Day: 20 February 2016

The man arrested yesterday on suspicion of keeping two foreign women as slaves in the town of Vik in Southern Iceland is of Sri Lankan nationality, it has been confirmed. The two alleged female victims are also from Sri Lanka. The man detained was a sub-contractor for the Icewear knitting factory in the town of Vík. The popular Víkurprjón shop in the town has terminated its contract with Icewear in the wake of this arrest. It is believed that the two women in question were kept in the basement of…

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Regions with the highest rate of poverty in Sri Lanka are areas inhabited by Tamils, according to a study of the World Bank. The regions come under the districts of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi in the Northern Province; Batticaloa in the East and plantations in Badulla district (Uva Province) and Nuwara Eliya (Central Province). One Sinhala-dominated region the study has identified as having a high rate of poverty is the Monaragala district. Mullaitivu, the poorest Going by Sri Lanka’s national poverty line of about $1.50 per day (Purchasing Power Parity…

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Spare a thought for Udaya Gammanpila. The man is kept busy these days commenting about anything and everything, ranging from national anthems to the appointment of the Attorney General. He does so enthusiastically too, perhaps believing that any publicity is good publicity. His latest foray was to ask the government to appoint the Acting Attorney General to the more substantive post. A reasonable request, you could argue. Unless, of course, the matter was being decided on by the Constitutional Council which is not a single person but a body of…

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Tamils want a Constitution with a Federal System BY Mirudhula Thambiah Batticaloa District Parliamentarian Gnanamutthu Srineshan said only a new Constitution with federal system with autonomy for every province will bring in a suitable political solution for Sri Lanka. “A federal set up with autonomy in every State or province will solve the ethnic issue of this country.  Our leader Sampanthan has clearly said that a solution should be reached in a united Sri Lanka. Right to self- determination of the Tamils is a must,” he said. Following are excerpts…

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Reginald Cooray always expressed his views in favour of political rights of the minorities as well as agreeing on adequate devolution of powers to the North and East. Vijaya Kumaratunga in retrospect By Manekshaw The Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R.Sampanthan welcoming the appointment of Reginald Cooray as new Governor of the Northern Province mentioned that the government has made an appropriate choice by appointing a person with liberal views as the Governor of the Northern Province. Beginning his political career in the Sri…

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Since 2009, Jaffna has become host to hordes of curious tourists, visiting to see what a city ravaged by war looks like. For the residents, there are many bitter memories. It is difficult to have a conversation where the war doesn’t crop up. Some, though, are trying to move on with their lives. Slowly but surely, space to express grief and share memories is opening up – and the arts is playing a big role in this. Founder of the Centre for Performing Arts (CPArts) Father Saveri is a respected…

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By Chitra Weerarathne The Supreme Court yesterday, reserved the order in respect of the petition filed by H. K. Don Chandrasoma of Kelaniya, citing as respondents, Mavai S. Senathirajah, the secretary of the Illankai Tamil Arasa Kachchi of Jaffna and the Elections Commissioner. The petitioner had said that in the absence of an explicit statement in the ITAK’s Constitution that it did not have the goal of caving out a separate state, the inference to be drawn was that it aimed at establishing a separate state in Sri Lanka. The…

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BY RATHINDRA KURUWITA Regional government officials in the North and East have prevented some of the released detainees, who had spent a number of years imprisoned under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), from obtaining national identification documents, Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Research (CHR), Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon said in a brief interview. “Regional officers have prevented this and this prevents these detainees from re-integrating with the social mainstream” he said. He added that there have been no discussions at the Ministry of Justice in the…

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(Lanka-e-News- 18.Feb.2016, 8.40AM) During the days of the final phase of the war , a large number of LTTE cadres surrendered to the Mulaitivu army camp . Their name lists and the name registers of those LTTE members who were arrested should  be in the Mauliativu camp , the Major General and commanding officer of the 58 th regiment and of the  Mulaitiuvu army camp had  revealed in Mulaitivu court yesterday. The army chief who was present in court to give evidence made this revelation  today  when a number of…

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Sri Lanka After the Tigers Letter from Mannar By Meenakshi Ganguly The causeway that links northern Sri Lanka’s mainland to Mannar Island is lined with vast military barracks. They have a nicely settled air about them, with painted flowerpots out front and T-shirts drying on clotheslines. Between the army camps are red-roofed cottages peeping through coconut groves and forests. There are no paved walkways—just dust, mud, and some scraggly vegetable patches. They are part of a housing project that the Indian government funded to rehabilitate those displaced by Sri Lanka’s…

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ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s government came face-to-face with military insubordination at a very high level when Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera visited Jaffna to launch a website for ethnic reconciliation. The usually unflappable Samaraweera was surprised by the tone of Major General Chagi Gallage when he visited Jaffna soliciting public views on a new reconciliation mechanism after decades of war. Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Chief of Defence Staff Kolitha Gunathilake and defence secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi were present when Gallage, a senior officer commanding a division, spoke out. The provocation for Gallage’s…

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COLOMBO, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s opposition on Friday said that it has decided to strongly oppose a proposed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) with India. A statement by the opposition, which includes some members of the political party headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, said that an economic and technical pact with India will make sense if Sri Lanka can obtain from India some technical or economic input which Sri Lanka cannot provide for itself, such as in the automotive, chemical or pharmaceutical industries. However the opposition says…

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