Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Tuesday, March 19, 2013


Backbone of officers to be broken and customs to be made a political center – JVP

logoTUESDAY, 19 MARCH 2013 
Customs officers who carry out their raids without any political bias are to be made cats’ paws of  politicians, their backbones are to be broken and political power is to be used for politicians and their lackeys to wriggle through the tax net says the Member of the Central Committee of the JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi.
Speaking at a special media conference held at the head office of the JVP at Pelawatta today (19th) Mr. Handunneththi said, “The government is preparing to debate and adopt 21 tax amendment bills within 3 days starting from today. He said what is grave in the move is the attempt of the government to conceal, within the 21 bills, the tax appeal commission bill and customs bill that were not adopted with the budget, in an attempt to get them adopted with other bills.
The government through these two bills is attempting to kill two birds with one stone. The Minister of Finance will have the right to decide the ratio of cash rewards for the officers and all cash rewards will be taken over by the minister to quell the financial crisis of the government.
Most of the rackets are carried out with the participation of politicians. How could one expect customs officers to carry out raids boldly when such bills come into effect? Rewards for customs officers who risk their lives to raid dirty rackets of politicians are decided by a politician – the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance is the President. What is the assurance customs officers have regarding their duties? Can they be given an assurance that there wouldn’t be any political influence? The government wants to adopt these bills to grab the cash awards and to use the officers who carry out raids independently as their cats’ paws. They want to make customs one of their political centers. The consignment of Ethanol worth Rs.110 million was smuggled in by those who have political power. If the importers are registered how could those who imported the consignment becomes a mystery?
Large scale distilleries are maintained in Sri Lanka by politically powerful persons.  It is a very serious issue if cash awards for officers who raid illicit liquor is decided by the Minister of Finance. Whatever criticism is aimed at customs officers there have been instances where customs officers have sacrificed their lives carrying out their duties. However, the bill to be adopted allows politicians and their lackeys to carry out any racket while the backbone of the customs officers is broken.
Hence, we call on the government to withdraw the two bills. The amendments should be discussed with officers who are against frauds and corruption. An individual being able to challenge tax laws and regulations that affect the whole nation is a serious state. Then a situation arises where tax laws go astray. The situation would create a cover for racketeers and those who evade paying taxes.”
The Member of the Central Committee of the JVP Lakshman Nipunarachchi too was present.
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Sri Lankan Muslims under threat

A CURIOUS story in a local English daily caught my eye the other day. It seemed the Sri Lanka Muslim Council had given in to demands that meat could be sold without halal certification. This is a huge success for radical Buddhist groups who have been orchestrating an anti-Muslim campaign for the last few years.
Mosques have been attacked, prayers disrupted, and Muslims in general accused of being anti-state. The Muslim Tamil National Alliance has written to the Secretary General of the United Nations, asking him for protection, and protesting against this nasty campaign.
Leading the anti-Muslim charge is a group called the Bodu Bela Sena, or Buddhist Force. Headed by ultra-nationalistic monks, the group follows a xenophobic agenda of “Sri Lanka for the Buddhists”. Of late, Buddhist monks have begun playing a growing and retrogressive role in the island’s politics.
The monks first flexed their muscles to shore up the Rajapakse government’s resolve to crush the Tamil insurgency. First, they blocked any possibility of compromise by offering the Tamil Tigers greater autonomy. To build up pressure, they formed a political party and won enough seats to take a place in the coalition government.
Then, when President Mahinda Rajapakse’s brother, defence secretary Gotabaya, was facing difficulties in finding enough recruits for the army, a group of monks fanned out across the Buddhist areas to motivate thousands of young men. These recruits were assured that they would not lose karma by fighting and killing in a war as they would be doing so in the cause of Buddhism.
The brutal civil war ended nearly four years ago in a bloodbath that is now the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism from abroad. The ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Commission at Geneva is about to vote on a resolution initiated by the US, demanding an international investigation into the fate of tens of thousands of Tamils said to be killed in the last days of the fighting in the north of the island.
Against this backdrop, it is odd that the government is doing so little to clamp down on the anti-Muslim campaign. Should it gain support and traction, the results could be very bad news. Muslims are mostly concentrated in three areas: in and around Galle and Colombo, and in the coastal areas of the north-east. The latter are mostly poor fishermen, while urban Muslims are heavily represented in business and the professions.
According to unofficial reports, the 2011 census indicates that Muslims form around 10 per cent of the total population of 21.4 million. This is a substantial increase from the 7.6 pc in the last census. One reason the new census figures have not been officially released is said to be the disquiet the increase in the number of Muslims might cause among the majority.
Already, Muslims in the north have been subjected to ethnic cleansing by the Tamil Tigers in the early nineties. Thousands were driven southward from their homes and farms in the mostly Tamil north. After the war ended, and they tried to reclaim their property, they were subjected to great hostility by Sinhalese farmers who had grabbed much of the land. Most of the displaced Muslims have settled around Colombo, and their children consider the capital their home.
One factor that is probably driving the anti-Muslim campaign is envy. Urban Muslims have fared relatively well over the years, and have cornered the lucrative gemstone market. Others have gone into real estate and construction. Many have made a name for themselves in the legal profession. And while a few have gone into politics, they recognise that they can never hope to rise to the top. By and large, they have kept a low profile.
A number of Muslim families in Galle and Matra pride themselves on their descent from Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka centuries ago. Others have come from the Indian coast. There is a small and wealthy Bohra community in Colombo. Many northern Muslims descended from Malays who settled along the coast.
Thus, Sri Lankan Muslims represent an ethnic mix who have helped in creating prosperity and diversity. So far, at least, they have got along well with their neighbours. However, despite centuries of living together, integration has been slow. Like most minorities, Muslims tend to stick together, maintaining their dress code and diet. Women usually wear some form of hijab, and many Muslim men wear beards and skull caps.
Even liberal Sinhalese accuse Muslims of not keeping their streets clean, and generally staying aloof from the mainstream.
Inter-marriage between Muslims and Sinhalese are limited to the elites. But everybody acknowledges their hard work and sound business ethics.
The civil war and the way it ended has exploded the myth of the peaceful Buddhists. There is thus a genuine concern over the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign: observers recognise the potential for a vicious pogrom should the government not step in.
However, the ugly reality is that the Buddhist majority are a far larger vote bank than the Muslims.
Many are puzzled by how and why anti-Muslim feelings have spread so quickly. After all, after the end of the civil war in 2009, it had been widely assumed that the restoration of peace would heal the ethnic wounds opened during decades of conflict. Sadly, the government has made little effort to reach out to a defeated and demoralised Tamil community.
One theory is that the triumphant Sinhalese fringe elements on the extreme right need a fresh target for their xenophobia. Some in the business community are eyeing the assets of their successful Muslim competitors. Politicians are seeking to tap into the strong sense of Buddhist identity that was pumped up during the last stages of the war. The recent execution of a young Sri Lankan maid in Saudi Arabia on flimsy charges provided more ammunition to the extremists.
None of this is good news for the peaceful and prosperous Muslim community in Sri Lanka. Hopefully, the government will check the vicious propaganda doing the rounds and prevent an explosion.
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Step motherly treatment for Tamils and Muslims

Monday, 18 March 2013
Eastern Provincial Councilor Thilai Arasan says that divisional secretariats in areas inhabited by Sinhalese have been allocated more funds than those are inhabited by Tamil and Muslim people when monies are allocated for development activities in the Ampara District targeting the Deyata Kirula exhibition.
The councilor says that there are 20 divisional secretariats in the Ampara District. He has explained that 13 divisional secretariats where Tamil and Muslim people inhabited had been allocated Rs. 572 million. However, the seven divisional secretariats where Sinhalese inhabit have been allocated Rs. 791.85 million. He has observed that the monies have not been divided in a fair manner.
The councilor has pointed out that the divisional secretariats in Samanthurai, Potuvil, Akkaraipattu, Adalachchena, Iranakamam, Nindavur, Kalmunai, Thirukkovil and Vidaveli in Tamil and Muslim areas have faced this unfair action.
The divisional secretariats in Ampara, Dehiattakandiya, Uhana, Lahugala, Maoya, Padiyathalawa and Uppayaya have received higher allocations. Deyata Kirula is to be held in Ampara from March 23rd till the 29th.

SOLDIER’S BODY FOUND FLOATING IN DEWAHUWA WEWA

Soldier’s body found floating in Dewahuwa Wewa
The body of a young army soldier was discovered this morning floating in the Dewahuwa Wewa in Galewela.

The deceased has been identified as 21-year-old S.H. Shantha who was attached to the Dewahuwa army camp and had been reported missing several days back, Ada Derana reporter said.

The body was inspected by the acting Dambulla Magistrate, Jayampathi Ratnadiwakara and ordered to be sent to the Matale Judicial Medical Officer. March 19, 2013 
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INDIA: Attacking visitors will not end discrimination in Sri Lanka


March 18, 2013
AHRC LogoIn two separate incidents, two Sri Lankan monks have been attacked in India. These two attacks are a continuum to previous assaults upon Sri Lankan nationals visiting India. These incidents are criminally shameless and display a despicable disregard to foreigners traveling to India. They are an affirmation of the inability of a few individuals to understand that attacking visitors will not solve the Tamil crisis in Sri Lanka.
Of the two incidents reported recently, the attackers targeted two Sri Lankan monks, one at a railway station, and the other while he was visiting a temple. While it is true that the discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka, in the past and that which continues today, will evoke strong sentiments against persons responsible for such discrimination, assaulting innocent persons would certainly not contribute to solving the Sri Lankan crisis. Said that, the Sri Lankan crisis, that took one of its worst turns during the fourth Eelam War, is just not a Sri Lankan Tamil issue.
The ethnic crisis and the war that it resulted in is only one of the most gruesome consequences of a fallen state's inability to administer. It is the result of fallen justice apparatus in Sri Lanka and the predictable behaviour of a political culture that drew, and continues to draw its fictional legitimacy from discrimination justified by pseudo nationalism.
In a country where corruption and nepotism has become the defining character of its highest offices, discrimination and violence is not a concern limited to any particular linguistic or ethnic community. Anyone who challenges authority exercised with impunity risks life in Sri Lanka. Being a Tamil, does not help.
The assault upon Tamils in India has to be viewed with exceptional seriousness, because, first, India is not Sri Lanka. Further, attacking a Sri Lankan monk has serious repercussions in Sri Lanka, with its government having spared no resources to highlight the attacks, in a pathetic excuse to ward off international pressure that it is facing today on accountability. The rogue and criminal behaviour of a few people in India should not be reason for the Government of Sri Lanka to play victim and harp up nationalist sentiments.
Recently, the Supreme Court of India has held the Government of Italy and its ambassador for failing to guarantee the presence of two Italians accused of committing crimes in India. The same set of principles applies to those who attacked the two Sri Lankan monks. A crime is a crime, irrespective of who has committed it. It might be a principle the Government of Sri Lanka finds hard to understand.
India must prove that it is different by taking immediate actions to investigate and prosecute those responsible for attacking the two Sri Lankans. Equally important is for the Tamils in India to understand that attacking Sri Lankans visiting India will not help address the problems of governance in Sri Lanka.
Document Type :
Statement
Document ID :
AHRC-STM-064-2013
Countries :
Issues :
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Students rally through the streets of Madurai earlier this week, rejecting the LLRC and demanding a strong resolution at the UNHRC


Protests have spread across the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu calling for a robust resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, which includes an international independent investigation into the crime of genocide and

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Protesting against attacks

The image shows protestors from the Sinhala Ravaya Organization protesting in front of the Indian High Commission today, against the attacks on Sri Lankans in Thanjavur and Chennai in the recent past. Pix by Sanka Vidanagama
2013-03-19


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    Tamil Information Centre Condemns Attacks On Buddhist Monks In Tamil Nadu

    By Colombo Telegraph - March 19, 2013 
    Colombo TelegraphThe Tamil Information Centre calls on the people of Tamil Nadu to offer all necessary assistance to the victims of the recent attacks and the political leaders to intervene to stop these attacks on civilians travelling from Sri Lanka and  urges the authorities in Tamil Nadu to take all possible preventive measures and begin an immediate campaign through the media and other means to prevent such attacks in the future.
    Issuing a statement London based TIC also urges the media to act responsibly when reporting on such attacks. The media must ensure reports are accurate and sensitive and do not encourage rifts between religions or communities.
    We publish below the TIC statement in full;
    Attacks on Buddhist monks and Sri Lankan visitors to Tamil Nadu must cease
    We have observed the recent attacks on Buddhist monks and other Sri Lankan visitors in Tamil Nadu with grave concern and extreme unease. These attacks are callous and disgraceful and will not help the Sri Lankan Tamils, but may cause them more harm. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to the victims.
    Certainly, there is no justification for these acts from either a political perspective or, in truth, from the perspective of any other moral and freedom-loving people. These acts diminish the pride, dignity and freedom of Eelam Tamils.
    Tamils have always prided themselves in their age old tradition of welcoming visitors. Pilgrims of all faiths should be permitted to pass without hindrance or harassment and such curtsy should be extended to all travelers from Sri Lanka.
    While we recognize that heinous and immoral acts are being carried out by certain sections of the Buddhistclergy against Hindus, Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka, we must emphasize the importance of identifying the perpetrators and desisting from accusing all Buddhist monks, many of whom speak out and campaign for tolerance and peace.
    We respect and appreciate the profound sentiment and the immense support of the people of Tamil Nadu for the cause of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. But it is important that we work together towards the common goal of achieving justice for the Tamils and re-establishing democratic principles, freedoms and human rights for all people of Sri Lanka. We believe that attacks on Buddhist monks and pilgrims will only encourage further violence and will not contribute towards achieving justice and peace in Sri Lanka.
    We urge the media to act responsibly when reporting on such attacks. The media must ensure reports are accurate and sensitive and do not encourage rifts between religions or communities.
    TIC calls on the people of Tamil Nadu to offer all necessary assistance to the victims of the recent attacks and the political leaders to intervene to stop these attacks on civilians travelling from Sri Lanka.
    The TIC also urges the authorities in Tamil Nadu to take all possible preventive measures and begin an immediate campaign through the media and other means to prevent such attacks in the future.
    Second attack;
    First attack;
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    Bodu Bala Sena: A Threat To Sri Lanka’s Future

    GR BBS
    19 Mar, 2013 
    Click to download app from Apple iTunes Rajapaksa ceremonially declaring open a Buddhist Leadership Academy of the Bodhu Bala Sena in Galle, via dbsjeyaraj.com
    Sri Lanka’s fragile attempt of reconciliation, following the end of the thirty-year civil war, faces a potentially backbreaking obstacle. The growing Sinhala Buddhist nationalism that is the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) movement is threatening to divide an already a fractious society.
    On the basis of protecting Sinhalese businessmen from the rising prices allegedly caused by Muslim businesses, the BBS movement has taken to the streets targeting the Muslim community. Having started last year with the unsubstantiated accusations against Muslims for illegally building mosques on “temple land”, Buddhist priests banded together in an attempt to demolish these structures. The authorities chose to stand idly by, and when finally forced to address the issue have to still to make a firm decision.
    The anti-Muslim issue has now progressed to the BBS calling for the ban of all Halal products. According to the organisation the high cost borne by manufacturers to adopt the Halal certification is being passed on to the consumers. Furthermore, the Buddhist priests from the organisation have accused Muslim businessmen of forcing Sinhalese shops out of business.
    Putting aside the debate over the Halal issue, it is clear the Bodu Bala Sena is driving Sri Lanka towards a very bleak future having just emerged from a dark past.
    At first glance BBS is nothing more than a minute portion of the Sinhalese population looking to create issues; in a more detailed examination the movement draws startling comparisons to the infamous rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany.
    Germany had just been defeated in World War 1 and was facing serve economic pressure from rising reparation payments imposed on them by the victorious Allied nations and the global depression. Humiliated and bankrupt the people of Germany looked to blame someone for their misfortunes. This was the perfect breeding ground for the racist Nazis to rise up and lay all the blame at the feet of the German Jews.
    The Nazis blamed the Jews for having gained monetarily through Germany’s defeat in the Great War, and accused them of driving the economy down while ensuring their own financial stability.
    In Sri Lanka, despite having “won” the war over the LTTE, there is a sense of resentment over the growing international pressure to hold investigations in to the conduct of the military. To add insult to injury contrary to what the government claims the economy of the country continues to falter with a rapidly increasing cost of living.
    The accusations which were levelled by the Nazis against the Jews are now being mirrored by the BBS and their allegations that Muslim’s are driving the Sinhalese out of business.
    Between November 9 and 10 1938 was the night of Kristallnacht (or the Night of Broken Glass), an event that saw the unhindered torment of the Jewish businesses at the hands of the Nazi SA paramilitary and civilians. The authorities did not intervene, and by the end of it the streets were covered with broken glass from the windows of Jewish shops, homes and synagogues.
    Sri Lanka has already experienced its own version of Kristallnacht during the 1983 anti-Tamil riots that saw nearly a thousand Tamil civilians killed while thousands more fled the country. While the Bodu Bala Sena has not yet reached this level, the attacks on Muslim businesses such as what was seen last month at the “No Limit” store in Maharagama and the vandalism of mosques around the country are ominous signs. The inaction by the authorities, and in some case the support of the organisation by members of the government, is paving the way for further racism.
    Sri Lanka on a political front has much to lose from this rising anti-Muslim sentiment. International pressure continues to grow and the government has little or no answers to defend themselves with. Last year’s US sponsored resolution was labelled by the ruling regime as an attempt to isolate the country. While it was successfully passed, Sri Lanka received the support of the Muslim nations. This time around the United Nations Human Rights Council has 15 Muslim nations and Sri Lanka cannot afford to isolate itself amongst the Muslim community.
    On a financial side Sri Lanka’s faltering economy is still reliant on the income earned by maids working in the Middle East. If these countries were to ban the employment of Sri Lankan maids in lieu of the attacks on Muslims, a large source of the country’s foreign income will be halted. Furthermore these continuing attacks on the Muslim community will certainly put the Sri Lankan maids already in those regions at danger of repercussions.
    Sri Lankan society lost much both in the way of culture and intelligentsia with the mass exodus of Tamils during the 1980s. For a nation that prides itself on being “multi-national”, such racist sentiment will only serve to damage its future. Nationalistic ideals fuelled by racism cost the country 30 years, unfortunately 4 years on from the end of the last conflict Sri Lanka appears to be headed down the same path.
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    Buddha’s ‘Blood Relative’ Tolerates His Tattoo But His Officials Can’t Tolerate Buddha Tattoo

    Ratcliffe got the tattoo in Burma, and says it was not something he took lightly | Photo BBC

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    AlJazeeraEnglishPoor Sri Lankans face firewood health risk

    Vast majority of population have no other option but to use wood-burning stoves despite health risks.
    Last Modified: 18 Mar 2013 14:20
    Hundreds of experts from around the world are gathering in the Cambodian capital to discuss health problems linked to the use of firewood for cooking.
    The use of firewood is common practice for many poor people across the world, but research shows that inhaling the harmful fumes emitted could cause lung and heart diseases.
    In Sri Lanka, where nearly 80 percent of the population does not have a better alternative than firewood stoves due to their economic situation, many die from breathing in the smoke.
    Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez reports from Kandy.

    Amma endrazhaikkaatha


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    Monday, March 18, 2013


    Sri Lanka Needs More International Assistance Not Less

    By Jehan Perera -March 18, 2013
    Jehan Perera
    Colombo TelegraphForeign assistance to Sri Lanka has been falling partly on account of Sri Lanka’s post-war accession to the ranks of middle income countries, albeit of those at the lower end.  It is from this perspective that an old friend of Sri Lanka, former Japanese peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, has been quoted by the Presidential Spokesman’s Office as having said that he was “amazed by the ability of government officials, starting from the leadership, to mobilize the extra efforts in a very effective manner” according to a news story in the national media.  He was also quoted as saying he was “sure that the government and people of Sri Lanka will wish to move much more rapidly, but with Sri Lanka’s limited resources what it has done by itself is amazing.”
    Despite this internationally commended post-war success, there is a sense of inevitability that the country is going to be subjected to yet another negative resolution against the Sri Lankan government at the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  Invitations have been given to skeptics to peruse the web and see how transparent the Sri Lankan government is when it cites its achievements.  But hard hitting statements made by Sri Lankan government representatives appear designed for domestic rather than international consumption, as they have been counter-productive in serving to antagonize the UN system and its supporters even more.
    What is necessary is more concrete evidence from the ground that the lives of those worst affected by the long years of war are in the process of being restored.  This would be the measure of post-war success in reconciliation.  In this context it is not enough to observe the improvements being made to national infrastructure, which includes roads, governmental buildings and airports.  It is also important that the dwellings of people are upgraded to some level of normalcy, and they know the fate of those missing in the war.  A fatal weakness in post-war Sri Lanka is the absence of any attention given by the government to facilitating the search for missing and disappeared persons, every one of whom would have been an irreplaceable member of some family.
    NO NORMALCY
    The government seeks to claim credit where resettlement of the war-affected people is concerned.  The returnee community of Sannar in the Mannar district in the North would be an example.  There are about 180 families that have been resettled there.  Most are Tamils who lived in that part of Mannar but who had to flee due to the war.  They have continued to live in temporary housing consisting of tin roofed shacks although nearly four years have passed since the end of the war.  Those who have seen the reality of war and natural disaster induced displacements in other parts of the world may find that four years is not a long period of time. But in Sri Lanka, with its small size and availability of resources which are being spent in the billions on a new airport near the President’s birth place, four years is a lot of time for people to languish in tin shacks that they have to call their homes.
    It has only been in the last few months that Habitat for Humanities, an NGO, has commenced a programme of activities in Sannar to provide the people with toilets and tube wells.  So far the people have lacked even these basic amenities.  The next step will be to provide them with better quality housing.  If not for the intervention by this NGO the resettled people of Sannar would have been left to fend for themselves.  As one of them said, it is has been difficult for them to think of building their houses by themselves as they lack both the money to purchase the necessary housing material, and they also do not have the time, as they have to go out into the market place to sell their labour to bring back food for the day to their families.
    Just across the road is a military camp, one of the large number that continue to dot the North and East of the country, despite the decimation of the LTTE in the last battle and the passage of four years of peaceful conditions.   When I went into the village, I saw two military personnel keeping some sort of watch inside the village.  They looked like two boys, but they had guns, and their presence served as a reminder of the war and that normalcy has still not been restored to the North.  The constant complaint of those who live in the North and East is that military intelligence personnel are ubiquitous in their lives, and their presence on street corners, in market places and even at private functions that people organize, serves to dampen their sense of being normal and free to speak as they wish.  It also serves as a reminder that even four years after the war, normalcy has still not been restored.
    POLITICISED DISTRIBUTION
    The resettlement taking place in Sannar is important for another reason too.  It shows that antagonistic relationships that exist between ethnic communities can be eased if not healed through creative solutions.   This is particularly important in view of the recent rise in Buddhist-Muslim tensions following the rise of an extreme Buddhist group, the Bodhu Bala Sena which is questioning some of the practices of the Muslim community.  A few months ago there were reports of localized Tamil-Muslim tensions in Mannar over conflicting claims of the two communities to land and fishing resources.  Some of these issues are now before the courts of law and others await more consensual solutions.  These tensions had spreads to Sannar as well, due to concerns that Tamils who had settled in Sannar would be forcibly moved out to accommodate Muslims there.
    However, these tensions have now eased due to the clearing of several hundred acres of forest land to provide for the returning Muslim community.  This shows that solutions to inter-ethnic tensions are possible if adequate resources are available and distributed in a manner that is equitable.   The Tamils are the majority community in Mannar, and their representatives control the local level government bodies.  They also have the stronger civil society representation, especially through the Catholic Church and affiliated NGOs.  On the other hand, the Muslims have a powerful minister in the central government who has been effective in providing them with governmental resources. But it is not healthy for inter-ethnic relations if actions of the government and of NGOs are perceived as helping one community at the expense of the other.    The people of Sannar have grievances on this score.
    The observations of former Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi are particularly relevant at this juncture.  He is quoted as having said, “I think everyone tends to judge a situation from his or her own background. That is why I feel that it is rather unfair for some developed countries, which have much more resources than Sri Lanka, to express impatience with Sri Lanka and its development; but this is not fair and this is not objective.” Despite the large proportion of displaced persons who have been resettled, the quality of their resettlement, and human rights problems, do not yet qualify the Sri Lankan experience to be cited as a model for international emulation. The international can contribute constructively to greater reconciliation in Sri Lanka, not only by putting pressure on it for a political solution and human rights accountability, but also by ensuring that there are more resources to be distributed to all who are in post-war recovery.
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