BTF and other Diaspora organisations participate in the Universal periodic review (UPR)on Sri Lanka

BTF and its partner organisations are actively working to bring awareness of the Sri Lankan situation in the 14th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) UPR is a good tool to debate Human Rights records of a country; but it can only do very little in the case of Sri Lankan State’s oppression of the Tamils.

But it is important to participate and enlighten the States blindly supporting Sri Lanka. British Tamils Forum will join hands with its partner organisations working in the UNHRC Project. This is part of our Geneva project and we seek your support and participation in our advocacy actions.

UPR Working Group started on Monday 22nd October 2012 with Sri Lanka on the agenda on 1st of November. BTF made its submission in April 2012 focusing on Systematic land grab by the State and demographic alterations with a political motive. Along with BTF many Diaspora organisations and International NGOs made their submissions; this time we took an initiative to coordinate the work to avoid overlaps. A three-member delegation from BTF will be traveling to Geneva today to be present at the second cycle of the UPR with side events planned as well as materials produced for advocacy work.

In March 2012 Sri Lankan diplomats exerted all its political capital to avoid a resolution on Sri Lanka by pushing the “agenda” from the 19th session of the UNHRC to 14 working group session of the UPR.

But our coordinated effective Geneva advocacy with international pressure pushed through a resolution on Sri Lanka during the 19th session of the Human Rights Council.

UPR is non-binding recommendations; during the first cycle of UPR in 2008 Sri Lanka rejected over 25 recommendations which were crucial to protect the Tamils. The common pattern is that the Sri Lankan state will accept any recommendations, which are not measurable by external independent people.

On the other hand it has rejected all the recommendations, which suggested having any independent elements to evaluate or validate Sri Lankan records.

War Crimes In Sri Lanka Have Been Ignored Too Long

               Warning: Extremely Graphic images!                         
                                         

War Crimes In Sri Lanka Have Been Ignored Too Long

“One of the worst atrocity crime stories of recent decades has barely registered in the world’s collective conscience. We remember and acknowledge the shame of Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. We agonise about the failure to halt the atrocities in....

THE AUSTRALIAN

War crimes in Sri Lanka have been ignored too long

GARETH EVANS

From:The Australian

October 30, 2012

…ONE of the worst atrocity crime stories of recent decades has barely registered in the world's collective conscience. We remember and acknowledge the shame of Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. We agonise about the failure to halt the atrocities in Syria. But, at least until now, the world has paid almost no attention to war crimes and crimes against humanity comparable in their savagery to any of these: the killing fields of Sri Lanka in 2009.

Three years ago, in the bloody endgame of the Sri Lankan government's war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, about 300,000 civilians became trapped between the advancing army and the last LTTE fighters in what has been called "the cage", a tiny strip of land between sea and lagoon in the northeast of the country.

Badulla MC member destroys Hotel and brutally attacks its owner and family
(Lanka-e-News -30.Oct.2012, 11.00PM) Range Manju, the former Badulla Deputy Mayor and current Badulla Municipal Council member , has resorted to the worst rowdy and disgracefully murderous tactics following the MaRa regime lawless administration by launching a brutal attack on the owner of a super class Restaurant and his family while also devastating the Hotel, according to reports.

This ruthless and lawless attack had been directed against the owner , his family members and the workers of Greenwood Hotel . The son of the Hotel owner who had sustained critical injuries had been transferred to the Colombo Hospital because of the fear to admit him to the Badulla Hospital in the background of this fierce attack. Following this devastating attack, the Defender vehicle, the Restaurant and the residence of the Hotel owner had been severely damaged.

Though this fierce attack was launched on the 28th , so far the police had failed to arrest anyone , underlining the prevailing lawlessness in the country with Govt. politicos and their henchmen taking the law into their hands with complete impunity. 
The most deplorable side of the prevailing lawlessness under the MaRa regime was demonstrated when the police even released those arrested while the victims were being transferred to the Hospital . This release is absolutely unlawful and cannot be justified under any circumstance, yet the police the law enforcers have just done that .

It is learnt that this murderous hooligan of a politico , Range Manju is a favorite and a number one stooge of Rajapakses.

Rains pound North-East as cyclone Neelam approaches
30 October 2012

12:43 GMT Mullativu. Photographs Sri Lanka Red Cross Society A depression in the bay of Bengal, has intensified into a mini cyclone - named cyclone Neelam - which is said to be approaching the North-East and India. The Meteorological Department in Sri Lanka, said last night that it was approximately 100km from Trincomalee. This morning, the Met Depart has stated the cyclone has changed course and is likely to pass over Kankesanthurai this afternoon. All images are courtesy of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. Mullaitivu district The news comes as heavy rains and gusts of upto 80kmph continue to batter Mullativu district and across the North-East. Despite the change of direction of the cyclone, the pounding of the North-East is set to continue.   Flooding in Jaffna The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society reported that Tamils who had only be recently resettled due to the armed conflict are "mostly effected", particularly in Puthukkudiyiruppu, along with Manthai East, Maritimepattu, Oddusuddan and Thunukkai. Satellite imagery of cyclone Neelam. 0600 UTC, 30 Oct 2012

Sri Lanka: Address Rights Rollback at Review

UN Should Focus on Accountability, Media, and Civil Society

OCTOBER 30, 2012

Governments should use the UPR to question Sri Lanka’s deteriorating human rights situation and make recommendations for meaningful change. Of particular concern is the government’s ongoing failure to hold anyone to account for numerous deadly abuses by both sides during Sri Lanka’s long war.

Brad Adams, Asia director

(Geneva) – United Nations members should urgeSri Lanka to act on accountability for abuses at its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on November 1, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. Sri Lanka must also be reminded of its international obligations to protect free expression and to stop intimidation of civil society and the media during its UPR at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The UN scrutinizes the human rights record of each member state every four years, and this review allows governments to examine Sri Lanka's rights record and make recommendations for improvements. Sri Lanka’s last UPR, in 2008, occurred during the conflict between the government and the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which ended in May 2009.

“Governments should use the UPR to question Sri Lanka’s deteriorating human rights situation and make recommendations for meaningful change,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Of particular concern is the government’s ongoing failure to hold anyone to account for numerous deadly abuses by both sides during Sri Lanka’s long war.”

In its 2012 submission for the review, the Sri Lankan government claims that it has taken measures to implement the recommendations made during the 2008 UPR to “investigate all allegations of extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary killings.” However, there is no evidence that any such investigations have occurred. The government also said it would strengthen grievance mechanisms and pursue investigations of attacks against media and civil society. Instead, those abuses have continued, with senior officials publicly threatening those who advocate for government accountability. The government has also failed to censure any official implicated in such acts of intimidation.

Full Story>>>

‘India postponed Operation Eelam and Blue Star intervened’

By Sam Rajappa   30 Oct 2012

Posted 29-Oct-2012 Vol 3 Issue 43 A quarter century of India’s military intervention in Sri Lanka, ostensibly to help find a political solution to the ethnic strife that has torn the island nation apart, has left the Tamil minority under occupation of the Sinhala military trained and equipped by New Delhi and their political rights almost extinguished. In contrast, the same Indian military was able to liberate the people of what was then East Pakistan subjected by the oppressive West Pakistan regime, in a quick surgical military operation lasting less than a month in 1971. India remains a mute spectator to the rapid Sinhalisation of Tamil homeland. A recently constructed Buddhist stupa in Tamil territory The reason for producing such a vastly different result is the present poor political leadership in Delhi.  Colombo suffers from a Mahavamsa mindset and New Delhi from a Malayalee mindset. Both are detrimental to the interests of the Tamils of Sri Lanka and standing in the way of finding a lasting political solution to the ethnic problem.  It remains to be seen whether the mandarins in the South Block are able to pull the wool over the eyes of the new External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid, as they successfully did in the case of SM Krishna and his predecessor who is presently the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.  To give just one example of how naïve our political leadership has been, a statement made by Mukherjee on 27 April, 2009, after a visit to Colombo accompanied by Shivshankar Menon, national security adviser, will suffice. He said: “The Sri Lankan security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons, which could cause civilian casualties. “Sri Lankan forces will now confine their attempts to rescue the civilians who remain and give foremost priority in saving them.  This is an important first step in addressing concerns for the safety and security of Tamil civilians and internally displaced persons trapped in the conflict zone.” Read More  A huge Buddha statue at Kilinochchi

  

SRI LANKA: Do legislators have the right to be silly in parliament?

Contributors: Basil Fernando-October 30, 2012

In an earlier article we asked the question, "Can the legislature declare all automobiles to be rickshaws?" We must simplify the question by asking whether legislators have the right to be silly when they are legislating. We are not concerned about their silliness outside their duty to deal with legislation. Even if we are guilty of selecting some silly fellows as our legislators, we have right to expect that they will behave properly at the duty hours.

Now, any fellow who plays the fool by placing scurrilous letters in front of parliament is doing a very silly thing. More than the silly fellow, their controllers are at fault.

That is nothing, however, compared to what the government is trying to do by attacking the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice with all kinds of things, including appearing to file a motion for impeachment against Chief Justice just because she does not do exactly what the government wants.

What is worse is that all this is done merely to assist those fellows who are placed in the ITN and state media to do all kinds of silly things. Everyone knows these jokes but to make Supreme Court the target of such jokes is downright irresponsible. There are things that we never play jokes on. And the country's highest court is one of those.

Only lunatics do not know where to stop a joke, and surely the silliness among the legislators should not be allowed to go that far.

It for the people to say that we do not enjoy these jokes. If people do not do that, then the world will think that this whole nation is silly, if not mad.  

The people of a nation that allows their legislative assembly to be used to play silly pranks on the country's Supreme Court will only prove the saying that people get the leaders they deserve.

Sanctions on Iran cause drop in Sri Lankan tea prices
2012-10-30

COLOMBO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan tea typically exported to Iran has come under strain as prices dropped this week causing concern for the industry, a broker said in a statement Tuesday.

According to tea broker John Keells Ltd., averages have been plummeting steadily from 452 rupees (3.50 U.S. dollars) per kilo at sale in late September to 407.31 rupees (3.20 U.S. dollars) at the recently-concluded sale in mid-October, which reflects a drop of 45 rupees (0.30 U.S. dollars) in four sales. "High priced Tippy teas which feed the Iranian market have come under severe strain with prices dropping significantly in comparison to the Leafy teas,"the produce broker said.

It was reported that the European Union which met in Brussels on Oct. 15 had decided to enforce further financial and trade sanctions on Iran with the exception for humanitarian trade.

In addition to the extensive trade and financial sanctions already in place, the new sanctions will add more pressure on the Iranian economy.

Iran is one of Sri Lanka's largest buyers, which together with the Middle East account for 60 percent of tea exports.

John Keells said tea imports to Iran are expected to continue at least during the current winter months, but with the local currency recording a sharp fall in value, customers will be compelled to pay higher prices as importers will find it difficult to acquire letters of credit and transfer of funds.

"The situation in Syria remains another area of concern, particularly for the Low Grown Leafy teas, which have also not fared too well. Given the present scenario, the immediate prospect for a quick turnaround does not look promising," it added.

Sri Lanka earned 1.49 billion U.S. dollars from tea exports last year.

 Sri Lanka to conclude high-profiled human right violations cases this year

Oct 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Attorney General's Department plans to conclude several high- profiled human rights violations cases by the end of this year.

The Attorney General�s Department plans to conclude the investigation son the assassination of five students in Trincomalee in January 2006 and the execution of 17 French Action against Hunger aid workers in Muttur in August 2006, officials have told the local media.

The two incidents took place during the height of the war in the Eastern Province.

Speaking to local Daily Mirror, Attorney General Palitha Fernando has said that his Department would be able to do something in this regard before the end of this year.

Additional Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath who is in charge of this case, has said that he is analyzing the evidence on the two incidents and will be able to take action against those responsible very soon.

Sri Lanka has been increasingly under pressure from Western government as well as from human right organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to show progress in the investigations of the several human right violation cases.

The United States has raised the issue in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that is scheduled for Thursday (November 01).

In addition to the above two case, the U.S., in their submission, has raised concern over the lack of progress on the assassination of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga in January 2009 and the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda in January 2010.

Responding To The Politics Of The Budget

By Ahilan Kadirgamar -October 30, 2012 

Ahilan Kadirgamar

Budgets are deeply political because they are about the distribution of resources. If we take the budget of a family, it is hierarchical and gendered; decision making on expenditure is often monopolised by the head of the family, where male and monetised work are valued over others, particularly domestic work. The same goes for the national budget, not only in terms of the priorities of resource allocation, but also the value given to certain sectors, the limited number of actors determining the budget and particular constituencies making recommendations. Budgets also intervene in deeply political moments shaped by historical social relations whether it be natural disasters, global economic crisis or national political manoeuvres.

Immediate Concerns

There are at least three immediate political economic concerns that will shape the reception of the 2013 Budget. First, if we take the drought that has affected our farmers this year, the impact of such a natural disaster is necessarily shaped by agrarian relations; whether it be the history of land reforms and the size of farming plots, their dependence on wage labour and their access to longer-term credit and subsidies to wade through difficult times. The same can be said of the politics of the global economic crisis. An economic crisis does not erupt out of a vacuum; it is a product of the capitalist system which exploits one section of society to the benefit of another, and in the process also creates the conditions for its own crisis. Furthermore, the impact of the global economic downturn depends on the extent to which the Sri Lankan economy has been integrated into the global economy through financial and trade liberalisation. Next, the controversial DiviNeguma Bill and the immense centralisation of resources and powers under the Minister of Economic Development is bound to shape rural economic life including the distribution of subsidies and local finances such as microfinance loans. The Divi Neguma Bill will both undermine devolution by absorbing subjects and powers belonging to the Provincial Councils and reinforce political patronage down to the local level.

While these concerns are shaping the imminent reception of the Budget, the Government is likely to heed the recommendations of those economically powerful actors and members of the mainstream economic establishment. Serious engagement with the Government on the Budget has been limited to the major financiers of the Colombo Stock Exchange, the Chambers of Commerce and the business community, and the international financial institutions. The IMF and the World Bank in particular have considerable leverage to shape the Budget. The IMF has strict budgetary conditions for its Standby Agreement of 2009 and the World Bank’s loans promote infrastructure development through its heavy investment and pushes for privatisation of education through its funding. The media is also selective in legitimising the views of professional economists, as budgets are viewed as technical policy plans rather than political documents requiring engagement by the citizenry. This situation is not unique to Sri Lanka. A national budget is claimed to be the realm of expert economists and business leaders, even though it is a reflection of the balance of political and economic forces or class relations in any society.

Citizens Engagement                                     Read More

SRI LANKA: AHRC and RCT collaboration

October 30, 2012

Appreciation on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the RCT

(Photo Courtesy: Janasansadaya)

On the occasion of the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) celebrating its 30th Anniversary, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to record its appreciation for the RCT and recognize the contribution it has made to the development of the AHRC's work relating to torture and ill-treatment. It is perhaps a happy coincidence that the meeting with parliamentarians, organized by the Asian Alliance against Torture and Ill-treatment, (AAATI) occurred in the same year. The AAATI emerged as a joint venture, started in 2011 and co-sponsored by the AHRC and RCT, after several years of collaboration, to develop a contextually relevant approach to dealing with the widespread use of torture and ill-treatment in Asian countries.

The AHRC and RCT collaboration, which started in Sri Lanka, has been a unique experience. Sri Lanka, in the period around the 1950s, was thought of as a rapidly emerging democracy and an example to the rest of Asia and Africa. The expectation was based on realistic estimations of social indicators, which showed remarkable achievements in the areas of reducing the child mortality rate, dramatic improvements of literacy and education levels, significant improvements in overall healthcare, and skill development in many fields.

However, this dream began to shatter in the late 1970s with the adoption of a constitutional model that placed all power on the executive president, thus displacing the judiciary and the parliament. This was accompanied by a wholesale experiment into the market economy with aggressive undermining of all aspects of welfare and severe attacks on the trade union movement. By around 2002, when the AHRC and RCT collaboration started, Sri Lanka's rule of law system had suffered an exceptional collapse and grave abuses of human rights, by way of forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the use of torture and ill-treatment, manifested a serious deterioration of public institutions in the country. Globally, this situation in Sri Lanka was misunderstood as a result of an ethnic crisis, which has developed into a military conflict between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government.

The AHRC rejected this assessment of the Sri Lankan crisis as being purely based on the ethnic conflict, and instead described the crisis as one of a collapse of public institutions, giving rise to violence in many aspects of the country, including the conflict between the military and the LTTE. It was the view of the AHRC that this overall crisis, arising out of the authoritarian political model introduced by the 1978 constitution, needed to be highlighted as the fundamental cause of violence in Sri Lanka. The AHRC's work on forced disappearances, torture and ill treatment has begun on the basis of these overall initiatives.

The AHRC concentrated on the exposure of torture and ill-treatment as taking place in all parts of Sri Lanka rather than as confined only to the record of violence in the North and East, which was the usual habit of other international organisations and most of the local organisations in Sri Lanka. It is the AHRC's view that the totality of the crisis needs to be exposed if violence taking place in Sri Lanka is to find a comprehensive explanation, leading to the possibility of working towards the recovery of the rule of law system and the democratic institutions, which is the only real overall solution to the crisis. In addressing the crisis of the basic structure, the AHRC was of the view that exposure of police torture and ill-treatment, taking place in areas which were not the conflict areas, would lead to a clarification of the nature of the crisis in Sri Lanka.

Jesudasan Rita and Lalth Rajapakse

Concentrating on police torture was the AHRC's approach. It was this approach that the AHRC explained to the RCT and they agreed to a collaboration in terms of developing the prevention of torture project in Sri Lanka.

In the years that followed, this project encountered a large number of victims of torture, and the stories of their struggles are the most important aspect of this project. The number of victims is far too many to be mentioned individually. However, all of their cases are documented in detail and the documents have been published over and over again, and are available online and in various research publications. A few cases may be mentioned, cases that are quite well-known in Sri Lanka, and the lessons learned have become a part of the discourse on torture and ill-treatment in Sri Lanka.
There is the case of Lalith Rajapaksha, a seventeen-year-old boy, who was arrested and severely beaten all over his body, including on his head, on which books were placed and then hit with rods, resulting in his being unconscious for several weeks. The doctors identified his condition as edema on the brain, a condition that creates similar symptoms as encephalitis. The boy came from an extremely poor family and without very active support from human rights organisations he could not face up to the many problems that came as a result of this attack. He was continuously threatened by the police, who wanted him to withdraw his complaints. Dealing with this case led to very comprehensive ways of supporting torture victims, which combined protection of the victim for many years outside his home territory, community support to help him adjust to his new circumstances, a protracted legal struggle going from the Magistrates Courts to the High Court, to the Appeals Court, and finally to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The UNHRC's view expressed on this case, critiquing the delay in the adjudication process in Sri Lanka and issuing a recommendation for the adoption of legislative and judicial measures to ensure speedy justice, is by now referred to in several other cases. The incident happened in 2002 and the litigation still isn't over. However, the victim was supported throughout this period and now he is living in stable conditions.

Another case is that of Rita Jesudasan, a fourteen-year-old girl from the poorest sections of Sri Lanka, from a family of tea estate workers, who was raped in 2001 while on her way to school by a youth from an affluent family in Kandy. As usual, the police were neglecting the investigation. It was at this stage that the Home for the Victims of Torture came to her assistance. She was given medical and psychological care and was also admitted to a school run by nuns. Her education for several years thereafter was taken care of by the Home for Victims of Torture and the most difficult part they faced was to support her in pursuing her case in the courts. She was determined to seek justice. However, when she went to court, she was insulted by the lawyer and others from the perpetrator's side, who publicly shouted at her, calling her a prostitute. At this stage, a strategy was developed for a large number of persons from the community, including several nuns, to accompany her. There had been severe delays in the case as the perpetrators approached various authorities. She said that because she was a Tamil she was harassed at the police station and that initially they even refused to record her statement. Throughout her ordeal she was treated badly by the police when she tried to get her complaints registered. She had been subjected to humiliation and constant harassment.

Despite all these hazards, the case has continued for over ten years. Meanwhile, she has acquired skills and found employment. As of now, she is married and expecting her first child.

The next cases show the harsher side of fighting police torture.

The cases of Gerald Perera and Sugath Nishantha Fernando

Gerald Perera and  Sugath Nishantha Fernando

Gerald Perera, a cook and a trade unionist, was arrested purely on mistaken identity. He was so harshly beaten that he suffered kidney failure and remained unconscious for nearly three weeks. Feeling deeply insulted and wounded, he was uncompromising in trying to seek justice. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka gave a landmark judgment, in his favour, in a fundamental rights application and awarded the highest sum of compensation for torture so far. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka, in response to the Supreme Court judgment, filed an indictment under criminal charges under the CAT Act (Act No. 22 of 1994) against several police officers, and if the charges were proved they were subjected to a mandatory sentence of seven years rigorous imprisonment and a 10,000 rupees fine. A week before Gerald Perera was to give evidence in this trial he was fatally shot while travelling to work on a bus. Later, the first accused in the torture case, a police Sub Inspector, and one of his assistants, were charged for murder in this case. Both the cases of torture and murder are still continuing in the courts.

                                                                                                                                                                                         Read More...

Tamil went to Oman 20 centuries ago

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 07:49 GMT]
A potsherd inscription in Tamil language and in Tamil-Brahmi script, dateable to first century CE, has been found in the remains of the ancient city of Sumhuram in Oman. The potsherd with inscription, found in 2006 in the excavations at Khor Rori area in Oman by an archaeological team of The Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO), was deciphered when the piece came for a pottery exhibition in Kerala in September this year, The Hindu reported on Sunday. In earlier instances, Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions dateable to the dawn of the Common Era had been found in archaeological sites ranging from Mediterranean Sea coast of Egypt in the west to Thailand and Vietnam in the east. 

[Image courtesy: The Hindu]

The text of the inscription, whether fragmentary or not, sufficiently reveals the language and the type of script.
The text has been deciphered as “…’nanthai keeran.”
The last letter in the inscription is clearly an N called Ira’ndu-chuzhi nakaram that is different from the ordinary N or Thannakaram found in other South Asian languages.
This N is peculiar to Tamil language and script and thus makes the Brahmi script found in the potsherd to be assigned as Tamil-Brahmi.
The text is a fragment or a complete personal name in two words.
The last word that could be read as Keeran, is a popular personal name in Tamil, since very early times. There were many poets of the Changkam corpus who had that name. One example is the famous Changkam poet, Nakkeeran (Nat-keeran, meaning the good Keeran).
The first part of the name at the edge of the pottery fragment begins with a palatal N (Moon’ru chuzhi ‘nakaram). 
This could be read as ‘Nanthai, and could be a fragment of a word ending with Anthai or could be a complete word and a variation of Nanthai that usually begins with dental N.
Anthai, Aanthai, Enthai, Nanthai, Nunthai and Unthai are related words of Thanthai, basically meaning father, but used in different contexts to mean his father, my father, our father, your father etc. They were also used to mean an elder, elder brother, master, lord etc. (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, entry number 3067) 
It was also common to find some of them, especially Anthai, Aanthai, Enthai and Nanthai used as honorific titles or as components of personal names before or after the names.
One example for a personal name ending with Anthai is Keeranthaiyaar (Keeran-anthaiyaar), the name of a Changkam poet.
* * * The Tamil-Brahmi potsherd of Khor Rori was found in the residential part of the ancient city of Sumhuram. It was found in an archaeological layer belonging to the most important construction phase of the city, dated to first century CE, The Hindu cited Dr. Alexia Pavan who was in the excavation team.
The potsherd was part of a lid made by reusing the shoulder part of an amphora (jar). Soot found in it indicates that it was used in cooking, archaeologists said.
The inscription could have been written when it was an amphora bringing a commercial commodity, bearing the name of the owner.
Speaking to The Hindu, leading archaeologist from Tamil Nadu, Dr. K. Rajan was relating the connections of the western coast of Peninsular India with Oman and South Arabia to the trade of Frankincense [Kungkiliyam, a resin-gum producing incense, obtained from trees of Boswellia species].
* * * The excavations at Khor Rori in Oman, directed by Dr. Alessandra Avanzini of the Italian Mission to Oman, are conducted since 1997.

The Tamil Brahmi potsherd was identified of its epigraphic significance when it was brought by Dr. Pavan for an exhibition of pottery of Indian Ocean Countries held in Kerala, jointly organized by Dr. P.J. Cherian of the Kerala Council of Historical Research and Roberta Tomber of the British Museum, London.
K. Rajan, Professor, Department of History, Pondicherry University, D. Dayalan, Regional Director, Archaeological Survey of India, and V. Selvakumar, Head of the Department of Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur, spotted the potsherd displayed by Dr. Pavan.* * *
In entire South Asia the earliest inscriptions so far deciphered are either in Prakrit or in Tamil.
They were written in a phonetic script, which the colonial Orientalists termed as Brahmi, getting the name from a list of script names found in later literatures. The name actually prevailed at the time of the writings is not known with surety. Technically, the term Brahmi is used only to the writings dating before the 5th century CE. 
From the very early stages, two strains could be found in this phonetic writing, one that was used in the Prakrit inscriptions of the Mauryan emperor Asoka (3rd century BCE) and the other that was used in the ancient Tamil country to write Tamil. Hence they are called as Asokan Brahmi and Tamil-Brahmi.

All the South Asian alphabets of today, as well as the old Southeast Asian alphabets and some of the Central Asian alphabets have come from one or the other of the Brahmi strains.
Dr. K. Rajan, in his recent excavations, has found evidence for Brahmi in Tamil Nadu dating well before the times of Asoka. Dr. S.U. Deraniyagala has made similar discoveries in the island of Sri Lanka too.
In the island of Sri Lanka, Prakrit mixed with Tamil is the widely found linguistic feature of the early inscriptions. But, early Tamil inscriptions have also been found from the north to south of the island. Whether Prakrit or Tamil, the strain of the script used in the early inscriptions of the island of Sri Lanka was largely Tamil-Brahmi.

Govt. M .P. sells formalin /urea mixed toxic kasippu as ‘Hingurana arrack’- MaRa gets 300 million as kickback

(Lanka-e-News -30.Oct.2012, 11.00PM) Matale district UPFA 

(Govt) M.P. Lakshman Vasantha Perera is carrying on a massive official kasippu business using formalin (used for preservation of dead bodies) and urea in his kasippu preparation. In order to carry on this illegal killer business he is paying a sum of Rs. 300 million per month as under the counter payment to MaRa, the chief of the regime , according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

An officer of this Kasippu Industry of Vasantha Perera M.P at Hingurana in the Dompe district speaking to Lanka e news said, the so called ‘ Hingurana arrack’ sold Island wide is nothing but a product of the toxic formalin and urea used in its preparation. He pointed out that if a raid is conducted now, the large quantity of urea that is in the store ready for use in the manufacture can be seized.

It was the formalin worth Rs. 2000 million intended for Lakshman Perera’s kasippu distillery that was seized by the Customs on the 26th of September. Later however this formalin had been secured release after a payment of a fine of Rs. 300 lakhs on the intervention and instructions of MaRa.

This Lakshman Perera the henchman of MaRa who is engaged in this gigantic illegal business of selling Kasippu as Hingurana arrack , ought to pay a sum of Rs. 800 million per month as excise tax to the Excise Dept . and the income tax Dept. , but he avoids that payment , by making a payment of Rs. 300 million instead as a kickback to MaRa, about which under the counter payment to MaRa , Lakshman Perera loudly and proudly boasts. The latter has now completely captured the eastern and northern provonce division markets with his kasippu supplies. In some districts , where Lakshman Perera has bought over the Wine stores , he is exclusively selling the Hingurana toxic kasippu.

Though this poisonous kasippu business racket is being carried on in a gigantic scale and without let or hindrance openly, neither the Excise Dept. nor the Inland revenue Dept. that is well aware of this is able to do anything because these Depts. are under the purview of MaRa. By not allowing these Depts. to discharge their duties duly and collect taxes, and instead MaRa receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs. 300 million monthly from the kasippu dealer, it is a clear index MaRa is playing the role of an underworld extortionist Kingpin.

While the ordinary people consuming the so called ‘Hingurana Kasippu’ that is poisonous formalin and urea adulterated are fast gravitating towards the grave , the Rathane sadhu , Bodhu Bala Sena members and the Mahanayake Theros who mount roof tops to make their sermons heard against ‘mathata thitha’, do not care even to show the least concern over this ‘mathata thitha’ being transformed into ‘thiththata matha’ and a ‘makadi atha’ under their very spouting mouths and noses . Apparently , it is their tenet (not true Buddhist tenets) that as long as kickbacks are received by those at the top places in the secular or religious spheres no matter what evils are practiced ,and Buddhist preaching can be compromised.

Save the Arakan Muslim Population from Genocide in Arakan-Burma

Hundreds of Muslim girls and women were attacked by rogue Buddhist mobs who also burned villages.

(LONDON) - “War crimes and crimes against humanity are being carried out every day against the Rohingyas and Muslims of Arakan and all of these murderous acts are direct violations of international law under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).” Join Press Statement

We, the Rohingya Diaspora and members of the following organizations strongly denounce and condemn and we express our serious concern over the current news information that Buddhist Rakhine extremists led by Rakhine ruling political party namely, Rakhine Nationalities Development Party-RNDP had started again mass killings of Muslim population of Arakan as well as burning and destruction of Muslims villages and houses, in Minbya, Mrauk Oo, Kyaukpru, Pauktaw, Ratheydaung, Myebone, and Kyauktaw Townships starting from October 21, 2012. This is the second time of genocide and persecutions of Muslims in Arakan in 2012 by the RNDP led Buddhist Rakhine people including Buddhist Monks with the direct help and strong involvement of the Burmese Government security forces of President Thein Sein from both central and Rakhine State Government.

Beginning from the month of October 21, 2012, at least fourteen villages were burnt down and thousands of people killed. Hundreds of Muslim girls and women were raped by the Burmese security forces and Rakhine extremists while attacking the Muslims in those townships. The Burmese Government officials and Security forces did nothing to prevent and stop these mass killings and attacks. President Thein Sein led Burmese Government had claimed that Arakan State is in normal situation but, in reality the situation has become more worsened day after day. These atrocities and mass killings were being committed under the open eyes of the Burmese security forces involving the Police, Lun Htein, and Army. Available reports confirmed that Buddhist Rakhine people led by RNDP President Dr. Aye Maung and Rakhine State Prime Minister Hla Maung Tin are trying to spread this violence across the whole Muslims residing areas of all Townships in Arakan.                                                    Read Full Article

Myanmar is Behaving Inhumanly Toward the Rohingya Muslims

Buddhist monks are supporting the plan of exterminating the whole Rohingya ethnic community from Arakan.

Rakhine extremist & Buddhists Monks have burned Rohingya Muslims houses and killed their women and children.

(FRANKFURT) - I do not agree with the views of international media and their various news articles, for the last few months, on the conflicts between Rakhine Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims. It is true that Rohingyas are majority in Maungdaw and Buthidaung while they are not more than 10% in Mrauk Oo, Minbya, Kyauk Phyu, Myae Bon and Pauk Taw. As such the claim by certain media groups that the Rohingyas that has been oppressed for many decades could attack the overwhelming majority Rakhines who have full support of state apparatus, is totally absurd and is very unfortunate for the suffering Rohingyas. One should ask himself and use commonsense before publishing such destructive news articles.

Many Rohingya Organizations around the world are demanding UN intervention to provide UN security forces because they are helpless and do not possess any mean to defend themselves from this well-coordinated plan of genocide launched against them. But the Bhuddist Rakhine and Myanmar government do not agree to any international intervention. They will not even allow international humanitarian organizations because they are afraid of the face of real culprits will be exposed to the worlds society. This clearly shows who is under attack and who are attacking. Buddhist monks in Myanmar declared the sympathizers of Rohingyas would be considered as "national traitors," according to a report by a humanitarian group.

Can someone imagine how Buddhist monks are supporting the plan of exterminating the whole Rohingya ethnic community from Arakan? If national security forces do not support Rakhine Community how is it possible for them to do so? Surprisingly, there is no single picture or video which shows Rakhine Buddhist died or their temple was burned while there are thousands of videos and pictures to substantiate their claims of Rohingyas that they have been raped, killed, looted and houses, properties and mosques are being burned down by Rakhine Extremist.

The president has been very clear that the Arakan issue should not be seen as a religious matter but if anyone is trying to establish it as a religious issue it's definitely the monks," if he doesn’t addresses the issue as religious why he allows all Myanmar Monks to demonstrate against the Islam. There is no doubt that Thein Sein government has involved complicity in this heinous crime against Rohingyas as he is the one only president of a country in this modern days who openly called for the segregation of two communities that have lived side by side for centuries. The RNDP and the president Thein Sein are the most active players of this crime of ethnic cleansing. International community must raise their voices against them without further delay. Otherwise the world will witness the worst genocide of the history in Asia.

In an attempt to calm the situation, Myanmar President Thein Sein announced for a state of emergency in several areas and said the confrontations have nothing to do with religious differences but he fully involves in cleansing the Rohingyas and he is still going forward on with his plan that Rohingyas should be kept in refugee camp until resettlement to a third country. It seems that this is a master plan to cleanse Rohingya Arakan, eventually from the whole country.

Few days ago, riot ensued in Bangladesh. It was also pre-planned conspiracy jointly launched by Bangladesh and Myanmar governments. Prime minister of Bangladesh promised that her government would give compensation to the lost properties in the Bangladesh during the riot while Myanmar Government embarked on mass arbitrary arrest of Rohingyas.

A media reported as: ‘Last week’s clashes once again highlight the plight of the Rohingya as a minority that has been discriminated against for a very long time. The systematic persecution of this group has been ell organized and its brutality has reached all facets of life. This group had been targeted decades ago with a systematic policy of elimination”.

It must be stopped. Sending extra troops and fortifying security in the Rakhine region is not enough to stop the violence. Without addressing the root cause of the current situation, the problem will continue and so will be the bloodshed’.

More than 5000 Rakhine extremist & Buddhists Monk killed more than 300 Rohingyas in Mrauk Oo,Minbya and Kyauk Phyu.

There was an agreement between Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Myanmar government to open liaison offices in Myanmar to provide the humanitarian aids for the victims of violence regardless of race and religion but the monks and Buddhists backed by the government protested against the OIC for opening the office in Myanmar. The Buddhists from Rakhine state are blocking the aids for the Rohingya since the Turkish government delegation visited the Refugee camps.

As the situation becomes worse day by day, we would like to request UN, USA, EU, and OIC to advocate for the most oppressed Rohingyas of Myanmar. The world community should give pressure on the Myanmar government to stop the ongoing violence against Rohingya immediately, and restore their citizenship and ethnic rights, and to urgently send an UN enquiry team for the crime against humanity to Arakan State.

I would like to appeal international Community for immediate humanitarian assistance for the displaced Rohingyas who urgently need humanitarian aids, medical supplies and other basic necessities.

Why Are We Not Joining The PSC?

By M A Sumanthiran -October 30, 2012

M. A. Sumanthiran MP

Today the most important question that is being asked of the TNA is “Why are you not joining the PSC?” This seems a very reasonable question since the Government has quite successfully carried on a campaign to convince everyone that the only reason why a political settlement cannot be reached is because the TNA is being obstinate and is refusing to join this very democratic process of the PSC that has been initiated by the Government. We owe it to the people of this country to explain the actual reason for the present stalemate in the talks between the TNA and the Government. For this a recollection of events from the beginning of the year 2010 is necessary:

It must be remembered that President Rajapaksa did not win in the North and the East, although he got a clear mandate from the rest of the seven provinces at the Presidential Election held in January 2010. In fact he did not win in Nuwara Eliya District and Colombo Municipal limits. Basically his mandate was only from the Sinhala majority of this country. A telling result, after he claimed to have freed the Tamil People from the clutches of terrorism!

The TNA made a public request in April 2010 that the Government must engage the TNA with regard to the evolution of a political settlement and the immediate concerns of the Tamil people in the aftermath of the war, and despite the President agreeing with the Leader of the TNA that two committees would be set up for these two matters in November 2010, only one committee was appointed in January 2011 consisting of representatives of the government and representatives of the TNA for ‘long-term reconciliation’. It was clearly stated in the letter of invitation to the representatives of the TNA that the other members were ‘representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka’.

Eighteen rounds of talks were held from January 10, 2011 throughout that year on the evolution of an acceptable political solution. Although no separate committee was set up with regard to matters of immediate concern of the Tamil people, at the invitation of the Government delegation, the TNA raised the following matters of immediate concern:

• The removal of High Security Zones and disarming of para-military forces operating in the North and East
• Resettlement and Rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons
• The issue of political prisoners and detainees.

The resettlement process continues to be snail-paced with several thousands still in the camps and many more tens of thousands in transit camps and with friends and relatives. Even those who have been permitted to return to their original places, are without proper shelter and are unable to re-commence their livelihood activities, resulting in there being no qualitative improvement in the lives of these people. Although some progress has been made in the Palaly High Security Zone area, several other areas in the North including Sampur in the East continue to be prohibited zones for the civilians.                         Read More