'De-merger of NE a calamity to Sri Lanka' - TNA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 August 2003, 09:01 GMT]
"The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) desires to place on record that the de-merger of the northeast province which has existed for the past fifteen years by the President would be a calamity to the whole Sri Lanka, and urges the President to desist from taking this perilous course," TNA said in a press statement issued Thursday in Colombo.
Full story >>

Hartal in Amparai town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 August 2003, 13:32 GMT]
General shutdown was observed in Amparai today and an organization called 'Committee to Safeguard East' led a protest march through Amparai town, sources in the eastern province said. Several hundred Muslims and Sinhalese participated in the march that started at Brown Road junction and proceeded to the clock tower, the sources added.
Full story >>

Nallur CAR festival draws thousands of devotees

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 August 2003, 10:54 GMT]
The CAR ("Ther") festival of the historic Nallur Kandasamy Temple in Jaffna town was held Tuesday morning with thousands of devotees from all over the island and from abroad participating, sources attending the festival said.
Full story >>

General shutdown paralyzes Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 August 2003, 11:51 GMT]
A general shutdown (hartal) Monday completely disrupted normal life in the Trincomalee district, especially in the Trincomalee town. The general shut down was called by the Trincomalee Resurgence Tamil Community (TRTC) to show its opposition to the 'opportunist' elements that are "bent on derailing the peace process," organizers said.


Full story >>

2000 appear for police recruitment interviews in the east

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 August 2003, 18:39 GMT]
More than 2000 persons appeared for the two-day interview held by the Police Department Saturday and Sunday at Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Amparai, Kalmunai, Akkaraipattu, Muttur and Pottuvil police stations to recruit 550 new personnel for serving in the eastern province, said the eastern region Deputy Inspector General of Sri Lanka Police, Mr. Neville Wijesinghe. He said that the highest number of the youths attending the interview were from the Sinhalese community, and Muslim youths the second highest.
Full story >>

Nallur festival turns Jaffna into spiritual town

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 August 2003, 11:44 GMT]
"Expatriate Tamils are invading Jaffna in astonishing numbers to attend the annual temple festival at Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil. Tamils in other parts of Northeast and the South are also making use of the prevailing atmosphere of peace to make their annual pilgrimage to the Nallur festival," said a delighted street vendor who has seen a marked rise in his business.
Full story >>

Trinco to observe Hartal against anti-peace elements

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 August 2003, 15:44 GMT]
Trincomalee Resurgence Tamil Community (TRTC), a socially active Tamil organization, has called on the Tamil speaking people in the Trincomalee district to observe a one day general shut down (hartal) on Monday to show their opposition to anti-peace elements who are bent on derailing the present peace process, sources said.


Full story >>

SL Police to recruit 500 in the East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 August 2003, 15:00 GMT]
Five hundred constables and fifty reserve sub-inspectors are to be recruited to serve in several police divisions in the eastern province, Sri Lanka’s Police Headquarters in Colombo said in a press release Wednesday. The decision by the Defence Ministry to recruit more police personnel for the East was made following a conference held by the Ministry Tuesday in Colombo to review the security situation in the eastern province, sources said.
Full story >>

Tamil medium teachers still receive Sinhala only letters

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 August 2003, 20:53 GMT]
Tamil medium teachers and principals in Sri Lanka, especially in the northeast province where Tamil is the main medium in schools, are still undergoing untold hardships in transacting official business with the relevant departments as the central ministry of education and other related departments still correspond with them only in the Sinhalese language, the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU)'s General Secretary, Mr.T.Mahasivam, said.
Full story >>

New Sinhala families settled in Nelukkulam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 August 2003, 10:46 GMT]
Even as thousands of internally displaced Tamil people are languishing in refugee camps, prevented by the Sri Lanka Army from resettling in their own homes, Sri Lankan government officials with the support of the SLA are actively engaged in recruiting new Sinhala families from the South to settle in lands abandoned by earlier Sinhala occupants in the traditional Tamil village of Nelukkulam in the Manalaru region in the Mullaitivu district, sources said.
Full story >>

'Safeguard sea resources in Tamil homeland'

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 August 2003, 13:14 GMT]
A seminar on "Tamileelam sea resources and the challenges confronted by fishermen" was held Friday morning at the Veerasingham Hall in Jaffna under the auspices of the International Tamileelam Students Federation. In his keynote address at the seminar, Dr.A.Soosaianandan, Senior Lecturer at Jaffna University, warned of the dangers of sea resources in the Tamil homeland being "exploited by external elements."
Full story >>

Trinco fishermen demonstrate to safeguard sea resource

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 August 2003, 19:52 GMT]
Hundreds of fishermen from the three main communities, Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim, in the Trincomalee town Wednesday held a demonstration against the use of dynamite and prohibited nets for fishing in the Trincomalee Sea. This was the first time since the ceasefire agreement was signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that Tamil members joined the Sinhalese and Muslim communities to hold a protest march for a common cause, senior citizens of the eastern port town said.
Full story >>

3350 persons await resettlement in Trincomalee district

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 August 2003, 19:18 GMT]
Around 3350 people from 920 displaced families have been staying in thirteen refugee and welfare camps in the Trincomalee district awaiting resettlement in their own villages, said the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) Deputy Project Director, Mr.N.Puhendran, addressing a gathering at the opening of a new building at Mahavelipura Vidiyalaya in Kantalai, Trincomalee district, Tuesday.
Full story >>

Muslim MP says North and East should not be merged

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 August 2003, 16:42 GMT]
The Tamil people were forced to have recourse to an armed struggle as a result of the oppressive policies of the Sinhalese political leadership, and when finding a political solution to this problem, “we are clear that a similar situation should not be created for the Muslim minority in the merged North East, and that is why we have told the [Sri Lankan] President that we want the North and East to be separate,” said Mr. A.L.M. Athaulla, Member of Parliament (MP) from the Ampara district Monday.
Full story >>

‘Tamils should create their own musical tradition’

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 August 2003, 04:38 GMT]
“As a people with a history of having refined folk arts and literature, the Tamils should create a musical tradition uniquely theirs, and great musicians and intellectuals should help to create such a tradition," said “Thamilmani Mullaimani” Mr. V. Subramaniam, speaking at a two-day regional literary festival organized by the Vavuniya Cultural Federation Saturday.
Full story >>

Thamilchelvan opens TRO's computer centre in Chenaiyoor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 August 2003, 04:20 GMT]
Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, on Saturday evening declared open a Computer Training Centre at Chenaiyoor in Muttur east established by the Trincomalee district Tamils’ Rehabilitation Organization under the sponsorship of its Canadian branch, TRO sources said.
Full story >>

'Tamils will not accept hasty decision on land matters’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 July 2003, 05:18 GMT]
"We cannot accept any hasty decision taken regarding land related problems in the Trincomalee district at a time when all attempts are made to take forward the peace process and serious consideration is given to the establishment of an interim administrative structure with adequate powers," said the Trincomalee district parliamentarian, Mr.Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, Saturday to the media following the cancellation of Lands Minister's visit to Trincomalee, sources said.
Full story >>

Land Minister's Trinco visit cancelled, mobile service called off

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 July 2003, 21:07 GMT]
A four-day mobile service scheduled to be inaugurated at the Trincomalee district secretariat Saturday morning by the Lands Minister of SriLanka, Dr..Rajitha Senaratne, was called off at the last minute as a one-day hartal was observed in the eastern port town the same day, sources said.
Full story >>

Hartal observed in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 July 2003, 12:38 GMT]
A hartal (general shut down) was observed in the town of Trincomalee Saturday and all business establishments owned by Tamil and Muslim people were closed down, bringing the normal life to a standstill, civil sources said.
Full story >>

Sinhala nationalists protest against SLMM in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 July 2003, 18:37 GMT]
A group of Sinhalese Tuesday held a demonstration in front of the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee demanding them to go out of the country. The Trincomalee Police gave protection to the SLMM office and the monitors, sources said.


Full story >>