The Sri Lankan military has constructed a new Buddha statue besides a Hindu temple in Mannar, in a move decried by locals as yet another government sponsored act of Sinhalisation of the Tamil North-East.

The statue was built on an area of land by Manthai junction located in front of the ancient Thiruketheeswran temple. The five acres of land is currently occupied by the Sri Lankan military.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has refused to grant leave for a Fundamental Rights petition against Eastern Province Chief ("EPC") Minister Nazeer Ahamed for allegedly verbally abusing and threatening a Naval Officer.

The incident which the petitioner alleges amounted to verbal abuse and threats occurred at the end of May and was telecast on numerous media channels. The video showed the EPC Chief Minister raising his voice at a naval officer in front of others.

Almost 100 kilograms of cannabis, thought to have been smuggled in from India, was seized by Sri Lankan police in Jaffna this week.

Sri Lanka’s Special task Force arrested two people after the haul was discovered along the Achchuveli-Valalai coast in Jaffna following a tip off.

The prevalence of illegal drugs has risen in the war torn North-East increasingly over the last few months. This week, Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena said the government gains the most amount of tax from intoxicants from the Tamil North-East.

Also see our earlier post:

Writing in the Tamil Guardian today, the UK Minister of State for Asia, Hugo Swire recognised progress made by the Sri Lankan government but said "much more remains to be done" in the country.

Expressing agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' oral update on Sri Lanka, Mr Swire highlighted the need for further land releases, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the development of credible justice processes, in consultation with victims and families in Sri Lanka and the diaspora.

The full text of Mr Swire's op-ed follows:

A long way in a short time, but more needs to be done

Sri Lanka has come a long way since President Sirisena’s election in January 2015. I have been struck by the progress made. No one should underestimate the challenge of dealing with the legacy of a 30 year conflict.  Sri Lanka is in a far better place now than even the most optimistic could have imagined, only 18 months ago. Yet much remains to be done.
 

The local civil security department of Mullaitivu has demanded 524 acres of land from the district secretariat.

13 different public properties were listed in a demand for handover to the armed forces.

According to the notice 11 places have been earmarked for agricultural use while the other two are required for the construction of free education centres.