Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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  The lawyer representing detained Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar challenged allegations that his client sought to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during proceedings before the Jaffna Magistrate's Court this week, arguing that the material cited by police contains no reference to the organisation or its leadership. Sangeethsan, better known by his stage name…

Black July commemorated in Jaffna with seminar and torch-lit protest

A public memorial seminar was held in Jaffna to commemorate Black July, bringing together political leaders and activists under the theme “Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow”

Sri Lankan police summon Tamil human rights activist in Sinhala only

Sri Lankan police have summoned Tamil human rights activist S. Sivayoganathan for further inquiry, months after he lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) over the suppression of a Tamil commemorative event.

Chemmani mass grave excavation continues – 104 bodies identified

Five more human skeletal remains were exhumed on Sunday from Chemmani mass graves, bringing the total recovered to 95

North-East unites in call for international probe into Tamil genocide

Protest across north east

Widespread protests were held across the North-East this weekend as Tamil families of the disappeared, civil society organisations, and human rights defenders rallied to demand an international, independent investigative mechanism into the genocide committed against the Tamil people.

Recognising statehood

This week, France’s president Emmanuel Macron announced his government would move to recognise the State of Palestine. Though not the first state, nor even first European country, to do so, as a G7 nation and permanent member of the UN Security Council, the move carries significant weight.

Chemmani mass grave - 90 bodies identified, so far

The bodies of at least 90 people, including children, have been identified at the Chemmani mass grave to date, as excavations continue under Sri Lankan court supervision.

Explainer: Another mass grave and the 1990 Sampur Massacres 

Following the discovery of another set of human remains in Sampur this week, just metres from where at least 57 Tamil civilians were murdered by Sri Lankan government forces in July 1990, we re-examine the massacres.

Ponnambalam slams government’s efforts to whitewash Black July

NPP officials in Jaffna this week.

Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader and Member of Parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam delivered a scathing speech in Sri Lanka’s parliament this week, condemning the government for whitewashing the memory of the Black July pogrom and enabling continued land appropriation in the North-East.

Jaffna commemorates 42 years since Black July pogrom


Commemorations marking the 42nd anniversary of Black July were held in Jaffna yesterday, as Tamils across the North-East remembered the victims of the state-sponsored anti-Tamil pogrom that took place in July 1983.

Earlier on Wednesday, students at the University of Jaffna gathered at the campus and laid flowers before a portrait the read the words “Black July Genocide”.  

In Pictures - “Viduthalai” protest calls for release of Tamil political prisoners

A symbolic protest titled “Viduthalai” (Freedom) was held at Kittu Park in Nallur today, with demonstrators demanding the immediate release of Tamil political prisoners still held under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).