Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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  The lawyer representing detained Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar challenged allegations that his client sought to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during proceedings before the Jaffna Magistrate's Court this week, arguing that the material cited by police contains no reference to the organisation or its leadership. Sangeethsan, better known by his stage name…

British Tamils stand in solidarity with Tamil Families of the Disappeared

Marking the international day of the disappeared, British Tamils took to the streets of London staging a protest in Trafalgar Square and calling on the British Prime Minister to deliver justice for the Tamil Families of the Disappeared.

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‘I stand with the Families of the Disappeared’ claims US ambassador to Sri Lanka

Marking the international day of the disappeared, US Ambassador Julie Chung issued a statement claiming to stand in solidarity with families of the disappeared and commended the work of civil society groups pushing for an end to enforced disappearances.

‘I stand with the Families of the Disappeared’ claims US ambassador to Sri Lanka

Marking the international day of the disappeared, US Ambassador Julie Chung issued a statement claiming to stand in solidarity with families of the disappeared and commended the work of civil society groups pushing for an end to enforced disappearances.

Tamil families of the disappeared mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances across North-East

Tamil families of the disappeared are protesting across the North-East today to mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. 

‘What unites the global Tamil community is a collective struggle against state violence’ - TG speaks with MedyaNews

In a wide-reaching dialogue with MedyaNews, Viruben Nandakumar, an editor for the Tamil Guardian spoke on the continued struggle for Tamil Eelam, the current crisis in Sri Lanka and the need for international action.

 

A global Tamil community

Nallur therthiruvizha in photos

This week thousands attended the Nallur Kandasamy Kovil’s annual grand chariot festiva - therthiruvizha

The iconic festival garners devotees from around the world who gather to see the temple's primary deity Murugan paraded through Jaffna. 

All photographs are by photographer V Mathumegalan.

How Sri Lanka betrayed Shinzo Abe

 

 

 

Across Sri Lanka, the country’s flag is flown at half-mast on 12th July to mourn the sudden assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “We have lost a prime minister who gave leadership to Asia,” wrote Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe in an obituary guestbook commemorating the Japanese leader. Despite Sri Lanka’s melancholic posture towards the Japanese leader’s demise, Sri Lanka’s foreign policy has posed a consistent thorn in Abe’s vision for a “free and open Asia-Pacific”.

Ahead of UNHRC session, Sinhalese protest in Geneva

Outrage as Chinese ambassador publicly attacks India and America

Writing in the Sri Lankan Guardian, Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhon sparked outrage as he publicly attacked India for its attempt to block a Chinese military vessel, “Yuan Wang 5”, from docking at the southern Sri Lankan port of Hambantota and slammed the US House Speaker’s visit to Taiwan.

A desperate smokescreen

As the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council nears, Sri Lanka’s Sinhala leaders scramble to present the country as on the verge of a democratic breakthrough. Plans to reform Sri Lanka’s draconian counter-terrorism legislation, decriminalise same-sex relations, and delist select Tamil diaspora organisations have been met with broad scepticism across the island. An illusion of a liberal bastion is impossible to maintain amidst a brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. Such gestures are nothing but a desperate smokescreen.