Saturday, April 20, 2013

‘Long War, Cold Peace’ & the Return of Dayan Jayatilleka

Kalana Senaratne-20 Apr, 2013After what seemed to be a brief but palpable and conspicuous absence from serious public engagement (in late 2012), Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has returned from Paris; a return marked by his characteristic interventions in the press and the release of a book, titled ‘Long War, Cold Peace: Conflict and Crisis in Sri Lanka’ (Vijitha Yapa, 2013). The book, his second major publication on Sri Lanka, brings together most of his writings on Sri Lankan affairs which were published in the papers during the past few years.

This is a timely intervention; not only because the author was a former diplomat who had staunchly and successfully defended the country overseas, but mostly because his views on numerous domestic and foreign policy matters seem to run counter to the dominant ideological positions adopted by the present regime. The confluence of these factors makes Jayatilleka’s intervention a coruscating and critical one, with the delightful (or dangerous?) potential of irking the regime; especially a firm and unflinching political administrator like Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, than a seemingly indecisive political leader like President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

But how does Jayatilleka’s approach differ from the regime’s, on some of the critical problems confronting the country? Is there a mismatch in these two approaches, or is it a mere chimera?

Armed conflict, investigations and human rights

The regime’s understanding about the consequences of the armed conflict, about what had to be done to avert international pressure, was always problematic. Its propagandists considered the bloody and necessary confrontation with the LTTE to be a ‘humanitarian mission’, with zero-civilian casualties; therefore, investigations were considered wholly unnecessary, and calls for human rights protection were often dismissed. But these were never going to be convincing arguments in the diplomatic arena, especially in the long term. The conflict was, at best, only partly ‘humanitarian’, and a policy of ‘zero-civilian casualties’ was simply that, a policy.

Jayatilleka, to be sure, was a staunch defender of the crushing of the LTTE. He had advocated the need to defeat the LTTE for a long time (even in his 1995 book, ‘Sri Lanka: The Travails of Democracy). And he argues in his latest book, rather unsurprisingly, that “at no time were civilians wittingly targeted as a matter of policy” and that issues pertaining to “accountability will be dealt with by each society at its own pace” (p. 348). But Jayatilleka begins to adopt a different and useful stance when he advocates the need to carry out investigations into specific incidents or allegations of crimes (as he once informed Radio France Internationale). The war, as the LLRC Report showed, was not squeaky clean; and Jayatilleka has had no problem in endorsing it. This is unlike the regime’s approach; a regime which is determined to undermine the relevance of the LLRC. Ironically, the regime has decided to appoint a member of the LLRC as Jayatilleka’s successor to Paris at a time when the country is being censured for not properly implementing the LLRC’s recommendations.

Jayatilleka also rejects cultural relativism. He writes: “Human rights are not a Western invention or booby-trap, to be decried and shunned like the devil. Though there is a constant attempt to use human rights as an instrument to undermine national sovereignty, the answer is not to shun human rights or to pretend that these are intrinsically inscribed in our culture and therefore automatically observed, but to protect them ourselves and to maintain verifiably high standards of human rights observance nationally” (p. 351). Therefore, there is support for “a strong, independent Commission on Human Rights, Equality and Elimination of Discrimination headed by a person with international credentials and of acknowledged international stature” (p. 349). Furthermore, Jayatilleka seeks to uphold international law while continuing to regard state-sovereignty and sovereign states as the cornerstones of the world order (an approach similar to the late Lakshman Kadirgamar’s).

Sri Lanka, the West and the UN Continue reading »

WikiLeaks: A Maldivian Residing In Colombo Arrested For Male’s Bomb Blast

April 21, 2013

“A blast in Male’s Sultan Park on the afternoon of September 29 wounded 12 foreign tourists. Foreign Minister Shahid told Ambassador the same day that the Government of Maldives (GORM) was shocked by the incident and does not know who was responsible. Eleven arrests have so far been made in connection with the incident. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said that the blast showed the ‘Government has failed to tackle crime’ and ‘is tolerating extremism.’ Post has issued a warden message saying there is no need to cancel travel plans to resorts, but suggesting tourists refrain from nonessential trips to the capital for now. Regional LEGAT and A/LAT from New Delhi traveled over the weekend to Male’ to provide investigative support to the Maldivian Police, and two additional FBI agents will join them this week. The Embassy issued a public statement on October 1 condemning the bombing.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable discusses the bomb blast on September 29, 2007, in Sultan Park near the Islamic Centre in the Maldivian capital Malé. The cable is classified as “Secret” and written on October 7, 2007. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo R obert O. Blake.

The ambassador wrote; “Eleven arrests have been made in connection with the incident. A police spokesman told Minivan news that all arrests were based on forensic evidence. The Australian High Commission in Colombo told Pol Chief that on September 30 a Maldivian regularly residing in Colombo had been arrested in connection with the incident while attempting to leave Maldives. Embassy later learned that the individual had actually left Maldives, but was detained on arrival at the Colombo airport at the request of Maldivian officials and returned to Male’.”

Under the subtitle the ambassador wrote; “Foreign Minister Shahid told Ambassador on September 29 that the Government of Maldives (GORM) was shocked by the incident and does not know who is responsible. President Gayoom on Sunday said publicly that groups calling for the boycott of Maldives resorts must ‘share some responsibility’ for the incident. He did not name, but was clearly referring to, the UK-based group Friends of Maldives which has encouraged tourists to boycott those resorts that are owned by members of the Government. Ruling party spokesman Ibrahim Shafiu told the website Minivan News that ‘in a situation like this, you think about who your enemies are… unless proved otherwise by the investigative authorities, we will be unable to believe they are not involved in this.’ One unnamed government official speculated in the local press that the attack, which occurred during Ramadan, could have been conducted ‘by jihadists on our tourism industry.’”

“In response to requests from President Gayoom and local law enforcement officials, LEGAT and A/LAT arrived in Male’ on September 30 and October 1 from New Delhi to provide investigative support to the Maldivian Police. Two FBI agents from the Los Angeles Field Office of the Extraterritorial Investigations Unit will arrive in Male on October 3 to provide additional assistance. The presence of the team from Los Angeles will not be publicized. The Foreign Minister thanked the Ambassador for the USG’s quick and helpful response. In a phone consultation with RSO, LEGAT noted that training on crime scene investigations provided earlier to Maldivian law enforcement authorities under ATA and other programs appeared to have paid rich dividends. Maldives police had immediately moved to secure and cordon off the blast site, preserving important evidence and collecting relevant material in evidence bags. They also immediately called for assistance. This is far above the standard normally encountered in South Asia in handling crime scenes and should greatly assist FBI and other agencies in evaluating what happened in Male’.” the ambassador further wrote.

Read the cable below for further details;

Remembering Fr.Kili: A walk down memory lane

: 20 APRIL 2013; BY K.SIVAPALAN

Rev.Fr. Mariampillai Xavier Karunaratnam (1951-2008), or ‘Kili’ Father as he was known affectionately was assassinated on 20th April, 2008 by a deep penetration unit of the Sri Lanka Army. We lost two other members of NESOHR previously.Chandra Nehru Ariyanayagam was killed in cold blood by the Sri Lanka Army and Joseph Pararajasingham was brutally murdered by the para military working with the Sri Lankan Army while he was attending the holy mass inside the Church in his hometown Batticaloa.

I came to know Kili (Parrot) Father some time after the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) brokered by the Norwegians although I have heard about him before. When we met for the first time I understood that he has read about my working in the field of Legal Aid and my appearances in courts on behalf of innocent Tamil youths indicted under the two draconian laws, The Emergency Regulations (EMR) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The laws reflected the magnitude of the state terror thrust upon Tamils concealed as the 'law of the land'.

Father Kili was very concerned with the fate of the youth from the Northeast who were arrested under EMR and PTA without having committed any offence and detained for years without being released or indicted in Courts if there were in fact any evidence against them. He was also very worried about the ongoing violations of human rights perpetrated by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

It was an opportune time as there was a breathing space due to the No war- no peace (if not peace) period that was there at least at the beginning of year 2002(CFA was signed on February 22,2002).That made Father to venture with the idea of forming Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR). He wanted people like me to join him in this venture. Many of us on our own way were involved in the field of human rights in Trincomalee, Batticaloa,Jaffna and Vanni. Father was however very keen to adhere to the ‘Paris Principles’ in the composition of its Committee members. He has thought about members from various fields and from different regions and gender balance(our Secretary was Dr.Malathy and we had another lady member from the higher Educational field) within the traditional Tamil homeland at a time when even the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission had no such realization.

As the Chairperson of NESOHR Father was very keen that we should have an all inclusive, exhaustive Charter and we did achieve that. Even Ian Martin, the former Secretary General of Amnesty International and later the UN Secretary Kofi Annan’s Permanent Representative in Nepal and Rory Mungoven, Chief of Asia Pacific region at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva (Who was the UN team’s country Representative in Colombo at that time) were consulted and were highly appreciative of the effort.

Within a short period of existence we produced many Reports by actually interviewing and collecting affidavits from the affected or their next of kin. We produced Mandaithivu-Allaipiddy-Mankumpam (MAM) Report on the 69 persons went missing from Philip Neri Church due to the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and para military group working with them and another Report on Paramanthanaru Massacre where 16 persons were killed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Vanni. We were able to bring out the Book ‘Massacres of Tamils 1956-2008’ in Tamil, English and German languages with the assistance of Statistical Centre for Northeast(SNE). A Booklet on the massacres of Tamils in the name of peace by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKP) was published by the Delhi Tamil Students Union with our text. Apart from these Reports and books we brought out monthly reports from Kilinochchi on the ground situation in Vanni upto January,2009 when our office was destroyed and our operatives could no longer work on facts gathering on the ground. All this would not have been possible without the guidance of Kili father.

Assistance to poor, oppressed and affected people whether through forcible uprooting by the Armed Forces of the GOSL, war or Tsunami was always at the heart of father. He was the Chairperson of the Consortium of Vanni NGOs prior to becoming the Chairperson of NESOHR. He was instrumental in organizing in Vanni Psychological assistance to war and Tsunami affected people. Through his efforts we were able to take the problems of people in Vanni including Human Rights violations if any and child recruitment to their Forces by ltte. Whenever they were found to be under age they were released in the presence of UNICEF and NESOHR officials to their parents. Father was also instrumental in getting Ltte to sign the Agreement against child recruitment. Father lead NESOHR delegation to Geneva at the invitation of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was adamant that I attend the Advanced Course in International Human Rights Law and advocacy conducted by ISHR in Geneva.

All the visitors and officers, whether they were Ambassadors or from UN Agencies or from INGOs or from NGOs in the South were always welcome to NESOHR Office. Father always invited our Sinhala friends from South to participate in our Human Rights day functions and delegations from Buddhist Priests and Civil Societies in the south were always welcome. It is sad that many of these officials were quiet when people in Vanni almost 400,000 towards the end of the war were being attacked for months by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces especially by the Air Force. International Human Rights NGOs and UN Agencies who were so vociferous about child recruitment by ltte turned a blind eye when the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were bombing and killing pregnant women and babies in their arms. U.N.Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict and UNICEF went dumb.

An aspect of his life which was not known to many was his love for environment. His church in the remote village of Vavunikkulam off Mankulam was like an Oasis. All green and cool. You could find all the plants, herbal or otherwise. Even the landscape was designed by him. When you enter its precincts you could feel the temperature falling by many degrees. It was a pity that I could not spend even few days there although he has invited me many times to do so. Father also served as the correspondent of Veritas radio service for some time in Vanni.

Father was born in the village of Karaveddy in Jaffna, was a teacher and a Bank official before being ordained as a priest. Like many other priests before him who were killed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces he gave his life in the service of mankind. I am proud to have served as his Deputy in NESOHR.

“Dialogue is born from an attitude of respect for the other person, from the conviction that the other person has something good to say”-Pope Francis

K.Sivapalan is a prominent Human Rights lawyer and the Deputy Chairperson of Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR).

US HR report accuses government of unlawful killings

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012

Sri Lanka

Secretary Kerry on the Release of the Human Rights Report

Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty republic. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was reelected to a second six-year term in January 2010, and the parliament, which was elected in April 2010, share constitutional power. The government is dominated by the president’s family; two of the president’s brothers hold key executive branch posts as defense secretary and minister of economic development, while a third brother is the speaker of parliament. A large number of other relatives, including the president’s son, also serve in important political or diplomatic positions. Independent observers generally characterized the presidential, parliamentary, and local elections as problematic. Elections were fraught with violations of the election law by all major parties and were influenced by the governing coalition’s use of state resources. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.

The major human rights problems were attacks on and harassment of civil society activists, persons viewed as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sympathizers, and journalists by persons allegedly tied to the government, creating an environment of fear and self-censorship; involuntary disappearances as well as a lack of accountability for thousands who disappeared in previous years; and widespread impunity for a broad range of human rights abuses, particularly involving police torture, and attacks on media institutions and the judiciary.

Other serious human rights problems included unlawful killings by security forces and government-allied paramilitary groups, often in predominantly Tamil areas; torture and abuse of detainees by police and security forces; poor prison conditions; and arbitrary arrest and detention by authorities. Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. Denial of fair public trial remained a problem, and during the year there were coordinated moves by the government to undermine the independence of the judiciary. The government infringed on citizens’ privacy rights. There were restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and movement. While citizens generally were able to travel almost anywhere in the island, there continued to be police and military checkpoints in the north, and de facto high-security zones and other areas remained off limits to citizens. Authorities harassed journalists critical of the government and self-censorship was widespread. The president exercised authority under the 18th amendment to maintain control of appointments to previously independent public institutions that oversee the judiciary, police, and human rights. Lack of government transparency was a serious problem. Violence and discrimination against women were problems, as were abuse of children and trafficking in persons. Discrimination against persons with disabilities and against the ethnic Tamil minority continued, and a disproportionate number of victims of human rights violations were Tamils. Discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation and against persons with HIV/AIDS were problems. Limits on workers’ rights and child labor remained problems.

The government prosecuted a very small number of officials implicated in human rights abuses but had yet to hold anyone accountable for alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law that occurred during the conflict that ended in 2009.

During the year unknown actors suspected of association with progovernment paramilitary groups committed killings, kidnappings, assaults, and intimidation of civilians. There were persistent reports of close, ground-level ties between paramilitary groups and government security forces

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life

There were reports that the government, its agents, or its paramilitary allies committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, but reliable statistics on such killings were difficult to obtain, because past complainants were killed and some families feared reprisals if they filed complaints.

Among these arbitrary or unlawful killings, there were reports of suspects detained by police or other security forces who died under questionable circumstances. For example, on April 15, police arrested Chandraisiri Dassanayake, a main witness in a human rights violation case against the Wadduwa Police, for possession of marijuana. He later died in a cell in the Wadduwa police station. In response, the inspector general of police transferred several officers from the Wadduwa station, including the officer in charge, to other police stations.

While the overall number of extrajudicial killings appeared to decrease from previous years, killings and assaults on civilians by government officials was a problem. For example, on February 29, Waligapola ruling party local councilor Sabha Wasantha fatally beat Amila Pradeep Kumar. On March 12, Wasantha surrendered to the Rathnapura police. The case continued at year’s end.

In December 2011 chairman of Tangalle village council Sampath Chandra Pushpa Vidanapathirana and several in his group killed UK citizen and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker Khuram Shaikh Zaman while he was on holiday at a resort in Tangalle. Zaman’s companion, a Russian national, was beaten, stabbed, and raped. She was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. Chandra Pushpa Vidanapathirana killed an elderly woman in Thalunna in the period preceding the 2010 presidential elections and was released on grounds that police found him mentally ill. He was released on bail and on July 29 was reinstated into the governing party.

While some killings were criminal acts, others appeared to be politically motivated, targeting persons believed to be critical of the government. For example, on June 15, a group of men killed two supporters of the opposition party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) at a campaign meeting in Katuwana. The group of men opened fire on the meeting, killing Edirimannage Malani and Nimantha Heshan and injuring more than a dozen others. Eyewitnesses identified some of the gunmen, including Geeganage Amarasiri, an alleged underworld figure with ties to the local government. On June 19, Amarasiri surrendered to the Tangalla High Court, which released Amarasiri on bail. Amarasiri remained in remand, and his case continued at the end of the year.

Although the number of killings associated with progovernment paramilitary groups declined from previous years, there were persistent reports that the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), led by Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare Douglas Devananda, engaged in intimidation, extortion, corruption, and violence against civilians in Jaffna. For example, on March 4, EPDP member Kanthasuwamy Jagadeswaran sexually abused and killed 13-year-old Jesudasan Lakshini. On March 16, the Kayts Magistrate Court remanded Jagadeswaran to Jaffna Prison.

On March 14, police arrested ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) local government member L. H. Dharamasiri for the rape and murder in February of Nayana Nilimini and her daughter Kavindya. Authorities removed Dharamasiri from his position as secretary to the minister of state administration and home affairs for his involvement. Dharmasiri remained in remand at year’s end.

Unknown actors suspected of association with progovernment paramilitary groups committed killings and assaulted civilians. There were persistent reports of close ties between progovernment paramilitary groups such as the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and government security forces. Whereas these groups served more of a military function during the war, often working in coordination with security forces, they increasingly took on the characteristics of criminal gangs as they sought to solidify their territory and revenue sources in the postwar environment.

Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast a report in 2009 on events at the end of the civil war, followed by a more extensive documentary made available on the Internet June 2011 entitled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields,” which purported to show graphic evidence of army forces committing human rights violations, including footage of extrajudicial executions. Controversy subsequently arose over the authenticity of the video. On January 2, Army Commander Jayasuriya appointed a five-member “initial fact-finding inquiry” named the Court of Inquiry (COI) to inquire into observations made by the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on civilian casualties in the final stages of the war. The COI also would probe the Channel 4 video footage. The government’s National Action Plan to Implement the Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, released July 26, assigned the Ministry of Defense and Presidential Secretariat a time frame of six months to examine the authenticity of the allegations in the Channel 4 video and take follow-up action as appropriate. On November 1, the former attorney general and legal advisor to the Cabinet of Ministers, Mohan Peiris, told the UNHRC in Geneva during Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that the army COI held 50 sittings to probe allegations of human rights abuses, to include those raised in the Channel 4 video, and recorded statements from 30 witnesses. There were no conclusions published by the COI at year’s end.

On November 9, prisoners rioted at Welikada prison during a search by the police Special Task Force (STF) for illegal arms and drugs in the prison. The prisoners reportedly broke into the prison armory, and a gunfight broke out between prisoners and the STF. Twenty-seven prisoners were killed and more than 40 people were injured, including prisoners, STF personnel, prison guards, and others. Human rights groups and opposition politicians alleged that some of the dead prisoners had been executed. Separate investigations by Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera and by Prisons Commissioner General P.W.Kodippili found that overcrowding of prisons, easy access to narcotics, and resistance by prisoners to the STF search operations were the main reasons for the riot. A three-member committee commissioned by Gajadeera was due to hand over a final report on the incident on December 10, but it was granted a two-month extension by the government to conduct further investigations into available evidence.

On June 28, LTTE detainees took three prison officials at the Vavuniya Prison hostage when the police tried to escort a detainee from the prison under a court order. A combined police and Special Task Force operation rescued the three hostages a day later. Several prison guards and 26 inmates were injured during the siege. Civil rights activists alleged prison authorities assaulted inmates during and after the siege. Prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban died on July 4 while receiving treatment at the Ragama Hospital. Another detainee, Mariadas Navis Dilrukshan, died on August 8 following several weeks in a coma.

b. Disappearance Read more

Friday, April 19, 2013

We All Are Tamils, We All Are Sinhalese And We All Are Muslims

By Laksiri Fernando -April 19, 2013 |

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

I am saying it should be the spirit. I am not asking anyone to shed away or denounce their ethnicity or religion. We all love the way we are and what we believe in or not believe in. In this small Island of ours we should live like brothers and sisters with equal rights and also equal responsibilities, without rancour or violence. Although I am not there bodily now, my ‘spirit’ appears to be haunting this Island all the time, day and night. I admit that it may be easy for a so-called Sinhalese like me to say it, but difficult for a Tamil or even a Muslim to reckon with the idea given the past and bitter experiences. Therefore, the ‘Sinhalese’ have a major responsibility to give a helping hand to others.

One may consider my call as a dubious way to divide their ‘national spirit.’ I simply ask them to reconsider their position.

I was just thirteen when I lost a dear friend Perumal during the riots of 1958. He was not killed but left Moratuwa eternally not to see him again. It was just thereafter I saw this article by E. W. Adikaram that “Communalist is a Lunatic.’ He asked the question ‘how do you know you are a Sinhalese or a Tamil?’ Then the usual answer was ‘my father is or was a Sinhalese or Tamil.’ When asked how do you know your father was a Sinhalese or Tamil, he reported that people used to get uncertain. It can go on backwards and then no one is sure. His argument was that, based on Buddhism, ethnic identity is an illusion.

But I may put it mildly to say that ethnic identities are conventional. They are relative truths but not absolutes. There are differences but those differences are not reason to dominate, discriminate or contempt others based on history, numerical strengths or theories. One may ask the question: how could you equate 75 per cent with 11 per cent, 15 per cent or 9 per cent? It is a matter of quality and not quantity. It is a matter of equal opportunity and equal recognition, but both should be in practice and not in theory alone.

When I was at Peradeniya we had this famous Vasantha (Raja) as a close friend but we never thought him as a Tamil. Neither did he treat us differently. ‘Raja’ thing came to be known only later. Yet, no difference. Those were the good old days, fast changing even at that time. I knew a person named George in the science faculty who was considered to be a Tamil and after graduation, came to know another person named Joe quite closely who was by all ‘attributes’ a Sinhalese. I was later amused to know that they were in fact brothers. Werner Sollors gives numerous examples of this genre to show the absurdity of rigid characterizations in his ‘Beyond Ethnicity’ and ‘Neither Black Nor White and Yet Both.’

In early 1983, I was invited to a seminar somewhere in Batticaloa to speak on ‘Marx and trade unions’ and accepted the invitation to know what was going on in that part of the Island. Only thereafter I came to know that the invitation came from the EPRLF. I stayed the night before in a Muslim house at Akkarapattu. The mother of my friend came to serve me at dinner and we could watch TV along with my friend’s sisters after dinner. They were only wearing their hijab. That mother was exactly like my mother.

As a way of an introduction, at the seminar, I said that I am a so-called Sinhalese and in fact spoke in Sinhala which was translated. All of them smiled. I came to know K Padmanabha, leader of the EPRLF thereafter and also Varadaraja Perumal. I believe even Suresh Premachandran was there. It was unfortunate that they had to take up arms and follow a violent path even for a while. The same goes for the JVP activists.

Look at Karuna Amman (Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan) today. He appears a perfect gentleman. This doesn’t absolve him from anything horrible he has done. It is best that he genuinely confesses. He was a top notch leader for the Eelam struggle and now a Minister in a so-called Sinhala Cabinet. This is a good lesson for those who wanted to reinvent the wheel again or follow those who cry for a separate struggle. I came to know Lawrence Thilakar in Geneva in late 1980s and he was a perfect gentleman under normal circumstances. No one could say he was a terrorist. I believe it is largely the mistaken ideology and mesmerized fanaticism that made him or anyone different. I am not sure, however, whether this could be said about everyone. Some may be disposed to violence and aggression largely by upbringing or ‘nature.’

The same goes for the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its fire brand leader Rev. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara or anyone in the same organization. His violent disposition does not good for a Buddhist monk. I don’t know anyone in that organization to say whether they are ‘perfect gentlemen’ in their ordinary life or not. They or anyone else, however, has no right whatsoever to denigrate other religions and attack business enterprises of other communities just because they are irritated with other people’s religious practices, Halal or Abaya. There is a big difference between those who struggle to gain their rights, and those who try to suppress other people’s rights. The following is what the Rock Edit XII of Emperor Asoka said.

“One should not honour only one’s own religion and condemned the religions of others, but one should honour others’ religions for this or that reason. So doing, one helps one’s own religion to grow and renders service to the religions others too. In acting otherwise one digs the rave of one’s own religion and also does harm to other religions.”

Sri Lanka undoubtedly is a beautiful and a blessed country in which all communities and religions can live in peace and harmony. One of our predicaments might be the space and even at present over 20 million people have to live in 65,610 square kilometres. Sustainable urban living might be the answer, leaving maximum land for cultivation and environmental protection. Sustainable development is necessary in its broadest sense of the term without neglecting the bridging of income gaps vertically and horizontally. Poverty should be eradicated as the number one priority of all ethnic communities.

King Prithvi Narayan Shah (in 1848) equated Nepal to a ‘flower garden of thirty two Jatis and four Varnas.’ Imagine the beauty of that thinking. Sri Lanka also can be a beautiful ‘flower garden of three Jatis and four religions.’ This is not an idiom from the West but from our own region.

With all the prospects for progress and harmony, one might wonder why our people tumble into destructive conflicts and violence again and again without learning proper lessons from the past. A major blame undoubtedly should go to the political leaders of all political parties and all communities. We, voters ourselves should be blamed for electing them again and again without checking their proper credentials. The following was what Martin Wickremasinghe, a renowned literary figure in the country, said about this predicament in his “Impetus for the Growth of a Multiracial Culture (972).”

“The exploitation of language, race and religion by politicians is partly due to their inability to identify themselves with the common people or the greater nation. There is a cultural unity among the common people in spite of differences of religion, language and race.”

Vavuniya land to be acquired

April 18, 2013

The government is to acquire a large area of land in Vavuniya to permanently build a military camp.

According to the Lands Ministry, the owners of the land located in close proximity to the A9 highway have already been informed of this move.

The Lands Ministry says the land acquisition is being carried out legally and the owners will be compensated accordingly.

An army board of inquiry had recently ruled that the government has an absolute right to maintain its armed forces anywhere in the island according to the strategic and security needs.

It noted that a present the Tamil Diaspora operating from foreign countries are trying to de-stabilize Sri Lanka and so long as foreign governments give them a free hand their activities would pose a clear and present danger to the national security of Sri Lanka.

“Hence there is an absolute need to locate our armed forces at strategically important locations. However the Board recommends that Military bases should be located in such a manner so as to cause minimum inconvenience to the public,” the army board said.

Tamil political parties have raised objections to the presence of army camps in the north following the end of the war.(Colombo Gazette)

Southern fishermen returned due to oppose. Arrived for fishing at Maathalan

Friday , 19 April 2013

Fishermen in 20 boats to catch "Kadal Attai" came two days back to Puthukudiyiruppu Maathalan locality, but due to the resistance shown by the Mathalan locality fishermen they returned back.

Continuous illegal activities by the southern fishermen are occurring in the Mullaitheevu coastal line areas.

On last Wednesday a large quantity of fishermen in 20 boats sailed to Maathalan locality to catch Kadal Attai sea insects.

Meanwhile the Mathalan locality fishermen threatened the southern fishermen “if boats moves in, they would scorch by dousing petrol. This caused conflict for both sectors.

Military came to the area and send back the southern fishermen away. Meanwhile the southern fishermen left saying they would come back.

Mullaitheevu district Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources circles notified Maathalan fishermen federation has not permitted the 20 southern fishermen to do fishing trade in Mathalan locality.

Friday , 19 April 2013

Getting Our Priorities Right

The Ven Maduluwawe Sobitha has launched a movement where he has identified the Executive Presidency as the root cause for our problems of injustice and conflicts

By Shanie -April 20, 2013

Word over all, beautiful as the sky,
Beautiful that war and all its deeds of carnage must in time be utterly lost,
That the hands of the sisters Death and Night incessantly softly wash again, and ever again, this soil’d world:
For my enemy is dead, a man as divine as myself is dead,.
I look where he lies white-faced and still in the coffin – I draw near,
Bend down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the coffin.”
from Reconciliation, Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

“Less passionate the long war throws
its burning thorn about all men.
caught in our grief, we share one wound,
and cry one dialect of pain.

We have who fired the house,
whose easy mischief spilt first blood,
under one raging roof we lie
the fault no longer understood.

But as our twisted arms embrace
the desert where our cities stood,
death’s family likeness in each face
must show, at last, our brotherhood.”
- from The Long War, Laurie Lee (1914-97)eaneHeany)

Over the week-end before our National New Year, Christians celebrated the Festival of Easter. It was preceded by Maundy Thursday when Jesus, on the day before he was crucified and in an act of humility, washed the feet of his disciples. It is a tradition that Christians have maintained over the years. On that Thursday this year, Pope Francis visited the Casa del Marmo, a youth detention centre just outside Rome, and washed the feet of twelve inmates including two women. Similarly, in Canterbury, Archbishop Justin Welby washed the feet of twelve lay persons of both genders, of all ages and all faiths. It was no doubt a symbolic gesture but full of meaning for humility, healing and reconciliation in the secular world. It is in that same spirit that Walt Whitman wrote the above poem at the conclusion of the American Civil War. A soldier laments that war, in the final analysis, clashes with the natural order of life. He grieves over the death of a soldier on the ‘other’ side, and as an act of reconciliations, kisses that dead body as it lies in the coffin. Laurie Lee’s poem was also written after another civil war – the Spanish Civil War in which Lee reportedly participated and found disenchantment in the end. .

Margaret Thatcher who died last week was the Prime Minister when the British forces inflicted a crushing defeat on Argentina in the Falklands War. At the conclusion of the war, a thanksgiving service was held at St Paul’s Cathedral. The then Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcee preached the sermon at what was expected to be a triumphalist moment. But Archbishop Runcee reportedly disappointed and even infuriated Thatcher and the leading figures in the Conservative establishment. Instead of triumphalism , the Archbishop, who in the Second World War had won the Military Cross as a Tank Commander, spoke of reconciliation, and of the need to see our neighbours in the world as brothers and sisters. We should not be just mouthing opinions and thanksgivings that the fashion of the moment judges acceptable. We need to deepen and enlarge our compassion and to purify our thanksgiving He added, ‘The parent who comes here mourning the loss of a son may find here consolation, but also a spirit that enlarges our compassion to include all those Argentinian parents who have lost sons.’ As the good Archbishop pointed out, triumphalism is a dangerous attitude to possess. Peace and reconciliation will be mere empty words if we are not able to show understanding, respect and compassion to the ‘other’. Life will be fraught with danger and uncertainty for all of us if confrontation and polarisation continues as now, four years after the LTTE has been decisively crushed. We need to take a hard look at ourselves, at the priorities we have set ourselves in our development plans and to change course where necessary if the country is to move forward. We need to move away from confrontational politics to diverting our resources to genuine development.

Health Sector

Last week’s newspaper reports quoted the Chairman of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation as saying that there was an acute shortage of essential drugs in our Hospitals. Some of the drugs in short supply were for treating life-threatening illnesses like cancer but there was no budgetary allocation available to purchase them. We have no reason to believe that the Chairman was exaggerating the actual position. Surely, this is a scandalous state of affairs. Is it therefore any wonder that seriously ill patients are advised to take treatment in private hospitals. Sadly the majority of our people cannot afford the treatment that is available in private hospitals even if such hospitals are located near their homes. It also happens that expensive drugs are often not available in state hospitals and patients are advised to purchase those drugs in the open market and bring it to the hospital for the treatment to be given. Patients with limited financial resources just cannot afford to buy drugs and injections in the open market at prices which can run into several hundreds of thousand rupees.

One cannot fault the Ministry of Health for this state of affairs. They have to work within the amount allocated to them which obviously is far too little to meet the needs of our population. Just as for the education sector, the budgetary allocation is unrealistic. We do not think it is government policy to run down the state health services but that is what is happening as a result of the allocation of the limited resources to sectors other than for health and education which should receive priority. Last month, the Island quoted a report from Verite Research, an independent think tank and research organization: “The 2012 budget had allocated 1.31% of GDP for the health sector. The 2013 budget allocates about the same: 1.33%. However, the actual disbursement in 2012 was cut down to 1.26%. The direct expenditure on education, represented by the allocations made to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and to the Provincial councils on education amounted to only 131 billion accounting for 1.51% of GDP (5.21% of government expenditure). A clear downward trend is evident in the allocations made to the education sector as a percentage of GDP in four successive budgets from 1.81% in 2010 to 1.51% in 2013. This is driven by sharp decreases in current expenditure on education.” Verite Research further stated that Sri Lanka’s huge defence budget which refused to shrink post war has continued to grow, and at almost 19% in Budget 2013. Capital expenditure has been growing faster than recurrent expenditure in the post-war period, and in Budget 2013. Urban development now comes under the Ministry of Defence. But it will be a mistake to think that the huge increase in the allocation fort defence is because of urban development. Verite Research have analysed the Defence budget and found that less than 5% of it is for urban development.

Education Sector

Like health, education is another sector that is being run down. It may not be deliberate but it is happening. When FUTA launched their strike last year, one of their main demands was that the budgetary allocation for education should be 6% of GDP, at least in the longer term. In negotiating a settlement of the strike, the Ministry of Higher Education pledged to work towards that. But they have reneged on that promise, as they seem to have on all other issues as well. The allocation for 2013 is a mere 1.51% of GDP, continuing the trend over the past few years. It is not so much the academic staff but it should be the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors and the University Grants Commission which should be agitating for increased allocations. Some months ago, Professor Arjuna Aluwihare, a former Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the UGC, in a newspaper interview, when asked what the problem was with the UGC and CVCD was, stated that there were a lot of good people in them but they were too far removed from the university dons and the Senates and too close to the government in power. Aluwihare hit the problem right on the head. In all sectors, the authorities should be in constant consultation with the professionals in that field and be able to pick their brains and act taking their advice into consideration. That is what happened when we became independent and that is why our health and education services were the pride not just of Asia but of the world. In higher education, our students had no difficulty in gaining admission to the best universities in the world and our academics and medical professionals could have obtained plum positions anywhere. In fact, some of them did, though sadly to our detriment. But most of them opted to remain and work here under conditions which allowed them academic and professional freedom. Because of their integrity and professional stature, the civil servants and other professionals in the years immediately after independence, were able to deny requests from politicians and Cabinet Ministers that were unjust or that violated the establishment code.

An apolitical public service

Today, we have got our priorities wrong. Those holding high offices in administration, in the university system, among the security forces and the Police and even among those upholding the law and dispensing justice see the need to bow down to the politically powerful. It is outrageous that politically powerful persons are openly associating themselves with groups that not only preach hatred against minority groups but actually use violence against them. While the law is being openly flouted, the Police are mere onlookers seemingly safeguarding the violators. There is not even a semblance of trying to appear impartial. We have succumbed to a culture where public servants deem it more important to please their political masters by taking sides rather than by holding the scales of justice evenly.

The Ven Maduluwawe Sobitha has launched a movement where he has identified the Executive Presidency as the root cause for our problems of injustice and conflicts. Most thinking people would agree with him on that. Indeed, our last two Executive Presidents, including Mahinda Rajapakse, were elected on the basis of a pledge to abolish the Executive Presidency. Chandirika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge at least presented constitutional proposals in 2000 to abolish the Executive Presidency. It is now time to support, without any party political stance, this demand of Ven Sobitha’s movement. The other major demand of his movement that deserves our support is the need to restore the principles of the 17th Amendment and have Commissions for the public services where its members, once appointed, will have the independence and security of tenure for a fixed period, so that they do not have to be subservient to politicians.

The two major political parties are publicly committed to abolishing the Executive Presidency. Many of the other parties have expressed their support for such a step. Civil Society organizations must urge the senior leaders of the SLFP and UNP to bring in constitutional proposals on those lines. Only then can the country move forward. Only then can we prevent obscurantist forces from derailing democracy, pluralism, justice and communal harmony in our country.

Sri Lanka ranked third in Asia

April 18, 2013

Sri Lanka is ranked third among Asian countries on the democracy index for 2012 below India and Bangladesh.

The Democracy Index 2012 report compiled by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit has declared Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as “hybrid regimes” saying that elections in these countries have substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair, according to the report.

The top five democratic countries in the world are Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and New Zealand. North Korea comes last among the 167 countries covered by the index.

India has been ranked 38 in the list of top democracies, Bangladesh is ranked 84, Sri Lanka 89, Bhutan 107, Pakistan 108, Nepal 111 and Afghanistan 152 and China 142.

The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

According to the Times of India, termed a flawed democracy, India scores high in categories such as electoral process and pluralism (9.58) and civil liberties (9.41) but slips when it comes to the functioning of government (7.5) and political participation (6.1). Its score is lowest in political culture (5). India’s overall democracy score stands at 7.52 — as against the highest of 9.93 (Norway).

The report defines a flawed democracy as a country that has free and fair elections and respects basic civil liberties, but suffers significant weaknesses in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.

Top 10 democracies

Norway

Sweden

Iceland

Denmark

New Zealand

Australia

Switzerland

Canada

Finland

Netherlands

Ten worst democracies