Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena allowed the release of 425 acres of land in Jaffna to its original Tamil owners after years of occupation by the Sri Lankan military. At a ceremony in Jaffna, Mr Sirisena was flanked by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on stage, where he handed back the deeds of land formerly demarcated as a High Security Zone. A total of 1,000 acres was pledged to be released by government officials. No time frame has yet been set for their release. Speaking at the ceremony, Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran said that whilst “we are no doubt glad a start has been made to give back our people’s lands... their expectations had been far in excess to that seen on the ground today”. “Unless Grama Sevaka Divisions 244 and 252 are released in full as promised earlier, what has been gingerly granted today would hardly be of any use to the few families now selected to enter their erstwhile denied lands,” added the Chief Minister.
The United States Commission on International and Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said it hopes Sri Lanka will address issues of religious freedom on the island and hold perpetrators of crimes committed against religious groups accountable. In a statement released to mark the end of a three day visit to the island by Commissioner Eric P. Schwartz and USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Sahar Chaudhry, USCIRF said it was “very pleased to hear that reports of abuses perpetrated against minority religious communities have diminished over the last few months.” “We encourage the government to hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable,” said the statement. “We believe accountability will encourage a critical sense of security and well-being among affected communities.”
Several Buddhist groups in Sri Lanka have attacked the government for allowing the Sri Lankan national anthem to be sung in Tamil, Ceylon Today reported. The groups accused the government of "acceding to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam sentiments". The Ravana Balaya said it is organising a "massive protest" against the government's decision. The group said the anthem cannot be sung in two languages as stated in the constitution, accusing President Maithripala Sirisena of pandering to Tamils, especially the TNA and "pro-tiger" groups who had voted for him. "This is why beside mature politicians like the TNA Leader R Sambanthan, there are crooks like Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganesan placed in the National Executive Council," Ravana Balaya's leader Iththekande Saddhatissa said. The Bodu Bala Sena's general secretary, Gnanasara said the ruling coalition had violated the constitution twice.
The UK's All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) urged member states of the UN Human Rights Council to ensure justice for the mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
The Tamil Nadu based NGO, Pasumai Thaayagam, urged the UN Human Rights Council to ensure that the 6 months granted to the new Sri Lankan government lead to tangible improvements to the Tamil people. "Six years since the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lankan troops, who are almost entirely ethnically Sinhalese, continue to be deployed across the Tamil areas in the North-East," the NGO's representative Vinthan Asokanathan told the Council on Friday, during an Item 5 general debate on minority issues. Acknowledging the new government's ambitious 100 day plan to reform the state, Pasumai Thaayagam said it "while these reforms provide welcome reprieve to the Sinhala Buddhist people - who are the larger in population, and who have also had their freedoms curtailed by the previous government - the proposed reforms fail to address the concerns of the Tamil people who have faced discrimination and oppression by successive Sinhala majority governments."
Fifty-four Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Sunday on charges of poaching and ten trawlers seized, reports The Hindu . The Tamil Nadu chief minister, O Panneerselvam urged the men to be released ahead of schedules talks between the two countries on the issue of fishing in the Palk Straits. “I wish to state that only when all the apprehended fishermen in Sri Lankan custody and their boats are released would the talks be meaningful and conducted in a conducive atmosphere,” Mr Panneerselvam wrote in a letter to the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Photos: defence.lk The former army commander Sarath Fonseka was promoted to Field Marshal, the highest rank of the Sri Lankan military at a ceremony earlier today, the first Sri Lankan to be given the rank. Mr Fonseka, who is thought to be responsible for tens of thousands of Tamil deaths during his time at the helm of the army, was promoted under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena, who presented him with the field marshal baton at the ceremony.
Both India and the US are assisting Sri Lanka with a probe, tracing $2bn allegedly hidden in overseas accounts by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to the Economic Times . Sri Lanka is said to have traced the money to banks in Dubai, an official source in Colombo told the paper. One account of a Rajapaksa family member allegedly has $1bn, and two others have $500mn each in two separate accounts, the source said. During President Sirisena's visit to New Delhi he is said to have shared details of the amount allegedly stashed away by the Rajapaksa family in the St Martin Islands,...
The appropriation of 20 acres of Land for military use in the North-East was delayed after land owners protested in front of the regional secretariat office in Pudhukudiyiruppu. Land owners, local villagers, TNA MPs Sivsakthi Nanthan and Vino Nogatharathalingam, and NPC member K Sivamohan participated in protests outside the secretariat office. The Land Acquisition Officer who was blocked by protestors from entering the office consequently went to a nearby army base reports Uthayan . The protestors followed the officer to the army base where, after a heated argument, a decision was made by...
The Jaffna Hindu College Old Boys Association (UK) (JHCOBA) denied a recent announcement that said orgisation had met with the new Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, during his visit to the UK. Acknowledging a recent meeting between former students at Jaffna Hindu College and the Sri Lankan president, the JHCOBA UK said the organisation’s name had been unnecessarily been dragged into a personal meeting between the president and individuals. The JHCOBA said it was “totally against those individuals using JHCOBA UK’s name for personal benefits and promoting themselves identifying them...