The Sri Lankan military maintains pervasive control over civilian life in the Tamil homeland through schools, places of worship, and community events.
Despite the more than 16 years since the armed conflict’s end through the Mullivaikkal genocide, the North-East remains heavily militarised and closely surveyed, with state forces using intimidation and suppression of dissent under the guise of public welfare and development.
Influence in Tamil Schools
On 14 June 2025, troops from the 23rd Battalion of the Gemunu Watch conducted a donation and de-mining "awareness programme" at Muhamalai RCTM School. Major General M.N. Fernando, General Officer Commanding the 52 Infantry Division, served as Chief Guest. Funded by the Hall Trust De-Mining Organisation, the programme provided school supplies to children.
Uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers have become a routine presence in Tamil schools, despite the military track record of rape, torture, abductions, and massacres.
Muhamalai was once among the world's most heavily mined frontlines separating the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE during the armed conflict.
On 16 June 2025, troops from the 5th Battalion Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment and the 14 (V) Battalion Gemunu Watch renovated Sammugrathnam and Olumadu Tamil Schools in Mullaitivu under the "Clean Sri Lanka" programme. A reverse osmosis plant was also installed and handed over to school authorities, directed by Major General D.R.N. Hettiarachchi, General Officer Commanding the 59 Infantry Division. The event was attended by Major General K.M.P.S.B. Kulatunga, Commander of Security Forces (Vanni), as Chief Guest. Financial support was provided by sponsors from the Gobi Krisna Foundation and the Vanni Aid Organisation—and coordinated by Major General Ravi Rathansinham.
The 59th Infantry Division stands directly implicated in serious human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and the shelling of hospitals, during the 2009 genocide.
On 18 June 2025, the 11 (V) Battalion of the Sinha Regiment, under the 241 Infantry Brigade, conducted a school cleaning programme at Mattikooli Tamil Primary School in Batticaloa. The operation was led by Major General P. R. Pathiravithana, Commander of Security Forces (East), and supervised by the General Officer Commanding the 24 Infantry Division.
On 19 June 2025, troops from the 51 Infantry Division, 512 Infantry Brigade, and 14th Gajaba Regiment conducted a donation programme at Namashivay Vidyalayam in Jaffna. The event, led by Major General M.P.N.A. Muthumala, General Officer Commanding 51 Infantry Division, was attended by Major General Y.A.B.M. Yahampath, Commander of Security Forces (Jaffna), as chief guest. School bags and books were donated to children, funded by local business owners including Rio Ice Cream and Thenu Food City.
Under Channa D. Weerasuriya’s command, Jaffna’s 512 Infantry Brigade was a hub of grave human rights abuses, including the detention and torture of Tamil suspects. Despite the end of the armed conflict, ITJP witnesses reported ongoing torture at the camp in 2010 and 2011, which also served as a military intelligence base targeting former Tamil cadres.
Expansion of military infrastructure
On 26 June 2025, the Sri Lanka Air Force inaugurated the Administrative Building and Play Station for the preschool located within SLAF Station Batticaloa, placing this civilian educational service under military control.
The ceremony, led by Mrs. Krishanthi Edirisinghe, Chairperson of the Air Force Seva Vanitha Unit, was held under the invitation of Commanding Officer Group Captain Sarath Bandara and overseen by Air Force personnel. Attendees included Air Commodore Erandika Gunawardhane, spouses of Air Force Board members, and Lions Club Batticaloa representatives. The new building includes a teachers’ office, sick room, and storage.
More military activities
On 12 June 2025, troops of the 6th Battalion of the Gemunu Watch distributed coconut plants to families in Suthanthirapuram, Mullaitivu, during an event held at the Grama Niladhari Office, under the guidance of the Commander of the 593 Infantry Brigade.
On June 10, 1998, Suthanthirapuram in Mullaitivu was the site of a massacre, as the Sri Lankan military deliberately launched coordinated artillery shelling and airstrikes, killing at least 31 children and students sheltering in a civilian area.
The same 593 Brigade, which established a military camp on the site of the Neeraviyadi Pillaiyar Hindu temple in Semmalai after the armed conflict, authorised the construction of a Buddhist temple there, renaming the occupied sacred site as Guru Kanda Rajamaha Vihara, despite its long-standing significance as a place of Tamil Hindu worship, erasing Tamil ancestral land.
On 13 June 2025, the Sri Lankan Navy in the Eastern Province hosted a programme on "the impacts of illegal fishing on marine biodiversity and tourism". The event was led by the Commander of the Eastern Naval Area and attended by regional law enforcement officials, the District Secretary of Trincomalee, fisheries authorities, the Eastern Tourism Bureau’s General Manager, and leaders of local fishermen’s societies.
Between 13 and 17 June 2025, troops from the 4th Battalion, Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment conducted a shoreline survey and cleanup along the Mannar coast following the overturning of the vessel MSC ELSA 3 in Indian waters. The operation, initiated at the request of the Maritime Environment Protection Authority, was carried out under the direction of Major General K.M.P.S.B. Kulatunga, Commander of Security Forces (Vanni).
On 15 June 2025, the Sri Lanka Army participated in the National Sepaktakraw Championship, organised by the Sri Lanka National Sepaktakraw Federation at the Puttalam Municipal Council Indoor Stadium. The Sri Lanka Army’s Men’s and Women’s teams competed under the leadership of Major General K.J.N.M.P.K. Navarathne, Chairman of the Army Football Committee.
On 16 June 2025, troops from the 7th Battalion Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment distributed dry ration parcels to families at the Grama Niladhari Office in Arumutthupudukulam village, led by Lieutenant Colonel M.K.D.P.P.K. Kankani.
Cultural and religion
On 8 June 2025, troops from the 2(V) Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (2(V)VIR), under the 213 Infantry Brigade, conducted a “Clean Sri Lanka” programme at Sri Sailabimbaramaya Temple in Iratta Periyakulam in Vavuniya. Directed by Major General W.W.M.P.W.W.B.R. Palamakumbura and supervised by Brigadier P.M. De Silva, the operation included temple cleaning, tree planting, and environmental lectures.
Personnel from the (2(V)VIR) formed one of the main forces stationed at Kokavil during the Battle of Kokavil from late June to early July 1990. The camp was besieged by the LTTE and ultimately overrun in the final phase of Eelam War II.
On 15 June 2025, troops from the 5(V) Mechanized Infantry Regiment conducted a cleaning operation at St. Anne’s Church in Mannar under the supervision of the unit’s Commanding Officer.
In January 1985, the Sri Lankan Army fatally shot Reverend Father Mary Bastian and nine civilians, including children, in the St. Anne's Church in Vankalai, Mannar District. Defying repeated threats from the military, Rev. Bastian continued to help victims and document SLA atrocities against Tamil civilians in Mannar alongside fellow priest Rev. Jeyarajasingham, who had been assassinated by the Army weeks earlier. The government denied any responsibility for the massacre despite testimonies.
On 21 June 2025, under the direction of the 59 Infantry Division and coordinated by the 592 Infantry Brigade, the 14th Battalion of the Gemunu Watch led a Shramadana clean campaign to clean the Sivam Kovil in Oddusudan. The operation involved troops, local villagers, and members of the Kovil Development Committee.
Healthcare
From June 3 to 7, 2025, the Sri Lanka Navy conducted dental health camps across multiple locations, notably in Tamil-majority areas of Mundalama, Kottukachchiya, and Gangewadiya in Puttalam District. Facilitated by the Navy Dental Service, Navy Seva Vanitha Unit, and corporate sponsor Unilever PLC, these camps provided dental care and oral health education to residents, schoolchildren, and clergy. While framed as humanitarian aid, these activities reinforce the military’s ongoing presence and influence within the Tamil homeland.
On 9 June 2025, the 513 Infantry Brigade, under the supervision of its Commander and the direction of Major General M.P.N.A. Muthumala General Officer Commanding 51 Infantry, conducted a blood donation drive at the Cultural Hall in Karukampanai, in collaboration with the Blood Bank of the Cancer Hospital, Thelippalai. Justified as a tribute to "Fallen War Heroes", the event exemplifies the military's continued use of civilian spaces in the Tamil homeland to assert dominance under the guise of humanitarian outreach.
Simultaneously, on 9 June 2025, the 12th Battalion of the Sri Lanka National Guard conducted a blood donation programme in the Eastern Province under the directive of the Security Forces (East) Commander, Major General P.R. Pathiravithana, and with the supervision of the 23 Infantry Division. Framed as civil-military cooperation, with claims that the collected blood would be directed to regional blood banks for patient transfusions, reinforce the military’s presence in civilian health infrastructure.
On 11 and 18 June 2025, the Sri Lanka Navy, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, conducted first-aid training for Northern fishermen at SLNS Kanchadewa in Kayts and Velanai and SLNS Gotaimbara in Punguduthivu.
The already-established SLNS Gotaimbara naval base was built on land seized in 2019 from ten Tamil families in the coastal village of Vallan on the islet of Punguduthivu, further entrenching the military’s presence in an area where the navy already occupied large swathes of land. This expansion occurred despite ongoing Tamil community demands for demilitarisation and land return, reinforced by then Sri Lanka's defence secretary, who declared that military bases in the North-East would not be removed.
On 14 June 2025, the 543 Infantry Brigade organised a blood donation campaign at Mannar District General Hospital to mark National War Heroes Day and World Blood Donor Day. Overseen by Major General A.M.C.P. Wijayaratne, General Officer Commanding, 54 Infantry Division, the event featured a speech by Hospital Director Dr. M.H.M. Asath, with logistical support from Alliance Finance.
The Sri Lanka Army's 54th Infantry Division perpetrated grave war crimes and human rights violations during the final phase of the 2009 genocide. Their operations largely targeted the Mannar District and the LTTE's stronghold in the Vanni. Accounts from Tamil survivors document torture and sexual violence in detention centres and military camps operated directly by the Division.
On 15 June 2025, the Sri Lankan Army conducted a blood donation programme at Maradankeni Hospital, Jaffna, under the direction of Major General Y.A.B.M. Yahampath, Commander of Security Forces – Jaffna. Supervised by Major General M.N. Fernando (52 Infantry Division) and Colonel J.A.C. Karunathilaka (522 Infantry Brigade), the event was organised by Major R.M.T.S. Alahakoon of the 10(V) Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment.
On 19 June 2025 in Batticaloa, the 11 (V) Battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, under the 243 Infantry Brigade, organised a blood donation programme, led by Major General P. R. Pathiravithana, Commander of Security Forces (East), and supervised by the General Officer Commanding of the 24 Infantry Division.
Sri Lankan military blood donation campaigns in the Tamil homeland, following past supremacist claims that Sinhalese blood renders Tamils 'impure', serve as assertions of ethnic and military dominance.
