Kudos to wider Tamil identity

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 February 2008, 21:39 GMT]
The decision of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which enabled Razeen Mohamed Imam becoming a national list member of the Sri Lanka parliament last Wednesday, is received with wide appreciation from different sections of the Tamil-speaking people, including the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. The 60-years-old lawyer Mr. Razeen Mohamed hails from Jaffna and is a member of the Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (the Federal Party started by the late S.J.V Chelvanayakam) for more than 30 years. He was also earlier a member of the Jaffna Municipal Council, elected through a Federal Party ticket.
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Sri Lanka parliament debates emergency extension motion

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 12:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Wednesday moved a motion in parliament to extend the State of Emergency for another month. The State of Emergency is in force in the island since August, 2005.
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East elections, perversion of democracy, says Tamil Arasu Kadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 February 2008, 04:19 GMT]
Outlining the reasons for not participating in the forthcoming local elections in the east, a press release issued by Mavai Senathirajah, General Secretary, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in Colombo Wednesday, said: TMVP, an armed paramilitary group which is aligning with the ruling party in the forthcoming elections is openly brandishing weapons and has a strong presence in Batticalo district. The release added that in this climate of fear, elections will be a perversion of democracy, and ITAK has decided not to participate.
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Court denies injunction to postpone Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday refused to issue an interim injunction to postpone the elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. "The Supreme Court has no authority to issue such interim injunction," said the Chief Justice Mr. Sarath Silva after hearing the submissions in the two Fundamental Rights violation petitions filed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), legal sources said.
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American Tamils condemn killing of Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 November 2007, 02:19 GMT]
Describing the death of S.P Thamilchelvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its chief negotiator, as "an irreparable loss to both the Tamil nation and the peace process," consortium of Tamil organizations in the U.S., in a press release issued Monday, urged the international community to "charter a new course that guarantees the basic human rights of all individuals and the equality of all nations in the island of Sri Lanka."
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Rights group launches campaign against attacks on Journalists in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 08:03 GMT]
Expressing concern on the level of prevailing impunity of the killings of media personnel in Sri Lanka, the Asian Human Rights Commission, citing 11 cases where 12 Tamil media personnel were killed since 31 May 2004 till 29 April 2007, on Tuesday urged the public to write letters to the concerned Sri Lankan authorities demanding impartial investigation in order to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice. "Not a single person has been brought before the court," in the 11 cases, the AHRC noted and urged the public to forward a copy of their appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
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Abductors kill mother in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 September 2007, 11:08 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a woman when she and her husband stopped foiled the attempt to abduct their 16 year-old son Thursday night around 11.15 p.m. at Anpuvallipuram, in Trincomalee town. Her husband and son were seriously injured. The area comes under the Uppuveli Police division.
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Abducted youth recovered dead, SLA trooper killed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 September 2007, 07:54 GMT]
The body of a youth abducted from Ariyaalai in Jaffna Sunday night has been recovered from the same area with knife injuries Monday morning. Meanwhile, unidentified persons shot dead Sunday night a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper in a sentry point at Cha'ndilipaay in Valikaamam. SLA and the police, in a joint cordon and search operation launched immediately after the killing, have detained a youth for interrogation.


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More IDPs resettled in Eachchilampathu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 August 2007, 05:01 GMT]
About 1200 members of 317 Tamil families displaced from Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district last year following military offensives by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were taken to their villages, Ilankaiththurai and Muhaththuvaaram, for resettlement Saturday, civil society sources in Trincomalee said.
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Sinhalese appointed East's Chief Secretary

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 April 2007, 02:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed Mr.Herat Abeyeweera as the Chief Secretary of the de-merged Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) on the recommendation of Provincial Governor Rear Admiral (retired) Mohan Wijayawickrema. The new appointment has come into effect from April 1 Sunday to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mr.R.Thiakalingam who held the post for two months since the de-merger of the North East Provincial Council (NEPC).
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Thanthai Chelva's 109th anniversary commemorated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 16:04 GMT]
Mr. S.J.V.Chelva- nayakam, founder of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and fondly called by Tamils as "Thanthai" (father) was remembered on his 109th birthday as Jaffna Bishop of South Indian Diocese Rt Rev.Jebanesan, Thanthai Chelva Trustee, garlanded the statue of late leader Mr.Chelvanayakam located near the Duraiappah stadium in Jaffna within the High Security Zone (HSZ) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, sources in Jaffna said.
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American Tamils call for Recognition of Tamil Sovereignty for NorthEast Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 February 2007, 11:46 GMT]
Pleading to the international community that "the just aspirations of the Tamils should not be held hostage by fictitious claims of protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a failed state," a consortium of Tamil organizations in the US, in a press release issued Monday, urged the International Community to "recognize the current de-facto Tamil state should their authentic representatives exercise the right to external self-determination," and called upon fellow Americans "to stand with the Tamil Americans in support of the inalienable right of self-determination."
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Canadian Memorial Stamp issued for late Navaratnam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 16:17 GMT]
A set of Canadian Memorial Stamps and First Day Cover were issued at a memorial function in Toronto Saturday, honoring the contribution by late V. Navaratnam, a doyen of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the Federal Party, and who called upon the Tamil youth to fight for the establishment of a separate self-governing Tamils State in 1969. Mr Navaratnam urged the youth to fight, when he left the Federal Party and founded Thamil Suyadchi Kalaham, the Organisation for Tamil Self-Governance, after witnessing failed negotiations for power-sharing with Sri Lankan leaders for almost three decades.
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Kinniya Urban Council Tamil member assassinated

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 08:30 GMT]
The only Tamil member of the Urban Council of Kinniya, Thangarajah Ithayarajah, a Tamil National Alliance Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) member, was shot and killed Friday around 10:30 a.m. while he was on his way to Kinniya from his village, Alankerni. A friend of Mr. Ithayarajah was wounded. The assassins who shot and fled the area, came in a motorbike. The assasination comes three months after the assassination of the only Tamil TNA member of the Sinhala dominated Seruvila Pradeshaia Saba in the district. Meanwhile, 10 Tamil members who had won the Trincomalee Urban Council have received death threats, Thurairatnasingham MP said.
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Paramilitary abducts IDP boys as more flee Vaharai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 15:44 GMT]
Two boys, displaced from Vaharai to Kannankiramam village in Valaichenai, were abducted by armed paramilitary men at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. On Thursday, 3 youths belonging to IDP families were abducted by the paramilitary. Residents fear increased abductions as 4700 persons from Vaharai region crossed over the entry point at Kajuwatte, 5 km north of Mankerni, Friday and Saturday, and around 1200 civilians reached Singapura area through Kattumurivu. Abductions of underage youth, taking place almost on a daily basis, are no longer complained to Police following threats from paramilitary.
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Navaratnam, the doyen of Federal Party, passes away

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 December 2006, 21:42 GMT]
V. Navaratnam, the only surviving founder member of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the Federal Party, and who turned 97 last October, has passed away in Montreal, Canada at 4:10 p.m. Friday. The doyen of Tamil politics who inked the Bandaranaiyake Chelvanayagam pact and negotiated with the Sri Lanka leaders for sharing state power within a federal framework for almost three decades, came to a conclusion that the Sinhala polity would never compromise or agree on any decision to share state power with Tamils, and left the Federal Party, calling upon the Tamil youth to fight for the establishment of a separate self-governing Tamil State, as early as in 1969.
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TNA urges GoSL, employers to respect Up-Country Tamils' contribution

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2006, 15:23 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the employers of the plantation sector, must act responsibly to address the plight of the plantation sector workers, the majority of whom, economically and socially the most marginalised Tamils of Indian origin, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said Monday, expressing solidarity with the plantation workers in the up-country. "It cannot be denied that these plantation workers, through their sweat and toil, have continuously made a steadfast contribution to the country's economy."
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Balasingham's demise creates a great void - TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2006, 13:54 GMT]
R. Sampanthan, the Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a condolence message following the demise of Liberation Tigers theoretician Anton Balasingham, said: "Mr. Balasingham had a clear understanding of the inequalities and inequities to which the Tamil people as a whole, were consistently subjected by the Sri Lankan State. He was also aware of the collective violence unleashed against the Tamil people when they engaged in peaceful protests and civil disobedience campaigns. He also had clear comprehension of the political aspirations and goals of the Tamil people. He was able to articulate the views of the Tamil people on these questions with clarity."
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New TNA parliamentarian takes oath

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2006, 11:36 GMT]
K.N.Sri Kantha of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was sworn in as new parliamentarian of the Jaffna district to fill the vacancy created by the assassination of Mr.Nadarajah Raviraj by unidentified gunmen in the heart of Colombo on 10th November, political sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil Americans call for moratorium on military aid to Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 November 2006, 03:12 GMT]
Expressing condemnation over killing of at least 65 internally displaced people (IDPs) who were seeking shelter in a school in Vakarai by the government of Sri Lanka," a joint press release issued by Tamil organizations in the US Friday, called upon the international community to "impose a moratorium on military assistance to GOSL," and urged "the co-chairs of the peace process to explore modalities that will allow the peoples on the island of Sri Lanka to live with dignity, to determine their political and economic future without interference, and to ensure regional security."
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