Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R Sampanthan refused to answer several questions on Sri Lanka’s flag and the armed Tamil struggle in a hot-headed interview with Sooriyan FM last week, where he distanced himself from spokesperson M A Sumanthiran as the party’s senior leadership continued to come under criticism.

Speaking to Sooriyan FM, Sampanthan became visibly irate during the interview, shaking his fist and refusing to elaborate on several questions, stating that many topics were “old stories”.

May 31, 1981 marked not only the burning of the Jaffna Public Library, but the beginning of a week-long rampage of violence by Sri Lankan security forces and Sinhala mobs which devastated the peninsula.

The violence and devastation was largely ignored by the island’s mainstream press, and even in Tamil Nadu reports did not reach the media for many days, as a result of the shutdown of press throughout the North and general censorship imposed by the Sri Lankan government. Notably, the office and presses of Eelanadu, a prolific Tamil daily coming out of Jaffna since 1959, were burnt to the ground by the mobs. The famous Poobalasingam Book depot was also burnt.

At midnight on May 31, 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.

Chinnakannu Kittinan, a 63-year-old farmer, is amongst those who have been hardest hit – having suffered from both the massacres at Mullivaikkal and the state’s militarised COVID-19 response. And yet, he remains resilient, working through most of his day despite his age and the scorching sun, before going home to cook and care for his family. 

Today marks 12 years since the death of Brigadier Balraj, a senior commander with the LTTE, who passed away from a sudden heart attack in 2008.

Brig. Balraj was famed for his courage, leadership and skills on the battlefield.

Senior British politicians from across the political spectrum have commemorated eleven years since the massacres at Mullivaikkal with messages calling for accountability and genocide recognition, whilst also praising the British Tamil community for their resilience.

See messages from British lawmakers below.

Despite the Sri Lankan state’s efforts, Tamils across the North-East lit candles and laid flowers in commemorative events to mark 11 years since the massacre of tens of thousands of civilians in Mullivaikkal.

Marking 11 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18^th 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. After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN found evidence suggesting that 70,000 were killed. Local census records indicate that at least 146,679 people are unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed.

Tamil National Alliance spokesperson M A Sumanthiran said he 'bows his head' and paid his respect to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, after he provoked widespread outrage from across the Tamil political spectrum, including condemnation from within his own party, following comments made in a Sinhala interview earlier this week.

Despite his response in Tamil, his initial comments accepting Sri Lanka's lion flag and national anthem sparked widespread anger and outrage amongst Tamils across the North-East, with condemnation from even normally supportive fellow lawmakers in his own party.

Today marks 44 years since the passing of the Vaddukoddai resolution, a document that 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.

The Vaddukoddai resolution, spearheaded by SJV Chelvanayakam, was unanimously adopted by the Tamil United Liberation Front on May 14th, 1976.