• War survey is an 'escape mechanism' says GTF

    Nov 29
    Slamming the Sri Lankan government's announcement of a war survey to count the dead, the Global Tamil Forum, told Tamil Guardian, that it was the latest "escape mechanism" by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, employed each time "the noose falls on his neck".

    Speaking to Tamil Guardian last night, the GTF's spokesperson, Mr Suren Surendiran said,
    "Mahinda Rajapaksa always comes up with ideas of commissions of various kinds every time when the noose falls on his neck as an escape mechanism. He thinks that he can fool the international community every time by suggesting of steps that are basically a delaying tactic as he himself and his siblings are accused to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity"

    On the back drop of the Sri Lankan state's failure to provide justice to the Tamils, Mr Surendiran said that Mahinda Rajapaksa "has a track record of lying which gives zero confidence to anyone particularly to the victims that this idea of counting the dead and disappeared has any credibility whatsoever."

    "He has blatantly lied to the international community on several occasions," he added.

  • Former Sri Lankan Cricketer dismisses calls for international war crimes probe
    Former Sri Lankan cricketer, Sanath Jayasuriya, on Saturday, dismissed British Premier David Cameron’s recent calls for an international probe into allegations of war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Government.
  • Sri Lanka’s Iran oil sanctions exemption extended

    US Secretary of State John Kerry has announced an extension on exemptions from sanctions on oil purchases from Iran.

    “As President Obama has made clear, the United States will continue to vigorously implement our existing sanctions on Iran as the P5+1 seeks to negotiate a comprehensive deal with Iran that will resolve the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program,” he said in a statement.

  • Uthayan newspaper wins Press Freedom Prize

    Jaffna-based Tamil newspaper Uthayan have been awarded the 2013 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Prize, joint with Muhammad Bekjanov an imprisoned Uzbek journalist.

    The award was announced in a ceremony in Strasbourg on Thursday.

    RSF's director-general Christophe Deloire said:

  • Gunmen threaten Catholic priest, alleging that he is 'pro-LTTE'

    A Catholic priest of the Guadalupe Church in Trincomalee was threatened by unidentifiable Sinhalese individuals claiming to be 'intelligence officers' on the night before Maaveerar Naal, 26th November 2013.

    Rev. Fr. Johnpillai was grabbed and had a gun pointed at his head by assailants who accused him and Catholic priests in Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee as being 'pro-LTTE' and as leading the Tamil people 'astray'.

    The problem? He had held mass as usual on Nov 26, and thus 'honoured' LTTE leader Prabhakaran's birthday.

    See our earlier post: Letter to UN from NE Sri Lanka Clergy (Feb 2013)

    Rev. Fr. Johnpillai's account of Tuesday's attack follows:

  • Another obfuscation..

    Sri Lanka, in a new twist to prove its commitment to justice and accountability has announced that a 'census' counting all those killed in the civil war.

  • Review: 'If only Sharukh Khan'

    'If Only Sharukh Khan', a play by Raani Moorthy, premiered in London yesterday, November 27th. Framed around three characters' love of the Bollywood actor, Shahrukh Khan, the play allows the audience enter the lives of three South Asian women including a former member of the LTTE.

    Watching the premier last night and reviewing the play for Tamil Guardian, was Sinthujan Varatharajah...


  • China leads on loans to Sri Lanka

    The Sri Lankan government has received $1.9bn worth of loan commitments from other countries, with China leading the way.

  • TNA sabotaging reconciliation - Gotabhaya

    The Bodu Bala Sena, an organisation of Sinhala Buddhist monks has called for the arrest of TNA MP Sritharan for his comments in parliament praising LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, while defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa accused the TNA of trying to sabotage the reconciliation pr

  • Sri Lanka wise enough to deal with internal affairs – China

    The Chinese embassy in Colombo said that Sri Lanka has made progress on human rights and reconciliation and called on the international community not to complicate matters.

    "We believe that the Sri Lankan government and people have the wisdom and capacity to deal appropriately with their internal affairs," an emailed statement said.

  • Panelists discuss 'Sri Lanka's unfinished war' at FrontLine Club

    A preview screening of the BBC World documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s unfinished war’, which outlines several cases of rape and torture against Tamils in the North-East, took place at the Frontline club today.

    The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the producer of the documentary, Frances Harrison, producer of the No Fire Zone documentaries, Callum Macrae and policy and advocacy manager at Freedom from Torture, Sonya Sceats. The Sri Lankan High Commission to the UK refused an invitation to participate in the discussion.

    The panel, chaired by a barrister at a London chamber who acted as a rapporteur to investigate the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice, Sadakat Kadri, discussed various issues and answered questions from the audience.

    Full discussion can be viewed below.

    Macrae  outlined that the lack of credibility of any investigative initiative set up by the Sri Lanakan government,

    “The Sri Lankan government has an endless history of commissions that have amounted to nothing. And I think we’re going to see a lot in the run up to the UN sessions in March. I think a spurious reconciliation commission will be offered with the unfortunate help of South Africa, which will be used as an excuse to prevent things form happen. I’m sorry but from what they’ve done in the past, we can guarantee that almost any investigation will be spurious.”

  • Remembrance and Resistance
    Today the Tamil nation unites in an act of collective remembrance. From gatherings in diaspora locales to silent moments of thought in the occupied homeland, Tamils pause to remember all those who gave their lives in protracted struggle against the genocidal onslaught of the Sinhala state. What began as commemoration of those who fell in a war of liberation is today the defining moment of solidarity in the cause of national resistance. Marking not the finality of death, but the solemnity of sacrifice, the symbolism of this single day, like no other, is a thread that unites the Tamil nation across the world’s borders and reiterates at once its identity and its unyielding defiance in the face of genocide.

  • Maaveerar Naal remembrance event begins in UK

     

     

    Published 11:29 GMT

  • Jaffna based newspaper remembers

     

     

  • Wigneswaran blocked from planned commemoration of Heroes Day

    The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, CV Wigneswaran, was blocked from planting trees at the Thanthai Chelva memorial square in Jaffna, in remembrance of Heroes Day.

    The CM and three of his councillors proceeded to plant trees on the premises of the provincial council’s education ministry.

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