Tamil devotees in Vasavilan were blocked from accessing temples which were within the compounds of an occupying military camp, reports the Uthayan.

The devotees, who were blocked from accessing the temple by army personnel, preformed rituals outside the army camp.

The rituals were part of a festival which is historically held at the Varaivar temple every year.

Canadian Member of Parliament Patrick Brown rose in the House of Commons on Wednesday to mark the sixth anniversary since the “the final stages of the Sri Lankan genocide”.

Marking six years since the battle of Mullivaikkal, Mr Brown said that he stands “with the thousands of Tamils who lost family members in the final stages of the Sri Lankan genocide”.

“Today, the Sri Lankan government has still failed to show progress toward ensuring justice for the victims of these terrible human rights crimes,” continued the MP.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the government will be able to “salvage the good name of our country and our armed forces” through a domestic investigation into war crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops.

Speaking at a press conference in Colombo, Mr Samaraweera said “Since Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the Rome Statute regarding international jurisdiction with regard to war crimes, ensuring justice with regard to such matters will be the business of national independent judicial mechanisms.”

Stating that the government was in the process of doing so, with “international technical assistance”, and the minister was “sure we’ll be able to salvage the good name of our country and our armed forces by doing so”.

Sri Lanka’s president and former president, on Wednesday, discussed regarding parliamentary candidacy in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), reports Ceylon Today.

The General Secretary of the SLFP Anura Yapa, in a press release, said Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed 5 issues, including who would be the prime ministerial candidate for the SLFP.

Sri Lanka's President Sirisena, earlier expressed his commitment, to see the SLFP win at upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) will hold a panel discussion at Jaffna Library on May 10, relating to “the Right to Memory.”

The discussion panel is expected to include, Attorney at Law & Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) Bhavini Fonseka, Visiting Lecturer at Eastern University and TCSF Co-Spokesperson Elil Rajan, Lecturer in Law at Jaffna University and TCSF Co-Spokesperson Kumaravadivel Guruparan and Human Rights Activist Ruki Fernando.

The event will take place at the Jaffna Public Library Auditorium from 10:00am to 12:00pm.

See also:

Northern Provincial Council member vows to continue remembering Tamil war dead at Maveerar Naal (07 May 2015)

NPC member summoned by Sri Lanka police for involvement in commemorating Tamil war dead (04 May 2015)

Three arrests over Maaveerar Naal posters (26 Nov 2014)

Death threats posted in Jaffna university (24 Nov 2014)

Teachers' union condemn military presence at Jaffna Uni (14 Nov 2014)

Tamils remember Maaveerar in North-East despite SL military violence and intimidation (27 November 2013)
 
Escalating repression of Maaveerar remembrance met with Tamil defiance (26 Nov 2013)

The chief minister of the Western Provincial Council, Prasanna Ranatunga said the government would “betray” national security if it demilitarises the North, The Island reported.

"If the government removes Army camps in the North to appease Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran, I would like to ask whether they would remove camps in the Western Province if I made a request to that effect," he said.

The CM said national security was being compromised again, just as it was under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the past.

The International Monetary Funds (IMF) on Wednesday expressed concerns over Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit in 2015, after the new government raised wages and increased spending since taking power in January, Reuters reported.

The 2015 deficit target of 4.4% of gross domestic production (GDP) "will likely be very difficult to reach even with relatively optimistic assumptions regarding revenue gains", the body said.

"In the absence of new measures to create a more durable increase in tax collection, revenues in 2016 will drop as the one-off measures expire, while the permanent increase to recurrent spending from the revised 2015 budget will likely push the deficit higher," the IMF said in a statement.

Sirisena’s government has changed several policies, including reducing import taxes on some commodities and fuel prices, and introduced a one-off super gain tax to raise revenue by Rs80.3bn while increasing recurrent spending by nearly 6% or an extra Rs87bn ($652.66 million).

President Maithripala Sirisena said the government is not facing any pressure from the US regarding Sri Lanka's foreign policy, Colombo Gazette reported.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday, Mr Sirisena said US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that the US only wanted to ensure that democracy and human rights are protected in Sri Lanka.

The president said Mr Kerry had made this clear during talks with him when he was visiting Sri Lanka.