Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa received a warm welcome on his return to the island from the USA earlier this month, as he called for elections to be held.

Rajapaksa was greeted at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by several members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) including Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam and MP Sarath Weerasekara.

The Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has initiated an investigation over the murder of a youth in Karainagar, in which the Sri Lankan Navy have been accused of being complicit in. 

T. Kanagaraj, the regional coordinator for the HRC confirmed that they had launched an investigation into the incident where a violent mob had ambushed a couple who were on their way home in Karainagar on March 11th. 

Sri Lanka’s fisheries minister and government-aligned paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda has faced backlash over a cabinet paper that proposes Tamil civilians in the North-East being recruited to a force that patrols the sea alongside the Sri Lankan navy and wards off Tamil Nadu fishermen.

The force – known as the “sea guards” – will see Tamils monitor and assist the Sri Lankan navy in warding off Indian fishermen who have been accused of illegally fishing in Northern waters.

Tamil lawmakers launched an impromptu protest during a parliamentary session in Colombo earlier today, calling on the Speaker to summon the Inspector General of Police and seek redress over the arrest of eight Tamil devotees who were attempting to pray at Vedukkunaari earlier this month.

The parliamentarians brought out placards as proceedings came to a standstill. MP Charles Nirmalanathan said “police have filed fabricated charges against these individuals”.

“We want all eight of them released,” he demanded.

Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed there was “no evidence” to prosecute many who were accused of corruption during his predecessors’ regime, stating that cases were only “filed against a few”.

Responding specifically to questions regarding corruption under the govenrments of both Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapapksa, Wickremesinghe said, “during our Government, cases were filed against a few but there was no evidence against others”.

India’s newly appointed Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santhosh Jha confirmed the his government would provide a grant of US $61.5 million to “fully develop” the Kankesanthurai (KKS) Port.

The Jaffna District Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Unions has launched a hunger strike today demanding that the Sri Lankan government offer a lasting solution to the protracted Indian fisherfolk poaching issue. 

The protestors are presently in front of the St. John Bosco Vidyalayam in Jaffna. They had intended to launch the hunger strike in front of the Indian consulate in Jaffna but police asked that they be moved away from the consulate premises. 

A group of eight Tamil devotees who were assaulted and arrested by Sri Lankan police officers at the Vedukkunaari temple earlier this month, have had the case filed against them dismissed, after being detained for more than a week in custody.

Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister and Inspector General of Police, Tiran Alles, declared, during a programme in Jaffna, that Sri Lanka’s notorious anti-drug operation “Yukthiya” will continue with a focus on the Tamil regions in the North-East, despite outcry from human rights defenders.

The Sri Lankan Navy  have arrested 21 Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized two trawlers off Delft island while conducting a "special operation" this week.

The navy said it "deployed Fast Attack Craft to chase away a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers" for "illegal fishing".