Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed Sri Lanka earlier this month, New Delhi’s media was already hailing the visit as a diplomatic triumph. A raft of development projects had been announced and a significant new defence pact between the two governments signed. Images broadcast showed Modi beside a smiling Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, arms raised aloft in symbolic…

Cross-party concern over 'betrayal' of Sri Lankan soldiers in Presidential Inquiry

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Missing persons, this week, received criticism from both opposition and ruling coalition parties, reports the Sunday Leader.

The opposition UNP in a statement criticised the decision to conduct the inquiry, suggesting that it was a betrayal of Sri Lankan soldiers.

“They (the public) should be told why President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who boasted he would sit in an ‘electric chair’ than betray soldiers, has now done an about turn and that too quite secretly. The UNP strongly believes the public should also know whether the actions are in the best interests of Sri Lanka or are the outcome of ignorant, shady but powerful brokers who are on an adventure wrapping up secret diplomatic deals behind the backs of the people,” read the statement.

The leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a party within the ruling party (UPFA) coalition, criticised the government’s expansion of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Missing Persons without gaining approval from members of the ruling coalition.

Warning of unrest should anything happen to Sri Lankan soldiers as a result of the inquiry, the General Secretary of the JHU, Minister Champika Ranawaka said,

US concern about intimidation of journalists

The US embassy in Colombo has expressed “grave concern” about the intimidation by Sri Lankan security forces of journalists, covering the court proceedings related to the gang rape of an 11-year old Tamil school girl by Sri Lankan Navy personnel in Jaffna.

In a statement released on Monday, the embassy also said it was deeply concerned about the cancellation of a training session for Tamil journalists, which was financially supported by the US embassy, after protests hit the venue in Colombo.

The US said that “well-organised protestors” disrupted the third such event since May, threatening to harm the participants, and accused the Sri Lankan police of not providing security to the threatened journalists, or taking action against the groups making the threats, despite their presence during the incidents.

Sri Lankan Army organises football coaching for Tamil children

Photograph CIMICJaffna.lk

A football coaching camp for Tamil youths and schoolchildren was held by the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna.

Coordinated by the Commander of the 533 Brigade Colonel Vijith Subasinghe and the president of the Sri Lankan Football Federation Ranjith Rodrigo, the three day camp in the Duraiyappa Stadium saw participation by coaches and players from the US-based Soccer Outreach Association, Pennsylvania.

Govt spends over $100m on US lobby firms

The Sri Lankan government spent over $100 million in hiring US lobbying firms in an attempt to improve its international image following the launch of an UN inquiry into mass atrocities.

Following Thompson Advisory Group LLC (TAG) and Majority Group, the government has now hired the Madison Group and Beltway Government Strategies, reported Ceylon Today.

Madison Group, which has been hired until June 2015, is "assisting the Ministry of External Affairs with creating situation awareness of current affairs in Sri Lanka", the paper said.

Trade will improve if Tamil issue solved – India

The Indian government has told Sri Lanka that it needs to find a solution to the Tamil political question in order to make progress in trade between the two countries.

Police deny detaining Tamil journalists

The spokesperson of Sri Lanka’s police force, Ajith Rohana has denied that a group of Tamil journalists travelling to a workshop in Colombo were detained and said that only their vehicle was taken into custody.

Rohana said the police was not aware that the people travelling in the van were journalists and that they were stopped due to a tip-off that the vehicle was smuggling heroin, reported Colombo Page on Sunday.

Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya, spokesperson for the Sri Lankan army also dismissed the journalists' account that the military planted the drugs during the stop.

Sri Lanka rejects US accusations of witness intimidation

The Sri Lankan Army Spokesman, on Saturday, rejected US accusations of witness intimidation in the Presidential Commission to Investigate Missing Persons, reports Colombo Page.

“We request that if such incidents have taken place, kindly provide the information to the Army rather than make such false and baseless allegations against us,” said Brigadier Ruwan Wanigsuriya.

He further added that the US should be voicing its concerns to the Sri Lanka government and not speaking to the media.

Asylum seekers transferred to Australian detention centre

The 157 asylum seekers were transferred to a detention centre in Western Australia on Sunday, shortly after landing on Cocos Islands after four weeks on a boat at sea, the Guardian reported.

Three aircrafts were used in the transfer with the first taking off at 12.40pm local time.

See more here.

Only an international independent investigation will provide truth and justice - GTF

Only an ‘impartial independent international investigation can establish truth and serve justice,’ said the Global Tamil Forum spokesperson, rejecting the recently announced Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Missing Persons.

“When we do not have any faith in the commission or its limited mandate, why would anyone even consider being engaged in such a flawed process? The answer to your question is ‘No’,” said the GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran, when asked by the
Sunday Leader if the Tamil diaspora would contribute to the investigation.

Questioning the credibility of a presidential inquiry, Suren Surendiran added,
“When an alleged party to crimes is involved in the decision making process of choosing the investigators or the counsel of advisors and their terms of reference for the investigation, that may not be impartial.”

TNA remains sceptical over government commission

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said it remained sceptical over the government's Missing Persons Commission, despite the government's attempts to increase its credibility through reportedly widening the mandate and appointed three international experts.

Highlighting the government's previous high profile appointments that still failed to yield answers, the TNA spokesperson, Mr Premachandran said in an interview to the Sunday Leader on Sunday:
"The question is why the government took all this time to do that.
Previously under several occasions the government appointed commissions and international experts to overlook investigations but none was implemented successfully."
"With regard to Udalagama Commission, the government did not let the experts to overlook the investigations and act independently. We have previous examples why we cannot rely on the government. We do not know exactly what is going to happen to this Commission. Therefore we will need to discuss its new mandate."