Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) Level 10, West Tower World Trade Centre Bank of Ceylon Mawatha Colombo 01, Sri Lanka Dear Dr. Dhanapala, Re: Your briefing on the Sri Lankan Peace process: the Role of the International Community I am writing this open letter in order to bring… Read more »
Violations of International Covenants by the Sri Lankan Government
by M. Nadarajan, September 13, 2005 Successive Sinhalese majority Sri Lankan Governments have ruled the country under Emergency Regulations for 39 of the over 57 years since independence. Of these, 29 years under Emergency have related to the ethnic problems with Tamils, according to the Tamil Center for Human Rights based in France with branches… Read more »
TCHR: 34 Years of Emergency, 29 to Suppress Tamil Rights
TAMIL CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – TCHR/CTDH (Established in 1990) www.tchr.net Ref: GO7ER/PR/2005, 7 September 2005 Out of 34 years of state of Emergency in Sri Lanka, 29 years have been used for suppressing the rights of Tamils “So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs.” – Elbert… Read more »
Trinco TECH Celebrates Graduation of Computer Students
by TamilNet, Sept. 12, 2005 Trinco TECH celebrates graduation of 42 Students completing London City and Guilds Computer Training Course in Trincomalee. The Trincomalee district branch of The Economy Consultant House (TECH) held its first anniversary event Saturday evening in Trincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College Hall. 42 students who successfully completed the City and Guilds… Read more »
Was it a Multi-Purpose Assassination?
DIG STF Ampara Lewke told media in Colombo that the Motorcycle Squad being trained in Colombo will also be utilised in the East to hunt down killers of Security/Paramilitary personnel and kill them – at least the instigators. So, soon there is going to be a seek and destroy operation (of Tamil Youths) in the… Read more »
Forum on Upcoming New Zealand Elections
The Consortium of Tamil Associations in New Zealand (COTANZ) organised a political forum for the forthcoming New Zealand 2005 Election, which is going to be held on 17 September 2005. The name of the forum is: Election – 2005: Which Policy is for You ???. The main parties’ representatives were invited to present their party… Read more »
The Nitty-Gritty of ‘Hit Lists’
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 12, 2005 1992 Hit List in Chennai The India Today magazine of April 15, 1992 (pp.28-31) carried a three page “Special Report” authored by Anirudhya Mitra, from Madras [now Chennai]. On page 28, with a boxed caption, “The Hit List,” four photographs of prominent Tamil Nadu individuals were placed; (1) J. Jayalalitha, the chief… Read more »
I Played Chess with a ‘Terrorist’
by Shanthi Padmalingam, September 12, 2005 My heart feels heavy. Maybe it is the longing to go back and help my people of Tamil Eelam. Maybe it is from looking at pictures of the people I have just met and don’t want to leave behind. Maybe it is the shock of realizing how very wrong… Read more »
WTACS Vasantha Vila 2005
The World Tamil Arts and Cultural Society invites you to its Vasantha Vila 2005 September 24, 2005 at 6:00 PM at Public School 131 in Jamaica, Queens, New York For more information, please call (718)657-9463 POSTED SEPTEMBER 12, 2005
Report 9 on Relief from the Tsunami
Report on Relief and Rehabilitation from the Tsunami Tidal Wave 2004 (9) John’s Church Uranee Batticaloa Srilanka Sept. 9, 2005 Dear Friends, Greetings from St John’s Mission. With your very valuable support, financial and otherwise, we are able to sustain the relief programmes that we set out to do. The Tsunami-affected people in some areas… Read more »
Will the Tamils Be Deceived Yet Again?
by M. Nadarajan, September 9, 2005 Action In a recent address to the business community Prime Minister Rajapakse said, “All sections of our society are sick and tired of theories and verbose statements, sick of visionary statements of our leaders, which have been largely confined to words, words. Like you, the captains of business, I… Read more »
Terrorists and the National Guard
by Kopi Annan, September 6, 2005 In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, the world witnessed a complete breakdown of law and order in Louisiana that required the presence of the National Guard to safeguard property. The chaos is best described by Rossie Diamnno of The Toronto Star (September 2, 2005) as follows: “It is disgraceful that countless… Read more »
India May Pull Troops From Kashmir
After New Talks by Somini Sengupta, The New York Times, September 6, 2005 NEW DELHI, Sept. 5 – India will pull back troops from the disputed territory of Kashmir if militant infiltration and violence ends, the prime minister’s office announced Monday evening after a rare meeting with Kashmiri separatists. The meeting, between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh… Read more »
Is It Crisis Management or Conflict Resolution?
by Chandi Sinnathurai THE FIVE-DAY visit to Sri Lanka by the UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has caused many speculations. Is the intent of the UN to study the progress of the peace process genuine enough to win peace while bringing justice to the marginalised Tamils? Such fear is always palpable in the Sinhala mind-set…. Read more »
Deja Vu? Sri Lanka’s Tamils Fear Return to Civil War
by Simon Gardner, Boston Globe, August 27, 2005 JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Displaced four times by Sri Lanka’s two-decade civil war with the Tamil Tigers, 22-year-old Nirmalashanthi Vijayakanth is ecstatic to finally settle into the first home she can call her own. The ramshackle shelter in the artillery-ravaged northern town of Jaffna has no running… Read more »
A Man of Straw
by V Gunaratnam, September 6, 2005 “All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.” – Albert Einstein on Peace 1879-1955 Death comes to most of us without warning, but… Read more »
FeTNA “Katrina Relief Fund”
by Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, September 2005 Anpudaiyeer, VaNakkam. Because of the disaster by “KATRINA” in the past week, FeTNA has made the decision to raise relief funds to help the downtrodden in New Orleans and other Katrina-affected locations. If you wish to send your donations through FeTNA, you are welcome to… Read more »
The Construction of Kadirgamar
Lakshman Kadirgamar: How the South Constructed Him, the Tamils Saw Him by J. S. Tissainayagam, Northeastern Monthly, September 1, 2005 “The LTTE has wreaked havoc so many times and now killed the best foreign minister this country ever had. It was he who changed the international opinion of this Island, which was hitherto referred to… Read more »
TRO USA Katrina Appeal
TRO is saddened by the tremendous suffering inflicted on the residents of the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. The affected people need our prayers, sympathy and financial assistance to move on with their lives. TRO has seen people of Sri Lanka subjected to repeated tragedies, the latest of which was Tsunami. TRO is one of… Read more »
Pride and Prejudice
by Chandi Sinnathurai, September 3, 2005 THE LATE Mr. Kadirgamar prided himself solely as a Sri Lankan while distancing himself as a Tamil. The harsh reality of it all is that the Tamils around the world have refused to mourn the death of this prodigal son who with style and finesse betrayed his own roots. Many… Read more »