Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

[RajeshA]

Published on Mar 28, 2013
By G.C. Shekhar
Lanka plays Bengal card - Envoy links Sinhalese to eastern states, TN groups fume: The Telegraph

Funny thing is that Prince Vijaya of the Sinhalese tried to get recognition as a monarch by marrying the Pandyan princess of Madurai, a Tamil!

[Yayavar]

Published on Mar 28, 2013
By G.C. Shekhar
Lanka plays Bengal card - Envoy links Sinhalese to eastern states, TN groups fume: The Telegraph

This is not new. I had heard it in early 1990 from a Tamil colleague (from near Chennai). Acc. to him the Chettiar community is primarily from Orissa, and was a strong component of the Singhala community in SL - all having migrated more than 2000 years back. True or not, this may not be a new claim.
(and I had mentioned in an earlier comment in this thread too when discussing diaspora)

[chetak]

Tamil Eelam: A Church-funded political project - Shenali Waduge

"Srilankan Catholic priests supporting LTTE leader Prabhakaran
Shenali Waduge "

There is little doubt that the Church strategy is to turn Tamil Nadu into a Christian state. Investments made in communication networks, journalism and other mass communication, television networks, schools, buying acres of land, putting up prayer houses close to Hindu temples, establishing foreign Christian missionaries, presence of NGOs, AID agencies and financing various projects is clear evidence." - Shenali Waduge

Abrahamic religions and the violence, expansionism and advocacy of conversion are things that cannot be kept hidden or denied. "Spreading the good word" has led to purging of territories and their wealth and excommunicating natives and their unique cultures. Current fears associated with the repetition of past colonial crimes need empathy in view of the competing claims of both Christianity and Islam for world hegemony.

The Church is Christianity's first soldier and it is becoming more and more evident that behind most terrorists' activities the Abrahamic religions prevail. LTTE was simply a pawn of the Church to advance a pan-Christian political agenda that aims to create a satellite Christian autonomous state out of Tamil Nadu and north Sri Lanka (a Sudan-style divide). LTTE's demise does not mean that that ambition is over.

The Church refers to all denominations as well as Christian funding agencies, Christian NGOs, Christian Governments and countries that use evangelization and militant Christian missionaries as instruments of foreign policy in countries of Asia and Africa. Church in generic form also applies to the UN that enforces only Western Christian political principles on all, even if they infringe on Eastern cultures and values.
Pope & Skulls: The Church has killed more innocents than any other institution.Church & Colonialism: Convert and control, divide and rule

The continents of Africa and Asia were conquered by Christianity-promoting colonials. They divided the populace and converted people along communal and linguistic lines. That doctrine is vigorously advocated with competition between Abrahamic religions to convert people in Africa and Asia. Their objectives are facilitated by self-serving politicians and the manipulation of secularism and multiculturalism helped by non-Christians/non-Muslims ready to sell their souls.

Across the globe, the separatist secessionist and political insurgent movements are either backed by the Church or followers of Islamic fundamentalism. The 1991 Rwanda genocide is an example of Vatican's role in financing the genocide.

India was divided as Aryan (Brahmin) and non-Brahmin (Dravidian) and Hindi-Tamil. In Sri Lanka, the Church divided people as Sinhalese-Tamils and infiltrated the State through Sinhala Christian/Tamil Christians to purposely segregate the majority Buddhists.

The Church uses to perfection tenets of democracy to control impoverished nations in both Africa and Asia. The strategy is simple – communities are turned against each other and they step in as referee with the solutions. Solutions are never meant to help Hindu-Buddhists or Sinhalese-Tamils actual rebuild severed ties. Thus, a paradigm shift in thinking is necessary and both Hindus and Buddhists to know the real enemy. The reality is that Buddhists and Tamil Hindus are both being systematically disempowered.

Tamil Nadu's "Dravidian movement" meant it wanted to be led by Britain, while Christian import Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam called for a "Greater Dravida Nadu" connecting India and Sri Lanka – the exact plan of the Church! LTTE was simply a mercenary outfit given tacit approval to kill innocent people to buy time until the creation of that pan-Christian "state" with the necessary numbers of converted Christians on both sides of the Palk Strait.
LTTE leader Velupillai PrabhakaranLTTE a mere pawn

Many wonder why the West is angered that Sri Lanka has eliminated the LTTE. That anger stems from destroying their investment, dislodging the LTTE from the Eelam-Church nexus, destroying the West's hopes of a Christian foothold in Asia that would combine a future separate Tamil Nadu and the geopolitically important nation of Sri Lanka. Now they have to use plan B of the same strategy.

We can now understand why LTTE didn't accept the solutions offered; LTTE was merely an interim beneficiary of a greater plan. Whether Prabhakaran was aware of it or not was immaterial because he was dependent on these alliances for his own survival; his supremacy was limited to what stood within the Church agenda.
Srilankan bishops and the LTTE political head.LTTE-Church links

Most of LTTE's top tier leaders were Christian and often hid their Christian identity with Hindu names. The cadres were almost all low-caste impoverished Hindus, most of whom would have been unaware that they were pawns of Church-sponsored terrorism via LTTE, because LTTE's ties to the Church was one of its best kept secrets!

The names of some top-notch Christian leaders:

Prabhakaran aka Pirapaharan, a lapsed Methodist
SP Tamil Selvam
Balraj aka Balasegaram Kandiah
Pottu Amman
Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony
Anton Balasingham – Roman Catholic and LTTE's self-declared "theoretician"
Soosai aka Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan
Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, nickname Dhanu, Rajiv Gandhi's suicide bomber assassin

Church clergy openly supporting LTTE:

Frs. Singarayer, Diyogupillai, Prof. (Fr.) Joseph Chandrakanthan, from the Department of Theology at the University of Toronto, a former President of the University of Jaffna Teacher's Association
Father Jagat Gasper Raj, close to DMK leadership in India
Fr. SJ Emmanuel, former Vicar-General of Jaffna, currently residing in Germany. He is on record saying he is first a Tamil and then a Christian. He called Prabhakaran 'Jesus Christ', the LTTE 'soldiers of Christ', the suicide bombers 'martyrs of the Catholic Church' to whom the Church provided a Catholic burial, and proclaimed himself as 'the Moses' who would lead the Tamil nation from the bondage of Sinhalese-Buddhists to the land chosen for them by God: Eelam. He leads the Global Tamil Forum.
S Jebanesan, Bishop of the Church of South India (CSI), who said he was working on a theology for Tamils, that is, excluding Sinhala Christians!
Prof. S Chandrakanthan, attached to the Theology Department, Toronto University, Canada
Rev. Dick Wootton of Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia
Bishop Kenneth Fernando of the Anglican Church, visited Prabhakaran with Charles Abeysekera and Jayadeva Uyangoda and announced, "Prabhakaran is humane" shocking all
Rev Sr. Mary Barbara, Dr Anita Nesiah, M. Rajasigham, Joe William and T. Jayasingham of the National Peace Council
Rajappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, declared open the 'Embassy of the Tamil Eelam', the Eelam House in London.

M. Karunanidhi & Catholic BishopsThe Mylapore Diocese works closely with the former Tamil Nadu chief Minister while the CSI Church of South India keeps ties with the present Chief Minister. Virtually the entire Tamil clergy of India supported the LTTE, as did the Sinhala Catholic and Christian clergy and influential evangelical elites.

TN CM Jayalalithaa with Protestant and Catholic Tamil bishopsLTTE Voice of Tigers tied up with Radio Veritas, a Catholic broadcasting station run by the Asian Catholic Bishops Conference based in The Philippines. The Tamil Service of the Radio Veritas is run by the Tamil Catholics of Tamil Nadu. Voice of Tigers had a "coordinating office" inside St. Sebastian's Church in Mallavi, Wanni; the office was opened by the pro-LTTE Bishop of Mannar Fr. Rayappu Joseph. He played a key role in getting the army out of the Madhu Church premises (in Mannar) while allowing LTTE to operate from inside the Church!

Incidentally, Jaffna Mayor and MP of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Alfred Duraiappa, Prabhakaran's first assassination, had got off at the Madhu Church before proceeding to Jaffna. Many believe it was a tip off from the Church that informed Prabhakaran of Duraiappah's arrival in Jaffna, leading to his death.

Church of South India Moderator Rev. G. DevakadashamThe National Christian Council of SL and affiliates (SL Baptist Sangamaya, Christian Reformed Church of SL, Diocese of Kurunegala of the Church of Ceylon, Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon, Methodist Church, Sri Lanka, Presbyterian Church, Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, The Salvation Army, YWCA of Sri Lanka, YMCA of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Bible Society, Christian Literature Society, Students Christian Movement, Commission for Justice and Peace) have been working to balkanize Sri Lanka and colluded with LTTE in tarnishing the image of the country. This is proven by the World Council of Churches promoting the concept of traditional homeland theory in 1994 at the UNHRC in Geneva.

National Peace Council was formed in 1995 with the backing of NCCSL donors, including Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, NORAD, SLIDA and a number of EU, German donor organizations.

NCCSL and supporters take great pains to deny that Sinhala Buddhists played a role in building the Sri Lankan nation. Favorite topics include "state colonization", "Tamil homeland" "ethnic war", "Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism", "genocide of Tamils" etc. They have never referred to LTTE as a terrorist organization and rarely mention its atrocities. Their reports and papers end up being quoted by the West. The concept of "self-determination" is being pushed by these Church forces to facilitate creation of a Church-sponsored state.

Rev. Father Tissa Balasooriya needs special mention for his attempts to build bridges and unite people rather than disunite them.
Fr. Gaspar RajLTTE against Tamil Hindus

Tamil Hindus need to realize they were not and are not part of any Eelam being promoted in Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka. There are enough clues for Tamil Hindus to realize this if they open their eyes and think.

a) Prabhakaran demanding a separate state before highlighting discrimination clearly indicates the end goal devoid of compromise. LTTE did not speak on behalf of Tamils discriminated in other parts of the world, which shows its lack of real concern for Tamils except to establish the separate state for the Christian West. That separate state was not meant for Tamil Hindus.

b) Why did Prabhakaran kill the entire moderate thinking Tamil Hindu leaders, politicians, academics and people respected in society? Did Prabhakaran's actions show any evidence that he or the LTTE were interested in protecting and fostering Tamil Hindu culture? The reality is that Prabhakaran made a mockery of Hindus and Hindu culture – Hindus lost lives and property and a rift was created between Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka (both followers of native Indian civilisation and religions and culturally closer than all others). LTTE ruled 90% of the Tamil Hindus through fear.

c) By breaking the rigid caste factor LTTE was helping a long term plan.

d) Why were Western nations so supportive of the LTTE quest as to allow London to be openly known as its international headquarters?

e) Can Tamil Hindus and Buddhists not see the efforts being made through pro-Christian media channels to chagrin Buddhists and Hindus?

f) Can Tamil Hindus and Buddhists not see how many pro-Christian humanitarian organizations set up over three decades actually employed non-Christians? See how economically disadvantaged the ordinary Hindus and especially Buddhists are.
India Crossed-Out: Christian missionaries meet no opposition from Hindu organisations today.Church influence on India

There is little doubt that the Church strategy is to turn Tamil Nadu into a Christian state. Investments made in communication networks, journalism and other mass communication, television networks, schools, buying acres of land, putting up prayer houses close to Hindu temples, establishing foreign Christian missionaries, presence of NGOs, AID agencies and financing various projects is clear evidence.

That is not all – the Church's investments include using human weaknesses to plant Christians into ruling families, and generous donations that assure silence of politicians.

The Church knows how to use money – the target audience invariably includes self-serving politicians, the vulnerable, the ambitious and the greedy. Through them the damage is artfully executed.

Missionary visa for IndiaThe power of the Church is such that the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu even repealed the anti-conversion law (in 2004) implemented by her own Government. For this she was rewarded with the Golden Star for Dignity and Honor from the International Human Rights Defense Committee, a Christian body funded by USAID. She was also awarded with the Bharath Jyothi in 2005 and evangelist KA Paul presented Rs. 1 crore for tsunami relief. In 2003, Sri Lanka's Buddhist and Hindu leaders also drafted an anti-conversion bill, but heavy Church influence upon the Government has ensured reluctance to implement it.

Tribal protest against Christian missionaries in New Delhi 2011There are some 3000 Churches/para-churches in and around Chennai, 46 Bible colleges, 23 Christian media centers, 122 Christian magazines in English and Tamil, 114 church planting missions. The Church sponsors rallies, posters, conventions etc. Christianity is broadcast via national Doordarshan, satellite/cable channels of GOD TV, CBN, TBN, MiracleNet, Daystar TV, Raj TV, Zee TV, Vijay TV, Blessing TV, Angel TV, Shalom TV, Jeevan TV and web-based telecasts like Jesus Calls, Num.TV. These Christian channels are relayed to 216 cities across India to an audience of 21million.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/inde ... 36664.html

The Church's successes in India include Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. South of Cuddalore every fishing hamlet along Tamil Nadu's vast coastline is almost 100% Christian with the Church getting Tamil Nadu fishermen to intrude into Sri Lankan waters with a game-plan to exert pressure on both Delhi and Sri Lanka and to provoke.
Pope John Paul II with Rajiv & Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi in 1986.Church manipulates

The strategy of the evangelists is to continuously provoke people who do not agree with their line of thinking to the point of provoking attack and thereafter accusing them of intolerance, fanaticism, and being communal. The increase of mosques/churches in Buddhist hinterland is one such example. Of course, biased coverage is backed by reports that claim religious freedom is deteriorating due to Buddhist racists in Sri Lanka!

What we see before us is the application of Dominion-ism, where Christians believe they have a god-given right to rule all earthly institutions. It is a political agenda, rather than a theological one, which is why there are Christians who do not accept this methodology. Most Christians are ignorant of these pan-Christian geo-regional plans.

Mylapore-Madras Archbishop George Antonysamy: He continues the long line of criminal bishops in San Thome.The situation in South Asia is that there is a plan to destroy Hindu control in Tamil Nadu and Buddhist control in Sri Lanka. Pro-Christian politicians and self-serving non-Christian politicians are being influenced to legally and constitutionally change provisions that place Hinduism and Buddhism at official levels. The changes recommended to the national anthem, national ID cards, suggestion to remove Sinhala/Tamil New Year, blocking anti-conversion laws etc, are ploys being used.

India's stance on Sri Lanka after 2004 under the Italian leadership of the Congress is pertinent. Tamil Nadu politicians are acting under orders and India's Central Government, at least the Hindu leaders, must realize the impending dangers for their country. The country's ruling party chairperson is no friend to India.

India-Sri LankaThe dangers India faces is the gullibility of political parties in Tamil Nadu to Christian strategies and the cluelessness of the BJP in Tamil Nadu giving Church-run Congress a cakewalk to balkanize India totally, ridiculing the 82% Hindus of Bharat.

The way ahead is to revive the Hindu-Buddhist unity that the colonials purposely destroyed. For that, a strong political agenda must prevail in the Hindu leadership of India while a complimentary Buddhist scenario must prevail in Sri Lanka to save the two nations from disintegrating.

Tamils and Sinhalese must re-unite
Buddhists and Hindu's must reunite
Both have no fear of converting each other and both are culturally linked

The leaderships of both nations need to realize the dangers that lurk for both nations and their people and place their own ambitions aside to ensure that two of the oldest cultures of the world doesn't fall to ruin by the decisions they take or do not take. – Vijayavaani, 4 April 2013

» The author is a keen observer of contemporary affairs and a Sri Lanka national.

[chetak]

Maybe the Ram Sethu will be saved by some extra territorial help after all. God really works in mysterious ways.

Global inquiry confirms Sethu plan disastrous

Thursday, 04 April 2013 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s dream project, the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project, is set to hit international headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

In what could be a major embarrassment to the UPA Government, a high-level team of marine scientists, environmentalists, geologists and marine engineers, appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has found that the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) is detrimental to the maritime and environmental resources of the island nation.

The experts were shocked to learn that India, which swears by Panchsheel principles and firmly believes in non-interference in the affairs of other countries, has blatantly violated all global norms like the International Law of Seas and MARPOL Convention, in conceiving the project.

In a report submitted to the Sri Lankan Government, the high-powered team has expressed dismay that though the 167-km long channel lies close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between India and Sri Lanka, the Indian Government has not taken into account the environmental and maritime impact the project could have on Sri Lanka.

As per the International Law of Seas accepted by the United Nations in 1968, India should have sought the concurrence of Sri Lanka before launching the project.

“The Sethusamudram Channel lies close to the IMBL between India and Sri Lanka. Both countries should get the concurrence of each other for any construction activities which fall near the IMBL. India has violated this age-old practice and Sri Lanka will definitely take up this issue,” a source close to the Sri Lankan Government told The Pioneer.

He said Sri Lankan leaders, irrespective of party affiliations, were upset over the indifference shown by the UPA Government towards the island nation while taking up the SSCP.

“You can expect a strongly worded statement by the Sri Lankan Government any time now. The Sethusamudram Project in all likelihood will end up in the United Nations,”said the source.

The MARPOL Convention (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships) is a marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas including dumping, oil spillage and exhaust pollution.

It was formed on October 2, 1983 (as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi) and as of December 2005, 136 countries, representing 98 per cent of the world’s shipping tonnage, are parties to the Convention. It has been accepted all over the world that the Gulf of Mannar as well as the Palk Bay are ecological hot spots and nothing should be done to disturb their present status.

The scientific team appointed by Sri Lanka found that the initial dredging, infinite maintenance dredging and subsequent shipping through the channel would be disastrous to Sri Lanka.

Ariyaratne Hewage, secretary, Sri Lankan Education Ministry, was the chairman of the committee while Professor Shantha Hennayake, a geologist of international repute and deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, was the vice-chairman .

The recommendations submitted by the committee to the Sri Lankan Government ( a copy of the executive summary is with The Pioneer) has noted that though the region through which the channel is being built was an ecologically and environmentally fragile area, no action has been taken by the Indian Government to minimize the environmental and maritime impact it could have on Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan experts have noted that the studies, primarily the project document and the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) study carried out by India, prior to the commencement of the SSCP, are inadequate for a number of reasons. “These studies have not identified and evaluated the full extent of the impact. The channel design has not been optimized for minimum impact. The most pressing concern for Sri Lanka is that none of the Indian studies have proposed any mitigation measures for the impact occurring on Sri Lanka,” Prof Hennayake told The Pioneer over telephone from Colombo.

He said Sri Lanka has nothing against India building any channels or canals, as long as they do not disturb the ecological and environmental balance of the region.



“However, this is a project which is detrimental to both India and Sri Lanka. Any dredging work along the placid waters of the Palk Bay is a sure recipe to environmental disaster.

“Strangely, India confined the study of the environmental and ecological impact of the project to their side and forgot the existence of Sri Lanka. This is saddening,” he said.

The experts have warned that the marine wealth (especially fish) in the region would be destroyed permanently with the commissioning of the SSCP.

“The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay, lying between the two countries, are unique, biologically rich areas linking two large marine ecosystems. This stretch of the sea is a rich source of all types of fish. Unless we accurately forecast and adequately mitigate the impact of the dredging of the channel this could destroy this sensitive and fragile marine ecosystem located between the two countries. It would also impact the fishing communities on the northern and north-western coast of Sri Lanka as they mainly fish in the potential area of impact on the Sri Lankan side of the channel,” said the recommendations submitted by the expert committee.

What the committee left unsaid is that the majority of those who will be robbed of their livelihoods will be Tamil fishermen who constitute the majority of the population in the two regions.

The study found that modelling studies were also inadequate. “Modelling needs to be backed by better field data to reach levels of accuracy required to satisfy the requirement of such a major undertaking. Increase in volumetric water exchange across Adam’s Bridge due to the canal and its impact on the ecology of the region has not been studied,” said the report.

The SSCP received negative attention globally in 2010 when Stjepan Mesic, then President of Croatia, expressed concern over the UPA Government’s move to demolish the Ram Sethu for constructing the channel. Mesic had told Swami Maheshwarananda Paramhans, a Yoga guru, that he would ask the UNESCO to declare the Ram Sethu as a World Heritage site.

[Karan Dixit]

The commissioner is right. Sri Lankans (Sinhalese and Tamils both) are Indians. It is the British who started the process of isolating Sri Lankans from Indians.

[Lilo]

India responsible for 30-year war: Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Had India acted responsibly, Sri Lanka would not have experienced a 30-year war, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said.

According to local newspaper Daily News, Mr. Rajapaksa, who is a brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said India could never absolve itself of the responsibility for creating terrorism here, though some of those directly involved in subverting Sri Lanka were blaming the Rajapaksa administration for the plight of the Tamil-speaking people here.

The remarks came in response to a recent article,‘Why India is right on Sri Lanka’ by Hardeep S. Puri, India’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, published in The Hindu.

The news report quotes him as having said “people of all communities would have been still suffering the horrors of war, if not for the eradication of terrorism in May 2009, following a three-year combined security forces campaign”.

The Defence Secretary said Mr. Puri was involved in the Indian operation against the Jayewardene government, ahead of the India-Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987.

“He was one of those aware of the Indian operations here,” he said adding that both Mr. Puri and his wife, Lakshmi, were attached to the Indian mission here during the tenure of J. N. Dixit as High Commissioner.

Responding to Mr. Puri’s call for investigation into “specific allegations of war crimes during the last 100 days of military operations”, Mr. Rajapaksa said: “Those demanding accountability on Sri Lanka’s part for alleged atrocities committed during the last 100 days of the conflict were silent on the origin of terrorism here.” Indian intervention had resulted in a major regional crisis, when Sri Lankan terrorists, trained by Indians, raided the Maldives{Now Gotobaya making common cause with Maldiv Islamists in projecting India as the big bad wolf} in early November 1988. “The international community should consider a comprehensive investigation into the issue beginning with the Indian intervention,” he said.

Mr. Puri could aid an investigation by revealing what was going on at that time. Mr. Dixit, in his memoirs, had said that arming Sri Lankan Tamil youths was one of the two major policy blunders of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Mr. Rajapaksa said. {so was SL's dallying with the US in 80s offering it bases against India - its neighboring country}

Meanwhile, Sinhalese nationalist party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has said that before New Delhi pointed the finger at Sri Lanka, it should address human rights violations in India, particularly Kashmir.

Expressing scepticism about an Indian parliamentary delegation’s visit, JHU general secretary and Science and Technology Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that if the delegation had come with honourable intentions, their visit would be welcome, but it was evident that the Indian visit was part of a protest campaign to further distort the country’s image, according to a report in Daily Mirror here.

[nvishal]

Tamil TV presenter begs: 'Don't send me to Sri Lanka'

A former high-profile newsreader on a Tamil Tiger television channel has pleaded with the international community to save her from being sent back to Sri Lanka where she fears she could be tortured or killed.

Rathimohan Lokini is one of 19 Tamil refugees languishing in an aluminium factory in Dubai and facing the threat of imminent deportation to a country with a known track record of persecuting those with a perceived or real link to the Tamil Tigers.

Office of outspoken Tamil newspaper Uthayan attacked in Sri Lanka

An outspoken Tamil newspaper in northern Sri Lanka whose premises have been repeatedly targeted, and its employees killed, was attacked by armed men who stormed into the building and set the printing presses ablaze. It is the second attack on the newspaper in two weeks.

Reports said a gang of three men armed with guns entered the premises of Uthayan in Jaffna before dawn on Saturday and scared away the staff. The men then fired their weapons and set fire to a stack of newspapers awaiting delivery and the printing presses.

“This morning at around 4.45am three people with arms – two were carrying pistols and one was carrying what looked like an AK-47 – came into the building and scared away the security staff,” said the paper’s owner, Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, speaking from Jaffna.

He added: “They shot at the panel board and put kerosene all over the place. Four printing wheels got burned. The main part of the machine was destroyed. They also threw press oil everywhere.”

Hindus fleeing from pakistan
Hindus fleeing from bangladesh
Hindus living in hostility in bhutan
Tibetans getting brutal clampdown in nepal
Tamils fleeing from srilanka
Muslims fleeing from myanmar
Tibetans fleeing from china
Maldives became a nut case long time ago

Did i miss any country in our periphery?

This is south asia and india is right in the middle of this butcher shop

[thusitha]

Chetak said ...
India has been taken in by sinhala cunning once again.We foolishly helped in the extermination of the ltte and and without the ltte we have lost our leverage.

This is why we should be extremely careful with Indian's. You are still be moaning the fact the LTTE is gone.
You some times mentions, that Sri Lankan's behaves like Paks. But what is this behaviour? Americans? Develop terrorism in other nations so that you can have a leverage in Sri Lanka?

It was because of the ltte that India retained it's influence and it was ONLY India that can and did help the sinhala to wipe out the ltte. Neither the pakis nor the chinese have the wherewithal to have supported the sinhala like the Indian Navy did.

Seriously? You guys helped us to defeat LTTE? Or was it because you had no choice but to let that happen? The guys at the top were fully aware of what was happening and they let it happen. They exactly knew what this would mean once LTTE is gone. The Indian government and your Intelligence agency fully know what Rajapskhe is like. Knowing all this, India let this happen. It is not a stupid decision, they had plenty of time to weight in all the possible outcomes and they took the best one.

[Philip]

Indo-Lankan relations should not be held hostage to the antics of the "ticks on the TN tail" of the Indian elephant.The disgraced and corrupt TN politicos,some of whom have no votebank whatsoever,are being funded by the Eelam diaspora and the US EJ movements to destabilise both Tamil Nadu and SL , plot which has a long history.

Coincidentally,while transiting through Madras ,an item caught my attention,that the late CM Kamraj,thought that MGR was US stooge,because documents now released (WIKI)gave US consulate reports of meetings with ADMK leaders and MGR,promising them funds to fight the elections,etc.,provided they dropped ties with the Commie parties! I also mentioned years ago on BR details of an alleged plot,whereby TN under US protection,would "split" from India,with certain individuals earmarked for the posts of Pres.,PM,etc.It was alleged that the Kalaignar's insults during a card game of the conspirators,at a fellow member,saw him fly to Delhi and inform Mrs.G about the plot.She swiftly dismissed the DMK govt. of the time.

On a media channel,former diplomat G.Parthasarathy,emphatically warned that the GOI would "never" allow a separate state to exist in Sri Lanka.Once bitten twice shy.We assisted the Jaffna Tamils unwisely after the riots off '83,only for the IPKF to be stabbed in the back by the northern Tamils,who preferred their fuhrer Prabhakaran to the honest though naive efforts of Rajiv Gandhi later assassinated by the LTTE.The TN buffoons are actually treading the line of treason very delicately.Separatist tendencies in TN should be rooted out and genuine demands never allowed to be hijacked by the ungrateful Eelamists who do not have any of India's interests whatsoever.

The massive development plans being drawn up in the island offer massive business opportunities for Indian businessmen.I was just discussing the same with an Indian client who has large interests in the island.He had little time for the unacceptable demands of the Eelam brigade and thr insistence of implementation of the infamous "13th amendment" mainly drawn up by a famous Indian diploma,another G.Parthasarathy.Decades ago when I first read the details of it,I said that this would never ever be implemented in the island, and I reiterate that it will never happen as it is just too unrealistic and impractical.3 decades on,with so much of development in the island,massive improvement in communications and road infrastructure,the north and the rest of the country will soon only be a few hours away.Take the new expressway to Galle built by the Chinese.It is fantastic.There is nothing like it in India.It has cut 3.5 hrs. of the journey which used to take 4.5 hrs,now just 45 mts.Even the tollgates are not on the main highway which slows down traffic,but on the access lanes.The hillsides too on either side and neatly landscaped and maintained by uniformed staff.The expressway will be further extended to the south and so will the rail network be improved.The Colombo-airport expressway is nearing completion which will reduce the driving time to just 15 mts.

With such improvements,the island will be further integrated ,communities less isolated and more egalitarian. the north with their produce being sent to the south more easily.Economics and the creation of wealth will now be the main activity of the hard working money JT community.Once money starts flowing into pockets,dreams of separatism will fade.The efforts on in TN are the desperate gambler's "last throw of the dice". Already the economic gains are visible in the north.Provided the GOSL does now succumb to a one-party dictatorial regime,which will destabilise the south,the omens are good for the island.

Guys,invest in the island if you can.If you need help I'm only too willing to help.

[nvishal]

@Philip

Why would you advise brf members to invest in a country that is already on a path to chaos?

[member_20317]

Because that country deserves it. Because an overt investment is the only way a war torn country where our conduct was not exactly 'distinguished' needs to be sewn back. Because a sewn back country is the only possiblity that grants us the key to affecting the Sinhala mind to bring it in line.

[Singha]

I am getting the feeling the Rajpaksa brothers while may have been the right wartime leadership are not the ones who can deliver the economic growth needed to meet expectations and take it to the next level up.

[chetak]

Chetak said ...
India has been taken in by sinhala cunning once again.We foolishly helped in the extermination of the ltte and and without the ltte we have lost our leverage.

This is why we should be extremely careful with Indian's. You are still be moaning the fact the LTTE is gone.
You some times mentions, that Sri Lankan's behaves like Paks. But what is this behaviour? Americans? Develop terrorism in other nations so that you can have a leverage in Sri Lanka?

It was because of the ltte that India retained it's influence and it was ONLY India that can and did help the sinhala to wipe out the ltte. Neither the pakis nor the chinese have the wherewithal to have supported the sinhala like the Indian Navy did.

Seriously? You guys helped us to defeat LTTE? Or was it because you had no choice but to let that happen? The guys at the top were fully aware of what was happening and they let it happen. They exactly knew what this would mean once LTTE is gone. The Indian government and your Intelligence agency fully know what Rajapskhe is like. Knowing all this, India let this happen. It is not a stupid decision, they had plenty of time to weight in all the possible outcomes and they took the best one.

thusitha,

This is the only time that I will agree with any post that you have made.

We have historical ties with the sinhala as well as the tamils. We want no connection with either. Both are of ancient Indian origin but not of present Indian responsibility. India as a whole wishes the lankans well.

Yes,someone did f(uk up and equally on both sides. Actually I do not blame the sinhala for what is happening. The tamils seem to have forgotten about all the tricks they were up to during prabahakaran's time. Having seen the perfidy of the tamils once, why would anyone want to take a chance.

We helped you take out the ltte because of eelam concerns.The same foreign xtian pressures that the sinhala came under to let go prabahakaran was also put on us.
we also have an overwhelmingly xtian dominated government at the center and the state of tamil nadu. Elections are just around the corner for us and that is the reason for all this current madness.

[chetak]

I am getting the feeling the Rajpaksa brothers while may have been the right wartime leadership are not the ones who can deliver the economic growth needed to meet expectations and take it to the next level up.

I visit and interact with the sinhala in srilanla fairly often. They all seem to approve of rajapakse and gang and that is what ultimately matters.

[svenkat]

DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Saturday urged the AIADMK government to have a resolution adopted by the State Cabinet, seeking commutation of the death sentence awarded to the three convicts - Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan - in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

In a statement here, he expressed shock over the order of the Supreme Court that long delay by the President or the Governor in disposing mercy petitions convicted under anti-terror laws could not be a ground for commutation of death sentence.

“At a time when there is a debate all over the world on the desirability of continuing with death sentence, the order of the Supreme Court has come as a blow to all those who have been awarded death sentence,” he said.

He also cited the editorial of The Hindu that “the Supreme Court has lost an opportunity to invoke the sound legal principle that prolonged delay in disposal of mercy petitions could be a key ground for commuting death penalty.” He said the State government should not think that its responsibility was over after passing a resolution in the Assembly. “The Cabinet should meet and adopt a similar resolution and send it to the Governor for commutation of death sentence and their release,” Mr Karunanidhi said in a statement. The DMK government had adopted a resolution in the Cabinet in favour of Nalini, another convict in the assassination case, and the Governor commuted the death sentence, he recalled.

Mr Karunanidhi said the DMK had also succeeded in commuting the death sentence of Thyagu and Kaliaperumal and Mr. Thyagu had proved his worth by becoming a well known writer and publisher. “We should also make use of the talents of the three accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination,” he said

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/vck-for-credible-probe-into-wartime-excesses/article4617667.ece

Reiterating that Tamil Eelam alone could find a permanent solution to the problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) on Sunday demanded a referendum among them to ascertain the need for the creation of a nation.

At a public meeting and a rally organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, the VCK adopted a resolution that sought appointment of a credible, independent international inquiry into the wartime excesses of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration against the Tamils.

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/gotabaya-remarks-on-indias-role-unacceptable-narayanasamy/article4609841.ece

"Sri Lanka is responsible for terrorism as Tamils took to terrorism because their rights were denied," the minister said, adding New Delhi did not support any kind of terrorist activities.

India today disapproved of a top Sri Lankan official’s reported remark regarding terrorism in that country, saying the armed conflict there was a result of Colombo denying rights to Tamils there.

Responding to Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s reported remark that India could never absolve itself of the responsibility for creating terrorism in his country, Union Minister V. Narayanasamy said the statement was unacceptable.

“As far as India is concerned (late Prime Ministers) Indra and Rajiv Gandhi supported Tamils. We even lost Rajiv Gandhi (assassinated by members of LTTE), who sent Indian Peace Keeping Force to help Tamils. Rajapaksa’s statement is unacceptable. Sri Lanka is responsible for terrorism as Tamils took to terrorism because their rights were denied,” he told reporters at the Chennai Airport here on Firday.

New Delhi did not support any kind of terrorist activities, he added.
India has a duty to protect Tamils wherever they are and it had pressed for independent and credible investigation into alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan army at the UNHRC, he said.

[chetak]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/gotabaya-remarks-on-indias-role-unacceptable-narayanasamy/article4609841.ece

"Sri Lanka is responsible for terrorism as Tamils took to terrorism because their rights were denied," the minister said, adding New Delhi did not support any kind of terrorist activities.

India today disapproved of a top Sri Lankan official’s reported remark regarding terrorism in that country, saying the armed conflict there was a result of Colombo denying rights to Tamils there.

Responding to Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s reported remark that India could never absolve itself of the responsibility for creating terrorism in his country, Union Minister V. Narayanasamy said the statement was unacceptable.

“As far as India is concerned (late Prime Ministers) Indra and Rajiv Gandhi supported Tamils. We even lost Rajiv Gandhi (assassinated by members of LTTE), who sent Indian Peace Keeping Force to help Tamils. Rajapaksa’s statement is unacceptable. Sri Lanka is responsible for terrorism as Tamils took to terrorism because their rights were denied,” he told reporters at the Chennai Airport here on Firday.

New Delhi did not support any kind of terrorist activities, he added.
India has a duty to protect Tamils wherever they are and it had pressed for independent and credible investigation into alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan army at the UNHRC, he said.

India does not even support the kashmiri Pandits, why would they support extra territorial tamils???

[vipins]

Indian housing project in Lanka makes good progress

India today said its plans to build over 40,000 homes in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northern and eastern areas has shown good progress since its launch in October last year.

[svinayak]

Hindus fleeing from pakistan
Hindus fleeing from bangladesh
Hindus living in hostility in bhutan
Tibetans getting brutal clampdown in nepal
Tamils fleeing from srilanka
Muslims fleeing from myanmar
Tibetans fleeing from china
Maldives became a nut case long time ago

Did i miss any country in our periphery?

This is south asia and india is right in the middle of this butcher shop

British had analysed the people in south asia for more than 100 years and figured out the low level conflict can be used for long term control in the region. It has been successful beyond their expectation


All the old low level conflict has been made large and international conflict by the anglo media/diplomacy and divide and rule strategy

[thusitha]

Singha
I am getting the feeling the Rajpaksa brothers while may have been the right wartime leadership are not the ones who can deliver the economic growth needed to meet expectations and take it to the next level up.

What the country the most right now is the stability. This brings the investor confidence and necessary foreign capital for development projects. If you look at the statistics you will see under MR, there has been large amount of foreign investment like no other in the past. Although UNP claim they can do a better job, it is hard for me to believe this would be the case.
If they come up, it would be back to sucking up to US and Europe. The world is a changed place and we should learn to have better relations with South East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. These nations have started to develop and we should learn to rely in these nations instead of the old guard. For the next 5-10 years, it is best we stick to these leaders, and not to do so would result in another attempt by the U.S. to destabilize Sri-Lanka.

[Philip]

The CHOGM is after all the thunder and lightning nations,from white CW going to be held in SL.A significant coup for MR.The Eelamists are already making plans to prevent the Indian PM from attending and we can expect another round of orchestrated tamasha during the summit in TNadu,which will be closer to election time and might turn out to be quite violent too.The HM must plan for such eventualities well in advance and nip in the bud the machinations of the Eelamists. But sadly the HM according to latest reports is responsible for the Chinese fiasco sow e can expect the usual chaos to prevail.

[Philip]

Where did Rajiv support the LTTE and Eelamists? He fought them with the IPKF and was assassinated by Prabhakaran!

Canada,which is a country now full of Eelamists,ticks who are also trying to "wag the dog",have many Canadian politicos in the grasp.The Canadians have suddenly become the world's most sanctimonious humbug in support of human rights,forgetting the horrific situ at camp Gitmo,and the concentration camps at Abu Ghraib,and secret camps around the world,where the rendition flights took many innocents to be incarcerated in prisons in pro-western states ,plus the thousands who have been killed in drone strikes in Af-Pak.
The Canadians now join the ranks of states that actually support terrorism by their asinine foreign policy.In fact,if the white states of the CW ranting and railing against "evil" nations.There may be much that needs to be improved in SL,but it is yet to descend into the abyss as is fraudulently being put out by Canada,a nation that allows Khalistanis,the Eelamists and other assorted ungodly entities who use its soil in plotting acts of terrorism against democratic nations.It merely pays lip service to combating terror.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ap ... mmonwealth

Canada attacks 'evil' of Sri Lanka hosting Commonwealth summit
Canadian foreign minister criticises Sri Lanka's 'appalling' record, authoritarianism and failure to tackle rights abuses

http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/prrts/trrrsm/index-eng.asp

Terrorism

There are many terrorist organizations active within Canada's borders. Their presence can be attributed to Canada's proximity to the United States, one of the world's pre-eminent terrorist targets, but also to the fact that Canada is an attractive place to live and do business because of its openness, and its respect for human rights and freedoms. With so many terrorist groups in Canada, people might wonder why the media are not reporting the occurrence of serious violence in Canada on a regular basis. While some Canadians have been victims of large-scale terrorist attacks-most notably in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight from Toronto and the 2001 destruction of New York's twin towers-Canada, as a country, has not often been targeted specifically for attack. For this reason, many people have come to equate terrorism with the violence and tragic events that occur in foreign countries.

The most visible aspect of terrorist activity is physical violence; however, the absence of violence here at home does not mean the absence of terrorist activity. Most activities in Canada support actions elsewhere linked to homeland conflicts, and are relatively subtle in nature. These activities include:

providing a convenient base for terrorist supporters and operatives;
fundraising;
lobbying through front organizations;
propagating hate and ideologies that incite and perpetuate violence;
recruiting fighters for wars and conflicts abroad;
procuring weapons and materiel;
coercing and manipulating immigrant communities;
facilitating transit to and from the United States and other countries, and
other illegal activities.

Violence on Canadian Territory

The absence, to date, of terrorist violence on Canadian territory does not preclude the possibility of a terrorist attack. Canada's solidarity with the United States and other Western democracies in the fight against terrorism has rendered Canada a potential target. For this reason, the intelligence, law enforcement and security communities have been working in close collaboration to identify and apprehend terrorists and thus prevent a terrorist attack from ever occurring in Canada.

Identifying and apprehending terrorists is more challenging than ever. Sunni Islamic extremists such as the members of the Al Qaeda network, for example, are often well-educated in specialized fields such as computer science, biochemistry and engineering. They are security-conscious, well-funded and resourceful. They use sophisticated technology, enhanced by encryption and steganography (the concealment of the existence of messages), to communicate worldwide and to transfer funds electronically. Furthermore, they are masterful at exploiting the media to influence public opinion, and at using democratic institutions to further their cause or to avoid just penalty.

This is an old report,but wirth reading again:

http://archive.adl.org/terror/tu/tu_0401_canada.asp

Sikh Extremism and the Air India Bombings Trial

In June 1985, suspected Sikh militants bombed an Air India flight originating in Vancouver, killing all 329 people aboard, including 154 Canadians. The bombing was the single, deadliest incident of aviation terrorism until September 11th. Canadian authorities believe that the bombing was masterminded and perpetrated by Sikh terrorists operating from Canada, some of whom were Canadian citizens. Two Canadian-based Sikhs, Ripudaman Singh Malik, 53, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51, are currently on trial in Vancouver for involvement in the aircraft bombing and for another suitcase bombing at Narita Airport in Tokyo, that killed two baggage handlers. Another British Columbian Sikh extremist, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted in 1991 of building the Tokyo bomb and pleaded guilty in February 2003 to aiding in the construction of the Air India bomb.

The Canadian government believes the bombings were part of a conspiracy by British Columbia-based Sikh extremists to take revenge against the Indian government for its 1984 storming of the Golden Temple, a Sikh shrine. The Indian government sought to flush out armed Sikh extremists fighting for a separate Sikh homeland. Bagri, a former preacher and supporter of Sikh separatism, was second in command in the Babbar Khalsa, a terrorist group dedicated to the creation of a separate Sikh homeland called Khalistan. Babbar Khalsa raised funds in Canada until its charitable status was revoked in the mid 1990s. The Canadian government added Babbar Khalsa to its list of banned terrorist organizations in June 2003.

Tamil Extremist Activity

Another terrorist group active in Canada is the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a violent separatist movement of the Tamil Hindu minority in Sri Lanka which has waged, since 1983, a bloody war for an independent Tamil homeland in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is Canada's leading source of refugees and there are over 250,000 Tamils in Canada. Home to 200,000 Tamils, Toronto is the largest Tamil city outside of Sri Lanka. Canadian intelligence believes that there are 8,000 former LTTE guerrillas in Toronto.

The LTTE draws significant financial and political support from the Canadian Tamil community. The Sri Lankan government estimates that the LTTE raises about $120 million a year, up to a quarter of this amount from supporters in Canada. According to Canadian police and intelligence agencies, the LTTE raises money in Canada through donations, organized crime and LTTE front organizations. LTTE supporters in Canada are suspected of involvement in a number of illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and passport forgery and fraud. They have also been a major factor in spawning Tamil street gangs in Toronto.

The major LTTE front groups in Canada, according to the U.S. State Department, are the World Tamil Movement and the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils, the major umbrella organization for pro-LTTE groups. According to the Canadian-based Mackenzie Institute, these two pro-LTTE groups dominate Canadian Tamil life whereas the front organizations for other terrorist groups, like those sup-porting Islamic extremist groups or Sikh terrorist groups, do not exert the same level of influence on and control over the lives of the members of the particular ethnic community.

According to the Mackenzie Institute, the LTTE fundraising machine in Canada is "arguably the most sophisticated of any terrorist organization being undertaken on Canadian soil." Donations are both voluntary, through regular contributions, and coerced, through extortion and intimidation. Pro-LTTE messages are regularly broadcast over the four Tamil 24-hour radio stations, Tamil-language television shows and 10 Tamil weekly newspapers. These media outlets risk the loss of advertising and face intimidating violence if they do not take a pro-LTTE line.

The U.S., Britain and Australia have designated the LTTE as a terrorist organization. The LTTE does not appear on Canada's list of banned terrorist organizations. Canadian Foreign MinisterBill Graham reportedly blocked adding the LTTE to the list because of the ongoing negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE.

[thusitha]

Singha
http://www.firstpost.com/world/attacks- ... 93521.html

I think this link was meant to show how bad Sinhalese started treating Muslims in SL. But please read the comments of your country men, then you will realize the hipocracy.

Having said that, what Sinhalese are doing right now is an extremely stupid thing. It is the wrong time to alienate minorities while war crimes charges are hanging on our heads. It looks like some people want to go from one Crisis to the next.

[Philip]

There was a non-political peace rally in Colombo yesterday which included former Lankan diplomats to.A good sign that ordinary people are countering the extremists.

[kish]

TN has no right to claim Kachchatheevu: Douglas Devananda

Tamil Nadu has no right to demand Kachchatheevu, for it belongs to Sri Lanka as per an earlier agreement, Sri Lanka’s Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises Development Minister Douglas Devananda has said.

His statement comes in response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s recent demand that the Centre retrieve a small island ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.

Last week, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passeda resolution in this regard, in the wake of “continued violent attacks, torture and arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.”Observing that it was a politically motivated demand, Mr. Devananda said as per the maritime boundary agreements between India and Sri Lanka signed in 1974 and 1976 the island now belonged to Sri Lanka.

“This is a livelihood issue of fishermen of both, Sri Lanka and India. I request the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to look at the issue from that perspective, instead of looking at it politicallly,” he told The Hindu on Friday.

He is a murder accused, there is a arrest warrant pending against him. Chindu shamelessly getting opinion from an accused.

As per chindu, murderers, terrorists, maoists have more rights in India than common man.

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/battling-our-own-brothers-from-across-the-sea-say-sri-lankan-tamil-fishermen/article4699797.ece

Their trawlers very close to our shore, say Sri Lankan fishermen

“Tamil fishermen pose the biggest threat to our livelihood,” said M. Lingarajan, a Sri Lankan Tamil fisherman based in Jaffna, on Wednesday.

“And that is the irony. We are battling our own brothers,” he said, staring emptily at the shore just a few metres away.

His is among the seldom-heard voices from this side of Palk Strait. Wedded to the waters since his childhood, Lingarajan knows no other job. After a disastrous season of losses, he has barely begun to see some income, thanks to the 45-day ban observed by India that commenced on April 15. The ban prohibits Indian fisherfolk from venturing into the seas for the period, in order to allow fish to breed and hatch.

After a 30-year war that shattered the country, fishermen of Sri Lanka — who were displaced to areas far from the sea — are just about getting back to business. Using rather small boats, they fish along the coast and make ends meet.

“We try signalling using our torches, but they come really close to our boats. We even spoke to them, but there has been no change in their attitude. After all, it is a livelihood issue for all of us, shouldn’t they understand?” said K. Kamaladasan, whose net was damaged recently.

To repair a damaged net means spending Rs.1,000 (Sri Lankan currency) per day. And usually a badly damaged net would require at least five to six days’ mending work before it can be reused, say fishermen.

“If you come early in the morning, you can actually see the Indian trawlers very close to our shore. Our nets get entangled and torn, and we cannot get back to the sea for days,” said K. Rajachandran, president of Ambal Fishermen's Cooperative Society.

Heaps of fishing nets torn at several places are folded and kept in a shed not far away. In addition to the tangles and gaping holes, the nets also bear hopes of nearly 300 fishermen of Karainagar — about 20 km from Jaffna. For U. Arulanandan, Tamil Nadu-based fisher folk activist, has promised 25,000 Sri Lankan rupees as compensation for the damage.

Speaking to The Hindu over telephone, Mr. Arulanandan said: “We must definitely pay them damages, but that is a coordinated effort involving the government and the High Commission. They are working on it.”

The Central Government is also trying to organise talks between fishermen in both countries sometime next month, he said. Though similar talks held in 2010 and 2011 proved futile, many fishermen here are pinning their hopes on such a dialogue. “Otherwise, we are helpless. We do not know deep-sea fishing. We do not own trawlers or big boats and our nets are also smaller than those used by the Indian fishermen,” said Rajachandran, whose association has about 300 members from Karainagar, all Sri Lankan Tamils.

Dialogue would enable a “bottom-up” approach to arriving at a long-term solution, said A. Jesudasan, National Coordinator, National Fisheries Solidarity Movement, which has nearly 12,000 fishermen as members from the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities.

“Talks held by politicians in air-conditioned rooms alone will take us nowhere. They have to take into account our point of view. With our opinion as an input, the two governments should later hold discussions and arrive at a good solution,” he suggested.

According to the fishermen in Jaffna, their counterparts from India came charging in trawlers on some days, or used large motorised boats.

The problem came in another form too — the big nets used by the Indians. “Our nets are relatively fragile. If they get caught in the trawler area, or in their nets, they get torn or entangled,” said Kamalanathan. Moreover, the closer the Indian fishermen came to this shore, the lesser the catch for the Sri Lankan fishermen.

Fishermen from Tamil Nadu are frequently in the news for being caught by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and engaging in fishing activity. A group of 30 such fishermen, from Rameswaram, was released by the Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday. While politicians and activists in Tamil Nadu are quick to back their case, no one considered the plight of fishermen in Sri Lanka, say Jaffna fishermen.

A few of them also observed that they had little faith in politicians. “Some of the Tamil politicians here feel grateful to Tamil Nadu for their support to the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils, and never take up our issue with them,” said an elderly fisherman.

Even those like Lingarajan value those voices in Tamil Nadu. He said: “If someone sets himself on fire for our cause, we are truly moved. We read about students protesting for our sake. It is very touching. But we need to think of the next meal for our family, right?”

[Philip]

Deavananda may be whatever he is accused of,but his facts are correct.India and Lanka signed an agreement ghat stands today.Whatever Queen Jayalaitha might wish in Chennai,she has no authority whatsoever on Indian foreign policy that is decided by the Centre and interfere in agreements between sovereign countries.The rights of TN fishermen are well looked after in the treaty.They can visit the island to dry their nets,etc. The problem right now is that during the Eelam War,TN fishermen poached in Lankan waters.Now their very own Tamil brethren are fighting with them for the same catch .Plus,the usual Eelamist mischief makers,in the pay of the diaspora, want to stir the waters and create as much trouble between TN and the Lankan govt. in their own vested interests.

[chetak]

Deavananda may be whatever he is accused of,but his facts are correct.India and Lanka signed an agreement ghat stands today.Whatever Queen Jayalaitha might wish in Chennai,she has no authority whatsoever on Indian foreign policy that is decided by the Centre and interfere in agreements between sovereign countries.The rights of TN fishermen are well looked after in the treaty.They can visit the island to dry their nets,etc. The problem right now is that during the Eelam War,TN fishermen poached in Lankan waters.Now their very own Tamil brethren are fighting with them for the same catch .Plus,the usual Eelamist mischief makers,in the pay of the diaspora, want to stir the waters and create as much trouble between TN and the Lankan govt. in their own vested interests.

Philip saar,

Doesn't transfer of Indian territory compulsorily have to be ratified by the parliament?

[Philip]

It was an agreement between IG and Mrs. B's respective govts. of the time.An international agreement.I am sure that it was passed by both parliaments.The issue of "stateless citizens" of India origin,the Indian tea workers,"indentured labour " during British days,disenfranchised after Independence on the advice of Jaffna Tamil politico GG Ponnambalam to his chum DS Senanayake,the first Ceylonese PM,was also agreed upon by Mrs.B and Lal Bahadur too if I'm not mistaken.

[thusitha]

Philip said ...
It was an agreement between IG and Mrs. B's respective govts. of the time.An international agreement.I am sure that it was passed by both parliaments.

Not according to Wiki.

Ownership of the island was controversial up until 1974 as during British Rule this island was administered by both countries. It was ceded to Sri Lanka by India from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in 1974. The legality of the transfer is challenged in the India supreme court since the ceding was not ratified by the Indian parliament

[Sachin]

Looks like dear old K.P is hale and hearty, after his arrest from a South Eastern country. He now focuses on education and betterment of the Tamil kids. Any idea why the SL government did not go heavy on K.P? He was the cheif arms procurer etc. for the LTTE and moving him out of this world may have been an option as well.
A new weapon for the chief arms agent of the Tigers

[habal]

So he's the one who sold out VP.

[chetak]

yasin malik at pro eelam meet?

The nonsense has started again


TN: Police bans pro-Eelam public meeting

A pro-Tamil Eelam public meeting, which was to be held in Cuddalore on Saturday and attended by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik among others, was banned by police after the organisers put up banners carrying pictures of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran.
Click here!

Police withdrew the permission granted to Naam Tamizhar Katchi headed by film director Seeman to hold the meeting in support of separate Tamil Eelam as the organisers violated certain conditions, SP Radhika told media persons.

The party violated the conditions and erected banners and pasted posters with photographs of Prabhakaran all over the town, she said.

Police removed the banners and posters and served a notice on the organisers demanding an explanation, Inspector of Police V Ramachandran told PTI.

Arriving in Cuddalore shortly after the police announced the ban, Seeman, who was accompanied by Malik, went into a huddle with party leaders at a marriage hall on the outskirts of the town.

Seeman had invited Malik among others to attend the meeting.

Police said the leaders were holding an indoor meeting at the hall.

A tense situation prevailed in the town and police pickets had been posted.

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/yasin-malik-expresses-solidarity-with-sri-lankan-tamil-cause/article4729170.ece

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yasin Malik who made a surprise appearance at the indoor meeting of the Naam Tamilar Katchi here on Saturday expressed solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamils’ cause.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Malik drew a parallel between the sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Kashmir residents in the hands of the military forces. He said that even while the peace talks were in progress, Sri Lankan forces started annihilating the Tamils on the island.

Similarly, thousands of Kashmir residents, including elderly citizens, women and children, were killed by the military forces in his home State. Mr Malik, however, underscored the point that military might could not defeat any freedom struggle.

He noted that Tamil Eelam was the heart and soul of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The military could kill the people but not their ideology, because the ideology would pass on to the next generation. He pointed out that Kashmir happened to be the most militarized zone in the world.

He wondered how India which had full faith in Gandhian philosophy of non-violence could remain a silent spectator to the brutal killings enacted by the Sri Lankan forces against the Tamils there. He charged the imperialist forces with joining hands to suppress the freedom struggle.

Hence, organizations ought to come together to oppose such repressive measures. He also expressed reservation over the Cuddalore police denying permission to Naam Tamilar Katchi to take out a rally and organize a public meeting on Saturday.

Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman asked why the police should ban the public meeting even while his party was toeing the line of the State government as far as the Sri Lankan policy was concerned.

The government had recently passed a resolution in the Assembly, calling for proclaiming Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a war criminal.
On Friday night, the police removed all the banners, carrying the images of slain LTTE leader V.Prabakaran. A heavy posse of police was posted at the marriage hall where the indoor meeting was held.

[shyamd]

The party has been holding functions all over the state with Prabhakarans picture on large posters, cut outs. Interesting that the police clamped down on this particular function,

[Philip]

Eelamists attempt a "kidnap and ransom" stunt in TN all the way from the UK!

The illegal activities of the Eelamists of the Tamil diaspora are too well known to be listed out here.Credit card fraud,extotrion,drugs,etc. are the hallmarks of the movement that still rakes in filthy lucre from its criminal activities.But this latest caper takes the cake;kidnapping a family in TN India,remote controlling it all the way from the UK. The British govt. would do well to deport all those guilty after they serve out their prison terms.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 42939.html

British couple kidnapped in India rescued by police

A British couple who were kidnapped in India have been rescued by police, officers said last night. The pair were abducted on 29 May in Chennai and apparently held for a £300,000 ransom.

The duo, from London, have not been named but are safe and well, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. The Metropolitan Police launched a joint investigation with counterparts in Chennai after receiving a report the couple, reportedly of Sri Lankan origin, had been kidnapped.

Scotland Yard said: “The Metropolitan Police Service has been working with Indian authorities to secure the release of two British nationals kidnapped in Chennai since 29th May. The couple have now been rescued and are safe and well.”

The Bangalore-based Deccan Herald reported that the couple’s daughter, who also lives in London, sparked the police investigation after receiving a telephone ransom demand for £300,000.

The victims had reportedly flown to Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a wedding, before flying to India for a nine-day temple tour.

The couple were lured into what they thought was a taxi, it was reported, which they believed had been sent by their hotel to collect them.

A Chennai police commissioner said a gang operated from London and India to orchestrate the abduction. Several suspects are believed to have been arrested.

More details from the Ind. Exp.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-co ... d/1124773/

UK couple abducted from TN airport rescued, 8 held
Gopu Mohan : Chennai, Tue Jun 04 2013,

A UK couple of Sri Lankan origin, abducted from Chennai airport on May 29, were rescued by the Chennai city police on June 1. The police worked in close coordination with the London Metropolitan Police and Serious Organised Crime Agency, UK, to nab eight kidnappers, including a headmistress of a school.

The victims, Ganapathy Pillai Thavaraja (59), a businessman who runs a supermarket and fuel station in London, and his wife Salaja (55), had gone to Colombo to attend a marriage. From there they arrived at Chennai on May 29 by a Sri Lankan Airways flight at 9.30 pm. However, as there was no word from the couple since their arrival in Chennai, their daughter, Dharshini, a doctor in the UK, contacted their relatives here.

They, in turn, asked a friend to lodge a police complaint.

Soon Dharshini received a call from a person who demanded 300,000 pound (around Rs 2.5 crore) in return for her parents. She agreed but sought time to arrange the money and passed the information to the officials.

The police formed eight special teams. The fact that they were kidnapped from the airport made it clear to the police that the abductors had prior information about the couple's itinerary. While Dharshini continued to get calls for ransom, the police teams fanned out across Trichy, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Puducherry and Chengalpattu based on source information.

On Saturday night, a team, led by DCP Xavier Dhanaraj, intercepted a vehicle at Mandarakuppan near Neyveli in which the abductors were taking the couple.

They were rescued and eight accused, including Indira Antony, a school headmistress, were arrested. Indira has been suspended from the school.

On questioning, the police found that the plan was hatched in London by two people, including an employee of his supermarket, Ajanthan. He and Ramesh of Trichy, who now works in London, had planned the kidnap, the police said. Ramesh passed on the couple's photograph and tour plan to his friend, C Dharmalingam, in Trichy. When the couple landed in Chennai, the kidnappers carried a placard with Thavaraja's name to easily identify them and took them in a vehicle. The police passed on the information on Ajanthan and Ramesh to the London Metropolitan Police who have detained them.

[Brando]

13th Amendment dilution bid by Lanka worries India

India is concerned about the efforts being made by the Sri Lankan Government to dilute key provisions of the 13th Amendment, a key to reach a political settlement with Lankan Tamils, thus casting a shadow over the credibility of the forthcoming Northern Provincial elections.

Last Thursday, two notes were circulated among the Lankan cabinet members for modifying the Constitution. Firstly, the cabinet note proposed changes that would allow for a simple parliamentary majority to approve legislation related to subjects under provinces, provided majority of nine provincial councils agreed. The second proposal would take away the power of the President to approve the merger of two or more provinces. The provisions were not passed mainly due to differences within the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance, with the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC) strongly opposing it. Faced with opposition, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had reportedly asked them to put their position in writing at the next cabinet meeting, likely to be held later this week.

The Left parties and smaller Buddhist parties are also opposed to the move to change the Constitution. Even if the proposal is passed by the cabinet, it will require a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The opposition UNP has plans to oppose it.

The observers in New Delhi are increasingly convinced about the determination of Colombo to dilute the provisions of the 13th Amendment, before the Northern Provincial elections of September. Sources said India has been in touch with Colombo to express its concerns about the move to take away powers of the provincial councils.

It is understood that the international community is also keenly watching the way Sri Lanka conducts the elections to take a further call on the November meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in Colombo.

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/13th ... 630785.ece

What can India possibly do if 13A is amended?

( June 12, 2013m Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The question on everyone's mind these days is how India will react to the much talked-about proposal to introduce amendments to the 13A. Obviously, President Mahinda Rajapaksa thinks India can do nothing. The bilateral agreements signed by the Sri Lankan Leader with his Chinese counterpart during the former's recent visit to that country, provides a clear indication that the national security of Sri Lanka has been underwritten by China, as enshrined in the agreement to enhance political communication and support each other's efforts in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The international media highlighted this agreement as being worthy of close scrutiny by Washington and New Delhi. This could even be a pre-emptive security measure to discourage India from reacting unfavourably to a possible amendment to the 13A. It is possible that Rajapaksa would have planned the amendment campaign with Weerawansa during their China visit.

There is a growing school of thought that if the 13A is tinkered with, India could resort to a drastic reactive measure such as taking re-possession of the Kachchatheevu Island. For sometimes now, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, has been vigorously agitating for it; she has even gone to court for a legal determination of the contentious issue of Kachchatheevu. All Tamil Nadu politicians are with her in this matter, and they insist the island rightfully belongs to Tamil Nadu. They contend that then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, gave it to Sri Lanka on a platter to please her friend, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, thereby helping her to shore up her flagging popularity in the country and to cement their friendship further.

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2013/06 ... 3a-is.html

Mahindra Rajapakse is apparently intent on pissing off India as best he can. If the 13th Amendment to the SL Constition is scrapped, police come directly under central control as does land demarcation. This will basically give the authority in Colombo total control across the Island and put minority groups out in the cold with no say in the local governance, police and land. Already, the Sri Lankan Army maintains a virtual garrison in the Tamil dominated areas with fiat control over all resources and government offices . Diluting the provincial councils will only solidify and reinforce a Sinhala monopoly and dominance sowing the seeds for problems.

India reclaiming Kachchatheevu would help India strategically by giving more room to the Palk Strait Transit corridor and securing a larger fishing area but would only entrench Rajapakse in his defiance and polarize the Sri Lankan populace against India and into Chinese arms.

An alternative would be to "invest" in Sri Lanka's political parties and break the cohesion of the Sinhala parties and their support of Rajapakse family. Removing Rajapakse and his brothers from play would be another alternative that could be achieved relatively easily too. But the better alternative would be to see Rajapakshe humbled and advertising his impotence through India reclaiming Kachatheevu would go a long way in demoralizing the Sinhala nationalists and their brazen anti-India bravado.

Mahindra Rajapakse's thinly veiled defiance of India and the rising Anti-Indian sentiments stirred up by him in Sri Lanka has enabled upstarts in Maldivian like Gayoom and Waheed Hassan to try and contain India. Putting Rajapakshe in his place will have a secondary effect in Maldives and across the Indian subcontinent. With international support firmly against the Sri Lankan government, India has a unique opportunity to bring to bear massive coercive pressure on Sri Lanka without too much blow-back internationally. However allowing Sri Lanka to become "internationalized" invites foreign players into Sri Lanka diluting India's ability to set policy there.

A future Indian government will have to seriously consider the Sri Lankan problem, otherwise showering this problem with neglect and apathy will only make it manifest itself as a major problem later on.

[Philip]

I've been saying for decades that the 13th amendment is crap and will never be accepted in the island.A tiny island like Sri Lanka to have provinces with powers like India states! Stupidity. It was shoved down Sri Lanka's throat in the aftermath of the '83 riots and now is as good asking for a plebiscite in J&K just because the UN passed the resolution in the year dot.Unfortunately,Indian diplomutts in charge of Lankan affairs,behave like fossilised babus and with modifications,the three monkeys who have seen nothing,heard nothing and speak bullcrap. 18-19 years have passed on since the "13th",and the situ has now dramatically changed.The LTTE has been exterminated down to the last "kotiya",and the GOSL: need to ensure that there is no resurgence ever again.India would do the same if we exterminated the Maoists/Naxals and likewise put security interests first,before going on to socio-eco issues.

After all,without a stable,secure land,nothing can prosper.The rule of law is paramount and anything that dilutes the authority of the centre,especially in Lanka,is a dead duck.Chelvanayagam and SWRD Bandaranaike in the B_C Pact,had worked out a scheme for dt. devolution,which was actually what was asked for and required. With the IT revolution worldwide,it is far easier to administrate remote regions;"E-governance" has arrived with a bang including India. Hopefully the dt. elections approach and the sooner local issues are sorted out at the local level,the better.

[dinakar]

It seems China has moved his next step for our navy's friendly visit to SE Asia.
Link
Rough translation of the article is

SL govt has given permission to a chinese company to fish in the international waters from SL's Dikkowita port and the ship will fly SL flag. The permission has been given according to the agreement signed between the chinese company and SL investment council. 90% of the catch will be exported to china and the other 10% will be sold to SL at the rate of USD1 per kg. The chinese company has decided to start the operation with four ships of 150 feet and then increase it to 16 ships.