The British Tamil Conservatives (BTC) hosted their annual reception at the Conservative Party Conference on this weekend, where ministers and parliamentarians came and pledged to work towards justice in Sri Lanka.

Tamils across the North-East held local events to remember the death of Lt Col Thileepan on September 26, 1987, after he fasted unto death in protest at the Indian government's failure to fulfil its pledges to the Tamil people.

Today marks 31 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

Thileepan began his fast on the September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people gathered around the historic Nallur Kandwaswamy Temple in Jaffna. As he began his strike he put forward 5 demands to the Indian government.

Thirty-one years on, Tamils continue to call for the demands made by Thileepan. 

See a video of his famous speech below.

Sexual violence against Tamil men by the Sri Lankan state was ‘widespread’ and ‘egregious’ both during and after the war, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) concluded in its latest report, launched at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today. 

The report analyses testimonies collected by the organisation over four years, which show Tamils have been disproportionately affected by sexual violence by state security forces, both during the war and in the post-war context, and that sexual violence has been committed to a large extent by those in Sri Lanka’s “extensive security apparatus who profit from a culture of impunity.”

The testimonies used in the report were from Tamil men in ages ranging from the youngest aged 14 at the time of the violations to the oldest victim in his late forties.

Tamils across the North-East today marked 31 years since Lt Col Thileepan began his fast unto death, demanding the Indian government upheld its promises to the Tamil people. 

Over 100,000 people gathered at the Nallur temple in Jaffna on September 15, 1987 to hear his words as he began the hunger strike. 

He was my favourite uncle, the youngest in my mother’s family, who was named after the Tamil deity, Lord Murugan - the true protector of language heritage and the Tamil culture, as my grandmother (Ammamma) would always say. He was her last son, her favourite. A most mischievous being that she loved and spent the majority of her final years protecting. He survived abuse during the time the Indian army came onto the island and lived through war and witnessed the genocide of his people, before he was forced to let go of the one person he dreamed of sharing his life with.