As the former Bishop of Mannar and beloved Tamil activist Right Reverend Dr Rayappu Joseph was laid to rest in Mannar on Monday, vigils have been held in his honour across the Tamil homeland.

The former Catholic Bishop of Mannar and prominent Tamil activist Right Reverend Dr Rayappu Joseph was laid to rest at the St. Sebastian Cathedral in Mannar on Monday.

Thousands had visited to pay their respects to the former Bishop lying in repose since his passing on Thursday, April 1. On Sunday, his body was moved from the Bishop’s house to the cathedral in a procession of thousands, including clergy, civil society, students and members of the public.

In line with a call to mark Monday as a day of mourning across the Tamil homeland, businesses in the Mannar district remained shut, whilst homes and streets bore black and white flags.

Following the funeral service, a statue of Rev. Joseph was unveiled in Mannar Town.

Following the passage of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, the European Union (EU) has stated that they will monitor the human rights situation in light of their GSP+ agreement.

With Tamil Nadu Assembly elections set to take place on April 6 and electioneering underway in full swing across the state, Tamil Guardian spoke to Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) State Youth Wing Coordinator, Dhuruvan Selvamani. Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), is a Tamil nationalist party that formed following the genocide that took place in Mullivaikkal in 2009. We asked Selvamani about a number of issues including the NTK’s strategy for the elections, its stance on the intensifying Sinhalisation and colonisation of the Tamil homeland and its views on India-Sri Lanka relations. 

Speaking to DW News’ journalist, Tim Sebastian, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, Jayanath Colombage, who himself stands accused of running torture camps, attacked human rights defenders in Sri Lanka as “being funded by the West”.

Tamil civil society networks have called for a day of mourning for the late Rt. Rev. Dr Rayappu Joseph.

Tamil civil society organisations across the North-East called for homes and businesses in the homeland and in the diaspora to mark Monday, April 5, as the Tamil nation’s national day of mourning for Rt. Rev. Joseph.

“The loss of the Bishop is an immeasurable loss for the Tamil nation,” the organisations said in a statement, highlighting how Rt. Rev. Joseph’s campaigning in 2009 was crucial for continuing the Tamil struggle after the decimation of the armed struggle.

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) have arrested two people, under its draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), for allegedly spread “extremist and Wahabism” through WhatsApp.

Following denials of accepting Myanmar’s military coup, Sri Lanka chaired the 5^th Bay of Bengal Initiative of the Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) summit which was attended by Myanmar’s military junta.

Canadian Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michael Chong, and Shadow Minister for International Development for Human Rights, Garnett Genius, have issued a statement demanding that the Canadian government impose Magnitsky sanction on Sri Lankan officials implicated in gross human rights violations and launch an “independent international investigation into allegations of genocide”.

Writing in Just Security, Professor Kate Cronin-Furman details how the recently passed UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution displays the inability and unwillingness of the UNHRC to impose an accountability model on Sri Lanka but also highlights “a genuine desire to grapple with persistent impunity and the worsening human rights situation”.