ITAK hierarchy receives flak for disregard of political prisoners

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2017, 22:25 GMT]
Jaffna University students on Friday condemned ITAK leaders, particularly M.A. Sumanthiran and Mavai Senathirajah for evading a crucial meeting at Jaffna University in which they were supposed to articulate and take a common responsibility of taking forward the struggle on behalf of the political prisoners before the students urged the hunger-striking political prisoners to abandon their fast unto death. Each of the three hunger-strikers have gone down in weight by 12 to 17 kg and their pulse was slow, the blood pressure has fallen and their body parts could be permanently impaired as their hunger-strike reached 37th day. Heated arguments ensued between the student leaders and NPC Councillor M.K. Shivajilingam who has been trying to negotiate and advance an appeal process in the Court of Appeal in Colombo instead of making it a political struggle with principled demands.
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Protests widen in Jaffna as hunger-striking political prisoners’ health deteriorates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 October 2017, 22:11 GMT]
Both the governing and the opposition parties at the Northern Provincial Council have urged immediate action from Colombo on the burning issue of Tamil political prisoners, who have been on a fast unto death for the past 11 days at Anuradhapura prison. On Wednesday, the students, academics and non-academic staff at the University of Jaffna staged a protest for 2 hours demanding SL Attorney Department in Colombo not to transfer the cases of Tamil political prisoners away from the courts in the North and East, where their cases could be heard in Tamil language. In the meantime, S. Thavarajah, the opposition leader at the NPC, who represents the EPDP, described the demands of the Tamil prisoners as a reasonable. “They were only demanding their cases to be heard in front of Tamil-speaking judges in their native language in the North, which is a constitutionally recognised right,” he said.
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Wickramasinghe protects unpunished war criminals of SL Military Intelligence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 March 2017, 20:35 GMT]
SL Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has secretly launched a plan to erase the records of military intelligence officers and operatives of the Military Intelligence who have been named with command responsibility by the affected victims and their families, particularly the kith and kin of Eezham Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of occupying Sri Lankan military after MI operatives carried out arrests, detentions and abductions during the presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa. In an effort to get rid of the details of those named by the victims, the military intelligence officers and operatives are being transferred to separate divisions or offered early retirement, informed EPDP paramilitary sources told TamilNet on Saturday.
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32nd anniversary of Vaddakka'ndal genocidal massacre commemorated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2017, 23:24 GMT]
Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran on Monday joined hands with NPC Opposition Leader Sinnadurai Thavarajah of the EPDP and the people of Vaddak-ka'ndal in Mannaar, commemorating 32nd anniversary of the genocidal massacre of 88 Eezham Tamils, who were shot and butchered to death in execution-style and by 300 Sinhala soldiers who had surrounded the village from all directions in the early hours of 30th January in 1985. Farmers, labourers, students, teachers and a school principal were among the massacred at various places in the village. The SL military had been wantonly targeting Tamil villagers in Mannaar for more than a month since 04 December 1984, when the Tamil Tigers carried out an ambush on an armoured vehicle of the SL military at Moon'raam-piddi, a village located on Mannaar - Jaffna Road.
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SL military deploys ‘media agents’ to deceive uprooted Tamils in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 January 2017, 15:07 GMT]
Major General Mahesh Senanayake, the Jaffna commander of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka, Reginald Cooray, who is Colombo's colonial governor to North and Angajan Ramanathan, the SLFP’s nominated parliamentarian who was earlier promoted by the Rajapaksa regime to circumvent Colombo regime’s dependency on Douglas Devananda's EPDP in Jaffna, are now jointly deployed in a covert operation of counter-insurgency and subversive nature with the intension of bringing disunity among the poverty-stricken section of uprooted people from Valikaamam North who are still languishing in 29 of 34 ‘welfare’ camps in Jaffna district.
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Occupying Colombo stages ‘PTA abductions’ in Jaffna citing criminal gangs

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 November 2016, 21:06 GMT]
The ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) of genocidal Sri Lanka has staged at least 8 abduction-styled arrests in Jaffna within the past three days. The arrests have been carried out under the ‘Prevention of Terrorism Act’, according to the SL Police. The explanation given by the TID, especially when questioned by the families of arrested persons, was that the persons were being targeted for alleged involvement in criminal gangs. The ‘arrests’ come after a period of heightened propaganda in South that there was a gang named ‘Avva’ operating in Jaffna beyond the control of SL Police and military. One of the arrested is said to be a law student and an active supporter of Tamil National Peoples’ Front, who was engaged in democratic mobilization, especially during the Ezhuka Thamizh uprising in Jaffna.
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15,000 Tamils attend historic uprising in Jaffna, reject Unitary Constitution, ITAK draws flak

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 September 2016, 16:10 GMT]
Ezhuka Thamizh (Let Tamil rise up), the biggest uprising to take place in the country of Eezham Tamils after the Pongku Thamizh uprisings during the times of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), declared on Saturday that the ‘consultations’ staged by Colombo for the new constitution completely failed to include the genuine political aspirations of the Tamil people. The Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) with a hijacked leadership and the powers operating it, received a serious message from the people at the grassroots, regardless of the organisers of the event, that the people on the ground are fully prepared to replace the ITAK hierarchy once a good leadership takes shape to lead the nation of Eehzam Tamils in the next phase of their struggle. It is now time for NPC Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran to prove the case, commented Tamil political observers in Jaffna.
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Ki'linochchi to mobilise against SL military erecting Buddhist sites in occupied Tamil land

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2016, 23:17 GMT]
Triggered by Sinhala military soldiers being deployed to construct Buddhist vihara inside the occupied temple lands of Kanakaampikai Amman at Ira'nai-madu, two mainstream Tamil formations have announced protests and shutdown in the following weeks with the backing of rural and grassroots organisations in Ki'linochchi district. The first protest is to take place on 22 August from Elephant Pass (EPS) to Ki'linochchi with the backing of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian Sivagnanam Sritharan. The next protest and shutdown is scheduled on 07 October, on the initiative by Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) with the participation of former Parliamentarians of EPRLF, PLOTE, EPDP. Tamil National Council, Catholic and Saiva organisations have come together extending their support to the mobilisation.
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Murder coverup of Tamil youth by SL Police OIC alleged

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2016, 21:39 GMT]
A Sinhala Police Officer-in-Charge, Chintaka Bandara, who is currently the head of SL Police at Chavakachcheari, was responsible for targeting a 26-year-old Tamil youth, who was later subjected to torture and murder in his custody in 2011, after two SL military intelligence officers took photos and video of an event during the Tamil Heroes Remembrance week in 2011. A white van squad abducted two young activists after the Tamil Heroes Day related event attended by two TNA parliamentarians S Sritharan, E. Saravanapavan and Emmanual Arnold (who later became NPC councillor). The two youths were handed over to the OIC at Chunnaakam. A few days later, the body of one of the victims, Sumanan Sriskandarajah, was recovered from Ira'nai-madu tank in Ki'linochchi district. SL police explained that the victim had drowned while escaping from custody during a field investigation.
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All States deceive Tamils at Geneva: Jaffna protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 June 2016, 22:11 GMT]
More than 400 Eezham Tamils, comprising rights activists, uprooted people from SL military-occupied lands and relatives of persons subjected to enforced disappearance, staged a protest march in Jaffna on Monday condemning the deceptive internal investigation discourse charted by the “USA-Sri Lanka consensus resolution”. Denouncing the smokescreen measures by the SL State, the protesters were calling for international criminal investigations as well as demanding the UN system to investigate the State responsibility for the root crime of genocide. Meanwhile, Intelligence operatives of the occupying SL military were tracing the origin of the organisers behind the protest and the participants were subjected to strict surveillance harassment.
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Indian intelligence, media insinuate Eezham Tamils to drop ‘Eelam’ in party names

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2016, 16:52 GMT]
The Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), led by Mr Suresh Premachandran, has denounced on Friday a narration given by the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that one of the oldest parties of early Tamil militant legacy was dropping the terms ‘Eelam’ and ‘Liberation’ in its party name. The claimed name change is actually being contemplated by a small group, the EPRLF ‘Padmanaba wing’, which is neither part of the TNA nor has any electoral standing. This group is led by former North-Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Mr Varatharaja Perumal, who is widely seen as an agent of Indian Intelligence. In 2009, immediately after the Vanni genocide, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief Mr M. Karunanidhi also gave instructions to remove the word Eezham in public places. Mr Karunanidhi reportedly has said that it was the wish of the ‘Central agencies’ of India.
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Family questions whereabouts of abducted journalist last seen in SL custody in 2012

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 February 2016, 22:14 GMT]
Tamil journalist Subramaniam Ramachandran, who was abducted by the SL military in February 2007 in front of Kalikai junction military camp at Karaveddi in Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna, was last seen alive in the custody of Sinhala military at the notorious camp at Pallappai in the same area in 2012, according to his 55-year-old sister Jeyaratnam Kamalashini. The SL military vacated from Pallappai a year later in 2013 and instructed the people not to dig the abandoned wells in an attempt to cover up alleged mass graves. The genocidal State of Sri Lanka still refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the father of two children. Despite reports of alleged mass graves, there have been no efforts by the judiciary of ‘Sri Lanka’ to excavate the killing fields. Reporters in Jaffna question the advice by the visiting UN Human Rights Chief to expect delivery of justice through the ‘Sri Lankan’ judiciary.
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Tamil political prisoners on hunger strike face death threats inside SL prisons

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 December 2015, 20:21 GMT]
The families of Tamil political prisoners expressed fear on Tuesday that the prison authorities of occupying Sri Lanka have started to deploy harsh methods against their detained kith and kin inside the jails in South to contain their struggle. A violent group of criminal Sinhala prisoners were deployed at the same room of the prison hospital, where 36-year-old Jeneevan Sivarasa was warded at the New Magazine prison. The Sinhala prisoners harassed Mr Sivarasa with racist and death threats, the families of the Tamil prisoners told TamilNet. Another Tamil political prisoner, 32-year-old Komahan Murugiah, was also subjected to similar harassments. The two Tamil prisoners are continuing their hunger strike amidst deteriorating health conditions.
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Another Tamil political prisoner goes on hunger-strike at New Magazine Prison

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 December 2015, 17:21 GMT]
32-year-old Komahan Murugiah, a former member of Jaffna Municipal Council, who has been detained in Colombo since July 2010 after being accused of attempting to assassinate Douglas Devananda, a former SL Minister and the leader of the EPDP outfit. The SL 'Terrorist' Investigation Division (TID) had arrested Mr Murugiah during the Rajapaksa regime and produced two cases, one in Vavuniyaa and another in Colombo. The High Court in Vavuniyaa had dismissed his case as his ‘confession’ had been obtained under torture. Mr Douglas Devananda has declined to witness against Mr Murugiah and openly urged for the release of the prisoner. However, the SL TID and SL Attorney General's Department have been trying to file a third case against Murugiah with the intention of keeping him detained indefinitely, informed legal sources told TamilNet on Thursday.
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Colombo harasses Senthuran’s family, insults Tamil political prisoners

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 2015, 23:45 GMT]
Unidentified Sinhala operatives in civil cloths, claiming as intelligence wing officers of the occupying Sri Lankan military, as investigators from the ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Division (TID) and as police officers attached to SL Criminal Investigation Department (CID), have been continuously and systematically harassing the grieving family of 18-year-old Tamil student Senthuran Rajeswaran, who committed suicide last week in Jaffna, relatives of the family told TamilNet on Friday. The A/L student killed himself a day before Eezham Tamils observed Tamil Eelam Heroes Day. Senthuran left behind a letter demanding immediate release of Tamil political prisoners languishing in the prisons of genocidal Sri Lanka.
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Hartal brings North to standstill, no signs of Colombo releasing Tamil POWs

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 November 2015, 15:58 GMT]
The entire Northern province was brought to a standstill on Friday in what was described as a successful boycott as the occupying Colombo and its military were unable to use force or muffle the protest for the first time after 9 years since 2006. The dawn to dusk shutdown, demanding immediate release of all prisoners of war and political prisoners involved in the Tamil war of independence, has sent a strong message to the SL State and to the global community, journalists in Jaffna said. However, informed sources close to Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran were pessimistic in their interpretation of the reports of a possible announcement coming from the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena on the coming Monday. “We are yet to see a principled decision from the side of the Sri Lankan president,” an NPC source told TamilNet.
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Tamil political prisoners on hunger strike need immediate attention: Ananthy Sasitharan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 2015, 23:46 GMT]
Three of more than 200 Tamil political prisoners on fast have fainted on the second day of the hunger strike demanding their release. Vijayakumar Kanthasamy, a father of two, was rushed to medical treatment after he fainted at Anuradhapura prison on Tuesday. Similarly, two prisoners fainted at Magazine prison, informed sources said. “We were expecting a positive response during the Papal visit. Nothing happened. Then came the elections and the talk of good governance. Nothing improved. Now, even after co-sponsoring the resolution in Geneva, we are yet to see any sign of evolution taking place in the mind-set of the Sri Lankan State,” a prisoner on hunger-strike said. Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasistharan has condemned TNA leader R. Sampanthan for not demanding immediate release of the Tamil political prisoners.
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Chief Minister Wigneswaran rejects domestic investigation in new NPC resolution

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 September 2015, 06:23 GMT]
Questioning the legal possibilities of conducting a credible investigation within the domestic sphere of the Sri Lankan Constitution and pointing out other hurdles within the SL State system, C.V. Wigneswaran, the Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Tuesday passed a resolution rejecting the domestic process being proposed by the USA and other powers. In ithe new resolution, the NPC has once again demanded a credible international investigation mechanism. Mr Wigneswaran, the NPC chief minister, who was a former Supreme Court Judge of Sri Lanka, citied previous examples of domestic failures including the earlier commissions that had international participation. Explaining the nature of crimes and legal circumstances prevailing in the island, the suggestion of domestic mechanism would be a ‘travesty of justice’ the CM proclaimed in the resolution.
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TNA secures 16 of 29 SL parliamentary seats in North-East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 August 2015, 05:50 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has secured 5 seats in the Jaffna electoral district, 4 seats in Vanni, 3 seats in Batticaloa, 1 in Trincomalee, 1 in Ampaa'rai and two seats for nominated parliamentarians according to the latest figures. In Jaffna, S. Sritharan, Mavai Senathirajah, M.A. Sumanthiran, T. Sitharthan and E. Saravanapavan have secured their seats after repeated counting of preferential votes on Tuesday while Suresh Premachandran lost his parliamentary seat. In the meantime, United National Party (UNP) led by Ranil Wickramasinghe is set to form the SL government in the South, despite a tough race with Mahinda Rajapaksa's UPFA. The UNP was leading the electoral districts in the South, particularly where Tamils and Muslims live in considerable numbers. UNP has got 106 seats in the SL parliament followed by the UPFA (95), TNA (16), JVP (06), EPPD (01) and SLMC (01).
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Colombo's military red tape prevails over civil rule in occupied Tamil homeland

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 July 2015, 22:36 GMT]
The Defence Secretary of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka, B.M.U.D. Basnayake this week demonstrated to the secretaries of SL Minister D.M. Swaminiathan in Jaffna that it was the SL military commanders in Jaffna, Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu, who were the ultimate decision makers on matters related to releasing back military-occupied lands to the civilians in the Northern province. The SL Defence Secretary, appointed by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, was on his first visit to North on Saturday and Sunday. In the meantime, EPDP leader Douglas Devananda has gone on record stating that the pockets of lands released so far by Maithiripala regime were those already prepared for release by former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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