Sri Lanka on way back to Tamil rebellion - FT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 00:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka is careering back to where it was when the conflict began, with Tamil grievances being ignored amid a triumphalist wave of Sinhalese chauvinism, the Financial Times warned in its editorial Tuesday. Rather than share power with the Tamils, US and British officials fear the Sinhala state is seeking to scatter them, the paper said. “Unless the Sinhala majority shows magnanimity and gives the Tamils control over their lives, their cause will surely reignite from the embers of this war,” the paper said.
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Amnesty wants Sri Lanka camps unlocked, war crimes probes

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 August 2009, 17:02 GMT]
Amnesty International Monday called for “the immediate release of 285,000 innocent Tamil civilians - including an estimated 50,000 children - being held in cramped and squalid camps” by Sri Lanka’s hard-line government. Amnesty called on the United Nations, Sri Lanka’s donors and rest of the international community to monitor the camps, push for unimpeded access for aid agencies, rights monitors and journalists and to take initial steps towards on international inquiry into war crimes. Amnesty noted that in Menik Farm – the most presentable of the camps - the equivalent of the population of the town of Bournemouth live, eat and sleep in an area size of Wembley Stadium.
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U.S. youths launch campaign against Microsoft Investment in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 August 2009, 15:51 GMT]
Noting MSNBC's coverage of the conditions within the military supervised internment camps in Vavuniyaa, which said that "no one is allowed to leave the camps and few are permitted entrance," and that the camps are "at best...at the edge of all kinds of internal principles...but more likely...illegal," the U.S. based activist youth group, PEARL, urged Microsoft to reconsider investments in Sri Lanka, saying, "[t]he human rights community and Tamils all over the world are deeply concerned about the ultimate use of funds given to government of Sri Lanka. While technology transfer is important, blanket support should not be given to governments who do not respect the rule of law and basic human rights. We urge you to hear the cries of voiceless Tamils, and avoid doing business with regimes as egregious as Sri Lanka's."
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7 bodies of Tamil Nadu fishermen washed ashore in Jaffna identified

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 16:07 GMT]
Relatives of the seven Tamil Nadu fishermen whose bodies had been washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna last week identified the bodies Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. They identified the bodies as the fishermen who had gone missing from Raameasvaram and Thanushkoadi in Tamil Nadu.
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Tamil voters nullify SL Government’s expectation - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 15:28 GMT]
“Tamil National Alliance (TNA) winning Vavuniyaa Urban Council (VUC) election and Tamils refraining from voting in large numbers in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election prove that Sri Lanka Government was not able to achieve the success it planned for and expected. We wish to thank the Tamils for voting for Ilankai Thamizh Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) even amidst intimidation and frustration and despair caused by the war,” TNA said in a press release signed by Jaffna District TNA parliamentarian, Mavai Senathirajah, Sunday.
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Jaffna craftsmen sculptured Ther debuts in Washington festival

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 09:45 GMT]
Several hundred saiva devotees from different parts of the U.S. Saturday attended the Washington Murugan Temple chariot festival held annually to coincide with the festival at the Nalloor Kandaswamy Temple in Jaffna. A new chariot funded by Sri Lanka's Tamil expatriates in New York, built in Colombo by Jaffna craftsmen, shipped to the U.S., and assembled locally, made the maiden-run Friday in preparation for the Saturday ceremony. Cognizant of the hardships suffered by relatives and friends inside internment camps, devotees kept the festivities outside the temple at a low-profile, attending devotees said.
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2 Tamils arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 09:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took two Tamil civilians into custody in Colombo Thursday night in two separate incidents. One was arrested in Katunayake International Airport (KIA) area and the other along D. R. Wijewardene Mawatte in Colombo town, media spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara told media.
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Remdiyas gets highest number of preferential votes in JMC election

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 07:50 GMT]
Mudiyappu Remediyas, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) backed chief candidate of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) scored 4223 votes, the highest number of preferential votes, in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday while ITAK second candidate, Ms. Anthonypillai Mariamma, got 1678 votes. United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) chief candidate failed to secure a seat while V. Anandasangaree contesting in Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) ticket secured one seat obtaining 424 votes.
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Elections jeopardize democracy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 00:46 GMT]
With only 20 percent turn out in the municipal elections, the clear verdict of the Eezham Tamils is no confidence in the Sri Lankan state and its institutions, said Tamil circles, commenting further that genocidal war and democratic elections mean the same for Colombo. They were citing the manner in which the elections were conducted denying entry to outside witnesses, while 40 percent of the voters not present, 50 percent of polling cards not delivered, Colombo-sponsored forgery of ID cards accused, people coerced and even the Tamil outfit with the government was forced to drop its identity. Whether war and elections against Tamils mean the same to the international community too is the question now coming from the Tamil circles which pointed out that the armed forces occupying the peninsula were more than double in number than the people voted in the elections.
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UPFA takes Jaffna in 20% voter turnout, ITAK wins Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 21:37 GMT]
With international media reporting that Jaffna voters have rejected the Municipal council elections with less than 20% turnout, the ruling UPFA won 10,602 votes obtaining 10 seats with 2 additional bonus seats, and Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) took 8 seats after polling 8008 votes. In the Vavuniyaa Urban Council elections, ITAK secured 5 seats with Democratic Peoples Liberation Front (DPLF) obtaing 3 seats, UPFA 2 seats, and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 1 seat.
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TNA leads in postal vote count in JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 15:16 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has polled 147 postal votes in the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday while the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) polled 140 votes, according to unofficial Jaffna Secretariat sources. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) led by V. Anandasangaree got 30 votes while United National Party (UNP) received 6 votes and Independent candidate Manickasothy polled 3 votes in the postal vote count, the sources said.
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Around 18,26% votes cast in JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 13:04 GMT]
Only around 18,26 % percent of eligible voters had cast their votes in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. These votes are the ones cast in the 70 polling centres in Jaffna district leaving out those cast in the polling centres located out of Jaffna. Only nearly 200 votes had been cast in many polling booths where 1300 voters were registered to vote. Comparatively, the voting percentage was higher in the coastal areas. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, quoting police sources, said that ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters had tried to enter some polling booths showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) identity documents instead of the officially accepted seven kinds of documents including National Identity Card (NIC) and passport.
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EPDP men injured in police attack during JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 11:43 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA), quoting police sources in Jaffna, said that Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters who tried to forcibly enter a polling booth to vote in a school in Nayanmaarkaddu were injured in a clash when the police took action to stop them. Meanwhile, election officials said that 17.5 % to 18% of the total eligible votes may have been cast at the close of voting at 4:00 p.m and added that the accurate figures will only be available one hour after the ballot boxes are brought to Jaffna Secretariat.
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18% votes cast in JMC election by 3:30 p.m

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 10:51 GMT]
With only half an hour remaining to the end of voting in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, only 20% of the total of 1,00,417 eligible votes have been cast at 3:30 p.m Saturday, election officials said. The 18% votes cast are from the 70 polling centres located in Jaffna district. Only less than 60,000 polling cards had been issued to the rightful recipients prior to the election. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has raised accusations of wide spread election malpractice particularly along the costal areas in Jaffna town.
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Polling begins in Jaffna MC, Vavuniyaa UC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 07:29 GMT]
Polling began Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m to twenty three members of the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) and eleven members to the Vavuniyaa Urban Council (VUC) in the Northern Province and will close at 4:00 p.m. Results are expected to be announced at midnight. “We have deployed more than one thousand two hundred police personnel at all polling stations in the JMC and VUC. Mobile police patrolling is also being done in the two local bodies, “said Mr. Nimal Lewke, Deputy Inspector General of Police, for the northern province at a media briefing in Vavuniyaa.
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2 Tamil civilians arrested in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 04:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took two Tamil civilians from a house located along Arethusa lane in Wellawatte Thursday, and claimed that they seized two suicide jackets, a micro pistol, and five hand grenades during the search of the house.
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Custody of Pathmanathan raises questions about recognition to state terrorism

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 August 2009, 23:35 GMT]
The manner in which Selvarasa Pathmanathan was 'arrested' and ended up in the custody of the Sri Lankan state that is widely accused of war crimes, genocide and state terrorism, raises serious concerns about the world outlook to political justice, Tamil circles said. Mr. Pathmanathan who denounced violence was engaged in re-organising the LTTE and in consenting the formation of a transnational body for the Eezham Tamils. Meanwhile, acknowledging Pathmanathan’s custody, Colombo’s minister and spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwela said Friday: “There was some false hopes that after the LTTE was crushed that movement could be revived with Pathmanathan. But we have proved that we have the capability of getting to them from wherever they emerge.”
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Final arrangements for JMC election completed

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 August 2009, 10:48 GMT]
The final arrangements to conduct Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election have been completed, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. The arrangements included the transport of ballot boxes to the seventy poling booths with police escort and appointing Polling Centre Officers and their assistants. Police have taken in charge of the pooling booths which are guarded by Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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Indian HC hands over 117 million rupees to Gotabaya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 August 2009, 21:49 GMT]
Bank drafts worth over 117 million Sri Lankan rupees were officially handed over by Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Alok Prasad to Colombo’s Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Wednesday, for the ‘rehabilitation’ project of the air force base at Palaali (Palaly) in the Jaffna peninsula. This is the second instalment of Indian assistance to the improvement of the runway, according to SL defence ministry. Meanwhile, India intends to withdraw its medical team from August 31, as most of the urgent medical needs of the war displaced in the Menik Farm zone assigned to the Indian hospital had been met, The Hindu reported.
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Only UNP can solve the problems of the Tamils – Dr. Jayalath Jayawardne

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 August 2009, 18:27 GMT]
“The present government will never offer a solution for the problems of the Tamils; only the United National Party (UNP) will solve their problems,” Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, the Deputy Secretary of UNP, said in a press conference held Thursday in Delka hotel in Jaffna. “The government does not allow the opposition MPs to see the Vanni IDPs in the camps when it permits people to visit even prisoners in jails; this is gross injustice of the government which has betrayed the Tamils,” he further said.
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