VIDEO: AS CHRISTMAS DAWNS...

December 25, 2013 

The Christmas service with the participation of the Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Dr. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith was held at midnight on Tuesday (Dec. 24) at St. Anne’s Church in Wattala. Midnight mass was held at Churches across Sri Lanka as Christmas trees, decorations and Mangers signifying the birth of the Child Jesus was seen in all churches and Christian houses. (Pic by Osanda Daham Nimsara)

Why Sri Lankan Air will never profit

(Lanka-e-News- 24.Dec.2013, 11.30PM) It is clear that Sri Lankan Airlines, in spite of many outcries from COPE, opposition members and Minister Dew Gunasekera, will never ever come out of the red. This is according to our sources from Katunayake and we will list some of the main reasons why it will not be so.

The first citizen MARA thinks this airline is his private property and when ever he travels overseas for family matters, official trips, jolly trips and uninvited funerals, he takes a largest upgraded A340 aircraft, while another is kept on stand –by in Katunayake on ground, till he is lands in the destination or on the return till he returns to the country. The National airline shamefully running on people funds operating less than 20 aircraft, When MARA travels, airline have to run minus two aircraft, leaving all booked passengers all over their network with long delays at airports and most of the times accommodated in hotels and even transferred to other airlines. Our airline insiders are asking will the Oneworld member passengers accept these long delays after the national carrier joins the alliance this year. These interruptions costing the airline millions of rupees over one day and the delays’ are then, continues for a week, airline having to pocket out millions of rupees and while in the parliament the opposition blindly screams for loss making.

Another area where the company is losing money is the recruiting spree. When Emirates was Booted out of the merger, Sri Lankan had 4800 staff and now the numbers has gone up to nearly 6800 and still growing. Many new positions are added to the company, at times creating new slots. These positions are made by the family’s’ wimps and fancies and no one can protest. A head of security position was created and a retired Major Gen was taken in, costing the company over a million rupees a month package. Every G10 manager newly recruited or promoted on political affiliation is costing the company over Rs.150000 on allowance and benefits alone, without the salary. So many new positions are just created with no airline knowledge or any international norms that the airline followed for many years .The other main ignorance in the making is outsourcing functions like finance, revenue, pricing ,web booking departments, but with no reduction in staff numbers.

We also have a fondness in looking after the friends of the family. The former CEO, brother of Presidents’ favourite puppy, is having an all paid holiday in UK, doing sweet nothing for Sri Lankan Airlines. The man is costing the airline over 2 million a month, and sits in the Sri Lankan Embassy, supposedly promoting Sri Lanka as a destination and the National Airline. The figures show that UK has the lowest tourists’ growth to Lanka and one of the least profitable routes of the airline. Needless to mention, that he destroyed the airline, half way before leaving it to the present pack.

Then let’s talk of the shrewd way the present CEO makes his accounts fatter in Australia and Dubai. Our insiders say that he gave out the airlines credit card ticketing - Web booking, ticketing business to a local party on a profit share basis. With a monthly income of Rs.800-900 lacks, a cool Rs.8-9 million is shared amongst the partners. This deal was apparently forced, against the wishes of finance and Audit department. Now the Edge group which runs this has their own Hotels, real Estate and property business running in the country, in less than 2 years. Sri Lankan insiders say there is a connection to a powerful son too in this racket, and the rogue management is pushing staff to save more and bring more profits. In the coming weeks will give you many inside stories from Sri Lankan, how the tin-tin looking Chairman got the Rolex watch, and how the known swindler, CEO got his new house in Barnes place, Colombo 7. The workers now say “Make money but don’t kill the airline- the pride of the nation that has kept so many people alive for years”.

WikiLeaks: For Sri Lankans It’s The First Time Since The Conflict Began City Looking So Festive – US

December 25, 2013

“Colombo is lit up this holiday season, with electric lights draped all over the city. The GSL is sponsoring the effort in a bid to increase the city’s attractiveness. For Sri Lankans, it is the first time since the conflict began almost 20 years ago that they remember the city looking so festive. Amid all the discussions focusing on the ceasefire, federalism, and other dry subjects, it is illustrative that Sri Lanka’s experience of the peace process also involves something as simple–and evocative–as bright lights.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

While the vast majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist or Hindu, there is a long tradition in the country of respecting holidays of other religions, especially Christmas | Photo courtesy AFP

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaksdatabase. The cable was written on December 11, 2002 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.

The ambassador wrote; “Colombo is newly lit up this holiday season. Multi- colored electric lights hang over streets, and bedeck buildings and trees. The government is sponsoring the effort in a bid to increase the city’s attractiveness to locals and tourists after years of war-enforced austerity. Seeking a ripple effect that could help restore ethnic harmony, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has even taken a personal interest, urging businesses to put up lights wherever possible. In response, the private sector is actively participating in a committee formed by the Mayor’s office, and beginning in late November, many hotels and privately-owned buildings strung up lights at their own expense. This, despite the surging price of electricity and frequent power outages that mean that expensive generators have to be used to keep the lights on. (Note: While the vast majority of coverage has been highly positive, there have been a couple of articles in the press grousing about the financial cost to the country of the lighting campaign.)Read More

WikiLeaks: ‘Just Do Nothing’ Is What Ranil Learned From His Christmas Vacation Reading On Roosevelt ! – US

December 26, 2013 |

“The Ambassador was called in to see Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on the afternoon of Saturday, January 10. Milinda Moragoda was also present. The meeting began with the participants exchanging thoughts on the books they had read over the Christmas/New Year’s lull, with the PM noting in particular a biography of Franklin Roosevelt.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The “Confidential” cable was signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead on January 12, 2004.

The US Embassy wrote; “As the Ambassador left, the PM commented again on his vacation reading. He said that one thing he had learned from the Franklin Roosevelt biography was that for a lot of the time ‘Roosevelt just did nothing.’ That might be the wrong inspiration to take from that book.”

International Rohingya Conference in the USA Calls for Stopping Genocide in Myanmar

Dr. Habib Siddiqui Special to Salem-News.com-Dec-24-2013

The Rohingya people, who mostly live in the western Rakhine state of Myanmar, are the most persecuted people in our time.

The first international conference in the USA on the plight of the Rohingya people of Myanmar – “Stop Genocide and Restore Rohingya’s Citizenship Rights in Myanmar” - was held in the campus of University of Wisc., Milwaukee on December 14, 2013.

(MILWAUKEE) - The first international conference in the USA on the plight of the Rohingya people of Myanmar – “Stop Genocide and Restore Rohingya’s Citizenship Rights in Myanmar” - was held in the campus of University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee on December 14, 2013.

It was jointly hosted by the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) and the Rohingya Concern International (RCI). The conference opened with a welcome speech from BRAFA’s chairman – Mr. Shaukhat Kyaw Soe Aung (MSK Jilani) and Dr. Chia Vang of the Ethnic Studies program at the university.

International Rohingya Conference in the USA Calls for Stopping Genocide in Myanmar by nelvely

UN to send more troops to South Sudan

Fresh fighting erupts as UN humanitarian chief warns that thousands of South Sudanese might have been killed.

25 Dec 2013

The United Nations Security Council has approved plans to almost double the number of UN peacekeepers in South Sudan.

The 15-member council unanimously authorised on Tuesday a request by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to boost the strength of the UN mission in South Sudan to 12,500 troops and 1,323 police - up from its previous mandate of 7,000 troops and 900 police.

Earlier on Tuesday the top UN humanitarian chief in the country said thousands of South Sudanese have been killed in the week-long violence, giving the first clear indication of the scale of conflict engulfing the young nation.

"Absolutely no doubt in my mind that we're into the thousands" of dead, Toby Lanzer told reporters on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the government said that South Sudanese troops were fighting to stop rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar taking control of the major oil producing Upper Nile state capital, Malakal.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from Bor, Jonglei, South Sudan. WARNING: Report contains graphic images.

"There has been heavy fighting between the forces loyal to Dr Riek Machar and the government forces (in Malakal),"
presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told the Reuters news agency by phone.

Western powers and east African states, keen to prevent more chaos in a fragile region, have tried to mediate between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, who was vice president until Kiir sacked him in July.

The rebels first attacked Malakal on Tuesday morning, he said. Ateny said Upper Nile oil fields, which produce about
200,000 barrels of oil per day, were far away from Malakal and under government control.

"The oil fields are safe," he said.

More deaths feared

The official death toll has stood at 500 for days, although numbers are feared to be far higher, with some estimating at least 1,000.

Hilde Johnson, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that "terrible atrocities have been committed and perpetrators will have to be held accountable."

She said the situation "will turn into a large scale humanitarian crisis if the violence does not stop."

Follow our in-depth coverage of South Sudan

The United Nations mission in South Sudan oni Wednesday denied a report of a mass grave that was issued by the office of a UN Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Berlin office of Navi Pillay on Tuesday said a grave of 75 bodies was found in Bentiu, Unity State. Later the office revised that figure to 34 bodies and 75 people feared missing.

The UN mission in South Sudan said on Wednesday that the report was an inflation of a "skirmish" that killed 15 people. UNMISS said it is still "deeply concerned" about extrajudicial killings and is investigating those reports.

Machar's forces were driven from the town of Bor on Tuesday by the army, but still hold Bentiu, capital of the key oil-producing state of Unity.

Fighting has spread to half of the nation's 10 states, with hundreds of thousands fleeing to the countryside, prompting warnings of an imminent humanitarian disaster.

Machar said, for the first time, on Tuesday that he was ready to accept a Kiir offer of talks, suggesting neighbouring Ethiopia as a neutral location.

Machar's promise of talks came shortly before the army stormed Bor town, which Information Minister Michael Makwei called a "gift of the government of South Sudan to the people".

Bor's capture, apparently without major resistance by the rebels, relieves some 17,000 besieged civilians who fled into the overstretched UN peacekeeping compound for protection, severely stretching limited food and supplies.

Christmas bombings kill 34 in Iraq

BY KAREEM RAHEEM-WED DEC 25, 2013 

1 OF 2. People stand among debris at the site of a bomb attack at a marketplace in Baghdad’s Doura District December 25, 2013.
(Reuters) - At least 34 people were killed in three bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad on Wednesday, including a car bomb that exploded as worshippers were leaving a Christmas service, Iraqi police and medics said.
Elsewhere in Iraq, at least 10 people were killed in three attacks that targeted police and Shi’ite pilgrims, police said.
Iraq is enduring its deadliest violence in years, reviving memories of the sectarian bloodshed between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims that killed tens of thousands in 2006-07.
The day’s deadliest incident occurred in the Doura district of southern Baghdad when the car bomb went off as Christians were emerging from a Christmas mass, killing at least 24 people.
Shortly before, two bombs in a crowded market in a separate, mostly Christian area of Doura killed another 10 people.
Ahmed Edan, a policeman on duty in the area of the attacks, said the sound of the first of the two explosions caused worshippers to leave the church.
"A car parked near the church exploded when the families were hugging each other goodbye before leaving. The blast was powerful," he said.
"Bodies of women, girls and men were lying on the ground covered in blood. Others were screaming and crying while they were trying to save some of their wounded relatives."
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Baghdad, which also wounded 52 people.
Iraq’s fast-dwindling Christian minority has been a target of al Qaeda Sunni militants in the past, including a 2010 attack on a church that killed dozens of people.
U.S. CONDEMNS “SENSELESS” ATTACKS
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad condemned the bombings, saying in a statement that Christians in Iraq had suffered “deliberate and senseless targeting by terrorists for many years, as have many other innocent Iraqis”.
Al Qaeda-linked militants have stepped up attacks on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government and anyone seen as supporting it in recent months. More than 8,000 people have been killed this year, according to the United Nations.
Car bombs, shootings and suicide attacks killed scores of Shi’ite pilgrims in the week before the Shi’ite holy day of Arbain, which coincided with Christmas Eve this year.
On Wednesday, a bomb struck a minibus in southern Baghdad carrying pilgrims back from the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala, killing three and wounding eight, police and medics said.
To the west of Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, gunmen killed three policemen on patrol, police sources said.
A bomb exploded near a football pitch in the town of Ishaqi, 100 km north of the capital, killing four people, including two policemen, and wounding eight, police said.
(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Ghazwan Hassan in Tikrit; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz, editing by Alistair Lyon and David Evans)

‘Iran wants to rebuild relations with US, EU’ – Rouhani

Published time: December 23, 2013 

Islamic Republic's President Hassan Rouhani (AFP Photo / HO / Iranian Presidency Website)

Islamic Republic's President Hassan Rouhani (AFP Photo / HO / Iranian Presidency Website)

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani has for the first time openly acknowledged the Islamic Republic’s plans to mend relations with the US and other Western powers.

“We want to rebuild and improve our relations to European and North American countries on a basis of mutual respect,” Rouhani wrote in an editorial published by Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

“We are striving to avoid new burdens on relations between Iran and the United States and also to remove the tensions that we have inherited,” he added.

Rouhani has declared a course of engagement with the West and finding compromise on the controversial Iranian nuclear program after claiming a confident win the presidential election this July.

This September he has held a historic telephone conversation with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, which saw the presidents of the two nations speaking to each other for the first time in more than three decades.

But Iranian officials later stressed that the call had nothing to do with the revival of diplomatic relations with Washington, which were severed after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, and was only dedicated to nuclear talks.

Rouhani emphasized that Iran can’t forget about what happened between Tehran and Washington in the past, but urged both sides to “concentrate on the present and orientate towards the future.”

In his article, the Iranian president touched upon the nuclear issue, saying that the Western concerns about Tehran developing an atomic bomb have been groundless.

“We have never even considered the option of acquiring nuclear weapons,” he wrote. “We'll never give up our right to profit from nuclear energy. But we are working towards removing all doubts and answer all reasonable questions about our program.”

Iran has made significant progress in nuclear talks with P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) under Rouhani.

Under the November 24 accord, Tehran agreed to stop uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 per cent in exchange for limited easing of sanctions, including trade in petrochemicals and gold.

The new round of negotiations between the sides has been rescheduled until after the Christmas holidays, Reuters reports.

On Sunday, Rouhani met with Italian Foreign Minister, Emma Bonino, in Tehran, showing his commitment to strengthen European ties.

“Italy has played the role of an important partner of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has so far acted as the gateway to Iran’s interaction with Europe,” the Iranian president is cited as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Rouhani has urged the two countries to “pursue the bilateral relations based on durable and long term goals for joint cooperation at all levels.”

Islamic Republic's President Hassan Rouhani (AFP Photo / HO / Iranian Presidency Website)

Scars of Sri Lanka

As Sri Lanka starts its two-year chairmanship of the Commonwealth, 101 East investigates the country's human rights record [Evan Williams]

Despite government claims of peace, torture and abductions continue to be used to stifle ethnic and political dissent.

24 Dec 2013 

The civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009 with the victory of President Rajapaksa's forces over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but there are claims that abduction, torture and even rape of suspected former fighters or sympathisers continues today.

In November 2013, Commonwealth leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, converged on Colombo for the bi-annual heads of government meeting. It was a big moment for Sri Lanka, signalling its emergence from post-war turmoil and acceptance as a functioning democratic state on the international stage.

But the government remains under strong international pressure to hold a credible inquiry in to claims that thousands of civilian Tamils were killed in the closing days of the war when government troops are accused of firing artillery into civilian no-fire zones. The government denies this occurred and accused Tamil Tiger fighters of holding civilians as human shields.

Tamil groups also claim thousands of Tamils, including many who surrendered or were arrested at the end of the war, are still unaccounted for. The government insists most of those detained have been released. Travelling to the north of Sri Lanka, we meet civilians whose loved ones are still missing after surrendering alive at the end of the war.

In Jaffna, the LTTE's stronghold for much of the war, we also meet Ananthi Sasitharan. Her husband, Elilan, was an LTTE political wing leader who surrendered for questioning during the post-war amnesty and has not been seen again. Ananthi leads a group of "war widows" who are demanding to know what happened to their men, all of who disappeared at the hands of the military. We follow her during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as she tries to get progress on the missing.

Since the end of hostilities four years ago, the government has been keen to prevent a future Tamil insurgency, and stands accused of continuing to question and detain those suspected of harbouring LTTE sympathies. Those who do emerge from the detention centres speak of the routine use of torture and sexual violence against men or women.

In a report earlier this year, Human Rights Watch documented 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka. Many of these abuses occurred after the hostilities ended in 2009 and include victims who had returned to their homeland to visit family or rebuild their lives in the new and peaceful post-war country.

In the north, we speak with a Tamil girl who claims she was repeatedly sexually molested by soldiers and police during questioning. We are given first-hand testimony by a woman who says she became pregnant after being raped by soldiers this year and hear that there are many similar cases.

Whilst Tamils make up the largest number of human rights abuse complainants in Sri Lanka, the government is now accused of cracking down on dissent in the majority Sinhalese population too. We talk with the brother of a high-profile newspaper editor shot dead in 2009 and hear how threats and abductions have driven 23 journalists from the country in recent years.

Journalists say that the freedom of the press has suffered badly with intimidation, abduction and murder of journalists who are critical of the government. According to Amnesty International, at least 14 Sri Lankan media workers have been killed since the beginning of 2006. While those who speak to journalists about their grievances with the government or military can be subject to intimidation afterwards.

One senior military official in the north admits the army is keeping a close eye on Tamils with foreign contacts but insists the claims are fabrications by Tamils trying to live in foreign nations. President Mahinda Rajapaksa told CHOGM that Sri Lanka is investigating claims of war crimes and has a legal system to investigate any claims of human rights abuses. Activists tell us they have been unable to successfully prosecute any cases of alleged torture through that system.

After 26 years of bloody civil war, how does Sri Lanka answer for its human rights records? @AJ101East #ScarsofSriLanka

மன்னார் மனிதப் புதைகுழி தோண்டும் பணி நிறுத்தம்; மீட்கப்பட்ட 11 மண்டை ஓடுகள் பகுப்பாய்வுக்கு 24 டிசெம்பர் 2013, செவ்வா மன்னார் திருக்கேதீஸ்வரத்தில் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்ட பெரும் மனிதப் புதைகுழியைத் தோண்டும் பணிகள் நேற்றுத் திடீரென நிறுத்தப்பட்டன. எதிர்வரும் சனிக்கிழமை வரை புதைகுழியைத் தோண்டும் பணிகள் இடம்பெறமாட்டாது என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அத்துடன் மீட்கப்பட்ட 11 மண்டையோடுகளும் பரிசோதனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைக்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாகத் தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.  கடந்த வெள்ளிக்கிழமை, குடிதண்ணீர் குழாய் இணைப்பு வேலைகளுக்காக மன்னார் திருக்கேதீஸ்வரத்தை அண்டிய பகுதிகளில் வீதியின் அருகே மண்ணைத் தோண்டிய போது அங்கு மனித மண்டை யோடுகள், மனித எச்சங்கள் இருப்பது அவதானிக்கப்பட்டது.  இதனையடுத்து பொலிஸாருக்குத் தகவல் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டு கடந்த சனிக்கிழமை முதல் மன்னார் நீதிவான் ஆனந்தி கனகரட்ணம் முன்னிலையில் புதைகுழியைத் தோண்டும் பணிகள் இடம்பெற்றன. கடந்த சனி, ஞாயிறு இரு தினங்களும் புதைகுழியைத் தோண்டும் நடவடிக்கைகள் வேகமாக இடம்பெற்றன. இதன் மூலம் இங்கு புதைக்கப்பட்டிருந்த 11 மண்டையோடுகள், எலும்புகள் என்பன மீட்கப்பட்டிருந்தன.  இந்த நிலையில் நேற்றுப் புதைகுழி தோண்டும் நடவடிக்கைகள் இடம்பெறும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்பட்ட போதும் திடீரென்று அது நிறுத்தப்பட்டது. அநுராதபுரம் சட்ட வைத்திய அதிகாரியும் நேற்றுப் புதைகுழி தோண்டும் பகுதிகளுக்கு வந்து மீட்கப்பட்ட பொருள்களை ஆய்வு செய்ததாகக் கூறப்படுகின்றது.  கொழும்பிலிருந்து விசேட சட்ட வைத்திய அதிகாரிகள் குழுவினர் வருகை தந்து, அவர்கள் முன்னிலையிலேயே அது தோண்டப்படவுள்ளதாக தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.  இந்த நடவடிக்கைகள் எதிர்வரும் சனிக்கிழமை காலை 7 மணிக்கு இடம்பெறும் என்று தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதேவேளை தோண்டப்பட்டு வரும் குழியின் அருகாகச் செல்லும் வீதியின் கீழேயும் மனித எச்சங்கள் காணப்படுவதால் வீதியைக் கிளறி எச்சங்களை மீட்க வேண்டிய நிலை காணப்படுவதாகத் தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது. குறித்த பகுதி 1990 ஆம் ஆண்டிலிருந்து 1993 ஆம் ஆண்டு வரை தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் இருந்ததெனவும், அதன் பின்னர் இராணுவத்தினரின் கட்டுப்பாட்டிலேயே தொடர்ந்து இருந்துள்ளது எனவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.  இந்தப் பகுதியை அறிவிக்கப்படாத உயர்பாதுகாப்பு வலயமாக இராணுவத்தினர் பிரகடனப்படுத்தி வைத்திருந்தாக அந்தப் பகுதி மக்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர். மீட்கப்பட்ட மண்டையோடுகளில் கடுமையான காயங்கள் இருந்த தடயங்கள் காணப்படுவதாக சம்பவ இடத்துக்கு நேரடியாகச் சென்று பார்வையிட்ட வடக்கு மாகாண போக்குவரத்து, மீன்பிடி, வர்த்தக வாணிப மற்றும் கிராமிய அபிவிருத்தி அமைச்சர் பா.டெனீஸ்வரன் தெரிவித்தார். - See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=373512532324596132#sthash.koVumaw5.dpuf Mannar mass grave is of the soldiers who have been massacred by the LTTE

[ Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 08:41.30 AM GMT +05:30 ]

Some skeletons were found near Mannar, Thirukoneshwaram Mathota Ancient Temple when a few laborers have tried on excavating the land to lay down water pipes. further excavation would be commence at 7.00 am next Saturday.

The police suspect that these skeletons belong to the soldiers massacred by the LTTE and investigations have started on this regard. Police shows that this area has been under the rule of the LTTE. This area has been liberated from the LTTE control in 2007 and resettlement’s of the former residents have been completed.

Let’s Hope Year 2014 Will Herald The Restoration Of Democracy In Sri Lanka

By Shyamon Jayasinghe -December 24, 2013

Shyamon Jayasinghe

Sri Lanka is the realm of the Absolute Star. Our Leader has all within his grip. Like a cat that has caught a rat one observes a look of perennial satisfaction in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s face. For he smiles and smiles. Even in a temporary moment of what looked like him being  powerless when David Cameron did the old British Governor’s march to the North, our Leader beamed with his moustache.

Let’s be honest, what Sri Lanka now has is a quasi-military dictatorshipheaded by Rajapaksa. His regime continues to don the same democratic trappings that this once-free island nation had for decades after political independence. Elections are held regularly; there is a parliament and there are opposition parties. To the outsider all looks above board. However, our ‘democracy’ is only skin deep. Appearance and reality diverge sharply. An autocrat is in place backed by military units being set up in the periphery and called in to do the job of the police as we saw at Weliveriya a few months ago. Protests and revolts can be crushed, while a once-honorable and independent judicial system has been replaced by a pliant one that may adjudicate against the protestors and victims of executive abuse of power.

We see a dramatic parallel of appearance and reality in the collective behavior of the monks of the JHU in parliament who drape the sivura and talk the Dhamma but who by their language of silence over the bizarre happenings in governance reveal that they back high-level corruption, the drug connection, the casinos, the flouting of the constitution and rule of law, and state violence toward detractors. The JHU’s usefulness is in its symbolic status of representing Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. Authoritarian regimes have been known to manipulate ideology. This is our governing establishment’s ideology and its modus operandi of gaining and keeping an electoral support base prepared to overlook abuse and incompetence.

Nationalism and anti- Semitism was Adolf Hitler’s ideological base; nationalism was Mussolini’s ideology; communism was Hitler’s and Mao Tse-Tung’s. Funnily, as if to make the Lankan regime contemporarily relevant, nationalism is also the ideology of North Korea’s ‘Dear Leader.’ The Communist ideology drove USSR into bankruptcy and demolition. Nationalist ideology drove the German nation into the abyss. Likewise Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism will drive the island nation to division and fracture. The rump of the terrorist LTTE and its backers world-wide are (hands-crossed) hoping to see this madness developing to the point when the lost hopes of Eelam can become achieved reality.Read More

Tamils should guard against from being misled by IC, says Boyle

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 December 2013, 19:45 GMT]
"Based upon my first-hand personal experiences working with the Palestinians at their peace negotiations and the Bosnians at their peace negotiations, the Tamils cannot trust the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, the European Union and its Member States to do the right thing for them. The Tamils can only trust in themselves,” responded Professor Francis Boyle on Monday, when TamilNet asked him what would be his advice to the Tamil diaspora in engaging with the ‘International Community’. TamilNet posed the question to Professor Boyle following his recent interview on Bosnian ‘peace’ negotiations to the Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada. 

[Full text of Prof Boyle's interview to the Institute for Research of Genocide is here.]

Prof. Francis A. Boyle, University of Illinois College of Law

When asked whether ethnicity or nationalism, or socio-economic problems was the main issue of the conflict, Boyle said, "it was outright genocide by Yugoslavia and Milosevic against the Bosnians. They proclaimed independence as was requested by the European Union. The EU put out guidelines and said to Bosnia and Croatia that they needed to have elections. They had elections and they voted for independence and they were hit with genocide and aggression," Boyle told the Canadian organization on Genocide research.

On the behavior of the British representative at the peace negotiations for Bosnia, Boyle said, "I dealt personally with David Owen. He is a typical British, imperialist, establishment, racist individual who believed Muslims were an inferior race of people. We were just supposed to do what he told us to do. I made it clear that that was not going to happen on my watch."

"Europe just did not want a Muslim state in Europe. It was that simple. It went back to the crusades.

[…]

This has to do with anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe going back to the crusades, at least. At that time, before 9/11 2001, we really didn’t have that in the United States. We didn’t have experience with the crusades and all the rest of that. But eventually, Clinton would go along with a carve-up too," Boyle said.

On the conduct of US representative in the talks, Boyle said, "Cyrus Vance was running the show. That was clear. He was the de facto representative of the US Government. Everyone knew that. Even though he technically represented the United Nations, everyone knew that Vance was there speaking pretty much on behalf of the US Government. He had been former Secretary of State. That’s the way people looked at Vance, that he had the backing of the US Government behind him. Of course Vance never said that, to the best of my knowledge, but that is the way people looked at Vance."

Government solely responsible for breakdown of talks - TNA  

Created On Tuesday, 24 December 2013

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) says the government that is solely responsible for stalling the talks with the party.

TNA Leader R. Sampanthan has said the party is prepared to talk with the government, if it will engage in a meaningful manner.

He has observed that the party was prepared for discussions with the government, but the latter should reciprocate with ‘a credible response.’
The comment was made in response to the invitation extended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week for the TNA to resume the long stalled talks on finding a political solution to the national question.

Sampanthan however has noted that the TNA had never said the party was not prepared for talks with the government and wanted the government to engage with the party sincerely for negotiations.

According to Sampanthan, it was the government that did not respond positively to the meetings set on January 17, 18 and 19 of 2012 to discuss the setting up of a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to discuss the national question.

வவுனியாக் கூட்டத்தில் பலத்த வாதப்பிரதி வாதங்கள்! தெரிவுக்குழுவில் பங்கேற்க மாட்டோம்: கூட்டமைப்பு உறுதி

[ செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை, 24 டிசெம்பர் 2013, 03:42.25 PM GMT ]

நாடாளுமன்ற தெரிவுக்குழு நம்பகத்தன்மை அற்றது என்பதுடன் இதனூடாக நியாயமான அரசியல் தீர்வை அடைய முடியாது என்பதனால் அக்குழுவில் தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு பங்கு பற்றாது என்று கூட்டமைப்பின் விசேட கூட்டத்தில் முடிவெடுக்கப்பட்டது.

இந்த விசேட கூட்டத்தின் போது, வடக்கு கிழக்கில் இடம்பெறும் பல விடயங்கள் தொடர்பாக ஆராயப்பட்டன.காணி அபகரிப்பு, இராணுவம், பெண்கள் விவகாரம் குறித்து பல விடயங்கள் பரிமாறப்பட்டன.

இதேவேளை ஜனாதிபதியினால் அண்மையில் விடுக்கப்பட்ட அழைப்பு குறித்து கருத்துக்கள் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டன. தற்போது அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள நாடாளுமன்ற தெரிவுக்குழு நம்பகத்தன்மை அற்றது என தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டதன் அடிப்டையில் இதன் மூலம் நியாயமான அரசியல் தீர்வை அடைய முடியாது என்பதே அனைவரது கருத்தாகவும் இருந்தது.

மேலும் வலிகாமம், சம்பூர் உட்பட ஏனைய பிரதேசங்களில் இருந்து வெளியேற்றப்பட்ட மக்கள் மீள்குடியேற்றம் செய்யப்பட வேண்டும் என வலியுறுத்தப்பட்டது.

இராணுவ பிரசன்னம் குறைக்கப்பட்டு மக்களுக்கு ஏற்படும் அசௌகரியம் இல்லாது ஒழிக்கப்பட்டு பெண்களுக்கு ஏற்படும் ஆபத்துக்கள் நீக்கப்பட்டு மக்கள் தொழில் செய்வதற்கு இடையூறாக உள்ள பல விடயங்கள் நீக்கப்படவேண்டும் என்பது தொடர்பாகவும் கலந்துரையாடப்பட்டது.

Ensure Transparent Development Plan For Evicted Urban Dwellers – Friday Forum

December 24, 2013 |

The Friday Forum recalls the government assurance that all urban dwellers recently evicted for purposes of urban development would receive adequate, alternative housing in the vicinity from which they were evicted.

Issuing a statement on behalf of the Friday Forum, Bishop Duleep de Chickera and  JC Weliamuna appealed to the Government to ensure a transparent development plan.

We publish below the statement in full;

Marginalising the Marginalised  

Bishop Duleep de Chickera

The Friday Forum recalls the government assurance that all urban dwellers recently evicted for purposes of urban development would receive adequate, alternative housing in the vicinity from which they were evicted. Income from these urban development projects was to be utilised to construct suitable housing units. Therefore, the evicted persons should be benefited from the urban development projects. The fulfilment of this assurance is crucial if we are to ensure that Colombo does not become only a city for the affluent.

Friday Forum therefore welcomes the recent completion of housing units at the Dematagoda, Mihindupura scheme for these evicted urban dwellers from very low income communities.  There may be other similar schemes planned elsewhere.  Reports however of the monetary requirements of an up-front payment of Rs. 50,000/- followed with another Rs. 50,000/- within three months of occupancy, are worrying.

The government is more than aware that many of those evicted do not have access to this amount of money. They could consequently be driven into debt or corrupt deals with shadow owners. Reports that some who cannot find this quantum of money have already moved into similar communities within the city and from which they are likely to be evicted once again, are equally worrying.

Much more serious is the real possibility that those with no claims to these units but with political affiliations with the ruling parties will be given the housing that those entitled to these units cannot afford to pay for.

Friday Forum has learnt of one instance where the government has failed to implement the undertaking previously given to the Supreme Court that the evicted urban community would receive alternative housing at the Mihindupura housing complex.  Several of these persons evicted from Mews Street, Slave Island, have apparently been denied housing as initially promised and are now promised housing in another location.

With these questions and concerns in mind the Friday Forum asks the government to clarify the current status of those evicted under its urban development plan and confirm that those with no claims are not in occupation of these units. Friday Forum also urges that that the advance payment of Rs. 100,000/- be waived since capital expenditure for these units was to be met with public income from investments.  As prescribed, only a reasonable monthly rent of 3,900/- must be collected for a period of twenty years, after which the chief occupant will obtain ownership of the premises.

There has been public criticism that these evictions are being used to redefine the demography of some urban areas and therefore there is a need for transparency in selecting specific geographical areas for development as well as the process of relocation. Friday Forum calls upon the government to ensure a transparent development plan which provides for and ensures the participation of representatives of the affected communities in such relocation procedures.

Bishop Duleep de Chickera                            J.C. Weliamuna

On behalf of Friday Forum