Today marks 38 years since the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle.

Across the world, the day is being commemorated as Tamil Women’s Day, an opportunity to honour women’s involvement in the fight for Tamil rights.

 

Sri Lanka’s former Human Rights Commission commissioner warns against signing the Rome Statute, arguing it would expose soldiers already under international travel bans for war crimes to further prosecution.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has defended the government’s decision not to call for a vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the latest resolution concerning the island, while reiterating Colombo’s rejection of international accountability measures long demanded by Tamils.

A Sinhala Buddhist monk has launched a hunger strike in Tangalle demanding the restoration of state security for former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, following the government’s recent decision to scale back protection for former heads of state.

The former president and secretary of the Vedukkunaari Malai Aathi Shivan Temple in Vavuniya have been summoned for questioning by Sri Lanka’s Counter-Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID), raising renewed concerns over state intimidation of Tamil religious leaders.

A memorial known as the “Unquenchable Lamp,” erected in Jaffna to demand justice for the Chemmani mass graves, was found vandalised early on Thursday, just weeks after it was first set up by protesters.

Booker Prize–winning author Arundhati Roy has drawn parallels between the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities against Tamils, warning that world leaders are “watching what Netanyahu can get away with” and setting a new “bar” for state violence.

In September 2025, the Sri Lankan military intensified its presence in the Tamil homeland. The Sri Lankan armed forces continued to embed themselves in schools, children's homes, churches, and community events across the North-East.  Packaged as "civil-military relations" and "trust-building," these initiatives work to normalise a permanent military presence and keep the state involved in Tamil spaces.

A memorial discussion titled “Mirage of Justice” was held in Jaffna on Monday in remembrance of Dr Kasipillai Manoharan, who courageously fought for justice for the five Tamil students shot and killed by the Sri Lankan military in Trincomalee in 2006, as well as in memory of the murdered youths themselves.

Tensions flared in Mannar this week as residents of Pesalai drove away a team conducting a sand survey for a proposed wind power project along the village’s southern coast.