'13th Amendment powerless, youth may go for war again' - Eastern minister Hisbullah

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2008, 15:55 GMT]
Powers devolved under the 13th amendment to provincial council are being taken away by the central government by issuing gazette notifications and circulars. The provincial council has no power to transfer even a police constable, lamented Mr.M.L.A.M.Hisbullah, a Minister in the Eastern Provincial Council in an exclusive interview to the weekly edition of the leading Tamil daily Virakesari published from Colombo.
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Sri Lanka rejects ceasefire with LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2008, 11:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's government rejected a ceasefire with the LTTE on Monday, again demanding the Tigers surrender or be destroyed. "The government will not go for a ceasefire with the LTTE. We will not have any form of discussion with the LTTE. We have already told them to lay down arms and there is no change in our stand," Agriculture Minister Maithripala Sirisena told Parliament, Reuters reported.
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Political Prisoners to fast in Colombo, Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2008, 15:27 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners in Colombo Remand Prison and Anuradhapura Prison have announced a one-day fast on Monday, urging the authorities to expedite their cases. The prisoners, who alleged that the authorities were conveniently availing themselves of the PTV (Prevention of Terrorism Act) provision that allows for indefinite inquiry, said even the cases that have come to the courts were being delayed. The prisoners have warned that they would launch fast-unto-death campaign if there was no positive response to their one-day fast on Monday.
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13 upcountry Tamils detained in Colombo under PTA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2008, 13:16 GMT]
Thirteen upcountry Tamil youths arrested in cordon and search operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police with the help of masked men in several estates in Udapusselawa during the last week of October are still being detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in Dam Police Station in Colombo
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Impress upon Colombo to announce ceasefire, CPI urges Indian government

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2008, 12:24 GMT]
The Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu State Secretary D. Pandian, in a statement issued on Sunday, referring to the clarification by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan on the LTTE stand on ceasefire, urged the Centre to take immediate steps to impress upon the Sri Lankan state to announce a ceasefire without hesitation. Referring to Mr. Nadesan's statement that the Tigers were engaged in a defensive war and that it was the Sri Lankan state that unilaterally pulled out from the Ceasefire Agreement, Mr. Pandian said.
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'Give way to Tamil Eelam and avoid Sinhala blackmailing for ever'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 2008, 17:28 GMT]
Don't abandon the Tiger. A Sinhala-dominated Sri Lanka is not in India’s interests, writes T S Gopi Rethinaraj, a Singapore National University scholar, in the November 2008 issue of Pragati, the Indian National Interest Review. A unified Sri Lanka under Sinhalese domination will be deeply inimical to India's interests. Colombo will permanently exploit India in the absence of a buffer that an Independent Tamil Eelam could provide, he wrote.
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Tigers reiterate consent to ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 2008, 16:42 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head B. Nadesan, when contacted by TamilNet on Saturday, following reports of Tamil Nadu leaders seeking clarification on LTTE's stand on ceasefire, said "there is no hesitation on our side to reiterate our position that we have always wanted a ceasefire." It is the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire, Mr. Nadesan said and added that the Tigers were only fighting a defensive war since Colombo has thrust upon Tamils an aggressive war.
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CPI seeks clarification on Tamil ceasefire stand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 2008, 13:44 GMT]
Stating that the people of Tamil Nadu state and India were being led to a state of confusion by the calls that demanded both the warring parties in Sri Lanka to announce a ceasefire, the State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu, D. Pandian, urged in a statement issued from Chennai on Saturday that the Eezham Tamils' political leadership should clarify the Tamil stand on the issue. Consensus of the people of Tamil Nadu is that the Sri Lankan government should immediately stop the war. However, when questions were raised by certain sections, there is a need for clarification, Mr. Pandiyan said.
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Ravaya: 25,000 SLA soldiers deserted under Rajapaksa regime

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2008, 19:20 GMT]
About twenty-five-thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have deserted their ranks since the war began under the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, media sources in Colombo quoted reports carried by the Sinhala weekly "Ravaya", published from Colombo. 15,000 soldiers have deserted ranks till January this year, an article based on a survey carried by Ravaya states.
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Colombo censors live TV program for criticizing media policies

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2008, 17:58 GMT]
Reports sans Frontières (RSF) in a press release issued Friday condemned the Government of Sri Lanka for censoring live during a state-owned Rupavahini program a press freedom activist from Colombo-based media watchdog Free Media Movement (FMM) for being critical of Sri Lanka's media policies. Commenting on the newly-introduced Private Television Broadcasting Station Regulations, the press release said, "this law is extremely dangerous for media freedom. Delaying its implementation is not enough. Its content needs to be changed radically."
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Families fleeing war in Vadamaraadchi north placed in SLA refuge camp

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2008, 18:06 GMT]
Kaangkeasanthu'rai Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) patrol units Wednesday arrested 28 persons, including men, women and small children fleeing in boats to escape Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombings and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery barrage on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Vadamaraachi North, sources in Jaffna said. Kaangkeasanthu'rai police produced the arrested in Mallaakam district court Thursday where magistrate Ms. Sarojini Illankovan directed the refugees to be placed in the newly setup SLA refugee camp located in SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thellippa'lai.
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'Military hijacking politics'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2008, 15:50 GMT]
A U.S. military chief commending Sri Lankan military 'success' and wishing further capabilities to the Lankan military is viewed seriously as an undue interference in the politics of South Asia, especially at a juncture when the people of Tamil Nadu are up in arms pressing to stop the war for a political solution, says Batticaloa district parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy.
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Rajapaksa to table Budget 2009 Thursday, security tightened in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2008, 17:07 GMT]
Tight security has been imposed in and around parliamentary complex located in Jayawardhanapura. Several roads leading to the parliamentary complex have been banned for traffic Thursday morning for one hour and in the evening when parliament concludes its session for the day. The security measures have been taken as the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to table his fourth Budget for the year 2009 in parliament Thursday morning in the capacity of Finance Minister.
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Sri Lankan forces with masked-men arrest 15 Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2008, 15:20 GMT]
About fifteen Tamil youths were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police in Aluthmawatte (Muhaththuwaram) area in Colombo city from Tuesday morning till evening the same day with the help of masked men. This was the first time in recent days the public witnessed masked men with the SLA and the Police in the search operation.
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Tamil family man reported missing in Wattala

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2008, 15:16 GMT]
A 48-year-old Tamil civilian, who was residing in Wattala in Colombo with his family for the last 20 years, has been reported missing since October 29.
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Ramadoss attacks Karunanidhi's vacillation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 10:35 GMT]
Pattali Makkal Katchi founder-leader Dr. S. Ramadoss condemned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi for changing his stand on the Eelam Tamils issue in a press release Monday. "All Tamil people will easily understand that there is an immense divide between the Karunanidhi of October 14's All Party Meeting who demanded a ceasefire, and the Karunanidhi of today who justifies the Union Government's inaction by saying that India has limitations on how far it can interfere in another country's affairs," he said.
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13th Amendment: arousing a zombie

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 01:39 GMT]
The Indian government may be bereft of all guts to do anything in Sri Lanka. But at least it can render a great service by not talking about the 13th amendment as a basis to resolve the crisis. What is more dangerous than India abetting a war against Eezham Tamils by providing arms, armed personnel and intelligence to Colombo is the political sabotage of thrusting the rotten 13th amendment upon the struggling people to muffle their voice. India should rather acknowledge the decades-old Tamil voice for self-determination as a nation, to base exploration of fresh models, writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi.
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Nedumaran slams Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's stand on Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2008, 21:22 GMT]
Tamil Nationalist Movement (TNM) leader Pazha Nedumaran on Monday said that he was shocked and dismayed at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's attempts to "justify the Centre's inaction." Mr. Nedumaran, who is also the convener of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Co-ordinating Committee, said that the widespread protests extending to all areas of Tamil Nadu reflected that people were rejecting Mr. Karunanidhi's position and urged the party leaders, who have expressed disappointment to the ineffective response of the India's Center to the resolutions adopted in the Tamil Nadu All Party Conference, to decide upon follow up action.
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Colombo announces another amnesty for deserted SLA soldiers

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2008, 16:56 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka has declared another two weeks' amnesty for deserted soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army to return for duty in battle front. The amnesty period commenced last Saturday and would conclude on November 15, according to a press release by the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry. Fifteen-thousand soldiers have deserted the Sri Lankan military.
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'Political solution, not politics of food': Mano Ganesan to India

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2008, 16:47 GMT]
The leader of the Western Province People's Front (WPPF) Mano Ganesan on Sunday said the need of hour for India was to push the Government of Sri Lanka to fair and reasonable political solution alluding that India was not needed for the job of supplying 800 MT humanitarian supplies. Three basics of the upheavals in Tamil Nadu were: stop the war, stop the military aid to Sri Lanka and send humanitarian aids to the needy in Vanni. "The Indian Government virtually dismissed first two and got hold of the last, comparatively easy one," Mr. Mano Ganesan said in a press statement issued from Colombo.
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