Sinhala villagers assault Indian nationals in Hatton

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 August 2011, 16:33 GMT]
Two Indian nationals working as an Engineer and Consultant in an Indian funded hospital project in Hatton were assaulted by Sinhala villagers at Ambagamuwa in Ginigathena in the Central Province on Wednesday 7.00 pm. The attack took place when the driver of the car they were travelling, a Muslim, went away to a nearby tea kiosk to break fast. Both injured persons were admitted to Glegan Base hospital in Dickoya. The excuse for the attack is said to be that the villagers suspected the victims as ‘grease devils’. But it was revealed in a number of instances in recent days that Sri Lanka’s military and intelligence personnel were involved in the ‘grease devil’ attacks that target Tamils and Muslims in the island.
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AIADMK, opposition walkout after Krishna’s statement in Rajya Sabha

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 August 2011, 12:33 GMT]
Both the main political parties of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK and DMK, as well as most of the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha of the Indian parliament walked out on Thursday, disappointed by the statement made by the Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna on Sri Lanka. On the issue of war crimes, Krishna said that India would wait for the tabling of the UN panel report in a UN forum to take a stand on the issue. This is because, “questions still remain” on the report, he said. On the killings of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka’s Navy, the Foreign Minister of the power aspiring for permanent representation in the UN Security Council said: “We have limitations in acting on the fishermen issue. If you have more details give it to me and I will investigate.”
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All Ceylon Tamil Congress calls upon India, IC to ensure fundamentals

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 August 2011, 19:55 GMT]
“We are of the firm opinion that the recognition of the Tamil People in the island of Sri Lanka as a distinct Nation entitled to the Right to Self-Determination is necessary to ensure the continued existence and protection of the Tamils as a People. Only then would any negotiations with the Sri Lankan State be meaningful,” said All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) in a separate statement as no consensus was reached in the meeting of Eezham Tamil political parties in New Delhi Tuesday and Wednesday. “We therefore call upon India and the International Community to recognize these rightful claims made by the Tamil Nation and emphasis such as the basis for any solution within one country,” the statement further said.
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New Delhi meet of Tamil parties ends without consensus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 August 2011, 18:55 GMT]
The two-days meet of Eezham Tamil political parties held in New Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday on the initiative of Congress Party parliamentarian Sudharshana Natchiappan ended without consensus, participants told TamilNet. The main issue was that those who didn’t want to disappoint the Congress agenda didn’t want to resolve on the status of Eezham Tamils as a nation and that the nation has the right to self determination in the island. Instead, some of them wanted to concentrate on measures of protection and on accepting whatever that is given. The TNA wanted to avoid specific wordings and demands on issues of fundamental nature in order to stage-manage a New Delhi sponsored consensus of Tamil political parties.
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Tamil Nadu Assembly restores April New Year

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2011, 12:56 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu State Assembly on Tuesday resolved to restore Chiththirai 1 (April 14) as the official New Year of Tamils and of the state, in lines with the traditional almanacs. In 2008 January, the previous state government led by Mr M. Karunanidhi resolved in the assembly to declare Thai 1, the Thaip-pongkal day (January 14), as the New Year Day of Tamils. Both days are astronomical and are of the solar calendar. They are reckoned by calculating the entry of the Sun into the mathematical points or beginnings of the signs of Aries and Capricorn respectively, according to the Fixed Zodiac system of the traditional almanacs.
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SLA terror unleashed in Jaffna after public unmasks ‘grease devils’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2011, 07:52 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka Army entered into houses at Naavaan-thu’rai in Jaffna city Monday night, dragged out hundreds of youth and children and tortured them in their camps during the night, following public in Naavanthu’rai on Monday identifying the ‘grease devils’ as SLA soldiers. Many houses were destroyed and plundered by the SL soldiers. On Monday when five ‘grease devils’ entered into a house at Naavaanthu’rai and when the public chased them, the intruders escaped by entering into a nearby SL Army camp. Identifying the intruders as SLA soldiers, the public waged a protest in front of the camp demanding the arrest of the intruders by SL police. The angry public pelted stones at the camp. The SL Army in a planned revenge terrorised the residents during the night.
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Tamil Eelam flag joins Borussia Dortmund’s parade at Westfalenstadion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2011, 00:58 GMT]
The national flags of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka were amongst forty paraded Saturday in Germany’s biggest stadium, the Westfalenstadion, before a football match between champions Borussia Dortmund and FC Nuremberg. Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s most successful football clubs, organised the parade of flags representing the nationalities of its players and supporters to demonstrate the diversity of its fan-base, and to protest a planned demonstration in the city on September 3 by right-wing groups. Over 30,000 people watched the parade, and 78,000 spectators watched the subsequent match which Borussia Dortmund won (2:0), fans said.
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SLA destroys traces of Pirapaharan's house in VVT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2011, 00:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army Mondah night deployed a large number of troops at Aaladi in Valveddiththu'rai, surrounding the already demolished house, where Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Lieration Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was born and raised. The soldiers who came in armoured vehicles were engaged throughout the night in destroying the remaining structures of the already demolished house.
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SLA, STF militarise Puththa'lam following unrest

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 13:07 GMT]
Hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and elite commandos of the notorious Special Task Force (STF) personnel have been deployed in Puththa'lam following the clashes between the residents and the SL Police on Sunday. The SLA has come to the town with military tanks and armoured vehicles. SLA and STF personnel are manning every 5 meter of the road, the residents said. The residents say the that two armed intruders, who caused injuries to a dog entering the premises of a house in Ma'nal-theevu, 3 km north of Puththa'lam and shot at the Muslim youth who confronted them, were Sinhala policemen.
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Tamils in Mannaar confront SL Navy 'grease devil' at Peasaalai

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 12:34 GMT]
Tamil civilians of Peasaalai, 15 km northwest of Mannaar city, Sunday evening confronted an alleged 'grease devil' attacker around 7:30 p.m. When the attacker was chased by the civilians, the suspect ran into the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) camp at Peasaalai. The villagers who rang the bells of the churches and temples in the area gathered outside the Sri Lanka Navy camp demanding the SLN to handover the suspect to the police and file a case against him. The protesters wanted the process be transparent and demanded to carry on the process in their presence. Violent reactions ensued as the SLN personnel at the camp refused to handover the suspect and chose to opened fire confronting the protesters.
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SLA establishes 224th Brigade in Ki'n'niyaa after ‘grease devil’ episode

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 11:38 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army has established its 224 Brigade in Ki'n'niyaa town where ninety nine percent of the population are Tamil-speaking Muslims. The deployment of Sri Lankan military at Ki'n'niyaa, the most densely populated town in the Trincomalee district, comes in the wake of protests held by Muslim residents of the area against the arrest of twenty four Muslim civilians over an attempted ‘grease devil’ attack by an alleged Sri Lanka Navy man last week. The new SLA Brigade consists two battalions with 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers, informed sources in the East told TamilNet Monday.
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Taking Eezham Tamils for another ride: New Delhi’s preparations

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 10:33 GMT]
While a Congress politician EM Sudarshana Natchiappan convenes a meeting in New Delhi ‘inviting’ nearly 10 Tamil political parties from the island to commit to a hoodwink solution suiting New Delhi’s agenda, Dr. V. Suryanarayan, harping on Sampanthan’s repeated statements that the TNA does not subscribe to a separate state of Tamil Eelam, wrote on Saturday that the ‘minorities’ should now come together against marginalisation. Responding, an Eezham Tamil politician in the island said that with the kind of militarisation having a genocidal Army of exclusive ethnicity and with the kind of grooming it gets from the powers, the ‘minorities’ coming together alone is not going to help in anyway. Rather, the making of Tamil Eelam only could guarantee safety and self-esteem of all, including the up-country Tamils, whether inside or outside of Tamil Eelam.
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It is not mere corruption, but militarisation of corruption in South Asia

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 05:02 GMT]
“Military forces across South Asia are flexing their commercial muscles to create ventures that rival private firms and threaten to militarise civil society,” says a New Zealand Herald article, Saturday. “In Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, defence chiefs have interests in everything from airlines to sugar factories, banks to bakeries, from power plants to ports. Investments worth billions of dollars are controlled by a military elite that is eclipsing civilian bureaucracies and, in some cases, corrupting the services,” the article by Rahul Bedi said. TamilNet commentator responded by saying that as militaries in South Asia don’t hesitate now to commit even genocide to protect corrupt states, the current anti-corruption uprising in India needs to be more inclusive and Tamil Nadu should enlighten peoples of India on the need to integrate the struggle of Eezham Tamils with it.
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TNA thinks of ‘alternative ways’

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 04:34 GMT]
“For six months we continued with talks, engaging the Government of Sri Lanka. But, there was no constructive outcome. The Tamil National Alliance cannot just keep continuing without any results, just for the sake of ‘engaging’ and ‘continuing’ the talks giving room for Sri Lanka to project an impression to the outside world that it is engaging in a constructive dialogue with Tamils,” said R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary leader of the TNA on Saturday in Jaffna, delivering a key speech at the ceremony for TNA's civic council members taking oath in Tamil. While criticising the SL state for not being constructive, Mr. Sampanthan declared for the first time that the TNA was pondering on ‘alternative ways’, which he didn't specify. But, a Vanni parliamentarian of the TNA declared that the Alliance should build up from the grassroots a powerful base of civil struggle.
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SL Army begins registering Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 03:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers have been engaged in registering Tamil youths of both sexes who are staying Colombo with their relatives and friends and lodges in Colombo city and its suburbs. This has caused fear among Tamils living in the South. But the SLA says that this ethnic and selective registration is a ‘routine affair’ and not an especially implemented assignment, a new kind of explanation aimed at escaping criticism. In Mayoorapathi area in Wellawatte, the SLA personnel even photographed members of each family residing there, civil sources in Colombo said. The sudden registration of Tamils residing in Wellawatte has caused fear that the Rajapaksa government is contemplating to acquire several flats now being occupied by Tamil civilians.
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‘Grease devil’ scare, confrontations trigger displacement from Vavuniyaa villages

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2011, 01:22 GMT]
Following reports of attempted violent attacks targeting Tamil-speaking women and robberies by armed Sinhala personnel, allegedly belonging to Sri Lankan police and military, the Tamil and Muslim people in the remote villages with dispersed settlements in Vavuniyaa district have displaced in large numbers and sought asylum in buildings in densely populated areas. Tamil residents from the Poovarasang-ku'lam and Muslim residents from Pampaimadu have confronted Sinhalese men belonging to ‘home guards’ and the Sri Lankan Police personnel who have attempted to rescue the captured intruders from the protesting villagers.
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Angry protesters kill SL Policeman, Puththa'lam tense

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 August 2011, 18:42 GMT]
A Sinhala policeman returning from duty was attacked and killed by Muslim protesters in Puththa'lam town Sunday night, initial reports from the area said. The protesters had rallied at Puththa'lam town, from the mosque of Jumma Masjid to the main roundabout, after the residents of Ma'naltheevu, a village 3 km north of Puththa'lam on Puththa'lam - Mannaar Road, confronted alleged ‘grease devil’ attackers, attacking the intruders and two SL policemen. The latest series of attacks by so-called grease devils are targeting remote and border villages, especially the Muslim villages and Up-Country Tamil areas where the Sri Lankan military is attempting to expand its military grip, political circles in Puththa'lam and Vavuniyaa told TamilNet.
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Context demands Tamil-Muslim solidarity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 13:15 GMT]
“Muslims may not be a community distinct from the Tamils, but they have some special problems pertaining to their security. […] Tamil support for Muslim security and peace could open a new chapter in Tamil-Muslim relations,” says an article by A.R.M. Imtiyaz and S.R.H. Hoole, appeared in Routledge-published July issue of Journal of South Asian studies. “We argue that the Tamils’ northern leadership has been insensitive to Muslims,” the article said. Reviewing the article, a Tamil academic in the island commented that while the argument is partly true, the East was always influencing and imposing decisions in this regard. Inspiring initiatives should therefore originate from the East, evolving from its experiences, and all Tamils should support it. Based on secular and inclusive attributes of Tamil identity, progressive forces in Tamil Nadu also have a role to play, the reviewer said.
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Colombo goes on all-out offensive against UN report as UNHRC disaster looms

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 10:19 GMT]
At a time when the United States is awaiting a response from Colombo for its call for an “interactive dialogue” on the wide-spread credible allegations war crimes, before the UNHRC meets for its 18th sessions next month, Mahinda Rajapaksa government has said the UN Expert Panel Report is “not admissible at UNHRC” and warned that it could produce “dangerous results if entertained”.
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Colombo Sinhalicises Tamil villages in Trincomalee through State-aided colonisation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 10:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Housing, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities has started allocating houses for Sinhalese who are to be brought from the south under SL State-aided housing schemes constructed in traditional Tamil villages in the North and East. This became evident recently when the ministry allocated twenty four of thirty houses to Sinhalese, four for Muslims and two for Tamils in a traditional Tamil village Puththukudiyiruppu located in Tamil speaking Thampalakaamam Divisional Secretariat division of Trincomalee district.
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