Tamil Nadu’s fishing community expressed relief at India’s loss to Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 cricket world cup final, as a previous win was followed by attacks at sea believed to revenge by Sri Lankan navy personal, the Times of India reports. "We were very anxious about the outcome of the match on Sunday because of that incident," said J Ashton, a boat owner in Rameswaram told the paper, referring to incidents after India defeated Sri Lanka previously, which left four fishermen from the town dead. The fishing community told the paper the Sri Lankan Navy, bitter at the defeat, attacked Indian...
The National Freedom Front (NFF), a partner of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition, warned the Sri Lankan government against being caught in an ‘international trap’ set by ‘enemy forces’ in the guise of an international investigation into wartime atrocities, reported ColomboPage . A spokesman for the NFF, Mohammad Muzammil, told reporters that India’s motives in abstaining on the UN resolution against Sri Lanka were doubtful. He accused India of secretly backing an international investigation, and claimed Delhi was instrumental in getting two previous resolutions on Sri Lanka through the UN Human Rights Council.
The Sri Lankan government's proscription last week of 15 Tamil diaspora organisations and over 400 individuals was a brazen attempt to instil fear into the Tamil people. Over and beyond those specifically named or officially affiliated to the organisations, given the organisations' mass membership, the proscription criminalises a quarter of the Eelam Tamil population, and all Tamils living on the island who engage with them. It is the mass banning of Tamil civil society. Sri Lanka's broad definition of 'terrorism', including those demanding Tamil political rights and those that criticise human rights abuses by the state, effectively encompasses any threat to Sinhala Buddhist hegemony. Any remaining faint hopes of reconciliation, are made even more unlikely. Ultimately and entirely in keeping with the Sri Lankan state's overarching and long-standing project of consolidating its hegemony, the proscription - ironically only made significant by virtue of the nation's very inextricable connectedness - is an attempt to dismantle the Tamil nation and thereby seek to extinguish the nation's political aspirations.
The Sri Lankan government may take legal action against people testifying before any UN implemented commission, reports Ceylon Today . Minister of Mass Media Keheliya Rambukwella said: "We will take legal action against anyone who testifies before this commission, if the evidence submitted by them is in violation of the country's Constitution." According to Ceylon Today, reports have been circulated stating that testifying before the international committee could amount to treason and also that measures would be taken to bar those testifying from making international calls and video...
Sri Lanka will not cooperate with the United Nations’ inquiry into wartime mass atrocities, Foreign Minister GL Peiris said Monday, in comments reported by Reuters and AP . " Where the government is required to do anything to support the investigation or to participate in it, the government will not do that ," he said. "They [UN] will have to tell us what they want to do. But the clear policy decision had been taken that we do not associate ourself with the inquiry and we do not submit to the jurisdiction of the investigating committee ," he said. " Nobody can come here without the cooperation of the Sri Lankan government ," he added. The government had not accepted the UN investigations due to concerns over its legality, fairness, and some conflict of interest issues, he said.
The Sri Lankan government's proscription of 15 diaspora organisations and over 400 individuals proves that reconciliation will not take place without meaningful international intervention that recognises Tamil self-determination, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the President of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), told the Tamil Guardian today. "The international community has been harping on a non existent reconciliation, but the listing of Tamil organisations and activists is yet another step that proves that reconciliation will remain a non starter unless the International community intervenes in an unambiguous and meaningful manner by themselves recognising the Tamil peoples right to self determination ," he said. "Anything short will only embolden and legitimise the path the Sri Lankan state has chosen," Mr. Ponnambalam added.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa once again expressed Sri Lanka's gratitude over India's decision to abstain during the UN Human Rights Council vote on a resolution calling for an international inquiry into Sri Lanka, through a letter to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The letter, described by the Times of India as a 'warm thank you letter', is the latest in a series of gestures by Sri Lankan state officials and security forces thanking India for its abstention.
A search operation was carried our by Sri Lankan police inside a Jaffna University student hostel this morning, reports Uthayan . The security forces arrived unannounced and proceeded to search the entire premises, said students, shaken by the incident. When asked who was responsible, the officers reportedly replied that the Officer in Charge was not present. Belonging to the University of Jaffna, the hostel is situated in Koppai.
Commenting on Sri Lanka's proscription of Tamil diaspora groups, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, said today his government would remain focused on helping the Tamil community live with peace and security. Responding to questions on whether the government would stand up for Canadians targeted in the Sri Lankan proscriptions, the minister said, “We are deeply concerned that Canadians have been identified and singled out for attention as has the government of Canada. We remain focused on doing all we can to help the Tamil minority to live in peace and security with their...
Sri Lanka’s government has taken “a policy decision” to “reject outright” the international probe into the island’s wartime mass atrocities authorised by the UN Human Rights Council in a resolution passed on March 27, the Sunday Times reports. The paper also quoted sources at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which the HRC resolution mandated to conduct the probe, as saying the international investigative mechanism would be in place within three to four weeks . At a meeting of party leaders last Sunday, three days after the UN vote, the ruling coalition made “ a policy decision that the government would in no way allow an OHCHR international investigation in Sri Lanka under any circumstances ,” the paper said.