Sri Lanka cricketers told to shun Dalai Lama over China ties

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 14:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka stopped cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara and another player from calling on the Dalai Lama out of fear that a meeting would anger China, AFP reported Tuesday. Sangakkara and former skipper Mahela Jayawardene were advised not to join their Indian Premier League teammates who paid a courtesy call on the Tibetan spiritual leader last month, Sri Lanka cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told AFP. "We were made to understand that we should not upset relations with China," he said.
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Tamils’ cause finds support amongst candidates of all main British parties - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 13:34 GMT]
Dozens of parliamentary candidates from all three major British parties responded this weekend to inquiries by the Tamil Guardian newspaper regarding their stance on the Tamil question in Sri Lanka. The responses from, or on behalf of, eighteen Labour, fifteen Liberal Democrat and twenty four Conservative candidates reflects increasing engagement in Britain’s political spaces with Sri Lanka’s protracted and entrenched ethnic crisis, the paper’s researchers said.
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Germany elects first representative for TGTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 10:35 GMT]
Vithiya Jeyasangar B.Eng was elected Sunday as the representative for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) from Berlin in Germany. The elections for remaining constituencies, except one constituency where 2 representatives are elected uncontested, will take place on 16 May.
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No threat SL state sovereignty, no need for emergency, says Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 09:54 GMT]
“There is no threat to the sovereignty of the country any longer. As such the government should completely lift the State of Emergency Regulation,” former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and a parliamentarian from Colombo district representing Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Tuesday, said participating in a debate on the extension motion moved by the government.
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Colombo Court remands Vavuniya Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 09:48 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate Monday ordered further remand for a Tamil youth till May 17 when he was produced in court by Sri Lanka Police on a report that he had allegedly been involved in bomb attacks in the south during pre-war situation, legal sources said.
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Colombo relaxes some provisions of Emergency Regulations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 09:03 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka Tuesday relaxed some provisions of the Emergency Regulations now in force since 12 August 2005. The relaxed provisions are such as holding meetings, imposing curfew, printing certain literature and providing the house holder’s name to the police, according to SL External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris while speaking in the parliament that began Tuesday two-day debate on the extension of the State of Emergency for another month.
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31,000 vote in Canadian TGTE elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 21:48 GMT]
25 representatives have been elected from Canada in the elections where 31,072 voters took part. Tharani Prapaharan topped Toronto GTA and Vicinities list with 4,967, Vanitha Rajendram topped Eastern Ontario with 8,451, Iyampillai (Shan) Shanmuganathan received 5,049 votes in Western Ontario and Maharajah (Nanthan) Nanthakumar in Quebec & Eastern Canada. Five candidates have been elected without contest in Western Canada.
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SLA destroys Liberation Tiger war heroes tombs in Uduppiddi

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 20:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna using bulldozers completely destroyed E’l’laangku’lam Liberation Tiger War Heroes’ Resting Homes in Uduppiddi in Vadmaraadchi Monday night, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivajilingam said. He told that local residents in Uduppiddi had conveyed the information by phone.
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Jeyananthamoorthy tops TGTE list in UK

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 20:08 GMT]
Senathirajah Jeyananthamoorthy, former TNA parliamentarian of Batticaloa district is elected for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) topping the list of North West London. He secured 8,357 votes. The others elected from the constituency to TGTE are: Deluxon Morris (6,334), Balambigai Murugadas (5,879), Lalithasorubiny Pratheeparaj (5,521) and Jeyavani Atchuthan (5,446). Meanwhile, another former TNA parliamentarian, Mr. M.K.Eelaventhan has been declared elected for TGTE from Canada.
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Eezham Tamils in Denmark elect 3 representatives for TGTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 17:41 GMT]
3102 Eezham Tamils in Denmark took part in the elections for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, electing three representatives: Remmon Washington polling 2738 votes, Sukenthini Nimalanathan polling 2626 votes and Maheswaran Ponnampalam polling 2556 votes.
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TGTE election results for Switzerland announced

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 16:06 GMT]
Seven candidates have been elected in five constituencies and three elected uncontested in two constituencies in the polls for the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam Sunday. 12,243 voters participated in the elections in Switzerland. 19 candidates contested the elections.
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Candidates of common opinion elected in Norway for TGTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2010, 01:09 GMT]
3511 Eezham Tamil voters turned out to elect 3 representatives for Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) Sunday in a technically well conducted election across 17 centers in Norway. Dr. Sivakanesan Thillaiampalam (2449 votes), Jeyasri Balasubramaniam (2342) and Murali Sivanandan (2321) representing a common shade of opinion on how the TGTE should be structured, were elected.
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IUSU demands detainees' names made public

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 19:06 GMT]
Inter University Students Union (IUSU) has given ultimatum to the Sri Lanka government authority concerned to release the names of uprooted persons detained in internment camps enabling their relatives to identify their kith and kin who are reportedly missing during the war or later. In failing to do so relatives of those missing would hold demonstration in front of detention centres with victims’ photographs, said IUSU President Udul Premaratne at a media briefing held Friday. Relatives of the missing persons brought down from Mannaar were present in the media briefing, media sources said.
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Missing youth's body found in Chettikulam well

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 19:04 GMT]
The body of a Tamil youth who is reported to have been missing from Friday was recovered from abandoned well in Chettikulam in Vavuniyaa Saturday evening. The victim has been identified as Gnanasingham Thanushan, 26, police sources said.
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Uprooted Vanni civilian shot dead, first killing in Jaffna after May 2009

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 17:51 GMT]
A 26-year-old male, Sivalingam Satheesan, an uprooted civilian who settled in Jaffna after leaving the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) operated internment camp in Vavuniyaa, has been gunned down on Jaffna - Point Pedro Road Sunday around 7:30 p.m. by armed men riding a motorbike. The killing has taken place in SLA-guarded road near Ceylinco insurance company and Vadamaraadchi telecommunication building. This is the first killing by gunmen reported in Jaffna after the Eelam War - 4 ended in May 2009 in Vanni. The targeted killing of Vanni IDP comes in the wake of a recent visit by Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to Jaffna. Tension prevails in the area.
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MIA spreads genocide message through video, album

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 17:15 GMT]
In a recent release of a video called "Born Free" containing "a hyper-violent mini-film" as a pre-release to her forthcoming album to be released on June 29, Oscar and Grammy award nominee, Eezham born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam (MIA) expresses her sympathy for genocide victims with the powerful imagery of her video. YouTube yanked her video Tuesday, triggering an avalanche of publicity, including a detailed narrative of MIA's album that appeared in the weekend edition of the Washington Post, MTV, and Los Angeles Times among other media outlets.
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Final nail on APRC's coffin

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 15:46 GMT]
Professor Tissa Vitarane's omission from the ministerial list "reinforces the contention that the APRC [All Party Representative Committee] was set up for the sole purpose of placating the international community and India in particular," said Dr. Paikiyasothi Saravanamuttu, director of Colombo-based think-thank, in the Saturday edition of Daily Mirror, adding that the APRC was "never meant by the regime to be anything else." Saravanamuttu was one of the few who were unique in articulating publicly that APRC was constituted for mere presence than for action.
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Diaspora goes to poll to structure Transnational Government

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2010, 05:19 GMT]
‘An internationally elected government to respond to an internationally abetted genocide and deprivation of sovereignty of a nation’ is the spirit behind the Eezham Tamil diaspora going for polls across the world Sunday to elect members to structure the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE). Polls take place Sunday with full effect in Canada, UK, Norway, Switzerland and France. In France, elections take place simultaneously for the TGTE as well as for the Country Council, Maison du Tamil Eelam France. Two former parliamentarians M.K. Eezhaventhan and S. Jeyananthamoorthy from the North and East of Tamil Eelam respectively, are contesting in Canada and in UK. Informed circles say that Mr. Jeyananthamoorthy is ideologically leading like-minded group of candidates in countries across the world.
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Sivaram showed how Sri Lankan state was dependent on oppression of Tamils: Prof. Whitaker

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 17:10 GMT]
Sivaram’s biographer and close friend Professor Mark P. Whitaker said Thursday that Sivaram’s ability as a professional journalist to show convincingly how the Sri Lankan state was dependent upon its oppression of Tamil people, was one of the key reasons why he was targeted and killed exactly five years ago. Professor of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina , Mark P. Whitaker made these observations when delivering a speech at an event in London to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Sri Lanka ’s top journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram, well-known by his pseudonym as Taraki.
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Colombo plans Buddhist vihara in Mullaiththeevu town

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2010, 16:16 GMT]
Sri Lankan government has planned a large Buddhist vihara at the entrance of Mullaiththeevu town at Karaichchikkudiyiruppu, 150 meters near the Kachcheari building, said former Jaffna MP Selvaraja Kajendren Saturday. The government is spending millions in construction of the Buddhist temple and in constructing at least two memorial sites for Sri Lanka Army commanders killed in action, while the Tamil civilians are not provided with meaningful aid for resettlement, Mr. Kajendren told media.
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