• TNA to decide between ‘anti-Tamil’ candidates by month end – MP

    Dec 14

    The Tamil National Alliance MP Seenithambi Yogeswaran said that his party will announce by the end of the month which one of the two presidential candidates it will support.

    Speaking during a conference in India on Saturday, Yogeswaran said the TNA did not want to influence the outcome of the elections by backing a candidate pre-maturely and that the party would wait for both ‘anti-Tamil’ candidates, incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and his challenger Maithripala Sirisena, to release their manifestos, The Hindu reported.

    The MP said the TNA will not boycott the election.

    “We will take part in the democratic process and exercise our democratic right,” he said.

    “As of now, Mr. Sirisena’s prospects look bright.”

    Meanwhile the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the largest constituent party of the TNA, said its members are “keen” to exercise their franchise and vote at the elections.

  • Our children were killed by the Army - Tamil mothers testify


    Two Tamil women have testified that their children were shot and killed by the Sri Lankan Army, as the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (PCICMP) began to collect testimonies from Vavuniya on Sunday.

    Uthayan reports the two mothers describing to the Commission how their children failed to return home from a visit to the Chettikulam hospital, and were shot dead near an army camp three days later.

  • UNP member from Uva province crosses over
    The latest UNP member to cross over to the government side was a Uva Provincial Council member, Janaka Tissakuttiarachchi.

    Meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on Sunday, Tissakuttiarachchi pledged his endorsement, reports the Island newspaper.

    According to the paper, Tissakuttiarachchi told a press conference that two more UNP members would follow suit shortly.

    "We expected a Presidential candidate from the UNP and asked party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to contest the election," he reportedly said.

    "The UNP had no say in Sirisena’s campaign and it had been totally hijacked by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who had ruined the country for 11 years," he added.

  • Jaffna Uni student assaulted by military intelligence officers
    A student at the University of Jaffna was assaulted on Sunday evening, by four men who stated they were from Sri Lanka's military intelligence wing.

    The student, who is currently a second year undergraduate, was detained by the officers at 10pm local time and taken in front of university premises where the assault took place, reported the Uthayan newspaper.
  • Military general hands over 1,500 acres of Tamil land to Sinhala settlement project
    Over 1,500 acres of land belonging to Tamil families in Mullaithivu have been transferred to Sinhalese families resettled in Kokkuthoduvay reports TamilNet.

    The provincial land commissioner was instructed  by the Sri Lankan military governor of the Northern Province, General Chandrasiri, to sign lands to Sinhala families under a ‘Mahaweli Development Scheme’ , sources told the paper.

    The decision was announced in a closed door meeting with the military governor, Tamil officials and further members of the Sri Lankan military,     despite over 3,000 unresolved cases filed by Tamils regarding land ownership issues in the area.

     The latest announcement has upset the original inhabitants of the area, said northern provincial councilor Thurairasa Ravikaran.
  • Sri Lanka must vote to ensure 'war victory' maintained says Rajapaksa
    An overseas LTTE network was working against Sri Lankan interests, Mahinda Rajapaksa told crowds at an election rally in the south of the island.

    Urging the public to vote for the ruling coalition, the Sir Lankan president said that the ‘victory’ achieved at the end of the war would be maintained following the election, reports the Colombo Gazette.
  • Amnesty International urges candidates to ensure prosecution for international law violations
    Amnesty International has called on Sri Lanka's candidates in the forthcoming presidential elections to respect international human rights obligations and prosecute those suspected of committing crimes under international law.

    In a statement released ahead of the presidential elections next month, the non-governmental organisation said it “calls on all candidates to make a firm commitment to end the widespread human rights violations that have plagued Sri Lanka for decades, eliminate the climate of impunity which facilitates these violations and abuses and combat ethnic, religious and gender-based discrimination and violence.”
    “Sri Lanka’s new president can demonstrate his commitment to respecting human rights and bringing an end to impunity by committing publicly to ensure the investigation of serious violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law and, where sufficient evidence exists, the prosecution of those suspected of committing crimes under international law, irrespective of the identity of the victim or the suspect including their rank, political status or influence.”
    Amnesty International highlighted areas of concern that it urged candidates to act on, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Buddhist hardline organisations and the culture of impunity on the island.
  • Maaveerar Naal marked across the United States

    New York City

    Events across the USA marked Maaveerar Naal last month, in remembrance of those Tamils who gave their lives for the Tamil struggle.

    Remembrance events were held in California, Boston and New York City to mark the day, with hundreds of people in attendance.

    See photos from the events below.
  • Sri Lankan navy threaten Indian fishermen
    The Sri Lankan navy reportedly fired shots in the air and threw bottles and stones at Indian fishermen from Ramneswaran, who were forced to return to shore without any catch, reports the Hindu.

    About 3,000 fishermen were fishing near Katchatheevu, when five Sri Lankan navy fast boats and a ship fired eight rounds in the air, said  S Emirite, President of the Rameswaram Fishermen’s organisation.

    The navy personnel went on to throw stones and bottles at the fishermen from Tamil Nadu, before cutting the nets of twenty of the boats.
  • International conspiracy with 'pro-LTTE' diaspora to destabilise Sri Lanka - Peiris
    There is an international plan to isolate Sri Lanka economically and destabilise the government, said the minister for external affairs whilst adding that a ‘biased’ United Nations investigation into wartime atrocities would not deliver justice.

    In an interview with the Sunday Leader GL Peiris, said that there was “a concerted effort to get rid of a strong government,” and argued that ‘pro-LTTE’ diaspora were working with international actors to destabilise the country.

    “So it all adds up to a complete and coherent picture. And connected with that is the plan to isolate the country economically,” said Peiris commenting on statements made by the Global Tamil Forum on Aljazeera and alleged reports of international evidence gathering “with regard to command structure of the armed forces.”

  • Jaffna university students remember Anton Balasingham
  • Youth Tamil footballer to train with top English Footballing Association scouts
    A young Tamil footballer from Ilford, will have the opportunity to train with Premier League talent scouts after winning a national football competition last month.

    After being ranked first out of over 500 footballing applicants in the under-16 category, Raj Vijayarajah, will be given the chance to train at the English Football Association’s St George’s Centre of Excellence.
  • 10 German Tamils receive suspended sentences for funding LTTE

    A court in Berlin has convicted ten Tamils for "supporting a terrorist organisation" and has given them suspended jail sentences lasting between 6 and 22 months.

    The eight men and two women, aged between 32 and 60, were found guilty of financially supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, by collecting donations between August 2007 and March 2009.

    The judges said the accused suffered violence and discrimination in their homeland and that they "primarily wanted to support humanitarian efforts, but were aware that funds could be used for criminal activities."

    The federal government in Germany has recently increased monitoring of Tamils, at the behest of the Sri Lankan High Commission in Berlin, a Tamil activist told the Tamil Guardian.

  • MoD to rebuild house of military 'war hero'
    The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Friday that it would rebuild the house of a DH Suranga Dharmarathne, who fought for the Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF).

    The MoD Seva Vanitha Unit (SVU) has been responsible for housin

  • Presidential candidates reject EU election monitors
    EU monitors will not be present at Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election, after their inclusion was rejected by four presidential candidates, reports the Sunday Leader.

    The paper quoted the election commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, as saying that "he can only invite election monitors from the unions or forums only if the Department of Election or the country holds memberships of those unions."

    “Four presidential candidates disagreed to invite the election monitors from the EU. Therefore, we will not be able to call upon the election monitors from the EU,” he reportedly added.

    Last week, local election monitoring groups - The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), the Campaign for Free and Elections (CaFFE), Movement for Free and Fair Elections (MFFE), Mothers and Daughters of Lanka (MDL) and the National Polls Observation Centre (NPOC) - called candidates to ensure the elections took place free off violence.

Subscribe to Tamil Affairs

Most-Read Articles

Senior Buddhist monk from Anuradhapura remanded over sexual abuse of minor
A senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and chief prelate of the Anuradhapura Atamasthana,…
Velupillay makes history as first Tamil at a FIFA World Cup
Photograph: @Socceroos Nishan Velupillay has been selected in Australia's squad…
17 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal
To mark 17 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens…
In Pictures - Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day commemorated in Mullivaikkal
All photographs by Uthayarasa Shalin Thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal…
Tamil rapper arrested for ‘terrorism’ over TikTok video
A Tamil rapper from Kilinochchi has been arrested and remanded under Sri Lanka's…