Uprooted people in Champoor demand coordinated Tamil effort on resettlement

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 August 2015, 18:00 GMT]
While Tamil activists are set to push for a billion-rupee compensation from the Sri Lankan State for the structural destruction caused to Champoor so far, the president of the genocidal State in Colombo is visiting to Champoor on Saturday to donate 13,000 rupees per family to 25 families together with a symbolic hand-over of their lands, news sources in Trincomalee told TamilNet on Friday. Meanwhile, the resettling uprooted Tamils said they had spent 30,000 rupees each during the last weeks alone to clear the freed lands. Although there are Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) showing a keen interest in providing support, there is no co-ordinated effort to channel assistance to resettle the people, the civil sources in Trincomalee said.
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TNA secures 16 of 29 SL parliamentary seats in North-East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 August 2015, 05:50 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has secured 5 seats in the Jaffna electoral district, 4 seats in Vanni, 3 seats in Batticaloa, 1 in Trincomalee, 1 in Ampaa'rai and two seats for nominated parliamentarians according to the latest figures. In Jaffna, S. Sritharan, Mavai Senathirajah, M.A. Sumanthiran, T. Sitharthan and E. Saravanapavan have secured their seats after repeated counting of preferential votes on Tuesday while Suresh Premachandran lost his parliamentary seat. In the meantime, United National Party (UNP) led by Ranil Wickramasinghe is set to form the SL government in the South, despite a tough race with Mahinda Rajapaksa's UPFA. The UNP was leading the electoral districts in the South, particularly where Tamils and Muslims live in considerable numbers. UNP has got 106 seats in the SL parliament followed by the UPFA (95), TNA (16), JVP (06), EPPD (01) and SLMC (01).
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Voting high in Mannaar where UNP competes with TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 August 2015, 08:00 GMT]
Voting percentage is reported to be around 30% at 10:00 a.m. in the Eastern Province and around 22% in the Jaffna electorate in the Northern province. The people in Mannaar in Vanni electorate have been taking part in the elections with enthusiasm, especially in the Mannaar island where more than 50% of the people have cast their votes before 12:00 a.m. Large sums of money were distributed among the voters by the UNP in Mannaar Sunday night, news sources in Mannaar said.
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Colombo's military red tape prevails over civil rule in occupied Tamil homeland

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 July 2015, 22:36 GMT]
The Defence Secretary of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka, B.M.U.D. Basnayake this week demonstrated to the secretaries of SL Minister D.M. Swaminiathan in Jaffna that it was the SL military commanders in Jaffna, Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu, who were the ultimate decision makers on matters related to releasing back military-occupied lands to the civilians in the Northern province. The SL Defence Secretary, appointed by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, was on his first visit to North on Saturday and Sunday. In the meantime, EPDP leader Douglas Devananda has gone on record stating that the pockets of lands released so far by Maithiripala regime were those already prepared for release by former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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SL Police alleged of ‘protecting’ killers of Batticaloa social activist Mathisayan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 July 2015, 23:48 GMT]
The police of occupying Sri Lanka, receiving instructions from Colombo, has suppressed details on the progress of the investigations on the killing of 43-year-old Eezham Tamil Social Service Officer (SSO) Mathisayan Sachchithanantham. The killing, which shocked the civil activists in Batticaloa, took place a month ago on 26 May 2015. Informed sources in Batticaloa told TamilNet on Wednesday that one person, having ‘high level’ connections was initially arrested from Thikkoadai and two others were later arrested on the information provided by the person arrested first. Although the entire village was aware of these arrests, the SL police has so far provided no information on the progress of the case to the concerned public, the sources further said.
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Champoor Tamils should demand 1 bn compensation, political-demographic guarantees

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 June 2015, 22:37 GMT]
The focus on Champoor so far by the new regime has been to get rid of the Chinese-affiliated Rajapaksa's ‘development’ family enterprises in Champoor. The India-oriented project of constructing Trincomalee Thermal Power Plant (TPP) was also part of the same ‘Industrial Zone’ game, conceived by Colombo involving all the powers locked in the geopolitical game of occupation. The geopolitical exploitation and the structural genocide will continue with a new model of conspiracy, which would be hatched by involving new actors unless the Tamils conceive a concerted struggle against the game without aligning themselves with any of the players, informed civil activists in Trincomalee told TamilNet on Friday. Meanwhile, a Tamil expert on the topic was of the opinion that Tamils should demand compensation for the destruction caused to the civil property, after the military seizure.
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SLN occupies most of military-seized lands outside ‘HSZ’ in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 June 2015, 20:28 GMT]
Around 30 of 47 acres of lands seized together with residential houses outside the so-called High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna district still remain occupied by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Neduntheevu (Delft), Maruthangkea'ni of Vadmaraadchi East and in Thellip-pazhai, according to the latest data collected by the District Secretariat in Jaffna in February 2015. SL Police has occupied 88 houses, SLN has seized 57 properties and the occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) keeps 23 properties outside the ‘military zones’ in the district. The SL military has reiterated several times now that it has no plan of reducing the military deployment in the country of Eezham Tamils. The Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council, Justice CV Wigneswaran, who has been demanding de-militarisation of North recently characterised the density of SL military occupation as one soldier per 4 civilians.
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‘LLRC’ Palihakkara promotes pompous ceremony for genocidal ‘War Heroes’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 23:20 GMT]
The office of the SL Governor to North, HMGS Palihakkara, who was one of the eight panellists earlier appointed by former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the so-called Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), was an an official co-organiser to the pompous ceremony organised together with Ranaviru Seva Authority (RSA) of the occupying Sinhala military in Jaffna on Wednesday. ‘LLRC’ Palihakkara himself was the chief guest of the ceremony organised in remembrance of the ‘fallen war heroes of three forces and the Police’. Mr Palihakkara has forced a section of Tamil public servants in the North to accompany him to the military ceremony. Tamil journalists in Jaffna have boycotted the event. The NPC councillors said they were not informed of public servants associated with the NPC being taken to the event.
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New SL ministry schemes Sinhalicisation through ‘cultural diplomacy’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 June 2015, 23:16 GMT]
Earlier, the occupying Colombo under Mahinda Rajapaksa, declared 11,000 acres of lands in Vangkaalai, situated in the Mannaar mainland as Vankaalai Sanctuary, coming under the control of the SL ministries and departments in Colombo in 2008. The new regime, which came to power in January 2015, is now hurriedly engaged in claiming the remaining lands, where people have resettled with housing provided through the Indian Housing Scheme. The occupation of lands go beyond Vangkaalai in Naanaaddaan into Mannaar DS division intending to chase away the entire village of Chi'runaavatku'lam, located along the Mannaar - Mathavaachchi Road, some parts of Pa'l'li-munai and a residential area near the Thirukkeatheesvaram temple, activists in Mannaar told TamilNet on Tuesday. Colombo's ministry of ‘Tourism and Sports’ is deploying ‘cultural diplomacy’ as smokescreen to advance the occupation.
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Edifying Tamil leadership to face South Africa succeeding Norway in deception

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 June 2015, 00:57 GMT]
The UK-based British Tamil Forum (BTF) and the so-called Global Tamil Forum (GTF), which are locked in a sectarian conflict with each other, have dragged almost all the Eezham Tamil diaspora outfits from the USA, Canada, Australia and several European countries into a two-pronged South Africa based discourse which the new Sri Lankan regime wants to exploit to its advantage to counter the internationalisation of the national question of Eezham Tamils, informed Tamil diaspora activists told TamilNet supplying documentary evidences of the interactions that have taken place in May and June 2015. It is historic duty of the Tamil diaspora to produce an appropriate leadership to advance the Tamil cause without diluting the fundamentals and falling prey to the ultimate culprits, the activists told TamilNet.
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Mathisayan's killing evokes fear among social activists in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 June 2015, 23:06 GMT]
The killing of 43-year-old Mathisayan Sachchithanantham last Tuesday at Ma'ndoor situated 40 km south of the city of Batticaloa, has caused fear among the Eezham Tamil social activists in East. The slain victim was a leading social activist, who had confronted the previous administration of the Murukan temple, where corruption prevailed with the backing of civil administrative officers appointed by the occupying Sri Lankan State. The slain activist has also been vocal in opposing the construction of a playground at a river delta in his native village, close friends of the slain activist told TamilNet on Monday adding that paramilitary operative Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, has been backing the construction of the controversial playground. The activists say social activism among Eezham Tamils has been seriously threatened by the anti-people elements promoted by the occupying SL State.
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I'raal-kuzhi villagers protest against sand-scooping

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 May 2015, 20:58 GMT]
The Eezham Tamil villagers of I'raal-kuzhi, a small hamlet about 10 square km, situated along one of the two rivers where Mahaweli ganga is branching off into the sea in Moothoor division of Trincomalee district, protested on Wednesday against the unabated sand-scooping carried out by wealthy businessmen from Moothoor. The people living in the low-lying land have been struggling for long time unable to withstand the rainy and flooding seasons. The businessmen who operate with the backing of politicians in power have been engaged in the systematic exploitation for a long time. In addition to the danger of water entering their village, the systematic exploitation irreversibly destroys the environment of the region, the protesters complained.
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SL Governor continues ‘LLRC agenda’ of Sinhalicisation in Northern Province

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 May 2015, 22:12 GMT]
The incumbent Sri Lankan Governor of Northern Province, HMGS Palihakkara, who was one of the eight panellists appointed by former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the so-called Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), has instructed the SL Government Agents in the Northern Province to channel more resources to the Sinhala settlements initiated during the Rajapaksa regime in the North, civil sources in Jaffna said. In the meantime, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) provincial councillor K.T. Linganathan, who is from Nedungkea'ni, Vavuniyaa, on Sunday said elected Tamil representatives were being refused access to an accelerated Sinhala colonisation scheme at Kokkachchaan-ku'lam, which has been Sinhalicised into Kalabogaswewa with 5,000 Sinhala settlers. The occupation, initiated during the previous regime, is now being expanded with new housing schemes.
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SL Minister, backed by CBK, appropriates Tamils’ lands in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 May 2015, 22:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Housing and Samurdhi Amir Ali Sahabdeen, who became a minister during the regime of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK) in 2004, is again stepping up the appropriation of lands at Kirimichchi, located 62 km north of Batticaloa. The lands belong to Eezham Tamils who are still uprooted and refused access to these lands, civil sources at Koara’laip-pattu North (Vaakarai) division of Batticaloa told TamilNet on Thursday. The land grab, schemed under CBK regime, aims to annex more lands to the Muslim-dominated division of Koara’laip-pattu Central (Vaazhaich-cheanai) by involving a section of wealthy businessmen from Kaaththaan-kudi, Oadda-maavadi and Ea’raavoor after Amir Ali became a non-cabinet minister in the ‘new’ regime with the backing of CBK, the sources further said.
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Why no Gazette notification on release of lands, asks retired Land Commissioner

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 May 2015, 23:18 GMT]
It's not merely enough to allow the people to resettle in the lands that were seized from them by the previous regime, which applied the proviso to 38(A) of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) under the guise of ‘public use’ in permanently converting the lands for the use of Colombo's military. The new regime should issue fresh Gazette notifications of the lands, which it claims to release back to the people. Only then the people will have legal ownership to their lands, says retired Land Commissioner of the Eastern Province, Karthirgamathamby Kurunathan, in an in-depth video interview to TamilNet this week. Why are the Tamil politicians not demanding the new regime to issue such Gazette notifications to revoke the land grabs that were carried out with the obvious agenda of Sinhala chauvinism by the previous regime, he asked.
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TNPF rejects ‘domestic investigations’ upheld by USA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 May 2015, 21:49 GMT]
The fact that the United States and the US Secretary of State John Kerry would consider the post January 08th 2015 situation in Sri Lanka, with the new government favourable, is understandable. But, for him to suggest that there is a favourable condition for the Tamils, is stretching too far, said Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, responding to a question from TamilNet on the subject on Tuesday. Pointing out that the new regime is not only maintaining the status quo of the occupying military, which is primarily being accused in the crimes, but both the major parties in the South have claimed complete allegiance to the military and have in fact vouched that the military would be protected, the former parliamentarian said.
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Sinhala colonization continues unabated in pasturelands of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 April 2015, 20:18 GMT]
Sinhala settlers are encroaching into the lands used for grazing of livestock owned by the farmers in Batticaloa. The encroachment is increasing unabated month after month during the 100-day programme of the new regime led by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, Tamil farmers from Periya-maathava'nai in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan) division told TamilNet on Thursday. The Sinhala settlers target the lands surrounding the water tanks and ponds in the demarcated zones of pastureland. The intruders have slain more than 25 cows that belong to Tamil farmers earlier this year. The Sinhala guards from the SL forest department and the occupying SL military and the police keep fining the cattle owners. “We are targeted by the Sinhala intruders, home guards, military and police because of our ethnicity,” a farmer said describing the illegal fining as extortion.
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IC should act on de-militarisation of Valikaamam, Champoor: Shageevan

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 April 2015, 23:29 GMT]
Without de-militarisation, it is not possible to achieve proper resettlement, even at the minimum standard in the military-occupied former High Security Zone in the North and in the Champoor region in the East. “The international community knows this very well. But, it intentionally avoids putting forward this as a demand,” says S. Shageevan, the deputy chairperson of the Divisional Council of Valikaamam North and the president of the welfare association of uprooted people from Valikaamam North. The International Community has been allowing the previous and current regimes in Colombo to buy necessary “time and space” in Geneva and in New York after 2009. It was during this time Colombo transformed the former High Security Zone into a permanent military zone, he further said, urging the Tamils to focus on making the IC to act on the demand of de-militarisation.
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New regime deploys military against Habeas Corpus applicants: NPC Councillor

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 April 2015, 21:19 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military intelligence has stepped up harassments against the applicants of Habeas Corpus cases being heard in Vanni, says Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan, who has been harassed twice by the operatives of the Sri Lankan military intelligence when she went to witnesses the cases being heard. Under the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the SL courts were not prepared to hear these cases. The new regime, on one hand, wants to showcase to the outside world that the SL courts are attending these cases, but on the other hand it deploys the military intelligence against the applicants. “I have personally witnessed such harassment in recent days,” Ms Ananthy told media in Jaffna this week.
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Sirisena's Commission ‘demonstrates’ deceptive investigations in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 April 2015, 23:02 GMT]
A Sri Lankan military intelligence officer was present inside the hearing hall at Kalmunai in the Eastern Province when the SL Presidential Commission on Missing Persons held its hearings, which were chaired by Mr Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, said Selvarajah Kanesh, the president of the organisation representing the families of the abducted and missing persons in Ampaa'rai district in an interview to TamilNet on Tuesday. In the meantime, Village officer (GS) in Aalaiyadi-vempu was deployed by the SL authorities to instruct the victims to appear in front of the Commission if they wanted to receive 100,000 SL rupees in return for accepting death certificates of the persons registered as missing following their appearance in front of the Commission. A large number of the victims have boycotted the sittings.
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