Sri Lankan police on Monday came under pressure to arrest the Rajapaksa family loyalists involved in attacks on peaceful protesters last week, even as it arrested over 200 people on various charges following the violence that left nine people dead.
The Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist will oppose Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Bodh Gaya in Bihar on February 8, protesting against the 'Tamil genocide' in his country.
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.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday left for a two-day visit to India during which he will offer prayers at Bodh Gaya and Tirupathi. He would visit Bodh Gaya and Tirupathi and the visit was of a personal nature, presidential officials said.
Official spokesman Lucien Rajakarunanayake said Rajapakse, who won re-election in presidential elections last month, signed a decree dissolving the national assembly with effect from midnight Tuesday.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he had never met slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and would have preferred to chat with him."I would have preferred to bring him here and have a chat with him. I have never seen this man," Rajapaksa said. The President also said he was not at all interested in knowing how the LTTE chief had been killed.
Swamy, a close friend of the Rajapaksa family, also met with Gotabaya's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday evening and attended the Navratri pooja at his residence.
Sri Lanka has bestowed its highest civilian award, the Mithra Vibhushana, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recognition of his role in strengthening ties between the two nations. The award was presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at a ceremony in Colombo. PM Modi expressed gratitude, stating the award honors not just him but also the people of India. The Mithra Vibhushana, instituted in 2008, has previously been awarded to prominent figures such as former Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri highlighted the award as a recognition of PM Modi's contribution to strengthening the India-Sri Lanka partnership, particularly during Sri Lanka's economic crisis. The award includes a citation and a silver medal adorned with Sri Lankan gems and symbolic motifs representing shared heritage and prosperity.
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced late on Saturday night, hours after thousands of protesters stormed the former's official residence, blaming his government for an unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.
A video is being shared on social media showing the protesters counting the currency notes that were unearthed. The recovered money was said to be handed over to the security units, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
The whereabouts of Mahinda Rajapaksa is being speculated since his resignation on Monday.
After the announcement of the death of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran, the Congress on Monday said the Sri Lankan issue is a sensitive one and External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the matter. "Sri Lanka is a sensitive issue, our foreign minister is meeting the prime minister. The government of India will contact the Sri Lankan government to ascertain the facts,"said a Congress leader.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has approved the 30-month jail term given to former army chief Sarath Fonseka by a military court on charges of corruption, top officials said on Thursday.
Over 15 million voters are eligible to vote in the election being held under electoral districts-based proportional representation system.
Mahinda Rajapaksa recovered from his 2015 electoral losses, went to the people and campaigned about the injustice done to him. Without attempting to be subtle, he underscored his image of the Sinhala Buddhist warrior a la Dutugemunu, the king of Sri Lanka (164 BC to 140 BC) who led the military campaign against the invading warlord Elara.
Meanwhile, his successor, President Ranil Wickremesinghe tweeted: "Congratulations to the Sri Lankan cricket team on winning the Asia Cup 2022. Well played Pakistan! The second championship for today," he said, adding that it "goes to show that, with dedication and determination we can overcome challenges as a nation. Onwards and upwards Sri Lanka!"
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to Colombo to apprise him of the ethnic Tamils issue, Sri Lankan Tamil MP Arumuga Thondaiman claimed today.
Actor Salman Khan's home became a protest site on Sunday morning when several Tamils collected outside the star's home in Bandra, Mumbai and chanted slogans against him.
'It is up to New Delhi to take quick advantage of the turn of events in Sri Lanka. Otherwise, Beijing's economic clout and the deep roots it has grown in the island nation may well tempt the new President to play the India versus China game,' says Nitin A Gokhale.
Sri Lankan police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse anti-government protestors here as the ongoing agitation demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the worst economic crisis intensified as it entered its 50th day.
Sri Lanka's new government on Sunday said it will probe whether longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa sought military help to cling to power after he realised that he had lost the closely contested election.
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 President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday offered worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in the wee hours near Tirupati.
Sri Lanka's newly elected president Mithripala Sirisena waves at media as he leaves the election commission in Colombo. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/ Reuters
Tigers assassinated a senior Sri Lankan army general a day after the government offered a direct deal.
At least 32 Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly poaching in the country's waters off the coast of the Delft islet in Jaffna.
Maithripala Sirisena, who scored a stunning victory, was on Friday sworn-in as Sri Lankan president, bringing the curtains down on the 10-year rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa, marking a smooth transition of power.
Rajapaksa's five-day visit to India assumes significance as his tenure as Sri Lanka's president from 2005 to 2016 saw expansion of China's footprints in the Indian Ocean island nation, triggering concerns in India.
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.
Gota has to decide if he could order elder brother Mahinda's arrest as the agent provocateur of Monday's violence. Then he has to prepare for an interim government, in which no one would now want to become a cabinet minister leave alone prime minister, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The SLPP, led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament, according to the results announced by the election commission.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a democratically elected leader who received a massive mandate of 71% of votes, and he owes nothing to Delhi or Washington for staging his political comeback, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with his wife and family, fled his official residence -- Temple Trees -- and took shelter at the naval base in Trincomalee.
Menon, who arrived in Colombo by a special flight just after midnight on Thursday night, is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brothers Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic development; and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary, officials said.
Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa on Tuesday told the United Nations General Assembly that Colombo is concerned over the growing trend of international interference in the internal affairs of developing countries in the guise of concern for security and human rights.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Friday said Narendra Modi's invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing-in was "not acceptable and unwelcome" by Tamils all over the world and urged the BJP leader to drop the initiative.
Sri Lanka's main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Tuesday handed over to the parliamentary Speaker motions of no-confidence against the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition government and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, even as the government announced the appointment of a cabinet sub-committee to look into the proposal for a new Constitution.
Ex-Sri Lanka captain Hashan Thilekaratne has reportedly alleged that two former senior Lankan cricketers -- Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya -- and former Sri Lanka Cricket Board President Thilanga Sumathipala were involved in fixing international matches.
The stage is now set for what is expected to be the most closely contested Presidential polls in Sri Lanka, with the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and his main challenger Sarath Fonseka are exuding full confidence of emerging victorious.
India said it will continue to extend its developmental assistance to the friendly people of Sri Lanka.
