Sri Lanka Faces New Year Pressure Over Rights

Written by: Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Dec 29 2013 (IPS) – When the American Centre in Colombo held a memorial event honouring the late South African President Nelson Mandela, the first few questions at the question and answer session had nothing to do with the great freedom fighter.

The questions raised at the meeting Dec. 20 were about how South Africa could assist Sri Lanka set up its own national healing process. During the Commonwealth Heads of State summit (CHOGM) in Colombo in November, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government had approached the African state to explore the possibility of assistance in setting up something akin to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

According to the South African envoy in Colombo, Geoff Doidge, the request was made to South African President Jacob Zuma at the summit. “The past will haunt you as a country, even if you go forward, without a TRC-like process in Sri Lanka,” Zuma had told the meeting.

The questions on the TRC were symbolic of the kind of focus Sri Lanka’s rights record, and government efforts to correct it, have received since a bloody civil war ended almost five years back.

The Commonwealth meeting turned the spotlight on that rights record yet again. While attending the summit, British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the former war zone in the north with a retinue of reporters and journalists. During his whistle-stop tour, Cameron was quick to stress that Sri Lanka lagged behind in its efforts to address international concerns over rights violations.

Cameron said that the UK would back stricter international strictures against the Rajapaksa government if it does not redress the situation.

“The spotlight will be on Sri Lanka to demonstrate it is committed to Commonwealth (values),” British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin said before the Commonwealth meet.

Cameron’s comments resulted in a barrage of criticism against him locally, but international advocates pushing for a credible investigation into rights violations welcomed it.

“It has reinforced the need for an international inquiry,” Steve Crashaw, director for the Office of the Secretary General at Amnesty International who was in Sri Lanka during the Commonwealth meeting told IPS.

Crashaw said Cameron’s actions should be followed by other international players. “It should not be limited to a one-off media event.”

It is unlikely to be. The U.S. has expressed similar sentiments that Colombo needs to do more to investigate wartime allegations, especially about the thousands of civilians who have gone missing. The New Year is now likely to see more pressure on the Sri Lankan government.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal is expected in Sri Lanka in mid-January. During her first visit to the island Biswal is expected to discuss issue pertaining to investigations into disappearances and deaths.

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa set up a new commission in late November to tabulate wartime deaths. The new census is being conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics.

A similar effort by the same department in 2011 found after looking at vital events in the North and East that 4,156 persons were untraceable in the two provinces since 2005. International organisations including an advisory panel to the UN Secretary General have put figures of civilian disappearances close to ten times that.

The newly formed Northern Provincial Council, controlled by the opposition Tamil National Alliance, has already said it would launch its own census of the disappeared since it did not trust the numbers produced by government surveys.

National rights activists told IPS that pressure by the likes of the UK, the U.S. and next-door neighbour India, whose prime minister stayed away from the Commonwealth confab, is leading the government at least to take note of uncomfortable issues.

“At the very least, it strengthens the determination and courage of victims, their families, a few journalists, lawyers, the clergy and activists who continue to struggle for truth and justice,” Rukshan Fernando, board member of the national advocacy group Rights Now told IPS.

Fernando observed that if the government continues to drag its heels, it could face a tough reception at the upcoming March sessions of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. Over the past two years the council has adopted resolutions calling on the Sri Lankan government to address lingering allegations of rights violations.

However, neither resolution has included any mention of the possibility of an international rights inquiry.

“The members of the Council have toughened the position on Sri Lanka from 2009 to 2012 and 2013, and the Indian PM’s boycott of CHOGM indicates that India is ready to be tougher on Sri Lanka,” Fernando said.

India’s role has changed considerably in the last five years. In mid-2009 when the war was in its final stages, India was instrumental in stalling a resolution brought on by European nations condemning Sri Lankan government actions.

In 2014, domestic political exigencies may push New Delhi to come full circle, according to Ramani Hariharan, a political commentator from India who served as intelligence officer with the Indian Peace Keeping Force that was stationed in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.

“The UNHCR meet will be held in March 2014 when the Indian parliamentary poll campaign will be in full steam. The Congress (government’s) fortunes are at stake and it is likely to oblige the Dravida Munnetra K’azhagam [DMK] party’s demand to keep it in the coalition.” The DMK is a dominant party in India’s Tamil Nadu.

It was due to pressure from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu with its Tamil majority population, that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stayed away from Colombo in November.

“The UN Human Rights Council sessions can create significant pressure on Sri Lanka,” Amnesty International’s Crashaw said.

R. Sampanthan And The Sinhala Black-Whites

By C. Wijeyawickrema -December 30, 2013 |

A parliament full of idiots

“…Two of the tallest leaders, Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Mr. Dudley Senanayake     who served this country, signed these Pacts (7/26/1957, 3/24/1965) and along with the undisputed leader of the Tamil people, the late Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, in their capacity as Prime Ministers of this country. Their idea was that the territorial identity of minority peoples, who preponderantly occupied the Northern and Eastern Provinces, must    be preserved…” Parliamentary speech by TNA Leader, R.  Sampanthan on December 14, 2013).

           After talking about the infamous B-C & D-C pacts and on the Mrs. Chandrika drama of Neelan-GL package deals, TNA leader Mr. Sampanthanthanked the members of parliament for not interrupting him during his speech which is a good sign of learning self-discipline by a pack of rowdy MPs. But was there a single Sinhala MP who could reply to Sampanthan with facts & figures (plus history) so that the Hansard has the whole story recorded? This is pathetic and I am glad that the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has finally realized the urgent need to consider sending BBS MPs to the parliament, learning from the mistakes made by the JHU. This Sampanthan speech and others by Sumanthiran and Co. will be used as evidence at UN-HR forums to trap MahindaR on his own words and to transform him from a Sinhala Vessantara to a failed Siri Sangabo.

There was a time in Sri Lanka that people like Gamini Irriyagolla, W.S. Karunaratne and K.N. Jayatileka who told the world (embassies in Colombo) the other side of Chelvanayagam’s bogus story now repeated by the Sampanthan crowd. Fortunately, on the false story that land colonization was a project against the Tamils, the geography professor G. H. Peiris has gifted us with well-researched wealth of data and documentary evidence that so far no Tamil separatist academic was able to dispute or dare to touch. If one wants to think of an episode that was a very pro-Sinhala settlement scheme (Sinhalization?) it was the dedicated service rendered by the late R. G. Senanayake, son of F. R. Senanayake, in getting Sinhala people to settle down in the Trinco area. This was a private effort and not a government project linked with the Monsoon season-based migratory work habit of Sinhala fishermen in the South.

Humiliated black-whites                                                       Read More   

NP: Chief Minister Vs Governor

Former Supreme Court judge C.V. Wigneswaran received his Chief Ministerial appointment letter from the Northern Province Governor G.A.Chandrasiri (file photo)

By J. Yogaraj-December 29, 2013

Three months have almost gone after the historically important northern provincial election. The election has been a landmark victory for democracy. Sri Lanka clearly showed a message to the world that the tamils - populated northern province was ready for an election and to elect their representatives to administer the province. The Tamil National Alliance won the election on 21st September 2013 overwhelmingly. But they made a blunder here stating that winning the Northern Election means that they have got all important powers to rule the region. This gives a wrong picture. We should understand that the people of the northern province understood the Sri Lankan constitution better than TNA. They voted for the TNA not to waste time on talking about the weak points of the 13th amendment and other constitutional changes, but to work for the people, within limitation.

If the TNA is genuine in finding lasting solution to the ethnic problem, they should learn how to work within the limited frame structure. Also, they should show willingness to cooporate with the central government.

The Governor of the Province has provided all necessary facilities and created a friendly atmosphere for the TNA-backed provincial administration to serve the people. But the TNA has other ideas of finding fault with the Central Government and the Governor of the Province. As Prof Rohan Gunaratne correctly mentioned, that the TNA is not trying to bring joy to the Tamil people, but distress and worries to all of them. This is the concept adopted by a segment of Tamil Diaspora for a long time. The relations of the Tamil diaspora, who are domiciled in Sri Lanka, should realize that the so-called TAMIL diaspora is not trying to bring joy to the Sri Lankan tamils. Instead, they seem to be creating unnecessary problems in Sri Lanka, to fill their pockets (for their survival) and to survive in those countries.

The Tamils have a rich history in Sri Lanka; they are one of the most intelligent hard working community, or man power force, in the world. Unfortunately, this image has been torn into parts due to the attitudes of the the Diaspora. The majority of Tamil Diaspora does not do any tangible, effective work in those countries. They get relief assistances, including dole money, and live like a "LAZY DUCK". There initiatives and activities show that they want to continue to live like this, which will create a bad example for their future generation.

If the TNA wants to do something good for the Tamils , first they should try to change the confrontational attitudes. They should realize that the LTTE has lost the WAR against the government forces. Therefore, they should also understand in any competition , the team which loses the game should also face some consequences. They cannot expect the winning team to give you all that the LTTE wanted. If the TNA says that they follow the concepts of LTTE and they campaign that LTTE represents the majority of Tamils, then they should also accept the defeat of LTTE in front of the government forces as well. Thereby, they should accept the verdict of the nature.

Having gone through this, the TNA has now passed resolution demanding the removal of the Governor of the Northern Province stating that the governor is an ex-Military man. They wanted a civil servant to be appointed as the governor. Any lament will understand this as completely un-ethical and an unfair demand. If the present Governor is a military person, what is wrong with that? He has served the country at the highest level, and based on the capability and competency, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed G. A. Chandrasiri as the governor. The governor also in return, has performed his duties in a more professional and effective manner for the last 4 and ½ years. During this time, the province has seen many, rapid developments in almost every public sector. The reconciliation activities also took place on a high note. Governor, G. A. Chandrasiri, is no more in military services. He retired from the services long ago. It should be noted that many ex-military personnel have been appointed in various capacities of the state sector including secretary to the ministries, chairman and other high level positions. If you take Mr. Suresh Premachandran and Selvam Adaikalanathan, they are members of parliament. If LTTE, TELO, EPRLF are considered as a Military outfits, then Premachandran and Adaikalanathan were ex-military leaders of EPRLF and TELO respectively. Further, we cannot understand one argument here is that, if ex-senior members of a terrorist military outfit which fought the government forces are allowed to become members of parliament, but a senior military officer who served the Sri Lanka army and served the country to protect the sovereignty is not allowed to take up a position of Governor. This is not fair. Any rational person will understand this clearly. But it is a pity that highly educated TNA members do not understand this simple theory. This clearly shows the TNA has a different agenda. They have been harassing the governor from the time they took office. This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights and privileges of the Governor who act as the sole representative of HE in a province. Further. According to the constitution, There is no restriction in the appointment of the Governor. Also, if theeastern province can move smoothly without any hindrance with a ex-Navy personnel as the governor, why cannot the northern people?

The Governor has categorically stated that we cannot allow the Tamil National Alliance members to make other dance according to their tune.

(The writer is a journalist from Jaffna)

2014 Can Be Year Of New Departure

By Jehan Perera -December 30, 2013 |

Jehan Perera

This New Year will be a year of change as the government faces a make or break situation internationally.   The next session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March is positioned to deliver a resolution that calls for an international probe into Sri Lanka’s conduct of its war.  The weeks and months to come are therefore going to be crucial. The international community is watching whatever steps Sri Lanka takes in the direction of greater human rights, national reconciliation and accountability. Unless change happens, the government and the country too will be at the receiving end of UN-sanctioned scrutiny that will leave it little room to manoeuver.  International sanctions of one kind or another will be a step away.

In this context, the government will necessarily have to change course in the New Year.  It can no longer go down the old path that lay down a policy of centralization and uniformity, in which the government’s top leaders sought to control society and make it uniform.  It may be recalled that shortly after the war’s end, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that henceforth there will be no majority or minority but only patriots and traitors.  The government’s vision of centralization and uniformity was encapsulated in its post-war slogan of “one country, one people.”  It also meant singing the national anthem in only one language, and not two, unlike the national anthem of South Africa which is sung in five languages and from whence the government hopes to get support to counter the international demands being placed on it.

The essential feature of the government’s post-war policy has been the centralization and concentration of power, which even its cabinet ministers do not like as it marginalizes them too.  Belying the general expectation that the end of the war would lead to a reduction in the role of the military there has been a continuing spurt in the growth of the military budget and the role of the military in civil society.  This has been accompanied by a concurrent undermining of the institutional autonomy that might have protected pluralism and diversity in society.  The independence of the public service and judiciary amongst others has been laid low.  The 18th Amendment concentrated the powers of appointment of all top state bodies in the hands of the President.

Great Man                                                          Read More

The year that was 

  December 30, 2013 

The clock’s ticking away and we have but a few hours left to savour the year that is 2013.  The end note, bringing in its wake a host of unpalatable incidents, the most indigestible being the alleged involvement of the Prime Minister’s office to smuggle in 261 kg of heroin and the Rathupaswala shooting incident, where a peaceful agitation for drinking water resulted in wanton bloodshed, does not make for happy reflections of the year that was.

The past 12 months have been a long roller coaster ride, with very few ups and whole host of lows. The shrill concerns articulated by the international community on accountability, following the 2009 victory over the Tamil Tigers, continued to reverberate throughout the year, cranked up by the visit of the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, and the international media frenzy over the decision to let Sri Lanka host the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.  The concerns will once again be reflected at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2014, with perhaps additional strictures on religious and racial intolerance and the denudation of the rule of law.

Sri Lanka’s post-war endeavours towards reconciliation, or rather the lack of it,  have also been on the agenda of the international community this past year, despite the much touted Northern Provincial Council elections in September, which saw the Tamil National Alliance being given a massive mandate by the Northern populace. The plight of the resettled is something that should engage our focus in the year ahead, as should the failure of the much anticipated peace dividend. After nearly 30 years of war, after all the hardships and the loss of lives the nation as a whole endured, we need to move forward, taking meaningful step to transform the hard fought war victory into sustainable peace. However, there can be no moving ahead, if we do not look back and make amends for past mistakes.

It is in this context that political and ethnic reconciliation becomes significant milestones for the year ahead. The leaders of all hues need to put their differences aside and sit down for some honest discussions. Compromises will be needed from all sides, as would the renewal of acceptance that Sri Lanka is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society and that all communities are equal stakeholders of the peace dividend.

Another issue of serious concern that needs political commitment for a resolution in the year ahead is the breakdown in the law and order situation. The year is littered with reports of murder, rape, robbery, abductions, extra judicial killings and all kinds of atrocities from every corner of the country. Not many are likely to forget the gruesome murder of the police constable and his wife in Kamburupitiya and the subsequent deaths of all the main suspects while in police custody, a frighteningly graphic depiction of just how serious the law and order situation has become in this country.

Many are not likely to forget the serious human rights and media rights violations either. Threats against the media still prevail with the government intensifying its repressive actions by blocking access to several independent online news websites in the recent months. The year also saw a champion of media rights and democracy become a shameless turncoat, vowing vengeance on those that were critical of him.

The year 2013 has also been an year of protest, with many of the government’s short sighted moves instigating the masses to get onto the streets and remonstrate for their rights, not always successfully.  Over the past twelve months there have been numerous protests against various actions and inactions of the government, government orchestrated protests against visiting foreign dignitaries, media personnel, and those perceived as being anti-government, and protests that were simply unsavoury from the perspective of ethnic harmony and national unity. However, the protest that would be etched indelibly in the minds of many would be the Rathupaswala incident, where indiscriminate firing by the security forces saw the deaths of a number of villagers who were involved in a sit in protest over government inaction to their demand for drinking water.

TIME Magazine in 2011 declared ‘The Protestor’ as its Person of the Year. Given the turmoil the country has been facing, it is up to the government to ensure, ‘The Protestor’ doesn’t become the Sri Lankan of the Year in 2013. A New Year gives one the opportunity, to reflect, reassess and start anew. We hope the year ahead will not turn out to be a re-enactment of the same old, same old.

Indo-Lanka ties in 2013 affected by Tamil issue

December 29, 2013

Colombo: India-Sri Lanka ties in 2013 were affected by differences over alleged rights abuses in the war against the LTTE and giving political rights to Tamils, even as Colombo held provincial polls after 25 years in the Tamil-dominated north as part of reconciliation. 

Hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November brought Sri Lanka back in international spotlight with some leaders boycotting the summit over the country's human rights record. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh skipped the summit due to stiff opposition from political parties in Tamil Nadu, demanding a "total boycott" over the Tamil issue and their political rights, four years after the Sri Lankan troops crushed Tamil rebels fighting for a separate homeland. 

However, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid attended the summit and said India was committed to the welfare of Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamils and would remain engaged with the country in the "enlightened national interest". 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron's historic visit to war-ravaged Jaffna, the first by a foreign head of government since Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948, took the spotlight away from the summit of the 53-member grouping. 

He gave an ultimatum to Sri Lanka to conduct a credible inquiry into the war crimes by March, failing which he would seek an international investigation. 

A defiant President Mahinda Rajapaksa, however, rebuffed Cameron and said Lanka must be trusted to conduct its own probe. 

Throughout the year, Sri Lanka battled international pressure over a credible inquiry into the alleged rights abuses in the closing days of the quarter century civil war. 

In March, UN's Human Rights Council passed a US-sponsored resolution, which was backed by India, on 'Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka'. 

India's support for the resolution stoked anger in Sri Lanka, with the media calling it a "let down" and the Heritage Party, part of the ruling alliance, demanding a "drastic change" in the country's foreign policy towards New Delhi. 

In September, Sri Lanka held provincial council polls in the war-ravaged north as part of the reconciliation process with the Tamil minority community. 

Newly-elected Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, whose TNA swept the polls in the Northern Province, underlined the key role India played in ensuring the holding of the election. He called on India to help rebuild the war-ravaged region. 

Expeditious implementation of the 13th Amendment, Indian fishermen languishing in Sri Lankan jails and implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission remained some of the major issues in India-Sri Lanka ties this year. 

PTI-First Published: Sunday, December 29, 2013, 16:36

Changing Face Of Tamil Nadu

By S. Sivathasan -December 30, 2013 

S. Sivathasan

In Praise of Tamil

In the eye of a Tamil poet how does Tamil Nadu appear? To Prof. Sundarampillai scholar and poet; “The sea girt globe is a damsel draped in blue. Bharat is her face ever beaming with beauty. Therein shining in all radiance is her crescent like forehead, the Dravidian State. As central attraction is the tilakam that is Tamil Nadu and Tamil is the fragrance emanating therefrom. Perched in this setting is the Tamil Maiden full of perennial charm, spreading mirth all around with glory effusing in every direction”.

Change and Renewal

This is Tamil Nadu, the land of Tamil and of the Tamils into whose serenity modernity is entering at an incredible yet welcome pace. A blend of the old and the new has made for a harmonious balance at all times and in many spheres. Literary evidence accessible to all who inquire makes it clear that continuity is a hallmark in the history of the Tamils. They have displayed a resilience to retain the valued of the past while absorbing the best of the modern. A line from an ancient grammatical treatise conveys succinctly their attitude and approach: “There is no inconsistency in the exit of the old and the entry of the new. They are but an index of the time”. The ancient, the medieval and the modern thriving coterminously in Tamil Nadu show both telescoping and supersession. This induces the erroneous notion among some that if Tamils change perpetually, they cannot remain the same. Herein lies their uniqueness in retention, absorption, adaptation and transformation.

Golden Times

Ramanujan City on the right with Conference Hall and Residential Complex under construction in the foreground. On the left is Tidel Park. Both are at Tharamani in the heart of the city.

In the vibrancy of the language and in exquisite literature is portrayed the genius of the people. Two millennia of assimilation, growth and continuity have made Tamil both classical and modern, conferring the prestige of the oldest living language. The land, her people their language and literature have seen many a vicissitude. Sangam Age – circa 1 to 3 AD – and Chola Period – 9 to 12 AD, were golden times. The third, wished for with independence is set to be reached in less than half a century. A composite range of attributes have now begun to seep into the people’s consciousness, their values, outlook, attitude and lifestyle. They have now begun to factor them into their present and for their future.                                          Read More

Genocide has to be compensated by separation: Sikh politician

Simranjit Singh Mann

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 December 2013, 22:30 GMT]
“Tamils can’t live [in a united Sri Lanka] after the perpetration of the crime of genocide. I think the wounds are too deep historically there to be reconciliation. After a State has committed genocide, there can’t be any reconciliation,” says Simranjit Singh Mann, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar party, who advocates the formation of Khalistan as an independent and sovereign State for Sikhs, in an exchange of views with Tamil Nadu based May 17 Movement. “Pirapaharan and his movement was too powerful for the Sri Lankan government,” he said, adding that “it was under the collaboration of UPA-led Congress government that the Sri Lanka government was able to achieve and crush the movement for freedom by committing a genocide on the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.” 

Genocide Has to Be Compensated by Separation Sikh Politician by nelvely

A Footnote To Rajan Philips’s ‘Post-Tsunami Debacle And Post-War Aggravations’

By Tissa Jayatilaka -December 30, 2013

Tissa Jayatilaka

Like all of my old Peradeniya friend Rajan Philips’s articles the above to which I offer a footnote, too, is lucid, intelligently provocative and incisive. There is, though one serious reservation that I have about it. Rajan has, perhaps out of his partiality to the ‘Old Left’, sought to glorify Dr. Colvin R. de Silva. In doing so, he has also sought to downplay what I like to term the decline and fall of the ‘Old Left’, especially in regard to its once principled and sacred stand on the parity of status for both Sinhala ad Tamil languages.

The quote attributed to Colvin in Rajan’s piece is slightly different from that which I recall. The words of Colvin that are etched in modern Sri Lanka’s history are:

One language, two nations; Two languages, one nation.

The above version echoes Benjamin Disraeli’s roman a’ these (a novel with a thesis) Sybil or The Two Nations (1845). Disraeli, in his novel, traces the plight of the working classes in England dealing with the ghastly and appalling conditions in which the majority of England’s working classes lived.  It is a piece of writing that Colvin would doubtless have been quite familiar with and his quote may well have sprung from the title of Disraeli’s novel. I am not for a moment suggesting that Colvin could not have formulated his own thoughts without having to rely on Disraeli. Rather the point I wish to make is that we are often influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by the writing of those we become familiar with in the course of our own reading. The Colvin of the above quote is the pre-1959 vintage Colvin of the ‘Old Left’, before the decline and fall of that group of once noble and principled politicians. What follows is some political history to substantiate my assessment of the fall also of the ‘Old Left’ to the lower depths of Sri Lanka’s murky politics.  Read More

Post-Tsunami Debacle And Postwar Aggravations

By Rajan Philips -December 29, 2013

Rajan Philips

Nine years ago, in 2004, the day after Christmas, Sri Lanka became one of the major victims of the Asian tsunami.  The nature’s fury brought the best and the worst in Sri Lankan society even as it ravaged most of the island’s coastal areas.  The best response was from the people who spontaneously stepped up to help one another, humanely crisscrossing ethnic boundaries, with Sinhalese soldiers rescuing Tamil and Muslim victims and Tamil LTTE rescuing Sinhalese and Muslim victims.  They responded before the state could mobilize itself and before needed and unwanted foreign help arrived from far flung places.  The cynics invariably called the deluge of foreign help as ‘NGO tsunami’.  A very positive explanation and hopeful teaching, in my view, emanated from the pen of Rev. Dalton Forbes, Catholic Priest and scholar, and longtime professor at the Oblate Seminary in Ampitiya.  Writing from a common religious standpoint, Father Forbes provided an explanation for the overlapping of the supernatural and the natural, and human interactions with both.                            Read More

School money to renovate Elephant Pass station

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena wants to renovate and re-name the Elephant Pass railway Station as Senahasaka Thotupola when train services between Kilinochchi and Jaffna are restored.

For this purpose, he wants to utilise Rs. 15.5 million collected from teachers and pupils countrywide. His proposal has been accepted and the ministry is now in consultation with the Sri Lanka Army to ascertain whether its engineering troops can undertake the construction of the railway station. The designs for the new railway station will be provided by the Ministry of Transport.

Simplified Grade Five Scholarship Examination in 2014 

By Aisha Nazim- December 30, 2013 

A tentative decision has been made to conduct a simplified version of the Grade Five Scholarship Examination in the year 2014, and a model examination question paper (of the simplified version) will be issued to school teachers by the end of January if the decision is confirmed, the Education Ministry said.

Addressing a media briefing, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena stated that there is a proposal to present a simpler version of the scholarship examination starting from next year, before completely changing the components of the examination in 2016. Also clarifying reports about the scholarship exam being abolished in a couple of year's time, he stated that there is plan to abolish the examination, and reaffirmed that it will only be re-made instead.

Meanwhile, Examinations Commissioner W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara also addressing the press conference said that teachers will be presented with a model question paper of the revised examination paper, if the educational authorities do agree to simplify the scholarship during the following year itself.

New fish in a dirty pond

Editorial-December 29, 2013

Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is reported to have looked askance at the practice of film and sports personalities taking to politics on a part-time basis. True, some people tend to prostitute their popularity and wallow in politics, which has become the last refuge of every scoundrel so that they will be ‘more equal than’ others. However, the fact remains that players and artistes cannot enter politics without being invited by political parties.

Senior political leaders who often lament about the sorry state of affairs in politics which has come to be bracketed with the oldest profession in the world ought to get their priorities right. First, they must stop nominating anti-social elements to contest elections. It was only the other day that former Cabinet Minister and present UNP Leadership Council member Mangala Samaraweera, MP, told Parliament that there were drug dealers among its members.

If the self-righteous political leaders stop the deplorable practice of allowing criminals to face elections and win by showering bribes on the poor this country will be a much better place. Full-timers don’t necessarily make good politicians; some of them are responsible for various crimes such as extortion, murder and rape. In a country doomed to put up with failed political leaders and lawbreakers in the garb of lawmakers, perhaps, we should stop worrying about cricketers and cinema artistes entering politics.

People also get the politicians they deserve. An actress was elected by the people of Gampaha at the last general election with a higher number of preferential votes than most of the Opposition heavyweights simply because she had played the lead role in a third-rate ‘mega teledrama’. Interestingly, she contested on the UNP ticket! She happened to admit in a television interview that she was clueless about the country’s Constitution.

We have politicians emulating cricketers, film starts et al whose entry into politics has come in for criticism. Apart from doing their damnedest to be in the public eye, they play dilscoop and reverse sweep in handling public funds and bowl googlies and doosras to the people who, true to form, attempt silly strokes and get caught or stumped. They have at heart anything but the national interest. There are politicians who try to be popular by taking part in singing and dancing competitions. Some of them even act in films and teledramas. Besides, they do quite a lot of acting in real life; they pretend that they are not au fait with people’s problems.

The Opposition leader has mentioned Vijaya Kumaratunga, who, he says, gave up acting and took to full time politics. The price Vijaya had to pay for that decision is only too well known. Suffice it to say that, hounded out of the SLFP, he ducked bullets from the UNP until his tragic death at the hands of the JVP. The country lost a good human being and excellent actor who made the mistake of entering politics. This is the fate that awaits good men and women who refuse to sell their souls to the devil in politics. Time was when we saw millionaires become paupers because of their politics but today it is the other way around. As the late Anura Bandaranaike put it very eloquently, politicians who wore flip-flops and rode bicycles some decades ago are now moving about in luxury vehicles and living in palatial houses.

The need is not just for politicians, full-time or part-time, but real statesmen, the difference between them being, as American theologian and author, James Freeman Clarke famously said, that the former think of the next election and the latter of the next generation. Clarke also said: "A politician looks for the success of his party; a statesman for that of his country. The statesman wishes to steer, while the politician is satisfied to drift."

Even learned men and women and professionals in politics have failed to make a difference in their chosen field. They are like clean fish put into a dirty pond; they have to adapt or perish. The ones who get elected to Parliament or nominated via the National List end up praising the Emperor’s New Clothes as they know if they refuse to do so and fall from grace as a result they will be made to walk the plank. This, they fear like death because they’ve never had it so good!

WikiLeaks: If CBK Wants Others To Treat Her With Respect, She Also Has To Treat Them Properly: Ranil

December 30, 2013 

“The PM said that he thought that the President was really concerned about what happened to her when her present term ended. The Ambassador said he believed that was correct, but that there was an additional factor. From his conversations with the President, he said, he believed the underlying motivation for her actions was to send a message that she would not be treated in the last two years of her Presidency as she was in the preceding two years. PM accepted this, but said that if she wanted Ministers to treat her with respect, she also had to treat them properly.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The classified diplomatic cable details a meeting the US ambassador had with then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The “Confidential” is cable signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead on January 12, 2004.

Related stories to this cable;

WikiLeaks: Chandrika Precipitated The Current Crisis – US

WikiLeaks: Lost Deal – Ranil To Give CBK Two PC Ministries Including The Chief Ministership

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