Protests continue in Mannar over wind power project as residents demand government intervention

A court in Muthur has authorised the excavation of a potential mass grave site in Sampur where human skeletal remains were discovered last month, ordering that the work be carried out by the Sri Lankan Army’s Eastern Province Engineering Division with the approval of the Eastern Province Security Force Commander.

Sri Lanka hosted its first-ever international conference on child protection last month, with the government pledging to reform systems to better safeguard children from abuse, despite Colombo’s continued failure to address long-standing crimes committed against Tamil children during and after the armed conflict.

Former parliamentarian, state minister, and staunch Rajapaksa ally Lohan Ratwatte has died at the age of 57. His political career was marked not only by close ties to Sri Lanka’s ruling elite but also by a litany of violent incidents, criminal convictions, and unabashed threats against political opponents - particularly Tamils.

Tamils gathered in Amparai this week to mark 35 years since at least 55 Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan military and Muslim home guards, part of a series of killings that left hundreds dead in just weeks.

Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader and Jaffna District parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has condemned the killing of 32-year-old Ethirmanasingham Kapilraj in Mullaitivu, describing it as a “planned murder by the Sri Lankan Army” and a stark example of the military’s ongoing hostility towards Tamils in the North-East.

Commemorations were held across the North-East today to mark the 19th anniversary of the Sencholai massacre, when a Sri Lankan Air Force airstrike on 14 August 2006 killed 53 Tamil schoolgirls and four staff members at the Sencholai children’s home in Vallipunam, Mullaitivu.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has condemned Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza, calling it “an absolute crime against humanity and press freedom.”

A rolling 100-day campaign demanding an irrevocable, collective form of power-sharing for the merged Northern and Eastern provinces continued this week, with residents of Puliyankulam in Mullaitivu staging the eleventh consecutive day of protests.

A human chain protest in Vavuniya extended solidarity to the ongoing protest in Mannar, which is demanding an immediate halt to the controversial wind power project and opposing proposed ilmenite mining on the island.

Tamil fishermen in Mullaitivu have condemned what they describe as a covert move by Sri Lanka’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to allow Sinhala fishermen from Weli Oya to operate along the Pulipaainthakal coast, which they say risks fuelling ethnic tensions.

Farmers in Muthu Nagar, Trincomalee, have called for the immediate release of agricultural lands seized for a solar power project, accusing the Sri Lankan state of destroying livelihoods in the name of development.

Protesters in Jaffna’s Pannai area rallied yesterday against what they describe as the exploitative plunder of Mannar’s ilmenite-rich mineral sands by multinational corporations.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have called on Sri Lanka's authorities to "immediately stop" the harassment of Tamil journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan who has been summoned by the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Department (CTID) to appear for an “inquiry” later this week.