French Tamils remember fallen heroes on Maaveerar Naal

The Tamil community in Paris gathered to mark Maaveerar Naal on Sunday, with thousands attending a commemoration ceremony. Relatives of fallen fighters were amongst those that came to pay their respects to the lives lost, in a ceremony that saw song and dance acts performed in tribute.

Maaveerar Naal in Vakarai, Batticaloa

Maaveerar Naal was marked in several locations in Batticaloa, including Kathiraveli, Vakarai with TNA MP S. Viyalenthiran in attendance.

Tamils in Norway observe Maaveerar Naal

Thousands in Norway marked Maaveerar Naal on Sunday,as Tamils across the world remembered their fallen heroes. The commemoration event saw dances from artists and speeches from Tamil activists, as thousands laid flowers before portraits of fallen Tamil fighters. See a video of the event below.

Interview with TNA MP M A Sumanthiran: the Constitution, Transitional Justice and the Budget

Tamil Guardian sat down with Spokesperson for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and MP, M. A. Sumanthiran at his home in Colombo last week to discuss matters of the constitution, transitional justice and the budget. The full transcript of the hour-long interview (with minor edits) is available here . On the Constitution Mr Sumanthiran was positive on the outlook of the recently released constitutional sub-committee reports, saying that a large percentage of what they contained “would be very acceptable to Tamil aspirations”. The parliamentarian said he believes that considering the Centre-...

Sirisena oversees National Buddhist think tank

The Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, oversaw the meeting of the National Buddhist think tank on Wednesday. The meeting included discussions on developing Privena education, building institutions for novice monks, establishing a Theravada Buddhist cnetre and launching an international festival to mark Vesak in 2017. See more here .

Cabinet approves 2 wind power plants in Chunnakam

Sri Lanka's cabinet this week approved the construction of two wind power plants of 10 megawatts each in Chunnakam, in the North-East. “The government has paid its attention on generating a larger portion of electricity requirement by renewable energy sources and it is proposed to establish solar and wind power plants,” the cabinet statement was quoted by LBO as saying. See here for more.

Thousands across Australia mark Maaveerar Naal

A series of commemorations events took places across Australia on Sunday, as Tamils across the country came together to mark Maaveerar Naal and remember the lives sacrificed for the liberation of the Tamil homeland. Thousands of people in five different locations across the country - Syndey, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne - held memorial events in line with Eelam Tamils across the world. See photos from the events below. Sydney Brisbane Adelaide Perth Melbourne Photographs: TYO Australia and Eelamurasu

Tamils detained under PTA granted bail by Sri Lankan court

A group of 11 Tamils who were detained in Jaffna by Sri Lanka’s counter-terrorism police have been granted bail by a court in Colombo on Wednesday. The Tamils were arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division for allegedly with committing offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). They have been granted bail in two sureties, worth one million rupees for each suspect. Reports indicate that the initial charges of violating the PTA would be dropped and instead the group would be tried for money laundering. The arrests took place after security forces launched a crackdown in the...

London students mark Maaveerar Naal

​ Student commemorations of Maaveerar Naal were held at the University College London, led by Tamil Youth Organisation UK last Wednesday.

SLFP will not agree to federal constitution says senior minister 

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Sirisena would not agree to a federal set-up in the new Constitution said senior minister of transport, Nimal Siripala de Silva this week. Addressing reporters in Kandy, Mr. De Silva stated clearly, "[t]here are three things that our party believes very strongly in the current constitutional reform process...The position for Buddhism must not be diluted, the unitary character of the state must be preserved and there cannot be a federal system." De Silva's statement comes a week after the Constitutional Sub-Committees released their reports to the...

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