யாழ் திரைகடலோடி

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutional and vague, according to a ruling released Tuesday. The Humanitarian Law Project had challenged Bush's order, which blocked all the assets of groups or individuals he named as "specially designated global terrorists" after the 2001 terrorist attacks. "This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists," said David Cole, a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Constitutional Rights that represented the group. "It was reminiscent of the McCarthy era." The case centere…

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL297645.htm

What if Periyar had not been born? By P C Vinoj Kumar in Chennai | Friday, 17 September , 2004, 13:44 It is that time of the year when political leaders in Tamil Nadu remember Periyar E V Ramasamy Naicker, one of the world’s all time great social revolutionaries. September 17, 2004, is the 126th birth anniversary of Periyar, the founder of ‘Dravida Kazhagam,’ the parent party of all Dravidian parties. Periyar spearheaded a movement that had such a revolutionary impact on society, which could be understood better, if we imagine for a moment that this man was never born. What if Periyar were not born? Would it have changed the way we live, eat and s…

A woman at the nightclub Crobar on Saturday night was taken by 5 men, who according to hospital and police reports, gang raped her before dumping her. Unable to remember the events of the evening, tests later confirmed the repeat rapes along with traces of Rohypnol in her blood, with Progesterex, which is essentially a small sterilization pill. The drug now being used by rapists at parties to rape and sterilize their victims. Progesterex is available to vets to sterilize large animals. Rumor has it that Progesterex is being used together with Rohypnol, the date rape drug. As with Rohypnol, all they have to do is drop it into the girls drink. The girl can't remembe…

One year forward for Rajapakse, twelve years backward for Sri Lanka [by Admin , Nov 25,2006] As he completes his first year as President, Mahinda Rajapakse has taken the country back to its bad and dangerous past that many of us thought ended for good in 1994. The People’s Alliance victory in 1994, after a decade of war and violence, had signaled a sea change in the Sinhala political leadership. The change was best exemplified by President Chandrika Kumaratunga who demonstrated a sincere readiness to address the Tamil question through a constitutional change. Alas, the sincerity and readiness could not be translated into peace as fighting between the army a…

India calls for north-east merger [by Admin , Nov 25,2006] India has called upon President Mahinda Rajapakse to honour the Indo-Lanka Agreement and give legal force to the north-east merger. The request of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was communicated to President Mahinda Rajapakse by External Affairs Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Thursday at Temple Trees during their one to one meeting. The Sunday Leader learns Menon had told the President the Indo-Lanka Agreement was a bilateral agreement between two sovereign countries subject to international law and cannot be vitiated through a reference to domestic law. Informed sources said th…

HRW backs Rock's claims on child recruitment [by Admin , Nov 25,2006] US based international advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has come out hard on the government, supporting allegations of complicity of state troops in child recruitment first made by the UN and the SLMM. HRW said that it too would be releasing its own report next month. "The HRW will be issuing a report summarising some of our findings from our mission to Sri Lanka last month. Our research was carried out independently and fully supports the findings of Ambassador Rock concerning the Karuna group's abductions and the use of children in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara Distr…

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's elusive Tamil Tiger supremo marks his 52nd birthday on Sunday with a self-imposed deadline to decide the course of Asia's longest-running ethnic conflict. Velupillai Prabhakaran has no official birthday celebrations but his annual speech on Monday will be keenly watched by Sri Lankan leaders as well as those in foreign capitals struggling to broker peace. "There are no official functions or celebrations," said Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Illanthiriyan. "But many people usually have religious observances or share sweets to mark the occasion." Born on November 26, 1954 in the island's arid north, Prabhakaran, a school dro…

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/a...i_Lanka_burning By M.R. Narayan Swamy (adviser to foreign ministry) This is the same Narayan Swami wrote a book about Eelam struggle. He is now an adviser to foreign ministry. Excerpts from *M.R.Narayan Swamy's Tigers of Lanka From Boys to Guerrillas could be found here http://www.tamilnation.org/ltte/narayan.htm. I disagree with the writer about one man struggle keeps burning Sri Lanka. Sinhala chauvinist leaders continue to discriminate Tamils, bomb Tamil areas, decline fundamental rights even now. The five year long ceasefire agreement didn't bring peace to the Tamil speaking people. We saw only destruct…

Prabhakaran: One man who keeps Sri Lanka burning By IANS Saturday November 25, 07:47 AM New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran will turn 52 Sunday, presiding over a de facto state in the Indian Ocean island and still steering a cause for which he fled from his home over 30 years ago. In the three blood-soaked decades gone by, the once catapult wielding boy has leapfrogged from being the head of a small militant group of the early 1980s to one presiding over the world's deadliest insurgent outfit. The father of three evokes awe and admiration as well as fear and hatred. He is wanted by India and Interpol for the 1991 assa…

EELAM TAMILS: Highlighting crimes against peace [by Admin , Nov 23,2006] When the Co-chairs [u.S; E.U; Norway and Japan] met in Washington, D.C., there hardly was any policy change as far as the Tamils are concerned. With alarming unanimity the Quartet announced that “…the LTTE is a terrorist group responsible for massive bloodshed, we hold the Tamil Tigers responsible… we are not neutral in this respect.” One must be grateful for the crudeness of meting out such lop-sided spaghetti western justice — At least we must be thankful for the openness of attitude on part of the diplomats, in which admittance to non-neutrality is claimed. There was sadly, no con…

Ugly Reality Jana Nayagam Tamil Guardian 22 November 2006 The Tamils should not be surprised at the present turn of events. They need to come to terms with the fact that the international community is in fact extremely well informed about their oppression and always has been. It is simply not interested in their difficulties. New rocket artillery on parade in Colombo. The internationally supported peace process was intended to create a space to rebuild Sri Lanka's shattered economy and the battered military. Photo Daily News Since the beginning of Sri Lanka’s latest peace process, the doves and the hawks within the Tamil community have been enga…

Sri Lanka seeks foreign help to supply Jaffna civilians by Amal Jayasinghe Fri Nov 24, 6:48 AM ET COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's president asked foreign relief agencies to help supply food and other essentials to half a million civilians trapped in the embattled northern Jaffna peninsula. ADVERTISEMENT President Mahinda Rajapakse said essentials had been shipped to the peninsula, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital, but distribution had hit serious snags because retailers had closed most of their outlets. "I urge local and international non-governmental organisations to get involved in the distribution of food," Rajapakse sai…

Reports from Costa Rica in Central America said that a strange locally fabricated submarine transporting three tons of Cocaine was caught by authorities with a ''Sri Lankan'' two Colombians and a Guatemalan. The unique 50 foot long underwater transporting vessel is made of wood and fiber glass and the men traveling inside were breathing through pipes jutting out of water, the authorities said.

Murugan Worship in Sri Lanka: New Archaeological Evidence Recent archaeological findings underscore the fact that the traditional history of the Sri Lankan Tamils should be reviewed. I consider that these archaeological findings and the pertaining new perspective on them are of significance in two respects. Firstly, though the tradition of employing archaeological evidences in historical studies is in effect for a long time in Sri Lanka, there has been a tendency to associate the archaeological emblems pertaining to Tamils with the Tamils from Tamil Nadu who used visit Sri Lanka then and on rather than relating them with the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. Th…

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/A9-pathway/ Hi to all, My name is Bairavi Ratnabal, a seventeen year old British born Tamil who shares deep concerns over my mother land. As you may know the A9 road has been closed, this is the road which lays between Columbo and Jaffna, a access pathway to food, water and medicine but the notorious Sri Lankan Government has closed the road denying all admission to daily essentials, this is leading to the loss of delicate lives of our people. The liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam have tried many a times to negotiate with the government about this particular matter but nothing has yet won over the governments determ…

Two Karuna group cadres shot, injured in internal gunfight [TamilNet, Thursday, 23 November 2006, 18:17 GMT] Two cadres of Karuna paramilitary group were seriously injured in an internal fight ending in an exchange of gunfire Thursday around 3:30 p.m at Vinayagapuram in Valaichenai, Valaichenai police said. Some cadres of Kauna paramilitary group have been hiding due to differences of opinion within the group, and their opponents who had come in search of them started the firefight, the police added. The two injured in the gun fight were admitted at Polanaruwa hospital. The firefight lasted nearly 30 minutes, police said. http://www.tamilnet.com/a…

இணைத்தலமை நாடுகளின் கூட்டத்திற்கு பின்னர் வெளியிடப்பட்ட அறிக்கைக்கு வெளியில் ஒவ்வொரு இணைத் தலமை நாட்டுப் பிரதிநிதிகளும் வித்தியாசமான கருத்துக்களை தெரிவித்துள்ளனர். அவற்றில் குறிப்பாக அமெரிக்காவின் கருத்துக்கள் தமிழரின் எதிர்காலம் பற்றிய தெரிவை இலகுவாக்கியும் விரைவுபடுத்தியும் உள்ளது. ஆனால் அதில் பயணிப்பது கடினம் என்பதும் அதற்கு நாம் எல்லோரும் தயாராக வேண்டும் என்பதும் கவனிக்கப்பட வேண்டியது. 2ND LEAD (Minor corrections) Sri Lanka assured of Co-Chairs' military, financial support [TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 November 2006, 13:13 GMT] Sri Lanka's casual dismissal of the Co-Chairs statement Tuesday condemning rights abuses and ceasefire violations by the armed force…

Sri Lanka rebels say battle army in no-man's land 23 Nov 2006 04:07:57 GMT Source: Reuters COLOMBO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said on Thursday they were engaged in fierce fighting with the army in no-man's land in the island's restive east, with government troops with tanks trying to breach their defence lines. "There is an intense confrontation going on," Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan told Reuters by telephone from the rebels' northern stronghold. The military said it had no details of any confrontation in the east. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL98914.htm

700 undergo military training in 12 Karuna's camps (LeN- Nov. 21, 8.00 p.m.) It is said that abductions and killings are on the rise in Batticaloa District. The committee appointed probe disappearances report that 736 people have disappeared since January. 15 bodies of the people who were abducted and killed have been found. It is believed that Karuna faction is behind these abduction and even the UN too had made some adverse comments of the abductions. It is also said that Karuna faction cadres come in a white van and abduct people in government controlled areas and most of the vehicles and motor cycles used by Karuna faction does not have number p…

Paramilitary threatens Tamil MPs from Batticaloa, Amparai to resign their seats before Monday A paramilitary Karuna Group operative, identifying himself as Gunanan, operating from the office of the group located in Sri Lanka Army controlled Batticaloa town, has issued death threats to Tamil parliamentarians from the East, Tamil National Alliance said in a letter to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Tuesday. If the 8 parliamentarians from Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, did not resign their posts before coming Monday, November 27, they would be assassinated, the group has warned. 4 key members of the the TNA, 2 MPs, an ex-MP and a to-be-nominated MP, have …

They have done great service to their people and you can't brand them as pure terrorists as they are genuine freedom fighters. That is the structure that needs to be discussed.The current policy of the government is a hit-back policy and that is an Israeli policy. I don't think it's right. Mahatma Gandhi said that the eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth policy makes the world blind and toothless. And it will only keep escalating.We can't ask them to disarm in order to sit down and talk while we hold onto our arms. Things must be left as they are and we must talk about devolution, federal state or autonomy. (மேலும்...) இணைத் தலைமைகளைச் சமாளிக்க:

LTTE Are Genuine Freedom Fighters. Dr-Lalith Kotelawala. They have done great service to their people and you can't brand them as pure terrorists as they are genuine freedom fighters. That is the structure that needs to be discussed.The current policy of the government is a hit-back policy and that is an Israeli policy. I don't think it's right. Mahatma Gandhi said that the eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth policy makes the world blind and toothless. And it will only keep escalating.We can't ask them to disarm in order to sit down and talk while we hold onto our arms. Things must be left as they are and we must talk about devolution, federal state or autonomy. …

Business with philanthropy Sri Lanka's Dr Lalith Kotelawala's business card is actually six cards printed on either side with five folds, listing all the companies that are part of his company, Ceylinco Consolidated. As a Sinhala Christian, Kotelawala is part of a minority group, but as the head of 256 companies that employ more than 30,000 people, he is also acknowledged as one of the country's leading business personalities. He reveals for the first time how he entered a Tamil Tiger's home, was welcomed, and how he believes that the chances for peace in the nation have never been better. Kotelawala's uncle was the third prime minister of Sri Lan…

Tamils need real autonomy For a peaceful settlement in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese majority will have to agree to a meaningful level of self-determination for Tamils S.J.S. Chhatwal, Citizen Special Published: Monday, November 20, 2006 Sri Lanka, earlier known as Ceylon, won its independence from British rule in 1948. Since then, the Tamil minority in the country has faced discrimination by the Sinhalese majority. To understand the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, one has to realize that there are two categories of Tamils in that country, "Ceylon Tamils" (also referred to as "Jaffna Tamils") and "Indian Tamils." Ceylon Tamils have lived in Sri Lanka as long as …