French arrest 200 protesters in Paris Tamil demonstration on Sri Lanka

More than 200 people were arrested and four injured in Paris on Monday during an unauthorised protest by Tamils that turned violent, a police spokesman said.

Last Updated: 12:50AM BST 21 Apr 2009

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked an intersection in central Paris, throwing bottles at passing buses as they demanded that Sri Lanka end its military assault on Tamil-held areas.

"French people, react", "Sarkozy, help us" chanted an estimated 500 demonstrators as they gathered near the Gare du Nord train station for the protest, which had not been declared to the authorities.

Police said the demonstrators might be charged with belonging to an "armed gathering" as the bottles they threw could be considered weapons.

Expatriate Tamils have been demonstrating around the world against the Sri Lankan government's conduct of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

London has been a focus as many Tamils blame Britain, the former colonial power, for denying them a homeland. More than 2,000 people demonstrated in London on Monday.

Sri Lankan troops have threatened a final assault on the rebels, who are fighting to create an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils. The offensive in northern Sri Lanka has lasted several months.

The United Nations has said both sides in the long-running ethnic war may be guilty of war crimes, with the government accused of shelling civilian areas and the Tigers of keeping people hostage.

Both personal and political for me, so won’t comment on LTTE: Priyanka

D K Singh Posted: Tuesday , Apr 21, 2009 at 0329 hrs IST

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today sought to keep away from the row over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s remarks about LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, maintaining it was “both a personal and political matter” for her.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Priyanka said that she did not share brother Rahul Gandhi’s views that the family was still to get justice for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. “Rahul and I perhaps react to this particular thing slightly differently. I know Rahul. He has no anger in his heart, no hatred in his heart. He was only referring to the fact that the justice system takes a long time,” she said.

Priyanka, who met Nalini (convicted in her father’s assassination case) in jail last year, said she was not seeking justice from any individual. “I actually think that justice is something that I cannot demand from other human beings. Justice is something that the universe will give me. You see this fact that this lady (Nalini) has suffered as much as, if not more than, I have suffered. In a sense, that is justice. Nobody has made her suffer. Circumstances have created that suffering.”

Asked if she had forgiven Nalini, she said, “I am nobody to forgive her”.

It was because of this that she refused to join issue with Karunanidhi who yesterday called Prabhakaran a friend and said the LTTE chief was not a terrorist. The remarks not only left many red faces in the Congress but also prompted AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa to question why “the widow of Rajiv Gandhi” was silent on Karunanidhi’s statement

 Tamils put away Tiger flags and promise larger protest

OTTAWA - A significantly thicker ring of security will greet what's expected to be a burgeoning Tamil demonstration Tuesday on Parliament Hill.

Police could be seen on the roof of Parliament's centre block Monday preparing for the protest and additional barricades were put in place along the street that separates the Hill from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office. Peace activists and Tamil community leaders are calling for Canada to take more decisive action against the Sri Lankan government fighting a civil war in the island nation.

The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Tamil Tigers' decades-long struggle for control of the country appears to be drawing to a close

Jeyapalan said the protesters will not fly the Tamil flag tomorrow in hopes that politicians will be less reluctant to talk to them.

Tigers attack fleeing civilians

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Hours after Monday’s exodus of civilians from the No Fire Zone (NFZ) occupied by the LTTE, the Sri Lankan military said the Tigers were firing indiscriminately at citizens seeking to reach government-controlled territory.

The Defence Ministry said here the Tiger cadre initially fired at civilians on the causeway using heavy machine guns. “When they stepped into the lagoon to avoid LTTE machine gunfire, three LTTE cadres ran on to them and exploded themselves.”

The Ministry reported that over 1,000 civilians had sought refuge among the soldiers manning the northern edge of the NFZ at Plamattalan, south of Challai.

It said the troops had captured an LTTE-built earthen bund north of the NFZ on Monday, reducing the Tigers’ firepower. “Aerial observations indicated nearly 3,000 civilians have been rushing towards the northern boundary of the NFZ along the coastline. Later, a large group of people attacked the LTTE cadres who attempted to stop them and crossed over to the army-line amid LTTE small arms fire.”

The Navy said its sea units deployed in the northeastern coastal waters had rescued 92 boats with over 1,500 civilians. Navy units were escorting 80 boats to the Point Pedro harbour and another 12 boats to Pulmoddai.

Cluster of boats

Navy spokesperson D.K.P. Dassanayake said: “The Sri Lanka Navy detected a cluster of small boats coming out of the NFZ early this morning with LTTE attack boats firing at them. Having identified that refugees were being attacked by the LTTE, Navy sea units have separated the terrorist boats from refugee boats by tactically manoeuvring in between them.”

Succour

The Presidential Secretariat said as the influx from the NFZ continued in the thousands, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had instructed the Commissioner, General of Essential Services to ensure that food, medicines and other essential commodities be provided in adequate quantities to the people.

The President instructed that all persons injured in suicide bomb attacks, explosions and shooting by the LTTE to prevent civilians from leaving the NFZ, be given immediate medical assistance and flown to hospitals for treatment.

“This surge of civilians is an apt response to all those calling for a temporary pause in the humanitarian military operations of the government or a longer ceasefire, to enable the Tamil civilians to flee the armed grip of the LTTE. The record has shown that such well-intentioned pauses are non-effective with the ruthless terrorists of the LTTE,” the statement said.

The LTTE, in a statement, welcomed what it termed as “a refreshing attitude” on the part of the U.S. and urged the Sri Lankan government to listen to international opinion, stop the war and enter into negotiations. The pro-LTTE TamilNet in a report said that at the same time the LTTE warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war continued.

Douglas Devananda addresses UN anti-racism conference

Media Release by The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva

Addressing the widely publicized UN world conference against racism and racial discrimination under the theme “United against Racism, Unity and Justice for all”, currently underway in Geneva, Sri Lanka’s most senior ethnic Tamil Cabinet Minister said that Sri Lanka’s President Rajapakse was firmly committed to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which gives substantive autonomy to the provinces. He also called upon the international community to put pressure on the LTTE to allow the civilians in its captivity to leave unconditionally.

Hon Douglas Devananda meeting UN Secretary- General Ban Ki- Moon

Given below is the full text of the Address by Hon Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Welfare of Sri Lanka at the Durban Review Conference:

“Ayubovan, Vanakkam, Asalam Aleikum,

Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay, distinguished delegates,

I am honoured to address this assembly on behalf of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse and the people of Sri Lanka.

I am a Sri Lankan who is also ethnically Tamil, representing the North, a province populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Tamils. It also had many Tamil speaking Muslims, such as my colleague Minister Rishad Bathiudeen who is with us today, after being internally displaced himself by LTTE terrorism.

Sri Lanka has four major religions Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, and three distinct major communities, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, and three languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. This diversity has made for coexistence as well as conflict.

The sources of conflict lie in factors related to our deliberations here. They are also related, as in many places, to colonialism. Though post-colonial Sri Lanka saw legislative changes which made Tamils feel they were being treated unequally and discriminated against, the majority Sinhalese felt Tamils got disproportionate advantages during colonial rule. Redress was thought necessary but the Tamils felt those actions were discriminatory.

Tamils started agitating against the discrimination and demanded equality and power sharing in areas where they lived in substantial numbers. In the early period these agitations were democratic and non-violent. However, the next generation reacted to the state machinery crushing the non-violent acts of the Tamils. They took up arms against the state through many militant organizations. I was the leader of one such organization.

The flames of conflict should have been doused by the Indo-Lanka accord of 1987, brokered by the Prime Minister of India at the time, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, who was later murdered by the LTTE. It paved the way for a power sharing arrangement. The agreement also required the militants to lay down arms and join the democratic main stream, and almost all of us did so at the time.

Due to the fanaticism of the LTTE, which rejected the Indo-Lanka Accord, the full implementation of the provincial council system has been blocked. The LTTE has been waging war with the ultimate aim of creating a separate state, Tamil Eelam. They are not only waging a war against the state, they also annihilate any democratic Tamil forces that would not be subservient to them.

As a young man in my twenties, I was a survivor of the massacre of Tamil political prisoners in the Welikada jail, in July 1983 by a majority racists mob. However, I had not foreseen the evil of the racism and terrorism of the minority. When I gave up armed struggle and entered the democratic mainstream in 1987, I was regarded as a traitor by the Tigers. The US State Department reports I have survived eleven assassination attempts by the Tigers. My sight is impaired in one eye due to a spike driven into my skull by Tiger detainees when I visited them in prison to improve their conditions of detention. But my perspective is clear.

Our President took action to curb LTTE terrorism after his attempts at negotiation were rejected. Now the Sri Lankan security forces have almost crushed the Tigers. However the Tigers use innocent civilians as human shields. These are my people, Mr President, from the island’s North; people to whom I belong; people to whom I am tied by common ancestry and place.

Though over 70, 000 of those held initially succeeded in getting away, despite being shot at by the LTTE as they escaped, there are still a large number held in captivity. Yet even as I speak today, thousands managed to get away to refuge with the government

If the international community can pressurize the LTTE to surrender or at least to release the rest of these civilians unconditionally, that will go a long way in ending the suffering of the Tamil minority.

President Rajapakse is committed to full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution which ensures substantive provincial autonomy.

The political process has already started.

Elections were conducted for the Eastern provincial council in May 2008.

A Task Force for the Development of the North under my Chairmanship was established to oversee activities until normalcy is established in the province and elections are held.

In the meantime, an All Party Representative Committee is finalizing proposals, including necessary constitutional amendments, to address grievances of the Tamils.

We refer to this as “13th amendment Plus”, that is, deeper provincial autonomy than currently in the Constitution.

This will include a Second Chamber based on Provinces.

Mr President, this being the current situation in my country, we entered wholeheartedly into commitments at the conference in Durban. This was a landmark event in the struggle against racial discrimination and intolerance.

Sri Lanka is party to major international human rights instruments and has acceded to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Since language rights are perhaps the most important issue of contention in Sri Lanka, we have taken measures to enforce bilingualism in administration while improving training in this field. We have also taken steps to ensure recruitment of Tamil speaking persons into our defence forces.

Mr President, I call on all member states to cooperate in achieving the objectives of the World Conference and implementing the DDPA.

My experience with racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia is real. In the struggle against these, I have been imprisoned, lost close family and friends, shed my blood, risked my life and had my sight damaged.

But I have learned through struggle and sacrifice, that it is Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that are our enemies, not one another.

Thank you.”

French arrest 200 protesters in Paris Tamil demonstration on Sri Lanka

More than 200 people were arrested and four injured in Paris on Monday during an unauthorised protest by Tamils that turned violent, a police spokesman said.

Last Updated: 12:50AM BST 21 Apr 2009

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked an intersection in central Paris, throwing bottles at passing buses as they demanded that Sri Lanka end its military assault on Tamil-held areas.

"French people, react", "Sarkozy, help us" chanted an estimated 500 demonstrators as they gathered near the Gare du Nord train station for the protest, which had not been declared to the authorities.

Police said the demonstrators might be charged with belonging to an "armed gathering" as the bottles they threw could be considered weapons.

Expatriate Tamils have been demonstrating around the world against the Sri Lankan government's conduct of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

London has been a focus as many Tamils blame Britain, the former colonial power, for denying them a homeland. More than 2,000 people demonstrated in London on Monday.

Sri Lankan troops have threatened a final assault on the rebels, who are fighting to create an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils. The offensive in northern Sri Lanka has lasted several months.

The United Nations has said both sides in the long-running ethnic war may be guilty of war crimes, with the government accused of shelling civilian areas and the Tigers of keeping people hostage.

Both personal and political for me, so won’t comment on LTTE: Priyanka

D K Singh Posted: Tuesday , Apr 21, 2009 at 0329 hrs IST

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today sought to keep away from the row over Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s remarks about LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, maintaining it was “both a personal and political matter” for her.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Priyanka said that she did not share brother Rahul Gandhi’s views that the family was still to get justice for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. “Rahul and I perhaps react to this particular thing slightly differently. I know Rahul. He has no anger in his heart, no hatred in his heart. He was only referring to the fact that the justice system takes a long time,” she said.

Priyanka, who met Nalini (convicted in her father’s assassination case) in jail last year, said she was not seeking justice from any individual. “I actually think that justice is something that I cannot demand from other human beings. Justice is something that the universe will give me. You see this fact that this lady (Nalini) has suffered as much as, if not more than, I have suffered. In a sense, that is justice. Nobody has made her suffer. Circumstances have created that suffering.”

Asked if she had forgiven Nalini, she said, “I am nobody to forgive her”.

It was because of this that she refused to join issue with Karunanidhi who yesterday called Prabhakaran a friend and said the LTTE chief was not a terrorist. The remarks not only left many red faces in the Congress but also prompted AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa to question why “the widow of Rajiv Gandhi” was silent on Karunanidhi’s statement

Tamils put away Tiger flags and promise larger protest

OTTAWA - A significantly thicker ring of security will greet what's expected to be a burgeoning Tamil demonstration Tuesday on Parliament Hill.

Police could be seen on the roof of Parliament's centre block Monday preparing for the protest and additional barricades were put in place along the street that separates the Hill from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office. Peace activists and Tamil community leaders are calling for Canada to take more decisive action against the Sri Lankan government fighting a civil war in the island nation.

The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Tamil Tigers' decades-long struggle for control of the country appears to be drawing to a close

Jeyapalan said the protesters will not fly the Tamil flag tomorrow in hopes that politicians will be less reluctant to talk to them.

Tigers attack fleeing civilians

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Hours after Monday’s exodus of civilians from the No Fire Zone (NFZ) occupied by the LTTE, the Sri Lankan military said the Tigers were firing indiscriminately at citizens seeking to reach government-controlled territory.

The Defence Ministry said here the Tiger cadre initially fired at civilians on the causeway using heavy machine guns. “When they stepped into the lagoon to avoid LTTE machine gunfire, three LTTE cadres ran on to them and exploded themselves.”

The Ministry reported that over 1,000 civilians had sought refuge among the soldiers manning the northern edge of the NFZ at Plamattalan, south of Challai.

It said the troops had captured an LTTE-built earthen bund north of the NFZ on Monday, reducing the Tigers’ firepower. “Aerial observations indicated nearly 3,000 civilians have been rushing towards the northern boundary of the NFZ along the coastline. Later, a large group of people attacked the LTTE cadres who attempted to stop them and crossed over to the army-line amid LTTE small arms fire.”

The Navy said its sea units deployed in the northeastern coastal waters had rescued 92 boats with over 1,500 civilians. Navy units were escorting 80 boats to the Point Pedro harbour and another 12 boats to Pulmoddai.

Cluster of boats

Navy spokesperson D.K.P. Dassanayake said: “The Sri Lanka Navy detected a cluster of small boats coming out of the NFZ early this morning with LTTE attack boats firing at them. Having identified that refugees were being attacked by the LTTE, Navy sea units have separated the terrorist boats from refugee boats by tactically manoeuvring in between them.”

Succour

The Presidential Secretariat said as the influx from the NFZ continued in the thousands, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had instructed the Commissioner, General of Essential Services to ensure that food, medicines and other essential commodities be provided in adequate quantities to the people.

The President instructed that all persons injured in suicide bomb attacks, explosions and shooting by the LTTE to prevent civilians from leaving the NFZ, be given immediate medical assistance and flown to hospitals for treatment.

“This surge of civilians is an apt response to all those calling for a temporary pause in the humanitarian military operations of the government or a longer ceasefire, to enable the Tamil civilians to flee the armed grip of the LTTE. The record has shown that such well-intentioned pauses are non-effective with the ruthless terrorists of the LTTE,” the statement said.

The LTTE, in a statement, welcomed what it termed as “a refreshing attitude” on the part of the U.S. and urged the Sri Lankan government to listen to international opinion, stop the war and enter into negotiations. The pro-LTTE TamilNet in a report said that at the same time the LTTE warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war continued.

INTERVIEW - Tamil Tigers vow no surrender to Sri Lanka military

By C. Bryson Hull C. Bryson Hull –

India urged to tell Sri Lanka to stop war

New Delhi, April 16 : Four Tamil MPs from Sri Lanka have urged New Delhi to put pressure on Colombo to stop the war in the island to protect civilians trapped in the conflict zone.

The members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers, conveyed the message to National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan here late Wednesday, a delegation member said Thursday.

"We told the Indian government that the military operations (in Sri Lanka) must be stopped," TNA MP K. Premachandran said, adding that the delegation was worried about Tamil civilians in the war zone.

Premachandran told IANS that the main reason Sri Lanka was pursuing its military offensive was because there was no pressure on Colombo to end the bloodshed.

"India must tell Sri Lanka that if it cannot protect civilians, then it (India) will have a responsibility to do so," he said, explaining what the TNA expected from New Delhi.

"Sri Lanka thinks that India is on its side. A minister said so in so many words in parliament. This has not been denied by either the Indian mission in Colombo or the Indian government," he added.

The TNA delegation, which is led by R. Sampanthan, will also meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.

Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, their number put at more than 100,000 by some, are caught in a small strip of territory the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still holds in Mullaitivu district.

The area where the civilians are holed up is known as a no-fire zone but reports say the military continues to target it in response to activities of the LTTE.

Colombo has accused the LTTE of forcibly holding back the civilians as a virtual shield. The Tigers deny the charge.