Conversions in Gujarat: Whom Does Modi Represent?

by Badri Raina

( October 17, 2013, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the wake of his conflict with Gandhi over the caste/Dalit question, B.R.Ambedkar, later to be the chief architect of India’s Constitution making, had determined, as early as 1935—the year the Government of India Act was passed—to leave the Hindu fold.

Upon a deeply considered evaluation of the social content of all major religious faiths, Ambedkar chose the Buddhist faith as the most befitting social/spiritual anchor because of the explicit rejection in the Buddhist Dhamma of all constructions of inequality among humankind. And a full two decades after his first resolve to abandon Hinduism, on October 14, 1956, this agonized doyen of the downtrodden took his vows at Nagpur alongwith some 3,80,000 Dalits, the date of his conversion recalling the conversion of the Maurya King, Ashok, to Buddhism after his revulsion at the massacres at the battle of Kalinga, third century B.C.

Conversions in Gujarat Whom Does Modi Represent by nelvely

Hungary charges former top communist official with war crimes

By Krisztina Than-BUDAPEST | Wed Oct 16, 2013 

(Reuters) - Hungarian prosecutors charged a former Communist Party official with war crimes for the first time on Wednesday over the suppression of an anti-Soviet uprising in 1956.

More than two decades after the fall of communism, the prosecution of Bela Biszku became possible under a law that stipulates war crimes and crimes against humanity do not lapse.

The 2011 law, pushed through by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling center-right Fidesz party, allows for the prosecution of crimes committed under the communist dictatorship.

The Budapest prosecutors said Biszku, 92, was charged over his role on a committee of the Communist Party involved in ordering the shootings of civilians during protests in Budapest and in the town of Salgotarjan in December 1956.

"The Budapest Prosecutor's Office has today submitted to the Budapest Court of Justice an indictment in the criminal proceedings launched against Bela Biszku for war crimes and other crimes," the prosecution said in a statement.

The maximum sentence for war crimes, which they said Biszku had committed as an abettor, is life imprisonment.

Biszku, who was detained last year, is also charged with keeping ammunition without permission after 11 pieces were seized during a search of his home in September 2012.

The 1956 uprising was a nationwide revolt against the Soviet-backed government in Budapest and its policies and represented the first major threat to Moscow's control of eastern Europe since the end of World War Two.

Despite the crushing of the uprising, it had a lasting impact on how the communist regimes of eastern Europe were perceived and played a role in the collapse of Soviet rule across the region more than three decades later.

Large numbers of civilians were killed or arrested during the suppression of the uprising. Its figurehead Imre Nagy was executed for treason in 1958 for establishing a government in defiance of Moscow's rule over eastern Europe.

In the eastern Hungarian town of Salgotarjan, 46 people were shot dead, including women and children, the prosecutors said in their statement.

Prosecutors said last year, at the time of Biszku's detention, that he had denied the accusations.

He served as Hungary's interior minister from 1957 to 1961.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than, editing by Gareth Jones)

Obama wants new approach after shutdown

By Tom Cohen. Holly Yan and Greg Botelho, CNN-Thu October 17, 2013

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama said Thursday there were “no winners” in the deal that ended the 16-day government shutdown and averted a possible U.S. default, then challenged Republican conservatives to drop their anti-government ideology and change how business gets done in Washington.

In a tough and somber statement hours after signing legislation passed by Congress to reopen the government, Obama said the standoff “inflicted completely unnecessary damage (to) our economy” by slowing growth and increasing borrowing costs.

Obama Wants New Approach After Shutdown by nelvely

Russian opposition leader Navalny avoids jail, vows defiance

By Gabriela Baczynska-KIROV, Russia | Wed Oct 16, 2013 

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's chief political opponent walked free from a Russian court on Wednesday after it suspended his five-year sentence for theft, and said he could never be "hounded" out of political life.

The conviction, however, will prevent Alexei Navalny, borne to prominence nearly two years ago by the biggest protests of Putin's 13-year rule, from seeking elected office for several years. He said he would appeal.

"It's clear to me that the authorities are trying by all means to hound me out of politics, coming up with restrictions and fabricated cases," Navalny said, embracing his wife after a tense three-hour court hearing in Kirov, 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of Moscow.

"One thing is for sure, they will not succeed in pushing me and my allies out of political life," said Navalny, 37, who posted a strong second-place showing against a Putin ally in a Moscow mayoral election last month.

A blogger who has campaigned online against corruption among Russia's elite, Navalny helped lead a wave of protests stirred by allegations of fraud in a December 2011 parliamentary election won by Putin's ruling party.

He was convicted on July 18 of organising the theft of 16 million roubles (313,575 pounds) from a timber firm in the Kirov region in 2009, after a trial he described as Putin's revenge for challenging the Kremlin.

But he was unexpectedly freed from custody the following day after thousands protested outside the Kremlin, allowing him to continue his mayoral campaign as he awaited his appeal hearing.

Analysts say the Kremlin was betting Navalny would suffer a humiliating election defeat that would quash his political ambitions and neutralise any threat to Putin, but he won 27 percent and nearly forced the incumbent into a runoff.

Putin, however, remains by far Russia's most popular politician and the protests of last year have eased off. Navalny's popularity is more limited beyond the big cities of western Russia, such as Moscow and St Petersburg.

Jailing Navalny would have increased the risk of a new wave of protests by Putin's opponents and human rights activists over what they see as a clampdown on dissent since the 61-year-old president started a six-year third term in 2012.

It would have done more damage to Putin's image in the West as he prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in February.

"POLITICAL ISOLATION"

Navalny and others suggested that Wednesday's ruling was carefully tailored by the Kremlin to avoid making him into what political analyst Liliya Shevtsova called "a Russian Mandela" while sidelining him from electoral politics.

"The court decision means political isolation," prominent opposition activist Ilya Yashin, said on Twitter.

Navalny argued during the hearing that the case against him was fabricated and politically motivated, and afterward suggested that the ruling was the result of careful calculations in the Kremlin.

"It's clear that the decision on suspending the sentence was taken not here but in Moscow," he said.

Putin denies exerting influence over the courts. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the president had nothing to do with the ruling.

Navalny's lawyers and other legal experts were uncertain how long he will be barred from elections.

The Constitutional Court ruled last week that lifetime bans for convicts not serving life terms are unconstitutional, but the law has not been amended and, previously, convicts had been barred from elections for at least the length of their sentences.

In addition to the suspended sentence, the judge said Navalny was sentenced to five years probation. His lawyer Olga Mikhailova said the terms would be served consecutively, indicating Navalny could be barred from elections for 10 years.

Even a five-year ban would keep Navalny, who has aired presidential ambitions, out of the presidential vote scheduled for 2018. Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister since 2000, has not ruled out running in that election.

Navalny shrugged off the ban.

"Now I cannot run in elections, but that is not important," he said at an art exhibit in Kirov inspired by politically charged Russian trials. "There are 1,001 ways to conduct apolitical battle. Yesterday I had 1,001 - now I have 1,000."

(Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Ralph Boulton)

Former BBC boss Mark Thompson to face MPs over £100m DMI fiasco

Current New York Times chief executive to be asked if he misled parliamentary committee about Digital Media Initiative in 2011

Mark Thompson: recalled by MPs to give evidence on the BBC's Digital Media Initaiative. Photograph: PA

Josh Halliday-Thursday 17 October 2013

Former BBC director general Mark Thompson has been recalled to parliament over the corporation's failed Digital Media Initiative, which was axed earlier this year after wasting nearly £100m of licence-fee-payer's money.

Thompson, now the New York Times Company chief executive, will be asked whether he misled MPs in 2011 when he said that the ambitious project was "out in the business".

The Digital Media Initiative (DMI), which was designed to do away with videotapes and digitise BBC archive content, was eventually axed on 24 May after costing the BBC £98.4m.

The Commons public accounts committee, which is chaired by Labour's Margaret Hodge, said on Wednesday that it was "dismayed" by the failure of DMI and would investigate whether it was misled by the BBC about its progress.

Thompson is expected to appear before the MPs in January following the conclusions of a review comissioned by the BBC Trust into who knew what, and when, as well as how the project was so badly mishandled.

It will be the second time that Thompson has been recalled to Westminster since taking up his post in New York, following his previous appearance before MPs in September over six-figure executive payoffs.

The former director general is expected to be asked why he told the MPs in February 2011 that DMI was "out in the business", that there were "many programmes being made with DMI" and that it had contributed to on-air broadcasts. He added at the time that the initiative was on track to "fully deliver" for BBC North and Salford through the course of 2011 and ruled out any "significant further delays" in its introduction.

However, in May 2013 the BBC Trust announced that the project had "delivered little or no assets" and would be scrapped to prevent "throwing good money after bad". The initiative was branded a "complete catastrophe" by the BBC rrustee Anthony Fry when he gave evidence to MPs in June.

In a statement, Thompson insisted he gave testimony before MPs "honestly and in good faith". He added: "I did so on the basis of information provided to me at the time by the BBC executives responsible for delivering the project."

The Commons committee, which scrutinises public spending, is understood to be in the process of securing other BBC witnesses for the hearing – which has been pencilled in for January – but none have been confirmed. It is possible that Thompson will give evidence via video link rather than fly to London.

Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, on behalf of the BBC Trust, was expected to have completed its independent review into the failed project last month, but the deadline is now understood to have slipped to before the end of the year. Its conclusions will then be passed to MPs on the public accounts committee. The National Audit Office (NAO) will also be invited to undertake its own review into the project after the PricewaterhouseCoopers inquiry has concluded.

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Britain demands 'concrete progress' on Sri Lanka rights

• 
  View Photo
  AFP/AFP - A cyclist rides past a billboard advertising the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo on October 16, 2013

Britain will use next month's Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka to pressure Colombo to make "concrete progress" on human rights and to probe war crimes, the British high commissioner said Wednesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron will send a strong message to Colombo to improve its rights record and show a commitment to good governance, said British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin.

"The British government will come with a clear message that Sri Lanka needs to make concrete progress on human rights, reconciliation and a political settlement," Rankin told the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Colombo.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is boycotting the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which begins November 15, over alleged crimes and rights abuses during and after Sri Lanka's civil war.

International rights groups have said up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a charge denied by Colombo.

Rankin declined to comment on Canada's boycott, but made it clear Britain's participation at the summit was not an endorsement of the host nation.

Cameron will travel to Sri Lanka "because of the importance we attach to the Commonwealth, irrespective of the location of the CHOGM", he said.

There was no immediate comment from Sri Lanka's government, but the main minority Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said it wanted Cameron to visit the former war zone during the CHOGM.

"We want to welcome Prime Minister Cameron to Jaffna (the capital of the former war zone) so he can see for himself and meet the thousands who lost their children," TNA legislator Suresh Premachandran told AFP.

"We want Britain and the CHOGM to take up accountability as a main issue."

Rankin said they were still working out Cameron's schedule he would have "several engagements with Sri Lankan civil society".

He said the spotlight on Sri Lanka during the 53-member bloc summit would help pressure the island to demonstrate its commitment to "Commonwealth values" of good governance.

"We are also concerned about wider issues of respect for human rights, rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka," he said.

The diplomat said Sri Lanka must probe allegations by Britain's Channel 4, which accused the country's forces of executing surrendering Tamil rebels and shelling civilians in no-fire zones during the civil war.

A British MP, Simon Danczuk, had urged the Queen to boycott the Colombo CHOGM to protest the lack of progress in a probe into the murder of his constituent, Khuram Sheikh, in Sri Lanka on Christmas day in 2011.

Rankin said Queen Elizabeth II was staying away from the meeting because she was unable to undertake long trips, but added Britain was concerned about lack of progress in the case.

The main suspect in the killing, a local ruling party politician, was initially arrested, but later freed on bail. No trial date has been fixed.

The 87-year-old queen has only missed the biennial summit once -- when it was first held in 1971. In Sri Lanka, she will be represented by her son Prince Charles.

UN rights chief Navi Pillay warned Colombo last month to show "clear progress" towards reining in rights abuses and investigating suspected war crimes by next March, or face an international investigation.

Sri Lanka in May 2009 declared an end to 37-years of ethnic strife, which according to UN estimates, claimed at least 100,000 lives.

SINTHUJAN VARATHARAJAH-tamilgenerations.

Sinthujan Varatharajah

Collecting and archiving 

stories,  


memories and 

experiences of 


Sri Lankan Tamils in London

http://tamilgenerations.rota.org.uk

Why Ethnicity Matters in Sri Lanka: An Author’s Response To Criticism

By Sinthujan Varatharajah -October 16, 2013 

Sinthujan Varatharajah

Following our Sinhala privilege piece published on our Tumblr, ‘Check your Des(h)i Privilege’, we received a number of responses from Sinhalese and Tamils alike. As one of the co-authors of the piece, I’ve observed some of the conversations that were incited by the piece on social media and felt compelled, now after almost a month since publication, to respond to some of the assertions made and beliefs uncovered in the wake of the debate. Although we have already provided a general response in an interview given to the Tamil Guardian, a personal reply may be helpful to some.

Some of our critics may conflate privileges with rights, which is an issue that needs to be addressed elsewhere, or read up in a number of available sources. Others may not necessarily understand the concept of intersectionality, i.e. the interconnection between social, cultural and biological categories, such as race, ethnicity, class, caste, gender, sexuality, able bodiedness, etc., which do not exist in isolation but interact and stand in correlation to produce and coin our lived experiences as individuals and groups within societies. I will address the latter in my response.

Any discussion on privilege needs to begin with a discussion on the nature of state and society: Sri Lanka is a country where the infamous politics of ‘bhumiputra’ (Sanskrit: son of the soil/land) may only (and conveniently) be claimed by the extreme Sinhala right, while it has in reality been widely mainstreamed and, importantly, invisibilized. Sinhalaness has indeed been abstracted to the extent that it has taken decades to come into discussion despite being so ubiquitous. Like other Asian nation-states, such as Malaysia or Burma, Sri Lanka has, by introducing discriminatory political and legal frameworks, created social realities which negatively affect minority populations while benefitting and uplifting the majority population (vis-à-vis minorities). Structural racism, just like structural sexism, heteronormativity, casteism, classism, etc., disadvantages one group to the benefit of another. Institutional racism against Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in, for example, the UK increases the exclusion and peripheralization of BME while providing ample advantage and opportunities to white British, including white British anti-racists. The exclusion of Tamils more so than Muslims from certain employment and education sectors and institutions similarly provides more space, opportunities and mobilities for Sinhalese, no matter their gender, class, sexual, political et al. affiliation or orientation, to progress as individuals or as a social group. Privilege is ultimately a question of social, economic, and political access that some groups may have over others.                                                             Read More

EPC opposes affiliation of Trinco campus with universities in South

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 October 2013, 10:22 GMT]
The Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has unanimously adopted a motion against the proposed affiliation of the Trincomalee campus of the Eastern University with the Rajarata University of Anuradhapura or with the Jayewardanapura University in Colombo. The motion was moved at EPC's September session by the Leader of the Opposition Mr C.Thandayuthapani, the group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the council. Mr R.Thurairatnam, TNA’s Batticaloa district councillor seconded the motion. 

Mr.Thandayuthapani said that the Trincomalee campus has been functioning as a full-fledged campus of the Eastern University, currently located in Vanthaa'rumoolai in Batticaloa district since 15 June 2001. 

Earlier, from 1993 the Trincomalee campus had been functioning as an Affiliated University College of the Eastern University, according to a gazette notification. 

Tamil educationists in the North-East in the 1950s made a demand to establish a Tamil University in Trincomalee and the land had also been allocated for the construction of it. But it never materialized.

After the campus was established, there was a move initiated by the Colombo education authorities to affiliate the Trincomalee campus with the Rajarata University in Anuradhapura. However, due to the protest by the Trincomalee civil society, the matter was dropped.

Then again, another move has now been mooted by occupying Colombo's education ministry to affiliate the Trincomalee campus with the Colombo Jayewardenepura University. 

The effort to affiliate the Trincomalee University Campus in the country of Eezham Tamils with the universities in the Sinhala provinces is viewed as a crucial step in the process of Sinhalicisation of Trincomalee that is now undertaken in an accelerated way by genocidal Colombo with the blessings of outside powers.

The Sinhalicisation process, taking place inside the Trincomalee University Campus itself has made news in recent times.

Annihilation of any form of territorial identity of Eezham Tamils is the thrust of the LLRC recommendations, the implementation of which have been made into an ‘international obligation’ by Washington and New Delhi.

New Delhi Foreign Minister’s reference in Jaffna last week on making Sri Lanka a ‘trilingual country’ implies making Tamils as subjugated minorities throughout the island. The statement also bares the outlook of New Delhi on Colombo’s structural genocide programmes such as the one now planned for the Trincomalee University Campus, said educational circles in Trincomalee. 

The present EPC motion requests the SL Higher Education Ministry and the SL University Grants Commission not to affiliate Trincomalee campus with the Rajarata University or Jayewardanapura University.

The motion was unanimously passed with the support of councillors of the ruling United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA), and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).

Trincomalee campus is located 12 km from Trincomalee city, at Koa'nesapuri in Nilaave'li in 350 acres of land.

Currently, the Trincomalee campus comprises Faculty of Communication and Business Studies, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Faculty of Siddha Medicine.

More than five hundred students are enrolled in the campus.

NPC dispute storm in a tea cup: Sampanthan
                                           

By Shamindra Ferdinando- October 15, 2013, 10:01 pm                               

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) leader Rajavarothian Sampanthan, MP, yesterday alleged that a recent dispute involving some constituents of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) over ministerial appointments, in the first Northern Provincial Council (NPC), had been exaggerated.

The veteran politician, representing the Trincomalee District, said the so called crisis was nothing but a storm in a tea cup.

Sampanthan said that some of those who had shunned last Friday’s swearing-in ceremony in Jaffna to express their discontentment had now taken oaths separately, therefore the TNA was ready to move forward.

Sampanthan, in a brief interview with The Island, emphasized the pivotal importance of members adhering to a decision taken by the political authority, in this case the Chief Minister of the NPC, C. V. Wigneswaran, though they had the right to differ.

Of the 30 members, nine elected councilors, representing the EPRLF, the TELO and the PLOTE, skipped the swearing-in ceremony, accusing the dominant constituent, the ITAK, of not being fair in allocation of ministries. The TNA comprises the ITAK, TULF, EPRLF, TELO and PLOTE. Of the 30 seats, the ITAK had secured 17, with the EPRLF (6), TELO (5) and PLOTE (2) sharing the rest.

The NPC comprises 38 members, with the SLFP-led UPFA having seven and its constituent, the SLMC, one.

Asked whether the dispute would undermine the TNA grouping in parliament, Sampanthan said that they had secured a magnificent electoral victory in the Northern region in the first provincial council polls held in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Sampanthan said: "I don’t think the disagreement over ministerial appointments will undermine our unity in parliament as well as the NPC. We are committed to providing relief to those who had suffered during the conflict. Therefore, the TNA will not allow the work of the NPC to be derailed."

Sampanthan said that the TNA parliamentary group comprises 13, with the ITAK having nine and the TELO and the EPRLF two each.

Strongly refuting suggestions that the ITAK had interfered with ministerial appointments, Sampanthan said that it had only told CM Wigneswaran to ensure that the best possible members were given ministerial portfolios. The TNA chief stressed that CM Wigneswaran accommodated two ITAK members (Kilinochchi and Vavuniya) and one each from TELO (Mannar) and EPRLF (Jaffna) in his cabinet. As a person elected from the Mullaitivu electoral district couldn’t be accommodated due to the strength of provincial cabinet being restricted to five, including the CM, Anthony Jeganathan (ITAK) from Mullaitivu was given the post of Vice Chairman. ITAK member from Jaffna, C. V. Kandiah Sivagnanam was named Chairman after PLOTE leader Dharmalingham Siddarthan (former MP) declined to accept the post. Siddarthan was not available for comment.

The Vice Chairman would work closely with the CM in handling important subjects, Sampanthan said, adding that all elected members, including those given bonus seats, were to be assigned subjects under different ministries. The bottom line was that all members would have plenty of work to do in the Northern region, worst affected by the conflict.

Sampanthan said that ITAK members were given both bonus seats. The TNA accommodated a defeated Muslim candidate, Ayub Asmin (Mannar) and Ms Mary K. Gunaseelan (Mullaitivu) on the bonus seats.

Asked whether the TNA was ready to work with the government, Sampanthan stressed that it would adopt a very positive approach in its dealings with the government. The MP expressed the belief that the government would be genuine in its efforts.

ITAK General Secretary Mavai S. Senathirajah, MP, yesterday said that the remaining rebels too, would take their oaths soon. Senathirajah asserted that the issue had been resolved amicably though some speculated about a major crisis in the wake of a section of the elected skipping last week’s swearing in ceremony.

Colombo plans District ‘Development’ Ministers to undermine NPC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 October 2013, 23:33 GMT]
In a move to sideline the Northern Provincial Council, the occupying Colombo is to appoint new ‘district-level development ministers’ under its central command by SL presidential sibling and ‘Economic Development’ Minister Basil Rajapaksa, informed circles in Colombo said. Colombo plans to offer the portfolio to a Tamil parliamentarian of UNP who has recently joined the UPFA, although the SL minister Douglas Devananda was promised the ministry earlier, the sources further said. A paramilitary operative, Uthayarasa, of the so-called Sri-TELO is seeking the portfolio in Vavuniyaa where the paramilitary served Colombo earlier. A Sinhala person would be appointed to Mullaiththeevu and a Muslim minister in UPFA is vying for the portfolio in Mannaar, the sources said. 

According to the ‘recommendation’ of the LLRC, which is Sri Lanka’s blueprint for securing international recognition to the ongoing structural genocide, districts should be the units and there should be no ethnic-districts. 

The Colombo government, which seeks to undermine even the meager powers ‘vested’ with the provincial councils is attempting to recreate the saga of failed District Development Councils, the sources said citing Colombo’s attempt to bring in Amendments and new bills. 

The appointment of district-level ministers is expected to take place on 24 October 2013. 

Sri Lanka, having at least 66 ministers, would again be described as having a jumbo cabinet when it announces further 25 district level ministers.

Resolving The Tamil Problem Through An Amended 13th Amendment

By R.M.B Senanayake -October 17, 2013 |

R.M.B. Senanayake

The Government and the Northern Provincial Council have got off to a good start displaying much goodwill to each other. It is now necessary to make the Northern Provincial Council work. All persons who wish peace and good governance will be happy indeed. But there are several obstacles and challenges that have to be ironed out if the Northern Provincial Council is to function in a manner that will fulfill the expectation of the people of the North and make them willingly give up the demand for a separate state put forward by the Tamil Expatriates.

There are several clauses in the 13^th Amendment which could be interpreted in more than one way. For example the 13^th Amendment says that the Executive power of the Provincial Council shall be exercised by the Governor either directly or through the Ministers of the Board of Ministers or through officers subordinate to him in accordance wi8th the article 154F of the Constitution. If the Governor wishes to exercise power on his own initiative there could well be differences of opinion and even conflict. Such a situation arose in the Amparai District with regard to teacher transfers where the Governor on the advice of the Member of Parliament for the District allegedly reversed the orders of the Provincial Council Minster in charge of the subject.  One hopes that such conflicts will not arise in the functioning of the Northern Provincial Council.

Another provision in the 13^th Amendment is with respect to the allocation of moneys to the Provincial Councils. The 13^th Amendment provides for a Finance Commission which includes the representatives of the Provincial Councils. The relevant article of the Constitution states is as follows:

Finance Commission                                                                  Read More

Govt should refuse Sri Lanka chair

Wednesday, 16 Oct 2013 | Press Release

Contact: Jan Logie MP

The Green Party has written to Minister McCully urging him to publicly challenge Sri Lanka and oppose the appointment of President Rajapaksa when it comes time to appoint the Commonwealth Chairperson-In-Office, the Green Party said today

Unless opposed, Sri Lanka's President, as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) host, will become chair of the Commonwealth for the two years until the heads of state meet next.

"New Zealand needs to join the UN, Amnesty international and Canada and call Sri Lanka to account and make very sure they are not given the leadership of the Commonwealth for the next two years," Green Party human rights spokesperson Jan Logie said today.

"The human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan Government have been well documented by the United Nations and Amnesty International.

While Sri Lanka refuses to give access to independent investigators we must continue to hold the Sri Lankan Government to account

"This country should never have been given the chance to chair the CHOGM meeting while those in power at the time of gross human rights violations have been able to get off scot-free.

"However now that the meeting is happening in Sri Lanka, New Zealand must take this opportunity to raise these issues with other commonwealth nations.

"We must take a lead in upholding human rights in the Commonwealth.

"While Sri Lanka refuses to give access to independent investigators we must continue to hold the Sri Lankan Government to account.

"If we don't we are in effect supporting what the UN Commissioner for Human Rights has raised as an increasingly authoritarian direction in Sri Lanka.

"Minister McCully must recognize that President Rajapaksa should not be made chairperson-in-office of the Commonwealth and respond accordingly," said Ms Logie.

Indian foreign minister’s unproductive visit to Sri Lanka

By Nandana Nanneththi and Deepal Jayasekera -16 October 2013

Khurshid met with his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L. Peiris and had talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse before flying to Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka to meet with C.V. Wigneswaran, the newly-elected chief minister of Northern Province. Wigneswaran represents the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main Tamil bourgeois party, whose primary perspective is to appeal to India and the Western powers to push Rajapakse into a power-sharing compact.

Khurshid insisted on “full implementation” of the Sri Lankan Constitution’s 13th Amendment, which devolved powers to the provinces. But Rajapakse replied that “parliament is the best forum to address the issue.” A Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) established by the government in June to review the 13th Amendment would come up with “a solution that is in line with what the people want.”

In effect, Rajapakse rebuffed Khurshid’s demand. His government’s PSC is a fraud. It was appointed to pursue the government’s plans to significantly weaken the ability of provincial councils to block legislation affecting their powers, while seeking to defuse pressure from India and the US and other Western powers. The TNA is boycotting the PSC, along with the United National Party (UNP), the main opposition party.

The 13th Amendment, which established provincial councils and devolved limited powers to them, was part of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord signed between Colombo and New Delhi in a bid to disarm the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, successive Colombo governments have refused to hand land and police powers to the provincial councils, despite repeated demands from the Tamil and Muslim elites.

New Delhi has long demanded “full implementation of the 13th amendment.” But the Sinhala extremist allies of Rajapakse’s ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and powerful figures in his administration, like his brother, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, vehemently oppose any concessions to the Tamil and Muslim elites.

New Delhi calculates that a power-sharing arrangement will boost its influence in Sri Lanka’s affairs. The Indian ruling class has concerns about China’s growing political and economic clout in the island, via Rajapakse’s ties with Beijing.

The Congress-led Indian government also wants to contain the popular opposition among Tamils in southern India toward the fate of the island’s Tamils. In the short term, Congress faces national elections next April-May in which Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, another Tamil-populated territory, will elect 40 members to the national parliament, and is desperately putting on a pretense of concern about the plight of Sri Lanka’s Tamils.

In Jaffna, Khurshid insisted on a “dialogue between the elected provincial representatives and the central government”—i.e., talks between the Colombo government and leaders of the TNA’s Northern Provincial administration. Even if Rajapakse eventually agrees to negotiations with the TNA leadership, he strongly opposes any substantial devolution of powers to provincial councils.

Agreements for a 500-MW coal power project, a joint venture between India’s National Thermal Power Corporation and Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board, at Sampur in the eastern district of Trincomalee, were signed in the presence of Khurshid and Peiris. Bilateral negotiations about the project have been conducted for several years. An initial agreement was signed in late 2011, but the project was delayed by opposition from Sinhala chauvinist elements in and around Rajapakse’s government.

Concerned about Beijing’s influence in Sri Lanka, including substantial investments such as a new airport and seaport in the southern province, New Delhi is pushing for its own opportunities. India is involved in rebuilding the northern railway line, devastated by nearly three decades of civil war. India’s push for the Sampur power project also exposes its pledges “to uplift the lives of the people of the Northern Province,” a claim repeated by Khurshid in Jaffna. The Rajapakse government secured the land for the project by militarily driving out Tamil residents during the renewed civil war that culminated in the LTTE’s defeat in 2009.

The Rajapakse government expected Khurshid to bring a “special message” from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about his yet-to-be confirmed participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo next month. Rajapakse considers holding CHOGM in Colombo as politically crucial to counter the pressure from the US and other Western powers to distance his government from Beijing.

Responding to a question about Singh’s presence at CHOGM, Khurshid said in a joint press conference with Peiris in Colombo on October 7 that an “announcement would be made at an appropriate time … from the Prime Minister’s office.” While the Rajapakse government desperately wants Singh’s attendance at CHOGM, India has kept the issue in abeyance to extract further economic, political and strategic concessions from Colombo.

Rajapakse was compelled to hold elections for the Northern Provincial Council in September due to pressure from the US and India. Khurshid commended Rajapakse for his “stewardship in holding elections after decades,” hailing this as a “great historic moment.” Whatever the diplomatic niceties, however, New Delhi is far from satisfied with its relationship with Rajapakse.