Posts Categorized: Diaspora

Pew: Facts about Sri Lankans in the U.S.

by Carolyn Im, Pew Research Center, Washington, DC, May 1, 2025 (based on U.S. Census Bureau tabulations of the 2023 American Community Survey) [Note: based on those who reported their identity as Sri Lankan ONLY, so probably excludes who identified as Sri Lankan Tamil, etc. Hopefully, another demographer can tease out these numbers from the… Read more »

TG: Sri Lanka’s Genocide Blueprint

Tamil Guardian editorial, June 2, 2025 There was a marked shift in global politics last week as states around the world, including staunch allies of Israel, began to criticise its ongoing military offensive in Gaza. It comes as a senior United Nations humanitarian official repeatedly issued a stark reminder of the international community’s failure to… Read more »

TG: A Global Reckoning

Tamil Guardian editorial, May 27, 2025 Last week, thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal, on the very beaches where tens of thousands were massacred by the Sri Lankan state in 2009, to mark the 16th anniversary of the genocide. The turnout was remarkable, the largest since the end of the armed conflict, and a powerful testament… Read more »

TG: There Can Be No More Denial

Tamil Guardian editorial, May 19, 2025 Today, Tamils around the world are commemorating 16 years since the massacres at Mullivaikkal. Though more than a decade-and-half has passed, the situation on the island for Eelam Tamils seems as precarious as ever. There has been no accountability for the atrocities that took place. The seizure of historic… Read more »

Mullivaikkal Declaration 2025

by Tamil Guardian, London, May 21, 2025 See in original Tamil at TamilWin தமிழீழ வரலாற்றின் சாட்சியாக முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் பிரகடனம் 2025 – தமிழ்வின் Marking sixteen years since the Mullivaikkal genocide, the Mullivaikkal Remembrance Public Forum released a statement on 18 May 2025, reaffirming the Tamil nation’s unwavering commitment to justice, self-determination, and resistance against continued structural oppression… Read more »

The Story of Eelam Tamils ​​in South Indian Cinema

by I.V. Mahasenan in his blog, May 12, 2025 [translated into English from the original Tamil by Google Translate with corrections by the Editor.]   The Tamilaham (Tamil Nadu) and Eelam-Tamil relationship is essential to the existence of Tamil national politics. Since the Sri Lankan and Indian governments have interpreted the rise of Tamil nationalism… Read more »

TG: Tamil Resistance at the Polls

Tamil Guardian editorial, May 9, 2025 Sri Lanka’s recent local government elections illustrated a sharp decline in support for the National People’s Power (NPP), a fall most pronounced in the Tamil North-East. Less than a year since it swept into both presidential and parliamentary power on a platform of anti-corruption and political reform, the coalition… Read more »

SLC: Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day 2025

Memory, Mourning and the Long Struggle for Justice by Sri Lanka Campaign, London, May 16, 2025 Sixteen years after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Tamil survivors and families of the disappeared are still fighting for one of the fundamental human rights: the right to mourn. Every May 18, Mullivaikkal Day serves as both… Read more »

Paris-based Thriller Offers Fresh Inside Take on French-Tamil Community

Writer, actor and director Lawrence Valin says that in Little Jaffna he wanted to ‘show new role models’ by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, UK, May 4, 2025 It has been hailed as one of the most innovative and surprising French gangster films this year: a suspense movie that tears through Paris’s Tamil neighbourhood. The police… Read more »

Little Jaffna – A Tale of Dual Identity

Little Jaffna – A Tale of Dual Identity by Krishna Selvaseelan, Tamil Guardian, London, November 11, 2024 See also an interview with the director. Lawrence Valin’s ‘Little Jaffna,’ a feature-length debut based on his short film, delivers a compelling story about identity. Set in France, the film follows Michael, a Tamil-French police officer, assigned to… Read more »

Open Letter to Sri Lankan President Anura K. Dissanayake

Since 1948 SL Heads of State have ‘relayed’ on the Ethnic conflict! by S. V. Kirubaharan, General Secretary, TCHR – Tamil Centre for Human Rights, France, May 7, 2025  William Shakespeare: “Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends”. Dear Mr President: First of all, our congratulations to you and the NPP – National People’s Power… Read more »

Selective Justice is Not Justice

Tamil Guardian editorial, London, March 16, 2025 Selective justice is not justice Mar 16, 2025 The aftermath of former Sri Lankan president’s Ranil Wickremesinghe disastrous Al Jazeera interview continued to reverberate across the island this week, after Colombo announced the tabling of the Batalanda Commission Report in Parliament. For decades, the report, which details the use of… Read more »

Ranil Wickremesinghe is Sri Lanka

Malaravan, Tamil Guardian, London, March 13, 2025 The ‘Sly Fox’ who compares himself to the Buddha and who deflects when questioned on accountability, war crimes and corruption. The recent head-to-head interview on Al Jazeera with Mehdi Hassan has brought Ranil Wickremesinghe back into the spotlight. The former Sri Lankan president was described as ‘childish’ and ‘callous’… Read more »

What is the Batalanda Report?

by Tamil Guardian, London, March 11, 2025 Following a disastrous interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan by former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Batalanda report and his role in facilitating torture has come into the spotlight. We take a look at the report and at Wickremesinghe’s alleged role. What is the Batalanda Report? Established… Read more »

Al Jazeera: Who is to Blame for Sri Lanka’s Crises?

by Head to Head, Al Jazeera, London, March 6, 2025 When Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in 2022 – amidst mass protests and an economic crisis– parliament elected veteran politician and six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. As President, Wickremesinghe negotiated the country’s biggest bail-out, but his critics say he is part of… Read more »

TG: Sri Lanka’s Budget: Funding Occupation

Tamil Guardian editorial, February 22, 2025 Sri Lanka’s new president unveiled a much awaited budget this week, his first since taking up office. The self-proclaimed Marxist leader pledged spending that largely aligned with conditions set out in a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. But, as commentators have pointed out, the budget demonstrates several… Read more »

Krishna Vaikunthavasan at the UN 1978

from Tamil Guerrilla, a Tamil historical archive on Instagram & X, February 14, 2025 Krishna Vaikunthavasan was an Eelam Tamil lawyer and activist, known for his advocacy for Tamil Eelam. In August 1978, he gained international attention when he took to the podium at the UN, pretending to be the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka,… Read more »

TCHR: Sinhala Colonisation 2000

by K Sachithanandan, Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, 2ooo Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March/April 2000 The original text was produced in Tamil by the Author in 1980s TCHR Sinhala Colonisation 2000 K Sachithanandan   SINHALA COLONISATION IN THE HEREDITARY TAMIL REGIONS OF THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA An appeal to… Read more »