• Mahinda and a monk put an end to Milco strike

    Dec 29
    A strike at the state-owned Milco company, which started on December the 9th, has ended after intervention from the President of Sri Lanka, who held talks with a Buddhist monk, representing the strikers.

    A representative from the Milco branch of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya, a trade union on the island, stated,
    “We suspended our strike action for one month after Ven. Murethtuve Ananda mediated on our behalf with President Mahinda Rajapaksa who promised to resolve our concerns very soon. Our three demands have been directed to an arbitration board and would be settled within a month during which all strike action is prohibited.”
  • Canadian Tamil MP meets Tamil MPs in Jaffna
    The Canadian MP, Rathika Sitsabaiesan, met with Tamil MPs in Jaffna yesterday, reported Tamilwin.

    Arriving on Saturday, Sitsabaiesan visited the militarised zone in Valikaamam North and the Sababathipillai ICP camp, before meeting informally with the Provincial Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan, and the TNA MP Sreetharan in Kilinochchi.



  • Karunanidhi criticises 'atrocious' arrests

    The leader of the Tamil Nadu opposition M Karunanidhi has slammed the latest arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

    Speaking to media in Chennai, the DMK chief expressed concerns that no proactive steps were being taken to put an end to the issue.

    "The arrest of 22 fishermen from Pudukottai is atrocious," he said, adding that 227 fishermen had been apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy in the past three months.

  • A very militarised Christmas
    The Sri Lankan Army organised a series of events across the Tamil North-East to mark Christmas, earlier this week.

    Maj. General L. B. R. Mark, oversaw the festivities in Mullaitivu, with the Ministry of Defence noting that ‘under his patronage’, the army’s 59th division organised a show, complete with signs in Sinhalese.
  • Elephant Pass to be rebuilt and renamed by SLA

    Sri Lanka's Education Minister has plans to renovate the Elephant Pass railway station and to rename it to the Sinhalese 'Senahasaka Thotupola', reports Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).

  • I was subjected to psychological torture' says deported Tamil Nadu journalist

    Tamil Prabhakaran, the Tamil Nadu journalist arrested in Kilinochchi on Christmas Day arrived in Chennai on Saturday after being deported by Sri Lankan authorities.

    Prabhakaran told reporters at the airport that he had been psychologically tortured by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).

  • 22 more Indian fishermen arrested in Palk Strait

    The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 22 Indian fishermen off the coast of Neduntheevu, Jaffna, for allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters.

  • SL Intelligence call TNPF organiser for questioning again
    Sri Lanka's Special Intelligence Branch called the Tamil National People's Front's (TNPF) Vice President and Trincomalee organiser, Rasakone Hariharan for questioning again on Thursday over a commemoration event being planned by TNPF for the assassinated TNA MP, Joseph Pararajasingham on Sunday. 

    Hariharan was previously questioned on December 23rd by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) in Trincomalee.
  • Govt census designed to minimise death toll - TNA MP
    Slamming the Sri Lankan government's proposed census count, the TNA MP, Suresh Premachandran said the it was designed to minimise the death toll, reports Arab News.

    “We strongly believe this is an attempt to give lower figures for war fatalities,” said Premachandran.

    Highlighting the need to provide social services to those in need including single parent families and orphans, he added, “for planning purposes of the council, we want the actual numbers, not watered down figures.”

    See our TG View - Erasing the dead and related articles:

    Sri Lanka rejects dismissal of ethnic conflict census     (26 Dec 2013)

  • SL Navy opens resting point for Buddhist pilgrims in Jaffna district

    A resting point for Buddhist pilgrims was opened in Mathagal in Jaffna district this month, by the chief Buddhist monk at Nagadeepa Temple, situated in Nainatheevu, along with a number of Sri Lankan Navy officials.



    The newly built complex is called 'Dambakolapatuna Pilgrims Rest', and is by the recently built Buddhist temple - Dambakolapatuna Sangamitta Viharaya.

  • Rs. 200 million losses for state-owned Milco
    The Chairman of the state-owned Milco company has declared that losses of Rs. 200 million have occurred so far, and the situation is being compounded by factory workers striking.

    Sunil Wickremasinghe, who is accused of bribery and corruption by the striking workers, asked them to return to work at a news conference, reported ColomboPage.
  • Sri Lanka deports arrested Indian journalist
    Earlier today, Sri Lanka deported the Indian journalist, Tamil Prabhakaran, who was arrested on Christmas day for allegedly taking photographs of the High Security Zone and military installations on a tourist visa.
  • Jaffna commander laughs off rape accusations

    In an interview with Al Jazeera, the Commander of the Security Forces in Jaffna Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe laughed off reports of abductions, torture and rape committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces, dismissing them as ‘lies’.

    Speaking on the documentary ‘Scars of Sri Lanka’, which aired on Thursday, Hathurusinghe dismissed claims of abductions, stating,

    “I flatly deny... None we do not. We don’t have anyone and we don’t abduct. Because there is no reason, why should we abduct? We have no terrorism.”


    See interview from 14:00

    When questioned about individual reports of abductions by reporter Evan Williams, Hathurusinghe laughed before responding,

    “You know... I really can smile. There is nothing else I can do. Because this is politics. This is the problem…”

    Further questioning on rapes and abductions from a Human Rights Watch report released earlier this year (see here), lead to more smiles from the Commander, who went on to add,

    “I suppose my smile tells the story. They are all fabricated, no base at all, all stories. Because they just want to stay in UK. They want to continue in other countries. These are all lies. These are all lies.”

    Last month an Australian Senator and New Zealand MP visitng the North-East had seen text messages sent Hathutusinghe himself to 'comfort women' he personally abuses.

  • Calls for Indian intervention in journalist arrest

    Tamil Nadu political parties and media associations have appealed to the Indian government to secure the release of a Tamil Nadu journalist that was arrested in Kilinochchi on Wednesday.

    MDMK leader Vaiko, rallying along with PMK and VCK wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying:

  • G.L. Peiris criticises 'threatening and int'l pressure'
    In an interview this week to Prensa Latina, the Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris criticised the increasing international scrutiny Sri Lanka faced.

    Peiris reportedly said,
    "the threatening and the international pressure are not the path for us to go forward. The international community should give us a vote of trust, because the Sri Lankan government has the greatest will to do things right and is dedicating great resources to reconciliation and reconstruction. We have the institutions to solve our problems,"

    "It is a mistake to apply selective and subjective standards to Sri Lanka. The UNHRC must consider the facts, by their own merits,"
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