CHOGM boycott calls for renewed action on Sri Lanka judicial independence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 February 2013, 17:58 GMT]
As Canada continues to voice its call for boycott of Commonwealth summit scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in November this year, Commonwealth officials renewed efforts to nudge Sri Lanka to adhere to principles of judicial independence, after Colombo defied international appeals and sacked its chief justice in January. Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma is holding talks with Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo on the rule of law and the separation of powers, AFP reported.
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Uprooted Champoor families live in fear following arrest of 7 persons by TID

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2013, 20:11 GMT]
Tension and fear prevail among uprooted Tamil families from Champoor area currently being sheltered in temporary sheds described as welfare centres at four places, Kaddai-pa'richchaan, Paddith-thidal, Ma'nat-cheanai and Ki'liveddi since the arrest of seven Tamils by a special TID team from Colombo last week alleging them as LTTE members. Two of them are inmates of Paddith-thidal welfare camp. They are all breadwinners of their families. They were taken to a place out of the Trincomalee district for military ‘rehabilitation’.
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Sinhala paramilitary attacks Tamil dairy farmers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2013, 20:41 GMT]
A group of armed Sinhalese ‘home guards’ have attacked Tamil farmers who were herding their cattle, after ‘allowing’ the Tamil farmers to breed their cattle. The attack has taken place at ‘Mangalagama’ area in Vellaave'li division two days ago, the victims said, adding that they were using the grazing lands to breed their cattle for four decades.
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‘Extra-constitutional interim solution to counter Sinhala militarization must be probed’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2013, 17:33 GMT]
Arguing that while the strategy for Tamils world over should be the restoration of Eezham Tamil sovereignty over their traditional homeland, RM Karthick writes that the Tamil diaspora organizations must arrive at a consensus for an immediate tactic to alleviate the mutilation of the Eezham Tamil nation in the Tamil homeland by the occupying Sinhala military via an interim solution of an intervention of international powers in the island to facilitate the dismantling of the Sinhala military apparatus. Contending that such an interim solution should not give any legitimacy whatsoever to the Sri Lankan constitution, the writer further argues that any interim solution can be successful only on an extra-constitutional basis that has pre-constitutional recognition of the Eezham Tamil nation’s territoriality and historical sovereignty.
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Tamil Nadu protests Rajapaksa's ‘pilgrimage’ to India

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2013, 23:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday landed in India, drawing widespread protests in Tamil Nadu against his ‘pilgrimage' trip to India, media reports in India said. While MDMK leader Mr Vaiko courted arrest together with MDMK activists, who marched towards Indian Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi, condemning the Centre and the visiting SL president, in Tamil Nadu, DMK Chief Mr M Karunanidhi was taking part in protests with DMK activists.
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SL military steps up land grab in Vaakarai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2013, 22:40 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has demanded thirteen Tamil families in Thoa'nithaa'ndamadu, a village in the Koa'ralaip-pattu North (Vaakarai) DS division in Batticaloa district to hand over photo copies of their deeds in an attempt to grab their lands saying that they would be paid rent for its use. The residents say that the SLA promise is not genuine but a ploy to grab their lands where a SLA camp is already is located.
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Poonakari becomes another major hub of Sinhala militarisation, colonisation

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2013, 07:50 GMT]
Similar to the so-called High Security Zone (HSZ) on the northern coast of Jaffna Peninsula, including KKS harbour and Palaali airport that has now become a permanent enclave for Sinhala military cantonment, colonisation and corporatism, another enclave in the Poonakari division is in the making, news sources in Vanni said. Around 31,000 Sinhala military personnel are stationed in the Poonakari division where currently only 6216 families live, which means that for every Tamil family there are 5 personnel from the genocidal military. While the SL military alone occupies 800 acres of land, the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s siblings Basil and Gotabhaya, and progeny Namal have appropriated many more acres of land. Building a Chinese assisted international airport at Poonakari is in the centre of the plans.
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SL ‘Terrorist’ squad arrests 7 Tamils in Moothoor East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2013, 22:11 GMT]
An elite squad of the Sri Lankan ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) that arrived in Trincomalee on Monday from Colombo has been conducting search operations in the district targeting Tamil youth. The squad has so far arrested 7 Tamils and transferred them to Colombo from Moothoor police station, news sources said. The latest rounds of harassments by the TID squad is reported following the protest by Eezham Tamils who had put up posters condemning the observation of the SL ‘independence’ day in Trincomalee.
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Attacks on media escalate in Jaffna, newspapers burnt by alleged SL military squad

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2013, 04:26 GMT]
A newspaper distributor who was on his way to Vadamaraadchi through Jaffna – Point Pedro Road to distribute the copies of the Jaffna edition of Tamil daily Thinakkural was attacked and all the newspapers in his possession and his motorbike were put on fire by an alleged Sri Lankan military intelligence squad that intercepted the distributor at Puththoor Junction at 5:00 a.m. on Thursday. In the meantime, Uthayan paper distributor to Vadamaraadchi narrowly escaped from another attack around the same time. The latest attacks come within three weeks of a similar attack on Uthayan paper distributor.
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Civil Society insists on pre-constitutional recognition of Tamil nation, self-determination

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2013, 01:41 GMT]
In a set of preliminary points submitted at a conference held in Berlin, 26-27 January, facilitated by the Berghof Foundation, the Tamil Civil Society (TCS) from the island insisted on “pre-constitutional recognition of Tamil nationhood and self-determination” before Tamils could sit down and debate institutional proposals for a constitutional design within a united Sri Lanka. Such recognition “does not mean a separate state,” the TCS added. The Tamil Civil Society or any other party or group based in the island are not free bodies to comprehensively or authentically talk on the issue as they are bound by the 6th Amendment of the constitution of the genocidal State of Sri Lanka. Such organisations should first insist on the IC and its outfits to create conditions going beyond the 6th Amendment to have honest discussion on the issue, commented new generation Tamil activists in the island.
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Tamil Heritage Month Bill Proposed in Canadian Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2013, 23:48 GMT]
Tamil Canadian federal MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan introduced Bill C-471 in the Canadian Parliament on January 31, to designate the month of January as Tamil Heritage Month in Canada by an Act. This bill, a private member’s bill that doesn’t often become law, if passed, will enshrine at the federal level an ongoing practice among Tamil community organizations. Neethan Shan, founder and chair of the Tamil Heritage Month Committee, believes that such a commemoration of Tamil heritage will provide a platform for discussion of Tamil national identity. "We have been working hard for two years to get both the federal and provincial governments to recognize Tamil Heritage Month formally and we are hopeful that it will happen before our fifth year anniversary in January 2014," Neethan Shan, founder and chair of the Tamil Heritage Month Committee, told TamilNet.
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British Under Secretary’s ‘war picnic’, misleading comments, draw flak from Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2013, 21:17 GMT]
While Alistair Burt, British Under Secretary of State at FCO, endorsed on Twitter on Wednesday the self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara, in his Twitter discussions on Tuesday with Eezham Tamils, he opined that “Detail of political settlement must be for Sri Lankans themselves. We encourage TNA and govt to make serious progress.” Likewise, in a video recording taken with the British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka a few days back at the Mullaitheevu coast, which witnessed the worst massacres in May 2009, he welcomed the defeat of the LTTE calling it “terrorism” and picked only politically insignificant flaws with the Sri Lankan government. Civil society activists from the North remarked that the minister seemed to be on a sort of a “war picnic”, appreciating some aspects with Sri Lanka and criticizing others. Activists in the UK have also reacted to Mr. Burt’s comments.
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TESO urges New Delhi to move for referendum at Geneva

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2013, 07:39 GMT]
New Delhi should take firm efforts to bring forward a resolution at the UNHRC sessions next month for conducting a referendum among Ilangkai Tamils, said a resolution passed by Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) in Chennai on Monday. The organisation cited its earlier resolution passed in this regard in August last year and said that it had already presented the case for the consideration of the UN, member countries of the UN, the Government of India and the UNHRC. In presenting the plight of Eezham Tamils, TESO has resolved to convene an all-India level meet of political party leaders in New Delhi in March. Condemning New Delhi encouraging Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa visiting India this week, TESO has also resolved to organise a black-clad demonstration in Chennai on Friday morning, protesting his visit.
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Tamil diaspora protests Sri Lanka’s freedom committing genocide

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2013, 07:13 GMT]
Tamil diaspora activists in Europe, Canada and Australia staged protests on Monday coinciding with the Sri Lanka’s official 65th ‘independence day’, with activists alleging that this so-called ‘independence’ was only a freedom given to the Sinhala nation to commit a protracted genocide of the Eezham Tamil nation. Speaking to TamilNet from a solidarity gathering in Geelong in the state of Victoria, Australia, labour union leader Tim Gooden said that there was a need to recognize the sovereignty of the Eezham Tamil nation. “Unless the aspirations of people are met then there is no peace. One side will always have to suppress people if they are not going to recognise their sovereignty. People on both sides cannot develop culturally, economically or morally until the national question is resolved,” he said.
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MV Sun Sea Refugee Faces Deportation in 10 Days

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2013, 05:26 GMT]
The CBC reported on Thursday that an MV Sun Sea Eezham Tamil refugee faces imminent deportation. The Canadian government has issued a deportation order for February 13 in the case. Changes to refugee appeals processes by the Canadian government have restricted the avenues and time frame for appeals. The refugee’s lawyer, Hadayt Nazami, speculates that the government has been ‘judge-shopping’ by canceling two previous hearings regarding a stay of the refugee’s deportation. Nazami told the CBC these tactics are being employed by the government to ensure a favourable judge, who will not order a stay on the deportation, hears the case.
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Russia celebrates 70th anniversary of Stalingrad

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2013, 02:57 GMT]
Russians commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest battles waged during World War II, on Saturday. Stalingrad, later named as Volgograd in 1961 under Khrushchev, marked the decisive turning point on the Eastern Front of the War since Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. With over a million civilian and military casualties, the Soviets were able to repulse the Nazi invasion in February 1943 and push forward right into Berlin. While Russians have an obligation to celebrate the monumental event, which is also held in high regard by progressives world over, what moral right does the Russian government, that practices oppression of nations in its territory and extends political and military support to genocidal regimes like Sri Lanka, have to do the same, asks an Eezham Tamil Marxist.
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Tamils will lose land forever by failing to address US, India in time

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2013, 01:25 GMT]
Any international resolution on the island of Sri Lanka that doesn’t recognize and protect the nation of Eezham Tamils and its territoriality is not only useless to the affected people but also worse than the genocidal war waged against them by the International Community of Establishments. In a coordinated way, a concrete demand has to be globally made by Tamil politicians in the island, activists and public in the diaspora, and by political parties and masses in Tamil Nadu, addressed specifically at Washington and New Delhi to not hoodwink any more by deviating resolutions but to come out with meaningful international action to restore the country of Eezham Tamils to them.
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Book on Malayan educationist, Thuraisingham, released

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2013, 00:04 GMT]
The role and influence of Eezham Tamil, Datuk Sir Ernest Emmanuel Clough Thuraisingham (28 August 1898- 30 March 1979), in Malaysian politics during the formative years of Malaya, is chronicled in a recently released book written by three lecturers from the Malaya university’s History Department. At the book’s launch, Prof Abdullah Zakaria, one of the authors, described Thuraisingham as an "unsung hero who played an instrumental role in the struggle for Malayan independence."
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Colombo converts Jaffna ‘HSZ’ into zone of Sinhala Military Corporatism

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2013, 18:11 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military, which had completed the construction of a huge bund three months ago, from Chelva-channithi shrine in Tho’ndamanaa’ru to Vasaavi’laan near the Palaali military base through Oddakappulam across the former ‘High Security Zone’, has now started to construct another major bund from Kurumpasiddi to Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) through Kadduvan and Thellippazhai, according to S. Sugirthan, the head of the divisional civic body (Piratheasa Chapai / PS) of Valikaamam North. Informed civil officials said that these bunds are being hurriedly put up to carve out a vast area consisting 26 GS divisions for Sinhala Military Corporatism.
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Canadian minister fails to address genocide, annihilation of Tamil territory

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2013, 00:13 GMT]
Speaking to media at a gathering in Markham, Ontario (where Eezham Tamils live in considerable number), Mr Jason Kenny, Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, who recently visited Colombo, was speaking on failure of Sri Lanka in addressing reconciliation, war-crimes accountability and general failure in protecting human rights and rule of law. He also mentioned excessive militarization of the North and East, even though in answering questions he said that he understands militarization to some extent. But the minister, seeing Tamils as minorities and not as a nation, failed to address the pressing question currently faced by Eezham Tamils as a nation in the island, i.e., structural genocide, Sinhala colonization supported by militarization and annihilation of the territoriality of the nation of Eezham Tamils.
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