TNA calls for shut down in North, East of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 12:31 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called upon the people in the North and East of Sri Lanka to observe a general shut down on Friday, the 30th of January, to protest against the killing of Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka armed forces. Several hundreds of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) assembled within the Colombo designated "safety zone" have died in the last four days from artillery and air strikes by Sri Lanka military.
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Tamil Nadu needs to forge an Eezham front

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 11:46 GMT]
It is time that like-minded political parties, civil groups, social activists, student organizations and cultural institutions of Tamil Nadu jointly forge a mass movement under one umbrella and aim to achieve independence and sovereignty for Eezham Tamils, urged a large number of mails received by TamilNet from India, Eezham and the Tamil diaspora all over the world in the last ten days in response to the call of TamilNet for opinion. "The front should face the forthcoming elections in Tamil Nadu on the question of achieving an independent and sovereign nation state for Eezham Tamils, in no uncertain terms, and get the mandate from the people", the mails further urged.
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Ramadoss: Tamil Nadu Parties should pressurize Indian Government to recognize Eelam

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 11:54 GMT]
PMK founder-leader Dr. Ramadoss called upon the political parties in Tamil Nadu to exert pressure on the Union Government of India to recognize "Tamil Eelam for Eelam Tamils" while addressing mediapersons Sunday. Reacting to a remark by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi that he was unable to save the Eelam Tamils, Dr.Ramadoss said that Karunanidhi had to exert pressure on the Union Government in order to bring about a ceasefire. "The General Body Meeting of the DMK will take place on February 15. In the intervening three weeks, what will be the multi fold miseries that the Eelam Tamils will be made to face? Why this delay?" he wondered.
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'Their imagination is stuck at the 13th amendment'

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 11:50 GMT]
"All the authoritarians of the world joined hands shamelessly to abet the repulsive Colombo regime in crushing the democratic aspirations of a people to liberate their nation. When the authoritarians gleefully claim success they seem to have forgotten that there is now no excuse of the LTTE for them in coming out with a political solution proving their credentials of liberal democracy, if they practise that at all. But they seem to be having no vision at all other than poking their greedy fingers into the hot pie and their imagination of political solution is stuck at the 20 years old ‘Rajeev Rot’, the 13th amendment," said a Tamil political commentator in Colombo.
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Samaraweera to raise Colombo's rights violations with U.S.

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 04:13 GMT]
Asserting that Mahinda Rajapakse regime is “the darkest, the most brutal and the most ruthless,” that has ruled Sri Lanka, Mangala Samaraweera, the convenor SLFP (M), in an interview published in this weekend Sunday Leader, said that he will “seek an appointment with the US State Department and the incoming Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton,” to offer evidence related to human rights violations committed by “Gotabaya [Rajapakse] and Basil Rajapakse as well as Sarath Fonseka…The US must deal with these people. They have an obligation to deal with them.”
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Delhi students on hunger strike to protest Colombo's war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 13:33 GMT]
Students from different universities and colleges in New Delhi, joined by lawyers, teachers and human rights activists held a one day hunger strike Saturday expressing solidarity with Tamil people in Vanni, and protesting against the "onslaught on Tamil people in a unilateral war declared by the Sri Lanka military with a tacit understanding of the Indian Government," organizers of the event said.
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Intent of Genocide provable in Sri Lanka - Fein

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 11:54 GMT]
Bruce Fein, former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General and currently counsel for the US-based group Tamils Against Genocide, addressing a select gathering of media persons and intellectuals organized by the Max Foundation in Chennai Friday, told the audience that there is enough evidence to criminally convict U.S. citizen Gotabaya Rajapakse and U.S. Green card holder Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka in the U.S. Federal Courts for "intent to commit Genocide" in Sri Lanka, sources from Chennai said.
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‘Stop killing innocent Tamils in Vanni immediately’ - Jaffna University students

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 11:10 GMT]
“The indiscriminate killings of innocent Tamils in Vanni by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombings should be stopped at once and all members of Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) will boycott lectures Monday to give weight to our demands. Our union seeks the support of the people of Jaffna peninsula in our struggle,” JUSU said in a media announcement Saturday. JUSU intends to expand the struggle by bringing the activities of Jaffna University administration to a halt to achieve the demands, the release further said.
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Human chain protest demonstration in Paris

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 08:07 GMT]
More than 4000 Tamil men, women and students, braving cold weather, held hands forming a human chain, expressed their concern and support for the Tamils in Vanni being continuously attacked by Sri Lanka Armed Forces, Friday from 5:00 p.m to 6:30 p.m along the St. Antony, one of the main avenues in La Chapelle, Paris.
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American Tamils urge India to intervene in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 02:37 GMT]
More than three hundred American Tamils demonstrated in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. Friday between 12:00 noon and 2:30 p.m. to express solidarity with Eelam Tamils, and called upon India to intervene in Sri Lanka on humanitarian grounds to initiate peace talks, halt military assistance to Sri Lanka, and to recognize the Tamils right to self-determination. The demonstrators later assembled near the U.S. State Department to show their support to the new Obama Administration, organizers of the event said.
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Norwegian Tamils demonstrate in front of Japan Embassy in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 12:18 GMT]
Nearly 200 Norwegian Tamils of Norwegian Tamil Federation (NTF) demonstrated Thursday between 2:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m in front of the Japanese Embassy, located on Wergekands veien, 15 in Oslo, urging Japan, one of the co-chair countries, to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the genocidal war waged on the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Oslo said. An official of the Japan Embassy accepted the memorandum submitted by NTF.
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Stop calling genocide a war on terrorism

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 02:55 GMT]
India and the so-called international community continue to demonstrate with adamancy and arrogance that they have no interest in stopping the genocide of Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka but they would rather abet it in the name of war on terrorism. The people of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil diaspora all over the world should realize that these elements are not going to listen to pleading, but will respond only when their interests are at stake. It is time that demonstrations are to be directed against them with a clear message that their strategic and economic interests will definitely be at stake by losing popular trust if they continue to play the malevolent game with the lives of Tamils, says the gist of a volume of opinion mails received by TamilNet.
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Swiss Tamil youth demonstrate in front of UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 00:01 GMT]
Tamils living in Switzerland marched from the Geneva Main Railway station to the United Nations Wednesday evening urging the international community to stop the genocidal war on the Tamils in Vanni in the island of Sri Lanka and to apply pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to bring about an immediate cease fire.
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Denounce Sri Lankan identity, readers show ways

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 23:26 GMT]
As a democratic move, based on principles of non-violence and non-cooperation, the Eezham Tamils should boldly denounce the Sri Lankan identity being imposed on them by the Sinhala government and the world of authoritarians, reads a significant theme of the opinion mails received by TamilNet in response to its request last Friday. “The move should begin from the diaspora for whom it is feasible now and it goes beyond any political or organizational affiliation. The diaspora ought to realize that what is more dangerous than the war camouflaged to be against the LTTE is the adamancy of India and international authoritarians not recognizing the national cause of Eezham Tamils”.
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British FO sabotaging Tamil national question condemned

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 03:13 GMT]
A statement released by the British Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs on Wednesday, totally ignoring the national basis of the decades old Tamil struggle and treating the humanitarian crisis of civilians as an outcome of terrorism is strongly condemned by Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian S. Gajendran, who added: The preaching of the modern "corporate religion of greed" to Tamils seems to be "submit yourself to thy genocidal killers."
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Norwegian Tamils demonstrate in front of US Embassy in Oslo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 11:27 GMT]
Around 400 Norwegian Tamils gathered in front of United States Embassy in Oslo, Tuesday between 9:30 a.m and 10:30 a.m urging the U.S. Government to help stop the genocidal war on the Tamils in Vanni in Sri Lanka and to exert pressure on Sri Lanka Government to bring about an immediate cease fire. This is the fourth demonstration organized by Norwegian Tamils Federation within the last two weeks, sources in Oslo said. A representative of the American Embassy received the memorandum submitted by the demonstrators.
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'Madaraasi Madam' on Eezham Tamils: comments of a Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 19:29 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu opposition leader Ms. Jeyalalithaa, in an interview reported by BBC on Saturday, has said that it is wrong to call the Tamils of the island of Sri Lanka as Eezhath Thamizhar, because there is no country at present called Eezham. In her opinion the right term is Ilangkaith Thamizhar. What is explicit in the statement of this leader who was made a Chief Minister twice by the people of Tamil Nadu as leader of a political party having a Dravidian label that doesn’t stand for any people at present, is her heartbeat of desire not exactly to see the elimination of the LTTE, but to see the nullification of the nationalism of Eezham Tamils inclusive of all its symbols, writes a Tamil journalist based in Chennai.
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Thirumavalavan drops fast, signals 'change of strategy'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 18:02 GMT]
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, in his fourth day of the fast-unto-death said that he was forced to reconsider his decision to continue the fast because of the emotional pleading by his frenzied cadres, particularly women cadres who threatened self-immolation, and the shoot at sight orders that had been given by the state police department. "At this stage, I have to ensure that those who lay their love and trust in me should not lose their lives," Mr. Thirumavalavan said. He added that henceforth the VCK had snapped all ties with the Congress party.
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9000 British Tamils gather in protest against war on Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 14:45 GMT]
More than 9000 British Tamils gathered Saturday in front of No. 10 Downing Street in London participating in a mass vigil from 3:00 p.m till 7:00 p.m, urging British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to exert pressure on the governments of Sri Lanka and India to call for an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. This event marks the third of the ‘Awareness Campaign’ organized by the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in United Kingdom.
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Tamil Nadu CPI, BJP leaders slam Delhi’s inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 22:13 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), D Pandian charged Saturday that it was not enough to merely condemn the genocide in Sri Lanka, but instead one should be prepared to embrace a martyr's death. He was speaking about VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s fast-unto-death over the humanitarian crisis imposed on Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s war. The senior CPI leader added that if India was capable of sending the Chandrayaan to the moon, it could at least do some lip-service to save the lives of Tamils by telling to the Government of Sri Lanka that it will not hesitate to interfere."
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