'India follows Sri Lanka in waging civil war'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 2009, 05:01 GMT]
India, in consultation with US counter-insurgency forces, is planning an unprecedented military offensive against ultra-Marxist rebels that is going to hit mainly the Adivasi (indigenous) peoples of India in the states of Andra Predesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Maharashtra, warns a protest document drafted by Arundhati Roy and a group of progressive intellectuals. India plans to deploy its paramilitary forces, anti-rebel militias organized and funded by government agencies and possibly Indian Armed Forces including the Air Force in this war, the stated objective of which is to ‘liberate’ areas under the influence of Maoist rebels, but the real aim is to exploit land and resources of the deprived people, the document points out.
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Sri Lanka's internment camps for Tamils: experience of an inmate

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 October 2009, 09:37 GMT]
South Asia has never witnessed such a large scale, state-organized crime as one committed on Eezham Tamils by the government of Sri Lanka. Perhaps the world has never witnessed hitherto that such a crime of internment camps for civilians could be initiated collectively by all the powers of the world and the UN, and could be left like this without anyone being able to do anything about it. A civilian woman who was a captive in the Zone 3 of the internment camp of Menik Farm for four months, and managed to come out by ‘other means’ a month ago, writes on her experience in the camp – an indelible shame for the so-called civilised world.
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Eezham Tamil filmmaker’s debut reaches international film festival

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 October 2009, 18:46 GMT]
Vancouver International film Festival’s Canadian Images session this year opens with a Tamil film ‘1999', made by Lenin M. Sivam, an Eezham Tamil of Canada and a software architect by profession. The film, featuring violence-affected Eezham Tamils struggling to adjust their lives in Canada, is the first full-feature production of the largely self-made filmmaker. Sivam, 35, born in Jaffna and migrated to Canada in 1991, earlier produced successful short films in Tamil. His father V M L Sivam was playwright, director and actor in his home country.
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Former LTTE leaders likely to be used for Colombo-US formula

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 00:34 GMT]
Unconfirmed reports indicate that some noted LTTE leaders in the custody of Colombo are likely to be made to collaborate a Colombo-US formula of ‘reconciliation,’ nullifying national aspirations of Eezham Tamils. The recent visit of Colombo’s defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and foreign minister Rohita Bogollagama to the US was in fact aimed to discuss the details, sources in Colombo said. The visiting delegation also wanted to strike a ‘deal’ with the US on handling the LTTE cadres and suspects in its prison camps, the sources further said. Meanwhile, the war crimes report scheduled to be released by the U.S. State Department to the U.S. Congress on 21st September is delayed, allegedly due to ‘Gotabhaya involvement’, according to a report by the Inner City Press.
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Melting pot of Eezham-Tamil democratic politics

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 21:31 GMT]
While the idea of transnational government (TNG) is captivating the minds of Eezham Tamils, their public opinion should be watchful for political moves not slipping in concepts and terminologies and the organisation process maintaining absolute financial independence. Democratically elected country councils widen, strengthen and secure the democratic structure of TNG and help it to evolve from bottom to top. The nation needs to explore models of structurally integrating country councils and bodies such as GTF in the apex body of TNG. Conducive atmosphere has to be created for wider participation of the society, youth and women. The trauma and depression Eezham Tamils undergo, can be conquered by them only by innovatively engaging in action – this time democratic action – and by demonstrating their spirit unconquered.
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Eezham Tamils in Norway launch move for democratically elected council

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 September 2009, 02:41 GMT]
Eezham Tamils in Norway have launched an election process on Monday to form Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET), a move widely perceived as a pioneering major step in the global politics of Eezham Tamils. An independent election committee formed for this purpose has called for the nomination of candidates and has announced that the elections will be held on November 15th. The Norwegian Tamil move follows an overwhelming mandate by them in May this year for independence and sovereignty of Tamil Eelam, based on political fundamental of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution (VR) of 1976.
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Court case mooted against India’s internment camps for Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 September 2009, 18:47 GMT]
Long continuing human rights violations of Government of India and Tamil Nadu State Government, by the way they treat Eezham Tamils in internment camps and refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, are challenged by I’lanthamizhar Iyakkam (Young Tamil Movement) in Chennai, which is mooting a court case in this regard. Accusing the central and state governments for showing racial discrimination against Eezham Tamil refugees, for committing repression through their police and intelligence services and for failing in equal treatment compared to Tibetan and Burmese refugees, the YTM seeks redress under Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian constitution, says a document released by K. Arunabharathi, coordinator of YTM and plaintiff of the proposed case.
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Kuppuzhaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 September 2009, 13:44 GMT]
The locality of Kuppuzhaay (Vernonia zeylanica) vegetation
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Colombo contemplates Malaysian model

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 September 2009, 22:36 GMT]
A participant in a study group that recently met in London cautioned that Colombo with the support of Asian powers is dreaming to follow Malaysian model of ethnic totalitarianism and related development model, ultimately aimed at erasing the territoriality of Eezham Tamil nation, bringing the entire island under Sinhala ethnic hegemony. “The Sri Lankan state has forgotten that even in the case with the 19th century Chinese migrants, after all the ethnic persecutions Malaysia had to finally concede secession of Singapore, to have peaceful development in the region. The Eezham Tamils who have right on the island ever since Sinhalese became Sinhalese need deserving justice and if Colombo thinks of Malaysia, who ever is going to support a Singapore in the island is going to have the say in the region,” commented another participant of the meet in London.
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Vaddukkoaddai and Thimphu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 September 2009, 13:04 GMT]
Calling for the creation of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam, based on Vaddukkoadai Resolution (VR) was the last spontaneous and definite mandate by Eezham Tamils in a totally free and democratic atmosphere. As the need for democratic political organisation unfolds afresh, Tamils have to take up the thread directly from the VR. The Thimphu principles and all the other formulas put forward subsequently under the duress of powers, and failed as negotiation models, do not get precedence over the VR as bases for political organization. Mu’l’livaaykkaal was not the real defeat. The defeat comes only when Tamils are made to politically denounce their heart-felt aspirations. The diaspora needs to peruse and correct course of any proposal that stops just at self-determination. In UN charter and in international law it is just an empty phrase that doesn’t protect nations or ethnicities.
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Tamil national aspirations, TNA and transnational governance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 23:36 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or any other political party claiming that they represent Tamils have no right to proclaim that they have moved away from the 1977 mandate for independence and sovereignty of the Eezham Tamil nation, to satisfy India, Mahinda Rajapaksa or any other power. They may negotiate but without dropping the fundamentals, until any acceptable formula is freshly mandated by all Tamils including those who are now in the diaspora. Meanwhile, the emerging novel concept of transnational governance will be misled if it is orientated merely with an idea of negotiation. It is not just a negotiation platform. There is no need to show Tamils have ‘democratically’ dropped their aspiration just because some powers want it as a pre-requisite for negotiation.
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M K Narayanan declares war on Tamil diaspora

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 11:54 GMT]
Addressing Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police Monday, India’s National Security Advisor and one of the architects of Indian Establishment’s policy towards Eezham Tamils, M K Narayanan, told them of the need to keep watch against Tamil diaspora reviving the LTTE and cautioned them to be prepared for any eventuality. “The funding lines of the LTTE are still intact and there is always a possibility that disgruntled elements in the Tamil diaspora across the globe could get together to help the terror outfit regroup and rearm,” said M K Narayanan, according to The Economic Times, Tuesday. His fear stems from his own policy 'haunting him back,' commented Tamil circles in the diaspora.
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War and disregard make Tamils hard and determined

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 08:44 GMT]
“After looking at the people dying and dead bodies everywhere, it is like nothing threatens me any more, it is like I have had the hard time in my life and I think I am prepared to take up whatever happens in life now,” says Damilvany Gnanakumar, an Eezham Tamil of British citizenship, who witnessed war and internment camp in the island of Sri Lanka. "I'm not that old Vany that sits down and cries for little things. I'm stronger now after going through and seeing all that problem. My mind is clear now," she told Gethin Chamberlain of The Guardian in an interview Tuesday, asking at the same time, what have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them?
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Documentation of Norwegian Tamil mandate released

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 September 2009, 07:49 GMT]
Comprehensive documentation of a referendum conducted among Eezham Tamils of Norway is now released in the form of a 48-page publication by Utrop newspaper, which conducted the poll on 10th of May this year. In the referendum, 99 percent of the voters endorsed the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976, calling for an independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the traditional homeland of Eezham Tamils in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. 90 percent of eligible voters in Oslo, and an average 80 percent of them in entire Norway turned out for the voting, a first of its kind exercise in that country and among the world diaspora of Eezham Tamils. The documentation is widely seen inspiring global democratic efforts of Eezham Tamils for their liberation.
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Chauvinism and greed 'naked' in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 August 2009, 04:07 GMT]
It was frightening to see the combined effect of naked chauvinism of Sri Lanka and naked greed of powers, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo responding to the video clip displayed Tuesday. “Such a trend in the establishments is a challenge to every lay human being of the civilized world. While rising up to free people in the internment camps is a spontaneous response, what is of paramount importance is independent political organisation of Tamils in order to meet the challenge of the same forces that are now coercing or enticing them to drop righteous aspirations. Tamils are not asking for other’s land or for empires. They only ask for their own land and there is nothing to get scared or to feel ashamed of. As people of classical heritage, if Tamils fail, they fail not merely their cause but an entire human civilization,” he writes commenting on current Tamil affairs.
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MNCs flock in to get the ‘fruits’ of war

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 August 2009, 09:18 GMT]
Roman Scott of Calamander Group, who believes Tigers have been effectively contained, suppression of free expression by Colombo will not affect business, and economics is not really that strong related to democratic principles, is an early bird in the island for investment, says the latest issue of Forbes India. Sri Lanka is going to be “one of the best investment opportunities on the planet for the next two to three years,” said the Singapore based British equity manager. According to Forbes, companies from some countries have a natural advantage either because they have the trust of the Sinhalese or understand the local nuances better. China falls into the first category and India into the second. These two countries are likely to play a major role in the reconstruction.
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Eelam and the new 'super power' Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 August 2009, 04:46 GMT]
In their petty geopolitical and corporate interests, India and the West have created a Frankenstein monster of a state in Sri Lanka that disgraces the whole world. What fears them now is this monster in its frenzies making their labours lost in the island. This is what impels them to tell the victims to reconcile, not to anger the monster and not to say genocide even when it takes place for decades. A general excuse they come out with is that the present world has no appetite for new nation states. Colombo makes the best use of this weakness. No justifiable norm of polity could be seen in why India and the West should labour so hard to uphold a united Sri Lanka and to appease it beyond all limits, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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'Political formula needs to address Tamil nationalist fundamentals'

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 August 2009, 00:12 GMT]
The powers of the international community, especially India, recognising the nation of Eezham Tamils, spelling out its right to self-determination and immediately stepping in guaranteeing its security and territorial integrity are more important for producing positive political results than mooting proxy draft solutions, says Roy Gardiner Wignarajah, a spokesman of the Canadian Tamil activist group, International Human Cultural Union (IHCU). "Tamil groups should not engage in demoralising the future course of the liberation struggle by playing in the hands of those who are all out to erase the nationalism of Eezham Tamils. Instead, they should concentrate on ingenuously posing democratic challenges, locally and internationally, convincing the inevitability of conceding liberation to Tamils."
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Academic exposes ideological shift in DMK

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 August 2009, 11:59 GMT]
Discerning students of Tamil Nadu politics, especially those analysing the role of the state in Sri Lankan ethnic conflict, are intrigued by the transformation that has taken place in the DMK perception on Sri Lanka, writes V. Suryanarayan in an article last week appeared in New Indian Express. “The tragedy of the situation must be underlined; the Sri Lankan Tamils became pawns in the electoral politics of the state. What is more, their struggle for justice, equity and dignity has been pushed back by several decades. A long winter of discontent is ahead of Sri Lankan Tamils,” he concludes the article.
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Tamil Nadu government erases the word 'Eezham'

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 August 2009, 23:08 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Police was seen pasting white papers on the word 'Eezham' and on the picture of LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan, figured in the banners and posters of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kadchi (VCK) organised uprising in Chennai attended by more than 100,000 people Monday. The VCK's annual uprising day, conducted on the birthday of its leader Thol Thirumavalavan, has chosen the theme 'Ezhum Thamizh Eezham' for this year. The phrase can either mean the 'rising Tamil Eelam' or 'Tamil Eelam will rise'. The word 'Eezham' is the earliest reference to today's island of Sri Lanka, found in Tamil literature and inscriptions of pre-Christian centuries.
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