Asylum seekers set sail in a sea of silence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 July 2010, 00:52 GMT]
Noting that asylum policy debate in Australia has re-focussed on "how to stop the boat people coming," Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson of the Australian Tamil Congress, in an article appearing on ABC, points out that "if both parties [Labor and Liberals] are serious about cutting down on asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, they need to look at the root cause of the problem and review their foreign policy in regards to Sri Lanka," and faults Australia's political leaders saying, "while our Western allies continue to publicly denounce Sri Lanka's appalling treatment of its civilians, Tamils in particular, Australia is yet to publicly condemn any of the country's [Sri Lanka's] current or past acts."
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JHU criticizes Colombo UN seige

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 July 2010, 16:12 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Wednesday criticized the siege against the UN office in Colombo by the National Freedom Front (NFF) led by Sri Lanka government minister Wimal Weerawansa, saying that the seige is a foolish act. JHU's former leader and currently a Member of Parliament of the JHU, Venerable Ellawela Medhananda Thera, told media that the UN has many member countries, and that UN should not be held responsible for the appointment of Experts Panel to assist the UN Secretary General to probe Sri Lanka's war crimes.
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Devananda, Perumal join hands in new forum

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 July 2010, 08:45 GMT]
A group named 'Tamil Political Parties Forum' (TPPF) of nine Tamil Political parties, paramilitary cum political parties and activists allegedly backed by New Delhi and Colombo, has been formed with the aim to explore ways of finding solution for the problems of the Tamil people in the North and East, political sources in Colombo said. Varatharaja Perumal, Chandrahasan and PLOTE Siddharthan, already known to have close links with New Delhi, have joined hands with M.K. Sivajilingam, a former TNA MP, Anandasangaree of TULF, Pillayan from TMVP and Kumarakuruparan of Democratic People Front in creating the forum. The move has been initiated by Shereen Xavier of Home for Human Rights and Douglas Devananda, the leader of EPDP, who is aligned with Mahinda Rajapaksa government.
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UN office in Colombo declares 'holiday' following protest against expert panel

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 July 2010, 08:35 GMT]
The United Nations office in Colombo has declared holiday on Wednesday after Wimal Weerawansa, a government minister and leader of National Freedom Front, protested outside the UN office Tuesday. Meanwhile, Mr. Weerawansa on Wednesday told journalists that their protesters will launch a fast unto death campaign if the UN fails to respond to their demands.
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Weerawansa’s protest against UN turns violent, announces 'devil dance'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 July 2010, 14:30 GMT]
Sri Lankan Minister for Construction and Housing, Wimal Weerawansa, who launched a protest in front of the UN office in Bauddaloka Mawatta in Colombo demanding the UN to dissolve the expert panel announced by the UN Secretary General to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, arrived at the demonstration site around 5:00 p.m. and prompted the protesters to enter the premises of the UN complex after phoning Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and receiving instructions, a reporter at the site told TamilNet. A police officer was manhandled by the mob and the police has withdrawn from the premises. The protest was going till the reporter left the site at 7:00 p.m. The minister himself attacked the police officer and has planned to hold 'devil dance' throughout the night in front of the UN office.
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SL minister protests against UN office, demands Ban-Ki moon to dissolve panel

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 July 2010, 08:01 GMT]
Sri Lankan minister Wimal Weerawansa, who was opposed to the peace process, has gathered his supporters outside the UN office in Colombo at Bauddhaloka Mawatha protesting against the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki moon's move to appoint an expert panel Tuesday afternoon. The protesters have erected a temporary shed in front of the main entrance preventing the UN staff from entering the office premises and were calling the UN Secretary General to dissolve the expert panel.
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Constitutional reforms to be further delayed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 July 2010, 00:10 GMT]
The proposed constitutional reforms which was scheduled to be tabled in parliament this month is likely to be further delayed by one or more months according to media reports from Colombo. The proposed reforms are yet to be forwarded to Sri Lanka's Cabinet for approval, reports further said.
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Move afoot to make Kumaratunga UNP MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 July 2010, 11:05 GMT]
Moves are afoot by the main opposition United National Party (UNP) to make Chandrika Kumaratunga a Member of Parliament through the UNP list, political sources in Colombo said. The move has been reportedly initiated by a splinter group of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), led by Mangala Samaraweera.
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Sinhala daily says India opposes UN panel

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 July 2010, 22:26 GMT]
Colombo-based Sinhala daily, Lankadeepa, without quoting any officials from the Indian government or the Indian embassy in Colombo, said in a report Sunday that the Indian government has expressed its disapproval over the appointment of the expert panel by United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon. Responding to the news, Tamil circles in Chennai blamed Monday the New Delhi Establishment for continuing to abet the genocidal agenda of Colombo, by objecting any international investigation amidst widespread allegation of Indian forces assisting the Sri Lankan military in the war against the Tigers.
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SLA conducts sudden search, checking in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 July 2010, 11:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers stopped pedestrians, passengers travelling in vehicles along Beach Road and Galle Road in Wellawatte in Colombo city Friday early morning and subjected them to search and checking, sources in Colombo said. It is not known whether anyone had been taken into custody. Wellawatte is predominantly a Tamil area.
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State media blames exiled scribes for 'mudslinging' against Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 July 2010, 10:01 GMT]
A 'clandestine media group' consisting of several Sri Lankan journalists now in exile has embarked on a mudslinging campaign against Sri Lanka, state-owned media reported Friday. According to the Dinamina Sinhala daily, this group of journalists have sent a petition condemning Sri Lanka to more than 70 foreign non-governmental organizations urging these organizations to pressure the international community to withdraw any trade benefits given to Sri Lanka.
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Colombo sinhalicises Ampaa'rai District Secretariat

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 July 2010, 04:38 GMT]
Biased Sinhala officials in Ampaa’rai District Secretariat have been taking steps to transfer all Tamil officials working there in an effort to convert it a Sinhala only office. As a first step a Tamil Assistant Director of Planning has been transferred out of Ampaa’rai District Secretariat causing hardships to Tamil people in the district.
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Hindu temples in East face forcible removal, destruction

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 July 2010, 10:54 GMT]
Two Hindu temples in Trincomalee are earmarked for forcible removal by the Colombo government and another temple in Batticaloa is being subjected to Sinhala militarisation, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Batticaloa C.Yogeswaran told journalists in Batticaloa on Wednesday.
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Clash of Roadmaps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 19:33 GMT]
The Mahinda – KP move handled by the military intelligence of Sri Lanka, whether a culmination of a long-term strategy or a move to probe the diaspora, is now backfiring against Colombo, is backfiring against some international actors harping on wrong notions of reconciliation and is backfiring against some elements in the diaspora which were long dreaming on the success of this move to trail behind with their tangential politics.
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Power of ideology sustains Tamil struggle: Gulf News

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 09:53 GMT]
Gulf News, a newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, in an Op-Ed article on Wednesday said the idea of separate state for Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka is kept alive by the 'power of ideology' although Colombo managed to win the war on LTTE with a 'single-minded' approach. Although it is a softer doctrine, it is capable of gathering momentum over a period of time, the paper said. "Judging by the recent sequence of events, the past may, by all accounts, come back to haunt Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse," the editorial said adding that the onus is on Rajapakse's government to address the plight of the Tamils sooner rather than later.
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Indian Navy Chief visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 08:08 GMT]
Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy Admiral Nirmal Verma arrived in Colombo Sunday on a five day visit to Sri Lanka as a part of efforts to strengthen bilateral defense ties with Sri Lanka, met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Admiral Verma during was scheduled to grace Sri Lanka Navy officers' passing out parade at the Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee.
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KP-Diaspora programme operated by SL Military Intelligence: Doctor Arudkumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 21:31 GMT]
Sri Lankan Director of National Intelligence, Major General Kapila Hendawitharana, the longest serving intelligence officer of the military, is in charge of the covert and overt programme of dividing and conquering the Tamil diaspora, alludes British Tamil doctor Velauthapillai Arudkumar, who visited the island recently as part of a ‘Tamil diaspora visit’ organised by Colombo through Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP. TamilNet releases an exclusive video interview with Dr. Arudkumar taken two days ago, in which he reveals the details of the trip. SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana and External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris, all spoke in a well-synchronised way. Military counterinsurgency and 'post-war development' are intertwined aiming at Tamil subjugation, the doctor infers in his interview.
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Public servants to receive only Rs.1000 salary increase

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 17:28 GMT]
State sector employees are likely to receive only one thousand rupees as salary increase with effect from July. The Budget that is to be presented in parliament Tuesday afternoon by the Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne is to reveal the salary increase, sources in Colombo said.
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JHU holds protest march against UN Experts Panel

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 17:21 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, Monday morning held a protest march starting from the premises of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) to the United Nations office located at Buddhaloka Mawatte in Colombo against the appointment of Experts Panel by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to advise him on the alleged war crimes during the last leg of the war in Sri Lanka, sources in Colombo said.
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6 including 2 children die in road accident, 10 injured

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 June 2010, 11:07 GMT]
At least six persons including two children were killed and ten others were injured as they were returning from a trip to Jaffna. The accident took place Sunday early morning near Deduru Oya Bridge in Kurunagala when the van they were travelling was hit by a speeding lorry, police spokesman said to media.
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