Advice for shady deal of Krrish Group from Namal’s legal firm

 Friday, 20 September 2013 

It is N R Associates, owned by MP Mr. Namal Rajapaksa, which has given legal advice and formulated the agreements for the controversial deal with India’s Krrish Group.

Mr. Namal Rajapaksa’s N R Associates is located at an office at Gower Street in Colombo, owned by wealthy businessman Nimal Perera, a top player in the Colombo stock market mafia. Nimal Perera has given the premises free of charge, since he can obtain better returns from MP Namal Rajapaksa. Namal has received the office premises through the mediation of Transport ministry secretary and casino businessman Dhammika Perera.

India’s Krrish Group is carrying out its activities in Sri Lanka in a manner that does not befit its image because it has now come under the direct grip of the Colombo share market mafia. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewas has told the Group to obtain the services of the legal firm owned by MP Namal Rajapaksa for the required legal advice and for the formulation of the relevant agreements. As we reported previously, (Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman’s life under threat)on the basis of that trust, Namal Rajapaksa had sent a SMS message to Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, asking him to claim 3.5 million US dollars (Rs. 450 million) to grant preliminary permission.

Most part of the 3.5 million US dollars given by Krrish Group is deposited in an account owned by Mr. Namal Rajapaksa at HSBC Bank of Singapore. The receipt for the deal had been given to a top opposition figure by the former chief financial officer of Krrish Group. A Tamil, he has given the sensitive information to the opposition and the media due to a dispute he has had with Krrish Group over the company’s failure to pay him remuneration as promised to him. We are revealing all these, as this person has now left the country. Although parties to this commission deal claim innocence, no one questions as to why SEC chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa had repaid Rs. 40 milllion to Krrish Group. That repaying makes it clear that he had received commissions.

At MP Namal Rajapaksa’s N R Associates, the file for Krrish Group is entrusted to a lady lawyer by the named Sujani Bogollagama. She is the daughter of the late Janaka Bogollagama. She lives at Pelawatte in Battaramulla, and is a close female friend of MP Namal Rajapaksa, who has given her a modern BMW car for her use. Soon after the commission deal of Krrish Group was exposed, on the instructions of Namal Rajapaksa, Sujani Bogollagama had taken all the documents pertaining to the company to her Pelawatte home. Her mother had vehemently opposed to those files being brought to their home. However, Sujani is now more loyal to MP Namal Rajapaksa than to her own mother. When the mother has said that the military will come to their home too, like in the case of the raid on journalist Mandana Abeywickrema in search of Krrish Group documents, Sujani has replied, “Namal does not send people to search for his own things.”

Sri Lankan pastor beaten unconscious by mob

By: Release International-Friday, 20 September 2013

A mob destroyed a Christian group's musical instruments and beat their pastor unconscious during a raid on a prayer meeting – one of several recent attacks on Sri Lankan churches.

Three Buddhist monks led about 30 people in the assault on Jeevana Diya Church in Meegoda, Colombo district, on September 8, demanding that they stop meeting in ‘this Buddhist village'. The pastor and his mother, attacked as she tried to defend her son, had to be hospitalised.

On the same day, also in Colombo, the Praise Prayer Lanka Church cancelled its service after police gave warning that they had received threats against it.

And, six days earlier, an Assemblies of God pastor had a narrow escape when suspected arsonists failed to set light to his house in Hambantota district. Hearing a disturbance in the night, the pastor went to his door – only to find matches and plastic bags filled with flammables, but no sign of the suspects. He has received several threats recently.

Election Commissioner blamed for KPs deeds

Thursday, 19 September 2013

United National Party (UNP) has made a written request from the Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya to hold an immediate inquiry regarding the press conference held by Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP yesterday (18) in Kilinochchi with the help of the Army.

The letter has been dispatched to the Election Commissioner under the signature of the UNP Secretary MP Tissa Attanayake.
Mr. Attanayake, in his letter to the Election Commissioner, has stated that due to the lethargic policy of the Election Commissioner in not taking any action with regards to the countless complaints lodged about the misuse of state property by the Govt in the election campaign, the final outcome has been the broad daylight violation of  electoral law conducted by certain personnel in the Army and the Defense Ministry.
The letter further states that the media meeting has been organized by the Kilinochchi security forces HQ by suing its resources in support of the election campaign in the PC polls.

US’ Fed move will boost Lankan Rupee, Bourse: Analysts

September 20, 2013  

The US Federal Reserve’s surprise move on Wednesday to maintain its stimulus to the world’s biggest economy will help emerging markets including Sri Lanka, analysts said.
Currencies as well as stock markets of emerging economies had feared US Fed would reduce its stimulus and this saw major exodus. The Fed was to decide when and by how much it would scale back its cash injection of $ 85 billion a month.
“This is certainly good news and foreign capital will flow back to emerging markets including Sri Lanka and top blue chips with big foreign shareholding and sought after by funds will get a boost,” analysts said.
Whilst Sri Lanka has been enjoying net foreign inflow of Rs. 19 billion to the Colombo Bourse, with the US’ Fed decision days away, the Colombo Bourse saw net outflows to the tune of Rs. 740 million on Monday and Tuesday, reducing the year-to-date net inflow figure to Rs. 18.5 billion from Rs. 19.2 billion on Friday. However, there was a net inflow on Wednesday worth Rs. 361 million, which was encouraging.
The Colombo Bourse was closed yesterday on account of the Poya holiday and analysts expect investors to re-rate prospects upward when it opens today.
However, other analysts opined the US Fed move was unlikely to revive local investor sentiment. Despite continuous inflows year-to-date, the All Share Index has remained disappointing, with year-to-date gain of only 1%. It had lost much of the gains enjoyed in May of 15%.
Nevertheless, Asian shares and currencies yesterday surged across the board after the Federal Reserve stunned markets and decided not to taper its asset-buying program now, sending global bond yields and the dollar into a tailspin.
From Jakarta to Manila, Tokyo to Sydney, investors celebrated the prospect of prolonged stimulus in the world’s largest economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 2.2% to a four-month peak.
Lankan forex market analysts also expect the Fed’s move to help the Lankan Rupee apart from other Asian currencies.
The rupee has been falling since early July when foreign investors started pulling out of local bonds as US Treasury yields rose in expectation of a Fed pullback. The currency hit a record low of 135.20 on 28 August, but has recovered since then. It has fallen 3.6% this year.
Reuters has been quoting dealers as saying any reduction by the US Fed may prompt foreign investors to exit Sri Lankan Government securities, which could put the rupee under pressure.
However, Reuters also quoted Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal on Tuesday saying that Sri Lanka would not be hurt by the Fed’s tapering.
Cabraal said Sri Lanka had been “cautious in absorbing QE (quantitative easing) funds” and, because it has had a stable market environment, “we are ready to face the Fed tapering”.
“Our currency has been stable even in the light of turbulent upheavals in many other currencies in recent times,” Cabraal said.
India’s Finance Ministry’s top economic adviser Dipak Dasgupta said the country could enjoy a 0.5-percentage-point boost to its economic growth in the near term thanks to the US Fed’s surprise decision to delay winding down its monetary stimulus.
“It was a huge surprise, huge surprise,” Dasgupta told Reuters. “It has been a very positive decision.”
“I think from our growth perspective this decision by itself has the potential to add about 50 basis points to our growth in the near term,” he added.
India’s Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex surged over 3% on Thursday with the benchmark index marking its highest close in nearly three years, led by banks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised the markets by sticking to its stimulus plan.
The Sensex surged 3.4%, or 684.48 points, to end at 20,646.64, after earlier rising as much as 3.9%, marking its highest level since November 11, 2010.
The broader Nifty rose 3.7%, or 216.10 points, to end at 6,115.55, marking its highest close since May 2013.

SL military attacks Ananthi's residence in Jaffna, 8 wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 September 2013, 19:35 GMT]
Eight persons, including an election monitor, Lawyer Sugas of PAFFREL, were brutally attacked by the occupying SL military in Jaffna, which besieged the residence of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) woman candidate Ms Ananthi Sasistharan at Araali in Jaffna in the early hours of Friday. Ms Ananthi narrowly escaped from the assault as her supporters had managed to send her away over the wall of the residence as the military rounded up her residence. The Sri Lankan soldiers were searching for her with the intention of physically harming her, those who were present at the residence told media and the election monitors. An independent election monitoring group, CaFFE, has openly stated that the SL military was behind the attack. The public, TNA members and election monitors of various groups are visiting the house of Ms Ananthi on Friday, witnessing the shocking attack. 

Those who were attacked by the SL military were struggling to get to the hospital as the tyres of the vehicles were punctured by the soldiers. 

The latest harassment is reported as the Sri Lankan military establishment has unleashed a campaign against Ms Ananthi, the mother of three and the wife of Mr Elilan, the former LTTE Political Head of Trincomalee who is reported missing after he was handed over to the SL military. 

Also last Tuesday, she narrowly escaped from an attack carried out by alleged Sri Lankan military operatives on her way back from a campaign meeting. 

The attack on Friday was reported at 1:00 a.m. 

A few minutes before the latest attack, a group of SL military operatives had attempted put up posters against Ananthi Sasitharan at the residence of Ms Ananthi. The group has been putting up posters against her at several places in Jaffna city. 

When the supporters of Ananthi Sasitharan, present at her residence, came out, the group had run away. But, a few minutes later, Sri Lankan soldiers rounded up the residence. They were searching for her smashing the doors at the residence. 

Ananthi told TamilNet Friday that the paramilitary EPDP was also instrumental in the harassments against her. 

The PAFFREL coordinator, who had arrived at the site after hearing about the incident, was also attacked despite his identification as an election monitor belonging to the civil monitoring group. 

Throughout the nigh, the SL military was deployed at every junction, from Jaffna city to Araali. The SL soldiers, carrying stop signs, were blocking independent election monitors and journalists from reaching the residence of Ms Ananthi Sasitharan.

Vote in Sri Lanka's north stirs Tamil calls for army to get out

By Shihar Aneez

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka | Thu Sep 19, 2013 

(Reuters) - Voters in northern Sri Lanka go to the polls on Saturday in a provincial election that threatens to stir up old animosity between the government and ethnic minority Tamils.

Defeat for the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa would be largely symbolic, but victory for the main Tamil party could reignite calls for autonomy.

Vote in Sri Lanka's North Stirs Tamil Calls for Army to Get Out by nelvely

Black July: Justice Of Peace Gonawela Sunil And The Killings In Prison

By Rajan Hoole -

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 27

If the prison murders were planned as we have argued they were, there would have been a need to identify and take into confidence a group of strategically placed prisoners, who would charge the rest with emotion and lead them forward when the signal was given. Rogers Jayasekere with the help of jail guards close to him could have identified prisoners. But RJ was not conspicuous for his power and influence. He was essentially a behind-the-scenes man. In the context of a plan, he was not the best person to give willing prisoners assurance of impunity and perhaps promises of reward. Leo de Silva was after all a prison superintendent with a reputation for toughness and integrity.

This brings us to Gonawela Sunil who was Kelaniya-based and was about the most powerful thug of his time and enjoyed UNP patronage at the highest level. His name has been from the beginning associated with the prison attacks. But we have been unable to trace any evidence of his direct involvement. Yet if the operation in Welikade emerged from UNP circles in Kelaniya as seems evident, Gonawela Sunil

would have been drawn into the discussion for good reasons as we shall see.

Read More

To be continued..

Part one - Sri Lanka’s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening

Part two - Sri Lanka’s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?

Part three - Black July: ‘Api Suddha Kara’ – JR’s Failure To Declare Curfew

Part four - Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Cover Up

Part five -  30th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot

Part six  - Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP

Part seven - Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama

Part eight - What Was Behind Tiger Friday – 29th July? -The Significance Of The Pettah

Part nine - Tamil Merchants In The Pettah – Post July 1983

Part ten –  Sri Lanka’s Black July: A Family’s Tragedy In Colombo

Part eleven -  Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Question Of Numbers

Part twelve –  Welikade Prison Massacres: The First Massacre: 25th July 1983

Part thirteen –  Welikade Prison Massacres: Testimonies Given At The Magistrate’s Inquest

Part fourteen -  Circumstances Leading To The Magistrate’s Inquest

Part fifteen - Welikade Prison: The Second Massacre: 27th July 1983

Part sixteen - Welikade Prison Massacres: Chief Jailor Observed Army Commandos Coming In

Part seventeen - Welikade Prison Massacres: Postscript

Part eighteen - July 1983: Planned By The State Or Spontaneous Mob Action?

Part nineteen - July 1983: Ranil Wickremasinghe Followed Cyril Mathew

Part twenty - Events Of 24th July – The Eve Of The Holocaust: Who Wanted A Military Funeral?

Part twenty one –  Events Of 24th July: What Were The Army’s Orders?

Part twenty two - Black July: Further Evidence Of Advance Planning

Part twenty three - Black July: The JSS Goon Squad Regime

Part twenty four - Institutional Implications Of The JSS And Black July

Part twenty five - Black July: Ranil Wickremesinghe, Gonalwela Sunil And The Kelaniya University

Part twenty six - Black July: Army Hathurusinghe Prevented Police From Assisting Prison Victims Under Attack

*From Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To be continued..

Life in the North-East: An Interview with Ananthy Sasitharan  19 September 2013 "Resettle us on our own lands!" - Photograph by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai TG: How would you describe the present state of the Tamil homeland in the North-East? ANANTHY SASITHARAN:  From campaigning against enforced disappearances to standing as Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) candidate for the Jaffna district, to searching for the whereabouts of disappeared husband, the LTTE political leader Elilan, Ananthy Sasitharan, has become a rising Tamil voice in the North-East. Tamil Guardian caught up with the activist-turned-politician on the phone, as she made her way home from a day of campaigning. The interview was interrupted briefly when Ananthy – who has already escaped an attack on her vehicle in recent weeks – suspected that her vehicle was being followed.

Life in the North-East an Interview With Ananthy Sasitharan by nelvely

Sri Lanka And The Commonwealth: ‘Britain Must Take A Stand’ – Tamils For Labour

September 19, 2013

David Cameron should be clear about the progress Sri Lanka needed to make before confirming his attendance at CHOGM, says UK based Tamils for Labour.

Issuing a statement today Tamils for Labour urges all parliamentarians and Labour members to call for the boycott of CHOGM and to continue to prevail upon the British Government and all members of the Commonwealth the need to ensure accountability, justice, reconciliation and lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

We publish below the statement in full;

“I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka, despite the opportunity provided by the end of the war to construct a new vibrant, all-embracing state, is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction.”

David Cameron

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has given a damning critique of the ground realities in Sri Lanka.

Speaking at the end of her visit to the country in August, she expressed her grave concerns regarding the “curtailment or denial of personalfreedoms and human rights […] persistent impunity and the failure of the rule of law.”

The human rights of all people on the island are under threat. Tamils are treated as second class citizens, with Tamil areas militarised. Attacks on Muslim individuals, businesses, and cultural practices are on the increase. Unarmed Sinhalese protestors, campaigning against the contamination of a local water supply, were shot dead by Government forces in the town of Weliweriya last month. Not even high office can protect you – Sri Lankaʼs Chief Justice was illegally impeached and removed from her position in January for having the audacity to question the actions of President Rajapaksaʼs regime.

Four and a half years on from the end of the brutal armed conflict, what hope is there for justice, reconciliation and sustainable peace?                           Read More

Ghana lawyers slam Sri Lanka over judicial interference


Posted on Thursday, September 19, 2013 @ 15:25:21 LKT by SaNDuN
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has questioned Sri Lanka’s eligibility to chair the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in November this year over the dismissal of its Chief Justice.

“Sri Lanka has demonstrated complete disregard for the Rule of Law and judicial independence,” Nene Abayaateye Amegatcher, President of the GBA, said at the 2013-2014 Annual Conference of the Association in Ho.

“If the Commonwealth is to maintain its credibility, it must live up to the values it proclaims and take decisive action against the repressive action of its member states including Sri Lanka,” he said.

Nene Amegatcher said Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake’s dismissal was based on “an unfair impeachment process that was ruled illegally by the Supreme Court,” of that country, GNA reported.

He said Chief Justice Bandaranayake’s dismissal “constitutes a direct attack on judicial independence, undermining the ability of the Sri Lankan legal system to provide accountability and end impunity.”

Nene Amegatcher, therefore, called on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to reconsider Sri Lanka’s position as Chair of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Courtesy: AdaDerana 

The Complex Challenges Our Society Now Faces

By JC Weliamuna -September 19, 2013 

JC Weliamuna

Ven Sirs, Excellencies, friends, ladies and gentlemen

It’s with mixed feelings that I have got up to speak.  I am pleased, honored and humbled to accept this award and to join the long admired and respected past recipients.  Let me at the very outset thank the board & the Governing Council of the National Peace Council and its staff, in particular its Chairman Mr. Tony Senewiratne and the Executive Director Dr.  Jehan Perera, for selecting me for this award. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with the award. I am so pleased that some very special persons were able to come and share this evening with me.  I greatly appreciate presence of all of you.

With my somewhat unsafe and challenging experience for half a century, I thought of using this opportunity to share with you some of my observations on the complex challenges our society now faces, and offering my thoughts on them.

To go back to a few decades, I was in primary school when the 1971 insurrection struck the South, when we saw dead bodies floating in rivers. I recall very well the 1983 July riots, which I witnessed in Colombo, where a large number of Tamils were killed and their property destroyed, followed by the notorious 6^th Amendment, chasing the Tamil political leadership away from the main stream of politics. Disappearances, dead bodies and destruction continued in late 1980s and beyond.   Then, we saw bloodshed all over the country – mainly in the North and East – in a bloody conflict, where thousands died, disappeared, tortured and imprisoned.  This is what my generation witness in our youth.Read More

Map of NPC election violence goes live

14 September 2013
A map of violence associated with the Northern Provincial Council election has now gone live online. The map was created by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, an organisation formed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Free Media Movement and the Coalition Against Political Violence. 

See here and a screenshot  of the map, taken today, below - 



The map was published as foreign election monitors from India, Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan, arrive in Sri Lanka. The foreign observers are to meet the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, as well as representatives from the political parties contesting the Northern Provincial Council election.

Foreign observers tour Jaffna

Thursday, 19 Sep 2013

Foreign observers held talks with officials and candidates in Sri Lanka’s former war zone Jaffna on Wednesday to ensure the region’s first elections to choose a semi-autonomous council pass off peacefully, officials said.

Kenya’s former vice president Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, who is heading a four-member Commonwealth mission, urged all sides to ensure the landmark elections take place without incident as his delegation entered a series of meetings in the town of Jaffna, the Commonwealth secretariat said.

“I call on all stakeholders to play their part to ensure that the remaining days of the electoral process promote confidence in voters to freely exercise their franchise,” Musyoka said in a statement issued by the Commonwealth.

Sri Lanka’s Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said a 20-member South Asian team, including monitors from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan were already observing the electoral process.

They have also spread out to two other provinces where similar council elections are being held on Saturday while all campaigning must be concluded by Wednesday night.

However, the main focus is on the Northern Council based in Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Colombo. The country’s biggest Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), is widely expected to do well.

The TNA has accused the military of maintaining a large presence in the former war zone, four years after ending the island’s drawn-out Tamil separatist war. The TNA is accusing the military of intimidating voters, a charge already denied by the authorities.

Provincial councils have limited autonomy over administrative matters but do not have powers over law and order nor can they control state land, two key demands of minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation of 20 million.

Some 906 candidates are contesting the 36 seats in the Northern council which is going to the polls for the first time since Sri Lanka adopted a de facto federal form of government in 1987.

A total of 714,000 people are eligible to vote in the northern province where thousands of people are still missing four years the ethnic war. Many more have also lost their homes damaged or destroyed during fighting.

The guerrillas had fought for outright independence for Tamils, but the TNA has said it will lead a political campaign for greater autonomy within a united Sri Lanka. (The News)

Sri Lanka's Tamils vote under the shadow of guns

C.V. Wigneswaran, Chief Minister candidate from the Tamil Natinal Alliance (TNA), talks with alliance leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan before a meeting at a hotel ahead of provincial polls in Jaffna, about 400km north of Colombo. (Reuters)

Thursday 19 September 2013

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka: Tamil voters in northern Sri Lanka are set to elect their first ever semi-autonomous council on Saturday, in a post-war power-sharing exercise already marred by allegations of army intimidation and harassment.
The poll is being held with Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa under international pressure to allow a fair vote for the Provincial Council in the once strife-torn region which was a former stronghold for the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels.
The Tigers were crushed by a Sri Lankan military onslaught in 2009, which remains dogged by war crimes allegations, and the army maintains a heavy presence throughout the region of about a million people.
"It is clear that there cannot be a free and fair election if the military continues its interfering presence in the Northern Province," the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party, R. Sampanthan, wrote in a letter to Rajapakse on Monday.
He asked for the army to be confined to their barracks for the election.
The Tamil Tigers, which held sway over a third of the country at their height, fought for a homeland for the ethnic Tamil population in Sri Lanka which is majority Sinhalese Buddhist.
Many Tamils complain they are treated as second-class citizens and face discrimination and Saturday's vote is seen as crucial in reducing ethnic tensions.
The 36-member Provincial Council will have no powers to address major local grievances which include war crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lankan troops or the issue of thousands of missing people.
Any decisions it takes — for example, raising taxes, building new infrastructure or changes to local services — can also be vetoed by the regional governor who is an appointee of the president.
A candidate for the moderate TNA, the largest Tamil party which is expected to win on Saturday, told AFP that soldiers had deliberately blocked some of his campaign meetings.
"We are going to win the election, but the government is doing its best to stop us from getting a two-thirds majority," Dharmalingam Sithadthan told AFP.
"At (the village of) Kollankallatti the army went in uniforms and closed down a hall where we were planning a meeting," he said.
The army says the heavy deployment, despite the end of fighting, is to prevent a resurgence of terrorism.
"You may not see it on the streets, but people are keen to vote," says Tamil journalist Sabeshwaran Armukarasa who works for the Jaffna-based Thinakkural daily. "Tamils see this as an opportunity to have their own leadership that will speak up for them."
Under heavy security, President Rajapakse entered the campaign trail in Jaffna at the weekend, a rare presence from the leader in the Tamil heartland.
Rajapakse, who was stung by criticism at the end of last month from the UN's top human rights expert, accused the TNA of raising false hopes among the local population.
"The TNA is misleading the people by promising self-government and independence," Rajapakse told a campaign rally of his United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
"Holding an election in the north that was subjugated to terrorism for 30 years is a great accomplishment," Rajapakse added.
Rajapakse is hoping that economic revival in the once-impoverished region will see his party win the election.
Provincial Councils are the highest level of local government in Sri Lanka under the country's de facto federal system adopted in 1987, but elections for the north were never able to take place because of fighting.
Security forces maintained a crippling embargo on Jaffna at the height of the war. Even chocolates and penlight batteries were restricted fearing that Tigers could use them in their war effort.
Both the Tigers and troops did not allow civilians free passage out of the province. The Tigers had their own police, courts and a tax system and even a bank. All that has been replaced by the writ of Colombo.
Despite economic gains, Tamils say they are under constant surveillance, a problem raised by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay who visited the region in August and then criticised the country's "increasingly authoritarian direction".
Neighbouring India, which has its own ethnic Tamil population in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, has urged Colombo to honour pledges to the international community to share political power with the minority community.