Expressing concern is not enough, countries should intervene - CJPCD Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 14:53 GMT]
“Mere expression of concern by the countries of the world is not enough; immediate intervention to urge Sri Lanka government to stop its killing and maiming of the innocent Tamils in Vanni is the need of the hour,” the Commission for Justice and Peace of Catholic Diocese (CJPCD) said in its message released at the end of the fifth day hunger strike in protest against the continuing Sri Lanka government’s artillery barrage and aerial strikes on the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

'Tigers in pitched battle against genocidal military' - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 13:48 GMT]
"The defensive formations of the Liberation Tigers are courageously facing the Sri Lanka Army, which has been engaged by Colombo in a genocidal war against Tamils," said S. Puleedevan from LTTE's Political office in Vanni Sunday evening. The offensive units of the SLA had massed near Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) in full strength, with tanks and all preparedness in their hurry to capture PTK in the next one or two days, but are now pushed back beyond their forward lines, he said. The fighting, which began in the early hours of Sunday was still continuing.
Full story >>

Two more suicide-bids in Tamil Nadu against Indian inaction to stop war in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 09:13 GMT]
Coming closely on the heels of Muthukumar and Ravi's self-immolation, two more young men in Tamil Nadu attempted to kill themselves in order to draw the world's attention against India's proxy war in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Eelam Tamils protest against war in Vanni, in Norway, Germany

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2009, 07:25 GMT]
Norwegian Tamils, spurred by the brutal attacks by the Sri Lanaka armed forces killing and maiming many innocent Tamils in Vanni, gathered unannounced in front Norwegian Parliament Saturday between 1:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m, voicing that each hour delay in stopping the war will increase the number of people killed in Vanni, sources in Oslo said. Meanwhile, Hundreds of Berlin Tamils engaged in a similar spontaneous demonstration in front of the Indian High Commission in Berlin Friday around 11:00 a.m demanding the Indian Government to immediately stop its assistance to Sri Lanka in killing the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Berlin said.
Full story >>

Jaffna woman arrested in Habarana

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 22:42 GMT]
A Jaffna born Tamil woman was arrested in Habarana on Thursday by the Habarana police. She had been in possession of a fake National Identity Card (NIC) at that time of arrest, police sources said.
Full story >>

Jaffna University students call off boycott temporarily

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 22:24 GMT]
Jaffna University students who had been boycotting lectures in protest against the killing of innocent Tamils in Vanni since Monday have decided to call of the boycott temporarily from Sunday, Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) said in its report Saturday. The university administration which had been forced to stall by the students will resume it activities Monday, the report further said.
Full story >>

British Tamils stage largest ever march protesting genocide, mandating Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 21:50 GMT]
More than one hundred thousand British Tamils marched through central London Saturday condemning Sri Lanka’s war against their people and calling for an independent Tamil Eelam. The unprecedented response on one of the coldest days this year turned out to be the largest ever gathering of the British Tamil community. It seems almost half of the Eezham Tamil community in Britain joined the march Saturday. While the turnout reflected the anger and outrage over the genocide committed on Tamils by Colombo and its international abettors, significant focus of the march was the demand for the recognition of Eezham Tamil sovereignty in the island of Sri Lanka. It was actually a mandate, the organizers said.
Full story >>

Colleges closed indefinitely in Tamil Nadu to diffuse student uprising

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 18:03 GMT]
As students of Tamil Nadu declared strike from Monday, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the government of Tamil Nadu on Saturday night announced an indefinite closure of all state-aided, state-run and private colleges in the state. "This reminds us of the 1965 anti-Hindi agitations that rocked Tamil Nadu. At that point of time too, colleges were indefinitely closed that lasted well over three months," a senior Tamil activist told TamilNet.
Full story >>

Tamil activists besiege Tanjore Air Force base

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 13:44 GMT]
More than a 1000 Tamil activists belonging to various political organizations and social movements laid siege to the Tanjore Air Force base Saturday morning violating prohibitive orders. The activists led by Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam President Kolathur T.S.Mani and Thamil Desiya Pothuvudamai Katchi (Tamil National Communist Party) General Secretary P. Maniarasan were protesting against the air-force base at Thanjavur being used by the Indian Army to supply lethal and non-lethal weaponry to Sri Lanka in its genocidal war on the Tamils.
Full story >>

'UN subtly abets Colombo's genocide' - MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 10:28 GMT]
The United Nations, which has not asserted its international authority and responsibility with the Colombo government in directly taking charge of the affected civilians of Vanni, has no moral or humanitarian grounds to urge the civilians to submit themselves against their will into the hands of those who commit genocide on them, said Batticaloa parliamentarian S. Jeyananthamoorthy on Saturday. "Hitherto, the UN and the International Community have only demonstrated their miserable failure in making the Colombo government to observe human rights. What is their guarantee now for the security and dignity of civilians, other than untrustworthy assurance of Mahinda Rajapaksa," asked the MP who charged the UN for playing in the hands of a genocidal government.
Full story >>

Umbrella front announces February 4 statewide bandh in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 09:34 GMT]
Demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka and the withdrawal of all Indian military aid to Colombo, leaders of the umbrella front in Tamil Nadu, Ilangkaith Thamizhar Paathukaappu Pearavai, which was recently formed to protect the Eezham Tamils, announced Saturday that they would mark the Sri Lankan Independence Day on February 4 as a day of protest. A state-wide bandh and a black-flag procession have been announced.
Full story >>

SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo refuses international call for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 08:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued artillery shelling Saturday on civilian targets in Chuthanthirapuram. Eight wounded civilians have been rushed to Udaiyaarkaddu hospital and a mother has succumbed to injuries, according to initial reports from the medical sources. The shelling continues as Colombo refused International call for ceasefire. On Friday, the shelling destroyed Vanni head office of the Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese.
Full story >>

Family man immolates himself, Tamil Nadu tense

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 07:23 GMT]
A father of five children, set himself ablaze in Madurai, Tamil Nadu Friday night, demanding justice and peace for Eezham Tamils. The man, Ravi, has succumbed to his injuries at the hospital Saturday evening, sending shock waves across the state, according to media sources in Madurai.
Full story >>

Canadian Tamils form human chain to protest Sri Lanka's genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 06:30 GMT]
In a show of solidarity with the Northeast Tamils caught up in the war in Sri Lanka, about 45,000 Canadian Tamils people took part in the protest throughout the day Friday, forming a human chain stretching from Bloor St. to University Ave. and Yonge St. and snaked all the way to Front.according to Staff Sgt. Deb Abbott of 52 Division, with about 30,000 on Front St. alone, Toronto Star reported.
Full story >>

Muththukumar hailed as hero, tension escalates across Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Protests and strikes spread across Tamil Nadu, snarling traffic at major important roads particularly in Chennai, demonstrators held vigils in Coimbatore, Thiruvannaamalai and Salem paying homage to Muththukumar who self-immolated to show solidarity with Eezham Tamils, and Madras High Court Advocates Association boycotted courts on Friday, while mainstream media said the prevailing tension in Tamil Nadu can snowball into a potentially explosive situation.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka crisis reveals India not ready for global security role

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 20:41 GMT]
The present humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, which has been completely transparent to international scrutiny for several years, is proving the limits of India's ability to move decisively on 'transnational' security issues, despite its ambitions for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, writes a reader from Tamil Nadu. Delhi's inability to prevail on Sri Lanka's Sinhala government has long been recognised by the region, the reader writes.
Full story >>

Shut down observed in East despite SLA threats

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 17:07 GMT]
A shut down in the North and East Friday called by the Tamil National Alliance to condemn the killing of Tamils in Vanni was totally observed in the East in a peaceful manner despite harassment and threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) of severe consequences for those taking part in the shut down, sources in Batticaloa said.
Full story >>

Tamils held in prisonlike SLA detention centres - CJPCD

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 16:23 GMT]
“Considering the plight of the 2000 Tamils who had fled war and are detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres, a justifiable fear arises as to what would happen to those who come to these detention centres which are like prisons; youths detained in these centres are said to have gone missing,” Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) said in its appeal sent on its third day of the protest fast observed in Jaffna, against the killing of Tamils in the Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

'Vision' of a Sinhala sociologist

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:22 GMT]
"This victory should not be lost in the peace. [….] The mono-ethnic nature of the North should be dismantled. [….] 'Defence Colonies' defence settlements should be established all over the North. Retired husband and wife ex-employees of the armed forces should be settled in such strategic settlements. Like in mainland China, and earlier in Korea, Armed Forces owned industries should be established in these areas for both defence and civilian production. Our forces should be further strengthened to deter any future attempts,” writes engineer turned Sinhala sociologist Dr. Susanta Goonatilake in Sunday Times, dated, January 18. His article is a specimen to understand the vision of a section of Sinhala elite on the political process to follow Colombo’s victory.
Full story >>

TNA salutes Muthukumar’s sacrifice of life to the cause of Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:02 GMT]
“Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wishes to express its deepest grief and condolence to Muthukumar’s family and the people of Tamil Nadu along with the entire Tamils of the world for having laid his live in supreme sacrifice in support of the Eelam Tamils,” the message of condolence released by TNA said.
Full story >>