For Rural Sri Lanka, Ancient Technology Eases Water Woes

A family stands in front of their rainwater harvesting tank.Rehana Cuttilan
By Passanna Gunasekera-anuary/February 2014
Where only 15 percent of rural communities have piped-water, rooftop rainwater harvesting is giving drought-prone villages a new lease on life.

For Rural Sri Lanka, Ancient Technology Eases Water Woes by Thavam Ratna

Achieving religious amity in SL

Editorial-March 12, 2014, 8:48 pm 

The launch by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, on Tuesday, of a South Asia Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI) commissioned report on measures to be adopted to ensure respect and tolerance of religions in Sri Lanka, could not have come at a worse time for President Mahinda Rajapaksa troubled by a US-sponsored resolution at the UNHRC. The timing of its release suggests that it was calculated to aggravate the government’s Geneva woes.

However, the SAPRI and CBK have done something that the government should have undertaken years ago—conducting a study to find out the root causes of religious violence and ways and means of obviating them. Attacks have been carried out on places of worship belonging to religious minorities and there is no way they could be swept under the carpet. As Minister Rauff Hakeem is reported to have said, at a recent Cabinet meeting, of such condemnable incidents, it is an exercise in futility to try to hide a pumpkin on a plate of rice.

Meanwhile, as for advice CBK has proffered to the government on good governance let the cobbler stick to his last. The incumbent dispensation has to mend its ways and correct its course; it, no doubt, needs lessons on good governance etc. But, what moral right does CBK have to teach anyone else good governance? Does she think Sri Lankans have drunk from the Lethe and forgotten their suffering during her rule? Media institutions were attacked; journalists were assaulted and killed. Her security chief, Nihal Karunaratne, was sentenced to two years RI for obstructing a police officer. Some of her security officers were sentenced to jail for attacking artistes, Rukantha and his wife, Chandralekha. Notorious underworld figure, Beddegana Sanjeewa, in her security division, was appointed a reserve police officer! The North-Western Provincial Council election in 1999 has gone down in history as the worst ever electoral contest in this country. Women activists of the UNP were stripped naked and paraded on streets by goons led by CBK’s ministers; polling agents of the Opposition were chased away and ballot boxes stuffed openly while the police looked the other way. The Supreme Court (SC) has held that CBK as President abused her power and violated public trust by transferring crown land for the construction of the Waters Edge Golf course by one of her cronies. The SC reversed the deal and ordered her to pay two million rupees. So much for good governance and the rule of law during her tenure as president!

But, let CBK be praised for her principled stand as regards ethno-religious matters. Never a racial or religious bigot she did her utmost to find a political solution to the ethnic issue and went so far as to offer Prabhakaran the North for ten years without elections provided he agreed to eschew terrorism and negotiate a political settlement. But, he rejected her offer contemptuously.

It is unfortunate that CBK has failed to exercise control over her restless, political tongue; she has, with her bilious outpouring, let her report aimed at bringing about religious coexistence be seen as a political bludgeon to beat the Rajapaksas with. Not that the ruling clan does not deserve a severe thrashing, but that is a task best left to its political rivals. When a campaign which has to be devoid of partisan politics to achieve an apolitical goal like religious amity is seen to be used as a Trojan horse it loses its credibility and fails to transcend political boundaries.

The government should not make the mistake of ignoring or condemning the SAPRI commissioned report simply because of its animosity towards CBK. It ought not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The problem of religious intolerance which finds expression in aggressive protests and even direct action from time to time cannot be wished away. Nor should it be blown out of proportion for political reasons. It needs to be realistically assessed and remedial action taken. The government should be prepared to take on board all views and do everything in its power to tackle the problem as a national priority.

Hard Resolution: How And Why Sri Lanka Should Argue That The UNHRC Reject An External Inquiry

By Dayan Jayatilleka -March 13, 2014

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

“It’s a hard rain a-gonna fall” - Bob Dylan

Going by media reports it would seem that the US-UK is veering towards a clearer fore-grounding of a mandate for investigation of Sri Lanka by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position which would crystallise around March 15^th or 18^th in Geneva.

During the bitterly fought end of a long war of national defence against the monstrous LTTE, individual elements of the Sri Lankan armed forces may have brutally transgressed, but national self respect demands maximum resistance to being subjected like Devyani Khobragade to the institutional equivalent of an invasive full body probe. Sri Lanka should resist being singled out and its sovereignty collectively violated by resolution.

The most specious and disingenuous arguments are in play as part of a disinformation operation to justify such an investigation. For instance a list of country situations in which an investigation either by the Human Rights Council or the High Commissioner’s Office was authorised is being trotted out. The briefest of perusals of the list would show that all these situations are one of the following:

• Strongly ongoing conflicts (Syria, Darfur)
• Illegitimate regimes (unelected, military dictatorships such as Myanmar)
• Failed states (Sudan/Darfur)
• Occupied territories under international law and UN Security Council resolutions (Israel).

To bring Sri Lanka into this list would be classic case of giving a dog a bad name and hanging it or far more mildly, of mixing apples and oranges.

By sharp contrast,

• Sri Lanka is a legitimate state with an elected government, whatever its transgressions (and they are many).
• The prevalence of democracy — contrary to the recent strictures of the former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga— is dramatically evidenced by the 78% vote obtained by the TNA in an election held in an area saturated with troops.
• There is no ongoing armed violence on any large scale in Sri Lanka (as in Syria or Darfur). Therefore there is no urgent imperative to save lives. Sri Lanka is in a post-war situation and has been so for five years.
• Read More

Archeological dept. has nothing to do with mass graves : discovery relates to human remains not statues -Ex High court judge Warawewa
(Lanka-e-News- 12.March.2014, 11.00PM) Former high court judge W. T. M. P. B. Warawewa who is most reputed for his exemplary conduct officially and otherwise and as a rare judge of recent times who adorned the bench revealed that the mass graves dug out at Mannar contain skeletal remains and not parts of statues as made out by the archeological department which is therefore seeking to reject court procedures and mislead the people.

What have surfaced in Mannar mass graves are not limbs and bodies of statues , but are human skeletal remains. Therefore the archeological department should stop its deceit aimed at duping the people, and forestalling court intervention and legal procedures, a most reputed former high court judge Warawewa pointed out. 

Warawewa made this revelation when Lanka e news sought his opinion in regard to the disclosure made by Namal Kodituwakku ,the Assist. Director of the archeological department to Lankadeepa who is conducting himself more as a light foreteller than an archeological department Assist. Director . The latter had stated that the remains are as old as 50 to 60 years, and some of them that have been discovered are over 100 years old , adding that during that period there may not have been a custom among the residents in and around those areas of putting the bodies in boxes and burying , and besides in the years 1936 -1937 , since malaria was widespread in that whole dry region, these bodies could be those of the victims who died of that disease, Kodituwakku had further surmised.

On the contrary , Warawewa an upright judge of a rare breed who never gave wrong judgments even under political pressures when he was a judge had asserted the archeological dept. officers haven’t the know how to pursue and achieve anything in this connection , while also clearly explaining the correct court and judicial procedure that should be followed when skeletal remains are discovered during an earth excavation.

‘Firstly , those who discovered the remains must inform the police who in turn should notify the magistrate of the area , and the police must visit the scene along with the magistrate . After inspecting the site that area should be protected before further digging is done. The magistrate must enlist the assistance of the judicial medical officer and investigate how these deaths have come by ; identify those to whom the remains belong ; their age ; and the period when they had occurred via reports obtained from experts. If the local medical officers are unable to accomplish this , assistance of foreign forensic experts shall be sought .’

‘These are tasks that come under the purview of the judicial medical science (forensic medicine) and not what belong to the archeological department because what have been discovered are not limbs and bodies of statues . These are skeletal remains of human beings who had been alive at one time.’

‘Moreover , on what scientific grounds did Kodituwakku who knows about ancient inanimate statues conclude that these remains are 100 years old? Did he do a carbon examination ? or he is he making use of his light foretelling experience to make these conclusions?’ Warawewa questioned.

‘This archeological officer by making rash and foolish statements that these bodies may not have been put in boxes and buried 100 years ago , had not only betrayed his abysmal ignorance of archeological history but even ordinary history.’ 

‘100 years ago means the year 1914. In 1914 the people of SL did not live as wild beings . Perhaps , from all these bogus tales what is very evident is Kodituwakku had tried to deceive the people , and Kodituwakku’s old wives tales have only contributed to the inescapable reasonable inference of the people that his aim had been deliberately to mislead and dupe them.’ 

‘All what we are requesting is a fair and just judicial procedure in connection with this mass grave discovery. If we are unable to do an investigation truly and thoroughly , an international investigation shall be enlisted , It is human lives and the horrors of their deaths we are investigating , not statues and inanimate objects as Kodituwakku is trying to falsely make out,’ Warawewa stated with concern. 

The human skeletal remains were discovered on 20 th December 2013 for the first time by workers who were engaged in constructing a tube well system from Manthai junction, Mannar to Thiruketheeswaram.

Following this discovery , on the orders of Mannar magistrate Ms. Anandi Kanagaratnam , the mass grave excavation was begun .So far skeleton parts belonging to about 84 bodies have been found at that site.

BBS To Rescue Anti-Muslim Unqualified Janadipathi Balika Vidyalaya Principal

March 13, 2014

The Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary  Galagoda Atte Gnananasara yesterday defended the actions of Nayana Thakshila Perera who earlier forced two Muslim students to remove their attire which was in accordance with Education Ministry Circulars and Supreme Court orders, and ordered them to worship her.

Earlier the Graded Principal’s Union General Secretary S. U Kariyawasam also charged that the Principal at the centre of the accusations was a Political appointee and was not fit to serve in a Grade I school.

Perera, is a Grade III qualified Principal and has only functioned as a deputy Principal for two years.

The BBS secretary ignoring the fact that Perera had forced the students to worship her, and was also an unqualified politically appointed Principal addressed a Press Conference yesterday and said the the Muslim ministers were harassing the Principal.

“When principals punish such students, Muslim Ministers and Governors intervene and harass principals whose duty is to maintain discipline in schools. That’s exactly what happened to the Principal of the Janadhipathi College who asked two female Muslim students to remove their attire,” he charged.

The Colombo Telegraph learns that the Principal had during a meeting with the General Secretary on Tuesday briefed him on the issue after which yesterdays media briefing was held.

Many observers point out that the intervention by the BBS in the matter is an indication that the Principal was discriminatory in her actions.

The Colombo Telegraph learns that the student who was forced to worship the principal is still suffering from the trauma and has not attended school since the date of the incident.

Related posts;

School Principal Ignores Governor’s Orders; Bans Punjabi And Makes Students Worship

HRC25:Ananthi Sasitharan calls for political solution to address causes of conflict and HR violations in Sri Lanka

HRC25:Ananthi Sasitharan calls for political solution to address causes of conflict and HR violations in Sri Lanka

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Ananthi Sasitharan reading her statment-

Making a statement from the floor  at the side event  on 11 March 2013  at the UNHRC Ms. Ananthi Sasitharan a TNA member of the Northen provincial council callled for a Internationa Investigation and comprehensive political solution. The side event was chaired by David Whaley and the side event was organised by the International Movement Against all forms of Discrimination and Racism. Her statement follows:

 “My name is Ananthi Sasitharan, I am an elected Member of Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka. I am here today in front of you as a voice of the oppressed Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and I speak on behalf of thousands of Tamil people that surrendered as individuals and as families to the Sri Lankan government.

Myself and others have filed cases habeas-corpus and continue to receive no justice for the thousands of people that were put in Sri Lankan custody.

Our homeland is completely occupied by the military, that are almost entirely Sinhalese. At any event, the army is there and people are afraid by the army presence – too afraid to talk or do anything. All our native lands are in their hands, as they have occupied everything.

In the North-East, there are a huge number of relatives of missing people; not just of those that disappeared during the war, because even today people are disappearing.

On top of the missing, there are Tamil political prisoners that have been in captivity for many years and there have been no meaningful steps taken towards their release if there is something called hell, it is in the Sri Lankan state prisons.

This means that today the military can carry out violence against Tamil women. Every day we hear stories of abuse and sexual assault against Tamil women and girls.

There have also been many reports that the government is forcing Tamil women into getting birth control. At the same time, the Sinhala military is encouraged to have more children. The government is trying to change the ethnic make up of the island.

The government is trying to systematically destroy the Tamil nation. They are destroying its culture, politics economy and society.

65 years of injustice and violence by successive governments of Sri Lanka have made it clear to us that neither justice or a political-solution can be achieved without the action of the International Community and the UN.

Sri Lanka has done nothing towards reconciliation and the root causes of the conflict remain unresolved. The Sri Lankan state is conducting: land grabs amounting to demographic changes, military occupation, coercive birth control methods, torture of political prisoners and other ongoing human rights violations. All of this is aimed at breaking down the Tamil nation. They are using these methods to carry out a genocide of our people.

In 2009 me and my daughters surrendered my husband to the Sri Lankan government on the 18th May 2009 in Mullaitheevu after they announced that they would provide amnesty to former Tamil political leaders. To this day I am searching for my husband.

On behalf of the oppressed Tamil people I plead for an independent international investigative mechanism in the form of Commission of Inquiry, to investigate all the violations and crimes committed against the Tamil people before, during, and after the war.

I plead with you to include a call for finding a political solution that addresses the root causes of the conflict and human rights violations.”

I saved Govt. from International Criminal Court – Ranil

* UNP releases PC Polls manifestos, urges people not to vote for smaller parties

 

by Zacki Jabbar-March 12, 2014,

National Leader of the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe presenting copies of the party’s manifestos for the forthcoming Western and Southern Provincial Council Elections to the Leadership Council(LC) Chairman Karu Jayasuriya at Sirikotha yesterday. ( Picture by Gamini Munasinghe)

Urging the public to vote the UNP into power at the forthcoming Western and Southern Provincial Council Elections,the party’s National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the people including the armed forces had been given a raw deal by the government.

Addressing a ceremony at Sirikotha to launch the UNP’s manifestos for both provinces entitled,Bala Peraliyata Kola Eliya, Wickremesinghe said that nearly five years after the war had ended the Rajapaksa regime which was bereft of ideas had failed how to bring down the cost living, reduce the unemployment rate or develop the economy, education and health sectors.

The policy documents set out the various measures that would be implemented in increasing revenue, overcoming the acute unemployment crisis,providing fertiliser subsidies, improving the health and education sectors,developing agriculture and fisheries, protecting the environment, overcoming the drug menace, providing relief for senior citizens, disabled people and three wheel taxi drivers, working towards establishing a Freedom of Information Act and a Provincial Unit to tackle bribery and corruption and the creation of an Advisory Council to assist the respective Councils to fulfil their objectives and goals.

The UNP leader appealed to those who had been duped by the government with successive bogus election promises and wanted to teach it a lesson not to waste their franchise by voting for smaller parties. "By giving your vote to a smaller party, you would be actually helping the government. So,I appeal to the public to place their trust in the UNP and install it in power with a big majority so that it could work for the betterment of the country without any obstacles being placed in its path."

The UNP’s revival began with the establishment of the Leadership Council late last year.The next stage would be the Jana Bala Mehevuma to force the powers that be to hold Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, Wickremesinghe said, observing that the only thing the Rajapaksa regime excelled at was intimidating its political opponents and the independent media by unleashing its goon squads in white vans besodes deceiving the people by claiming that the third successive resolution against it before the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council annual sessions was against the country. But, in fact, it was an indictment against its failure to implement the rule of law, protect human rights and establish good governance, he added.

The UNP had a record of developing the economy and providing salary increases in keeping with cost of living. In contrast the government was yet to honour its repeated election promises of salary hikes. Instead, it had provided the public sector with allowances which were grossly inadequate when compared with inflation coupled with the skyrocketing cost of living, he pointed out.

Wickremesinghe said that the Rajapaksas were masquerading as the greatest patriots, but if not for him they would have been hauled up before the International Criminal Court(ICC) by now. "It was because I, during my tenure as Prime Minister(2001 to 2004), refused to sign the Rome Statute which established the ICC that leading figures in the current administration and security establishment were not obliged to appear before the ICC to face the charges that have been leveled against them. We not only protected the security forces but also respected the dignity of their profession by not forcing them to clean drains and sell vegetables. I urge the people of the Western and Southern Provinces including members of the armed services and Police to place their trust in the UNP,so as to ensure that their families are provided with a better life."

The Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya said that the manifestos for the Western and Southern Provincial Council Polls were comprehensive documents which dealt with all aspects of peoples daily lives. He pledged that the UNP, if given an opportunity to implement their proposals, would be able to ease the burdens that the Rajapaksa regime had heaped on them.

Powering provinces!

Thursday 13th March 2014

• First UNP provincial manifestos released at Sirikotha
• Jana Bala Meheyuma to start this year: Ranil
• Beginning of the end of a corrupt regime: Karu
• World grows more complex, governance must keep up: Eran
• UNP pledges drug free provinces if elected
• Policy targets sectors based on provincial priorities

By Dharisha Bastians

The United National Party yesterday unveiled its first manifesto for a provincial election, pledging that forthcoming polls in the Southern and Western Provinces would prove catalysts for regime change in the country.
Entitled ‘Bala Peraliyata Kola Eliyak’ (A green light for change) with a clever wordplay alluding to the party colour, the main Opposition released two separate policy statements for the two provinces, pledging changes in key sectors, good governance and transparency.
Introducing the manifestos at a ceremony at Sirikotha yesterday, National List Legislator Eran Wickramaratne said a UNP administration in the Western Province would focus on jobs, education and an equitable health policy.

Highlights of UNP Provincial Manifestos

• Right to Information legislation to be enacted provincially
• Special task force on drugs
• Free public transport for senior citizens
• Subsidised tyres and spare parts for three-wheelers
• Provincial insurance scheme covering private hospitals
• Education policy to be framed based on pledge to invest 6% on education nationally
• Fair wages for public servants
• Board of experts/technocrats to advise and consult on policy
• Reduce standard discrepancies between national and provincial schools
• Incentives for enterprises hiring residents from provinces
• Boats and infrastructure facilities for fishermen

“A UNP Government is one that will formulate policy based on consultations with people about their priorities,” Wickramaratne said. He charged that the ruling Government merely told the people what was good for them and the people had to live with it.
The UNP pledges to make both provinces drug free if elected to office, the MP added. “The Government beats its chest about defeating terrorism. Why can’t it end the drug war? Because it is complicit,” the Opposition legislator charged in an explosive speech to candidates and party members.
The UNP’s Western Province manifesto includes incentives for senior citizens, three-wheelers, fishermen and public servants. The party has also proposed a special provincial health insurance scheme to enable residents to obtain treatment in any State or private hospital of their choice.
Focused on good governance, the UNP has pledged to enact Right to Information legislation in the two provinces it will run if it wins the elections on 29 March. The party has also promised to appoint a board of intellectuals and technocrats to counsel provincial governments led by the UNP on policy issues and special fields.
“The world is growing increasingly complex. Governance has to keep up,” Wickramaratne said.
UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya who oversaw the drafting of the two manifestos said the policy statements for the two polls had tremendous significance as it signalled the beginning of the end of a destructive political regime. “Under a UNP administration, there will be no room for corruption and deception,” Jayasuriya said.
The LC Chairman added that the people of Sri Lanka had lost faith in polls manifestos after the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ had robbed them of hope. “The man who came to office on a manifesto pledging to abolish the executive presidency, not only failed to abolish the office but changed the Constitution overnight to ensure he can stay President forever,” Jayasuriya charged in a scathing indictment against the present regime.
The Party’s National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the provincial election would be the UNP’s second step towards ending the Rajapaksa regime’s tenure in office. “This party will start a series of jana bala meheyumas this year,” Wickremesinghe pledged, saying the UNP would be ready to face and win a presidential poll early next year.
Calling on public servants and military personnel to vote for the UNP at the upcoming polls, Wickremesinghe said that it was ironic that the Government exploited the war victory politically while relegating soldiers to manual labour like cutting grass and sweeping roads. “All the while LTTE leaders like KP are travelling in vehicles on those same roads with Police escort, looking down at those soldiers who once fought the LTTE,” he charged.

Another Underworld Kingpin Shot By Cops While Showing The Way To Weapons Cache

March 13, 2014

Another notorious underworld gang member met his death while in Police custody under what has become very familiar circumstances.

Palankada Heen Mali alias Palankada Heena was arrested at Hikkaduwa on March 10 over the killing of a gem merchant from Rathnapura.  The Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana claimed yesterday that the suspect was taken to show some hidden weapons on 11 March and he attempted to lodge a grenade at the Police at which point he was shot and killed.

Wijeweera

Heena becomes the latest of a number of underworld members who have been shot while attempting lob grenades at the Police en route to showing hidden weapons caches. Merely four months ago in December 2013, four suspects alleged to have been involved in the killing of a police constable and his wife also died under similar circumstances. On that instance the first suspect who was handcuffed and taken to show the police where weapons were hidden, produced a gun and fired at the police and was killed in retaliation; the second, where two handcuffed suspects suddenly jumped into the river in an attempt to flee from the police; and the last where the chief suspect, hiding in the Naigala forest, threw a hand grenade and was killed when police, searching for him, fired in his direction.

Incidentally Police in 1989 said that JVP leader Rohana Wijeweerahad also tried to fire a hidden weapon before being shot dead. Though never officially acknowledged later it was revealed that Wijeweera had been shot in the head while in Police custody and thrown in to the incinerator  at the Borella cemetery.

Rajapaksa Skips Commonwealth Day Celebration In UK

( March 13, 2014, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has skipped the Commonwealth Day celebration in Britain despite being the chair of the 53-member grouping.

Rajapaksa became the Chair of the Commonwealth after hosting the Commonwealth Summit in November in the country.

Foreign Minister G L Peiris represented Sri Lanka at the celebration in London yesterday.

Although no reasons were given for Rajapaksa’s absence, his last two visits to the British capital were marked by demonstrations by the pro-LTTE diaspora.

Another irritant was a resolution co-sponsored by the UK in the UN Human Rights Council against Sri Lanka that called for rights accountability and reconciliation with minority Tamils.

Colombo accuses Britain of fostering the anti-Sri Lanka sentiments promoted by the pro-LTTE diaspora.

Govt. thugs attack street drama troupe

THURSDAY, 13 MARCH 2014

(Second Edition) A gang of government thugs attacked the street drama group of the Society for Socialist Art of the JVP performing at the bus stand at Panadura a few moments ago.

The street drama group was performing at the bus stand to apprise the public regarding the situation in the country when government thugs attacked the performers with iron bars.

Nine members of the drama troupe who were injured in the attack have been admitted to Panadura General Hospital while the condition of three of them is serious say hospital sources.

A complaint has been lodged at Panadura Police regarding the attack. The attackers have been identified as a group led by security personnel of the bus stand. The organizers of the street drama have informed the police regarding the perpetrators

Mervyn warns Hakeem:Prabha’s fate awaits any traitor 
BY KARUNADASA WIDANAGAMAGE-March 13, 2014
 
Minister Mervyn Silva on Tuesday warned Minister of Justice and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader, Rauff Hakeem, that Prabhakaran's fate awaits anyone resorting to treacherous activities against the country.
 
Addressing an election meeting of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), in Wewelduwa, Kelaniya, on 11 March, the Minister of Public Relations and Public Affairs, said: "I would advise Minister Hakeem not to stir up communal feelings by making inappropriate speeches. It is far better for him to keep his mouth shut and retain his ministry without losing it."
 
Minister Silva continued: "I read the statements made by Minister Hakeem in the newspapers recently, that the SLMC,was able to topple Chandrika's Government, and that the Alliance Government too would fall once the SLMC walks out.He should know that the President needs only 113 members to have the government in power. But he (the President) has the support of more than 160 Members of Parliament as he is popular. This is because he treats all religious and ethnic groups as equal partners of the government. You have only seven or eight members in your Party as part of the alliance with the government."
 
Speaking further, Minister Silva said even if some of them withdraw their support, it will not affect the government.
"It is therefore better for you to stop boasting and attend to the work in your ministry. You also must be aware that the President had publicly declared that his government's door is open for anybody to leave, but if anybody resorted to treacherous activities against the country, Prabhakaran's fate would await him," he warned.

Gaza’s Islamic Jihad Reports Egypt-Brokered Truce With Israel

Heavy Barrage of Rockets From Gaza Hits Southern Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I want to make clear that if anyone tries to spoil our Purim holiday, we will strike back forcefully,” Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

March 13, 2014

Egypt mediated a truce ending two days of clashes between Gaza Strip militants and Israel’s military, a militant leader said. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel or Egypt.

Gaza’s Islamic Jihad Reports Egypt-Brokered Truce With Israel by Thavam Ratna

India’s own string of pearls: Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles and Maldives

• 

  • David Brewster
  • Previous Posts 

The Interpreter-13 March 2014 

On 7 March, Shiv Shankar Menon, India’s National Security Advisor, announced that the Indian Ocean island states of Seychelles and Mauritius had joined India’s naval arrangement with Sri Lanka and the Maldives in a new Indian Ocean security grouping that some have called the ‘IO-5’.

The new arrangement signals a significant consolidation of India’s leading security role among the Indian Ocean islands. It is a manifestation of last year’s announcement by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that henceforth India should be seen as a ‘net security provider to the region.’ While Mr Singh did not specify the boundaries of India’s ‘region’ it was clear that much of the initial focus was on the Indian Ocean islands.

India has held joint naval exercises with Sri Lanka for some years and in 2012 this was expanded to trilateral exercises with the Maldives Coast Guard. Now the Seychelles and Mauritius have joined the three in a new maritime security grouping that will cover much of the central and western Indian Ocean. Menon also foreshadowed that in future the arrangement may be expanded to encompass the Bay of Bengal or that a similar arrangement may replicated with relevant Bay of Bengal states. 

For decades India has been the de facto security guarantor of these island states. In the 1980s, India intervened or threatened intervention in Mauritius (1983), the Seychelles (1986), the Maldives (1988) and Sri Lanka (1987-1990)to prevent attempted coups or to address civil strife. India also played a significant, if largely undisclosed, role in ending the Sri Lankan civil war and the destruction of the Tamil Tigers in 2009.

Since the 1980s, India has slowly developed a role as a maritime security provider to these states. This has included provision of patrol boats, helicopters, training, senior military secondments and hydrographic services to the Sri Lankan, Maldives , Mauritius and Seychelles navies or coast guards. Over the last few years, India has also installed coastal radar networks in the Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. There have also been rumours of the possible development of an Indian security presence, in one form or another, in the Maldives and Mauritius.

The most immediate issues to be addressed by the new grouping will be the sharing of information and development of capabilities to combat maritime terrorism, piracy and illegal fishing. But these new arrangements are likely to have long term significance for India’s security role throughout the Indian Ocean.

The new security initiative follows increasing concerns in New Delhi about China’s growing presence in the region, most recently including the exercise conducted by three Chinese naval vessels in the eastern Indian Ocean in January.

The Chinese exercise was in stark contrast with India’s Exercise Milan (pictured above), which was held in Port Blair in India’s Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal only a few days later. This multilateral exercise included the navies and coastguards of some 16 states in addition to India. This year’s event was the largest ever and was a truly Indo-Pacific affair, with representatives from South Asia (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives), many Southeast Asian states (Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and the Philippines), Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), and even a strong representation from the western Indian Ocean (Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania). Exercise Milan is primarily an exercise in Indian naval diplomacy rather than an exercise for practising technical skills. Since its inception in 1995, the biennial exercise has focused on building relationships and confidence among senior naval officers of participating states.

Exercise Milan is foremost an expression of the expansion of India’s area of strategic interest as it grows as a major power, and India’s interest in fostering greater defence cooperation throughout the Indian Ocean region and beyond. Milan has now become an important and highly successful part of India’s growing ‘soft’ military power. The breadth of participants in this year’s Exercise Milan, extending from East Africa to the Western Pacific, is a major demonstration of India’s growing Indo-Pacific reach. The contrast between India’s cooperative engagement with the region and China’s unilateral demonstrations could not be starker. Indeed, it is arguable that China’s unilateralism may be more indicative of strategic vulnerability in the Indian Ocean than of its strength.

The new security partnership follows last month’s announcement by India and Seychelles of a ‘Blue Economy’ partnership to tap the oceanic resources in the Seychelles’ vast EEZ. This will rely in part on hydrographic survey work the Indian Navy has been carrying out in the Seychelles for years. Both the Seychelles and Mauritius have been pushing the ‘Blue Economy’ concept as a route to economic development. India may also enter into Blue Economy partnerships with Mauritius and the Maldives (both of which also have huge EEZs).

The new maritime security arrangement between the five Indian Ocean states represents a major step forward in the region’s security architecture. For the first time India has explicitly taken a security leadership role in the Indian Ocean. In presaging the possible extension or replication of such arrangements to the Bay of Bengal, New Delhi has flagged a new and much more active security role in our region.

Image courtesy of the Indian Navy.

Obama: we will be forced to apply 'costs' to Russa

WEDNESDAY 12 MARCH 2014
US President Barack Obama says America and the rest of the world will be forced to apply a "cost" to Russia if it continues down its path of annexing Ukraine's Crimea region.

Obama We Will Be Forced to Apply 'Costs' to Russa by Thavam Ratna