Over 8000 devotees attended the annual ther (chariot) festival at Shri Kanaga Thurkkai Amman Temple (SKTAT) in Ealing, London on 14th August 2011. The temple is one of twenty five established in London by the Eelam Tamil community over the past three decades. The ther festivals of the larger temples, such as 'Ealing Amman' as it is commonly known, routinely attract thousands of devotees from across the UK, and even Europe. Devotees began arriving at the crack of dawn to guarantee their place for the morning prayers. By 6am, the inner temple was at full capacity. Crowds began to gather outside...
The Athletics Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance in partnership with Canadian Tamil Sports Association (CTSA) hosted the 3rd Annual Tamileelam Challenge Cup last Saturday. On a sunny day, with many teams vying for the cup and the chance to be crowned champions, a large crowd from surrounding areas came to watch the football tournament and enjoy the day’s festivities. The under 16 tournament provided an exciting final as Scarborough Rangers F.C. played against Jarvis S.C. The game was pushed to a penalty shoot out as it ended in a stalemate in regular time. Scarborough Rangers managed to...
The national flags of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka were amongst forty paraded Saturday in Germany’s biggest stadium, the Westfalenstadion, before a football match between champions Borussia Dortmund and FC Nuremberg. Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s most successful football clubs, organised the parade of flags representing the nationalities of its players and supporters to demonstrate the diversity of its fan-base, and to protest a planned demonstration in the city on September 3 by right-wing groups. Over 30,000 people watched the parade, and 78,000 spectators watched the subsequent match...
Over 400 Tamils came together in Jakarta to launch the Indonesia Tamil Sangam (ITS) last month, the Jakarta Post reported. Members included Eelam Tamils and South Indian Tamils living in North Sumatra, Jakarta and West Java, as well as Australia, Singapore and the United States. The ITS was inaugurated by Munusamy, a resident of North Sumatra and industrialist by profession. The event featured young Bharatha Natyam dancers and popular singers from the Indian Tamil film industry - Mukesh and Priya. Bharatha Natyam Dance (Image courtesy Indonesia Tamil Sangam) Organisers hope the ITS will...
TYO activists raise public awareness in London (above, top), Sydney (below) and Paris (far below). Tamil youths in London, Paris and Sydney marked the anniversary of ‘ Black July ’ in recent days with activities to raise public awareness of the mass killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Members of the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) in Sydney and London handed out leaflets at central locations, while in Paris they organised blood donations and participated in a march. On Friday Tamil youths in Sydney handed out leaflets and spoke to members of the public passing through Martin Place, an iconic...
British Tamils held a candle light vigil Saturday evening opposite the Prime Minister’s official residence, 10 Downing Street, to remember victims of Sri Lanka’s 1983 ‘Black July’ anti-Tamil pogrom. Six days of mob violence, organised by ruling politicians and abetted by Sri Lanka’s security forces, which began on July 23 that year killed over three thousand people, and emptied the capital, Colombo, of Tamils. On Saturday, a thousand British Tamils dressed in black and carrying black flags and Eelam national flags, held a vigil between 6 and 9 pm, with lit candles and banners commemorating...
Activists from the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in Canada extended their “G for Genocide Campaign” this week, going door to door in Toronto’s North York region to raise awareness of Sri Lanka’s mass killings of Tamils. Activists handed out copies of the recent Channel 4 documentary, ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ to members of the public and collected signatures for a petition calling for international action. “We are meeting Canadians in their homes, informing them of Sri Lanka’s atrocities and abuses, as well as international inaction, and encouraging them to sign a petition today and to...
A charity dinner held last weekend by the Tamil Diaspora in Malaysia raised a whopping million Ringgit (US$330,000) to support the humanitarian efforts of Tamil Forum Malaysia (TFM). The funds will be used to support Tamils affected by the war in Sri Lanka, as well as Tamil refugees in Malaysia. The second half of the sum was raised on the night. (above) Malaysian politician Dr S Samy Vellu (r, seated) with GTF President Rev S J Emmanuel (l, seated) Children staged cultural performances at the well attended dinner at the prestigious members-only Golf Club. Malaysian politicians, academics,...
“Are you shopping at Big Bazaar or Mega Mart or Spencers? Check the product label. If it is from Sri Lanka, it is made of the blood of Tamils,” reads a pamphlet distributed by activists of ‘May 17 Movement’ in Chenai, Tamil Nadu. On Saturday, members of the ‘May 17 Movement’ stood outside popular shopping malls to garner the support of the upper class for their campaign against genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The members, clad in white T-shirts, on which were printed slogans highlighting the human rights violation in Lanka, held placards which read - boycott Sri Lankan products, cricket...
Sri Lankan embassy officials attempt to counter Tamils protesting against war crimes with a display of their own purporting to show how the military saved Tamil civilians. One day each year foreign embassies and some government institutions in Berlin throw their doors open to the general public to show their premises and promote their tourism potentials. This year the annual ‘All Nations Festival’, which has been organised for over decade by the German Foreign Minister, was held July 2. However, Sri Lanka’s efforts this year were confronted by an uncomfortable reality – German Tamils...