A central committee member of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), Kandeepan Thangarajah, has been threatened by Sri Lankan security forces and paramilitary group EPDP over his presence at protests against sand mining. 

Speaking to local residents at the protest whilst Thangarajah was not present, Point Pedro police and members of the paramilitary group, EPDP, accused Thangarajah of instigating the protests and warned protesters that he would be arrested if the protests did not stop.

Members of the Gurunagar Jaffna police force visited the TNPF Jaffna office on two separate occasions yesterday, asking questions about future protests.

On the first visit, the officers demanded to know if there were any protests planned in the near future, to which TNPF members reportedly replied no. Later in the day, the police officers returned asking whether the TNPF had been invited to partake in someone else's protest. It is not known which protest they were alluding to.

In their annual survey on political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House ranked Sri Lanka as “Not Free”, downgrading them significantly.
 
The report, entitled “Freedom in the World 2013”, stated that Sri Lanka suffered one of the biggest declines this year, losing 9 points from 2009.

The group cited “increasing corruption and an attempt to impeach the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court” as reasons for the country’s decline.

The choice of Sri Lanka as British Airways’ top recommendation for travel in 2013 has been criticised as irresponsible and unethical by Labour MP Simon Danczuk.

Mr Danczuk discouraged travel to Sri Lanka in his blog for the Huffington Post, citing the denial of justice to his constituent Khuram Sheikh, who was murdered in 2011, and international concern over human rights violations.

See extracts below:

The International Crisis Group has today released a report, accusing the Sri Lankan state of dismantling of its "independent judiciary system" and leaving "Sri Lanka's battered democracy on life support."

The report also noted that Sri Lanka's insistence of investigating its own shortcomings and war crime allegations, were made implausible as one of the last 'independent' institutions, the court, is dismantled.

See here for the TG view of Sri Lanka's previously 'functioning' independent judiciary system.

Highlighting Sri Lanka's violations of basic Commonwealth principles, the report asserted that member states should call on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to put Sri Lanka on the agenda, whilst shifting the location of the next Commonwealth heads of government meeting, which is currently set to take place in Sri Lanka.

The post mortem examination of the dead body of an elderly Tamil woman reveals that she was murdered before her body was dumped.

The body, found in a well in Jaffna, was indentified as that of 78 year old Pushpam by her children.

The Sri Lankan Air Force has opened a kindergarten for Tamil children in Batticaloa.

A report on the Defence Ministry’s website says that the pre-school will be run by “qualified personnel of the SLAF who have undergone specialised training in language and Pre-School teaching”.

Members of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) provided flood relief to residents affected by the heavy rains and floods in Mannar.

Members, including Selvarajah Kajendran, Sathiyaseelan, Sivapaatham Kajendrakumar, Krishnagopal and Benedict, distributed the flood relief items comprising of donations by an Oslo based Tamil diaspora organisation.

Several Canadian MPs have extended their Pongal wishes to the Tamil community in Canada.

Minister Jason Kennedy, the leader of the opposition Tom Mulcair, NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak were amongst those who sent their wishes.

See below for statements and extracts.

Leader of the NDP Tom Mulcair

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kennedy

“This day of gratitude is celebrated by all those in the Tamil community around the world in the company of friends and family. For all Canadians, Thai Pongal provides an opportunity to reflect on the contributions that Canada’s Tamil community has made to our country’s rich and diverse heritage. I offer my best wishes to all those celebrating Thai Pongal.”

Commenting on the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, the spokesperson for the US State Department, Victoria Nuland, said: