The occupying Sri Lanka Army is said to have planned to demolish the historical Chivanakar Siva temple in Uruththirapuram in Ki’linochchi district and to construct a Buddhist Vihare in that site, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan has said. The Tamil parliamentarian has urged the Colombo government to stop the demolition of the Hindu […]

All provincial councils, excepting the Sabaragamuwa PC, have rejected a Health Ministry plan to raise reproductive health awareness among schoolchildren.The other PCs are of the view that the subject is irrelevant for schoolchildren. Deputy minister of health Lalith Dissanayake said these PCs have mixed up reproductive health education with sex education. He said the government […]

Russia, which voted against the US Resolution on ‘Accountability and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka’ at the UNHRC recently, said that the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime should now focus its attention on implementing its very own LLRC recommendations. The Russian Ambassador in Colombo, Valadimir P Mikhaylov, told The Island in an interview, that implementing the recommendations “will […]

The government has directed the police to ascertain the whereabouts of 30 persons following a request made by the US Embassy in Colombo on behalf of some NGOs.Authoritative sources told The Island yesterday that the request had been made in the wake of the adoption of a US-led resolution at the recently concluded United Nations […]

Col. R. HariharanSubterranean threats to India-Sri Lanka relations According to a news item in the Colombo daily “The Island,” Sri Lanka intelligence services have received information that around 150 terrorists who returned to Sri Lanka from India were now hiding in the North and the East.They are reported to have undergone “a special arms training […]

The Sri Lankan police on Monday denied claims that Tamil Tiger rebels had infiltrated the island through southern India.  Local media reports quoting police intelligence said that 150 Tamil Tigers had infiltrated the north and east of the country after receiving training in southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.The rebels were said to have reached […]

A day before the Sri Lankan Parliament is to discuss the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution asking it, among other things, to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, an English newspaper reported that 150 terrorists, trained in India, have landed in Sri Lankan shores in the grab of fishermen to […]

The Alliance of Media Organizations is disturbed by the recent wave of hate speeches and slanderous personal attacks directed against media personnel and human rights activists in the country, in the aftermath of the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka.Last week, Minister Mervyn Silva, addressing a public rally, threatened to ‘break the […]

Three arrested, others at largeState intelligence services have received information that around 150 terrorists who underwent a special arms training at three secret camps in Tamil Nadu, have returned to Sri Lanka and are hiding in the North and the East to carry out a destablisation campaign.Their target was to sabotage and disrupt the on-going […]

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene  So now the truth is plain to see, unvarnished and appalling in its consequences for Sri Lanka. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), says the Government at a press briefing this week, has exceeded its mandate and therefore only those recommendation that are ‘feasible’ will be implemented. We will return […]

 S. Gary AnandasangareeThe armed conflict maybe over in Sri Lanka but peace has not been won since the brutal end to the 27-year-old war three years ago. Credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity have been levelled against both parties to the conflict.The underlying grievances of the Tamil minority remain outstanding with no […]

Teresita SchafferTeresita Schaffer, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, was U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1992-1995.  The meeting in Geneva is over, leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s time to put Sri Lanka’s political rebuilding on track, and repair US-Sri Lanka relations in the process.Despite the dark conspiracies […]

Namini WijedasaA stubby man in an open-necked shirt stands against the backdrop of a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, waving a thick forefinger threateningly in the air. Mervyn Silva, the minister of public relations, growls that traitors should be executed as in the times of ancient kings.‘Adishtana […]

Westminster InsiderForeign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) mandarins play the long game, and, as a matter of policy doctrine believe credible domestic inquiries of war crimes and crimes against humanity provide more durable solutions than those externally imposed.For this reason, and, the improbability of securing a majority in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for […]

Kolonnawa, a suburb of Colombo, is bizarre. It came to the limelight a few months ago when one of its prominent citizens, former Member of Parliament, was killed.  Though the news headlines flashed the slaying of the former MP and Presidential Advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, there were other facets of the incident that showed involvement […]

Abducted ex-provincial councillor cum businessman relates anxious hours at the hands of six men who demanded Rs. 50 million from him Sagara Senaratne, a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Colombo district organiser-cum-businessman who was bundled into a van by a gang of six men earlier this week and dumped on the roadside several hours later, […]

Four army personnel forced the wife of missing JVP dissident group Jana Aragalaya Movement member and activist Kugan Muruganathan, to sign a document in Sinhala, which she could not understand, parliamentarian Ajith Kumara told the Sunday Times.On March 23, around 4 p.m., four army personnel had come to Kugan’s house in Achchuveli and forced Kugan’s […]

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) has decided to resort to stern trade union action to safeguard State universities, beginning with an island-wide strike from April 26. A statement issued by the association said it has decided to resume trade union action because of the lack of interest on the part of the Government […]

Villagers of Delft Island, Jaffna have questioned the failure of the state to disarm former paramilitary cadres even after the rape and killing of 13-year-old Jesudasan Lakshini allegedly by a former Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) cadre on March 3 this year. Angry villagers claim that it was only after they made a complaint to […]

Now that the dust has almost settled, following the hectic campaign to first ward off and then to defeat a US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva, the question that keeps popping up is; “what is the Government’s position vis-à-vis the LLRC report?”The answer is blowing in the wind. A multitude of […]

In the magisterial inquiry into the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, Homagama Magistrate T.G.S.A. Perera on Monday reserved order for May 17, whether or not to call former Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris as witness, The Magistrate reserved the order after the prosecution challenged the validity of the transcript copy of the statement made by […]

Questions over law enforcement as minister openly boasts of forcing journalist to fleeMedia organisations are making legal consultations regarding the recent statement made by Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva, where he admitted forcing journalist and media rights activist Poddala Jayantha to flee the country two years ago.Free Media Movement Convener Sunil Jayasekera told the Sunday […]

Toronto may be nearly 4,000 miles away from Geneva, but a US-sponsored resolution at the UNHRC cast its shadow over a literary meet, aimed at bringing closer various Sri Lanka ethnic groups in the Canadian city. The event was Samadhana 2012, organized by the local group Sri Lanka Without Borders. This one, featuring authors Shyam […]

 Police investigating the killing of an EPDP cadre, identified as Ragunathan alias Muththu, on March 17 at Periyakulam, Trincomalee, have arrested three Sri Lankan Tamils who received weapons training in South India.A leaflet left near the body identified the victim as a traitor claiming that the LTTE had killed him. Muththu had been with the […]

Amidst much talk of the abuse of Human Rights taking place in the local and international fora, the fact that there remain 27 persons who are missing in the last five months serves as a damning indictment on this government that has continuously pledged to up hold the rights of the people. Today we carry a […]

The political dialogue between the government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has hit a fresh snag with MP Suresh Premachandran suggesting third party mediation for talks.Mr. Premachandran told the Daily Mirror that he requested both the government and his party to give serious thought to his suggestion if they were genuinely interested in evolving […]