A new book by Frances Harrison detailing the horrific end to Sri Lanka’s armed conflict in which tens of thousands of Tamil people perished in five months in 2009 was released Thursday by publisher Portobello Books.

The Cabinet has approved two billion rupees for new military uniforms and 4000 million rupees towards a brand new military hospital, announced the Cabinet spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday.

The plans, proposed by the President, are intended to provide uniforms for security forces, including the Special Task Force.

A recent bill, with regards to development in the eastern provinces that was passed this week, has received wide criticism from local Tamil councillors and further civil circles, reported TamilNet.

The bill allows for the establishment of a Department of Divineguma for Development, which essentially incorporates several local development authorities into one single unit under Colombo’s Development Ministry, which is headed by the Sri Lankan President's sibling, Basil Rajapaksa.

Buddhist monks threw stones and damaged windows of the Bangladeshi embassy in Sri Lanka on Thursday, as they protested against attacks on Buddhist temples and businesses in Bangladesh.

A police officer and a monk inspect the damage (Daily Mirror)

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Sulfur Rahman, said about 900 protesters, mostly Buddhists monks, threw water bottles and brickbats at the high commission, causing damage to the windows and property. 

Buddhist monk Gakagoda Gnenesaara said in the statement that,

“We were tolerant, but day by day we notice great injustice caused to Buddhists by Islamic extremists, we can no longer be patient.”

The protest was organised by a Buddhist organisation called Bodu Bala Sena.

A leaflet was distributed some days before the protest, which called on protestors to “strike down extremists as they flee”.

Writing on the online site OpenDemocracy.net, Frances Harrison argues that the government's treatment of witness is "short-sighted" and "will hamper any kind of reconciliation or understanding between the different ethnic groups".

See here for full article. Extracts reproduced below:

The chief Buddhist monks from Asgiriya and Malwatte have met with Sri Lanka’s Higher Education minister, to advise him on how to handle the country’s striking university academics.

The monks used their expertise to reportedly asked to Minister to be more “flexible” and to “work cooperatively” with all parties in a meeting in Kandy.

See our earlier posts:

Keep monks out of politics - monk urges politician (15 Jan 2012)

The "operational role of the UNHCR in Sri Lanka would be phased down" said the UN Hugh Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, despite the ongoing displacement of 'resettled' Tamil IDPs.

Guterres added:

The premises of an online journalist were ransacked in broad daylight today, reported the Sri Lanka Mirror.  The board room of the editor of yukthiya.com, Krishantha Rajapakse, was stormed by three persons claiming to be the police.

The journalist was forced to answer questions by the intruders, who brandished a letter that had the police logo and the words Anti-Terrorism Act clearly written on the heading.

The Minister for Economic Development, Basil Rajapakse, has reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment to continue training its personnel in India.

Talking to Indian reporters, the president’s brother conceded that recent protests against Sri Lankans had “hurt” their feelings, reported the DailyMirror.

The resettlement and rehabilitation of Tamils in the North-East "have been of the highest and most important priority" for the Indian government, said Manmohan Singh in a reply to a letter by DMK leader Karunanidhi.

Singh added,