Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, and leader of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has called for an embrace of market economics as Sri Lanka continues to struggle with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sri Lanka’s debt problem

During his webinar, Wickremesinghe stressed the difficulties Sri Lanka would face as the country would likely need to obtain commercial loans at higher rates to fund the recovery of their economies.

Britain’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Sarah Hulton said she was “pleased that President Rajapaksa is able to share Sri Lanka’s experiences” on tackling the coronavirus at the UK-hosted virtual Global Vaccine Summit, as Colombo continued to face criticism for its highly militarised approach. 

Sri Lanka’s coronavirus task force is headed by credibly accused war criminal Shavendra Silva, with the state adopting a tactic which has seen thousands of people sent to ‘coronavirus quarantine centres’ which have been largely set up in the island’s Tamil North-East. Tens of thousands of people have also been arrested for violating strict curfews, which the military has been enforcing in recent weeks. During the same period, there has been a spike in state violence in the North-East and a proliferation of checkpoints in the already heavily militarised region.

The Sri Lankan government are “intending to incite tension and violence by using the stated armed forces to occupy Maaveerar remembrance sites and obstruct us from commemorating our children ,” said former parliamentarian and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Sivagnanam Sritharan.

Sritharan commented on this following his visit yesterday to the Theravil Maaveerar Thuyillum Illum (resting place);

The Sri Lankan government and several other organisations have come out in support of China, as Beijing cracked down on protesters who opposed a new national security law which threatens dissidents and Hong Kong independence activists.

"Sri Lanka has expressed continuity of its support for sovereignty of China (over) its territory and national security in relation to Hong Kong," said Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Twitter.

People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka (PEARL) have strongly condemned the formation of the two presidential task forces in Sri Lanka this week, stating that it is a “serious escalation (by the president) to militarise the activities of the state in the name of national security and as a response to the pandemic”, in a statement released today.  

PEARL highlighted the task forces “appear exclusively Sinhala and include suspected war criminals” while emphasising this move further reinforces Sri Lanka’s ethnocracy with the backing of the president “accused of mass atrocities”.

Heading towards autocratic governance

<p>UK Minister said that the British government continues "to underline the importance of accountability, justice and reconciliation in its engagement with the government of Sri Lanka."</p> <p>FCO Minister of State Nigel Adams answered a written question posed by Jim Shannon, Shadow DUP Spokesperson for Human Rights.</p> <p>When asked "what diplomatic steps he is taking to help ensure accountability for victims of (a) war crimes and (b) crimes against humanity (i) in Sri Lanka and (ii) overseas," the Minister responded:</p> <blockquote><p>

Sellaiah Rashanayagam has "been the sole resident of his village since Sri Lanka's civil war ended in 2009- and he doesn't plan to leave anytime soon," writes Vijayatharsiny Vijayakumar for Global Press Journal. 

"When the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009, the nearly 200 residents who called this village home chose to leave. They relocated to cities and towns where they would have better access to hospitals, shopping centres and jobs. But Sellaiah Rashanayagam, 67, chose to stay."

"Now, more than a decade later, he's still the lone resident of Ponnaveli, a village in Sri Lanka's northern province. The coastal village was destroyed during the war. Still, Rashanayagam says he refuses to leave and he doesn't want to open up the village to others either. He wants to preserve the village's Tamil name and farming traditions."

"His solitary lifestyle is a political statement. And it's evidence that tensions between Sri Lanka's Sinhalese, and mostly Buddhist majority, and the Tamil, mostly Muslim minority, still run deep."

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapakasa, has announced an all Sinhala task force, which includes Buddhist monks and the head of the Derana media network, to “preserve the historical heritage of Sri Lanka” in the island’s Eastern province.

The announcement, made through a gazette release this morning, comes after the president met with the Buddhist Maha Sanga last week to discuss Buddhist sites in the East.

Former Prime Minister and leader of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe has urged Sri Lanka to enter into a free trade agreement with India, stating that there was “no option” and that it was necessary to recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced a Presidential Task Force consisting entirely of military and police personnel to build a “secure country and a disciplined, virtuous, and lawful society,” as the state continued with its militarisation of the island.