Thousands of Tamils gathered across the Tamil homeland to mark Maaveerar Naal - or Great Heroes Day - and remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation.
The UN Human Rights Council has adopted resolution 51/L1 on Sri Lanka, which will “extend and reinforce the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that may be used in future war crimes trials. The resolution was passed with 20 votes in favour, 7 against and 20 abstentions.
Numerous commemoration events were held across the North-East marking the 35th anniversary since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people. Thileepan began his fast on 15th September 1987, surrounded by over 100,000 supporters, and died 11 days later, on the 26th September 1987.
Ahead of the debut release of Ponniyin Selvan, the film has garnered controversy over its description of the island of Lanka, with the Hindi translation referring to the land as a Sinhala country. The film is based on a historical fiction novel under the same name, by Kalki Krishnamurthy, set during the Chola dynasty. Throughout the novel, Krishnamurthy referred to the island of Lanka as Eela Naadu. However, the Tamil trailer for the movie refers to the island as Illankai or Lanka. Responding to the controversy, Tamil activists have written to Lyca Productions, which is behind the film, to...
With the release of the revised draft resolution, Tamil Guardian looks back at the proceedings of the 51 st UN Human Rights Council session.
British Prime Ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to justice for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and discussed the possibility of applying targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials just as the UK has on Russians, in a meeting with British Tamil conservatives earlier today.
The Sri Lankan government de-proscribed a handful of Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals in a move dubbed “cynical” and “a farce” by activists, as it continues to have hundreds more banned under a terrorist designation law. Under the latest update from Sri Lankan authorities, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), British Tamils Forum (BTF) and Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) have been removed from the Sri Lankan government’s list of banned organisations. Though a few organisations and individuals have been removed, major diaspora organisations such as the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) which has branches across the globe and the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) remain listed. We spoke to some of those impacted by the latest move.
In a post on Instagram, British activist and tourist, Kayleigh Fraser, details a harrowing experience of sexual assault and an attempted cover-up by Sri Lanka police. After reporting her rape to the tourist police, Fraser received a call from Weligama police that requested to speak in person. “They marched me into a room where they told me to sit down. As I walked into this room, the four men who had assaulted me were standing in that room. I was told to write a letter saying that my statement was untrue. I refused”.
Tamil families of the disappeared rallied in Kilinochchi and Vavuniya yesterday to mark 2,000 days of continuous roadside protest as the search for their forcibly disappeared loved ones continues. In February 2017, Tamil families of the disappeared launched their roadside protests in Kilinochchi, followed by Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Mullaitivu and Maruthankerny. The families have spent years, in some cases decades, searching for their loved ones who were either abducted or handed over to the Sri Lankan military at the end of the armed conflict in 2009, on the premise that they would be returned...
Delivering his first speech in parliament as president of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe laid out a roadmap for Sri Lanka which vowed to upload Buddhism; authorised the police to “maintain law and order”; eliminate state enterprises; support controversial investments; tackle corruption; strength Sri Lanka’s export economy; and provide a “political solution” for Tamils.