Paramilitary cadre arrested for rape, murder of girl

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 12:16 GMT]
Vavuniya Police Tuesday found the skeletal remains of a girl who was allegedly raped and murdered by a member of a paramilitary working with the Sri Lanka army. The girl's skeleton was found, still bound and gagged, in the toilet of an abandoned house in Sithamparapuram on information by three men, including the paramilitary cadre, who were arrested on suspicion Monday. Two skeletons were found Monday in the village, 14 kilometres southeast of Vavuniya.
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Tamil women's problems spotlighted in Vavuniya gathering

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 14:28 GMT]
A gathering of Tamil Eelam Women Associations, Sangamam, was held in Vavuniya Irambaikulam Girls Maha Vidiyalayam Monday on a grand scale. Noting that "women are subjected to more violence than during the war period", Vavuniya district Political Head of the LTTE's Women Wing, Ms Alai, said that the gathering was conducted to study about the violence and the forces behind the atrocities committed against women.
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Record crowds attend Madhu Church festival

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 2004, 15:32 GMT]
The annual festival of Madhu Church concluded Sunday with three Bishops - Thomas Soundaranayagam (Jaffna), Malcolm Ranjit (Ratnapura) and Rayappu Joseph (Mannar) - jointly holding Holy Mass. About three hundred thousand devotees from all parts of the island participated in the final day of the festival of the Madhu Church, which is also called Jungle Shrine, revered by Tamils and Sinhalese, sources said.
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TNA MPs welcome POTA's repeal, urge India to revoke ban

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 2004, 13:52 GMT]
''We welcome the Indian Central Government for its intention to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). At the same time, we also urge the Indian Government to consider lifting the ban on the LTTE and create a more meaningful and conducive environment necessary to bring the stalled peace process in Sri Lanka back on track'', TNA MPs Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam and Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan told TamilNet Friday.
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UNHCR urged to organize boat service to refugees in India

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to the UNHCR Sri Lanka's Representative to take steps to organize boat service between India and Talaimannar to transport Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are willing to return to their villages. Currently thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are in refugee camps in Tamilnadu in South India.
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Social mobilization workshop held for Kanniya resettlers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 00:56 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), sponsored by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) project conducted a five day social mobilization workshop for resettled villagers in Kanniya located about eight km off northeast of Trincomalee town.


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Trinco sanitary workers demonstrate for land rights

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Sanitary workers employed by the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) Wednesday held a five-hour demonstration in front of the UC office demanding that they should be provided with deeds and permits for the lands they are living in for more than half a century. More than five hundred people, men and women including family members of the workers, participated in the protest demonstration, which was organized by the Community Leaders' Consortium (CLC).


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Mannar farmers hit by drought

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 14:19 GMT]
Severe drought has hit the Mannar district affecting several hundreds of farming families and civil authorities are taking steps to provide relief to the affected people, sources said.
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Tamil police officers transferred from Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 17:12 GMT]
Vanni District Tamil National Parliamentarian Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan Tuesday brought to the notice of the Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police the injustice in transferring four Tamil police officers out of eight without any replacement, sources in Mannar said.


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Not a principled apology- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 01:33 GMT]
"We regard Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge's public apology for the 1983 pogrom against the Tamils as a deceptive attempt, driven by political expediency rather than principles, to placate the Tamils," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) speaking as the chief guest at a public meeting in Trincomalee Sunday evening held at the Welikada Martyrs Memorial Hall in Trincomalee to remember the 21st anniversary of Black July.
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Tamils cannot be divided and ruled -TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 2004, 08:31 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan state and military are using armed groups to divide and rule Tamil society in Batticaloa. They did it in the past. My people will never fall prey to the machinations of divisive forces because they have made immense sacrifices for the Tamil cause", said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa, speaking at a press conference by TNA regarding the current situation in the east.
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Self Governance, main focus of TNA Thamilchelvan Meet

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 June 2004, 13:56 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians met with Leader of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan Saturday in the LTTE political head quarters in Kilinochchi for a four hour long meeting. The issues and the urgent need for institutionlizing self governance for NorthEast based on LTTE's Interim Self-Governing Authority proposals were discussed in the meeting, , LTTE peace secretariat website said.
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Poaching by Indian fishermen discussed at conference

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 May 2004, 17:48 GMT]
Fishermen from the North-East met with their counterparts from South India at a two-day conference in Colombo on Thursday and Friday to discuss the poaching by Indian fishermen and other problems faced by them. The National Fishermen’s Cooperative Council of Sri Lanka organized the conference.
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India should reconsider decision to extend ban- Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 May 2004, 13:40 GMT]
"We urge the Government of India to reconsider its decision to extend the ban on Liberation Tigers for another two years under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act," said Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Vanni in a request sent to New Delhi, sources in Vanni said.


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SL President urged to hand over Mannar saltern to co-op

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 May 2004, 18:00 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district parliamentarian, Thursday made an urgent appeal to Sri Lanka's President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge, to take immediate steps to hand over the defunct Mannar saltern to the Mannar Fisheries Co-operative Society to reactivate it. The Mannar saltern has now been under the purview of the Ministry of Enterprises, and Investment Promotion, sources said.
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Parliament meets Tuesday, one SLMC MP crosses over to govt. bench

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 May 2004, 05:41 GMT]
The second sitting of the first session of the thirteenth parliament of Sri Lanka commenced Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. amid confusion and tension following the cross over of Mr. Hussain Baila, a National List parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), to the government and the alleged abduction of a monk parliamentarian of the Jathika Hela Urumaya Monday night by an unidentified group, parliamentary sources said.
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Four new parliamentarians to be sworn in Tuesday

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 May 2004, 17:05 GMT]
Four new parliamentarians are to be sworn in by the Speaker when Sri Lanka's parliament meets Tuesday morning. One of the four is the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, Mr.Pakkiaselvam Ariyanenthiran, of Batticaloa district. The other three are from the National List of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), sources said.
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"SLA establishes new checkpoints in Vavuniya, Mannar"- Selvam

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 May 2004, 11:22 GMT]
Vanni electoral district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan Monday sent an urgent letter to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge that the establishment of new check points of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the administrative districts of Mannar and Vavuniya is causing serious apprehension in the minds of the people that the security forces are preparing for renewed military action, TNA sources said.


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Operation-USA, TRO donate medical equipment to NE hospitals

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2004, 18:24 GMT]
"Operation USA" and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) donated Rs.10,000,000 rupees worth of medical equipment to the Government Agents of the eight districts in the northeast province to be distributed to state medical institutions in their health divisions, health officials said. Handing over event was held Thursday evening in the Vavuniya district secretariat presided by Vavuniya Government Agent Mr. R.Ganesh, TRO sources said.


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New Batticaloa MP to take oath

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2004, 11:34 GMT]
Pakiyaselvam Ariyanendran, is expected to take oath as a new Member of Parliament for Batticaloa district for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) when the Sri Lanka parliament convenes Tuesday, political sources in Batticaloa said. Mr. Ariyanendran obtained the next highest votes in the last general election and following the resignation of Kingsley Rajanayagam earned the coveted spot to represent Batticalao district.
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