Geneva II Talks: 28 - 29 October 2006...

1. சுவிஸ் ஜெனீவாப் பேச்சுக்கள் - 2 இன் முடிவுகள் தொடர்பான ஊடக மாநாட்டின் ஒலித்தொகுப்பு நன்றி: ஐபிசி தமிழ்

2.No agreement reached in Geneva, Tigers respond on pluralism and democracy - LTTE Press Statement, 29 October 2006 "The LTTE welcomed the MoU signed by the two major Sinhala political parties. The LTTE also stated that once the Sinhala polity reaches a consensus with respect to the resolution to the conflict, the LTTE will enter into political negotiations with the GoSL. The LTTE expects that by this time normalcy returns and a conducive environment created. The GoSL raised the issues of democracy and pluralism in the homeland. The LTTE stated that it is more committed to the democratic principles than the GoSL and cited the ISGA as an example. The LTTE challenged the GoSL to repeal the sixth amendment as a token of its commitment to democracy and pluralism..." more

3. Statement by the Norwegian Facilitator at Conclusion of Talks "...The LTTE requested the A9 to be opened. The Government refused to do so at this point. No agreement was reached between the parties on how to address the humanitarian crisis. No date for a new meeting was agreed upon. Norway will be in ongoing dialogue with the parties to discuss all possible ideas on how to move the peace process forward. .." more

4. Norway says that all three issues - humanitarian suffering, military de-escalation and underlying political problems should be addressed simultaneously during talks, Sri Lanka Sunday Times, 29 October 2006 - Norway�s International Development Minister Erik Solheim spelt out three main areas which the international community believes should be addressed during talks. Mr. Solheim explained that the issues cannot be taken separately and must be addressed simultaneously. They are-

* The humanitarian suffering in Sri Lanka. There must be a relief to all those who are suffering from displacement, war, killings, and simply a return to normalcy for all communities.

* Military de-escalation. The culture of impunity when people are killed must be stopped. There must be a stop to all sorts of violence, be it terrorist attacks, military campaigns or human rights abuses of all sorts.

* There is no way the peace process can move forward for some time, without addressing the underlying political problems in Sri Lanka.

�We have shown a lot of patience and we are prepared to show more, but the people in Sri Lanka and the international community will be impatient... the island risked losing huge foreign aid and goodwill unless the government and the LTTE worked towards a final political solution based on a federal formula agreed in December 2002..." more

5. International community puts Lanka on red notice says Lasantha Wickrematunge in Sri Lanka Sunday Leader, 29 October 2006

6. Thamilchelvan on First Day Talks - No progress on Humanitarian issues, CFA, 28 October 2006

7.Peace process depends on ceasefire implementation - LTTE Opening Statement, 28 October 2006

8.Opening Statement by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Head of Delegation, GoSL, 28 October 2006

9. முதலாம் நாள் ஜெனீவாப் பேச்சு நிகழ்வு தொடர்பாகவும் ஊடகவியலாளர் மாநாடு தொடர்பாகவும் கனடிய தமிழ் வானொலிக்காக ஜெனீவாவிலிருந்து கிருஸ்ணா அம்பலவாணர்

comment by tamilnation.org

2.On the Eve of Geneva Talks: Sri Lanka State Controlled Daily News on Fundamentals of Ethnic issue "...The Tamil population, it should be clearly underscored consists of only 12 per cent of the total population of the island with the Muslims comprising 7 per cent and the Estate Tamils who are now for the most part citizens and who are descendants of indentured Indian labour, comprising around 6 per cent. The fundamental principle of majority rule in democratic governance would incontrovertibly place the majority Sinhalese as the major force in the democratic electoral process..." more

1. United Nations General Assembly - Statement by Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions "My report thus urges the General Assembly to �call upon the United Nations Secretariat to establish a full-fledged international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka�. " more

2. United Nations General Assembly - Report by Philip Alston, Special Rapporteuron Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions - Extract Relating to Sri Lanka "The General Assembly should call upon the United Nations Secretariat to establish a full-fledged international human rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka." more

Although the media, including AFP news agencies, published the photos (please refer to attached photos) of numerous arms, body amours and military hard hats collected of the so-called unarmed Navy personnel killed on that day you have decided to portray to the American people that the Navy was unarmed and on a vacation to a resort island, thus eluding the main issue in this entire conflict which is the value of life. It is no secret the value of life was never honored by the Sri Lankan armed forces..." more together with comment by tamilnation.org

2. Tiruppavai, Tiruvempavai in South East Asia - T.P.Meenakshisundaram "At the fourth Tamil Festival celebrated at Madras, I brought to the notice of the audience that the name of the national festival held in former days at Bangkok and elsewhere was no other than the names of two works of Antal and Manikkavacakar viz. Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai respectively..." more

3. Tamil Studies: Research in South East Asia and in the Far East - Jean Filliozat "Intercourse between the Tamil kingdom and the Magadha kingdom are evidenced since the end of the fourth century B.C. The famous Greek ambassador to the court of Candragupta heard at Pataliputra the story of Tadadakai, i.e. Minatci of the Pandyan kingdom, without having ever visited this country. In the middle of the third century B.C. Asoka's inscriptions refer to the three Tamil kingdoms..." more

4. Interactions of the Chola empire in the Chao Phraya delta - G.Deivanayagam

2. Sachi Sri Kantha on 40th anniversary of the First International Conference Seminar on Tamil Studies

JVP leader with H.L.de Silva P.C., Counsel for the Petitioners
garlanded after the Verdict

Video Presentation:
Tamil Eela Thani Arasu...

1. Chinese Tamil Radio

2. Thamizham

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2. Sachi Sri Kantha on Extras in Film, Politics and Diplomacy "Extras: People who appear in stage and movie crowd scenes or background scenes have been called �extras� since 1772 on the English stage.... Here are three recent news bites which have received coverage in the Colombo press and elsewhere. (1) �Sri Lanka to field 53-strong team � UN meeting opens doors for unprecedented joy ride.� [Colombo Island, Sept.3, 2006]. (2) �Rise from cocktails to selfless service; President tells heads of Lanka�s foreign missions� [Colombo Daily Mirror, Oct.5, 2006] (3) �Delhi invites three (anti-LTTE) parties from Sri Lanka. [Chennai Hindu, Sept.25, 2006]. Guess what is the common thread to these three news items? The word �extras�....To comprehend the varieties and roles of extras in politics and diplomacy, one has to rely on the description about extras provided by ranking professionals who made it to the top in the movies..." more

Sanmuga Suntharam asks "Atharma Bhumi?" "....Let us therefore forget the �motherland� complex and tell the Indians that we are the only people who can be relied upon as friends if they treat us with fairness. We are not asking for favours. First we are asking them to stop harming us. Secondly, we wish to let them know that any help they give us will be vastly in their interest, too. Will the Mandarins in their government emotionally accept this reality?" together with...

comment by tamilnation.org "We find ourselves in agreement with much of that which Mr.Sanmuga Suntharam says. He is right to point out the amorality of India's role in the struggle for Tamil Eelam. He is also right to point out the abominably pernicious "caste" system that pervades India's body politic, 'the suicidal infighting of those who are called Dravidians', and the 'abominable betrayals and treachery' of Tamils like Karuna, Douglas and Sangaree. But, having said that, his conclusion may have to be examined further... If it is 'vastly in the interest of New Delhi' to help the struggle for an independent Tamil Eelam why has New Delhi not extended that help all these years? Is it that New Delhi is not astute enough to see that which we see? Or is it that New Delhi recognises that support for an independent Tamil Eelam will result in Sinhala Sri Lanka turning to the US and/or China? Does it fear that support for an independent Tamil Eelam will be counter productive - and will result in the very thing New Delhi wants to prevent - the increased presence of extra regional powers in the Indian Ocean region? And does it take the view that any help that an independent Tamil Eelam may extend will not be sufficient to prevent that process?... We may want to recognise the uneasy power balance in the Indian ocean region reflected amongst other things by Operation Seabird. We may want to recognise that it is in the interstices of that power matrix that the struggle for Tamil Eelam is taking place. New Delhi may be behaving the way it has done for so many years, because it is not strong enough to do anything else...It is the weak who usually act amorally..." more

" Sri Lanka's military expenditure has increased from 0.75 billion rupees in 1977 to a budgeted 139.6 billion for the year 2007 - an almost two hundred fold increase. During the same period, foreign aid to Sri Lanka has kept pace with Sri Lanka's increasing military expenditure... Without foreign aid, Sri Lanka would not have been able to continue its genocidal war against the Tamil people - and it may well have found the need to talk with the people of Tamil Eelam on an equal basis and structure a polity where the two peoples, the Sinhala people and the Tamil people, may associate with each other in equality and in freedom... And foreign aid has been forthcoming because each 'aid donor' is intent on securing its own strategic interest in the Indian Ocean region - and this is true, whether the aid donor is the US, India, or China. ... Sri Lanka seeks to use the political space provided by the countervailing strategic interests of the US, India and China in the Indian Ocean region to advance its own interests and acquire the military capability to subdue Tamil resistance to alien Sinhala rule. " more

Sri Lankan Government prevents International Commission of Jurists observing inquest into deaths of 17 ACF aid workers - ICJ Press Release �It is regrettable that the Government has chosen not to allow our independent international observer to attend this vital inquest.. At a time when the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions have warned that investigations and accountability mechanisms have failed to bring justice to victims in Sri Lanka, it is particularly important for the Government to demonstrate that every stage of its processes, including inquests and trials, are open, transparent and credible..� more

2. Sanmugam Sabesan writes from Australia on அர்த்தமுள்ள புத்த மதம்

3. Sara Ananthan from Australia comments on Contemporary International Affairs

Power and Interest News Report - India's Project Seabird and the Indian Ocean's Balance of Power "On April 11, 2005, India started a strategic partnership with China, and, on June 29, 2005, signed a 10-year defense agreement with the United States. Western observers, however, have paid less attention to an ambitious Indian move in the military field: Project Seabird. This plan - with origins from the mid-1980s - is to be assessed in light of two geopolitical triangles juxtaposing on the Indian Ocean's background: U.S.-India-China relations and China-Pakistan-India relations. In this complicated geopolitical configuration, New Delhi is not simply a partner of China or the United States: India is emerging as a major power that follows its own grand strategy in order to enhance its power and interests... The geopolitics of the Arabian Sea and the Western Indian Ocean largely explain India's determination in such an $8.13 billion enterprise. The China-Pakistan-India triangle is more than ever the Arabian Sea's decisive geo strategic setting. For the Chinese, this trilateral relationship is crucial for two reasons: from the point of view of energy security, the Arabian Sea and Pakistan are Beijing's access points to the oil-rich Middle East; from the perspective of military security, Pakistan provides China an effective counter-balancing partner in front of India's ambitions. " more

Chola Empire at the height of its Power circa 1050 AD