A UNP led government will not seek a political solution to the ethnic conflict beyond the 13th Amendment, said UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday. Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the leader of the Janasetha Peramuna (or People's Welfare Front), the Buddhist monk Battaramulle Seela Rathana, Wickremesinghe said sticking within the 13th Amendment, ensuring good relations with all other states and ensuring the independence of the judiciary, police and elections commission, would be the principles guiding a UNP lead government. Wickremesinghe had met with Seela Rathana in order to discuss the possibility of the Janasetha Peramuna endorsing a UNP presidential candidate running on a common platform.
Sri Lankan army commander Daya Ratnayake outlined a host of measures that the government would take to thank Sri Lanka’s “war heroes” for restoring “durable peace” reports Ceylon Today . Speaking at the Sri Lankan army’s 65th anniversary celebrations last week, the commander said that multiple residential complexes were being built around island to house the army, whilst every army base was being redeveloped. The commander described a range of financial benefits to be provided to the soldiers including low interest loans and enhanced welfare benefits. Ratnayaka also announced that the government had built new welfare projects and commenced construction of a state of the art hospital to be used by soldiers. He ended the address paying tribute to the families of those that died in the Sri Lankan army.
The Northern Provincial Council is acting like the dog in the manger said the Sri Lankan president speaking at a function in Killinochchi, on Monday. Mahinda Rajapaksa added that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and diaspora would not be able to create an independent Eelam state in Sri Lanka reports the Uthayan . Rajapaksa accuses NPC of 'hindering' development in fear of losing votes (13 October 2014) NPC rejects Rajapaksa invite as Tamils 'continuing to be marginalised' (11 October 2014)
Rajapaksa arrives in Jaffna with paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda. Photograph BBC Sinhala Soldiers are stationed across Jaffna today, as Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Jaffna. "Severe security here in Jaffna by armed soldiers," a Jaffna based journalist told the Tamil Guardian. Rajapaksa arrived, accompanied by the paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, on the Yal Devi train, which was reopened after the service was halted over 24 years during the armed conflict.
Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) of hampering the government’s work to develop the area, reports Colombo Page . Speaking at a public event in Killinochchi on Sunday, the Sri Lankan president said that the NPC was working against the government efforts to help the North-East in fear of losing votes from the public. “They are not allowing us to do our work and they are not doing work either,” said Mahinda Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa’s remarks come after the Northern Provincial Council chief minister rejected an invitation to a meeting chaired by the president, on the basis that it would be inappropriate to attend a meeting when Tamil speaking people continue to be marginalised
Students who have been mobilised to engage in political activities, in the past, were killed and left on roadsides, warned the Sri Lankan president when commenting on political mobilisation using social media sites such as Facebook. Speaking at a function at the Panduwasnuwara National School, Mahinda Rajapaksa told parents to prevent their children from engaging in political movements on Facebook and called on political parties to avoid using students for political purposes, reports DailyMirror.lk .
A policeman charged with the assault of a woman in Ratnapura has been reinstated after protests by residents and Buddhist monks, reports Ceylon Today . Sergeant Prassanna Tissara was filmed assaulting a woman, with the video soon going viral. The police initially suspended Tissara, after the victim made a formal complaint. Police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said Tissara has been reinstated and transferred to Avissawella police station after investigations into the assault.
A holy Buddhist tree, grown from a sapling planted by Mahinda Rajapaksa in India, is dying from “lack of care”. According to the Hindustan Times , the Bodhi tree branches “were struggling with metallic wire-mesh that had been put over the sapling when it was small”. The paper also said guards, in charge of security of the sacred tree, were defaecating near it due to the lack of adequate facilities. "Our duty is to ensure security of the tree and we are doing that despite so many odds. Regarding the disease it is suffering and why it is not being watered regularly, you can contact senior officials," Atar Singh, one of the guards, told the Hindustan Times.
'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka', a documentary outlining gross human rights violations and potential war crimes committed at the end of Sri Lanka's conflict against the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been nominated for The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ( Emmy ) Awards. No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka, is up for nomination in the best documentary category. The documentary, which was screened around the world including the United Nations Human Rights Council, has seen staunch rejection by the Sri Lankan government.
A member of the Vadamarachchi Vallipuram Alwar temple trustees’ council was attacked by a group of unidentified persons with swords in Jaffna over the weekend. 67–year-old Sathananthan Kesavananthan was returning to his home in Point Pedro when a group of unidentified persons on motorbikes arrived and started attacking him. As they attempted to stab him with swords, passengers on a public bus that witnessed the attack came to his rescue and scared away the attackers, reports Uthayan . The victim has lodged a complaint with the Point Pedro police.