19/02/2017 - News site for Tamils

Jaffna comes to Colombo

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

By Randima Attygalle The Jaffna Food Festival at the Cinnamon Grand, while dishing out true flavours of the north also showcases a unique culture and emphasises the empowerment of women Guests at the festival at Nuga Gama Jaffna Cal thosai with Nandu (crab) curry anyone? How about Paalappam (coconut milk hoppers) or Palakkottai curry (jakfruit seed curry) with steamed red rice and vilai meen kulambu (mullet fish curry)? Rava Laddu or panipinatu for dessert? More than a gastronomic delight, ‘Jaffna Festival’ which opened at the Nuga Gama of the Cinnamon…

UK have responsibility in halting Mullaiththeevu structural genocide

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 February 2017, 01:52 GMT] Britain and Australia that have sent high-level policy planners to ‘assess’ Keappaa-pulavu in the company of occupying Sinhala military of genocidal Sri Lanka in January 2013, should also take the responsibility in halting the structural genocide of the nation of Eezham Tamils there. Those who ‘advise’ Tamils not to use the word ‘genocide’ but to rally behind ‘development’, and those who equate the on-going Sinhalicisation to the presence of Tamils in the southern parts, should note that despite long presence of Eezham Tamils…

SL military puts up shoot-at-sight warning inside appropriated Keappaa-pulavu lands

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2017, 23:13 GMT] The occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka has put up notice boards threatening the protesting families and the people visiting Keappaa-pulavu not to enter the lands that have been seized from the uprooted families. “This land belongs to the Air Force. Unwarranted entry is prohibited. Those entering unwarranted will be targeted by gunfire,” say the warnings that have been put up inside the lands of uprooted people on Friday. In the meantime, SL Air force personnel have been shooting photos using professional DSLR…

Decision On GSP On May 15

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

By Easwaran Rutnam The European Union (EU) is to decide on Sri Lanka’s application for Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) on May 15. This was communicated to Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran by the EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tung-Laï Margue during a meeting in Jaffna last week. Wigneswaran said he was informed by the EU envoy that the decision on GSP plus for Sri Lanka is to be taken on May 15. The European Commission last month proposed that a significant part of the remaining import duties…

CBK’s remarks on ‘war widows’ irk military

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

BY GAGANI WEERAKOON President Maithripala Sirisena instructed officials to provide an allowance of Rs 10,000 per month for all farmers who are affected by the prevailing dry weather and also instructed relevant authorities to appoint a committee comprising District Secretaries, Grama Niladharis and Samurdhi Officials to collect comprehensive information on affected families. After getting the relevant information, this allowance will be given from next month till the Yala season begins. This was decided on and instructions issued when he met relevant Heads of Departments, to review the effects of drought…

CID Arrests Army Personnel Over Keith Noyahr Attack

19/02/2017 Karu

Keith Noyahr, the deputy editor of The Nation newspaper in 2008. However, sources pointed out that the main culprit, who orchestrated the attack against Noyahr, continued to remain in the government, serving as a senior minister in the Yahapalanaya government. Nohayr, was abducted on May 22, 2008 near his residence, when he was returning home after work. He was severely beaten by the abductors and also received injuries to his head. Noyahr was abducted just days after he wrote an article in the ‘military matters’ column published on May 11,…

Thajudeen Murder: Ex-Crimes OIC Released On Bail Despite Concealing Evidence

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Former Narahenpita Crimes OIC Sumith Perera was released on bail today by the Colombo High Court despite covering up the murder of ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen. Wasim Thajudeen The court which released the suspect on a cash bail of Rs. 100,000 and three personal sureties of Rs. 1 million each, ordered that the ex-Crimes OIC hand over his passport to the Court. Perera was granted bail when his revision bail application was taken up today. Perera was arrested by the CID in April last year on charges that he had concealed…

Military Intelligence Hit Squad Operating Out of Kohuwela Camp Used For Assassinating,Abducting and Attacking Journalists from 2006 to 2010

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Sri Lanka’s police made a major breakthrough Saturday in their investigations in to the abduction of news editor Keith Noyahr as well as a string of other attacks, disappearances and killings of journalists by arresting at least three military personnel attached to a hit squad which operated from Kohuwela. Police headquarters in a statement said the three military personnel were arrested in connection with the May 2008 abduction of Noyahr, a then deputy editor of the Nation weekly, but official sources said they were also suspected to be involved in…

Major Prabath Bulathwatte, Sgt Duminda weeraratne and Sgt Hemachandra Perera of Military Intelligence Arrested Over Attack on Ex-Newspaper Editor Keith Noyahr.

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Criminal Investigation Detectives yesterday arrested an Army officer and two Sergeants over the May 2008 attack on journalist Keith Noyahr. The arrests came after the trio were summoned to CID headquarters on Friday and interrogated. The trio are Major Prabath Bulathwatte, Sergeant Duminda Weeraratne and Sergeant Hemachandra Perera. The formal arrests were made yesterday after interrogation overnight. Two more soldiers from the Army’s Military Intelligence are now being interrogated. Probing the case was a CID Task Force that has been investigating a string of incidents – murders, abductions and assaults…

Sustained Concerns About Torture in Sri Lanka

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Torture remains a major problem in Sri Lanka. A recent report from the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has reminded us of that. The report presents a grim picture of systematic torture and the concomitant impunity which continue to plague the island nation. The report also lays out a number of thoughtful recommendations and conclusions. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has issued a strong press release about the report. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka has also written about…

BJP weighing up ‘political split’ in Rajapaksa camp?

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Seeks to ‘neutralise’ the former Sri Lankan President Even as Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa angles for a political comeback, New Delhi appears to be weighing up possible political shifts in the island, including a split in the Rajapaksa camp. On February 10, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, known to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s point man on Sri Lanka, met President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, a week before Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s scheduled official visit. Mr. Madhav also met a few other key…

Are The Militant Sinhala & Tamil Diaspora In Melbourne Loosing Steam ?

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

By Shyamon Jayasinghe – Shyamon Jayasinghe Before movements and institutions fall apart they become objects of laughter. Many thinkers of the past have commented on the valuable function of humour, laughter and mockery in social life, namely that they help to rectify and to correct course. Henri Bergson’s theory of humour amounted to this. Stendhall said that the aim of comedy in theatre is to expose man to the mockery of the audience and thereby induce corrective action. Charlie Chaplin has also remarked that the function of comedy is to…

Don’t give time to Govt. for probe

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran has urged the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) not to heed to the government’s request for more time to probe war crimes allegations. Wigneswaran made the request when he met EU ambassador Tung-Lai Margue together with the UN Resident Coordinator Una McCauley on February 15 in Jaffna. The Chief Minister had reportedly said that the investigations process would slow down, adding that there was also a possibility of the issue being swept under the carpet if more time was given. He…

Sri Lankan government sends back families of missing Tamils with yet another promise

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan government ministers who met representatives the families of 32,000 missing Tamils here on February 9, sent them back with yet another promise that their grievance will be attended to after the return of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from Australia. The families had met Ministers State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene, Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayake, Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakshe and Minister of Rehabilitation D.M.Swaminathan, at the Prime Minister’s Office. The Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara was present. During the 30 year war, the…

Accountability issues: Sampanthan govt’s mouth piece: EPRLF leader

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

EPRLF leader and former Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandra yesterday charged that TNA leader R. Sampanthan is in support of the government’s proposals to obtain more time to address accountability issues. Premachandra said all members parties in the TNA do not support the government’s proposals to obtain more time to address accountability issues.Addressing a press conference in Jaffna yesterday, he said the proposal is aimed at protecting the government. “Neither the Tamil people nor any Tamil political party will benefit by this proposals,” he said. Premachandra said the government wants to give…

Sri Lanka still unsafe for Tamil asylum seekers to return

19/02/201719/02/2017 Karu

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking at a press conference in Canberra together with the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, urged asylum seekers who had fled the country to return. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe emphasized in his statement, “Come back; all is forgiven; it is quite safe in Sri Lanka; we are just starting the missing persons office.” The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) would like to categorically state that Sri Lanka has not reached a point where every Tamil asylum seeker can just return without worrying about the consequences;…