2nd April 2016

By Jehan Haniff The government had extended an open invitation to all Lankans living in exile to return to their homeland but many of them had not taken the message seriously, MP and leader of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Dharmalingam Siddarthan said yesterday. He said the expatriate Tamil community did not believe in announcements made by the President and top government politicians locally and internationally because their decisions were not carried out by bureaucrats. “I’m personally aware of two cases where expatriates wanted to invest here were driven from pillar to post and discouraged from making an investment. “More than thirty per cent of the youth population in the North and East are unemployed and it is obvious that all of them […]

Recent discovery of two hauls of explosives – one in a cesspit in Mannar and another in a house in Chavakachcheri in Jaffna has raised some security concerns. The joint opposition tried to make out a huge issue by bloating it out of proportion giving the impression that terrorism was raising its head again amidst inabilities of the current government to keep it under control. Reacting to these allegations the Defence Secretary was seen trying to downplay the issue saying that such discoveries are quite normal after a war and that there is nothing to be alarmed. The issue here is not who is right and who is wrong. In any event, we cannot afford to have terrorism again and both government and opposition must […]

Convening a media briefing at N.M Perera Centre in Borella on April 30, former foreign affairs minister Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris said the government, without concealing anything, should reveal the truth to the country with regard to the finding of high explosives from a house at Chavakachcheri. G.L. said the police have found five claymore mines, two suicide jackets, three bags containing C-4 explosives, mobile phones and five SIM cards. The most serious thing about his exposure is that he claimed the cache was to be brought to Wellawatte area.  Commenting on this on the following day, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said had G.L. known about the cache, he should first of all have informed police about it. Had he known for certain that the […]

By Cassendra Doole The suicide jacket discovered in Chavakachcheri recently is nearly five years old, a Terrorism Investigations Division (TID) probe has found. Police said the suspect apprehended in connection with the discovery is still being interrogated. A suicide jacket and a stock of explosives and ammunition were recovered during a raid conducted on a house in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna on Wednesday (30). Police raided the house in Maravanpulo, Chavakachcheri, following a tip-off. The following items were recovered at the location: One suicide jacket, four side chargers, three parcels containing about 12 kilograms of TNT, two packets containing 100 rounds of 9mm ammunition and two battery packs used to detonate side chargers. Police further said it is suspected the explosives and other items had been stored […]

With arrangements being made to adopt constitutional reforms to repeal the Sri Lanka Constitution, representatives of each community in this country have been suggesting various proposals for inclusion in the Draft. BY Mirudhula Thambiah Ceylon Workers Unity Alliance General Secretary Suppiah Sathasivam said it is necessary to establish a Separate Ruling Unit for Up Country Tamils.  Former Minister and the Leader of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Parliamentarian Arumugam Thodaman points out that Tamils of recent Indian origin (Up Country Tamils) should be recognized as a separate nationality in Sri Lanka by allocating them a Separate Ruling Unit.  Meanwhile Menaha Kandaswamy, General Secretary of the Ceylon Workers Red Flag Union said that what was important was that the plantation community must not be recognized as […]