Five Buddhist groups have filed a petition against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and its member organisation, Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) accusing the organisations of advocating secession in their manifesto, reported FT.lk. 

The petition was filed at court this week and a date set for November 21. 

The petitioners are representatives from five groups including, the Patriotic National Movement, Patriotic Buddhist Front Secretary, Swarna Hansa Foundation, Buddha Maha Sanvithanaya and the Jaffna Buddhist Association. 

See more here. 

The deputy chairman of the Northern Provincial Council passed away on Saturday morning after suffering an acciden whilst riding his motorcycle to Mullaitivu.  

He is believed to have suffered a heart attack following an accident and was pronounced dead at Mancholai hospital. 
 

Photographs have emerged of Sinhala Buddhist protesters brandishing death threats to the Northern Province Chief Minister during a demonstration in Vavuniya this week.

“We all need to live in peace or you rest in peace,” threatened one placard held by a protester.

Another read “Bin Ladan. Prabakaran. Now Vignashwaram (sic)." 

“Last episode will be televised soon,” it warned.

The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) looked to assure Sinhala Buddhists that any new constitution for the island will not threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Rauf Hakeem stated that a new constitution will not divide the island and that it would not be a threat to Sinhala Buddhists on the island.

See more from Colombo Gazette here.

His comments come as Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday, against Tamil demands for federalism. 

The Sri Lankan army has backtracked on its earlier admission that it kept a list of surrendering LTTE cadres in a court hearing this week, with a military commander "flatly denying" its existence.

Sri Lanka's Major General Chanayaka Gunawardena told the court that no such list existed, contradicting his statement earlier this year. The commander, who heads the army's 58th Division, said in February that the military kept a list of all those who surrendered during the final three days of the armed conflict in May 2009. None of the surrendees, who were taken prisoner by the 58th division, have been seen since.

The Sri Lankan Freedom Party's senior vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva on Thursday accused the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran of inciting ethnic tensions during his speech at the mass Tamil rally on September 24, Ezhuka Tamil. 

Buddhist monks from the Sinhala nationalist group, Bodu Bala Sena led a protest in Vavuniya on Friday against the mass Tamil rally that took place last weekend, Ezhuka Tamil.

The Sri Lankan Federal Party (SLFP) on Thursday categorically rejected the inclusion of foreign judges in any accountability mechanism and said it would never support a federal structure. 

“We, the SLFP, will never support to divide the country via a federal structure under any circumstances. It’s not possible to get two thirds majority without our support for the new constitution,” minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a presss conference in Colombo.

The commander of the Sri Lankn army warned that the military will “do what it must” in response to comments made by Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran.

Speaking to reporters after paying tribute to Sinhala Buddhist monks, Army Commander Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva said he would protect the "unity" of the country as well as "national interests" according to Colombo Gazette.

Sri Lanka slid down 3 positions in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness index to 71st out of 138 countries.

Whilst South Asia continued an upward trend in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) Sri Lanka, received a rating of 4.19 out of 7, which saw it drop 3 places.

Summarising Sri Lanka’s position the report said,