Police carelessness, cause of deterioration of law, order in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 04:37 GMT]
Jaffna District Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander Major Gen. Mahintha Kathurusinghe said that the carelessness of police authorities in the peninsula is responsible for the present deterioration of law and order while informing the local media Saturday that according to President Mahintha Rajapakse’s order SLA will not interfere in civil administration in the peninsula anymore, media sources in Jaffna said. The SLA Jaffna Commander has also invited the editors of local dailies for a meeting Sunday at SLA 512 Division Head Quarters in Jaffna Gnanam Hotel. Meanwhile, a newly formed party called ‘Makka’l Sakthi’ (People’s Power) is to stage a protest march Sunday against the deterioration of law and order in Jaffna peninsula, the sources informed.
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Sivaram showed how Sri Lankan state was dependent on oppression of Tamils: Prof. Whitaker

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 17:10 GMT]
Sivaram’s biographer and close friend Professor Mark P. Whitaker said Thursday that Sivaram’s ability as a professional journalist to show convincingly how the Sri Lankan state was dependent upon its oppression of Tamil people, was one of the key reasons why he was targeted and killed exactly five years ago. Professor of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina , Mark P. Whitaker made these observations when delivering a speech at an event in London to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Sri Lanka ’s top journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram, well-known by his pseudonym as Taraki.
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UPFA plans 'War Heroes Week' in mid May

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 16:42 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to celebrate War Hero’s Week (Ranaviru Sathiya) from May 12 to May 18, said the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse during an informal talk with media persons at Elephant Pass in the north Friday while he was on a visit to Jaffna. Media sources in Colombo commented that the model being implemented by the Sri Lankan military and the UPFA, ignoring the advice from its global partners who advocate 'reconciliation' and 'development' as 'post-conflict' paradigm in the island.
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SLA protection provided to Chaavakachcheari magistrate’s residence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 05:10 GMT]
On instructions by Judicial Service Commission and Justice Secretary to Jaffna Superintendent of Police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander, military protection in addition to police protection is provided from Friday to the residence of Chaavakachcheari Magistrate, P. J. Pirabakar’s residence in Paa’ndiayan Thaazhvu in Jaffna in the context of allegations reported to Chaavakachcheari Court by Paandiyan Thaazhvu residents against two key men of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) for trespass into Magistrate Pirabakar’s residence more than two times with the intention of issuing death threats or to kill him, sources in Jaffna said.
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International war corporatism continues silencing Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2010, 12:30 GMT]
Diaspora Tamils wonder at the arrests, crackdowns and deportations of Eezham Tamil activists taking place in an orchestrated way in the West as well as in the East by governments conniving with the war-crimes-accused defence establishment of Colombo. The targets are those who are firm in their views on the national cause and those who work with the grass root. The timing is diaspora organising its polity. Whether the orchestration is pre-emption, expecting resurgence of the struggle as the IC knows no solutions to the crisis in the island, or whether it foretells something unpleasant that is going to be imposed on Tamils through a deal of Colombo with New Delhi and the West, are questions asked in the diaspora. How the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam is going to be structured and how Tamil Nadu is going to play its role gains new significance in the unfolding situation.
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SLA reimposes road checks in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2010, 04:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna have reimposed sudden checking of persons and vehicles at the junctions of main roads in Jaffna peninsula which had been suspended prior to President Election, sources in Jaffna said. SLA officials in a report to local media Wednesday claimed that checking is being reintroduced in the context of escalating incidents of abduction for ransom, killings and robberies in the peninsula. Meanwhile, peninsula residents and civil society organizations said that this very criminal violence had taken place unchecked before the suspension of road checks by the SLA and the police. Working according to a hidden scheme SLA has reimposed the road checks as the first step in bringing the entire peninsula under its total grip, they further said.
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Jaffna MP accuses EPDP of illegal sand excavation in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2010, 05:38 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna parliamentarian, E. Saravanbhavan publicly raised accusation against Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), a constituent party of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), for having appropriated exclusive rights to excavate sand for building construction in Ma’nattkaadu in Vadamaraadchi East using illegal means making millions of rupees, in a press report, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, EPDP Minister Dougals Devananda, in response to Saravanabhavan’s accusation, said that the EPDP firm engaged in sand excavation is registered in Sri Lanka parliament and the increase in the demand for sand is due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) permitting only a limited number of lorries to transport sand from Ma’nattkaadu SLA High Security Zone (HSZ), in a media report, the sources added.
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CPJ makes ominous prediction to media freedom in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2010, 02:48 GMT]
Bob Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator for media-watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in the organization's website that while there is "a lull of sorts in outright attacks on the media as the Rajapaksa government takes stock of where it stands," the recent appointment of former Labor Minister Mervyn Silva as Sri Lanka's deputy minister of media and information is "an indicator of what might come next for the media." CPJ noted that in December 2007 after Mr Silva showed up with a group of men at a TVstation to complain that the station has not covered one of his speeches, "[f]ive staff members reported being stabbed, beaten, or slashed with razor blades by unidentified men."
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Diaspora paramount in voicing aspirations of Tamils: The Age

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 10:04 GMT]
Amid Sri Lankas' legal constitution that classifies Tamils as “Second class citizens” and “continuing problems of ethnic marginalisation and persecution”, the Tamil Diaspora feel they “need to press for and represent Tamil claims, because Tamils in Sri Lanka have lost their voice, and have no representation following the defeat of the LTTE” said an article in the Age on Friday, a day after results of Australia’s historic Tamil referendum were announced showing “unanimous support for the proposal for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka”.
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Dengue Control Week to be launched in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 08:59 GMT]
The `Dengue Control Week' is to be launched in the country from May 3 to 9 to warn the public of possible outbreak with the onset of monsoonal rains, according to Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry press release. The number of dengue deaths reported this year from January to April is seventy-five and over twelve thousand dengue cases reported island wide, Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Epidemiology Unit, Director Dr. (Ms) Paba Palihawadana said.
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Sinhalese language prioritized in the North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2010, 19:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka government are accused of prioritizing Sinhalese language in the name and information boards in the predominantly Tamil areas in the North, by public organizations in Jaffna peninsula. Tamil language which had occupied the first place in the name boards and government information boards in the North has been brought down to second place by SLA and government, the organizations said. This introduction of Sinhalese as the first language in the North though appears as intended to cater for the Sinhalese people pouring into Jaffna peninsula as tourists the real motive is to impose Sinhala as the main language in the Tamil areas, they added.
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Men claiming to be SLA intelligence personnel abduct, sexually abuse young woman in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2010, 17:39 GMT]
Four men claiming to be Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence personnel abducted Sunday a young woman at Kalikai junction in Vadamarradchi and sexually abused her at a deserted place in the area. The men later strangled her and abandoned her taking away her jewelry and other possessions. Local residents who happened to see her Monday morning admitted her to the hospital. Point Pedro police took into custody two men on the information the woman gave and detained them in Jaffna prison through Point Pedro magistrate Court, sources in Point Pedro said. Meanwhile, SLA Commander, Major. Gen. Mahintha Kathurasinghe told media that there are no abductions, killings, sexual abuse of women and robbery in Jaffna peninsula asking the public to inform him if any such incident takes place, the sources added.
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All in the game in the name of archaeology

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2010, 03:19 GMT]
The Sinhala academics cannot compare their plight of opposing totalitarian social fascist system of governance with that of the Tamils who bear the entire brunt of fascism amounting to genocide set against them by an ethnic-powered state mechanism, says a Tamil academic in Jaffna responding to professor Sudharshan Seneviratne defending the archaeology agenda of Colombo. Genuine dialogue on culture, co-existence etc and partnership in opposing fascism come only when sovereignty snatched away from Tamils is restored as a priority and when there is parity. However patronising in overtures, individuals and organisations serving Colombo cannot escape from being ultimately colonial. Academics who are always on the side of enjoying the comforts of state power in the island are yet to explore ways of contributing to their ideals better by coming out of the system they identify as oppressive.
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Sajith Premadasa expected to take over UNP leadership

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 April 2010, 15:54 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) is in the process of electing a new leadership to take the party forward from the present plight after facing defeats in every election held in the island since the UNP government was dismissed by the then SL president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004. 42-year-old Sajith Premadasa, the son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa, is expected to take over the leadership of the UNP, political sources said quoting Gayantha Karunatilake, Galle district UNP parliamentarian.
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British Tamils must pick candidate, not party

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 April 2010, 15:19 GMT]
With Britain’s general election less than two weeks away, campaigning is in full swing. In an election that is too close to call and with many constituencies where British Tamils' vote can be decisive, the vital question facing expatriate Tamils is where best to place their votes? "As British Tamils, we have in this country, every opportunity to make our voices heard. By participating with enthusiasm in the forthcoming general elections British Tamils can work towards a just and stable future for Tamils in Sri Lanka," argues TamilNet political commentator in UK.
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Suspects in Navaali abduction to be charged under PTA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 April 2010, 07:59 GMT]
Jaffna police will frame charges against the three suspects who had abducted two family men from Navaali in Jaffna for ransom claiming that they were from the Intelligence Wing of Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The charges are to be made in Mallaakam magistrate court under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations (ER), according to police sources. Preliminary investigations reveal the suspects’ involvement in earlier abductions, killings, robbery and sexual abuse in Jaffna peninsula after the opening of A9 road, the sources said. Meanwhile, the claim that they were of the SLA Intelligence Wing has raised suspicion among the peninsula residents of collaboration of the suspects with SLA Intelligence Unit and the paramilitary groups employed by it.
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Tories, Tamils reach out

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 2010, 22:33 GMT]
It’s a sight that would have been incongruous a few years ago, but is almost unremarkable today. Nestled amongst the Tamil restaurants, grocery shops and other businesses on the main strip in Rayners Lane, a suburb of London, a large sign on the front of former store front says: ‘British Tamil Conservatives’. On the other side of London, another office of the BTC opened a few weeks ago with a lamp lighting ceremony accompanied by mirithungam drummers, directly opposite the tube station in the Tamil-dominated suburb of East Ham.
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Liberation Tigers’ Ira’naimadu runway used exclusively by Indian Air Force

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 2010, 21:10 GMT]
The runway constructed by Liberation Tigers of Tami Eezham (LTTE) in Ira’naimadu in Ki’linochchi has been handed over to the exclusive use of Indian Air Force (IAF), according to sources close to a section of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel who have expressed their disapproval of this course of action by Sri Lanka government. The area in which this runway is located in Ira’naimadu falls within the High Security Zone (HSZ) and is strictly out of bounds for low ranking SLA personnel, the sources added. IAF officers fly routinely between Tamil Nadu and Ira’naimadu besides training SLAF personnel at I’ra’naimadu, the sources said.
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3 in protective custody of Jaffna prison released

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 April 2010, 14:12 GMT]
Chaavakachcheari magistrate Thursday ordered three persons including a young woman who had sought protection to their lives due to death threats from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the war period and placed in the protective custody of Jaffna prison, to be released, sources in Chavakachcheari said. The three had been in Jaffna prison for the last three years and the two men of these were handed over to their parents Thursday by the court. The magistrate directed the young woman, a native of Batticaloa, to be placed with the Salvation Army in Kaithadi refugee camps until her parents come and take her home safely.
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99.4 percent vote for Tamil Eelam in Australia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 April 2010, 05:07 GMT]
99.4 percent of those who cast votes in the Tamil referendum across Australia last weekend said “yes” to the formation of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the contiguous north and east of the island of Sri Lanka. The results were announced Thursday at a press conference held at NSW State Parliament in front of state and national media. 8,272 out of the registered, numbering around 10,000, participated in the polls. The number of eligible Eezham Tamil voters in Australia is estimated to be around 15,000. The formation of Tamil Eelam was assented by 8,154. The negative votes were 51 and 67 were invalid.
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