Former LTTE cadres in Kokkillai, Kokkuthoduvaai and Karunaaddukeni in Mullaitivu district were rounded up by soldiers and warned against taking part in terrorist activities, the Uthayan reported. Many parents of former cadres demanded to stay with their children, when military vehicles arrived at 9am on Sunday to take the former cadres away. The day before, soldiers had visited houses of former LTTE cadre, instructing them to attend the meeting. The former cadre were subsequently released in the afternoon along with their parents after being handed a saaram (sarong), however the incident has left local residents in fear.
Photograph @tamilvan Farmers from Iraniamadu protested on Sunday against plans to divert water from the Iranaimadu Tank, towards Jaffna at Kilinochchi. With water levels already low, plans of diverting the water has left farmers in Iranaimadu concerned for their livelihoods. The one day hunger strike by Iranaimadu Farmers Association, a coalition of 22 farmers' organisations, was actively supported by a number of political figures, including Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, S. Kajendran and V. Manivannan of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), and the TNA Northern Provincial Council Education...
; (Pictures: KUTS) Kingston University Tamil Society held the first ‘Breaking the Silence’ event of 2014 earlier this month. Tamil students from the university organised an exhibition at the main campus of the university in south London detailing aspects of the genocide and war crimes that occurred during the armed conflict. [ more ]
Photograph @Hamsanan A resolution demanding an immediate end to the Sri Lankan government’s forcible acquisition of private lands in Valikamam, Jaffna, and the return of seized lands to their owners was passed unanimously at a meeting of the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee meeting on Monday. Reflecting the intense public anger over the land seizures, the resolution tabled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was supported by the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP, a key pro-government paramilitary group-cum-political party). However, the EPDP defended the government on other seizures also discussed, prompting criticism from those who attended the meeting. "There was agreement on the issue of land acquisition at the meeting today, with the resolution I moved being unanimously adopted, after being seconded by Chandrakumar MP [of the EPDP]," TNA parliamentarian, M.A. Sumanthiran told Tamil Guardian shortly after the meeting ended. "The resolution called for the acquisition process be abandoned, Section 2 Notices be withdrawn and the lands be handed back to the owners," he added, referring to the legal ordnance under which the government is seizing private land.
The servicing of public debt soaked up all of Sri Lankan government revenue in 2013, The Sunday Times reported. That the government is having to borrow to meet its debt repayments is itself increasing the debt burden – even as state revenue is falling, the paper said. Sri Lanka’s much-vaunted growth in GDP “has been achieved by increasing foreign and domestic debt and cutting developmental expenditure [and thus by] undermining macroeconomic fundamentals,” the paper warned. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013 fell from the year before to US$ 916 million, mostly in hotels, the paper also said.
A tourist from Britain was arrested at Katunayake Airport for having a tattoo of the Buddha on her hand, reported the Daily Mirror . Michele Calmon, 37, landed in Sri Lanka this morning and was produced before Negombo Magistrates Court today. Katunayake Airport police told the magistrate that the tattoo was contrary to Buddhism, who then transferred Calmon to the Mirihana detention camp for immediate extradition.
The Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph has been denied access to visit Tamil political prisoners over Easter, as customary in the Catholic Church, the Uthayan reported. Bishop Rayappu Joseph who was accompanied by the Bishop of Anuradhapura to visit the Tamil detainees in Anuradhapura prison, received permission for the visit from the ministry responsible for prisons. However the bishops were informed that a senior official in the Ministry of Defence has revoked the permission and access was particularly denied to the Bishop of Mannar. "On this holy day, which promotes peace and teaches humanity...
The Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) said it was "unaware of any time limits on visas issued to foreign journalists posted to Sri Lanka", following reports that the BBC journalist Charles Haviland was refused a one-year visa extension, on the grounds that he had completed five years as a foreign correspondent in Sri Lanka. Rejecting reports that Mr. Haviland's visa had been denied, officials at the ministry stressed that it had in fact been extended, by three months, reported the Nation . Media Minister and government spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella, was quoted in Ceylon Today as saying, " It would be unfair to permit any foreigner to live in the country for long periods, let alone journalists ," "He has stayed in the country for over five years, and we have granted him a further three-month extension on that visa. Granting him any further extension would be unreasonable. " Pointing out that the five year time limit also extended to international NGO workers , the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information, Charitha Herath tweeted, “Sri Lanka visa policy for foreign correspondents is maximum five years. Some of them are here more than 9, 10 years,”
A prisoner in Jaffna was attacked by a prison guard today, reports Uthayan . The prisoner, whose identity remains unknown, has been admitted to Jaffna hospital after suffering injuries. According to the Jaffna based newspaper, attempts to contact the prison for more information were met with evasion, as officials gave incomplete answers and abruptly ended the phone call. The guard involved in the incident has been suspended, sources at the prison told Uthayan.
Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka criticised efforts by South Africa to facilitate dialogue between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), stating the Tamil struggle should not be equated to that against Apartheid. “ We do not welcome this initiative ," Mr. Ranawaka, Minister of Technology, Research and Atomic Energy, and also the General Secretary of the government coalition partner, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), told Sri Lanka's Sunday Times, calling for "a fuller investigation of all matters". Organisations like Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and the British Tamil Forum (BTF) 'had created the impression that the so-called armed struggle in Sri Lanka by Tamil groups was similar to the one waged by those in the African National Congress', the Sunday Times cited him as saying. “ We fought against separation. In South Africa, they fought against apartheid, ” he said, reportedly adding, ' it is only recently that the South African Government has obtained “our side of the story" .