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Jaffna Peninsula
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South Asia Monitor.
The 1995 proposals called for greater devolution of power within a structure
closely resembling the present Sri Lankan provincial arrangement.
A loose confederal structure, with some
kind of explicit recognition of the Tamils as a collective group within it and
with stronger guarantees of their inclusion in power at the national level,
might be more successful.
More...
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The odyssey finally runs out of space
Graham Farmelo, Science Museum, London
In 3001, we
learn that Frank was "so far below
freezing-point that there was no
metabolism", apparently allowing his
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MEA unfazed in DMK's call for a territorial division of Sri Lanka
Indian Daily, Wednesday, June 7, 2000.
A red-faced government scampered to play down ally DMK chief, M Karunanidhi's "Czechoslovakia-type solution" to the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis, saying there was no shift in its stand that the Tamil problem should be resolved without violating the territorial integrity of the island-nation. Karunanidhi had suggested on Saturday that Colombo follow the example of Czechoslovakia which split into two to end civil strife without bloodshed. This is in total contrast to the government's stated position on Sri Lanka.The foreign ministry spokesman merely said : "There is no change in India's position " vis-a-vis creation of the Eelam. The Sri Lankan government had not raised the issue, he said, adding that it was well aware of the position of the Indian government.The party did not disown his statement, though it kept strategic distance to leave ample scope for maneuvering.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 23:53:19 EDT 2000
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Deadly weapons, prohibitive cost
The Hindu, Wednesday, June 07, 2000.
Sri Lanka's new military hardware, which has helped it stall the offensive of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Jaffna peninsula, carries a price tag that could have serious consequences for the economy. The current arms purchases include K-Fir bomber jets and fast attack boats from Israel and field guns from the Czech Republic. Ammunition and the much talked about multi-barrel rocket launchers that can fire 30 rockets simultaneously or in rapid succession, have been supplied by Pakistan. Immediately, the price of cigarettes was hiked by 50 Sri Lankan cents a stick and liquor by 10 Sri Lankan rupees a bottle.The Government also raised the national defence levy from 5.5 to 6.5 per cent and will issue additional treasury bills this year worth Rs. 10 billion. The prices of water and electricity have also gone up, while the petrol and diesel prices were increased in February.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 23:46:18 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi to Colombo: Reveal plans for Tamils
The Asian Age, Chennai, June 6 .
While strongly defending his prescription of a Czech-Slovak type of solution to the Sri Lankan crisis, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi on Tuesday called upon Colombo to come out with the specifics of the devolution package being offered to the Tamils of Sri Lanka.Pointing out that the Buddhist clergy led a strong third force on the island to oppose anything decided by the government and the Opposition, Mr Karunanidhi recalled that former Sri Lanka Prime Minister S.W. Bandara-naike was shot dead by a Buddhist monk.“How much longer should this war go on? How many more must die on both sides? How many more thousands of refugees should Tamil Nadu receive from there? It is only out of this concern that I had strongly favoured a political solution as the only way out of the crisis, as a military option would lead nowhere,” he said.
More...
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 23:36:47 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi remarks suprise Lanka
The Asian Age, Colombo, June 6 .
Sri Lanka has warned that a partition of the country as demanded by Tamil Tiger rebels could eventually lead to the “Balkanisation” of neighbouring India.He said Tamils in Sri Lanka did not want a separate state and that constitutional reforms proposed by the government would meet their aspirations for power sharing.Mr Karunanidhi, who is strongly opposed to any military intervention by India in Sri Lanka’s war, said the differences between Tamil rebels and the Sri Lankan government could only be addressed through a devolution of powers.
More...
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 23:28:58 EDT 2000
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New life for war orphans
June 6.
It was an all-too familiar day in a seemingly
endless ethnic war. Last fall, the military
shelled Eetamunai, a farming
village in the northern jungle area controlled by the
Tamil Tiger rebels.
Whether by accident or design, government soldiers
claimed two more
civilians - a husband and wife - and made enemies of
their three orphaned
sons. The first barrage of shells felled their father
while he was knee-deep in their
small rice paddy. Their mother shouted for the boys to
flee, and while she
was frantically gathering their belongings, another
bomb blew the roof off
their house. The next day, the boys ventured home,
only to discover their
mother's lifeless body.''We would like to avenge
the deaths of our parents by assaulting the
soldiers who did it, but there's nothing we can do,''
said Basker Balasingam,
12, tears streaming down his face.
More..
Published: Tue Jun 6 23:05:03 EDT 2000
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Congress attacks Vajpayee on TN CM
Lanka suggestion
AsianAge, June 6.
The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the
National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre over
DMK president M. Karunanidhi’s suggestion to Balkanise
Sri Lanka and said the Prime Minister should clarify the
Centre’s position and restrain his coalition partners from
using “avoidable and unguarded” comments.
Senior leader Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that the
hawkish postures of BJP allies like MDMK and DMK, has
created avoidable confusion and Mr Karunanidhi’s
statements has complicated matters and evoked sharp
reaction from Sri Lanka.He alleged that the goodwill which always existed between
New Delhi and Colombo was being “squandered” by NDA
government’s “ambivalent and inept handling” of the
situation.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 22:52:28 EDT 2000
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A Strange Collaboration - Opinion by Prem Shankar Jha
OutlookIndia, June 12.
Without a word said in public, India and Pakistan have been cooperating to help
Chandrika Kumaratunga's government weather the ltte storm in Jaffna and to preserve
the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka. This cooperation has existed ever since Colombo
issued an appeal for help after the fall of Elephant Pass on April 27. Pakistan and
Israel came to its help militarily within a matter of hours. Israel supplied Sri Lanka
with a fresh batch of Kfir jet fighters and, according to some reports, pilots to fly
them. Pakistan has supplied Sri Lanka with thousands of tonnes of ammunition and
other armaments. Together, the three countries have succeeded in shoring up Sri Lanka's military
capability and morale to the extent of foiling the ltte's thrust at Jaffna.The goal
of paving the way for a negotiated solution within the framework of Sri Lanka's unity,
by denying the ltte an outright military victory, has therefore been partly served.Pakistan's strategists must surely know that an outright
ltte victory would magnify Prabhakaran's already larger-than-life image among
sections of the youth in Tamil Nadu to epic dimensions and create the serious
possibility of a Punjab-type insurgency among marginalised groups in that state. So
shouldn't Pakistan be quietly cheering on the ltte?The fact is that it has done just the opposite. And what's more, it has done so with
New Delhi's approval. In concrete terms, Pakistan has kept India informed about
everything it's supplying to Sri Lanka. This quiet, constructive cooperation between
India and Pakistan to deny victory to what must be the world's most ruthlessly
efficient terrorist organisation stands out in the sharpest possible contrast to the lack
of it in Kashmir.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 22:37:58 EDT 2000
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27 LTTE men killed in fresh fighting
Newindpress, June 7.
Thirteen Tamil Liberation Tigers, including their leader, were
killed when when Sri Lankan Navy destroyed a flotilla of enemy boats
near Vattilakerni in Jaffna peninsula. A government statement said an army fighting patrol spotted a rebel
bunker occupied by terrorists, two km north of defences near Omanthai at
3 p m on Tuesday. The troops having moved close to the bunker took the
rebels by surprise and assaulted with rocket propelled grenades, killing 13
of them. The slain rebels included leader Kurunja Akka.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 22:13:55 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka honours 'war
heroes'
BBC, June 6.
The Sri Lankan Government says ceremonies
will be held on Wednesday to show support for
its troops fighting the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in
the northern Jaffna peninsula. The government is calling the occasion "War
Heroes' Day". President Chandrika Kumaratunga is due to
make an address and there will be a
two-minute silence.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 22:02:07 EDT 2000
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Four Lankan journalists seek protection
Hindustan Times, June 6.
FOR SENIOR Sri Lankan journalists have written to President Mrs Chandrika
Kumaratunga seeking protection against threats to their lives from an organisation
which calls itself the Deshabhaktha Madhiya Viyaparaya (DMM). They told the President that the organisation had made a specious and false charge
that they were acolytes of the LTTE and were "national traitors". What the
journalists found even more galling was the fact that the charge levelled by the DMM
was aired by the state owned Independent Television Network (ITN) in its prime time
news bulletin on June 3. The journalists concerned are P Seevagan of the BBC's Tamil service, Taraki, the
well known Defense Correspondent of the Mirror, Roy Denish of The Sunday Leader
and Saman Waagarachchi, Editor of the now banned Iridi Peramuna.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 21:57:51 EDT 2000
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What Delhi must do - Commentry by KULDIP NAYAR
Deccan Herald, JUne 7.
''Delhi can bring the LTTE to the negotiating table.`` This is what Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga said nearly three weeks
ago. All have been looking towards India since.But its policy is: wait and watch. Neither the Cabinet Committee on National Security nor the Strategic Policy Group of the National
Security Council has given any indication of the efforts, if any, to make the LTTE talk with the Sri Lanka govemment.It is nobody`s case that the situation is easy. The solution is, indeed, difficult. But what has New Delhi done to help Colombo when it is, in
fact, acting as India`s first line of defence? Prabhakaran said in an interview five years ago: ''Eventually I have to battle India, which will not
allow us to create Eelam because of its own 35 million Tamils.`` He wants to be the Prime Minister of Eelam, comprising Northeast of Sri
Lanka and Tamil Nadu.New Delhi has said again and again that it supports the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:31:00 EDT 2000
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LTTE faces man power shortage
Deccan Herald, June 7.
Faced with acute shortage of manpower to fight against government forces in the northern Jaffna peninsula, the LTTE is now engaged in
giving military training to a large number people, including women and school children who were foced to move Wanni.
A government official, quoting very reliable sources, said today that civilians living presently under the control of the LTTE in Jaffna
Peninsula wanted to move into government-controlled areas.
Although security forces have made arrangements for these civilians to open entry points for them, the LTTE is refusing to allow them to
cross over. Instead, the LTTE is forcing these civilians to move into Wanni.The official said a large number of men, women and school children from the Kaithady and Ariyali areas were forced to move into Wanni
during the unilateral cease-fire announced by the LTTE last month. These civilians have been concripted by the LTTE and are presently
undergoing military training in the Wanni jungles.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:26:31 EDT 2000
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India a factor in resolving ethnic crisis, say Lankan experts
India-Abroad, June 6.
Leading foreign policy experts in Sri Lanka have urged the
government to involve India at every step as Colombo battles Tamil Tiger
guerrillas and seeks a political solution through talks with the help of a foreign
mediator.Jayanath Rajapakse, former adviser to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on
foreign affairs, emphasized the need for keeping very close contacts with India at
every level during this crisis. "I am dismayed to learn that President Kumaratunga
had not spoken direct to Indian Prime Minister (Atal Behari) Vajpayee on this
issue," he said."Former Indian High Commissioner in Sri
Lanka Nagendra Nath Jha, who is a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) foreign affairs
adviser, said that the settlement of the Sri Lankan crisis has to address not only
Tamil aspirations but also Sinhala concerns," Rajapakse said. "There are many
commonalties between Hela Urumaya (Sinhala Heritage Movement) and
Hindutva of the BJP."
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:19:31 EDT 2000
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George calls for restraint, Karunanidhi gets shriller
Indian Express, June 6.
The Centre today continued to deal with
the fallout of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's suggestion for
partitioning of Sri Lanka by gently ticking off the DMK chief for stepping out
of line and reiterated that India did not favour dismemberment of the island
nation. But Karunanidhi remained defiant and strongly defended his
proposal in a five-page statement, mounting a scathing attack on his
critics.The Government, meanwhile, left the task of rapping Lanka for
``overreacting'' to the Chief Minister's proposal to the BJP. The Lankan
Government had said yesterday that if the country was split, India too
would get partitioned. Ironically, the task of rapping Karunanidhi on the knuckles fell on that old
sympathiser of the Tamil cause, Defence Minister and Samata Party leader
George Fernandes.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:11:57 EDT 2000
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Island of day before - Commentry by J.N. Dixit
Hindustan Times, June 6.
New Delhi’s policies so far have been practical, measured and conscious about the
limitations under which all parties concerned are functioning. We are politically
supportive of the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka, but according to both the LTTE and
the Sri Lankan Government, they wish to decide the issue between themselves by
alternating military and political interaction. We should leave it at that for the
present. India should become operationally active only if the fall out of the Sri Lankan conflict
tangibly and directly affects India’s territorial integrity and security interests.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:06:38 EDT 2000
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BJP startled, but is unwilling to offend DMK chief
Hindustan Times, June 6.
ALTHOUGH STARTLED by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's latest stand
on Sri Lanka, the BJP thinks that the coalition's interests demand that the party is
circumspect while clarifying its own support for a united Sri Lanka and the Tamils'
rights. Senior BJP leaders believe that Mr Karunanidhi is compelled to take this position
because of the local factors that can influence the Assembly elections, which are
only nine months away. As a leader of the NDA alliance, Mr Karunanidhi has to charter its course for victory
in the polls. The BJP cannot afford to get either offended or criticise the DMK for its
posture, they say.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 18:00:59 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi's suggestion 'improper'
Hindu, June 6.
Former Defence minister and Samajwadi Party president
Mulayam Singh Yadav today said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's
suggestion for a Czech-type solution in Sri Lanka was "improper" and the issue
would become more problematic as the DMK was a partner in the NDA coalition
government. Accusing the NDA Government at the Centre of not having any foreign policy
worth the name, he told a press conference that it was in India's interest to bring
about a peaceful solution to the ethnic crisis in the island nation.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:54:55 EDT 2000
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'Compulsions behind suggestion'
Hindu, June 6.
The Union Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, today hinted that
local political compulsions could have weighed with the DMK leader, Mr. M.Karunanidhi, in
advocating a Czechoslovakian-type of peaceful, territorial separation to the Sri Lankan Tamils
issue, but asserted that there was no change in the Centre's stand. ``The Centre is not going to intervene in any way in Sri Lanka, unless both parties made a
request for some sort of assistance on humanitarian grounds,'' Mr. Fernandes told reporters
here, responding to queries on the fallout of Mr. Karunanidhi's proposal.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:50:53 EDT 2000
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A right medicine, says Karunanidhi
Hindu, June 6.
The DMK president and
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi,
today defended his Czechoslovakia-type solution to
the Sri Lankan crisis, asserting that any ``mutually
agreed'' political solution by the parties to the conflict
should not pose any danger to India or Southeast
Asia. Lashing out at the ``hasty critics'', Mr. Karunanidhi urged that Sri Lanka end the war. It should
hammer out a permanent political settlement agreeable to both sides, one way or the other, as
the military option was no acceptable solution.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:48:41 EDT 2000
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Deadly weapons, prohibitive cost
Hindu, June 6.
Sri Lanka's new military hardware,
which has helped it stall the offensive of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam in the Jaffna peninsula, carries a price tag that
could have serious consequences for the economy. The current arms purchases include K-Fir bomber jets and
fast attack boats from Israel and field guns from the Czech Republic. Ammunition and the much
talked about multi-barrel rocket launchers that can fire 30 rockets simultaneously or in rapid
succession, have been supplied by Pakistan. All this has cost the Government a lot of money. At a recent press conference, the Foreign
Minister, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, told journalists: ``There is nothing like a free lunch... there
are no donations in the hardware game. We are paying for it, and we are paying very dearly.''
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:44:55 EDT 2000
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North-South rift in BJP over Eelam
The Staesman, June 6.
The BJP appears to be facing a North-South divide on
the issue of a separate Eelam for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. While some party
leaders from the South say they want the Vajpayee government to take a
pro-Eelam line, those from the northern part say the government should not risk
balkanisation by supporting the Eelam demand. These leaders even go to the extent of saying that the DMK may risk its alliance
with the BJP if it persisted with its suggestion for a separate Eelam for the Sri
Lankan Tamils.They today privately rejected Mr M Karunanidhi’s suggestion that Sri Lanka
could split on the pattern of Czechoslovakia for a lasting solution to the ethnic
conflict.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:40:18 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi wants Lanka to spell out stand
The Statesman, June 6.
Mr M Karunanidhi today demanded that the Sri Lankan
government clarify the exact nature of the devolution package it had drafted to
end the prolonged ethnic crisis in the Island nation.
“What does the Lankan government offer the Tamils there? Some say the
package involves a quasi-federal set-up and others say it envisages a confederal
set-up. That government should come out clearly on what exactly it envisaged,”
Mr Karunanidhi said in a statement here.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 17:37:03 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka looks for outside help for
civilians in battle zone
Virtual NY, June 6.
The government alleged that the LTTE cadres were preventing civilians from
moving to government-held territory. Last month, the LTTE had accused the
government of ignoring a 12-hour cease-fire to allow civilians to move to
safer areas.Sources said that the government's effort to shift the civilians from the
rebel-controlled region was aimed at resuming an offensive to drive the
guerrillas from the peninsula."The government does not want the LTTE to use civilians as human shields,"
a senior military official said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 16:27:40 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka irked at Indian official's idea to
split the country
Virtual NY, June 6.
"Tamils would be very comfortable with some more autonomy. We have never
advocated separation. That demand we gave up in 1987 when India had
intervened. Such statements by Indian Tamil politicians are unwarranted and
create lot of bad blood here," a senior Sri Lankan Tamil politician told
United Press International. Other Sri Lankan leaders reacted caustically to Karunanidhi's remarks:
"Will India give up Kashmir. If it cannot then the Indian leaders should not
be making such statements about Sri Lanka or any other sovereign nation,"
said a leader of the National Joint Commission, an organization representing
the majority Sinhala community.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 16:25:13 EDT 2000
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Tamil politician rapped for remarks
BBC, Tuesday, 6 June, 2000, 17:38 GMT.
A statement by a senior Tamil politician in India, M Karunanidhi, suggesting that Sri Lanka be divided as a way out of its ethnic conflict has been widely criticised. India's opposition parties have alleged that the governing coalition in Delhi, of which Mr Karunanidhi's party is a member, is speaking in conflicting tones.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 14:59:49 EDT 2000
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India reiterates opposition to Sri Lanka's breakup
AFP, June 6 2000 20:48 IST.
India Wednesday reiterated its opposition to the secessionist battle waged by Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka, as a key partner of the Indian ruling coalition said the island's peace hinged on its partition. Indian foreign ministry spokesman R.S. Jassal also said Delhi's hands-off policy towards the ongoing Sri Lankan conflict remained unchanged.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 11:56:52 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankans Left in Tug-of-War
AP, Tuesday June 6 11:35 AM ET.
About 12,000 civilians are trapped on Jaffna peninsula in a tug-of-war between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, a Red Cross official said Tuesday. ``Both the rebels and the government troops agree in principle'' that the civilians should be allowed to move, ``but there is no agreement on where the civilians should go,'' International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Harsha Gunawardene said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 11:50:41 EDT 2000
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Pak multi-barrel rocket launchers sent to
Lanka
Indian Express, June 6.
The first few pieces of MBRLs that arrived from Pakistan
(were) the subject of battlefield gossip,'' The Sunday Times
said in an article which was vetted -- and had large chunks of
it spliced -- by the government Censor. It said the MBRLs,
already deployed in Jaffna, can empty out 30 barrels in one
go. The paper said more lethal versions of the MBRLs were due
to arrive on the battlefield soon but did not specify if the
source would be Pakistan.Meanwhile, while the military has not reported regaining any
of the territory lost to the Tigers in recent weeks, the LTTE's
``rolling assault'' appears to have stopped. n Batticaloa, the government said, two Tamils were
abducted when their families refused to pay ransom to the
LTTE. Three fishing boats had also been seized by the
militants, it said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:20:02 EDT 2000
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Fernandes downplays Karunanidhi's suggestion
Hindu, June 6.
Asked to react to Karunanidhi's suggestion that Sri Lanka could
agree to a Czech-Slovak model separation, Fernandes declined to
comment, saying it was a "point of view." "Mr. Karunanidhi is the Chief Minister and leader of a large party.
I don't believe he needs any kind of advice," he said. Parties, he said, catered to different constituencies, "but as a
Government, we have to act together."
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:14:56 EDT 2000
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Albright opposes 'monitoring' of foreign students
Hindu, June 6.
Washington, June 6. (PTI): US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright has opposed the proposal by a congressional
commission for monitoring all foreign students in this country as
part of the precautions against terrorism. "I obviously have not seen the commission report and obviously
we are very concerned with terrorism. But I think that in looking
at how we fight it, we have to remember what kind of society we
are," she told CNN.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:12:24 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka overreacted: BJP
Hindu, June 6.
A senior BJP leader today said the Sri
Lankan Government had "perhaps overreacted" to the DMK
President M Karunanidhi's suggestion of Czech model to end the
ethnic crisis in the island republic as it was not the official view of
the Union Government. "I think it is an overreaction by a Lankan Minister to a situation
which does not exist. If Government of India or Tamil Nadu
Government had made a statement then perhaps Sri Lanka
reacting like this is justified," All-India BJP Vice-President Jana
Krishnamurthy, told reporters here.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:09:07 EDT 2000
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LTTE forcibly conscripting civilians: Govt
Indian Express, June 6.
Sri Lankan government today accused the
LTTE of preventing large number of civilians from crossing
over to army held areas in the embattled northern Jaffna
Peninsula in order to conscript the general populace,reports
PTI.A large number of civilians, including women and
children, who were picked by the rebels from Ariylai and
Kaithady in the Peninsula were subsequently conscripted and
later taken to Vanni during the one day unilateral ceasefire
announced by the LTTE on May 27, the statement said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:04:03 EDT 2000
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NDA expects discipline in action from
constituents: Fernendes
Indian Express, June 6.
Individual parties may have
ideas they like to throw out for public discussions. What the
NDA expects is discipline in action but there is no censorship
on opinion', he said while replying to a question whether
individual parties in NDA could air contradictory opinion on
the Sri Lankan issue.Asked about his opinion on the Czech model proposed by
the DMK chief M Karunanidhi as a possibility to end the
Lankan crisis, he said he had no individual opinion but could
reflect only government of India's stand, which was that it
would not interfere in the unity and integrity of Lanka unless
humanitarian aid was sought.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 10:00:29 EDT 2000
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DMK chief defends stand on Sri Lanka
Hindu, June 6.
Karunanidhi said he realised more than anyone else that nobody
had the right to advise another country to divide itself, but "there
ought to be a distinction between those who talked of Sri Lanka's
unity sitting in air-conditioned comfort and poring over a world
map, and those who understood the ground realities." "Nobody will oppose it if Tamils in Sri Lanka were given all
rights and considered equal to Sinhala-speaking citizens, and
most certainly I will not. However, talking in terms of temporary
solutions without conferring rights on Tamils amounts to
postponing the problem," he said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 09:57:39 EDT 2000
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The lull in fighting in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula continues
Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo.
The lull in the fighting in Jaffna peninsula continued today with
intermittent artillery and motar fire been exchanged by the rebels and the
army. The governments media unit meanwhile accuse the LTTE of blocking
civilians living in areas captured by the rebels from crossing over to
government controlled areas. The Special Media Unit of the government send
thousands of civilians who wanted to cross over to government controlled
areas were being stopped by the LTTE<
Published: Tue Jun 6 09:19:21 EDT 2000
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Thousands of people demonstrate against draconian regulations restricting
political and civil rights.
Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo.
Thousands of people belongings to over 30 political parties, trade unions
and civil society groups demonstrated in the busy business distract if Fort
today demanding that the government withdraw draconian regulations which
restrict political and civil rights of the people. The activists
distributed 50,000 copies of a statement signed by leading opposition
political parties, trade unions and civil society groups in and around fort
and Pettah areas warning of the erosion of democracy. The activists
followed it up by demonstrating outside the Fort Railway station shouting
slogans against the censorship of the media and the sealing of three
newspapers by the government. This is the first major demonstration staged
in the country after the Government eased restrictions on political
meetings and demonstrations four days ago following pressure from local
groups and the international community.
Published: Tue Jun 6 09:19:21 EDT 2000
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Sunday Leader case postponed by one week.
Waruna Karunatilake in Colombo.
The Fundamental rights application before the Supreme Court filed by the
Editor and Publishers against a sealing of the newspaper group was
postponed by a week today after the Attorney general's department asked for
more time tom file answers. Today's hearing was to argue the request of the
newspaper group for interim relief of lifting the ban until the case is heard.
Published: Tue Jun 6 09:19:21 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka's tea workers to pray for wage increase
AFP, June 6 2000 15:48 IST.
Sri Lanka's most influential trade union Tuesday said they agreed with two other unions to go ahead with a "prayer campaign" that will cripple the tea industry, the mainstay of the economy.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 08:37:34 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka boosts morale with "War Heroes Day"
AFP, June 6 2000 15:24 IST.
Sri Lanka is to observe a nationwide "War Heroes Day" in a bid to boost the morale of soldiers defending the northern town of Jaffna against a Tamil Tiger rebel offensive, officials here said.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 08:36:30 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka probes naval loss
BCC, Tuesday, 6 June, 2000, 10:57 GMT.
The Sri Lankan authorities are investigating an incident on Monday when two of their naval vessels were destroyed in the northern Jaffna peninsula. In Monday's clash, one vessel was rammed by Tamil Tiger rebels but the second was destroyed by the Sri Lankan air force, when it went to the aid of the first ship. "The air force is having its own investigation into the incident," an official said adding that they were trying to find out how the pilot mistook the gunboat for a rebel craft.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 08:32:17 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan's Media Complaint Backfires
PlanetOut Gay & Lesbian News, Tuesday June 06 02:51 AM EDT .
A "shameful" ruling finds that the gay leader who complained about an anti-lesbian article is himself guilty of "promoting sadism."
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 08:04:17 EDT 2000
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Destruction of LTTE forces, Army's newest strategy -Army Chief
SL Government, SL Tuesday June 6.
"Tactically, what we are trying to do is destroy their fighting forces, that is the main strategy, even more than taking over land," said the Sri Lankan Army Chief, Major General Srilal Weerasooriya, speaking to NDTV at Palali air base, for the first time since the recent fighting with the Tigers began in the northern peninsula.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 06:19:51 EDT 2000
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Govt unmoved by Karunanidhi's statements
Pioneer News Service/New Delhi, New Delh Tuesday June 6.
The Ministry of External Affairs has maintained a neutral response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's statements on the Sri Lankan situation and said that there was "no change" in its position on the crisis in the island nation. "There is no change in our position", a foreign office spokesman said when the Government's view was sought on Mr Karunanidi's remarks that Sri Lanka should consider that "Czech and Slovak" model of ethnic communities opting for separate nationhood or devolve more rights to Tamils.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 06:13:09 EDT 2000
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S.Lanka surprised over Indian Tamil leader remarks
Reuters, 1.11 SLT Tuesday June 6.
COLOMBO, June 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has warned that a partition of the country as demanded by Tamil Tiger rebels could eventually lead to the "Balkanisation" of neighbouring India. Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said late on Monday that remarks attributed to the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu that Sri Lanka should separate along the lines of Czech and Slovak Republics were surprising.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 06:07:38 EDT 2000
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Pakistan stun Sri Lanka with lightning display in the field
CricInfo, 5 June 2000.
Pakistan rolled to an easy seven wicket triumph over Sri Lanka in a puerile
final round robin game at the seventh Pepsi Asia Cup in Dhaka this evening.
Set a target of 193, Yousof Youhana was the prime mover in the Pakistani
reply as the Lankans tried everything to nip his budding second wicket stand
with Mohd. Wasim, including an attempt by Upul Chandana to physically
incapacitate Youhana with a throw that homed in on his elbow as he raced
between the wickets.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 01:12:02 EDT 2000
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Youhana's class act continues
The Hindu, Tuesday, June 06, 2000.
It was a contest won by Pakistan but thrust on everyone - from the
spectators to the administrators and of course, the players. On a night when
competitive flavour was distinctly lacking, despite Yousuf Youhana's
innings, Sri Lanka heaped agony on itself by being complacent. In the
process, some players may have even earned the displeasure of coach Dave
Whatmore for their casual performance. Five run outs in the Sri Lankan
innings did not show the team in good light. The response from the stands
did not matter since both the teams, already in the final, took things easy
by naming line-ups which indicated their approach to the contest.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 01:07:47 EDT 2000
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'Tamils not for separate state'
The Hindu, Tuesday, June 06, 2000.
The suggestion by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M Karunanidhi, that Sri
Lanka follow the Czechoslovakian model and split into two separate countries
evoked a sharp reaction from the island today. ``The partitioning of Sri
Lanka will be the beginning of balkanisation of India,'' warned the Media
Minister and Government spokesman, Mr Mangala Samaraweera. ``If Mr
Karunanidhi knows the wishes of the Tamils, he should know that most of them
do not want a separate state.''
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 01:04:47 EDT 2000
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Crucial Sri Lankan meeting today
The Hindu, Tuesday, June 06, 2000.
Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance (PA) coalition and the opposition
United National Party(UNP) are expected to cross swords over the most
contentious issues in the draft constitutional reforms at a meeting
tomorrow. The President, Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, has set a June 15
deadline for finishing consultations with the UNP on the reforms, of which
devolution to the Tamil minority forms the centre-piece.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 01:02:31 EDT 2000
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Alter Tamil policy, India tells Sri Lanka
The India Daily, Tuesday, June 6, 2000.
New Delhi : The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today reiterated
that India would not send troops to Sri Lanka, and urged Colombo to alter
its Tamil policy and adopt peaceful means to end the crisis. In Colombo, the
deputy defence minister today said over 4,000 more troops had been rushed to
the Jaffna peninsula. An estimated 30,000 troops are already in Jaffna
fighting the Tamil Tigers. Reports from Trincomalee said heavy military
equipment were awaiting shipment to Jaffna.
Published: Tue Jun 6 00:54:59 EDT 2000
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Lanka polls on time: Chandrika
The Asian Age, Colombo, June 5.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said the general election in the country
will be held as scheduled. Speaking to Sandeshiya, a Sinhala programme, the
President said she was hopeful of overcoming all obstacles, both
constitutionally and democratically, before the general election. The term
of present Parliament expires in August this year and a new election is to
be held October. On the situation in the northern Jaffna, she said the Army
is confident but said no time frame can be given. She said the government
was prepared to talk to the ltte on devolution of power even at this stage
provided they give up violence.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 00:52:05 EDT 2000
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Opposition to PM: Clarify NDA policy on Sri Lanka
The Asian Age, New Delhi, June 5.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance continues to speak in different
voices on the Sri Lankan issue. While the Union government has consistently
held that it was committed to the maintenance of sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Sri Lanka, the DMK, PMK and MDMK constituents of the NDA are
getting increasingly vocal in their support for Tamil Eelam and the LTTE.
More...
Published: Tue Jun 6 00:48:38 EDT 2000
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Kachcha Theevu: fishermen plan stir in August
Newindpress, June 5.
The Tamilaga Meenavar Thannurimai
Iyakkam and the Akila Indhiya Meenavar Peravai are
planning to
launch an agitation in August, demanding
reannexation of Kachacha
Theevu with India to save fishermen from attacks by
Sri Lankan Navy. According to P.M.Thamizhmanthan, State president of
the Iyakkam,
who has undertaken a propaganda tour from
Kanyakumari for the
preservation of marine wealth, the then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi
handed over Kachcha Theevu to Sri Lanka in 1974.
Subsequently Sri
Lankan Navy personnel not only have not been
allowing Tamil Nadu
fishermen to fish in the area but also have been
gunning them down.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 23:09:16 EDT 2000
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Why TN politicians back Lankan Tamils' cause
newindpress, June 5.
While Karunanidhi has called for a Czech model, Ramadoss welcomes
third party mediation. The call for a separate State
may be the result of
past frustration as devolution packages are only
announced but never
implemented. One thing these parties understand well
is that LTTE
never comes to the `talking table.' What the Tamil
Nadu voters will think of the Sri Lankan solution will be
at the back of these leaders' gestures and
utterances. As the other
alliance in the State, led by AIADMK and TMC, is
totally against the
LTTE and is for the territorial integrity of Sri
Lanka, the coming events
there might well decide the outcome of the next
elections to the State
Assembly.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 23:06:00 EDT 2000
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Shedding tears for Lankan Tamils not a crime:
Ramadoss
June 6.
PMK founder president Dr S Ramadoss has regretted over
the attitude of a few that shedding tears for the
innocent Lankan Tamils
is itself a crime.He said the blood relationship
between Lankan Tamils and Indian
Tamils is dates back to over 2000 to 3000 years.
In fact, the Tamils
ruled that country in yesteryears, but after that
the Sinhalese dethrown
them and harassed them.So, the present conflict
is a battle of those who lost their lands and
rights and those who snatched their freedom.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 23:01:41 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi's turnaround stuns BJP
Rediff, June 5.
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief K Karunanidhi's abrupt albeit
controversial turnaround Sunday suggesting the division
of Sri Lanka on the
lines of Czech and Slovakia if its political leadership
did not grant more
powers to the ethnic Tamils has sent Bharatiya Janata
Party leaders
scurrying for cover.Tamil Nadu Congress general
secretary E V K S Elangovan, who was
appointed state Pradesh Congress Committee chief by
party president Sonia
Gandhi today, was besieged with questions on
Karunanidhi's statement. He said his personal stand was in consonance
with his party's. He said Sri
Lanka's sovereignty and territorial integrity was
non-negotiable and the
alliance partners of the NDA better reconcile
themselves to this.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 22:55:53 EDT 2000
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Slain girl's dad buoyed by discovery of evidence
Globe and Mail, June 5.
Toronto -- It will soon be a year since Sharmini Anandavel left her
parents' Don
Mills Road apartment in search of a new job. Her
father, Eloornayagam, says the family has found some peace since the
discovery of the 15-year-old's skull and several
bone fragments in a North York
river valley in October.However, Mr. Anandavel said
he knew nothing about media reports that new
evidence -- a piece of his daughter's clothing that
may contain a suspect's DNA --
was found in the east Don Parklands late last
week.And he hopes to return to his native Sri Lanka later this year to
visit his family. "I
want to see my mother and my sister. My parents and
family are very sad. We are
very close."
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 22:48:49 EDT 2000
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Czech-mating Tamils
Times of India, June 5.
The war in Sri Lanka has always been good for a sideshow
in Tamil Nadu. Each regional party wants to do one better
than the other. Mercifully, Jayalalitha's AIADMK is silent.
So the game of one-upmanship is between the DMK of M.
Karunanidhi and the Kazhagams-come-lately such as the
MDMK of Vaiko and the PMK of Dr Ramadoss. In his anxiety to put one over the MDMK and PMK,
Karunanidhi has pulled out of his hat the idea that Sri Lanka
should be split like Czechoslovakia was between the
Czechs and the Slovaks. What he suggests is territorial
separation between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. In other
words, Eelam for Sri Lankan Tamils.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 22:33:37 EDT 2000
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Govt disagrees with Karunanidhi to control damage
Indian Express, June 6.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's baffling
turnaround on the Sri Lankan issue has put India in an embarrassing
situation, forcing it to reiterate that the ethnic conflict should be resolved
within the framework of the island nation's territorial integrity.At a time when two other allies of the BJP and the DMK in Tamil Nadu, the
MDMK of Vaiko and the PMK led by S Ramadoss are openly defying the
Indian position on Sri Lanka and supporting the cause of the Tamils being
espoused by the LTTE, Karunanidhi may have succumbed to their pressure
to an extent.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 19:28:41 EDT 2000
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Delhi dash to defuse DMK bomb
The Telegraph, June 5.
A red-faced government today scampered to play down ally M.
Karunanidhi’s “Czechoslovakia-type solution” to the Sri Lankan
ethnic crisis, saying there was no shift in its stand that the Tamil
problem should be resolved without violating the territorial
integrity of the island-nation. Colombo has reportedly been asked not to take Karunanidhi’s statement too seriously. The chief minister is alleged to have made the remark to appease hardliners demanding a Tamil Eelam.and marginalise MDMK chief Vaiko. , a known Tiger sympathiser.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 19:23:08 EDT 2000
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LTTE’S MENACE An Impossible Negotiator -An Editorial
The Statesman, June 5.
RESPONDING to clamour, President Chandrika Kumaratunga has offer-ed to
parley with the LTTE supremo, V Prabhakaran. She knows, even if others more
generous with advice than aid do not, that neither on the immediate crisis nor on
the main problem do talks offer much hope in the present situation.Prabhakaran is as starkly realistic as Khruschev was when he said at Leipzig on
7 March 1959: “History teaches us that conferences reflect in their decisions an
established balance of forces resulting from victory or capitulation in war or similar
circumstances.”As the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi, courageously said on 15
May, Prabhakaran is no champion of the Tamils. He is a fascist who has
eliminated by murder any Tamil who he perceives as an alternative. Neelan
Tiruchel-vam had to be done away with last July because his outstanding qualities
made him the one Tamil leader who could have bridged the gulf between Tamil
aspirations and Sinhala fears. The march of gore from the EPRLF’s Sabaratnam’s
killing in 1986 is revolting — K Pathmanabha also of EPRLF, two TULF leaders in
1985, and another two, including its leader A Amirthalingam, in 1990, two former
benefactors — Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and President R Premadasa in 1993, Foreign
Minister Ranjan Wijeratna, Navy Chief Admiral Clancy Fernando, former Minister
Lalith Athulath-mudali, Gamini Dissanayake, the UNP’s presidential candidate,
who was killed along with 55 others, including two former Cabinet Ministers, and
the general secretary of the UNP. The LTTE is not a liberation movement that
uses terror as a weapon, but essentially a terrorist unit. Prabhakaran is South
Asia’s Pol Pot. The attempt on the life of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, only
last December during her election campaign, just after the LTTE’s military
victories in November, was a bid to bring the state to its knees.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 19:00:30 EDT 2000
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Czech envoy joins issue with Karunanidhi
Hindustan Times, June 5.
TAMIL NADU Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi got his facts wrong when he
recommended a "bloodless territorial separation" of the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka on
the pattern of the separation of the Czechs from the Slovaks after the collapse of the
communist structure in Eastern Europe, a Czech diplomat said. "There is no parallel between the Czech-Slovak case and the Sri Lankan case. The
historical context is very different," the diplomat told The Hindustan Times over
phone from New Delhi. He said that the Czechs and Slovaks were separate most of
the time in history except for a period in the 8th-9th century and later, from 1918 to
1993. Generally, the Czechs were under the Austrian Empire and the Slovaks under the
Hungarian Empire. After the collapse of the communist structure in the late eighties,
the Slovaks wanted more autonomy.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:52:41 EDT 2000
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Wrong view -Editorial
Deccan Herald, June 5.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader, Mr M Karunanidhi`s comment on a Czechoslovakian model of division of Sri Lanka will not
be accepted as right and suitable for the island nation either by the people of that country or by India. Mr Karunanidhi has made it clear that
he had expressed his views on the Sri Lanka situation not as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu but as the leader of the DMK. Tamil parties
are often constrained to take a pro-LTTE position because of the compulsions of politics.The position of the Indian government and the mainstream Opposition parties has been that the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka has to be resolved
within the framework of the Sri Lankan Constitution. The public opinion in India has also favoured a peaceful settlement of the issue, without
endangering Sri Lanka`s sovereignty and territorial integrity.The
Indian government, State governments or political parties have no right to propose a formula to resolve the conflict in Lanka.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:46:39 EDT 2000
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An irresponsible stance -Opinion
Hindu, June 5.
THE TAMIL NADU Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi's recent pitch on Sri Lanka is
unwarranted and unwelcome. To have argued that Sri Lanka should agree for a separation on the
model of Czechoslovakia (in the event that Tamils are not granted more rights) is to peddle a
solution that is, at best, very vague and, at worst, extremely irresponsible.Far more important is the not-so-oblique endorsement of the
idea of the island nation being divided along ethnic lines. This runs contrary to India's commitment
to a united Sri Lanka, a position which has been the cornerstone of the country's foreign policy
since the mid-Eighties. It also runs foul of what is often unstated but is arguably a concomitant of
the above position - namely, that the establishment of Eelam would be against India's larger
interests in the South Asia region. What if leaders of other countries were to make similar
suggestions about Kashmir or parts of the Northeast? The belief that there is considerable support within Tamil Nadu
for the LTTE or Eelam is one of the myths that a number of political parties in the State continue
to subscribe to. One result of this is a game of competitive politics or the phenomenon of political
parties vying with each other to play what they regard as the Sri Lankan Tamil card.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:41:51 EDT 2000
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No Czech, mate -Editorial
Daily Pioneer, June 5.
It runs totally contrary to the Indian Government s frequently reiterated stand that a
settlement has to be found without compromising Sri Lanka's territorial integrity.
Any departure from this would not only mean reneging on a long-standing
commitment but setting a precedent extremely dangerous for India. The separatists
in Jammu & Kashmir and north-eastern India would then be able to argue that New
Delhi should accept a similar settlement at home and grant them independence. And,
their morale would receive a massive boost if Eelam becomes a reality. One hopes that the military situation in
Jaffna which has not yet fallen and where the Sri Lankan Army is now better
equipped and motivated to fight makes the LTTE more accommodating than they
have been so far. It is here that leaders like Mr Karunanidhi have a role. Instead of
talking about the splitting up of Sri Lanka, they should be persuading the LTTE to
see reason.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:36:29 EDT 2000
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Dangerous game: DMK chief's 'divorce' plan could have
serious fallouts -Editorial
Hindustan Times, June 5.
this
ostensibly reasonable prescription suffers from many flaws. One: a marriage
suggests a coming together of two distinct entities; Sri Lanka was and continues to
be a single entity. Two: marriage counselling is not necessarily a perfect guide to
global politics. And three: unkind cynics may well want to remind Mr Karunanidhi
that for some men there is an alternative — why go in for a divorce when you can
have two wives? Obviously, Mr Karunanidhi’s prescription is unacceptable. Sri Lanka is a sovereign
nation and an Indian minister has no business making pronouncements that seem
to encourage secession.Past experience with Mr Karunanidhi suggests that this statement is part of a
deliberate strategy of obfuscation. He does not want to support Eelam — both
because of his awareness of the duplicitous nature of V. Prabhakaran and because
he is responsible enough not to want to break with the government’s line on this
issue — but is aware that his constituency has strong views about the plight of
Lanka’s Tamils.The divorce advice, he says, comes
from the president of the DMK. The responsible statements emanate from the Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu. The distinction is essentially bogus but Mr Karunanidhi
reckons that he has to be on both sides of this issue if he is to retain his position as
head of the Dravidian forces.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:31:28 EDT 2000
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DMK chief out on please-all mission
Hindustan Times, June 5.
BY MOOTING the Czechoslovakian model of separation for Sri Lanka's warring
ethnic groups, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi appears to be on a course
to please all and prevent the Opposition from pinning him down on the issue.
Did Mr Karunanidhi make the statement because he discerned revival of support in
Tamil Nadu for the suffering Tamils in Sri Lanka? Although, there is no sympathy for the LTTE since the assassination of Rajiv
Gandhi, the plight of 1 lakh people in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu is a sob story.
Certainly, Mr Karunanidhi, who built his politics as a champion of the Tamil pride,
cannot afford to be accused of betraying the Sri Lankan Tamils' cause when the
Assembly polls are nine months away.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:24:52 EDT 2000
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Cong., Left criticise Karunanidhi's proposal
The Hindu, June 5.
The Congress(I) demanded a categorical statement from the Prime Minister
clarifying the NDA's
position. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who looks after the party's Tamil Nadu
affairs, said the
Congress(I) was firmly opposed to a division of Sri Lanka and believed
that its territorial integrity
was ``sacrosanct''. The CPI(M) pointed out that the creation of a
separate Eelam would have ``dangerous
consequences in the region and serious implications for India''. It
demanded that the Government
``immediately condemn'' Mr. Karunanidhi's statement, as also similar
statements by other NDA
allies. The CPI general secretary, Mr. A. B. Bardhan, termed the
statement ``unwarranted and uncalled
for'' saying it indicated the ``confusion'' in the NDA. ``By talking
about the Czech model, Mr.
Karunanidhi has shown his ignorance of what led to the division of
Czechoslovakia'', he said,
reiterating his party's ``commitment'' to Sri Lanka's multi-ethnic and
territorial unity. Mr. J. P. Mathur, BJP vice-president made it clear
that the BJP ``did not want Sri Lanka to be divided'' Czechoslovakia
style or any other way.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:19:41 EDT 2000
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Govt. stand unchanged
The Hindu, June 5.
India's position on Sri Lanka has not changed and Colombo has not raised
the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi's controversial
remarks on the situation on the
island with New Delhi, the Foreign Office said today. ``There is no
change in our position'', the Foreign Office spokesman said when asked
to comment
on Mr. Karunanidhi's assertion that Sri Lanka should either devolve
more rights to the Tamils or
follow the Czech model ( of carving out two new independent states) to
resolve its ethnic crisis.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:19:42 EDT 2000
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Crucial Sri Lankan meeting today
The Hindu, June 5.
Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance (PA) coalition and the opposition
United National Party(UNP) are expected to cross swords over the most
contentious issues in the
draft constitutional reforms at a meeting tomorrow. The President, Mrs
Chandrika Kumaratunga,
has set a June 15 deadline for finishing consultations with the UNP on
the reforms, of which
devolution to the Tamil minority forms the centre-piece.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:19:42 EDT 2000
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Tamils not for separate state'
The Hindu, June 5.
`The partitioning of Sri Lanka will be the beginning of balkanisation of
India,'' warned the Media
Minister and Government spokesman, Mr Mangala Samaraweera. ``If Mr
Karunanidhi knows the
wishes of the Tamils, he should know that most of them do not want a
separate state.'' Mr. Dharmalingam Sithadthan, MP and leader of the
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamils
(PLOT), said while such statements would certainly put the Sri Lankan
Government under
pressure to give maximum concessions concessions to the Tamils, the
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
also had ``an obligation to put pressure on the LTTE'' to accept a
political settlement.
More..
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:19:42 EDT 2000
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Jaffna battle shatters Lanka's
revival hope
Times of India, June 6.
As Sri Lankans tighten their belts in the wake
of the sharp increase in gas, electricity and communication
tariffs, economists warn that rising prices will shatter hopes
of an early economic recovery for the war-weary island. With government troops set to face Tamil separatists in a
long drawn out battle in the northern Jaffna peninsula,
conservative estimates peg this year's inflation rate at about
eight per cent, compared to last year's official figure of 4.7
per cent. However, analysts say these figure is likely to shoot
up further as the months go by.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:06:45 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi's remarks: Tamils
cheer, Sinhalas fret
Times of India, June 6.
``Karunanidhi is a politician and should not be taken seriously;
he's trying to save his own skin vis-a-vis the LTTE,''
Karunaratne added. ``Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee made
a statement that the Sri Lankan government should start talks
with the LTTE, why doesn't the Indian government open up
dialogue with the Kashmiri militants?''``We welcome his speech. That is what was expected from
India in any case,'' EPDP member of Parliament, S
Thavarajah told TOINS. Adds TULF leader, V
Anandsanagari: ``Earlier the local Tamil newspapers had
started ridiculing Karunanidhi's stand on the issue, especially
since other local leaders in Tamil Nadu were being so
proactive. But with this, his stock has gone up in Sri Lanka.''
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 18:04:17 EDT 2000
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BJP differs with Karunanidhi on
Lanka issue
Times of India, June 6.
Differing sharply with its key allies the DMK
and PMK, the BJP on Monday asserted that the ethnic
conflict in Sri Lanka should be resolved upholding that
nation's territorial integrity, even as Opposition parties sought
to embarrass the government on the issue."Our stand is clear that territorial integrity of Sri Lanka
should be maintained and Tamils in that country should get
their rights and be treated equally," BJP president Kushabhau
Thakre said here.
The CPI-M criticised the government for its "silence" on the
stand of DMK and other allies of the BJP favouring division
of Sri Lanka, saying it was contrary to the country's stand on
the issue.AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters
that it was strange that the DMK, which is an important
constituent of the ruling NDA, should have made such a
statement and wanted the prime minister to clarify the
NDA's position on the issue. Stating that the Congress was not for division of Sri Lanka,
he said the party wanted a solution to be found to the ethnic
issue while maintaining territorial integrity and sovereignty of
the island nation.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 17:59:46 EDT 2000
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Divorce, DMK-style - Editorial
Times of India, June 6.
"How
can a husband live with an incompatible wife?". The logic is
impeccable, except that if applied in India, it might leave this
country holding on to only one bit of territory -- the Hindi
heartland. there was a time,
many, many years ago, when Mr Karunanidhi's DMK was
all fire and brimstone on precisely this point. If memory
serves us right, his party had then talked about a separate
flag and a separate Tamil state. Fortunately, better sense
prevailed and the DMK dropped secessionism from its
agenda.Indeed, if this is accepted, it would be perfectly
legitimate for a Kashmiri Muslim to support Pakistan on the
grounds of pan-Islamic emotionalism. It might have been
understandable had Mr Karunanidhi premised his support for
Eelam on human rights, though even that could be tricky
considering our own human rights record in Kashmir.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 17:54:18 EDT 2000
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Karunanidhi's non-solution
Indian Express, June 5.
The `solution' suggested by M. Karunanidhi to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem
is a hard riddle to solve. He should know, for example, that the analogy of the East European state,
which split into Czech and Slovak republics in the wake of historic
developments in the Second World headed by the Soviet Union, does not
apply to Sri Lanka at all. Soon after suggesting a Sinhala-Tamil `divorce' on the ground of
`incompatibility', he asks the Centre not to interfere in other's `family
affairs'. Is it his case that Chennai alone has a mandate to meddle in these
affairs? All things considered, the fuzzy formula would appear to be
Kaurnanidhi's solution, not so much to the neighbouring nation's problem,
as to a peculiar predicament of his own party.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 17:46:05 EDT 2000
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Analysis: Playing Tamil politics
BBC, Monday, 5 June, 2000, 14:51 GMT.
Around 60m Tamils live in Tamil Nadu, and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's position on Sri Lanka is closely watched by them and the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Ever since the Tamil Tigers were accused of murdering the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the government of Tamil Nadu has been in something of a problem in relation to the Sri Lankan war. On the one hand, the DMK is sympathetic towards many of the grievances cited by the Tamil Tigers. But on the other hand it disapproves of many of their methods.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 16:09:09 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka sailors missing in friendly
fire
MSNBC-Reuters, June 5.
Two Sri Lanka
gunboats were destroyed on Monday, one
of them by friendly fire, military officials
said. Tamil Tiger rebels destroyed the
other when they attacked a naval convoy
off the country's northern coast. At least
23 naval personnel were reported missing
from both boats.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 13:51:38 EDT 2000
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Sea battle in Sri Lanka
BBC, Monday, 5 June, 2000, 15:50 GMT.
The two Israeli-build Dvora attack crafts were said to be on patrol when they came upon a cluster of rebel boats. The two gunboats were destroyed by the Tamil Tigers in the ensuing battle. Earlier officials said the second craft had been accidentally destroyed by an air force jet, but a defence ministry spokesman denied this.
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Published: Mon Jun 5 13:00:30 EDT 2000
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Pakistan beats Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.
cricinfo.
Scores.
Sri Lanka 192/9 (49overs)
Pakistan 193/3 (48.3Overs)
Full Scores
Published: Mon Jun 5 12:26:17 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka says partition will lead to 'Balkanisation of India'
AFP, Monday, June 5 10:13 PM SGT .
Sri Lanka Monday warned that a partition of the tiny Indian Ocean island, as demanded by Tamil rebels, would lead to a "Balkanisation" of neighbouring India which has close cultural links with minority Tamils.Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he was surprised by remarks attributed to a powerful partner in India's coalition government who called for the partition of Sri Lanka along the lines of the Czech and Slovak republics.
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Published: Mon Jun 5 11:54:15 EDT 2000
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BJP says no differences with its allies on Centre's Sri Lanka policy
NDTV, June 5.
BJP President Kushabhau Thakre said today that he doesn't agree
with Dr. M Karunanidhi's view that Colombo should agree to
'territorial separation' along the model of the Czech and Slovak
republics. He reiterated the government's stand that a solution is
possible only within the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Mr. Thakre,
however, added that the Tamil Nadu allies are free to voice their
opinions and their stand had not embarrassed the government.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 10:21:46 EDT 2000
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Pro-LTTE rally planned for June 15
Chennaionline, June 5.
Tamil Desiya Iyakkam president and Tamil Eelam Supporters Coordination Committee organiser P
Nedumaran today announced processions in the city and in the districts on June 15 to press the centre to recognise
the current liberation movement by the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 10:08:52 EDT 2000
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Tigers prepare for new Jaffna offensive
Tamil Guradian, June 2.
The Liberation Tigers are massing their units in the Jaffna peninsula for a new offensive
thrust, amidst consolidation in newly captured areas, reports from the northern
peninsula said.Earlier, reports said the LTTE had augmented its artillery on the peninsula, and is now
shelling areas along Jaffna's northern coastline, disrupting the SLA's supply lines to the
peninsula, press reports said. LTTE artillery shells are hitting coastal areas to the west
of Kankesanthurai (KKS), the SLA's only harbour in Jaffna, press reports said. Meanwhile, in the Thenmaradchchi sector, since capturing Chavacachcheri, the second
largest town on the peninsula, two weeks ago, the Liberation Tigers have advanced into
areas to its north such as Madduvil and Sarasalai.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:58:52 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka Claims 1,000 Rebel Deaths
AP, Monday June 5 9:42 AM ET.
``We have come to this figure after monitoring terrorists' transmissions and from information from our units,'' Fernando told The Associated Press. He said 800 of the deaths were in the first three weeks of May. A lull in the fighting during the past two weeks has resulted in only 200 deaths, he said.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:54:17 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan postal union ousts
leader for agreeing to government
restructuring
WSWS, June 2.
In the midst of Sri Lanka's deepening military conflict in
the North and political crisis in Colombo, a longstanding
postal union leader has been suspended from his post on
charges of collaborating with the Peoples Alliance
government in implementing its restructuring plans. The
incident not only reflects a deep hostility to the union
bureaucrat in question, but a combative mood among
sections of workers to the government and its attempts to
use the war as a means of making drastic new inroads into
living standards.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:44:35 EDT 2000
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President confident
Tigers can be
beaten
SCMP, June 5.
"Every year I was increasing the defence
budget a little but certainly not as much as
the defence establishment would have liked
because we are a poor country," she said.
"Also, over the past two years or so,
probably we did not have a strategy that
could effectively meet the LTTE's
[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]
challenge." Mrs Kumaratunga said contacts
with the Tigers were continuing through the
Norwegians and they could come into the
discussions at any time. But she said there
was no question of talking unless certain
conditions were fulfilled.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:42:43 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan lesbians, gays to move
against media watchdog
CNN, June 5.
A former Roman Catholic
priest who is now a gay rights activist said Sunday he will take
Sri Lanka's press council to court for clearing a newspaper that
published a letter saying lesbians should be raped.The council fined him 2,100 rupees ($30) for supporting
homosexuality, which is illegal under a 114-year law.A few days after The Island newspaper reported in August that
a lesbian convention was coming to Colombo, it published a
letter from an irate reader who opposed lesbianism. The writer
signed his name as P. Alles. In his letter, Alles urged police "to let loose convicted rapists
among the jubilant but jaded jezebels when their assembly is in
full swing so that those who are misguided may get a taste of
the real thing."The Island, in its reply to the council, said just as lesbians have
a right to hold a meeting, readers opposed to the practice have a
right to criticize it. Merely highlighting such opinion does not
amount to encouraging violence against women, the newspaper
argued.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:31:41 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka's civil war and the Canadian connection
National Post, June 3.
he Tamil Tigers aren't the only international terrorist group that raises money in Canada, but they have certainly been one of the most effective, generating by one estimate more than $22-million last year to finance a wave of ethnic warfare in northeastern Sri Lanka that has left 60,000 dead.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:25:31 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka boosts security around sacred
tree, bans photography
123India-afp, June 5.
Sri Lankan security forces have
bolstered security around one of the country's holiest Buddhist shrines which
houses a tree reputed to be the world's oldest. The shrine's holiest monk, Pallegama Siri Sumana Dhamma Rakkhita, told AFP Monday
the government had deployed extra police and army troopers to guard the temple
following a sharp escalation in the country's civil war. "Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus and Christians all use to live under the
same umbrella. It was always very friendly. Now that has changed," he said
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:25:26 EDT 2000
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Navy gunboats sunk as Sri Lanka says peace talks look distant
AFP, June 5.
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels destroyed an explosives-laden navy gunboat in a suicide attack Monday marking an upsurge in fighting in the island's north, officials said. The suicide-boat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked the Israel-built Dvora gunboat, killing five sailors, as it escorted a naval convoy off the island's north-eastern coast, officials said. They said a second Dvora, which went to the aid of the crippled craft, was bombed and destroyed accidentally by an air force jet called in to bomb rebel craft in the area. Around 15 sailors from that boat were missing
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:13:26 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka lifts censorship on foreign media
AFP, June 5.
Sri Lanka Monday announced the lifting of tight censorship regulations on the Colombo-based foreign media, but continued the restrictions on the local media. Chief censor Ariya Rubasinghe said that the government decided to ease the restrictions on the foreign press with immediate effect.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:04:45 EDT 2000
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Two Naval gunboats sink
Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 6.50 p.m. SLT Monday June 5.
Two naval Dvora fast attack gunboats escorting a ship carrying Lankan
troops was shot at by the LTTE at around 10 a.m. this morning at
Mullaitivu, east of Vadamarachi on the northern coastline. One boat was
hit and sank.
When troops called for air support, a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jet
which came to the aid of the soldiers under attack, dropped a bomb on the
second naval gun boat. It is believed that nearly a dozen naval soldiers
were killed as a result of the Tiger attack and the accidental bombing of
the SLAF.
Meanwhile sources revealed that fresh fighting has broken out between
government soldiers and the LTTE at Nagarkovil southeast of the Jaffna
Peninsula.
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:02:07 EDT 2000
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Censorship on foreign correspondents removed
Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 6.55 p.m. SLT Monday June 5 .
The press censorship on foreign correspondents was removed by President
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge today. All local news continues to be
strictly monitored by the government competent authority.
The President however told a foreign news service yesterday that she will
soon lift censorship on the local media in view of upcoming general
elections which she retierated will not be postponed. The elections are
scheduled to be held before August this year.
Published: Mon Jun 5 09:02:07 EDT 2000
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Lanka lauds Thailand: Sees backing for rebels on decline
Bangkok Post, Monday, June 5.
Sri Lanka praised Thailand for helping it break down the Tamil separatists' network and said domestic and foreign sympathy for the group was on the decline. Deputy commerce minister Kingsley Wickramaratne said Thailand was helpful over the past few years in restraining local networks of Tamil Tigers while bilateral relations also rapidly improved.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:51:52 EDT 2000
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Lankan troops kill 200 Tigers in northern Jaffna
Broadcastindia.com/Doordarshan, Monday, June 5 12:51 PM SGT .
Sri Lankan defence ministry has said that its troops have put the Tamil rebels on defensive in northern Jaffna peninsula, after killing at least 200 guerillas and knocking out some of their heavy artilleries. A defence ministry spokesman said this brought calm in the rebel camp. The rebels have not listed any casualty or other fighting details on their website.
More...
[Watch]
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:47:53 EDT 2000
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Homeless Tamils crave peace in Sri Lanka
AFP, Monday, June 5 12:51 PM SGT .
On the outskirts of Trincomalee, 500 families share a United Nations camp for internal refugees, a dusty village carved out of second-hand corrugated iron, bamboo and rattan.Their lives are based on three common factors. All were made homeless by Sri Lanka's civil war. All are long term residents, and the entire camp is made up of ethnic Tamils.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:33:57 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan Military: 1,000 Tamil Rebels Killed
AP, Monday, June 5 3:46 PM SGT .
Sri Lanka's military said Monday it has killed 1,000 Tamil Tiger rebels in two weeks. The Defense Ministry's senior spokesman, Brig. Palitha Fernando, said 1,000 rebels had been killed and an equal number wounded in the past two weeks in fighting in the northern Jaffna peninsula
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:28:57 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan navy loses two gunboats in rebel attack
AFP, June 5 2000 15:39 IST.
Tamil Tiger rebels destroyed a navy gunboat in northern Sri Lanka Monday while another navy craft that went to the aid of the first one was sunk in a friendly-fire accident, diplomatic sources said. The Israeli-built Dvora class gunboat came under intense attack from a flotilla of boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Vettilaikerni in the Jaffna peninsula early Monday, the sources said. However, a second Dvora which went to the rescue of the first one was hit by a Kfir ground attack aircraft which tried to provide cover to the navy vessels, the sources said.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:21:25 EDT 2000
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Seven Tamil Tigers killed, talks rejected
AFP, Monday, June 5 6:00 PM SGT .
Government forces shot dead at least seven Tamil Tiger guerrillas in northern Sri Lanka as President Chandrika Kumaratunga said the rebels had again rejected peace talks.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:15:33 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan government to lift the censorship on foreign media.
Roy Denish in Colombo, SLT, 17:53 Monday..
Plans are afoot by government of Sri Lanka to lift the censorship on
foreign media with immediate effect, information ministry sources told
Lacnet in Colombo.
An official of the ministry said that the censorship on foreign media will
be lifted today and an official statement will be released at local time
1800 hours. Government imposed strict media censorship on May 3 this year,
just ten days after, separatist Liberation Tigers rebels took control of
Elephant Pass military complex, the country's most valued real estate in
northern Jaffna peninsula.
The censorship was aimed at preventing local newspapers and foreign news
agencies reporting on the war that raging in northern Jaffna. Two
newspapers alleged to have violated the censorship were sealed by the
government two weeks ago.
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:11:22 EDT 2000
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Sri Lankan Media Resists Censorship
AP, Monday June 5 2:31 AM ET .
``Censored.'' The Sunday Times splashed the single word across the op-ed page after the government censor spiked its entire report on the escalation of the war against Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula. Iqbal Athas, the author of the article, submitted his manuscript to the censor ahead of publication, as all journalists reporting about the civil war in Sri Lanka are now obliged to do. It came back with a rubber stamp: ``This article, picture/map are censored and NOT permitted to be published.'' As soldiers fight Tamil rebels in the north and bombs go off elsewhere in this small island nation, such government screening has become common. Every day, Sri Lanka's English, Sinhala and Tamil language papers publish truncated news reports and opinion pieces with ``Censored'' in bold type sprinkled across the pages, representing portions deleted by the government censor.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 08:11:13 EDT 2000
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Sri Lanka talks 'with conditions'
BBC News, 09:59 GMT Monday June 5.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga says Tamil Tiger rebels can enter peace talks -but there would be certain conditions.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 06:14:37 EDT 2000
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Keells says hotels, transport drive profit
Reuters, SLT Monday June 5.
COLOMBO, June 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's biggest blue chip conglomerate John Keells Holdings Ltd (JKH) said on Monday its transport and leisure divisions drove its 29 percent growth in earnings for the year to March 2000.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 06:05:28 EDT 2000
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Cricket-Sri Lanka win toss, bat against Pakistan
Reuters, Monday June 5.
DHAKA, June 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat against Pakistan in the last league match of the four-nation Asia Cup cricket tournament on Monday.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 06:03:06 EDT 2000
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33 LTTE Lt. Colonels, 60 Majors killed during military operation - Major Gen. Janaka Perera
SL Government, SLT Monday June 05.
North East Operations Commander Major General Janaka Perera revealed recently, that 33 Lieutenant Colonels and 60 Majors of the LTTE were killed in fighting during the military operation "Unceasing Wave III" launched by the army last month, in the northern peninsula, to recapture the lost territory.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 05:58:35 EDT 2000
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Tamil Tigers sink a navy ship.
Roy Denish in Colombo, SLT, 12.42 Monday..
Separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacked a Sri Lankan naval
convoy northeast of Jaffna peninsula sinking a fast attack craft known as
Super Dvora.
The convoy was attacked at Nagar Kovil, an area now under control of LTTE.
Military officials said another craft was sunk and when Sri Lankan air
force fired at the craft accidentally. At the time of writing the casualty
figures were not available, but military officials said heavy fighting was
continuing between LTTE Sea Tigers and the Sri Lankan naval men.
The attacks forced the convoy to return to Trincomalee. The convoy was
carrying dry rations and military hardware to the soldiers now involved in
fighting with LTTE cadres in Jaffna.
Published: Mon Jun 5 02:54:06 EDT 2000
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Lankans enjoy life longer than Indians: WHO
05 June 2000.
WASHINGTON, June 4. — The World Health Organisation has placed India behind
Sri Lanka and Pakistan relating to the number of years its people can expect
to live in “full health”.
India (‘healthy life’ expectancy of 53.2 years) figures near the middle on a
list of 191 countries, topped by Japan (74.5 years). Sierra Leone is last at
25.9 years. This is how some of India’s neighbours have done: Sri Lanka
62.8; Pakistan 55.9; Bangladesh 49.9; Nepal 49.5; Afghanistan 37.7. The
figures are calculated from the expected number of years to be lived in
“full health”, with years of very bad health subtracted from the overall
life expectancy. — PTI
Published: Mon Jun 5 00:20:44 EDT 2000
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DMK moots ‘territorial separation’ in Lanka
05 June 2000.
CHENNAI, June 4. — In a sudden shift in the DMK’s stance vis-a-vis ethnic
strife in Sri Lanka, the party president, Mr M Karunanidhi today suggested
that the island nation should either agree to “territorial separation” like
that of the Czech and the Slovakia republics or give equal rights to the
Tamils in the country.
The volte face by the DMK chief comes in the wake of his advising the MDMK
leader, Mr Vaiko, on Friday to call off the 5 June rally in support of a
Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.The Tamil Nadu chief minister said he was for the
Czechoslovakian model of a “totally peaceful resolution without shedding a
drop of blood” to resolve the Lanka crisis.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 00:18:42 EDT 2000
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Chandrika denies having offered CM's post to Prabhakaran
Monday, June 5, 2000.
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today denied having made
a fresh offer to LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran to make him Chief Minister of
northern province in a recent televison interview,reports PTI.Chandrika
first disclosed the offer during an interview with the 'Time' magazine in
1998. The disclosure, however, led to a major controversy with the principle
Opposition United National Party (UNP) criticising her for attempting to
hand over the northern Jaffna peninsula on platter to Prabhakaran.
More...
Published: Mon Jun 5 00:09:47 EDT 2000
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MDMK calls off rally in support of Sri Lankan Tamils
Monday, June 5, 2000.
Chennai : The MDMK called off its rally on June 5 in support of the struggle
of the Sri Lankan Tamils, saying it was being postponed "in deference to
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's appeal to avoid problematic issues". MDMK
general secretary Vaiko, an active supporter of the LTTE's (Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam's) goal of establishing a separate homeland for ethnic
Tamils in Sri Lanka, said in a statement here that the rally was being
"postponed" in the light of Karunanidhi's appeal on the eve of his birthday.
Even though Vaiko used the word "postponement", he did not give any other
date for the rally. The MDMK's move saves the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata
Party) at the Centre and the DMK in the state, considerable embarrassment,
as a pro-Eelam rally in the state capital by a constituent of the ruling
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might have affected the NDA's image.
Published: Mon Jun 5 00:01:48 EDT 2000
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