Another rap

March 22, 2013, DHNS:

The Sri Lankan government has no one to blame but itself for the repeated censure it has received from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). On Thursday, a UNHRC resolution was passed with 25 countries voting for it, 13 opposing and eight abstaining. This resolution encourages Colombo to conduct an independent and credible investigation into alleged war crimes carried out by the government in 2009, in the final stages of the war against the LTTE. 

Had it taken substantial steps towards reconciliation and acted on the UNHRC’s 2012 resolution, it would not have had to bear the ignominy of repeated raps on its knuckles from the UNHRC. The final wording of the resolution is a diluted version of the original draft. Still it is tougher than the 2012 resolution and urges Sri Lanka to set up a truth-seeking commission and calls for an investigation into abuses. Sri Lanka would do well to pay heed to its urging. After all, while the UNHRC resolution has singled out a country it has not insisted on an international probe into the allegations. Should the Mahinda Rajapaksa government take robust steps on reconciliation and a political solution, not only will it contribute to healing wounds within the country but also this will stave off a more intrusive resolution, one that could undermine Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, in the coming months. 

India’s support to the UNHRC resolution reflects its deep frustration with the Rajapaksa government. Its quiet nudging of Colombo to reach out to the Tamils to find a political solution having come to naught, it was compelled to support the UNHRC resolution again. On the face of it, the UPA government appears to have emerged weaker from the UNHRC vote. Not only has it ruffled feathers in Sri Lanka, but also it has lost a key ally, the DMK. Its vote in the UNHRC has pleased neither Sri Lanka nor Tamils in India. However, by voting for the resolution India has signalled commitment to justice, accountability and a political solution to conflicts. 

Sri Lanka must open its eyes to Delhi’s nuanced position. While it will be tempted to ‘teach India a lesson’ by moving closer to China, it must understand that India is its neighbour and any attempt at baiting it could end up as a case of cutting its nose to spite its face.

Sri Lanka issue: Protests in Tamil Nadu claim another life

 March 22, 2013 

Read more at:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sri-lanka-issue-protests-in-tamil-nadu-claim-another-life/1/259053.html

A 30-year-old man on Friday died after setting himself ablaze here over Sri Lankan Tamils' issue, said police as protests continued against the island nation's government across the state.

Vikram suffered severe burns after he set himself ablaze at an anti-Sri Lanka protest in a suburban area here on Thursday night. He was taken to a government hospital, where he died later of his injuries. He is the second person to immolate himself in the on-going protests. 

Earlier this month, Mani of Cuddalore district died after he too set himself ablaze, demanding action against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for war crimes committed against the Tamils there.

Protesting activists also demanded referendum among Lankan Tamils for creation of a separate Tamil 'Eelam' state. Lawyers in temple town Madurai and Salem district also staged demonstrations against Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile the Rajya Sabha on Friday witnessed rowdy scenes before it went on a recess as agitating members from the DMK and AIADMK turned violent, breaking the chairperson's mike.

The upper house met at 2.30 p.m. after two adjournments. Members from DMK and AIADMK, who were protesting over the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils, trooped near the chairperson's podium.

Contending that the anti-Sri Lanka resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council was not strong enough, they accused the government of not doing enough.

Earlier, the upper house was adjourned twice over the same issue. The first adjournment came soon after it met at 11 a.m., when Chairman M. Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till noon. At noon it was adjourned again till 2.30 p.m.

With IANS Inputs

E Pluribus Unum – Out Of Many, One

By Shanie -March 22, 2013 

“What is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem,    where all nations and races come to worship  and look back;, compared to the glory of America, where all races and all nations come to labour and look forward.” –  Israel Zangwill (1864-1926)

In 1909, Israel Zangwill, a prominent British writer of his time, wrote the play ‘The Melting Pot’ from which the above quotation is taken. The hero of the play is David, a Russian Jew who emigrated to the United States following the killing of his entire family in a pogrom against the Jews. In the US, David writes a symphony called ‘The Crucible’ where he expresses his hope for a world where all differences of ethnicity and religion will melt away. He falls in love with a Christian immigrant also from Tsarist Russia. When he meets the girl’s father, it turns out that he was the Russian military officer responsible for the annihilation of David’s family. He admits his guilt and expresses remorse and consents to the marriage of his daughter Vera to David. When the play was staged in Washington DC, President Theodore Roosevelt was in the audience. At the end of the play, he is reported to have leaned over from his box and shouted to Zangwell, “That’s a great play, Mr. Zangwill, that’s a great play.” He later wrote to Zangwill, “That particular play I shall always count among the very strong and real influences upon my thought and my life.”

The title of this week’s column is taken from the motto inscribed on the Great Seal of the United States of America, adopted soon after the country obtained its independence from British rule. It symbolizes the pride which the founding fathers of that country had in welding one nation out of people drawn from the indigenous community, immigrants from many countries, many faiths, many cultures and from many ethnicities. It may not always have been so in practice but at least that was the ideal that the founding fathers and the nation’s leaders over the years sought to achieve – a true melting pot as Israel Zangwill has attempted to show in the words quoted above. That was also the ideal that many other countries with diverse communities have tried to uphold, but not always succeeded. Across the world, we hear of conflicts and tensions along religious, ethnic and cultural lines.

Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac are a husband and wife team of veteran journalists, who travelled around the world to study communities where diversity has succeeded. They have just published their book Pax Ethnica where they write about the success stories of five communities who are a lesson to others in how diverse groups can live together in harmony. Their travels took them to Flensborg in Germany where the Schelswig-Holstein Question had kept a conflict going for over a century, to Marseille in France which is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community, to the Queen’s District in New York City where 2.3 million people speak over 138 languages, to the Russian republic of Tatarstan which has a Muslim majority and a significant Orthodox Christian population and to Kerala in South India where significant numbers of Hindus, Muslims and Christians live together in peaceful co-existence.

Kerala and Sri Lanka

Kerala in many ways is similar to Sri Lanka. Apart from a sizeable section of our people owing their origins to that part of the sub-continent, Kerala is a multi-religious society with the Hindus accounting for a little more than half of Kerala’s population. The other half is shared by Muslims and Christians. It has also over 90% literacy. Kerala ranks first in both Educational development and Human development indices among the various states of India. It thus has a highly educated population. Meyer and Brysac quote a Kerala environmentalist as saying, “Everything we produce in Kerala is of export quality. Like our cashew, our young people are also export quality”. He was referring to over a million Keralites who are employed all over the world as professionals, teachers, nurses, skilled workers, etc. In the Gulf countries, Malalayalam, the language of all Keralites, is perhaps the most commonly used language other than Arabic.

But the comparison between Kerala and Sri Lanka stops there. Transparency International deems Kerala the “least corrupt” among states and countries of South Asia. But more than that, Kerala, despite its religious diversity, has enjoyed religious harmony for many years. Perhaps this is rooted in their education and culture. Over fifty years ago, Kerala produced the first democratically elected secular Marxist government in the world. The legendary and highly principled E M S Namboodripad was the first Marxist Chief Minister. But even before that, Kerala has had a tradition of left-wing pluralism. E Pluribus Unum is an equally apt motto for Kerala. Among her more famous sons and daughters have been the fiery diplomat-politician V K Krishna Menon (credited with having made the longest ever speech at the United Nations), writer Arundhathi Roy (who won the Booker Prize not long ago), and not forgetting the science teacher and rationalist Abraham T Kovoor (who delighted in debunking religious and other charlatans in Sri Lanka who sought to claim super-natural powers).

But the magic of Kerala lies in the ability of its people and the political leadership to succeed amidst diversity, to transcend religious and caste differences and to reject intolerance and bigotry in favour of embracing pluralism. Apart from religious diversity, Kerala is also a highly caste-stratified society. But, because of their left wing idealism, caste labels lie easily on the people. Namboodripad was himself a land-owning Brahmin. His extended family also shared his political idealism. Some of them had continued to perform priestly functions in a family-owned Hindu temple in their native village of Panjal. Many of them were social activists who had divested much of the family-owned ancestral farmlands to the workers on the land, workers belonging to both the so-called middle castes as well as dalits, the so-called lower castes.

The Namboodripad government introduced the Kerala Land Reform Act. Nearly twenty years later, Richard Franke, an American anthropologist, made a study to determine if the Act had in reality broken up large estates in this typical village of Panjal. He concluded in research articles and books published in 1993/1994 that the reforms had significantly reduced caste inequality. The historic grip of Panjal’s Namboodri Brahmins on land ownership and higher incomes, Franke concluded, had been decisively broken.

Meyer and Brysac also report of a meeting they had with a Communist Chairman of a local authority in the Municipality of Thalassery. They had asked the Chairman about religious harmony in the city which had a larger-than-average number of Muslims. ‘Putting our scepticism to rest’, they write, the Chairman pointed to his deputy seated next to him, and said, “I am a Hindu, he is a Muslim”. Meyer and Brysac then asked, ‘Suppose a problem happens between Muslims and Hindus, do you solve it or do the Police?’ The Chairman had responded, ‘The communal problems are usually created by one or two bad elements, perhaps for political or communal reasons. Rumours start when nothing has really happened but just to throw oil on the fire. The police will first try and quell the rumours and then they intervene. For example, recently a Hindu procession was going to the temple and somebody threw a sandal and there was a rumour that a Muslim did it. Actually, it was done by some Hindus in order to cause a problem. The matter was resolved within twenty-four hours. The Hindus were persuaded by the evidence and nothing happened.’

Problems of Diversity in Sri Lanka

All this is in contrast to the way religious and communal problems have been allowed to grow and fester in Sri Lanka. We have had an ethnic problem that has lasted over fifty years. The LTTE has been annihilated and its terrorism crushed. But as the LLRC has recommended, the grievances of the minorities need to be addressed at a political level. The government is ignoring the LLRC recommendations only at its own peril. Unfortunately, it is not only at the peril of the government and its political leadership, it is the country as a whole that will suffer. We would have been spared over fifty years of terror and violence if the then government had the vision and the strength to take the extremist elements head on and take a political position that ensured justice and equality for all communities who form our nation.

Sadly, that short-sighted and narrow vision is being repeated in the way the recent campaign against the Muslim community is being handled by the leading lights of the government. It appears that powerful figures in the ruling family share the obscurantist thinking of the extremist elements who are stirring up anti-Muslim feelings in the country. The greater tragedy is that young students are being drawn into this hate campaign and are being encouraged to show disrespect not only to fellow students of another faith but also to elder women of that faith. The halal issue was obviously only a smoke-screen to hide their utterly contemptible communal campaign against this minority community. What else does one make of the call to boycott business establishments owned by this community.

The only silver lining is that there still are some sane voices within the governing coalition. Dinesh Gunawardena is reported to have raised this issue at a cabinet meeting and called for action against the extremist groups stirring up communal hatred.  In the Kurunegala district, Sarath Navinna and Jayaratne Herath, two Provincial Council Ministers, have reportedly taken action along with the Police to stamp out violence against the Muslim community. Senior SLFP members are also reported to have privately expressed their anguish at the turn of events. But these isolated voices are not enough. There has to be an open denunciation of communalism and a call for all communities to be treated with respect and dignity from all our leaders – religious, political, and from the civil society and media. Like in the case of the impeachment of the Chief Justice, such calls may fall on deaf ears. But at least the soul of the nation will be stirred and woken.

Freedom of thought, conscience and religion are fundamental human rights. So also are cultural and religious practices associated with one’s beliefs. Of course, nobody should impose one’s own practices on others. So any non-Muslim who finds it offensive to consume what is loosely termed ‘halal food’ has the fundamental right not to consume such food. But in doing so, a Muslim should not be deprived of following his religious practice of eating only ‘halal food’. So also with the issue of a dress code for men and women. Every individual should have the freedom to dress in accordance with the religious or cultural practices that he or she follows, as long as that dress code does not offend the dignity of society.

Sri Lanka has an eighty year history of universal suffrage which led up to democratic self-rule. A melting pot of diverse cultures does not mean that we eliminate all other cultures but one. Out of the many, we should emerge as one people but retaining our distinct identities. Only then could we look forward, rather than backward.

Petition spreads into India and Canada

Petition launches in Canada & India - UK petition hits 1000 in 24 hours!

Dear friends,

We said yesterday's petition in the UK would be the first of many. Now we are pleased to be able to tell you about petitions for Canada and India.

Prime Minister Steven Harper was courageous in setting an example and announcing that if the summit happens, then he will not go. However, it is still expected that a Canadian delegation will attend the Summit, and this will undermine the effect of the Prime Minister's personal boycott as Canada's attendance will still be visible in the Summit. If you are in Canada please sign the petition here to send that message.

Meanwhile the UK petition has reached well over a thousand signatures in under 24 hours. We soon hope local organisations will launch petitions in Malaysia, Bangladeshi Australia and New Zealand. If we haven't reached you yet, we will soon. In the meantime please keep signing and sharing with your UK and Canadian friends.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

These blog postings do not necessarily represent the views of all members of the Advisory Council.

22/03/2013

Petition spreads into India and Canada

The Indian petition is run by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. If you are in India please sign here.

We said yesterday's petition in the UK would be the first of many. Now we are pleased to be able to tell you about petitions for Canada and India.

Prime Minister Steven Harper was courageous in setting an example and announcing that if the summit happens, then he will not go. However, it is still expected that a Canadian delegation will attend the Summit, and this will undermine the effect of the Prime Minister's personal boycott as Canada's attendance will still be visible in the Summit. If you are in Canada please sign the petition here to send that message.

The Indian petition is run by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. If you are in India please sign here.

Meanwhile the UK petition has reached well over a thousand signatures in under 24 hours. We soon hope local organisations will launch petitions in Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand. If we haven't reached you yet, we will soon. In the meantime please keep signing and sharing with your UK, Indian, and Canadian friends.

If you are in the UK click here to sign the petition

If you are in Canada click here to sign the petition

If you are in India click here to sign the petition,

UNHRC Resolution On Sri Lanka Crimes

By Ron Ridenour -March 22, 2013 |

Ron Ridenour

Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka crimes:More of the same nonsense causes huge protests

United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s passed a resolution on March 21, the third in four years, concerning Sri Lanka’s conduct towards Tamils. The vote was 25 for, 13 against with eight abstentions. Those opposed rejected any criticism of Sri Lanka as “foreign meddling”. (1)

The US-led resolution A/HRC/22/L.1 “Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka” “noted” that the National Action Plan put forward by Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations made in its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) “does not adequately address serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

Sri Lanka’s government is then called upon to conduct an “independent and credible” investigation into allegations of human rights violations.

One paragraph goes a bit further than the previous US-led resolution last year. It expresses “concern at the continuing reports of violations of human rights in Sri Lanka, including enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, torture and violations of the rights of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as intimidation of and reprisals against human rights defenders, members of civil society and journalists, threats to judicial independence and the rule of law, and discrimination on the basis of religion and belief.” (2)

While the US resolution also stated that Sri Lanka’s government (GoSL) has failed to devolve political authority to Tamils, it expressed thanks for having facilitated “the visit of a technical mission from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.” It “notes” the High Commissioner’s “call for an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” without suggesting such itself. No remedies are demanded. The resolution simply concludes by suggesting further reports “monitoring progress”.

No more white-wash

A day before the vote, the greatest pro-Tamil protest in years took place with upwards of one million people in India’s state Tamil Nadu. They denounced the US-led resolution as “ineffectual” for calling upon the Sri Lanka government to investigate itself. Protestors demanded that the GoSL be investigated by an independent international body for its war crimes and genocide against the Tamil people.

Varieties of colorful actions, including civil disobedience, occurred in several Tamil Nadu cities and schools. People denounced the “empty resolution further diluted by New Delhi.” They called for a UN plebiscite for Tamils in the north of Sri Lanka. (3)

For the first time since the end of the civil war, significant numbers of Tamils have publicly protested the US for meaningless “slaps on the wrist”. Thousands of Tamils in many countries in the Diaspora demonstrated against the resolution, burning it before the US embassy in several cities. Protestors now view the US as actually “facilitating the agenda of the genocidal state”.

Critics assert that the US and Europe are not seriously advancing the rights of Tamils nor actually sanctioning GoSL for its brutal war crimes, and certainly not its 65 year-long genocide against the minority Tamils. They point out that the US, its side-kick Israel and NATO countries, always aided the Sri Lankan government.

The Western powers provided Sri Lanka’s military with weaponry, money, counter-intelligence, and training to win the long war against Tamil nationhood. Then, since their mutual victory, the Western axis criticizes the Asian government for having committed excesses. This “human rights” approach is the best of all possible worlds for Western dictates: world domination for the cause of humanity is what they say if you read between the lips of communicators for globalization. (4)

China, Russia, Iran, India and Pakistan also militarily and economically assisted Sri Lankan governments in avoiding federalism for the two peoples—majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils—yet they did so without the hyperbole of “protecting human rights”. Unfortunately, Cuba and its seven associates in the Latin American-nation Bolivarian Alliance of the peoples of the Americas (ALBA) got caught up in the geo-political game and supported Sri Lanka.

The two ALBA countries on the Council, Ecuador and Venezuela, voted for Sri Lanka’s stance, while six other Latin American countries voted to criticize it. The Africa and Asian governments were divided in three ways. There was no obvious “first world,” “third world” juxtaposition. (1)

The conciliatory role India’s Congress party-led government plays to placate Sri Lanka with massive economic aid, and by diluting the original draft of the both 2012 and 2013 resolutions, led the Tamil Nadu DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagan) party to withdraw its participation in the coalition UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government. By losing 18 seats in the government, including the minority party’s five ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi felt compelled to state that, “We are fully committed to the cause of Lankan Tamils and an impartial inquiry should happen into the allegations of atrocities against them.”

Apparently, at the last minute, the weakened UPA government leadership tried to amend the final draft with stronger words, according to the newspaper “The Hindu”.

However, DMK Chief Muthuvel Karunanidhi said, “There were no strong words of censure against Sri Lanka in that resolution, which indicated that there was no scope at all to incorporate amendments suggested by the DMK like including the word ‘genocide’.”

Karunanidhi said, on March 19, this justified the decision to pull out of the government, which forces the Congress party to rely even more so on opposition parties, in order to continue to rule.

The new resolution has not ceded to demands of human rights bodies and almost all Tamil political parties and grass roots organizations for an independent international investigation, which UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneetham Pillay also asserts is necessary.

She has consistently upheld the findings of the “Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka” delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on March 31, 2011.

“The Panel found credible allegations associated with the final stages of the war. Between September 2008 and 19 May 2009, the Sri Lanka Army advanced its military campaign into the Vanni using large-scale and widespread shelling causing large numbers of civilian deaths. This campaign constituted persecution of the population of the Vanni. Around 330,000 civilians were trapped into an ever decreasing area, fleeing the shelling but kept hostage by the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]. The Government sought to intimidate and silence the media and other critics of the war through a variety of threats and actions, including the use of white vans to abduct and to make people disappear.

“The Government shelled on a large scale in three consecutive No Fire Zones, where it had encouraged the civilian population to concentrate, even after indicating that it would cease the use of heavy weapons. It shelled the United Nations hub, food distribution lines and near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ships that were coming to pick up the wounded and their relatives from the beaches. It shelled in spite of its knowledge of the impact, provided by its own intelligence systems and through notification by the United Nations, the ICRC and others. Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by Government shelling.”

The new resolution is virtually the same as the one put forth by the US last March when the HRC made a shift from the pro-Sri Lanka resolution of May 2009. In March 2012, a majority (24 for, 15 against and 8 abstentions) voted to criticize the Sri Lankan government for “not adequately address[ing] serious allegations of violations of international law” when conducting its final phases of war against the liberation guerrilla army LTTE (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam). Nevertheless, the statement simply asked the government to investigate itself. (5)

Despite the UN panel of experts’ 214-page report and recommendations, and those of the High Commissioner, no session of the Human Rights Council has discussed those recommendations.

While US-NATO conducts war crimes against several countries in the Middle East and Africa, progressive governments in Latin America, along with Russia-China-Iran-Pakistan, view the US role in Sri Lanka as hypocrisy. This motivates those governments to back Sri Lanka as a “victim” of US-European meddling. In so doing, they are silent about the crimes against the Tamil people.

Venezuela, a new member on the HRC replacing Cuba, voted against the slap wrist resolution. Parting from journalistic style, I would suggest that Venezuela, in the spirit of its recently deceased leader, Hugo Chávez, would take the bull by the horns. Take the moral, solidarity path and admit war crimes wherever they are committed and oppose them. That goes for Sri Lanka, and it goes more so for the US-UK-NATO axis. Publicly chastise Sri Lanka for its brutality, and then introduce a new HRC resolution indicting the Western axis for the untold amount of human blood and planet destruction it causes with its aggressive profit-grabbing wars.

Future Actions

There is a shift in the wind. Tamils are righteously upset with the US-UK axis. The multitude of Tamil groups especially some international ones in the Diaspora, have relied upon the axis to come to their aid. After four years of getting nowhere, great numbers of Tamils are awakened.

Some pro-Tamils groups are calling upon the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to prevent the Sri Lanka being rewarded as planned by hosting the Commonwealth’s grand summit this November.
The moderate Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice wrote: “If the Commonwealth continues as usual then the Government of Sri Lanka will be able to use this to whitewash their crimes, and derail the process of reconciliation. The cycle of violence will continue.”

The group initiated a petition to sign pressuring Commonwealth countries to follow “the Canadian Prime Minister’s example and announcing that if the summit happens then they will not go.” (6)

A more activist movement is expected to grow now!

Notes:
(1) The Vote:
YES: Argentina, Austria, Benin, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cöte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Libya, Montenegro, Peru, Poland, Republic of North Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sierra Lone, Spain, Switzerland, USA
NO: Congo, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela
ABSTAIN: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia
NO VOTE: Gabon
(2) http://www.thehindu.com/news/unhrc-adopts-resolution-on-human-rights-violation-in-sri-lanka/article4533969.ece
(3) http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=36151
(4) http://www.ronridenour.com/articles/2012/0525–rr.htm
(5) See: http://www.ronridenour.com/articles/2009/1116–rr.htm

http://www.ronridenour.com/articles/2012/0323–rr.htm

(6) )  http://www.change.org/petitions/prime-minister-david-cameron-do-not-attend-the-commonwealth-summit

Blog: The face that launched a thousand protests

Written by Uma Sudhir | Updated: March 21, 2013

Chennai: One of the first things that I noticed on the drive from Chennai's Meenambakkam airport to the city's IT hub -Tidel Park, was the posters all along the route. The face that launched a thousand ships they say, but this one is of an innocent 12-year-old, Balachandran, the son of Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Still pictures from the Channel 4 video of his killing is the face that seems to have shaken people's conscience and galvanised Tamil Nadu into unprecedented protests that are hoping to catch the eye and the attention of the world, more specifically, the United Nations (UN).

On the main road outside Tidel Park, the human chain formed by at least a thousand young professionals seemed endless, stretching over a couple of kilometres. 

Somehow you don't expect protests to be so widespread, simultaneous and well-organised unless there is a political party or interest backing it. Mention it and there is anger. "There is no political link,'' is the vehement retort.

Are all these people apolitical? I must admit I had been a little skeptical at first. The slogans seemed to ring with some political undertone.

"Tamizh eelam malarattum'' (let Tamil Eelam Blossom)

"Echcharikkai echcharikkai, mathiya arasukku echcharikkai'' (This is a warning to the Central government)

"Ilangai doodarai veliyetru'' (Send the Lankan Ambassador back)

"Vellattum, vellattum, Tamizh eelam vellattum'' (Victory to Tamizh Eelam)

"Tamizhargallukku veera vanakkam'' (Our salute to Brave Tamils)

The protest I was told had been organised by a pro-Tamil group, the Save Tamils Movement, a collective of IT professionals, who had been advocating the cause for a few years now. But many in the group raising the slogans were first-timers. The people were there, out of some heartfelt need to express protest, stand up to be counted, raising a voice, hoping to be seen and heard.

"I am here as a human, as an Indian and as a Tamilian,'' declared Joseline Jing. " If your sisters and brothers are killed, won't you cry? It is an issue that bothers us, so we are raising it. But the Indian government is not able to understand our pain,'' he says.

Are you happy that the DMK has withdrawn support to put pressure on the Central government? I ask deliberately, to provoke a reaction.

"So-called Tamil political parties are playing games. If they felt any emotion, they would have taken it up in 2009 when things turned so bad, but they did not. Even in 2009, when I was a student, I protested and I was arrested, but there was political pressure. This time we don't trust political parties. They are looking at the next elections. We are looking at the UN,'' says one professional. Many others join in agreeing with him.

So what changed this time? Why are there so many voices now that were silent for so long, I ask?

"Most people have been very ignorant because the media blocks out such news, '' Pandian explains. "There is now proof and evidence of lot of violations. So the government should take a tough stand, take it up on an international forum, so there can be justice.''

Karthigeyan is interning with an IT company here. He and his friend Vignesh Babu from Coimbatore say they want to take the issue to the UN directly, not through any political party.

"Slowly awareness is coming. I did not expect so many people to come here but they are protesting everywhere, in the colleges, on the roads. Social media and twitter have made all the difference,'' Karthigeyan says.

Bright Billy Graham says it took an international news house, the UK-based Channel Four, to put out something to shake the conscience of the world. "Thousands have been killed by Sri Lanka. 500 Indian fishermen have been killed and yet the Indian government is reluctant to act. I feel ashamed about it. ''

Don't the IT companies you work for object if you come out on the road and protest on what is seen as a political issue, I ask. Wide grins, some embarrassed. "No madam, I came after office hours," says one. "My company management initiated me to participate in this,'' says another. "It is a human rights issue, why can't we also stand up for it,'' asks a third, adding, "and so should the Indian government.''

Once the protests were over, I find one of the young girls, an IT professional, is holding a poster in one hand and picking polythene water bags littered around. There is hope when aware people act as socially conscious citizens, I tell myself.

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Anti-Lanka protests in Tamil Nadu claim second life FRIDAY, 22 MARCH 2013 A 30-year-old man Friday died after setting himself ablaze in Tamil Nadu over Sri Lankan Tamils' issue, said police as protests continued against the island nation's government across the state. Vikram suffered severe burns after he set himself ablaze at an anti-Sri Lanka protest in a suburban area here Thursday night. He was taken to a government hospital, where he died later of his injuries. He is the second person to immolate himself in the on-going protests. Earlier this month, Mani of Cuddalore district died after he too set himself ablaze, demanding action against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for war crimes committed against the Tamils there. Protesting activists also demanded referendum among Lankan Tamils for creation of a separate Tamil 'Eelam' state. Lawyers in temple town Madurai and Salem district also staged demonstrations against Sri Lanka.(Indian Express) Another Indian self-immolates over Lankan issue [ Friday, 22 March 2013, 12:00.04 PM GMT +05:30 ] A 28-year-old man, who attempted self-immolation allegedly over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, succumbed to his injuries in Tamil Nadu on Friday. Vikram, battling for his life at a government hospital in Chennai after he set himself ablaze at suburban Nerkundram on Thursday evening, died this morning, police said. Tamil Nadu has been witnessing protests by several pro-Tamil groups and students demanding that Sri Lankan government be made accountable for alleged war crimes. Police said, Vikram, who was spotted in a public meeting organised to espouse the cause of suffering Sri Lankan Tamils at suburban Redhills last night, doused himself with kerosene and set himself ablaze. Vikram, who suffered more than 80 per cent burns, was rushed to Kilpauk Medical College hospital, where he succumbed to injuries this morning.

Sampanthan welcomes resolution and dismisses criticism of In

• 'ஜெனீவா தீர்மானத்தை வரவேற்கிறோம்': சம்பந்தன்
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21 March 2013 Welcoming the adoption of the UNHRC resolution 22/1 on Sri Lanka, the leader of the TNA, R Sampanthan, praised India's support to it.

Asked for TNA's position on the passing of the resolution in an interview to BBC Tamil, R Sampanthan, said:

"We welcome the passing of the resolution. The resolution was tabled a few weeks ago.. there were changes in the final days, however, this resolution is along the lines of the resolution previously passed."

Stating that the inclusion of the office of the UN High Commissioner's expert report was an important component of the resolution, Sampanthan stated that the resolution called for the implementation of the report's recommendations.

"Although the resolution does not call for an international investigation, when it calls for the implementation of the office of UN High Commissioner's report, this [an international investigation] is included in that."
"The most important thing is that the resolution needed to be passed. Even though the US brought a stronger resolution initially, in order to get the resolution passed with the support of other countries, it accepted the views of other countries, and got it passed."

Expressing happiness at the passing of the resolution, Sampanthan pointed once again to the reference to an international investigation via the HC's report, and that Sri Lanka was being asked to hold an credible and independent investigation.

"Instead of focusing on the parts that we are not content with, it's important to view it as a whole," he continued.

Asked if the TNA was content with India's position on the resolution, Sampanthan replied:

"They voted in favour of the resolution. They did not vote against it."

Dismissing criticism of India for not actively supporting the resolution, Sampanthan defended India stating that there were no reports the government of India had worked against the resolution, and did not take up such a position in their parliament or public statements.

"India voted in favour of the resolution. That's an important point. They voted in favour last time too. Last time, it was not known whether they would vote in favour or against till the final moment."
"In order to solve this problem, India's help is essential to us. India's contribution is vital to us. And therefore, we must work with India in a manner that ensures we can receive their help, and continue to receive their help, and also so that India's concern on this issue continues."

Arguing that this was an unavoidable, but vital necessity, Sampanthan said, "I believe we must act acknowledging this."

Daya Master’s somersault
2013-03-22 
Former head of the LTTE media unit, Daya Master, leads a demonstration in Jaffna to oppose the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka. Daya Master, is currently the News Director at the Dish Asia Network (DAN), the only regional TV channel in the country, beamed from Jaffna.

Diaspora Tamils protest in solidarity with Tamil Nadu

22 March 2013
Tamil groups across the world held protests, hunger strikes and awareness events in solidarity with the demonstrating students in Tamil Nadu earlier this week.

Hundreds of primary school students in Idinthakarai and Kanchipurum marched through the streets of Tamil Nadu wearing masks of 12-year-old Balachandran Prabhakaran, who was executed by Sri Lankan Army soldiers.

 Students in York University Canada held a token 24 hour strike, along with students in Australia and Norway.

York University Canada

Australia

Toronto

Protests were also held in London, Toronto, Denmark and France.

France

Denmark

London

CEB proposal, a scheme to rob the poor and give the rich

Friday, 22 March 2013 

The Ceylon Electricity Board has proposed a proposal that will rob the poor while granting concessions the rich, the National Movement of Electricity Consumers said.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday (21), the Movement’s advisor Bandula Chandrasekara said that the proposed electricity tariff hike shows that not all consumers will be charged the same.

He noted that while the commercial sector will see a price hike of 10% the industry sector will see to a price hike of 20%.

Noting that this is a death blow to the industry sector, he added that small and medium Enterprises, which comprise of 99% of the business ventures in the country, will be the effected most.

Noting that this is against the government’s policy of supporting the SME sector, Mr. Chandrasekara further emphasized that while a small grocery store will see to a 8-9% price hike in the electricity bill, a supermarket will only see a prices hike of 5%.

But it is the domestic consumer who will be hit the worst as the price hike of the domestic line will be around 68%, he said.

Noting that 75% of the population’s domestic electricity usage is below 90 units, Mr. Chandrasekara said that the price hike proposal would increase the CEB bill of the poor by 60% -100%.

For the first time in history, officials have taken measured to decrease bills of the poor by twofold and decrease those of the squandering rich.

Adding that the proposed price hike scheme was banned by the Supreme Court in 2008 as it was proved to be unsuccessful, Mr. Chandrasekara further said that therefore this scheme was illegal.

Courtesy - Mirror.lk