The ''Tamil Times'' was an English language British monthly

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...

focusing on

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

issues. Founded in 1981, the magazine was published from

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

and distributed worldwide to the

Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan and Tamil diaspora. Like other diasporas, Sri Lankan Tamils are scattered and dispersed around the glo ...

. It ceased publication in 2006.

History

The ''Tamil Times'' was founded in 1981 by N. S. Kandiah, S. Navaratnam, P. Ragunathan, P. Rajanayagam, C. J. T. Thamotheram and R. Thayaparan. Thamotheram was managing director of the magazine as well as its editor. The first edition of the paper was published in October 1981. The magazine's publisher, Tamil Times Limited, was incorporated on 10 November 1981. The magazine was later edited by Rajanayagam. In its early years the magazine supported Sri Lankan Tamil militantism but following the takeover by Kandiah (publisher) and Rajanayagam (editor) in December 1987 the magazine took a moderate editorial stance. S. Arunachalam joined the magazine's board following Thamotheram's resignation. In its early years the ''Tamil Times'' became a crucial source of news about the Sri Lankan Civil War for the growing Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, particularly as the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

heavily censored local media outlets. The Sri Lankan government published the free-circulation ''Sri Lankan Times'' to compete with the ''Tamil Times''. In the 1990s new news outlets started appearing among the diaspora community. Many of these were controlled or influenced by the militant

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE) which had a strong presence among the diaspora. The ''Tamil Times'' however maintained its independence. The August 1999 issue of ''Tamil Times'' was devoted entirely to the assassination of

Neelan Tiruchelvam Neelakandan Tiruchelvam, PC ( ta, நீலகண்டன் திருச்செல்வம்; 31 January 1944 – 29 July 1999) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, academic, human rights activist and politician. He was a Member of Parli ...

, widely blamed on the LTTE. With falling circulation the ''Tamil Times'' ceased publication in late 2006. Tamil Times Limited was dissolved on 13 August 2008.

References

External links

* {{Sri Lankan Tamil people 1981 establishments in England 2006 disestablishments in England Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom News magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1981 Magazines disestablished in 2006 Sri Lankan Tamil culture Magazines published in London