The Catholic leadership in the North-East warned that the Sri Lankan government was in the midst of a “concerted effort to change the demography of the Tamil majority Trincomalee, Mullaitivu and Mannar districts by settling Sinhalese from other areas,” according to a report in JDS Lanka.

The religious leaders raised the concern whilst meeting with Switzerland’s ambassador to Sri Lanka Dominik Furgler in Jaffna on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, nicknamed ‘The Terminator’, warned that he had the ability to enforce “a military system” on the island if he wanted to.

Speaking to an audience at Mandaduwa Stadium last week, Rajapaksa hit back at the supposed two groups that have criticised him.

^{File photograph: Rajapaksa with the monk earlier this year.}

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa justified his recent controversial appointment of a Sinhala Buddhist monk as Chancellor of the University of Colombo, by stating that the monk had “helped this government to come into power”.

Sri Lanka’s finance minister presented the 2022 budget in Parliament today with a bombastic speech that praised the ruling regime and continued with the government's increased focus on military spending and 'national security'.

Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the chief guest at a ceremony to open a new “National Defence College” in Colombo this week, as the military continues its expansion on the island.

The Sri Lankan government announced new legislation that will restrict the number of people allowed to attend public gatherings, supposedly due to the risk of coronavirus transmission, as protests continued across the island and Tamils in the North-East prepared to commemorate Maaveerar Naal.

Photograph courtesy of JDS

Former Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) leader, Indrakumar Prasanna, was summoned to the office of the Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) in Batticaloa yesterday. 

TNA members in conversation with a EU delegation last September

Speaking in parliament, Amanda Milling, Minister of State for Asia, detailed the UK government's concern over continued reports of torture and sexual violence by Sri Lanka's security forces.

As torrential rainfalls ravaged the Tamil homeland over the past week, it has emerged that nearly 5,700 acres of farmland have been severely damaged in the Mannar district. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and human rights lawyer, Nadarajah Raviraj, was remembered in the North-East today to mark the 15th anniversary of his assassination. 

A memorial event was held in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, where attendees lit candles and hung flower garlands on the memorial statue of the former MP. 

Last month, Former Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Ambika Satkunanathan addressed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at an event entitled "Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights: Striking the Right Balance".  

Today marks 15 years since Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP and human rights lawyer, Nadarajah Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo. 

Mr Raviraj was shot in Colombo at close range by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike at around 8:30am on November 10 2006, as he got into his car after giving an interview. The MP died later in hospital. His bodyguard was also killed.