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Saturday, October 31, 2015

ஈழப் போராளிகளுக்கு எதிரான இஸ்லாமியத் தமிழர்களின் குற்றப் பத்திரிகை

Keeping Northern Muslims In Refugee Camps
October 19, 2015 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

 Latheef Farook
Northern Muslims continue to rot in refugee camps; Ignored by successive governments, their own politicians and international community

The unfortunate plight of northern Muslims refugees, abandoned by Muslim politicians, the successive governments and even the international community speak volume for the bankrupt nature of the Island’s Muslim politics and even the community.

Muslims were part and parcel of northern soil and society. Over centuries this was their only place and their Tamil neighbors were the only people they knew. Most of them often felt alien when they visited the island’s south as they found it somewhat uncomfortable there due to the different social environment especially when it came to speaking in Sinhala.

Even around the late 1980s, the bulk of their concentration was in Jaffna city where they lived predominantly in three densely populated areas, namely Sonaka Theru, Ottumadam and Bommaively which were collectively known as Muslim ‘vattaaram’ -zones.

Their main activities were retail and wholesale hardware trade, lorry transport, jewellery and tailoring besides agriculture and fisheries. They owned houses and properties besides paddy lands and fishery boats. Muslims dominated the trade at one stage to such an extent that two-thirds of the blocks in the new market in Jaffna, built by the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, and was monopolized by them.

They avoided getting involved in the ethnic crisis. Yet the ethnic crisis had its devastating impact on the Northern Muslims as their traditional life was disturbed. Every time fierce fighting broke out between the security forces and the LTTE, there was intense shelling and mass scale bombing, compelling residents, both Tamil and Muslim, to flee their residences and business houses. They would suffer great losses and would only return when the fighting subsided to rebuild their lives and their businesses.

Even while massacres were taking place in the East, Muslims in the north lived peacefully with the Tamils, but, according to reports, Karikalan was all out to destroy this harmony and take revenge on the Muslim community in the North in spite of the fact that they had nothing to do with the developments between the two communities in the East. As part of this plan, he was reported to have brought pressure on Prabhakaran suggesting harsh measures against Muslims in the North to send a message of warning to Muslims in the East.

In the subsequent months one after the other, under a well-calculated scheme, Muslims were expelled from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar districts, all part of the Northern Province. Years later it was revealed that an eastern contingent of Tamil Tigers in the north under Karikalan was, to a very great extent, responsible for these expulsions.

In this regard the quarterly magazine Nethra, [April-June 1998 edition, Volume 2, Number 3] had this to state in an article:

“Just like the government, the LTTE fed the growing antagonism between Tamils and Muslims to strengthen their own position in the east. Subsequently they used this polarization to carry out their ethnic cleansing in the north”. The Tigers knew that unlike the eastern Tamils, the northern Tamils most probably would not collaborate with their aggressive policies towards the Muslims. Therefore, the LTTE used Tamil cadres from the east who forcibly expelled in October 1990 the entire Muslim population from the north.

Even while Muslims were being expelled in different parts of the north, Jaffna Muslims felt safe. They thought that what was happening to Muslims in the other parts of the north would not affect them. They thought of themselves as an integral part of Jaffna society and could not even imagine that the LTTE would come after them. Such was the degree of trust and faith they had in their Tamil friends and neighbors and even the Tamil militants. Little did they realize what the LTTE had in store for them?

It didn’t take long for them to face the reality. They woke up on 30 October 1990 and went about their routine life. Muslim traders went to their shops and other business establishments; children went to school, while housewives were busy with their household work. Their hopes were shattered around 11.30 in the morning when armed LTTE cadres arrived in vehicles fixed with loudspeakers. They went around densely populated Muslim residential areas asking all Muslims to assemble at Jinnah grounds of Osmania College within half an hour – by 12 noon.

Shocked and frightened Muslim men, women and children, not knowing what was in store for them, rushed to the Jinnah grounds. There the senior LTTE Leader Aanchaneyar, the LTTE Jaffna Commissar who called himself Ilamparithy, addressed them at 12.30 pm. He delivered a brief but terse message declaring in no uncertain terms that “the LTTE high command had decided that all Muslims should leave Jaffna within two hours. This was an order and failure to abide by it would mean severe punishment”.

Some Muslims tried to question Ilamparithi to clarify their doubts. But Ilamparithy lost his temper and started firing his gun in the air shouting loudly that “Muslims should simply follow the order or face the consequences”. His body guards also began firing their guns in the air, terrorizing the already-frightened Muslims who yet thought that they would be able to return to their homes once the situation was normalized. But the Tigers surrounded them even as they rushed to their homes to collect their belongings, valuables, cash, jewellery and clothes, and reach the buses made available by the Tamil Tigers. The Tiger plan had all been pre-arranged.

Then came the second shock. There was a fresh order asking all Muslims leaving their homes to queue up at “Ainthumuchanthi” junction where the LTTE cadres, both male and female, demanded that Muslims hand over all their belongings including their valuables, jewellery and money. They were allowed to take only Rs 150 per person and one set of clothes. Among the Muslims were wealthy people who owned large businesses; wealthy farmers and those who owned fleets of Lorries. They were all forced to wait in a queue with an enamel plate for a meager meal of rice.

Some Muslims resisted. But were silenced by the LTTE weapons. The Tigers then began grabbing everything from them including all documents and national identity cards. They also stripped Muslim women and girls of their jewellery. The LTTE women cadres wrenched the ear rings from Muslim women and girls in so brutal a manner that blood flowed from their torn ear lobes. Even the children were not spared, and not even the wristwatches they were wearing were allowed to be taken away. This senseless pillage, which also included the abduction and detention of 35 Muslim businessmen, was supervised by Karikalan.

That was not the end of the ordeal. The LTTE cadres wanted to know where the Muslim jewellers were hiding their jewellery and money. To extract information many Muslim jewellers were beaten and tortured. One of them was beaten to death in the presence of others. The LTTE demanded huge sums as ransom to release the detained Muslim businessmen. Some, who could afford it, paid up to three million rupees to get their loved ones released while in the case of others they were released after several years. There were cases where detainees were never released and never returned. Perhaps they were killed by the LTTE.

Thus the entire Muslim population of the Northern Province (Estimated at around 75000 persons in 1990) was forcibly driven out from their traditional villages and towns in the following manner.

After driving out the Muslims, the LTTE cadres began looting Muslim houses and grabbing almost everything from cash jewellery and other valuabes to doors, windows and wooden frames. They also looted the Muslim owned commercial and industrial establishments. They even stripped Muslim-owned houses of their roof tiles. The looted furniture and all other items were sold to Tamils in the LTTE shops called “Makkal Kadai” — Peoples’ Shops. The LTTE also sold Muslim-owned houses and Muslim-owned vehicles to the Tamils. Elaborating the atrocities committed by the LTTE and the sufferings of the Muslims further, columnist Sharika Thirangama had this to say in an article in Himal Magazine which was reproduced in the “Daily Mirror” on 7 Monday January 2008 and continued on Tuesday the 8th:

“In 22 October 1990, throughout the five districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya and Jaffna, the LTTE announced that all Muslims living within the Northern Province must leave within 48 hours. On Mannar Island, the LTTE announced that all Muslims must report to the LTTE office by the 24th of the month, and leave by the 28th. Despite protests by a delegation of local Tamils and the Catholic clergy, the LTTE sealed off Erukkalampiddy town in Mannar on the 28th, and forbade all further dealings between Tamils and Muslims.

“ This was an LTTE-only military operation, and there is no evidence of civilian collusion; no ordinary Tamils participated in the eviction.

“Certainly, the eviction order from LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran caught many local northern LTTE cadres by surprise. In many places, cadres were moved from their home area to other areas to carry out the exercise. One man told of the young LTTE cadre, who he had known all his life, crying as he instructed the family to depart. The rebel leadership obviously feared that its cadres could disobey the eviction order.

“The Jaffna Muslims made their exit through a route carefully laid out by the Tigers, which took them through LTTE checkpoint after checkpoint. At each they were searched and more and more of their possessions removed. Jewellery was taken from the women. The thefts form some of the bitterest recollections of the Jaffna Muslims.

“Muslim evictees were also stripped of land deeds, electrical goods, bicycles and even thermos flasks at the checkpoints. According to a 1991 report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), dozens of rich businessmen in Jaffna were held for further ransom, as were the well-to-do in other districts. The final estimate puts the collective loss of the evictees at around US$ 110 million. In Jaffna, after the Muslim eviction, the LTTE made further profits by holding a massive sale of Muslim goods.

“As such, one of the most common memories that the evictees have is that they all arrived in refugee camps with nothing. Indeed, the eviction had a tremendous leveling effect, with more or less the entire population being impoverished overnight.

“By November 1990 the, Muslims were gone from the north; the LTTE had succeeded in converting the area into the Tamil-only territory for which it was fighting. This ethnic cleansing has since come to be known as the Eviction, and the community of Muslims created by this act, formally known as Internally Displaced Persons, refer to themselves as ‘northern Muslims’ and ahathi, or refugees. The Eviction created a whole new demographic pattern, in the aftermath of an unthinkably traumatic event that broke one set of communities in the north and created another – that of the refugees.” [Courtesy, Himal Magazine].

Bulk of them initially went to Kalpitiya and Pulichakulam areas while the largest numbers found refuge in Thilliyady in Puttalam district. Some of them also went to places like Vavuniya, Colombo and Negombo where they were forced to start life from scratch.

That was the end of Muslim life in Jaffna. The tragedy is thought little of by the successive governments, NGOs and Human Rights organizations including Amnesty International which ignore the fate of the unfortunate Jaffna Muslims who were not even treated as refugees.

While all remained silent President of TULF Mr. V Anandasangaree condemned this crime time and again. Addressing the opening of Call of the Conscience—a human rights art exhibit on the conflict in Sri Lanka—held at Roy Thomson Hall in downtown Toronto Mr Anandasangaree had this to say on 23 August 23,2008;

“Championing the cause of the Tamils the LTTE even drove every Muslim out of the Northern Province. The Muslims, merely because they are Muslims, had to leave all their possessions and the land where they lived peacefully with the Tamils for several generations. They are now languishing in refugee camps for more than 17 years in the south, with the Sinhalese, in Puttalam and Anuradhapura Districts, without privacy and their basic needs met. As long as refugee camps exist in our country, whether the inmates are Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or of any other group, we have no moral rights to boast of democratic principles.With one section of our people undergoing untold hardships, being deprived of their democratic fundamental and human rights, we can’t boast of our country as one enjoying full democratic rights. Loss of democratic rights, fundamental rights and human rights amount to slavery. Should our youths, be they Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or of any other group, continue to shed their blood unnecessarily and die in vain at the battle front? I am convinced that the time has come for the country to find a solution reasonable enough and acceptable to the minorities and the international community.”.

Ignored by all, including their politicians, their community and the government, a quarter century later today these unfortunate Muslims continue to rot in the refugee camps where they try to rebuild their lives within their means.

What's Behind U.S. Mission 'Shift' Into Syria?


What's Behind U.S. Mission 'Shift' Into Syria?
by HALIMAH ABDULLAH



Military and foreign policy experts say the shift in strategy against ISIS announced by the White House is overdue, but warned that it might not be enough.

The White House announced on Friday it would put fewer than 50 special operations forces into Syria to work with moderate opposition groups fighting ISIS. The move came amid criticism that the U.S. strategy for defeating ISIS through airstrikes and training local fighters hasn't worked.

Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow and national security specialist at the Brookings Institution, told NBC News that the evidence has been mounting for some time.

"Clearly, our Syria strategy has been failing for four years," he said. "The renewed tensions in U.S.-Turkey collaboration, the lack of progress in establishing a safe zone in the north and working together with the Kurds, and now the Russian intervention have underscored how much of a dilemma we face."

"So while some of us have viewed the situation in Syria as very serious for a long time, it is increasingly hard for the administration even to attempt to argue otherwise," he said.

The White House stressed Friday that the military moves were an "expansion" rather than a "change" in U.S. strategy against ISIS.

The special operations forces could work with Kurdish and allied actors who have come together under the umbrella of the "Syrian Democratic Forces," according to a senior U.S. official.

"It will not be their responsibility to lead the charge up the hill," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, acknowledging that the commandos will be in a perilous situation. "There is no denying the amount of risk that they are taking on here."

Retired Army Col. Jack Jacobs, a military analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, said that it is possible the number of U.S. forces needed and the time required to complete the mission could increase over time.

It's not clear how much of the administration's announcement was about something new or an admission of something that's already occurring, said Kevin Baron, a national security and military analyst for NBC News.

Related: Pentagon Ends Program to Train Syrian Rebels, Starts Revamped Initiative

"This has been brewing, the idea the Pentagon wants to talk about the way the war has been executed," said Baron, who is editor of Defense One.

"A few things forced their hand," he added.

One of those things was the circumstances surrounding the death of Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, killed during a raid by U.S. and Kurdish commandos in Iraq on a prison where ISIS was holding captives.

Related: Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, U.S. Commando Killed in ISIS Raid, Ran to Gunfight

After months of denying that U.S. troops would be in any combat role in Iraq, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter late last week acknowledged that the situation U.S. soldiers found themselves in during the raid in Hawija was combat.

"This is combat and things are complicated," Carter said, telling the Senate Armed Services committee that the U.S. will begin "direct action on the ground" against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria in an attempt to increase pressure on the terror group.

The White House on Friday again stressed the administration has "no intention of long term ground combat."

Earnest drew a contrast between the "large scale, long-term combat operation in Iraq" under former President George W. Bush and the Obama administration's mission in Syria.

Obama "does not believe that that military option was in our best interest and he does not believe that that is something we should do again," Earnest told reporters on Friday.
 "So that is why our special operations personnel inside of Syria have a very different mission ... to build the capacity of local forces so they can be even more effective," he said.
Such distinctions are going to be a key part of White House messaging and strategy, military and foreign policy experts said.
 "This is the way the war on terrorism is going to be fought and is going to be fought for the foreseeable future," Baron said.
 "What's going to change is the way the Obama administration talks about it."

U.S. to Deploy SOF in Syria for "train, advise and assist mission" : 31 10 2015

U.S. to Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria: Officials 
by RICHARD ENGEL, KRISTEN WELKER and CASSANDRA VINOGRAD







The U.S. will send a small number of U.S. special operations forces into Syria as part of a shift in its strategy against ISIS, White House officials announced Friday.

President Barack Obama has authorized a contingent of fewer than 50 commandos to deploy into northern Syria and work with moderate opposition forces who are fighting the militants.

While the White House has consistently said it would not put U.S. boots on the ground, spokesman Josh Earnest insisted that they will be there in a "train, advise and assist mission" — and not in a combat role.

"It will not be their responsibility to lead the charge up the hill," he said. But he acknowledged they will be in a perilous situation: "There is no denying the amount of risk they are taking on here."

Earnest called the additional forces an "expansion" but not a "change" in U.S. strategy against ISIS. He was unable to detail what the special operators will do, citing security concerns.

He also didn't deny the suggestion that the increase in forces would not turn the situation around in Syria, where President Bashar Assad remains in power.

Obama "has been quite clear that there is no military solution to the problems that are plaguing Iraq and Syria — it's a diplomatic one," Earnest said.

A senior U.S. official earlier told NBC News that the special operations forces will work alongside groups with a "proven track record" of fighting ISIS.

That could include working with Kurdish and allied actors who have come together under the umbrella of the "Syrian Democratic Forces," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity before the announcement was made.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said the expected announcement made clear the White House was feeling the pressure of a "failed policy" against ISIS.

"I'm concerned that the administration is trying to put in place limited measures — too late — that are not going to make a difference," he told NBC News. "I don't see a strategy towards accomplishing a goal, I see an effort to run out the clock without disaster."

Obama and his administration have come under mounting pressure amid signs the anti-ISIS coalition has stalled or at least failed to turn the tide against the militants — including the recent Pentagon decision to abandon a failed program to train and equip Syrian rebels.

Small signs of a sea change in strategy have been filtering out in recent weeks and gained steam in the wake of a U.S.-backed raid to free ISIS hostages that cost the life of a Delta Force commando.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned earlier this week that to expect more such raids when he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Pentagon would be stepping up attacks against ISIS — including through "direct action on the ground" in Iraq and Syria.

Carter's remarks — in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee — immediately raised eyebrows given repeated assurances from Obama that U.S. troops in the region would not engage in combat.

The defense secretary himself referred to the aforementioned raid as "combat," where "things are complicated," in his comments to the committee.

After news of the announcement first leaked, at least one member of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned how Congress has "failed" to perform one of its most fundamental duties — to debate and vote on the authorization of military force.

"The decision of whether to place citizens in harm's way in defense of this nation — to declare war — must be made by the people through their elected representatives," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a statement. "It is time for Congress to do its most solemn job — to debate and declare war."

Earnest said at Friday's news briefing that Congress had already given the executive branch in 2001 the right to take action in fighting terrorists. In addition, he said, the Obama administration has been pushing this year for Congress to take up legislation that authorizes the U.S. to formally fight ISIS, but lawmakers have been skeptical.

The U.S. currently has around 3,300 troops in Iraq to train and advise Iraqi forces and protect U.S. facilities.

Earnest said Friday that Obama spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi by telephone earlier to assure him of the U.S.'s commitment to destroying ISIS. He added that it was too soon to announce whether the U.S. would increase the special operations forces in Iraq as it is doing in Syria.

"I certainly wouldn't rule out something like that could be a possibility if it continues to be an element of our strategy" that works, Earnest said.

Pentagon Ends Program to Train Syrian Rebels OCT 9 2015

OCT 9 2015, 11:45 AM ET
Pentagon Ends Program to Train Syrian Rebels, Starts Revamped Initiative
by JIM MIKLASZEWSKI, ERIK ORTIZ and LAURA SARAVIA









LONDON — The Pentagon on Friday announced it was ending its failed $500 million program to "train and equip" Syrian rebels and replacing it with a far less ambitious plan, defense officials said.

The "training" part of the program — which managed to field only "four or five" Syrian rebels into the battle against ISIS at a $50 million price tag — has been halted, according to senior defense officials.

Instead of combat training for the rebels, they will now be used as "enablers" to identify ISIS targets on the ground for U.S. and coalition airstrikes. They will also be advised on how to interact with U.S. military "at a distance," and there will be no American forces on the ground in Syria

The "equip" part of the program, which provided small arms, ammunition and vehicles, will be dramatically reduced to providing weapons to some 5,000 friendly moderate Syrian rebels to carry on the fight against both ISIS and presumably, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The remaining $450 million will be spent on this scaled back plan.

In a statement, Defense Secretary Ash Carter confirmed the immediate move, and said he believes the revamped initiative will help "increase the combat power" of the anti-ISIS fighters in Syria and stop them from advancing.

But many of the weapons and vehicles provided to the first group of Syrian rebels had quickly fallen into the hands of enemy forces, such as the al Qaeda-backed Al Nusra Front.
The initial "train and assist" program aimed at aiding and equipping 54,000 moderate rebels by the end of this year. As of now, that number is somewhere around 100, and only a handful of them have actually been engaged in any combat operations against enemy forces.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said coalition forces have relied on other efforts to crush the Islamist militants, including supporting the counter-ISIS fighters in Kobani in northern Syria, where they recaptured a key border crossing and held off ISIS.

Carter, speaking to reporters in London on Friday, said the U.S. "remains committed" to the idea of training rebel forces but said officials "have been looking now for several weeks at ways to improve" the current program.

"I wasn't satisfied with the efforts on that regard, so we are looking at different ways to achieve basically to the same kind of strategic objective," he said. "We have devised a number of different approaches to that moving forward, and President Obama ... I think we will be hearing very shortly from him in that regard." 

யாழ் முஸ்லிம்கள் ஆணைக்குழு அமைக்க கோரிக்கை

முதலமைச்சர் அவர்களே முஸ்லிம்களுக்காக ஆணைக்குழு அமைக்க பரிந்துரை செய்யுங்கள் : யாழில் கவனயீர்ப்பு போராட்டம்

யாழ். மாவட்டத்திலிருந்து கடந்த 25 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னர் முஸ்லிம்கள் வெளியேற்றப்பட்டதை  நினைவுகூரும் வகையில் யாழ். முஸ்லிம் மக்கள் இன்று கவனயீர்ப்பு போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டனர்.

குறித்த கவனயீர்ப்பில்
1990ஆம் ஆண்டு வடமாகாண முஸ்லீம்களின் ``இனச்சுத்திகரிப்பு``,30-10-1990 கரி நாள் மறக்கவோ மன்னிக்கவோ முடியாது!

முதலமைச்சர் விக்னேஸ்வரன் அவர்களே யாழ்.முஸ்லிம்களுக்காக ஆணைக்குழு அமைக்க பரிந்துரை செய்யுங்கள்!

யாழ் அரச அதிகாரிகளே முஸ்லிம்கள் குடியேற உதவி செய்யுங்கள்!

எம்மை வெளியேற்றி என்ன பலன் கிடைத்தது!

போன்ற முழக்கங்கள் அடங்கிய பதாதைகளையும் ஏந்தியவாறு போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டனர்.








கறுப்பு ஒக்ரோபர்- மாபெரும் குற்றம்!


Thursday, October 29, 2015

வேடம் கலையும் ரணில் மைத்திரி நல்லாட்சி நாடகம்!

ல்கலைக்கழக மானியங்கள் ஆணைக்குழு முன்பாக இன்று (29-10-2015), மாணவர்களால் முன்னெடுக்கப்பட்ட அமைதி ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தின் மீது, நல்லாட்சி வேடம் பூண்ட ரணில் மைதிரி பாசிச அரசின் , ஏவல்படை,மற்றும் கலகம் அடக்கும் படை  கண்ணீர்ப் புகைப் பிரயோகம், விசைத் தண்ணீர்வீச்சு  மற்றும் குண்டாந் தடியடி தாக்குதல்களை நடத்தி மாணவர் குரலை வன்முறை மூலம் நசுக்கியுள்ளது.

போராடக்கூடாது என எச்சரித்து ``பாடம் கற்பித்துள்ளது``!

அனைத்து உயர் தேசிய கணக்காளர் பாடநெறிக்கான மாணவர் ஒன்றியம் நடத்திய ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தின் மீதே இந்த தாக்குதல்கள் நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன.

ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட  39 மாணவர்கள் கைது செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

இவர்களில் 32 மாணவர்களும்,  5 மாணவிகளும் 2 பிக்கு மாணவர்களும் அடங்குவதாக காவல்துறையினர் தகவல் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

அமைதியாக ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்திய அனைத்து உயர் தேசிய கணக்காளர் பாடநெறிக்கான மாணவர் ஒன்றிய மாணவர்கள் மீது ரணில் மைத்திரி பாசிச அரசு கட்டவிழ்த்த வன்முறைத் தாக்குதலை புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்களாகிய நாம் வன்மையாகக் கண்டிக்கின்றோம்!

கைது செய்யப்பட்ட அனைத்து மாணவர்களையும் உடனடியாக விடுதலை செய்யக் கோருகின்றோம்!

மாணவர் கோரிக்கைகளுக்கு மதிப்பளித்து தீர்வை முன்வைக்க வேண்டுகின்றோம்!

தமிழீழ மக்கள் சார்பில் எதிர்கட்சித் தலைவர் சிங்கக் கொடி அகிம்சைச் சம்பந்தன் இந்த வன்முறையை கண்டிக்க வேண்டுமென கட்டளை இடுகின்றோம்.
புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள்





Sunday, October 25, 2015

கழக கூட்டமைப்புக்களின் ஈழப்பொதுக்கூட்டம்

26-10-2015 மாலை 4-30 மணியளவில்
இடம்:இண்டூர் பேரூந்து நிறுத்தம் அருகில்


இப்பொதுக்கூட்டத்தில் சுமார் 10 இற்கும் மேற்பட்ட ஈழ ஆதரவு அமைப்புக்களின் பேச்சாளர்கள் உரையாற்ற உள்ளதுடன் கலை நிகழ்வுகளும் இடம்பெறவுள்ளது.

உரையாற்றும் ஈழ ஆதரவு அமைப்பினர்


ஈழம் வாழ்,தமிழகம் வாழ், புலம் பெயர் வாழ் தமிழீழ மக்களே, தமிழகத்தில்  இந்திய விரிவாதிக்க எதிர்ப்பு, ஜனநாயக விடுதலை இயங்கங்களோடு அணி சேருங்கள்!

அணிதிரள்க!                                                                                       ஆதரவு தருக!
புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்





Saturday, October 24, 2015

Elimination of LTTE leadership justified by foreign experts

Elimination of LTTE leadership justified by foreign experts

*C4 News allegations credible
*Previous govt delayed investigations
*P’karan legitimate military target like Osama
*Wiki Leaks can be used to defend GoSL
* No basis for genocide charge

October 24, 2015, 7:48 am
by Shamindra Ferdinando

The Second Mandate of Paranagama Commission prepared after having obtained international legal and military opinion has strongly justified the killing or capturing of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran during the final phase of the Vanni offensive.

Troops recovered Prabhakaran’s body on the morning of May 19, 2009, on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon.

The Commission faulted UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Expert (PoE) for failing to examine government military strategy to free civilian hostages and bring an immediate end to three decades long war.

The International Legal Advisory Council comprised Sir Desmond de Silva, QC (UK), Sir Geoffrey Nice, QC (UK) and Prof. David M. Crane (US). The Council had the support of a panel of international experts, including retd Maj. Gen. John Holmes,

one-time commanding officer of UK’s elite Special Air Services (SAS) Regiment.

The Commission compared Sri Lanka targeting Prabhakaran to that of US-led Western powers targeting Al Qaeda leader Osama-bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Justifying the Sri Lankan project to target, capture or kill Prabhakaran, the Commission had

emphasised that he was a legitimate military target like Osama-bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The Commission has asserted that as far as the Sri Lankan effort to rescue hostages was concerned, Prabhakaran’s elimination could brought immediate relief to the trapped population in contrast to bin Laden’s death.

The US troops shot dead bin Laden on May 2, 2011.

The Commission cited absence of terrorist attacks since May 19, 2009 to justify previous government’s strategy. The Commission asserted that the LTTE used civilian shields in a bid to thwart the military from targeting Prabhakaran, hence creating a challenging task for the military, namely in rescuing civilians and either killing or capturing the LTTE leadership.

While strongly denying allegations that the government had deliberately targeted the Vanni civilian population in accordance with an overall plan to annihilate them, the Commission has asserted that the military acted decisively to save the people trapped on the war front. Maj. General Holmes has asserted that had the annihilation of over 290,000 been the advancing army’s objective, it could have been achieved within two or three days. The SAS veteran has said that Sri Lanka had the wherewithal to massacre the population in days.

However, the Commission has strongly recommended what it calls judge-led investigations to verify allegations made by various parties including the British media outfit the Channel 4 News. While criticizing C4 News for not providing original video footage of the alleged battlefield executions to enable the government to conduct investigations, the Commission asserted: "... despite some opinions to the contrary, the weight of independent analysis of the video footage suggests the images are unlikely to be faked. The Commission is mindful of the fact that forensic pathology and other corroborative expert evidence support the video footage as genuine."

The Commission stressed that individual cases highlighted by the British media outfit underscored the urgent need for a credible judge-led investigation by the Sri Lankan government. Declining to exclude the possibility of battlefield executions as claimed by the British media outfit, the Commission has warned that in case the accusations were proven, an accountability mechanism was required. The Commission has faulted the previous government and the army for failing to complete investigations into Channel 4 News allegations in spite of an assurance given during the 25th Geneva session in 2014.

The Commission has questioned the offensive being called a humanitarian mission in the wake of Channel 4 accusations. The Commission stressed that in fact the last phase of the campaign had been meant to eliminate the top LTTE leadership, which the expert body called a legitimate military target.

Referring to LTTE efforts to save its leadership at the expense of the civilian interests, the Commission has cited several US diplomatic cables leaked by Wiki Leaks to prove the US and ICRC awareness of ground realities, particularly efforts made by the army to minimize civilian casualties. Having studied a considerable number of disclosed Wiki Leaks cables pertaining to Sri Lanka, the Commission has pointed out that the UK court had upheld that the Wiki Leaks cables could be admissible in court.

Hence, the assertion was that the Wiki Leaks cables could be brought before judge-led investigation to examine accountability issues. The Commission has pointed out that the US cleared Sri Lanka of crimes against humanity on the basis of information received from the ICRC as revealed by another leaked US diplomatic cable.

Commenting on the alleged execution of surrendering LTTE personnel a few days before the conclusion of the war, the Commission has called for a judge-led investigation. The investigation should examine all victims named in various Channel 4 News documentaries, disappearance of busloads of persons who had surrendered to the army as well as attacks on hospital and makeshift hospital facilities. However, in the case of last allegation, the investigation should take into consideration the LTTE positioning heavy weapons in close proximity to hospitals, the Commission has said.

Ban and Maithripala reaffirm commitment

Ban and Maithripala reaffirm commitment

October 24, 2015 09:30

 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Maithripala Sirisena have reaffirmed their commitment to work together as Sri Lanka today marked 60 years since becoming a Member State.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the 70th anniversary of the United Nations is an opportunity to highlight its many and enduring achievements — and to strengthen our collective resolve to do more to promote peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.

He said that he is pleased that Sri Lanka joins the UN on this path, as Sri Lanka marks 60 years since becoming a Member State.

“Sri Lanka has contributed significantly to the work of the United Nations, from its peacekeeping operations to its specialized agencies, and Sri Lankan nationals have served with distinction in varied roles. I thank Sri Lanka for its efforts to help realize our shared goals, and I look forward to strengthening our partnership as we work together to overcome shared threats and seize shared opportunities,” he said.

President Maithripala Sirisena said that for the people of Sri Lanka, the occasion marking 60 years since becoming a Member State is of special significance.

“Having reaffirmed our faith at the Presidential election in January 2015, in democratic principles which have guided our nation for long years, Sri Lanka marks the 60th anniversary of its membership in the UN by renewing our engagement and reaffirming our commitment to the UN Charter. In our 60 year journey, many Sri Lankans have contributed to the work of the UN and its agencies including its norm setting process, peacekeeping and development work. At this historic juncture, I reaffirm Sri Lanka’s commitment to continue working with the UN for the benefit of our peoples,” he said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in his message to mark the occasion, said that through Sri Lanka’s 60 year journey with the UN, Sri Lanka has contributed to the UN system in many ways.

He said that at this historic juncture, when the UN celebrates its 70th anniversary, Sri Lanka draws inspiration from the principles, ideals and values enshrined in the Charter, in Sri Lanka’s own journey towards peace, reconciliation and achieving equitable and sustainable development. (Colombo Gazette)

Thursday, October 22, 2015

நெத்தனியாகுவின் பாசிச வரலாற்று மோசடியை முறியடிப்போம்!

ENB Poster



Benjamin Netanyahu
In The House of the Dead the late historian Tony Judt explains how the Holocaust is the formative and foundational event of modern Europe. The unimaginable horrors of the Nazi death pits, death camps and death marches haunted the continent for the next 60 years in unpredictable and unmistakable ways.

Twelve years on, even Judt would probably be surprised by Benjamin Netanyahu hijacking the six million victims of the Holocaust for short-term political expediency.
In a speech on Tuesday, the Israeli Prime Minister argued that Hitler had no plans for the Final Solution until he was persuaded by an Arab cleric called Haj Amin al-Hussein, who – concerned about the growing number of Jewish settlers in what was then the British protectorate of Palestine – suggested the Nazi leader should “burn them”.

This is such an egregious act of historical revisionism that, were he to repeat this claim as he visits Germany, Netanyahu could be liable to arrest and prosecution. Under the German code of incitement anyone who "denies or downplays" the role of Nazism in the holocaust can face a prison term of up to five years.

READ MORE

Netanyahu blames Holocaust on Palestinian leader

For the avoidance of all doubt, there is no evidence that the Grand Mufti had any impact in Hitler’s long held hatred of Jews, or his plans to eradicate them and other native populations. For the best account of Hitler’s racist imperial vision, Tim Snyder’s recently published book, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, shows the ideological foundations to Nazism were neo-Darwinian theories of racial competition.

The ultimate goal of all of Hitler’s policies was the extermination of all the "subhumans" to the east to create "Lebensraum", or living space for pure German Aryans in a new Reich. The Jews, because of their cross-border ubiquity, were the first targets of Nazi ferocity (after homosexuals and the physically handicapped), as they embodied in their ideology all the diseases of modernity, from modern art and psychiatry, to Bolshevism and Capitalism. But they weren’t alone. The Nazi’s killed an even higher proportion of Central Europe’s Roma population, and had the invasion of Russia succeeded, they had plans to starve most the Slavs under occupation to death.

Remembering the Holocaust

Of course, Netanyhu’s revisionism has nothing to do with actual history, and everything to do with the political demands of the present. By overplaying the role of an Arab cleric, he is trying to use the Jewish dead to undermine Palestinians, who have recently become locked in a deadly back and forth with Israelis on the streets of Jerusalem. Some are already calling the violent cycle of retributions that are taking place on the streets the "third intifada".

This misuse of history is a desperate gamble to turn the various separate conflicts over land rights, property ownership, access to water and the al Aqsa Mosque, into a binary conflict of good against ultimate Swastika-bearing evil. By making Muslims the original proponents of genocide against the Jews, both revenge and pre-emptive retaliation are justifiable. By claiming that Palestinians were responsible for the Final Solution, Netanyahu can gather all his enemies under single banner of evil, and kill or expel them with moral authority.


READ MORE

Germany forced to clarify it was responsible for the Holocaust

The reality of Israel and the occupied territories is somewhat different. Most Jews do not live in Israel. Many Israeli citizens aren’t Jewish. And many Palestinans aren’t Muslim. But demagoguery always requires summoning up a last apocalyptic battle. Traducing history is the least of Netanyahu’s concerns.

Strangely, the importance of history, and learning the lessons of the past, is best exemplified by what was once the worst example: Germany

In response to Netanyahu’s bizarre claim, the German chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to wrest back “full responsibility” for the Holocaust: “This is taught in German schools for good reason, it must never be forgotten,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffan Seibert said on Wednesday: “And I see no reason to change our view of history in any way.”  He added: “We know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own.”

Once famed for Prussian militarism, brutal secret police and a surly sense of national victimhood, Germany has now become a beacon of liberalism. As Merkel spokesman has pointed out, a lot of this has to do with education. That the realities of history, however unpleasant, should be taught in all schools was a principle established in the 50s by the then German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. The rise of Nazism has been a compulsory subject ever since because, as Judt puts it “the health of German Democracy required that Nazism be remembered rather than forgotten.”

Any visitor to Germany can witness this openness about the past. While Brits are now embarrassed to bring up the subject of Hitler, Berlin cab drivers with raise the subject without apology. To Germans, the past is a nightmare which needs constant analysis and recollection to stop it recurring.

Netanyahu’s intervention shows, at least at the top of its political class, Israel is doing a very bad job at learning the lessons of the past. As the saying goes, it will therefore be condemned to repeat them, while Palestinians are accused of crimes they’ve never committed. As far as cases of mistaken identity go, it could well be one of the worst.

``விதைத்தோம் தமிழினியின் வித்துடலை``


``விதைத்தோம் தமிழினியின் வித்துடலை``

முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் யுத்த ஒய்வுக்குப் பின்னால், சிங்களத்தின் போர்க் கைதியாக இருந்த சூழ்நிலையின் விளைவாக, புற்று நோய் பெருகி சாவைத் தழுவிய விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் முன்னாள் மகளிர் அரசியல்துறைப் பொறுப்பாளர் தமிழினியின் (சிவகாமி ஜெயக்குமரன்),  வித்துடல் இன்று பிற்பகல் பரந்தன், கோரக்கன்கட்டு மயானத்தில் விதைக்கப்பட்டது.

முன்னதாக, பரந்தன், சிவபுரத்தில் உள்ள தமிழினியின் இல்லத்தில், ஆயிரக்கணக்கான  பொதுமக்கள், அவருக்கு அஞ்சலி செலுத்தினர்.

இதையடுத்து, தமிழினியின் வித்துடல், பேரணியாக கோரக்கன் கட்டு மயானத்துக்கு எடுத்துச் செல்லப்பட்டது.

அங்கு அவரது கணவன், இறுதிக் கிரியைகளை மேற்கொண்ட பின்னர், வித்துடல் (20-10-2015) அன்று விதைக்கப்பட்டது.


உறைந்த உயிர்: மனையில் தமிழினி
தமிழினி:வாசல் தாண்டி
வீதியில் தோரணம்

வழியனுப்ப வழி நடப்போர்

மண்குழி நோக்கி


மயானத்தில்  மக்கள் திரள்

போர்சுமந்த தமிழினியை தோள் சுமக்கும் தேசம்

வித்துடல் விதைப்பு


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

இயற்கை மரணங்களா? இன அழிப்புக் கொலைகளா?


Migrant Labourer Hung Upside Down And Beaten To Death In Punjab Factory

ENB Poster Punjab Migrant Murder
===============================
தற்கால நிகழ்வு:
பொற்கோவில் பூமியில் கற்காலத் தண்டனை!
=================================

Migrant Labourer Hung Upside Down And Beaten To Death In Punjab Factory
, Video Of Murder Goes Viral
Deepu Madhavan India Times
October 18, 2015

What is more punishable, a crime or to encourage one? What is more cruel to beat a man to death or to watch the ordeal and egg on the murderer.

In a shocking video, that will make us question the existence of humanity among us, a poor migrant labourer was tied up, hung upside down and brutally beaten to death inside a Punjab factory.

The original 34-minute video of the ordeal and many shorter clippings have since gone viral.

The video was shot by someone on the scene who apparently didn't do anything to stop the killing. During the video at times, you can hear a voice telling the assaulter to release the victim but noone physically intervenes.

Morever these pleas are lost among the Punjabi abuses hurled at the victim and his own screams that will surely haunt your conscience. One of the onlookers can be seen smiling uncontrollably as the victim, identified as Khankot resident Ram Singh, spun around when he was hung upside down from a pulley. The main accused has been identified as Jaspreet Singh and he is on the run.

Wife of deceased Raji said that her husband Ram worked in a foundry at Focal Point. She said that few days back there was a theft in the factory for which her husband was being blamed. "Some people even came to our house and threatened my husband," she said. "On Thursday, a few people came to our house in Khankot village in an car and forcibly took away my husband. They beat him mercilessly and threw him on road. Later his body was recovered from T Point at Mehta Road," she added.

One of the resident of Khankot, Navpreet Singh said that they saw some men coming into village and forcibly bundling Ram Singh into car and later they received information that his body was recovered. "We are horrified by the incident and want strict action against those responsible for his death," said Singh.

SHO, police station Mohkampura Narinder Kaur said that they had booked a case under section 302, 365 and 34 IPC against Jaspreet Singh and two unidentified persons. She said all the accused were absconding.

(With inputs from Yudhvir Rana, TNN)
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===========================================================

Hung upside down, migrant labourer mercilessly beaten to death
Yudhvir Rana, TNN | Oct 17, 2015, 10.11AM IST
Times Of India

A grab from the video that has gone viral.

AMRITSAR: A shocking video of a migrant laborer being mercilessly thrashed, even as some people smile at him and hurl abuses in Pujnabi, has surfaced . The man identified as Ram Singh apparently died of unbearable pain and injuries caused by the beating.

The 34 minutes video of Ram Singh being given thrashing with iron pipes shows him hanging from a pulley, apparently in the same factory where he worked. The incident was openly recorded by someone present at the spot and later parts of it were leaked. The main accused in the case has been identified as Jaspreet Singh.

Wife of deceased Raji said that her husband Ram worked in a foundry at Focal Point. She said that few days back there was a theft in the factory for which her husband was being blamed. "Some people even came to our house and threatened my husband," she said. "On Thursday, a few people came to our house in Khankot village in an car and forcibly took away my husband. They beat him mercilessly and threw him on road. Later his body was recovered from T Point at Mehta Road," she added.


One of the resident of Khankot, Navpreet Singh said that they saw some men coming into village and forcibly bundling Ram Singh into car and later they received information that his body was recovered. "We are horrified by the incident and want strict action against those responsible for his death," said Singh.

SHO, police station Mohkampura Narinder Kaur said that they had booked a case under section 302, 365 and 34 IPC against Jaspreet Singh and two unidentified persons. She said all the accused were absconding.
===============================================================





Daily Mail UK
Migrant worker dies in India after being strung up by his hands and feet and beaten for 34 MINUTES by his boss while other workers filmed on mobiles... but did nothing 

Shocking video purports to show a migrant worker being beaten to death

Filmed in northern India, he is seen hanging chained by his legs and arms

A group of men stand around him, while one strikes him with a bat

Police have confirmed they are investigating, and have identified suspects

By COREY CHARLTON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:38, 18 October 2015 | UPDATED: 18:29, 18 October 2015
   
A shocking video has surfaced of a migrant worker being beaten to death in India following allegations of workplace theft.

The film purports to show migrant worker Ram Singh held captive and hanging chained by his hands and feet after he was accused of stealing.

While most the people seen in the video stand by doing nothing, one man, armed with a bat, repeatedly strikes him while he cries out in pain.

The video purports to show Ram Singh being held captive during an in ordeal that ended in his death

The video purports to show Ram Singh being held captive during an in ordeal that ended in his death

The unedited version of the video, filmed in the city of Amritsar and which lasts for 34 minutes, is too distressing to publish.

It is not clear who filmed the brutal assault, but it was alleged to have been a punishment inflicted by an employer following an allegation of workplace theft.

The country's north is home to a large population of migrant workers, where human rights abuses are often reported among workers.

The Times of India reported the video was filmed in the factory where Ram Singh worked.
His wife explained there was a theft at the factory and her husband was blamed, with a group of men turning up at the couple's home to threaten him.

She said: 'On Thursday, a few people came to our house in Khankot village in a car and forcibly took away my husband.

'They beat him mercilessly and threw him on [the] road. Later his body was recovered.'
Her account of the events matched that given by a nearby resident, who also described seeing him being bundled into a car.

India Times reported bystanders can also be heard hurling abuse at him in Punjabi.

A spokesperson at the nearby police office confirmed it had opened a case report against three people, who had not yet been found.


The incident occurred at a factory in the city of Amritsar, northern India, which is famed for its Golden Temple (pictured)

==================

Video of Amritsar labourer’s brutal murder goes viral, no arrests yet
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Amritsar |  Updated: Oct 18, 2015 10:38 IST

A video grab showing Amritsar factory worker Ram Singh being beaten up. (HT PHOTO)

A video of the brutal murder of a Nepalese migrant, who was hung upside down and attacked with iron rods, has gone viral, sending shockwaves among city residents.

Ram Singh, a cleaner at a factory in the Focal Point area, was found murdered on Friday. The police are yet to make any arrest in the case.

The video shows Ram Singh being brutally thrashed with iron rods by his assailants as he pleads them to let him go. Sources said the accused, who are believed to be the owners of the factory where Ram Singh worked, suspected his involvement in a theft case ago and wanted him to confess to it.
Police have booked three persons under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder),365 (kidnapping) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) on a complaint filed by Ram Singh’s wife Raji.

One of the accused has been identified as Jaspreet Singh, a resident of New Focal Point.

Raji has alleged that the accused had come to her house on Thursday and threatened her husband with dire consequences.

She said the accused then forcibly took away Ram Singh with them.

She said her husband’s body was found dumped at T-point Mehta Road.

ADCP City Harvinder Singh said the probe has revealed that the accused belonged to Nepal. But he had been working in Amritsar for the past 15 years. He said raids were being conducted at different places to arrest the accused.


Monday, October 19, 2015

பஞ்சாப் தொழிலாளி அநுபவித்து மாண்ட துயரின் பயங்கரம்!


On Camera, Factory Worker Hung Upside Down, Beaten To Death
Amritsar | Reported by Anand Kumar Patel, Edited by Divyanshu Dutta Roy | Updated: October 17, 2015 19:10 IST




On Camera, Factory Worker Hung Upside Down, Beaten To Death
Click to Play

The video shows the factory owner Jaspreet Singh and two others take turns to beat the man, laughing and hurling abuses in Punjabi.

AMRITSAR:  Strung up by his legs and hands from the ceiling, upside down, and brutally beaten with an iron rod, a factory worker has died in an incident in Amritsar after its video went viral on social media.

The 47-minute video clip believed to be shot by one of the factory workers on a mobile phone shows the man, identified as Ram Singh, being thrashed mercilessly. Police are trying to find out who filmed it.

Ram, a native of Bihar, was accused of theft by the factory owner and taken away by his henchmen on Thursday. Ram's body was found the next day with injuries all over.

The video purportedly shows the factory owner Jaspreet Singh and two others take turns to beat the man, laughing and hurling abuses in Punjabi.

"They came for him at around 8 in the morning and took him away in a car. He thought they had come to take him to work," Ram's wife Rajji said.

Police have filed charges of murder against the factory owner and two others. All three are absconding.

"We will catch them soon," Narinder Kaur, the investigating officer, said.

Story First Published: October 17, 2015 18:57 IST


Sunday, October 18, 2015

Former LTTE Women's Political Wing Leader Thamilini Dies Of Cancer Featured





Former LTTE Women's Political Wing Leader Thamilini Dies Of Cancer Featured

Sunday, 18 October 2015 12:56

Subramaniam Sivakamy Alias ‘Col’ Thamilini, the ex-leader of the LTTE Women's Political Wing died of cancer at the Maharagama cancer hospital in the early hours of this morning, at the age of 43.

Thamilini, who joined the LTTE in 1991, she took part in some battles in her early years in the LTTE. Then she was transferred to the Political Division.

She surrendered to the security forces at the end of the war in 2009 with her family, disguised as a civilian. However, she was soon located and arrested.

She was ''rehabilitated''  and released in 2013.

After her release there were speculations that she may contest the Northern Provincial Council Elections, perhaps under the then governing UPFA ticket.

But its not materialized.


NEPAL FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT INDIA, TALK OVER FUEL CRISIS

NEPAL FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT INDIA, TALK OVER FUEL CRISIS
NewsmediaOct 16, 2015World News

“I am looking forward to my meeting with the external affairs minister of India”. Speaking in parliament after his election as the Prime Minister, Oli said the undeclared blockade was an act by India against the bilateral treaties and international covenants, and India should lift it. The Madhesis, along with several other small ethnic groups, also want the states to be larger and to be given more autonomy over local matters.

Nepal is sandwiched between India and China, which themselves have a festering border dispute. He said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will receive him and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar is to call on him.

Since the protests began in southern Nepal with the Madhesi ethnic group, neighboring Indian has restricted fuel supplies, causing severe shortages.

The main border point at Birgunj, which handles 60-70 percent of India-Nepal trade, remained closed Tuesday while protesters continued to rally on the Nepalese side.

The Nepal government had formed a panel headed by Thapa to take diplomatic initiatives with India to ensure normal supplies of fuel and other essential commodities.

Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli shakes hands with his predecessor Sushil Koirala after being administered the oath of office on Monday. “The visit will provide us an opportunity to discuss all issues of mutual concern as well as to review and further strengthen the India-Nepal relations”, Swarup added.

BIRGANJ, Nepal (AP) – The line of parked cargo trucks stretches at least 18 miles (30 kilometers) from the Nepalese border. As and when the disruptions have slightly eased we have tried to send supplies through.

Clarifying his point, he said of the nine crossing points for carrying commercial cargo on the border, five to six points have been constantly in use.

Giving the latest position on truck movement, he said 733 commercial vehicles moved through seven crossing points in the past 24 hours. Some have been waiting on the Indian side for 45 days.

He said nearly 2,500 trucks – 1,500-2,000 at Raxaul and 750 at Sanauli – were waiting to cross over.

“The China-Nepal Jilong border crossing that was damaged during the Nepal earthquake at present has reopened”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

But India insists the problem is Nepal’s, and that Indian truck drivers won’t resume their deliveries because they are afraid to cross into the middle of a protest camp.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Nepal Rations Fuel as Political Crisis With India Worsens

ASIA PACIFIC

Nepal Rations Fuel as Political Crisis With India Worsens
By BHADRA SHARMA and NIDA NAJARSEPT. 28, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal began rationing fuel on Monday to cope with a worsening shortage brought on by continuing unrest over the country’s new Constitution and a dispute with neighboring India.

The country imports all of its fuel from India, but tanker trucks carrying fresh supplies have been blocked from crossing the border since late last week. “Things are completely out of order,” said Deepak Baral, a spokesman for the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation. “What we are doing now is just to continue emergency-only services.”

Mr. Baral said strict limits would be imposed on the sale of fuel to taxis, school buses, private cars, motorcycles and scooters. “Despite all these austerity measures, we will run out of fuel within the next 10 days,” he said.

Nepali officials blamed India for the shortage, saying it had ordered its border officials not to let the fuel trucks cross. But Indian officials said the disruption had been caused by mass protests in Nepal against the Constitution.

“It is an economic blockade of Nepal,” said Mahesh Basnet, Nepal’s industry minister. “India imposed it after some of its suggestions raised internally regarding the new Constitution were not addressed.” He added that the move was igniting “anti-India sentiment” in the country.

Demonstrators in Kathmandu shouted anti-India slogans on Monday to protest the fuel shortage.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs denied ordering any blockade, and Indian officials said sit-ins on the Nepalese side of the border by members of the Madhesi ethnic group, who have been protesting the Constitution for more than a month, were disrupting trade across the border.

“There is no blockade from our side,” Vikas Swarup, the spokesman for the ministry, wrote in an email on Monday.

India has expressed concern several times over the protests and violence in Nepal related to the new Constitution, which was adopted on Sept. 20. Concern has been met with anger in Kathmandu, where there is resistance to what is perceived to be Indian interference in Nepalese affairs.

More than 40 people were killed in western Nepal and its southern plains, home to the Madhesi and ethnic Tharu communities, during constitution-related protests this year. The groups have said the Constitution curtails their rights, and they demanded that Nepal’s political subdivisions be redrawn to afford them more political power.

Though the violence has ebbed, the protests appeared to have taken on a new form through sit-ins at border posts.

The impasse has underscored Nepal’s profound economic reliance on India, particularly after April’s devastating earthquake destroyed Nepal’s land trade routes with China.

About 1,000 trucks have been waiting on the Indian side of the border since Thursday, according to Kamlesh Kumar, an Indian customs official in Raxaul in Bihar State.

Hundreds of Madhesi protesters have staged sit-ins at border crossings that have lasted for days, said A. K. Singh, a senior official of the Sashastra Seema Bal, an Indian security force that oversees the India-Nepal border. Mr. Singh said it was impossible for India to intervene because the demonstrations were in Nepal.

Abhay Kumar, a spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, said truckers were afraid to enter Nepal because of security concerns. “A political solution has to be found to this issue,” Mr. Kumar said.

Nepali officials counter that the sit-ins took place in a “no man’s land” between Indian and Nepalese border posts and that Nepal needed the help of Indian border forces to clear them away.

Mr. Basnet, Nepal’s industry minister, said Indian customs officials had kept fuel trucks from crossing into Nepal even in areas unaffected by the protests and sit-ins, like the country’s far west.

The controversy comes after more than a year of friendly relations between Nepal and India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India visited Nepal in 2014, and India pledged $1 billion for reconstruction after the earthquake.

On Friday, Nepali officials summoned India’s ambassador, Ranjit Rae, to the Foreign Ministry over the fuel crisis, and Nepal’s commerce and supplies minister went to Delhi on Monday to meet with officials.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala of Nepal visited Tharu and Madhesi areas over the weekend to meet with local leaders and security officials, a step many in Nepal had urged him to take during the violent protests. Nepali lawmakers have said concerns over the boundaries of provinces can be addressed through amendments to the Constitution.

In Kathmandu, far fewer cars than usual were on the roads. Drivers waited in long lines hoping to buy fuel, and many filling stations posted signs saying they were sold out.

“I have been waiting for fuel since yesterday morning, and still, 150 vehicles are ahead of me,” said Shukraraj Thing, a Kathmandu taxi driver waiting on Monday at a fuel pump.

“India always objects when Nepal tries to move ahead on its own,” he said. “Nepal should clear its roads connecting to China, instead of relying fully on India.”

Bhadra Sharma reported from Kathmandu, and Nida Najar from New Delhi.

Source:  New York Times

Nepal Ambassador: ‘Our Constitution better than (India’s)’


Nepal Ambassador: ‘Our Constitution better than (India’s)’  

The Indian Express reported Wednesday that India has conveyed to Nepal’s leadership the seven amendments it wants in their Constitution to ensure it is acceptable to the Madhesis and Janjatis.

Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Updated: September 24, 2015 11:33 am

Deep Kumar Upadhyay in New Delhi Wednesday. (Source: Express Photo by Shubhajit Roy)
With India raising concerns over Nepal’s newly promulgated Constitution not taking care of the Madhesis and Janjatis, Nepal’s ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay Wednesday said his country’s Constitution was the “most progressive in South Asia”, but added that it is an “open document which can be amended”.

His deputy in the Nepal embassy Krishna Prasad Dhakal, meanwhile, said, “Nepal’s Constitution is better than the Indian Constitution since it takes care of minorities as well as women.”
The Indian Express reported Wednesday that India has conveyed to Nepal’s leadership the seven amendments it wants in their Constitution to ensure it is acceptable to the Madhesis and Janjatis.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Upadhyay said that if the Indian side had conveyed the “suggestions or reservations or expectations, and I would have known timely (sic), this situation would have been avoided. This is not a good situation for both countries”.

“If before the public statements, if we had known (about India’s reservations), then something could have changed (sic),” the envoy said.

Praising Nepal’s Constitution, he said it is a “very progressive, very inclusive, participatory, gender equality and human rights friendly” document.

Dhakal, meanwhile, pointed out: “Nepal’s Constitution has both first-past-the-post system as well as proportional representation. This combination of the two ensures that minorities’ representation is taken care of.” He added that the Indian Constitution only ensures the first-past-the-post system.

Dhakal also said Nepal’s newly promulgated Constitution guarantees 33 per cent reservation for women, which is not the case with the Indian Constitution. “In these aspects, Nepal’s Constitution is better than the Indian Constitution, since it takes care of minorities as well as women,” Dhakal said.
Asked if the Constitution could be amended in the wake of protests and suggestions from India, Upadhyay said, “Why not? It is an open document that can be amended, it is just a beginning. But we have to follow certain procedures, the amendments have to be passed by two-thirds of the majority.”
Cautioning that “nothing can be done immediately”, he added, “The only thing that can happen is that there can be a political agreement or understanding between the parties.”

He said Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who was due to leave for New York Wednesday, has decided to cancel his trip and stay back to resolve the situation. “The three major political parties are talking to the Madhesi groups, Hill groups — all those who are dissatisfied — to find an end to the crisis. They will form a peace dialogue committee very soon.”

Describing the current situation in Nepal as “painful”, Upadhyay also refuted New Delhi’s assertion that the Constitution is not broad-based. 
“Almost 90 per cent of members in the Constituent Assembly voted for the Constitution… that is the truth… what more widest possible consensus can you expect,” Upadhyay*  said.
*Nepal’s ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay

Dhakal added that the members included those from Madhes and Terai regions.
Meanwhile, K P Oli , chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) Wednesday said they would not let “naturalised citizens” occupy head of state or any other key constitutional position.

“Under no circumstances shall we amend the constitution to pave the way for naturalised citizens to occupy the post of head of state, head of the government and constitutional bodies,” he said. Nepal has two categories of citizenship — by descent and naturalised — and Madhesis and Janjatis fall in the latter category. With Yubaraj Ghimire in Kathmandu

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