Representatives from the administrative body of the Vedukkunaari mountain temple and several Hindu organisations from Vavuniya met with the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka to discuss issues related to threats to the temple.

The administrative body of the Athi Lingeswaran Temple shared concerns about the destruction and vandalism of idols in their temple, obstacles presented by the Archaeological Department to replace and reconsecrate the idols, and ongoing Sinhala colonisation of various villages on the border of the Northern provinces with the High Commissioner. They also presented documentation detailing these issues over the past few years.

Members of a Jaffna church congregation forcibly entered the Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna, and disrupted operations and caused chaos. The incident followed a story reported by Uthayan that implicated a pastor and his congregation in an assault. 

According to the story published in Uthayan, a pastor and his congregation entered the house of an elderly woman in Achchuveli, and assaulted her and two others in the house. The victims then made a complaint at the closest police station, who arrested three persons including the pastor and his son. 

The hearing of the case related to the vandalism and destruction of the Athi Lingeswaran temple atop the Vedukkunaari mountain was held on 10th April at the Magistrate Court in Vavuniya. 

During the hearing, the police submitted a report based on their investigations and said that further investigations are ongoing. The Police also said that no arrests have been made in regards to this case. 

The Court ordered the next hearing to be held on 24th April and requested the Police department to conclude the necessary investigations as soon as possible. 

On Easter Sunday, Tamil youths in Mullaitivu organized a boat race and other festivities to celebrate the occasion.

The boat race was divided into two categories, with 25 horsepower boats and 40 horsepower boats competing.

The festivities continued into the evening of 9th April and were open to participants of all ages, from children to the elderly.

Various political parties and members of the public have joined together to form a collective aimed at resisting the ongoing Sinhala colonisation and Buddhistisation of the traditional Tamil homeland in Vavuniya, while also protecting the properties of Tamil people.

The life and death of Annai Poopathy was commemorated at the Jaffna University on 12th April. The event marked the 35th anniversary of her hunger strike to death. Annai Poopathy, who was an active member of Batticaloa - Amparai Mother’s front, began a hunger strike demanding an immediate ceasefire to the violence by the Indian Peace Keeping Force and negotiations to take place with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam. The commemoration was organized by the Jaffna Univeristy Students' Union.

Photo credits: FreemalCruze(C) 2016 

Tamil journalist and human rights defender, Ramachandran Sanath, was summoned for interrogation by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). TID has refused to disclose the purpose of the inquiry. 

Around noon on 9th April, a Buddha statue mysteriously appeared in Cheddikulam, Vavuniya.

The statue, about a foot and half in height, was placed atop a few bricks that were stacked by unknown persons, in front of the old railway station, by the side of the Cheddikulam - Mannar highway.

On 23rd March 2023, the Sri Lankan naval forces arrested 12 fisherfolk on two boats near Analaitivu for illegal fishing within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Sri Lanka. They were then presented to the Kayts Magistrate Court for their charges.

One of the 12 individuals arrested had previously been arrested and produced in court for the same charges within the last 12 months, as was revealed during the court proceedings. This person was subsequently sentenced to 14 months in prison, while the other 11 fisherfolk were released.

Furthermore, since the owners of one of the boats were among the arrested fisherfolk, the boat was seized by the government of Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the owner of the other boat was not present during the hearing, and the date for the next hearing on the case has been fixed to the 8th of May.

The 17th anniversary of the assassination of Tamil activist Vanniasingham Vigneswaran was commemorated by the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) last week.