Sumanthiran alleged of exerting Colombo’s influence to tamper with preferential vote counts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2020, 01:05 GMT]
The supporters of two leading candidates of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the Jaffna electorate vehemently protested against an alleged move to tamper with the preferential vote counts in Jaffna to the favour of MA Sumanthiran, who was ranked fifth for the most part the counting process. Two of TNA’s candidates, Dharmalingam Sitharthan (PLOTE) and Sashikala Raviraj (ITAK) were carefully following the development to ensure that the hierarchy of their party doesn’t exert back-door influence to alter their preferential vote counts. The supporters of Sitharthan and Sashikala alleged that the government officials were acting on instructions from their superiors. SL Police and STF commandos were providing security to Mr Sumanthiran, and they assaulted the protesters outside the counting centre. When Sashikala left the centre, she refused police protection.
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High voter turnout registered in North-East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 August 2020, 23:41 GMT]
The voter turnout was higher than the last two elections in district of Jaffna, according to District Secretary K. Mahesan. Similarly, high turnout was also registered in the other four districts, Ki'linochchi, Mannaar, Vavuniyaa and Mullaiththeevu in the Northern province. The polling was also above 70% in the three districts of Eastern province. The trend was unique to North-East as Vanni, Batticaloa and Jaffna seem to be the electorates where the people showed more interest than the 2015 elections.
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Civic council demolishes illegal plant put up by southern trader in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 2020, 18:35 GMT]
Karaichchi Divisional Council (Piratheasa Chapai) has demolished an illegally constructed saltern-tank at Cherukkan village, located in Uruththirapuram North of the district of Ki’linochchi, on Thursday. The two-storey construction was put up by a Matara-based Sinhala businessman. He had seized 140 acres of lands with 2.5 km coastal stretch to construct a saltern exerting political influence, divisional council members said.
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University students, Shivajilingam brave SL harassment to commemorate fallen Black Tigers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 July 2020, 23:06 GMT]
Reacting to SL military harassment against paying tribute to Tamil war hero Captain Miller and other Black Tigers at Nelliyadi in Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna, Tamil students at the University of Jaffna lit the flame of sacrifice within the university premises at 7:05 pm at the time of the death of Miller on Sunday. The students released the photos to journalists in Jaffna. The reaction came as the occupying SL military and police in Jaffna blocked Tamil political parties and their representatives from paying tribute to the Tamil heroes on Black Tigers Day. Former TNA Parliamentarian M.K. Shivajilingam also braved to mark the day at a public event in Vadamaraadchi on Sunday.
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After Naavat-kuzhi, Colombo targets Poonakari for Sinhala colonisation across Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 July 2020, 19:28 GMT]
Strategically located Naavat-kuzhi in Jaffna peninsula and Poonakari across the Jaffna lagoon at the entrance to the peninsula in the mainland were systematically targeted for Sinhalicisation by occupying Colombo during the previous Rajapaksa regime. Politicians, including Rajapaksa family members, were directly involved in grabbing lands and farms in Poonakari. Sinhala colonists were brought to Naavat-kuzhi in Jaffna. The colonisation of Naavatkuzhi carried out clandestinely during the Rajapaksa rule gained “legal” status under the Sirisena-Wickramasinghe rule that followed. Sections of Sinhala nationalists who joined the US bandwagon, such as Patali Champika Ranawake, allocated lands and housing schemes to the colonists. They also completed a Buddhist stupa. Now, the Rajapaksa regime is back in business escalating the project into Poonakari, informed Tamil officials in Jaffna said.
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New secret unit among four SL military and police squads competing to arrest Tamil youth in North

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 July 2020, 13:22 GMT]
Four SL military and police squads, including a new secret unit led by a Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) based in Colombo, have been detaining Tamils under the allegation of attempting to regroup armed struggle. Apart from the notorious ‘Terrorist Investigation Division,’ based in Colombo, the new unit led by another DIG is also operating from Colombo with field trips to all the five districts of North, informed sources in Jaffna said. Four different “networks” of Tamil youth have been detained in Magazine New Remand Prison in Colombo in the recent months, the sources further said. In the meantime, Coordinator of SL Human Rights Commission in Jaffna, Thangavel Kanagaraj, has admitted that his office had received an increased number of complaints in June. At least one of those detained were below the age of 18.
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Tamil man killed, Sinhala Army opens fire at motorbike rider at Mukamaalai in North

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 June 2020, 23:53 GMT]
Occupying Colombo’s Sinhala soldiers opened fire at a 24-year-old Tamil man, who didn’t stop his motorbike when the SL Army stopped him at Mukamaalai in Pazhai in Ki'linochchi district on Saturday evening. The victim, Nakarasa Ramakrishnan, was seriously wounded with four gunshots hitting his head and neck, the residents said. Then, the SL soldiers denied transportation to medical treatment for the seriously injured man for one hour, resulting in his death on the way to the hospital. In the meantime, SL Police was trying to twist the incident as something that happened when Mr Ramakrishnan attempted to grab the weapon of an SL Army soldier. A total lie, the villagers claim. The gunshots were fired targeting the victim’s head when he failed to stop, they said. The incident has occurred 300 meters away from A9 Highway near the war-time Forward Defence Line.
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Occupying Colombo converts 6 Tamil colleges in North as quarantine centres for SL military

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 2020, 21:53 GMT]
Occupying Colombo’s military has started to convert a Tamil college of teachers in Jaffna and five other schools in the Northern province as Quarantine Centres for military personnel stationed in the region. Civil sources in the North have condemned it as a high-handed move disregarding the safety of Tamil civilians in the densely populated areas. The top brass of the Sinhala military has not consulted the provincial and local authorities. They have not even asked the provincial health director for advice. Nirosh Thiyagarajah, the Chairman of Valikaamam East Divisional Council, has condemned the conversion of Jaffna National College of Education (JNCOE) at Koappaay into a military QC.
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Colombo brings 1,100 persons from South to military-operated Quarantine Centres in North

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 April 2020, 16:29 GMT]
Civil authorities in the North were not informed in advance about SL authorities in Colombo starting to bring a large number of people, around 1100 persons, to military-operated Quarantine Centres in the Northern Province. Northern Provincial Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) Dr A Ketheeswaran said he was yet to receive details when contacted by TamilNet on Wednesday. However, he was told by SL Army Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva that the office of the RDHS, as well as the Government Agents of the districts in the province, would receive the details. The SL military has started to quarantine ninety-nine persons in Palaali, informed sources said. Earlier, there were reports of cross infections due to “dormitory” type of isolation centres operated by the Palaali-based military at KKS.
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COVID curfews hurt livelihood of resettled people of Ira'nai-theevu twin-islet

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 April 2020, 14:06 GMT]
The SL fisheries authorities have neglected marketing arrangements for the fish caught by the recently resettled Tamil fishers of Ira'nai-theevu twin-islets that lie 12 nautical miles from the western coast of Ki'linochchi district. The prices have dropped from 1,000 rupees to 300 rupees for one-kilo crabs and from 800 rupees to 200 rupees for cuttlefish catch. More than sixty families are residing in Ira'nai-theevu without permanent housing. The people of the islets facing the Palk Bay are also deprived of community assistance during the curfew. In the meantime, there were reports of COVID-19 infections at the SL military-operated Quarantine Center at Muzhangkaavil, a coastal hamlet located near their temporary settlement, Ira'nai-maathaa-nakar in the mainland. Those infected were medical personnel brought for quarantine from the South.
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Cross infections escalate in SL-military operated COVID-19 isolation centre in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 April 2020, 19:06 GMT]
Occupying SL Army isolated twenty persons out of 240 people who had closely interacted with a pastor with alleged COVID-19 infection a month ago in Ariyaalai. Their initial contact with the pastor, who had come from Switzerland, was between 10th and 15th March. The isolation took place on 23 March. Three cases tested positive a week later on 01 April. Another three a day after. The SL military has continued to detain the fourteen negative cases allowing them to interact with each other inside the isolation centre in Kaang-keasan-thu'rai (KKS). Public health officials were not allowed to inspect the conditions of the isolation facility, which is fully managed by the SL military. As a result, eight of the fourteen tested positive on 14 April. There were also unconfirmed reports of two more infections on 15 April, making the total affected to eighteen.
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Colombo uses COVID-19 situation to militarise civil administration in North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 April 2020, 20:19 GMT]
The Community Based Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations involved in assisting the people, who have lost their livelihood due to the long-lasting curfew imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, are complaining about military restrictions hampering their work in Jaffna. The occupying SL military has beefed up its checkpoints on the main highways that connect peninsular Jaffna with the Vanni mainland and the rest of the island. The SL soldiers operating the Elephant Pass (EPS) and Poonakari (Pooneryn) checkpoints are refusing to accept the documents provided to the organisations even though the SL Police has sanctioned such permits at the request of Village (GS) and Divisional Secretaries in the public sector.
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SL State-funded Buddhist vihara declared opened in Ki'linochchi campus of Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 March 2020, 19:52 GMT]
Occupying Colombo launched its plan to construct a grand Buddhist vihara inside the Ki'linochchi campus of Jaffna University in 2018. Following the controversial move, the administration of Jaffna University allocated lands for the construction of Christian, Saiva, Islamic and Buddhist temples. However, only the Buddhist temple was awarded large sums of money from the SL State as well as by the extremist Buddhist organisations in the South. The construction launched during the previous regime was accelerated within the last three months. On Saturday, the Buddhist temple, named Sarasavi Viharaya, was declared opened amid a grand ceremony by the Sinhala students as well as the Sinhala Buddhist nationalist groups from the South.
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SL ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division resumes abduction-style arrests in North

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 March 2020, 21:07 GMT]
Leaked reports from SL’ Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) in Jaffna to local media earlier this week claimed that it had detained four Tamil youth from Poonakari (Pooneryn) with explosives at an uninhabited area in Vallipuram in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna on Tuesday night. There was no independent verification of the incident. So far, no one has lodged any complaint with the Jaffna office of the SL Human Rights Commission, according to Thangavel Kanagaraj, the coordinator of the commission. However, he was able to confirm that 40-year-old S. Uthayasivam, a resident of Maruthangkea’ni in Valikaamam East, was being detained by the TID.
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Eezham Tamils in North-East mark Feb 04 as Black Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 February 2020, 22:22 GMT]
Eezham Tamils in the occupied Tamil Eelam also this year didn't show interest in the so-called Independence Day on Tuesday. As an occupied nation of people, they not only remained aloof from the celebrations of hoisting the SL national flag or getting involved in the anthem of the occupying unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka but marked the day as Black Day. Only the occupying SL military was celebrating the day. Grassroots activists, Tamil parliamentarians and political activists joined the Black Day protests staged by the kith and kin of persons subjected to enforced disappearance at the hands of the occupying SL military. Black Day protests were held in Ki'linochchi, Batticaloa and Trincomalee with significant participation.
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February 04 Black Day marks 72 years of genocide, prolonged colonial rule

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 February 2020, 22:26 GMT]
The nation of Eezham Tamils is subjected to protracted genocide with a systematic structural genocide for 72 years since February 04, 1948, the day of so-called ‘Independence’ from the British colonial rule. But, for the nation of Eezham Tamils in the island, it is a Black Day marking prolonged colonial rule and continued subjugation. It is also a day to remember international injustice that has rendered Eezham Tamils non-self governing, said President P. Ujanthan and Secretary R. Kopishanth of the Arts Students’ Union of the University of Jaffna in a statement issued on Monday.
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IC accountable for Gotabaya reneging on justice commitments: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 January 2020, 22:24 GMT]
Several countries in the International Community (IC) supported the Sri Lankan State that waged a genocidal war against the Tamils. The Tamil national liberation struggle and its taproot [the LTTE] were wiped out through a genocidal war by the SL State with the backing of other states in the IC. It was Gotabaya Rajapaksa who commanded the genocidal war in 2008 and 2009. Now, what are these countries going to do to enforce international justice, especially after Mr Rajapaksa pronouncing all the missing as dead, asked Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian S Shritharan at the SL Parliament on Tuesday. Today, we are voicing for justice as a nation subjected to genocide. We are not merely speaking from a suppressed situation or a coated environment of so-called development, Mr Shritharan said adding that Tamils were no longer begging for justice, but demanding international justice.
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61 parents of missing persons have perished while continuing protest beyond 1,050 days

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2020, 23:30 GMT]
The kith and kin of Eezham Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the occupying Sinhala military are passing away, one by one. Their deaths occur as the SL State, and the global forces behind the deceptive ‘transitional justice’ mechanism continue to remain deaf to their demand of establishing the truth of what had happened to their loved ones. While a section of families avoid protests succumbing to the so-called pragmatic view that the SL military had assassinated all the missing family members under its captivity, the protesting families want an official answer establishing what had happened to their loved ones. 72-year-old Rasendram Soosaippillai from Oalaith-thoduvaay in Mannaar was the 61st parent to die without a response from the SL authorities on the whereabouts of his son, who was abducted ten years ago in Mannaar.
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Eezham Cinema takes shape with Chinam-ko'l movie filmed in occupied Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 January 2020, 23:41 GMT]
Sinamkol (Ciṉamkoḷ/சினம்கொள்), meaning “infuriate”, is a theatrical movie filmed in the occupied Tamil Eelam narrating the situation of former LTTE freedom fighters. The critically acclaimed film gets screened in Europe and North America this weekend (03-05 January) in eight countries, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the USA, after a series of successful premiere shows. Canada-based Ranjith Joseph, the story writer and the director of the film, has demonstrated incredible ingenuity in circumventing the censorship hazards of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka in making the movie, which was shot in 70 locations in the three districts of Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna in 2017. The approach of the story is genuine to the core in all its aspects.
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Families of missing Tamils in Vanni turn their protest against EPDP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 December 2019, 17:41 GMT]
The families of Eezham Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the occupying Sinhala military in the genocidal war up to 2009 have turned the focus of their protest against SL Minister Douglas Devananda, who has been a close ally of the Rajapaksa regime. Mr Devananda's EPDP was a former Tamil paramilitary group, operated by the occupying Sinhala military. The families have been irked by the attempts by Devananda to dilute their continues protests that have passed one thousand days this month.
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