Teachers Union condemns one-day pay cut in East

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 January 2011, 23:50 GMT]
Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has cut one-day pay of teachers in the province from their wages for January. The chairman of Ceylon Teachers' Union, Joseph Stalin, has condemned the act as political bankruptcy of the EPC that has bypassed the regulations for such wage cut. While the people of the other provinces and the larger international community have come forward to help the flood victims, the EPC has been engaged in cutting the wages of the victims themselves in the name of flood relief, the union said.
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Pillayan group attacks DS officer in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2011, 01:33 GMT]
A group headed by councillor and Pillayan group paramilitary person P. Prasanth, Monday morning entered the Divisional Secretariat in Aaraiyampathi and attacked injuries to four workers of the secretariat. The same group attacked a village officer in the division on Sunday. The group was attempting to block independent local aid groups from engaging with the citizens in their 'electorate', civil sources said.
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Paramilitary assaults Village Officer in Batticaloa over flood relief distribution

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2011, 19:42 GMT]
The Village Officer of Aaraiyampathi S.Suresh was assaulted by a group of persons led by P. Prashanthan, a TMVP person and a councillor of the Eastern Provincial Council Sunday morning in the presence of a police officer. The TMVP - Pillayan group has assaulted the Mr. Suresh while he was supervising the distribution of relief goods to flood-affected families sheltered in Ramakrishna Mission Mahaa Viththiyaalayam.
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Floods: Eezham Tamils need a government for them

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2011, 15:43 GMT]
While the Eastern Province is 100 percent affected by the floods in the last two weeks, seriously harming and displacing hundreds of thousands, the SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa visited only the partially affected Polonnaruwa district in the North Central Province and returned to Colombo. The assistance that was meant for the East was diverted to the SL military at Kudumpimalai. Flood relief is totally politicised by Colombo’s factions led by the East chief minister Chandrakanthan, SL deputy minister Muralitharan and another SL deputy minister Hisbullah. Eezham Tamils are left without a government even in meeting natural disasters is the public feeling in the North and East. Meanwhile, Mr. Muralitharan calling the diaspora to send relief confirms once again that the SL government is not meant for Tamils, commented reports from the East.
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TNA to contest local elections, TPPF politically divided

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 05:14 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has decided to contest all the local government institutions in the North and Eastern provinces in the forthcoming election. Some of the political parties affiliated to the recently formed Tamil Political Parties Forum (TPPF) have reportedly expressed their willingness to contest the forthcoming local election under the TNA banner, informed sources said. The official TNA stand is to contest alone. Meanwhile, the TNA is increasingly under pressure to put forward a document on political solution as absolute ‘minimum’ from both New Delhi and Colombo establishments, informed sources said.
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Why Sri Lanka keeps Tamil areas insecure and unstable - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2010, 15:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka is actively using paramilitary groups in a campaign of terror in Tamil areas, alongside the military’s own harassment of business and civil society activity, to “actively deny the conditions – physical security and societal stability - necessary for a fully fledged post-conflict revival,” the Tamil Guardian newspaper argued in an online comment Thursday. Sri Lanka is opposed to societal revival in the Tamil areas [because] with economic progress and the restoration of normalcy will undoubtedly come renewed Tamil demands for political rights, including greater freedom from Colombo's rule and stronger links with the "globalised" economy and community, the Tamil Guardian argues.
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Forced prostitution, sex slavery with GoSL complicity – US cable

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 December 2010, 02:39 GMT]
Forced prostitution and trafficking abroad for sex of Tamil children are amongst the organized criminal activities being undertaken with the knowledge of the Sri Lankan government by its troops and allied Tamil paramilitary groups, according to another Wikileaked US embassy cable from May 2007. The cable says these practices, which constitute war crimes, were raised “repeatedly” with Sri Lanka’s top leadership, including the President and top ministers. “The preponderance of [accounts] and the extent to which they independently corroborate each other points to a pattern of GSL complicity with paramilitary groups on multiple levels,” the then US Ambassador Robert Blake wrote.
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WikiLeaks: Gotabaya sanctioned extra-judicial killings by Paramilitaries

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 December 2010, 01:08 GMT]
A WikiLeaks cable, dated 18th May 2007 from US embassy in Colombo, accuses Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse of giving orders to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commanders in Jaffna not to interfere with Tamil paramilitaries who are "doing "work" that the military cannot do because of international scrutiny. The work referred to in the cable includes extra-judicial killings, extortion, abduction and prostitution by the Tamil paramilitary groups EPDP and Karuna Group. Both groups are led by Ministers in the present ruling Government in Sri Lanka.
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Vaazhaichcheanai parents, students protest against TMVP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 November 2010, 08:57 GMT]
Students and parents of Vaazhaichcheanai in Batticaloa district Monday protested against the decision by Piratheasa Chapai (PS) chairman S. Jeevagathas to close down private tuition centres in the area. This was the first time residents of Vaazhaichchenai held such demonstration against the TMVP, which is led by Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilliayan who is also the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC).
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SL Police arrest TMVP operative in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 November 2010, 07:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka police Intelligence officers arrested Sunday an important operative of Tamil Makkal Viduthali Pulikal (TMVP) a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, in Ka’ruvaakkea’ni in Batticaloa. He was arrested for involvement in the theft of a van on information given by Vadivel Ravichandran, the Vice Chairman of the Vaazhaichcheanai Pradeshiya Saba in Batticaloa who was arrested and detained in October by police in Nuwara Eliya district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Former Tamil SLA accomplice abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 06:11 GMT]
A gang of unidentified armed men arriving in a van abducted a Tamil youth who had operated with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the war, on 15 September at Kalladi in Batticaloa district, according to complaints made by his wife to Batticaloa police. She had first complained at the office of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, raising suspicion whether he has joined TMVP on returning from a Middle East country where he had worked after the war, sources in Kalladi said.
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SL government responsible for abductions – TMVP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 05:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka government should take responsibility for the abductions that have taken place after the war in Eastern Province, the propaganda secretary of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, said in a meeting held in Kommaanththu’rai in Batticaloa district. Meanwhile, Batticaloa district residents said that armed men alleged to be Pillayan group and Karuna group abduct persons and rob houses in the outskirt villages of the district. Karnuna group is also a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Sri Lanka minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna.
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Batticaloa MC member reported abducted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 10:43 GMT]
The wife of a member of Batticaloa Municipal Council (BMC) complained to Batticaloa police that her husband had gone missing since August 23 after having met BMC Mayor Sivageetha Pirabakaran and a member. She said she suspects that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Unit officers had abducted her husband. A person had called her 22 August night and intimidated that her husband will be abducted by the SLA. Meanwhile, Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias (Pillayan) is reported to have said that SLA and Sri Lanka police in Batticaloa should take responsibility for the abductions in Batticaloa district.
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Asylum seekers set sail in a sea of silence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 July 2010, 00:52 GMT]
Noting that asylum policy debate in Australia has re-focussed on "how to stop the boat people coming," Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson of the Australian Tamil Congress, in an article appearing on ABC, points out that "if both parties [Labor and Liberals] are serious about cutting down on asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, they need to look at the root cause of the problem and review their foreign policy in regards to Sri Lanka," and faults Australia's political leaders saying, "while our Western allies continue to publicly denounce Sri Lanka's appalling treatment of its civilians, Tamils in particular, Australia is yet to publicly condemn any of the country's [Sri Lanka's] current or past acts."
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Devananda, Perumal join hands in new forum

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 July 2010, 08:45 GMT]
A group named 'Tamil Political Parties Forum' (TPPF) of nine Tamil Political parties, paramilitary cum political parties and activists allegedly backed by New Delhi and Colombo, has been formed with the aim to explore ways of finding solution for the problems of the Tamil people in the North and East, political sources in Colombo said. Varatharaja Perumal, Chandrahasan and PLOTE Siddharthan, already known to have close links with New Delhi, have joined hands with M.K. Sivajilingam, a former TNA MP, Anandasangaree of TULF, Pillayan from TMVP and Kumarakuruparan of Democratic People Front in creating the forum. The move has been initiated by Shereen Xavier of Home for Human Rights and Douglas Devananda, the leader of EPDP, who is aligned with Mahinda Rajapaksa government.
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130 Tamil civilians reported disappeared in Batticaloa district since 2007

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 05:04 GMT]
One hundred thirty Tamil civilians are reported disappeared during the last three years in the Batticaloa district since 2007, relatives of the disappeared told Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians at a discussion held Sunday at Batticaloa American Mission Hall. They requested the TNA parliamentarians to help trace the disappeared. Most of the disappeared were between the ages 20 and 35, they said. TNA parliamentarians P. Selvarajah, S. Yogeswaran and P. Ariyanethiran participated in the discussion.
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CID conducts spurious searches in paramilitary operatives’ houses in Vaazhaichcheani

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 09:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) searched Tuesday the house of Nagalingam Thiraviyam alias Jeyam, a member of the Eastern Provincial Council and an operative of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) who had been evicted from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2004 by the then Commander Karuna and present Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation, Vinayagamoorthy Muaralitharan. Similar searches were also made in his other houses in Vaakarai police division and his relatives’ houses in Challiththeevu and Panichchangkea’ni areas, sources in Batticaloa said. The CID, however, has not confiscated any stolen goods or documents related to various criminal activities of Jeyam who possesses wealth and properties exceeding his income, the sources added.
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Overwhelming Tamil majority rejects elections under Sri Lankan State

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 April 2010, 11:04 GMT]
A record number of candidates, numbering more than 1800 contested for the parliamentary seats in the North and East, but Eezham Tamils responded to it by a record low in participation. The turnout was only 18 percent in the North. Even after including the displaced it is only 23%. The clear verdict of Eezham Tamils, said in the most profound democratic way under circumstances possible, is that they have no confidence in democracy under Sri Lankan State. Another interesting observation is that in the entire Jaffna district, the leading Tamil National Alliance (TNA) totally polled just 65,119, only as much as the 64,256 votes cast in favour of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution by the diaspora in UK alone. The silent but vast majority of Eezham Tamils at home demand new genre of political organisation and leadership is the message of Thursday's polls.
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Clashes reported in the wake of election all over the country

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 April 2010, 19:56 GMT]
Clashes following Thursday parliamentary election between supporters of opposing candidates are reported to be taking place in several areas of the island, according to media reports. Former minister of the ruling United People’s Freedom (UPFA), M. Aluthgama is alleged to be directly involved in the assault of a member of the Election Monitoring Committee in Navalappiddi in the upcountry where incidents of post election violence has been high. Fights between two Muslim factions in Aalayadiveampu in Batticaloa in which Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) members are alleged to be involved, are also reported.
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7 political parties submit nominations in Jaffna electorate until Thursday

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 February 2010, 07:20 GMT]
Five political parties submitted their lists of candidates contesting Jaffna electoral district in the parliamentary election at Jaffna Secretariat Thursday making a total of seven political parties contesting the election including Tamil Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) and Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, 3 independent groups have also submitted nomination lists Thursday, the sources added.
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