Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Mano Ganesan has accused the National People's Power (NPP) government of hypocrisy over the arrest of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), pointing to NPP politicians who had themselves circulated songs glorifying the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during election campaigns. Sangeethsan, known…

Police to take action against attacked Tamil student for 'false complaint'

Sri Lanka’s police have claimed that the injuries a Tamil student received in an attack at Sabaragamuwa University were self inflicted and said they would take action against him for making a false complaint, reported the Daily Mirror.

Santhirakumar Sutharshan, who originally hails from Muhamalai in the northeast of the island, was attacked earlier this month by masked men, leaving him with injuries requiring hospital treatment.

He was arrested on his return from hospital last week by Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division. According to the police the student admitted that the injuries were self-inflicted.

Chair of govt commission accuses NGOs of inflating disappearance numbers

The chair of the government's commission into disappearances accused civil society organisations of falsely inflating numbers of those missing in the North of the island.

“After all the publicity that was given, we only received about 375 complaints from Mannar,” said Maxwell Paranagama. The commission held public sittings in Mannar last week.

“When we asked the organisation to forward the family members of those who went missing, if there is such high number, the organisation failed to do so,” he added.

The Tamil National Alliance, the Tamil National People's Front, and the prominent civil society campaigner, the Bishop of Mannar, have criticised the domestic inquiry, stating it is unable to provide justice to the Tamils.

Sri Lanka invites Kerry to visit and see for himself

Extending an invitation to the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Sri Lanka's Minister of External Affairs said he should visit to see for himself.

“I invited him to visit Sri Lanka and see what we have accomplished on the ground during the past five years after the war was over,” Minister GL Peiris told the Daily Mirror.

The invitation comes after Peiris last week warned foreign envoys to be impartial and refrain from interfering within Sri Lanka's domestic affairs.

MoD's National Secretariat to investigate 4 NGOs

The National Secretariat, which works under Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence, is to investigate four NGOs, after they allegedly failed to comply with recently introduced government restrictions, the Daily Mirror reports.

“We are carrying out investigations at the moment. Once investigations are over, we will decide on the action to be taken against them,” the chair of the Secretariat, Saman Dissanayake, said stating that some of the NGOs had been banned previously.

In July Sri Lanka’s
Ministry of Defence sent letters to all non-governmental organisations, demanding that they refrain from activities beyond their mandate, including press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and the publication of press releases.

Failure to support presidential development projects is a sin says chief monk

A monk speaking at the Presidential opening of a Buddhist temple, warned public servants that they would pay for their sins in the next life if they failed to serve the public and the president.

Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera of the Asgiriya section said, on Sunday, that public servants were expected to serve the people and extend their support to development projects launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reports the Island.lk.


Government to add another international name to domestic commission

An Indian human rights activist is to be included in the Sri Lankan government's disappearances commission, the NDTV reports.

Avdash Kaushal, leads an NGO names Rural litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), which focuses on the indigenous tribe of the Northern Himalayas.

Last month the government appointed three international experts to advise the commissions, just as the UN inquiry, OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), into mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people was to begin.

This latest appointment comes days after the UN inquiry launched its call for witness submissions. See more here.

However, despite the appointments, President Rajapaksa has stressed that the international experts will not have any investigative power.

No media freedom on island says Batticaloa bishop

The bishop of Batticaloa condemned the lack of media freedom on the island, adding that "freedom of speech and media freedom for journalists is essential," the Uthayan reports.

“There is currently no media freedom in our country. Media freedom is important [and] everyone has freedom of speech, but here, journalists or media are not able to function freely," he said, speaking at an event in the Marai region of Batticaloa.

Access to Sri Lanka not necessary for investigation says UN Human Rights Chief

The United Nations top human rights official stated investigators do not need to visit Sri Lanka, in order to carry out a full and credible investigation into war crimes committed by the government.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,  told the Thomson Reuters Foundation,
"There is a wealth of information outside of Sri Lanka which can be tapped into."

"The credibility of the report will depend on it reflecting proper standards of corroboration of evidence, whether the team is allowed into the country or not."
Citing the cases of Syria and North Korea, both of which had UN investigations into human rights abuses carried out, Pillay went on to add,
"Hardly anyone, apart from the Syrian and Democratic People's Republic of Korea governments, are questioning the credibility of these two inquiries, so I don't see why it should be any different in the case of Sri Lanka”.
See more from Business Insider here.

Sri Lanka says US should examine root causes of anti-Western sentiment

Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry rejected a security message issued by the United States last week, which had warned its citizens about increased anti-Western sentiments and violent demonstrations in Sri Lanka, stating that the US should itself examine the root causes of the widening gap in relations between the two countries.

In a statement released on Monday, the Ministry said it "takes serious note" of the message, which it said "regrettably creates a false and alarmist view of the conditions prevalent in Sri Lanka".
"There have been no instances of violent protests targeting the US Embassy, its diplomats, officials or citizens, though claimed by the US State Department’s Security Message, that such incidents could occur."

BBS tells Rajapaksa - discipline ministers or 'we will have to tame them'

The leader of the Buddhist monk group, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) told the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa to take action against ministers whose actions the group condemned, warning, "if he [Rajapaksa] fails to correct those [ministers] behaving incorrectly then we will have to tame them".

“The President cannot shy away from taking the responsibility for the action of ministers. We cannot allow him to mollycoddle everyone including the wrongdoers," BBS leader, the Buddhist monk, Galagodaatte Gnanasera told a press conference, the Daily Mirror reports.