Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister J Jayalalitha has urged India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take firm action against Sri Lanka and force it to stop attacks on Tamil fishermen.

"The government of India has virtually abandoned its poor and defenceless fishermen to face an uncertain future caused by the risk of daily attacks and abduction at the hands of the Sri Lankan Navy,” she said in a letter to Singh.

Commenting on the recent judgment that outlined that land powers would remain with the central government the leader of the TNA reiterated that land powers, which were meant to be with the provinces under the 13 amendment,  had been a key cause for ethnic conflict.

"This is what I can't understand. For last five years we've had about 19 elections. Provincial council election, then the parliamentary election. Every four years - my term is 6 years - but last year I went for election at 4 years. And it is up to the people to decide on governments."

"No I reject all that. I mean this is what I can't understand when a person come here. We have an opposition. You must remember in a democratic country - it's not like, a dictatorial country, where a dictator is there - so there are other views. So the opposition is always trying to defeat the government, whether it is with the international community, or inside the country."

"No. I asked, she never told us this. Otherwise I would have enquired into it. She never mentioned that to me, 'til she came out in public. When she met me she could have told me. If that happened, I don't know why she said this, because we will never do that. We would have stopped her coming, but we allowed her to go anywhere, allowed her to meet anybody she wants."

"We knew, it will happen, I knew, I told this... I told even the TNA leader that we are going to give you the election. You will win. We know our results, but we want to have it. we want you to take on the responsibility. Anybody can criticise, let them deliver now."

Election monitors in Sri Lanka say that incidents of violence following the end of the provincial council elections have risen.

“Again today, I spoke out loudly and clearly on the issue of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on our concerns on the lack of accountability for the serious allegations of war crimes, the lack of reconciliation with the Tamil community and with the events that have taken place since the end of the civil war.

“As the Prime Minister has stated very clearly, we expect our concerns to be addressed seriously by the Government of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, given the current circumstances in Sri Lanka and the lack of substantial progress to date, it would be difficult for the Government of Canada to fully participate.

After an intense battle with the High Court, a last minute injunction was placed on the deportation of

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, announced in a ruling today, that land powers in Sri Lanka were vested with the Central Government and not with the Provincial Councils.

Sri Lanka’ s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ravintha Aryasinaha, rejected the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s March 2014 deadline for Sri Lanka to address concerns regarding the investigation of rights violations.

“The UN rights chief decried a worsening situation in Sri Lanka and listed past and present problems that contradict official ‘Commonwealth values,’”