Parliamentarians and Tamil community celebrate Tamil Heritage Month

[Deeq A.]

Parliamentarians and Tamil community celebrate Tamil Heritage Month

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Thai Pongal 2026 at the UK Parliament

Thai Pongal & Tamil Heritage Month celebration was grandly hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG T) in association with the British Tamils Forum (BTF) and held at the British Parliament on Tuesday, 13 January 2026.

Many Cross Party Members within the British Parliament circle joined the celebration. This marked another year of growing support from the Tamil community across the UK and the mainstream political establishment.

The following British Parliamentarians, and dignitaries elated this event with their presence and messages amid the adverse weather condition. We extend our sincere thanks to our Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP, for his message of support on this important occasion.

The Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister, Seema Malhotra MP

Former Deputy Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden KCB CBE MP

Former Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister, Catherine West MP

Minister of State, The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP

Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP

Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Uma Kumaran MP

Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Bobby Dean MP

Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP

Luke Taylor MP

Emily Darlington MP

Deidre Costigan MP

Natasha Irons MP

Chris Curtis MP

Gareth Bacon, MP

Julia Lopez MP

Shadow Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Chris Philip MP

Cllr Lee Scott (Former MP/Chair of APPG for Tamils)

Andrew Rosindell MP, Former Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, The Rt Hon Steve Reed MP

Thai Pongal is a major Tamil harvest festival celebrated in Sri Lanka, South India and across the global Tamil diaspora each January at the start of the Tamil month of Thai. Dedicated to the Sun God, the festival symbolises renewal, gratitude and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle. Central to the celebration is the ceremonial preparation of Pongal, representing abundance, prosperity and collective well-being. Traditional rituals, prayers, Kolam artwork and community gatherings reflect deep connections to land, nature and heritage. For Tamils worldwide, observing Pongal is an act of cultural continuity, preserving history, identity and ancestral traditions, while passing collective memory and values to future generations.

This year’s Thai Pongal and Tamil Heritage Month celebration took place at the UK Parliament, spanning two parliamentary rooms. The event underscored the strength of sustained Tamil diaspora advocacy in shaping UK policy, with senior parliamentarians recognising the decisive role played by Tamil organisations and campaigners in securing accountability measures, including targeted sanctions and continued international monitoring.

The British Tamils Forum warmly expressed its sincere gratitude to the British parliamentarians who attended and supported the event at Westminster, helping to make the celebration of Thai Pongal and Tamil Heritage Month a continued success. Their presence and encouragement reflected the strong and ongoing cross party engagement with the Tamil community.

BTF noted that it has organised Thai Pongal and Tamil Heritage Month celebrations since 2011, initially in collaboration with Harrow Council, and since 2018 at the UK Parliament. These events aim to promote Tamil culture and arts, recognise the rich contributions of Tamils to British society, encourage youth participation, and advance recognition of January as Tamil Heritage Month within the UK’s political establishment.

Several Members of Parliament participated in the event, offering heartfelt greetings and warm wishes to the Tamil community, and engaging closely with Tamil cultural performances and traditional food. While commending the community’s enduring commitment to preserving its heritage, language and identity, speakers also solemnly recalled the grave atrocities faced by Tamils during the conflict in Sri Lanka. Parliamentarians reaffirmed their unwavering support for justice and accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and renewed their commitment to securing lasting political solution that enables Tamils in Sri Lanka to live in peace, dignity and equality.

Addressing the gathering, Catherine West MP, former UK Foreign Office Minister, reaffirmed strong cross-party support for Tamil calls for justice and accountability. Reflecting on her tenure in government, she highlighted the introduction of UK sanctions on Sri Lankan perpetrators as a direct outcome of years of persistent advocacy by the Tamil diaspora and parliamentary allies. She acknowledged the role of commitments made in the Labour Party’s 2024 General Election manifesto, implemented after forming government, in advancing accountability measures.

Catherine West paid tribute to Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, recognising her decade-long leadership in Parliament through debates, sanctions advocacy and sustained pressure for international accountability. Drawing on her visit to Sri Lanka, Catherine West reflected on travelling to Jaffna, visiting the Jaffna Public Library, and engaging with the University of Jaffna, noting that these experiences deepened her understanding of the human rights concerns consistently raised by the Tamil community in the UK. She reaffirmed the UK’s continued engagement with the United Nations, including support for ongoing international monitoring of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

The celebration also featured remarks from Seema Malhotra MP, the current Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for human rights, who reaffirmed the government’s commitment to multilateral action through the United Nations and to continued engagement with diaspora communities in shaping UK foreign policy.

Natasha Irons MP highlighted the importance of civic participation and inter-generational engagement within the British Tamil community, while Uma Kumaran MP, the first Tamil MP elected to the UK Parliament and Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG T) emphasised the significance of Tamil representation at Westminster and the responsibility of elected representatives to amplify Tamil voices on issues including land rights, militarisation, enforced disappearances and accountability.

Also addressing the celebration, Bobby Dean MP, Member of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington and Vice Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG T) highlighted the significant contributions of the Tamil community to local and national life. He noted that Tamil is the second most widely spoken language in the London Borough of Sutton, describing the community as a vital part of civic, cultural and social life in his constituency. Mr Dean stressed that while the event was a celebration of culture, it was also a moment of remembrance for atrocities committed against Tamils. Reflecting on his participation alongside the British Tamils Forum at the UN Human Rights Council, he emphasised the UK’s leading role internationally and reaffirmed that accountability for past crimes remains a cross-party priority.

The evening concluded with a speech by The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who warmly praised the British Tamil community for its significant contributions across healthcare, business, education, the civil service, technology and the arts. He reaffirmed long-standing UK engagement on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council and welcomed continued cross-party consensus supporting the mandate of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to monitor and document violations. The Rt Hon Sir Oliver stressed that atrocities committed during the conflict, particularly in its final stages, must never be forgotten, and reaffirmed cross-party support for accountability, reconciliation and the pursuit of a just and lasting political settlement.

The celebration also presented a rich programme of cultural performances reflecting the diversity and vibrancy of the Tamil community. Dance groups and young performers travelled from many parts of the UK to present traditional and contemporary Tamil dance, celebrating heritage, identity and artistic expression. Representatives including the diplomat Counsellor Mohd Shahid Alam from the Indian High Commission (London) and Community Leaders, representatives of many Tamil organisations, Tamil schools (Supplementary Schools) from different parts of the United Kingdom attended in support of the event and community initiatives.

The evening featured a special musical performance by internationally acclaimed pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram, which was warmly and enthusiastically received by the audience. Lydian, together with his sister Amirthavarshini, has composed music for all 1,330 couplets of the Thirukkural, a remarkable and rare achievement that stands as an outstanding contribution to Tamil cultural heritage.

The organisers noted that these performances and creative contributions exemplified the strength and continuity of Tamil culture and the community’s enduring commitment to preserving, nurturing and promoting its identity across generations.

BTF welcomed the strong presence of young people at the celebration, noting that Thai Pongal serves not only as a cultural festival but also as a moment of remembrance, renewal and hope for future generations. The British Tamils Forum thanked all parliamentarians, community members and volunteers who contributed to the success of the event and reaffirmed its commitment to continued advocacy for justice, accountability and lasting peace.

While we treasure and preserve our rich and elegant heritage wherever we live, guided by the timeless wisdom of the ancient Tamil poet Kaniyan Pungundranar “Every place is my homeland; everyone is my kin – யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளீர்”, we continue to bear the deep and incurable psychological trauma of more than seven decades of colossal atrocity crimes inflicted upon our people in Sri Lanka.

Additionally, sixteen years have passed since the end of the war in 2009, yet there is still no sign of hope or meaningful change in the destitute conditions of our people. It is profoundly painful to witness generations of Tamil people who were forced to flee from their ancestral lands during the war, particularly those living in India living as refugees and the internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Sri Lanka, continuing to exist as refugees with no sustainable means of livelihood, largely due to the continued military occupation and concentration of forces in their own homeland.

More than 100,000 Tamil people continue to live in various refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, India, while over 200,000 remain internally displaced in the southern parts of the island. To date, no post-war government has taken genuine and effective initiatives to reconstruct, resettle, and restore these destitute communities to their rightful lands. Government leaders have repeatedly made promises, but these have remained mere words, amounting to little more than lip service, with no meaningful action or lasting solutions on the ground.

The rapid changes in geo politics coupled with the growing impact of natural and climatic disasters are severely challenging and complicating the efforts that we, especially the Tamil diaspora organisations undertake to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Yet, let us move forward with hope and confidence that the dawn of 2026 and the spirit of Thai Pongal will pave a pathway toward justice, the realisation of political rights grounded in legitimate aspirations, and a future of peace and prosperity for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Thank you.

Qaran News