The Sri Lankan government is moving swiftly to placate Sinhala Buddhist critics following Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s remarks in Jaffna, which drew sharp criticism from Buddhist monks and nationalist groups, according to The Sunday Times.

India marked its 77th Republic Day in Sri Lanka on Monday, with celebrations in Colombo and Jaffna, with High Commissioner Santosh Jha highlighting New Delhi’s “unbreakable bond” with the island.

The 20th anniversary of the assassination of journalist Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan was commemorated on Saturday at Uvarmalai Park in Trincomalee, with journalists, civil society activists, and members of the public gathering to remember a reporter killed for exposing state violence against Tamils.

Weeks after the publication of a damning new United Nations on sexual violence committed by Sri Lankan forces, senior figures within the government have claimed they have neither formally received nor reviewed the findings.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem has recalled in detail his meeting with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2002, describing the reception accorded to Muslim representatives in Kilinochchi as one of extraordinary respect.

Veteran Eelam Tamil activist Thambithurai Muthukumarasamy passed away in the United States earlier this month, bringing to a close the life of a man who spent decades on the frontlines of human rights advocacy.

Sri Lankan military personnel who had been stationed for over three decades at the Chulipuram army camp in Jaffna fully vacated the site late last week, as they transferred to a different base in the highly militarised peninsula.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Andrew Patrick visited Jaffna last week, meeting families of the disappeared, civil society organisations, and district officials, as longstanding demands for truth and accountability over enforced disappearances remain unresolved.

An open public discussion examining the draft “Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA)” was held last week, at the Thanthai Chelva Auditorium in Jaffna, amid growing concern over the Sri Lankan government’s proposed replacement for the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).