The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to appoint Mrs. A.M.S. Malkanthi, a special grade officer in Sri Lanka Accountants’ Service currently serving in a post of Additional Director General at the Department of Public Finance to the post of Director General of the Department of Treasury Operations with immediate effect.

Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala told Parliament yesterday that the area in Akuregoda, where Attorney-at-Law Buddhika Mallawaarachchi and his wife were recently shot dead, was not a High Security Zone.

The Opposition and others have repeatedly pointed out that last Friday’s killings took place about 800 metres away from the Akuregoda Defence Forces Headquarters where the Defence Ministry, too, is situated.

Responding to a question raised by Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, the Minister said the shooting was an isolated incident and did not constitute a threat to national security. He alleged that attempts were being made to portray the crime as a blow to national security and stressed that homicide should not be construed as undermining the rule of law.

Expressing condolences to the families of the victims, Wijepala said the Government does not undervalue any life and does not condone the taking of life, under any circumstances. He affirmed that the administration remains committed to safeguarding all citizens and has taken several measures, since assuming office, to enhance public security.

The Minister further observed that a significant number of illegal weapons remain in circulation, including firearms previously issued to politicians that have yet to be returned. He said the Government was operating within that context.

Wijepala added that the killings had occurred amid ongoing investigations into weapons, allegedly supplied to elements of the underworld from military camps, and reiterated the Government’s condemnation of what he described as a culture of violence.

By Saman Indrajith

The Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) has strongly defended students of the Jaffna University who pulled down the Sri Lankan National flag and hoisted black flags on 4 February as part of coordinated protests in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Students, civil society organisations and families of the disappeared took part in these protests, northern sources said.

However, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which reportedly declared the protest unlawful, has called for investigations and disciplinary action against the students involved.

The Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) has defended their right to protest.

In a media statement issued by its spokesperson Suresh K. Premachandran, the DTNA stated that since Sri Lanka attained independence, Tamil people had for decades marked Independence Day as a day of mourning through black flag protests.

Premachandran noted that Sri Lanka had historically been divided into Sinhala and Tamil kingdoms, which were unified by British colonial rulers in 1833 for administrative convenience. He further asserted that governance of the island was subsequently handed over to the Sinhala majority upon independence, leaving the Tamil nation without political safeguards.

The DTNA stated that there was no legal basis to deem the hoisting of black flags unlawful within a university or elsewhere, provided that no harm is caused to persons or property. It, therefore, condemned the UGC’s call for investigations and punitive action, as well as any compliance with such demands by university authorities.

The Alliance also called on the academic community to ensure that universities remain spaces where students can pursue their education freely and without fear, including the exercise of their democratic rights.

It further noted that those who came to power through mass protests and student-led mobilisation should reflect on whether it is just to suppress the democratic expression of Tamil students today.

The protests at the University of Jaffna formed part of a broader wave of demonstrations across the “Tamil homeland” on 4 February, where black flags were raised and vigils held to mark what many Tamils continue to regard as a day of mourning rather than independence.