Tamils gathered in Maravanpulavu, Jaffna, today to eat Mullivaikkal Kanji to remember what victims and victim-survivors of the 2009 genocide endured.

Over 300,000 Tamils were trapped in the Sri Lankan government designated 'No Fire Zones' in the final months of the armed conflict and  were subjected to daily bombardment by Sri Lanka's military. The Sri Lankan government limited the entry of food and medicine into these zones. 

At the unveiling of the ‘Tamil Community Memorial’ in Sydney, Australia, Piraikumaran Perinparasa reflected on the courage and legacy of his father, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), paying tribute to his bravery and sacrifice.

The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Palaly police station threatened to arrest Tamil protesters, who were demanding the release of their occupied lands, for erecting a temporary rain shelter on the fence of a military Commander's bungalow during a protest on Friday (May 15). 

A set of historic Chola-era copper plates from the Netherlands will be repatriated to India, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing the return as “a joyous moment for every Indian”.

In a statement shared on X this week, Indian Prime Minister Modi said the copper plates, dating back to the 11th Century, would be returned from the Netherlands after having been preserved for decades at Leiden University.

Tamils in Mannar observed the sixth day of  Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week today by distributing Mullivaikkal Kanji to commemorate the massacre 

Tamils across the North-East held remembrance events and distributed Mullivaikkal Kanji on May 16, to mark the fifth day of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week. 

This year marks 17 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal where at least 169,796 Tamils are unaccounted for or presumed dead following Sri Lanka's military offensive in the final months of the armed conflict. 

See photographs from events in the Tamil homeland below. 

The devotional film genre had disappeared from mainstream Tamil cinema for a while until radio jockey turned actor turned director RJ Balaji brought it back with his 2020 directorial debut ‘Mookuthi Amman’. For his third film, RJ Balaji dives back into the genre, this time teaming up with actor Suriya for ‘Karuppu’, a devotional-courtroom-masala film centring the guardian deity Karuppuswamy. 

A memorial dedicated to the victims of the Tamil genocide was officially unveiled on Saturday, 16 May, in Sydney, Australia, bringing public recognition to the mass atrocities committed against Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict.

The memorial is located at the Peace Garden in Civic Park, Pendle Hill, and was opened by Ola Hamed, Mayor of Cumberland City Council, alongside local political representatives, community leaders and members of the Tamil diaspora.

Speaking in the Senate during Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week, Australian Senator David Shoebridge said the world remembers the “appalling crimes inflicted upon the Tamil people" by the Sri Lankan government during the final months of the armed conflict.

Australian MP Hugh McDermott has called for the recognition of the Tamil genocide and justice for the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military against Tamils.