The recent passing of R. Sampanthan, a veteran leader of the Tamil National Alliance in Sri Lanka, has created a vacuum in the political leadership of the Tamils, who are yet to exit the trauma of the civil war that ended 15 years ago. Chelvanayakam, who founded the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi in 1949, Sampanthan was first elected in 1977 …
Commemorations for Tamil Tiger rebels killed in Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war were banned on Friday after court petitions by the government of strongman President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka’s 37-year conflict began in 1972 when Tamil Tigers waged a bloody war against government troops in a campaign for a separate homeland for their ethnic minority group. His government petitioned courts …