Court turns down Bandara’s request TUESDAY, 01 OCTOBER 2013  A request made by former Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) convener Sanjeewa Bandara to enter universities was refused by Colombo Fort Magistrate today.The magistrate said the Court was not in a position to accede to Mr. Bandara’s request and informed him to contact the university authorities if he wanted to enter any particular university. The University Grants Commission (UGC) on an earlier date confirmed that Mr. Bandara was not a university student. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)
|
Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
First robbery on the K’nochchi – Colombo night train
The first robbery in the Colombo bound train from Kilinochchi took place on Monday (30 September).
Girl dies after being hit by Army bus
A 20-year-old girl, who was knocked down by an army bus on the Kankesanthurai (KKS) road in Jaffna, died shortly after being admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
The first robbery in the Colombo bound train from Kilinochchi took place on Monday (30 September).
Rs 150,000 in cash and a large amount of jewellery had been stolen from four men who had been traveling to Colombo from Kilinochchi, sources said, and added that two other male passengers who had been sitting next to the four men had befriended them before going on to commit the robbery.
The victims are from Bogowantalawa. According to initial investigations, the two robbers had offered the victims soft drinks, which they had consumed. After a while, the four victims had felt drowsy and had fallen asleep, at which point the robbers would have relieved them of the cash and jewellery in their possession, police sources said.
Police have taken several measures to nab the suspects who had stealthily left the train. Sources also said that crimes of this nature are the regular feature on night trains, as passengers are not alert to the dangers such journeys pose. They added that the public has been warned by the police and the railway authorities on exercising caution and being alert on long journeys, especially at night as criminals are on the prowl, and grab any opportunity to commit a crime.
Sources further said, consequent to the Northern railway line extending to Kilinochchi, large numbers make use of the facility to commute between the North and Colombo, every day. (Ceylon Today Online)
Girl dies after being hit by Army bus
By Our Jaffna correspondent-Tuesday, 01 Oct 2013
A 20-year-old girl, who was knocked down by an army bus on the Kankesanthurai (KKS) road in Jaffna, died shortly after being admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
The accident had occurred on Monday (30 September), at the Thattatheru junction, in close proximity to the Jaffna Hindu College on KKS road, around 9:45 p.m.
An army bus carrying officers had knocked down the victim while she was cycling with another girl sitting on the bar. The deceased had been identified as S. Deepika. The other girl who had sustained serious injuries is receiving treatment in hospital, sources said.
According to eye witnesses, the speeding army bus had been heading towards KKS, and had rammed into the victim from behind. Sources said the two girls had been returning after a tuition class.
After the autopsy was conducted at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the body of the deceased was handed over to the family.
The driver of the army bus has been taken into custody, sources added. The Traffic Branch of the Jaffna Police and the Military Police are conducting inquiries into the accident.
Jaffna Police point out that road traffic accidents are increasing in the North in view of the influx of vehicles that are now evident in the region. (Ceylon Today Online)
Time To Realize The Symbolic Messages Of Navarathri
By Ayathuray Rajasingam -October 1, 2013
Ayathuray Rajasingam
All religions send messages that are beneficial to the people and begin that God created the earth. However, ancient Hindu sages are accustomed to see the differences between male and female in the spiritual world and their aspects in the creation of the Universe. Lord Shiva, being the masculine aspect, symbolizes pure consciousness which can be realized through Goddess Shakthi, who represents divine energy. The masculine aspect is known as Sada Shiva because the light comes from the Sun to warm the earth. The feminine aspect is known as Adi Sakthi (earth) because the primordial energy created the Universe. The recognition of divine energy as a feminine force, known as Shakthi, is found only in Hinduism. Briefly, Hinduism envisages the idea of Energy known as Shakthi which belongs to the domain of feminine aspect of creation.
It is the feminine aspect of the divine Supreme that undertakes to rehabilitate the wrongdoer. Goddess Sakthi’s grace is boundless and her mercy is illimitable, similar to that of a mother towards her children. Some people commit injustice on account of egoism, but Goddess Sakthi is there to guide him or rehabilitate him and realize the truth. It is something like a mother correcting her child on behalf of the father while managing the family. This is where Goddess Sakthi plays a vital role. Hence the worship of Goddess has become an integral part in Hinduism. Read More
Silent Kiriwehera heard it all by keeping him by its side, encouraged him in all his battles, blessed him when he needed it most for the past 18 months, but according to the true teachings of Buddha everything must come to an end and silent Kiriwehera saw his end, too.
The Symbol Of Knowledge And Discipline
By Ranga Kalansooriya -October 1, 2013
Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya
Chief Incumbent of Kataragama Kiriwehera Raja Maha Vihara, Sangha Nayaka of Ruhunu Maagam Pattuwa, Chancellor of Uva-Wellassa University, Upadyaya, Dr. Aluthwewa Soratha Nayaka Thera
Kiriwehera Nayaka Hamuduruwo or Soratha Nayaka Hamuduruwo as we called him is no more. The depth of knowledge, the wisdom, the discipline, the dedication, the sense of humour, the charismatic smile that emanated from the front room of the Sangharamaya of the Kiriwehera temple we would not see it again. The brave voice that fought for the rights of the South, well-being of the poor and deprived, to protect the Sinhala Buddhist traditions, we would not hear it again. The high voice he would raise for a misdoing of his staff or a student monk, we would not hear it again. The writings that highlighted the glory of the south, that defeated the mistrusts of Kataragama blind devotees, that proved the true history of Kataragama, we would not read it again. The hours-long socio political discussions, intellectual and academic discourses, we would not conduct it again.
Silent Kiriwehera heard it all by keeping him by its side, encouraged him in all his battles, blessed him when he needed it most for the past 18 months, but according to the true teachings of Buddha everything must come to an end and silent Kiriwehera saw his end, too.
Returnees not stateless any more, but demand state support
Life may not be easy, but there is no place like home says N. Vadivel, 80, seen with his family in this picture. Photo: Meera Srinivasan
MEERA SRINIVASAN
When Chelliah Suriyakumar heads out to the sea, he is fully aware of the uncertainty of his earnings for the day. “Depending on the catch, it could be 1,500 [rupees], 400, or nothing at all,” says the fisherman in Velanai Island, off Jaffna’s coast
The UNP and the opposition political landscape
- - on 09/30/2013
Image courtesy the Sunday Leader
The recent elections to three provincial councils, namely the Northern, North Western and Central and the consequent results together with the general political expectations that several more provincial elections would be held next year followed by national, presidential and general elections, make the opposition or non UPFA political landscape a rather important factor in determining the extent of a genuine alternative or real challenge to the current Rajapakse Regime.
A politically resilient and dominant Rajapakse regime
Shutdown begins: Stalemate forces first U.S. government closure in 17 years
By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane,
The U.S. government began to shut down for the first time in 17 years early Tuesday, after a Congress bitterly divided over President Obama’s signature health-care initiative failed to reach agreement to fund federal agencies.
Deplorable Fate Of The Sikhs In India
by Professor Ali Sukhanver
( October 1, 2013, Islamabad, Sri Lanka Guardian) Addressing the 68th UN General Assembly, the Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh raised his serious concerns over terrorism coming to India from across the border. He also spoke on Security Council reform and reiterated that diplomacy be given a chance in resolving the crisis in Syria and Iran.
Conflict in Syria ‘a war on terror,’ Deputy Prime Minister tells UN General Assembly
Walid Almoualem, Deputy Prime Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
30 September 2013 – The conflict ravaging Syria is not a civil war but a war on terror, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister said today in his turn at the rostrum at the high-level debate that opens the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“There is no civil war in Syria, but it is a war against terror that recognizes no values, nor justice, nor equality, and disregards any rights or laws,” Walid Al-Moualem, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, told the Assembly, which began its General Debate on 24 September, offering would leaders an opportunity to weigh in on issues of national and global concern.
Many of the speakers in the debate have expressed concern about the conflict in Syria, which began in March 2011 and has claimed over 100,000 lives, sent more than 2 million people fleeing for safety to neighbouring countries and displaced 4 million within the country.
“Confronting this terror in my country requires the international community to act in accordance with relevant resolutions on counter-terrorism,” Mr. Al-Moualem said, in particular “to take necessary and prompt measures to compel those well-known countries that finance, arm, train and provide a safe haven and passage for terrorists coming from different countries of the world.”
He said that Al-Qaeda and its offshoots, like Jabhat A1-Nusrah, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the Brigade of Islam and many others are fighting in Syria. He added that many countries did not want to recognize that fact, despite the scenes of murder, manslaughter and “eating human hearts” that were shown on TV screens.
“In Syria, Ladies and Gentlemen, there are murderers who dismember human bodies into pieces while still alive and send their limbs to their families, just because those citizens are defending a unified and secular Syria,” he said.
On the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which a UN team has confirmed and which the Security Council last week demanded be eliminated, he said that it was Syria that first requested an investigation into the use of the poisonous gasses many months ago.
He assured the Assembly of his country’s full commitment to its obligations as a State party to the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, now that a procedure had been agreed upon. In addition, he called for the establishment of a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
“However,” he added, there remained the question of “whether those who are supplying terrorists with these types of weapon will abide by their legal commitments, since terrorists, who used poisonous gases in my country, have received chemical agents from regional and Western countries that are well known to all of us.”
Affirming his Government’s desire for a political solution to the conflict, he called for a Geneva peace conference, the holding of which the UN-Arab League joint representative and various countries have been working to negotiate, to be convened without preconditions, so that Syrians along could determine the future governance of the country.
“It is now for those who claim to support a political solution in Syria to stop all hostile practices and policies against Syria, and to head to Geneva without preconditions,” he said.
Fears of Afghan women
RAZESHTA SETHNA-2013-09-30
WITH the withdrawal of Nato-led troops and the transition of security to Afghan forces, the future of Afghan women is threatened. That women’s hard-won rights are already eroding is evident as many among the Afghan Taliban target working women.
Monday, September 30, 2013
The war in Sri Lanka is not over
The writer is a journalist in Delhi whose work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. He tweets @DilliDurAst
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the recent Northern Provincial Council polls in Sri Lanka would not have been held had it not been for the immense pressure that Colombo faced from New Delhi. But for international pressure, Colombo was not going to hold these elections. Despite numerous incidents of voter intimidation, the polls must have been free and fair if 60 per cent voters cast their votes, making the opposition, Tamil National Alliance, win 30 out of 38 seats.
First Steps In Sri Lanka
By The Economic and Political Weekly -September 30, 2013
Wigneswaran
A small door has opened with the victory of the Tamil National Alliance.
The Northern Provincial Council election in Sri Lanka, which the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won resoundingly with over 80% of the votes polled, attracted an unusual level of national and international interest, being the first Provincial Council election to be held in the North since the Indian Army pulled out in 1990. Unresolved questions about the war contributed to this interest in a major way. The election, it was anticipated, would be an occasion where the people would deliver their verdict, and they did so with a voter turnout of 70%. After years of apathy, the public suddenly seemed to believe that an expression of their protest would change things for the better.
The powers of the council, never spelt out clearly, have in practice been whittled down over the years, yet even the token powers it retains over land, and law and order are seen by Sinhala nationalists as a bridge to separatism. The post-war reality, on the contrary, is that the government has taken over large tracts of land, depriving Tamil residents of their land and livelihoods. It has offered Sinhalese families incentives to settle in the North on one-and-a-half-acre plots, while a landless Tamil family is at best entitled to a quarter acre. Behind the massive government expenditure on infrastructure and Sinhalisation lies the neglect of war-affected Tamil civilians, maimed, traumatised and broken families buried under the government’s claim that it fought a war with zero civilian casualties, intimidation and surveillance by the military, and militarisation of all aspects of life.
Read More
September 30, 2013
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has selected candidates Ayub Asmin and Mary Kamala to fill the two bonus seats awarded to them following the victory at the Northern Provincial Council elections.
TNA FILLS NPC BONUS SEATS
September 30, 2013 The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has selected candidates Ayub Asmin and Mary Kamala to fill the two bonus seats awarded to them following the victory at the Northern Provincial Council elections.
Asmin contested the provincial council elections from the Mannar District while Kamala had contested from the Mullaitivu District.
It has been reported that TNA leader R. Sampanthan was not present during the discussion held today to appoint the two candidates.
It was proposed that Asmin will continue in eh seat until the Provincial Council is dissolved while Kamala has been appointed for a period of one year.
After one year is completed Kamala will be replaced by another TNA candidate and so forth.
Altered Images: Faked posters 'confuse voters'
27 September 2013
Doctored posters were on display during campaigning for Sri Lanka's recent regional elections, it's been claimed.
The country's main Tamil party won a sweeping victory to take control of the semi-autonomous Northern Provincial Council but not - according to reports in the region's media - without overcoming some dirty tricks along the way. One of the Tamil National Alliance's (TNA) complaints concerned posters of its chief ministerial candidate, CV Wigneswaran, which appeared in the regional capital Jaffna, the Colombo Telegraph reports. Apparently, they featured the wrong candidate number and would have encouraged people to cross box seven, instead of casting their vote for Wigneswaran by marking box 10.
The TNA secured 78% of the vote to win 30 seats of the 38 seats. But reports suggest international election monitors were unimpressed by the actions of the armed forces, which were accused of attacking the home of a TNA candidate. Commonwealth observers described the military as presenting "a significant obstacle to a credible electoral process", according to the Times of India, while the Colombo Gazettereported that South Asian monitors accused the military of distributing campaign propaganda and putting up election posters.
Spot the difference: The original, left, and fake Uthayan front pages
On the morning of the vote, an entire print run of a fake version of the main northern newspaper, Uthayan, was circulated. It said the TNA was boycotting the election and that a prominent candidate had defected to the government's party, when neither were true. The paper's managing editor - a TNA MP - claimed supporters of a rival party had colluded with military intelligence to print the fake, the Nation newspaper reported.
Lok Sabha Elections And Sri Lanka
S.Sivathasan
The current Lok Sabha is the 15th and the constitutional term of office expires on May 31, 2014. Before this date it will be dissolved and elections held for543 seats. In the complex tangle that has come about since 2009, the next election is of much significance to India and even more to Sri Lanka. India’s normal international relations apart, are the involvements of Sri Lanka which cause concern for India. What are the constituents of this complexity and how are three principal players –Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka – likely to view evolving developments from now on? It appears that a new dimension is now added with the entry of the Northern Provincial Council in the state of play. The next five years seem to need sensitive approaches. In this context comes the Indian election.
Comfort Zone (37 years – 8 elections)
A broad survey of election results of the past will give some clues to the immediate future. In the duration of 62 years from the first to the present, there are two distinctive time zones. The first, comfort zone and the second uncertain zone. In the first 8 elections from 1952 to 1984, Congress swept the polls, winning 7 out of 8 and obtaining a clear majority for forming a government on its own strength. At 6 of the 7 elections, the majority ranged from 2/3 to 4/5.There was no party to challenge the supremacy of Congress. In 1977 Congress lost the elections, getting 34% of votes and 28% of seats. The Indian voter registered lack of appetite for Indira Gandhi’s ‘iron rule’, the only menu that could have nourished India best.
Uncertain Zone (25 years-7 elections)
In the second zone, out of 7 elections from 1989 to 2009, neither Congress nor a non-Congress party ever got a clear majority. In this period, the highest number of seats that Congress obtained was 244 out of 545 in 1991 and the lowest was 114 in 1999. If this performance was dismal, even more disappointing was voter endorsement. At five consecutive elections from 1996 to 2009, Congress was unable to break the barrier of 29% of the popular vote. It even came down to 25.8% in 1998 from the highest of 49% in1984. For the giant Congress it has been a matter of continuing disquiet.
Vote seat correspondence has now disappeared. The election of 1996 presents an incredible picture. The Janata Dal alliance secured 192 seats. With only 0.2% total votes more than the Congress, it got 52 more seats. The BJP alliance got 29 million votes less than Congress but 47 seats more. Such were the disparities at one election and they were not an exception. Read More
Polls Chief powerless
Former Chief Elections Commissioner of India, N. Gopalaswami, who headed the Mission of International Election Observers in the recently held provincial elections said, Sri Lanka's Election Commissioner is 'powerless'.
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-
Former Chief Elections Commissioner of India, N. Gopalaswami, who headed the Mission of International Election Observers in the recently held provincial elections said, Sri Lanka's Election Commissioner is 'powerless'.
The report issued by the international monitors stated the negative perception about the election could have been largely controlled or eliminated, had the Commissioner of Election been vested with overarching powers on every aspect of the election.
Gopalaswamy said in his report, unlike the Elections Commissioner of India, who has the power to take decisions on all poll related activities, Sri Lanka's Department of Elections functions just as a Department conducting elections, while all the power is vested with the government, which prevents the Commissioner from taking sufficient actions against election law violators. The monitors were also of the view the powers of the Commissioner of Elections should be appropriately enhanced towards the objective of holding an election, which is not only free and fair, but is also perceived to be so.
The group was impressed by the substantial turnout of the voters and the Election Commissioner's spontaneous and instant decision to provide transport at the Commission's expense to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), when the monitors brought the matter to his notice during their visit to Jaffna, about the long distances the IDPs were required to travel at a considerable expense, to cast their votes.
Gopalaswamy also said the conduct of a certain television channel was one of the glaring incidents of misuse of freedom of the press and media for partisan purposes. The Group he said was is not aware of any action taken for stopping the telecast of misleading information by the TV channel on the day of the poll.
The more blatant was the reported use of the trainee nurses, pupil teachers, teachers, newly recruited graduates, Samurdhi workers, civil defence services workers in campaigning, during and outside office hours.
Gopalaswamy also noted the ballot paper was also somewhat complicated, which could have led to a somewhat large percentage of rejected votes. He said they also noted that the voting compartments at many places were not placed in the best possible way so as to give maximum confidence about the secrecy of their votes to the voters.
The group also said the presence of armed police inside polling stations and near voting compartments should have been avoided.
The police were either not responsive or showed slow response in general to instances of violations of election law in the field, before and during the poll day.
The group also suggested for the future of stronger IT based poll monitoring measures and a SMS based poll monitoring system.
Beyond Sri Lankan provincial elections
SEEMA SENGUPTA
Monday 30 September 2013
As a large majority of the sizable 715,000 eligible voters from Sri Lanka’s troubled north went into makeshift polling booths to cast their preferences for electing a 38 member provincial council on September 21, India’s influence was written all over. From a five member election observer team led by former election commission chief N.
Sri Lanka And The Article 99 Of The UN Charter
S. V. Kirubaharan
Paper presented by S. V. Kirubaharan, General Secretary, Tamil Centre for Human Rights, France, in the conference on Genocide organised by the TGTE in London, UK. 28-29 September 2013
Mr Moderator, co-panellists, friends, ladies and gentlemen.
First of all, I would like to thank the organisers of this conference, the members of TGTE, for inviting me to speak.
At the same time I would like to express my personal gratitude and appreciation to Rudra Annai (Mr V. Rudrakumar, PM of TGTE).
Ladies and gentlemen,
Soon after the Second World War, fifty-one nations gathered in San Francisco in June 1945 to establish, the United Nations – UN, an inter-government body, replacing the League of Nations. All member states agreed that there should be special provision in the UN Charter for the United Nations Secretary General – UNSG who is accountable to no nation, but to the UN. He was given authority to give early warnings regarding matters that were not on the agenda of the UN Security Council – UNSG. The UNSG can exercise his right through political judgement to consider any situation which may be a threat to international peace and security.Read More
Muslim village seized for Sinhalicisation in Ki’n’niyaa, Trincomalee
[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 September 2013, 06:23 GMT]
After keeping the Muslim residents of K'andal-kaadu village in Ki'n'niyaa division of Trincomalee district as uprooted people since 1990 and sabotaging their resettlement efforts after the war, the occupying SL military and Police are now blocking the villagers even from entering their village. The entire village and its paddy fields overgrown with bushes, is now being appropriated to construct a Sinhala settlement, complain the Muslim villagers who possess legal documents provided to them under the British rule. The Eastern Province Chief Minister, who is a Muslim from Ki'n'niyaa, has also failed to secure their village back to them, they say. The entire Muslim population of around two thousand people were uprooted from their century old village in 1990 and fled to safety elsewhere leaving their lands and other properties.
The uprooted people were not allowed to resettle permanently in their lands thereafter.
But, huts were erected by a non-governmental organization.
In 2010, the Sri Lankan Police burned down these huts. The resettled people had left the village once again.
Now the occupying Sri Lanka Army and Police are not allowing uprooted people to resettle in the village.
The Sri Lankan military has also destroyed the mosque in the village.
TNA in need
The senior parliamentarian said, the NPC being new, it lacked the basic infrastructure including a building and furniture for it to become functional, claiming that the Centre should duly acknowledge the political aspirations expressed through the recent election results.
By Dilrukshi Handunnetti-
A senior parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has urged the Centre to urgently facilitate the setting up of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) by disbursing adequate funds to secure the necessary infrastructure.
TNA Parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, had made a request to the government in this regard.
TNA Parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, had made a request to the government in this regard.
The senior parliamentarian said, the NPC being new, it lacked the basic infrastructure including a building and furniture for it to become functional, claiming that the Centre should duly acknowledge the political aspirations expressed through the recent election results.
“It is the Centre’s responsibility to ensure that the first NPC is officially set up at its earliest, and elected representatives are facilitated to become functional,” Premachandran said, emphasizing that a previous example of sharing power with the North had proved a ‘political disaster,’ which only made the Centre suspicious in the eyes of the Tamil
people. “Before the Chief Minister-elect and his administration is installed in office, the basic infrastructure needs to be in place. There should be quick plans, funds and personnel,” he said, emphasizing that the people of the North had waited well over half a century to see the area where they form the majority, to be governed by elected Tamil politicians.
Premachandran added that any constraints, financial or otherwise, should not be allowed to delay the process of setting up this vital provincial administration, established by the Tamil people of the North with an overwhelming majority. The TNA secured 30 out of 38 seats at the 21 September polls, garnering 78.55 of the popular vote.
It is likely that the NPC’s inaugural session will be held at temporary premises, either at a Pradeshiya Sabha building or a hotel.
The North-Eastern Provincial Council set up in 1988, collapsed two years later owing largely to the lack of financial, political and logistical support from the Centre. It functioned from Trincomalee, the capital of the merged North-East Province.
On the eve of the provincial elections, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, hailed the conducting of the Northern Provincial polls as an important step in the process of reconciliation. The establishment of the NPC and devolving power to the former warzone through the institution has been a key recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)