• Sri Lankan police interrupt Maaveerar Naal preparation in Mullaitivu

    The Sri Lankan government deployed a substantial number of police and army officers to the site of Vannivilankulam Thuyillum illam in Mullaitivu on Monday, as cleaning and preparation activities were being carried out by volunteers ahead of Maaveerar Naal.

    Local volunteers and politicians that were present at the site reported that they were obstructed from preparing the site for Maaveerar Naal and also interrogated by multiple Sri Lankan police and army officers.

  • The Elders compare Trump’s refusal to concede to ‘volatile and undemocratic’ situations in Sri Lanka

    A statement from The Elders last week compared US President Donald Trump’s refusal to “adhere to the protocols and processes governing the transition of power” to that of “volatile and undemocratic situations in states such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe”.

    The statement comes Trump continued to claim on Twitter that he won the US presidential election, despite every other major broadcaster having called the election for his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.

  • UK minister says UN resolutions are 'best framework' to establish truth and justice in Sri Lanka

    UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the UK believes that the UN resolutions "remain the best framework for establishing truth and achieving justice and lasting reconciliation following the armed conflict in Sri Lanka" in response to a question on Sri Lanka. 

    Nigel Adams answered a series of written questions posed by Stephen Kinnock, Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonweatlh Affairs, who asked "whether the Government is working with other states on (a) a new Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka that ensures continued monitoring by the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and (b) a mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of human rights violations in Sri Lanka at the forthcoming HRC in March 2021, in response to the Government of Sri Lanka's rejection of the existing consensus process on transitional justice, truth, and reconciliation under resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1?"

  • Sumanthiran calls on Sri Lanka not to use COVID to prevent commemorations 

    Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran called on the Sri Lankan authorities not to use coronavirus restrictions “as a ruse to stop people going to cemeteries where their loved ones are buried to pay homage,” ahead of Maaveerar Naal this week.

    “I urge the government to act magnanimously and not use COVID-19 or anything else to prevent legitimate commemorations by family members & others,” Sumanthrian told parliament.

  • Thuyilum illam clearing begins in preparation for Maaveerar Naal

    Tamils in Kanagapuram, Kilinochchi, began clearing Maaveerar thuyilum illams (LTTE martyr resting places) earlier today ahead of the Maaveerar Naal. 

  • Sri Lankan Army Commander and accused war criminal speaks at tourism summit

    Sri Lanka's army commander and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva, attended the Sri Lanka’s Tourism Leaders’ Summit and Tourism Research Conference held on the 27th of September in Kandy City.

  • BBS monk claims demands for Muslim burial are linked to “extremism”

    Galagoda Gnanasara, an extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk, has made the unfounded claim that “Wahhabi groups are infiltrating society on the issue of cremation or burial of Muslims who die due to coronavirus”.

    The monk stated the allowing for proper burial was allowing “Muslim extremism” to grow and the government should not allow it.

  • TMVP General Secretary arrested after threatening witnesses

    Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) General Secretary and former Eastern Provincial Councillor, Poopalapillai Prasanthan, was arrested by Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers on 12 November 2020, on alleged witness tampering charges.

  • TNA MP's vehicle attacked in Vavuniya

    The vehicle of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni MP Vino Noharathalingam was attacked by a group of allegedly intoxicated youths.

    The MP was travelling from Mannar to Vavuniya when his vehicle was stopped and attacked the group in the Katpakapuram area in Vavuniya. The attack is reported to have caused considerable damage to the vehicle.

    The attack was reported to the police.

  • Omanthai child drowns in flooded toilet pit

     

    A 6-year-old girl has died after falling into a newly cut toilet pit in the village of Panrikkeithakulam in Omanthai, Vavuniya. The victim was identified as Satyaseelan Saivini.

  • Human remains discovered near explosives in Mankulam

    Human remains were found in the Karippaddamurippu region in Mankulam, Mullaitivu last week.

  • Tamil youth arrested for alleged firearm possession

    A 17-year-old from Thunukkai, Mullaitivu District was arrested in connection with an allegedly recovered locally made firearm in the district.

    Mallavi police made the arrest during a raid conducted by the on Sunday evening. 

    The police said that the youth was going to be produced in the Mullaitivu Magistrates’ court on Monday and that investigations  were ongoing. 

  • Vavuniya water shortage leaves 492 families parched

    Almost 500 families have been affected by a shortage of drinking water across several villages in the Vavuniya District. 

  • How did 120 whales become stranded on a Sri Lankan beach? 

    After at least 120 pilot whales became beached at Panadura earlier this month, experts have suggested that a Sri Lankan military exercise in the Bay of Bengal may have lead to the mammals becoming disoriented and stranded.

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