A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) councillor in the Northern Province, Thurairasa Ravikaran was interrogated by the Sri Lankan Navy on Thursday, reports Uthayan . Mr Ravikaran was stopped by navy personnel and questionned after being accused by the officers of possessing military equipment. He was returning home after distributing school equipment to orphaned school children at the Mullaitivu Redbaana Bharathi Vidyalayam. "This incident shows the increase of military oppression in the North. The identification of school equipment as military equipment is completely unacceptable," Mr Ravikaran told the Uthayan, stating that he had expressed his condemnation of the sham exercise to the officers directly.
Tamil National Alliance MP P Ariyanenthiran stated Tamils in Sri Lanka still suffer at the hands of state security forces despite the change in government, adding that the situation was “not yet conducive for diaspora Tamils to return”. His comments come after the arrest of two Tamils at Colombo airport this week, who were returning from the Middle East to visit their families. “The President is changed, the government is changed but the security-related intimidations against the Tamils have not changed and continue as it was during the Rajapaksa regime,” said the Batticaloa district MP,...
Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena, on Thursday renewed the deployment of the military across the island, reports AFP . "By virtue of the powers vested in me, I, Maithripala Sirisena, do by this order call out all the members of the armed forces...for the maintenance of public order," read a presidential decree reportedly seen by the news agency. Sri Lanka's military, which has seen an ever increasing budget and troop deployments since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, is concentrated across the Tamil areas of the North and East. Condemning the ongoing militarisation and the renewal of the former regime's policy by the new president, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran told AFP: "We have been asking for the withdrawal of troops from the north and the east, but this order only serves to continue the army presence."
The new Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, marked the anniversary of the state's independence from British colonial rule with a ceremony with the Buddhist clergy and a military parade. Paying tribute to the military, Mr Sirisena praised the military victory of 2009, led by the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. In his address, Mr Sirisena said: "The light of freedom, which remained covered under the shadow of terrorism, began to shine again after the eradication of the brutality of terrorism by the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Year 2009. Although our sovereignty and territorial integrity was retained by this, the need to proceed further towards national unity through genuine amity and friendship among people is a task that needs achievement. Just as the land was united, it remains necessary to join all Sri Lankans with the bonds of unity." "As we celebrate the gaining of Independence, today, we recognize our bounden duty to give all honour and respect to the members of the Security Forces who made great sacrifices to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity in the battle against terrorism."
The chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran said he would continue to boycott events for Sri Lanka's independence day until the Tamil people were free. "I will only take part in such events when the Tamil people get freedom," Mr Wigneswaran told the Thinakkural newspaper on Tuesday, the day before the state's 67th anniversary of gaining independence from British colonial rule. "I have not taken part in any Sri Lankan independence day events ever since the Sinhala Only Act was introduced," he added.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal said a lot of work remains to be done in Sri Lanka, in a statement released at the conclusion of her visit to the island. Ms Biswal said she heard the TNA leadership's perspective for "meaningful progress on reconciliation and political inclusion", during her meeting with the party in Jaffna. The assistant secretary also had "productive conversations" with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, expressing US willingness to work with the new government. "Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done. The United States looks forward to partnering with the Sri Lankan people to address the challenges and help Sri Lanka realize its true potential," she said.
The surprise result of the presidential election, which saw Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated by his challenger Maithripala Sirisena, is proving to be a step back for investors, reports Bloomberg. Sri Lanka's stock index is the world's fifth worst performer since the election last month, while the new government last week cancelled casino licenses, reduced public investment and introduced a one-off 25% tax on companies or individuals who reported more than $15mn in profits. Australian mogul James Packer has already withdrawn from a $350mn hotel resort, with several Chinese projects also now in danger of being cancelled. “The new government has gone beyond condemning what it sees as overpriced or immoral projects and targeted big domestic business as a whole,” Sasha Riser-Kositsky, Asia Associate at Eurasia Group, said in a Jan 30 note. The moves increase uncertainty for foreign and local companies and “will depress private investment,” he said.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman and parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran called for disciplinary action to be taken against party leader R Sampanthan and MP M A Sumanthiran for attending Sri Lanka's Independence Day ceremony in Colombo, on Wednesday. Mr Premachandran, who was speaking to Colombo Mirror , said, "We already raised our objection against his decision to attend the Independence Day celebrations. It is unbecoming for the TNA leader to go against the traditional party position that reflects the common will of the affected Tamil people." "It is their individual decision and the TNA has nothing to do with it." The TNA is now considering taking disciplinary action against both Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran, added Mr Premachandran, stating that they had violated the position of the party and that of the Tamil people. “This is a very serious matter. It raises a moral question whether they can actually give leadership to the Tamil people any longer,” said Mr Premachandran. “The people are going to question about this and we will have nothing to hide.”
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R Sampanthan defended his decision to attend the Sri Lankan government's Independence Day event on Wednesday, together with TNA MP M A Sumanthiran, amid outcry from within the party. "The decision to attend the celebration was made after careful consideration," Mr Sampanthan told BBC Tamil . "Regime change, the Tamil people’s future, and the faith in the new ruler were the key reasons for coming to that decision," he said, adding that it was "discussed with senior leaders" within the party, but there were disagreements. The TNA spokesperson and MP Suresh Premachandran called on Wednesday for disciplinary action to be taken against Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran for attending the event.
Sri Lanka's Fisheries State Minister Dilip Wedaarachchi said the European Union ban on imports of fishery products from the island has been suspended for six months. The suspension of the ban comes after Sri Lankan foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera visited the European Commission in Brussels last week, where Sri Lanka pledged to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU). “The European Union gave Sri Lanka six months to get its act together to prevent Sri Lankan fishermen from engaging in Illegal fishing,” said Mr Wedaarachchi.