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
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
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
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. ...
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
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
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
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh has tightened security across the state ahead of the visit by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who will be inaugurating a Buddist University in Sanchi. The MDMK of Tamil Nadu had announced a protest in the state against his visit. MDMK General Secretary Vaiko had called for a black flag demonstration against the Sri Lankan President for the alleged violation of rights of the ethnic Tamilians...
07:50 AM, Sep 21, 2012
New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday held meetings with the top Indian leadership during which they discussed key bilateral issues, including fishermen, even as India pressed for an expeditious inclusive solution to the ethnic issue and rehabilitation of displaced Tamils. Rajapaksa, who is in India on a three-day official visit, held comprehensive deliberations with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which they reviewed all...
10:36 PM, Sep 20, 2012
New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is being hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over dinner on Thursday night. He is also expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee later. Rajapaksa is expected to raise the issue of recent attacks on Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu when he meets the Prime Minister, while India may press for Tamil rights and the reconciliation process. The Prime Minister is expected to call...
04:57 PM, Sep 20, 2012
Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday cautioned that separatist elements in the country have not given up yet, in a veiled reference to the Tamil Eelam supporters' conference held in Chennai recently. "Though we have ended terrorism, there is lot more remaining to be done. Forty years ago they passed a resolution seeking separation of the country. The conference held recently also boosts Eelam demand," Rajapaksa told a...
01:23 PM, Aug 16, 2012
Colombo: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo and requested him to mobilise other Tamil parties in the northern province besides the dominant TNA to achieve political reconciliation. Swamy, who is in Sri Lanka to attend an international seminar, discussed with the President the ethnic issue and devolution of power to the Tamil-dominated province on Thursday. He said after the meeting that Rajapaksa wants...
10:59 AM, Aug 10, 2012
