Rajapaksa government to achieve financial targets through kasippu

 Friday, 04 October 2013

The cash strapped Mahinda Rajapaksa government is looking at achieving its financial targets by legalizing the manufacture and sale of kasippu also known as moonshine. The desperate Rajapaksa government is looking at finding monies even by violating its own Mathata Thitha policy statement.

Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama has said that kasippu production should be legalized.

The deputy minister has made this statement at a public event in Colombo recently.

He has said that legalizing the production and manufacture of kasippu and then imposing a tax will help meet the government’s financial revenue targets.

According to Dr. Amunugama, kasippu production locations are being raided by government authorities since they are located in hidden locations like in jungles.

He has also recalled that late Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had also proposed that moonshine production be legalized.
Dr. Amunugama has said that alcohol consumption has increased in Sri Lanka and with no way to control it the government should look at using it to raise more funds.

In 2011, Dr. Amunugama had made a similar statement in parliament.

“We always talk about beer and arrack when it comes to alcoholic drinks. Nobody has surveyed proper information about ‘kasippu’. It has become a serious problem today. There is a debate whether it should be legalised after determining certain standards for brewing it. Late Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle held this view strongly,” he had then said in parliament.

Kelaniya Campus Students’ protest FRIDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2013  The Students’ Union of the Kelaniya University today attempted to march from the Kelaniya University to the Presidential Secretariat regarding issues such as hostel facilities and student suppression by campus administration. The protesting students were stopped by the police at the Hilton Roundabout in Fort. Pix by Kushan Pathiraja

Sinhala - Muslim student clash hospitalises 20 in East

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2013, 06:01 GMT]
20 students, including 6 girls, were admitted for medical treatment at Chammaan-thu’rai hospital and SL police in Chammaan-thu’rai detained 41 students, following a clash between Sinhala and Muslim students at the Faculty of Applied Sciences in the South Eastern University in Ampaa’rai district on Thursday. Sinhala students opposing the election of a Muslim as leader in the student union elections held last month, resulted in the clash, informed sources said. The University administration phrased the incident as a clash between two groups of 2nd and 3rd year students and that the faculty would remain closed until further notice. The University is situated at Oluvil in Ampaa’rai district. 

Medical officer at Chammaanthu’rai hospital YDM Aziz said 20 students were admitted with minor injuries at the hospital. 

When the South Eastern University was started, many were hoping that it would be the centre for providing space for the Tamil-speaking Muslims of the island to come out with their own academic identity and leadership.

In the given context of the island, a Muslim becoming a student leader is not possible in any university other than the South Eastern University.

The dominant ones should be the dominant ones throughout the island and the others should be subordinates throughout the island, is the policy behind the genocidal State centred in Colombo.

After the end of Vanni war, the occupying Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) constructed a big base near the university premises. Abubucker Lebbai Ismail, the president of the mosque at Oluvil complained in 2010 that the militarisation was posing economic and cultural problems for the people in Oluvil.

Endgame for the RJD

Lalu Prasad Yadav

By Seema Mustafa-October 4, 2013, 8:58 pm

Corruption has finally caught up with once-upon-a-time Bihar strongman, Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is cooling his heels in jail after being found guilty of embezzling crores of rupees when he was the Chief Minister of Bihar, in what is now the infamous ‘fodder scam’. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment on Thursday, also stands disqualified as a Member of Parliament under the Supreme Court judgment.

Endgame for the RJD by nelvely

Vindictive Medamulana MaRa wreaks revenge on his own SLFP ers

(Lanka-e-News -02.Oct.2013, 9.00PM) Based on Temple trees informed sources , MaRa is making moves to axe Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne’s son Anuradha Jayaratne attorney at law who polled the highest number of preferential votes , and appoint ex chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake to the post of chief Minister of Central province , and latter’s swearing in is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Meanwhile , Dayasiri Jayasekera who somersaulted from the UNP to the MaRa camp is to be appointed as the chief Minister of Wayambe. He is also to be sworn in tomorrow.

This axing of seniors of the SLFP by the Medamulana Rajapakses is in keeping with their favorite habit and hobby . Anuradhapura Berty Premalal too was undercut and his security guard was made the chief Minister which led to Premalal’s death through worry and pain of mind. It is to be noted that neither Mahinda Rajapakse nor Basil Rajapakse attended the funeral . Truly , it is the consensus Premalal did not die due to natural causes , rather he was ‘killed’ by the Rajapakses. Mourners too at the funeral raised a huge hue and cry.

The axing of Anuradha Jayaratne who polled the largest number of preferential votes is another huge insult inflicted on a senior SLFP er , his father D .M Jayaratne , the Prime Minister .
In fact the Prime Minister (P.M.) directly questioned why his son who polled the most number of preferential votes and despite being his son he was not appointed to the chief Minister post , and Parliament speaker’s son Shashindra Rajapakse was appointed as the chief Minister of Uva province. The Prime Minister also pinpointed that when Shashindra was appointed as the chief Minister his only qualification was that he had been a private secretary to a Prime Minister whereas , his son Anuradha Jayaratne is the private secretary to the present Prime Minister. Moreover Anuradha is a lawyer unlike Shashindra who is just another ordinary bloke , D.M. Jayaratne emphasized.

Yet another broken promise by Hudson the preacher

Friday, 04 October 2013 

Today’s Lakbima newspaper reports about yet another broken promise by Hudson Samarasinghe, the braggard and preacher who preaches to the entire country.

He had promised to donate Rs. 100,000 to the ailing musician Tissasiri Perera with the earnings from his morning newspaper reading programme.

It came about a year ago at a felictation by the SLBC to honour the veteran musician, but so far, not a cent has been given to him.

Lakbima says the incident comes as no surprise, as those who preach to the country act in an entirely opposing manner.
Similarly, Hudston Samarasinghe gave a broken promise around six years ago to musician H.M. Jayawardena.

The SLBC chairman had promised to give him half of the earnings from two casettes containing songs of Malani Bulathsinhala, the wife of H.M. Jayawardena. Thousands of copies of the two casettes have so far been sold, but H.M. Jayawardena is yet to receive any money.

Furthermore, the copyright payment for the artistes has been stopped by the SLBC under the chairmanship of Hudson Samarasinghe.(digathanews.com)

Government trying to please India by signing Sampur agreement

Friday, 04 October 2013

The increasing pressure on Sri Lanka by the international community and the warning signals sent out of an international probe by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has resulted in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government once again turning towards India to intervene.

Actions of the Rajapaksa government resulted in straining relations between Sri Lanka and India. The Indian government fed up of being lied to finally decided to vote in favour of two resolutions on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

India has also expressed concern over the increasing involvement of China in Sri Lanka’s development programmes.
The Rajapaksa government has now decided to finalize within a week the agreement with India to set up a coal power plant at Sampur in the Trincomalee District.

Additional Secretary of the Power and Energy Ministry, Ranjith Gunawardena has said the Sri Lankan and Indian parties have managed to finalize a power purchase agreement for the proposed 500MW coal power plant.

He has been quoted in the media as saying that the agreement was likely to be signed within a week.

Gunawardena added that international tenders for the coal power plant project would be called soon after.

The joint venture plant between the Ceylon Electricity Board and India’s National Thermal Power Corporation has been delayed due to disputes over several issues including the parameters that indicate the efficiency of the plant and maintenance fees.

Police patrol attacked in Manipay

by Ariyaratna Ganegoda

The police have started an investigation into an incident where a team of police officers, who were on patrol duty, came under severe attack by two unidentified persons at Adikotte, Manipay in Jaffna on Wednesday (2).

A police officer, who sustained serious injuries in this attack, was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. He was transferred to Police Hospital, Colombo yesterday.Two unidentified persons, who had come on a motorbike, had attacked the police officer with a sharp object. The motive behind the attack has not yet been established.
The officer, who was injured in the attack, is said to be a resident of Matale.

53 students remanded in Samanthurai

FRIDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2013

Fifty three students including three female students of the South Eastern University in Samanthurai were remanded by the Samanthurai Magistrate today.

The students were remanded following a clash between two student factions last night.

They were remanded till October 8. (Wasantha Chandrapala)

‘After We Did So Much For You – You Voted For TNA’ – Military Tells Wanni Residents

October 5, 2013 |

Days before the military decided to destroy the bunker of LTTE Leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran security forces personnel repeatedly chased away Tamil residents arriving to see the site admonishing them for having voted for the Tamil National Alliance at the September 21 poll.

Commander Daya Ratnayake

“We have done so much for you people, still you went and voted for the TNA,” the soldiers told residents, chasing them away from the bunker.

It was a moment of ultimate self-exposure. Pr

The four storey bunker in Puthukuduirippu in the Wanni had become a major tourist spot in the four years after the war. The most frequent visitors to the bunker were Sinhalese war tourists from the South. It has long been considered to be the most sought after attraction on the LTTE tourism trail in the North.

Sources told Colombo Telegraph that the military had denied ‘tourists’ official permission to view the bunker over the past week.

Residents reported smoke rising from the bunker after they heard the sounds of a massive explosion at the site last evening.

Some sections of the TNA believe that the removal is related to the TNA victory at the provincial election which removes the military’s technical writ over the former LTTE strongholds of the Northern Province.

Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya has said the bunker was destroyed because it was on the verge of collapse and said there was no reason for it to remain standing.

Weliweriya shooting: Army exceeded its remit

FRIDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2013 

The Court of Inquiry appointed Army Commander Lt. General Daya Ratnayake had found that the army had exceeded their legal duties during the Weliveriya shootings, and a ‘summary of evidence’ is currently under way in order to frame charges for a Court Martial.

Army Commander Lt. General Daya Ratnayake said yesterday that the Court of Inquiry appointed by him to look into the Rathupaswela shooting had found that the conduct of the Army had gone beyond their legal duties during the incident.

However, the Court of Inquiry which inquired into three specific areas, namely, the deployment of troops, the shooting, and the post shooting had found the deployment of the Army to be within the framework of the prevailing law.

“The Court of Inquiry report stated that the deployment of troops was within the legal boundaries, however the report indicated that the Army had gone beyond their legal duties during the post shooting incidents. The Army will give all necessary support to the magisterial inquiry and the Police inquiry with regard to the shootings that occurred” Lt. Gen Daya Rathnayake told Daily Mirror Online.

He further said that ‘summary of evidence’ was currently underway in order to frame charges against those responsible.

Upon conclusion of the summary of evidence, a Court Martial is to be appointed by the Army.

“The Brigade Commander and three other senior officers who were in charge of the troops on the day have currently been posted to their regiments in order to ensure a completely free and transparent inquiry and summarising of evidence” he said.

The Court of Inquiry, which comprised Major General N.A.J.C Dias, Brigadier K.J. Jayaweera, Brigadier N.I de Silva, Colonel T.D. Weerakoon and Leiutenant Colonel W.P.A.D.W.Nanayakkara handed over a report to the Army Commander on August 21, 2013.

Three persons including two students were killed after the Army allegedly opened fire on protesting civilians in Weliveriya on August 1 this year.

Lt. Gen. Daya Ratnayake asserted that the Army would mete out the maximum punishment to any officers or soldiers found guilty.

“We won’t tolerate any activity. There is a zero tolerance policy on anything that is illegal, and the maximum punishment will be meted out to anyone who is found guilty of violations,” he said. (Hafeel Farisz)

Rajapaksa Calls “Bull Shit” On Global Mail Coverage

By Eric Ellis

September 5, 2013

Last weekend, as a courtesy, The Global Mail emailed Sri Lanka’s unelected Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa a link to our story on the nepotism among Sri Lanka’s powerful elite.
ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Defence Secretary Gota in his civvies, with his army and navy chiefs seated next to him in Colombo in April.

Rajapaksa Calls “Bull Shit” On Global Mail Coverage by nelvely

Sri Lankan passport one of the worst in world

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2013, 02:54 GMT]
Courtesy to the genocidal State in the island and the powerful world Establishments that continue to pat on its back, the peoples in the island get one of the worst passports of the world. Sri Lankan passport is ranked as the 6th worst in the world, after Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan and Nepal, according to a survey conducted by Henley & Partners in collaboration with IATA. Four of the worst six being South Asian countries should be carefully perused by the peoples of the region, who lack any dignified ideological or Establishment leadership for the region, commented Tamil diaspora political observers. 

SL Passport

The West conducts a war in Afghanistan, the northern node of South Asia. The West in partnership with India designed and coursed a genocidal war in Sri Lanka, the southern node of South Asia. 

Being the dominant country in South Asia, India is largely responsible for the stability and prestige of the region. But it accommodates an imperial war on the north, and in the south, it was in complicity in brining in the first full-fledged genocidal war into the region of South Asia.

The war in the island is over, everybody say. But like the Sinhala military staying and waging a structural genocide war in the country of Eezham Tamils, and like the Establishments in complicity engaged in a global war treading on Tamils to make them lose their claim for their land and nation, the worst rank of the ‘Sri Lankan’ passport also continues, the diaspora political observers said.

Sri Lanka shares the 6th worst position along with Kosovo, Sudan and Lebanon.

Even Libya and Syria fare better than Sri Lanka in ranking.

Sri Lankan passport holders have only 38 countries in the world where they could travel without visa restrictions, while the ‘best’ passport holders in the world coming from Finland, Sweden, and interestingly the UK, could travel to 173 countries.

Indian passport holders could travel visa-free to 52 countries. Among the 93 ranks ending with Afganistan, India is placed at 77, just 11 ranks above genocidal Sri Lanka. 

• Global Ranking - Visa Restriction Index, 2013

Global_Ranking_-_Visa_Restriction_Index_2013-08- Sri Lankan Passport One of the Worst in World by nelvely

China: Heavy Stress on ‘Ideological Struggles’

 by D.S.Rajan

(October 4, 2013, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Indications are emerging that a politically sensitive phase may await China in the run-up to the forthcoming Third Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in November 2013.

China Heavy Stress on ‘Ideological Struggles’ by nelvely

Sri Lanka: Mullaivaikkal residents face desperate plight

By Vimal Rasenthiran and M. Vasanthan 
2 October 2013

World Socialist Web Site reporters recently visited Mullaivaikkal in the Vanni area of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. The region is where the government military staged the final attacks on the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that ended the island’s long-running civil war in May 2009.

The LTTE prevented residents leaving the area during the conflict and as government troops advanced on the coastal strip, hundreds of thousands of people were trapped. An expert committee appointed by the UN estimated that at least 40,000 people were killed in indiscriminate military attacks on defenceless men, women and children. Around 300,000 fleeing civilians were eventually forced into Vavuniya and incarcerated in the army-controlled detention camps at Manik Farm. The last group of Mullaivaikkal residents were only allowed back into the area in May 2012.

Sri Lanka Mullaivaikkal Residents Face Desperate Plight by nelvely

TNA’s think tank ‘hindered’ by its emotional vote bank THURSDAY, 03 OCTOBER 2013 The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders, who were in Jaffna, hurriedly made their way to Colombo for a meeting yesterday.   "TNA leaders believe that the new members of the NPC taking their oaths before the President will be interpreted as an indication of the TNA’s acceptance of the central government’s authority" on me and delivered a hard blow for deterrent. I never smoked since then,” he said.

TNA’s think tank ‘hindered’ by its emotional vote bank by nelvely

Wigneswaran’s Oath Taking controversy Resolved After President Swears In Dayasiri And Ekanayake

October 3, 2013 

The controversy over Northern Province Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran‘s swearing in ceremony is seen to be resolved after the new chief ministers of the North Western and Central Provinces gave oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa this afternoon.

Chief Ministers of North Western was sworn in at the President’s Secretariat this morning

The TNA which has refused to have its new Chief Minister sworn in before provincial governor and ex Major General G.A. Chandrasiri requested the President to swear Wigneswaran in at a ceremony to be held in Jaffna. Initially some Government officials said constitutionally the Governor had to swear in Chief Ministers although the TNA disagreed. 

Dayasiri Jayasekera and Sarath Ekanayake took oaths before President Rajapaksa in Colombo today as chief ministers of the North Western and Central Provinces.

The President is yet to respond officially to the request by the TNA to swear in Wigneswaran, Colombo Telegraph learns.

Sri Lanka urged to protect minorities

Qadijah Irshad / 3 October 2013

The government is downplaying and protecting the groups who spread hatred and violence against minorities, particularly Muslims in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay told a UN Human Rights assembly.


In her statement at the 24th United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in Geneva, Pillay said that she was “alarmed” at the recent surge in incitement of hatred and violence against religious minorities. She added that attacks on churches and mosques, and “the lack of swift action against the perpetrators” were disturbing.

Since her visit to Sri Lanka last month, the UN Human Rights chief said she has received a compilation of 227 incidents of religious attacks, threats, incitement to hatred against Muslims alone that were recorded between January and July 2013. The details will be shared with the government of Sri Lanka, said Pillay. “There have been numerous other attacks or incitement against Christians and Hindus as well,” she said in her address at the Human Rights Council.

“Regrettably, government interlocutors seemed to downplay this issue or even put the blame on minority communities themselves, and  (we) heard disturbing accounts of state patronage or protection given to extremist groups,” Pillay said in her report.

Pillay told the Human Rights council that while she welcomes President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s comments on the need for religious tolerance since her visit to Sri Lanka, he needs to maintain a zero tolerance rate for religious intolerance.

“I urge him (president Rajapaksa) and the government to send the strongest possible signal of zero tolerance for such acts by ensuring that those responsible, who are in many cases easily identifiable, are punished,” said Pillay.

Pillay was in Sri Lanka on a week-long fact finding mission in September, at the end of which she said that Sri Lanka was heading towards a dictatorial rule.

At the ongoing UNHRC, the High Commissioner also followed up on a number of other human rights concerns expressed by the Human Rights Council.

 In response to Pillay’s report, Sri Lanka said that its government has at no time downplayed allegations of attacks against minorities, and “strongly rejects accusations of state patronage or protection given to extremist groups.”

Addressing the council, Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha said that Pillay’s “generalisations lack credibility.”

Requesting specific information on such allegations, Aryasinha said that Sri Lanka is planning to criminalise ‘hate speech’. Under the proposed law those found guilty will be liable to imprisonment for a period not less than five years and not exceeding 20 years, said the Aryasinha.

Religious violence, particularly targeting Muslims has been escalating in the Buddhist majority island since the past year.

Several Buddhist organisations, led by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or the Buddhist Task Force, continue to incite the Buddhist community against Muslims with public hate speeches. The government has been accused of not punishing the perpetrators most of whom are Buddhist monks.  Over the past year, a wave of attacks on mosques and Muslim establishments have been escalating, causing concern among the minority which makes up just 10 per cent of the population.

— qadijah@khaleejtimes.com

President, Non Compos Mentis?

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“....the paragon of transgressors, the man who holds nothing sacred and who fearlessly assumes every from of hubris”. - René Girad (Violence and the Sacred)

( October 3, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It was a moment of ultimate self-exposure. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s reply to Al Jazeera-interviewer’s question about anti-minority violence revealed a mindset and a worldview which is not quite lucid:

President, Non Compos Mentis by nelvely

President, Non Compos Mentis?

It was a moment of ultimate self-exposure. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s reply to Al 
Jazeera-interviewer’s question about anti-minority violence revealed a mindset and a worldview which is not quite lucid: “There were incidents. There were attacks; some incidents. What was in the background? Why were they attacked? Now see a girl was raped. Seven years old girl was raped. Then naturally they will go and attack them whether they belong to any community or any religion. The people when they heard about it they were so upset, relations everybody. There were incidents like that. All incidents have some background to that”[i].

“….the paragon of transgressors, the man who holds nothing sacred and who fearlessly assumes every from of hubris”.- René Girad (Violence and the Sacred)

By Tisaranee Gunasekara -October 3, 2013

Read More

Forgotten woes: Sri Lanka’s neoliberal politics

Chaminda Weerawardhana

Sri Lanka’s thirty-year war, which ended in May 2009, is fast being forgotten. In the post-2009 context, pressing fundamental rights issues in the island nation have been considerably sidelined. Key players in the international community do not perceive Sri Lanka as a strategic priority. In the most recent development, Colombo interprets its decision to hold a Northern Provincial Council Election on 21 September 2013, after a lapse of some twenty-five years, as a means of demonstrating its apparent respect for democratic best practice. The campaign, however, has been fraught with violence, especially against candidates of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main exponent of constitutional Tamil nationalism, polemical concerns over the TNA manifesto, and anti-TNA smear campaigns emanating from governmental sources.

Forgotten woes Sri Lanka’s neoliberal politics by nelvely

SL police on rampage at Maanippaay, Aanaikkoaddai in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 October 2013, 07:09 GMT]
Following an accidental explosion inside the Sri Lankan police station at Maanippaay on Wednesday, Sinhala policemen assaulted the Tamil civilians in the vicinity of the police station blaming that Tamils had attacked them. Amidst the violence let loose by the Sinhala police at Maanippaay, unidentified men who came in a motorbike assaulted two Sinhala policemen who were on patrol at Aaanaikkoaddai situated 5 km off Jaffna city on the road to Maanippaay. One of the SL police constables, 37-year-old Vasantha Abeyaratne, has been admitted at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Tamil civilians were brutally attacked by the SL Police also at Aanaikkoaddai Wednesday night. 

The incident at Aaanaikkoaddai was reported around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday.

The SL military intelligence and SL police have been inciting violence following the victory of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the recently held provincial council elections. 

There have also been reports of violent attacks launched on Tamil youth at Mallaakam where a hand grendae was lobbed at a place where the youth activists gather. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has blamed that the SL military and its operatives have launched almost a war against the Tamil youth that rallied behind the TNA during the election campaign.