Features

Features

Latest news from and about the homeland

File photograph: Karaitivu Beach (Gowshan Nandakumar) It was a quiet morning on 12 April 1985 when Karaitivu, a small coastal Tamil village in the Amparai district of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, was plunged into terror. As villagers prepared to celebrate the Tamil New Year, armed mobs - composed largely of Muslim men and backed by Sri Lankan security forces - descended upon the village and…

Tamil youth beaten to death by Sri Lankan Intelligence officials

Chandran Vithusan, 22

A young Tamil man, who was arrested by the Sri Lankan Intelligence Division last night at a house in East Iruthayapuram, Batticaloa, has died in detention this morning. 

The body of Chandran Vithusan, 22, who was arrested outside his house in East Iruthayapuram by people who identified themselves as intelligence officers at 10.30pm last night, has been handed over this morning. 

Tamil nation defies Sri Lankan state to mark Tamil Genocide Day

Vigils and memorials to the tens of thousands massacred by the Sri Lankan state at Mullivaikkal have taken place across the Tamil homeland, despite an onslaught by the Sri Lankan state in recent days to prevent commemorations.

Sri Lankan army locks down Mullaitivu on eve of Tamil Genocide commemorations

12 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal

Marking 12 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 Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested.

LIVE: British Tamil youth remember Tamil genocide

Watch live as Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYOUK) and UK Tamil societies come together to remember those killed in the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan state in 2009.

Marking 45 years since the Vaddukoddai resolution

Today marks 45 years since the passing of the Vaddukoddai resolution, a key milestone in the Tamil struggle for self-determination.

The document concluded an independent state of Tamil Eelam was needed to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil nation in Sri Lanka and remains a cornerstone of the Tamil movement for self-determination.

Tamil students celebrated for achieving top grades in the North-East

Several bright Tamil students from Mullaitivu and Mannar districts were celebrated after A-level examination results were released last week. Despite  various challenges brought by the coronavirus pandemic, including the intensifying militarisation in the North-East regions of the island, the successes of these students became a great cause for celebration. 

Mullaitivu district

45 years since the birth of the LTTE

On this day 45 years ago, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was founded.

Remembering Isaipriya

This weekend marked the 39th birthday of Isaipriya, a famed Tamil newsreader that was executed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

Missing bombs – Controversy after Sri Lankan artillery fire removed from Mullivaikkal memorial

The 'reconstructed' monument unveiled last week, missing sculptures of Sri Lankan shells landing on the outstretched arms.

As authorities at the University of Jaffna unveiled a supposedly reconstructed monument to those massacred at Mullivaikkal last week, there was controversy as key elements of the memorial depicting Sri Lankan military shelling had been entirely removed.

Replacement Mullivaikkal memorial unveiled at Jaffna University

The replacement Mullivaikkal memorial was unveiled this morning at the University of Jaffna, after it was destroyed by Sri Lankan authorities earlier this year.