SLMC sacks five top members
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Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Explainer: Anti-Muslim Violence in Sri Lanka
By Preetika Rana-August 14, 2013,
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Sri Lankan Muslims at a protest against the planned relocation of a mosque, Colombo, April 27, 2012.
There was an uneasy standoff in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo this weekend after a group of Buddhists attacked a mosque and injured several Muslim worshippers.
Analysts say an anti-Muslim campaign by Buddhist nationalist groups in Sri Lanka is being fueled by fears about the swelling Muslim population.
Muslims account for only 9% of the island nation’s population of 20 million, the 2011 census found. But the community is the fastest growing. Between 1981 and 2011, Sri Lanka’s Muslim population grew 78%, from 1.04 million to 1.86 million. In that period, Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese-Buddhist community grew 38%, from 10.9 million to 15.8 million.
“There is fear that the Muslim population will engulf the Buddhist majority, fear that they will dominate businesses and occupy larger share of the native Sinhalese land,” said S. Chandrasekharan, director of South Asia Analysis Group, a New Delhi-based think-tank.
Unlike Myanmar, where clashes between Buddhists and the minority Muslim community have been running for decades, the tension in Sri Lanka has surfaced only in recent years, analysts say.
Buddhist nationalist groups also complain Muslims are secretly sterilizing Sinhalese, the Associated Press said.
Tilak Samaranayaka, an Australia-based commentator on Sri Lanka, cited census data to argue that many Sinhalese-Buddhists had been coerced to adopt Islam. In a column in the Colombo Telegraph in March, Mr. Samaranayaka wrote that 101,319 people said they had converted to Islam when surveyed in 2011, up from 65,755 surveyed in 1981.
Other observers say there isn’t enough evidence to suggest the conversions were forced.
“Perhaps — given the ethnic diversity in Sri Lanka — most of these conversions could be by virtue of marrying into Muslim communities,” said B.S. Verghese, an analyst at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi based think-tank.
“If allegations of forced conversions routinely surface in the local press, Buddhist groups may retaliate believing their religion is being attacked,” he added.
Conflicting ideologies could also be a cause of tension. Earlier this year, for example, the Bodu Bala Sena, a Sri Lankan Buddhist group, spearheaded a nationwide campaign against the Islamic practice of halal-slaughtered meat.
Buddhist monks, who preach non-violence, view the practice of halal or slow death, as inhuman. Islamic law, on the other hand, says meat that isn’t prepared using the halal technique is unfit for consumption.
The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, Sri Lanka’s main body of Islamic clergy, withdrew food items bearing halal certificates from markets in March.
“We are giving up what is important to us…. in the interest of peace and harmony,” the president of the Muslim group said, according to reports. The move was criticized in Muslim countries and viewed as a clampdown on Islam.
The Lies They Tell Us
by Tisaranee Gunasekara-Thursday, August 15, 2013
“The most alarming aspect of the video to me was the seemingly delightful bloodlust they appeared to have. They….seemed not to value human life…”
Bradley Manning (Statement at the Trial – referring to an American attack on Iraqi civilians)
( August 15, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The ‘Rajapaksa Model’ of warfare had eight fundamentals, Indian journalist VK Shashikumar wrote in the Indian Defence Review1. These included political will, telling the world to ‘go to hell’, a no-negotiations policy, regulating media, rejecting ceasefires and giving troops complete operational freedom.
‘True Story Of Grandpass’ Or True Face Of Champika Ranawaka?
Dr. Laksiri Fernando
It is obvious from the article published by Champika Ranawaka, first in the Daily Mirror, and then reproduced by the Colombo Telegraph, titled “Grandpass: The True Story,” that he has an intimate knowledge of and interest in what others have termed as a ‘despicable act of thuggery and intimidation’ in the name of religion in Grandpass. He obviously is a stakeholder on the wrong side of the fence to come so unashamedly in defending the acts of violence and religious-racial hatred against the Muslims.
His defence begins by saying “It was only in May this year massive anti-Muslim protests were held in central London sending jitters through the spine of David Cameron’s government.” What he has failed to say is that the protest in London in May was against the murder of a British soldier, Drummer Lee Rigby, allegedly by the Muslim extremists, and the protest was organized by the far rights wing English Defence League (RDL) and even there was a counter demonstration by the anti-fascist group, Unite Against Racism. Both demonstrations were reported as tense but peaceful according to EuroNews.
By identifying himself with anti-Muslim protests in London and Islam-phobic fringe movements in Europe he has shown his true face nevertheless saying “Sri Lanka may not be the best country in the world as regards the treatment meted out to Muslims. Still it is certainly not as bad as the West.” This statement condoning discrimination is reprehensible from a Minister. There is no other way to interpret what he has actually said both directly and in between lines and no one with a fair mind would begin an article by castigating a particular religion or a religious group in such a manner if the purpose is to objectively interpret an incident like what has happened in Grandpass. Read More
Attacks on Religious Freedom : Silence and apathy of the Government and the Buddhist Mahanayaka Theros is disheartening
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
We the undersigned strongly condemn the violent and unprovoked attack on the Masjid Deenul Islam in Grandpass area on Saturday, August 10, 2013 by an extremist mob injuring 12 people, in the wake of the Eid Festival.
We are outraged over the spate of violent attacks against Christian and Muslim places of worship, and remain deeply concerned about the rise of extremist rhetoric around the island.
Signatures;
1.
Canada urges swift investigation into Grandpass and Weliweriya incidents
Dr. Andrew Bennett was named Ambassador to the Office of Religious Freedom in February. (Handhout)
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued a statement on the incidents at Grandpass Mosque and Weliweriya protests in Sri Lanka.
“Canada expresses concern over the attack on Grandpass Mosque in Grandpass, Sri Lanka, on August 10, 2013.
“This is just one of a number of recent and troubling attacks targeting the Muslim community in that country. It is of utmost importance that every person is able to practise his or her faith free from the threat of violence.
Bennett, a 40-year-old Catholic and academic was named the first head of Office of Religious Freedom in February. He has been the dean of Augustine College, a small, private Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa, since February 2011. He teaches the history of Christianity there and is completing a part-time degree in theology. He has a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Edinburgh, an M.A. in history from McGill University and a B.A. from Dalhousie University.
Bennette also urged Sri Lanka to investigate a deadly army crackdown at environmental protest in Weliweriya and to prosecute those responsible.
“Canada also regrets the reports of violence, injury and loss of life during protests in Weliweriya, Sri Lanka, on August 1, 2013. We are deeply concerned by reports that protesters seeking refuge in a Catholic church were attacked. We offer our condolences to the families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. We urge authorities to respect the right of peaceful protest and the sanctity of places of worship.
“Canada will continue to condemn all attacks on places of worship. We urge calm on all sides and call for a swift and transparent investigation into what happened, as well as appropriate prosecution for both events.”
The statement came during strained relations between the two nations as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper refuses to attend the Commonwealth Heads Meeting in Colombo unless Colombo’s rights record improves.
Weliweriya Factory Workers Ordered To Report For Duty On 22 August; Residents Face Daily Struggle For Water
August 15, 2013
The Venigross glove making factory owned by the
Hayleys Group that was at the centre of the Weliweriya water contamination controversy, has notified plant workers to report to work on August 22, Colombo Telegraph learns.
Army personnel have also been stationed outside the hostels provided for female workers at the plant, residents in the area claim.
The Defence Ministry ordered a two week shut down of the plant, after weeks of demonstrations by residents who are accusing Venigross of having contaminated the ground water in the area with its chemical waste. President Mahinda Rajapaksa who met with residents and company officials on Monday agreed to permit the plant to reopen in order to meet its export orders. In the long-term, the President has pledged to relocate the factory to a BOI zone.
Samagi Balavegaya demonstrations draw huge crowds: defy court order – who did the shooting and killing ?
(Lanka-e-News-14.Aug.2013, 11.00PM) The large crowds that attended the massive protest staged in Colombo this evening by Samagi Balavegaya against the killing of civilians by the Rajapakse regime using the forces went in a procession at the Fort defying even the court injunction order.
(Lanka-e-News-14.Aug.2013, 11.00PM) The large crowds that attended the massive protest staged in Colombo this evening by Samagi Balavegaya against the killing of civilians by the Rajapakse regime using the forces went in a procession at the Fort defying even the court injunction order.
DIG, son re-remanded
by Chitra Weeraratne-August 14, 2013
Interdicted DIG Vass Gunawardena and his son Ravindu leave the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court after they were further remanded till August 27 by Additional Magistrate M. Shahabdeen.
(Pic by Siripala Halwala)
(Pic by Siripala Halwala)
Colombo Additional Magistrate Mohammad Sahabdeen yesterday further remanded Deputy Inspector General of Police, Vass Gunawardena and nine others, including Ravindu, his son over the alleged abduction and murder of Mohammad Shyam a wealthy businessman of Bambalapitiya.
The Court released Shyam’s vehicle, WP/KV 3639 to his brother, under a bond of four million rupees and ordered that the vehicle should not to be sold or changed in colour and shape, until all the investigations were completed.
The Court ordered that Srimal Hettiarachchi, suspected of having given shelter to Ravindu, be produced before the Galle Magistrate for an identification parade as he was suspected to have been involved in two murders.
ASP Shani Abeysekera of the CID, said that the laptop used by Vass Gunewardena would be subjected to investigation at the Colombo Campus, Electronics Department. It had been discovered that two out of the three telephone numbers, used by Vass Gunewardena, were registered under the names of non-existent persons and that issue was being further investigated.
Counsel Sunanda Deshapriya, instructed by Nalin Indatissa appeared for Shyam.
Sri Lanka and a tale of two clashes
- - on 08/13/2013
In the space of a week Sri Lanka’s freedoms of speech and religion were overridden by acts of violence and intolerance. A heavy handed response by the government towards protesters in Weliweriya was followed up by their inability to safeguard a mosque from the rampaging mobs of Sinhala Buddhist extremists.
An island awash with arms
Editorial-August 14, 2013
Sri Lanka has been known the world over for its tea and garments. Rubber, spices etc may be added to the list of its most sought-after exports. But, now we are told, it has been exporting arms as well.
No less a person than Indian Defence Minister A. K. Anthony has told the Lok Sabha recently that the Indian armed forces have procured weapon systems from several countries including Russia, Israel, the US, the UK, Poland, Slovakia, Finland and Sri Lanka.
What has been reported of Anthony’s statement lacks clarity; the weapon systems concerned have not been named. Sri Lanka couldn’t have exported gal katas and T-katas (shot guns and assault rifles with barrels sawn off) or the deadly kata puncha aka muzzleloaders, the mere sound of which is scary enough to unnerve even battle-hardened commandos! Will an Opposition MP here ask, in Parliament, for a list of ‘weapon systems’ India has obtained from Sri Lanka?
Minister Anthony is quoted as having said that the Indian government has changed the procurement procedure for promoting self-reliance in weapon manufacturing by giving priority to indigenous production. India is, no doubt, equal to the task. The mention of ‘indigenous production’ reminds us of Sri Lanka’s plans in days of yore to produce lethal weapons.
The Kumaratunga government, in the mid 1990s, toyed with the idea of establishing a weapon manufacturing facility. A Cabinet subcommittee was appointed to prepare a blueprint for the project which did not get off the ground. Even without any such facility, we have apparently achieved self-sufficiency in arms! Time was when Sri Lanka was known as the ‘Granary of the East’. Today, it has become the ‘Armoury of the East’!
Meanwhile, there are some unanswered questions about the huge amounts of arms and ammunition recovered from the former war zone. The weapons captured from the LTTE—caches of arms continue to be unearthed—may be enough for half of the Indian army, so to speak. Why did the Tigers beaver away at stockpiling so many weapons? They also had floating arsenals on the high seas to carry out gunrunning and the Sri Lanka Navy destroyed most of them.
Is it that a cocky Prabhakaran’s plan to use this country as a transit point, in a bigger way, for his gunrunning operations went awry because the Navy turned the tables on the Sea Tigers who boasted of ruling the waves? Or, is it that he was so confident of carving out a separate state militarily that he wanted to have wherewithal ready to defend it maybe with additional personnel from elsewhere? The man who may be able to answer these questions is Prabhakaran’s chief arms procurer, KP, who has switched his allegiance to the government.
It is rather strange that mum’s the word on the part of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa as regards Minister Anthony’s statement. We thought she would be up in arms, threatening a fast unto death unless weapons procured from Sri Lanka were returned forthwith or dumped into the ocean. Her silence is puzzling. Not even DMK leader M. Karunanidhi has made a whimper. Why?
The Sri Lankan government has chosen to let Minister Anthony’s revelation pass. However, it would be able to make a fortune out of the weapons in the hands of its own politicians, especially the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairmen and members if they were collected and sold to a foreign buyer.
Before exporting or importing arms, the government had better do something drastic about the plethora of weapons in the wrong hands. The proliferation of arms, thousands of well-trained military deserters at large and the sheer number of trigger-happy politicians with private armies pose the same threat as terrorism to the country. Hence, the need for disarming politicians and their goons and cracking down on the underworld awash with drugs and weapons!
Badar Azim: Does the Queen's ex-footman live in a slum?
By Rahul Tandon-14 August 2013
Recently, like many other journalists in Calcutta, I was trying to find the Queen's former footman, Badar Azim, who returned to India when his UK visa expired. British papers had written about his journey to Buckingham Palace from the "slums of Calcutta"... but this did not go down well with his family.
Local residents do not always see their surroundings as slums
Badar Azim played a public role, helping to announce the recent Royal birth
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
| Sencholai massacre - 7 years on, justice is no closer 13 August 2013  On 14th August 2006, four Sri Lankan Air Force jets flew over the Vanni, dropping sixteen bombs over the Sencholai children's home in Vallipunam for orphaned girls.Fifty-three Tamil school girls and 3 staff members were killed, and over 150 injured. In a macabre warning of the attacks against hospitals within the designated 'No Fire Zones' in 2009, the Sencholai attack took place despite the Sencholai's GPS coordinates being given to the Sri Lankan military via UNICEF and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), in order to protect it as a humanitarian zone.
Also see a survivor’s account of the airstrike here, and photos of the aftermath here andhere. The Sri Lankan government was swift to claim that all the girls who were massacred were "terrorists" at a "training camp" of the LTTE - a claim which was categorically rejected by UNICEF and international ceasefire monitors of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police, Chandra Fernando, claimed at the time that three girls who were admitted to hospital with injuries "told Police that the place was not an orphanage." The Sri Lankan news site, the Daily News reported, 'The Government and Security Forces denied the LTTE's claim and emphasised that it was a military training camp used by the LTTE to train hundreds of youth and the target was taken after compiling enough evidence to prove it was an LTTE military camp.' In a statement, Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF said: "These children are innocent victims of violence," Whilst, UNICEF's Colombo chief, Joanna Van Gerpen told reporters: "we don't have any evidence that they are LTTE cadres."The SLMM monitors said they found at least 10 bomb craters and an unexploded bomb at the site. The Head of the SLMM, Ulf Henricsson said: “We couldn’t find any sign of military installations or weapons. … This was not a military installation, we can see [that].” The Swiss government described the bombing as “an outrage.” Despite such unanimous consensus that the attack was targeted at an orphanage during the ceasefire, the IRCR and the Co-Chairs of the peace process - US, UK, EU and Norway - did not condemn the attack. Seven years on, and tens of thousands more lives later, justice is no closer. |
The Way TNA Handles Its Options
By S.Sivathasan -August 14, 2013 |
S.Sivathasan
In sixty years since independence, Tamils have come one full circle. At which juncture have we arrived and are staying now? Have we come to a point of interdiction in 2009 and yet set to describe the second circle. Or have we reached a point of departure, from where we set out on a new course? If the latter be the choice of prudence, are there options before the TNA? Yes. One is, even after emerging as the acknowledged depository of trust, to belie it and to trumpet that they have lived true by the politics of self-imposed exclusion. The second is to win the election, get lost in the trappings of seeming power or the lack of it and be immersed in minutiae and routine. The third is to secure a decisive victory, consolidate it, capture the office of Chief Minister, establish a strong and clean administration and coterminously mount a struggle for more finances and greater authority.
Why do Provincial Councils get little money and less authority? The system was emasculated at conception itself and the law ensured deformity. Hence the limp. The Provincial Councils Act was drawn up in the wake of the demand and later a struggle for four decades by the North East for a substantial measure of autonomy. No other Province ever asked for it because they experienced neither marginalization nor deprivation. More pertinently, the interests of the Centre and the periphery coincided. But in the final stages of formulation, Devolution encompassed all nine Provinces. What started as a major step towards pacifying the aggrieved minorities of the North East with ethnic peace as the quid pro quo, digressed into nominal devolution in the whole country. It failed to meet the power needs of the North East but certainly catered to the status seeking proclivity of the rest of the country. Neither finance nor authority worth speaking about was handed over.
What is money? It connotes power. With power goes prestige. When both are gone everything is lost. The major community with its hands securely on the state apparatus had no illusions about it.Parting with them to one segment may not be objectionable. But extending it to all would mean multiplying it eight fold. When all the yolk reposes in the Province, only the shell remains at the Centre. So come what may, dilute devolution and give the shell to the Province while retaining the yolk where it remained. This was the sum and substance of 13A. An exercise in which even if JR was willing, Rajiv was weak. He had an overarching cast iron frame to contend with at home. Power to be devolved to the Provinces in Sri Lanka cannot exceed the power enjoyed by the States in India. If it does the bluff of quasi federalism, passed on as federalism in India will be called. With this constraint, 13A was made a mess of. Unraveling it will be the primary task of the Chief Minister.
New mass-grave site found in Vadamaraadchi, Jaffna
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 August 2013, 23:38 GMT]The occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna has warned the original house-owners of a recently released former SLA camp-site at Pallappai at the heart of Vadamaraadchi, not to dig the wells at the site where 52 houses had been seized by the SL military for more than 14 years since 1999. The main camp of the SLA 524 was situated at Pallappai. A few days ago, SL military personnel who blocked the owners of a house from renovating their well, recovered human skeletons of 16 to 18 victims and instructed the owners not to reveal the details to media or human rights groups. More than 100 victims have been buried inside another public well that has been filled up by the SL military, the villagers say.
In the meantime, an SLA commanding officer has also confirmed to a media source in Colombo on condition of anonymity that a Tamil journalist, Subramaniyam Ramachandran, reported missing in 2007, was slain and dumped inside an abandoned well in the vicinity of the Pallappai 524 base. 87 and 90 years old parents of the missing journalist have been struggling for years to learn the whereabouts of their only son.
Around 2,000 youth were reported missing in Jaffna alone between 1996 and 2009.
When the SLA seized Jaffna in 1996, it had put up several camps in Vadamaraadchi. The main base controlling Vadamaraadchi was the 524 camp, which was situated inside the Point Pedro harbour.
However, when the Sea Tigers of the LTTE became a formidable force in 1999, the SLA moved its base 2 km away from the harbour to Pallappai, which is situated between the Jaffna-Point Pedro Road and Katkoava'lam-Naakarkoayil Road.
As the SL military recently relocated their base away from the area, some of the owners of the houses started to visit their properties in order to resettle there.
Many wells in the area are found filled with bulldozed stones, the villagers say.
Commissioners appointed to investigate into missing persons
WEDNESDAY, 14 AUGUST 2013 
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed three members to the Commission tasked with investigating cases of persons who went missing from the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the war, Presidential Spokesman and International Media Unit said today.They are Mr. Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama (Chairman) Ms. Dimingu Badathuruge Priyanthi Suranjana Vidyaratne and Mr. Mano Ramanathan.
The Commission has been given the authority to conduct inquiries and investigations necessary, and submit a report to the President within six months.
President Rajapaksa has instructed the Commission to identify the person(s) responsible in cases where abductions or disappearances are found to have taken place and to take legal action against those person(s).
Groundviews
- - on 12/24/2012
- - on 12/18/2011
LLRC Action Plan And Taking LLRC Report
Seriously
IBy Jehan Perera -
Jehan Perera
The detailed action plan prepared by the government with regard to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and released last week has been done in a highly professional manner, and would be the envy of many a dysfunctional previous commission of inquiry. On the face of it, the government appears to have taken the LLRC commission report seriously as the Commissioners would have wished and the international community has already called for. There are 91 recommendations that the action plan takes cognizance of. Each of these recommendations is looked at in terms of specific activities they entail. The action plan also identifies the government agencies that will be responsible for implementing each of these activities within a specified time frame, most of them ranging from 6 to 24 months.
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