Opposition slams government over attack

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 July 2001, 22:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) have appealed to President Chandrika Kumaratunge to reconvene the prorogued parliament immediately. Both parties made this appeal in the wake of Liberation Tigers’ dawn attack on Katunayake airbase in the early hours of Tuesday morning. " The government is in breach of its duty to protect Katunayake international airport," said the UNP leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, addressing a press conference Tuesday evening.
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STF forces villagers into hard labour

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 July 2001, 15:40 GMT]
Villagers of Puthukudiyiruppu, about 12 km. south of Batticaloa, are being forced to carry out hard labour by the elite Special Task Force troops stationed in the village. The troops summoned 25 villagers to the camp on Sunday and ordered them to clear jungles and shrubs along Manmunai lagoon, said sources in the eastern town.
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President outlines "Constitutional Revolution"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 July 2001, 15:34 GMT]
President Chandrika Kumaratunge said Sunday that the present Constitution could be amended even without a two-thirds majority in parliament if the government obtained a clear mandate at next month's referendum. "How this could be done would be revealed in due course," she told activists and representatives of the ruling People's Alliance who attended a special meeting at the racecourse in Colombo.
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Army's Intimidation of Tamil journalists condemned

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 July 2001, 22:50 GMT]
Aiyathurai Nadesan, a prize winning Tamil journalist in the eastern Town of Batticaloa, was threatened by the coordinating officer of the Sri Lanka Army's 23-3 brigade last week. The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) and the Eastern Lanka Journalists' Association (ELJA) issued statements Friday condemning the intimidation.
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Stand of all parties on Referendum revealed

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 July 2001, 22:46 GMT]
Thirty-three recognized political parties have intimated to the Department of Elections, whether they are for or against the referendum scheduled to be held on August 21, according to a press release by the Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake. "Political parties that have not intimated their stand to the Department of Elections will be treated as neutral parties," the press release added.
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Opposition parties condemn attack on demonstrators

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 July 2001, 20:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka's opposition parties condemned the police attack on anti-government demonstrators that left two people dead and about 70 wounded. UNP sources said the police attacked demonstrators led by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe. The UNP Leader escaped unhurt due to the prompt action of his bodyguards. Mr.Wickremesinghe accused the police of trying to assassinate him.
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Army suspect assaults journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 July 2001, 20:48 GMT]
A journalist was assaulted in court premises by a suspect in the Mirusuvil massacre case Wednesday morning. The suspect is one of fourteen soldiers accused of massacring civilians in Mirusuvil. The incident took place when the accused were brought to the court in Point Pedro, where the Chavakachcheri Magistrate's Court is sitting under heavy security.
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Two SLA soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 July 2001, 16:02 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers were wounded and another was reported missing when the Liberation Tigers attacked an army detachment at Mahindapura, at about 10.30 a.m. Wednesday morning, local army sources said.
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Journalists demand action against PSD

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 July 2001, 15:50 GMT]
Journalists and opposition parliamentarians Tuesday demonstrated in front of the Fort Railway station in downtown Colombo, urging the Government to act against "intimidation" from the Presidential Security Division (PSD).
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Police officer shot dead

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 July 2001, 09:10 GMT]
A Sri Lankan police officer was shot dead Sunday by unidentified attackers, believed to be members of the Liberation Tigers, at Aalankerni, a suburb in Kinniya, about 10 km. north west of Trincomalee town, said police sources.
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"Colombo's embargo targets schoolchildren"- official

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 July 2001, 19:09 GMT]
More than a thousand students in a Vanni school were found to be suffering from malnutrition, an official in the department of education in the northern region said Saturday. He said many students in the Vallipunam high school were also diagnosed for acute malnutrition.
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Staff protest at Eastern University

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 July 2001, 21:36 GMT]
Academic and non-academic staff of the Eastern University picketed the campus at Vanthaarumoolai in Batticaloa on Friday morning. The picketing, held for an hour, was in protest of the closure of the University of Jaffna and the arrest by government soldiers of student leader, Mr.Thivyan.
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Protest shuts Trincomalee down

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 July 2001, 08:47 GMT]
Tamil medium schools and several government and provincial offices in Trincomalee district were closed Friday in protest to the closure of Jaffna University and the detention of the undergraduate Krishnasamy Thiviyan.
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Students criticise Jaffna VC as protests mount

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 July 2001, 21:10 GMT]
Schools in the Jaffna peninsula were closed Thursday in protest against the closure of the Jaffna University and the detention of the undergraduate Krishnasami Thivyan. Groups of protesting students who gathered near their schools in Jaffna town were assaulted by Sri Lanka army and police personnel who have stepped up security here since early this week.
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One killed in SLN attack on Mannar fishermen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 July 2001, 19:42 GMT]
A fisherman was killed when Sri Lanka Navy Fast Attack Craft opened fire on local fishing boats in the seas off Silavathurai on the southern coast of the Mannar district around 7.30 a.m. Thursday morning. Josephthaasan Cruz, 36, father of four, was shot dead in his boat. His colleague, Soosaithasan Mary Alphonse, 25, escaped the attack.
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Kumaratunga seeks 'unequivocal' mandate

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 July 2001, 19:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga Thursday blamed the island's constitution for the ills besetting her country and called for unequivocal mandate for a new constitution in an address to the 'nation' on state run television. The speech focused primarily on the need to do away with the proportional representation system of elections introduced under the 1978 constitution.
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Arrested student leader said being tortured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 July 2001, 02:06 GMT]
(News Feature) Krishnasamy Thivyan, the former secretary of the Jaffna University Students Union who was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army has been tortured in military custody, fellow students said Wednesday. In a statement published in Jaffna's Tamil Daily, the Uthayan, the students also said that Thivyan, who is being held by the SLA at its Kankesanthurai, had survived earlier attempts on his life by the security forces.
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CTTU to protest closure of Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 July 2001, 20:29 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has strongly condemned the closure of Jaffna University. "We request the Govt. to reopen the University of Jaffna immediately" said Mr. Mahasivam, General Secretary of the CTTU.
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Tamil student protests spread

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 July 2001, 19:42 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army and Police tightened security around the Jaffna University Wednesday. Soldiers and Police personnel were deployed on the roads in the environs of the campus and near its main entrance. The security forces set up roadblocks and checked civilians. Students of the Jaffna Technical College boycotted classes in protest against the closing down of the Jaffna University. Undergraduates of the Eastern University and the Vavuniya campus of the Jaffna University continued their protest boycott Wednesday. "The University is under siege by the army and Police," a spokesman for the undergraduates said.
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"PA can still form the Govt." D.M. Jayaratne

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 July 2001, 17:49 GMT]
"As the single largest party in Parliament, the People's Alliance (PA) can be invited to form the Government again even if it is defeated in the no-confidence motion," said D.M. Jayaratne, the General Secretary of the PA.
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