Basil Wants To Capture BASL

June 9, 2013 

Colombo Telegraph learns that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent party of the Rajapaksa government, is anxious to take the control of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL). This decision was taken at a meeting held on Friday June 7 at 7.00 pm at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. A meeting of the SLFP’s Lawyers Association had been convened by Minister Basil Rajapaksa with the participation of 130 lawyers including Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. The meeting was followed by a gala dinner at the Ministry premises itself, Colombo Telegraph learns.

At the meeting following matters were discussed:

1) Minister Basil Rajapksa observed that the SLFP lawyers have lost control of the Bar and the BASL due to impeachment and that steps should be taken to re-take the BASL at the earliest opportunity.

2) Mrs. Anoma Gunatilake (wife of Retired DIGJayantha Wickramaratne, a member of the Bribery Commission and against whom two investigations are pending in the commission itself) said that the BASL is now working as an anti Government organisation and all necessary steps must be taken to change this order of affairs.

3) Mr. Remadious (a lawyer practicing in Jaffna and who recently sought the SLFP ticket to contest the Northern Provincial Council election after defecting from the TNA), a new addition to the SLFP lawyers Association, said that Miss Abhimanasinghem (senior most lawyer and Zonal Vice President  of Jaffna) is acting arbitrarily in Jaffna and that ‘it is desirable to deal with her’.

4) Minister Basil Rajapaksa said that there is no threat internally and the threat is only external and therefore the Bar should not pose a threat to the Government.

5) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that all panels of lawyers (who are given Government cases to appear) will now be changed and the new lists will comprise only of the members of the present SLFP Lawyers Association.

6) It was also observed that some of the lawyers previously with the Association and who had on occasion come to Temple Trees for discussions have now joined other political parties.

“Dhammika is spoiling Namal” – Basil

Sunday, 09 June 2013 

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa says that although MP Namal Rajapaksa has a clear political future, he is being misguided by millionaire businessman Dhammika Perera and his lackey Nimal Perer.

Basil Rajapaksa has said that he had continuously requested the President not to appoint a casino businessman like Dhammika Perera as a ministry secretary, but it was Namal Rajapaksa who had got him appointed as the Transport Ministry Secretary. He has added that the respect enjoyed by public officials has diminished after appointing a casino businessman as a ministry secretary.

Basil has observed that while Anura Bandaranaike’s political life was ruined by his alcoholic playboy friends, Namal’s political future is being ruined by the likes of Dhammika and Nimal by spending millions and giving him Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins and introducing him to pretty damsels.

Basil has made these comments to some SLFP MPs who had attended the opening ceremony of the new SLFP headquarters on the 7th.

Basil Rajapaksa has said that Nimal Perera had also given him details of Dhammika’s business rackets and that the details would be revealed shortly.

Heavy rains and gale force winds wreak 

havoc Five dead, 13 injured

BY SURESH PERERA-June 8, 2013

The Sri Lanka Navy and the Air Force launched a coordinated rescue operation yesterday as heavy rains and gale force winds wreaked havoc leaving at least five fishermen dead, 13 injured and extensive property damage across the country’s Southern coastal belt, senior officials said.

Naval vessels and Air Force Bell 412 helicopters were deployed in the mission to rescue fishermen who had set sail on Friday night mostly from points along the Dehiwala and Beruwala coastal areas and were caught up in the stormy weather, they said.

Heavy Rains and Gale Force Winds Wreak Havoc by nelvely

Send back Lankan defence officers training in Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa

By Indo Asian News Service

Chennai, June 9 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has strongly urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct officials to send back two Sri Lankan defence officers undergoing training in Tamil Nadu.

She also urged him to take a policy decision that Lankan armed personnel will not be trained in India till a satisfactory resolution of human rights violations against the Tamils in Sri Lanka is arrived at, and illegal attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen stop.

In a letter to Manmohan Singh Saturday, the text of which was released to the media here Sunday, Jayalalithaa charged the centre with being utterly insensitive to the feelings of the people Tamil Nadu by inviting Lankan defence officials for training.

She said: "I strongly urge you to give suitable instructions to immediately discharge the two Sri Lankan officers from the training course at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and to send them back to Sri Lanka forthwith."

She added: "In addition, the Government of India should issue a clear policy directive not to provide training or to engage in any form of co-operation with the Sri Lankan Armed Forces until satisfactory and credible action is taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to completely stop the human rights violations against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka and to stop illegal attacks on fishermen belonging to Tamil Nadu."

Jayalalithaa expressed surprise that on May 27, when the union Defence Minister A.K. Anthony declared that the centre has decided not to train Lankan military personnel in Tamil Nadu in response to the sentiments expressed by the people here, the two Lankan officers commenced their pre-training activities at Wellington in Nilgiri district.

"I am amazed that the union defence minister was unaware that his policy announcement was being flouted by his own ministry. This is a very sorry commentary on the Government of India's ambivalence and ad-hocism on a serious and emotive issue that affects the people of Tamil Nadu," Jayalalithaa said.

S. Africa Prays as Mandela Remains in Hospital

Slideshow: Nelson Mandela: A revolutionary's life

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.
By Keir Simmons and F. Brinley Bruton, NBC News

JOHANNESBURG -- South Africa and millions around the world on Sunday waited for news of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela after he was rushed to the hospital with a lung infection on Saturday.

Officials described the 94-year-old's health as "serious," the first time the term has been used despite numerous health scares.

"His condition deteriorated to the point where it was found necessary to hospitalize him," said Mac Maharaj, South African presidential spokesman, on Saturday. "He is in a hospital in Pretoria now."

Many around the world were shocked by pictures of Mandela – affectionately known by his clan name Madiba – looking frail with current South African president Jacob Zuma in April.

Mandela's lungs have been weak since suffering tuberculosis while a political prisoner for 27 years under the apartheid regime. After he was released in 1990, he took his fight for racial equality right to the presidency, toppling the minority white leadership and becoming South Africa's first black president.

That he was able to help navigate the country through the time of monumental change without sparking a bloodbath as many predicted won him the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize and made him a hero around the world.

Officials tried to reassure the public in the wake of the latest hospitalization.

"The truth of the matter is a simple one. Madiba is a fighter and at his age, as long as he is fighting, he'll be fine," Maharaj said.

NBC News correspondent Rohit Kachroo reports South Africa where Nelson Mandela remains in serious but stable condition after he was rushed to the hospital following a recurrence of a lung infection.

Nevertheless, South Africans worried and waited.

A news anchor on South African broadcaster ENCA told viewers on Saturday: "The Presidency has called on the people to pray for Madiba during his hospital stay."

And pray they did, with people gathering to pray in churches and parks.

"I'm praying, because he's a hero. I want him to be alive," said Sharon Dube in a Johannesburg park along with other well-wishers.

Others were quick to acknowledge the reality of his age and ailing health, and wished the father of modern South Africa well.

"We're praying for him. But we can't do anything. If the time comes, we wish for him a good way to go," said Noel Ngwenya.

It was not known what hospital he was being treated at, although officials and the family did say he was in Pretoria, one of the country’s three capital cities.

Indeed, journalists saw a group of people believed to be family members entering Medi-clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Sunday.
Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe Mandela was also seen driving out of the hospital with his granddaughter, Ndileka Mandela.

In the past, Mandela’s family and the office of the presidency have gone to great lengths to keep secret the location of where he is being treated. 

Related stories:

• Mandela, 94, hospitalized in 'serious' condition with lung infection
• ANC defends broadcast of visit with ailing Nelson Mandela
• What will happen to the 'Rainbow Nation' once its icon Mandela dies?

Northern Province Tamils’ issue needs respectable resolution, says BJP

MEERA SRINIVASAN-COLOMBO, June 8, 2013

Sri Lanka’s post-war context requires empowerment along with development, and holding a free and fair election in the north, along with devolution, is central to it — this was the broad message that the Indian delegation conveyed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday, according to BJP leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad, who led the team.

As part of a five-day visit, organised by the New Delhi-based India Foundation and Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies in Colombo, the delegates met senior leaders in Sri Lanka across political parties in Jaffna and Colombo, including the President, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister G.L. Peris. Meetings with civil society representatives were also organised.

“The Sri Lankan government reaffirmed its commitment to holding Northern Provincial Council elections. The senior leaders told us categorically that the elections will be held in September,” said Mr. Prasad at a select media briefing here.

The delegation emphasised to various leaders that the issue of Tamils in the Northern Province needed respectable resolution with dignity and equality, according to Mr. Prasad. “I also conveyed to the Sri Lankan government that the Tamils issue was not just Tamil Nadu’s concern but a national issue. India-Sri Lankan relations have a bipartisan consensus in India,” he said.

The Indian delegation included Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena), Ram Madhav (RSS), journalist and political commentator Swapan Dasgupta, former IFS officer Vivek Katju and advocate and human rights activist Monika Arora.

The delegation also met senior leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), including veteran politician R. Sampanthan. Some of the delegation members observed that they sensed a strong “trust deficit” between the TNA, which has a strong presence in northern Sri Lanka, and the Sri Lankan government. “We urged the TNA to have a dialogue with the government,” one of the members said.

“All parties must get together for an all-inclusive political solution. We cannot import a solution, and it cannot be a Rajapaksa-Sampanthan agreement,” the President told the delegation, according to a release from the President’s office.

The delegation also raised the issue of Indian fishermen being caught by the Sri Lankan Navy periodically with the Sri Lankan President. Mr. Prasad said, “We conveyed that any physical attack on fishermen from India would be unacceptable and regrettable. He told us that there were no such attacks and would not be in future as well,” he said.

The delegation also emphasised to the Sri Lankan government need to implement the 13th Amendment, and the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report.

Britain’s departure from colonial attitudes must also extend to the Tamil question08 June 2013 Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt shooting a video for the British mission in Colombo earlier this year, endorsing the Sinhala regime whilst standing on the Mullivaikkal beach, the site of the Sinhala military’s slaughter of at least 40,000 Tamils in the final stages of the war in April/ May 2009. (Picture: British High Commission in Sri Lanka) William Hague’s announcement this week acknowledging responsibility and expressing regret for the crimes committed by British colonial authorities in Kenya against the Mau Mau rebellion is yet another instance of the certainties that legitimised the British Empire being overturned. For several decades after decolonisation, the argument that the Empire was an untarnished moral good that universally brought civilisation and progress to the natives was largely unchallenged in mainstream British culture. In subsequent decades, however, revisionist history and the changing power dynamics of the world have worked to unsettle this view and led to public acknowledgements of past crimes. Earlier this year, for example, while on an official visit to India, Prime Minister Cameron described the massacre of Indian civilians by colonial state officials at Jallainwallah Bagh in 1919, one of the triggers of the pan Indian Non-Cooperation movement, as ‘deeply shameful.’ These almost apologies can be easily dismissed as purely symbolic and prompted more by necessity than genuine reflection and introspection. However, this largely misses the point, as the motivations for public gestures of regret are less significant than the fact that British officials feel compelled to make them. In short, they are significant because they signal a growing awareness amongst policy makers and politicians that the easy assumptions of colonial superiority and benevolence that for decades shaped British policy towards former imperial possessions and subjects can no longer be used to mask the violence, racial hierarchies and extraction of empire. The retreat from empire has not, however, been consistent or even. This is glaringly evident when it comes to British policy on the Tamil national question in Sri Lanka. On this issue it seems that the British remain resolutely wedded to the colonial past, continuing a pattern of consistently backing Sinhala majoritarian ethnocracy that was first established in the early 1930s. Prime Minister Cameron’s decision to attend the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo later this year is simply a continuation of this policy. As was Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt’s appalling decision earlier this year to endorse the Sinhala regime whilst standing on the Mullivaikkal beach, the site of the Sinhala military’s slaughter of at least 40,000 Tamils in the final stages of the war in April/ May 2009. Both these decisions express a callous contempt and disregard for Tamils’ collective rights and well-being that first became evident during the late colonial period. The early decades of the twentieth century saw important challenges to colonial rule across the world. There were serious anti-colonial movements all over Asia. Notably in India, the Congress movement’s mass protests demanding self-rule mobilised India-wide support and garnered international attention. The 1917 Russian Revolution and the increasing global power of the United States also worked to undermine the British and other European empires’ sense of permanence. Repercussions of these international shifts were evident even in Ceylon, where from the 1920’s onwards colonial officials began to initiate limited constitutional moves towards self-government. The reforms immediately raised the question of the political status of the Tamils. Democratic rule in Sri Lanka meant not only Sinhala dominance but the dominance of the increasingly powerful Sinhala Buddhist movement that sought explicitly to create a Sinhala first state and polity in which the Tamils would have a subordinate political, social and economic position. Despite the very real threats posed by majoritarian ethno-nationalism, and the prescient warnings of several Tamil politicians, British officials from the early 1930’s visibly adopted a policy of backing Sinhala majority rule and more or less explicitly adopted the Sinhala nationalist interpretation of the island as a Sinhala possession. The 1928 Report of the Donoughmore Commission and later the 1945 Report of the Soulbury Commission offer clear statements of British policy during this period. In the final negotiations over the transfer of power that began in earnest after the end of WWII, British officials chose to deal exclusively with D. S Senanayake, a politician with deep roots in the Sinhala nationalist movement. Senanayake, unlike his Indian counterpart Nehru, was not the leader of a powerful nationalist movement capable of destabilising British rule. Instead his status was mostly an artefact of his connections to British officials who effectively ‘picked’ him as the ‘right pair of hands’ to safeguard British interests on the island. Senanayake made it clear that he would not tolerate negotiations with Tamil political leaders and so the Tamil politician G.G Ponnambalam was pointedly not invited to London to discuss the details of the post-independence constitution. When Ponnambalam made his own way to London anyway he was dismissed with a set of short and perfunctory meetings. In the post-independence decades, British policy has continued in the same vein and has never sought to challenge or undermine Sinhala domination over the Tamils. This is despite the fact that many of the minor tactical military and commercial agreements made with Senanayake were overturned by subsequent Sinhala nationalist governments. It is of course the Sinhala Buddhist state that bears responsibility for the structural and violent processes of annihilation that have been unleashed against the Tamils since independence. However, Britain remains culpable, not just for the decisions made during the colonial era but for the on-going and unstinting support that Sinhala Buddhism receives from a wide range of British officials and policymakers. The racialised hierarchies and assumptions that sustained British colonial violence in places like Kenya, India and Malaysia have become increasingly indefensible and undeniable with the shifting dynamics and imperatives of global politics. The violence, racial hierarchy and extraction of the Sinhala Buddhist state, tolerated for decades because of the imperatives of the Cold War and the War on Terror, have become - in the post 2009 era - glaringly indefensible and undeniable. International perceptions of Sri Lanka are visibly shifting. Yet important strands of British policy making on Sri Lanka remain stubbornly wedded to defending the Sinhala Buddhist order and its violent subjugation of the Tamils. Not only is this policy counterproductive and out of step with shifting international realities, it is also morally indefensible and can only be explained as the shameful continuation of the late colonial attitude of contempt and indifference towards the Tamils.

7yr old rape victim identifies SL soldier as attacker The 7-year-old victim of sexual assault from Nedunkeni, Vavuniya identified her attacker in court on Friday reports Tamilwin. A soldier was reportedly arrested in connection with the assault. The girl was abducted and raped on her way home from school on the 14th May. The attack sparked demonstrations in Vavuniya demanding the arrest of the rapist. நெடுங்கேணி சிறுமி பாலியல் துஷ்பிரயோக சம்பவம்!- இராணுவ சிப்பாய் அடையாளம் காட்டப்பட்டார்! [ வெள்ளிக்கிழமை, 07 யூன் 2013, 09:11.15 AM GMT ] வவுனியா நெடுங்கேணியில் 7 வயது சிறுமி பாலியல் பலாத்காரத்திற்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்ட சம்பவத்தில் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட சந்தேக நபரை, பாதிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுமி வெள்ளியன்று நீதிமன்றத்தில் அடையாளம் காட்டியுள்ளதாகப் பொலிசார் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர். கடந்த மாதம் 14ம் திகதி நெடுங்கேணி சேனைப்பிலவில் பாடசாலைக்குச் சென்றுவிட்டு வீடு திரும்பக் காத்திருந்த இந்தச் சிறுமி அடையாளம் தெரியாத ஒருவரால் கடத்திச் செல்லப்பட்டு பாலியல் துஷ்பிரயோகத்துக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளாள். பின்னர், பாழடைந்த கிணறு ஒன்றுக்கருகில் உள்ள பற்றைக்குள்ளிருந்து இந்தச் சிறுமி மீட்கப்பட்டிருந்தாள். இந்தச் சம்பவத்துடன் தொடர்புடையவர் என்ற சந்தேகத்தின் பேரில் இராணுவ சிப்பாய் ஒருவர் கைது செய்யப்பட்டிருந்தார். பாதிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுமி இன்று வெள்ளிக்கிழமை வவுனியா நீதிமன்றத்தில் நீதவான் முன்னிலையில் சந்தேகநபரை அடையாளம் காட்டியுள்ளார். இன்று நீதிமன்றத்தில் சந்தேகநபர் ஆஜர்படுத்தப்பட்ட போது, பாதிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுமிக்கு தமது ஒத்துழைப்பை வெளிப்படுத்துவதற்காக அங்கிருந்த சட்டத்தரணிகள் அனைவரும் எழுந்து நின்று ஆஜராக முன்வந்தமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. இந்தச் சம்பவம் தொடர்பாக மாங்குளம் பொலிசார் தொடர்ந்தும் விசாரணைகளை நடத்தி வருகின்றனர். சிறுமியை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்தவரை உடன் கைதுசெய்து சட்டத்தின் முன் நிறுத்த வேண்டும் என்று கோரி அண்மையில் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்தப்பட்டது. சமூக நீதிக்கான வெகுஜன அமைப்பு நடத்திய அந்த ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில், சிறுவர்களுக்கும் பெண்களுக்கும் எதிராக புரியப்படுகின்ற வன்முறைகளுக்கு எதிராக பெருமளவிலானோர் குரல் கொடுத்தனர்.

UNP sets out key conditions ahead of northern poll

  June 8, 2013 

• Don’t rubber stamp emerging dictatorship: Mangy tells C’wealth
• Opposition wants independent commissions, international observers and civilian administration in the north before election
• Urges C’wealth to reconsider CHOGM in Colombo if Govt. fails to keep promises on independent commissions
• Says amendments to 13A expose regime’s dictatorial anti-devolution agenda

The main opposition United National Party yesterday put forward three key conditions for the Government to fulfil ahead of the Northern Provincial Council election scheduled for September this year and urged the Commonwealth to reconsider going ahead with its Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo if the Rajapaksa administration fails to follow through on pledges to establish independent elections and police commissions ahead of the poll.
The UNP urged the Government to establish independent elections and police commissions, invite international elections observers into the country to monitor the poll and ensure the North is a completely civilian administered province ahead of the promised September election.

Some UPFA allies resist move to dilute 13-A

EPDP, SLMC strike discordant note with Vasu, Rajitha,Tissa, DEW agreeing 

By Shamindra Ferdinando-June 7, 2013

UPFA constituents, the EPDP and the SLMC have strongly opposed far reaching proposal to do away with the right of two provinces or more to merge in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has made the proposal at a meeting attended by members of the Cabinet on Thursday. However, EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda and SLMC leader, Rauff Hakeem had joined forces to thwart the move, political sources told The Island.

Minister Hakeem cut short a visit to Palestine to attend the meeting in view of a campaign by a section of the government to dilute the 13th Amendment ahead of the proposed first Northern Provincial Council election.

Sources said that both Devananda and Hakeem had stressed that two or more provinces shouldn’t be deprived of their right to form a single administrative unit.

Asked whether there had been dispute over any other issue, sources said that Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Devananda and Justice Minister Hakeem had also rejected Prof. Peiris’ pitch for repealing of the constitutional requirement that the consent of all provincial councils was necessary for the enactment of legislation in parliament that infringe on their powers.

In accordance with the 13th Amendment subjects coming under the purview of Provincial Councils couldn’t be modified without the permission of all PCs.

Government sources told The Island that the administration had felt the need to amend the 13th Amendment in the wake of the recent objections faced by the Divineguma Bill.

National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara threw his weight behind the two minority party leaders. Sources said that Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne as well as Ministers, Dew Gunasekera and Prof. Tissa Vitharana, too, had been supportive of the position taken up by minority parties.

Sources said ministers had agreed to put off final decision on two contentious issues pending further study.

Minister Devananda has appointed a committee headed by former MP Dr. S. Thawaraja to study the issue.

Political sources said those opposing government moves to dilute the 13th Amendment were likely to form a common front regardless of their political affiliations.

Colombo brings in more Sinhala colonists to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 June 2013, 15:08 GMT]
2,000 Sinhala families from the South are being brought into Trincomalee district by the occupying Sri Lanka's Government Agent in the district, Major General T.T.R. de Silva, who is a former commander of the Sri Lanka Army in Trincomalee, informed civil sources in the city told TamilNet Friday adding that Colombo is in the process of completing a demograhic genocide on Eezham Tamils in the district while the global powers locked in a geopolitcal race provide necessary time and space to the Colombo Establishment. 

The Sinhala families, being brought in from South, are to be settled at Jeyanthipuram along the Serunuwara Road, within a 5 km radius from a military camp. 

The Sinhala settlers are being brought from Hambanthotta, Negombo, Chilaw and Moratuwa areas. 

The sources in Trincomalee say that the Sri Lankan government is conspiring to totally eradicate the Tamil representation in the district by the next general elections. 

At the general elections held in the year 2010, the Tamil representation was pushed downwards to the lowest position.

SLMC to veto scrapping 13A

By Sanjaya Dassanayake-2013-06-08 

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) High Command at a meeting held on Thursday night has unanimously decided to oppose the proposed amendments to the 13th Amendment, a senior party spokesman told Ceylon Today.

Meanwhile, the draft document of the proposed amendments was presented to the Cabinet on Thursday and the SLMC Leader had informed the Cabinet that he would announce the decision of his party at the next Cabinet meeting after consulting the SLMC High Command. Later in the evening, the SLMC High Command decided to vote against the proposed amendments, the spokesman said.

SLMC Leader and Justice Minister, Rauff Hakeem also confirmed in an interview with BBC that the SLMC would vote against amendments the government is planning to introduce to the existing 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
He also said his party's decision, whether to remain as a constituent party of the government, will largely depend on how the government will act from now onwards in relation to the 13th Amendment and added it will be difficult for the SLMC to remain in the government. Hakeem told BBC that it was due to the insistence of Vasudeva Nanayakkara and himself that President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to give the UPFA constituent parties a week to submit their proposals to amend the 13th Amendment.However, Ministers Prof. G.L. Peiris, Champika Ranawaka and Wimal Weerawansa, had strongly opposed this, claiming the amendments had to be implemented soon.

Reliable sources said, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had inquired whether there was meaning to Hakeem being in the Cabinet as the SLMC representative, if he is not capable of making bold decisions expeditiously.

The Land Like No Other And Some Questions

By Vallipuram Srikanth -June 8, 2013

Vallipuram Srikanth

As a person who is from the Northern part of the “Land like No Other” or the “Miracle of Asia”, I have my own questions regarding the events which occurred and the events which are unfolding around me. I don’t remember the very first day I went to school, but I remember the very first day I experienced the explosion of an artillery shell in close proximity. It was when I was four years old on a “thaipongal” day, and believe me, I was not a combatant. Thanks to the Artillery Regiment which was based in Palaly Military base at that time who in fact does not target any civilians.(Note – if any civilians were killed by the artillery shell attacks, it is purely due to the carelessness of the deceased, prior to their cessation)I am not a professional columnist or a political Think Tank who goes to the roots of the current ethnic conflict (if you believe so) or otherwise the malicious propaganda against the mother land by the Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE rump, analyses and gives a conclusion which would always be inconclusive. Of course, it is not the fault of the so called Political Think Tanks to give a conclusion, as the conclusion itself is beyond their capabilities and they are just mere commentators of this unending game.

Let me explain you why I am making such an introduction. I go through most of the Sri Lankan English language electronic media (just like you). The most interesting part would be not the news section, but the comments section. Whenever there is a news item posted about the ethnic conflict or Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an interesting pattern of comments would be made. The following generalisation could be made out of it.

1. LTTE rump and the Tamil Diaspora are trying to divide the country.
2. TNA is a part of the LTTE rump.
3. Any media which release news about alleged human rights violations is funded by Diaspora.
4. India and TNA leaders are the sole reason for the decades long civil war/Terrorism.
5. The issues of TNA and the Issues of Tamil people are completely different, If not Tamil people does not have any issue at all.

I do not have any sort of intention to criticize these well implanted attitudes as it is one’s fundamental right to have an attitude regardless it is correct or not. At the same time I would like to exercise one of my fundamental/democratic rights that is to ask a few questions to my fellow citizens of “Land like no Other” who possess these ideas or are possessed with this ideology.

Why

On 18th May, 2009 the country celebrated the end of the war with firecrackers while over 300,000 civilians were herded into IDP camps. The War victory celebrations were as if the Celebrations of Sri Lanka Cricket team winning the World cup.  What was the intended message of this to the Tamils of the country? It would have made more sense if there was a celebration with “kiribath” and firecrackers when the IDPs were settled in their own lands.

Another interesting observation is about the number of civilians killed in the final phase of the war. The President stated that the war was carried out with a zero civilian causality. Many may ask how practical it is to conduct an all-out war with zero civilian causality. I was thinking over this issue for a while and finally found out how it is practical. It is very simple. Just make an assumption that all the Tamils who were killed in the war are LTTE, no matter even if it is an infant. After all, assumptions are invented by scholars to make the life easy. Isn’t it?

The Panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General, better known in the “Land like No Other” as the “notorious” Tharusman Committee stated the civilians killed in the final phase of the war was about 40,000. The present Archbishop of Mannar questioned about the over 100,000 missing people citing the census records. The Defence Ministry of Sri Lanka conducted a census in the war affected areas and put the estimate to be 8,000 and said which mostly comprise the LTTE.

A credible international investigation would have solved all the questions. But the government is adamant, not to allow any UN expert to do an investigation. It is a common procedure that all the deaths by natural causes or unnatural needs to be investigated by a Government Medical Officer and a certificate needs to issued prior to the disposal of the deceased. There is no record of investigation for the dead in the final phase of the war.

There is no doubt that minorities, especially Tamils are discriminated in the “Land like no other”. But the question was, “to which extent?” In a country, where the killing of cattle is protested through the strongest possible terms, why the killings/deaths of fellow citizens are not bothered about at all?

The general opinion about this number game amongst the Sinhalese people is that these are the malicious propaganda of the LTTE rump and the INGOs. It may be true and the best way to prove the credibility this general attitude is conducting a transparent investigation by an international body. But the majority Sinhalese people do not pressurise the government for it. For my ordinary mind, this is an inexplicable phenomenon.

The on-going issue of Northern Provincial Council is a matter of concern for various stakeholders.  There are eight other provincial councils functioned with the 13th Amendment. But when it comes to the Northern Province, why the government is so much desperate to remove the land and the police powers? If the majority Sinhalese fear about a possible separation of the province, what they need to do is, reconcile with the people in the Northern Province, not removing the  only minimal powers they  are given through the constitution to  govern themselves.

It is evident from the present approach by the government regarding the Northern Provincial Council, that the thinking pattern of the south has never changed and it is not willing to devolve any power to the Tamils.

The government is not shy about its structural genocide unleashed on the minorities of the “Land like No other”. It is obvious that Halal has done no harm to the people of this country and most of the people know that is its part of the Buddhists fundamentalist’s agenda to crush the businesses of the Muslim community. Some elements of BBS and other fundamentalists effectively use the social media to cause disharmony amount the communities. Be that as it may, the democratically elected so called Muslim leaders have become lame ducks and some even do their best to please the Rajapaksa siblings acting just like a clown in a king’s court. I still don’t understand how they openly make a statement in the parliament that no Muslim religious places came under attack, while there was wide media coverage on the attacks.

The Appeal

Tamil people has been victimised by all the elements of the Sri Lankan governments since the day of the independence of the country. The war has caused immense losses to the Tamils, but by no means can anyone expect that the Tamils would compromise to a provincial council with menial powers.  As the people of the country with a long history and unique language and culture, they have the right to exist and retain their own homelands.

I would like to make a clear appeal to the people in the south, that if they really believe in a united Sri Lanka not only in constitution but also in the communal harmony, the initiative by the government to water down the powers given to the Provincial Councils should be protested through the strongest possible terms. This will be the best way to bring the post-war reconciliation.

But will the community which is possessed with its own concept of false patriotism listen to this plea?

Ampaa'rai officials overstep into Batticaloa district to Sinhalicise Tamil village

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 June 2013, 18:31 GMT]
Sinhala authorities from Ampaa'rai district in the East have laid a brand new carpet road to the ancient Tamil village, Chuvaami-malai that comes under the jurisdiction of the Batticaloa district administration. The name of the village has been changed to Booja-boomi. New cottages are being built using beaten earth by Sinhala settlers with funds provided by the Sinhala Buddhist extremist outfit Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force), Tamil civil officials from Paddippazhai division of Batticaloa district told TamilNet Friday. At least 100 acres of lands have been appropriated at Chuvaami-malai for Sinhala colonists, the sources further said. 

The extremist BBS has promised 100,000 rupees to each Sinhala family occupying the lands, the sources further said adding that around 100 new Sinhala families are to be settled in Kevu'liyaa-madu. 

According to informed sources, the Sinhala officials have appropriated an extent of 120 acres of land from 40 Tamil families. These lands are being provided to Sinhala families settling in Kevu'liya-madu and Chuvaami-malai villages, which come under Paddippazhai DS division.

In the year 1956, when the Gal Oya Development scheme was underway, 305 Tamil families were allowed to settle along the Batticaloa – Amppa'rai border villages. 

They were settled in the surroundings of the Navagiriya, Pulukunava, Thevalana ponds, which received water from the Gal Oya Development scheme. 

However the SL authorities neglected Tamils in providing basic infrastructure facilities. Tamil schools were not established. As such the Tamil settlers could not continue to live in those lands. Nevertheless, they continued to engage in paddy cultivation.

During the SL State sponsored anti-Tamil pogroms in the years 1983, 1985 and 1990, and during the war in 2007, several dwelling units of these families and public buildings were destroyed. 

Today, only 21 Tamil families live there without the basic amenities. They are unable to re-start cultivation in these areas. 

Several complaints have been lodged at the Divisional Secretary office, Office of the SL Government Agent and the SL Human Rights Commission in this regard. 

Even lawsuits were filed in the courts but lands that belonged to them were not restored so far, Tamil farmers lament.

After the end of war in the East in 2007, nine Sinhala families had settled in the lands. However, as lawsuits were filed against illegal appropriation of lands, 7 of them chose to leave. 

There were only around 30 Sinhala families in 1956.

Today, even these Sinhala families complain that the activities of the newcomers from Pononnaruwa, Badulla and Moneragala affect the livelihood of the permanent inhabitants of the area.

Gotabaya abducts LTTE bomb specialist Engineer from jail- expect RTTE explosions soon
(Lanka-e-News-07.June.2013.11.00PM) The LTTE bomb specialist Balasubramaniam Jatison alias Wardan (also called Maravan ) who was in the Welikade Jail has been conspiratorially abducted by Gotabaya Rajapakse from the jail, according to Lanka e news inside information service. This specialist is a Peradeniya University engineer who was earlier taken into custody in connection with the bomb explosion in the train at Dehiwala on 2008, as the main suspect . He is also the prime suspect in many other bomb explosions. 

According to the government he is an escapee from the Matara jail , but that is a story founded on a grave conspiracy .

Based on Lanka e news inside information sources, the story unfolds thus :

At the last Wesak celebrations at Matara Uyanwatte , part of the decorations were undertaken by the Prison Department. 5 days prior to this event on Wesak day , 27 prisoners from Magazine , 19 prisoners from Welikade , 4 jailors and 3 prison officers, that is 53 of them in all, headed towards Matara. Jailor Thilantha was in charge of this group. 

There is no law that permits without a court order to take Prisoners who have been sentenced by the High court for heinous crimes, or those criminals against whom cases are pending or specially LTTE prisoners for these outside activities. Usually, those facing ordinary criminal charges on whom sentences have been passed are only utilized for such activities.

The LTTE bomb specialist Balasubramanian was a prisoner on whom a sentence had been passed by the High court in case No. 50789/2011 . He was serving a 5 year rigorous imprisonment sentence. Meanwhile three other cases filed against him by the terrorist investigation department are also pending in courts. Following the first riot in the prison , all the LTTE prisoners in the Welikade were transferred to the Magazine prison. 

For inscrutable reasons , LTTE Balsubramaniam alone had been transferred to the Welikade prison a few days prior to Wesak. Just prior to the outing of these prisoners to Matara for the Wesak decorations activities , the SL’s notorious defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse had phoned Welikade prison Authority , Gamini Jayasinghe and told , to include LTTE Balsubramaniam into this group.

This order to include the LTTE Balasubramaniam is absolutely unlawful for , he is a LTTE most dangerous criminal and several criminal cases are pending against him in courts. 

The group was taken to Matara five days before Wesak. Two days later a team suspected to be of the security divisions have arrived in the night , and had secret discussions with Jailor Thilantha who was in charge . The very next day LTTE Balsubramaniam went missing., yet prison officers who became aware that the prisoner had ‘escaped’ had not taken any steps to complain to the police. 

The complaint had been lodged with the Borella police several days later , when they had returned to Colombo. No public notice was published enlisting the assistance of the public to apprehend the escapee. 

Mind you , in the bomb explosion at Dehiwala alone in which Balsubramaniam is the prime suspect , 9 persons died , and 73 were injured . Strangely , in this instance where such a hard core prisoner had escaped , no prison officer or jailor had been found fault with for this escape , nor explanations called from them nor anybody interdicted.

Obviously , this LTTE bomb specialist had been abducted to serve SL abduction and cold blooded murder specialist Gotabaya’s purpose . After having abducted this bomb specialist , the regime is via the media relating stories about bombs. It is talking about a LTTE bomb of one ton explosives which was sent to Colombo by the LTTE during the period of the war , and that a 15 kilo LTTE bomb had been discovered in Kaththankudi today. 

Going by the past record of the regime which is as putrid as that of the LTTE in ruthlessness , an explosion of a bomb made by Balsubramaniam can be expected very soon . The most appropriate name for that bomb is Rajapakse TTE and the explosion will be by none other than the RTTE .