Government has to get the support of the South first to solve Tamil ethnic issue – Vasudeva Nanayakkara

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 November 2009, 06:28 GMT]
Senior Advisor to Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse and a veteran Sinhalese politician, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, said that the government has to get the support of the people in the South of the country to solve the problems of the Tamils, in response to questions raised by the members of Jaffna Traders’ Association (JTA) in a meeting held Saturday evening in the JTA building in Jaffna. The members had asked as to why it was not possible to carry out the Supreme Court directive to resettle the IDPs from Valikaamam North in their own places now occupied by Sri Lanka Army while the Supreme Court order to demerge Northern and Eastern provinces had been executed overnight.
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Reconciliation of two nation states requires parity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 November 2009, 18:42 GMT]
Considering all what had gone before, 'reconciliation' has to first take place between the powers and Eezham Tamil psyche and the probabilities are remote unless the powers recognize the national question as national question and come forward to address it in ways fit enough for chronic cases. Ultimate reconciliation has to take place between Sinhala and Tamil nation states but genuine reconciliation cannot come without parity and dignity. The issue has to be approached reconciling to the reality of two nation states, not only for peace in the island but for even achieving shared sovereignty of a regional model, if that is going to be the demand of time in future. Present day International Community will register a point of progress in the polity of humanity by collectively eradicating baneful states like Sri Lanka that habitually use the card of geopolitics to resist restructure.
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TID interrogates Selvam Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 November 2009, 16:38 GMT]
Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, for the third day - Saturday - was summoned to the Headquarters of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police. But he was sent back home around 9:00 a.m. with the instruction that he should come to TID office when called for, sources in Colombo said.
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Vasudeva Nanayakkara to deliver speech titled “Tamils and Future” in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 November 2009, 18:20 GMT]
Vasudeva Nanayakkara, a senior Sinhalese politician and the senior advisor to President Mahintha Rajapakse, who arrived in Jaffna Friday is to deliver a speech titled “Tamils and Future” Saturday at Changkaraththai Hindu Youths’ Hall in Vaddukkoadai, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Vasudeva Nanayakkara met Jaffna district High Court Magistrate R. T. Vicknarajah in Jaffna Court Complex Friday where the magistrate stressed on the importance of resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Valikaamam North evicted nearly 19 years ago by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in order to establish High Security Zones (HSZ) in the said area, the sources added.
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State of Emergency extended for another month

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 November 2009, 16:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Parliament extended the State of Emergency for another month Friday after it was passed with a majority of 78 votes as 95 voted in favour of it while 17 voting against. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Muslim Congress (SLMC) voted against the motion. Main opposition United National Party (UNP) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) abstained from voting.
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Eye witness gives evidence in Tamil youth murder in Bamabalapitya sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 November 2009, 14:55 GMT]
Assistant News Editor of the TNL television channel, Sisikelum Dahampriya Balage, told Colombo Magistrate Thursday, in the case of the killing of a mentally ill Tamil youth in the Bambalapitya Sea, that he did not inform the police of the incident as several police officers were witnessing the scene and it was his impression it was taking place under the supervision of the police. “I viewed what happened on the beach below through the lens of a camera recorder from the seventh floor of a building located next to the Bambalapitya railway station” he said while giving evidence before Colombo Fort Magistrate, Gihan Pilapitiya, when the murder of Balawarnam Sivakumar, 26, was taken up for inquiry.
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US Legislators urge rapid release of interned Tamil civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 November 2009, 03:49 GMT]
H. Res. 711 resolution, passed in the US House of Representatives Thursday by a vote of 421 to 1, reminded the Sri Lanka Government of its commitments to care for and ensure the 'speedy return' of those displaced by fighting, noting that Colombo made a commitment to the UN Human Rights Council that the 'bulk' of the IDPs would be resettled in 180 days, a period that will end on November 23, 2009. Fewer than 20% of those detained have been released as of Oct. 23, 2009. The resolution also emphasized that "the United States supports the rapid release and voluntary return of all civilian IDPs as a critical element of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka."
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Protest held against killing mentally ill Tamil youth in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 November 2009, 14:58 GMT]
Several political parties along with some human rights organizations Wednesday afternoon held a demonstration in front of Fort Railway station to protest against the police on the alleged attack on a mentally unstable Tamil youth in the shallow seas near the Bambalapitya Railway station last Thursday. Democratic People’s Front (DPF) led by parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan, United Socialist Party (USP) led by Sritunga Jayasuriya along with ‘Mothers and Daughters of Lanka’ and the ‘Platform for Freedom' organizations participated in the demonstration.
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TID interrogates TNA parliamentarian Selvam Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 November 2009, 13:38 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Selvam Adaikalanathan has been subjected to interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division of the Sri Lanka Police from Thursday morning. He has not returned to his residence located in Madiwela complex till Thursday afternoon, sources in Colombo said.
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SLN arrests 18 Tamil Nadu fishermen in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 November 2009, 17:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested eighteen fishermen from Tamil Nadu Wednesday early morning in the islets of Jaffna for illegal entry into Sri Lankan waters, sources in Jaffna said. Nearly 2000 fishermen in Puthukkoaddai in Tamil Nadu are boycotting fishing demanding the immediate release of their fellow fishermen, sources in Tamil Nadu said. Meanwhile in Tamil Nadu, Indian Navy arrested ten fishermen from Sri Lanka for trespassing on Indian seas Wednesday and the arrested fishermen were handed over to Fishing Harbour police in Tamil Nadu.
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Fonseka flees US

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 November 2009, 13:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army chief, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka fled the United States cutting short his planned stay in the US to avoid being questioned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over warcrimes under his command, according to an AFP report. "Mr Fonseka's future chances of retiring to the US are now in jeopardy, and consequent developments in other countries of the world, except the rights violator nations, may make him a fugitive," legal sources in Washington said. Meanwhile, incriminating, anonymous, hearsay evidence has surfaced on the activities of his son-in-law, Danuna Tillakaratne, on making weapons deals from Oklahoma. Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based pressure group, said yesterday that TAG will be preparing a detailed document after further research on this matter for possible use by the US law enforcement authorities.
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Shivajilingam, Adaikalanathan arrive at Katunayake airport

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 November 2009, 12:52 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarians Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan and Mr. M. K. Sivajilingam arrived at Katunayake Bandaranayke International Airport Wednesday afternoon after several months stay abroad.
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British MPs hail US initiative on Sri Lanka warcrimes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 November 2009, 05:17 GMT]
Joining international calls for a full independent investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, a group of British Parliamentarians Tuesday welcomed the initiatives taken by the United States in this regard and urged the UK government to support Washington’s efforts. In a statement, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T) welcomed US authorities questioning of Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka over the massacre of Tamil civilians in the closing months of the war this year.
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Eezham Tamil mandate picks up global momentum

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 2009, 12:47 GMT]
Spontaneous and parallel efforts to effect a global mandate of Eezham Tamils in proclaiming the desire for the creation of an independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka are picking up momentum among the diaspora in several countries of the world, following a similar mandate in Norway last May. Eezham Tamils exercising their self-determination in democratically coming out with such a mandate is widely viewed in Tamil circles as a common basis for all shades of their national politics. This week, VN Music Dreams of Norway has released a song upholding the Tamil national mandate, in the music composed by Udhayaa and voiced by Krishnaraj for the lyrics of Vaseeharan.
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Fonseka demands summary justice for LTTE cadres

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 2009, 11:45 GMT]
"We must deploy enough troops to provide security for these [resettled] areas. We must in these areas, this virus, there are still 1000’s of terrorists in IDP camps. We must identify these terrorist and destroy them. We must take them into custody and then resettle them. We must provide security in strength to these areas. I will only be happy that we finished the war we ended when I see this," said General Sarath Fonseka during a talk in a Budhist Temple in Washington D.C., according a website's English translation, before the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked for a "voluntary meeting" with the General to discuss the war-crimes alleged to be committed by Sri Lanka's military officials.
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Kandy Police arrest Tamil co-op manager in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 2009, 08:02 GMT]
Kandy Police Intelligence Unit took into custody on Monday a Tamil person working as the manager of a co-operative society located in Mannaar allegedly providing state money to the LTTE in past. The police claimed they arrested the person on information given by a LTTE cadre who is currently in their custody.
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Adappara-gama

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 2009, 01:44 GMT]
The village of a headman of the pearl-diving community of Paravas.
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Tamil Eelam not a lost cause: Fr. Jegath Gaspar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 2009, 01:14 GMT]
“I don't think Tamil Eelam is a lost cause. If there was any point of time in history that Eelam was a possibility, I think it is now. Tamils all over the world are more determined than ever,” says Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj, Chennai based Catholic priest and international broadcast journalist in an interview to TamilNet Sunday. “I believe that geopolitics or foreign policy or security policies are never static; they are ever dynamic, they will keep changing. I am confident that at some point of time India will come to realize that the only strategic leverage it has against the Chinese-Sri Lankan combine in the Indian Ocean is the Indo-Tamil combination,” he said, pinning the responsibility for the failure of Indian foreign policy to M K Narayanan Doctrine.
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Chinese Navy involved in attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen - FMOA

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 November 2009, 10:59 GMT]
Fishing Motorboat Owners Association (FMOA) in Tamil Nadu publicly informed Sunday that Chinese Navy men had attacked fishermen from Tamil Nadu fishing on the maritime boundary between Sri Lanka and South India. According to the statements of Tamil Nadu fishermen who were attacked on the sea a few days ago, there were eight Chinese navy soldiers and two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) men in the boat which attacked them, FMOA said. The media in India had given much publicity to the presence of Chinese Navy soldiers on Indian sea.
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Tamil civilian arrested in Kuchchave'li

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 November 2009, 03:57 GMT]
The Kuchchave'li Police in Trincomalee district Friday arrested a Tamil civilian suspected for having had association with the Liberation Tigers earlier. The arrested civilian is being held in detention by the Terrorist Investigation Department and is being interrogated, Sri Lankan police headquarters said.
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