‘FMM Fraud Story Rolls On, Despite Denials’ – With A Note From Colombo Telegraph

By Sulochan Ramirah Mohan –

The Free Media Movement (FMM) which calls itself a ‘watchdog’ of media freedom in Sri Lanka and claims to be very ‘active’ in all areas relating to media freedom, defending the rights of journalists, calling for reform of repressive legislation, agitating against censorship and intimidation of media personnel  and standing for broad principles of democratic and human rights –is yet to find the ‘culprit/s’ who mismanaged Rs 40 million of organiszation’s funds.

The Rs40 million fraud was highlighted in many newspapers and websites during that period but the media soon lost interest. FMM however decided to close all further action into Rs40 million unaccounted for financial year’s annual general meeting on May 23, it was reported last week. FMM also recently appointed new office bearers. LAKBIM NEWS spoke to the people involved.

‘I am ready to resign if others wish it’

Sunil Jayasekara

FMM Secretary (and former convenor) Sunil Jayasekara of Iruresa claimed that the alleged misappropriation of FMM funds was a complete lie. “ A unanimous decision was taken at the 2011 AGM to bring to an end the investigations into the financial year 2008,” he said.

A newspaper reported that “ Those present at the AGM agreed on a basic draft of the press release and mandated founder member C.J. Amaratunga to write the final press release and sent it to the executive committee at its next meeting a week later. Amaratunga did so and the executive committee which was chaired by Sunil Jayasekara as convenor, approved the release to the media.

Sunil Jayasekara took the responsibility to do that. The press release, however was never issued. Sunil Jayasekara, convenor at the time maintains that the reason this could not be done was because at the time his life was ‘seriously under threat’ and the situation in the country against media personnel was ‘dangerous’.

Jayasekara however disputed this. ‘Nowhere have I said that the decision not to issue the press release was because of threat to my life. But I had said that FMM and other media groups had to face a challenging situation at the time and so it was decided that the press release should not be released and this was reported to the AGM.”

“The auditors did not question any of payments or expenses. Neither were contested or questioned by any member. There are 14 committee members and if even one of them has any reason to question me on any mater, I am ready to answer them or even resign from the position if required.”

Deshapriya not lone culprit

A former FMM convenor Uvindu Kurukulasuriya told LAKBIMA NEWS: “The constitution of the FMM has always been violated. It is gang of people not held accountable to the public. Even though it advocates transparency, accountability, good governance, right to information, etc, it has never practiced these things as an organization.

Uvindu Kurukulasuriya

“ I had always actively supported FMM in the beginning (1993) but was not a member. I was invited to be one in 2003. When I became the FMM convenor in 2008, I wanted to implement its constitution and make it an ‘accountable organisation’. As a result of my investigations, I found that there was no proper financial accounting mechanism and that large scale fraud was taking place.  For instance, Sunanda (Deshapriya) controlled everything without informing anyone at the meedings.”

“ FMM was a volunteer activist group until 2006 and then it became a NGO. Sunanda was paid 750 Euros monthly phone and reimbursed for transport, phone bills, etc. by International News Safety Institute from 2005. But he never declared these sums to FMM committee until I found out and questioned him at the executive committee meeting in November 2008.”

“ I also found that he had deposited millions of US dollars in his personal bank account (Standard Charted Bank NRFC account) –eg: money provided by  the United State Institute of Peace to run a project call ‘Conflict Sensitive Reporting’ for Sri Lankan journalists during the peace process period.

“According to the documents, the project was to be run by five media organizations with International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The money was transferred to IFJ and IFJ run the project with Sunanda’s personal bank account.”

“Sunanda and others had evn robbed money from an ant-corruption programme for journalists funded by USAID in 2008.”

“It’s not only FMM, but other journalists’ organizations like SLWJA (Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association) and FMETU (Federation of Media Employees Trade Union) are also corrupt.”

Uvindu however added that it was wrong to blame Sunanda alone. “Almost all senior FMM members are to be blamed. Victor Ivan of Ravaya should also be held responsible. I found several foreign funded projects had been used to fund Ravaya without FMM committee approval. “

The is no fraud

Sunanda Deshapriya

The former FMM project head Sunanda Deshapriya told LAKBIMA NEWS in an online interview from Switzerland; “First of all I should say that there was no such things as a Rs40 million fraud”.

The 2008 financial report, when I was the convenor, was not passed on the ground that it did not have a comment section. The audit firm when contacted stated that there was no need for a separate comment section. According to the treasurer K. Rushangan, the audit firm stands by the statement of accounts they prepared for 2008.”

“As far as I know, it is the 2009 accounts that have not been audited. But some of the 2009 projects accounts were completed and provided to the partners. They have accepted them. I do not have access to this information and I suggest you to refer to FMM for details.”

“FMM has defended journalists for 20 years with commitment and sacrifice. The story of a Rs40 million fraud is pure spin. Mistakes could have been made, in which case we need to ratify them and move forward.  Even today FMM is the leading campaigner for press freedom in Sri Lanka.”

Sharmini Boyle

There are safeguards in place

The newly appointed FMM convenor Sharmini Boyle (YA TV) speaking about FMM’s past conduct said: “ All decisions regarding activities and response are guided by the FMM constitution which does have safeguards in place for the disbursement of funds, etc. There is specified process for financial transactions and I shall make sure that this process is adhered to in the coming year.”

Note from Colombo Telegraph

Colombo Telegraph investigations of the FMM financial scandal shows Sunanda Deshapriya’s above remarks are erroneous and deliberately so.  In other words, he is a liar. Consider the following:

1.       Deshapriya says ‘Rs40 million fraud is pure spin’. True it wasn’t the correct amount and the correct word to explain this. FMM’s own reports shows Rs 30,900,000 (30.9 million) went unaudited and that it failed to submit official accounts to its membership for the years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009.

2.       Deshapriya says ‘The 2008 financial report, when I was the Convenor, was not passed on the ground that it did not have a comment section.’  The 2007/2008 audited accounts had to be submitted to the AGM held on May 29, 2008 but this was not done.  The relevant officials were given one month to submit audited final accounts but they failed to do so. At the Special AGM held on January 20 2009 to discuss financial corruption in the organization, the then Secretary who had been the Treasurer for  2007/2008, K. Rukshangan tried to get the accounts passed.  The then convenor Uvindu Kurukulasuriya opposed this move, giving details of various malpractices that had taken place in that financial year.  And the membership agreed to investigate these allegations too. K Rukshangan never handed over any financial records, books , vouchers , invoices to FMM even following written requests.  FMM had an auditor from the beginning but without any citing any reasonable cause, Deshapriya and Rukshangan went to an ‘auditor friend’

3.       It was Uvindu Kurukulasuriya who uncovered the corruption that implicated Deshapriya, even after the audited accounts were submitted to Company register by another organization, the Centre for Policy Alternatives. Sunanda was sacked two years later.

4.       In 2009 the FMM appointed two external auditors to investigate FMM financial year 2008/2009. One was NGKK Senaviratne and the other was BAW Abewardena . Both investigating officers found that day light robbery has taken place.

Once bitten; not twice shy

Sunday June 10, 2012

And so, once again the President has had to cancel a scheduled speech in Britain. It is the second time in just seven months that it has happened to him. No official explanation has been forthcoming and the President's media outfit has been forced to do some repair work to his image by deflecting the flak. The External Affairs Ministry, not surprisingly, went to the extent of calling the President's visit to Britain a success. It is said the duty of a diplomat is to lie on behalf of his country abroad, but what the ministry said really went beyond the call of duty.

Like on the previous occasion at Oxford, the organisers of the London speech this week buckled under pressure from a vociferous minority. It begs two questions. Was this a set- up to embarrass the Sri Lankan President? What were those responsible for his itinerary doing?

Our Political Editor gives the details of what happened. It is not a pretty picture. The President goes on an invitation of the Commonwealth Secretary General for a formal lunch with the Queen and to attend a thanksgiving service in connection with her Diamond Jubilee. While in the city, he is billed to speak at a function organised by the Commonwealth Business Council with no guarantees that the speech will not be cancelled. He then gets to meet the Queen at the lunch, albeit with a 'velvet glove', but he does not get a separate appointment with the British Prime Minister, only a photo-opportunity on the sidelines.
If this is termed a successful visit by the standards of Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry woe betide it.

The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth and the President is the host for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held next year. If the ministry does not see the subtle message in the cold-shouldering it has to be blind. Or maybe it does, but has to keep up a front. Or even more, it needs to defend itself from the sheer ineptness now manifest in taking care of the country's President when abroad, especially in the West with whom our relations are anything but rosy.

The logical issue that arises is about the consequences of hosting CHOGM next year. Will it be used to inflict even more of the same on the President and through him, the country? Already, the Government is announcing a competition for a CHOGM logo. Political cartoonists will have a field day if they applied. There seems to be a great desire to be seen with the Joneses, while at the same time using vituperative language to savage them in public. Some of these attacks may be justifiable, but there is a clear mismatch between aim and target.

Had the President not been the host of CHOGM 2013 he probably ought not to have gone to Britain, not until bilateral relations between the two countries improved. At best, relations are only 'civil' now. The only British Minister who visited Sri Lanka was then Defence Secretary Liam Fox to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar Memorial Lecture but that too after a fierce argument with his cabinet colleagues. No formal appointments are given to the President when he visits Britain. The External Affairs Minister is first asked to meet the British Deputy Minister in the Foreign Office, which he meekly does, and then is given an opportunity to pay a call on the minister. This is the kind of treatment meted out from that end.

We have filled these pages, month after month, with the miserable failures in recent times on the foreign policy front. Examples are many; from losing the GSP+ preferential duty concessions for Sri Lankan exports to the European Union to losing the US GSP; from the adoption of a series of anti-Sri Lanka amendments in the US Congress to the mishandling of the UN report on Human Rights to the fiasco at Oxford to the UN Human Rights vote against Sri Lanka in Geneva. This week the ministry was unable to stop the Sri Lanka diaspora from waving flags protesting the visit of the Sri Lankan President to Britain and succeeding in having his speech cancelled. Clearly, the tacit blessings of the British Government were there for these in what is called 'reciprocity' in bilateral relations.

Isn't the country paying a heavy price for these diplomatic setbacks that are hemorrhaging on the nation's wellbeing? There has been a brazen disregard and sidelining of efficient, trained career diplomats while putting serial bunglers and inexperienced novices with no known ability in the field in sensitive postings.

The Minister of External Affairs himself once submitted a special cabinet paper recommending the back door entry to the permanent diplomatic service of 24 persons, only to be stopped due to dissent by some brave souls who spoke up at this bastardisation of the foreign service.

Much of these setbacks stems from this factor. Unless the Government rights these wrongs, which it seems in no hurry to do, the situation is unlikely to get better, only worse. It is possibly too late in the day to pass the CHOGM summit to another country. The Government is also keen to host the event come hell or high-water or even a partial boycott. The cost-benefit to the people of this country is one thing. Take the IIFA Bollywood extravaganza that was held not long ago. Hotel bills to the tune of millions remain unpaid by the Government to date. No accounts have been given by the Tourist authorities. A snub of CHOGM by the 'white Commonwealth' is another.

The Commonwealth and its relevance is a matter that ought to have been addressed when we jumped and offered to host the event. Britain itself has drifted away from the grouping of the former British Empire and the Queen remains almost the last thread keeping the old outfit stitched together.

The 54-member club is almost one-fourth the UN membership and could have been a powerful force in world affairs had countries like Britain opted not to veer towards the United States and Europe instead in search of greener pastures throwing aside sentimentality on the way. Today, Britain selectively picks and chooses countries in the same club to browbeat and preach to, forgetting its former colonies are independent states now.

The Right To Speak

June 11, 2012 

By Sanjana Hattotuwa -

Sanjana Hattotuwa

The successful efforts to prevent Mahinda Rajapaksa from speaking at the Commonwealth Economic Forum in London, were, I believe, ill-advised and wrong.

Firstly, I derive little pleasure from the public humiliation of Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is the second time he has faced a trenchant protests in England that have forced him to cancel very high profile public engagements. The gloating paraded by so many after successful activism and advocacy to cancel these engagements is, in fact, not anchored to any meaningful domestic sentiment or desire. In fact, the more the humiliation internationally, the more partisan mainstream media amplifies propaganda, in a country where media literacy is abysmal, to mislead citizens by way of stories that speak of Western conspiracies courageously overcome, a President riotously welcomed, and a trip that was a resounding success.

Secondly, not a single story I read of the protests, or TV broadcast I viewed on YouTube expressed any concern that the protests displayed the LTTE’s insignia. It is not as if the symbols and pro-Eelam slogans were hard to spot. To not decry this is, in effect, to accept without question the very thing the Rajapaksa regime is rightly often chastised over, which is to conflate the Tamil people with the LTTE, and an emphasis on Tamil nationalism anchored to legitimate grievances and aspirations, an absolute necessity post-war, with Eelam, which is militarily, geo-politically and ideationally doomed. Pro-Eelamist demonstrators who call attention to the Rajapaksa regime’s culpability in atrocious human rights abuses and possible war crimes are tellingly silent over the LTTE’s own wartime atrocities and war crimes allegations. The messengers undermine the message, and extremely partial reporting of British media on this score hasn’t gone unnoticed. Campaigns anchored to expanding the democratic space in Sri Lanka, and even leading human rights groups expressed pleasure at the effect of these protests. Yet this risks playing into government propaganda that the divide between what it is fond of calling the pro-LTTE rump in the West and international human rights organisations is largely porous, and indistinguishable. Clearly, this harms far more than helps local accountability.

Thirdly, it is argued that to provide more fora for representatives of the regime to speak at is to legitimise it, and what it has done, within the international community. There is merit to this worldview. However,Rajiva Wijesinha’s incredible gaffe when questioned by Dr. Manoharanat a recent debate on Sri Lanka conducted at the Frontline Club in London, now a matter of public record easily discoverable via Google, is an instructive counter-point. When given more space and opportunities to speak, any authoritarian regime trips over its ownchutzpah. The more there is public engagement, particularly in international venues that challenge, rebut, probe and counter official statements, the harder it becomes for the regime to cook up lies and filibuster, which it can more easily do and get away with when isolated.

Finally, human rights organisations need to take note of technological advances that can exploit this trend, if it is, as I hope, encouraged. The more public content there is – planned propaganda as well as unpremeditated answers – the more one can exploit web based technologies to identify leitmotifs and even use temporal analytics to visualise and understand better how the submissions by the government change with time, language, context and audience. Cross-referencing and co-relating become less difficult, allowing politicians, activists, researchers and historians to identify and plot inconsistencies, inaccuracies, logical fallacies, factual untruths and contradictions. In sum, it becomes easier to hold government accountable using data driven methods and their own words, within and outside the country. This is qualitatively different to the language of activism and advocacy we see employed against government today.

Strip all this away. Our President deserves the right to speak especially since his government denies for so many, this same right. Enforced silence and humiliation are ruinous for all parties over the long-term. If we desire change, let us celebrate and secure that which the government opposes, and not become what it is. Media freedom and human rights activists fight for their right to write and speak. They cannot honestly support the silencing of a President.

And the thing is, to actually encourage his voice internationally can be infinitely more helpful for them domestically.

Read Sanjana’s writings @ http://sanjanah.wordpress.com

National flag is not MaRa’s: putting down and burning it is unlawful

-Compensation can be claimed by those hurt

(Lanka-e-News-09.June.2012,11.55PM) The Tamils living in Britain staged protests on the 6th in front of the hotel where President Rajapakse was staying alleging that the latter is a war criminal. During the demonstrations the SL national flag was put down and set on fire. This news was telecast in the night over the channel 4 of Britain . This is clearly a violation of the laws of Britain and the terms of the human rights agreement signed by the European union , on the ground that it is soiling a clean sublime belonging of a country. A national flag is such a belonging. Such an incident being published by the media is not only a wrong but also unacceptable based on media ethics. It may be correct to determine whether Mahinda Rajapakse is a war criminal or not ? Searching for an answer to that question is one thing , but the protestors putting the national flag down on the ground and burning it is an entirely different thing, for that flag is not Mahinda Rajapakses. This is a SL national flag accepted universally and by all communities in SL including Buddhists , Muslims and Tamils. It is a pure sublime belonging. A majority of the Tamils residing in Britain who staged the protests may not be accepting the SL or British flag , they may be accepting a red flag with a tiger and two weapons loaded with bullets printed thereon as their own. That is no issue to anyone. Any group can make a flag according to its fancy and call that as its flag. Not only have Schools, Banks and Business Organizations the world over made their own flags. If necessary, families too can make a flag for its generations and use them eternally. But such flags don’t thereby become a national flag . Many may have disputes with Mahinda Rajapakse. Those are on issues revolving around Democratic, legal, justice, suspicion and his despotic family rule. Certainly he ought to be punished for all the monumental unlawful activities he had indulged in so far. But those are different issues. The flag in question is not that of Mahinda Rajapakse , but that which has been universally acknowledged and locally accepted by all communities of SL including the Tamils of whom the group that burnt it also represents. It is important to view this incident of burning of the flag in Britain vis a vis the Tamil National alliance party representing the Tamils in SL recently hoisting it jointly with the other opposition parties. In other words ,Sri Lanka is thirsting for a national reconciliation. It is not sure whether the Tamil Nationals are not in need of it since yesterday’s protests. But , those in SL who are truly longing for a national reconciliation must view this episode with abhorrence like how they viewed the war.  The national flag being put down and burning it savors of extremism, barbarism , hooliganism. It is unlawful and punishable. On the same token , even Channel 4 Television channel is condemnable.  Those who were hurt by the channel 4 telecast should be eligible for compensation if they pursue legal action.

The Ongoing Search for Missing Relatives

Sunday, June 10, 2012

By Maryam Azwer

M.A. Sumanthiran, Keheliya Rambukwella, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya and Relatives of the surrendered and missing demand answers. Picture courtesy jdslanka.org

Shanthi* recalls standing at the Vattuval checkpoint in Mullaitivu, waiting to board a bus with her family, on May 18 2009, when the war was finally drawing to a close. The military had been calling on all those who had been with the LTTE to surrender. Shanthi’s husband was one of them, and surrendered when the military called him away.
“He was carrying our child, and they asked him to leave the child and go, so he went. I was standing there with my other two children. I never saw my husband afterwards,” said Shanthi.
She has been trying to find news of her husband – any news at all –  since then, but has had no luck. Countless other women, like Shanthi, amidst economic and other post war difficulties, continue to try and locate the whereabouts of husbands or sons or brothers who surrendered, and of whom the military or Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) have not released any information on.
“We don’t have proper meals. Each meal is so hard to earn for. I don’t know what to do. I’ve looked everywhere for my husband. I have checked all the lists that the government releases. I have been to the TID office in Vavuniya three times, but I can’t find out anything,” Shanthi says, breaking into tears over the phone.
During its sittings, even the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) heard submissions from people like Shanthi, who had witnessed their relatives surrendering to the armed forces at the end of the war, but had not heard of them since.
The issue has even previously been raised by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). “We don’t know how many people have gone missing after surrendering, but according to the LLRC report, from the statements made by the people who gave evidence to the LLRC, the number is 1,018. But it could be much more than that. Most of them surrendered during the last four days of the war,” said TNA MP and lawyer, M.A. Sumanthiran.
Ananthy Sasitharan, speaking on behalf those who continue to search for information on their missing relatives, said that “To my knowledge there are around sixty people who are openly searching for their relatives and questioning authorities. Apart from this, there are around two hundred to three hundred people who are afraid to search openly. They say things like ‘if they find out I am his wife, they might arrest me also’,” she said.
According to the government 11,968 LTTE cadres surrendered to the military at the end of the war. As of now, 10, 949 men and women have been rehabilitated and released, while 629 remain in rehabilitation centres.
Military Spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, said that none of those who had surrendered are in military custody at present, as they had been handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the police, or sent for rehabilitation.
Government Spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella, when contacted for a comment, said that “There are certain legal procedures that have to be practiced. The AG’s department will have to go through every file of whoever had surrendered.”
When questioned regarding the claims of relatives, that they had over the last three years received absolutely no information, Rambukwella said that “Military intelligence will have to look into what has happened, and investigations are going on in certain areas.”
Meanwhile, the relatives of these missing persons say that they have tried every option available to them, in trying to obtain information. According to Ananthy Sasitharan, the most recent attempt was last month, following a Ministry of Defense announcement on May 13, that relatives of those who had surrendered could obtain information at the TID units in Colombo, Vavuniya and Boosa.
“Some of the people went, but no information was made available. When we called the TID office in Vavuniya, we were told not to come, as there was no such information,” said Sasitharan.
According to Sumathiran of the TNA, this has been a recurring practice. “On February 3, 2011, the government had a bilateral discussion, signed and gave us a document saying that there is this information that is being made available at the TID offices. That was never made available, and now they again notified people that this is available,” said Sumanthiran.
“What they are talking about is totally different from what people are looking for. They are talking about the names of persons who were arrested by the TID, and who are yet in TID custody, and those who have been released by the TID. That’s the information that they are supposed to have. Now that information, people already have. People visit their relatives in the TID custody, at least those who are officially in TID custody. It is those who can’t find their family members, son or husband or brother, or whoever who’s gone missing, that’s the person who wants information,” Sumanthiran said. He said that hundreds of people had told the LLRC that they had witnessed their relatives surrender, and in some cases personally handed over relatives who were formerly with LTTE, to the military, but now they couldn’t seem to find them anywhere.
“They want information with regard to that, and that information is not being given at these TID office. So this is not compliant with either the government’s undertaking to us, or what they are saying now to the international community,” said Sumanthiran.
Neeladevi Anandaraja did not see her son, Anuraj, surrender to the armed forces, but says at least two eye witness accounts can confirm this. “He was at the Omanthai checkpoint on May 15, 2009, waiting for a bus. Somebody had pointed him out to the military, and he was taken in for inquiry. An acquaintance of mine was there, and she saw this and told me,” said Anandaraja.
A few days later, she said, she received another call, from another acquaintance who had previously been with the LTTE, and had later left and become a CID informant. “He also said that my son had been taken in by the military.”
She said she had approached the ICRC, who had not accepted her complaint as she had not personally witnessed her son’s surrender. “Later, I made a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in Vavuniya. I know some Sinhala, and I have been making inquiries, even at all the rehabilitation centres. The officers at the rehabilitation centres were very supportive, and helped me look for my son, but I couldn’t find him. I even went to Boosa twice, and there was someone named Anuraj there, but he was from Batticaloa and was not my son. I am still searching for him, everywhere,” she said.
*Name has been changed to protect identity.

Ruling with military might 
Sunday 10 June 2012

The IMF delegation will arrive to consider the last part of the present loan agreement. The government is already under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to slash social welfare and to implement pro global capitalist restructuring. Mahinda has reduced price subsidies on a range of basic items, including fuel and essential foods. Sinhala masses expected that the end of the war would bring an improvement in living standards; but conditions have only worsened. With the connivance of opportunist trade union leaders, a virtual wage freeze is in place, even as prices rise and the rupee has devalued by nearly 20 percent. Only the wealthy elite of brokers and agents of MNCs have profited from the government’s development projects. The Mahinda regime basically rests on the military apparatus built during the chauvinist war against the Tamil liberation fighters. The huge  security forces and police state apparatus built up over nearly three decades of war is above all directed at defending the power and privileges of the ruling elite against the growing resistance of the working class and the oppressed. Military power It is the symbol of that military power, which was on parade at the recent conquest celebrations. In all, more than 13,500 members of the security forces paraded in Colombo: 398 army officers and 4,628 soldiers, 115 naval officers and 2,651 sailors, 78 air force officers and 1,383 airmen, together with the civil defence force and the police, including the notorious Special Task Force. The parade was accompanied by 148 vehicle columns, a fly-past of 33 war planes and a naval convoy of 72 warships off the coast. The continued heavy presence of the military, not just in predominantly Tamil areas but throughout the island, points to acute underlying social tensions. The Lankan military has not been reduced in size since the end of the war and remains, per capita, one of the largest in the world. Over the past three years, the government has extended the military’s ambit into many areas of the economy. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has been placed under the defence ministry. It is overseeing the eviction of more than 70,000 families from shanties in central Colombo as part of the government’s plans to transform the city into an international trading centre. However Mahinda is sitting on a time bomb. Poverty that is growing has hit the rank and file of the military. In reality, during the war the ranks of the military were filled out with economic conscripts, young people driven to join up by poverty and unemployment. They were used as cannon fodder in the ruthless war of chauvinists that left many dead or disabled, with their families subsequently struggling to survive. On the other hand thousands of soldiers who have left the armed forces, legally or otherwise are held responsible for the growing robbery and violence spread through out the country. Chauvinist campaigns Mahinda has understood that military support and chauvinist campaigns are not sufficient to contain the growing opposition to the regime. He is flirting with the idea of greater devolution. His call for a parliamentary select committee is for this purpose. In spite of divisions within the opposition, struggles are breaking out in all sectors. JVP has, as expected, started a campaign against the Tamil demand for autonomy to the Tamil home land. The so called Anti Imperialist Front is basically an anti devolution front. Ignoring the fact that the protest of the opposition, VV, which includes major Tamil based parties, was in the fore front in the struggle for devolution, JVP claims that the Tamil people are not interested in devolution! Apparently Tamils want only equality and social development. Devolution is an imperialist concept forced on the Tamil people by agents of imperialism! It is simply idiotic to say that thousands and thousands of Tamils bound by Tamil culture and history died for a mission planted by the Americans. General Fonseka has not joined them and gives critical support to the LLRC recommendations. In spite of great animosity between them, the stand of the general is closer to the present day thinking of Mahinda. In a complex situation like this it is futile to think that a common oppositional front could be built to include all in the opposition. That can never happen. However the VV, that includes TNA, will remain the centre to the struggle against Mahinda regime in the coming period.

Sri Lanka Warns US Envoy Designate

 Sunday, June 10, 2012

By Dinouk Colombage

The government has cautioned the United States’ Ambassador Designated to Sri Lanka, Michele Sison, regarding her opinion on the situation in the country.
Karunatilaka Amunugama, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs, explained that the ministry was aware of her recent comments but would not be taking any action at this point in time.
He did add however, “If she is appointed as ambassador to Sri Lanka, and she continues to make such preconceived comments then the government will look at taking further action.”
Amunugama went on to say that at this point in time the government was only concerned about comments from the US State Department, and not an individual.
“I am confident that the ideas expressed by the ambassador designate and the US government are two different ideas,” he said.
Amunugama added that last month’s meeting between Peiris and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was a positive affair with the state department expressing satisfaction over the progress in Sri Lanka.
Sison told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last Wednesday reconciliation is slow in Sri Lanka as human rights violations have not been investigated.
She went on to say that it was critical that the Sri Lankan government and the elected representatives of the Tamil community reach an agreement on devolution of power to provincial institutions in the north.
“The United States and other international partners have encouraged the Government of Sri Lanka to pursue the steps needed to foster genuine reconciliation and accountability. Although the Government of Sri Lanka defeated the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, serious allegations of violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by both sides at the end of the war remain to be investigated and have slowed reconciliation,” she said.
She also said that the United States recognizes the importance of maintaining a broad range of partnerships with Sri Lanka as we encourage a lasting, democratic peace in the country after nearly three decades of devastating conflict.
“Achieving genuine reconciliation will require Sri Lanka to take credible steps to ensure equality and justice for all Sri Lankans, particularly for those living in former conflict areas.  Such steps include demilitarization of the former conflict zones, establishment of a mechanism to address cases of the missing and detained, and setting a date for provincial elections in the north,” she said.

Tamil Federal Party Convention (2012) And The Future Of Sri Lankan Politics

June 10, 2012

By Kalana Senaratne -

Kalana Senaratne

From its inception in late 1949 as the Tamil Federal Party, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) – a party which, as the late Lakshman Kadirgamar once claimed in Parliament, was founded by a “dedicated group of principled men” – has been in the forefront of Sri Lankan (and Tamil) politics. It has come to play a dominant role in the writing of different chapters of Sri Lanka’s post-independence political story. The recent speech delivered by Mr. R. Sampanthan at the 14th Annual ITAK Convention (May, 2012) marks the opening of a new chapter, or the beginning of an important and critical phase of post-war Sri Lankan politics. What could be the impact of this speech? In a polarized and fragmented political context, how do we first make sense of what was said, without rushing to oppose it? How might it influence Sri Lankan politics in the future, and in particular, the course and relevance of Tamil and Sinhala nationalist politics in particular?

Domestic Dimension (“Political Solution”)

Mr. Sampanthan makes it clear that there is an intention to reach a settlement within a united Sri Lanka. The basic framework of his proposed solution is well known. The solution, inter alia: is to be “based on a political structure outside that of a unitary government, in a united Sri Lanka”; should not compromise the “position that the North and the East of Sri Lanka are the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people”; should provide “meaningful devolution” (constitutionally guaranteed) that goes “beyond the 13th Amendment” (13A); and should be “acceptable to the Muslim community.”

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MR's London fiasco: Diplomatic and intelligence failure

MR's London fiasco: Diplomatic and intelligence failure

High Commissioner Nonis boasts of winning awards, but cannot prevent demos Cancellation of President’s meeting gets wide and bad publicity in British and world media

By Our Political Editor President Mahinda Rajapaksa flanked by British parliamentariens at Sri Lanka’s High Commission in London

The SriLankan Airlines special flight to London with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and entourage on board last Sunday shifted departure schedules at least twice. This was after the Sri Lanka High Commission in Britain warned that Tamil diaspora groups were planning to stage protests at Heathrow Airport. He was to leave earlier that day and arrive in London in the night. Instead, he turned up at the Carlton Super Seven's series rugger match at the Police Grounds in Thimbirigasyaya. There he saw British High Commissioner John Rankin and invited him to take a seat near him. "Forget about what the newspapers have been reporting," others around heard Rajapaksa telling Rankin. He was alluding to media criticism after the envoy's remarks in his High Commission's own website. The British envoy had wanted military camps in the north to be reduced to levels existing in the south. Such calls for demilitarisation have been made in official statements issued by other envoys and governments too. Britain's Queen Elizabeth meets with Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa and first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa during a reception prior to a Diamond Jubilee lunch with Commonwealth Nations Heads of Government and representatives in central London . REUTERS However, a group within the UPFA government said the remarks were a counter to a public declaration made by Rajapaksa only a few days earlier. He told the Victory Day celebrations on May 19 that no military camps in the north would be shut down. He said they were necessary for reasons of "national security." The same group was to suggest that Rankin be declared persona non grata or a person not welcome in Sri Lanka. The group was robust in its thinking that the President should not "tolerate unfriendly remarks" by those representing western nations but "take them on". Rajapaksa and even some of his senior advisors were not in favour of this stance. It was felt "unwise" at a time when he was to visit Britain and Sri Lanka was to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) next year. Full Story>>>

Interview With Shehan Karunatilaka: Commonwealth Book Prize Winner

June 9, 2012 

Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka, a former advertising copywriter, has won the Commonwealth book prize for his highly praised debut novel Chinaman: the Legend of Pradeep Mathew.

Narrated by the alcoholic former sports journalist WG Karunasena, the novel is the story of his quest for Pradeep Mathew, a devastatingly talented Sri Lankan spin bowler who appears to have been expunged from historical record. Despite its cricket focus, Karunatilaka promises in the book: “If you’ve never seen a cricket match; if you have and it has made you snore; if you can’t understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over this dull game, then this is the book for you.”

Interview with Shehan Karunatilaka: 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize Winner

YAHOO! NEWS

Pope voices hope for reconciliation in Sri Lanka

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  Pope Benedict XVI, pictured on …

Pope Benedict XVI on Friday voiced hope for reconciliation in Sri Lanka at talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse in the Vatican, saying there should be "a global joint solution" in the country.

"The parties illustrated the steps taken to favour socioeconomic development and reconciliation among the communities hit by the long internal conflict which has affected the country," the Vatican said in a statement.

"The hope was expressed that a global joint solution may soon be found corresponding to the legitimate expectations of all the parties," it said.

This was Rajapakse's third visit to the Vatican since he came to power in 2005.

Sri Lanka has faced accusations of war crimes in the final phase of its battle against Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 under Rajapakse's administration.

Rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians died in the final offensive, but Sri Lanka maintains that its troops did not kill a single civilian.

Tensions over the conflict have also caused divisions in the Sri Lankan Catholic Church between minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese clergymen.

Is Sri Lanka heading towards another July '83?

Sunday June 10, 2012

By Latheef Farook

Is Sri Lanka heading towards another July 1983 type pogrom? This is the growing fear in view of the repeated threats on mosques and madrasas provoking Muslims. In the midst of this turbulence, the Criminal Investigation Department's call for a list of mosques and madrasas - no information on worshipping centers of other religions was sought -- has sent shockwaves among beleaguered Muslims. Desecration of mosques is an act of provocation. Yet, Muslims have maintained remarkable restraint in the face of vandalism in Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Kurunegala and now in Colombo and Dehiwala. As we all know Muslims worldwide are sacrificing their lives to preserve their religious rights and dignity from the vicious global campaign unleashed jointly by the Zionists, rightwing Evangelicals and India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh under the guise of fighting the so-called war on terrorism. Under such circumstances, if these provocations continue some infuriated Muslims may inevitably respond and create a potentially dangerous situation with unpredictable consequences. Certainly any sensible person would realize that Sri Lanka cannot afford such a disaster especially after the 30-year ethnic carnage. Full Story>>>

The London Debacle And The Rajapaksa-Psychosis

“The demoralising, destructive character of the patriotic degeneracy….”

Sebastian Haffner (Germany: Jekyll and Hyde)

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

It was the Oxford Debacle all over again.
The events were drearily predicable. Sri Lanka, like every Commonwealth nation, received an invitation for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II. President Rajapaksa, unlike most Commonwealth leaders, decided to go himself. The pro-Tiger extremists of the Tamil Diaspora went into high-gear, delighted with this new opportunity to display their brawn. Their raucous opposition compelled the Commonwealth Business Council imitate the Oxford Union and cancel President Rajapaksa’s keynote speech to the Commonwealth Economic Forum.
So the main beneficiaries of the ill-advised Presidential visit to London were Tiger supporters in the Tamil Diaspora. The Rajapaksas, having annihilated the LTTE, are keeping the Tiger memory and aura alive not just by refusing to resolve the ethnic problem and alienating Lankan Tamils but also by providing the Diaspora-fanatics with avoidable triumphs.     Read More »