Last rites for self-immolation monk  TUESDAY, 28 MAY 2013
The funeral of the monk who set himself on fire in front of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy in protest of cattle slaughter, was conducted today at the Kahawatta Poronuwa grounds. A large crowd including numerous Buddhist monks participated in the funeral. Pix by Ajith Lal Shanthaudaya and Aruna Herath
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Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Bowatte Indhare's IRC activities exposed (Island’s Robed Criminal)
Hereunder is the full report :
The monk Indrarathne had been residing at Sugatha Vihara , Meenawatte , Pabbana north , Kahawatte , Ratnapura . He was elected as a member of the Pelamadulla local body as a JHU member. Thereafter , he had collected Rs. 20 lakhs from the people of the area making false promises to get jobs for them as Samurdhi officers in the CEB.
A further sum of Rs. ten lakhs had been collected by him fraudulently giving false promises again to secure teacher appointments to those who advanced the monies. He had collected this sum by ‘selling’ the name of Minister John Seneviratne. The persons who gave the monies had complained to the Police and the Minister John Seneviratne . The latter who could not any longer tolerate this monk’s activities had told the police to enforce the law. But the police had not been able to go ahead with any action because of the close ties this scoundrel of a monk had with the Mongol of a defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse. Though the relationship between him and Gota are not revealed , every time the police sought to take action , Gota had obstructed the police, sources say.
This monk who could not be legally trapped because of Gota who is himself lawlessness personified , was sought to be captured by the victims of his monumental frauds when he was attending the local body meetings. Learning of this, the villain monk who tried to become a hero by committing suicide began keeping himself away from the local body meetings. Subsequently he had secretly fled to Weeraketiya.
At Weeraketiya he had been functioning as a JHU political activist. Indraratne monk who became a part of the Sihala Ravaya and Bodhu Bala sena , the two Organizations which are JHU off springs had spearheaded a violent marauding campaign against the Muslim and Christian clergy.
On 20th April 2012 , this monk led the attack on the Dambulla mosque .Herein is the photograph which depicts him while removing his robes and challenging the forces on that occasion, and screaming at the Forces to shoot him by exposing his chest.
After fleeing Weeraketiya , he participated in the attack launched against the Catholic church on 9th December 2012 . In that attack many lakhs of rupees damage was caused to the church , and a valuable statue too was destroyed . In this attack both the Sihala Ravaya and the Bodhu Bala sena participated . When the Weeraketiya police sought to take action against monk Indraratne and 5 others , Gotabaya had interfered to stop it, and save the criminals.
Emboldened and encouraged by the protection extended by Gotabaya the notorious defense Secretary of SL , the BBS and the Sihala Urumaya had continued their violence and attacked the Weeraketiya Muslim mosque on 18th March 2013 and destroyed it. When the police took action in this instance , Indraratne and Akmeemana Dayaratne along with some others had attacked the police on the 19th.
Following that attack , the police had suffered damage worth over a lakh of rupees .
This same group had been planning to attack another Muslim mosque in Tangalle on 22nd March , but that was prevented because the police who received information ahead had thwarted it.
When the police tried to enforce the law against Indraratne monk and the group that launched attacks on 18, 19 and 22 , the politicos of the area and Gotabaya Rajapakse had got together and exerted pressure on the police whereby the police had to abandon the action. In any event , the Weeraketiya police had filed action against Indraratne monk and his group under several charges for attacking the police station , in the Walasmulla magistrate court based on a B report No. 193/2013
This villainous monk who tried to acquire the glory belonging to a hero by self immolation , had appeared in court only once , and thereafter ignored the court summons too. Interestingly , on 21st May , just three days prior to Indraratne’s tragi- comedy act (24) , the court had issued an order to immediately arrest him and produce before the court .
All these events had been orchestrated by JHU , and even the deceased’s statement had been a JHU creation . That is, the story that the deceased was sacked from JHU a few weeks prior to the victim’s self immolation is part of that drama.
According to the police , Indraratne monk is a criminal who based on his atrocious criminal record , should have been sent to several years in jail much earlier , but because of Gotabaya and Minister Champika he was protected , by hiding the legal process under the robe like how Gota and Champika are covering their own illegalities using their political cloaks and masks .
In the circumstances there isn’t much difference between Narahenpita Indhare and Bowatte Indhare – both are IRCs – Island reconvicted criminals . As regards the other two – they are also IRCs of another category – Island rejected cutthroats
Neo-Nazi denial in Myanmar
By Maung Zarni -May 24, '13
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.
Myanmar has a newly registered Nazi party, the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), created ceremoniously in the wake of last year's anti-Muslim ethnic cleansing in western Rakhine State. Naypyidaw has incubated the party, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has wined and dined publicly with controversial
RNDP leaders, including party chairman and member of parliament Dr Aye Maung.
Separate branches of the Myanmar state, including the executive office of President Thein Sein, the parliament, and the judiciary, have all tolerated or tacitly backed the neo-Nazi Buddhist movement known as "969". The Buddhist fundamentalist movement, led by fascist monks such as U Wirathu and RNDP leaders like Aung Maung, himself a Bangladesh-born Rakhine, has been pivotal and yet unpunished in recent violence against Muslims that have killed hundreds and displaced upwards of 120,000.
Underscoring the racist bias, the judiciary recently sentenced a Muslim customer who peeled a 969 sticker off the mirror of a street vendor with his motorcycle key to two years imprisonment for "insulting religion". At the same time, the Thein Sein administration in Naypyidaw has failed to bring anyone to justice for participating in the broad daylight slaughter of 10 Muslim pilgrims in a public space in the southern Rakhine town of Taung-gok in early June 2012. Nor has anyone been prosecuted for this and last year's widely videotaped pogroms against Muslim communities.
With this type of blatant impunity, it is little wonder that the RNDP openly subscribes to neo-Nazism in its quest to create a pure "Buddhist state". The RNDP's official journal, "Toe-Tet-Yay" (or Progress), regularly uses the Burmese word for "beasts" when referring to Myanmar's Muslims, including the ethnic Rohingya. In media interviews as well as parliamentary discussions, RNDP leaders have with discernible admiration publicly talked about how Rakhine patriots should look to Israel and its apartheid system vis-a-vis the Palestinians as a model for handling the Rohingya.
An editorial in Progress's November 2012 edition even endorsed the view that while former fascist leader Hitler may have been a monster to Jews, he was a nationalist hero to many Germans. This is a view that any German in his or her right mind would find extremely repulsive and impossible to sympathize with.
Myanmar's homegrown neo-Nazi party of the Rakhines also calls for national level authorities in Naypyidaw to hold firm against any international pressure, including US rights lobby Human Right Watch's recent characterization of state-linked violence against the Rohingya as "ethnic cleansing", in dealing with the Rohingya situation, including the recent massive displacement of the group along the Bangladesh border.
Instead, they advocate for the forceful implementation of the blatantly racist 1982 Citizenship Act, which was specifically designed to bar any citizenship rights or recognition for Rohingya who lacked the documentation to prove that their ancestry was based in Myanmar, then known as Burma, before the first British defeat of the Burmese feudal kingdom in 1824.
(Incidentally, printing machines arrived in the palm-leaf society of feudal, pre-colonial Burma only around the mid-19th century - and even then it was thanks to the Christian missionaries. By this standard, 99% of supposedly "pure-blooded" Burmese would be rendered ineligible for citizenship.)
The RNDP's racist views have top level support. Speaking recently in New York, Myanmar Immigration Minister and ex-police chief Khin Yi reaffirmed the government's commitment to applying the Citizenship Act of 1982 to the Rohingya who survived last year's pogroms. Khin Yi, who has no exposure to the liberal West or little in terms of critical education, may be forgiven for his bluntness.
However, Myanmar's intellectual elites, including Western-educated opinion makers with PhDs and other advanced credentials from Ivy League schools and Oxbridge, have echoed Khin Yi's official racist stance on recognizing Rohingya citizenship. During his trip this week to Washington, Thein Sein confirmed the government's commitment to enforcing the racist Citizenship Act.
Dr Yin Yin Nwe, a PhD in geology from Cambridge University, Thein Sein's gem stones adviser, a presidential Rakhine Inquiry Commissioner, and the older daughter of the late Burmese authors Mi Mi Khaing and Shan feudalist Sao Saimong Mangra, talked about Rohingya women with visible disdain and in effect endorsed eugenics for them in a May 12 interview with Voice of America.
Another essay in the RNDP's 20-page official publication talks broadly about why certain individuals should not be considered human and hence not entitled to universal human rights. The same article argues that ethnic Buddhist Rakhines are only original inhabitants, or tai-yin-thar, of Rakhine State and that the ethnic name "Rohingya" should not be officially recognized for reasons of "national security".
Insecure racists
This national security over human rights perspective has also been shared by certain George Soros-funded 88 Generation Peace and Open Society Group leaders, including Ko Ko Gyi, who has openly endorsed the anti-Rohingya view since his meeting last year with ruling United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) chairman and presidential-hopeful ex-General Shwe Mann.
Ko Ko Gyi, of course, is not alone. From presidential spokespersons such as Zaw Htay and Ye Htut, to Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission, to Western donor-funded human rights educators such as Aung Myo Min of the Human Rights Education Institute and other self-styled "civil society" leaders and organizations, all find it "unacceptable" to characterize last year's mass violence against Rohingya and other Muslims of western Myanmar as "ethnic cleansing" or as "crimes against humanity".
As Rakhine State spokesperson Win Myaing recently put it to Reuters, "How can it be ethnic cleansing? They are not an ethnic group."
These expressions of racial hatred were not entirely unpredictable. As early as 2004 Rakhine dissidents in exile based along Thai-Myanmar border areas such as Mae Sot were found to be reading and discussing Hitler's infamous tract Mein Kampf, or "My Story". It thus would not be surprising if Myanmar's neo-Nazis among the Rakhine and multiethnic public may be inclined to learn German so that they may read Hitler's racist treatise in the original.
According to a retired German ambassador to Myanmar who recently wrote a commissioned analysis on the rise of what many have referred to as a "neo-Nazi Buddhist movement", the German Foreign Ministry was adamant against his use of the labels "Nazi" or "neo-Nazi" to describe what he viewed as just that. Apparently the word "Nazi" is too close to home for Berlin, which was actively engaged Thein Sein's quasi-civilian regime.
German officials are not alone in feeling squeamish about the overt labeling of recent genocidal and Nazi-like developments in Myanmar. Yangon-based Western diplomats charged with engaging Thein Sein's government are known to be hostile to any characterization of the clearly coordinated and Naypyidaw-backed mass violence against Rohingya and other Muslims as "ethnic cleansing", not to mention the use of the term "genocide".
But after advocating for human rights and democratization in Myanmar since the end of the Cold War, the West-led "international community" has lately come to play the lamentable role of "genocide enablers". From the United States to the European Union, from Britain to Japan, from the Paris Club to the Asian Development Bank, not to mention the "Burma-pernicious" International Crisis Group - as Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, Sean Turnell puts it - all have looked the other way in pursuit of their broader commercial and strategic interests.
Herewith is a shortlist of the concrete ways in which Western players have instilled a sense of invincibility in Thein Sein's fascist leadership and his proxy genocidal RNDP:
With such international rewards and accolades coming in the direct aftermath of anti-Muslim ethnic cleansing, it is not surprising that Naypyidaw feels comfortable in ignoring its critics. Obama steered studiously clear of the term "ethnic cleansing" when stating his mild concern about the recent anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar. After all, who would want to refer to their budding business and diplomatic partners as genocidal perpetrators of crimes against humanity?
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Articles submitted for this section allow our readers to express their opinions and do not necessarily meet the same editorial standards of Asia Times Online's regular contributors.
Maung Zarni is a Burmese activist blogger (www.maungzarni.com) and visiting fellow of Civil Society and Human Security Research at the London School of Economics. The above was adapted from a May 18 entry on his personal blog.
(Copyright 2013 Maung Zarni.)
By Maung Zarni -May 24, '13Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.
Myanmar has a newly registered Nazi party, the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), created ceremoniously in the wake of last year's anti-Muslim ethnic cleansing in western Rakhine State. Naypyidaw has incubated the party, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has wined and dined publicly with controversial
RNDP leaders, including party chairman and member of parliament Dr Aye Maung.
Separate branches of the Myanmar state, including the executive office of President Thein Sein, the parliament, and the judiciary, have all tolerated or tacitly backed the neo-Nazi Buddhist movement known as "969". The Buddhist fundamentalist movement, led by fascist monks such as U Wirathu and RNDP leaders like Aung Maung, himself a Bangladesh-born Rakhine, has been pivotal and yet unpunished in recent violence against Muslims that have killed hundreds and displaced upwards of 120,000.
Underscoring the racist bias, the judiciary recently sentenced a Muslim customer who peeled a 969 sticker off the mirror of a street vendor with his motorcycle key to two years imprisonment for "insulting religion". At the same time, the Thein Sein administration in Naypyidaw has failed to bring anyone to justice for participating in the broad daylight slaughter of 10 Muslim pilgrims in a public space in the southern Rakhine town of Taung-gok in early June 2012. Nor has anyone been prosecuted for this and last year's widely videotaped pogroms against Muslim communities.
With this type of blatant impunity, it is little wonder that the RNDP openly subscribes to neo-Nazism in its quest to create a pure "Buddhist state". The RNDP's official journal, "Toe-Tet-Yay" (or Progress), regularly uses the Burmese word for "beasts" when referring to Myanmar's Muslims, including the ethnic Rohingya. In media interviews as well as parliamentary discussions, RNDP leaders have with discernible admiration publicly talked about how Rakhine patriots should look to Israel and its apartheid system vis-a-vis the Palestinians as a model for handling the Rohingya.
An editorial in Progress's November 2012 edition even endorsed the view that while former fascist leader Hitler may have been a monster to Jews, he was a nationalist hero to many Germans. This is a view that any German in his or her right mind would find extremely repulsive and impossible to sympathize with.
Myanmar's homegrown neo-Nazi party of the Rakhines also calls for national level authorities in Naypyidaw to hold firm against any international pressure, including US rights lobby Human Right Watch's recent characterization of state-linked violence against the Rohingya as "ethnic cleansing", in dealing with the Rohingya situation, including the recent massive displacement of the group along the Bangladesh border.
Instead, they advocate for the forceful implementation of the blatantly racist 1982 Citizenship Act, which was specifically designed to bar any citizenship rights or recognition for Rohingya who lacked the documentation to prove that their ancestry was based in Myanmar, then known as Burma, before the first British defeat of the Burmese feudal kingdom in 1824.
(Incidentally, printing machines arrived in the palm-leaf society of feudal, pre-colonial Burma only around the mid-19th century - and even then it was thanks to the Christian missionaries. By this standard, 99% of supposedly "pure-blooded" Burmese would be rendered ineligible for citizenship.)
The RNDP's racist views have top level support. Speaking recently in New York, Myanmar Immigration Minister and ex-police chief Khin Yi reaffirmed the government's commitment to applying the Citizenship Act of 1982 to the Rohingya who survived last year's pogroms. Khin Yi, who has no exposure to the liberal West or little in terms of critical education, may be forgiven for his bluntness.
However, Myanmar's intellectual elites, including Western-educated opinion makers with PhDs and other advanced credentials from Ivy League schools and Oxbridge, have echoed Khin Yi's official racist stance on recognizing Rohingya citizenship. During his trip this week to Washington, Thein Sein confirmed the government's commitment to enforcing the racist Citizenship Act.
Dr Yin Yin Nwe, a PhD in geology from Cambridge University, Thein Sein's gem stones adviser, a presidential Rakhine Inquiry Commissioner, and the older daughter of the late Burmese authors Mi Mi Khaing and Shan feudalist Sao Saimong Mangra, talked about Rohingya women with visible disdain and in effect endorsed eugenics for them in a May 12 interview with Voice of America.
Another essay in the RNDP's 20-page official publication talks broadly about why certain individuals should not be considered human and hence not entitled to universal human rights. The same article argues that ethnic Buddhist Rakhines are only original inhabitants, or tai-yin-thar, of Rakhine State and that the ethnic name "Rohingya" should not be officially recognized for reasons of "national security".
Insecure racists
This national security over human rights perspective has also been shared by certain George Soros-funded 88 Generation Peace and Open Society Group leaders, including Ko Ko Gyi, who has openly endorsed the anti-Rohingya view since his meeting last year with ruling United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) chairman and presidential-hopeful ex-General Shwe Mann.
Ko Ko Gyi, of course, is not alone. From presidential spokespersons such as Zaw Htay and Ye Htut, to Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission, to Western donor-funded human rights educators such as Aung Myo Min of the Human Rights Education Institute and other self-styled "civil society" leaders and organizations, all find it "unacceptable" to characterize last year's mass violence against Rohingya and other Muslims of western Myanmar as "ethnic cleansing" or as "crimes against humanity".
As Rakhine State spokesperson Win Myaing recently put it to Reuters, "How can it be ethnic cleansing? They are not an ethnic group."
These expressions of racial hatred were not entirely unpredictable. As early as 2004 Rakhine dissidents in exile based along Thai-Myanmar border areas such as Mae Sot were found to be reading and discussing Hitler's infamous tract Mein Kampf, or "My Story". It thus would not be surprising if Myanmar's neo-Nazis among the Rakhine and multiethnic public may be inclined to learn German so that they may read Hitler's racist treatise in the original.
According to a retired German ambassador to Myanmar who recently wrote a commissioned analysis on the rise of what many have referred to as a "neo-Nazi Buddhist movement", the German Foreign Ministry was adamant against his use of the labels "Nazi" or "neo-Nazi" to describe what he viewed as just that. Apparently the word "Nazi" is too close to home for Berlin, which was actively engaged Thein Sein's quasi-civilian regime.
German officials are not alone in feeling squeamish about the overt labeling of recent genocidal and Nazi-like developments in Myanmar. Yangon-based Western diplomats charged with engaging Thein Sein's government are known to be hostile to any characterization of the clearly coordinated and Naypyidaw-backed mass violence against Rohingya and other Muslims as "ethnic cleansing", not to mention the use of the term "genocide".
But after advocating for human rights and democratization in Myanmar since the end of the Cold War, the West-led "international community" has lately come to play the lamentable role of "genocide enablers". From the United States to the European Union, from Britain to Japan, from the Paris Club to the Asian Development Bank, not to mention the "Burma-pernicious" International Crisis Group - as Australian economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, Sean Turnell puts it - all have looked the other way in pursuit of their broader commercial and strategic interests.
Herewith is a shortlist of the concrete ways in which Western players have instilled a sense of invincibility in Thein Sein's fascist leadership and his proxy genocidal RNDP:
- US President Barack Obama stops in Myanmar for six hours, claiming the visit as a foreign policy "success story" (Nov 2012);
- The Paris Club cancels US$5.7 billion of Myanmar debt (Jan 2013);
- Japan forgives $3.7 billion of Myanmar debt (Apr 2013);
- The Brussels-based International Crisis Group awards Thein Sein its "In Pursuit of Peace Award" (Apr 2013);
- The European Union lifts its long-held economic sanctions on Myanmar (Apr 2013);
- Obama gives Thein Sein reciprocal red carpet treatment at the White House, while a senior US senator indicates he will let sanctions-related legislation lapse (May 2013).
With such international rewards and accolades coming in the direct aftermath of anti-Muslim ethnic cleansing, it is not surprising that Naypyidaw feels comfortable in ignoring its critics. Obama steered studiously clear of the term "ethnic cleansing" when stating his mild concern about the recent anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar. After all, who would want to refer to their budding business and diplomatic partners as genocidal perpetrators of crimes against humanity?
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Articles submitted for this section allow our readers to express their opinions and do not necessarily meet the same editorial standards of Asia Times Online's regular contributors.
Maung Zarni is a Burmese activist blogger (www.maungzarni.com) and visiting fellow of Civil Society and Human Security Research at the London School of Economics. The above was adapted from a May 18 entry on his personal blog.
(Copyright 2013 Maung Zarni.)
SUNDAY 26 MAY 2013
Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a ‘Buddhist Bin Laden’. So what happened to the mantra of non-violence?
Less than six years ago, the West watched amazed and awed as hundreds of thousands of Burmese Buddhist monks seized the city streets in defiance of the military junta, walking through the monsoon rain in their robes, chanting the sutra of loving kindness. Undercover video-journalists filmed it all, and when the riot police and the army went in to club and shoot the monks, the same brave cameramen recorded every blow and every drop of sanctified blood that was spilt.
Six years ago, the world cheered the monks behind Burma’s Saffron Revolution. Now, a horrific new eruption of religious slaughter is being blamed on a ‘Buddhist Bin Laden’. So what happened to the mantra of non-violence?
Less than six years ago, the West watched amazed and awed as hundreds of thousands of Burmese Buddhist monks seized the city streets in defiance of the military junta, walking through the monsoon rain in their robes, chanting the sutra of loving kindness. Undercover video-journalists filmed it all, and when the riot police and the army went in to club and shoot the monks, the same brave cameramen recorded every blow and every drop of sanctified blood that was spilt.
Monday, May 27, 2013
An Appeal To The GoSL To Reverse Its Present Line Of Thinking And Action
By R. Sampanthan -
R Sampanthan
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I move:
“Whereas two statements were made on the Floor of the House on 09th April, 2013, by the Hon. Leader of the Opposition and by the Hon. Minister of External Affairs, pertaining to the Resolution No. A/HRC/22/L.1 on ‘Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka’ adopted by the Human Rights Council.
And whereas the Hon. Minister of External Affairs in the course of his Statement made specific reference to certain matters which need to be further clarified.
Don’t compare me with Prabhakaran
by Our Mannar Correspondent-2013-05-27
Bishop of Mannar, Rev. Rayappu Joseph, has warned the Bodu Bala Sena that he is only a spiritual leader working towards the unity and integrity of the country, and therefore he should not compared with the LTTE leader, V. Prabhakaran.
Rev. Joseph, while criticizing the Bodu Bala Sena as a movement fanning racist sentiments, said right thinking people must root out the movement in its initial stages.
He has also said the movement was trying to create divisions among various ethnicities and religions in the island.
The Mannar Bishop was responding to the Bodu Bala Sena’s statement, following a media conference held at its headquarters in colombo where the General Secretary, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, had drawn a parallel between Rev. Joseph and the LTTE leader Prabhakaran, and had also requested the people in the South to agitate against the 13th Amendment.
Rev. Joseph added that without paying heed to the opinion of racist elements like the Bodu Bala Sena, the government should immediately conduct the elections for the Northern Provincial Council.
“Equal rights should be granted to the Tamil people in the North and East while bringing the heavy military presence in the North to an end,” the Mannar Bishop said.
The Bodu Bala Sena, at the media briefing, had said that holding the Northern Provincial polls would lead to the creation of Eelam.
“Equal rights should be granted to the Tamil people in the North and East while bringing the heavy military presence in the North to an end,” the Mannar Bishop said.
The Bodu Bala Sena, at the media briefing, had said that holding the Northern Provincial polls would lead to the creation of Eelam.
Rev. Joseph, who held a special meeting in Mannar to emphasize on the need for unity among the Tamil political parties, said in a statement released last week, “The Bodu Bala Sena, which has no address and is struggling come to the limelight by fanning communal sentiments, has compared me with Prabakaran. I cannot be compared with him. I am a spiritual leader; I am not a politician or an armed rebel. I anticipate peace and I am not for the separation of the country.
“My objective is to ensure that the Tamil people live with equal rights, with the other citizens of Sri Lanka. Therefore the Bodu Bala Sena, without understanding what I stand for, has accused me and compared me with the LTTE leader. By coming out with communal sentiments, the movement is trying to make divisions among ethnicities and religions in the country.
“The movement is trying to gain a place through the use of the media. Hence, the people of the country should nip it in the bud.
Tamils also belong to Sri Lanka which comprises various ethnicities that live in a multi-cultural society.”
“The movement is trying to gain a place through the use of the media. Hence, the people of the country should nip it in the bud.
Tamils also belong to Sri Lanka which comprises various ethnicities that live in a multi-cultural society.”
Left Discourse “The Electric Shock In The Electricity Tariff”
AMay 27, 2013 |
Left Discourse
“The Electric Shock
in the Electricity Tariff”
Presenters:
(Expert on Energy)
Prof. Kumar David
(Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering)
Thursday, 30 May 2013
at 4.30 pm
at the
N.M. Perera Centre
106, Dr. N.M. Perera Mawatha, Colombo 8.
You are cordially invited.
BASL Standing Committee Concerns About Withdrawing Bribery Cases Against Politicians In Power
May 27, 2013
The Standing Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka on Rule of Law calls upon the Commission to make public the reasons for the withdrawal of the bribery or corruption case against the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council.
Sarath Ekanayake - Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council
Issuing a statement its Convenor Priyantha Gamage says; “Proceedings in Court are open to the public as transparency is an inviolable principle of our legal system. Thereafter the public has a right to know the reason behind the withdrawal of the case before any evidence was recorded as this is one of the very few cases filed against politicians in power.”
We publish below the statement in full;
It is reported that the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council and two others charged by the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption before the Magistrates’ Court of Colombo for allegedly influencing a principal of a school to admit a child was discharged on an application made to Magistrates’ Court by the commission withdrawing the case against the accused. It is reported that the Commission moved Court by way of a motion to withdraw the case and apparently no reasons were given in open Courts. It is presumed as it has to be done under the Act that the commission files a case in Court after a full investigation and after satisfying itself on the available evidence that there is a case to go before a Court. It is surprising that the commission has withdrawn the case before any evidence was led in Court, and in the absence of the accused who were on bail.
Proceedings in Court are open to the public as transparency is an inviolable principle of our legal system. Thereafter the public has a right to know the reason behind the withdrawal of the case before any evidence was recorded as this is one of the very few cases filed against politicians in power.
In the best interest of transparency in the administration of justice, we call upon the Commission to make public the reasons for the withdrawal of this case.
Sri Lanka: Systematic Attacks on Freedom of Expression and the Media Requires Specific Attention of the Human Rights Council
Monday, May 27, 2013
Attacks on freedom of expression in Sri Lanka, particularly against the media, continue to persist as journalists and civil society organizations in the country find themselves operating in an extremely restrictive and dangerous climate. During its 22nd regular session in March 2013, the Human Rights Council expressed concern about violations of the right to freedom of expression and the intimidation of journalists in Sri Lanka. The government’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has also observed that it was “deeply disturbed by persistent reports concerning attacks on journalists and media institutions and killing of journalists”.However, the government has indicated no level of commitment in this regard, opting not to support any recommendations pertaining to the freedom of expression during its recent Universal Periodic Review on 1 November 2012.
Attack on media houses
Over the last few years there has been a steady decline in the number of Sri Lankan media that publish or broadcast news critical of the government. The Jaffna based Tamil daily Uthayan Newspaper has consistently criticized the government and the military and has remained the most popular newspaper in northern Sri Lanka for many years. However its staff has been killed, assaulted, threatened and its premises and equipment subjected to attacks repeatedly, both during and after the war.
The constant attacks against Uthayan Newspaper have intensified ahead of the Northern Provincial Council elections scheduled for September 2013. On 12 April 2013, armed men entered the office and printing press of Uthayan and torched the building and newspapers that were due for circulation. It is the fourth incident this year that a Tamil-language newspaper or their distributors have been attacked in northern Sri Lanka. Earlier, on 3 April 2013, the Killinochi office of the Uthayan Newspaper was attacked by six masked men who entered the building before dawn, injuring the staff present and causing extensive damage to property.
Following these latest attacks, the Jaffna military commander was reported to have told media that the Uthayan is transmitting false propaganda to the international community with the intention of disrupting the mutual harmony built between the security forces and the people in Jaffna, and that Uthayan has joined hands with the Tamil National Alliance to trumpet the Tamil diaspora supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in spreading racism. Furthermore, in June 2012, the offices of the news websites Sri Lanka Mirror and Sri Lanka X news were also raided and their equipment confiscated.
Safety of Journalists
Journalists in Sri Lanka run the risk of being arrested on frivolous and fabricated charges. There is a history of long imprisonment with bail being denied while lawyers and others supporting such journalists have been labeled as terrorists and subjected to intimidation. Despite the Sri Lankan constitution guaranteeing the freedom of expression, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) remains as a law that can be used to restrict freedom of expression significantly and intimidate journalists. Journalists belonging to Tamil newspapers in the north such as Uthayan and Valampuri are particularly vulnerable. On 20 March 2013, an Uthayan reporter was threatened by the military. On 8 March 2013, a journalist attached to Valampuri, another Jaffna-based Tamil newspaper was attacked and had to be hospitalized. On 15 February 2013, the camera of an Uthayan journalist was damaged by the military. In Colombo, Mr. Faraz Shauketaly, a journalist from the Sunday Leader was shot in the neck on 16 February 2013. Ms. Frederica Jansz who became the editor of Sunday Leader after the assassination of the founding editor, Mr. Lasantha Wickramathunga, was also subjected to intimidation and threats.
Journalists attempting to report about land occupation by the military and problems of displaced persons in the north have been threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance. People they had interviewed and local clergy assisting these journalists were also questioned and threatened. In July 2012, Mr. Shantha Wijesuriya, a journalist with the Lanka E-news narrowly escaped an attempted abduction. Several journalists and staff of pro-opposition news websites were arrested in 2012.
Restrictions on freedom of expression
The government of Sri Lanka vigorously controls the news and information particularly through State media. BBC Tamil service was forced to suspend its programming as of 26 March 2013 due to censorship by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).
The government has blocked websites that publish news critical of the government such as Tamilnet, Sri Lanka Guardian and LankaNewsWeb. BBC’s Colombo crew was also threatened and effectively arrested by a mob suspected to be part of the pro-government Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) group in February 2013, while the police stood and watched. The BBS leaders had also accused English language press who had been critical of their activities, of being sinful forces against the country.
Despite repeated assurances to the Human Rights Council, no convictions are known to have been handed down in relation to any of the past or ongoing attacks, including high profile incidents such as the repeated attacks on Uthayan, the assassination of Sunday Leader editor Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunga, the disappearance of Mr. Prageeth Ekneligoda and the brutal assault on journalist and press freedom activist Ms. Poddala Jayantha. The police and courts have been ineffective in preventing or responding to threats, attacks and restrictions on freedom of expression and opinion. Mr. Mohan Peiris In late 2012, foreign and local journalists covering issues like military occupation of land were prevented by the military to visit some areas even after obtaining clearance from civil authorities.
Impunity for perpetrators
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), “BBC World Service Broadcasts in Sri Lanka on SLBC Suspended”, 26 March 2013, , a former Attorney General and the then-Legal Advisor to the cabinet of ministers told a Sri Lankan court in June 2012, that he doesn’t know where disappeared journalist and cartoonist Ekneligoda was living, just seven months after he had told the UN Committee Against Torture that Ekneligoda was living overseas.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has maintained silence on threats, attacks and restrictions on freedom of expression, despite statutory powers to investigate such incidents. The NHRC has not even tried to engage with well-known press freedom organizations in Sri Lanka. Despite repeated appeals by the wife of the disappeared journalist Ekneligoda, the NHRC refused to summon Mr. Peiris to clarify his contradicting statements to the UN in Geneva and Sri Lanka Courts. In another case of harassment filed by prominent press freedom activist Mr. Dharmasiri Lankapeli, the NHRC dismissed the complaint ex-parte, based on submissions by the alleged perpetrator, a leading state media institution.
Under-reporting of attacks due to fear
Many incidents related to threats and attacks on freedom of expression remain unreported in the pubic sphere due to the climate of fear. Amongst those not reported in 2012 are attacks on Tamil journalists and photographers in the north of Sri Lanka, intimidation of staff of a TV station and the repeated questioning and intimidation of two Sinhalese investigative journalists in Colombo.
Government control of media institutions, self-censorship, exile of journalists
Most media institutions are controlled by the State or by those who are associated with the government in power. Media institutions have by and large served to further the agenda of the government while maligning dissenting voices.
More journalists critical of the government went into exile in late 2012 and early 2013. Senior journalists critical of the government, particularly those involved in campaigns for freedom of expression, human rights and democracy have found it difficult to find employment, as media institutions are reluctant to employ them. Except for a handful of courageous journalists and media institutions, most have subjected themselves to self-censorship due to fear. In light of these, FORUM-ASIA makes the following urgent calls to the Government of Sri Lanka to:
• Ensure independent investigations, prosecutions and convictions in all cases where journalists and media institutions were attacked;
• Refrain from using the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to restrict the freedom of expression and intimidate journalists, and repeal the PTA or bring it in line with international human rights norms and standards;
• End the arbitrary practice of blocking websites without due process;
• End all forms of attacks, threats and intimidation to press freedom activists and human rights defenders; and
• Extend an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to visit Sri Lanka.
FORUM-ASIA further calls on the Human Rights Council to:
• Condemn the ongoing systematic attacks on freedom of expression and impunity for past attacks in Sri Lanka;
• Call for credible and independent investigations into all cases where journalist and media institutions have been attacked;
• Ensure effective support and protection to journalists and media institutions under threat as well as to journalists in exile (internally and externally) due to their independent journalism; and
• Closely monitor and support the effective implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution ‘Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability
23 session of UNHRC
Written statement submitted by FORUM-ASIA and
Inform Human Rights Documentation Centre,
Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka(FMM),
Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA),
Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions (FMETU),
Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMU)
Full Text: Sri Lanka’s Statement Today At The 23rd Session Of The Human Rights Council
May 27, 2013
Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation to the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) delivering the national statement on Monday (27 May 2013), apprised the Council of progress with regard to reconciliation in Sri Lanka since its last session in March 2013, Sri Lanka’s engagement with the Council and its mechanisms and on Sri Lanka’s position with regard to thematic issues of relevance to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
By Our Political Editor-Political Duplicity And Devolution Of Police Powers
Austin Fernando
At political discussions on devolution, a protest that is often highlighted is that devolving Police Powers to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) would ‘annihilate law and order‘.
Last week a leading lawyer went public on television that by devolution of Police Powers to Provincial Councils (PCs) would weaken central police investigations. He did not explain that offences related to the government, tri-forces, elections, money, stamps, state capital and assets, national security, international offences etc as mentioned in pages 29-30 in the 13thAmendment Appendix I are administered by the National Police only and do not fall within the purview of Provincial Police. He did the same with regard to additional items 11:2 (a), (b) 12:1, 12:2, 12:3 etc of Appendix I, which are vested only in the National Police. Hence, this statement would have given a twisted or half-baked interpretation for Police power sharing.
On the other hand, the Tamil political leaders behave as if they do not have any provincial politics without land and police powers. It appears that they had forgotten the experiences faced by the present Tamil political membership, Sinhalese and Muslim communities under the Police Force that was created by Chief MinisterVartharajah Perumal and Indian Peace Keeping Forces. Since Police Powers are shared by the Centre and Provinces, problems will arise if they do not act consensually. Due to engulfed hypocrisy and massive suspicion on each other issues are further made complex.
There are many engaged in politics and administration holding on to both these visions. Some others are mum on this problem. This article is not a commentary on the good and bad of police powers. It is a recollection of what I have heard and known about devolving Police Powers while in the public service. Through such experience I try to explain how political duplicity remains in devolution.
Eternal truth
Though the 13th Amendment has devolved powers, history and present experiences show that all provincial authorities including the Provincial Governors, Chief Ministers, and even the central authorities are “servants” of the President. The Executive Presidency has created this status. If they do not act according to the wishes of the President they will be chopped. Therefore, they will not demand Police Powers if the President does not wish them to do so. If they yell against such, it will be most likely at the behest of the President again, or at least with concurrence!
Demanding Police Powers for the Western PC
On 6th January 1994 at the Western PC (WPC) Chief Minister Chandrika Kumaratunga moved that Police Powers be devolved to the WPC. There was active war in the north and east then. The main objective was to implement the provisions of the Police Commission Act No: 1 of 1990 through the President. By doing so she conceded that it would pave way for more democratic administration of law and order. (PC Proceedings Report of 6-1-1994, page 13)
Perhaps, she would have missed the point that this Police Commission Act was introduced by President R Premadasa not to appoint a Police Commission, but to avoid appointing.
After the passage of the resolution in the WPC she represented matters to President DB Wijetunga. To discuss this issue President DB Wijetunga invited me. I was the Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs and PCs.
“Just see Austin, Chandrika has addressed me demanding Police Powers to be devolved having passed a resolution in the WPC. Can we do it?” he inquired.
Having read the letter she has sent I replied the President with a query. “Your Excellency, do you want to devolve Police Powers to the WPC or don’t you?
“What nonsense? It will be pandemonium if police powers are given to the PCs. Is there any valid reason to deny this request?” he inquired.
“There is one way to convey agreeing to give police powers. If not required, there is another way of conveying denial!” I replied.
“How do we say that we do not want to devolve?”
“It is appropriate to say that the request will be considered after appointing the National Police Commission. Until it is appointed there is no way to appoint a Provincial Police Commission.” It was my solution.
Later when I studied this issue in depth, it was revealed that PC Member Susil Premjayantha has predicted this status at the PC discussion on the resolution. He has said “Though we have brought this resolution in the PC, we know your President will never gazette the day for operation” (Report page 44). Since he is a powerful Minister now and the Secretary General of the Alliance, one should not be surprised if he advises PresidentRajapaksa to act as I advised President Wijetunga. My prediction may most certainly come true if the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wins the Northern PC elections.
By the way, President Chandrika Kumaratunga performed in office for around eleven years. During the period she never showed any keenness to devolve Police Powers to PCs which she demanded in the name of democracy. Was it that she had forgotten democracy?
Demanding Police Powers for the North Central PC
After WPC a similar request was submitted to President Wijetunga by the North Central Province (NCP). Having received the communication the President invited me to discuss it.
With a broad smile he said “Now Mahindasoma from Anuradhapura is also demanding Police powers!”
Thinking that he wished to share Police Powers with the NCP due to common party affiliation, I said “Excellency, he is from your party. Though you did not agree to share Police Powers with the WPC, there is no constraint to share with the NCP. In the Police Commission Act there is provision to appoint Provincial Police Commissions on different dates, after the National Police Commission is appointed”
“Are you mad, Austin? If we give police powers to Mahindasoma, it will be wonderful! I will tell him off!” the President said.
I believe President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in a similar troubled position. His mind must be reverberating on what would happen if Police Powers are given to some Chief Ministers. On the other hand if the power in a southern PC shifts to another party, he must be envisaging larger problems. Secretary Defense must be justly anticipating further concerns if the TNA wins the Northern PC.
Political Stances on Police Powers
My second experience highlights the political duplicity between the two time frames – 1994 and 2013. I base my interpretation on the discussion reports of WPC when the resolution was debated.
United National Party (UNP) Councilor Titus Wimalasiri stated “Sometimes we observe certain foreign elements helping terrorist groups through some Sri Lankans. Mr. Deputy Chairman, the suspicion arises due to these foreign influences and foreign actions, whether by submission of this resolution there is some contract undertaken to strengthen the hands of Prabhakaran in the north or whether there had been participation in a conspiracy.” (Report page 28)
Today, news makers like Ministers Champika Ranawaka, Wimal Weerawansa, Parliamentarian Ven:. Athuraliye Ratana Thera when highlighting the disastrousness of sharing Police Powers use words like “assisting terrorism” “foreign influences” “foreign actions”, “strengthening LTTE / Diaspora” since Prabhakaran is no more, “conspiring” etc. Perhaps this may be without any venom, but due to inherited Sri Lankan political culture! Councilor Wimalasiri did not have the “Non Governmental Organizations” as conspirators, which is a common addition at present! In reality what happened was that President Wijetunga’s stance was confirmed by Councilor Wimalasiri. If it was not done the head would have rolled! Whatever the party is, similar trait is observed. It is eternal.
Councilor Wimalasiri continued to say “ When the Police Commission Act which we discuss here today was debated (in the Parliament) what did the extremely responsible parliamentarians say? They said “We are totally against this Act; the unitary status will be erased in the country; especially, these police powers should not be given to PCs.” (Report page 27) Councilor Mahinda Samarasinghe has then argued similarly quoting parliamentarians SL Gunasekara and Dharmasiri Senanayake (Report pages 51, 53)
On these grounds even now Sri Lanka Freedom Party members opposing Police Powers is logical. The problem is that a party that demanded police powers at a time Prabhakaran was living, during an ongoing war, why obstruct Police Power sharing when Parabhakaran and his organization had been victoriously eliminated totally. Since political, social and security environments have changed, for reconciliation their stances have to be changed too. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission too wished so. On the other hand, why did the UNP that introduced the 13th Amendment to the country hold an adverse stance here, if not for political gain?
Minister Ranawaka and Weerawansa, Ven Ratana Thero and Secretary Defense were not in the group that demanded Police Powers. Therefore, their stances are untied to static bondages and their protests are timely objections. However, the Councilors who spoke in favor of the resolution cannot run away from their stances. It is observed that they keep mum on sharing Police Powers with the North, having rejected in the WPC the policy adopted in the Parliament as SLFPers when the Police Commission Act was debated.
I quote a few instances.
Councilor Susil Premjayantha has then said: “The Commission will comprise of the Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Province, a nominee of the Public Service Commission as advised by the President and a person appointed on the recommendation of the Chief Minister. The powers and duties are mentioned there. There is nothing to have grave fears on Police Powers. Once this Commission is appointed in a Province it will perform regarding appointments, transfers and disciplinary matters.” (Report page 42).
If these arguments are genuine and does not possess ulterior pretexts it is his duty to explain to Ministers Weerawansa, Ranawaka, Ven: Ratana Thera and Secretary Defense that there is no need to have “grave fears” on Police Power sharing. Is not it his responsibility to correct them if they are doing “wrong” by orchestrating and projecting that a very simple process has disastrous consequences?
Provincial Councilor Felix Perera pointed out that there are even conceptual differences. He maintained that the Police is not a Force. It is another department, he said. It is also true. He hypothesized that proper implementation of Police Powers in the WPC will be a lesson to other PCs to emulate. “If we think logically and consider that someday peace is to be achieved in this country, I see it as a problem if there is a need for Hon: Councilors in this House to oppose this House receiving Police Powers.” (Report page 48)
Even today it is necessary to establish peace in this country. Security authorities confirm that the north is peaceful. The future Councilors of the Northern PC who experience a favorable environment than in 1994 may say that they “see it as a problem if there is a need for Hon: Councilors in the House to oppose it receiving Police Powers.” It applies even if the demand not to share power comes from outside. Councilor Perera (now a Minister) will not wish to get his head chopped by arguing so. Further, he does not question why the government does not answer its critics by positively acting with reconciliation in view. By not questioning so he exhibits duplicity. He is dumb to revert to the stance he took as quoted above.
UNP introduced the 13th Amendment. But, we do not hear much of powerful statements demanding Police Powers devolution. What we occasionally hear is a murmur. Is it political hypocrisy? Nevertheless, some UNP representatives who crossed over can remain in the previous stance. Mahinda Samarasinghe , the then Chief Opposition Whip said then: ”That is why at the outset I said that we are not against the implementation of the Act. What we are saying is that the timing is not correct” (Report page 50)
Even today, if necessary, they can say so and “shape up matters” and join Weerawansa- Ranawaka- Ratana Thero group. Or else, join the other group saying that the proper time to implement the Act has dawned. They are lucky!
However, there are very few Ministers who do not dilly dally and openly express positive sentiments on devolution of power. Still, when a final decision is taken whether they would maintain their straight forward stature cannot be predicted, since they too are weaklings when facing the Executive Presidency, like the Chief Ministers and Governors. Some have already proved their weakness on other issues.
Draft Bill by the Jathika Hela Urumaya
If by chance the ‘brave’ draft Bill scheduled to be submitted to the Parliament is taken for a vote, it will provide an excellent opportunity to reflect on the devolution policies of the government, Opposition and the space available for independent political personalities to respond to issues of national interest. Its final decision will automatically reflect the majority Sinhala attitudes too. Has not this issue taken a ethnic twist? Since governments are formed by Sinhala majority political parties this will provide a good opportunity to international powers too to evaluate our politicians. It will provide for influencing discussions in the Commonwealth Conference and the future UNHRC dialogues. Therefore, it may be that TNA must be the happiest for the Bill! Because, this will expose the two tongue approaches on devolution by Sinhalese politicians.
Reaching a new approach
From the above discussion it is clear that there had been duplicity exhibited by all political groups on unknown pretexts. Political stances have been changed on political realities. They have shown different colors to suit the immediate political needs. The end result had been hiding of the truth.
The southern Sinhalese politicians playing nasty double games will convert the Tamil politicians and populations to promote underhand deals. It will block any consensual management. Therefore, to be straight forward and logical will be better means to handle this problem than trying to deceive. Such deception will create destabilization. Rather than to be repenting it can be said that for conscious action there is still time, which reminds the saying “Better late than never.”
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