Tamil parties in North-East stipulate ‘acid test’ terms to SL presidential candidates

Vote for Self-Determination, reject major candidates for more effective boycott

A section of civil activists in the North-East jointly promoted the idea of fielding a common Tamil candidate in the SL Presidential Election this time. The idea looked genuine and the process went on until the last minute deadline to find a contestant. The hidden hands of India and West were trying to influence the choice of the candidate through remote control manipulations. The process didn't succeed to the disappointment of the genuinely involved as well as the indirect actors. At the same time, some Tamil sections also argued the case for a boycott of the presidential elections. However, none of them expected the manoeuvre of two former provincial councillors with independent intuition to propose a better solution to the Eezham Tamils. M.K. Shivajilingam of TELO legacy and Ananthy Sasitharan of former LTTE affiliation have nailed it this time. Now the Establishments are after them. Full story >>

Monks step up campaign against Muslims, want to carve out Sinhala colony in Ampaa'rai

Sinhala Theravada Buddhist monks in robe have again started to escalate a land dispute along the coast in Poththvuil division of Ampaa'rai district in the East. The elected Divisional Council (PS) was prepared to allocate three acres of lands to the Buddhist vihara, which the monks had put up in illegally seized plot of three-quarter of an acre. The vihara was erected four years ago with the backing of the SL Navy and the presidential election in 2015. Now, the monks want a large tract of land, up to 42 acres and more, MS Abdul Wazeeth, the chairman of the elected Divisional Council told TamilNet on Saturday. The Tamil-speaking Muslims in Poththuvil fear that the monks were scheming a Sinhala colony at the locality, which is known as Mathuragn-cheanai in Tamil. Using the presidential race, the monks seek to secure additional resources for a future Sinhala colony there, they complained. Full story >>

Indian Coast Guard trespassed into waters off Jaffna, 18 fishers detained since 03 October

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to host an informal summit, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has stepped up patrol activities in the Palk Straits and the Bay of Bengal. On 03 October, the ICG has trespassed into the waters off Jaffna peninsula and detained eighteen poor Eezham Tamil fishers, who were engaged in crab fishing off Ezhuvai-theevu island in an offshore vessel with 18 feet fishing bay. The families are yet to hear from the detained fishermen who are believed to be in the custody of Tamil Nadu Police in Puzhal prison, Annalingam Annarasa, the deputy chairman of Jaffna Islets Fisheries Federation said on Tuesday. Ezhuvai-theevu is the island that is seen first when coming from the Indian coast to Kayts Harbour. Full story >>

Heinous act by HRCSL: former orphans of Chegnchoalai on the brink of losing lands

The so-called Human Rights Commission of genocidal Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has proposed to the Divisional Secretariat office in Karaichchi in Ki'linochchi to evict the resettled former orphans of Chengchoalai who are living at the lands which were bought by the orphanage from the original landowners during the times of war. Cheng-choalai was one of the civilian orphanages operated by the LTTE run de-facto state of Tamil Eelam. It was well known for bringing up children in an exemplary way producing artists and experts within various fields. The lands were allocated to the former orphans through proper purchases during the de-facto civil administration of the LTTE. However, the grounds are now being claimed by greedy elements with vested interests and the SL Human Rights Commission in Jaffna has proposed to do away the arrangement. Full story >>

Families inheriting lands from parents refused of land registration in Moothoor East

The authorities coming under the unitary system of occupying Colombo refuse to register title deeds for lands that are being inherited by newly married couples from their families in Moothoor East of Trincomalee district. The denial causes several other problems as the new families are unable to obtain bank loans or housing schemes without the proof of land ownership. Several appeals were made to resolve this issue since 2008 without any outcome, says I Raveendran, the deputy chairman of Vinaayakar Community Centre in Champoor. Now, the families fear that they would be permanently losing the lands if Gotabhaya Rajapaksa becomes the next SL President. Full story >>

Raghavan plans to distribute uncultivatable lands to Tamils to compensate for loss of fertile lands

SL Governor to Northern Province Suren Raghavan has come up with another deceptive offer to the uprooted Eezham Tamil land-owners in Mullaiththeevu. Raghavan is planning to release some plots of saline and brackish soil along the coast as compensation for their fertile lands, which the SL State had seized from the Tamil land-owners under the so-called ‘Mahaweli’ L system, civil sources at Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat said. Suren Raghavan met the District Secretary and TNA Parliamentarian Mrs Shanthy Sriskandarajah at the District Secretariat in Mullaiththeevu on Wednesday. Mr Raghavan has proposed to de-gazette some plots that are retained under the System L. However, the plots coming under the planned release were only ‘tharavai’ lands, the officials said. Full story >>

2ND LEAD (UPDATE)

Genocidal Sri Lanka hits back at UN, claims it passed ‘litmus test’ on human rights in 2019

SL President Maithiripala Sirisena deployed his Foreign Secretary to tell the UN Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO) in New York that the 2011 Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability, led by Marzuki Darusman, was “so seriously flawed that the Human Rights Council at the time had rejected to issue it with a formal number, as a UN document.” Brushing away the criticisms being levelled against the SL State for promoting war criminals in the rank and file of the military, Ravinatha Ariyasinha ‘reminded’ the UNDPO that the 2015 OISL report was not an outcome of a criminal investigation. SL Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva has not been subjected to any criminal investigation and the public domain reports of the UN cannot be taken as substantive as establishing his culpability, Ariyasinha told the Under Secretary General of the UNDPO, Mr Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Full story >>

No to alternative lands, original lands must be released with compensation, say Tamil activists

SL Governor to North Suren Raghavan is deceiving the Tamil land-owners by proposing to consider accepting alternative properties in return for the fertile lands, which the occupying SL military wants to retain under its control in Valikaamam North in Jaffna. Out of 47 GS divisions, 21 are affected by SL militarisation. It is the most fertile soil in the entire peninsula. The SL military has continued widespread cultivation, dairy farming and fishing by utilising the resources of the uprooted Tamils even after the end of the war in 2009. It is not justifiable, said Nallathamby Ponrajah, the member of Valikaamam South Divisional Council. In the meantime, grassroots activists are planning to launch a renewed campaign to free their lands said SL State must return the properties and also compensate for the loss of income caused by the unjustified occupation of their areas so far. Full story >>

UN employed former Sri Lanka Army officer alleged of killing Tamils in Madu Church

The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), tasked with providing security services to the UN system in delivering its programmes globally, has had a former Sri Lanka Army officer among its rank and file the security staff in the recent years. The ex-SLA officer has previously “killed Tamils in Madu church,” during the times of war, according to allegations made by New York based Inner City Press (ICP), a non-profit organization, which has critically exposed the wrongdoers within the UN system for almost 15 years. The former SL Army officer in question, Lt Col Parakrama Siriwardana, is currently the Head of Security and Emergency Unit at the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), since May 2018. Full story >>

Batticaloa Bar Association protests against contempt of court shown by extremist monks

Tamil and Muslim lawyers of Batticaloa Bar Associaton boycotted their work on Wednesday expressing their solidarity with the Tamil lawyers from Jaffna and Mullaiththeevu who were allegedly assaulted by the extremist Buddhist monks on Monday. The representatives of the bar association described the events that unfolded at Neeraaviyadi on Monday as contempt of court both in word and deed. Full story >>

2ND LEAD (Adds video)

Sinhala extremist monks assault Tamils, say Buddhism stands above Law in Lanka

A group of violent Sinhala Buddhist monks and a mob led by Bodu Bala Sena’s Secretary Gnanasara Thero, carried the remains of the late Kolamba Medhalankara Thero to cremate the controversial monk within the premises of the Tamil Saivite temple at Neeraaviyadi in Mullaiththeevu. They were violating the court ruling that specified a separate locality to mark the ritual. “Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Buddhism stands above the Law here,” proclaimed one of the Buddhist monks, who assaulted the Tamil lawyers and the students near the Neeraaviyadi Pi’l’ laiyaar temple at Naayaa’ru in Mullaiththeevu on Monday. The lawyers were present to convey the information. Elected Tamil politicians and the young generation of Tamil students were witnessing the lopsided behaviour of the SL military and the police, who were only defending the interests of the monks. Full story >>

SL military wants to cremate remains of controversial monk inside temple premises

The occupying Sinhala military is preparing to stage the cremation of the late Kolamba Medhalankara Thero, who was causing ethnic tensions through the controversial project of Sinhala-Buddhicisation at Neeraaviyadi in the ancient Tamil village of Chemmalai in Naayaa'ru, Mullaiththeevu. The project was launched in 2009 by a genocidaire commander of the SL Army, Major General (retd) Jagath Dias and the late Anunayake of the Seruwila Saranakiththi Kalyani Sect, Seruwila Saranakiththi Thero, who was promoting Sinhala colonization along the border of North and East until his demise in May 2016. Kolamba Medhalankara Thero has passed away due to cancer, and the SL Army and SL Navy want to cremate him on Sunday at the premises of the Pi'l'laiyaar temple where he was violently installing a Buddha statue earlier this year. Full story >>

US geopolitics prioritises engagement with genocidal Myanmar above accountability

The US Establishment’s carrot and stick approach has resulted in selecting the genocidal military of Myanmar in the US-ASEAN joint naval exercise held recently in the international waters of Southeast Asia. The move comes just a few weeks after the USA banned Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief, his deputy and two brigadier generals from travelling to the USA over the crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslims. A UN fact-finding mission, which was led by Marzuki Darusman, released a report on Monday this week stating that 600,000 Rohingya remaining inside Myanmar face systematic persecution and continue to live under the threat of genocide. The Darusman-led mission also said it has a confidential list of over 100 names, including Myanmar officials, suspected of being involved in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in addition to six generals it named publicly a year ago. Full story >>