British politicians from across the political spectrum praised the Tamil community for their contribution to life in the United Kingdom in their Thai Pongal wishes. 

Boris Johnson, the UK's prime minister, thanked the British Tamil community for their contribution towards the coronavirus pandemic response in the country. 

During his Thai Pongal message, Sam Tarry, MP for Ilford South, has expressed his concern over the detonating human rights situation in Sri Lanka for Tamils and Muslims and has called for sanctions against Sri Lankan officials accused by the UN of war crimes.

In its Word Report 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised the worsening human rights situation in Sri Lanka and called on the international community to speak out to prevent a return to "the bad old days of rampant human rights violations".

Justice and accountability

Thai Pongal was celebrated across the Tamil homeland this morning, with festivities taking place despite bouts of flooding, coronavirus restrictions and a continued heavy Sri Lankan military presence.

Gareth Thomas for Harrow West has urged British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to condemn the destruction of a Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna university.

Tamils around the world marked Thai Pongal, the traditional Tamil harvest festival, today as celebrations shone despite coronavirus restrictions.

In his Thai Pongal message Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, expressed support for Tamil Canadian protesters responding to the destruction of a Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna university.

In his statement he noted:

Recently, we saw Tamil-Canadians from coast to coast to coast come together in solidarity to condemn the destruction of the Mullivaikkal memorial at the University of Jaffna, in Sri Lanka, and call for its reinstatement. It is a reminder for all of us that commemoration is essential for reconciliation.

On behalf of @UKLabour, I wish Tamils in the UK and across the world a happy, healthy and bountiful #Pongal. Thai Pongal Valthukkal! pic.twitter.com/o2sEU79fzB

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 14, 2021

Labour leader, Kier Starmer, raises deep concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and calls upon the government to be “a strong voice on international accountability” during his Thai Pongal message.

Jaffna Municipal Council passed a resolution yesterday calling for the construction of a new Mullivaikkal memorial monument within the boundaries of the Council's premises. 

The resolution was passed unanimously at the first Council session of the year under the chairmanship of V Mannivannan. The resolution comes after authorities toppled the Mullivaikkal memorial monument at the University of Jaffna last week which sparked widespread protests in the North-East and across the world. 

The demolition of the Memorial at the Jaffna University can only been seen as an attempt to erase the genocide by the Sinhala racist racism and its ugly face, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) has said.

In a statement last week, the organisation's political affairs lead highlighted that "genocide of the Tamil people in the island of Lanka is a state policy of the Government of Sri Lanka" and that bans against memorialisation "showed that there was no political space in the island of Lanka for the Tamil people to express their feelings".