Diaspora Tamils to tap goodwill of India

Karthick S, TNN | Aug 9, 2013,
CHENNAI: Breaking free from the thinking ofpro-Eelam outfits in Tamil Nadu, leaders of the Tamil diaspora have taken an independent line to build bridges with the Indian government rather than confronting the Manmohan Singh regime over its stand on issues concerning Sri LankanTamils. 

A few Lankan Tamil organisations in the US and the UK have been lobbying for a better relationship with the Indian government. "India's intervention is needed for our cause. India is the supreme power in the region and it is also growing into a global power ," Viswanathan Rudrakumaran , 'prime minister' of TGTE (Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam), told TOI over phone from New York. 

British Tamil Forum (BTF), a strong movement among the Sri Lankan Tamils in the UK, also echoed similar views. Its general secretary V Ravikumar said the overseas Tamils have realised the importance of India's intervention for a political resolution of the Lankan issue. 

"Though we were upset with the Indian government's approach during the final phase of civil war in 2009, we do accept India as a powerful nation. We have been giving importance to the visiting delegates from India to the UK," Ravikumar told over phone. 

TGTE has recently released its freedom charter which has highlighted that a "special relationship" with India will be maintained by the "independent Tamil state" in Sri Lanka. 

This charter was declared in May by TGTE. "We have drafted the Eelam charter, after consultation from Tamils worldwide. A large number of Tamils within Sri Lanka also participated," Rudrakumar said. He added that organisations like World Tamil Organization (WTO) and FetNa (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) welcomed their decision to have a special relationship with India. 

Ravikumar said his movement has been in touch with many national political parties in India. "We had invited senior leaders from left parties and Dravidian parties for the International conference in 2012. We also met a few senior leaders of other national parties in Delhi," he said. 

Both Rudrakumaran and Ravikumar urged India to take a leadership role in the UN Human Rights Council to pass a strong resolution in March 2014. They also urge that India should boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled to take place in Colombo in November. 

Diaspora Tamils have been making all efforts to open diplomatic channels within the Indian government. Western countries have also advising these groups to keep close relationship with India, observers point out. 

Prof V Suryanarayana, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies, said India should have a dialogue with moderate sections of Tamil diaspora. "I am not sure whether New Delhi is in touch with diaspora leaders. If India opens dialogue with moderate groups, extremists will be isolated and India can influence diaspora people for solution within a united Sri Lanka," Suryanarayana said. 

Diaspora would love to influence India but India will not agree with TGTE's Tamil Eelam concept, Suryanarayana said. 

Significantly, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka, has been closely in touch with Indian government in recent years.

Despite official repression, Sri Lanka media report attack

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Details are emerging of Sri Lanka's effort to control media coverage of an ugly attack on demonstrators by security forces last week. In Rathupaswala village in the town of Weliweriya, outside Colombo, on August 1, soldiers beat and fired on people protesting what they feared was contamination of their drinking water by a nearby factory. Most media accounts say three people died and 50 were wounded (here is AP and AFPcoverage). Journalists, reports say, were singled out. 

Despite Official Repression, Sri Lanka Media Report Attack by nelvely

DO NOT UTILIZE THE ARMY TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC ORDER

MEDIA RELEASE 09-08-2013

Created on 09 August 2013

The tragic incident at Weliveriya in the west of the country, where the army was deployed to bring a public protest to an end, has led to the deaths of three persons and serious injuries to many others.  The protest, which was against the contamination of groundwater consumed by village communities in the area by a factory, spilled over onto the highway obstructing traffic.  The National Peace Council deplores the government’s use of the army and shoot-to-kill methods to suppress a protest by the people in the exercise of their freedom of association. 

In the past, prior the war, it was the general practice for the police to deal with public protests. Only the Government Agent of the district or the Superintendant of Police were authorized to issue an order to shoot and even in the case of such an order the requirement was to shoot below the knees. Before the order to shoot was issued it was a requirement that the Riot Act be read out loud.  In this instance, however, the military operations seem to have been launched without explicit warning that firing with live bullets would take place.  In addition, civilians fleeing violence who sought sanctuary in places of religious worship for their safety were also attacked.  It is totally unacceptable for anyone carrying arms to enter the premises of any religion to attack unarmed civilians seeking protection. Even media personnel covering the incident were attacked and their equipment was damaged so that they would not be able to report.

The tragedy at Weliveriya serves as a wake- up call to the government to be resolute in de-militarising governance after the end of the war and revert to the pre-war practice.   The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the President after the war emphasized the distinction between police and the army.  These are institutions that cannot, and should not, be mixed and used interchangeably except in the most exceptional of circumstances, such as the war that Sri Lanka has emerged from.  In this context, we note that the LLRC recommended the removal of the police from the purview of the Ministry of Defence under which the army rightfully comes, and further recommended that the police (along with the public service) should be removed from the domain of partisan politics.  In addition, the LLRC recommended the restoration of civil administration in the Northern and Eastern province and to reduce the role of the military in governance.

The Weliweriya incident is not the first serious post-war incident involving the military and the civilian population.  There have been several similar incidents in different parts of the country in the intervening years.  These include the recent breaking up of civilian protests against the take-over of lands in Veligamam North in the Jaffna peninsula, the shooting death of one person in the break up of demonstration by fishermen in Chilaw over a fuel price hike, another shooting death of a worker in a trade union protests in Katunayake, the killing of over 40 prisoners in the Welikada jail riots, clashes with university students in Jaffna on the commemoration of the war dead, and with civilians in Nedunkerny over the “Grease devils” assailants.

We call on the government to hold an independent inquiry into this incident, to hold those who gave orders to shoot live bullets responsible and accountable, to compensate adequately those who lost their loved ones or were injured, to implement the LLRC recommendations regarding the separation of police and military lines of command and to restrict the role of the military all over the country to be a last resort and only in cases where the police have failed to prevent extreme violence and disorder.

Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

A FRESH BILL OF RIGHTS: FOREVER A FARCE?

A FRESH BILL OF RIGHTS: FOREVER A FARCE?

Groundviews

Sachin Parathalingam-8 Aug, 2013

In 2009 , the then Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights  (hence disbanded) ‘sought to remedy’ the many deficiencies that exist  in the current fundamental rights chapter of the 1978 constitution. The Ministry appointed a committee chaired by Presidents Counsel Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, tasked with the preparation of a fresh Bill of Rights to replace the present chapter on fundamental rights .The proposed draft, which mooted a significant expansion in the current fundamental rights chapter which is sans basic rights, for instance the “Inherent right to life”  , was presented to then Minister of Human Rights Mahinda Samarsinghe in November 2009. Nothing has been heard of it since then.

A Fresh Bill of Rights Forever a Farce by nelvely

The TNA: Following The North American Election Model?

By Rajah S. Rajasingham -August 9, 2013 |

A private dinner for a small group of people will be hosted on Saturday Aug. 10, 2013 at 6:30 PM by TNA supporters in Toronto for TNA Members of Parliament Mr. R. Sampanthan and Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran. The venue is the Toronto Don Valley Hotel. The cost of attendance? A minimum contribution of $500 per head. The goal? $100,000 towards the provincial council election campaign fund of the TNA. To be successful, this so called “small group” must therefore include about 200 people.

R Sampanthan

An announcement by the TNA’s Canada branch says the two MPs will arrive on Aug. 9 and meet lawyers, doctors and representatives of local bodies at a dinner, another one, on Aug. 11 and leave for the US the next day, Monday.

The TNA’s election needs and fund-raising goals are legitimate. Government vehicles with false number plates have always been used by the EPDP and UPFA candidates in the South too, as complaints already lodged by observer agencies indicate. For the TNA to hire a private van for a day’s campaigning could cost several thousand rupees.

EPDP MP Murugesu Chandrakumar from noon to 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 8, a Wednesday afternoon when officers are required have open hours to meet the public, had government officers to join him at an election campaign event at Uthayanagar, Kilinochchi where free lunch was served. Temporary Assistant Planning Office Amarasingham Ketheeswaran and Assistant Primary Education Officer S. Ganesalingam delivered major speeches on government time. Candidates were introduced.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, even temporary, menial government positions are distributed by Douglas Devananda at public meetings and the recipients bow down to him when receiving the letter of appointment. The appearance of an imminent win at his campaign meetings because of the crowds so gathered, can have an avalanche effect in his favor and needs countering.        Read More

TNA demands probe into land grabs in North

By Saman Indrajith-August 8, 2013

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday demanded that government immediately investigate what it called land grabs by the security force members in the North and East and to redress the grievances of Tamil people. 

Moving a motion for the debate at the time of adjournment, TNA leader R. Sampanthan, MP, said that the government, through the armed forces, continued to hold substantial extents of land owned and or possessed by Tamil civilians. Having been evicted from those lands, civilians were not allowed to return to them, the TNA leader said.

MP Sampanthan said: "The government through its armed forces has taken possession of substantial extents of land owned and or possessed by the Tamil civilians, from which extents of land, the said Tamils are not permitted to return for residence or livelihood by reason of the said lands being in the possession of the armed forces.

 "The armed forces has taken the possession of lands for the purposes of construction of housing facilities for the armed forces or for the agricultural activities by the armed forces which lands in the future become the property of the members of the armed forces in violation of the legitimate claim to such lands by citizens resident in the said areas and their descendants for their residence, livelihood and other numerous civilian needs. Such a clandestine taking over of lands would be in violation of the law.

 "The government arbitrarily taking over substantial extents of lands purportedly for development activities, such as tourism and other industries disregarding the legitimate residential and livelihood needs of persons historically inhabiting such areas, and making arbitrary allocations of such lands to chosen others in a manner that is discriminatory and lacking in due process and transparency.

 "The government taking over lands wholly or partly owned or possessed by local residents and which include irrigation and other facilities benefitting local residents ostensibly for religious purposes, in which area, persons belonging to the said religious faith do not reside, clearly raising the question of whether the government is planning to settle on such lands persons of such religious faith without resort to due process in a discriminatory manner.

 "The defilement and desecration of both religious and cultural places of the utmost importance to the Tamil Hindu people, and the attempt to obliterate by destruction, evidence of the existence of such religious and cultural places, efforts to forcibly take over the possession of such places form the local authority which has administered such places and the installation of new administration arrangements so as to interfere with and impede the use of such places by the Tamil Hindu people who have historically from time immemorial exercised such rights. 

"The TNA demand that the faithful implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC report or the resolutions adopted by the UNHRC in March 2012 and March 2013.

 "These actions pertaining to lands are clearly indicative of the government collaborating aggressively implementing a secret agenda, which would in the thinking of such persons render superfluous the need for political resolution leading to genuine reconciliation. 

"The TNA as the democratically elected representatives of the Tamil people of the North and East calls upon the Government to immediately investigate these matters and take immediate action to redress and remedy those matters so as to assure the Tamil people of equality and justice as citizens of this country."

TNA Uses Kadir Land Case To Address Northern Land Grab

August 9, 2013 |

Using the Lakshman Kadirgamar land acquisition case to highlight the ongoing Government land grab in the north, the Tamil National Alliance brought the issue up before Parliament yesterday.

TNA Leader R. Sampanthan slammed the Government’s ongoing forcible acquisition of land belonging to Northern Tamils, claiming it was part of a greater design to alter the demographic in the predominantly Tamil area.

Sampanthan

According to the TNA Leader, the Government was forcibly keeping some 25,000 rightful owners of 6381 acres of land in Valikamam in the Northern Province. Many of them have now sought legal action against these moves by the Government, Sampanthan said.

“Even the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s son is one of the petitioners filing action against the forceful acquisition of his private property,” he told the House.

Sampanthan said that four years after the war ended, high security zones still remain in the Jaffna peninsular. “Many Northern families are unable to return to their land and resettle because of this involvement by the Government,” he claimed.

The TNA Leader said the move indicated a greater design to alter the cultural and linguistic identity of the North and East and to change the demographic composition.

“It points to the Government pursuing a secret agenda, that would ensure that there is no need for a political resolution to the ethnic struggle that will lead to genuine reconciliation,” the TNA Leader told Parliament.                                         Read More

My Reminiscences Of St. John’s College, Jaffna

By S.Sivathasan -August 10, 2013 

S.Sivathasan

A College celebrating her 190^th Anniversary

To have studied at St. John’s and particularly in the fifties, may now be deemed a privilege and a rare one indeed. For the students of those years there was behind them a proud history of a hundred and twenty five years, a cherished heritage. It was in 1948 that the Anniversary was celebrated in a way that left indelible memories. I yet have a vivid recollection of all events of the three day celebrations organized with efficiency worthy of a great College. To match her history was a wealth of traditions built over the years.

For a school to earn a name and to spread her fame the quality of the teachers counts for much. Perhaps the single factor with the highest leverage. Successive Principals had displayed a remarkable capability in identifying talent and teaching ability in the selection of staff members. During my time most of the senior teachers came from the selection of Rev. Henry Peto, Principal from 1920 to 1940. He was liked and respected by staff and students alike and is said to have enforced strict discipline. Seeking to emulate the Principal were the teachers. Venturing to follow their high standards and moving in step was the student community. In the student body itself, in dress, deportment and character the seniors set the pace for the impressionable young. The final product displayed a polish, making them stand out distinctively. Academic performance seen through the prism of results at public exams and inter school competitions, enhanced further the image of the College.                  Read More

Land Grabs: Exultant state vs. agonized citizen

BY T.M.THAENMOZHI-

08 AUGUST 2013
Land grabs i.e. the acquisitioning of land by the State/Military has been in the news more often than necessary throughout this year. This last week we saw it becoming headline news again as we learnt that Sriraghavan Kadirgamar the son of late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar had filed for a Writ of Certiorari in the Court of Appeal to prevent his ancestral lands in the Maviddapuram area, in North Valikamam (which were previously in the HSZ) being taken over by the military for security purposes ostensibly to build a Defence Batallion Headquarters for the Jaffna District. This petition by the son of an illustrious person again brought home the apparent devil may care attitude, which the government has been employing in its land acquisition procedure. This petition also follows upon the earlier petitions filed in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court by thousands of landowners in the Valikamam area protesting the acquisition of their lands for the purpose of building the aforesaid Defence Headquarters. These cases are still being heard before the courts.

Land Grabs Exultant State vs Agonized Citizen by nelvely

Land Grabs: Exultant State V. Agonized Citizen

By T.M.Thaenmozhi -August 9, 2013 

Land grabs i.e. the acquisitioning of land by the State/Military has been in the news more often than necessary throughout this year. This last week we saw it becoming headline news again as we learnt thatSriraghavan Kadirgamar the son of late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar had filed for a Writ of Certiorari in the Court of Appeal to prevent his ancestral lands in the Maviddapuram area, in North Valikamam (which were previously in the HSZ) being taken over by the military for security purposes ostensibly to build a Defence Batallion Headquarters for the Jaffna District. This petition by the son of an illustrious person again brought home the apparent devil may care attitude, which the government has been employing in its land acquisition procedure. This petition also follows upon the earlier petitions filed in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court by thousands of landowners in the Valikamam area protesting the acquisition of their lands for the purpose of building the aforesaid Defence Headquarters.  These cases are still being heard before the courts.

Lakshman Kadirgamar

The government in April 2013 issued a notice under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act that the lands were to be taken for a ‘public purpose’. But, the purpose that has been stated is in order to benefit the military not the public as stated in the petitions that have been filed. Furthermore, the government in its notice claimed that the owners could not be identified but more than 2000 owners have now sought to petition the Courts to prevent their lands being taken. They claim in their petition that most of them have been in touch with state officials and had been listed as displaced and had received welfare support from the State. The total area of land to be taken in the Valikamam area is approximately 25.8 Sq. Km or 6400 acres and as is claimed in the petitions almost 2/3s the size of Colombo which is a very vast area.

It is indeed troubling that while someone from an illustrious family may have other means of income and several other residences (not diminishing the importance one places on ancestral land) those who have been displaced and living on the charity of others would not be able to withstand the effects of losing their lands and source of livelihood in that area. This is especially so when one considers the public purpose is for the purported establishment of a Defence Headquarters, when all over the island there has been an increase in the call for the military to return to their barracks especially now four years after war.                                                       Read More

No misleading ads

By Stanley Samarasinghe and Aisha Nazim Friday, 09 Aug 2013

The Court of Appeal yesterday issued an Interim Order preventing Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., from publishing advertisements, which are designed and intended to inform the consumers that milk powder imported and distributed by them is 100% safe, in a manner that would mislead the milk powder consuming public. The Bench comprising President of Court of Appeal, Justice S. Sriskandaraja, and Justice Malani Gunaratna, issued the order after hearing the submissions of Counsel for petitioner, Upul Jayasuriya.

Petitioner Kamal Saliya Samarasinghe, an architect from Matale, filed the application as a matter of public interest stating that it has become known among the members of the public the milk powder imported from... ...New Zealand is contaminated with Dicyandiamide (DCD), which is harmful and or toxic to human health.

Dicyandiamide is a white crystalline compound, of which the primary use is the production of melamine, commonly known as DCD, which is used in the production of a wide range of organic chemicals, including slow and continuous nitrogen release, the petitioner said. "The Ministry of Public Industry of New Zealand initiated testing the milk products produced by Fonterra Brands Lanka Ltd. The analyses confirmed the presence of DCD in quantifiable levels in one raw milk sample and one raw colostrums sample with colostrums sample being flagged as having trace level below the reporting threshold 0.05 milligram in one kilogramme," the petitioner stated.

"Despite high risk to health and safety of consumers of milk products sold and distributed by Fonterra, the Consumer Affairs Authority has failed to make aware the milk powder consuming public of Sri Lanka the risks posed to the health of its consumers as a result of consumption of milk powder products sold and distributed by Fonterra," the petitioner also said.

The Court issued the Interim Order valid till 21 August and order to mention this case on 19 August.

Upul Jayasuriya appeared with Sandamal Rajapaksa instructed by Mahesika G. Wickramatunga.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry yesterday notified milk foods companies to withdraw products that contain Dicyandiamide (DCD) from the market.

Health Ministry Spokesperson, W.M.D. Wanninayake told Ceylon Today that several batches of powdered milk brands were discovered to indeed contain DCD, and the Health Ministry has informed the relevant companies to withdraw the batches that are contaminated with it.

"Four batches of Anchor Full Cream Milk Powder, Anchor One Plus, Maliban Non-Fat Milk Powder and Diamond Milk have been identified by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) as contaminated with DCD. We will continue testing samples of all future dairy products shipped into the country, before releasing them into the market, and will release the products fit for consumption," he said.

The ministry will also continue testing imported products for Clostridium Botulinum, a bacterium that could cause botulism. All milk products from New Zealand will be sent to the Medical Research Institute (MRI) to be tested for Clostridium Botulinum, he added.

Rajapakse has fallen into the hellhole of barbaric Bokassa: summons people to Temple Trees and tortures



(Lanka-e-News-08.Aug.2013,11.30PM) LeN inside information division is in receipt of a number of reports that Medamulana backwoods Percy Rajapakse , the President of Sri Lanka (SL) has voluntarily descended himself to the lowliest levels of uncivilized behavior which can only be compared with the barbaric conduct of the former dictator Jean Bedel Bokassa of Central Africa in the seventies.

Recently , the Private bus owners Association chairman , Gemunu Wijeratne was summoned to Temple Trees compound and assaulted mercilessly and tortured by Rajapakse himself demanding Wijeratne to call off the bus strike. Though Wijeratne had greeted Rajapakse in traditional style and most decently with ’Ayubowan Sir’ as he entered , Rajapakse on the contrary had pounced on him like a beast and mauled him while screaming in filth, ‘ you bastard, who are you trying to teach a lesson by staging this bus strike ? If you don’t put the buses on the road within an hour , even your children will not be able to see your dead body. ’ When Wijeratne fell down following the assault , Rajapakse had kicked him several times. He had then made him stand and again pummeled him furiously holding him by the hair.

The most disgraceful feature of this one sided boxing attack on a helpless hapless citizen is : the IGP had also been in the ‘boxing ring’ watching the brutal clouting , so to speak. Finally the IGP who was rather shocked in any case had saved the victim . 

Wijeratne who came out after the torture had summoned a media briefing and told the bus strike is called off without giving details except that there are threats to the members.

Medamulana Rajapakse imitating the barbaric Jean Bokassa of Central Africa had during the period of the recent Lawyers campaign , similarly summoned two chiefs of the Bar Association to the Temple Trees compound and assaulted them . But on that occasion this assault had been launched within a room so that no one would know. Of course SL’s Rajapakse is only demonstrating that he is faithfully following the theory of Africa’s Bokassa .

One thing common however in all these assaults is – all the victims of these assaults are having underhand dealings with SL’s Percy Mahinda Rajapakse. That is ,they are all double deal experts.

The old Bokassa of Africa during his final days in power used his private security army and assassinated a group of school children. After he lost his reign , he was found guilty and punished with a life term jail sentence.

Coincidentally or otherwise , SL’s Rajapakse too recently deployed his security army group and unleashed terror at Weliveriya whereby , two students have so far died, while three other students are being treated at the Gampaha hospital due to gunshot injuries.

Retribution is inescapable was proved in the case of Jean Bokassa of the past on Bokassa’s own theory . In the present era , may Rajapakse be reminded that he too must face the retribution sooner than later , and twice over because he is following not only Bokassa’s theory but also his own moth eaten condom theory, both rejected wholesale by the people.

Lessons from Hinkley, California and Lake Erie Episodes

Weliweriya Water Pollution:

August 8, 2013, 12:00 pm 
The well water pollution and the associated protest of the affected people in the village culminated in the police and the army acting highhandedly and ferociously, killing several and injuring many. An innocent bystander schoolboy was among the dead. Whereas the pollution problem is real and the people are desperate for potable water, the cause for acidification (pollution) of the water is not yet known. We hope it won’t be a matter like the milk powder contamination, and contradictory analytical reports! Oiling palms is commonplace these days, the officials taking the hint from the politicians. Minister Maithripala Sirisena should be congratulated on his firm stand on the milk powder matter.

There is good reason to suspect that effluent released from the rubber products factory in the village may be the cause though it says it has an effluent treatment plant. On the other hand, it has also been said that the factory has expanded since its establishment and whether all effluent is being safely disposed is questioned. What is worrying is why the institutions responsible for monitoring pollution had been ‘sleeping’ until it happened. Precautionary monitoring could have detected the problem before it reached this calamitous state, and perhaps, ‘nipped it in the bud’.

There have been numerous reported instances of pollution of drinking water the world over and the awful consequences. Hinkley is a small village in California. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company operated a compressor station in the town that used large cooling towers which contained chromium, a carcinogenic heavy metal. The chromium contaminated water was stored in unlined ponds for re-use resulting in percolation into the ground water, polluting the wells from which people drank water. It was reported in 1996 that 654 people in the village got cancer as a result of drinking chromium contaminated water out of which 30 died of the disease. In a similar oft-quoted example of potable water pollution, over 400 children died of lead poisoning in the Zamfera State, North Nigeria in 2010, the lead from a gold mine contaminating the water. Fortunately, hitherto, there are no reported cases of illnesses from drinking polluted water from Weliweriya.

It is to be noted that the Hinkley people went into litigation against the Company, claiming $ 400 million and the case was finally settled in 1996 with a compensation payment of $333 million for the affected and the families of the dead. The affected Weliweriya people have a right to follow suit, and consider seeking redress through litigation.

It is natural that people in desperation react against the government when their woes are not heeded. For example, Lake Erie, one of the five great lakes in North America, considered by the American natives long ago to have the sweetest water, was heavily polluted by phosphate resulting in algal blooms in the 1960s. The sources of the phosphate were found to be fertilizer and detergents. The Lake water became unusable. Recreational facilities and navigation came to a halt, fish died in large numbers emanating an unbearable smell. Naturally the people reacted with protests. Many action groups were formed among which "The Student Council on Pollution and Environment" and the "Housewives to End Pollution" played lead roles. The Canadian government did not turn its guns on the protestors, but was quick to enact legislation to mitigate the problem. Phosphate use in detergents and as fertilizer was regulated, and over a period the Lake water became reusable.

What is vital is for the government is to ensure non-recurrence of such episodes as the Weliweriya incident. There are now numerous multinational companies seeking investments, not for the love of our people but essentially for cheap labour and pollutant-dumping convenience! The government should be mindful of this and take far more precautions than it does now, and not just be duped that foreign investments is the cure for all our economic ails. Thorough appraisal of the environmental impacts of all ventures is critical. Is it happening? Then our relevant institutions for pollution and environment management should be greatly strengthened for analytical capabilities and better services. Pollution control is as fundamental as food security for our sustenance and the government should train its guns on the polluters and not the desperate victims!

Dr. Parakrama Waidyanatha