Sri Lanka's government on Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of its victory over Tamil insurgents with a military parade in the south and a broad crackdown on journalists, opposition politicians and students in the once-restive north and east. Government troops largely sealed off the offices of Uthayan, a newspaper based in the northern city of Jaffna that has long been critical of the governing alliance. The government also closed Jaffna University. In Pottuvil, in the east, troops blocked a meeting of the Tamil National Alliance, an opposition party. The measures, confirmed by a military spokesman, were part of a crackdown in Tamil-dominated areas intended to prevent open demonstrations of grief for the tens of thousands killed during the country's 26-year civil war. In the southern town of Matara on Sunday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa viewed a military parade, above, and air show to mark Victory Day.
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It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.
