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Nestled in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka, Veeramunai is a Tamil-majority village that forms part of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The Eastern Province is an integral region of the Tamil homeland. For generations, this land has held deep cultural and strategic significance for Tamils. That said, the East is also a very diverse place and home to a large percentage of Tamil speaking Muslims who choose to identify themselves as a distinct group of people who consciously avoid the Tamil political and cultural identity. Successive Sinhala governments deliberately stirred tensions between Tamils and Muslims, weakening both communities and used the “Muslim factor” as a convenient pretext to sever the bond between the North and East. In this process, much of the Muslim leadership fell in line with the state’s agenda. This blog is part two of our series on Sri Lanka's Muslim Home Guard. To read Part 1 click here👇 MHG01-Kattankudy's War on Tamils https://www.mrpaluvets.com/2025/0...

Kattankudy is a name you’ve probably come across often when reading about the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka or the Sri Lankan civil war. This predominantly Muslim town in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka has long been a hotspot of communal violence and ethnic tensions. The Kattankudy mosque massacre of 1990 is remembered as one of the most tragic and shocking events of the conflict. Yet, despite its severity, this massacre remains poorly investigated and has too often been used to unfairly frame the Tamil struggle in a negative light. While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were widely blamed, they have consistently denied any involvement. What many fail to mention is that this massacre happened just a kilometer away from a Sri Lankan military camp, in an area firmly controlled by the then Sri Lankan state. It is difficult to imagine such an operation taking place without the knowledge or at least tacit consent of the Sri Lankan military. Another crucial aspect often overlooke...

Anyone who is interested in Ceylon's history would have heard about Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Ponnambalam Ramanathan was a prominent Tamil lawyer, statesman, and religious thinker who played a key role in colonial Ceylon’s legal and political spheres. Everyone knows the name Ponnambalam Ramanathan. But knowing the name and knowing the person are two different things. He’s often projected as a "Tamil leader" especially by those who think anyone with a Tamil name and a Jaffna address automatically qualifies as a representative of the Tamils. But to say the truth, when you closely examine his politics and political action, you will eventually realise that Ramanathan’s politics had nothing to do with Tamil nationalism, Eelam, or even Jaffna for that matter. His political identity is made up of colonial loyalty, Saiva orthodoxy, and Vellala supremacy.  Tamilness? Cannot be found anywhere in this equation.   I am not making this point, or stressing on this statement o...