As India grapples with a wave of coronavirus infections, Sri Lanka’s cases continue to hit daily highs, sparking fears of deadly infections being met with an intensified authoritarian response from the state.     

Sri Lanka’s Navy has reported that it blocked 11 Indian fishing vessels from entering Sri Lankan waters and detained 86 individuals before sending them back to India.

These arrests come as Sri Lanka’s Navy has intensified surveillance of waters in the North-Western and Northern waters. Sri Lanka’s Fishery Minister, and leader of the pro-government paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas Devananda has maintained that the detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen will continue.

Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, Jaffna MP and leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootani (TMTK), congratulated M.K. Stalin on his party’s victory in the recent Tamil Nadu elections and being elected as the state’s Chief Minister for the first time.

This weekend marked the 39th birthday of Isaipriya, a famed Tamil newsreader that was executed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

In a message marking World Press Freedom Day, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed that under his government media freedom and right to information was always protected but warned journalists to be “unbiased”.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its alliance parties have trounced the coalition of incumbent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to win the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections with a majority of over 150 seats.

The DMK, along with its alliance, has registered victory or is leading in 158 constituencies out of a total 234, relegating AIADMK to 78 seats from its previous 136.  

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) "categorically condemns Sri Lanka's enactment of discriminatory laws under the pretext of 'deradicalization' and 'counter terrorism' prompting arbitrary arrests, torture and banning of [the] Burqa," in a statement released on 29 April 2021. 

The OIC-IPHRC also highlighted that these "discriminatory laws" allow for "grave deprivations of human rights of Muslim minorities and [are] violative of Sri Lanka's international human rights obligations."

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) denounced Sri Lanka’s Cabinet's approval of the proposed burqa ban and called on the country to "categorically reject this discriminatory proposal as a violation of the right to freedom of religion."

Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara proposed the ban on March 13, claiming that it was in the interest of ‘protecting national security’ because burqas are a ‘sign of religious extremism.’

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister, and leader of the pro-government paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Douglas Devananda chaired a discussion over illegal fishing in Mullaitivu which was attended by government officials and representatives of the army’s fishery organization.

By Kithsiri Wijesinghe

Colombo magistrate has approved the Counter-Terrorism Investigation Department (CTID) request to continue the detention of 26-year-old Muslim poet, Ahnaf Jazeem, under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.