A Tamil Nadu fisherman who self-immolated himself in protest at the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka has died. Mani, originally from Cuddalore, poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze outside the District Collector's office. Speaking to reporters, Mani drew attention to the resolution being brought on Sri Lank at the UN Human Rights Council and said : "In Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa has killed Tamils. Tamils should win at the United Nations. Eelam should happen. It's martyrdom for me". According to officials, he had previously been raising awareness about government taking tsunami...
Photograph New Indian Express Professor Francois Gros, an eighty-year-old Tamil scholar from France was awarded the Indian President's Kural Peedam award for the year 2008-2009 in recognition of his services to Classical Tamil studies. At an event in the French institute at Puducherry on Friday, Professor Gros was presented with the award by Gnanamoorthy, the director-in-charge of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai. Prof Gros who was a researcher at the French Institute of Pondicherry was presented the award in absentia on 21st December 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee in...
A motion on Sri Lanka, put forward by the SPD opposition parliamentary group, was rejected in parliament on Thursday, according to the Sri Lankan embassy in Berlin. The motion called for more pressure by Germany on Sri Lanka, and encouraged it to play an active role in the current UN Human Rights Council session. Jurgen Klimke from the ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU) argued that the German government was already working with the international community and Sri Lanka, and there being no need for the motion as the issues were already being addressed. Pascal Kober of the Free Democratic...
Sixteen Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy reports the DailyMirror.lk. The fishermen were arrested along with their three trawlers off the coast of Kalpitiya on Sunday morning, said the Navy spokesperson, Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya. Speaking to The Hindu on Saturday, the Sri Lankan president commented on Sri Lanka's relationship with India, with particular reference to the arrest of fishermen, stating: “There are many incidents to show that the relationship is good. We don’t hold… Indian fishermen who routinely fish in our waters…Thousands of fishermen are...
The United States has expressed "really deep concerns" over human rights in Sri Lanka and noted that the government has not taken any steps to initiate an investigation into allegations of war crimes. Speaking at the US State Department's Daily Press Briefing, Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell noted the "strong concern" over violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka. The question has been reproduced below. QUESTION : Just a quick one on human rights. The UN Human Rights Report and also Human Rights Watch, they are accusing Sri Lanka as far as not taking steps against...
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiris has had a busy schedule over the last week, visiting both Palestinian and Israeli Presidents in visits to Ramallah and Jerusalem. On meeting Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas in Ramallah, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence reported , “ President Abbas, recalling with his visits to Sri Lanka in 2008 and 2012, said that he was grateful to President Mahinda Rajapaksa who, as President of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in Sri Lanka for over 35 years, identified very closely with the aspirations of the Palestinian people. He said that the Palestinian...
The Sri Lankan Army has opened a cinema at their Jaffna headquarters, and what better way to inaugurate the building than to provide free transport to Tamil primary school children and their teachers to watch a screening. The army organised the screening of a Singhalese children’s movie at the cinema, with a soldier explaining the story in Tamil in advance. Around 275 students from Year 1 to 11 are reported to have been transported to the screening.
Cairn Lanka has abandoned an oil exploration well in the Mannar basin, after no traces of oil or gas were found. “The well was plugged and abandoned and the rig is being demobilised. The Petroleum Resourced Development Secretariat (PRDS) is being notified,” said Cairn India, which owns Cairn Lanka In an interview to the Daily Mirror , Cairn India and Cairn Lanka Director Sunil Bharati said that there were several paths Cairn Lanka could take in going forward. Graphic courtesy of DailyMirror.lk “Depending on the results of the second phase, there could be two or three different paths available...
The Sri Lankan government has again requested the TNA to engage in talks to discuss power sharing, but only through the controversial Parliamentary Select Committee. "We invite the TNA to join the PSC as it is the only forum where we can discuss matters relating to power sharing with the participation of all stake holders. Going behind external elements is useless" said government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. "The Parliamentary Select Committee comprised all political parties belonging to different ethnicities to discuss an inclusive power sharing mechanism but they have...
In an interview with The Hindu , Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied that the Sri Lankan Army killed the 12 year old son of the LTTE leader, Balachandran Prabakaran. Rajapakse is quoted as saying: “Had it happened, I would have known [it]. It is obvious that if somebody [from the armed forces] had done that, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can’t be ,” “We must not merely look at one side. They must not merely listen to one group and the Opposition [in Sri Lanka]. So they [the Opposition] are trying to get the support of other countries to create an ‘Arab Spring’ here. That won’t happen in Sri Lanka .”