Batticaloa district ignored in post-war 'development'

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 11:38 GMT]
“Colombo Central authority is taking steps to issue water from Unnichchai Tank in Batticaloa district to Sinhala people disregarding appeal made on behalf of Tamil people to the authority concerned. Colombo government has begun suspending 'development' works in Paduvaankarai area and plans to allocate lands in the area to foreign companies and the resources entitled for Tamil people are being given to the Sinhala community. The Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) and its Governor are answerable and should bear responsibility for the injustice done to Tamil people in the area,” R. Thurairatnam, member of the EPC said.
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'EU should coordinate powers to bring justice to Eezham Tamils'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 September 2010, 05:08 GMT]
While powers and countries like Norway, preoccupied with geo-strategy and ‘development’, ignore the fundamentals of the crisis in the island, the European Union should work towards convincing and coordinating them in bringing political justice to Eezham Tamils, said 62-year-old Jegatheeswaran Arunachalam, an Australian national who witnessed the war in Vanni to its end. The EU, consisting of old nations that have gone through the gravity of national question in history, is in a better position to grasp appropriate solutions, he said. “As an immediate action, the EU should send a fact finding mission that includes members of the diaspora, and it should work for an internationally guaranteed situation for the diaspora to independently reach out its kith and kin in the island”, Jegatheeswaran, now on a Walk for Justice mission across Europe with two fellow activists, told TamilNet Friday.
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Compensation not paid to uprooted families in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 03:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has failed to pay compensation to the families uprooted from their homes in Batticaloa district due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 2006 offensives on places like Paduvaankarai who are languishing in the interim camps in Batticaloa town, Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian P. Selvarasa said. Though this matter had been brought to the notice of Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation on several occasions no action has been taken by the minister, he added.
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Speaker to recommend 2 MPs to SL Parliamentary Council

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 03:13 GMT]
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa is to recommend two names from among Tamil and Muslim parliamentarians for approval to Sri Lanka’s President as nominees to the Parliamentary Council as Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna and the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe failed to nominate as required by the 18th amendment within the stipulated seven day period, Acting Secretary General of Sri Lanka Parliament Neil Iddawela told media Wednesday.
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Ampaa'rai student tops Tamil scholarship exam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 18:23 GMT]
A girl student of Thampiluvil Kalaimakal Viththiyaalayam in Thirukkoayil Education Zone in Ampaa’rai district secured the first place in Tamil medium Year Five scholarship examination 2010.
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Complaints against SL Deputy Minister’s empty promises

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 06:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, has failed to fulfill his promises to solve the drinking water problem of the people of Kuruma’nve’li and Murungkaiyadi and the difficulties caused by the break down of the boat service between Thu’raineelaava’nai and Annamalai in Batticaloa district, the people of the areas said. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian P. Selvarasa had raised these issues two months ago in the District Development meeting presided by the Deputy Minister. There is no use in Muralitharn being a Deputy Minister in Sri Lanka government when he hasn’t the power to solve even these problems, the people said.
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Upcountry Tamils who fled to escape attack live in fear

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2010, 16:23 GMT]
Several upcountry Tamil families had fled from Kiribathgoda rubber plantation in Nivithigala in Ratnapura district 12 September night due to attacks by Sinhala gangs following the killing of a Sinhala estate watcher. The families had sought refuge in the neighbouring estates where they continue to live in fear, unable to return to their homes. The body of the watcher killed was found 13 September. Unidentified persons had abducted the watcher the previous night.
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‘Elusive international justice snatches away desire to live’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 20:42 GMT]
“We expected some country to step in to resolve the crisis... We believed that a dawn would come, a solution would come through [international] mediation after all the hardships we went through. But, nothing happened. Everything went out of hand for us to end up in the army-controlled area as living corpses. All countries have betrayed us,” told 40-year-old Ananthi Sasitharan, the wife of Elilan, the former Trincomalee Political Head of the LTTE, to BBC Tamil Saturday after complaining to the LLRC that SL President should know the whereabouts of her husband and fellow LTTE officials surrendered through a Catholic Priest in Mullaiththeevu on 18 May 2009. When asked whether she was concerned about repercussions for stating her views publicly from Vanni, the mother of three responded: “I am not afraid. I am prepared to face anything since we don't now live with the zest for life.”
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Speaker to appoint nominee to Parliamentary Council if UNP fails

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 05:00 GMT]
The Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament will be entrusted with the powers to appoint the relevant representative to the parliamentary council if the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe fails to appoint a member within next week. Ranil Wickremasinghe Thursday nominated Tamil national Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M. A Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council but the TNA MP rejected the nomination. Since then Ranil Wickremasinghe has not nominated a new person, SL parliament sources said.
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TNA parliamentarians to visit Valikaamam North HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 05:51 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman and Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said that a group of TNA parliamentarians will be visiting Valikaamam North Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied High Security Zone (HSZ) once they get the permission from Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence. Meanwhile, Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka minister and brother of SL President Mahinda Rjapaksa who is in Jaffna has again said that the families uprooted from Valikaamam North by SLA will be allowed to resettle in their places excluding the surroundings of Palaali Airport, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA authorities have already marked places in Palaali to construct housing schemes for the colonization of Sinhala families in the lands of Tamils evicted by SLA, sources in Palaali said.
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TNA rejects Wickremesinghe’s offer

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 14:44 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday refused to give consent to the opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint TNA parliamentarian, M. N. Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council constituted under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. TNA media spokesman and Jaffna district parliamentarian said Ranil Wickremesinghe wanted the party’s consent to appoint Sumanthiran. TNA has informed Ranil Wickremasinghe that it has opposed the 18th amendment and it will boycott the Parliamentary Council.
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SL government ‘explores’ development of Jaffna district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 15:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka government which had not contributed to the development of Jaffna district in any significant manner is showing off the development activities in Jaffna peninsula funded by World Bank and Asian Development Bank as if it is spending its own money on them, government officials who participated in SL government’s Jaffna District Development Meeting (DDM) held in Jaffna Secretariat Wednesday said. The meeting was similar to the earlier ones where on going development activities and future plans for development were just ‘explored’ into without any concrete allocation of funds for them. On the whole it was lip service paid to the ‘development of North’ Sri Lanka government claims to be interested in, they added.
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Tension in Ratnapura following attack on Upcountry Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 08:18 GMT]
More than 100 Upcountry Tamil families were displaced after Sinhalese estate workers burnt their houses and properties in Kiribatgala rubber plantation in Nivithigala in Ratnapura district Monday night. The attack on Tamils comes following the killing of a Sinhala estate watcher who was found dead Monday after being abducted by unidentified persons Sunday night. Tension prevails between in the district following the outbreak of the violence. Tamils in the district complain that they have been increasingly targeted by Sinhala mobs in recent times.
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Supreme Court begins inquiry into Presidential election petition filed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 19:30 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Tuesday appeared first time in the Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on the second day of inquiry into the presidential election petition filed by him. Fonseka has challenged the election of incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential election held in January this year. The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) produced Sarath Fonseka, the petitioner in the case in the court Tuesday on the direction made by the five-member bench of the Supreme Court on Monday. Fonseka is being detained in the Sri Lanka Navy headquarters since he lost in the presidential election to Rajapakse.
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TNA attends SL District Development meeting in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2010, 04:48 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarians Suresh Premachandran and Sarvanabavan participated in the Sri Lanka government’s Jaffna District Development meeting Sunday in Jaffna. This is the first time TNA parliamentarians are participating in the District Development Meeting in Jaffna district. Suresh Premachandran had issued a message to local media Saturday night that TNA will attend the Sunday meeting. Sri Lanka Minister of Disaster Management A. H. M. Fowzi and SL Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Douglas Devananda jointly chaired the Sunday meeting.
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Desecration of Saiva temples in Trincomalee district continues

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 14:39 GMT]
Desecration of Saiva temples in the Eastern Province, especially in Trincomalee district, continues causing serious concern among the Saiva community. Last week unidentified men had desecrated three Saiva koayils in Thampalakaamam, a traditional village in Trincomalee. The head of the statue of Vairavar in the historic Aathi Koa'neasvarar Temple and the head of the Naakathampi’raan statue in Kaa'limeadu Mari Amman Koayil were found smashed and the holy trident in Paddimeadu Chinthaama'ni Pi’l’laiyaar Koayil was found missing, according to complaints lodged with Thampalakaamam Police.
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Gotabaya Rajapaksa in China with military top brass

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 10:12 GMT]
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka Defence Ministry Secretary, left to China Saturday leading a military delegation consisting of the Chiefs of Staff of Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Airforce. China had been one of the mains suppliers of military hardware and expertise during Sri Lanka’s war on Vanni last year.
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'Colombo teaches lessons of political culture for South Asia'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 14:22 GMT]
The 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed in Sri Lankan parliament Wednesday with a majority of 144 votes. The Amendment, which has been passed in a rush by the government without pubic debate enables Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest presidential election for any number of terms besides bestowing additional powers in the appointments of key government posts. What is happening to state and democracy in the island of Sri Lanka is a warning to people who are deceived in the ‘democratic’ practices of dynasties and families in the rest of South Asia, political observers said. Sometimes back, a key diplomat of a leading power, looking after South Asia, tolerantly sounded that family rule in the island is typical of contemporary political culture in the region.
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Debate on 18th amendment begins in Sri Lankan Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 07:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s seventy nine year-old Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna tabled the 18th Amendment to the constitution in Parliament Wednesday morning. According to the 18th amendment, the restriction of the two term executive presidency system is to be removed allowing the incumbent president to contest any number of times.
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SL parliament adopts emergency extension without voting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month without voting. Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna tabled the motion seeking the approval of the parliament. Parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who were present in the house did not ask for division when the motion was put to vote.
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