Gota disturbs Indian calm

Sunday 21 August 2011

By Namini Wijedasa

As long as Colombo skirts the issue, India will continue to pressurize the Sri Lankan government to arrive at a negotiated political settlement with the Tamil minority.
New Delhi needs for Colombo to find and implement a power-sharing arrangement. It is now increasingly clear that, notwithstanding the parliamentary select committee it intends to appoint, the Sri Lankan government prefers sticking with the existing Constitution. These two positions are just not compatible.  
That New Delhi is guided by its own geopolitical realities is not in dispute. It is no different with Sri Lankan politicians. When you shave away the rhetoric, you commonly find that survival is the catalyst for statements on either side of the Palk Strait. 
“Politics is politics,” Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa remarked in an interview with Lakbimanews last month, when asked about Indian pressure. “They (India) highlight some issues sometimes. They also do politics, we must also do politics and others are also doing politics. But as a government and a country, they are very responsible... not like some other countries.”
                           Full Story
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US ignores report to ‘better’ relations with Lanka

Sunday 21 August 2011

US ignores report to ‘better’ relations with Lanka

By Namini Wijedasa

Two years ago, a report released by the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee encouraged President Barack Obama’s administration to seek a more positive relationship with Sri Lanka, asserting that the United States could not afford to “lose” the strategically placed Indian Ocean nation. 
‘Sri Lanka: Recharting US Strategy after the War’ was a bipartisan report endorsed by Senator John Kerry, the committee chairman, and Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member. It advised the Obama government to consider a new approach that would increase US leverage in Sri Lanka and help secure longer term US strategic interests in the Indian Ocean.               Full Story>>>

We Are A ‘Bruised’ Community – Global Tamil Forum

Sunday, August 21, 2011

• GTF spokesperson says they do not want Sinhala people to feel alienated from the international community

GTF President Father Emmanuel with former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband

By Easwaran Rutnam

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) led by Father S. J. Emmanuel has intensified it’s campaign overseas against the Sri Lankan government in the light of recent videos released by Channel 4. 
The Sri Lankan government sees the GTF as an LTTE proxy organisation with extremist agendas. The Sunday Leader spoke to  Spokesperson for the Global Tamil Forum, Suren Surendiran, to find out what their agenda really is.

Q: The Sri Lankan government feels that groups like the Global Tamil Forum are portraying the wrong image about the country overseas. There is also some reference to GTF in a recent video by the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry. So is the GTF giving the “wrong picture” about Sri Lanka?

A: For the current government, anyone or any organisation or for that matter any government that highlights it’s corrupt practices, lack of political wisdom, the crimes it committed – breaching international laws and conventions and above all the dictatorial way it conducts itself with impunity, are terrorist outfits, that take the ‘wrong image’ of Sri Lanka overseas. Dissent even from Sinhala masses, politicians or media is not tolerated.
In the eyes of the Rajapaksa regime, the UN and the UN Secretary General are wrong, all the international human rights organisations are wrong, Madam Navi Pillai is wrong, the US government and the Secretary of State are wrong, Madam Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu is wrong, Bishop Tutu is wrong, the Uthayan newspaper is wrong, Lasantha Wickrematunge was wrong, General Fonseka is wrong, the JVP and TNA are wrong, Channel 4 News is wrong, Headlines Today TV of India is wrong… so why would GTF be any different?       Read More »  
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Grease Devils: Busting The Myth

 Sunday, August 21, 2011

People demanding answers, Enraged crowds burned a Police four wheel drive vehicle in Kinniya , Abubakr Kuddoos displays the scar on his neck inflicted by an army knife and He died young, a picture of Mowjood from his last election campaign

By Abdul H. Azeez - in Arugam Bay/Pottuvil

The Grease Devils or grease yakas’ hold on the public imagination is reaching epic levels. Mass paranoia, fear and outrage have broken out in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts with the public taking the law into their own hands.

Some blame law enforcement officials for not taking enough interest in the complaints, others blame a paranoid public and fear-mongering as the primary culprits and call them the real grease yakas. Whilst yet others, a growing majority, quietly point to actual attacks and instances of abuse and say that there is no smoke without fire.
Read More »

Lankan Report To State Department

Sunday, August 21, 2011

By Easwaran Rutnam

A report by the Defence Ministry regarding the last military operation in Sri Lanka to defeat the LTTE has been hand over to the US State Department.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya told The Sunday Leader that the report was handed over to “all the divisions” in the US State Department. The report titled ‘Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis July 2006 – May 2009’ was released by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in Colombo earlier this month.      Read More » 
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Rajapaksa wants pro-Lanka campaign to counter negative reports

Colombo, Aug 21 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa feels an effective pro-Sri Lanka campaign through a strong communication network is needed for his government to counter the adverse publicity generated overseas due to allegations of human rights violations.

The country has garnered much negative attention over accusations of rights abuses, which the government terms as Western-backed propaganda.

However, Rajapaksa is mindful of the adverse publicity this has generated internationally.

Full Story>>> 

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UK docu probe to be part of Lankan war panel

Press Trust Of India
Colombo, August 21, 2011

A key Sri Lankan panel looking into the LTTE conflict will include in its final report the details of its investigation of the two video documentaries aired by the British Channel 4 TV accusing armed forces of war crimes.

Lakshman Wickramasinghe, the spokesman of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), on Sunday said the findings on the two videos would be incorporated in the final report that is schedule to be handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by November 15.     Full Story>>>  

Grease Yaka still haunts villages

20 August, 2011

The police have arrested the residents of Thandiadi who were badly beaten by the STF Fear prevails in many parts of Sri Lanka, especially in the east, despite repeated assurances by the police that the grease yaka (grease devil) phenomenon is a myth. In the western coastal town of Kalpitiya residents have arrested a man suspected of being grease yaka and handed over to the police. But the police have released the suspect saying he was suffering from a mental illness. In Batticaloa, a clash has erupted between the local people and the police in Palmunai, Kathankudy on Friday night after the villagers spotted two strangers. The villagers had thrown stones at the police forcing the police to call Sri Lanka army in.  Even when we make a small noise, the police are on the spot. We are suspicious about the police. We are asking them not to come to our villages A resident in Thandiadi, Batticaloa Vehicles, houses and shops were damaged as a result, journalists say. On Thursday, 18 residents of Thandiadi, a village where internally displaced people (IDPs) were recently resettled, were released on bail on a court order following a clash between the police Special Task Force (STF) and the villagers. The police have arrested the residents who were badly beaten by the STF. The situation is contributing to the mistrust between the police, security forces and the local population, villagers say Full Story>>>

Cops close in on lawyer who got News Ed’ attacked

Sunday 21 August 2011
By Gayan Kumara WeerasinghaBy Gayan Kumara Weerasingha

The special police team that is conducting inquiries into the attack on the Udayan news editor Gnanasundaram Kuhanadan has made more breakthroughs in their latest investigations, after being tipped off that the contract to carry out the assault had been given to the attackers by a lawyer in the North.
This lawyer who is a resident of Jaffna had initially been a TNA activist for sometime before joining the UPFA.
Having unsuccessfully vied for a district organizer post from the SLFP for the Jaffna district, he had then allegedly given the contract to silence Kuhanadan to a person with links to the newspaper, as Kuhanadan had been castigating the attorney through the publication.
This attorney, it is alleged, had given the contract to Rathnasinham Chandrakumar who is already charged with carrying out 56 murders in the Jaffna district. After giving the contract, the attorney is alleged to have bailed out the suspect who was in for another crime.
Chandrakumar had then sought the help of a garment trader in Chundikulam, Jaffna, before proceeding to plan the attack on the Udayan news editor.
The police subsequently was able to nab not only Rasa Pradeep, the garment seller, but also Chandrakumar. On being questioned by the police the two suspects had confessed to the assault carried out on the Udayan News Editor -- and spilled the beans on the lawyer's involvement in the episode.
"We are currently carrying out inquiries to nail the attorney in question. We are confident of arresting him shortly," said a police officer in the team that is tasked with tracking down the absconding attorney.
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The new face of old-school NDP values

Go to the Globe and Mail homepage

In her orange blouse and mesh cowboy hat, Rathika Sitsabaiesan cuts a striking swath through the stalls at the 10th annual Scarborough Rotary Ribfest in northeastern Toronto. It's a sweltering Saturday, and the MP for Scarborough-Rouge River is, like any good pol in the summer, where her constituents are – although for the two-thirds of them who are immigrants, the greasy, tangy Southern rib experience might be a relatively new one.
After a bit of glad-handing on the lawn where a Patsy Cline tribute band is playing, Ms. Sitsabaiesan (pronounced SITS-a-bye-EE-sin) spots a familiar face. Kneeling in, she buttonholes the spiky-haired nine-year-old sitting under an umbrella with his family. At a recent town hall on education, Ms. Sitsabaiesan had heard the story about the lack of teachers at the boy's school. “Are you going to write a letter to your trustee like I told you?” she asks him.

MEDIA

MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan's inaugural speech in the House of Commons

Full Story>>>

Delhi opens whole new world for Jaffna's 'war born'

By M.R. Narayan Swamy 

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) It is their first trip outside of Jaffna, Sri Lanka's once war capital. And the 10 Tamil students of a 160-year-old school in Jaffna find their tour of Delhi simply amazing.

Since flying into the capital on India's Independence Day, the still shy students have been captivated by a whole new world -- Indian students, local cuisine, lifestyle, historical monuments and more.

'This has truly been an enriching experience,' said Rev. M. Jero Selvanayagam, principal of Jaffna's St. Patrick's College, founded in 1860 and a Jaffna landmark.

'These are Sri Lanka's war-born children, they have only seen conflict. Now that rebuilding and development are on after two decades, the visit to Delhi has come at a very appropriate moment,' Selvanayagam told IANS.

The visiting boys are Class 9 students. They will depart Monday, after spending a week in the Indian capital.

Hosting them is the St Francis de Sales Senior Secondary School at Janakpuri in west Delhi, an institution that also received girl students from Jaffna last year.

'Our boys are a little shy,' admitted the Jaffna school principal. 'In contrast, the students here are lively and energetic. The confidence level of our boys is bound to go up after all the interactions.'

He added: 'It has really been an amazing experience.'

The Tamil boys, their principal said, had never been even out of Jaffna peninsula till now. 'So this is a completely new experience. When I return to Sri Lanka, I am going to promote more such student exchanges.'

Father Melroy Almeida, principal of the Delhi school, was full of praise for the visiting children and the exchange programme between Sri Lanka and India.

'It is only now that they are opening up,' he said of the Tamil boys. 'They are staying in a hostel. We provide opportunities for them to visit homes of Indian students and interact with our boys and their parents.

'They get to taste north Indian food and get a feel of Delhi and India. We feel they are enjoying it.'

He said the principal and a teacher of the Jaffna school have also been regularly interacting with the Delhi school teachers. 'They are very impressed with the facilities we provide and our overall system.'

The Jaffna students were thrilled to see the Taj Mahal in Agra and they have also toured Delhi.

On Sunday, they will see the sprawling Akshardham temple in east Delhi and Noida in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

The St. Patrick's team participated in cultural performances, depicting both Sinhala and Tamil culture, at the welcome ceremony in the school.

'They are very impressed with all that they see... And we are very impressed with their football talent,' said Father Melroy Almeida. 'Though they are only 10, they formed a team and played very well.'

(M.R. Narayan Swamy can be contacted at narayan.swamy@ians.in)

Civil war leaves Sri Lankan woman vulnerable

AlJazeeraEnglish
Young women tell Al Jazeera about rapes and sexual exploitation, in some cases by officials and army.

Civil war leaves Sri Lankan woman vulnerable

Young women tell Al Jazeera about rapes and sexual exploitation, in some cases by officials and army.

Sri Lanka's long-running conflict was brutal for its women.
More than 80,000 are said to have been widowed in war-affected areas of the island nation.
The peace that came with the end of the civil war has brought little discernible improvement to their lives.
The situation is especially bad for young women, who told Al Jazeera about rapes and sexual exploitation - in some cases by government officials and the military.
Steve Chao was granted special permission to report in the still sensitive area of northern Sri Lanka. 

More>>>
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AlJazeeraEnglish
Human scars of Sri Lankan war neglected
Sri Lankans are rebuilding after decades of conflict but for many the traumas of war are still raw.

Two years after the end of Sri Lanka's civil war, the north's roads, railways and homes are being rebuilt. But little attention has been placed on helping a population suffering from the trauma of being caught in the middle of decades of fighting.
Mental health workers have told Al Jazeera that not only is the treatment of post-traumatic stress not a priority for the government, but that in some cases the military has refused to allow counsellors in to reach affected people.
Al Jazeera's Steve Chao was granted special permission to report in the still sensitive area of northern Sri Lanka.    Full Story>>>

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Sri Lanka Ducks International Probe

By Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Aug 20, 2011 (IPS) - Although the Sri Lankan government has evaded calls for an international probe into alleged excesses while militarily defeating Tamil separatism in 2009, it may yet be called to account at the September session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The United States has asked Sri Lanka to place its own internal investigation under the ‘Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission’ before the UNHRC, but Colombo has refused to comply. 

Addressing a seminar in Colombo this week, Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, said that discussing Sri Lanka’s internal affairs at the UNHRC would set a dangerous precedent. MORE >>
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Colombo goes on all-out offensive against Darusman report as UNHRC disaster looms

Colombo goes on all-out offensive against Darusman report as UNHRC disaster looms

[Sat, 20 Aug 2011, 10:19 GMT]

At a time when the United States is awaiting a response from Colombo for its call for an “interactive dialogue” on the wide-spread credible allegations war crimes, before the UNHRC meets for its 18th sessions next month, Mahinda Rajapaksa government has said the UN Expert Panel Report is “not admissible at UNHRC” and warned that it could produce “dangerous results if entertained”.

Indirectly responding to the US call for the interactive dialogue on issues of war crime allegations, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris has said at an SL Defence Ministry function on Wednesday that UN expert panel report to the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) “cannot be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) since it is neither an official document by any means nor has it any kind of legitimate nexus to any UN organ”.                Full story >>

Canada assists war affected women

August 19, 2011, 9:34 pm 

Canada has provided financial support to local NGO, War Affected Women (WAW) to conduct a series of workshops and exhibitions in the Northern and Eastern Provinces for the benefit of women in the post-war period.

The Canadian contribution of over Rs 2.5 million would facilitate the WAW to hold two-day exhibitions in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna, an Embassy spokesperson told The Island.

She said that the exhibition would include two daily workshops conducted in Sinhala and Tamil for 50 participants.   

An Embassy press stated: "The exhibition hopes to draw attention to the importance of multiple roles undertaken by women within different structures and various circumstances in the society and highlight the achievements and contributions of Sri Lankan women in the international arena. Another salient feature will be the showcasing of political leadership of women spanning half a century as well as seventy years of women’s political participation in the country. Organizations working on women’s protection issues will display and create public awareness of the ever increasing violence against women. Dramas and other aesthetic performances will assist in getting the message across to the public.

The mobile Exhibitions will be held in Mannar, Vavuniya, Killinochchi and Mullaithivu enabling the war affected women of North and East to interact with senior women politicians thus enabling them to understand the issues and the difficulties faced by the war affected women. WAW believe that this will create a great opportunity to find solutions for the various issues that these women encounter.

"Reconciliation is an important and a significant step in the direction to achieve peace and harmony, and the ‘Sthree Mela’ will create an opportunity to dispel any misconceptions between the diverse sectors while fostering understanding" commented the High Commissioner of Canada Bruce Levy.

Canada is a long-standing partner of Sri Lanka and key donor in the international cooperation field. During the current fiscal year, Canadian expenditures on bilateral and emergency programming are expected to total nearly Rs 1.436 billion (CDN $ 12.4 million)."
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Monk arrested on child abuse charges

Monk arrested on child abuse charges

The senior Buddhist monk is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 12-year old girl Police in Sri Lanka have arrested a senior Buddhist monk on charges of repeatedly sexually abusing a 12-year old girl. Namalwewa Rathanasara nayake thero was arrested by the police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) at Colombo’s international airport when he arrived from Singapore. Producing the chief incumbent of Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, the police requested the Colombo magistrate Tikiri K Jayathilake to remand him in custody until 24 August. But the magistrate ordered the monk to be taken to police custody and to be produced before Anuradhapura magistrate. A court in Anuradhapura, north central Sri Lanka, has issued a warrant to arrest Rathanasara thero on 12 August but media reports said he has left Sri Lanka after the warrant was issued. Police said Namalwewa Rathanasara thero will remain in Colombo on Sunday as it is not required by law to transfer him within 24 hours.