The North-Eastern - Eelam Tamil magazine launched in Jaffna and Batticaloa

A new English-language print magazine has been launched in the Tamil homeland, with events in Jaffna and Batticaloa timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Vaddukoddai Resolution.

The North-Eastern, a quarterly covering politics, arts and culture relevant to Eelam Tamils, was published last month. Both launch events drew lively exchanges between attendees and panellists, among them the publisher B Puthiyavan, based in Mullaitivu, the Tamil editor T Aarani, based in Vavuniya, and the editor-in-chief Mario Arulthas, based in Toronto.

The magazine's purpose, Puthiyavan said, was "to publish those Eelam Tamil voices who don't usually get to publish in English". While the first issue ranged widely, he said the publication intended to concentrate on a particular constituency. "The pieces we chose to publish reflect a broad range of topics, but we would like to focus more on pieces on and by marginalised communities," he said.

Aarani echoed the point, framing the magazine as an act of record-keeping. "A people's history lives in its records, but marginalised voices are too often overlooked," she said. "This magazine will serve as a publication that foregrounds those voices, presenting a more holistic view of the Eelam Tamil nation."

Speaking in Batticaloa, Arulthas stressed the project's reach across the homeland and the diaspora. "This is a true transnational effort, with a team comprising of Tamils from the homeland and the diaspora," he said. "We are printing and distributing in the North-East and will ship issues to subscribers abroad."

The first issue carries work by veteran journalists alongside emerging writers. Among the former is JS Tissainayagam, the last editor of The North-Eastern Monthly; among the latter is Anjugam K, whose essay examines the confluence between dance and the liberation struggle. Other pieces consider a seasonal river in Jaffna and accounts of Tamil resistance in Kilinochchi. The issue also translates and republishes archival material, including SJV Chelvanayakam's address at the 1976 convention that adopted the Vaddukoddai Resolution.

The North-Eastern is the first English-language print publication in the Tamil homeland since The North-Eastern Monthly was forced to close in 2007, months before Tissainayagam was detained by the Sri Lankan state. He went on to become the first journalist convicted under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act for his writing, sentenced in 2009 to 20 years' hard labour over articles critical of the state's treatment of Tamil civilians, before being pardoned the following year.