Tamil women's Confluence Event held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 November 2004, 03:32 GMT]
Tamil women associations in Varothiar Nagar- Puthukuddiyiurpu, a suburb three km off north of Trincomalee town held a "Women's Confluence (Sangamam)" Monday evening at Varothiar Nagar Barathi Tamil Vidiyalayam and handed over a birthday greeting card to Ms Kaaronja, Liberation Tigers' Trincomalee district women political wing to be forwarded to the LTTE leader Mr.V.Pirapaharan on his fiftieth birthday, sources attending the event said.

Ms Kaaronja speaking

At the start of the event, Ms Nalini of LTTE district women political unit hoisted the Thamileelam national flag. Ms S.Pathmanathan lit the common flame of sacrifice followed by other activists and leading citizens of the area.

Ms Kamleswaran Chandrakumary presided.

The objective of the "Confluence" event is to instil in the minds of rural Tamil women about their legitimate rights and ways to preserve them, organizers of the event said.

Ms Ratnavadivel Kanmani, President of the Consortium of Tamil Women Associations of Trincomalee district read out the birthday greeting prepared for the fiftieth birthday of the LTTE Leader. Thereafter, Ms Selvamalar Tharmalingam, President of the area Tamil Women Association handed the greeting to Ms Kaaronja, LTTE Trincomalee district women political wing.

Card wishing LTTE leader on his birthday falling on 26 November

Ms Kaaronja said in her speech that Tamils in the war-torn northeast thought normalcy would be restored in their lives and in their villages once the ceasefire agreement signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and LTTE about three years ago. Even now internally displaced Tamil families are provided shelter in camps and welfare centres as their houses and lands are still occupied by the government security forces.

Six rounds of peace talks were held and later the peace process ended in a deadlock as the government in power has been refusing to resume talks on the Internal Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals of the LTTE. LTTE submitted the ISGA proposals to expedite the restoration of normalcy in the northeast province, Ms Kaaronja said.

Ms S.Pathmanathan, Mr.N.Anandaraj, Mr.Vimalanathan and several others also spoke.