Colombo’s brutal suppression of Tamil Heroes’ Day counter-productive to stated objectives: Tamil MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 2020, 15:44 GMT]
Emboldened with a two-thirds majority in the SL Parliament, the regime of Rajapaksa has chosen to suppress Tamil remembrance days, particularly the Maaveear Naa'l (Tamil Eelam Heroes’ Day) this year. The Rajapaksa regime was short-sighted in using the opportunity to showcase to its southern audience that it was more determined than its predecessor in blocking November 27 Remembrance. However, the brutal manner in which the SL State and its judiciary suppressed the collective remembrance events received more attention not only among the Tamil youth in the North and the East but also in the South, said ITAK (TNA) Parliamentarian from Batticaloa Shanakiyan Rasamanickam. “I received phone calls from Up-Country Tamil youth from Deniyaya and Matara in the down south to Kandy and Colombo,” he said adding that even fifteen and sixteen-year-old youth were posing questions.
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Commemorating sacrifices of Tamil struggle is an inalienable right, not a subject for ‘SL permission’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 September 2020, 09:10 GMT]
Veteran human rights activist and Catholic priest Fr M. Sakthivel has condemned Tamil political parties for having lowered their moral standards to the level of seeking permission from the SL State to commemorate the sacrifices made in the Tamil struggle. His comments come following the members of the political parties writing a letter to the head of the occupying state of genocidal Sri Lanka to lift the ‘ban’ enforced through its judiciary and police on marking Lt Col Thileepan’s 33rd commemoration. Tamils held all their struggle related remembrance events, including all the Mu’l’ livaaykkaal Remembrance events after 2009, as part of their inalienable right as they regard such remembrance as an inalienable exercise of their right of self-determination, Fr Sakthivel observed.
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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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Collective message from Tamils on Heroes Day: Rajapaksas can’t kill Tamil Eelam dream

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 November 2019, 07:59 GMT]
Thousands of people took part in Heroes Day amidst SL military intelligence trying to ‘discipline’ the students and the people from not attending the memorial event on Wednesday. The people were determined to proceed with the event despite showering heavy rains at the grounds where Tamil war heroes (Maaveerar) lie buried in the occupied Tamil Eelam. Self-mobilised grassroots organised the remembrance events. Alternative locations were chosen for the war cemeteries (thuyilum-illam) grounds, which the occupying SL military was continuing to use, in an uncivilised manner, as the grounds for their cantonments. Sinhala soldiers were seen snatching the photos from the parents who were on their way to the thuyilum-illam in Ampaa’rai. The SL Police also seized the loudspeaker and a vehicle used in the mobilisation for the commemoration of the Sea Tiger War Heroes at Munai in Point-Pedro, Jaffna.
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People mobilise in resolute to mark Tamil Eelam Heroes Day amidst Rajapaksas return

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 November 2019, 23:32 GMT]
The people of occupied Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island, who face an uncertain future due to the return of Rajapaksa siblings as the rulers from the South, have mobilised to mark Tamil Eelam Heroes Day with unwavering resolute also this year. There were reports of occupying SL military and the police at Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal in Mullaith-theevu in North and at Champoor in Trincomalee in the East, issuing threats to the volunteers. However, various grassroots organisations along with Tamil national political leaders and parties have engaged in Sramadanam work clearing and decorating the grounds and vicinities of the Heroes cemeteries, which the occupying Sinhala military had razed to the grounds during the previous regime of Rajapaksas.
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Pirapaharan’s statements between 1984 and 1993 reproduced in book form in Europe

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 August 2019, 23:55 GMT]
A Switzerland-based Eezham Tamil youth group, ‘Phoenix - the Next Generation’, has photostatically reproduced the rare 314-page compilation officially published by the Headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in September 1993 in Jaffna. The book contains selected letters, interviews and statements of LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan starting from his first media interview in March 1984. The compilation consists, amongst others, of a letter that declines LTTE representation at a meeting held in New York in May 1985, appeals to the leaders of India and Tamil Nadu during the LTTE-IPKF war in 1987, and a letter of solidarity addressed to South African (ANC) leader, the late Oliver Tambo, in July 1988. The reproduction has been made from a book obtained at the public library of Jaffna in the past. The book, with ID 9907, is no longer accessible at the library.
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Sikhs, expatriate Indian Tamils mark May 18 questioning role of Norway, USA

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 May 2019, 23:03 GMT]
The expatriate Indian Tamils from Tamil Nadu living in Scandinavia took part in the 10th Mu'l'livaaykkaal Genocide Remembrance event organised by Eezham Tamils in Oslo, the capital of Norway. They also staged a separate marking on their own at Gustaf Adolf's square in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden on 20th May. In the meantime, expatriate Tamil Nadu Tamils living in the USA staged remembrance events at 20 different places on 18th May, criticising the US abetment of genocidal Sri Lanka, both before and after the 2009 onslaught. The role of the expatriate Tamil Nadu Tamils in marking the tenth remembrance gains more significance than the hundreds of emotional events marked by the Eezham Tamil diaspora in the North-America, Europe and elsewhere with massive participation, said Tamil diaspora activists, who also appreciated the way a Sikh editor marked his remembrance to the same effect.
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New Delhi continues to interpret aspiration of Eezham Tamils as threatening its sovereignty

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 May 2019, 23:13 GMT]
Eezham Tamils should get the clue from New Delhi's latest proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that the idea of Tamil Eelam remains strong even though the LTTE was institutionally destroyed a decade ago through a genocidal onslaught, commented Tamil activists in Jaffna. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs proscribed the LTTE for five more years issuing a notification through the Gazette of India on Tuesday. The announcement observed that “[t]he LTTE’s objective for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and amounts to cession and secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union and thus falls within the ambit of unlawful activities”.
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Ex NPC councillor vows to mark genocide remembrance at 21 places before 18 May

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 May 2019, 22:26 GMT]
Former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member and ex-TNA parliamentarian M.K. Shivajilingam has vowed to mark Tamil Genocide Week from 12th to 17 May at 21 places across the eight districts in the North and East before taking part in the tenth year marking of 2009 Tamil Genocide Day on 18 May at Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal. “We have chosen 21 places where the SL military was committing genocidal acts. It is like the 21-gun salute, the highest respect paid to those who sacrificed their lives,” Mr Shivajlingam, a political leader of TELO said. After inaugurating the first event at Kappaladi along the coast near Mu'l'livaaykkal on Sunday, he blamed the SL State for detaining the student leaders in Jaffna and for harassing himself describing the moves as aiming to suppress the 10th Tamil genocide remembrance on 18 May.
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Western diplomats must act to free Jaffna University student leaders: Political Analyst

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 May 2019, 18:04 GMT]
The West needs to be reminded that the Tamil Christians were at the receiving end of the Easter Sunday most probably because the hierarchy of the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil leaders, in general, had been explicitly leaning towards it after the end of the genocidal war in 2009. The unitary state in Colombo has now clamped down on the Tamil student leaders of the Jaffna University by deploying the Emergency Regulations totally out of proportions in a heavily politicised and chauvinistic manner using the situation after the Easter Sunday attacks, said Jaffna-based Senior Lawyer and Political Analyst S.A. Jothilingam on Thursday. His comments to TamilNet come a day after the Magistrates’ Court in Jaffna was unable to act on the release of the students as their release required explicit action by the SL Attorney General under the Emergency provisions.
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PTA-arguments of SL Police detaining Tamil student leaders baseless: Guruparan

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 May 2019, 19:42 GMT]
The SL Police, pursuing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) based investigations against the president and the secretary of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU), was arguing that the student leaders were provoking racial and communal disharmony through the banners and other visual representations, which were apprehended by the SL Army at the JUSU office on Friday. The SL Government itself had admitted, through the act of co-sponsoring Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council in 2015, that allegations of war crimes need to be investigated. How could the banners calling for justice for crimes committed during the war incite disharmony, questioned Attorney Guruparan Kumaravadivel who was representing the student leaders at the Magistrate’s Court in Jaffna on Monday.
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SL Police detains Tamil student leaders of Jaffna University after SLA cordon

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 May 2019, 12:13 GMT]
The occupying SL Army has detained the main Tamil student leaders of Jaffna University after deploying a large-scale cordon and search operation along with the SL Police under the pretext of securing the premises from Islamist attackers on Friday. The SLA, using the Emergency Regulations, wants to stop the student mobilisation towards the 10th year remembrance of Tamil genocide on 18 May, fellow student leaders told TamilNet. Jaffna University Student Union President 25-year-old T. Thivakar, who hails from Mullaiththeevu and JUSU Secretary 24-year-old S. Babilraj are the two leaders detained. It is the first time that the SLA has been deployed in a big cordon and search operation inside the University of Jaffna, JUSU members said.
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Wickramasinghe worse in China dealings: Namal Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 November 2018, 23:21 GMT]
“If you look at the agreements that honourable Ranil Wickramasinghe got into with certain countries [China], it is far worse than [what my father did in] getting them to invest in our country,” Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, said as his response to a direct question posed by the Indian NDTV correspondent in Colombo. His question was that there was a fear in Indian quarters that the return of Rajapaksa would lead to a pro-China tilt.
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Sirisena stages constitutional coup, installs Rajapaksa as SL Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 October 2018, 23:39 GMT]
The executive president of genocidal Sri Lanka, Maithiripala Sirisena, has suddenly installed former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the SL Prime Minister after withdrawing his UPFA from the so-called ‘good governance’ alliance on Friday night. The soft parliamentary coup, which seems to be a carefully planned secret move, has been justified by Mr Sirisena as adhering to the constitutional provisions of the unitary state. Mr Sirisena, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, had this already in mind when he addressed the UN General Assembly last month in the USA, political observers in Jaffna commented. Maithiripala was praising his troops on the ground during his UN visit to Donald Trump's USA. The UNP is now reaping what it sowed 40 years ago in 1978 when the late J.R. Jayawardene introduced the executive presidency.
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SL Court clamps down on media coverage of mass grave excavations in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 August 2018, 18:34 GMT]
The Police of the occupying unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka has managed to secure a motion at Mannaar Magistrates’ Court, which was prohibiting local as well as foreign television, print and social media personalities from entering, photographing or videotaping the mass graves. Mannaar Magistrate T.J. Pirapaharan has also restricted people from accessing the site without permission from the officer in charge of the excavation at the site. Sources close to the SL Police in Mannaar said they filed an application following the instructions coming from their headquarters in Colombo on Tuesday. In the meantime, informed sources in Colombo told TamilNet that the Buddhist Establishment was getting annoyed as Sinhala visitors touring Mannaar started to visit the excavation site and discuss it in the social media.
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Grassroots stand united against militarisation of PTK

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2018, 14:48 GMT]
The representatives of grassroots organisations in Puthuk-kudiyiruppu (PTK) representing all sections of the people in the division unanimously resolved against militarisation and demanded the civil authorities and politicians for de-militarisation of PTK. A Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian received flak for his proposal to SL military for an alternative venue to relocate its camp currently situated at Ponnambalam hospital created during the times of the de-facto State of Tamil Eelam under the LTTE.
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Ex-LTTE survivors of torture, mysterious injections, harassed with blood tests, stringent restrictions

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2017, 23:28 GMT]
A 46-year-old former Tamil fighter from Koa'ra'laip-pattu (Vaazaich-cheanai) division of Batticaloa district, who was detained for the first time in 2013 by the occupying Sinhala military, this week revealed that he witnessed at least 15 former LTTE members being giving suspicious injections at the torture chamber of the SL military during his detention. He has also received five injections of unknown substance during the detention and has since lost his ability to concentrate and cannot take on any jobs that require muscle. The survivor also said the SL military has come with stringent instructions not to engage in social work and not to take up any role in rehabilitation or development related organizations at the grassroots. The former LTTE members are also instructed not to take part in the local elections.
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Occupying Colombo's intelligence harasses Maaveerar families in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2017, 18:32 GMT]
The intelligence operatives of the occupying Sinhala military have started to harass families of LTTE war-dead Tamil Eelam Heroes from Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province after the families openly braved the hindrances by the SL military and police against commemorating Tamil Eelam War Heroes on November 27 at the SL military demolished Heroes Cemeteries in the district. Claiming that they were from a Special Police unit in Vaazhaich-cheanai, the intelligence officials were contacting the families in Batticaloa since Wednesday morning and posed a series of questions. The questions ranged from who took part in decorating Maaveerar thuyilum illams, who donated coconut saplings that were distributed as part of the remembrance event and how a vehicle belonging to SL Electricity Board was used in the arrangement.
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Jaffna University community marks Tamil Eelam Heroes Day with renewed resolve

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2017, 10:48 GMT]
More than 2,000 students along with lecturers, faculty deans and the staff of the University of Jaffna took part on Monday morning in an emotional floral tribute in front of the newly renovated Tamil Eelam Heroes memorial statue, which was destroyed by the occupying SL military after 2009. The event on Monday was equally emotional to the first event held 12 years ago when the statue was declared open. "The people of Jaffna will never forget nor pardon the desecration of the memorials," the vice chancellor at that time Prof Mohanadas told TamilNet after declaring the statue open in 2005. After 2009, the occupying SL military also destroyed the statue inside the University premises as it razed to the grounds all the Heroes’ cemeteries in occupied Tamil Eelam. The emotional event in Jaffna on Monday has passed a strong message to the world, student leaders at Jaffna university said.
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Occupied Tamil Eelam mobilised to mark Heroes Day amidst SL military threats

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 November 2017, 23:45 GMT]
Braving various harassments coming from the occupying Sinhala military and the SL Police, the people of occupied Tamil Eelam have fully mobilised to mark Tamil Eelam Heroes Day (Maaveerar Naa'l) in a big scale for the first time since 2008 in their occupied homeland. One of the first Heroes Cemeteries (Maaveerar thuyilum illam) at Ka'l'lik-kaadu, Nedungkea'ni in Vavuniyaa, which was created by the LTTE during the times of Indian occupation, has been renovated by the people, news sources in Vanni said. Similarly, one of the last Heroes Cemeteries at Iraddai-Mu'l'livaaykkaal, where the war dead Tamil fighters were buried during the final days in 2009, has also been prepared by the people. Red and yellow decorations have been put up at all the locations of Heroes Cemeteries except those being still occupied by the SL military.
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