Monday, June 17, 2013

Government Must Also Consider Ethnic Minority Concerns

By Jehan Perera - June 17, 2013

Jehan Perera

The government is getting ready to pass a 19th Amendment to the constitution as an urgent bill. For the past several weeks, the government has been engaging in internal debate about the powers of the provincial councils and how they should be reduced. The urgency arises from the government’s much debated decision to finally hold the long-postponed elections for the Northern Provincial Council in September. The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to take away the power of two (or more) adjacent provincial councils to decide to merge together to form one merged province. The merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces has been a sore point for successive governments and Sinhalese opinion leaders. They see the possibility of a merged North East province to be a threat to the unity of the country. Such a province would have a non-Sinhalese majority, and being about 30 percent of the country, could also become a viable independent state in which the majority of the population would be Tamil and Muslim.

Government Must Also Consider Ethnic Minority Concerns by nelvely

Colombo schemes permanent occupation of two Tamil villages in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 June 2013, 20:26 GMT]
Sinhala officials attached to Sri Lanka's Department of Forest Conservation, which comes under the SL Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy, have surveyed this weekend two traditional Tamil villages in the Thirukkoayil DS division of Ampaa'rai district, in a move to plant trees in the lands that belong to uprooted Eezham Tamils, who have not been allowed to resettle in the villages of Thangkavealaayuthapuram and Kagnchi-kudichchaa'ru, news sources in Thirukkoayil told TamilNet Sunday. The Sinhala officials of the Eastern Provincial Council also back the move, the sources further said.

Claiming that certain lands come under the purview of the central government in Colombo and the remaining under the authority of the provincial government, Sinhala officials from Colombo as well as those in Ampaa'rai collaborate in the demographic genocide being committed on the ancient Tamil villages, Tamil civil sources in Ampaa'rai said.

435 Tamil families from Thangkavealaauythapuram and 332 families from Kangchi-kudichchaa'ru were displaced when the notorious SL Special Task Force (STF) elite commandos and the SL military launched a genocidal onslaught on the villages.

While the displaced Tamil families seeking assistance to resettle in their own village are refused humanitarian assistance and denied access to their properties and livelihood, Sinhala villagers in the border areas are provided humanitarian assistance on a regular basis, civil sources in Ampaa'rai said.

Earlier, before the Norway-brokered Ceasefire Agreement in 2002, the Tamil families numbering around 1,000 from the villages of Thangkavealaayuthapuram, Kangchi-kudichchaa'ru, Chaakamam and Alikampai were living in four refugee camps in damaged cadjan huts for a decade, but now, after the genocidal end of the so-called peace process, the families have lost all hopes of resettlement in their ancient villages, the civil sources further said.

The villages were defended by the LTTE before they were militarily captured by the Sri Lankan STF in 2007.

I intend to be present at CHOGM

by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-Monday, 17 Jun 2013

Callum Macrae, Co-Founder of Outsider Television, became a household name in Sri Lanka when he produced a documentary for UK’s Channel 4, on alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lankan Security Forces during the last phases of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Allegations made in 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' and its follow-up documentary 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished,' which gave rise to much international outrage, were fiercely denied by the Sri Lankan authorities, who contested the authenticity of the footage depicted in the documentaries. Undaunted by criticism, Macrae is now ready with his third documentary – a 93-minute feature called 'No Fire Zone.'

In an exclusive interview with Ceylon Today, Macrae questions why the Government of Sri Lanka is requesting for the original footage of 'Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields' from him for authentication, without collecting them from the men under its command.

Following are excerpts:

I Intend to Be Present at CHOGM by nelvely

Solo Exhibition: Northern Dream By Yohan Medhanka

Yohan Medhanka’s solo exhibition, Northern Dream

Yohan Medhanka

June 17, 2013

Open on the 20^th of June 2013 at Saskia Fernando Gallery

The exhibition will remain open until 4^th of July 2013

The exhibition opens Thursday at the Saskia Fernando Gallery on Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 07.

Interview below is provided by the Saskia Fernando Gallery;

In this interview Yohan Medhanka discusses his path in becoming artist and the concept behind his solo show.

Yohan Medhanka is twenty one years old. He is a self-taught artist who at his young age has a skill and intensity that is uncommon in artists with no formal education in fine art. In the few weeks since his paintings have collected in our gallery, waiting to be hanged in this exhibition, they have captivated each person that looks upon them. There is something incredibly real in the work of this young painter. His faces tell a story, while his technique merges oil painting with contemporary colours and concepts. Many artists have connected with the North in postwar Sri Lanka, often travelling there to mentor or to conduct workshops. For Medhanka, it just took one visit to captivate him. And after what seems to have been a three year journey from painting to meditating and back, he has emerged with a powerful series of portraits that prove to us that young Sri Lankan contemporaries still have what it takes.

Starving Angel, Oil on Canvas

How did you start to paint with oils?

I did something new every week, my teacher taught me about watercolour. It was hard to learn oil painting in school. For an exhibition at school we were meant to do some painting. The exhibition never happened but I bought some oil paint and I found a canvas at home, that my father had left behind and it was really old; it may have been 15-20 years old. I stretched it and I did my first oil painting of my mother. Da Vinci was my inspiration for this painting. I taught myself how to paint with oil paints. After O Levels I joined the Art Way Institute and I was there for one year and I found new friends and learnt about how things work in the art scene in Sri Lanka.

What did you learn about the art scene at the institute? What did you gain from this experience?

I was really alone as an artist, I am a loner. Jagath Ravindra taught us for a few days, he was not a permanent lecturer, he only taught us some lessons. They were the best I have ever had. He has inspired me a lot, he was like a hero to me when I was a kid. Him and his pupils, they have inspired me a lot.

What happened after the institute?

I joined Saskia Fernando Gallery to work as Gallery Assistant. My schooling was a nightmare, so I had little direction and then I just ended up at the gallery. I learnt a lot about Sri Lankan artists working in the gallery for two months. Then when I left the gallery I was lost.

Northern Dream, Oil on Canvas

I joined a monastery and I lived there for one and a half years. I stopped painting. I was not a religious person but I met a Buddhist monk who preached good things to me. While I was there I used ball point pen and scrap books and kept drawing my left hand. I focused on this for a while. This act became meditative for me. Drawing became spiritual for me. My experience there gave me freedom. I was surrounded by nature. I detest the city. When I left the monastery after one and a half years I began working on the exhibition at the Alliance Francais. This was my first solo show in December 2012.

Why did you focus on people in the north in this series, this exhibition?

I think as an artist it is our duty. I am a socialist and I am an artist. I could work in the advertising industry but I choose to be an artist to avoid working on the promotion of a product or idea. We have a duty in our freedom of expression to speak for those unspoken for. I think when it comes to art, mainly in Sri Lanka, the politically inclined artists use art to promote their own agenda. I don’t view art as a tool to promote ones personal agenda.

Have you been to the North?

Once. I loved Jaffna. It was three years ago. I loved the people. I had this crazy dream to become mayor of the city. I fell in love with the landscapes, the people. There was a purity there. It felt real and natural to me.

India to convey its view on S Lanka's 13th Amendment after consideration

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India would convey its views on alleged attempts by political parties in Sri Lanka to repeal the 13th Amendment to its Constitution, after considering its implications.

"While this is a matter on which a decision will be taken by various political parties within Sri Lanka, we will certainly consider its implications and make known to the Sri Lankan authorities our views in the matter," Singh said in a letter to DMK chief M Karunanidhi.

As per the 13th Amendment that followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987, Sri Lankan government had agreed to devolve some authority to the provinces.

Observing that the Centre had consistently worked for all communities in Sri Lanka to find their rightful place in the country, Singh said, "We will continue to work for attainment of this goal through a process of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka."

The 90-year-old DMK patriarch on June 9 had written to Singh, expressing apprehensions over "attempts" to abrogate the Rajiv-Jayawardene Accord and repeal the 13th Amendment to the Lankan constitution and sought India's intervention to protect the rights of ethnic Tamils in the island nation.

Karunanidhi had said the amendment was a direct consequence of a bilateral accord between India and Sri Lanka.

Besides some groups were planning a series of protests, seeking repeal of the 13A and cancelling the September polls to the Northern Provincial council, Karunanidhi had claimed.

BJP bats for Cauvery, Lankan Tamils

DC | J.V. Siva Prasanna Kumar

Tuesday, Jun 18, 2013

Chennai:The state unit of the BJP has asked the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to ‘coerce’ Sri Lanka to politically empower the Sri Lankan Tamils so as to enable them live with dignity and respect in the island nation.

According to BJP sources, the Centre’s inaction is sending a wrong message across that India is not keen on protesting the Tamils in Lanka. “We want political empowerment for the Lankan Tamils as per the 13th Amendment and the Centre should strongly work towards this goal,” said BJP’s state president Pon Radhakrishnan.

On the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, the party said it was already engaged in efforts to ensure the rights of Lankan Tamils. The party’s executive committee had resolved to work for a political solution for the Tamils in Lanka that would ensure them dignity and respect.

The party, which is getting into election mode, is likely to rake up this issue targeting Congress failure in ensuring Tamils’ rights. Besides, it is likely to raise several key issues including Karnataka’s unrelenting opposition to releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and retrieving Katchatheevu, during the Lok Sabha polls.

According to party sources, the state president has directed party members to gear up for the elections and strive to bring back BJP rule at the Centre. “The failure of Congress to halt the repeated indiscriminate attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankan navy is distressing. We want the Centre to take back Katchatheevu from Lanka,” said a senior leader.

Viroda Vipakshaya, General Fonseka And Early Presidential Stakes

By Harim Peiris -June 17, 2013

Harim Peiris

The political opposition in Sri Lanka seems freshly energized if recent events are anything to go by. The UNP has formed some form of a broader opposition coalition through the “Viroda Vipakshaya” and released a draft constitution as a discussion document for public and civil society debate, while the JVP galvanized by the economic issue of the electricity rate hike is seeking to mobilize support. General Fonseka, the united opposition’s presidential candidate in 2010, succeeded in getting his democratic party recognized by the Elections Commission, thereby changing the political opposition landscape at a time when there is considerable speculation in political circles that the proposed 19^th amendment to the constitution will not only reduce the powers of the provincial council but also reduce the presidential term from six years to five years and thereby enable presidential elections early next year, with only a loss of one year in the incumbent’s current term.

However, there are several important strategic political policy issues that General Fonseka and the democratic party particularly needs to decide on as it surveys the opposition landscape and explores its options, chooses its policies and decides on its course of action.

So here are some political perspectives for General Fonseka and his Democratic Party.

1. Challenge the UPFA and not the UNP

General Fonseka, as you survey the political landscape, it is tempting to act on the belief that the UNP and its current leadership maybe more a part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is strong suspicion among political circles that the UNP will only go so far in challenging the regime, but pull back in time to not cause too much damage, a belief reinforced by its lackluster performance during the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and the lack of a continued challenge on the issue, currently pending before Courts and potentially having an unconstitutional interloper as a purported new Chief Justice. However, the weaknesses of the UNP should not be a problem for the Democratic Party and instead actually poses an opportunity for it, by creating a political space by which you may benefit. If people are unhappy with the government and the UNP, you stand to gain. A direct political assault on the government will be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the electorate, while attacking the opposition will seem opportunistic. Let the UNP sought out its own internal matters.

2. Focus on the President’s governance and not him (or his family) personally

It is important for a political opposition to resonate with the public. President Rajapakse is still popular with his key rural Sinhala constituency, which accounts for a vast bulk of the national electorate. However, due to governance and the political costs of incumbency, there is some popular disquiet regarding the regime. Disquiet does not equate to dissent or disaffection, so try and calibrate the arguments against the regime to fit the public mood and then slowly you can move the opinion forward. For instance, even the regime’s vilification of you, did not really resonate with the public and you were only becoming a rallying point for the opposition, hence your early release.

3. Consider carefully presidential election options, CBK is around

Learn from President Rajapakse’s mistakes, he only started losing friends once he came into high office, from Mangala Samaraweera to yourself, powerful friends parted company due to reasons that Lord Acton, famously explained about power corrupting and the natural consequences of absolute power. Our constitution bestows near absolute power upon our president as even the UNP has come to realize and is now recommending its abolition. The 18^th amendment has only added to that power by removing the few democratic constraints on absolute power. So learn from President Rajapakse and don’t lose political friends and allies, especially not while in opposition. Prime Minister Rajapakse was all things to all people and only flexed political muscle once ensconced in power and certainly not while an aspirant to it, in the very nominal post of PM or as leader of the opposition.

There is considerable speculation in political circles of the proposed 19^thamendment to our constitution which would remove police and land powers from the provincial councils and also reduce the presidential term by one year to enable early presidential elections next year. This will catch you and the rest of the opposition completely unprepared and also enable the regime to go to the electorate before its stock falls lower. However do consider your options carefully, the temptation to seek a hurried rerun of the 2010 campaign would be strong but may not be the most politically viable. A combined opposition candidate is needed to seriously challenge the regime and since Ranil obviously believes and his astrologers seemingly concur that his tryst with destiny would be later rather than sooner and certainly not in 2014 or 2015, consider the political merits of the only other beneficiary of the 18^th amendment, a lady who never lost either of the two presidential elections she contested and bowed out gracefully at the end of two terms. She has recently more publicly expressed angst about the direction the country and the party her parents founded are headed in.

4. Give leadership to a post war reconciliation that is robust on security but generous on rights

Despite you leading the war effort as the head of the Army, the minorities of the North and East, both the Muslims and the Tamils, led by the SLMC and the TNA backed you fully in the presidential election of 2010 and resulted in handsome wins for you in those districts. You have the credibility as a war winning general to be generous on political, democratic and human rights, while being robust on security. There is a legitimate issue as to whether peace time Sri Lanka needs a bigger defense budget than war time Sri Lanka and actually only you can credibly engage in that debate. On the various other issues in the former conflict area of the North, such as high security zones, new cantonments and the displaced, which will come to the forefront as the Northern Provincial Council election approaches, you are well placed to engage credibly on those issues. Seek a dialogue with the pro government minority and left parties, including the EPDP, the TMVP, the CP, the LSSP and the Muslim parties, all of whom have political positions at variance with the JHU and the NFF variant of absolutism, which seemingly drives the Rajapakse regime and can provide some opportunity to create new alliances and find common ground.

Anyway you served Sri Lanka well leading the military during wartime and you could and should play a role in serving her in public life in peace time.

* Harim Peiris‘s writings may be accessed online http://harimpeiris.com

Unions demand action against NWPC member * Harassment of female teacher

June 16, 2013, 9:49 pm

article_image

By Shamindra Ferdinando-

The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has warned that it would launch trade union action if punitive action is not taken against UPFA Wayamba Provincial Council member Ananda Sarath Kumara for forcing a female teacher, at Navagaththegama Maha Vidyalaya to kneel down in her class for reprimanding his daughter.

CTU Secretary Joseph Stalin alleged that the failure on the part of the SLFP-led ruling coalition to take tangible action against those responsible for various offences had influenced and encouraged indiscipline among ruling party politicians.

The politician, an SLFPer in the Wayamba PC, reacted angrily over the teacher admonishing his daughter for wearing a short frock.

Stalin emphasized that the UPFA member’s action was meant to terrorise teachers. The trade unionist alleged that the government was responsible for the rapid deterioration of law and order, with its provincial councillors and local government members violating the law with impunity.

Stalin said that subsequent to the incident at the school, last Friday (June 14), a gang of persons on motorcycles had surrounded the teacher’s residence in the night to intimidate her.Having brought the incidents to the notice of the Wayamba Governor as well as the Chief Minister, Stalin urged the government to ensure the safety and security of the teacher. The CTU alleged that the harassment of a teacher was even worse than minister Mervyn Silva tying up a Samurdhi animator to a tree for failing to turn up for a dengue eradication programme some time ago.

The Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU), affiliated to the JVP, yesterday lambasted the government over what it called the latest high handed action by a ruling party politician.

Acting on a complaint received by the teacher, the police produced the Provincial Councillor before Puttalam Acting Magistrate Mohamed Iqbal who remanded him till June 18.

The police arrested the politician at Adigama in the Anamaduwa police area on Saturday, while he was travelling towards Chilaw.

Sri Lanka provides harbour, state endorsement, to Chinese fishing

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2013, 15:22 GMT]
In a move delicately endangering local fishing of the peoples of entire southern South Asia, the Rajapaksa Establishment in Colombo has provided facilities of a state-of-the-art fishing harbour near Colombo and State endorsement to Chinese vessels fishing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Island’s waters. A Company in China has been graced with the rights to ply its fishing vessels with the flag of the genocidal State in Sri Lanka and to use the facilities of the Dikovita fishing harbour. While the Establishment in Colombo would get paltry benefits, shoals of fishes coming from the Antarctica would be exploited in the no-man water itself, before they come to South Asia, affecting the livelihood of not only Tamils, Malayalis and Maldivians but also the Sinhalese, fisheries sources in the island said.

Nowadays, with satellite tracking facilities, shoals of fishes are easily identified in the no-man waters and are exploited by certain countries.

Tuna catch in the Maldives has been heavily affected in the recent decades by such pilfering takes place in the waters beyond the so-called Exclusive Economic Zones. Maldives now imports canned Tuna from outside to meet local consumption requirements.

The exploitation in the no-man waters by certain countries could escalate manifold if they get ground facilities close-by to unload the catch, to process and to export. This is what the genocidal Sinhala State provides to the Chinese.

According to the agreement signed by the Board of Investment of the Rajapaksa Establishment with the Chinese company, 90 per cent of the catch will go to China after storage and processing at the Dikovita fishing harbour. Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Corporation will get only 10 per cent of the catch, that too for a payment of one dollar (around 130 Sri Lankan rupees) per kilogram. The price doesn’t differ much from the wholesale price of local catch.

Four Chinese vessels displaying Sri Lankan flags will be operated in the fishing starting from this month and the vessels, now anchored south of the island, are waiting for Colombo defence ministry’s clearance, The Sunday Times reported this week.

The Chinese company would deploy16 more 150-ft boats, the report further said.

The construction of the Dikovita fishing harbour near Colombo city in the Vattala division of Gampaha district was started in early 2009 and was completed in January 2013. Colombo media boasts that it is the largest fisheries harbour in the region.

The Chinese vessels using this port indicates that the fishing ‘beyond Sri Lanka’s EEZ’ will have a bearing on the fish schools coming to the Maldives, Laccadives, South India especially Kerala, and also the island called Sri Lanka.

The Sinhala State’s preparedness to barter anything, bare anything and even to cut its own nose for the completion of the genocide of the nation of Eezham Tamils in the island prompts the Establishments in Washington, New Delhi and Beijing to more and more protect and nurture the unitary and genocidal character of State in the island. ‘Be anti-human if you want protection and prosperity,’ is clearly their paradigm and message, commented a political observer in Colombo watching the games of the swindlers of humanity.

Why Christian persecution is worrisome in Sri Lanka

By: World Evangelical Alliance-Monday, 17 June 2013,

Four years after its military victory over Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka appears to be seeking to establish social and political supremacy of the Sinhala Buddhist majority within a unitary state, instead of bringing about reconciliation. And this post-war resurgence of nationalism no longer threatens only the Tamil ethnic minority, but also religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims.

While attacks on Muslims have hit the headlines in some foreign media in recent months, the increasing incidence of Christian persecution has received little attention internationally.

The Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force or BBS) and the Sinhala Ravaya (Sinhala Echo) – currently the most active Buddhist Right-wing groups which claim to protect the country’s Sinhalese-Buddhist character – have led numerous attacks on Christians and churches.

This year thus far, at least 30 churches have reported being attacked. Last year, Sri Lanka witnessed 52 incidents of Christian persecution.

It’s not just these “non-state” actors, but authorities are also targeting churches. Many churches have reported that administrative and police officials have ordered them not to operate any longer because they have not been “authorized” by the state.

While registration of religious organizations is not mandatory in Sri Lanka, the government has been contemplating bringing all religious groups under regulation for over a year. Churches last year complained they received a circular stating that all new constructions or continuation of places of worship will need prior approval from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Authorities are targeting particularly non-traditional or evangelical churches, apparently due to the suspicion that they might become part of the country’s civil society and pose a threat to the incumbent government in the future.

According to the 2011 census, more than 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 20.8 million is Buddhist. Christians are about 7.5 percent, and Muslims a little less than 10 percent. About 80 percent of the Christians are Catholics, and the rest are Protestants. About 40 percent of the Protestants are ethnic Tamils.

Evangelical Christians are being portrayed as enemies of the majority community. For example, the BBS organized a large gathering in Colombo in February, where a prominent leader of the group called on Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcom Ranjith to create a Catholic force of his own against evangelical Christians “who were attempting to perpetuate Christian extremism in the country.”

The hate campaign against Muslims and Christians has been so fierce and frequent that sections of the people are seemingly convinced that hapless religious minorities can actually threaten the interests of the powerful majority community.

Last month, a 30-year-old Buddhist monk set himself alight in the central city of Kandy to protest against the slaughter of cattle and “conversion of Buddhists” by Christians. Later, about 200 Buddhists, supposedly supporters of the BBS, blocked traffic in Colombo, demanding state funeral for the monk. While the mob eventually dispersed without their demand being met, they vowed to keep up pressure on the government to stop the slaughter of animals and ensure there were no “unethical religious conversions.”

The BBS was founded in July 2012 by two Buddhist monks, who were formerly with the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a political party of monks and part of the ruling alliance. The two monks left the JHU, saying the party was not militant enough to protect Buddhism.

The Sinhala Ravaya was also founded by a group of Buddhist monks in recent months, and is believed to be headed by a former parliamentarian from the JHU. The group has publicly supported top officials of the government.

Leaders and members of the BBS and the Sinhala Ravaya are apparently being backed by authorities, as they have openly spread hatred against the religious minorities and launched attacks on them with almost complete impunity.

Azath Salley, leader of the newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance and former deputy mayor of Colombo who is known for criticizing the BBS and the current government, was arrested last month under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for “inciting religious disharmony” by giving an interview to a magazine in neighbouring India.

Salley had spoken against a March 28 attack by BBS monks on a Muslim-owned clothing warehouse, Fashion Bug, near Colombo. A mob of about 500 people had vandalized Fashion Bug, injuring at least six people.

The resurgence of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism can be attributed to the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, which by some was seen as a victory of Buddhism over Tamil nationalism. Besides, the end of the war led to contemplations over the identity of the state, giving space to promotion of nationalism. This also helps the government to legitimize the brutal military force it used in the war and the tens of thousands of civilian casualties that occurred as a result. This explains why the government is building Buddhist temples and shrines in Hindu-majority areas in the north and the east, where the war took place.

Moreover, the government appears to be desperate to garner popular support – on which the survival of some top officials depends in the post-war scenario – by aggressively pursuing Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.

If the propaganda against Christians and Muslims carries on unabated and the government continues to provide impunity to Buddhist groups, the space for religious minorities to practise their basic freedoms is likely to shrink much further. The International community needs to act sooner than later.

Buddhist extremists group in Sri Lanka overpower evangelical Christians
Sun, Jun 16, 2013, 07:35 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 16, Colombo: Ravana Balaya organization, a Buddhist extremist group in Sri Lanka, today manhandled a group of evangelical Christians who were distributing a religious magazine in the outskirts of Colombo city and handed over them to the police.
A group of people belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses who were distributing the Sinhala version of an international magazine called Awaken! came under the threat of the Buddhist monks of the Ravana Balaya today in Mulleriyawa.
The leader of the Ravana Balaya Ittekande Saddhatissa Thero and other monks and laymen overpowered the group and handed over them to Mulleriyawa police station.
TV news videos on the incident showed the leader of the Ravana Balaya, Ittekande Saddhatissa Thero severely warning the evangelicals right inside the police station.
They were released after the involvement of officials from the headquarters of the religious organization.

EU condemns Myanmar for violence against Rohingya

Posted Fri Jun 14, 2013

European Union lawmakers have condemned violence against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority and called on authorities to protect them.

PHOTO: Rohingya refugees are using boats to flee religious violence in Myanmar. (AFP: Munir uz Zaman: file photo)

Rohingya refugees try to cross into Bangladesh

Scores of people have been killed in two waves of sectarian unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine last year.

Thousands fled the country in overcrowded boats but many died making the journey south towards Thailand and Malaysia.

The European Parliament said it "deplores ... the failure of the government to protect the Rohingya from organised violence".

It passed a motion that "condemns the grave violations of human rights" and has called on authorities to do "everything in their power to protect Rohingya Muslims from violent actions".

Myanmar views its population of 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The United Nations considers them to be one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

A return to sectarian unrest has tempered international optimism about reforms in the country after decades of military rule.

Just two months ago, the EU lifted sanctions on Myanmar, and two days ago the European Commission readmitted Myanmar to a trade pact.

The EU parliament expressed "deep concerns" over allegations that security forces have taken part in the violence.

EU supports Suu Kyi's policy

The EU motion welcomed pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition to a two-child policy for the Rohingya.

The controversial two-child rule was imposed by the previous junta and reaffirmed recently by local authorities in the wake of unrest in the country.

"It is not good to have such discrimination," Ms Suu Kyi said.

"It is not in line with human rights."

Ms Suu Kyi had previously been facing criticism for failing to speak out about the violence.

The European parliament also urged Thailand to end the "inhumane detention" of at least 1,700 Rohingya asylum seekers.

AFP

How The UK Spied On Its G20 Allies At London Summits

June 17, 2013

Phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009, the Guardian reports.

Documents uncovered by the NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, reveal surveillance of G20 delegates’ emails and BlackBerrys.

Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic, the Guardian reports.