Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Sri Lanka's United National Party (UNP) has accused the National People's Power (NPP) government of attempting to undermine Buddhism and interfere in the affairs of the Buddhist clergy, as controversy continues over proposed reforms aimed at addressing misconduct within the Buddhist Sangha. The dispute comes amid heightened public scrutiny of Buddhist institutions following allegations of…

Sri Lanka’s CTID summons Tamil temple organisers for questioning

The former president and secretary of the Vedukkunaari Malai Aathi Shivan Temple in Vavuniya have been summoned for questioning by Sri Lanka’s Counter-Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID), raising renewed concerns over state intimidation of Tamil religious leaders.

Memorial for Chemmani mass graves vandalised overnight in Jaffna

A memorial known as the “Unquenchable Lamp,” erected in Jaffna to demand justice for the Chemmani mass graves, was found vandalised early on Thursday, just weeks after it was first set up by protesters.

Arundhati Roy compares Gaza genocide to Sri Lanka’s slaughter of Tamils

Booker Prize–winning author Arundhati Roy has drawn parallels between the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities against Tamils, warning that world leaders are “watching what Netanyahu can get away with” and setting a new “bar” for state violence.

Occupation Watch - September 2025

In September 2025, the Sri Lankan military intensified its presence in the Tamil homeland. The Sri Lankan armed forces continued to embed themselves in schools, children's homes, churches, and community events across the North-East.  Packaged as "civil-military relations" and "trust-building," these initiatives work to normalise a permanent military presence and keep the state involved in Tamil spaces.

'Mirage of Justice' - Remembering Dr Manoharan and the Trincomalee students

A memorial discussion titled “Mirage of Justice” was held in Jaffna on Monday in remembrance of Dr Kasipillai Manoharan, who courageously fought for justice for the five Tamil students shot and killed by the Sri Lankan military in Trincomalee in 2006, as well as in memory of the murdered youths themselves.

Tensions flare in Mannar as Tamils drive away wind power team

Tensions flared in Mannar this week as residents of Pesalai drove away a team conducting a sand survey for a proposed wind power project along the village’s southern coast.

Sri Lanka’s debt office under fire after failing to explain USD 37 billion liability

Sri Lanka owes USD 37 billion in foreign loans and Rs. 19.6 trillion in domestic loans, officials from the State Debt Management Office told the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) this week, laying bare the scale of the island’s economic crisis.

US honours Sri Lankan officers tied to forces accused of atrocities

The US Embassy in Colombo has publicly congratulated two Sri Lankan navy officers for completing training programmes in the United States, marking another show of deepening military cooperation between Washington and Colombo, even as concerns persist over Sri Lanka’s record of war crimes, torture, and impunity.

Fonseka says Mahinda Rajapaksa ‘deserves death by hanging’

Former Sri Lankan army commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka launched an explosive tirade against former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, accusing him of large-scale corruption, abuse of state property and betrayal of the country, declaring Rajapaksa “deserves death by hanging.”

Sri Lanka lashes out at UN over renewed resolution on accountability

Sri Lanka has once again rejected a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on accountability and reconciliation, condemning the continued operation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSLAP) as an “unprecedented and ad hoc expansion” of the Council’s mandate.