Ex-minister Ravi Karunanayake is to be cleared of the charges against him with regard to the bond issue fraud, reports say. The presidential commission appointed to inquire into the matter is due to handover its report to the president within days.
Karunanayake as well as prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were accused over the bond issue, and the former had to relinquish the finance and foreign affairs portfolios as a result. However, the commission report has confirmed that neither was responsible for the fraud. The president has already agreed to appoint Karunanayake as a cabinet minister again.
However, a conspiracy is on within the UNP against Karunanayake’s being appointed a minister, with Malik Samarawickrama and Daya Gamage reportedly behind it. They accompanied the president in his South Korea tour recently, and spoke to him against Karunanayake during the trip. However, the president has not taken notice of their complaints.
The impact of stigma on women survivors of sexual violence during and after the war in Sri Lanka has received little attention. How stigma affects women survivors and their families has rarely been documented. What are the roles and responsibilities of the different sectors involved in providing services to survivors? FOKUS WOMEN has begun to document the impact of stigma on women who have been affected by sexual violence during and after the war. The fear of societal stigma prevents these women not only from accessing support services such as counselling and psychological services and government welfare services, but also deters them from accessing the criminal justice system and other institutions such as the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for redress. A female head of household from the North who had been asked for a sexual bribe had this to say: ‘I know I did not do the right thing and feel like a coward. We take many victims to court but when it happened to me I did not challenge it in court. I know I could have made a complaint at the HRC without going to the police, but I did not do it. I feared that everyone would know and would start to gossip. I have a grown up boy and if he hears about it, it will be bad because there are many stories about me in the community already. It is not easy to live in a community that sets such high moral standards for single women like me. A slight deviation from such moral expectations can lead to us becoming labelled as prostitutes.’
"Many of the women survivors we spoke with were concerned about the stigma faced by their children and did not want them to suffer by what these women had endured at the hands of sexual predators"
The fear of loss of honour and respect is also echoed in the voice of a military widow from the South, “it is the woman who makes the complaint who ends up getting blamed for inviting such sexual advances”. Another military widow from the South who had been asked for a sexual bribe from a Grama Niladhari said ‘I didn’t complain about him to anyone as who would believe that this charming, considerate and respectable gentleman would proposition his own relative? They would end up defaming my character for making such a despicable accusation! … I decided that silence was the best solution so I remained so’. Many of the women survivors we spoke with were concerned about the stigma faced by their children and did not want them to suffer by what these women had endured at the hands of sexual predators. The impact of sexual violence and associated stigma on the family is seen in the words of a female head of household from the North who had been asked for a sexual bribe from a Public Health Inspector: ‘She (the counsellor) was kind and patient and helped me to overcome this feeling of hopelessness and being contaminated. I did not complain to anyone because of the fear that it would then be public and everyone would get to know. My daughter should get a good husband and my grievance should not block her getting good things in her life’.
"The stigma of sexual violence runs deep. Women from the war-affected districts are affected. It affects not only the woman survivor but also her family and its relations within the community"
The stigma of sexual violence runs deep. Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim women from the war-affected districts are all affected. It affects not only the woman survivor but also her family and the family’s relations within the community. Stigma is a social scar. It takes attitudinal change and concerted efforts at all levels and cross sector collaboration to eradicate its crippling impact on a woman that has been subjected to violence. The state must commit to ending stigma of conflict related sexual violence survivors at all levels. This commitment must come from the top. The Global Principles on Stigma that have been formulated under the United Kingdom’s Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) are a useful tool to address stigma in countries in conflict and those recovering from conflict.
The Chittoor police nabbed a five-member gang hailing from Tamil Nadu involved in ATM-cloning offences while they were about to strike at an ATM centre at Palamaner and seized INR 10 lakh, electronic gadgets used for cloning ATM cards, capturing details of PIN numbers and swiping machines.
Addressing a press conference at Palamaner town, SP S.V. Rajasekhar Babu and DSP K. Chowdeswari said after 70-days of gruelling investigation in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the five-member gang was apprehended.
The officials said it was the first cyber crime to be registered and busted in the State.
On August 24, a farmer of Palamaner was stunned to observe that INR 1.58 lakh had been withdrawn from his account through ATM, despite the fact that the card was very much in his pocket. Within a few weeks, 22 customers of various banks became victims in the district.
Ms. Chowdeswari, considered an expert in dealing with cyber crimes, was entrusted with the assignment to track down the offenders.
At Palamaner, Panjani and Renigunta in Chittoor district, the special teams detected the clandestine use of mobile numbers meant for setting up of wi-fi connected CC cameras to obtain the PIN numbers at the ATMs.
The gang had obtained the cloning technology from one Alfred Bala Kumar of Sri Lanka and Umesh of Mumbai, paying them hefty commissions for each successful crime.
The officials said the modus operandi of the gang was to select isolated ATM centres and fix skimmers (mouths) at the swiping ends which would collect the ATM card details. They arranged the wi-fi enabled CC cameras to capture the PIN numbers. In a couple of hours, the cloned cards would be ready. To evade being captured and in view of the ceiling on withdrawal, the gang would finish their work before and after midnight.
The special party on Friday night detected the mobile signals of the suspected gang in and around Palamaner. After alerting the checkposts and using the relevant technology, Ms. Chowdeswari and her team zeroed in on the gang at an ATM centre early Saturday, while they were busy attempting withdrawals with cloned cards. The gang members were identified as Niranjan (37); S. Mohiddin (25), MSK. Rakshit (28), A. Suresh (26) of Chennai city and B. Tamilasaran (25) of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. Two other accused from Sri Lanka and Mumbai are at large, and a special team has been formed to track them. It is suspected that half- a-dozen gangs might be on the prowl in various parts of the State.
During interrogation, it was found that the gang had recently tried in vain to collect details of cards at an ATM centre in Mangalagiri of Guntur district .
Of late, I have been reading a great deal of differing views on how and what the Constitution should be made up of, and the form of government we should be either bestowed with or suffer under. I must admit the views were divergent and, to me, were pearls of intellect on strings of context. Names like Marx, Lenin, Gramsci, Stalin, Castro, Che, Mao, Mussolini are resurrected. United, unified, unitary; Socialist, Capitalist, Globalized; multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism, pluralist democracy, meritocracy, nepotism, hegemonic, centrifugal, centripetal, parochial and a repertoire of hair-raising and hair-splitting descriptions came up.
The fundamental problem I see, however, is that we are governed by a Supreme Parliament and it is indeed a great achievement to see the Common Man enter Parliament, even though proceedings at the Pettah Pavement could be described as more orderly. Where are we? All we are entitled to do is vote (when they decide) and they presumptuously adopt their Rights and Privileges while performing a few rites to impress us – the voters. Pomp, pageantry, plaques and media coverage included. That is a Constitutional Fact. The truth is that over 90 Members of this Supreme Body have not passed their GCE (O/L), a few others have struggled a little further, and a handful has some real professional qualifications. Even that was challenged in Parliament recently. Explaining to them these terms might be difficult. Somehow, I believe they understand what bourgeois is about – after all, ‘bourgeois-ification’ of the ‘Proletariat’ is what they achieved.
At the height of power of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the strongest ally – politically and economically was the German Democratic Republic. Even without Internet, the joke doing the rounds at that time was something like "It’s German, It’s a Republic. Don’t middle with middle names". We are The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Hoeneker, Gadaffi, Sadam, Mubarak, Mugabe held elections. We have Maithri, we have Ranil; middling becomes an interesting prospect. Meddling is spelt different. ‘Medal’-ing is a connotation. Elections or Elect-shuns is the question and the ‘mug-shots’ have begun to mushroom at every nook and cranny.
I wonder if someone could come up with a substitute for a system wherein we pay 50,000 a month to reimburse telephone bills to every Member of Parliament ,and they invoke their right of privilege when calls to a particular person is revealed. Some forgetful of ‘familiarity’ have logged over 700 calls; some talk about a book that any publisher would categorize as fiction; some claim they said "NO" but at a face-to-face meeting, did it fizzle out to a "no, but . . . "? Is there any system where we could ask how much of what was left of the 50,000 was spent on speaking to other constituents and/or voters? Privileged conversations? Conflicting, yet interesting.
Someone should come up with a system where, some form of medication or counseling should be provided when someone says he doesn’t know about or can’t remember a meagre million a month as rent or a petty 160 million to purchase a residence. Good counsel could advise us on sanity or the sanitary option of flushing him down the toilet.
When a self-proclaimed ‘Economic-Czar’ is summoned before a Judicial Commission enquiring on the circumstances where we, the citizens of the country, the Central Bank and the Fund that Provides for Employees who slog, slave and contribute, collectively lose billions (estimates range from the tens to hundreds), walks out and admits mistakes were made. A glaring mistake he did not admit is that he missed the take – someone reports 5, 6, 7 BILLION profit. I may be mistaken with the figure behind it. It will figure out. Can some erudite scholar or theorist come up with a Clause (without Santa in front) in the Constitution that we the voters could say "Sorry, we missed the take. We’ve lost billions and you’ve just lost your job"?
Cabinet grammatically is a dresser, where dress is endowed with privacy. Extended to politics, a Cabinet becomes a closed coterie of confidantes. Inflation is explosive, reigning in the cost of living is a dying promise that remains on the agenda. Debt, loans take precedence. Religion, caste, creed aside, don’t we all hope and pray that we can pay off the World Bank, IMF, and other debts and loans.Under what system does the repayment of political favours and debt take precedence over National Debt?
Would it not be a progressive milestone if it is mandated that all elected representatives use public transport? It would certainly give them hands-on experience on the trials and travails of commuters. In trains, they could see for themselves how organized begging, vending and a lot more is carried out. They could also experience the luxury of ‘Standees’ in Luxury Buses; twiddling their thumbs and looking on as buses stop for five to ten minutes at some halts waiting for would-be commuters and get to know first-hand the drivers’ and conductors’ version of curtsying mannerisms. The change would do them good, especially when they get short-changed. How else could they even begin to visualize revamping the transport system?
Then there is the system of security and bodyguards for our politicians. Crime thrives on lack of punishment and there have been umpteen reports of a political nexus in the increasing incidence of crime. On the other hand, we have self-proclaimed heroes who claim they will fight until their last drop of blood and even lay down their lives for their motherland. Why can’t these eloquent heroes walk around alone and see for themselves what it is to be ‘hit’. The ‘Raw’ truth is that one leader nurtured a group to engage in death and destruction. It got too big for them to handle and got out of hand, resulting in a son being killed by them. The turnaround helped us defeat this group. Similarly, we can surely afford to lose a few elected ‘sons of the soil’ if it will result in curbing criminal activity. Who is the theorist who can formulate a system where our heroes are afforded the opportunity to experience the horrors they created?
In politics (and religion), preachers thrive and practice, very often, is in the breach. Growing up, we had a hoard of politicians of every hue visiting our home. My father, in his wit ripped almost all their theories to shreds. The people in the politicians remained his friends. I believe it would only be fitting to sum up with one of his favourite tag lines –
IF THE CAP SUITS YOU, WIPE YOUR FACE! E-mail :ggponnah@gmail.com
Palestinian president seeks to rally support amid growing speculation White House plans to move US embassy from Tel Aviv
Mahmoud Abbas: ‘Recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel ... represents a threat to the future of the peace process.’ Photograph: EPA
Peter Beaumontin Jerusalem-Sunday 3 December 2017 20.07 GMT The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has sought to rally last-minute diplomatic support to persuadeDonald Trump not to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, amid persistent speculation that he might do so in a speech this week.
The suggestion that Trump might unilaterally recognise Jerusalem – parts of which Palestinians also claim for the capital of their own future state – has been circulating in recent days as the US president deliberates on whether to renew the six-monthly waiver to a law mandating the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The deadline for Trump to sign the waiver falls on Monday amid claims – including by his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner on Sunday evening – that he has still not decided what to do.
Kushner – who was speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington for the first time at length in public about his role in the Middle East peace process – said the president was “still looking at a lot of facts”.
The suggestion that Trump could designate Jerusalem Israel’s capital was being touted as a step short of moving the embassy. While largely symbolic, it is being fiercely opposed by a number of countries in the region.
The White House was warned again last week by US foreign policy and security officials of the risks to US diplomacy and security in the region raised by moving the embassy.
According to a spokesman, Abbas was holding a series of phone calls on Sunday with world leaders both to “explain the dangers of any decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem or recognise [Jerusalem] as Israel’s capital”.
“Any American step related to the recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, or moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, represents a threat to the future of the peace process and is unacceptable for the Palestinians, Arabs and internationally,” Abbas told a group of visiting Arab lawmakers from Israel.
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, speaks about his role in the Middle East peace process at the Saban Forum in Washington. Photograph: Jose Luis Magana/AP
Abbas’s calls so far have included those to Arab leaders, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, amid fears that Palestinian concerns may not have been taken into consideration by the White House.
ErdoÄŸan told Abbas that an independent Palestinian state must have East Jerusalem as its capital, the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Abbas was also said to be seeking meetings of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League to discuss the issue.
While the consensus had been that Trump would sign the waiver on the US embassy, the unpredictability of the US president – fed by reports that he is seeking to make a pro-Israel gesture – has fuelled anxieties.
Jordan, the current president of the Arab League, would invite members of the two bodies to convene if the recognition is extended, to “discuss ways of dealing with the consequences of such a decision that raised alarm and concern”, a senior Jordanian diplomatic source told Reuters.
“It could ultimately hamper all efforts to get the peace process moving and holds a very high risk of provoking Arab and Muslim countries and Muslim communities in the west,” said the diplomatic source, asking not to be named.
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Trump’s national security adviser, HR McMaster, said that the president’s advisers had presented him with a number of options on this issue.
“There are options involving the move of an embassy at some point in the future, which I think, you know, could be used to gain momentum toward a peace agreement, and a solution that works both for Israelis and for Palestinians,” McMaster said.
The Facebook propaganda pages touting the activities of the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s occupation might be funny if the policies they attempt to whitewash weren’t so cruel.
Dedicated to showing the softer side of military occupation, the posts made by COGAT – which stands for “Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories” – paint a fantastical picture of Israel’s rule over millions of Palestinians which bears little resemblance to the brutal reality on the ground.
The word “coordination” is euphemistically used to describe Israel’s control over Palestinians’ access to health services, ability to trade, or even visit family. It was recently featured as “word of the day” on COGAT’S page.
COGAT presents itself as a humanitarian body, posting cheery infographics with Israeli government statistics on the amount of goods allowed into Gaza and people allowed out of the territory in a given week. They appear to be modeled after those put out by the United Nations monitoring group OCHA and other watchdogs.
COGAT’s logo, featuring two hands clasped together, might even look like the logo of a humanitarian charity, were it not for the sword that emanates from the handshake, adorned with an olive branch.
Its Arabic-language page is much more active than the English page, likely part of its strategy to normalize relations with certain Arab countries.
“Easy and fast”
A video recently posted on COGAT’s Arabic-language page purports to explain the “easy and fast” process by which Palestinians can obtain a permit for medical treatment in Israel.
Upbeat music accompanies emoji-style graphics and animated text stating that all one needs to do is give the Palestinian Authority health ministry a referral request and a copy of one’s ID and medical report.
In the case of a medical emergency, the video states, COGAT simply requires a referral request from a hospital and a statement of financial commitment to pay the bill.
And yet humanitarian and human rights groups have noted this year an increase in the number of patients from Gaza whose requests for permits have been delayed or denied, preventing urgently needed health care and costing some patients their lives.
“The need for treatment outside the Gaza Strip is intensified due to the long blockade, internal and structural reasons, making adequate medical care for women with cancer unavailable,” PHRI stated. Israel’s blockade on Gaza and the resulting fuel and electricity shortages are directly to blame for the lack of proper medical care for these patients.
“Bureaucratic nightmare”
As the occupying power, Israel is fully responsible for the welfare of the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to international law.
“For example, in recent months the permanent lack of radiotherapy for cancer patients, radioactive iodine, or diagnostic equipment was added by shortage in medicine for chemotherapy and difficulties to activate operation rooms due to fuel and electricity shortages,” PHRI added.
The Palestinian rights group Al Mezan stated on Saturday last week, which marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, that “10 women have died since the beginning of 2017 after being denied access to hospitals and appropriate medical treatment outside of Gaza.”
Rather than “easy and fast,” PHRI describes the permit application process for patients in Gaza as “a bureaucratic nightmare.”
On Monday, COGAT posted a heartwarming story about an Iraqi baby who received life-saving treatment in Israel.
“This is the true Israeli humanity,” COGAT boasts.
Palestinian mothers and fathers in Gaza who have had to bury their children after they were denied vital treatment by Israel know the real story.
Former president Saleh said he was ready to make peace with the Saudi-led coalition Saturday, a move the Houthis described as 'treason'
An armed Houthi follower reacts after attending a gathering celebrating Houthi advances on forces loyal to Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh at Tahrir Square in Sanaa, Yemen on 3 December 2017 (Reuters)
Sunday 3 December 2017
Saudi-coalition aircraft struck Houthi positions in Sanaa overnight in support of Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom they have opposed during Yemen's civil war.
The Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said coalition aircraft pounded Houthi outposts in southern Sanaa, but gave no details on casualties. Residents reported at least five air strikes shook the highlands of the area.
The attack came a day after the former Yemeni president signalled a shift in alliances by using a live television address to say he was ready to make peace with the Saudi-led coalition, after four days of clashes between his forces and his former allies, the Iran-backed Houthis.
The fighting in the Hadda district of Sanaa has killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Houthi chief Abdul Malik al-Houthi confirmed that at least 40 were killed or injured. Security sources in Sanaa put the toll at more than 60.
Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh addresses a rally in Sanaa, Yemen August 24, 2017 (Reuters)
Inside Sanaa, residents said that Houthi fighters seized the studios of Yemen Today, a news channel owned by Saleh, from which he made his broadcast on Saturday.
Saleh’s apparent shift in position could pave the way for an end to three years of fighting that has killed more than 10,000 people, caused a cholera epidemic and brought the country to the brink of famine.
Saleh's open overture to Riyadh came a day after talks with the Houthis failed to broker a truce.
"I call on our brothers in neighbouring countries ... to stop their aggression and lift the blockade ... and we will turn the page," he said in a televised speech.
"We vow to our brothers and neighbours that, after a ceasefire is in place and the blockade is lifted ... we will hold dialogue directly through the legitimate authority represented by our parliament."
The nation’s airports and ports are under a crippling blockade by coalition forces imposed last month after a Houthi missile was intercepted near Riyadh.
Houthis condemn Saleh's 'coup'
The Houthis condemned Saleh's speech and accused him of staging a "coup" against their alliance by attempting to ally with their Saudi foes.
Saleh's announcement was welcomed by the Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting the Houthi-Saleh alliance since 2015 to support the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
"The decision by [Saleh's] General People's Congress to take the lead and their choice to side with their people will free Yemen of ... militias loyal to Iran," it said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Shia Houthi group is backed by Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran. Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis, which Tehran strongly denies.
The situation in Yemen in November 2017. Saleh's apparent shift adds a new level to the complex conflict widely seen as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia (MEE Graphics)
Hadi's government also appeared to welcome Saleh's move away from the Houthis, whom it accuses of promoting Iranian interests in Yemen.
"We declare our determination to ... preserve the Arab identity of Yemen and the unity of its territory and cooperate with every loyal Yemeni citizen working to rid our country of these vicious gangs," it said in a statement.
Yemen descended into civil after the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia group from northern Yemen, seized control of the government from Hadi in 2014.
Former president Saleh, a longtime ally of Saudi Arabia, joined forces with the Houthis, his former enemies, and established a parallel government as Hadi's administration fled to Aden.
Saleh resigned after 33 years as president under popular and political pressure in 2012, ceding power to his then-vice president Hadi, who now lives in exile in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi-led coalition, which accuses Saleh of betraying his Arab neighbours by joining the Iran-aligned Houthi forces, intervened in 2015 to prop up Hadi’s government.
Interreligious tensions between Buddhist majorities and Muslim minorities in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand remain high. So how should domestic and international actors respond to further peace? In this still topical piece, Sabina Stein suggests that efforts that just focus on strengthening the rule of law and security in the region will not be enough. Indeed, she suggests a more fruitful approach might lie in greater engagement with Buddhist nationalism to understand its concerns and address its fears. by Sabina Stein for Center for Security Studies (CSS) This article was originally published by the Center for Security Studies (CSS) as part of the CSS Analysis in Security Policy series in February 2014.
( December 1, 2017, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Growing tensions in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand between Buddhist majorities and Muslim minorities pose a challenge to peace and security both within these countries and in the wider region. Enforcing the rule of law will not be enough. A deeper understanding of Buddhist nationalist discourses and the grievances that underpin them is vital for improving interreligious coexistence in the region.
In 2007, thousands of Buddhist monks descended onto the streets of Myanmar to protest peacefully against the military regime ruling the country at the time. The “Saffron Revolution” – as the events came to be known, owing to the coloured robes of Myanmar’s spiritual leaders – saw monks fall before the bullets of Myanmar’s all-powerful army. The images coming out of Myanmar today are different. Across the country, monks have been leading demonstrations in defence of Buddhism that have been reported as being directed against the country’s minority Muslim communities.
Interreligious tensions also grew elsewhere in the region. In Sri Lanka, monk-led groups such as Bodu Bala Sena (BBS, Sinhalese for Buddhist Power Force) have undertaken similar campaigns. There have been demonstrations against the construction of mosques and churches as well as halal certification. In Thailand’s south, where the government is engaged in a century-old struggle with Malay Muslim insurgents, monks have become caught up in the conflict. The military has moved into some temples, and rumours are circulating of so-called “military monks”.
These developments appear to contradict Buddhism’s First Precept, which prohibits the killing of any living being. They also seem to indicate a growing rift between Buddhist and Muslim communities in the world’s most populous Theravada Buddhist- majority countries (see box on next page). Making sense of such developments requires an appreciation of Buddhism’s historical role in legitimising political authority in Theravada Buddhist societies. It also demands an understanding of Buddhist nationalist discourses, which claim that the state belongs to a majority nation – be it Burman, Sinhalese, or Thai – and that this nation is inherently Buddhist. Only if the driving force behind these discourses is understood can the challenge of growing interreligious tensions in South and Southeast Asia be constructively addressed.
Defending Religion and Nation
Prior to European colonial consolidation in South and Southeast Asia in the second half of the 19th century, Theravada Buddhism served as the organising principle of pre-modern states in parts of Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. In all three contexts, monarchic states drew their legitimacy by basing their rule on the Dhamma, the Buddha’s teachings, and the support of the Buddhist monkhood. Monarchs thus had an interest in materially and politically supporting the monkhood and took on the role of defenders and promoters of Buddhism. Threats to Buddhism were threats to the state, and threats to the state were threats to Buddhism.
Theravada Buddhism Buddhism encompasses several traditions that are based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. Theravada Buddhism is the older of the two major traditions, with the word “Theravada” believed to mean “Teaching of the elders”. Its origins closely associated with Sri Lankan history, Theravada Buddhism is also known as Southern Buddhism. Its 150 million adherents mostly live in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Mahayana Buddhism, the second and larger of the major traditions, is practiced predominantly in East Asia in places such as China, Japan, Korea, and Tibet.
European colonialism broke with centuries of Buddhist kingship in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, a rupture that transformed the political role of the Sinhalese and Burman monkhood. With the traditional defender of Buddhism gone and the state no longer supporting the monkhood, sections of the monkhood took it upon themselves to defend Buddhism against foreign rule. This led to the increasing political engagement of some monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, actors who would lead the early resistance against colonialism at the turn of the 20th century.
Modern notions of nationalism brought in by Western education also had transformative effects. The historical role of Buddhism in legitimating state authority and the integrative role that Buddhism had played in pre-colonial Burman and Sinhalese societies as purveyor of culture, language, law, and education, made Buddhism a primary ingredient of modern nationalist self-conceptions. This was true among both monastic and lay nationalists. Unlike Myanmar and Sri Lanka, Thailand – then the Kingdom of Siam – was never colonised. Traditional institutions remained in place, and the monkhood had no need to replace the state as defender of Buddhism. Nevertheless, colonial encroachment in the region did challenge the religious legitimation of the kingdom. To secure sovereignty in an expanding system of nation-states, ruling elites saw a need to construct a modern “Thai” nation. This nation was also in great part built on a Buddhist identity.
The emergence of modern Buddhist nationalisms expanded the traditional relation between state and Buddhism to include a third, potent element: the nation. Threats to the state, to the religion, and to the nation were now all interrelated. With the end of colonialism, sections of the monkhood stayed true to their mission to defend Buddhism against new threats, be these Communism or non-Buddhist elements within the body politic. This was especially true in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where the traditional monarchy was not restored. Here, the monkhood played an assertive and independent role in defending nation and religion. This included exerting pressure upon the newly independent states to promote and support Buddhism, not least by adopting it as state religion. Politically active monks also rejected extending religious minority rights to non-Buddhist minorities. Such activism led to state policies that have been criticised for being exclusionary and discriminatory against religious minorities. The identification of the state with Buddhism also reinforced the political, economic, military, and cultural dominance of the Burman and Sinhala ethnic majorities in both post-colonial Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The same was true in Thailand, although here, the role of the monkhood was less prominent. Nevertheless, Buddhism helped strengthen state sovereignty, including in territories inhabited by non-Buddhist groups such as the hill tribes in northern Thailand.
In all three countries, the strong link made by majorities between Buddhism and the “nation-state” has been suggested to have contributed to the emergence of separatist conflict in southern Thailand, north and north-eastern Sri Lanka, and several frontier regions of Myanmar. Communal violence had also by then become a frequent occurrence in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, predominantly involving Hindu Tamils in Sri Lanka and Indian Muslims in Myanmar. Herein lay the roots of much of the interreligious tensions unfolding in the region today.
Present Tensions
Relations between Buddhists and religious minorities in Thailand are generally good. Nevertheless, the country’s three southernmost provinces have suffered from over a century of conflict between the central state and a Malay Muslim minority that constitutes a majority locally. Following the official incorporation of territories claimed by the Sultanate of Pattani in 1909, Bangkok sought to consolidate its sovereignty over the territories by promoting a strong Buddhist Thai presence and identity in the region. Malay Muslims have responded with non-violent and violent resistance.
A new cycle of violence began in 2004, with Malay insurgents increasingly targeting Thai Buddhist civilians. Teachers and monks, both symbols of the Thai state, have been targeted. The killing of monks has worsened intercommunal distrust and reinforced the perception of the conflict as a religious one. It has also contributed to some southern Thai monks becoming more assertive in defending Buddhism and the Thai nation. Some monks have been accused of propagating anti-Muslim discourses and spreading fear among local Buddhists of Muslim plans for religious cleansing of the territories. Military presence in Buddhist temples and security escorts for monks have also strengthened the perception among Malay Muslims that the state is only interested in protecting the Buddhist population.
In Sri Lanka, some political Buddhist organisations have a history of confrontation with minorities in the country. Many monks opposed granting a degree of territorial and cultural autonomy to the minority Hindu Tamils during the country’s decades- long civil war. Their opposition was reinforced following attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Buddhist holy sites in the 1980s and 90s. Recently, tensions have developed between political Buddhist organisations and the country’s Muslim and Christian minorities. Although there has been violence against Christians, much of these organisations’ recent discourse has concerned the Muslim minority, comprising circa 7 per cent of the total population. This may seem puzzling, given that Sri Lanka’s Muslims are generally characterised as a small, well-integrated, and scattered minority. With the exception of the 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots, Muslims have maintained generally peaceful relations with the Sinhalese majority.
Today, however, organisations such as the BBS and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a partner in the ruling coalition, allege that Muslims are a threat to Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Led by monks, the BBS has held rallies calling for the boycott of Muslim businesses and has raised alarm over the size of Muslim families. In March 2013, the group was successful in having Halal certification of domestic meat products banned. Since 2012, there have also been increasing attacks on mosques and Muslim- owned businesses. There are claims that the BBS has high-level government support, including that of powerful Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who in March 2013 attended the opening ceremony of a BBS teaching academy. Levels of anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka do not compare to those of Myanmar. In the context of rapid political and economic transformations, violence broke out in 2012 in Rakhine State between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya. The Rohingya are a stateless minority considered by the central government and the local Rakhine majority to be illegal immigrants. These tensions, which left approximately 200 dead and 140’000 displaced, were seen as being interethnic rather than interreligious. Since then, violence involving Buddhists and diverse Muslim communities has spread across the country.
According to reports, the 969 movement led by Burman monk Ashin Wirathu has been raising alarm over purported Muslim plans to take over the country and has led successful campaigns to boycott Muslim businesses. In 2012, it organised large-scale protests against plans by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to open an office in Yangon and against the visit of an OIC delegation to Myanmar. The position of the government remains ambiguous and has been criticized internationally for a weak response to the tensions. With general elections scheduled for 2015, political elites’ margin of maneuver may be limited.
Buddhist Majorities and Muslim Minorities in South and Southeast Asia
The Fall of Nalanda
Common to the on-going interreligious tensions in all three countries is the perception of Muslim communities as a threat. Such dynamics are giving rise to common regional discourses that portray Islam as an expansionist force in Buddhist lands. These discourses resonate with historical grievances stemming back to the 12th century, when Islam began making significant inroads in South and Southeast Asia. The 1193 sack of the ancient Buddhist learning centre of Nalanda (today in the Indian state of Bihar) by Turkic armies is kept alive in the collective memory of those who feel today’s Muslims represent a similar threat. The assumed retreat of Buddhism in the face of invading religions – Islam in particular – helped develop among certain segments of the South and Southeast Asian Buddhist community a sense of being a minority in the wider region. This perception was exacerbated by European colonialism, especially in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In British Burma, moreover, colonial policies led to a high influx of Indian Muslims, who eventually came to dominate certain sectors of the local economy.
All of these latter factors help to explain why many Buddhists, though they constitute comfortable majorities in their respective states, share a sense that their nations must be unified and that their religion is under threat. This has been most pronounced in Sri Lanka, often described by Sinhalese nationalists as the last stronghold or “teardrop” of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent
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Rumours of Islamic conspiracies to take over the country – be it through marriage to Buddhist women or through rapid population growth – resonate with deep-rooted fears. In this context, Burmese monks’ recent proposals to pass a law curtailing interfaith marriage and attempts to limit the size of Rohingya families in Rakhine State become easier to understand. Anti-Muslim discourses also find fertile ground in communities where Muslims are perceived to have or indeed have achieved a certain level of economic success. In the Burmese town of Meiktila, for example, where violence broke out in March 2013, Muslims reportedly own 75 per cent of jewellery shops. Meanwhile, in southern Thailand, the Buddhist community is a clear demographic minority that has borne the brunt of insurgent violence.
The violent dynamics in all three countries influence and reinforce each other. Leaflets distributed by the BBS in Sri Lanka, for example, decry Muslim violence against Buddhists and Buddhist holy sites in in Myanmar, Thailand, and Bangladesh, where Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been victims of violent attacks. The Sri Lankan government’s decision to censor the July 2013 issue of Time magazine because of its cover story on Myanmar, “The Face of Buddhist Terror”, further illustrates the growing interrelation of Buddhist nationalist discourses in different countries. Sri Lankan monkhood, perceived as the purest in the Theravada Buddhist world, plays a particularly important role in the legitimation and reinforcement of such discourses.
Switzerland’s Support for Religious Coexistence in the Region
Between 2006 and 2011, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) ran the “Sri Lanka Dialogue Project” within its “Religion, Politics, Conflict” desk. The project engaged senior members of the Sri Lankan monkhood in a dialogue, exploring their hopes and fears for the future of their country. The project also sought to bring Buddhist leaders together with members of the Muslim and Tamil communities to discuss possible solutions to conflict on the island. The project was suspended in 2011. As part of its on-going peace promotion efforts in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar, Switzerland continues to explore ways of addressing the role of religion in these contexts.
Buddhist fears of Islamic encroachment have been compounded by international discourses on the “War on Terror” that frame Muslims as threatening extremists. The Taliban’s 2001 destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan stoked regional fears of a Muslim challenge to Buddhism. Commentators have also pointed to the Thai government’s efforts to frame Malay Muslims as part of global and regional jihadi organisations, something that many local Thai Buddhists have come to believe.
Threats to Regional Stability
Dynamics in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand suggest the possibility of a widening Buddhist-Muslim fault line in the region. Neighbouring Muslim-majority countries have been vocal in their criticism of Naypyidaw and Colombo for failing to protect Muslim communities from violent attacks. Buddhist migrant workers from Myanmar have been attacked in Malaysia, as have Rakhine Buddhist residents in Bangladesh. There has also been a foiled attack on Myanmar’s Jakarta embassy in May 2013; a bombing in India of the Mahabodhi Temple, the site where Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, in July 2013; and a bombing the following month of a Buddhist centre in Indonesia.
All these attacks have been blamed on violent Muslim groups and were apparently intended as retaliation for attacks on Muslim communities in Buddhist-majority countries. Such incidents suggest there is a risk of hardening Buddhist-Muslim fault lines domestically, of Buddhist-Muslim violence spreading across the region, and of attacks by violent foreign Islamist organisations in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. However, it is important not to be overly alarmist. It is worth noting, for example that Malay insurgents in southern Thailand have remained distant from international jihadi organisations.
Responding to the Tensions
Interreligious tensions in the region cannot be ignored. Strengthening the rule of law and security – a solution advocated by some domestic and international voices – will not be enough. Moreover, it has been questioned how much the view of the concerned states differs from that of politically active clerics. Responding to these realities, many local and national efforts have been launched by concerned Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders and laypeople to address the violence. These initiatives, some with the support of international peacebuilding NGOs, have included interreligious dialogues and joint activities across faith groups as well as training of religious leaders – including monks – in conflict prevention and resolution.
One limitation of this approach is that few monks are willing to become involved in politics or take part in such initiatives. Non-political monks – the vast majority of the monkhood in South/Southeast Asia – consider it inappropriate on religious grounds to participate in political affairs, especially when violence is at play. This means that a small, but vocal group of nationalist monks continue to dominate public discussions on majority-minority relations.
On the international front, the Bangkok-based International Network of Engaged Buddhists held a large interfaith conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2013 to address interreligious violence in the region. Internationally prominent Buddhist figures such as the Dalai Lama have publicly condemned attacks on Muslim communities. The OIC has also called on governments to control violence against Muslims and has offered humanitarian help to both Buddhists and Muslims in conflict-afflicted Rakhine State. International human rights groups have also voiced concerns, though they have been more pointed in their denouncements. Amnesty International, for example, has accused Naypyidaw of committing ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya with the support of nationalist monks.
However, as the general indignation over Time magazine’s damning report on 969 and its spiritual leader Ashin Wirathu demonstrated, such external condemnation is only likely to reinforce the perception among many of South and Southeast Asia’s Buddhists that they are maligned and misunderstood. A potentially more fruitful approach would be to engage with Buddhist nationalism to understand its concerns and address its fears. Only then will it become possible to find sustainable solutions to interreligious violence in South and Southeast Asia.
About the Author: Sabina Stein is a Researcher in the Mediation Support Team at the Center for
Security Studies (CSS) and a Program Officer in the CSS project “Culture and Religion in Mediation” (CARIM).
A North Korean long-range rocket is launched into the air at the Sohae rocket launch site, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo February 7, 2016. Source: Reuters/Kyodo
29th November 2017
NORTH KOREA has declared it has achieved its long-held goal of becoming a nuclear power after it successfully conducted a night test of a long-range missile capable of hitting the United States. The missile landed off the coast of Japan, triggering a South Korea test-launch in response and bringing a return to high tension to the region after a lull of more than two months.
North Korea said the new powerful missile reached an altitude of around 4,475 km – more than 10 times the height of the international space station – and flew 950 km during its 53 minute flight, before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
A presenter makes a special announcement on North Korea’s state-run television after the country launched a missile, in this still image taken from a video released by KRT, November 29, 2017. KRT/Handout via Reuters
This would make it the most powerful of the three ICBM’s North Korea has tested so far.
“After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15, Kim Jong Un declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power,” according to a statement read by a television presenter.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the launch had been anticipated and that the government had been preparing for it. Moon said that there is no choice but for countries to keep applying pressure and sanctions against North Korea.
A statement from the US Department of Defense said confirmed the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea.
Pentagon Spokesman Col. Robert Manning reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the defence of both South Korea and Japan.
“We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation,” the statement said.
The test comes one week after US President Donald Trump reclassified North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, allowing the United States to impose more sanctions, although some experts said it risked inflaming tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
A man looks at a street monitor showing a news report about North Korea’s missile launch, in Tokyo, Japan, November 29, 2017. Source: Reuters/Toru Hanai
North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under its leader, Kim Jong Un, in defiance of UN sanctions. Trump has vowed not to let North Korea develop nuclear missiles that can hit the mainland United States.
Of the latest test missile, Trump told reporters at the White House: “It is a situation that we will handle.”
Trump said the launch did not change his administration’s approach to North Korea, which has included new curbs to hurt trade between China and North Korea.
Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke on the phone on Wednesday, agreeing to boost their response after Pyongyang’s latest launch.
The South Korean army’s K-55 self-propelled artillery vehicles take part in a military exercise near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, November 29, 2017. Source: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji
The leaders “agreed to strengthen our deterrence capability against the North Korean threat,” Yasutoshi Nishimura, deputy chief cabinet secretary, told reporters. He added that both also agreed that China needs to play an increased role.
In a statement from the US State Department, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “Together the international community must continue to send a unified message to North Korea” to abandon its nuclear programme.
On top of UN sanctions, Tillerson said the international community must take “additional measures” to enhance maritime security, including “the right to interdict maritime traffic transporting goods to and from the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).”
Adding that the US remain committed to finding a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the crisis, Tillerson said a meeting in Canada will convene with South Korea, Japan, and other key affected countries, to discuss a road map to international peace. A date is yet to be set.
Dec 03, 2017
accessing the criminal justice system and other institutions such as the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for redress. A female head of household from the North who had been asked for a sexual bribe had this to say:
Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh addresses a rally in Sanaa, Yemen August 24, 2017 (Reuters)
The situation in Yemen in November 2017. Saleh's apparent shift adds a new level to the complex conflict widely seen as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia (MEE Graphics)
