Monday, October 7, 2013

Restoring land, livelihood top priority for Northern Council, says Sri Lankan MP

Mavai S. Senathiraja urges international community to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to rebuild the devastated areas.— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

KAVITA KISHORE-October 7, 2013

A Sri Lankan parliamentarian from Jaffna who played a key role in the campaign that led to the victory of the Tamil National Alliance in the recent Northern Provincial Council election says the first priority for the new government should be to ensure that lands destroyed in the war be reclaimed and livelihood programmes for the people introduced.

The international community has to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to rebuild the devastated areas, TNA MP Mavai S. Senathiraja said here on Sunday. He was on a personal visit to Puducherry.

The second priority, he said in an interview toThe Hindu , should be to pass laws to bring in money for the development of provincial councils. The local bodies, at present, were unable to access necessary funds for development, he said.

The third thing, Mr. Senathiraja said, should be to give the people the right to self-rule, for which India’s support was necessary.

Beyond 13th amendment

The main issue for Tamil people was the question of self-governance. The people were looking to go beyond the scope of the 13{+t}{+h}amendment of the Constitution, which called for devolution of powers, and find a solution that was amicable to both parties.

On the issue of the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, he said the two governments should work together to come up with an amicable solution.

Fishermen issue

Currently, Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen did not possess trawlers and boats that allowed multi-day fishing. As a result, when Indian fishermen entered their waters and took away large hauls, it reduced the Sri Lankan fishermen’s potential to fish in their own waters, he said.

Mr. Senathiraja said Muslims, after Tamils, were now being targeted in southern Sri Lanka by chauvinistic elements.

There have been cases of mosques and other religious places being set on fire and the Muslims now do not have freedom to observe their religion. Soon, the Tamil people and the Muslims will get together to fight the government, he said.

He urged the Tamil Nadu Government to pass a resolution in the Assembly urging the Central Government to alleviate the sufferings of the Tamil people.

Over three lakh Tamils were yet to be resettled and there were 68,000 in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

These people need to be resettled in their homeland. The army and the government, instead of resettling these people, were building hotels and Buddhist temples in land owned by Tamil individuals.

There was currently a case in the Supreme Court, where 3,000 Tamil former landowners were asking that their lands be returned to them.

Sri Lanka poll: Tamil minister Wigneswaran says 'peace possible'

7 October 2013

Former Supreme Court judge CV Wigneswaran has been sworn in as the new chief minister for Sri Lanka's north, after his Tamil National Alliance won a historic victory in elections last month. The BBC's Charles Haviland spoke to Justice Wigneswaran before the election to find out what coaxed him out of retirement and into politics.

Asked what keeps him looking young for his age, the 74-year-old Canagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran says: "The secret of youthfulness may be that I was not involved in politics so far."

Now the former Supreme Court judge - who retired in 2004 - is heavily involved, but insists he was "pulled into politics" by his community rather than entering it.

We meet at a house set up for the party's activities in Jaffna where young activists dart around with cups of tea, and various journalists wait to see him and his 79-year-old party leader in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan.

Born in Colombo and educated at its Royal College, Justice Wigneswaran trained partially in Britain and, once back in his native country, moved upwards through its courts system.

Working as a judicial officer, he "never thought in terms of being Tamil or Sinhala, Burgher, English - there was no difference".

But he had to confront the ethnic issue in 1983 when he was a magistrate in Jaffna and conducted inquests into many Tamils killed in a national wave of anti-Tamil violence.

As a judge he presided in later cases involving suspected Tamil Tigers.

He sees the country's ethnic problem in this way: "Unfortunately there's a Sinhalese attitude to Tamils whichever government comes in.

"Sinhalese people have this as their only country. They feel insecure that there might be some joining together of Tamil Nadu [in India] and north-eastern Sri Lanka."

That insecurity, he says, has sometimes resulted in anti-Tamil brutality but his aim is to change minds on both sides.

"Make Sinhalese leaders understand our predicament and make Tamils feel sympathy to northern feelings," he says. "It might be possible to bring about peace in our country. I hope God will make it possible."

'A great hero'

Intense controversy was caused by his recent remarks in praise of the dead Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

During the election campaign in Prabhakaran's home village, he called him "a great hero who fought for the freedom of the Tamil people".

Justice Wigneswaran says he meant it.

"This is the perception with regard to Prabhakaran as far as the Tamil people here are concerned. He may have been brutal but so is the government, those who are now in for a war crime inquiry internationally."

Both sides had used questionable weapons and methods of assault, which might be revealed in future inquiries, Justice Wigneswaran says. Meanwhile, he himself favours non-violence, he adds.If the Sinhalese saw their war-time leaders as heroes, Tamils might conversely do the same.

The TNA's plans for self-determination in the north do not amount to a separatist agenda, the former judge insists.

Instead, the party is trying to put pre-existing laws into effect.

"We do not hate anybody, we do not have problems with anyone, we are only asking for our rights to exist by ourselves [as Tamils] recognising our own individuality."

A Colombo man who is now fully immersed in the concerns of the Tamils living in the north, C V Wigneswaran's own life, like that of many Sri Lankans, does not fit into a neat ethnic box.

A widower, both his sons are married to Sinhalese - one to the daughter of a cabinet minister, Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

He has two grand-daughters. With Mr Nanayakkara, who is a political leftist, "we pull along very well, we've no difficulties. He's a humanist, not a constricted human being."

Since retirement his main pursuits have been in the sphere of religion, specifically Hinduism, he says.

"I'm not sure there will be much time for it now," he adds with a grin.

VIDEO: VIGNESWARAN TAKES OATHS AS CHIEF MINISTER

C.V. Vigneswaran took oaths as the Chief Minister of the Northern Province before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees a short while ago, the Presidential Media Division stated.

Retired Supreme Court judge, Vigneswaran received his Chief Ministerial appointment letter from the Northern Province Governor on October 01.

The TNA chief candidate at the Northern Provincial Council election, Vigneswaran obtained the highest preference votes in the Jaffna District with a total of 132,255 votes.

The Tamil National Alliance, which is registered as Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), won a landslide victory in a landmark election in the battle-scarred North, securing 30 out of 38 seats in polls for the provincial council in the former war zone.

Chief Ministers for the North Western and Central Provincial Councils, which were won by the ruling UPFA, were sworn in at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat on October 3.

I Took Oaths A Little While Ago

By C.V.Wigneswaran -

C.V. Wigneswaran

I took oaths a little while ago this morning undertaking to faithfully perform the functions of my office.

My office is a gift from my people. They have mandated me to perform my duties on a long term as well as a short term perspective. The former behoves us to confirm our individuality. To do so we have to learn lessons from our struggles of the past, our previous political perspectives and our past experiences and then forge ahead. It is the need of the hour that we remove the misunderstandings and doubts that have crept into the minds of various communities.

It is as a part of such an exercise that we decided that I take oaths before the President of this Country.We believe our decision would convey to our brethren our desire to settle our differences within a united Sri Lanka.

Our action today buttresses our close–up perspectives too, in that we expect to bring immediate relief to our war affected people. I hope the Sinhala people would endeavour to prod on their political representatives in every manner whatsoever to bring sunshine into the lives of our disturbed and affected Tamil speaking people.

I expect my Sinhala brothers and sisters to impress upon their political representatives that internal self determination does not divide the country but facilitate a journey on the path of unity. I sincerely ask the Sinhala people to realize that to the same extent the Sinhala people cherish and respect their language and culture so do the Tamil speaking people cherish and respect their own language and their traditions. There is no place for violence in this realization. None could force such realization. It is such sincere realization that would take us all on the path of peace and brotherhood. Therefore let my simple symbolic act today pave the way for the unity of the people of the two communities in our Island. May Divine blessings be with all of us!

Justice C.V.Wigneswaran

Chief Minister, Northern Provincial Council

*THE STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE CHIEF MINISTER, NORTHERN PROVINCIAL COUNCIL, AFTER TAKING OATHS OF OFFICE ON 07/10/2013

Vigneswaran sworn in Tamil

Monday, 07 October 2013

Retired Judge C.V. Vigneswaran was sworn in by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chief Minister for Northern PC a few moments ago.

Several members of the TNA and President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga were present.

who is vigneswaran

Vigneswaran was born on 23 October 1939 in Hulftsdorp colombo the capital of Ceylon His parents were born in Manipay in northern Ceylon and he had two sisters.His father Canagasabapathy was a public official who worked in several parts of the country. Vigneswaran's grandfather was a cousin of statesmen P.Ramanatha P. Ramanathan and P. Arunachalam.

Vigneswaran's father's work meant that the family moved often. Vigneswaran spent the first nine years of his life in Kurunegala and studied at Christchurch College. The family then moved to Anuradhapura where Vigneswaran attended Holy Family Convent. Vigneswaran joined Royal College, Colombo aged 11.After school Vigneswaran obtained BA from the University of London and LLB from the University of Ceylon. He then joined Ceylon Law College, qualifying as a proctor and an advocate. He was president of the Law Students’ Union at the college in 1962.

One of Vigneswaran's sons is married to the daughter of government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara.His other son is married to the niece of former MP Keseralal Gunasekera.

Vigneswaran joined the Judicial Service on 7 May 1979. He served as a magistrateand District Judge in Batticaloa, Chavakachcheri and Mallakam. He became District Judge for Colombo in January 1987. He was appointed to the High Court in 1988, serving in Northern, Eastern, North Central, Uva and Western provinces. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1995.

Vigneswaran was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2001. He retired in October 2004.

In April 2013 it was reported that Vigneswaran had been chosen by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to be its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming election toNorthern Provincial Council(NPC).The reports were denied by the TNA.However, in July 2013, after nominations were called for the provincial council election, the TNA announced that Vigneswaran would be its chief ministerial candidate in the Northern Province.He contested the provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates inJaffna Districtand was elected to the NPC

Courtesy - http://www.theindependent.lk

Diaspora teen-ager records the Vanni she witnessed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 October 2013, 23:37 GMT]
“Was I a Stranger in My Homeland? Has One Two Lives?” is the title of a book by a young Norwegian Eezham Tamil girl, Malavi Sivakanesan. The book tells the story of how she, as an 8-year-old girl visiting Vanni, enjoyed playing in the sands of her homeland to how she, 6 years later at the age of 14, powerlessly witnessed from Norway the unfolding genocidal onslaught on the coastal strip of the same Vanni in 2009. With a lot of questions on why the global Establishments didn’t do anything to stop the genocidal onslaught despite hundreds of thousands of Tamils, including the children of her age, took to the streets staging demonstrations in an unprecedented way in the West, to why the Tamil youth are still struggling with questions on what is going on and what they should do, she publishes the book at the age of 17.

In an interview to TamilNet this weekend, she said that Norway, which had an important role in the conflict, has not done enough for the Tamils to get justice. The Norwegian politicians should listen more to the Tamils and understand what the Tamils are going through and look at it objectively.

In the course of writing the book, she had met former Norwegian State Secretary Vidar Helgesen and the former Special Envoy and later Development Minister of Norway, the failed Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim.

She appreciated her interaction with Mr Vidar Helgesan, who according to Malavai, understood what she had to say. But, Mr Erik Solheim, who was preoccupied with finding faults with the Tamil Tigers and described the LTTE leader Mr Pirapaharan as a ‘complicated person’ didn’t strike well with her that she didn’t find it appropriate to include that conversation in her book.

On the diaspora youth of her age, she said the youth abroad, despite their emotional attachment, have a limited amount of knowledge when it comes to the conflict in their homeland. The youth need more workshops where they can discuss, debate and learn more about the conflict in order to shape their role in providing leadership in the diaspora, she said.

Ms Nithiya Nareshkumar, a medical student at the University of Oslo interviewed Ms Malavi Sivakanesan.

Malavi, describing her two visits to Tamil Eelam in 2003 and 2004 with her family, goes in detail in her book describing her experience witnessing his family’s meeting with the LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, who was visiting the dental clinic and the training programme conducted by her father on behalf of the charity, the Norwegian Tamils Health Organisation (NTHO) during the times of the peace process.

The book that records a diaspora child experiencing her homeland under Tamil rule and how she experienced her interactions with the Tiger akkaas(sisters) and a’n’naas (brothers) and themaamaas (uncles), also narrates the story of her friends; a Tamil boy, who had gone to Vanni from Norway, joined the Tigers and survived the genocidal onslaught on Vanni and the love story of one of her friends in London, a story that also touches on the cultural divide of East and West.

The book, published through Xlibris, a US-based self-publishing company, is to be released on 19 October in London.

A passage from her book follows:

“One evening, just before it got dark, an old skinny man waddled through the gate with a wagon full of nongus. He wore a loincloth which was fastened around his waist, pleated neatly and draped between his legs. He was quite dark, and his upper body was bare. Though the wagon looked heavy, he did not seem to have a hard time manoeuvring, probably because he was used to it.

“Before I go further, let me tell you what a nongu looks like. It is a fruit with a hard shell and three eyelets on top and is full of white jelly-like pulp in the centre. Even though it is not exactly my favourite fruit, I must admit that it is extremely tasty. The man then skillfully cut the top off the fruits one by one with his sickle-like cutter. I could see that he was adept at the task, and it was extremely exciting watching him work. He distributed the fruit to everyone around. I was slightly confused about the right way of eating thenongu and waited for someone to explain the next step. Immediately, a Tamil Tiger behind offered to help and kindly showed me the art of eating them. At first I made a mess, but as soon as I finished, I asked for another, then another, and so on. I ate to my heart’s content. I had six nongus in a single sitting which is rather unusual for a little girl. In Norway, at the most, I often get to eat overripe apples and pears. Canned tropical fruits and vegetables sold in exotic food shops in Norway can hardly compare to the vendors who come peddling the fresh variety, door to door in Tamil Eelam.”

By Sinthujan Varatharajah-07 October 2013

The makers of 'Midnight’s Children' are known for their anti-fundamentalist stance, but the production of the film in Sri Lanka raises questions.

Civilians fleeing the Vanni in 2009. flickr/ trokilinochchi

At sunrise, Saleem parachutes from a Pakistani Air Force transporter plane with a mission to kill. But he arrives too late in what was then East Pakistan – the Pakistani Army has already lost to the Bengali Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) and the Indian Army. Mass killings of Bengali civilians had taken place at the hands of Yahya Khan’s ruthless army. Among the trapped Pakistani soldiers is Saleem, a young recruit in the Pakistani army. He finds himself in the midst of a lush green landscape, wearing his helmet, protective glasses and uniform. The camera slowly ascends to capture the beautiful Bengali wetlands, and moves over piles of half-naked bodies, spread over the wet grass, mingling with the idyllic landscape. Smoke rises in the distance from behind the jungle.

Staging Fiction, Rewriting History by nelvely

* Sri Lankan parliament to debate COPE report on public enterprises on two days

Sun, Oct 6, 2013, 09:24 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Oct 06, Colombo: The parliament of Sri Lanka will have a two-day debate on the 2013 report of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
The Opposition has called for an extensive debate on the report before presenting the 2014 budget and the debate will be held on Thursday and Friday this week.
When the COPE report was presented to the House in July this year, the COPE Chairman, Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera said the report would be debated in the House since the debate in the House would enable to pay more attention to the recommendations made by the committee.
The Committee in its report had made 20 recommendations after examining the accounts of 247 state institutions.
The report was the second report to be presented and has listed detailed descriptions of 16 loss-making government institutions.
The report found that 98% of the loss of the public enterprises was borne by four state companies.

Among the main institutions that have come under the scrutiny of the COPE are the cash-strapped Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), national carrier SriLankan Airlines and the budget airline Mihin Air. The four state-owned enterprises are running at massive losses since 2011, the COPE report found.

Tamil Nadu Police detains fast-unto-death activist

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2013, 13:12 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamil Nadu Police personnel were deployed at Va'l'luvar-koaddam in Chennai Monday around 2:00 p.m. where Thoazhar Thiyagu was conducting fast-unto-death campaign with 9 demands addressed to the Central Government of India. After carrying out a medical check-up, the Police has relocated the fast-unto-death activist from the venue of Va'l'lvuvar-koaddam and admitted him at Royapettah General Hospital around 2:30 p.m. However, Mr Thiyagu has vowed to continue his fast-unto-death under police detention and urged the Tamil activists and students to step up the struggle against India's participation in the CHOGM meet scheduled to take place in Colombo.

In the meantime, activist groups have been urged by the organisers to discuss the ways of taking forward the struggle at Thiruvallik-kea'ni Monday evening, news sources in Tamil Nadu said.

The genocidal Sri Lankan State should be suspended from the Commonwealth, the venue for the upcoming CHOGM meet should be shifted away from Sri Lanka and the Indian leaders should not take part if Colombo is to host the meet, are among the top demands of the 9-point list put forward by Thoazhar Thiyagu.

Prominent activists and leaders of movements and parties have been expressing solidarity with Thoazhar Thiyagu and are accompanying him in observing the fasting campaign.

Movement against CHOGM in Sri Lanka : Thiagu on fast unto death strike,techies join fast

Posted by Karthiyayini on October 6, 2013

Chennai,Oct 6 (TruthDive): Thiagu, general secretary of the Tamil National Liberation Movement, and founder of the Movement against CHOGM in Sri Lanka, has embarked on a fast unto death since October 1, 2013 at Valluvar Kottam in Chennai.

Thiagu’ strike enters sixth day today,gathering heat and momentum.

Thiagu is demanding New Delhi to action expelling genocidal Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth council. He is also urging to change the venue of CHOGM 2013 and if at all CHOGM meets in Colombo , Manmohan Singh should stay away from it.

At the forefront of the fast protest in Chennai, the Movement against CHOGM in Sri Lanka includes various political activists, trade union leaders and an advocate.

MDMK, Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi, Kanchi Makkal Mandram, Tamil Nadu Makkal Katchi, director Ram and actor Sathyaraj are also among many others who have offered support for Thiagu’s hunger strike against CHOGM in Sri Lanka. Nandanam College students also showed their support for the cause by boycotting classes.

Thiagu has spelt out certain demands,some of them are: expelling genocidal Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth Council, PM Manmohna Singh should not attend CHOGM meet in Sri Lanka,if at all it convenes in the island nation, stop supply of warships to Sri Lanka, stop training Lankan army personnel in any part of India, handing back Katchatheevu island to India, closure of special camps for Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in Tamil Nadu, offering of temporary Indian citizenship to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, respecting the economic, civil and political rights of the people of Tamil Eezham people living in Tamil Nadu, release of Perarivalan, Santhan, Murugan, Nalini, Robert Payas, Jeyakumar and Ravichandran convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, considering that they have spent more than 20 years in prison and instituting an independent international investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Rajapakse regime against the people of Tamil Eezham.

Thiagu’s demand also calls for an international protective mechanism to prevent the continuing structural genocide of the people of Tamil Eezham and for a referendum to be held among the Sri Lankan Tamil people in their homeland and in the Diaspora to determine the future of Tamil Eezham and effecting the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by New Delhi and calling for an economic embargo on the government of Sri Lanka to make it accept the demands of the Tamils.

As an expression of solidarity with Thiagu’s hunger protest, Save Tamils Movement, a Chennai-based forum of IT professionals joined Thiagu at Valluvar Kottam.

The representatives of the Save Tamils Movement (STM) who are working tirelessly for the voices of Tamils to be heard in the international arena spoke at Valluvar Kottam and expressed their opinions on why Sri Lanka should be expelled from Commonwealth.

Save Tamils Movement recently attracted considerable attention and interest from Diaspora and Tamil activists in India and across the world when they convened an International Youth Conference in the city in September this year, calling to boycott genocidal Sri Lanka.

Representatives and volunteers of STM wearing T-shirts bearing slogans – ‘Don’t sponsor genocide’, ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’, conducted rail campaign and bike rally in the city in May this year urging to boycott Sri Lanka. Stickers demanding to boycott products from Sri Lanka were also distributed and pasted on vehicles.

Fast-unto-death activist demands New Delhi to respect TN Assembly, boycott CHOGM

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2013, 05:03 GMT]
Putting forward 9 concrete demands, Thoazhar (Comrade) Thiyagu, a veteran Tamil activist from Tamil Nadu, has been on a fast-unto-death campaign since October 01st at Va'l'luvar-koaddam in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. As his campaign entered 6th day on Monday, Thoazhar Thiyagu is determined to take forward the struggle, despite doctors warn him about deteriorating health. The genocidal Sri Lankan State should be suspended from the Commonwealth, the venue for the upcoming CHOGM meet should be shifted away from Sri Lanka and the Indian leaders should not take part if Colombo is to host the meet, are among the top demands of the 9-point list. Prominent activists and leaders of movements and parties have been expressing solidarity with Thoazhar Thiyagu and are accompanying him in observing the fasting campaign.

Tamil National Liberation Movement General Secretary Thoazhar Thiyagu on fast-unto-death campaign at Chennai, Tamil Nadu

“I expect not only solidarity, not only support, not only critiques, but Tamil people all over the world to rise up and participate in the struggle,” Thiyagu told TamilNet adding that he has received support from all the Tamil nationalist movements, groups and parties in Tamil Nadu.

“I am not going to give up the struggle because of appeals from the leaders,” he was firm. “The life of the Tamil Nation is at a crucial stage now,” he said vowing “either success or martyrdom”.

Leaders and activists from movements and parties in Tamil Nadu, including the DMK, MDMK, Naam Thamizhar, VCK, TVK, CPI, the student movement, Save Tamils Movement and May 17 Movement, were visiting him to express their solidarity and participation in the struggle.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko visiting Thiyagu

VCK leader Thirumavalavan visiting Thiyagu

P. Maniyarasan, the leader of Tamil National Communitst Party with Thoazhar Thiyagu

Thiyagu, whose political origins go back to a militant movement in Tamil Nadu, was attracted by Thileepan’s fast-unto-death sacrifice demanding justice from India in 1987 and had established Thileepan Manram in Tamil Nadu.

Demanding New Delhi to deliver on Tamil Nadu State Assembly resolution on international investigations on Sri Lanka, referendum on Tamil Eelam and economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, he has also demanded creation of a paramilitary force of fishermen and training to them to put an end to their continued misery at the hands of the Sri Lankan forces in the Palk Straits.

Thiyagu has also called for an international mechanism to protect the Eezham Tamils from the ongoing structural genocide in their homeland. Another demand is that India should ratify Geneva Convention on Refugees and that the refugees of Tamil Eelam staying in Indian should be given with interim citizenship status in India.

Thiyagu, an activist who has earned reputation for his sharp views, was one of the few in Tamil Nadu to realize the conceptual danger behind the US-tabled resolution in Geneva. Spotting a wrong trend among the Tamil Nadu activists, who were being waylaid by the designs of the Establishments, he contributed to an intellectual discourse that course-corrected the activists of Tamil Nadu at the right time.

The struggle eventually brought forward a resolution in Tamil Nadu State Assembly, unanimously calling for international investigations, demanding a UN referendum among Eelam Tamils on separate Eelam and demanding economic sanctions against Sri Lanka.

India should suspend all assistance, including the offer to give war ships, arms, and training programs that are already being offered to Sri Lankan forces in Indian soil; New Delhi should retrieve Kachchatheevu and hand it over to Tamil Nadu; India should free the 7 victims who have spent more than 20 years in jail following the assassination of Rajeev Gandhi and immediate suspension of a proposed under-water electric supply line to Sri Lanka were the other demands put forward by Thoazhar Thiyagu.

The site of the fast-unto-death campaign by Thoazhar Thiyagu

Following are some of the videos put out on-line before Thiyagu went on hunger strike on October 01:

Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada

7 October 2013

Bali, Indonesia

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement:

“When Sri Lanka was selected to host the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Canada was hopeful that the Sri Lankan government would seize the opportunity to improve human rights conditions and take steps towards reconciliation and accountability. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.

“Canada is deeply concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka. The absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian standards during and after the civil war is unacceptable.

“Canada noted with concern the impeachment of the Sri Lankan Chief Justice earlier this year, and we remain disturbed by ongoing reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra judicial killings.

“Canada believes that if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant it must stand in defence of the basic principles of freedom, democracy, and respect for human dignity, which are the very foundation upon which the Commonwealth was built.

“It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians. As such, as the Prime Minister of Canada, I will not attend the 2013 CHOGM in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is a decision that I do not take lightly.

“Canada will continue to monitor events in Sri Lanka and urge the government to implement fully the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, promote respect for human rights and the rule of law, and undertake an independent investigation into alleged violations of the human rights of thousands of civilians at the end of the conflict.

“Canada will continue to work with our partners and through the United Nations to draw attention to the situation in Sri Lanka. I have also asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to review Canada’s financial contributions to Commonwealth programs and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

“The Honourable Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights, will represent Canada at the meeting in Colombo.”