The Idea of Eelam- Taraki

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 May 2005, 13:59 GMT]
In the 14th March 1990 issue of Sri Lanka's English daily, Island International, popular journalist and military analyst, late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, provided insight into how the concept of Eelam in its various interpretations were adopted or dismantled as the basis of the armed struggle of different Tamil liberation movements.
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Trinco hartal suspended pending President's decision

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 May 2005, 13:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge will make a decision on the demand to remove the controversial Buddha statue which was erected overnight on May 15 in a land close to the Trincomalee bus stand and used for parking three wheelers, said Major General (retd) Asoka Jayawardene, Defence Ministry Secretary at the conclusion of four hours of discussions he held with several representatives of civil groups in the Sri Lanka naval headquarters located inside Trincomalee Dockyard, sources said.
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Do Sri Lanka's defense forces have conventional warfare capability?- Taraki

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 May 2005, 00:34 GMT]
In an article in the Colombo-based Tamil daily, Virakesari, on March 27, 2005, Dharmaretnam Sivaram, analyzed the history of Sri Lanka's defense forces and argued that from the very beginning, the Sri Lankan forces' mission was to confront internal crises that the country's ruling elite feared as grave threats, without the strategic thinking required for conventional warfare or to confront external threats.
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STF trooper wounded in landmine blast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2005, 12:25 GMT]
A trooper of the elite Special Task Force (STF) was injured when the vehicle he was driving was hit by a claymore land mine which detonated at around 9.30am near the 9th milepost on the Monaragala-Ampara Road, police sources said. The blast might have been linked to the presence of Karuna Group cadres in the following vehicle, which the STF was escorting, Police and the Army said.
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SL parliament to hold one-day debate on peace process

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 15:59 GMT]
Leaders of political parties represented in Sri Lanka's parliament, during a meetging held Monday in the Speaker's Chamber,decided to hold a full day debate on the stalled peace process on Friday on a request made by Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), parliamentary sources in Colombo said. Mr.Sampanthan will open the debate.


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EPDP member shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 10:23 GMT]
Arumugampilai Alias Mohan (35), a paramilitary cadre of Eelam People's Democratic Part (EPDP) was shot dead at Batticaloa market in high security zone at 9.20am Wednesday, security sources said. Mohan worked at the EPDP's Batticaloa officee.
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Man dies under police torture, family threatened - AHRC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 17:11 GMT]
A Sinhala man died during police torture on April 18, 2005 at Rakwana Police Station, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said Tuesday. Helwala Langachcharige Susantha Kulatung, a father of four, was taken into custody by five officers from the Rakwana Police. “The officers allegedly began torturing the victim during his arrest and continued to do so after he was taken to their station,” AHRC said.
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Veteran Tamil journalist felicitated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 15:53 GMT]
Mr.K.Velautham, 88-year-old veteran journalist from Tampalakamam, a traditional Tamil village in Trincomalee district was felicitated for his services for more than half a century. The event was held during the weekend in Tampalakamam Kulakottan Tamil Vidiyalayam. Mr Velautham has been reporting to Tamil daily newspaper Virakesari and writing novels and articles on topics of local interest.


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RSF slams Colombo’s ‘lack of will’ on journalists’ murder

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 May 2005, 13:48 GMT]
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has written to participants at the Sri Lankan Development Forum (SLDF) meeting in Kandy urging them to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to conduct a serious investigation into the 29 April murder of Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki).


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TNA kept out of Development Forum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 15:06 GMT]
"The programme formulated for the Sri Lanka Development Forum (SLDF) which is to be held in Kandy on May 16th and 17th seeks to marginalize the North East and fails to recognise diversity, and respect the democratic verdict of the people of the North East," said Mr R Sampanthan, Leader of the parliamentary group of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a letter he wrote to the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Sunday, TNA sources in Colombo said.
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Krishanthy murder convict complains of death threat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 May 2005, 16:39 GMT]
Lance Corporal Somaretna Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Army who is serving death sentence in Krishanthy Cumaraswamy rape and murder case and a key witness in the several habeas Corpus applications currently under inquiry last week complained to the Jaffna Additional Magistrate that his life is in danger in the Bogambara prison, legal sources said.
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New HC bench to hear Mirusuvil massacre case

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 May 2005, 16:12 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar (TAB) inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case has been fixed before a newly constituted three member-bench comprising Judges Mr.Upali Abeyaratne, Mr.D Wijesunthara and Mr.Sunil Rajapakse for July 25. Earlier the inquiry was scheduled to resume on 22 Monday, 2004. However the inquiry was put off indefinitely with the murder of Judge Mr.Sarath Ambepitya who was the chairman of the three-member bench, legal sources said.
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CPJ alarmed at death threats to Sri Lanka journalists

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 18:03 GMT]
"We are alarmed by the rising threats against our colleagues, and call on authorities to find those responsible for these crimes. All sides of this conflict must respect the rights of journalists and help safeguard the free flow of information in Sri Lanka," Executive Director of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ann Cooper said in a news alert issued at CPJ's website Thursday.
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Lack of normalcy eclipsed by joint mechanism debate - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 13:26 GMT]
The serious lack of normalcy in the Tamil areas due to continuing military occupation and restrictions on civilians’ livelihoods, even three years after the mutual ceasefire agreement was signed, is leading to severe frustrations amongst the people, the head of the Liberation Tiger’s political wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan told Norwegian diplomats Friday. The extraordinary focus on a post-tsunami aid management mechanism is masking the severity of the obstructions to rehabilitation work and the day-to-day difficulties faced by ordinary people, Mr. Thamilchelvan told Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar, when they met in Kilinochchi.
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Sinhala Nation, refusing to share national wealth- Taraki

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 11:46 GMT]
Liberation Tigers' demand for an independent administrative arrangement and funds to rehabilitate and rebuild the infrastructure of the Tamil homeland is rooted on the fact that for the past 56 years the Sinhala Nation has resolutely exercised its monopoly power on island's national wealth and refused to accept Tamil's right to a fair share of the wealth, argues late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, in a column which appeared in Virakesari of 21 November 2004. This feature provides an English translation.
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Body found in Eastern University grounds

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 08:46 GMT]
The body of a man shot in the head was found dumped in grounds of the Eastern University at Vanthaarumoolai, 18 kilometres north of Batticaloa town around 7 a.m. Friday morning, Police said. A note left behind by the assassins stated that he was a LTTE member from Uppuveli in the Trincomalee district, they said.
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Pro-peace groups receive death threats

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 May 2005, 13:46 GMT]
Leaders of civil society organisations calling for a peaceful solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict have received death threats from an extreme Sinhala nationalist group calling itself ‘Theraputtabhaya force.’ The letter, which claimed responsibility for the murder of journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam, says that all traitors should be ready to become "fertiliser for the motherland" if they continue to betray it.
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SL President to visit India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 May 2005, 17:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is expected to pay a two-day official visit to India from Saturday May 14th. She will hold talks with leaders of the Indian government on the proposed joint mechanism with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), government sources said.


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Vanni journalists protest Sivaram killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 May 2005, 12:32 GMT]
A large number of journalists and several Vavuniya residents took part in a demonstration Tuesday organised by Vanni Journalists Association, condemning the abduction and murder of Tamil political columnist and military analysts, Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram in Colombo on 29 April. Vanni District Parliamentarians Sivanathan Kishore, Sivasakthi Aananthan, Selvam Adikalanathan and Vino Nokarathalingam, also participated.
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RSF urges SLMM probe into Sivaram murder

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 May 2005, 11:04 GMT]
Reporters San Frontiers (RSF) Tuesday urged international monitors supervising Sri Lanka’s ceasefire to carry out their own investigations into the abduction and murder two weeks ago of political columnist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
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