A group of eight Tamil devotees who were assaulted and arrested by Sri Lankan police officers at the Vedukkunaari temple earlier this month, have had the case filed against them dismissed, after being detained for more than a week in custody.

Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister and Inspector General of Police, Tiran Alles, declared, during a programme in Jaffna, that Sri Lanka’s notorious anti-drug operation “Yukthiya” will continue with a focus on the Tamil regions in the North-East, despite outcry from human rights defenders.

The Sri Lankan Navy  have arrested 21 Tamil Nadu fishermen and seized two trawlers off Delft island while conducting a "special operation" this week.

The navy said it "deployed Fast Attack Craft to chase away a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers" for "illegal fishing". 

The Hindu Federation of Switzerland has condemned the arrest of the eight Tamils at Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple and the ongoing attempts by Sri Lanka's archaeology department to acquire places of religious worship belonging to the Tamil Hindu community. 

The statement comes as Tamils across the homeland protest against the unlawful arrest of eight Tamil men who participated in the observance of Shivarathri at Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple in Vavuniya North. 

The United States completed a three-day training of Sri Lankan troops earlier this month, teaching the air force how to conduct Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights, as the military relationship between the two continues to grow.

The Sri Lankan Air Force boasted that the latest training is “ultimately encouraging greater interoperability between the United States Department of Defense and the Sri Lanka Tri-Services”.

Sri Lanka’s State Intelligence Services (SIS) has filed a report against the principal of the Koppay Teaching College, S Laleesan, accusing him of‘ provoking the Tamil youth to rise up and disturb the ethnic harmony’ at a panel discussion last year.

The SIS report has been filed with Sri Lanka’s education ministry, which has reportedly launched an investigation into Laleesan’s remarks, which were delivered during a panel discussion on December 10, 2023.

A survey conducted by the Center for Policy Alternatives found that a growing number of people on the island agree that “in certain situations, a dictatorial government can be preferable to a democratic one,” reaching levels last beaten in 2018 – shortly before Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as president.

Representatives of civil society organisations, clergy, and the general public staged a protest in front of the Trincomalee Shiva Temple to demonstrate their anger at the continued detention of the Vedukkunaari devotees by the Sri Lankan state.

The Sri Lankan state is on a concerted mission. Following a long history of killings and massacres, it is fervently pursuing a more insidious endeavour across the North-East, attempting to erase Eelam Tamil existence. Buddhist monuments are being purposefully constructed, whilst attempts to seize Tamil-owned land have persevered through the military and government’s archaeology and forestry departments. Whilst members of the international community seem to place more interest in embellishing ties with Colombo, the Tamil homeland remains under threat.

Local Tamils in Vavuniya staged a sit-down protest outside the Human Rights Commission office in the town, condemning the inaction by officers to investigate Sri Lanka’s arrests of the eight Tamils at the Vedukkunaari temple last week after devotees were assaulted and manhandled.