SL military intelligence threatens Jaffna daily, reminds editors on ‘white-vans’ of past
[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 December 2015, 23:28 GMT]
Four Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives, who entered the
office of the Jaffna edition of Thinakkural newspaper on Wednesday
night, threatened the editorial staff for publishing a news item that
exposed the ‘activities’ of certain surveillance operatives, who were
camouflaged as journalists and deployed to monitor a meeting held on the
previous day. The paper had published a story detailing the presence of
four to six ‘operatives’, who were monitoring the participants at a
meeting organised by the families of missing persons from all the 8
districts in the North and East on Tuesday. The SL military
intelligence operatives who entered the office of the paper on Wednesday
warned the editors to withdraw their story with a correction and
apology to be issued on Thursday.
If the paper failed to ‘correct’ the story, the editors would have to face the same consequences as the abductions carried out by the white-van squad in the past, the operatives told the editors.
When the security guards of the newspaper intervened, the SL military intelligence operatives threatened them saying that they were only having a ‘conversation’ with the editorial board.
The newspaper office remains tight-lipped on the episode as the management is concerned of the security of the reporters and the editorial staff, informed sources told TamilNet on Sunday.
The intelligence operatives of the occupying SL military have stepped up their shadow war on Tamil journalists in Jaffna, the sources further said.
The ‘operatives’ who visited the newspaper office were the same people, who were deployed to monitor the journalists and rights activists who interacted with Samantha Power, the US ambassador to United Nations, who visited Jaffna in November 2015.
The editorial staff of Jaffna Thinakkural had also exposed the ‘signatures’ placed by two of the alleged intelligence operatives, who were present at Veerasingham Hall on a surveillance mission.
If the paper failed to ‘correct’ the story, the editors would have to face the same consequences as the abductions carried out by the white-van squad in the past, the operatives told the editors.
When the security guards of the newspaper intervened, the SL military intelligence operatives threatened them saying that they were only having a ‘conversation’ with the editorial board.
The newspaper office remains tight-lipped on the episode as the management is concerned of the security of the reporters and the editorial staff, informed sources told TamilNet on Sunday.
The intelligence operatives of the occupying SL military have stepped up their shadow war on Tamil journalists in Jaffna, the sources further said.
The ‘operatives’ who visited the newspaper office were the same people, who were deployed to monitor the journalists and rights activists who interacted with Samantha Power, the US ambassador to United Nations, who visited Jaffna in November 2015.
The editorial staff of Jaffna Thinakkural had also exposed the ‘signatures’ placed by two of the alleged intelligence operatives, who were present at Veerasingham Hall on a surveillance mission.
The veiled threat of white-van abduction has surfaced again the Tamil homeland. The Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council Justice C.V. Wigneswaran has recently gone on record urging the people to complain such incidents.
Following the media reports of NPC Chief Minister urging the public not to hesitate to complain on such threats that seem to prevail, Colombo's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera went on record stating that Colombo would not hesitate to act on such complaints.
However, the situation of threat prevails at such a level in Jaffna that a newspaper management is hesitant to make the threat public.
TamilNet is also aware of a recent white-van abduction that has taken place in Maruthangkea'ni in November 2015. The affected victim and those who secured the victim from the abductors are reluctant to go on record in fear of reprisals from the SL military intelligence.
Complete de-militarisation of North and East is an absolute necessity if Eezham Tamils are to be safeguarded from all kinds of threats by the genocidal ‘Sri Lanka’, Tamil rights activists in Jaffna commented.
In the meantime, some of the diaspora visitors to their homeland have been subjected to threats at Colombo airport on their return, informed sources in Colombo said. The visiting diaspora Eezham Tamils have been ‘reminded’ of their relatives and their properties with detailed descriptions by the SL military operatives.
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