Sri Lanka: The creation of International investigative mechanism would be a crucial step in ensuring accountability, challenging the culture of impunity, and enabling reconciliation

Sri Lanka: The creation of International investigative mechanism would be a crucial step in ensuring accountability, challenging the culture of impunity, and enabling reconciliation

Siobhain McDonagh: What is happening to women in fformer war zone is not acceptableFacing life after the war in Sri Lanka by  Siobhain McDonagh, Member of Parliament (UK) @ UNHRC on 11.03, 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen.  Invited dignitaries and guests. Friends.
I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to speak at today’s event.
I never thought, when I became a British Member of Parliament for my constituency of Mitcham & Morden in 1997, that I would at some stage be addressing a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, on the plight of Tamil women in North Sri Lanka.

However, the situation of the Tamils on the island is now one that is very close to my heart. It is because of the Tamil community in my constituency that I became involved in the Tamil cause. The information that I have received from them, particularly the horror stories described from the final months of the armed conflict in 2008/2009, have had a lasting effect on me.

Yet the human rights violations of Tamils did not stop when the war ended. The culture of impunity on the island has meant that the rights of Tamil men and women, and indeed those of many others who stand up to the Rajapaksa regime, are dishonoured and abused to this day.

On Friday 8th March, we celebrated International Women’s Day.

A time not only to celebrate the contribution of women to social, political, cultural and domestic life in all countries around the world, but also to serve as an important reminder that in many places the fundamental rights of so many women are still at risk.

This year’s United Nations International Women’s Day theme is ‘A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women’.

One such country where promises are made but easily broken is Sri Lanka.

In May 2009, a mere matter of days following the brutal end of the armed conflict, President Rajapaksa gave a set of public assurances to the UN Secretary-General.

the economic and political empowerment of the Tamil majority north  and east of the island would be secured;
work would get underway to build a lasting political settlement;
t he promotion and protection of human rights would be a priority;
and measures would be taken to address the violations of international humanitarian and human rights law during the war.

However in the almost four years since that statement was made, those promises have not been fulfilled.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that similar such assurances to combat violence against women in Sri Lanka, particularly those in the former conflict areas of the North and East, have been broken too.

At the UN review of Sri Lanka’s human rights record in November 2012, the Sri Lankan delegation claimed that the ‘protection of women and advancement of their rights has been a cornerstone of Government policy in the post-conflict phase’.

However it is impossible to take the Government of Sri Lanka at its word. Gender based violence was used as a weapon of war.

The Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields documentary series has provided compelling evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict. I am so pleased that Callum Macrae and his team have been able to preview their latest film, ‘No Fire Zone’, in Geneva, in spite of the protests from Sri Lanka.

The images shown in these documentaries are among the most harrowing ever to appear on screen and included footage of dead female Tamil combatants and others who appear to have been sexually abused and then murdered by the State security forces.

In the months following the end of the armed conflict, over 300,000 people were herded into internal displacement camps.

Numerous reports emerged of the intimidation, harassment and sexual abuse committed against women whilst there. ‘The Australian’ newspaper was just one of a number of media organisations, who reported on the creation of prostitution rings “run by officials” within IDP camps.

However the vulnerability of women was not only confined within these camps, but has become a predominant feature in the lives of women.

Given the extensive loss of life in the final months of the armed conflict alone, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, with many more unaccounted for, there are up to 90,000 war widows heading up households in the region.

Since May 2009, the north and east have been militarised by the State.

The militarisation of the region may suggest an increased level of security for the inhabitants.

However the reverse has been true.

The current environment has posed a particular threat to the many Tamil female headed family households.

Although the military camps are closed, many people have been unable to return to their lands, houses and livelihoods. Relief aid to these people is unreliable, and the displaced women have arrived back, often with no assets or limited skills. The atmosphere of occupation by the army has made it all but impossible for the Tamil community to provide services.

In September 2012, India’s ‘Hindu’ newspaper reported an “overwhelming presence” of the military, with the Sri Lankan army “deploying 16 out of its 19 divisions in the Tamil-dominated regions”. Through its vast network of checkpoints, between and within villages and towns, the security services are able to restrict the movement of residents and monitor their activities.

Tamil women are, therefore, forced to negotiate their lives with the soldiers in the region – and are subject to regular abuse.  According to the International Crisis Group, “women in Sri Lanka’s predominantly Tamil-speaking north and east are facing a desperate lack of security in the aftermath of the long civil war. […]The fact that women must rely on the military for everyday needs not only puts them at greater risk of gender-based violence, but also prevents them from building their own capacity within communities”.

Whilst the Government of Sri Lanka has said that ‘any correlation between military presence and sexual violence is unfounded’, credible reports from governments, international human rights organisations and representatives of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka state otherwise.

 The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has reported on the “increasing number of sexual assaults carried out against women and girls in the Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts, often by government officials and the military. The brutality with which these assaults are carried out is especially disturbing”.

The UK’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr John Rankin, has “discussed rising crime rates for violence against women with the police in these regions and more generally”.

And according to the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, “the fact that the military are increasingly taking over police duties, meaning that women and girls would have to address complaints directly to the perpetrators […] [they, therefore] avoid speaking out due to fear of stigmatization, threats and possible further attacks”.

The high number of female headed households and the restricted livelihood opportunities open to women – due in large part to the military’s involvement in economic activities – means that “prostitution and the emergence of brothels [are] on the increase in the Vanni […with] the primary clientele compris[ing] both local men and the military”. ‘Sri Lanka Brief’ have stated in their latest human rights report.

Tamil women have also been coerced into joining the armed forces. Young women from female-headed families or families with five or more members have been targeted, falsely informed that they would be engaging in clerical work and then taken to military camps for training, not being allowed to leave.

This is unacceptable.

At least 20 recent, forced recruits, many of whom were unconscious, were admitted to Kilinochchi district hospital in December 2012 and no-one was allowed to meet them whilst they were there, including family, friends and representatives from the TNA.

 As the Women’s Action Network (WAN), a collective of 11 women’s groups from the North and the East, stated at the time “this situation raises grave concerns regarding the role of the state and the military in the lives of women, […] and the continued security of these women while in service”.

International Crisis Group has said previously that “the international response to women’s insecurity [in Sri Lanka] has been unnecessarily muted”.

With international NGOs unable to freely monitor the situation and treatment of women in the North and East, due to restrictions imposed by the Government and security forces, the true scale of abuse, destitution and desperation suffered by women in the region is very difficult to assess.

 However, the evidence of abuses described, as well as the findings from Human Rights Watch most recent report, which details sexual violence against Tamil women and men by Sri Lankan security forces in detention centres, serves to highlight why it is incumbent upon the international community and the United Nations in particular to speak out about what is happening in Sri Lanka.

 As the International Women’s Day states, it is time for action to end violence against women.

Therefore, it is most certainly time that Sri Lanka is held to account for its actions and made to live up its international obligations to end state sanctioned gender based violence.

 To that end, I call on the Government of Sri Lanka to do the following:

    Promote and protect women’s rights;
    Take concrete actions to end gender based violence;
    Cease and desist the coercion of Tamil women into the military;
    Demilitarise the Tamil majority areas; restore complete civil administration to all militarised government departments; and ensure that the military desist from involvement in any economic activities which undermine the livelihood opportunities for inhabitants, particularly women, in Tamil areas.

I also urge the Government to support the UN Women’s Initiative, which is calling on Governments everywhere to COMMIT to end violence against women and girls.

However, if history has told us anything, then the Government are unlikely to do any of these things willingly.
Therefore, I feel it is imperative that the international community, including the United Nations and particularly this Council, must:

     Remain seized of the situation in Sri Lanka
    Call for the demilitarisation of Tamil majority areas;
    ask the UN country team in Sri Lanka to monitor the ground realities for women the north and east;
    AND be prepared to speak out against all cases of gender-based violence and gender inequalities in Sri Lanka.

In addition, I urge all of you to support the establishment of international, independent war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka. The creation of such a mechanism would be a crucial step in ensuring accountability, challenging the culture of impunity, and enabling reconciliation.

This would, no doubt, have a huge, positive impact on the rights of all people, particularly Tamil women, in Sri Lanka.

Thank you.

TGTE to Japanese Prime Minister: Raise War Crimes with Visiting Sri Lankan President

Tuesday, 12 March 2013 

As the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse begins his State visit to Japan, the Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, urged the Primie Minister of Japan to raise war crimes and genocide committed by the visiting Sri Lankan President. Sri Lankan President begins his State visit to Japan on March 12, 2013.

“We also urged you to support an International Commission of Inquiry on Sri Lanka, just as with North Korea” continued Mr. Rudrakumaran.

"Troops under Sri Lankan President's command killed between 70,000 to 100,000 Tamils (U.N. Internal Review Report) in only five months in 2009 and raped Tamil women" said Mr. Rudrakumaran. "Tamils were singled out simply and solely on account of their Tamil nationality."

Since 1958, Tamils faced repeated mass killings. The 2009 killings prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to appoint a Panel of Experts to report on the scale of killings. Reports discovered five months of deliberate and intense carpet bombing of areas government designated "no-fire zones", where Tamils assembled for safety.

"The Sri Lankan Government also restricted food and medicine for Tamils, resulting in large numbers of people dying from starvation and many of the injured bleeding to death."

According to the UN Panel, the abuses amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Independent experts believe conditions exist that constitute these killings acts of genocide. The UN Panel recomended an International Commission of Inquiry.

During the March 2012 session, The UN Human Rights Council looked into the mass killing and passed an accountability resolution for international crimes. There is another Resolution at the current UNHRC Session taking place in Geneva.

We urge you to support a strong resolution calling for the creation of International Commission of Inquiry on Sri Lanka at this Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

"According to Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Rayappu Joseph, 146,679 Tamils went missing when Sri Lankan forces attacked Tamil people.”

"Members of the Sri Lankan Security forces are almost exclusively from the Sinhalese community and the victims are all from the Tamil community.”

About Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE):

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a new political concept. It is a new political formation based on the principles of nationhood, homeland and self-determination. The raison dâetre for the TGTE is lack of political space inside the island of Sri Lanka for the Tamils to articulate and realize their political aspirations fully due to Constitutional impediments, racist political environment and military strangulation; and the coordination of diaspora political activities based on democratic principles and the rule of law.

TGTE held internationally supervised elections in 12 countries. These elections were held to ensure that core believe of democracy be upheld within the TGTE and to demonstrate TGTE’s belief and reliance upon democratic ideals. TGTE has a bicameral legislature and a Cabinet. Although an elected body, TGTE does not claim to be a government in exile. The Constitution of the TGTE mandates that it should realize its political objective through peaceful means.

Presently, in addition to the campaign for an international investigation, the TGTE is also campaigning for an International Protection Mechanism and the release of documents pertaining to Tamils prepared by the Office of the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. TGTE is also in the process of preparing the Freedom Charter incorporating the “freedom demands” of Tamils across the globe. TGTE believes that the referendum among the Tamils inside the island of Sri Lanka and the Tamil diaspora will contribute to the political resolution of the Tamil national conflict. So far, the human cost has reached 100,000 as it grows. There are also 90,000 Tamil war widows, facing sexual abuse by the Sri Lankan security forces.

Solving Post Conflict State Lands Issues In The North-East

By Centre for Policy Alternatives -March 12, 2013 

In January 2013 the Government issued a new circular titled Accelerated Programme on Solving Post Conflict State Lands Issues in the Northern and Eastern Provinces- Land Circular 2013/01 (herein referred to as the Circular), which is the most recent effort by the Government to address land problems in the North and East. The Circular sets out a process to be implemented over two years to identify and address problems relating to State land in these two provinces. The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has prepared this short note to highlight key issues and concerns relating to this Circular and its implications if implemented.

CPA has engaged in research and advocacy on land rights and related issues for over a decade, documenting developments and providing recommendations on land and related issues both in terms of the war and the tsunami. In the post-war context, CPA has critiqued and advocated for reform in the existing legal, policy and administrative structures, including with regards to the previous Land Circular (2011/4), so that problems on the ground and grievances of affected communities are addressed.

Read the report here

Sri Lanka Is Still Not Prepared For Tackling Climate Change Issues

By W.A. Wijewardena -March 12, 2013

Dr W.A. Wijewardena

Maurice Strong: Godfather of climate change issues

Ever since the man credited to be the godfather of the global climate change issues, Maurice Strong, founding Director of United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP, started to talk about these issues in early 1970s, it became the hot topic at many international forums. Strong, together with Barbara Ward and Rene Dubos, submitted a report titled “Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet” to the UN Conference on Environment held in Stockholm in 1972 and that was the first report on the state of the global environment or at least the doomsday predicted for environment.  In an interview with BBC in the same year, he reconfirmed his doomsday prediction for earth which according to him was mainly due to the short-sighted actions of the mankind (available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YCatox0Lxo ). Since then, climate change issues have been globalised and he had supporters as well as opponents. His critics condemned him for being a ‘malevolent force’ to destroy the earth rather than a crusader to save it. The reference here is to the enormous power which the climate change campaign he initiated had gathered over the years among the global leaders making it the single most important global issue today. While the causes of climate change are due to the actions of the people at large all over the globe, its adverse consequences are felt mostly by people living in individual countries. Sri Lanka being a country sitting at the receiving end has to concern itself about the likely consequences of the predicted changes in the climate over the years. To facilitate Sri Lanka to do so, the Institute of Policy Studies or IPS has discussed the major climate change issues facing Sri Lanka in its newest publication titled “Climate Change Issues in Sri Lanka”.

Global warming claims despite mini ice ages                          Read More

New arrest wave hits East: Long retired Tigers also detained

New arrest wave hits East: Long retired Tigers also detained

MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013

The exercise of sending ex-militants to rehabilitation again was begun by the Defense Ministry in Batticaloa at the beginning of this month (February 13th 2013). And under this so far six people have been arrested from Mandur, Kathiraveli, Mangkeni and Naasiventhivu and sent to the Boosa Detention Camp.

When their relatives were thus arrested, family members immediately reported to the Human Rights Commission and parliamentary members.

Speaking on the issue of the arrests of former LTTE cadres, Military Spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said recently to the media that, it was not only in the Eastern Province but in any place in the country where there are former members of the LTTE who had not been sent to rehabilitation, they will be subjected to formal rehabilitation processes. Particularly those who had been identified as a security threat to the society by other former LTTE cadres, will be subjected to rehabilitation, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said.

Family members have complained to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament Seenithanby Yogeswaran on the 14th of February 2013, that some who had been suspected to be former LTTE members from Vaharai Batticaloa, had been taken in for questioning by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID), on the 13th of February 2013.

The relatives told the Parliamentarian that the people were arrested and taken away by some men who came in civilian clothes, who also produced the necessary identification and warrant for arrest.

A mother of two children who spoke  said:

“My husband joined the LTTE in 2002 and had left the organization by 2004. And in 2008 he married me and we have lived together since then. He is a labourer. Over the last year (2012), men in plainclothes, claiming to be part of the Criminal Investigation Department, came over to the house regularly to take his picture and to question him. They also told us not to be alarmed at this time.”

“On the 13th of February 2013 when my husband was having his lunch, two men in plainclothes arrived in motorcycles and asked him to come to the Police Investigative Department to give his signature. After finishing his meal my husband went there. Then over the telephone he told me that he was asked to deliver his bicycle home and he was not released that day. The following day, on Thursday, when my husband spoke to me, he asked me to bring his clothes to the main street. Since my house is situated in a by lane, by the time I reached there I found that his sister who lived on the main street had been seen crying next to a vehicle that had brought him. The vehicle had subsequently left. When I asked those who had arrested him why my husband had been arrested I was informed that he was a former member of the Sea Tigers unit and that he must be investigated and that I could see him in the Boosa camp. I related to them that I was very poor and had no ability to get help other than from my husband.”

But this is the state of many of the families where family members have been arrested.

Parliamentarian Seenithamby  Yogeswaran says:

“It cannot be considered justice to arrest those who have long ago returned to normal civilian life. It is because of these pressures that they are forced to try to illegally travel to countries like Australia. Two weeks ago, 6 people from Muthur were taken away for the same reason. Our party leader R. Sampanthan has asked for the details from our members of Parliament. And at the same time if those involved are ready to come forward, we are willing to file a court case for them.”

Receipt in respect of persons arrested under the ER or the PTA on the 13th of February Those former militants who had earlier been part of the LTTE and left it a while ago, and had been over the past years involved in civilian life,  such as Vijayaratnam Nesaraja from Mandur, Nalathamby Navarajan from Valaichennai, Nalathamby Mahendran from Nasiven Theevu and Pathakutti Ganesh & Mahendran Sri dharan  from Mangeni and Thavaraja Uthayan from Kayonkenni, were recently arrested in Batticaloa.

The arrest of people who are now married and settled, who had been previously part of the LTTE many years ago, has created a lot of confusion in Batticaloa.

The revival of arrests of ex- cadres based on information given by other LTTE cadres have created a lot of fear among the people. There are approximately 3000 former combatants in both Batticaloa and Ampara districts who had not been sent for rehabilitation previously. And since the Army has announced recently that all cadres will be arrested and sent to the detention centre, people now live in great fear. And at the same time, since some of the cadres who had just returned home to Ampara from their rehabilitatio had also been re-arrested this has created even greater confusion.

Parents of former militants say that their children who had been rehabilitated in the Batticaloa and Ampara districts and released are still harassed many times by those in military uniform. And this causes them a great deal of worry as they do not know how to protect their children.

The relatives state that a special group from Colombo had come to investigate these people and had questioned them over many days and taken information. And on  Tuesday the 12th of February, they had been all assembled at the Muthur Police station and had been taken away in a bus. At the same time, the Batticaloa District officer of Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission, E. Manokaran, in an interview with me stated that former LTTE members in Vaharai had been arrested as well. When speaking on this issue he said, “These detainees had been given receipts from the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID). Even then, it is written in Sinhala and the relatives continue to face many difficulties. We have received news that one person from Vaharai and one person from Mankulam have been arrested. They have been arrested with the assistance of the Police in those areas. The forms claim that the arrests have been made by the TID and there is an address from Colombo provided. All the receipts are in Sinhala. And so the family members of those arrested have found it very difficult.”

The TID has announced that those in Batticaloa district who were former LTTE cadres who had not been subjected to rehabilitation will be sent for rehabilitation. Following the arrests in Batticaloa district and the confusion that resulted from this, no further arrests have been made at the time of reporting.

(Original in Tamil)

Vimarsanam

Critical Summations Bearing On The Future Of The Tamil Nation

By Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe -March 12, 2013 

Ajit Rupasinghe

The Political Conjuncture:

Following the decimating military defeat of the LTTE, the Tamil National Movement  (TNM)  has entered a  profound political impasse. It remains without independent initiative, leaving it vulnerable to foreign predator powers, with the State unilaterally dictating the terms. The dominant trend within the TNM is that based on the Tamil Diaspora, which is compelled to rely upon the very same imperialist and regional powers that supported and aided the military decimation. Such is the cruelty of justice being served under the system. Internally, progressive, radical –democratic, and revolutionary forces that seek solutions beyond the system are effectively disconnected and remain subdued. Those who call for building the unity of the national liberation struggle with the proletarian class struggle in a common front of struggle against imperialism and neo-colonial domination are particularly vulnerable, and are hounded and targeted for suppression. This is because they constitute the fatal strategic threat to the whole system and the entire neo-colonial order. The reality of the conscious revolutionary forces from across the barricades and borders pursuing shared objectives, principles, strategies and goals is a living nightmare for the State and its ruling class, and for the imperialist/ neo-colonial status quo in the South Asian Region.

A Question of Scientific Theory, Line and Strategy:

Inasmuch as there are diverse and interconnected reactionary agendas being followed by the various imperialist and regional hegemonic powers, in league with the Lankan State, there are different networking class interests within the TNM that pursue their own political agendas and seek strategic balance/ superiority accordingly. There is the fatal danger that Tamil National Liberation Struggle would be taken down the very same path of defeat and subjugation, as has already befallen It. Whatever it is, there has to be clarity regarding the real enemy and on the line, strategy and program, and the forms of struggle it would take tooverthrow and uproot the  economic foundations, political structures and ideological sources of national oppression. This is so that the Tamil Nation would exercise its right to decide its future, freely, voluntarily and independently. For our part, we should all together raise the immediate struggle for democracy, independence and freedom such that the Tamil Nation would seek its liberation in the context of the liberation of the People of Lanka. There are fatal illusions spun by the State and the Regime, as there are among the prevailing, dominant Tamil National Leadership concerning the path of liberation. It is best to study the Nature of the Enemy. We would have to study the Lankan State, of which the MRR is a logical trajectory. We would have to analyze the internal contradictions and their logic of motion, in conjunction with the external environment, that account for its conditions of existence and passing away. We would have to study its forms of domination, manipulation and control, and its methods and instruments of suppression. Only then can we formulate a scientific strategy for overcoming and transcending it. In the end, the future of the Tamil Nation will be decided by the leadership and the path of liberation to be chosen by the oppressed Tamil people, through their own experience.  Yet, it is the responsibility of advanced revolutionary-democratic forces to engage in summing up experience, learning lessons and advancing the struggle for liberation on a whole new level of scientific theory and practice.

A Strategy of Survival:

The military occupation and political subjugation of the Tamil nation is neither whim nor fancy of the Mahinda Rajapakse Regime (MRR). This policy and necessity is not an expression of some grotesque aberration of history. Nor the result of a pathological megalomania.  It is a natural and inevitable logical trajectory of social evolution, given the class character of the Feudal-Colonial Lankan State, which the MRR inherits and represents. It is its strategy of survival and regeneration. It has to do with the necessity for erecting a militarist-chauvinist, hegemonic, Sinhala-Buddhist unitary Capitalist State, under the rule of the MRR. This necessity arises due to the reason that the Mahinda Rajapakse Regime can maintain its hegemonic grip over State power only by permanently mobilizing its Sinhala chauvinist social and political base. An ever imminent threat perception of mortal danger against the Sinhala-Buddhist nation- equated with the Motherland – emanating from a resurgent Tamil separatist movement is the cannon fodder being daily fed to the masses to rally them to the banner of ‘Patriotism”. A “Patriotism” embodied in the MRR and personified by H.E. Executive President, Mahinda Rapakse. The MRR cannot survive a day without spewing out the venom of Sinhala supremacy. Every player has to dance to the tune and fall in line with the agenda, or else! This official ideology of Sinhala ( “Aryan”) Supremacy, containing even racist elements,  is meant to inject the social consciousness of the majority Sinhala people to regard the Tamil and all non Sinhala-Buddhist people, as their dreaded historical  enemy, or at best, intruding ‘aliens’. It is the ideology and politics of Sinhala supremacy, woven into Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism, of the neo-colonial Capitalist State that necessitates and breeds communal prejudice,  hatred and violence- and the politics of separatism. Bodu Bala Sena, Mahasona Brigade, the number of  such sprouting chauvinist vigilante mobs  are essential products of the Capitalist State, organically linked to its ideological and repressive apparatus and functions.

A Structural Necessity:

The ideology and politics of chauvinism- is not a Rajapakse invention. Its enforcement had been intensified by every successive regime. The MRR has simply raised it to a whole new level. Under the MRR, exercising Sinhala supremacy, ingrained into a hegemonic official ideology of  Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism has become the condition of it’s very survival and regeneration.  The MRR has transformed the State into a chauvinist-militarist-terrorist apparatus of deceit and suppression as never before. This is under the hegemony of a class of crony-mafia, comprador- capitalist agents, commanded by the Rajapake troika. It represents the extreme putrefaction of the feudal-colonial State rigged up by the British, and perpetuated by every successive Regime- and its Parliamentary Opposition.

The “Grand National Consensus”:

This crowning glory has succeeded in winning over not only the oppressed Sinhala masses, but  almost all privileged and oppressed classes and communities cutting across national and ethnic divides. This is the Grand National Consensus over the military victory and decimation of the LTTE that feeds and sustains the MRR. This Grand National Consensus is a based on a misty veil of deadly, diabolical  illusion that buries the truth and celebrates the false. That turns cause into effect and turns reality upside down. That makes the rapist the victim, the terrorist the  democrat. The oppressor, the oppressed. This is the ideological game of imperialism and the Capitalist class dictatorship.  This is the power of state ideology that the MRR has mastered beyond anything the Nazi’s could conjure. This is the political and ideological function of the military victory and its regular public rituals, endorsed by the majority of the people and enforced by the MRR, with singular determination. This is the true nature of the State that we have to confront and defeat.

Majority-nation Sinhala chauvinism, is mobilized by the MRR as the official State ideology and pumped and driven through all the blood veins of the Social-Political  Order, invading its collective consciousness in a constant, multi-pronged assault.  This ideology is drummed into the consciousness of the Sinhala masses – man, woman and child- through regular public rituals, regaled with all pomp and pageantry,  that glorify the military victory as a political  conquest of the Sinhala-Buddhist nation over the Tamil nation. It is claimed as a military and political triumph aimed at finally liquidating any recognition of Tamil nationhood and statehood.The military victory is heralded as the decisive, historic liquidation of the demand for independence and freedom of the Tamil Nation. As such, in its political and ideological essence, the victory embodies the politics of military conquest, occupation and political subjugation. It is symbolized and synchronized  as a reassertion of undisputed and undivided supremacy and sovereignty of the Sinhala Buddhist Nation over its ‘sworn enemies’ and ‘intruding aliens’.  This hegemonic official ideology of the MRR is the most deadly poisonous illusion and web of diabolical deception woven to split, manipulate and command the subject masses and oppressed nations, and pit them all into a permanent state of violent antagonism.

The ideology of Sinhala supremacy also perverts, manipulates, and mobilizes genuine, deep-rooted,  nationalist aspirations of the oppressed Sinhala masses and their own need for independence and liberation. The cry for liberation of the oppressed Sinhala masses from semi-feudal/ neo-colonial bondage is effectively suppressed, displaced and manipulated. This anti-imperialist need and aspiration is turned into a slogan for the ‘defense of the Motherland against the Tamils, backed by imperialism and their local traitors”. One of the most vulnerable and dependent neo-colonial States, plundering, devouring and thriving in wholehearted partnership with imperialism, is able to paint the Tamil Liberation Movement, and any and all opposition and resistance,  as sources and  agents of Imperialism and separatism carrying out a conspiracy to overthrow the MRR. This is the ideological contortion fed to society and drummed into its consciousness through every instrument, agency and institution of the State.  On this basis, the MRR has succeeded in winning over the majority of privileged and oppressed classes, strata and castes cutting across all national and ethnic divisions, in the continued celebration of the military victory over the LTTE. It is this central, unifying ‘grand national consensus’ that  is applied by the MRR as a basis for legitimating and enforcing its dynastic, hegemonic dictatorship over society.

Political Economy of the MRR:

All these classes, strata and groups cohere in this self-serving ideology also because the MRR offers, in the absence of any real perceivable alternative, some form of basic survival  in exchange for eliminating the scourge of ‘separatist terrorism’ and the promise of peace and paradise. The political economy of the MRR, based on an extreme form of crony-mafia, comprador capitalism, allows for massive graft and corruption, amounting to trillions,  to be an integral function of the system. Trillions are routed and circulated off a thriving, highly connected narco-trade, that is,  drug trafficking. It is also rapidly becoming a powerful narco-economy in its own right. Tourism, prostitution, sexual perversion,  catered to by night clubs and spas, brothels and bars, sky scrapers and super highways,  all feed into this narco-mafia political economy. This is one of the most sophisticated  crony-narco-mafia economies in the world, since it is dressed up and sold as “In defense of the Motherland, of the Land, Language and Religion of the Sinhalayas! “ “In the “Defense of Sovereignty, Democracy and Freedom”. This illegal, underground political economy-allows lucrative and opulent lifestyles for  the rich and powerful, which has spin off benefits to other related consumer markets.

It feeds the economic appetites of the big, monopoly capitalists as well as  wide sections of the middle bourgeoisie, upper classes, privileged professionals and technocrats, the new, rising  managerial, technical and technocratic bourgeois and petit bourgeois strata and privileged service workers. It forms the reactionary social base of the MRR. As for the workers, peasants, fishermen – the vast majority of toiling, oppressed masses- along with genuine progressive, radical and revolutionary forces, they are effectively terrorized and suppressed due to the lack of  leadership and organization. Selective abduction and assassination, controlled mob violence, and a generalized state of terror legitimated by official impunity, serve to control and contain the system. The dazzling glitter and glamour, the regal pomp and pageantry, the sheer awe of towering sky scrapers and sweeping flyovers, the thrill of night races, the promise of forbidden pleasures, merging  into a virtual reality of an emerging “Miracle of Asia”, is administered as the ideological hallucinogenic to dope and dupe  the backward masses. Imperialism and Neo-liberal Capitalism thrives in this form of political economy, since it opens the flood gates to wholesale robbery, corruption, plunder and profit, while effectively deceiving, dividing and suppressing the masses.

Militarization of the State and Society:

To enforce this form of tribal, chauvinist, neo-colonial bourgeois ideology requires a highly militarized State to secure unwavering popular compliance and mass submission to the political agenda of the MRR.  This is why the entire budget gives such lop-sided precedence to defense and internal security and beefing up a bloated Armed Forces and Police.  This is to  modernize and equip  the repressive apparatus of the State. This is to fortify and consolidate  the terrorist dictatorship of a defunct, bloated and parasitic comprador-capitalist ruling class which is impelled to suck the life blood of the masses, destroy all civilized, democratic values, and condemn society to decay, degeneration and self-destruction. All for the perpetuation of a  decomposed Comprador-Capitalist State and Dictatorship, corrupt to the very core, raining blood and misery without let or reason, spreading terror and enforcing submission throughout the Land, commanded by the MRR and its  troika. The glue that keeps the whole stage and the act together is the ability to sustain the ideology and politics of Sinhala Supremacy, ingrained with Sinhala-Buddhist Chauvinism. This is the basis to enforce a terrorist Capitalist Dictatorship over society, in the service of world imperialism and its neo-liberal agenda, in which the MRR lives and thrives. A permanent state of militarized occupation and political subjugation of the Tamil Nation, is the sine-quo-non, the essential condition- for perpetuating the feudal-colonial State and for exercising the terrorist dictatorship over society. This condition makes the future of the Tamil Nation bound up with the future of the Lankan State, and the liberation of the Tamil Nation integrally connected with the future of the Lankan Revolution.

Military Occupation and Political Subjugation:

The military occupation and the supremacist politics of liquidating the political status of the Tamil nation are integrated strategies to maintain a permanent  state of undeclared war and  sustain a highly centralized, militarized and politicized State. , The military occupation and political subjugation of the Tamil Nation is the key strategy of the MRR in mobilizing its chauvinist base, diverting the attention of the masses from their own real issues and to identify all opposition and resistance as part of an imperialist conspiracy, in league with Tamil separatism.  So, whatever anyone says or pretends, the military occupation, political subjugation and the systematic liquidation of the political status of the Tamil nation is a condition of survival of the MRR. It will play its habitual game of duplicity and connivance, in league with the imperialist and regional players. They are all working together to work out some scheme whereby the flames of armed struggle would remain extinguished and the Tamil National Movement brought under effective control, in order to exploit it to their own advantage.  This while they sink their fangs into the blood lines of our people and our country. Besides, the MRR, and its form of chauvinist-terrorist, crony-mafia, comprador capitalist dictatorship,  is a true model of democratic governance in neo-colonial states all over the world. It has proven to be ideal for deceiving, dividing and terrorizing the masses into mute submission and for ruthlessly enforcing the monstrous and perverse hybrid neo-liberal development agenda being implemented in full force in Lanka.

Defeat of the LTTE and Crisis of Leadership:

With the defeat of the LTTE, the oppressed Tamil masses have no effective leadership to defend their lives, freedoms and rights against the marauding aggressions of the chauvinist-militarist, Sinhala hegemonic, Comprador Capitalist State. There is no one to represent  the vast majority of the workers, farmers, fishermen, women, youth, elders,   people surviving at the very bottom. The downtrodden masses  have been robbed of dignity and freedom, robbed of their land and livelihood,  and forced to live on their knees in abject subordination to the military rule of the Generals, Ministers and Local Warlords of the State. This is under an all-embracing octopus  form of military rule enforced through a routinely institutionalized, ‘control and contain’ machinery of neo-fascist repression.

Taking Responsibility for the Movement:

A  theoretically informed and scientifically guided critical summation would lead to a new and higher level of conscious understanding of the nature of imperialist domination and neo-colonial  subjugation. That is, of the nature of the real enemy, and a better  understanding of how to wage a united revolutionary struggle of the masses  that could overthrow and uproot  imperialist domination and neo-colonial subjugation. We have to think in terms of a united revolutionary struggle of the masses that would deliver genuine national unity, independence and peoples democracy. This shall be the basis to secure the dignity, equality, autonomy and democratic freedom of all the constituent nations, nationalities and ethnic-religious communities of Lanka. Two armed Sinhala youth insurgencies in the South and the national liberation struggle of the Tamil people have been militarily liquidated with brutal, State terrorist repression. Three generations of freedom fighters have paid the price. We cannot repeat the same deviations, we cannot adopt the same ideology and politics,  the same disastrous paths of struggle that have led to these historic defeats. That would be a crime against history.

All advanced revolutionary forces of Lanka – North-South-East-Hill Country- should get together to discuss and critically sum up the crucial lessons paid in blood by this experience of armed struggle. They should strive to raise it to a new and higher  level of scientific theory and practice. They should unite to raise the level of conscious, mass revolutionary class struggle aimed at overthrowing and uprooting the foundations of imperialist domination and neo-colonial subjugation.  Only such a path of uncompromising proletarian revolutionary struggle can lead to a new and higher form of State: a People’s Democratic State. The PDS shall  represent the unity of all exploited  and oppressed classes,  nations and nationalities as the People of Lanka, in the common struggle to liberate their Land from the shackles of imperialism, neo-colonialism, and feudal oppression. The PDS shall build their revolutionary unity, consciousness and fighting capacity   along the forward path to Socialism and the final goal of Communism.

The future of the Tamil nation is locked in to the future of the People of Lanka,  inasmuch as the future of the People of Lanka is organically interconnected with the future of the Tamil nation.  The liberation of the Tamil nation is integrally bound up with the liberation of the People of Lanka. There is a profound lesson to be learnt and applied. Lessons Paid in BLOOD. Either we shall all be free OR none of us shall ever be free! Either we unite to overthrow the Master’s table, or remain enslaved, each and all! But, if we fight side by side to WIN, then the People of Lanka shall gain VICTORY and FREEDOM! IT IS TIME TO UNITE!

*The writer is Secretary: Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)

Harmony before Halal logo

• ACJU to find other ways to educate Muslims about Halal and non-Halal food items
• Placing Halal logo no longer mandatory on local products but voluntary; free certification for local products if requested
• Win-win settlement reached via pragmatic discussions between Maha Sangha, ACJU and business community in good faith and to uphold ethnic harmony
• Business community urged to introduce items without Halal logo into the market as soon as possible
• Export products to carry Halal logo

By Dharisha Bastians- March 12, 2013 
In a widely-welcomed move, the inflammable Halal controversy has been resolved through peaceful means through a multi-stakeholder dialogue in good faith, upholding ethnic harmony and sidelining extremism.

The breakthrough was following what was described as “intelligent and pragmatic” discussions between the Maha Sangha, the All Ceylon Jamaiythul Ulama (ACJU) and the private sector represented chambers of commerce and industry and associations.
In a joint press conference yesterday, the ACJU announced that with immediate effect, depicting the Halal logo for certified products locally will not be mandatory but voluntary. Furthermore it will offer certification for local products if requested without charging a fee.  Specialised outlets in Sri Lanka catering to foreigners may also sell products carrying the Halal logo at such outlets whilst certified export products must carry Halal logo as it is essential in respective international markets and will be done at the nominal fee.

Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Susantha Ratnayake said the business community hoped that this solution arrived in “utmost good faith” sans any agenda would put an end to what had almost become a national crisis.
“We have urged members of our chambers to ensure that products without the Halal logo reaches the market as soon as possible,” Ratnayake said, adding that the private sector hoped this would be a sensible way forward and effectively addressed the concerns of all communities. “We urge all right thinking Sri Lankans to accept this solution in the national interest,” Ceylon Chamber Chief added.
“We are making a sacrifice because we value the centuries of peace that has existed between our communities,” ACJU President Ash Sheikh Mufthi M.I.M. Rizwe said, adding that he hoped this compromise would see an end to the Halal controversy and result in forgiveness and make it possible for the communities to live together in harmony.

“National unity is key for Sri Lanka to prosper. We are all Sri Lankans as one family and we respect human values,” he added.
The Bodu Bala Sena group that has been leading the anti-Halal campaign has claimed the fee charged by the ACJU to certify products as being Halal was an indirect tax on all other communities in the island.
However Ceylon Chamber Chief Ratnayake dismissed the group’s claim, saying the fee was ‘negligible’ at best, with companies spending much more to obtain ISO and other food safety standard certificates.
Also addressing the briefing, Ven. Bellanwila Wimalaratne Thero welcomed the withdrawal of the logo but cautioned that it was neither a victory for the Sinhalese nor a defeat for the Muslims.
“This is effectively a win-win for all communities. The people in the ACJU are our close friends. We thank them for their willingness to reach consensus on this controversial issue. Inter-religious bodies can work together in our country,” the Thero said.
He added that the compromise was proof that every problem could not be solved with fisticuffs. “The Sangha have a responsibility to do more than just talk and hold demonstrations,” Wimalaratana Thero said, taking a swipe at the Bodu Bala Sena monks.
He warned that all Sri Lankans must guard against creating further conflicts between communities.
The Bodu Bala Sena has welcomed the compromise but calls for a total ban on Halal certification in the country.
Rizwi told the Daily FT the decision to withdraw the logo and make it non-compulsory had been a difficult one. He said the ACJU would seek other ways to educate the Muslim people about Halal and non-Halal foods from this point. Asked if he believed the Bodu Bala Sena agitation would continue until Halal certification was stopped altogether, the ACJU President said they were “praying” it would not be so.

Consequences Of Demanding The State To Impose A Blanket Ban On Halal

By Ameer Ali -March 12, 2013 

Dr. Ameer Ali

The Arabic word halal simply means permissible and is the direct opposite of harammeaning prohibited. In between these two extremes there are several shades of permissibility and prohibition, and in none of which, including the two extremities, there is unanimity of opinion among Muslim religious scholars. (I know one instance where a Muslim lady in Australia asked an imam whether food bought from Kentucky Fried washalal or not. The imam told her to mention the name of Allah before eating and that would make it halal. This position is not acceptable to a majority of scholars.) This categorization in cover not only the narrow field of food and drinks but also the vast terrain of personal and societal behaviour and actions, such as economic transactions, social interaction, national governance, and so on.  There are a number of contradictory and conflicting fatwasor religious rulings in relation to each of them. However, the bottom line is that they are all meant for Muslims and to Muslims only. Even in Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia non-Muslims are not compelled to consume halal food. For example, the Chinese in these countries are allowed to produce, consume, and trade in pork and pork related products even though such products are declared haram in Islam and even though some extremist Muslim groups would prefer them to be prohibited in the name of shariah laws. Hence, in Sri Lanka or anywhere else if any one forces a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Christian to eat halal food that action itself will tantamount to haram.

Apart from religion it is the economics of halal that is important in the global context. Even in the narrow field of food and drinks the halal-stamped products are a multi-billion dollar business in today’s global market. According to one estimate the total value of global the halal food industry amounted to $1.2 trillion. Let us look at some hard facts about the size of this market. To start with, the financially affluent Middle East, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has a population of roughly 38 million. There are another 30 million or so Muslims living in the West the vast majority of whom arehalal food consumers. The emerging economies of Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia account for a further 335 million. In South Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh have a total of roughly 350 million Muslims. Thus, the total Muslim population of just these countries alone amounts to 753 million. Assuming a conservative ten percent of this huge market consumes imported halal-stamped food and drinks the size of that ten percent is more than three times the entire domestic market of Sri Lanka.

Given the size of the halal food market the controversy over this issue that is currently creating mayhem in Sri Lanka – a Buddhist country historically known for its pluralism and religious tolerance – appears bizarre and ridiculous to say the least. Behind the newspaper headlines and the political rhetoric the underlying issue involving all the protests and counter protests seems to be not the principles of halal and haram but the money that is accruing to their advocates. The Sri Lanka Jamiyathul Ulema (SLJU), a self-appointed halalcertifying agency, and the Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS), a far right Buddhist-nationalist organization with its foster parent Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) are at the centre of this running controversy, while a popularly elected government with an absolute majority in the national legislature and a President with immense power in his hands are sitting on the fence.

The JU, an unelected body of the Sri Lankan Muslims appears to have arrogated to itself the power of deciding what is halal and haram.  Neither the credentials of its members nor their knowledge about Islamic jurisprudence are under any doubt here, but as a collective body who gave them this authority to certify halalproducts? What is SLJU’s organizational structure? Does it employ qualified food technologists who could study the various ingredients of each processed item of food and drink and certify whether they fall within the religiously permissible? Does SLJU have its own abattoirs or supervise abattoirs owned by Muslims to see whether healthy animals are slaughtered humanely and hygienically, an essential requirement of halal meat? Does it supervise Muslim owned restaurants to see what ingredients that goes into food preparation and how clean these restaurants are? On what basis does this body charge the fees for its certificates? Does it pay tax on its revenue to the state? Or is it exempted by the government from that obligation? What does it do with the revenue it collects? Is this body accountable to any one? Are its accounts audited? These are questions that SLJU has to answer and make its financial activities transparent. The Muslim community, let alone the nation, has a right to raise these questions and it deserves an answer from SLJU.

On the other hand, BBS and JHU must understand that by demanding the state to impose a blanket ban onhalal certification it is acting against the national interest. Does BBS and JHU know that food processing Sri Lankan companies are competing in the global market? Halal-stamped food items have a niche market in rich countries and in countries with an affluent Muslim middle class. As a Sri Lankan born Australian citizen living in Australia for more than three decades I am able to see with great delight the rising popularity of Sri Lankan food items in the local grocery and super markets. Sri Lankan brand biscuits, cordials, and ready-to-eat processed food items are entering into Muslim households irrespective of the nationality of Muslim consumers. I am confident that this should be the case in countries like UK, Canada, New Zealand and in Europe. In the West alone there are about 30 million potential customers to be won for Sri Lankan halal-stamped products. Why should BBS and JHU by its narrow mindedness deprive Sri Lankan companies of Sinhalese entrepreneurs of competing in this flourishing market? Shouldn’t Sri Lanka’s export products and markets be diversified? The anti-halal agitation does not make economic sense.

The question is who should certify the halal products? The obvious answer is the Sri Lankan Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Through its Muslim Secretariat it should be able to employ suitably qualified individuals with expert knowledge in both Islamic jurisprudence as well as food technology to supervise abattoirs, food manufacturing establishments and restaurants to certify halal processing and halal products. The fees charged for this service must go to remunerate the Ministry’s employees and any surplus revenue must go to the treasury. The Sri Lankan government has a legitimate case to operate this service on behalf of the Muslims because it is the government that funds Muslim education, and Muslim cultural activities like Islamic broadcasting and telecasting services, and the operation of the Wakf Board. The halal seal from a state agency employing Muslim experts will certainly get the approval of Muslim governments and international traders. By engaging in halal supervision the Sri Lankan government will not only assure the local Muslim community that it is consuming genuine halal products but also will open opportunities to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs of all ethnic groups to gain a foothold in the trillion dollar global Muslim food market.

 *Dr. Ameer Ali, School of Management and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia