Waging struggle with self-respect amidst Delhi-Colombo engineering

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2014, 21:00 GMT]
Earlier this month, re-inaugurating Colombo’s railway line to the occupied North, Mahinda Rajapaksa and the genocide line’s mastermind New Delhi, staged a ‘development’ show in Jaffna. On the same occasion, Rajapaksa also unveiled Colombo’s plans on converting the Nedun-theevu (Delft) Island off Jaffna and close to Tamil Nadu in the Palk Bay, into a Sinhala-Buddhist colony and military-commercial centre. While a leaked letter of the NPC chief minister Wigneswaran was harping on the functional unworkability of the NPC and the question of funds as well as the right over land in the province, more importance should be given to directly addressing and openly denouncing the fundamental policy line and master strategies of New Delhi, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics.
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UN urged to secure release of arrested eyewitness in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2014, 23:35 GMT]
57-year-old Sinnathamby Krishnarajah, who was detained by the Sri Lankan CID in Ki’linochchi on Saturday and taken to Vavuniyaa and from there to Colombo by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) was arrested while he was copying forms from the Internet for producing affidavit about his daughter who was reported missing at the final stage, according his family. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman Suresh Premachandran and the Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) General Secretary Selvarajah Kajendren have urged the UN to ensure the release of the father of six from the Sri Lankan TID.
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Tamil Nadu CM urged to form foreign policy on Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2014, 17:16 GMT]
The Government of Tamil Nadu should come forward to take a lead in the future in representing the aspirations of Eelam Tamils in the world arena in demanding justice for the genocide committed against the Eelam Tamils, Ananthy Sasitharan, a councillor from the Northern Provincial Council, has said in an interview to TamilNet Palaka’ni during her visit to Europe in September, when she made a submission in person to the OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka. “We urge the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to have a foreign policy with regards to Eelam Tamils,” the councillor from the Northern Provincial Council said.
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SL military attempts to curb Nam-Theasam Tamil monthly in North

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2014, 23:28 GMT]
The occupying military in Jaffna and Vanni has been harassing the distributors of Ithu-Nam-Theasam monthly in recent days. Last week, a distributor of the paper was attacked at Uruththirapuram in Ki’linochchi district. The assault has come right after the distributor was interrogated at the military camp in Uruththirapuram, media sources in Jaffna said. A squad that followed him from the SL military camp assaulted him and dumped the papers into a reservoir. A systematic harassment of the distributors of the paper, which stands for the rights of Eezham Tamils, is reported also at several other locations in North.
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TCSF defends majority councillors position on Tamil genocide

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2014, 12:44 GMT]
Requesting an investigation into genocide serves to ensure that all possible violations of international law are appropriately identified and explored. Needless to say such a request does not prejudice OISL's investigation into other crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity, said a statement from Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) issued on Friday. "Tamils and their representatives also have a concomitant right to seek the intervention of the International Community to prevent and protect them from the commission of Genocide. The right to state and claim the above stems from their right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in international human rights law," the TCSF statement further said.
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Citing systematic SL intimidation, Ananthy urges more time from OISL

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2014, 06:53 GMT]
Northern Provincial Council (NPC) councillor and a direct eyewitness to the genocidal onslaught on Eezham Tamils in Vanni in 2009, Ms Ananthy Sasitharan, on Thursday urged the OHRC Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) to give more time for the people on the ground to send their submissions to the OISL. Ms Ananthy has requested to extend the time for submissions by one month or at least to the extent possible, citing the intense atmosphere of intimidation, threats and attacks against potential witnesses in the North and East. There is also a serious lack of communication on the process of submitting evidences, the councillor further said. Meanwhile, a planted section in the TNA that argues against Tamils demanding genocide investigation came out with a last minute statement this week, as eyewash, asking people to give evidence to the OISL.
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Colombo-New Delhi fundamentalism and US twist of national question

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2014, 23:37 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka’s Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalist organisation, has been received by India’s RSS, a partner in the ‘Hindutva’ Establishment in New Delhi, for ‘high level’ discussions to create a ‘Buddhist-Hindu’ alliance in South Asia, media reports said earlier this month. Obviously, the prime target of this move is the nation of Tamil-speaking people in the island, who are Saiva-Hindu, Christian and Muslim. While eyebrows are raised in several quarters over the unholy alliance, which is imperialist on one hand and genocidal on the other, many fail to see that the unfolding scenario is also effected by the USA twisting the Tamil national question in the island into a question of ‘religious minorities’, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics.
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Planted section in TNA detract genocide question of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2014, 21:15 GMT]
When the majority of TNA members in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) wanted the council to tell the world on the planned genocide and on-going genocide conducted by ‘Sri Lanka’ in the homeland of Eezham Tamils, a section planted in the TNA leadership to look after the interests of imperialisms, try to detract the whole genocidal dimensions of the plight of the nation of Eezham Tamils, said informed circles citing a 11-point explanation internally circulated by the so-called TNA leadership. The planted leadership claimed that it had consulted ‘legal experts’ and the NPC demanding genocide investigation or talking of genocide is not only inappropriate but also would affect the ‘credibility’ and independent function of the current international investigations.
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Land Commissioner in East threatens Tamil farmers of Thennai-maravadi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2014, 22:33 GMT]
The Provincial Land Commissioner (PLC) of Eastern Province, Sirimewan Dharmasena, a Sinhalese, has been threatening the Tamil farmers of the ancient Tamil village of Thennai-maravadi in Kuchchcave’li division of Trincomalee district to share their lands with Sinhalese colonisers or face security threats at the hands of the Sinhala ‘home guards’ paramilitary. The threat comes after a series of meetings with the PLC on 12th, 24th and 30th of September 2014, the Tamil farmers from Kuchchave’li said. Thennai-maravadi is situated on the border of Trincomalee district and Mullaith-theevu district.
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NESoHR releases collated reports 2005-2009

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2014, 21:23 GMT]
North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), which was formed during the internationally mediated peace process as the Human Rights body of the Tamil Nation and functioned in the Tamil homeland from July 2004 till January 2009, has released its human rights reports from 2005 till January 2009. Given the current climate of investigation by the OHCHR on Sri Lanka these old NESoHR reports are published in a large single file with continuous page numbers and content pages for easy access, according to Attorney K. Sivapalan and Dr Malathy of NESoHR. Majority of the atrocities covered in these reports falls within the period currently being investigated by the OHCHR. “It is well known that the UN and other international agencies ignored these atrocities when they were taking place. NESoHR team hopes that the OISL investigators will pay due attention to these reports,” they further said.
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SL military turns back UN official at Oamanthai check-post on World Food Day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 October 2014, 09:51 GMT]
The occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka on Thursday turned back the country representative for United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at Oamanthai military check post in Vavuniyaa citing the lack of SL Defence Ministry pass to travel to North, civil sources in Vavuniyaa said. Ms Beth Crawford, the FAO representative for Maldives and Sri Lanka, invited as Special Guest to attend the World Food Day event organised by the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) in Ki’linochchi, was unable to attend the event. Colombo has imposed a new restriction on foreigners traveling to North without Defence Ministry permission since last Friday.
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ECJ implies non-requirement of evidence in ‘terrorist’ classification: Tamil legal activist

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 October 2014, 14:30 GMT]
What the European Court of Justice (ECJ) proves implicitly is that under European Law, you do not need evidence to classify a group as a ‘terrorist’ organisation, commented US-based Eezham Tamil legal activist, Mr Rajeev Sreetharan, who was one of the initiators of the LTTE vs EU case adjudged by the ECJ on Thursday. However, he added that the ECJ ruling, although tainted by questionable post 9/11 interpretations of international humanitarian law, in essence vindicates assumptions in deciding to challenge the EU ban of the LTTE in a court of law, rather than the halls of government. Rajeev was hopeful that the lifting of the ‘terrorism’ ban helps to begin reshape the European climate for Tamil politics.
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European Court annuls EU restrictions on LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2014, 08:40 GMT]
In a landmark victory for the legal initiatives of Eezham Tamils, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ordered the Council of European Union on Thursday to annul the restrictive measures taken against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The case has been won by the LTTE on procedural grounds, said the lawyers representing the LTTE. Commenting on the judgement, Mr Lathan Suntharalingam, one of the initiators of the legal move against EU ban on LTTE said: “More than 40 countries in the world directly and indirectly abetted the Sri Lankan State in its genocidal onslaught on Eezham Tamils. The US paradigm of ‘War Against Terror’ was used to crush the LTTE-defended State of Eezham Tamils. The ECJ verdict on Thursday is a milestone achievement for Eezham Tamils in demanding global justice against the Tamil genocide.”
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Genocidal Sri Lanka bans ‘foreigners’ visiting occupied Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2014, 17:26 GMT]
Colombo has banned ‘foreigners’ from visiting the island’s former war zone without permission to prevent ‘negative interventions’, media reports said on Wednesday, citing a statement of Colombo’s defence ministry run by SL presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The move primarily targets the Eezham Tamil diaspora having the citizenship of various countries of the West and it equally targets the interaction of Eezham Tamils in the island. It is a master strategy of international imperialist dimensions to keep the genocide-facing Eezham Tamils shackled and submissive. While the Eezham Tamils in India can’t travel outside as they are kept as ‘refugees’ for decades, the target is now the free diaspora in the West, Tamil activists for alternative politics said.
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Citing Buddhist monk, SL police refuses to act on land-grab complaints in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2014, 23:50 GMT]
The Head of the Sri Mangalaramaya Buddhist vihara Venerable Ampitiye Sumanarathana thero has been instrumental in seizing the lands of Eezham Tamils and handing over these lands to Sinhalese from the border villages. When the Tamil land owners complained to the Divisional Secretary of Poaratheevup-pattu (Vellaave’li), the DS accepted their lands have been illegally encroached. But, the Sri Lankan Police at Vellaave’li has refused to accept and act on the complaints by Tamil land owners. The latest seizure of farm lands has taken place at Chinnavaththai village in Vellaave’li division of Paduvaankarai region.
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Rajapaksa deception in North aims at elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2014, 23:22 GMT]
The elected representatives of Tamil National Alliance in the North fully boycotted the ceremonial events staged by the visiting SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Vanni and Jaffna on Sunday and Monday claiming that the meetings “do not appear to be in furtherance of a legitimate objective, and are not transparent nor collaborative.” While large numbers of SL soldiers were deployed on the streets of Jaffna subjecting the public with security checks, EPDP paramilitary operatives and a section of occupying SL military soldiers were coercing public sector workers, teachers, students together with the people deceived with false promises of livelihood assistance to attend the meetings.
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Senior Journalist Iya Sachchithanantham passes away in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2014, 21:32 GMT]
The funeral of senior journalist Iya Sachchithanantham was held in Jaffna on Sunday. The 64-year-old journalist, who devoted his life for people-centric journalism and served two dailies, Eezha-Naadu and Thinak-kural, for a long time, passed away Thursday night following a heart attack. He was also a talented announcer, editor of Joasiyar magazine and the regional correspondent for Radio Ceylon.
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Ignoring Sri Lanka’s sexual violence is service to ‘British foreign policy’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 October 2014, 05:38 GMT]
British monarch Queen Elizabeth II made Angelina Jolie an honorary dame for her work against sexual violence in war zones and her services to British foreign policy, media reports said on Friday. In June, Jolie co-chaired an international conference on war-related sexual violence, along with former British foreign minister William Hague. The conference was heavily criticised even by British media, for conspicuously ignoring sexual crimes committed by the Sinhala military against Eezham Tamils in the Vanni War.
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Shivajilingam reiterates majority demand of genocide investigation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 2014, 15:56 GMT]
Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K. Shivajingam on Tuesday vowed to confront any legal action from the South against the joint appeal sent by the majority NPC and Eastern Provincial Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Councillors to the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in August demanding investigations on genocide against Eezham Tamils. At a press conference held at Jaffna Press Club, the senior political leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) also warned those expressing views against the association with former militant groups turned political parties constituting the TNA alliance not to spoil the unity within the Tamil alliance.
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Palestine and Eezham Tamils: The Hindu group's double standard

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 2014, 07:24 GMT]
The Hindu group and its associates known for their bias and bigotry towards the issues of genocide and independence of Eezham Tamils, and towards the LTTE-led militant struggle of the recent past, have now reiterated their stand on Palestine, endorsing Hamas as the resistance force representing the people of Gaza. As a response to the recent Israeli military offensive against the people of Gaza, The Hindu and associates have been rallying public opinion in favour of the Palestinian struggle. In two separate events organized in Chennai in Tamil Nadu, the affluent Hindu clique has vehemently condemned Israel and termed its acts against the Palestinians as war crimes and demanded India to take a more vocal stand against Israel, writes a media watcher in Chennai.
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