Knowledge books mistreat Tamil history

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 July 2008, 07:34 GMT]
The presentation of the History of Eezham Tamils, in some of the international reference material such as Britannica Concise Encyclopedia and The World Factbook by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has become a matter of serious concern for Tamils all over the world. When the discipline of history itself is being deconstructed in the portals of knowledge of the postmodern era on one hand, these international sources of information are still harping on colonial brand of Orientalism, by basing history on myths.
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Time for Tamil Nadu to Act

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 20:04 GMT]
The negative approaches of the International Community towards the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka and towards the Tamil diaspora are allegedly more due to the Indian attitude than due to pressure from the Colombo government. How to expect the IC to back the masses facing genocide, when their brethren in India are not voicing for them? Voicing is not merely holding rallies and making speeches. They will not be counted in an international forum. What about the Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a resolution, upholding the right to self determination of the Eezham Tamils, and announcing a policy of supporting it, confining to the purview of the Indian constitution and laws, opines columnist Chivanadi.
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India helping Colombo to perpetrate genocide on Tamils, accuses Vaiko

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 June 2008, 14:39 GMT]
In a letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Vaiko, General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), accused India of “equipping the Sri Lanka Government to help its war machine to perpetrate genocidal attacks against the Tamils...throwing to winds the farsighted foreign policy adopted by Pandit Nehru and Mrs. Indira Gandhi,” and urged the Prime Minister to not participate in the SAARC Conference.
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Marukkaarai Moaddai

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 June 2008, 00:07 GMT]
The shallow tank / pond of Marukkaarai shrubs (Randia dumetorum)
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South African Tamils rally for Eezham Tamils' rights

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2008, 00:46 GMT]
Tamils in South Africa on Saturday gathered for Pongku Thamizh rally at the Arena Park Regional Hall, in Chatsworth, where they pledged to support the Eezham Tamils' right to statehood, and urged the international community to voice for the Tamils’ rights.
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Pongku Thamizh rally in France draws 7000

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 23:21 GMT]
Around 7,000 French Tamils thronged the venue of Pongku Thamizh rally at Place du Président Edouard Herriot close to the French Parliament in Paris Wednesday. A parliamentarian of the French Communist Party (PCF), Maxime Gremetz, who came out of the Parliament, appreciated the Tamils for voicing for their rights. In a spontaneous address to the audience, he said that the proscription imposed on Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) was unfair and the movement was essentially a freedom movement.
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Italian Tamils express support for Eezham homeland

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 June 2008, 14:40 GMT]
Diaspora Tamils in Northern Italy gathered Sunday for Pongku Thamizh rally held in Piazza Argentina in Milan, one of the largest cities in Italy, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and voiced their support for Eezham Tamil homeland, Tamils right to self-determination, and protested against the Sri Lankan state's aerial bombardment of Tamil civilians and rights violations of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Burani Vainer, a renown lawyer in Italy for his legal defence of freedom struggles, addressed the audience as a chief guest, on the principles of the right to self determination.
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Norwegian Politician regrets irrationality of International Community

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 June 2008, 23:56 GMT]
The International Community, stamped out all important Tamil organisations by branding them as terrorists, while remaining passive to the misdeeds of the Sinhala government. By doing so, the IC has acted irrationally, said Trond Jensrud, a ruling Labour Party (AP) politician of the Oslo Municipal Council while addressing the Pongku Thamizh rally held at Valle Hovin stadium in Oslo, the capital of Norway, on Saturday. The Norwegian government should seriously consider the Tamil stance stated clearly in this rally and take it up with the International forum, he further said.
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"Tamil eelam, not a hastily concocted concept"- Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 June 2008, 01:05 GMT]
Balakumaran, Senior member of the Liberation Tigers, during an interview to an Australian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (ATBC) said that while support of the international community is necessary for achieving the goal of liberation, Tamil people should clearly understand that policies of the International community towards different nationalist struggles are often inconsistent and motivated by self-interest. He added that listening to other people’s dictates, and compromising the ideals only reflect the weakness of a liberation struggle, and expressed confidence on the strength and resilience of the Tamil people to confront obstacles in the marathon towards liberation.
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Diaspora Tamil students mark Sivakumaran Day

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 June 2008, 12:03 GMT]
The Tamil Students' Uprising in Sri Lanka, originating in the late 1920s and early 30s against the Donoughmore Constitution, remained a peaceful struggle even in 1970 when the Tamil Students League entered into the scene. But, the 1972 Constitution inevitably compelled the Tamil youth to get into armed struggle and Sivakumaran was the pioneer marking this transition and setting its basic attributes such as sacrificing one's life by consuming cyanide, said Ki. Pi. Aravinthan, a close associate of Sivakumaran, while addressing an event held for the memory of Sivakumaran at Rohr in the district of Aarau in Switzerland on Saturday.
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Indian Tamil fishermen on token strike against Sri Lanka Navy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2008, 17:47 GMT]
Fishermen's associations in Thangakchchimadam in the state of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday organized a token strike to protest against the Sri Lanka Navy that shot and killed a 20-year-old Indian Tamil fisherman in the waters off Raameasvaram. An SLN vessel had opened fire on four Tamil Nadu fishermen who had set out in a mechanized boat on Monday when the 45-day fishing ban imposed by the state government of Tamil Nadu had come to an end, according to the representatives of the fishermen's associations in Thangkachchimadam. The fishermen were fishing near Kachchatheevu around midnight. The Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, has denied SLN involvement in the attack.
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Reserved hero: Brigadier Balraj

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2008, 09:00 GMT]
In over two decades of service with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Brig. Balraj, who passed away Tuesday after a heart attack, had been a courageous and skilled fighter and commander whose last years were spent institutionalizing the training of a new generation of LTTE field officers. Although he joined the LTTE later than many of the other top commanders, Brig. Balraj had risen rapidly through the ranks on the strength of his shrewdness on the battlefield and courage under fire, fighters who served with him said this week.
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Family man reported missing in Peasaalai, Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 May 2008, 10:52 GMT]
Armed men riding in a white colour van, on Thursday abducted a 34-year-old Tamil civilian, T.M. Francis, at Nadukkudaa in Peasaalai around 3:25 p.m., according a complaint made by the relatives of the missing person, who is a family man.
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19 Tamil Nadu fishermen blindfolded, attacked by SLN for 5 days

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 May 2008, 10:07 GMT]
Nineteen Indian Tamil fishermen, including two 15-year-old boys, arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy in the Historical Waters of Palk Strait last Friday were blindfolded, attacked and interrogated by the SLN for 5-days and handed over to the Police and brought to Mannaar Magistrate's Courts Thursday. T.J. Prabahkaran, the magistrate, allowed the Police application to remand the fishermen into police custody for 7 days, legal sources said.
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Geopolitics shape Sri Lanka’s conflict - study

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 May 2008, 06:12 GMT]
Politics between powerful states have always been integral to the dynamics of war and peace in Sri Lanka, several contributors to a collected volume exploring the international dimensions of the island’s protracted conflict say. The study by the Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD) published this year comprises papers presented by academics and analysts at a conference held in Switzerland last June along with extracts of the subsequent discussions.
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Musali displaced harassed by SLA, 70 families flee to Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 May 2008, 10:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mannaar has ordered the displaced Tamil civilians from Musali division in September 2007, to present themselves at the 21-5 SLA Brigade High Quarters at Ilanthaimoaddai, on a village-by-village basis on allocated days, to obtain details of every individual and interrogate them for alleged participation in training given to civilians by the Tigers when their native division was under the control of the Liberation Tigers prior to September 2007. Around 70 families of between 450 to 600 families, all of them displaced from Musali division and living Naanaaddaan, have crossed the Palk Strait to Tamil Nadu during the recent days, according to residents in Naanaaddaan.
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Widespread violence, last-hour ballot stuffing mark elections in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 May 2008, 18:40 GMT]
Paramilitary TMVP personnel entered several polling stations in the Tamil areas in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and stuffed the ballot boxes forcefully during the last-hour, before the ballot boxes were removed to counting centers in Batticaloa. Meanwhile, election officials said an average of 60% voter turn-out was registered across the three districts in the East. The polling was high in Sinhalese and Muslim areas while an average of 45-50% votes were registered in Tamil areas. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) has recorded 64 incidents at 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Majority of major offenses were committed in Batticaloa district, followed by Ampaa'rai (12) and Trincomalee (08).
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Bomb hoax disrupts southern coastal train service

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 May 2008, 10:56 GMT]
A parcel found in a compartment of a train arriving in Panadura railway station from Chilaapam on Tuesday created tension in the area, and suspended train services for several hours, sources said. Services resumed after the bomb disposal squad of the SLA took the parcel and found old clothes inside the package.
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Vaiko condemns military soft loan, assails India's opposition to UN resolution on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2008, 07:00 GMT]
Expressing "terrible shock" over the press reports that New Delhi was finalising a soft loan package of USD100 million for Sri Lankan military, Vaiko, the general secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK) sent an urgent letter Monday to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to reconsider the decision and recalled earlier assurance given to him in April by Dr. Manmohan Singh that India was not giving any arms to Sri Lanka. At the same time, Mr. Vaiko expressed serious concern over India's opposition to the move initiated by European Countries to bring a resolution in the United Nations against the gross violation of human rights by the Sri Lankan government.
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