Peoples’ Judicial Power Becomes A Myth In Sri Lanka

By Mudliyar -February 28, 2013 

Destiny of  SCFR/ 536/2010 Dockyardgate fraud – Charge of gross misconduct and dishonesty of former AG, Mohan Peiris

Mohan Pieris

The Revision Application made in the Dockyard fraud originally dismissed by Justice Hettige despite strenuous objections of his taking part in the hearing was fixed only for mention on 26^th February before the a Bench presided over by Justice Shiranee Tilakawardena (former senior state attorney) other two being the Justice Wanasundara (former AG) and Justice Ratnayake (former Deputy Solicitor General). When the matter was called up for just to mentioning to fix a date for the hearing, Justice Tilakawardena informed the Counsel for the Petitioner, Nagananda Kodituwakku, to support the application straightaway before a 2-Judge bench, despite the Petitioner had exercised his constitutional right guaranteed under Section 132 of the Constitution and asked for a bench of 5 Judges to hear the case which was of paramount public importance as the main respondent had been appointed to the Office of the Chief Justice, despite he was charged for his gross misconduct and dishonestly in a fraud of 619 million rupees of public funds.

The submission made by the Counsel challenging the original ruling made by the 2-Judge bench was on two counts. First, it was not valid as the ruling was invalid in terms of Article 126 of the Constitution, and secondly it was a fit and proper case for Revision as per the decided Case Law.

It was not valid as the ruling was invalid in terms of Article 126 of the Constitution

The counsel submitted to Court that section 126(2) of the Constitution requires the presence of the minimum number of two judges to consider an FR application for leave to proceed and in this case the ruling made was void as one of the judges heard the application was disqualified as he was ‘bias’, which made the ruling a nullity for the reasons set out below.

The Counsel submitted that on 27^th March 2012, one of the days this application was fixed for support, the Bench included Dep J, (who on 30^th Sep 2011 had clearly indicated his unwillingness to hear the case), and accordingly the matter was postponed to 02^nd July 2012. Thereafter, further to a Motion filed in Court on 13^thJune 2012 by the 8^th Respondent (the AG) the matter had been called in Court on 21^st June 2012, with no notice served on the Petitioner, and re-fixed ex-parte for support on 06^th September 2012.

It was submitted further that on 02^nd July 2012, unaware of what had transpired on 21^st June 2012, the Petitioner and his counsel attended in Court on 02^nd July 2012 and found that the matter had been called on 21^st June 2012 and postponed for support on 06^th September 2012. Thereafter on 04^th July 2012 a Motion was filed by the Petitioner, specifying reasons and seeking permission to support the Petition on 11^th, 12^th or 13^thJuly 2012. However, on 09^th July 2012, Hettige J completely disregarded the said Motion removed the case from the support list of cases due for 06^th September 2012 and made and order, that the case only be mentioned on 06^th September 2012 to fix a date for support.

The Counsel submitted that this abuse of office of the Supreme Court Judge by Hetttige J was then reported in writing (document marked P22) to the Chief Justice Dr Bandaranayaka on 12^th July 2012 supported by an affidavit dated 05^th July 2012, furnished by the Petitioner. Thereafter, further to the directions of the Chief Justice, (conveyed to the Counsel by the Secretary to the Chief Justice) another Motion was filed by his Counsel on 20^th July 2012, seeking an earlier date (02^nd, 06^th or 08^th August 2012) to support the application. This was referred to the very same Hettige J, who was compelled to reverse his earlier unjust order made on 09^th July 2012 and to re-fix the matter for support on 08^th August 2012, as requested by the Petitioner.

Therefore, it was submitted to the Court by the Counsel that Justice Hettige’s taking part at the hearing on 01^st February 2013 made ruling by the 2-Judge bench void as it had violated the one of the two pillars of the natural justice maxim ‘rule against bias’. However, at the revision hearing before the 2-judge bench, headed by Justice Tilakawardena (other being Justice Wanasundara)  held that Justice Hettige had overruled the submissions made against his taking part at the hearing by the Counsel for the Petitioner and hence the decision made by the bench presided by him was a valid decision.

Supporting the 2^nd point for the revision  the Counsel submitted that the said ruling was open for revision by the Court as per the clearly defined Case Law.

It was submitted that leave to proceed for the Petitioner’s case has been denied relying on ‘WRONG FACTS’ presented by the AG that there was no valid fundamental right violation petition before the Court alleged to have been committed by an administrative or executive act and the act challenged in the Petition is a judicial act (dismissal of Special leave application (SC/SLA/100/2009) filed by the DGC as a result of withdrawal by the AG) by the Supreme Court. Whereas it was argued for the Petitioner by his counsel that the Petitioner’s right violation had been committed by an executive act committed by Mohan Peiris, the AG, by clear act of deception of the Supreme Court and also cheating the Director General of Customs. And the attention of the court was drawn to the back-dated letter filed in Court sent to the Director General of Customs by the AG, created after the withdrawal of the case and also to the Director General’s firm stand expressed in writingon the abuse of office by the AG (also filed in Court) where it had been expressed in very terms that  the said Court Case (SC/SLA/100/2009) had been withdrawn by the AG, deceiving both the Supreme Court and the Director General of Customs.

His case for revision was also supported by the Counsel citing decided case laws. As per the judgement inJayaraj Fernandopulle vs. Premachandra de Silva and others [1996 (ISLR)70], it was submitted that “ the Court has no statutory jurisdiction conferred by the Constitution or by any other law to rehear,  review,  alter  or  vary  its  decisions  and as a  general rule, no Court has power to rehear, review, alter or vary any judgment  or  order  made  by  it  after  it  has  been  entered. However, the Court has inherent power to correct decisions made per incuriam.” And when a person invokes the exercise of inherent powers of the Court, that are adjunct to existing jurisdiction to remedy injustice, two questions must be asked by the Court:

 i.            Is it a case which comes within the scope of the inherent powers of the Court?

ii.            Is it one in which those powers should be exercised?

The attainment of justice is a guiding factor, and an order made on WRONG FACTS, given to the prejudice of a party, will be set aside by remedying the injustice caused.

The Counsel also relied on the ruling by the Supreme Court given in the Revision Application [SC 209/2007 (FR)] made by the 1^st Respondent, P.B Jayasundara, who had been found guilty by the Supreme Court for abuse of office held in trust, and paid a sum of Rs 500,000.00, being compensation to the state, it was heldinter alia as follows.

Where as per the very same Justice Thilakawardene, (dissenting) had held; Put simply, Fundamental Rights applications are qualitatively different from other types of appeals heard before this Court and warrant greater latitude with respect to their review and redress in order to encompass the equitable jurisdiction exercised in these applications…’

And Where as per Justice Marsoof J “While our hierarchy of courts is built on an assumption of fallibility, with one, two or sometimes even three rights of appeal, as well as the often used remedy of revision, being available to correct errors that may occur in the process of judicial decision making, in the absence of such a review mechanism, the remedy provided by Article 126 is fraught with the danger of becoming an ‘Unruly horse’, and for this reason has to be exercised with great caution”. This Court has generally displayed objectivity, independence and utmost diligence in making its decisions and determinations, conscious that it is fallible though final. The decision of this Court in the Fernandopulle case stressed the need for finality, and very clearly laid down that this Court is not competent to reconsider, revise, vary or set aside its own judgement or order (in the context of a fundamental rights application) except under its inherent power to remedy a serious miscarriage of justice, as for instance, where the previous judgement or order was made through manifest error (per incuriam).

Yet, DSG, Shavindra Fernando, submitted to Court that the original ruling by the 2-Judge Bench was valid and in force, and the presence of Hettige J at the hearing was permitted by law and the revision application has been brought in by abusing the legal process and hence a rule should be issued on the Counsel for abusing legal process (from prohibiting practicing as a lawyer, which was declined by the Court).

It was further submitted by him that the ruling pronounced by the 2-Judge bench was based on the submission made by the AG that there was no valid petition before the Court by any administrative or executive act which was upheld by the bench, and therefore the Revision application by the Petitioner is vexatious, devoid any merit and has been made for collateral purposes.

The Court showed no hesitation to uphold the submissions made by the AG, and after one and half hour deliberation the application made for revision of the original order by bench of 5 Judges, was summarily dismissed by a 2-Judge bench appointed by the respondent, Mohan Peiris himself, the CJ de facto.

In the state of Human Rights in the north of Sri Lanka 2012

Thursday, 28 February 2013 
Repression and human rights violations in the North remained under-reported throughout 2012. This report does not provide a comprehensive account of all incidents and trends happened in 2012, nevertheless it attempts to highlight some key human rights violations facing the Tamils in the North. At the same time it has to be recognized that violations and repressions are faced by all communities across the country, such as in the East and in the plantation sector.

See full document here

..........................................................................................................................................

Posters questioned on money, jewelries and ships recovered from LTTE?

[ Thursday, 28 February 2013, 04:39.52 AM GMT +05:30 ]

Posters rules parapet walls of Colombo on questioning about money, jewelries and ships recovered from LTTE?

Three individuals pasting posters at the Modera area arrested this morning. Police media unit announced these posters were pasted by the members of “Movement against Corruption”.

UN expected to send delegation to Sri Lanka without visas for investigat​ions: Fonseka

[ Thursday, 28 February 2013, 03:44.48 AM GMT +05:30 ]

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has warned that the United Nations (UN) is expected to introduce some regulations soon through which a delegation will be able to come to Sri Lanka even without visas to investigate the incidents which took place during the war.

He said that the European Parliament has already said that allegations of war crimes which took place in Sri Lanka should be investigated through an international body. “The UN is now trying to bring a regulation where they will be able to send an international committee to investigate what took place in Sri Lanka and the committee will be able to come to Sri Lanka without a visa. An international committee will definitely come to this country. They will then question me not about things that happened after I contested for President but what happened when I was in military uniform. I will need to respond to it then,” he said. The UN and human rights organizations have also been calling for an independent international investigation in the country.

Lies Retold – The Annual Sri Lankan Ritual At The UNHRC

By Paul Newman -February 28, 2013

Dr. Paul Newman

On the 27th morning, the Sri Lankan Minister for Plantation and Special Envoy to the President of Sri Lanka on Human Rights Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe, made the annual statement on behalf of Sri Lanka at the High Level segment of the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council 2013. In the usual rhetoric the Minister spoke of the commitment of Sri Lanka towards peace and normality after eliminating terrorism by successfully conducting a humanitarian operation to free a captive population. The 5 R’s (Reconstruction, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Reconciliation) would usher in an era of sustainable development, social progress and durable peace.

The north had witnessed a growth of 27% where as the growth rate of the rest of the country was 8%. The Government of Sri Lanka was relaying the railway line to Jaffna. The last batch ofInternally Displaced Persons had returned to their places of origin on 24th September 2012. The strength of the military has been reduced in the north, the military was involved in reconstruction work of the north. The former High Security Zones have ceased to exist. Only 396 ex-combatants (in his word, beneficiaries) are undergoing rehabilitation. Sri Lanka had completely settled the issue of Child Soldiers. The minister claimed that at no time the ex-combatants or LTTE sympathizers were targeted, but reintegrated into the society.

A court of Inquiry was established by the Commander of the Sri Lankan army to inquire into the observations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its report on alleged civilian casualties during the final phase of the humanitarian operation, the court of inquiry would also examine the Channel 4 allegations. The case of the 5 students killed in Trincomallee and the 17 ACF workers killed in 2006 was further investigated.

In the second part of his speech the minister came down heavily on the Western countries and the UN Human Rights Commissioner Ms.Navi Pillay. He accused the western governments of falling prey to the disinformation, outright falsehood and pressure tactics of the remnants of the terrorist organization which has resulted in biased and unequal treatment of Sri Lanka.

He called the resolution passed on Sri Lanka at the 19th UNHRC in March 2012 as entirely unnecessary,unwarranted and unfair. He said Sri Lanka strongly objected any unfair, unprincipled and unjust approach adopted by the HRC and there should be no debate on any country specific resolution.

He felt it was the government’s primary responsibility to resolve domestic issues and unwarranted Internationalization would undermine the local reconciliation process in Sri Lanka impacting their efforts to reap the dividends of peace. Targetting Sri Lanka unfairly would further polarize the affected parties, particularly in the context of no threat from Sri Lanka towards International peace and security. The subjective selectivity of focusing on Sri Lanka was unacceptable.

The UN  Human Rights Commissioner  Ms.Navi Pillay, was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in April 2011 but has refrained from visiting the country though she had sent a high level delegation in September 2012.  Ms.Pillay paid inordinate amounts of attention to Sri Lanka in her statements within and outside UN Forums, whether it is the Security Council, Human Rights Councils, democracy conferences or merely comments on a wide range of issues since May 2009 which could influence delegations. Her constant targeting of Sri Lanka was based on “unsubstantiated evidence founded on conjecture and supposition only supports the impression of a lack of objectivity”.

Apart from this the Minister spoke of the efforts of the Sri Lankan government to educate its people on the right to freedom from torture. He also emphasized that due process of law was followed in the impeachment of the former chief justice and the appointment of the new one.

He said Sri Lanka has been “instructed by people who know little of our history,culture and socio-political background, from the Asokan Rock Edicts of the 3rd Century before the Christian era, societies in our region have been guided by values underscoring good governance and human rights. We need not be told. We need not be taught. We are fully aware of what we need to do domestically and internationally”.

To conclude he said that the cornerstone of the Sri Lankan policy was effective reconciliation based on home grown solutions and Sri Lanka did not did not wish to adopt a policy of ‘destructive disengagement’ but would continue with the policy of constructive and open dialogue.  He felt that the subjective measures based on unsubstantiated assertions aimed at ‘naming and shaming’ are indicative of a different agenda unrelated to the objectives of the council. With time and space, Sri Lanka would deliver for its people and country.

What Mr.Mahinda Samarasinghe forgets is that we are living in an age of information. The so called humanitarian operation was nothing but a gruesome genocide carried out on innocent Tamils. The war started from the eviction of people from the western coast villages of Arippu, Silavuthurai and Mullikulam ended at the east coast of Mullivaikal. Never were the innocent civilians given a chance to cross over to the army controlled areas. They were herded like cattle from one coast to another for a period of 18 months from the end of 2007 to May 2009. The civilians were reduced to the status of walking skeletons.

The UN Habitat states that 160,000 houses were destroyed. This must be the first humanitarian operation in the world where the collateral damage caused the destruction of 160,000 houses, 146,679 missing people, 4 million Palmyra trees destroyed, cluster bombs used, government proclaimed no fire zones shelled, surrendering prisoners of war carrying white flags shot point blank. Even surrendered women and innocent children were not spared. The UN Panel of Experts says 40,000 civilians would have been massacred on a conservative estimate.

About the 27% development in the north, who are the real beneficiaries? The new roads are for free movement of the Sinhalese soldiers and the business men from the south along with the war zone tourists travelling from the south.  The new houses are for the Sinhala settlers. The minister did not utter a word about the substantiated evidences on Sinhalisation.

Militarisation is the hallmark of the daily life of the Tamil civilians in the north and east, both governed by former military personnel. There was not a word of the cultural suppression of the Tamils who are denied their basic right to mourn their dead. Their cultural remnants razed to the ground and new Sinhala landmarks have appeared in their place.

It is a blatant lie to claim that there are no more High Security Zones (HSZs). In Jaffna alone 70,000 Tamils are yet to return home as their land is occupied as HSZs. The entire village of Mullikulam is displaced into the jungles and a naval complex is coming up. In Jaffna the Talsevana military resort has come up in the place of land occupied from Tamils.

Out of a total land mass of 65,619 sq kms of land in Sri Lanka, the Tamils inhabit 18,880 sq kms of land in the north and east, after May 2009, the defence forces have occupied more than 7,000 sq kms of land.

More than 93,000 people are estimated to still be displaced as of late December 2012, living in camps in Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts, in transit sites or with host communities. Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (January 24, 2013)

The  Channel 4 videos have been authenticated world over, Sri Lanka is yet to accept it as it would amount to accepting its own guilt. Torture, rape of Tamil women and disappearances continue unabated as depicted in the recent report of Human Rights Watch. What is the hallmark of justice in Sri Lanka is the army conducting its own inquiry against crimes conducted by its men!

About the home grown solutions, the President of Sri Lanka put an end to it on the 4th of February 2013 by remarking that there cannot be any privileges given to the Tamils, his home grown solutions are Buddhisisation, Sinhalisation and militarization of the Tamil areas.

No country would have interfered in the internal matter of Sri Lanka if they had settled their issue amicably. Sri Lanka must understand that they do not exist independently, time and again Sri Lanka has sent its own soldiers to settle issues elsewhere as part of the UN forces. The world will not ignore the genocide of the Tamils who have contributed significantly to humanity around the world.

As regards the unscrupulous attack on Ms.Navi Pillai one feels sympathetic to the desperate plight of the Sri Lankan government who did not refute any of her claims since 2009 with substantial evidences. Mere targeting an individual will further alienate Sri Lanka which is trying to prevent the UNHRC from performing her duty.

The whole world except Sri Lanka knows that Ms.Navi Pillai is doing her job to the best of her abilities and intimidating her will only get some cheap popularity of the chauvinistic Sinhalese.  To conclude, the desperation of Sri Lanka could be seen in their panicky move to directly attack Ms.Pillai. Even a few African countries which were contemplating on abstaining are now thinking otherwise.  Sri Lanka is ready to welcome another resolution!

*Dr.Paul Newman from the 22nd UNHRC, Geneva, 2013.

SC Judge Buran shows SL courts are like ‘parana coat’ under moth eaten MaRa regime

(Lanka-e-News-28.Feb.2013, 5.30PM) The evil habit of exerting pressures by the Executive on the media instructing on what should and should not be written has now spread even to the Supreme court (MaRa court ). This was clearly illustrated in the Supreme Court (SC), according to reports. On 26th February, to hear the cases in court 403 in the SC , the judges who mounted the bench were three justices with Shiranee Buran as the head of the panel. One case that was to be heard by this panel was a fundamental rights (FR) petition filed against the present c(t)hief justice Mohan Peiris where a sum of Rs. 600 million due from Royal Fernwood Co. to the Government could not be recovered allegedly because of Peiris when he was the attorney General (AG). Previously, this case was dismissed after Peiris became the new c(t)hief justice . That day , the motion pertaining to the FR petition filed by Lawyer Nagalanda Kodituwakku against this dismissal was heard. Justice Shiranee Buran the President of the panel after examining the petition rejected it again on the ground that it is without a foundation in law. Truly speaking her rejection of the motion is illegal. Not that the motion is unfounded , rather it is simply that she is rejecting a case what she personally dislikes . It is evident there-from that it is not justice she is dispensing but its travesty based on personal prejudices Be that as it may , after rejecting the motion , the judge Buran made a gesture with her hand beckoning Stanley Samarasinghe , a senior reporter among the media who was present in court to come to her chamber. Perhaps , Samarasinghe must have thought it is not him she is summoning , because this is not a country where a judge from the bench makes beckoning gestures to the media. Buran did not stop at that , she sent her court proceedings ‘recorder’ just in front of her to Samarasinghe and asked him to come to her Chamber . She recessed the court for 15 minutes and waited in the chamber for Samarasinghe. After Stanley appeared in her chamber , she had inquired from him , ‘how are you going to report this case . See that it is reported in the usual way,’ she had warned .Stanley has asked , ‘why madam? ’ Buran has then started giving instructions to Stanley , a senior court reporter with 25 years experience in the media , on how the court decision should be reported and worded in a manner to conceal the duplicitous verdict. In addition she had told to instruct the other media personnel too to follow this. There is no further evidence needed than this episode where a judge from the bench summons an outsider by making gestures like a pavement hawker trying to sell his/her spurious and fake wares via gesticulations, to testify to the fact that in SL what exists now are not courts but ‘parana coats’ under a moth eaten MaRa regime. It is high time not only the entire judicial sphere but even the media organizations protest against this sordid and uncouth conduct of a SC judge specially, while being on the sacrosanct bench. Otherwise , very soon , judges like Shiranee Buran may summon the media personnel to his/ her chamber and cheekily instruct what jockstraps they must wear when sitting in her court.

Colombo uses international aid, abetment, for structural genocide in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2013, 04:02 GMT]
The genocidal Sinhala State in Colombo has accelerated the process of creating a Sinhala division at Ma'nal-aa'ru renamed as Wæli-oya in Sinhala, in the strategic locality linking North and East territory of the Tamil nation in the island of Sri Lanka, by deploying Indian and other international aid, civil sources in Mullaiththeevu said. The housing aid of India and the infrastructure aid of the IC are pooled in creating the Sinhala division, with all facilities of attraction for the Sinhalicisation process at the wedging locality. This is carried out not without the blessings of India, the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia whose delegates visited the region in the recent months, the civil sources commented, adding that what was heard from the Indian Foreign Minister in the parliament on Wednesday on implementing the 13th Amendment was a sour joke of quarter a century. 

The location of the newly Sinhalicised division in the Mullaiththeevu district that will be wedging North and East, created after erasing out traditional Tamil villages and renaming it from Ma'nalaa'ru in Tamil to Weli-Oya in Sinhala. [Satellite image courtesy: Google Earth. Legend by TamilNet]

What is happening in Ma'nal-aa'ru is nothing but the practical response of the International Community of Establishmenrts (ICE) to the question of Eezham Tamils in the island. It is only a continuity of the genocidal war perpetrated by the same ICE, despite the deviating debates it is now promoting in the outside world, Tamil political observers said.

An SL Government mechanism is being put in the top gear at Ma'nalaa'ru, an ethnically strategic area bringing together the North and East provinces, to officially implement forced land-acquisition undertaken by the genocidal State.

As per this mechanism, a group of officers have been instituted at the District Secretariat of Mullaith-theevu, to officially acquire the traditional lands of Tamils at Ma'nal-aa'ru renamed as Wæli-oya (both meaning the sandy river).

The lands have been already encroached and now the process is to make it official. 

The Mullaith-theevu district and the newly created Sinhala division that will be wedging the North from the East

Ma'nalaa'ru, the so-called Wæli-oya of the Mullaiththeevu district, which was administratively annexed to the Anuradhapura District Secretariat of the Sinhala territory during the war, was returned to the Mullaith-theevu District Secretariat recently with a complete Sinhalicisation programme.

The so-called ‘development’ of the Sinhalicised division uses the aid earmarked for the re-construction of the war-ravaged North. The 50,000-house-scheme of the Indian Government and most of the other agricultural aids have already been taken to these Sinhala-colonised areas, Tamil politicians accuse. 

The aid, especially the Asian Bank aid, is now used to build Sinhala schools in the Tamil land at the re-named Wæli-oya. 

The aim of the school project is to attract, encourage and convince more Sinhalese to colonize the division and to eventually Sinhalicise the Tamils remaining in the division, say observers who have seen similar projects of structural genocide elsewhere in the island in the last several decades. Now it is focused and accelerated at Ma'nal-aa'ru they further commented.

The location of Kokku'laay village and lagoon. [Satellite map courtesy: Google Earth]

The region of traditional territory of the nation of Eezham Tamils ‘officially’ Sinhalicised by genocidal Colombo with and aim of wedging North and East.

The original people of Ma'nal-aa'ru that was exclusively a part of the traditional Tamil homeland are in possession of documents, including title deeds, to confirm the ownership of their lands. They were continuously subjected to refugee-life for the past 30 years. But they never lost their aspiration to return to their villages of fertile agricultural lands.

The representatives of the GoSL are now brain-washing the Tamil people that they could never return to their native villages, and it is better for them to accept alternative lands and ‘relief aids’ through collaborating with the ‘official programme’ of the genocidal State and its international abettors in the region.

Whenever the Tamil people having legal documents refuse to give up their land by mere ‘brain washing’ then they are intimidated by the occupying Sinhala military and the SL government machinery. Such people’s activities are systematically paralyzed. They are terrorized and silenced.

The Padaviya and Padavi Sree Pura divisions that were colonised and exclusively Sinhalicised from the side of Anuradhapura district with the aim of wedging the contiguity of the Tamil territory in the North and East of the island. What is Sinhalicised now is the division north of Padavi Sree Pura seen as Karai-thu'raip-pattu in the map and belongs to the Mullaiththeevu district of the North

A similar tactic was used 50 years ago in completely Sinhalicising the Padaviya colonization scheme at the tri-junction of Anuradhapura, Mullaith-theevu and Vavuniyaa districts. The scheme, first started at the closing times of the British rule giving lands to both the Sinhalese and Tamils, became exclusively Sinhalese after the first pogrom against Tamils in 1958. The Tamils who were chased out were intimidated never to return to their lands.

All these five decades, the State in the island was systematically working for extending the structural genocide committed against Tamils at Padaviya further into even traditional Tamil villages of the Ma'nal-aa'ru region of Mullai-theevu district, ultimately to delink the contiguity of the Tamil territories in the North and East of the island.

Tamil militancy since early 80s and the LTTE was able to check the process, but the ICE that found the military balance of the nation of Eezham Tamils inappropriate and destroyed it in a genocidal war, failed to check the structural genocide. The ICE endorses genocide as an appropriate way for its new world order, and that’s why the ICE and its outfits such as the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) are not accepting what is happening to Eezham Tamils as genocide, human rights activists in Vanni told TamilNet.

There are some individuals in the diaspora, coming from Jaffna and collaborate with the Rajapaksa regime, who argue without knowing what had happened at Padaviya that Tamils were never prepared to go, settle and do agriculture in the lands under question and why not the Sinhalese go there. Will they now answer to the people of Vanni who want their Ma’nal-aa’ru division back to them, asked the activists in Vanni.
* * * The land-related genocide in the country of Eezham Tamils, carried out by the militarily occupying Sinhala State with an intended programme of annihilation of the territoriality of Tamils has never been highlighted internationally by the visitors of the Establishments in complicity with the genocidal State in the island. 

Those who choose to bury the question under impunity of State bestowed to ‘Sri Lanka united by genocide’ have never accepted the land question an issue.

Genocidal Colombo now comes out with a strategy of speaking of ‘State lands’ in bringing out Sinhala military cantonments and Sinhala colonies in the country of Eezham Tamils. 

This becomes possible only when the International Community of Establishments (ICE) is not recognizing the territoriality of Eezham Tamils in the island, and promotes Colombo’s LLRC implementation. The agencies of the ICE such as the International Crisis Group (ICG) evasively say that it is for the Tamils to conduct research and prove that there is an on-going genocide.

A veteran Eezham Tamil activist in his late 70s, speaking to TamilNet recently asked the question whether the ICG has been appointed as the new managers of the revived East India Companies of the West.
* * * Even though not aware of the ICG, but believing in the universal power of people’s struggle, the Farmer’s Federation of Mullaith-theevu / Kokkuth-thoduvaai has submitted a notification to the SL Divisional Secretary of the Kataithu`raip-pattu Division, on the following encroachments in the villages listed below with a demand to release their agricultural lands.

The following are details of the lands Tamil own with title deeds in their traditional villages listed below, but where they are unable to resettle while new Sinhala villages are coming up in the division with international aid with an intention of Sinhalicising the division. There was not even a single Sinhala village in the division a few decades back.

Sinhala Buddhists: Recognize Slavery To Embrace Freedom

By Sajeeva Samaranayake - February 28, 2013 

Sajeeva Samaranayake

Ego is truth

Darkness is light; and

Others not self

For a people bathed in ignorance

Half baked concepts

The bread and butter

Of violators and their opponents

Will not feed our hunger

A moral death must be feared more

Than a physical one

“ Lankans today must face up to a stark historical insight. Those past glories we see in abundance at Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva were founded on the self-organizing capacity of a free and autonomous people.

P.B. Rambukwelle (A study of Sinhala Kingship from Vijaya to Kalinga Magha) observed:

The Sinhala State was the sum and result of a slow but steady settlement of Aryan migrants blending their experiences among themselves and the earlier peoples, not the messianic adventure of a mighty conqueror, a law giver, superman or plain bandit.

Kingship emerged therefore as a seedling germinated in the bosom of the people, its upward thrust towards absolute power associated with kingship, a long drawn out process. Almost at the very beginnings the innate mystic arousing awe and obedience to kingship was diluted with the humanity of the Buddhist religion and village democracies.

However, when Parakramabahu the Great ascended the throne of Lanka as the 138^th regent in a dynastic line that had already lasted 1500 years, a sea change was in store. This dynamic leader centralized all power in his person as a chakravarty monarch (following the emperor mode) and the hallowed principle of village centered freedom received a body blow. The people of Ruhuna opposed this constitutional change in three wars that left them devastated. Within 30 years of the death of Parakramabahu in 1186 CE Lankans faced the irreversible closure of their irrigation civilization. Rajarata fell to the hammer blows of Kalinga Magha, never to stand again.

The 600 years since then was a period of drift where survival was the paramount objective.

In 1815 we handed over our rights to self-governance to the British in the vain and foolish hope that they would solve our problems. We know now that they had their own agenda. Almost 200 years since that unthinkable capitulation we are still confronted with the same status quo and dynamics. We are trapped within a top down system of governance which was foisted on a conquered, subjugated people.

Ever since Polonnaruva the Lankans had become used to a reduced light, a state of semi-darkness or relative freedom that was disguised by the slavish imitation of rituals that assured them of being heirs to an ancient and proud identity. This culture of imitation was effortlessly transferred to the imitation of the white man’s way of life. Consequently, whether we are observing Buddhist rituals or democratic rituals those essential elements of genuineness and sincerity are absent.

The history of this country has thus been a march from authenticity to mediocrity. The difference between our past and present is simply that we inherited a tradition of freedom – only to choose slavery.

The reference to slavery will elicit objections. We have become so attached to the chains that bind us – that we fear freedom. The German monk Ven Nyanaponika who made full use of the tradition of Theravada Buddhism in this island once said:

True freedom places on us the uncomfortable burden of ever fresh responsible decisions, which have to be guided by mindfulness, wisdom and human sympathy. Few are willing to accept the full weight of such a burden. Instead they prefer to be led and bound by the rules given by others, and by habits mainly dominated by self interest and social conventions. With the habituation to a life of inner and outer bondage, there grows what Erich Fromm calls “a fear of freedom.”Such fear, if allowed to persist and take root, inevitably leads to a stagnation of our inner growth and creativeness as wee as to a stagnant society and culture. In a state of stagnation, toxic elements will endanger mankind’s healthy progress – physical and mental, social and spiritual. Then William Blake’s words will prove true: “Expect poison from stagnant water.”(Emphasis added)

Just as nirvana is not attainable except through the realization of suffering, freedom is not possible without the acknowledgement of slavery – past and present.

Today we have replaced an enlightened Buddhism of critical inquiry nurtured in the independent schools of Mahavihara, Abhayagiriya and Jethavanaramaya with blind imitation and unquestioning obedience.  Political masters have changed from time to time – but the core mentality of insecurity, self interest and materialism have remained. These weaknesses have now robbed the Lankans of their autonomy – as individuals and as a collective. Most third world countries have experienced this ‘second loss of freedom’ after colonizers left.

British will was imposed on the inhabitants of this island through violence. Having established their sovereignty on a foundation of barbarism, particularly after the war of 1818, they super-imposed a more civilized system of governance to be operated by an English speaking elite, born and nurtured in the British way of thinking and living.

This reality of domination and oppression at the deepest levels of our society was partially addressed and partially ignored during the first 40 years of liberal democratic governance in the island from 1931 to 1971. Unfortunately the elite feudal pretenders who monopolized political and economic power in the country did not permit this liberal and peaceful trend to continue. A flawed foundation kept cracking and exploding in different places throughout the next 40 years from 1971 to 2011 as Sri Lankans assumed full control of a new republic after more than 2000 years of monarchical government.

What we have succeeded in doing after the historic success in eliminating the first terrorist organization to spring from this soil is to strengthen that original foundation of violence laid by the British. In this process we have disowned and dismantled all vestiges of civilized power in this country.

The famous 17^th century dictum of chief Justice Coke that “the king is subject to no man but is subject to God and law” was introduced to many colonies including Ceylon by the British. We can now see this bedrock fundamental being overturned in favour of absolute and untrammeled power.

Such absolutism is unprecedented here. Alan Strathern who has written on the turbulent Kotte period has observed that even during the reigns of Sitwaka Rajasinha and Wimaladharmasuriya – two warrior kings, the Lankans remained a free people. As such we are now moving into unchartered waters without any safeguard for the rights and liberties of our citizens.

The re-creation of an ethical foundation demands personal sacrifices that very few Sri Lankans seem prepared to make. What cannot be done within cannot be supplied from outside.

In fact the international community has done more harm than good to Sri Lanka, especially at the political and diplomatic levels. Most mediators, starting with Rajiv Gandhi failed to appreciate the true character of theLTTE. It is in fact the moral confusion at the highest levels of international organizations that ensured the final radicalization of the Sri Lankan regime. Extremism when encouraged in any form helps its replication by others. What is evil is evil – irrespective of the form in which it is couched. Whether governments or rebel groups all sides are groups of human beings. The inability to discern the substance from form led diplomats on a futile quest where signatures on paper by immoral men became more important than morality itself. When no one stands up for truth – violence prevails.

Both sides to the war understood the weak spots of the international community and manipulated affairs to ensure that political or military objectives would be pursued with ruthlessness. The sovereign people of this country remain vulnerable in the middle today as those wielding power, both here and abroad whiz around like misguided missiles uttering their hackneyed top down rhetoric.

Given this prognosis it is now left to intelligence and non violence to undertake that work which institutions have failed to even understand. There is a need to move in a totally open, pro human and anti structural way to establish and nurture new connections and links to meet the challenges of violence – both physical and structural. It is time for the citizenry to step out of their boxes and recognize the humanity of each other. Destiny and political adulthood beckons, and it is not for the faint hearted or those lacking clarity and resolution. The time for vacillation is over.

There are enemies of freedom within our self and without – both here and abroad. We must pray for wisdom and clarity to see through the motives of those who seek our recruitment and slavery in the guise of democracy and human rights, free enterprise, socialism, patriotism or religion. Instead of seeking the causes of our enslavement in a totally dispassionate and detached way we have simply ended up fighting each other. Since mankind is one there are no victors after any war – much less after a civil war. The choices are simple: we can either swim or sink together. Unless we wake up in this struggling and traumatic present we shall remain where we have been for the last 800 years – a nation of divided, squabbling non starters.

The Sinhala Buddhists in particular must realize the well springs of undefiled pure energy that lie deep within themselves. The more they can do this – the less they will be enslaved to external symbols and monuments of the past and more grounded in the living present. A Buddha is born every moment – if only we can bring ourselves to relate to our birthright – the pure and awakened mind. This was the true source of power of our impressive ancestors. Becoming enslaved to the idea of an abstract and fixed identity puts us in the same mode as Prabakharan’s LTTE. To such a group their very ‘success’ becomes the measure of their failure. Nature has never tolerated such groups for any length of time. This fixed identity is simply a creation of the anxious mind and it runs counter to the truths of anicca, dukkha and anatta.

The other citizens must also work harder than ever before to re-assert the common ground we all share, transcending the private space of separate religiosity. This personal space is simply another fact of life as much as your own spouse, family, relations and workplace. Respecting each other’s personal space is a pre-condition of public life. I apologize because this is not a time for any more words. It is a time to demonstrate by example that we as a society still retain values of moderation, humility and kindness and that we recognize these essential human qualities over and above other insignificant details.

Dilantha from Bodhu Bala Sena to be appointed as Buddha Sasana Ministry Secretary

Wednesday, 27 February 2013 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked the theoretician of Bodhu Bala Sena, Dilantha Vithanage to accept the post of Buddha Sasana Ministry Secretary, reliable sources said.

Vithanage currnelty serves as an advisor at the Consumer Welfare Ministry under Senior Minister S.B. Navinne. The President had extended the invitation to accept the post to Vithanage through the National Organizer of Bodhu Bala Sena, Ven. Vitharandeniye Nanda Thero.

Ven. Nanda Thero is a close associate of the President and the Defence Secretary.

Vithanage had realized that the President was trying to take control of Bodhu Bala Sena by appointing him as the secretary of a ministry and had gracefully turned down the President’s request.

The Iranian ambassador who had visited the Bodhu Bala Sena headquarters at Thunmulla on the 25th had invited members of the organization to visit Iran. Bodhu Bala Sena activists are to therefore tour Iran shortly.

Death of mother & daughter in Lebanon a mystery

THURSDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2013 

Deaths that occurred within a week due to the same illness of a Sri Lankan mother and her daughter who had been employed in Lebanon are a mystery say relatives.

The deceased are H.P. Margret  (62) a resident of Koswadiya, Mahawewa at Naththandiya who had been employed in Lebanon for 28 years and her daughter Mallika Kusumalatha (37) a resident of Weehenawellakele at Mahawewa who had left to Lebanon 6 years ago.

Both of them had been employed in Beirut and lived in a rented out house there.

Ms. Margret who had suddenly fallen sick on the 15th died on the 17th and Mallika who had got sick on the 20th died on the 24th. Both have died in a hospital in Beirut. The relatives have been informed that both had been suffering from phlegm infection.

However, relatives suspect foul play and have requested the government to conduct an impartial investigation. They have forwarded documents to the Foreign Employment Bureau to get down the bodies.