Norwegian Tamils urge Norway to stop Sri Lanka's genocidal war in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 16:52 GMT]
Nearly three hundred Norwegian Tamils, along with Norwegian Members of Parliament and political leaders, gathered in the premises of Norway Parliament Friday between 11:00 a.m till 1:30 p.m, and appealed to the Government of Norway to save the Tamils in Vanni in from the genocidal war waged on them by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), This is the third such demonstration by Norwegian Tamils in this week.
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Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 06:55 GMT]
Catholic priests and other religious leaders in Vanni, in an urgent letter appealed to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to "take immediate steps to stop the senseless war and put an end to the untold sufferings of the innocent civilians," and said that the "root of the on going war is the Structural Injustice, a vehement denial of equality and dignity of the Sri Lanka Tamils..."
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Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardment

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 14:35 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam has urged the Sri Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief of the Lankan armed forces to stop all shelling and aerial bombings at civilian places in Vanni, in an urgent letter sent to President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday, before the latest mass exodus towards Puthukkudiyiruppu. "It is the duty of the Government to open a safe corridor for the safety of the civilians. Please stop all shelling and aerial bombings at civilian places," the Bishop said in his letter titled "Humble but urgent request to stop shelling on civilian places in Vanni."
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Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phase

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 12:33 GMT]
Indiscriminate artillery, multi-barrel and mortar fire by the Sri Lanka Army from all the corners of shrinking territory centering Puthukkudiyiruppu town, its suburbs and adjoining jungles in the Mullaiththeevu district, which is overcrowded with civilians, has worsened the humanitarian tragedy that has been unfolding in Vanni during the last 4 days. There are deaths and injuries caused to the civilians fleeing the onslaught of the SLA. Medical authorities said the situation was beyond control Friday noon and the hospitals have come under attack and ambulances were not operating. Access route from Vadamaraadchi East has been cut off by the SLA that has entered Chu'ndikku'lam area.
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CPI pledges support to Thirumavalavan's fast

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu, R. Nallakannu Thursday pledged his party's support to Thirumavalavan's fast-unto-death campaign demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Mr. Thirumavalavan blamed the Indian establishment for not asking Sri Lanka to stop war or sending Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian External Affairs Minister to Colombo, as promised. The VCK leader decried the Indian Government's inaction and said that by insulting the demands of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, New Delhi had in effect insulted the whole Tamil population.
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"Which norms of liberal democracy preclude IC attending to exodus, genocide?" asks IDP activist

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 03:52 GMT]
The LTTE doesn't obstruct or instruct the civilians of Vanni of what direction they have to take in fleeing the current phase of war. But, a large section of the civilians have considered that their security, even now, lies in the LTTE held areas in the eye of war, and are spontaneously moving towards that direction. "Allowing the war to continue, leaving Tamil civilians in the hands of the preying Sinhala army, which we dread, demonstrates only the cruelty of the few minds that determine the course of the war from outside of the island and how international norms evolved through civilisation have become a joke," said P. Kanakalingam, the president of Vanni People's Welfare Organisation (VPWO), on Thursday.
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Norwegian Tamils urge Indian PM to stop war in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 11:22 GMT]
Around three hundred Norwegian Tamils gathered in front of the Indian Embassy in Oslo Wednesday between 2:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m in an attempt to draw the attention of the Indian state to stop the genocidal war waged on the Tamils in Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka. Norwegian Tamil Federation (NTF) which had arranged the demonstration presented a memorandum of its requests to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by handing it over to the representative of the Indian Embassy in Oslo.
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13 civilians wounded in SLA shelling on Pongkal day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 09:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeting civilians who have been moving from other areas of Vanni towards Puthukkudiyiruppu, causing injuries to 13 civilians, initial reports from Puthukkudiyiruppu said. The indiscriminate shelling has targeted Kaiveali settlement in Puthukkudiyiruppu division of Mullaiththeevu district. The bombardment comes on civilian settlement comes on Pongkal Day, a common festival of Tamil identity. The Tamil diaspora has called off Pongkal celebrations.
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End of peace in India’s south

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 00:40 GMT]
The people of Tamil Nadu in no uncertain terms have said what they wish and have shown their indignation and resentment to what is happening in the island of Sri Lanka. The Tamil diaspora all over the world has demonstrated its solidarity with the national question of Eezham Tamils. The people of USA have firmly voted for the revision of the politics of terrorism. But the few, clinging at the helm of the outgoing administrations of New Delhi and Washington have decided to run amok, defying local and global public opinion. While Bush leaves behind a precarious world legacy to Obama, the Sonia Congress bears personal responsibility for the plight of Eezham Tamils.
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Doctors call for attack free zones surrounding displaced hospitals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 23:45 GMT]
In a systematic well planned militarily and politically crucial campaign, the Sri Lankan Government directed military forces are pursuing attacks on densely populated areas east of the A9 in Vanni. Often in close proximity to relocated hospitals and camps of the fleeing population, its strategy seems to be one of aerial bombardment followed by immediate ground attacks, involving heavy artillery and mortar attacks that have caused increased civilian casualties. Above statistics and ground reports, echo a plea from government service doctors in Vanni, who have called for 'attack free zones' surrounding displaced hospitals.
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Norwegian Tamils urge Norway to stop war on Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 18:24 GMT]
More than five hundred members of Norwegian Tamils' Federation (NTF) protested in front of Norway Foreign Ministry, Tuesday from 2:00 p.m til 3:00 p.m, demanding Norway to immediate intervene to stop the war waged on the people of Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). "Norway has the moral responsibility to stop the war on the Tamil people in Vanni," the protestors shouted during the demonstration.
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Pressure Colombo to stop attacking civilian targets, TRO appeals to India, UN, US

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 13:55 GMT]
In an urgent press released issued Monday, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), appealed to the Government of India, President-Elect Obama, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the international community, to pressure "the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to cease attacks on civilian targets; allow unfettered humanitarian access to the Vanni by the UN and international NGOs; and to allow all necessary essential humanitarian assistance into the area."
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Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 12:32 GMT]
If Tamil Nadu fails to exert pressure on New Delhi to stop the Sri Lankan offensive in Vanni within a few hours, there will be no hope left for civilians who fear being subjugated by the Sri Lankan military, say displaced peoples representatives in Vanni as thousands of civilians were fleeing towards Puthukkudiyiruppu from Tharmapuram and the adjoining areas as Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) shelling intensified Tuesday. Hospital at Tharmapuram has been displaced and the streets were full of vehicles with Internally displaced civilians.
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SLA intensifies artillery attacks on civilian targets, hospital targeted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 06:34 GMT]
Many civilians were wounded Tuesday morning when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery guns targeted civilian settlements on all fronts of Vanni. A 38-year-old woman was killed and six wounded around 10:00 a.m., when Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital premises and its environs came under artillery fire. Meanwhile, four civilians, including 2 children of the same family, were killed in Visuvamadu. 2 more civilians were reported killed on Monday in Vaddakkachchi. More than 20 civilians have been wounded so far on Tuesday in the indiscriminate bombardment.
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SLN arrests 200 civilians fleeing from Jaffna to Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 16:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers arrested Monday around 200 civilians fleeing war from Vadamaraadchi East areas earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to LTTE held Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, in their fishing boats by sea route, sources in Jaffna said. The arrested civilians have been brought to areas in Jaffna peninsula under control of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the government officials are facing a critical situation as no prior arrangement has been made to shelter these refugees, sources close to Jaffna Secretariat said. Meanwhile, the Deputy Ambassador for Britain in Colombo made a sudden visit to Jaffna Monday where he met Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh and key SLA officials, the sources added.
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Tamil diaspora calls off Pongkal, Vanni situation 'precarious'

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 08:45 GMT]
The representatives of Eezham Tamil diaspora organisations in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States on Sunday said they were suspending all Pongkal celebrations as the situation of civilians in Vanni has reached intolerable limits. The announcement came as the Sri Lankan military was preparing for an all out war on densely populated territory in the northeast of Vanni. The diaspora representatives in a joint electronic message said it was "only the pressure from Tamil Nadu that could halt the genocidal onslaught on Tamils by the Sri Lankan armed forces on Tamils in Vanni."
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12 wounded, SLA shells Puthukkudiyiruppu, Ka'ndaava'lai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 19:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery fire on several fronts of densely populated Vanni throughout Sunday. Artillery shells exploded near Puthukkudyiruppu hospital, and the outskirts of Visuvamadu in Puthukkudiyiruppu division, Pu'liyampokka'nai in Ka'ndaava'lai and Vaddakkachchi in Karaichchi divisions of Ki'linochchi district. Several roads of Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts were fully busy with vehicles and bicycles carrying the displacing civilians, despite the roads were being targeted by the artillery.
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Scores wounded in Sri Lankan bombardment on displacing civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 14:37 GMT]
The three armed forces of Sri Lanka have carried out a joint indiscriminate bombardment from air, land and sea targeting the civilians who were displacing from Vadamaraadchi East villages to Vanni mainland, causing injuries to at least 40 civilians, initial reports from the area said. The attack has targeted civilians who have come to Chu'ndikku'lam lagoon to cross over to Vanni mainland as the land route has been occupied by the Sri Lanka Army following the occupation of Elephant Pass. Medical authorities at Kallaa'ru said they were struggling to transport the wounded. Ambulances at Tharmapuram hospital were sent to Kallaa'ru in Chu'ndikku'lam.
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3,000 Sri Lankan troops killed in three months, Army to double – newspapers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 12:37 GMT]
Three thousand Sri Lankan soldiers were killed fighting the Liberation Tigers in the past three months, the Sunday Island newspaper reported this week, quoting government Defence spokesman and Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. He was responding to opposition charges that 15,000 troops had been killed in the battles since October last year. Meanwhile SLA commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka wants to eventually double the size of the SLA to 300,000 soldiers to hold areas captured from the LTTE. A colonel of the SLA’s Air Mobile brigade was killed in a booby trap explosion in the fighting for Elephant Pass last week, the Sunday Times reported.
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35th anniversary of Tamil Conference victims held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 09:31 GMT]
The 35th anniversary memorial of the eleven Tamils shot and killed by Sri Lanka policemen during the Fourth International Tamil Conference on 10 January 1974 was held Saturday in Jaffna esplanade in front of Veerasingam Hall where the memorial monuments for the civilians who had been killed stand erected, sources in Jaffna said.
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