This week marks 28 years since the Kumarapuram Massacre took place in Trincomalee, where the Sri Lankan military killed 26 Tamil civilians and gang-raped a 15-year-old girl. 

On the evening of February 11, 1996, a group of soldiers, some of them under the influence of alcohol, charged into the village of Kumarapuram and indiscriminately beat up Tamil civilians in the locality.

There has been much consternation in recent weeks as the Sri Lankan government passed the Online Safety Bill, a new piece of legislation that essentially allows the state to police and prosecute what individuals and organisations post online. There have been remarks from the United Nations human rights office, diplomats from various Western countries and a host of NGOs – all of whom have expressed concern over the risks to freedom of expression on the island. In the Tamil North-East, however, those concerns have long been a reality. Left unabated and unchallenged by the international community for years, that climate of repression has solidified and is now being rolled out across the island.

Sri Lankan government officials, tasked with surveying 500 acres of land for transfer to the Civil Aviation Authority in Jaffna's Valikamam North, were compelled to retreat in the face of vehement opposition from local residents.

Despite criticism from Tamils across the North-East and international organisations, Sri Lanka’s much criticised ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ Commission held a forum in the South last week, with the participation of Colombo-based civil society organisations and journalists.

Leader of the lankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Sivagnanam Shritharan speaking to parliament told the house that “Sinhalese leaders waged a war against their own brethern and turned into a genocide," adding "in a country where justice does not prevail, the economy cannot flourish”.

Following the disintegration of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Tamil political parties that broke down last year, the leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) raised the possibility of once again teaming up with the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) under the new leadership of S Shritharan.

Vanni District Member of Parliament Selvam Adaikkalanathan said that his party is ready to make concessions so that all Tamil political parties can work together for a common goal.

Students from the Jaffna and Eastern universities issued a statement declaring that they are “a nation with a traditional homeland and are entitled to nationhood and the right of self-determination,” in a proclamation released to mark February 4th as a 'Black Day' for Eelam Tamils.

A group of Sinhala monks who were escorted to the Vedukkunaari Adi Shiva temple in Vavuniya by the Sri Lankan army reiterated claims that the site was Buddhist and sent a warning to the Tamil diaspora over the future of the site.

It is learnt that the monks were escorted by the army on plough machine in what is said was a surprise visit that the temple administrators were not formally alerted of.

Vavuniya High Court Judge Manikkavasagam Ilanchelian ruled that the commanders of the Sri Lankan army's Omanthai Command should be held responsible for the disappearance of Tamil youth, Kandasamy Ilamaran, who went missing upon arriving at the Omanthai checkpoint in 2006. 

A memorial to mark the 19th death anniversary of the former ITAK MP for the Amparai District, Ariyanayagam Chandranehru, was held by the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) on Friday.

Chandranehru hailed from Thirukkovil, Amparai. He was named after two leading Indian independence activists admired by his father – Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru. He was the son of K. A. W. Ariyanayagam (Arappor Ariyanayagam), one of the founders of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK).