After days of defiance, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Tamara Kunanayakam, was transferred to Cuba, reported the Daily Mirror.

According to reports the external affairs minister, G.L. Peiris, made a phonecall to Kunanayakam late last month stated that she would be transferred to either Cuba or Brazil.

Indignant, she reportedly sent a letter to Peiris dated 1st May, rejecting the transfer offer.

A Sri Lankan Navy sailor placed in Trincomalee has committed suicide after shooting a female officer earlier on Monday, reported Ceylon Today.

The incident marks the second time in the space of a few days where a member of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces has killed a colleague and then committed suicide in the heavily militarised Tamil homeland, in the North-East of the island.

See our earlier post:

Canadian embassy officials examined the residence of the 53-year-old murdered Canadian Tamil, reported the Jaffna daily newspaper, Uthayan.

Anthonypillai Mahendrasa was found dead with a slit across his throat near Paranthan Junction in the Kilinochchi district of Vanni, last week.

The Sri Lankan government will submit its formal protest against the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, reported the Daily Mirror.

The Sri Lankan government will be sending a letter to the High Commissioner, accusing Pillay of violating her mandate and the UN Charter.

One of those believed to be working on this campaign is Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative in Geneva, Tamara Kunanayakam.

Interestingly, Kunanayakam has reportedly been asked by her government to resign from her current position.

However, refusing to resign, Ms Kunanyakam argued that such a move would "suggest instability" in Sri Lanka's diplomacy, in letter to the external affairs minister G.L. Peiris

See report by Daily Mirror here.

Commenting on the recent killing of a deported Tamil refugee in Sri Lanka, the US-based activist group, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) highlighted the "urgent need" for better access to legal and financial support.

Speaking to Tamilnet, Jan Jananayagam of TAG said,

"while in the U.K. we are becoming more familiar with the legal system, and with the help of a handful of legal professionals setting up a system to help the Tamil asylum seekers, the refugee situation is worse in Europe and in South Asia."

The Sri Lankan Army has announced a new drive to arrest more 29,092 army deserters who have refused to appear for duty or hand themselves in during periods of amnesty.

Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya has stated that during the last three years 36,308 deserters had already been arrested. The army has offered numerous amnesties in the past, with the President himself pardoning deserters on the occasion of a Buddhist festival.

The Sri Lankan government has issued instructions to all Divisional Secretaries and senior Officers at police stations to take legal action against those who "disrespect the Buddhist flag", the pro-government newspaper, The Island reports.

The police were urged to take action against those who desecrate the flag by using it "disrespectfully" during the Vesak festive period.

 

In a Vesak message released Saturday, the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa said,

“We had great joy in seeing Sri Lankan Buddhists giving emphasis to the principles of Buddhism with the dawn of the Sri Sambuddhathva Jayanthi at the last Vesak festival."

"With the immense pleasure of contemplating on the Buddha, we recall the great religious awakening of devotion and wisdom that spread throughout Sri Lanka during this year, as we now see the end of the Sambuddha Jayanthi commemorations on this Vesak Day. It is our wish that this joy in the Buddha and his teachings would abide in the minds of all Sri Lankans."

"The teachings of the Buddha are the best way to lead a life that is free of confusion. These teachings show us the path to lead a life free of the four-fold evils and achieve success in this world and the next."

"We must be aware that all who are of wrongful mind and thinking cause many divisions and clashes that close the doors to our progress." As it is stated in the Dhammapada:

Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa has commenced a programme for the  "propragation" of Buddhism to countries that do not currently practise it announced Sri Lanka's prime minister, D. M. Jayaratne  on Saturday.

Warning of the "uncertainty" caused by people pretending to be Buddhists, Jayaratne emphasised the "constitutional guarantee" the president had for the protection and foster of Buddhism.  

The comments were made at Jayaratne's Vesak message delivered on Saturday: 

“I seriously believe that in a country where the majority are Buddhists by birth we are passing through a period of uncertainty where we are confronted with the task of differentiating between the genuine Buddhists and pretenders.

The Acting Media Minister and Acting Cabinet Spokesperson, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena instructed the media to "put the country first" on Friday.

Citing the recent controversies at Dambulla and over milk, Abeywardena stated that those who had publicised these issues had wanted to bring such issues to an international arena in order to create problems for Sri Lanka.

Abeywardena said,