Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

A protest march was held last month opposing limestone excavation, mineral sand mining and a proposed wind power project across the villages of Veravil, Valaipadu, Ponnaveli and Kiranchi, in the Poonakary Divisional Secretariat division of Kilinochchi. The demonstration was organised against plans to establish wind power stations and to carry out mineral sand and limestone extraction in the…

Cricketer Muralitharan may be rewarded for loyalty to Rajapaksas

Following Sri Lanka’s presidential elections, former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is said to be spoken for as the Sri Lankan governor for the Northern Province, according to reports in the Indian press.

Top organised crime investigator flees Sri Lanka

<p>A top investigator in Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) credited with making breakthroughs in high profile cases involving military and state personnel, has fled Sri Lanka with his family.</p> <p>Nishantha de Silva, head of the organised crimes investigation unit at the CID has reportedly traveled to Switzerland with his family, without the approval of the Sri Lankan police department.&nbsp;</p>

Former British PM refused to shake Gotabaya’s hand in Colombo ‘showdown’

Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron described how he refused to shake Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s hand when he met the Rajapaksa brothers in a “showdown” in Colombo in 2013, that was described as one of “the worst tempered foreign meeting(s)” during his tenure.

Cameron, who was in Colombo for the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), justified his attendance at the meeting, stating,

Sri Lankan police instructed to adopt tougher measures to 'curb the drug menace'




Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, General Kamal Gunaratna, issued instructions to Sri Lanka’s police to take tougher measure to 'curb the drug menace'. 

This state came yesterday during a special meeting with senior officers of the Police Narcotic Bureau at the Defence Ministry and increasing securitisation by the Sri Lankan state.

Ranil calls for Buddhist blessings in wake of election loss

In the wake of the United National Party’s loss at last week’s Sri Lankan presidential elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe called on the party to examine on how it lost its Sinhala Buddhist voter base and forge ahead with Buddhist principles.

"Our attention should be focused on the loss of Sinhala Buddhist voter base for the party,” said Wickremesinghe, who resigned from the post of prime minister this week. “We need to especially look into why we lost the Sinhala Buddhist votes."

US discusses ‘good governance’ in meeting with Gotabaya

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka called on the new president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa this week, where they discussed  “a US partnership [with] a sovereign, secure, and prosperous Sri Lanka”.

In their first official meeting, US Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz tweeted that they were charting a partnership based on “good governance that spurs economic growth and protects the rights of all”.

‘Sri Lanka's president Rajapaksa cements family power as brothers join cabinet’

<p>Newly elected President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has begun concentrating power in his own family by appointing his brothers Mahinda and Chamal as ministers,&nbsp;writes Hannah Ellis-Peterson, in an article&nbsp;for The Guardian.&nbsp;</p> <p>Gotabaya's "win marked a return to power for the Rajapaksa family, which has been one of the most dominant political dynasties in Sri Lanka&nbsp;for over a decade. Their previous time in power was marked by human rights abuses, disappearances and a stranglehold over the judiciary and police."</p>

Gotabaya appoints brothers in new interim cabinet

<p>President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, appointed his brothers, Mahinda and Chamal in his new&nbsp;interim cabinet, to&nbsp;serve as ministers until the next parliamentary election.</p> <p>Mahinda is the&nbsp;Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, Policy Development, Buddha Sasana, Cultural, Water Supply &amp; Urban Development, Housing Facilities&nbsp;and Chamal is the&nbsp;Minister of Mahaweli Development, Agriculture &amp;Trade.</p> <p>The interim cabinet also includes:</p> <p>Nimal Siripala de Silva – Minister of Justice, Human Rights &amp; Legal Reforms</p>

CID director overseeing high profile cases demoted

The director of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was demoted on Thursday.

As director Shani Abeysekera oversaw cases involving military personnel including the abduction and disappearance of 11 youths by the Sri Lankan navy.

Other high profile cases included the ongoing murder trial of prominent Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, and more recently the framing of a Muslim doctor falsely accused of sterilising Sinhala women.

Abeysekera was transferred to serve as the personal assistant to the Southern Province Deputy Inspector General (DIG).

Start of Maaveerar remembrance week marked in Tamil homeland

Tamils across the North-East have stated that remembrance activities for Maaveerar Naal on November 27 will go ahead despite increased fears after the election of accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president last week.