TNA vs LTTE – The Northern Provincial Council Stakes

By Harim Peiris -May 2, 2013

Harim Peiris

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been publicly reiterating and recommitting himself to finally holding the long delayed and often postponed Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections in September this year, almost four and half years after the war ended in May 2009. Thereafter despite presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections, in 2010 and 2011, various excuses were contrived and trotted out to postpone the holding of the Northern Provincial Council elections, an election the regime is almost guaranteed to lose to the TNA, if even a semblance of a reasonably fair and free election is held.

That President Rajapaksa personally and his political grouping the UPFA have no political traction with the Tamil people has been repeatedly borne out by the three post war election results and the NPC election would be no different. However, the Rajapaksa regime, never one to shy away from a political fight, is gearing up to fight the election tooth and nail, fair or foul, in the same way it fought the Colombo Municipal Council election, another election it was guaranteed to lose, despite the best efforts of the urbane Milinda Moragoda, the multi ethnic cosmopolitan people of the City of Colombo showing very little affinity or attraction to the regime’s ethno nationalism centered populism.

However, the presidentially declared NPC election raises some important political issues, which require some examination.

LTTE spokesman as UPFA chief candidate

Firstly, according to news reports and political insiders the UPFA is gearing to have its slate of Tamil candidates in the North led by senior LTTE cadre and spokesman Daya Master as its chief minister candidate. Daya Master was to the LTTE, before its demise, what Kheliya Rambukwella is to the UPFA. That the Rajapaksa regime should base its outreach strategy towards the Tamil people by bringing into its ranks the senior LTTE cadres in its captivity denotes besides the absence of a political message of substance to the Tamil electorate, that it also accepts that the LTTE was popular with the Tamil people, otherwise why run its leaders as government candidates? If the LTTE resonated with the Tamil people, we have a political problem, which requires a solution, a proposal for which seems to elude the regime.

By contrast, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which government spokesmen and their allied media like to constantly keep calling LTTE proxies, have since the end of the war distanced themselves from the LTTE in serious and practical ways. Firstly the TNA does not in its democratic politics accommodate any former LTTE leaders (in sharp contrast to the government) and its leader R. Sambanthan has repeatedly stated, for those honest enough to listen, their commitment to finding a political solution to the grievances of the Tamil people within a united Sri Lanka. The democratically elected TNA political leadership, as opposed to the self-appointed Diaspora types, post war quickly and mercifully realized that the politics of separatism of the LTTE could not be pursued without the armed capability and the terrorism of the LTTE. Post war, the old, traditional, upper caste Tamil political leaders of the ITAK also quickly realized that they were no longer under the gun of the LTTE and that Sambanthan and MA Sumanthiran need not fear suffering the same fate of Appapilai Amirathalingam, Neelan Tiruchelvam or Sam Thambimuthu, among a host of other Tamil political leaders.

Vigneswaran as potential TNA CM nominee

In an election the TNA is almost sure to win, in anything short of an electoral sham, the TNA’s choice of seeking to bring in Justice (Rtd) C. V. Wigneswaran as the chief minister for the North is a very astute move on the part of the Tamil political leadership. Firstly, bringing in Justice Wigneswaran as Chief Minister is a continuation of the TNA practice of inducting genuine Tamil community leaders not associated with any militant past into its post war political leadership, as was done in bringing in human rights defender and leading lawyer Sumanthiran as national list MP shortly after the end of the war. Now with the TNA having stayed the course of seeking post war reconciliation through a political solution, it seeks to bring to the leadership of the Tamil community, a most distinguished jurist, with impeccable personal and professional integrity. Though the good judge has not yet formally consented, the contrast with Daya Master cannot be greater. Perhaps the argument to make to the judge, is that it is better to light a candle or in the case of the Northern chief ministership, a flaming torch, than curse the darkness.

Muslims of the North

The Rajapaksa regime has a problem with the Muslim polity. The extreme Sinhala Buddhist nationalist elements that are totally at home in the government and the extremist organizations, which with state patronage have been happily attacking mosques, Muslim businesses and even Muslim women on the streets in their religious attire and this has made Muslim political leaders within UPFA ranks unhappy. Every Muslim political leader is in government with none in the opposition. Despite this the Muslim community is under serious assault. From Rauff Hakeem to Rishard Bathurdeen and counting others such as Athahulla and Hizbulla, the entire Muslim political leadership is in the UPFA, but now, rather quite unhappily so. This should present a golden opportunity for the opposition both the UNP and especially the TNA to woo Muslim support. The UNP just does not seem to have the energy or imagination for any such move, while the TNA seems unwilling to take on the more extreme nationalist elements within the Tamil community, in not promoting justice and reconciliation with the Muslim community, especially in the coastal areas of the Vanni and in the Mannar District. In a situation where the Government is trying to divide and rule in the North, the TNA should have the political sagacity to solve through direct dialogue with the Muslim leadership, the vexed issue of land problems in Mannar, mainly brought about by LTTE period settlement of Tamil people on traditional Muslim lands.

The Northern Provincial Council elections are overdue and an important step in restoring and reestablishing democratic governance in the former conflict areas. It is in the interest of the Sri Lankan State and post war normalization that democratic elections to the provincial assembly in the North be held and a democratically elected provincial administration established.

Will struggle until achieve supremacy

Thursday , 02 May 2013

 “Will protest, until Tamil people achieve supremacy in their own land” was expressed by Tamil National Alliance at the May Day.

"If only our race is liberated,  workers will get liberation said Alliance parliament member Mawai Senathiraja.

The Alliance May Day meeting was held at Kilinochchi Karaichchi divisional council compound.

Amidst strong police protection, parliament members C.Yogeswaran, P.Ariyanenthiran and C.Sritharan attended.

Mawai Senathiraja

Mahinda Rajapakse is held in the convict dock by the international countries, is today celebrating May Day. This is the wonder of Asia said Mawai Senathiraja

Military has impounded Tamils soil and to prevent it, should struggle said Mawai.

P.Ariyanenthiran

What is prevailing now is not permanent peace said parliament member P.Ariyanenthiran.

We are fighting for our land. Merging the north and east is Tamils motherland is also the desire of the Batticaloa district people. We will achieve it, said Ariyanenthiran.

C.Yogeswaran

In year 1961, the district secretariats in north and east got crippled similarly a massive protest is planned by Tamil Arasu Party said parliament member C.Yogeswaran.

He said, “the period is close by, for us to rule us".   A situation should prevail in the motherland of north and east for Tamils to live with self-determination.

Poster illustrating confiscation for Nelliyadi Police station

Thursday , 02 May 2013

Under the land impounding law, to construct a police station in Nelliyadi, a private land is proposed to get confiscated. Concerning this a notification was displayed two days back.

This land is located in the main road proceeding from Nelliyadi to Jaffna, the road leading from Nawalar junction to Kiripalli locality. It comes under Karavetti divisional secretariat J/351 Karanavai east grama sevaka division.

According to the taking over land in terms of law, the Jaffna district Land Development Ministry has published this notification dated 2013.04.22 signed by Jaffna district Land Acquisition officer.

Information says, the said land owner has migrated and in this situation, this action is taken.

On Your Knees Ladies And Gentlemen, On Your Knees!

By Basil Fernando -May 2, 2013 |

Basil Fernando

Suggesting perhaps that the creative imagination of the cartoonist is catching up with the reality of Sri Lanka the Daily Mirror yesterday carried this cartoon as an illustration for its editorial entitled, A case for best legal brains.

The cartoonist created this cartoon in reaction to a photograph which also appeared in the Daily Mirror in which a police officer saluted the controversial UPFA parliamentarian, Duminda Silva.

The cartoonist has extended his imagination from the particular to the general and thus described what every Sri Lankan knows as the transformation that has taken place within the Sri Lankan policing service. To get down on their knees before every politician is now the obligation of every police officer of any rank. Gone are the days when they saluted only the national flag.

It is encouraging to see that the print media is now awakening and is coming to terms with the actual realities of the country. Of course this kind of ‘getting down on all fours’ is not something new. For several years now this transformation has been taking place but the local media was unable or unwilling to place it so graphically before the general public.

In Nepal when the royalty was still ruling there used to be a custom where the women had to drink the water that had been used for washing the king’s feet. No doubt today’s Sri Lankan police will even do that for the politicians who seem to appear to them as more important than even their gods.

Now that the real situation has been so graphically and authentically portrayed surely it will be the duty of the media to expose every aspect of this new servitude of the police to the ruling politicians. Whether the media would do this will depend very much on whether the media houses will refuse to go down on their knees in the same manner as the police officers.

What a creative cartoonist has done is to show the image of the police as any policemen would see it if they look in the mirror. The message that the cartoonist brings is not obvious to the police since a policing system that has gone so low is unlikely to learn any lessons, the message is, in fact, to the public and particularly those who still might retain a critical mind. What kind of protection can the people expect from such policemen? Of course whatBharatha Lakshman Premachandra and others victims of famous assassinations can expect is nothing more.

A more troubling question is as to whether the posture depicted in the cartoon demonstrates the police as a role model and that everybody in society should follow the example and go down on their knees before whoever claims to be a ruling party politician. Is the servitude of the police merely a manifestation of the servitude of the people as a whole?

We should salute a frank cartoonist who has spoken louder than the established media does these days. One way of showing some respect to such work is to keep this cartoon in front of every desk to remind ourselves of what the real Sri Lanka has become today.

(The cartoon and photograph are used courtesy of the Daily Mirror).

Eezham Tamil activist elected to represent youth wing of German left party

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 May 2013, 23:56 GMT]
Balakrishnan Koculan, a 29 year old Eezham Tamil youth activist, was elected to represent the official youth wing of the German Die Linke party on Sunday. In the 6th Federal Congress of the Left Youth -Die Linksjugend [`solid] held at Magdeburg in Germany, Mr. Koculan along with seven other activists were elected by 200 delegates of the youth organization from across several states in Germany, with Koculan getting 52.63% of votes. Speaking to TamilNet, Mr. Koculan urged Tamil youth in the diaspora to challenge the unjust approach of the global establishments towards the Eezham Tamils’ struggle, stressing the necessity of building alliances with progressive forces. 

“Our youth in the diaspora do not face the brutal repression that the Eezham Tamil youth in the homeland face and have greater space for freely expressing their opinions. They should keep in mind that the actors in the western establishments that contributed to Sri Lanka's genocidal war on our liberation struggle cannot be trusted,” Mr. Koculan said.

“The youth should identify those progressive forces that stand with our liberation struggle on principled grounds and build bridges with them,” he further added.

Mr. Koculan, currently a student at Heinrich-Hertz-Europakolleg, is an Eezham Tamil youth activist who is well known among grassroots community circles in Germany. He has also worked towards building solidarity with leftist groups and other oppressed nations. 

The parent party of the Die Linksjugend [`solid], Die Linke, has 76 seats at the German federal parliament and eight members in the European Parliament. The Left is a member of the Party of the European Left and is the largest party in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left grouping in the European Parliament.

BASL And The Judiciary

By Lal Wijenayake -May 2, 2013

Lal Wijenayaka

In the wake of concerns expressed by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and members of the legal profession on the unprecedented transfers of judges and the appointment of a judge of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court by the President bypassing the President of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court, the question is posed as to whether the BASL and/or members of the legal profession has a right to express its concerns on such transfers and appointments.

Under Article 114 of the constitution it is the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that is vested with the power of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of judicial officers. Under article 107 of the constitution as amended by the 18th amendment the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and every other judge of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal is appointed by the President after considering the observations from the Parliamentary Committee. The Parliamentary Committee does not in practice functions and therefore it is the President who makes these appointments.

These powers regarding judges is vested in the JSC and the President on trust that these powers will be used by the JSC as well as the President for the purpose for which these powers are vested with the authorities and for no other collateral purpose.

It is well established as to what is expected from the JSC and the President in the exercise of these powers. It is to uphold the independence of the judiciary. No authority vested with any power under the constitution can exercise those powers in violation of the basic structure of the constitution which is to establish a government based on democratic values.

Two main pillars of such a democratic form of government is the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary.

Therefore, not only the BASL and/or members of the legal profession but any citizen of the country has a right to question any deviation from the trust reposed on these authorities by the people under the constitution.

Therefore the question as to whether the BASL and/or members of the legal profession has a right to question transfers or appointments will depend on the answer to the question whether the authorities has acted in such a way as to infringe on the independence of the judiciary. If it has acted in such a way as to affect the independence of the Judiciary in making such transfers and/or appointments the BASL and/or the members of the legal profession has a right to express its concerns.

It is not the person who is appointed to the Supreme Court that matters. The important question is as to, whether it infringes on the independence of the judiciary or will it be seen to be an infringement of the independence of the judiciary. The appointment made to the Supreme Court bypassing the President of the Court of Appeal and deviating from tradition needs an explanation.

The people are entitled to know the reasons for such an action and if it is not forthcoming it will lead to speculations that will cause loss of faith in the administration of justice. This is so, specially as this extra ordinary situation has arisen in the heels of the ill fated impeachment process against the Chief Justice and the actions of the executive that followed, that has gravely damaged the standing of the judiciary of our country and challenged the concept of separation of powers.

*Lal Wijenayake – Chairman, BASL Standing Committee on Rule of Law

On The Road From The Clash Of Cultures To The Meeting Of The Minds

By Lakshman I.Keerthisinghe -May 2, 2013 

Lakshman Keerthisinghe

Last Saturday morning while relaxing on my armchair I heard a beautiful song played over the radio titled Kusumalatha Ramalingam written by the veteran lyricist Sunil T.Gamage which spoke about the plight of a young girl born to a Sinhala mother and a Tamil father. The youngster sang that her name is Kusumalatha Ramalingam and was questioning Lord Buddha and Lord Murugan as to her non-acceptance by both communities one in the South and the other in the North of her country for she was unable to understand the reason. She sang ‘I know the Subashitha and also the Tirukkural but please tell me where do I, find the answer to this problem.’ She appeared to be lost on the road from the clash of cultures to the meeting of the minds. Plainly put isn’t this the question that is plaguing our Nation today?

Mundane questions such as the demand to sing the national anthem in Tamil and Sinhala seem to take center stage on the road from the clash of the cultures. In Sri Lanka the National Anthem has been sung in Sinhala from the time it was introduced with the participation of all Sri Lankans of all communities without any heartaches and with the intervention of the diaspora and other parties hell bent on de-stabilizing our Nation this matter has been brought up to create disunity among our people. Even in India home to the large majority of Tamils the National Anthem is not sung in Tamil. The Indian National anthem, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The lyrics were rendered into English by Tagore himself. Thus it is very clear that this question is brought up in Sri Lanka by people interested in creating a division among our people.

Sinhalese culture encompasses many rituals and tradition which are greatly influenced by Buddhist festivals as well as Hindu rituals. A majority of Sri Lankan Tamils follow Hindu customs and traditions similar to south Indian rituals. A great majority of the Sinhalese including the President and a majority of the Ministers in the Cabinet and Members of Parliament are devotees of Lord Murugan and pray at the Kataragama Devale on a regular basis while the Tamil Hindus are also devout followers of Lord Murugan. Both the Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindu communities celebrate the New Year on the same date in April and follow the same auspicious times on that day.

The conflicts and rifts between the two communities that have been magnified to unprecedented proportions by disgruntled politicians greedy for power and the diaspora aided by the USA and allied Western Nations aiming to establish a puppet regime in Sri Lanka have been principally based on the use of language. The President has realized this fact and established a separate Ministry for National Integration and has himself studied the Tamil Language and delivers his speeches in Tamil also to the great acceptance of our Tamil brethren.

It is a fact that one’s own language and culture are precious to their own people and all other communities must respect such differences when living side by side in a multiethnic multicultural society. The Sinhala Buddhists worship Lord Buddha who was born in India and have great veneration for Him as the Greatest Human Being ever born on Earth who preached loving kindness to all living beings as one of the basic tenets of that great Buddhist philosophy. Similarly they also have a great regard for Indian Statesmen such as Mahathma Gandhi and Great Indian Poets like Rabindranath Tagore.

The purported ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka could be amicably resolved by a meeting of the minds of the leaders of the two communities by consultation, compromise and reaching of a final consensus without unwarranted foreign interventions. As the President has said time and again leave Sri Lanka alone in order to reach its own homegrown solution to any disputes that we Sri Lankans may have among ourselves without meddling in the internal affaires of a sovereign state which plea seems to have fallen on the deaf ears of the USA and its allied Western countries. The obstacles placed in the path of reaching such a consensus is due to interested parties having other political agendas up their sleeves and interfering in reaching such a peaceful amicable solution in order to feather their own nests. Our Tamil brethren in the North have held many rallies and exhorted their brethren in the diaspora from attacking Sri Lanka as they have unequivocally held that they are living happily in Sri Lanka with love and friendship from their Sinhala brethren,

Our little island is too small to be divided into many parts. It is obvious that a State of Eelam if established in the North will lead to many problems for our Tamil brethren living and engaged in lucrative businesses in the South Similarly it will adversely affect the other communities living in Sri Lanka as well. Following the defeat ofLTTE, pro-LTTE political party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), also the largest political group representing Sri Lankan Tamil community, dropped its demand for a Tamil Eelam, in favour of a federal solution. There are ongoing bilateral talks between President Rajapaksa‘s UPFA government and the TNA, on a viable political solution and devolution of power. Pro Tamil groups advocating independence for Tamil areas of Sri Lanka continue to run websites and radio telecasts. Since May 19, 2009 Tamil Eelam has ceased to exist as a physical entity but remains as political aspiration among sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. Let all Sri Lankans pray and hope that the meeting of the minds of our leaders would solve this problem forever.

Let all Sri Lankans forget their differences and forgive each other for the mistakes of the past which has caused untold misery and harm to our people and live peacefully united as one in our little beautiful Pearl of the Indian Ocean.
In conclusion let me say with Lord Alfred Tennyson as he said in his famous poem the Idylls of the King on differences and disputes thus:

It is the little rift within the lute,
That by and by will make the music mute,
And ever widening slowly silence all.

Basil commences operation to make his wife the chief minister

Thursday, 02 May 2013 

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has commenced a special operation to get his wife, Pushpa Rajapaksa appointed as the next Chief Minister of the Western Province, sources from the SLFP headquarters said.

Minister Basil Rajapaksa has assigned his wife to coordinate all development programmes in the Gampaha District and has asked all government ministers, MPS and electoral organizers to carry out all development projects in the area under her supervision. Sources said that all governing party members in the Gampaha District have to now meet Basil’s wife to discuss development projects and ministers and MPS from the district are displeased with this latest development.

It is Western province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunge and Basil’s closest associate, Western Province Minister Nimal Lansa who are greatly disturbed by this operation. Prasanna Ranatunge is displeased that he has been limited to looking into the work in the Kelaniya electorate after Minister Mervyn Silva’s removal while Pushpa Rajapaksa has been assigned the development work in the Gampaha District.

Nimal Lansa who was also hopeful of polling the highest number of votes at the next provincial council election is also upset with the current situation.

SLFP Katana organizer, Dr. Sudharshani Fernandopulle has complained to Namal Rajapaksa that there was undue interferences in her electorate. “It is the President and not Minister Basil who decides on the Chief Minister,” Namal had said.

President sidelines Nivard Cabraal

Thursday, 02 May 

The President has accepted that Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal is a liar and his powers are likely to be curtailed, sources from the government said.

The President has closely studied the report presented by a member of the Presidential staff on the failure of every project that was mooted by the Central Bank Governor. The President had then told his staff, “I though this fellow was smart. All I can now see is that he is a liar. If I had sidelined PB after taking this fellows advice, the entire government would have been in trouble. The government is running because of PB and Gota.”

The President had spoken of every project pushed by the Central Bank Governor like the project to get the Commonwealth Games to the country at a great cost to the country. The President had then asked Namal Rajapaksa not to be misled by the Governor.

Secretary’s friends get Kalu Ganga project

Thursday, 02 May 2013 

The Irrigation Ministry Secretary Ivan Silva has decided to assign the project of constructing irrigation bunds in the Kalu Ganga Project to his friends, sources from the Irrigation Ministry said.

Although there’s a project manager, the Irrigation Ministry Secretary has taken charge of all the files related to contracts in the project. The project is funded by the Saudi government and an international consultancy company has been appointed fro the project according to the memorandum of understanding signed for the project. Accordingly, a Swiss company, Poyry company had been selected. However, the Ministry Secretary has delayed handing in the appointment letter to the company.

According to the relevant memorandum of understanding, it is this Swiss company that has the mandate to select the contractors for the project. Nevertheless, sources say that the Ministry Secretary is engage din selecting contractors for the project through two committees that are loyal to him.

Although the Swiss company had tried to hold several discussions with the Ministry Secretary Ivan Silva on the violation of the clauses in the memorandum of understanding, the secretary has avoided meeting them.

WikiLeaks: Installing Criminal Devananda As The Head Of A ‘Quisling’ Tamil Regime

May 2, 2013-Douglas and Rajapaksa

“The leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EDPD), Douglas Devananda, has a long history of enmity with the recently defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He has been a favorite of successive Sri Lankan governments in Colombo. But Devananda has a violent and even criminal history, and shows few signs of reforming. While close ties continue between the top levels of the GSL and Devananda, we may be seeing an adjustment to that relationship as “Colonel Karuna” continues to strengthen his position with President Rajapaksa and his powerful brother, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, possibly at Devananda’s expense. The GSL may attempt to install Devananda as the leader of a new provincial government in the North through early elections there, or as the head of an interim administration.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The US Embassy wrote; “This would help the government to maintain its iron grip on Jaffna and the North, but also might tend to pin down Devananda and his paramilitary forces, leaving Karuna a freer hand in the rest of Sri Lanka. The Rajapaksas may be trying to clear the way for Karuna and his paramilitary cadres to become the undisputed nationalforce for unofficial internal control of the Tamil population. However, Devananda still enjoys a privileged position within the GSL, as evidenced by a meeting the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the U.S. insisted on arranging with Representative Heath Shuler during the latter’s recent visit to Sri Lanka. Absent any indication that Devananda has sworn off his violent tactics, Embassy has privately pushed the Sri Lankan government not to install a Devananda-led regime in the north. In light of Devananda’s lack of legitimate popular support, we remain concerned that local or provincial-level elections held hastily in the North could be manipulated to put Devananda and the EPDP into power at the expense of legitimate Tamil representatives, thereby undermining the post-conflict reconciliation process.”

The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The classified  “CONFIDENTIAL” cable was written on June 19, 2009 and signed by Charge D’Affaires James R. Moore.

Moore wrote; “Further, placing Devananda in power in the North might serve to preoccupy him with events and operations there, clearing the way for Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, a/k/a ‘Colonel Karuna Amman’ to further solidify his position country-wide. The Ministry of Defense, especially the President’s powerful brother, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, appears to strongly prefer former TMVP leader Karuna – now a member of the President’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – as his go-to man for both Tamil politics and ‘unofficial’ security operations. Embassy contacts report the Rajapaksa brothers have recently shown a clear preference for Karuna over Devananda. The President recently elevated Karuna to Minister for National Integration. However, Karuna has yet to develop popular backing in the North, since he is an Easterner, whose Tamil dialect and traditions are distinctly different from the Tamils of Jaffna and the Vanni.”

Placing a comment Moore wrote; “It is still unclear what the field of competing parties will be during the next cycle of local and provincial elections in the North – and which candidates will dare stand against the EPDP. The UNP complained on June 15th of “armed groups” threatening its candidates in an attempt to prevent them from contesting the Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council elections in August. It comes as no surprise, however, that the end of regular combat between GSL forces and the LTTE would lead to a turf battle between the GSL’s disparate ethnic Tamil allies. Post has been extremely candid in private discussions with the GSL leadership concerning our reservations about a significant role for Devananda in a new administration for the North. In our assessment, it is unlikely he has much legitimate popular support. We have brushed aside past suggestions that we fund the organizations he sponsors. We have told senior interlocutors (including Devananda himself) that the violence of its armed wing’s tactics and the continuing criminal activities of EPDP cadres in Jaffna and Colombo would pose serious obstacles to U.S. cooperation with a provincial government led by him, or working in conjunction with an EPDP-led northern administration on reconstruction efforts. There are some recent signs that the GSL leadership, concerned about losing international assistance for the north, may be having second thoughts about installing Devananda as the head of a “quisling” Tamil regime.”

Read the cable below for further details;

Japan Builds Sri Lanka Ties With Aso Visit as China Clout Grows

By Anusha Ondaatjie - May 1, 2013 

Japan and Sri Lanka will hold their second high-level talks in less than two months as the East Asian nation seeks to safeguard ties and counter China’s growing influence on an island lying on key maritime routes.

Finance Minister Taro Aso is due to discuss bilateral ties with the island’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa today, according to an Embassy of Japan statement. He will also visit Sri Lanka’s main port in Colombo, which has been expanded with $800 million of Japanese assistance.

Rajapaksa has lured investment from China, Japan and India as he capitalizes on the end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war to build a trade gateway to emerging markets. China has tightened its embrace by committing at least $3.7 billion since 2005 for projects from ports to a power plant, on an island that has attracted the world’s dominant nations since the 16th century for its access to pivotal sea links.

“Japan may be trying to counter China’s influence on Asia, while also diversifying its investments,” said Bimanee Meepagala, an analyst at NDB Aviva Wealth Management Ltd. in Colombo, the island’s largest private fund. “For Sri Lanka, it’s new sources for tapping funds, and who it can align itself with.”

Rajapaksa met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in March in Japan. Sri Lanka has the potential to be a regional maritime hub and would play a “crucial” international role, the leaders said in their joint statement then.

Abe also thanked the president for welcoming port calls by Japan’s maritime self-defense force vessels engaged in anti- piracy operations, according to the statement.

Rajapaksa, whose armed forces defeated separatist rebels in May 2009, is seeking to take advantage of Sri Lanka’s position 31 kilometers (19 miles) off India’s southern coast. There lie the main shipping lanes connecting the Far East, West Asia, Africa and Europe.

The tropical nation’s strategic location led to colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch and British until independence in 1948.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anusha Ondaatjie in Colombo at anushao@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Threats to Ponnambalam

Thursday, 02 May 2013 

Four unidentified men wearing helmets and coats have visited the house of Tamil National People’s Front leader, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam at 4.00 pm last evening (01) and threatened his secretary.

The have searched the house and the compound and reportedly taken photographs.

Ponnambalam was participating in the party May Day rally at Vadamarachchi , Karaveddi when the incident occurred.

TNPF prepared to join TNA, if pre-2009 goals upheld: Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 May 2013, 23:28 GMT]

Amidst news reports on split within the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and disunity in the Tamil political camp, the leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Mr Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam on Wednesday came forward to tell that his party is prepared to join with the TNA, and even prepared to dissolve its identity itself, if the TNA could stick to pre-2009 political goals of Tamils. The current split within the TNA is between the ITAK, the major constituent party of electoral political origins and other parties of militant political origins. Both factions have now approached the TNPF. The deceptive prospects of Northern Provincial Council elections, which the LLRC-based Geneva resolution urged to conduct, and Indo-US competitive engineering in the hijack of Tamil polity are behind the split, news sources in Jaffna said. 

Mr Gajendrakumar announced the stand of his party publicly, while addressing TNA’s May Day meeting in Jaffna, organised at Arasadi near Nelliyadi in Vadamaraadchi.

While he was addressing the meeting, masked people entered his house premises in Jaffna and after asking his whereabouts noted down the numbers of the vehicles parked in the premises, news sources said.

Eezham Tamils in the North and East originally mandated the TNA, in the times of the LTTE, to politically pursue the Tamil national cause. 

Declaration on the independence and sovereignty of the nation of Eezham Tamils and people in the North and East democratically mandating a separate country called Tamil Eelam, predate all militant politics of Tamils.

The absence of the LTTE, which genocide-abetters branded as ‘terrorists,’ could never mean the abandonment of the democratic cause and no power on the Earth has right to instruct Tamils on it, is the position of Tamil national political circles.

The split in the TNA after May 2009, causing Gajendrakumar to come out and form the TNPF, was due to infirmity in the TNA in asserting to the sovereignty of the nation of Eezham Tamils in the island.

TNA’s infirmity, implied denouncement of the national cause of Eezham Tamils, confused statements on federal solutions, talk on the 13th Amendment, withdrawal of opposition to the LLRC recommendations that were seeking demographic assimilation and ultimately the TNA going behind ‘non-descript’ solutions – all were due to pressure, intimidation and hijack alternately or jointly coming from India and the USA, is well known to the gagged Tamil masses in the island.

In recent times, New Delhi is planning to bring in some faces kept by it in reserve in India, to stage the Provincial Council deception of its rotten 13th Amendment, as though the demonstration in the East jointly blessed by India and the USA is not enough, alternative political activists in Jaffna say.

Speaking at the May Day meeting on Wednesday, Gajendrakumar came hard on the TNA for giving importance to the 13th Amendment-based deception of Provincial Council. He refuted the argument coming from some sections of the TNA that they would contest to ‘disprove’ the ineffectiveness of the model. Is there any need to still disprove it by contesting, asked Mr Gajendrakumar.

He also came hard on the TNA for not mobilising or undertaking any genuine people’s struggle. 

The TNA either brings itself into the scene to get the credit whenever people rise up and organise protests or they show keenness in organising protests only to compete with the TNPF, Gajendrakumar said with examples, urging the TNA to genuinely take up people’s politics and mobilise the masses.