Quarantined house in Mannar

Mannar district council member, Anthonyamma Sritharan, blasted the Sri Lankan government for its mismanagement and neglect in appropriately providing self-isolating families in Mannar with COVID-19 relief items.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member Ananthy Sasitharan and former Northern Provincial Councillor (NPC) M.K. Sivajilingham paid tribute to the victims of the Navaly church massacre which took place 26 years ago today.  

Vavuniya police issued a summons yesterday to V. Thavabalan, a Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) activist, for allegedly "delivering relief provisions for people below the poverty line". 

The police went to Thavabalan's house, when he was out for work and handed the official order written in Sinhala language, which ordered that he arrive at the police station on July 12 for an inquiry. 

The latest British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) “Human Rights and Democracy” report slams the continued deterioration of rights in Sri Lanka but reaffirms Britain’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) programme.

India’s High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, reiterated India’s commitment to devolution in Sri Lanka whilst meeting with members of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA).

Members of the Sannar Rural Development Department in Mannar district have complained that state lands meant for public distribution are being allotted to the wealthy instead of the poor people in the village.

Sri Lankan police have arrested 18 people today for protesting the killing of a Tamil man who was shot in the head last month, by a Sri Lankan Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officer attached to parliamentarian Sathasivam Viyalendiran.

Sri Lankan police blocked Tamils in Kilinochchi from marking the three year anniversary of the statue built of Tamil King Akkarayan on Monday and accused demonstrators of "commemorating the Black Tigers". 

^{Environmental damage due to Illegal sand mining, Mullaitivu, July 2020}

Four Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) personnel were injured and admitted to Jaffna Teaching hospital after a scuffle with illegal sand miners in Ariyalai, Jaffna, around 2am this morning. 

Mannar police seized more than 700 kilograms of turmeric yesterday evening and destroyed it by setting fire to the stock. 

It was alleged that the turmeric had been "illegally smuggled" into Sri Lanka from India through the seas. 

Tamil families of the disappeared marked 1,580 days of continuous protest in Mullaitivu today despite the surveillance by Sri Lankan police. 

Photograph courtesy of JDS Lanka

Sri Lankan police arrested a young Tamil man from Trincomalee under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on Friday after he shared a photo of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on Facebook.