Learning Together From Geneva Mistakes

By Jehan Perera -March 24, 2014 

Jehan Perera

The resolution on Sri Lanka that is to be voted on this coming Friday at the UN Human Rights Council is tighter than the draft that first made its appearance two weeks ago.  This would be disappointing to the Sri Lankan government that worked hard through its friendly countries to dilute the draft resolution, if not defeat it entirely.  However, mistakes made by the government and circumstances beyond its control have worked against it.  Many of the government’s problems have arisen from the fact that important decisions are not taken by collectively by the Cabinet, or by cabinet sub-committees, but by individuals or by individual ministries.  However, matters that impact upon the entire country need to be discussed by a larger number rather than by a lesser number, as this way more points of view come across, and the best can be selected.

The arrest of two high profile human rights defenders, Ruki Fernando and Fr Praveen Mahesan, at the same time as the debate on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation was taking place in Geneva is a case in point.  They were arrested on charges of being supportive of the LTTE, of embarrassing the government and giving information detrimental to national security.   The timing of the arrests was puzzling. The sudden arrest of the two Human Rights Defenders during the UNHRC session itself could not have been worse timed.  It served to focus international attention on the unsafe human rights situation in the country at a time when the country was in the dock of the UN in Geneva.  Since the arrests took place in Kilinochchi in the North, where the military presence and domination is very high, it can be believed that the decision to arrest them was the overriding one of national security.

The arrests unleashed an unprecedented barrage of appeals on behalf of the two arrested Human Rights Defenders.  It is reported that the highest levels of the UN, foreign governments and the Catholic Church appealed on their behalf.  The problems of entrusting decision making to defense authorities in contexts that have long term consequences and international ramifications is apparent in this case.  The government needs to have a better rounded decision making system that could include the military but is controlled by civilians who have a better rounded grasp of political realities.  The government’s decision to release the two human rights defenders swiftly was a prudent one.   It appears that once the nature of the damage to the country’s reputation was seen the government was prepared to reverse itself.

Government Strategy                                                            Read More

Dispute on Sri Lanka War Crimes Escalats

The New York Times
@nytimes

Dispute on Sri Lanka War Crimes Escalateshttp://t.co/OjYqDelp0x

2014-03-24 05:40 UTC (13 hours ago) 

The New York Times (or NYT) is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851. It has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization.[3][4] Its website is America's most popular news site, receiving more than 30 million unique visitors per month.[5]

Source:Wikipedia

 Risking even their lives, Tamils ​​demand international investigations: Mannaar Bishop

Colombo-orchestrated protest – On 17 March 2014, Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives together with SL policemen in civil uniforms took some Tamil people from Peasaalai, Channaaar, Koo’raay, promising them job opportunities and other forms assistance, without telling them the intention behind the pro-Sri Lanka rally. Many of them returned without attending the protest. As the attempt failed, they used fishermen from Negombo who were engaged in fishing at South Bar to take part in the protest. Sinhalese and Muslims were also brought from South.

‘Pro Sri Lanka’ and ‘pro Rajapaksa’ protest on 17 March

The Real Geneva Diversion & A Game Changer

By Dayan Jayatilleka -March 24, 2014

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

There is more than one Geneva diversion. The obvious one is that perpetrated by the regime, but it is not the only Geneva diversion and is not even the bigger one. True, a Minister of External Affairs whose diplomatic practice, is no match for the arrogantly aggressive effort of his UK counterpart against the country, and who spends his time playacting as an unlikely Aristotle to an unlikelier Alexander, exemplifies a regime that regards the Geneva challenge primarily as a helpful electoral diversion. Certainly an ex-Minister of Human Rights who brags moronically about a division in the UNHRC votes, forgetting that there is no election which doesn’t have such a split in votes; a regime which projects a ‘Gangnam-cum-gangsta’ style diplomacy in the choice of its most influential presidential advisor; a power elite which does not mind losing votes at the UNHRC by an ill-timed imposition of a heavy security blanket in the North and a petulant justification of it, all point to an outlook in which Geneva is more a vote gathering slogan than anything else.

And well it might be, given that the Rajapaksa administration will owe a significant slice of its election victory this time around, to the ill-targeted Geneva resolution. That resolution in its present shape and form could also help the regime make it over the top at the all-important presidential and Parliamentary elections in (more or less) a year’s time. Thus the multiple ‘R’s (the Rajapaksa’s) will owe their collective political continuity in office, to the dual ‘R’s: the Resolution and Ranil, the hardy perennial.

It is not any resolution that would have this effect; it is this resolution as it has been shaped. Differently put, another UNHRC resolution, equally tough, could have either had a neutral domestic-electoral effect or acted as a catalyst or lever of positive transformation. This one doesn’t. The Americans have a phrase: “how does it play in Peoria?” This means that every political move has to be tested against its effect at the grassroots, in the boondocks. So how will the UNHRC resolution play in Sri Lanka’s equivalent of Peoria?

Not even the best strategist of a regime with a populist-patriotic profile and posture (critics may say a pseudo-populist/pseudo-patriotic regime) could have thought of a better means of ratcheting up a siege mentality and extending the ‘insurance cover’ of patriotism as a political factor, than to have a former colonial occupier arrogantly push an investigation by a strident personality of the same ethnic origin as the island’s disaffected minority, into the conduct of a much loved soldiery during a national resistance war against fascist separatism.

The real diversion                                                           Read More

Geneva: What went wrong; is damage control possible?

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, March 23, 2014

Crucial vote on Thursday, Pillay will act within days to appoint international probe team once resolution is passed President tells Peiris to be cautious about statements after dangerous blunder on Ukraine issue

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday cautioned External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris over the release of media statements on important foreign policy issues without proper scrutiny. He said they should be examined carefully before being made public.

The move was prompted by an External Affairs Ministry statement personally initiated by Peiris. It was over the crisis in Ukraine where Russia later ended up annexing the Crimean peninsula. Moscow claimed that 98 per cent of the population who cast their votes in a referendum had chosen to join the Russian Federation. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine remained a sovereign state with the Crimean peninsula within its national boundary.

Geneva What Went Wrong is Damage Control Possible by nelvely

Why the Commonwealth must regain its ethical zeal

The organisation can be a force for good again, but only if it stands by its principles.

The Queen opens a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Photo: AP

Malcolm Fraser-March 24, 2014

If the Commonwealth is to survive, heads of government are going to have to live by the principles it espouses. Basic statements on human rights, on the way government should behave, are fine as expressions of noble sentiments, but when it comes to a test, the Commonwealth fails.

It used not to be that way. The Commonwealth was more influential than any other organisation in ending apartheid. While the result became highly controversial, it also played a significant role in Zimbabwe.

In Perth two years ago, the Commonwealth had before it a report calling for urgent reform. The organisation has gone backwards since then. Instead of fighting for human rights, it has played a role in damaging human rights.

It determined that the next meeting should be in Sri Lanka. Several international reports have called for a full inquiry into war crimes, almost certainly committed both by government forces and by the Tamils.

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At this last meeting in Sri Lanka, only 26 heads of government attended. Canada stood by its principles; the Canadian Prime Minister refused to attend. The Australian government refused to criticise Sri Lanka, believing that its co-operation was necessary in stemming the flow of refugees to Australia. What would stem the flow are changes in the attitude of the Sri Lankan government so that there would be no need to flee the terror that government policy still inflicts in the minds and hearts of many Sri Lankans.

The Commonwealth has failed to take a responsible position. It has failed to live by its principles. It has failed to understand that ethics is a significant part of good governance.

How long can such an organisation survive? Above all, the Commonwealth needs a core of states committed to its purpose and committed to ethical government.

Britain is in the strongest position to play a role. It could give a lead, but it is many decades since the British believed that the Commonwealth was important to it. Britain at the centre of a powerful and cohesive Commonwealth is much more significant in world affairs than Britain standing alone. British governments seem not to have understood this.

All through the South African issue, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher regarded the Commonwealth as a nuisance. It was a nuisance because it was active. When she and United States president Ronald Reagan were calling the African National Congress communists and terrorists, most members of the Commonwealth believed that they were nationalists fighting for equality. I actually had a CIA report in the mid-1980s that made that point clearly. The ANC got support from communist countries because it could not get support from people who traditionally may have provided support.

The US actually passed legislation supporting sanctions against South Africa. But president Reagan vetoed the legislation. The Commonwealth had been active in lobbying the US Congress. Members, both Democrat and Republican, supported the actions of the Commonwealth and opposed the presidential veto. It is one of the rare occasions in which Congress mustered the numbers to override that veto. That would not have happened had it not been for the lobbying of the Commonwealth itself.

Numbers tell the story of the Commonwealth of recent years. Out of 54 members, only 30 attended in Perth. In Colombo, only 26 attended, and many of those who stayed away did so because they did not want to give credibility to a country that was widely believed to have committed significant war crimes.

If the Commonwealth is to exercise influence in the future, Commonwealth governments need to rebuild the secretariat so it becomes an active force that will pursue the stated principles of the Commonwealth and, if necessary, drive governments to support those principles. Increasingly in today's world, a number of governments need the kind of advice that the Commonwealth would be able to offer.

Whether the meeting in Malta in 2015 will make any difference, whether Britain will seize the opportunity for leadership, is open to doubt. Of all countries, Britain and Canada are the two that might provide that leadership to rejuvenate this organisation. Something of real value will be lost if they do not take that opportunity.

The theme for the Commonwealth this year is Team Commonwealth: Transcending the Horizons. It emphasises that the Commonwealth works best when it pulls together - but it needs drive, it needs energy, it needs courage and it needs to live by its stated principles.

Commonwealth governments have the capacity to establish such an organisation. They could make the Commonwealth an active instrument for the advancement of mankind. But for that to happen, member governments need to change.

Malcolm Fraser was prime minister from 1975-83.

5 Judge Bench Selected By De Facto CJ Mohan Pieris Dismisses All Impeachment Challenges

March 24, 2014 

A 5 judge bench of the Supreme Court (Justices Saleem Marsoof, Chandra Ekanayake, Sathya Hettige, Eva Wanadundera & Rohini Marasinghe) specially appointed by de facto Chief Justice Mohan Pieris, dismissed all cases challenging the illegal ouster of the legal Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake today (24.03.2014).

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake

In one of the cases SC FR 23/2013, Pieris was named as a respondent. In that case, the petitioners (Centre for Policy Alternatives & its Executive Director, Dr.PaikIasothy Saravanamuttu) had filed a motion and told court that they will not participate in the hearing of the case anymore, after the judges refused to consider objections raised to Pieris as a respondent handpicking judges without allowing all judges of the court (called as ‘full bench’) to hear the case. The 5 judge bench held that the petitioners withdrawing from participating was an abuse of the the court process, because the case was filed in the public interest.

However, senior constitutional law analysts, said that the withdrawal was a principled protest against compromising judicial integrity by a party to the case picking some judges and leaving others out (called as ‘bench fixing’).

All the cases (including one by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka – BASL) were dismissed without costs, upholding preliminary objections raised on behalf of the Rajapaksa regime.

According to several very senior lawyers and constitutional law experts contacted by Colombo Telegraph (who asked not to be named), the judgments are invalid and void under basic judicial norms, since they violate basic principles of natural justice, with the selection by respondent Pieris of a special bench. The refusal of the selected judges to uphold objections to such selection further made the whole process and judgements highly questionable and illegal.

Therefore, according to several senior analysts, these judgments have failed to whitewash and convert the status of the de facto CJ to the position of the legal (called as ‘de jure’) CJ. The legal Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake is prevented from functioning in office. They said that the matter could be re-opened someday when Rule of Law is restored.

No peace without justice and self determination

Krishna Saravanamuttu Tamil Guardian 24 March 2014
The below is compiled from comments by Krishna Saravanamuttu to the Geneva Press Club on March 21, 2014 during a panel discussion, ‘Is the Sri Lanka resolution at the UNHRC part of the problem?’ Mr. Saravanamuttu is elected representative of the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) and spokesperson of the International Council of Eelam Tamils (ICET). 
Today we hear a lot about the process of violence that continues five years after the war. We hear about military occupation, rape, the appropriation of land, the imprisonment of political prisoners, the denial of civil liberties under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the deterioration of health, food and social security. 

I would suggest, however, that these issues do not exist in a vacuum. In fact, these issues emerge out of the broader context of failure by the international community to uphold the cardinal principal of international human rights law, of international humanitarian law. 

We know this based on the United Nations’ own reports. The 2012 Petrie report set out an internal review of the UN activities in Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war. What we found was absolutely shocking. We know that high level UN staff were directly involved in suppressing the death counts that were coming out. We also know that there was a political decision made to scrutinise the activities of the LTTE and disproportionately focus criticism on the LTTE, while ignoring any real criticism of the government.

This is something that set the stage for the massacres that eventually happened in Mullivaikal because, had the world had known the reality of what was happening at that time, a reasonable argument could be made that more might have been done to stop the massacres, to stop the genocide. 

We know that senior UN officials like Vijay Nambiar were involved with this type of political manoeuvring. We heard through the admission of people like John Holmes, the ex-humanitarian chief for the United Nations, that essentially the international community was waiting for the defeat of the LTTE and they hoped that it would happen with the lowest death count possible. This fits with a broader discourse, the ‘Tamil Tiger terrorist’ discourse, which ensured that the government in 2009 had a license to kill. It had a license to kill civilians, it had a license to absolutely disregard the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. And so this is the context from which we come here to the UNHRC today and from which we seek justice from the international community. 

But we are also looking at a broader context of what happened during the peace process between the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka. The United States was one of the co-chairs of that peace process, and it is rather unfortunate that, at that same time, the US was providing Sri Lanka with both material and strategic support for its counter-insurgency. So there is a clear conflict of interest here. We often hear the rhetoric about the LTTE not being serious about a negotiated settlement to the conflict, but we wonder how serious the other actors were, if they continued to prepare the state for war. And we all know how that war eventually came to a conclusion. Today, five years after the war, we know that the US Pacific Command has increased training with Sri Lanka. Conducting business as usual with a country like Sri Lanka, as if it were a normal country and not one accused of genocide, is an egregious act of complicity. 

And so this brings us to the current political moment where we are debating the merits of the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. Others here have already expressed our utter disappointment with the resolution, and with the current position the international community is taking. We are of the opinion that unfortunately this resolution reframes the debate, and distorts and dilutes the real issue. We are not talking anymore about national oppression, about genocide. Somehow the discourse has changed into a problem concerning religious minorities and human rights violations, a problem that can easily be more rectified under a liberal democratic Sri Lanka, perhaps under another government. However, as far as we are concerned, the Rajapaksa government is not the primary problem. It is the Sri Lankan state that is the problem, a state which has committed genocide against our people for over six decades. 

So we are not here to talk about an incremental approach, or to have a debate about geopolitics and international order. We are talking about nothing less than the survival of our people today. Attempting to reframe the debate instead of bringing this system of genocide to an end is indicative of moral blindness but also political shortsightedness. Prolonging oppression is not only unethical, it is pragmatically counterproductive, because it perpetuates the conflict that is going on in the island. 

Striving for peace divorced of justice is as good as institutionalising the Tamil nation to the overwhelming state oppression by Sri Lanka’s genocidal regime. We do not want to see the island, perhaps a decade from now, going back down the road of violence. To understand what we are talking about we have to contextualise the violence of the LTTE. The LTTE was a product of state oppression that eventually led to the taking up of arms. This same oppression exists today. We want to see this oppression to end and we want the international community to rectify some of the mistakes of the last few years. 

We know that peace cannot happen without justice, and the time is now for the international community to act. Genuine peace, reconciliation and even regional stability can never happen unless there is a genuine, legitimate political solution that addresses the Tamil people’s fundamental grievances, one that also recognises our cardinal principles of nation, homeland and self-determination. Our people’s entire history has been a history of compromise, but on these principles, there cannot be even an inch of compromise. I want to reiterate this point. 

SRI LANKA: Court orders to silence two human rights activists

March 24, 2014

The first order states that, as the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) is conducting an investigation into the terrorist activities of the LTTE and that if the information gathered during this investigation is given to local or international persons there will be great damage to this investigation, and by so providing this information there is a possibility that acts of terrorism or conflicts among races or religions can take place. Therefore the OIC of the TID has requested me to make such order for the persons named not to make any such statements. And the Magistrate has made the order accordingly.

In the second order, also made at the request of the OIC of the TID an order has been made to the effect to arrest and produce before court the above named persons if they come for the purpose of travel abroad without the permission of the court.

Copies of this order has been sent to the directors of Immigration and Emigration at international airports at Katunayake and Mattala, the director of the State Intelligence Service, and the director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Asian Human Rights Commission states that there was no reason in any way to connect these two human rights activists, who have merely done their duty to extend support to any victims or perceived victims of human rights abuses. In fact, the very mandate of a human rights defender is to provide assistance to anyone who is going through such circumstances. The United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution entitled, Protecting Human Rights Defenders, (April 12, 2013) among other things:"Urges the States to acknowledge publically the important and legitimate role of human rights defenders in the promotion of human rights, democracy and rule of law as an essential component of ensuring their protection, including by respecting the independence of their organisations and by stigmatisation of their work". It was after the TID found them to be innocent of any unlawful activity that both of them were released. The international interventions and those by local agencies were made on the basis of the justification of their interventions as human rights activists. The government responded positively to the massive protest and created the impression of having resolved the problem. The actions which are now being taken to restrict their freedom of speech and to travel have therefore no legitimate basis.

Sri Lankan law protects the freedom of speech as well as the freedom for travel. Both of these rights are considered fundamental rights. Merely tagging on an accusation of some connection to the LTTE without sufficient evidence in order to create the impression of some illegal activity is not becoming of a legitimate government. Unfortunately the long period of violence that prevailed in the country for several decades left room for such arrests without the strict criterion relating to the law. A situation arose when, by the mere signature of an official, the most terrible accusations can be made and these led to the issuing of orders which have enormous consequences.

The resort to such orders now endangers everyone. An officer without providing any reliable evidence to the court may make such requests by which the freedom of any person can be jeopardised.

This action on the part of the TID itself is one more justification for the resolution which is now before the Human Rights Council. When the domestic legal system is blatantly abused the only recourse that a citizen will have is to turn to the United Nations human rights agencies. So far, the belief that the domestic system may still be utilised creates the illusion that justice is still possible in Sri Lanka. However, when the powers of arrest, detention are abused and other severe restrictions of the freedom of speech and movement are being made in this manner it is glaring proof of the justification for the resolution which is to be debated this week in Geneva.

Sri Lankan Free Speech Activists Muzzled

23 March 2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Sri Lankan affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM) in deploring the Magistrate order issued on human rights activists Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen Mahesan, restricting their right to speak and calls for an immediate lifting on the ban.

The IFJ said: “This judicial order has prevented the two activists from speaking about not only their arrest but also the human rights violations taking place in the North of Sri Lanka that they had been investigating.” Fernando and Fr. Praveen,were arrested on March 16 in Kilinochchi. They were subjected to lengthy interrogations by the Terrorist Investigative Division of the Sri Lanka Police.

After two days of global outcry and rallying from international human rights organisations, the two activists were released without any charges on March 18. Sri Lanka law permits suspects to be kept in police custody for 48 hours without producing them before a Court of Law. In this case both human rights campaigners were kept in TID custody for 52 hours.

The order to muzzle Fernando and Fr. Praveen was delivered after Fernando was interviewed by the CNN and the BBC Sinhala service. In both interviews Fernando rejected the terrorism charges levelled by authorities.

The FMM said: “It is clear the authorities want to censor both Ruki and Fr. Praveen in order to suppress the other side of the story.” 

Ruki Fernando said on March 22: “Released - but no freedom from fear, no freedom to travel, no freedom to talk, no freedom to defend myself against lies and false accusations”

As reported by media and human rights organisations, both were on a fact finding mission in Darmapuram, in the Kilinochchi district following the arrest of female activist Jayakumari Balendran and her 13-year-old daughter Vibushika Balendran.

The order issued by the Colombo Magistrate on Fernando and Fr. Praveen read as follows: ''Sharing information regarding the investigation being conducted by the TID related to you with whatever persons either national or international may harm the ongoing investigation; herewith you are ordered not to engage in such activities.'' (NB: This is not a legal translation. Original text is in Sinhala language)

Freedom of expression is a fundamental right recognized by the constitution of Sri Lanka and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As pointed out by the senior human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, an order restricting the fundamental right of freedom of expression and right to information can be enforced only under the Emergency Regulations in Sri Lanka. At the time the order was released there was no Emergency Regulations declared in Sri Lanka.

The IFJ said: “We join the FMM in calling on authorities to lift the ban imposed on Ruki Fernando and Fr. Praveen Mahesan. At the same time we warn that imposing such restrictions stands as a very concerning precedent – another weapon in the arsenal for further suppressing already chained freedom of expression rights in Sri Lanka.”

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950

Rajapakse modus operandi to resurrect ‘LTTE’ revealed -full details herein(Lanka-e-News-24.March.2014, 2.30PM) With the resolution to be tabled at the Geneva human rights (HR) conference and the elections for western south provincial council (PC) in the offing , as part of its new evil publicity campaign of resurrecting the ‘LTTE’ for the most obnoxious and selfish reasons, the Rajapakse regime by laying siege to a village at Vaddukodai yesterday at dawn at about 1.00 a.m. arrested over 200 Tamils

Rajapakse modus operandi to resurrect 

‘LTTE’ revealed -full details

herein(Lanka-e-News-24.March.2014, 2.30PM) With the resolution to be tabled at the Geneva human rights (HR) conference and the elections for western south provincial council (PC) in the offing , as part of its new evil publicity campaign of resurrecting the ‘LTTE’ for the most obnoxious and selfish reasons, the Rajapakse regime by laying siege to a village at Vaddukodai yesterday at dawn at about 1.00 a.m. arrested over 200 Tamils 

Rajapakse modus operandi to resurrect ‘LTTE’ revealed -full details by nelvely

Is Righteousness Being Practised In Sri Lanka?

By Ayathuray Rajasingam -March 24, 2014 

Ayathuray Rajasingam

The origin of Righteousness is the history of the search of God. Righteousness is the moral law coupled with spiritual discipline which guides one’s life. This is a universal law acceptable to all faiths. All religious people consider righteousness as the foundation of life. Righteousness is a concept found in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism and other religions. Maha Bharath mentions that he who does not observe righteousness is bound to destroy himself while others who observe righteousness is protected by God.

We were taught how to conduct ourselves at schools and places of worship before our parents, teachers and priests. But today the parents, teachers, priests and even the people are at the mercy of the political leaders who have ignored the lofty ideals they have agitated for, by showing disregard for righteousness, after assuming power and acquiring wealth. They behave like Duryodhana as found in Maha Bharath. It is a sordid state of affair that political leaders distort and suppress facts while others support such facts on various pretexts for their own benefits because of rivalry between two factions. Practising righteousness by the politicians, religious extremists and the Security Forces in Sri Lanka has become a question mark.

Righteousness has the force of revealing the meaning of life and God. Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita mentions what is life and how an individual should perform his duties in compliance with the concept of righteousness. When God creates life for a purpose, he expects those Souls to perform their duty in compliance with the concept of righteousness. Such performance of duties applies to all categories of people – whether they are might or weak, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, etc. All categories of people are equal before the eyes of God.

We are born in this world where we have to take up challenges. The concept of Righteousness should be analyzed within the purview of what life is.

Bagavad Gita mentions -

Life is a challenge – Meet it

Life is a Gift –Accept it.

Life is an adventure – Dare it

Life is a sorrow – Overcome it

Life is a tragedy – Face it

Life is a duty – Perform it

Life is a game – Play it

Life is a mystery – Unfold it

Life is a song – sing it

Life is an opportunity – Take it

Life is a journey – Complete it

Life is a promise – Fulfill it

Life is a love – Enjoy it

Life is a beauty – Praise it

Life is a spirit – Realize it

Life is a struggle – Fight it

Life is a puzzle – Solve it

Life is a goal – Achieve it

                                                                                                            Read More

Anti-Social Behaviour Of Bubu Bala Sena In Mawanella

| by A Special Correspondent

( March 23, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A group of Budu Bala Sena went to Mawanella town to create mayhem and panics in the minds of minority communities in Mawanella area. This happened on 22-03-1-14. It is very much clear that they have taken the law in to their hands and they do not respect law enforcement agents in the country. Police and armed forces have to stay idle in front of them until they do their dirty work. Today, they have changed the name of street from a Muslim name to a Buddhist name. From Hassan mawaththa to Anagarika Darmapala MV and yet, police and armed forces did nothing as if they give green light. Where is law and order in this country and one wonders who rules this country. Is there any rule of law in this country? How could they change the name of a street without any formal permission from court orders or from Town Hall?

Who gave the permission to act like this? It is really laws of jungles that dominate this country and it is shame on the legal systems of this country which has been maintaining law and order since the independence with some degree of legal integrity and fairness. These types of anti- social behaviour not only give bad name to Sri Lankan law enforcement agent but it also makes mockery of Sri Lankan legal system. It is only recently police spoke person said that if anyone takes law into their hands they will be severely punished and how many times BBS violated law and order and yet no action has been taken against them. It is believed that influential political power is behind this BBS.

Otherwise, how could these people do all these anti –social behaviours? They have been targeting all minority communities in recent time and yet, no action has been taken against them and there are hundreds of video and audio evidences against them and yet, no none dare to take action against them. They have been doing all sorts of intimidation and violence against minority community in Sri Lanka yet, entire nation is silent about it. Recently that late president Mrs CK Bandaranayke wanted to speak about it and wanted to discuss this problem with President M. Rajapakse yet, such discussion was not materialised at all. It has been puzzling that someone on the top in the political hierarchy is doing all these dirty work and we hope and pray that one day justice will be done. Justice is absolute and unconditional and for that matters this ruling elite is not immune from divine punishment and justice.

Muslims have been maintaining peace and harmony throughout these last three years of intimidation, threat and verbal abuse of BBS in Sri Lanka. It should be said that BBS is has no grass root support. In this particular day, Muslim community leaders asked people not approach them, not to speak to them and not to record this incident. This is indeed a good move and this is indeed an exemplary precedent in Sri Lanka so that public will know who make trouble and who engage in anti-!social activities.!

They have been plotting against minority communities and yet, their plot and crafty tricks went in vain as they do not get the support of majority of people in this country. In today’s event they could not even get support of one hundred people and Singhalese people in the area do not give them any support. Only some hard-core extremists of BBS from outside came to the town and did all shouting and noise. It is rather like a political meeting against the minister Mr. Rauf Hakeem.

It is ineptitude of Muslim political leadership that paved the way to this pathetic condition. They should have resigned from this government long before these anti-Muslim trend increases to this extend in. Sri Lanka. Why Muslim political leaders maintain silence over this incident? Why cannot they act collectively at this time of great danger to the mere existence of Muslims in Sri Lanka? Why they do not do something about it?

Today most of our political leaders do not have courage and influence to speak out and at least to work together with other minority party to protect our community. Look at what happened when a church was ransacked in down south. Government took immediate actions against those attacked the church and yet, when it comes to Muslim community today no one speak about that and no action is taken. It is a pathetic situation and community leaders should do something before it goes out of control. 

Sri Lanka Muslim community is in a difficult situation today. Although we are living peacefully we have been victimised in recent time for no reason. We have been loyal citizens of this country and yet, look at the way some of these extremists behaving against us.

Glyphosate and the kidney disease

By Prof. Oliver Ileperuma-March 23, 2014, 9:10 pm

It is reported that the widely used herbicide, glyphosate has been banned because of its link to kidney disease. Pesticides are environmentally undesirable but our current agricultural practices heavily depend on this pesticide popularly known as roundup. However, there is no compelling scientific evidence to link glyphosate to kidney disease. There is much hype about a paper published by a group of researchers from the Rajarata University and the Suwasaviya Foundation linking glyphosate to Rajarata kidney disease. Incidentally, one of the coauthors of this article is a person who first claimed to have found arsenic to be the responsible factor through divine intervention. I wonder how much of divine powers were involved in formulating the current hypothesis. This paper has merely put forward a hypothesis which cannot be accepted as gospel truth. Such proclamations through local media are highly misleading and can affect our agriculture in the long term. What is necessary is to control the application of pesticides in our agriculture to protect the health of our people. For example, vegetables are sprayed with pesticide just before harvest and even after harvesting. This highly undesirable practice has to be controlled with the necessary legislation and banning glyphosate certainly will not help to control the kidney disease.

Glyphosate undergoes microbial decay in soil over a period of weeks and its herbicidal activity disappears in a much shorter time owing to absorption to clay and organic matter in soil. This effect is mainly due to the formation of insoluble complexes with metals in the soils such as iron, calcium and magnesium. Some of these complexes are extremely insoluble and there is no way that they can find their way into the drinking water wells located away from the paddy fields. Because of this the pesticide has very little chance of getting into well waters since glyphosate is effectively immoblised due to binding to various metal ions in soil.

Let us now look at the history of glyphosate use in Sri Lanka. In 1977, glyphosate was given permission by the Department of Agriculture for controlling weeds in non-crop lands in the hill country and this was extended to all of Sri Lanka in 1994, again for only non-crop lands. Use in paddy fields was granted only in 1998 but even at that time paraquat which was much cheaper was used to control weeds by farmers. When paraquat was banned from use in 2007, glyphosate gradually came into use. It was only in 2003 that the patent rights for the manufacture of glyphosate was removed from its parent company, Manosanto. Thereafter, various companies started manufacturing glyphosate under different trade names and it became considerably cheaper. Large scale application of glyphosate to paddy lands became widespread only after about 2011.ea

The earliest recorded cases of detection of CKDu cases go as far back as 1996 when glyphosate was non-existent in that area which contradicts the findings of this hypothesis. How can one explain the occurrence of this disease prior to its use? Generally chronic endemic nephropathies manifest in humans only after a reasonably long incubation period of about 10-20 years of living in the same region and this hypothesis cannot explain this discrepancy. Furthermore, this hypothesis assumes that hard water in combination with glyphosate is responsible for kidney disease. There are many other areas in Sri Lanka where the water is hard but do not get the disease. In particular, Puttalam district, Jaffna, Matale and the Moneragala districts do not report such kidney patients. Leaving aside Jaffna which has highest hardness where there were some restrictions of transporting agrochemicals, how can this hypothesis exclude other hard water areas? Also, the hardness map purportedly from the Water Resources Board is quite different from the published hardness maps of Sri Lanka such as the hydrogeochemical atlas authored by Prof. C. B. Dssanayake. When quoting from such a map proper acknowledgement to a person is essential in order for anyone else to check on the veracity of such information.

This paper published paper talks about the formation of metal complexes in the body which bypass the liver where toxic substances get decomposed and goes straight to the kidney where the damage is done. Such fanciful deductions without any scientific evidence will only mask the real reasons for this disease. I feel that the learned members of the GMOA should first analyse these facts before jumping into conclusions that glyphosate as the root cause and demand an end to use of this weedicide.

Those who have political connections can easily mislead the President to issuing a ban on glyphosate. It is the same group which claimed that they found arsenic is the cause of this by analyzing rice samples. Research carried out both here and abroad conclusively put an end to this since our arsenic levels are much lower than those of other countries. Banning glyphosate will not solve the kidney diseases and will only hurt the economy of the rural communities.

As a researcher who has worked on this problem for over years and working closely with medical professionals, I find his situation quite distressing. Researchers who claim unfounded hypothesis as gospel truth not only mislead the public but also spend state funds for this purpose with impunity. In my opinion, there is a long way to go to pinpoint the real reasons for the chronic kidney disease and the hypothesis which I put forward involving high fluoride has so far been not disproved although other factors such as the hardness of water and calcium/sodium ratio may also have auxiliary roles. The reason as to why certain high fluoride is free from this disease needs to be explained by other researchers and this remains as a hypothesis until its role is well established.

Publicising an unconfirmed hypothesis as a sacred truth will not only divert the attention of the masses but also ruins the already existing research programmes aimed at finding a solution to this problem in a scientific manner. This published paper talks about the formation of metal complexes in the body which bypass the liver where toxic substances get decomposed and goes straight to the kidney where the damage is done. Such fanciful deductions without any scientific evidence will only mask the real reasons for this disease. It is imperative for the Government to seek the views of all those who have worked from the very beginning to get a balanced view on this situation before taking drastic actions such as banning glyphosate .