Tamils in Batticaloa are protesting today to condemn the violence and arrests by Sri Lankan police that disrupted Shivarathri celebrations at the Vedukkunaari Athi Sivan temple on Friday. Protestors outraged by Friday's violence, demonstrated from Batticaloa clock tower to Gandhi park, demanding that Tamils should have the freedom of religion or belief. On Friday, locals gathered at the temple to observe Shivarathri before Sri Lankan riot police arrived and marred the religious event. Although Vavuniya Magistrate Court had ordered that the worship could go ahead, the police arrested eight...
A newly erected Buddha statue near the Chulipuram Chaukkadi Pillaiyar temple in Jaffna has been removed following protests and outcry from residents who feared it could pave the way for the construction of a Buddhist Vihara in the region. The sudden appearance of the statue under a Bo tree by the Pillaiyar temple raised suspicions among locals, who speculated that Sri Lankan navy personnel in the area might be responsible for its placement. Concerned residents demanded an investigation by the Sri Lankan police to uncover who placed the statue and for what purpose. However, scepticism loomed...
Tamil families of the disappeared staged a protest in Mullaitivu today, marking International Women’s Day as a black day of mourning and demanding answers from the Sri Lankan government. For the eighth consecutive year, these families find themselves in anguish, with no resolution in sight regarding the fate of their loved ones. Led by Mariyasuresh Eswari, Chairperson of the Mullaitivu District Association of the Families of the Disappeared, protesters gathered to voice their frustrations and sorrow. "Our children were abducted in broad daylight, picked up by the army, and vanished into...
The observance of Shivarathri at the Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple in Vavuniya North, descended into chaos today (08.03) as police violence marred the religious proceedings. Member of Parliament Selvarajah Kajendren was assaulted by Sri Lankan police, and a further 8 worshippers were arrested during the incident.
UK Parliamentarians urged the Sri Lankan state to decriminalise the Tamils' right to self-determination at an event last week at Westminster, London, organised by the World Tamil Co-ordinating Committee in association with Tamils for Labour and other British Tamil organisations. International scholars and activists also expressed their solidarity with the Tamil struggle for an independent state at the event.
Tamil fisherfolk in Jaffna held a rally on Tuesday, demanding authorities take action to solve the issue of Indian trawlers encroaching on their fishing grounds as tensions continued to flare across the Palk Strait. The protest which was organized by a collective of fishing unions began in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat on Tuesday morning where they marched to the Northern Province governor’s office and presented a letter addressed to Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickremesinghe. They also marched to the Indian Consulate in Jaffna where they presented a letter which is to be given to...
Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam told Sri Lanka’s parliament that Sinhala lawmaker Rohitha Abeygunawardena attempted to assault him, whilst they were in the Prime Minister’s office earlier today. “This member threatened me and he was about to physically assault me and he was stopped by State Minister Ashoka Priyantha,” Rasamanickam told parliament, stating MP Jagath Priayankara was a witness to these events. “I have been threatened, my life is under threat,” he continued. “He said that he would assault me near the lift and the reason he gave was I walked into the...
Sinhala Buddhist monks are planning to disrupt Maha Shivarathri festivities at Vedukkunaari Adi Shiva temple, after having appealed to Sri Lankan police to halt the festival this week.
The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) commemorated the assassination of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Kiddinan Sivanesan at their Jaffna office today. Sivanesan was travelling from Colombo to Mullaitivu when he was killed by the Sri Lankan army's Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LLRP) in Mankulam on March 6, 2008. At the time of the assassination, the TNA said: "The TNA stresses at this juncture that no force could stop Tamils voicing and fighting for the freedom of their community by killing its democratically elected representatives and subjecting them to intimidation and death...
(Image Courtesy: U Solar Clean Energy) Following the sudden suspension the Chinee-Sri Lanka energy agreement, that would have seen a Chinese company construct solar power systems in in Jaffna's Delft, Nainathivu, and Alanathivu islets, India has struck and agreement to take on these projects. Announcing this new arrangement the High Commission of India lauded the deal as “a milestone in India-Sri Lanka Energy Partnership” and a step forwards in Sri Lanka-India relations. “It may be recalled that the energy sector was identified as a priority area in the India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership...