Sri Lanka deserves support
THE AUSTRALIAN

The Australian -October 21, 2013 

SADLY, pressure for a boycott of next month's Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Sri Lanka is gathering significant momentum. India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is now considering joining the campaign to stay away. The campaign has been spearheaded by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper over Colombo's alleged human rights abuses.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is also under pressure not to go, following a demand by the House of Commons' all-party Foreign Affairs Committee. Tony Abbott should ignore the clamour whipped up by the well-organised Tamil diaspora and maintain the firm opposition to a boycott he expressed after meeting Mr Harper at the APEC summit. Legitimate concerns do exist about human rights in Sri Lanka. That is hardly surprising after a civil war of exceptional brutality that lasted 30 years and saw 100,000 civilians killed. But the process of reconciliation, now demonstrably under way, would be seriously impaired by a boycott of what will be the biggest international event held in Sri Lanka since the 1976 Non-Aligned Summit. The Tamils inevitably would be blamed by the Sinhala majority for any failure, with potentially dire consequences.

What Sri Lanka needs is more of the Tamil participation seen in the successful provincial elections just held in what was the war's main fighting zone - with a remarkable 68 per cent voter turnout and the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, winning 30 of the 36 seats. Increasingly, the Tamil diaspora - especially in Canada, which has the largest Tamil community outside Sri Lanka - seems at odds with the Tamils at home, whose priorities are reconciliation and reconstruction, not retribution. Australia's interests would be best served by assisting that process, not in contributing to communal tensions, which would be the likely consequence of a CHOGM boycott. Stability and an assured place for Tamils in a prosperous and peaceful Sri Lanka would also cut the ground from under people-smugglers bringing asylum-seekers across the Indian Ocean. And it would make it easier for our government to hasten the repatriation of Sri Lankans already here.

Mr Harper has sacrificed his place in a major forum with the potential to exert real influence on Colombo. Dr Singh and Mr Cameron should not follow him. Sri Lanka needs assistance on reconciliation, not isolation.

SL military blamed for brutal gang rape, murder at Jaffna suburb

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 October 2013, 23:35 GMT]
Women rights activists in Jaffna have blamed the occupying Sri Lankan military for yet another brutal rape and murder of a mentally affected woman in Jaffna this month. The accusation comes in the wake of the brutal killing of a war-displaced Tamil woman from Nelukku’lam, Vavuniyaa, who was being looked after by the Holy Family Convent in Jaffna and reported missing since October 03. She was recovered dead on Thursday at the temple chariot park site of Naachchimaar koayil, which is frequently used by the SL military, according to the residents of the area. The temple is situated on KKS Road, just 1 km from the city of Jaffna. The residents of the area staged a protest against the killing on Friday. In the meantime, another woman has been reported missing in Jaffna according to woman rights activists. 

Medical sources in Jaffna confirmed on Saturday that the slain woman had been subjected to brutal gang rape. She was killed following a head injury caused by a sharp weapon. The culprits had also destroyed the face of the victim to make the identification impossible. 

The victim was identified as 47-year-old Markandu Yogarany, who was residing in Jaffna with her relatives. 

Ms Yogarany was mentally affected following the Vanni war. 

The Holy Family Convent had complained to the SL Police on 04 October about the missing patient. 

The decomposed body of the slain victim was recovered after the residents near the Naachchimaar koayil temple complained of strong odour coming from the temple chariot site. 

Several mentally ill women have been subjected to gang rape and killed at different locations in the SL military occupied country of Eezham Tamils.

Lankan army destroys remaining LTTE graveyards a month ahead of ‘Heroes Week’

BY RAMANAN WEERASINGHAM-21 OCTOBER 2013

The politico-military leadership of Colombo has issued fresh orders to its armed forces in the former war-zone in the north to take control of the remaining Tamil Tiger graveyards, flatten them and occupy them erecting fresh military bases, weeks before the sensitive ‘Heroes Week’ commemorations.

Reports from Jaffna confirm that hundreds of heavily-armed military personnel have been brought in to the Tamil Tiger graveyard grounds, well-known as “Great Heroes Cemeteries” at Kanakapuram and Muzhankavil in the Kilinochchi district and Theravil in the Mullaitivu district to accomplish this task.

“The soldiers could be seen busy clearing these graveyard grounds and erecting fences around the boundaries of these cemeteries with barbed wires and putting up temporary military shelters from Saturday (October 19),” the Jaffna-based Tamil tabloid daily Uthayan reported on Monday (21).

New military bases

Many of such LTTE graveyard grounds have already been demolished and occupied by the military elsewhere in the north, seriously hurting the feelings of the Tamil people. Some of these former LTTE graveyards grounds have now become posh military headquarters with all the amenities and latest technologies.

The Kanakapuram LTTE cemetery was built in 1990 while the Muzhankavil and Theravil cemeteries were built in 1996 and 1997 respectively and several thousands of fallen LTTE killed in action were buried there, when these areas were under the full control of the Tamil Tigers, who were militarily defeated in May 2009.

The fresh effort by the Sri Lankan military has come exactly a month ahead of the annual “Great Heroes Week” commemoration. Of late, such commemorative events have become very sensitive and proved to be flash points between the military personnel and those who celebrate in the north. Last year, several Jaffna University students were injured and taken into military custody for lighting the traditional oil lamp in commemoration of thousands of Tamil people and the LTTE cadres killed during the 30-year long war.

Despite celebrating the military victory over the LTTE, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa views such commemoration as a mark of continued respect for the LTTE and ideology by the Tamil people even though they have suffered enormously in facing the full brunt of the bloody war.

What makes all the more difference this time is that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which was once branded as the political proxy of the LTTE, has now captured the maiden provincial administration of the North. Some of their elected members have wowed not only to evict the occupying military from these graveyard grounds but also pledged to resurrect them as how they looked before.

Commenting the latest bid by the military to take over LTTE graveyard grounds, TNA’s Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh K. Premachandran has said that the incumbent coalition government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa or its military “cannot easily erase the memories of the LTTE heroes by destroying their graveyards”.

“As far as we, the Tamil people, are concerned they are our children and heroes, even though the government and the military keep calling them as terrorists. The government can describe them (LTTE) as it likes, but they are our children who fought for the liberation for our people. This is the reality,” the Jaffna district MP has been widely quoted as saying.

“We have all the right to erect or resurrect tombstones in memory of our heroes and children in our own lands. It will be a grave mistake if the government and its soldiers think that we would forget our children by demolishing their graveyards. Instead, their actions will reinforce their memories in our hearts. We will wait for the right time to resurrect tombstones for the people and the liberation fighters killed in the war,” MP Premachandran has said, expressing hope that the Northern Provincial Council would take appropriate action in this regard.

A grave matter

by Umesh Moramudali-Monday, 21 Oct 2013

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday distanced itself from a controversial resolution passed by the TNA-controlled Chavakachcheri Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) last week, which called for the restoration of cemeteries of slain LTTE cadres in the Northern Province.

The controversial resolution presented to the PS by Sri Skandaraja Sri Ranjan of the TNA and seconded by Deputy Chairman, T. Yogarasa, also called for the commemoration of the slain Tiger fighters on Mahaveerar Day of the LTTE, which falls on 26 November – which is also the birthday of the late Tiger Leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
TNA Media Spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran, told Ceylon Today, the TNA did not endorse the decision taken by the Chavakachcheri PS.

“This was an individual decision of the Pradeshiya Sabha,” Premachandran said, adding, “We have not been informed beforehand (by the PS members), nor did we ask them to pass any resolution to rebuild LTTE cemeteries and commemorate those who died during the war,” he said.
He noted that there were more pressing issues in the North that need to be addressed and the priority should be given to resolving issues such as resettling IDPs and provide a better life for the people who have become disabled due to the war.

However, he insisted that people have a right to commemorate their loved ones who died in the war.
“We are not against commemorating children or loved ones whose lives were lost in the war. However, it should happen in a proper way at the proper time and this is not the proper time,” he said.After the controversial motion was passed by the Chavakachcheri PS, the Chavakachcheri Police have questioned PS member Sri Ranjan, who presented the resolution.

The police have reportedly queried about the motives of the resolution and as to who had encouraged the PS member to present the said resolution.
Meanwhile, in a related development last week, 200 police personnel were deployed around a previously demolished cemetery of the slain Tiger cadres in the Karachchi area in the Jaffna Peninsula, after reports that certain groups were planning to clean up the cemetery.

Sri Lankan activists still 'disappeared'

THE AUSTRALIAN

A street vendor carries fruit through monsoon rain in Colombo as the Sri Lankan capital prepares to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Source: AFP

THE voice on the other end of the line was clear and menacing.

"Are you going to remove Lalith from Jaffna, or do you want us to eliminate him?"

When Lalith's father, Arumugam Veeraraja, received the call from an unknown number one afternoon in November 2011, he started shaking. He told the caller: "Please. I'm just a working man. Please don't take my son."

His plea was in vain. Two weeks later, his 28-year-old son, a Tamil human rights activist who had been investigating abductions by Sri Lanka's security services, vanished.

Armed men bundled him and a colleague into an unmarked white van in Jaffna, the Tamil capital of northern Sri Lanka. It was broad daylight and there were witnesses, but Lalith Kumar Weeraju has not been seen since.

"He was my only son," said Mr Veeraraja, 54, his voice cracking with emotion as he sat at the family home on a rubber plantation in Srinivas last week. "Sometimes when I think about him I shiver. I don't know how to cope."

Mr Veeraraja, who survived an abduction attempt last November after pressing for information about his son's fate, is not alone.

Next month, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to greet Prince Charles and dozens of world leaders for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, an event he hopes will bolster his regime's credibility.

However, four years after the end of a civil war that left up to 100,000 people dead, activists say the nation's human rights record remains atrocious and such abductions continue with disturbing regularity. After Iraq, Sri Lanka has the highest number of disappearances in the world, with fewer than half of the 12,000 on record solved.

White vans have become such a potent symbol for abductions in Sri Lanka that they have even spawned their own verb. Being "white vanned" is to be "disappeared" by shadowy groups linked to the security services.

Dimuthu Attygalle, 46, understands Sri Lanka's dark underbelly better than most. Walking home in Colombo in April last year, she felt a hand grab her mouth and pull her backwards.

"There were six or seven of them, armed with T56 rifles," said Ms Attygalle, a member of a leftist political party who is now in hiding. "They bound my eyes and beat me. They molested me sexually and used filthy language."

She was handcuffed and blindfolded for four days and interrogated by security agents, but was relatively lucky. A colleague who was abducted simultaneously was a dual Sri Lankan-Australian citizen. She believes that pressure from Australian diplomats helped to secure their release.

Although the pace of abductions has slowed since the war ended in 2009, Ruki Fernando, a human rights activist, estimates that about two "white van" abductions take place every month. Some believe the number may be higher, as many cases go unreported because the victims' families are too frightened to speak out. Another activist believes there are at least three abduction squads operating in Colombo, with several more in the north of the country, the heartland of the Tamil insurgency that gripped Sri Lanka for 26 years.

The government denies it is behind the disappearances.

The families say few cases are followed up by the police and the fate of the victims is unknown.

Abdul Hameed Noor Najiba, 62, fought desperately with the men who abducted her two sons outside their home in May 2010. "When I went to see the police, they laughed at me," she said. "When I saw the police Inspector-General, he said: 'Don't bother searching for them, just pray for their souls.' "

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sri-lankan-activists-still-disappeared/story-fnb64oi6-1226744065795#sthash.Yd0aF1hm.dpuf

Sri Lankan Army Chief unwittingly admits committing war crimes

BY RAMANAN VEERASINGHAM-
21 OCTOBER 2013

Inadvertently confirming that his troops have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the name of wiping out the Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Army Commander Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake has said earlier this week that the entire “world has been exhibited the way in which we defeated” the 30-year long separatist armed struggle in the island nation in May 2009.

Sri Lankan Army Chief Unwittingly Admits Committing War Crimes by nelvely

Malaysia: Drop Charges for Film Screening

Screening of Sri Lanka Documentary ‘No Fire Zone’ is Halted

“Malaysian authorities are flipping the switch off on basic freedoms by threatening to jail someone for showing a documentary. They should immediately drop the charges against Lena Hendry and find a way to undo the damage to Malaysia’s cultural reputation.”

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director

OCTOBER 20, 2013
(Bangkok) – The Malaysian authorities should immediately drop charges against a rights activist accused of showing a film about Sri Lanka’s civil war without Censorship Board approval, Human Rights Watch said today.

Lena Hendry, of the human rights group Pusat KOMAS, was charged under the Film Censorship Act for organizing a screening of “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” on July 3, 2013, in Kuala Lumpur. Hendry, whose trial starts on October 21, faces up to three years in prison and a fine of RM30,000 (US$9,500).
“Malaysian authorities are flipping the switch off on basic freedoms by threatening to jail someone for showing a documentary,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “They should immediately drop the charges against Lena Hendry and find a way to undo the damage to Malaysia’s cultural reputation.”
On July 3, Pusat KOMAS held screening of “No Fire Zone” at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Before the screening, an official from the Sri Lankan embassy in Kuala Lumpur met with the assembly hall management and tried to persuade them to stop the screening. The Sri Lanka embassy also communicated with the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Censorship Board to urge the film not be shown. At the showing, about 30 Malaysian Home Ministry officials, police, and Immigration Department personnel came. After negotiations between Pusat KOMAS and the officials, they agreed to allow the showing to take place, but also arrested Hendry. They also arrested the Pusat KOMAS president and a board member but released both without charge.
Malaysia’s Film Censorship Act imposes criminal penalties for any showing of a film without Censorship Board approval, in violation of the right to freedom of expression. Hendry was charged under section 6 of the act, which makes it an offense to produce, manufacture, have in one’s possession, circulate, distribute, or display such film or film-publicity material that has not been approved by the board.
The charges against Hendry appear politically motivated. Shortly before the screening at the assembly hall, “No Fire Zone” was shown for members of parliament without incident. And it was screened soon after by other nongovernmental organizations without any arrests. Pusat KOMAS regularly organizes screenings of films on sensitive subjects, with admission by pre-registration only.

“No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” is an award-winning documentary about alleged war crimes by the Sri Lankan government during the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. The documentary shows government artillery attacks that killed children, women, and the elderly and extrajudicial executions of captured fighters and civilians by government forces.
Sri Lanka has been the subject of two resolutions at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in which the government is criticized for failing to investigate alleged violations of the laws of war by both sides during the conflict. In August, following her visit to the country, Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, was sharply critical of the government’s failure prosecute those responsible for serious abuses. The Sri Lankan government has rejected the war crimes findings of Pillay, the film, and research by a UN panel of experts and human rights organizations.
On October 24, Malaysia’s human rights record will be under scrutiny during its Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
“Malaysia’s willingness to block the showing of ‘No Fire Zone’ and prosecute Hendry makes it a disturbing partner for Sri Lanka in whitewashing wartime atrocities,” Robertson said. “Malaysia should turn these missteps into an opportunity to join the many governments that are seeking a measure of justice for the Sri Lankan war’s many victims.
Malaysia will be among the governments attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka on November 15-17. Support for human rights is enshrined in the CommonwealthHarare Declaration of 1991. The Commonwealth is empowered to investigate serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration and to recommend measures for action.
“Malaysia’s carrying Sri Lanka’s torch just weeks before the Commonwealth meeting suggests political expediency trumping respect for free speech,” Robertson said.

Auditing Key Policy Functions Of A Central Bank

By W.A Wijewardena -October 21, 2013 

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Principles of Central Banking

6: Auditing Key Policy Functions of a central bank

Financial compliance by a central bank is not enough

Central banks are subject to a financial audit either by local auditors or by international auditors or by both. The local auditors are usually those from the state audit office, the Auditor General in Sri Lanka’s case, who conduct the audit as mandated by the laws establishing central banks.

For instance, Section 42 of the Monetary Law Act or MLA under which the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has been set up requires the Auditor General to audit the “accounts of the Central Bank” and submit a report to the Minister of Finance who in turn should lay that report before Parliament.

Since this requirement is straight forward without ambiguity, John Exter who prepared the blueprint of the Central Bank has not thought it necessary to clarify this provision by a commentary in the report he submitted to the Government of Ceylon in 1949. The more recent central banking acts such as the Nepal Rastra Bank Act which was enacted in 2002 too requires the Auditor General of Nepal to conduct a financial audit of the bank as per Section 92 of the Act. However, since Section 90 requires the NRB to maintain its accounts in terms of International Accounting Standards, it implies that the financial audit to be conducted by the Auditor General should be in accordance with the international auditing standards.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank too has informally adopted that its accounts should be maintained in accordance with international accounting standards and therefore its financial accounts are also audited in accordance with the international auditing standards.

Economic and price stability                                       Read More

5.  Why Engaging In Commercial Businesses Is Taboo For Central Banks

4. Should Central Banks Make Profits?

3. Discretion That Leads To Policy Inconsistency Is The Biggest Enemy Of A Central Banker

2. Governance Of Central Bank Boards

1. Why Should People Place Trust In Central Banks?

Meet the spindoctor Dayan Jayatilleka trying to make Navi Pillay look a fool

(Lanka-e-News-21.Oct.2013, 3.30PM) At the end of her recent week-long visit to Sri Lanka, UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay sharply criticised the government of Sri Lanka’s human rights record saying she feared the country was becoming increasingly authoritarian.

But spin doctor Dr Dayan Jayatilleke has picked on the words of Ms Pillay to fool Pillay and his target audience, clearly the West, to suggest President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not a dictator but a true democrat and he was not the person to be blamed for the evils of the regime. But the opposition calls President Rajapaksa a dictator and many Sri Lankans who live in exile call him “Idi Amin”. During provincial councils’ elections, Mr Rajapaksa asked in the rallies, like a saint, “Why people call me a dictator…?”

Meet the Spindoctor Dayan Jayatilleka Trying to Make Navi Pillay Look a Fool by nelvely

Cry Halal! And let slip bigotry

Sunday, October 20, 2013

This Tuesday morning at the supposedly auspicious time of 8.30, a group of monks will leave Colombo in a motorcade to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Their stated aim is to first obtain the blessings of the Sri Dalada for their vicious mission to fan religious and communal fires again. Then Cry Halal! And let slip the rabid beasts of bigotry.

Anti-Halal campaign

Cry Halal! and Let Slip Bigotry by nelvely

Mangala Samaraweera Dwells On His ‘Revolutionary Moment’

By Malinda Seneviratne -October 21, 2013 

Malinda Seneviratne

Meanwhile in a parallel universe called Humility…

When the General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake said that the Government is going to make me a political prisoner a lump materialized in my throat.  For a brief moment I was worried for I have always valued my freedom and I abhor all manner of limitations, be it gates, iron bars or propriety.  But then I dwelled on the matter of making something out of nothing.  It was a long dream.

I thought of Antonio Gramsci and the long years that the Italian Communist spent in jail.  I thought I could write my own ‘Prison Notebooks’.  I thought of Nazim Hikmet of Turkey, his incarcerations and exiles, and dreamed of writing poetry that would put Hikmet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Pablo Neruda to shame.

I thought of Nelson Mandela.  I remembered how that exceptional human being inspired revolutionary change even as he was constrained by walls, jailors and jibes.  It did occur to me that spending almost 30 years in jail as a political prisoner would take me into my eighties at the time of release, if I survived that long.  Still worth it, I told myself.

I wondered if I would be given paper and pencil or if I could get the prison authorities to agree to a laptop or iPad or iPhone. That way I could soar out of the prison in ways that Gramsci and Mandela could never have dreamed possible.

I thought of fellow-inmates in the event that I was not put in solitary confinement.  I’ve heard horror stories about prisons and how even political prisoners are subjected to harassment.  I’ve heard about prison deaths too and remembering all that made me shiver.  I told myself that I was a known-name and the Government will not risk me dying while being held.  For a brief moment I even considered suicide. I could, I know, get my media friends to say it as I want for it is not for nothing that I am known for ‘spin’.  But then again I love life too much. I want to savor the wrecking of stumps when those doosras beat bat and pad of my detractors.

I thought of Mahatma Gandhi.  ‘Mahatma Mangala,’ I murmured the name, rolled it over lip and around tongue several time. Didn’t sound right.  Still, a Mahatma wannabe is better than a Mangala, I told myself and smiles.

I looked back.  There was a time when I was a name.  Then I chose to be an opposition name, in retrospect at the worst possible moment.  Then other names in the UNP became better known and now I am just another political discard, an internally displaced politician if you will.  That’s the truth that I don’t acknowledge to myself very often.

Then it hit me.  If I was in prison, I will be forced to have a long and solemn conversation with myself and I will have to do it every day, every hour and every minute.

I am no Gramsci.  I am not a Mandela. I am Mangala.

I applied for bail.

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of ‘The Nation’ and his articles can be found at www.malindawords.blogspot.com

Assets accumulated at public expense should be given back - JVP

Monday, 21 October 2013 

The JVP has charged that wealth and assets accumulated by so-called people’s representatives at public expense should be given back to the people.

JVP politburo member and parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that some people’s representatives have accumulated large amounts of wealth after assuming office as public representatives.

He added that most often these representatives were even unable to explain how they had accumulated such a wealth in a short period of time.

“Some people’s representatives who have been engaged in ordinary jobs prior to being elected as people's representatives have managed to gather large amounts of monies in a few years after assuming office. All these assets are accumulated at the expense of the public,” Dissanayake has charged, adding that all such ill-gotten wealth should be given back to the people and people should demand for what is rightfully theirs.

Front line Ambassador on collision course with Rajapakses to be arrested on a frame up

(Lanka-e-News-21.Oct.2013, 3.30PM ) A top notch Sri Lankan Ambassador abroad who had incurred the displeasure of the Rajapakse regime is to be flown back to the country and arrested by the CID on a frame up, according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

This foreign Diplomat is well reputed for his rectitude and as having a backbone ( which are anathema to the Rajapakses) when discharging his official duties . Besides , he is not a political appointee and is a senior foreign service officer. 

Based on defense Ministry informed sources within , this Diplomat is to be arrested following an oral statement purportedly given by a Tamil national foreign service officer. 

It is significant to note that a former foreign Minister was arrested by the Rajapakse regime recently , and released on bail after producing before court. 

Though the duly appointed foreign Minister in Sri Lanka now under the Rajapakse regime is Dr. G L Peiris , it is a one time criminal Sajin Vaas Gunawardena who was also in prison , but now mollycoddled and pampered by the Rajapakses who is controlling the Ministry of foreign affairs.

Pro-Ranil Suspects Released In Matara; No-Show Herman Off To Singapore Soon

October 21, 2013 

A second attempt to hold an identification parade for the suspects in the UNP’s Matara clashes of October 5 failed today, and one of the plaintiffs who has also been remanded Malinga Herman Gunaratne was absent in court for the second consecutive court date.

Herman

Matara Magistrate Ruwan Sisira Kumara released 51 suspects on bail, including 32 suspects who were remanded following the violence earlier today. The Magistrate noted that Herman Guneratne’s cause for absence could not be accepted and that there was no reason to continue to hold some suspects in remand.

Guneratne who was arrested for firing a personal weapon into the crowd during the clash involving pro-Ranil and anti-Ranil factions of the UNP is currently at the Merchant Ward of the Colombo National Hospital. He was remanded by police on 5 October after at least three people received gunshot injuries.

Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that Guneratne is soon to be flown to Singapore to receive treatment there. It is unclear what his injuries are. Herman Guneratne is the father of ex UNP member and Provincial Councillor Attorney at Law Maithri Guneratne. Maithri Guneratne is a member of the radical anti-Ranil Wickremesinghe faction within the UNP and was recently expelled for his involvement in attacking Sirikotha following the leadership elections in December 2011.

The Colombo Telegraph has been unable to reach Herman Guneratne or Maithri Guneratne for comment.

Female MP’s father arrested for fraud

By Ananda Weerasuriya-

Monday, 21 Oct 2013

The father of a female Member of Parliament, who had collected a sum of Rs 710,000 from an individual, allegedly promising assistance to obtain a liquor licence, was produced before the Fort Magistrate’s Court today.

Fort Magistrate, Thilina Gamage, released the suspect on two personal bail of Rs 500,000 each and a cash bail of Rs 25,000.

The suspect, Jayatissa Nehinakody Gamini, had collected this sum from Sinnathamby Jeewaratnam, the owner of Ayesha net café situated at Galle road, Wellawatte, but had failed to deliver.

Gamini was taken into custody after Jeewaratnam made a complaint to the Fraud Investigation Bureau.

When the suspect was produced before Court, his lawyer informed the Magistrate that his client had undertaken to pay back the sum he had collected Jeewaratnam and the Magistrate granted him bail. (Ceylon Today Online)

Prostitution to be legalised says UNP

October 21, 2013

The United National Party (UNP) fears there is an attempt to legalise prostitution by promoting Casinos in Sri Lanka.

UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera said that while the Casino industry will bring money to the country it will also have a negative impact.

He says there is a need for a strong campaign to be launched by women’s groups and religious leaders to oppose Casinos being promoted in Sri Lanka.

The UNP MP said that at the last UNP parliamentary group meeting it was decided that the UNP will strongly object to the Casino bill in parliament.

“I put forward the proposal and it was approved,” he said.

He rejected reports that if the UNP comes to power it will look at taxing Casinos after giving them a licence and allow them to operate in the country.

The MP said that there are brothels operating at some beach side resorts and Casinos will promote that industry further. (Colombo Gazette)

SL's baila singing monks: "we ate dhana without knowing it was casino King's"

(Lanka-e-News-21.Oct.2013, 3.30PM) The Sunday Times newspapers have today publicized with photographs how the sangha super duper monks who parade as sentinels of the Buddhist faith wearing the sacred saffron robes are making a mockery of Buddhism , and how they loaded the prodigious amount of gifts (millions worth bribes) collected from Casino mogul Ravi Wijeratne into their super luxury vehicles, just 40 minutes after holding a media discussion to condemn and denounce openly (though hypocritically) casino and gambling business. 

Herein is that photograph ; this photograph clearly depicts the loading into vehicles of the ‘kappam’ (bribe) or the atapirikara worth many millions gifted by Ravi Wijewardena , the Sri Lanka casino mogul , the local partner of Australian casino ‘King’ James Packer who is seeking to open a casino empire at D R Wijewardena mawatha, Colombo.

The Sunday Times newspaper had questioned via the phone from a member of this sangha group, Muruthettuwe Ananda Thara , about this betrayal which had been described by many true Buddhists as worse than the historic betrayals of Devadhathaya and Judas. 

Hereunder are the questions asked and the answers given by Ananda Thera :

Q. Ven. Thera , Did you partake of a lunch after the media briefing on Thursday?
A. Yes. It was an ordinary dhana 
Q. Who arranged that dhana?
A. I do not know
Q. Who invited you to that dhana ?
A. Bellanwila Wimalarathne Thera invited me.
Q. Did you all discuss casino then?
A. Not one word about it was spoken.
Q. Then in what connection was this dhana given ?
A. That was a sangika dhana (offerings to monks)
Q. Did all of you who participated in the media discussion attend the dhana
A. Only some of us.
Q. Do you know that businessman?
A. I have no connections with him.
Q. You do not know him at all?
A. I don’t have an accurate identification of him.

The next culprit monk the Sunday Times had been able to contact was , Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratne Thera.

( It is learnt that Madhuluwawe Sobitha Thera the shameless unscrupulous organizer of this bribe taking , has disappeared after Lanka e news exposed these outrageous profane actions of the most bragging least practicing so called Buddhist sentinels .)

The answers given by Bellanwila Thera to the questions posed to him are as follows :

Q. Ven. Thera. Did you participate in the special noon dhana after the media discussion on Thursday?
A. I did receive an invitation for a dhana at a Restaurant but I was not aware of casino connections. We went for the Dhana , and returned after it was over.
Q. Did the businessman invite you?
A. The invitation was received from an assistant of the businessman.
Q. Do you know that businessman ?
A. We did not know him. We went to the Restaurant had the dhana and we came back.
Q. Muruthettuwe Ananda Thera said , it is you who invited him. Is that true?
A. I did not invite Ananda Thera. They had received invitations from the assistant aforementioned.
Q. When were these invitations received?
A. About two weeks ago.
Q. Was the subject of casino discussed within the Restaurant?
A. No. We did not know the host was connected with casino .
Q. When you received the invitation didn’t you inquire about the details of the dhana ?
A. When we receive an invitation we do not inquire deeply - who is extending the invitation or who is giving the dhana . We go for the dhana , take what are given and come back. Some websites are trying to sling mud at us.

The report of Sunday Times referred to earlier herein fully corroborates the truth of the story published by Lanka e news last Thursday. These fraudulent hypocritical monks who are a disgrace to the true Buddhism and its precepts are now trying to commit another sin by lying profusely ( another evil preached against by Lord Buddha) to cover up their misdeeds, and mislead the people. They are claiming that they did not know who was inviting them to the dhana , and the websites are just trying to sling mud at them. 

Are they so naïve to say in their defense , they would even go to the infernal hell if they are invited to eat a ‘royal dhana’ without inquiring ? They have only proved they have even beaten Devadhathaya in their shameless greed and breed .

If Maduluwawe Sobitha , Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratne , Iththepane Dhammalankara , Kotugoda Dhammawasa Muruththetuwe Ananda, and Nanda of a temple in the vicinity of Parliament making up this fraudulent team of monks did not know the individual who made them sit in the Restaurant after washing their feet , it is a most perplexing question , how these monks knew of the Australian casino mogul James Packer? It will be unsurprising if these monks after gambling in their dens pretend they do not know them like how they ate without knowing who gave the dhana.

It is a pity that these hypocritical sangha members have been able to nurse a conviction based on their despicable confidence that everyone in this country will believe every lie they utter , and the innocent laity are fools. 

While holding the anti casino banner aloft and in front deceitfully , these monks have gone behind and beneath it , and collected filthy lucre from these casino moguls surreptitiously. These acts will certainly go down in history as the biggest trickery and mockery this country’s sangha leaders of this century are resorting to at the expense of their gullible followers and the foolish people of this century.

Might we mention in the interests of the true Buddhists , Lord Buddha in his teaching has emphasized not to blindly follow just because someone says , that is what Lord Buddha preached , or to slavishly adhere to traditions because they are time honored , rather what is paramount is to use one’s own intelligence and understand religion duly in the right perspective .

Hence , let us hope the realization will dawn on us as true Buddhists that we need not any longer be deluded by these super duper monks just because they are draped in a saffron robe and indulge in verbiage dins which invariably and finally smell worse than garbage bins .