Veteran Eezham Tamil journalist, poet, Parvathinathasivam passes away

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 March 2013, 17:16 GMT]
Pulavar Parvathinathasivam, poet, journalist, author and Tamil scholar passed away in Jaffna on Tuesday morning at the age of 77. Coming from an illustrious family of Tamil scholars in Jaffna, Parvathi-natha-sivam was further inspired in his outlook and writings by his association with the renowned Tamil poet Bharathidasan in the late 1950s. Starting his journalistic career with Suthanthiran, he served as editor of the weekly edition of Eezhanaadu daily in Jaffna for a long time in the 1970s and 80s. Later, he worked for Uthayan in the 90s and also contributed to Murasoli, Sanjeevi and Thinakkural. The funeral ceremonies will take place at his family’s present residence at Nanthaavil Lane in Kokkuvil on Wednesday. His ancestral house at Maaviddapuram, coming under the SL military-occupied HSZ for two decades, was released recently, but in a completely razed-down condition.
Full story >>

Condemn genocide in a single-line resolution at Geneva: AIADMK tells New Delhi

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 March 2013, 00:28 GMT]
“India should move a single-line resolution in the Council condemning the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and demand an independent international investigation,” said AIADMK’s MP, Dr. Maitreyan, during the parliamentary debate in New Delhi on Wednesday. Citing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa linking the war crimes to the days of the Nazi Germany of Hitler, Dr. V. Maitreyan condemned Indian Foreign Minister calling Sri Lanka a friendly country. “Sri Lanka, as a friendly country, is a thing of the past. How can a country, which carried out a systematic genocide of my umbilical-cord brethren, Tamils, be termed as a friendly country,” he asked, blaming India for diluting the impact of the UNHRC resolution last year, by softening its tone, tenor and contents.
Full story >>

Colombo uses international aid, abetment, for structural genocide in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2013, 04:02 GMT]
The genocidal Sinhala State in Colombo has accelerated the process of creating a Sinhala division at Ma'nal-aa'ru renamed as Wæli-oya in Sinhala, in the strategic locality linking North and East territory of the Tamil nation in the island of Sri Lanka, by deploying Indian and other international aid, civil sources in Mullaiththeevu said. The housing aid of India and the infrastructure aid of the IC are pooled in creating the Sinhala division, with all facilities of attraction for the Sinhalicisation process at the wedging locality. This is carried out not without the blessings of India, the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia whose delegates visited the region in the recent months, the civil sources commented, adding that what was heard from the Indian Foreign Minister in the parliament on Wednesday on implementing the 13th Amendment was a sour joke of quarter a century.
Full story >>

Attacks against Tamil farmers escalate in Vellaave’li, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2013, 23:11 GMT]
A Tamil village official looking after agricultural tracts (Vaddavithaa’nai) in Kevu’liyaa-madu in Vellaave’li division of Batticaloa district was severely assaulted four days ago by a group of Sinhalese settlers who have occupied the farm and grazing lands of Tamils. Two weeks ago, Sinhala ‘home guards’ had assaulted Tamil youths who were breeding their cattle in the same area, news sources in Vellaave’li said.
Full story >>

Tamil Nadu CM bars sports event citing Sri Lankan participation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 February 2013, 23:37 GMT]
Citing the participation of athletes from the genocide-accused Sri Lankan state in the 20th Asian Athletics Championship that was scheduled to be held in Tamil Nadu State, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced that her state will not host the Games. The participation of Sri Lankan athletes would hurt the feelings of Tamils, Ms Jayalalithaa said in a statement. Earlier this week, commenting on the recently released Channel 4 photographs of the execution of Balachandran Pirapaharan, Ms. Jayalalitha had also drawn a parallel between Nazi crimes against the humanity and that of the Sri Lankan state. Separately, protests against Sri Lanka have been reported in various parts of Tamil Nadu.
Full story >>

Pita-kotte, Pita-kotuwa, Pettah

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 February 2013, 08:31 GMT]
The outside of the fort/
The backside of the fort
The extramural suburb of the fort/
The town adjacent to the fort

Full story >>

Flood victims deprived of relief by Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2013, 23:35 GMT]
63,386 members of 13,903 families have been displaced in the Northern and Eastern provinces while two died and one hundred thousand and thirty four thousand persons have been affected in the whole island due to torrential rain with strong winds in recent days. Hundreds of acres of paddy crops ready for harvesting are under water and harvested paddy crops floating in flood water. But no action has been taken to provide any relief to affected families, civil officials say. Heavy torrential rains and floods have repeatedly affected the lives of the people struggling to resettle in their homeland subjected to structural genocide by the occupying Sinhala military and its administrative apparatus in the North and East.
Full story >>

‘Extra-constitutional interim solution to counter Sinhala militarization must be probed’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2013, 17:33 GMT]
Arguing that while the strategy for Tamils world over should be the restoration of Eezham Tamil sovereignty over their traditional homeland, RM Karthick writes that the Tamil diaspora organizations must arrive at a consensus for an immediate tactic to alleviate the mutilation of the Eezham Tamil nation in the Tamil homeland by the occupying Sinhala military via an interim solution of an intervention of international powers in the island to facilitate the dismantling of the Sinhala military apparatus. Contending that such an interim solution should not give any legitimacy whatsoever to the Sri Lankan constitution, the writer further argues that any interim solution can be successful only on an extra-constitutional basis that has pre-constitutional recognition of the Eezham Tamil nation’s territoriality and historical sovereignty.
Full story >>

SL military steps up land grab in Vaakarai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2013, 22:40 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has demanded thirteen Tamil families in Thoa'nithaa'ndamadu, a village in the Koa'ralaip-pattu North (Vaakarai) DS division in Batticaloa district to hand over photo copies of their deeds in an attempt to grab their lands saying that they would be paid rent for its use. The residents say that the SLA promise is not genuine but a ploy to grab their lands where a SLA camp is already is located.
Full story >>

Tamils will lose land forever by failing to address US, India in time

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2013, 01:25 GMT]
Any international resolution on the island of Sri Lanka that doesn’t recognize and protect the nation of Eezham Tamils and its territoriality is not only useless to the affected people but also worse than the genocidal war waged against them by the International Community of Establishments. In a coordinated way, a concrete demand has to be globally made by Tamil politicians in the island, activists and public in the diaspora, and by political parties and masses in Tamil Nadu, addressed specifically at Washington and New Delhi to not hoodwink any more by deviating resolutions but to come out with meaningful international action to restore the country of Eezham Tamils to them.
Full story >>

78,000 affected by floods in Batticaloa, Ampaa'rai, 46 DS divisions under water

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2013, 21:37 GMT]
The normalcy in the districts of Ampaa'rai and Batticaloa in the Eastern province has been severely disrupted due to heavy rain with strong winds. 300mm rain was recordered in the Ampaa'rai district on Friday and 230 mm rain in Batticaloa district, according to Meteorological sources. One fatality was registered at Poaratheevup-pattu in Batticaloa district. Totally, 78,467 persons have been affected in both the districts, officials said adding that 21 DS divisions in Ampaa'rai district and 14 DS divisions in Batticaloa district have been under water for several hours. 35 families were rescued from an entire village, Veaththuch-cheanai, that has been submerged in floods in Vellaave'li division of Batticaloa district. All transport from Batticaloa city to Paduvaankarai and Vaakarai regions has come to a standstill.
Full story >>

Colombo’s UPFA allies further accelerate divide in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2013, 23:37 GMT]
While Muslim politicians of Batticaloa, aligned with Rajapaksa regime in Colombo seek to annex Tamil villages with Muslim-dominated divisions of Batticaloa, Tamil paramilitary elements operated by Colombo attempt to woo Tamil voters by staging shutdown protests against Muslims, capitalizing from the lack of a broader political mobilization from the part of the TNA. The line of collaboration politics with Colombo, adopted by the SLMC, has made it easier for Colombo to deploy the divide and rule tactic, setting Tamils and Muslims against each other, providing necessary time and space to the occupying Sinhala military to scheme Sinhalicisation of resourceful interior villages of Batticaloa.
Full story >>

Kuruppu-mulla, Kochchi-kade

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2013, 23:16 GMT]
The Kuruppu’s Corner
The Kochchi Bazzar
Full story >>

Eastern province under flood again due to torrential rain

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2013, 23:06 GMT]
Several low lying areas in the districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampaa'rai and Polonnaruwa are under flood due to the ongoing torrential rains lashing since Monday. People residing in low-lying areas are displaced and seek shelter in public buildings. In the Batticaloa district alone 210 villages in 14 Divisional Secretariat divisions; Vellaave'li, Paddippazhai, South Eruvilpattu, Vavu'natheevu, Kaaththaankudi, Ma'nmunaipattu, Ma'nmunai North, Ea'raavoorpattu (Chengkaladi), Koa'ralaippattu, Koa'ralaippattu North, South, West and Central are under floodwaters.
Full story >>

East mourns demise of Muslim Tamil educationalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2013, 11:50 GMT]
The 40th day mourning for Al-haj M.A. Samsudeen, who passed away on 25 November at the age of 82, is to be observed at Addaa’laich-cheanai in the Ampaa’rai district of Eastern Province on Thursday. Mr. Samshudeen dedicated nearly 40 years of his life to education in the East as well in the North and retired as Batticaloa’s Additional Director of Education. His education and career in the East, North and Tamil Nadu is one such that would inspire anyone of the larger perspective shared by Muslims and Tamils.
Full story >>

Ballaa-paana Uda-baage
Ballaa-paana Patha-baage

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 December 2012, 21:38 GMT]
The dog-waters upper part
The dog-waters lower part
Full story >>

Gotabhaya appropriates whole village in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 December 2012, 15:53 GMT]
An entire Eezham Tamil village, Mu’l’lik-ku’lam in the Musali division of Mannaar district, has been declared out of bounds for its uprooted residents by SL defence Secretary and presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa visiting the village on Wednesday. The entire village will be used for a military base of the occupying Sinhala forces and to serve as a hub for the Sinhalicisation and Colonisation process of the land and waters of the strategic locality in the Mannaar district. Nobody would be allowed to resettle within a perimeter of 750 meters of the Mu’l’likku’lam village, Gotabhaya said at a meeting held at the SL Naval Base established there on Wednesday between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm.
Full story >>

Kade-weediya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 December 2012, 14:44 GMT]
The bazaar street
The street of shops
Full story >>

Eastern province under flood, uprooted people of Champoor suffer

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 December 2012, 23:44 GMT]
In the fourteen divisional secretariat divisions in the Batticaloa district more than one hundred and fifty thousand people had been rendered homeless following heavy rain with winds at high speed for the last few days. They have sought asylum in public buildings but the Colombo government has been showing indifferent attitude in providing immediate relief through its regional and divisional officials, complain affected people. In Trincomalee district four temporary welfare centers at Ki'liveddi, Paddith-thidal, Ma'nat-cheanai and Kaddaip-pa'richchaan where more than two thousand uprooted people from Champoor are residing are submerged in flood water due to the heavy rain for a week.
Full story >>

Thousands throng Sydney, London Heroes’ Day events

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 November 2012, 16:21 GMT]
Thousands of Eezham Tamils from across the UK gathered at London on Tuesday to pay obeisance to the Maaveerar (heroes) who laid down their lives in the struggle for a sovereign Tamil Eelam. Likewise, large crowds showed up at the Heroes Day event at Sydney, which was held in open space, and the people stayed on till the conclusion despite a heavy downpour. At the Heroes day event at Excel centre, London, security sources informed that the overall crowd was roughly around 20,000. Speaking to TamilNet, a community activist from Australia said that the strong presence of Tamil public at the Heroes Day events in different parts of the world showed that the diaspora will not be intimidated by any targeting or attacks on grassroots activists. Separately, Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon also spoke in the parliament on the occasion, referring to challenges faced by the Tamils.
Full story >>