Tamil rights

Introduction On the late evening of 20 February 2009, two diminutive aircrafts swiftly approached Sri Lanka’s capital with the intention of launching an attack against the military’s defense base in Colombo. The Zlin Z-143 airplanes were flown by ferocious Air Tigers; the air-wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fueled with determination to […]

Image: People of kokkuthoduvai, Kokkilai and karunatkerni villages held a campaign in Mullitivu town to stop encroaching their lands under the name of Mahaweli “L” Zone development. Nearly 300 farmers both men and women who have been deprived from their  agricultural lands and water resources peacefully marched to the Mullaitivu Government Agent”s office and handed over […]

The European Union Delegation Comprising of Mr Riccardo Chelleri, (Policy Officer Democracy and Electoral Observation) and Ms. Anne Vaugier Chatterjee (Deputy Head, Political, Trade,and Communications Section) and others met with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr. R Sampanthan today in Colombo. Briefing the Delegation Mr. Sampanthan highlighted that the people in this country […]

Image: “So, please remember this and the earlier  you do it, the better. If you do not do it and abstain from doing the right thing, I do not think the Tamil people will take it lying down for too long,” Sampanthan tells the govt. NEW CONSTITUTION WITH NATIONAL CONSENSUS. R. Sampanthan. Mr. Deputy Speaker, […]

Today in this House it is the UNP that is in Government. The responsibility is with you. The Prime Minister became the Chairman of the Steering Committee that has met over 80 times and has brought two comprehensive reports. The second one includes a draft of the constitution made by the experts to the steering […]

Speech delivered by Hon R Sampanthan MP, at Matara on 7th July 2019, at the event to felicitate Hon Mangala Samraweera MP, Minister completion of 30 years in active politics. Hon Mangala Samaraweera my dear friend for a long time, Hon Sajith Premadasa Minister, Hon Ministers Hon State Ministers, Hon Deputy Ministers Hon Members of […]

(Republic next) A senior constitutional expert has expressed concern over President Maithripala Sirisena’s appointment of a professional advisory board on national security chaired by Parliamentarian Dr. Sarath Amunugama earlier today. Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law Director Dr. Asanga Welikala speaking to RepublicNext said while the creation of such a body is not strictly unconstitutional in […]

Image: Tamils being attacked in 1958 ethnic violence in Sri Lanka. Since then ethnic violence has been permanent feature in post independent Sri Lanka. The terrorist attacks that took place on the 21st Sunday 2019 caused grave loss and damage to many Sri Lankans. The multiple explosions island wide, including those that followed over the next […]

 19 April 2019.  Tamil Guardian’s correspondent Shanmugam Thavaseelan was summoned for questioning by Mullaitivu police on Thursday, after the Sri Lankan navy filed a complaint against him for reporting on a disappearances rally in the district. The complaint against the Mullaitivu journalist was filed following a rally by Tamil families of the disappeared on Vadduvakal […]

Image: Disappearances by S.P. Pushpakanthan. (10 April 2019, London) The statements made by the Sri Lankan delegates at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) 40th session and again within a week after returning from Geneva are highly disappointing. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) finds this disconcerting, considering Sri Lanka has just taken the positive step of co-sponsoring […]

Image: A  house of a ex-female cadre in Vanni, 2016. Inequality is now one of the most internationally researched and debated social issues. Rising income inequalities between and within countries after the neo-liberal turn of the 1970s gained further attention with the global economic crisis of 2008. As inequality became a central concern of studies […]

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil party demanded Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more time for a much-delayed probe. Government troops have been accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island […]

Image: Thousands of mothers are still waiting for the answers and justice for their disappeared children. (c)s.deshapriya. (GENEVA, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ ) The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) today welcomed the UN Office of the High Commissioner’s report to […]

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that the lower courts were wrong to override the conclusions of a medical expert when considering forensic evidence of torture in an asylum claim.  An asylum seeker from Sri Lanka, known as ‘KV’, appealed a Home Office decision to refuse his asylum claim. Expert medical opinion […]

(Tamil Guardian) The judge at Westminster Magistrates Court today concluded the Sri Lankan Brigadier, accused of making a death threat to Tamil protesters in London last year, was not covered by diplomatic immunity whilst making the gesture. Stating the Brigadier Priyanka Fernando’s threats were not part of his job description as Sri Lanka’s then defence attache, […]

Image: Sri Lankan Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Meera Srinivasan/The Hindu. Debts amounting to LKR 1,400 million to be written off; interest rates capped. With a partial debt write off, a cap on lending rates of microfinance companies and an imminent master plan for economic development, the Sri Lankan government has sought to revive the war-affected […]

Image: The assaulted young man. 88 Chemmany Road, Nallur, Jaffna. 11 February 2019 His Excellency Suren Raghavan Governor, Northern Province. Your Excellency: The Police in Jaffna – Do we need them? In the absence of a Chief Minister and Provincial Representatives who are being very wrongfully denied us here in the Northern Province by not […]

BY MANJULA FERNANDO. In an interview with the Sunday Observer Dr.Suren Raghawan, the first ever Northern Province Tamil Governor, spells out his aims and objectives to serve the people in the region and build bridges not only to send the farming produce from the North over to the South, but bring together the youth of […]

image: Michelle Bachelet Jeria with UNSG. Jaffna/30 January 2019. Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet Jeria The High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson 52 rue des Pa quis CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland. Your Excellency, Re: Your Report to the UNHRC in March 2019 on Sri Lanka We […]

by Shashik Dhanushka and Praveen Tilakaratne. The silent protest against ‘Unethical Media Practice’ held on the 11th January 2019 by several civil society activists and artists opened up space for a larger discussion on the role of the media. This earned wider attention by the general public especially after the refusal of certain media channels […]

New Year Greetings. My heartiest wishes for a Prosperous and a Happy New Year to all Sri Lankan citizens. As we step into a new year I wish and pray that this new year brings hope and happiness to all the people in this Country. The past year has taught us many lessons through both […]

27th December, 2018 To: President Maithripala Sirisena Cc. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe & Leaders of Political Parties Keep the Presidential Promise – release land by 31st December 2018 On the 4th of October 2018, The Presidential Media Division reported that “President Maithripala Sirisena instructed the authorities to complete the process of releasing the lands in […]

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has made an initial announcement in parliament that the new Leader of the Opposition would be former president Mahinda Rajapaksa of the SLFP/UPFA.  However, this has been challenged by the TNA whose leader R Sampanthan previously held the position and who has not been removed from this position.  This has led to […]

Image: Left groups wants Sirisena to be prosecuted for political coup he staged. (c)S.Deshapriya.. As a year of political upheaval and economic stagnation is winding down, Sri Lanka is entering into an uncertain 2019. Politics is as toxic as it has ever been in recent times. The illwill between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister […]

Image: Staff dig up skeletons at a site of a former war zone in Mannar, Sri Lanka ( REUTERS ) Excavators in Sri Lanka have found the skeletal remains of 21 children as well as signs of possible torture of the dead in the biggest mass grave in  the country’s former civil war zone, Mannar, putting a spotlight on the […]

Press release/NPC. The restoration of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to his position as Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena has brought to an end seven weeks of political crisis in which the country did not have a functioning government.   As articulated by the Prime Minister himself, most of the people of this country joined together […]

Image: TNA leader Sampanthan with Prez Sirisena. ( the Economic Times). 29th November 2018. His Excellency Maithiripala Sirisena President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat Colombo -01 Your Excellency, Appointment of a Prime Minister who commands the Confidence of Parliamentග We write to you in regard to the above in the […]

Mahinda Rajapaksa, one of Sri Lanka’s two dueling prime ministers.  Paula Bronstein/Getty Images. By Jen Kirbyjen.kirby@vox.com     Two prime ministers are claiming power in Sri Lanka in a bizarre political struggle that has flung the country’s democracy into crisis. Violence erupted Friday in Sri Lanka’s Parliament after supporters of one prime minister reportedly flung chairs, books, and chili paste at the […]

Image: Many Tamil activists see the ousted Ranil Wickremesinghe as less brutal than Mahinda Rajapaksa. by Kumaravadivel Guruparan. In November 2014, Maithripala Sirisena, who was then a cabinet minister and member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, broke ranks with his leader, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and agreed to be the common presidential candidate of the Opposition, […]

TNA Press Release/ 06.11.2018. The United States for Sri Lanka Ms. Alaina B. Teplitz met with the Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Hon R Sampanthan today at his residence. Briefing the Ambassador on present situation in the country, Mr. Sampanthan said, that the events that have taken place in the past week […]