NPP govt. continues ban on Tamil organisations

… Easter Sunday carnage suspects among them

The government has issued a gazette extending the ban on several Tamil diaspora groups, alleging they supported “terrorism-related activities,” The Tamil Guardian has reported.

The gazette, signed by Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Sampath Thuyyakontha, declared that these organisations have “repeatedly provided financial support for terrorism.” As a result, their financial and economic assets remain frozen, and Sri Lankans are prohibited from having any contact with them. Those that do risk being arrested.

The list also reaffirms the ban on 222 individuals allegedly linked to terrorism.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

*  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

*  Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

*  Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

*  World Tamil Movement (WTM)

*  Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

*  World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

*  National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

*  Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

Other organisations listed include several linked to Islamic groups, such as the National Towhead Jema’ah (NTJ) and the Sri Lanka Islamic Student Movement (SLISM).

The Tamil Guardian reported that successive Sri Lankan governments have used terrorism laws to ban Tamil organisations that continue to function openly and legally in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and throughout Europe. This ban, however, stifles links between these diaspora organisations and Tamils, making it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with them.

The reposition of the ban follows a pattern seen in previous years. In 2024, Sri Lanka renewed its prohibition of Tamil diaspora organisations, days after India extended its own ban on the LTTE. The move was widely condemned as politically motivated and an attempt to justify Sri Lanka’s military presence in the “Tamil homeland”.