Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force (STF) have hospitalised two Tamils in eastern Vadamarachchi, Jaffna, as they opened fire on their vehicle.

The two people were shot and seriously injured before being admitted to Point Pedro Base Hospital.

The STF has claimed that they opened fire as the two individuals were engaged in illegal sand mining and tried to escape. The individuals were from the Thunnalai area. The police have said that they are investigating the issue.

Responding to concerns raised over a government Minister’s call for Sri Lanka’s President to act more like Hitler, government spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella defended the Minister’s statement as a “personal opinion” and maintained that they should not be taken seriously.

In his statement, Dilum Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s Minister for Transport, claimed that;

“6.9 million people who voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted him to be a Hitler”, when speaking about the Sri Lankan president’s 2019 election victory”.

Canadian parliamentarians, including their Prime Minister, have wished the Tamil community in Canada and worldwide a happy new year and thanked them for their contribution.

Several UK politicians, including the Prime Minister's Office, have shared their thanks to the British Tamil community and wished them a happy new year as well as highlighting the dire situation in Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted:

The Tamil New Year, which falls on the first day of the month of Chithirai in the Tamil calendar, was celebrated across the Tamil homeland on Wednesday, April 14.

With some referring to the April festival as an exclusively Hindu and sanskritised holiday, there is debate among Tamil communities as to whether the day truly represents a Tamil New Year.

Sri Lankan navy officers assaulted a group of Tamil fishermen, near the coast of Pallimunai beach in Mannar, last month.

A Fundamental Rights petition has been filed by Sri Lanka's former Human Rights Commissioner, Ambika Satkunanathan, in the Supreme Court against the expansion of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which permit the state to "de-radicalise" and "rehabilitate" individuals who hold "violent extremist ideology".

Photograph: Amnesty International

Today marks a year since the detention of prominent Muslim human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, who was detained under Sri Lanka’s draconian and internationally condemned Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Following the unwarranted and internationally condemned arrest of the Mayor of Jaffna, Viswalingam Manivannan, Sri Lanka’s army commander, and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva visited the province to “evaluate security developments” ahead of New Year festivities.

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A Sri Lankan minister has sparked controversy and a backlash from Germany after claiming that “6.9 million people who voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa wanted him to be a Hitler”, when speaking about the Sri Lankan president’s 2019 election victory.

Dilum Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s transport minister, added that “even I accept that”, and that “when he [Gotabaya Rajapaksa] fails to do so, they criticise him”.