The International Press Institute (IPI) said the Sri Lankan government’s 100 days in power “bows out with weak results for media freedom” and called for continued international pressure to ensure reform.

In a post marking 100 days since Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena was elected, Scott Griffen, IPI Director of Press Freedom Programmes, said that “On the one hand, we were given the impression that a dramatic shift had taken place – literally overnight – after the election… On the other hand, it was clear that, despite a general feeling of hopefulness, the memory of past disappointments weighed heavily on journalists in the Jaffna area.”

“For example, a common concern voiced was that the military authorities were continuing to subject journalists to surveillance, collecting material that could be used against them in the event of another regime change – or change of heart,” continued Mr Griffen. “The military was interpreted to be saying: “Our hands are tied but our eyes are open.””

"We will not allow any international inquiry to look at allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Sri Lanka’s foreign minister in an interview with the DailyMirror.lk.

Mangala Samaraweera added that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) could be referred to the domestic process when its report was released in September at the United Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Mr Samaraweera pledged to set up the domestic inquiry by late July and said that it would look to investigate and bring those accountable to justice.

Al Jazeera's 101 East programme examined the plight of thousands of widows struggling to survive, mainly in the North-East of Sri Lanka.

Speaking to several Tamil and one Sinhalese war widow, the programme highlighted the lack of support received by the Tamil women.

When questioned by Al Jazeera correspondent Drew Ambrose about the obvious difference in support given out, the minister of women's affairs, Chandrani Bandara denied that the Tamil war widows are not taken care of.

The Tamil Nadu state government unveiled its Vision 2023 plan which lays out future infrastructure development worth $25 billion (Rs1.5 trillion), reported the Economic Times.

"Tamil Nadu is an industry-friendly state and a big manufacturing hub with presence of many internationally renowned multinationals," Tamil Nadu Industries Minister P Thangamani said today in Mumbai, at a roadshow for Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2015, due to take place in Chennai in September.

According to the minister, the state government has already signed 33 MoUs with private companies which will create around 162,000 jobs.

Parliamentarians form the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stated no constructive measures have been taken on a range of issues affecting the Tamils of the North-East, and called for support of the 19th amendment to be reconsidered.

A federal arrangement that recognises Tamils as a distinct nation would solve the ethnic problem in a united Sri Lanka, said the leader of the Tamil National People’s Front leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.

Highlighting successive attempts by the Sri Lankan state to dismantle the Tamil nation, the TNPF leader added,

“There has been a systematic effort on the part of consecutive regimes to dismantle the existence of Tamils as a nation.”

Questioning allegations that he was a political extremist, Mr Ponnambalam, in an interview with Ceylon Today, said,

“Why is it extremism to say that Sri Lanka is not a Sinhala-Buddhist country, it is not only the Sinhalese but the Tamils, Muslims and the Up country Tamils. Why is insisting that Sri Lanka belongs to its entire people considered extremism? We are not asking for a separate state, we are asking Sri Lanka to recognise its entire people and particularly the Tamils for the identity as a distinct nationality in a distinct nation.”

The Sri Lanka campaign, in an analysis of the new president’s first 100 days in power found that 21 of the 30 benchmarks that the NGO had set to judge the new regime by, had seen no substantial progress.

Highlighting that issues which saw a lack of progress “disproportionately affected the Tamil community,” the report found that the Sri Lankan government was “far less willing” to deal with issues such as militarisation and accountability, adding that “elements of policy still remain in the hands of a deeply embedded security apparatus whose attitude has not changed since the days of the previous regime.”

“The need for the international community to maintain its interest in Sri Lanka, and push the Sri Lankan government towards meaningful reform has never been more evident,” the Sri Lanka Campaign concluded.

The report highlighted that no progress had been made in several issues, including devolving powers to the Northern Provincial Council, issues to do with de-militarisation and resettlement, whereabouts and whereabouts of the disappeared.

See the full report and breakdown here.

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