The Sri Lankan state continued to target the Tamil families of the disappeared last week, as police issued another summons to Thambirasa Selvarani, the head of the Association for Enforced Disappearances (AERD) in Amparai.

Amnesty International has welcomed the recent adoption of a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, emphasizing the need for continued international scrutiny to address ongoing human rights concerns in the country.

The People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) called on United Nations member states to take "swift action" to bring Sri Lankan perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice using the evidence collected by the OHCHR mandated Sri Lanka Accountability Project. 

Amid heavy rains, Eelam Tamil farmers from Manthai West gathered in protest last week, demanding the return of their ancestral lands, which are at risk of colonisation from Sinhala settlers.

These lands, particularly the Cholamandala Pond land in Iluppaikadavi, under the Manthai West Divisional Secretary Division, have been cultivated by Tamil farmers for over 30 years, and now face the threat of losing them to external settlers.

Several Tamil political parties submitted their nomination papers for the upcoming parliamentary elections, as nominations closed last week.

Members of the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, including former MPs Selvam Adikakalanathan, Sivasakthi Anandan, Mayuran Senthilnathan, Kandiah Sivanesan, former Divisional Councilor K. Vijinthan, Democratic Party spokesperson K. Tulsi, and former cadre Yashodini, all submitted their nominations last week. Several party supporters were present at the time. 

It has been a week of mixed messaging from Washington on Sri Lanka. In Geneva on Wednesday, the United States as a leading member of the Core Group, successfully led a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes and called for an end to impunity on the island. But in Colombo the very next day, the US gifted the military responsible for those very war crimes a brand new aircraft, whilst pledging to build closer ties. These seemingly hypocritical actions are not new.

TJ Gnanavel’s previous feature film, Surya starrer ‘Jai Bhim’ was received with widespread acclaim, causing a movement to submit the film as India’s official selection for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. The film did not work for me, however, and the entire movement felt like an extreme overreaction for a mediocre film - an issue which plagues the Tamil film industry, where the ‘message’ of a film often trumps the quality of it.

In a significant political development ahead of Sri Lanka's parliamentary on November 14, several senior members of the Rajapaksa family have reportedly decided not to contest the upcoming polls.

Former Presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, along with former MPs Basil and Chamal Rajapaksa, will not participate in the parliamentary elections.

The 37th commemoration of the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter to die in the ranks of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was held across the North-East this week.

2nd Lt. Maalathy, died at the age of 20 on October 10, 1987, during a battle with the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) in Jaffna. As the first female combatant of the LTTE to die in battle, her death marked a pivotal moment in the Tamil armed struggle, embedding her legacy deeply within the Tamil community.

Sri Lanka's newly elected government has announced plans to reconsider a wind power project in Mannar previously approved for India's Adani Group.

This was revealed during a Supreme Court hearing on Monday, following a Cabinet meeting on October 7. The review comes as part of a broader reassessment of decisions made by the previous administration.