ITAK leaders stand exposed as powers deceive Tamils with hypocritical investigations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 October 2015, 21:48 GMT]
Refusing to look at the affairs of the nation of Eezham Tamils through their homeland in the North-East and being bent on approaching the Eezham Tamils through Colombo-centric geopolitical designs, the West and the UN mechanisms have nakedly exposed themselves even before the ink went dry on the OISL report and the ‘US-Sri Lanka’ co-sponsored resolution in the UN Human Rights Council. In the meantime, the leaders of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) stand exposed for their lack of statesmanship and for the failure of not clarifying TNA's position regarding the deceptive path of ‘domestic’ investigations. The ITAK leaders have also failed the nation of Eezham Tamils by not demanding the release the Tamil political prisoners, who have been rotting in the jails of genocidal Sri Lanka for years.
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Tamil civil groups, political parties, come a step forward if the line is their own

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 September 2015, 19:13 GMT]
Thoroughly deceived by the Washington-Colombo genocide partners even in minimum expectations of justice, Eezham Tamil civil groups and a significant section of political parties on Tuesday came hard on the resolution tabled at Geneva. Urging reconsideration of the current draft, the statement coming from 40 civil groups and 4 political parties pointed out that the mechanism largely managed and controlled by the Sri Lankan State loses credibility with the victims, and ‘deeply regretted’ the removal of references to demilitarisation of North-East. With impending further deceptions, whether the response would lead to substantial alternative initiatives and appropriate non-cooperation movement is the question, commented Tamil activists for alternative politics.
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Premachandran urges ITAK MPs to establish party position on international investigations

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 September 2015, 23:13 GMT]
Suresh Premachandran, former parliamentarian and the leader of EPRLF, who recognised that the majority of the party members within the Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) are opposed to the domestic accountability mechanism being proposed by the USA, urged the ITAK parliamentarians, provincial councillors and others to focus on clarifying the party position of the ITAK leadership instead of giving personal media interviews demanding International Investigations to save their skin. Mr Premachandran's interview comes after S. Sritharan, who entered parliamentary politics initially through EPRLF ticket and later crossed over to the ITAK, has been giving interviews to media saying that he was rejecting the domestic mechanism and was demanding international investigations without exerting pressure on ITAK hierarchy.
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Ex-militant parties in TNA resolve to oppose US move on domestic mechanism

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 August 2015, 09:44 GMT]
Three of the ex-militant parties in the Tamil National Alliance have decided to sharply oppose the US move, informed sources within the TNA told TamilNet on Sunday. A consensus has already been achieved between the three parties (EPRLF, TELO and PLOTE) on Sunday with regards to opposing the domestic mechanism and in demanding international investigations. However, on ITAK's reluctance in making democratic decisions within the TNA, the three ex-militant parties would demand a structural solution within the TNA before considering other options, an EPRLF source told TamilNet Monday noon.
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Relatives of missing persons in East to boycott SL elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 August 2015, 23:28 GMT]
The organisations representing the kith and kin of the missing persons in Trincomalee have resolved to boycott the Sri Lankan General Elections as politicians involved in the electoral politics have failed to deliver anything so far during the regimes of Rajapaksa and Sirisena, civil sources in Trincomalee told TamilNet on Monday.
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TNA spokesman decries Sumanthiran discourse

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 June 2015, 23:53 GMT]
“Third party mediation and negotiations are important to resolve the Tamil national question. But, the process should be carried out in a proper context involving the actors with peoples mandate. The mediation should be undertaken by international actors, who are capable of course-correcting the Colombo regime”, TNA Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran told TamilNet on Friday. Mr Premachandran, who is an official spokesman of the TNA was responding to an official statement coming from a confidential process embarked on by certain actors, involving the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, a section of Tamil diaspora activists of the so-called Global Tamil Forum (GTF), a South African NGO known as ‘In Transformation Initiative’ (ITI), Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) official Martin Stürzinger and the failed Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim.
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Jaffna voices grief at Indian PM's cosmetic visit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 March 2015, 13:19 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to North ended up as a ceremonial tour on Saturday. The uprooted people, who were promised resettlement, just one day ahead of his visit to Jaffna, complained that the occupying Sri Lankan military was robbing even the remaining roofs of their houses till the last minute. The families of the victims of enforced disappearances, who marched from Jaffna Bus Stand to the office of the Consulate General of India at Nalloor, were disappointed to learn that Mr Modi was visiting the North-East after advising the TNA Parliamentary Group in Colombo to ‘re-strategize’ its approach and maintain ‘patience’ with regards to what it expects from the new regime in Colombo. They urged the Indian PM to exert pressure on Colombo to act without further delay.
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Awakening of Tamil polity evokes ‘concern’ in Indian Intelligence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2015, 23:06 GMT]
Two intelligence operatives attached to the Indian Consulate General in Jaffna and two senior intelligence officers from the Indian High Commission in Colombo hurriedly invited a section of Tamil politicians and paramilitary elements for secret consultations at the Assistant High Commission of India in Kandy this weekend after the latest NPC resolution calling for international investigation on Tamil genocide continuing for decades. The New Delhi Establishment views the call coming from hitherto gagged Tamils in the island as a ‘disturbing development’, informed sources told TamilNet on Sunday.
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NPC resolution gives hopes on Tamil political unity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2015, 14:32 GMT]
The recent resolution presented and unanimously adopted in the Northern Provincial Council on historic and recent genocide against Tamils in the island, has rung alarm bells at necessary diplomatic quarters, say Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF) and TNA Councillor M.K. Shivajilingam (TELO). In a Palaka'ni interview to TamilNet this week, Mr Shivajilingam said there were attempts afoot to influence certain Tamil diaspora activists to issue sophisticated statements urging the UN Rights Chief to postpone the OISL report. Labelling such manipulations as ‘sugar-coated tablets’, he urged the Tamil diaspora activists to be cautious about such deceptive moves. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam of the TNPF and NPC Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan of the TNA have come up with immediate suggestions on how to take forward the resolution to strengthen the Tamil cause.
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ITAK leader on election campaign faces animosity in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2015, 21:08 GMT]
Mavai Senathirajah, the leader of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK), was forced to retreat from Mullaiththeevu on Sunday after facing strong objections from the Tamil public following the controversial conduct of TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan and nominated parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran in Colombo before and after the recent SL presidential elections. The duo has failed to secure any concession from Maithiripala Sirisena before going public with urging Tamils to vote for him and they have hurt Eezham Tamils sentiments by partaking in the so-called Independence Day celebrations in Colombo without achieving anything tangible in resolving the Tamil national question, the people complained.
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Task of real Tamil political leadership: Sivaram in 2003

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2015, 18:39 GMT]
Sivaram Dharmeratnam alias Taraki, the late senior editor of TamilNet, wrote an article in January 2003, explaining the deadlock of the Sri Lankan unitary constitution which cannot provide for a solution within its framework. The international backers were also aware that a federal solution to the ethnic conflict was practically, legally and politically impossible with the Sri Lankan Constitution, he wrote. “Demystifying the realm of Tamil politics and ridding it of the host of canards, half-truths and obfuscations that have plagued for long the national will to struggle for our inalienable rights,” was the key task of the real Tamil political leadership, he wrote in the article.
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UN investigation key to resolve Tamil question: Suresh Premachandran

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 February 2015, 22:47 GMT]
“Be it Ranil Wickramasinghe, Chandrika Kumaratunga, the new president Maithiripala Sirisena, or whoever it may be [in the South], they don't have a basic idea of how to resolve the Tamil national question, because they are always talking about a unitary constitution,” said Tamil National Alliance Spokesman Suresh Premachandran in an exclusive interview to TamilNet this week. In order to change the existing SL Constitution from unitary into a united form of government, one needs international leverage. That leverage is only possible through proceeding with international pressure in tandem with the regime change in tandem. Therefore, the much-anticipated OISL report should not be postponed, Mr Premachandran told TamilNet.
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TNA agrees to hijack Tamils for ‘unconditional’ support to Maithiri

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2014, 18:50 GMT]
At a so-called high-level meeting held Monday in Colombo between the main delegation of the Sri Lankan opposition and the constituent parties of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the national list parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran has promised TNA's unconditional support to Maithiripala Sirisena, informed TNA sources told TamilNet. “The opposition was not prepared to provide any assurance to Tamils. Suresh Premachandran of the EPRLF raised certain questions that on what promises the opposition is expecting the support of the Tamils. There was none from the opposition. The discussion on the topic was knocked down by TNA's national list parliamentarian in front of Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickramasinghe,” the source further told TamilNet.
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Mavai wants Tamils to vote at SL presidential elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2014, 22:04 GMT]
Tamil people should use their voting rights without fail in the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential election. The Tamil National Alliance is in the process of preparing statement to be issued very shortly in this regard in few days, said Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Jaffna district parliamentarian and the President of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), a constituent party of the TNA.
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Sampanthan suspected of clandestine deal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2014, 23:28 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan is suspected of making a clandestine deal on his own with former SL president Chandrika Kumaratunga on supporting the common opposition candidate Maithiripala Srisena, informed sources in Colombo said on Sunday. The deal harps of implementing the 13th Amendment, bringing in changes in the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) and in changing the governors of the North and East. There was no discussion on international investigations of the war crimes. Sampanthan’s suspected secret deal raises eyebrows within the TNA and there is already heated discussion on the issue, the sources further said.
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Shivajilingam reiterates majority demand of genocide investigation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 2014, 15:56 GMT]
Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member M.K. Shivajingam on Tuesday vowed to confront any legal action from the South against the joint appeal sent by the majority NPC and Eastern Provincial Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Councillors to the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in August demanding investigations on genocide against Eezham Tamils. At a press conference held at Jaffna Press Club, the senior political leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) also warned those expressing views against the association with former militant groups turned political parties constituting the TNA alliance not to spoil the unity within the Tamil alliance.
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Educationalist, veteran civil activist Varatharajan passes away

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 August 2014, 20:32 GMT]
Sinnathurai Varatharajan, a popular teacher of economics, who stood with his people throughout his life, has passed away in Jaffna on Monday due to cancer-related complications at the age of 63. With his extensive knowledge on the economic potentials in the Tamil homeland, both in the North and East, Mr Varatharajan paid a particular attention to the demographic genocide being committed against the Eezham Tamils in the North and East. Apart from serving his people as an educationalist, Mr Varatharajan stepped in as a grassroots civil activist whenever his people faced a challenging time under outside occupations. Eezham Tamils are a distinct nation with their own sovereignty in the unified North and East of the island was his political stand and he advocated a confederal model as the minimum acceptable solution.
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9 NPC members of EPRLF, TELO, PLOTE to take oath in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2013, 20:57 GMT]
“We are not going to let a [Colombo-centric] group in the Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) to take a different political course than what had been promised to the people during the elections, especially with regards to our demand of international investigations and the delivery of a political solution in a unified North-East as a single unit ensuring Tamils sovereignty,” said former TNA parliamentarian from TELO, MK Sivajilingam on Saturday. EPRLF's Suresh Premachandran, a TNA MP and PLOTE leader Tharmalingam Sitharthan, a former MP were also addressing the journalists in Jaffna. Meanwhile, Suresh Premachandran said that the NPC members who didn’t take oath on Friday will take their oath on Monday in Mullaiththeevu. “We have been part of the TNA for a long time and we will not be weakening the unity because of the newcomers,” he further said.
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NPC members take oath in Jaffna after honouring fallen Tamil Heroes

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2013, 06:57 GMT]
Twenty members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) elected to the Northern Provincial Council took oaths in Jaffna after visiting the memorial site of SJV Chelvanayakam and after observing honour to fallen Tamil Heroes (Maaveerar) and the people perished in the war, at Jaffna Veerasingham Hall Friday 9:00 a.m. EPRLF-leader Suresh Premachandran and five of the six EPRLF's elected members, TELO's M.K.Sivajilingam and an elected TELO member, PLOTE leader Tharmalingam Siththarthan and one elected PLOTE member were absent at the event. Ms Ananthi Sasitharan was present marking her independency between the ITAK and the portfolio-seekers. The ceremonial event took place without any celebrations and the members declined to wear traditional garlands at the function.
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ITAK announces NPC ministers, EPRLF challenges

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 October 2013, 12:43 GMT]
A press note coming from the ITAK, the main party in the TNA, on Thursday, has announced the list of chairperson and deputy chairperson of the council and the provincial ministers to function under Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. But EPRLF, the party next in line in terms of number of seats in the council, challenged the list, saying that it was highhandedly decided by a few in the ITAK. In a hastily convened press conference in Jaffna on Thursday, Mr. Suresh Premachandran of the EPRLF, denouncing the list, blamed Mr R. Sampanthan for creating internal dissension within TNA. He also condemned the act of C.V. Wigneswaran taking his oath before Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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