An IT teacher in Jaffna was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Department on Saturday, accused of “preparing posters, leaflets and documents for reviving the LTTE”, Hiru News reported.

The man, said to be a former member of the LTTE, worked in Maanipay and his computers and laptops have been taken for investigation, said police spokesperson Ajith Rohana.

Four months after the last boat from Sri Lanka carrying potential refugees arrived in Australia, the country’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has expressed Australia’s gratitude to Sri Lanka for acting to curb “illegal” boat arrivals, reported The Australian.

Speaking at a joint Sri Lanka-Australia security conference on transnational crime in Canberra, attended by representatives of the Defence, army, navy and customs of both countries, Morrison said that the relationship between the countries could be broadened.

“[I]n just over six months, we have ensured that we are stopping the boats and we are being true to our promises, we are doing exactly what we said we would do and it is having exactly the effect we said it would have.”

“We must apply the same focus and co-operation that we have achieved on people-smuggling to the broader challenge of transnational crime,” the minister said.

Tamil people in Sri Lanka do not enjoy the same rights and benefits that the Sinhalese people on the island have, said Eastern Provincial Councillor M Rajeswaran, according to the Uthayan.

Speaking at an event marking Chiththirai Thirunaal, the TNA councillor said that his party will not “mortgage” out Tamils for minimal concessions and [the government’s] development “illusion”, but will continue to tirelessly fight for the political rights of the Tamil people.

Over 80 Canadian Tamil organisations have come together to create a common position on Eelam Tamil activism, while rejecting the proscription of diaspora organisations and individuals by the Sri Lankan government.

The Tamil Community General Assembly, made up of community and political organisations, unanimously adopted a document, outlining 34 key points regarding Eelam Tamil political activism.

The document called on the international community to recognise Eelam Tamil nationhood, saying that the Sri Lankan government was continuing a “systematic and accelerated process of genocide” in the Tamil homeland and that an internationally supported transitional administration should be implemented to halt the genocide.

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(Pictures: KUTS)

Kingston University Tamil Society held the first ‘Breaking the Silence’ event of 2014 earlier this month.