Locals in Mannar held an event to celebrate the revolutionary Tamil poet Subramani Bharathi, fondly known as Bharathiyar, last week in a show that celebrated Tamil culture, dance and literature.

Hindu, Catholic and Muslim leaders were invited to the event, alongside local politicians.

A group calling itself the “Tamil Eelam Cyber Force” has hacked yet another Sri Lankan government website this week, leaving another message about the genocide of Tamils visible.

The group posted a screenshot of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health’s website, which was hacked and carried images from the Mullivaikkal genocide instead. “We Never Forget! We Never Forgive!” the group said.

A group of 10 Tamils who were arrested under the Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and detained for almost 7 months for holding a remembrance ceremony to mark Tamil Genocide Day, have finally been released without charge on Monday.

The group of Tamil men and women held a memorial event at the beach in Kalkudah last year, lighting a flame of remembrance and laying flowers to commemorate the tens of thousands of Tamils killed by Sri Lankan security forces in 2009.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran said that Tamils in the North-East may not be coming out in massive numbers to support the current anti-government protests as they “can’t forget the fact” that when the Sri Lankan military was killing “scores” of Tamils, “the rest of the country didn’t care”.

In an interview with The Morning, the TNA responded to a question on the current situation in the North. His full response is reproduced below.

On 5 May, British citizens will be heading to the polls to vote for their local councillors however this year there is an unprecedented number of Tamil candidates to choose from.

Tamil Guardian has spoken to a selection of these candidates from across the political spectrum ahead of the election to better understand what they are offering to their constituents.

The Sri Lankan police have placed spiked barricades that are ‘hidden’ with tarpaulin across parts of Colombo over the last 24 hours and reportedly equipped themselves with newly issued gas masks, as anti-government protests continue across the South.

The Tamil Academic Journal (TAJ), the first Tamil diaspora led academic journal, has published its first issue under the title “Tamil Resistance in the Twenty-First Century” online.

(Photo of TAJ Conference at Kingston University July 6th 2019)

The survey department of Sri Lanka has notified villages of Karampan – West in Kayts that a new Sri Lankan Navy ‘security zone’ will be built.

In a tweet posted by The National People’s Front (TNPF), a letter notes that 0.4Ha of Tamil land will be surveyed for the construction of a new navy security zone on the island. The recent land grabs come as anti-government protestors in the south have demanded the resignation of the Rajapaksa government due to their economic mismanagement.

A Tamil youth from Jaffna has been admitted to hospital with a slit throat after being detained in police custody.

An arrest warrant had been issued by the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court against the individual, which police forces exercised. The individual who is from the Pommai velli area of Jaffna was then detained by police.

Once in police custody, according to police reports the individual who had hidden a blade on him, then slit his throat. The police then admitted him to the hospital.

Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch has condemned the police killing and injuries of protestors which occurred last week and called for an impartial investigation.

Those responsible for abuses should be disciplined or prosecuted as appropriate. Sri Lanka has a long history of failing to provide justice and redress to victims of human rights violations, the statement noted.