The 23rd anniversary of the murder of Tamil journalist, Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, was commemorated at the Jaffna Press Club and at the Vavuniya Press Club on October 19th. Nimalarajan was one of the few independent reporters in the Tamil homeland who contributed to both local and international press. Nimalarajan’s murderers, who shot him to death in his house in a high-security zone, are yet to be prosecuted. 

Seeing success in every feature since his 2017 debut ‘Maanagaram,’ Kanagaraj has quickly become a directorial darling in Tamil cinema, featuring acting titans of the industry in his last three films. Kanagaraj joins hands once again with actor Vijay, following their 2021 film ‘Master,’ for one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year ‘Leo.’ Unfortunately, the film fails to live up to expectations. 

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture called for further police intelligence officers to be deployed to the already military-occupied Jaffna district, in order to arrest a “gang” that is reportedly extorting local farmers in the region.

The University of Jaffna has appointed a committee to investigate reported attempts to remove the reconstructed Mullivaikkal monument, according to an article in the Uthayan this week.

The monument, which was dedicated to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed in the genocidal offensive at the end of the armed conflict in 2009, was originally constructed in 2019.

Sri Lanka’s Leader of the Opposition has denounced “terrorism and state terrorism” and called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene in Israel’s military offensive into Gaza, despite defending war criminals and opposing international intervention in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) requested that renowned musician Santhosh Narayanan postpone a scheduled concert in Jaffna this week, as it clashes with the anniversary of India’s massacre of dozens of Tamils at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

Though Sri Lanka’s sweeping aragalaya protest moment that forced its then-president out of office is now over, long-awaited reforms on the island have not taken place. Instead, Colombo’s latest president, the purportedly Western-friendly president Ranil Wickremesinghe, has proceeded to slide the island further down the path of authoritarianism.

Amid the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Sri Lankan migrants working in Israel have chosen to remain in the country and face the possibility of escalating armed conflict rather than return to the island.

According to a spokesperson from the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB), there are some 8,000 Sri Lankans in Israel at present.

However, whilst other countries have been organising evacuations, there have not been any requests to return from Sri Lankan citizens, confirmed Labour Minister Manusha Nanayakkara. “There is no trend of Sri Lankan workers in Israel coming back to Sri Lanka,” he told reporters.

Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who oversaw a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils and stands accused of committing genocide, claimed that “war is never a solution” after a visit to the Palestinian  embassy in Colombo on Monday.

The Sri Lankan Navy said it had conducted “special operations” and arrested 27 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, as well as seizing five trawlers in Jaffna and Mannar.

The latest arrests come as the detention of fishermen from Tamil Nadu, an issue that has plagued relations between Colombo and Chennai for years, continues.

In a move that is seen to further inflame tensions in the Mayilathamadu Madhavanai area of Batticaloa, a new Buddha statue was installed on Sunday under the leadership of controversial monk Ambitiya Sumanaratna. The installation ceremony also saw the participation of former Governor of the Eastern Province, Anuradha Yahampa.

The British Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, recently paid a visit to Jaffna where she met with Tamil parliamentarians and other officials, as part of her first visit to the island.

The 37th commemoration of the death of Lt. Col. Victor, a key commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who was martyred in 1986, was held in Mannar last week.

Buddhist monks led a Sinhala nationalist rally in support of Israel and its offensive on Gaza this week, reiterating Israeli military support during Sri Lanka’s war on Tamils.

“At that time when the international community was not helping us, the Israel state assisted us unconditionally to save us from terrorism,” claimed Senapathiye Ananda, a Buddhist monk from the little-known North & East Sinhala Association.