Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Illustration:  Aravinthan Ganeshan Familiar scenes played out across the island last week as Sri Lanka marked 77 years since the end of British rule. In the Sinhala south, lion flags were hoisted with pride and Colombo’s streets saw yet another military parade. But in the Tamil North-East, a starkly different picture was evident once more. Black flags were raised, protests were held…

Man dead after being attacked in Trincomalee

A 24 year old man died following an attack by four unidentified men in Trincomalee, Batticaloa News reported.

The attack occurred in Mavadisenai region of Batticaloa. The man who is yet to be identified was admitted to hospital, where he died, succumbing to his injuries.

A post-mortem investigation is to be carried out, said police.

53y old man found dead in Batticaloa

Photograph Ada Derana

Body of youth found inside Batticaloa woods

Photograph Ada Derana


The body of 22 year old man was found on Sunday within cashew tree woods in Batticaloa, Ada Derana reports.

The body has been identified as that of a 22 year old Tamil man named Nallaratnam Uthayakumar.

UNP leader warns Sinhala Buddhists will be at risk if other races not safeguarded

Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the opposition party, UNP warned that "to save the Sinhala Buddhists in the island, all the other races must also be safeguarded," the Colombo Page reports.

"If this is not guaranteed, the other races might go to international community to ask for their rights," he said, speaking at a UNP event at Gampola, in Kandy district, criticising the government for not taking action to "save the name of the Sinhala Buddhists".

Refugee amongst three extradited to Sri Lanka by Malaysia

Three men, including at least one refugee, who were arrested by the Malaysian authorities earlier this month for alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, have been handed over to Sri Lanka and are being interrogated by the notorious Terrorism Investigation Department.

“The three LTTE suspects- Edmond Singharaja alias Seelan, Angurukankanamlage Indika Sanjeewa alias Mohamed Sanjaya Abdul and Abdul Saleem Bin Mohamed- were brought to Sri Lanka last night,” the Police media unit said in a statement, according to the Daily Mirror.

Locals protest against rape of 11y girl by SL navy in Karainagar



Locals in Karainagar protested on Friday against the rape of an 11 year old girl by Sri Lankan navy personnel in the town earlier this week.

Marching across the town, locals held placards demanding the Sri Lankan military end their occupation of the Tamil areas.

TNA says it has no faith in Presidential commission

The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) rejected the Sri Lankan president's recent appointment of three foreign experts to his commission into disappearances, stating that it had "no faith" in it, the Colombo Gazette reported.

Drawing attention to previous appointments to previous commissions the TNA spokesperson, MP Suresh Premachandran stated that those attempts "ended in failure", and pointed out that the "mandate of Presidential Commission had been expanded only after the UN Human Rights office launched an investigation on the war."

19y old woman found hanging in Jaffna

The body of a young woman was found hanging inside a house in Jaffna this morning, the Uthayan reports.

The woman, identified as 19 year old Selasta Anton, was reported missing to the police by her husband on Friday night, 10pm local time.

The body has been transferred to Jaffna hospital for a post mortem.


US should push prosecution of individuals in Sri Lanka - Congressional Caucus hears

The US has the opportunity to prosecute Sri Lankan war criminals and place sanctions on Sri Lanka, the Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka heard at a discussion last week. 

Sri Lankan politician jailed for killing of aid worker

A Sri Lankan politician with the ruling party and three other men have been jailed for the killing of British aid worker Khuram Shaikh, murdereded whilst on holiday in Southern Sri Lanka in 2011.

Sampath Vidanapathirana, a politician with reported close links to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was handed a 20-year jail sentence by the Colombo High Court, over the vicious Christmas day attack, where 32-year-old Shaikh was shot and stabbed and his Russian girlfriend raped.

The case has faced considerable delays with repeated accusations of political interference and witness intimidation. The accused was initially released and reinstated to his political post before being re-arrested following intense international pressure over the murder.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had cited the case as an example of Colombo’s failure to deliver justice and Prince Charles had reportedly taken a private interest in the case.