Credibility Of Army Inquiry On Weliweriya Killings?

By Laksiri Fernando -August 22, 2013 |

Dr. Laksiri Fernando

Even after three weeks of the killings, no charges have so far been filed against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. No one was arrested or taken into custody, by the army or the police. There is a possible cover up in the offing. The opposition leader and the opposition at large should not forget about their call for an ‘independent inquiry’ into these events. When this issue was raised in Parliament on 6 August, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Leader of the House, promised an independent inquiry but it has not been appointed. Perhaps the Minister meant what he said, but other vested interests preventing of an independent inquiry so far.

The way the government and the country treats this incident might signify the direction in which Sri Lanka would be heading in the near future. Are we moving in the direction of a full scale military rule or are we reverting back to democracy are the two questions at stake. The whole episode shows the symptoms of a full scale quasi-military rule in the making in the country.

Incidents

The persons who were killed were all young: Akila Dinesh, aged 19 and living in Helenwatta, Weliweriya; Ravishan Perera, aged 18, living in Bandarawatte, Weliweriya; and Nilantha Pushpakumara, aged 29 originally from Gampola.

The government propaganda machine has been claiming that the clashes took place due to ‘outside elements’ attacking the army personnel. But among the three killed, no one could possibly be identified belonging to this so-called outside instigators. The government spokespersons claimed that Nilantha Pushpakumara, only outsider, was killed by pole attacks and not by army shooting. While this may be correct, the video footages show the army personnel carrying poles other than automatic rifles. At least one journalist, Ms. Deepa Adhikari, was assaulted by a soldier with a pole, according to her report. There seems to be no reason for the protesters to attack Pushpakumara, even if there had been a clash. This is plain common sense.

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Thondaman on the rampage

By Premalal Wijeratne-Thursday, 22 Aug 2013

A special police team under the Senior SSP for Nuwara Eliya, M.H.K.B, Mahagedara, has been dispatched to the Talawakelle Police to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident where the Minister of Estates and Infrastructure, Arumugam Thondaman, had allegedly stormed into the police station, abused the officers on duty, and had behaved in a manner that obstructed the police officers from carrying out their duties.

A high-ranking police officer of the division said, the minister had gone berserk over the failure of the police to take action regarding a cash transaction involving a friend of his. The special team had been sent to record evidence from police officers and eye witnesses, he added.

Following the clash between Thondaman and Digabaram recently at Didulapathana, the Special Task Force (STF) had been deployed to maintain law and order in the Division. Senior DIG and Senior Commanding Officer of the STF, R.W.M.D. Bandara, said the STF had been enlisted to assist the police in their duties in maintaining law and order.

A high-ranking police officer in charge of the Nuwara Eliya Division, said, as a result of the clash that took place last Monday (19), 16 vehicles belonging to both parties had been damaged.

Though the names of the suspects were not known on the day of the incident, the police had subsequently obtained the names of the miscreants and have vowed to take action against them. Meanwhile, the six suspects in connection with the attacks launched on the political offices in Hatton were arrested and released on bail after they were produced before Court.

No decision on level of India’s participation in CHOGM: Govt

A file photo of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

NEW DELHI, August 22, 2013

Amid opposition by Tamil parties to Prime Minister’s participation in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, government on Thursday said no decision has yet been taken on level of India’s participation in the summit scheduled in November.

“In March, the government received a letter each from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Chief Minister of Puducherry, urging the Prime Minister not to attend the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.

“The Government has not yet taken a decision on the level of its participation at the 2013 CHOGM,” Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid said in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

Replying to supplementaries, Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said “well thought decision will be taken” in this regard.

She further said the decision to hold the CHOGM at Colombo was taken in 2009.

On issues related to human rights violations in Sri Lanka, she said the government has been engaged with that country and it has also been raised at United Nation Human Rights Council.

To another supplementary, Mr. Khurshid said India is fully committed to the 13th Amendment of Sri Lanka’s Constitution.

The amendment relates to devolution of powers to ethnic communities, like Tamils.

Mr. Khurshid asked members to wait for the calling attention on the situation arising out of repeated attacks on Indian fisherman by Sri Lankan navy.

Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi informed the House that the Pravasi Bharati Divas 2014 will be held in Delhi.

'I am Chelsea': Read Manning's full statement

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Video: “I am Chelsea Manning. I am female,” explains the Army private via a statement read on TODAY Thursday. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for leaking classified government documents.

On Thursday, Bradley Manning made the announcement in a TODAY exclusive that she would like to live as a woman, and will now be known as Chelsea. Below is Manning's full statement to the public:

Subject: The Next Stage of My Life

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.

As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back.

Thank you,

Chelsea E. Manning

Bradley Manning Sentenced: Something Is Seriously Wrong With US Justice System – American Civil Liberties Union

August 22, 2013 

A military court-martial today sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for giving classified material to WikiLeaks. Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, had this reaction:

“When a soldier who shared information with the press and public is punished far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians, something is seriously wrong with our justice system. A legal system that doesn’t distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it’s also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

 Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:13

 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s Visit to Tamil Area: August 25-31, 2013. Tamils Could Expect Justice from Pillay and Should Ask for International Investigation

 HE Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is from South Africa of Indian Tamil origin. She has served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed her as the High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2008 and her term will end in 2014. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is comprised of 47 countries, and is one of the most prominent institutions of the UN. The UNHRC functions with the leadership and advice of Pillay’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by nelvely

Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council elections: reconciliation and reputation

SHWETA SINGH 21 August 2013

The Northern Provincial Council elections slated for September 2013 hold critical relevance for a transition from post-war Sri Lanka to a post-conflict Sri Lanka. This is an important opportunity for the majoritarian Sinhala state to regain international credibility.

Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council elections reconciliation and reputation by nelvely

“Para Dhemalā”: Response To ‘Confronting Charlie Ponnadurai’

By Charles Sarvan -August 22, 2013 

Charles Sarvan

At the outset, allow me to clarify that well over forty years ago I legally changed not my name but their order, and since then have been Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan.

I have distaste for confrontation (see title above) but must explain that the brief note on ‘Para Dhemmala’ arose because two friends, one in Australia and the other in Canada, wrote independently of each other to say that “Para” did not mean “foreign”. Discussing the matter with them, I said: It was readingMichael Roberts several years ago that brought me to another, and far more significant, meaning of ‘para’, namely ‘foreign’”. I added, again quoting Roberts, that it is not the only meaning of “para” but one of several, depending on usage-context. My comment that even those who have expressed disappointment with Roberts should admit his extensive reading on Sri Lankan history and anthropology was not intended as a “swipe” at him but as a reminder to them that, in all fairness, his specialised knowledge should be acknowledged.

Roberts is inclined to place me as someone (a) “far from moderate”, (b) a “Tamil nationalist” who (c) hinders “reconciliation”. What follows are some of my thoughts on these three, rather than a reply to Roberts.

I wonder if in certain contexts the concept of moderation is applicable. For example, if a country oppresses and suppresses females, even to the extent of attacking with acid little girls who have the temerity to try to go to school, can there be a “moderate” position? One may be supportive or oppositional; fearful, silent and inactive or indifferent, but can one be “moderate” vis-à-vis an unjust reality?  Would moderation then be ethical, laudable? How would such “moderation” manifest or express itself? Since some readers are quick to misunderstand; to take offense and become abusive, let me emphasise that the question is theoretical. I am not drawing a parallel with Sri Lanka but merely “thinking aloud” about the concept of moderation. Is “moderation” always advisable and admirable? What, I ask myself, does it exactly mean to be a moderate in a situation of injustice and discrimination? Remember the witticism: “I can tolerate everything, except intolerance”?

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Long War, Cold Peace: Revaluation Of The Past And Reconciliation

By Godfrey Gunatilleke -August 22, 2013 |

Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke

“Sri Lanka faces a crisis of transition and transformation… Sri Lanka has been unable to make the transition from war to sustainable peace; from what I believe was fundamentally a just war to a just peace.

The crisis is at least in part a crisis of the post war discourse. … The discourse has not been of a character which can facilitate the transition from just war to just peace…  Those who maintain it was a just war fail to call for a just peace a peace with justice for the Tamil community. The Tamils for their part have failed to make a clean break from their recent past of sympathy for secessionism and terrorism. There is no post war discourse which combines a strong position in defense of the war with a strong drive for a sustainable peace on a new basis of a fairly re-drawn ethnic compact.” (‘Long War, Cold Peace’ Vijitha Yapa, 2013, P 34)

The two sessions of the Marga Institute’s Panel Discussion on Dr Dayan Jayatilleka’s book “Long War Cold Peace” have been organized under the titles “Was it a just war?” and “Can we have a just peace?”.  Those who have read the book will appreciate the appropriateness of these titles  for the two  main parts of Dr Jayatilleka’s  book –   first ,  his  analysis  of   the ethnic conflict as it escalated to the war with the LTTE – the Thirty Year War as he calls it–  and  second, his perspective on the complex  issues of post war  politics and reconciliation.  The excerpt from his book reproduced above will help us to focus on some of the key issues   raised by him in his book – issues which are fundamental to the processes that must shape the future of post war Sri Lanka.

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UN Human Rights Chief Urged to Check for Chemical Weapons Use in Sri Lanka: TGTE

 Thursday, 22 August 2013 

“UN High Commissioner Pillay begins her week-long visit to Sri Lanka on August 25, 2013”

 http://world.einnews.com/pr_news/164201031/un-human-rights-chief-urged-to-check-for-chemical-weapons-use-in-sri-lanka-tgte  

Other recommendations by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) are:

1) Meet those surrendered to Security Forces, like a group led by Rev. Father Francis Joseph and Ehilian.

UN Human Rights Chief Urged to Check for Chemical Weapons Use in Sri Lanka TGTE by nelvely

Sri Lanka Groups Want UN to Inquire About Killings

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka August 21, 2013

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press (AP)

Sri Lankan human rights activists said Wednesday they have asked a United Nations official to inquire about the recent killing of unarmed protesters, anti-Muslim violence and alleged army land grabs from victims of the country's civil war.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay arrives Sunday for a seven-day visit to prepare a report on Sri Lanka to be given to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month.

The council approved a resolution in March calling on Sri Lanka to more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes committed by government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels during the last phase of a civil war that ended in 2009. It also asked the high commissioner to present an oral report to the council in September and a detailed report next March.

The rights activists said in addition to wartime violations like abductions and forced disappearances, they want Pillay to ask about recent incidents such as the killing by the military of three people at a protest this month.

Nimalka Fernando, an official with Platform for Freedom, a grouping of 60 organizations, said they have written to Pillay requesting her to visit the former war zone as well as the western town of Weliweriya where the military shot at protesters demanding clean drinking water and the site of a mosque attacked by a Buddhist-led mob.

Five people have died in two years in military or police crackdowns on public protests. There have also been a series of attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned shops by Buddhist-led mobs. No one has been punished.

Buddhism is the majority and state religion of Sri Lanka.

Fernando said the military has seized some 6,400 acres (2,589 hectares) of land from ethnic Tamil civilians displaced since the end of the civil war. "The military is running farms. This is not an answer to the employment problem of the displaced people," she said.

The Tamil Tiger rebels were fighting to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils.

A U.N. report has said that the ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government may have killed as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war. The government is also accused of abducting suspected rebels, human rights activists, and critical journalists during and after the conflict. Many of those abducted are feared dead.

The rebels are also accused of killing civilians, using them as human shields and recruiting child soldiers.

Chairman And Commissioner Go Head To Head At Human Rights Commission SL

August 23, 2013 

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has recently been beset by divisions and internal battles between Human Rights Commissioner Prathiba Mahanama and the Commission Chairman and former judge, Priyantha Perera, Colombo Telegraph learns.

Justice Priyantha Perera

Dr. Mahanama who is also a lawyer and an academic continues to make statements and give media interviews on behalf of the Human Rights Commission without consultation with Chairman Perera or other members of the board. Irked at Mahanama’s conduct, the HRC Chairman has appointed Nimal Punchihewa as spokesman for the Commission. Punchihewa also functions as Chairman of the Land Reforms Commission that has legal authority to distribute state land.

Mahanama has reportedly challenged Punchihewa’s appointment on the grounds that there was no legal provision in the HRC Act to appoint spokesman. Nimal Punchihewa is a close associate of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and hails from the same area down south.

Additionally Punchihewa has also been appointed Secretary Legal, although no such position exists in the HRC Act or the cadre, while there is a permanent Secretary in the HRC. Chairman of the HRC Priyantha Perera is eager to secure another term in office through the good offices of Punchihewa, sources close to the HRC Board claim.

Meanwhile, the HRC announced last week that it would conduct a full scale inquiry into the military shooting at Ratupaswela. However, after hundreds of victims and journalists have indicated their willingness to come forward, the HRC suddenly dropped the inquiry.

It is believed that President Rajapaksa had sent a warning to HRC Chairman Perera, through Punchihewa, that the Commission should not do anything that would embarrass the Government or the Rajapaksa administration.

The Human Rights Commission has been provided extensive capacity building and training by the Commonwealth Secretariat recently in a bid to showcase Sri Lanka in a better light from a human rights perspective ahead of the CHOGM 2013. The HRC’s courageous decision to hold an inquiry into the Weliweriyaviolence was considered to be the result of some of these measures to strengthen the country’s human rights protection arm.

“Why Don’t You Like My Post?” Americans Keep It Apolitical On Facebook

By Frederica Jansz  -August 22, 2013

Frederica Jansz

I became an active user of Facebook only after I migrated to America.

I had an account for a few years back in Sri Lanka, but until now I rarely had the time or the inclination to respond to posts, comments or share what was on my mind. But Facebook for me in America has turned out to be a whole new, and refreshing, experience.

I have only about a hundred “friends,” both American and Sri Lankan. But their posts are as different as salt and pepper.

Sri Lankans will immediately like and share any kind of post or video without reservation. Many of them clicked eagerly on a recent post about the son of a hated government minister who had been stabbed in the parking lot of a posh retail store in Colombo, liking and sharing the news with glee.

On the other hand, Americans seem to rarely — if ever — respond to such political posts.

When I recently posted what I thought was a very apt clip of Mindy Kaling in her refreshingly sly way critiquing the lack of representation of Asian women in Hollywood, (despite the fact that “there are literally billions of us”) my post got ONE measly like, from my Sri Lankan girl friend who now lives in Scotland!                         Read More

Polls chief won’t gazette winners if assets not declared

By Ifham Nizam-August 21, 2013

The names of those to be elected to the three provincial councils, at the forthcoming polls, will not be gazetted unless they declare their assets and liabilities.

That assurance had been given to Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) by the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, a TISL official said yesterday.

TISL’s Senior Manager for Advocacy and Public Relations Shan Wijetunge said that during their meeting with the Elections Chief, the latter had said that despite strong instructions issued to the 3,785 candidates in the polls to the North-Western, Central and Northern Provincial Councils, only one per cent had declared their assets and liabilities. "The Elections Commissioner had given them one month’s grace, but to date 99 per cent of the contestants have failed to come up with their declarations," Wijethunge told a press briefing in Colombo.

Wijetunge said that the deadline would be over on August 30. In the meantime, legal advice had been sought to decide on action should be taken against candidates who did not comply with the Elections Commissioner’s directive, he added.

"We urge the contestants, since there is only nine days left, to declare their assets and liabilities, Wijetunge said.

99% candidates fail to declare assets

Thursday, 22 Aug 2013

Legal action will be taken against the Provincial Council (PC) election candidates who have not declared their assets and liabilities by 30 August, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), warned yesterday. Senior Manager, TISL, Shan Wijethunge, addressing the media, said so far only a miniscule 1% of the total 3,785 candidates – who are contesting the September PC elections have declared their assets and liabilities.

For more details: http://ceylontoday.lk/27-40754-news-detail-99-candidates-fail-to-declare-assets.html

MaRa’s own Thonda and Diga make PC elections JaRa (filthy and foul)- bitter feuds
(Lanka-e-News-20.Aug.2013, 11.00PM) Following a clash at Kotagala last evening(19) between Lanka Workers Congress (LWC) of Minister Thondaman and Workers national association (WNA) formed by Digambaram M.P. who was himself a former LWC member , Kumar the Kotagala Organizer of Workers National Association (WNA) had been stabbed at Hatton town, according to reports. The victim is now admitted to Gledon hospital.

At the forthcoming provincial council (PC) elections , the LWC is contesting under the UPFA but separately . The WNA on the other hand is contesting only under the UPFA. 

At the Nuwara eliya district Thonda’s LWC is contesting separately. Day before yesterday , P Rajadurai , the candidate representing the LWC had joined the WNA . Consequent upon this , a dispute had broken out between the two parties. 

Digambaram who had received the support of MaRa had gone with his party in a motorcade from Nuwara eliya to Hatton yesterday. At the Commercial junction , Kotagala this motorcade has come under attack. MPs Digambaram and Rajadurai had also been in this motorcade. As a result of this attack 14 vehicles have been damaged and several individuals were injured. At about 4.45 p.m. yesterday (19) this conflict had raged , and the stabbing aforementioned had taken place.

Digambaram had also been subject to a rotten egg attack of Senthil Thondaman yesterday. 

At this run up to the PC elections , the MPs and Ministers of MaRa are engaged in a fierce bloody battle among themselves following in the footsteps of their gory political mentor whose factual blood lust going by the ruthless killings of civilians puts that of the fictional Draculas in the shade. 

Earlier ,Ministers Johnny ,Salinda and Herath were in bitter conflict , and now its is Thonda and Diga.

When Mara’s own party members cannot contribute to a peaceful and fair elections , can anything better be expected of the opposition parties ?

Peaceful Moors, Sinhala Wahabis And The Silver Lining Among ‘Wahabis’

By Hameed Abdul Karim -August 23, 2013

Hameed Abdul Karim

Responding to A.R.M. Imtiyaz’s ‘Moors of Sri Lanka are Not Perfectly Peaceful’

For the life of me I cannot imagine why my good e-pal Dr. A.R.M. Imtiyaz Razakwould want to write an article feeding on the same thrash that racist bigots in Sri Lanka, under various guises, throw at Muslims to propagate their doomsday scenarios in his article ‘Moors of Sri Lanka are Not Perfectly Peaceful’ that appeared in your popular ‘Colombo Telegraph’.

The usual Wahabbi bait is flung to convince readers there is a looming threat posed by this cult that will somehow swamp all Muslims in Sri Lanka. Whilst it is true there is a Wahabi trend among Muslims, writers tend to exaggerate this tendency to emphasize their points and to propagate their anti-Muslim feelings. Saudi Arabia’s backing of the military coup in Egypt has exposed the rulers there and has brought ‘Wahabi’s’ out in the open claiming the backing of their government for the Egyptian military led government is not in their name or faith. So there is a silver lining among ‘Wahabi’s’ just as much as there is one in Sri Lanka in the form of Buddhist monks who speak of communal harmony and get assaulted by ‘Sinhala Wahabi’s’ for their virtuous deeds.  Besides, there is a resistance among Muslims in Sri Lanka to Wahabism and it’s not like as if their ideology is going unchallenged by ‘traditional’ Muslims.

I am surprised that Dr. Imtiyaz had said Moors are not perfectly peaceful. By making such a statement he implies that they are violent if we are to go by opposites. ‘Moors’ have shown great rectitude in remaining peaceable in the face of grave provocation. The overwhelming majority in the Sinhala community have also shown a strong resistance to the ethno fascists among them knowing only too well there is a political hand behind all the shenanigans of the BBS and their acolyte like the Sinhala Rawaya.

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Orientalists’ Perspective On Sri Lankan Moors

By Aboobacker Rameez -August 22, 2013 

Aboobacker Rameez

This is in response to the recent article titled Moors of Sri Lanka are not perfectlypeaceful appeared at Colombo Telegraph by Dr Imthiyaz, on whom, I have a great respect as an academic who largely deals with issues concerning ethnic conflicts and minority issues in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world.

However, I beg to disagree with his latest article in which he seriously lambasted the Muslims as being not a peaceful community in Sri Lanka. At the outset, let me stress that the Moors (also known as Muslims) have never joined with the separatist movement in Sri Lanka that fought against the government forces for many decades. Many people concede that had Muslims joined hands with the rebels fighting for the Ealam project in North East, things would have been different. The government at the early stages of the war was ill equipped to deal with the separatists. Muslims due to their refusal to ally with the paid dearly in terms of life and wealth, even this author has lost one of his close relatives in the attack of the separatists in 90s. It is also to be noted that the Southern Sinhalese also had two insurgencies in 70s and 80s with the frustrated youth as a result of mass unemployment and poverty gripping the country at that time.

Muslims, unlike their Tamil and Sinhalese counterparts, have never been involved in any insurgencies. The Muslims have always remained as a peaceful and harmonious community with a great deal of integration with other communities such as Sinhelese and Tamils in the Island.

Let’s now deal, in a constructive way, with some of the points Dr Imthiyaz raises in his article

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