Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Mannar Urban Council Chairman Daniel Vasanthan has strongly condemned the arrest of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), stating that the detention reflects a situation where "Tamils do not even have the freedom to sing". Speaking at a media briefing held at the Mannar Urban Council on Friday, Vasanthan criticised the decision to arrest the…

UK university students condemn racist attacks

 

 

University Tamil societies from across the UK have released a statement condemning the racist attacks outside the Oval on Monday.

21 Tamil societies joined together to denounce the attacks and commend the peaceful campaign of the activists, while questioning the lack of response from police forces to assaults.

 

 

"We the British Tamil youth are shocked by such racially motivated attacks and the malicious and spiteful slogans such as "F*** Tamils” and other expletives hurled at the peaceful men and women, several of whom sustained injuries from the incident. At this time we commend the Tamil activists caught up in the violence, for remaining steadfast in their purpose as peaceful campaigners even in the face of such violence and abuse."
 

Assaulted #BoycottLKA activist calls for calm

Following the violent scenes of Tamil 'Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket' activists being assaulted by Sri Lankan cricket fans, on Monday night outside the Oval in London, Tamil Guardian spoke to one of the organisers, Thusiyan.

Dr. Sivashankar released

A Tamil doctor, who was arrested in December 2012 after attempted to release a Tamil woman from a Sri Lankan military base, was released on Monday morning.

Dr Sivashankar was released by the Mullaitheevu Magistrate, N. Ganesaraja, without charge.

See: Doctor arrested by SL military (30 Dec 2012) and our editorial: Ruling the Law.


CHOGM to depict 'correct image of SL'

The Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, Karunathilake Amunugama said that through the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the 'correct image of Sri Lanka could be depicted to the international'.

Australia's practice of returning Sri Lankans is reckless'

Writing in the Guardian's 'Comment is free' section, Emily Howie - a lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre and a leebron fellow at Columbia university - said the new 'enhanced screening' is jeopardising Sri Lankan asylum claims, and described Australia's deportation of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka as "reckless".

See here for full opinion. Extract published below:

"Australia's practice of returning Sri Lankans is reckless. Not only does the country turn a blind eye to the harm that the they may face on return, it does so on the basis of a diminished understanding of individuals' claims for asylum and without adequate monitoring back in Sri Lanka."

BREAKING NEWS: Sri Lankan cricket fans assault #BoycottLKA activists

Sri Lankan cricket fans throw rocks and bottles at 'Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket' activists handing out leaflets outside the Oval, London. BST: 21:24

Displaced Tamil housing needs ignored - TNA

TNA's Batticaloa MPs have complained that hundreds of Sinhalese families, unaffected by the war, will benefit from the Indian housing project in the East while displaced Tamils are ignored.

Speaking to the Indian Express, Ariyenthiran MP said that the TNA were not against housing being allocated to Sinhalese or Muslims but that they opposed the inclusion of families that were not displaced.

Reconciliation'

President Mahinda Rajapaksa takes photographs with Tamil schoolchildren in Kilinochchi. The 'people's president' according to Ambassador Bandula Jayasekara, Consul General of Sri Lanka in New South Wales, Australia...

Buddhist monks police Colombo

A Buddhist organisation, the Ravana Balaya, manhandled a group of evangelical Christians who were distributing religious magazines outside Colombo, reports Colombo Page.

Buddhist monks mobbed the Christian campaigners and handed them over to the police.

After facing further intimidation from the monks at the police station, the campaigners were eventually released.