Genocidal Sri Lanka hits back at UN, claims it passed ‘litmus test’ on human rights in 2019

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 October 2019, 18:26 GMT]
SL President Maithiripala Sirisena deployed his Foreign Secretary to tell the UN Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO) in New York that the 2011 Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability, led by Marzuki Darusman, was “so seriously flawed that the Human Rights Council at the time had rejected to issue it with a formal number, as a UN document.” Brushing away the criticisms being levelled against the SL State for promoting war criminals in the rank and file of the military, Ravinatha Ariyasinha ‘reminded’ the UNDPO that the 2015 OISL report was not an outcome of a criminal investigation. SL Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva has not been subjected to any criminal investigation and the public domain reports of the UN cannot be taken as substantive as establishing his culpability, Ariyasinha told the Under Secretary General of the UNDPO, Mr Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Full story >>

UN employed former Sri Lanka Army officer alleged of killing Tamils in Madu Church

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 September 2019, 16:50 GMT]
The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), tasked with providing security services to the UN system in delivering its programmes globally, has had a former Sri Lanka Army officer among its rank and file the security staff in the recent years. The ex-SLA officer has previously “killed Tamils in Madu church,” during the times of war, according to allegations made by New York based Inner City Press (ICP), a non-profit organization, which has critically exposed the wrongdoers within the UN system for almost 15 years. The former SL Army officer in question, Lt Col Parakrama Siriwardana, is currently the Head of Security and Emergency Unit at the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), since May 2018.
Full story >>

Lt Col Thileepan’s 32nd commemoration gains momentum across North-East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 September 2019, 17:49 GMT]
Eezham Tamils in the North and East marked the 32nd annual commemoration of the sacrifice of LTTE’s Jaffna Political Head Lt Col Thileepan (Rasiah Parthipan), who sacrificed his life in a historical dry hunger-strike in 1987, which exposed India’s interests-oriented invasion at that time. Tamil National Peoples’ Front organised a march from Vavuniyaa to Nalloor in the North mobilising the youth with significant participation of women. The Tamil National Alliance marked the event in Ki’linochchi and Batticaloa while the former NPC Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran’s Tamil Makkal Kootani commemorated the remembrance at Point Pedro. The Remembrance event at Nalloor, where Thileepan sacrificed his life, was marked as a joint remembrance event beyond group affinities.
Full story >>

STF creates rifts among Muslims in Pulmoaddai

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2019, 22:05 GMT]
The occupying Special Task Force (STF) stationed at Pulmoaddai 1st Ward has recruited Muslim informants to operate against their fellow villagers in Pulmoaddai using the ‘counter-terror’ relationships it has established after the Easter Sunday attacks. Using the rapport with the Sinhala commandos, operatives such as Jainulabdeen Muhammed Buhari, are making money from the villagers, the people complain. On Thursday, the SL Police suppressed a protest by the villagers by promising to control the informants from misbehaving. The villagers said lack of political power aftermath the April 21 attacks had given space for the rise of exploitative personalities as witnessed during the war when the SL State deployed paramilitary operatives deploying divide-and-rule counter-insurgency tactics.
Full story >>

US geopolitics prioritises engagement with genocidal Myanmar above accountability

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 September 2019, 23:29 GMT]
The US Establishment’s carrot and stick approach has resulted in selecting the genocidal military of Myanmar in the US-ASEAN joint naval exercise held recently in the international waters of Southeast Asia. The move comes just a few weeks after the USA banned Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief, his deputy and two brigadier generals from travelling to the USA over the crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslims. A UN fact-finding mission, which was led by Marzuki Darusman, released a report on Monday this week stating that 600,000 Rohingya remaining inside Myanmar face systematic persecution and continue to live under the threat of genocide. The Darusman-led mission also said it has a confidential list of over 100 names, including Myanmar officials, suspected of being involved in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in addition to six generals it named publicly a year ago.
Full story >>

SL military, police intervene in temple affairs in Champoor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 September 2019, 21:37 GMT]
The SL Police is unnecessarily intervening in the internal affairs regarding the consecration (Kumbhabhishekham) ritual of Champoor Sri Siththiviyaakar temple in Moothoor-East, Trincomalee, say Eezham Tamil residents in the village. The SL Police, along with the military intelligence wing of the occupying SL Army, have deployed their personnel to widen an ongoing rift concerning the consecration ceremony of the rebuilt temple. The Kumbhabhishekham is scheduled to commence on Sunday.
Full story >>

Foreign-funded ‘Sevalanka’ schemes Sinhala tourism in Tamil hinterland of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2019, 23:10 GMT]
The ‘Sevalanka Foundation’ which operates with the hidden agenda of imposing Sinhala socio-cultural development on Eezham Tamils with the backing of countries like Norway is aiming at transforming Kudumpi-malai area in the hinterland of Batticaloa district into a Sinhala tourism hotspot, District Secretariat sources said. The outfit has proposed to convert the agriculture-dependent Tamil villagers to serve the Sinhala tourists in the name of ‘development’. Informed civil officials in the District Secretariat urged Tamil journalists and the civil society activists to expose the wrong intentions behind the scheme to the larger society. The Tamil diaspora should gain the ability to objectively confront the host countries that continue and promote genocidal ‘engagement’ despite repeated concerns expressed by the Tamils.
Full story >>

UNF schemes Sinhalicisation as ‘development’ transforming Jaffna into ‘megacity’

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2019, 16:40 GMT]
SL Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and SL Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera were visiting Jaffna during the weekend along with SL minister for Megapolis & Western Development, ‘Patali’ Champika Ranawaka, the secretary of Sinhala-Buddhist ultra-nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU). Mr Wickramasinghe was reciting the mantra of ‘development’ and was repeating the talk of ‘devolving more powers’ to the provincial councils through securing a majority in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. However, Mr Ranawaka, who is opposed to the concept of Sinhalese sharing political power with Tamils in a federal arrangement, was claiming that a ‘megacity’ project would be transforming the city into one of the four main economic hubs in the island. Furthermore, Ranawaka contended that the plan was part of an integrated ‘national physical plan’, which conceived at Battaramulla in Colombo.
Full story >>

Tamil-speaking Veddahs confront large-scale land grab in southeast Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 September 2019, 20:49 GMT]
The settlement pattern of the Tamil-speaking aborigines, who were looking after their own administrative affairs in the southeastern sector of Trincomalee district has been severely disturbed after 2010, says Nadarajah Kanagaratnam, the chairperson of Kuveani community organisation from the village of Nalloor. The villages of Veddahs are now riddled with various demographic changes carried out by the Sinhala-dominated SL State and the encroaching settlements facilitated by a section of the Muslim politicians in the East. The latest land grab was carried out by MLAM Hizbullah, the former SL Governor to East. After the controversial politician was forced to resign from the portfolio, the aboriginal people entered back into their lands in the hope of regaining them. However, a group of settlers from the nearby Thoappoor village have started to threaten the indigenous people in August 2019.
Full story >>

UNHCR brings back refugees from Tamil Nadu without ensuring prospects for resettlement

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2019, 23:42 GMT]
Uprooted Eezham Tamils who are returning from their overseas displacement in Tamil Nadu find it increasingly challenging to regain their lands and livelihood in the North-East of the island, civil officials in Mannaar said. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) and the SL state apparatus fail to meet even the basic requirements of those returning, the officials said. While the UNCHR facilitates the flight transport of the refugees through Colombo airport, it expects the SL State to complete the resettlement arrangements at the district level. However, the officials coming under the Colombo government in the district say they are unable to cope with the challenges, even to find temporary accommodation to the returning families.
Full story >>

Protests on International Day of Disappeared signal emboldened resolve for justice

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 August 2019, 23:39 GMT]
The families of Eezham Tamils subjected to enforced disappearances at the hands of the occupying Sinhala military and its paramilitaries in the past staged two coordinated demonstrations in the North and East on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared on Friday. More than 500 people, including the grassroots activists and supporting politicians, marched for two hours from Pa'nrik-keytha-ku'lam to Oamanthai, the former entry point to the erstwhile de-facto state of Tamil Eelam. Those handed over to the occupying Sinhala military at the entry point in Vavuniyaa, and at Vadduvaakal in Mullaiththeevu were taken to undisclosed detention camps, and their whereabouts are since not known. The wives and the mothers of the missing persons denounced the reparations mechanisms of the so-called Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and demanded international justice.
Full story >>

Sirisena’s promo on harbour ‘development’ in Jaffna reveals imminent Sinhalicisation threat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 August 2019, 21:36 GMT]
SL President Maithiripala Sirisena has come up with a promotional video advertising the launch of the so-called development of a fisheries harbour at Point-Pedro in Jaffna. The video itself turns out to be the “proof of concept” of Sinhala colonisation of Tamil fisheries industry in the North. A similar project was abandoned at Peasaalai in Mannaar recently. However, the SL Governor in North Suren Raghavan is determined to speedily commence the project amidst the objections from the grassroots including the three fisher associations and two prominent colleges of Eezham Tamils in the area. SL President Maithiripala's promo video exposes the agenda by featuring the intruding Sinhala fishers in Point Pedro. The Asian Development Bank is abetting the genocidal project, branded as a mega port project.
Full story >>

Military minds of New Delhi, Colombo stage ‘book fair’ in Jaffna though quisling Governor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 August 2019, 23:36 GMT]
The SL Governor to North Suren Raghavan, who is the Tamil agent of Maithiripala Sirisena, the SL President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, has organised a book fair in Jaffna this week. The military intelligence outfits of New Delhi and Colombo were collaborating behind the scene to sophisticatedly mix selected books from Tamil Nadu with publications depicting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as ‘terrorists’. The target audience of the book fair is the younger generation of Eezham Tamils. The officers of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka were invited as the special guests to the event along with the Mayor of Jaffna and the Tamil children wearing Sinhala costumes were garlanding the guests at the event held under the patronage of the SL Governor at the Veerasingam Hall.
Full story >>

Despite ending Emergency, Sirisena keeps SL military empowered with police powers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 August 2019, 00:04 GMT]
SL President Maithiripala Sirisena has re-issued a Gazette notification calling out all the members of the SL Army, SL Navy and SL Air Force for the maintenance of public order in all the 25 districts of the island, including the eight districts of the occupied country of Eezham Tamils in the North and East. The powers provided to the three armed forces include the powers of search and arrest, usually conferred on police officers. The SL President has however allowed the Emergency Regulations to lapse itself by not renewing the Gazette notification that could extend it for another month. Although the state of emergency has expired, the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), enacted initially in 1979 and made permanent in 1982, is in force.
Full story >>

IC sheds crocodile tears over Shavendra appointment, US engages with his war-time chief

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 August 2019, 19:23 GMT]
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a US citizen when he spearheaded the genocidal war on Eezham Tamils in 2009, must be facing the lawsuits filed against him in the USA. However, instead of putting an effective end to the presidential hopes of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the US establishment has chosen to engage with him furnishing loss-of-US-nationality paperwork as required by him. The trend is quite visible to those watching the discourse, including the visits by the US-friendly actors engaging with the Rajapaksas. However, the US Embassy in Colombo issued a statement stating that it was ‘deeply concerned by the appointment of Lt General Shavendra Silva as SL Army Commander. Where was this US concern while engaging with Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, commented Tamil activists in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Tamil awareness urged on geopolitics-driven genocidal ‘development’ in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 August 2019, 17:45 GMT]
The occupying Colombo has met stiff resistance from the people of Mannaar against its ‘development’ plan, which paves the way for industrialisation with a looming danger of Sinhala colonisation changing the demographic pattern of the Mannaar Island. The ‘transformation’ has been schemed to take place within 12 years before 2030. Colombo’s Urban Development Authority (UDA), an almost all-Sinhala ‘regulatory body’ had conceived the overarching plan in 2016. The SL Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development had been tasked to accomplish the construction of a controversial project of Fishery Harbour at Peasaalai as part of Northern Province Sustainable Fisheries Development Project (NPSFDP) with project funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2020. The Tamil Catholic residents in Peasaalai have been opposing the controversial harbour project.
Full story >>

Percival's 19th century Tamil proverb compilations collated and sorted in new publication

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 August 2019, 20:04 GMT]
One thousand eight hundred and seventy Tamil proverbs compiled by Rev Peter Percival and published as Thiruddaantha Changkirakam (திருட்டாந்த சங்கிரகம், Tiruṭṭānta Caṅkirakam) with their translation in English by the American Mission in Jaffna in 1843 and the second expanded edition in Tamil Nadu with 6,156 proverbs collected by the same author in 1874 have been combined into a single source by “Viruba” T Kumaresan and A Sivagnanaseelan. While the Tamil Nadu edition had been reprinted five times until 2019, the initial publication of proverbs collected in the country of Eezham Tamils had not been reproduced until now. The latest effort combines both the Jaffna and Mylapore compilations with English translations deploying traditional Tamil sorting in listing them all into a single source. The collection was published at an event held in Jaffna Hartley College on Monday.
Full story >>

Colombo converts 2000 acres of ex-HSZ lands citing India-assisted airport expansion in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 August 2019, 20:05 GMT]
The SL State schemes to permanently seize 2000 acres of properties belonging to private Eezham Tamil landowners in Valikaamam North, citing the Indian-funded transformation of the so-called civilian airport in Palaali in Jaffna. Valikaamam North Divisional Councillor Shanmugalingam Shageevan, who is also the chairman of Vali-North Resettlement Committee, said the occupying SL military was converting the former ‘High-Security Zone’ lands into the so-called civilian airport lands. The ultimate aim of the SL State is retaining the areas as before during the times of war, he accused.
Full story >>

Book on Santhiya becomes narration of Tamil struggle incorporating Marxist ideas in early 80s

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 August 2019, 23:28 GMT]
Ben Hillier, the editor of Australia’s leading socialist publication, Red Flag, wanted to recount the life of Santhiya, a former LTTE cadre who had perished in an Indonesian detention centre in late 2017. Her tragic death occurred as a result of the anti-refugee and anti-Tamil struggle policies practised by Australia. In his efforts to trace her life the editor of the Red Flag travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia and then to the occupied country of Eezham Tamils with the support of the Tamil Refugee Council (TRC) a grassroots diaspora group in Australia. Ben Hillier, who travelled to the occupied country and learned more about the sacrifices made by the Eezham Tamils, particularly the Tamil women, authored his book “Losing Santhiya: On Life and Loss in the Struggle for Tamil Eelam” in July.
Full story >>

Pirapaharan’s statements between 1984 and 1993 reproduced in book form in Europe

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 August 2019, 23:55 GMT]
A Switzerland-based Eezham Tamil youth group, ‘Phoenix - the Next Generation’, has photostatically reproduced the rare 314-page compilation officially published by the Headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in September 1993 in Jaffna. The book contains selected letters, interviews and statements of LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan starting from his first media interview in March 1984. The compilation consists, amongst others, of a letter that declines LTTE representation at a meeting held in New York in May 1985, appeals to the leaders of India and Tamil Nadu during the LTTE-IPKF war in 1987, and a letter of solidarity addressed to South African (ANC) leader, the late Oliver Tambo, in July 1988. The reproduction has been made from a book obtained at the public library of Jaffna in the past. The book, with ID 9907, is no longer accessible at the library.
Full story >>