Sri Lankan Army denies 150 Tamil youth to attend conference in Vavuniya
Over 150 Tamil youth traveling by bicycle from Vadamarachchi East to Vavuniya were detained at the Omanthai checkpoint on October 27. The youth were traveling to attend the Tamil National Resurgence conference and were stopped and held by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) for eight hours.
 The youth chose to travel nearly 150 km by bicycle to demonstrate their determination and support toward the rights of Tamils in Northeast. Their main purpose was to participate in the Tamil National Resurgence conference, which gives the Tamil community a rare opportunity to communicate their concerns and issues to outside world. The Tamil community participated in the event to promote the Vavuniya Proclamation, which demands the Sri Lankan military to vacate Northeast. Tamils and committee leaders also aimed to gain recognition from the international community to exemplify the immense support the Tamil civilians hold for the Vavuniya Proclamation. Soon after the youth were stopped, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) arrived at the checkpoint site to try to resolve the issue by discussing solutions with the SLA. However, the SLA did not heed the suggestions by the SLMM. The SLA demanded that the youth leave behind the red and yellow flags they carried with them. The youth did not accept to leave behind red and yellow flags and decided to sit on the road in protest of the SLA’s denial of their right to attend a civilian event. Despite the SLMM intervention, the youths were unable to accomplish their goal of participating in a valuable event in the Tamil community.
28 October 2005
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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?
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