Colombo goes on all-out offensive against UN report as UNHRC disaster looms

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 10:19 GMT]
At a time when the United States is awaiting a response from Colombo for its call for an “interactive dialogue” on the wide-spread credible allegations war crimes, before the UNHRC meets for its 18th sessions next month, Mahinda Rajapaksa government has said the UN Expert Panel Report is “not admissible at UNHRC” and warned that it could produce “dangerous results if entertained”.
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USA to conduct joint exercise with genocidal Air Force of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2011, 05:44 GMT]
The Pacific Air Command of the US Air Force will be conducting a joint air exercise with the Air Force of Sri Lanka, involving the bases at Ratmalana in Colombo and Ampaa’rai in the Eastern Province, media reports from Colombo said. Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Malaysian Air Force, and the Bangladesh Air Force also will participate in the exercise. The Air Force of Sri Lanka is accused of specific instances of war crimes against Eezham Tamils in the UN panel report. While talk of human rights and crimes against humanity is dubiously manipulated by some powers for their political benefits, their defence establishments and intelligence agencies are all out to promote militarism of genocidal Sri Lanka for their strategic benefits, political analysts in the island said.
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Sri Lanka to purchase 14 Mi-17 military helicopters from Russia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 21:04 GMT]
Further bolstering its military ties with Russia and expanding its own military machine beyond its local needs, Sri Lanka has entered into yet another contract with Russia’s state-run arms enterprise, Rosoboronexport, to purchase different modifications of Mi-17 military helicopters, reports from Colombo and Moscow said. While Rajapasa-critics in Colombo said the purchase is ‘managed’ by SL Presidential sibling and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa through a so-called State-owned company, which is neither controlled by the SL Auditor General nor listed on the Stock Exchange, the Eezham Tamil circles said the military transport gunships are to be deployed in the ongoing SL militarisation of the country of Eezham Tamils.
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Abandoned Tamil schools acquired by occupying SL military

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 17:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka military occupying the country of Eezham Tamils acquires abandoned Tamil schools for converting them into military camps. Occupying military officers are busy in recent days in collecting particulars of the abandoned schools in the Vanni districts as well as in the Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi and the islands divisions of the Jaffna district. The occupying military has ordered the northern directorate of education to submit particulars of all abandoned schools to facilitate military’s increasing demand for infrastructure facilities. Using the abandoned schools, 30 new military camps are planned in the Jaffna peninsula alone. Occupying military has a particular programme to first intensely militarise and Sinhalicise the islands off the Jaffna peninsula. It makes no secret about it to the Tamils remaining in the islands.
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‘Grease Devil’ attacks aim at frightening resettlement in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 August 2011, 12:59 GMT]
While attacks especially on Tamil women carried out by unidentified men in camouflage called ‘Grease Devils’ terrorise Tamil civilians in the East and the hill country, such attacks particularly aim at crippling resettlement in the Vanni districts. On Wednesday evening, three men emerging from the thickets in black dress and grease on their face chased three women of Ki’linochchi 8th milepost engaged in removing landmines. Following similar incidents and attacks on women in Vanni, people resettling in their houses and lands that are dispersed as typical to the settlement pattern of Vanni are now forced to gather into clusters. Occupying SL military’s officials now ‘advice’ resettled people in Vanni to live in clusters to avoid terrorising attacks.
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Congress and Colombo busy in shielding each other

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 August 2011, 11:26 GMT]
A Congress parliamentarian from Tamil Nadu in Rajya Sabha, Dr. E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan has convened a meeting of ruling and opposition party parliamentarians of India in New Delhi on Thursday with the help of Colombo-based Indian writer N Sathiyamoorthy, aiming to diffuse the growing political momentum that challenges the crimes committed, and being committed, by New Delhi and Colombo on Eezham Tamils. Meanwhile, genocidal Colombo’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Prasad Kariyawasam is engaged in preaching ‘ethics’ to journalists and in canvassing to get their support by sending propaganda material prepared by the SL ministry of defence. The Indo-Lanka public relations machinery is in over drive to limit damages caused by media exposing the crimes of the two establishments in partnership.
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Belated realisation finds fault with ‘brother’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 06:11 GMT]
President Rajapaksa would be well advised to distance himself swiftly from his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said The Hindu in its editorial on Tuesday. The problem is not the brother but the confidence the Colombo regime gets from the stand of the big brother in New Delhi, is the opinion of political observers and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha. The Hindu now scapegoats ‘Gotabhaya brother’ as a last resort to bail out Rajapaksa, New Delhi establishment and all those who contributed to genocide in the island, political observers in Chennai said. The Hindu could have contributed to pre-empt genocide had its journalism confuted the big brothers in New Delhi and Washington and appealed to the masses in India and outside by telling the truth about the intentions of state in the island, the political observers further said.
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Colombo camouflages confiscation of Tamil lands

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, 03:29 GMT]
All people of the north and east who cannot confirm ownership of their land through supporting documents are to be given a two-month period to furnish details of such land through a special application to the respective Divisional Secretaries, reports SL state-owned Daily News and SL ‘Defence’ website. “A special procedure is to be followed in cases where state land has been claimed by the people,” the report says, meaning that ‘state’ lands distributed to Tamils during British rule and after independence will be now ‘reconsidered’ if documents or parties are not available. All land issues in the country of Eezham Tamils have to be dealt with only by Tamil sovereignty and by no body else, commented Tamil political circles, adding that the former colonial power Britain and India that backs genocidal Colombo are answerable for not upholding the sovereignty of Eezham Tamils over their land.
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Occupying Navy brings in Sinhala fishermen to Pungkudutheevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2011, 12:24 GMT]
In a daring attempt of colonisation, genocidal Sri Lanka’s Navy occupying the islands off Jaffna brought in hundreds of Sinhala fishermen Sunday to settle in Pugkudutheevu island and to engage in fishing. Leaders of the protesting local Tamil fishermen association were taken to the SL Navy camp in the island and were served with death threats. The Sinhala fishermen came with all preparations to make settlements in the island and to engage in the lucrative business of catching sea cucumbers that are of export value. Their activities are now stalled following protests. Punkudutheevu, an island off Jaffna close to the Tamil Nadu coast has a recently built extensive base of the Sri Lanka Navy. Sinhala militarisation and colonisation of the land of Eezham Tamils enjoy blessings of the New Delhi government.
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India answerable for both genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2011, 09:05 GMT]
The Speaker of the Indian Parliament, Meira Kumar, conceding to an objection from a Congress member, altered the topic of discussion in the parliament from “Alleged killing of Sri Lankan Tamils by the island nation’s Lankan army in 2009 as recently revealed in a United Nations report” to “On the steps taken by Government of India for relief and resettlement of Tamils in Sri Lanka and other measures to promote their welfare.” The deviated discussion scheduled for last Thursday has also been postponed to coming Tuesday. But whether in war or in post-war, New Delhi cannot escape answering for its partnership in committing genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils, commented Tamil political circles in the island, citing the activities of India-partnered SL Army in the war and its aftermath.
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Iran, Turkey follow Sri Lanka model: Kurdish paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2011, 22:02 GMT]
While the Sri Lankan government is accused of deploying Israeli ‘Gazafication’ model in Sinhalicising the occupied country of Eezham Tamils, Iran and Turkey are adopting the so-called Sri Lankan model of ‘warfare’ against Kurdish people. In an article titled, “Reminding the Kurdish nation of the case of Tamil,” The Kurdish Globe, a weekly published in Erbil, Kurdistan in northern Iraq, on Saturday cited recent instances of pro-Turkey writers discussing ‘Sri Lanka model’. In the meantime, the executives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have also gone on record comparing the Tamil situation with their own, the paper said.
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Those who committed Genocide on Tamils should be brought to Justice: BJP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2011, 04:18 GMT]
“We are not going to give up till all those people involved in genocide are brought to justice,” said India's former Foreign Minister and a top leader of the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) Yashwant Sinha Friday, questioning the motives behind New Delhi’s silence on the UN Chief’s expert panel report that found credible evidences for the wide-spread allegations of war-crime committed by the Sri Lankan troops. According to media reports from India, leaders of various mainstream political parties, including the BJP, on Friday have expressed solidarity with Eezham Tamils, saying that they would continue to raise their voice until everyone responsible for the “genocide” there were brought to justice.
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EPRLF Thurairatnam condemns Tamil ministers for failing to confront Sinhalacisation in East

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 August 2011, 15:34 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa is actively engaged in destroying historic places of worship and illegally acquiring lands belonging to Eezham Tamils and it is a pity to note some Tamil collaborators with ministerial positions in Rajapaksa government have no backbone in opposing the landgrab and the Sinhalicisation, said R.Thurairatnam, Eastern Provincial Councillor and the organizer of EPRLF (Varathar Wing) in Batticaloa district in a statement to media this week.
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Ratnajeevan Hoole ‘flees’ Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2011, 05:53 GMT]
Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole, the unsuccessful candidate for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna supported by a section of pro-Rajapaksa elements, had to flee Jaffna as well as the island in the wake of a criminal case filed by SL minister Douglas Devananda in the Kayts court, news sources in Jaffna said adding that Prof Hoole is on his way back to the USA via UK. Even though Hoole accuses Devananda for his miseries, informed circles are of the opinion that the issue is much deeper, associated to international power polity. Hoole, known for re-invoking the colonial idiom of confrontation between Protestant Churches and native revival movements as his ‘sociological’ approach, gets the rare distinction of not getting the trust of both Pirapaharan and Rajapaksa, despite his opportunistic approaches or denunciations, the news sources said.
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Rajapaksa blackmails as guilt haunts India: CPI Secretary D. Raja

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 August 2011, 05:51 GMT]
“They [Rajapaksa regime] think they are too intelligent to use the geopolitical equations in South Asia, they think they can manipulate to win the support of China, Pakistan or other countries including Russia, so that India can be pressurised. But India also feels down the line guilty, because India gave all the support for the war against Tamils to Rajapaksa govt. So, if you go by that, then India was also collaborative in the war. So that guiltiness haunts India. So India succumbs to a blackmail or pressure exerted by Rajapaksa govt. So this is what the international community should understand,” said D. Raja of the Communist Party of India, congratulating Headlines Today bringing out the truth about the war to the peoples of India. While the programme focussing on genocidal perspectives of the war is aired Tuesday, Rajapaksa is on his second visit to China within a year.
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‘Political separation needed to stop genocide in Sri Lanka’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 August 2011, 16:25 GMT]
To his surprise, Graham Williamson of Act Now, UK, realised that Tamils and Sinhalese biologically stem from a common genetic process originating since prehistoric times, when he read the book Peopling of Sri Lanka by Subramaniyam Visahan. The study may help to overcome genocidal conflict. Yet the reality of genetic similarity between the two peoples does not suggest that the two should be treated as one as Sinhala nationalism seeks the extinction of Tamils as a cultural identity, if not a people. The many differences of language, religion and culture suggests a political separation in the same way that the peoples of Europe jealously guard their national identities yet manage, today at least, to cooperate in harmony, he reviewed. Meanwhile, Chennai-based website The Weekend Leader on Saturday documented the extent of cultural genocide committed in the land of Tamils in the island.
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Indian PM rejects TN State assembly resolution for economic sanctions on SL

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2011, 06:04 GMT]
Rejecting the resolution of the Tamil Nadu State assembly, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday has said that India “cannot afford to restrict economic links with neighbouring Sri Lanka”, a move widely seen as giving a moral and diplomatic strength to the hawkish Rajapaksa government, which is under international pressure over wide-spread war crime allegations. According to the Delhi-based Hindustan Times report, the Indian Prime Minister has made his government’s policy with regard to Sri Lanka and to Eezham Tamils when he was met by the General Secreatry of Marumalarchi Dravida Munetra Kazhakam (MDMK) Vaiko on Tuesday.
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Stop treating Tamils as minority: Premachandran MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 July 2011, 20:37 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran on Sunday touched on an important conceptual issue related to the national question in the island that affects equality between Tamils and Sinhalese, when he criticized those who treat Tamils as a ‘minority’. “We will not allow the government or anyone else to treat the Tamils as a minority anymore. If the Sri Lankan government thinks the Sinhalese are the majority and the Tamils are the minority, then they are mistaken,” Mr. Premachandran told The Sunday Leader.
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Colombo targeting Tamil civil service is more than revenge

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2011, 18:02 GMT]
Orders have been issued by Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa and by his sibling Basil Rajapaksa to colonial governor Maj. Gen. Chandrasri for immediate and full-swing replacement of Tamil civil service in the north. The act may superficially look as a revenge for the defeat in the civic elections, but it is actually aimed to make any political solution that will be ‘accounted’ to the outside world completely meaningless to Eezham Tamils, and is a part of a long-contemplated agenda of structural genocide, political observers said. Meanwhile, knowing what is happening and what will happen in demography, political representation, civil administration, militarisation and in all other respects, why should the TNA commit to seek solutions under a ‘united Sri Lanka’ just because the powers that abetted the genocide want it, ask non TNA Tamil nationalists.
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Norwegian Tamils remember Oslo-Utøya, Black July victims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2011, 08:32 GMT]
City of Oslo, the capital of Norway, was full of roses Monday and Tuesday. More than 200,000 people gathered Monday evening to express their sorrow and solidarity with the victims of the attacks by far-right Islamophobic killer, Anders Behring Breivik, who has claimed the lives of at least 76 people, most of them young, in a combined bomb attack on the government square in the heart of the city and a shooting rampage at the summer camp of the youth wing of the ruling Labour Party at Utøya Island, located northwest of Norway's capital. Two of five Norwegian Eezham Tamil youths, who survived the attack at the Utøya Island, took part in a memorial event Monday, jointly organised by three Tamil organisations. The memorial event also remembered the victims of Black July, the Sri Lankan state-sponsored pogrom against Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka in 1983.
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