Resettling IDPs in SLA HSZ in Valikaamam to be explored

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 July 2008, 14:26 GMT]
A committee presided by Jaffna High Court Judge R. T. Vignarajah is to explore the possibility and ways of resettling Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the High Security Zones (HSZ) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Valikaamam north area in Jaffna peninsula, next week, legal sources in Jaffna said. Colombo Supreme Court had appointed the above committee after inquiring into the Fundamental Rights Violation petition filed by the IDPs seeking permission to resettle in their villages in Valikaamam north and to engage in their livelihoods.
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Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu, not far away, says Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 July 2008, 09:40 GMT]
It is "not too far away," to "liberate the people of Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu" and make them live under a "democratic set up" now being "enjoyed by the people of the eastern province," declared Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing a provincial election campaign meeting in Anuradhapura on Saturday. The statement comes after Sri Lanka Army officials in Colombo told media that their forces were making "rapid progress" in Vanni claiming that the SLA recovered 37 dead bodies of LTTE fighters together with arms as the Sri Lankan forces were engaged in consolidating an offensive line south of Mallaavi.
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Archbishop of Colombo blames government for 'grossly misleading' distortion

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 July 2008, 07:03 GMT]
Archbishop of Colombo Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis, in a press statement issued Saturday blamed the Sri Lankan department of government information for attributing him in a "grossly misleading" way with a news headline, 'Military defeat of LTTE pre-condition for peace'. The title was a "complete distortion," the Archbishop said in his statement adding that he doesn't share the opinion, which most of the people were thinking that has become a common opinion, that the LTTE must be crushed in order to have a peaceful solution.
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Hindu priest files FR petition in Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 July 2008, 15:28 GMT]
Chief priest of the Colombo-Grandpass Sri Gnanavairavar Swami Temple Balakrishna Ayer Ravishankara Kurukal filed a Fundamental Rights Violation petition in the Sri Lanka's Supreme Court seeking the court order the government to allow Hindus to organize the annual Aadi Amaavaasai (anniversary when children remember their late father) rites along the shore of Muhathuwaaram Sea beach in Colombo without interruption by the security forces. The preliminary inquiry into the FR petition filed by the Chief priest Thursday has been fixed for July 28, legal forced said.
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JVP parliamentarian accuses government of 'white van culture'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 July 2008, 06:38 GMT]
Parliamentarian Mr.Wijitha Heart, Propaganda, propaganda secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), told media Friday that abductions are now being carried out in the country with the blessing of the government. The excavation of a corpse of a Tamil person who is alleged to have been abducted and later found to be dumped in the premises of the office of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in Batticaloa, clearly points complicity of Colombo in the abduction-murder, the JVP MP added. EPDP is a constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, and the leader of EPDP is a cabinet minister.
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JHU accuses five UPFA ministers supporting devolution

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 10:54 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all monks' party condemned a group of ministers who have been supporting devolution of police and land powers to provincial councils according to the 13th amendment to the constitution. JHU leaders at a press briefing held Thursday said ministers in the UPFA government have formed a movement to urge the government to devolve police and land powers to provincial councils. JHU media spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said the JHU would oppose such move and would take stern steps to crush the movement.
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4 Boosa detainees transferred to Terrorism unit, 8 freed

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 10:44 GMT]
Four Tamil civilians detained in Boosa detention camp in the Galle district for several months were transferred Wednesday to the Prevention of Terrorism Unit (PTU) located in Chaitiya Street in Colombo. Meanwhile, eight other Tamil civilians detained for about six to eight months in Boosa Detention Centre had been released without any charges, sources in Colombo said.
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Reflections on Black July in art, literature and theatre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 2008, 14:05 GMT]
Artists and writers in different parts of the world reflect through various ways on Black July 1983, the state-sponsored pogrom against Tamils in Sri Lanka, marking its 25th year. Citing some of the aesthetic expressions, a play in English to be staged in Canada on Saturday is based on the post-pogrom phenomenon of refugee hearing. While an ongoing art exhibition in Colombo documents life after 1983 in the eyes of a Sinhala photographer, a novel that comes from Australia bases itself on the psychological scars of the pogrom.
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Tamil trader shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 20:01 GMT]
A Tamil trader was shot dead by unidentified armed persons Wednesday morning in front of his shop located near Chiththivinaayakar Temple at Veappangku'lam along Vavuniyaa-Mannaar road, Vavuniyaa police said.
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Tamil trader abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 16:10 GMT]
An upcountry Tamil trader residing in Dehiwala in Colombo for more than 20 years was abducted by unidentified persons Tuesday night when he was in his shop selling greeting cards. His shop is located along Galle Road in Dehiwala, according to complaints lodged by his relatives with the Dehiwala Police and human rights groups.
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2 Tamil labourers abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 20:49 GMT]
Two Tamil labourers working in a shop along Galle Road in Dehiwala in Colombo were abducted by a group of persons dressed in police uniform Monday night. The gang arrived in a white van and forcibly took Muthukumar Selvakumar and Palaniyaandi Shanmugarasa from the shop, according to complaints lodged by the owner of the shop with the Dehiwala Police and humanitarian organizations.
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Vellaave'li

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 08:20 GMT]
The wild expanse
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Sri Lanka rejects LTTE truce offer, responses differ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 04:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s government Tuesday rejected the Tamil Tigers offer of a unilateral ceasefire for the period of the SAARC conference (Jul 26 to Aug 4). But senior officials of the Colombo government gave different responses as to the government stance on the truce offer, announced formally by the LTTE Political Wing on Monday.
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Colombo's war boomerangs

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 July 2008, 09:20 GMT]
For the first time in two years, after Colombo launched its war, public and private sector employees in South have come to the open demanding higher wages from the government, despite Rajapaksa government's appeals to the public to back the military campaign. Ironically, the extreme nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which helped Mr. Rajapaksa into power and backed the military campaign, has come out openly to campaign for a salary increase of Rs. 5,000 per month and have threatened to launch a three day strike which comes in the backdrop of a one day token strike which had mixed results.
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Price of essential food items soars in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 July 2008, 00:18 GMT]
Price of rice, wheat flour, and sugar in Jaffna peninsula rose as stocks in government stores dwindled, and residents are forced to by the provisions at exorbitant prices from private traders, civil society sources in Jaffna said. A ship bound for Jaffna peninsula with essential food items had to return to Colombo without unloading due to mechanical failure, and the uncertainty of shipments contributed to spiraling up of prices, sources added.
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The master plays his cards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2008, 14:37 GMT]
Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, chief minister of the Tamil Nadu state of India, cautioned the Indian Government on Saturday that his state wouldn't hesitate to seek the retrieval of Kachchatheevu from Sri Lanka if the rights of the Tamil Nadu fishermen are not safeguarded. The timing and intensity of the demand leads to wide-ranging speculations among observers.
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Tamil bank employee arrested in Kandy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 17:57 GMT]
A Tamil employee attached to the Kandy branch of a state bank is being detained in the Kandy police station for allegedly video taping the house of Minister Keheliya Rambukwella located in Kandy, sources said. He was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), since his arrest on Tuesday last week human rights sources in Colombo said.
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All transport links to Jaffna to be severed during SAARC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 14:08 GMT]
In preparing for the forthcoming 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be held from July 27 to August 3 in Colombo, Sri Lanka Government is suspending all transport, by air and ship during a two-week period starting July 25 between Jaffna peninsula and the rest of Sri Lanka, imposing virtual isolation of NorthEast Tamil areas, informed sources from Jaffna said. Although Ministry of Defense has not formally issued a directive, air-transport officials, and port authorities have indicated that the suspension of all forms of transport to and from Jaffna are imminent.
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JVP trying to launch another insurgency- SLFP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 2008, 12:47 GMT]
The Sinhala Nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has been on its way to the jungle once again after its internal split, said the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and a senior minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, addressing a press briefing held in the auditorium of the Mahaweli Centre in Colombo Friday.
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Goons attack journalist in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 July 2008, 20:17 GMT]
A journalist attached to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Yohan Perera, was manhandled by 'political goons,' while he was on coverage of the demolition of unauthorized structures in Slave Island, Colombo, by the urban development Authority Friday, media sources in Colombo said. The demolition comes as Sri Lankan authorities were preparing to host the SAARC summit in Colombo.
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