three men who were sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, have had their sentences commuted by India’s Supreme Court. Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan have been imprisoned for more than 20 years and were sentenced to death by hanging in 1998. After submitting mercy pleas, they were kept in a state of limbo, until in 2011 when their pleas were rejected. Intervention by the Madras High Court saw their executions delayed, until today, when the decision was finally taken to remove the men from death row. Yug Mohit Chaudhary, representing the men...
Media minister Keheliya Rambukwella has said that countries friendly to Sri Lanka are planning to submit a resolution supportive of the country. Rambukwella told the Daily Mirror that the move was not initiated by the government. “The decision to submit a Sri Lanka-friendly resolution at the UNHRC sessions is entirely an independent move by friendly countries with the Government having no hand in it. We are remaining aloof because any interaction with them will give a wrong impression,” he said.