The Arts and Culture Council of the Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance (CTYA) presented its much anticipated annual dance competition on Sunday June 19 at the prestigious John Bassett Theatre. ‘Thaalam’, the interuniversity and college dance competition featuring youth dancers from across Canada, and was hosted with various Tamil Students Associations (TSAs) from academic institutions across the country. Teams put on energetic and colourful performances, cheered on by supportive contingents from their respective institutions. A common theme was the celebration of the Tamil identity and homeland. “...
Tamil activists leafleted Saturday outside the Rose Bowl cricket ground in Hampshire where Sri Lanka is playing the third and final test match against England, to raise further awareness of war crimes in the final months of the island’s war and to build support for a cricket boycott . Activists of the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO-UK) set up banners opposite the giant wickets at the ground’s entrance, and handed out leaflets and chatted with arriving spectators. Amid press reports of poor ticket sales and restricted capacity for the Rose Bowl test match, the TYO staged a short and...
British Tamil sports teams competed at the 20th annual sports festival on May 29 for trophies in football, volleyball and netball. The event was hosted by the British Tamil Sports League (BTSL), which took it over from the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO). The BTSL , formed in 2004 to manage leagues for Tamil Diaspora football tournaments, now also conducts those for volleyball and netball. The British Tamil Sports Council ( BTSC ), whose chairman presented winners with their prizes at the day’s end, is another. Many of the teams competing trace their heritage, reflected in their names...
Tamil activists in Germany participated at the International Pentecostal Youth Meeting on June 11 in Gelsenkirchen, raising awareness of the Sri Lanka’s persecution of the Tamils, and marking Tamil Student Uprising Day. The International Pentecostal Youth Meeting brings together youth groups, youth associations, bands, sports groups, youth clubs, parties, other organizations and individuals from around the world. Representatives of the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) Germany staged an exhibition of Tamil heritage, distributed leaflets and held discussions with youth from Germany and other...
The Tamil Youth Organization (TYO-Canada) organized sports and cultural events on June 11 and 12 in honour of Pon. Sivakumar, a Jaffna Tamil student activist in the early seventies who committed suicide on June 5 1974 to escape torture in police custody. To mark the 37th anniversary of Sivakumar’s death, TYO organized its annual soccer tournament in partnership with the Canadian Tamil Sports Association (CTSA) on Saturday June 11, and on June 12 held a memorial event with cultural performances, dramas, speeches, and poems performed by Canadian university and high school students. “Pon...
Rain that drenched Tamil youth activists conducting a major leafleting effort in support of the ‘Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket’ campaign on Saturday, the third day of Sri Lanka’s first test match against England, proved a blessing in disguise when it stopped play till lunch, allowing them to canvass crowds of spectators milling outside the Swalec Stadium in Wales. Two dozen activists received warm support and encouragement from spectators, including several members of England’s colourful ‘Barmy Army’, as they handed out leaflets and conversed with them over several hours, organizers said...
Two student societies at St. Georges Medical School of the University of London - the International Tamil Society (ITS) and Amnesty International (AI) - cohosted a bake sale on Monday May 23 to raise awareness of war crimes and rights abuses in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and to raise funds for a children's charity and rights advocacy campaigns. Drawing undergraduate and postgraduate students and other visitors, the day-long event was intended to inform future health professionals in Britain and elsewhere on war crimes in Sri Lanka and rights abuses there and in Zimbabwe, organisers said. The...
As part of the activities marking Tamil Genocide Remembrance Month, Tamil youths in Canada organised a tree planting event in Downsview Park, Toronto, on Sunday May 22. The planting of numerous trees to commemorate the victims of the peak in May 2009 of Sri Lanka’s genocide, was organised by the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO-Canada) in partnership with Evergreen, a not-for-profit environmental organization. “The trees we planted will stand in future as a living memorial to the countless Tamils who were systematically murdered by the Sri Lankan government,” said TYO member Thurga Vijayapavan...
Tinai: potuviyal (general heroism) Thurai: porunmolikkanci “How can it be you that don’t have any grey hair though you have lived for many years?” You have asked the question and I will give you an answer ! My children have gone far in learning. My wife is rich in her virtue! My servants do what I wish and my King, who shuns corruption protects us! And in my city there are many noble men who through their deep Knowledge; have acquired calm, have become self-controlled, and the choices they make in their lives are built on the quality of restraint ! - When Kopperuncolan was sitting facing...
Extracted from ‘An Anthology of Poems from classical Tamil: The Purananuru’ translated and edited by George L Hart and Hank Heifetz. This is part of our selection from the Purananuru, chosen to represent some of the feelings of the Tamil people as, two years on, they remember the events of 2009. Tinai: patantinai (praise or elegy as well as asking for gifts) Thurai: iyanmoli Don’t speak of your doubts to me, saying “Yes we may have heard of him But we’ve never seen him at all though many years have passed. Yes, he has the right to sit beside you as your familiar friend Of faultless conduct,...