The Colombo Christian Cooperation Movement joined farmers of Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai, as they marked 201 days of protest calling on the removal of illegal Sinhalese settlers and the return of their rightful land. Members of the movement, including Fr Sakthivel, Fr Rohan, Fr Gerald, Rev. Terence, Rev Nisanga and Sister Rasika held placards at the protest site yesterday as they expressed their solidarity with the farmers. They called on the Sri Lankan government to halt the economic destruction of the farmer's livelihoods is a form of genocide. The Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai Livestock...
Celebrations took place in the North-East to mark Easter Sunday and Good Friday.
The world's largest refiner, China's Sinopec plans to start work on a refinery in Sri Lanka by June, the power minister said last Thursday. Officials of Sinopec Overseas Investment Holding were visiting Colombo for talks with Sri Lankan authorities. "The officials indicated that the management of Sinopec has decided to double the capacity of the refinery from the original proposal," the minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, wrote on social media platform X. Officials of the Sinopec Overseas Investment Holding Pvt Ltd (SOIHL) visited the Ministry of Power & Energy yesterday. The officials led by...
State Minister of Social Empowerment, Anupa Pasqual says president Ranil Wickremesinghe should consider a presidential pardon for Gnanasara, a convicted racist Buddhist monk, following his recent sentencing. This comes days after Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara was sentenced to four years in prison. Sri Lanka's high court recently rejected a bail application filed by the monk. The judge had stated that the counsels had failed to present any special circumstances before the Court that would warrant the release of Gnanasara on bail. The defence had urged the...
Sri Lanka’s former president Maithripala Sirisena claimed that India was behind the deadly Easter Sunday attacks that saw hundreds killed as churches and hotels were bombed in 2019. According to a report in the Sunday Times , Sirisena told Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that an Indian diplomat admitted Delhi’s involvement behind the bombings. He reportedly went on to claim that not only did the diplomat confess to being behind the attack but told Sirisena that it was “because Sri Lanka has not been considerate in giving India any projects, say like for example, the...
Residents in Kalmunai staged a protest calling for justice to be meted out to the victims and survivors of the terror attacks on Easter Sunday. They also called for an investigation to be carried out without further delay. A vigil was held in the evening under the leadership of Reverend Pastor Kirubairaja. The protestors held placards demanding justice for the victims of the attack. The protestors said that it has been five years since the attacks and the perpetrators of the attacks are yet to be brought to book. On Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka marked the fourth anniversary of the deadly Easter...
Tamils protested outside the Tissa Raja Vihara in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna, which was illegally constructed and is encroaching on the lands owned by local residents. Residents were joined by the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) yesterday as they demanded the return of the 100 parappu of land owned by 14 Tamil families that surrounds the vihara. Tamils protest every Poya (full moon) day, highlight the collective effort to address the contentious issue of the Tissa Raja Vihara, which is being built on privately owned land that is being occupied by the Sri Lankan army. Protestors have been making...
A group of three Tamils who were released after spending three decades in prison over the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi were finally reunited with their families, but faced further questioning from the Sri Lankan police on their arrival back on the island.
Security was tightened last week in Keppapulavu over planned protests by residents who have been demanding the release of their lands currently occupied by the Sri Lankan military. Several police officers were seen deployed in the morning and speaking to residents who had gathered in front of the occupying Security Forces Headquarters in Mullaitivu. The residents speaking to the media said they had visited the District Secretariat in Mullaitivu where they handed over letters addressed to President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other officials requesting the return of their lands which are occupied...
Tamil residents of Kalmunai North held protests last week opposing a move by the Sri Lankan government to subjugate their division under the Kalmunai South Division, adding that Tamils in the region have been longing for a separate divisional secretary 40 years ago and were assured a fully-fledged secretariat to address their community-specific needs. A protest was held by locals in front of the Kalmunai North Division to express their opposition to the move by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, and Provincial Councils adding that it was racially motivated to annex...