Speaking to The Morning, recently released poet and teacher Ahnaf Jazeem described the torture he faced during his imprisonment by Sri Lankan security forces over his Tamil poetry, as he called for all prisoners detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act to be released.

Jazeem, who was initially arrested on 16 May 2020, was taken to Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) base in Vavuniya, where he was interrogated over his Tamil poetry.

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran criticised a speech by Sri Lanka’s president, calling his remarks “an insult” and stating that the Tamil people have been fighting for self-determination and self-rule.

Speaking in Sri Lanka’s parliament earlier today, Sumanthiran said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s lengthy speech yesterday, where he doubled down on denying human rights abuses and claimed to “reject racism”, was insulting to the Tamil people.

He also criticised Rajapaksa’s remark that the Tamil people wanted “facilities”.

Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya said his family had to flee Sri Lanka, which he called “a country with its own set of human rights issues", following controversy after he was accused of downplaying rights violations against Uyghurs by China, claiming “nobody cares”.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) joined a host of other international organisations in denouncing the death penalty handed to a senior prison official over his role in the killing of at least 27 inmates in a prison massacre, calling it stating it “does nothing to address the very real concerns” over the 2012 killings.

Sri Lanka’s controversial minister of public security announced that Sri Lanka’s 600th police station had been opened as the current government continues with its intense militarisation and securitisation of the island.

Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara himself opened the police station in Nungamuva, in the Gampaha District.

In a lengthy address to Sri Lanka’s parliament this morning, Gotabaya Rajapaksa doubled down on denying human rights violations had taken place under his command and instead blamed “misconceptions” in the international community.

“We need to correct the misconceptions that have been taken to the international community in the past regarding our human rights,” he stated.

A host of British parliamentarians and other politicians joined the British Tamil community in Westminster on Monday to celebrate Thai Pongal in London.

Lawmakers took to the stage and praised the British Tamil community, paying tribute to their contributions in several fields and pledging solidarity with their struggle for justice and accountability in the homeland.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajpakasa paid a “surprise visit” to the Kuragala Sinhala Buddhist site last week as a restoration project gets underway, whilst a nearby Islamic site remains under threat.

“Army troops made up the major share of the manpower for this gigantic task,” declared an official military website, which published photographs of Rajapaksa’s tour.

“Sri Lanka finds itself looking down the barrel of a gun,” wrote The Economist last week, as it highlighted the economic crisis on the island and the government’s opposition to intervention from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The numbers are sobering,” said The Economist.

“Interest obligations on government debt in 2021 amounted to 72% of total revenues, while public-sector salaries and pensions came to 80%. Multiple downgrades have in effect locked it out of the international private-credit market.”

A Dailt man in Tamil Nadu has died after he was arrested and reportedly tortured under the custody of police in Tamil Nadu.

Prabhakar, a disabled man belonging to the Adi Dravidar (Scheduled Caste) in Salem’s Karuppur was arrested by police on January 8, over allegations that he was involved in a jewellery theft.

His wife Amshala was also detained. Both were reportedly verbally abused and beaten within their own homes by the police officers, before being taken to a sub-jail.

“Amshala was dragged by her hair,” states a FIR filed by Prabhakar’s brother Sakthivel.