Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

At least six Sri Lankan military personnel were killed on Friday after a helicopter assigned to a training exercise crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir in the Eastern Province. The Bell 212 helicopter, which was carrying a dozen armed forces personnel, was reportedly conducting a grappling exercise linked to a passing-out parade when the crash occurred. “Four special forces personnel and…

Rajapaksa accuses UN organisations of 'deliberate' violations of principles of justice

The Sri Lankan President accused United Nations organisations of ‘deliberate’ violations of fundamental principles of justice and rule of law, reports the Colombo Page.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Third South Asia Judicial Roundtable on Environmental Justice, on Friday, Rajapaksa said,

Lawyers for families of disappeared request further excavations of Mannar mass grave

Lawyers representing families of disappeared Tamils have filed an application in court, requesting further excavation of a mass grave that was unearthed in Mannar in December last year, reports BBC Tamil.

The remains of at least 80 people were excavated from the mass grave in Thirukketheeswaram, with many of the wounds discovered on the bodies believed to have been caused by gunshots. Both the Bishop of Mannar and the Tamil National Alliance called for an international investigation into the mass grave site.

The Sri Lankan courts approved the request for further excavations, and also ordered an affidavit from the Mannar regional chair person, who stated that there were no records of a cemetery in the area, to be produced before them.

See more from BBC Tamil here.

Rs 73.17 billion spent on salaries for security forces

Salaries for Sri Lanka’s Army, Navy and Air Force cost Rs 73.17 billion (US$ 560 million) in the year 2013 alone, stated a government minister on Friday.

Responding to a question raised in the Sri Lankan parliament, Chief Government Whip, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, defended the record amount being paid out, saying that the security forces were needed for the “protection of the country”.

ColomboPage also quoted the minister as saying,

We will not kneel down before any powerful nation - GL Peiris

Defending Sri Lanka's opposition to the UN inquiry into mass atrocities, the country's minister of external affairs, GL Peiris, reiterated that Sri Lanka "will not kneel down before any powerful nation and compromise the national interests", reported the DailyMirror.lk.

21y old missing after travelling to Kilinochchi

A twenty-one year old Tamil man has been reported missing by his father, after he failed to return home from Kilinochchi, the Uthayan reported.

Thavarasa Tharshikan, a building mason from the Iyattaalai region of Varani, left home last Monday to travel to Kilinochchi for work.

His father has reported the disappearance at Kodikamam police station.

1 dead after SL military hit and run in Mullaitivu

One man has been killed and another injured during a hit and run incident near a Sri Lankan navy base in Mullaitivu, when a Sri Lankan military tractor crashed into a motorcycle on 2 August.

The military personnel driving the tractor ran away from the scene immediately after the crash, reported the Uthayan newspaper.

The deceased, a 24 year old father named Arugmugam Sivakumar, was found unconscious, trapped between the wheel of the tractor. He was admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital however succumbed to his injuries.

AIADMK lawyers protest over presence of Sri Lankan official in Chennai

The legal wing of the AIADMK held a demonstration in Chennai today, protesting against the presence of a Sri Lankan government official at a conference in India.

The protesters said that Deputy Director of Sri Lankan Agricultural Ministry, Chandrasiri, was at the event, despite Indian police officers alleging that no Sri Lankans were present.

Led by R Sivasankar, the lawyers chanted slogans condemning Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a recent derogatory article on the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

See more from the Times of India here.

Minister accuses West of 'double standards' after mob disrupts disappearances meeting

Sri Lanka's Cabinet spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella accused Western countries of “double standards” after several countries condemned the disruption of a meeting for families of the disappeared by a mob of Buddhist monks.

Rambukwella accused Western countries, which he called “5 star” democracies, of being hypocritical in condemning the mob disruption,
Colombo Gazette reports.
 
The monks had violently disrupted the meeting, which was being attended by Tamil families from the North, and Western diplomats, accusing them of “selling our motherland for dollars.”

Tamil student detained by anti-terror police at Sabaragamuwa University

Students at Sabaragamuwa University, in the island's south, protest against arrest. Photograph BBC Tamil

Government blames NGOs for meeting disruption

Sri Lanka's Ministry of External Affairs blamed a row between two NGOs for the disruption of a meeting for families of the disappeared from the North on Monday, claiming that police had brought the alleged altercation under control.

"According to reports, a meeting had been organized by the NGO 'Right to Life Human Rights Centre' involving families of disappeared persons from the North. However, another NGO, the 'Dead and Missing Person's Parents Front', had sought access to the meeting, demanding that their grievances be heard too. An ensuing argument had led to a tense situation which had subsequently been brought under control by law enforcement authorities," the Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Accusing the diplomats from western missions, who had been present at the meeting, of "being involved in a manner lacking objectivity", the Ministry said their behaviour had "led to the emergence of a pattern of such potentially volatile situations giving rise to the perpetuation of mistrust amongst communities at a sensitive juncture in the country’s history."

The Ministry's account runs contrary to reports by journalists present at the meeting, who described an angry mob led by Buddhist monks entering the building and shouting at Tamils gathered to discuss the disappearances of their loved ones. See here.