Young Tamil mother strangled to death in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 February 2011, 12:24 GMT]
Body of a young woman, mother of one child, was recovered from a shrub jungle in Paalaiyadi-thoa'na area in Ea'ravoor police division in Batticaloa district Sunday. The body identified as that of 18 years-old Roopashini Jeyagnesh was found along the coast of a lagoon in Jinnah Veethi in Paalaiyadi-thoa'na. She left on February 24 with a herd of cattle for rearing to the shrub jungle and failed to return home, residents said.
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Body of youth recovered in Saththurukko'ndaan

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 February 2011, 12:21 GMT]
Unidentified body of a young male person was recovered from an empty fertilizer bag hidden under a culvert located in Panichchaiyadi area in Saththurukko'ndaan village in the Batticaloa police division Sunday evening, SL Police in Batticaloa said. The police team rushed to the site on receipt of information from the public that a suspicious bag had been seen under the culvert and recovered the body.
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UNSC weekend resolution on Libya incorporates ICC exclusion provision

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 February 2011, 00:50 GMT]
Under US's insistence, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), during its weekend sessions lasting into late nights on drafting a resolution on Libya, had to include a provision that "exempts personnel from states not members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from prosecution," Innercity Press (ICP) reported. The provision was a "red line" for the US, and was deal breaker, a French Representative told the ICP, adding, the provision had to be included to have the "unanimity of the Council."
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TNA MPs dropped from DDC meeting with Basil Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 February 2011, 17:13 GMT]
Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians P.Selvarasa, C.Yogeswaran and P.Ariyanethran have not been invited for the District Development Committee (DDC) meeting that was scheduled to be held on Sunday morning with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse. The meeting was summoned to review the progress of the ongoing development activities and to decide on the future development projects in the district.
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Prof Sitrampalam visits China on invitation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 February 2011, 15:10 GMT]
The Vice President of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Katchi (ITAK), Professor S K Sitrampalam, representing his party, is on a visit to China on the invitation of the Chinese government, ITAK leaders said in a press meet in Jaffna Sunday. Even though the ITAK leaders said that this is a routine invitation extended to party leaders in the island, they didn’t answer the question when in the past the ITAK had been invited or visited China. ITAK is the main component of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The Deccan College trained Dr. S.K. Sitrampalam, retired senior professor of Archaeology of the University of Jaffna, was widely appreciated by Eezham Tamils when he boldly countered the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao in Jaffna, last year.
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Sinhalese with SL Defense Ministry permit occupy Pulmoaddai coast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 February 2011, 16:24 GMT]
Muslim Fishermen Society in Pulmoaddai village, north of Trincomalee district, has complained to the civil authorities that their livelihood has been seriously affected by the Sinhala fishermen, who have encroached the Pulmoaddai coast. The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry has issued “permits” allowing them to construct “vaadi” (huts) along the coast for their stay, the Pulmoaddai MSF representatives say.
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Paramilitary abducts three Christian Priests in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 February 2011, 14:29 GMT]
Three Christian Priests, active in humanitarian work in Batticaloa, have been abducted by paramilitary group led by Pillayan according to complaints filed by the relatives with the Batticaloa police sources in the eastern province said. The priests were asked by Ramesh, a member of Pillayan's group, to attend a meeting with the Eastern province Chief Minister Pillaiyan on February 22, and have not been seen since, the complaint further said.
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Batticaloa flood victims denied relief due to shortage of funds

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 February 2011, 12:32 GMT]
Most of the employees of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital were not paid flood relief advance due to insufficient funds released by Colombo. Only 118 employees of 420 had been paid flood relief advance from the Rs. 15m received from the central health ministry, according to hospital Medical Superintendent Dr.K.Muruganandam. Rs. 90million is needed to pay the entire workforce of the hospital, he added.
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Amnesty enlists Trinco killings in push for UN war-crime investigation

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 22:55 GMT]
Dr. Kasipillai Manoharan, the father of one of the “Trinco 5” students killed by the Sri Lanka security forces in 2006, and two Amnesty officials delivered 52,000 signed petitions to the UN offices in New York Tuesday, Amnesty website reported. The petition, which appeared to have been timed to precede the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions scheduled from February 28 to March 25 in Geneva, was the result from the responses Amnesty received following a call for action campaign demanding international investigations as a first step towards accountability for crimes committed by both protagonists in Sri Lanka's war.
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EU team meets military governor, finds no time for civil groups in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 15:13 GMT]
The parents and relatives of abducted and ‘missing’ youth in Jaffna were thoroughly disappointed, as the visiting European Union team could not find time to meet their representatives or receive petitions from them. They were further frustrated by the act of the team choosing to meet on Thursday the SL colonial governor in Jaffna Maj. Gen. Chandrasri, who is accused of many abductions and disappearances when he was commanding the SL military in Jaffna. The EU team that showed much keenness in its ‘aid’ related investments and in knowing the ways the SL colonial administration functions in Jaffna, by its gesture, signals assent to the SL military rule of Eezham Tamils, civil groups said. Conceding synthesis of occupying military and civil service, a high official in Jaffna told the team that the military are also ‘government servants’.
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Appeal Court to review Fonseka writ petition

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 12:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal (CA) Friday decided to conduct inquiry into the writ application by the former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) despite the preliminary objection the Attorney General, legal sources in Colombo said. The Attorney General (AG) requested the court to dismiss the writ application without inquiry as the Supreme Court had determined that the court martial is also court under the constitution of Sri Lanka. Sarath Fonseka has filed the Writ Application in the Court of Appeal against unseating him from the parliament following the order of a Court Martial.
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Australian multinational consortium to set up plant in Champoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 02:04 GMT]
Mitchell Consortium of Australia with partners from Brazil and Sri Lanka plans to set up heavy industries in the SL occupied country of Eezham Tamils. Colonial Colombo’s cabinet approved the consortium to invest 700 million US dollars on coal and iron ore plants and sugar refinery in the 97 Sq.km of Tamil land at Champoor at the mouth of Koddiyaar Bay in Trincomalee. The territory is also earmarked for an Indo-Lanka joint venture coal power plant, reported Lankabusinessonline Thursday. Meanwhile, uprooted Tamil villagers of Champoor continue to face intimidation in regaining their village and lands.
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Tamils say Sri Lanka's new envoy to Australia, a war-criminal

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 00:49 GMT]
Australian Tamils held a protest rally in front of the Parliament House, Canberra, Thursday urging the Australian Government to reject the nomination of retired Sri Lankan Navy Commander Admiral Thisara S.G. Samarasinghe as the new High Commissioner to Australia. The rally was jointly organised by two of the member organisations of Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the Eelam Thamizh Association of Sydney and the Canberra Tamil Association. The protesters also demanded independent international investigations into war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the last phases of war, and particularly the crimes of Dr Palitha Kohona, an Australian citizen and a current Sri Lanka diplomat at the UN.
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ICRC closes Jaffna office

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 00:32 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday announced that it is closing down its Jaffna office after 21 years of service, hinting that Jaffna is no more a region of priority needing conflict related activities. After Mu’l’livaaykkaal, while genocidal Colombo is now focussing on converting the entire Jaffna peninsula into an open concentration camp, the withdrawal of ICRC reminding its earlier withdrawal from Vanni at the beginning of the war, causes serious concern among people of Jaffna, commented a human rights worker in Jaffna. The ICRC leaves Jaffna not only when High Security Zones remain but also when new bases for occupying military are built among civilian population and when the people of Jaffna are pointedly targeted by a terror campaign. The international perception on ‘conflict’ is lopsided, the human rights worker commented.
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India hands over 16 Sinhala fishermen to SL Navy

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 00:11 GMT]
16 Sinhala fishermen from Puththa'lam who had been imprisoned by the Indian coast guard one month ago have been handed over to Sri Lanka Navy Wednesday. The move comes after the recent release of Tamil Nadu fishermen who were seized by the fishermen from Vadamaraadchi and Maathakal in Jaffna.
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Ban and Nambiar confer with generals and officials of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2011, 15:19 GMT]
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and his Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar, on Wednesday had a meeting with SL Attorney General Mohan Pieris and foreign secretary Romesh Jayasinghe as well as the war crimes accused general Shavendra Silva and Palitha Kohona, the Inner City press (ICP) reported. Nambiar was hiding for photographs when Ban shook hands with Silva. Colombo converted Silva into UN ambassador to give him immunity and to see UN legitimating him, the ICP said. Both Ban and Nambiar are accused for their failure to prevent the killings of several thousands of Tamil civilians and even accused of indirect green signalling of the killings.
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TNA rejecting 13th Amendment is crucial to spirit of Tamil national polity: TNPF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2011, 13:30 GMT]
Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) will boycott elections to Provincial Council, an outfit of the 13th Amendment that has to be rejected, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam, Vice President of TNPF in a press meet held in Jaffna Wednesday. The TNPF is prepared to work with TNA on this matter and discussions are already initiated. If there is any fear that undesirable elements may exploit the vacuum, both the TNA and TNPF could jointly field suitable candidates of reputation outside of the parties to meet the situation. But it is crucial that the TNA should reject the 13th Amendment to uphold Tamil national polity. Achieving acceptance to the nation of Eezham Tamils in the island is the aim of TNPF. Territory is fundamental to continuity of the nation and chauvinistic Sri Lanka is keen on Sinhala colonisation to destroy that continuity, Gajendrakumar further said.
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TNPF announces Central Committee, prepares party constitution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2011, 13:24 GMT]
Popular Economics teacher Mr. Sinnadurai Varatharaja and former TNA parliamentarian Mr. Selvaraja Kajendran have been respectively announced as President and General Secretary of Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), in a press meet held in Jaffna Wednesday by the TNPF. Former TNA parliamentarians, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam and Ms. Padmini Sithambaranathan, as well as Mr. Visvalingam Manivannan, Mr. Rajakon Hariharan and Mr. R. E. Anandaraja have become Vice Presidents. Two nations in one country is the fundamental principle of the party and the constitution of the party would be announced within three months, the committee members said.
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Vaiko urges world leaders to condemn Colombo's desecration of Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2011, 06:03 GMT]
Vaiko, the genral secretary of MDMK, on Wednesday condemned Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka for having carried out a “barbaric act” allegedly by letting his troops to desecrate the ashes of the late Parvathi Amma, the mother of LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan. Vaiko urged the world leaders to condemn the act.
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Tamil Nadu needs non-political movement for Eezham liberation: Sathyaraj

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2011, 04:45 GMT]
Sathyaraj, a popular film actor from Tamil Nadu state of India, while addressing the gathering in Chennai on Monday on the occasion of paying tribute to the late Parvathi Amma, the mother of LTTE leader Pirapaharan, urged the leaders and activists supporting the Eezham cause to forge a non-political movement with the sole aim of taking forward the cause of Eezham Tamils. Calling the leaders and activists to put an end to rhetoric, the artist, who played the award-winning role of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in the documentary film, Periyar, said the cause of Eezham Tamils is beyond any identity of sectarian politics, castes or groups in Tamil Nadu and addressed Pirapaharan as the leader of World Tamils.
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University students protest against desecration of Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 12:02 GMT]
Thousands of the students at the University of Jaffna Wednesday noon boycotted their classes as the news of SL military's desecration of the ashes of late Parvathi Amma, the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, Tuesday night. The students vacated the premises after putting up posters condemning the uncivilized act of the Sri Lankan military and condemning the Sri Lankan authorities for blocking them from participating in the funeral procession of Parvathi Amma on Tuesday.
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Occupying SL military desecrates ashes of Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 08:53 GMT]
The ashes of Parvathi Amma cremated Tuesday and waiting for ritual collection were desecrated by occupying SL military in Jaffna Tuesday night. Three dead dogs with gun shot injuries were put on the cremation spot and the ashes were scattered by running over the spot by military vehicles. Local people witnessed the movement of military vehicles in the location Tuesday night. Former TNA parliamentarian, Mr. MK Sivajilingam, guardian to the interests of Parvathi Amma, came out with strong condemnation of the desecration.
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TNA files HR petition against forced registration in Killinochchi, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 03:17 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Tuesday filed a fundamental rights violation petition in the Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court against the forced registration of the districts of Jaffna and Killinochchi by the Sri Lanka Army. Parliamentarians Maavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachchandran, Appathura Vinayagamoorthy and Easwarapatham Saravanapavan of the Jaffna district and Sivagnaam Sritharan of the Killinochchi district have signed the petition. The petition was filed by Attorney-at-Law Mohan Balendra, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Remains of Parvathi Amma cremated amidst military harassment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 14:10 GMT]
Braving harassments by occupying Sri Lankan military that has been forcing the people to remove black flags they had flown to mourn the late Parvathi Amma, people from various parts of the peninsula took part in the funeral procession Tuesday together with former and current parliamentarians representing Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Tuesday evening. Politicians and activists from Tamil Nadu and the diaspora addressed the mourners paying tribute through phone calls at Theeruvil grounds. Defying the order by SLA soldiers to remove the black flags, people of Vadamaraadchi closed their shops and flew black flags.
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Colombo gripped by paranoia, say Jaffna university students

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 14:08 GMT]
The Sinhala establishment in Colombo, gripped by fear and paranoia has blocked 400 students of Jaffna university, who were scheduled to leave the University in three buses on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Parvathi Amma.
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TNA challenges Pilliayan to resign, hold election to EPC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 12:47 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa District TNA Parliamentarian, Mr.C.Yogeswaran, addressing an election meeting in Kaaraitheivu, challenged the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC), Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, to dissolve the EPC and to stand for re-election to prove his popularity instead of criticizing the TNA, sources in Batticaloa said.
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SLA restricts movement of IDPs in Kodikaamam Camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 12:43 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army has instructed outsiders to get prior permission from its sentry points to visit the uprooted civilians from Vanni staying in Kodikaamam Ramaavil IDP camp in Thenmaraadchi, Jaffna. The inmates who were earlier allowed to leave camps and work without any restriction, are from this week onwards have been instructed to register themselves with SLA sentry point, before leaving for work and after their return.
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Colombo deports Thirumavalavan, rejects participation in Parvathi Amma's funeral

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 10:01 GMT]
Indian parliamentarian Thol Thirumavalavan, the leader of Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchi, was denied entry to the island Monday night when he arrived at Katunayake International Airport in Colombo to take part in the funeral of Parvathi Amma, the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan. After being deported back to Chennai from Colombo airport, Mr. Thirumavalavan told media in Tamil Nadu that the deportation was an insult to the entire India and urged the governments of Tamil Nadu and India to condemn his deportation from Colombo.
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Kohona could face court over Tamil Tiger deaths - Sydney paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 13:33 GMT]
"An Australian citizen and senior Sri Lankan diplomat has been accused of complicity in the murders of three surrendering Tamil Tigers in an application to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands," Sydney Morning Herald said in its Monday edition, referring to Dr Palitha Kohona, who is currently attached to the United Nations Sri Lanka Mission in New York. "...two international Tamil organisations have made a series of war crimes allegations to the International Criminal Court involving Dr Kohona and his role in the negotiated surrender of three Tamil Tigers who are believed to have been killed," the paper said.
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Search operation intensified in Colombo, residents asked to register

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 12:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police have directed all residents in Colombo and its suburbs to register their details with the respective police stations without delay. Residents in Grandpass area have been ordered to furnish the names of their relatives and visitors staying with them in the nearby police stations, according to reports from Colombo.
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British Minister arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 12:39 GMT]
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for South Asia of the British Government, Alistair Burt, arrived in Colombo Monday morning on a two-day official visit. This is the first ministerial visit to Sri Lanka under the current UK administration, the British High Commission in Colombo in a press release said. Mr Burt is also scheduled to visit Jaffna, according to the High Commission.
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Maathakal fishermen foil SL military attempt to sabotage silent protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 11:45 GMT]
While hundreds of fishermen from Maathakal were staging a silent protest Monday morning in front of the Indian consulate in Jaffna, Sri Lankan military intelligence brought a group of their men, numbering around 100, posing as fishermen in a march from Naga Vihara Buddhist temple through Palaali Road to the Indian Consulate and attempted to create a violent episode outside the mission, around 10:00 a.m. The representatives of the Maathakal fishermen society, grasping the sabotage attempt by the occupying Sri Lankan military intelligence, handed over the appeal to Mr. Mahalingam, the Consul-General of India, and left the site peacefully.
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Hundreds of Eezham fishermen silently agitate before Indian mission in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 08:26 GMT]
Around 400 Eezham fishermen and their families from Maathakal in Jaffna, led by parish priest S.M.P Anandakumar, silently agitated in front of the Indian consulate at Kantharmadam in Jaffna, Monday morning, demanding security for them and assurance against poaching by Indian fishermen. Their mouths tied in black cloth they carried placards, damaged fishing nets and empty pots. There was a heavy presence of occupying SL military to provide security to the Indian mission. According to the fishermen, the Indian Consul General, Mr. Mahalingam dodged assurances when fishermen representatives met him some days ago. Since he secured the release of the poaching Indian trawlers and fishermen, he is also now responsible for stopping poaching and providing security in the seas to the affected Eezham fishermen, the agitators said.
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Jaffna mourns Parvathi Amma amidst SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 07:52 GMT]
The people of Jaffna have flown black flags on Sunday, mourning the demise of 80-year-old Parvathi Amma (Vallipuram Parvathi), the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan. Community organisations have flown their flags at half post amid harassments by the occupying Sri Lankan forces. The funeral of late Parvathi Amma is to take place at Valveddiththu'rai (VVT) Hindu Cremation Grounds on Tuesday. Born on 07 August, 1931, Parvathi Amma, resolved to stay with her people at her native village, after being denied entry to Tamil Nadu for medical treatment last year.
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Colombo to postpone local elections in North

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 03:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government has decided to postpone elections to 75 local authorities that were scheduled for March 17 until the Court of Appeal decides on the 60 writ applications, many filed by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) against the rejection of its nomination lists in the districts of Jaffna, Killinochchi and Mullaithivu. The Court of Appeal last week put off the inquiry and order on the Writ Applications filed by the ruling UPFA challenging the rejection of nomination lists submitted for three Urban Councils and sixteen Predesiya Sabas in the Northern Province for February 28.
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Parvathi Amma passes away

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 01:47 GMT]
Mrs. Vallipuram Parvathi, the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, passed away Sunday morning at Valveddiththu'rai hospital in Jaffna around 6:30 a.m., Dr. A. Maylerumperumal, District Medical Officer (DMO) of Valveddiththu'rai told media. Her husband, Thiruvengadam Velupillai, had passed away in Sri Lanka Army detention at Panagoda in January 2010. After the demise of her husband, Mrs. Parvathi was released and was later allowed to go to Malaysia for medical treatment in March 2010. However, she was denied entry to Tamil Nadu and deported back to Malaysia last year. Later, she was brought to her home village of Valveddiththu'rai and was taken care of the doctors and the staff at Valveddiththu'rai hospital till her last breath.
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British MPs urge UK to seek ‘robust and independent’ probe into Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2011, 21:59 GMT]
Several dozen parliamentarians from Britain’s three main political parties have written to Prime Minister David Cameron urging an independent international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka. The petition, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group For Tamils (APPG-T), called for “Britain’s support for a robust and independent international investigation that would clarify what occurred during the conflict and offer the best hope of a sustainable peace in Sri Lanka.” The letter also referred to a similar call recently by several members of the US Congress.
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Tamil man from UK reported missing in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2011, 12:34 GMT]
A 31-year-old Tamil man, who was visiting his family in Jaffna and was on his way to Colombo was reported missing in Vavuniyaa on 13 February 2011, sources in Colombo said adding that the relatives of the missing person have complained to Sri Lankan Police in Colombo.
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Milk production drops 50% as flood destroys cattle in Battlicaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2011, 03:36 GMT]
Milk production in Batticaloa district dropped by more than 50% as nearly 250,000 cattle were killed and owners of at least 28 cattle farms in the Batticaloa District were directly affected by the recent two major floods in December last year and in January this year, according to District Animal Production and Health Assistant Director Dr. Mallika Amirthalingam. Livelihood of those involved in rearing catte has been badly affected by the floods, the official added.
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Indian fishermen released, Indian Consul-General intimidates Tamil judge in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2011, 18:40 GMT]
Following an urgent ‘instruction’ from the Sri Lankan Chief Justice in Colombo, the Indian fishermen held in remand in Jaffna, were released Friday without any inquiries and were set free to leave the island in their trawlers that had been seized by the local fishermen. The move comes following an ‘instruction’ from the Indian Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna to his Sri Lankan counterpart, G.L.Peiris, on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Indian Consul-General in Jaffna Mr. Mahalingam has been blamed of intimidating a prominent Judge of Point Pedro Courts, Srinidhi Nanthasekaran, by visiting her residence and insisting her to release the Indian fishermen. Mrs. Nanthasekaran, who was earlier transferred away from Jaffna for her stern actions against the Sri Lankan military, during the war, came with hard remarks on the interference by the Indian Consul-General in the legal affairs in Jaffna.
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UNP leaders conduct election campaign in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2011, 12:08 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said by defeating the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the forthcoming local election Tamil people could teach a good lesson to the government in power. UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya said so in responding to a question why his party has been contesting in the local elections in the districts of Jaffna and Vanni, at a media briefing held Thursday in Kaarainagar in Jaffna district.
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Seizure of Indian trawlers, a token action: fishermen representatives

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2011, 00:15 GMT]
Around 500 Eezham Tamil fishing society representatives who gathered at Point Pedro in Vadamarradchi refused Thursday to hand over the poaching Indian trawlers, which they had seized from the intruding Indian fishermen on Tuesday. Declaring that their action against Indian poaching was a token one, the representatives urged immediate action from the Indian authorities. The fishermen representatives also refused to hand over the vessels to Sri Lankan military, urging the concerned authorities to resolve the dispute by civil means.
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Sinhala colonization in Vellaave'li discussed in Batticaloa DDC meeting

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2011, 23:19 GMT]
The encroachment of lands belonging to Tamils in Vellaave'li division by Sinhalese and the establishment of a camp of the Sri Lanka Army in Punaanai area in Koa'ralaippattu South DS division were brought to discussion. A group of Sinhalese settlers from the 36th colony, with Police protection, has encroached into more than thirty acres of land belonging to twenty Tamil families located in 35th colony, south of Batticaloa district and north of Ampaa'rai district in the Vellaave'li DS division.
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Plan to “Sinhalacise” Eastern University discussed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2011, 04:32 GMT]
A plan to appoint Sinhalese academicians as the Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Dean of Faculties to the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) was seriously considered at a meeting held to discuss the development of EUSL presided by Minister of Higher Education Mr.S.Dissanayake, education sources in Batticaloa said. The meeting was held amid protests made by the Batticaloa district Tamil parliamentarians against the appointment of Sinhalese as the Competent Authority to the EUSL.
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UN falters over Sri Lanka journalist's disappearance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 February 2011, 04:50 GMT]
Adding further fuel to the accusation that the United Nations under the current leadership has failed to take effective action on Sri Lanka's war, the UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said Tuesday that UN's New York offices did not receiv a petition on disappeared journalist Prageeth Eknelygoda, thereby contradicting UN's Colombo office which said two weeks earlier that Colombo UN Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne received the petition from the journalist's wife and that the petition is being forwarded to Secretary General's office, the Innter City Press reported in its website.
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SLA terrorizes TNA candidates in Vavuniyaa, Killinochi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 February 2011, 02:10 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has complained that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are threatening an intimidating TNA candidates contesting in the forthcoming local elections in the Vanni region. Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian Mr.S. Sritharan has accused the SLA soldiers of unleashing terror in the Vanni region creating fear psychosis among the TNA candidates. TNA parliamentarians Selvam Adaikalanathan and Sivasakthi Aanandan have also alleged that they are being intimidated by SLA soldiers and intelligence unit men against holding election meetings in Vavuniyaa.
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LTTE ban to be challenged in European Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 February 2011, 00:07 GMT]
The proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the European Union will be challenged in the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg, said Amsterdam based lawyer Victor Koppe while giving an exclusive interview to TamilNet, Tuesday. Unlike the previous legal instances, now there is direct community involvement. Eezham Tamils in the legal field are actively involved in making this case, and the move is backed by a democratically elected body of Eezham Tamils in Switzerland, the Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET), said Arulnithila Deivendran, the spokesperson for the SCET. The attitude of governments to negate the sovereignty of Eezham Tamils by deliberately confusing it with the LTTE, has prompted the legal action, she further said.
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Eezham fishermen seize trawlers with 100 Indian fishermen in the seas off Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 February 2011, 11:56 GMT]
18 fishing trawlers operated by more than 112 fishermen from Naakappaddinam of Tamil Nadu state of India, destroying the livelihood of Eezham fishermen by bottom-trawling, have been seized by the local fishermen in the seas off Point Pedro Tuesday afternoon. The trawlers are being towed to Munai in Point Pedro by the fishermen, a fishing society representative told TamilNet. The latest development comes following repeated complaints by the local fishermen over a long period of time about the fishing trawlers destroying the fishing tools and the resources in the sea. The fishermen representatives further said around 100 Tamil Nadu fishermen were in their custody and they were being looked after well.
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Police arrest resettled ex-LTTE cadres in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 February 2011, 00:29 GMT]
Tamil youths who are reported to have left the LTTE and returned to normal life after marriage are being arrested by the Sri Lanka Police in the Batticaloa district. Such arrests are said to be on the increase in Paduvaangkarai region. Tamil residents are not coming forward to make complaints to higher authorities due to fear and reprisals, civil sources said.
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SL Military enforces photo-registration of families in Valikaamam, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 February 2011, 19:03 GMT]
Against their wishes, the local officials are forced by the occupying military to undertake Nazi-style photo registration of families in the Jaffna Peninsula. A meeting to this effect was convened at Uduvil Girls College last week by the commanders of the 513 division of Sri Lanka Army, headquartered at Uduvil. Village officials and SL police officials of Cha’ndilippaay, Maanippaay, Thillippazhai and Chunnaakam polici divisions were asked to attend this meeting. Despite their protests, the village officials attended the meeting were instructed to collaborate with the military in the nearest camps during the registration procedures. Civil officials in Jaffna are highly worried that their participation in the military project would earn them animosity of the public.
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Sinhalese encroach ancestoral lands owned by Tamils in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 February 2011, 02:40 GMT]
A group of Sinhalese settlers from the 36th colony, with Sri Lankan Police protection, has encroached into more than thirty acres of land belonging to twenty Tamil families located in 35th colony, south of Batticaloa district and north of Ampaa'rai district in the Vellaave'li DS division, civil sources in Batticaloa said. The affected Tamil families have been residing in the lands that were legally handed over to them by the District Land Development (DLD) in and after 1956. The families possess the land deeds affirming ownership of the affected lands which include residential plot, high land and fertile field to grow paddy, civil sources added.
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TAG, SCET's legal brief asserts ICC obligated to probe Kohona on war-crimes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 February 2011, 04:31 GMT]
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, and Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET) said Sunday that both organizations are to jointly file a legal brief requesting the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands, to initiate war crimes investigations leading to the issuance of an article 58 warrant of arrest of dual Australian-Sri lanka National Palitha Kohona. The legal complaint charges joint criminal enterprise liability on Kohona over the extra-judicial killings of three LTTE hors de combat surrendering by waving a white-flag to the Sri Lanka Army on or about May 18 2009. Mr Kohona is currently the Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.
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Nearly 50% children malnourished in Eastern Province

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 February 2011, 04:12 GMT]
Nearly half of the children less than five years old are suffering from malnutrition in the three districts in the Eastern province. 53% in Batticaloa, 45% in Trincomalee, and 44% in Ampaarai have been found suffering malnutrition, according to a survey carried out by the World Food Organization (WFO), UNICEF, and Health Services Agency of the United Nations, NGO sources in the eastern province said.
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Seek pragmatic changes, not focus entirely on war-crimes accountability, says Donald Camp

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2011, 16:39 GMT]
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Camp, in a seminar held at the US think-tank, American Enterprise Institute, said while everyone was appalled at the events during the final stages of war, focusing entirely on accountability and prosecution will not be pragmatic, as the Rajapakse Government will not allow any investigations to take place. Instead, Camp advocates helping Rajapakse to "do the right thing." Camp, without saying how, mentioned "decentralization of powers," "co-ordinating with the UN Panel," and "reducing security presence in Jaffna," as possible actions that Rajapakse should be assisted to take to capitalize on the post war environment.
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IDP families in Vavuniyaa Poonthoddam asked to vacate

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2011, 16:21 GMT]
About three hundred Tamil families displaced in the war between 1997 and 1999 from the districts of Mullaiththeevu, Ki'linochchi and Vavuniyaa, and sheltered in Poonthoddam welfare centre in Vavuniyaa more than decade, have been instructed by the District Government Agent Mrs P.M.S.Charles and the District Planning Director Mr.V.Kirupasuthan in writing to vacate from the centre before February 15 and return to their original villages. The instruction has been served through the District Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Secretariat and Economic Development Ministry, according to the refugees of the Poonthoddam Centre.
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Sri Lanka bank employees strike demanding pension rights

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2011, 03:52 GMT]
Employees of state sector banks, Bank of Ceylon (BoC) and Peoples Bank (PB) Thursday and Friday held protest campaigns for one hour from 12.30 p.m. till 1.30 p.m. in front of their branches throughout the island demanding pension rights after retirement. Employees recruited for banking service prior to 1990 have been enjoying pension rights and they are entitled to monthly pension after retirement.
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Unidentified gang abducts teenage Tamil girl

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2011, 13:29 GMT]
An unidentified group of persons arrived in a van had abducted a seventeen year-old girl in the close proximity of the Kaluwanchchikudi police station on Thursday, according to a complaint lodged with the police by her relatives. The girl was later rescued and admitted to the Kaluwanchchikudi base hospital.
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Norway arrests ex LTTE member

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2011, 07:44 GMT]
Crime branch of the Norwegian Police has arrested an ex-LTTE member on January 26 at his work place in Norway. The 31-year-old man, living in Norway for more than 3 years, has been charged for three killings in his home country before coming to Norway, which the lawyer representing the prosecutor said could be acts of war or war-like scenario, reported a local newspaper, Bygdebladet, on 29 January. Per Zimmer, the lawyer representing the Norwegian Police told the paper that the situation prevailing now in the island had enabled them [the Norwegian authorities] to undertake investigations on the ground. While questioning whether any agency of the war crimes accused Sri Lanka would be recognized in such investigations, diaspora Tamils wonder what action would be taken against the individuals suspected in the commitment and facilitation of war crimes in the island.
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Local elections likely to be postponed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 February 2011, 23:44 GMT]
Sri Lankan Department of Elections has said it was considering requests made by political parties to postpone the local elections until hundreds of thousands of families displaced due to recent floods are resettled and resume their day to day normal life in their villages and towns.
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Mahaaweli Sinhala farmers to be settled in Vavuniyaa, Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 09:20 GMT]
100,000 families under the Mahaaweli scheme don’t have enough land. Steps will be taken to provide them with land in the Vavuniyaa and Polonnaruwa districts, said D. M. C. Dissanayake of Sri Lanka’s Director General of the Mahaweli Authority, according to The Island, Tuesday. The north has become a dumping ground of Sinhalese unwanted in the south so that the double purpose of getting rid of them as well as terrorising and subjugating or chasing away the Tamils from their country could be achieved, says resettlement officials in the north.
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Genocidal Colombo unleashes new war on unarmed Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 07:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka is now waging a new genocidal war on unarmed and demographically weakened Tamils after converting their country imperceptibly into an open concentration camp. The new war is focussed on the Jaffna Peninsula. Many Tamils believe that by stressing on the negation of their independence, India and USA continue to encourage Colombo, smokescreen the current war by projecting it ‘reconciliation’ cum post-war ‘development’ and thus actually play a party to the war and genocide. All these decades India and USA competitively negotiating the national question by upholding the integrity of a fundamentally flawed state has brought in only untold misery. At least now, why shouldn’t they try in unison, a genuine reconciliation by the option of secession? Further delays will convert the island a bleeding spot of the region for ages, cautions a Jaffna university academic.
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Muslim journalist attacked for exposing corruption

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 04:31 GMT]
An unidentified group of assailants attacked the Chief Editor of the weekly Batticaloa newspaper ‘Vaara Uraikal’ with iron rods after throwing chilli powder on the editor's face on Monday evening in Kaaththaankudi, sources in Batticaloa said. Puvi Rahumathulla, was admitted in the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital for treatment. Media sources alleged that the attack had been carried out by an armed gang at the instigation of M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, a deputy minister the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse.
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DC Court to serve summons to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 01:38 GMT]
Attorney for the three Tamil plaintiffs who are suing Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse in the District of Columbia Federal court for monetary damages under US's Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) said in a press release issued Tuesday that he will be requesting the Clerk of the United States District Court to send summons by mail to Rajapakse's residence "Temple Trees" in Colombo 3. Civil procedure rules normally require a properly served defendant 21days to file an answer.
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Mannaar severely affected by overflowing water from Anuradhapura tanks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 23:32 GMT]
Mannaar district has been facing a severe natural calamity for the first time in its history due to recent rain and flood. Almost all the villages in the district are under water. 7,807 persons from 2,667 families have been displaced from areas that come under Mannaar Urban Council and Naanaaddaan Piratheasa Chapai (PS). People from Arippu and Maanthai have been trapped in their houses as they are marooned in the flood. The Government Agent of Mannaar, N.Vedhanayagam, has declared emergency situation in the district.
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Another former US envoy goes to Chennai to save Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 17:42 GMT]
Former US envoy to Sri Lanka Teresita Schaffer, speaking at a forum on ‘US perspective on security in South Asian region with special emphasis on Nepal and Sri Lanka’ in Chennai on Monday, ruled out American backing for Tamil Eelam, reported Express News Service, Tuesday. The ex envoy was harping on genuine reconciliation, focus on war crimes investigation and shared her apprehension that “If the reconciliation process is allowed to slide, then some new internal conflict may spring up,” but conceded that she had no idea of how to approach. “I don’t have any clear sense on how one can persuade the Sri Lankan leader on reconciliation,” the ex envoy said. Obviously the helplessness comes by refusing to recognize long-existing realities, commented a political observer in Chennai, long familiar with the competitive Indo-US deceit on Eezham Tamils.
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Sri Lankan ire on Independence Day in London

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 05:03 GMT]
When a group of Tamil expatriates began protesting outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on Friday Feb 4 (Sri Lanka’s Independence Day), officials inside made a false call to the police claiming the building was under attack, British police sources said Monday. A police squad rushed to the site, but found peaceful demonstrators chanting slogans and carrying placards and Tamil Eelam flags. Embassy officials later remonstrated on the street with police as well as shouting abuse at the protestors and taking photographs of them, protest leaders said.
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Tamil Nadu fishermen, country boat, attacked by Sri Lanka Navy

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2011, 17:35 GMT]
Three Tamil Nadu fishermen from Rameswaram were pushed into mid sea and their country boat was ransacked, on Sunday midnight, allegedly by Sri Lanka Navy, reported PTI, Monday. According to TN officials, the attack took place while ten country boats had anchored and were fishing inside the Indian waters. Country boats with limited capacity couldn’t have gone that far into the maritime boundary, said TN officials.
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Colombo plans selling Tamil land in the East

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2011, 14:52 GMT]
500 acres of prime land at Kuchchave’li in the Trincomalee district of the Eastern Province are to be sold for 90 million US dollars (10 billion Sri Lankan rupees) by the tourism authority of the occupying Sri Lanka to 5-Star hotel entrepreneurs, according to media reports from Colombo. The one-off payment is for 99 years lease, at the rate of 20 million rupees per acre land, lankabusinessonline.com said Monday.
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Pirapaharan's mother's condition serious, not critical

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 21:34 GMT]
The condition of Velupillai Paa'rvathi Amma, the mother of the LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, while remaining serious, has not reached dangerous stage, hospital sources in her native town Valveddiththu'rai said. The health officials transport her to the Jaffna Hospital for emergency needs and then bring her back to Valveddiththu'rai for day-to-day health care delivery, sources added.
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Litigation threat forces Bush to cancel Swiss trip

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 16:41 GMT]
US's former President George Bush cancelled his intended visit to Switzerland to talk in Geneva, after Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a New York based non-profit group and other human rights organizations threatened to bring a complaint in Switzerland under the Convention Against Torture for sanctioning torture of terrorism suspects. Rights activists were also organizing a rally outside the Hotel Wilson, where the speech was scheduled to take place, Washington Post said.
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‘Nazi-style registration of civilians in Jaffna’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 12:08 GMT]
The occupying SL military in Jaffna is directly engaged in registration of individuals and families in the Jaffna peninsula in recent times. Everyday, covering area by area, the SL military is distributing forms to collect information and is insisting of family photographs along with children to be given to them. The activity of the SL military, reminding the Nazi practice before the Holocaust, creates terror in the minds of the people in Jaffna, said a human rights activist in Jaffna. Meanwhile, undeclared curfew is imposed in Jaffna by the SL military and police, who have brought the street movement of people almost to an end after 6:00 p.m. by harassing them through numerous checkpoints after dusk.
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Flood displaces 100,000 in Vanni, 25,000 in camps

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 08:25 GMT]
At least 100,000 Tamil civilians of around twenty five thousand families have been affected by the flood in the two districts of Vavuniyaa and Mullaiththeevu in Vanni. Sand bunds erected by the Sri Lanka Army are obstructing the flow of water reaching the sea. Hence the villages are flooded. The uprooted families are still not allowed to resettle between Mullaiththeevu and Puthukkudiyiruppu. In the meantime, informed sources said the occupying military was promoting the idea of opening transport services via Anuradhapura-Ma’nalaa’ru road, making inroad for Sinhala colonization.
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Hague's WikiLeaks admission spells legal danger to Sri Lanka war-criminals

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 February 2011, 12:11 GMT]
The Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal in The Hague has granted Charles G. Taylor, 62, the former Liberian president, who has been on trial charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the right to use two leaked American diplomatic cables as evidence to challenge the court’s impartiality. While the leaked information in the Taylor case was used by Taylor's lawyer to raise doubts on the courts independence and suggested the prosecution was political, Sri Lanka's leaked cables from the US Embassy contain incriminating information on the complicity of Rajapakse family, Ex-SLA Commander Sarath Fonseka, and Tamil paramilitaries in war-crimes and crimes against humanity on Tamil civilians, legal sources in Washington said.
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One dies, 5 reported missing, flood-displaced in Trinco rises to 60,000

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2011, 15:41 GMT]
The number of displaced persons and sheltered in 159 welfare centres in the Trincomalee district due to second wave of floods following heavy rains with strong wind stood Friday evening at 59,198 persons from 15,669 families. However, the total number of persons affected due to disaster comprises of 2,90,000 persons from 80,952 families, in eleven DS divisions in the district, district secretariat sources said.
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100,000 displaced, 7 die in second wave of floods, Ampaa'rai worst hit

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2011, 09:01 GMT]
Seven persons have died and over 100,000 civilians are displaced due to second wave of heavy rains in the Eastern, North Central and Central provinces of the island according to District Disaster Management Centre Friday. Four persons have died in Ampaa'rai district alone. While tens of thousands were hit by the disaster, the participation of even Sinhalese was poor at Mahinda Rajapksa government's celebration of Sri Lanka's Independence Day at Vihara Mahadevi Poongaa in the bordering district of Tissmaharagama at Kathirkaamam, sources in Ampaa'rai told TamilNet. People who lost their properties, houses and belongings have been left in the lurch due to failure of the Colombo government to provide any relief to restart their day to day life.
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Second wave of floods hit Trincomalee hard

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 13:48 GMT]
Trincomalee district has been severely affected by the renewed adverse weather condition now prevailing in the Eastern Province since last Saturday. All villages in the Moothoor East and Verukal division have been marooned with spill flood water that flows from Minneariyaa and Pararakrama irrigation tanks in Polonnaruwa district. The number of welfare centres has risen to seventy by Thursday evening where 16,501 persons from 4519 families displaced from their houses from eleven DS divisions in the district are sheltered.
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Two fishermen die in Thirukkoayil Sea

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 13:27 GMT]
Two fishermen died Thursday morning when their boat toppled in the rough seas off Thirukkoayil in Ampaa'rai district around 5:00 a.m. The body of one of the victims, 58-year-old Sionnathamby Thanikasalam, was recovered and the other victim, 43-year-old Balakrishnan, was reported missing.
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Colombo ignores uprooted Tamils of Champoor in IDP camps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 13:17 GMT]
Uprooted Tamil families from Champoor village in Moothoor East in Trincomalee district during military offensive launched by the Sri Lanka Army in April 2006 and sheltered in welfare centres at Ki'liveddi, Ma'natcheanai and Paddiththidal have not been supplied with dry ration relief for the last two months by government. On Thursday activists of the Canada-Moothoor Development Association distributed some relief to them that could enough for their one day need.
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Batticaloa, Ampaa'rai heading for second flood disaster

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 09:39 GMT]
The districts of Batticaloa and Ampaarai have been affected by second natural disaster within two months, with lashing torrential rains and floods since last week. The overflowing water from irrigation tanks has entered villages in the two districts and normalcy has been badly affected. The body of a woman washed away by flood was recovered Wednesday afternoon at Lahugala in Ampaa'rai district. Her father was also reported disappeared in the flood. Fifteen others were rescued, sources said. Flood affected people are forced to undergo tremendous hardships due to lack of food and other facilities as the civil authority had failed to provide relief promised for the previous natural calamity that took place last month.
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Village Officers association condemns attacks in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2011, 03:20 GMT]
Batticaloa District Branch of the United Village Officers Association has expressed concern over the failure of the Colombo government to take action against intimidation and assault on its members involved in relief work following the recent floods. The association has organized a demonstration Wednesday to condemn such attacks in Batticaloa.
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SLFP sidelines SLMC, EPDP in Mannaar local elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 23:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the EPDP, constituents of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have been completely rejected from the lists of candidates fielded in the local elections in the Mannaar district. The SLMC led by SL Minister Rauff Hakeem was forced to file separate nominations to contest the Piratheasa Chapais (PS) of Maanthai West, Musali and Mannaar, as SL minister Rishad Bathiudeen selected candidates from Mahinda Rajapaksa's SLFP, against the assurances the UPFA had given to SLMC and the EPDP, sources in Mannaar said.
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Sinhala colonization threatens fishermen of Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 23:47 GMT]
The number of Sinhala fishermen from South, camping close to Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Navy camps in the SL occupied Vadamaraadchi East and Mullaiththeevu, has doubled within a short period in the recent weeks, causing alarm among the fishermen associations of resettled Tamil fishermen. Commanders of the occupying Sri Lankan military have become brokers bringing in hundreds of fishermen from south and allowing them to operate from coastal areas where Tamil civilians are denied resettlement, complained representatives of fishermen societies in Vadamaraadchi East to media on Tuesday.
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TNA MP protests against ethnic subjugation of Eastern University

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 00:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently appointed a Sinhala officer with powers above the rank of Vice Chancellor in the Eastern University under the pretext of eliminating irregularities and corruption. “The real agenda of the move is subjecting the overwhelmingly Tamil-speaking Eastern University to the insinuations of Mahinda Chintana based ethnic subjugation,” blamed Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Batticaloa District C. Yogeswaran, talking to Tamil journalists.
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