Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam told Sri Lanka’s parliament that Sinhala lawmaker Rohitha Abeygunawardena attempted to assault him, whilst they were in the Prime Minister’s  office earlier today.

“This member threatened me and he was about to physically assault me and he was stopped by State Minister Ashoka Priyantha,” Rasamanickam told parliament, stating MP Jagath Priayankara was a witness to these events. 

“I have been threatened, my life is under threat,” he continued.

Sinhala Buddhist monks are planning to disrupt Maha Shivarathri festivities at Vedukkunaari Adi Shiva temple, after having appealed to Sri Lankan police to halt the festival this week.

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) commemorated the assassination of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Kiddinan Sivanesan at their Jaffna office today. 

Sivanesan was travelling from Colombo to Mullaitivu when he was killed by the Sri Lankan army's Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LLRP) in Mankulam on March 6, 2008. 

(Image Courtesy: U Solar Clean Energy)

Following the sudden suspension the Chinese-Sri Lanka energy agreement, that would have seen a Chinese company construct solar power systems in in Jaffna's Delft, Nainathivu, and Alanathivu islets, India has struck and agreement to take on these projects.

Announcing this new arrangement the High Commission of India lauded the deal as “a milestone in India-Sri Lanka Energy Partnership” and a step forwards in Sri Lanka-India relations.

Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to resign the presidency in July 2022 following mass protests, has announced that he will publish a book entitled, “The Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency”.

The former President, who stands accused of genocide, alledges that there was a global conspiracy to force him to resign. Speaking at a press release he claimed:

“From the time I was elected President in November 2019, certain foreign and local parties were intent on removing me from power”.

The Sri Lankan government has asked Russian and Ukrainian to leave the country by March 7 or apply for fresh visas, as it announced it would not renew a free visa extension program. The decision came amidst backlash on social media over a party that was organised by Russians on the island, which reportedly barred locals and adopted a “whites only” policy.

Delivering his message to mark the holy period of Lent, Bishop of the Diocese of Mannar Rev. Emmanuel Fernando said that Tamils in the region continue to face hardships, from poverty, to drugs and environmental damage.

“The livelihood of the people in Mannar continues to deteriorate,” said Bishop Fernando.

Sri Lanka's army has dispatched its 15th contingent of the Sri Lanka Force Protection Company (SLFPC) on a peacekeeping mission under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), despite serious concerns over the human rights record of the military.

Sri Lanka’s opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) welcomed more senior military figures, including those accused of overseeing the slaughter of tens of thousands of Tamils, to the party as it looked to expand its Sinhala nationalist support ahead of elections touted for later this year.

The death of Santhan, one of the freed convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case who was laid to rest in his hometown in Jaffna, was a “planned act of vengeance”, his counsel Pugazhendi told reporters during a media briefing.

“His death was a planned act of vengeance perpetrated by the Indian government,” he told the media at the Jaffna press club on Tuesday. “It was to take revenge for Rajiv Gandhi’s murder.”