The leader of the Tamil National Alliance this week rejected the Sri Lankan prime minister's call to 'forgive and forget' the past, demanding justice through an international mechanism and stressing that offenders should be punished. 

The Crusaders for Democracy party of former LTTE cadres has slammed the Sri Lankan prime minister’s remarks in Kilinochchi calling for Tamils to “forgive and forget”, saying the Sri Lankan government will have to face accountability for atrocities committed against the Tamil people.

In a statement, the party said Sinhalese politicians “would not dare come down even a little from the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist mentality which they have adopted at their core.”

“As J. R. Jayewardene said ”I am not worried about the opinion of the Jaffna people now” in the eighties, the present leader of the country has also made remarks in Killinochchi that exasperate the Tamil people.”

Displaced Tamils in Munthirigai Kulam, Manalaaru expressed anger after army soldiers were seen harvesting paddy fields in the village.

Residents in Mullaitivu condemned police injustice and partiality yesterday, accusing officers of failing to take action on gang violence. 

A house in Kiliveddy, Muttur was targetted by a hand grenade attack on Tuesday. 

The president of the Philippines boasted that his Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena told him he would follow his lead in conducting a brutal crackdown on drug use and “kill the bastards”, in a speech in Davao City this week.

A Tamil home in Jaffna was attacked with petrol bombs last night by a group of unknown persons who arrived by motorbike.

Sri Lankan police have assaulted a Tamil journalist in Jaffna earlier today, leading to him being admitted into hospital for treatment of his injuries

<p>Senior United Nations officials have reportedly lodged a complaint with Sri Lankan authorities stating that one of their staff was threatened at gun point by two members of the army in Jaffna last year.</p> <p>The Sunday Times reports that two people who claimed to be from the army entered the residence of a UN official in Jaffna, pointing a pistol at the staff member and warning that an investigation was underway against them.</p> <p>The military has not taken any action on the case, denying that any members of the security forces were involved in the incident.</p>

Sri Lanka’s prime minister has once again reiterated his government’s pledge to “do more work” to protect Buddhism on the island, as talks over a new constitution continue.