FUTA president has been threatened again

Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri

( September 15, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) FUTA president Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri has been threatened again,this time with an implied death threat.A complaint has been lodged at the Cinnamon Gardens Police Station (complaint number Cib 300/114)This follows an incident which occurred yesterday, where nails were

placed on Nirmal’s tires while he was attending the meeting organized by the trade unions.

This is how academics who fight for education enhancement and people’s rights are being treated in our country.

VIDEO: MUSLIMS CLAMORING FOR SLMC TO SUPPORT TNA- SAMBANDAN

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today stated that a great deal of uncertainty prevails over many matters pertaining to the recently concluded Provincial Council election.

It is necessary to bring out the truth in regard to all aspects of the Provincial Council election and to ensure that same or similar things do not happen at future elections, TNA Leader R. Sambandan said.

“It is our submission that it was not a free and fair election,” he stated at a press conference.

The repeal of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution and the consequent annulment of the provisions pertaining to independent elections commission, public services commission and police commission facilitated and ensured that the ruling party was able “to have its own way” at the elections, he said.

There was intimidation, bribery, corruption, undue influence, misrepresentation and false propaganda, government resources were used as desired for the purpose of the election by the government, and various projects were either commenced or opened after the nomination in order “to influence the voter,” the Trincomalee District MP claimed.

He alleged that all these matters cumulatively ensured that the government was able to “steal a bare, alleged victory”.

On the issue of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and its crucial allegiance to form an administration in the Eastern Province, Mr Sambandan said the Muslim people who voted for the SLMC demand that it supports the TNA.

He stated that SLMC Leader and Minister Rauf Hakeem had publicly said that he would be ashamed to contest under the betel (UPFA) symbol and that he is happy he contested under the symbol of the tree (SLMC).

“He criticized the government. And the Muslim people voted for him only for the reason that he opposed the government at the election,” he stressed.

The Muslim people are now clamoring that the SLMC must not support the government but must join the TNA in the formation of the administration of the Eastern Provincial Council, Mr Sambandan said.

There was an anxiety to have a Muslim chief minister and the TNA has offered that position to the SLMC. “We stand by that offer,” he declared.

The TNA, SLMC and UNP have collectively obtained 22 seats out of the 37 total membership of the Eastern Province.

He said the three parties that oppose the governing party at the elections have an overwhelming majority and that the ruling UPFA, which has only 15 seats, is therefore not in a position to command the majority in the Eastern Provincial Council.

“And if they can’t command a majority in the Eastern Provincial Council, they can stake no claim to form the government.”

He stated that the TNA’s position is that, the parties which opposed the ruling government during the election must “stay together” and form the government in the Eastern Provincial Council. 

Lanka Killing Fields

'Systematic Sinhalisation in Jaffna, Mullaitivu' - Tamil politicians

Lanka Killing Fields 

In the name of keeping the security tight in the former war zones, the government of Sri Lanka “is systematically Sinhalising the traditional fishing livelihood of the war-ravaged Tamils in the northern Jaffna and north-eastern Mullaitivu districts”, a top political party leader has said.

Speaking to media after undertaking a fact-finding field visit to the former war zones of Mullaitivu, Vadamaradchchi east, Kokkilai and Naayaru areas, former MP and leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has said that the motive of this systematic campaign was to “eliminate the very existence of the traditional Tamil nation as a whole”.

“While preventing the war-affected Tamil people from carrying out fishing livelihood in their native places, the government and the security forces have established systematic Sinhala settlements in these areas and allowed them to carryout fishing at their will with full protection,” former MP Ponnambalam said.

Recalling that the Tamils have been carrying out fishing traditionally in the seas from Amparai to Vadamaradchchi east as their major livelihood for several hundred years, he said that the government “under the guise of national security, has largely curtailed the routine activities of the people in these areas and purposefully deprived them of their livelihood”.
Systematic Sinhala colonisations
Giving details of the newly established Sinhala settlements along these coastal areas, he said that over 300 Sinhala fishing families have been permanently settled in the Naayaru area alone.

“As of 1960 Census of population, only 35 Sinhala families were allowed to do fishing temporarily - that too during a specific season of every year in the Kokkilai areas. But during our visit we were able to witness over 300 Sinhalese fishing families being permanently settled along the coastal belt to carryout fishing. Of this, about 200 families have been officially registered as permanent residents of this area.

Calling it “nothing but a systematic campaign to decimate very existence of the Tamil nation,” Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam invited all Tamil political forces to jointly fight for the rights of these “helpless people”.

Commenting on the issue, Jaffna District Parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Suresh K. Premachandran said that the situation was the same even when their party members undertook visits to Kokkilai, Kokkuthoduvai, Chemmalai, Naayaru and Mullaitivu just two months ago.
Erection of Buddha statues and land grabs in North
He said that the issues of Sinhala colonisation, settlement of Sinhala fishing families, land grabs, establishing Buddhist Temples in private lands and further expanding military cantonments are at its peak in these areas,” he said.

“Last week, a statue of Lord Buddha was unveiled in Kanakarayankum. The military can do anything in these areas and they are not answerable to anybody. Those who highlight these issues in the media or take it up with the members of the international community are intimidated and threatened. We don’t see any effort to stop such activities aiming bridge the gab with the Sinhala brethrens,” the Jaffna District MP said.

A new pattern of religion-based violence could be noticed elsewhere in the country with the saffron-robed Sinhala radical Buddhist monks staging violent protests for the removal of Hindu temples and Mosques.

On September 01, an annual chariot festival of a famous Hindu temple in Dambulla in the Central Matale district was forced to abandon due to a strong protest by the powerful Buddhist clergies in the area. According to reports from Colombo, the local police had told the Hindu devotees they would not be able to guarantee their safety if they were to still go ahead with the planned chariot festival ceremony against protest by the Buddhist monks in the area.

This has come barely a couple of days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa at an election rally in the Muslim predominated Kalmunai town in the eastern province, assured that he would not allow anybody to disrupt or destroy places of worship.

President is well aware

“The President says something for the public consumption, but in practice you could see Lord Buddha statues being unveiled virtually in every few hundred meters in Jaffna. He is encouraging such activities and has not taken any step to stop them. It is a fact that the Mosques are being destroyed and new Buddhist temples are being erected. Lands belonging to Muslims are being grabbed in the East while lands belonging to Tamils are being grabbed in the North”.

“These are open secrets and the President is well aware of what has been going on. It is a complete lie to say nothing of that sort is happening. I reiterate here that this government is working hard on eliminating all the historic and traditional Tamil identities systematically. All Tamil forces should work together to stop this while efforts should be made to mount international pressure on this government to arrest this dangerous trend,” MP Premachandran said.

Photo courtesy: Tamilnet

STUDENTS TAKE A STAND...

September 14, 2012

A collective of student unions of the Colombo University on Thursday (Sep. 13) held a protest in front of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in support of the trade union action launched by lecturers and demanding authorities to resolve the issue and recommence teaching activities. (Pic by Manjula Charantha)

Is a “Single-Issue” approach feasible?

15 SEPTEMBER 2012   -BY KUMAR DAVID
To say it in a few words for the sake of those who may not have noticed it, there has been some interest in the idea of a “single-issue” (SI) challenge to incumbent president Mahinda Rajapakse. What SI means is a challenge, supported by a broad spectrum of society, by a candidate whose manifesto is a clear-cut commitment to abolish the Executive Presidency (EP), steer the subsequent and necessary constitutional changes to put a new system in place (say a parliamentary system), and after that; “Bye-bye, I’m off. Forget it, screw-you, I’m not going to hang around and run the country for the next five or six years”.

I think this can all be done within a year; some people I have discussed with say it can be done in a few months if the SI manifesto sketches the framework of the proposed new constitutional system. Once the people grant a mandate it’s a task for the legal draughtsman. OK, maybe am I oversimplifying a bit? We engineers tend to see the central issue and we are not as cleaver as lawyers, social scientists and historians; but ordinary folk understand us better than the “on the one hand, but on the other hand” googly bowlers. So are you with me on the SI concept? Everything else, including details of design and choice of candidate, are on the table and open for discussion.

Why the SI approach?

Why am I pushing SI so hard? There are two reasons; the executive presidency (EP) is not just a bad system by and of itself, it is the root and cause of the tragedy underlying the degeneration of Lankan society. I shouldn’t expend digital bytes expounding what everyone knows. Law and order, interference with the judiciary, Attorney General, Bribery Commission, SEC and every government department and corporation, cover up of murders and drug peddlers, white van abductions and killings; yes the impunity with which all this is done has its roots in the Executive Presidency. So SI is not merely a campaign to abolish the EP and put a parliamentary system in place, no it’s also about striking a blow against this whole mountain of iniquities. Am I pressing my case hard? Sure, every prophet bellowed and thundered!

The second reason is that a minimalist programme will win the widest base. If you add or subtract devolution, you will correspondingly lose blinkered Sinhalese or angry Tamils. If you want a socialist or capitalist economic programme, you will correspondingly lose the business lobby or my left comrades. You want an anti-China or anti-Western foreign policy slant, you will lose the rathu sahodarayo or the English educated elite, respectively. So forget it; if you want the widest possible mobilisation to be rid of EP and Mahinda, focus on a SI approach. Do the other things at the ensuing parliamentary elections.

Laksiri Fernando argues as follows in ‘Need for Peaceful Regime Change’ in the Island of 6 September: “But a single issue might not be the best approach. There are so many issues that a regime change should entail. There are valid arguments that a regime change per se is not enough”. He goes on to say that even a system change (a new constitutional system) may not be enough because there are so many issues in our rotting socio-political ethos that have to be corrected.

Of course abolishing the EP is not a magic bullet which will transform all of society in a trice and wipe out corruption, power abuse and bad governance all in one fell sweep and forever. But today we must fight the battle most crucial for today, and then on the morrow grapple with the challenges that will unavoidably surface on the morrow. If instead of focusing on the most urgent and doable tasks of the moment, we address the broadest of programmatic challenges, we will only achieve the narrowest of mobilisations. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” said the Biblical scribe who must have been a bit of a political theorist. I strategise that a single-issue focus, bearing in mind and not forgetting the tasks of the morrow, is the way to go; Laksiri seems to favour a broad programmatic approach from day one. This will blunt the cutting edge.

Identifying candidates is not a priority

Identifying a candidate is not an immediate priority; get all communities and all organisations on board first. Nevertheless I have found that people simply buttonhole you, they insist on talking about “who”, so I cannot avoid some preliminary remarks. In my view Sajith and Karu are non starters; even before they are out of the starting blocks Mahinda would have crossed the finish line. Chandrika and Sarath Silva have degraded their reputations, so forget about them. General SF has had his day and is past his use-by date even if legal impediments can be overcome; if he runs Mahinda will win by a larger margin than last time. That leaves only Ranil of the known horses and donkeys; he will give a fair fight and lose by a non-landslide margin; but face it, Ranil cannot break Mahinda’s rural and urban petty-bourgeois vote bank.

Then there are my comrades on the sectarian left who have wet-dreams about Bahu, Siritunga, Keerthi or some such Trot. Look, this time its serious, I only have time to talk to adults and I refuse to even discuss with these promoters. The big boys have come out to play, time for small boys to go away and play with their marbles.

It is in this context that the name of Maduluwewa Sobitha Thero has surfaced and I can see a movement building up to promote his candidature. I am prepared to support him provided he will declare a single-issue platform. My reasons; if he promises to abolish EP and get out, he can be trusted to keep his word unlike all the others named above; so I am told by those who know him well. Secondly, he can mobilise a broad coalition around the single-issue manifesto, and thirdly, he can defeat Mahinda.

Is there a downside with his candidature? Some of my left friends say that he had a Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinist track record in the late 1980s; I am trying to learn more. If he is not prepared to endorse devolution of power to the minorities in his manifesto, it will indeed be problematic. Though it can be said that the attitude of a single-issue candidate to the national question, economic policy, foreign relations or anything else, is irrelevant, this is not the end of the story.

Once the EP is abolished the person will go home and play no further role in running the country; so what does his policy stance on any of these issues matter, one could ask? This is true and this is the strength of a single-issue candidate and underlines the prospect of drawing upon a wide support base, nevertheless public perceptions of the candidate’s stance on the national question will matter. The reason is that though a single-issue candidate, his outlook on the NQ will influence the subsequent constitutional amendments. The NQ is a constitutional matter unlike socio-economic or foreign policy and the victor’s views on the NQ, though unrelated to abolishing the EP, will sform an unwritten mandate.

Can Mahinda be panicked to expend himself?

People have raised with me the interesting possibility that Mahinda, if panicked by a tide of single-issue mobilisation, may be compelled to dump the EP before the elections. Great, that’s fine by me! We can thereafter think about the parliamentary manifesto; remember my response to Laksiri about the tasks of the morrow. If we can panic Mahinda and get EP abolished right now let’s pump up the panic and dump down the EP. The government already has the necessary two-thirds majority and can carry the needed constitutional amendments with ease. It must be done NOW not in term-three! Both Chandrika and Mahinda are proven liars on this matter and only a raving idiot will ever trust either of them again.

And no 'jilmarts' about reformed presidencies or executive prime ministers – be prepared to shoot down every sibling cunning and Rajapakse trick. If however after abolishing the EP, Mahinda wishes to lead the UPFA in a parliamentary campaign to become PM, sure mate, go ahead; you, Ranil, Somawansa, the whole blithering lot have every right to try!

Prof. Kumar David, an engineering academic and a marxist scholar, is the Former Dean of Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a regular columnist for  Colombo based newspapers 'The Island' and 'Lakbima News'.

© JDS

Mervin’s Son And Keheliya’s Kehelmal*

 By Malinda Seneviratne -September 15, 2012 

Malinda Seneviratne

Malaka Silva, son of Mervin Silva, Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs is a thug.  He is rumored to be involved in drug trafficking but rumor is not fact.  If indeed he is, there is either a lack of information to warrant investigation or there’s pressure from above to keep things quiet or the investigation is being carried out in hush-hush ways.  It is rumored that the Army officer who was assaulted by Malaka and his thugs and who is known to be attached to the Army’s Intelligence Unit, was actually on duty investigating drug trafficking and drug traffickers. Those who will connect the dots will do so, but that’s all conjecture.

What is fact and indeed caught on camera is that Malaka Silva and his gangsters assaulted this officer, causing grievous hurt and necessitating hospitalization.  Police Media Spokesperson, SSP Ajith Rohana has acknowledged that the assault was captured on camera and said that the culprits will be apprehended.  The Army has launched its own investigation.  Two Police teams have been deployed to hunt the man down.

Meanwhile, even as the nation in one voice calls for the arrest of this thug and wonders about the logic of a soldier putting his life on line to free the nation from the menace of terrorism having to suffer the fate of being banged up a common thug, Malaka Silva calmly visits the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihare, as a VVIP, bypassing the long queues, to pay homage to the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics and this in a place where over 2,000 policemen were stationed to maintain law and order.  He is photographed, duly and the photographs are published.  Malaka is essentially lifting a metaphorical sarong at the country’s law, law enforcement officers, the judiciary and the general citizenry.

That’s serious stuff.  Here’s the flip side, and the hilarity that should not provoke laughter but does, perhaps because (for good or bad) we are a nation that can see the funny side of things even in the midst of grim sobriety.

Mervin Silva, the assailants father with a considerable scot-fee history of intimidation and assault himself, claims that his son would never hit a man in uniform.  According to him, Malaka hit someone who he believed was an ordinary person, whose crime was that although he had a cigarette he was ready to give cigarette-needing Malaka, didn’t have a lighter to go with it.  So Malaka can assault anyone he bums a cigarette from if he didn’t have a lighter as well, provided he didn’t happen to be in military uniform.  Stretch that argument and we have Malaka with a license to assault anyone other than military personnel (who too would be spared only if in uniform).  We should not take Mervin too seriously, for the man thinks the law allows anyone to tie anyone else to a tree.  We should take issue from those who do nothing about it.

Keheliya Rambukwella now holds the dubious record for besting Mervin at this kind of humor.  At the weekly media briefing on Cabinet decisions, responding to a query, he is reported to have said that the Police didn’t arrest Malaka in Kelaniya because ‘he was on sacred ground’.  Now, had Prabhakaran been spotted worshipping at theMadhuChurchand the Army had surrounded the place, would he have been accorded the same privilege?  Let’s assume so.  At some point Prabhakaran would have had to leave or starve.  Let’s assume he chose the former option.  Would not the Army have captured him there and then, or shot him dead if he attempted to fight his way out?

Malaka Silva walked away.  He would have exited ‘sacred ground’ at some point.  The Police could not have been so blind as to leave a to-safety avenue for the thug.  He could have been apprehended at the gate. He was not.  The police are not stupid.  The people are not stupid.  Keheliya seems to believe that both are stupid.

Malaka Silva is not an extraordinary citizen.  If I did what Malaka did, I would be behind bars now.  I would have been arrested within the hour of assaulting a senior Army officer.  Malaka is free, still.  That doesn’t say a lot about law enforcement in the country.  It says a lot about Malaka’s and Mervin’s political backers.  It leaves a question:  ‘Who is the President of this country, Mahinda Rajapaksa or Mervin Silva?’

*literally ‘plantain-flower’ but used colloquially to mean ‘balderdash’.

WikiLeaks: Mervin Silava Is A Drug Kingpin Patron Chief

By Colombo Telegraph

suspected of trafficking the drug “ecstasy”-------------------------------------------------------suspected of trafficking the drug “ecstasy”

A leaked US embassy cable reviled “drug kingpins in Sri Lanka have political patrons in the government”. “Chief among them Dr. Mervin Silva, a Member of Parliament and the Minister of Labor” the cable further said. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from the Wikileaks database.

The remarks by Washington’s embassy to Sri Lanka, are revealed by the Wikileaks leaked cable. The cable was classified as “ CONFIDENTIAL” by ambassador Patricia A. Butenis. Read More

United Kingdom: Halt Deportation Flight to Sri Lanka 
SEPTEMBER 15, 2012 
(London) – The United Kingdom should immediately suspend deportations to Sri Lanka of ethnic Tamils with real or imputed links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or who have engaged in activities the Sri Lankan authorities might view as anti-government, Human Rights Watch said today. The next scheduled deportation of Tamils from the United Kingdom to Sri Lanka is due to take place on September 19, 2012.

Investigations by Human Rights Watch have found that some rejected Tamil asylum seekers from the United Kingdom and other countries have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and torture or other ill-treatment upon their arrival in Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch today issued a document it sent on August 1 to the UK immigration minister detailing 13 cases of alleged torture of failed Tamil asylum seekers on return to Sri Lanka. All of these cases are supported by medical documentation. 
Full Story>>>

Mahinda, The Master Of Trickery

By Vickramabahu Karunaratne -September 15, 2012

Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne

The voter turnout at the recent PC elections was less than 65 per cent, according to the Elections Department. Voter apathy prevailed mainly inSinhala areas as the election was marked by an all-time low voter turnout in recent times. Only in the bogus election conducted under the façade of a referendum, that polling went down to such a low figure. Election observers in the East report that Tamils and Muslims voted enthusiastically, but even there the turnout by the Sinhala had been lukewarm. However, election results for the Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provinces show a clean sweep for UPFA. In fact their vote has gone up compared to the PC elections 2008. On the other hand, over 10 % of voters have kept away from this election and almost all of them could be counted as anti government voters. In all regions UNP and the left was affected by this apathy of voters. In fact the political struggle has crept in to the ranks of the government, as displayed by the competition for preferences. In many areas clash for preferences has taken a violent form. Government claims that this is a victory for their development programme. Obviously their infrastructure development programmes create temporary job opportunities and short term market for some goods and services. Irrespective of any long-term benefits from these projects, local people may get attracted to the work done. However that cannot explain the depreciation in the election activity of the people.

The government campaign was conducted smashing all election laws governing undue influence of voters.Election commissioner had to conduct a mini civil war against the election machine of the Mahinda regime, even up to the day of election. State power was misused to influence the voter by distribution of goods, jobs and services. State owned media was monopolized and others were pressed to fall in line. State terror was used abundantly. Even on the day of election a total of 64 election violence had been reported. The number includes seven incidents of assault and threat, 15 cases of pressurizing voters, two cases of trying to influence officials at polling booths, three instances of chasing away officials at polling booths, 30 cases of illegal publicity activities in and around polling booths, a case of transporting voters through the illegal use of state vehicles, and the biased and partial conduct of the police. According to the same report, opposition party representatives at the polling booths in Rathnapura in the Sabaragamuwa Province and Akkaraipattu in the Eastern Province had been chased away. It also stated that a few supporters of the SLMC had been assaulted at Akkaraipattu in the Ampara district in addition to similar attacks on JVP activists at Lahugala in the Polonnaruwa district.
We cannot accept this as a fair election. No way! Infact this is an example of a fraudulent election, done trampling the authority of the election commissioner. Mahinda had shown the world how to misconduct an election when there is no independent election commission, but there is a dictatorial presidency empowered by the 18th amendment. People who abstained from voting give the message to the opposition, that lame conservative electioneering is no answer to this corrupt regime. We are requested not to be mere actors playing the assigned roles in an election matrix of Mahinda, the master of trickery. It is true that the opposition is divided on political perspectives. That is to be expected. But all those who oppose the chauvinist pro imperialist policies of Mahinda today, should be prepared at least to tread the path of Mahinda when he was the activist par excellence of the opposition. Vipaksaye Virodhaya, the protest of the opposition, had the correct idea. But it was too slow and less organised to meet the challenge. It should develop in to a movement to mobilize all sections dissatisfied with Mahinda regime.

Tamil-Canadians take part in fundraising walk

Scarborough Mirror

Tamil-Canadians and others in Scarborough will walk five kilometres around Thomson Memorial Park this Sunday morning for Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

The Canadian Tamil Congress has chosen CAMH as its walkathon cause this year because appreciates what CAMH does for Canadians and wants to encourage others to lend it a hand, David Poopalapillai, national CTC spokesperson said Thursday.

Another benefit in supporting the hospital is raising awareness of mental illnesses and addictions some members of the Tamil community would rather not talk about.

“Mental health is a main part of our community’s well being,” Poopalapillai said. “In some communities talking about mental health is taboo. We want to break that.”

Registration begins at the park on Brimley Road at Lawrence Avenue East at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 16 and continues for an hour.

The event, which starts at 9 a.m., is expected to draw thousands and will also feature speeches by community leaders, a barbecue and games for children.

Online donations can be made at www.supportcamh.ca/tamilcanadians

Blake Urged That The Northern PC Elections Be Held ASAP And Reduce The Role And Profile Of The Military In The North

By Colombo Telegraph -

“I discussed in all our meetings the need for accelerated progress to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and the National Action Plan.  I emphasized the importance of progress in reducing the role and profile of the military in the North, and full respect for human rights. ” says US Assistant Secretary Of State Robert Blake.

On issues of accountability, it is our hope that three years after the end of the conflict, there can be a credible and transparent accounting, investigation and prosecution of some of the outstanding and serious allegations of human rights violations, as well as progress on the missing. I also urged that the Northern Provincial Council elections be held as soon as possible and encouraged an early resumption of talks between the TNA and the government to agree on powers to be devolved to the provinces.” issuing a statement he further says.

We below reproduce the  statement in full;

PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Embassy Colombo

Public Affairs Section

Tel:  +94 (1) 249-8100 ● Fax:  +94 (1) 244-9070

 Email: TealCL@state.gov ● http://srilanka.usembassy.gov

Statement by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State

Robert Blake at the Colombo Press Conference

As Prepared – September 14, 2012

Release no. 20120914

Great to be back in Sri Lanka.  I have had a wide-ranging and productive series of meetings with political leaders, business community leaders and members of civil society.  Before I go further, let me take the opportunity to welcome the arrival of our new Ambassador Michele Sison.  She only arrived last week, but comes ready to serve the United States as one of our most experienced career diplomats and experts in South Asian affairs.  I know Sri Lankans will extend her the same warm welcome and hospitality you extended me throughout my stay in Sri Lanka.

The United States has had a long and productive partnership with Sri Lanka.  We have provided over $2 billion in assistance and have an important economic relationship – the United States is the largest single export destination for Sri Lankan goods.  And we have a strong partnership in counterterrorism and maritime security.  We have also worked closely together on issues such as demining and support for the IDPs.

I had positive meetings with the Minister of External Affairs Peiris, Minister de Silva, Minister Samarasinghe, Secretary to the President Weeratunga, Defense Secretary Rajapaksa, leaders of the TNA, and civil society.

I discussed in all our meetings the need for accelerated progress to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and the National Action Plan.  I emphasized the importance of progress in reducing the role and profile of the military in the North, and full respect for human rights.

On issues of accountability, it is our hope that three years after the end of the conflict, there can be a credible and transparent accounting, investigation and prosecution of some of the outstanding and serious allegations of human rights violations, as well as progress on the missing. I also urged that the Northern Provincial Council elections be held as soon as possible and encouraged an early resumption of talks between the TNA and the government to agree on powers to be devolved to the provinces. 

On the economic front, I am pleased that the American Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a trade fair to celebrate its 20th anniversary.  I met with members of the AmCham at a lunch earlier today to discuss both the opportunities in sectors such as tourism and information technology, and the challenges that need to be overcome for Sri Lanka to attract greater investment.

On a related note of partnership, I wanted to pay special recognition to the fact that the U.S.-Sri Lankan Fulbright Commission is celebrating its 60th Anniversary.  Thanks to this program, nearly 650 Sri Lankan students have gone to the United States, while Sri Lanka has hosted over 380 Americans as researchers, teachers, and students.

This powerful legacy has touched generations in both of our countries and made both of our societies stronger as a result.  We are so pleased to be continuing this important bilateral cooperation and I also wanted to thank and commend Fulbright executive director Tissa Jayatilaka for his leadership of the Fulbright Commission for more than two decades.

Our hope remains that all Sri Lankans will be able to enjoy the same rights and dignity, and share a democratic, secure, and prosperous future.