SL colonial governor hands over 200 acres in Vaddakkachchi to Sinhala trader

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 09:23 GMT]
Colonial governor of Sri Lanka Maj. Gen. Chandrasri, occupying the country of Eezham Tamils, ordered this week for the appropriation of 200 acres of land at Vaddakkachchi in the Ki’linochchi district for the benefit of a Sinhala trader from the South. This land is a part of a 1000-acre farm that was given to the displaced people in 1995. Occupying Sri Lanka now refuses to resettle people in the farm. The Sinhala trader personally went to the site to choose the part he needed and Chandrasri ordered officials that whatever was chosen by the trader should be given to him.
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US intelligence assessed Narayanan as anti LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 19:13 GMT]
A classified cable of the US embassy in India accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks shows that the US embassy made a particular note of the bias of M K Narayanan, the former National Security Advisor (NSA) of India, against the LTTE. “US Consulate General Chennai officials recall his repeatedly expressed and profound distaste for the LTTE,” notes the cable. Narayanan was the chief of India’s Intelligence Bureau during the IPKF times and was the NSA during the Vanni war. He and the present NSA, Shiv Shankar Menon, handled India’s role in the war and in the way the war ended. During the war, both were accused of wielding ‘extra-parliamentary’ powers. The US cable noted Narayanan as part of the traditional "coterie" around Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi and as a part of the Keralite “Mafia” in the Prime Minister’s Office.
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Sri Lanka has sinister plans in confiscating lands of Mu’l’livaaykkaal

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2011, 05:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka has sinister plans to confiscate the three large coastal villages, Mu’l’livaaykkaal East, Mu’l’livaaykkaal West and Ampalavan Pokka’nai, where the last stages of the Vanni war took place. Original inhabitants of 18 hamlets of the villages are not allowed to resettle and there are secret plans to relocate them to confiscate the stretch of rich marine wealth, said a press release of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF). Mines are still the pretext, but even after 22 months the SL military has not even permitted de-mining the land where thousands of Eezham Tamils and their fighters sacrificed their lives. Meanwhile, with Chinese assistance, colonial SL occupying the country of Eezham Tamils has recently built a fortress-like military base over a cemetery of the LTTE heroes at Koappaay in Jaffna.
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HRW calls for boycott of Colombo Defence Seminar

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2011, 01:31 GMT]
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights organization, called on countries worldwide to boycott a conference to be held in Colombo between 31 May to 02 June labelled "Defeating Terrorism Sri Lankan Experience” aimed at sharing Sri Lanka's war experience, BBC reported. “What we are telling the militaries around the world is that they should not attend a meeting to celebrate a military policy that involves killing so many civilians,” HRW Executive Director Brad Adams told BBC.
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US State Department official resigns over Wikileaks gaffe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 23:58 GMT]
US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has resigned after calling the treatment of the man accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks "stupid," BBC reported. "It is with regret that I have accepted the resignation of Philip J. Crowley as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. PJ has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian. His service to country is motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy, and I wish him the very best," Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said after accepting Mr Crawley's resignation.
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Uprooted Tamils from Puthukkudiyiruppu still strive for resettlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 19:41 GMT]
Large number of Tamil families from Mullaiththeevu district of Vanni, forcibly displaced and still held behind barbed wire camps in Menik Farm and other places, are yet to be allowed into their native villages in Puthukkudiyiruppu. The occupying Sri Lankan military has only allowed civilians to enter 6 of 19 Village Officer (GS) divisions in Puthukkudiyiruppu. So far, Only 68,846 persons from 23,050 families have been resettled in 65 out of 92 Village Officer divisions in Mullaiththeevu district. Thirty percent of the civilians are not allowed to resettle in the entire district of Mullaiththeevu, according to the data from the Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat.
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No security guarantee for Tamil parliamentarians: TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 07:58 GMT]
Over the attack on his vehicle at Nochchiyagama on Monday, Tamil National Alliance Ki'linochchi district parlimentarian S. Sreetharan said in Parliament on Wednesday, “It is clear that there is no security guarantee for MPs in this country. How can a Tamil here expect security from the state?” He further stated that while he was passing Medawachchiya on Monday at 5:30 p.m., a white colored van without a number plate overtook their vehicle. When they approached Ullukku'lam the said vehicle was parked on the side of the road and three men got off from the vehicle and fired at them using small weapons. In return, his security guards fired back before the assassins threw a grenade at his vehicle and fled the scene.
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TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 14:54 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vanni, S. Sritharan, narrowly escaped from a group of attackers who lobbed two hand grenade targeting his vehicle and fired at the vehicle using pistols from behind Monday evening around 6:00 p.m. at Nochchiyaagama in Anuradhapura, TNA parliamentarians told media. The parliamentarian was on his way from Vavuniyaa to Colombo to attend the Tuesday sittings in SL parliament. No one was hurt in the attack, SL Police in Anuradhapura said.
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Occupying SL military stops re-installing MGR statue in VVT

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2011, 00:05 GMT]
Efforts by the people of Valveddiththu’rai in Jaffna to re-install a statue for Mr. M G Ramachandran (MGR), the Tamil film icon since 1950s and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu was stopped by the Sri Lanka Army occupying the Tamil country. A statue of MGR that existed earlier at Valveddiththu’rai was desecrated and the arms were broken by the occupying military a few months back. Eezham Tamils, especially the coastal community people, are strong admirers of the films of MGR for well over six decades. MGR was born in Kandy in the island.
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Meaningful accountability comes by addressing the national question

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2011, 10:33 GMT]
When events similar to what happened and is happening in the island led to international intervention and liberation of the affected in many other instances of the world, the issue of Eezham Tamils is consciously blunted as something concerned to insurgency, counterinsurgency and war crimes investigation of both. In the process, the main culprit of decades, i.e., the Sri Lankan state (not the regimes) escapes unscathed and is being saved by those who have a problem of irregularity with their appetite, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo responding to discussions in a live web-seminar conducted by Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research of Harvard University on 24 February.
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US Senate Resolution calls for accountability for Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 March 2011, 03:37 GMT]
United States Senate unanimously passed resolution S. Res. 84 introduced by Senator Casey which commended UN Secretary General for appointing a panel to advise UNSG on Sri Lanka's human rights accountability and called "on the Government of Sri Lanka, the international community, and the United Nations to establish an independent international accountability mechanism to look into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other human rights violations committed by both sides during and after the war in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations regarding accountability," as one of the four elements of the resolution.
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Two SLAF Kfir fighter jets crash in mid-air

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 March 2011, 06:19 GMT]
Two Israeli-built Kfir bomber jets of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) crashed in a mid-air collision during a rehearsal Tuesday morning killing one pilot at Yakkala in Gampaha. The other pilot sustained injuries. Both the Kfir bombers that killed several civilians in Vanni War were completely destroyed. The rehearsal was for the 60th anniversary of the SLAF which is being marked on Wednesday with fly-past aerobatics and a skydiving display. Five years ago, on 14 August 2006, 55 schoolchildren and staffers were massacred in Mullaiththeevu in a genocidal air strike carried out by the SLAF. The crime against humanity is yet to be subjected to international investigations.
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ICRC closes Jaffna office

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 00:32 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday announced that it is closing down its Jaffna office after 21 years of service, hinting that Jaffna is no more a region of priority needing conflict related activities. After Mu’l’livaaykkaal, while genocidal Colombo is now focussing on converting the entire Jaffna peninsula into an open concentration camp, the withdrawal of ICRC reminding its earlier withdrawal from Vanni at the beginning of the war, causes serious concern among people of Jaffna, commented a human rights worker in Jaffna. The ICRC leaves Jaffna not only when High Security Zones remain but also when new bases for occupying military are built among civilian population and when the people of Jaffna are pointedly targeted by a terror campaign. The international perception on ‘conflict’ is lopsided, the human rights worker commented.
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University students protest against desecration of Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 12:02 GMT]
Thousands of the students at the University of Jaffna Wednesday noon boycotted their classes as the news of SL military's desecration of the ashes of late Parvathi Amma, the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, Tuesday night. The students vacated the premises after putting up posters condemning the uncivilized act of the Sri Lankan military and condemning the Sri Lankan authorities for blocking them from participating in the funeral procession of Parvathi Amma on Tuesday.
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Remains of Parvathi Amma cremated amidst military harassment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 14:10 GMT]
Braving harassments by occupying Sri Lankan military that has been forcing the people to remove black flags they had flown to mourn the late Parvathi Amma, people from various parts of the peninsula took part in the funeral procession Tuesday together with former and current parliamentarians representing Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Tuesday evening. Politicians and activists from Tamil Nadu and the diaspora addressed the mourners paying tribute through phone calls at Theeruvil grounds. Defying the order by SLA soldiers to remove the black flags, people of Vadamaraadchi closed their shops and flew black flags.
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SLA restricts movement of IDPs in Kodikaamam Camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 12:43 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army has instructed outsiders to get prior permission from its sentry points to visit the uprooted civilians from Vanni staying in Kodikaamam Ramaavil IDP camp in Thenmaraadchi, Jaffna. The inmates who were earlier allowed to leave camps and work without any restriction, are from this week onwards have been instructed to register themselves with SLA sentry point, before leaving for work and after their return.
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Occupying SL military intimidates mourning for Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 21:47 GMT]
Colonial military of Sri Lanka occupying Jaffna, intimidated people of Valveddiththu’rai on Sunday to remove the black flags displayed to mourn the demise of Parvathy Amma, 80-year-old mother of the LTTE leader Pirapaharan. Hundreds of SL military intelligence personnel in civil dress, deployed at Theeruvil grounds where the remains are kept for public homage, made the local people themselves to remove the flags of mourning. Angered by the SLA harassment, representatives of civil organizations in Valveddiththu'rai warned the military personnel of repercussions if they continued to harass the people, when the occupying soldiers were instructing the people to remove the name of Mr. Pirapaharan from posters paying tribute to Parvathi Amma. Colonial Colombo behaves the same way the British treated the Kandyan Sinhalese, commented a journalist in Jaffna.
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Jaffna mourns Parvathi Amma amidst SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2011, 07:52 GMT]
The people of Jaffna have flown black flags on Sunday, mourning the demise of 80-year-old Parvathi Amma (Vallipuram Parvathi), the mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan. Community organisations have flown their flags at half post amid harassments by the occupying Sri Lankan forces. The funeral of late Parvathi Amma is to take place at Valveddiththu'rai (VVT) Hindu Cremation Grounds on Tuesday. Born on 07 August, 1931, Parvathi Amma, resolved to stay with her people at her native village, after being denied entry to Tamil Nadu for medical treatment last year.
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UNP leaders conduct election campaign in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2011, 12:08 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said by defeating the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the forthcoming local election Tamil people could teach a good lesson to the government in power. UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya said so in responding to a question why his party has been contesting in the local elections in the districts of Jaffna and Vanni, at a media briefing held Thursday in Kaarainagar in Jaffna district.
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SLA terrorizes TNA candidates in Vavuniyaa, Killinochi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 February 2011, 02:10 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has complained that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are threatening an intimidating TNA candidates contesting in the forthcoming local elections in the Vanni region. Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian Mr.S. Sritharan has accused the SLA soldiers of unleashing terror in the Vanni region creating fear psychosis among the TNA candidates. TNA parliamentarians Selvam Adaikalanathan and Sivasakthi Aanandan have also alleged that they are being intimidated by SLA soldiers and intelligence unit men against holding election meetings in Vavuniyaa.
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