Archive for September 13th, 2008

Paris Hindus defy LTTE, hold Ganesh pooja

Posted by admin 13 September, 2008 (0) Comment

Hindu devotees in their hundreds participated in the Ganesha pooja at the Hindu temple in Paris and broke thousands of coconuts as a part of ritual defying and order issued by the LTTE not to hold the ceremony.
The trustees of Sri Manika Vinayakar Alayam denounced the Tamil Tigers for their attempts to interfere with the Ganesha pooja from October 31 to September 3.

Immediately after the temple authorities announced the schedule of Ganesha pooja, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) pasted posters in Tamil dominated La Chappelle area in Paris urging Hindu population to boycott the coconut pooja, which is an integral part of the Ganesha pooja.

“Instead of breaking coconuts for Ganesha pooja, donate the amount you spend for coconuts and for cleaning the Paris roads after the pooja for the special fund for displaced Tamils in the north and east,” the LTTE poster urged. The poster carried photographs of previous year’s Ganesha pooja and a crying child allegedly starving at a refugee camp. In this poster, the Ganesha pooja picture was cut across with an ‘X’ and it called on the Hindus to contribute funds to the Tamil Refugee Organisation (TRO). The poster urged the Hindus to see first about the current situation before thinking of salvation in future reincarnations.

“The LTTE poster is nothing but religious sacrilege,” Vijayan Arumugan, a Hindu devotee said. “The LTTE can raise funds at any other place, but not at the cost of a sacred Hindu ritual”. He added that the Tamils have serious doubts in any case whether the funds collected by the TRO would go to the welfare of the displaced people.

The TRO (ORT France) is under investigation currently as the documents seized from 17 arrested LTTE cadres in France have revealed the close links between the LTTE and ORT France. The Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris urged the European Union to ban the TRO as it is a front organization of the LTTE.

The Temple Sri Manika Vinayakar Alayam at No 72, rue Philippe de Girard i Paris 18 is a respected place of worship open for Hindus from Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and several other countries. “It is our place of worship and the LTTE should not use it as a platform to raise funds for arms,” Tiruvedran, a Hindu from Madagascar said. “I have many Sri Lankan Tamil friends and they are disgusted with the intimidatory and coercive actions of the LTTE. But they are too scared to raise their voice against the LTTE because of lack of safety for their kith and kin back home”.

He expressed joy that Sri Lankan Tamils in their hundreds took part in the coconut pooja ignoring the LTTE warnings.

Courtesy: Government Information Department

Categories : Defence News Tags : ceremony, Department, Government, India, Information, Lanka, Liberation, LTTE, North, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tigers, USA

Navy refutes bogus ‘reportash’ by B.Raman

Posted by admin 13 September, 2008 (0) Comment

Sri Lanka Navy wishes to unequivocally deny with no uncertain terms the contents under sub heading 08 of the article appeared on the page 06 of “The Island” on 12th September, under the heading “Vavuniya Raid- Conflicting Versions” written by one gentleman by the name of B Raman ( South Asian Analysis group) who is said to be an Additional Secretary (rtd), cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Tropical Studies Chennai, as it contains an erroneous and false citation and a bogus quotation referring to the official web site of the Sri Lanka Navy.

Sri Lanka Navy wishes to state that it maintains and updates only one web site namely http//www.navy.lk, and therefore, the Navy plainly and undisputably denies the reference made to the Sri Lanka Navy therein under subheading 8 “…, the version given by the Sri Lanka Navy in its web site did admit some damage to the radar, but claimed it was slight”.

Moreover, the self acclaimed writer makes a bogus quotation stating that ‘A web blog run by the Sri Lanka Naval Intelligence’ is said to have stated “Reports indicated that the radar system was slightly damaged after a bomb fell close to it”.

Courtesy: Sri Lanka Navy