No proof of Bala’s murder: Indian MP

Cuddalore MP K S Azhagiri raised doubts over Prabhakaran’s son Balachandran’s death and claimed that there was no video evidence on the killing by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The Congress MP made the statement while addressing a public meeting arranged by the youth Congress at Cuddalore Old Town on Sunday night.

“Some parties were playing politics by taking up the issue of 12-year-old Balachandran’s death. However, there was no video evidence available on how Balachandran was killed. It was a practice among the terrorists that in order to avoid being caught by the enemy they either consume cyanide or shoot each other. It was an unlawful act to kill a child,” he said.

On the ongoing Sri Lankan issue, he said that the Sri Lankan Tamils and the LTTE objectives were completely different.

He said, “Independent Tamil Eelam is the demand of the LTTE alone, but that not of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Elected Tamil leaders in Sri Lanka are not asking for an independent Eelam.

Only the LTTE and its supporters in Tamil Nadu are repeatedly raising this demand.”

Explaining the Congress’ move to pass a resolution in Parliament on the Sri Lankan issue, he said, “When an all-party meeting was held in New Delhi to discuss the draft resolution, no other national or regional parties except the AIADMK, the DMK and the Congress supported the resolution.”

“The CPI in Tamil Nadu had been demanding that an anti-Lanka resolution be passed in Parliament, but the party’s MP Gurudas Dasgupta categorically opposed the move during the all-party meeting. This shows the gravity of matter at the all-India level,” he added.

“Political parties in Tamil Nadu had failed to garner the support of those at the national level on the Lankan issue. Instead, they were blaming Congress party in this matter,” the Congress MP added. (Source: The New Indian Express)

Courtesy :- http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/27580-no-proof-of-balas-murder-indian-mp.html

Sinhala Muslims Clashes - Response of Buddhist Monks

I found some videos how Buddhist monks are responding to the current situation of Sri Lanka

Part 1

India committed to SL security: Singh

The Indian government and the military were fully committed to Sri Lanka’s security and to further strengthening co-operation between the two countries, visiting Indian Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh said yesterday.

General Singh made this comment when he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday morning, a statement from the President’s Office said.Noting that the Sri Lankan security forces have acquired vast strategic knowledge and experience, Gen. Singh praised Sri Lankan soldiers for their discipline, competencies and outstanding skills and said it would be useful for both countries to learn from each other.

President Rajapaksa thanked India for its support extended to Sri Lanka during the war and said the task would have been much more difficult if not for India’s help.

During the discussion, President Rajapaksa also brought up the issue of Indian fishermen fishing in Sri Lankan waters to which Gen. Singh responded by affirming that a strong message has been conveyed to officials of the State of Tamil Nadu to take the necessary measures to control the situation.

While thanking the Sri Lankan government for constructing the monument commemorating the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), Gen. Singh promised to assist Sri Lanka in meeting the training requirements of the security forces.

Maj. Gen. Rajeev Tewari and the Defense Attaché of the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka Capt. Sumith Kapoor joined Gen. Singh for the discussion while Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Sri Lanka’s Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya were also present.

India remains preferred destination for training of SL military

While stating that India remains the preferred destination for training of Sri Lankan officers, an Indian TV channel NDTV said that 870 Sri Lankan military officers are undergoing training in India in the current year (2012-13).

“In 2011-12 for instance, 820 Sri Lankans undertook training in Indian Military Establishments. In the current year (2012-13), 870 officers are undergoing training in India. This includes two senior officers doing the prestigious National Defence College (NDSC) course in New Delhi,” it said.

Following is the full article

As Indian Army Chief General Bikram Singh lands in Colombo later today, he is certain to hear from his hosts about many unfulfilled aspects of Indo-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation.

One of the unfinished agendas between India and Sri Lanka is a formal Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), in discussion between the two countries since 2003.

Top Defence sources in both the capitals say most aspects of a formal pact have been agreed upon but domestic compulsions on either side have prevented the final signing of the DCA.
The lack of a formal defence cooperation pact has however not prevented the two countries from furthering their defence ties, opposition in Tamil Nadu to the presence of Sri Lankan military personnel in various Indian training institutions notwithstanding.

Read Full Article : http://warcrimesrilanka.blogspot.com/p/india-remains-preferred-destination-for.html

The UN’s plan for making white people feel better

By Kath Noble

Last week I felt like I had been transported back in time. We were back in those awful first six months of 2009, when I was by turns horrified at the plight of the people caught up in the fighting in the Vanni and disgusted with the way in which the international community was responding.

Of course, we all wanted to stop the war. I hate violence. But as I argued then and continue to believe, at that point, the only way the war was going to stop was with the defeat of the LTTE. Prabhakaran would not give up on Eelam. He was going to continue his vicious campaign against the Sri Lankan state and all its communities until he was caught or killed. Our task, therefore, was to minimise the damage. We had to try to ensure that it was done with as little death and destruction as possible.


Read more : http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=66521

Israel ready to widen Gaza operations, says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the country's military is prepared to extend its operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

His comments came after the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, was killed during Israeli air strikes on the territory.

These followed a wave of rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza.

Three Palestinian militants were killed fresh Israeli strikes on Thursday.

More rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel overnight, but Jon Donnison in Gaza City says so far the violence does not appear on the same scale as the last Gaza War almost four years ago when hundreds of Palestinians were killed on the first day of Israel's operation.

"We've sent a clear message to Hamas and to other terrorist organisations," Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address on Wednesday evening.

"And if there is a need, the Israeli Defence Forces are prepared to widen the operation. We will continue to do everything to defend our citizens.

"We encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties”Mark TonerUS state department spokesman Jabari and another Hamas official who died alongside him were among at least 10 people killed in Gaza on Wednesday by the Israeli strikes and that number would probably rise, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told reporters in New York.

Jabari, who was 46, is the most senior Hamas official to be killed in the Gaza Strip since the major Israeli offensive four years ago.

Outside the hospital to which Jabari's body was taken, angry Gaza residents chanted "retaliation" and "We want you to hit Tel Aviv tonight"

Courtesy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20334575

Storm uncovers Tamil terrorist artillery in Sri Lanka

A storm surge in Sri Lanka’s northeast has exposed buried artillery guns of the Tamil terrorist group the Tigers, who leadership was killed by the military, eliminating the the movement.
Troops stumbled on four 152mm artillery barrels and one 130 mm piece believed to have been used by the terrorists during their last stand in the district of Mullaittivu, army spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya said, AFP reports.

“They had buried it along the coast and the cache was exposed due to a storm surge in the area,'' Wanigasooriya said. “We knew that the [Tamil] terrorists used heavy weapons, but this is physical evidence of their big artillery guns.’’

Government forces crushed the Tamil terrorists who were cornered in a small stretch of lagoon where the group’s top leadership was wiped out in May 2009.

The spectacular military success ended nearly four decades of fighting by the Tail terrorists.
“Tigers fired these artillery pieces from areas where the civilians were sheltering in the final stages of the war,’’ Wanigasooriya said.

Rights groups blamed the Tigers for using civilians as a human shield while government forces were accused of shelling civilian areas declared a no-fire zone during the final battles.
In May, security forces said they unearthed 6,250 kilos of C-4 type plastic explosives buried in a jungle area in Mullaittivu.

Courtesy : http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=27111&icid=4&d_str=20121101

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