• Effigies burnt as protests against Swamy erupt across Tamil Nadu

    Sep 03
    Protests have broken out across Tamil Nadu condemning BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy over remarks he made regarding the arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, as he wrote to the Indian Prime Minister to defend his actions.

    Over 3,000 fishermen gathered in Ramneswaram, shouting slogans condemning Swamy and burning an effigy of the senior BJP leader. Effigies were also burnt in Salem, Nagapattinam, and Panruti as activists from parties such as the Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi and Mukkulathu Pulikal held protests.

    Swamy, who recently attended a defence seminar in Sri Lanka, said the Sri Lankan government should not release the boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen that they were holding in their custody.

    The BJP’s State Chief distanced the party from Swamy’s remarks and noted the matter had been reported to the “party high command”.

    Speaking to the Tamil Guardian, Tamil Nadu based activist Saravana Kumar from the Ilanthamizhagam Movement said,

     “Swamy has been intervening on the Sri Lankan issue since the 1980’s, saying there is no support for the Eelam Tamils in Tamil Nadu. But the current situation clearly shows that if he tries to play any role against the Tamils and Tamil sentiments, the people will never let him.”

  • Jaffna businesses face difficulties due to Southern traders

    Businesses in Jaffna are suffering as traders from the South are setting up stalls and shops across the North without having to obtain any government permission, said the Valikamam South Traders Union leader Layan C Hariharan.

  • Special tribunal reviews LTTE ban in India

    MDMK Chief Vaiko has appeared before a special tribunal reviewing India’s ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Wednesday.

    The LTTE ban was recently extended by five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in India.

    The special tribunal, headed by Justice G P Mittal, was set up in July to review the ban and had issued a call for responses.

  • Presidential probe will not be punitive – chairman

    The chairman of Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappeared people said the probe will only be able to provide details of individuals involved in such cases, and will not be able to make decisions on punishments.

    Chairman Maxwell Paranagama said any decisions on punitive measures can only be taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Attorney General, while speaking to the BBC Sinhala Service.

    Panaragama pointed out that although the new international advisory panel was appointed by the commission, the panel will not become “a stakeholder” in the probe.

  • Shop selling Buddha shoes raided in southern Sri Lanka

    A shop selling shoes with the images of Buddha has been raided by police in the southern Sri lankan town of Balangoda, after a tip off.

  • US ambassador visits Jaffna to discuss intimidation of Tamil journalists
    Photograph Uthayan

  • Power plant shutdown costs Rs. 600 million a day
    A Sri Lankan minister has said the ongoing shutdown of the Norochcholai power plant is costing the government Rs. 600 million a day, as controversy continued in the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

    Science, Technology and Atomic Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka stated that with the trouble-ridden power plant being run by the CEB, the daily losses were mounting. The minister went on to blame the CEB officials, labelling the “thieves” and part of the “power mafia”, according to the Island.

    See more on the Ceylon Electricity Board's losses in our earlier post:

    ‘Debt-ridden’ SL electricity board seeks more loans     (12 August 2012)

    Ranawaka's comments come as  Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) General Manager Shavindranth Fernando found himself criticised for announcing an upcoming Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Norochcholai power plant with China, without consultation from the Sri Lankan government.

    See more from the Island here.
  • Sri Lankan government looking to control rubber prices
    Responding to a global drop in rubber prices, the Sri Lankan government is looking to control the price of rubber by introducing a certified price, said Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

    A joint proposal by the Ministry of Plantation Industries, the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Ministry of Economic Development and the Treasury would see the government enforce a set prices for rubber, said the minister.

    See more from ColomboPage here and the Island here.

    The announcement comes as the government raided over 400 rice vendors who sold rice at higher than government set prices.
  • NYT editorial 'unjust' and 'insensitive' says SL ambassador
    Sri Lanka's ambassador to the United States, Prasad Kariyawasam, criticised an editorial published by the New York Times last month on Sri Lanka's refusal to allow in UN investigators, as "insensitive" and "unjust".

    The editorial, 'Sri Lanka's Intransigence' published August 22, argued that the country's intransigence "puts Sri Lanka in the company of North Korea and Syria, two countries that also barred access to United Nations human rights investigators."

    In a letter to the editor, published by the NYT on September 2, Kariyawasam said the editorial "makes insensitive assertions about my country."

    "To compare Sri Lanka to human rights and humanitarian emergencies elsewhere in the world is unjust," he added, before reiterating Sri Lanka's refusal to engage with the UN inquiry.

  • Six more students detained by TID at Sabaragamuwa University

    Six first-year undergraduates of the Sabaragamuwa University were detained and interrogated by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Tuesday, becoming the third set of students arrested at the southern university.

  • Body found washed up in Mannar
    A dead body has been found washed up on the beach in Mannar, reported Uthayan on Wednesday.

    The body, found in a severely decomposed state, was spotted by fishermen who informed the police. It is yet to be identified.

    Mannar police are reportedly investigating the death.


  • Nigerian army delegation in Sri Lanka

    A delegation from the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC) arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday to explore the country’s welfare system for its military.

    The 11-member delegation, headed by Air Vice Marshal M.R Morgan of the Nigerian Air Force met with the Sri Lankan army chief Lt Gen Daya Ratnayake and discussed how the army’s welfare model is employed for the soldiers’ benefit, reported the army website.

  • Tamils worried about Sinhala settlements – EPRLF leader

    The ‘cantonment system’ introduced by the Sri Lankan Army in the Tamil-speaking Northeast of the island has prompted fears amongst the Tamil population about Sinhala settlements, the leader of the Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front said on Tuesday, The Hindu reported.

  • Former soldier self-immolates outside US Embassy in protest of UN actions
    A former Sri Lankan soldier, who attempted to self-immolate, outside the US Embassy in Colombo, in protest against the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, died of his injuries on Wednesday.

    The former soldier had said that he was Navi Pillay’s actions against Sri Lanka, reports Colombo Gazette.
  • Sri Lanka enhances benefits for retired soldiers
    Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence (MoD), on Wednesday, announced a new scheme that looks to benefit retired soldiers.
Subscribe to Tamil Affairs

Most-Read Articles

Senior Buddhist monk from Anuradhapura remanded over sexual abuse of minor
A senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and chief prelate of the Anuradhapura Atamasthana,…
Velupillay makes history as first Tamil at a FIFA World Cup
Photograph: @Socceroos Nishan Velupillay has been selected in Australia's squad…
17 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal
To mark 17 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens…
In Pictures - Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day commemorated in Mullivaikkal
All photographs by Uthayarasa Shalin Thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal…
Tamil rapper arrested for ‘terrorism’ over TikTok video
A Tamil rapper from Kilinochchi has been arrested and remanded under Sri Lanka's…