Sri Lanka’s Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) has summoned Tamil activist K. Sinthujan of Trincomalee for questioning for the second time in two months, in a move that has fuelled further concerns over ongoing surveillance and harassment of Tamils in the North-East.
Sinthujan, an activist linked to the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), has been ordered to appear at the Trincomalee CTID office on 4 September at 9 a.m. for what police describe as an “investigation” related to “terrorism.”
This latest summons follows an earlier order in July, when CTID questioned Sinthujan in connection with a remembrance event held in 2023 for Thileepan, a senior LTTE political leader who fasted to death in 1987 demanding Indian action against Sri Lanka’s repression of Tamils. The event, organised in Trincomalee, was violently disrupted by a Sinhala mob at Sardhapuram as the procession made its way through the town. Sinthujan, who was among those affected by the attack, is now being questioned by authorities. He had also contested the most recent parliamentary elections as a candidate of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF).
Tamil activists say the repeated targeting of Sinthujan underscores Colombo’s ongoing criminalisation of Tamil memorialisation and political activity.
He is not the only Tamil figure to face such scrutiny in recent months. In August, CTID also summoned Sanmugaraja Jeevaraja, a former Kilinochchi local councillor, over the collection of school equipment. He was ordered to appear before the CTID office in Colombo on 25 August.
Human rights defenders have condemned these summons as part of a broader campaign of intimidation aimed at stifling Tamil political voices in the North-East.
