Friday, September 21, 2012

Ad Hoc European Criminal Tribunal of Sri Lanka (ECTSL)

By: Rajeev Sreetharan

By 2014 or 2015, the world order’s shift towards multipolarity may open doors to Tamil justice in Europe, the way 9/11’s War on Terror opened a window for Sri Lanka to perpetrate Tamil genocide in the Vanni Region under the pretext of counter-insurgency and collateral damage.

Background

For the moment, the sense of frustrating uncertaintyaround the fate of Tamil justicecontinues to fester beneath the slow, racistdrift of Post-Mullivaikaal Sri Lanka towards the Mahavamsa’s vision of a post-Tamil Northeastern province.While optics ofmultiethnic reconciliation attempt to blur the republic’s descent into draconian rule, the island could not be more divided. And its future could not be more uncertain.

Increasingly irrefutable is the ground reality that Sri Lanka’s domestic political sphere lacks the will and bona fides to support a restorative or retributive accountability measure, and therefore any such measure designed to depend on Sri Lankan institutions will fail. As colonization masquerades as development, armed peace as a permanent solution to the Tamil question, and unchecked Sinhala-Buddhist racism as majoritarian democracy, advocateswho rely on Rajapakse-dependent accountability measures to deliver Tamil justice increasingly risk losing credibility themselves.Thesense of frustration arises from thisdéjà vu of familiar politics, inside and outside post-war Sri Lanka, which validate the subjugation of Tamil human rights by deliberately pavingunworkable paths to diluted accountability through the familiar bottlenecks of Sri Lankan State bureaucracy. It is yesterday’s soup, warmed over, again. Thesense of uncertainty is reducible to twomomentarily unanswerable questions:

1) Will there actually be independent international investigations?
2) Will there be a tribunal?

The answers, when they do materialize,will not be inconsequential, something all stakeholders to Sri Lanka’s post-war settlement are aware of. In fact, the destiny of the unitary State hangs in the balance.

[ full story |

Malaka And Rehan Were Released, Army Major To Be Charged !

According to Daily Mirror report, the army Major Chandana Pradeep , who is a witness in an assault case, was questioned by Magistrate Kansihka Wijeratne before the two suspects in this case was released on bail. The Magistrate asked major why he recanted on his earlier statement that the two suspects had assaulted him.

The major responded saying he was under shock at the time he made his complaint to the police. The Magistrate asked him how an army intelligence unit officer with more than 15 years of service could suffer from shock. Then the major said it happened because he was bleeding and traumatised at the time.

http://www.colombotelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/mervyn-1.jpg

The Magistrate said even though a settlement had been reached between the two parties, would not be considered as over because of the robbery charge that is still pending.

He directed the police to investigate the matters mentioned in the complaint made by the army major and also check the CCTV footage on the incident before they submitted their report to court on September 24.

The police were also directed to tell court the action that would be taken against the army major.

Malaka gets bail...

VAIKO, 700 SUPPORTERS ARRESTED FOR PROTESTING RAJAPAKSA VISIT

MDMK leader Vaiko along with 700 supporters, who were protesting against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Sanchi, were arrested from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

They are being taken to Sansur, Indian media reported. Vaiko, with around 1000 protesters was en route to Sanchi, protesting the visit of Rajapakse.

Vaiko had called for a black flag demonstration in Sanchi against Rajapaksa for the alleged violation of rights of ethnic Tamils in the country during its war against the Liberation Tigers of Talim Eelam (LTTE).

Vaiko, 700 supporters arrested for protesting Rajapaksa visit

A supporter of Vaiko called for a war crimes trial against Rajapaksa for the alleged brutalities against the Tamils residing in Sri Lanka. “We want Rajapaksa tried for war crimes against Tamils.” He added, “We are here voluntarily. The police hasn’t detained us. They are here for our protection.”

The MDMK supporters were reportedly detained by the police in Chhindwara. Many were questioned and reportedly sent back to Bhopal.

Rajapaksa lands at Sanchi

President Rajapaksa will land in the Madhya Pradesh capital on Friday to lay the foundation stone of Buddhist and Indic Studies University at Sanchi near Bhopal amid looming threat of protest by Tamilian party MDMK and enhanced security arrangements..

Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav and the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will receive Rajapaksa at the Raja Bhoj airport in the morning, official sources said.

From there, the Srilankan President will fly in a helicopter to Sanchi, around 45 km from here, where the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh Culture and Public Relations Minister Laxmikant Sharma will receive him.

Sanchi falls under the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency represented by Swaraj.

According to sources, before laying the foundation stone for the Buddhist University, the President will visit Holy Relics and Sanchi Stupa and also took part in a public meeting.

Rajapaksa will also visit Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka at Sanchi before leaving for Delhi via Bhopal.

Elaborate security arrangements are put in place for the Srilankan President’s visit in view of the protest by the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).

Borders of Sanchi town have been sealed and trains that have scheduled stoppage at Sanchi will not stop there as part of the security measure.

Pro-Eelam supporters arrested

Members of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and Naam Tamizhar Katchi created tense moments for the police by managing to breach tight security and assembling on the railway track at Tiruchi junction to picket trains in protest against the visit of Sri Lankan President.

Due to the presence of the City Police Commissioner, Shailesh Kumar Yadav, other senior officials and a huge posse of police personnel at the entrance of the railway junction, the demonstrators had reportedly entered in the guise of passengers, and regrouped upon entry.

Members of Periyar Thathuva Maiyam, Adhi Tamizhar Peravai and other pro-Eelam organisations staged their protests at Srirangam railway station where they arrived by the Lalgudi passenger train in the guise of commuters.

A group of students of Tiruchi Law College also attempted to set fire to an effigy of the Indian Prime Minister for inviting Mr.Rajapaksa.

In all, over 150 persons who protested against the Sri Lankan President’s visit were arrested, sources said.

(Agencies)

Vaiko and 750 supporters arrested in Madhya Pradesh

Thirumawalawan and 200 party supporters tried to enter Lankan embassy arrested

[ Friday, 21 September 2012, 08:22.13 AM GMT +05:30 ]

Leader of the Viduthalai Siruthaikal party Thozl Thirumawalawan and 200 other party supporters arrested short whileago where they stage anti protest against the Lankan president visit to Indian and illegally tried to enter the Lankan embassy in Nookampakam.

Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa visited India to lay down foundation stone for Buddhist university in Sanchi Madhya Pradesh in India. Lankan president met Indian president Pranab Mukarjee and the prime minister Manmohan Singh last night.
Thirumawalawan stopped near the Chennai Loyola College and continue his protest for one hour. Due to the protest heavy traffic jam reported in the area. Police arrested Thirumawalawan and his party supports and detained at the weeding hall.

TNA leaders discuss Tamil concerns with UN officials

September 21, 2012

Leaders of Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA today told officials from the United Nations human rights body that the Tamils displaced in the LTTE war were facing problems with resettlement and discrimination at the hands of authorities.

TNA leaders met Hanny Megally, the Chief, Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch, of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other members of his team today.

The TNA said in a statement that they took up with the visiting team concerns over disappearances, detenues, and accountability and evolution of an acceptable political solution.

They also raised concerns over alleged changes in the demographic composition in the North and the East.

"Amongst the matters discussed were land issues relating to security zones where the displaced people have not been able to resettle, their lands being taken over for military purposes, lands being taken over ostensibly for development purposes and on which, persons of the majority community are being settled, cultural and religious places being denied to the Tamil people," the statement said.
The UN human rights technical experts' team visit comes as a follow up to the resolution adopted in the March sessions of the UN Human Rights Council.
The US-sponsored resolution was adopted with India's backing.
Meanwhile, the OHCHR team had also visited Jaffna to meet the military.
On the question of scaling down the military presence in the north which is a main point of contention in the UNHRC resolution, the OHCHR team was told that the number of troops present in Jaffna is lesser compared to some districts elsewhere.
The Jaffna Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said: "We fought against terrorists and not against Tamils".
"Sinhalese and Tamils here lived as brothers for generations. Unfortunately, some egoistic Tamil elite lured Tamil youths to embark on searching for a separate land for Tamils," he said.
Hathurusinghe claimed that Army has already handed back majority of civilian properties occupied for military purposes.
The OHCHR visit comes ahead of the October's Universal Periodical Review at the UNHRC which will further scrutinise Sri Lanka's rights record.

Tavish Scott: Human rights are of secondary concern in Sri Lanka

Published on Thursday 20 September 2012 01:31

Travelling at 25mph, my feet were four inches from the Colombo tarmac. My tuk tuk flew along as trucks, old Leyland buses and police cars roared past.

Tavish Scott MSP. Picture: Jane Barlow

In case you did not know, a tuk tuk is a glorified scooter with passengers. Asian cities are rife with them. They are both an entertaining and terrifying way to travel. Foreign Office advice is not to – but I did.

Twenty years ago, I visited Sri Lanka at war. Soldiers and road blocks were common. Tamil Tigers were fighting for independence in a war that would last 30 years. Parents used different buses to the same destination to avoid bombings that could destroy a family.

Peace was intermittent. International negotiations stalled. So Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government decided to end the conflict for good. A full military campaign was waged. The Tamil Tigers were forced into the Jaffna peninsula in the north. The war was brutal.

Atrocities were committed, including women and children used as human shields. This happened as the fight to end Sri Lanka’s civil war reached its conclusion. But end it did. The Tigers’ leader was killed and peace now reigns over this stunningly beautiful island.

Colombo just hosted a conference of Commonwealth parliamentarians, of which I was one. MPs were taken to Jaffna to see reconstruction. A total of 1,300 soldiers are clearing landmines in a painstaking exercise through jungle and swamp – but it will take 30 years to rid Sri Lanka of this deadly inheritance.

President Rajapaksa established a reconciliation commission to investigate the last days of the war with 265 recommendations made, but opposition politicians say many have not been enacted. It is thought that between 9,000 and 30,000 civilians died in the last three months of the war. The US state department has demanded that war criminals are prosecuted.

I asked local people. Their message was simple – live through 30 years of conflict and one’s yearning for peace is absolute. They want democracy with a decent opposition, yet the Rajapaksa regime is credited with ending the war.

But the Chinese have a different view to the West – and are investing heavily on highways, an airport and a huge harbour. The main conference theatre in Colombo is a bird’s nest modelled on Beijing’s Olympic stadium. Russia, India and Iran are also major donors.

Today, the UK does not invest development funds in Sri Lanka but helps with essential mine clearing, yet we still give overseas aid to India. Why? A group of Sri Lankan businessmen explained: British-Indian trade. Trade is politics. The Sri Lankan transport minister has just ordered 3,000 new air-conditioned buses from China to replace old Leyland and Tata coaches.

Why did India’s Tata not win the contract? Because the Indian parliament criticised the lack of action in investigating human rights in Sri Lanka after the war. Politics and trade are always connected. Realpolitik reigns.

• Tavish Scott is Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland

Thursday, September 20, 2012

EDITORIAL: Kappang A9 Highway and Kappang flyway of Sri Lanka

( September 19, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)The government’s big banging road development projects in the north is becoming money minting machinery for the police/army patrols and check-points. Vehicles are stopped with the intent of demanding kappang (bribe) from the drivers on ludicrous charges of violation of road rules. The drivers are becoming used to the menacing invasions of the uniformed street stalkers and dishing out from Rs100 to Rs1,000 to escape unwanted harassment.

A regular traveller on the A9 road to Jaffna said beyond Vavuniya, it is big business as private vehicles plying to and from Jaffna are randomly stopped by the predators to prey on them. Those who pay straight away are allowed to proceed and there is seldom any confrontation faced.

In another intriguing development Sri Lankan passport holding Tamils going through Katunayake International airport are targeted and kappangs are said to be demanded by the immigration officers. Incidences of Kappang taking is mostly practiced on the exit journey from the airport. All kinds of questions are being asked from the vulnerable travellers to intimate them to pay bribe.

In one incident, a Tamil lady on her return journey from Jaffna to Norway was asked to produce her national identity card in addition to the passport. The lady could not communicate in English or Singhala languages and was taken to aside and was told that she would not be able to proceed further and will be handed over to the police. Realising something is going , she opened her hand bag and pulled out the Rs2,500 remaining in her hand bag and handed over to the Immigration Officer. He took the amount with the smirking smile and gave her the clearance to proceed.

In another incident, a Tamil man from France was targeted. The immigration officer after flicking through the passport pages said some pages are missing. The traveller was astonished as he was not aware of any breaches. He went through the pages and confirmed that all the pages are intact. He was taken to a side by the official and bluntly told that the traveller did not slot some currencies (missing pages) in the passport. Realising the claim of missing pages of the officer the traveller placed few Euro notes between the passport pages and he was given the exit stamp without further questioning.

Cultural And Religious Places Being Denied To The Tamil People – TNA To UN

By Colombo Telegraph -September 20, 2012

The question of whether the Sri Lankan government is unequivocally committed to the implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC and the resolution adopted by the UNHRC at its sessions in March 2012 was raised by the Tamil National Alliance with the visiting UN delegation this morning.

R Sampanthan

A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance met with Hanny Megally, Chief, Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch, Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and his team of officials today, 20th September 2012 at the office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Subinay Nandy, who was also present. The TNA delegation comprised R Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan, P Selvarajah and M A Sumanthiran, Members of Parliament.

Amongst the matters discussed were land issues relating to security zones, particularly Valikamam and Sampur where the displaced people have not been able to resettle, their lands being taken over for military purposes, lands being taken over ostensibly for development purposes and on which, persons of the majority community are being settled, cultural and religious places being denied to the Tamil people, issues relating to demilitarization, disappearances, detenues, changes in the demographic composition in the North and the East, accountability and the evolution of an acceptable political solution.

Govt. commitment questionable: TNA tells UN

THURSDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2012

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the visiting UN delegation that it remained questionable whether the government was unequivocally committed to the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and he UNHRC resolution adopted in March, 2012.

The TNA delegation led by party leader R. Sampanthan met Hanny Megally, Chief, Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch, Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and his team of officials on September 20 at the office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations.

UN Resident Coordinator Subinay Nandy was also present. The TNA delegation comprised MPs Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan, P Selvarajah and M. A. Sumanthiran, Members of Parliament.

Mr.Sumanthiran told the Daily Mirror that his party discussed matters relating to land issues involving high security zones, particularly Valikamam and Sampur.

He said the displaced people had not been able to resettle because their lands had been taken over for military purposes.

A statement from the party said, “The matters discussed were about lands being taken over ostensibly for development purposes and on which, persons of the majority community were being settled, cultural and religious places being denied to the Tamil people, issues relating to demilitarization, disappearances, detenues, changes in the demographic composition in the North and the East, accountability and the evolution of an acceptable political solution.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sumanthiran said in Parliament around 100,000 soldiers, attached to 14 divisions, had been stationed in the north and the east. Also, he scoffed at the government’s claim that the northern economy by 22 percent.

“For this calculation, they have included the salaries paid to soldiers stationed in the area,” he said.
Also, he raised concerns about the increase of tobacco and liquor sales in the north and the east. (Kelum Bandara)

UN Human Rights Council: Statement on the Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka
SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

At its March 2012 session, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Sri Lanka calling on the government to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on accountability and other issues. Instead of committing to working with the Council, the Sri Lankan government denounced the resolution as interference, while local human rights defenders advocating for the resolution were publicly threatened.

Since then, the government has toned down its rhetoric against the resolution, but the harassment of civil society groups and human rights defenders, particularly those in the country’s north and east, continues. Local activists have expressed deep concern to Human Rights Watch about their security, but even greater concerns for those they assist. This is especially the case in rural areas where people’s lives are more easily monitored.

Civil society groups and the media in Colombo also continue to report increased surveillance and clampdowns on free speech. The government shut down at least five news websites over the past year, and put in place onerous registration requirements and fees for all web-based media services. Many news websites have since moved their host proxies out of Sri Lanka in order to avoid the censorship.

Human Rights Watch remains concerned about the use of torture in Sri Lanka, a long-standing problem. Ethnic Tamils living abroad have reported as recently as August 2012 of being detained on arrival in Sri Lanka and being tortured or otherwise ill-treated by the security forces; medical reports have corroborated their accounts. On the basis of our documentation, in May 2012 a court in the United Kingdom halted a deportation flight to Sri Lanka, and pulled some 30 Sri Lankan Tamils off the flight who were deemed to be at risk of torture if returned.

In July the Sri Lankan government made public its action plan on implementing the recommendations of the LLRC. Unfortunately the plan seems more of an attempt to deflect international scrutiny of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka than address the concerns of UN member states. Many of the plan’s implementing authorities are government agencies, such as the military and police, who might be responsible for the alleged abuses. For example, responsibility for an inquiry into British Channel 4’s reporting on alleged summary executions of captured Tamil Tigers has been ceded to the Ministry of Defence, which has previously denounced the program as a fake. Similarly, the action plan makes the Defence Ministry responsible for investigating alleged killings of civilians, although the defence secretary is already on record stating that no civilians had been killed, or, if some were, they were unintended. No news appears to have been made public regarding the special army courts of inquiry, supposedly established to look into allegations of war crimes. In sum, the government’s accountability efforts remain a great unknown.

The Sri Lankan government has a long history of setting up commissions of inquiry that have led to little or no accountability or justice. The action plan and all government pronouncements should be read through the lens of this history. It was only when the international community stepped in, at the March 2012 Human Rights Council session nearly three years after the war, that the Sri Lankan government took any notice of the demands for accountability. Even then, it has done little but publicly claim to have taken action. Unfortunately, the facts on the ground – whether regarding free expression and association, or accountability for abuses – tell a very different story.

Human Rights Watch firmly believes that given the Sri Lankan government’s continued failure to deliver on its human rights commitments to its citizens in a meaningful manner, the international community should take action. In this regard, it is evident that the only way forward is to adopt the recommendation of the UN Panel of Experts for an independent international mechanism to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by all sides to the conflict.

Another arrested for raping a foreign woman

WEDNESDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2012

A Sri Lankan has been arrested on charges of raping a foreign woman who has been living here. The Finnish woman had been raped while she was at her residence at Gonapinuwala at Hikkaduwa.

The woman has complained to the police that the man has also robbed Euros 400 she had with her.

According to the police the incident has occurred due to a land dispute. The man arrested is the resident of the adjoining land.

Google “Dirty Fucking”, Gota The First

By Colombo Telegraph –September 20, 2012

“My daughter googled the words “dirty fucking” for some reason and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rakapaksa’s sibling, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa came fifth place with1,640,000 pages in 0.26 seconds with your Colombo Telegraph story” a British school teacher told Colombo Telegraph.

We googled it in Sri Lanka and Gotabhaya came the first place with “dirty fucking” words, about 403,000,000 results (0.16 seconds).

When contacted to find out if he was aware, if indeed an aircraft scheduled to fly to Zurich was to be changed to accommodate a personal friend and pilot who had offered to ensure the safe passage of a puppy dog for him, Gotabaya Rajapaksa turned abusive and screamed at Sunday Leader editor Frederica Jansz in two subsequent telephone conversations in raw filth on June 5, 2012. He told Janze; “They Will Kill You -You Dirty Fucking Shit Journalist -You Are Pigs Who Eat Shit”.

Eastern Awakening For The Opposition

Thursday, September 20, 2012

By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan Ph.D

In spite of the euphoria of the government on the results of the provincial council elections held on September 08, 2012, the ruling party coalition has received a significant setback in the Eastern Province compared to the results of the parliamentary elections held in April 2010. As a corollary, the opposition parties (ITAK and UNP) have experienced an awakening in the East.
In 2010, the TMVP and UPFA contested separately while the SLMC and UNP contested together. The reverse was the case this year. That is, the TMVP and UPFA contested together while the SLMC and UNP contested separately. Therefore, the votes of the TMVP and UPFA in 2010 were added together and the votes of the SLMC and UNP in 2012 were added together for comparison.
For example, TMVP-UPFA combine secured 273,977 votes at the 2010 parliamentary elections in the Eastern Province, which dropped to just 200,044 at the 2012 provincial elections. Thus, the total votes secured by the ruling coalition in the Eastern Province dropped by almost 27% between April 2010 and September 2012 – by district the ruling coalition’s votes dropped by 31% in Ampara, 19% in Batticaloa, and 30% in Trincomalee.
On the other hand, ITAK-SLMC-TULF-UNP combine received 284,205 votes in the Eastern Province in 2010, which increased to 401,645 in 2012. Hence, the total votes received by key opposition parties in the Eastern Province increased by 41% between April 2010 and September 2012 – by district opposition parties’ votes increased by 50% in Ampara, 39% in Batticaloa, and 30% in Trincomalee.
In April 2010 the ruling coalition (UPFA+TMVP) received 47.5% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province which dropped to 32.5% in September 2012. In Ampara district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 34% in September 2012 from 52% in April 2010. In Batticaloa district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 31% in September 2012 from 44% in April 2010. In Trincomalee district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 35% in September 2012 from 44% in April 2010.
On the other hand, SLMC-UNP combine received 27% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province in April 2010 which increased to 33% in September 2012. In Ampara district the SLMC-UNP combine received 48% of the valid votes in September 2012 as opposed to 35% in April 2010. In Batticaloa district the SLMC-UNP combine’s share remained almost the same between April 2010 and September 2012. In Trincomalee district the SLMC-UNP combine received 33% of the valid votes in September 2012 as opposed to 28% in April 2010.
Moreover, the ITAK which received 23% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province in April 2010 increased its share to 31% in September 2012; in Ampara from 10% in April 2010 to 16% in September 2012; in Batticaloa from 39% in April 2010 to 51% in September 2012; in Trincomalee from 24% in April 2010 to 29% in September 2012.
Furthermore, in April 2010 the national political parties (DNA+UNP+UPFA) out-performed the ethnic political parties (ITAK+SLMC+TMVP+TULF); that is circa 300,000 votes for the former group against circa 250,000 votes for the latter group. However, in September 2012 the national political parties (JVP+NFF+UNP+UPFA) secured circa 200,000 votes as against over 400,000 votes for the ethnic political parties (ITAK+SLMC+TMVP). The formidable rise of ethnic parties in the East is a backlash against the rise of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in the post-war period.
Once again the people of Eastern Province have rejected the government’s policy of development as THE PATHWAY to reconciliation and lasting peace in the country. The eastern awakening of the opposition parties is a consolation amidst the resounding wins of the ruling coalition in the other two provinces.

Mervyn Silva shames Gota

WikiLeaks: Mervin Silava Is A Drug Kingpin Patron Chief

Police note that the Ecstasy found in Colombo social venues in believed to imported from Thailand. Malaka Silva, is suspected of trafficking the drug “ecstasy” in Colombo.

Mervyn Silva shames Gota

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Attempts by the Defence Secretary to keep Minister Mervyn Silva’s son, Malaka Silva in remand for at least one week for assaulting Army Major Chandana Pradeep Susena has failed. Silva had managed to approach the Army major a few hours after Malaka’s arrest.

The Army Major presented a motion to the Fort Magistrate’s Court on the 18^th through his lawyer saying that Malaka and Rehan Wijeratne had not attacked him during the clash at Jaic Hilton and that he was ready to reach a settlement with them.

The Defence Secretary has ordered the Army Commander on the 17^th that the Major be removed from the Army after it was revealed that he had also served as a bodyguard to well known Casino businessman, Nalin Fonseka.

Therefore, it was Nalin Fonseka who has coordinated the work for Malaka’s release in order to safeguard the interests of the Major.

Nalin Fonseka was a powerful figure behind the scenes during the tenure of President Chandrika Kuamartunge due to his close link to SP Nihal Karunaratne, who was the head of the President’s security. Nalin Fonseka’s sister Sheela is married to private secretary to the late Sirimavo Banadaranaike and the secretary to the Prime Minister, Hemasiri Fernando.

However, once the Rajapaksas assumed office, they commenced a clear up operation of the underworld and one of Fonseka’s and Mervyn Silva’s relatives, “Nawala Nihal” went missing. Fonseka also went underground for a while. However, Fonseka maintains a close link with Minister Thondaman.

Fonseka has however intervened to get his relative, Malaka released and had built a link between the Minister and the Major.

Silva had met the President afterwards and informed of his plan. The President had told Silva that he had looked into the welfare of Malaka and Rehan and had asked the prison authorities to admit them to the Prison Hospital and provide them with all the facilities. The President had also asked Silva to remain silent until the 24^th.

However, Silva had said it would not be good for his image to keep silent and had explained his plan to the President.

The President had agreed to the plan and asked Silva not to get into an unwanted clash with Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Silva had engaged in this conversation with the President while the latter was doing his daily exercise routine.

The Minister had also criticized Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and JHU’s Udaya Gammanpila.

An Army Intelligence officer told us that although the Major who was attacked had gone to the Jaic after ending his duty, the log book has been taken to the Army Headquarters to be altered to indicate that he had gone to Jaic without signing out from his duty.

'Our action has become wider than a trade union struggle' - Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi

20 SEPTEMBER 2012

BY MEENA KANDASAMY

Liyanage Amarakeerthi is a Senior Lecturer, in the Sinhala Department at the University of Peradeniya. Apart from being a versatile writer, with at least 14 books to his credit, Dr.Amarakeerthi plays a prominent role in the ongoing trade union action called by the Federation of University Teachers' Association (FUTA). As one of Sri Lanka's foremost trade unions in the university sector with more than 4,000 academic members, FUTA is demanding, among other things, that the government allocate 6% of GDP to education.

Chennai based writer and activist Meena Kandasamy spoke to Dr.Amarakeerthi regarding the FUTA trade union action, university politics and the deep seated crisis in the higher education sector.

Excerpts from the interview follow:

Meena Kandasamy: I have been reading a lot about students struggles in the recent past. I would like you to comment on what is happening in Sri Lanka now in the context of the student protests in Santiago (Chile), and Quebec (Canada) and elsewhere worldwide, especially the common thread of students demanding greater spending on higher education, students demanding that education should not be privatized.

Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi: I think this is a global phenomenon. In the first half of the 20th century we had social democratic governments, there was the Soviet Union, the influence of the Marxist Social Democratic ideas which dominated the cultural and political discourse everywhere. Now these Social Democratic Marxist ideas are really being systematically marginalized. Because of the ideological defeat of the Soviet Union and because of the geopolitical situation, right now we are facing the logic of capital. This logic of capital defeats the classical idea of education like building a democratic citizen, a rational and freethinking citizen, the agency of the public and all those ideas are marginalized. The neo-liberal capitalism has offered everyone the unthinking consumer which is the global need of corporate capitalism. Perhaps that is the reason why everywhere across the globalized world -including in the US, there is an ongoing strike in Chicago, people are fighting to secure education, healthcare, public transportation and the so on. The logic of capital is rolling and that is why I think this has become a global phenomenon. I like to understand the Sri Lankan situation in connection with the global cry for the classical ideas of education. We need to hold on to those ideas again- the classical ideas that human civilization needs to be built with education.

Meena: Since you have clearly drawn the links between global capital and the way in which education is itself perceived, would you compare these massive strikes in Sri Lanka with May '68, or is it stretching it too far? I would want to connect how capitalism has ruined the educational system in my state for example, it is very difficult to get students to be involved in strikes. Because of the high level of privatization of education, students are afraid to protest anything.

LM: You mean, the 60s in Sri Lanka? Read more