Tamils’ Path to Prosperity

By: Roy Ratnavel

Twenty-five years ago on February 20th 1989, I got my first real job, with an investment firm. I was employee number 24. The lowest man on the totem pole — a mailroom clerk. It paid very little. It wasn’t much even then. Soon, I got my first real promotion as a filing clerk. I was thrilled. But soon realized I was still making the same. Scared and nervous, I meekly asked my boss, if I could please get more responsibility so I can make more. To my astonishment I got it. That was a quarter-century and half-dozen promotions ago.

Tamils’ Path to Prosperity by nelvely

Sri Lanka: Busting capital expenditure myth

Sri Lanka: Busting capital expenditure myth

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Consider this simple question: “Does the present government have a strong commitment to high levels of capital expenditure?” Today in Sri Lanka most analysts tend to answer this question with a confident “yes”.
That perception derives significantly from the official rhetoric. For instance, the present government’s development policy promises that “investment [will] be increased to 33-35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) with sustained commitment [to] public investment of 6 to 7 percent of GDP” (Mahinda Chinthana Vision for the Future, Page 3).
The same document also promises to bring down the overall budget deficit to below 5 percent of GDP (Page 6). In short, the promise was to bring down the deficit without cutting capital expenditure (also referred to as “public investment”) and thereby reversing the bad practices of the past.

The official position is that the government has succeeded in keeping its promise. In fact, it hasn’t. Contrary to general perception, capital expenditure in Sri Lanka is at a record low (Exhibit 1).


Two surprises
The numbers point to two surprising conclusions. First, capital expenditure actually declines in the post-war period – just when one would have expected it to have increased (Exhibit 1). Second, the current post-war average on capital expenditure is a record low, when compared against all the previous four-year periods since 1962 (only the two-party co-habitation period of 2002-2005 has a lower average).

It should be acknowledged that the deficit is also at a record low (and this is a remarkable achievement). But gone are hopes that deficit-cutting would be done without squeezing out the capital expenditure.

Capital expenditure matters
High rates of economic growth can only be sustained by consistently high levels of investments. This can come from the government or the private sector. Capital expenditure (also called “public investment”) refers to the component of investment by the government.

The growth rates currently targeted by Sri Lanka would normally require investment levels above 30 percent of GDP. But private local investment in Sri Lanka is at 23.7 percent (2012) and foreign direct investment is at just 1 percent of GDP (2012), so the government keeping to the promised levels of capital expenditure could remain quite important for the growth prospects of the country.

An economy does not succeed on good intentions
It could be argued that the government’s intentions are better than its achieved results. When analysing capital expenditure as a ratio of revenue (since revenue is a strong constraining factor) it can be seen that the proportion of revenue spent on capital expenditure has increased a little in the post-war period (Exhibit 2).

But there has been a dramatic decline in revenue and so despite the higher proportion therein, the absolute capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP has fallen.
The intention of fostering the commendable fiscal goals of increased investment and deficit reduction can only be realised through significant strategy and planning. Increasing revenues and cutting superfluous expenditures should be pivotal to such a strategy.

But what has been enacted runs counter to the declared intentions. Irresponsible use of tax incentives/waivers and other administrative inefficiencies have caused revenues to fall off the precipice: the post-war average is barely 14 percent of GDP while the four-year averages have always been above 16 percent previously and even above 17 percent in the 1990s.

Furthermore, poorly planned and perennially loss-making initiatives (Mihin Air is a well-known example) continue to suck in fiscal funding. There is no sign of cutting superfluous expenditure.

Busting the myth on capital expenditure is just one amongst several Verité Insights that are building up to the conclusion that fiscal and economic policy management in Sri Lanka might be in need of serious help.

  (Verité Research provides strategic analysis and advice for governments and the private sector in Asia. Comments welcome, email insights@veriteresearch.org)

Rajapaksa Chief Justice Moves To Legally Correct Flawed CJ Shirani B impeachment

February 20, 2014 

A lengthy process put in motion by the Rajapaksa Administration following the appointment of the de facto Chief Justice Mohan Peiris to legally “repair” the flawed impeachment proceedings against Chief JusticeShirani Bandaranayake will come full circle today.

CJ Shirani Bandaranayake

The Supreme Court bench appointed by Pieris amid much criticism since he himself was a beneficiary by the controversial sacking of Bandaranayake, will deliver its verdict today on the ruling by the Court of Appeal quashing the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee that inquired into the impeachment charges.

A five judge divisional bench comprising Justices Saleeem Marsoof, Chandra Ekanayake, Sathya Hettige, Eva Wanasundara, and Rohini Marasinghe was appointed  by de facto CJ Pieris to hear the petition filed by the Attorney General’s Department.

If the Writ Certiorari issued by the Court of Appeal is overturned today, it will mark the beginning of the Rajapaksa Administration’s ‘corrective’ procedure to turn a massive travesty of justice against the country’s Chief Justice into a legal sacking.

Critics said the likely verdict overturning the Court of Appeal writ, would be a case of truly burying the legacy of recently deceased Court of Appeal President, Justice Sriskandarajah who was hailed for his courageous decision at the time.

In a Freudian slip, the state owned Daily News announced the Supreme Court’s pending decision with the following headline: Shirani Bandaranayake matter: SC judgement against CA ruling today.

Learning From Wanathamulla

 by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“The Defence Secretary came here….Mr. Gotabhaya told me ‘I want to speak to you’. He and I are of different status. So I asked him, ‘Is it right for me to speak to you’? He said, ‘No you can say anything’. Then I made certain criticisms….He got angry”

Sunil Samaradheera of Wanathamulla

( February 20, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In 1940, a year before they began implementing the ‘Final Solution’, the Nazis had a trial-run. A group of German-Jews were deported and the Gestapo watched closely for the reaction of their non-Jewish neighbours.

Learning From Wanathamulla by nelvely

Gammanpila Compares His Hero Gota To Buddha, Jesus And Gandhi

February 20, 2014

JHU provincial council candidate and UPFA Group Leader in the Western Province, Udaya Gammanpila has compared the allegations mounting against Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the allegations cast against Lord Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus during their time.

In an interview with the Daily Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday, Gammanpila said Gotabaya Rajapaksa was his hero and that the allegations piling up against the official about the war and corruption would not change that.

Asked by the interviewing journalist if he was disturbed by his “hero’s” alleged links with the criminal world, supporting hardline religious groups and safeguarding drug leaders and the notion that he is more powerful than the President, Gammanpila issued the following reply.

“I don’t know the veracity of these accusations. I don’t say he is a perfect person. He may not be a perfect person. But his achievement for the nation is unmatched. Without him we would not have achieved this as far as I read the war against the LTTE. As we know during Gautama Buddha’s time there were lots of allegations against him. The first hero in my life is Gautama Buddha. Second hero is Mahatma Gandhi. I am not going to compare Gotabaya Rajapaksa with Gautama Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi. They are at different levels. Buddhists believe Buddha means the perfect one. Gautama Buddha was under serious allegations. We are Buddhists and we know the Buddhist version of the story. It is the same with Mahatma Gandhi. Subash Chandra Bose was a heavy critic of Mahatma Gandhi. Communists considered him as a traitor of India. But for me Mahatma Gandhi was a living God. Take Jesus; not only he was subject to allegations but he was killed because of those allegations. There has been nobody in this world free from allegations. I am looking at the good things he has done for the country. There is no hard evidence for me to believe that he has done any bad things for the nation.”

Under heavy criticism for allowing the public official to launch his election campaign, Gammanpila maintains in the interview that he does not believe Gotabhaya Rajapaksa violated any regulations governing the public service because he is a political appointee.

I didn’t know Gota was ‘public property’ 

By Niranjala Ariyawansha-February 20, 2014

While stating that he was ignorant about the fact that Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, was ‘public property,’ Western Province Leader of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), Udaya Gammanpila, admitted that, it was wrong of him to have invited the Defence Secretary to participate in his political rally.

Gammanpila said that according to the 1978 Constitution, as the post of a Ministry Secretary is only a political appointment, the post is afforded political rights.

The Legal Adviser of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) was addressing concerns raised in President’s Counsel, Srinath Perera’s letter, which implied that the participation of the Defence Secretary at Gammanpila’s political meeting held in Maharagama last week, was a violation of an Election Law.

Gammanpila added: “According to Article 52 of the 1978 Constitution, the appointment of a ministry secretary is one made by the President. Such appointees stay in that position as long as the President would want them to, similar to chairmen of corporations and other authorities. It is only a political appointment. However, prior to the 1978 Constitution being enacted, the permanent secretary of a ministry was not a political appointee. If the President has to relinquish office, it does not mean that the permanent secretaries of ministries also leave their posts.”

Although activities such as the transfer of government servants, or handling disciplinary inquiries concerning such employees, both of which come under the Public Service Commission (PSC), the PSC has no power to take decisions pertaining to secretaries to ministries.

"As a candidate at the upcoming elections, I inquired from the Elections Commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, as to what category of government officers’ don’t have political rights. He told me that staff officers and ministerial officials cannot participate in political meetings. Regardless of my personal opinion, I agreed with him because he is the Elections Commissioner. I didn’t know that Gotabhaya Rakapaksa was ‘public property.’ So I admit my mistake in this regard," Gammanpila further explained.

Deshapriya told Ceylon Today, “According to the Elections Act, certain government officers have political rights. However, we would like to remind these officers that no staff officers have the right to be politically involved.”

Thiru Nadesan returns empty-handed!

Detail

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Created On Thursday, 20 February 2014 13:58

Category: General

Wealthy businessman Thiru Nadesan, a brother-in-law of the president, has returned empty-handed from India, where he had failed an attempt to strike a deal with leaders of the BJP, which is believed to win the general elections in May, reports say.

Before departing for India, Nadesan had met with the president and boasted that he was having very grood ties with BJP leaders and promised to give the president telephone calls soon after meeting with them.  When the president had inquired as to who he was going to meet, Nadesan had replied that senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman of South India were among them. He had said that he would go directly to South India, stay at Nirmala’s Cochin home, and together with her, would go to Delhi to meet with other BJP leaders. He even bragged that he would be likely to have a meeting with the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

So, the president had been waiting for a call from Nadesan from India, but after receiving no correspondence, had himself called him. Nadesan’s reply was, “All of them are very busy sir. I will give you the details once I return,” and he had hung up. A few days later, he came back empty-handed. Later, the president got to know that Nadesan, leave alone meeting with BJP leaders, could not go anywhere near them, as they had refused to meet the man, known to them as a bad character.

Presidential advisor Milinda Moragoda, who had gone to meet BJP leaders as a representative of the president, had been told by a spokesman of the BJP’s PM hopeful that, “with regard to Sri Lanka, Narendra Modi would follow the same policies of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.” Accordingly, in the event of a BJP win at the upcoming general election, Sri Lanka will lose all the military training and aid from India.

Deputy Minister Weerasekera says Govt. should have banned the TNA post-war

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody-February 20, 2014
 
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) should have been banned immediately after the war, the Deputy Minister of Labour and Labour Relations, Sarath Weerasekera said, and added that, the country was now faced with the consequences of the damage done by the unwarranted and false allegations levelled by them.
 
He went on to say: "The government and the President made a grievous mistake, on humane grounds, when they allowed the right hand of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the TNA, to flourish. Over 500,000 mines have been defused by our soldiers. Did the TNA even offer the soldiers even a cup of tea? The TNA has no right to talk about the innocent Tamils. They are holding hands with Tamil Nadu politicians who are robbing our fishermen of the ocean's bounty. The percentage of boats that come from Tamil Nadu into our waters are voluminous, and worse still they use methods that rake the ocean's floor. If they really cared about our fishermen in Jaffna, Tamil Nadu can ask the Indian Coast Guard to stop the rape and plunder of the sea. None of these parties have good intentions."
 
He was of the opinion that it was absurd for the West and the international community to trump up allegations of human rights violations at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva, at a time when their dishonest conduct in Afghanistan and Iraq has resulted in genocides – acts which have only served to highlight their moral and ethical hypocrisy and relativism.
 
"They have been the major instigators of human rights violations. Why didn't British Prime Minister, David Cameron, talk about China's situation when he went there? Why didn't Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, talk about Malaysia's situation when he went there? They are coming after us in this vile manner because we finished the war without listening to them. Our military had protected and safeguarded the rights of the people at every juncture, during the war. There is colossal development in Jaffna. The upcoming Provincial Council election results will be a slap in the face of the West," Weerasekera said.

Rajapaksa State Media’s Rajpal Abeynayake Confirms President’s Lie

February 20, 2014

The State run Daily News today confirmed that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had lied to the nation when he claimed on January 19 that there were only 12,000 troops in the Northern Province.

Rajpal Abeynayake, President Rajapaksa’s handpicked head of the State owned Daily News on February 14, published a graph on the front page of his newspaper that showed that there were at least 80,000 Army personnel in the Northern Province.

Speaking at the opening of the Tellippalai Trail Cancer Hospital in January this year President Rajapaksa made the extraordinary claim that there were only 12,000 troops remaining in the whole Northern Province. Within days of this statement his own Secretary, Lalith Weeratunge told a diplomatic gathering in Geneva that there has been a decrease of 30 percent of the Army in the North from a peak of 120,000 to the current level of 80,000 by October 2013.

President Rajapaksa’s number of 12,000 troops was inclusive of all security forces personnel while Lalith Weeratunge was only giving the number for the Army. The Colombo Telegraph on 23rd January 2014 pointed this glaring discrepancy.

It is unclear if Abeynayake realised that his graph detailing the real troop numbers would automatically make President Mahinda Rajapaksa out to be a liar.

Thondaman’s devil dance for win in Geneva!

 Thursday, 20 February 2014 

The Rajapaksa regime is now involved in a hilarious attempt by way of a ritual to defeat the proposal against Sri Lanka to be submitted at  the UNHRC in Geneva next month by the US-led western nations.

It is a devil dance Minister Arumugam Thondaman is organizing at his Kotagala home tomorrow (21), to be attended by president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Minister Thondaman’s closest female friend, Rupa Magandhi Ram Mohan of Hyderabad, has sent nine exorcists from Kerala state for the occasion.

There will also be more, in addition to this devil dance by the nine Indian exorcists to ‘save from Geneva’.

During the whole of next month, Bodhi Poojas as well will take place countrywide to defeat the ‘imperialistic conspiracy against Sri Lanka’, while ministers allied with the president will hold various rituals in their homes to win over the president.

Violence against women bypassed in Development Debate

February 19, 2014, 12:00 pm 

Of the global actors, the UN has proved an exception to the above rule, but even the UN is yet to come out with a truly holistic conception of development. The Millennium Development Goals of the UN have helped pinpoint some urgent concerns which go to the heart of development but one could state that the outlined aims have not been made to cohere in a synthesizing concept which could be referred to as development. The UNDP’s 2013 Human Development Report is a testimony to the UN’s efforts to arrive at an over-arching conception of development. Nevertheless, these labours could be said to be fruitful because without them the world would still be in a state of ignorance as regards the essentials of development.

Violence Against Women Bypassed in Development Debate by nelvely

India's supreme court says Rajiv Gandhi killers cannot be released

Supreme court steps in to prevent release of death row trio convicted of murder of former prime minister in 1991

The Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and his wife, Sonia, in 1985. Photograph: Douglas E Curran/AP

Anu Anand in New Delhi

Thursday 20 February 2014

India's supreme court has stepped in to prevent the release of three men sentenced to death for their role in the assassination of India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, according to reports on Thursday.

The court said the three - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, who were on death row – cannot be released by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, where the attack took place and where they are being held.

Four others serving life sentences, including Murugan's wife, Nalini, could still go free.

The court set a date of 6 March for further deliberations.

On Tuesday, India's supreme court commuted death sentences for the men to life in prison, because it said they had languished too long in legal limbo. They had neither been put to death nor had their mercy petitions heard.

On Wednesday, in a move that surprised much of the country, Tamil Nadu's chief minister, Jayaram Jayalalitha, said she would use legal provisions under the Indian criminal code to release all seven prisoners early. She gave the government three days to respond.

"If [the federal government] fails to respond in three days, we will release all of them on our own," she told the state legislature.

According to Indian criminal law, the leader of a state can release convicted prisoners serving life terms early as long as they have served at least 14 years of their sentence. But the central government must be consulted, since it originally prosecuted the cases.

However, Jayalalitha's counsel at the supreme court, Rakesh Dwivedi, said she was only required to consult the government, not seek approval.

On Thursday, India's Congress party, led by Rajiv's widow, Sonia, and his son, Rahul, who is the next likely prime ministerial candidate, filed a petition with the supreme court challenging the releases.

"The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on the soul of India," the current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said in the statement issued soon after the government filed its legal challenge.

The showdown pits the Gandhi dynasty and its ailing Congress party against a powerful regional leader who may be key to forming the next national government.

Rajiv Gandhi was killed in May 1991 at a campaign rally in the town of Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. A female suicide bomber detonated explosives as she bent to touch his feet, a way of showing respect in India. He was 47.

Eighteen people, including Gandhi and the bomber, were killed in the blast, organised by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels as punishment for Indian forces being sent to their country.

The Indian government originally prosecuted 26 people in the case. However, 19 were acquitted in 1999, leaving the seven currently in prison. That same year, Sonia Gandhi said she did not believe anyone should be put to death.

In 2008, Rajiv Gandhi's daughter, Priyanka, secretly visited Nalini Sriharan in prison in Vellore. Shriharan had given birth to a daughter while facing trial and had her death sentence commuted to life with the blessing of Sonia Gandhi.

"Meeting with Ms Nalini was my way of coming to peace with the violence and loss that I have experienced," Priyanka, who was 19 when her father died, said at the time. "I do not believe in anger, hatred and violence and I refuse to allow it any power over my life."

But Wednesday, despite these overtures, Rahul Gandhi expressed his anger at the possibility of the releases.

"I am saddened by this," he said. "If a prime minister's killers are being released, what kind of justice should the common man expect?"

However, the families of the prisoners have expressed happiness and relief.

"I'm very very very happy," Harithra Murugan, the daughter of Nalini Shriharan and Murugan, told India's NDTV news channel by phone early Thursday, before the latest supreme court decision. "I knew one day they're going to get released. I know they are innocent."

Harithra Murugan has kept a low profile for security reasons, but she was born in prison in 1992 as her mother faced trial. She later emigrated with her extended family to the UK. According to The Hindu she now lives in London.

Under Thursday's supreme court ruling, her father, Murugan, cannot be released. But her mother, Nalini, still may go free if Jayalalitha keeps her word.

Medieval style killings and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Central African Republic

Shameful silence of governments and people alike of Muslims worldwide

By Latheef Farook

Displaying medieval barbarity Anti –Balaka Christian militias continue to massacre Muslim minority in the Central African 

Republic causing theMuslim exodus of historic proportions. This ethnic cleansing of Muslims has been going for more than a month and half under the watchful eyes of the world. The Western media continue to highlight the ongoing crime,   perhaps the worst ever, while the world continues turn blind eyes.

Medieval Style Killings and Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims in Central African Republic by nelvely

Protesters shot dead as war breaks out in central Kiev

MATT FREI-THURSDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2014

Europe Edito

There is a dramatic escalation of the violence between protesters and riot police in Kiev, as the use of live ammunition leaves many dead and injured.

The picture below, of eight bodies laid out in Kiev's Independence Square, has been blurred because of its graphic content. To see the image without blurring, click on the picture. Viewers are warned that the image is of a very distressing nature.

Protesters Shot Dead as War Breaks Out in Central Kiev by nelvely

8,000 Syrian Children Cross the Border Unaccompanied

by UNICEF-February 18 

While the staff at UN organisations have confirmed that the Syrian child Marwan “did not cross the Jordanian border alone and that he was 20 feet away from his family”, UNICEF also revealed that “about 8,000 out of the one million Syrian children who have fled to neighbouring countries have crossed the border alone since the beginning of the crisis.” The photo of four-year-old Marwan that was published by Arab and

international media gained great interest and sympathy from the public when he was reported to have “crossed into Jordan alone after crossing the desert to flee Syria and being separated from his family.”

However, Jordan’s UNHCR head Andrew Harper set the story straight when tweeted that: “the child had [only] temporarily become separated from his family, and was walking with a group of Syrians fleeing to Jordan. The child crossed the border with his family, and in the photograph, he was only 20 feet away from his family.”

In addition, UNICEF spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa, Juliet Toma told Al-Ghad newspaper that “the information posted about the child crossing the border alone was not true,” while also pointing out that official statistics show that 8,000 out of the one million children who cross the border to flee the crisis did so alone, without being accompanied by their families.

Toma further explained that: “The majority of these children are adolescents, between the ages of 12 and 18, who flee from the extremely harsh conditions in their country either because their parents were killed, or to escape recruitment from armed groups, or to find a job opportunity to support their families.”

She also said that the story of each child reflects the crisis suffered by both children and families, noting that this group is most in need of support, as children suffer the deepest from the crisis.

As for the children who cross into Jordan unaccompanied, Toma explained that UNICEF first works on registering them and providing basic aid, such as food, clothes and shelter, and then begins searching for their families and reuniting them. If they are unable to do so, then they are put in safe accommodations, mostly likely in the Zaatari refugee camp.

She added that, “psychological support is given to these children as their mental state is usually bad due to the conditions they have suffered and the reasons behind seeking refuge.”

The number of Syrian refugees in Jordan is estimated to be about 600,000, with over half of them being children. UNICEF is working on providing protection for them through psychological and social programmes, as well as temporary care for unaccompanied minors, along with sanitation, water, education, health and food.

A report issued by the organisation last year titled “Syria’s Children: A lost generation?” warned of the deteriorating situation for Syrian children both inside and outside Syria due to the ongoing conflict, noting that “the children are paying the heaviest price for the conflict in Syria.”

According to UNICEF, 57 per cent of Syrian refugees are children, 20 per cent of whom are under the age of five.

The organisation also issued another report on the situation for Syrian children in Jordan, warning against the “decline in the means of protection, the subjection of women and children to violence, maltreatment, neglect and exploitation, in addition to claims of Syrian children seeking refuge in Jordan after being recruited by armed groups”.

The organisation’s report “Shattered lives” revealed that there has been “an increase in the number of cases where children are separated from their families and caregivers”

The horrors ‘12 Years a Slave’ couldn’t tell

What a Civil War soldier’€™s diary tells us about Solomon Northup’s ordeal

An illustration of Solomon Northup from his memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave,” published in 1855.

by Adam Rothman-January 18, 2014

Solomon Northup’s story, which has been studied by historians for decades, now has a second life in American popular culture, thanks to director Steve McQueen’s extraordinary movie “12 Years a Slave.” The film — nominatedfor nine Oscars, including best picture and best director — brings Northup’s remarkable 1853 memoir to life with searing portrayals of torture and survival. It has revived curiosity about Northup’s life and renewed debate over how to depict the pain of the past and the present. Does McQueen’s movie go too far with violence?

The largest slave revolt in U.S. history occurred this day 203 years ago. It started in LaPlace.

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Members of the public check out the exhibit at the 

opening of the 1811 Slave Revolt Exhibit at Destrehan Plantation in Destrehan on Saturday, January 8, 2011.

By Littice Bacon-Blood, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 

The largest slave revolt in United States history occurred on this date 203 years ago. The uprising started in what is now LaPlace in St. John the Baptist Parish in 1811 and rolled eastward, with a goal of reaching New Orleans and possibly banding with other rebels to take the city.

Art by renowned River Parishes artist Lorraine Gendron depicts the largest slave revolt in United States history. It started in LaPlace and rolled east toward New Orleans before being crushed in Kenner.The Times-Picayune archive 

The horrors ‘12 Years a Slave’ couldn’t tell by Thavam Ratna