http://www.tamilnet.com Latest 20 TamilNet reports from Sri Lanka en Copyright (c) 1997-2019 TamilNet Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:53:38 GMT Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:53:38 GMT tamilnet@tamilnet.com http://www.tamilnet.com/img/feedlogo2.gif http://www.tamilnet.com 88 31 TamilNet logo http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=39572 Jaffna Fisheries Societies Federation has expressed concerns over the looming danger of Sinhalicisation of Fisheries Education in the North. The Sinhalicisation is done through making English as the medium of instruction and populating the students from the South. The move should also be seen with the Sinhala colonisation of the jetties and ports in the Tamil homeland through the so-called mega-development schemes such as the recently started construction of the fishing port in Point Pedro and projects such as the “Enterprise Sri Lanka,” spearheaded by various ministries, departments and authorities of the occupying unitary state in Colombo, according to V. Thavachelvan, the president of Jaffna Fisheries Federation. Wed, 11 Sep 2019, 22:29 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39571 The occupying SL military continues to use the building of the Tamil school, Sarawathy Viththiyaalayam, as resort despite repeated requests to release the building. The SL military stationed along Batticaloa-Naavaladi Road 46 km north of the city is using the building, both as a camp and a resort for tourists from the South. The SL Army has not obtained permission from the Divisional Council to operate the resort, and when the Council took up the matter with the SL Army, the officers claimed that it was not a resort, but only a residence for the families and the relatives of the SL Army officers. Tue, 10 Sep 2019, 22:26 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=39570 SL Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and SL Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera were visiting Jaffna during the weekend along with SL minister for Megapolis & Western Development, ‘Patali’ Champika Ranawaka, the secretary of Sinhala-Buddhist ultra-nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). Mr Wickramasinghe was reciting the mantra of ‘development’ and was repeating the talk of ‘devolving more powers’ to the provincial councils through securing a majority in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. However, Mr Ranawaka, who is opposed to the concept of Sinhalese sharing political power with Tamils in a federal arrangement, was claiming that a ‘megacity’ project would be transforming the city into one of the four main economic hubs in the island. Furthermore, Ranawaka contended that the plan was part of an integrated ‘national physical plan’, which conceived at Battaramulla in Colombo. Mon, 09 Sep 2019, 16:40 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=39569 The details of all the private lands still retained by the occupying SL military have been gathered and kept up-to-date by the Divisional Secretariats and the District Secretariats for years. However, SL Governor to North, Suren Raghavan, has recently issued a new form instructing the people who wish to reclaim their lands to file details along with the copy of the land deed directly to his secretariat. The latest move could be nothing else than a pure deception as witnessed forty-five days ago in Keerimalai (J/226) GS area, says Shageevan Shangmugalingam, the chairman of Valikaamam North Resettlement Committee. The landowners in Keerimalai were asked to allow surveying of their lands to reclaim the plots. But, the SL military was using the opportunity to seize the properties not claimed within the timeframe. Only 69 acres (1,100 Parappu) were counted as claimed by the owners, he said. Sun, 08 Sep 2019, 23:07 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39568 The settlement pattern of the Tamil-speaking aborigines, who were looking after their own administrative affairs in the southeastern sector of Trincomalee district has been severely disturbed after 2010, says Nadarajah Kanagaratnam, the chairperson of Kuveani community organisation from the village of Nalloor. The villages of Veddahs are now riddled with various demographic changes carried out by the Sinhala-dominated SL State and the encroaching settlements facilitated by a section of the Muslim politicians in the East. The latest land grab was carried out by MLAM Hizbullah, the former SL Governor to East. After the controversial politician was forced to resign from the portfolio, the aboriginal people entered back into their lands in the hope of regaining them. However, a group of settlers from the nearby Thoappoor village have started to threaten the indigenous people in August 2019. Sat, 07 Sep 2019, 20:49 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39567 Widespread logging of forest trees, large-scale alienation of forest lands and hunting of spotted and sambur deers, as well as local buffaloes, continue unabated amidst persistent ignorance and possible collusion with the SL Forest and Wildlife Conservation Departments as well as the SL Police. Local Councillor Kandiah Soundararajan, who is elected from Vaddk-ka'ndal in Maanthai West Divisional Council (Piratheasa-chapai/PS), has exposed the extent of the destruction when contacted by TamilNet this week. In the meantime, the law enforcement authorities of the unitary state mechanism in Colombo are systematically depriving the resettled poverty-stricken and landless Tamils. It is the local population, which constitutes a nature-loving-society with excellent human-environment relationships, as history has witnessed in the past, Tamil activists in Mannaar observed. Fri, 06 Sep 2019, 15:19 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39566 The SL Police from Nedungkea'ni police station has instructed the trustee board of Vedukku-naa'ri Aathi-Lingkeasvarar temple in Vavuniyaa North not to use loudspeakers to play devotional songs during the annual temple festival. The SL Archaeology Department started to claim the locality as coming under its purview last year in August and deployed the SL Police to block Tamil devotees from setting up a ladder to the hilltop. When the dispute went to the courts, the local community was allowed to proceed with the deity rituals without engaging in any construction work. This year, the SL Police has restricted the devotees even from playing devotional songs, commented Thamilchelvan Thurairajah, an elected councillor at the Civic Divisional Council of Vavuniyaa North. Thu, 05 Sep 2019, 20:48 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39565 The officers of the occupying SL Army’s 232 Brigade Headquarters, stationed at Tharavai near Kudumpi-malai (Thoppik-kal, Baron’s Cap) in the interior Batticaloa, are refusing to vacate from the irrigation and agrarian offices. Around 1,500 farmers who are organised in 25 organisations in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan) DS Division are deprived of benefiting from the services of the public office due to the continued militarisation by the Sinhala army, the representatives of the farmer's associations said. The office buildings are used as the residential offices of the commanding officers of the SL Army. The offices are also used as resorts for the Sinhala visitors from the South. Wed, 04 Sep 2019, 22:49 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39564 Last week, an unknown motorcyclist hit the motorbike of a leading Tamil woman activist S. Chandraleela, who is one of the main organisers of Keappaa-pulavu continuous protest. 43-year-old Chandraleela was on her way to her house from Mullaiththeevu with her daughter seated on the bike. Both the mother and the daughter were thrown into the air during the crash. All those involved in the accident were admitted to Maagn-choalai hospital with injuries. However, the man who hit them has been either freed or transferred to another hospital in secrecy. The identity of the man being hidden from the records has raised serious doubts of the accident being a planned one, rights activists in Mullaiththeevu said. The SL military intelligence is capable of experimenting with different techniques from time to time, be it ‘white-vans’, ‘grease-devils’ or ‘intended-accidents’, they said. Tue, 03 Sep 2019, 23:02 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39563 Uprooted Eezham Tamils who are returning from their overseas displacement in Tamil Nadu find it increasingly challenging to regain their lands and livelihood in the North-East of the island, civil officials in Mannaar said. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) and the SL state apparatus fail to meet even the basic requirements of those returning, the officials said. While the UNCHR facilitates the flight transport of the refugees through Colombo airport, it expects the SL State to complete the resettlement arrangements at the district level. However, the officials coming under the Colombo government in the district say they are unable to cope with the challenges, even to find temporary accommodation to the returning families. Mon, 02 Sep 2019, 23:42 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=39562 Poththuvil Divisional Council (PS) Chairman MS Abdul Wazeeth has blamed the extremist Sinhala Buddhist monks for waging hate-campaign against Poththuvil Muslims. An extremist monk based at the newly constructed vihara has claimed that the Muslim villagers were attempting to assault him and he keeps alleging that the ancient Buddhist monuments found close to the beach were being destroyed as the SL Government in Colombo, particularly the UNP led by Ranil Wickramasinghe, had allowed the Muslims to encroach the lands of the so-called Muhudu Maha Viharaya. The archaeological monuments and the monks are protected by armed Sinhala soldiers and the police round the clock. How could the villagers assault them, he asked. It was the monks who had encroached into the areas that come under the purview of the SL Archaeology Department, MSA Wazeeth said. Sun, 01 Sep 2019, 18:16 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39561 The representatives of the largest dairy farmers association in Batticaloa complain that fifteen of their members had to spend 300,000 rupees on travelling forth and back between Dehiyattakandiya and Batticaloa throughout the last four years to face a case filed against them by the SL Forest Department in 2015. The Forest Department guards detained the cattle herders and filed a lawsuit against them at the Magistrate’s Court in Dehiattekandiya in Ampaa'rai. The representatives of the Live Stock Farmers’ Society in Mayilaththamadu and Periyamathava'nai (LSFS-MP) told TamilNet that the petitioner was failing to attend the hearings and that the case was being postponed every time. It is a form of systematic harassment meted out to Tamil dairy farmers, they complained. Every time, when the case is scheduled the group of farmers and their cattle herders have to travel 140 km both the ways. Sat, 31 Aug 2019, 23:36 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=39560 The families of Eezham Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the occupying Sinhala military and its paramilitaries in the past staged two coordinated demonstrations in the North and East on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared on Friday. More than 500 people, including the grassroots activists and supporting politicians, marched for two hours from Pa'nrik-keytha-ku'lam to Oamanthai, the former entry point to the erstwhile de-facto state of Tamil Eelam. Those handed over to the occupying Sinhala military at the entry point in Vavuniyaa, and at Vadduvaakal in Mullaiththeevu were taken to undisclosed detention camps, and their whereabouts are since not known. The wives and the mothers of the missing persons denounced the reparations mechanisms of the so-called Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and demanded international justice. Fri, 30 Aug 2019, 23:39 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39559 Douglas Devananda, the leader of the paramilitary-cum-political party, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), has again resorted to harassment against the mothers of Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the military of genocidal Sri Lanka and his EPDP outfit. Mr Devananda was an SL minister during the regimes of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa. The SL military deployed his group to abduct Tamil activists, journalists and those who were working with the LTTE. Recently, he told the press that he had lodged a complaint with the SL Police in Colombo against the open and public statements made by Mrs Mariasuresh Easwary, the wife of a person reported missing at the hands of the SL military. Mrs Easwary, who heads the district organisation of missing persons in Mullaith-theevu, was making the open allegation on behalf of the members of her organisation. Thu, 29 Aug 2019, 22:43 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39558 SL President Maithiripala Sirisena has come up with a promotional video advertising the launch of the so-called development of a fisheries harbour at Point-Pedro in Jaffna. The video itself turns out to be the “proof of concept” of Sinhala colonisation of Tamil fisheries industry in the North. A similar project was abandoned at Peasaalai in Mannaar recently. However, the SL Governor in North Suren Raghavan is determined to speedily commence the project amidst the objections from the grassroots including the three fisher associations and two prominent colleges of Eezham Tamils in the area. SL President Maithiripala's promo video exposes the agenda by featuring the intruding Sinhala fishers in Point Pedro. The Asian Development Bank is abetting the genocidal project, branded as a mega port project. Wed, 28 Aug 2019, 21:36 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39557 The SL Governor to North Suren Raghavan, who is the Tamil agent of Maithiripala Sirisena, the SL President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, has organised a book fair in Jaffna this week. The military intelligence outfits of New Delhi and Colombo were collaborating behind the scene to sophisticatedly mix selected books from Tamil Nadu with publications depicting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as ‘terrorists’. The target audience of the book fair is the younger generation of Eezham Tamils. The officers of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka were invited as the special guests to the event along with the Mayor of Jaffna and the Tamil children wearing Sinhala costumes were garlanding the guests at the event held under the patronage of the SL Governor at the Veerasingam Hall. Tue, 27 Aug 2019, 23:36 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39556 The commanders of the occupying Sinhala military stationed in three of the five divisions of Mannaar district have been partnering with millionaire wood traders from the South in a widespread and systematic illegal logging going on for a long time after 2009, Tamil officials in Mannaar District Secretariat said. The massive-scale exploitation has reached dangerous proportions and was causing severe environmental effects, the officials told TamilNet. The SL Forest Conservation Department or the SL Police do not act against the conduct of the SL military officers. Now, the SL military is also enjoying the police powers, overriding the authority of the SL Police, the officials further said. Mon, 26 Aug 2019, 23:35 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39555 The OMP office in Jaffna was secretly declared open ahead of the scheduled time on Saturday. The SL military also used to abduct their children in secrecy, commented the protesting families of Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances in the past. The Chairperson of the OMP, Mr Saliya Peiris declared the regional office opened at 6:30 a.m., four hours ahead of the scheduled time to avoid the presence of the protesters. Meanwhile, Karu Jayasuriya (UNP), the speaker of the SL Parliament as well as SL Minister Mano Ganesan dropped their plans to grace the occasion as the protesting Tamil women had severely criticised the move in advance. Sun, 25 Aug 2019, 08:58 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39554 The coordinator of Mullaiththeevu district organisation of the families of persons subjected to enforced disappearances, Mariyasuresh Easwary, has urged Tamil politicians and representatives to boycott the opening event of the Jaffna office of the Office for Missing Persons, scheduled for Saturday. “We have already received information that Minister Mano Ganesan has abandoned his plan to attend the ceremony. It signals that they understand our concerns and respect the call made by all the five district organisations of the families of the missing persons that jointly appealed to the media four days ago,” she told TamilNet. Sat, 24 Aug 2019, 02:22 http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=39553 SL President Maithiripala Sirisena has re-issued a Gazette notification calling out all the members of the SL Army, SL Navy and SL Air Force for the maintenance of public order in all the 25 districts of the island, including the eight districts of the occupied country of Eezham Tamils in the North and East. The powers provided to the three armed forces include the powers of search and arrest, usually conferred on police officers. The SL President has however allowed the Emergency Regulations to lapse itself by not renewing the Gazette notification that could extend it for another month. Although the state of emergency has expired, the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), enacted initially in 1979 and made permanent in 1982, is in force. Sat, 24 Aug 2019, 00:04