Day: 6 October 2016

There is a plot to murder me, says Tamil Chief Minister Wigneswaran

Karu

The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran has charged elements in the south of plotting his murder. “I have been receiving information continuously that there are efforts being taken to kill me and to put the blame on the LTTE,” he said, in a message read out at a recent book launch. The Chief Minister’s accusations come a week after he led the ‘Eluga Tamil’ rally in Jaffna. The demonstration highlighted Tamil people’s concerns over militarisation and alleged Sinhala colonisation in the north. Several thousand Tamils…

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‘Whatever the army saw, they destroyed’: looting and loss in Sri Lanka’s civil war

Karu

In an extract from his memoir, A Long Watch: War, Captivity and Return in Sri Lanka, Commodore Ajith Boyagoda recalls senseless destruction by soldiers One moment stands out for me as the most formative of my military career. This was in Karainagar, on another of the northern islands, immediately after our military operation there in 1991. Dealing with the civilian sick and weak you really feel the effects of war. In April of that year, I was awaiting transfer to Jaffna, eight years after my last posting to the north.…

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Sampanthan urges parliament to accept Wigneswaran’s word

Karu

Sampanthan urges parliament to accept Wigneswaran’s word October 4, 2016, 10:31 pm By Saman Indrajith Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran had complained that media had attributed some statements to him that he did not utter with regard to the situation in the North, TNA parliamentary group leader R Sampanthan said in Parliament yesterday. Samapanthan said so participating in the debate that ensued after MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena, who made a special statement demanding to know the government’s position on Northern Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s recent statement which Gunawardena said was…

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Counter Terrorism Law will be worse: Sumanthiran

Karu

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran raised fears in Parliament, that the proposed new law which will replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) will be worse than the PTA. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said recently that a counter-terrorism law will be introduced instead of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. In August the Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M Swaminathan had said the PTA will soon be abolished and it will be replaced by the Counter Terrorism Act. “Some highly placed sources say…

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Chief Minister Wigneswaran warns of possible arrest if Tamils repatriated from Switzerland

Karu

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran requested visiting Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga not to repatriate the Tamil asylum seekers since there is no possibility of granting amnesty in Sri Lanka, adding that they might be arrested. Swiss Minister Sommaruga had mentioned in her statement prior to the visit to Sri Lanka that she would focus on the repatriation of the Tamil Asylum seekers who had been in Switzerland. The Northern CM stressed that the prevailing situation is not the appropriate time to send them back as there are possibilities…

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