The External Affairs Ministry insinuated taking a ‘wait and watch’ approach before issuing a travel advisory on Tamil Nadu in light of the recent attacks against Sri Lankan establishments.
“We are consulting with Indian authorities and have decided not to issue a travel advisory at this point as yet,” said Rodney Perera, Director General at the Communication Division at the External Affairs Ministry. “The Indian government has assured us of the safety and security of Sri Lankans there.”

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen has been accused of attempting to change the demographic composition in the North by settling Muslim families of his choice in large numbers.
Democratic People’s Front (DPF) Leader and former parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan told The Nation that Bathiudeen was attempting to establish a separate Muslim colony in the North.
He said the move by Bathiudeen was with the intention to strengthen his vote base and warned that it would only create friction between the Tamils a

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appreciated the braveness of Buddhist monks during the war.

A statement by the Ministry of Defence today quoted the Defence Secretary as saying that the Maha Sanga (monks) in Nagadeepa and Dimbulagala never fled away from their temples although the stay in those places was at a critical point due to terrorism.

He said this after opening the Buddhist Cultural Centre, the ‘Methsevana’ at a religious function held at Pilana, Chanchawala in Galle yesterday.

With a view to improve inter-religious relations, the Muslim community in Colombo organised a formal alms giving for Buddhist monks recently.

The ‘Gossip Lanka News’ reported that the alms giving was organised by the Maligawatte Islamic Institution in their premises and among the number of monks were leading prelates like Ven. Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thero, Ven. Prof. Kumburugamuwe Vajira Thero and Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero.

The Bodu Bala Sena yesterday remained defiant despite the government’s position that it will act against the movement if it started operating as an ‘unofficial police force’.
General Secretary of the movement, Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thera said some members of the government had ‘evidently misinterpreted’ his earlier remarks calling for a ‘special police’ to be set up.  

At the weekly Cabinet press briefing last week, Government spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella

The police are yet to make a solid breakthrough in the investigations into the shooting of The Sunday Leader journalist Faraz Shauketaly.

Police spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardena said that the police have recorded statements of around 15 to to the incident. He said that several fingerprints had also been taken at the site of the shooting and were sent for analysis, while a sketch of the shooter as described by Shauketaly has also been circulated through the media.

Sri Lanka will not negotiate with the US on the text of the forthcoming US resolution before the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha on Friday told the US Ambassador for Human Rights, Eileen Donahoe.

"I conveyed to Ambassador Donahoe, that GOSL rejects entirely the premise on which this resolution is based, and as has been its consistent position, does not intend negotiating with the US on the text," Aryasinha said intervening at a meeting called by the US to discuss its draft resolution on "Promoting R

The future of ‘Halal’ is now in question as The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) has indicated that the certification will be suspended, at least temporarily, as a way of resolving the long drawn controversy.
The ACJU, at a special media briefing tomorrow, is expected to announce whether the issuing of Halal certification will be suspended, as reportedly agreed upon at a meeting at the Ministry of Defence on Friday.

The threat of a second United States resolution at the on-going United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva is not the only issue to pre-occupy the Government this week.

There was another. It is the issue of rising prices of consumer items and the impact it is having on Sri Lankans, particularly those in the middle and lower classes.

The British Parliament Foreign Affairs select committee is supporting calls for the British government to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November, a British opposition MP told The Sunday Leader.

The Foreign Affairs select committee consists of eleven Members of Parliament, drawn from the three largest political parties. It is appointed to monitor the policy, administration and expenditure of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its associated public bodies.