SL military steps up harassment on resettled Tamils in Poonakari

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 April 2012, 16:29 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military in Vanni has stepped up harassment on resettled civilians in Poonakari and in the adjoining coastal areas, news sources in Poonakari told TamilNet Thursday. Recently, Sri Lanka Navy has taken over the occupation of the strategically located coastal stretch from the SL Army and has imposed strict ‘pass’ regulations on fishing in the seas, Tamil fishermen complain. Southern intruders with the backing of occupying military are also forcing people to sell their lands following recent reports that the Colombo establishment was planning to invite China to build an airport of international standard at Poonakari to balance India’s projects centring around KKS harbour and Palaali airport in the northern coast of Jaffna Peninsula.

Namal Rajapaksa, the son of SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the SL presidential siblings Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa have also occupied acres of land in the region, news sources said. Influential people and businessmen from the south have joined the race. Some of the intruders have already started planting coconut palm groves.

Poonakari is situated in a controlling location linking Vanni with Jaffna Peninsula, with Palk Bay and Jaffna Lagoon on either side. It is also located close to Raameasvaram and Tho’ndi of the Tamil Nadu coast.

Fishermen from Valaippaadu, Naachchikkudaa, Kiraangchi, Vearavil, Ponnaave'li, Pa'l'likkudaa and Poonakari, who can't secure ‘pass’ from the military camps are barred from engaging in fishing. But, when people present themselves at the camps, they are being interrogated with questions on their past activities and with questions of their family members.

Former LTTE members who have been released after so-called rehabilitation by the occupying SL military are the ones subjected to severe harassment by the SL Navy.

The SL Navy and SL Army have also launched joint cordon and search operations along the coastal stretch. The SL military says they have been ‘infiltrations’ from India.

The occupying soldiers inspect identity cards and people moving around during the night time are detained and released only in the morning after interrogations. Persons who have no SL ‘National Identity Card’ are unable to travel, the sources further said.

Sri Lanka's large military establishments that choke Jaffna peninsula and threaten Indian security. Sinhala colonisation is carried out in places no 11, 13, 14, and 16. The locations: 1. High Security Zone, Valikaamam North, 2. Kaarainakar naval base, 3. Vallan, Pungkudutheevu, 4. Periyathu'rai and Saamiththoadda-munai, Delft (Key location for Kachchatheevu and Rameswaram), 5. Kunthavadi, Delft, 6. Thalai-mannaar, 7. Mannaar Fort, 8. Tha'l'laadi, 9. Poonakari Fort, 10. Elephant Pass, 11. Vettilaikkea'ni, 12. Naakarkoayil, 13. Ariyaalai East and the opposite sandbar Ma'n'niththalai, 14. Naavatkuzhi, 15. Ma'ndaitheevu,16. Jaffna city, 17. Kachcha-theevu and 18. Naachchik-kudaa. The innumerable small military posts and the newly planned cantonments in Vanni are not shown in the map. [Satellite Image courtesy: NASA, Visible Earth. Legend by TamilNet]

Chronology:

12.04.12  SL military steps up harassment on resettled Tamil..

05.02.12  China to build airport in Poonakari to balance Ind..

China to build airport in Poonakari to balance India’s Palaali

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 February 2012, 01:27 GMT]
Occupying Sri Lanka plans to invite China to build an airport of international standard at Poonakari in the north of the country of Eezham Tamils to balance India’s projects centring around KKS harbour and Palaali airport in the northern coast of Jaffna Peninsula, news sources from the island said. Colombo has started confiscating large tracts of lands for this purpose and China has presented models of the airport for approval, revealed TNA parliamentarian Mr. Sritharan. Poonakari is situated in a controlling location linking Vanni with Jaffna Peninsula, with Palk Bay and Jaffna Lagoon on either side. It is also located close to Raameasvaram and Tho’ndi of the Tamil Nadu coast.

[Satellite Image Courtesy: NASA, Visible Earth. Details & Legend: TamilNet]

Sometimes back, SL military officials in Jaffna were heard bragging about their ‘diplomacy’ of giving the construction of KKS harbour and Palaali airport to India and involving a Chinese government corporate to use the rest of the northern coast of Jaffna in the guise of installing solar panels and windmills.

A feature appeared in SL government-run Daily News in July 2010, cited Sri Lanka’s occupying military commander in Poonakari, Col. Susantha Gunasekara saying that “as per historical records all enemy incursions to Sri Lanka in the past had been done through Pooneryn and before the last victorious military exercise there had been 135 battles to capture and regain Pooneryn [Poonakari].”

The Daily News feature was also then referring to Sri Lanka’s plan to build the third international airport of the island at Ira’nai-madu in Ki’linochchi. The choice must have now fallen on Poonakari and China has been preferred for the task, considering the advantage of the location of Poonakari checking any ‘enemy incursions’ from Tamil Nadu/ India, political observers in Jaffna said.

Poo-nakari means the city of flowers. The suffix Nakari is a variation for Nakar in old Tamil. Identical to place names like Aazhvaar Thiru-nakari in Tamil Nadu on the opposite coast, and connected to Negeri in Malay, Poo-nakari is a name retaining an ancient linguistic strain. It became Pooneryn in the colonial records.

Meanwhile, constructing a tourist resort in the Nedun-theevu(Delft) island off Jaffna and close to Kachcha-theevu and Raameasvaram in the Palk Bay has been given to China, news sources in Jaffna said.

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SLA soldier shoots dead traveller on Poonakari Road

SLA soldier shoots dead traveller on 

Poonakari Road

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2011, 14:29 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier, manning a check post on Poonakari Road, shot and killed a traveller on motorbike Thursday around 7:00 a.m. after demanding the traveller to hand over his motorbike, sources in Poonakari told TamilNet. The SLA soldier was reportedly killed in friendly-fire when he later confronted fellow soldiers, the sources further said. Tension prevailed in the area and the road remained closed for hours. Although the dead body of the SLA soldier was sent to Jaffna hospital and transferred to Palaali military hospital, the information or identity of the slain traveller is yet to be made public. SL military officials are yet to reveal details of the episode and journalists were blocked from reaching the site.

The SLA soldier at the bridge had demanded the motorbike from the young man who was on his way to Jaffna from Vanni.

When the man politely declined to hand over his motorbike saying that he was on an urgent trip to Jaffna, the soldier shot him, reportedly killing him on the spot.

After killing the traveller, the SLA soldier started to fire at his fellow soldiers, who attempted to control him.

When the situation got out of control, the SLA soldier was seriously wounded in the gunfire from fellow soldiers and later succumbed to his injuries.

The slain traveller was an innocent victim, according to the construction workers, who witnessed the episode.