The Tamil festival of lights known as Karthikai Deepam or Karthikai Villakkeedu was celebrated in the North-East this weekend.

The festival falls each year on the full moon night of the Tamil month of karthikai and celebrates the creation of the Tamil god Murugan, although the celebration of a festival of lights precedes Hindu canonisation.

It was observed this year on December 7th.

Tamil people observed the night by lighting lamps in houses, streets and temples.

Protests were held on November 29th at the Moolai Arasadi Junction and in front of the Chankanai bus station demanding the reconstruction of roads in Valikamam West, Jaffna.

The protest was carried out demanding the reconstruction of the Jaffna - Manipay - Kaarainagar Road, Mavadi - Moolai Road, Vattukkottai - Ponnalai Roads.

The protestors said that those areas were completely blocked during the monsoon season. The public blamed government officials and politicians for not taking any actions to rectify the situation.

An event was held in the Vavuniya village of Semamadu to remember a massacre by the Sri Lankan army in 1984.

Twenty-eight Tamil men and boys in Semamadu were woken up from their sleep and rounded up by the army, taken away in military vehicles never to be seen again, assumed to have been massacred.

Sri Lankan student leaders Wasantha Mudalige, the convener of Inter University Students’ Federation and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, the convener of Inter University Bhikku Federation have reportedly been released on bail after being detained under the draconian Prevention Terrorism Act (PTA) for over three months. 

The Sri Lankan navy arrested 20 asylum seekers who were reportedly fleeing the island by boat on Monday. 

The 20 asylum seekers who were on board the fishing vessel, were detained in the seas east of the Foul Point, Trincomalee after a tip off was received by the navy.

The massacre of 32 Tamils in Othiyamalai, Mullaitivu by the Sri Lankan army in 1984 was remembered last week. 

Last week, thousands of Tamils, from the political strongholds in Jaffna, the militarised heartlands of the Vanni, to the allegedly contested territories of Amparai, lit up destroyed LTTE cemeteries to pay tribute to those who laid down their lives in the armed struggle. Since 2016, when Tamils reclaimed the Kanagapuram Thuyilum Illam in Kilinochchi to hold Maaveerar Naal publicly for the first time since 2012, when Tamil students were beaten by the Sri Lankan army for attempting to mark the day, the commemorations have been growing in scale each year, disrupted only by the lockdowns of the global pandemic. This year was the largest yet, with events reported in at least thirty locations across the eight districts of the North-East.

Harrow Arts Centre, the prestigious heritage building in the London borough of Harrow will be hosting an exhibition to mark Tamil Heritage Month 2023.

For the exhibition which "aims to creatively explore the rich heritage of the Tamil community", the arts centre is calling on members of the Tamil community to submit artwork which creatively expresses their heritage and culture.

In it's callout the centre says:

We welcome all art forms including creative writing, poetry, textiles, illustration, painting, photography, and ornamental (small scale) sculpture.

Approaching Sri Lanka’s 75h Independence Day, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, met with US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken where the US reaffirmed its support for Sri Lanka amidst its ongoing economic crisis and stressed the need for economic and political reforms focused on “transparency, inclusion and good governance”.

Vijay Sethupathi films tend to be a 50:50 deal for me. He is either a part of some of the best Tamil films in recent history or run-of-the-mill, unoriginal template masala films. Unfortunately, DSP falls in the latter category.