Ahrabi

How can Tamil be India’s gift to the world when it’s older than India..

A lovely evening, spent talking about @michaelshaikh’s new book alongside the author and @nimmideviarchy, at Lungi in Manhattan. His book includes a chapter on Eelam Tamil food, which makes the argument that distinct recognition for the cuisine is long overdue. Art by @ahrabiraj

Thrilled (and relieved) to have submitted my PhD thesis today. I'm fortunate and privileged to have had a supportive environment that encouraged me to pursue this. My thesis looks at the continuous reproduction and expansion of transnational Eelam Tamil nationalism, post-LTTE.

The Tamil version of the piece on Sampanthan I co-authored with Dr Rasaratnam was in the Sunday Thinakkural and today's Virakesari

When the GOSL’s crimes are still being downplayed and dismissed 15 years after the Tamil genocide, is dialogue around ‘reconciliation’ actually expected to result in anything?

#STATEMENT : Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day - 15 years on Today, on the 15th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal Massacre, marked annually as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, PEARL stands with the victims and survivors of the Sri Lankan state’s genocide against the Tamil people. The Sri Lankan state committed unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, rape and other sexual violence against Tamils, and also denied them humanitarian assistance, including food. In the final stages of the war, Tamil civilians were told by the Sri Lankan government to take shelter in official “No Fire Zones,” where they were then intentionally bombed. To date, the exact number of killed and disappeared Tamils has not been investigated, with estimates stating that 70,000 to 169,796 Tamils remain unaccounted for and presumed dead during this period. Tamils in the homeland and in the diaspora have consistently called for justice and accountability for Sri Lanka’s mass atrocity crimes, including genocide. In the 15 years since these atrocities, UN human rights investigations completed in 2011 and 2015 stated that the Sri Lankan government committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Others, such as the UN Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on UN Action in Sri Lanka (2012), revealed how the “systematic failure” of the UN was a factor that led to the serious violations of international law. The failures of the international community to halt the mass killing of Tamils, as well as the complicity of international actors supporting the Sri Lankan state, even at the height of the war in 2009, contributed to the atrocities going unchecked.  However, to this day, the Sri Lankan government fails to meaningfully address Tamil grievances. Following an economic crisis caused by irrational policies and its 17th IMF bailout in 2023, Sri Lanka profits from an increase in positive engagement and bilateral support, while evading international accountability. Yet, the reality is that it continues the strategy of previous governments in centering Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism, the root problem of the conflict, in its policies and decisions. Sri Lanka has been allowed to push boundaries on what will be tolerated within a context of international scrutiny and continues to keep the Tamil homeland in the North-East intensely militarized. Tamils who protest the Sri Lankan state or attend Tamil remembrance events are still being surveilled, harassed, intimidated, and even arrested by Sri Lankan security forces. The government steals Tamil-owned land and supports the further Sinhalization on the island through the destruction of Tamil places of worship and the illegal construction of viharas in the North-East. Alleged war criminals, responsible for numerous heinous crimes, remain in high positions of power and are celebrated as war heroes on the island. The brute force used to crush the armed Tamil resistance at the shores of Mullivaikkal in 2009 was just the peak of the Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarian state policy. Successive Sri Lankan governments have shown that every attempt of Tamil resistance challenging the majoritarian state and the legitimate right of the Tamil nation for self-determination will be punished and disciplined by all means, including through genocidal acts. Even 76 years after the independence of the Sri Lankan unitary state and 15 years after the Mullivaikkal Massacre, the Sri Lankan state continues to repress and discipline the political aspirations of the Tamils on the island. Despite the genocidal acts of Sri Lanka, Tamils in the homeland and the diaspora stay steadfast for their legitimate political rights, and continue to relentlessly resist the majoritarian state and to uphold the resilience of Eelam Tamil nationhood. (1/2)

“By those”? The erasure of Tamils is real.

PEARL officially says goodbye to our Strategic Advisor and former Advocacy Director, @MarioArul , who has decided to move on from PEARL after his recent sabbatical. We are hugely thankful to Mario for his dedication and work with PEARL over the past 8 years, much of which has built the foundation upon which PEARL currently stands. It has been an honor to have had Mario be part of the PEARL team, as a leader, a colleague, and as a friend. Mario continues to inspire many people with his passion and dedication towards the Tamil struggle. While we are sad to see him leave, we know that many exciting opportunities lie ahead and we wish him the best of luck in his endeavors.

Today marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Sri Lankan state has disproportionately attacked and killed Tamil journalists for their work since the 1980s and continues to compromise press freedom by surveilling, harassing, and assaulting journalists. In recent years, with the increasing cases of Sinhalization in the North-East, Tamil journalists have continued to face ongoing repression for documenting Sri Lanka's human rights violations targeting Tamils on the island. PEARL remembers the journalists in Sri Lanka who were censored, forcibly disappeared, and/or murdered for their political resistance and for publicizing human rights violations against Tamils in the North-East. We honor the journalists who were persecuted for their commitment to truth and call for an international investigation and prosecution of all crimes against journalists in #SriLanka.

🚨Sri Lanka claims it is committed to a two-state solution on Palestine tamilguardian.com/content/sri-la…

🚨 Mullaitivu District Judge T. Saravanaraja has left the country due to threat to his life. It is Reported that he left the country due to threats from a politician and threats from Buddhist monks in the #Kurunthoormalai illegal Buddhist temple case. He has also sent resignation letter to the Judicial Service Commission.

Buddhist clergy threaten to “squeeze the neck” of Eastern Province Governor @senthilTho and later storm Trinco DCC meeting. What disgusting behavior by these monks. And monks can enter these buildings and protest but if others attempt to do the same they are tear-gassed

PEARL welcomes the @UNHumanRights view that "as long as impunity prevails, Sri Lanka will achieve neither genuine reconciliation nor sustainable peace." The international community should take heed of the OHCHR's encouragement to use universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators, support relevant accountability processes in third States, and apply targeted sanctions against credibly alleged perpetrators. Sri Lanka’s 75 year history of violence, impunity and failed domestic mechanisms makes clear that Sri Lanka does not have the political will to deliver the justice and accountability that Tamil victim communities have long awaited. However, the OHCHR and the international community must condemn the increasing state-sponsored land acquisition, destruction of Tamil places of worship and illegal construction of Buddhist viharas in the North-East, and the ongoing repression of Tamil memorialization, which continues despite the GOSL’s claims. Tamils have been widely protesting for a long-term political solution that recognizes the Tamil people’s right to self-determination. The aforementioned issues and the root problem of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism must be acknowledged as a driving force behind the state’s rights violations in order to present an accurate picture of the human rights situation in the North-East. #HRC53

Earlier today, @Harvard students protested @RW_UNP's virtual conversation with the @MittalInstitute & @HarvardCID, raising concerns over Sri Lanka's egregious human rights record, repeated failure to deliver on international commitments such as UNHRC Res 30/1 and its inability to deliver on structural reform. Moving past its current crises requires the Government of #SriLanka to address historic impunity through accountability and confront the entrenched and destabilizing Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism at the root cause of Sri Lanka’s crises.

“We ​are really worried ​about why we were born as Tamils. All our lands are being occupied. Everyone should remember that, if this is the situation for us living in the border villages, tomorrow this ​occupation ​will come towards your places”- A tamil man from #Kokkuthoduvai

Leadership from the United States is essential in meaningfully addressing the longstanding demands of the Tamil people, which is necessary for Sri Lanka to move past its ongoing economic and political crises towards a future of peace and stability.

Last week, PEARL was in DC for meetings with the @StateDept, institutional partners, and Congress, to advance Tamil calls for justice, accountability, and a sustainable political solution.

„The Federal Court has acquitted the main defendant in the Tamil Tigers trial. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland appealed several times. Now the final verdict has been reached. The man receives 19,400 francs in compensation.“ Context: republik.ch/2018/01/13/tam…

'We would rather die here than be sent back to Sri Lanka' says the Tamil woman as she holds back tears, pleading for the refugees not to be sent back.

🚨Tamil families of the disappeared mark International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances across North-East tamilguardian.com/content/tamil-…