'Three insults to Tamils for the traditional New Year'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 19:32 GMT]
Disguised insults meant against Tamil struggle this week bring out a picture of the attitudes operating in Colombo, New Delhi and Chennai, writes a political analyst in Colombo. “It is not exactly the Sri Lankan government, but the Sri Lankan state that is the core symbol of oppression in the island. Ethnic chauvinism is the cornerstone of this state. No liberation can come to Eezham Tamils unless this symbol is deconstructed. It is important for both Tamils and Sinhalese to see that accepting this symbol as it is now, or imposing this symbol as the basis of any political discourse, will never pave way for peace of both.”
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Plight of babies born and unborn

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 09:59 GMT]
A 20-days old baby succumbed to injuries of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Sunday in the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan within the safety zone. Recently, a pregnant mother whose abdomen was torn open and in the condition of the hand of the foetus coming out was admitted to the hospital, after the SLA shelling. Meanwhile, as a result of the food shortage, children were seen standing in a long queue to receive gruel from a distribution centre run by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation on the Easter Sunday noon. The photos published here are self explanatory, but we caution readers of their strong content.
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31 civilians killed in SLA shelling, gunfire in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 09:11 GMT]
At least 31 civilians were killed throughout the day on Sunday inside the 'safety zone'. Exact figure of wounded civilians was not known, but at least 36 injured were rushed to the makeshift hospital at Puthumaththa'lan Sunday morning as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was embarked upon concerted attacks on the zone since the early hours of Sunday. 30 of the victims were wounded in shelling and 6 in gunfire, medical sources said. Two of the victims had succumbed to their injuries at hospital.
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Tamil people subjected to Genocide - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 07:18 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in an urgent statement issued on Sunday pointed out the dramatic rise in Tamil civilian casualties over the last two weeks and said over 4,100 Tamil civilians have been killed and over 8,800 gravely injured within the four months of this year. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the TNA, in the statement said that 707 Tamil civilians have been killed within the last 9 days alone and over 1,000 gravely injured. Sri Lankan State's armed forces were deliberately targeting Tamil civilians and that the Tamil people in the island of Sri Lanka are clearly being subjected to Genocide, the TNA said. It urged the International Community to compel the Sri Lankan Government to stop all military operations immediately and to bring about an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan State and the LTTE.
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3 Tamil youths from Vavuniyaa reported missing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 April 2009, 02:51 GMT]
Three Tamil youths from Vavuniyaa who left to Colombo Thursday morning and interrogated by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers at Oamanthai check post are reported missing with Colombo Human Rights Commission office by the their relatives. The youths had travelled up to Madawaachi SLA check post where they had gone missing, the relatives said in the complaint.
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SLA embarks upon capturing attack on civilians, 300 shells explode within 45 minutes

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 23:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) embarked upon intense attack on the 'safety zone', in the early hours of Sunday, targeting a place called Pachchaip-pulmoaddai, aiming for bifurcating and capturing the northern part of the 'safety zone', initial reports from Vanni said. Heavy shelling and gunfire by the SLA started around 3:15 a.m. in the morning, and within 45 minutes, more than 300 shells exploded inside the civilian area of the safety zone around Pachchaip-pulmoaddai. Heavy civilian casualties are feared. Because of the rains, people are even unable to hide in the bunkers which are flooded, reports said. Meanwhile, since Friday, the SLA was building up heavily on the other side of the lagoon in Maaththa'lan, close to the makeshift hospital.
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SLA arrests 66 Tamils in Colombo, Ampaa'rai, Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 18:21 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police from Thursday till Friday morning conducted several cordon search operations in Colombo, Ampaarai, and Vavuniyaa. About 50 civilians, including 40 Tamils were arrested in Colombo division and detained in respective police stations for further inquiry. Police spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara told media that detained civilians had failed to prove their identity and justify their presence in the location. Most of the arrested Tamils are residents of Jaffna. 14 Tamil youths were taken into custody in Wellawatte area, he said.
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Detainees displaced again due to floods in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 17:39 GMT]
Around 660 civilians fleeing war in Vanni and held in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres in Kaithadi in Jaffna district have been moved by SLA to Chaavakachcheari Hindu College as the detention centres are flooded due to the unrelenting rain that began pouring Friday early morning, sources in Jaffna said. Amidst meteorological department warnings that the rain will continue for two more days Jaffna Secretariat officials are facing a crisis in finding alternate places for the inmates in the detention centres in Mirusuvil and Kodikaamam, in Thenmaraadchi, the sources added.
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SLA buildup poses severe threat to civilian security within 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 15:46 GMT]
The security of the main route running along the lagoon, linking the various villages of the safety zone within the stretch between Maaththa'lan to Valaignarmadam, has been compromised by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) buildup since Friday. At some points, the SLA has put up military posts 200 meters closer to the road. The SLA was seen heavily engaged in positioning its troops, eyewitnesses said Saturday. 16 of the 38 civilian victims killed on Friday had succumbed to injuries caused by gunfire in Valaignarmadam and Pokka'nai areas as SLA snipers shot at civilians inside the safety zone.
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Identify with suffering civilians, share their grief – Bishop's Easter Message

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 12:18 GMT]
Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, in his Easter message appealed to the people in Jaffna district to identify themselves with the civilians held in the detention camps, sharing their grief and sufferings, and to be frugal in their daily lives, sources in Jaffna said. Sixteen Catholic parishes in Mullaiththeevu have been forced to close down due to the artillery fire and aerial bombings by the Sri Lanka military, driving members of the parishes into the ‘safe zone’ announced by the government within the LTTE administered area where they continue to spend their lives in the bunkers, Catholic Guardian current issue said.
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599 killed, 3350 injured inside 'safety zone' since last UN statement

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 April 2009, 03:25 GMT]
Hospital records alone have registered 599 civilians killed and 3,350 injured inside the so-called safety zone, since the last UN statement on casualties on 13 March. But, the actual number of civilians killed could exceed 1,500 as many of the bodies were not brought to the hospital to be counted and buried, said medical officials in Vanni on Friday. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is stationed just 800 meters away from the hospital. Even in the other parts of the safety zone, the army is barely 1 - 1.5 km away, the medical sources said.
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Stop shelling say Co-chairs, attack continues amidst heavy rain

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 13:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday morning stepped up shelling and firing on the civilian safety zone, causing casualties among civilians and making them continuously stay within bunkers, according to the reports from the makeshift hospital in Puthumaaththa'lan in Mullaiththeevu in the morning. Around 50 wounded civilians were brought to the hospital. The intensification of shelling was taking place as a statement of the Tokyo Co-chairs Friday morning re-affirming its call for the need to stop shelling on civilian zone. Heavy downpour of rain was causing difficulties for the civilians to stay inside the bunkers. The ICRC ship, which went to transport the wounded and sick returned unable to the complete the mission due to bad weather.
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SLA conducts search operation in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 08:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army conducted a cordon and search operation covering Second Cross Street in Vavuniyaa town Wednesday from morning till afternoon. The SLA took all occupants leaving a single person in their residents, business places and other institutions near the Soosai Pillaiyar Kulam junction for inquiry where they were subjected to severe interrogation.
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Tamil hunger strikers' condition deteriorates in London

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2009, 02:36 GMT]
Two British Tamils, 21-year-old Sivatharsan Sivakumaravel and 28-year-old Parameswarn Subramaniyan, who are on a hunger strike in the Parliament Square since 10:00 p.m. Monday, have refused to consume any food or water until there is a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. The hunger strikers have also demanded that food and medical aid should be allowed to reach the civilians immediately with international monitoring committees and to allow "Mercy Mission," the diaspora organised ship carrying humanitarian supplies.
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In the name of its civilization IC is answerable

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 April 2009, 20:11 GMT]
"If the refusal of the Sri Lankan state to mend its ways and the violence it perpetrated have made the Tamil youth of the 1970s to get into militancy, it is the stubbornness of the International Community in not rectifying its blunder of perpetrating a genocidal war against Tamils in Sri Lanka that has now made the diaspora youth to take to streets defying procedures," writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi. "The older generation which initially raised eyebrows at the outcome of the youth initiative that defied community elders and formalities, has subsequently started appreciating the spontaneous spirit in the youth in taking up community responsibility at a time of emergency. It is the duty of the community elders to take the message to the ruling circles of the IC that its venture in the island without a viable roadmap and responsibilities had led to the crisis.
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Carnage continues in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 April 2009, 19:26 GMT]
Indiscriminate shelling and gun fire by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued on safe zone Pokka'nai and Valaignarmadam throughout the day on Thursday. Medical officials at Puthumaaththa'lan hospital told media that more than 300 wounded civilians were admitted and 47 of the victims died after admission at the hospital. Many civilians killed in the shelling and gunfire by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were not brought to the hospital. Total figure of the casualties were not available.
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Number of civilians fleeing war to Jaffna drops sharply

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 April 2009, 16:26 GMT]
Despite announcement made by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) over loudspeakers in the last few days calling people in Liberation Tigers held area in Vanni to cross over the no man’s land into Jaffna district, only around ten persons had come to Jaffna Tuesday and Wednesday, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. News of civilians in the SLA detention centres in Jaffna district being forcibly taken away to the SLA Special Rehabilitation camp in Thellippa’lai and the restriction to which the inmates are subjected to appear to have discouraged anyone willfully leaving Liberation Tigers held area in Vanni, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA shelling kills ICRC Team Leader in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 April 2009, 04:25 GMT]
One of the three Team Leaders of the ICRC in Vanni, 47-year-old Sinnathurai Kugathasan, was killed in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Wednesday inside the 'safety zone', according to rescue workers. Mr. Kugathasan, also known as Ramanan, was from Kollangkaladdi in Valikaamam North, Jaffna. At least 2 ICRC officials have been killed and three reported wounded in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling within the so-called safety zone so far.
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SLA attacks kill 129 civilians, 282 wounded in 'safety zone' on Wednesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 April 2009, 20:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells claimed the lives of 129 civilians inside the so-called 'safety zone' throughout the day on Wednesday, according to the latest reports. Three artillery shells targeted a child care / nutrition centre at Pokka'nai Wednesday morning where many civilians were waiting to obtain humanitarian milk rations for children. The shelling on child care centre was the single "most cruel carnage" on civilians within the safety zone, a rescue worker at the makeshift hospital in Puthumaaththa'lan said adding that exact casualty figures of children were yet to be reported from the site of the carnage, due to continued attacks till the evening.
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SLAF to fly passengers between Colombo, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 April 2009, 17:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) will be operating passenger flights between Ratmalana in Colombo and Palaali military airport in Jaffna in future in place of private air travel firms which had been denied permission by the Defence Ministry to operate the service, according to an announcement made by Sri Lanka government, sources in Jaffna said. Minister of Social Services, Douglas Devananda, informed that passengers can book their travel tickets at his ministry office in Colombo and his Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Party (EPDP) office located in Srithar Theatre in Jaffna.
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