Human rights lawyer and former leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar Ponnambalam, was remembered yesterday, 22 years after his assassination in Colombo.

Remembrance events for Ponnambalam took place in Jaffna, one led by Ponnambalam’s son and leader of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, and another led by Jaffna Mayor V. Mannivannan.

The five Tamil students summarily executed by Sri Lankan Special Task Force troops 16 years ago were remembered on Sunday at Trincomalee beach, where they were murdered.

The case – known as the 'Trinco 5' – remains one of the highest-profile killings in Sri Lanka to receive international attention, listed in 2014 by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' report on the island as one of four ‘emblematic cases’ of the government's failure to ensure accountability and having been raised repeatedly in international forums.

Sri Lankan Media Minister, Dullas Alahapperuma, claimed that the Sri Lankan President and the government are “open to constructive criticism” and have never considered placing restrictions on the freedom of speech of government critics, at a press meeting on Wednesday. 

Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila, raised concerns regarding the spread of false news on social media. Such posts could destroy the lives of the people concerned, he added. 

Faced with increasing dissent within his own cabinet and party, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has chastised ministers for being “unethical” and criticising the government to further their own personal agendas.

Former Sri Lankan State Minister Susil Premajayantha claimed yesterday that he was fired for his criticism of the government’s fertiliser policy which has led to food prices to soar.

The government has faced significant push back for its draconian ban on chemical fertilisers which over 90% of Sri Lankan farmers were reliant upon. Verite Research, a Colombo-based think tank predicted that a result of the ban there would an expected 85% crop reduction.

This week marks 16 years since five Tamil students were summarily executed by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, whilst they spent an afternoon on the beach in Trincomalee.

To date no one has been held accountable for the murder.

Sri Lanka’s economy is in dire straits with the World Bank reporting that an estimated 500,000 people have fallen bellow the poverty line since the start of the pandemic and with the price of basic goods skyrocketing.

Over the next 12 months, Sri Lanka is required to pay an estimated US$7.3 billion in domestic and foreign loans, including a US$500m international sovereign bond repayment in January. However, as of November, available foreign currency reserves were just $1.6 billion.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa flew to India using a private jet allegedly procured by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Uganda and Kenya, Velupillai Kananathan, costing millions of Sri Lankan rupees. 

Responding to the rejection of 20,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser by the Sri Lankan government, the Chinese company Seawin Biotech have successfully sued the government and are now putting pressure on the Chinese government to impose economic sanctions and trade restrictions on Sri Lanka.

The rejection of the import occurred in September and led to China blacklisting Sri Lanka’s second-largest state-owned bank and a lawsuit in which Sri Lanka agreed to pay USD $6.7 million in damages to a Chinese fertiliser company.

^{Mahinda Amaraweera}

Sri Lanka cabinet will meet on Monday to decide whether or not to seek bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The group of ministers will be joined by the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as well as the Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle, according to Environment minister Mahinda Amaraweera.