Parents of deceased Tamil cadres were honored at an event by the Crusadors for Democracy Party at their head office in Kaiveli on Saturday. Over 200 Tamil cadres were remembered with families of the cadres placing garlands around their photos.
Two further Thuyilam Illams (LTTE resting homes) in Chatty, Jaffna district and Thaavarai, Batticaloa district were cleared by families of the Maaveerar and local residents this week, ahead of remembrance day events on November 27, Maaveerar Naal. Thaavarai Thuyilam Illam, Batticaloa Tamil remembrance sites were systematically destroyed by the Sri Lankan military through out the armed conflict and especially at the end. Chatty Thuyilam Illam, Jaffna The remembrance shrine dedicated to 12 Maaveerars including Kumarrappa and Pulendran in Theeruvil Valvettithurai was also cleared. Theeravil...
Forty-one Tamils have been arrested over the last two days in Jaffna district, the police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara. The arrests come after a spate of reported sword attacks in Jaffna, which the police have blamed on 'Aava group'. Police officers carried out searches in Jaffna, Koppay, Manipay and Chunnakam. According to the police spokesperson the arrests over the past two days comes based on information gathered following interrogations of six Tamils arrested last week. Civil society groups and locals have criticised the government's claim of increased criminal activity in the North-...
Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka on Saturday reiterated the government's position that all army camps in the North-East would not be closed down. Speaking in parliament on Saturday, Mr Fonseka stressed that "key army camps in the North will not be closed down", the Sunday Leader reported. He accused the Joint Opposition of "spreading false claims". "The need to maintain a military presence in the North and East is similar to the need to maintain a military presence in the South of the country," he added. Tamils across the North-East have been calling for army camps to be dismantled and occupyied...
The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday arrested eight Tamil Nadu fishermen for allegedly fishing off the cost of Katchatheevu, PTI reported. The men have been taken to Kaarainagar, the assistant director of fisheries, Gopinath was quoted by the paper as saying. The men's boats were also seized and fishing nets snapped. The arrest is the latest in the ongoing issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen being arrested by Sri Lankan navy personnel. Last month the chief minister of Tamil Nadu wrote to the Indian premier, Narendra Modi, urging him to intervene and secure the release of dozens of fishermen currently...
The Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday visited the Gintota in Galle where Muslim homes and business were attacked amid clashes between Muslim and Sinhala residents. Pledging legal action against those responsible, Mr Wickremesinghe was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, “a major disaster erupted because of people spreading rumours. We can’t station Police and military here forever. So everyone should live peacefully." The incident led to a police curfew being imposed in Kurunduwatte, Mahahapugala, Welipitimodara, Ukwaththa, Gintota East, Gintota West and Piyandigama...
The Sri Lankan government has built an apparel village over Menik Farm, the site of a former IDP camp where over 300,000 Tamils were interned by the Sri Lankan army and where rape, torture and enforced disappearances of IDPs were reported to be occuring routinely. The village of garment factories was hailed by Sri Lanka's ministry of industry and commerce as a step towards reconciliation. However, the move has been widely criticised by Tamil civil society groups who have described it as an attempt to whitewash sites synonymous with the Sri Lankan military's crimes committed against Tamils. An...
The Northern Provincial Council minister of education on reportedly refused to hoist the Sri Lankan flag at an event in Vavuniya. S Sarveswaran, who had been invited as the chief guest to an event at a school in Vavuniya, was requested to hoist the flag during the playing of Sri Lanka's national anthem. The event was held to distribute bicycles to students at the school.
Jaffna's High Court judge M Ilancheliyan has ordered Sri Lanka's army commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake to appear in court on January 18 in relation to disappearances in army custody in 1996, Ceylon Today reported. Twenty-four Tamil youths disappeared after they were taken into army custody on July 19, 1996 at Navakkuli. At a hearing on November 9, the case relating to 12 of the 24 disappeared was heard. Three people were accused in the petition: the army commander, the attorney general and the then commander of Navakkuli army camp. The three men were ordered by Justice...
Nineteen people were arrested by the Sri Lankan police after clashes broke out between Sinhala and Muslim people is parts of Galle yesterday, with reports of Muslim homes and businesses being attacked. Police imposed a curfew in Kurunduwatta, Maha Hapugala, Welipitimodara, Ukwatta, Ginthota and Piyandigama Grama Sevaka Divisions amid tensions in the region. The Law and Order minister Sagala Ratnayaka on Saturday urged people not to be "misled" by what he described as "false propraganda." "Under the instructions of the President and the Prime Minister, curfew was imposed in the area from last...