Tamil activists resisted three sources of outside influence while drafting demands to UNHRC

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 2021, 23:44 GMT]
The joint demands formulated by the Tamil national political parties towards the United Nations make specific reference to genocide twice. The four-point document gains significance as Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Mr R Sampanthan has endorsed it with his signature, said former Northern Provincial Council Minister Ms Ananthy Sasitharan. Mr M A Sumanthiran representing the TNA in the negotiations finally agreed to make the specific reference after TELO Parliamentarian Selvam Adaikalanathan seemingly insisted for it, she said. TELO is a party of the TNA with three parliamentary seats. In an explosive and lengthy comment to TamilNet, Sasitharan narrated how the foreign powers and NGO agenda-setters were attempting to influence the process from three fronts. She considered Dr Guruparan Kumaravadivel as the behind-the-scene drafter of the final document.
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EPDP joins Jaffna protest against desecration of Neeraaviyadi temple

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 October 2019, 12:21 GMT]
Representatives of the EPDP, a paramilitary which was collaborating with the Sinhala military of genocidal Sri Lanka against the Eezham Tamils without course-correcting itself even during the height of genocidal onslaught in 2009, joined a common protest staged in Jaffna against the recent desecration of Neeraaviyadi Pi'l'laiyaar temple in Mullaiththeevu. Ex-militant Tamil parliamentarians in the TNA, which politically collaborates with the failed regime in Colombo also attended the protest. The demonstration demanded action against extremist Buddhist monks and condemned the Sinhala actors, including the SL Police extending tacit support to the ‘Buddhism foremost’ approach of the occupying SL State.
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Four hunger-striker TPPs admitted to Anuradhapura hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 September 2018, 18:34 GMT]
Four of the hunger-striking Tamil Political Prisoners have been admitted to the public hospital in Anuradhapura as their health conditions have worsened. Two TPPs who had been admitted to the attached hospital at Anuradhapura prison earlier were transferred to the general hospital on Friday. Two more TPPs were rushed to the same hospital on Saturday. Rights activist Ganesh Velayutham who visited the fasting TPPs told TamilNet that all the prisoners were in bad condition as they were languishing for more than nine years in the prison. The TPPs are heavily traumatised due to the depression caused by the dilly-dallying by the occupying Colombo's rulers. All of them have staged hunger-strikes four times before, and that they are not fit for a lengthy hunger-strike, he said.
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TELO councillor of NPC questions ‘achievements’ of TNA hierarchy

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 July 2018, 18:34 GMT]
35 years have elapsed since pogrom of Black July, which was waged against the Eezham Tamils with the sponsorship of the UNP regime at that time. The incumbent SL Prime Minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe of the UNP, was a cabinet minister at that time when his fellow cabinet ministers were actively backing the pogrom. The late J.R. Jayawardene, who was the president at that time, came with the infamous declaration ‘war for war, peace for peace’ and escalated the pogrom. This month, Ranil Wickramasinghe has been visiting Jaffna to deceive the Tamil people with so-called development, says NPC Councillor Vinthan Kanagaratnam of the TELO. He called it a shame that the TNA parliamentarians were collaborating with the UNP-SLFP government even after failing to win anything tangible from them.
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Monks object alienation of public lands to Tamils in border village of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 March 2018, 21:11 GMT]
A Sinhala Buddhist extremist monk has been threatening the civil officials in Poaaratheevup-pattu (Vellaa-ve'li) division of Batticaloa district against alienation of public lands to 15 poverty-stricken and war-affected Tamil families at Maalaiyar-kaddu village, located close to the border with the Uhana division of Ampaa'rai district. The threat initiated by the monk has been escalating into pressure from the authorities of the occupying Colombo, informed sources at the District Secretariat told TamilNet. Maalaiyar-kaddu is a remote Tamil village located 55 km southwest of Batticaloa city. The intruding monk and Sinhala colonists have built a Buddhist temple at Chinna-vaththai, a GS division to the north of Malaiyar-kaddu, at the lands that belonged to Irrigation Department.
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Colombo deprives renovation of four key jetties in Mannaar district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2017, 18:19 GMT]
Eight fisheries jetties used by Tamil-speaking fishermen in Mannaar district were selected to be renovated with the assistance of Asian Development Bank. But, occupying Colombo has declined to allow for the renovation of four of these jetties as SL wildlife department has silently seized large tracts of coastal lands through Gazette notifications issued in March 2016, Justin Soyza, the chairman of Mannaar District Fishermen Federation told TamilNet on Wednesday. The disclosure by the SL authorities about the seizure of jetty lands and the subsequent refusal to renovate the jetties have caused anger among the Tamil and Muslim fishermen in Mannaar. Tamil-speaking fishermen are planning to protest against the land grab and deprivation of fishing jetties, Mr Soyza said.
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NPC plunges into crisis as external agenda-backed forces challenge Wigneswaran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 June 2017, 23:35 GMT]
Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK), which is the main constituent party of the TNA, engineered a move of no-confidence against NPC Chief Minister Justice C.V.Wigneswaran on Wednesday. A considerable number of councillors submitted the request, just a few hours after Justice Wigneswaran instructed two of his ministers, subjected to investigations to resign, and asked two other ministers to go on compulsory leave until the investigation on them is completed. Bringing the four ministries under Chief Minister's purview, the NPC CM said he was answerable to the people who had entrusted him with the task of leading the NPC. TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has been involved in creating, managing and finally deploying the move as an opportunity to force Wignewaran and his genre to retire from politics. However, Wigneswaran remains calm and restraint, news sources in Jaffna said.
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Thousands mobilize in Ezhuka Thamizh in Batticaloa, denounce genocidal ‘Sri Lanka’

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 February 2017, 20:50 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils mobilized in Batticaloa on Friday denouncing the unitary State model of genocidal Sri Lanka currently being envisaged in the constitutional proposals in the South. The SL regime in Colombo has discarded the proposals submitted in open and transparent manner by the Tamils in the North-East, the organizers of the event, Tamil People’s Council, said. The entire constitutional process has become a secretive discourse while the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act is used to muffle the freedom of expression of Eezham Tamils in the North and East, the speakers, including Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, said in their speeches. There should be full-scale de-militarization. The 6th Amendment to the SL Constitution and the draconian PTA should be scrapped for a free and fair constitutional process to take place in the North-East.
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SLN should apologise for brutal assault on stranded Jaffna fishermen at Kachchatheevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2017, 10:18 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala Navy stationed at Kachchatheevu islet brutally assaulted three Eezham Tamil fishermen from Neduntheevu, whose fishing boat ran aground on Kachchatheevu islet after losing fuel on 20 January. The exhausted fishermen, who had been searching for their lost fishing net, were detained throughout the night and subjected to brutal assault by the SL Navy. On the following day, the fishermen were sent back into the sea on board their vessel without any fuel. The news of the SL Navy attacking them was exposed to local media after other fishermen saved the wounded fishermen. Now, the SL Navy has started to exert pressure on those who alerted the media and the Tamil politicians, says NPC Councillor Vinthan Kanagaratnam, who has been in touch with the assaulted fishermen and their representative, Mr Aruljeevan, since the incident was reported for the first time.
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ITAK leaders have violated Tamil people’s democratic mandate: Premachandran

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2017, 22:39 GMT]
The very basic demands of Tamils have been totally denied, both by the constitutional assembly tasked with drafting the new constitution and by the political parties in the South. On what basis, the two ITAK politicians R. Sampanthan and M. Sumanthiran continue to be part of the constitutional assembly, asks EPRLF Leader Suresh Premachandran, who took up the matter in a recent coordinating committee meeting of the TNA. The Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK), under the leadership of Thanthai S.J.V Chelvanayakam, boycotted the 1972 Constitution as the constitutional proposal didn’t respect the demands of Tamils. Similarly, the TULF boycotted the 1978 constitution brought by J.R. Jayawardene. There has been no democratic discussion or debate within the ranks of the ITAK. The two other parties, Sitharthan's PLOTE and TELO led by Selvam Adaikalanthan are also answerable, he said.
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Sinhala Buddhist monks assault Tamil cattle-herders in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 January 2017, 22:43 GMT]
Three cattle-herding Tamil farmers were brutally assaulted on Tuesday by Sinhala Buddhist monks at Maathava’nai pastureland, situated in Koa’ra’laip-pattu South (Kiraan) division of Batticaloa district. Three monks in robe emerged from Mayilaththa-madu camp of the occupying Sinhala military while the Tamil farmers were feeding water to their cows at Maanthalai-aa’ru river. The violent monks seized the tools from the farmers before assaulting them. 69-year-old Poopalapillai Selvam, a father of six from Pearillaa-ve’li, 30-year-old Kumarasamy Perinpam, a father of four and 25-year-old Manikam Nadarajah, a father of two from Chiththaa’ndi 2nd and 3rd cross streets, were the cattle-herders who sustained injuries.
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Tamil, Muslim fishermen protest against Colombo's Sinhalicisation of Musali in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 November 2016, 23:50 GMT]
The Director General of Department of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (DFAR), which functions under the purview of the Fisheries Ministry of occupying Colombo, has recently instructed the Divisional Secretary of Musali Division in Mannaar district and the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department in Mannaar to put up a colony with fishing huts, necessary housing and other infrastructural arrangements, informed civil sources in the district said. A list of more than 83 persons has been sent from Colombo. All the persons in the list were Sinhalese fishermen from Gampaha district. The Federation of Fishing Societies in Musali division, comprising of Tamil and Muslim fishermen across 10 villages, took to the streets on Wednesday demanding immediate end to the fishing colony. The protesting Tamil-speaking fishermen blamed Colombo for instigating ethnic tension in Musali division.
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Eezham Tamils in Mullaiththeevu protest against expansion of ‘SLNS Gotabhaya’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2016, 16:54 GMT]
The people of Mullaiththeevu on Wednesday confronted SL Survey Department officials who were trying to seize 617 acres of lands at Vadduvaakal, where the final onslaught took place in May 2009. The area has been seized by the SL Navy for the so-called ‘Regional Security Centre’, monitoring the coastal belt of Mullaiththeevu towards the Bay of Bengal. The lands that belong to private owners have been illegally occupied since 2009 and there are crucial evidences still intact in the area, the people say. The SL Department officials had informed the owners in advance that their lands were to be surveyed for three days starting from Wednesday. The protesting land-owners were accompanied by TNA and TNPF politicians. The protest comes also after SL Deputy Defence Secretary recently visited the area in an attempt to convince the land-owners to accept alternative lands elsewhere.
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Indian intelligence, media insinuate Eezham Tamils to drop ‘Eelam’ in party names

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2016, 16:52 GMT]
The Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), led by Mr Suresh Premachandran, has denounced on Friday a narration given by the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that one of the oldest parties of early Tamil militant legacy was dropping the terms ‘Eelam’ and ‘Liberation’ in its party name. The claimed name change is actually being contemplated by a small group, the EPRLF ‘Padmanaba wing’, which is neither part of the TNA nor has any electoral standing. This group is led by former North-Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Mr Varatharaja Perumal, who is widely seen as an agent of Indian Intelligence. In 2009, immediately after the Vanni genocide, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief Mr M. Karunanidhi also gave instructions to remove the word Eezham in public places. Mr Karunanidhi reportedly has said that it was the wish of the ‘Central agencies’ of India.
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SL Navy assault on Mannaar Tamil fishermen condemned

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 February 2016, 22:22 GMT]
Tamil parliamentarians, youth leaders and provincial councillors from Mannaar district have condemned the brutal attack on 2 fishermen from Pa'l'lik-kudiyiruppu, Mannaar in the seas off Naachchik-kudaa near Ira'nai-theevu on Saturday. The Sinhala navy sailors who assaulted the fishermen using knives caused serious injuries to the head of the 37-year-old helmsman of the fishing vessel while one of the three sea cucumber divers sustained minor injuries at his hand. The two injured fishermen, chased away by the SL Navy, had to drive their boat leaving behind the remaining two divers. The SL Navy later handed over the two remaining fishermen to Muzhangkaavil police belonging to Ki’linochchi district.
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Champoor Tamils to join hands with Muslims in opposing controversial coal power plant

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 August 2015, 23:29 GMT]
"Our resettlement was blocked 3 times within the last 8 months between the Sri Lankan Presidential Election in January till the SL Parliamentary Elections in August. We have seen the Gazette notification, legal cases in Colombo and the SL president visiting before the election and after the election. Again, Champoor has gained focus because of the much awaited OISL report in September,” Tamil activists from Champoor told TamilNet on Saturday after witnessing the much orchestrated visit by SL President Maithiripala and former SL president Chandrika Kumaratunga. In the meantime, the people of Champoor will soon to join hands with the Tamil-speaking Muslims in Moothoor in demanding annulment of the controversial coal power plant in Champoor, they further told TamilNet.
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Uprooted Musali Tamils demand lands back, SL Navy ignores Minister Swaminathan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2015, 20:15 GMT]
Mu'l'ikku'lam has become a strategic point of occupation to the Sri Lankan forces that aim to Sinhalicise and colonise the land and the historic waters of Eezham Tamils. More than 4,500 Eezham Tamil civilians, evicted from Musali division in Mannnaar district in September 2007, are still refused entry to their village by the occupying Sri Lanka Navy, which has changed their village into a military cantonment. On Saturday, SL Minister of Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan (UNP) was forced to wait in front of the gates of the cantonment called ‘Command Headquarters - North Western Naval Area’ for more than 40 minutes by the occupying Sinhala Navy.
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Wigneswaran exposes US delay tactics at Geneva

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2015, 13:56 GMT]
The US Asst. Secretary of State Nisha Biswal was not in favour of pursuing the Geneva OISL investigation on Sri Lanka in the March sessions as scheduled, revealed NPC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in his speech in Tamil at the council on Tuesday, while introducing the resolution that demanded urgent international investigation on historically continuing genocide against Tamils. “In my recent conversation with Ms Biswal, I understood that the USA wants to be in favour of the present Sri Lanka government, as this government is favourable to the USA,” Wigneswaran said. “When Ms Biswal asked what could be the appropriate time for the release of the Geneva report and when I replied that it should be in March, she didn’t accept it,” the NPC-CM said.
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Sampanthan announces decision to back Sirisena in SL presidential elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2014, 09:25 GMT]
Despite strong opposition from various sections of Eezham Tamils against giving explicit support to any of the two main contestants in the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential elections, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan has decided to support the Opposition Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena. Mr Sampanthan announced the stance of the TNA Tuesday morning at a media briefing held at Hotel Jananaki in Colombo. Mr Sampanthan and M.A. Sumanthiran have been blamed for striking a clandestine deal with Chandrika Kumaratunga on backing Maithiripala Sirisena.
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Sampanthan arrives from India, meets constituting party leaders

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 December 2014, 23:12 GMT]
R.Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance, who arrived in Colombo Sunday morning from his visit to India presided over a crucial meeting of the TNA co-ordinating committee at Madiwela parliamentary complex on Sunday night, news sources in Colombo told TamilNet.
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