Blame the international community, says Sampanthan

The issue of Northern Chief Minister taking oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa has caused disagreements within the TNA, recently elected TNA candidate and PLOTE leader, Dharmalingam Siddarthan, told BBC Tamil . Siddharthan said that while the party was divided over the issue of taking oaths, there was more support for the argument that the oaths must not be taken before Rajapaksa since the people of the North cast a vote against Rajapaksa’s government. However, according to Siddharthan, party leader Sampanthan claimed that the international community and others had asked that the TNA...

Palitha Kohona to chair UN committee

Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the UN, Palitha Kohona has been elected as the chair of the sixth (legal) committee of the United Nations General Assembly, after overwhelming support from the Asia-Pacific group. The committee considers legal questions for the General Assembly in New York. Canada’s foreign minister John Baird criticised the decision on Twitter, saying that it was ironic for Sri Lanka to be elected after it sacked its own Chief Justice. Palitha Kohona is one of the main figures defending Sri Lanka’s onslaught on the Vanni in 2009 in the UN and has repeatedly denied accusations that...

Fixing up for CHOGM

The Sri Lankan government has approve d plans to develop the southern administrative capital, Battaramulla. Plans include the establishment of a new Zoo to entertain the visitors of CHOGM and the construction of a ‘model’ ancient village to act as a further tourist attraction for CHOGM representatives. A previously derelict statue of Queen Victoria will also be renovated and moved to a prime location in Colombo.

Interview with 'Check your Sinhala privilege'

Last week, three young Tamils from Toronto, Montreal and London, published a piece on the website Tumblr, listing the 'privileges' of being Sinhalese. Since then, the piece entitled ' Check your Sinhala privilege ', has sparked widespread praise, criticism and passionate debate online. Tamil Guardian caught up with the writers, Ram, Ahila and Sinthujan, via Facebook, to find out more.. Tamil Guardian: What inspired you to write this piece? Sinthujan : We were just speaking about the concept of privilege in general, unrelated to Sri Lanka, and som e of the problematic things some of our friends would say. Even though many of them are well-intentioned and well-educated, they often neglect to see the issues in some of their statements. Most of them similarly don't see the ways the social, political, and economic arrangements of any given society are what systematically produce existing inequalities between different social groups. Ram: This neglect is especially prominent in discussions of Sri Lanka, for instance, when civil conflict is simply explained in terms of “ethnic hatred” rather than through a close examination of the ways societal arrangements in Sri Lanka have benefited some ethnic groups relative to others.

Deported Tamils still looking to flee Sri Lanka

Tamil asylum seekers who have been deported from Christmas Island have stated that they would be willing to risk it all to flee from Sri Lanka once more, according to a report by ABC News. A deported Tamil man, ‘Murali’ in Jaffna, had earlier paid over $3,000 to be smuggled out of Sri Lanka in a fishing boat packed with 80 people, to make the treacherous journey to Australian shores. He told ABC news, "The government doesn't like me because I am Tamil and they just assume I am a Tamil Tiger supporter". The journey to Australia is extremely dangerous, with boats regularly capsizing . War...

Case against TNA manifesto will be heard at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will hear a case filed against the Tamil National Alliance election manifesto, later this month. The decision was taken after when summoned to court today, the TNA failed to argue why the case filed against the manifesto was illegitimate. After hearing the TNA objections, the court decided that there was enough grounds to go ahead with the case against the manifesto, and gave the TNA until the 23 rd of October to file further objections.

TNA's promises..

Writing in English in the Colombo Telegraph (see here ), following the TNA's landslide victory, the TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran heralded the "dawn of a new era" and asserted that voters in the North had been captivated by the TNA's "principled stands", such as the defence of the Sri Lankan constitution, and that the TNA would "relentlessly seek to deliver on its promises to the people." Lest we forget what these promises were, here is a video of Sumanthiran speaking in Tamil, at the final TNA election rally in Kilinochchi, a couple of days before the election. Two extracts are translated below: (16:00 mins) "When the President came here to Kilinochchi to open a railway, he said in Tamil, 'from now on, the Tamil people should not vote for policies, they only should vote for development'. What kind of thoroughly dishonest person must he be?! *crowd cheer loudly* How unfortunate a country must this be? That this country must have a leader, dishonest enough, who tells people they must not vote for policies?! *crowd cheer loudly* This is a leader, who doesn't realise that we are a people - that for our policies - gave our lives... relinquished all our possessions... and that we are a people who are yet still prepared to give more!! Was it just for development that we came this far?! Was it just for development that for over sixty years we gave up everything apart from our self-respect? There is nothing else left to give now! But he [Rajapaksa] did not know that. Perhaps if he had been Tamil, he would have known that to Tamils value self-respect above life itself! But he isn't, so he doesn't have that feeling!

US welcomes Pillay UNHRC report

The US State Department has said in a press release on the outcomes of the 24th UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva that it welcomes High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s report. It highlighted restrictions on freedom of expression, attacks on human rights defenders and journalists, and interference with the judiciary as areas of concern and said the US “also noted the High Commissioner’s assessment that, absent meaningful progress on post-conflict accountability, calls for an international inquiry will persist.” See full press release here .

Tamil journalists complain of harassment by security forces

Two Tamil journalists of the Yarl Thinakkural have been harassed by individuals claiming to be from the Terrorist investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan security forces, reported TamilNet . The chief editor of the paper, V Atputhananthan complained to the regional branch of the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission in Jaffna, saying that Punitharuban Vinslow and Tharmabalan Vinojith were being inquired about by the individuals, who visited the office of the paper and the areas where the journalists live. “The above two are working in this institution as Staff Reporters for the last five...

'I look beyond seats and positions' - Ananthy Sasitharan

Since the conclusion of the Northern Provincial Council elections, the TNA leadership's selection of ministerial positions for the NPC has proved a contentious topic. Much of the controversy has centred around Ananthy Sasitharan - a widely popular, outspoken, openly Tamil nationalist candidate, who also happens to be the only female candidate to win a seat on the council - with many reports suggesting the leadership are trying to sideline her. Both local and international observers commented that the positions being considered for Sasitharan, who secured the second highest number of preferential votes in the election, did not fairly reflect her high standing among the Tamil electorate. (See article by Amanda Hodge for The Australian). In an official response in Tamil, released on Tuesday, Ananthy Sasitharan stood firm on her election campaign, whilst dismissing any notion that she was interested in fighting for positions, and rejected allegations that she herself had caused the controversy. See here for Ananthy Sasitharan’s full statement in Tamil. Translation in English below: “I cannot express enough gratitude to all that cast their vote for me in the recent Northern Provincial Council elections and secured for me the second highest number of preferential votes after the Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran. I assure you all that I will not budge an inch from the expectations with which you voted for me. Some media outlets with certain intentions have been circulating distorted stories alleging, that I, Ananthy Sasitharan, have been clamouring for a ministerial position in the Northern Provincial Council. I reject these distortions and allegations as I have never considered a ministerial position on the Northern Provincial Council to be the only possible way to serve our people. If being a member of the Northern Provincial Council proves to be an obstacle in being of service to and being a voice to our war-scarred people, then I am willing to pass up that position also.

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