The picture of a fallen top commander of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers is neatly plastered on the wall of a shopping center.

Not far away, a food outlet peddles a crispy savory pancake, "dosa," named after Tamil Eelam, the independent state aspired by the Tigers.

No, you are not in the stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka but in Scarborough, the eastern part of Toronto.

This largest Canadian city is home to about 250,000 ethnic Tamils who left Sri Lanka for Canada to escape the country's 25-year civil war.

They make up the largest diaspora from the South Asian country, with Toronto itself reportedly home to the biggest number of Sri Lankan Tamils in the world.

Though actively involved in the business, academic, political and social fields in their new home, many are still sympathetic to the Tigers' cause for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.

Some display their support openly despite the group being labeled terrorists by the Canadian government, which earlier this year for the first time charged a man with terrorism financing for soliciting cash for the Tigers.

Many of the Tamils in Canada have families and relatives in the north and east of Sri Lanka, where the Tigers were experiencing one of their worst setbacks since waging an armed struggle in 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in the majority-Sinhalese nation.

"We are psychologically devastated and traumatized by the war because it is in our homeland and there is genocide going on there," charged Canadian Tamil Usha Sri-Skanda-Rajah, the owner of a real estate firm in Scarborough.

"We want the international community to help bring about a settlement to the conflict so that our statehood is recognized," said Usha, 57, who is among an informal group of "concerned" women attempting to highlight to the Canadian authorities what she called "humanitarian catastrophe" in northern Sri Lanka.

Several members in her group have parents and other family members displaced by the fighting and their whereabouts remain uncertain, she said.

Usha's husband, a retired senior banking executive, went on a six-day fast recently to draw attention to the plight of tens of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting in Sri Lanka.

The Canadian Tamils grasp at any opportunity to highlight the bloody ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

Recently, when Sri Lanka played Pakistan in a cricket match in Toronto, Tamil groups hired a plane carrying a banner "Stop the genocides in Sri Lanka" to circle the cricket grounds in an aerial propaganda blitz.

Sri Lankan Tamils are "one of the largest growing visible minorities" in Canada, said David Poopalapillai, spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, touted as the largest Tamil group in Canada.

Catering to the bustling community, which has a municipal councillor as its first elected representative, are three 24-hour Tamil cable television networks and about half a dozen radio stations, he said.

The Tamils are aspiring for higher elected offices.

"We consider ourselves as part and parcel of the Canadian fabric and always encourge our people to actively perform their civic duty," Poopalapillai said.

For some however their assimilation in Canada will not be at the expense of foregoing the elusive dream of a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka.

Leader of New Left Front, Dr Wickramabahu Karunaratne, in a column that appeared last week in Lankadeepa accused the Rajapakse administration of spending 500 billions of national wealth in its military drive to kill Tamil Tigers.

Accordingly, for each Tiger killed, they have spent 50 millions. All this is wealth of the people. How many thousand Sinhala were sacrificed in this war? Today mounts of Sinhala dead bodies are stacked under Palmyra trees," Karunaratne wrote.

Earlier this month UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake also ridiculed the war expenditure of the Rajapkse administration saying that the government has spent over forty million rupees to kill one member of the Tamil Tigers since 2004.

According to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka at least 13,000 Tamil Tigers have been killed by the security forces since President Mahinda Rajapkase came to power.

Quoting government estimates, Karunanayake said 583 billion rupees were spent for the war since 02 April 2004.

If the Sri Lankan military chief's estimates are to be trusted, Karunananayake said, 42 million rupees were spent to kill one Tamil Tiger.

Sri Lankan observers point out that, in reality, the cost Rs.50 million to kill a Tamil Tiger would be many times higher as the LTTE casualty figures published by the Sri Lankan government are highly exaggerated.

Sri Lankan national flags flew from buildings and lamp posts and posters covered walls in the capital Colombo and across the south of the island as part of week-long celebrations ordered by the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse to mark the capture of Pooneryn in the north.

''The nation salutes our brave soldiers who once again linked north and south by their victory at Pooneryn," read a poster with silhouetted images of soldiers.

Troops gained control of Pooneryn, a strategic town located on the northern Jaffna peninsula, after a lapse of 15 years on November 15.

The capture of Pooneryn was followed by that of road junction at Maankulam and then, after a bloody battle, of part of the LTTE’s northernmost defence line in the Jaffna peninsula, at Muhamaalai.

The victories have wrapped much of the south in a shroud of euphoria with Radio shows inundated by listeners calling in with congratulatory messages and people lighting fire crackers in the streets.

Land route to Jaffna.

In a special broadcast President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on national television that troops had seized the Tiger-held town of Pooneryn for the first time in 15 years.

The latest military successes allow government troops to open a supply route to Jaffna and other areas in the north for the first time in almost a decade. "Now, we can open a land route to the Jaffna peninsula after many years," the President said referring to the A-32 highway from Manaar to Pooneryn.

Sri Lankan military chiefs tout the capturing of Pooneryn as “turning-point” in the 25-year war bringing the entire western coast under military control and opening up a land route for the transport of troops and supplies to Jaffna peninsula that for years have been sent by sea or air.

However, analysts point out that Pooneryn is more a symbolic victory than a strategic victory as the as the A32 is less use as a supply route at present than the government rhetoric suggests.

The A-32 running between Manaar and Pooneryn is more a wide muddy track than a 'highway' and needs  to be rebuilt before being used as a Main Supply Route (MSR) for military purposes.

Furthermore the causeway connecting Sangupiddy in Vanni to Keratheevu in Jaffna peninsula collapsed many years ago requiring the Sri Lankan military to operate a ferry service to transport men and material between Vanni and Jaffna, the analysts further added.

Lay down arms.

In his televised speech, Mr Rajapakse called on Velupillai Pirapaharan, the Tigers’ leader, to “lay down your arms and come to the negotiation table”.

Commenting on Rajapkase’s call to lay down the arms, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member of parliamentarian Senadhiraja Jeyanandamurthi told The Morning Leader newspaper that the security of the Tamils will be under threat if the Tigers disarm.

“The LTTE will come for talks. But, it will not lay down its arms before coming to the negotiating table. The security of the Tamil people will be in question if the LTTE does that. We have seen it in the past as well,” said Jeyanandamurthi.

“Even during the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord, the LTTE was asked to lay down its weapons. It was very difficult for the Tigers when fighting resumed. That mistake will not be made again,” the TNA Parliamentarian added.

Kilinochchi elusive

Jeyanandamurthi who returned from Vanni recently also told the Morning Leader that LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan had informed him that the that though the security forces had advanced into areas near Kilinochchi, they will not be able to capture Kilinochchi and the LTTE will give a devastating blow to the government, militarily within the next three months.

Despite territorial gains in recent weeks, Kilinochchi, the Tigers’ administrative headquarters, remains a difficult target. Soldiers have been skirting its fringes for weeks, held back by strong resistance and, at one time, heavy monsoon rains.

The army’s spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, admits it has been taking casualties, but insists it is “on target” to take the town.

Earlier this month President Mahinda Rajapakse unveiled a budget comprising of tax rises and heavy borrowing to support the government’s war efforts against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and declared that offensive operations in the country's north would continue.

Noting that the war and its success appeared to be the lynchpin of the budget, observers point out that a quick victory is crucial.

Neither the island’s already frail economy nor the Sinhalese people, who are facing one of highest inflation rates in the world – 23.4% in October, would take the burden of an expensive war for long.

“If they can finish the war soon then people may bear with them, but not forever” the country manager of a leading multi-national firm in Colombo told IPS.

Observers feel that Sinhalese public will only tolerate the economic hardships they are facing provided there are regular success stories from the battle front.

Whilst Sri Lankan military has managed to capture territory from the LTTE, its goal of destroying the outfit continues to be a distant dream.

Sri Lankan military chief has had to revise his timeline for wiping out the LTTE many times over the past two years.

As defence expenditure continue to rise and casualty numbers continue to mount, Sri Lanka is desperately in need of a quick win.

Sri Lankan eeconomists are concerned that the government has got the war euphoria mixed up with economic management.

Whipping up patriotic fervour in expectation of military victory may indeed distract attention from the worsening economic outlook. But that strategy needs victory to come soon, said the Economist in a recent article published on Sri Lanka’s budget.

Economist Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at George Washington University, commenting on the budget reflected similar views and said that as long as the military maintains its successes in the northern battles, Rajapakse would be able to muster public support despite the country's economic woes, reported IPS.

Sri Lanka has appealed to "friendly countries" to buy tea to help the country weather the global financial crisis, AFP quoted officials as saying. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and senior officials of the tea board on Friday met ambassadors and envoys of main tea-buying countries to urge their support.

The Sunday Times newspaper reports that the decline in tea prices (which have almost halved in the past two months), and the large volume of unsold tea have caused a cash-flow crisis throughout the supply chain. However, last week demand had improved at last week’s Colombo auctions, reports said.

Last year Sri Lanka, one of the world's top black tea producers, earned a record $1.02 billion from tea, the third-highest foreign exchange earner after garments and remittances, Reuters reported.

Sri Lanka had enjoyed high demand, earning $1bn in the first ten months of this year. But the global financial crisis has reduced demand in key export markets.

Russia and former Soviet republics are the largest markets for Sri Lankan tea, accounting for nearly a fifth of the total tea exports, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.

LBO quoted analysts as saying the downward trend in oil prices might reduce the buying power of big buyers like the Middle East and Russia, though the approaching winter could help prop up the tea market.

As part of shoring up the industry against falling demand, earlier this month the Sri Lanka Tea Board purchased almost 1 million kg of tea at a value of Rs.230 million, the Sunday Times reported.

The intervention came after Sri Lankan government told the Tea Board to buy stocks to inject cash into the tea sector and stabilize it after nearly 60% of the tea at the Colombo Auctions remained unsold.

Colombo, which conducts the world's biggest tea auctions, saw prices hit 4.26 dollars a kilogramme in August before sliding to 2.19 dollars a kilogramme by the end of October, tea board figures showed.

However, while the government’s intervention helped the industry, traders say plans must now be formulated to dispose of these tea stocks – without putting downward pressure on prices.

"Buyers are carrying stocks of tea at prices well above the current market, on which interest is fast accruing at phenomenal rates," the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA) said.

Meanwhile, the Private Tea Factory Owners Association last week thanked President Mahinda Rajapakse for his government’s intervention. “The tea industry which is dominated by the rural tea small holder sector benefitted by the timely state intervention under the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the chairman of the Private Tea Factory Owners Association, Anil Perera, said in a statement.

On Friday Ambassadors and envoys Egypt, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar were briefed about Sri Lanka's tea woes. A Palestinian representative was also present.

"Sri Lanka is seeking the support of friendly countries who are principal buyers of Ceylon tea to remain active in the tea market to promote tea exports and to maintain price stability," the foreign ministry said Saturday.

Russia and former Soviet republics are the largest markets for Sri Lankan tea, accounting for nearly a fifth of the total tea exports, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.

LBO quoted analysts as saying the downward trend in oil prices might reduce the buying power of big buyers like the Middle East and Russia, though the approaching winter could help prop up the tea market.

The Sri Lankan government has spoken of trying to arrange some kind of barter deal with major buying countries but the CTTA warned that it was an outdated concept.

"The avenue of barter trade between friendly countries is not available any more," the CTTA said, in reference to the liberalization of the market in keeping with ‘free trade’ principles, which ended such arrangements.

Sri Lanka’s tea pickers, who are iconic symbols for the island’s tourist trade, earn less than $2 a day and live in desperately impoverished conditions. They are mainly Upcountry Tamils.

The historic victory of Barack Obama in the presidential elections of the United States of America, bestowed on to him by the people of America, heralds a paradigm shift in world affairs. "The new hope is that the International Community will recover from the psychological sickness of the 'paranoia of terror,' which will in turn induce recovery of economy, human rights and peace in the world," said Selvam Adaikkalanathan, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vanni, welcoming the victory of Mr. Obama.

After winning the elections, Mr. Obama said: "This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can."

One of the significant features of the American election was that it attracted record high turn out of voters. Michael McDonald of George Mason University told Associated Press that the voter turn out beat the old post World War II high of 63.8 percent of 1960 John F. Kennedy versus Richard Nixon election. He projected the turn out figure of 2008 at 64.1 percent.

A Reuter headline read: 'Black Americans celebrate Obama's victory'.

The phenomenal victory of a Black as the president of the United States is 'civilisational,' said Mr. Adaikkalanathan.

When the Blacks, kidnapped or purchased, brought to America as chained-slaves from the African coasts, their initial fear was that the cannibals (slave traders) were going to eat them. A couple of centuries of changes have now culminated in the becoming of a person of African ancestry at the helm of the affairs of the World, endorsing the beginnings of a new 'world human civilisation'.

Another encouraging element of sociological significance seen in the American elections was the enthusiastic interest shown by the youth in bringing out the change. 'Young voters helped Obama put over the top,' read a title of a report filed by the Associated Press.

Commenting further on Obama's victory, Mr. Adaikkalanathan said: "The moment of the time seems to be for wind of changes everywhere. Already, three of the countries in South Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives have been benefited by it. Bangladesh is facing democratic elections shortly. We hope that the victory of Obama will signal the wind of change in Sri Lanka too."

In January 2008, during an interview Mr. Obama had said that, "the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the other." He described this phenomenon as the inability of people to accommodate others "who are not like us," and mentioned Sri Lanka as an example, pointing out that war rages even when "everybody there looks exactly the same."

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an intensive artillery barrage targeting all the roads from Paranthan junction last Monday, killing a 24-year-old youth in front of Paranthan St. Antony's Church and causing injuries to six, including two elderly men, in the town.

Two sisters were severely wounded and were admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of the Tharmapuram hospital.

The narrow streets of the town were full of people while the SLA barrage hit the town.

More than 750 civilians including school children, government employees, cooperative workers, traders and customers sought refuge on the ground during the attack.

A mother who fled the artillery attack with her family narrated the scene to TamilNet correspondent.

Arumugam Chandra, a mother with her husband, a 9-year-old boy and her elder sister, fled from her house located 200 meters from St. Antony's Church in Paranthan.

She described in detail how they faced the artillery attack, sought security and managed to flee with a small bag with her identification papers, leaving behind everything else at their house.

"The whole family of mine and an aunt from a nearby house with her child were sitting in front of our house. Then we heard the explosion near ourselves. We throw ourselves on the ground. Shrapnel was screaming overhead as shells were bursting in our backyard. We thought it was the final moment of our life," she said.

"Then, we tried to get up and run, but there was fire on the road; a vehicle was burning. We paused for a moment and at that time we were frightened to imagine how we could manage to flee away through the smoke and the exploding shells."

"My elder sister, who has blood pressure, was screaming that she wouldn't make it. My husband was focused on saving our child. I told my sister: look, we may die if we choose to stay here. Do you want to die here or give it a chance to escape? Then, I somehow managed to run away with her. Unable to breath through the smoke, I almost fainted, but managed to reach a Canter vehicle of the TRO [Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation] that took us away from Paranthan."

"I only managed to flee with a bag with my identification documents. Somebody was saying that a nun at the church was wounded, that there was a bowser burning, I don't know."

Medical authorities at Tharmpuram hospital said they identified the youth killed as M. Sathiyathevan, 24, from Udaiyaarkaddu in Mullaiththeevu.

The seriously wounded sisters were identified as Thushiyanthi Puvanasankaralingam, 28, Thusiyanthaveni Puvanasankaralingam, 20.

The other wounded were: M. Kandiah, 64, P. Gnanam, 62, Selvarajah, 31, and another elderly man who was on Paranthan Kilinochchi road.

All the wounded were rushed to Kilinochchi hospital in ambulances and were transferred to Tharmapuram hospital from there.

Many houses and shops were destroyed in the barrage that also hit the grounds of the Paranthan Hindu College. Many civilians were seen moving from the town in the evening.

Student attendance was below 15% in the school, according to the teachers who were present at the school earlier in the day. All of them were forced to flee the college premises following the barrage in the evening.

The SLA has intensified artillery attacks on the suburbs of Paranthan town.

Paranthan - Mullaiththeevu Road, Paranthan - Elephant Pass Road, Paranthan Ki'linochchi Road and Paranthan - Poonakari Road were targeted by the artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire by the SLA.

Civilians were seen fleeing Kumarapuram, which has been subjected to several air attacks, following the artillery barrage.

On the previous Sunday, November 16, Kugnchup-Paranthan and Kumarapuram settlements were targeted by artillery fire for more than 12 hours, following hours of shelling on the Saturday.

At least 7 huts were fully destroyed and several houses sustained damage in the barrage.

Many civilians who had displaced to Paranthan from Poonakari, Valaippaadu and Vearavil narrowly escaped from the shelling as they sought refuge inside the bunkers.

The intense shelling killed livestock, which was unprotected during the attack.

India Thursday formally handed over to the international Red Cross nearly 1,700 tonnes of relief material meant for civilians displaced by war in Sri Lanka’s north, but a top government official insisted that Colombo alone would distribute the aid.

Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad handed over the gift certificate to Paul Castella, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sri Lanka, at what the envoy said was “a simple but solemn occasion” reported IANS.

Prasad said it was for distribution among the war-hit population and hoped that the goods “would help meet the humanitarian needs of the people”.

“This (Indian) consignment consists of food, clothing and personnel hygiene items, which have been packed individually into 80,000 family packs for easy distribution and to ensure that the assistance reaches directly to the intended recipients,” he was quoted as saying.

Addressing reporters at the venue, Sri Lanka’s Commissioner General of Essential Service (CGES) S.B. Divaratne and ICRC’s Castella thanked India for its goodwill gesture, but openly contradicted each other on the issue of who will distribute the relief supply to the needy.

Claiming that “food, shelter as well as access to water, sanitation and health care are the most pressing needs that our staff in the Vanni could observe at present”, the ICRC official said his organisation intended to take the Indian donation “to the Vanni in the coming weeks”.

“The food, hygiene items and clothes donated by the Indian government will be distributed directly to civilians by the ICRC teams working in the Vanni to alleviate the suffering created by armed conflict,” he said.

“This is the first time that the Indian Government has assisted the conflict affected population of Sri Lanka through the ICRC and I would like to underline how much we appreciate the trust the Indian authorities have shown in us and its recognition of the ICRC’s work in Sri Lanka to date,” Castella said in his address to the media.

An ICRC media statement also went on to say that the ICRC would be distributing the aid provided by the Indian government ‘directly’ to the displaced people and to residents affected by the conflict in the Vanni.

“We will do so in accordance with our own independent assessment of people’s needs,” Francois Stamm who heads the ICRC’s regional delegation in New Delhi said in the statement.

However when a journalist posed a question to specify clearly as to who would handle the distribution, Divaratne maintained firmly that the goods would be distributed by the government agents and the ICRC would only facilitate them.

“No foreign organisation can directly go and distribute food (to) anybody there, bypassing the government mechanisms,” he said.

Assuring that the relief assistance would “definitely reach” the affected people, he said the government in consultation with Government Agents “will facilitate the operation with the ICRC”.

“It is the Government Agents of the districts who know where people are displaced and living. It is a joint operation,” Divaratne said.

When a clarification on the matter was sought by the ICRC head, the news conference was adjourned with ICRC officials claiming that the question and answer session had ended.

Meanwhile, a meeting between government agents in the north, other government officials and the ICRC is due to take place today to finalise the route which will be taken to transport the goods.

When asked what route would be taken, Divaratne said the government would transport the goods through the A9 passing Vavuniya, Puliyankulum, Nedunkerni and Oddusuddan.

He also said the government had identified areas where the displaced civilians resided so that it would make it easier for the government agents to distribute the goods.

Nearly 1,680 tonnes of relief materials, shipped into Sri Lanka in 100 containers, are now housed in the ICRC warehouse near Colombo, ready to be transported to the island’s north.

Thousands of civilians, almost wholly Tamils, have been displaced in fighting between the military and the Tamil Tigers.

The consignment came as a follow up to a visit to New Delhi last month by Colombo’s special envoy Basil Rajapaksa when both sides decided that India would take part in providing humanitarian relief aid.

“I am happy to note that this substantial consignment has arrived in Colombo within three weeks of the two countries taking that decision. It is a combined effort of the government of India and donations received from the people of Tamil Nadu,” the Indian envoy said.

Claiming that it “is a gesture of goodwill and is intended to bring some relief to the civilians in the conflict areas”, Prasad said that India “is committed to providing humanitarian assistance”.

“We will evaluate the situation and what the needs and requirement are and we may bring additional consignment as required,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohana, who was also at the handover, said there was no estimate of the displaced in the conflict zone as a census has not been conducted.

“We believe the figure of 230,000 to 300,000 estimated displaced by various agencies is grossly exaggerated. The government’s own assessment is that the figure could be around 100,000,” he said.

Amnesty International last week called on Sri Lanka's government to stop blocking humanitarian aid intended for the more than 300,000 people displaced by fighting in the north.

The human rights group urged both the government and the Tamil Tigers to allow international monitors into the northern Vanni region, which has seen intense fighting over recent weeks.

It also had other criticisms of both sides in the fighting. It accused the Tigers of using the displaced as a "deliberate buffer" against government forces.

Amnesty called on the Tamil Tigers "to ensure freedom of movement for civilians and stop preventing people from moving to safer places".

"These families must not be forgotten and left to suffer in a war zone."

Amnesty says that thousands of people displaced by the conflict are currently "in desperate need of shelter, food and sanitation".

"As the north-east monsoon season approaches, only 2,100 temporary shelters for 4,000 families have been provided, leaving at least 20,000 families in need of protection from the elements," a statement released by the group says.

"Around two-thirds of the civilian population of the Vanni region have been forced out of their homes,” the report said.

The human rights group says that unless food is distributed by aid agencies - rather than the government - "there is no way of establishing if the aid is reaching those most in need".

The Sri Lankan government responded by accusing Amnesty of publishing "outright falsehood" and charged that it was trying to show the government in an unfavourable light.

Amnesty’s account is " littered with misleading innuendo compounded by outright falsehood," the government says.

"It becomes clear that the intent of the report is to present a skewed picture unfavourable to the lawfully elected and popularly mandated government of Sri Lanka."

The government says the Amnesty report "is unfortunately yet another attempt to distort the factual situation pertaining to the conditions in which civilians in the north of Sri Lanka find themselves at present".

In September the government ordered all aid agencies to leave LTTE-controlled areas, saying that it could no longer guarantee the safety of aid workers in the area.

Since then the government has sent in food convoys to the region and the UN has been allowed to send some convoys. It argues that the United Nations believes that food supplies to the north are "satisfactory".

Among its criticisms of Amnesty, the government says its figure of 300,000 displaced people is an exaggeration and international monitoring of the situation in the north comes from international personnel who have travelled on the food convoys.

Amnesty told the BBC that it stands by its report.

Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia Pacific Director, said in reply that: "The government seems to be quibbling over some of the numbers used in the report."

He told the BBC News website that the number of people at risk in the north was "staggering".

On the disputed issue of how much food is getting to the displaced, Mr Zarifi said "a quick needs assessment by international neutral monitors will establish the accuracy of the government's statements".

"We completely stand by our report," Mr Zarifi said.

"The government seems to be of the opinion that our criticisms of the Tamil Tigers are fair, but our criticisms of the government betray a bias in favour of the Tigers."

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continue to be an extremely potent, most lethal and well-organised terrorist force in Sri Lanka and has strong connections in Tamil Nadu and certain pockets of southern India, a tribunal said.

The tribunal, set up under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was upholding the ban imposed on the outfit by the Centre on May 14, 2008.

Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Delhi High Court, who was on the tribunal, agreed with the Centre’s submissions that “the LTTE continues to use Tamil Nadu as the base for carrying out smuggling of essential items like petrol and diesel, besides drugs, to Sri Lanka.”

The Centre was represented by Additional Solicitor-General P.P. Malhotra, and Tamil Nadu by counsel S. Thananjayan. The LTTE was not represented by counsel.

It was submitted that Kalpakkam and Kudankulam, where nuclear plants are in existence, were proximate to LTTE bases in Sri Lanka. “The Government of India is apprehensive that unless the ban on the LTTE continues, acts of aggression on Indian soil are likely to occur.”

The judge also noted that the LTTE leaders had been cynical of India’s policy on their organisation and action of the state machinery in curbing its activities. Further, according to the submissions, enquiries on the activities of LTTE cadres/dropouts who had recently been traced in Tamil Nadu suggested that they would ultimately be utilised by the outfit for unlawful activities.

The tribunal said stress was laid on the fact that V. Pirapaharan, leader of the LTTE, and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman, wanted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, were still absconding and declared proclaimed offenders.

The tribunal took into consideration the submission that “the LTTE will continue to remain a strong terrorist movement and stimulate the secessionist sentiments to enhance its support base in Tamil Nadu as long as Sri Lanka continues to remain in a state of ethnic strife torn by the demand for Tamil Eelam which finds a strong echo in Tamil Nadu due to the linguistic, cultural, ethnic and historical affinity between the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka.”

The judge said: “Each of the submissions is fortified by instances and documents. Examples have also been given of the cases which were registered earlier and are still alive, and in many cases some of the LTTE cadres and members of the Tamilar Pasarai, the Tamil National Retrieval Troops and the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army, who are accused in these cases, are at large and efforts are on to secure them.”

“In the absence of any representation from the LTTE, the entire material placed by the Central government as well as the State government including deposition of their witnesses remains un-rebutted and is taken as having been proved.”

The LTTE was first banned in India following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Thousands of British Tamils demonstrated at the Parliament Square in London on Wednesday, November 19, between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., urging the British Parliament to demand the Government of Sri Lanka to stop the genocide unleashed on Eelam Tamils.

The Diaspora Tamils also carried banners seeking the British Parliament to recognise Tamils' right to self-determination in their homeland. The gathering also expressed gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu for their solidarity with Eelam Tamils.

Diaspora Tamil activists carried banners that read: Stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka, impose economic sanctions and arms embargo against Sri Lanka, recognise Tamils right to Self-Determination and Thank you Tamil Nadu.

Eight British Parliamentarians from different political parties addressed the participants of the demonstration.

The day was chosen as it is the Prime Minister’s Question (PMQ) day, on Wednesday to have the attention of the maximum number of Members of Parliament, the organisers of the British Tamils Forum (BTF) said.

The BTF was set-up in 2006 with the support 88 British Tamil community organisations in UK with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of the Tamils community in the Island of Sri Lanka and to further their right to self determination within a democratic frame work underpinned by the the international law, its covenants and conventions.

With the Sri Lankan army closing in on Kilinochchi, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam headquarters, army officers are confident of decisive victory in the civil war. But LTTE political chief B. Nadesan does not agree. Recently, the Sri Lankan government dismissed Nadesan's statement that the LTTE "had always wanted ceasefire" and was "fighting a defensive war" as a trap and demanded that the Tigers lay down their weapons before coming forward for any talks.

In an email interview with THE WEEK from Kilinochchi, Nadesan says the LTTE is far from being defeated. Excerpts:

How is the situation in the Tamil Eelam?
The Sri Lankan government does not allow journalists-local or international-and human rights activists into our area. As a result, the massacre of Tamils by the Sri Lankan military does not reach the outside world. Aerial bombing and artillery shelling on Tamil civilians are continually taking place. Our homeland has been subjected to a severe economic blockade for many years. The current military action has displaced Tamils and many are living in forests.

The government is intent on brutally oppressing a group of people who are waging a struggle for their rights. Sadly, the media does not bring this out. I view this as a great human tragedy of the 21st century. The government and military chiefs insist on a military solution while we have been saying that a solution can be reached only through ceasefire and peace talks. The government unilaterally pulled out of the ceasefire. The world must understand this reality and recognise our struggle.

Is the 30-year-old struggle weakening?
This is a view propagated by the Sri Lankan government and military. They have the habit of making such victory declarations. During all these years, every government that came to power claimed that it was going to defeat the LTTE, but ended up facing humiliating defeats at our hands. During their Riviresa operation in 1995 and the Jeyasikuru operation in 1998 they said that 90 per cent of the LTTE strength had been wiped out. In reality, after Riviresa, we defeated the Mullaithivu military camp in a conventional war with the support of our people; and a few days after Jeyasikuru, we won back the land they took 18 months to capture.

Even now, they say that we have been weakened. The Sri Lankan military is facing heavy losses at the forward defence lines. To make up for the losses, they are bringing in men from other districts to areas surrounding Kilinochchi. Many army men are deserting their camps. A new military division, 61st Brigade, is being created with the captured deserters.

Responding to concerns raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Sri Lankan government said it was attacking extremists, not innocent Tamils.
This is not true. Children and old people have been killed and injured in large numbers by aerial bombings and artillery shelling. The economic blockade has left our people without adequate food and medicine. We have sent news of attacks on civilians to the media with ample evidence. The expatriate representatives of the international agencies in our areas know about this situation. Now, even they have been expelled from our area by the government. This shows that the government has taken steps to block news of attacks on innocent people reaching the outside world.

How do you feel about the support rendered by the people, including the film fraternity, in Tamil Nadu?
The genocide in Tamil Eelam through indiscriminate attacks and the eviction of Tamils from their homes are the reasons for the rising support in Tamil Nadu. Whenever the people of Tamil Eelam faced great miseries at the hands of the Sri Lankan military, people of Tamil Nadu have expressed their support, beyond their political differences.

Has this increased the confidence in your struggle?
The oppressive action of the government has enraged not only the people of Tamil Nadu but also the Tamil diaspora. Sinhala political leaders, military chiefs and even Buddhist monks are emphasising a military solution. If the government continues to believe that an ethnic issue in a country can be solved by a military solution alone, it will only lead to the oppressed ethnic people achieving their aspirations with help from other countries.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu says it is fratricidal war that has weakened the Tamil Eelam struggle. Do you agree?
He is saying this with good intentions. We, too, wish to bring Tamils together and wage our struggle as a strong force. Sadly, one or two Tamils have become traitors for trivial perks offered by the Lankan government.

Is it true that India is giving military aid to Sri Lanka?
The Sri Lankan government and military chiefs have openly claimed that the Indian government has been giving them military assistance. The Indian government is silent over this comment. This is indeed an issue that saddens the Tamils, people in Tamil Nadu, and Tamils all over the world.

What help do you expect from the Indian government?
It must stop all military assistance given to Sri Lanka, remove the ban on our movement and recognise our struggle. I like to point out that our movement and our people are true friends of India.

How do you react to comments by Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka about V. Pirapaharan's health? He said Pirapaharan would not live long.
Our leader is in excellent health and is leading the current war. This comment is an expression of the hatred he has for the Tamil people and our movement. Recently, he said the island belongs to Sinhala Buddhists. This shows that he is an irresponsible and immature military chief.

President-elect Barack Obama has offered Hillary Rodham Clinton the position of Secretary of State and the New York Senator has decided to accept the post, according to media reports.

"She is a beloved figure around the world. She has visited over 80 countries, as first lady and senator together," an aide told media.

Noting the fact that Clinton learned as first lady how to be effective as a "backdoor diplomat," the former White House assistant said Clinton mastered "a lot of the intricacies of these issues before ever joining the Senate's Armed Services committee. She's tough; she had meetings with some Prime Ministers and Presidents where she had to deliver some blunt messages for us."

Last year Clinton urged a more nuanced approach to armed non-state actors, arguing “the bottom line is, you can't lump all terrorists together. … what the Tamil Tigers are fighting for in Sri Lanka, or the Basque separatists in Spain, or the insurgents in al-Anbar province may only be connected by tactics.”

Clinton made her comments to ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in an interview which covered Iraq, the legacy of the Cold War and ceding executive powers.

When asked “do you think that the terrorists hate us for our freedoms, or do you think they have specific geopolitical objectives?”, she replied: “Well, I believe that terrorism is a tool that has been utilized throughout history to achieve certain objectives. Some have been ideological, others territorial. There are personality-driven terroristic objectives.”

“The bottom line is, you can't lump all terrorists together. And I think we've got to do a much better job of clarifying what are the motivations, the raisons d'être of terrorists.”

“I mean, what the Tamil Tigers are fighting for in Sri Lanka, or the Basque separatists in Spain, or the insurgents in al-Anbar province may only be connected by tactics. They may not share all that much in terms of what is the philosophical or ideological underpinning.”

“And I think one of our mistakes has been painting with such a broad brush, which has not been particularly helpful in understanding what it is we were up against when it comes to those who pursue terrorism for whichever ends they're seeking.”

Hundreds of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) youth members, community leaders, non governmental organization officials participated in a protest to show their solidarity with the Eelam Tamils and condemn Sri Lanka’s continued killing of innocent Tamils.

The protest organized by MIC took place in front of the Sri Lankan Embassy on Friday, November 14

The protesters urged the international community to stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and find an acceptable negotiated settlement to the protracted conflict.

The protesters wearing black arm bands to mark the suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka carried placards explaining the suffering of Eelam Tamils in northern Sri Lanka.

At the end of the protest, the organisers submitted a petition to the Sri Lankan embassy officials urging Sri Lanka to stop the war and find a negotiated solution and allow international aid agencies into the war ravaged areas to assist the needy.

Mr. S. Murugesan, Organising Chairman, Youths for Peace in Sri Lanka, said, "We will soon meet the Foreign Minister and will submit a memorandum and will listen to his views. We will ask him to take action.