Remains of Thileepan memorial tower destroyed

Tamil Guardian 07 December 2012--2011Photograph 

Photograph TamilNet 2003.

The remnants of a memorial tower in Nallur to the hunger striker Lt. Col. Thileepan were found destroyed this morning. Reports allege that a gang of unidentified people demolished the fallen tower last night, leaving only rubble.


The memorial was erected at the exact spot of his hunger strike in 1987 that captivated the entire nation, but later partially destroyed.

Justice Minister imports oil

Friday, 07 December 2012

Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem is engaged in providing oil to meet the country’s requirement, sources from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said.

The CPC on a Presidential directive had given the contract of importing oil to Hakeem’s close confidante, Eastern provincial Council Minister Nazeer Ahamed. It was Ahamed who was supported by Hakeem when trying to choose a Chief Minister for the Eastern Provincial Council.

Ahamed was chased away from the SLMC by the late founding leader, A.H.M. Ashraff. The reason for sacking him from the party was the revelation that he had robbed Rs. 17 million when constructing the SLCM headquarters, Darussalam.

Ahamed has close links with the Saudi Arabian government and Minister Rauf Hakeem had got him the contract to import oil through the President.

The President had directed the CPC to import oil from Saudi Arabia through Nazeer Ahamed since Sri Lanka cannot import oil from its main importer, Iran, due to economic sanctions.

Legalising Sex-Work Debate: Ensure Sharmila’s Safety – Civil Society

By Colombo Telegraph -December 7, 2012 

“We especially decry efforts of some individuals and organisations to invoke religion and culture to condemn Sharmila, thus potentially inciting extra-legal action against her. Such opportunistic and instrumental use of religion and culture is a threat to meaningful and informed public discourse, and promotes chauvinism and intolerance for which  our country has already paid dearly. We call on state authorities at the provincial and national level to ensure Sharmila’s safety and well-being, for which they bear primary responsibility. We also call on all community leaders, in particular from within the Muslim community, to take measures to ensure that Sharmila and her family are not the subject of any further threats or intimidation.” say Civil Society activists.

They issued a statement condemning the attack on Sharmila Seyyid on her opinion on Legalising sex-work.

We publish below the full text of  the statement;

On the 20^th November 2012, a section of the media reported that Mr. Ajith Prasanna, a member of the Southern Provincial Council from the ruling alliance (UPFA), called for the legalization of sex-work (prostitution) to boost tourism in the country. While sex work as such is not criminalised in Sri Lanka, soliciting sex in public and maintaining of brothels are illegal. If Mr. Prasanna was referring to legalising these issues, we want to make the point that legalization of all kinds of sex-work (while being a topic of debate) is a policy advocated not only by many organisations of sex workers and women’s rights activists around the world, it is also the official policy of many countries. Yet measures such as legalization or decriminalization of sex-work have to be motivated by the aim of protecting the rights and security of women in sex work and enabling them to safeguard their own interests. Legalization driven by concerns such as boosting tourism or generating foreign exchange earnings are not just misguided but also fraught with the risk of jeopardizing the rights of those engaged in sex-work. We therefore strongly disagree with the instrumental approach to legalization of sex-work advocated by Mr. Ajith Prasanna because this only risks further objectifying and commoditizing women’s bodies.

Subsequently, on 20^th November 2012, a women’s rights activist from Eravur in Batticaloa, Sharmila Seyyid, during the course of an interview with the BBC (Tamil service) expressed the view that if sex work is legalised in Sri Lanka, it may protect sex-workers. Her comments have resulted in a backlash from some sections within the Muslim community, including threats and intimidation, which has forced her to go into hiding with her child. Her family in Eravur has also been threatened and intimidated, including through an attempt to burn down a montessori school run by Sharmila’s younger sister on 22nd November 2012. We strongly condemn the threats against and intimidation of Sharmila and her family, which undermine the right to express one’s opinions freely concerning issues of public policy (a right which is recognised by the Constitution of Sri Lanka). While informed debate and disagreement are inevitable and to be welcomed on such a complex issue, intimidating or threatening people into silence because their opinions are contrary to the dominant point of view is unacceptable in a democracy. We especially decry efforts of some individuals and organisations to invoke religion and culture to condemn Sharmila, thus potentially inciting extra-legal action against her. Such opportunistic and instrumental use of religion and culture is a threat to meaningful and informed public discourse, and promotes chauvinism and intolerance for which  our country has already paid dearly.

We call on state authorities at the provincial and national level to ensure Sharmila’s safety and well-being, for which they bear primary responsibility. We also call on all community leaders, in particular from within the Muslim community, to take measures to ensure that Sharmila and her family are not the subject of any further threats or intimidation.

We also call on responsible authorities such as Provincial Councillors to refrain from calling for law reform based on commodification of women’s bodies.

Signed by:

Organisations:

1.      Affected Women’s Forum - Akkaraipattu

2.      Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)

3.      Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Colombo

4.      Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR), Colombo

5.      Equal Ground

6.      Mannar Women’s Development Federation (MWDF)

7.      Mullaitheevu Women’s Development and Rehabilitation Federation

8.      Muslim Women’s Development Trust

9.      Voluntary Service and Development Organization for Women

10.  Women’s Action Network

11.  Women’s Coalition for Disaster Management Batticaloa

12.  Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC)

Names:

13.  A. Renu

14.  A. U. Gunasekera.

15.  Bhavani Fonseka

16.  Cayathri Divakalala

17.  Chulani Kodikara, International Centre for Ethnic Studies

18.  Deanne Uyangoda

19.  Farah Haniffa

20.  Francis Solomantine

21.  Herman Kumara

22. J. Karunenthira, Third Eye Friends Circle

23.  Janakie Seneviratne

24.  Jensila Majeed

25.  Jeyachitra Velayudan

26.  Jovita Arulanantham

27.  Juwairiya Mohideen

28.  K.S. Ratnavail

29.  Kuhanithi Kunachandran

30.  Kumudini Samuel

31.  Lakshan Dias (Attorney at law)

32.  Lakshman F. B. Gunasekara

33.  M. Ganesan

34.  Mahalaxumi Kurushanthan

35.  Maithree Wickramasinghe, Independent Researcher

36.  Mala Liyanage

37.  Mangala Shanker

38.  Marisa de Silva

39.  Melisha Yapa

40.  Mirak Raheem

41.  Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

42.  Navarangini Nadarajah

43.  Nimalka Fernando

44.  P.  P. Sivapragasam

45.  P. N. Singham

46.  Prema Gamage

47.  Prema Gamage

48.  Priya Thangarajah, Legal Researcher

49.  Rajani Chandrasekaran (GBV desk Jaffna)

50.  Rameeza Khan

51.  Rasika Mendis

52.  Ruki Fernando

53.  S. Ithayarani

54.  Sachini Perera

55.  Sarala Emmanuel

56.  Selvy Thiruchandran

57.  Sharmila Haniffa

58.  Sherine Xavier, Home for Human Rights

59.  Shreen Abdul Saroor

60.  Shyamala Gomez

61.  Shyamala Sivagurunathan

62.  Sitralega Maunaguru

63.  Sornalinham

64.  Sumathy Sivamohan

65.  Thushari Madahapola

66.  Vasuki Jeyasankar, Women’s Rights Activist, Batticaloa.

Sri Lankan unions prepare political trap for plantation workers

By W.A. Sunil 
6 December 2012

Mano Ganeshan, the leader of the Democratic People’s Front (DPF) and its trade union wing the Democratic Workers Congress (DWC), announced recently that he would initiate the formation of a new trade union federation of plantation workers (TUFPW) in Sri Lanka.

The TUFPW’s aim is supposedly to “safeguard” and “fight for” the rights of plantation workers “from government ally, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), traditionally the biggest union among plantation workers, and Lanka Jaathika Estate Workers Union, the trade union wing of the opposition United National Party.”

The real purpose is the opposite. The TUFPW is being formed not to fight for the interests of plantation workers, but to establish a new mechanism to prevent the development of a working class movement against the companies and the government.

An explosive situation is already developing among the plantation workers, due to their soaring cost of living and oppressive working conditions. Next April the existing collective agreement between the trade unions and plantation companies expires. Many workers are already bitter about the previous sell-out agreement imposed by the CWC—with the assistance of all of the other plantation unions, including the DWC.

Under these conditions, Ganeshan is preparing a new political trap for workers. He and his DWC are joined by unions that also have a long and treacherous history. These include the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) and National Union of Workers (NUW), which also function as political parties and are part of the ruling coalition government.

As such these organisations are directly politically responsible for President Mahinda Rajapakse’s austerity measures, including cuts to social spending and price hikes on basic items such as food, fuel and transport. Every section of the working class has been hard hit by inflation.

Ganeshan told the media that the new union federation would be “a clear challenge” to the CWC and that his federation “would deal with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon from a position of strength in negotiating a new wage for plantation workers.”

In response, CWC leader Mutthu Sivalingam, who is also a government minister, said that his union constituted the majority of plantation workers and declared that “if anyone believes they can challenge the CWC let them try.”

The comment is not just a challenge, but a threat. The CWC has previously used physical violence, and collaborated with the police, not only against its rivals, but against any opposition by plantation workers.

However, the new TUFPW is no alternative for workers. Ganeshan is seeking to exploit the hostility of plantation workers, not to fight for better wages and conditions, but to boost the standing of his union body with employers as an instrument for policing workers.

Like the CWC, Ganeshan is mired in communal politics that is used to drive a wedge between Tamil and Sinhala workers. While he now declares his opposition to the CWC, his DPF formed an electoral bloc with the CWC and the Upcountry People’s Front in elections this year for the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council. Ganeshan declared that “electing a Tamil representative” would help Tamil workers. As a result, two CWC members were elected who have voted for the government’s policies, including its attacks on workers.

Workers should study the record of Ganeshan’s DWC and the other unions that have joined the TUFPW. While the CWC, Lanka Jaathika Estate Workers Union, and the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre have colluded with the government to reach sell-out deals with employers, the DWC, NUW and UPF have postured as critics in order to better suppress angry workers.

In 2006, half a million plantation workers went on strike for two weeks for higher wages. After the CWC and associated unions signed an agreement for a combined daily wage of 290 rupees ($US2.25), tens of thousands of workers protested on the streets against the deal and denouncing the signatory unions.

The DWC, NUW and UPF, along with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led All Ceylon Plantation Workers Union (ACPWU), claimed to oppose the agreement and promised to fight for its cancellation. Two weeks later, these unions shut down any action. The police issued arrest notices against dozens of workers for attacking a CWC office. The unions did nothing to defend workers, advising them instead to rely on the police.

In September 2009, amid a campaign for higher pay, the CWC and its allies signed a collective agreement for a 405-rupee daily wage. Amid bitter opposition by workers, the DWC, NUW and UPF called a press conference and again promised “tougher action”, but only after the traditional Deepavali festival on October 17. A week later they fell in behind the signatory unions.

In 2011, the unions were nervous about any campaign for higher pay, fearing it would quickly slip out of their control. The union leaders were well aware that the revolutionary movements in Tunisia and Egypt had resonated with workers in Sri Lanka. CWC leader Sivalingam advised the unions “to finish the matter immediately” and agreed to a 515-rupees daily wage.

The DWC, NUW, UPF and ACPWU held no strikes or protests, but called for a go-slow campaign to let off steam among the workers. At the same time, these unions shamelessly appealed to the government to “intervene and give a reasonable salary for plantation workers.” But Rajapakse backed the deal and the unions caved in.

It is already clear that employers will bitterly resist any significant pay rise next year. The Sri Lankan tea industry has been hard hit by the world economic slump, amid greater competition from other tea producing countries such as Kenya, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

The Plantation Association of Ceylon (PAC) warned recently that Ceylon Tea “may be ousted from its position as the premium global tea.” As in every other industry, the PAC is seeking to place new burdens on workers, calling for a “surge in productivity” to reduce “labor costs [that] account for about 70 percent of total manufacturing costs.”

Ganeshan has already expressed his willingness to collaborate with employers, saying that TUFPW “would act collectively with the Employers’ Federation on matters relating to workers.” This is a clear signal that the TUFPW will betray any struggle by workers that is left in its hands.

To oppose the ongoing attacks on living and working conditions requires a unified struggle of plantation workers with the rest of the working class. Unification does not mean alliances of trade unions that function as the agents of government and the employers, but rather the building of an independent movement of workers. The Socialist Equality Party calls for a rebellion against all the trade unions and for the formation of independent action committees to wage a political struggle against employers and the government.

Such a fight can only be based on a socialist and internationalist program and the rejection of all forms of communalism and nationalism. Decent wages and conditions for all workers will be won in the political struggle for a workers’ and peasants’ government to implement socialist policies as part of the fight for socialism in South Asia and internationally. That is the revolutionary perspective for which the Socialist Equality Party fights.

Select Committee is a farce : CJ and lawyers walk out – verdict already written -(PSC full report)
(Lanka-e-News- 06.Dec.2012,
6.00PM -2nd edition 11.00PM) After the special Parliamentary select Committee convened today to hear the impeachment inquiry , at 2.30 p.m. , the chief Justice (CJ) and her lawyers staged a walk out in protest.

PC Romesh De Silva the chief of the panel of Lawyers for the CJ addressing the Committee said , they have no faith in this Select Committee ,before staging the walk out.

The President who summoned the 7 Govt. representatives of the Select Committee yesterday had warned them that before the Supreme Court (SC) decision on the 13th , this impeachment process shall be concluded and therefore , by the 8th somehow it must be finalized.

Already Dr. G L Peiris had finalized the impeachment verdict , and the CJ is being made guilty in respect of indictments 1,2,3,and 4, according to reports reaching Lanka e news. Indeed , yesterday the UNP representatives of the select Committee told the UNP leader that they must withdraw from this Select Committee , since the opposition proposals are treated with utter disdain and disregard by this Committee which is hell bent on serving the lawless and sordid agenda of the Rajapakses , and not justice.

After the Committee began sessions at 2.30 p.m. , the CJ and her Lawyers appeared before the Committee. At the previous sitting the CJ’s lawyers raised preliminary objections that Govt. representatives , Rajitha Senaratne and Wimal Weerawansa cannot act impartially as members of this Committee. The chairman of the Committee Anura Yapa today , however said, the Committee repudiates those allegations, and overruled the preliminary objections . The entire opposition group in one voice vehemently opposed this , and said , the Committee did not hold discussions in this regard, and hence that is only a decision of the Govt. group , since this issue was not discussed at all with the opposition representatives. The four opposition members vociferously stated that they endorse the preliminary objection raised by CJ’s Lawyers.

The Chairman then handed over to CJ’s Lawyers the files containing the evidence and documents relating to some charges in the impeachment that were distributed to the opposition representatives yesterday. Thereafter , the CJ’s Lawyers stated they wanted the files relating to all the charges and not some. They also called for the evidence file and the list of the names of the witnesses who are to be called to give evidence.

When the lawyers asked for sufficient time to examine the files and documents pertaining to the 14 indictments , the Govt. group that is staging the select Committee puppet show , being puppets dancing to Rajapakse’s tune had no answer to give.
When the controversy over this hotted up , and feelings began to run irrationally high , the two members , Weerawansa and Dilan Perera who were treated as silly jokers by CJ’s lawyers recently because of their abysmal ignorance of even elementary laws, seized the opportunity to hurl abusive insolent words at the CJ and her Lawyers. These two farts who have always been a disgrace to the Committee from the beginning , and who know nothing except filth and foul language unleashed their characteristic barbaric fury . Grade 9 qualified Weerawansa remarked, ‘ nona (lady) , don’t try the pranks here what you try at Aluthkade’. It is impossible to think that Weerawansa the notorious bum addressing the CJ in sarcastic and street urchin language ( a grade 9 qualified bum cannot be expected to know better language ) was welcomed by others.Since the discussions were turning more uproarious , Anura Yapa had to adjourn sittings for 15 mins . at 5.15 p.m. When the sittings resumed at 5.30 p.m., Yapa suddenly like a bolt from the blue began reading something which he called it the methodology , as though he was trying to beat the all Olympic record in speed reading. Again , he abruptly said , there will be no time given , and the next hearing will be tomorrow at 1.30 p.m. , and requested all to be present.

At this juncture , the CJ ‘s chief Lawyer PC Romesh De Silva cited five salient points:

1. This Select Committee has no proper defined methodology to inquire into these charges.
2. Though there is evidence in regard to some charges , there are no files or documents containing evidence relating to all the charges.
3. A file of all the individuals who are going to give evidence shall be forwarded.
4. Sufficient time shall be granted to carry out the tasks.
5. Based on the insults and abuses directed against the CJ (my client ) by the Committee members it is very clear they are prejudiced and not acting impartially . 

PC Romesh De Silva after citing the above five grounds , said as these requirements are not being fulfilled by this select Committee , and it is perceivable that a premeditated verdict is going to be delivered by this Committee , they have lost faith in its capacity to mete out justice. In the circumstances , he said ,they have decided not to participate in the Select Committee proceedings in the future. So saying , CJ and her Lawyers walked out .

Immediately thereafter the opposition representatives too walked out of the venue.

Following this incident , the Dep . Speaker told in Parliament that the Select Committee is issuing summons on the CJ to appear before the select Committee tomorrow at 1.30 p.m.

-Bum Weerawansa shows his true colors- hurls foul words at CJ

Is The Sri Lankan Graveyard Best Venue For A Commonwealth Meeting?

S. V. Kirubaharan

December 6, 2012 

The London Declaration of 26 April 1949 has two important provisions. It renamed the “British Commonwealth” (Imperial British Empire) as the “Commonwealth of Nations” and it allows member countries with no colonial links to Britain to join, including monarchies and republics.

The sixty-three-years-old voluntary association of the Commonwealth is headed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The membership, grown from 8 countries in 1949 to presently to 54, covers all six regions – Africa (19), South Pacific (11), the Caribbean (10), Asia (8), the Americas (3) and Europe (3).

Mozambique became the first member country without any colonial links to Britain. There is also long-term Francophone Cameroon. Both became members in 1995.

In 1965, the Commonwealth Secretariat was established in London-UK, headed by a Secretary-General and appointed by heads of state. The first Secretary-General of the Commonwealth was Arnold Smith of Canada who held this position untill 1975.

At the 1993 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Cyprus, it was decided that the Secretary-General would serve a maximum of two 4-year terms. Presently Mr. Kamalesh Sharma of India is the Secretary-General.

Every two years, CHOGM meets in one of the member countries. There is no voting in the Commonwealth, all decisions are reached by consensus.

It was announced that the next CHOGM will be held in Sri Lanka in November 2013. This is a disappointment to certain countries, inter-governmental bodies and to members of civil society who are the eyes and ears of the monitoring bodies for good governance, democracy, rule of law and human rights.

Commonwealth Declarations

CHOGM has a good track record regarding its policies and working methods. Several declarations are very well maintained not only on paper, but also in action.

For example, the Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 20 October 1991 and the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles – Singapore on 22 January 1971.

The Harare Commonwealth Declaration, paragraph 4 reads as follows:

Its members also share a commitment to certain fundamental principles. These were set out in a Declaration of Commonwealth Principles agreed by our predecessors at their Meeting in Singapore in 1971. Those principles have stood the test of time, and we reaffirm our full and continuing commitment to them today. In particular, no less today than 20 years ago:                                                     Read More

Curb current account deficit: IMF to Sri Lanka

Colombo, Thu Dec 06 2012

IMF today said Sri Lanka should take steps to contain its current account deficit by promoting a softer exchange rate and making exports more competitive.

"Imports have fluctuated to an unparalleled degree and from a macro economic perspective however useful imports are, they have to be financeable," said Koshy Mathai, IMF's resident representative in an address to a business gathering here.

In order to reduce the financing need, Mathai said the country should encourage a softer exchange rate regime and enhance exports.

As a petroleum importing country Sri Lanka must find ways to finance the increased prices of petroleum, he added. Current account deficit occurs when a country's total imports of goods, services and transfers is greater than the country's total export of goods, services and transfers.

Having faced a widening trade deficit, Sri Lanka as part of reforms started devaluing its currency in November 2011.

The Sri Lankan rupee has depreciated by around 18 per cent since then.

The government early this year introduced prohibitive imports tariff on motor car imports, a measure aimed at preserving foreign exchange reserves.

The central bank has forecast 7.2 per cent economic growth this year, after revising it down in March from an original 8 per cent. Growth last year was at a record 8.3 per cent.

Sri Lankan bishop warns of harassment for repatriated Tamils

• The Australian

• AMANDA HODGE, SOUTH ASIA CORRESPONDENT 
• From:The Australian 
• December 07, 2012 12:00AM

A SRI Lankan Catholic bishop has appealed to the Australian government to halt the deportation of Tamil asylum-seekers from the still war-ravaged north and east of the country, warning that returnees face intimidation and harassment by security forces.

Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, made the appeal in an open letter in which he also claimed some returnees were being forced to turn informant, creating tension in their communities.

Sri Lanka arrests: Jaffna police detain 'terror' suspects

Police in northern Sri Lanka have made a series of arrests which they say are linked to combating terrorism, three years after the separatist Tamil Tigers were defeated.

The arrests follow clashes in Jaffna last week between police and students

Up to 25 people are being held, a top official told the BBC. Police are also reportedly hunting several students.

Espousing separatism is illegal in Sri Lanka. Suspects can be held without charge for 18 months.

The detentions come at a time of rising political tensions in the north.

Last week security forces and students clashed at Jaffna University in the worst political disturbances since the civil war ended in 2009. Students had tried to mark "Martyrs' Day", which commemorates dead Tamil Tiger fighters.

'Kept in the dark'

Officials gave differing accounts of the number of arrests made by anti-terrorist police in the latest raids.

Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said that 10 men had been detained on Wednesday in the Jaffna area, all of them accused of "terrorist activities" with the Tamil Tigers or LTTE before 2009.

Mr Jayakody said that none those being held had completed a government rehabilitation course for LTTE suspects and none had surrendered to the police or army at the end of the war.

"They were arrested at different places on the Jaffna peninsula and are now in Vavuniya," he said. "All the families have been informed."

He said that police were guided to the suspects by intelligence reports.

But the head of the police's Terrorist Investigation Division, Chandra Wakista, told the BBC that as many as 20 to 25 had been detained.

"No arrests have been made without procedure, all of them were made officially," he said.

The police say families have been given official documents relating to the arrests.

But the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that some relatives have apparently been kept in the dark - one family told a newspaper they only got official information on their son's arrest a long time after he disappeared, and only after they informed the official human rights body.

Rights workers are also mindful of the fact that a year ago two young campaigners disappeared in Jaffna, where tensions have continued since the end of the war in May 2009.

Separately, sources in Jaffna University say the police have given them a list of 10 students they want to arrest.

Three students already being held are said to be suspects in a petrol-bombing and in putting up pro-LTTE posters.

The Democratic Socialist Republic Of Absurdista

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -December 6, 2012

“….Cicero’s tongue will have to be torn out, Copernicus’s eyes gouged out, and Shakespeare stoned. That is my system.” Dostoyevsky (The Possessed)

With the speed of lightening and without as much as a nano-ripple, theRajapaksa regime removed Neville Gunawardana, the ‘crime-busting’ Director General of the Customs.

Mr. Gunawardana had commenced an investigation into the alleged illegal doings of nine dummy-companies; a warehouse in Gampaha was raided and sealed. The suspect-companies obviously enjoy Rajapaksa patronage, because the Treasury ordered the Customs to halt the investigation, immediately. The story leaked to the media. The regime ordered the CID to probe the leak and transferred the Customs boss to the Treasury.

In removing the Customs boss, the Rajapaksas displayed the same degree of abusive-impunity they did in removing the five-decade old newspaper stands in the Fort. The Customs boss inconvenienced Rajapaksa-governance while the newspaper stands cramped Rajapaksa-style; so both were ousted arbitrarily, in total violation of natural justice.

That is how the Rajapaksas like to rule – with absolute opacity, unaccountability and arbitrariness. That is why they replaced the 17^th Amendment with the 18^th Amendment.

The Rajapaksas never hesitate to bite hands that help them. Today the Siblings are using the powers they gained from the 18^th Amendment against the very judiciary which gave that anti-democratic law a free-passage. Tomorrow they will use the subjugated courts against those very parliamentarians who are helping them to asphyxiate judicial independence via the impeachment.

A politically successful impeachment will open the portal to other measures which are unjust to the point of absurdity. For instance, a constitutional amendment empowering the president to deal with an inconvenient chief justice in the same arbitrary way the Treasury dealt with an inconvenient Customs boss and the UDA dealt with inconvenient newspaper vendors. Once such an amendment is in place, money and time need not be wasted on impeachment travesties, nor effort expended on transporting bought-and-paid-for demonstrators to Colombo.

In that perfect (and not-too-distant) future, an inconvenient chief justice can be removed by the simple expedient of a Presidential decree, signed in between lecturing to students about ethics at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Conventional Centre and ordering the police to free a ministerial offspring arrested for ducking the AG in the ornamental pond outside the Mahinda Rajapaksa Superior Courts Complex. A tiny news item will inform about the change to a public which by that time would have become inured to every idiocy and lunacy of Rajapaksa Rule.

Once Namal Rajapaksa PC is appointed chief justice, eternal harmony will dawn between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, all headed by Rajapaksas (except for an occasional family-spat).

Absurd? Yes. Impossible? Not really, not more impossible than the contrasting fates of the war-winning army commander, the current chief justice and the one-time Tiger financial-czar; or the Rajapaksa-occupation of the state; or Mihin Air…..

Under despotic rule, the absurd and the impossible become ‘the new normal’ while the pre-despotic normal becomes both absurd and impossible.

The Despotic Normal

‘The Onion’ describes itself as ‘America’s finest news source’. Its latest news items include such gems as ‘Romney locks self in Oval Office during White House Visit’ and ‘Congress Arrested on Manslaughter Charges’.

Satirical publications such as ‘The Onion’ belong in a world which accepts humour, a world in which the absurd is just that – the absurd. But in places where political humour is a crime and absurd is the ‘new normal’, news, a la ‘The Onion’ can seem the real thing. So when ‘The Onion’ named North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un ‘The Sexiest Man alive for 2012”, the story was reproduced by China’s People’s Daily as a serious news item. Clearly the deciders at the People’s Daily did not see anything funny in ‘The Onion’s’ following description of North Korea’s baby-despot: “With his devastatingly handsome, round face, boyish charm and his strong sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman’s dream come true. Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion-sense, chic short hairstyle and, of course, that famous smile….”

The People’s Daily didn’t get the joke because in Beijing one does not joke about politics or politicians. In any case, ‘news’ disseminated by Pyongyang’s official news agency, KCNA, are far more fantastic than anything ‘The Onion’ can conjure. For instance, Grandson Kim, known as the ‘Great Successor’ and a ‘great person born of heaven’ has taught flying to pilots and music to the military band, according to the KCNA. Recently North Korea, which depends on international handouts to feed its people, carved the slogan ‘Long Live Gen. Kim Jong-un, the Shinning Sun’ on a hillside in Ryanggang province in letters huge enough to be visible from space. According to KCNA, archaeologists of the History Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences have discovered the lair of a unicorn believed to have been ridden by an ancient Korean king, proving that Pyongyang and not Seoul was the capital of that long-ago and glorious empire. This momentous discovery was made thanks to “a rectangular rock carved with words ‘Unicorn Lair’” (KCNA – 29.11.2012). Doubtless carved by the unicorn, as a sign to the dragon next door and the occasional visiting phoenix.

Rajapaksa Sri Lanka is not there, yet. These are still early days (the Kims have been around for decades). But if ‘The Onion’ names any Rajapaksa, ‘The Sexiest Man alive for 2013’, one can imagine with what glee the Daily News and the SLBC will reproduce the story! And a local artist-turned-amateur-historian has already traced the Rajapaksa lineage all the way to Prince Siddhartha through King Dutugemunu!

In the meantime, the impeachment, which did seem absurdly impossible just two months ago, is moving ahead like a bullet-train flattering everything in its path, starting with the judiciary. After Monday’s black comedy, whatever illusions there existed about the justice of the impeachment has vanished. The penultimate veil was torn asunder by the anti-judiciary protestors who played their shameful role, shamelessly, with the full backing of the police and UPFA ministers; the final veil was ripped apart by the UPFA members of the Parliamentary Select Committee, who, with a shamelessness which rivalled that of the bought-demonstrators, used their enormous majority to turn down the CJ’s fair request for an open or an observed trial.

The unseemly haste with which the impeachment is being conducted is probably dictated by astrological needs. Perhaps there is an auspicious time for the new CJ to be sworn in, a favourable arrangement of stars which gives the new CJ a life-time immunity from germs of honour or self-respect.

The Rajapaksas do not care that with their frenzied attacks on the judiciary, they are destroying public faith in the rule of law. They do not care that such loss of faith will cause more and more people to act outside the law. They do not care that they are encouraging not just crime but also acts of vigilante justice and that this path will end in power-abuse at the top and mob-rule at the bottom.

They will call that anarchicSri Lankaa hub of law and a haven of justice.

* Sri Lanka to conserve and expand forests in North and East

Dec 05, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government said that it will declare the forests in the Northern and Eastern provinces as conservation areas.
The need to conserve the forest areas has risen due to the severe damage caused by the accelerated development of Mahaweli Development Project, the government said.
According to a government report a number of jungles have been destroyed and biodiversity in certain areas has been changed due to development.
The Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa recently criticized the Ministry of Irrigation & Water Resources Management for clearing the forests to implement various irrigation projects without paying attention to the environmental impact.
The Minister pointed out that the country has to face the challenges of the natural disasters such as drought, floods, earthquakes, cyclone, and storms occurring due to the climate change brought about by the increased global warming and therefore, has to balance both the environment and development.
As a measure to preserve the forest the government plans to increase the forest coverage. The percentage of the forest cover in the country has been reduced to 23 percent, and the government plans to increase the forest cover to at least 35 percent.
The Environment Ministry decided in May this year to declare 17 jungles in seven districts - Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Colombo - as national forest reserves.
The 2013 Budget has proposed increasing the forest coverage to 35 percent of land, targeting 250,000 hectares.
The government has proposed allocating Rs. 500 million in 2013 and Rs. 1.5 billion over the next three years for forest conservation programs to preserve rain forests, reservoirs and the wildlife.

** Related Story :: Sri Lanka takes actions to protect forest reserves of the country

20 violence incidents in 28 years only against "Udayan" newspaper. Pointed out in parliament yesterday.

Continuous methods of repression are unleashed against the "Udayan" newspaper and 20 violence incidents have been unleashed was pointed out by Tamil National Alliance parliament member P.Ariyanenthiran yesterday in parliament. 

 

During the group discussion regarding the authorized ministries to the parliament selective committee, while addressing Ariyanenthiran said, 44 journalists were brutally murdered from year 1990 January until now and out of this figure, the most deaths are Tamil journalists.

 

Within 28 years, 20 times violence was unleashed against the "Udayan" newspaper. Its journalists had been attacked. Recently the newspaper reporter got assaulted.

 

The "Udayan" newspaper is functioning amidst much suppression.  Recently journalists were distributed with laptops, but discrimination was shown against Tamil journalists. This situation should be changed was stated by him.

Thursday , 06 December 2012