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 maintains proscription on LTTE but details errors by the Home Secretary

Tamil Eelam flags at a protest in Geneva, 2019

The UK Proscribed Organisation Appeals Commission (POAC) rejected an appeal by the Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) to lift the ban on the Liberational Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), yet details several errors made by the British Home Secretary, James Cleverly. 

Interview with Gavin Haran - British Tamil running to become UK Member of Parliament

With the 2024 UK General Election set to take place on July 4, more British Tamils than ever before have been named as candidates with a range of Britain’s political parties. The Tamil Guardian interviewed the candidates who are hoping to become one of the UK’s first-ever British Tamil parliamentarians.

Interview with Uma Kumaran - British Tamil running to become UK Member of Parliament

With the 2024 UK General Election set to take place on July 4, more British Tamils than ever before have been named as candidates with a range of Britain’s political parties. The Tamil Guardian interviewed the candidates who are hoping to become one of the UK’s first-ever British Tamil parliamentarians.

 

Meet the British Tamils running to become UK Members of Parliament

With the 2024 UK General Election set to take place on July 4, more British Tamils than ever before have been named as candidates with a range of Britain’s political parties.

The Tamil Guardian caught up with the candidates this month, as they vie to become one of the UK’s first-ever British Tamil parliamentarians.

Sri Lanka slams ‘hypocrisy’ over Gaza, but still refuses justice for Tamils

Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry criticised the “double standard and hypocrisy” shown by some countries over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and called for “upholding international law,” despite his government refusing to address crimes committed against the Tamil population on the island.

Sabry made the remarks addressing the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, earlier this month.

Another war criminal appointed Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka’s Army

Major General Rohitha Aluwihare, the former commanding officer of the General Officer Commanding 11 Infantry Division - Central and representing the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment has been appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan army, as another official accused of war crimes receives a promotion from the military.

Watch in full - British Tamil hustings 2024

The first ever British Tamil hustings took place last week, as representatives from the UK’s major political parties pledged to work towards justice and accountability for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

Watch the full recording of the event below.

50th anniversary of Pon Sivakumaran's sacrifice commemorated in Switzerland

The Swiss Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) hosted the “Manavar Eluchi Naal" (Tamil Students Uprising Day) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pon Sivakumaran's sacrifice in Kollinken, Switzerland on Sunday.

Pon Sivakumaran, who gave his life 50 years ago in 1974 at the age of 24, is remembered as the first martyr in the Tamil resistance. On June 5, 1974, surrounded by the Sri Lankan police and fearing torture, he swallowed cyanide and took his own life.

Sinhala nationalist MP calls for Sinhala schools throughout Tamil North-East

A Sinhala nationalist politician has called for Sinhala language schools to be set up in the Tamil homeland across the North-East, as he addressed parliament.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna's Member of Parliament Gevindu Kumaratunga stated that all 25 districts in the country have Tamil medium primary schools and that the absence of Sinhala medium schools in the North and East “is a matter of concern”.

More Sri Lankan police officers fly to Delhi for Indian training

A group of 23 Sri Lankan police officers have left for New Delhi to attend a two-week course on subjects such as “terror financing, internal security dynamics, and Islamic fundamentalism” as part of a fully funded Indian training program for the Sri Lankan security forces.