Al Jazeera spotlights Sri Lanka's alleged War Crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2010, 00:43 GMT]
Al Jazeera, the international news network headquartered in Qatar, published photographs Wednesday "showing graphic scenes, with dead bodies blindfolded, hands bound [and] shot through the head," that appear to provide further believable evidence of alleged massacre of Tamils during final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war. One of the photos shows a line of bodies, including what is believed to be the body of the son of Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the news network said.
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Sinhalese with Pirapaharan photo further remanded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 June 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Puththa'lam Magistrate Monday ordered further remand till June 30 for a Sinhalese civilian Amarasingha Chandana when he was produced from prison on a charge that he was carrying a photograph of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan.
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Parvathi Amma transferred to Jaffna Hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 June 2010, 18:49 GMT]
Ms. Parvathi Velupillai, mother of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Pirabaharan, has been transferred from Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) government hospital to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) to undergo certain medical tests not available in VVT hospital, sources in Jaffna said. Parvathi Amma who is bedridden due to paralysis is not in a critical condition of health, JTH sources said.
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“I don’t know why Kalaignar Aiya sent me back”: Parvathi Amma

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2010, 14:02 GMT]
“I do not know why Kalaignar Aiya [Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi] sent me back,” Parvathi Amma, mother of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, admitted to Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) hospital told TamilNet Sunday. Being very frail after going through the ordeal of being sent back to Malaysia from Chennai and coming to Sri Lanka from Malaysia in her old age and paralyzed condition, she ended the conversation saying, “I went there only to get medical treatment.” Meanwhile, many Sinhalese journalists come to Jaffna to see her at the hospital and some of them touching her feet with reverence on leaving, moves the hearts of those around, hospital sources said.
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Parvathi Amma treated with loving care in VVT hospital - DMO

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 May 2010, 16:02 GMT]
“Parvathi Amma is being served with special loving care by our hospital staff which is hard to come by either in India or any other country and she is continually attended by our medical specialists,” Dr. A. Mayilerumperumal, District Medical Officer (DMO) of Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) government hospital told TamilNet in the context of Ms. Parvathi Velupillai, mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirabaharan, being admitted to VVT hospital in Jaffna, Wednesday evening. “We believe that she will soon recover as we offer her medical treatment equal to international medical standards,” he further said.
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Pirapaharan's mother admitted to VVT hospital in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 May 2010, 12:24 GMT]
Parvathi Velupillai, mother of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirabaharan, has been admitted to the Valdveddiththu'rai (VVT) hospital in Jaffna, Wednesday evening. Parvathi amma, denied entry to Tamil Nadu and deported back to Malaysia earlier, was brought down to Sri Lanka earlier this week and stayed at a lodge in Colombo in a bedridden state.
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Thanthai Chelva remembered on his 33rd anniversary

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 April 2010, 17:44 GMT]
The 33rd death anniversary of the late Tamil leader and the founder of Federal Party (Ilangkai Thamil Arasu Kadchi - ITAK), Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayagam (SJV) was observed in the North and East with hundreds of ITAK supporters along with ITAK parliamentarians attending the memorial events in Jaffna, Vavuniyaa and Trincomalee. ITAK parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah in Jaffna and ITAK leader and parliamentarian R. Sampanthan in Trincomalee took part in the events.
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Chennai High Court calls for clarification on deportation of Pirapaharan’s mother

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 April 2010, 12:20 GMT]
Chennai High Court judge who took up Wednesday for inquiry the petition filed by Mr. M. Karupan, a senior lawyer and human rights activist, citing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. M. Karunanidhi and the Indian Central Government as respondents for having sent back Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi, mother of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Mr. V Pirapaharan, to Malaysia without allowing her to land in Chennai airport, ordered Mr. Karunanidhi and the Indian Central Government to submit a report on why Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi was sent back, before next Monday, legal sources in Chennai said.
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Advani demands report from Congress government on Pirapaharan’s mother refused entry into India

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 2010, 15:11 GMT]
Former leader of the opposition and the current leader of Barathiya Janatha Party (BJP), Mr. L. K. Advani, blamed the Congress led government of India to have brought shame on India on international level by not allowing 80-year-old Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi, the mother of Liberation Tiger Leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, to enter India for medical treatment, in the Indian Lok Sabah Monday. He further demanded the central government to release a report on this matter immediately, sources in Delhi said.
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Uproar in TN State Assembly over India’s refusal to allow Pirapaharan’s mother to land in Chennai

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 2010, 10:04 GMT]
Protesting against India’s refusal to allow LTTE Leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan’s mother Mrs. Velupillai Parvathi to land in Chennai airport for medical treatment in Tamil Nadu Friday night, major opposition parties in Tamil Nadu State Assembly moved a special attention-calling motion Monday, sources in Chennai said. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr. M. Karunanithi, in response to the motion said that he knew nothing about the incident and came to know about in the papers the following morning. Heated arguments ensued the response creating uproar in the House. Consequently, the major opposition parties including Patali Makkal Kadchi, Indian Communist Party, Marxist Communist Party and Makkal Dravida Munetra Kazham staged a walkout. Jeyalalitha’s Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhakam party which had not initially participated in the moving of the motion joined in the walkout.
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Tamil Nadu police arrest protestors against Namal Rajapkase’s arrival in Chennai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 April 2010, 18:13 GMT]
Tamil Nadu police arrested ten persons Sunday among hundreds of people who had gathered at Chennai airport to protest against the arrival of Namal Rajapakse, the son of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, passing via Chennai International Airport to watch the cricket match between the Chennai and Punjab teams, sources in Chennai said. Meanwhile, a group of fifty Sri Lankan police officers led by Superintendent of Police, L. R. Wijeyasinghe, who are to follow a three month course in security services for Very Important Persons (VIPs) in a training centre in Haryana state, arrived in Delhi Sunday, sources in Delhi said.
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India refuses landing to Pirapaharan's mother

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 April 2010, 22:35 GMT]
Mrs. Vallipuram Parvathi, the ailing mother of LTTE leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, was refused landing by Indian immigration officials at Chennai airport Friday night around 11:30 p.m., media sources in Tamil Nadu said. Mrs. Parvathi, travelling from Malaysia, was seeking medical treatment in India. She was sent back to Malaysia in the same flight. Tamil Nadu leaders Nedumaran and Vaiko were at the airport and they were later joined by the members of the VCK party of Thirumavalavan. According to media sources citing immigration officials, Mrs. Parvathi is considered by India as a threat to law and order situation in the country. Members of I'lanthamizhar Iyakkam (Young Tamils Movement) led by Mr. Arunbarathy and Director Ram continued staying at the airport at the time of this report, demanding explanation from responsible officials.
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SLA blocks public visiting Pirapaharan’s house in VVT, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 2010, 18:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna deny permission to public visiting the house at Aaladi, Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) in Vadamaraadchi where the Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Pirapaharan was born and raised. It has become an important tourist attraction for the people from South and foreign tourists who pour into Jaffna peninsula after the opening of A9 road, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA authorities have set in course the secret destruction of the remains of LTTE leader's house, civil society organizations in Valveddiththu’rai said.
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Youth killed, dumped in well in Ki’linochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 2010, 03:05 GMT]
Ki’linochchi police recovered the body of a youth, hand and legs bound behind, tied to a stone and dumped into a well in Aananthapu’ram in Ki,’linochchi where some people have been permitted to resettle, sources in Ki’linochchi said. The youth, staying with his parents in one of the camps in Vavuniya, had gone to his brother’s place in Aananthapu’ram Sunday and had been reported missing since then to Ki’linochchi police.
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Stiff sentences for pair convicted in New York arms deal

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 2010, 12:51 GMT]
Eastern District Court of New York Friday sentenced two Sri Lankan Tamils, Sathajhan Sarachandran and Nadarasa Yogarasa, to 26 years and 14 years in prison respectively, in connection with their attempt to purchase weapons for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in the U.S.A. Defendants were Caught in an FBI undercover sting operation attempting to purchase surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers, and hundreds of AK-47 automatic rifles, the press release said. Material support to to any organization designated as an FTO is illegal in the U.S.
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Remains of Pirapaharan’s father cremated in VVT

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 2010, 13:20 GMT]
Late Thiruvengadam Veluppillai, father of LTTE leader Mr. V.Pirapaharan, was cremated at the central cremation grounds in Oo'ra'ni Valveddiththu’rai Sunday around 2:30 p.m with thousands of mourners participating in the last funeral rites, sources in Jaffna said. Thousands of people from all parts of the peninsula joined in the procession when the remains were taken from Pirapaharan’s home in Aaladi in Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) while black flags were flown and sombre music was played in VVT, despite the intimidating presence of a large number of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and policemen, the sources added. Thol. Thirumavalvan, the leader of Viduthalai Chi’ruththaika’l from Tamil Nadu and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam paid their last tribute at the cremation grounds.
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Thousands pay last respects to Pirapaharan’s father

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 2010, 03:43 GMT]
Thousands of people, including men, women, and children Saturday paid their last respects to the remains of late Thiruvengadam Vellupillai, father of LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, at Theeruvli in Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) near the memorial monument of Lt. Col. Kumarappa, Lt. Col. Pulenthiran and Col. Kiddu. Mr. Velupillai passed away while he was being kept in isolation and illegal custody by the Sri Lanka Army at the age of 86.
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Pirapaharan father's remains released, funeral in VVT on Sunday

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2010, 15:44 GMT]
The funeral of late Thiruvengadam Velupillai, father of LTTE leader leader Mr. V. Pirabaharan, is to take place in Valveddiththu'rai on Sunday. The mother of LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, Vallipuram Parvathy, was Friday released from Sri Lanka Army custody and handed over to Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian and Presidential candidate M. K. Sivajilingam, SLA officials in Colombo said. The ailing 80-year-old mother was driven by road from Colombo to the northern Jaffna Peninsula in an ambulance.
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LTTE leader Pirapaharan's father passes away in SLA custody

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 2010, 12:39 GMT]
Thiruvengdam Velupillai, the father of LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan, passed away following a brief illness in Panagoda Sri Lanka Army camp Wednesday night, Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said. The headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a message Thursday conveyed its condolences to Mrs. Velupillai, children and relatives. The entire Tamil Nation laments for the demise of Mr. Velupillai, who preferred to be with the people during the war, the statement said. Mr. Velupillai was kept in isolation and illegal custody by the SLA and was denied of proper medical care at his grand old age, the LTTE further said.
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US Senate Committee evaluation pushes aside political solution to Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 07:32 GMT]
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, recommending Monday on ‘recharting’ US strategy on Sri Lanka, said the US should focus on economy and security of the island instead of humanitarian considerations, IDPs and civil society; should also invest in Sinhalese parts of the country instead of just focussing on North and East; should resume training of Sri Lankan military officials to ensure human rights in future operations as well as to build critical relationships and implied that US should not emphasise on political reform as a condition to assistance, bringing rift in US- Sri Lanka relations making the latter to align with countries of alternative model of development. While the report based on evaluation by two staffers, one of whom a US Sinhalese, is viewed by Tamil circles as an open insult to their struggle, it is also seen as an election ‘manifesto’ to woo Sinhalese votes.
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