Sri Lanka suicide rate one of the world’s highest

By Sujeewa Amaranath 
28 September 2012

New official data shows that Sri Lanka still has one of highest suicide rates in the world, with almost 4,000 people killing themselves per year, or about 11 per day. Dr. Neil Fernando, who heads the country’s National Institute of Mental Health Promotion, released the figures in a Suicide Prevention Day seminar on September 10. The majority of victims, he reported, were aged 15 to 44.

President Mahinda Rajapakse claims that the island nation is “the emerging wonder of Asia.” But poverty, joblessness, high debt burdens and other social problems—the main factors behind the high suicide rate—are rampant throughout the country.

The stark reality facing thousands of ordinary Sri Lankans was highlighted by the tragic suicide of 35-year-old Milton Rupes Nonis in Kalaeliya, about 20 kilometres north of Colombo. Nonis, a father of three school-age children, faced unbearable poverty, unemployment and debt. He hanged himself on September 1.

Niroshini Amarsinghe and her three children with photo of Milton Rupes Nonis

Niroshini Amarasinghe, Nonis’s grief stricken 30-year-old wife, told WSWS reporters that her husband was a carpenter but had been “unable to get regular carpentry work and was compelled to do odd jobs to earn living for the family.”

Nonis had secured some work “clearing private lands,” she said, but had in recent months “become addicted to alcohol” because of the problems he faced. “We had just started the journey of life. We never thought that he would commit suicide.”

Amarasinghe explained that her husband had been worried about his inability to buy school books for their children, aged 8, 10 and 12. “We had taken out a 50,000-rupee (about $US385) bank loan,” she said.

“I’m working at a coir [coconut fibre] mill and only earn some 10,000 rupees for the whole month. It’s badly inadequate for our necessities. Relatives also help us, but life is now more difficult because I have to bear the whole burden. We have to feed ourselves as well as maintain children’s education with the small amount I earn.”

Amarasinghe said her only hope was to provide her children with a decent education. “But I’m worried whether I can do it in this situation,” she added.

Residents of the densely populated Kalaeliya and surrounding areas depend on casual jobs to survive. Abject poverty, unemployment and lack of proper education prevail. Many residents fish in a nearby polluted canal. Some youth secure low-paid work at garment factories. The area is prone to flooding, even after light rain.

Nonis had begun to build a small house to replace their rundown home, Amarasinghe explained.

“We started to build it using 150,000 rupees that we won in a lottery but since his death, I wonder how I’m going to complete it. I’ve no other income and am struggling to meet daily needs with the pittance I receive from the coir factory,” she said.

While the Rajapakse government says the poverty rate fell to 8.9 percent in 2011, this is based on the extremely low official poverty line—as of August, it was just 3,569 rupees per month per individual, or 118 rupees (90 US cents) a day. Likewise, the official unemployment rate is 3.5 percent but excludes those employed in short-term, unstable casual jobs, often working for a few hours.

Dr. Fernando said the “risk factors for suicide” were mental and physical illness, alcohol and other substance abuse, chronic illness, acute emotional distress, violence and sudden and major changes in peoples’ lives, such as job losses or separation of a partner. He claimed that the suicide rate could be reduced by improving the life skills and cultural outlook of children through improved education, but the “risk factors” represent the harsh social and economic conditions that confront millions of ordinary Sri Lankans.

Poverty, social inequality and homelessness have worsened dramatically as a result of the three-decade communal war against the Tamil minority, which ended in May 2009, and years of pro-market economic reforms pursued by successive governments.

In 1950, Sri Lanka’s annual suicide rate was 6.5 per 100,000. By 2001, it had climbed to 55. In 1996, the island nation had the highest rate in the world, with almost nearly 9,000 suicide deaths that year. Though the rate declined to 16 per 100,000 in 2011, it remains among the worst globally.

According to a recent police report, 3,770 people committed suicide, including 231 women, in 2011. Most were in rural peasant areas and were mainly due to poverty and debt. This impoverishment has been intensified by government cuts to farm subsidies, rising production costs and low prices for agricultural goods.

Rajapakse’s government is attempting to cover up the real picture. Progressive Farmers Federation leader Kaudulle Jayatissa told the WSWS that state village officers were being directed by the government not to issue death certificates detailing the reason for a suicide, including factors such as indebtedness.

Rajapakse’s implementation of International Monetary Fund austerity measures to slash public expenditure by gutting social subsidies and restructuring government institutions will worsen the social miseries, intensifying political discontent.

Sri Lanka's displacement chapter nears end with closure of Menik Farm

27 September 2012

© UNHCR/S.Perera

Manikkarasan Nathan (second from left) and his family finally return home back after leaving Menik Farm camp.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, September 27 (UNHCR) – Menik Farm, once the world's largest camp for internally displaced people (IDP), closed this week, bringing Sri Lanka's population displacement crisis closer to final resolution three years after the civil war ended.

"The closure of the camp is a significant step towards ending displacement in Sri Lanka, but there are still people displaced in different situations who need to find a solution," said Michael Zwack, UNHCR's representative in Sri Lanka.

The government opened the 700-hectare Menik Farm in northern Sri Lanka's Vavuniya district as an IDP site in 2009 and, at its peak, later that year, it held 225,000 people. When it was shut down on Monday, there were just 346 people left.

But this last group of people was not allowed to return to their homes in the Kepapilavu area of north-eastern Sri Lanka's Mullaitivu district because their land is being occupied by the military. They were, instead, relocated on state-owned land and they must wait to hear if they will be able to return home or, if not, whether they will receive compensation.

While acknowledging government efforts to resolve the issue, Zwack stressed that allowing people to settle anywhere in the country, and resolving legal ownership of land, is a key part of the reconciliation process.

Although exact numbers are still unclear, military occupation of private homes and lands affects many people who have gone back to their villages in former conflict areas in the north, such as former fisherman Manikkarasan Nathan, who spent more than two years in Menik Farm.

"When we came back in early September this year, we couldn't go directly to our homes, because the military was staying on our lands," said the 40-year-old, who lost both his legs while trying to flee his home in Mullaitivu during the final battles in 2009. "They promised to leave when we returned, but it took them weeks to vacate the land." Hundreds of families are also left stranded and in transit locations because of mine clearance on and around their lands.

Menik Farm camp was designated an IDP site in May 2009 to shelter tens of thousands of people fleeing the final stages of Sri Lanka's three-decade-long conflict. UNHCR and many other organizations provided basic services such as shelter, food, water and sanitation, education and primary health care.

Rasaiah Gnanabiha, who spent almost two years from April 2009 on Menik Farm before returning to her village in the country's northern district of Kilinochchi, said she had faced many difficulties at first.

"The camp was very crowded and we didn't have proper shelter or water," she recalled. "But as time went on, as people started to leave the camp to go back to their homes and more assistance came in, the situation improved."

UNHCR has been supporting the government's resettlement programme for IDPs. The refugee agency provides returnees with a shelter cash grant and basic household items like bedsheets, jerry cans, kitchen sets and jungle clearing tools.

Nathan is finally able to start using his shelter cash grant – the military vacated his home earlier this week. He and his family spent several weeks living in a small church, worried about snakes at night and getting enough water during the day. Now he can start rebuilding his life.

By Sulakshani Perera in Colombo, Sri Lanka

TNA stage protest against land acquisitio​n in Killinochc​hie

Thursday, 27 September 2012, 12:26.23 PM GMT +05:30 ]

Tamil National Alliance holds successful protest at Killinochchie town this morning and demands the military personals to evacuate from the lands of Tamil people in the area.

Protest began at 11.00 am in front of the Divisional Secretary office this morning. People present at the protest stress the military personals to evacuate from their lands. Military personals took various steps to stop the protest. However all people were present at the protest. Protest continues for one hour. Relatives of misplaced persons and Tamil political prisoners present at this protest and urge officials to rescue their loved one. Leader of the Democratic People’s Front Mano Ganesan, TNA parliamentarians Mawai Senathiraja, Vino, C.Sridharan and the general secretary of the Tamil National People’s Front Gajendran were also present at this protest. End of the protest protesters hand over petition towards UN representative and also to the district secretary. Mothers present at the protest urge international community to take necessary steps to release their children arrested by the Army and also to rescue their children reported missing in the country.  [more]

The Suffocating Grasp Of An Emergent Dictatorship: FUTA And The Survival Of Democratic Dissent

By Kumar David -

Prof. Kumar David

“Where they burn books, they will afterwards burn people” - Heinrich Heine (German Poet 1821)

The madness fanned by Gobles and fired by Nazi student organisations, reached a frenzied climax on the night of 10 May 1933 when the nation’s great libraries were stripped of radical, socialist, pacifist, culturally alien and Jewish books, and piled on bonfires, lit as Germany careened to censorship, culture control and eventually the most naked of all Twentieth Century dictatorships. No nation that permits the state to crush its knowledge workers can long survive. The FUTA strike is no longer about academic salaries, long ago it morphed beyond that, it is no longer about securing a fair deal in education for the nation’s children, that Rubicon has also been crossed. What are at issue in Sri Lanka are the last two surviving outposts of democracy. Can the independence of the judiciary and the academic right to dissent survive, or will they perish. It’s no longer about whether you agree with the 6% or not, it’s about shackles of a more menacing nature. Dear god, not even Hitler made Martin Borman, leader of the brown-shirted fascist SA street thugs, the minister of higher education!

If the FUTA strike is crushed it will resemble the crushing blow that JR inflicted on the working class and independent political activity in July 1980. I do not want to over dramatise, it is only in retrospect that we can make secure historical judgements, but it is possible that this is one of the final chances the nation will get to throw back the executive power of an authoritarian menace. The state is primed for the offensive, but public opinion, the working class and trade unions, and the educated classes and left opinion are half asleep, but fortunately, also half awake.

The FUTA strike is no longer about FUTA, it’s about you and I and what we do to bring to a halt the caravan of state as it rumbles on to total control of public life. Total is totalitarian; totalitarianism is the natural culmination of the authoritarian state. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, so authoritarianism abhors all things it cannot subdue. It moved heaven and earth, and cash and threats, to abort a Muslim-Tamil power centre rising outside and beyond its control in the Eastern Province– and Muslim leaders, as habituated for decades, betrayed their community for the umpteenth time. It will not permit an elected provincial council in the North unless international pressure compels it to; it will muzzle the judiciary and harness the police.                                          Read More

Why Tamils of Tamil Eelam Deserve Self-determination

September 27, 2012

| by Usha Sri-Skanda-Rajah 

 Senator TGTE

( September 27, 2012, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) A challenge was thrown at me to write in 250 words max., why the Tamils of Eelam of the island of Sri Lanka deserve Self-determination. It was not hard to do.

Self-determination and its Emotional and Political Connection to Tamils 

In 250 words it was done and is given here in one but the concluding paragraph of this article. But before that a brief introduction, to the right to Self-determination and its emotional and political connection to the Tamils of Eelam and a summary of the International Law that upholds the principle, is appropriate as a natural progression to the final 250 word piece.  

Cry for Tamil Eelam a Cry for Self-determination against Oppression and Violence

Writing why Tamils deserve Self-determination was in fact not hard to do; the words just flowed in an unbroken stream from within where the head meets the heart, because it’s a fundamental principle upon which the Tamils of Eelam base their cry for Tamil Eelam; it is what they dream about; are passionate about; protested peacefully about, against the early years of willful Sinhala oppression; using Gandhian inspired Satyagraha, to no avail, as was evident in Tamil non-violent protests being always violently crushed by the heavy hand of the then Ceylon army; coming into occupation of the North and East of Sri Lanka, the traditional homeland of the Tamils of Eelam on 10, June 1958; and sadly staying put to this day.

The Metamorphosis from Satyagraha to Armed Resistance  

The Tamil separatist struggle based on Self-determination, metamorphosed from a non-violent one, into an armed resistance, spearheaded by the LTTE, after all peaceful means were exhausted; and after nearly 28 years of unrelenting oppression beginning with the disenfranchisement of Indian hill country Tamils in 1949, who are the backbone of Ceylon’s world renowned Tea industry, the LTTE committed to preserving the territorial integrity of Tamil Eelam, the national identity of Tamils and their right to Self-determination.

Regrettable Tragic Events                                       Read More »

WORLD: Who will respond to the distress call of the Judicial Service Commission of Sri Lanka?

September 27, 2012

This distress call is not from a sinking ship but from the supreme body that represents the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of Sri Lanka, which is desperately stating that the independence of the judiciary is under threat from the executive. The Asian Human Rights Commission has for years warned that democracy in Sri Lanka is sinking and this distress call from the JSC is one of the final indications of how fast it is sinking. If Sri Lanka has any friends left in the democratic world, it is time now for them to respond.

The JSC, through its secretary Manjula Tilakaratne, complained on September 18, 2012 about threats to its independent functioning. This is the first time in the history of Sri Lanka that the JSC, which is the highest body dealing with appointments, dismissals, disciplinary actions and promotion of judges in the country, has made a public complaint about attacks on its independence.

A translation of the full statement is given below.

"The attention of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has been drawn to baseless criticism of the JSC and in general on the judiciary by the electronic and print media. The main objective of those behind the conspiracy of those trying to undermine the JSC and Judiciary is to destroy the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

"It is regrettable to note that the JSC has been subjected to threats and intimidation from persons holding different status. Various influences have been made on the JSC regarding decisions taken by the Commission keeping with the service requirements. Recently the JSC was subjected to various influences after the Commission initiated disciplinary action against a judge.

"Moreover an attempt to convince the relevant institutions regarding the protection of the independence of the judiciary and the JSC over the attempt to call for a meeting with the chairperson of the JSC, who is the Hon Chief Justice and two other Supreme Court judges, was not successful. The JSC has documentary evidence on this matter.

"It is the JSC that is the superior institution which is empowered with the appointment of Magistrates, District judges, their transfers, dismissal from service and disciplinary action against them. It is an independent institution established under the Constitution. Under the Constitution any direct or indirect attempt by any person or through any person to influence or attempt to influence any decision taken by the Commission is an offence which could be tried in a High Court.

‘It should be emphasized that the JSC is dedicated and it is its responsibility to protect the independence of the judiciary and discharge its service without being intimidated by influences, threats or criticism. I have been instructed by the Commission to issue this media release to keep the majority of the public who value justice informed about an attempt by conspirators to destroy the credibility of the JSC and the Judiciary. -- Manjula Tilakaratne, Secretary, JSC."

This translation was reproduced in the Political Column of the Sunday Times on September 23, 2012.

This official statement refers to the following matters:

1. A call for the three-member commission (JSC) consisting of the Chief Justice and two other judges of the Supreme Court to meet the Honourable President of Sri Lanka to discuss the functions of the JSC. The JSC declined to attend the meeting as they found it unconstitutional to discuss the decisions of the JSC with anyone else.
2. Attempts to pressurize through the interventions of several powerful persons to remove the interdiction of a particular judge, who was interdicted by the JSC as a part of inquiries into very serious allegations of corruption. According to newspaper reports, this judge is said to be a close friend of the president's family.
3. A media campaign through state media channels against the judges of the Supreme Court and members of the JSC on baseless allegations and the unethical use of language for the purpose of belittling the judges and to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

Many will already be aware that there was a previous incident of a cabinet minister, Rishad Bathiudeen, attempting to intimidate the magistrate of Mannar, followed by two attacks on the High Court and the Magistrate's Court of Mannar, which caused serious damage to both premises. That minister is now facing charges of contempt of court at the Court of Appeal and he and some others are also facing criminal charges before the Magistrate's Court. The attempt to intimidate the magistrate and the attacks on the courts led to a nation-wide boycott on the courts by the judges and lawyers of Sri Lanka. Despite of the public outcry, the government has taken no action against this minister for his behaviour in relation to the interference with the independence of the judiciary.

A further event of importance is that, following an order by the Supreme Court in reviewing a bill placed before it, the court held that the particular bill was unconstitutional until consultations are held by the Central Government with the provincial councils about the matters taken up in the bill. The court made its ruling known to the Speaker, who read the court's ruling to the parliament as is required by the Constitution. However, following this ruling, three members of the cabinet and a crowd, reported in the newspapers to consist of about 3,000 persons, held a protest against the Supreme Court in front of the parliament.

All these recent events are a part of a chain of events that have been taking place since 1978, with the promulgation of a new constitution that placed the executive president outside the jurisdiction of the courts. The new constitutional order proposed by the 1978 Constitution is unique and has no parallel anywhere else in the world. It established the executive president with absolute power and ever since there has been a constant conflict between the judiciary established under the earlier constitution of 1948, which recognised the separation of powers and which incorporated the independence of the judiciary as an integral part of the constitutional order, and the executive presidential system. Several attempts to get over this problem, such as the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, were abandoned and the president's power was even more strengthened by the 18th Amendment passed in 2010.

This conflict has now reached a proportion that the Supreme Court through the JSC has had to make a public complaint of interference into the independence of the judiciary.

Over several decades, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has pointed out that the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka is facing peril due to the operation of the 1978 Constitution.

The AHRC has consistently commented on the conflict created by the executive presidential system, which replaced the democracy in Sri Lanka with a system of patronage. The executive presidential system has wrapped itself around all democratic institutions, including the judiciary, like a python and has broken bones.

Saving the independence of the judiciary now is almost an impossible task. Unless the people of Sri Lanka themselves and their friends in the democracies throughout the world rise up now, very soon the functions of Sri Lanka's judicial institutions will be reduced to nothing more than rubber stamping. Such things have happened in several other countries, for example, Cambodia and Myanmar.

For more on the conflict of the executive presidency with the judiciary please see: Gyges' Ring - The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka

FUTA Struggle: Who “Ruins The Chances Of Reconciliation?”

By Laksiri Fernando -September 27, 2012

Dr Laksiri Fernando

This refers to The Island editorial yesterday (26 September 2012) on basically the same title without the question: Who? It may be in order to caution the FUTA (the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations) of any possible deviation or adventure, given the subtle machinations that the government and more particularly the Minister in charge are hatching with the hope of crushing the legitimate demands of the academics which are the concerns of the general public at large on education and higher education.

But it is entirely a different thing to blame FUTA, directly or indirectly, for unduly politicising the issues as the government has been all out to denigrate the academics as political pawns of local and foreign conspiracies from the beginning. The demand to increase public expenditure on education (both school and university) targeting 6 per cent of the GDP is not a political demand but a social one.

The other main demands, apart from a salary increase, are to stop political interference in universities (i.e. academic freedom and autonomy) and to consult academics on university reforms (i.e. academic responsibilities and participation). It would only be a political lunatic or a schemer who could characterise these demands as political.

Of course there have been on and off political overtones or expressions by individual academics or even by spokesmen of FUTA. Those were inevitable given the intransigence of the government. The dispute started not this year but last year. The history of trade union struggles show, particularly in the public sector, that they are naturally intermingled with political realities and forces. After all, their employer or the adversary is the Government. Those who aspire for pure trade union struggles are pathetic dreamers.

It is entirely correct for the FUTA to take the struggle to the streets and seek broadest possible support from the students, religious and civil society leaders and political parties in the opposition and also in the governing coalition, the UPFA. Even the international support is soon warranted. The issues are too important to leave them to be a mere ‘labour dispute.’ The past of the organizations such as the Inter University Student Union is not very relevant to the present context as far as they have clearly expressed that they abide by the democratic norms.

As the editorial has acknowledged, “Determined to win its demands, the FUTA is all out to crank up pressure on the government and its resilience is to be admired.”

This is the third month that the academics are not paid their salaries, a most inhuman measure that is carried out without any appropriate effort to negotiate and amicably resolve the issues at stake. I personally know the intellectual or rather the anti-intellectual calibre of the present Minister being a university teacher during his student days, and he appears to act as if to take revenge from those who have excelled in education and academic pursuits.

There is no need to hide the need for ‘regime change’ in Sri Lanka in connection with the FUTA struggle or outside. While The Island editorial has shied away from the issue or insinuates that talk about regime change can be counterproductive for the FUTA struggle (as sympathetic advice perhaps) the lead story on the same day and many editorials and news reports before confirm that there is no other way for the people of this country rather than changing the regime and changing many regimes (to mean the systems) within the constitutional, policy and institutional framework of the country.

‘Regime change’ in higher education is the central issue at present starting from the Minister down to the Vice Chancellors who are mere political appointees at present. I would request the FUTA to ask for the resignation or the removal of the Minister to begin with. This is not an ‘Arab Spring.’ It is a legitimate demand. He has failed as the Minister and failed terribly in addition to corruption and nepotism. No confidence motion in Parliament is in order.

There are those who have genuinely raised the issue that mere increase of expenditure is not sufficient. Yes. FUTA demands include educational reforms with full academic participation and that is the right thing to do. It also demands a halt to political interference and that is also a regime change to mean the change of systems. At this very moment the academics are marching towards Colombo and they should win their struggle.

If the government is serious about it’s declared ‘Chinthana’ or ‘Hubs,’ then it should allocate at least 2.5 per cent of the GDP for education in this forthcoming budget. This is the time of budget preparation. The necessary allocations can come by pruning the present exorbitant and unnecessary expenditure on External Affairs and Defence. That kind of gesture with other promises can settle the present dispute so painful for every one and particularly for the students and their parents.

The editorial has raised the ‘scarecrow’ that the government is strong. Yes, the government may be strong but not on this issue. No doubt that a total regime change is a long way ahead through democratic and peaceful means. But FUTA should win. Let me quote finally what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared in its Preamble.

“Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.”

Sri Lanka: Displaced Tamil families 'left in jungle'

The villagers say they were relocated to a patch of cleared jungle

Some Sri Lankan Tamils who left a vast displacement camp this week say they were "left in the jungle" with no means to rebuild their homes and lives.

The final 1,160 residents of the Menik Farm camp left on Monday.

But 110 families from one village, Keppapilavu, say they have been prevented from going home and were relocated to a patch of cleared jungle.

Sri Lanka's army spokesman rejected the allegations, adding most people were "very happy" with the help they got.

Hundreds of thousands of Tamil people were displaced in the final months of the 26-year civil war between Sri Lanka's army and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Their quest to resettle has been a major struggle, reports the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo. Three years on, demining has enabled most to return to their home villages but many houses lie ruined, our correspondent says.

Complaints 'rejected'

A minority of the families haven't been able to go home at all because their land has been taken by the military or swallowed up in the government's high-security zones, our correspondent adds.

Ponniah ManikavasagamBBC Tamil

Of the 361 families who left Menik Farm on Monday, 110 belonged to a village called Keppapilavu. I spoke to some of these families by phone. According to their account, the army told them they could not return to their home village and that they would be relocated.

They were taken to a school building at Vattrapalai where they spent Monday night. On Tuesday morning, they were taken to Seeniyamoddai village where a jungle area was bulldozed to clear space for them close to an irrigation tank.

Once the jungle was cleared they were allocated land. They said they were not given any lights, no tents - they only had tarpaulin sheets for shelter. They spent that night in the open space where snakes and insects were also about.

On Wednesday night, they said, they were still without lights and lanterns and around 0400 it started to rain heavily. The winds blew away their shelters. Army soldiers helped families headed by women (widows) build temporary sheds on Monday, but others had to fend for themselves, they said.

Full Story>>>

Continue reading the main story

Midweek Politics: Locked Horns, Pitched Battles And Marches Of Discontent

 By Dharisha Bastians -September 27, 2012

Dharisha Bastians

The academics are marching. The students are marching. The Muslims are marching. Every day hundreds images of throngs of people shouting slogans and demonstrating blare across television screens, newspapers and of course, the internet. SMS news alerts about road closures and barricades abound as popular discontent rises to the surface through trade union agitation and ethno-religious outrage. In fact, with the opposition largely impotent, public discontent is being channelled into people’s movements that are taking arms against unpopular Government policy and rampant corruption.

In the north from Point Pedro to Jaffna, in the south from Galle to Colombo and in the central hills from Kandy to Colombo, university students and teachers are engaged in long marches to push for education reform. Over a period of five days, the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) will gather support along the way from Galle and Kandy respectively, and finally converge upon the capital on 28 September for a mega rally in Colombo.

Last Wednesday (19), just five days before the marches were scheduled to get underway, IUSF Convenor Sanjeewa Bandara was arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division on charges of vandalism and assault of police officers.

Remanded till Tuesday (25) Bandara was released on bail by the Fort Magistrate, but interestingly when his case was taken up this week, CCD officers made a strange request of the court. The officers requested the magistrate to issue an order confining all student protests to Hyde Park grounds in Colombo. The magistrate denied the CCD request, saying he had no authority to issue such an order, but the appeal by the Police made it clear that the ruling administration was very keen to call a halt to the long marches to Colombo.

The IUSF march having commenced as scheduled on Monday (24), had a new battle-cry since their leader was incarcerated – to demand the release of Sanjeewa Bandara. Bandara leads his protestors in demonstration against Government moves to privatise tertiary education with student unions claiming they are defending the right to free education in Sri Lanka.

Broadening the scope                      Read More

JSC Secretary to be removed by promoting him

Thursday, 27 September 2012 

The President has decided to remove the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), former Magistrate, Manjula Thilekaratne, who recently issued a controversial statement about the challenges faced by the Commission, a senior government minister said.

The President during a discussion with three ministers and a few members from the judiciary on the 25^th had said that he could pose a threat to the government’s existence.

A member from the judiciary had pointed out that it was the Chief Justice who had the power to appoint and remove the Secretary of the JSC according to the Constitution. It had been proposed that the JSC Secretary be removed from the Commission after promoting him as a High Court Judge. The member form the judiciary has said, “Kick him up and get rid of him.”

A legal expert when inquired said that the arbitrary removal of the JSC Secretary was a violation of the Constitution.

Arittha in Cartwheel on SEC

(Lanka-e-News -27.Sep.2012, 4.00PM) Arittha Wickramanayake, ex DG-SEC was a loud critic of the mafia alleged to have manipulated the Stock Market. He even said in disgust that everyone should get out of it. He has now turned turtle by joining the mafia installed Chairman-SEC, Dr. Nalaka. DailyFT headline of 26th September says it all.

As DG-SEC, it was splashed in newspapers that Arittha did not get on with SEC Chairman, highly respected C.P. De Silva, who also condemned the manipulation of the Stock Market through pumping and dumping, and means of deception and perception.

Attached Letter written by a Director of Brokers, Forbes & Walker complaining to C. P. De Silva, Chairman SEC, blows the lid of his credibility.

Arittha’s law firm Nithya Partners were involved in the illegal hedging deals by Petroleum Corporation. This law firm were lawyers for Petroleum Corporation and not the Attorney General. Having been at the AG’s Department, Arittha would have known the correct practice.

When the controversy broke, Arittha stated that his firm had only dealt with the Master Agreement. The following part of the High Court Judgment in the Standard Chartered Bank case discloses that the firm had approved the transactions in the Schedules. The evidence recorded is revealing.

“330(8) The Master Agreement, including the terms of its Schedule, was considered by and negotiated between SCB and CPC’s Chief Legal Officer (Geetha de Fonseka) and Nithya Partners, over a number of months.”

Should not the Petroleum Corporation and Government sue Arittha’s law firm for the losses incurred ?

Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP is the only person exposing the true facts. The public should be grateful to him. He should be supported.

On the other hand, the DailyFT alias the Foolish Times is leading for an Award – as the best News manipulator, supporting the manipulators and not reporting as a newspaper.

Arittha appears regularly on Derana TV of Dilith, as legal expert. Has Arittha’s cartwheel also been by dealer fixer Dilith, who played a lead role in the SEC fiasco ?

How did Foolish Times only get the news that 50 Letters had been sent out ? Did the Commission approve these Letters ? How were the parties selected ?
There are SEC investigations pending regarding Share dealings of Colombo Land & Development PLC of which Dr. Nalaka is Chairman. How could he when investigations are pending be appointed as Chairman SEC ? Foolish Times over to you ! 

Arittha is also legal advisor to Taprobane Securities which belongs to Ajith Devasurendra and is run by Dinal Wijemanne - both involved in the TFC – NSB deal.

FUTA Strike Action: A Pessimist’s Point Of View

By Nedra Karunaratne -September 27, 2012

Prof. Nedra Karunaratne

The University Teachers are on strike. Who has heard of such a thing? Probably many since the academics are campaigning actively in the print media. Now they are going from town to town collecting signatures for their allocation of 6% of the GDP for education stance. The common man is being educated on the streets instead of the usual lecture halls. The youtube is filled with little clips explaining the various demands made by the academics and why these are justified. The public is being slowly awakened to the reality of the future of education and higher education in the country. The teachers are optimistic that this action will induce negotiations but the pessimist thinks that this is not helping the cause since the government still hears no evil, sees no evil and talks evil or otherwise have not yet borne fruit.

FUTA announced that its members would go on a continuous strike from the 4^th of July, and they are still continuing to stand by their word. The government on the other hand has been lukewarm in their acceptance of the need to resolve the problem. The FUTA on several occasions had informed the Minister of Higher Education and the president of the impending strike action with the hope of negotiations but they only received a deafening silence. The government has remained incommunicado on many issues relating to grievances of all sectors and the pessimist finds this to be not so unusual. However, even a pessimist welcomes a streak of light to bring him up from the depths of despair. When will serious negotiations begin?

 Read More