Tamil lawmakers from across the different political parties have written to Sri Lanka’s president, calling for the release of Tamil political prisoners.

The Indo-Lanka accord “is no longer valid” proclaimed Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security and Rajapaksa enthusiast Sarath Weerasekara this week as he once more spoke out against the devolution of powers on the island.

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary said that his government believes “once you are a terrorist, you are always a terrorist,” as he spoke to Business World about reconciliation on the island last month.

"One thing we have to understand, reconciliation can not be forced,” said Admiral Jayanath Colombage, when asked about whether his government would devolve power to the Tamil provinces on the island.

“There can not be a good terrorist and a bad terrorist, right?” he continued “Once you are a terrorist, you are always a terrorist. That is what we believe in. We have suffered immensely because of terrorism and we don’t want to suffer any more. And we don’t want to promote terrorism, or at least see promotion of terrorism in any part of the world.”

Several Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy this week, causing a stir in Rameshwaram as fishermen protested against the detentions.

The United States, Russia and India have also sent messages of congratulations to Sri Lanka’s navy as it marked its 70th anniversary this week, despite the decades of human rights violations carried out by Sri Lanka’s security forces.

Sri Lanka’s 20th Amendment to the Constitution “may fall short of international standards and adversely affect the independence of the judiciary as well as the separation of powers,” warned two Untied Nations Special Rapporteurs this month, as they put forward a series of recommendations to Sri Lanka’s parliament.

Sri Lanka’s port workers have said they would rather the Sri Lankan Parliament be handed over to India than allow for Indian-led investment to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port, as opposition to the project continues to grow.

Britain must “show international leadership” on Sri Lanka said the Shadow Minister for Asia Stephen Kinnock, in a letter where he expressed “deep concern about alarming threats to democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights” on the island.

Sri Lanka’s former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has claimed that the British government was aware of the activities of Keenie Meenie Services (KMS), a British company that assisted the Sri Lankan military in committing crimes against Tamils.

A Vavuniya court has issued an arrest warrant against the administrators of the ancient Hindu Vedukkunari hill temple, as Sri Lanka’s archaeological department continues to pursue a case against the temple.

The leader of the Tamizh Makkal Thesya Kootanii (TMTK) C V Wigneswaran has called on the United Nations to ensure Sri Lanka is referred to an international criminal tribunal, as he rejected the notion of granting the government “further time” at the UN Human Rights Council with the extension of another resolution on accountability for mass atrocities. 

Responding to the announcements that Sri Lanka is considering sending Muslim bodies to be buried in the Maldives, former Maldivian Foreign Minister, Dunya Maumoon, urged on Twitter that Sri Lanka “respect their Muslim minority’s wish to have last rites of Covid-19 patients as per our religion”.