Sri Lanka’s former Public Security Minister, called for Tamil university students in Jaffna who pulled down a Sri Lankan lion flag and replaced it with a black flag earlier this month to be arrested.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has terminated a climate adaptation project in Sri Lanka, as part of a sweeping effort to eliminate what it deems to be “wasteful spending.” 

The project was among 199 contracts cancelled by DOGE, which has been tasked with restructuring US government expenditures under Donald Trump’s administration.

In a post on X, the Department stated:

The Indian conglomerate Adani Green Energy has withdrawn from its US$442 million wind power projects in Sri Lanka,

Tamil landowners in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna, have renewed their demands for the removal of the illegally constructed Tissa Vihara and the return of their ancestral lands, as calls for a united resistance intensify.

The Tissa Raja Maha Vihara in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna, has become a focal point of controversy and resistance for Tamils in the region, symbolising the Sri Lankan state’s ongoing Sinhalisation efforts.

Tamils in Jaffna defied Sri Lankan police intimidation as they launched a two-day protest against a Sinhala Buddhist temple that has been constructed with the help of the military and in defiance of court orders. 

Concerns over environmental destruction, loss of livelihoods, and further displacement have fuelled protests as companies attempt to exploit rare earth minerals in the Tamil homeland.

Despite repeated assurances from successive governments, more than 2,500 acres of Tamil-owned land in Jaffna remain occupied by Sri Lanka’s military, navy, air force, and police, nearly 16 years after the end of the armed conflict, Jaffna District Secretary Maruthalingam Pratheepan confirmed last week.

Controversy surrounds the Tissa Vihara in Thaiyiddy as political leaders and military figures clash over its illegal construction and plans to acquire additional land for its expansion

A recent report by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has described various human rights violations in the treatment of Rohingya asylum seekers detained at the Mullaitivu Air Force Camp.  The report, titled Status of Rohingya Asylum Seekers Detained in Mullaitivu, and Related Issues, highlighted a need for humanitarian intervention, transparency in detention practices, and accountability for the Sri Lankan authorities’ handling of asylum seekers.