President Mahinda Rajapaksa has warned against the threat posed by social media site Facebook, used by those who are pushing for a change of government in Sri Lanka. Speaking at a rally in Hanwella, Rajapaksa said the country’s youth was being drawn to believe the propaganda distributed on Facebook, reported Colombo Gazette , adding that some people claimed he would face the same fate as Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The president said that as long as he has the support of the Sri Lankan public, no one will be able to harm him and that he used the powers of the executive presidency to end the war, as the people desired. Rajapaksa also said he would not remove the High Security Zones, nor would he reduce the military presence in the north, as he will not compromise national security and allow the country to be divided.
The Sri Lankan military is interfering with the functioning of schools in the North says the president of the Ceylon Teachers' Union. The head of the organisation, Joseph Stalin, said that more than 69 schools under the Palaly Teachers Training College division remain shut down and occupied by the military. "The interference of the security forces has caused great setbacks in the education of the Jaffna Peninsula," said Stalin, speaking at the centenary celebrations of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, held at the Jaffna Weerasingham Hall recently. Stalin went on to stress the support his...
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on Sunday announced that the party will support the common opposition candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. The SLMC leader, and government’s former justice minister, Rauf Hakeem, announced the decision after sending his resignation to Mahinda Rajapaksa. Addressing media, Hakeem said that the SLMC had taken the decision after several rounds of discussions with the government and the opposition candidate. Though the SLMC had no issues with Rajapaksa serving a third term in office, the decision to support the opposition was made on the basis of...
The Sri Lankan government has stated it fears the latest defection from the ruling alliance by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) is part of an international conspiracy to divide the country. The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary Susil Premajayantha stated that in negotiations the SLMC had demanded a separate Muslim administrative district. "The UPFA Government cannot agree to create a separate administrative district based on ethnicity,” said Premajayantha. “That goes against the government policy." The SLMC, a former party in the ruling coalition, announced...
Aalen, Germany Tamils in Germany held remembrance events on Friday in memory of victims of the tsunami that hit the North-East of the island of Sri Lanka, and across South Asia, 10 years ago. Events took place in Berlin, Aalen, and Essen where Tamils gathered by the newly erected Mullivaikkal memorial.
Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating allegations of a secret pact between the common opposition's presidential candidate for the election next month, Maithripala Sirisena and the leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe. Both men have had their statements recorded on Thursday, the Island newspaper quoted the police spokesperson, Ajith Rohana as saying. The allegation was made by the former General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake, who crossed over earlier this month to join the government and has since been appointed as minister of health.
The police Special Task Force (STF) has been deployed in regions of Sri Lanka following clashes between opposition and government supporters on Friday night. Government supporters arrived at an opposition election rally and attacked vehicles of opposition members, including that of the former president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, reports the Colombo Gazette . Clashes occurred after a rally was held in Beruwala in support of the common opposition presidential candidate, Maithripala Sirisena.
Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre has reported rising displacement in the Eastern Province amid ongoing heavy rains and flooding in Batticaloa, Amparai, Mannar and Trincomalee. The Centre stated on Thursday that it was facing significant difficulties in sheltering those affected by the floods and providing them with temporary accommodation. In Mannar, 8,979 people including 2,434 families have been displaced, reported the Jaffna based newspaper Uthayan . Thirty-nine temporary welfare centres have been set up. The water level in Kattukarai lake in Mannar has risen by 12.5 feet.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called on the government to help families in the Eastern Province affected by the floods and heavy rains over recent days. "According to the government’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) over 660,000 people have already been affected as a result of flooding – with over 80,000 displaced - and the number of victims continues to rise as rains persist," the TNA said in a statement on Friday. "The DMC also notes that only nine percent of those affected are now in safe locations. Two-thirds of those affected are in the Batticaloa district – which was also devastated by the Tsunami ten years ago."
The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) made an urgent appeal for humanitarian relief for the thousands displaced by extensive flooding and heavy rains across the East. "Thousands of people have been affected in many parts of Sri Lanka by the heavy rains in the last few weeks. Particularly, in the southern Tamil Eelam districts of Tricomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, thousands of people have left their lands and sought refuge in public places due to the heavy rainfall," the TNPF said in a statement on Tuesday. "The people of Sampoor, in Trincomalee who have been denied resettlement after displacement from their lands since 2006 due to the war and are now living in displacement camps in Muthur have been largely affected."