KP-Diaspora programme operated by SL Military Intelligence: Doctor Arudkumar

Saturday, 12 May 2012

Sri Lankan Director of National Intelligence, Major General Kapila Hendawitharana, the longest serving intelligence officer of the military, is in charge of the covert and overt programme of dividing and conquering the Tamil diaspora, alludes British Tamil doctor Velauthapillai Arudkumar, who visited the island recently as part of a ‘Tamil diaspora visit’ organised by Colombo through Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP.

TamilNet releases an exclusive video interview with Dr. Arudkumar taken two days ago, in which he reveals the details of the trip. SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Maj. Gen. Hendawitharana and External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris, all spoke in a well-synchronised way. Military counterinsurgency and 'post-war development' are intertwined aiming at Tamil subjugation, the doctor infers in his interview.

Dr. Arudkumar was one of the nine diaspora Eezham Tamils who visited the island from 6 countries between 15 June and 20 June. KP and his associates in the diaspora played a crucial role in mobilising this diaspora group to have talks with the Sri Lankan government on post-war rehabilitation of civilians and former LTTE cadres in detention.

The doctor says he made the decision as an individual to explore the opportunity to help the uprooted civilians, people incarcerated and those held in detention camps. Earlier, he had served the people of Vaakarai in Batticaloa for four weeks after the 2004 tsunami catastrophe. "I am not a politician. I only wanted to help," he said.

But, after sensing the intentions behind the Sri Lankan military intelligence, the foreign minister and the defence secretary, and experiencing the restrictions put in place, his decision was not to succumb to the tactics of Colombo.

They will only bring their mindset into you, attempt to divide and destroy you. They will misuse your intentions for their advantage, especially in convincing the West that the Tamil diaspora is now cooperating with them, the doctor said.

KP told the diaspora visitors that one should be satisfied with what is being offered and should look after the civilians and the former cadres. He was sounding 'spiritual' and was criticising the political initiatives of the diaspora.

The TNA speaks only about political solution and Tamil Nadu leaders are jokers (koamaa'lika'l), is the opinion reflected in the speeches of Kapila, Gotabhaya and KP, says the doctor.

The visitors were told of outside interests in the land of the North and East. When asked who were those outsiders, the reply pointed at India.

Dr. Arudkumar thinks there is an intention in the Sri Lankan side to bring in a rift between Eezham Tamils and India / Tamil Nadu.

"Even if you can't, we will bring the diaspora to cooperate," the visitors were told with arrogance and confidence.

Tamils have no right to ask for political solution and they should accept whatever that is given, was the attitude of the government side, and it was like treating Tamils as slaves, says Arudkumar, adding that when such was the attitude he felt embarrassed to see KP’s gesture of embracing Gotabhaya at the meeting.

The terms like transnational, united, federal, etc, are sensitive terms and they should be avoided. From South Africa to Japan, countries have so many other models. One should go to the grassroot to find the solution, professor G.L.Peris told the visitors.

One should not talk about the 'past' or 'history', but should cooperate to build the country together. Mahinda has got a mandate from the [Sinhala] people, was the response from the government side when the visitors began talking about political solution.

When KP was asked about his arrest, he told the visitors that he was arrested by the Malaysian authorities, interrogated for two days and was flown to Colombo with Sri Lankan intelligence officer Sam, a subordinate of Kapila Hendawitharana. Sam was also present at the meetings.

Kapila Hendawitharana in his conversations mentioned that he had met KP back in 2006, says Dr. Arudkumar, who describes the intelligence chief as the 'master mind'.

KP was giving details of different personalities in various countries and was talking about properties and money associated with them.

When Arudkumar asked why couldn't the Sri Lankan government release the frozen TRO money for the use of the resettlement of civilians, Kapila Hendawitharana responded by saying that the visitors should first start bringing in the diaspora money.

The number of people to be rehabilitated varies from one government agency to another, between 190,000 to more than 300,000. Perhaps the needs are different for them to cite different numbers, politics on one hand and money on the other.

The visitors were taken to Palaali military base and were briefed by the commanders there before being taken to Raamaavil in Thenmaraadchi where they met resettled families. But, there were intelligence operatives. Visitors were not allowed to meet civilians in Ki'linochchi. When visiting Cheddiku'lam internment camp in Vavuniyaa, the visitors wanted to see Zone-4 of the camp, but they were only taken to Zone-2. While talking to the families in the camp we were able to detect that some people had been planted among the IDPs to interact with us, the doctor said.

When there are already a number of organisations working for rehabilitation what was the need for Tamil Rehabilitation Centre (TRC) initiated by KP, asks the doctor, reasoning that it was to show the outside world that the diaspora is now politically with the government.

Even while we were on our visit there was talk that many more diaspora groups were going to come. What I tell them is that it is of no use. KP can do very little, Dr. Arudkumar said.

During Chandrika Kumaratunga's presidency, Kapila Hendawitharana was in charge of the military intelligence. He played a crucial role in getting the renegade LTTE commander Karuna to work with the Sri Lankan military intelligence and in launching covert operations against the LTTE, resulting in a series of assassinations. His unit was mainly responsible for the serious violations of the clause 1.8 of the Ceasefire Agreement by deploying paramilitary operatives against the Tigers. After repeated complaints from various actors, he was transferred and posted to Thailand as Defence Attaché. Later, when Rajapaksa came to power, he was made the intelligence chief to coordinate with Gotabhaya and Fonseka.

As the Sri Lankan diplomatic establishments across the world are extensively militarised in recent times, diaspora circles fear that a major covert operation against diaspora Eezham Tamils is already in progress and that the KP programme is only a tip of the iceberg.

- Tamil Net

 

The role of the individual in history
Mahinda: Leader or laggard?

The role of the individual in history has been much debated. Did Napoleon’s presence at Jena and Austerlitz change the course of European history? Sans Lenin, would Red October have failed? Has Mahinda Rajapaksa’s handling of religious intolerance and in particular the Dambulla mosque incident and its aftermath exposed a president congenitally incapable of leadership? The debates go on till late at night.

The anti-Tamil or if you prefer a narrower canvas anti-LTTE race war had certain particular dimensions from the Sinhalese perspective; the Sinhalese suffered asphyxiating fear for years, the LTTE used terrorism (so did the state), and fear of secession drove the community to apoplexy. I have no intention of attempting to summarize the national question in one sentence; what I am emphasizing is that there is no such dread and panic to justify current religious intolerance. Catholics are not about to annexe Negombo to the Vatican, nor are Muslims secretly plotting to circumcise all newborn males. Jealousy, bigotry and prejudices that rot our body politic are in the realm of political pathology. 

Full Story>>>

May 12, 2012

Paedophile Somaratana: Follow-Up By Sunday Leader

Orphans In The Care Of A Paedophile Monk

By Nirmala Kannangara / Sunday Leader

The Pahalagama Orphanage, Orphans at work at the Pahalagama Orphanage and Ven. Pahalagama Sri Somaratana Thero convicted of sexual abuse in the UK

Questions have been raised as to why the Child Development and Women’s Welfare Ministry has allowed a Buddhist monk who has been convicted of child abuse in the UK, to run an orphanage in Sri Lanka.
Started in 2009, the Pahalagama Orphanage in Gampaha is run by Ven. Pahalagama Sri Somaratana Thero, the Chief Sanghanayaka of Great Britain and the Chief Incumbent of the Thames Buddhist Viharaya who has now been convicted of child abuse in the UK.
Pahalagama orphanage has 20 inmates – boys between 8 to 16 years of age who are said to be  children from broken families or have no parents or guardians to care for them.
“Most of these children are from rural areas and are sent to us by the respective Government Agents,” said Dissanayake, the Matron of the orphanage.

. Read More

Governor Cabraal ducks missile attack

CoL: HOW ABOUT ALL THE PRICES THAT ARE COMING DOWN, HE ASKS Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal vehemently opposed the “Scientific explanation of CoL” and condemns the insult offered by the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, when he said ‘the Central Bank Chief Cabraal is responsible for ‘downward spiral economy’ saying  people should be more concerned about the Cabraal-missile than the Agni-missiles, the Indian launched several days back’. The governor said, “If Mr. Wickremesinghe wants to hold me responsible for what he calls a “downward spiral” of the economy, maybe he will also hold me responsible for the many successes of our economy as well.  This would include the fact that Sri Lanka has recorded a more than 8% growth for two consecutive years in 2010 and 2011, and a projected growth of 7.2% this year. Our country’s foreign reserves are at a level of over USD 6 billion, although during his time, we were barely at a level of USD2 billion. The recent depreciation of the rupee, although the subject matter of many comments, is one of the lowest ever in our history.  During the period Mr. Wickremesinghe was a Minister and Prime Minister, the country suffered from the depreciation of our currency by over 50%, in each five year period.” “The Public Debt to GDP ratio in our country now kept below 80%, the lowest ever in 27 years, when during the time he was the PM, it was over 105%. If Mr. Wickremesinghe and his party think that the present indicators of our economy shows a “downward spiral”, then everyone will have to say it is good to be in such a “downward spiral.”  Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe in his recent speech spoke about the sky-rocketing cost of living in Sri Lanka.  He had said that CoL is far more destructive and forceful than the Indian missile that was launched a few days back.  He also said that the Central Bank Chief is responsible for the rising prices and the downward spiral of the economy and pointed out that the government had not taken any action to rectify these matters.  Mr Wickremasinghe told the masses to be more concerned about the Cabraal-missile than the Agni-missile, and that the people are suffering because of it, and asked the government to increase wages.    “Actually, even in the face of our present benign macro-fundamentals, if he and the others in the opposition cannot acknowledge and accept these, it perhaps suggests that they fear that the successes of our economy will erode their chances of an election victory in the foreseeable future. When they have that fear, insulting public servants like us and discouraging them may seem like a good strategy from the opposition’s point of view. But I think it is going to boomerang on them because I will not accept such insults. When that happens, as Lord Buddha has preached, the insults will revert back to the accusers!” Governor Cabraal said. Single digit inflation      Full Story>>>>

Not Only The Chairman Husband; Chief Justice Wife Must Also Resign!

May 12, 2012 By Uvindu Kurukulasuriya -

Uvindu Kurukulasuriya

Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and her husband National Savings Bank (NSB) Chairman Pradeep Kariyawasam are at the center of a scandal again.
When Justice Bandaranayake was appointed as the Chief Justice, I raised the serious conflict of interest issues relating to her. Within the Asian region, the sixth Conference of Chief Justices of

 Asia and the Pacific held in Beijing in August 1995 adopted the Statement of Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary. Sri Lanka was represented by the Supreme Court Judge P. R. P. Perera who voluntarily agreed to the Principles on behalf of the then Chief Justice G. P. S. De Silva. Principle 39 of the Beijing Statement says, “Inducements or benefits should not be offered to or accepted by judges if they affect, or might affect, the performance of their judicial functions.”
Under the title “Chief Justice or her husband must resign” I wrote; The Chief Justice must explain how her husband was appointed Chairman of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, and a member of the Board of Directors of Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC. How was he also appointed Chairman of the National Savings Bank?  Had he applied for the job? Was he interviewed?  Who were the other applicants?  Weren’t there any other qualified applicants other than her husband? She must also explain how these things are consistent with international standards concerning judicial independence. If she cannot, she or her husband must resign. After all, “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”

Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and Pradeep Kariyawasam

Chief Justice and her husband

 Read More

Bishop of Mannar may disappear and it is for the Pope and the world to take note of

By Brian Senewiratne   12 May 2012

Posted 11-May-2012 Vol 3 Issue 19 This is an urgent appeal to prevent the possible assassination/ ‘disappearance’ of the outspoken Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, his fellow Catholic priests in the North and East, and others, who call themselves ‘Civil Society’, who are the only voices of the Tamil people in this part of Sri Lanka. I write, not as a concerned Christian, but as a concerned human being, to apprise the international community, including the Pope, of what might happen in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as it likes to call itself. Bishop Rayappu’s life may be under threat (Photo courtesy: Global Tamil News) Anyone who is even minimally aware of what is going on behind the closed and censored door of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Totalitarian State will know that murder is rampant, and accountability non-existent in Sri Lanka. Murder or ‘disappearance’ is the Government’s answer to any problem, and the only method of silencing the dissenting voice. Irreplaceable Read More

Saturday 12 of May 2012

IGP dodging: True picture on Rajapakses orchestrated treasure robbery at Mahavilachchi

How Bayagotha transformed STF into rogues

(Lanka-e-News -11.May.2012, 11.59PM) After the STF soldiers were caught red handed when digging for treasure on the 1st of May night illicitly , the IGP N K Ilangakoon a week later narrated a very intriguing fairy tale in that connection while accepting that the STF soldiers were sent by him. His announcement had a number of slips leading to the LeN and other media posing countless questions to him demanding answers. Even after two days , this IGP could not furnish answers . In any case LeN is armed with the full factual story which we wish to reveal as the IGP is unable to utter truths because he is characterized by the overriding trait of speaking only falsehoods, like dogs are accustomed only to barking . The IGP has no powers whatsoever to give orders to the STF or the Police special task force. He undertook this task because of pressures exerted on him by the defense secretary Gota, The instructions to dig for treasure at Mahavilachchii on the 1st was given by the youngest brother of the Rajapakse treasure robbers clan , Gotabaya. What is most distressing is , this order from Gotabaya was not known to the Commandant ,the Commanding officer of the STF or the DIG R. W. M. C. Ranawana. Instructions received by Gonahena STF camp ASP D K Hettiarachi from Gota was to take the treasure under the river bank at Sivalapitiya , Mahavilachchi. It was the treasure robber by the name of Gotabaya Rajapakse who provided a Kattadiya also to show the way. It is most unfortunate that Hettiarachchi who had been trained in providing security to the VVIPs agreed to descend to this disgraceful level of going to illicitly hunt for treasure belonging to the nation. Reverting to the fanciful fairy tale of the IGP, as he says if anybody has come to the police headquarters and related this disgraceful anti national robbing operation , there should be an entry in the police headquarter register. At least at the reception counter of the police headquarters there should be a record in the visitor’s book of the temporary identity card No. issued with the V alphabet. Those records are not there We challenge the IGP to produce those records if they are there in the police headquarters . The IGP by his unscrupulous conduct has poured the biggest insult and disgrace on the STF with whom he worked for 11 years before becoming the IGP. Ilangakoon must hang his head in shame over this egregiously shameless conduct.  Hunting for treasure is absolutely illegal. Even after the treasure robbers were caught red handed and handed over , the police took no action to enforce the law. By now the people must be aware why the police behaved that way . The sacrosanct laws are a plaything in the hands of the Rajapakses worthy of destruction in their view. It is time the people take the law back under their control – that day is not far off . That will be the day , the IGP who is profusely lying and safeguarding the rogues today will have to answer for all his sins. That will also be the day when all those who are robbing national assets and plundering people’s funds by tricks and treachery irrespective of their positions however lofty will also get the deserved punishment . P.S.------------------------- If our readers wish to gather more details on these sordid activities , please phone STF Commandant , DIG Ranawana on 011 2588460 Gonahena STF camp No. 011 2925406

Tamils in Australia request the Australian PM to raise the accountability and other issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government forum

As one of the many selected multi-cultural organizations invited by the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard MP, for a special Budget Briefing at Parliament House in Canberra, Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), was represented by its Secretary Dr. Victor Rajakulendran, at the event held on Wednesday, the day after the budget was tabled in parliament, media release issued by AFTA said. AFTA presented a submission at the event to the Prime Minister as the current Chair of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, requesting her to take steps to pressure Sri Lanka to comply with the resolution passed at the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva and to bring back normalcy to the war affected North and East of Sri Lanka. More than 60 representatives of invited community organizations and journalists were in attendance at the Parliament House in Canberra for this Special Budget Briefing.     [ full story |

Scarborough's Tamil community faces challenges accessing mental health services
MIKE ADLER

May 11, 2012

In Sri Lanka, says the social agency YouthLink in Scarborough, mental illness can be seen as a "life sentence," a "bottomless pit" people fall into and never escape.

But though "the stigma is always there and it's continuing to happen," people in the local Sri Lankan Tamil community are increasingly willing to accept help in addressing psychological problems, particularly if they were born in Canada, says Amal Joseph, a YouthLink outreach worker.

"It's a different story than five years ago."

Joseph, who works in the mid-Scarborough neighbourhood of Eglinton East-Kennedy Park and was previously based in Malvern, stressed the improvement isn't a drastic one.

He spends a lot of his time, he said, convincing Tamil-Canadian residents he won't reveal or share information they consider shameful. People feel "they will be looked upon in a different way" if they tell anyone about mental health concerns or learning disabilities, Joseph said.

In January the agency started a needs assessment using questionnaires and focus groups for Tamil youth, parents and social-service providers, a project Joseph said is overdue.

Its findings in June will reflect a unique range of pressures on the mental health of community members.

They start with a culture that is "shame-based" and fears talking about such issues openly, Kamalesan Muthulingam, a YouthLink counsellor, said during an interview to highlight the study during Mental Health Week.

Decades of civil war in Sri Lanka have left members of Scarborough families sharing the effects of post-traumatic stress, and where "multi-generational stress" can affect the Canadian-born children of those who survived, Muthulingam said.

Even the end of the war in 2009, months in which many civilians were interned or killed, produced depression in the community, many of whose members were suffering after-effects from the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

People who witnessed the disaster, which wiped out whole villages in Sri Lanka, "didn't know how to explain how they felt," and Tamils in Canada often didn't know what happened to missing family members, Joseph said.

"Questions unanswered play a huge role in the community," he said. "They've come to the point where depression is part of their life, and I think that needs to change."

But while first-generation Tamil-Canadians keep things inside, their children often struggle with their identity, and the cultural gap between the generations is growing, said Muthulingam. "Youth don't get it at all. The older generation are extremely unhappy about that."

Tamil youth and families can be seen at walk-in counselling offered Wednesdays afternoons by YouthLink in its office at 747 Warden Ave. People are happy to meet counsellors who speak their language, but for the large Tamil community such counsellors can be counted "on your fingers," Joseph said.

Muthulingam said he hopes the study will not only get a message out that "there are needs and there is help" but that Scarborough's Tamils can help themselves by recruiting more social services professionals.

An engineer, Muthulingam went through his own family issues, becoming a counsellor after his mother was diagnosed as bipolar. He did not want such problems in the community swept under the carpet, he said. "I wanted to think out of the box."

Hirunika Murder Plot: Bharatha Siblings Slam Rajapaksa Brothers

May 12, 2012 By Colombo Telegraph -

“Should any harm comes to Hirunika’s life and limb as a failure to act on this (as it was in Bharatha’s case) those who are in-charge of defense establishment of Sri Lanka would be held responsible for such tragic eventuality.” Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s siblings told Colombo Telegraph.

Hirunika with her lawyer/ Photo Daily Mirror

Sending a statement Bharatha’s siblings further say “We as very concerned siblings of Bharatha, wrote to the President with copies to the defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksha , Minister Basil Rajapaksha and the hierarchy of the SLFP requesting extra security for our brother in order to save his life  and security for other two, naming MP Duminda Silva as the person who was behind the death threat that Bharatha  had  had on his life until he was assassinated. Although we know for a fact that most powerful three members of the ruling family of Sri Lanka discussed the contents of our letter at that time, after our brother’s murder they shamefully denied receipt of that letter. De’-ja’ vu  all over again. With this newspaper exposé which reveals the death threat on Hirunika’s life, it is incumbent on the President to act swiftly to save Hirunika’s life by providing adequate security right away,  conduct unbiased police investigations into alleged murder ploy and bring suspect to justice without any further delay.”

Below we give the full statement of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s siblings;

Six months after assassination of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra who was a former Parliamentarian, on an election day in Mullariyawa, now, one of the week-end newspapers in Sri Lanka has reported that “Contract” has been given to two under world gangs to assassinate Hirunika Premachandra who is the only daughter of Bharatha in order to stop her relentless pursuit of justice for her father’s and three of his political supporters’ brutal murders which were committed in the broad day light. Although large majority of Srilankans know how pathetic the way defense establishments of Sri Lanka handled initial investigations into this quadruple murder, it is important to mention that regardless of overwhelming evidence of Parliamentarian Duminda Silva’s involvement  in this shooting incident  on that day, defense establishments failed to name Duminda Silva as a suspect, until magistrate court judge ruled Duminda Silva a suspect after careful consideration of evidence and affidavits of eye witnesses  against him.    Read More