Leader of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the Executive of President during the wartime told off the UK over sanctions against former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya over unproven allegations of human rights violations during the war with the LTTE.

Mr. Rajapaksa asserted he only to the decision to wage war against the LTTE as the then President, and the military leaders carried out it on the ground. In a statement, he dealt with circumstances that led to the war.

“Despite the 2002 ceasefire agreement, the LTTE had carried out 363 killings during the ceasefire between February 2002 and the end of September 2005. LTTE attacks intensified in the first few weeks and months after I was elected President in November 2005. Among the most serious such incidents were claymore mine attacks on 4 and 6 December 2005 in Jaffna that killed thirteen soldiers, a suicide attack on a naval craft on 5 January 2006 that killed 15 naval personnel, and the suicide attack on the Army Commander inside Army Headquarters in April 2006.

Despite all that, my government held two rounds of peace talks in January and June 2006 in Geneva and Oslo which were unilaterally halted by the LTTE. I was compelled to go to war after the LTTE landmine attack on a civilian bus in Kebithogollawa in June 2006 which killed 64 and seriously injured 86, many of them children. Military operations commenced in July 2006 when the LTTE closed the Mawilaru anicut cutting off irrigation water to cultivators in the Trincomalee district and did not stop until the LTTE was completely defeated on 19 May 2009.

I categorically reject the UK govt.’s allegation of widespread human rights violations during the war. Lord Naseby stated in the House of Lords on 12 October 2017 that the then UK Defence Attache in Colombo Lieutenant Colonel Anton Gash had in conversation with him, praised the discipline of the Sri Lanka army and stated that there certainly was no policy to kill civilians. Because Lt. Col Anton Gash’s war time dispatches to London differ so significantly from the narrative promoted by the UK political authorities, only a heavily redacted version of those dispatches have been released. We waged war only against the LTTE and not against the Tamil people.

Just months after the war ended, when my wartime army commander came forward as the opposition candidate at the 2010 presidential elections, the Tamil National Alliance issued a statement on 6 January 2010 appealing to the Tamil people to vote for the former army commander and he won over 60% of the votes cast in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, thus directly contradicting the narrative being promoted by the UK govt. Imposing sanctions on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan a.k.a Karuna Amman who broke away from the LTTE in 2004 and later entered democratic politics is a clear case of penalizing anti-LTTE Tamils so as to placate the dominant segment of the Tamil diaspora in the UK.

When the UK foreign secretary David Milliband came to Sri Lanka in April 2009 and demanded a halt to military operations, I flatly turned him down. Later, a London based newspaper The Telegraph revealed quoting secret documents made public by Wikileaks that Mr. Miliband had tried to intervene in Sri Lanka to win Tamil votes for the Labour Party. Regrettably to this day, vote bank politics determines the UK’s stand on Sri Lanka’s war against the LTTE.

Three decades of LTTE terrorism claimed the lives of 27,965 armed forces and police personnel not to mention the lives of many thousands of civilians including politicians. What Sri Lanka defeated in 2009 was the organization that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had officially designated as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world. It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom introduced special legislation in 2021 and 2023 to protect their own armed forces from persecution by interested parties,” he said.

Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said Provincial Council council election will not be held this year as three elections were held within six months with the upcoming Local Government elections.

Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said there is no legal barrier in bringing a motion to remove suspended IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon from the office of IGP as claimed by former Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.

The Court of Appeal today directed the relevant Returning Officers to suspend the election activities until tomorrow (02), in relation to Local Government institutions where political parties and independent groups have filed petitions challenging the rejection of nomination papers.

The Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) has been made compulsory for obtaining all services from the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT). In an official notice, DMT Commissioner General Nishantha Anurudda Weerasinghe announced that the requirement to provide a TIN will be enforced from April 15.

Former State Minister Sathasivam Viyalendran, who was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been further remanded until April 8.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today ordered that former Uva Provincial Councillor and former Minister Chamara Sampath Dasanayake be further remanded till April 8 over the alleged withdrawal of six fixed deposits maintained by the Uva Provincial Council in a State bank at Badulla in 2016.

Referring to the recent sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom on top Sri Lankan military officials, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who played a significant role in the country’s civil war, stated that the sanction against former Army Commander Shavendra Silva was unreasonable.

Sri Lanka has experienced a significant surge in HIV/AIDS cases in 2024 recording over 800 cases. According to the National STD/AIDS Control Programme, Sri Lanka has logged 824 cases reflecting a 18 per cent increase compared to the year 2023, which saw 694 cases.

A direct flight service between Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna in Sri Lanka commenced today after 47 years. Due to the war situation, flight services at the Palaly International Airport, Jaffna were suspended, but in 2019, the airport resumed its services. Passenger flights between Chennai and Jaffna started after the reopening of the airport.

In a swift response to an urgent appeal, the Court of Appeal today issued an interim order suspending the decision made by the Puttalam High Court Judge to remand a lady lawyer over an alleged contemptuous conduct.

Former Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has arrived at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to record a statement. According to reports, the former minister arrived at the CID to record a statement regarding the shooting incident in front of a prominent hotel in Weligama in 2023.

The draft bill for the government’s recovery of assets acquired through illegal means, the Proceeds of Crime Bill, will be presented to Parliament on 08 April 2025, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said. Addressing a public meeting in the Welipitiya area in Matara, President Dissanayake said that frauds and the corrupt will not be allowed to rule the country again.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has stated that efforts are underway to reveal those responsible for the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks before April 21.

The government is considering repurposing a number of ministerial bungalows, including offering some to diplomatic missions, Lankadeepa newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra are expected to travel to Thailand later this week to attend the sixth BIMSTEC Summit, The Sunday Times newspaper reports.

Former Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has been summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to record a statement regarding the death of a police sergeant from the Colombo Crimes Division during a shooting incident near a hotel in Weligama, Matara in 2023.

Kuwait has deported 20 convicted Sri Lankan prisoners under an extradition agreement between the two countries, according to media reports. The inmates, held at Kuwait's Central Prison, were repatriated on Wednesday to Katunayake Airport on a special flight to Sri Lanka, reported the Sri Lankan Daily News.

A suspect has been arrested over the assault on a senior consultant Oral and Maxillofacial (OMF) surgeon at the General Hospital (Teaching) Kegalle. The consultant was brutally assaulted within the hospital premises on March 28.

A number of MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) related to defence, energy connectivity and digitization will be signed during the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka, an official said yesterday.

Two Supreme Court judges have recused themselves from hearing an appeal filed relating to former Navy Commander Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda.