SL military threatens senior faculty members of Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 December 2012, 09:42 GMT]
The occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka individually approached the Deans and former Deans of all the faculties of the University of Jaffna to threaten them not to take up the issue of the students arrested following the Heroes Day observations, news sources in Jaffna said. Parallely, the military also went in search of a student leader at Thiruvaiyaa'ru in Ki'linochchi last night. The University remains vacated as student leaders are forced into hiding. A protest demonstration by the Medical Faculty of the university scheduled for Monday was cancelled, as the Administration of the university advised against it, citing ‘secret negotiations’ taking place between the university and the occupying military at the Palaali base. However, the University of Jaffna Teachers Association is firm that all the arrested students have to be released without charges, the news sources further said. 

In any case, whether by prosecuting the students or by releasing them, the occupying Sri Lanka wishes to achieve the purpose of silencing all future democratic struggles coming from the university, commented a new generation political activist in Jaffna.

Unless the genocidal state is countered in an appropriate way by the world, the state would endlessly continue with this kind of activities, the activist said.

The university students waging a democratic struggle had clearly expressed their faith in non-violent means and their faith in the so-called International Community. But we have seen how the predicament of the students was either just ‘secondary’ or an opportunity for collaborative oppression for the International Community of Establishments (ICE). We also watch how the international media’s Colombo-centric reporting reminds us of the war times. Unless the struggle is effectively taken up by a global civil society against the erring ICE, genocidal states are going to mushroom in the world, the new generation political activist said.

The Heroes Day observation is in fact a slap on the face to the policies followed by the erring ICE. The ICE would in fact be happy to see such struggles silenced. They had already implied what respect they would give for peaceful democratic voices when hundreds of thousand Eezham Tamils came to streets during the genocidal war, the activist cited. 

Eezham Tamils waged a democratic struggle for 30 years. They waged an armed struggle for another 30 years. Now they again wage a democratic struggle. But sabotage, disrespect and hijack of democratic and peaceful struggles come from the very establishments that advocate for democratic struggle. What the Eezham Tamils could do if we are not prepared to listen, arrogantly ask the agenda pundits of the ICE. It is this challenge that has to be primarily addressed by creatively identifying and applying effective democratic means with the help of the diaspora, Tamil Nadu and above all, a mobilised global civil society, the new generation political activist in Jaffna further said.

Exceeding Churchill’s Expectations

Exceeding Churchill’s Expectations

Written By Sri Lanka Guardian on December 3, 2012

"Power will go to rascals, rogues, freebooters. . . .

All leaders will be of low calibre & men of straw. . .

They'll have sweet tongues & silly hearts. . .

They will fight amongst themselves for power & the two countries (India and Pakistan) will be

lost in political squabbles. . . .

A day would come when even air & water will be taxed" -- Winston Churchill

( December 3, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) These words of Winston Churchill applied to the entirety of the Indian sub continent with specific references to India and Pakistan. In hindsight it appears that his prophesy surprisingly applies more accurately to Sri Lanka which has actually exceeded his expectations and will continue to do so. Churchill should be glad.

Winston Churchill with the bull dog tenacity though regarded arrogant was far sighted and intuitive. In May 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and remained in office until 1945. He won the Second World War for England and for democracy. He saved the world from the fascist nationalism of Hitler and Mussolini. When his mission was completed, instead of being deified the British people in true democratic fashion threw him out at the very next general elections into the political wilderness after his usefulness had been served, until he became prime minister again in 1951. Clement Atlee of the British Labour Party succeeded as prime minister in 1945. Churchill is regarded as the greatest western statesman of the twentieth century having also briefly lived in India. He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of 1951 and resigned in 1955. Besides his military distinctions he was a historian, a literary figure winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. He was painter and above all a wit. He was astute and far sighted.

His observations were considered uncharitable, snobbish and irrational when made nearly sixty five years ago by many including both British and Indian intellectuals but in hindsight even to the polite observer, have today unsurprisingly become not only relevant but also most appropriate.

Of India very briefly, steeped in corruption at every level and in all political persuasions and spheres both in the ruling party and the opposition we wonder whether it could ever get out of this morass much to the dire detriment of the hundreds of millions of people to be liberated from the quagmire of poverty and ignorance afflicting the overwhelmingly vast majority of its people. Manmohan Singh the invertebrate prime minister who is not only corrupt but has also fallen into the trap of the family of Sonia Gandhi who is only interested in promoting her son Raoul (now Rahul), her daughter Bianca now (Priyanka) and her corrupt son in law to take charge of the destinies of India. The transfer of Indian antiques transported to her sister's million dollar concern in Italy is another story. It is interesting that at the BBC's Hard Talk programme on 19 October 2012 the Indian finance minister, Chidambaram one of the most corrupt of the Indian central government when questioned by Stephen Sackur on the mounting corruption in India, trivialised the problem of such magnitude with callous cynicism. It appears that India steeped with corruption from the very top has no redemption. The launching of the satellite with Chinese assistance makes its future even worse. The only credible alternative for any redemption was the BJP but with its anti-Muslim stance and increasing corruption within its own ranks is now out of the question. In short, India has lost the plot.

Pakistan has been a country governed by a military beuareacracy often appointed from above dominated by the Bengalis except in the case of Shariff and General Musharaff . The Sharia law and the oppression of women dominate family life with absolutely no equality to be enjoyed by women in the justice system. If one goes into Pakistan the message is that the responsibility for the murder of the then contender for the president's position, Ms Benazir Ali Bhutto should lie not with the Taliban but with her husband the president. The world recognises that it is the epicentre of Islamic extremism which is very difficult to erase rendering any peace even in Afghanistan impossible. The Taliban used by the US through Pakistan to rid of the former Soviet occupation in Afghanistan is the product of the Pakistani army with its cadres at present fed into by the Madras as the centres of fascist Islamic training comprising impoverished and often homeless youth. Sri Lanka with its professed interest in assisting the world in the eradication of international terrorism should take a closer look at its traditional alliance with Pakistan.

India calls itself a secular state despite is inaction towards the atrocities against the Muslims, while Pakistan is a religious State. India and Pakistan will continue to be in constant conflict and the two countries will be lost in political squabbles especially on the Kashmiri problem for the present, with serious consequences for south Asia in the future. The Indian sub continent will produce billions of impoverished, economically oppressed and ignorant people for in the future it would be the circumstances of one's birth that would determine their destinies.

Sri Lanka, since its independence in 1948, has had three constitutions including that of 1972 and 1978. Every time a parliamentary election afforded a two thirds majority every excuse, disguisedly in the name of the supremacy of Sinhala Buddhism was made to change the constitution in order to increase the powers of the incumbent in office towards absolutism.

In 1970, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike the "wailing" widow of SWRD Bandaranaike, being the only qualification, with limited education and with no orientation in democracy was elected to power with a two thirds majority by the Sinhala polity to make certain that the Tamils should not enjoy even the limited privileges enjoyed under Dudley Senanayake the prime minister from 1965 to 1970. The 1972 constitution of Sirimavo made Sri Lanka a republic doing away with even the minimal safeguards that that the 1947 constitution had provided for the minorities. Further, it ushered in an era of political supremacy at the expense of the independence of the judiciary. There was little or no public debate or discussion on the passage of this constitution.

The 1978 constitution was tailor made to satisfy the childhood fantasies of JR Jayewardene to become the president. The main feature is that it provides for an executive presidential government with a cabinet of ministers collectively responsible to parliament. It is the first constitution in the world to provide for its own repeal and replacement. It vested the judicial power of the state in the parliament and thereby subjected the judiciary to political control and placed the legality of the constitution outside judicial review. It also created a theocratic state to keep the Buddhist monks happy.

Jayewardene was nevertheless, a person of some refinement perhaps due to his upbringing and intelligence, who never contemplated or envisaged the indiscriminate bombing of the innocent Tamil people in the north and the east on such large scale, despite the problems caused to him by the Tamil militancy although responsible for other very serious crimes against the Tamil nation. Although fox cunning and self centred, little would he have envisaged that the constitution he devised where the

"Power will go to rascals, rogues, freebooters.

All leaders will be of low calibre & men of straw. . .

They'll have sweet tongues & silly hearts. . ." would descend to the rat cunning Rajapaksas' cheap dynastic leadership incapable of handling political power with the president unashamedly announcing that he is above the law giving himself the licence for murder, large scale massacres, war crimes, the protection of war criminals and other types of criminals guilty of rape and even paedophiles with impunity. Dutugemunu might have been above the law but not the Rajapaksas for their wishes unlike those of Dutugemunu are subject to challenge in the Supreme Court.

( The Writer, Editor, The Eelam Nation, an online journal)

Withdraw The Impeachment Against CJ – The Bar Association Of Jaffna

By Colombo Telegraph -December 3, 2012 

The Bar Association of Jaffna call upon the Members of Parliament who were signatories to the impeachment motion to consider withdrawing the motion of impeachment against the Chief Justice.

Chief Justice Bandaranayake

The Bar Association of Jaffna passed a resolution at a meeting held on the 28^th of November 2012 with regard to the Motion of impeachment against the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.

We below publish the full text of the resolution;

Resolution passed by Attorneys-at-Law practicing in the Jaffna Peninsula present at a meeting held on the 28^th of November 2012 with regard to the Motion of impeachment against Her Ladyship the Chief Justice.

Noting with grave concern that the impeachment proceedings initiated against Her Ladyship the Chief Justice would inevitably lead to an irreparable loss of confidence and public respect of the judicial system as a whole which in turn would further deteriorate the state of governance of the country,

Noting in particular as lawyers from the North and East of Sri Lanka the importance of ensuring stability in the administration of justice as such stability is quintessential to the restoration of normalcy in the North and East of Sri Lanka and noting that the motion against Her Ladyship the Chief Justice is a threat to the smooth functioning and administration of justice to the whole of the country,

Noting with concern the lack of comity on the part of the Parliamentary Select Committee in rejecting the request of Honourable Supreme Court to stay proceedings until the hearing and conclusion of a case on matter relating to the interpretation of the constitution relating to the impeachment of the Chief Justice,

Express their solidarity with her Ladyship the Chief Justice during this darkest hour of assault the independence of the judiciary and call upon the Honourable Members of Parliament who were signatories to the impeachment motion to consider withdrawing the motion of impeachment against Her Ladyship the Chief Justice.

And seek to inform the Chairman of the Parliamentry Select Committee that the Jaffna Bar Association, if invited is prepared to make submission on all of the above issues raised above.

Ms S. Abimanasingham P.C.

Zonal Vice- President (North), BASL

Read the original resolution here

Sri Lankan military lashes out at deserter who fled to Canada, gave ‘insider’s account’ of government torture

Passport photo of Ravindra Priyashantha Watudura Bandanage, who was a captain in the Sri Lanka Army until he fled to Canada and deserted. He has told immigration officials the army ordered him to place a bomb in the home of a Tamil Member of parliament in Sri Lanka.

Stewart Bell | Dec 2, 2012
TORONTO— The Sri Lankan military lashed out Sunday at an army deserter who has fled to Canada and claimed his superiors ordered him to place a bomb at the home of a well-known opposition Member of Parliament.

While the defence ministry confirmed the captain had gone AWOL, it said his account of being ordered to plant explosives was a lie by “a man of dubious repute and questionable integrity towards his motherland.”

The ex-captain’s allegations of abuses committed by the Sri Lanka Army during the island nation’s conflict with Tamil rebels surfaced at his refugee hearing in Winnipeg and were first reported last week by the National Post.

Related

Sri Lankan Army deserter gives ‘rare’ insider account of government forces torturing civilians

• UN failing its duty to protect civilians during conflicts: internal report on Sri Lanka 
•  The military responded on its website with a statement that attacked the deserter’s credibility but that also confirmed the general outline of his army career that he had provided to Canadian refugee officials.“During his stay in the army [he] was seen as a controversial character who was caught cheating at promotion exams and other actions which are deemed unbecoming for an officer or a gentleman. He had a habit of going AWOL. In fact it was something of a hobby for him to be away from work without informing the authorities,” it read.
• Since the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009, the government has been defending itself from mounting allegations its forces committed war crimes ranging from shelling populated areas to abducting and killing opposition figures.
  But the latest charges are considered particularly damaging because they come from a former insider — a commissioned officer who had served in the army since 1993 before deserting in Canada five months after the war’s end.
  In his testimony to the Immigration and Refugee Board the deserter, Ravindra Watudura Bandanage, said in 2008 a colonel had ordered him to place explosives inside the home of an ethnic Tamil MP.
  He said he had refused the assignment and was transferred to Colombo, where he helped with search-and-cordon operations that rounded up ethnic Tamils. He said he was aware the army was torturing, beating and raping civilians.
  The Refugee Board ruled he was not eligible for refugee protection because he was complicit in crimes against humanity. His appeal to the Federal Court of Canada was dismissed last month.
  Both the Tamil Tigers rebels and the government forces have been widely accused of conducting themselves with reckless disregard for the welfare of civilians during the final stages of a civil war that spanned three decades.
  “We remain tremendously concerned about the lack of accountability for the actions taken by both parties at the end of the war,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Friday when asked about the captain’s allegations.
  National Post with files from Kathryn Blaze Carlson

Attempts to confiscate 20 acres of land by the assistance of state officials. Two southern Srilankans create problems in Maanthai west

Monday , 03 December 2012

Reports states two majority persons are giving problems to the people to confiscate 20 acres paddy lands in  the Koorai village which is under the Maanthai west Deputy Government Agent division stating,  it belongs to them.

 

Under the "North Vasantham project" 20 acres of paddy land in the Koorai village was cleared and was granted to the people of that area.

 

 Approximately 60 families were resettled in this village and are involved in cultivation and farming.

 

In this situation, two majority community persons from the southern part of Sri Lanka with the support of Maanthai west Government official with the assistance of  Grama Sevaka  is demanding ownership of these lands.

 

This has created controversies among the said village people and the two persons from the majority community. A clash occurred two days back which lead the Illuppaikadavai police to rush to the locality where the incident occurred to bring the situation to normalcy.

 

Regarding the incident the Manthai West Deputy Government Agent was contacted to obtain information but it was not successful.

 

 The affected people due to this incident have made a complaint to the Tamil National Alliance Vanni District Parliament Member Selvam Adaikalanathan

Expose: Government’s Strategies To Counter Judges Meeting And Sabotage Unity Among Judges

By Colombo Telegraph -December 2, 2012

“There is a judges meeting on 3rd December in Colombo. The Government is planning several strategies to counter it and sabotage any unity among the judges. You would have no doubt seen the mudslinging campaign today in state media suggesting that there is a conspiracy in courts- including breaking news and statements by government politicians.” says the Lawyers Collective against the impeachment.

There is a conspiracy

According to the Lawyers Collective the following have been finalized and will be carried out  tomorrow;

Several organised protests are scheduled in various areas over delay of cases due to judges having to attend a JSC meeting tomorrow (3rd Decmeber) suggesting that there is a conspiracy. Having  copious mudslinging state media.  One minutes trailers to be run with statements by Ranil Wickramasinghe etc. justifying  ”Parliament’s impeachment  power” saying  we report you decide. Sending text messages using politically connected judges to  independent judges to discourage their presence for the 3rd  December meeting.

“Let us not be discouraged, will coninue the struggle until we defeat the politically motivated impeachment against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.” Lawyers Collective further says.

*Photo courtesy Times/ Namas Bhojani 

UNHCR thinks of revising circular on Sri Lanka: Australian representative

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 December 2012, 02:22 GMT]
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) is in the process of revising its earlier circular of 5th July 2010 that declared normalcy in Sri Lanka, said Mr Richard Towle, Resident Representative of UNHCR in Australia, in a meeting held at Auckland on 19 November. He was responding to a question from Mr. A. Theva Rajan, President of the New Zealand Tamil Senior Citizens Association at its annual conference on refugee related matters held at Auckland under the auspicious of the UNHRC. 

“From time to time, we, as a routine, do issue guidelines on policies in general and on policy changes as to certain countries. It is true that we issued a guideline in 2010. That was based on our view as at the material time in 2010. We do agree that the situation today is different. We are in the process of revising that circular and we will issue a revised circular soon,” said Mr Richard Towle. 

He was responding to Mr. Theva Rajan who pointed out that according to the circular in question no Sri Lankan Tamil need be given refugee status any more as the situation in the home country has been restored to normalcy save in high profile risk cases like journalists and politically aligned people. 

This circular has failed to take into consideration some basic facts relating to Sri Lanka’s ground situation. The Government’s genocidal actions are still continuing unabated, Theva Rajan said.

Peoples lands and homes and their age long means of livelihoods - farming and fishing - are being plundered by the occupying Army and the state aided Sinhala settlers brought from outside Sinhala areas. It is a scenario of continuing genocide within an open prison and iron curtain where outsiders including independent Journalists are still forbidden. The Government is enforcing a calculated policy of deprivation – deprivation of food, clothing, shelter, means of livelihood, nutrition for children, education for children and all that is essential for an ethnic group to survive as an ethnic group. Above all the inherent human dignity. Foreign dignitaries who wine and dine with the powers that be, after being taken on guided tours by the occupying Army and Agencies enforcing genocidal policies shamelessly speak well of the Government rubbing salt on the injured Tamil community writhing in pain, the New Zealand civil society activist told the UNHRC representative.

Continuing further, he referred to the myths spun around boat refugees . Continuous life risking journeys on unsafe boats across high seas only testify to the continuing life threatening situation still prevailing at home. Please help to free the Tamils from the clutches of a murderous racist Government by taking action at international forums without demonising the poor asylum seekers

Through years of experience on the refugee issue, the international aid workers and NGOs and Immigration Lawyers in particular were pointing at the need to widen the scope of the Convention Reason and allow more space for growing number of real refugees. But to the contrary countries like Australia and Canada and New Zealand too are enacting laws without a sense of humanism to demonise the refugees. The UN Convention wants refugees to be treated with compassion and dignity. Here they are being further subjected to mental torture and forced to live in situations without basic amenities – a direct violation of the UN Convention – forced into a situation even worse than that which they experienced at home, Theva Rajan said.

His views were welcomed with a round of applause by all the participants. Another speaker demonstrated the role of the media and ill informed politicians in demonising boat refugees. The speaker referred to an incident where girl students of the age of 12 at a school in Australia when asked as to who they would support - whether asylum seekers or refugee claimants. They said asylum seekers because they came in the proper way and asked for asylum whereas the refugee claimants gate crashed and wanted refugee status. In the former case their application would be formally processed and decided. The students showed a sense contempt on the refugee claimants. The speaker attributed this demonization of boat refugees to the wild campaign of media and the irresponsible utterances of ill informed politicians. All speakers condemned the treatment of boat refugees by the respective countries.

Mr. Richard Towle, the resident representative in Australia gave a patient hearing to all the views expressed and said that they as a UN body always persuaded the countries involved and tried to uphold the UN Refugee principle. Failures were not due to inaction on the part of the UNHCR. It was due to the policies adopted by individual countries. But the UNHCR will fight on, he said.

Now that Palestine has its birth certificate…

The game is up for Israel’s pimps and hirelings

by Stuart Littlewood

PLO executive member Hanan Ashrawi thanked the 138 UN General Assembly members that voted for Palestine’s upgrade to a non-member state, telling them: “You have rescued the chances of peace by supporting the forces of reason and responsibility rather than the irrational and irresponsible exercise of force and violence. You have given us hope, and we pledge to work with you to make this shared world of ours more peaceful and humane.”

She said the nations that voted for Palestine had “demonstrated courage and integrity by acting in accordance with the dictates of your conscience and integrity rather than the diktat of power and intimidation”.

Hanan Ashrawi is a Palestinian Christian who has been around a long time in Palestinian politics and held many key posts. As a student in Lebanon during the 1967 war she was prevented by Israel from going home to the West Bank for 6 long years. A veteran activist for peace and human rights she is regarded as a voice of reason. We in the West need to hear from this lady more often.

And we need to hear less from Israeli ambassador Prosor. In his rant in the lead-up to the vote he said: “Time and again we have sought peace with the Palestinians. Time and again, we have been met by rejection of our offers.”

No doubt he was thinking of Barak’s ‘generous offer’. One of the greatest propaganda lies circulated by the Israeli regime and its supporters is how Arafat turned down former Israeli prime minister Barak’s so-called ‘generous offer’ in 2000.

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip, seized by Israel in 1967 and occupied ever since, comprise just 22% of pre-partition Palestine. When the Palestinians signed the Oslo Agreement in 1993 they agreed to accept the 22% and recognise Israel within ‘Green Line’ borders (i.e. the 1949 Armistice Line established after the Arab-Israeli War), thus conceding 78% of the land that was originally theirs. It was an astonishing compromise on their part.

But it wasn’t enough for Barak. His so-generous offer required the inclusion of 69 Israeli settlements within that 22% remnant. It was plain for all to see on the map that these settlement blocs created impossible borders and already disrupted Palestinian life in the West Bank. Barak also required the Palestinian territories be placed under “Temporary Israeli Control”, meaning Israeli military and administrative control indefinitely. His so-generous offer also gave Israel control over all the border crossings of the new Palestinian State. What nation on earth would accept that?

Addressing Abbas, Prosor said: “You asked the world to recognize a Palestinian state, but you still refuse to recognize the Jewish state.” The Jewish state still hasn’t declared its borders and won’t recognise even the most fundamental rights of the Palestinians and certainly not their right of self-determination. As Prosor well knows, even Hamas have offered to accept Israel on its internationally recognised pre-1967 borders. All Israel has to do is end its illegal occupation.

Of course, Prosor couldn’t resist a pop at Hamas, accusing them of firing more than 1,300 rockets into the heart of Israel’s major cities last month (November). That many… into the very heart of major cities… and killing only 5?

“There is only one route to Palestinian statehood,” he announced in dictatorial tones. “And that route does not run through this chamber in New York. That route runs through direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah…” He also said the UN “should encourage the Palestinians to enter into direct negotiations without preconditions in order to achieve an historic peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state”. The Palestinians have made it clear they will not return to peace talks without a freeze in settlement building, but the Israelis insist there can be no preconditions even while they carry on committing war crimes and other criminal acts.

The day after losing the UN vote, and just to prove they don’t want peace, Israel authorised the construction of 3,000 more housing units in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. And they are reported to be speeding up 1,000 other planning permissions. About 500,000 Jews already live in more than 100 settlements built on stolen Palestinian land. Those settlements are considered illegal under international law,

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon told the General Assembly: “I believe that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to their own independent State. I believe that Israel has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbours. There is no substitute for negotiations to that end. Today’s vote underscores the urgency of a resumption of meaningful negotiations. We must give new impetus to our collective efforts to ensure that an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine lives side by side with a secure State of Israel.

“I urge the parties to renew their commitment to a negotiated peace. I count on all concerned to act responsibly, preserve the achievements in Palestinian State-building under the leadership of President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, and intensify efforts towards reconciliation and the just and lasting peace which remains our shared goal and priority.”

He is out of order claiming there’s no alternative to a “negotiated” peace when the full machinery of international law is waiting to be activated and numerous UN resolutions ruling on the path to justice have yet to be implemented. Furthermore he repeats the Israeli/US scripted mantra about ensuring a secure Israel but only a viable Palestine. Ban Ki-Moon would do better to blow the dust off that the pile of discarded resolutions passed by his great organisation and get to work on them. He above all people should realise there can be no peace without justice.

As Roger Waters, on behalf of the Russell Tribunal, told the General Assembly, “It is not enough to deplore, condemn. What we need is for the United Nations – for you, excellencies, your governments and the General Assembly in which you serve – to take seriously its responsibility…”

So what happens next?

Israeli propaganda chief Mark Regev’s wise-crack that the UN vote was just “negative political theatre” will, one hopes, come back and bite him in the ass. The Palestinians are now in a position to re-frame the situation, to insist on justice before any peace deals and to require that things are done in the right order. Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, suggests this could be the start of a ‘Legal Intifada’ by Palestine against Israel.

Why should Palestinians have to negotiate over Israel’s unlawful acts and haggle for their property in rigged talks when there’s proper recourse to the law? Israel’s pimps and hirelings are now exposed. No wonder the Zionist regime and its spin-masters are in such a flap.

Palestine might join the International Criminal Court and file complaints against Israel’s suspected war criminals, its illegal settlements and its settlers, who also are committing war crimes. Palestine could also sue Israel and break the illegal siege of Gaza. Palestine could join the Law of the Sea Convention and properly secure its right to Gaza’s huge marine gas field. It might also take action to gain, among other things, sovereign control of its own airspace, airwaves and frequency spectrum.

The Palestinians might declare their own borders on internationally recognized pre-1967 lines. Israel’s squatters, if they stayed, would automatically become Palestinian citizens – and serves them right.

Let’s hope the PLO have their paperwork ready. They’ve had precious else to do the last few years except plan for this moment.

The cracked gramophone recording by the likes of Obama, Rice, Clinton, Hague, Cameron, Netanyahu and even Ban Ki-Moon, slavishly calling for a return to negotiations, is laughably absurd. Everyone now sees through their game, which is to ensure that ‘talks’ drag on long enough for the occupation to become irreversible and for the Zionist crazies to realise their dream of a Greater Israel… and everyone else’s nightmare.

The sooner men-in-white-coats round up these stooges and ‘de-program’ them, the better for us all.

Dengue decease danger continues. 60 patients� admitted to hospital yesterday.

Wednesday , 14 November 2012

32 patients affected by dengue fever were admitted during this month to the Jaffna Teaching hospital. Out of this, 6 persons suffering from dengue fever were admitted yesterday is according to hospital circles.

Dengue sickness has intensified due to rainy season.  Even though prevention activities are processed, the spreading is still continuing.  Dengue fever affected in some areas was patients from initial stages.

Currently in the peninsula and many areas the impact of dengue was noted. One patient each was diagnosed from Kolumbuthurai, Pachaiyoor and Jaffna, two persons from Anaicottai, totally 6 persons were admitted to hospital yesterday.

423 persons were affected by dengue fever from this year January is according to statistics. At a situation, the dengue impact is currently getting spread in many areas; requests are made to prevent it by taking utmost measures. Health officials have informed public to be more cautious in regard to this problem. 

Officials have advised, there are possibilities of mosquito getting breeding in the interior and outside gardens.

To prevent dengue sickness getting spread, the environment should be cleaned, and more attention should be focused to avoid water getting stagnated. Public was advised to protect themselves from mosquito getting bitten.

Another Example Of Army Rule In Jaffna

By Laksiri Fernando -December 2, 2012 

Dr Laksiri Fernando

November has been an eventful month, not very good omen for the Rajapaksa regime. First it was their rush for the impeachment against the Chief Justice, with much resistance emerging from the legal fraternity and the public. Then came the brutal killing of 27 inmates at the Welikada Prison; a blatant murder than anything else. The month ended by the military and the police desperately attacking the students at the University of Jaffna who were engaged in peaceful activities; revealing to the whole world that the minority Tamils are still under the military yoke.
The three human rights issues emerged were (1) the independence of the judiciary, (2) security of the persons under state custody and (3) the rights of minorities to dissent and protest peacefully.
Who can now believe that the military did not indulge in war crimes during the last stages of the war?

Grieving for the Dead 

Maarveerar (in Tamil) or Mahaviru (in Sinhala) celebrations have been common events in Sri Lanka for the last three decades or so both in the South and in the North, commemorating different heroes of the LTTE and the JVP, however much they were misled ideologically or they misled the others on a destructive path. Only time and wise policies will sort out these matters, taking the young away from violent and destructive political causes.

By mere coincidence, both celebrations fall in the month of November. The JVP celebrated their heroes’ day on the 13th November in Colombo and in many other places (including Japan!). There were no army or police interventions. It is true that the LTTE, in contrast, is a proscribed organization in Sri Lanka and in many other countries. But their political party, the Peoples’ Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT) was a registered organization until last year and the name was taken out from the registered list because of its failure to submit annual reports.

Maarveerar Day is not only about ‘heroes.’ It is also about the dead and the deceased. It is a day of moaning and in the case of the Tamils in recent times there are thousands and thousands of innocent civilians who had to ‘sacrifice their lives’ to defeat the LTTE by the army. They were in fact killed because of inhuman military strategy. The Tamils cannot be blamed to consider the SL army as the Sinhala army. There is no other day of moaning left for them to grieve about their loved ones – fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sisters and brothers and not to speak of other relatives or friends.
November is also the month of ‘all saints and all souls’ for the Christians and it was reported from Jaffna that the police and army secret services were poking their noses into church activities and sermons to see whether there were any semblance of moaning for the dead of the last stages of the war. Many Christian priests were extremely nervous of this poisoned atmosphere.

Maarveerar day this year, 27 November, also coincided with the Hindu Tamil celebration of Karthigai Deepam when the devotees light oil lamps to dispel three impurities of “egoism, selfish action and delusion.’ Particularly among the young, the ‘sisters supposed to pray for their brothers’ wellbeing and the brothers in turn promise to safeguard the sisters in times of trouble.” I am quoting from a reliable website. It is said that this is what was going on between the Ananda Kumaraswami women’s hostel and the Balasingham men’s hostel at the Jaffna University possibly also with a political overtone when the army intervened. There were undoubtedly oil lamps that were lit. The Lord Shiva is supposed to appear in the form of flame to dispel evil.

Events in the Campus 

E Saravanapavan, a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the Jaffna District has given an eyewitness report on some of the events of what happened at the Jaffna Campus on 27 and 28 November (dbsjeyaraj.com, 30 November 2012). There is no denial of the fact that there were efforts to commemorate the Maarveerar Day in Jaffna and particularly at the University. As he says, however, “It is customary for people to pay their respect to the deceased on such days. This salutation offered to their blood brothers, relations and parents has been mercilessly suppressed by the forces.” He particularly notes that throughout the previous week the army in civilian clothes has been operating in the Campus threatening the students against any activity.

On that particular day of 27th Tuesday, the army has entered the campus in civilian clothes but equipped with arms and again threatened the students of any possible lighting of oil lamps. By the night fall they have cordoned off particularly two hostels and the police also had arrived. They have locked the boys in the Balasingham hall and occupied the top floor. No student was allowed to go out. This is partly reminiscent of what happened in the Welikada Prison on the 9th of November. The information soon spread and MP Saravanapavan arrived at the scene.

As he says, “We travelled through Ramanathan Street and approached Ananda Kumarasamy hostel. We saw several army & police vehicles parked in front of this hostel in the railway street. .. At that time I noted the army personnel entering the Boys hostel and threatening the students. Immediately, I travelled through Brown Street and reached Balasingham hostel. I saw the campus security there along with two police offices. I got down from my vehicle and inquired as to what happened. Then they said they were not in a position to do anything.”

He further says, “At that time I saw a large number of army personnel running from the hostel towards the entrance with sticks and guns in hand and proceeded angrily to the Ladies Hostel. Then I too ran in the same direction and on my way I saw Jaffna HQI Sam Sigora standing there.” The MP says there were men in motor cycles their faces covered with masks.
If there had been any unlawful or suspicious activity, it was a matter for the police to handle but not the army. Apart from the police, there is campus security that could handle any disturbance and that was apparently not the case. There are no ‘Emergency Regulations’ operating in the country, at least not by law and therefore any army intervention in civilian matters is illegal and arbitrary. What is apparent in particularly Jaffna is undeclared army rule without any law to govern the army behaviour.

Student Protests 

The following day on the 28th there had been student protests against the previous day incidents. There were reports that women undergraduates were threatened with guns and they were insulted. The students were requesting explanations from the university authorities. The MP relates the following:

“In fact the students, wearing pieces of black fabric around their mouths and holding slogans were sitting very peacefully at the University entrance. They condemned the army for their mean act of breaking the Girls hostel doors and entering it and demanded an explanation from the university authorities. Thereafter they proceeded in a peaceful march, from the Science faculty towards the University entrance, without disturbing the general traffic.”

It was at this point the riot police had attacked the student demonstrators on the orders of the Jaffna HQI. MP again reports that

“Followed by this attack, a large number of army personnel who were at the scene too started attacking the students with their guns and kicking with their boots. As a result, 07 students got severely injured and more than 10 got minor injuries. This includes the girl students and the media personnel who went to collect news.”

There had been altercations between the MP and the HQI when the MP tried to intervene on behalf of the arrested students. At least five were arrested and then released under intervention. It was during these altercations that the army officer had intervened and the MPs report says the following.

“At that point, an army officer standing close by insulted me very badly. I asked the HQI as to how and why army gets involved in a civil matter that should be dealt by the police and what right army officer has to question a Member of Parliament like me. Then, the army officer exploded in a threatening tone that he could show his power and whether to show it to me now.”

Although the MP was not physically attacked his official vehicle was attacked and all glasses were smashed. Even thereafter that particular army officer had threatened the MP. There are claims these days that the ‘Parliament is Supreme’ to mean even the members are also supreme. Perhaps this is only for the Sinhala ones but not for the Tamil MPs judging by the behaviour of the army and the police during the above incident. Perhaps the army is more supreme than even the Parliament or their MPs.

If a behaviour of an army officer was such during a so-called peace time and three and half years after the end of the war, one could imagine how they would have behaved during the last stages of the war.

Attack on the Uthayan Editor

Another human rights issue that surfaced during the events was the attack on the Uthayan Editor, T Thevanathan. He had gone to the scene to cover the story with his camera. This had taken place on the first day, the 27th and not the second day. As MP Saravanapavan reports the following was what had happened.

“Then I too ran in the same direction and on my way I saw Jaffna HQI Sam Sigora standing there. Then I saw an army officer hitting a person’s face by keeping him standing against a wall of a Hindu temple. Then, I went to the scene and shouted to stop hitting. When my bodyguard came and said in Sinhala that I am a Member of Parliament the officer stopped his blows. When the person who got the blows raised his head, I recognized him as the Editor of Uthayan newspaper. I understand that he was attacked for taking photographs of the activities of the army and also the lamps lighted in the Girls hostel.”

No further comment on the attack on the Uthayan Editor is necessary except to say that perhaps this heralds what to come again on the freedom of the media not only in the North but also in the South. The university students in the South have already started protesting against what happened at the Jaffna University on the 27th and 28th November. Similar protests are necessary to uphold the media freedom of the Uthayan Editor, T Thevanathan and in Jaffna in general.
The evolving events are alarming and perhaps indicate a major political calamity to come soon. It could be in the form of a ‘quasi-military rule headed by the Executive President’ sans an independent judiciary and a meek Parliament which could sanction anything of the ‘military-executive’ claiming to be a ‘supreme legislature.’ What might be crucial is the unity between the opposition forces in the North and the South. This is not to speak of unity within all opposition forces and parties which is so obviously important. I still believe that the move towards a quasi-military rule is not necessarily the strength but the weakness of the Rajapaksa regime. It is a weakness emerging from their complicity of war crimes at the last stages of the war. It is to cover up and to defend that they are leaning on the military more and more.
There is nothing wrong in adopting what Martin Niemoller said about how the Nazis spread their tentacles in suffocating democracy in Germany to suit Sri Lanka today.

They have come against the Judiciary,
They have killed the prisoners in Welikada,
They have attacked the students in Jaffna,
They will come against everyone very soon,
If we don’t stop them united.