When officers of the Jaffna District Crime Prevention Division arrested a 24-year-old rapper from Kilinochchi on 2 June over videos of a music performance, they invoked one of the most feared pieces of legislation on the island: the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Today marks 52 years since the death of Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran, the first Tamil to die in the liberation struggle. 

Sivakumaran was a member of the Tamil Manavar Peravai (or Tamil Student Federation, TSF) and a leading militant in the early armed Tamil struggle. With decades of Sri Lankan state repression and deadly anti-Tamil pogroms already having taken place, Tamil militant movements began to form. Sivakumaran was involved in assassination attempts on both Somaweera Chandrasiri and Alfred Duraiappah.

All photographs by Uthayarasa Shalin

Thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal commemoration ground this morning to mark Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. 

This year marks 17 years since Sri Lanka's genocidal offensive that left an estimated 169,796 Tamils unaccounted for and presumed dead. 

To mark 17 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day’.