'Time for South India to take care of its own geopolitics'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 October 2009, 00:26 GMT]
The historic duty of Tamil Nadu today is to cast with far sight its diplomatic weight internationally, convincing New Delhi and the international community to come out with fundamental solutions recognizing the national aspirations of Eezham Tamils, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo. "Saying foreign affairs is an exclusive domain of the Centre is only an excuse in contemporary world, especially when a federal government fails in it seriously affecting the strategic interests of a state. A Tamil Nadu delegation visiting Sri Lanka is perhaps for the first time an external affairs exercise of a state in India, but it has cut a negative image with the people to whom it was meant for, raising questions on the bona fides of the whole exercise," the commentator further says.
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No signs of resettlement of IDPs in KKS

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 2009, 07:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government has announced its intention of opening Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) Road for public in view of the reopening of KKS cement factory located in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ). Mere opening of KKS road is meaningless while more than 100,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) evacuated from their residences 20 years ago are still languishing in camps and in relatives’ houses without being resettled, IDP Welfare Organizations in Jaffna said.
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3 Tamil youths arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 October 2009, 17:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police took into custody Monday morning three Tamil youths in a joint search conducted in Eddiyawathe in Mattakuliya, a suburb of Colombo city. One of the youths was arrested as he was travelling in No. 155 public transport bus which was bound to Galkisse. The other two youths were taken into custody in the search conducted in Eddiyawathe junction.
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Tamil civilian arrested in Chilaapam

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 October 2009, 16:47 GMT]
A team of the State Intelligence Service Sunday arrested a Tamil civilian, a resident of Chilaapam in the northwestern province. Chilaapam police said he was taken into custody on information that he had been assigned by Liberation Tigers to gather information around the Colombo port area.
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Tamils get international recognition in sciences

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 October 2009, 23:23 GMT]
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, born in Chithamparam, Tamil Nadu is named for Nobel Prize 2009 in Chemistry, Wednesday, for contributing to the knowledge of structure and functions of ribosome, leading to development of direct and more effective antibiotics in medicine. In June, Jaffna-born Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, an old student of Mahajana College, Thellippazhai, was conferred knighthood for his contributions in the field of medicine in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. While such achievements inspire younger generation of diaspora Tamils in making global contributions to humanity, it is also time for the diaspora to forge its own global organization to help itself as well as to remind a dodging IC of its responsibilities to the plight of Tamils. Sir Arulkumaran’s Alma Mater, celebrating its centenary next year, is in the military occupied HSZ for years now, being deprived of its population.
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Ad hominem attack on Clinton draws US's ire

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 October 2009, 15:34 GMT]
Following Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka's statement during a live radio interview Wednesday that "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to have forgotten the Monica [Lewinsky] episode and should focus on her own backyard instead of making allegations of women being abused in other countries," Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Jaliya Wickremasuriya, was "summoned to the Department of State to be told of the US Government’s displeasure," Sri Lanka's weekly broadsheet, Sunday Times, reported.
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Fonseka's legal perils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 October 2009, 04:50 GMT]
As Major General Sarath Fonseka's military and political stars in Sri Lanka show signs of decline, the General may have to soon decide whether to stay in Sri Lanka and suffer ignominy under the Rajapakse brothers, or to use the lottery-won US Green Card, and seek safety with his children in the US. But safety in US may spell judicial danger. Without the cover of sovereign immunity, which had protected Fonseka's alleged war-crimes until now, the General will be exposed to answer charges, in the US Federal Courts, against his conduct of war in Sri Lanka's north. Both criminal and civil actions against Maj.Gen. Fonseka are likely in the US, and Colombo's resources, including legal help from US lobby-firms under Sri Lanka's payroll, will unlikely be available to him, legal sources in Washington said.
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Release 250,000 Tamils from illegal detention immediately, HRW tells Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 20:40 GMT]
Pointing out that "[d]eteriorating conditions, including a shortage of water since October 5, 2009, combined with the prospect of flooding during the imminent monsoon season, have led to rising tensions among camp residents and clashes with the military," New York based rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW), called on international donors Japan, the United States and European Union member states "to send a clear message to the Government of Sri Lanka that continued detention of the displaced will have serious consequences for Sri Lanka's relationship with the international community."
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Colombo cancels TamilNadu MPs visit to east

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 15:33 GMT]
The visit of a group of parliamentarians of Tamilnadu in India to the eastern province was cancelled Saturday last minute, according to media reports from Colombo. The TN group arrived in Colombo Saturday morning, and was scheduled to visit Batticaloa and especially the resettled village Vaaharai the same day.
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Tension grips Tamil business community in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 11:54 GMT]
Tension has gripped the Tamil business community in Colombo and its suburbs after Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers called on them to register their assets with the local authorities. The soldiers had called on the community with a printed form which has to be filled with every miniature detail from the type of enterprise, to assets such as vehicles, etc, members of the family, relatives and employees. The Tamil business community is perturbed over this new regulation since they have already registered themselves with the relevant police divisions.
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Tamil Nadu MPs delegation to see IDP internment camps

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 11:45 GMT]
Eight Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, from the ruling Congress Party and its supporting political parties Dravida Munetra Kazhakam (DMK) and Viduthalai Chiruththaikal (VCK) are expected to arrive in Colombo Sunday and from there they will be taken to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps in Vavuniyaa where the Vannin IDPs are detained, sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, opposition parties in Tamil Nadu and India including Communist Party have expressed their strong protest for not having included any MP from the opposition or prominent leaders who had stood up for Eezham Tamils for many years. Sri Lanka government intends to take this delegation on a ‘guided tour’ to ‘selected spots’ in an effort to hide the true conditions under which the IDPs are suffering, representatives of IDP welfare organizations said.
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Jaffna fort to be readied for new colonial masters

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 10:35 GMT]
In the name of archaeology the Dutch fort of Jaffna is going to be renovated by the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka as an abode for visiting Colombo’s dignitaries and Sinhala Buddhist ‘pilgrims,’ news reports say. The fort of Jaffna, originally built by the Portuguese and made into its present form by the Dutch in the 17th century, never ceased to be a symbol of oppression to the people of Jaffna. It never became the cultural property of Tamils to whom it rightfully belongs. After the so-called independence it served as provincial prison, quarters for the Sinhala security forces and the King’s House inside was the guesthouse for Colombo’s politicians. The Sinhala politicians who burnt the Jaffna library in 1981 executed it from the King’s House and the police that killed audience and disturbed the 4th International Tamil Conference in 1974 came from the fort.
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SLA collects particulars only from Tamil traders in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 09:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have been distributing forms in Sinhalese language only to Tamil traders in the city of Colombo since Thursday calling for particulars for the purpose of special registration, according to an urgent letter sent by Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan to Prime Minister, R. Wickremanayake, requesting him to instruct SLA to explain as to why such details are being collected from Tamil traders only, sources in Colombo said.
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Legal action against Tamil MPs calculated, partial – Defence Attorney

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 October 2009, 12:44 GMT]
”There are many who had addressed ‘Pongu Thamizh’ events held in various places in Sri Lanka then, now functioning as government ministers, deputy ministers and leaders of political parties. But cases are filed only on four Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians accusing they had addressed ‘Pongu Thamizh’ rallies in countries like Germany and Australia in 2006 with the intention of partitioning Sri Lanka. Therefore this is a case of calculated and partial act,” argued K. V. Thavarajah, Senior Attorney-at–law, appearing on behalf of TNA parliamentarians, S. Jeyanandamoorthy, P. Ariyanethiran, Selvarajah Gajendran and K. Sivajilingam, in Colombo Chief Magistrate Court, Tuesday, with Magistrate Nishantha Happu Araachi on the bench.
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Indian strategic analyst writes on 'lost leverage'

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 October 2009, 11:58 GMT]
“Today, India stands more marginalized than ever in Sri Lanka. Its natural constituency—the Tamils—feels not only betrayed, but also looks at India as a colluder in the bloodbath. India already had alienated the Sinhalese majority in the 1980s,” writes Professor Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, in a forthright article appeared in Forbes, Friday. Welcoming his admissions and responding to him, Tamil circles said that who ever now addresses the national aspirations of Eezham Tamils, holds the key to the region of South India-Sri Lanka- Maldives, but India is yet to learn the lesson and may continue forfeiting leverage even with its own people, by blunting the national question.
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2 Tamil youths arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 2009, 17:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took into custody Thursday early morning two Tamil youths in Moratuwa, in the suburbs of Colombo, who were returning to Colombo from Kathirkaamam, in a search conducted in the streets in Moratuwa, the relatives of the youths said.
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Emergency extended in Sri Lanka for another month

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 2009, 17:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s parliament Thursday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency by another month with a majority of seventy votes. Eighty-two parliamentarians from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the National Freedom Front (NFF), the rebel group of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) voted in favor of the motion. Twelve Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians who were present at that time voted against the motion. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) abstained from voting. Parliamentarians of the JVP were not present in the House at that time of voting. The State of Emergency is being extended by the parliament monthly since August, 2005.
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Mass graves fear prevents Colombo from seeking demining help - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 2009, 11:35 GMT]
"The Sri Lanka government fears that, if the international community gets involved in the de-mining, they may stumble on to mass graves of Tamil victims killed during the last stages of fighting between the Sri Lanka military and the Tamil Tigers," said Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampathan, on Thursday accusing the Sri Lankan government of refusing to accept foreign assistance towards the de-mining parliamentary sources in Colombo said.
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Tamils facing “cultural annihaliation” by SL Government: Australian Politician

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 2009, 05:10 GMT]
“It may be argued that the Tamil people have a legitimate right to self-determination but what is essential now is that we must see an end to the oppressive and discriminatory policies of the victorious Sri Lankan Government” urged Greens MLC Ian Cohen in an address to the Australian Parliament on September 24th. Highlighting the “potential humanitarian catastrophe” faced by almost 300,000 refugees who “despite their desire and capacity to return home they are being held prisoner”, Cohen described the Governments treatment of Tamils as “a litany of injustice, cultural annihilation and human rights atrocities”. Meanwhile, a Tamil NGO official in Vavuniyaa, while welcoming the interest of Australian politicians, said they should also come forward to "first address the question of double standards, employed by their government, between issues such as East Timor and Eezham.”
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Colombo has plans to colonize North with Buddhist Sinhalese – Suresh Premachandran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 October 2009, 17:06 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka is actively engaged in colonizing Ki’linochchi, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna district with Sinhalese Buddhists in order to crush the demand for Eelam in the traditional homelands of the Tamils in the North, Suresh Premachandran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna parliamentarian, said in a press meet held Monday in his Jaffna office. He further accused the government for not accepting help from International Community in de-mining Vanni as it does not want the persons from foreign countries to see the mass graves of civilians killed by its armed forces in the Vanni during the war. The MP also said that though the government says that it had resettled 40,000 IDPs from Vavuniyaa internment camps, 95% of them have been again detained in new internment camps in their respective home districts under the direct control of Sri Lankan forces.
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