Thanthai Chelva remembered on his 31st anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 14:59 GMT]
The 31st death anniversary of the late Tamil leader and the founder of the Federal Party (Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi -ITAK), Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayakam (SJV) was held in Jaffna near the SJV memorial statue at 9:45 a.m Saturday presided by Rev. Dr. Jebanesan of the South Indian Council of Churches.
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Sinhala goons terrorize Tamils in Negombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 13:11 GMT]
Unidentified Sinhala gangs are allegedly engaged in terrorizing Tamil civilians residing along Assarappawatte Lane in Negombo town and robbing their valuables including jewellery, cash, cellphone and other items, reports in Colombo said.
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47 Tamil civilians arrested at Dehiwela, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 00:29 GMT]
42 Tamils including 4 women were arrested in Dehiwala, and five Tamils including 2 women wre arrested at Chilaw in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and are being detained in police stations in Colombo and Chilaw, reports from Colombo said.
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2 young Tamils shot dead in Naanaaddaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 15:21 GMT]
Armed men shot and killed two young Tamil fishermen at Achangku'lam in Naanaaddaan division, Mannaar district Tuesday around 7:00 p.m., Police said. The fishermen were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Musali division, displaced last year from Arippu when SLA occupied Chilaavaththu'rai.
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Abductions increase in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:35 GMT]
Four Tamils were abducted by unknown persons at Peliyagoda, Kotahena in Colombo and in Negombo. One of them was later released at Peliyagoda. Relatives of those abducted have lodged complaints with the respective police stations.
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Paramilitary operatives clash in Aaraiyampathi, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 18:18 GMT]
Five supporters of Tamil Democratic National Alliance (TDNA) were seriously injured by paramilitary operatives of Tamil Makkal Viduthali Puligal (TMVP) Monday afternoon in Thaa'langkudaa in Aaraiyampathi division of Batticaloa district.
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Ten youths arrested at Nittambuwa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 10:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took into custody ten youths including three Tamils, six Sinhalese, and one Muslim in a cordon and search operation conducted in Nittambuwa from dawn to dusk on Saturday. All of the arrested were from other districts and had been staying in Nittambuwa seeking employment, reports said.
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Condemn Colombo for targeting Human Rights defenders: LTTE urges IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 06:51 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan State has targeted a human rights defender who worked for the welfare of the people," Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), charged in a statement issued on Monday, and urged the international human rights bodies and the international community to condemn the continued gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, and take actions without further delay to bring an end to the continuing human rights violations by the State.
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Two Tamils arrested in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 14:59 GMT]
Police Friday night arrested two Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Vihare Mawatte in Wellawatte. Police said they were residents of Jaffna, and that they failed to prove their identity and provide satisfactory reason for their stay in the location.
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Toronto report recommends sanctions against Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 01:44 GMT]
A citizens report compiled by Canadian lawyers and Canadian Tamils released Friday, during a Conservative Party fundraising dinner, recommended that Canadian Government impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against Sri Lanka. Pointing out the "collapse of the Rule of Law," and "[t]he grievous violations of basic human rights and virtual elimination of due process," the report also urged Canada to "[s]upport the international call to appoint a United Nations Special Envoy for Sri Lanka to monitor and guard against human rights abuses and to assist the peace process, as recommended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."
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Sinhalese appointed Secretary of Education for East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 15:03 GMT]
Condemning the hurried appointment of Uppul Weerawardene as the secretary of Ministry of Education in Eastern province, P.Ariyanarenthiran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament told TamilNet t that the appointment is further evidence of the Government of Sri Lanka's mission of continued Sinhalization of the east.
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Indian PM denies arms supply to Sri Lanka: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 14:17 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Vaiko who met him Thursday in New Delhi that there is no truth in reports on Indian supply of arms to Sri Lanka. Vaiko met Indian PM to brief him on his meeting with Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Bauer in Oslo and the outcome of the conference organised by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) in Norway's capital last week. The Indian PM further told Vaiko that he was aware of Pakistan and China supplying arms to Sri Lanka. The general secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK) also met Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday night.
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3 Tamils abducted in Colombo suburb

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 16:22 GMT]
Three men in military uniform and two in civil clothes in a white van abducted a trader from his house in Kotahena (Koddaagncheanai) Wednesday around 6:00 a.m, according to complaint made by the victim's wife to Upcountry People's Front parliamentarian and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan. Meanwhile, unknown men in white van abducted two family men Friday in Kotahena in front of Viyaakula Maathaa Church on New Chetty street, the relatives of the two men, who were from Jaffna, complained to Mr. P. Rathakrishnan and Western Peoples’ Front Colombo District Parliamentarian, Mano Ganesan.
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SLA imposes travel restrictions on Mannaar Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 05:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has recently imposed travel restrictions on Tamils traveling to and from Mannaar. Tamils who leave Mannaar are only allowed to travel in train from Mathavaachchi while the Tamils, returning to Mannaar from other areas are filtered by their native and residential addresses and refused entry into Mannaar if they carry a National Identity Card with a residential address in South at Kaddaiyadampan SLA checkpost, located between Madu Road junction and Murungkan, on Mannaar Mathavaachchi Road. Family members are separated and refused entry, residents complain.
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Liberate Calendar

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 April 2008, 23:57 GMT]
A Calendar is conceived and designed by logic and astronomy rather than emotions and myths of politics. If people don’t understand the calendar they follow, educate them. If any section of the society thinks that the calendar is its prerogative, liberate the calendar, rather than mutilating it or abandoning it. If there is any problem in the calendar it has to be investigated and corrected by a forum of astronomers, climatologists and environmental scientists, sitting along with traditional astronomers historians and Tamil scholars. Any society, which doesn’t care to investigate and understand its own heritage of science, is not going to make any progress. It will always remain in slavery.
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British Tamils hold sports festival in North London

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 April 2008, 11:47 GMT]
British Tamil youths from many parts of Great Britain assembled at the major new training and competition venue, Lee Valley Athletics Centre located in Enfield, North London, for a sports festival that began at 10:00 a.m. Saturday. Edmonton Deputy Mayor, Lee Chamberlin inaugurated the event, raising the British flag, followed by the raising of the British Tamil sports federation flag by its President.
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Tamil New Year

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 April 2008, 02:30 GMT]
The Tamil New Year day falls on Sunday, 13th April, since 2008 is a leap year. On other years, it is 14th April. It is not only the Tamil New year, but also the New Year of Sinhalese and Malayalis. It is not appropriate to call it a Hindu New Year since vast majority of Hindus in India don't celebrate it a New Year. It is only an auspicious day called Mesha-samkraanti for them. But, the Sikhs celebrate it a New Year. It is equally inappropriate to call it a Buddhist New Year, as Buddhists don’t celebrate it universally. The calculation for the commencement of this New Year and the calendar based on it are entirely astronomical.
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Prime Minister of Canada greets Tamil New Year

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 April 2008, 01:59 GMT]
In a warm greeting message, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, wished the Canadian Tamil community on the occasion of the Tamil New Year falling on 13th April 2008. "This New Year celebration affords us the opportunity to reflect upon the notable contributions members of the Canadian Tamil community are making to our great nation," he noted. The Solar cum Stellar New Year is calculated astronomically to mark the entry of the Sun in the first degree of the fixed zodiac. It is a Dravidian legacy, especially observed in the extreme peninsular India and Sri Lanka, by the Tamils, Malayalis and Sinhalese, while most of the Indians observe another New Year called Yugadi (Lunar New Year).
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International Community should learn from experience, Vaiko tells Norway

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2008, 23:03 GMT]
Expressing that the lack of implementation by the Government of Sri Lanka on the agreed principles of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), especially disarming of army backed paramilitary groups, led to the ultimate breakdown of the peace process, Vaiko, the General Secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK), told Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Bauer, the Norwegian Special Envoy, that the International Community should prevail upon the GoSL to reinstate the ceasefire in order to engage in a meaningful process for a negotiated settlement.
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Five youths arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2008, 11:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took five youths, three Tamils and two Sinhalese, into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted in parts of Gampaha town from Wednesday until Thursday morning. Police said the five were arrested after they failed to prove their identity.
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