Boiler Room & Colombo's Art Washing

Tamil Affairs Sep 12
A December 2024 Boiler Room music event held at the former Rio Cinema, a site set alight during the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms, has drawn scrutiny over its corporate backing, promotional narrative, and ethical implications. The event, a collaboration between the global music platform Boiler Room, South Asian collective DialledIn, and Colombo based creative agency Fold Media, was publicly promoted as a post-war reconciliation initiative when content was released during July 2025’s Black July memorial period.
Crowds and monks greet Mahinda Rajapaksa as state perks stripped away
Tamil Affairs Sep 11


Sri Lanka’s former president and accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to his family residence in Tangalle today, after being forced to vacate his luxury state-funded mansion in Colombo under new legislation scrapping benefits for former heads of state.

India assists in Point Pedro harbour development
Tamil Affairs Sep 11
Indian officials held talks in Jaffna last week on the long-delayed development of Point Pedro harbour, pledging financial assistance for the project that has repeatedly failed to materialise in the Tamil homeland.
Sri Lankan journalists sent on Israeli propaganda tour
Tamil Affairs Sep 11
A group of 16 Sri Lankan journalists has been flown to Israel on a five-day study programme arranged by the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, in what critics have described as a propaganda exercise to whitewash Tel Aviv’s assault on Gaza.
ITAK slams Sri Lankan government at UN for failure to deliver justice and reforms
Tamil Affairs Sep 11
The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has condemned Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s address at the UN Human Rights Council this week, accusing Colombo of failing to deliver on promises of accountability, reconciliation and devolution, more than a year after Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power.
India reiterates call for devolution in Sri Lanka, but backs Colombo’s “unity and sovereignty”
Tamil Affairs Sep 11
India delivered its statement on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, where it once again stressed its support for Tamil aspirations of “equality, justice, dignity and peace”, but only within what it described as the island’s “unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
UNHRC divides over Sri Lanka: Russia, Pakistan and others back Colombo’s ‘sovereignty’
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
At the UN Human Rights Council this week, there was a range of responses from member states over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and the UN’s evidence-gathering mandate, with the EU, UK and several partners reiterating the need for accountability whilst others including Russia, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela and others attacked international scrutiny and urged deference to Colombo’s “domestic processes”.
UN rights chief calls for prosecutions in Sri Lanka but stops short of international mechanism
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, where he urged Colombo to take “decisive action” on accountability and reforms but stopped short of calling for a fully international accountability mechanism, despite decades of impunity.
Sri Lanka rejects international justice at UN Human Rights Council
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath addressed the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, where he insisted that accountability for mass atrocities would only be pursued through domestic processes, once again rejecting longstanding calls for international accountability for the Tamil genocide.
Rajapaksa forced to hunt for new home as perks for ex-presidents abolished
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
Sri Lanka’s former president and credibly accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa is searching for a new residence in Colombo after parliament voted overwhelmingly to strip former heads of state of their state-funded perks, including official housing.
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