Priya Murugappan, one of the Tamil asylum-seekers still detained by Australian authorities on Christmas Island, has been urgently evacuated for urgent medical treatment, according to latest reports.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in praised Sri Lanka’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and swift resumption of routine vaccinations, even as fears rose as clusters of coronavirus cases continued to be reported across the island.

Sri Lanka’s coronavirus task force has been led by army commander and credibly accused war criminal Shavendra Silva, as the military has taken the lead on the country’s public health strategy. Their response has come under widespread criticism, as thousands were detained in coronavirus quarantine centres, which were largely set up in the North-East, and thousands more arrested for curfew violations.

As the Sri Lankan state continues to ramp up its militarisation of the North-East, an already marginalised community has now found itself under greater threat. The Tamil LGBTQ community, which has long faced its own intra-community discrimination and struggles for recognition has in recent months come under mounting pressure. A military enforced lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and looming parliamentary elections has exacerbated existing inequalities.

Sri Lankan police officers arrested a Tamil youth in Vavuniya for alleged heroin possession, yesterday.  

The 23-year-old was arrested by Vanni police officers following and the narcotics control division who stated they were informed by the army of illegal drug trade operating in Kathar Sinnakulam, Vavuniya.

Vanni police Chief Superintendent, Dhammika Priyantha – who led the raid leading to the arrest – claimed that he seized 16g of heroin and that the youth will appear in court, following further investigations.

Rauff Hakeem, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SBW) candidate for the Kandy district and leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) described the proportional representation system as advantageous to Muslims on the island at an election meeting in Gampola. 

Sri Lanka’s election commissioner (EC), Mahinda Deshapriya stated “only the police will be used for election duties” and insisted that the Sri Lankan military will only be used to “transport ballot boxes quickly from polling stations to election offices.”

Deshapriya said “the air force, navy and army will be required to transport ballot boxes from areas in the North to their respective collection offices for counting,” during his visit to Jaffna earlier this week.  

Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office as President, he “has bent the democracy to its breaking point” as Sri Lanka slides further into military totalitarianism, writes Laxmanan Sanjeev for Foreign Policy.

A Tamil man has been seriously injured and hospitalised following a bomb attack in his home in Mannar last night.

Semalai Santhiyogu, a 59-year-old father-of-two, was admitted with serious injuries to Mannar Hospital, following the incident.

Jaffna University senior law lecturer, Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan, has resigned "with utmost pain and sadness" after he was barred from private legal practice last year. 

In his resignation letter, Guruparan wrote that he felt "compelled to resign" after the Council of the University of Jaffna barred him from practising as a lawyer at the instigation of the Sri Lankan military. The move is seen as a direct reprisal for his representation of victims in the Navatkuli Habeas Corpus case, related to the disappearance of 24 Tamil youths from military custody in 1996.