Though dubbed as the "war hero", the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
Sri Lanka's Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday imposed emergency giving him sweeping powers ahead of the key election on July 20 to pick a new President as he urged the political parties to put aside differences and form an all-party government, with the Opposition dubbing his decision as an 'undemocratic draconian act'.
'This is a historical moment in the political history of Sri Lanka.' 'You can see the amount of pressure that is coming from the people because nobody addressed the policy blunders, multiple corruption charges and huge scandals.'
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as angry protesters stormed the prime minister's office in Colombo, hours after president Gotabaya Rajapksa fled to the Maldives on a military jet, amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
Asserting a war was not an option between India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka on Wednesday said cross-border terrorism was a core issue on the table for SAARC and the members of eight-nation grouping have to discuss it and its impact before moving forward.
The attorney general instructed the authorities to charge them for their failure to prevent the Easter terror attacks.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee appointed to probe the attacks that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, on Monday submitted its final report to President Maithripala Sirisena.
Ahead of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's first foreign visit to India, at least 16 Indian fishermen arrested recently for allegedly poaching in Sri Lankan waters will be released in a goodwill gesture.
President Maithripala Sirisena has issued a gazette notice banning three Islamic extremist organisations, including National Thowheeth Jama'ath that was blamed for the Easter bombings.
The president has agreed to call a parliamentary session on November 5, officials at Rajapaksa's office said.
Speaking as the chief guest at the International Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo, the prime minister said that the themes of social justice and sustainable world peace, chosen for the Vesak day, resonate deeply with Buddha's teachings.
The two brothers led a decisive campaign that helped end the island nation's three decade long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
'There is fear that the president and prime minister are dragging their feet and won't resign.'
President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Rajapaksa will transform Sri Lanka's political landscape after Thursday's electoral triumph, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran Colombo watcher.
The PM said the government knew that Sri Lankan nationals who joined the Islamic State had returned, but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law in the island nation.
India said it will continue to extend its developmental assistance to the friendly people of Sri Lanka.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Colombo on Friday on a two-day trip to set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka next week, the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian premier in over 25 years.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya questioned the president's decision to suspend parliament till November 16, saying it will have "serious and undesirable" consequences on the country.
Sirisena's sacking of Wickremesinghe was the culmination of an year of bitter relations between them on several policy matters. The president has been critical of the prime minister and his policies, especially on economy and security.
They said they stand alongside India in defeating terrorism.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday dissolved the parliament, paving the way for fresh parliamentary elections in mid August, eight months ahead of the schedule.
"My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the injured," Modi said.
Lanka is witnessing a political crisis since October 26 when President Sirisena sacked Wickeremesinghe and replaced him with Rajapaksa.
The Lankan naval personnel cut fishing nets of about 70 boats and pelted stones and bottles forcing more than 2,000 fishermen to flee and return to the shore on Thursday morning.
Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday accepted defeat in the parliamentary elections even before the announcement of the final results.
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Sirisena will keep both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe on tenterhooks till the next general election due in 2020,' says Aditi Phadnis.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
India's stand is important against the backdrop of US FCC's decision to roll back its net neutrality rules adopted in 2015
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on a two-day visit during which she is expected to discuss the fishermen's issue and rights of minority Tamils with the Lankan leadership.
Indian writer Anuradha Roy on Saturday won the prestigious $50,000 (Rs 33.89 lakh) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.
A Dubai-based Indian couple had a narrow escape in the Sri Lanka blasts.
The security forces continue their hunt for members of the local terror group National Thowheeth Jamath which was behind the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in which 253 people were killed and over 500 injured.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Ending months of speculation, Sri Lanka's vanquished former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday announced his return to electoral politics, saying he will lead an opposition faction during the general elections in August.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has debunked international criticism over the treatment of the island nation's Tamil minority population.
The country has a fiendishly complicated electoral system that is a combination of population-based proportional representation and party-based national lists, says Aditi Phadnis
21 fishermen were arrested and five boats were seized at Kankesanturai while 33 others on five boats were arrested at Talaimannar on Saturday night.
Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior politician from Wickremesinghe's United National Party was sworn in on Thursday morning as the new minister in charge of the police.
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