20th April 2016

A Sinhala radical Buddhist monk outfit Tuesday urged the government to remove main Opposition leader R. Sampanthan and arrest Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister C.V Wigneswaran, accusing them of trying to achieve what the Tamil Tiger rebels could not achieve at gunpoint. Magalkande Sudantha Thera of Sinhala Ravaya demanded the immediate appointment of Sinhala Opposition leader, charging the TNA leader of only representing the interest of the Tamils in the county. “They need to appoint an Opposition leader who can represent the interest of the majority Sinhala community. The incumbent Opposition leader should be removed with immediate effect,” Magalkande Sudantha Thera said at a media conference held at Bodhu Bala Sena office in Colombo. Claiming that the situation is deteriorating, he said it was […]

The Union of Christian Churches this week criticised the Sri Lankan military’s continued intervention in civilian affairs in the North. Stating there was an urgent need to remove the military from the region, the churches also condemned illegal fishing by Sinhala fishermen from the South, as well as their attack on Tamil officials. “We strongly condemn the growing military involvement in civil administration,” the churches in Mannar, Vavuniya, Vanni and Vadamadchchi said in a joint statement. “Reconciliation and justice will truly come to Sri Lanka when everyone can live without fear and with freedom.”

Sri Lankan police officers attempted to arrest Tamil protestors in Jaffna on Monday, after they entered land which has been illegally taken over by the government’s Coconut Development Board. Demonstrators, including Tamil National Alliance MP Sritharan, entered the 51-acre patch of land in Palai, Jaffna on Monday, demanding it be returned to its rightful owners. A decision had been granted in favour of the Tamil villagers by the District Development Committee, yet the Sri Lankan authorities continue their occupation. Sri Lankan policeman then entered the area and threatened to arrest the protestors. The demonstrators agreed to vacate the area, whilst the police pledged they would try and resolve the issue as soon as possible.  

Another Tamil man who returned from a Middle Eastern country early last week has been arrested by the Colombo Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Tuesday. Muthulingam Jeyakanthan of Muthaiyankaddu in Mullaitivu was questioned by the TID at the Katunayake International Airport on his return from Doha on April 12, for several hours before being released. “He was asked to come to the TID office at the 2nd Floor in Colombo this morning. Around 2.15 pm, the TID has informed his sister that he has been arrested. But his family has not been given any document with regard to his arrest,” his lawyer Dominic Premanand toldCeylon News on Tuesday. The father of two went to Doha in 2013 to work and returned to the country to […]

Christians are facing increasing levels of persecution in the Buddhist country of Sri Lanka, and the pressure has turned violent in several cases. Release International, a ministry that exposes persecution of Christians, has reported the targeting coming from several fronts, perpetrated by Buddhist monks and government officials. Churches and prayer meetings have been forced to close down. In several instances the monks have refused to allow Christians to bury their dead in public cemeteries, or sometimes even on church grounds. A human rights lawyer in the country has documented over 120 cases of persecution against Christians in the past year. “You don’t normally associate Buddhism with violence, but time and again we hear that it is Buddhist monks who are leading the attacks against the churches. And […]