Day: 1 June 2015

By Mirudhula Thambiah Making a comment recently about an increase in rape incidents in the Northern Province, State Minister of Education Velusamy Radhakrishnan, said it hurts to hear that around 10 schoolgirls have been subjected to sexual abuse during the last two weeks in the Northern Province. He further said that although most of the sexual abuse was committed by outsiders, there are cases where even schoolteachers have committed such acts. “We feel thoroughly hurt to hear that around 10 schoolgirls have faced sexual abuse during the last 14 days.…

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Politics & Society by Prasad Gunewardene Hailing from the Southern city of Matara, I recognize and hail the Tamil Race as a proud and respectable community. Having studied at the school by the sea in Mt. Lavinia with many Tamil classmates like R. Renganathan, Rajaseelan Gnanam, late Frankin R. Sathyapalan, late Kula Indrakumar, Rohan Mather, Rohan Nagarajah and P. Manotharan to name a few, we knew no racial differences from our childhood as we were together like brothers of one family, and still we are. I continue to associate more…

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Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith P. Perera today asked Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to make a public declaration on his assets and financial records. He inquired that if former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had not committed any frauds, he should make a public announcement on his bank details and properties. “The people can provide a judgment on him and his assets after this declaration,” the deputy minister told a news conference held at the Ministry. He stated that former President Rajapaksa was attempting to make temples as political institutes and trying…

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The nine individuals suspected of the rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Punguditivu, were further remanded till June 15 by Kayts Magistrate Courts earlier today. Meanwhile, the Jaffna Magistrate further remanded a group of protesters arrested on May 20 for attacking the Jaffna Courts during a protest demanding death penalty to the suspected criminals. Two minors in this group were released on bail. Police arrested 130 persons for the attack on the Jaffna courts on May 20. They were remanded until early June by the Jaffna Magistrate. The rest…

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The recent rape and murder of a Jaffna schoolgirl have seemingly taken a new twist. It revolves round the main suspect of this case having had been released by the Police upon influence, political or otherwise. The suspect, a Sri Lankan Tamil resident in Switzerland, was subsequently arrested at Wellawatte. He had apparently first been taken in to custody by the Police in the North where the crime had taken place, at Pungudutivu, a suburb in Jaffna, but had subsequently been released, due to influence. The name of an academic…

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The non-partisan National Peace Council (NPC) has called for a national policy on resettlement of the war-displaced on 30 May. In its press release, NPC also said that Muslim resettlement is one of the tragic problems, stressing the need for an ‘administrative mechanism to ensure resettlement in a fair and transparent manner’. Following is the statement: “One of the unresolved and tragic problems of Sri Lanka’s war is the return and resettlement of the Muslim people who were expelled from the north by the LTTE in 1990. An estimated 80%…

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The entire country last week continued to mourn the death of  Vithya Sivaloganathan who was allegedly gang raped and then brutally murdered in Kayts in the Jaffna Peninsula. This incident shook the country and with that came the wake where protests emerged in many parts of the North breaking the silence. In solidarity with Vithya’s family and the North, a vigil was held last Tuesday at the Kanatta Roundabout in Borella with the participation of many individuals, university students, academia and members of civil society organizations.  Speaking to The Sunday Leader,…

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UPFA Southern Provincial Council Minister D.V. Upul, addressing a public meeting, threatened to stone the officers attached to the Police FCID to death. He vowed to do so when Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes the Prime Minister again. The Provincial Council Minister made this remark in the presence of UPFA Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa and several other local politicians representing the Hambantota district. “Collect the name-list of those who are attached to the FCID from the Constable to the DIG. They should be stoned to death when Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes the Prime Minister…

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