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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Bodhi-ma’luwa, Changku-maal, Aa’rukaal-madam

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 06:09 GMT]
The fig-tree terrace,
The shed or yard to keep dived conch shells,
The six-pillared resting-place

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Occupying SL military intimidates mourning for Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 21:47 GMT]
Colonial military of Sri Lanka occupying Jaffna, intimidated people of Valveddiththu’rai on Sunday to remove the black flags displayed to mourn the demise of Parvathy Amma, 80-year-old mother of the LTTE leader Pirapaharan. Hundreds of SL military intelligence personnel in civil dress, deployed at Theeruvil grounds where the remains are kept for public homage, made the local people themselves to remove the flags of mourning. Angered by the SLA harassment, representatives of civil organizations in Valveddiththu'rai warned the military personnel of repercussions if they continued to harass the people, when the occupying soldiers were instructing the people to remove the name of Mr. Pirapaharan from posters paying tribute to Parvathi Amma. Colonial Colombo behaves the same way the British treated the Kandyan Sinhalese, commented a journalist in Jaffna.
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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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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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