Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed Sri Lanka earlier this month, New Delhi’s media was already hailing the visit as a diplomatic triumph. A raft of development projects had been announced and a significant new defence pact between the two governments signed. Images broadcast showed Modi beside a smiling Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, arms raised aloft in symbolic…

Idols stolen from Temple in Palaly high security zone

Two idols in the Rajarajeshwari Amman temple located in the high-security zone in Palaly have been stolen. 

An idol of Murugan has been missing since the 28th of December last year. On the morning of the 20th March, this year, when the temple was opened to conduct a pooja, the administration discovered that the Pillaiyar idol was missing. Following this second theft, the administration lodged a complaint at the District Secretariat, and also in the Police station. 

Mullaitivu families of the disappeared continue calls for international justice

Tamil families of the disappeared protested in Mullaitivu today as they continue their roadside protests demanding to know the fate of their relatives who were forcibly disappeared at the hands of the Sri Lankan state. 

“We don’t need death certificates, we don’t need compensation, we don’t need the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), give us international justice,” said the protesters.

Protest against Sinhalisation of Vediyarasan fort

Activists from the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), including MP Selvaraja Kajendran, joined locals to protest in front of Vediyarasan’s fort, in Neduntheevu (Delft) following the Sri Lanka Archaeological department’s declaration of the fort being a Buddhist site.

TNPF pay tribute to Annai Poopathy

The Tamil National’s People’s Front remembered the struggle and life of Annai Poopathy, a member of the Batticaloa-Amparai Mother’s Front, who fasted unto death to protest the violence of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF). 

Annai Poopathy, a mother of 10 children, was an active member in the Batticaloa-Amparai Mother’s Front for many years.

The presence of the IPKF and ensuing violence was acutely experienced by Tamil people particularly in the East.

Mullaitivu border villages under threat from Sinhalisation

Many villages in Mullaitivu are being targeted for ongoing Sinhala-Buddhist colonisation by the Sri Lankan state. In the 80s, villages such as Manalaru, Othiyamalai, Amaravayal, Thennamarawadi and Kokkilai were violently, not only with Sinhala names, but also with Sinhala settlements populating the village following the massacre of hundreds of Tamils from each village by the Sri Lankan army. 

Before the massacre in 1984, over 367 families lived in these areas, with over 200 families cultivating paddy as their main livelihood while others grew livestock. These farmers were also unionised into diverse cooperatives to protect their livelihoods, which allowed them to accumulate a significant amount of wealth, according to locals. 

Tamils mobilise against destruction of ancient temple, call for mass protests

Further details have surfaced following the destruction and vandalism of the Athi Lingam and theft of various consecrated items from the temple. The Athi Sivan Kovil atop the Vedukkunaari mountain in Vavuniya, which has been a place of worship for Tamil people for many generations has been renamed as Waddamana Parwatha Viharaya on Google Maps. Additionally, the Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka has declared it to be an ancient Buddhist site. 

Chinese-funded sea cucumber farm disturbing local ecology

<p>Fisherfolk in the Pasaiyoor - Poonakary area have been involved in winged net fishing, a technique that not only ensures the freshness of seafood that is caught but also allows smaller fish to grow to be part of the oceanic ecology for longer.&nbsp;</p>

Coalition of South African human rights groups raise concerns over visit by Sri Lankan officials with links to alleged war criminals

A coalition of South African human rights groups have raised concerns over the South African government's invitation to Sri Lankan officials with links to alleged war criminals. 

Tamil Canadian organizations band together as Bill 104 faces another challenge

 

Rugsha Sivanandan from National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) hosts Bill 104 townhall reception 

Over 60 Tamil Canadian organizations have banded together to fight an appeal challenging a previous court's decision to uphold Bill 104, Ontario's Tamil Genocide Education Week (TGEW) Act. 

Human rights violations committed by Sri Lanka remained unaddressed says latest Amnesty International world report

Sri Lanka has made "no progress" in addressing the human rights violations committed in the armed conflict Amnesty International said in its latest annual world report.