Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

the main opposition BJP demanded that the government sho uld take the lead in drafting the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, which comes up for a vote soon. Attacking the government, former extern al affairs minister Yash w a nt Sinha, said, Fore ign policy is not conducted out of fear but with confidence and elan, adding that India has a lot of clout but seems to have lost momentum.

He also said that India should urge the Lankan government to withdraw its army from the Tamil-dominated northern pro v ince. Noting that the conflict in Lanka ended four years ago, Mr Sinha said the normal law and order duties should have been assigned to the po l i ce by now.

- A reputed newspaper in the United Kingdom, The Independent , published a disturbing news item and an article on 18 February 2013, under the headlines, HANDED A SNACK, and then EXECUTED: the last hours of the 12-year-old son of a Tamil Tiger (Photographs show boy was held before he was killed at close range) and This is proof, beyond reasonable doubt, of the execution of a child not a battlefield death . The author of this news item is Callum Macrae, director of No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka .

BALACHANDRAN PRABHAKARAN

Topping this week`s news was the heartrending photograph of 12 year old Balachandran, showing that he was in army custody before being murdered. The Sinhalese are rightly upset about the CJ`s impeachment and the Matale massacres. Yet the absence of an equally loud protest in the face of mounting evidence of Tamil genocide in Mullivaikal seems proof that WE ARE TWO DIVIDED PEOPLES. Yet there is hope for us in that it was Sinhalese who released the photo.

If genocide happened in 2009, then imagine the plight of Tamils living under the army. Seeing every soldier we wonder how many he killed and when he would turn on us wonder as I do whether my wife and daughters are safe from rape when they travel in Jaffna. When Tamils are made to live under heartless, savage killers, can any Sri Lankan deny the importance of an inquiry to find out if these credible allegations are true? Nobody has the right to say that Tamils should live under a murderous army, and at the same time say that we should not ask for a separate state.

February 4, 1948 will go down in the history of the Tamil People as a BLACK DAY. On this fateful day, 3 million Tamils of Ceylon exchanged their white British colonial masters for the brown/black neo-colonial Sinhalese.

Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, would not have gained independence from Britain without the support and consent of the Tamil people. In fact it was the Tamil leaders like Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan (1851-1930) and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (1853-1924) who fearlessly spearheaded the struggle for constitutional reforms that led to independence from colonial yoke.

Why is Mr. Sumanthiran so hyped up about this impeachment. Why do the Tamils need to defend the constitution they were not part of? Why is he so passionate about the same Sri Lankan constitution of 1972 which further exacerbated long standing grievances and discrimination against Tamils?

.even if you don`t agree, there is no warrant for the Parliament not to agree. Article 125 of the Constitution one of the three organs of government, you say is a democratic institution, you go and say that this a democratic country, you go and say that there is an independent judiciary, and today, Hon. Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara in this House is saying that ` we have told the judiciary to go to hell`. We won`t allow you to do that. We won`t allow you to do that. That is a sure way of sending this country down the slope and that is what you are doing. We will not allow you to do that. This country is a country that has democratic institutions. There must be Rule of Law. If there is to be Rule of Law there must be an independent judiciary. We can`t allow you to send the judiciary to hell. Who are you? I am a citizen of this country. I am entitled to say that this country must have every democratic institution.

Former chief cricket writer at The Age (Australia), Trevor Grant has written on his experiences protesting against Sri Lanka and the intimidation tied with it.

Extracts reproduced below:

`As I was... handing out leaflets to the crowd on the opening day of the Test match, I noticed a... man of Sri Lankan or Indian appearance... taking photographs of me.`

Two villages in the Vadamaraadchi region of the Jaffna peninsula saw Christmas events organised by the Sri Lankan Army. SOLDIERS OF THE 55TH DIVISION, based in Vetrilaikerni near Elephant Pass, dressed up as Santa and in traditional Singhalese clothes, singing songs in Singhalese, English and Tamil.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), on Tuesday, forwarded a statement from the Women`s Action Network, expressing concern on the plight of Tamil women coerced into joining the Sri Lankan military, reported the BBC. Latest reports have also indicated that at least 20 of these women have now been admitted into Kilinochchi district hospital, with many unconscious.

The statement outlines how the women were deceived and transported to military camps by the Sri Lankan army and forced by intimidation to stay.

Today, the 27th November, in every corner of the world, Eelam Tamils join together in an act of remembrance. From a Gloriosa lily proudly affixed onto a coat lapel, to the collective events of remembrance held in capitals worldwide, to the daring posters reported in the North-East, today the nation remembers.

For the Eelam nation, there are of course many days of national remembrance and reflection across the year. After all, it should come as no surprise that a nation ravaged by persecution, genocide and armed conflict, is in a state of frequent grief and mourning. Yet today - Maaveerar Naal - is set apart from all other occasions. It remembers not the finality of death, but the solemnity of sacrifice.

According to Ven Meegahajandure Siri Wimala Thera of the Jaffna Naga Vihara, `Starting a Dhamma School in Jaffna will create the proper path to reawaken Buddhism in the North.`

The opening comes as churches and temples of Tamil remain continue to come under attack, and the Sri Lankan military remains heavily occupying the Tamil North-East. If the Tamils want, the Tamil Buddhism should be revived by the Tamils without coercion and connivance of the occupying Sinhala military and anti Tamil Sinhala monks.

In a swift operation, sleuths of the Tamil Nadu intelligence arrested a suspected Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative in Tiruchi on Monday. A special team intercepted the suspect Thamim Ansari (35) of Adirampattinam when he was proceeding to the Tiruchi airport to take a flight to Colombo. Two DVDs were seized from his possession, highly placed police sources said.

Acting on a tip-off from intelligence agencies of the Union Government, a team comprising officers from the Special Division and `Q` Branch CID was formed to apprehend Ansari, a former Students Federation of India leader. The input was that Ansari, a post-graduate in Tamil, was providing the ISI with visuals of vital installations such as defence establishments in the country.

Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi was born on 11 December 1882. He died on 11 September 1921. In a relatively short life span of 39 years, Bharathi left an indelible mark as the poet of Tamil nationalism and Indian freedom.

His prowess as a poet was recognized and he was accorded the title of `Bharathi` at Ettiyapuram. Bharathi is considered to be one of the greatest Tamil poets of the modern era. Most of his works were on religious, political and social themes. Songs penned by Bharathi have been widely used in Tamil films and Carnatic Music concert platforms.

If they can degrade a Tamil woman who is a chief minister of an Indian State like this, imagine what must have happened to the hapless Tamil women at the hands of the mono ethnic Sinhala army in Vanni.

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Regardless of history and traditions, the Tamil Hindus and their spiritual leaders should get together and end the annual killings of animals in Munneswaram Temple without allowing the Sinhala monks and ministers to poke their noses in the rituals and traditions of Hindus in Sri Lanka.

If the annual killings of animals one day an year in a Hindu Temple is cruel and warrants attention, there is an even more cruel and inhuman treatment of Elephants in the Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka every day. Chickens and goats are not endangered animals like the elephants, and thousands of goats and chickens are being slaughtered for consumption in Sri Lanka. The Sinhala monks are not vegetarians and they consume all kinds of meat without any hesitation.

It is very likely readers of Sinhala mainstream print media have no clue who Ganesan Nimalaruban was, or exactly how he died. A simple Google news or general web search suffices to highlight how poor even English mainstream media coverage has been over the controversy surrounding his death.

Vikalpa was present at the funeral of Nimalaruban. They note that aside from a few provincial journalists (whose news reports don`t make it to the actual print editions on the best of days) there were no other seasoned journalists from any mainstream newspaper present. Recall that the courts didn`t want Nimalaruban`s body to be released to his parents, citing that,