ITAK local councilors in North, East to take oath in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2011, 12:36 GMT]
76 councilors elected to fifteen local bodies including two Urban Councils and ten Predesiya Sabas in the last local elections held in Northern and Eastern provinces on the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) ticket, and Chairmen and Vice Chairmen appointed to twelve local bodies captured by the ITAK would be taking oaths on March 31 Thursday morning at Trincomalee Town Hall, political sources in the East said.
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Two ex-LTTE cadres die in SL army detention centres

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 01:46 GMT]
Two former cadres of the LTTE have died in two separate incidents while under detention in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) supervised 'rehabilitation' centres. The first death was reported from Vavuniyaa-Ne'lukku'lam rehabilitation centre Monday and the second from Welikanda-Thirukoa'namadu detention camp in the Polonnaruwa district Tuesday morning. The deaths have created tension among parents of ex-LTTE detainees, civil sources said.
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ITAK wins 12 local body elections in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2011, 12:22 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), contesting under the symbol of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), captured the administration of twelve local authorities including two Urban Councils (UC) and Predesiya Sabas (PS) in the North and East in the elections held Thursday. The TNA failed to capture power of the Moothoor PS in Trincomalee district but was able secure three seats out of 11. Elections to local bodies in Jaffna district and to some in the districts of Trincomalee, Ampaarai and Mullaithivu were not held Thursday.
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SL colonial governor hands over 200 acres in Vaddakkachchi to Sinhala trader

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2011, 09:23 GMT]
Colonial governor of Sri Lanka Maj. Gen. Chandrasri, occupying the country of Eezham Tamils, ordered this week for the appropriation of 200 acres of land at Vaddakkachchi in the Ki’linochchi district for the benefit of a Sinhala trader from the South. This land is a part of a 1000-acre farm that was given to the displaced people in 1995. Occupying Sri Lanka now refuses to resettle people in the farm. The Sinhala trader personally went to the site to choose the part he needed and Chandrasri ordered officials that whatever was chosen by the trader should be given to him.
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SLA-operated paramilitary responsible for Thenmaraadchi woman's killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 10:23 GMT]
A paramilitary group that works with the Sri Lanka Armed forces in Vavuniyaa has been identified as the group behind the abduction and brutal murder of a Tamil woman from Meesaalai In Thenmarachchi last week. In an inquiry statement as part of the inquest proceedings held by the Magistrates Court, the husband of the murdered woman, has revealed that he had hired the Vavuniyaa-based group to abduct and murder his wife.
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Uprooted Tamils from Puthukkudiyiruppu still strive for resettlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 March 2011, 19:41 GMT]
Large number of Tamil families from Mullaiththeevu district of Vanni, forcibly displaced and still held behind barbed wire camps in Menik Farm and other places, are yet to be allowed into their native villages in Puthukkudiyiruppu. The occupying Sri Lankan military has only allowed civilians to enter 6 of 19 Village Officer (GS) divisions in Puthukkudiyiruppu. So far, Only 68,846 persons from 23,050 families have been resettled in 65 out of 92 Village Officer divisions in Mullaiththeevu district. Thirty percent of the civilians are not allowed to resettle in the entire district of Mullaiththeevu, according to the data from the Mullaiththeevu District Secretariat.
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State run daily plays down assassination attempt on TNA MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2011, 12:10 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan’s shooting incident in Nochchiyagama on March 7th, received minimal coverage in the state run leading Sinhala newspaper Dinamina, sources in Colombo said. Dinamina carried the report in page-4 with minimal details of the incident.
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TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2011, 14:54 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vanni, S. Sritharan, narrowly escaped from a group of attackers who lobbed two hand grenade targeting his vehicle and fired at the vehicle using pistols from behind Monday evening around 6:00 p.m. at Nochchiyaagama in Anuradhapura, TNA parliamentarians told media. The parliamentarian was on his way from Vavuniyaa to Colombo to attend the Tuesday sittings in SL parliament. No one was hurt in the attack, SL Police in Anuradhapura said.
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ICRC closes Jaffna office

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 February 2011, 00:32 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday announced that it is closing down its Jaffna office after 21 years of service, hinting that Jaffna is no more a region of priority needing conflict related activities. After Mu’l’livaaykkaal, while genocidal Colombo is now focussing on converting the entire Jaffna peninsula into an open concentration camp, the withdrawal of ICRC reminding its earlier withdrawal from Vanni at the beginning of the war, causes serious concern among people of Jaffna, commented a human rights worker in Jaffna. The ICRC leaves Jaffna not only when High Security Zones remain but also when new bases for occupying military are built among civilian population and when the people of Jaffna are pointedly targeted by a terror campaign. The international perception on ‘conflict’ is lopsided, the human rights worker commented.
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Remains of Parvathi Amma cremated amidst military harassment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 14:10 GMT]
Braving harassments by occupying Sri Lankan military that has been forcing the people to remove black flags they had flown to mourn the late Parvathi Amma, people from various parts of the peninsula took part in the funeral procession Tuesday together with former and current parliamentarians representing Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) Tuesday evening. Politicians and activists from Tamil Nadu and the diaspora addressed the mourners paying tribute through phone calls at Theeruvil grounds. Defying the order by SLA soldiers to remove the black flags, people of Vadamaraadchi closed their shops and flew black flags.
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Bodhi-ma’luwa, Changku-maal, Aa’rukaal-madam

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 February 2011, 06:09 GMT]
The fig-tree terrace,
The shed or yard to keep dived conch shells,
The six-pillared resting-place

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Tamil man from UK reported missing in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2011, 12:34 GMT]
A 31-year-old Tamil man, who was visiting his family in Jaffna and was on his way to Colombo was reported missing in Vavuniyaa on 13 February 2011, sources in Colombo said adding that the relatives of the missing person have complained to Sri Lankan Police in Colombo.
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SLA terrorizes TNA candidates in Vavuniyaa, Killinochi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 February 2011, 02:10 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has complained that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are threatening an intimidating TNA candidates contesting in the forthcoming local elections in the Vanni region. Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian Mr.S. Sritharan has accused the SLA soldiers of unleashing terror in the Vanni region creating fear psychosis among the TNA candidates. TNA parliamentarians Selvam Adaikalanathan and Sivasakthi Aanandan have also alleged that they are being intimidated by SLA soldiers and intelligence unit men against holding election meetings in Vavuniyaa.
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IDP families in Vavuniyaa Poonthoddam asked to vacate

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2011, 16:21 GMT]
About three hundred Tamil families displaced in the war between 1997 and 1999 from the districts of Mullaiththeevu, Ki'linochchi and Vavuniyaa, and sheltered in Poonthoddam welfare centre in Vavuniyaa more than decade, have been instructed by the District Government Agent Mrs P.M.S.Charles and the District Planning Director Mr.V.Kirupasuthan in writing to vacate from the centre before February 15 and return to their original villages. The instruction has been served through the District Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Secretariat and Economic Development Ministry, according to the refugees of the Poonthoddam Centre.
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Mahaaweli Sinhala farmers to be settled in Vavuniyaa, Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 09:20 GMT]
100,000 families under the Mahaaweli scheme don’t have enough land. Steps will be taken to provide them with land in the Vavuniyaa and Polonnaruwa districts, said D. M. C. Dissanayake of Sri Lanka’s Director General of the Mahaweli Authority, according to The Island, Tuesday. The north has become a dumping ground of Sinhalese unwanted in the south so that the double purpose of getting rid of them as well as terrorising and subjugating or chasing away the Tamils from their country could be achieved, says resettlement officials in the north.
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Mannaar severely affected by overflowing water from Anuradhapura tanks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 23:32 GMT]
Mannaar district has been facing a severe natural calamity for the first time in its history due to recent rain and flood. Almost all the villages in the district are under water. 7,807 persons from 2,667 families have been displaced from areas that come under Mannaar Urban Council and Naanaaddaan Piratheasa Chapai (PS). People from Arippu and Maanthai have been trapped in their houses as they are marooned in the flood. The Government Agent of Mannaar, N.Vedhanayagam, has declared emergency situation in the district.
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Flood displaces 100,000 in Vanni, 25,000 in camps

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 08:25 GMT]
At least 100,000 Tamil civilians of around twenty five thousand families have been affected by the flood in the two districts of Vavuniyaa and Mullaiththeevu in Vanni. Sand bunds erected by the Sri Lanka Army are obstructing the flow of water reaching the sea. Hence the villages are flooded. The uprooted families are still not allowed to resettle between Mullaiththeevu and Puthukkudiyiruppu. In the meantime, informed sources said the occupying military was promoting the idea of opening transport services via Anuradhapura-Ma’nalaa’ru road, making inroad for Sinhala colonization.
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'Wish and reality of Sri Lanka's Independence'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 February 2011, 03:08 GMT]
“I wish all Sri Lankans around the world a happy celebration and continued peace and prosperity in the coming year," said a statement harping on "post-war reconciliation" released from the office of the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on the eve of the independence day of Sri Lanka on 4th February. But the imposed celebration was largely ignored inside the island and outside, the day drew protests across the world by Eezham Tamils. “Sri Lankan High Commission has invited the Sri Lankan community for a reception to celebrate their independence. We will assemble outside the embassy to condemn the Sri Lankans celebrating while denying the Tamils their right to independence,” the call for protest in London said. Demonstrations were held in London, Toronto and in Oslo. Addressing protesters in Oslo, Conservative Party (Høyre) leader Erna Solberg called for war-crimes investigations.
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Minni-ni'raignchaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 05:32 GMT]
The place abounding with Minni plant or creeper
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Family man from Jaffna reported missing on way to Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2011, 21:12 GMT]
A 25-year-old male from Katkoava'lam in Point Pedro, who was on his way to Colombo last Wednesday, has been reported missing, according to complaints registered with the Jaffna branch of Human Rights Commission and the Sri Lankan Police at Point Pedro.
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