Today marks the 42nd birthday of Isaipriya, a famed Tamil newsreader that was executed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

Shoba, better known by her nom de plume Isaipriya, was just 27 years old when she was killed.

A regular figure as a newsreader and telecaster, she was a well known and much loved across the Tamil homeland and the large Tamil diaspora. She presented the news on TTN and featured in the LTTE’s Oliveechchu videos that were distributed around the world.

The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santhosh Jha told reporters in Batticaloa that the ferry service between Kankesanthurai and Nagapattinam which was revived after 40 years and suddenly halted again, will resume later this month.

Excavation work commenced at a mass grave in Pungudutivu this week after construction workers found several human skeletal remains during the construction of a warehouse.

Sri Lankan police officers and the local magistrate watched as forensic officers began their excavation, unearthing several human skeletal remains.

Tamils in Mullaitivu thwarted the fourth attempt by Sri Lanka's land survey department to forcibly seize land belonging to Alampil Thuyilum Illam (LTTE cemetery), reportedly to extend the 10th Sinha Regiment’s military camp. 

The following account is written by a second-generation Tamil from London who was involved in organising the prolonged protest on Parliament Square in Westminster during April and May 2009, the peak of Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils. Theeban (not his real name), then in his early twenties, was studying at a London university.

Vavuniya

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) held a march in Vavuniya today reiterating the party’s stance in calling for justice, accountability, and an international mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by Sri Lanka. 

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa issued a statement refuting allegations made against him by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and claimed the Catholic leader “glosses over the responsibility of, or expressly absolves” the role of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Easter Sunday attacks.

Tamil families of the disappeared held a rally in Vavuniya yesterday as they continue to call on the international community to investigate the fate of their loved ones, who were forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan state. 

The families have been calling for international justice and accountability for years as successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to address their demands. 

Several human skeletal remains were uncovered in Muhamalai, alongside uniform believed to belong to an LTTE cadre, as yet another mass grave was discovered in the Tamil homeland.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has passed a resolution calling on Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister, Tiran Alles, to stand down after encouraging police to shoot at suspects, adding that his statement is “in direct contradiction to the fundamental principles enshrined in the Constitution”.