On this day 44 years ago, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were founded.

Sri Lanka is currently using its military forces to seize schools and educational establishments in the Northern Province, to quietly convert into Quarantine Centres (QC’s) for returning navy personnel from the South at risk of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

These efforts have been met with heavy disapproval by local residents and have sparked multiple protests and fear among the public. Around 50 schools in the Northern Province have currently been seized and are in the process of being converted into QC’s.

Diaspora Tamils are providing assistance to families across the North-East who are struggling under Sri Lanka’s lockdown.

On March 20, the Sri Lankan government imposed an island-wide curfew to curb the spread of coronavirus, but this brought hardship to many families in the North-East.

Low income and mainly female headed households who depend on daily wages to support their families have been hit the hardest by the lockdown.

Trincomalee

Former TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran has requested that Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission advise the government on the legality of their state-imposed curfew.

Whilst maintaining that he recognised the need to limited mobility so as to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such restrictions “must be imposed legally under applicable provisions of law”. He further warned that these restrictions posed a threat to the rule of law and the well-being of people in Sri Lanka.

During this coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lanka’s army commander and accused war criminal, Shavendra Silva, has issued a statement that the military can arrange hotels for returnees from abroad to stay at during their quarantine period.

Silva stated that returning Sri Lankans may stay in a quarantine centre run by the military or privately, with the armed forces arrangement. Human Rights Watch has noted that the Sri Lankan military have expanded their role and now run farms, eateries, and hotels on contested lands.

He further stated that hotel managements have informed the military that they could provide rooms for less than half of the normal cost.

<p>Sri Lanka’s police have stated that over 45,000 people will be prosecuted for violating the state-imposed curfew.</p> <p>The Daily Mirror has reported that the police have arrested members of the government as well as opposition. This includes the Mayor of Dambulla who was accused of violating curfew and abusing his position.</p> <p>Those prosecuted may face imprisonment for up to two years months and face a fine if they knowingly spread false information.</p> <p>Over 45,000 people who have been arrested have been released on bail.</p>

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has come under fire for being the only major opposition party to attend a meeting convened by Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, after all other major parties boycotted it.

After attending the wider meeting with Rajapaksa, TNA parliamentarians also had their own private meeting with the prime minister, with the current regime refusing to reconvene parliament amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The leaders of a extremist Sinhala Buddhist organisation claimed that the chairman of telecommunications company Lycamobile funded the LTTE and is now looking to take over Sri Lankan media channels, at a press conference in Colombo this weekend.

^{Photograph: Sri Lankan soldiers spray disinfectants in Mullaitivu}

The Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists (SLCM) strongly advised against the use of disinfectant sprays in public places due to the harm it causes to humans, after the Sri Lankan military has been spraying disinfectants across the North-East.

Sri Lanka has taken on a dangerous coronavirus containment strategy. Faced with a public health crisis, the state has driven through authoritarian measures and deployed a military accused of systemic rights abuses. The response so far has been deeply troubling. Thousands have been forcibly sent to military-run quarantine centres, whilst an arbitrary curfew has seen thousands more arrested and livelihoods threatened – particularly in the war-torn North-East. The free hand given to the armed forces has already seen gross abuses of power. This is not how a pandemic should be handled.