India answerable for both genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2011, 09:05 GMT]
The Speaker of the Indian Parliament, Meira Kumar, conceding to an objection from a Congress member, altered the topic of discussion in the parliament from “Alleged killing of Sri Lankan Tamils by the island nation’s Lankan army in 2009 as recently revealed in a United Nations report” to “On the steps taken by Government of India for relief and resettlement of Tamils in Sri Lanka and other measures to promote their welfare.” The deviated discussion scheduled for last Thursday has also been postponed to coming Tuesday. But whether in war or in post-war, New Delhi cannot escape answering for its partnership in committing genocide and structural genocide of Eezham Tamils, commented Tamil political circles in the island, citing the activities of India-partnered SL Army in the war and its aftermath.
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Colombo to declare permanent ‘Sacred HSZ’ at Maathakal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 June 2011, 10:01 GMT]
Genocidal Sri Lanka plans to keep Thiruvadinilai area of Maathakal, the northwest tip of the Jaffna Peninsula, as a permanent ‘High Security Zone’ by building a naval base there, but camouflaging it as a ‘Sacred Place’ of the Sinhala-Buddhists, news sources from Jaffna said. The location is one of the two closest spots of communication between the island of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. While Thalai Mannaar in Mannaar district is the closest to Rameasvaram, Maathakal in Jaffna Peninsula is the closest to Koadikkarai (Point Calimere) in Tamil Nadu. Colombo’s archaeologists claim Thiruvadinilai as the landing place of Sinhala-Buddhism to the island in 3rd century BC, and are building modern Buddhist establishments there. A gazette notification of Colombo is soon expected to declare the area a ‘Sacred Place’ to facilitate permanent confiscation of lands belonging to Tamils.
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Occupying SL Navy confiscates lands for new HSZ in Ma’ndaitheevu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 08:22 GMT]
More than 40 acres of private land, including Saiva temples and their tanks, have been recently confiscated by the occupying Sri Lanka Navy in Ma’ndaitheevu island off Jaffna city to build a naval base and to expand the High Security Zone (HSZ) in that island. Sri Lanka occupying the country of Eezham Tamils denies the existence of High Security Zones in the north. Presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa addressing a meeting in Jaffna last month said that there are no High Security Zones, but the entire island is a ‘peace zone’. The creation of a new HSZ in Ma’ndaitheevu contradicts Colombo’s claim that de-mining is the reason why it is not allowing the resettlement of the HSZs in Jaffna by the owners of the lands.
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Sri Lanka GA concedes more than 50,000 continue as refugees in Jaffna alone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2011, 06:55 GMT]
Around 55,700 people still live the life of refugees in Jaffna, conceded Sri Lanka Government Agent in Jaffna, Mrs. Imelda Sugumar on Tuesday. The number includes people who lost their homes by the confiscation of lands by the occupying Army in Jaffna for ‘High Security Zones’ (HSZ) and those who have Jaffna connections and have come from Vanni after the war. On de-mining HSZs, 32 percent has been completed, 56 percent doesn’t need de-mining, work progresses in 5 percent and work is yet to start only in 7percent of lands, Imelda said. She didn’t answer the question whether 26 villages that are yet to be resettled in the Valikaamam HSZ come under the 56 percent that doesn’t need de-mining. She also didn’t answer the question whether the lands that are not de-mined yet are localities that have been refused of vacation by the occupying Army.
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26 Villages continue as HSZ in Valikaamam alone

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2011, 00:13 GMT]
While visiting SL presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa claimed in Jaffna on Monday that there is noting called ‘High Security Zone’ (HSZ) and that the whole island is a ‘Peace Zone’, 26 villages in the Valikaamam HSZ alone are occupied by Sri Lankan military, uprooting 43,700 people of 17,108 families for more than two decades now. The number is actually more, and could go upto 70,000, if refugees to foreign countries are included, welfare societies in Jaffna said. Considering, their location and the intentions of the occupying military, the people of these villages are afraid that they will never see their homes back. The excuse of Colombo is that it would take 8 more years for de-mining these villages.
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Occupying SL military threatens TNA politicians in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 May 2011, 11:40 GMT]
While building up democratic politics in the north and east is reiterated as a prerequisite for ‘reconciliation,’ the genocidal SL Army occupying Jaffna under the command of ‘Asian Nobel Peace Laureate’ Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe is engaged in intimidating politicians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the most favoured political formation in the north and east, and the people who come into contact with it, news sources in Jaffna said. The occupying army particularly threatening people resettled in the so-called High Security Zones that “the TNA should not come here, if they come you will be chased out again,” shows that there is a long-term agenda in the Army to take Tamil politics directly into its hands, the news sources further said.
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Robert Blake’s ‘reconciliation’ is farming in Tamil land for SL military

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 April 2011, 12:02 GMT]
While the US Asst Secretary of State Robert O Blake testified before the US Foreign Affairs Committee on the “reduction of the reach of High Security Zones” (HSZ) in the island to support his vision of progress that is taking place towards the US State Department-conceived paradigm of ‘reconciliation,’ evidences that come from Jaffna show that the occupying genocidal SL military is engaged in full-fledged farming and horticulture in the largest HSZ in Jaffna Peninsula, reportedly by using slave labour of the captured LTTE cadres. The Valikaamam HSZ, created after uprooting villages, is in the best of the fertile lands and the occupying military has already leased out large tracts of them to Sinhala businessmen. If farming could take place why mines are an excuse to hand over the lands to the owners, ask Tamils.
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Blake sees ‘people to people’ ties through militaries

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 April 2011, 13:36 GMT]
The US Asst Secretary of State Robert O Blake, giving testimony before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday said that the value of the skyrocketing US arms sales to India over the last decade “is not just the dollar figure – they both represent and strengthen deeper levels of cooperation between our two militaries and facilitate building people-to-people ties.” On Sri Lanka Blake said: “Positioned directly on the shipping routes that carry petroleum products and other trade from the Gulf to East Asia, Sri Lanka remains of strategic interest to the U.S. An important contributor to global peacekeeping operations, Sri Lanka stands poised to be a capable and willing partner to effectively combat violent extremism, trafficking and piracy, and thereby help to ensure the maritime security of the region.”
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Amid Sinhala colonization, Dinamina claims SLA vacates Jaffna Town HSZ

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2011, 12:50 GMT]
State run daily Dinamina claimed Friday that Sri Lanka military has vacated high security zones in Jaffna town after nearly twenty years of occupation. The announcement came after handing over of Subash Hotel, and the reopening of Jaffna's Victoria Road which links Jaffna-Palaly main road and the Clock Tower road, according to the daily. Large parts of Jaffna Peninsula still remains as prohibited zone for resettlement of evicted Tamil civilians, with Colombo selling large parcels of land to Sinhala businessmen for economic profiteering, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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HSZ lands in Jaffna sold to Sinhala businessmen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 01:56 GMT]
Large stretches of lands in Jaffna Peninsula in the so-called High Security Zones and in other areas where people are not permitted to resettle in the guise of landmines are hurriedly sold to Sinhala businessmen ostensibly to start ‘industrial estates’. 100 acres of land near Ezhuthumadduvaa’l railway station along the A9 Highway has been recently sold to an influential Sinhala businessman. Another Sinhalese attempted buying 80 acres between Ki’laali and Puloappazhai. Occupying military officials are also said to be interested in buying lands. Industrial estates are a smokescreen, but Sinhala colonisation in that stretch to completely seal off the people of Jaffna within their own peninsula is the strategy, political circles in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, in Valikaamam HSZ, a Sinhalese is said to be running a farm at Vasaavi’laan and another indiscriminately quarry limestone near Keerimalai.
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SL military stops resettlement by Douglas Devananda in Ariyaalai East

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2011, 00:23 GMT]
The much publicised resettlement effort by SL minister Douglas Devananda in the Poompukaar locality of Ariyaalai East was stopped by SL military Thursday. Hundreds of families that accompanied Mr. Douglas Devananda with much anticipation to resettle in their houses and lands from where they were uprooted 15 years ago were disappointed. Meanwhile, on resettlement in the ‘High Security Zone’ (HSZ) of Valikaamam, the SL minister told people who were uprooted for the last 20 years to observe more patience. The Sri Lanka government agent in Jaffna, Mrs. Imelda Sugumar also recently said that it could take more than ten years for the removal of land mines and re-settlement of people in the HSZ.
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First land, now food: Sri Lanka’s powers-abetted genocide progresses unabated

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 January 2011, 01:17 GMT]
In its innovative model of inspiring the entire world on genocide, the Sri Lankan state has decided to deploy its occupying military to cultivate 40, 000 acres of abandoned land in the country of Eezham Tamils, after uprooting them in the war and not allowing them to resettle. The program is being implemented under the directions of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, according to SL military media. The SL colonial governor in the north, Maj. Gen. G A Chandrasiri said this week that the government would cultivate black gram on 19,786 acres, groundnuts on 7,231 acres, red onions on 4,709 acres, green chillies on 4,329 acres and cowpea on 4,729 acres. The SL Army will also buy produce of farmers cultivating near its sprawling estates, and it will sell vegetables in Colombo at ‘concessionary’ rate to control market prices.
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Pigs of HSZ harm crops, youth electrocuted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2010, 15:45 GMT]
Pigs, never heard of in the densely populated Jaffna peninsula before, now breed in the thickets of Sri Lanka military occupied High Security Zone in Valikaamam and they infiltrate into neighbouring villages seriously damaging crops and causing severe economic hardship to farmers. On Thursday, a family man, 25-year-old Chandrasekaran Packiyaraja of Kadduvan West, died of electrocution on the spot when he came into contact with live wires placed by a farmer to prevent HSZ pigs.
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Tsunami remembrance day held in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 December 2010, 01:12 GMT]
The sixth year anniversary of the tsunami remembrance event was held in different parts of Jaffna district, including Vadamaraadchi and Vadamaraadchi east independent of the Colombo-centric organized celebrations, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Uduththu'rai burial grounds in Vadamaraadchi east contained majority of tsunami burials, and grieving relatives held an emotional ceremony organized by the Uduththu'rai Fisheries Union at that site.
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Hathurusinghe, Imelda, deny existence of ‘High Security Zone’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 December 2010, 10:48 GMT]
Addressing media in Jaffna Friday, the Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Mrs Imelda Sugumar said that according to the briefing she had from Sri Lanka’s military commander in Jaffna Maj. Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, the nomenclature High Security Zone (HSZ) is inappropriate in the present context. According to the General, in the past as there was war between the LTTE and the SL government, people were evacuated from that area in order to save the public from getting trapped in the war, and as the SL government was providing security to that area it was called High Security Zone. Now it is only a zone ‘restricted to the public,’ the GA said. Meanwhile, the GA also said in the same press meet that it would take another 10 years to clear mines in the HSZ and resettle people there. But a map obtained from mine clearing agencies show a different picture.
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SLA tightens security in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 December 2010, 15:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is employing new measures in the last several days to increase security in Jaffna, civil sources in Jaffna said. SLA has increased search operations during nights and has increased checking of motor vehicles including motor bikes. Passengers traveling in night buses are being subjected to delays as they searched in the proximity of four or five SLA camps. In addition, reports from Jaffna say SLA soldiers are constructing new earth bunds in the previously declared High Security Zones (HSZ) raising fears among families awaiting resettlement that return to their ancestral homes are going to be further delayed.
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Properties, temples of uprooted Tamils robbed in Valikaamam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 December 2010, 00:09 GMT]
How the number of Tamils in Valikaamam in Jaffna district has dwindled during the last 20-years due to Sri Lankan genocidal onslaught on Tamil homeland became evident when only 970 families registered for resettlement in the three villages of I'lavaalai and Viththakapuram in Valikaamam North, bordering the Sri Lanka Army declared High Security Zone, civil sources in Jaffna said. 1746 families were registered in the same area in 1990, according to the statistics by Thellippazhai divisional secretariat. The uprooted civilians, who were allowed to visit their villages last weekend and later denied of proper access-route to their villages, also complained that even the few properties that remained in their houses and temples have been robbed away after they were allowed access to the villages.
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SLA suspends resettlement in Valikaamam North HSZ villages

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 November 2010, 10:12 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Sunday suspended the resettlement of displaced people of three village (GN) divisions including I'lavaalai and Viththakapuram after the civil authorities ceremonialy launched resettlement of 970 families in Valikaamam North sector of Jaffna district on Saturday with a pooja at Nakuleasvaram temple, attended by EPDP leader and minister Douglas Devananda and Tamil National Alliance MPs. The military officials have said there were crucial security establishments with minefields on the way to the villages. As a result, the much awaited resettlement has again been postponed, this time for 'another month'. Meanwhile, informed sources said that the whole episode of resettlement was hurriedly staged at Keerimalai temple to coincide with the visit by Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna to Jaffna last week.
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Welfare centers sheltering Champoor IDPs under rain water

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 November 2010, 12:31 GMT]
Some one thousand two hundred and sixty two displaced Tamil families sheltered in four welfare centers in Moothoor division in Trincomalee district are undergoing untold hardships due to torrential rain. The temporary sheds in the welfare centers have been inundated with rain water. The inmates find difficult to sleep, cook food and latrines are under water preventing them to answer call of nature. Health authorities have expressed fear of out break of dengue and other diseases among IDPs if no preventive measures are taken.
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Indian High Commissioner visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 15:18 GMT]
The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Mr. Asok K. Kantha is on a sudden visit to Jaffna where he is engaged in preparations to receive Indian Minister of External Affairs Mr. S. M. Krishna who is expected to visit Jaffna peninsula on 27 Saturday, sources in Jaffna said. The Indian minister will be taking part in the event of resettling families in the outskirt villages of the Sri Lanka Army (SLZ) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North that is to be presided by Sri Lanka Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, the sources added. Mr. S. M. Krishna will be opening an office of the Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka in Jaffna during his visit.
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