Forces Rugby: The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same

By Emil van der Poorten -

August 16, 2012 

Emil van der Poorten

(In case anyone looking at what transpired at the August 12th, 2012 rugby match between the Kandy Sports Club and the Sri Lanka Navy Team, here’s what I contributed to a Sunday newspaper on the 10^th of July 2011, more than a year ago)

Less than a year ago, on the 1^st of August 2010, the Sunday Leader published a column of mine that was titled, “A Damned Disgrace.”  It dealt with the travesty of a rugby match that was the Kandy Sports Club vs Sri Lanka Air Force semi-final held at Bogambara in Kandy.  More disgraceful even than what transpired on the rugby pitch was the response of Roshan Goonetilleke and the Sri Lanka Rugby Foothall Union’s Interim Committee of the time when it chose to totally ignore the facts and do nothing about it.

On the afternoon of Sunday the 3^rd of July, 2011, several busloads of Sri Lanka Air Force supporters, all of them Airmen, arrived at the Kandy Sports Club grounds in Nittawela,  in two contingents, some in “civvies” and others in what I’d term “off-duty uniforms,” consisting of blue trousers, blue shirts of a different hue, and Air Force caps.

Most of those in “civvies” forced themselves into the grounds without buying tickets, intimidating those manning the gates.  They then proceeded to mix in with theKandysupporters who, waving flags and cheering in orthodox fashion, were only too evident.

 Read More

Rugby Under Revised (Rajapaksa) Rules

By Emil van der Poorten -August 16, 2012

Mahinda and sons/ File photo

Let me add a few more relevant facts to the disgraceful scenario depicted by reports appearing in the media since the violence perpetrated by navy personnel on Sunday August 12^th in Kandy when the Kandy Sports Club played the Navy Sports Club in what was supposed to be a rugby match.

1.     The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union has, at last, displayed something resembling a backbone and banned, for two years, the referee who deliberately cheated for the Upcountry (aka Nawalapitiya) Lions in their first round game against the Army, thereby eliminating the latter team from the second round of the national rugby competition and elevating the former to that virtual “play-off.” However, the totally skewed result of that match stands because according to International Rugby Board rules, the result of a game cannot be reversed!

2.     Now that the Navy has lost to Kandyin the first honestly- and fairly- refereed game of this season, the rumours swirling around the hill country are that the Upcountry (aka Nawalapitiya) Lions have been instructed to “throw” this coming weekend’s game against the Navy, enabling the Navy to keep their chances alive. It is one of the more poorly-kept secrets in this country as to who completely controls the Upcountry (aka Nawalapitiya) Lions.  Therefore, there is little doubt as to what the outcome of this week-end’s game is going to be!

3.     A host of spectators who were trying to escape the post-game violence  last Sunday have been arrested by the police and are being charged despite the fact that there is irrefutable (video) evidence that this entire criminal activity was begun and perpetrated by the 1200 navy supporters, brought in 60 buses, garbed in civilian clothes for reasons best known to the Navy and whose tickets were purchased from the Kandy Sports Club by the Sri Lanka Navy out of public funds.  At time of writing, there are several newspaper reports of Kandy residents still warded in area hospitals due to the injuries inflicted upon them by navy personnel.  Yet, not one member of the Navy has been detained, leave alone charged, for their criminal behaviour!

4.     Last year, in response to what was happening every time the Air Force or Navy teams played in Kandy- irrespective of whether it was at Nittawela or Bogambara – the Kandy Municipal Council passed an UNANIMOUS vote of condemnation of the behavior of the service teams and those in charge of them, asking that this be stopped by those in authority.  Obviously, the head of the Navy has not thought fit to take the action required in this connection.  Instead, all the evidence points in the opposite direction!

This is no longer a matter concerning rugby players and their supporters.  It has become a national travesty of justice and the general public needs to raise its voice in protest against yet another instance of rampant 

Agenda for Women’s Rights

THURSDAY, 16 AUGUST 2012 
Co-holder of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Leymah Gbowee ,documentary film maker Abigail Disney, UNP MP Rosy Senanayake, women’s’ rights activist Visaka Dharmadasa took part in a  press conference held today to announce the launch of an Agenda on Women’s Rights. Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana

Vavuniya prison attack| File Photo

Sri Lanka 'must seek' UN help over deadly prison violence

15 August 2012
Activists have held protest rallies across Sri Lanka
By Charles Haviland
Human rights activists in Sri Lanka say the government must seek UN help in investigating serious violence in jails which has resulted in the deaths of two Tamil prisoners.
The second inmate died last week after more than a month in a coma. Activists blame the deaths on the government.
But officials deny responsibility.

The violence in late June started when about 30 prisoners suspected of links with Tamil Tiger rebels took three guards hostage.

The ensuing siege lasted for 19 hours before it was broken.

Civil rights activists say the inmates were then assaulted by prison authorities both before and after their transfers to other jails.

One prisoner, Ganesan Nimalaruban, died a few days later while another, Mariadas Dilrukshan, succumbed to his injuries after several weeks in a coma.

'Brutal' treatment

A group of 28 human rights activists have now issued a statement blaming the government for his death, which they say was caused by torture.

"We, the civil society, have lost confidence in domestic mechanisms in being able to deal with such situations," they write.

They call on the government to appoint an inquiry commission under the control of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The BBC was unable to reach the head of Sri Lanka's prison service for comment. A police spokesman declined to react, saying a post-mortem on Mr Dilrukshan was pending.

The government said earlier that Mr Nimalaruban died from a heart attack.

Opposition activists have demonstrated in the northern city of Jaffna, where Mr Dilrukshan's funeral took place on Saturday.

They shouted slogans such as "Don't kill Tamils!" and "Arrest the killers of political prisoners!"

Reports say that until Mr Dilrukshan was seriously injured in June, his parents had had no clue as to his whereabouts since his arrest several years earlier.

Tamil lawmaker V Anandasangaree described the treatment of the prisoners as "very brutal and far beyond justification".

Media coverage of the episodes has highlighted Sri Lanka's ethnic faultlines.

Sinhala-language media have tended to describe the prisoners as "terrorists", while Tamil-language outlets have termed them "political prisoners".

Syria: Fighter Planes Strike Aleppo Hospital

Government Rocket Attacks Over Two Days Kill Four Civilians, Wound Five

• 
  
  Dar al Shifaa Hospital in Aleppo, clearly marked with red crescents, was attacked by Syrian government aircraft on August 12 and 14, 2012, killing four civilians and wounding five.
  © 2012 Rachel Beth Anderson for Human Rights Watch

• 
  The upper floors of Dar al Shifaa Hospital in Aleppo were badly damaged in government rocket attacks on August 12 and 14, 2012.
  © 2012 Rachel Beth Anderson for Human Rights Watch

• 
  Tail remnants from S-5 rockets that hit Dar al Shifaa Hospital in Aleppo on August 12 and 14, 2012.
  © 2012 Rachel Beth Anderson for Human Rights Watch

RELATED MATERIALS: 

Syria: Aleppo Civilians at Great Risk

Fighter jet attacks on a hospital twice in three days indicate that this was no accident. By firing rockets at a clearly marked hospital, the government shows blatant disregard for civilian lives.

Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher

(Aleppo) – Syrian government fighter planes fired rockets that struck the main emergency hospital in an opposition-controlled area of Aleppo on August 14, 2012, wounding two civilians and causing significant damage, Human Rights Watch said today after visiting the damaged hospital.

A rocket attack by government aircraft on the hospital two days earlier, on August 12, apparently killed four civilians and wounded three, Human Rights Watch said.

“Fighter jet attacks on a hospital twice in three days indicate that this was no accident,” said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “By firing rockets at a clearly marked hospital, the government shows blatant disregard for civilian lives.”

Human Rights Watch visited the Dar al Shifaa Hospital, in the Sha’ar neighborhood of Aleppo, about one hour after the August 14 attack, and examined the physical damage and rocket remnants. Hospital staff told Human Rights Watch that no opposition fighters were deployed at the hospital at the time of the two attacks, and only several armed hospital guards were providing security. Human Rights Watch saw no signs of opposition military activity in or around the hospital building.

The hospital is an established medical facility and clearly marked with a red crescent emblem on the front.

Hospital medical staff told Human Rights Watch that government aircraft attacked the hospital and a nearby school at about 3 p.m. on August 14. Three or four rockets hit the upper floors of the seven-story hospital, they said. On August 12, government aircraft hit the hospital with six rockets in a similar attack, hospital staff said.

On the fourth floor of the hospital, Human Rights Watch saw the tail remnants from about a dozen S-5 rockets. These rockets are fired from aircraft with a range of three to four kilometers.

Full Story>>

Rehabilitate Sri Lankan Tamils: Jayalalithaa

August 16, 2012

Chief minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday urged the Centre to pressurise Sri Lanka to ensure rehabilitation of internally displaced Tamils back in their original settlement ‘at least now’ and also devolve equal powers on par with the Sinhalese.

Unfurling the national flag on the 66th Independence Day celebrations at the historic Fort St George on Wednesday, Ms Jayalalithaa said, “At a time when we are celebrating Independence Day, our Tamil brethren in Sri Lanka are suffering in relief camps in that country.”

“The Centre should at least now compel the Sri Lankan government to take steps and ensure that Tamils, housed in relief camps, are sent back to their places of origin by devolving equal powers on par with the Sinhalese,” she said.

In her nearly 20-minute address, the chief minister listed out the achievements of the 15-month-old AIADMK regime and numerous schemes launched by her since her government assumed office in May 2011. Ms Jayalalithaa said her government had set several records on various fronts.

“As far as agriculture is concerned, foodgrain production has shot up to 106 lakh metric tonnes in 2011-12 from 76 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11,” she said.

Tamils protest in Jaffna against the deaths of political prisoners

  15 August 2012

Photograph Twitter @rkguruparan

Protesters gathered by Jaffna bus stand, demanding justice to the murdered Tamil political prisoners - Nimalaroopan and Dilrukshan.
See here for report on Uthayan.
Despite the presence of police officers and intelligence officers within and around the crowd, protesters gathered in this morning. Shouting slogans such as “the deaths of Nimalaroopan and Dilrukshan need justice”, and “we’ll send the murderous regime home”, protesters  held banners and placards demanding that the those responsible be punished.

Photographs Uthayan

The protest was organised by the TNPF (Tamil National People’s Front), and was endorsed by a wide cohort of other parties including the TNA and the Democratic People’s Front.

Slogan reads “Don’t they have a right to life? Dilrukshan and Nimalaroopan

Slogan reads - “Justice is needed, justice is needed. The massacre of Nimalaroopan and Dilrukshan needs justice”

அரசியற் கைதிகளின் மரணத்தைக் கண்டித்து யாழ்.நகரில் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம்

 வவுனியா சிறையில் தாக்குதலுக்கு இலக்காகி மரணமடைந்த அரசியல் கைதிகளான நிமலரூபன் மற்றும் டெல்றொக்சன் ஆகியோர் படுகொலைகளைக் கண்டித்து தமிழ் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணியின் எற்பாட்டில் தமிழ் அரசியல் கட்சிகளினால் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் ஒன்று யாழ்.நகரில் நடாத்தப்பட்டது.

ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டவர்கள் நீதி வேண்டும் நீதி வேண்டும் “நிமலரூபன் டெல்றொக்சனின் படுகொலைக்கு நீதிவேண்டும்”, ‘வீட்டுக்கு அனுப்புவோம் கொலைவெறி அரசை வீட்டுக்கு அனுப்புவோம்”, “கருணாவும் பிள்ளையானும் சிம்மாசனத்தில் அப்பாவி நிமலரூபன் கொலைக்களத்தில், உயிர்வாழ உரிமை இல்லையா?” “ஜனநாயக மனித உரிமைகளை மிதிக்காதே” போன்ற சுலோக அட்டைகளை ஏந்தியவாறும் சிறையில் உள்ள கைதிகளை விடுதலை செய், எங்கள் நிலங்களில் எங்களை வாழவிடு போன்ற கோசங்களை எழுப்பி தமது கண்டனங்களை வெளிப்படுத்தினர். 

இவர்கள் இருவரது கொலைகளைக் கண்டித்தும் ஏனைய தமிழ் அரசியற் கைதிகளை விடுவிக்க வலியுறுத்தியும்  சர்வதேசத்தின் கவனத்திற்குக் கொண்டு வரும் நோக்கில் இப் போராட்டம் நடாத்தப்பட்டது.

இதன் போது தமிழ் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு, தமிழ் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணி, ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணி, ஐக்கிய சோசலியசக் கட்சி,நவசமாசக் கட்சி, புதிய ஜனநாயக மாக்சிச லெனினிசக் கட்சி மற்றும்   ஆகியன   அரசியல் அமைப்புக்கள் என்ற ரீதியிலும், அவர்களுடன் அரசியற் கைதிகளின் உறவினர்களும் இப் போராட்டத்திற்கு வலுச்சேர்த்தனர்.

இதில் தமிழ் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுபினர்களான சுரேஸ் பிரேமச்சந்திரன், ஈ, சரவணபவன், சிறீதரன் ஆகியோரும், தமிழ் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணி சார்பில் கஜேந்திரகுமார், கஜேந்திரன், ஜனநாயக மக்கள் முன்னணியின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் மனோகணேசன், அத்துடன் ஐக்கிய சோசலிசக் கட்சியின் உறுப்பினர் தம்மிக்க சில்வா, அரசியல் கைதிகளை விடுவிப்பதற்கான அமைப்பு உறுப்பினரான ஹென்றிக் காமினி யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக ஆசிரியர் சங்கத் தலைவர் அ.இராசகுமாரன் முன்னாள் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சிவாஜிலிங்கம் உட்பட பொதுமக்கள்  பலர் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

இவ் ஆர்ப்பாட்டமானது இன்று முற்பகல் 11 மணிக்கு ஆரம்பமாகி 12 மணியளவில் நிறைவு பெற்றது.அத்துடன் கட்சிகளின் முக்கிய உறுப்பினர்கள் கருத்துக்களையும் வழங்கியிருந்தனர். 

அத்துடன் இன்றைய தினம் நடைபெற்ற இவ் ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தின் போது யாழ். பொலிஸ் நிலையப் பொறுப்பதிகாரி உள்ளிட்ட அதிகாரிக்ள் சிலர் மக்களோடு மக்களாக நின்று நடைபெறும் ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தை பார்த்துக் கொண்டு இருந்ததனைப் அவதானிக்க முடிந்தது.

எனினும் இராணூவம் மற்றும் பொலிஸ் பிரசன்னம் பார்ப்பதற்கு குறைக்கப்பட்டது போல் வெளியில் தெரிந்தாலும் மக்களோடு மக்களாக புலனாய்வுத்துறையினர் அதிகமானவர்கள் சம்பவ இடத்தில் பிரசன்னமாகியிருந்தனர்.

எனினும் வவுனியா விளக்கமறியல் சிறைச்சாலையில் கடந்த யூன் மாதம் 29ஆம் திகதி ஏற்பட்ட அசம்பாவிதத்தை அடுத்து  சிறைச்சாலை அதிகாரிகளும் விசேட அதிரடிப்படையினரும் இணைந்து கைதிகள் மீது நடாத்திய கண்மூடித்தனமாக தாக்குதலை மேற்கொண்டிருந்தனர்.

அதில் படுகாயங்களுக்குள்ளாகிய கைதிகள் அநுராதபுரம் சிறைக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டு அங்கு சிறை அதிகாரிகளது சப்பாத்துக்களை நக்குமாறு கூறி மீண்டும் தாக்கப்பட்டனர்.

அதனையடுத்து இவர்கள் அனைவரும் மகர சிறைக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டனர். தாக்குதலுக்குள்ளான 38 கைதிகளில் நிமலரூபன் மோசமான அடிகாயங்களுக்கு உள்ளாகி ராகமை வைத்தியசாலையில் மரணத்தைத் தழுவிக் கொண்டான்.

அவனது மரணத்திற்கு சாட்சியாக இவனது கால்கள் முறிக்கப்பட்டு உடல்எங்கும் அடிகாயங்கள் இருக்கும் போது  இவன் மாரடைப்பில் இறந்ததாக அரசு கூறிவருகின்றது. இது அப்பட்டமான பொய். தொடர்ந்து அவனது இறுதிக் கிரிகைகளுக்குக் கூட அரசு அவர்களது பெற்றோரை சுதந்திரமாக செயற்படவிடவில்லை என்பது யாவரும் அறிந்த உண்மை.

அதுபோல மோசமான தாக்குதலுக்கு இலக்காகி ஒன்றரை மாதங்களாக ராகமை வைத்தியசாலையில் கோமா நிலையில்  இருந்த டெல்றொக்சன் கடந்த 8ஆம் திகதி மரணடைந்தான். எனினும் வைத்தியசாலையில் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வரும் போது கூட இவனது கால்கள் கங்கிலியால் கட்டப்பட்டே இருந்தது.

மரணப் படுக்கையில் இருக்கும் ஒருவருக்கு அரசு இவ்வாறு செய்திருந்த செயல் மிருகத்தனமானது என்பது குறிப்பி டத்தக்கது.

The Politics Of India’s Relationship With Sri Lanka: What India Really Wants

By Kath Noble -August 15, 2012

Kath Noble

While Tamil Nadu is fixated with the politics of India’s relationship with Sri Lanka, as was amply demonstrated by the hullabaloo over the conference of the Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation in Chennai on August 12th, the rest of the country has been focusing on rather different issues.

The August 2nd to 5th visit to Colombo of Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma brought with it announcements of several major developments on the economic front. He spoke of doubling bilateral trade to $10 billion per year by 2015, plus a considerable increase in investment and the resumption of negotiations on the much-postponed CEPA. Meanwhile, a 20-member delegation of India’s top business leaders were holding talks with their Sri Lankan counterparts, and more than 100 companies were showing off their wares at the India Show organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry at BMICH.

Of course, economics is not apolitical. Indeed, making the Sri Lankan economy more dependent on India has often been suggested by Indian analysts as a means by which New Delhi can acquire greater leverage over the Government.

However, Sri Lanka is already economically vulnerable, with around 60% of its exports going to the West. We have seen the follies of such dependence in the last few years as demand from Western countries has fallen with the Global Financial Crisis and subsequent recession. And during the war, we saw the potential political impact when trade preferences under their GSP schemes came up for renewal – both the European Union and the United States attempted to use the opportunity to push for their preferred policies, never mind what the Sri Lankan public wanted. A more balanced export profile would reduce these problems. Anyway, only 15% of Sri Lankan exports go to Asia, and with the region likely to continue growing faster than Western nations for decades to come, Sri Lanka really ought to be thinking about where it wants its markets to be.

Read More

Ven. Sobitha Thero to contest the Presidential election

Wednesday, 15 August 2012 

A group of opposition activists are working towards making the chief incumbent f the Kotte Naga Vihara, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero as the Common Opposition candidate at the next Presidential election.

It is learnt that former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, a group of UNPers and intellectuals have expressed their support to this political operation.

The group of activists is looking at putting forward Ven Sobitha Thero to abolish the Executive Presidency, establish a fair and just society and a law abiding administration. Discussions to get the support of the UNP, JVP and the JHU for this move are to commence shortly.

A 10 point programme for the purpose has already been drafted under the supervision of Ven. Sobitha Thero.

The 10 point programme includes areas like building a pious governing system, a social administration that is transparent and responsible to the people, an economy that builds the nation, protection to women and children, a disciplined society, a people friendly rule, upliftment of the clergy, develop the education and health sectors. The programme is subject to amendments following discussions with opposition political parties.

Women in aftermath of war

TUESDAY, 14 AUGUST 2012

Pix by Pradeep Pathirana

Peace activist Lillian Wald once said that women, more than men, have the ability to strip war of its glamour - its outdated heroisms, patriotisms and perceive it for what it really is; a demon of destruction and hideous wrong.

Sitting on the rough, mud thatched door ledge of her little shelter, Nadaraja Letchchami’ (31) has her eyes fixed on the horizon, as if in a trance. Her trail of thought shatters as her son hugs her. Cuddling up to her warmth, his tiny arms around her neck he asks, “Amma, ende appa engey? (Mummy, where is daddy?)”. After almost three years of whipping-up stories of his father’s whereabouts, Letchchami has now run out of answers.

Letchchami and her husband Wilson Nadaraja never shared a regular life. As if spending every second of their lives in mortal fear wasn’t enough, Nadaraja received orders to join the liberation battle when Letchchami was expecting her son.  “He never thought twice about joining the LTTE because either ways he knew it would end in death,” she said.

She gets up and walks into her little shack and comes out with a laminated photograph. It is an image of a young man and a young girl possibly in her teens, coyly posing against a studio backdrop. She says it’s the only picture of them together; the only memoir of the father of their only son. “The last I saw of my husband was in Wanni. When the battles grew fierce we decided we had to flee. My husband arranged for my son and myself, to travel and went to my mother-in-law’s house to help her. We agreed to meet in Trincomalee,” Letchchami says. But they had not reunited as promised.  

Today, Letchchami lives with her four-year-old son in a little shack they have built for themselves in the backwoods of Kilinochchi. She works as a seamstress. They had left the IDP camp last year and during the release, she had received Rs. 25,000 for the construction of the shack and sanitation facilities and dry rations sufficient for nine months. “But once the rations ran out, the assurance of a daily meal was little. Now I work extra so that my son and I can have a good life,” she says; an innocent smile lighting up her face.  

The little one, without a grapple with the harsh realities around him does not wish to be bothered by the qualms of the adult world. He carefully takes the photograph which Letchchami holds and hugs it. Life is hard without her husband, Letchchami says, but she is not willing to give up her fight to find him. “I have visited every possible government establishment to get information about my husband and yet I still haven’t been able to know whether he is dead or alive. I’ve been told to forget, to give up hope. But I know that he is alive, I know he will come for us someday,” Letchchami says with certainty.

This young woman is one of the many imprints left by the conflict. With no stable income or financial assistance and a child to take care of, Letchchami represents the plight of the hundreds of young widows in the North, living in the depths of poverty. She has no plans or ideas for her child’s future, but eagerly awaits her husband’s return – which may or may not happen in her lifetime.

Robbed of their land                                                               Read more... 

Sri Lanka extends power cuts after China-built plant fails again

Wed Aug 15, 2012 

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka increased the duration of daily power cuts by an hour on Wednesday, unable to meet demand after a newly built Chinese power plant failed and an extended drought severely hit hydropower production.

The island nation, which has long boasted of uninterrupted power supply, ordered cuts last month after the 300-megawatt (MW) Norochcholai coal plant in the northwest failed for a fifth time since it was commissioned in March last year.

The problem was further compounded by a drought since March that has knocked out 85 percent of hydropower generation, the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.

It extended nationwide power cuts to three hours and 20 minutes each day.

"It is mainly because of very bad situation in hydro power generation and due to the breakdown in the coal plant," Anura Wijepala, deputy head of CEB, said.

With the coal plant failure, the country lost 16 percent of its capacity to meet peak demand of 1.88 gigawatts (GW), the utility said.

The plant was repaired last month, but another technical failure on August 8 forced it to shut it down. CEB said the plant was not performing up to standards.

China has loaned $450 million for the first phase of the coal plant and another $891 million for the second phase, which is due to be completed by July 2014 when the plant is expected to generate 900 MW.

Sri Lanka has total electricity generating capacity of 3.1 GW, but hydro power's normal output of 1.2 GW has been cut by more than 1 GW due to the latest drought.

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

INDIA: The Independence Day speech they would never deliver!

August 15, 2012

One in three malnourished child on this planet is Indian, the Hunger and Malnutrition Report said (© AHRC File Photo)

Avinash Pandey

There is nothing amiss here. The nation is in celebratory mode and it is celebrating with aplomb. The national flag, the tricolour, is everywhere: being waved in the hands of children, tattooed on the cheeks of enthusiastic youth, flying high on the walls. And, it has, for a change, ensured a full meal to the street children selling it. The celebration is orchestrated to the last details of the ritual. It began, and has remained so, for more than six decades, with the Prime Minister hoisting the national flag on the ramparts of Red Fort, followed by his Independence Day speech.

The customary speech of the Prime Minister has taken into account the state of the nation. Everything that matters, as per the government's perception of course, has figured in it: the joys of progress it has made and the concerns it has are all there. The Prime Minister is happy that the internal security situation of the country has improved, including in a troubled area like Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, 'disturbed' areas like North-East, however, failed to find a mention. The Prime Minister voiced his concerns regarding the lack of political consensus slowing down the growth and vowed to 'do everything' to boost the economy. He called upon all stakeholders including the political parties to work together for 'reducing' corruption.

He promised to create new jobs and to expand the National Rural Health Mission all over India. He assured the villages living in darkness, in the era of information technology, of his will to connect them to electricity. Good intentions, indeed! Even better is that he knows, despite all the customary celebrations, real independence will come to India only when "we will be able to banish poverty, illiteracy, hunger and backwardness from our country." How we will do that, though, is something he chose not to discuss.

He would not want to, perhaps, for it is not for the first time that these problems have revealed themselves to him. He has talked about them many a-time. He devoted a full-paragraph to the problem of hunger in last year's Independence Day speech when he told his brothers and sisters that:

"Malnutrition in our women and children is a matter of concern for all of us. We have taken a number of steps to tackle this problem, including two new schemes. We have also decided that we will start implementing an improved Integrated Child Development Services scheme within the next six months so that the problem of malnutrition in children can be effectively addressed."

This, however, was not the first time he mentioned this either. He had assured the nation that the government was 'working for food safety and social security net' in 2010 as well. He has expressed his 'ardent desire' for not allowing that 'even a single citizen of India should ever go hungry.'

Mr. Singh had promised a food security law that would provide families living below the poverty line 'a fixed amount of food grains every month at concessional rates.' Resolving to root out malnutrition from the country, he seemed particularly candid that year. He pledged to bring all children below the age of 6 years under the protective cover of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) by March 2012. The date has come and gone without the government claiming success or explaining reasons behind failure. It could not, for none other than the President himself would have called the bluff in his acceptance speech.

Conceding that there was no 'humiliation more abusive than hunger', the new President Pranab Mukherjee was dead honest on his day. To add insult to the injury of his government's botching of the issue, Mr. Mukherjee added that 'trickle-down theories' did not 'address the legitimate aspirations of the poor.'

Judging by the Prime Minister's obsession with economic growth continuing unabated, that observation would seem intriguing to say the least. Unmistakably, the President and his government are not in the same boat. Not that the Prime Minister differs on the count of diagnosis of the disease, as he too claims to be ashamed of the fact that 42% Indian children are malnourished. He just seems unable to walk his talk.

The Prime Minister is very serious on corruption as well. It is just that for him such high rate of malnourishment among children is not a form of corruption in itself. This happens because of large-scale siphoning off from the funds earmarked for welfare initiatives like ICDS and Public Distribution System (PDS) bothers him even less. His stoic silence over his own government's role in bending the rules to help private entities minting money out of scams like 'humanitarian' export of non-Basmati rice to several African countries is proof enough for the fact. Yet, one would have to acknowledge that it takes some 'courage' to feed hungry of the world with million starving in one's own backyard.

As pointed out earlier, the government's lack of seriousness on the issue is betrayed by the fact that Prime Minister's National Council on Nutrition, set up with a definitive mandate of tackling malnutrition way back in 2008, has not met but once ever since. That not a single decision, taken in that single meeting, such as ‘revitalizing ICDS’, has ever been implemented is beside the point.

That the nation is well equipped to eradicate hunger merely aggravates the wound of India being home to hunger. There is no shortage of funds; after all, we are a country pursuing the project of sending a manned mission to moon. Neither is there any dearth of food grain. We have a buffer stock many a times bigger than we need, a significant amount of which rots for lack of storage capacities. In fact, the situation has alarmed the Supreme Court of India, directing the government to give the grains 'to hungry poor' instead of it 'going down the drain'.

The Prime Minister, ever serious for alleviating hunger in his Independence Day speeches, took no time to oppose the directive while curtly telling the Supreme Court not to 'get into the realm of policy formulation.' Thankfully, though, he did not elaborate on whether the policy formulation focused on keeping the poor hungry. This seems to be exactly the case, considering a subsequent decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approving the export of two million tonnes of wheat from Government stock, at subsidized rates, as fodder for livestock in the developed world.

Speeches matter more to the government than action. But then, the same is the case with the citizenry as well, isn't it? It would want to listen to an Independence Day speech announcing, in President Pranab Mukherjee's words, announcing the erasure of poverty from 'the dictionary of modern India.'

It would want to listen to the government announcing not only the development of another intercontinental ballistic missile but also a scheme that would cover all Indians, irrespective of their socioeconomic status, in a social security net.

But, they would, perhaps never, deliver that speech. For, doing so would require a radical restructuring of the republic and its institutions, which is something the deep, vested interests, entrenched in the system, would not want for the fear of losing power. It would require making the institutions, and people in power, responsible to the citizenry, which would unsettle the empire of corruption, vested interests have so painstakingly built. Therein lies the catch. A democracy can be nothing else but deficient with so many hungry stomachs. Superpowers do not run on hungry stomachs either.

Mr. Pandey, alias Samar is Programme Coordinator, Right to Food Programme, AHRC. He can be contacted at avinash.pandey@ahrc.asia

Sri Lanka: Sarath Fonseka’s Alanaskar dreams

Fonseka’s critique of Rajapaksa doesn’t come as a surprise. His call for an uprising however does. But by holding President Rajapaksa guilty for what all had gone wrong in terms of human rights on Wanni War front, Fonseka is diverting attention away from his own record as the army commander, who led the forces from the front. From his point of view, Rajapaksa having cornered the military glory to the exclusion of all others should face the music for rights abuses. Good logic from a persecuted person. The world may not see that way in the end.

By Malladi Rama Rao 

The ‘real’ hero of Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil Tigers, General Sarath Fonseka has outlined his plans in an interview to the British daily, The Daily Telegraph. This was his first major interview to a foreign daily since his release from jail in May. His call for an Arab Spring–style uprising and his no-holds barred attack on President Mahinda Rajapaksa show that he is in no mood to keep a low profile or buy peace with his tormentor.

Fonseka’s critique of Rajapaksa doesn’t come as a surprise. His call for an uprising however does. The depths of his frustration and anger are understandable, as he brands his betenoire as a dictator and demands his isolation internationally for human rights abuses.  

By holding President Rajapaksa guilty for what all had gone wrong in terms of human rights on Wanni War front, Fonseka is cleverly diverting attention away from his own record. As the army commander, who led the forces from the front, he cannot escape blame for brutalities that were heaped on unarmed civilians and persecution that the surrendering Tigers were made to face.

Full story

Sri Lanka opposition, businesses raise concern over SEC head resignation

Wed Aug 15, 2012 

* SEC chief to quit before Friday after coming under pressure

* Karunaratne resigns in 8 months after his predecessor quit

By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's main opposition party and a major business chamber raised concerns on Wednesday over the impending resignation of the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has been pushing for probes into alleged stock market manipulation.

Tilak Karunaratne said on Tuesday he would quit before Friday, after telling Reuters in an interview earlier in the week that he was under immense pressure to step down.

Karunarante said investors who were being investigated had made false allegations against him, but did not specify who was pressuring him to quit.

His decision comes barely eight months after his predecessor resigned amid broker complaints that tougher regulations were hurting stock prices.

During Karunaratne's term in office, he strengthened the investigation arm of the SEC, continued probes launched by the former SEC chief and launched a number of new investigations.

He called for investigations into a number of market malpractices, including so-called pump-and-dump deals in which investors are lured into apparently cut-price equities. Some of the probes have resulted in fines.

"The resignation of two SEC chairpersons within a period of less than one year will be viewed with concern by investors, corporates and other stakeholders," the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka's largest business body, said in a statement.

"An effective and stable regulatory framework is critical to ensure a robust and sustainable capital market, which delivers long term value to all stakeholders."

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said the immense pressure on the chairman to step down showed the government's failure in the financial market.

"Investors are losing confidence," Harsha de Silva, UNP's spokesman on economic affairs told reporters, adding that SEC's investigation power over market manipulations has been compromised by forcing its chief to step down.

"Who is trying to take that power away from the SEC? The chairman of the SEC himself says there is a mafia. That (mafia) has ultimately captured the regulator forcibly. They will implement SEC's powers as and when they want."

Sri Lanka's stock market has fallen nearly 19 percent since the start of the year, prompting assurances by the authorities that they were ready to make policy changes in an effort to revive the faltering market.

Last month, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the finance minister, met Karunaratne, high net worth investors and top Colombo Stock Exchange officials to discuss the persistent weakness in the market.

On Wednesday, the broader All-Share Price Index extended gains for a second day, rising 0.85 percent on buying of blue chips some select shares which have been under SEC investigations. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Kim Coghill)