As LGBTQI+ communities around the world mark Pride Month, Tamils in Jaffna took part in an annual walk to mark the occasion, under the theme of “unity in diversity.”

The walk started in front of the Jaffna bus stand and reached the Jaffna Public Library through Chattra Junction and Farm Road. This year, the Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Eric Walsh also took part in the walk. 

Several South Asian leaders, including Ranil Wickremesinghe, attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony in Delhi.

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London owes more than £666,000 in congestion charge fees, according to Britain’s Transport for London which said it was “pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Court of Justice”.

Sri Lanka is on the list of several embassies in the UK that amassed the unpaid fees and fines from 2003 onwards. The congestion charge is a £15 daily fee that most motorists must pay to drive into central London.

The Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha in Mullaitivu district has informed the Canadian businessman who recently fenced off a road in Deonagar leading to the coast that he has no legal rights over it and the property belongs to the local council.

The decision is a big win for Tamil fishermen who have been protesting for years against the arbitrary decisions by the Canadian businessmen, Charlesjanthan Antony, the head of private Canadian company Canbe Foods Inc.

Local Tamils, students and members of the University community attended an event at the Law Faculty of UCLA to commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on May 18. The event titled ‘Reimagining Struggle, Collective Memories of the Tamil Genocide’ combined commemoration, education and discussion. 

An intoxicated Sri Lankan police officer reportedly lost control of the jeep he was driving and rammed into a nursery where nearly Tamil 40 children had been sitting last week. 

Leader of the Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa told Tamils in Jaffna that his party was for the implementation of the 13^th Amendment “in full”, as he pledged to devolve powers to the North-East with elections on the horizon.

Speaking in Nallur, Premadasa said he intended to make Jaffna, a ‘paradise of intellectuals.’ He went on to speak of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which calls for a degree of power devolution, and said the SJB believes the 13th Amendment should be enacted “in full”.

Tamil lawmaker M A Sumanthiran speaking at the People’s Forum in Jaffna this week told the audience that Eelam Tamils have made their desire to decentralise power clear and that there’s no need to repeat it through an election. 

“A common candidate is not beneficial and can be harmful, especially for the Tamil community. As Tamil leaders, we should not take part in events that destroy our identity,” he said.

A memorial was held to commemorate nine Tamils who were killed by the Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) in Jaffna in 1989.

Relatives of the massacred laid flowers and lit candles before portraits of them, alongside politicians including former Northern Provincial Council member Ananthi Sasitharan. The nine were killed by Indian troops in Vatharavaththai, in 1989.

A memorial obelisk which was erected to honour the murdered, but it was demolished by the Sri Lankan army in 2012.

The Sri Lankan government reimposed its ban on several Tamil diaspora organisations last week, as well as hundreds of individuals, claiming they are engaging in “terrorism related activities”.

Through an extraordinary gazette notification signed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, fifteen different organisations and 210 individuals are barred from entering or operating in the country.