Devolution without land and police powers is no devolution

South African Government position on the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC) in Sri Lanka

Monday, 06 February 2012 

The South African Government has noted the release of the final report of the Sri Lankan Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (the Commission of Enquiry) and the positive recommendations contained in the report relating to human rights, the return and resettlement of displaced communities, restitution and compensatory relief for the affected people, and post-conflict reconstruction and nation-building.

The report, however, should have addressed in more detail the question of holding those people responsible for human rights violations to account.

The South African Government calls on the Sri Lankan Government to speedily implement the measures as recommended.

The South African Government commends the Sri Lankan Government for the decision to set up an authoritative mechanism to further investigate allegations related to human rights abuses and encourages decisive actions upon the findings.

The solution to the challenges facing the people of Sri Lanka at this critical juncture lies in a genuine and inclusive dialogue among all the people and political parties in Sri Lanka. To this end, South Africa encourages the Government and people of Sri Lanka to create a conducive environment, inside and outside Sri Lanka, that will allow for a meaningful and sustainable political settlement that will lead to a constitution that will be acceptable to all Sri Lankans.

In a spirit of partnership and cooperation, South Africa stands ready to share its experience and work with the people of Sri Lanka as they embark on this journey of building a truly reconciled and united people and nation.

The Commission of Enquiry was established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010, among other things, to look into the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 21 February 2002 and the sequence of events that followed thereafter up to the 19th of May 2009 (when the LTTE was defeated in a bloody civil war); whether any person, group or institution directly or indirectly bears the responsibility for alleged human rights abuses especially towards the end of the war; whether there are any lessons to be learned from those events in order to ensure that there will be no repeat of these events; the methodology whereby restitution to any person affected by those events can be effected; the institutional, administrative and legislative measures to be taken to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future; and to promote national unity and reconciliation among all communities.

Mr. Minister, my name is Sunanda Deshapriya. I am not a terrorist: An Open Letter to Minister Keheliya Rambukwella

*groundview journalism For citizens 

An Open Letter to Minister Keheliya Rambukwella

Photo courtesy JDS

Mr. Minister, I don’t know whether you have seen the film called ‘my name is Khan. In it, the main character played by popular actor Shah Rukh Khan Repeats the lines ‘My name is Khan. I am not a terrorist’ at different points in the film, in order to affirm his innocence. I too am about to tell you a similar story.  ‘My name is Sunanda Deshapriya. I am not a terrorist’.  This is my theme.

The story of ‘My name is Khan’ centres around the harassment a Muslim man with the name of Khan has to endure following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, USA.  These attacks on the Twin Towers generated both fear and anger in the minds of the American people. Some extremist groups tried to unleash the feelings of anger against ordinary Muslim people living in the US.  The film’s narrative is set against this background.

You are trying to do the same thing today. You are trying to use the fear and anger generated in the minds of the Sinhala people because of the brutality of the LTTE against those of us who have been advocating respect for human rights in Sri Lanka, including respect for the rights of the Tamil people of our country.  When I say ‘you’ I do not only mean you as an individual, Mr. Minister. I include the entire gamut of people who do your bidding, including those media persons who sing your praises with no shame.

Do you know what baseless and venomous lies the media under your control has spread about me in the past few weeks? Have either you or your acolytes ever tried to behave in accordance with universally accepted media ethics and asked me for my comments on your revelations? Isn’t your talk about media ethics therefore to be understood as mere political hogwash?

In the film, Sameer, the young son of Khan and his wife Mandira is brutally killed by a gang of boys of his own age. This act of savagery became possible only because the feelings of anger and hatred that I described earlier had been let loose in their community.  There can be nobody who watches this film whose heart and mind are not captivated by the tragedy of the child’s murder and the subsequent events. In the past weeks I too have read newspaper reports about yourchildren. How disturbed you would have been after reading such stories? Can you imagine how many deaths my family, my children, have gone through as a result of the vicious campaign being carried out against me by you and the media that serves your will?

I fervently hope that one day you will be able to think about others as you think about yourself; this is the preaching of the Lord Buddha.

You talk over and over again about media ethics. You order news websites to be shut down because they are acting without respect for these ethics. You warn us that you will bring about a Code of Ethics for the Media that will be very special to Sri Lanka.

You are levelling charges against a group of journalists, accusing them of receiving money from the LTTE and carrying out a traitor’s agenda. You say that these media persons and journalists are now living abroad.  You say they cannot be prosecuted because the Sri Lankan law does not permit it.

Mr. Minister, while your media people broadcast your words on this subject, they project images of me at various media freedom demonstrations on the screen behind them. With respect to which Code of Ethics are you displaying my photograph to illustrate baseless allegations? You say that it is because you cannot prosecute these persons who have obtained money from the LTTE under existing Sri Lankan law that you are not revealing their names.  But your media institutions carry my photograph as an illustration to this statement. What is the intention behind this? Is it NOT to implicate me in your statement? Why is it that your acolytes have permission to do what you don’t dare to do? It must be that you think you do not need to be bound by any ethical standards because you are in power.

You advise the media about the use of language. Yet the media under your control continue to use the vilest forms of hate speech against me, shamelessly and without any proof to back up whatever they are saying. You reward these acolytes of yours with awards of media excellence.

Is it your theory and your practice that only your opponents should be held responsible for respecting media ethics? Is this how you devalue your own use of the media?

Wasn’t it your media that repeatedly broadcast the canard that at the session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September last year, the Maldivian President said that ‘Sunanda Deshapriya is a traitor to the nation’ even after it had been proved to be false and inaccurate? Where were the media ethics that you preach, then? The first ethical consideration of any journalist or media person is that of respect for the truth. Doesn’t the media under your control break this principle every day? Is the proverb ‘Practise what you preach’ not applicable to Ministers of this government?

Since a while ago I have publicly challenged your government to prove that I have received even one cent from the LTTE. The truth of the matter is that neither you nor your government nor anyone else holds on shred of evidence to prove this. If your government is capable of indicting members of the military and the Police for having accepted money from the LTTE, why should we believe that you are not able to do the same in the case of journalists who have received money from the LTTE? I accuse you of trying to unleash the same forces of extremism that Khan and Mandira faced on the murder of their son Sameer against me and all others working for the defence of human rights and media freedom in Sri Lanka today.

It is no secret that I hold an extremely critical view of the Rajapakse regime. As Media Minister, you are obliged to defend my right to hold those views. Instead, you are engaged in taking away that space from us and terrorizing us. Please remember that the right to hold dissenting views is one of ethical bases of media freedom.

On ITN, in the ‘Athulanthaya’ (Interior) programme, you said something ridiculous: That because you cannot take these charges before the law, lacking evidence, you are instead placing them before the people. What does this mean? Why must you take information that has no basis and therefore would not stand scrutiny in a court of law into the public arena? Doesn’t this show us that you are trying to build a hate campaign against me in the minds of the people?

In June 2009, award-winning journalist and Secretary of the Working Journalists’ Association, Poddala Jayantha, was abducted and brutally assaulted because of a similar hate campaign. You who are levelling the most absurd of charges against media persons fighting for media freedom today, what have you done to bring the perpetrators of the attack on Jayantha to justice, almost three years after the attack? Tell us if there is even one example where you and your government have brought any of those responsible for killing, beating and harassing journalists and media persons to justice.

As Media Minister, you are raising against unfounded allegations against us. But the allegations we raise against you as media freedom fighters are completely factual.

When cartoonist and media activist Prageeth Eknaligoda was abducted three years ago, it is you who confidently told us that he would return in two weeks time. Referring to Lalith and Kugan, two activists who disappeared from Jaffna a few months ago, you said that they had not in fact disappeared and that they were still alive. When Uthayan Editor Kuhanathan was brutally assaulted and almost killed, all you could say was that as the Minister for Media, when a journalist was assaulted, you could only pay him a visit in hospital.

Did you see the photographic records of the gangsters armed with poles and clubs who gathered in front of the Fort Railway Station to prevent the Black January protest demonstration from taking place? Did you see the reports that said they received packed lunches for free?   Why are the restrictions and forms of censorship applied to media organizations not valid for supporters of the regime? It is you who should respond to these questions, as the Minister responsible for the Media. Where, alas, are your ethics now?

I would be remiss if I did not remind you here that we have a far longer list of violations and omissions of justice to lay at your door.

In November 2010, you said that you needed a clear definition of who is a journalist and a media person; now, in January 2012, you say that in fact you do not know who is a journalist any longer.  Isn’t this amazing?

Look at what you say at the media briefings you summon week after week, about media freedom, about media ethics and about journalists who receive money from the LTTE and even you will feel sorry for yourself.

Let us debate about politics and about ideological differences. In this month of January that we have declared to be a ‘Black January’, let us debate about whether journalists have been murdered or not, about whether media institutions have been set on fire or not, and about whether on some of these occasions, the true perpetrators of these crimes have been left free while others have been falsely arrested or not.  I defend your right to criticize my politics. But you have no right to build a hate campaign against me based on untruth. Neither you nor your cohorts have the right to label me as a terrorist when you have nothing to prove your case.

Mr. Minister, my name is Sunanda Deshapriya. I am not a terrorist.

Kotte Mayor comes under attack

Monday, 06 February 2012

A group of women have attacked and chased away the Mayor of the Kotte Municipal Council, Janaka Ranawaka when he had gone to forcibly acquire a land in the Nawala area.

The Mayor had made false documents to sell the land to an Indian national at Rs. 150 lakhs after learning from the Council records that the respective land did not have a rightful owner.

The Mayor had been attacked by the women when he had gone to the site of the land with some of his goons after preparing the false documents. Several women have lodged complaints with the Mirihana Police that they have been threatened by the Kotte Mayor.

Janaka Ranawaka is a lackey of MP Duminda Silva, who was involved in drug peddling in the Colombo city. An officer from the Mirihana Police told us that Ranawaka was involved in peddling drugs through middlemen Kotte, Kaduwela and Maharagama areas.

He added that the Kotte Mayor had purchased 15 buses and was involved in transporting drugs to Nuwara Eliya in the buses.

Janaka Ranawaka who was faced with severe financial difficulties a few years back has now become a millionaire. The police officer said that apart from drug peddling, his main livelihood was to forcibly acquire lands.

He further noted that legal action could not be instituted against the Mayor since he is one of MP Namal Rajapaksa’s key followers.

Land Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon last week said that some head of local government bodies and councilors were involved in acquiring lands in their respective areas that do not have proper ownership through false documents. He said it was happening on a large scale and that steps are being taken to curb the situation.

13th Amendment full of flaws: TNA

MONDAY, 06 FEBRUARY 2012
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday said that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was riddled with flaws and therefore it could not be accepted as a basis for power devolution under the present circumstances.
 
The TNA’s latest remarks came in the backdrop of some quarters including India asking the  government of Sri Lanka to evolve a political solution based on the 13th Amendment plus.

TNA spokesman MP Suresh Premachandran told the Daily Mirror yesterday that the 13th Amendment was already a part of the Constitution, there is no need for the government to consult the TNA to implement it meaningfully.
 
“If the government is genuinely committed to it, there is no need for them to have a dialogue with us.  Today, the 13th Amendment is full of flaws. The government can devolve powers to the governors of the provincial councils instead of empowering the boards of ministers. It is a constitutional lacuna,” he said.
 
Also, he said that the national policy planning is done today by the central government despite the 13th Amendment.
 
“The provincial councils need land, police and fiscal powers. If the Centre is involved in all these matters, the hands of the provincial councils will be constitutionally tightened,” he said.

Referring to the one year long political dialogue with the government, he said that none of the key areas of power devolution or sharing had been discussed.

“We have not discussed the devolution of land and police powers. Also, we have not touched the topic of the re-merger of the north and the east,” he said.
 
The 13th Amendment was introduced in 1987 after the Indo-Lanka accord was signed. It provided for the establishment of provincial councils in the country. Mr. Premachandran’s EPRLF was the first parry to government the merged north-east provincial council.
 
Central province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said none of the powers detrimental to the national security and territorial integrity of the country should be devolved to the provinces.
 
“In my view, we enjoy land powers subject to certain limitations. Police power is needed to maintain law and order. But, in our country, police power was used during the war time for the national security of the country. The central government should not devolve any power detrimental to the national security,” he said.
 
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a party of the ruling coalition, said there should be a separate administrative unit for Muslims when a political solution is worked out.

SLMC General Secretary Hasan Ali said this unit should be formed covering the three Muslim dominated electorates in the east, namely Kalmunai, Samanthurai and Potuvil.

“Besides, all the other non-contiguous Muslim areas in other parts of the north and the east should be brought under the purview of this administrative unit proposed by our part. This is our maximum demand,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)

Tamil journalists blocked from attending Rajapaksa's meetings in Jaffna

Rajapaksa and his son came to the opening ceremony of the swimming pool with a team of swimmers from South

Rajapaksa with his minister Douglas Devananda and military governor of North Maj. Gen. (retd.) G.A. Chandrasiri at the opening ceremony of swimming pool at Jaffna Central College

Kokku'laay school in Mullaiththeevu district

Many of the schools in Vanni function without basic facilities and lack of teachers

The renovated hospital at Chaavakachcheari

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 February 2012, 12:10 GMT]
The wards of the Chaavakachcheari hospital, renovated with help from Red Cross societies from Finland and Ireland at different stages and that were already declared open, were showcased Monday as part of a ‘grand opening’ by the SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Vadakkin Vasantham (the spring of the North). The inaugural plaques of foreign donors were removed Sunday night and new plaques were installed with SL President's name and were declared re-opened by Mr. Rajapaksa Monday. As the local journalists in Jaffna began questioning the episode, the SL establishment blocked the journalists from covering the visit of Mr. Rajapaksa to Jaffna Secretariat where he was scheduled to discuss his ‘development’ of North. 
During his visit, Mr. Rajapaksa also declared open a swimming pool at Jaffna Central College. The swimming pool project, which had been launched by the ‘Blue Brigade’ of Rajapaksa's son Namal five years ago, was completed at last by diverting the funds allocated to reconstruct the schools in Vanni in 2012, civil sources in Jaffna complained. 

Chavakachcheari hospital was destroyed in year 2000 by Sri Lanka Army shelling and SLAF bombardment. After 11 years, basic facilities and various sections of the hospital have been reconstructed with the help of foreign donors. Japan had also shown interest in reconstructing the hospital, but the move had been dropped by the authorities in Colombo. 

The completion of the much publicized swimming pool project at the Jaffna Central College had been struck by corruption and was dragged on for five years by Namal Rajapaksa who didn't manage to complete it. The project was completed after diverting five million rupees of funds allocated to reconstruct the schools in Vanni by the Northern provincial ministry of education. The schools in Vanni are languishing without proper shelter and teachers. 

Tamil journalists, except EPDP operated media men, were blocked from covering Rajapaksa's opening ceremony at Jaffna Central College and the ‘development’ meeting at the Jaffna District Secretariat. The journalist who had gathered at the District Secretariat were chased away.

During his address at the opening ceremony of the swimming pool at Jaffna Central College, Mr. Rajapaksa warned Tamil students not to get distracted by the elusive forces [from South] that seek to divert their attention from studies [to anti-government activities]. He insisted that Tamil students should learn Sinhala language in addition to English and said all in the island should learn the three languages. 

As part of its ongoing structural genocide being committed on Eezham Tamils, the Sri Lankan government under Rajapaksa aims to complete the Sinhalicisation of the Tamil country before year 2020.

SRI LANKA: Mine clearance could take 10 years or more

Photo: Amantha Perera/IRIN

About 126 sqkm of land remains to be cleared

COLOMBO, 6 February 2012 (IRIN) - Landmine clearance in Sri Lanka's conflict-affected north could take more than a decade, experts say. 

"It is expected to take [in] excess of 10 years to fully mitigate all remaining contamination in Sri Lanka," the Mine Action Project of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka told IRIN, citing a lack of resources coupled with the difficult nature of the work. 

Approximately 126 sqkm of land remains to be cleared in the island's north at the end of 2011, according to data from the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC). 

Set up in July 2010, NMAC is the government's lead agency in de-mining work in the country. 

As of 31 December 2011, the largest remaining area was in Mannar District (33.8 sqkm), followed by Mullaitivu (27.7 sqkm), Kilinochchi (23 sqkm), Vavuniya (15 sqkm) and Jaffna (5 sqkm) in the north. 

Smaller areas are in borderline districts of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, along with some parts of the east. 
full report

NCET expects Norway to approach Eezham Tamils with fresh attitudes, personalities

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 February 2012, 08:47 GMT]
Peace comes from absence of fear, violence and social confrontations. Reconciliation comes from justice and parity between the parties. Development of a people comes from their right to conceive it and own it. How could Norway expect Eezham Tamils in Norway to contribute to peace, reconciliation and development within the Sri Lankan frame, amidst militarisation, colonisation, subordination, denial of justice and denial of ownership to development, asked Norwegian Council of Eezham Tamils (NCET) in a document it presented at a foreign-ministry-funded seminar in Oslo on Sunday. In its peace facilitation, Norway fielding fresh personalities with attitudinal change would immensely help to build its credibility, the document signed by its president P. Kandiah said. The seminar will be addressed by Norway’s development Minister, Mr. Erik Solhiem, when it continues for the third day on Monday. 

• NCET Statement, 04 February 2012

The themes of the Friday to Monday seminar are “What can be done to strengthen integration in Norway? How Tamils in Norway could contribute to peace, reconciliation and development in Sri Lanka?”

Sometimes back, the NCET, a democratically elected body of Eezham Tamils in Norway, requested the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry for Children, Equality and Social Inclusion for a meeting to discuss the affairs of Eezham Tamils.

The foreign ministry in response funded and entrusted the responsibility to Nansen Centre for Peace and Dialogue (NCPD) to conduct a seminar on the above themes for the representatives of the NCET along with some other Norway Tamils chosen by the organisers. 

The focus and specialisation of the NCPD is in conducting seminars to “open possibilities for institutional change, where the situation is no longer seen through ethnic lenses.”

The NCET said that they participate in the seminar seeking discussion and solutions while registering their rejection of the phrasing of the second topic of the seminar.

Pointing out the inner contradictions between Norway’s stand and the expectations of the seminar, NCET asked that if Norway wants domestic solutions in the island then why it is interested in peace, reconciliation and development going from outside from Norway Tamils?

NCET cited Norway’s report on the failed peace process that had criticized Norway for not withdrawing from the peace process when such an act could have told the realities of the war to the world. NCET also cited the report indirectly accepting the genocidal nature of the war.

When such is the responsibility, Norway disowning it and leaving solutions to internal efforts is one-sidedly favouring the stand of the Sri Lankan state and its regime, the NCET accused.

Anxieties over oil grows in Sri Lanka

 February 6, 2012
R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN

Amid Sri Lanka's growing anxiety over possible disruption of Iranian oil imports due to United States-led sanctions against Iran, two important delegations from the U.S. and India visited the country this week, lent a sympathetic ear — and nothing more — to address the concerns.

The U.S. delegation led by its Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Luke Bronin, met the Sri Lankan Petroleum Secretary and others and, after listening to the Sri Lankan side, reportedly emphasised the need to curtail crude oil imports from Iran. When asked, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo declined comment on the visit.

Sri Lankan Minister for Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen, who also met Mr. Bronin on February 2, impressed upon him how Sri Lanka was just recovering from a debilitating war and why Sri Lanka needed to be supported in this effort.

The Indian Petroleum Ministry delegation was on an exploratory visit, and the Sri Lankan side was keen to find out if India held any solutions to its looming oil crisis. The delegation, whose visit had been on the cards from last July, also listened with sympathy to Sri Lanka's problems in the event of the Iranian oil sanctions taking effect.

While Mr. Bronin did not meet the political leadership, it is expected that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert O' Blake, who visits late next week, will take up the issue with the political leadership. Mr. Blake, an out-spoken former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, is also expected to discuss political issues.

Sri Lanka's only oil refinery at Sapugaskanda can only process Iranian crude. Last year, 93 per cent of the crude oil imports were from Iran. Sri Lanka is in talks with Oman and Saudi Arabia to diversify imports, but both Omanian crude and Saudi Light Crude cannot be directly refined at Sapugaskanda; at best, they will have to be mixed with Iranian crude in a certain proportion for refining. The other issue is that Iran allows a seven-month credit, which will be impossible to obtain from both Oman and Saudi Arabia.

A blockade of Iranian oil will put tremendous pressure on Lanka IOC, which runs petrol retail outlets in the Sri Lankan duopoly market. The other retail player is the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Imports have already become expensive with the Sri Lankan Rupee being “slightly devalued” on February 3. Lanka IOC directly imports its requirements of petrol and diesel for the Sri Lankan market. CPC gets most of its supplies from the Sapugaskanda refinery.

In the event of a disruption in supplies to CPC outlets, coupled with the weakening of the Sri Lankan Rupee and the Central Bank's credit squeeze, Lanka IOC will begin losing at least LKR 35 per litre of diesel sold. Now, Lanka IOC loses about LKR 25 per litre of diesel sold because of the government subsidies.

US diplomats heading to S. Lanka for civil war talks

 Yahoo! News
     US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake …     

Three American diplomats will travel to Sri Lanka for talks about alleged killings of civilians by government troops in their campaign to defeat the Tamil Tigers, an official and report said Sunday.

The visit comes ahead of a United Nations human rights council meeting in Geneva, which starts later this month, where Washington hopes to move a resolution pressing Sri Lanka to probe alleged war crimes.

A government source in Colombo, who declined to be named, said US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Robert Blake, was expected next week.

"The US is mounting pressure on us this time, but we should be able to get over the difficulties because we have strong support from India," the government source said.

A diplomatic source confirmed that Washington was engaging with Colombo ahead of the Geneva rights council session, which runs from February 27 to March 23.

The privately-run Sunday Times newspaper said Blake will be accompanied by Marie Otero, the under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights.

Ambassador at large for global criminal justice, Steven Rapp, is due Monday, reported the paper.

There was no immediate comment from the US embassy or Sri Lanka's external affairs ministry about the latest US initiative to ramp up pressure on Colombo.

Sri Lanka has managed to avoid censure at previous human rights council meetings thanks to the backing of Russia and China. India, the island's closest neighbour, has also backed Colombo.

Rights groups have said up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the government's military campaign to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels, which they completed in May, 2009.

Sri Lanka denies that a single civilian was killed by its troops.

However, a government-appointed panel, which probed the reasons behind the failure of a 2002 truce, reported in December that civilians may have died as a result of military action and called for an independent investigation.

The UN has estimated that up to 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka's bloody ethnic war between 1972 and 2009.

Gotabaya denies north Sri Lanka is militarised

By R. Bhagwan Singh

Monday, Feb 06, 2012

Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stoutly denied he was militarising the northern region and insisted troops “are maintaining absolutely essential presence” and were spread across all 22 districts on the island.

He was responding to the charge by Tamil parties and the diaspora that army camps flooded the north even after the government won the war over 30 months ago and no civilian activity — not even family celebrations — could happen without the presence of an army officer.

“We have achieved large-scale development and restoration of normalcy within a short span after ending the 30-year war on terror.

It’s sad some people do not recognise this and instead are talking of sanctions against us. Is this fair and justified?” Mr Gotabaya, the influential brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, toldDC in an interview at his high-security office in Colombo.

No militarisation of N. Lanka: Def secy

Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pleaded for a “fair assessment” of the development work and restoration of normal life in the northern region “within a short time of ending the 30-year war against terror” instead of summary branding of the government as rights-abuser.

“In these two-and-a-half years since winning the war, we have made great progress but, unfortunately, some people do not recognise that and harp on unnecessary issues, talk of sanctions (against Colombo).

It was not an ordinary insurgency but real war. You cannot compare the LTTE with any other terrorist outfit, not even Al-Qaeda,” Mr Gotabaya said in an exclusive interview at his high-security office here. He called upon the Tamils to “shed Tamil nationalism and grab the post-war opportunities”.

Lamenting that no one appreciates what the country has achieved in such a short time, he said the government had done a “great job” taking care of the nearly 300,000 IDPs (war-displaced civilians), besides rehabilitating about 11,000 Tiger cadres who surrendered at the end of the war (May 2009). “We are running a programme to integrate these ex-cadres with society rather than have them behind bars.”
Recalling that barring a couple of cases, all the victims of LTTE suicide attacks were civilians and that included Tamils, Mr Gotabaya said the government did not hold that against the surren-dered cadres but brought them under an elaborate rehab programme. Only about 700 ex-militants were yet to be released.

Asked about the fate of senior LTTE leader V. Balakumar (ex-EROS), the defence secretary quipped, “I do not know specific cases. Was he in detention? I do not know. Most of the known characters died in the final battle. Some surrendered. There was ICRC and other agencies during the surrender process.”

Stoutly contesting the charge that the surrendered Tigers were killed in cold blood, Mr Gotabaya said international agencies, including the French MSF (Medicines Sans Frontiers) and the Indian medical team, were present in the battle zone to receive survivors and surrendered militants.

Asked about the complaints that the army presence in the north was overwhelming — Tamils complained that they were present even during private family functions — he shot back, “We have minimum army presence there.

There are military cantonments even in Kashmir, in Tamil Nadu. But now there are no roadblocks, no cordon-and-search. We have transferred law and order to the police and started recruiting Tamil policemen.” He said recruitment to military had stopped and even retirement vacancies were not filled.

But they could not send back the soldiers after having used them to win the war as they were breadwinners. Nevertheless, there would be sizeable military presence to ensure that the “past does not revisit”

M.I.A. to sing with Madonna at Super Bowl half-time show

M.I.A. has revealed that she will be performing with Madonna at the Super Bowl's half-time show this Sunday.

The 36-year-old Londoner told Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe the news while speaking about her new single, Bad Girls.

"I'm at the Super Bowl rehearsals [in Indianapolis]," she said.

"I'm going to be performing with Madonna and Nicki Minaj. If you're going to go to the Super Bowl you might as well go there with America's biggest female icon."

M.I.A., whose real name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, worked on Madonna's new single Give Me All Your Luvin with rapper Nicki Minaj.

It is taken from the star's 12th studio album, called M.D.N.A.

The British performer said it was one of the few collaborations she would have considered doing.

'Pop icon'

She said: "It's come at a really cool time because it's Madonna, especially if she's doing the Super Bowl and she's saying, 'I am the original American sweetheart and pop icon. I invented this.'

"The whole music industry is based on what she invented years ago.

"As musicians, we're two women and we represent two opposite sides of the world.

Continue reading the main story

I want it to be a summer thing because it's a summer record. So hopefully it won't take too long

M.I.A. on her fourth studio album

"If we can come together on a piece of music or something like the Super Bowl, that's actually a cool thing to see. That was inspiring.

"It's a pretty dope achievement. My mum is going to be way into that."

Last year Black Eyed Peas performed during the half-time break.

More than 162 million viewers tuned into last year's interval entertainment.

Other artists who have played the prestigious slot include Prince, the Rolling Stones and U2.

M.I.A. was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for O...Saya, a song that appeared on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.

She says her fourth studio album, which doesn't have a name yet, should be released later this year.

"I want it to be a summer thing because it's a summer record," she told Zane Lowe. "So hopefully it won't take too long.

"As soon as I've finished with the US, I've got to do another couple of weeks with European producers."

New York Giants play New England Patriots in the Super Bowl this Sunday (5 February) at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.