Sri Lankan military forces must release co-operative department owned lands in Mannar, the District Coordinating Committee said on Monday.

The Committee said that co-operative industries can only develop in the district if the specified land is made available for civilian use.

Demands have been made by the district for over five years but the Sri Lankan Army has so far refused to release the lands.

The Tamil UNP MP Vijayakala Maheswaran said politicians from the South of the island are responsible for supplying the drugs in the North. 

Speaking at a sports event at Uruthirapuram Sports Club in Kilinochchi on Friday, Ms Maheswaran was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying “narcotics were moving freely from the South of the country to the North with the massive support of errant lawmakers.”

“Both the Police and the Navy have seized large amounts of narcotics, including heroin, in the North and East that had been smuggled into those areas by boat from locations in the South,” she was further quoted as saying. 

Uniformed Sri Lankan troops visited a Tamil school in Poonakari earlier this year and distributed supplies to schoolchildren, despite sustained criticism over the military intrusion into Tamil civilian life.

The Sri Lanka Air Force marked 7 years since it established the Iranamadu unit at Kilinochchi, with a series of events this month, including at a local Tamil school.

The Sri Lankan military presence in the Vanni has been particularly heavy, despite almost 10 years since the end of the armed conflict. Despite pledges to demilitarise the region, and continued protests across the North-East calling for the release of occupied land, a massive military presence remains.

Switzerland's Federal Councillor for the Department of Justice and Police, Simonetta Sommaruga met with the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan on Tuesday. 

The meeting held in Trincomalee is part of a four day visit of Ms Sommaruga, where she will review progress on reconciliation and strengthening rule of law. 

The home of a local council member, a Hindu priest and a community organisation’s office in Jaffna were all vandalised by unknown persons earlier this week.

The homes, all in the village of Achchuveli, were damaged on the evening of August 4^th.

Gates leading to the homes of N Rasenthiran, a local council member for Valikamam East, and of the local priest for the Paththameni Thethamkulam Pillayar Temple were damaged, alongside the Idaikaadu Community organisation and an affiliated Mother-Child office.

The damage is estimated to cost at least Rs. 70,000.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi has passed away, announced the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai earlier today.

Thousands of DMK supporters have gathered outside the hospital, where the 94-year former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was receiving treatment.

He was initially admitted to Kauvery Hospital on July 28 with urinary tract infection, with his condition deteriorating since.

^{Photograph: @narendramodi}

“I have had the opportunity of interacting with Karunanidhi Ji on several occasions,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “His understanding of policy and emphasis on social welfare stood out. Firmly committed to democratic ideals, his strong opposition to the Emergency will always be remembered.”

The Sri Lankan Parliament’s Speaker is to be presented with the UPFA’s stance on the Leader of the Opposition post today, following concerted efforts to oust TNA leader R. Sampanthan from the position by the self-styled ‘Joint Opposition’.

Eight members of the Joint Opposition had written to the Speaker requesting the appointment of UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardene as Leader of the Opposition as he had the support of 70 members in the opposition benches.

As those 70 members were elected with the UPFA as a constituent of the Unity Government, the Speaker said he would have to seek official clarification on the current position.

The chair of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has accused the Sri Lankan government of drafting a new constitution with hatred towards the Rajapaksas and of including provisions that threaten national security and interests.

“This is not the way to draft a new Constitution by targeting a particular group of people. No Constitution drafted in that manner is going to stand the test of time,” SLPP G. L. Peiris said, according to the Daily Mirror.

Sri Lankan police report that twenty-two Tamils have been arrested in Jaffna over recent days, accused of being involved in gang violence in the region. 

A special committee has been formed to control the violence, Jaffna's Senior Inspector General of Police, Jeyasunthara said at a meeting of the Jaffna Civil Security Committee today. 

The arrests have been criticised by civil society groups and participants of the meeting however, who accused the police of re-arresting Tamils who had been previously arrested of minor crimes without any proof.