Subsidized fertilizer denied to Batticaloa farmers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 December 2010, 12:59 GMT]
Batticaloa district farming societies have complained that fertilizer allocated under the subsidy scheme through more than fourteen Agrarian Services Centers (AGC) has not been distributed to paddy cultivators even after the farmers have paid money in advance. No other AGC has taken money in advance for the distribution of fertilizer under subsidy scheme says farmers’ societies.
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SLA Commander presides Education Department building opening ceremony

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 December 2010, 00:03 GMT]
Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Maj. Gen. Chandrasiri ceremonially opened the new Education Department building in Kaarainagar Monday in the presence of EPDP member of parliament, Chandrakumar and other officials of the Education Department, sources in Jaffna said. The opening ceremony which was to be held earlier with Jaffna MP from the United National Party (UNP), Ms Vijayakala Maheswaran, as the Chief Guest, was abruptly cancelled earlier after the Jaffna Commander was informed that EPDP Minister in the ruling government, Douglas Devananda, was not invited to the earlier ceremony.
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Colombo's Archeology department intrudes into historic Hindu temple in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2010, 19:12 GMT]
Colombo’s Archeology Department officials, who have been frequently intruding into several century old Hindu temple of Thaanthaamalai Sri Murukan in Batticaloa, 10 days ago warned the devotees and the members of the temple management while they were attending a pooja, not to enter the shrine in future for any reason. Thereafter they took management committee members to the Ampaa’rai police station. The temple, revered by Saivaites in the East as ‘Chinna Kathirkaamam’ and the land in the extent of 25 acres that comes under Paddippazhai DS division in Batticaloa district was declared in 13 March 1959 as Saiva Sacred Area according to the decree entered by the Court of Law, temple sources said.
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Tamil Nadu leftists in South Africa gathering expose anti-humanity in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2010, 17:51 GMT]
Tamil Nadu leftist youth who went to South Africa for the gathering of international leftist students and youth, attended by 15,000 delegates from 126 countries, exposed the anti-human war Sri Lanka waged against Eezham Tamils. Speaking on the occasion, Dakshinamoorthy Lenin, the Tamil Nadu head of All India Youth Federation, described the war last year as genocide against Eezham Tamils, condemned Colombo’s treatment of Tamil youth, accused India for abetment through inaction, and pointed out that the war has not brought in political justice. Meanwhile, Colombo sent 180 politicians and youth to the event in a chartered flight along with Namal Rajapaksa and higher education minister S.B. Dissanayake. Unruly in defending Colombo, the SL team was reminded by the organisers that it was not ‘Sri Lankan parliament.’ Rallying international students stopped Dissanayake addressing a session.
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A/H1N1 influenza claims nine lives in one week

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2010, 17:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Health Ministry issued a warning Saturday that the influenza A/H1N1 was spreading fast in the island with 22 deaths being reported so far including nine within the last week.
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India continues grooming genocidal military of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2010, 14:36 GMT]
As a goodwill gesture, India is expected to gift some military equipment such as shoulder-fired missiles and radars to Sri Lanka when Indian defence secretary Pradeep Kumar undertakes a two-day visit to Colombo from Monday, PTI reported Friday. The equipment, part of the assistance provided earlier to Sri Lanka to fight Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is planned to be gifted apparently to demonstrate India's efforts to help build the defence capabilities of Colombo in the backdrop of Chinese attempts to make inroads there, PTI further said. Kumar, who will hold talks with his counterpart Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, is also likely to discuss the future defence requirements of the Sri Lankan armed forces. If the war with the LTTE is over, against whom India is grooming a genocidal military, wonder Eezham Tamils.
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5 persons die daily in road accidents: NCRS

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2010, 13:41 GMT]
After the war, the majority of deaths in the island take place due to road accidents, said Mano Wijeratne, President of the NCRS at a media briefing held Friday, media reports in Colombo said. At least five persons die daily from road accidents, according to the NCRS.
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Jewellers stage lightening strike against continued crippling of trade in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2010, 13:24 GMT]
Jewellers in Jaffna Friday closed their businesses against the arrest of three leading businessmen in their industry that took place the same day morning by a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police from Vavuniyaa. In the melee due to the protest the Sinhala CID men chose to release two jewellers and took one trader into their custody. Jewellers in Jaffna said Vavuniyaa Police, deployed by Colombo government, was serving the hidden agenda of crippling the business activities of the Tamil traders in the peninsula to make way for the Sinhalese to capture it.
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Schools in Jaffna ordered to ‘sing’ Sinhala Only Sri Lanka anthem

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2010, 09:59 GMT]
Implementing a decision of Rajapaksa, students in Jaffna are ordered to sing the SL anthem in Sinhala only in an event to be attended by him in Jaffna Sunday. Students of Jaffna Hindu College became the first to succumb. The move comes contrary to news in a section of press that Rajapaksa cabinet never took any decision on the anthem-issue as India and USA reportedly opposed it. A few days ago, when the Inner City Press asked for clarification on the SL cabinet decision from a UN spokesman, there was no reply. Meanwhile, Eezham Tamils should never demand the right to sing the SL anthem in Tamil, as it is contrary to the spirit of Eezham Tamil nationalism. Rather, every time they are asked to ‘sing’ the Sinhala anthem they should remember the colonial legacy of the Portuguese, Dutch and the English of the past and should be prepared for liberation struggle, said a student activist.
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Split in Wimal Weerawanse led NFF

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2010, 10:51 GMT]
The National Freedom Front (NFF) a splinter group from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has reportedly expelled its national list parliamentarian Achala Jagoda from the party. The party secretary Prianjit Vitarana had refused to comment on the expulsion, but had told Colombo media that his party would not tolerate anyone who has been working against the party. His party is aligned with Mahinda Rajapaksa and is deployed by Rajapaksa brothers to showcase Sinahala extremist policies as a pressure tactic to the West, NGOs and the UN.
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Ultimate subjugation by making Tamils lie to themselves

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 December 2010, 22:51 GMT]
“Humanitarian operation will not stop until the painful memories of terrorism and all thoughts of separatism are removed from people's hearts. You pass out today to contribute to this noble humanitarian operation”, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who believes in “winning the hearts and minds” of Tamils by military terrorism of state, told the passing out cadets at Diyatalawa Military Academy Tuesday. The ultimate point of subjugation comes when Tamils are made to lie to themselves. After Rajapaksa demonstrating that through the captured doctors of the Vanni war, another example comes in Government Agent Imelda Sugumar ‘evidencing’ before LLRC. More than felt towards such victims or Rajapaksa, the Tamil anger is in fact felt towards the external elements that have brought out the situation and now either talk about ‘home grown’ solution or back Rajapaksa through their bankers.
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US donates ambulances to aid SLA demining efforts

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 December 2010, 14:50 GMT]
U.S. Ambassador Butenis presented five ambulances Thursday to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Chief of Staff Major General Daya Ratnayake to assist the SLA’s humanitarian demining efforts in the North, a press release from the Colombo US Embassy said. The vehicles will ensure that demining teams have emergency medical care and transportation at all times, according the release.
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Veteran Tamil scholar, politician Kaa. Po. Ratnam passes away

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 December 2010, 08:55 GMT]
Pandithar Kaarthigesar Ponnambalam Ratnam, a veteran Tamil scholar and a former parliamentarian who represented the electorates of Ki’linochchi and Kayts (Oorkaavaththu’rai) in Jaffna district on the tickets of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and later on Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) since 1965 to 1983 passed away peacefully in his Colombo residence at the age of 96 Monday evening. His funeral is to take place Wednesday evening in Kanatte cemetery in Colombo.
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Nambiar, UN, undermine war crimes investigation on Sri Lanka, Burma

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 08:48 GMT]
Unchecked for the role he played in the genocide of Eezham Tamils last year, Vijay Nambiar’s UN villainy is now targeting ethnicities struggling in Burma. The Burmese military now plans to adopt the Rajapaksa doctrine of military solution to the national question in Burma, with the backing of the same establishments that backed Rajapaksa, and Vijay Nambiar is in the scene again, facilitating the agenda and shielding the war crimes. A few days ago, UK has urged the UN to replace Vijay Nambiar by another fulltime envoy to deal with Burma. According to Mizzima News Wednesday, the London-based Burma Campaign expressed extreme disappointment on the approach of Nambiar befriending military generals and ignoring nations struggling for liberation. Meanwhile, the UN panel on Sri Lanka meeting Colombo’s LLRC has raised eyebrows in the human rights circles.
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Mahinda doctrine deprives Tamils of irrigation in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 01:44 GMT]
While the Sri Lankan state with its 'Mahinda doctrine' has revamped the 50-year-old Sinhala colonisation scheme in the Ampaa'rai and Batticaloa under a new name tag, Navodaya, calling it a 'renaissance' programme and spending 1,260 million rupees between 2008 and 2011, one of the potential irrigation source of Tamils in Batticaloa, U'rukaamam tank in Paduvaan-karai, situated 20 km north of Batticaloa city, has been completely ignored. Two third of water in the tank is going waste without any benefit to the farmers under its potential reach. Dr.R.Rushanthan, Deputy Commissioner of Agrarian Development Services has said only thirty percent of those residing in the area manage to live with at least one meal per day.
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Local elections to be held under old PR system

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 December 2010, 21:23 GMT]
Sri Lankan government has reportedly decided to use the present preferential representation (PR) system for the forthcoming elections to the local bodies. Citing delays and limited time to implement the proposed first-past-the-post system, being proposed by the government, Colombo government has decided to use the current system, media sources in Colombo said.
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World Bank backs Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 December 2010, 19:12 GMT]
The Managing Director of the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Saturday said she was granting Sri Lanka with an annual funding of US$465 million from 2011, increasing around 300 million of annual grants by the World Bank. Meanwhile, Political observers in Colombo described the offer by Washington-based Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was attending Central Bank of Sri Lanka's 60th anniversary celebrations, as an attempt by the West to win Colombo that has been extensively borrowing from China. The visiting World Bank director also paid a courtesy visit to the Eastern University in Batticaloa and to Thiraaymadu, a Tamil village affected by 2004 Tsunami, with Sinhala dancers from South.
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Devananda threatens Kudaththanai villagers to call off protests against sand excavation

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 December 2010, 18:08 GMT]
EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, a minister in Rajapaksa's cabinet, along with Sri Lankan military and Police officers in Jaffna, on Sunday threatened the villagers of Koddoadai in Vadamaraadchi East with drastic action if they continued to protest against illegal sand excavation undertaken by Maheswary Foundation, a business outfit run by his paramilitary group. Civil organizations in Kudaththanai, fearing erosion by sea water of their coastal areas have been protesting against the excavation of sand from their areas.
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Yogeswary obstructs Sherine’s human rights workshop in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 December 2010, 11:21 GMT]
The Jaffna Mayor Mrs. Yogeswary Patkunam, allegedly receiving ‘instructions’ from some ruling circles, cancelled permission to use the Jaffna Public Library auditorium by a human rights group called Home for Human Rights run by Sherine Xavier to conduct a workshop Saturday. The booking made for the auditorium on December 3 was cancelled in the last minute on Friday. Some academics of the Jaffna University and visitors from the south, altogether numbering more than 100, were scheduled to participate in the workshop on human rights violations after the Vanni war. While the Colombo-based Home for Human Rights is said to be liaising with a power that was a party to the war crimes, the Jaffna Mayor is said to have acted on the instructions of a minister who perceives local political mobilisation sponsored by that power a threat to him.
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Hathurusinghe, Imelda, deny existence of ‘High Security Zone’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 December 2010, 10:48 GMT]
Addressing media in Jaffna Friday, the Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Mrs Imelda Sugumar said that according to the briefing she had from Sri Lanka’s military commander in Jaffna Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, the nomenclature High Security Zone (HSZ) is inappropriate in the present context. According to the General, in the past as there was war between the LTTE and the SL government, people were evacuated from that area in order to save the public from getting trapped in the war, and as the SL government was providing security to that area it was called High Security Zone. Now it is only a zone ‘restricted to the public,’ the GA said. Meanwhile, the GA also said in the same press meet that it would take another 10 years to clear mines in the HSZ and resettle people there. But a map obtained from mine clearing agencies show a different picture.
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