• Sri Lankan military can use anti-terror laws once police powers end says govt

    Apr 04
    Stating that the Sri Lankan military's police powers would cease, the government said that the additional was unnecessary as using the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the "armed forces could be drawn back to maintain law and order in extreme instances where the police were unable to manage".
  • Sri Lanka accused of supplying weapons to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine

    Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, who has been accused of selling weapons to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, has had his diplomatic passport withdrawn, reports ColomboPage.

    Mr Weeratunga, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, was accused of playing a key role in supplying the separatists with weapons, including assault rifles and other small arms during his tenure.

    The Ukrainian government had lodged a complaint with the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry in Colombo, reported the Sunday Times, with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera pledging “a full investigation into this matter”.

  • Land return in North-East must not compromise national security warns Hambantota MP
    The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Namal Rajapaksa, drawing on his constituent's concerns about weakening national security, urged the new government to consider national security when returning lands in the North-East.

    Expressing concern over returning land in High Security Zones (HSZ) to their original owners, the son of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and UPFA MP, said,

    “Handing back private lands to their owners is important. But the question is whether the government intends on eliminating all high security zones in regions that were dominated by LTTE activates not too long ago.”

    Speaking on the feeling of the people in the Hambantota district, Namal added,

    “Positive steps are being taken toward strengthening national reconciliation, but the concern of the people I spoke to was that not enough is being done to also strengthen national security.”

    See our earlier articles:
  • BBS criticises legislation to prevent hate speech
    Recent laws passed in Sir Lanka to combat hate speech would endanger the people’s right to freedom of expression, said the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).

    The chief executive officer of the BBS Dr Dilanthe Withange, said that the new laws were passed by the new government to gain political benefits, reports Ceylon Today.

    See our earlier articles:
  • Sri Lanka's president suggests talks with Tamil Nadu over fishermen issue
    Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sririsena said that the Northern Provincial Council should work with a government delegation to negotiate a solution with the Tamil Nadu government with regards to the fishermen issue.

    Speaking in a meeting with fishing industry representatives from the Northern Province and the Tamil National Alliance, Maithripala Sirisena, said that he would like to visit Tamil Nadu, to reach a solution to the fishermen issue.

    Sirisena further added that until a solution was released, the Sri Lanka navy would continue to arrest and detain Tamil Nadu fishermen that they considered to encroach Sri Lankan waters.
  • TNA MP hails Prabhakaran as leader, Modi as role model
    “My leader is Velupillai Prabhakaran, but my political model is Modi,” said the Tamil National Alliance MP form the Jaffna district, speaking to the New Indian Express on Friday.

    Commenting on how the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Jaffna had inspired him, MP Sritharan said,
  • Ranil pledges welfare centre for former Tamil families in Kilinochchi
    Sri Lanka's new prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, pledged a new welfare centre would be set up for Tamil families, particularly women headed households, in the former LTTE administrative centre of Kilinochchi, reports Asian Mirror.

    "It is a well known fact that most suffered persons due to a war are women and children. In the north alone there are nearly 50,000 families that are headed by women. They are made destitute due to their inability to provide food, accommodation and educational needs to their children," the prime minister's office was quoted by the paper as saying in a statement on Sunday.

  • Sri Lankan government introduces guaranteed price for tea leaves
    The new Sri Lankan government has decided to pay a guaranteed price for raw tea leaves, the cabinet spokesperson, Rajitha Senaratna, said on Friday.

    A price of Rs. 80 per kilogram produced by small scale tea estates will be introduced.
  • We have no faith in Sri Lankan govt's war crimes inquiry says TNA
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stressed to the visiting UN Special Rapporteur for Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff that they had no faith in the Sri Lankan government's internal investigation into war crimes and human rights violations.

    A delegation of the TNA led by R Sampanthan and including MPs Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and M A Sumanthiran, met with Mr Greiff in Colombo on Thursday.

    “We do not have faith in the internal investigation due to be launched by the [Sri Lankan] government into war crimes and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka," the TNA delegation told Mr Grieff, reported the Jaffna based newspaper, Uthayan.

    “We are expecting the UN investigation report this coming September,” the TNA said, adding that "war criminals should be punished based on the UN report."

  • Sri Lanka Pakistan to sign shipping agreement
    Sri Lanka and Pakistan will sign a mutual shipping agreement, when Sri Lanka’s new president makes his first visit to Pakistan this week.

    A proposal for the shipping agreement between the two countries was approved by Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers reports Colombo Page.

    Maithriapala Sirisena is due to visit Pakistan on April 5-7 next week.
  • Women in Jaffna protest against TNA for inaction over sexual attacks
    Photographs Tamil Guardian


    Women in Jaffna protested on Saturday against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leadership, accusing it of not taking any action over the ongoing sexual attacks against Tamil women in the Northern province.

    Over 25 women held placards and held a protest march beginning from Jaffna public library.

    “You have no capacity to help our livelihood; You have failed to protect our honour and dignity," one placard read.

  • UN Assistant Sec Gen begins 6 day visit
    The UN Assistant Secretary General, Haoliang Xu, arrived in Colombo on Saturday, to begin a 6 day visit of the island.

    Mr Xu is also the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director - Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

    He will be meeting with government officials and civil society groups in the South, and the North, reports Daily Mirror.
  • Protest in Tamil Nadu against Sri Lankan president, 10 arrested
    A protest took place on Friday in the Kumbakonam region of the Tamil Nadu, India against the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, over his comments regarding the fishing issue between the two countries.

    The protest, led by the Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi, condemned Mr Sirisena's reiteration that the Sri Lankan navy had been given "clear instructions" by himself to arrest any Indian fishermen who stray into Sri Lankan waters, and seize their boats.

  • Sinhala Ravaya protest against mosque in Sri Lanka

    Members of the Sinhala group, Sinhala Ravaya, protested at Kurgala on Saturday, calling for the removal of a mosque it alleges was built on an ancient Buddhist site.

    The group, which included Buddhist monks, clashed with police who deployed teargas against the protestors, as they attempted to reach the site according to reports.

    “We wanted to ensure that artefacts are preserved," said one of the protesting monks. "We want to remove the mosque and place a Buddha statue at the site.”

    Earlier this year, another Buddhist nationalist Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), threatened to destroy the mosque at Kuragala, in order to stop “these infidel Muslims” from running riot.

  • TNA's concerns about government progress are "shouts" to keep identity - Chandrika

    Former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said the Tamil National Alliance needs to "shout once in a while" to keep their identity, when she was questioned about concerns raised by the TNA on the pace and direction of government efforts to address Tamil issues.

    Speaking to The Hindu, Ms Kumaratunga, who is working closely with the new regime, stressed that in her view engagement between the government and the TNA has been "excellent".

    “They [the TNA] have to shout once in a while to keep their identity but we have very good relations,” she said.

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