| The Tiger report on paramilitaries |

The LTTE last week submitted a lengthy document to the government at the Geneva peace talks which contained evidence compiled by the organisation on paramilitaries. At the conclusion of the talks, the two sides released a joint statement that said "The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are committed to taking measures to ensure that there will be no intimidation, acts of violence, abductions or killings.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse is wrong when he says a UK style regime of extensive devolution is the maximum he is prepared to concede to the Thamils and nothing more – this under his so called “maximum devolution under a unitary state� concept.

A brief comment on the GOSL-LTTE Talks in Geneva February 22-23, 2006,

A detailed analysis of the papers presented by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – such as have been made public – will be dealt with shortly. This paper is to briefly review the progress of the Talks (or the lack of thereof).

In its talks with the Liberation Tigers last week, the government delegation that departed for Switzerland promising to return with a drastically modified Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), was apparently overcome by the crisp Helvetian weather and cheesy Swiss food. The hellfire and brimstone hoped for by sections of the media were conspicuously lacking. Team Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva made sure he was photographed beaming cordially at a scowling Anton Balasingham, whose hand he was shaking with a warmth that must have raised bile in the stomachs of stalwarts of the JVP and JHU.

The President’s declaration of 2006 as the year devoted to the Child makes us often wonder, how close we are in realizing the rights of the child as stated in the Convention proclaimed by the UN General Assembly resolution of 20th November 1959. Sri Lanka was one of the signatories.

The past fifty-five years of the Tamil struggle against Sinhala state terrorism can be divided into two phases: before and after the LTTE. Tamil leadership used totally different strategies in these two phases. The difference is not only between a non-violent and violent approach, but the fundamental leadership principles as well. In both phases, it is basically a fight against state terrorism.

Will the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) failing to implement the normalization aspects of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 23 February 2002, and subsequent Agreements reached at half a dozen ‘Peace Talks’, in May 2003, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE - Tamil Tigers) understandably declined to take part in any further talks “for the time being�.

When the British gave independence to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1948, the power was handed over to the numerical majority, the Singhalese. The British never considered the fact that, unlike the other Colonial powers, the Portuguese and Dutch, in 1883 they had amalgamated the Tamil Kingdom with other Singhalese Kingdoms for administrative purposes. This is the history.

The article link with Sri Lankan Terrorism

The Hamas organisation which won in the Jan. 25th general election assumed power last Saturday(18.02.06) in the Palestine parliament. Hamas, declared as a terrorist organisation by America, Israel and the European countries, has been elected to power through democratic means by the Palestinians, causing great shock in the West. The international media too has reported this indeed is a shocking matter.

Despite the hopes of most of Sri Lanka’s people, almost every indicator suggests that this week’s talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government in Geneva will be acrimonious. Even the release of prisoners by both sides has been largely ignored by those anxious about the prospects of peace.

The main factor is that both the parties, namely the Sri Lanka Government (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should go with an open mind and with a willingness for compromise. There should be no room for adamancy and rigidity. It is very vital not to go with a decision already enshrined in their minds.

Everyone’s mind is focused on the Cease-Fire Talks that are to take place in Geneva on the 22nd of February 2006. The question that arises is whether the talks will be a success or a failure. The answer is not an easy one.

Mr. Asoka Weerasinghe,

You are probably aware that majority of Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad wholeheartedly support the ‘freedom struggle’ successfully led by the LTTE over the last two decades on behalf of us despite the engineered obstacles by the successive Sri Lankan governments.

The ‘War on Terror’ seems to be a slogan for the world for the past few years. There are actually two types of terrorisms: state and non-state terrorism. The world seems to have less concern about state terrorism for obvious reasons. Most western and European states have a list of foreign terrorists, but how many of them have a list of state terrorists? If these nations really want to eliminate terrorism, they should create a list of state terrorists who act against humanitarian values. Some states abuse the slogan terrorism to suppress part of their population. We may need to know what state terrorism is and why the Sri Lankan government is a state terrorist.

Merely a mirage of equality is feasible, the longer the racial, linguistic, cultural and religious dominance prevails in Sri Lanka

1. It has to be borne in mind that democracy prevails in any country only as long as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people survives without being subjected to any racial, linguistic, cultural or religious dominance.

Struggle is not a new experience for the Tamils of the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. From the time the British merged the NorthEast with the rest of the country in 1833, Tamil Nationalism, political aspirations and the concept of self determination began due to many factors. Most importantly, the feeling of neglect under British rule, the interference of Sinhalese politicians in the administration against the Tamil welfare, and unfavourable and unconstitutional amendments to the Constitution fanned the fire of Tamil Nationalism.