Jaffna protests Sri Lanka’s oppression of Tamil civic bodies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 October 2012, 12:51 GMT]
13 elected civic bodies in the Jaffna Peninsula organized parallel agitations in their respective offices on Monday, protesting against occupying Sri Lanka’s violent intimidation and machinations blocking the mandated functions of the elected bodies. The protestors condemned the recent brutal attack on the Nalloor divisional council (Predeasa Sapai) chairperson Vasanthakumar, allegedly by SL military intelligence operatives, while he was attending legal procedures for recovering a civic body land occupied by the SL military. When even the grassroot institutions are treated in this way, Sri Lanka has nothing at all in its agenda to offer as solutions to Tamils, accused TNA parliamentarian Maavai Senadhiraja, addressing the demonstration that took place in front of the divisional secretariat at Nalloor.
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Colombo’s claims of diaspora dialogue challenged in the diaspora

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 October 2012, 13:45 GMT]
None of the Tamil diaspora bodies that have democratic or institutional mandate of Eezham Tamils have opted to engage in talks with the Sri Lankan government, which continues to negate the nationhood and right to self-determination of Eezham Tamils, said Dr Panchakulasingam Kandiah, the president of the democratically elected Norwegian Council of Eezham Tamils and a director in the board of the Global Tamil Forum. He was responding to a question by TamilNet on Saturday, on the statement of Sri Lanka's cabinet spokesperson and minister Keheliya Rambukwela telling that Colombo was “making headway in its dialogue with the Tamil Diaspora”. The ‘dialogue’ will be held in Colombo shortly under the direct patronage of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa, media reports from Colombo said.
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TNA seeks bearings while Gotabhaya proves futility of Indo-US cosmetic solutions

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 October 2012, 16:09 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka’s presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on last Thursday called for the abolition of the New Delhi-architected 13th Amendment to the constitution without further delays, reported The Island, last Friday. Gotabhaya compared the Amendment to the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in facilitating separatism. Rejecting SL military pullout from the Tamil territories and upholding ‘majoritarian’ rule of the island, he also implied what course would be taken by the LLRC implementation legitimised by the USA at Geneva. Meanwhile, writing to The Island on Thursday, TNA’s nominated parliamentarian Mr Sumanthiran, asked what hope is there in TNA participating the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) of Rajapaksa regime to discuss solutions.
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Tamil politicians, activists protest against SL military attacks on civic leaders in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 October 2012, 01:20 GMT]
Tamil politicians and civil activists on Wednesday protested condemning the brutal attack Sunday on Paramsothy Vasanthakumar, the elected chairman of Nalloor Piratheasa Chapai (PS). Vasanthakumar was on his way to prepare a legal suit after lodging a formal complaint against the illegal SL military occupation of 5 acres of land belonging to the civic body when he was attacked. The attackers, alleged to be the operatives of the SL military intelligence, had followed Mr Vasanthakumar in motorbikes, assaulted him using sharp iron rods at Kokkuvil and forcibly removed the legal documents on the SL military occupied land together with a sum of money. The protestors on Wednesday openly blamed the SL military intelligence in Jaffna for carrying out a systematic campaign of terror, targeting elected civic leaders in the peninsula.
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Colombo opts for anti-Tamil campaign to handle constitutional case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 October 2012, 12:31 GMT]
The petitioners of a constitutional case against the ‘Divineguma’ Bill that will snatch away even grassroot development and social welfare powers of the provinces in genocidal Sri Lanka are currently targeted through a Sinhala poster campaign of ‘counterinsurgency’ style that collectively names the petitioners as ‘Paikiasothy Gang’ aiming ‘separation of the country’. The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), headed by Colombo-based Tamil, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, in a statement on Tuesday hinted at the connection between the posters and Sri Lanka Army coming for ‘investigations’ of the Centre on Monday. The SL Supreme Court on Monday decided for a separate hearing of the case filed by the TNA and has fixed it to next Monday, while four more writ petitions challenging the bill will be taken up for hearing by the court on Thursday.
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TNA, New Delhi, harp on LLRC implementation

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 October 2012, 11:23 GMT]
The TNA parliamentary delegation that visited New Delhi last week thanked the Government of India for its consistent interaction with the SL President in bringing about reconciliation and political solution through implementation of LLRC recommendations. The complaints of the TNA were confined to the lack of progress in the implementation of ‘constructive’ recommendations of the LLRC and lack of commitment on the part of Colombo in evolving an acceptable political solution. The TNA earlier rejected the LLRC recommendations but was later made to harp on them for non-descript solutions. The TNA has also refused attending Rajapaksa’s all party process for solution, without guarantees. But last month, the genocide-accused President on a Buddhist visit to India told TNA that the matter would be pursued after his return from India.
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Colombo appropriates Trinco fish market from civic body

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 October 2012, 19:47 GMT]
Centuries old public fish market of the Trincomalee Urban Council, which was recently renovated with the consent of the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC), is to be appropriated by the Fisheries ministry of Colombo government. Susantha Punchinilame, the deputy minister of fisheries and a UPFA parliamentarian from Trincomalee district has made the announcement at the Trincomalee District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) meeting held this week. Mr.K.Selvarajah, the chairman of the Trincomalee UC, who attended the DCC meeting vehemently protested against the appropriation and said the UC would not agree for the takeover of the fish market by the central government. The market belongs to the Trinco UC and it was renovated with the permission of the council, he added.
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SL Supreme Court to decide on governor’s approval to Divineguma bill

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 October 2012, 19:02 GMT]
The writ application filed by a Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian pertaining to the powers of the Northern Provincial Governor referred to the Sri Lankan Supreme Court for interpretation and determination by the Court of Appeal will be mentioned before the Supreme Court on Monday, legal sources in Colombo said. The draft bill has paved way for the establishment of a Department of Divineguma Development incorporating the existing Samurdhi Authority, Southern Development Authority and the Udarata Development Authority into a single unit under Colombo governments Development Ministry, which is headed by SL presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa.
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SL Police in Champoor appropriates public playground in Naavaladi

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 October 2012, 20:07 GMT]
Sri Lankan government officials in Colombo have instructed the divisional secretary of Moothoor to hand over a play ground, about four acres in extent, situated at the centre of several villages in Champoor area to the occupying SL police, civil officials told media. The Moothoor DS is the sole authority of the playground. The Divisional Secretary has handed over the playground for the use of the SL police camped at Champoor without seeking the consent of the people of the area and the school administration.
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TamilNet columnist in Asia Pacific passes away

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 October 2012, 10:48 GMT]
TamilNet columnist in the diaspora, writing as Economic and Political Analyst in the Asia Pacific, passed away this week at the age of 73. Retired from the service of an apex world infrastructure of the Establishments, including a tenure that brought him awards from Vietnam, he had first hand experience on the 1 per cent of the world oppressing the 99 per cent. Oppressed nations and peoples coming together to change the world order was the pivotal theme of his writings. His commitment to the Tamil Eelam cause was based on his ideology that completion of the national liberation or recognition of the Right of Self-determination of the 6000 odd nations without state is an indispensable preliminary for the Socialist World Order. TamilNet’s inability to reveal his identity even at his demise reflects the nature of oppression Eezham Tamils face today.
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Sri Lanka’s genocide model sets trend in the region

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2012, 23:09 GMT]
The genocidal model of State, licensed to Sri Lanka by India and the International Community of Establishments, now inspires other peoples in the region to follow suit, as was seen in the recent attacks on Muslims in Myanmar and Buddhists in Bangladesh. The Sinhala-Buddhist clergy and mob in Colombo reverberated on Thursday by ransacking the Bangladesh High Commission and reiterating the ‘license to genocide’ privilege of the Sinhala Buddhists. “No matter which religion or race you may belong to, everyone has to understand that this is a country of the Sinhalese. If you accept this culture you can live here peacefully. Anyone who cannot, they should leave,” the Buddhist monk who led the march to the Bangladesh High Commission was cited saying, turning the demonstration into anti-Tamil and anti-Tamil-speaking Muslims in the island.
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Solheim’s politics, UN role in SL criticized at Frances Harrison’s book launch event

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 October 2012, 07:24 GMT]
Even as Erik Solheim tried to sell stories that the LTTE leadership was responsible for the Mu’l’livaaykkaal massacre at the book launch event of Frances Harrison’s ‘Still Counting the Dead’ at London on Friday, solidarity activists and members from Eezham Tamil diaspora in the audience criticized his role as a failed peace-broker and the unjust role of the UN and the International Community of Establishments in leading to the genocidal massacre of the Eezham Tamils in May 2009. Ms. Harrison’s book, which presents the different types of atrocities that the Eezham Tamils endured at the hands of the Sri Lankan forces through case histories, also had some insights on the silence of world powers as the Sri Lankan government carried its onslaught on the Eezham Tamils.
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Colombo snatches away even little power devolved to EPC: TNA councilor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2012, 21:40 GMT]
The leader of the opposition in the Eastern Provincial Council, Mr C. Thandayuthapani, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politician, has said that the Sri Lankan government in Colombo was trying to snatch even the littler powers already devolved to the provincial administration in the Eastern Province. The comment by the TNA politician has come in the wake of EPC endorsing the controversial ‘Divineguma’ bill on Tuesday. The draft bill is a blueprint for the structural genocide of the country of Eezham Tamils, say Tamil civil officials in the East. In the meantime, the TNA has also filed a case at the SL Court of appeal against a move by Colombo to get a similar approaval from the colonial military governor in North to approve the bill in the absence of an elected provincial council in the North.
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NESoHR book on Tamil massacres prior to 2009 published in German

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 October 2012, 23:21 GMT]
A compilation of large-scale massacres from 1956 to 2008, brought out by the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), has been translated to German. The book, “Damit wir nicht vergessen” will be launched at Frankfurt Book Fair this month. The publication has an important historical dimension as it presents the massacres prior to 2009 genocidal onslaught in a historical dimension, says Emeritus Professor Peter Schalk in Uppsala, Sweden, sending an introductory note to TamilNet. “In a shortened time perspective those violations of human rights [in 2009] may appears as an occasional and random deviation of a particular Government of Sri Lanka or as committed by individual offenders. We have good reasons to assume that this massacre by the government represents a planned cultural and physical genocide over a long time,” he further says adding that a Chinese translation is desirable.
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240 families affected by mini-cyclone in Paduvaankarai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 September 2012, 21:08 GMT]
At least 240 families of the resettled Tamils in 6 villages of Poaratheevup-pattu division of Paduvaankarai in Batticaola have been affected in a mini-cyclone that hit the village Friday evening, officials in Batticaloa said. 22 houses have sustained damage and the people who had resettled after their displacement during the times of war, have sought refugee again with their kith and kin elsewhere.
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Ki’linochchi rises up against resettlement farce and SL military occupation

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 September 2012, 10:22 GMT]
More than 50% of the participants, who took part in a protest held opposite the District Secretariat of Ki'linochchi district on Thursday, were parents of missing persons, allegedly abducted or arrested and held incomunicado by the occupying Sri Lankan military. The protestors who carried the photos of their missing kith and kin, put forward three main demands to the SL State and to the United Nations Human Rights Council, to end Sinhala colonisation in the Tamil homeland, to ensure freedom of movement to the civilians to resettle in their own houses and to reveal the whereabouts of their loved ones. The protest, organised by the Tamil National Alliance, saw the participation of Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) and Democratic Peoples Front (DPF).
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Diaspora Muslim academic reasons out SLMC politics

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 September 2012, 00:28 GMT]
Colombo-born Dr. A.R.M. Imtiyaz, who is currently teaching in a US university, cautioned this week the SLMC in alliance with Rajapaksa that it “should be able to read political logic of the Rajapaksa regime.” The Tamil-speaking academic, while reasoning out the bargaining politics of the SLMC, and delineating on the areas of lacuna in Tamil–Muslim understanding, further cautioned the SLMC that “Any failure or any deception, would very likely trigger tensions and distrust between Tamils and Moors.” Using the term Moors in his responses to questions put forth by a TamilNet contact in North America, Dr. Imtiyaz commented on the SLMC decision that “ It is easy to win diamonds for elites and politicians in coalition politics, but what is hard is to effectively win rights and security for the masses”.
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Muslim academics condemn Rajapaksa politics of SLMC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 14:31 GMT]
“As a member of the Eastern Muslim community, I am ashamed and take this opportunity to condemn the deceitful actions of the SLMC,” says Dr. Mohamed Ismail Zulfika, responding to the politics of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) that has joined the Rajapaksa government in forming the Eastern Provincial Council administration after getting the Muslim votes by campaigning against the government. This is betrayal of trust of the Muslim voters and even if projected as means of ‘bargaining politics’ it will affect the long-term goals of the war-torn society of the North and East, Zulfika who is now in the diaspora further said in a feature received by TamilNet. Meanwhile, Professor M.A. Nuhman and Dr. M.S.M. Jalaldeen, two prominent Muslim academics from the East, serving universities in the island, have also come out with similar views.
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Colombo appoints Sinhala Chief Secretary, sidelines Tamils in EPC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 September 2012, 17:20 GMT]
Sri Lankan government has appointed a Sinhalese, Mr DMS Abeygunawardena as Chief Secretary of the predominantly Tamil-speaking Eastern Province. Not a single Tamil has been appointed as minister by Colombo. Apart from the Muslim Chief Minister, three Muslims and a Sinhalese have been appointed as ministers to the newly formed EPC. Paramilitary operative Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan is the sole member of the newly elected EPC from the Batticaloa district, but he declined to accept a ministerial portfolio. Instead he has been appointed by the SL President as his ‘advisor’ for the entire Eastern Province.
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SLMC harms interests of Tamil speaking people by joining UPFA in EPC: Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 September 2012, 21:44 GMT]
The decision of the SLMC to support the UPFA to the government at the provincial level in the East, is clearly in violation of the mandate given to it, by the voters, and is unprincipled and opportunistic, said R. Sampanthan, the president of the Ilangkai Tamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) and the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The decision made by the SLMC gravely harms the short term safeguards and the long term interests that the Tamil speaking people - the Tamil and Muslim peoples need to secure in order to live with dignity and security in the territories that they have historically inhabited, Mr Sampanthan said in his statement on Sunday.
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