Differentiating Between Cause And Effect, The Chicken And The Egg Etc.

By Emil van der Poorten -

Emil van der Poorten

I have, for a fairly long time, been aware that there seems an almost peculiarly Sri Lankan predilection to identify symptoms as problems and vice versa, with those doing so often claiming that one is indistinguishable from the other in a manner similar to the hoary old “chicken and egg” business.

However, that sleight of hand or, more accurately, sloth needs to be punctured and reality faced because not to do so is to skew any attempt to identify, understand and deal with our current Sri Lankan predicament, a predicament that EVERYONE residing in this country must face, as much as some might want to turn a Nelsonian eye on it, because not to do so, is to ask for trouble with a capital “T.”

Let me begin at the end, so to speak, with a few incidents that have been front and centre recently.

The stoning of the court(s) in Mannar has, at long last, provoked a response from our legal eagles who have “downed tools” in protest at thugs and bullies seeking to serve notice on the law courts that they are expected to do their (the thugs’ and bullies’) bidding rather than fulfill the requirements of the statute book.  The behaviour of the goondas has been described as the problem with the Minister who gave them specific direction being identified as primus inter pares in the matter of guilt.   What is missing from this evaluation is the fact that this behaviour, dramatic as it might be, is NOT the problem but rather a symptom of a much larger problem: a government that has displayed an arrogance in the matter of violent and unlawful behaviour that has, in fact, set the tone and pattern for specific incidents such as this.  I would put the killing of the protester in the Katunayake Industrial Estate and the subsequent shooting of a fisherman protesting the huge increase in the price of kerosene, the primary input in his attempts to reach the fish which constitute his livelihood, as incidents which set the tone of acceptability for the “mere” stoning of a law-courts building!  The difference in response to state-generated violence in the three incidents was the fact that lawyers and judges belong to the professional middle class whereas fishermen and industrial workers are part of a proletariat – perhaps considered “lumpen” – and which, with the manifest blessings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, our current monarchy feels free to treat as disposable.  Let me be very clear however that I am not, in any way, critical of the actions of our legal fraternity.  In fact, I cannot heap great enough praise on them for their principled and courageous action, particularly given the threatening and violent response of this government to anything resembling disagreement and dissent.  If my theory needs confirmation of any kind, it comes from the head of state responding to this monumental disgrace, not by condemning an attack, literally, on the courts of law but by invoking what J.R. Jayewardene countenanced when judges’ homes were stoned because they made determinations not to his liking.  I have before referred to the “they did it first” defence and excuse that this government consistently trots out when found with its pants down and this constitutes yet another prime example of its recourse to that very tired “justification” of totally unacceptable behavior.

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Govt. won’t introduce ‘Right to Information Act’ at the expense of national security

July 29, 2012, 9:52 pm 

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Media Ministry Secretary Charitha Herath yesterday emphasized that the introduction of the ‘Right to Information Act’ couldn’t be at the expense of national security.

In spite of the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the government couldn’t share everything, the Media Secretary said. Herath was responding to queries raised by those participating at the SAARC Media Internship Programme (SMIP) for journalists and media officials, at the Galadari hotel.

The seven–day SMIP began on Saturday (28).

Addressing the participants on the second day of the programme, Herath explained the circumstances under which various interested parties, including external elements, could jeopardise national security by seeking sensitive information.

Herath pointed out the difficulty in sharing minutes pertaining to confidential meetings et al when he was told both India and Bangladesh had enacted legislation to ensure that the public are given access to government information.

Herath asserted that the Right to Information Act could be a powerful tool in the hands of interested parties. Responding to another query, the Media Secretary said that countries had to be careful as interested parties could seek information which couldnbe divulged without undermining national security.

Herath said that people could write to government institutions seeking information, though Sri Lanka was yet to enact the Right to Information Act. However, Herath indicated the readiness on the part of the government to look at the issue.

Asked whether there had been foreign direct investment (FDI) in the media industry, Herath said that such investment wasn’t known, though the mobile sector received FDI.

The Media Secretary asserted that the media, too, could be partly responsible for losing public respect due to its coverage of some issues. The outspoken official highlighted the possibility of some influential people using a section of the media to promote their disputed agendas.

Tamil Civil Society Memo to the TNA regarding the Eastern Provincial Council Elections

Editors note: Also read A Public Memo to Members of Parliament representing the Tamil National Alliance from the Tamil Civil Society, published in December 2011.

Groundviews

Tamils have consistently made it clear that a unitary constitution and a provincial council system within the confines of a unitary constitution are incapable of fulfilling their political aspirations. In this regard it is notable that Tamil political parties with a Tamil Nationalist dispensation had chosen to boycott the two provincial council elections that took place in our homeland in the past (1989 and 2008). There can be no doubt that a Tamil political party with a Tamil Nationalist dispensation can never run a provincial council autonomously, something that even Tamil parties aligned with the Government could not achieve. The Chief Ministers who ran the provincial councils subsequent to the elections of 1989 and 2008 have confirmed that nothing substantive can be achieved through the provincial council system which is in the firm grip of the Governor and the Central Government.

Participating in an election is acceptable if such participation furthers our political goals. To the contrary if participating in such elections would adversely affect the attainment of our political goals, then alternative strategies should be considered. To think of such alternatives with foresight and vision in the wake of an election being forced upon us is important in pushing forward Tamil Nationalist politics in the right direction within the present context.

That the people want to use elections as a vehicle through which they could express their anger and frustration against the oppression being meted out against them is understandable. On the one hand, while elections might be an opportunity to demonstrate such opposition and anger, on the other hand it is important to also take into account the political costs of taking part in an election. It is the responsibility of all committed to Tamil Nationalist politics, to weigh the above explained phenomenan carefully, to consider the multi-dimesnional nature of the challenge and to consider the different alternatives available, in the lead up to deciding on the question of electoral participation. The Tamil people will never allow the bartering away of their political fundamentals for the sake of attaining an immediate politicial strategic objective – that of preventing a Government backed Tamil political party capturing the provincial council in the Eastern Province. However given the hard reality that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has decided to contest the Eastern Provincial Council Elections directly, we wish to make the following suggestions as to what to include in their election manifesto for the forthcoming elections:

1. The present unitary constitution and the provincial council system within such confines should be rejected. The 13th amendment cannot be even considered to be a starting point towards achieving a political solution.
2. The North and East are the traditional homelands of the Tamil speaking peoples. Any political solution should recognise a merged North and East as the relevant territorial unit. The confidence of the Muslim people should be sought to make this a reality. It is important that the Muslims and Tamils realise that working together is essential to safeguard the existence of both communities.
3. A permanent political solution can only be attained by recognising the right to self-determination of the Tamil people and by recognising Tamil Nationhood. There is no point in a political process that refuses to acknowledge the above.
4. Despite four months since passing the Geneva resolution injustices and oppression against the Tamil people have not reduced, rather they have increased. The land grab project continuing unabatted, Tamil political prisoners continuing to linger in prison, lack of any progress in tracing missing persons, the continuos destruction of the economic and cultural fundamentals of the Tamil nation, the ever increasing role of the military in the daily lives of the Tamil people, the ever increasing interference into the independence of different sectors of life including education, higher education, health, agriculture and fisheries, the conversion of high security zones into permanent high security zones (including the Sampur High Security Zone), a significant number of Tamils continuing to live as displaced people in IDP camps, the continuous neglect of the livelihood of those resettled are examples of these injustices and oppressive practices. Further there is no progress in holding accountable those responsible for the genocide and war crimes committed against the Tamil people. The International Community has to realise that solutions to these problems cannot be found using the LLRC report as a road map. Both the report and the action plan have been designed to hoodwink the International community and to buy further time. The International Community has to realise that such time is being sort to provide space for the Government to complete its project of destroying the existence of the Tamil people.

We believe that by including the above in their election manifesto that there is a possibility that the TNA can lessen the impact of the argument that the Tamil people have accepted the Provincial Council system and a de-merged North and East by participating in these elections. It is very important that our rejection of the provincial council system and a demerged North and East is clearly communicated to the International Community.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph Bishop of Mannar                                              Continue reading »

What Choice Do The People Have?

By Ravi Perera   Monday, July 30, 2012

Save for those who are utterly anesthetized to the daily increasing coarseness of our public life, to most   citizens of this country the news that the United National Party, our main opposition has basically done away with internal democracy, would bring a sense of hopeless despair. It seems there is no other purpose in public life in this country except for various individuals to make a grab for power. Nothing else matters in that naked quest. The least important are the sensibilities of millions of humble Sri Lankans in whose name the whole game is played. It also matters little that for all their power grabs since independence, the country is still relatively a poor performer economically, socially and politically. Whether one or the other is at the helm should not make much of a difference.
It is true that the absolute power bestowed on the UNP leader, he is actually referred to such in party circles, is only for a period of six years. During that period, the leader will appoint the party’s President, Secretary and the Treasurer at his sole discretion. Apparently one of the arguments against the idea of electing of these office bearers by popular choice is the violence that was witnessed at the party head office when such a process was tried out last.
Of course in this day and age   how a political party which is unable to hold a simple election of office bearers without all that ugliness, proposes to advance the cause of democracy of twenty million people, is a question that goes a begging. If a few miscreants turned such an election into a violent confrontation on that day, does that justify the denial of the right to choose their office bearers to thousands of other members?
On 27 February 1933 an unemployed bricklayer, one Marinus van der Lubbe, allegedly set fire to the German Reichstag. Later investigations by independent researches throw doubt about the prosecution case of the Third Reich concerning this crime, including the guilt of the hapless Lubbe who was later guillotined. He was only twenty five years old at the time. But the Nazis were waiting for an excuse to do away with all challenges to their iron rule and to stamp out even a semblance of opposition to their policies. That Reichstag fire allowed them to unleash a hysterical attack, on all political enemies, particularly that of the Left. The day after the fire Hitler obtained from a senile Hindenberg who was President of the Republic, a Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended most civil liberties in Germany.
The ensuing atmosphere of intolerance enabled the Nazi party to campaign for and eventually obtain the required votes to push through the Enabling Act which gave Adolf Hitler the right to rule by decree, the consequences of which the whole world was to suffer in the ensuing years.
Comparisons are odorous and historical ones across racial lines even more so. Germans, a people with such stupendous achievements in nearly all human endeavour, when taking to sinning also out-do the rest by its sheer scope and horror. In no way is Ranil Wickremasinghe a Hitler who dreamt of bringing most of the world under the German heel, nor the UNP anything like the Nazi Party with their aggressive theories of racial superiority and ambitions such as conquest and the colonizing of the vast Slavic lands. The UNP is constituted of men of much humbler outlook and skills. But however effete, historical methods sometimes get repeated across racial and cultural barriers. Those that proposed the ‘enabling act’ of the UNP leader were declaring in other words that they are not fit enough to select office bearers of their own party in a simple democratic process. Such ideas like the equality of persons, collective responsibility or an organizational purpose which is larger than its individual members have been ignored. No, it is much smaller, almost puny ideas, schemes and ambitions that are at play here. Maybe, a diplomatic appointment from a future UNP government, an opportunity to earn a commission, an invitation to a cocktail party or even one of those rare waves from the leader as a mark of recognition, would more than suffice.
In their defence one might argue that most political parties in this country are undemocratic in the running of their internal affairs. It will be pointed out that in the glory days of the UNP the levers of power were held firmly by leaders like J. R. Jayewardene, hardly a democrat in party matters. With such examples to go by, the present leadership seems to argue that the UNP’s folly today is the loosening of the leaders iron grip and not its dictatorial tendency. One must not forget that J. R. Jayewardene thrived in another era. Besides being another era, J. R. Jayewardene had both personal as well as leadership qualities which we hope for only in vain in the present dispensation.
The UNP success 1977 onwards was by no means solely due to the autocratic nature of its then septuagenarian leader. The SLFP government prior to that had run the economy down to such levels that a change in whatever form was a social necessity. It is easy to look good when your predecessor from 1970-77 was a very poor performer. One cannot give various incidental happenings during a period of time as the prime cause of the relative success, particularly in an altogether unrelated area such as the economy.
In the UNP’s long winter of discontent which began with the 1994 victory of Chandrika Bandaranaike, it seems to have got further away from the mainstream. During this period at least two generations of voters have emerged to whom the moth eaten methods and philosophies of the party are alien. It matters not to them whether some state sector institutions are to be sporadically privatized. Nor can we expect the new voters to be impressed by some old boys union or  a  coterie of ambitious businessmen/professionals (all committed to making as much money as possible) who are made decision makers. A few quotes from the British Parliament or an occasional reference to long forgotten leaders leave the new voters cold. One cannot blame the voter as they perceive that the UNP, despite all the lip service, is hardly going by British traditions and that the selective references to the old leaders are just self serving ruses. Ultimately the voter knows it is a choice between Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum.
After nearly seven years in power, the Rajapaksa rule is gradually losing their grip on the hearts and minds of the people. As always the change comes mainly from economic failure. It seems that the required structural reforms and the fundamental loosening of the dead weight of the state which those structural reforms demand are intellectually as well as emotionally alien to the present rulers. Slowly but surely the economy is slowing down. The narrowness of their vision, the vulgarity of their exercise of power and the personality driven agenda of the government    sooner or later will be the undoing of the regime. But if it is to be defeated electorally, the voter must see a clear democratic, transparent and selfless leadership in the opposition which stands in stark contrast to the Rajapaksa government. But the UNP seems to be determined to become a mirror image of the government in all their failings!
The UNP only differs from the government in its organizational weakness, disunity and the unrepresentative nature of its policies. On these matters the Rajapaksa government is very strong.
In democracies a sure barometer of the acceptability of any policy are the elections. In Sri Lanka with a Constitution which requires so many elections, we do not have long to wait for its verdict.

Gandhi statue damged at Ariyalai Jaffna

அரியாலையில் காந்திசிலை இனந்தெரியாதோரால் உடைப்பு

யாழ். அரியாலை மகாத்மா காந்தி சனசமூக நிலையத்திற்கு முன்னால் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த மகாத்மா காந்திசிலை நேற்று இரவு இனந்தெரியாத நபர்களினால் உடைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.    எனினும் இச்சிலை உடைப்பு தொடர்பில் எவரும் கைது செய்யப்படவில்லை.    குறித்த இச்சம்பவம் தொடர்பிலான விசாரணைகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு வருவதாகவும் யாழ்.பொலிஸ் நிலைய வட்டாரங்கள் தெரிவித்துள்ளன.

Gandhi statue damged at Ariyalai Jaffna

[ Sunday, 29 July 2012, 03:14.41 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Group of unidentified person have damaged the statue of Mahatma Gandhi located at Ariyalai area in the Jaffna district.

None of the arrest made on this alleged attack, IGP of the Jaffna district Gunasekara stated police holds further investigations this regard.

No deal with Pakistan on n-plant: Sri Lanka

YAHOO! NEWS  

Colombo, July 28 (IANS) Sri Lanka Saturday denied reports that it was to build a nuclear power plant in the east of the country with the assistance from Pakistan.

Terming the reports as misleading, Sri Lankan Minister for Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka said it could harm the relations Sri Lanka has with its neighbours, Xinhua reported.

"Sri Lanka has no agreement with any country for a nuclear power station. The false reports are harming cordial relations between countries," Ranawaka said at a special media briefing held on the issue.

Some media reports earlier this week in India claimed that Sri Lanka would have discussions with Pakistan on the setting up of a nuclear power plant in Sampur, Trincomallee in eastern Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) last month decided to take measures to establish a warning system to be on alert of a possible radiation leak from nearby countries.

Following the request of AEA, the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) decided to help Sri Lanka set up seven early warning detectors in the country. Its need was mostly felt after India prepared to commission the Kudankulam nuclear power station in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the report said.

In April, Sri Lanka had expressed concerns over the nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu state, making India to give an assurance on the safety standards and on legal mechanism to deal with the trans-boundary liability issues.

Alice In Wonderland 

There Is NO rape, There Are NO Abductions,There Is NO Corruption,There Is NO Fear Psychosis

 There is NO rape. There are NO abductions. There is NO corruption. There is NO fear psychosis. The media remain – independent – unbowed and unafraid. Editors are not coerced into submission over candlelit tete-a-tetes with the President.
Children as young as six and seven years old are NOT being raped. Certainly not by politicians.  Murder if committed are solved in record quick time – except for those that took place in broad daylight in high security zones, no less.  The authorities cannot be blamed. The police are calling for any and all leads/clues the public may care to come forward with. Very noble.
THIS is the miracle of Asia. The star in the Indian Ocean. We are nothing like our murderous, corrupt barbaric South Asian neighbours or the pillaging Western colonists. We had zero casualties in the final stages of the war – oops no sorry – we were later told that the figure did go up a wee bit from zero to 1,200 dead civilians. Perhaps. All those who have been abducted are rapists, murderers and underworld criminals! Even though NO abductions take place, on the off chance that one might happen, then it has definitely got to be a rapist, a murderer or an underworld criminal.
 It is very unfortunate that the media reports and strives to project a white van theory – giving the impression that every abduction is carried out by the police or the army. The bad thing about that is the culprits use that as a cover-up! So any group can carry out these abductions and put the blame on the police or the army. The culprits are at large. The media does this to throw mud at the government – these abductions are either for personal reasons or it is carried out by the underworld?
The Police are sincere and committed to ensuring law and order. However, according to them, parents and their children must be held responsible for any rape or violation of minors. Surely, the public must understand that law enforcement is only a curative and not preventive in Sri Lanka. The Police are sincere and committed to ensuring law and order prevail. But constantly battle with a lack of information. A lack of leads – there are many murders they were fortunate to solve but at the same time there were others they could not solve. Not because of lack of effort on their part.
Sometimes people do not know how much effort the police are taking. For example take the robbery at the Museum. The police grapple daily trying to get a lead, but have still not got a single clue. But on the other hand there are cases they have solved. Like an old lady who was murdered in Kolonnawa, then a robbery in Colombo, then the first Kahawatte murder…which of course was a very difficult case.
Take Janaka Perera’s murder. People put the blame on the government. Finally it was proved otherwise. And the murder solved and the people who were responsible captured. So they are not totally ineffective. But at the same time there have been cases they could not solve.  Not because they are impotent. For example the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge, despite all the effort put in by sleuths to resolve that horrific crime, police yet have been unable to get any lead into it.
Almost all those climbing into boats and trying to reach Christmas Island are former LTTE cadres.
There is no need now for search and cordon operations or having many road blocks, checkpoints or rounding up people for questioning. That is no longer necessary. There are other methods to keep vigilant. Especially on the intelligence side – military intelligence units have increased. They are being trained more in advanced methods so they can gather information on these affairs and have an early warning system. So they can keep an eye on certain people that the government is aware have been engaged in criminal activity. Healthy practices in a budding democracy. As long as Sri Lankans know that Big Brother is watching!
Mega projects built at tremendous cost are a boon to this country.  It is NOT true that Sri Lankan tax payers are made to pay for these visionary expenses enriching only selected vendors along the way.
It is not true that it is no longer 10% but a mega 50% commission off some projects. The Jaffna A9 being a case in point. And it is certainly not true that politicians make money hand over fist. By allowing short selling and borrowing millions for purchase of shares from state banks it is not true again that fund managers have made millions out of Ajith Nivard Cabraal’s inexperience and poor regulations.
It is not true that the Rajapksas are ego maniacs and or that the world’s stupidity is concentrated in one man’s mind. Or is it three? Four?
It is NOT true that the government is selling every piece of state land to businessmen without tender; using select companies to obtain lucrative government contracts; NOR are they selling approval signatures for a fee on the basis of ‘you pay I approve’. These politicians definitely do NOT have billions stashed overseas. NOR have hundreds of acres of land been given to one or two companies (Sampoor being a case in point) while thousands of poor people still live in cardboard makeshift homes; have no water and have to use the river as their loo. It is NOT true that Sri Lanka’s best students are sent overseas raising their standards while as in most countries the best are kept in local universities and the rejects sent overseas.
It is NOT true that Sri Lanka having been colonized by the British for so long cannot yet educate its own people. Look at Hong Kong or Singapore, less than 5% study overseas. But they are just stupid. Nit heads. Believing they save billions if every student overseas is recalled to a local university, and at the same time raising their own standards.
In China people have been shot for embezzling one thousand dollars. But nobody gets shot here. Not for embezzlement. Not unless they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Not even when the Chairman for SriLankan Airlines had his son smuggle in some twenty three thousand dollars evading the country’s exchange control laws.
This government is at the forefront of leading an anti-corruption campaign. Mirror images of one another they are all – one and all – icons of purity and good governance.
There are still people without shoes, without land to farm, without homes, bathing in rivers and having to use holes in the ground as makeshift toilets. But they are happy. They have no water, no electricity but are surrounded by concrete jungles springing up all around them. Soon the superhighways that run through their villages will be jammed with traffic. Hambantota is a case in point.
Every time SLAF choppers fly VVIPs and VIPs to watch the cricket – those barefoot villagers cheer. Loud and clear.
It is a fact that Sri Lanka signed and ratified the landmark UN Convention that outlaws bribery and corruption. What is false and untrue is that Sri Lankans have been robbed and thrown into poverty by a few greedy, crooked and power hungry politicians and public servants.
It is NOT true that corruption in Sri Lanka has reached herculean heights.
It is NOT true the government which abolished the independent Bribery and Corruption Commission, along with the independent Police, Elections, Public and Judicial Service Commissions, by bulldozing the 18th Amendment through Parliament, placed the country in a precarious position, since it was a signatory to UNCAC.
Transparency International, is lying when it states that Sri Lanka is among the most corrupt countries in the world, and Eran Wickramaratne is acting as expected of an opposition MP right on target that with the UN country review on corruption due next year, Sri Lanka could be subjected to international pressure, since its Bribery and Corruption Commission was not independent of the Executive.
It is a diabolical lie to point out that the most common forms of corruption in Sri Lanka today include bribery, secret commissions made on contracts, blatant abuse of public power and position for personal advantage, and tax evasion.
It is certainly NOT true that funds intended for development are stolen, therefore depriving a government’s ability to provide basic services, feeds inequality and injustice, and discourages foreign investment and aid.
It is an utter falsehood to state that three years after the war, the only thing thriving seems to be corruption and the most corrupt, apparently thrive the most.
Our politicians are absolutely right when they blame the United Nations, UNHCR, the United States, Western countries, and perhaps the whole world. They make no mistakes. Others do. People do not have to look too far to see the robber barons. Western sponsored INGOs and governments dominated by white men with checkered agendas.  Let THEM explain – the United Nations and its subsidiaries how THEY come to be in possession of abundant unexplained, unearned wealth – a visible sign of stolen funds, meant to uplift the poor of our country.

Lawyers Association unanimously supports action against Minister –Temple Trees lawyer clueless

(Lanka-e-News-29.July.2012, 5.30PM) The SL Lawyers association general Council yesterday (28) decided unanimously to become a party to the petition filed by 8 senior Lawyers on grounds of contempt of court in the appeal court against Minister Rishard Badurdeen for threatening the Mannar judge and instigating a stoning attack on the courts.

A few days ago , the Lawyers association Executive Committee decided to sue the Minister , but that was stalled because Wijedasa Rajapakse M .P., its President postponed that action. Later he said , he would act in accordance with the decision of the Lawyers Association general Council that met on the 28th.

Meanwhile a group of senior lawyers filed action independently in the appeal court. The appeal court judge who heard this petition ordered the Minister to appear in court on the 5th of September and show cause as to why he should not be punished.

The Lawyers Association general council decided on the 28th that they should also become a party to the petition. Following a group of Lawyers having an exchange of views with the Lawyer Sepala Ratnayake PC from the Temple trees , they proposed that since some Lawyers have already filed an action in the appeal court , the Association shall remain silent on this. To this all the other Lawyers raised opposition and vociferously insisted that they should not only support this action filed but also compel the Attorney General (AG) to take action against the Minister under section 111 of the constitution. By the way , Sepala Ratnayake is the Lawyer who gives legal advice for white Van abductions and murders. 
This was revealed in an article posted by LeN on the 15th of May , entitled ‘ MaRa’s Lawyer who hides the white van murderers exposed’

The Lawyers Association general council, later on passed an unanimous resolution at its meeting to compel the AG under section 111 to enforce the law against those who attacked the Mannar courts and those who resorted to duress to intimidate the judiciary.

At all events , it was significant to note that when the Lawyers of the Association at the meeting unanimously agreed to these resolutions , the Lawyer from Temple Trees was dumbfounded .
Meanwhile the Lawyers who came from the North stated that they are prepared to stage the strike until the Association sees to it that the Minister is taken into custody.

At yesterday’s (28) meeting of the general council of the SL Lawyers association a representative from every Branch Association of Lawyers across the whole Island attended.

At the same time , the Magistrates’ association which met yesterday (28) , unanimously decided to support the forward march of the campaign that is now launched to safeguard the independence of the judiciary and restore the hallowed judicial traditions.

Badurdeen's gang continues to threaten Mannaar Magistrate

Sunday, 29 July 2012 

A group of persons, allegedly operated by SL minister Rishard Badurdeen in Mannaar, attacked the house where the wife of Mannaar Magistrate Antony Judson was residing, Friday evening around 10:00 p.m. Following the attack, the lawyers association in Mannaar said it would continue the boycott, cancelling its earlier decision to abandon their boycott of court proceedings.

The attackers threw stones at the house causing damage to the windows and smashed the windows of a vehicle parked outside. The house is located in the high security area of the occupying SL military, where the Mannaar District Secretariat and other government offices are situated.

The attack comes a day after the supporters of the SL minister were brought down from Colombo and other places to Mannaar in 12 private buses to stage protest in support of minister. They protesters shouted slogans against the Magistrate and the Bishop of Mannaar.

All the expenses incurred for the protest on Thursday were borne by Rishard Badurdeen, informed sources said.

- Tamilnet

Justice Warawawa’s life at stake –Two murderers to be granted Presidential pardon

(Lanka-e-News- 29.July.2012, 2.30AM) The sudden arrangements which are being made to give Presidential pardon to two murderers who were sentenced to death by justice Warawawa , according to reports reaching Lanka e news is a conspiracy, and constitutes a grave threat to the life of Warawawa. 

The former judge M T M P B Warawawa went on retirement on the 31st of January 2012. The last case he heard prior to his retirement was that where burgher Hamer family including father, son and daughter were most brutally murdered in 2003. These murders were committed with a view to appropriating the properties belonging to the family by fraudulent means . Among the properties was a land in extent 80 perches bordering Galle Road. These murders were linked to a multi million rupee transaction. 

But the murders were dressed to show that the murders occurred when a house robbery was being committed. The two murders were Harrison Jayaweera and and Sunil Shantha. The police tried to shield these two murderers and produced a Tamil youth by the name of Kadiravel Mahendran as the murderer to court . Kadiravel who became a crown witness made a confession .

Based on that a number of facts came to light. Hamer who was more than 79 years old was hit by a club repeatedly and killed. After being in hiding , when Hamer’s daughter Anne who was working in a Mt. Lavinia Hotel as a guest relation officer came home , and his son Deemon who was a Sampath Bank officer also returned they were also murdered separately. It was also revealed that there was backing of the police and those in the highest places for the murderers. In fact , the police were mysteriously divested of the investigations , and even without giving it over to the CID , the AG handed over the investigations to the Interpol.

Justice Warawawa who heard this case for four years finally passed a verdict of death sentence on these two individuals Harrison and Sunil Shantha mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs. The judgment was delivered by Warawawa steering clear of any evil influence , while quoting a famous saying.

Following this verdict , the two murderers filed an appeal against it. Meanwhile, based on S 34(1) of the Constitution , suddenly Shyamini Wijetunge the assist. Secretary (legal) to the Justice Minister had sent a letter to the Secretary of the High court calling for the confidential report of the Judge who gave the judgment, in order to obtain the Minister’s recommendations.


S 34 (1) is a provision relating to Presidential pardons. It is very clear from these moves that the President is trying to grant pardons to these two murderers.

Why is the President seeking to grant pardons when an appeal has been filed and its decision is pending ? Is the President vested with this right to descend to this lowliest levels to grant pardons for brutal murderers ?

Among the people and those of the judiciary these moves have instilled grave suspicions in their minds.
 After Warawawa’s retirement , along with Ven. Sobitha Thero the chief incumbent of the Kotte 


Naga viharaya, they are holding conferences across the Island with a view to creating a just administration in the country. This has become a thorn in the side of the MaRa regime . To the members of the MaRa regime , if anybody speaks for or promotes justice and just rule , they are MaRa regime’s worst enemies and their actions are an anathema. Websites which reported the truth and stood for justice could be banned, but how can a judge be stopped who is championing the cause of justice and just rule ? 

MaRa’s approach in such instances to eradicate the thorn in his side is by giving the order ,‘ hit and liquidate’. So , if the murderers against whom the judge gave the death sentence are given a pardon and released , and they liquidate the judge , MaRa ‘s job can be accomplished without staining his hands directly with blood. Besides , the judges ( male and female) against whom the MaRa regime is harboring grudges can also be frightened and intimidated thereby.

Presidential Regret Is Certainly Not The Core Question

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena -July 29, 2012 

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

Protesting Muslims who thronged Colombo’s streets demanding public attention in regard to the plight of their community in Mannar are as much a part of the democratic process as lawyers protesting against the attack on a court house in Mannar and the Judicial Service Association abstaining from sittings in protest against the attacks on the Mannar magistrate cum District Judge. There is little to be perturbed about in such protests. To take a contrary view would be to deny these protestors, the freedoms of assembly and association which are constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Proper remedies against contested orders

Certainly enormous tensions had been evidenced not only in Mannar but in other area of the East where both Tamils and Muslims fleeing the conflict in the North or (as the Muslims were) summarily ejected by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during what can only be termed as the ethnic cleansing of the North, have been ‘temporarily’ relocated, leading to dangerously escalated resentment by the local communities who see their lands and livelihoods being affected on a ‘permanent’ level.

In the case of Manner and the dispute between the local fisherfolk and the relocated outsiders, these tensions came to a flash point recently, converging quite unfortunately on a particular judicial order which though perfectly fair in its substance, was visited by a mob response. There is after all, a time-honoured remedy for challenging a judicial order; namely, having it set aside in appeal. If there was bias or partiality on the part of an officer of a subordinate court towards a particular party in a case, there is the remedy of petitioning the Judicial Service Commission. Ordinary realities being such, such a complaint would have caused more than a ripple in the waters as differentiated from the ordinary run of complaints wending their painfully slow path to inquiry. However, these were not the remedies resorted to. On the contrary, we had a mob throwing stones at a court house and attacking the chambers of a judge.

Craven leadership of the Bar

Amidst the welter of allegations surrounding this incident, the judicial officer concerned has unequivocally stated on record that he had been threatened by a government minister. It is basic commonsense to acknowledge that a judicial officer of the subordinate courts (being Tamil in ethnicity in addition) would not have resorted to such a complaint against a minister if the circumstances were not such as to leave no other course of action open to him. Official records indicate that phone calls had taken place from this minister’s phone to the judicial officer concerned. Of course, this may well have been to engage in a friendly chat regarding the excellent quality of prawns available at that time of the year in Mannar but the possibility of that conversation is rather remote to say the least.

Circumstantially moreover, the attack on the court house is hedged around by too many factors indicating that the mob did not act on its own in engaging in such actions that would have normally led to severe penalties if there was no assurance of immunity given by the instigating politicians. These assurances, as we can see now, are fully justified in actual fact which is a point that we would return to later.

So in that context, the filing of contempt of court charges against the minister concerned in the Court of Appeal this week is a salutary step. The immediate question that arises however is as to why the petition on contempt of court was not filed by the President and the leadership of the Bar Association? The reasons for such abstention may be an open secret on Hulftsdorp Hill but it is nonetheless a shameful reflection on those who should have been expected to take the lead. To take refuge in procrastination and prevarication in such a grave matter is to invite greater disasters in store for the Bench as well as the Bar. It is as if the executive is being issued an open invitation to do what it wills with the country’s judiciary. If that is the craven message that is intended to be given by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, so be it.

Presidential assurances not sufficient

As observed in these column spaces last week, the very fact that such an incident took place indicates the enormous deterioration in the political environment vis a vis the judiciary.  Although the attack on the Mannar court house took place more than a week ago, the suspects have still not been identified despite the mantra of ‘ongoing investigations’.  This was predictable.

Also as predicted in last week’s column, it was to be expected that the government would trot out its old refrain of attacks on the judiciary during the time of the United National Party in the eighties. It is unfortunate however that none other than President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself thought it appropriate to refer to these past incidents as if doing so would make the current attack on the independence of Sri Lanka’s judiciary, less serious. It is quite beside the point to be ‘saddened’ or ‘regretful’ in regard to the suspicions entertained by the country’s legal community ‘against a minister of his government’, as the President has reportedly said early this week. Sadness or regret is not the core issue.

Neither are Presidential pronouncements on the Rule of Law and the determination of this government to ensure that the law is followed, also informed to the country at large at this meeting. And quite frankly, one cannot make any sense of the statement further attributed to the President that he is a lawyer and that ‘lawyers work cordially with the judiciary.’ Whatever it may be, Presidential statements at public meetings do not meet the need for swift action to be taken against the perpetrators of this attack on a court house and on the chambers of a judge. The fact that this Presidency is not inclined to engage in such action appears however to be abundantly clear.

Equal parts of skepticism and mockery

That said, political commentators last week advanced the argument that protests by the legal and judicial fraternity over the Mannar incident will not evoke much public sympathy given the general silence on the part of the same when basic rights of innocent people from North to South were trampled upon by this government. Certainly, there will be empathy from many quarters with this bitterly articulated point of view.  The reneging of their public duties in upholding the Rule of Law was never more evidenced on the part of the official and unofficial Bar than during these unhappy times. Some days ago, we saw a newly appointed Attorney General affirming blithely that the fact that the Department of the Attorney General comes under the Presidential Secretariat will not ‘affect their duties’ in any way. Such blithe assurances fall upon an unbelieving public ear given ample testimony in the past years of politicized prosecutions as well as the politicized withdrawal of prosecutions under this administration. As much as grandiloquent Presidential pronouncements on the Rule of Law are to be scoffed at, these assertions also invoke equal parts of skepticism and mockery in the face of practical evidence to the contrary.

That said and conceding all the faults of the legal community in this country and of the leadership of the Bar (official and unofficial), if public support is not forthcoming on the larger question of pulling back from the brink even at this late stage in the wake of the attack on the Manner courts, then the consequences can only be disastrous for the country as a whole. This must be clearly acknowledged.

Lifetime Achievement presentations to five senior journalists

Journalism Awards for Excellence ceremony on Tuesday

Five senior journalists will receive the Distinguished Service Award for Journalism in Sri Lanka, at the 13th edition of the Journalism Awards for Excellence Ceremony on July 31 (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. in the Empire Ballroom of the Mt. Lavinia Hotel, organized by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Press Institute.

D.C.A. (Bernie) Wijesekera

Kandiah Nithyanandan

Sybil Wettasinghe

S. Hewage Chithrananda

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka

They are:

D.C.A. (Bernie) Wijesekera

Bernie Wijesekera joined the Times of Ceylon of the old Times Group in 1954 as a Proof Reader, and was made a journalist in the same newspaper in 1958. He also worked for the Daily Mirror newspaper at the time. He covered the World Cup Cricket matches abroad even before Sri Lanka gained Test status. After the closure of the Times Group in 1981, he joined the Daily News published by the Lake House Group, which he left in 1996 to join the Sunday Times published by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., He still writes for the newspaper’s sports section. He also writes to the Daily Mirror occasionally. His journalistic career spans 58 years.

Kandiah Nithyanandan

Kandiah Nithyanandan started his media career as a proof reader at the Virakesari in 1961. While proof reading, he also tried his hand at drawing cartoons. Later, he was made a journalist overseeing the upcountry news page, editor of the evening edition of Virakesari’s sister newspaper Mithran Varamalar and editor, Politics and Features. In this page, he highlighted issues concerning the upcountry community. He also wrote several articles and short stories.
Mr. Nithyanandan, also translated Martin Wickremasinghe’s epic novel ‘Madol Doowa’ into Tamil. His career spans 42 years.

Sybil Wettasinghe

Sybil Wettasinghe hails from Gintota, Galle. She illustrated her first book in colour – the Navamaga Std. 5 reader compiled by the late Ms. H.D. Sugathapala, at the age of 15. She joined Lankadeepa at the age of 19 in 1948, when there were no women working on the permanent staff of newspapers. She also contributed to the Times of Ceylon. In 1952, Ms. Wettasinghe joined Lake House and worked for the Janatha as a children’s artist and writer. She contributed to all the newspapers at Lake House as journalist and artist. In 1983, Ms. Wettasinghe joined Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., and moved to Upali Newspapers Ltd. in 1986, when she was invited to inaugurate a children’s newspaper. She was the pioneer editor of Bindu.

In 1956, Ms. Wettasinghe wrote and illustrated ‘Umbrella Thief’, which is now an international publication. Currently, it is being made into a children’s film in Denmark. ‘Umbrella Thief’ has been published in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, USA, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Since 1990, five of her books have been published in Japan.

In May this year, she was the recipient of the prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize for culture given annually to three Asians chosen from the region. It was awarded in recognition of her achievements as a writer and illustrator of picture books that feature Sri Lanka’s cultural diversity and natural beauty.

In Sri Lanka, she has written and authored over 200 children’s books during a career spanning 60-years.

S. Hewage Chithrananda

S. Hewage Chithrananda is a senior photographer who started his career in 1966 as a freelancer at Davasa published by Independent Newspapers Ltd., with the support of W.V. Abeygunawardena and W.P. Sugathadasa. He was later employed at Udaya and promoted Chief Photographer. After the closure of the Times Group, he joined Lake House as Photo Editor. He retired from Lake House in 2002 and started his own studio.

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka

Sunil Madawa Premathilaka joined Silumina and worked for 19-years at Lake House. He served as the Features Editor and Assistant Editor. When the Divaina was started by Upali Wijewardene, he resigned from Lake House and joined Upali Newspapers Ltd., where he became the Features Editor of the Divaina. He is also the Editor of Lakmina. He has received many awards for photography during his career. He has also translated many foreign language books into Sinhala.