Pakistan hosted the head of Sri Lanka’s army, and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva, during their national military parade despite increasing discrimination against Muslims in Sri Lanka.

Elections for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly took place on April 6 with 71.79% of eligible voters casting their ballot in an electorate of over 62 million people. 

In a multi-pronged contest, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allied parties, the Tamil Nationalist Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) led by actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan are the major contenders. 

Following the sudden and wide-reaching proscription of hundreds of individuals and several Tamil diaspora organisations, Sri Lanka’s Attorney General, Dappula de Livera,  has banned 11 Islamic organisations under accusations that they are linked to “extremist activities”.

Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Sri Lanka, Emma Brigham, issued a statement with the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health praising the current regime’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic despite grave human rights concerns and the imposition of discriminatory legislation.

Minister of Public Security, Sarath Weerasekara attended the inauguration of a police station in Mullaitivu where he announced that 190 new police stations will be built in Sri Lanka, adding to the existing 494 police stations.

Maradankeni and Iyankkankulam located in the North were selected to build the first two police stations under the government programme, with the construction of Iyankankulam police station in Mullaitivu being completed on the 2 April. Weerasekara noted that the construction of the police stations was a measure taken to “create a society free of fear and suspicion for the people of this country”.

Following the deportation of over 30 Tamil asylum seekers by Germany on 30 March, the People’s Council of Eelam Tamils has written to express their deep shock and disappointment at the government’s “incomprehensible decision”.

Tamil families of the disappeared protested in front of the old bus stand in Vavuniya last week, continuing their calls to the international community to implement an accountability mechanism that would get justice for their family members who have been forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan state. 

This week marks 12 years since thousands of British Tamils began a 73 day long continuous protest at Parliament Square in London, as the Sri Lankan government ramped up a military offensive that had already massacred tens of thousands.

Writing in Middle East Eye, Strategic Advisor to People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka (PEARL), Mario Arulthas highlights the deterioration of Tamil and Muslim rights in Sri Lanka as President Rajapaksa appears “committed to seizing any opportunity to hurt non-Sinhalese communities”.

^{File photograph: British Tamils protest outside the Houses of Parliament in 2009.}

British Tamil diaspora organisations have vowed to continue their struggle for justice and self-determination, despite the Sri Lankan government’s proscription of hundreds of Tamils and several diaspora organisations, in a move that has generated shock and outrage across the world.