Amidst the uproar over Kollywood star Vijay Sethupathi’s impending appearance as Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, came the news that Eelam Tamil singer and actor Teejay Arunasalam had already declined a major role in the film.

The London-based artist who made his Kollywood debut last year, starring in Asuran alongside Dhanush, revealed earlier this week that he had been approached by the makers of the controversial ‘800’ biopic to play the young version of Muralitharan.

The president of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Thol. Thirumavalan, has expressed his concern over the Tamil actor, Vijay Sethupathi’s role in the upcoming ‘800’ movie in which he is to act as former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, as controversy around the upcoming film continues to grow. 

The VCK have previously raised their opposition in relation to the actor’s role of a man who has been a “consistent apologist for Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism and has frequently disparaged the Tamil nationalist movement."

Yesterday, a tweet from Thirumavalan directed at Vijay Sethupathi read:

During their annual conference, senior British government ministers and MPs, within the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), raised “deep concerns” over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and withdrawal from the UN co-sponsored resolution.

During the conference, government officials maintained their commitment to the resolution and stressed that if Sri Lanka failed to meet said commitments, alternatives avenues will need to be pursued.

Sir Ed Davey, the newly elected Liberal Democrats leader, has backed calls for sanctions against Sri Lankans accused of war crimes and called for greater recognition of the genocide of Tamils, as he spoke on the issues Eelam Tamils face in their pursuit for justice with the Tamil Guardian last week.

Speaking to Tamil Guardian on his plans for the party’s policy on Sri Lanka, Davey slammed Colombo’s withdrawal from commitments made to the UN Human Rights Council and pledged to ensure that any future British trade and economic engagement with Sri Lanka has human rights at its centre.

The Sri Lankan Muslim Media Forum expressed their disapproval over the attacks on journalists in the Tamil homeland this week and insisted that they “strongly condemn these two incidents”.

While elephants are under threat all over the world, elephants in the North-East have come under increased threat due to improper waste management.

The Jaffna Press Club held a protest in Mullaitivu demanding press freedom following a recent assault on two Tamil Guardian correspondents while working on a story on illegal deforestation. 

Justice C.V. WIgneswaran, Jaffna MP and former Northern Province Chief Minister, delivered a speech to the New Indian Forum last Sunday on India’s role in the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, drawing on his own experience to call the amendment “fundamentally flawed”.

Briefly explaining the history of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord of 1987, Wigneswaran then held forth on how ineffective the 13th amendment has practically been in ensuring devolution of power to the Tamil provinces and bringing about regional autonomy.

One of Sri Lanka’s largest powerful Buddhist monasteries has denied that it released a statement which called the Sri Lankan government’s proposed 20^th Amendment to the constitution “regressive” and urged it not to be passed.

As outrage builds over Vijay Sethupathi’s latest film on controversial Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, the production company behind the film released a statement on Wednesday pledging not to “belittle the struggles of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka or hurt their sentiments in any way”.

Dar Motion Pictures, the company behind the controversial ‘800’ biopic, however went on to claim that the film is “purely a sports biography” and “does not make any political statement favouring any community”.