SPARE A THOPUGHT FOR TAMILS OF SRI LANKA ON PUTHAANDU VAALTHUKKAL

Puthaandu Vaalthukkal (Happy New Year)

According to Tamil scholars, the people of Tamil Nadu and Tamils of Sri Lanka have been celebrating their new year generally on April 14 according to the Gregorian calendar. Similar celebrations are observed in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, and South Africa where Tamils were initially taken as indentured labourers since the early 1800s. Puthaandu is now also celebrated in many other parts of the world where Tamils have settled. People celebrate the festival with joy and hope that the new year will bring new opportunities and growth in their lives. This day is celebrated by some communities with flowers and raw mangoes to symbolise growth and prosperity. Leaders and activists in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, and the diaspora have called on the people to remember the suffering of the Tamils of Sri Lanka at this time when the Tamil New Year is being observed. During the last days of the civil war in 2009, between 70 000 to 100 000 Tamils were slaughtered by Sri Lankan soldiers and this genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka is continuing with the military occupation and colonisation of the traditional Tamil areas of the North and East of the island country. Human rights violations of the Tamils have become an every day affair and this state situation led to the United Nations Human Rights Council resolving in Geneva recently to launch a independent investigation into the human rights abuses. So when we observe Puthaandu, let us all spare a thought for the continued oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka by the Rajapakse regime.