Grave Danger to people !! Champika’s much hyped power grid creates nuclear radiation leak !- Stop halal (nonsense) baila and start solving

(Lanka-e-News-03.March.2013, 10.30PM) The SL Kudankulam people’s movement against the Kudankulam nuclear power grid had issued a notice that since 27th February 2013 night there has arisen a nuclear radiation leak of uranium when the power grid was being filled with that chemical. Over 10000 people comprising Indian nationals and locals living there are engaged in fishing , agriculture and trade . Consequent upon this pollution these residents’ lives are driven into great peril. The people’s Organization has therefore urged the responsible officials and authorities to reveal the actual and true position to the people without following their evil characteristic policies of suppressing rather than solving the people’s urgent problems. The power and energy Minister Champika Ranawake at that time,when this power grid was being launched along with the chairman of the SL atomic power plant Authority , Dr. Wijewardena announced , with great pride amidst much pomp , publicity and fuss that this grid had been introduced in conformity with the highest world standards and the scheme is possessed of the best features. It was also declared that this scheme confirms the close ties between the two countries . A joint communique too was released to the media in this connexion. Now like a Frankenstein monster , this much hyped creation of SL political demons is trying to destroy the people through a most dangerous air pollution. In the circumstances , if there follows a widespread nuclear air pollution , it is the local Frankenstein creator and the monster , the MaRa regime and Minister who should hold themselves responsible. The worst part ? despite the afflicted and frightened people of SL Kudankulam expressing their grave concerns and the dangers they are exposed to , none of them responsible for creating this deadly situation has given any answers. By this attitude , it is very clear that there exists a most lethal secret . Sampur to lose big Reported by:  Lashane Cooray-2013-03-03 A high ranking government official warned if the Sampur Coal Power Plant project is implemented as per the terms of the current agreement with the Indian Government, the Government of Sri Lanka will incur a loss of Rs 15 billion per annum, because of low energy efficiency levels. Speaking to Ceylon Today, the official, who did not wish to be named, alleged the 500MW power plant, which has been in the pipeline as a joint venture between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India since 2011, would incur the huge annual losses due to its output inefficiency, slated as 22%, nearly 20% below the international standard for such coal power plants, which has been set at 40%. “For an input of 100 units of coal, the output should be at least 40% efficiency, but efficiency levels of the Sampur Coal Power Plant will only be 22%. If this level could at least be increased to 35%, Sri Lanka can benefit from the project,” the official said. He cited this clear disadvantage to Sri Lanka as the main reason for the reluctance of the former Power and Energy Minister to continue with the project. Commenting on the string of delays that had taken place while implementing the project, he said, “The original reason for the delays was the lack of a Power Purchase Rate in the agreement arrived at by the NTPC and the CEB in September 2011. In the end, this agreement wasn’t finalized, but a mutual understanding was reached by the two entities that a feasibility study had to be carried out in order to determine a rate.” Commenting on the possibility of the Government of India entertaining an ulterior agenda, to use the power plant for India’s purposes, although it being based in Sri Lanka, he said, “That is difficult to imagine, as this 500 MW plant does not produce anywhere near the power required by a single State in India. Sri Lanka itself requires 2100 MW of power per day.” The Minister for Power and Energy, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister of Foreign Investment Promotions, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene or CEB officials were unavailable for comment.

Who Makes War Against Children?

Dr. Paul Newman for Salem-News.com-Mar-02-2013 

Article by Dr. Paul Newman of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

(GENEVA) - On the 24th of February, 2013, a panicky letter addressed to the President of the 22nd UN Human Rights Council was sent by Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha urging him to stop the screening the of the Channel 4 documentary ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’, co-sponsored by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Perhaps the Sri Lankan delegation forgot that it is Geneva, where there is ‘Right to Freedom of Press’, not Colombo, where anyone against the ruling class can be bumped easily. The screening of the 3rd part of the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka started as scheduled at 12.00 noon. Paul Hoffman Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International moderated the session. youtu.be/gjZlIeiSxxI

Producer of the documentary, Callum Macrae made the opening remarks calling his work as definitive work and hard evidence very carefully compiled,checked analysed by forensic pathologists and digital analysts, none of the footage was fake and it was hard evidence countering the Sri Lankan government’s claim that there were no civilian casualties. He said he has no personal agenda and did his duty as a journalist as he has done in the past, it was about human rights.

Then the lights were shut out at hall no. XX111, the opening scene was the event of September 8th 2008, outside the UN office at Kilinochchi where civilians in large numbers urge the UN agencies not to abandon them. Then there are scenes of multibarrel rocket launchers firing and aerial bombings. Then Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane spoke of the discrimination of the non Buddhists, non Sinhalese hatred in which the Tamils were victims since 1948 and traced how militancy came to the forefront after the failure of all peaceful methods for equal rights were exhausted.

The scene then shifts to London where Vani Kumar a girl born in 1984, migrated to London in 1994, got married, then separated and moves to live with her relatives in the Vanni take a break. Then Benjamin Dix, the former UN staffer, speaks of the de facto government of the LTTE, and then speaks of Isai Priya, the LTTE Television announcer, news reader, singer, dancer and actor. Her gentle nature, her charm and how she was always respectful.

Then there is the narration of how LTTE had given up recruitment of child soldiers and suicide bombings from 2002-2006.

The scene shifts to the 138 most dreaded days of the Tamils in northern Sri Lanka from January 2nd 2009. There is a day to day horrific account of the civilian killings and the sight of 350,000 people fleeing in rain to save their lives from the army and airforce attacks. Then on Day 20, January 21st 2009, the No Fire Zone (NFZ) or Safe Zone was announced. Peter Mackay, former U.N. staffer, narrates his experience of being trapped in a war zone for two weeks and witnessing first-hand the shelling of the NFZ.

“There’s a crucial point to be made on why the Sri Lankan government declared the no fire zone… There is only one intent and that is because you don’t really care you are going to kill the people that are located in that safer zone or more importantly you are actively targeting them,” Mr. Mckay says in the film. Peter tries to call the Colombo office to request the army to move the shelling though the army was aware of the positioning of his GPS. When he tries to contact them the strewn body of a girl lands on him.

There are scenes of cluster bomb destruction and children crying. On Day 28, the NFZ is overrun. There is continous tagetting of the Puthukudiruppu hostpital, on Day 42, a new NFZ is announced. The attacks on the NFZ continues relentlessly. At the Puthumathalan hospital, there is severe shortage of doctors, medicine and infrastructure, a choice has to be made, whom to save and whom not to.

On the International arena, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner make a frantic visit to Sri Lanka to save the civilians, the Government of Sri Lanka tries to convince them that the civilians are safe, David Miliband calls the Sri Lankan’s as ‘Liars’ and has to leave the island.

In all there were 65 attacks on the hospitals alone and finally the hospital had to be abandoned and the civilians herded into a narrow strip of just 3 kilometers. Here the armed forces shell relentlessly in the middle of the crowded masses splitting the civilian population into two zones and taking over one.

Then the government declares the war as over. From here the scene shifts to the footage and photos taken by soldiers as war trophies. The cold blooded killing of Col. Ramesh, the white flag bearers Nadesan and Pulithevan and finally Balachandran is examined by Prof. Derrick, Professor of Forensic Medicine, University of Dundee who clearly states that it was murder and then Prof. William Schabas claiming that these acts constitute, war crimes undoubtedly.

In Colombo, there is celebrations, where as in the Vanni there are massive clearance operations going on. There are scenes of women cadre of the LTTE taken in the army trucks, seen for the last time, nobody heard of them ever after. Those who survived had to starve for 3 days without food and water before being shunted into the Menik farm camps. At these camps, many women were raped and went missing, none of these were reported as the army controlled the camps.

Dixie then speaks of the post war militarization, Sinhalisation and the incentive given to the soldiers posted in the north when they have a third child. Bashana speaks of increased injustice and colonization. Vani has resettled in life after marrying again, yet she is unable to forget the haunting past.

The explanation of Vani on how blood was collected from the wounded civilians filtered with a piece of cloth and reinduced into the victim’s body makes one hate war. For the first time she sees blood flowing on the ground along with rain water. One wonders how can a war be described as a humanitarian operation?

After there the screening, there was a thunderous applause for the movie maker and the floor was given to the Sri Lankan ambassador. He protested the use of UN premises for a vicious campaign against Sri Lanka. He described the documentary as ‘distorted, dubious, cynical, concerted and orchestrated campaign that is strategically driven, and clearly motivated by collateral political considerations”. cynical, concerted and orchestrated campaign that is strategically driven, and clearly motivated by collateral political considerations”.

He asked whether these human rights groups could take ownership of the documentary. He described the Journalists for Democracy as a shadowy group, which was behind the campaign. He called both Vani Kumar and Isai Priya as members of the LTTE and left the hall immediately. It is true in the case of Isai Priya, because she was a member of the LTTE, does it give the Sri Lankan soldiers the right to rape and desecrate her body? Mr.Ravinatha should answer this as a true Buddhist.

He calls all the footage as stage managed by the LTTE and sang the same old song of the army rescuing 300,000 civilians, providing food, rehabilitation etc and said that LTTE sympathizers were vote banks in the west and the Channel 4 was undermining the efforts of reconciliation.

Then it was Yasmin Sooka’s turn to speak, she spoke of denial and refusal as the strong arsenal of the Sri Lankan government. Her assessment of the key aspect of the Sri Lankan government as part of the three member UN Panel of Expert’s was the keeping out of media, NGOs, UN since September 2009.

Nowhere she had come across thousands of civilians killed in such a short period. As part of the Panel of Expert’s she had estimated about 40,000 civilian deaths, it increased to 70,000 in the Charles Petrie report of November 2012, but the Bishop of Mannar is consistent about more than 100,000 civilans deaths, this is where an International Inquiry is necessary to get an independent estimate.

She spoke of the starvation of the people, bombing of the hospitals, firing at the NFZSs, violation of the International Humanitarian Law. Tamils even now lived under military control. The LLRC report was not implemented, ‘can the government be trusted to investigate themselves, the military court exonerated itself’, she said.

People were increasing targeting for speaking the truth, civilians need justice, the onus is on the International Community to get justice for the victims, the media and clergy were under threat, the triumphalism was translated into chavunism, now the national anthem was only in Sinhalese, the Tamils were the only people who were denied even the right to mourn their dead.

She reiterated that since 2009 nothing has happened, people of Sri Lanka needs justice. This was not a Tamil issue, it is a human issue.

Gordon Weiss, the former UN Spokesperson in Colombo, spoke of Dr.Dayan Jayatileke, who defended Sri Lanka at the UN in 2009, now speaking of quasi occupation of the Tamil areas in the north and posed the question of Who is pulling the wool over who’s eyes?

Sumanthiran, the TNA Member of Parliament, thanked McRae on behalf of the Tamil people and demanded an Independent International Investigations, he noted that the SL government branded the Channel 4 videos as not authentic, but the LLRC wanted the videos to be investigated. He assured that TNA would cooperate with any independent investigations.

The vote of thanks was proposed by Julie de Rivero of Human Rights Watch who wanted the UN to respond to the rights of the victims and urged the diplomats present there to respond as human beings. At the end there was silence and grief.

The one sentence that echoed in everyone’s mind and heart was the question posed by Yasmin Sooka, ‘WHO MAKES WAR AGAINST CHILDREN?’, of course Sri Lanka does and continues to do as the world pretends to be blind to the plight of the Tamils.

Dr. Paul Newman from UNHRC 22,Geneva 1st March, 2013

Source: Trans National Government of Tamil Eelam Media

The Killing Of Children And Sri Lanka’s Bloody Legacies

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena -March 3, 2013 

Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

The mass grave in Matale uncovered late last year and the ongoing demands for independent and credible investigations into the fate of disappeared persons during the last days of the fighting between government forces and the LTTE in 2009 have at their core, the common element of impunity and a common cry for justice.

Pitiful legacies of future generations

So when pictures circulate of the late LTTE leader’s twelve year old sonlooking apprehensively at his captors, being given a snack inside what appears to be an army bunker with the concluding photograph being of his being shot, (whether the pictures are doctored or not), the sheer inhumanity of what Sri Lanka has been reduced to, should surely grip us all?

These pictures should be ranked alongside the grisly photographs of child monks butchered at Arawantalawa by the LTTE in 1987 and the thousands of children killed by state and non state actors during the Southern insurrection and the Northern war. These are the pitiful legacies of our future generations.

Killings are permitted in times of emergency

Certainly Sri Lanka’s legal framework has permitted and indeed, actively encouraged crimes such as extra judicial executions and enforced disappearances. In view of state complicity in acts of terror, it was not surprising that when national and international pressure intensified in the 1990’s in regard to taking action in law against perpetrators of abuses during the second JVP insurrection, good investigations and prosecutions were rare and, if at all only against junior officers.

The rationale was that even if grave crimes were committed, these were in situations of extraordinary stress for the average soldier/police officer and therefore should not be measured against a high standard of accountability. Correspondingly, the lack of political will in pursuing such cases to a logical conclusion was clearly seen, whether they concerned enforced disappearances in the South or in the North and East.

Even in instances where political will was manifested at the highest levels, the obduracy of the military establishment prevented it being translated into concrete action. A good example of this was in January 1996 when then President Kumaratunge directed the Army Commander to place 200 service personnel on compulsory leave, following their repeated involvement in gross human rights abuses as evidenced in the Disappearances Commissions Reports. However, the order was not implemented.

Total failure of the legal system

Generally state apathy predominates from investigations to prosecutions of enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings. Under the Rajapaksa Government, this apathy has been transformed into deliberate state policy. Where a non summary is required, the police generally prosecute with state counsel appearing only in rare cases judged to be of special significance. The non-summary inquiry proceeds at a lackadaisical pace, taking up to several months if not more and the vital task of gathering evidence and conducting good investigations is left entirely in the hands of the police with no stringent supervision either by the magistrate or by the officers of the Attorney General.

Interminable delays in filing indictments, delays in the non-summary inquiry and further delays in the substantive trial proceedings are common factors. It is common for example for the lapse of several years to pass before the first step of filing indictment is taken and for delays to be present thereafter in the trial process. This pattern is also commonly seen in the cases of torture of ordinary persons in the South; in cases filed under the Convention Against Torture and other Inhuman and Degrading Punishment Act No 22 of 1994 (hereafter Anti-Torture Act of 1994, indictments have been pending for almost two years in the relevant High Court without being served on the accused. The defence advanced is that the delay is due to the backlog of cases in the Court. Lawyers appearing for the victims complain of a lack of interest on the part of the state in conducting prosecutions and point to non-appearances in court on the days that the trial is due to be conducted and frequent applications for postponements as manifesting this lack of interest

Continuation of mass graves from the nineteen eighties

The Matale mass grave consisted of skeletal remains of more than 150 people discovered by chance by workers building a facility for a hospital. Initial forensic tests suggested that this was the scene of a crime due to the injuries found on the remains. Commonsense led many to the inevitable conclusion that this was a burial site for persons extrajudicially executed and disappeared by the Government of the United National Party during the second JVP insurrection (1987-1991).

It is striking that even after two decades following the insurrection, the question of mass graves in regard to that period continue to be uncovered.  Requests have been made for proper forensic examination and documentation of these remains but these calls will of course, not be heeded to. In the case of disappearances of Tamil civilians during 2009, the very fact of this is denied at point blank range by the current Government.

Common cry for justice

It does not matter that the victims of the Matale mass grave were Sinhalese or that those who disappeared in 2009 were Tamil. They both share a common fate. Their cries are intertwined with the cries of thousands of others who have shared this same fate throughout past decades, at the hands of all governments. It is this commonality that needs to be centered within the accountability debate concerning Sri Lanka, both within these shores and beyond.  The brutalities committed by each Government in Sri Lanka has merely been an extension of the brutalities committed by previous Governments but with even less humanity.

And indeed, these barbarities are also a reflection of what non-state actors, particularly the JVP and the LTTE did themselves, to those who offended them or were considered as traitors. No single party, state actor or non-state actor, President or Opposition Leader has a monopoly on responsibility for innocent blood spilled in Sri Lanka.

It is only when we free ourselves from these bloody political legacies that the killing of children in Sri Lanka will stop.

Only ruins of all education projects will be left – Ven. Dhambara Amila Thera

SUNDAY, 03 MARCH 2013 

Cluster schools, Navodya schools, super schools are personal projects of those in the government and the thousand schools project too would be another ruined project in two years time says the co-convener of the National Movement for Protecting Free Education () Ven. Dhambara Amila Thera.

This was said by Ven. Amila Thera at a scholarly forum regarding protecting free education held at the Center for Society and Religion at Maradana today (3rd). University lecturers, trade union leaders, representatives of students’ organizations and several mass organizations were present.

Ven. Amila Thera said the forum was a historical event participated by several mass organizations and would move to take to the society a programme to win free education for the children of the country. He said the decisions taken by the forum would be revealed to the media so that the masses would be aware of them.

The co-convener of NMPFE Senior Lecturer Devaka Punchihewa said expenses equal to 50% of the allocation for education is spent for blasting stones for unsuccessful projects such as Hambantota harbour and added that the government that wastes 2% of the GDP due to frauds, corruption and wasteful spending allocates only 1.56% of the GDP for education. He said free education is a net for the social protection of the masses and privatizing education would deny the masses of this protection he pointed out.

Among those present were senior Lecturer of the University of Fine Arts Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Dileepa Vitharana of Open University, the National Organizer of Socialist Students’ Union Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the Member of the National Committee of the National Trade Union Center (NTUC) Wasanthe Samarasinghe, the convener of the People’s Movement to Protect Schools (PMPS) Dhammika Alahapperuma.

Maithripala to be removed from SLFP Secretary’s post

Sunday, 03 March 2013 

The President has decided to remove Minister Maithripala Sirisena from the post of SLFP Secretary and to appoint Minister Dullas Alahapperuma to the post instead, reliable sources said.

The President its is learnt is angered by Sirisena’s statement to the media that gave the impression that the President was trying to use the incident involving an attack on the son of a DIG by his son, to ruin his political career.

Sirisena also said that his life was under threat, but refrained from stating from whom he was facing the threat. However, the sentiments expressed by the Minister indicated that he referred to the President.

The President has told several ministers after the SLFP Central Committee meeting last week that he could no longer allow Sirisena to hold the post of SLFP Secretary after hearing the statements. Several members of the President’s personal staff had also participated at the discussion. “I will do the same thing I did to Mangala to him,” the President has said.

We earlier reported that the incident involving Sirisena’s son was given wide media publicity with the President’s knowledge. MP Namal Rajapaksa and Mahinda Illeperuma from the President’s Media Unit had intervened in the matter on a Presidential directive.

The President has personally asked the CEO of Rivira Media Corporation, Gairuka Perusinghe, Rivira Editor Sisira Paranathanthri and Head of the Hiru media network, Raynor Silva to carry out a campaign against Sirisena in the media.

It was Mahinda Illeperuma who had coordinated the matter with the state and some private media. Namal Rajapaksa has also used the help of websites supportive of him to publish articles against Sirisena.

VIDEO: POLICE FIRE TEAR GAS TO QUELL CLASH AT ANANDA-NALANDA

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Naked Truth About The Cover Up Assault On Pasikudha Beach

By Nirmala Kannangara-Sunday, March 03, 2013

The attempt 

by the police to cover up the alleged assault on Asela Waidyalankara, by Health Minister, Maithreepala Sirisena’s son, Daham Sirisena, has raised many questions.

Police Media Spokesperson, SP Buddhika Siriwardhana, is accused of denying that the brawl hat took place on the Pasikudha beach on February 24, was a major incident and that no police officer on petrol other than the DIG’s son, was injured. However, reliable sources at the Valachchanai Hospital confirmed to The Sunday Leader that two police personnel attached to Kalkudha Police were admitted to the hospital for injuries sustained during the clash.

Not only the police officers attached to the Kalkudha Police, but also many in the Batticaloa region were surprised as to how the police are now trying to cover up ministerial offspring who went on the rampage on the Pasikudha beach not only injuring a Senior DIG’s son, but also two police personnel on petrol along the beach during the long weekend.
The victim Asela is the son of DIG Batticaloa Ravi Waidyalankara.

“If the police itself are denying that two of their fellow members came under attack on the Pasikudha beach by a gang led by Daham Sirisena, it is shameful to say that we are attached to Sri Lanka Police. If we cannot talk on our officers behalf what is the use of wearing this uniform? If these two police officers were injured because of their own fault we would not raise our voice, but in this instance they have gone to rescue a civilian who was under attack by a mob. The way how the suspects were released few hours after the incident is highly questionable, when the victim was taking treatment at the Intensive Care Unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital,” a police officer attached to Kalkudha Police said on condition of anonymity.

According to him, the police are only permitted to give bail for minor offences, but never when a victim is hospitalized and especially at a time when the victim is under treatment at the ICU.

Bail on What Basis?

“We do not know on what basis Kalkudha OIC granted police bail to these suspects, who were arrested when the victim was on treatment in the ICU for severe blows he received to his head, lip and other injuries sustained at the clash. Under the terms of Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code, there are bailable and non-bailable offences. The OIC can give bail for bailable offences, but when a victim is taking treatment at the ICU, there is no way the police can release the suspects. They have to be produced before a Magistrate to get bail. In this incident not only was Asela taking treatment at the hospital, but also two of our own officers. This is highly questionable. In future will the police follow the same procedure when politics are not involved?” the sources questioned.

It is also alleged that a Health Ministry driver was amongst the suspects taken into custody together with the vehicle, which belonged to the Health Ministry, in which they came to Pasikudha.

“We are yet to find out these details and once we get the information we will confirm it,” the police sources said.

According to sources, Daham Tharaka, Sudharshan, Janith, Situm Sandesh, Koshitha Himal, Anendra Sharith, Anuradha Dias, Anjelo Chanaka, Isuru Maduranga, Upul Sanjeewa, Dhananjaya Vishwanath, Indika Weerasinghe and Sanka Ariyaratne were arrested over the attack on Asela.

“Out of these 13, Upul Sanjeewa, Dhananjaya Vishwanath, Indika Weerasinghe and Sanka Ariyaratne, are believed to be security officers of the minister. We are now in the process of verifying this too,” added the sources.
Be that as it may, the victim, Asela Waidyalankara speaking from his hospital bed at Central Hospital Colombo, described the ordeal he and his wife had to undergo on Sunday 24 on the Pasikudha beach.

What Happened

‘Two of us together with two of our friends were holidaying at Malu Malu when we had to face this unfortunate incident. I went to the room to keep some of our belongings after a boat ride, leaving my wife and the two friends on the beach. When I was coming back to the beach I saw a well built dark man with a gold chain taking off his trunks. He was standing just behind my wife although she did not know. Another man from faraway was taking photographs of my wife intruding on her privacy with the nude man showing off his genitals behind her. I was terribly shocked over the manner in which my wife’s pictures were taken with the nude man in the background. As I too am a good photographer, I knew that this man was using a high-end camera to capture these shots. I slowly walked up to him and politely wanted him to delete my wife’s photos in front of me in order to make sure that my wife’s pictures were not there. This made him and his gang embarrassed and they assaulted me in front of the local and foreign tourists who were on the beach,’ Asela said.

Asela was in pain when he was talking as five to six sutures had been put to his upper lip.

“I got severe blows to my head, face and stomach. I was also nursing an injury to my left shoulder following a shoulder operation a few weeks ago. When I was trying to escape from the blows I was receiving from about 15 people, my shoulder pain was aggravated and I felt uneasy. However, with all this I saw two policemen patrolling the beach and called for their assistance. When they came for my rescue, they too came under attack from this gang,” Asela said.

According to Asela, his wife too had been attacked by this mob and refused allegations levelled against him for provoking this group.
“I was so polite to them and never wanted even to have any argument over what happened. That’s why I told the man with the camera that we have come for a holiday to have a good time and so have they and let’s have a wonderful holiday and enjoy our stay. Am I so mad to fight with a group of around 15 people and especially with a group who were behaving like animals? They were under the influence of liquor and I was nursing my left shoulder. In order to pass the blame on to me they can make any allegation, but the hotel in which I was a resident guest and the tourists who were on the beach, bear testimony to all what happened,” said Asela.

Thanks To Malu Malu Staff

He further thanked the staff of Malu Malu who helped stop the bleeding from his lips.
“It was they who gave me ice and butter to stop the bleeding from my upper lip which was split into two. It was they who told me that the main suspect was the Health Minister’s son. Although I was bleeding profusely from my lip and the hotel staff wanted to take me to the hotel for first aid I was adamant that I should wait on the beach for the police to come as I had a feeling that this group will pack their bags and move away. It took 10 to 15 minutes for the police to come and when they wanted me to get into the police jeep to take me to the hospital I did not want to get in since my father is the DIG. When I wanted to go to the hospital in my own vehicle the police did not allow me so I had to go in the jeep. I never wanted to take an upper hand as the DIG is my father,” Asela said.

He had got himself discharged to come to Colombo for further treatment after the JMO visited him the following day
Asela believes that some of the people who assaulted him were from the Ministerial Security Division (MSD).
Attempts to contact Health Minister, Maithreepala Sirisena, and his son, Daham Sirisena, for comments failed and the reporter was requested to speak to W.D. Wanninayake, Press Officer Health Department, to get Minister Sirisena’s side of the story.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, W.D. Wanninayake said Minister Sirisena haddecided not to make any further comments on the issue.

“The media has written one side of the story, but not the minister’s side. That was why the minister held a press conference to give his side of the story. Based on what he said at the press conference, Daham Sirisena had not assaulted a person who was meditating on the beach. When the incident was reported, the minister had not gone to see his son, but to see the DIG’s son. The DIG’s son had not sustained any injuries, but had got himself admitted to the Batticaloa Hospital to get a CT scan of his shoulder. It was not the DIG’s son – Asela that was assaulted, but it was Asela that had assaulted the minister’s son – Daham. He has received multiple injuries to his head and has had five sutures,” Wanninayake said.

When asked whether this reporter can visit the injured Daham Sirisena to talk to him and also to photograph the wounds he had received to his head, Wanninayake refused any permission to meet the ‘injured.’
Highlighting The Secret

“The minister does not want to highlight this and that was why this was kept a secret. It was unfair for Asela to come and ask Daham to show his camera when he was enjoying himself on the beach. This has led to an argument and nothing much as reported in the media. The minister has asked Asela’s family whether to provide an ambulance to take him to Colombo the following day. He had waited at the Kalkudha Police for eight hours until the police finished their investigations and released him,” Wanninayake said.
He further disclaimed that Daham was accompanied by the MSD officers and had travelled in a Health Ministry vehicle.
When DIG Batticaloa, Ravi Widyalankara, was contacted for a comment, the request was turned down, claiming that he did not want to interfere in police investigations.

“Asela is my son. Other than that I am not ready to make any comment over this issue as I am a police officer and do not want to interfere in this investigation. The police will do their job. I am only concerned about my son’s health condition,” DIG Widyalankara said.

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson, SP Buddhika Siriwardena, said the Kalkudha Police had submitted the report to the Magistrate’s Court Valachchanai.

“The case will be taken up tomorrow (Monday),” SP Siriwardena said.
Asked as to whether Daham Sirisena has received any injuries at the brawl and how the police could give bail to the 13 suspects when the victim was taking treatment at the ICU, SP Siriwardhana said the Kalkudha Police have followed the general procedure and have given bail to the suspects.

“No one has pressurized the police. They have followed the general procedure. In regard to Daham neither he nor any suspect has received injuries,” SP Siriwardhana said.

- See more at: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/03/03/naked-truth-about-the-cover-up/#sthash.V085x22F.dpuf

Even as Moulana The Governor licks MaRa’s boots his grand daughter receives betel spit on her Pardha

(Lanka-e-News-03.March.2013, 10.30PM) Even as Western province Governor Moulana along with some Muslim representatives were holding discussions with despotic MaRa at the Temple trees , Moulana’s own grand daughter as though by design had been spat at with chewed betel leaves which had got stuck on her pardha she was wearing ,by the anti Muslim fanatical Buddhist extremists , based on reports reaching Lanka e news. A A number of Muslim representatives of the provinces Island wide were associated in this discussion along with Moulana and Minister Fowzie at Temple Trees. While MaRa’s own alliance political party JHU represented by its leader Champika Ranawaka, its chairman Omalpe Sobitha Thero and its own M P Athureliya Rathane the monk are openly and brazenly promoting and propagating religious hatred stoking anti Muslim irrational animosities in the country , with MaRa giving behind the scenes support , the same MaRa had at the same time been having discussions with the Muslim delegation in whispers at the Temple Trees playing his characteristic double game displaying his best colors, most evil though. Meanwhile , Moulana’s own younger sister’s daughter’s daughter (grand daughter) was walking along Kotahena, a three wheel driver has spat on her dress (pardha) asking ‘ why are you covered?’ While these Moulanas are getting together with mentally deranged MaRa and playing hypocritical games cheating their own community , it is not pitiable when Moulana’s grand daughter suffers the evil fallouts of her own grand father’s hypocritical and diabolic actions betraying the Muslim community. This campaign against the Muslims has now descended even to openly disgracing and humiliating the Muslims in public places and Institutions. This is a most explosive and evil trend.  Be that as it may, the new Deputy Minister Faizer Mustafa who also participated at the discussion had made a most stupid utterance that there is an international conspiracy behind this development , while the morons of the JHU which is a constituent party of the Government had said , this is a UNP plot.When the Government’s own constituent party , backed by its own defense Ministry financially are stoking and fanning the flames of anti Muslim racial hatred right before their very eyes , Muslims like Faizer Mustafa the self centered , selfish, self seeking opportunists sacrificing the Muslims ( by halal or haraam means) at the altar of self advancement must either be mad or damned.

The Political Economy Of Anti-Muslim Attacks

By Ahilan Kadirgamar -March 3, 2013 

Ahilan Kadirgamar

The Muslim community is under attack. There have been increasing reports of attacks on mosques and shops owned by Muslims as part of a broader hate campaign against Muslims. The attack on the Dambulla Khairya Jummah mosque in April 2012 saw a decisive shift in the scale of these attacks. This act of violence was built on anti-Muslim rhetoric and a nascent campaign that had been simmering for years. More recently, the anti-Halal campaign and the boycott of No Limit stores has mobilised much larger sections of society. The mobilisations, together with chauvinistic public discourse, have alerted a few critical journalists, public intellectuals and activists to rightly draw parallels between these developments and the events that led up to the July 1983 pogrom against the Tamil community. Indeed, there needs to be stronger mobilisations and statements of condemnations to arrest this wave of anti-Muslim attacks. In this article, I ask a question that has not received as much attention: Why are these attacks on the Muslim community taking place now?

In this respect, what is it about the current moment, almost four years after the end of the war, at a time when claims of far-reaching economic development and prosperity are being made by the government, that an anti-Muslim project is gaining ground? How do we understand the major political shifts that have shaped Lanka’s history and does this anti-Muslim campaign reflect such a shift? The anti-Muslim mobilisations may fizzle out in the months ahead. On the other hand, they could signify something much deeper: a political shift that will lay the foundation for the emergence of a conflict that will once again tear apart the country. We cannot be certain what the future holds. Nevertheless, we must return to history to understand the dangers pregnant in the current moment and analyse the forces which are advancing this anti-Muslim project.

Political shifts cannot be explained merely by the moves of political leaders. Rather, the manoeuvres of political actors are only possible when the political economic ground is ripe to mobilise social and political forces. Some of the most destructive manoeuvres by political actors in the story of Ceylon and Sri Lanka have mobilised communalism and nationalism. That story of polarising mobilisations emerges out of our colonial history in the 19th Century and gained momentum as modern state structures developed. While recognising the colonial legacy of this problem of nationalist mobilisation and chauvinistic oppression, I begin with the failed promises of our postcolonial state and postcolonial citizenship.

Three Major Political Shifts

The original sin of postcolonial Ceylon was the disenfranchisement of close to eleven percent of the population in 1949. Over one million Up-Country Tamils, the estate labour which for decades prior to and after independence was the prime earner of the wealth of the country, were stripped of their citizenship just one year after the birth of the postcolonial state. This disenfranchisement came with efforts to marginalise the political strength of the Left with a strong base in the estates, as the Senanayake regime attempted to transform Sri Lanka’s economy towards greater integration with the global economy under the hegemony of the United States.

These economic policies promoted by the newly formed Central Bank and the first World Bank mission to Ceylon, and aggravated by the crisis in exports following the Korean war boom, culminated in cuts to the rice subsidy and the mid-day school meal. Those cuts to welfare ultimately created a massive reaction in the form of the Great Hartal of 1953. The mobilisations around the failure of the postcolonial state to deliver economically to the broader population led to the eventual victory of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1956. SWRD’s “Sinhala Only” campaign sealed his parliamentary victory, but also led to the riots of 1958. This was the first major political shift in the post-colonial period that would create a social fault line between the Sinhala and Tamil communities. However, this fault line was related to the economic disaffection of the Sinhala community from both the late colonial period to the years preceding the “Sinhala Only Act” of 1956. The shift fanned the flames of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism as well as a Tamil nationalism that would eventually turn separatist, redrawing the political contours in the country.

The second major political shift came after the Open Economy reforms of the Jayewardene regime in 1977. These neoliberal policies came with the global economic downturn in the 1970s and the related failure of the import substitution economic programme of the then United Front government. This major economic transformation which benefited some and impoverished others was also the economic ground on which Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism was fanned. The initial spurt of economic growth after the reforms receded in a few years and inflation and cost of living increased. The challenge by the working classes in the form the July 1980 strike was crushed repressing wages and employment. These were also times when increasing competition among traders led to the perceptions of Tamil businesses gaining from the economic reforms. Such economic woes and perceptions coupled with the active mobilisation of Government politicians led to the bouts of violence culminating in the pogrom of July 1983. The civil war that ensued and the destruction it brought to our society were shaped by the political manoeuvres of the SWRD and Jayewardene regimes.

This brings me to the third major political shift which I argue might be in the making today. The final years of the war saw the mobilisation of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism as Sinhala society was set on a war footing. The end of the war did not lead to a change in the nationalist mindset through a political settlement; rather a triumphalist Government projected economic development as the solution to the country’s problems. The political consolidation of the Rajapaksa regime and the stability it brought to the country after the war coupled with the global economic crisis of 2008 leading to global finance capital moving towards the “emerging markets”, saw an initial burst of inflow of capital and economic growth in Sri Lanka. This provided the ground for what I have characterised elsewhere as the second wave of neoliberalism in Sri Lanka. Such neoliberal policies are leading to the expansion of the market and financialisation of the economy, but also rising inequalities and indebtedness. While consumer items are plenty and there have been increasing avenues for consumption through debt in the form of bank loans, financing, leasing and pawning, it has led to increasing debt, and dispossession when loans are not repaid. Such a dynamic combined with rising cost of living is leading to social unrest. Given the role of sections of the Muslim community in trading and retail business, the Muslims have become the latest scapegoat for Sinhala chauvinists. In other words, my argument is that economic changes and economic disaffection combined with the war-time and post-war mobilisation of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism are shaping the anti-Muslim project.

Bringing in Class

Much critical discussion of the current wave of anti-Muslim attacks have only looked at the ideological and chauvinistic dimensions. Others have looked at the legal issues tied to rule of law, including the inaction of the police. Here, Sinhala Buddhist nationalism should not be seen as timeless and homogeneous, rather, as with most nationalist projects has competing strands and relates to the contemporary social formation. Furthermore, appeals to rule of law, particularly given the rising authoritarianism, may not be the solution as the state and the criminal justice system could be part of the problem. These concerns are important and require further careful and critical analysis. The points I want to make in this article are about the less discussed concerns of class as it impinges on the anti-Muslim project in Sri Lanka.

In looking at the political shifts discussed above, I am not arguing for a direct causality between economic changes and political shifts. Nor is my objective here to reduce analysis to the economic. Rather, I want to analyse how these economic changes and political turns reinforce and shape each other. There have been changes to the economy, including the expansion of the market and the related broadening of the class of shop owners, three wheeler drivers and migrant workers, consisting a rising petty-bourgeoisie as well as the emergence of new suburbs and changes to rural communities with the inflow of migrant remittances. These changes have been central both to the classes and places that are taking forward the attacks as well as the target of the attacks within the Muslim community.

But the anti-Muslim project has become one on the scale of a political shift only because of the reception of other classes and much larger sections of the population. The point here is that major economic changes, as with the second wave of neoliberalism, can reconstitute class relations and create the ground for forms of social disaffection and nationalist mobilisation. Furthermore, in the face of rising economic discontent, nationalist mobilisation can also divert social energies and create conflicts between peoples in order for the capitalist elite and regimes in control of the state to wade through times of economic problems and even reinforce the socially devastating economic programme.

The Depth of the Anti-Muslim Campaign

I started by asking why anti-Muslim attacks are taking place today in Sri Lanka. While globally and in India,Islamophobia and a war on the Muslim world had been gaining ground for decades, particularly with the global “war on terror”, why is this anti-Muslim campaign gaining momentum in Sri Lanka only now? The answer in part lies in the fact that the war against the LTTE was the priority of the State and nationalist forces in previous years. My argument about the current anti-Muslim campaign draws on understanding the manoeuvre of the Rajapaksa regime, including the centre stage given to Sinhala Buddhist nationalism during the war, the projection of triumphalism after the war and the major push towards neoliberal development as a solution to the political and economic problems in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, this anti-Muslim campaign could not find reception among broader sections of the Sinhala population, until there was social disaffection with the post-war economy, which was meant to bring prosperity but is in fact causing misery. Sections of the Muslim community in trading and business enterprises have become the scapegoats, even as this project draws on global and local ideologies of Islamophobia. This anti-Muslim campaign may assist the Rajapaksa regime in distracting the Sinhala population from the misery and dispossession inherent to the ongoing neoliberal economic program until such time as a severe crisis confronts the economy. In the meantime, it has put Sri Lanka on the precipice, where the social and political ramifications for Muslim community and the country as a whole are deeply worrying.

Such a predicament raises many issues and questions about the modalities of the operation of this anti-Muslim project. It raises conceptual questions about religion, politics and the state. There are lessons from the history of Tamil-Muslim relations and previous bouts of Sinhala-Muslim tensions including the riots of 1915. What are its linkages with Islamophobia promoted with the global “war on terror” and Hindutva in India? What are the facets of contemporary Sinhala Buddhist nationalism including the language and rhetorical moves by which it is articulated? What are the limitations of a liberal democratic state in relation to issues of pluralism or to provide a solution for relations between communities? What are the fears and insecurities facing all the communities and how are they related to chauvinist assertions of power? I am not equipped to address all of these issues and questions, but I hope to engage some of them in the future.