Clarke urged to re-think his Sri Lanka decision

 Tuesday, 22 October 2013 

The Tamil Refugee Council has urged the Australian cricket captain, Michael Clarke, to re-think his decision to promote James Packer’s casino venture in Sri Lanka.

It has been reported that Clarke has agreed to work on the education and training aspects of the proposed $400 million gambling resort, which is to receive huge tax concessions from the corrupt government of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“As a paid endorser of this new casino in Colombo, Michael Clarke should understand that he’s lending his name to the promotion of a government credibly accused of war crimes and a whole range of human rights abuses,” said Tamil Refugee Council spokesperson, Aran Mylvaganam.

“We urge him to think again. Recently the Canadian Foreign Minister, John Baird, described the decision to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo next month as ‘accommodating evil.’ Packer, with the assistance of the Australian cricket captain, is doing exactly the same.

“It’s bad enough for a businessman like Packer to put the dollar ahead of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. But to use the most famous name in Australian sport to help him do it is disgraceful.

“The usual mantra about creating Sri Lankan jobs is meaningless in this context. These jobs pale against the damage that is done to the Tamil population by the continuation of the persecution, which Packer aids through his engagement with the government.

“Economic progress brings little benefit for Tamil people, most of whom are condemned to lives of poverty through the appropriation of their land and their livelihoods by a military-run Sinhalisation program in the Tamil homelands in the north and east.

“Clarke should be aware he is lending his name to the promotion of a brutal regime that the United Nations has cited for war crimes and crimes against humanity for murdering at least 40,000 innocent civilians in 2009 and remains engaged in genocide and ethnic-cleansing of the Tamil population.

“We ask him: Would he do the same in Zimbabwe? We are sure he wouldn’t. Yet, in many ways, Rajapaksa has committed even worse crimes than the government of Robert Mugabe.

“They say he will be a mentor and role model during his visits to Sri Lanka. What sort of role model? His name and face will be plastered all over Sri Lanka, and internationally, giving succor and credibility to a government that, according to the UN and many other universally-respected agencies, murders, tortures, disappears, and rapes its own citizens “

For further information contact Tamil Refugee Council 0400 597 351.

Give back our lands!

 Tuesday, 22 Oct 2013

Several members of the Veddah community seen yesterday with a group of monks attached to Ravana Balakaya at the Mahaweli Authority in Colombo, demanding the lands they have lost a number of years ago, to the Mahaweli Development Project. Pix by Vimukthi Embuldeniya

Sri Lanka shuts factory after suspected toxic gas leak

Oct 22, 2013 

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lankan authorities shut down a detergent factory in the its business capital Colombo on Tuesday after more than 70 people were hospitalised following a suspected toxic gas leak, police said.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said 72 factory workers and nearby residents were taken to hospital earlier on Tuesday after gas - thought to be ammonia - leaked from the plant.

"Some of them are still in hospital eight hours after the incident was reported," Mr Rohana said.

"The initial investigations suggest there had been an ammonia gas leak from the plant," he said.

Jaffna hospital observes 26th year of IPKF massacre

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 October 2013, 15:54 GMT]
Donating modern scanners to the X-ray division of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the Indian government had recently requested the administration of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to do away with the memorial site situated within the hospital, but the employees were firm in refusing to erase the memory of 21 doctors, nurses and other medical staff together with 46 patients were slain by the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in one of the brutal massacres witnessed in Jaffna when the invading Indian military was at war with the LTTE in 1987. The medical staff and the kith and kin of the victims, who remembered their co-workers, patients and family members on Monday, demanded a public apology from the Government of India. 



While having the audacity to ask Eezham Tamils to raze down the memorial of civilians in the Jaffna hospital, New Delhi dignitaries visiting the island nowadays make it a new ritual to pay ‘homage’ at the memorials for the IPKF in Colombo and Jaffna.

The war crimes committed by the IPKF on Eezham Tamil civilians are yet to be brought under international investigations.

New Delhi bigwigs visiting Jaffna paying ‘homage’ at the IPKF memorial built at Palaali, inside the Sinhala Military Zone of occupying Colombo, is an arrogant and insulting show of New Delhi on its partnership and complicity in the occupation of the country of Eezham Tamils and in their genocide, commented a social activist who was at the hospital memorial event. 

Meanwhile, a doctor who did not wished to be named, shared the memories of the hospital massacre with the journalists who were present at the memorial site in the hospital on Monday: 

“The soldiers of the so-called Indian Peace Keeping Force that entered the X-ray room of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital on 21 October 1987 dragged our medical staff, including senior doctors, one by one, and opened fire on them brutally slaying them as I was witnessing the unfolding massacre as I was hiding away from the Indian soldiers. I will never forget the Indian atrocity committed on us. It is not possible to repress the traumatic memory of the scene where all my senior doctors under whom I started my career being brutally killed,” the doctor said.

This year, the medical staff members, who escaped the massacre, retired eyewitnesses and the kith and kin of the medical workers slain by the IPKF, also spoke on the need for a Mu'l'livaaykkaal Remembrance site in Jaffna.

135 people were killed at the massacre in Jaffna Hospital on that ill-fated day, according to affidavits gathered by North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR). The human rights body of Eezham Tamils under the Tamil de-facto State, had published the names of 60 persons slain in the massacre in its report ‘IPKF massacres of Tamils in Sri Lanka’.

On 23rd Anniversary Of Northern Muslim Exodus In Sri Lanka

By Rifai Naleemi -October 22, 2013 

Dr. Rifai Naleemi

Sri Lankan Muslims of Northern Province still vividly remember those dark days in their life. It was at the end of October 1990 that Muslims of Northern provinces were abruptly asked to leave their own homes and properties within the time limits of few hours. They were also asked not to take any valuable items with them. They were not allowed to take even their hard earned money or jewelleries.  They were not allowed to sell their properties and belongings to anyone. They were asked to leave their native villages empty handed. They were forced to evaluate their native place of birth with cloths that they were wearing. This happened in this so called modern civilised world.

This was some sort of barbarism that LTTE inflicted on harmless and innocent Muslims of Northern province in Sri Lanka. This was done in the name of freedom fighting.  Tales and stories of unbearable suffering and hardships of these innocent victims are not yet, properly documented in a professional manner. Of course, some attempts have been made to document the ordeals of these innocent people and yet, the voices of these innocent victims have not reached ears and hearts of Sri Lankan politicians and policy makers. Still some of these people are destined to live as displaced people in many parts of this Island.

I was wittingly or unwittingly destined to watch the ordeals of some of these people. I happened to be in Puttalam when this ordeal was unfolding in 1990. I happened to watch the suffering of these people who came into Puttalam empty handed without any basic necessities of life. Some of them came walking hundreds of miles. Some of them came in empty stomach. Some of them were traumatised with their suffering and sadness. Some of them were sick and emotionally charged with sorrow and remorse.  The entire Muslim community in Sri Lanka witnessed this ordeal in utter shock and dismay.

The Muslim community did try to console these innocent people and yet, the magnitude of this suffering was so great and beyond human comprehension and human taking.  I should say that Muslim people of Puttalam and its suburbs provided much needed help for these people at this crucial time of urgency. I think that no human being on earth should undergo sufferings like this. It was a really a pathetic situation. I would need volumes to write ordeals of these people. For the last 23 years they have suffered a lot in many aspect of their life. They suffered from poverty. They did not have good accommodations to live with their families. They could not educate their children properly. They could not get good employment opportunities. They faced many social problems. They could not lead a decent life in these displaced places. What happened to them is an historical account and yet we should record them to learn lessons from it.Read More

Sri Lanka Raises Defense Budget Despite Foreign Pressure

A Sri Lankan soldier stands at attention Oct. 10 during the army’s 64th anniversary and Army Day ceremony in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s government Monday raised defense spending to a record 253 billion rupees ($1.95 billion). (Lakruwan Wanniarachchi / AFP)

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s government Monday raised defense spending to a record 253 billion rupees ($1.95 billion), despite international pressure to scale down the military after ending a decades-long separatist war.
Figures presented in parliament showed the defense ministry getting its highest ever allocation for spending in 2014, marginally higher than the 249 billion rupees budgeted for this year.
The latest figures were unveiled as the UN Human Rights Council and other rights groups asked the government to de-militarize the former war zones in the island’s north after crushing Tamil rebels in May 2009.
There was no immediate comment from the government Monday to the latest defense spending figures, but the authorities in the past have insisted that they need to maintain high spending to ensure that the defeated rebels do not try to regroup.
Security forces in 2009 declared an end to 37 years of ethnic war which had claimed at least 100,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
Defense and police together account for nearly 12 percent of the government’s total estimated spending of 2.54 trillion rupees in 2014, marginally lower than the 2.56 trillion this year.
Sri Lanka’s economy recorded more than 8 percent growth in the first two full years after crushing the rebels, but slowed to 6.4 percent last year. This year’s expansion is estimated at 7.5 percent by the central bank.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, who holds both the finance and defense portfolios, is due to unveil the full 2014 budget on November 21, when he is expected to announce how he will raise money to meet state expenses.

APPROPRIATION BILL PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT

October 22, 2013 

The government Appropriation Bill for 2014 was presented to parliament a short while ago.

As Minister of Finance, President Mahinda Rajapaksa will deliver the budget speech on November 21. The budget debate on the second reading will begin on November 23 and continue for a week while the vote will be taken on November 29.

The executive committee debate will begin on December 2 and will last 16 days while the third reading and vote will be taken on December 20.

Anyone But Ranil: A Three Step Comeback For The UNP

By Dayan Jayatilleka - October 22, 2013

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

“War tends to create monarchs…Any war that continues beyond a certain point is a monarchy approaching.” – Regis Debray

Most commentaries on the crisis of UNP omit the chasm-like disconnect between that party and the national electorate. That yawning gap is best evidenced by the case of Dayasiri Jayasekara. He lost his bid to be elected the National Organizer of the UNP at its Convention of 2011, and went on towin a whopping three hundred thousand preference votes at the Provincial Council election a mere two years later. What that shows is just how far out of touch the UNP is with the collective psyche and mood of the vast number of voters outside the party fold. This is similar to the fate of the Tea Party movement of the US Republicans, and the trade-unionist Trotskyite Left of the British Labour party in the Opposition during the Thatcher years (before the New Labour/Third Way makeover). Closer home, this was the situation of the UNP of Sir John Kotelawela (which resulted in the ‘event’ of ’56) and the SLFP under Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike (which kept it in the opposition for 17 years).

Analyses of the UNP’s crisis tend to dodge the question of the leadership by diversions such as the largely rhetorical poser: “will the mere replacement of Ranil enable the party to win?” The sheer stupidity of the question resides in the unwillingness to grasp that the present need of the UNP is not so much to win elections as to stop its downward plunge—and stopping that plunge requires the replacement of the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe as a prerequisite.

Any possible UNP victory is but a third phase of the comeback process. The first is to stop the plunge; the haemorrhage of votes and MPs. The second is to bring the party back to its natural base vote and its status as the largest single party in the country. The third and final is an electoral triumph by achievement of a plurality of votes. Not even the first stage can be reached without visibly changing the UNP’s leader.

The SLFP couldn’t win for 17 years because of the memory of the closed economy, scarcities and queues. The UNP stayed in office because it had liberated the citizens from that curse. Today the UNP under Ranil suffers from a similar or worse malady: that of its record of appeasement of the LTTE, while the UPFA underMahinda Rajapaksa has the merit of having liberated the masses from terrorism. The SLFP had to dump the most visible symbol of that economic era, Mrs Bandaranaike, and replace her with a new candidate and leader committed to an open economy with a human face, namely Chandrika. Similarly, the UNP has to ditch Ranil and replace him with a patriot if it is to get rid of the tattoo of ‘traitor’. One may ask how this will be different from Rajapaksa rule. The answer is simple– in the same manner and to the same extent that CBK programme was different from the UNP’s Open Economy: representing a younger generation, more modern, more in tune with global trends and with a human face. The UNP needs ‘pluralist patriotism with a human face’.Read More

Lakthilaka had run to Mahinda regime for protection! -
Dr.Vickramabahu
(Lanka-e-News-22.Oct.2013, 3.30PM) Lakthilaka and his group in the past classified Ranil and his leadership as imbecile and effeminate, incapable of mass mobilization. “They are not liberals but libertines who like to dream and wait for opportunity drop from heaven” he said. Apparently what Ranil could do was to make speeches, mostly in English, in the parliament and other such assemblies. Accordingly Ranil’s street actions were confined to pickets made by few gentlemen with a sprinkling of ladies in some exclusive street corner with out any slogan shouting. If masses join Ranil would vanish and poor masses do not get any opportunity to mix with the leader. So Lakthilaka went on a head hunting mission to find a leader who could bear the smell of the down trodden. I was bit upset when they brought in the same sex accusation also, into the criticism. It was mixed with the claim that Ranil cannot approach the Sinhala village masses with his inability to address Sinhala masses in colloquial language. I could see were the wind is blowing because Fascist Italy declared homosexuality to be a social disease. Mussolini perceived women's primary role to be child bearers, while men were warriors, once saying, "war is to man what maternity is to the woman”. The Nazis argued that homosexuality was degenerate, effeminate, perverted, and undermined masculinity because it did not produce children. When Lakthilaka talks about a manly leader who could arouse the southern village masses in the twenty first century, I automatically smell garbage of fascism.

The days of Achilles and Hector are gone for ever. So are the days of Rama and Ravana. Also we cannot expect horse riding Cromwell or Bismarck to arrive in the scene. Male chauvinist politics cannot lead us to development. Mahinda also proved that in the last few years. We have to look for leaders who could bring modern thinking to the masses. It is not a problem in a country that has accepted dialectical thinking of Buddhism for centuries. We have to negate what is dished out as Buddhism by fanatics such as Bodu Bala sena. We have to think of the other on the basis of Meththa, Karuna, Muthitha, and Upeksha. Then only we can unite the country and move forward. I was truly surprised when JR suddenly turns 180 degrees to call for devolution to solve the Tamil national problem. By adding devolution his own dictatorial constitution was diluted heavily. He had a Bismarckian power to control his people and take them to the task of adding 13th amendment t to the constitution. He was neither an orator in Sinhala nor a leader for mass action. But he had the ability and luck to get others assistance to complement what he lacked. All that is in the past; today we need to go beyond all that and make a revolutionary change in the society.

At Matara Lakthilaka had to face some thing that he never expected. He expected more and more to join as the procession roles on creating a massive demonstration which could be a challenge to Mahinda regime. But he never expected these imbecile cowardly leaders to challenge his ferocious out fit; because the UNP always had a fascist styled tendency within its base. We cannot forget that the burning of the Jaffna library happened during UNP rule. Though the blame was put on Gamini and others the real activists were never exposed. So they are there still prowling around. Obviously they cannot be with Ranil, who want to unite with the TNA accepting LLRC recommendations. Then where are these acute chauvinists? I cannot answer but we have to be vigilant. Suddenly a group of substantial number of people came into the streets to fight for the UNP leadership. Thanks to the anti Ranil media institute we could see a crowed consisting of large number of females. Many of the latter were old women in long dresses. Funny thing is that Lakthilaka now has to admit that he was beaten by a radical mass organised by the incompetent UNP leadership and that he had run to Mahinda regime for protection!

Invitation: Celebration Of The Arts Of The Heart And The Roots

October 22, 2013 

Celebration of the Arts of the Heart and the Roots!

Performances! Displays!! Interactions!!!

25, 26 and27nth October 2013

09.00am to 10.30pm

Sivanandha Thabovanam

Uppuveli Road,

Trincomalle

A program of Dept. of Hindu Cultural Affairs

Performances, Displays & interactions of the peripherals will parallels with the conventional traditional art forms!

mahidi kooththu, kooththu, kaman kooththu, thappu, udukku, parai,karaham/kumbham, polladi, kafringea, vaasaappu,  performances of veddhas, folk songs and dances, burgher music, kaaththavarayan kooththu, ponnar sankar, silambam and more and more of its kind!

Plus

‘kalari’-Traditional Theatre Construction, ‘Madaalayam’-traditional ritual architectural construction and Thoranam – traditional decorative construction!!

And

Two hundred traditional artists from all over Sri Lanka will illuminate this festival with their energy of mastery in their arts!!!

‘Madai’ is an offering of the communities for the communities!!!

Madai’: Festival of Traditional Arts and Celebration of Traditional Artists

Read More

An ageing population

Is migration a solution?-October 22, 2013 

Population ageing occurs when the median age of a nation rises due to rising life expectancy, people living longer and/or combined with a fall of the birth rate. In the developed world, an increase in life expectancy has in the past caused the median age to increase and the population to age rapidly. More recently, even in less developed countries, this has occurred, except for 18 nations declared to be ‘demographic outliers’ by the United Nations, those that do not fit into the world standard norm.
The fact that the population is ageing is the reality in every other country in the world. In recorded human history, the world has never before experienced an aged population as of today. The UN’s prediction is that the rate of population ageing will, in the present century, exceed that of the previous century.

An Ageing Population by nelvely

The Health Insurance Marketplace is Open!

The White House

Shared publicly  - (Monday, October 21, 2013) - Yesterday 3:14 PM

Share the news: More than 500,000 Americans have already applied for health coverage through #Obamacare—but there's more work to do: http://HealthCare.gov #GetCovered

 

The White House
Monday, October 21, 2013 

More than just a website

On October 1st, even as the federal government was shutting down, HealthCare.gov — the new Health Insurance Marketplace where people can find and apply for affordable health insurance plans as part of Obamacare — opened for business nationwide.

As you may have heard, the website launch hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly as it should have. And with nearly 20 million visits to the site in the first several weeks, the problems were aggravated by the website’s popularity.

But even in spite of those problems, thousands of Americans are currently signing up and saving money. Nearly half a million Americans have already applied for health insurance through the federal and state Marketplaces. It’s not hard to see why: Once people get through the door, they overwhelmingly like the benefits and cost of the products available to them — especially when compared with the discriminatory private market that was previously the only game in town.

Some of the best and brightest are now doing everything they can to fix the site as quickly as possible. People are working overtime, 24/7, and we’ve brought in some of the best IT experts from across the country to join the team at the federal agency responsible for running the Marketplace. And as President Obama said today, “Nobody’s madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed.”

It’s also important to remember that the website is not the only way to enroll. You can dial the call center at 1-800-318-2596 and apply directly over the phone. Typically, it takes about 25 minutes for an individual or about 45 for a family. You can also find local “navigators” who can help you enroll in person at LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.

Learn more about what we’re doing to make the site better and enrollment easier.

The President is the first to admit that the website’s problems are unacceptable. But Obamacare is more than just a website. Most Americans already have health insurance through their employer, Medicare, or Medicaid, and they don’t need to go to the Marketplace for new coverage. Instead, the health care law provides new benefits and increased protection: Young people can stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26, seniors are receiving more affordable prescription medicine, and preventive care like mammograms are free.

So while there are major improvements to make on the new website, millions of Americans are already benefiting from the health care law. And we’re making sure that those who don’t have access to affordable health insurance today can sign up — online, on the phone, and even in person.

Here are some of the things we’ve done in the meantime to make the process easier. Take a look, and pass this message along to those you know who are trying to sign up for health care:

    You can now preview plans and prices available in your area without filling out the online application.
    You can find out, with an improved calculator, whether your income and household size may qualify you for lower costs on your monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
    You can apply for coverage 4 ways: by phone, online, by mail with a paper application, or with the help of an in-person assister.

Mannar Bishop plays peacemaker

By Easwaran Rutnam-October 20, 2013

It was an issue which threatened to boil over. An issue which from a sign of hope was about to turn tables. But in walked the peace maker who stressed on bringing in sanity before self.

Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph, last week prevented what seemed destined to be a serious rift in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

The TNA had only recently secured a resounding victory at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections giving hope, not just to the Tamils but also the international community, including India.

However those hopes were almost dashed after nine elected TNA members of the Council refused to take oaths before Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran.

Some party members were angered over Wigneswaran’s decision to take oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa while others had issues with the composition of the NPC Ministries.

Mannar Bishop Plays Peacemaker by nelvely

A Northern Path to Reconciliation in Sri Lanka

• by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan
• - on 10/21/2013

• Northern People Humble the “People’s Dynasty”
  I salute the people of the Northern Province for showing the door to the self-proclaimed “People’s Dynasty”; the only province in the country to do so, which is a glimmer of hope for re-establishment of democracy in the country. Although I am not a fan of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), I wholeheartedly welcome its landslide win in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections as a symbolic defeat of corruption, crime, cronyism, militarism, and nepotism of the Rajapaksa regime.

A Northern Path to Reconciliation in Sri Lanka by nelvely

Wingneswaran act on script written by USA an produced by India [ Monday, 21 October 2013, 08:25.36 AM GMT +05:30 ] General Secretary of the National Patriotic Movement Dr. Wasantha Bandara said CM of the northern province act on script written by United States of America and produced by India. Shooing of climax scenes would be on next March. Northern Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswars has step on in to victorious political career. During the time of swearing-in ceremony CM promised to maintain friendship with the government. He always says that he is willing to sever people through powers granted to the provincial councils and never accept racism spilt by TNA. CM of the northern province act on script written by United States of America and produced by India. Wigneswaran carry out a gentlemen level politics. However Lankan government fooled by this script. Government believes that they have created separation among TNA members. Shooting of climax scene schedule on next march at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. At this point Wingneswaran will say “we maintain friendship and respect Lankan central government; however they refused to grant powers to the provincial council”. End of the climax Wingneswaran will receive Land and police powers to the provincial councils, he said.

Broken promises: FUTA girds itself for the fray

By Dasun Edirisinghe-October 20, 2013

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) has appointed a three-member committee, under its Ex-Co, to review the progress of the agreement entered into with the government when they stopped their 100-day-long strike last year.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri told The Island that except for two demands the government had failed to honour the promises given by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa in October, 2012, to redress their grievances.

"We will review the progress of the implementation of matters in the agreement at length," the FUTA President said, adding that they would decide on their future course of action at the next Ex-Co meeting after receiving the report on the progress from the three-member committee.

The university autonomy was a main point of the agreement, Dr. Dewasiri said. Politicians meddled with university affairs and the appointment of Colombo Vice Chancellor was a case in point, he alleged.

The senior academic said that Minister Rajapaksa had agreed to appoint a committee consisting of two members from the FUTA to resolve the problems of university teachers, under the Higher Education Ministry, but that promise had not yet been honoured, he said.

"They claim that the delay is due to our failure to appoint two FUTA members to the committee, but we submitted the two names some six months ago," Dr. Dewasiri said.

He said that in the agreement, the government promised to implement a five-year mid-term plan over their salary issues. FUTA expected the government to implement the first step through the November budget.

Indian Decision On Attending CHOGM Will Affect Its Moral

By Jehan Perera -October 21, 2013 

Jehan Perera

Doubts are being cast on Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s willingness to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in November in Sri Lanka.   Indian spokespersons have been very circumspect on the issue.  Without committing themselves or giving an indication of whether the answer will be in the affirmative or negative, they merely say that the level of Indian representation has yet to be decided on.  Indian politics is always full of issues that require the full time attention of its government leadership.  Later this year, and coinciding with CHOGM there will be several important Indian states that will be going to the polls for state level elections.  However, the most likely cause of the Indian Prime Minister’s indecision to visiting Sri Lanka is the opposition to Indian participation that has been emanating from the state of Tamil Nadu.

During the last phase of the war which ended in 2009, emotions in Tamil Nadu escalated to fever pitch over India’s support to Sri Lanka to militarily defeat the LTTE at a very high human cost.  This led the Indian government to seek out and obtain pledges from its Sri Lankan counterparts that priority would be given to ensuring the safety of the civilian population trapped in the war zones.  In addition, India sought and obtained pledges from the Sri Lankan government that it would implement a political solution after the war that would satisfy the aspirations of the Tamil people.   Not only did the Sri Lankan government agree to implement a political solution, it also assured India that it would go beyond the existing framework of devolution of power to an undefined 13 Amendment Plus.

What makes the situation difficult for the Indian government in dealing with the demands emanating from Tamil Nadu is that the Sri Lankan government’s implementation of its promises has been like the proverbial Curate’s Egg, which was good and bad in parts. Sri Lanka continues to be condemned by the international human rights community and by some Western governments on its treatment of the civilian population during the war, and even after the war.  The Canadian government’s decision to downgrade its representation at the Commonwealth Summit is on account of human rights issues, including the failure to investigate war crimes, and the larger failure to observe “Commonwealth Values”.  These are also issues that continue to agitate activists in Tamil Nadu and human rights activists the world over.

Impossible Achievement                                  Read More  

Learn to keep your friends close

The Hindu ArchivesThe Optics: If India stays away from the summit, the Sri Lankan establishment may come to believe it is better served by aligning along the Islamabad-Beijing axis, just as D.S. Senanayake (centre) sided with the West to keep Nehru at arm’s-length. A file picture of the two leaders in Colombo.

DAYAN JAYATILLEKA-October 21, 2013

If it boycotts the CHOGM summit, New Delhi will alienate Sri Lanka and erode the progress it has made in nudging Colombo to devolve more powers to the Northern Province

Learn to Keep Your Friends Close by nelvely