A Sri Lankan government minister told parliament on Friday that President Maithripala Sirisena is to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Tourism and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga said that Mr Sirisena’s nomination was being discussed by several countries, as he told MPs “we can all go and witness President Sirisena accepting the Nobel Peace Prize if we work together for the betterment of the country”.

Mr Sirisena, who was elected as Sri Lanka’s president in January, is the former secretary general of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, who was also sworn in as the acting defence minister in May 2009 as Sri Lankan troops carried out their final assault during the armed conflict.

Sri Lanka’s government has withdrawn police protection given to certain members of the Northern Provincial Council as of 27th November.

Protection given to Northern Provincial Council members Ananthi Sasitharan, Vinthan Kanagarathinam, P Kajatheepen S Sukirtha and S Thavarajah were removed after Maaveerar Naal learns Tamil Guardian.

The NPC members where initially given two armed personnel as security guards.

The best way the Sri Lankan government can pay tribute to the Tamil youth that took his own life calling for the release of political prisoners would be to respect his genuine feelings, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has said.

Responding to the suicide of 18-year-old Rajeswaran Senthuran on Thursday, Mr Wigneswaran expressed his concern that the Sri Lankan state was not prone to be bothered by the deaths of Tamils.

"In the past, the lives we lost were never taken into consideration," he said. "They were considered normal."

 

Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong presented India’s prime minister Narendra Modi a copy of the Tamil Murasu, which first reported on India’s recognition of Singapore as an independent country in 1965.

 

Maaveerar Naal in Nallur

Commemorative flames and candles have been lit to commemorate Maaveerar Naal, the Tamil national remembrance day, in Jaffna.

Members of the Northern Provincial Council, led by Councillor Shivajilingam, gathered at Nallur temple and Gurunagar's St Mary's church to light candles in remembrance of Tamil national liberation fighters who lost their lives in the armed conflict with the Sri Lankan state.

At least 27 Tamils were arrested overnight in the run-up to Maaveerar Naal, in the Chunnakam police district, in Jaffna.

Local sources told the Tamil Guardian that they were arrested on suspicion of being involved in Maaveerar Naal events.

However Chunnakam police said they were detained for "acting suspiciously" at night.

Tamils in the North-East participated in an event planting trees, commemorating Maaveerar Naal, the Tamil remembrance day.

The event, attended by local Tamils in and around Iththavil, near Palai, was organised by the Northern Provincial Council, with several officials, including Agricultural Minister Ayngaranesan, present.