Voting continues in British Tamil Eelam referendum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 2010, 16:32 GMT]
The second day of the British Tamil referendum on the question of independence for Eezham Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka began Sunday. Polling stations opened at 10:00 a.m. across London and report once again an incessant stream of eager voters. Those who had been at work Saturday were keen to partake in the democratic process. Voters accompanied by their small children, elderly ladies dressed in sarees and grandfathers leaning on walking sticks dropped their votes into ballot boxes.
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Mother country means Tamil Eelam for 90-year-old Sathyabhama

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 2010, 05:52 GMT]
I love my country as I love my mother. That’s why I have come to vote in the referendum, says 90-year-old Sathyabhama Kumaraswamy who came to cast her vote in a booth in London Saturday. For her, who was a teacher for 37 years at Mangkaiyarkkarasi Viththiyaasaalai in Nalloor, Jaffna, country means the country of Tamils in the island. She disassociates her from the country of the Sinhalese. Sathyabhama, who saw the days of the beginnings of democratic struggle of Eezham Tamils, recounted how her mother encouraged her in that and urged all Tamils to do whatever possible for their country. The grand lady, accompanied by her 30-year-old grandson said no one should back out from a venture such as this referendum. Voting continues for the second day in Greater London, Sunday.
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SL foreign minister visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 2010, 02:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama paid a sudden visit to Jaffna Saturday where he said that he has come to explore the possibility of establishing an office of the Foreign Ministry for expatriate Tamils in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, it is being said in the media circle that Rohitha had been sent to Jaffna by President Mahinda Rajapakse to pacify Minister Douglas Devananda who had announced his resignation of his post of minister for being the cause for Mahinda Rajapakse’s defeat in the president election in Jaffna district.
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First day of British Referendum draws to a close

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 2010, 02:00 GMT]
As the first day of voting in Britain's referendum comes to an end, preliminary reports indicate that several thousands of British Tamils have cast their vote, reports TamilNet UK correspondent Saturday. The referendum is to re-mandate the fundamentals of the Vaddukoaddai Resolution passed in 1976, which Tamils overwhelmingly mandated in the 1977 general elections proclaiming their desire for an independent and sovereign state in the contiguous North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. An important achievement of the referendum is that it has made the determined people to righteously defy the 'taboo' on Tamil Eelam imposed by an amendment to the constitution by Colombo in 1983, conspired by New Delhi in 1987, insinuated into the peace communique by the West in Oslo in 2002 and endorsed by Karunanidhi in 2009, diaspora circles in UK said.
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Brisk early voting in UK referendum

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 2010, 13:24 GMT]
Initial reports indicate close to a thousand votes have been cast in the first hour of voting in the referendum being held in the UK this weekend. British Tamils are holding the referendum to re-mandate the Vaddukoddai Resolution passed in 1976, demanding an independent state of Tamil Eelam for the Tamils living in the island of Sri Lanka.
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Perumaa’l temple consecrated in Myanmar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 2010, 11:25 GMT]
Tamils in Myanmar impressively consecrated a renovated Perumaa’l temple in Yangon on Wednesday morning. Several thousands of Tamils participated in the ceremonies. A 13th century Tamil inscription in Myanmar records that a Perumaa’l temple patronized by Tamils existed at the earlier capital at Pagan.
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EPDP supporters set fire to SLTB bus in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 2010, 10:33 GMT]
Eelam People’s Democracy Party (EPDP) supporters set fire to a Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus Saturday morning in a shutdown protest demanding Minister Douglas Devananda not to resign his post, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers forced open the few shops in Jaffna town which had been closed in fear of EPDP supporters who had called for the shutdown protest, the sources added. Minister Douglas Devananda, the leader of EPDP, had told his supporters that he was going to resign his minister post for being the reason for Mahinda Rajapakse’s defeat in Jaffna peninsula in the presidential election, the sources added. This is but a political stunt in view of the parliamentary general election expected in April or May, political observers in Jaffna said.
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British Politicians express support to Tamil referendum

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 2010, 17:16 GMT]
Robert Evans, former Member of European Parliament from Britain and Labour politician, urged the diaspora Tamils in UK to participate in the referendum this weekend, saying that the message should go to Mr. Rajapaksa and the Colombo government should know what the diaspora thinks. Meanwhile, Conservative Parliamentary candidate Andrew Charalambous, strongly supporting the referendum, said: "If I had a chance to vote or I were a Tamil, I would be the first to vote." He called for loud expression and said the referendum should be recognised within Sri Lanka itself. Mr. Charalambous urged the diaspora to vote to show the International Community that Tamil Eelam is alive and is a physical reality.
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UK referendum committee releases poll-procedure handbook

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 2010, 12:45 GMT]
Presenting systematically the procedures for conducting the referendum in UK this weekend, Tamil Referendum Committee (TRC) has released a 24-page handbook, worked out by a group of young legal practitioners. Meanwhile, 66 polling stations has been announced throughout the country. In the polling booths outside of the M25 limits of London city, the voting will take place only on Saturday. Inside M25 limits, polling will take place both on Saturday and Sunday. Voters are requested to check the timings of individual polling booths by seeing details in the official website, the organisers said.
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British Tamils embark upon significant referendum this weekend

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 2010, 07:06 GMT]
The referendum on Tamil Eelam scheduled to Saturday and Sunday in UK, organized in unison by all main stakeholders of Eezham Tamil nationalism, is going to be very significant, said diaspora circles. Apart from the size of Eezham Tamil population in UK, the significance actually lies in how the public spirit is going to be demonstrated through participation, as it holds the key in inspiring all united democratic efforts in future everywhere in the diaspora, they further said. The referendum is on re-mandating the main particular of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976 that called for the formation of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka. After Eezham Tamils in 6 countries endorsing it by overwhelming 99%, the ballot in the country of the former colonial masters fundamentally responsible for the plight of Tamils, has a particular bearing.
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"Referendum on Eelam is our right and responsibility"

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 2010, 04:42 GMT]
"Diaspora Tamils live in established liberal democratic states with freedom of the press and where the rule of law is invariably observed. This weekend’s referendum in Britain provides us with a chance to prove that the demand for Tamil Eelam is, as it always was, the well reasoned conclusion of rational, free-thinking, independent individuals. By endorsing an independent statehood, we demonstrate our commitment to our people in the island and make clear and that there can be no peace or reconciliation without a just solution, without freedom and equality for the Tamil nation; and that it is stability, not chaos we seek in our homeland," comments Sivakami Rajamanoharan, member of the TYO-UK (Tamil Youth Organisation – United Kingdom), on the forthcoming referendum in UK.
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Tamil civilian arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 2010, 22:50 GMT]
A Tamil civilian Subramanian Siva Kumar was arrested by the Terrorism Investigations Department (TID) in Colombo, according to the Director of the TID. He told media persons in Colombo Thursday evening that the suspect has been identified as a hardcore cadre of the LTTE.
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Tamils pay tribute to Holocaust victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 2010, 03:56 GMT]
American Tamils join the world humanitarian community in remembering and paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust at the hands of Nazi Germany, honoring survivors and supporting the recognition of this day internationally, said United States Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) in a press release issued Monday. Noting that the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is of special significance to Tamils, the release added, "[t]he 2009 onslaught by the mono-ethnic Sinhala Sri Lankan armed forces claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians under the guise of a “humanitarian operation”...The plight of Tamils continues, with internment, separation of children from their parents and the holding of people in detention under secret conditions."
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Eezham artist presents heritage as everybody’s property

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 2010, 01:53 GMT]
An unconventional artwork of diaspora heritage, Imag(in)ing ‘Home’ presented by Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Lecturer in Art History of the Fine Arts Department of the University of Jaffna, with the participation of Eezham Tamil community in Vancouver, Canada, is now in display in an Art Exhibition of the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada. What Shanaathanan did last September was asking the members of the diaspora in Vancouver to bring anything that reminds them of the heritage of ‘home.’ 300 objects thus collected, prompting historical as well as structural analysis, were put into plastic bottles and like a collage giving collective meaning they make an innovative display now in the exhibition titled Border Zones: New Art Across Cultures, opened last Saturday.
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Democracy in Sri Lanka: new lessons add to old ones

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 13:59 GMT]
Mahinda Rajapaksa gains a victory of big margin in the presidential elections of Sri Lanka and this has not surprised Tamil nationalist circles. The voters of Sinhala Nation have very clearly endorsed a regime accused of genocide and war crimes against Tamils. Democracy insisting the need to recognise two Nation States in the island is an old lesson. But the new lesson is to the International Community, especially to the West that is slipping for the third time within one year, first in stopping the war, then in human rights action in the UN and now in bringing out a 'democratic' regime change. There is also a lesson to revisionist Tamil polity and media that wasted the crucial time of Tamils by harping on regime change and not concentrating on the own political organisation of Tamil nationalism.
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SL forces surround Fonseka's hotel

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 05:17 GMT]
Heavily armed Sri Lankan forces have surrounded Wednesday Cinnamon Lake hotel in Colombo, where opposition presidential candidate and former Sri Lanka Army General (retd) Sarath Fonseka was residing with opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe and JVP leader Somawanse Amarasinghe. Sarath Fonseka, who is trailing in the presidential contest against his former Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapaksa was scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday morning, but journalists were not allowed to reach the hotel and were waiting at Sri Sittampalam Gardiner Mawatte. In the meantime, Sri Lankan military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara has alleged that Sarath Fonseka was harbouring SLA deserters inside the hotel. Military has also been deployed around media outlets in Colombo.
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Genocide a national policy of Sri Lanka, says Tamil Nadu professor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 11:59 GMT]
Genocide is a national policy to State in Sri Lanka since independence, says Professor Dheeran in Tamil Nadu in an article sent to TamilNet, citing the various facets, stages and sequences of State-orchestrated genocide against Tamils in the island, denying land, suffrage, polity, economy, culture and ultimately free physical existence. Eezham Tamils have more reasons to claim independence than many other such cases. The twist of the national question by the International Community only resulted in removal of guarantee against genocide. It paved way for China’s entry. The new equations provide new opportunities for the recognition of Tamil Eelam. The diaspora, free and powerful enough, should be steadfast in the only goal of liberation. Referendum is an international way to achieve it and efforts of re-mandating Vaddukkoaddai Resolution follow that line, he writes.
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Democratic elections, a mockery in Sri Lanka: Pandian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 06:51 GMT]
When there is an ongoing genocide and thousands of Tamil speaking people are still kept in concentration camps, when people are denied freedom of movement, when arrests, disappearances and rapes are being reported on a daily basis, when independent media is not allowed to visit and document the plight of the Tamil people, and when the country is behind an iron curtain, holding elections is a mockery, said D. Pandian, the state Secretary of the Communist Party of India in Tamil Nadu. The war was not conducted by the Sri Lankan government alone. It was aided by the Indian government. "As an Indian citizen, I am ashamed that the country of Buddha and Gandhi helped a murderous government to slaughter innocent people," he further said.
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TNA accuses EPDP for voter fraud in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 03:04 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna parliamentarians accused Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) for having taken large number of persons to the islets of Jaffna with the intention of committing voter fraud, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, EPDP men have instructed the post masters in the islets of Jaffna to issue polling cards to persons without calling for their identity documents and that EPDP supporters have collected the polling cards of many persons in many parts of Jaffna peninsula, TNA parliamentarians further accused.
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TNA parliamentarian’s office attacked, bomb blasts heard, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 02:40 GMT]
Masked men in two white vans arriving at the office of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran in Jaffna town around 7:00 p. m Monday stoned his office while some others attacked the houses of TNA supporters around the same time in Achchuveali, Aavarangkaal and in Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, more than four bomb explosions and gunshots were heard around from 3:00 to 3:30 a.m Tuesday in some areas in Jaffna town, the sources added. The bomb blasts are said to be caused by persons trying to place the blame on Liberation Tigers for allegedly boycotting the presidential election.
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