Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Hundreds march in Kilinochchi against limestone, sand mining and wind turbines
A protest march was held last month opposing limestone excavation, mineral sand mining and a proposed wind power project across the villages of Veravil, Valaipadu, Ponnaveli and Kiranchi, in the Poonakary Divisional Secretariat division of Kilinochchi. The demonstration was organised against plans to establish wind power stations and to carry out mineral sand and limestone extraction in the…

TNA MP condemns government for arrest of Tamil students

Aug 20, 2014
Tamil National Alliance MP Suresh Premachandran has slammed the Sri Lankan government for the arrests of Tamil students at Sabaragamuwa University, following an attack at the Southern university earlier this month.

Premachandran stated that "everyone is aware of the incident at the Sabaragamuwa University,” adding, “The police spokesperson has told the media that he tied his hands to his back himself and self-harmed.”

Commenting on the arrest of the second Tamil student, Uthayan quoted Premachandran as going on to say,
"Fellow student Yoganathan Nirojan, from Vavuniya was arrested for visiting the injured student, and he has been released on bail by Colombo Magistrate court. Is meeting a fellow student a crime? Do the police not see it as a humanitarian norm? Why was he arrested? All activities of police have political influences."

Sri Lanka should cooperate with UN inquiry – Ban Ki-moon

Aug 19, 2014

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked Sri Lanka to cooperate with the inquiry, led by the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Speaking at the UN’s daily press briefing, his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the Secretary General “fully supports” High Commissioner Navi Pillay and commended the leadership she demonstrated “to assist Sri Lanka in advancing accountability and reconciliation”.

Girl raped by soldier in Mannar

Aug 19, 2014
A Sri Lankan army soldier has sexually assaulted a Tamil girl in Mannar, the Uthayan reports.

The incident occurred when the girl went to buy rotti (flat bread) at a shop run by the army, by the army camp.

Locals report seeing the girl being taken into bushes by the soldier.

A case has been filed at court, with a court order having been issued for the soldier's arrest. The officer in charge has also been requested to attend court.

The girl, who has not been identified, has been admitted to Vavuniya Hospital following her ordeal.

Modi to meet TNA delegation

Aug 19, 2014
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be travelling to New Delhi to meet with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23, The Hindu reports.

The delegation will be headed by the TNA leader R. Sampanthan, and will include five senior members.

According to the paper, the delegation will also meet with India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, as well as the possibility of a meeting with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa.

Indian Prime Minister to discuss solution to fishermen issue

Aug 19, 2014
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a meeting tomorrow to explore a solution to the repeated arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, according to reports.

A senior government official told PTI,
"The PMO has called a meeting tomorrow to deliberate on India-Sri Lanka fishermen issues like illegal poaching and welfare of Indian fishermen among others."
Frequent attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy has led to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalithaa writing several letters to the Prime Minister, expressing her concern and calling for a “strong and robust" response to the arrests.

The Prime Minister's announcement that he will discuss the issue comes as 11 fishermen associations in Tamil Nadu declared they would “lay siege” to Pamban road, which connects Ramneswaran to mainland India. The fishermen are protesting against the continued detention of Indians by the Sri Lankan government and demand that their boats, which the Sri Lankans are refusing to release, be given back to them.

See more from the Hindu here.

Suicide rate in Jaffna increases since end of armed conflict

Aug 19, 2014
The number of suicides in Jaffna has increased since the end of the armed conflict in May 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Professor of Psychiatry at Jaffna University.

Data gathered by Dr Daya Somasundaran showed that in 2009, when the armed conflict was at its peak, the suicide rate in the Northern Tamil peninsula was 15 per 100,000. However, since the armed hostilities ended, the suicide rate has risen sharply to 25 per 100,000 in 2011. The figure dipped slightly in 2012, but by 2013, was back at its highest level.

The New Indian Express that Dr Somasundaran said during the war there was “a strong social support system” as “under the Lankan military siege, civilians clung together”. Since the end of the fighting though, “social cohesion and social support systems began to wear thin as families got splintered.”

Somasundaran reportedly went on to add that collective rehabilitation was needed for the Tamil population, since they experienced the trauma of war as a collective. Acts such as mourning, he added, had to be done collectively.

LTTE groups' encouraging students to protest says Gotabhaya

Aug 19, 2014
Sri Lanka's Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said groups linked to the LTTE were attempting to "create further problems in Sri Lanka" and pose a potential terrorist threat, the Business Standard reports.

"Some of these groups are trying to reorganise within Sri Lanka and mobilise people to once again take up their extreme left wing causes. There is information that some of these groups have started to establish ties to LTTE-linked agents to create further problems in Sri Lanka," he was quoted as saying.

"Some of their activities include radicalising students and encouraging them to take to the streets in various protests. Though such activities are still in their early stages, they pose another serious national security concern that must remain a consideration," he added.

Government should not 'pander to multi-ethnic obscenities' to gain support - BBS

Aug 18, 2014
The BBS leader told the Sri Lankan president to ‘not pander to multi ethnic obscenities’ and understand ‘the roots of the country and the value of the nation and who it rightfully belongs to,’ to gain the support of nationalist organisations, reports Colombo Page.

Gnanasara Thera told press that if the President did not agree with a ‘comprehensive policy framework’ submitted by the BBS, the group with join other nationalist organisations and field its own candidate to protect the ‘sovereignty’ of the country.

International pressure for human rights probe harmful to Sri Lanka - GL Peiris

Aug 18, 2014
The Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs said that international pressure on Sri Lanka to probe human rights violations and foreign funding for 'capacity building' were harmful to the country, reports Colombo Page.

"Because of the intensity of this pressure there is a disincentive to engage in earnest in a domestic process. Because of the conviction that far more is forthcoming by the application of pressure at an international level. And that is why this international pressure is not only not helpful, but is absolutely harmful," said GL Peiris at a Ministry of Defence seminar, on Monday, in Colombo.

Sri Lanka will deny visas to UN investigators says President

Aug 18, 2014
Sri Lanka will deny visas to investigators from the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights due to conduct the UN inquiry into mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan President said on Tuesday.

“We will not allow them into the country,” said Mahinda Rajapaksa when speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association, whilst adding that the domestic investigation panel had been strengthened to carry out its own investigation, reports Reuters.

Disregarding any future findings from the UN investigation, Rajapaksa, said,

“I don’t think anybody will take it [the UN investigation] seriously, other than the people who want it.”

Sri Lanka should cooperate with UN inquiry – Ban Ki-moon
Girl raped by soldier in Mannar
Modi to meet TNA delegation
Indian Prime Minister to discuss solution to fishermen issue
Suicide rate in Jaffna increases since end of armed conflict
LTTE groups' encouraging students to protest says Gotabhaya
Government should not 'pander to multi-ethnic obscenities' to gain support - BBS
International pressure for human rights probe harmful to Sri Lanka - GL Peiris
Sri Lanka will deny visas to UN investigators says President
Elderly Tamil woman found dead in Batticaloa
Sri Lanka should cooperate with UN inquiry – Ban Ki-moon
Girl raped by soldier in Mannar
Modi to meet TNA delegation
Indian Prime Minister to discuss solution to fishermen issue
Suicide rate in Jaffna increases since end of armed conflict
LTTE groups' encouraging students to protest says Gotabhaya
Government should not 'pander to multi-ethnic obscenities' to gain support - BBS
International pressure for human rights probe harmful to Sri Lanka - GL Peiris
Sri Lanka will deny visas to UN investigators says President
Elderly Tamil woman found dead in Batticaloa