Photographs: Save Tamils Movement

Hundreds of protestors demonstrated outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in Chennai this week, condemning the attack on Muslims by Sinhala mobs in the southern Sri Lankan town of Aluthgama.

Over 400 people were outside the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Nungambakkam, Chennai condemning the attacks and calling on the Indian government to intervene and put and end to repeated attacks by Sinhala nationalists.

Leaders from the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazagham and Thirumavalavan from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi were amongst those that addressed the protestors, who were joined by activists from the Save Tamils Movement.

More than 1,000 Muslim-owned businesses were shut for the day in the southern Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, as shop owners protested against the attacks on Muslims by Sinhala mobs on the island.

Ibrahim Nisthar Miflal, president of the Muslims Rights Organization, told the Associated Press that the closure was in protest at the lack of response by the government to apprehend those behind the attacks, which saw at least 3 people killed and dozens injured.

The president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has condmned tha attacls on Muslims by Sinhalese mobs in southern Sri Lanka and called on the Indian government to voice concern over the violence.

In a statement issued this week, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said,

Muslims in Sri Lanka called on the United Nations to intervene and investigate the ongoing violence in the island after Sinhala mobs attacked Muslim businesses and homes, reports Colombo Page.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem, yesterday, invited the United Nations special rapporteurs on Minority Issues and Religious Freedom to visit Sri Lanka for an investigation into the deteriorating rights situation in Sri Lanka.

The University of Jaffna Teacher's association held a protest condemning the anti-Muslim violence in Aluthgama.

The cross-faculty demonstration was attended by students and staff, demanding action to be taken against attacks on Muslims and Muslim businesses by Sinhala Buddhist mobs in Aluthgama.

"Then - 1983 - Tamils. Now - 2014 - Muslims"

"Today, non-violent protestors in the South are shot at. Journalists are killed or sent into exile. Dissenters are not welcomed. In the North, the situation is even worse. People are not even allowed the troubled comfort of remembering their dead. Journalists from the critical press are routinely attacked, including in broad daylight."

"The recent report “Stop Torture” provides medical and forensic evidence suggesting that sexual violence and torture against Tamil women and men continues, with reports emerging from as late as January 2014. Further, the evidence suggests that this sexual violence is targeted systematically to suppress the political rights of the Tamil people."

The United States and European Union Delegation in Sri Lanka have both condemned the recent anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka, calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.

In the daily press briefing for the US State Department, Spokesperson Jen Psaki started by saying,

“The United States also condemns the continuing violence in Sri Lanka. We are concerned by inflammatory rhetoric that has incited violence in recent days, resulting in several deaths, scores of injuries, and destruction of personal property. We urge the Sri Lankan Government to fulfill its obligations to protect religious minorities, including protecting all citizens and places of worship, conducting a full investigation into the violence, and bringing those responsible to justice.”

A ruling collation MP has called for a referendum to be held in the country to decide whether or not to allow a UN team investigating war crimes violations into the country to carry out the probe. 

United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Janaka Priyantha Bandara submitted the motion "The Investigation against Sri Lanka by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights should not be held" to the Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday and was adjourned until today.

The murder trial of a British aid worker Khuram Shaikh, killed whilst on holiday in Southern Sri Lanka in 2011, may collapse due to political interference from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

With the trial having undergone several weeks, it has been reported that the presiding High Court judge, Rohini Walgama, has been nominated for a promotion to the Appeal Courts by the Sri Lankan President. If she accepts the promotion, the trial would collapse and have to be started from scratch.

British MP Simon Danczuk, who has campaigned for the killers to be brought to justice said,

“We are very concerned about political interference in this trial and we have been for the last 2 years, whilst we’ve been trying to get the case to court. It looks as though President Rajapapksa in appointing this judge would be moving him away from what could have been a successful trial.”

The Australian government’s “dangerously close relationship with Sri Lanka” has put it at odds with its allies and leaves it at risk of violating international human rights obligations, said Emily Howie, the director of advocacy and research at the Human Rights Law Centre in a piece published on Tuesday.

Stating that Australia has “failed to live up to its own human rights standards”, Howie said the government has become “increasingly unwilling to criticise Sri Lanka on any account”, even though it is “well aware of the serious human rights situation in Sri Lankan and the brutal track record of its partners”.

Howie went on to call the increased collaboration between the Sri Lanka and Australia, including Australian opposition to a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka earlier this year, “counterproductive, short-sighted and extremely disappointing”.

Mahinda Rajapaksa meets Muslims in Beruwala (Picture: @PresRajapaksa)

President Mahinda Rajaksa this morning met with Muslims affected by the violence that gripped Aluthgama and surrounding towns on Sunday and Monday.

Rajapaksa said during the meeting in Beruwala, one of the towns targeted by Sinhala mobs, that an impartial inquiry into the attacks will be conducted.

2nd lead: adds motion text

Sri Lanka’s parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a motion rejecting the UN investigation into wartime atrocities, with only the Tamil National Alliance voting against.

144 government and allied MPs voted for the motion, while 10 MPs of the TNA voted against.

The main opposition UNP abstained, while the JVP was absent.

The government-allied SLMC boycotted parliament as a protest against the government’s ‘failure to protect’ Muslims during recent violence by Buddhist mobs. A Muslim minister in Rapaksa’s UPFA, Rishard Badurdeen was also absent.