• Kilinochchi organiser arrested to halt demonstration - TNPF

    May 23

    The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) have said that their Kilinochchi organiser was arrested on Friday to prevent the party from holding a demonstration it had planned for Monday, to demand the resettlement of displaced Tamils in their own homes.

    “The government tried to use intimidation to stop a democratic demonstration that had been organised according to the law. The arrest took place since the party and affected people stood firm in going ahead with the demonstration legally. This arrest was undertaken with the intention of halting the democratic demonstration planned by our party, and of crippling our activities in Kilinochchi," the TNPF said in a statement on Saturday.

  • Tamil Nadu students protest against Rajapaksa invite

    Photo:Tamil Youths & Students Federation

    Students in Chennai protested against the the invitation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, earlier on Saturday.

    Gathering outside the BJP office in Chennai, students from the Tamil Youths and Students Federation, the Tamil Nadu Students Movement, the Balachandran Students Movement and Progressive Students Front chanted slogans against Rajapaksa's visit to Delhi.

    Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, V Prabhakaran of the Tamil Youths and Students Federation stated, “We started this agitation in contempt of the Modi government's decision to invite the genocidal criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa for the Prime Minister's swearing in ceremony”.

  • Profiles of May 2009: Mayuran
    Illustration Keera Ratnam
  • India must make amends and support investigation – Amnesty International

    Amnesty International has called upon the newly elected Indian government to heed the voice of its citizens and back an international investigation into violations of international law in Sri Lanka.

    Shashikumar Velath, programmes director at Amnesty International India,

  • NPC CM rejects Rajapaksa invitation to Modi swearing-in ceremony

    The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council CV Wigneswaran has rejected an offer from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to “accompany” him to the swearing-in ceremony of India’s Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi later this month.

    The Twitter account of the Tamil National Alliance tweeted on Friday that Wigneswaran “rejected the President's invitation to 'accompany' him to the swearing in of the PM of India in a strongly worded letter”. (See letter below).

    The statement came as Rajapaksa confirmed his attendance at the ceremony due to take place on the 26th of May.

  • TNPF Kilinochchi organiser detained by military intelligence
    19:45 BST

    The Tamil National People's Front's (TNPF) regional organiser in Kilinochchi has been detained by military intelligence officers said party leader, after officers arrived at the organiser's house this evening, instructing him to accompany them for questioning.

    "Kilinochchi Organiser Jega is currently being forced by military [intelligence] to leave his house with them for inquiry," TNPF leader, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam had tweeted earlier this evening stating that they feared he had been detained after he was not answering any calls to his mobile phone.

    "TNPF Kilinochchi Organiser Jega has texted party [General Secretary] S Kajendran saying he is currently being taken to Vavuniya by TID [Terrorism Investigation Division]" Mr. Ponnambalam tweeted moments earlier.

  • No-confidence motion in government defeated
    The no-confidence motion, brought by the main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), together with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has been defeated by 94 votes yesterday.

    The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and National Freedom Front (NFF), both partners within the ruling coalition, were absent during the vote.
  • Jaffna Uni students launch boycott in protest against death threats
    Students at the University of Jaffna announced two days of strike, protesting over the anonymous death threats issued to staff and students earlier this week.

    In a posters around the premises, students said: "We the students of the University of Jaffna, hereby declare a two day (Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd) strike because of the anonymous [threats] to the University Society."

  • Northern Provincial Council remembers Mullivaikal massacre 5 years on
    Photograph @Hamsanan


    The Northern Provincial Council held a Mullivaikal memorial event this morning, during the NPC's 9th meeting in Kaithadi, lighting candles in remembrance of the tens of thousands that were slaughtered in May 2009.

    Photograph @Uthayarasashalin

    Wearing black shawls around their necks several NPC members including Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, Ananthy Sasitharan and M.K. Shivajilingham of the Tamil National Alliance, as well as NPC opposition leader, Thavarasa, took part in the remembrance event, the Uthayan reported.

    Photograph Uthayan

  • Tamil Nadu parties criticise Rajapaksa's invitation to Modi's swearing-in ceremony

    Political parties in Tamil Nadu have criticised the decision to invite Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the swearing in ceremony of India's Prime Minister-designate, Narendra Modi.

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister 'dismayed' at Rajapaksa invite for Modi swearing-in ceremony
    The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, has expressed her dismay at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the swearing in ceremony of India's Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, stating that it has “deeply upset the people of Tamil Nadu”.

    In a statement released on Thursday, Jayalalithaa, who heads India's third largest party, said,
    “The entire country and indeed the entire world is aware of the various Resolutions passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly during the last three years, with regard to the war crimes, ethnic pogrom and genocide perpetrated against the Sri Lankan Tamil people by the Sri Lankan Army under the Rajapaksa Government in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka.”
  • People in Jaffna have 'blood of the forces' – SL Military
    After blocking off attempts by the local Tamil population in Jaffna to donate blood earlier this week, the Sri Lankan military dismissed any criticism of its actions, declaring that no organisation had given more blood to Jaffna than the armed forces.

    Responding to questions from journalists in the North, Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya stated that the Sri Lankan troops had donated more blood than any other organisation in Jaffna, challenging anyone who had done more to come forward.

  • Jaffna University commemorates Mullivaikal amidst death threats

    Pictures: @uthayarasashali

    A remembrance event was held in the University of Jaffna the day it was reopened, after it was closed in the run up to the 5th anniversary of Mullivaikal.

    Hundreds of students and faculty members packed the auditorium at the university on Wednesday morning, lighting candles in memory of those that died in the ethnic conflict.

  • Government must take action against those who remembered Mullivaikal massacre, says NFF
    The National Freedom Front (NFF), a partner in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition, urged the government to take action against members of the Tamil National Alliance who organised events to commemorate Tamils that died in May 2009, reports ColomboPage.
  • Canadian High Commissioner summoned over Victory Day boycott
    The External Affairs Ministry summoned the Canadian High Commissioner, after she announced that she would not be attended the Sri Lankan government’s annual Victory Day parade on May 18, and considered it detrimental to post-war reconciliation, reports The Island.
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