Furore in Tamil Nadu over 'anti-Tamil' film

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2008, 19:29 GMT]
Politicians and film personalities from Tamil Nadu have taken strong exception to a Sinhalese film that seeks to "vulgarize the Tamil liberation struggle in Sri Lanka." Tamil Nadu Film Producers' Association President Rama. Narayanan condemned the film for disgracing the Tamil people at the end of a special screening. Tamil Protection Movement President Thol. Thirumavalavan vowed to take legal action to prevent the film's release in Tamil Nadu since he felt that it not only degraded the Eelam liberation struggle and hurt Tamil sentiments but it was also capable of disrupting communal harmony in Sri Lanka.
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U.S. Rights report fortifies moral, legal entitlement of Tamil state- Fein

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 17:11 GMT]
Contrasting U.S. State Department’s institutional bias in favor of governments, and Bush administration’s willingness to overlook abuses by foreign governments in the name of fighting terrorism, with the recent U.S report on Human Rights in Sri Lanka, Bruce Fine, an attorney for a Tamil activist group in the U.S., in a statement released to the media Wednesday, asserts that, “[t]he fact that the United States would savage the human rights record of the GOSL [Government of Sri Lanka] means that its [Sri Lanka’s] actual terrorism record is far more gruesome than represented. The report thus fortifies the moral and legal entitlement of Tamils to a separate statehood.”
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Sri Lanka’s parliament Monk shuns Nonviolence- paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 14:25 GMT]
Athurliye Rathana, a celebrated monk and a Sri Lanka parliamentarian, “sounded more like an army general than a legislator or monk” when he said, "[w]e can sort this out on our own. We tried to discuss things, but the LTTE always wanted to fight. We must do our duty on the battle field," Washington Post said in an article that appeared in the Wednesday edition.
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Civil protection committee deployed in searches

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 March 2008, 11:13 GMT]
Members of civil protection committees (CPC) assisted by Sri Lanka Police launched random searches in public and private sector buses plying in various routes in Colombo and suburbs from morning till afternoon on Sunday causing tremendous inconveniences mainly to passengers amid protests by commuters, both Sinhalese and Tamil. The bus routes selected for search operation were mainly used by Tamils, media sources said.
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Destroyed East villages, MP chronicles history

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 March 2008, 16:33 GMT]
"Population of Sinhalese in the East was a mere 0.53 percent in 1827 but due to systematic colonisation and subsequent establishment of military camps along the borders of traditional Tamil areas, Sinhala settlers encroached into more than 25 percent of land owned by Tamils," said Maavai Senathirajah, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, addressing, as the chief guest, to a gathering in Colombo Saturday on the occasion of the release of a book "Destroyed Tamil villages," authored by fellow Member of Parliament (MP), S.Jeyananthamoorthy, literary sources in Colombo said. T. Kangasabai, Batticaloa district TNA parliamentarian presided the function.
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It needs a mandate to prod them to justice

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 March 2008, 11:52 GMT]
"Anyone who wishes to see a peacefully united Sri Lanka has to begin from separation. Separation for unity is the appropriate paradigm today. The Sri Lankan situation has transcended the 1987 formula. It is time the Tamils in India have to take care of a policy shift in the Indian establishment. The suggestion is that the political parties of Tamil Nadu who aspire for power in the forthcoming elections have to boldly adapt a policy upholding a Tamil Nation in Sri Lanka in their election manifesto and get the mandate from the people. Only such a mandate can silence the antagonists and direct the foreign policy of India to serve the interests of Tamils, India as well as a peaceful Sri Lanka."
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Boston Globe advocates "Self-rule in a confederal structure for Tamil region"

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2008, 10:01 GMT]
Pointing to Sri Lanka's documented pattern of "abductions of civilians by security forces," and Rajapakse Government's complicity in "large scale disappearances," Boston Globe in an editorial Monday said: "[t]he bottom line is Sri Lanka's conflict is political, and it must be resolved by political means. A lasting solution will require that the central government grant meaningful self-rule to the Tamil region, perhaps in a confederal structure that maintains the unity of the country. Continuing attempts to resolve the conflict militarily can only produce more suffering and more war."
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UPFA-TMVP secures Mayor post in Batticaloa MC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 16:10 GMT]
Paramilitary TMVP group Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) candidate, who jointly contested in the elections for the Batticaloa Municpal Council with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), was appointed Mayor of Batticaloa Municipal Council (MC) in the TMVP committee meeting Wednesday, TMVP Secretary, Kailasarasa said. Daughter of Sathiyamoorthy Rajan, the assassinated Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary candidate in 2004 general elections, Pirabakaran Sivakeertha, known as Pathmini, polled 4,722 preferential votes and was appointed Mayor of Batticaloa MC.
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Stop Indian military aid to Sri Lanka: Tamil Nadu leaders

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 14:44 GMT]
New Delhi unabashedly rolling the red carpet to Sri Lankan military chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has caused a furore among Tamil Nadu politicians who have urged the Indian Central Government to "stop all military aid to the genocidal government of Sri Lanka." Paddali Makkal Kadchi (PMK, Toilers' Party) founder-leader S Ramadoss and Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol Thirumavalavan accused the Central Government of sabotaging Tamil aspirations on the Sri Lankan issue by lending support to the military-backed genocide of the Eelam Tamils.
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Moves afoot to bring Sinhalese port workers to KKS harbour

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 17:32 GMT]
Commissioner of Essential Services (CoES) in Colombo is making arrangements to employ Sinhalese port workers in Kaangkeasanththu’rai (KKS) harbour in unloading goods shipped from Colombo, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Representatives of the consortium of Jaffna fisheries societies raised concern with the Government Agent of Jaffna on the likely loss of income of the peninsula fishermen who are currently employed as laborers in KKS harbor.
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Gunmen shoot dead fisherman, youth in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 08:20 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen shot and killed Monday around 6:45 p.m. a Sinhalese fish monger who engages in blast fishing in Kalmunai in Ampaa'rai district. The killers, after slaying the fisherman at his house, went to a nearby shrub where they had hidden their motorbike. When they were disturbed by a youth, they shot and killed him. An STF trooper, alerted by the killed youth, was wounded when he confronted the escaping gunmen. The episode comes in the wake of a protest by Muslim fishermen in the area against dynamite fishing.
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Sri Lankan forces beef up security in Batticaloa before local polls

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 11:46 GMT]
Local government elections for nine local bodies including Batticaloa Municipal Council are to take place on Monday 10 March after a lapse of 14 years and all arrangements related to them have been made, according to Deputy Election Commissioner. People`s Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) is the largest monitoring body, engaged with 300 monitors with 20 foreign nationals. However, Batticaloa has been turned into a militarised city with 12 more check posts and the deployment of additional Sri Lanka Army, Special Task Force and Policemen. 6,725 policemen have been engaged. More than 1800 policemen have been brought from Colombo.
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Mt. Lavinia bomb blast suspects released on bail

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2008, 14:19 GMT]
Four civilians-two Tamils and two Sinhalese- arrested in connection with the bomb blast in a bus in Mount Lavinia recently were released on bail when they were produced in court Friday. Magistrate Mr.Harsha Sethunge ordered personal bail for each suspect by signing a bond for Rs. 100,000. Further inquiry in the case was put off for May 7, legal sources said.
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'Frankenstein' franchise in Batticaloa - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2008, 01:52 GMT]
"Ceylon was the first country in Asia to receive universal adult suffrage as early as in 1931. Even though many at that time eulogized it, from the very beginning, it was doomed as it was implemented in a country where the voting was communal. The Tamils boycotted the first elections. The curse continued and has become a Frankenstein monster in Batticaloa today. People are terrified at the thought of elections and would feel greatly relieved without it," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy while sharing his opinion with TamilNet on Friday on the local elections in Batticaloa.
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Japan-UNDP sign agreement to assist resettlement in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2008, 01:14 GMT]
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, during a meeting held on Tuesday at the office of the Sri Lanka's Nation Building Plantation Infrastructure Ministry said, to promote peace efforts in Sri Lanka, the Government of Japan is ready to provide the much needed assistance to the conflict-affected people of the north and east to enjoy the fruits of peace.
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Goons intimidate HRC officers in Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 March 2008, 14:40 GMT]
Goons alleged to be associated with Kandy police threatened a Tamil female high official attached to Kandy Regional Human Rights Commission (HRC) coordinating office and confiscated her National Identity Card (NIC) near Kingston College in Kandy, accusing her of suspicious presence in the school environment, sources in Kandy said.
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Suspects in attempted murder case of SLA commander remanded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate, Mr. Namal Bandara Balalle, Thursday ordered further remand till March 12, for the two suspects in the attempted murder of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka, legal sources in Colombo said.
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SLA deserters threaten Up-Country Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 08:47 GMT]
A group of more than 15 armed Sinhalese persons, said to be instigated by the arrival of a dead body of a Sri Lanka Army soldier from Ma'nalaa'ru battlefront in the North, entered the 'line' houses of Up-Country Tamils at Kirimetiya watte (estate) in Yatinuwara division of Kandy district in the Central Province and heaped threats of 'collective punishment' a few days ago. Fear gripped the Tamil 'lines' following the episode as many SLA soldiers, recruited from the Yatinuwara area, are engaged in the Northern battlefront.
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Bruce Fein: Independence promotes stability

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2008, 02:33 GMT]
"The reason why the Kosovo independence is so significant is because it addresses an issue that's prevalent throughout the world, for example Sri Lanka, where you have a minority that has been oppressed by the majority. And we’ve always had rather blurry lines in knowing, well, when does the oppression reach a sufficiently intense and egregious level that you're entitled to walk away from a sovereign and establish your separate statehood?" asks Bruce Fein in a video commentary on the global significance of Kosovo independence given to U.S-based Real News Network Sunday.
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30 civilians arrested in Colombo, Embilipitia

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2008, 11:34 GMT]
Thirty civilians, majority of them Tamils, were arrested in cordon and search operations conducted in the western province and Embilipitya since Sunday. Thirteen persons were taken into custody in house-to-house search conducted in the western province, and seventeen were arrested in Embilipitya, media sources said.
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