The Sri Lankan military handed out school supplies at a military conducted ceremony in Kilinochchi last week. The commander of the Security Forces-Kilinochchi (SF-KLN) made a “personal request” for the school supplies, according to an official military website , which were distributed to children from Mallavi, Poonakari and Visuvamadu. “All the attendees in the ceremony were treated to refreshments, offered by 8 Sri Lanka Artillery Regiment,” added the report.
The Heads of Mission of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland visited the Dewatagaha Mosque on Friday to express solidarity with leaders of Si Lanka’s Muslim community. Speaking at the mosque, EU Ambassador Tung-Lai Margue said, “Sri Lankans know all too well the consequences of religious and ethnic hatred. These reprehensible actions are intended to sow discord at a time when national reconciliation and tolerance is moving forward. It is important that the Government and the Police ensure that there is no impunity for hate crimes. It is...
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has elected Sri Lanka to serve as Vice President of the assembly. At a meeting of the 72nd session of the meeting Sri Lanka was chosen to act as Vice-President and representative for the Asia and Pacific Group for the period of September 2017 to August 2018. Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Rohan Perrara will serve as the v the Vice-president during the 72nd session. See here.
A Trincomalee mosque was attacked with petrol bombs in the early hours of Saturday morning. The Periyakadai Jumma Mosque, situated close to a Sri Lankan Navy camp, is the latest victim in a series of anti-Muslim attacks on the island, most of which had been carried out in the predominantly Sinhala-Buddhist South. The frequency of the attacks in the past month has led several diplomats as well as international and local organisations to speak out and call on the Sri Lankan government to act on hate crimes against minorities on the island.
The Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) launched “Stories of Mullivaikaal,” the first series in ACPR’s “Stories of Resilience” project at www.storiesofresilience.com . The project will document stories of resilience and agency, highlighting narratives other than victimhood within Tamil community, who have exhibited diverse forms of resilience through various stages of Sri Lanka’s unresolved ethnic conflict. See full press release below: Today the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) launched “Stories of Mullivaikkaal”, the first series in ACPR’s “Stories of Resilience” project...
Thirty-six years ago today, the Jaffna Public Library, a crown jewel among Tamil cultural institutions and one of the largest libraries in South Asia, burned at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs.
Today the Mullaitivu Magistrate granted an extension allowing the police to continue investigating whether any of the names on stones used for a May 18 memorial that was set up by local human rights activist, Father Elil Rajendram, are former LTTE cadres. Objecting to the order, Father Elil’s lawyer, Mr. Guruparan Kumaravadivel, explained as he did on the day of the first motion that Father Elil gathered the names from the community with the intention of commemorating those who died during the last phase of the war, and that there is no way of Father Elil knowing whether any of those names...
To mark the 100 th day since families of the disappeared began protesting in Kilinochchi, over 1000 families of the disappeared from across the North-East gathered to protest blocking the A9 road in Kilinochchi town for over 5 hours on Tuesday. Civil society, clergy and university students from across the North-East and the South joined in solidarity. In addition to the overaching demand for answers about the whereabouts of their loved ones, families had two specific demands for the government: (i) release the name list of those forcibly disappeared; and (ii) release the name list of those...
In a recent ceremony, President Maithripala Sirisena opened the Lanka Patuna bridge. “The bridge which is 150 meters long, built under the supervision of Road Development Authority will facilitate the devotees who visit the Lanka Patuna temple,” the President’s webpage stated. Renamed Lanka Patuna by the Sri Lanka government, the small Tamil village originally known as Ilankaithurai Mugaththuvaram, has become a spot for Southern tourists who come to visit the newly built Buddhist temples.