Global vigilance urged on ‘genocidal experiments’ by Sinhala Buddhist monks

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 January 2014, 07:29 GMT]
A recent documentary by a leading Japanese television network depicted the work of a Sinhala Buddhist monk, Kalyana Tissa Thero of the ‘Seth Sevana Lama Nivasa of Attambagaskanda’, an orphanage in the Sinhala-ruled Tamil town of Vavuniyaa, as a ‘reconciliation’ work by a ‘true Buddhist’ who was looking after war-affected Tamil children. But, the monk was sexually abusing the children. The Tamil children, subjected to a genocidal ‘orphanage’ experiment were deprived of their language and religion and were being sent to Sinhala school. Following a specific complaint on sexual abuse committed on a 9-year-old child and amidst prevailing protests by the local child protection activists, the monk was arrested in October. But, two months later, Kalayana Tissa Thero was released on bail with the backing of Colombo's National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), on 31 December 2013. 

A leading rights activist, who is a Sinhalese with several years of grassroots interaction with the Eezham Tamils in the North, on Friday urged the Buddhist NGOs and intellectuals outside the island to be aware of the ‘genocidal misuse’ of Tamil children at the hands of monks, who seek external support in the name of Buddhism and humanitarian work in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils. 

“International agencies, who support many such ‘Sri Lankan’ projects are complicit of these crimes of genocide, which includes Buddhist orphanages for Tamil children and abuse of these children,” the rights activist, who did not wish to be named told TamilNet. 

The documentary shown in Japan was prompting the Japanese intellectuals and NGOs to support Seth Sevana Lama Nivasa orphanage in Vavuniyaa. The monk, Kalyana Tissa Thero, was getting depicted as someone deeply committed to ‘reconciliation’ in former war-zone. 

“Those who see the child abuse which should be condemned, do not see the broader picture of dismantling of the foundations of Tamil childhood,” the activist told TamilNet. 

Women’s Action Network (WAN), a group consisting of 8 women rights organisations has also protested against the conduct of the NCPA in releasing the accused monk on Thursday.

Despite the fact that all these children were Tamil, they were being sent to Sinhala school. 

The WAN report published in several websites in the island said: “Their right to learn their mother tongue, practice their religion and culture, the protection of their ethnic identity has been violated and they are being compelled to assimilate into a Sinhala Buddhist cultural and ethnic identity.”. 

Full text of the report follows:

Child abuse at the Vavuniya children’s home and the lack of prudent and independent action by governmental institutions

“In October 2013 Kalyana Tissa Thero of the Seth Sevana Lama Nivasa of Attambagaskanda, Vavuniya was arrested for sexually abusing a 9 year old child. The Buddhist monk was kept in remand custody and medical evidence confirmed the sexual abuse of the child on 12.10.2013. Subsequently the custody of the remaining 22 children of the children’s home was taken by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) on 15.10.2013. Fearing that the remaining children may have also been sexually abused the Vavuniya magistrate requested the medical examination of the 22 children. Through the court order the suspect remained in custody. However on 31.12.2013 the suspected monk was granted a non-conditional bail on the basis that the Attorney General Department (AG), on the instructions of the NCPA has informed court that it has no objections for the suspect to be granted bail. The next hearing is to be on the 11th of February. 

“Most of the children at this home are victims of war. These children have been placed in this home to ensure their education, safety and care by family members who are unable to provide the same for these children. Some of these children have lost their fathers in the war, their mothers are daily wage laborers who work in jobs such as stone breaking and barely earn a living. These mothers placed their children hoping they would have a better chance at life through education and hoping for their care and protection. In such a context how far these children’s rights and lives are being protected by the head of this home is a question. Even though the children in the Seth Sevana Lama Nivasa are Tamil, they have been enrolled in Kaatumankulam Govt. Sinhala mixed school. Their right to learn their mother tongue, practice their religion and culture, the protection of their ethnic identity has been violated and they are being compelled to assimilate into a Sinhala Buddhist cultural and ethnic identiy. Upon receipt of complaint from the civil society and others an exhaustive investigation was carried out by Vavuniya NCPA child protection officer, probation officer, public health inspector and the police and they jointly submitted a report on 29.11.2010 to NCPA head office. But due to NCPA’s irresponsible investigation it has risked a group of young vulnerable children continue to suffer emotional and psychological abuses. 

“In Sri Lanka child protection and care services such as the NCPA, Task force on child protection are under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs. Each province and districts have officers who have been appointed for the care and protection of children. In the current incident the bail was granted due to the report given by the NCPA to the Attorney General. It raises serious concerns as to the evenhandedness of the NCPA in regards to children from minority communities. Because even though complaints in regards to the said Buddhist monk have been made to the NCPA since 2010 actions have only been taken to protect the offender rather than the children. It must be noted that only after the protests of the child protection officers in Vavuniya in regards to the inaction of the NCPA that the arrest was made.

“The NCPA’s vision and mission claims to create a child friendly and protective environment for children and to ensure children are free from all forms of abuse. There is a hotline no: 1929 that provides 24 hour service in all three languages. The reluctance of such an institution to push for the arrest of this monk and the subsequent report recommending his release places the actions of the NCPA in doubt.

“The Lawyer, Mr. K.S. Ratnavel who is representing the victim states that ‘the AG should have taken further stringent action against the suspect. Requesting the bail of such a suspect places the independence of the AG’s department in question. Instead of protecting victims they are protecting the suspect thus there is a conflict of interest both in the role played by the AG and the NCPA. The NCPA was created for the protection of children. However the NCPA has come out in support of the suspect in this case, it has failed to submit the relevant reports of the 22 children to the court and instead submitted the same to the AG. It has claimed to have completed investigations while investigations are still pending and has thereby misled the court. Consequently it has caused the possibility of the intimidation of witnesses through the release of the suspect. This reflects on the failure of public institutions in working for the people. Instilling the rule of law and justice is difficult when judicial institutions themselves undermine these goals.”

“Ensuring the protection of children especially those children who have lost their families due to war and undergone several rights abuses is the paramount obligation of governmental institutions, especially those created for the protection of children. If children are to be refused protection due to their ethnicity and their abuse is to be ignored then the ability and intentions of such government organizations must be questioned. 

“The increase of violence against women and children has been on the rise since the end of the war. The recent abuse of a 4 year old child in Trincomalee by a person suspected to be a Navy officer who ran and hid in the navy camp reflects the impunity with which such abuses occur against women and children. It is with deep regret that we note that the NCPA has failed to protect children and this trend can be seen across the country through various reports of child abuse and long drawn process in investigation and prosecution of offenders. 

“As a country that has had a strong policy in regards to protecting children and has passed several laws and set up institutions for the same, the punishment of offenders, proper investigations and protection of children should not be a challenge for Sri Lanka. Especially when there have been officers appointed at the regional and district levels and women and children’s desks in these districts. It is indeed telling that women and children continue to suffer grave abuse and rights violations despite the existence of such officers and institutions. 

“At a time when the Sri Lankan government claims to be on a path of peace and development post war and calls Sri Lanka the wonder of Asia in international forums, it is imperative that the violence that is taking place against women and children is stopped, especially violence against women and children from minority communities.”

Election year

Editorial-January 4, 2014,

As our regular columnist, Rajan Philips, writes on this page, 2014 will be an election year in Sri Lanka (and elsewhere). Only the provincial elections to elect new Western and Southern Provincial Councils have been announced up to now but speculation is rife that there is likelihood of the president calling premature parliamentary and/or presidential elections as well. How well the ruling coalition will do at the provincial elections will obviously dictate whether the major contests are to be run this year. Ruling parties always try to time elections to best suit their prospects of re-election and in countries like Sri Lanka, where the incumbents are given the constitutional muscle to do so, such handicap-seeking is the inevitable rule rather than the odd exception. That is why President Mahinda Rajapaksa called a presidential election soon after the war ended to ride the crest of a wave of popularity following that signal achievement. Sir John Kotelawela’s judgment in 1956 was not as sound. The country’s foreign reserves and economic strength at that time did not save him from a drubbing.

Citing Wikepedia, Philips says 23 countries and the European Parliament will go to the polls this year. Sri Lanka is not on the list because this country does not schedule its elections either by statute or the constitution. While neither parliament nor the president can go beyond the stipulated time limit, they can choose to go early to the polls if the president perceives an advantage. He also can (as he does) proclaim that the country has been blessed with a surfeit of democracy with the rulers choosing to go to the country earlier than they need to. The president is granted near unlimited flexibility for timing elections and we even had the sorry spectacle of an attempt by one incumbent to explore whether, having called a premature election for his own purposes, to add on the unexpired portion of his first term to his second! We owe the late Dr. W. Dahanayaka a debt of gratitude for giving us a single day general election instead of the three-day exercise we had previously. The then ruling UNP took advantage of this to fix their safe seats for polling on the first day, the not-so-safe for the second and the dicey seats for the last day. The object of this strategy was the perception of vasi paththata hoiya or hurrah for the winning side. But even that went awry in 1956 when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s MEP killed the giants on Day 1!

Rulers anywhere, and not only in this country, are least averse to taking advantage of factors in their favour in timing or running for election. So tax money is spent in doling out handouts to the electorate regardless of whether the economy can afford them or not. The people, of course, and not the politicians pay for such benefits which the vote-seekers flourish as though they came out of their own pockets. Unfortunately there are foolish voters who take such bait. We have time and again urged in this space that the Provincial Councils are a huge white elephant costing the country resources it cannot afford and not giving the people benefits commensurate with costs. They only serve the political class, providing them with ladders to climb into Parliament. Recent elections have also seen the proliferation of the unfortunate habit of incumbent politicians using the PCs as vehicles to induct their progeny and close family members into the lucrative `business’ that has served them well. The profession that kinsfolk will not be given the party ticket was quickly forgotten and the last crop of PC elections saw the family trees sprouting many new branches. Given the Rajapaksa family’s formidable presence within the commanding heights of the government and the extended family’s presence in its upper levels, the president’s ability to prevent lesser politicians from claiming similar benefits was irretrievably eroded. So the ganders have been served a generous helping of the goose’s sauce!

Elections don’t come cheap and what we’ll have this year will cost the people plenty. That is not restricted to the tax money funding the logistics of holding elections alone. A lot of other mainly black money will be poured into political war chests and uselessly splurged on campaign propaganda including cutouts, posters and rallies that often include crowd-pulling musical shows. Despite recent events revealing the nexus between politicians and various Mafias including, despicably, the drug cartels, the caravan happily rolls along. Big money does not fund elections for altruistic reasons. Contributors regard such expenditure as investments from which rich dividends can be earned via political patronage liberally bestowed by the winners. When President J.R. Jayewardene used his five sixths majority of 1977 to foist an executive presidential system of government on the country, that constitution at least had the redeeming feature of a two-term limit on the presidency. It is fairly well known that JRJ was flirting with the idea of amending that provision but that had to be abandoned in the face of the two raging insurrections then blazing in both the north and the south of the country. Ironically, defectors from JRJ’s UNP enabled President Mahinda Rajapaksa to abolish the term limit and also scuttle the 17th Amendment that held the promise of at least a modicum of good governance for the country.

Whether the opposition UNP which remains in tatters can at least now regain a vestige of unity to fight the PC elections already on the cards as well as other contests that are likely to follow remains an open question. Mr. Karu Jayasuriya who heads the new Leadership Council commands widespread respect within the party and among the Buddhist clergy as a man of integrity and good faith. He’s been reaching out to UNP dissidents although he has not succeeded in persuading Mr. Sajith Premadasa and Ms. Talatha Athukorale to take their places in the council. There is inevitable speculation about a candidate with the ability to mount a credible challenge to President Mahinda Rajapaksa but no prospect has yet been identified. General Sarath Fonseka was the rabbit the common opposition pulled out of their top hat last time round. Despite his formidable credentials he couldn’t pull it off and had to serve time in jail for his trouble. Mahinda Rajapaksa is a consummate politician and a strategist par excellence. Outwitting him will be no easy task.

Sri Lanka on Full Throttle to Save its Skin & the Tamils Will have to Match It

Visvanathan for Salem-News.com
Jan-03-2014

If the parties could get together, many of the problems faced by the Tamils would be solved. In addition to policy alignment, duplication of duties could be avoided. Travelling, which is a major cost, could be spread among all of them.

(MELBOURNE) - With the dawn of the New Year Sri Lanka is slated to experience pressing political and diplomatic challenges in 2014. Main among them is the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council scheduled for March 2014. The government is bracing for the event, and already appointments have been sought with the member states for a lobbying-spree ahead of the session. The UNHRC will appraise Sri Lanka’s progress on the implementation of matters outlined in its resolution adopted last March. It would like to see nearly all the clauses in the last resolution fulfilled. From all accounts available it has little to offer to UNHRC 2014.

So, Sri Lanka is planning to go on full throttle on an international diplomatic spree to get all the support it can to defeat whatever resolution that is submitted in the UNHRC in 2014. It will look for soft spots from the third world countries in in Africa and South America, who are not so amused with the Western policies. During this years election in UNHRC, Algeria, China, Cuba, France Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Vietnam, Russia, and United Kingdom, were elected by secret ballot at UN Headquarters in New York. Sri Lanka should be pleased that Cuba, China, South Africa and Russia and perhaps Vietnam had rejoined the UNHRC

That may not be enough to defeat the resolution. With the general election coming soon, India may not be able to change its stand on its voting for the resolution. Flushed with Chinese money and the inducement of investment and trading opportunities, Sri Lanka will go on its diplomatic offensive. It may have to draw in some of those who voted for the resolution last year.

This puts an additional pressure on the Tamil Diaspora to go on their own offensive. Fifty six Tamil organisations voted for a New Year Resolution to bring Rajapaksa to books. Two other parties, GTF and BTF abstained from signing the resolution. I suppose GTF wants to bring in South African Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) into Sri Lanka to save the criminal Rajapaksa clique from the gallows. To date GTF has not given any reason why Sri Lanka needed a truth and reconciliation resolution. Even frustrated TNA, after trying to appease Sri Lanka, now wants a credible and independent international investigation. So,we can understand why GTF failed to sign the resolution; but what about BTF?

What baffles an average Tamil is why about 4 million Sri Lankan Tamils require more than 58 organisations to represent them. Even two or three may be too much. The job before them is enormous. They had to match with the huge funding that Sri Lanka gets. Tamils by nature are not known for their contribution of funds.

The next problem we face is the scarcity of resources. This could be overcome only by pooling resources. For this reason all the parties will have to merge together, either by dissolving the minor parties or by aligning with the major party.

Here, obviously, TGTE is in the lead. It should accommodate the other parties without sacrificing its main policies, for example on the question of Eelam. Soon one would notice the minor parties will all become irrelevant and would suffer a natural death, especially those that do not have a firm policy that appears logical to many.

If the parties could get together, many of the problems faced by the Tamils would be solved. In addition to policy alignment, duplication of duties could be avoided. Travelling, which is a major cost, could be spread among all of them. The Tamils could reach out to many countries and speak with the same voice without contradictions. Moreover, foreign powers may not be able to manipulate one party against the other. All these need hard work and sacrifices from all Tamils. Right now we are depending on the Western powers to do most of our policy directions and God-mothers like Navi Pillay, but please remember, the Western powers have their own geopolitical priorities, which may not synchronize with ours. So, as far as possible it is good to be on our feet.

2014: Year of elections in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, but no major changes in sight

Rajan Philips-January 4, 2014, 6:27 pm 

2013 has quietly faded away and 2014 is upon us without much of a bang. It always happens that way despite the hype that most of us go through during the heady week between Christmas and New Year. There is much speculation and hype about 2014 being yet another Sri Lankan election year – with potentially three, four or five elections packed in one year. No one will know for sure until the President lets it be known what election plans he has for his country for this year. The President has reportedly asked the Working Committee of his Party to be election-ready for 2014, without saying whether it will be provincial, parliamentary or presidential election, or all of them. In no country in the world can the head of state, or head of government, decide the way the Sri Lankan President decides as to when and where and what election will be held in any given year. I am not exaggerating.

2014 Year of Elections in Sri Lanka and Elsewhere, But No Major Changes in Sight by nelvely

Conversations With A Katussa – Some Thoughts For 2014

By Basil Fernando -January 4, 2014 

Basil Fernando

As I wanted to discuss many things, and as I found no one else to discuss these things with, I was happy to see you on a branch of a tree in our garden. I told myself, “Ah, here is someone I can talk to.”

As I approached and greeted you, you nodded to me in a friendly manner, which encouraged me to start this conversation with you.

There are many problems that we cannot talk about with human beings these days.  They no longer want to converse about things; they like to keep the chatter to just saying “Hi” or talking about the weather, the latest cricket match or a song or a film, none of which they care for very much. It is as if they are trying to talk to avoid a meaningful and good conversation.

You may not understand why I worry about conversations. Your species has survived millions of years without resorting to such things as conversations. It is the unique problem of our species that we use words to communicate with others. And these things called words have caused us many problems. Words can help conversations but words can also destroy conversations. These days, people have learned the art of destroying conversations through all kinds of words.

Now the question is as to why people do not want to converse, and why they want to use words as some kind of a barricade against conversations. That is exactly the reason why I turned to you to have this talk with.  Having a good conversation and having to think about something, in the way that we in our species are capable of thinking, is what the people seem to be afraid of.

Such thinking about things seems to create a myriad of complications and disagreements, as well as problems from authorities. In your species, there are no authorities, you don’t have them. I don’t know whether anyone would argue that you have done worse for not having authorities. For us, authorities have become unavoidable, and there is some kind of a general consensus and agreement that authorities have done a lot of good things. However, this is not always the case; there are times and circumstances in which authorities can also be the most difficult problem that people have to deal with.                Read More

SL military appropriates cemetery land in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 January 2014, 14:23 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lanka Army has established a military camp in the public land, which has been used as general cemetery for generations at Vadukaneari by the Tamil people of Odduchchuddaan in Mullaith-theevu district. Now the Odduchchuddan villagers are forced to travel eight miles off the village to bury their dead and hold religious rituals for their loved ones. 

Recently, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) councillor Thurairajah Raviharan visited the cemetery land following complaints from the resettled people. 

The people of Odduchuddaan demanded the Tamil National Alliance, especially the NPC political representatives to wage a struggle against Sinhalicisation.

Second in command of SIS with 17 years experience chased away to Jaffna for ‘dishwashing’
(Lanka-e-News- 04.Jan.2014, 4.30PM) The State intelligence service (SIS) is no longer a service that is honestly responsible for the security of the state , but rather it has degenerated into a service comprised of sneaks and backbiters serving the Medamulana Rajapakses for their selfish personal benefits.

This was confirmed well, fully and unequivocally when a most experienced and loyal officer of the SIS who had been in that service for 17 long years devoting his life in the service of the nation was chased out from the SIS most un-ceremonially on the 1 st of January 2014.

Lanka e news wishes to recall a report published by it on the 28 th of October 2013 , wherein it was revealed that a conspiracy is being hatched to weaken the division in the SIS that is directly responsible to the IGP. 

Today this conspiracy took effect .This most duty conscientious , loyal and efficient officer who is so chased out is none other than SSP Nilantha Jayawardena , Deputy Director and second in command of the SIS who for 17 years discharged state intelligence duties with dedication even during the war. It is SIS Director Chandra N. Wakishta DIG , and defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse who had jointly conspired and chased him out.

SSP Nilantha Jayawardena who joined the police service as an ASP was in the SIS serving directly under the IGP. Though he ought to have been promoted as the Director , special police division under the SIS itself , as well as he was due for a DIG promotion , he was deprived of these appointments , and driven away as a personal assistant to the senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara , Jaffna.

All the SSP’s of the north are below him in seniority to Nilantha Jayawardena , yet the latter had been appointed as a mere ordinary personal assistant to the senior DIG of Jaffna instead of being duly appointed as a chief of a division.

Nowhere in the world had such a degrading and demeaning treatment been meted out to an SSP with 17 years experience in the State intelligence service (SIS) . An SSP of his high caliber was never sent to be a ‘dishwasher’ to another police officer , although in Sri Lanka , this type of duty transfers are deemed appropriate only under the “Asia’s miracle in the making” of the Medamulana Rajapakses’ debacle. 

The rest of the officers of the SIS are rudely shocked at the deplorable actions of Medamulana Rajapakses and their police coolies like Wakishta. This action is worst frowned upon by one and all because , even as an honest dedicated officer like Nilantha Jaywardena is being mistreated , another scoundrel of a senior infernal DIG Anura Senanayake , notorious for doing all the sordid biddings of the ruling regime is being mollycoddled and given an extension in service.

A strong reliable State intelligence service must be truly dedicated to serve the security of the State irrespective of the government in power; it is not meant to serve only a ruling government or be changed just to suit the whims and fancies of families of a government in power. 

Governments come and go; family power may hold sway and be in inordinate greed for power for a while , but a State must be an institution created by the people and which protects the country and the people who created it from local and foreign armed intervention, and continue powerfully for a long period of time. This can be socialism or capitalism , but it is for the state to be strong enough to combat the weakening of itself .

Unfortunately however, currently, the target of attack of Medamulana Rajapakses is against the state , its systems. This regime is of the view that a government means governance by a group of thieves , rascals and scoundrels , and is just a den of stateless mafia operators. 

In the circumstances , chasing out Nilantha Jayawardena is another step in that operation of the stateless mafia.

SL military wants Railway station in North named after Sinhala soldier

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 January 2014, 23:40 GMT]
The occupying Sri Lankan military wants to change the name of the Elephant Pass (EPS) Railway Station, being constructed with Indian assistance, to the name of a war-dead 25-year-old Sinhala soldier Lance Corporal Gamini Kularatne, who died after tossing two grenades into the first LTTE-made bulldozer tank in 1991 in the first battle of EPS Base. The destroyed railway track, which was being extended from Vavuniyaa to Ki’linochchi last year, has now reached Ezhuthumadduvaa’l. 

The Elephant Pass is situated at the strategic linking point between the Vanni mainland and the Jaffna peninsula. 

SLA's Corporal Gamini Kularatne was the first recipient of the highest Parama Weera Vibhushanaya award by the Sri Lanka Army.

The latest move to rename the station with a war-dead Sinhala army soldier comes as part of the ongoing Sinhalicisation and militarization of the occupied Tamil homeland where Tamils are denied of remembering their war-dead Tamil heroes. 

An LTTE-made tank, which was under the command of veteran fighter Lt. Col. Sara, was struck with targeted mortar fire from the SL military, according to LTTE records. 

The LTTE’s military wing emerged as a conventional fighting force during the first battle of EPS base in 1991, which came after the Indo-Eelam War. 

9 years later, the Tigers seized the EPS garrison, which was one of the most fortified military garrisons in South Asia at that time. 

The SLA and its US, British friends obviously little expected the LTTE to possess the capability to co-ordinate a manoeuvre warfare strategy on the scale required to seriously threaten a garrison as large as EPS. 

The second battle of EPS was a paradigm shift in the conduct of limited wars in the 21st century.

In the 20th century no anti state armed group had ever succeeded in doing so – not even the Viet Cong. 

The military balance achieved through the EPS fall brought the parity of status for the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement of 2002.

The Military, The Minorities, And Neo-Fascism

By Izeth Hussain -January 4, 2014 

Izeth Hussain

President Rajapakse will probably go down in history for two achievements: he put down the LTTE rebellion and he has prevented the military coming to power. The first achievement is widely, and correctly, bruited about as the foundation for his enduring popularity with the Sinhala masses. The second achievement – preventing the military coming to power – is not bruited about at all, and perhaps is not even recognized. But it seems to me a major achievement for which the nation has to be grateful, even though it is an achievement of an ambiguous and provisional order. However, that achievement has left him with the dilemma of finding a role for a victorious army in peacetime.

It is arguable that too much credit should not be given to him for the military victory over the LTTE. It was, after all, a military victory, not a civilian one, in which the major role was played by Sarath Fonseka and the soldiers who did the actual fighting, and the major credit should therefore go to them and not to any civilian. Furthermore the President was not a charismatic figure of the order of Churchill who in 1940 transformed Britain’s darkest hour into its finest hour and imbued a nation with the fighting spirit. His detractors would say that he was the average Sri Lankan politician, though endowed with above average cunning, whose primary preoccupation was the feathering of his own nest and that of his relations, with not much more than residual concern for the national interest.

It remains, however, that the war was won under his Presidency, and I believe that he, unlike the previous Presidents, made that victory possible. I must recount at this point what I gathered while I was Ambassador in Moscow from 1995 to 1998. Shortly after I assumed office there the three Chiefs of Staff of our armed forces came to Moscow on arms purchasing missions. They included Major General Daluwatte who later became Army Commander. He said something to the following effect – not in his exact words – which germinated in my mind: “Give us the men and the weapons in sufficient quantity, and we will finish the job”. What that meant quite clearly was that since 1984, which saw the beginning of the civil war, until 1995 our armed forces had not been provided the men and the weapons in the requisite quantity to finish off the LTTE.Read More

Reconciliation: GTF says SL not sincere

January 3, 2014, 9:41 pm 

The UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has urged the international community not to allow the Sri Lankan government to undermine the accountability and national reconciliation process. In a hard hitting statement issued from London, GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran has alleged that the government is trying to deceive the international community by indicating its readiness to accept a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address grievances of the Tamil speaking community.

Surendiran said that the GTF would continue to work with various political parties and non political organisations in the Southern Sri Lanka.

Excerpts of the GTF statement: "The deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka must change and change now! GTF urges all members of the international community – governments, parliamentarians, civil society organisations and concerned citizens alike to back the demand for an independent, international inquiry into the allegations of breaches of international law by both parties to the armed conflict and to support the initiation of a comprehensive political settlement. President Rajapaksa’s regime should be given no further allowances at the 25th Session of the UNHRC in March 2014 to subvert, deliberately prolong or undermine the accountability and reconciliation processes by insincerely suggesting a process of "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" with a clear intent to hoodwink the international community." 

"GTF hopes that 2014 brings with it the realisation of at least some of the fundamental aspirations of our people. One among them is the demand for an independent, international commission of inquiry, which can credibly investigate the conduct of the final months of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict. The team behind the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ documentaries and the ‘No Fire Zone’ film, released in 2013, as well as Channel 4 news deserve special praise for uncovering further evidence of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The establishment of such a mechanism, under UN auspices, is imperative to ensure truth and justice for the tens of thousands who perished, as well as to help lead the way towards a brighter future on the island." 

"It is clear that international patience is wearing increasingly thin, with the Government of Sri Lanka’s unwillingness to address the alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law arising from the conflict and for the on-going perpetration of human rights abuses, particularly in the heavily militarised north and other parts of the island.

"The visits to the Tamil majority North of the island, conducted by the UN Human Rights Chief, in August, and by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rt. Hon Mr David Cameron MP, during CHOGM, brought much needed international scrutiny to the plight faced by the people of the region."  

"The clear political mandate given by the Tamil people to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), at the elections to the Northern Provincial Council in September, strengthened our hopes for the future. The decisive victory sent an important message to the Government of Sri Lanka and the international community. with the TNA and help to strengthen their voice in the international arena in 2014."

Verify Lankan repatriates’ caste claim: Siddaramaiah 

  January 4, 2014

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday directed the Dakshin Kannada Deputy Commissioner (DC) to verify the claim of a group of Sri Lankan repatriates settled in Sullia and Puttur taluks that they were being issued Scheduled Caste (SC) certificates till 2002. The CM asked the DC to submit a report within 15 days.

The Chief Minister, who chaired a meeting convened to discuss the subject and decide on issuing the caste certificates to the repatriates, is stated to have assured a delegation led by Forests Minister Ramanath Rai that the demand of the repatriates would be considered after the DC submits his report.

Mr. Rai said nearly 1,000 Tamil families repatriated from Sri Lanka, Burma and Vietnam under Indo-Ceylon Agreement 1964 and 1974 had settled and were rehabilitated in the rubber plantations in Sullia and Puttur taluks.  (The hindu.com)
Tamil Diaspora behind Tribunal 


By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan- January 4, 2014 
 
A panel of 11 international judges has concluded a war crimes report against Sri Lanka and Ceylon Today, learns that the final verdict, in a report, would be handed over to the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) scheduled to be held in March 2014 in Geneva.
 
More than 30 Sri Lankans have testified before the tribunal. The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT), an international independent opinion tribunal, which held a session on Sri Lanka in Bremen, Germany, from 7 to 11 December, with a panel of 11 judges, comprising experts in genocide studies, former UN officials, experts in international law and renowned peace and human rights activists, has found Sri Lanka guilty of war crimes, their website revealed.
 
The second session, held in Bremen last month, was convened in response to the determination by the first session, held in January 2010 in Dublin, Ireland, under Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, its communiqué read.
 
“Such biased forums are held only to tarnish the image of this country and we consider it to be a total drama creating sentiments among the Tamil Diaspora. We don’t have to reply them or even take any notice of such forums even if it’s conducted by internationally recognized personalities. There are Sri Lankans too participating in such events who have different opinions and go about voicing their concerns but it’s their opinion and nothing more than that,” he added.

Theravada Sinhala Buddhism needs further understanding in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 January 2014, 04:53 GMT]
The genocidal onslaught carried out by Theravada Sinhala-Buddhist institutions of the island of Lanka against the nation of Eezham Tamils and other non-Buddhist peoples in the island is often presented by certain sections in certain countries as a necessary ‘civilisation-engineering’ that should be welcomed and supported. This is not due to innocence or ignorance. The Establishments of most of these countries were in complicity in the genocidal war either through the Tokyo Co-Chairs (USA, EU, Japan and Norway) or through joining the US bandwagon. A few others especially in Southeast Asia consider Sinhala-Buddhism a role model. But the most misleading of them all is a campaign carried out in Tamil Nadu. 

TamilNet Editorial Board

Certain elements in Tamil Nadu try to project the genocidal operations of Sinhala Theravada Buddhist institutions as a ‘necessary and progressive’ move against caste and the evils of Brahmanism among Tamils, and hence the Tamil Nadu Tamils should not have any qualms. The campaign is addressed to the gullible in certain sections in Tamil Nadu. 

People of Tamil Nadu especially, and India in general, have to carefully and subtly understand the difference between Mahayana Buddhism advised for Dalits in India by Ambedkar and the Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism of the island of Lanka.

The Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism was a staunch adversary of Mahayana Buddhism since its inception, expelling the Mahayana Buddhist institutions out of the island even 2000 years ago.

Unlike Jainsim of Tamil Nadu and southern India that extensively contributed to the development of Tamil, Kannada and other languages of the peoples of the Dravidian region, the Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism, based on Pali texts, was historically intent on the genocide of anything that was Tamil. It created the ‘Aryan’ myth for the Sinhala formation that was actually sharing a Dravidian substratum.

The Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism will not stop without making Tamils in the island into ‘second class Sinhalese.’ This it was doing for ages, and often arguments are put forth that what is wrong in it, as it could contribute for (genocidal) ‘peace’ and facilitate ‘one State’ for the whole of the island.

The Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism is not a remedy for caste. In its predominant Sangha or chapters in the island, no one except a Goyigama caste Sinhala could become a monk. This is controlled by tradition, practice and incumbency in the dominant chapters and monasteries. 

The Theravada Sinhala-Buddhism is also not a remedy for the evils of Brahmanism, because both are birds of the same feather and they flock together for power, colonialism, subjugation, social monopoly and imperialism.

While on one hand the Sinhala Buddhism is campaigned as a hope for Tamil Dalits, on the other hand, it is the ‘Hindutva’ forces that buttress the genocidal Sinhala-Buddhism, create space for it in the rest of India, and compromise with it, citing a so-called larger perspective of ‘Indian-ness’. 

It is not merely the ‘Hindutva’ elements. But New Delhi’s imperialists in the garb of pseudo-secularism, who were prepared to hush the crime of genocide in their pursuit of power-related ideology, were also in the forefront in setting the paradigm. Professor Romila Thapar was one of the first to run to Colombo to preach Buddhism to its perfection in the island and give legitimacy to the genocidal State shortly after the war. 

The ‘Holy See’ of Vatican, receiving Rajapaksa and his siblings and giving them legitimacy, is no exception in the list of establishments-engineered political injustices committed against Eezham Tamils. The Sinhala Archbishop, Malcolm Ranjith, a defender of the Sinhala State, was made a Cardinal after the Mu’l’livaaykkaal war and became one of the Pope-makers in the last papal conclave. He was even tipped as a possible candidate to become the Pope. 

The approach of Sinhala Theravada Buddhism towards Tamils is not religious, philosophical, social revolutionary, humanitarian or even ‘mystic’ of the genre of the ‘Babajis’. 

Making no pretentions of its genocidal intent, it comes nakedly with an occupying genocidal army, archaeology, mushrooming construction of stupas and an array of monks, backed by the ideologically rotting establishments of the world. 

More than making Tamils into Buddhists, the primary aim is to make them Sinhalese or subservient to Sinhalese, in order to claim the land as Sinhala, before pawning it to the imperialists. 

The Sinhala people should think of their own history during the times of European colonialism. 

It should be always asked why the Catholic Christianity came to stay in the island both among the Sinhalese and Tamils, while the Reformed Dutch Church disappeared with an astounding quickness despite 150 years of stable colonial rule and hundreds and hundreds of churches built by the Dutch in the island. The oppression faced by the Catholics during the Protestant rule and the resultant spirit of self-respect in the masses was a major reason. 

Unlike Sinhala or any other language in South Asia, Tamil has a rare distinction of serving a medium to all the major religions of today as well as to some extinct ones. 

In their long civilisation sharing the various human experiences on religion, Tamils have always retained the spirit of rising against any kind of authority, whether political, social, military, or colonial that thinks a conquest could be made by spiritual fraud. Self-respect in spiritual pursuit is the essence of Tamil religious thinking that is found recorded from the Changkam corpus, Thirukku’ral and the Pakthi corpus to Bharathy’s “The Fox with the Golden Tail” or Puthumaippiththan’s short stories.

When Thiruva’l’luvar said in the early centuries of the Common Era that “Mazhiththalum needdalum vea’ndaa, ulakam pazhiththathu ozhiththuvidin,” (Don’t shave your head or extend your hair in the show of asceticism, which the world reproaches; stop it), it was on all the types of institutionalised religious fraud.

Progressive forces in Tamil Nadu have to work on enlightening the gullible against the campaign that the operations of Sinhala Buddhism in the country of Eezham Tamils have to be compromised with, as an antidote to the evils of Brahmanism and as means of promotion of Buddhism in India.

Chandra Wants Answers On Casino Business (Regulation) Act And Betting & Gaming Levy Act

January 4, 2014 

Good governance activist and former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chandra Jayaratne has written to the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Investment Promotion requesting clarifications on the provisions of the Casino Business (Regulation) Act and Betting & Gaming Levy Act.

Chandra Jayaratne

His letter to the Ministers in full is found below:

3^rd January 2014.

Registered Post

Hon. Minister of Economic Development,

Ministry of Economic Development,

Colombo.

Hon. Minister of Investment Promotion,

Ministry of Investment Promotion,

Colombo.

Honorable Ministers,

Seeking Clarification Re Application of the Provisions of the Casino Business Regulations & Betting & Gaming Levy Act

The Daily FT of Friday, January 3^rd 2014, page 14, presents a pictorial account of the “The Gatsby Party” held on the New Year’s eve at a Hotel in Sri Lanka, and carries a picture titled “ Bally’s Gaming Lounge was a hit”, implying that a gaming lounge was operated that night at the Hotel, presumably by a licensed Casino Operator.

I would be most grateful, if in the interest of all stakeholders of society, (especially the private sector business operators, private clubs and citizen groups engaged in tourism, entertainment, leisure and gaming activities as well as citizens using such services and investors in such businesses), you will take URGENT steps to clarify the following issues in terms of the provisions of the Casino Business (Regulation) Act and Betting & Gaming Levy Act;                                       Read More