Champoor Tamils’ security, livelihood threatened by US military partnership with genocidal Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2017, 22:14 GMT]
The occupying navy of genocidal Sri Lanka has put up 25 new coastal sentry posts, 75 meters at distance from each other along the coast of Champoor in Trincomalee. The naval build up taking place since August 2017 has raised security concerns among the native Eezham Tamil fishermen, who are also caught up in anxiety over fishing restrictions occurring again. The fortification has also come amidst increased reports of surveillance and harassment on resettled Champoor Tamils in the recent times. The military installations in Champoor were being beefed up as foreign trainers, particularly those from the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy based in Japan and South-Korea, use to visit Trincomalee to train the marine corps of genocidal Sri Lanka, informed sources in the East port city said.
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Tamil village in Batticaloa-Polonnaruwa border Sinhalicized by Mahaweli authority, Survey Dept

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2017, 22:53 GMT]
SL Mahaweli authority has alienated lands belonging to 300 uprooted Eezham Tamil families to Sinhala settlers in Oamadiyaa-madu village, which is situated near the district border of Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa in the East, Tamil civil officials in Batticaloa district said. Oamadiyaa-madu comes under Batticaloa district. But, SL Survey Department officials marked it as falling under Polonnaruwa district in an irrigation survey, marking the village as catchment area of a tank of Mahaweli system in Polonnaruwa. Omadiyaa-madu village is located 58 km north of Batticaloa city and 10 km north of Welikanda, a bordering Sinhala town in the Polonnaruwa district. SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, who has been in charge of Mahaweli ‘development’ for several periods since 1997, hails from Polonnaruwa district.
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Muslims oppose Colombo's ‘Sinhala-only’ policy in public administration of Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 September 2017, 22:07 GMT]
Tamil-speaking Muslims in Ampaa’rai have blamed the Colombo regime, its ministries and the SL Government Agent of Ampaa’rai for failing to implement official language policy in Ampaa’rai district, where more than 61% of the population are Tamil-speaking people. All official administrative communiqués, letters and circulars coming from the District Secretariat to public offices and to the divisional secretariats are in Sinhala. The SL Government Agent and the District Secretariat are deploying Sinhala-only policy with a long-term Sinhalicisation agenda, say Tamil-speaking Muslim activists in Ampaa’rai. They have taken up the issue through the National Council of Muslims criticizing the failure of Maithiripala and Wickramasinghe regime.
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Families of enforced disappeared want answers, no deceptive bills to genocidal system

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2017, 23:49 GMT]
The genocidal State of Sri Lanka would simply ‘privatize’ white van abductions in future to circumvent any restrictions be its own Acts or international conventions such as the “International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance” (ICPPED). Therefore, the SL ratification of the ICPPED and the discourse of enacting bills are not of immediate concern to the families of persons subjected to enforced disappearances, commented Mr Velayutham Vijayakumar, who represents the families of persons reported missing. The Jaffa-based activist said Tamil people were more concerned about SL State's official answer on what happened to those subjected to enforced disappearances, particularly the fate of hundreds of persons who were handed over to the SL military in front of their families inside the SL military controlled area after the genocial onslaught in May 2009.
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30th remembrance of Lt Col Thileepan strengthens resolve among Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2017, 23:30 GMT]
Lt Col Thileepan (Rasaiah Parthipan), who was LTTE's political head in Jaffna, sacrificed his life through a 12-day long fast-unto-death without food and water in September 1987. He had put forward five demands to the Indian Establishment following the signing of Indo-Lanka accord in July 1987 and his fast-unto-death exposed New Delhi and its Colombo-centric geopolitical dealings with the SL State among the grassroots of Eezham Tamils. Three decades on, Eezham Tamils are still dealing with almost the same demands as that were put forward by Thileepan in 1987. The Eezham Tamils waging protests demanding whereabouts of their kith and kin subjected to enforced disappearances and the protests demanding de-militarisation, resettlement and release of political prisoners, are again exposing the Colombo-centric geopolitics of the ‘Strategic partners’, political observers in Jaffna said.
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Sirisena’s Mahaweli ministry twists old records to Sinhalicize Paduvaankarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2017, 22:52 GMT]
SL Mahaweli Ministry, which is led by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena has recently sent a letter to the Planning Director of Batticaloa District secretariat claiming that there were 136 agricultural/farming [Sinhala] families residing in the past at Mayilaththamadu, which comes under Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan) division of Batticaloa district. Between 2007 and 2014, at least 16,000 acres of lands in Paduvaankarai were illegally encroached by 300 Sinhala colonists from Polonnaruwa, the home district of SL President Maithiripala Sirisena. They went to the extent of constructing a Buddhist temple (hut). However, after protests the colonists were withdrawn towards the end of 2016. Now, Mahaweli Ministry is attempting to twist the old records to facilitate a fresh claim that there were Sinhala settlers in Paduvaankarai region of Batticaloa in the past, informed civil sources said.
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EPRLF opposes 20A to SL Constitution, ITAK duo wrongs again says Premachandran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2017, 16:39 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has completely failed to conduct an internal democratic discussion on the consequences of the so-called 20th Amendment and the latest amendments to the 20th Amendment, said EPRLF Leader Suresh Premachandran at a press conference held in Jaffna on Tuesday. Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, who has started to lament the situation of the current regime that has failed to deliver justice and power sharing, has not publicly articulated his position. The ITAK has even failed to address the Tamil media. Meanwhile, the ITAK councillors in the Eastern Province have been tricked to vote in favour of the amendment, he said. In the meantime, M.A. Sumanthiran is staging selective campaigns and invitees-only briefings advocating for the amended 20A.
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Alienate lands to Sinhala colonists or face transfer: SL Governor warns Tamil DS in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2017, 23:17 GMT]
Occupying Colombo’s Sinhala Governor to North Reginald Cooray has threatened S. Gunabalan, the Tamil divisional secretary of Karai-thu’raip-pattu (Maritime-pattu) division of the Mullaiththeevu district to either face transfer to a remote station or find a way to alienate lands owned by uprooted Tamils at the coastal village of Mukaththuvaaram to 300 Sinhala colonists, informed civil sources in Jaffna said. The threat was issued in front of the representatives of the encroaching Sinhala fishermen, who were gathered last week at the secretariat of the SL governor for an exclusive ethnic Sinhala meeting. Colombo-based Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) MCL Fernando, who happens to be a relative of an influential colonist in Mukaththuvaaram and Ven Sri Thissapura Gunarathna Thero, the extremist Buddhist monk from Kokku’laay, attending the meeting.
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Risking legal action, Hakeem wants to transfer lands to Hizbulla’s colony in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 September 2017, 12:10 GMT]
Rauff Hakeem, the SL cabinet minister of ‘Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage’ is trying to illegally allocate 35 acres of public lands to put up a Muslim colony being schemed by M.L.A.M. Hizbulla, an appointed UPFA parliamentarian and State Minister of ‘Resettlement and Rehabilitation’ at a traditional Tamil area in Batticaloa district. The controversial move is taking place at Kalladi, 7 km southeast of Batticaloa city. The lands initially taken over from Tamil people back in 1963 for the purpose of expanding water supply and irrigation from Unnichchai tank to other areas, civil sources in Batticaloa said. The SL ministers are engaged in hostile activities setting Batticaloa Tamils against Tamil-speaking Muslims from Kaaththaan-kudi, the sources further said.
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Uprooted fishermen vow to continue their fight for Pa'l'li-munai in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2017, 23:24 GMT]
The uprooted Eezham Tamil fishermen from the coastal village of Pa'l'li-munai, located within the urban limits of Mannaar city, have reiterated that they are not prepared to succumb to the designs of the occupying SL Navy, which wants them to give up their demand of resettlement in their own village. The SL Navy is stationed in the private lands belonging to 23 families since 2000. It has also occupied their fish-market. The Tamil people were uprooted for the first time in November 1990, when the SL Army occupied their settlement. SL Navy is stationed there since the year 2000. After 2009, and more recently since January 2016, the SL Navy has been fortifying its naval installations along the Mannaar coast, which is commanding both the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannaar as well as commanding the closest communication line with the Tamil Nadu coast.
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I'rakkaamam Police behaves as occupying Sinhala Force: Muslims

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2017, 19:23 GMT]
The SL police in I'rakkaamam was behaving as an occupying Sinhala force taking the side of the encroaching Sinhala Buddhist monks, blame Tamil-speaking Muslims in Ampaa’rai. The Sinhala police was blocking the Muslim villagers who protested against the extremist Buddhist monks who were attempting to expand an access route to the foothill of Maayakkalli-malai, where the monks placed a Buddha statue last year amidst opposition from Tamils and Muslims. The president of the Federation of Mosques in I'rakkaamam, Mr A.H.M. Aswar said the SL Police was blocking the Muslim protesters while allowing the intruding monks and their supporters to continue with their aggression. The SL Police was also refusing to register a complaint. Maayakkalli-malai is located between the Tamil village of Maa'nikka-madu and the Muslim village of Varip-paddaagn-cheanai, 14 km southwest of Ampaa'rai town.
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Cooray emerges as ‘civil’ guardian of Sinhala colonists wedging North-East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2017, 23:21 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala military forcibly evicted Eezham Tamils from strategic Mukaththuvaaram, the northern tip at the lagoon-mouth of Kokku’laay in 1983. After the 2009 genocidal onslaught, 350 Sinhala colonist families have encroached into Mukaththuvaaram. An extremist Sinhala monk has been constructing a Buddha vihara just 1 km north of Mukaththuvaaram. A Sinhalicised Catholic church is operating there already. In the meantime, the SL Governor to North, Reginald Cooray, has been harassing the Tamil officials of Karaithu’raip-pattu division and Mullaiththeevu District in a fresh drive to allocate more houses to Sinhala colonisers through Colombo’s National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) at the occupied lands belonging to uprooted Eezham Tamils. Mr Cooray is interacting with the colonists without involving the elected Northern Provincial Council (NPC), civil sources said.
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Tamils, Muslims join hands in Mannaar against Rohingya genocide

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2017, 23:40 GMT]
The organisers of a protest in Mannaar on Tuesday urged global Tamils to rise up against the genocidal onslaught that has been intensified by the genocidal Myanmar State against the Rohingya Muslims. Tamil-speaking people belonging to all religions in Mannaar took to the streets on Tuesday in a joint protest. Theravada Buddhist Myanmar State's persecution against Rohingya Muslims has reached a full-scale stage of genocidal military onslaught. At least 1,000 people have been killed within a month time, reports say. Some activists claim even higher number of civilian casualties. At least 90,000 have recently fled the north-western State of Rakhine, which has been the Rohingya homeland known as Arakan in the past. The Theravada Buddhist Myanmar has also blocked the UN agencies from supplying medicine, food and water to at least 250,000 Rohingyas who have been besieged by the Myanmar State.
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People fearing military repercussion, afraid to remove abandoned Buddha structures

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2017, 21:21 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala military, which was stationed in the village of Mu'raa-oadai, 5 km south of Vaazhaichcheanai town in Koa'ra'laip-pattu division of Batticaloa distrit, vacated its military base in 2014. When the military was stationed there, it had put up a Buddha statue worshipped by the Sinhala soldiers. The SL military had also planted a Bo tree. Almost 4 years have elapsed, but the owner of the land is still unable to remove the concrete structure, which was used to house the Buddha statue. In the meantime, Buddhist extremist monk based in Batticaloa city, Ampitiye Sumanarathna thero, has been scheming a plan to erect a Buddhist temple there. The move was halted after a complaint was lodged with the Divisional Secretary.
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Colombo revives hostility through controversial Buddha statue in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 September 2017, 22:17 GMT]
Sinhala extremist monks led by Ranmuthugala Dhammarathana Thero from Kalmunai deployed a fresh attempt on Saturday to put up a road link to Maayak-kalli hillock where they had forcibly placed a Buddha statue amidst opposition from Tamils and Muslims in October 2016. In the meantime, Sinhala officials comprising of SL Colonial Governor of Colombo, Provincial Land Commissioner of the Eastern Province, SL Government Agent of Ampaa'rai District and archaeologists of the SL State have been promoting the erection of Buddha statue and the project of establishing an access route to the hillock linking it with the main road. The project is also promoted by the extremist Buddhist Power Force (Bodu Bala Sena). The hillock, known as Maayak-kalli-malai is located between the Tamil village of Maa'nikka-madu and the Muslim village of Varip-paddaagn-cheanai, 14 km southwest of Ampaa'rai town.
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Northern fishermen oppose State moves to unconditionally release confiscated Indian trawlers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 September 2017, 23:28 GMT]
The occupying Colombo regime, particularly its Ministry of Fisheries and the SL Navy are working closely with the Indian High Commission in Colombo to release 42 trawlers that were confiscated while trespassing into the territorial waters of Northern province two years ago. The owners of the bottom-trawlers, have been silently visiting the jetty under the control of the SL Navy and repaired their boats. The trawlers are going to be ceremonially released in the sea at an event between the Indian and SL Navies. The associations of the local fishermen societies in North have been demanding written statement from each owner of the bottom-trawlers being released stating that they would not trespass anymore and engage in bottom-trawling which has been legally banned in the island. But, the SL Ministry of Aquatic Resources has dodged their demands.
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Veteran Journalist Sinniah Gurunathan passes away

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2017, 16:01 GMT]
Sinniah Gurunathan from Trincomalee who has been committed to professional journalism during his 55-year-long career in the field, has passed away on Friday at the age of 79 in the east port city. With 40-year background in print media, Mr Gurunathan joined TamilNet in January 1999 and was its Trincomalee correspondent until his retirement in 2014. He was also a Sub-Editor filing translated reports from fellow correspondents on the ground under the guidance of the late Senior Editor, Maamanithar Taraki Sivaram. Gurunathan served the field of independent journalism of Eezham Tamils during the times of war with commitment, resilience and humbleness. He was also a fine example of an experienced bilingual journalist capable of adapting himself to changing technology from the pen to the personal computer and to the Internet-based reporting.
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Ira'nai-theevu without Tamil people constitutes threat against Indian security in Palk Bay

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 August 2017, 22:43 GMT]
Occupying Sinhala Navy was adamantly refusing to release the occupied residential and livelihood twin-islet of Ira'nai-theevu, informed Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) sources told TamilNet. The SL Navy officers were citing the ‘defence’ of the so-called ‘sovereignty’ of genocidal Sri Lanka as the prime reason, at a meeting held in Muzhangkaavil on Thursday, when two ITAK MPs from Vanni met SL ‘State Minister’ for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene, SL Navy commanders and D.M. Swaminthan, a SL ‘Cabinet Minister’ of Resettlement, Prison and Hindu affairs. Finally, a token measure has been promised in the form of allowing Poonakari Divisional Secretariat to survey only 159 of the entire 1,200 acres of lands. At least 783 Eezham Tamil families were living there when they were uprooted for the first time on 10 August 1992. The islets have continuous residential history of 400 years.
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Americas receive back paradigm set in genocidal Sri Lanka by US bandwagon

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 August 2017, 23:52 GMT]
The North, Central and South Americas as well as many other parts of the world now face the consequences of a paradigm that was originally experimented in genocidal Sri Lanka by the US bandwagon. The Trump administration is only delivering back the paradigm set by its predecessors outside, into its own country, besides its other global ‘bravados’, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics in the island. They were responding to Charlottesville, current global events and to the tenure of genocidal Sri Lanka's General Jagath Jayasuriya as Ambassador in Brazil. Including the UN, those who now wail over Trump setting an ‘example’ by pointing to ‘both sides’ in Charlottesville, should see the bandwagon of his predecessors including the UN presiding over the genocide of Eezham Tamils, then proposing to investigate war crimes of ‘both sides’ and failing in that too, the activists said.
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Wild elephant goes on rampage killing one in Vadamaraadchi East, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2017, 19:11 GMT]
A 50-year-old man who went to a palmyra grove at Vaththiraayan in Uduththu'rai in Vadamaraadchi East of Jaffna district to collect firewood was brutally killed by a wild elephant that went on rampage in the early hours of Monday. Two men survived the attack with injuries. This is the first time a wild elephant has managed to enter Vadamaraadchi East in the recent times. The fatality comes as the SL authorities failed to take action despite eyewitnesses reporting about the wild elephant on Friday. Nobody has ever spotted a wild elephant in Vadamaraadchi East and this is the first fatality due to wild elephant attack in Jaffna district in the recent years. The area where the incident took place is a marshland surrounded by waters and the area, lacking potable water and consumable vegetation, is not fit for the survival of elephants.
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