EPDP accuses occupying SL military for inaction on child rape, murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2013, 21:10 GMT]
In a strange turn of affairs, SL minister Douglas Devnanda’s Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP), a paramilitary collaborating with Sri Lanka government, demonstrated on Thursday against the rape and murder of a 4-year-old child in one of the islets off Jaffna, shouting slogans against the occupying SL military. Why the Sri Lankan forces that were quick in arresting those who were hoisting Tiger Flags is unable to arrest the culprit behind the heinous crime, the EPDP demonstrators questioned. The girl child, Chudarini Gunasegaram reported missing from her house at Ma’ndai-theevu in Jaffna on 27 December, was found slain and dumped into an abandoned well the following day, with traces of rape in brutal ways.
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Grenade attack targets TNA's youth politician from Jaffna islet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 December 2012, 22:13 GMT]
A motorbike squad, allegedly operated by the SL military intelligence, on Monday, lobbed a grenade on the house of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) youth wing coordinator of Jaffna islets Mr Nishanthan. The attack took place around 9:00 p.m. targeting Nishanthan's house situated on Vyman Road, near Nalloor Kanthasaami temple in Jaffna. The attack on Nishanthan comes after the occupying SL navy entered the house of TNA politician Anaimukan, accusing him for tolling bells on the Heroes Day coinciding with the Kaarthikai festival in the temples of Kaarainakar.
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Maldives cancels airport agreement with Indian corporate

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 December 2012, 00:13 GMT]
The Republic of Maldives announced on Monday that it would take back the operations of the international airport at Male from the Indian corporate GMR Group with effect from Saturday, cancelling its agreement for a US $ 511 million project. According to media reports, New Delhi threatens that it would consider freezing aid to Maldives, especially a US $ 25 million loan immediately needed by the Maldives for the payment of salaries to its civil servants. But the general public and businessmen in the Maldives feel that it is a big victory for their efforts in freeing their airport from the clutches of the Indian corporate. The agreement with GMR Group was signed in the times of the earlier president, Mohamed Nasheed.
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EPDP mobilizes protest against Indian trawlers while backing trawlers from South

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 December 2012, 16:54 GMT]
Timed to the visit of the representatives of fishermen societies in Tamil Nadu to Jaffna on Thursday, the SL minister and EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda was allegedly engaged in triggering demonstrations in front of the Consulate General of India in Jaffna, protesting the intrusion of Indian trawlers. According to Jaffna fishermen, the SL minister backs trawlers from the South exploiting Tamil waters. On Thursday, when the EPDP-backed protesters were shouting “Mahalingam come out,” demanding the Indian Consul General to come out and address them, a group of fishermen in Valveddith-thu’rai (VVT) rounded up the SL police station there demanding action against 30 southern trawlers that were operating in the seas off VVT. Another 107 trawlers, backed by Mr. Devandanda were exploiting the seas off Kurunakar, the fishermen complained.
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Two dead bodies washed ashore in Jaffna islet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 September 2012, 23:43 GMT]
Two dead bodies, washed ashore within the past 48 hours in Ma'nkumpaan near Allaippiddi in the Kayts island of Jaffna, have not been identified, according to the Sri Lankan Police in Kayts. In the meantime, news sources in Jaffna said there have been sporadic cases of dead bodies being washed ashore in recent times and a number of bodies have never been identified. The pattern indicates a mysterious background, according to the news sources in the islets off Jaffna.
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SL Navy steps up harassment on Tamil fishermen in Jaffna, Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 July 2012, 01:04 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Navy have been refusing fishermen in Vadamaraadchi to search for their missing fishermen for 72 hours since their two fishermen had sent SOS signals after their boat damaged in the seas and lost its direction. The missing fishermen were finally brought home after fellow fishermen, who went to search for them hiding from the prying eyes of the SL Navy managed to reach them in their boats. The SL navy had refused to allow the fishermen cross the border and had refused to offer any help to rescue the fishermen. Finally, Tamil Nadu fishermen had rescued them till the fishermen from Jaffna managed to reach them, fisheries society representatives in Vadamaraadchi said complaining increased harassments by the SL Navy in the seas off Jaffna and Vanni.
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Chinese-helped new SL Naval base comes up in Vanni, targeting Palk Bay

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 March 2012, 09:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka occupying the country of Eezham Tamils opened a new naval base in the western coast of Vanni at Naachchik-kudaa facing the Palk Bay in a commanding position to target movements from the Tamil Nadu coast of India. Construction of the new naval base received Chinese help. SL navy commander Somathilake Tissanayake inaugurated the base on Monday. Meanwhile, journalists who have gone for the annual church fete at the uninhabited islet Kachcha-theevu in the Palk Bay has noticed a permanently built SL naval base there. The construction material of this base and a newly coming up jetty there were found with Chinese markings. Two SL naval ships are always stationed near Kachcha-theevu. The attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen deploying Sinhala gangs from the south are operated by SLN in Kachcha-theevu.
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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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Military officials of Iran, Russia, Bangladesh visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 February 2012, 20:05 GMT]
In a show of solidarity to genocidal Sri Lanka, on the eve of UNHRC sessions in Geneva, military officials of Iran, Russia and Bangladesh visited Jaffna exclusively for meeting the occupying military of Sri Lanka in the peninsula, on Tuesday and Wednesday, news sources in Jaffna said. The visiting military delegates didn't meet the public, but were taken to showcase the ‘rehabilitation’ of ex-LTTE cadres and to see the Nalloor temple and the Buddhist Naga Vihara at Nayinaa-theevu. On 05 February, SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa, secretly inaugurated China-involved power generation project along the northern coast of Jaffna. The inauguration completely hushed to the knowledge of media, took place in a SL naval base at Maathakal, near the KKS harbour.
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JVP student faction seeks Tamil youth for military inspiration: SL Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2012, 02:31 GMT]
Calling themselves as a student group, a group of the factionalised JVP is seeking to exploit former LTTE cadres in its search for military inspiration and the group is targeting to exploit the Tamil students for a military cause, claimed S.B. Dissanayake, the SL minister of Education, who has been visiting the islets of Jaffna and the University of Jaffna with the backing of EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who is also a minister in the cabinet of SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Commenting on the statement by the SL minister, who met some students at the University of Jaffna, student circles in Jaffna said the comment has exposed the level of paranoia prevailing in the Colombo establishment that has used its military to abduct two JVPers who are still missing.
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‘SL military appropriated 30% of land in Jaffna’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2011, 01:40 GMT]
Sri Lankan military occupying the Tamil country had appropriated 30 per cent of the land in Jaffna district alone, under the so-called High Security Zones. What has been given back is only 3 per cent, contrary to what the SL Army wants outsiders to believe. The percentage of SL military appropriated lands still remain 30 per cent or even more with the new lands acquired in the islets off Jaffna, Maathakal and at Ki'laali, says a former senior academic of the University of Jaffna. Speaking to journalists in Jaffna on Friday, the former professor has also warned that the destructive and indiscriminate quarrying of limestone at Kaangkeasanthu'rai (KKS), which is under the High Security Zone, is going to make the groundwater in the peninsula to become saline.
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Sri Lanka organises sea-paramilitary to attack Tamil Nadu fishermen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 21:40 GMT]
Calling themselves ‘Somalian pirates’ a sea-paramilitary created and deployed by Sri Lanka’s Navy is intensifying its mid-sea attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen in the waters of the Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannaar and off the southern tip of India, news sources in Jaffna said. Largely Sinhalese from the south, along with a Tamil gang inducted by the SL Navy from Koddadi, a coastal locality near military occupied fort of Jaffna city, man the paramilitary. SL Navy has given military training to this outfit. A Sri Lankan minister is also suspected to be involved in the operation. Several lakhs worthy of fish catch of the fishing fleets of Tamil Nadu is routinely seized after attack by this paramilitary getting inside Indian waters, while the SL Navy holds off the fishing fleets along the maritime boundary. One such attack took place while the Indian foreign secretary was visiting Jaffna on Sunday.
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EPDP protest blocks Blake meet with Jaffna civil society, students

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 September 2011, 11:00 GMT]
The visiting US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert O Blake, had to cancel his appointment with civil society representatives, including student representatives of the University of Jaffna on Tuesday afternoon as EPDP paramilitary cum political party, aligned with Rajapaksa regime in Colombo, organized a protest outside the American Corner, situated on 4th cross street in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. Hundreds of people were brought from EPDP-controlled islets off Jaffna with placards supporting Mahinda Rajapaksa and staged the protest outside the American Corner.
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46% votes in civic elections in Jaffna by end of Saturday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 July 2011, 08:27 GMT]
46% of registered voters in Jaffna exercised their votes in the civic elections on Saturday, election officials in Jaffna told media. Ruling UPFA men were seen in almost all election booths, violating the election rules by distributing notices and watching that their posters were not removed from the walls. In the islets off Jaffna, the voters were given alcohol by UPFA-EPDP personnel and there were widespread reports that the voters were allowed to enter the booths without proper identity checking. The Sri Lanka Army largely remained in their positions. SL Police was in duty. The voting will be taking place till Saturday 4:00 p.m.
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SLA instructs Jaffna fishermen to stay away from intruding Indian trawlers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2011, 13:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army officers who instructed the local fishermen representatives in Vadamaraadchi North to come to their camps, have warned the Eezham Tamil fishermen to stay away from the intruding trawlers of Tamil Nadu fishermen after Indian trawlers began excessively poaching in the seas off Vadamaraadchi North, East and the islets since Wednesday last week after a 45-day annual break. During the last two days, the poaching by Indian trawlers was widely reported in the seas off Vadamaraadchi North, East, the islets and Mannaar. In the meantime, four Tamil Nadu fishermen on Friday swam to Neduntheevu, an islet off Jaffna, after their trawler sank in the seas following heavy winds on Thursday. 20 Tami Nadu fishermen were reported missing in the incident.
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SL Navy chases away Tamil fishermen from the seas off Kayts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2011, 16:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy on Friday chased away hundreds of Tamils fishermen from Vadamaraadchi and Kurunakar North, engaged in fishing in the seas off Melignchi-munai of Ooraath-thu'rai (Kayts), blocking them from engaging in fishing in the seas off the islets. The fishermen said they have been fishing in the seas off Ooraath-thu'rai for many years with the permission from the fishermen association of Kayts. Sri Lanka Navy has chased the Tamil fishermen away to bring in Sinhala fishermen from south to occupy the fishing resources of Tamils, the fishermen alleged.
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‘Nazi-style registration of civilians in Jaffna’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 February 2011, 12:08 GMT]
The occupying SL military in Jaffna is directly engaged in registration of individuals and families in the Jaffna peninsula in recent times. Everyday, covering area by area, the SL military is distributing forms to collect information and is insisting of family photographs along with children to be given to them. The activity of the SL military, reminding the Nazi practice before the Holocaust, creates terror in the minds of the people in Jaffna, said a human rights activist in Jaffna. Meanwhile, undeclared curfew is imposed in Jaffna by the SL military and police, who have brought the street movement of people almost to an end after 6:00 p.m. by harassing them through numerous checkpoints after dusk.
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Sri Lanka's commission to conclude "sittings"

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2011, 14:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the mandate of which was deliberately designed to whitewash Sri Lanka's war-crimes, and invitation to three leading premier human rights watchdogs Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and International Crisis Group (ICG) to attend LLRC's sittings was rejected due to LLRC "lacking the ability to advance accountability for war crimes," announced that the LLRC will "conclude its public sittings after the completion of sittings in the Ampara District in mid February" and would then would prepare its "final report that would be submitted to [Sri Lanka's] President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May," local media reported.
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Tamil villages of Katpiddi Peninsula are for sales by Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 06:05 GMT]
Many traditional Tamil villages in the Katpiddi Peninsula and islets off that in the Puththa'lam district of the North West Province are for sales by Colombo establishment, ostensibly for tourism purposes under Kalpitiya Integrated Tourism Resort Project (KITRP). “There are about 11 investors who applied to invest around US$ 500 million to put up tourist resorts, golf courses, marinas, etc in this zone which was defined as a tourist zone by the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, but the government is not happy with the bids which have mainly come from Indian parties,” Sunday Times reported. The presence of Chinese is overwhelming in the Katpiddi Peninsula along with construction of Nuraichchoalai power plant, local residents said.
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Paramilitary-employed Daya master says ex Tiger members unable to secure jobs

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 November 2010, 17:23 GMT]
“All the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants detained should be released under general amnesty and steps should be taken to reunite them with their families enabling them to lead a normal life,” V. Thayanithy, who was once an employed media coordinator of the movement, said while 'witnessing' at a session before Mahinda Rajapaksa's 'Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission' (LLRC) in Oorkaavattu’rai St. Henry’s Church, in the islets of Jaffna on Sunday. 'Employers are reluctant to give jobs to the rehabilitated and released former LTTE combatants. They are unable to lead a normal life and they should be assisted to rejoin the society, Mr. Thayanithy said.
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