Lecturers at Jaffna University have condemned attempts to force them to sign a letter to incumbent Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, wishing him success at the upcoming presidential elections. The lecturers filed a complaint at the Jaffna District Elections Commissions after refusing to sign the letter, which was sent to all faculties at the university, reports Uthayan . Also see our earlier post: Jaffna University teachers protest against political interference (09 Dec 2014)
An expert behind the Indian prime minister’s social media campaign will aid the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election campaign, reports the Hindu . Arvind Gupta, one of the chief architects behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s social media campaign during the Indian elections, has offered assistance to the Rajapaksa, according to highly placed sources in Colombo. Gupta reportedly visited Colombo in November, an official source in New Delhi told the Hindu. Dismissing rumours of involvement with the Sri Lankan president, Gupta told the Hindu, that “people know we worked for a...
Events were held across the North-East today marking the 10 year anniversary of the tsunami, which left thousands dead as it swept across the coast. At churches, temples and public memorials, Tamils gathered to remember those who had perished.
Almost one hundred Tamils came together in Toronto to mark the 10 year anniversary of the tsunami which killed thousands of people across the North-East of the island, and hundreds of thousands more across South Asia and parts of Africa. “The holiday season is a time when we showcase our noblest emotions: love, generosity, caring and compassion,” said the Canadian Tamil Congress. “For many Tamil Canadians, while this holiday season is marked by a patchwork of sentiments, our thoughts inevitably turn to less joyous images, namely of those who lost their lives in the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.” People lined up and laid down flowers in front of a memorial in remembrance of the victims, at the event in Scarborough, Toronto. Amongst them was tsunami survivor Jebnesan Ratnam, who lost his two nieces and aunt in the disaster. Hear his account of the tsunami in a report by CityNews Toronto below.
The Sri Lankan army's 57th Division held a Christmas event in the Tamil region of Kilinochchi on Monday, aimed at "promoting religious reconciliation and peace among all communities in Kilinochchi area", the army said on its website. Military arrange Christmas programme in Kilinochchi included a dance with Tamil children lighting candles before a large cut out of the whole island, with the words: "WE ARE SRI LANKANS".
The newly established office of the common opposition's presidential candidate in the predominantly Muslim town of Eravur in Batticaloa district was burnt down by unidentified men in the early hours of Thursday morning. Over twenty armed men arrived at the office at 12:30am local time and began smashing up the posters and banners, before setting the place alight with petrol and running from the scene.
Photographs BattiNews Tamils on the island of Puliyentheevu in Batticaloa gathered today to celebrate Midnight Mass despite heavy rains and flooding causing mass displacement across the East.
A visit by the head of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation has been postponed due to the presidential election on January 8, reported Arab News , citing sources within the Sri Lanka embassy in Saudi Arabia. The Secretary General of the OIC, Iyad Ameen Madani was due to visit in early January , as part of a four member delegation, on an invitation extended by President Rajapaksa. According to the news site, Madani was scheduled to meet with religious organisations in Sri Lanka to "to get first hand knowledge of the current position of the minorities on the island." Earlier this year, the...
Photograph Tamilwin The late Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingham, who was shot dead on Christmas Eve by armed government paramilitary men in 2005, was remembered today in a memorial service held at the Ilangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) office in Batticaloa to mark the 9th anniversary of this death.
All contesting parties in the presidential polls “have effectively shut Sri Lanka’s Tamil and Muslim minorities out of the upcoming election” said JS Tissainayagam on Wednesday. Writing in Foreign Policy , award winning journalist, JS Tissainayagam warned that the international community should demand that a dialogue with the Tamils and Muslims be pursued by whoever wins the Sri Lankan presidential elections. Highlighting that both the ruling party and common opposition had rejected international justice mechanisms, Tissainayagam added, “International justice aside, Sirisena and the joint opposition naively believe that Sri Lanka can achieve peace and political stability without satisfying the political aspirations of the Tamils and the Muslims.”