Sixteen out of 19 army divisions are deployed within the North-East, reports The Hindu. Quoting the retired Colonel R. Hariharan, the newspaper stated the deployment was more suggestive of "operational readiness" than a post-conflict scenario. The army deployment, excludes the STF (Special Task Force) in the Eastern province, and the Airforce and the Navy.
Speaking on his death bed, T.P. Vijayaraj, the twenty-six year old Indian Tamil auto driver who self-immolated on Monday in Salem in protest against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s visit to India, urged Tamils to protest against the visit. Vijayraj, who succumbed to his burns on Tuesday at 11:45 am at the Government Medical College Hospital, spoke to journalists before his death: “Rajapake should not come into India. The murderer who killed Eelam Tamils in large number should not come to India. What’s your name? Viyaraj. What organization are you part of? CITU. What time did you do...
As Vijayaraj - the 26-year-old who self-immolated in protest against the visit by Rajapaksa to India - was dying from 95% burns, the Sri Lankan president's spokesperson, Bandula Jayasekara, exemplified Sri Lanka's response to the deaths of Tamils who protest. A Twitter conversation that took place on Wednesday between Jayasekara and an opposition supporter who goes by the alias 'Fonseka2010' has been reproduced below: Bandula Jayasekara: President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in New Delhi Fonseka2010: 70 millions Tamils will self immolate, we are told Bandula Jayasekara: :) In Sri Lanka, when it...
The leader of the TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal), Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, known as Pillayan, has been appointed as Presidential Advisor, reports the Daily Mirror. The past few months have seen increasingly brazen attacks by members of the TMVP, including attacks on TNA (Tamil National Alliance) members at pre-election rally , and the intimidation of voters in Batticaloa . No doubt Pillayan's got a few tips to pass on.
The former SLFP organiser for the Trincomalee district, Najeeb A. Majeed, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province on Tuesday, by President Rajapaksa. The appointment is believed to confirm a UPFA (united Peoples Freedom Alliance) and SLMC (Sri Lankan Muslim Congress) coalition agreement. According to News.lk , out of the four ministerial positions, two - health and education - will be held by the UPFA's Pillayan and W. Dissanayake respectively, and two - road development and agriculture - by the SLMC's A.M. Jameel and Hafiz Nazeer Ahamed. Majeed is the son of a deputy...
The rights group, Tamils Against Genocide [TAG] applied on Wednesday morning to the UK Administrative Court for an injunction against the UK government proceeding with the charter flight of forced returns to Sri Lanka scheduled for 15.30 pm on the same day. See here for court order. The application was made based on the information contained in recent report released by TAG, entitled 'Returnees at Risk' , which detailed egregious torture of 26 students and other persons returning voluntarily to Sri Lanka after spending a short period of time in Britain. TAG challenged the UK Border Agency's...
The bus carrying Tamil refugees due to be deported by UK Border Agency at 15:30 on Wednesday, has been halted by protesters, with one protester under the front of the bus. Photograph sent by protester to Tamil Guardian. Published 14:18 BST
In their latest report on Sri Lanka, Freedom House has declared that Sri Lanka has slid down their scale for accountability, civil liberties, rule of law and transparency. The “Countries at the Crossroads” report by the NGO, found that Sri Lanka fell down their rankings in all four areas from 2010 Extracts from the report have been reproduced below. See the full report here . Accountability and Public Voice "In addition, Tamils in both the national and parliamentary elections experienced problems exercising their right to vote. Many internally displaced Tamils did not have national ID cards, could not obtain them, or could not travel to their home village and were therefore unable to vote. During the war, government security forces used the confiscation of national ID cards as a way to control the travel of Tamils. " "President Rajapakse has increasingly tried to centralize power, especially judicial power in the executive branch, and has refused to obey several related Supreme Court rulings." "Basil is believed to be the president’s most trusted advisor, while Gotabaya, who was the chief architect of the defeat of the LTTE, is in charge of the nation’s security and intelligence apparatus. He has been accused of allegedly ordering the murder of opposition politicians and journalists as well as Tamil civilians during the war. "
On Monday, Wu Bangguo Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on his four-day official visit to the country. Wu praised Sri Lanka for its post-war achievements, and asserted that it will continue to support economic growth in the country and provide aid for its development projects. Wu said, "China-Sri Lanka relations are now at the best period of development in history." Currently, China is the largest development partner to Sri Lanka, providing development assistance over 5 billion dollars. Rajapaksa thanked China for its...
Up to 60 Tamil asylum seekers are set to be forced to return back to Sri Lanka by UK authorities on Wednesday, despite evidence from human rights groups that even Tamils who have returned to the island voluntarily, have faced torture. Channel 4 spoke to one asylum seeker due to be deported on Wednesday, who had already cut his neck in an attempted suicide last week. He said, “Definitely, the government, they’ll harass and detain me. I won’t go tomorrow. I want to die here, in this place better. I want to die.” “The government, they will kill me. Definitely” Another Tamil asylum seeker showed...