Colombo deploys EPDP leader against Tamil Nadu, India

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 April 2012, 23:43 GMT]
Sabotaging the civic efforts to resolve the disputes between the Tamil fishermen across the Palk Strait, Mr. Douglas Devananda, a minister in the cabinet of Rajapaksa regime and an SL paramilitary leader, on Friday, vowed to take 5,000 fishermen from Jaffna in 1,000 boats to India, against the Tamil Nadu fishermen, who enter the waters off Jaffna peninsula and destroy the livelihood of the local fishermen in the peninsula. The EPDP leader also blamed India for not having completed the housing scheme on time in an effort to hijack the sentiments prevailing amongst the people against New Delhi for its abetment of Colombo's genocidal war against Eezham Tamils, fishermen representatives in Point Pedro told TamilNet Friday.
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SL colonial governor, EPDP, intrigue against Indian delegation

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 April 2012, 05:58 GMT]
While displaying a big show with welcoming posters particularly aimed at pleasing Sushma Swaraj, and with a dominated presence in receiving the Indian delegation, the SL colonial governor in the north, Maj. Gen. Chandrasri and SL minister Douglas Devananda, on the other hand played intrigues against the delegation, which were thwarted by the Deputy High Commission of India in Jaffna, news sources in Jaffna said. The delegation cancelled visiting Nalloor Kandasamy temple after being tipped on Devananda orchestrating a fishermen agitation in front of the temple during its planned visit. The SL governor ordered the secretariat officials not to attend a meeting convened by the delegation. On Thursday, the Sinhala colonial governor accused India for the delay in the construction of houses promised to the war victims.
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Indian money used in Sinhalicisation, Buddhicisation of Thirukkeatheesvaram

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 April 2012, 00:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Sinhala military occupying the famous archaeological site Maanthai in Mannaar, where the historically pivotal sacred Tamil-Saiva temple Thirukkeatheesvaram is located in the country of Eezham Tamils, has embarked upon building a Buddhist temple at a forcefully confiscated private land, just 200 metres away from the Saiva temple. Sometimes back, the New Delhi Establishment gave much publicity for the money it gave to preserve the Thirukkeatheesvaram sacred site. But the money is now used by genocidal Sri Lanka to build a Sinhala-Buddhist ‘pilgrim’ centre at the site in order to Sinhalicise the cultural landscape in the way Kathirkaamam was Sinhalicised and is now lost to the Eezham Tamils. The temple management that has now fallen into Colombo-centric hands is silent on the issue.
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Military-managed de-mining endangers security of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18:27 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military, which dominates de-mining activities in the former Forward Defence Line areas and in the so-called High Security Zone under its occupation, was not doing the de-mining work according to established norms and procedures, complain humanitarian workers in Jaffna, formerly attached to independent de-mining operations of international NGOs. On Monday, two teenage boys sustained severe injuries, one of them losing his leg, caught in landmine explosion in Ketpali in Thenmaraadchi while they were plucking co-conuts at a palm grove that had been cleared by the SL military. A few days ago, school children at Ki'laali School found unexploded shells from the sand brought inside the school for construction work. The children were saved by the timely intervention of the teachers, the NGO workers further said.
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New Delhi delegation’s Sri Lanka visit loses face in its own country

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 17:18 GMT]
With four major political parties, including the two government-making political parties of Tamil Nadu, boycotting the ‘All Party’ delegation of New Delhi visiting Sri Lanka, New Delhi’s approach to the national question of Eezham Tamils in the island and its strategic partnership with the genocidal regime of Rajapaksa lose face in its own country, political observers said. The ruling AIADMK of Tamil Nadu State and the New Delhi regime’s coalition partner DMK have announced in advance about their boycott. Mamata Banerjee’s AITMC, the ruling party of West Bengal, and United Janata Dal pulled out in the last minute. Communist Party of India was not invited. The ‘All Party’ delegation ultimately turned out to be only a five-party delegation of the ruling Congress, Opposition BJP, Rajapaksa-friendly Marxist Communists and two other regional parties.
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‘Development’ gives no light to people while SL cantonment gets electricity in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 April 2012, 21:41 GMT]
More than 30 months have elapsed since the Sri Lankan government was promising electricity link to the resettling people in Ki'linochchi under the so-called Spring of North ‘development’, which is nothing but a camouflage for the structural genocide committed by Colombo in the country of Eezham Tamils. Electricity posts were put up creating hope among the people that power would be supplied. Many trees were also felled in Vanni jungle in the name of putting up infrastructure. Renewed hopes were again given during the civic elections held a year ago by SL Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka, the theoretician of the JHU, the Sinhala Buddhist extremist monks party, who declared opened a transformer at Chalvaa-nakar, a suburb of Ki'linochchi. The suburb is yet to see the light promised by the ‘Spring of North’, while the power lines are directed only to illuminate an SL cantonment.
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Sinhala academic blames US-UK axis for genocide in Tamil homeland

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 April 2012, 23:15 GMT]
Speaking at a meeting on “The Tamil Struggle for Self-Determination: A Leftist Sinhala Perspective” at University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, Sinhala academic Dr. Jude Lal Fernando highlighted the need to understand the role of powers in shaping and manipulating the forces among the Sri Lankan state and the Eezham Tamils, on Thursday. Talking extensively about how the western establishments tilted the parity of status against the Tigers during the CFA period, he expressed the view that the US-UK axis was to blame for the 2009 massacre. Dr. Fernando, who was one of the main co-ordinators of the Dublin Permanent People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka, explained how with the implementation of neoliberal policies the Sri Lankan state expedited privatization and militarization of the Tamil homeland.
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Rajapaksa's blithe contempt for world opinion: Paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 April 2012, 21:48 GMT]
Pointing out that in Sri Lanka "[t]he rule of law continues to be set aside. A huge military machine is yet to be stood down. Glaring war crimes remain to be investigated. Tamils are treated as a subjugated people. Emergency security measures continue, turned against Rajapaksa's critics even among the Sinhala majority," Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) wondered that, "if Sinhala majority are not protected by law, what hope do Tamils have?"
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SL military steps up harassment on resettled Tamils in Poonakari

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 April 2012, 16:29 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military in Vanni has stepped up harassment on resettled civilians in Poonakari and in the adjoining coastal areas, news sources in Poonakari told TamilNet Thursday. Recently, Sri Lanka Navy has taken over the occupation of the strategically located coastal stretch from the SL Army and has imposed strict ‘pass’ regulations on fishing in the seas, Tamil fishermen complain. Southern intruders with the backing of occupying military are also forcing people to sell their lands following recent reports that the Colombo establishment was planning to invite China to build an airport of international standard at Poonakari to balance India’s projects centring around KKS harbour and Palaali airport in the northern coast of Jaffna Peninsula.
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Tamil Nadu ruling party withdraws from Delhi's Sri Lanka tour

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 April 2012, 09:28 GMT]
Preempting the joint agenda of Colombo and New Delhi that seek to project a positive image of Genocidal Colombo among the Indian public, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday pulled out AIADMK Rajya Sabha parliamentarian Rabi Bernard who was to take part in a parliamentary delegation, scheduled to visit the island in the coming week to inspect the condition of Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka after the war. The reaction from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister comes following the itinerary of the visit has been produced by the Indian External Affairs Ministry in collusion with the Sri Lankan counter-part, favoring the Sri Lankan State and excluding a free and fair way of inspecting and debating the post-war policies of the SL state. Ms. Jayalalithaa also blamed the Centre for having watered down the US resolution at the recent UNHRC sessions in Geneva.
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Tsunami watch issued for countries across indian Ocean

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 10:01 GMT]
Following an 8.7-magnitude quake, centered 33 kilometers beneath the ocean floor around 434 kilometers from Indonesia's Aceh province, Tsunami watch has been issued for countries across the Indian Ocean. The tremor was felt in the North and East. Employees were evacuated from Veerasingham Hall and Jaffna Public Library following the tremor that lasted for a few seconds around 2:15 p.m. Indian National Disaster Management Authority later said there was no likelihood of tsunami being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean.
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The Hindu envisages India building business over Tamil genocide

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 03:59 GMT]
“Sri Lanka's desire to stamp out separatism is more than understandable, it is welcome,” even though its approach results in “undesirable, though unintended, side effects,” said The Hindu’s Business Line, Monday. Debating whether or not Indian vote at UNHRC would end ethnic discrimination achieves nothing. The key take away is that there is at least a perception of ethnic discrimination. “The [SL] government seems to be diverting all its energy and resources to economic development. This, from India's perspective, is great, because 20 million prosperous people in the neighbourhood is a big market for India […] There is only way for India to make use of Sri Lanka's economic development and also exert influence over it to end any ethnic discrimination” the feature said ignoring the gravity of genocide committed with Indian complicity and the on-going structural genocide in full swing.
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State pays remuneration to monks in select areas of North and East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, 23:15 GMT]
Buddhist monks in select temples facing economic difficulties in the North and East and in other areas are paid a subsistence amount by the state in Sri Lanka, revealed The Sunday Times last Sunday, in the context of a question put in Colombo’s parliament by a UNP member and the reply of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister and Buddha Sasana Minister, DM Jayaratna. The UNP member for Kurunegala, Jayawickrema Perera wanted to increase the amount to Rs 5000 per month to temples facing hardships. Sri Lanka has 42,803 novices and 16,538 higher monks registered under its Buddhist Affairs department, while the number of registered Buddhist temples stand at 9,654.
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Colombo builds Sinhala cantonment in Maathakal

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 April 2012, 05:15 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka, which poses Thiruvadi-nilai area of Maathakal, the north-western tip of the Jaffna Peninsula as a ‘Sacred Zone’ of the Sinhala-Buddhists, is now engaged in constructing permanent quarters for the occupying Sri Lanka Navy in the lands of uprooted Tamils who are denied access to their land that had gone under SL military declared High Security Zone 20 years back, news sources in Jaffna said. The families of SL Navy personnel will be provided these quarters, establishing a permanent Sinhala military colony 200 meters from Thiruvadi-nilai in the close vicinity of the Buddhist Stupa erected in 2009. The way the structural genocide is escalating, especially after the Geneva resolution, has made many Eezham Tamils to lose faith in the intentions of the USA and India that have never done anything to check the post-war crimes of the Sri Lankan state.
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ACF plaintiff encouraged by French Embassy's push for probe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 April 2012, 18:02 GMT]
Kalaichelvi Lavan, whose ex-husband was killed in the execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers from the French NGO, Ac in the northeastern town of Moothoor on August 4, 2006, and who is currently settled in Florida, said she was encouraged by the French Ambassador's meeting with Sri Lanka's Attorney General to discuss the status of the investigations into the crime, and that she hopes the French officials follow the investigations in every step to ensure that the investigations comply with international standards and the killers of her ex-husband are identified.
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SL military conducts search operations in Trincomalee, 10 Tamils detained

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 April 2012, 09:52 GMT]
At least ten Tamils have been taken into custody by the occupying Sri Lanka Army and SL Police in cordon and search operations in Trincomalee district on Friday. The victims, detained by the SL Army include uprooted persons recently returned from Tamil Nadu and former LTTE cadres ‘rehabilitated’ and released by the SLA. Villagers from remote areas of the district said that around 600 to 700 members of SL Army and SL Police were involved the house-to-house search operations and that they took the males for interrogation to their camps in the presence of their wives and children.
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Gandhi, Vipulananda, Poet Periyathampi, Baden-Powell desecrated in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 April 2012, 07:27 GMT]
The statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vipulananda, Pulavarma'ni Periyathampi-pi'l'lai and Baden-Powell revered by Eezham Tamils in the heart of Batticaloa city have been desecrated and destroyed in the early hours of Friday. The statues of Gandhi and the founder of Scout Movement Robert Baden-Powell are located near the clock tower in the city centre. Renowned Tamil scholar and Hindu reformer Swami Vipulananda and Tamil Poet Pulavarma'ni Periyathampi Pi'l'lai, both were born in the Eastern Province. All the four statues are located within the perimeters of the high security area manned by the SL Police and the SL Army in the city. The latest desecration of statues comes as a result of anti-Indian and anti-western sentiments shown by the occupying Sinhala forces in the East, political observers said.
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UK accused of permitting alleged war-criminal to escape prosecution

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 April 2012, 03:02 GMT]
Questions have been raised over the failure of the British Foreign Office to investigate Prasanna de Silva, ex-Sri Lanka army general alleged to be complicit in war-crimes, as reports emerged that the Mr Silva's return to Sri Lanka is imminent, sources in London said. European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) assisted by Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland, and TRIAL, submitted to the British Foreign Office in January 2012, a 28-page dossier on the alleged involvement of De Silva in war crimes committed during the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war. The dossier is widely believed to be the reason for De Silva's war crimes predicament, according to political observers in UK.
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Buddhist Stupa to become ‘cultural landmark’ of Jaffna harbour

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 April 2012, 21:30 GMT]
A massive Buddhist Stupa that is being constructed at the Beach Road of Jaffna harbour by the occupying Sinhala military will be the new ‘cultural landmark’ of Jaffna city for vessels coming towards its harbour. The Stupa with pre-fabricated parts and statues, brought from the South, is being built day and night by the Sinhala soldiers. The Stupa is built in the locality of a Saivite Amman temple, between Jaffna Fort and Kurunakar, known as Aluppaanthi, meaning the wharf of the harbour. Many more Buddhist Stupas are hurriedly constructed by the SL military and one of them with extensive residential facilities is going to be just in front of the Jaffna Railway Station. During the liberation war, colonial Sri Lanka constructed a huge Buddha statue overlooking Trincomalee to give a Sinhala Buddhist cultural image to the world-renowned harbour of Eezham Tamils in the East.
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SL Army restricts NGO movement in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 April 2012, 18:57 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army has imposed restrictions on the movement of Non Governmental Organizations to Paduvaankarai from Batticaloa via Kiraan Bridge, civil sources in Batticaloa city told TamilNet Wednesday. The SLA soldiers at Kiraan Bridge are reported to have refused permission to several NGOs in recent days to travel beyond the bridge without SL Defense ministry authority. The NGO officials have been asked to obtain ‘pass’ from Welikanda SLA camp. The travel-ban on NGOs comes as SL military backed encroachment of Sinhalese is reported in the border areas of the Piratheasa Chapai (PS) divisions of Koa'ra'laip-pattu South, Vavu'na-theevu, Ea'raavoor-pattu and Chengkaladi.
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