Tamils in the North-East held memorials for the 35,000 people that perished during the catastrophic tsunami that hit the coasts of the North-East and South of the island of Sri Lanka, thirteen years ago.

The assassinated Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham was remembered across the Tamil homeland on Christmas Day, on the 12th anniversary of his killing.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena oversaw a meeting of the National Buddhist Think Tank this week, where he pledged his government’s support for a host of new initiatives.

Defying calls for demilitarisation of the North-East, the Sri Lankan military held public Christmas celebrations in Batticaloa this week.

The former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, R Sampanthan while he was in hospital with an illness.

Mr Sampanthan was admitted to a private hospital in Colombo on Thursday with an undisclosed illness. 

Churches across the North-East celebrated Christmas today, December 25, with devotees gathering over night for Midnight Mass. 

Tamils gathered for Midnight Mass at St Mary's church in Batticaloa, 12 years on from the assassination of the Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham inside the church during the service on December 24, 2005. Devotees remembered his death, recalling that 12 years later no one has faced justice. 

There have been more than 90 incidents of attacks on Christians in Sri Lanka in 2017 alone said the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), noting a rise in the number of assaults.

NCEASL general secretary Godfrey Yogarajah told Christianity Today that there have been hundreds of attacks on Christians since the government of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena came in to power, adding that the number of incidents rises in the run up to Christmas.

Yesterday marked the 12th death anniversary of the late Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingham, who was shot dead on Christmas Eve by armed government paramilitary men in 2005.

Despite the present government's pledge of accountability and almost two years passing since the UNP-SLFP coalition came to power, no one has been held accountable for his death.

Mr. Pararajasingham, who was a senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) figure, and the MP for Batticaloa district, was shot and killed by two gunmen whilst he was attending Christmas prayers at the St Mary's church in Batticaloa town. His wife, Sugunam Pararajasingham was seriously wounded in the gunfire.

The cremation of a Buddhist monk, led by Sri Lankan army and police forces, in a location adjacent to both a memorial for Tamil massacre victims and a Hindu temple has caused anger in Jaffna.

Sri Lanka's minister of fisheries and aquatic resource development, Mahinda Amaraweera reiterated on Saturday that the government would not sell "even an inch of state owned land to private investors."

"The current government has been successful in its effort to regain State land sold to foreigners by the previous regime," Minister Amaraweera was quoted by Ada Derana as saying.