Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP for the Vanni district, Charles Nirmalanathan visited the Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar last week, after concerns were raised from the landowners that a Buddhist monk had occupied their land.    

The land, which extends to an area of 5 acres in Manthai, was granted to the Shaivite Trust on a 99-year lease and has long-been under the maintenance of the Thiruketheeswaram temple administration.

Former Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) member Visvalingam Manivannan, was elected as Jaffna mayor, in a closely contested mayoral election, last Wednesday.  

Former mayor Emmanuel Arnold, member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), finished second by securing one vote less than attorney Manivannan.

The New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party led a protest in front of the Vavuniya hospital demanding the immediate release of political prisoners and insisting they be given presidential pardons. 

(Photos by Eshan Dasanayaka)

Excavaations have begun after skeletal remains have been found in a well on private grounds in Mulliyawalai, Mullaitivu.

A woman who visited cattle in the area noticed the human remains and informed local authorties, who then informed the Sri Lankan police regarding the matter.

Sri Lanka’s reputation will take a hit after its ultranationalist government is set to scrap two multimillion dollar investment projects funded by Japan, reports NikkeiAsia, as international debts continue to mount.

Sri Lanka’s Medical Association (SLMA) has concluded that the burial of COVID-19 bodies could be permitted in Sri Lanka following intense international and domestic protests in defence of Muslim religious freedom.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Kamal Gunaratne, has denied that the military taking over state sector institutions as the army takes on responsibility for printing driving licenses.

Former chief monk of the Sri Bodhirajarama temple in Megawatt, Colombo, Uvathenne Sumana, serving life imprisonment for possession of firearms was granted presidential pardon on Sunday.

Diana Gamage, a Samagi Jana Balawegaya  MP, had requested this pardon from the Prime Minister.

Police Scotland’s renewal of their training contract with Sri Lanka, despite on-going human-rights violations, has sparked demands for a Holyrood review, examining the human rights impact of their programme.

Speaking on the renewed contract, author and journalist Phil Miller, expressed alarm stating:

Tamil families of the disappeared marked the end of 2020, with a protest demanding justice for their forcibly disappeared loved ones last week.

Demonstrations took place in Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya last week, as the families continued their struggle and demanded answers over the disappearances of thousands of Tamils.

Jaffna

Demonstrators in Kilinochchi

Kilinochchi locals voiced their discontent concerning Sri Lanka’s policy of compulsory cremations, as campaigns against the moved continued across the North-East.

Politicians, religious leaders and locals in Mannar took part in a protest on Thursday (31^st December) against the Sri Lankan government’s continued insistence to forcibly cremate Muslim victims of COVID-19.

24 high ranking military personnel have been appointed to oversee COVID-19 responses and quarantine procedures in districts across Sri Lanka.