‘Long way ahead for dignified life for Lankan Tamil refugees': MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: DMK's parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday said the present DMK government in Tamil Nadu is doing its best to be inclusive by making schemes like Naan Mudhalvan and Puthumai Pen (which aim to support the education and skilling of youngsters) available to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the state.
At a panel discussion organised as part of a solidarity event organised on World Refugee Day by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she added, 'There is still a long distance to go… where asking for charity can stop and they (Sri Lankan Tamil refugees) can take their life into their own hands, and live a life of dignity.'
Margriet Veenma, deputy Chief of Mission of India said governments, corporations and civil societies must unite to develop innovative solutions for refugees during times of growing needs and limited resources.
Author Vijidharan said, 'Solidarity will be most powerful when everyone stands together for each other's rights… leading to a situation where there is no need for Maruvaazhvu Mugam (rehabilitation camps for Sri Lankan Tamils).'
The panel featured achievers from the Sri Lankan refugee community, including Neha and Johnson, working in creative fields. Minister for Minorities Welfare SM Nasar also took part.

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Mint

15 minutes ago

• Mint

Iran tries to buy time to weigh its response to US strikes

With the U.S. joining Israel to strike Iran's main nuclear sites, Iran's clerical leaders face a tough choice: hit back quickly and risk expanding a devastating war, or return to nuclear talks where they would likely have to cede to American demands. Iranian officials may have bought themselves some time to maneuver Sunday by saying they had minimized the impact from the U.S. strikes to their nuclear program. State media said damage at the key Fordow enrichment facility was limited to the entrance tunnel and that important equipment had been moved out before the bombings. The United Nations' nuclear agency also said there hadn't been radiation leaks. That could reduce the public pressure to retaliate immediately and instead provide the regime room to come up with a plan to deter future U.S. and Israeli strikes. Iran's choice could prove pivotal, determining not only the stability of the broader region and its energy exports to the rest of the world, but potentially the survival of the theocracy in Tehran. 'Iran is facing a dilemma," said Mohamed Amersi, a Middle East expert on the Global Advisory Council of the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. He said it could respond with symbolic strikes against Western assets while trying to negotiate a cease-fire with Israel in exchange for relief from the West's economic sanctions. Or it could choose to raise the stakes by targeting more substantive Western targets in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, along with strategic locations in Israel and strikes in oil-producing regions of the Persian Gulf. 'In the second case, Iran should expect the U.S. to re-engage," Amersi said. The immediate aftermath of the American strikes saw Iran limit its response to Israel, firing ballistic missiles at several areas of the country and damaging residential buildings in Tel Aviv, according to Magen David Adom, the country's emergency services agency. At least 16 people were wounded. But should Iran opt to broaden its attacks, its targets could include American bases and embassies in Iraq, Bahrain and other parts of the region. Iran could also try to close the Strait of Hormuz—a transit chokepoint for a quarter of the world's oil—by attacking ships or laying mines. The goal would be to trigger an oil-supply crisis, a surge in prices and a drop in global stock markets in a bet that would pressure Persian Gulf nations and the U.S. to broker a diplomatic outcome. It is a risky course that could instead lead to more U.S. attacks that could threaten the durability of the regime in Tehran. Some analysts expect Iran to play it relatively safe. Iranian Navy soldiers patrolling near the Strait of Hormuz in 2019. Based on past behavior, Iran could 'harass shipping to boost oil prices, which could hurt the U.S. economy, especially under Trump," said Europe-based Mostafa Pakzad, chairman of Pakzad Consulting, which advises foreign companies on Iranian geopolitics. In 2018, after President Trump took the U.S. out of a pact limiting Iran's nuclear program and ordered an oil embargo on the country, Tehran attacked passing vessels using limpet mines in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's response to the January 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq offers further clues to its potential reaction. Soleimani was widely seen as one of the most powerful men in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at U.S. military bases in Iraq, wounding scores of U.S. troops but not killing any Americans. A key question now is whether Iran even has the military capability to expand the war after 10 days of blistering strikes by Israel that have targeted its weapons systems, senior leaders and military infrastructure. Although Iran continues to strike Israel, its arsenal of missiles is shrinking. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israel has destroyed half of Iran's missile launchers, making it harder to use those that remain. 'Iran, in a conventional contest, is in a much weaker position," said Michael Singh, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 'But we do know that Iran has other capabilities, whether that's cyber capabilities, terrorist proxies and so forth." Israeli rescue workers at a building in Tel Aviv hit by missiles. The regional militias belonging to Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance, which Tehran has built and supported for decades, have largely remained on the sidelines so far. But Yemen's Houthi militia warned on Saturday that it would target U.S. warships and commercial ships in the Red Sea if the U.S. bombs Iran. Mohammed al-Basha, founder of U.S.-based Middle East security advisory Basha Report, said he anticipates 'measured retaliation from Iranian-backed proxy forces…rather than full-scale warfare," with groups such as the Houthis and Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah targeting American regional interests. He said the attacks would likely resemble Iran's nonlethal response to the Soleimani killing, which he described as a symbolic response by Tehran. Houthi police officers in San'a, Yemen, on Friday. Still, Khamenei warned last week that if the U.S. attacks Iran it 'must know that our people will not surrender, and any military intervention by them will lead to irreparable consequences." And on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it isn't clear how much room remains for diplomacy, saying in a post on X that the U.S. strikes 'will have everlasting consequences." He said 'Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people." Some members of the Iranian parliament have called for an immediate withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Hard-line factions in the government view building nuclear weapons as the best path forward to regain regional influence and deter threats from Israel and now the U.S. Yet with the dust still settling from the U.S. strikes, it is too soon to determine what's left of the country's nuclear program. Write to Sudarsan Raghavan at Benoit Faucon at and Summer Said at

Hindustan Times

31 minutes ago

• Hindustan Times

Murugan conference begins, BJP hits out at DMK for ‘hurdles'

The courts delivered justice for the massive conference held for Tamil deity Lord Murugan in Madurai, BJP state chief Nainar Nagendran said on Sunday while accusing the ruling DMK for trying to obstruct the event. Murugan conference begins, BJP hits out at DMK for 'hurdles' 'We organised this (the conference) to protect our culture. We may not have got justice from the DMK government but we got justice from the courts and the conference is a huge success,' said Nagendran. The Muruga Bakthargalin Aanmeega Maanadu (Spiritual Conference of Devotees of Murugan) was embroiled in controversy, with the Tamil Nadu police imposing several conditions, including restricting the 11-day programme to three days. On June 13, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court, granted permission for the event but asked the Hindu Munnani to comply with the conditions laid down by the police in Madurai. The conference organised by right wing outfit Hindu Munnani with the backing of the BJP was held under tight security as scores of people thronged to visit the replicas at the venue made of six abodes (known locally as Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan that's present across Tamil Nadu. The conference to celebrate the Tamil deity was attended by Andhra Pradesh's deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan, former BJP state president K Annamalai and the BJP's ally and Tamil Nadu's main opposition, the AIADMK. 'Certain groups who make fun of our culture and faith and call it secularism will disappear,' Kalyan said speaking in Tamil. Union home minister Amit Shah who on June 8 from Madurai urged people to participate in large numbers is likely to visit TN again in July - his third since April- ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Shah, in his speech a week ago, drew in Lord Murugan over the Thiruparankunram issue. In February, there was tension at a temple (one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan) in Thiruparankundram near Madurai after members of Hindu Munnani held a protest against a demand by a few Muslim organisations to rename the hillock, which is also home to a dargah as Sikander malai (hillock). At the time, the residents belonging to the Hindu and Muslim communities said that they have coexisted peacefully for generations. But Shah said that the DMK had insulted Hindu worshippers here. 'Five lakh people have come today to Madurai for the conference for our ideology despite knowing that they will get wet in the rains today. This is a warning for the ruling government,' Annamalai said. He added that the Hindu religion was under threat referring to the attack in Pahalgham and India's response to Operation Sindoor. This is not the first time that the BJP has drawn in on Lord Murugan. The party made a similar outreach through the vetri vel yatra (victorious spear held by Lord Murugan) which was launched by then president of the BJP state unit L Murugan trying to appropriate the significance of the deity before the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in the yatra received a tepid response, it became the talking point as the then state government, led by BJP's ally the AIADMK, denied permission for the yatra. BJP leaders defied orders and courted arrest as they carried on with the yatra for three weeks across Tamil Nadu. Later, 'Vetrivel, Veeravel' became the BJP's war cry during the election campaign. BJP national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Shah began their rallies by raising the slogan. Sunday's conference comes a year after the DMK, known to have been established with rationalist tenets, also organised a conference for Lord Murugan last year. Last August, the DMK government organised a two-day conference on Lord Murugan as part of its efforts to oppose the BJP painting them as anti-Hindu and to manage the fallout of deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's controversial remarks against Sanatana Dharma.

The Hindu

33 minutes ago

• The Hindu

Morning digest: June 23, 2025

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But so emphatically did England turn the tables on India that for most of day three of the first Test in Headingley, it was the visitors — despite a rejuvenating, cool breeze blowing across the ground — who resembled a pack of tired cyclists staring at a hulking mountain. England, from an overnight 209 for three, fought India to a standstill, ending its first essay just six runs adrift. For the remaining two days, the forecast is for grey skies. That means India has to bat well, both for time and runs. India showed the stomach for a fight by reaching 90 for two, propelled by a silken K.L. Rahul knock (47 batting, 75b, 7x4). Jasprit Bumrah got a deserved fifer (24.4-5-83-5), but by the time the 31-year-old earned his fourth and fifth wickets.