Sri Lankan police ordered the removal of Velupillai Prabhakaran's photograph from a banner outside his childhood home in Valvettithurai as Tamils marked his 70th birthday.
Tamils in Mannar are making preparations at Aadkattiveli Thuyilum Illam for Maaveerar Naal which will be marked by the Tamil nation on November 27. The volunteers are gathering the remnants of the destroyed gravestones so that families of fallen LTTE cadres and the public are able to commemorate those who gave their lives in the liberation struggle. Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP Thurairasa Ravikaran, along with ITAK Vanni district parliamentary candidate C. Thinesan, visited the Aadkattiveli Thuyilum Illam whilst preparations were underway.
British Tamil students walked 20km from Little Moore Bridge in Loughborough to Abbey Park in Leicester to remember the sacrifices made by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres. The students completed the walk in six and a half hours as Storm Bert swept the UK on Saturday. "We remembered that this is nothing in comparison to what our Maaveerar went through, so we should always power on," Lohith Sriskantharasa, Loughborough Tamil Society's President said. The walk was organised by Loughborough Tamil Society, Tamil Students Initiative and Tamil Youth Organisation. The society raised...
Three young Tamil men from Jaffna and Mullaitivu have found themselves caught in a war they never intended to fight, as they were forcibly recruited into the Russian army in the midst of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The men, who initially sought to travel to France and Belgium where they have relatives residing, are now trapped on the frontlines, and their families have urgently appealed to the Sri Lankan government for help in bringing them home.
More events were organised in Vavuniya this week, in the run-up to Maaveerar Naal on November 27, a day to commemorate those who gave their lives in the struggle for Tamil liberation. A Heroes' Parents Honoring Event was held in the Kanagarayankulam Periyarkulam area of Vavuniya in the lead up to Maaveerar Naal. The event was organized by the Vavuniya North Divisional Branch of ITAK. The ceremony featured a tribute to the fallen heroes, with participants lighting lamps in remembrance. A number of dignitaries attended, including ITAK General Secretary and Member of Parliament Dr. P...
Tamil students studying at universities in Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark, held events last week to commemorate fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres. The Tamil Eelam national flag was raised at the events and students lit candles in remembrance of the cadres who sacrificed their lives. The students also read poems and sang songs to pay tribute to remember the LTTE cadres. The song 'Nampungal Tamil Eelam Naalai Pirakkum' - believe it, Tamil Eelam will be born - played at the end to conclude the events. See more photographs below:
Preparations are underway at Vakarai Thuyilum Illam in Batticaloa ahead of Maaveerar Naal which will take place on Wednesday. Former Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren was present alongside a group of volunteers. Last week, Tamil volunteers preparing for Maaveerar Naal in Batticaloa were summoned by the Sri Lankan police over their preparation activities. Velayudhan Baskaran, a volunteer organising memorial activities at Tharavai Thuyilum Illam in Batticaloa, said the Officer in Charge (OIC) issued explicit warnings against organising any commemorative events. “They...
Sri Lanka's president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed retired general Aruna Jayasekara as deputy defence minister - a man who oversaw Sri Lankan troops as they raped minors in Haiti and was a platoon commander as the state crushed an insurgency led by Dissanayake’s party, the JVP. Jayasekara was second in command of the 3rd contingent to Haiti during a Sri Lankan peacekeeping operation that faced allegations of running a child sex trafficking ring during a UN peacekeeping operation from 2004 to 2007. An investigation by the Associated Press in 2017 found that 134 Sri Lankan peackeepers...
Following a visit to the North, China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong visited Kaluvankerni, a Tamil village in the Eastern Province which he has travelled to previously, as he pledged further financial aid aimed at improving livelihoods in the region. The Chinese embassy also announced an additional donation of 8 million LKR to support development efforts in the Eastern Province. Earlier this year, China contributed house units, fishing nets, and rice worth 1.5 billion LKR to the Northern and Eastern provinces. This visit to Kaluvankerni comes shortly after the ambassador's trip to...
The parents of fallen Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were honoured in Kilinochchi yesterday as the Tamil nation marks Maaveerar remembrance week.