Tamils of Switzerland, Germany, Holland vote on independence this weekend

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 2010, 04:04 GMT]
Eezham Tamil diaspora in Switzerland goes for referendum on independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam this Saturday and Sunday. A similar ballot will take place in Germany and Holland on Sunday. The democratic exercise on the eve of the presidential elections in Sri Lanka gains significance as it demonstrates the mainstream diaspora is unaffected by the highly publicised political prospects of the elections of ‘united Sri Lanka,’ Tamil observers in Europe said. The enthusiasm seen in the younger generation of the diaspora is particularly a challenge to politics of deviation harping on strengthening Colombo-centric system to find solutions to the crisis, they further said.
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TGTE: 45 degrees polity for Tamils or ramp for powers?

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 2010, 09:24 GMT]
“21st century political reality is Transnational,” aptly says the Advisory Committee report for the formation of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), released Friday for public comments. Differentiating the novel concept from a conventional government in exile and justifying its rationale, the report argues that people in Tamil Eelam are also an active part of the transnational social space for the national struggle. The high ideals in the report were noticeably slipping when it ultimately envisages not a TGTE to politically fight for the cause but a remote controlled transnational corporation for collaboration and ‘step by step’ negotiation. The 45 degrees outlook, not surprising but only anticipated should now prompt the diaspora to respond with appropriate checks and balances.
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NCET announces committees to spearhead democratic moves of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 2010, 14:19 GMT]
The Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) on the Tamil festival day of Pongkal, Thursday, announced initiation of three global committees: a Monitoring Committee to help and coordinate polls mandating Tamil Eelam as well as constitutions cum elections for people’s councils in various countries; an Exploration Committee to examine the possibilities of founding a diplomatic centre in Oslo to represent the people’s councils and a Representative Committee to discuss apex coordination or united functioning with other constructs that emerge with national thinking. The NCET statement named Mr. S Pradeep and Ms Krishanthi Sakthithasan of France as international coordinator and spokesperson respectively for the said initiatives.
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Eezham / E'lu / He'la

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 2010, 00:01 GMT]
The gold (land)
The land of metal
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Eezham explained of its etymology

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 2010, 00:01 GMT]
Over two thousand years Eezham was in continued use without any change in its form in Tamil to denote the entire island called Sri Lanka today. The strong possibility is that the identities He’la and E’lu derived from Eezham, says etymological column appearing in TamilNet Friday. The three early names for the island, Thampa-pa’n’ni, Eezham and Seeha’la, the first one in Prakrit and the other two in Dravidian, are perhaps generically related to one another in meaning. They are geographical and descriptive of the landscape and its metallurgical potentialities, the column further says. A re-appraisal at the end of the column on the 2000 years-old Thirupparangkun'ram inscription of a person of migrant lineage from Eezham to Tamil Nadu, traces the connections of his personal name to Sinhala Pol and old Tamil Pul, both Dravidian, meaning coconut.
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Heritage genocide abetted by decades of Western funding

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 December 2009, 11:57 GMT]
Ever heard of ‘archaeology’ being first priority in a conquered territory? If not, then you don’t know Sri Lanka, writes an academic from Jaffna on Colombo’s heritage genocide. Colombo’s use of archaeology against Tamils is not new. But the dimensions to which Tamils are now exposed to are not only its acceleration but the tragedy of facing imposed ‘knowledge supremacy’ that only the Sinhalese can explore, excavate, manage and teach heritage. Sri Lankan state is not the only culprit. The West, especially the UK, US, Germany, France and Holland as well as India, Japan and Australia, the main countries that have been giving funds, training and scholarships to Sri Lanka and also the UN agencies have to be equally indicted for blindly following only State protocols and vested interests, without considering the long-term genocidal impact of their assistances in the island, he further writes.
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‘Tamils without Tamil’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 December 2009, 09:15 GMT]
“Why we need 1700 temples for only 3 million Indians in Malaysia? It does not make sense but we still continue to build temples and fight for it. We only have 450 Tamil schools in Malaysia and it is getting lesser,” says a news-group posting from Hindraf, New York. At least the Indian Tamils raise the issue, but the more affluent Jafanese or Ceylonese have forgotten Tamil and Tamil schools with their first generation. Now, even to give ‘tuition’ in Tamil only a few of the old generation remain, commented an Eezham Tamil refugee recently went to Malaysia.
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99.8 percent say yes to Tamil Eelam in Canada referendum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 2009, 08:49 GMT]
99.82 percent of 48,583 voters mandated independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the poll conducted in 31 centres across Canada, Saturday. The Canadian media and politicians showed great interest in the process of the ballot and organizers expressed satisfaction as 50, 000 was the expected turn out they quoted to media earlier. The poll was officiated by ES&S a professional company in North America that used counting machines. Unlike in Norway and France and contrary to earlier assurances, the ballot took place with complete registration of voters, which limited confidential participation, observers said. Voter turn out is assessed to be between 50 and 65 percent, but no authentic statistics is available on eligible Eezham Tamil voters.
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Referendum deciding identity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 December 2009, 19:40 GMT]
More than laying sound democratic foundations to the liberation struggle, the referendum will be deciding how the free Eezham Tamils and their descendants choose to identify themselves to the world – whether as ‘Sri Lankans’ or as Eezham Tamils, in the wake of international attempts to impose identity on them, commented Tamil circles in Canada on the on going referendum Saturday. Meanwhile, volunteers who worked for the referendum in France, especially the younger generation, shared their thoughts with TamilNet in a video interview.
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Tamil Nadu leaders wish well for referendum in Canada

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 December 2009, 23:04 GMT]
Tamil Nadu political leaders Pazha Nedumaran, Ko'laththoor Mani, Aruna Bharathi and Thamizharuvi Maniyan in their statements Friday wished well for the democratic move of Canadian Tamils in conducting a referendum on Tamil Eelam Saturday and urged all Canadian Tamils to make it a grand success. Other prominent leaders like Vaiko and Thol Thirumavalavan have already extended their support to this international effort. Mr. Thirumavalavan has recently called for such democratic exercises in Tamil Nadu too. In the meantime, the move for the referendum is enlightening many Canadians on the history of Eezham Tamil struggle and how the struggle predates militant movements, said a Canadian Tamil who happened to spend some time with Canadian intelligence officials in explaining what was Vaddukkoaddai Resolution.
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BTF, TNC welcome referendum in Canada, urge full participation

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 December 2009, 19:46 GMT]
British Tamil Forum (BTF) and Tamil National Council (TNC) of UK welcomed the referendum scheduled to take place in Canada Saturday on saying yes or no to independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam and urged the full participation of Eezham Tamils in Canada. Tamil National Council was initiated for the purpose of conducting a similar referendum in UK and the British Tamil Forum, the largest body of Eezham Tamils in UK co-officiates the ballot scheduled for January in UK.
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Zurich, Vienna, war crimes and Tamil polity

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 December 2009, 07:28 GMT]
By concentrating in an undue way on the choice of a president between the two main candidates seen as war criminals, why should Eezham Tamils ultimately uphold the interests of any of the powers either committed or abetted those very war crimes but show no signs of mending their ways on the national question and are now backing those dummy candidates, argues TamilNet political commentator in Colombo. Instead, Tamil politicians and new political aspirants among Tamils should leave the matter to genuine and spontaneous decision of the Tamil people and should make the best use of the time to concentrate more on laying strong foundations to the emerging national polity of Eezham Tamils to face any eventuality that emerges after the presidential elections, he further said.
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Yes or no to Tamil Eelam, referendum in Canada on Saturday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 2009, 16:56 GMT]
Eezham Tamils in Canada will vote on the question of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam at 31 polling centres using 52 voting machines across the country this Saturday between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., said Coalition for Tamil Elections Canada, an independent body organizing the referendum. It is a historic opportunity never to be missed by the large number of Eezham Tamils in Canada, said Siva Vimalachandran, spokesperson for the coalition and chairperson for the York University Student Centre INC. "Casting aside all differences and biases they should make this democratic exercise a success, not only to uphold the basic premises of liberation of their nation in the island, but also to assert to their own diaspora identity and to be free from the shackles of Sri Lankan identity oppressors attempt to forcefully impose onto them globally,” he further said.
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Cast the first vote to Bahu: Manickasothy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 21:43 GMT]
All Tamil political leaders should ensure in unison that Dr. Vikramabahu Karunaratne receive the first preferential vote in the presidential election, so that the two main candidates equal in their chauvinistic agenda against Tamils will not get the necessary 50 percent to win, said senior politician and civil movement member Manickasothy Abhimannasingham in an interview to media in Jaffna, Tuesday. Bahu was always consistent in his stand on Tamil question even under trying times and voting him is an opportunity to show the Tamil will locally and internationally, he further said. On the candidature of Mr. Sivajilingam, he said the candidature should not demonstrate Tamil disunity. His observation on TNA was that it is nowadays open about its proclivity to India and is now waiting only to receive instructions from India.
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Sinhala / Chingka'lam / Ceylon

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2009, 21:03 GMT]
The red tract of land
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99% assent Tamil Eelam in overwhelming turn out of 31,000 in France

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 2009, 02:23 GMT]
31,148 eligible Eezham Tamil diaspora voters over 18 in France participated this weekend in the referendum to say yes or no to independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam and 30,936 of them have said yes. The postal votes permitted to interior areas of France are yet to be counted and the number is expected to be between 2,000 and 3,000. In the absence of any official statistics, police estimates earlier placed the number of adult Eezham Tamils in France between 25,000 and 35,000. The near total turn out of voters amidst international campaign that Tamil Eelam is drowned in Mu'l'livaaykkal has stunned the observers. The public spirit has made sections of Tamil media, initially engaged in vicious campaign against the referendum, to make a U-turn supporting it later.
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France goes for referendum on Tamil Eelam this weekend

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 2009, 08:15 GMT]
Eezham Tamils living in France will be voting this weekend to say yes or no for independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the island of Sri Lanka. Polling will take place in 30 centres in Paris and suburbs and in 5 centres outside, between 08:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Saturday and between 08:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Sunday. The formation committee for the country council of Eelam Tamils in France is organizing the poll with the support of 61 Eezham Tamil organizations and two NGOs in France. Taking the secret ballot will be officiated and presided over by independent French election officers coming from members of the local government councils of France. The poll gains significance at a time when Tamils are left with no choice other than politically proving their geopolitical importance as powers have made it absolutely clear that they are guided only by geopolitical considerations.
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NCET urges Obama to explore policy reciprocal to US-Tamil interests

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 2009, 01:49 GMT]
US president Barak Obama visiting Oslo to receive Nobel Peace Prize Thursday was urged by the Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) that the USA should explore possibilities of recharting a policy pragmatic to both the national question of Tamils and the US interests in the island of Sri Lanka. In a letter addressed to the President and made open to media, NCET expressed its deep concern about Monday’s recommendations of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs seeking to strengthen Colombo and sidelining political solution to Tamils. Hundreds of Eezham Tamils in Oslo, joining many other organisations of international politics making demands to Obama, also took part in a vigil Thursday evening, marching from the city centre towards the Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament.
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US Senate Committee evaluation pushes aside political solution to Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 07:32 GMT]
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recommending Monday on ‘recharting’ US strategy on Sri Lanka, said the US should focus on economy and security of the island instead of humanitarian considerations, IDPs and civil society; should also invest in Sinhalese parts of the country instead of just focussing on North and East; should resume training of Sri Lankan military officials to ensure human rights in future operations as well as to build critical relationships and implied that US should not emphasise on political reform as a condition to assistance, bringing rift in US- Sri Lanka relations making the latter to align with countries of alternative model of development. While the report based on evaluation by two staffers, one of whom a US Sinhalese, is viewed by Tamil circles as an open insult to their struggle, it is also seen as an election ‘manifesto’ to woo Sinhalese votes.
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Indian parliament expunges remarks on genocide in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 December 2009, 08:13 GMT]
When Communist Party of India (CPI) member D. Raja in his speech Friday in Rajya Sabha pointed out what happened in the island of Sri Lanka was full-scale war and genocide against Tamils with the assistance of Government of India, the Chair ordered to expunge the word genocide from parliamentary records. The verbatim but lengthy debate Friday questioned the government on IDPs, Kachchatheevu, Tamil Nadu fishermen, and about sending a parliamentary delegation to meet Tamil IDPs. But when it came to the core issue of political solution, the debate had nothing new to offer as from Indian foreign minister S M Krishna to main opposition BJP’s Vekaiah Naidu were still harping on treating the Eezham Tamils not as a nation but as a ‘minority’ and perceiving solutions based on obsolete 13th Amendment. Even Raja was using the word ‘national linguistic minority’.
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