Photograph:Tamil Guardian Families of the disappeared in Amparai carried out a silent protests against the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons outside the Kalmunai divisional secretariat for two days on Monday and Tuesday.
The killing of 20 men by Indian police in Andhra Pradesh has resulted in widespread condemnation by politicians and human rights groups, with several protests in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where the majority of victims were from. The men were shot by state police, who suspected them of smuggling sandalwood near the border with Tamil Nadu. The police defended their actions, saying they fought back against attacks with axes sticks and stones. Indian media reported some of the men were shot in the face at close range. "At one of the two sites where bodies were found, seven of the nine dead had been shot in the face or the back of the head," the Indian Express reported, saying many of the victims had unexplained burn injuries. The Andhra Pradesh government denied the men were shot at close range and dismissed allegations the men were executed after capture.
Sri Lankan cricketers will not be featuring in any Indian Premier League (IPL) matches that are to be played in Chennai, reports the Hindu . Chennai's security services told the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) that they would not be able to provide adequate protection for the cricketers if they were to play in Tamil Nadu, given reports of massacres committed by the Sri Lankan state provoking protests in India. A similar situation occurred in 2013, where Sri Lankan players did not feature in matches played in Chennai, a move that was sanctioned by the IPL board.
The Sri Lankan navy pelted Indian fishermen with stones and bottles as they were fishing in the Palk Strait on Monday, reports Business Standard . A group of fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu were fishing near Katchatheevu in approximately 250 boats, before the Sri Lankan navy approached. The Sri Lankan navy personnel proceeded to threaten the fishermen, hurling stones and bottles at them. There were no reported injuries from the attack.
Photographs: Tamil Guardian Hundreds of people in Jaffna joined demonstrations against government inaction to tackle ground water contamination in Jaffna, on Tuesday.
Talks held in Singapore this weekend between Tamil and Sri Lankan groups on promoting reconciliation and strengthening democracy in Sri Lanka, faced criticism this week over a lack of transparency over the process. "The fact that the above initiative is shrouded in secrecy raises serious concerns whether the legitimate aspirations and long term interests of the Eelam Tamils will be addressed by the above initiative," said the International Council of Eelam Tamils (ICET), a network of 14 Tamil diaspora groups worldwide, on Tuesday, stating that the meeting also lacked proper Tamil representation. See full statement here . "[It is] important to note that we did not try to get a full comprehensive representation of Tamil diaspora to the meeting," Ivor Jenkins of the South Africa based dialogue promotion group, In Transformation Initiative (ITI) which organised the meeting in conjunction with the Swiss government, told Tamil Guardian on Tuesday, when asked which organisations were present at the meeting.
Over 2000 Sri Lankan army deserters took up the government's offer last month of general amnesty and reported to their regiments, the Ministry of Defence said. The amnesty, which is due to end on April 16, allows deserters to obtain legal discharge from duty. Related article: Amnesty for Sri Lankan army deserters (25 Mar 2015)
Children of Sri Lankan military personnel who were killed or severely injured were given scholarships on Monday, in a ceremony at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRS) in Colombo. One hundred and two children received such scholarships at the event, which organised by the Ranaviru Seva Authority, chaired by the wife of the former army general, Sarath Fonseka.
Sri Lanka signed six agreements with Pakistan on Monday, aimed at increasing bilateral cooperation. The agreements were signed by Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif and the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, who is currently in Islamabad on a three day state visit.
Highlighting that the former ruling coalition and opposition parties were now both in the new government, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that it was the largest party in parliament outside of government, on Sunday. “The UPFA is part of the government now. So we are the largest party in the opposition,” the TNA leader R Sampanthan, told journalists. The United National Party (UNP) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had jointly formed the new government meant that with 13 MPs, the TNA was the opposition party with the greatest number of members, said the TNA leader.