Delink War Crimes accountability from political process, NorthEast civil leaders urge Clinton

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 October 2011, 01:43 GMT]
In a memorandum sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and copied to the Tamil National Alliance, a group of NorthEast Civil society leaders said that "the question of accountability [for war-crimes] should not be bartered for the sake of arriving at political solution [yet to be defined]," and added that the civil leaders believe that "justice cannot and should not be bartered for anything else," informed sources who obtained a leaked version of the confidential letter said Tuesday. The civil society group is comprised of politically active and highly respected professional members of the NorthEast Tamils.
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Australia facilitates timed diplomatic advantage for genocidal Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 14:59 GMT]
After creating much sensation by the Australian Prime Minister herself confirming on a federal police investigation of a war crimes case against SL president and envoy, the Attorney General of Australia on Tuesday quashed the case as it would be in “breach of domestic law and Australia’s obligations under international law,” bestowing genocidal Sri Lanka with a well-timed diplomatic victory on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet in Perth, Australia. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan delegation in Australia on Tuesday went to the extent of even denying the occurrence of any war at all in the island. “Number one, there was no war in Sri Lanka. There was brutal terrorism in Sri Lanka led by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,” said Bandula Jayasekara of the Sri Lankan delegation to ABC.
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TNA goes to courts against land registration

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 October 2011, 15:05 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance on Monday filed a case against the re-registration of lands in North and East. TNA MP for Jaffna Mr. Suresh Premachandran said the re-registration, taking place in North and East, was illegal and the recent protest and political appeals have failed to give any result forcing the TNA to file Fundamental Right Case at the Supreme Court of Colombo.
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No bartering of war-crimes accountability for political concessions: TNPF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2011, 16:02 GMT]
Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF), a post-war Tamil political formation in the island of Sri Lanka, in a press conference held Sunday morning 11:00 am at a Colombo residence, congratulated TNA leadership on the forthcoming visit to the USA, and said that the visit is a significant historic first where the US-State Department has extended invitation to a non-State Tamil political party, adding that the visit has potential for improving the political status of the Tamil people who have suffered within a majoritarian democracy for several decades. While pointing out that the TNA is carrying a tremendous burden on its shoulders to articulate clearly the aspirations of Tamils, TNPF cautioned that TNA, under no circumstance, should barter away Sri Lanka's accountability for war crimes for ‘political concessions.’
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Consequences of Tamil genocide engulf entire island: Bahu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 October 2011, 12:44 GMT]
The regime of state terror, which started in the Tamil homeland has now become a menace everywhere in the island. The state terrorism, created on the basis of Sinhala chauvinism, is for a purpose; that is to assist certain neo liberal forces involved in plunder of resources, said Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne, the general secretary of the NSSP, who took oath as the newly elected Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) member for the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia municipal council on Friday. “So-called development of the government is based on displacement of people and plunder of resources. While people are pushed out of their traditional habitat land, marine resources, minerals and earth resources, forest, water resources etc., are taken over by the neo liberal developers. World powers that supported the genocidal war are happy and satisfied about the situation,” Dr. Karunaratne further said.
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Siddha Medical Faculty in Trincomalee to come under Colombo University

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 October 2011, 06:52 GMT]
The Colombo government is taking steps to bring the Siddha Medical Faculty now under the Trincomalee campus of the Eastern University with the University of Colombo. Academics in the East blame the move as a design of cultural genocide by Colombo that seeks to undermine the traditional medical science of the Tamil country. The transfer of the Faculty to Colombo will be affecting the education in the eastern province, complains R.Thurairatnam, a member of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) in a memorandum sent to SL Minister of Higher Education.
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SLN imposes pass system to fishermen in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 October 2011, 07:19 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Navy in Jaffna has again introduced pass system for fishermen engaging in fishing in the Jaffna lagoon, fishing community leaders in Jaffna csaid. During the recent election campaign in the North, the SLgovernment had annonced that it was withdrawing the pass system which has been in practice for several years. However, the practice is getting re-introduced and the SLN has taken over the control of Jaffna lagoon from the Sri Lanka Army. The SLN which brings fishermen from South and engages in hostilities against the fishermen from Tamil Nadu is engaged in a systematic process of colonisation of Tamil coastal areas in the North by bringing in fishermen from the South to settle in Tamil areas.
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Sinhalese given lands in Tamil villages in East under Mahaweli Scheme: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 October 2011, 18:49 GMT]
Thirty Sinhalese families have been allocated lands under the Mahaweli Development Land Distribution Scheme in a traditional Tamil village Oamadiyaamadu located in Koa'ralaippattu North DS division in Batticaloa district. This planned land grab in Batticaloa district is being carried out on the direction of Colombo government led by SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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Rift in TNA citing dissatisfaction in struggle spirit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 October 2011, 06:36 GMT]
TULF politician Mr. Anandasangaree, who was earlier supporting Rajapaksa’s war, has born again now, being furious at the TNA’s lack of spirit in fighting against Rajapaksa over the land re-registration issue. He publicly accuses the TNA leaders, particularly Mr. Sampanthan and Mr Premachandran for not leading a people’s struggle against the issue. Mr. Anandasangaree and the PLOTE of Mr Siddharthan, both who earlier backed the genocidal Colombo, have joined the TNA in contesting the last civic elections and they were successful in capturing three local bodies. This week, Mr. Anandasangaree has convened a ‘general body’ meeting for the TULF in which he and Mr. Kanagaraja have respectively been named as General Secretary and President of the TULF. Sampanthan has responded by protesting to the election commission that the meeting was illegal and was breaching earlier court rulings.
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Sinhala Army builds Buddhist temple in front of church in Valveddiththu’rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 October 2011, 05:37 GMT]
The virtually Sinhala Army of Sri Lanka that occupies the country of Eezham Tamils, is building a new Buddhist temple at Valveddiththu’rai Junction, in front of the historic St. Sebastian Church. Valveddiththu’rai, the birthplace of the LTTE leader Pirapaharan, never had any Buddhists, except the occupying Sinhala Army. The act is a naked show of Sri Lanka’s jubilation over the genocide of Eezham Tamils, mocking at those who talk about ‘post-war reconciliation,’ civil activists in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, former TNA parliamentarian MK Sivajilingam on Friday has appealed to the Vatican to take immediate ecclesiastical and diplomatic action to stop the military’s Buddhist construction as it seriously hurts the feelings of the Tamil Catholics of the town. Similar acts of the SL Army are also reported from Mannaar, a major Tamil Catholic city.
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India refuses landing to GTF leader, TNA plans visit to USA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 05:55 GMT]
The Indian government on Tuesday refused landing permission to the President of the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Fr. S.J. Emmanuel, when he went to Chennai via Dubai. He flew back to Dubai. The GTF is a confederation of large Eezham Tamil diaspora organisations in leading western countries and Australia as well as democratically elected country councils in the West. Meanwhile, the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians led by Mr. R. Sampanthan are planning a visit to the USA on the 23rd of this month to discuss current political situation, media reports from Colombo said on Tuesday.
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Forest destruction, land grab go unabated in Batticaloa: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 20:34 GMT]
Twenty thousand acres of grazing lands along the border villages in Batticaloa district have been fenced and allocated on lease to the families of the members of Sinhala home guards, according to Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.P.Selvarasa. 8.4 percent forest resources in Batticaloa district have now been reduced 6.4 percent and twelve thousand acres of forest land has been handed over to Mahaweli Development Authority by the Department of Forest, Mr. Selvarasa told journalists in Batticaloa. The SL Mahaweli Development Authority has allocated these lands to the Sinhala home guards at the rate of fifty acres per family, Mr.Selvarasa further told journalists while visiting the village of 38th colony this weekend.
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War or post-war, Sri Lanka’s explicit genocide is unchecked

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2011, 20:58 GMT]
Whether one shows legal land deeds of heredity or not, to establish the private ownership of land in the country of Eezham Tamils, the occupying Sri Lanka Army would place a signboard that the land is out of reach. Thereafter, if the owner of the land is not prepared to bribe the occupying Army, the land will be given to anyone who collaborates with the occupying Army. This is the reality about fertile cultivation lands especially in Vanni, since genocidal Sri Lanka has embarked upon ‘re-registering’ lands in the country of Eezham Tamils under a programme ‘Bim Saviya’ of Sinhala nomenclature. The explicit land-related structural genocide has made even a Rajapaksa-supporting Tamil politician like Anandasangaree to become more vociferous than the TNA in calling for a non-cooperation movement of Tamils.
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SL Police intimidated Tamil voters in Kalmunai: TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 October 2011, 23:26 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police had unleashed terror on Tamil voters who went to cast their votes and return after exercising their franchise in the Kalmunai Municipal Council election held Saturday, according to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) sources in Kalmunai. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) polled 22,356 votes (48.99%) and secured 11 seats. The TNA has secured 4 seats polling 9,911 votes (21.72%). The UPFA came third, securing 3 seats and the UNP 1 seat of the Kalmunai Municipal council.
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Remedial Sovereignty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 October 2011, 05:22 GMT]
Tamils' demand for self-determination in the past four decades, which posed persistent challenges to Sri Lanka's sovereignty, was rooted on the acceptance of Tamils fundamental right to self-determination under customary international law, as a "people" possessing a distinct language, distinct culture and living in an identifiable region considered as the historic homeland. But recent, state sanctioned, massacre of 40,000 Tamils in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, and the continuing structural genocide, while reinforcing the traditional argument based on rights, also supplies an independent, stand alone justification for the creation of a state, based on the need to defend the Eelam Tamil population from further destruction - the doctrine of "remedial sovereignty."
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Snail pace delivery of houses with Indian assistance, mere 0.1% completed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2011, 14:38 GMT]
Housing scheme for displaced civilians of North and East, announced by India last year, has failed to deliver, according to Tamil NGO and political circles in Jaffna. India had announced last year that it would construct 50,000 houses for the displaced in the North and East. However, only 53 houses have been constructed so far till October 2011, Tamil NGO sources said. Plans were afoot in Mannaar, Vavuniyaa, Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu and Jaffna in North to construct houses for the war-displaced people. Earlier this year, when asked on the lack of progress of Indian announcement, Indian officials in the island responded that at least one thousand houses will be constructed before the end of 2011. The officials diluted the commitment further indicating that the numbers also included repair of existing houses.
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Blake wooed genocidal Sri Lanka Army to help Afghan war

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2011, 09:30 GMT]
Within months of a war masterminded to end in the genocide of Eezham Tamils, the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake wooed the genocidal Sri Lanka Army’s help in the US-led war in Afghanistan, reveals a Wikileaks document. In a meeting that took place in Colombo on 8th December 2009 with SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, “Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military-to-military engagement,” briefs a classified cable of the US embassy in Colombo. Citing Muslim sentiments and ire of Islamic organizations, Gotabhaya avoided committing on any direct involvement, but he came out with an alternative for Sri Lanka providing covert training assistance in Afghanistan through NGOs and Private Military Companies.
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Tamil opinion backs Bahu, Mano

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2011, 18:54 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National Peoples Front have urged the Tamil speaking people in the Western Province to support Wickramabahu Karunaratne and Mano Ganesan of the Democratic National Front (DNF) in the civic elections in the South. While Selvam Adaikalanathan and Mavai Senathiraja of the TNA in their speeches have urged the Tamil speaking population in Colombo to back Dr. Vickrmabahu and Mr. Mano Ganeshan, Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnampalam and Selvaraja Kajendren of the TNPF came out with a statement urging the Tamils to back the courageous leaders of the DNF who have been openly expressing support to Tamils Right to Self-Determination at a time when some individuals of Tamil parties claiming to represent Tamils were displaying dubious conduct on the fundamental principles of Tamil Nation.
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Sinhala encroachment of grazing lands continues unabated in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 20:32 GMT]
Under the direction of SL authorities in Colombo, the Ampaa'rai District Agrarians Services Department has begun issuing permits to Sinhala encroachers on grazing lands in the Batticaloa district giving permanent status. Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.P.Selvarasa addressing a meeting of the farmers at Vavu'natheevu DS secretariat last week requested the Sri Lanka Government Agent of Batticaloa District to stop legalizing encroachment by Sinhalese on grazing land located in Vavu'natheevu, Paddippazhai and Vellaave'li DS division in the Batticaloa district.
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‘Reconciliation comes by accepting nations are different’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2011, 10:15 GMT]
The South and its Sinhala polity talked of themselves as Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans. Those who opposed the war, but still wanted to be part of the warring Sinhala ideology, thus said the common meeting point of all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people is the ‘Sri Lankan’ identity. But this ‘Sri Lankan’ identity is essentially a Southern Sinhala identity, points out veteran Sinhala journalist Kusal Perera. Sinhala political parties in the opposition cannot and does not want to leave their Sinhala identity in challenging this regime [of Rajapaksa]. Challenging this regime with a Sinhala identity is impossible, with a State that is now wholly Sinhalised and is firmly controlled with the defence establishment entrenched in politics and economics, he further said, writing in The Sunday Leader, last Sunday.
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