Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has claimed that the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement, which gives a grant of US$480 million dollars, will not be signed “even in his dreams” as controversy over the grant continues.

Rajapaksa, who stands accused of war crimes, stated that his administration’s policy is to “protect its sovereignty” and that it will not be influenced by other countries, according to a report in the Aruna Newspaper.

^{Photograph: Amnesty International}

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) expressed their concern over the “continued unlawful” detention of Muslim lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah and urged the Sri Lanka government to release him.

The BHRC – which works to sustain human rights laws and standards globally and in the defence of lawyers and others confronted with harassment, persecution, violence and detention – released the statement on Wednesday.

A Tamil man has admitted to killing his two children in East London earlier this year, with a court hearing how he had suffered from a delusional disorder for several years and received “very little treatment” for the condition.

Nadarajah Nithiyakumar, a shopkeeper in Ilford, killed 19-month-old Pavinya and three-year-old Nigish with a knife on April 26. He pleaded guilty at the Old Baily to two counts of manslaughter by diminished responsibility. Nithiyakumar was admitted to hospital after turning the knife on himself after the attack.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told the court that psychiatrists believed the defendant was "suffering from a delusional disorder" which had "led him to kill his children".

"It was one from which he had suffered for some time, for the best part of 10 years, with very little indication and very little treatment," he said, adding that one expert thought it was "remarkable he was able to function for as long as he did" considering his condition.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R Sampanthan met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay in Colombo last month, where he reportedly sought a one-on-one meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the meeting at the Baglay’s official residence India House, the two reportedly discussed “India’s development and economic cooperation in Sri Lanka including in the North and the East”.

In October there were at least four cases of assault against five provincial journalists in Sri Lanka, wrote Ruki Fernando to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists this week.

“All five journalists had to be hospitalized,” wrote Fernando.

“There were also other violations. One person was arrested due to free expression online. An indirect threat was leveled against those criticizing the Army for alleged shortcomings in their treatment of suspected COVID-19 patients.”

Sri Lanka’s ‘Lanka Premier League’ cricket tournament will take place this month said authorities on the island, after receiving the go-ahead from the military-led COVID task force and president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, amidst delays and controversy during the pandemic.

The tournament, which is due to start later this month, is reportedly set to be played in Hambantota – the Rajapaksa’s hometown where a stadium is named after prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – after talks that the location may have to be shifted abroad.

The Supreme Court of India has expressed unhappiness with the Tamil Nadu Government for failing to make a timely decision over the pardon plea by AG Perarivalan, a Tamil man who has been spent decades imprisoned over the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. 

The remarks from the supreme court were made during A.G. Perarivalan's hearing, asking for the suspension of his life sentence until the investigation by CBI-led Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) is completed. However, the matter has been pending before the governor for the last two years.

Sri Lankan police and STF (Special Task Force) officers recovered weapons and grenades in areas across Vavuniya, alleging that they were buried by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

Can sports be separate from politics? Does someone’s politics shape the way you see them, no matter their performances on the cricket pitch?

This was a question asked in the context of the controversy around the Muttiah Muralitharan biopic, and tackled by Tamil Guardian co-editor Abinaya Nathan on BBC Asia Network’s ‘Big Debate’ on Tuesday.

Joined by Tamil Nadu journalist Kavitha Muralidharan as well as a Sri Lankan sports journalist representing the ‘pro-Muralitharan’ angle, Ms Nathan sets out why the cricketer’s politics cannot be separated from his sporting achievements.

As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Colombo last week, Sri Lanka’s leaders will have breathed a sigh of relief. The much-anticipated tough talk on human rights and accountability did not materialise. Instead, the US diplomat spoke on the two government’s “friendship” and how to drive American investment to the island, with only a cursory mention of justice for mass atrocities. That this was done whilst posing for photographs with Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused president sends worrying signals - for the future of the island and for the direction of US foreign policy.