The leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) M Karunanidhi said that the Tamil homeland continues to be occupied by Sri Lankan troops despite the change of government on the island earlier this year.

Quoting a report by US think tank, the Oakland Institute, the DMK chief said it “shows that injustice against Tamils has not reduced despite a new President.” “The rule changed there, but did the scene?" he asked.

Accusing the Sri Lankan government of not “having the will” to meet Tamil demands, Mr Wigneswaran said,

“The central government in Sri Lanka will not do anything towards minorities or the Tamils unless they are forced to do something.”

The Sri Lankan military held two workshops in Kilinochchi this month to teach and “enlighten” both Tamil students and farmers about telecommunications and solar power.

Troops from the 9 Sri Lanka Signal Corps (SLSC) and 7 Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) reportedly took the lead in arranging the entire exhibition” on telecommunications for Kilinochchi schoolchildren, earlier this month.

The Sri Lankan army stated that there were “more than 300 students with the blessings of Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander, SFHQ-KLN.”

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, James Dauris, has made a visit to Jaffna this week.

Tamil Guardian

Mr Dauris met with the chief priest at Nallur Temple and tweeted that they had discussed the “central role of religious leaders in reconciliation.”

“We planned to organise a protest today bur we decided to give one week for the police to find the culprits. We are watching whether the government is purposely postponing the investigation,” said the parliamentarians in a press conference.

Sri Lanka’s former commander of the army denied rape and torture by Sri Lankan security forces had taken place whilst he was in charge, stating he could “clarify” any allegations.

The newly promoted Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka declared “there were no rapes, no torture during my command during the war” but admitted that there have been “a couple of allegations”.

He said in an interview with the Guardian that his “intentions are clear”. “The army as a whole, I can give the assurance that we never committed war crimes,” he added.

The Jaffna District Child Development Committee stated there is a “well planned strategy” in place in the province to turn school children into drug addicts.

Writing to Sri Lanka’s Deputy Inspector General of the police office last month, the committee stated that there was a rising crime rate in Jaffna, with school children involved in violence and crimes.

“There is a well planned strategy in place to make school children drug addicts,” said the letter.

 A “silent war” through the military occupation of Tamil land in Sri Lanka continues to seek “Sinhalese domination in former Tamil homelands,” found a report by a US think tank, the Oakland Institute.

The Long Shadow of War: Struggle for Justice in Post War Sri Lanka, released on Thursday, highlighted that at least 160,000 military Sinhalese soldiers remained in the Tamil north-East of Sri Lanka, with the military involved in processes that seized land from local populations and “systematically” suppressed Tamil culture and history.

The Oakland  Institute’s executive director, Anuradha Mittal, noting that the new Sri Lankan government’s action ‘rebuffs the current government pledges to credibly investigate alleged war crimes, called on the international community to ensure the rights of minorities were protected.

In a press release launching the report, she added,

“This is a vital moment for the future of Sri Lanka. Until the new government takes decisive action to curtail and reverse the colonization process, truly replacing the culture of impunity with a culture of responsibility and accountability, there is little hope that the Tamils and other minorities will be treated justly. It should be the responsibility of the international community, and not a political dilemma, to ensure the human and land rights of the minorities in Sri Lanka.”

Noting demographic changes in the eastern provinces, the report found that some areas had seen the Tamil population halve due to state actions.

Commenting on post-conflict “Sinhalisation” of the North-East the US think-tank found that Sri Lanka had used anti-terrorism to justify the destruction of memorial sites for ex-LTTE cadres and the “ongoing militarisation of the North and takeover of Tamil lands.”

Between December 2014 and January 2015 the Oakland institute carried out research and fieldwork to document the state of land conflicts and displacement.