Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday said the Tamil minority now wants to live peacefully in one country and slammed the Tamil diaspora for the lack of support in his reconciliation and rebuilding efforts in the former conflict zones.
"Diaspora and the Tamil parties who foster separation still try to take the Tamil society towards destruction", he said while speaking at the Victory Day celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the military victory over the LTTE.
Rajapaksa said that Tamils now want to live peacefully in a single country. His government had faced various machinations by way of human rights accusations. "The hidden idea was to crush us, how to make us kneel before them," he said.
Rajapaksa, paying tribute to his troops in a colourful military parade, said he would not allow the separation of the land that troops had scarificed to preserve....
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03:30 PM, May 18, 2013
Colombo: A Sri Lankan presidential commission will be appointed to investigate a mass grave where more than 150 skulls and bones, most likely of Marxist rebels killed decades ago, were found last year, a government spokesman said on Monday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had decided to appoint the commission to investigate into the mass grave found at a state-run hospital in the central region of the country, said Lakshman Hulugalle, head...
11:28 PM, Apr 08, 2013
Why is India not in favour of a strong UN resolution against Sri Lanka? CNN-IBN's senior editor Suhasini Haidar joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. ...
06:19 PM, Mar 20, 2013
RK Radhakrishnan, Head of programmes at The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the Lankan Tamils' issues and their resonance in India. ...
06:14 PM, Mar 20, 2013
Sri Lanka is failing to investigate alleged atrocities committed by government forces in defeating a Tamil insurgency and activists and opposition politicians are still being killed or abducted, the United Nations said on February 13. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on authorities to allow international experts in criminal and forensic investigations to help resolve outstanding wartime crimes and end impunity. ...
10:30 AM, Feb 15, 2013
Amid tight security, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wife Shiranthi on Saturday offered worship at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near Tirupati. Rajapaksa was in the temple for about 40 minutes. ...
12:22 PM, Feb 09, 2013
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit the Tirupathi temple on Saturday amidst high security as section 144 has been imposed in the area. On Friday, DMK chief M Karunanidhi led a state-wide protest in Chennai against Rajapaksa's visit while MDMK's Vaiko courted arrest in Delhi. ...
06:32 AM, Feb 09, 2013
Political analyst and 'Vaartha' bureau chief R Rajagopalan joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on Rajapaksa visit protest. ...
06:40 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa, accompanied by his wife Shiranthi Rajpaksa and a 70-member delegation, on Friday arrived at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya for pilgrimage. ...
02:26 PM, Feb 08, 2013
MDMK chief Vaiko courted arrest at Parliament Street police station in the capital on Friday along with 60 -70 supporters while protesting against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to India. Vaiko was arrested while leading the MDMK protest march from Parliament Street to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence. ...
12:17 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on a two-day personal visit to India during which he will offer prayers at Bodh Gaya and Tirupati but will not engage with Indian leaders. However, pro-Tamil groups including MDMK are protesting Rajapaksa's visit. ...
10:38 AM, Feb 08, 2013
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on January 13 sacked the country's first woman Chief Justice by ratifying her controversial impeachment by Parliament on corruption charges despite protests at home and global calls for restraint, pushing the nation into the brink of a major Constitutional stand-off. 54-year-old Shirani Bandaranayake was served a notice ordering her to quit her post, two days after the Parliament overwhelmingly voted to impeach her deepening the...
05:45 PM, Jan 13, 2013
New Delhi: Seeking closer military ties with Sri Lanka, Army chief Gen Bikram Singh will be on a four days visit to the island nation beginning Wednesday. The visit from December 19-22 assumes special significance in light of ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries in consonance with the growing relationship with Sri Lanka, an Army release said in New Delhi on Tuesday. The last visit by an Indian Army...
04:28 AM, Dec 19, 2012
Colombo: Notwithstanding stiff opposition from political parties in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka on Wednesday asserted that it was "very firm" on continuing the training programme of its defence personnel in India and ruled out sending them to countries like China. Sri Lanka's powerful Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, also the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said his country looks at India in a "much bigger way" than China. During an...
12:22 PM, Oct 03, 2012
Chennai: Protests opposing the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India threw traffic in the city out of gear for over three hours on Friday. The protests come at a time when the city was recovering from the traffic snarls caused by protests against the alleged anti-Islam movie Innocence of the Muslims, made by an American. Sources said more than 200 members of the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK)...
12:56 PM, Sep 22, 2012
MDMK chief Vaiko and 700 of his party supporters were arrested near Sanchi on Friday as they protested against visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Has the Tamil issue compromised India's influence in Sri Lanka? Join CNN-IBN's Suhasini Haidar for a discussion in World View on Friday at 10 pm. ...
02:43 PM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: MDMK chief Vaiko and 700 of his party supporters were arrested in Chhindwara near Sanchi on Friday as they tried to enter the city to hold their protest against visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is scheduled to inaugurate a Buddhist University there. Vaiko had planned a black flag protest against Rajapaksa in Sanchi. However, the Madhya Pradesh police stopped them from entering the city on Thursday...
12:20 PM, Sep 21, 2012
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday reached Sanchi where he will inaugurate a Buddhist University. ...
11:33 AM, Sep 21, 2012
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris revealed in an interview with CNN-IBN that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was at no point in time apprehensive of his visit to India despite call for protests by certain political parties. ...
09:05 AM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: MDMK General Secretary Vaiko was on Thursday night stopped by the Madhya Pradesh police from entering into Sanchi where the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to inaugurate a Buddhist University on Friday. Vaiko had called for a black flag demonstration in Sanchi against Rajapaksa for the alleged violation of rights of ethnic Tamils in the country during its war against the Liberation Tigers of Talim Eelam...
08:34 AM, Sep 21, 2012
