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Hero's day Statement

Commendable Quote
  Europe which has a total population of 800 million is made up of 45 language based nation states. South Asia which has a total population of one billion, (1000 million) is comprised of four states. Who is preventing and therefore benefiting by limiting new nation-states in South Asia?
 


December HR Release

 
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Tamil fishermen’s plight captured in a Mullaithivu sea incident

Two fishermen from Mullaithivu were spreading their net just one Km from the shore near Silawaththai on Sunday night when they came under Sri Lankan Navy fire. One of them was injured. The two fishermen cut off their net and sped back to the shore in their boat. However, they were soon forced to abandon their boat that was now completely damaged by constant the Sri Lankan Navy fire. The two fishermen used an empty fuel container for float and continued to swim towards the shore.

The other fisherman was hit by the Sri Lankan Navy fire and he died while swimming. His co-worker, already injured, struggled to drag the dead fishermen’s body to the shore. Once on shore, the villagers took the injured fishermen to the Mullaithivu hospital, where he is in stable condition.

The two fishermen worked for and used the equipment belonging to Thavarasa. Thavarasa also used to be a fisherman. He lost one of his legs in a Sri Lankan Navy attack in 1990 while he was out fishing. He is unable to go fishing since then. All his fishing equipment was also lost in this attack.

Like all fishermen from Mullaithivu he also lost everything in the 2004 tsunami. Thavarasa rebuilt his equipment with the help of NGOs. All of this has now been destroyed again by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The dead fisherman, Ariveeran Muruhappan aged 65 is from Udappai and like the many of Tamils has a temporary residence elsewhere. He was living in Selvapuram. The injured fisherman, Veerapathran Nagarasa aged 49, is from Selvapuram and is the father of six young children.

This incident in the Mullaithivu sea on Sunday night and the history of the three affected fishermen captures the fate of the Tamil fishing community at the hands of the Sri Lankan Navy during the last two decades.

31 October 2006

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