Hunger strike exposed non-seriousness of US Resolution: Prof Ramasamy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 November 2015, 09:10 GMT]
Since the prisoners’ plight has not been seriously addressed, many are wondering how the present Sri Lankan government would be able to address and punish those responsible for crimes against humanity, said Deputy Chief Minister of Penang state in Malaysia, Professor P. Ramasamy, in an article to TamilNet on Wednesday, announcing the intentions of a forthcoming international forum being organised on Saturday in Penang. “It is indeed ironic, that President Sirisena who promised truth, justice and reconciliation for Tamils, has failed to address the serious human rights plight of Tamils in the country,” he said. The conference comes at a time the prisoners in the island have placed the furtherance of their cause at the hands of the global Tamils and the Northern Provincial Council. The forum will be officiated by Chief Minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng.
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Penang conference demands IC to end SL military occupation, investigate genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 2014, 12:27 GMT]
Malaysian and foreign delegates, who took part in an international Tamil conference, held in Georgetown, Penang, demanded UN referendum on Tamil Eelam, OISL investigations to also include genocide investigation and the international community to end Sri Lankan military occupation and Sinhala colonization of Tamil homeland. The conference was a success as it raised critical and far-reaching issues that often not raised in the Malaysian political milieu, Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Professor P. Ramasamy, a long time advocate of the rights of Eezham Tamils, told TamilNet.
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Tamil Nadu researcher testifies to OISL on Indian complicity in genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2014, 23:43 GMT]
“While several actors including US, UK, China, UN involved in different ways in the conflict in Sri Lanka which led to genocide of Eelam Tamils, the actor most severely and the most consistently perplexed in the Sri Lankan war has been India,” says University of Bergen Research Fellow, Vijayshankar Asokan in a submission he sent on “Indian complicity in the genocide of Eezham Tamils” to OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka. A native of Tamil Nadu and studying in Norway since 2008, Mr. Vijayshankar in his submission was extensively citing Mr. Ku. Ramakrishnan, General Secretary of Periyar Dravidar Kazhakam, Mr. Erik Solheim, the failed peace facilitator and various reports as well as statements.
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Vaiko condemns BJP’s ‘poisonous’ nexus with genocidal Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 July 2014, 18:01 GMT]
The General Secretary of MDMK, Mr Vaiko, on Tuesday condemned Indian participation at an annual military conference organized by genocidal Sri Lanka in August. The annual 'Defence Seminar' is conceived by the SL State as a gimmick venue to market its military corporatism project to the external forces under the banner of geo-strategic location of the island. Mr Vaiko has described Indian participation as ‘unpardonable‘, according to a news report by the Press Trust of India (PTI). The BJP government's move to participate in the seminar comes after it rejected entry to the members of the UN panel appointed by UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) head Navanethem Pillay to conduct an inquiry into alleged war crimes and human rights violations by the SL government and its military forces.
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Tamils protest against New Delhi’s invitation to Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2014, 23:41 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Tamils took to the streets protesting against New Delhi inviting the president of genocidal Sri Lanka to the swearing in ceremony on Monday. The General Secretary of MDMK Vaiko led a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi condemning the invitation extended to the genocide accused SL president, whose presence was ‘polluting the sanctity’ of Modi’s swearing in ceremony. Protesters across Tamil Nadu burnt the effigies of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The entire Tamil Nadu was on protest as the Chief Minister and key leaders of political parties have strongly opposed the invitation extended to the SL president.
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Jayalalithaa to boycott PM swearing-in over ‘ill-advised’ invitation to Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2014, 07:15 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa will boycott the swearing-in event of India’s new Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi on 26 May, over the issue of invitation to Mahinda Rajapaksa, latest news reports said on Friday, citing AIADMK party sources. Earlier, Ms. Jayalalithaa described the invitation to genocide-accused Rajapaksa as “ill-advised” and as “rubbing salt into the wounds.” Modi’s camouflage in inviting SAARC heads of governments is impelled by his priority to Pakistan and Muslim factor, and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s immediate response to come shows the US advice behind the move, political analysts said, adding that the USA and India long sidelining and sabotaging the Tamil question is the boon for genocidal Colombo and the Rajapaksas.
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New Delhi has to be told whether it wants Tamil Nadu or genocidal Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2014, 23:02 GMT]
New Delhi’s prime minister designate Narendra Modi can’t have an excuse in inviting genocidal Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa to the inauguration of his government, citing his invitation to all SAARC heads of governments. None of the States in India has ever indicted the head of government of a neighbouring country, as the Tamil Nadu State Assembly has unanimously resolved against Rajapaksa’s genocide of Eezham Tamils. The Rajapaksa case is a unique case India has never seen before, and that too considerably involving the previous Congress government at New Delhi. Tamil Nadu, having a duty in showing a protest in no uncertain terms to New Delhi that whether it wants its southern State or a genocidal State in the neighbourhood, need not care Mr. Modi’s self-invited diplomatic compulsions.
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Local contacts of visiting Indian journalist exposed to TID interrogators in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 December 2013, 21:34 GMT]
In one of the strongest investigations and monitoring conducted so far on a foreign journalist visiting the island, the experienced interrogators of the notorious ‘Terrorist Investigation Department’ of Colombo had not only confiscated the electronic and non-electronic possessions from the young journalist from Tamil Nadu, but also monitored and traced all his contacts from the moment he landed at Colombo airport for the second time, informed media sources in Colombo told TamilNet Sunday. In the meantime 22-year-old Maga Thamizh Prabhagaran, when contacted by TamilNet after his deportation to Chennai, said he was subjected to ‘psychological torture’ like condition at the hands of the TID interrogators in Colombo and that the TID had his Tamil book of his first visit translated when they questioned him on his affiliations.
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Sri Lanka’s TID interrogates Indian journalist in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 December 2013, 13:19 GMT]
The journalist from Tamil Nadu, Maga Thamizh Prabhagaran, who was arrested by the occupying SL military and police in Vanni, while he was visiting Ki’linochchi was still under the custody of the ‘Terrorist Investigation Department’ as late as Thursday night, informed sources in Colombo said. Earlier, the SL police spokesman in Colombo had stated that the Mr Thamizh Prabhagaran was being handed over to the immigration authorities for deportation. But, Colombo's TID officers were interrogating the Indian journalist on his contact network in the island by going through his article series that has appeared in Junior Vikatan, the sources further said.
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Genocide has to be compensated by separation: Sikh politician

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 December 2013, 22:30 GMT]
“Tamils can’t live [in a united Sri Lanka] after the perpetration of the crime of genocide. I think the wounds are too deep historically there to be reconciliation. After a State has committed genocide, there can’t be any reconciliation,” says Simranjit Singh Mann, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar party, who advocates the formation of Khalistan as an independent and sovereign State for Sikhs, in an exchange of views with Tamil Nadu based May 17 Movement. “Pirapaharan and his movement was too powerful for the Sri Lankan government,” he said, adding that “it was under the collaboration of UPA-led Congress government that the Sri Lanka government was able to achieve and crush the movement for freedom by committing a genocide on the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.”
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Protests across Tamil Nadu condemn Indian participation in 'Sri Lanka CHOGM'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 November 2013, 09:51 GMT]
Apart from a state-wide shutdown in Tamil Nadu called by the leading trader’s association, several political parties and grassroots movements on Tuesday staged protests across the state condemning the hosting of CHOGM in Sri Lanka and Indian participation in the same. Protests were reportedly intense in Chealam, Thiruppoor, Mathurai, Kadaloor and Naakarkoayil.
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Detention of Kolathur Mani under India's NSA act condemned

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 November 2013, 22:43 GMT]
The recent arrest and continued detention of Kolathur S. Mani, a veteran Tamil activist in Tamil Nadu and the founder-president of Dravidar Viduthalaik Kazhakam (DVK), has evoked strong reactions from Tamil national activists across the State. The Tamil Nadu Police took Mr Mani into custody following allegations that some DVK party members were behind violent incidents against Central Government installations in Tamil Nadu as a form reaction against Indian External Affairs Minister's announcement that he would participate in the controversial CHOGM meet to be held in Colombo. The General Secretary of DVK, Viduthalai Rajendran, categorically denied Kolathur Mani's involvement. Stating that Mr Mani had publicly distanced from violent acts as a form of protest, Mr Rajendran urged the authorities to relase the leader of the DVK movement.
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Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously demands full CHOGM boycott by New Delhi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 October 2013, 14:02 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms Jayalalithaa on Thursday moved a resolution in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly demanding the Indian Central Government to completely boycott its participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka this November. The resolution was particular in demanding that there should not even be a token participation from the Indian side. Instead, India should take steps to temporarily suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth till the Sri Lankan State acts upon ensuring the freedom and equality of Tamils on a par with the Sinhalese. All the political parties present in the Assembly, including the Congress, passed the resolution unanimously.
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Youth conference in Chennai condemns staging CHOGM in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 September 2013, 10:12 GMT]
A day long international conference of youth held last Saturday in Chennai raised its voice against the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in November this year. The conference decried Colombo government as a fascist, genocidal force that killed over 150,000 Eezham Tamils in the last phase of the 2009 war. Over 700 participants took part in the conference expressing concerns over holding the Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka.
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Tamil Nadu activists protesting Manmohan Singh Trichy visit detained

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 August 2013, 23:48 GMT]
Hundreds of activists who protested Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Trichy were detained by the Tamil Nadu police on Friday. The protestors, who gathered near the Trichy airport with black flags, sought to express their dissent to the Dr. Singh over India’s continued complicity in the genocide of the Eezham Tamil nation and its endorsement of the CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka. The detained include MDMK leader Vaiko, Tamizh Desiya Pothuvudamai Katchi leader Maniarasan, Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam leader Ramakrishnan and Thirumurugan Gandhi from the May 17 Movement. Separately, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha had sent another letter to Dr. Singh on Thursday condemning India’s ignoring of repeated assaults on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy.
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Tamil Nadu protests condemn Indo-Sri Lanka military co-operation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 June 2013, 05:18 GMT]
Protests in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu came down sharply on the Indian government for its continued military co-operation with the Sri Lankan military, which is accused not just of the genocide of the Eezham Tamils but also of murdering hundreds of Tamil Nadu fishermen. The protests erupted in the wake of the news that two SL military officers were to be given training at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Nilgiris. While this opposition led to the transfer of the officers to another facility in Andhra Pradesh followed quickly by the GoSL’s recall of the officers, Congress minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan defended India’s military relationship with Sri Lanka, playing the China card.
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Chennai event challenges ICE complicity in Tamil Genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 May 2013, 08:29 GMT]
Articulating right demands and slogans in Genocide Remembrance events is crucial at a time when the Eezham Tamils in their homeland are barred from even silently mourning their heroes and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the culmination of the genocidal war at Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal, said a Tamil political activist from Jaffna commenting on the slogans used by protestors at the May 19 event at Marina beach in Chennai. Civil society activists, artists, political leaders and ordinary people had participated a mass gathering near the Kannagi statue in the honour of those Eezham Tamils who perished in Sri Lanka’s genocidal war despite dissuasion by the police. Speaking to TamilNet from the gathering, Umar, an activist from the May 17 criticized the failure of UN in preventing the genocide, stating that Sri Lanka must be hauled in the UNSC.
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TN Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance meeting condemns Indian-West complicity in genocide

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 May 2013, 23:48 GMT]
Speakers at the Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance meeting in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Friday came down strongly on the Indian and Western establishments for their complicity in the genocidal war on the Eezham Tamil nation. While veteran Tamil nationalist activist Pazha. Nedumaran condemned the holding of CHOGM in Sri Lanka, MDMK leader Vaiko criticized India’s contribution to the genocide of the Eezham Tamils from the IPKF days to the present. Periyarite leader Kolathur Mani spoke extensively about the structural genocide under unitary Sri Lanka. Criticising the complicity of the International Community of Establishments, Thirumurugan Gandhi from the May 17 Movement stated that the role of the US and India in the war on the Tamils must also be probed.
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‘US resolution will not give Tamils justice’: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 March 2013, 07:22 GMT]
Stating that only an internationally monitored referendum among Eezham Tamils for an independent state of Tamil Eelam and an independent international investigation into genocidal war crimes of Sri Lanka would provide justice, MDMK leader Vaiko, in a statement on Wednesday asserted that the upcoming US resolution at Geneva falls drastically short of providing any justice to the genocide-affected nation of the Eezham Tamils. In the statement Mr. Vaiko also criticized political parties in India for holding up the US resolution as an appropriate step forward. Separately, protests against Sri Lanka have been intensifying across Tamil Nadu.
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Tamil Nadu activist self-immolates demanding justice for Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 March 2013, 23:10 GMT]
Demanding justice for the Eezham Tamils and international action against the genocide-accused Sri Lankan state, a social activist from Kadaloor (Cuddalore), Tamil Nadu immolated himself on Monday. Citing police sources, the PTI reported that Mani, a 41-year-old social worker of coastal Nallavaadu village in Kadaloor district, “doused himself with petrol and set himself ablaze” at the Collectorate complex, raising slogans against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and demanding that he be tried in the International Court for alleged war crimes. Later reports said Mr. Mani succumbed to his serious injuries at the Kadaloor government hospital. Separately, there have been protests in Chennai against Sri Lanka in the context of the upcoming session in Geneva.
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