Politics Of Dispossession

By Ahilan Kadirgamar -September 4, 2013

Ahilan Kadirgamar

Four years after the end of the devastating war in northern Sri Lanka, much delayed elections are to be held shortly for the first civil administration of the Northern Province. There are many debates on the viability of such a Provincial Council, including the kind of powers it will enjoy and the possibility of it becoming the starting point for a political solution that has plagued the country since the late colonial period and pummelled the North and East of the country with a civil war in recent decades. The delays on the part of the Government to hold elections, the continuing militarisation, the watering down of Provincial powers in recent years and the pressure by India and other international actors to hold elections have been widely reported. However, less attention has been paid to the economic context of the post-war years and the everyday challenges facing the war-torn people as they approach the polls.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Government’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which includes the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) are the two major coalitions contesting the Provincial Council elections in Northern Province which includes the Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Killinochi and Mullaitivu Districts. Much of the vast area in the latter four districts south of the Jaffna Peninsula is called the Vanni. During the last decade of the war, Jaffna was not directly hit by the fighting but the land route to it was blocked even as Killinochi and Mullaitivu were razed to the ground during the last two years of the war. Just one twentieth of Sri Lanka’s population amounting to 1 million people reside in the Northern Province, of which 580 thousand people reside in the Jaffna District. As to what changes and relief can be brought about through either coalition to this war ravaged population, there is only scepticism among ordinary people in the North. This article sketches the social and economic challenges increasingly articulated on the ground in the North despite the silence of the candidates and public election debates.

Reconstruction, the Market and Debt                        Read More   

Ending Military rule and ushering freedom of people of Sri Lanka

 by A.R.Arudpragasam-Wednesday, September 4, 2013

( September 4, 2013, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is no good military rule and bad military rule. All military rule is pariah rule and in this case it is pariah rule of a pariah race over Tamil homeland. Sinhala rule is good for the Sinhala people. The military rule of the North East keeps away two million Tamils from returning to their homeland. The watchful eye of the military stifles the civilizational process and breeds the culture of barbarism. No dignified people will want to live under it however good the military is. Tamil people are civilized people. If you trust them they will not betray you.

Ending Military Rule and Ushering Freedom of People of Sri Lanka by nelvely

Syria Crisis: Video Of The UK Prime Minister’s Questions Time Today

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, answered questions from MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday 4 September 2013.

Britain will attend CHOGM to pressure Sri Lanka on human rights issue

• PREV
• 1 of 2
• NEXT

British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague today confirmed that he and the British Prime Minister David Cameron will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka in November although the UK government is very concerned about human rights in Sri Lanka including media freedom.

Hague said they have decided to attend the CHOGM in Sri Lanka considering the Commonwealth and its future. 

"The Prime Minister and I have decided to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. We think that the Commonwealth and its future matter so much that we must do that, no matter what the location," he told the House of Commons of the British parliament today.

Answering oral questions raised at the House of Commons on Sri Lanka's human rights violations, the Secretary of State said the UK government raises those issues regularly with the Sri Lankan Government.

He said the UK hopes to draw attention to the issues by attending the summit.

"We and other countries will continue to press Sri Lanka on those issues over the coming weeks," Hague told the House.

When asked about what progress is UK government seeking on Sri Lanka's right issues ahead of the meeting in November, the Foreign Secretary said all parties in the House seek progress in Sri Lanka on a wide range of issues.

These include, implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission; ensuring that there is media freedom and the operation of non-governmental organizations; and ensuring that not only is there reconstruction after the conflict, but that all political persuasions have a genuine ability to participate in democracy.

"We are looking for continued improvements in Sri Lanka across quite a broad front and we will be able to make those points at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November," Hague told the House of Commons.

colombopage.com

Sri Lanka: Slaughter in the no fire zone

The Sri Lankan government still denies responsibility for the killing of up to 70,000 Tamil civilians at the end of the civil war in 2009. So why has it been chosen to host a Commonwealth summit asks Callum Macrae, director of a harrowing film about the massacre

Two young girls caught up in the shelling … a still from No Fire Zone.-Callum Macrae

Tuesday 3 September 2013 

I have spent the best part of the last three years looking at some of the most terrible images I could have imagined. I've covered wars and seen some awful things, but few that could prepare me for the hours of video and mobile footage that emerged from the last 138 days of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war between the government and the Tamil Tiger secessionists; a war that ended four years ago – and whose bloody denouement is the subject of my film No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.

Reading this on a mobile? Click here to view

Sri Lanka Slaughter in the No Fire Zone by nelvely

US allies left red faced

By Dinouk Colombage-Wednesday, 04 Sep 2013

"This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people." – US Secretary of State, John Kerry When the United States Secretary of State,

US Allies Left Red Faced by nelvely

CJ 43 to boycott Bribery Commission hearings

WEDNESDAY, 04 SEPTEMBER 2013 

Chief Justice 43 Shirani Bandaranayake informed the Bribery Commission today that she would not present herself before the Commission in the future, as she did not trust the integrity of the process and the Commissioners.

During a hearing which lasted for an hour, CJ 43 Bandaranayake said the Commission was yet to respond to her objections of bias which she submitted during the past hearings. Justice Bandaranayake said the Commission was prejudiced against her and she had been politically victimised.

The impeached Chief Justice had informed the investigating officers that instead of giving a ruling on the preliminary objections raised against two Commissioners, the Commission had proceeded to file a case at the Magistrate’s Court against her.

She had said that the entire process was politically motivated in order to harass and victimise her, sources said.

The Commission was currently investigating allegations directed at the ousted Chief Justice regarding the non-declaration of her assets.

Earlier, the counsel appearing for Dr. Bandaranayake requested a ruling on the initial objections raised against the Commissioners.

They also called for a comprehensive investigation into an article published in a state-owned newspaper last week which had allegedly foretold the outcome of the ongoing inquiry.

During an initial hearing held in May the legal team headed by Nalin Laduwahetty PC informed the investigating officers that two of the three sitting Commissioners of the Bribery Commission were biased.

Filing her objections, she said former Chief Justice Asoka de Silva had purchased an apartment at the Trillium Condominium when the Ceylinco case was ongoing and his personal relationship with Justice Balapatabendi was a reason for the bias.

Detailing allegations of bias against two Commissioners, Justice Balapatabendi and Jayantha Wikcermaratne, Dr. Bandaranayake said their participation in the inquiry was a violation of natural justice and the rule against bias.

“I believe that among the reasons for Justice Balapatabendi to demonstrate bias against me arises as a result of his relationship to retired Chief Justice Asoka de Silva. I state that Justice Balapatabnedi’s son Isuru is married to Mr. Silva’s daughter Kanishka” the letter said.

Sri Lanka’s first woman Chief Justice in her detailed objections said a Bench presided by her had dismissed an FR petition filed by Jayantha Wickeremaratne with regard to his promotion and this was his bias against her.

Dr. Bandranayake said the statement made by Mr. Wickremaratne’s wife to the media showed his bias against her.

In the objections addressed to the Director General, Dr. Banadaranayake said the Commission Chairman Justice Balapatabendi had “violated the law of confidentiality” by issuing statements to the media.

Justice Balapatabendi, Justice N.T Wimalachanda and Jayantha Wickremaratne are the current Commissioners of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption.(Hafeel Farisz)

We stand by the Tamil National Alliance - British Tamil Conservatives

Wednesday, 04 September 2013 

President Rajapakshe has at last bowed to international pressure and agreed to hold the Northern Province Council elections.

This has presented the Tamils of Northern Sri Lanka a rare opportunity to democratically express their aspirations for self-rule and by voting, allow them to voice, to the international community including the Government of Great Britain what the Tamil people’s aspirations are. Whilst we welcome the rare opportunity, we are also very mindful of the continued oppression our kith and kin face by the regime, alleged of war crimes. Therefore, we the BTC request the British Government to send monitors to Sri Lanka so that Tamils and all other oppressed communities in the island can vote freely and fairly.

The British Tamil Conservatives stand by Tamil National Alliance who stands for the legitimate aspirations of Tamils self-rule and seek a political solution to a conflict that has not been resolved. We urge our brothers and sisters in our homeland not to bow down to the threat and intimidation by the current regime in Sri Lanka and vote for the Tamil leadership.

We also urge the Tamil diaspora around the globe to support the Tamil leadership in Sri Lanka and ensure their voices are heard loud and clear internationally. We will continue to urge our Government to work towards urging the Sri Lankan regime to recognise the aspirations of all the minorities of the Island.

We wish The TNA the very best.

BTC Statement TNA by nelvely

Ranil demands answers to break-in at journalist’s residence 

By Saman Indrajith-September 3, 2013

UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday demanded in parliament to know whether the suspects who intruded the residence of Associate Editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, Mandana Ismail last week had come there to rob the jewellery or in search of some documents.

Following is the unedited translation of Wickremesinghe’s statement provided to the press after he made the statement to the House: "A gang who entered the residence of Mrs. Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema, the Co-editor of ‘The Sunday Leader’ Newspaper during the early hours on 24th August 2013 had attacked and threatened her and had searched for something by remaining in the house nearly for three hours. It has been reported that, during that period, one among them had carried out the search by connecting with somebody over the mobile phone.

One of those who entered the house had also told that it is a contract. Later the Police entered the premises on information made by her husband and the ensuing clash resulted in the death of one member of the gang and four of them had been taken into custody.

"What is the present position of the Police inquiries into this incident?

"What have these people searched for such a long time? What are the telephone numbers and who are the persons they had contacted over the mobile phones?

"What are the names of those who were killed and arrested after the clash?

"What are the relationships among them?  If there are Security Forces Personnel among those who were killed and arrested, who are they? What are their Regiments?

"What are the steps taken for future security of Mrs. Abeywickrema?

"There had been continuous assassinations, disappearances, abductions, attacks and threats to journalists throughout the recent past. What are the steps intended to be taken for creating an environment of safety for the journalists where they can carry out their work with no fear and uncertainty?

P’ment shaken by $ 4 b Trinco project

• DNA MP claims new company to invest in project has been floated, no directors revealed
• Another project liable for massive tax breaks under strategic development act, says opposition
• Handunetti demands NSB gets Parliamentary approval for foreign borrowings

By Ashwin Hemmathagama-September 4, 2013 
Our Lobby Correspondent
Heated debates ensued in Parliament yesterday over another Government move to pass another controversial project, this time in Trincomalee, under the Strategic Development Projects Act.
Opposition Members of Parliament demanded more information about the $ 4 billion or Rs. 520 billion project to develop infrastructure in Sampur in Trincomalee.
Democratic National Alliance MP Sunil Handunnetti charged that a new company, Sri Lanka Gateway Ltd., has been floated to invest $ 4 billion equal to Rs. 520 billion in the project. The directors of the company in question remain a mystery, the DNA MP said.
“Even though a company has been formed you are not disclosing the directors of this company in the respective Gazette notification 1819/3 of 15 July 2013. This is more like naming a baby but keeping the parents identity a secret,” Handunetti charged in Parliament.
He said given that projects under the Strategic Development Program enjoy extensive tax breaks for 25 years including the withholding taxes for foreign borrowings for the project, it is essential that the Government reveals the parties behind the venture.
Early this week Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa was quoted as saying Singapore Gateway, a Singapore based institution, will be investing $ 4 billion on various development projects in the Trincomalee district. They would set up a heavy industrial zone to provide infrastructure. Subsequently this facility on an 818 acre land site on 50 year lease would be given to Singaporean investors. Investments by Singapore firm to be on a staggered basis of $ 700 million within first year, followed by $ 1.3 billion and $ 2 billion thereafter.
However Handunetti charged that the Government was aware of the parties behind Sri Lanka Gateway (Pvt.) Ltd. “The Government has requested that 20 employees be hired to develop Sampur in Trincomalee. The company has also been exempted the equipment and material from value added taxes, nation building tax, CESS, and also the customs taxes for all main and sub-contractors,” Handunetti revealed.
He charged that the Government should behave in a more responsible manner.
“We don’t know anything about this company promising huge investments and thereby being exempt of contributing to Government tax revenue,” the DNA MP said.
Handunetti also demanded that the National Savings Bank obtains approval from Parliament for the proposed foreign borrowing.

Graphic: 300,000 attempts to view porn in Britain's Houses of Parliament

04 SEPTEMBER 2013

More than 300,000 attempts were made to access pornographic websites at the Houses of Parliament in the past year, according to official records.

The revelations will be awkward for David Cameron who has demanded that internet service providers do more to stop children viewing inappropriate content

MPs, peers and staff at the Houses of Parliament have tried to access ‘adult’ websites using their work computers 309,316 times over the past year, according to official figures.

Almost 850 attempts to click on pornographic websites were blocked each day, the Daily Mirror reports.

The revelations will be awkward for David Cameron who has demanded that internet service providers do more to stop children viewing inappropriate content online.

A response to a Freedom of Information request uncovered the number of staff trying to access adult content online between May 2012 and July this year.

One particularly popular site was “Out of Town Affairs”, a dating site for those wanting to engage in extra-marital affairs, which garnered 52,000 hits in seven months.

Westminster computers were prevented from accessing sex sites 114,844 times last November alone and on 55,552 in April, while February saw just 15 and in June officials blocked 397 attempts.

 

It is not clear why the figures varied so much as officials could not explain what the filters on parliamentary computers’ internet access identify as porn.

But sources who work within the buildings told the newspaper that many blocked attempts to access porn could be down to pop-up videos and pictures that were not deliberately clicked.

A statement from the House of Commons said, “We do not consider the data to provide an accurate representation of the number of purposeful requests made by network users due to the variety of ways in which websites can be designed to act, react and interact and due to the potential operation of third party software.”

A Commons spokeswoman added, “We are not going to restrict parliamentarians’ ability to carry out research.”

But Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group, an organisation that campaigns against censorship, said the huge variation in figures showed the flaw in Mr Cameron’s plan to install porn filters on home computers.

The Prime Minister wants an “opt-in” system so customers have to ask service providers not to block adult content.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance told the paper it was alarmed by the numbers. Matthew Sinclair, the group’s chief executive said, “These figures highlight the fact that many people working in Parliament are spending far too much time on websites that have nothing to do with their job.

“The internet can be a useful tool for MPs and their staff when it comes to scrutinising Government legislation.

“However, taxpayers expect their MP and those working in their offices to get on with their important jobs rather than spending time surfing questionable websites.

“It’s very important that these figures are in the public domain so that taxpayers can see exactly how the time they are paying for is actually being spent.”

China scoops up 100,000 kg of poisoned dead fish

By AP News Sep 04, 2013 

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities have scooped up around 100,000 kilograms (220,000 pounds) of dead fish they say were poisoned by ammonia from a chemical plant, environmental officials and state media said Wednesday, in a reminder of the pollution plaguing the country.

The Hubei province environmental protection department, notified of the piles of dead fish in central China’s Fuhe River on Monday, pointed the finger at local company Hubei Shuanghuan Science and Technology Stock Co. Officials said sampling of its drain outlet showed that ammonia density far exceeded the national standard. The company said it wasn’t going to immediately comment.

A man removes dead fish found on the Fuhe river's Dongxihu section in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Pic: AP.

Inadequate controls on industry and lax enforcement of existing standards have worsened China’s pollution problem, stemming from three decades of breakneck economic growth. High-profile incidents this year involving dead animals in rivers — not only deaths attributed to pollution but also carcasses dumped by farmers after die-offs at farms — have added to public disgust and suspicions about the safety of drinking water.

The latest incident has affected the nearby fishing village of Huanghualao, where 1,600 residents make a living from fishing, said the village’s Communist Party secretary, Wang Sanqing.

(READ MORE: Flood of dead pigs, trickle of answers in China)

“The dead fish covered the entire river and looked like snowflakes,” he said, adding that the village has 150 fishing boats and could lose up to 70,000 yuan ($11,400) per day.

The environmental department warned the public not to eat the dead fish, but said drinking water was not affected. It said it ordered the company to suspend operations and fix the pollution problem.

The official Xinhua News Agency said about 100,000 kilograms of dead fish had been cleared from 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the river, but did not cite a figure for the number of fish. The environmental department said only that “a great number of fish” had been recovered.

Palestinian Authority cedes fundamental rights to Israel

SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

EDITOR

The chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has admitted conceding fundamantal Palestinian rights in return for a resumption of “peace” talks with Israel.

In a speech to members of his Fatah faction in Ramallah on 2 September, reported by the Israeli news website Ynet, he said he had conceded to US pressure not to lobby international institutions, presumably including the International Criminal Court, in return for the Americans committing to negotiations based on a two-state solution in accordance with the 1967 borders and for Israel agreeing to release a fraction of the Palestinian prisoners it holds.

Israel holds nearly 5,000 Palestinian prisoners and 235 children in 27 jails or detention centres, more than 100 of whom have been in prison for more than 20 years. About 200 are “administrative detainees”, i.e. prisoners held without charge, including 14 elected members of the Palestinian legislature.

To encourage the PA to resume the 20-year-long “peace” talks with Israel without the Israelis even agreeing to freeze the construction of new Jews-only squats, Israel agreed to release 104 prisoners on the eve of the talks, with a vague promise that another couple of hundred prisoners may (or may not) be released in the autumn.

In the meantime, as we reported last week,

The number of Israeli construction projects in the West Bank increased by 141 per cent in the first half of 2013.

The work that began on 1,461 homes during the first six months of 2013 surpassed the 1,089 starts registered by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics for all of 2012…

Israel has refused so far to freeze any kind of settlement activity.

In 75 per cent of cases where ground has been broken in the first half of 2013, the construction projects were in the five largest settlements – 176 in Ariel, 272 in Beitar Illit, 219 in Givat Ze’ev, 278 in Modi’in Illit and 155 in Ma’aleh Adumim, according to the CBS.

In the light of this, especially remembering that talks with Israel have now been taking place for 20 years, it’s hard to see what the PA hopes to achieve from the new round of discussions. According to the Ynet report referred to above, Abbas “estimated that the talks will take place in a timeframe of six to nine months”.

What if the result in “six to nine months” is nil? Yet more talks to shield Israel from international pressure while the building of Jewish settlements on stolen Palestinian land continues?

Why has Tanzania deported thousands to Rwanda?

BBC News Thousands deported from Tanzania to Rwanda

Trinity Afer 

Written by mar

Tuesday, 03 September 2013 

Posted 6 hours ago-Several thousand "illegal immigrants" have been expelled from Tanzania to Rwanda in the past month, which some are linking to a recent row between the two governments.

With a football made from banana leaves, dozens of children are playing a match in a dusty field at the Kiyanzi camp in eastern Rwanda. Not far away, women are cooking beans and cassava in make-shift homes built with trees and iron sheets.

They are among around 6,600 people who have crossed the border over the past month after Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete ordered the expulsion of "illegal immigrants" and "criminals", amid heightening diplomatic tension with the Rwandan government over the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tanzania fears that Rwanda might try to destabilise it, in retaliation for its decision to send troops to DR Congo as part of a new UN force seeking to disarm and neutralise the M23 rebel group.

The M23 is widely seen as a proxy of Rwanda, though the government in Kigali denies it is backing the group or is seeking conflict with Tanzania.

Rwanda's Minister of Refugees and Disaster Management Seraphine Mukantabana suggests that the expulsions are politically motivated, pointing that many women, children and elderly people have been deported.

"I think those ones are not criminals," she said.

But some analysts deny the expulsions are linked to the diplomatic spat, pointing out that Tanzania has expelled "illegal immigrants" before - and people were not only deported to Rwanda this time, but also some 4,000 to Burundi.

Of those who have crossed into Rwanda, many are living with their friends and relatives while about 3,000 are at the camp - among them Vestine Kampundu, a pregnant woman who was born in Tanzania to a Rwandan couple who fled conflict in their home country in the 1960s.

Husband killed

Aged 34, she says she had never set foot in Rwanda, until she was forced to go there in August.

"When police came to my home, my husband was not present. They asked me to show documents and I gave them [my] birth certificate because that's what we used there but they said it was not sufficient and told us 'go back to your country'," Ms Kampundu said.

"My husband had a work permit as well but they said they wanted to see citizenship cards and only citizenship given during President Nyerere's era," she adds referring to Tanzania's first post-independence leader.

It is a story repeated by many people - that they had lived in Tanzania all their lives, but were forced to leave because they did not have citizenship cards.

"The reason we did not apply for citizenship was because local leaders used to tell us that if you are born in Tanzania and have a birth certificate, it is enough to confirm you are a citizen," Ms Kampundu says.

"Even some of those leaders don't have the documents they were asking from us to prove our citizenship. They also have birth certificates only."

Coming from a pastoralist family, she says her husband was killed, probably by cattle thieves, as he crossed the border by foot with their herd, after taking a different route.

Rwanda's Director for Refugee Affairs Jean Claude Rwahama says the government will do everything it can to help people like Ms Kampundu start a new life.

"These are Rwandans," he says.

"We've given ourselves a period of six months to make sure that these people get reintegrated in different areas of the country."

But it is not going to be easy. Rwanda is densely populated, with not enough land to go round.

Nor do many of the people at the camp see themselves as Rwandans.

"My parents died when I was eight years old. Since then I felt that I was Tanzanian. Personally I left behind four cows, 10 goats, a house and a plot of land," says Daniel Mugisha, a 33-year-old father of three.

"Life's very hard here. In Tanzania I was a farmer and lived on raising my cattle but now I live on government assistance. I do nothing. I sit the whole day waiting to be helped when I was taking care of myself."

Expressing a similar view, Ms Kampundu says: "I don't know anything about life in Rwanda. I thought I would figure out together with my husband but I don't have any answer. I'm just counting on government assistance."

Africa Review 9.3.2013

Full Text: TNA’s Northern Provincial Council Election Manifesto – 2013

The Mandate Given To The Tamil National Alliance -September 3, 2013 |

The Tamil People overwhelmingly gave the TNA a mandate at the General Election held in April 2010. The TNA has continued to act in accordance with that political mandate and is now facing the Northern Provincial Council Election as a necessary step in the fulfilment of that objective. It is pertinent to recall the salient features of that mandate:

Wigneswaran-with-Sambanthan

At the time of independence from colonial rule in 1948, Ceylon was foisted with a unitary type constitution with simple majoritarian rule. In 1949 a sizeable number of Tamils of Recent Indian Origin were disenfranchised.  State aided colonization of the preponderantly Tamil Speaking territory, particularly the Eastern Province, with the majority community intensified. The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) was formed as a consequence in December 1949. In this background in April 1951 the ITAK articulated its claim that the Tamil People in Ceylon were a Nation distinct from that of the Sinhalese by every test of nationhood and were therefore entitled to the right to self-determination. As a necessary corollary to the exercise of this right, we demanded a federal arrangement in the North and the East, where the Tamil Speaking Peoples are a predominant majority. In 1956 Sinhala was made the only official language of the country, again by the use of the parliamentary majority that was available to the majority community. Various peaceful agitations were organized between this time and the late 1970s to win back the right to self-determination that was lost first through foreign conquests and later due to a system of government not accepted by the Tamil People that reinforced majoritarian hegemony. Agreements were also entered into between two Prime Ministers, S W R D Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake, and S J V Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Tamil People in 1957 and 1965 respectively, relating primarily to the alienation of state land in the North-East. Both were unilaterally abrogated by the governments of the day.

In 1970 a Constituent Assembly was formed to enact an autochthonous constitution. ITAK also participated in this exercise and urged the inclusion of provisions to share powers of governance with the Tamil Speaking Peoples on the basis of shared sovereignty within a united country in keeping with their democratic verdicts. Those proposals were defeated by majority votes and the members of the ITAK left the Constituent Assembly. Similarly the Tamil People did not grant their consent to the enactment of the 1978 Constitution. Thus the first and second Republican constitutions entrenched a Unitary State, continued with Sinhala as the only official language, gave to Buddhism the foremost place and were enacted without the consent of the Tamil People.

Systematic State-sponsored colonization was carried out since independence in 1948 in order to change the demographic pattern of the North-East, which are the areas of historic habitation of the Tamil Speaking Peoples. This continues with full vigour in the North after the end of the war in 2009. The government retains an oppressive army presence in the Northern Province and is engaged in acquiring large tracts of land for ‘military purposes’.

In addition to the acts of discrimination, including standardization which affected the tertiary education of the Tamil youth and discrimination in employment in the state sector, organized violence was periodically unleashed against the Tamil People in the country in 1956, 1958, 1961, 1977, 1981 and 1983. No protection was provided by the State to the Tamil victims. On these occasions, affected Tamil People from other parts of the country were transported by the State to the North and East thereby recognizing these two provinces to be their homeland.

POWER SHARING ARRANGEMENTS                Read More