Tamil Nadu court summons Swamy over Jaya defamation

A court in Tamil Nadu ordered issue of summons to the BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy in relation to the case filed by the state's chief minister J. Jayalalitha. Swamy had written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arguing the chief minister had only pushed for the release of fishing boats, held by Sri Lanka, as they were owned by someone she knew. Jayalalithaa rejected this, filing a case for defamation . Authorities of the Times of India and Dinamalar newspapers have also been summoned over their decision to publish his statement. Swamy has been requested to appear before the court before...

Gotabaya wants to meet NGOs critical of government

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would like to meet non-governmental organisations openly critical of the government, reported the Daily Mirror . Rajapaksa was speaking to representatives from 11 NGOs, who were involved in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Commonwealth People’s Forum, when he expressed an interest in meeting those groups. The defence secretary urged the NGO community to discuss their issues with the NGO Secretariat, instead of “internationalising” them, and spoke about the “unwillingness” of NGOs to engage in dialogue with the government. National Peace Council Executive Director Jehan Perera, who was one of those present at the meeting said, “It was a very cordial discussion but because it was the first meeting of its kind we did not go into details of the various suggestions that were made to improve the situation. But most importantly, the Defence Secretary himself requested and expressed an interest in meeting other NGOs including those that have been very critical of the Government.”

Sri Lankan minister can face murder trial via video says Indian court

The Madras High Court confirmed that Sri Lankan minister Douglas Devananda can face trial for a murder charge through video conferencing from Colombo on Tuesday. Devananda, who also heads the government-linked paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), faces a murder charge relating to a 1986 shoot-out in Chennai which killed one person. Justice C T Selvam, the High Court judge, ruled that the given the diplomatic status that Devananda holds as a Sri Lankan minister, he was permitted to attend hearings via “video-conferencing at the office of the High Commissioner of India at...

India arrests ‘Sri Lankan national’ accused of being Pakistani spy

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a Sri Lankan citizen on suspicion of spying for Pakistan on Wednesday. The man, Arun Selvarajan, had reportedly gained access to several high security installations and also had criminal cases pending in Sri Lanka. See an official NIA statement on the arrest here . The Hindu reported an NIA official as saying, “In coordination with the intelligence agencies, Arun Selvarajan, was arrested in Chennai in connection with a case registered in 2013 following the arrest of one Thameem Ansari who had been operating at the instance of Amir Zubair...

Sri Lankan government to buy all potato stocks from farmers

Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne declared in Parliament that the government is to purchase all stocks of potatoes currently being held by farmers. Jayaratne made the announcement, stating that the Sri Lankan cabinet had approved the purchase of all remaining potato stock at a price of Rs. 80 per kilo. The move comes as Sri Lanka banned the import of potatoes earlier this week in a bid to protect local farmers. Jayaratne also said that all district secretaries and government agents were instructed to continue with a fertiliser subsidy for the farmers, provide agriculture loans at 7% relief interest and to supply locally produced seeds at concessionary prices. See more here . Also see our earlier posts: Sri Lanka bans import of potatoes (09 September 2014)

Tamil youth commits suicide after losing means to support family

Atchuthan Sivasubramaniyam, a 25 year old who was the sole earner supporting his parents and 3 siblings, committed suicide on Wednesday, after struggling to maintain a lease hold on a lorry that helped provide for his family, reports the Uthayan . Sivasubramaniyam’s lorry was violently repossessed by t leasing company before the incident occurred. The latest suicide comes as residents in Jaffna were forced to attend a ‘suicide prevention event’ organised by the Sri Lankan military last week, on Wednesday. WHO report ranks Sri Lanka has having 4th highest suicide rate (05 September 2014)...

UN Sec-Gen notes Sri Lanka's failure to respond to UN special mandate holders

The United Nations Secretary General, noted the Sri Lankan government had failed to reply to concerns raise by special mandate holders regarding the intimidation of human rights campaigners, in a report entitled “ Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights .” Citing several instances of intimidation of witnesses and human rights campaigners, the report noted that no response had been received from the Sri Lankan government to communications sent by varies UN mandate holders. “At the time of finalisation of the present report, no reply...

'Allow UN investigators in' says Northern Provincial Council

The Northern Provincial Council passed a resolution calling on the Sri Lankan government to allow United Nations investigators into the country, in order to carry out a probe into mass atrocities. The resolution, which was adopted on Wednesday, said, “This Council calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to cooperate with the UN and allow the UN’s OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) team to enter the country to perform its mandate of comprehensively investigating the alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights, and crimes.” Sri Lanka has so far refused to co-operate with the...

ITAK calls for 'maximum possible devolution to merged North-East'

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi passed a series of resolutions this week, condemning the Sri Lankan government's genocidal actions and calling for the maximum possible devolution of power to a merged North-East province. On the 15th National ITAK Convention held last week, a series of 15 resolutions were passed condemning Sri Lankan government land grabs, the pillaging of natural resources from Tamil areas and the abuse of women and children, amongst others. One of the declarations stated that, “This convention reiterates that this country’s national question can be resolved only through...

MDMK stages protest against Rajapaksa

Photograph: Uthayan Hundreds of protestors took to the streets of Chennai earlier this week, to rally against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the United Nations General Assembly later this month. The protest, organised by the MDMK was addressed by party leader Vaiko, who said, "If Rajapaksa is allowed to address the UNGA, it will be an injustice and demean the status of the UN." Vaiko went on to call for India’s central government to allow United Nations investigators, who were denied visas to Sri Lanka to probe reports of war crimes, to hold their inquiry in India. The MDMK...

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