Tamils families of the disappeared in Batticaloa braved Sri Lankan police intimidation to stage a protest to mark International Human Rights Day last week, even as the security forces attempted to stop their demonstration.

The former leader of the British Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn announced the launch of a new initiative that brings together “academics and researchers, leaders and campaigners, and grassroots people and organisations” to work on a range of issues, including on self-determination, democracy and independence, in places such as Sri Lanka.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has file a police complaint after the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) led by Pillaiyan reportedly barged into the Valaichchenai Pradeshiya Sabha meeting this week and illegally passed the local body’s budget for 2021.

With reports that the Secretary to the Pradeshiya Sabha was locked inside his office, the TMVP allegedly passed the budget in a closed door meeting, following a clash that left two TNA councillors hospitalised.

Writing in International Policy Digest, J.S. Tissainayagam, highlights the continued defiance of Eelam Tamils, despite attempts by the Sri Lankan government to crackdown on Maaveerar Naal, a day to commemorate fallen Tamil cadres.

_{^{Army officers carry out milk production procedures - Photo: Army.lk}}

Sri Lankan army officers have started their own fresh milk production, which the army states is another project in becoming “self-sufficient in essential commodities”, according to the army’s official website.

Standard and Poor's announced a downgrade to Sri Lanka’s credit score this week, in another blow to the economy that sees the country on par with Argentina, Mozambique and Belize.

“Sri Lanka’s economy is suffering another major blow in 2020,” the ratings company said. “We lowered our ratings on Sri Lanka based on our assessment that risks to debt servicing capacity have risen, as the government’s access to external financing has become increasingly dependent on favorable business, economic, and financial conditions.”

The decision of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to abstain on the passing of Sri Lanka’s budget last week “was already taken in New Delhi and communicated to the TNA leadership”, according to a report in the Sunday Times this morning.

TNA parliamentarians, and the TMTK’s C V Wigneswaran, all abstained on a vote on the final reading of the 2021 Budget which was passed on Thursday. The budget brings a host of nationalist policies, including a digital protectionist tax.

From the North-East, the Tamil National People’s Front was the only major Tamil party to vote against it.

Protests by Mullaitivu fishermen intensified this month as businesses carried out a hartal and staged a demonstration in front of the District Secretariat, as they demanded an end to encroachment by Indian trawler boats.

The murder case of the late senior journalist, Lasantha Wickrematunge was postponed yet again to June 4^th 2021.

The former editor of Sunday Leader, was critical of the Rajapaksa regime that was in power at the time, and spoke up against the government’s war efforts against the Tamils in the North-East. Wickrematunge was vocal against the abundant occurrence of human rights abuses by the reigning government and was assassinated on January 8^th, 2009.

Udaya Gammanpila, a government spokesman, has claimed that there are no Tamil political prisoners as “those arrested in the North and East are detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act on terrorism charges and cannot be deemed as political prisoners”.