A Buddha statue has been built on the premises of a Hindu temple in a Mullaitivu village, despite years of fierce opposition by locals.

Residents of Neeraviyadi in the Semmalai area of Mullaitivu said a Sinhala Buddhist monk had used the opportunity of Sri Lanka’s political crisis, while local authorities were distracted, to push through the construction of a large Buddha statue directly encroaching the village’s Pillaiyaar Kovil.

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, and the current secretary of the extremist JHU party, has reiterated his opposition to federalism this week, stating that it will “never” lead to peace or prosperity.

“Federalism, or divisions along ethnic faultlines, will never bring to us the Prosperous, Peaceful Sri Lanka that we all Sri Lankans dream of,” tweeted Champika Ranawaka earlier this week.

“It is high time that Leaders from North shared responsibilities of governance at the Centre and strove together towards Our Common Future!,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s president met with the family member of the Sinhala police officer who was shot in Batticaloa last month, but has not yet met with the family of the Tamil officer who was killed in the same incident.

According to a report appearing on Maithripala Sirisena’s official website, he met with the family of 35-year-old Niroshan Indika Prasanna from Galle, where he pledged to “continue to look after the welfare of his four and half year old son and the welfare of his family”.

Sri Lanka’s president claimed that non-governmental organisations and opposing parliamentarians want to see him “dragged and be murdered like Gaddafi,” Libya’s ousted ruler, in an address on Sunday where he vowed not to imprison soldiers accused of war crimes.

Maithripala Sirisena lashed out against efforts to hold Sri Lankan soldiers to account for war crimes, stating that he was firmly against international efforts for justice.

“I asked not to imprison our soldiers who have fought in battles and defeated terrorism; but nobody listened to me,” claimed Sirisena.

The wife of a former LTTE cadre who was arrested by Sri Lankan police earlier this month and began a hunger strike in Batticaloa calling for the release of her husband, ended her hunger strike today, after police officers visited her saying he would be released on bail. 

<p>The Sri Lankan navy on Monday arrested eight Tamil Nadu fishermen off the coast of Neduntheevu for allegedly poaching fish, PTI reports.&nbsp;</p> <p>The fishermen, who are from Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district, also had their boat confiscated.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department said the men have been housed in a camp in Karainagar.&nbsp;</p> <p>The latest incident is part of a long history of animosity towards Indian fishermen from the Sri Lankan navy, which has occasionally led to violent attacks and the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen.</p>

<p>The United States has announced nominations for key positions including the new Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs.&nbsp;</p> <p>Robert Williams of Virginia, who has specialised as an intelligence officer and analyst in South Asia and Afghanistan will be nominated to the position.&nbsp;</p> <p>Williams serves as Associate Deputy Director for Intelligence and Directorate for Operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington, D.C since last year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The European Union today said it welcomed the "peaceful and democratic resolution" of Sri Lanka's political crisis, following Rajapaksa's resignation as Sri Lanka's prime minister and Ranil Wickremesinghe's re-appointment to the post over the weekend.&nbsp;</p> <p>The re-appointment of Wickremesinghe comes after almost two months of political turmoil which saw the dissolution of parliament, widespread reports of bribery and parliamentary violence.&nbsp;</p> <p>The crisis resulted in a declining rupee, downgrading of the country's sovereign by credit agencies and a suspension of international funds.&nbsp;</p>

The Sri Lankan military announced its plans to cultivate jackfruit in land that it is currently occupying in Jaffna.

The military declared that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Lions Clubs International to cultivate more than 500 saplings inside its massive Jaffna military camp in Palaly.

The Sri Lankan army has continued its training of “counter insurgency” training for foreign troops, despite unresolved and continuing reports of human rights abuses committed by the security forces.

An official military website declared that ‘Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare (CIJW) Course No 23’ took place in Mullaitivu earlier this month, with “local and foreign students including instructors” present.