Massive crowds pack Mannar Pongu Thamil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2003, 13:55 GMT]
More than thirty thousand people packed the Mannar town grounds Wednesday for Pongu Thamil Wednesday. Large processions led by political and religious leaders started from three corners of the Mannar town at 3. 30 p.m. and converged on the ground one hour later. "We want our land", "soldiers! Go back to your homes", the marchers shouted.
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Funeral of LTTE cadre held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2003, 03:38 GMT]
Mr. Aliventhan, a cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died in a motorcycle accident Sunday in Mullaithivu, and a large number of people attended his funeral held at the martyr’s cemetery in Eachankulam in Vavuniya Tuesday, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Northern Principals propose fully empowered IA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 17:00 GMT]
The Northern Province Principals' Association (NPPA) said Tuesday that it has sent a memorandum to Mr. Velupillai Pirapakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers, urging him to ensure that the proposed Interim Administration (IA) for the Northeast is vested with fiscal, executive and judicial powers.
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Education on Tamil history stressed by Eastern academic

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 16:40 GMT]
Tamil students are forced to learn the history of the Sinhalese, but the history of the Tamils is not part of the subjects taught to them under the current education plan in Sri Lanka, said Ms. Ruby Valentina Francis, a researcher and lecturer at the Eastern University, speaking at the release of a new book titled "Vanniar of Tamil Nadu and Vanniar of Eelam," authored by poet Vellavur Gopal, held Sunday at the Mahajana College hall in Batticaloa, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Kinniya protesters set fire to Tamil newspaper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 15:53 GMT]
A group of Muslim protesters carrying placards at the Al Aksa college junction in Kinniya, in the Trincomalee district, set fire to copies of the Tamil daily with the largest circulation in Sri Lanka, The Virakesari, as the group considered the newspaper's coverage of Muslim-Tamil ethnic clashes in the area as unfavorable, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Sinhala nationalists' convoy to LTTE camp turned back

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 11:25 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police Tuesday peacefully turned back a large convoy of vehicles in which activists of Sihala Urumaya (SU), an ultra Sinhala nationalist party, were travelling towards Kurankupanchaan Kulam in Southern Trincomalee, vowing to enter the camp of the Liberation Tigers, which Colombo claims to be in territory under its control. More than a hundred Buddhist monks and about three hundred SU activists began the drive to the LTTE's camp from Kantalai around 1 p.m. Tuesday with the slogan "The arms are yours, the land is ours".
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$649m aid committed to Northeast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 09:40 GMT]
"The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP, the World Food Program, the European Commission, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States have committed a total of US$ 649 million to the North East to date. The donor community stands ready to support reconstruction and recovery in the conflict-affected areas," said a joint donor press release issued from the offices of Worldbank in Colombo today.
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Jaffna Magistrate orders bail for eight Tamil civilians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 09:21 GMT]
The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah Monday released eight Tamil civilians of the ten who were arrested and remanded in connection with some incidents that took place Saturday on bail with a warning that they should not interfere with the police investigation, court sources said.
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Women complete job training in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 08:08 GMT]
The job training of women conducted by the Centre for Women's Development and Rehabilitation (CWDR)'s Job training division was completed on Monday, and a function to mark the event was held with speeches and exhibitions starting at 10:00 am, sources in the Vanni said.
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SLA expels resettled Kanchirankudah families

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 07:23 GMT]
Ten Tamil families who resettled in Kanchirankudah in the Amparai district have been forced out of their homes again by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), which is saying the families could not live in their homes as these are close to the SLAâs camps, sources in Amparai said.
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Nimalarajan Memorial Lecture to be held at LSE

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2003, 18:28 GMT]
A lecture to commemorate Mr. Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, a Tamil journalist based in Jaffna who was murdered allegedly by gunmen of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) in 2000, will be held at the London School of Economics in London, UK, on October 30, sources said.
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Criminals terrorise Udupiddy under SLA's aegis

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2003, 18:22 GMT]
Civil society groups, residents and school students from Udupiddy in Jaffna Monday complained to the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that Sri Lanka army is providing special protection to local criminals who are on a bloody rampage in the village. One of the criminals attacked and grievously wounded Mr. A. S. Sivagnanam, senior resident of Udupiddy, with an army bayonet Sunday at the Veerapthirar Temple.
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Molest try fails, soldiers threaten woman

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2003, 16:29 GMT]
A young woman who reported an attempt by two Sri Lanka army soldiers to molest her Sunday morning in Manalkaadu, a village on Jaffnaís southeastern coast, was threatened by colleagues of her attackers not to speak about the incident to anyone, her family said. Relatives told TamilNet the womanís husband had fought off the two soldiers while they were trying to snatch her infant and to drag her into the shrub jungle by the road.
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Human skulls, bones unearthed in Thiraikerni

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2003, 14:15 GMT]
Human remains were found in a pit near the Periyathambiran Temple in Thiruaikerni, 57km south of Batticaloa town in the Batticaloa-Pottuvil road when Thirukerni residents were cleaning the temple compound during a shramadana effort Sunday.
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TRO's third divisional office opened in Trinco district

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2003, 08:22 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization in Trincomalee district opened its third divisional office Sunday evening at Kuchchaveli village which is located about 34 km off north of east port town. Trincomalee district political head of LTTE Mr.S.Thilak unveiled the name board of the Branch and TRO's Trincomalee district director Mr.K.Mathavarajah declared open the office, sources said.
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International Elders-Children Day held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2003, 23:56 GMT]
“Society should not forget the fact that, as a result of war, children have been facing severe problems with respect to education and nutrition. Poor nutrition affects the development of the body and the brain. If these effects on the children are not immediately addressed, nothing could ever be done later, as the effects would be permanent. Society will then be faced with insurmountable problems in the future,” said Dr. Arumugam Ketheeswaran, the deputy director of health services in Vavuniya, speaking at the international Elders-Children day held at the Vavuniya town hall Sunday.
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Jaffna journalists protest against attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2003, 19:54 GMT]
Journalists in Jaffna protested Sunday against the Sri Lankan armed forces for attacking four reporters in the northern peninsula Saturday night. "This attack calls the bluff that Tamil journalists face no problems now in the Sri Lankan government controlled areas of the northeast", said Mr. Velupillai Thavachelvam, the President of the Jaffna Journalistsí Association, addressing the protesting journalists.
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TRO hands over ten houses to Thiriyai resettlers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2003, 18:06 GMT]
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization in Trincomalee district Sunday handed over ten newly constructed houses to ten internally displaced families now resettled in war ravaged Thiriyai, a traditional Tamil village, about 42 km off north of Trincomalee town. TRO launched this housing project funded by the America's TRO last April, sources said.
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SLA, Police torture Jaffna resident hung by feet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2003, 11:37 GMT]
"Soldiers stopped me at the Maambalam junction last night when I was going home, dragged me inside a building there, hung me upside down by my feet and brutally assaulted me until I fainted, said Mr. Balasingham Daiyaniharan, 21, a resident of Ariyalai, in his statement to the Jaffna magistrate, Mr. R. P Vicknarajah, at the Teaching Hospital in the northern town Sunday noon. Three civilians and two journalists attacked and injured by SLA soldiers and Police Saturday night have been admitted for treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
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Muslim farmers allowed to cultivate Vakaneri fields

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 October 2003, 19:36 GMT]
In a meeting with muslim farmers from Ottamavadi, Valaichenai and Meeravodai held at the Gokulam Maha Vidyalayam Saturday morning, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) representatives agreed to allow cultivation of lands within the Vakaneri irrigation scheme except the lands that lie close to the LTTE camps, sources in Batticaloa said.


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