The NPP government has issued a new extraordinary gazette renewing and extending Sri Lanka’s long-standing ban on the LTTE and several Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals, continuing to designate them as “terrorists”.

The gazette, published recently, replaces a previous gazette issued in May 2025 and reaffirmed the proscription of a wide range of Tamil political and advocacy bodies operating around the world, alongside dozens of named individuals. The government alleged both the organisations and individuals listed are involved in “terrorism-related activities”.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

• Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

• Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

• World Tamil Movement (WTM)

• Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

• World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

• National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

• Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

While the majority of the designations mirror those contained in the May 2025 gazette, the latest document updates identification details and addresses for a number of individuals and introduces at least one additional organisation to the list. All entries have been reissued under new reference numbers for 2026, though the underlying allegations and framing remain unchanged.

Successive governemnts have maintained a sweeping proscription regime against Tamil diaspora groups and individuals. A ban can make it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with these organisations or their members, severely restricting political engagement and stifling links between the diaspora and the Tamil homeland.

The original mass listings were introduced in 2014 under the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Despite repeated outcry, subsequent governments have continued to uphold and renew the proscription regime, even after the Rajapaksas were voted out of power.

Police yesterday (12) obtained an injunction order from the Kaduwela Magistrate’s court against the protest launched by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa opposite the Education Ministry, Isurupaya, at Battaramulla.

Police informed Weerawansa of the court order. In line with the court order, the police informed Weerawansa that the road near the Ministry should not be obstructed and that no sound amplification equipment be used while the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination is in progress. The examination, put off due to Cyclone Ditwah, recommenced yesterday.

… USD 5 mn out of USD 450 mn allocated for repairs to Northern Railway Line

IRCON International Limited, an Indian Public Sector Undertaking, has launched a major project to restore the Northern Railway Line (NRL) that suffered quite significant damage due to Cyclone Ditwah in late November, 2025.

The Indian High Commission said that under the project launched on January 11, restoration work would cover three severely affected sections of the NRL, namely Maho–Omanthai, Omanthai–Jaffna, and Medawachchiya–Mannar which led to major disruptions in rail connectivity across the Northern and North Central regions.

The Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha, and Transport, Highways and Urban Development Minister Bimal Rathnayake jointly launched the restoration work under an Indian grant of USD 5 million. The project forms part of the Indian reconstruction and rehabilitation package of USD 450 million announced during the visit of External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to Sri Lanka.

The Indian HC spokesperson said: ” The scale and severity of the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah necessitated urgent restoration of critical connectivity infrastructure, particularly railways, which remain vital for passenger movement, essential services, and logistics in the affected regions. In this context, the Government of India announced grant assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Northern Railway Line, which was earlier upgraded with Indian assistance.

The commencement of restoration works, within less than three weeks of the announcement of assistance, reflects the priority accorded by India to time-bound delivery of development cooperation. It is planned to restore regular train services to pre-Ditwah frequencies within three months, by April 2026, ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, with the remaining works targeted for completion by May 2026. The accelerated timeline will involve large-scale deployment of manpower and specialised machinery. IRCON International Limited will also complete pending ancillary works on the Maho–Omanthai railway line, for which India has recently continued its existing Line of Credit.

Railways remain a cornerstone of India–Sri Lanka development cooperation. India’s cumulative financial assistance to Sri Lanka’s railway sector stands at approximately USD 1.2 billion. This includes construction and rehabilitation of nearly 500 kilometres of railway track, provision of signalling systems across around 400 kilometres, and supply of rolling stock, significantly strengthening the operational capacity of Sri Lanka Railways and enhancing seamless rail connectivity.”