Thavendra Rajah

21 oil lamps were lit and floral tributes paid at the Poonagar Pillayar Kovil in Verugal, #Trincomalee to the memory of 21 #Tamils and #Muslims including public officials killed evidently by the #SriLanka military 38 years ago when the victims were carting food for war displaced.

Interesting to see OMP in #srilanka have added their Batticaloa list now which wasn't there in 2019 #toolbar=0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">omp.gov.lk/storage/app/up…

I am excited to be appointed as Ontario’s Associate Minister of Housing. Thank you, Premier @fordnation, for placing your trust in me. I look forward to working with Minister @PaulCalandra to deliver on our government’s ambitious plan to build more homes people can afford. Serving Ontario as the Associate Minister of Transportation has been an honour of a lifetime. We were able to make Ontario’s Transportation more affordable and accessible with Ontario’s One Fare program and by bringing back the Northlander. Thank you to my friend and colleague Minister @PrabSarkaria for his leadership and commitment to building transit across this province. Thank you to my family, my team, and Scarborough-Rouge Park residents for believing in me and for supporting me. Let’s continue to get it done!

More highlights from the second day of the CONIFA Women’s World Football Cup. GAME 2 -Wednesday 5th June 2024 11pm: Székely Land LE vs Tamil Eelam Highlights and the interviews with Tamil Eelam players after their historic first win are provided by Marga TV👏🏻📺

🚨'No hope a Sinhalese government will ever provide a permanent solution to Tamils' - Tamil Families of the Disappeared tamilguardian.com/content/no-hop…

No LTTE. No militants. No diaspora. Just Sri Lanka. No excuses. #genocide

Press Conference: Launching of Int'l Court of Justice (ICJ) Petition (E-petition: 4981) on Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka einpresswire.com/article/715630…

நாடுகடந்த தமிழீழ அரசாங்கத்தின் பிரதமராக, மீண்டும் திரு.விசுவநாதன் உருத்திரகுமாரன் அவர்கள் தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார் einpresswire.com/article/714864…

Rudrakumaran Re-Elected as Prime Minister of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam during new Parliamentary Session einpresswire.com/article/714861…

And this is me. I am a product of my mom, dad, brothers, friends, and mentors. To them, I owe everything. Signing off for the first time ever as, Dr. David Velasquez, MD, MBA, MPP

These are my brothers. My oldest (far left) brother raised me when my parents worked multiple jobs. My older (second to the left) brother pushed me on the track & helped me become a better version of myself. My little brother (far right) taught me how to be a big brother--the best gift. No part of younger me would have ever imagined that us four boys, who lived in a family shelter home in 2001 & a tiny studio motel in 2009, would make it to a place like @Harvard. You guys gave me the opportunity to pursue higher education when each of you went to work right after high school. Thank you. 3/4

This is my dad. He was shot twice fighting for democracy in his home country, Nicaragua. He lost his brother in battle. His calloused hands remind me of the manual labor he worked to make sure I could focus on school. He transports elderly patients to their doctors' appointments. He is a warrior. You kept us strong, dad. 2/4

This is my mom. She was an asylum seeker. She slept in a church b/c she had nowhere else to go. She is a housekeeper & a waitress. She is my hero. These degrees are for her. Harvard Medical School, M.D. ✅ Harvard Business School, M.B.A. ✅ Harvard Kennedy School of Government, M.P.P. ✅ You made history happen, mom. 1/4

🚨Sri Lankan leaders 'have failed to hold the line on the fight against impunity' - Amnesty International @amnesty @AgnesCallamard tamilguardian.com/content/sri-la…

Crackdown Over Civil War Anniversary: UN Report Calls For International Prosecutions For Enforced Disappearances colombotelegraph.com/index.php/crac… #lka #SriLanka

தொடரும் பயணம்... வலிந்து காணாமல் ஆக்கப்பட்ட தனது மகன் வருவான் என்ற ஒரே நம்பிக்கையுடன் கடந்த 15 வருடங்களாக தொடர்ந்து பயணிக்கும் தந்தைக்கு நீதி வழங்குவது யார்? #TamilGenocide #Mullivaikkal #LKA #WorldwideTamils

The mother is dead, and her hungry child is trying to feed from her corpse. This horror happened because the world remained silent on the Tamil genocide by the Sri Lankan army. We will never forget nor forgive! தமிழர்களின் தாகம் தமிழீழத் தாயகம்!

#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)

Even when the high profile head of an international organisation is at Mullivaikkal, and courts have lifted bans on serving Mullivaikkal kanji, the Sri Lankan police is still empowered to crack down - with no legal basis - on public remembrance, a fundamental right.

This week I introduced a resolution recognizing the genocide in Sri Lanka, affirming the Tamil people's right to self-determination, & for an independence referendum to work toward peace. The U.S. must lead & champion the values of democracy & human rights. My full remarks.⬇️