DIFFERENT PRIORITIES IN THE SINHALA AND TAMIL PRESS |
Tamil Headlines
|
Virakesari: Government intensifies efforts to remove the attorney general; Main Opposition seeks international intervention | Pictorial: India’s 77th Republic Day at the Indian High Commission in Colombo Thinakaran: “Intensification of efforts to arrest criminals hiding abroad after committing major crimes and defying court orders” – Police Media Spokesperson F.U. Wootler | Opportunity to donate lands for the government’s housing scheme | National plan to renovate places of worship |
Thinakkural: “Conspiracy attempt to completely evict the remaining Tamil people through the Kivul Oya project; It will also permanently sever the land connectivity between the North and East” – Suresh Premachandran warns | Public organisations also support the opposition to the Kivul Oya project planned for Vavuniya North Thamilan: Did Shiranthi buy a house for Rs. 350 million? Complaint lodged with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption | Assault on a Rev. Brother; Police remand extended | Gold prices soar! One sovereign nears Rs. 400,000 |
Sinhala Headlines
|
Lankadeepa: A housing issue: Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mohan Pieris to be called to the CIABOC soon | A mysterious vehicle on the Southern Expressway: a diary and certificate found within: another vehicle from Ratnapura registered under the same number Divaina: Patients’ ailments double due to trade union action launched by doctors: a strike from tomorrow onwards if there is no solution? – GMOA states Mawbima: Implement the verdict of the X-Press Pearl case – SC orders the AG | A connection between the murders of women in Kandy and Ankumbura: the homeless woman who was murdered in Kandy had been a police officer
|
Dinamina: Shiranthi buys land in Colombo for Rs. 350 lakhs via Siriliya account | IMF allocates Rs. 4,980 crore for business development | Drugs worth Rs. 500 crore seized at sea; 296 kg found in two vessels in largest haul recently | Parliament Deputy Secretary-General Chaminda Kularatne suspended Aruna: This newspaper was unavailable at the time of publishing FrontPage Anidda: This paper is published only on Fridays |
[paywall layout_id=”1906″ service_tags=”TMA,FP” preview=”true”]
TAMIL PRESS PRIORITIES |
Photo credits: Jaffna Zone
“Conspiracy attempt to completely evict the remaining Tamil people through the Kivul Oya project; It will also permanently sever the land connectivity between the North and East” – Suresh Premachandran warns
Thinakkural, Virakesari
DTNA spokesperson and EPRLF Leader Suresh Premachandran demanded the complete abandonment of the Kivul Oya irrigation project, claiming it aims to establish state-sponsored Sinhalese settlements and permanently sever land connectivity between the North and East.
The current government has allocated Rs. 2,500 million as the first phase of the Rs. 23,456 million project, which is expected to submerge over 15 small tanks and several ancient Tamil villages in Vavuniya North.
Premachandran criticised the government’s attempts to “Sinhalise” the region under the guise of development and mocked Minister of Fisheries Chandrasekar’s assurances regarding the project’s legality.
He urged Tamil ministers and Northern MPs to prevent the displacement of Tamil farmers and protect the demographic balance of the Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts.
“A commission is necessary to find the background of the cremation of Janazas” – Imran Maharoof
Thinakaran SJB MP Imran Maharoof submitted a private member’s motion in parliament calling for the appointment of a commission to investigate the forced cremation of Muslim COVID-19 victims. He noted that these cremations were carried out in violation of WHO guidelines and emphasised the need to identify the exact number of men and women whose bodies were cremated. Maharoof added that the commission should also uncover the background and reasoning behind the enforcement of these cremations during the pandemic. |
Government intensifies efforts to remove the attorney general; Main Opposition seeks international interventionVirakesari SJB MP Sujeewa Senasinghe wrote to the international community, including representatives from the UNHRC, IMF, and EU, regarding the government’s attempts to remove the attorney general (AG). He alleged that the government is exerting unprecedented political pressure on the AG Department to serve corrupt interests and dismantle judicial independence. Senasinghe claimed that the government is targeting officials who refuse to facilitate its anti-democratic agenda or cooperate with repressive actions. He urged international bodies to question these systematic threats to the rule of law and the constitutional checks and balances in Sri Lanka. |
Easter Sunday attack incident; Case against Pujith and Hemasiri taken up for trial again
Thamilan The Colombo High Court ordered the Attorney General (AG) to resume the trial against former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former IGP Pujith Jayasundara on March 23. The officials are accused of failing to prevent the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks despite receiving prior intelligence warnings regarding the threat. This retrial follows a Supreme Court directive that overturned their previous acquittal and ordered a three-judge bench to hear defence evidence before issuing a final verdict. |
February 4th, Sri Lanka’s Independence Day to be observed as Black Day; protests in the North and East!Thinakkural The Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) declared February 4, Sri Lanka’s Independence Day, as a “Black Day” and organised protests to be held across the North and East. Student representatives began mobilising the public in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, meeting with civil organisations and families of the forcibly disappeared to gain support. The union plans to visit all eight districts in the North and East over the coming days to coordinate the demonstrations, which are scheduled to take place in Kilinochchi and Batticaloa. JUSU stated that the protests aim to protect the Tamil homeland from over a century of majoritarianism and ensure the survival of the Tamil people for future generations. |
SINHALA PRESS PRIORITIES |
Photo credits: Ada Derana
“The loss incurred from just the first coal shipment imported by this government is Rs. 14 billion” — Former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka
Divaina, Aruna
Divaina highlighted, quoting the leader of the United Republic Front (URF) and a former Minister of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka, MP Patali Champika Ranawaka, that a loss of Rs. 14 billion had been incurred from the very first shipment of coal imported by the present government.
Aruna, quoting Ranawaka, stated that world coal prices have dropped significantly after fifteen years, and if standardised coal had been imported to the country instead of inferior coal, it would have been possible to provide a unit of electricity for Rs. 10.
Ranawaka made these statements during a press conference held in Colombo yesterday (26th), organised to educate the public regarding the government’s importation of inferior coal.
Customs income for the first three weeks of January is Rs. 175.4 billion: target fulfilled well in advanceDinamina Sri Lanka Customs has succeeded in collecting a revenue of Rs. 175.4 billion within three weeks, surpassing the revenue target of Rs. 160.2 billion assigned for the month of January 2026. This revenue was recorded yesterday (26th), which marked International Customs Day 2026. Accordingly, Customs has managed to record Rs. 15.2 billion more than the target of Rs. 160.2 billion set for January 2026. Sri Lanka Customs also points out that this is a growth of 9.5% compared to the expected target. In the year 2025, Sri Lanka Customs managed to collect the highest annual revenue recorded throughout its history, which was Rs. 2,551 billion. |
“The discussions that are being held with the IMF must not only be limited to state officials” – MP Ravi KarunanayakeDinamina MP Ravi Karunanayake stated that it is extremely important to have an intervention with a political personality for the discussions held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), rather than limiting them solely to state officials. Karunanayake emphasised that if there is no intervention in this process with expertise, there is a risk of the country’s economic situation deteriorating further in the future. MP Karunanayake further mentioned that the IMF should also be informed about the impact caused to the country by Cyclone Ditwah. He pointed out the importance of requesting financial relief from the relevant institution, taking the natural disaster situation into consideration. |
Rs. 31.5 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Sri Lanka
Dinamina
The Ministry of Finance states that financial and material aid amounting to Rs. 31.5 billion has been provided by various countries around the world to rebuild Sri Lanka following the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Accordingly, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma, states that Rs. 8.5 billion in financial aid and Rs. 23 billion in material aid have been received.
Pointing out that these donations were received for the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ fund, Dr Suriyapperuma further highlights that the total financial aid received from 47 countries, including Sri Lanka, includes foreign exchange amounting to approximately USD 9.49 million.
COMMON PRIORITIES: SINHALA & TAMIL PRESS |
Photo credits: Ada Derana
The six individuals who had assaulted a priest to be remanded till January 29: an identification parade to be held on January 29
Divaina, Mawbima, Dinamina, Aruna, Thinakkural, Thamilan
Six police officers of the Gampaha Division Crimes Investigation Bureau were arrested for allegedly assaulting a Catholic priest.
A Catholic priest, a resident of Kotadeniyawa, was admitted to the Negombo General Hospital on Saturday (24th) after alleging that he had been assaulted.
The group of police officers were produced before the Gampaha Magistrate yesterday (26th).
Following this, the six police officers in question were further remanded until January 29, 2026, for allegedly assaulting the priest.
The Magistrate has also directed that an identification parade be conducted on January 29, 2026.
‘Godanagamu Adhishtanaye Sanhinda’ National Programme to be launched today under the patronage of the president
Lankadeepa, Divaina, Dinamina, Virakesari, Thinakaran
The government will be launching the national programme ‘Godanagamu Adhishtanaye Sanhinda’ under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to rapidly restore religious sites damaged by Cyclone Ditwah and make them available for worship and other religious activities.
The programme will be coordinated by the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs and is scheduled to commence today (27th) in Gampola, Kandy and Matale.
Papers report that over a thousand religious, cultural and archaeological sites were damaged in the disaster and that the government aims to initiate immediate restoration work, returning these sites to their original state while safeguarding their historical and cultural value.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Common priorities: Additional stories
1. Pictorial: India Marks 77th Republic Day with celebrations in Sri Lanka – Mawbima, Virakesari, Thinakaran, Thinakkural, Thamilan
2. “Criminal charges against the director board of the X-Press Pearl” – AG informs the SC – Lankadeepa, Mawbima, Virakesari
3. An NCM against the Speaker as well? MPs of the Opposition commence work – Lankadeepa, Thamilan
4. “The Speaker cannot suspend the Deputy Secretary General [of Parliament]” – MP Udaya Gammanpila – Mawbima, Thinakkural
5. CIABOC launches investigations into the Rs. 400 million Colombo house that belongs to Shiranthi Rajapaksa – Divaina, Thamilan
[/paywall]