The Sri Lankan and Indian militaries began an exercise in Pune this week, as military ties between the two governments continued to grow.

The exercise ‘Mitra Shakthi - VII, comes despite concerns of human rights abuses committed by Sri Lankan troops, under new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lankan government has called the prosecution of a Sri Lankan brigadier “politically motivated” and maintained he has diplomatic immunity, despite a British court ruling on Friday which found him guilty of violating the Public Order Act.

“The Government of Sri Lanka continues to maintain that Brigadier Fernando as a diplomat who was attached to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London is entitled to diplomatic immunity as per Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,” said an official Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry statement this morning.

Former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan has reiterated his support for Sri Lanka’s new president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who stands accused of heading a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians.

“I support President Rajapaksa because he is the right person to lead our country,” Muralitharan told the Hindustan Times, shrugging off the reports of human rights violations.

A Sri Lankan brigadier who motioned death threats to Tamil protestors in London last year has been found guilty by a British court of violating the Public Order Act, after a protracted legal battle.

Westminster Magistrate’s Court upheld a previous ruling that Sri Lanka’s Brigadier Priyanka Fernando “is  not  protected  by  diplomatic  immunity”, despite pleas made by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry.

<p><img alt="Image removed." src="/core/misc/icons/e32700/error.svg" title="This image has been removed. For security reasons, only images from the local domain are allowed." height="16" width="16" class="filter-image-invalid"></p> <p>The speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, has accepted the request of Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, the General Secretary of the UNP, to appoint Sajith Premadasa as opposition leader.</p> <p>The Daily Mirror claims that the appointment of Premadasa would be announced by the speaker formally when parliament begins on 3 January.</p>

Valikamam North residents have been angered by the building of a Buddhist temple on privately owned land currently occupied by the Sri Lankan army.

The new shrine which Sri Lankan soldiers have been working on is located on a two-acre property in Thaiyiddy.

The property is part of the thousands of acres of Valikamam North still occupied by the Sri Lankan army, despite highly publicised releases of fractions of the area over the past four years.

A group of Tamil and Sri Lankan torture victims who launched a court case against current Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for torture damages have decided to withdraw their cases, in order to prevent him from asserting immunity.

This move has been made to ensure that Rajapaksa is held accountable and allows the victims to retain their right to resubmit their cases once he leaves office. 

Street art murals have begun appearing in Sri Lanka pushing Sinhala nationalist rhetoric and honouring Sri Lankan soldiers, including an infamous brigadier who currently faces a court case in Britain after he motioned death threats to Tamils last year.

The murals, in the city of Kandy and other places on the island, have been emblazoned with Sinhala nationalist slogans and imagery, including the words “one nation”, murals of lions, Sri Lankan troops and ancient Sinhala fighters in battle scenes.

The Sri Lankan government has reacted angrily to the release of the Conservative Party manifesto in Britain last month, with several Sri Lankan politicians and Colombo’s High Commissioner stating the party’s pledges are “unacceptable” and calling for the manifesto to be “amended”.

Britain’s Conservative Party has emphasised its continued backing for “international initiatives” for reconciliation, stability and justice “across the world” and in “former and current conflict zones”, singling out the situations of divided states in Cyprus, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

However, on the island, Sri Lankan politicians have been up in arms.

Since the Sri Lankan civil war ending ten years ago, “there has been little progress in tracing those who disappeared during and after the violent end to the war,” the BBC reports. 

In a video report, the BBC states that around 20,000 Tamils are estimated to still be missing. 

“Many believe their relatives are alive and in the hands of the security forces - a view rejected by the government. These families meet and hold daily vigils to protest and to keep their relatives’ memories alive.”