Young Tamil artists from across Europe last month remembered the 1983 pogrom against the Tamils, Black July with an exhibition at the City University in London. The exhibition, which was organised by the Tamil Youth Organisation UK, featured artists from the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) worked alongside the Sri Lankan navy on an environmental project in the south this week, reports official military media.
The PHU leader, Udaya Gammanpila filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday against the proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution. Mr Gammanpila said the Amendment should only be passed following a public referendum. "The Constitution clearly says a referendum should be held if presidential elections or the general election is being postponed. Though it doesn’t mention about the provincial council elections, people practice their franchise through elections. Therefore, the Constitution says any amendment related to people's franchise should receive the consent of the people at a...
Sri Lanka's new navy commander, visited Kandy on Friday to pay homage to Buddhism's Sacred Tooth Relic and seek the blessings of senior Buddhist clergy from the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters. Vice Admiral Travis Sinniah was the senior most naval officer in active combat operations at sea during Sri Lanka’s war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Following Former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka’s imprisonment in 2010, Rear Admiral Sinniah left the Navy and worked for the US Embassy as a security specialist. Upon initial request by the US Embassy in Colombo to hire...
For months relatives of the forcibly disappeared have been protesting on the streets across the North-East, demanding to know the whereabouts of their loved ones. Despite years, sometimes decades, of various government mechanisms and pledges, their search for answers continues. In this series of interviews conducted since May 2017, Tamil Guardian goes behind the protest to the individual stories that make up this unyielding movement of Tamil families of the disappeared.
Sri Lanka's National Polls Observation Centre criticised the government's proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution, stating that it could lead to "a pool of blood". "The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, that seeks to give parliament the powers of Provincial Councils, when they are dissolved and to decide on the date of the dissolution of Provincial Councils, is undemocratic," National Coordinator of NPOC Rasanga Harischandra was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying. "When such undemocratic Bills have been passed, the country has ended up in a pool of blood," he added. His comments came...
The UNP MP Thalatha Atukorale has been appointed as Sri Lanka's new justice minister, after Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was forced to resign over allegations of corruption. His portfolio has been divided between Ms Atukorale and Gamini Jayawickrama who has been appointed the new minister of Buddha Sasana. Ms Atukorale came into politics in 2004, following the death of her brother, the UNP MP and assistant party leader. In March 2014, the Colombo Page reported as a then UNP MP she was to accompany the then government's delegation to the UN Human Rights council along side fellow UNP MP Lakshman...
Sri Lanka's State Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training Palitha Range Bandara was acquitted on Friday by Colombo's High Court. Mr Bandara had been charged with fraud along side a businessman Nalinda Jagath Kumara Liyanage who were accused of 'aiding and abetting to present a vehicle registration permit for an illegally assembled vehicle', Colombo Page reported. The paper noted that the trial was supposed to take place two days previously however, Mr Bandara's lawyer told the court 'the first and second witnesses have informed that they are not interested in the case and that...
Six people have been arrested today after two Sri Lankan soldiers were attacked in Kilinochchi on Thursday night. The soldiers from the Murugandi Army base were reportedly attacked by a group of youths near the Oottrupulam market by a sharp object. Local sources said the soldiers were Tamil and were on leave in their hometown of Oottrupulam.
Members of the Northern Provincial Council held an awareness protest at the Council's sitting today, calling for the release of Tamil political prisoners.