India's vote on the Sri Lanka resolution in Geneva may well have speeded up the general elections in the country and reduced our effectiveness as a regional power, says TP Sreenivasan
A batch of 95 Tamil women soldiers of the Sri Lanka army held their passing out parade at the security force Headquarters in the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold of Kilinochchi in the north.
Hundreds of Dravida Munetra Kazhagam workers, including its Treasurer MK Stalin, were arrested on Tuesday as part of the dawn-to-dusk general strike by the party-backed pro-Sri Lankan Tamil outfit Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization which evoked mixed response with normal life by and large remaining unaffected in Tamil Nadu.
SPG Act tweaked to ensure that commandoes accompany protectees overseas as well.
'And no one expected the case to be detected, because there was nothing.'
A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, which was on Tuesday dismissed by Sri Lanka as "lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation".
Sri Lanka on Friday dismissed as "baseless" the United Nation's internal report on the failure of the world body to protect Tamil civilians in the final months of country's brutal war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, saying it was an attempt to castigate the nation.
Scotland Yard's War Crimes Team, which is part of its Counter-Terrorism Command, has launched an investigation into the role of British mercenaries in fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will lead a fourteen-member Parliament delegation to Sri Lanka on Monday to study the alleged human rights violation during the operations against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the north eastern province of the island nation.
The war against the LTTE, waged by the Mahinda Rajapakse government, may have restored peace in Sri Lanka. But thousands of Tamils paid the price for the so-called victory with their lives, journalist Frances Harrison says in her new book Still Counting the Dead.
New Delhi's handling of the post-May 2009 situation has been a case of one faux pas after another, says B Raman
After keeping quiet when the Lankan army mowed down Tamil civilians four years ago, M Karunanidhi has no right to shed tears over the community's plight, and certainly not at a time when Tamil Nadu is plagued with problems of its own, says A Ganesh Nadar
India on Thursday summoned Sri Lankan High Commissioner to seek clarification on his remarks about alleged connection between some Tamil Parliamentarians and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, after which the envoy apologised for causing "discontent" and "distress" to the MPs.
The ministry of external affairs allowed the Dravida Munetra Kazhagham to hold a pro-Tamil Eelam meeting in Chennai on Sunday on the condition that it did not issue any declaration or outcome that questioned the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of any foreign country with whom India has diplomatic relations, namely, Sri Lanka.
Facing an onslaught from the international community for alleged war crimes, the Sri Lankan government on Wednesday released a video which they claimed carries "authentic evidence" of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's atrocities during the last phase of the military assault.
The United States on Friday asked Sri Lanka to speed up its probe into allegations of rights abuses during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, resume talks with Tamil parties on power sharing and reduce the role of the military in the former conflict zone.
"There is no pressure from the Centre. It is just your imagination," he told media persons in Chennai a day after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram met him amidst reports that Centre was not happy about a move to pass resolution at the TESO meet in Chennai next month demanding Tamil Eelam (separate Tamil nation).
The government has extended the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam declaring that it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture and pose a grave threat to the security of its citizens.
Rajapaksa is the first president to be sworn in outside Colombo.
Sri Lanka on Thursday blamed strategic alliances and domestic political issues, an apparent reference to politics in Tamil Nadu, for the UNHRC resolution that was backed by India to censure Colombo for its alleged war crimes during the ethnic conflict with the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Sri Lanka on Wednesday rejected the demand for an independent probe into war crimes during the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conflict, saying it has no "intention to allow an international policeman".
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said India should not support the United States-backed United Nations resolution for an inquiry into human rights violations by Sri Lankan army following alleged surfacing of video footage of the bullet-riddled body of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's chief V Pirabhakaran's son.
Two years after the decisive battle in which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were vanquished, Sri Lankan security forces made their biggest-ever haul recovering 6,250 kg of hidden explosives belonging to the outfit.
According to the book, 'Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away With War Crimes', authored by UK-based investigative journalist Phil Miller India's secret use of British mercenaries lasted for four months after the Indo-Lanka accord was signed between former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan president Junius Jayewardene in 1987.
S M Krishna on Wednesday used his visit to Kilinochchi, a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam bastion, the first by any Indian leader in recent years, to assure the war-weary Tamils of northern Sri Lanka of India's unflinching support and help as they pick up their lives following decades of bloodshed.
The Centre on Tuesday termed as "completely baseless" a Sri Lankan newspaper report about existence of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam camps in Tamil Nadu, saying there was no such facility anywhere in the country.
India should have sent its troops back to Sri Lanka to kill or capture Prabhakaran and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leadership after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, says a new book by a former US diplomat.
Xi Jinping is winning the war without firing a shot in Sri Lanka, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
India said it will continue to extend its developmental assistance to the friendly people of Sri Lanka.
Nearly three years after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam lost the war, T E Narasimhan visits north Sri Lanka to find a country limping back to normal.
Sri Lanka on Sunday said it will release information on those detained by the country's forces since the end of the war with the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam, ahead of External Affairs Minister G L Peiris' visit to the US.
Sirisena's sacking of Wickremesinghe was the culmination of an year of bitter relations between them on several policy matters. The president has been critical of the prime minister and his policies, especially on economy and security.
A Member of Parliament and two other politicians from Tamil Nadu were on Tuesday deported by Sri Lankan immigration authorities after they landed in Colombo to attend the funeral of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's mother, who died on Sunday.Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader and MP Thol Thirumavalan and others were deported back to India from the international airport in Colombo."They have been deported upon their arrival,"said a Lankan leader.
Sri Lanka on Monday said the global community cannot raise issues of rights violations against it unless guided by "political reasons," as a top United States official arrived in Colombo coinciding with the United Nations rights council meeting to discuss alleged war crimes during the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conflict.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday vowed to protect the country's military from possible international scrutiny over allegations of human rights violations during its prolonged conflict to end ethnic violence.
The commander said that by looking at the pattern of operation and the places that the suspects travelled, there has to be some outside involvement of some leadership or instructions.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi on Tuesday asked the United Nations and the international community, including India, to initiate steps for the formation of a separate Tamil nation within Sri Lanka for a lasting solution to ethnic strife as the island nation's measures for welfare of minority Tamils are not credible.'
India reacted strongly to Sri Lanka's allegations of the presence of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam camps in the country on Thursday, and 'categorically' denied the existence of such camps in Tamil Nadu. It has also asked Colombo to 'desist from reacting to speculative and uncorroborated reports.'
The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday held its first ever Cabinet meeting in the Tamil heartland of Kilinochchi, the erstwhile administrative capital of the vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."The weekly Cabinet meeting commenced in Kilinochchi at 10 am today under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapakse," a statement said.The meeting was conducted at the administrative building of the defence forces headquarters near the Iranamadu tank.
Now under the custody of the Sri Lankan Army, the former LTTE weapons procurer spoke to VK Shashikumar about the mistakes the outfit made in the past and the need to bridge the gap between the Tamil and the Sinhalese races.
