Monday, June 25, 2012

In Kashmir, Killing Ebbs, but Killers Roam Free

By GARDINER HARRIS June 25, 2012

Dar Yasin/Associated Press

Tensions have eased in the Kashmir region, but they are still just below the surface. Kashmiri Muslims retrieved relics after a fire at a shrine on Monday

BONIYAR, India — After decades of war, Kashmir is blooming again. Hotels are bursting, roads are being fixed and offices rebuilt. But with the guns silenced, India must soon decide whether justice will be as welcome as the tourists.

Mass murderers walk the streets openly, having killed thousands of people who are buried in unmarked graves in scores of secret cemeteries. This beautiful village has one such graveyard. Nine years after Indian police officers and troops deposited hundreds of bullet-ridden corpses here as part of their campaign to suppress an independence movement supported by Pakistan, dirt mounds still rise above the shallow and unmarked plots as if the circumstances of the deaths left the earth above the bodies unsettled.

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Sri Lanka’s Muslims Under Siege?
Read The Diplomat, Know the Asia-Pacific

June 26, 2012

The end of the civil war brought hopes that the country could become united. But attacks by radical Buddhists suggest Sri Lanka faces a new challenge to internal harmony.

Colombo’s suburb of Dehiwala is probably best known for housing the Colombo Zoo. But late last month, it became the site of a wild protest at a small mosque, a protest that has many Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka worried.

On the morning of May 30, police officials reportedly informed the leader of the Dehiwala branch of the Association of Muslim Youth of Seylan that an illegal demonstration was likely to take place at the group’s mosque. Sheikh Ramsy was instructed to cancel madrassa lessons.

True to the warning, by midday, some 200 demonstrators led by several dozen Buddhist monks allegedly converged on the small Islamic center and began throwing stones and rotten meat over the gate at the mosque. Fortunately, most projectiles landed harmlessly in front of the mosque. Protestors shouted slogans demanding the closure of the mosque, claiming it was performing daily animal sacrifices, a charge the mosque denies.

“This charge is really unbelievable and shows how little they know about the religion of Islam. We only conduct sacrifices associated with the Eid ul-Adha and often the meat is distributed to poor families,” Sheikh Rasmy explains.

The incident is the latest in a string of serious incidents involving extremist Buddhist provocations against Muslims in Sri Lanka. In April, for example, a number of Buddhist monks disrupted Muslim prayer services in the village of Dambulla. The attackers claimed that the mosque, built in 1962, was illegal. Weeks later, monks are said to have drafted a threatening letter aimed at Muslims in the nearby town of Kurunegala, demanding Islamic prayer services there be halted.

Reza, a clerk at the Darul Iman Islamic Book House in Colombo, says he is confused by the outbreak of intolerance. “We in the Muslim community aren’t used to anything like this. But the last few months have seen new tensions across the country. We aren’t sure why this is happening now. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus we have all lived together for a long-time.”

During, the 30-year civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam and the central government, the island’s Muslims, though Tamil-speaking, sided with the government against the LTTE. This was in part a result of thousands of Muslims being ejected from Jaffna in the early 1990s. During the conflict, the Sinhalese Buddhist majority courted the island’s Muslims, and many Muslims rose to prominent bureaucratic positions, while a handful even served in the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Photo Credit: Joseph Hammond

People In The North Should Have The Same Rights

June 25, 2012

By Laksiri Fernando -

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

The discriminatory application of rights of the people in the North and the South came into sharp focus, when the police prohibited peaceful protests to be launched in front of the Jaffna bus stand on 19th Tuesday, as the police hurriedly obtained a court order the previous day. The same day, protests took place in Colombo in front of the Fort Railway Station, and four days before, in front of the University Grants Commission (UGC), of course on different issues.

Protests have been a recurrent scene in Colombo even during the height of the war in many places; Lipton Circus and the Fort Railway Station or even Parliament junction, Battaramulla, being quite famous. It is a fundamental human right, exercised by trade unions, political parties or citizen’s organizations, that should be employed of course, peacefully, whether in Colombo or Jaffna. But even three years after the war, the people in Jaffna are not allowed to stage a peaceful protest on a matter quite fundamental to their day to day life.

The protests were mainly by the families of Valikaamam North, who have been displaced by the High Security Zone in the area since around 1990, who are now eager to get back to their original private land. Instead of giving them back their own land, the military is reported to be using the land to build permanent structures including Buddhist temples, the Asian Tribune reported (21 June 2012) quoting Mavai Senathirajah, TNA MP for Jaffna. Nearly 12,000 families have applied for resettlement to the Divisional Secretariat.

The Asian Tribune (AT) is not an anti-government website. Its editor, K. T. Rajasingham, is one of the living senior most SLFP members in the country. The AT reported that the matter will be brought before the UN, seeking redress, as the government seems to be quite oblivious to the demands of the people of Jaffna.

Sri Lanka: Threats to Dr. Nirmal R. Devasiri of FUTA is an another instance of suppression of dissent

NfR Sri Lanka, a network of Sri Lankan journalists and human rights defenders expresses its serious concern over the recent threats and intimidations directed at Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, the President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) for his trade union activities. FUTA has been campaigning for better remuneration for University teachers and education facilities in the universities. FUTA has also campaigned against the privatisation of the university education. In addition the FUTA has announced a strike by its members demanding the implementation of the agreed salary structure from 4^thJuly 2012.

NfR Sri Lanka views this intimidation of members of the academic community in the country, with alarm and condemns unconditionally those who are behind such dastardly acts. This is clearly a violation of the universally accepted democratic right to dissent, freedom of expression and the right to association.

According to FUTA ‘a group of men claiming to be from the Ministry of Defence have been behaving suspiciously within the neighbourhood of the Secretary of Arts Faculty Teachers’ Associations (FUTA), Dr. Nirmal Ranjith on June 19, 2012. They have questioned the neighbours regarding Dr. Devasiri’s movements and details regarding his family.’ On June 21, Dr. Devasiri has lodged a complaint in this regard at the Maharagama Police Station. He has also received a number of telephone calls threatening him and his family to stop continuing to work as the President of FUTA.

The Sri Lanka Police is notorious for its lethargy in investigating killings, threats and intimidations of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and academics. Friday Forum, a concerned group of eminent persons and academics in Sri Lanka has stated that they have requested for a meeting with Inspector General of Police to seek his support towards arresting the culture of impunity, and to request him to take measures to prevent acts of police brutality and the violent repression of public protests. This request has received only ‘anunhelpful bureaucratic response’. In a show of his arrogance and bureaucratic attitude towards civil society, the IGP has not considered it necessary for him to meet the Friday Forum. Regrettably, the IGP has not been able to show any independence whatsoever towards marauding politicians or their henchmen.

While condemning the biased attitude of police towards politically motivated crimes in the country, NfR requests that government to initiate an impartial inquiry into this incident and bring the culprits to book without delay. It is only by doing so that the Government of Sri Lanka can absolve itself from being blamed as being involved in the harassment and intimidation of Dr. Devasiri directly and the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations, indirectly.

Written by editor

Confidentiality and security of Com-Bank account holders at stake -Govt. frontline politico says keep your monies in foreign Banks
Monday 25 of June 2012

(Lanka-e-News- 24.June.2012, 10.00PM) The account holders and employees within the Commercial Bank are of the view that the confidentiality and security of the accounts in that Bank are in jeopardy. They are suspicious that these two important needs of account holders are not being protected unlike in the past

The main reason behind these doubts is, a Director of this bank is an individual who safeguards and protects publicly a leader of a most violent gang of murderers and robbers in SL.

The MaRa regime after bringing the private Commercial Bank under its control using the EPF funds illicitly , appointed Lakshman Hulugalla as its Director who has only a GCE exam qualification. This Director Hulugalla openly participated in media briefings on two occasions recently to defend and support Julampitiya Amare, the most notorious criminal , rapist and robber who had committed numerous heinous crimes.

This brought to light the close and direct connection between a Director of a reputed Commercial Bank where billions and billions of people’s monies are kept in safe custody and a most unsafe , untrustworthy and unreliable criminal.

Consequently ,. most people who expressed their views to us said, through this unqualified and untrustworthy MaRa regime Director , all the information that is needed for a criminal to commit a Bank heist or robbery or any other crime can be collected. The Criminal robber , rapists, extortionists and murderers can gain access to information like , the big account holders ; which account has large sums of money ; their business addresses and details; whose account and who are the account holders who have gone abroad . These fears are stalking the customers and the workers now.

A Govt. political front liner speaking to Lanka e new said, the Rajapakses are not only fiddling with the Commercial Bank but also with two other private banks , namely , Seylan Bank and Hatton National Bank.
We cannot predict right now what we are headed for, he said with concern. You know what the Rajapakses did with the Daya Gamage’s sugar Industry . If the Rajapakses run short of dollars , don’t be surprised if they freeze those dollar accounts , he warned.

We do not know what the Rajapakses will do to the accounts of its enemies. The best thing to do at this juncture is to transfer your funds in the Rajapakised Banks to foreign Banks., because if Rajapakses try to cheat on those monies , they can be withdrawn from the overseas branch of the foreign Bank account , he pointed out.

Meanwhile the Standards and Poors international had issued a dire warning that the Banking Industry of SL is on the verge of collapse. All these factors have compounded the fears and anguish of the account holders . It is therefore learnt that many account holders are contemplating withdrawing their monies.

Dispelling Perceptions Of uncaring Government In The North

June 25, 2012

By Jehan Perera -

Jehan Perera

Those who travel from Colombo to the north, be they nationals of Sri Lanka or foreigners, are likely to be impressed by the developments that they see when they travel by road. The view on the A9 Highway, once called the Highway of Death due to the scores of lives lost in fighting to control it, is a constantly improving one. The journey now takes around ten hours, down considerably from what it used to be. The well constructed roads make travel most comfortable and the main source of concern would be traffic police waiting in the shadows to catch speeding drivers. The roadside restaurants are numerous and more and more of them offer clean restrooms that were rare in the past. At journey’s end there are a range of hotels to choose from, some even equipped with swimming pools. These developments that are visible and earn the praise of nationals and foreigners alike are a result of the macro-economic policies of the government.

The government has utilized the international assistance that has come to the country to focus on infrastructure projects, such as roads, government offices, schools and hospitals. These are visible signs of development. The security forces that were once so visible on the roads have now been mostly withdrawn and this too is pleasing to the traveler who resents being stopped at security checkpoints. However, there is one major checkpoint at Omathai, which was the dividing line between government-controlled and LTTE-controlled territory along the A9 Highway to Jaffna. This checkpoint still operates and bus travellers have to disembark with their bags and make the crossing. Foreigners are questioned as to why they are travelling to the north, why they visited Sri Lanka, what are they doing as employment and other such intrusive questions that make them uneasy. But for Sri Lankans there are little or no questions that are asked.

June 25, 2012

The Ceylon Today management has sent their version of the story. We below produce the full version of their side of the story. To read other sides of the story click here.

Blowing the whistle in self interest

Much has been written about the purported termination of Ceylon Today’s Director Editorial and Editor-in-Chief, Lalith Allahakkoon and the resignation of four other journalists on what they term as a matter of ‘editorial independence.’ Since Thursday 14 June, there had been round condemnation and prompt judgment delivered by the media fraternity and others based on one-sided information.

The media coverage of the Ceylon Today events has been enlightening and perhaps makes a good case study as to how the mainstream and alternate media cover freedom of expression issues in Sri Lanka.

It is important to state at the very outset that Director Editorial and Editor-in-Chief, Lalith Allahakkoon, was not ‘sacked,’ despite the media frenzy and the four ex-staffers crying foul. He remains employed as is Deputy Editor Wasantha Siriwardena, whose Sunday cartoon is published on the same page.

Then there is the matter of four resignations ‘in protest of such sacking.’ The touted reason for the collective resignations was the alleged undermining of editorial independence in the alleged termination of Allahakkoon’s services. Suffice to say that their conduct within the editorial contributed to compartmentalizing the editorial, making it impossible to continue operations with their stranglehold. The management has warned one of them repeatedly on incompetence and creating divisions and during the final round of warnings (to three of the four resigned journalists), they were verbally informed about an internal inquiry.

Editorial capture Read More

NSA to go to Colombo, voice India's concerns

IANS

New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) India is set to voice its concerns over the slow pace of devolution process and seek an update on the rehabilitation of Tamils displaced by the war with the LTTE when National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon meets Sri Lankan leaders in Colombo later this week.

Menon will be going to Colombo Friday and meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, official sources said.

Menon is expected to convey India's strong concerns about the rights of the Tamil people to lead a life of dignity and as equal citizens of that country. He is also expected to discuss issues related to security and economic cooperation between the two countries, said the sources.

Menon's visit comes days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Rajapaksa on the margins of the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil.

The visit is seen as a follow-up to the United Nations Human Rights Council vote against Sri Lanka in March that engendered considerable anti-India sentiments among sections of the political establishment in the island nation.

On March 22, India voted for a US-sponsored resolution in the UNHRC, censuring Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes in the conflict with the Tamil Tigers and asking it to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

The commission has been appointed by the Sri Lankan president to study the genesis of the conflict and make recommendations to bring about national unity.

Hemakumara Nanayakkara Resigns in protest against the Rajapakse regime

(Lanka-e-News-24.June.2012, 8.00PM) The agriculture advisor to the President Hemakumara Nanayakkara had tendered his resignation in protest against the Rajapakse regime’s decision to construct an International Airport at Kundasale after evacuating the Kundasale Agriculture College and seed cultivation center , according to reports.

This is the first time an officer demonstrating patriotic spirit holding a high ranking post under the present regime had resigned in protest against the regime’s traitorous anti national moves .

While the Int. Airport at Katunayake is to be refurbished and even when this Airport is in an inferior state in its operations , another Airport in another region being constructed is uncalled for.
While there exists an Int. airport , the attempts to build another Airport after mortgaging the country and wasting public funds is unwarranted and unnecessary , and is motivated by illicit commission collections , economic analysts point out.

Hemakumara , a true patriot by resigning his post against this anti national project has only confirmed the truth in this allegation.
Hemakumara is the brother of Vasudeva Nanayakkara. He joined the govt. from the UNP ranks purportedly to strengthen President’s ‘both hands’.

Branding Sri Lanka’s Banking As High Risk: Hurling Charges Not The Best Cure For Healing

By W.A. Wijewardena -

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Differences of opinion are normal

It is not unusual for one to find instances where there is a difference of opinion as to how one sees oneself and how others see him. Such differences invariably lead to hurling charges at each other and even making counter-charges to prove that the original opinions expressed had all been wrong. Such angry reactions, though not uncommon, prevent one from finding cures to heal one’s ailments if they had been working stealthily within one’s system without showing any symptom.

The recent episode of Sri Lanka’s banking industry being branded as ‘high risk’ by the global rating agency, Standard and Poor’s, and the angry reaction of the authorities to that branding is a classic example of the existence of and reaction to such differences of opinion.

The Central Bank: “Sri Lanka’s financial system is stable and sound”

The Central Bank’s Financial System Stability Review, also known as FSSR, for 2011, released a few months ago, has categorically assured its readers, based on the information available to the Bank as at the time of writing, that the country’s financial system continued to remain “stable and resilient” in 2011 “sustained by strong domestic economic growth despite the increasingly turbulent global economic and financial environment”. In a message to the FSSR, the Governor of the Bank has attributed several reasons for the strengthening of the overall soundness of the country’s financial system: “Growth in assets, higher capitalisation, adequate liquidity buffers, low risk levels and healthy earnings”. In six chapters and seven box articles in FSSR, the Central Bank has argued cogently and assuredly that the country’s financial system is sound, without threats or risks and free from worries. The FSSR has used historical data to prove its point and even conducted some stress testing, a way to look at the system’s ability to withstand extremely hazardous events that might hit it unexpectedly.

The Central Bank: “The financial system is not overly stressed”

The government has turned down India’s offer to develop the Palali airport and instead decided to handle it under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, it is reported.

After the war was over, India undertook several projects in the North and among them was the development of the Kankesanthurai harbour. India in addition came forward to modernize the Palali airport, but the agreement was not signed.

However, it is learnt that the government has decided to implement the northern airport project without going in for a joint venture with India.

Asked about this matter, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said his Ministry would undertake the project to expand the airport to be operated for commercial activities and for the use of the Air Force.

“We are planning to operate the airport jointly with the Air Force,” he said.

The Minister also said ten domestic airports would be constructed in the country with the Ratmalana airport being expanded as the largest base for internal flights. He asserted that the government had only proposed a domestic airport in Kandy despite some people mistaking it for a third international airport.

“We have two international airports. One is the Katunayake airport while the second is being constructed in Mattala, Hambantota. It is only a domestic airport proposed in Kandy,” he said.

The Minister said the lands of the School of Agriculture in Kundasale and the adjoining seed farm would not be compromised for this airport.

“We have identified four lands for it. After the environmental impact assessment, we will select the most suitable one. We will not compromise agricultural activities for it. Some people cry to create unnecessary problems saying that the School of Agriculture will be relocated in view of the proposed airport project,” he said.

In the 2012 budget, Rs.750 million was allocated for the project. (Kelum Bandara)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

UN/UNHRC/Parliamentarians – all ‘NATO’

Mass struggle the answergeneral consensus among radicals

There is general consensus among radicals in the Tamil liberation movement that except mass struggle, there is no other force outside Lanka or within that could bring any benefit to the Tamil people. Those who think there is, are not in the real world. As an example they point to what recently happened in London to Mahinda. While various groups can claim that it was their action that resulted in the dramatic success of getting Mahinda to run from London in shame for the second time, they assure that it was peoples’ power – the determination of the left organizations and Tamils activists in London – that really did the job.

Show of solidarity
Bishop Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar, his clergy and the set of non-politicians who call themselves “Tamil Civil Society” have gained respect among these radicals for what they have done within the Tamil homeland. It is claimed that in general, the bishop and his group of activists are the people to whom the ordinary masses of Tamil homeland first turn to when they have a problem. That is why some 7,000 of them gathered in St. Sebastian Cathedral on May 27 to support and show solidarity with Bishop Joseph. There is a complaint that the TNA did not defend Bishop Joseph when he was slandered in Parliament by the Muslim cabinet minister, Rishad Bathuideen. Did they ask the minister to produce the evidence to document what he said, or if he did not have the evidence, to withdraw what he said and apologize to the Bishop? “The TNA did raise questions against the Muslim minister Rishad Bathuideen,” answered TNA MPs. According to them the TNA Vanni district MP and TELO president Selvam Adikalanathan raised questions in parliament against MP Rishad Bathuideen, supporting Bishop 18-2

Joseph and asked the minister to apologize to the bishop for the comments made against him. They also engaged in a fast against Rishad Bathuideen.
The radical voice says, “Look. This is our problem. If we leave it to the UN, the UN Human Rights Council, the parliamentarians or any group, all of whom are “No Action Talk Only,” the Tamils in Lanka will be a dying entity. We have campaigned for the rights of the Tamil people to live with equality, dignity, and now to live in the country of their birth. Past rulers were bad but tyrant Mahinda is worse, much worse – and more is to follow. The guns that were turned on the Tamils will next be turned on the Sinhalese and the Muslims, which is already happening. What is needed is for civil society to rise. Both locally and internationally what is needed is a rise of civil society and mass action. We must record the suffering of the Tamil people and the struggle against it. This is what had to be distributed to the people in the world if Tamils are to have any hope of international mass support for their entirely justifiable struggle to exist and if there is to be peace with justice in Lanka.”
Now there is recognition for the struggle made by the proletarian and progressive movements in the south that stood for the liberation of the Tamil people. They have and still do challenge the Mahinda regime running huge risks. The united action front of the opposition, VV (Virodaya Viyaparaya), is also very important. For the first time in the history of Lanka there is a broad front of the opposition that includes the Federal Party. The Sinhala chauvinists are wild over this unity and they denounce Sampanthan for demanding the right to self determination. One Sinhala chauvinist claimed, “Perhaps the key segment of Mr. Sampanthan’s speech is that the adopted strategy to prove to the international community, especially India and the USA, that a solution for the Tamil people is not possible within a united Sri Lanka. The repeated use of the term ‘united’ rather than ‘unitary’ reveals that the strategy is not merely to convince the international community that a solution cannot be found within the unitary form and framework but rather within a united Sri Lanka, i.e. Sri Lanka as a single, united country. Despite several references to a ‘united’ Sri Lanka elsewhere in the text, this strategic perspective reveals a latent commitment to a secessionist goal by other means.” Such idiotic arguments cannot be defeated in the space of debate and discussion. It is necessary to build a mass movement to counter such idiocy. When intelligent people who campaigned for the right of self determination take up opposite position for the sake of positions and self benefits, arguments and debate become meaningless. Now it is necessary to not let down the radical Tamils who are looking at the Sinhala campaign for autonomy and self determination of the Tamil people.

Women harassed during body searches in the North

Sunday, 24 June 2012

The European Human Rights Organization has alleged that women are being sexually abused when subjected to body searches in the North and East. A report released by the organization states that incidents reported from Sri Lanka were in violation of the UN conventions on abusing women.

The report further states that the sexual abuse of women under the guise of body searches have seen an increase in the North and East. It also notes that such a situation was a dangerous trend following the end of the war.

Off-Beat Poser: “With A king Size Shawarma On A “Gasaa”, Can Gota Dump This Regime ?”

June 24, 2012
By Kusal Perera -

Kusal Perera

A few days ago, I ran into a school pal a few years junior, at a Colombo pub, after almost two decades. His first reaction was that I should stop writing against the Rajapaksas. At least wait till MR is elected again. “You’d then lose the purpose of writing, anyway.” he told me. Not me alone, but the other two with me also perplexed by his straight spat, we got chilled into a foamed larger and sat silent.

But then, this sent us completely off the rocker. “You see, by now Buddhism is over…..There are no Buddhist monks now. They’re ordinary politicians, traders, dealers and confidence tricksters. See how the Maha Nayakas go about with back-up vehicles in front and behind ?….. Temples are tuition or karate centres…….These monks are into everything….sexually molest children, rape, extort money and been proven guilty too…..Only if Lord Buddha was here to see them…!” Looking around and then smiling, he said, “So give Rajapaksas another chance….. They’ll finish this Sinhala mess, JHU and all …… Then….you can write about your secular, inclusive project for Lanka…..with or without ‘Sri’ ….”.

That sounded plain logic, if one wants to gulp them. But politics don’t work so easy and straight, don’t work on whims and fancies of disillusioned minds. Yet there is beneath all what was said, some hard truth. Good reason for the disillusionment of these urban, Sinhala “new” middle class. He comes from beyond Ratnapura, works for the apparel sector, runs about in a “hybrid” car and resides in a compact, luxury apartment in Colombo. His children go to international schools and wife probably shops for designer label stuff and listens to “rap sermons” from Bikkhus in posh and regimented “Ashrams”, most every Sunday.

LTTE women’s wing leader Tamilini issue - Why this double standard? Asks Mano Ganesan

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Former LTTE women's wing leader Thamilini has been transferred to rehabilitation camp from detention. We as the Civil Monitoring Commission, the independent human rights movement welcome this move of the government.

It seems that she is now in the considerate list of the Government with Messrs KP, Karuna Amman, Pillaiyan and Daya master etc. It also seems that government has a secret plan to use these former LTTE seniors to their political advantage within the governments' political agenda.

We have no issue over this too. If they are going to work with the government, let them do so. But why this consideration not given to other Tamil political prisoners who are languishing in the remand prisons over five to fifteen years?

Demands Mano Ganesan convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission and leader of Democratic Peoples’ Front. Ganesan said further that,

there are many women with their in-born children, aged elders, sick and clergymen as political prisoners. Most of them are Tamils. There are some Muslims and Sinhalese too imprisoned under PTA.

Government pardons some selectively for political reasons. Therefore they are keeping the other remaining imprisoned also for political reasons. That is why we are calling them as Political Prisoners. We as the CMC, demand that all of them released under a general amnesty as it happened after the JVP rebellions in 1989 and 1971 in the south.

The Medamulana-Doctrine And A Brave New Sri Lanka

Sunday, June 24, 2012

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

Ten men on five motorbikes, armed with T56 rifles, descend on a legal political gathering. They shoot into the crowd, killing two and injuring several. For the next 15-20 minutes, they engage in a slash-and-trash operation, undisturbed. Finally, their job done, they leave as they came, with their weapons and on their bikes, into the night.
This happens in the home-district and the political-bastion of the country’s President, and just a few miles away from his family home.
Had we read this story in the foreign news pages, we would have concluded that such an incident can happen only in a god-forsaken land, in the throes of violent anarchy; or that the attack had the blessing of the said President: either a lawless land or a lawless President.
Is Sri Lanka a failed state or was the Katuwana attack done at the behest of the rulers?

Read More »

“Govt. is responsible if I’m assassinated” – Kolonnawa UC Chairman

Sunday, 24 June 2012

Chairman of the Kolonnawa Urban Council says that there is an attempt to assassinate after an attempt to abduct him was foiled and that the government would be responsible if he is assassinated.

Kolonnawa Urban Council Chairman Ravindra Udayashantha has made this comment to the Janarala newspaper.

“I have not received an appointment to meet the Defence Secretary although I sought a meeting with him after the attempt to abduct me. I tried to meet the President, but failed. According to information received from the security units, my life is in grave danger. Friends in the defence establishment say that I should not walk on the roads since they are trying to kill me after abducting and killing my brother…

“The Alliance government has not won the Kolonnawa electorate since 1969, but I changed this situation. I won this electorate for the government. But this is how the government is treating me…

“I was given four police personnel for my security after the attempt to abduct me. Two of them have now been withdrawn. The two security personnel have been given to me to travel from my home to the Urban Council,” the Chairman has further said.

The Medamulana-Doctrine And A Brave New Sri Lanka

June 23, 2012
Seriously, would the Rajapaksas, with their security-mania, remain sanguine, if their home turf is being menaced by a bunch of killers, independent of their control?