USA to conduct joint exercise with genocidal Air Force of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 05:44 GMT]
The Pacific Air Command of the US Air Force will be conducting a joint air exercise with the Air Force of Sri Lanka, involving the bases at Ratmalana in Colombo and Ampaa’rai in the Eastern Province, media reports from Colombo said. Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Malaysian Air Force, and the Bangladesh Air Force also will participate in the exercise. The Air Force of Sri Lanka is accused of specific instances of war crimes against Eezham Tamils in the UN panel report. While talk of human rights and crimes against humanity is dubiously manipulated by some powers for their political benefits, their defence establishments and intelligence agencies are all out to promote militarism of genocidal Sri Lanka for their strategic benefits, political analysts in the island said.
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Archbishop praying for united Sri Lanka speaks on ‘we and they’

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 August 2011, 10:57 GMT]
His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, while presiding and addressing the feast of Our Lady of Madu in Mannaar on Monday, wished a miracle to come from Our Lady to make people of the country respect the rights and identity of one another. The Cardinal who preached in Sinhala lamented that even after finishing 30 years of war still we talk about peace within a divided framework. He prayed for a united Sri Lanka. The Catholic Archbishop for the entire island didn’t conceal his identity going with the Sinhalese when he said, “As Sinhalese, we need to think of political rights and social needs of the Tamil and Muslims in the North. […] Although this country is one by law, it is still divided in hearts. It is still clear that the people of North do not think like the people of South. We need to work flexible ways to win their hearts.”
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Gotabhaya thinks giving into war crimes allegations will have no end

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 23:40 GMT]
Responding to war crimes allegations will not work, confronting them will only work, seems to be the orientation of Rajapaksa regime as implied by a comment of SL presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who reacted to Tuesday’s The Hindu editorial, saying "it seemed fresh charges would be levelled as soon as we responded to existing allegations". Addressing a symposium on ‘post-war’ challenges at BMICH, Colombo the SL defence secretary said that he would stand by what he had said on rejecting the rape allegations on the SL Army, citing the safe treatment of a UK national “so attractive” in the custody of the SL Army, The island reported Thursday. The Hindu in its editorial said that for this statement alone Gotabhaya should be taken to task.
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Sri Lanka to purchase 14 Mi-17 military helicopters from Russia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 21:04 GMT]
Further bolstering its military ties with Russia and expanding its own military machine beyond its local needs, Sri Lanka has entered into yet another contract with Russia’s state-run arms enterprise, Rosoboronexport, to purchase different modifications of Mi-17 military helicopters, reports from Colombo and Moscow said. While Rajapasa-critics in Colombo said the purchase is ‘managed’ by SL Presidential sibling and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa through a so-called State-owned company, which is neither controlled by the SL Auditor General nor listed on the Stock Exchange, the Eezham Tamil circles said the military transport gunships are to be deployed in the ongoing SL militarisation of the country of Eezham Tamils.
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Abandoned Tamil schools acquired by occupying SL military

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 17:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka military occupying the country of Eezham Tamils acquires abandoned Tamil schools for converting them into military camps. Occupying military officers are busy in recent days in collecting particulars of the abandoned schools in the Vanni districts as well as in the Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi and the islands divisions of the Jaffna district. The occupying military has ordered the northern directorate of education to submit particulars of all abandoned schools to facilitate military’s increasing demand for infrastructure facilities. Using the abandoned schools, 30 new military camps are planned in the Jaffna peninsula alone. Occupying military has a particular programme to first intensely militarise and Sinhalicise the islands off the Jaffna peninsula. It makes no secret about it to the Tamils remaining in the islands.
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‘Grease Devil’ attacks aim at frightening resettlement in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 12:59 GMT]
While attacks especially on Tamil women carried out by unidentified men in camouflage called ‘Grease Devils’ terrorise Tamil civilians in the East and the hill country, such attacks particularly aim at crippling resettlement in the Vanni districts. On Wednesday evening, three men emerging from the thickets in black dress and grease on their face chased three women of Ki’linochchi 8th milepost engaged in removing landmines. Following similar incidents and attacks on women in Vanni, people resettling in their houses and lands that are dispersed as typical to the settlement pattern of Vanni are now forced to gather into clusters. Occupying SL military’s officials now ‘advice’ resettled people in Vanni to live in clusters to avoid terrorising attacks.
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Tamil villagers clash with SL Police in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 August 2011, 13:56 GMT]
A man suspected to be a Sinhala policeman or soldier, who entered the house of a Tamil woman at Oo'ra'ni in Batticaloa attacked the young women Wednesday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. The intruder, using a sharp object, caused injuries to her chest and her stomach before leaving the premises. An eyewitness saw the attacker escaping into the police post located 100 meters away on Oo'ra'ni - Chelvanayakam Road. Soon after the episode, angered villages started to burn tires and put up roadblocks preventing vehicle movement along Batticaloa Trincomalee Road. The SL policemen deployed in the area attacked the protesters with wooden clubs. The SL police has also used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Tension prevails in Oo'ra'ni.
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Congress and Colombo busy in shielding each other

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 August 2011, 11:26 GMT]
A Congress parliamentarian from Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha, Dr. E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan has convened a meeting of ruling and opposition party parliamentarians of India in New Delhi on Thursday with the help of Colombo-based Indian writer N Sathiyamoorthy, aiming to diffuse the growing political momentum that challenges the crimes committed, and being committed, by New Delhi and Colombo on Eezham Tamils. Meanwhile, genocidal Colombo’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Prasad Kariyawasam is engaged in preaching ‘ethics’ to journalists and in canvassing to get their support by sending propaganda material prepared by the SL ministry of defence. The Indo-Lanka public relations machinery is in over drive to limit damages caused by media exposing the crimes of the two establishments in partnership.
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Protest on Kuganathan assault escalates amid eyewash arrest

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 08:56 GMT]
More than 200 media workers, politicians and activists from North and South joined hands at Jaffna Bus Station staging a protest Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. till noon against the brutal assault last month on Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, the chief news editor of Uthayan daily in Jaffna and against the prevailing suppression of freedom of expression in Jaffna. Five Colombo-based media organisations arranged the protest together with the journalists in Jaffna. On Monday, the Sri Lankan Police had claimed that they have arrested the suspect at Kalubowila Hospital in Colombo. However, the media sources in Jaffna told TamilNet Tuesday that the said person was not the real culprit.
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Belated realisation finds fault with ‘brother’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 06:11 GMT]
President Rajapaksa would be well advised to distance himself swiftly from his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said The Hindu in its editorial on Tuesday. The problem is not the brother but the confidence the Colombo regime gets from the stand of the big brother in New Delhi, is the opinion of political observers and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha. The Hindu now scapegoats ‘Gotabhaya brother’ as a last resort to bail out Rajapaksa, New Delhi establishment and all those who contributed to genocide in the island, political observers in Chennai said. The Hindu could have contributed to pre-empt genocide had its journalism confuted the big brothers in New Delhi and Washington and appealed to the masses in India and outside by telling the truth about the intentions of state in the island, the political observers further said.
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Colombo camouflages confiscation of Tamil lands

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 03:29 GMT]
All people of the north and east who cannot confirm ownership of their land through supporting documents are to be given a two-month period to furnish details of such land through a special application to the respective Divisional Secretaries, reports SL state-owned Daily News and SL ‘Defence’ website. “A special procedure is to be followed in cases where state land has been claimed by the people,” the report says, meaning that ‘state’ lands distributed to Tamils during British rule and after independence will be now ‘reconsidered’ if documents or parties are not available. All land issues in the country of Eezham Tamils have to be dealt with only by Tamil sovereignty and by no body else, commented Tamil political circles, adding that the former colonial power Britain and India that backs genocidal Colombo are answerable for not upholding the sovereignty of Eezham Tamils over their land.
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Riot-hit Tamils in London rebuild amid local support

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 00:22 GMT]
Tamil-owned businesses amongst those damaged in three days of rioting and looting last week in several parts of London were also picking themselves up this week, cleaning and restoring damaged premises, restocking and inviting customers back. They are being assisted by sympathy and support from their local communities. Amongst the hardest hit parts of the capital on Monday night were London road in Croydon and Hackney, where Tamil businesses were amongst those destroyed. Prime Minister David Cameron, touring Croydon the day after the riots, met with police and emergency services and visited damaged shops to express his support. London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, did the same later that day. British insurers expect to pay out £100m for damage, interrupted trade and cleanup costs.
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Occupying Navy brings in Sinhala fishermen to Pungkudutheevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2011, 12:24 GMT]
In a daring attempt of colonisation, genocidal Sri Lanka’s Navy occupying the islands off Jaffna brought in hundreds of Sinhala fishermen Sunday to settle in Pugkudutheevu island and to engage in fishing. Leaders of the protesting local Tamil fishermen association were taken to the SL Navy camp in the island and were served with death threats. The Sinhala fishermen came with all preparations to make settlements in the island and to engage in the lucrative business of catching sea cucumbers that are of export value. Their activities are now stalled following protests. Punkudutheevu, an island off Jaffna close to the Tamil Nadu coast has a recently built extensive base of the Sri Lanka Navy. Sinhala militarisation and colonisation of the land of Eezham Tamils enjoy blessings of the New Delhi government.
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Residents protest against abusive SLA at Thikiliveddai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2011, 11:17 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka Army soldiers have assaulted protesting residents of Thikiliveddai village situated in Ea'raavoor division of Batticaloa district, on Saturday night. The assault followed the villagers protesting SLA attack on a resident, 35-year-old Ilayathamby Pulendran, a father of two. Thikiliveddai villagers are long oppressed and abused by the occupying SLA. Last year, when three SLA soldiers sexually abused a 9-year-old girl of the village, deputy minister in Rajapaksa regime and paramilitary leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan suppressed protests. The villagers now demand removal of the abusive SLA camp from their village. Meanwhile, public protests after SLA atrocities are reported widely from the Eastern Province in the recent days.
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India answerable for both genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2011, 09:05 GMT]
The Speaker of the Indian Parliament, Meira Kumar, conceding to an objection from a Congress member, altered the topic of discussion in the parliament from “Alleged killing of Sri Lankan Tamils by the island nation’s Lankan army in 2009 as recently revealed in a United Nations report” to “On the steps taken by Government of India for relief and resettlement of Tamils in Sri Lanka and other measures to promote their welfare.” The deviated discussion scheduled for last Thursday has also been postponed to coming Tuesday. But whether in war or in post-war, New Delhi cannot escape answering for its partnership in committing genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils, commented Tamil political circles in the island, citing the activities of India-partnered SL Army in the war and its aftermath.
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UK, Netherlands join fight against Koppe's EU Court filing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2011, 01:43 GMT]
United Kingdom applied to the General Court of the European Union (CVRIA) for leave to intervene in the case (T 208/11) against the ban on the Liberation Tigers filed by Victor Koppe, attorney from Amsterdam-based Bohler Advocaten representing the LTTE, legal sources in Amsterdam said. The case is against the Council of the European Union's extension of the LTTE ban. Earlier, European Commission and The Netherlands had applied to intervene in the case. The Registrar of the Court has ordered the parties to submit observations by 19th September, according to Court records. Notable absentee nations, not expressing intent to participate in the intervention, are Germany, France and Denmark, where several Eelam Tamils have been prosecuted for allegedly providing material support to the LTTE.
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Iran, Turkey follow Sri Lanka model: Kurdish paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2011, 22:02 GMT]
While the Sri Lankan government is accused of deploying Israeli ‘Gazafication’ model in Sinhalicising the occupied country of Eezham Tamils, Iran and Turkey are adopting the so-called Sri Lankan model of ‘warfare’ against Kurdish people. In an article titled, “Reminding the Kurdish nation of the case of Tamil,” The Kurdish Globe, a weekly published in Erbil, Kurdistan in northern Iraq, on Saturday cited recent instances of pro-Turkey writers discussing ‘Sri Lanka model’. In the meantime, the executives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have also gone on record comparing the Tamil situation with their own, the paper said.
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21st anniversary of Veeramunai massacre of Tamils commemorated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2011, 10:44 GMT]
Twenty first death anniversary of 55 Tamils including men, women and children by Muslim home guards on 12 August 1990 at Veeramunai, a traditional Tamil village in Ampaa'rai district in eastern province, was commemorated Friday. Relatives of massacred Tamils Friday evening attended prayers held at Veeramunai Sinthayaathirai Pi'l'laiyaar Koavil and attended commemoration event held at mausoleum constructed opposite the Koavil.
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Those who committed Genocide on Tamils should be brought to Justice: BJP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2011, 04:18 GMT]
“We are not going to give up till all those people involved in genocide are brought to justice,” said India's former Foreign Minister and a top leader of the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) Yashwant Sinha Friday, questioning the motives behind New Delhi’s silence on the UN Chief’s expert panel report that found credible evidences for the wide-spread allegations of war-crime committed by the Sri Lankan troops. According to media reports from India, leaders of various mainstream political parties, including the BJP, on Friday have expressed solidarity with Eezham Tamils, saying that they would continue to raise their voice until everyone responsible for the “genocide” there were brought to justice.
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Sikhs condemn New Delhi’s stand against nations in India

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 August 2011, 18:45 GMT]
While pleading for the release of an Indian spy sentenced to death in Pakistan on ‘humanitarian’ grounds, Government of India advises the President of India to expedite the hangings of Sikh, Kashmiri and Tamil activists sentenced to death in India, hits out Sikh political party Dal Khalsa. In a statement on Friday the party’s general secretary Dr Manjinder Singh and spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh condemned New Delhi advising the President to reject the clemency petitions of Khalistani activist Prof Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Kashmiri activist Afzal Guru and Tamil activists namely Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan one after the other. They appealed to the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Kashmir and Tamil Nadu to take up the matter with the Home Ministry to seek justice for their respective (state’s) citizens.
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