Top US Senator calls for immediate ceasefire

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 06:34 GMT]
In a statement issued Tuesday, U.S. Judiciary Committee Chairman and Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy said that "it is imperative that the government and the LTTE agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid further loss of life, permit access to UN monitors and humanitarian organizations, and permit civilians to leave for areas of safety. The Obama administration, the British, Indian and other concerned governments, should be publicly urging the same," and added that "over the longer term, if lasting peace is to come to Sri Lanka, the government must effectively address, in negotiations which include all the main Tamil and Muslim parties, the core issues that have fueled the conflict including laws and policies that unfairly discriminate against Sri Lanka’s minorities."
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‘For whom the Co-chairs strive,’ asks Tamil parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 21:33 GMT]
The statement of the Co-chairs released Tuesday is “regrettably based on wrong premises and aims at disastrous ends,” Jaffna district parliamentarian S. Kajendren told TamilNet. "It sounds as though the Co-directors of the current war are at a last bid attempt to save Sri Lanka, one of the worst genocidal states of our times, before it collapses under its own burden of militarization, ethnic chauvinism and human rights violations. Their approach would have been different if they really care for the lives and dignity of civilians and if they have any respect for the democratic right of the national aspirations of Eezham Tamils,” he told TamilNet while issuing a statement responding to Co-chairs' stand.
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Rajapakse, Karunanidhi governments ideologically similar: Dr.S.Ramadoss

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 19:19 GMT]
PMK founder-leader Dr. S. Ramadoss launched a direct attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi over the Eelam Tamils issue Tuesday. He criticized the DMK Executive Council resolutions for not containing any ceasefire demand. "Does Karunanidhi not know that ceasefire is a prerequisite for peace-talks? Does this omission not reveal that the Rajapakse Government and the Karunanidhi Government are no different at the ideological level?" he said.
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'IC should act before it is too late'

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 21:26 GMT]
Colombo is now blackmailing the IC that any effort to stop the war at this juncture would boomerang in the south, destabilizing the system and disappointing the greed of those who want to eat the cake in full and have invested for that purpose in the island. It now doesn’t hide its intention of committing genocide of civilians along with its attempt to crush the LTTE in the next few days, leaving the consequences to be tackled later. Sonia Establishment’s haste is everyone's knowledge. Some powers think that by immediately dumping money for 'development' in the ‘conquered land’, Tamils can be appeased and the investors can find an outlet for the economic recession. But no one is prepared for a political solution, reflects a reader on an article appeared in TamilNet Monday.
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Liberal Democrats to British PM: UK must seek UN Resolution for ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 14:35 GMT]
Liberal Democrats have called on the British Government to seek a resolution of the United Nations Security Council demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Edward Davey MP, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, has written to the British Prime Minister on Monday, urging him to repeat his Government efforts that achieved a similar resolution in the conflict in Gaza. "In addition to pressure at the United Nations for a permanent ceasefire and for peace talks, I would urge you to use your influence this week within the European Union, within the Commonwealth and with President Obama’s new administration, to push for an end to hostilities."
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Focusing on demand for positive change in IC outlook urged

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2009, 11:30 GMT]
It is a war concurrently waged by Colombo government and Sonia Congress of India on the national aspirations of Eezham Tamils and in the process committing genocide on them. The perverted international vantage of the war and the milieu facilitated the war are a result of the Bush Syndrome. Obama has come but there is no US effort to arrest the hangover, and the British duplicity on the issue also continues. It is time the world has to look at the crisis in its true perspective as a national liberation struggle and stop discussing it as a ‘terrorist’ threat or minority issue, seeking solutions within the rotten state and polity of Sri Lanka, writes a senior Tamil scholar.
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Colleges closed indefinitely in Tamil Nadu to diffuse student uprising

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 18:03 GMT]
As students of Tamil Nadu declared strike from Monday, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the government of Tamil Nadu on Saturday night announced an indefinite closure of all state-aided, state-run and private colleges in the state. "This reminds us of the 1965 anti-Hindi agitations that rocked Tamil Nadu. At that point of time too, colleges were indefinitely closed that lasted well over three months," a senior Tamil activist told TamilNet.
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Artillery-fired cluster shells, aerial bombing on safety zone, 39 civilians killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 17:44 GMT]
For the first time within the safety zone, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Saturday attacked Moongkilaa'ru and Chuthanthirapuram. Relentless artillery fire also continued throughout the day on civilian targets. 39 civilians were killed and 128 wounded in the indiscriminate attacks. Artillery-fired cluster munitions were used in the attacks by the SLA against civilians targets, blamed LTTE's Political Head B. Nadesan. Meanwhile a doctor attending the wounded at Udaiyaarkaddu hospital described the situation as a two-pronged genocide, one through military operations and the other by refusing medical supplies.
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Umbrella front announces February 4 statewide bandh in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 09:34 GMT]
Demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka and the withdrawal of all Indian military aid to Colombo, leaders of the umbrella front in Tamil Nadu, Ilangkaith Thamizhar Paathukaappu Pearavai, which was recently formed to protect the Eezham Tamils, announced Saturday that they would mark the Sri Lankan Independence Day on February 4 as a day of protest. A state-wide bandh and a black-flag procession have been announced.
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SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo refuses international call for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 08:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued artillery shelling Saturday on civilian targets in Chuthanthirapuram. Eight wounded civilians have been rushed to Udaiyaarkaddu hospital and a mother has succumbed to injuries, according to initial reports from the medical sources. The shelling continues as Colombo refused International call for ceasefire. On Friday, the shelling destroyed Vanni head office of the Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese.
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Canadian Tamils form human chain to protest Sri Lanka's genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 06:30 GMT]
In a show of solidarity with the Northeast Tamils caught up in the war in Sri Lanka, about 45,000 Canadian Tamils people took part in the protest throughout the day Friday, forming a human chain stretching from Bloor St. to University Ave. and Yonge St. and snaked all the way to Front.according to Staff Sgt. Deb Abbott of 52 Division, with about 30,000 on Front St. alone, Toronto Star reported.
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Tamils held in prisonlike SLA detention centres - CJPCD

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 16:23 GMT]
“Considering the plight of the 2000 Tamils who had fled war and are detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres, a justifiable fear arises as to what would happen to those who come to these detention centres which are like prisons; youths detained in these centres are said to have gone missing,” Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) said in its appeal sent on its third day of the protest fast observed in Jaffna, against the killing of Tamils in the Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
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South Africa calls for permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:56 GMT]
Expressing deep concern for the safety and well-being of the 250, 000 civilians, including humanitarian aid workers, reportedly caught up in the conflict in the North-East region of Sri-Lanka, South African government Friday called for a permanent ceasefire. South Africa also urged the parties to the conflict, as a priority, respect existing safe zones and protect civilians, and to allow the delivery of relief supplies, including medicine, food, water and temporary shelters.
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Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to the end of conflict - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan Friday blamed Colombo for stepped up genocidal artillery attacks on civilian targets Friday after committing a war crime of issuing ultimatum to civilians to move against their will into the hands of the genocidal military. Most of the civilians are continuously forced to live inside the bunkers and civilian casualties were mounting in Udaiyaarkaddu, Thearaavil and other areas, Mr. Nadesan charged. Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the International Community and negotiations followed by it would resolve the conflict as envisaged by the Tamil people and the LTTE, Mr. Nadesan said.
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Last statement of Muthukumar

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:04 GMT]
Journalist Muthukumar distributed a 4-page statement in Tamil before his self-immolation Thursday in Tamil Nadu. TamilNet provides a translation for the English readership to grasp the significance, without taking responsibility for the accuracy of facts. "The sacrifice of young and idealistic Muthukumar is lamentable beyond words and thoughts of re-enactment should never become a necessity to anyone. It is a reminiscence of the Vietnam of 1960's when self-immolation of monks protesting brutal atrocities as a consequence of US military campaign was common. Such acts occur as a last resort of public frustration when governments suppress democratic space and don't respect overwhelming public opinion of emotional importance," said a diaspora Tamil academic.
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Batticaloa district Tamils condemn killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:47 GMT]
The Association of Tamil People (ATP) in Batticaloa district vehemently condemns the systematic killings of the Tamils in Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) while urging the International Community to come forward to stop the genocide and exert pressure on GoSL for an immediate ceasefire, according to an appeal made by the Association Thursday.
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ANC urges immediate ceasefire between GoSL, LTTE, citing genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 18:11 GMT]
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to halt the war and immediately institute a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to be brought to civilians caught in the conflict who are in dire need of assistance. "The continued conflict in Sri Lanka has been cited on the human rights watch international monitoring mechanisms as a conflict now reaching genocidal proportions," the statement said.
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British Foreign Office calls for 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 17:24 GMT]
The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to agree on immediate 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'. Mr. Miliband said in his statement that "military advances by the Sri Lankan Government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have come at a severe humanitarian cost." Humanitarian corridors must now be set up and respected by both sides so that civilians have the opportunity to move away from the conflict area and humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered, he said.
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British duplicity of proscribing LTTE, inaction to Colombo’s war questioned

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 18:55 GMT]
When the British Foreign Minister, Lord Mark Malloch Brown told a room-packed audience of the British Tamil Forum on Tuesday that the British government cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, a member of the audience asked him then why did they proscribe the LTTE, which did nothing to Britain. The Minister had no answer. The British Foreign Secretary Mr. Miliband who attended the gathering reiterated the British Prime Ministers assurance two weeks ago to work for an immediate ceasefire and said that he would speak to EU foreign ministers in the next few days. He also said that Britain would consider sending a Special Envoy to Sri Lanka.
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Students 'gherao' Indian Army headquarters at Chennai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:44 GMT]
Members of the Confederation of All Students were arrested by the Tamil Nadu State Police when they attempted to surround the South Zone Regiment Headquarters ATNKNK of the Indian Army at Chennai Wednesday morning to mark their protest against "Indian terrorism that supplies weaponry for the genocide of Tamils." Wearing black shirts to mark their anger and mourn their dying Tamil brethren, the students raised slogans condemning the Indian Government and Army for extending military help to Sri Lanka which had resulted in the ruthless killing of innocent civilians.
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