Locals in Kokkuvil, Jaffna have accused the Sri Lankan police of shooting at a house on Wednesday, before raiding the premises and threatening those residing in the property. The home owner, and father of the youth told reporters "two uniformed police officers came to my house at Pirambadi 2nd Street in Kokkuvil whilst I was not at home, but two of my children were at home." "The officers enquired after my son to my other two children, naming him. When they were told that he was not at home, they forcibly entered the property and searched for him, threatening my other children." "After...
Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday dismissed the Northern Provincial Council chief minister's call for a federal solution. "Anyone is free to air their views but the Constitution making process is the work of parliament," he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. “It is the constitutional assembly and the steering committee which decides on the constitution and not the chief minister. There may be some who would oppose the proposals of the steering committee report and some who would welcome it. Therefore let’s get on with our duty,” Mr Wickremesinghe said,...
The Sinhale National Front lodged a complaint with Sri Lankan police against the Chief Minister of the Northern Province C V Wigneswaran, accusing him of inciting racial hatred. The organisation, accused of being behind a recent spate of racist attacks across the island, said the chief minister’s call for the removal of Sri Lankan military camps in the North-East would give rise to “terrorism”. Sinhale President Agulugalle SiriJinananda Thero said, “Wigneswaran has demanded that army camps in Northern Province should be removed and that temples should not be built in the North”. “He has...
The Indian government pledged over $2.6 billion for development projects in Sri Lanka, during a visit by the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe to New Delhi. "India has given special emphasis on meeting Sri Lanka's developmental requirements. Its aid projects in Sri Lanka have a commitment of more than $2.6 billion," the Indian president, Pranab Mukherjee, was quoted by Indian media as saying following a meeting with Mr Wickremesinghe. India will also be looking to focus on Sri Lanka's energy facilities and infrastructure he added. Calling for regional solidarity against all...
The prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe this week pledged an economic pact with India would be in force by the end of this year. Mr Wickremesinghe, who is currently on a three-day visit to New Delhi, met with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi and the country's president. “Prime Minister Modi and I decided we must conclude it (the proposed technology and economic co-operation agreement) by the end of this year. This offers a strategic economic advantage to our country and the fastest-growing southern Indian States,” he was quoted by The Hindu as saying whilst speaking at an...
The spokesperson of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M A Sumanthiran rebuffed criticims of the secrecy surrounding constitutional talks, saying, "there are reasons for the silence we keep". "We have the belief that our people would trust us. When the interim report is released, everything will be revealed. Until then, people should keep faith," he said at the weekend, speaking at an event in Karavetty. In a cryptic message, Mr Sumanthiran added: "At the steering committee meeting on the constitution, if the Tamil National alliance leader Mr R Sampanthan speaks, the prime minister, the...
The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) said that it appears that the Tamil people of the North-East are being left out of transitional justice processes, and not meaningfully consulted, at a press conference in Jaffna on Thursday, adding that this was also the case for the constitutional process. The group's spokespersons Father Elil Rajan and Guruparan Kumaravadivel pointed out that Resolution 30/1 adopted in September 2015, was a compromise in which the Tamils were told they would receive a hybrid justice mechanism, as opposed to the full form of international justice they were seeking. They...
The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) said that it appears that the Tamil people of the North-East are being left out of transitional justice processes, and not meaningfully consulted, at a press conference in Jaffna on Thursday, adding that this was also the case for the constitutional process. The group's spokespersons Father Elil Rajan and Guruparan Kumaravadivel pointed out that Resolution 30/1 adopted in September 2015, was a compromise in which the Tamils were told they would receive a hybrid justice mechanism, as opposed to the full form of international justice they were seeking. They...
