Diaspora and Tamil Nadu have to play their cards

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 April 2010, 10:51 GMT]
Diaspora's self-organised structures of experimental democracy polarising political will, is inspiration as well as fallback to the polity of the silenced people at home, writes TamilNet political commentator adding that diaspora Tamils have an immense responsibility in seeing right people come forward and right people elected to these bodies. On current geopolitical perspectives he writes: “The West and intelligence circles in India invariably acknowledge that much significance is attached to the role Tamil Nadu could play in the given scenario. But how effectively the people of Tamil Nadu are going to play their strength to achieve a decisive solution overpowering deceptions of detractors is the concern of Eezham Tamils.”
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New Sri Lankan cabinet to be sworn in on April 21

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 April 2010, 09:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has been working on the formation of his new cabinet limited between 35-40 ministers with equal number of deputy ministers, scheduled to be sworn in on April 21, the day before the new parliament is to commence its sitting. A decision has already been taken to re-appoint Ratnasiri Wickremanayake as the Prime Minister to pacify other contenders for the post, political sources said.
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Teen-age girl recovered dead from well in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 2010, 15:35 GMT]
The body of a 17-year-old girl student of Jaffna Hindu Ladies’ College was recovered from a well near her home in Chemma’ni in Nalloor Monday. She had gone missing Saturday night. Meanwhile, the woman whose body was found in I’lavaalai Sunday had been sexually assaulted before being killed, according I’lavaalai police. Mysterious killings and persons going missing have increased in Jaffna peninsula in recent times causing its residents to be gripped in fear and anxiety, sources in Jaffna said.
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Lawyer Sumanthiran to be appointed MP in TNA national list

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 2010, 05:06 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) circles in Jaffna confirmed Saturday that N. A. Sumanthiran, a prominent attorney-at–law, is to be proposed as the Member of Parliament in its national list. Former lecturer of Jaffna University, Prof. Sittampalam had been earlier proposed to this place but the change has been made according to the wish of the newly elected TNA candidates from North and East, sources in Jaffna said.
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Re-poll in Kumpuruppiddi village

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 2010, 16:19 GMT]
A re-poll is to be held in Kumpuruppiddi polling station in the Trincomalee electorate on April 20 following the cancellation of polling held on April 8. Kumpuruppiddi is a Tamil village located north of Trincomalee town along Trincomalee-Pulmoaddai highway.
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TNA MP: Low turnout reflects Tamils losing faith in political system

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 2010, 01:34 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson Suresh Premachandran has been quoted by The Island as saying that the very low turnout of Tamils in North and East in the 7th parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka signalled that the Tamil voters were losing faith in the political system. The TNA MP from Jaffna further said that the majority of Tamils who participated in the elections had endorsed the TNA manifesto for the resolution of the conflict and speedy re-settlement of the uprooted civilians.
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Overwhelming Tamil majority rejects elections under Sri Lankan State

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2010, 11:04 GMT]
A record number of candidates, numbering more than 1800 contested for the parliamentary seats in the North and East, but Eezham Tamils responded to it by a record low in participation. The turnout was only 18 percent in the North. Even after including the displaced it is only 23%. The clear verdict of Eezham Tamils, said in the most profound democratic way under circumstances possible, is that they have no confidence in democracy under Sri Lankan State. Another interesting observation is that in the entire Jaffna district, the leading Tamil National Alliance (TNA) totally polled just 65,119, only as much as the 64,256 votes cast in favour of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution by the diaspora in UK alone. The silent but vast majority of Eezham Tamils at home demand new genre of political organisation and leadership is the message of Thursday's polls.
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Ballot boxes dispatched to polling booths in Jaffna, Ki’linochchi districts

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 April 2010, 11:07 GMT]
Jaffna secretariat started dispatching Wednesday morning ballot boxes and polling cards in vehicles escorted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police to the polling centres in Jaffna district and to the cluster voting centres set up in Ki’linochchi district and in the islets of Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The ballot boxes, cards and election duty officers to Nedunththeevu were flown in a helicopter. Meanwhile, Saravanabavan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate contesting Jaffna electorate, alleged that nearly 3,000 polling cards had been snatched away by Eezham People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) men in the islets of Jaffna.
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TNPF manifesto cannot be faulted: Brian Senewiratne

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2010, 02:10 GMT]
There has been no “General Election” in Sri Lanka since 1977. Most of the Tamils in the North and East have been effectively disenfranchised and only marginally better than the Plantation Tamils, says Brian Senewiratne. The options for the Tamils in the North and East are limited. They will not vote for the sympathetic left led by Sinhala leaders. This leaves the choice between the two, TNA and the TNPF. If I were a Tamil, there is no way I would vote for the TNA. The TNPF seems to have got the message that the Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinistic regime has to be confronted, and challenged, not pampered. The election choices facing the Plantation Tamils are serious, mainly because their political party is as ruthless as the government. Facing discontent the CWC is intimidating the Left working in the plantations, Brian writes.
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Election fraud feared in Jaffna electorate

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 April 2010, 16:47 GMT]
The open participation of a high police officer in the election propaganda meeting of Minister Douglas Devananda at Nalloor Ilang Kalaingar Hall Sunday has triggered suspicion and fear that the police and Sri Lanka armed forces will support election fraud in favour of Douglas Devananda’s Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and its ally Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), sources in Jaffna said.
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Elections for ‘Asian’ model of dictatorship

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 April 2010, 10:27 GMT]
Even though the present elections are imposed ones and are deviation tactics of the oppressors, if it is properly understood where the game is heading for, Eezham Tamils will know to whom should they vote to keep their aspirations alive. Despite all odds, the TNA line of politics has to be challenged by the Tamil national cause, at least in some token constituencies, to send the message loud and clear to India and to the outside world. Such a challenge only can be the inspiration for Tamils to eventually evolve the much needed new genre of polity of their own to meet the local and global scenario and once again, such a challenge only can nullify forces conspiring to divide Eezham Tamils in the diaspora and at home, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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EPDP alleged of removing wall posters of other contestants, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2010, 12:51 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) chief candidate Ms. Vijayakala Vijayakala’s supporters in Jaffna town accused Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) for tearing off their campaign wall posters and pasting Minister Douglas Devananda’s and EPDP candidates in their places in Jaffna town and its surroundings. Other political parties including Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and All Ceylon Tamil Congress too blamed the EPDP men for removing their wall posters.
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“Winning the hearts of Sinhalese should be the main aim” – Varatharaja Perumal

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2010, 12:36 GMT]
“All the Tamils in Sri Lanka together should strive to win the hearts of the Sinhalese,” Varatharaja Perumal, the leader of Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) said in the press meet he held Friday at the EPRLF office of Pathmanaba faction located on Hospital Road Jaffna. “If all the Tamil factions agree on a common solution for the ethnic issue India will exert its pressure on Sri Lanka to implement it,” Varatharaja Perumal said.
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Thanthai Chelva remembered on his 112th Birthday in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2010, 15:09 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop of South Indian Diocese, Rt. Rev. Jebanesan, the president of Thanthai Chelva Trustee Board, garlanded the statue of late leader Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, located in the Chelva mausoleum in Jaffna town Wednesday around 9:30 a.m, in the first event of the day in remembering Thanthai Chelva on his 112th birthday. Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, founder of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), fondly called by Tamils as "Thanthai" (father), was remembered by several others who turned up later to garland the statue and offer flowers at its feet, sources in Jaffna said.
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TNA says it does not uphold ‘One country, two Nations’ policy – JU Student Union

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2010, 16:02 GMT]
Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) representatives held discussions individually with the candidates of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) contesting forthcoming parliamentary elections Tuesday in which the candidates were requested to spell out their political principles, the stand and activities they intend taking after the election, the media report released by Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) said. The discussion was organized by JUSU representatives so that the doubts prevailing among the Tamils about the political policies of both parties could be cleared. TNA did not accept TNPF’s doctrine of ‘One country, two Nations’ but upheld the policy of ‘One Country with Two Nationalities’, the report quoted TNPF candidates.
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Suresh Premachandran accuses EPDP men for abduction, killing of student in Chaavakachcheari

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 March 2010, 17:15 GMT]
Suresh Premachandran, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian, accused Eealm People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) men, an ally of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), for the abduction and killing of Thiruchelvam Kapilthev, a 17-year-old student of Chaavakachcheari Hindu College in a report released Sunday in Jaffna. Suresh Premachandran accused the police to have willfully ignored the statements of the three students arrested and detained in this case where the involvement of EPDP members is mentioned.
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Confederation of nations, solution to save Trincomalee: Varatharajan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 March 2010, 12:23 GMT]
Demographic genocide of Trincomalee cannot be stopped unless the two-nation reality in the island is recognised. Tomorrow even Jaffna will have the fate of Trincomalee, warned S. Varatharajan, the main candidate of Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) for the Jaffna District. Based on official census, the economic teacher came out with a graphic presentation showing how the percentage of Tamils dropped in Trincomalee district from 66 to 33 percent and the percentage of Sinhalese went up from 3 to 33 percent, even before 1981. “This is why we advocate a confederacy of two nations as a solution,” he said.
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Uprooted Champoor families undergo hardships in welfare centres

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 March 2010, 12:07 GMT]
Two thousand and five hundred members of seven hundred and ninety four uprooted families from Champoor in Moothoor East have been undergoing untold hardships without drinking water and water facilities for bathing purposes in temporary shelters which are located in Ki'liveddi, Paddiththidal and Ma'nalcheanai in Moothoor Divisional Secretariat (DS) division.
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Coup in The Hindu means more than a family feud

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 March 2010, 19:35 GMT]
Battle for control breaks out in The Hindu, very divided family, reported Indian Express Thursday. At the heart of this battle is the proposed retirement of publisher and the group Editor-in-Chief N Ram and his decision to dig his heels in. According to people close to the developments, the board is split, one group supporting Ram and the other seeking his retirement, Indian Express reported further. In the corporate dictated scenario of polity in India, the coup means more than a family feud – a panic in the Indian corporate world over a failed course and scurried attempts to revise it, political observers said. Similar tensions are noticed in recent times in India’s External Affairs and Home establishments too, the observers further said.
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EPDP continues to obstruct political parties from campaigning in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 March 2010, 10:37 GMT]
The election campaign activities that were planned to be carried out in the islets of Jaffna by political parties including United National Party (UNP), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and other independent groups contesting Jaffna electorate Wednesday with police protection were given up at the last minute as Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) men continue to obstruct anyone other than the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its allies engaging in election campaign in the islets of Jaffna which is held in the complete control of Sri Lanka Navy, sources in Jaffna said.
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