Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

British Tamil engineer Arun Rajkumar became an unexpected face of Mercedes’ Austrian Grand Prix celebrations after stepping onto the Formula 1 podium and lifting the race-winning constructors’ trophy for the team. Rajkumar, who was born into an Eelam Tamil family, is a trackside power unit engineer for Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, the Brixworth-based division that designs,…

BBS protesters issue death threats to Tamil chief minister

Photographs have emerged of Sinhala Buddhist protesters brandishing death threats to the Northern Province Chief Minister during a demonstration in Vavuniya this week.

“We all need to live in peace or you rest in peace,” threatened one placard held by a protester.

Another read “Bin Ladan. Prabakaran. Now Vignashwaram (sic)." 

“Last episode will be televised soon,” it warned.

SLMC reassures Sinhala Buddhists over new constitution

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) looked to assure Sinhala Buddhists that any new constitution for the island will not threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Rauf Hakeem stated that a new constitution will not divide the island and that it would not be a threat to Sinhala Buddhists on the island.

See more from Colombo Gazette here.

His comments come as Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday, against Tamil demands for federalism. 

Sri Lankan army backtracks over list of missing surrendered

The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence.

Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have been seen since.

SLFP accuses Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions

The Sri Lankan Freedom Party's senior vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva on Thursday accused the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions during his speech at the mass Tamil rally on September 24, Ezhuka Tamil. 

Buddhist monks protest against Ezhuka Tamil rally

Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday against the mass Tamil rally that took place last weekend, Ezhuka Tamil.

SLFP says no federalism. no foreign judges

The Sri Lankan Federal Party (SLFP) on Thursday categorically rejected the inclusion of foreign judges in any accountability mechanism and said it would never support a federal structure. 

“We, the SLFP, will never support to divide the country via a federal structure under any circumstances. It’s not possible to get two thirds majority without our support for the new constitution,” minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a presss conference in Colombo.

Sri Lankan army will ‘do what it must’ warns commander

The commander of the Sri Lankn army warned that the military will “do what it must” in response to comments made by Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran.

Speaking to reporters after paying tribute to Sinhala Buddhist monks, Army Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said he would protect the "unity" of the country as well as "national interests" according to Colombo Gazette.

Sri Lanka drops 3 positions in Global Competitiveness Index

Sri Lanka slid down 3 positions in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness index to 71st out of 138 countries.

Whilst South Asia continued an upward trend in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) Sri Lanka, received a rating of 4.19 out of 7, which saw it drop 3 places.

Summarising Sri Lanka’s position the report said,

Buddhist vihara employee arrested over Hindu temple fire in Trincomalee

A man employed by a newly constructed Buddhist vihara in Trincomalee has been arrested over a case of possible arson, after a neighbouring Hindu temple was set alight this week.

The man, Saman Nanayakkara from Kandy, is accused of setting fire to the Malai Neeli Ammam temple.

Tensions escalated in the region after the temple, which had been standing in the East for some 300 years, was destroyed during the armed conflict. Though attempts by Tamils to reconstruct the temple on its original site were made, Buddhist monks blocked the move and constructed a vihara close to the original site in June 2009.

IMF not harassing Sri Lanka says deputy minister

Sri Lanka's deputy minister of public enterprise developement, Eran Wickramaratne on Monday rejected media reports which said the finance minister was being harrassed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Local media had quoted the finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake as saying, "we have another 55 days for the budget, and as the finance minister, I get harassed, by nobody else than the IMF."