Cornering Sri Lanka, US-Style

By Malinda Seneviratne -May 29, 2013

Malinda Seneviratne

On May 22, 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered between the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) and the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) at the Public Library of Trincomalee for the use of the UC premises for a period of five years.  The facility, named ‘American Corner’ is purportedly for public information activity. 

The US Embassy has already set up 2 such facilities, one in Kandy and another in Jaffna.  The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to comment on the legality of these operations.  If they have been sanctioned, then the public needs to know whether clearance has been obtained from the national security establishment given sensitivity and the track record of the USA in setting up of such ‘non-military’ bases and using them for espionage purposes.

First and foremost the use of ‘American’ is a misnomer and one which indicates the ‘empiric’ aspirations of the USA, for ‘America’ refers to two continents, from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost point of North America.  That’s a ‘cornering’ of a different kind which too is not ideologically innocent.

Secondly, if this is ‘ok’, it means that the USA can enter into Memoranda of Understanding with each of the 335 local authorities in the country.  It means that all other countries which have diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka can follow suit.  We will have a Saudi Arabia Corner in Kattankudy, a Russian Corner in Kolonnawa, a Cuban Corner in Boralesgamuwa and of course similar corners of these countries and others in all parts of the country.  It will be practically impossible for the Government to check what they are up to.

What is pernicious about this move is that the US Embassy has seen fit to bypass the Ministry of External Affairs.  This is the ‘we do as we want’ face of the Ugly American.  This is exactly what made people express horror about 9/11 but add, ‘you asked for it’.

Thirdly, if a relatively minor local authority like an Urban Council can ‘pact’ with a foreign government, what wouldn’t a larger entity such as a Provincial Council do?  Trincomalee is a sensitive district security-wise.  Any foreign government doing any business (forget setting up a ‘base’ which can be used for electronic warfare, surveillance and such) is a threat to national security.  The USA, moreover, is not exactly Sri Lanka’s ‘best friend’ in the international community.  This move is as much a security threat as that of giving Sampur over to India.

In other words, if the 13^th Amendment is not repealed and a different arrangement instituted to ensure a louder voice for the citizen in regional development, with sufficient protections against abuse by spoiler forces (like the TNA, which is calling for autonomy that includes financial deals with foreign governments), then we could very well have the USA (or anyone else) operating to destabilize the nation from within in ways that are more telling than the current method of surreptitiously conspiring with anti-Sri Lankan elements to affect regime-change.

Let there be no illusions.  The USA is dead-set on interfering in the internal affairs of this country.  The USA tried to corner Sri Lanka in Geneva.  The USA is now taking the metaphor into literary territory.  We could very well have the USA and its allies in the European Union (who voted en bloc against Sri Lanka in Geneva) setting up such ‘corners’ in all corners of the country.  There won’t be a corner left that can be called ‘Sri Lanka’.  Or else, the Government will have to beg these powers for a ‘corner’ for Sri Lanka.

The USA is clearly cutting corners here, banking on the general goodwill of the people and the inefficiencies and/or fears of relevant officials and politicians.  These are civilian-looking ‘Lily Pods’ with multiple uses, both innocent and pernicious.  The USA does not love Sri Lanka or Sri Lankans. That’s fine.  The Government, however, cannot shun its responsibilities to the people.

These ‘corners’ must be kicked out.  And fast.

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of ‘The Nation’ and his articles can be found at www.malindawords.blogspot.com

SL governor orders removal of Tamil church in East

SL governor orders removal of Tamil church in East

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The Sinhala colonial governor of the Eastern Province, Rear Admiral (retd.) Mohan Wijewickrema, has instructed officials under him to remove a Catholic church that has been constructed by the uprooted people of Naavaladi village in Moothoor division of Trincomalee district, informed civil sources in Trincomalee said. The people of Naavaladi village, uprooted in 2006, have resettled at a nearby locality to their native village as the occupying Sri Lankan military was refusing entry to their own lands has established the church for their worship at the new location, which has also been named Naavaladi. 

The order by the Sinhala governor comes at a situation when the uprooted families had made their own efforts to establish themselves, by putting up the church for their worship. 

In the meantime, another group of uprooted Tamils from the same division, who are fishermen and farmers by profession, temporarily residing at Chanthoasapuram were removed from that locality for resettlement at Cheenan-ve'li. 

However, they have not been resettled at Cheenan-ve'li as promised. 

They were initially promised 20 perches of land per family unit. 

But, a number of these families have been dumped 6 months ago at a hillside with 10 perches of land for each family.

The Tamil families complain that they are unable to resume their livelihood of fishing or farming. 

The only livelihood they could find was to collect firewood from the nearby jungle and sell it. But, that too has become a difficult task. 

Even for potable water they have to depend on the water supply by the occupying Sri Lanka Army, which wants the Tamil people to be subservient-TN

TNA MPs, EPC councilors hold protest against erection of Buddha statue in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 May 2013, 10:11 GMT]
Batticaloa district parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance and the councilors of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) and members of the public held a demonstration on Wednesday morning against the construction of the statue of Lord Buddha at the entrance to the city in front of the Batticaloa Pi'l'laiyaar Koayil. 

Protestors went in procession to Koayiladi holding placards and shouting slogans against the move to erect the Buddha statue.

They shouted slogans and carried placards stating ‚“What is the need for a Buddha statue where no Buddhist living in the city. Do not make Lord Buddha a symbol of anarchy”.

Members of the Batticaloa Pi'l'laiyaaradi Sri Pulavi Pillaiyar Koayil committee, Koththuk-ku'lam Sri Muthtumaraiamman Koayil committee and Pi'l'laiayaaradi Rural Development Society committee handed over a memorandum to the Batticaloa district TNA parliamentarian Mr.P.Selvarajah to be submitted to the Sri Lankan Government Agent of Batticaloa District.

Thereafter a delegation of TNA district parliamentarians and EPC councilors handed over the memorandum to the SL Government Agent and the ‘District Brigadier’ of the occupying Sri Lanka Army. 

Batticaloa District TNA parliamentarians Messrs P.Selkvarajah P.Ariyanethran and C.Yogeswaran and EPC councilors K.Thurairajasingham, R.Thurairatnam, Jana Karunakaran, Prasanna Indrakumar, Nadarajah and Krishnapillai Vellimalai were in the delegation that met the SLGA and the ‘District Brigadier’ of the SLA.

Maithripala to write to Swiss Govt.

by Rashini Mendis-2013-05-29

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, who had attended three conferences in Geneva recently, is to address a letter through the Ministry of External Affairs, to inquire why the Swiss Government had provided him a special bullet-proof vehicle and exclusive security, during his stay in Switzerland.

Responding to queries in this regard, he said he is attending to official matters in Polonnaruwa, and would on his return to Colombo, write through the Ministry of External Affairs to the Swiss Government, to know why he had been provided with certain privileges in Geneva.

The minister explained that when he had inquired from State officials in Switzerland as to why he had been provided with special security, they had replied those were 'orders from the top.'

He added when the war with the LTTE was raging and a bomb targeting him was set to explode in Sri Lanka, he had attended a conference in Geneva. He had no special security at the time. Now that it is four years since the war was successfully concluded, being provided with special security is cause for concern and needs to be verified, he declared. (RS)

Police seek info on escaped prisoner

WEDNESDAY, 29 MAY 2013 
The person shown in the picture, Balasubramaniyam Jadisan alias Wardhan who was in prison after being convicted on terrorist activities had escaped from the prison officers in the Matara area on May 26, police said.

The police requested the public to inform the authorities through the following numbers if there were any information about the escaped prisoner.

011-2451634 Officer in Charge, Terrorist Investigation Division

011-2451636 Terrorist Investigation Division

UNP’s New Constitutional Principles: Radical Future Or Radical Farce?

May 29, 2013 

Kalana Senaratne

When regimes are dictatorial and dangerous, alternative forces which promise a 

better society and future do tend to be taken seriously by the people. This, quite simply, is because the future promised by such alternative forces tends to be better than the present. But one thing many people can’t do about the present UNP is to take it seriously. The UNP’s new constitutional principles – which it claims will shape and form the new constitution it hopes to place before the people once elected to power – tell us why this is the case (see ‘Full Text of the Principles’, Colombo Telegraph, 29 May 2013). Just a few thoughts on these principles would suffice, since apart from a few grand promises, the UNP’s guiding principles are generally known to the people and can be easily found stated in different words in the 1978 Constitution.

The new set of constitutional principles needs to be viewed in the context of the grand promise of radical transformation of party and polity which the UNP started making sometime ago. Grand pronouncements were made to the effect that the UNP has begun to tread a path of radical politics. But this, unfortunately for the country, turned out to be a farce. What transpired on further inspection was that the UNP’s promise of radicalism was firstly to keep Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe as its leader. This ‘radicalism’ was followed by Mr.Sajith Premadasa’s own brand of radicalism when he recently admitted (on Derana 360 programme) that his attempt to oust Mr. Wickremasinghe may have a bit premature.

So it is this ‘radical’ UNP that now comes up with a document promising a more democratic country. But even before you proceed to the end of the Preamble of the document, it begins to appear why the grand promise of the UNP amounts to yet another grand farce.

For example, the UNP begins by stating that: “During the last several years under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime, the office of Executive President has been completely desecrated, by destroying all the checks and balances that were built into the system.” The UNP also states that the “dignity and integrity of that office has been reduced to a despicable state…”

While it is true that the incumbent has done much to desecrate the office of Executive President (and much more), what is alarming here is the implication of the statement: i.e. the UNP believes that the Executive Presidential system that the UNP introduced was actually one which had a lot of checks and balances. In other words, the UNP’s alleged radical programme begins by justifying the 1978 Constitution as well as the Executive Presidential system in particular, which it promises (somewhat dubiously) to abolish. It constructs the idea that there was a ‘pure’ form of Executive Presidency and a ‘pure’ 1978 Constitution which the Rajapaksa-regime has now desecrated. This is reason enough to make anyone cynical about the UNP’s promise of abolishing the Executive Presidency or radically changing the current constitutional framework. So the UNP begins its discourse by glorifying the very thing that it seeks to reform/abolish. And the internal contradiction becomes clear. And furthermore, what was that statement made recently by the likes of Mr. Wijedasa Rajapaksa that the Executive Presidency will not be abolished but be reformed? (see ‘Video: UNP says no abolishing of Executive Presidency’, Daily Mirror, 16 May 2013).

Apart from such total confusion, it is also to be noted that any call for the abolition of the Executive Presidency, has to be accompanied by a serious and radical transformation of a number of fundamental principles and policies underlying the current constitution. The abolition of the Executive Presidency will not mean much, and cannot take place, without a more meaningful and palpable restructuring of the State and its policies towards religion, devolution, etc. Without such changes, there will only be symbolic changes, a different set of words and phrases to explain the post of ‘Executive President’.

That the UNP is nowhere near of promising such a radical transformation becomes very clear when one observes its principles concerning ‘Restoration of the People’s Sovereignty’ and ‘Devolution of Powers’.

So, for example, the UNP states that: “Buddhism will be given the foremost place while assuring the rights of all other religions in compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).” But what’s the difference between this promise and the current constitutional provision on Buddhism (Article 9 of the current Constitution)? The only difference is the deceiving and perhaps meaningless reference to the ICCPR. Not that the ICCPR is meaningless, but inserting reference to the ICCPR is meaningless if you are still going to give ‘foremost place’ to Buddhism.

The UNP cannot explain why Buddhism should be given the foremost place if all other religions are also to be accorded non-discriminatory status as per the provisions of the ICCPR. To do so, it will have to adopt the line of the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists. But the moment it does so, the relevance of UNP’s ‘radical’ alternative becomes useless. For the people, it would be far better to stick to the current regime and its Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist groups who would do the same job for them.

So too is the case about the UNP’s principles on devolution of powers. When the UNP said it is going to be radical about such matters, one thought whether its plan was to perhaps discuss a political solution on the lines of extensive devolution or perhaps some form of a policy akin to that advocated by the likes of Mr. S. Kajendren of the TNPF (i.e. ‘two nations, one country’). Not in a hundred years, the UNP says. What the UNP is promising is as unclear as the promise made by the present regime. For example, the UNP states that the country shall be a “unitary state” (but then, we have Article 2 of the current Constitution which sets that out in very clear and unambiguous terms). And this, to be sure, will not take you any further than the 13th Amendment under current circumstances. If then, what’s so different between the UNP and what’s being promised by the current regime (or the present Constitution)?

And in yet another meaningless fashion, the UNP promises that in this regard, it will take into consideration a number of documents such as the Rajapaksa-Ban Ki Moon joint communiqué, the UNHRC resolutions on Sri Lanka and the LLRC report. Also promised is the taking into consideration of the Tissa Vitarana Report and the papers exchanged between the SLFP and the TNA. The UNP also states that it will take into consideration will be President Rajapaksa’s speech of May 2009!

At best, what these documents promise you is the 13th Amendment. But if 13th Amendment is what can be promised, why not stick to the present Constitution and the present regime. Furthermore, there’s nothing clearly stated about devolution in a number of these documents except for the promise to implement the 13th Amendment. The UNP does not make clear whether its version of implementing provincial-level devolution includes the devolution of land and police powers, for example. Obviously it cannot do so, given that it was only recently that the UNP stated that it is open to change on devolution (see ‘UNP is open to change on devolution’, Daily Mirror, 22 May 2013). And it was stressed therein that the UNP would even think of constructing a new mechanism based on the will of the people. What that is going to be, if opinion polls are to considered somewhat accurate, tells us that the best one could expect from the UNP is either the 13th Amendment (sans land/police powers) or the reversion to a different model, perhaps district-level devolution. So there’s no meaningful difference between this UNP and the current regime.

Given that the UNP’s policies on some of the most contentious issues affecting the country are similar to those of the present regime, it is questionable how useful the rest of the constitutional principles (on the judiciary, independent institutions, etc) would be. Also, promising people that they will have rights such as a “right to good administration” is practically questionable given the absence of ‘good administrators’.

In a sense, it does seem that the UNP is stuck between the Sinhala-Buddhist community (which it has to please) and the international community (which it attempts to please by referring to the ICCPR, the Latimer House Principles, etc., in its document). Ultimately, it knows that the former will be the deciding force; hence the need to affirm the unitary character of the State, the need to give Buddhism its foremost place, the need to be extremely vague about devolution, the need to show that it’s confused about the Executive Presidency, etc. This is why the people will ultimately decide that rather than going with the confused and deceiving pseudo-Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, it’s better to go with the real thing: the Rajapaksa regime and the wholeBBS/Sinhala Ravaya jingbang.

In short, the UNP tells us that it’s promising a radical future. What it seems to be promising rather is a radical farce. The UNP shows no meaningful hope in terms of radically changing the current political and constitutional framework governing the country. In fact, it seems to be mimicking the Rajapaksa-regime. What is necessary, it seems, is not a new leader for the UNP. What is required is an entirely different political formation; one which treats the UNP, not as an alternative force but as part of the current regime – for that’s what the UNP actually is.

CWC seeks special status

May 28, 2013, 10:01 pm 

The Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), which is the single largest organisation of Tamils of Indian Origin (TIO) in Sri Lanka, has sought a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to impress upon India the need to recognise the TIO as a politico-social and economic group with unique needs, quite distinct from those of Sri Lankan Tamils, according to a news report published by the Indian Express newspaper yesterday.

The IE story said: "The meeting, sought about 15 days ago, is being arranged by V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.

"Since the demise of Rajiv Gandhi, the Government of India has been clubbing the TIO with the Sri Lankan Tamils, though our problems are different," Senthil Thondaman, Minister of Power in the Uva province, told Express here on Monday.

"For example the northern province, overwhelmingly populated by Sri Lankan Tamils, needs powers over land and the police. But the TIO, living as a small minority among Sinhalese in the Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces, do not need them.

The TIO are better off with the Centre keeping these powers, because they have more influence at the Centre than in any one province," Thondaman said.

India is pressing for the de facto devolution of land and police powers to the provinces as it is a key feature of the India-inspired 13th Amendment of the Lankan constitution, which was enacted following the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

"The Lankan Tamils have a headache, while the TIO have a stomach ache. They can’t be treated with the same medicine," Thondaman argued.

"The TIO need housing. They live in 10 ft by 10 ft line rooms which were originally stables! India is going to build 4,000 houses in the Central province, but our overall need is for 200,000 houses. Help for education and health are other pressing needs," he said.

Pictures: Patient Vomiting Blood, Hospital Staff Watching Soap Opera – Accident Ward Colombo

May 29, 2013 

General Hospital of Colombo accused of neglecting patients . “Here we had a patient who was vomiting out blood and as far as the attendants, nurses and doctors were concerned, the soap opera on TV was far more important to attend to at this hour.” an eyewitness says. We give below a first-hand experience of a Sri Lankan citizen;

Last night (28.05.2013), a young trainee nurse from Nawalapitiya was tossed out of a moving bus unto the bustling street in Kirulapone and fell right in front of my moving car. While a Police Officer from the Wellawatte Station was questioning the bus driver, a friend and I rushed her to the General Hospital of Colombo – the biggest government hospital in this entire country. Upon reaching the emergency entrance of the hospital, we were ordered by the nurse at the entrance to wheel out a stretcher and to place the patient on this stretcher. It was not a busy night. Having so done, we were then ordered to push her into to the accident ward which, after disturbing many, we actually found. Here we had a patient who was vomiting out blood and as far as the attendants, nurses and doctors were concerned, the soap opera on TV was far more important to attend to at this hour. I attach a picture as evidence of this. After painfully having managed to get her an x-ray, we had to run around the ward to convince the doctor that this patient was actually worth having a look at. Finally, after about 2 hours of mayhem, she was admitted to the ward and were praying that she has no major injuries.

The anger and disgust that I felt at this period of time affected me to the very core of my being. I was appalled at the treatment which ordinary citizens face in times of greatest need and ashamed that I was too “privileged” never to have experienced this before. This is the sad reality of this “Island in Paradise”. I am ashamed today to live in a country with such blatant disregard for human life. The compassion and loving kindness so inherent to our culture is now merely folklore.

There are great many young people who are willing to take a stand for reforms in a manner that is the least counter productive for the growth of this country – please help us to do so by sharing this message with people who can make a change, however small.

Thank you

Yours,

Selyna. D. Peiris

LLB (Hull) LLM (London) MAIS (Vienna)

Governing party trade union leaders clash

Wednesday, 29 May 2013 

A clash had taken place between trade union leaders of the governing party at a party organized by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa to show his appreciation to the governing party members who organized a protest march on the 15th simultaneous to the protest organized by opposition parties and trade unions against the increased electricity tariffs.

Head of the SLFP trade unions, Leslie Devendra had clashed with Basil Rajapaksa’s coordinator for trade union affairs, Siripala Amerasinghe at the function. Devendra had told Amerasinghe that he would be assaulted if he did not leave the venue immediately.

Devendra had been angered that a group affiliated to Basil Rajapaksa was sending media releases and holding press conferences after ignoring the traditional SLFP trade unions.

Basil Rajapaksa’s trade union affairs coordinator, Siripala Amerasinghe serves as the chairman of the Timber Corporation. He was a former JVP parliamentarian and the former head of the Inter Company Employees’ Union.

It is Amerasinghe who has been assigned the task of responding on behalf of the government to media statements issues by the JVP trade unions.

Devendra has said that the SLFP trade union leaders have to now dance to the tune of JVPers who had killed Panditha and other trade union leaders.

Wennappuwa PS member assaults two

2013-05-29 

Two individuals who have sustained injuries allegedly after being assaulted by a member of the Wennappuwa Pradeshiya Sabha have been admitted to hospital, the Police Media Unit told Ceylon Today Online.

The incident had occurred at the Kammala area in Wennappuwa.  

The Wennappuwa Police have commenced an investigation into the incident, based on a complaint lodged by the injured persons. (Ceylon Today Online)

Full Text Of The Principles: UNP’s New Draft Constitution To Submit People Within 6 Months After The Formation Of A Government

May 29, 2013

This is the New Constitutional Principles formulated by United National Party. This draft constitution will be submitted for the approval of the people for relevant suggestions and appropriate amendments.

PREAMBLE
———–

The Second Republican Constitution was adopted in 1978 to provide for the economic, political and social development of the country. It achieved the expected objectives including the socio-economic transformation of the country, to a great extent.

Ranil Wickremesinghe

During the last several years under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime, the office of Executive President has been completely desecrated, by destroying all the checks and balances that were built into the system. The dignity and the integrity of that office has been reduced to a despicable state as a result of the blatant abuse of power and the creation of an authoritarian regime marked with extreme nepotism and corruption, with gross disregard for democratic values and fundamental human rights.

UNP’s New Draft Constitution To Submit People Within 6 Months After The Formation Of A Government by nelvely

Voter apathy: Instil confidence in voters

- SF tells Deshapriya

by Shamindra Ferdinando-May 28, 2013

 Democratic Party leader General Sarath Fonseka yesterday told The Island that Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya had to instil confidence among the Sri Lankans in the country’s electoral process.

The vast majority of Sri Lankans had lost faith in the electoral process due to major malpractices, the former army commander said, urging Deshapriya to take meaningful measures to encourage more people to exercise their franchise. Over the years there had been gradual reluctance on the part of some voters to exercise their franchise due to the belief that it wouldn’t make any difference, the retired General said.

Former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) MP was commenting on the launch of a special project to facilitate all eligible voters to exercise their franchise.

Addressing the media recently at the Elections Secretariat, Deshapriya said his department would celebrate June 1 as the annual ‘Voters’ Day’ in accordance with a special awareness programme to encourage voters.

The General was speaking to The Island during yesterday’s campaigning in the Puttalam District.

Additional Commissioner of Elections U. Amaradasa told The Island yesterday that Polls Commissioner Deshapriya had written to the General Secretaries of all registered political parties requesting their support for the special project. Amaradasa said that in accordance with Deshapriya’s directive, representatives of political parties could accompany Grama Sevaka Niladharis, engaged in distributing electoral registration forms.

Gen. Fonseka said that he really appreciated Deshapriya’s efforts, but the polls chief should realise the incumbent government had caused irreparable damage to electoral process. The abolition of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution had undermined efforts to prevent the government from interfering in the electoral process, he said.

The former Chief of Defence Staff is of the opinion that the voters’ apathy is primarily due to the failure on the part of the Elections Secretariat to intervene forcefully to thwart large scale malpractices.

Responding to a query, Gen. Fonseka said that there wouldn’t have been a requirement for special projects to entice voters if the Elections Secretariat could assure a level playing field.

Asked whether the Democratic Party would support the polls chiefs’ campaign, Gen. Fonseka urged his supporters to take advantage of the ongoing registering process of voters. In spite of having a well organised apparatus to terrorise the public, the SLFP-led UPFA was now struggling on the political front, the war winning army commander said.

The forthcoming Local Government elections in the North Western and Central Province would give the masses an opportunity to express their displeasure, Sri Lanka’s first four-star General said. Since the recent launch of the Democratic Party, there had been a tremendous response from those who had been let down by both the ruling coalition as well as major opposition parties, he said. "We are gearing for elections in the North Western Province," the General said, claiming that the government was now in two minds regarding early PC polls in the North Western and Central Provinces due to significant public swing against the ruling coalition.

SL governor orders removal of Tamil church in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 22:33 GMT]
The Sinhala colonial governor of the Eastern Province, Rear Admiral (retd.) Mohan Wijewickrema, has instructed officials under him to remove a Catholic church that has been constructed by the uprooted people of Naavaladi village in Moothoor division of Trincomalee district, informed civil sources in Trincomalee said. The people of Naavaladi village, uprooted in 2006, have resettled at a nearby locality to their native village as the occupying Sri Lankan military was refusing entry to their own lands has established the church for their worship at the new location, which has also been named Naavaladi. 

The order by the Sinhala governor comes at a situation when the uprooted families had made their own efforts to establish themselves, by putting up the church for their worship. 

In the meantime, another group of uprooted Tamils from the same division, who are fishermen and farmers by profession, temporarily residing at Chanthoasapuram were removed from that locality for resettlement at Cheenan-ve'li. 

However, they have not been resettled at Cheenan-ve'li as promised. 

They were initially promised 20 perches of land per family unit. 

But, a number of these families have been dumped 6 months ago at a hillside with 10 perches of land for each family.

The Tamil families complain that they are unable to resume their livelihood of fishing or farming. 

The only livelihood they could find was to collect firewood from the nearby jungle and sell it. But, that too has become a difficult task. 

Even for potable water they have to depend on the water supply by the 

Sri Lanka’s Numbers Game

Sri Lanka’s Numbers Game

Image courtesy Hill Post

Groundviews

Padraig Colman-28 May, 2013

On May 16 a seminar was held at the Marga Institute to launch  a publication by the Independent Diaspora Analysis Group – Sri Lanka (IDAG-S) – The Numbers Game: Politics of Restorative Justice. I was at the seminar and will here attempt to provide an impression of the ideas generated in the discussion. This is in no way intended to be a formal record or set of minutes.

The members of the panel leading the discussion of the publication were Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, Chairman Emeritus of the Marga Institute, Asoka Gunawardena, Marga’s Executive Governor,  and Raja Korale, an international statistics consultant. The open forum was moderated by Dr Nimal Gunatilleke.

The IDAG-S Report

Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, opened  the proceedings by answering the question: “Do numbers matter”. He acknowledged that, while even a low number of casualties was cause for anguish, citing large and inaccurate figures raised issues of the proportionality of the military response and the ethical position of the line of command. Continual recycling of spurious figures can only inhibit the healing process. Dr Dayan Jayetilleka agreed that the numbers do matter because the truth is a moral issue.

The Marga Institute had taken up this publication because it seemed authoritative enough to provide ammunition to persuade the UN to revisit its position on the numbers of civilian casualties in the final months of Eelam IV.

The provenance of the report encouraged confidence in its impartiality and competence. The IDAG-S is a think tank of academics, professionals and analysts from  the Sri Lankan diaspora in Europe, North America and Australia. The lead author is an aerospace engineer who was able to bring a wide range of multidisciplinary skills to the task.

Although Eelam War IV has been described as a war without witnesses, the authors of this report had managed, through thorough research, to assemble a logical and well-argued package which casts doubt on some of the calculations being peddled. Dr Gunatilleke found the high-resolution satellite images included in the report impressive. These had not been published so comprehensively elsewhere. These satellite images show that shells fired by the SLA from February to May mostly avoided concentrations of civilians and in the final weeks had used  hardly any artillery.

Remembrance and Amnesia

There was a strong theme at the seminar of the need to acknowledge the size of the catastrophe. Those who are citing inflated figures are making a demand for reckoning based on the assumption that we did not care. That exaggeration in turn prompts a bunker mentality among the victors who are reluctant to admit to a figure of civilian dead for fear of a litigious reaction.

Ernest Renan observed that nation-building requires amnesia as well as invention. In some countries memorials and commemorative days are seen as part of the healing process. Elsewhere, remembering is felt to be dangerous. In Rwanda, political parties are prohibited from appealing to group identity, and public statements promoting “divisionism” are forbidden. The authorities have used these limitations to imprison critics. Remembering might inflame old hatreds. Cambodia celebrates a Day of Remembrance on My 20 each year. It used to be called the National Day of Hatred.

How do we strike a balance between remembering and the infantile abuse that too depressingly often passes for comment on the websites of newspapers. How do we contrive a discourse that notes the mistakes of the past without allowing the armchair conflict junkies from forcing further mistakes to be made?

Victory parades are not a helpful form of commemoration despite claims that that there are no longer any minorities, only Sri Lankans. Michael Roberts warns against  “hegemonic incorporation” of this nature. “Constitutional fiat cannot transform minds, especially entrenched mindsets. Multiple strategies are required. Political imagination is called for, both from President Rajapaksa and his advisors as well as eminent minds attached to this their land.”

Accountancy and Accountability

The war arose from a constellation of issues, not just as a reaction to grievances. The government’s foreign service and highly-paid PR consultants have dismally failed to convey this and to let  the world know the true nature of the LTTE and the kind of war it fought. GOSL needs to convey the truth about battle. Jim Grant of UNICEF had commended the government for still continuing to provide services in conflict zones. The world was not aware of this. The government has allowed the LTTE rump to convince some sections of western opinion that GOSL was following a policy of extermination. GOSL has not made the case that it took 11,000 LTTE prisoners alive and rehabilitated many of them.

On the other hand, there was a consensus that civil society must engage with the GOSL  focusing on the LLRC recommendations on the  process of collective atonement and  that leadership on this needs to be given by the President.

It would have  been surprising if there had not been some atavistic and brutal reaction from some soldiers who witnessed horrible things happening  to their comrades and lived under traumatic fear themselves. The IDAG-S conclusion states clearly: “Nothing in this survey denies the probability and the evidence that some extra-judicial killings of high-ranking LTTE officers occurred during the last days of the war. These actions need to be impartially investigated by an independent body, and where possible criminal indictments pursued against the perpetrators.”

There is a strong case for accountability and recognition of the loss of life. The current situation does not hold out much hope for  genuine reconciliation. Naming and shaming on the basis  of exaggerated numbers is not the way to persuade the Sinhalese community to recognise  the loss of life amongst the Vanni Tamils.  Bludgeoning them with  inflated numbers could lead to a backlash.

In 2009, the Banyan column in the Economist said: “It is probably too much to hope the government might adopt a fresh approach to these familiar allegations. There were always at least three ways to tackle them. It could, early on, have argued brazenly that the benefits of ending the war outweighed the cost in human life. The Tigers were as vicious and totalitarian a bunch of thugs as ever adopted terrorism as a national-liberation strategy. Or the government could have insisted that its army’s behaviour was largely honourable, but that some regrettable abuses may have occurred, which would be thoroughly investigated.”

 IDAG-S consider that some critics , such as Frances Harrison and Alan Keenan have moved “into the realms of statistical fantasy in ways that raise questions about their integrity / morality”. “It would seem that such spokespersons are motivated by moral rage and retributive justice. They seek regime change in Sri Lanka – a form of 21st century evangelism that is imperialist in character and effect.”

In Sri Lanka’s case, controversial estimates of civilian deaths were introduced not as irrefutable facts, but as circumstantial evidence to lay the foundation for an international investigation and ultimately regime change.

Way Forward

At the conclusion of the seminar, the question was posed: “How can we engage in the international debate and how can civil society encourage  the implementation of LLRC recommendations on issues relating to humanitarian law and civilian casualties?”

Pradeep Jaganathan stressed the need to raise  public consciousness and  make people realise that we are all responsible and accountable for  what took place during the last 30 years – through sins of  commission and omission, hate, apathy, failure to speak up.

Dr. Dayan Jayetilleka proposed establishing a group to review the study and make necessary recommendations to GOSL which could be used  in the international debate. Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke thought it important that we address the moral responsibility and accountability of all actors in the conflict, including the TNA, and not solely the state. What is the universalist framework for an understanding of this whole tragedy of war and human suffering?