Woman MP leads Jaffna rape protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 March 2005, 12:24 GMT]
Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) sole woman parliamentarian in the Jaffna district led protest march held in Jaffna town Monday condemning the attempt to rape a sixty three year old Tamil woman of Neerveli on Thursday by a soldier of the Sri Lanka Army on Thursday when she was alone in her home. The protest march began Monday morning from Nallur Kandasamy Temple area and concluded in front of the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources said.
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Crowds block Sri Lanka army garrisons in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 March 2005, 06:06 GMT]
Crowds blocked Sri Lanka army (SLA) camps in Chavakachcheri with burning tires and logs Saturday in protest against the military for tear gassing and damaging property in the northern peninsula’s second largest town. Protestors stopped military traffic on the A9 highway through Chavakachcheri. Some set fire to two military sentry points in the town. Troubles erupted in this key town when a civilian was hit and wounded by a speeding Sri Lanka army vehicle Friday afternoon. SLA troops and Police tear gassed to disperse a crowd that tried to set fire to the vehicle. Two civilians were wounded Saturday afternoon when riot Police charged a restive crowd in Chavakachcheri.
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Soldiers harass civilians at Muhamalai army checkpoint

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 March 2005, 20:22 GMT]
Jaffna district Head of LTTE Political Wing, C.Ilamparithi, has complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that harassment and intimidation by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Muhamalai check point on civilians is on the increase. He requested the SLMM to take immediate steps to stop this trend, sources said.


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More civilians, SLA troubles erupt in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 March 2005, 10:25 GMT]
Restive crowds pelted Sri Lanka army (SLA) troops and blocked the Nelliyadi-Kodikamam main road with burning tires at Kalikai Junction, Thunnalai in Jaffna demanding the arrest of an SLA soldier who had allegedly attempted to molest a married woman in the area in the early hours of Friday morning. Crowds dispersed only after Police promised to bring the alleged offender to book. Later in the day, crowds tried to set fire to an SLA vehicle that knocked and wounded a man in Chavakachcheri town. The crowds also set fire to a Sri Lanka army sentry in Chavakachcheri town during the stand off that developed after the incident.


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Sri Lanka army camp pelted over rape attempt

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2005, 13:00 GMT]
Crowds blocked the Jaffna-Pt. Pedro main road Thursday afternoon and stoned the Sri Lanka army’s (SLA) Villu Mathavady camp at Neervely after four soldiers from the SLA unit allegedly attempted to molest a 63 year old woman in the area. Protesting residents alleged that the woman was alone when a solider from the Villu Mathavady camp in Neervely had entered her home, gagged her and attempted to molest her while three of his colleagues stood guard outside. Some civilians in the area were beaten up by troops from the camp as the unrest spread in the area.


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Muslim abducted, killed in Batticaloa north

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2005, 07:29 GMT]
A Muslim auto rickshaw driver who was abducted Tuesday evening by unidentified gunmen in the in the general area of Kadjuwatte, about 55 kilometres north of Batticaloa, was found shot dead Wednesday morning, Sri Lanka army (SLA) spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayaka said. He blamed the Liberation Tigers for the abduction and killing. "This is a foul murder carried out by the Sri Lanka army and its lackeys calculated to destroy cordial relations between Muslims and Tamils in the east. We will not rise to the bait", said Mr. P. Thayamohan, a senior LTTE political official in Batticaloa. A member of the Liberation Tigers was shot dead in this area in an ambush on Monday.


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Students protest army killings in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2005, 14:11 GMT]
Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) Monday held a protest march from Nallur Kandasamy Temple to the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) condemning the killings of a student and an elderly person Friday by the Sri Lanka security forces. Students of Technical College, Higher Technical Education Institute, Jaffna University and schools participated in the protest march in large numbers, sources said.


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Karuna Group kills six civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2005, 03:03 GMT]
Four Muslims, a Singhalese and a supporter of the Liberation Tigers were shot dead by gunmen suspected to be from the paramilitary Karuna Group in Kolakunaweli, in the Welikanda area, 65 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa Saturday night around 8.45, Police said. A Muslim man, a muslim woman and a Singhalese were wounded in the shooting. The Karuna Group had attacked the Muslims and Singhalese for providing information to the Liberation Tigers about its activities in the Welikanda area, Police sources said. The gunmen massacred the civilians in place by the Polannaruwa-Batticaloa highway, about 300 metres from Kolkunaweli Police post.
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Jaffna agitation to student's death, spontaneous- Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2005, 18:31 GMT]
Refuting allegations by Sri Lanka military that "LTTE was behind the public protest after the death of a student by an army vehicle," Head of LTTE Political Wing for Jaffna district, Mr Ilamparithy said "not a single political cadre of the LTTE was involved in the public agitation" in a press release issued Saturday after an LTTE delegation met with Sri Lanka Army delegation, sources said. The meeting was arranged by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in an effort to bring the tensed climate in Jaffna under control after the death of Vembadi Girls School student Thulashika and a civilian who was shot dead allegedly by Sri Lanka Police Friday.
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Thousands attend Thulashika's funeral

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2005, 17:31 GMT]
Amid tight security provided by Sri Lanka Police, thousands of civilians including Mr.C.Ilamparithi, LTTE Jaffna district political head and several Jaffna district Tamil national Alliance parliamentarians, educationists and civil leaders Saturday paid their last respects to Miss Nagendran Thulashika, student of Jaffna Vembadi Girls College, who was killed by an army vehicle Friday morning in the Jaffna, civil sources said.
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Troops assault journalist, scores injured in Jaffna clashes

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2005, 12:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka army troops Friday severely assaulted a journalist working for the state run Lake House Newspapers as restive crowds in the northern town set fire to six military points and smashed up President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) office. One person was injured when army opened fire on a crowd at Kottadi. Scores of students and civilians were asaulted by SLA troops and riot Police in several parts of the town. Four persons injured in army and Police assault and firing were admitted to Jaffna hospital Friday afternoon.
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One killed and another wounded as Sri Lanka troops fire on Jaffna protestors

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2005, 08:50 GMT]
One civilian was killed and another wounded when Sri Lanka army opened fire on students and civilians who were protesting near Jaffna University Friday afternoon around 2.15 Protests sparked in Jaffna town Friday after a twelve year old school girl was killed when a speeding Sri Lanka army truck knocked her down on Hospital Road. One civilian was shot dead on the road near Parameswara Junction and another was shot and wounded by troops near Kottadi Junction, in Jaffna town.
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Students protest over death, tension in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2005, 06:44 GMT]
Tension prevailed in Jaffna town after a school girl was knocked down dead by a speeding Sri Lanka army vehicle Friday morning. Hundreds of students and teachers from Vembady Girls' Scool blocked traffic in protest following the accident. A group of civilians in the neighbourhood who joined the students' protest attempted to set fire to a Sri Lanka Air Force vehicle. Shops closed as SLA deployed hundreds of additional troops in the tense town around noon Friday. Around 1.45 p.m. a group of protestors set fire to a Sri Lanka army sentry at Catapult Junction in Kandar Madam, near Jaffna University.
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Tsunami hit Southern Muslims allege discrimination in relief

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 February 2005, 18:11 GMT]
Officials of the Hambantota Dharma Kabir Mosque administration told a group of Jaffna journalists last weekend that more Muslim civilians had died in tsunami and the figures disclosed by the Sri Lanka government authorities are not reflecting the actual deaths of Muslims in the Hambantota district. A twenty-member team of Jaffna journalists visited Hambantota as a goodwill gesture to see the sufferings of the tsunami affected Muslim people in the south, sources said.
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Civil groups demand action against sex assaults

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2005, 15:16 GMT]
Citizens Committee, Justice and Peace Commission, Peoples Forum and Traders Association of Mannar district Monday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to take stern action against errand policemen who are involved in sexual assaults on students and women in Mannar, sources said.


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Sri Lanka blasts Annan’s statement

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 February 2005, 13:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has officially registered his government’s strong objections with the United Nations over Secretary General Kofi Annan’s condemnation of the assassinations on February 7 of E. Kousalyan, head of LTTE's Political Wing in Batticaloa-Amparai district, and his team in a Sri Lanka government-controlled area of the Eastern province, political sources said Friday.
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Protest march against Government discrimination continues in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2005, 14:30 GMT]
Jaffna district Thursday witnessed another protest march in a series of such agitations held against the discrimination shown by the government in providing relief to tsunami victims and condemning the killing of LTTE senior political leader Mr.Koushalyan on February between two Sri Lanka Army camps in the Pollonnorawa district in the north central province. The Federation of District Fisheries Co-operative Societies, Displaced Persons Welfare Societies, and several other civil groups jointly organized Thursday agitation, sources said.
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"Tiger flag is Tamil nation’s flag" – Mannar Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 February 2005, 11:39 GMT]
"There is nothing wrong in the Tamil nation raising its national flag. The Tamil national flag is not the Tigers’ flag but it is the Tamil people’s flag. Hoisting it is not against peace. Many who shout against it are silent over the recent killings. It is very deplorable that such murders are committed even amidst the great human tragedy caused by the Tsunami. These killings are provocations to war", said Mannar Bishop Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, addressing a rally in Mannar town Tuesday to condemn the killing of LTTE political leader, Mr. Kousalyan, the bombing of LTTE’s political office and sexual assault of a student by Police.
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Grenade attack on Mannar LTTE political office, one dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 14:54 GMT]
Two civilians and an LTTE political worker were wounded when unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at the Liberation Tigers' political office in Mannar town Saturday night around 7.45 PM. Mannar hospital sources said one civilian identified as M. Callister (32) who was admitted at the Mannar Hospital succumbed to wounds.
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Youths burn SLA post, Police retaliate in Thenmaradchy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 14:14 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) post at Meesalai-Puttur junction in Thenmaradchchi was set alight by protesting youth provoked by SLA soldiers who attempted to remove roadblocks protesters setup as part of hartal. Police retaliated by ransacking a community center. Tension spread to Kodikamam when a Police vehicle injured a civilian while the vehilce was negotiating a roadblock during Saturday's hartal and protest, civil sources in Jaffna said.
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