Speaking at St. Anthony’s Shrine, Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, raised the possibility that the Easter Sunday attacks were part of a ploy to stoke ethnic divisions and security concerns ahead of the 2019 Presidential elections.

Quoting the parliamentary select committees report he notes:

Protesters in Jaffna demanding self-determination this week 

The war crimes-accused head of Sri Lanka’s army released a statement yesterday, calling on “intelligent” Sri Lankans to back the armed forces and “co-operate” as they had done when the military launched an offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009.

Commemoration events were held across the Tamil homeland on Thursday, to mark 3 years since the devastating Easter Sunday attacks, in which more than 250 people were killed.

A monument to a man who oversaw two anti-Tamil pogroms and the architect behind one of the most racist pieces of legislation on the island’s history overlooks the Galle Face protests. If these protests are to be inclusive of all in Sri Lanka, that statue must go.

At least 18 more Eelam Tamil refugees landed in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu last night, as Tamils continued to flee Sri Lanka amidst an economic crisis, which has worsened conditions for many given its history of repression and blighted human rights record.

Sri Lanka’s finance ministry confirmed that it had met with officials from the US State Department, USAID and senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures, with talks continuing over an emergency bailout loan for Colombo as anti-government protests rumble on.

A day after Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), presented a drafted proposal for the 21^st amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, 40 independent MPs presented an alternative draft.

Despite international criticism, the execution of mentally disabled Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam has been set for 27 April. 

^{Priyantha Diyawadanage}

A Pakistani court sentenced 6 men to death this week, for their involvement in the mob lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, eastern Pakistan.

Sri Lankan intelligence officers have visited the homes of at least two Tamil journalists in Batticaloa this week, reportedly looking to interrogate the journalists over social media posts on the ongoing anti-government protests on the island.

The homes of S. Nilanthan and P. Sasikaran were visited by intelligence officers who reportedly accused the journalists of ‘inciting separatism on social media’ through their coverage of the protests and of ‘attempting to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’.

Memorial events were held in Batticaloa to mark three years since the Easter Sunday attacks that killed nearly 270 people and injured over 500 others. 

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) released a statement condemning the use of excessive force by Sri Lankan law enforcement against protestors, adding that “police and other law enforcement officials have failed to respect people’s human rights, including their rights to protest”.