Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Mullaitivu police arrested Tamil farmers who were cultivating farmland at the foothills of Kurunthurmalai, where a Buddhist temple has been illegally constructed.  The farmers were cultivating the privately owned land when they were obstructed by a Buddhist monk, Galgamuwa Shantha Bodhi, police and Department of Archaeology officials before they were arrested.  Bodhi, the head…

Review: 'If only Sharukh Khan'

'If Only Sharukh Khan', a play by Raani Moorthy, premiered in London yesterday, November 27th. Framed around three characters' love of the Bollywood actor, Shahrukh Khan, the play allows the audience enter the lives of three South Asian women including a former member of the LTTE.

Watching the premier last night and reviewing the play for Tamil Guardian, was Sinthujan Varatharajah...


China leads on loans to Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan government has received $1.9bn worth of loan commitments from other countries, with China leading the way.

China has committed $517mn up to September this year, with Japan committing $421.5mn, Asian Development Bank £371.2mn, World Bank $196.4mn, The UK $103.7mn and the US $64.9mn, according to LBO.

TNA sabotaging reconciliation - Gotabhaya

The Bodu Bala Sena, an organisation of Sinhala Buddhist monks has called for the arrest of TNA MP Sritharan for his comments in parliament praising LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, while defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa accused the TNA of trying to sabotage the reconciliation process.

Sri Lanka wise enough to deal with internal affairs – China

The Chinese embassy in Colombo said that Sri Lanka has made progress on human rights and reconciliation and called on the international community not to complicate matters.

"We believe that the Sri Lankan government and people have the wisdom and capacity to deal appropriately with their internal affairs," an emailed statement said.

Panelists discuss 'Sri Lanka's unfinished war' at FrontLine Club

A preview screening of the BBC World documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s unfinished war’, which outlines several cases of rape and torture against Tamils in the North-East, took place at the Frontline club today.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the producer of the documentary, Frances Harrison, producer of the No Fire Zone documentaries, Callum Macrae and policy and advocacy manager at Freedom from Torture, Sonya Sceats. The Sri Lankan High Commission to the UK refused an invitation to participate in the discussion.

The panel, chaired by a barrister at a London chamber who acted as a rapporteur to investigate the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice, Sadakat Kadri, discussed various issues and answered questions from the audience.

Full discussion can be viewed below.


Macrae  outlined that the lack of credibility of any investigative initiative set up by the Sri Lanakan government,

“The Sri Lankan government has an endless history of commissions that have amounted to nothing. And I think we’re going to see a lot in the run up to the UN sessions in March. I think a spurious reconciliation commission will be offered with the unfortunate help of South Africa, which will be used as an excuse to prevent things form happen. I’m sorry but from what they’ve done in the past, we can guarantee that almost any investigation will be spurious.”

Remembrance and Resistance

Today the Tamil nation unites in an act of collective remembrance. From gatherings in diaspora locales to silent moments of thought in the occupied homeland, Tamils pause to remember all those who gave their lives in protracted struggle against the genocidal onslaught of the Sinhala state. What began as commemoration of those who fell in a war of liberation is today the defining moment of solidarity in the cause of national resistance. Marking not the finality of death, but the solemnity of sacrifice, the symbolism of this single day, like no other, is a thread that unites the Tamil nation across the world’s borders and reiterates at once its identity and its unyielding defiance in the face of genocide.

Maaveerar Naal remembrance event begins in UK

 

 

Published 11:29 GMT

Thousands of Tamils have started streaming through the doors at the ExCel convention centre in London's Docklands, as the UK's Maaveerar Naal remembrance event opened its doors a little while earlier.

Jaffna based newspaper remembers

 

 

In amidst the Sri Lankan government's stifling repression of any acts of remembrance, staff at the Jaffna based newspaper, the Uthayan, planted trees and donating blood today.

 

Wigneswaran blocked from planned commemoration of Heroes Day

The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, CV Wigneswaran, was blocked from planting trees at the Thanthai Chelva memorial square in Jaffna, in remembrance of Heroes Day.

The CM and three of his councillors proceeded to plant trees on the premises of the provincial council’s education ministry.

Indian ship on ‘goodwill’ visit to Sri Lanka

The Indian government is continuing its post-CHOGM boycott grovelling to Sri Lanka, by sending a navy ship to the island on a “goodwill visit”, on the day Tamils mark their fallen.

See more here.