According to secret correspondence with the State Intelligence Service (SIS), ‘two strong Western nations’ and several INGOs are the background instigators of unrelenting anti-government protests on the island, reports Uthayan.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs is reported to be paying extra attention to the matter as internal investigations take place.

There has recently been a spate of protests by fishermen and farmers, students and lecturers, the opposition and not least the Tamils.

Western nations and INGOs have been accused of aiding demonstrators with funding and other assistance to carry out protests.

The government is treating this ‘conspiracy to overthrow the regime’ with extreme caution.

The SIS findings have been communicated to Sri Lankan diplomats around the world, all of whom have been advised to stay alert against the Western conspiracy to destabilise the nation.

Apparently, the government is much better equipped to debunk conspiracies than address the grievances of its citizens.

Government shuts down universities (22 Aug 2012)

Tamils protest against political prisoner deaths (15 Aug 2012)

The recently resigned chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tilak Karunaratne, has said he is willing to provide evidence of malpractices in the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror on practices between June 2010 and December 2010, Karunaratne said:

“Yes of course, this was most certainly day light robbery. During the conflict the market was dull and there was quite rightly euphoria after the war ended. Then the market gradually rose up."

"Then suddenly we find that between June and December 2010 it shot up suddenly. And this was due to manipulation. What they did was they found certain stocks which are not liquid. These stocks have no intrinsic value and they started manipulating and arbitrarily increasing the price by having trades among themselves and their crony brokers."

"Then what happened is that others -- the innocent, ignorant investors who were also directed by these crony brokers bought stocks wanting to make a killing and in the end were duped.”

Commenting on the widespread impunity enjoyed by those in positions of power, Karunaratne said:

“Take the Central Bank for example. It is run by an accountant when it should be an economist running it and now everything seems to have fallen apart. I shudder to think what would have happened if we won the Commonwealth games bid so vehemently supported by the CB Governor. A lot of guys accused of wrongdoing still survive and many with integrity have left in disgust,”

"When I accepted this post in December last year, I had a lot of hope and expectations that I will be able to do something constructive to put the Colombo Stock Market on the right track in reaching greater heights. Today I’m a disappointed man. I tried my best but I didn’t get the support from the people who appointed me to this position and under the circumstances I had no choice but to resign"

The Sri Lankan army is currently constructing an army camp for the 592 regiment, over the razed Mulliavallai LTTE cemetery, reported Tamilwin.

The LTTE's Mulliavallai cemetery was demolished soon after the government claimed victory in 2009, along with other LTTE memorials and cemeteries in the North-East.

Parents of the fallen LTTE cadres are said to be angered by the army's construction over the remains of their son or daughter.

Whilst the insufficiency of development in the North continues to be documented by the UN, President Mahinda Rajapaksa was taken on a tour of the southeast to inspect development in the region. The tour included two main reservoirs and ended with a visit to one of the holiest Buddhist temples, the Deegawapi temple, located in the Ampara District of the Eastern province.

The Deegawapi temple and surrounding area has been renovated at a cost of 250 million rupees, with a further 400 million rupees allocated for renovation. Rajapaksa instructed officials that the premises of Deegawapi was sacred and that the legal rights of the land belong to the temple.

The president took the time to walk through the town of Embilipitiya to meet residents and get an idea of their problems and asses the effectiveness of redevelopment in the town.

The President ended his tour at a ruling party UPFA (United People Freedom Alliance) rally, where he told the crowd that the government was “committed to steer the country towards development while maintaining lasting peace and harmony in the island and will not allow any unscrupulous elements attempting to disrupt peace in the country by arousing communal hatred in the society.”

Photograph Daily Mirror

Sinhala Grade 5 children worship the feet of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the town of Embilipitiya, as he toured the southeast.

In an act of proclaimed magnanimity the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the police not to proceed with prosecutions against parliamentarians and local politicians who have made defamatory remarks about him.

As a mature politician, explained the president, he would ignore these statements, and ask the Inspector General of Police to pursue charges against those who defame 'ordinary people, public servants and entrepreneurs.

A Buddhist shrine has been opened by the Sri Lankan Army in Vavuniya north’s Kanagarayankulam, reports Uthayan.

The post-2009 Buddhist colonisation campaign started off with scattered emergences of Sacred Fig trees and the popping up of Buddha statues around the Vanni and Jaffna areas, some of which have been expanded into full scale Viharas.

The Kanagarayankulam shrine has been described as a huge statue, on a large mount under a newly planted Sacred Fig tree.

It is reported that the opening of the shrine is a forerunner to the proposed building of the ‘Sri Sambuddharaje Vihara’.

See more on the proliferation of Buddhist shrines in the North here.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has accused the Indian government of concealing training it provided to members of Sri Lanka’s security forces in the state since May.

In a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalitha said Delhi was showing “excessive enthusiasm” for training Sri Lankan forces and that it “mischievously concealed” training officers in Tamil Nadu.

“I have expressed in no unclear terms the strong views of my government on imparting training to defence personnel belonging to Sri Lanka,

“It is very clear that this fact of ongoing training since May 2012 has been mischievously concealed from my government, showing scant regard for the views of my government as well as for the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu,” she said.

She criticised the decision to move Sri Lankan personnel to Bengaluru after she opposed their training in Tamil Nadu earlier this year.

"This action itself was not proper because instead of sending these personnel back to Sri Lanka, the Government of India exhibited excessive enthusiasm and concern for these personnel by relocating them to Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bengaluru, in order to enable them to complete their training",

"I reiterated (to Rajapaksa) the importance to take effective measures and demonstrate visible outcomes to the international community".

A UK Tamil student travelling on summer vacation to Sri Lanka was detained by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday, reported Tamilwin.

The student, Thuwakaran Nagenthirarajah, is currently completing his higher education in London.

According to Tamilwin, he was questioned for several hours as to whether he had participated in a protest in London against the Sri Lankan government, and links to the LTTE.

The CID have ordered further investigations. Thuwakaran has denied all allegations.

Sri Lanka is reluctant to sign the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) with India, with many officials expressing a fear that CEPA would give India too much say in Sri Lanka's markets, work force and political affairs.  

According to Business Standard, officials from Sri Lanka's Minister of Commerce, described a "fear psychosis" over dependence on the Indian market, giving indirect leverage on political matters by Sri Lanka, as well as concerns that Indian access to Sri Lankan markets would destroy Sri Lanka's 'domestic industry'.

One official also said:

"Some sections of the Sri Lankan industry is indeed a little apprehensive of signing a CEPA with India as it will entail services and investment trade. And their main fear is India would swamp their services industry. Besides, they want to build more political consensus on having the CEPA."

See our earlier post: Anyone but the Indians (29 Apr 2012)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has ignored protests by the Sri Lankan government about its recent updates to travel advice over security on the island and has added further warnings.

After the recent convictions of French tourists over pictures that were taken with statues of Buddha, the foreign office advice now warns against posing in front of statues.

“You should avoid posing for photographs standing in front of a statue of Buddha. The mistreatment of Buddhist images and artefacts is a serious offence and tourists have been convicted for posing for such photos,” the travel advice now reads.

In its last update to the travel advisory for Sri Lanka, the foreign office warned of an ‘upsurge in nationalism’ and asked British tourists to be extra vigilant of ‘anti-western sentiment’.

External affairs minister GL Peiris protested about the warnings to the British High Commission in Colombo.

Sri Lanka Travel Advice - Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Addressing the occupying military in Vanni, secretary of defence Gotabhaya Rajapksa, noted that their foremost responsibility was to “ensure that all measures are adopted to win hearts and minds of the Northern civilians and prevent the recurrence of terrorism".

After opening with this noble statement, the defence secretary went on to describe a series of welfare projects that have been launched for the sake of the military service personnel and “war hero families”.

Gotabhaya outlined the importance of conveying to the international community that the military were disciplined, noble and met professional standards.

“The success we achieved over terrorism can be made more meaningful when the world is convinced of our soldiers’ exceptional professional standards and their disciplined dedication for the betterment of civilians,”

 “By displaying our magnanimity as professional soldiers when dealt with civilian-oriented projects, we will be able to carry the correct picture to the world.”

The defence secretary was in the Regimental Headquarters of the military in Vanni to address the troops after reviewing the different roles of the occupying army in post-war Vanni.