SL Navy plants land mines again, steps up genocidal land grab of Maathakal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 June 2012, 17:51 GMT]
Uprooted Eezham Tamils from Maathakal West in Valikaamam South-West, who went to check their lands this week, have been chased away from entering the coastal village by the occupying Sinhala Navy, which still regards the area as it's so-called High Security Zone. The uprooted people, who have been periodically inspecting their houses in the border areas of the HSZ, usually escaping the scrutiny of the SL Navy, have now witnessed the SL Navy planting land mines again inside the HSZ where de-mining had been completed earlier. While the uprooted have been continuously staging protests against the genocidal land grab, the entire coastal stretch has been snatched away from the people by the colonial SL military that has fenced the beach for the construction of military cantonment, erecting houses for SL Navy.
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United protests in Jaffna send messages to diaspora, Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 June 2012, 05:06 GMT]
Protests against land grab by the occupying Sinhala military, initiated by the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) and conducted in unison along with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and civil groups in Jaffna, send messages to Tamils in the diaspora and in Tamil Nadu, especially when such protests are met with oppression of the genocidal Sinhala State in Colombo and its ‘security’ and judicial arms, commented political observers in Jaffna. The scenario has to be understood in the light of Tamil civilians in Trincomalee protesting their villages grabbed for Sinhala military’s High Security Zone being converted into ‘Heavy Industry Zone’ funded by India, and the public opinion forcing even the EPDP members in the civic bodies of Jaffna to voice against land grab, the observers pointed out.
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SL Minister Devananda threatens civil protest in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 June 2012, 05:20 GMT]
Speaking in line with the SL courts in Jaffna on Monday, EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who is a minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet, threatened protesting volunteer teachers from Vanni, declaring that if he uttered the word ‘postpone’ to the SL authorities, their appointments would be put on hold forever. Seating besides Maj. Gen. (retd) GA Chandrasiri, the colonial military governor of North, Mr Devananda, in a discriminating tone, said that the SL president doesn't like those who protest. The volunteer teachers, who have served for more than 12 years without SL government salary in Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts, have been promised permanent employment each time they were staging protests, but find them discriminated on every occasion. On Monday, they were protesting outside the provincial education ministry situated in Nalloor, Jaffna.
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Gotabhaya plans psy-ops newspaper in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 June 2012, 23:12 GMT]
Occupying Colombo's defence establishment led-by SL presidential sibling Gotabhaya Rajapaksa plans to start a daily newspaper with the name ‘Thamizh Naatham’ in Jaffna by appropriating the building and assets of the former daily Namathu Eezhanaadu. The move for the psy-ops war through a new newspaper directly run by the SL military establishment comes in, because of the failure of the EPDP's Thinamurasu and the Jaffna edition of Thinakaran, run by SL government-controlled Lake House of Colombo in winning the hearts of the masses in the country of Eezham Tamils to the satisfaction of the occupiers, informed sources in Jaffna said. In the late 1980s, the occupying IPKF tried a similar move by running a newspaper ‘Viduthalai’ with the backing of the EPRLF.
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Civic bodies in Jaffna resolve not to provide lands to SL military

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 June 2012, 12:21 GMT]
The civic bodies in Jaffna have resolved that they would not allow the lands that come under the authority of the civic bodies to be appropriated for military purposes. “As the elected members of the public, we are not going to allow the lands to be deployed for the construction of military cantonments against the will of our people, whom we represent,” was the decision taken by all the civic bodies, a TNA politician in Jaffna told media Sunday. “The decision was unanimous,” the sources further said.
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SL military coerces Jaffna University students to closed-door talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 May 2012, 06:21 GMT]
The commander of the occupying Sinhala military in Jaffna, Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe, intimidated leaders of the boycotting students of the Jaffna University to come for a closed-door meeting at the occupation headquarters on Wednesday to tell them that the SL military would not provide security to students if they engage in political or social activities. The students were boycotting classes since last Friday, after an attack on the students’ union secretary, Mr. Dharshananth, when he was going to the university to organise Mu’l’livaaykkaal remembrance. Demanding security assurance to come from the Vice Chancellor of the university, earlier the students refused to talk directly with the occupying military unless it was an open meeting involving the media. But through the VC the military threatened the students of ‘dire consequences’ to force them into a closed-door meeting.
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University student leader attacked in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 May 2012, 09:25 GMT]
A four-member squad on Friday morning attacked the secretary of the Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) using iron-rods near a Sri Lanka Army camp at Kaladdi in Jaffna with causing serious injuries to the 25-year-old student leader, who was on his way to the University in a bicycle to observe Mu'l'livaaykkaal Remembrance. Despite the threats by the Sri Lanka military intelligence, the students of Jaffna University went ahead with the memorial event stating that it was their democratic right to mark the remembrance day and protested against the military operated administration of civil affairs in the peninsula. Tension prevails at the University of Jaffna where students have gathered in thousands.
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Imelda Sugumar removed from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 May 2012, 23:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government Agent in Jaffna, Mrs. Imelda Sugumar has been ordered to hand over her responsibilities in Jaffna and take up an unspecified post at the SL President’s Office in Colombo, news sources in Jaffna said. From the beginning, Imelda’s tenure in Jaffna was blighting the interests of SL minister and EPDP leader Douglas Devananda. She was a pawn in the power struggle between Basil faction and Gotabhaya faction in the Rajapaksa regime, and in a larger sense was manipulated by the contending powers, India and the USA, political observers said. Even though news circles in Jaffna speculate that Devananda and the Colonial governor Chandrasri who seeks sole recognition for him from the visiting foreign dignitaries achieved her transfer, informed circles say that she has been promised with a diplomatic assignment in India.
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Tamil fishermen warn protest against SL military in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 May 2012, 15:38 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhala fishermen, brought into Tsunami and war-ravaged Vadamaraadchi East by the occupying Sri Lanka Army and Navy, are engaging in deep-sea fishing using prohibited nets and are using dynamite for blast fishing destroying the fish, coral reefs and juveniles, complain Vadamaraadchi East Fisheries Society and Kaddaik-kaadu Fisheries Association. Angered by the illegal acts by the encroaching fishermen from South, endangering the environment of the country of Eezham Tamils and threatening their livelihood, the organizations have called for civil protests if the occupying SL military continued to harbour and entertain the encroaching fishermen from the South. The scale of destruction caused by the Sinhala fishermen was at a level that equals the destruction caused by the Indian trawlers, according to the organizations.
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2 SLA soldiers killed after exchanging gunfire in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2012, 13:00 GMT]
Two Sinhala soldiers of the occupying Sri Lanka Army opened fire killing each other Friday morning in Jaffna, informed sources told TamilNet. The incident took place while the soldiers were on duty at a sentry post of the 51-2 division camp, situated close to Srithar Theatre, the office of the EPDP paramilitary on Stanley Road. In the meantime, Sri Lanka Army spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, hiding the venue of the incident, has gone on record in Colombo saying that a soldier who was providing security to the Buddhist Naga vihara in the city has shot himself after gunning down one of his fellow soldiers. The SLA, engaged in the militarisation of the city of Jaffna, has been refusing to vacate the 51-2 division cantonment.
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UNP-TNA May Day rally in Jaffna fails to draw in local support

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2012, 14:45 GMT]
If the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the United National Party (UNP) of the Sinhala state, and whatever the international forces behind them, have thought of probing the Tamil minds about a future partnership between the parties through a May Day show, then the Eezham Tamils in Jaffna have totally rejected the idea by not showing local participation to their joint May Day rally. The local people didn’t come out even to watch the fun of roughly 10,000 Sinhalese brought down from the South by the UNP marching through the streets of Jaffna. While more than 80 buses were engaged in plying between the South and Jaffna in bringing down UNP politicians and their supporters, the Tamils seen in the rally on the side of the TNA were numbering less than a hundred, confined to the TNA members of the civic bodies, news sources in Jaffna said.
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SL military-backed sand mining irreversibly destroys environment in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 April 2012, 23:37 GMT]
Grassroot representatives from Vadamaraadchi East of Jaffna district on Sunday urged civil and political activists in Jaffna to help them legally confront the indiscriminate sand mining that continues unabated, exceeding any meaningful limit of scooping. The village of Ampan is being submerged in water. The organisations, who met civil and political representatives on Sunday expressed fear that a future Tsunami could cause the land link between Vadamaraadchi North and Vadaramaraadchi East to break rendering Vadaramaraadchi North into an island. The sand scooping, which has become a multi-million business for EPDP operated organizations like Maheswari Foundation, has already claimed the life of an environmentalist who was instrumental in organizing protests against the destruction.
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India shows urgency in ‘ready-cash’ returns for ready abetment in genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 April 2012, 18:38 GMT]
The Indian parliamentary delegation’s statement in Colombo, differing nothing from what the Congress regime, its bureaucrats and intelligence officials say, but designed to come through the Opposition Leader, shows New Delhi’s urgency in getting ready-cash returns apart from showing how the multiparty parliament is manipulated by some forces to follow a particular line of thinking leading to the annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils, commented a new generation Tamil politician in the island. The unity of the Congress, BJP and the CPI-M in this respect has to be carefully scrutinized by Tamil Nadu people and political parties in unity, in planning the composition of the next parliament and in extracting a genuine change in the thinking of the next government, he commented.
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Colombo deploys EPDP leader against Tamil Nadu, India

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 April 2012, 23:43 GMT]
Sabotaging the civic efforts to resolve the disputes between the Tamil fishermen across the Palk Strait, Mr. Douglas Devananda, a minister in the cabinet of Rajapaksa regime and an SL paramilitary leader, on Friday, vowed to take 5,000 fishermen from Jaffna in 1,000 boats to India, against the Tamil Nadu fishermen, who enter the waters off Jaffna peninsula and destroy the livelihood of the local fishermen in the peninsula. The EPDP leader also blamed India for not having completed the housing scheme on time in an effort to hijack the sentiments prevailing amongst the people against New Delhi for its abetment of Colombo's genocidal war against Eezham Tamils, fishermen representatives in Point Pedro told TamilNet Friday.
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SL colonial governor, EPDP, intrigue against Indian delegation

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 April 2012, 05:58 GMT]
While displaying a big show with welcoming posters particularly aimed at pleasing Sushma Swaraj, and with a dominated presence in receiving the Indian delegation, the SL colonial governor in the north, Maj. Gen. Chandrasri and SL minister Douglas Devananda, on the other hand played intrigues against the delegation, which were thwarted by the Deputy High Commission of India in Jaffna, news sources in Jaffna said. The delegation cancelled visiting Nalloor Kandasamy temple after being tipped on Devananda orchestrating a fishermen agitation in front of the temple during its planned visit. The SL governor ordered the secretariat officials not to attend a meeting convened by the delegation. On Thursday, the Sinhala colonial governor accused India for the delay in the construction of houses promised to the war victims.
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Indian delegation disappoints civil representatives in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 April 2012, 23:53 GMT]
Civil representatives in Mullaiththeevu on Wednesday said that they were not provided any opportunity to meet and convey the plight of resettled Tamils in the district to the visiting delegation of Indian parliamentarians led by Mrs Sushma Swaraj. The Tamil representatives belonging to several civil organisations in the district had been invited and were waiting for a long time since 10:00 a.m. to meet the delegation. But, no meeting took place. The visiting delegation was taken on a ‘guided tour’ giving priority to inaugurations and distributing gifts. The Congress group of the delegation which came late to the opening ceremony of a housing scheme was seen quarrelling with the group of parliamentarians led by Mrs Sushma Swaraj of the BJP, who had declared the scheme open, news sources in Mullaiththeevu told TamilNet.
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Paramilitary men arrested for alleged abduction, slaying of Thenmaraadchi woman

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 April 2012, 15:40 GMT]
Three persons including a Sri Lankan military operated Civil Defence Force (CDF) paramilitary person and an alleged EPDP man, have been detained by SL Police in Thenmaraadchi on suspicion of abduction, alleged rape and slaying of 28-year-old Atputhamalar Subramaniyam from Thanangki'lappu, who was reported missing since November 13 and later found dead near a Sri Lanka Army bund on 25 January 2012. Women rights groups in the peninsula have urged global watchdogs to follow the conduct of SL Police in the investigations on the detained suspects.
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Colonial Governor closes down computer section of Jaffna Public Library

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 April 2012, 23:48 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka's Governor of North and war crimes accused former SL commander of Jaffna, Major General (retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri, has instructed the Jaffna Municipal Council administration to immediately remove the computer section at the Jaffna Public Library, used by the readers of the library for viewing electronic documents, to construct a modern toilet there for the benefit of the visitors from the South. CVK Sivagnanam of the Council of NGOs in Jaffna District has sent an urgent letter to SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene and stop the destructive move. Talking to media, Mr. Sivagnanam on Monday warned to wage a campaign if the move is not abandoned by timely intervention. The news has already upset the wider community of the Eezham Tamils in the district, the veteran civil and political activist further said.
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Tamil civil society warned US officials on LLRC danger prior to Geneva

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 March 2012, 05:45 GMT]
“The [Sri Lankan] Government’s current activities in the North and East are challenging the very existence of the Tamil people and more time to the GOSL to implement the LLRC’s recommendations will only mean further time for the Government to play havoc in the North and East and subjugate the interests and aspirations of the Tamil people,” said leading Eezham Tamil civil society members in the island, in a letter addressed to the visiting US Under Secretary of State Maria Oetro and the Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake last month on 10 February 2012. TamilNet has received a copy of this confidential letter and releases it to the public after blacking out the names and other identity of the members for security reasons. The letter clearly outlines the grave danger of initiating the accountability process with the so-called ‘positive recommendations’ of the LLRC report.
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Tamil Nadu Catholic Church reminds umbilical cord relations at Kachchatheevu fete

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 March 2012, 08:42 GMT]
Amidst intense presence of the occupying Sinhala military at Kachcha-theevu during the annual fete of St. Antony on Sunday, the Ramnad diocese of Tamil Nadu Catholic Church that jointly conducts the prayers along with the Jaffna diocese, reminded the umbilical cord relations of the people on either side of the Palk Bay. The theme of this year’s joint prayer by Tamil Nadu and Jaffna Catholic Church was war-torn Eezham Tamils reuniting with their relatives. The commanders of the occupying military were shocked when Fr. Michael of Ramnad, delivering the sermon, deeply felt for the mass killings of Eezham Tamils and death of humanism in the island, and said that the sons of the soil should be released, they should be honoured and they should lead their lives as heroes (Maaveerar).
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