Speaking at the Jaffna Press Club last week, Tamil National Alliance’s candidate for the Jaffna district, Ananthy Sasitharan, expressed her desire to meet with Navi Pillay, and outline the harsh realities of the situation in the North-East, and reiterated that the Tamil nation was not defeated. “As a representative of kith and kin who have been struggling for four years without knowing the whereabouts of thousands of family members who had surrendered to the Sri Lanakn military.” “We have been waging several protests to know the whereabouts of our family members. We have even gone to the LLRC...
Four members of the Sri Lankan Navy have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle asylum seekers to Australia, reports the Age. Three sailors and 'one civilian attached to the navy' were arrested for their role in attempting to smuggle 111 asylum seekers on boat to Australia from Galle. 108 out of the 111 of the group were Tamil. Tamil MPs have often spoken out about the navy being involved in profit-making smuggling rings.
External Affairs Minister GL Peiris is due to arrive in India today to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka later this year. Tamil Nadu opposition leader M Karunanidhi has warned of protests and blockades if Singh does not declare a boycott of the event. In a statement released on Saturday, the leader of the DMK said that Sri Lanka was attempting to water down the 13th amendment and has failed to prevent attacks on Tamil fishermen. “If the Indian government ignores our demand, the DMK will organise protests such as hoisting black...
Government distributes its newly launched newspaper to schoolchildren in Jaffna. In the run up to the Northern Provincial Council election the Sri Lankan government has launched a trilingual newspaper to "educate the public on the rapid development programs implemented by the GOSL after the end of the war in 2009", says the government. The new state newspaper, called 'The Palmyrah Grove' or 'Pananthoppu' or 'Thal Aramba', was launched on Wednesday in Jaffna, with the Government appointed governor of the Northern Province, GA Chandrasiri, as the chief guest. The first copy was handed to...
The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) verified an incident of election related violence on Saturday. A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate V Kanagaratnam and his supporters where attacked whilst staying at a residence in Mannar earlier this week. The injured supporters were admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Kanagaratnam identified one of the attackers as a member of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). Commenting on the situation the Executive director of CaFFE, Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, said , “This attack and the expectation of further violence hints that the...
Following on from a recent visit to Canada with the TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan, addressed the Tamil diaspora in the UK this week, during two public events in London, hosted by the TNA-UK. Urging the Tamil diaspora to support the TNA so that it may win an overwhelming victory in the polls, the TNA and the TNA-UK, urged the Tamil diaspora to provide financial support and to speak to their loved ones in the North and encourage them to defy government intimidation, and vote. Taking multiple questions from the floor during the two public...
A group of five Tamil National Alliance (TNA) supporters were arrested after putting up posters in support of the Vavuniya District candidate, M.M Rathan. The campaigners were arrested and interrogated for nearly three hours before being produced in front of the magistrate. Although the TNA candidate Rathan, defended the campaigners, stating that they were accompanying him on his door to door campaigns, the five supporters were only released after paying bail. According to news sources , the arrests occurred after the local Army in Kanyakarayankulam, complained to the police force alleging...
The Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister GL Peiris said that the country’s hosting of the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a triumph for Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. Speaking at an election rally in Matale, Peiris outlined the “extensive array of benefits which the nation would derive” when Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse assumes the leadership of the Commonwealth for two years in November, reported The Island . Peiris said that this would be instrumental in giving the country increased influence in international affairs, and the country would be better placed to...
Defence Secretary,Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, challenged the United Nations to provide evidence used in the reports that found that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the final stages of the war. Speaking to the Sunday Island Rajapaksa outlined that the government intended to raise these issues with United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay on her scheduled to visit Sri Lanka later this month. Rajapaksa went to argue that the confidentiality of evidence sources in the United Nation’s panel of experts report meant that the credibility of evidence could not be assured...
The Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs is goig to introduce a law to outlaw the publication of the “original teachings and traditions” of major religions. The first step will be the establishment of a Buddhist Publications Regulatory Board with authority to “regulate any publication that is in violation of Buddhism, its philosophy or traditions” , reported the DailyMirror . Ministry secretary M.K.B. Dissanayake said that this bill was now with the Attorney General pending approval. “After approval by him it will be sent to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval,” he said...