Badowita murders were to daunt minister Champika : chainsaw decapitation by ASP Sylvester on Gota’s order



(Lanka-e-news -29.Jan.2014, 1.30PM) It was on the direct orders of Sri Lanka criminal defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse ,Gihan Asitha Perera was abducted from his home at Badowita , Galkissa on 26 th night , and murdered by severing his neck with a chain saw at Attidiya. This decapitation was done by ASP Sylvester Jagath Wijesinghe and an STF team , according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

Asitha Perera is only a three wheel driver who does not deal in heroin but who knows very well those peddling in heroin , and this has been the reason for the murder. Asitha Perera was only an intermediary providing vital information to trap heroin dealers to the JHU investigation division which is supposedly inquiring into politicos and security division chiefs who are clandestinely associated with the heroin mafia and /or collecting extortion monies from them.

Even Nishantha Aponsu (35) like Asitha Perera was not currently involved in heroin, but an informant passing information to JHU investigation division. He was also abducted from the same area, Badowita in much the same way as Asitha, and murdered .

Nishantha was murdered on January 5 th before Asitha was killed, and his body with cuts and wounds was found near the Boralesgamuwa temple. Badowita is an area notorious for heroin business , and these two individuals who were murdered knew well those engaged in this heroin mafia. Aponso had been involved in heroin business about 4 years ago , but he has abandoned that business and is currently selling vegetables.

Minister Champika Ranawake , leader of JHU has appointed a 5 member committee which has collected information and evidence secretly in regard to politicos and security chiefs who are at the bottom of this clandestine heroin business. Criminal defense secretary Gota who is the main source and at the center of heroin and illicit arms deals on coming to know of this had naturally got provoked. In a fit of rage to spite Champika , he had given instructions to ASP Sylvester to ‘bump off’ those who are providing information to Champika. 

Accordingly , the first individual they could lay hands on was Nishantha Aponso. When he was tortured before he was killed , had revealed the name of Asitha Perera . The brutal torture inflicted on Nishantha was evident from his mauled body. There were over 20 injuries and cuts on his body while on his face there was a clear boot impression indicating that he was trampled with the boots on.

Gihan Asitha who was abducted on the 26 th night was taken to the secret torture chamber at Welikade of Sylvester on the same night itself. At about 2.00 a.m. he had been subjected to torture and interrogation. He had been asked : where else did the JHU take you , and who else pass information to the JHU ? Asitha unable to endure the torture had revealed a number of names . Therafter Sylvetser had taken Asitha in the white van to Attidiya where he was pushed out to the ground from the white van . When the chain saw was taken threateningly from the vehicle , others present had got frozen with shock. It was Sylvester himself who had decapitated Asitha . Sylvester had been fully drunk at that time. He was wearing a blue Tee shirt with Adidas label and a track kit.

Sylvester had informed Gotabaya that 6 more need to be killed. Lanka e news inside information division is in possession of evidence in this regard. But the irony of it is while Lanka e news is revealing frankly and fearlessly all this information to the nation , the JHU on the other hand is swallowing all the evidence and still busy cleaning the ‘Temple trees’ latrines , and washing stinking loin cloths of Rajapakses. Any way it is a wonder of wonders ! on Gota’s orders , Prime Minister’s office was raided.

Today’s Enemy Is Tomorrow’s Friend

 by Upul Joseph Fernando

( January 29, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Planning, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has severely criticized US Ambassador in Colombo, Michele J. Sison, in a speech he had delivered recently at a public meeting in Batticaloa.

This is how ‘Island’ newspaper reported his speech; “Addressing a public gathering in the Batticaloa District on Thursday, the Defence Secretary alleged the US Ambassador in Sri Lanka was interfering in domestic affairs. The Defence Secretary was addressing religious dignitaries and civil society representatives in the Eastern Province at Hotel East Lagoon, in Batticaloa.

Today’s Enemy Is Tomorrow’s Friend by nelvely

 Sri Lanka's domestic mechanism for reconciliation and accountability does not meet international standards - UK

Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 05:37 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Jan 29, London: The UK government says that Sri Lanka's domestic Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed to address the reconciliation and accountability issues does not meet international standards.
Responding to the question raised on Sri Lanka in the UK parliament, the British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Hugo Swire said that any process Sri Lanka established to this date to investigate the accountability and allegations of human rights violations does not meet the criteria set by the UK.
"We have also highlighted that any domestic process should be credible, independent and transparent to be accepted by the international community. We do not believe that any of the processes established to date by the Sri Lankan Government- such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission - meet these standards," Swire said.
Responding to MP Stephen Timms who asked what recent assessment Swire has made of the likelihood of a credible domestic process beginning by March 2014, the FCO Minister noted that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay in her September 2013 oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council has said that she had "detected no new or comprehensive efforts to investigate" alleged war crimes during her visit to Sri Lanka.
He recalled that the UK Prime Minister at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in November made clear to Sri Lankan President that unless a credible national accountability process has begun properly by March 2014, UK will use its position on the UNHRC to call for an international investigation.
Swire said if Sri Lanka begins a genuine and credible process properly by March 2014, the UK will "give it our full support."

The Sri Lankan government has flatly rejected Cameron's call for an independent investigation and the March 2014 deadline saying that Sri Lanka has already set mechanisms in place to address the issues the PM raised and will take more than four years to achieve resolutions to the issues from a 30-year war.

Sri Lanka says international war crimes probe would bring 'chaos'

Demonstrators from ''Frontline Socialist Party'' hold up boards with a cutout of the human body during a protest against the president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government as they commemorate the International ''Human Rights Day'', in Colombo December 10,2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/DINUKA LIYANAWATTE0-WASHINGTON Mon Jan 27, 2014

(Reuters) - An international inquiry into war crimes in Sri Lanka would bring "chaos," and the government's national reconciliation process must be given several more years to work, a top aide to Sri Lanka's president said on Monday.

Lalith Weeratunga, in Washington to lobby against calls for such an inquiry, said Sri Lanka needed at least five years from the July 2012 date the government regards as the start of its reconciliation process for the effort to take root.

"After 26 years of conflict ... we want to make it a sustainable peace. It's a very delicate, delicate process. Reconciliation is not a task that can be achieved in a day or two," said Weeratunga, who is secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's top civil servant.

The final few months of Sri Lanka's long civil war in 2009 were by far the bloodiest, and both the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels blame each other for the deaths of tens of thousands of mainly Tamil civilians during that period.

The United Nations has called on Sri Lanka to punish those in the military involved in atrocities, and U.S. Embassy officials in Colombo say Washington plans to introduce a resolution calling for an international investigation at the March session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in November he would push for an international inquiry if Sri Lanka did not conclude an independent investigation by March.

U.S. Embassy officials say the United States will demand that the government investigate other abuses as well as alleged war crimes, including lack of progress in reconciliation, abductions of anti-government critics, attacks on churches and mosques and the media, and alleged restrictions on freedom of association and labour union activity.

"HUGE CHAOS"

But Weeratunga rejected the charges and said an international inquiry would only reopen old wounds, as it would require investigation of all those involved in the conflict, including former rebels and Indian peacekeepers as well as the armed forces.

"There would be huge chaos in the country ... armed forces that liberated the country from terrorism would again be put to a judicial test. That is really going to reduce the morale of the army. These are things that need to be considered very carefully," he told Reuters in an interview.

"Why single out Sri Lanka for an international inquiry when ... other countries that have gone through more difficult issues are not be investigated?," he asked.

"If there is an international investigation, the whole period has to be investigated - from the 1980s onward - which includes the two-year tenure of the Indian peacekeeping force, which will upset India, which will upset our relationship with India."

Weeratunga said the government needed more time for its efforts to resolve land disputes, resettle people displaced by war and improve people's livelihoods.

He also said the government was investigating 13,000 cases of missing persons, a task complicated by the unwillingness of countries like Britain to provide information on people thought to be living there.

Ten cases of attacks on churches and mosques were "being dealt with severely," he said, but added it took time to probe cases where there was no evidence as to who carried them out.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Shihar Aneez in Colombo; editing by Peter Cooney and G Crosse)

How independent would Scotland really be?

How would an independent Scotland look

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says an independent Scotland would have to cede some of its national sovereignty if it wants to keep the pound.

WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2014

Speaking in Edinburgh ahead of a referendum on Scottish independence, Mr Carney said the eurozone crisis showed that countries sharing a currency had to co-ordinate their economic policies.

How Independent Would Scotland Really Be by nelvely

Govt. is killing our hopes: Wigneswaran

• Northern Chief Minister claims councillors losing faith in Govt. will to assist with NPC work
• Says emotions are being vented through resolutions at NPC
• Slams President for refusal to change Chief Secretary of the Province
• NPC to send Ananthi to Geneva since she is best suited to speak of disappearances

By Dharisha Bastians-January 29, 2014
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says emotions are running high in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) with members losing faith in the Central Government because it continues to blockade the work of the newly elected body.
Speaking to Daily FT following the adoption of a controversial resolution calling for an international war crimes probe in the NPC, Wigneswaran said President Mahinda Rajapaksa was “killing the hopes” of the recently elected Tamil National Alliance councillors by refusing to grant simple administrative requests made by the NPC.
“The feelings of our members have heightened. I used to speak positively to them after meeting the President. I used to assure them there had been a change of heart where the President is concerned, and they believed me. But the President is killing their hope and their belief, and some are becoming very disillusioned,” the former Supreme Court Justice said.
“In fact they think I was naive to have believed the President,” Wigneswaran told Daily FT.
The Chief Minister had fought hard to tone down the language of the resolution presented at the Council by TNA Councillors on Monday (27), removing for instance the word ‘genocide’ and insisting it be replaced with a softer word, until such an act can be legally proved.
He said that with the Councillors losing faith in the Government’s will to assist the Council with its work, TNA members were giving vent to their feelings by presenting resolutions. “These could set us on a collision course with the Government,” Wigneswaran added, explaining that he had been able to tone down the harsh wording of the resolutions.
The Chief Minister explained that the Government was refusing to grant simple official requests made by the Council, even when they were related to administration. “Due to intervention by a Minister, the President has refused to replace the Chief Secretary of the Province, claiming her union would launch an island-wide strike,” he said.
Wigneswaran, who retired from a career in law 10 years ago, says the Chief Secretary ceased to be part of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Union the moment she assumed office. “There is no question of the SLAS Union coming to her aid since the Law is clear. Section 31 of the Provincial Councils Act says the Chief Secretary has to be appointed by President with the concurrence of the Chief Minister. If she had been there and I want her changed it is the President’s duty in terms of the Law to replace her,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the island-wide strike on her behalf was a figment of the Government’s imagination.
In addition to the resolution calling for a war crimes inquiry into the last phase of the war, the Tamil National Alliance-run Council on Monday also adopted resolutions to set up a memorial at the final theatre of battle in Mullivaikal and send a NPC Councillor to Geneva to attend the UN Human Rights Council sessions in March.
The NPC has decided TNA Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan, who won the second highest number of preferential votes in last September’s election, will go to Geneva as the Council representative.
“Since Ananthi is best suited to speak about the missing persons having given evidence thrice now, one before LLRC, the other before Navi Pillay and lately before the Paranagama Commission, we resolved to send her as our representative. We believe the fact that she is a woman will also have a positive effect. She will speak through an interpreter,” the Chief Minister explained.

Dimu Goes On The Counterattack

By Kumar David -January 29, 2014

Prof Kumar David

Maybe he is old enough and senior enough and fed up with whelps snapping at his ankles; maybe this is the tip of an iceberg of brewing internal convulsions, but Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne has hit out at politicised and corrupt monks. In characteristic parlance he has voiced the need to disrobe them and send them down river in their underpants. He feels secure; no one dare fell this old mara tree he reckons. He may or may not be right, but he is creating one hell of a bonfire with gay abandon; the old fellow may even be enjoying himself.

Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne

Maybe he is old enough and senior enough and fed up with whelps snapping at his ankles; maybe this is the tip of an iceberg of brewing internal convulsions, but Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne has hit out at politicised and corrupt monks. In characteristic parlance he has voiced the need to disrobe them and send them down river in their underpants. He feels secure; no one dare fell this old mara tree he reckons. He may or may not be right, but he is creating one hell of a bonfire with gay abandon; the old fellow may even be enjoying himself.

The JHU and its boss, Omalpe Sobitha in the meantime have sent a Rs 1 billion letter of demand to the PM for insulting the monk in public and causing irreparable damage to his reputation. Dimu (Disanayake Mudiyanselage) has called some monks cheevaradhariyas, an expression similar to ‘men of the cloth’ commonly used in English for robed Christian clergy. I don’t see what’s so offensive. Politicos in national dress are referred to as redhas, does anyone take offence, does anyone take offence? I doubt it.

The tussle has gone beyond the original fracas when one of the PM’s secretaries issued a letter asking the Customs Department to release a container which turned out to be stuffed with contraband heroin. I think it highly unlikely that Dimu is a dope smuggler, and when he says he is clueless what the stuff even looks like, the old fogey is being truthful. But he is a lousy judge in hiring staff or in the choice of people to entertain. So it is fair to call for his resignation as a necessary formality to facilitate impartial investigation. (But whoever conforms to right political etiquette in Lanka any longer?) In any case this has all become a farcical sideshow; whatever the facts of the Customs case, centre stage is now hogged by a crisis in the governing alliance.

Read More

Readings, photos and speech from ‘Short & Sweet’ launch

• by Groundviews 
• - on 01/29/2014

Around 180 attended the launch of Sri Lanka’s first collection of hint fiction, ‘Short & Sweet’, on 24th January at the 80 Club in Colombo. Treating the collection as a script, the Floating Space Theatre Theatre Company read out around 50 stories from the book (out of over 160). A recording of their performance can be heard below.

Speaking at the launch, Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanmuttu, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (the institutional home of Groundviews) noted that each time he has delved into the book, he’s discovered a new richness, because the book “stems from a commentary on our society at the private realm as well as to the much more searing and quite scathing comments that come out in the observations at the public realm about the conflict that we’ve been in, about disappearances, extra judicial killings… so here is a summation, in our words, of our society”. He went to say that “like the invitation to write, provoked, inspired 600 entries, now the book… hopefully will in turn inspire that many more ripples of hope and of defiance to make this a more decent society”.

His full speech can be heard below (6 mins).

Some photos from the launch are embedded below. You can also view all of them in full-screen and as a set on Flickr here.

‘Short and Sweet’ is available for purchase at all leading bookstores in Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka, as well as online. More details on pricing and available here.

SRI LANKA: Will the Bar Association submit to the proposal for Case “Mismanagement”?

January 29, 2014

In his remarkable writings, Orwell reminded us as to how the Ministry of War was represented as the Ministry of Peace. Such coinage of words to mean the opposite of reality is part of the mischief in introducing repression in place of freedom. We have occasion to remember Orwell’s words of warning when reading about an announcement made this week by Sri Lanka’s de facto chief justice, Mohan Peiris, quoted in Colombo Gazette (January 28^th 2014) in which he spoke of introducing judicial reforms, emphasising that case management as yet another effort in that direction.

Yet this concept of ‘case management’ appears to be nothing more than the pressurising of judges to ignore the principles of law and justice and to bulldoze their way through cases in order to bring about forced settlements. The philosophy of settlement is one of the favourite themes of the de facto chief justice who, not long ago, in a public meeting, announced that the rule of law is something that is not practiced anywhere in the world. Certainly, in his world there is no such thing as justice or fairness.

An example of this kind of ‘management’ is the manner in which the impeachment of the Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake was carried out. The six hour ‘inquiry’ which was carried out in a ‘butcher style’ in dealing with matters of the highest importance in regard to democracy and the rule of law revealed how the executive, the legislature and now also, the judiciary itself made a mockery of justice.

It was that kind of justice and management that made possible the killing of 100 prisoners incarcerated in two prisons in Colombo in 1983. With those killings, the judicial approach in dealing with alleged rebels ended. It came as no surprise that after that incident, enforced disappearances became the manner in which alleged rebels were dealt with in the south, north and east. The practice of justice in Sri Lanka has come to mean all these negativities and nothing more.

Under these circumstances, it was to be expected that the government and the people of Sri Lanka did not make much fuss when in the United Arab Emirates, a 19-year-old Sri Lankan youth was executed by firing squad last week. The family of the victim complained in public that the boy had not received the benefit of a fair trial. The boy himself complained that he had been sexually molested by a friend of his employer and thereafter the incident that occurred, had been distorted to make it appear that he had committed this murder.

That the government of Sri Lanka is not concerned about fair trials for its citizens working in the Middle East has been proved many times now. The famous case of Rizana Nafeek, which is known, not only to Sri Lankans but also to the international community, remains one of the most glaring examples which show the utter callousness of the government of Sri Lanka regarding the lives of its citizens who are responsible for almost ten percent of the country’s GDP. These people today work in conditions of near slavery and do not have anybody to defend their rights. Almost 20 percent of the working population of Sri Lanka lives in similar conditions. Of course, the government can claim that this is the way the judiciary manages cases in their country. It is that ‘impressive’ way of managing cases that is now being introduced into Sri Lanka itself.

Examples of such management are reported frequently in the press. Last week there were two instances where villagers were abducted from their homes by persons in white vans and later found brutally murdered and dumped on the road side. That too is a method of management. Again, the impact that this has on the people was demonstrated last week in Negombo when a man was released on bail after being accused of murder. He was murdered himself in broad daylight when he was shot twelve times. The principle of an eye for an eye has thus been introduced in place of justice and fair trial.

Such is the new philosophy of ‘management.’ Whatever the executive, and those that work under it, including some judicial officers, wish to implement is what is imposed on the helpless Sri Lankan people. Thus, the official doctrine of the mismanagement of justice has been introduced under the purified title of management.

How will the Bar Association face this imposed doctrine? Will lawyers allow themselves to be “managed”? Will they blindly subject themselves to be treated as asses, irrespective of the ill consequences this will have on their clients? These questions are yet to be answered.

Joint opposition rally at Hyde park against regime’s oppression and repression a huge success ! venue seething with crowds

(Lanka-e-news -29.Jan.2014, 1.30PM) Mammoth crowds attended the opposition procession and protest rally that were held at the Hyde park today (28) against the Medamulana regime. Opposition political parties , civil organizations and trade unions participated in their thousands. In addition people not affiliated to any organization also flocking to the venue in their thousands from far away places was a noteworthy feature.

200 trade unions of government , semi government and private establishments , the University academic staff federation, Samagi Balavegaya comprised of about 150 civil organizations and opposition Balavegaya political parties participated in the events. The black January anniversary held every year organized jointly by the media organizations against the media suppression too was commemorated in conjunction with the protest demonstrations and rally . Due to the unprecedented and massive crowds spilling over to the roads , there was severe traffic congestion on the roads .
For the first time such a grand congregation of parties of diverse political hues and ideologies was witnessed .

General Fonseka who had organized an opposition procession of about 2000 participants starting from Gamini hall to Fort railway station coinciding with the Hyde park opposition procession and rally , and was to join in the Hyde park rally thereafter could not make it because of the severe traffic snarls causing a delay of about an hour on the road after the procession was over. He was therefore obstructed from arriving at the Hyde park to participate in the rally. In the circumstances, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera who was in the front line at the Hyde park rally , and UNP gen. secretary Tissa Attanayake were contacted and intimated of the difficulties faced by Fonseka to come to Hyde park . He had apologizing on that account while also conveying the best wishes .

Jayantha Katagoda , the only M.P. of Fonseka’s party told Lanka e news , since the procession was organized ahead from Gamini Hall to Fort railway station , they were dispersing after addressing the people since it was too late to attend the Hyde park rally.

The JVP which had promised its organizers that they will be joining in the Hyde park procession and rally , however failed to participate at the last moment. Their trade unions too did not attend the procession.

Vasantha Samarasinghe the convener of the coordinating center of JVP trade unions who was saying they would be attending , and that they are on their way at Kadawatha and so forth when answering queries, finally did not turn up. Anura Dissanayake a member of the JVP politburo had told the JVP organizers and Hiru media , though they are unable to participate as a party , the trade unions which are opposed to the Rajapakse regime will be made to take part .

When Lanka e news tried to contact Anura Dissanayake via phone , he was not available for comment .
More Pics Below

Canada deports Tamil mother, leaving family behind

28 January 2014

Canadian authorities have deported a Tamil mother to Sri Lanka earlier this week, forcing her to leave her family behind in Canada.

Rajini Subramaniyam, who arrived in Canada in 2008, was deported earlier this week, and left behind her husband and two young daughters, who all hold Canadian citizenship.

There were highly emotional scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport as she bid farewell to her daughters and the rest of her family, before boarding a flight to Colombo.

Canada has come under severe criticism for its treatment of asylum seekers, including from the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Last month Tamil Guardian questioned Canada's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Human Rights, Deepak Obhrai on his government’s policy on deporting asylum seekers to Sri Lanka despite overwhelming documented evidence of returned deportees facing detention, abuse and torture.

See his response here.

In 2011 Canadian authorities also decided to deport the widow of assassinated TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham, who was gunned down in a church during a Christmas midnight mass, declaring her a terrorist “by association”.

See our earlier editorial on her deportation: Extraordinarily perverse (15 April 2011)

Also see our editorial: Asylum policies are extensions of Sri Lanka’s repression (16 January 2013)

மன்னாரில் தோண்டத் தோண்ட மனித எலும்புக்கூடுகள் இன்றும் ஐந்து 

28 ஜனவரி 2014, செவ்வாய்

மன்னார்  மனிதப் புதைகுழி மீண்டும் இன்று மன்னார் நீதவான் ஆனந்தி கனகரட்ணத்தின் முன்னிலையில் 16வது தடவையாக தோண்டப்பட்டது.

காலை 8.30 மணி முதல் மதியம் 2 மணிவரை மனிதப் புதைகுழி தோண்டப்பட்டபோது, மேலும் 5 மனித எலும்புக்கூடுகள் கண்டு பிடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. இந்த நிலையில் இதுவரை மீட்கப்பட்ட மனித எலும்புக்கூடுகளின் எண்ணிக்கை 53ஆக அதிகரித்துள்ளன.

அனுராதபுர சட்ட வைத்திய நிபுணர் டி.எல்.வைத்திய ரெட்ண தலைமையில் மன்னார் நீதவான் ஆனந்தி கனகரட்ணம் முன்னிலையில் சுமார் 2 மீற்றர் வரை அகலப்படுத்தப்பட்டு தோண்டப்பட்டது.

இதேவேளை குற்றப் புலனாய்வுப் பிரிவினர் 4வது நாளாகவும் இன்று தமது விசாரணைகளை அங்கு முன்னெடுத்துள்ளனர். இதேவேளை மீண்டும் நாளைய தினம் மன்னார் நீதவான் முன்னிலையில்  17 வது தடவையாக தோண்டப்பட்டுள்ளது.

More skeletons found, total rises to 53 - Uthayan
28 January 2014
A further five human remains were found on Tuesday morning, reported the Uthayan, bringing the total number of remains found at the mass grave in Mannar to 53.

As excavations continue, on Monday the Northern Provincial Council, called for an internationally run investigation into the mass grave in Mannar. 

Earlier this month the Bishop of Mannar, who has called for an international investigation into the mass grave due to the lack of credibility associated with any internal process,said that the holes in many of the skulls were believed to be from gunshot wounds. 

The grave was initially unearthed when construction workers found two human skeletonson December 20th when digging in Thirukketheeswaram. 

The following week, a further four skulls were unearthed, with more over subsequent weeks (see also here, here, here, here and here).

நுவரெலியா கிரகரி வாவியில் ஆணின் சடலம் மீட்பு

 Mon, 01/27/2014

நுவரெலியா, கிரகரி வாவியில் ஆணின் சடலம் ஒன்று மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

 

நுவரெலியா மாநகரசபையில் பணிபுரியும் 26 வயதுடைய டி.சசிகுமார் என்பவரே இவ்வாறு சடலமாக மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக பொலிஸார் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர்.

 

இதுஒரு கொலையாக இருக்கலாம் என்ற சந்தேகத்தில் ஒருவரை கைது செய்துள்ளதாக நுவரெலிய பொலிஸார் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர்.  

Tamil council member found dead in Nuwareliya
28 January 2014

The body of a 26 year old Tamil man, D. Sasikumar, who worked for the Nuwareliya Council, was found this week reported the Virakesari on Monday. 

One person, who has not been identified, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

PROTEST IN VAVUNIYA…

January 29, 2014  

A massive protest took place today in the Vavuniya town against malpractices that is allegedly taking place in the allocation of the houses built in Vavuniya under Indian funding. The protestors claimed that the houses were being allocated according to the whims and fancies of a certain Government Minister.

Thousands protest against government in Sri Lanka

By AP News Jan 29, 2014

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Thousands of protesters from opposition parties, human rights groups, trade unions and media groups marched Tuesday in Sri Lanka’s capital in a rare show of dissent against the government.

They held separate marches in Colombo, shouting slogans which accused authorities of corruption and mismanagement, and later came together for joint rally.

Tissa Attanayake, an opposition lawmaker, said law and order has broken down in the country and the government has politicized judicial institutions.

The demonstrators also protested attacks on journalists who have been critical of the government, holding banners that read “Stop Suppressing Media.”

Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella rejected the accusations, saying, “This is a democratic country and everyone has the right to demonstrate and protest.”

He said investigations of attacks on journalists were continuing.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has used his party’s overwhelming majority in Parliament — gained through the popularity of winning a civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels — to expand his power.

He abolished a two-term presidential limit, scrapped independent commissions and took over their power to appoint top judges and police.

His party also voted last year to oust the country’s first female chief justice, and Rajapaksa appointed his own aide to that position.

Sunil Jayasekara, convener of the Free Media Movement, said his group joined the protest to highlight high-profile attacks on media institutions and journalists that have occurred in January in recent years.

During that month in the past five years, an outspoken editor was killed, a private television station was attacked, an online journalist went missing and his office was set on fire.

Jayasekara said his group is not satisfied with the investigations of those attacks, in which no suspects have been arrested.

More than 80 journalists have fled Sri Lanka since 2005. The government has been accused of failing to properly investigate a series of attacks on journalists who were viewed as critical of the administration.

The human rights group Amnesty International says at least 15 journalists have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006.

Tapping into the global Halal market

January 29, 2014

Sri Lanka needs to open up to the global Halal market and our initial focus should be in South East Asia as this region is currently growing exponentially.  Some of the key countries for us to focus on are Maldives, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines, India, Indonesia and China.
Today, South Eastern countries like Malaysia are driving Halal standards and have become the centre to understanding this ‘Halal’ economy.  For the last five years, Malaysia has held the ‘World Halal Week’ conference and this has contributed towards enhancing Halal awareness internationally.
The World Halal Week Conference held in April last year, aimed to create emerging technologies and frontiers of business opportunities within Halal.  This was in line with the Malaysian Government’s efforts to continuously inspire innovation in the Halal industry, as innovation and research within the entire Halal value chain is critical in creating a sustainable Halal industry.
Participants at this conference interacted and discussed with both Malaysian and International scientists, researchers, academics and business leaders, exchanging ideas on new research findings, emerging technologies, trends, issues and challenges faced by the global Halal industry.
Sri Lanka
The news of Sri Lanka’s Halal Accreditation Council taking over the Halal Compliance Certification has now made good news among the concerned agencies in South East Asia.
With us gaining accreditation and recognition, newer opportunities will present themselves in the meat and poultry industries, food manufacturing and retailing, restaurant chains, food service industry, logistics and shipping and personal care products.
There are close on two billion customers in the world that we can reach out to.  In South East Asia itself there are over 266 million Muslims who are potential customers and another 39 million in China alone.
In Sri Lanka Halal Compliance Certification is at its infancy when compared to the global market. That is because the market potential is still very limited.  Sri Lankan companies looking at the Halal market are limited to mainly tea, confectionaries, spices and Ayurvedic products.
Surprisingly, poultry, processed food and dairy have not taken off the ground even though Sri Lanka has high potential to export these products to ready markets in countries like Dubai, India and the Maldives.  This is potential that HAC sees for the immediate future i.e. 2014.
Stereotyping
However, there has been a lot of stereotyping of the food consumed by Muslims.  Today, in the international market this community is being exposed to a wider choice subject to just one condition – that the food falls under Halal compliance; but beyond that the opportunities are endless.  It is for us Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to find opportunity by introducing our flavours into these multicultural markets.
Contrary to what some say, Halal, rather than stifling, presents real opportunity and HAC is the gateway to this new world.  We are not merely an office that issues certificates; we are in discussion with various chambers and international businesses to open Sri Lanka up for greater prospects.  The dark years of war are now at an end and Sri Lanka is on the threshold of stepping into a new economic boom and every avenue has to be explored to place our country on the map.
Even locally we are in discussion with the various Chambers of Commerce to address the needs of their members to enter these international markets.  On the same note we are also facilitating business establishments to meet the requirements of the local market.
Important role for HAC
We certainly see an important role for HAC in developing this ‘Halal economy’ and it in no way contradicts the local norms and values.  In fact it can only enrich the current standards of health and safety in our country.
The Halal Accreditation Council is a company incorporated under the Companies Act of Sri Lanka and has to follow all the laws pertaining to this act.  We will ensure transparency and good governance and act in the best interests of the country.
It is our mission that Sri Lankan business will see new opportunities through this mechanism and we boldly take this step in guiding local commerce into a new paradigm.

[The writer is the Chief Executive Officer of HAC, Halal Accreditation Council (Guarantee) Limited. He is also a Director at Global Commodity Solutions (Pvt) Ltd. In the past, he has worked as a Business Analyst for a Sri Lankan conglomerate which is also a listed company and as an Investment Advisor for a Financial Services organisation. A past pupil of Royal College Colombo 07, Mr Ali Fatharally has been an oarsman and has professional qualifications from the Charted Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Charted Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI). He can be reached on ali@hac.lk.]