The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that he will not be attending the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in a statement released by his office. Harper said that Canada hoped that the opportunity to improve human rights conditions and to take steps towards accountability and reconciliation, presented to Sri Lanka by awarding the summit to the country, was not taken and that Canada remained concerned over ongoing human rights violations. The prime minister also said Canada, who is the second largest donor to the body, would review its financial...
One of the final places where the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran lived, was destroyed by the Sri Lankan military after evacuating local residents in the surrounding area, last week. What was a post-war tourist attraction for the people in the South and a site of remembrance for many people in the North, was destroyed with explosives last Thursday. Until last week, the site was promoted, by the army, as an internal tourist attraction geared towards the Sinhalese. A vast majority of signs were only in Sinhalese and English. However, local correspondents told the BBC that the effect...
Writing in The Diplomat, the widely acclaimed Tamil journalist, J.S Tissainayagam, asks if the Tamil National Alliance can provide the leadership needed to deliver to the Tamil electorate who voted for real change. See here . Extract reproduced below: "..t he TNA’s election manifesto was an open acknowledgement that power sharing with Colombo under a unitary constitution is inadequate. It lays down categorically that the resolution of the Tamil question has to be based on shared sovereignty and federal structures, which recognize the Tamils’ right to self determination. Third, the Tamils are...
Almost 50 Tamil Nadu students protested as the Board of Control for Cricket in India met in Chennai last week, calling for a complete boycott of Sri Lankan cricket. [ more ]
Some 400 public service jobs appointed to workers in the North a few months ago, have been terminated following the holding of the Northern Provincial Council elections, reported the Colombo Gazette . Over 600 jobs were given to workers in Jaffna and Killinochchi ahead of last month's elections "with the intention of imparting a more efficient and streamlined public service to the Northern polity”, with Northern Governor Major General G.A. Chandrasiri overseeing the appointments. However, around 400 of those jobs have now been suspended. One Vavuniya worker told the Colombo Gazette, "We were...
The leader of the Bodu Bala Sena, a Buddhist organisation, has said that a crusade would be launched in Sri Lanka, blaming the government for letting the TNA engage in politics. Galagodaaththe Gnanasare, a Buddhist monk, said that the TNA was the political front of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the government must be held responsible for the TNA winning the Northern Provincial Council elections. He called on the government to declare the Sinhala Buddhist majority as the historic nation of the state, according to ColomboPage .
India and Sri Lanka confirmed today that the two governments will sign up to a joint venture that will see a 500 MW thermal power project established in Trincomalee. India’s External Affair Minister, Salmaan Kurshid, will meet Sri Lankan counterpart, G.L Peiris, in Colombo to finalise the agreements on land lease and power purchase, which would see land given out on a long term lease by the Sri Lankan government.
Newly appointed Chief Minister of the North, C. V. Wigneswaran will take his oaths before Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on Monday morning. In a statement , TNA leader R. Sampanthan said on the decision: “This decision is in consonance with the commitment of the Tamil National Alliance to ensure that the Tamil People are able to live in security, safeguarding their self respect and dignity, fulfilling their legitimate political, economic, social and cultural aspirations within the framework of a united and undivided country, as overwhelmingly demonstrated in their electoral verdict. The Tamil National Alliance expresses the wish that the Government of Sri Lanka would meaningfully reciprocate this positive step on the part of the Tamil National Alliance.” However Jaffna-based newspaper Uthayan devoted its front page on Saturday to reporting the objections and outrage expressed by voters throughout the North, headlining one article “Disregarding the people’s wishes, oaths before the President” and another feature titled "Is this what we voted for?"
Sri Lankan army commander Lt Gen Daya Ratnayake has said that the army had exceeded their legal remit during the shooting of protesters in Weliweriye and said that a "summary of evidence" is being prepared in order for charges to be brought at a court martial. Ratnayake was appointed by the court of inquiry to investigate the shooting, which left 3 civilians dead. “The Court of Inquiry report stated that the deployment of troops was within the legal boundaries, however the report indicated that the Army had gone beyond their legal duties during the post shooting incidents. The Army will give...
The Vice-Chairman of the British-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group, Baron Dennis Rogan, has declared that the militarisation of the north was not as bad as often portrayed and that he had no issues talking to ordinary citizens in all regions, after a seven-day visit to the island. "During my visit to all parts of the country, North, East, South, and West I was able to speak freely and openly with ministers, government officials, religious leaders, and most importantly ordinary citizens from all sections and walks of life. What struck me particularly was that the military presence in the North was substantially less than what has been often portrayed," the Ulster Unionist Party peer told the president, Mahinda Rajapakse, during a meeting with him and Chris Nonis, the Sri Lankan ambassador to the UK.