The observance of Shivarathri at the Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple in Vavuniya North, descended into chaos today (08.03) as police violence marred the religious proceedings. Member of Parliament Selvarajah Kajendren was assaulted by Sri Lankan police, and a further 8 worshippers were arrested during the incident.
UK Parliamentarians urged the Sri Lankan state to decriminalise the Tamils' right to self-determination at an event last week at Westminster, London, organised by the World Tamil Co-ordinating Committee in association with Tamils for Labour and other British Tamil organisations. International scholars and activists also expressed their solidarity with the Tamil struggle for an independent state at the event.
Tamil fisherfolk in Jaffna held a rally on Tuesday, demanding authorities take action to solve the issue of Indian trawlers encroaching on their fishing grounds as tensions continued to flare across the Palk Strait. The protest which was organized by a collective of fishing unions began in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat on Tuesday morning where they marched to the Northern Province governor’s office and presented a letter addressed to Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe. They also marched to the Indian Consulate in Jaffna where they presented a letter which is to be given to...
Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam told Sri Lanka’s parliament that Sinhala lawmaker Rohitha Abeygunawardena attempted to assault him, whilst they were in the Prime Minister’s office earlier today. “This member threatened me and he was about to physically assault me and he was stopped by State Minister Ashoka Priyantha,” Rasamanickam told parliament, stating MP Jagath Priayankara was a witness to these events. “I have been threatened, my life is under threat,” he continued. “He said that he would assault me near the lift and the reason he gave was I walked into the...
Sinhala Buddhist monks are planning to disrupt Maha Shivarathri festivities at Vedukkunaari Adi Shiva temple, after having appealed to Sri Lankan police to halt the festival this week.
The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) commemorated the assassination of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Kiddinan Sivanesan at their Jaffna office today. Sivanesan was travelling from Colombo to Mullaitivu when he was killed by the Sri Lankan army's Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LLRP) in Mankulam on March 6, 2008. At the time of the assassination, the TNA said: "The TNA stresses at this juncture that no force could stop Tamils voicing and fighting for the freedom of their community by killing its democratically elected representatives and subjecting them to intimidation and death...
(Image Courtesy: U Solar Clean Energy) Following the sudden suspension the Chinee-Sri Lanka energy agreement, that would have seen a Chinese company construct solar power systems in in Jaffna's Delft, Nainathivu, and Alanathivu islets, India has struck and agreement to take on these projects. Announcing this new arrangement the High Commission of India lauded the deal as “a milestone in India-Sri Lanka Energy Partnership” and a step forwards in Sri Lanka-India relations. “It may be recalled that the energy sector was identified as a priority area in the India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership...
Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to resign the presidency in July 2022 following mass protests, has announced that he will publish a book entitled, “The Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency”. The former President, who stands accused of genocide, alledges that there was a global conspiracy to force him to resign. Speaking at a press release he claimed: “From the time I was elected President in November 2019, certain foreign and local parties were intent on removing me from power”. He added: “Today, foreign intervention and the manipulation of internal...
The Sri Lankan government has asked Russian and Ukrainian to leave the country by March 7 or apply for fresh visas, as it announced it would not renew a free visa extension program. The decision came amidst backlash on social media over a party that was organised by Russians on the island, which reportedly barred locals and adopted a “whites only” policy. Public Security Minister Tiran Alles confirmed to the Daily Mirror that Russian and Ukrainian that has the free visa facility granted to them must comply with immigration regulations by applying for fresh visas, as the scheme would come to...
Delivering his message to mark the holy period of Lent, Bishop of the Diocese of Mannar Rev. Emmanuel Fernando said that Tamils in the region continue to face hardships, from poverty, to drugs and environmental damage. “The livelihood of the people in Mannar continues to deteriorate,” said Bishop Fernando. “Farmers are facing a financial crisis due to lack of yield even during the harvests, families living below the poverty line are affected by microfinance loans and the increase in incidents of drug abuse continues to affect youth.” The Bishop went on to state that attempts were being made...