Tamils demonstrate against Sirisena's UK visit

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 March 2015, 07:07 GMT]
Around 1,000 Tamils from across the UK gathered in London to demonstrate against the visit of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday. The protest, which was held outside Westminster Abbey and the Commonwealth Head Office at Marlborough House, took place as Sirisena joined the British Queen and others at the Annual Commonwealth Day evening reception. The demonstration saw a large participation of youth activists who rejected the LLRC and demanded an independent international investigation into the genocide of Eezham Tamils.
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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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ITAK youth wing leader urges Tamils not to be deceived by deviators

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2015, 13:01 GMT]
There is no change in Sri Lankan military deployment in the Tamil homeland. On the contrary, the SL military seems to be enthusiastic about setting up bigger noticeboards than before along the border of Valikaamam North ‘High Security Zone’ said VS Sivakaran, the youth wing leader of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) in a video interview this week. “However, a section among Tamils are being deceived to expect that there will be positive changes and that the SL military deployment would be reduced under Maithiripala Sirisena,” Sivakaran said. “But, this is not going to happen,” the ITAK youth wing leader said. The USA and India wanted to reverse the Chinese influence in the island. They needed a regime change, which they got. But, this has taken place at the expense of the political aspirations of the small nation of Eelam Tamils, he said.
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Sampanthan, Sumanthiran exploit ITAK to deviate from Tamil cause: Prof. Sitrampalam

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2015, 11:39 GMT]
The lacuna of inner democracy in the present day Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) is being exploited by TNA Parliamentary Group Leader Mr R. Sampanthan and TNA's nominated parliamentarian Mr M.A. Sumanthiran to deviate Tamils from their cause and struggle, accused Vice President and Senior leader of the ITAK, Professor S.K. Sitrampalam in an interview to TamilNet this week. Professor Sitrampalam also spoke on the danger hatching in any move of postponement of the Geneva process, futility of the 13A - unitary outlooks and Sampanthan participating the ‘Independence Day’ in endorsement of the British designed unitary system and Maithiri regime's strict adherence to it.
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Tamils protest on SL ‘independence day’, remind UK of its moral, legal responsibility

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2015, 23:29 GMT]
The grassroots activists of Eezham Tamils in UK commenced a torch relay towards Geneva from London on the so-called independence day of Sri Lankan State on Wednesday. The Tamil activists have also launched a signature campaign recalling the role of the United Kingdom in the genocide of the Eelam Tamil nation by: (a) Forcibly transferring Eelam Tamils' sovereignty to the Sinhala nation in 1948 and; (b) Internationally aiding Sri Lanka, including by training the armed forces of the Sinhala state, to carry out its protracted campaign of genocide against Eelam Tamil nation. The torch will travel across UK for next 10 days, then France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland to reach Geneva on 16th March, nine days ahead of OHCHR discussion on Sri Lanka.
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Ananthy Sasitharan responds to ITAK ‘interdiction’ letter

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 February 2015, 21:04 GMT]
Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan has requested the leadership of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) to provide evidence in the form of records of debates, decisions and the names of participants to document that a democratic decision was arrived at before Mr R. Sampanthan went public on 03 January 2015 with the decision to explicitly support a particular candidate in the SL presidential elections. Ms Ananthy Sasitharan further stated that she had articulated her stand according to her conscience, protecting the decades-long fundamental principles of the Tamil politics and in the belief that internal democracy existed within the party.
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Sampanthan polity interdicts Ananthy Sasitharan from ITAK

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2015, 16:54 GMT]
The Jaffna District General Secretary of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) K. Thurairasasingam has sent a registered letter to Ms Ananthy Sasitharan, the popularly elected provincial councillor in the North, stating that she had been interdicted from the ITAK for having acted against the decision of the ITAK to support Maithiripala Sirisena in the Sri Lankan Presidential Election, informed TNA sources in Jaffna said. Ms Sasitharan has ‘violated’ the party discipline by issuing statements, conducting a press conference and by making opinion contrary to what the party had decided, the letter dated 11 January 2015, states.
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Sumanthiran makes challenges to shield political bankruptcy

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2014, 23:35 GMT]
Colombo-based parliamentarian of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M.A. Sumanthiran, who visited Batticaloa on Thursday challenged the SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa to release the purported ‘secret agreement’, signed between the common opposition candidate Maithiripala Srisena and the TNA. Responding, the grassroots activists from Aalaiyadi-vempu who met Mr Sumanthiran told TamilNet Friday that the TNA had failed to come out with a people-centric political move challenging the real perpetrators of the plight faced by Tamils and instead comes out with empty challenges to shield its political-agenda bankruptcy. The TNA should have made use of the opportunity to mobilise the Tamil masses to send message to the forces that stage the deceptive game of presidential election for the perpetuation of the genocidal State, the activists in the East further said.
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Sirisena, Rajapaksa compete to deceive Tamil voters, Sampanthan faces criticism

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 2014, 23:36 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan, who recently assured that the TNA would not take any decision ignoring his own Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) party and the other parties in the Tamil alliance on the issue of SL presidential elections, has again come under criticism from the ITAK structures for deciding to send TNA national list parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran to a meeting of the opposition parties, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, ITAK sources told TamilNet Sunday. In the meantime, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has been targeting Tamils in the education sector in the North and East inviting different organisations, trade unions and interest groups to Temple Trees seeking votes, informed sources said.
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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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SL military fabricates evidences to distort Mannaar assassination, say residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 2014, 08:20 GMT]
Ve’l’laangku’lam residents on Saturday denied Sri Lankan police reports that sought to fabricate evidence and distort the facts about Nakuleswaran, who was assassinated on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan military intelligence and the SL police have been trying to fabricate a story that the ex-LTTE member and former Tamil Eelam policeman Nakuleswaran was slain due to personal grudges, the residents said. On Friday, the Sri Lankan police claimed that two T-56 rifles had been located and four persons involved in a gang had been detained. In the meantime, Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) youth wing secretary S.V. Sivakaran in Mannaar told TamilNet that Mr Nakuleswaran was not an active supporter or member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
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SL police arrests protesting former EDPD politician in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 2014, 23:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police in Jaffna arrested the General Secretary of Mutpoakkuth Thamizh Theasiya Kadchi (MTTK) Sutharsingh Vijayakanth and two of his fellow party members Friday night while they were waging a peaceful fast at Nalloor temple demanding the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to release all Tamil political prisoners from the Sri Lankan prisons. The arrests were made on the charge that they were getting electricity from a nearby house to the podium of the fasting campaign. The fast was launched as there was no reply from the Sri Lankan President to their letter urging general amnesty to all Tamil political prisoners, the protesters said. Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit Jaffna on a two-day visit on October 12.
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Thousands of Tamil Nadu fishermen protest India's apathy to their plight

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 September 2014, 04:35 GMT]
Thousands of Tamil Nadu fishermen in Rameshwaram protested against India's continued apathy to their plight and condemned BJP member Subramaniam Swamy for his remarks supporting the Sri Lanka Navy's seizure of the boats of Tamil fishermen. In the demonstration organized outside Fisheries Department, the protesters burnt Swamy's effigy and demanded an apology from him. Protests were held in other parts of Tamil Nadu as well on Thursday.
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Fr. Thaninayagam centenary statue unveiled in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 August 2014, 23:27 GMT]
A memorial statue was unveiled in Jaffna marking the centenary of the grand Tamil scholar Rev. Fr. Xavier Thani Nayagam on Saturday and the location known as Madaththadi situated on the Jaffna Main Road in the city, has been declared Thani Nayagam Square. The peaceful opening ceremony comes after the organisers had been firm in braving the harassment by the occupying Sri Lankan military that wanted to erect a Buddha statue at the locality, residents told TamilNet.
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Badurdeen squad threatens Tamil newspaper editor in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 April 2014, 23:15 GMT]
A squad led by UPFA provincial councillor from Mannaar Rifghan Badurdeen, who is the brother of controversial SL minister Rishard Badurdeen, entered the office of the ‘Puthiyavan’ newspaper in Mannaar on Thursday and issued death threat to its editor SV Sivakaran, who is also the leader of the youth wing of the Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK). The squad, led by Rifghan Badurdeen also threatened to curb the distribution of the newspaper and to set fire to the office, which is situated at Chinnak-kadai on Mannaar main road, the editor of the paper said.
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Colombo twists facts, stops excavation of Mannaar mass grave

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2014, 23:32 GMT]
A person of social leadership living at Maanthai in Mannaar for more than 50 years categorically told TamilNet on Saturday that there was never a burial site at the locality near the historic Thirukkeatheesvaram temple as being claimed by the Sri Lankan Archaeological Department. The Colombo government abruptly ended the exhumation of human skeletons from a mass grave where more than 80 human skeletons have been recovered since December 20, 2013. The latest move by Colombo to dismiss the claim of mass grave comes as the issue gained the attention of UN Hight Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Navi Pillay in her recommendations urged the SL government to undertake an independent and credible criminal and forensic investigations with international assistance into all alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law, including recently discovered mass graves.
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UN should deliver remedial justice to Eezham Tamils, say 23 groups from India

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 February 2014, 23:03 GMT]
Following the recommendations of the Internal Review Panel (IRP) on ‘United Nations Action in Sri Lanka’ brought out in November 2012 by the panel led by Charles Petrie, the United Nations has come up with a follow-up initiative in December 2013. The latest report, flagged as ‘Rights Up Front’ initiative, has also failed to focus on delivering remedial justice to the nation of Eezham Tamils, who have now become the abandoned victims exposed to Sri Lanka's accelerated onslaught of structural genocide, said the activists of May 17 Movement, that staged protests at five cities, both outside and inside India, on February 12. Endorsing the May 17 Movement's approach, 23 influential parties, groups and movements from India demanded two key remedial approaches: UN referendum on Tamil Eelam and International Investigations on War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide.
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USA and India conspire to cripple genocide investigation: ITAK Youth Front

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 February 2014, 16:14 GMT]
The resolution tabled by the two US Senators, Richard Burr and Bob Casey, only shows that the US defence establishment is adamant on seeing that any investigation on Sri Lanka should not focus on genocide, said Youth Front General Secretary of the Ilankai Tamil Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK), Mr Subramaniam Sivakaran, urging the global Tamils to be vigilant on what is taking place. Asking, “What are the Tamils in the USA doing,” he said, “The time has come for us in the homeland to raise the question.” India is in partnership with the USA in suppressing international investigation on the genocide. Our homeland will be totally lost while the IC deliberates on impractical reconciliation, he further said.
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40th year of massacre at World Tamil Research Conference remembered

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 January 2014, 09:20 GMT]
Tamil politicians and activists in Jaffna on Wednesday observed the 40th year remembrance of the massacre carried out by the occupying Sri Lankan Police on the final day of the Fourth International Conference of Tamil Studies held in Jaffna in 1974. The massacre took place on 10th January, which was the final day of the conference.
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Protests across Tamil Nadu condemn Indian participation in 'Sri Lanka CHOGM'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 November 2013, 09:51 GMT]
Apart from a state-wide shutdown in Tamil Nadu called by the leading trader’s association, several political parties and grassroots movements on Tuesday staged protests across the state condemning the hosting of CHOGM in Sri Lanka and Indian participation in the same. Protests were reportedly intense in Chealam, Thiruppoor, Mathurai, Kadaloor and Naakarkoayil.
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