Slain Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram was remembered in Batticaloa, Jaffna and Vavuniya today to mark 19 years since his abduction and murder. Sivaram, popularly known under his nom-de-plume Taraki, was abducted in front of Bambalipitiya police station in Colombo on April 28 2005 and was found dead several hours later in a high security zone in Sri Lanka's capital, which at the time had a heavy police and military presence due to the ongoing conflict. His killers, highly suspected to be linked to the government of then-president Chandrika Kumaratunga, were never caught. Read more in our...
Image courtesy of Tamil Narratives Today marks the 19th anniversary since the abduction and murder of Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, the spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, was summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), just days before Sri Lanka marked the 5th anniversary of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings last week. The bombings, which occurred on April 21, 2019, claimed the lives of 268 people and injured more than 500 others. Speaking outside the CID headquarters in Colombo Fernando said that he had already made the same statement before and had no hope justice would be meted out for the attacks. “We have shared what we know plenty of times,” he said. “As far as I...
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles told officers from the notorious Special Task Force (STF) that it is “not a sin to eliminate” those accused of drug trafficking, as he urged troops to “use your weapon without fear”. "We will stand for you," he told the officers, as Sri Lanka’s police force introduced a new motorcycle squadron to purportedly tackle the trade of narcotics. "In any emergency situation, if you must use your weapon, use it to do the right thing. We will support you. It is not a sin to eliminate those who traffic heroin into the country and the underworld...
High Court judge Ilancheliyan appeared before Jaffna courts this week, where he provided a statement over a 2017 assassination attempt on his life, that saw a Sri Lankan police constable killed. Judge Ilancheliyan was flanked by a police escort along with paramilitary troops, while security was beefed up around the court complex. Ilancheliyan was fired at on July 22, 2017. He believes the assassination attempt is linked to his overseeing of dangerous criminal cases. The judge’s car was shot at by two individuals on Temple Road, close to the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, around 5.10pm. The two...
An event was held at the historic Sorbonne University in Paris last week, under the theme “The Rights of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka”.
The UK government said it “continues to be concerned by increasing tensions around land" in the North-East in response to a question raised by Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Patrick Grady about the arrest of eight Tamils at Vedukkunaari Hill temple in Vavuniya last month. In her response , Anne-Marie Trevelyan the Minister of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "We continue to be concerned by increasing tensions around land in Sri Lanka, including at the Vedukkunaari Aadhi Sivan temple in Vavuniya. We welcome the release of the eight arrested Hindu worshippers...
The Sri Lankan government has leased out the Chinese-funded Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport to two companies, an Indian and Russian firm for the management of the airport once dubbed as “the world’s emptiest airport” for 30 years. The Sri Lankan government has leased out the Chinese-funded Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport to two companies, an Indian and Russian firm, as ongoing financial woes force it to transfer management of what was dubbed “the world’s emptiest airport”. The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) was constructed with financing from China’s EXIM bank...
Tamils in Vakarai, Batticaloa, held a protest this week to oppose the establishment of an ilmenite mine and a prawn farm due to the impact they will have on their livelihood and the environment.
Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickrememsinghe said the island “can never return Aragalaya,” as he opened a new Indian-funded hotel at the site of the previous anti-government protests in Colombo. “Two years ago this was the site of a huge struggle,” said Wickremesinghe. “Today we have a huge hotel in its place”. Seated in the front row was former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to flee the island as anti-government protests rocked the capital in 2022. Other senior political figures, including another former president Chandrika Kumaratunga was also present. Both stand accused of war...