Remembrance events for the victims of the Sencholai massacre, in which 53 female students and three of their teachers were viciously slaughtered by the Sri Lankan air force, took place in Mullaitivu this morning, despite a ban announced by Sri Lankan police earlier this week, and heavy military surveillance.

Commemoration events are usually held annually at the memorial arch at the Vallipunam Junction near the site of the bombed home. This year, while arrangements were being made to hold a remembrance this morning (14^th August 2020); organisers were called to the Puthukudiyirippu police station on Wednesday, and informed that the commemoration events could not be held. The police also threatened the organisers with arrest if they went ahead and organised the event.

Following a parliamentary election which has further empowered the Rajapaksa regime, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT) in the UK has called upon Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to implement sanctions against senior Sri Lankan officials.

The officials listed are former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga; Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka; Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva; and, Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake.

The leader of the Thamizh Makkal Thesiya Kootani (TMTK) and former Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C. V. Wigneswaran said that “Tamils and Muslims should work together” to resist the “Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism that has infiltrated the parliament.”

Wigneswaran, who was newly-elected as a parliamentarian in the Jaffna district, claimed that Tamils and Muslims face “Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism in a never seen before unparalleled level” in a press release issued by him last week. 

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan Air Force. 

Malaysia's Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Mohamed Said, said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will remain listed as 'terror group' in the country. 

When questioned as to why the LTTE remains listed as a terror group despite being inactive since 2009, the Minister replied that group was listed as such based on Section 66 B(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

The Metropolitan Police has opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by British mercenaries against Tamils in Sri Lanka, decades after UK military veterans trained and assisted government troops on the island.

The investigation, which is being led by the Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team, comes after the publication of a book by investigative journalist Phil Miller earlier this year, detailing how mercenaries with Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) effectively set up one of Sri Lanka’s most notorious military units and even took part in massacres.

The State of Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas sent his congratulations to Sri Lanka’s war crimes accused Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last week, after elections left his Sinhala nationalist party with a super-majority in parliament.

Abbas praised Rajapaksa’s victory, stating “it is our great pleasure to send to you and to the friendly Sri Lankan people, on behalf of the State of Palestine, its people and on my own behalf, our greetings and heartfelt congratulations for your impending appointment as Prime Minister for the new Government, after the remarkable success at the General Election”.

The President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly M K Stalin has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to halt the implementation of the recently unveiled National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which he stated would seek to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu

Talks have begun between Sri Lanka and Myanmar regarding establishing direct air connectivity between the two countries, the FT Lanka reported., as ties between the two governments continue to expand.

Nalin de Silva, the Ambassador-designate of Colombo to Myanmar has been reported to have had a meeting with the top echelons of the Myanmar Airways International, a privately owned airlines based in Yangon, and discussed the possibility of flying passenger planes without the need for a transit.

The Maha Sangha of the three Nikayas extended their blessings to the newly appointed government held by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party for their victory in Sri Lanka’s general election last week, following the party’s staunchly Sinhala nationalist campaigning.