Opened letter to His Majesty Mahinda Rajapakse the Lord of Sri Lanka and the Universe also

• by Channa Wickremesekera 
• - on 05/03/2014 

Dear Majesty,

My name is Silva. The Silva. I am common man. Very common. So common I am always voting for your Majesty and Your Majesty’s government. However, please be notified that I am only giving the back part of my name. Front part I am keeping to myself due to security reasons. I am also begging Your Majesty to be excusing my English. I am The Silva. Not The Pieris.

Opened Letter to His Majesty Mahinda Rajapakse the Lord of Sri Lanka and the Universe Also by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka had a ISI hand in Chennai bomb blast?

Posted by Ayyappa Prasad on May 3, 2014 

Chennai,May 3 (TruthDive): Sri Lanka-based links to two suspects with ISI background nabbed by Tamil Nadu police in connection with bomb blasts in Chennai railway station has opened a new revelation to intelligence agencies.

Sources said that a person who was found hiding in the train even two hours after the bomb blast was of Sri Lankan origin. Further interrogation showed that he had links with ISI agent Jafar caught on April 29 by the police. The ISI agent had entered Tamil Nadu through Sri Lankan route.

Geo-politically Sri Lanka is said to be patronized by China, the super power in Asia and traditionally close to Pakistan. To offset this, the Indian government has been soft on Sri Lanka and recent issue being its stance on UN resolution backed by US. The link between the ISI agent coming in from Sri Lanka and the man caught on the train shows that a conduit route through island routes has been drawn up.

Tamil Nadu has been targeted by ISI backed by Sri Lanka since Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is against the present regime of the island nation. With Jayalalithaa set to play a major role in the formation of a union ministry of any national party coming to power according to poll analysis, Sri Lanka feels threatened that India could raise international arbitration of Katchatheevu island under pressure from her.

Sources in State intelligence say that the game plan is to create terror attacks in the State and discredit Jayalalithaa and that she loses coming Assembly polls. Sri Lanka is comfortable with DMK who keeps changing sides.

Many terror outfits in Tamil Nadu are to be funded by ISI and the nabbed man was carrying fake currency notes which are given to operators and printed in Chinese press. The Sri Lanka connection with ISI has put the State agency on the alert as if Jaya does not have the clout with a possible BJP-led NDA.

The terror attacks could increase and DMDK-led BJP front could make inroads on law and order situation. All opposition parties have termed Chennai bomb blast as failure of the State police.

Ukraine unrest: fighting spreads to Kramatorsk

SATURDAY 03 MAY 2014

Pro-Russian separatists release the international military observers they took captive in eastern Ukraine a week ago - as the violence in the country spreads to Kramatorsk.

Ukraine Unrest Fighting Spreads to Kramatorsk by Thavam Ratna

Kremlin says it is weighing response to ‘thousands’ of pleas for help from Ukraine

previously calm southern port of Odessa led to a fire that police said killed at least 30 people.

By Michael Birnbaum, Simon Denyer and Anna Nemtsova, Updated: Saturday, May 3, 12:35 PME-mail the writers

 Saturday, May 3,

MOSCOW — The Kremlin is receiving “thousands” of calls for assistance from Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, and it has not yet decided on a response, a spokesman said Saturday, as Ukrainian authorities continued to move to push back separatists who have taken over key cities in the region after Ukraine suffered its bloodiest day in nearly three months.

Kremlin Says It is Weighing Response to ‘Thousands’ of Pleas for Help From Ukraine by Thavam Ratna

Dozens of Muslims killed in ethnic violence in north-east India

Police arrest 22 people and army called in to restore order in Assam state after 29 killed and many houses burned

Taslima Khatun, four, who was injured in the attack, is comforted by her grandfather at a hospital in the Indian city of Guwahati. Photograph: Utpal Baruah/Reuters

Saturday 3 May 2014

Nearly 30 Muslims have been killed and houses burned in the worst outbreak of ethnic violence in the remote north-eastern region of India in two years, officials have said.

Police arrested 22 people after authorities called in the army to restore order in Assam state and imposed an indefinite curfew in the wake of the 29 deaths. They have been blamed on rebels from the Bodo ethnic group, who have long accused Muslim residents of coming into India illegally from neighbouring Bangladesh.

A state minister for border areas, Siddique Ahmed, said after visiting the affected areas that his government and the ruling Congress party had failed to protect the victims, who included at least eight women and as many children.

"Even two-year-old children who could barely walk have been shot dead. I have never witnessed such scenes in my life," he told reporters.

Police said they had arrested 22 people who allegedly burned homes or provided shelter to the insurgents, according to the regional police inspector general, LR Bishnoi.

He said the rebels belong to a faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which has been fighting for a separate homeland for the ethnic Bodo people for decades. The Bodos are an indigenous group in Assam, making up 10% of the state's 33 million people.

However, in an email to reporters on Saturday the rebel faction denied the charge and blamed the killings on the state government.

The violence came at a time of heightened security during India's general election, with voting taking place over six weeks. Tensions have been high since a Bodo politician in India's parliament criticised Muslims for not voting for the Bodo candidate, said Lafikul Islam Ahmed, leader of a Muslim youth organisation called the All Bodoland Muslim Students' Union.

Local television reports showed hundreds of Muslim villagers fleeing their homes with belongings on pushcarts or in their hands. Most were headed to nearby Dubri district, which is near the border with Bangladesh. Nearly 400 people had fled so far, Bishnoi said.

In 2012, violence between Bodo people and Muslims killed as many as 100 people in the same area.

Police said that in the third and most recent attack on Friday evening, militants entered a village in the western Baksa district and set at least 40 Muslim homes on fire before opening fire. Assam's additional director general of police, RM Singh, said 11 bodies, all of them shot to death, were recovered from the attack. Another seven bodies were recovered on Saturday, Bishnoi said.

The first attack took place in the same district late on Thursday night when at least eight rebels opened fire on a group of villagers sitting in a courtyard. Four people were killed and two were wounded, police said. The second attack happened around midnight in Kokrajhar district when more than 20 armed and hooded men broke open the doors of two homes and opened fire, killing seven people, witnesses said.

Mohammed Sheikh Ali, 28, said his mother, wife and daughter were killed in the attack.

"I will curse myself forever because I failed to save them," Ali said in a telephone interview from a hospital where he was waiting for doctors to complete the postmortem examinations on his family. "I am left all alone in this world … I want justice."

Gerry Adams murder arrest is 'politically motivated'

SATURDAY 03 MAY 2014

Martin McGuinness repeats claims the arrest of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is politically motivated, accusing members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland of being against the peace process.

Gerry Adams Murder Arrest is 'Politically Motivated' by Thavam Ratna

>

Egypt must release journalists and protect freedom of expression

Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and his Al Jazeera English colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed are on trial in Egypt. 

Mohamed Fahmy, the Egyptian-Canadian journalist being detained in Cairo, is shown in a handout photo.
Their crime? Reporting the news and challenging the “official version” presented by the authorities. Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The three men were detained on December 29, 2013 and later charged with falsifying news and belonging to or assisting a banned terrorist organization. They face up to life imprisonment if convicted. Their trial is grossly unfair. Amnesty International fears that the charges may be an attempt to punish the journalists for Al Jazeera’s editorial line. The channel has been accused of being biased towards the now banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Join Amnesty’s call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohamed Fahmy and his Al Jazeera colleagues.»

Send a message to Minister of Justice Nayer Abdel-Moneim Othman calling on the Egyptian authorities to release Mohamed Fahmy and his Al Jazeera colleagues immediately and unconditionally.

Your Excellency:

Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed are currently on trial simply for reporting the news. Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience.

The Egyptian government should respect freedom of expression and allow journalists to carry out independent reporting into all issues, including criticizing the government, without the threat of intimidation or arrest.

I call on you to:

• immediately and unconditionally release Mohamed Fahmy , Peter Greste, and Baher Mohamed.
• drop all charges against the journalists and others held in prison solely for peaceful expression and protest.

Sincerely,                                                                          LEARN MORE

More than 2,100 confirmed dead in Afghan landslides

Nato and US offer troops' help as rescuers scramble in desperate search for survivors

Afghanistan landslide: rescuers 'given up hope' - video

Saturday 3 May 2014 
At least 2,100 people were killed in massive landslides that struck a remote region of Afghanistan on Friday.

More Than 2,100 Confirmed Dead in Afghan Landslides by Thavam Ratna

பிரபாகரன் பற்றிய கருத்து தொடர்பில் விக்னேஸ்வரன் விளக்கம்

முதலமைச்சர் சி.வி. விக்னேஸ்வரன்

கடைசியாக பிரசுரிக்கப்பட்டது: 2 மே, 2014 

வடக்கு மாகாண முதலமைச்சர் சி.வி. விக்னேஸ்வரன் மேதின உரையின்போது தெரிவித்திருந்த சர்ச்சைக்குரிய கருத்தொன்று தொடர்பில் விளக்கமளித்து அறிக்கை ஒன்றை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார்.

முதலமைச்சர் தனது மேதின உரையில், 'இராணுவத்தை ஒருபோதும் வட மாகாணத்திலிருந்து எடுக்க மாட்டோம் என்று ஜனாதிபதி இறுமாப்பாகக் கூறியதாக பத்திரிகை வாயிலாக அறிந்தேன். ஒருகாலத்தில் பிரபாகரனும் கேட்பாரின்றி அதிகாரத்தில் இருந்தார். அதை ஜனாதிபதி அறியாதவர் அல்ல. அப்படியாயிருந்தும் இப்படியான சவாலான கருத்துக்களை அவர் ஏன் முன்மொழிகின்றார் என்று எண்ணி அவர் மீது பரிதாபப்பட்டேன்' என்று கூறியிருந்தார்.

அதுபற்றி எழுந்த சர்ச்சையைத் தொடர்ந்து, அதுபற்றிய விளக்க அறிக்கை ஒன்றை முதலமைச்சர் இன்று வௌியிட்டுள்ளார்.

'அலெக்ஷாண்டர் ஒரு மகாவீரன். அதற்காக அவன் அதிகாரங்கள் அனைத்தையும் தன் வசம் வைத்திருக்கவில்லை என்று கூற முடியாது. பிரபாகரன் ஒரு மகா வீரன் என்று சரத்பொன்சேகா கூட அண்மையில் கூறியிருந்தார். அதற்காக அவர் அதிகாரங்கள் அனைத்தையும் தன்வசம் வைத்திருக்கவில்லை என்று கூற முடியாது' என்று கூறியுள்ளார் விக்னேஸ்வரன்.

'ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ச 18-வது திருத்தச் சட்டத்தின் பின் அதிகாரங்கள் அனைத்தையும் தன்வசமே வைத்திருக்கின்றார். இன்று கேட்பாரின்றி அதிகாரத்தில் இருக்கின்றார். இவை எவ்வளவு காலத்திற்கு என்பதைப் பற்றி ஜனாதிபதி சிந்திக்க வேண்டும் என்றே மேற்கண்டவாறு கூறினேன்' என்றும் கூறியுள்ளார் முதலமைச்சர்.

'தங்கை அனந்தி அவர்கள் நான் கூறியதன் அர்த்தம் புரியவில்லை என்றும் ஆனால் முதலமைச்சர் காரணமில்லாமல் எதுவும் கூறியிருக்க மாட்டார் என்றும் கூறியதாக அறிந்தேன். அப்படிக் கூறியிருந்தால் அவருக்கு எனது மனமார்ந்த நன்றியைத் தெரிவித்துக் கொள்கின்றேன்' என்றும் அவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

மேலும், 'நான் பேச்சு முடிந்து மண்டபத்தில் இருந்து வெளியே வந்தபோது எவருமே என்னை அண்டி எதுவும் கேட்கவில்லை, கேட்க எத்தனிக்கவும் இல்லை. எல்லோரும் வழக்கம் போல் கைகூப்பி வணக்கம் தெரிவித்தே என்னை வழியனுப்பினார்கள்' என்றும் சி.வி. விக்னேஸ்வரன் கூறினார்.

The 13th Amendment and its 

MISPERCEPTIONS 

By Neville Ladduwahetty-May 1, 2014, 12:00 pm

President Rajapakse and NP Chief Minister Wigneswaran

The message in comments such as "to show concrete movement towards a meaningful devolution of power" and "to ensure that Provincial Councils are able to operate effectively", with the most recent being the need to "expeditiously implement the 13th Amendment", is that power has NOT been devolved from the Center to the Provinces. This is factually not correct. This misperception is due to the inability to appreciate that while power has constitutionally been devolved from the center to the periphery, how these powers work in practice depends on the structural context in which they operate. This inability to separate the constitutionally legal from the operational has led to the distorted perception that power has not been devolved.

The 13th Amendment and Its by Thavam Ratna

சாவகச்சேரி மேதின உரையின் பின் சி.வி. விக்கினேஸ்வரன் 

முதலமைச்சர் சீ.வீ.விக்னேஸ்வரனின் சர்ச்சையை ஏற்படுத்திய மேதின உரை-

01 மே 2014
வடமாகாண முதலமைச்சர்  சி.வி.விக்கினேஸ்வரனை  கூட்டமைப்பு ஆதரவாளர்கள் சுற்றி வளைத்த நிலையில் அவர் அவசர அவசரமாக பொலிஸாரால் பாதுகாப்பாக வெளியேற்றப்பட்டு உள்ளார். 

சாவகச்சேரியில் நடைபெற்ற மேதினக்கூட்டத்தில் பங்கெடுத்து உரையாற்றிய முதலமைச்சர் விக்கினேஸ்வரன் விடுதலைப்புலிகள் தலைவர் பிரபாகரன் தன்னிட்சையாக செயற்பட்டார் என்று பொருள்பட பேசியதாக விளங்கிக் கொண்ட இளைஞர்கள் சிலர் தேர்தல் காலத்தில் பிரபாகரன் மாவீரன் இப்போது சர்வாதிகாரியா என கேள்வி எழுப்பினர்.

இந்நிலையில் தனது உரையினை முடித்துக்கொண்டு முதலமைச்சர் சி.வி.விக்கினேஸ்வரன் வெளியேற முற்படுகையில் மண்டபத்திற்கு வெளியே அவரை இளைஞர்கள் சிலர் சுற்றி வளைக்க முற்பட்டனர். யதார்த்தத்தினை புரிந்து கொண்ட அவரது பாதுகாப்பு பிரிவு பொலிஸார் அவசர அவசரமாக காரில் ஏற்றி அவரை வெளியேற்றினர்.

இதனிடையே முதலமைச்சர் சி.வி.விக்கினேஸ்வரனின் உரை அங்கு பிரச்சன்னமாகியிருந்த பலரிடமும்  சர்ச்சையை  ஏற்படுத்தியதாக கூறப்படுகிறது. குறிப்பாக சாவகச்சேரியில் மேதின ஏற்பாட்டை செய்திருந்த மாகாணசபை உறுப்பினர் மற்றும் சிவாஜிலிங்கம் போன்றவர்களை சுற்றிவளைத்து பலரும் கேள்விகளை எழுப்பியதுடன் விமர்சனங்களையும் முன்வைத்திருந்ததாக அங்கிருந்து கிடைக்கும் தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.

Ranil Demands Rajapaksa Unblock Web Sites

May 3, 2014

Blocking websites like Colombo Telegraph clearly shows the increasing authoritarian tendencies of the Rajapaksa regime, the leader of the opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe told ColomboTelegraph.

Condemning Rajapaksa regime’s move to block websites, the UNP leader Wickremesinghe said; “The degree of censorship in Sri Lanka has gone from bad to very grave.”

Ranil

Speaking from the Center for International Studies at MIT, he said; “I will hold discussion with the party’s parliamentary group on the issue and will discuss what action we can take”

“Today, the World Press Freedom day, I demand Rajapaksa regime to stops its attacks on freedom of expression – on social media, the broadcast and print media to respect People’s Right to Know”, he added.

The Telecom Regulatory Commission has officially issued instructions to internet service providers to block Colombo Telegraph and other critical websites on its servers, with a warning that the companies are to maintain to customers that the inability to view the sites on the networks were merely ‘technical’ problems.

According to the annual index of media freedom, published on Wednesday by the US-based Freedom House, Sri Lanka’s score slipped by another 2 points, from 74 to 76, marking a dramatic decline of 20 points over the last decade.

Sri Lanka has slipped down the global rankings for freedom of the press as a result of increased harassment of both local and foreign journalists trying to cover protests and sensitive news stories, as well as attacks on printing and distribution channels for private media and blocks on web content, led to a more constricted space for independent news.

Media in Lanka not free says report

By admin on May 1, 2014

The media in Sri Lanka are not free, according to a new report by the Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world.

From a score of between 0 and 100 with the lowest score an indication there is considerable amount of press freedom, Sri Lanka has been given a score of 76 while Norway and Sweden are among the top ranked with scores of 10 each.

The ‘Freedom of the Press 2014’ report by Freedom House notes that the internet is partly free in Sri Lanka but press is not.

Overall the report says global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade. The decline was driven in part by major regression in several Middle Eastern states, including Egypt, Libya, and Jordan; marked setbacks in Turkey, Ukraine, and a number of countries in East Africa; and deterioration in the relatively open media environment of the United States.

Freedom of the Press 2014 found that despite positive developments in a number of countries, most notably in sub-Saharan Africa, the dominant trends were reflected in setbacks in every other region.

“We see declines in media freedom on a global level, driven by governments’ efforts to control the message and punish the messenger,” said Karin Karlekar, project director of the report. “In every region of the world last year, we found both governments and private actors attacking reporters, blocking their physical access to newsworthy events, censoring content, and ordering politically motivated firings of journalists.”

“In 2013 we saw more cases of states targeting foreign reporters and media outlets,” Karlekar added. “Russian and Chinese authorities declined to renew or threatened to withhold visas for prominent foreign correspondents, but the new Egyptian government went a step further by detaining a number of Al-Jazeera staff on charges of supporting terrorism.” (Colombo Gazette)

Freedom of the Press 2014 -Press Freedom at the Lowest Level in a Decade

FOTP_2014-Media in Lanka Not Free Says Report by Thavam Ratna

5 years today - No Fire Zone hospital shelled, international intervention needed for enduring peace says LTTE

02 May 2014 Photograph TamilNet 02 May 2014 - No Fire Zone hospital shelled, international investigation needed for enduring peace says LTTEThe Sri Lankan Army shelled the final remaining No Fire Zone hospital twice killing 64 people, after receiving the exact location coordinates of the building, reported TamilNet. A worker at the hospital, 3 days earlier, confirmed the hospital’s location with members of the ICRC who intended to pass the location on to the Sir Lankan government to stop them from shelling hospitals. The LTTE, citing their declaration of a ceasefire on April 26, warned that Sri Lanka was a ’to eradicate a distinct Tamil identity,’ and that international intervention would now be needed for ‘enduring peace on the island.’ The statement further said, “It is in the face of this situation that we seek the recognition and the support of the international community for our struggle. It is a struggle for democracy and an enduring peace based on our aspirations as a people. Should the Sri Lankan regime be permitted to continue with its ultimate objective of imposing a ‘final solution’ through military means, we have no doubt that it will destabilize the region.” See full statement here.                                    Continue Reading →

US is disappointed with Sri Lanka

By admin on May 2, 2014

The United States (US) says it is disappointed with the Sri Lankan Government over its failure to take adequate and meaningful steps to support accountability and reconciliation over the past four years.

US Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal, speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said that in Sri Lanka, while the brutal conflict in in Sri Lanka ended 2009, the country is still undergoing a fragile transition.

“And while we are disappointed that the government has failed over the past four years to take adequate and meaningful steps to support accountability and reconciliation, the United States is committed to working with the people and the government of Sri Lanka to strengthen its democracy and to help the country move towards a more durable peace,” she added.

Biswal further said that given the elections and transitions underway in the South Asian region, now is a time of enormous opportunity to help shape a more promising future for the people across South Asia. She said that under President Obama and Secretary Kerry’s leadership, the US is doubling its efforts in Asia.

“Despite many challenges, including weak regional architecture, high poverty rates and limited regional infrastructure, we can envision a future where Asian economies are connected through trade and transit from Central Asia to South Asia to Southeast Asia and beyond,” Biswal added.

Biswal said the Obama administration has placed a strategic bet on regional economic connectivity through our New Silk Road and Indo-Pacific economic corridor initiatives and they know that peace and stability are much more likely to be sustained when the countries of the region are tied together in trade and when their economies and their people are invested in each other. (Colombo Gazette)

John The Twenty–Third — Now A Saint

By Basil Fernando -May 2, 2014

So you are now a saint
Do remain human, all the same!

You understood our times
Our need to understand and respond
To change;
To have windows and doors open
For all winds to blow through
Daring to face diversity
As a friend and not a foe;

Talk, talk, you said
And ushered in the great council,
The Vatican two.
A great moment
When a force greater than
The Niagara Falls came down
Untying the spirit of humans,
To rise from their bondages
To rediscover the sisterhood
With all forces of nature;
To break the knots of decadence
Uprooting ourselves from utilitarianism
Which caused
Greatest unhappiness
of the greatest number.

Now it is time for your second miracle
Bring back again the living spirit of
Those great documents
And that great council
And let the people again
Cry out for an open Church
Where love will prevail,
Where fear has no place
Where all embrace all
To end destruction
And make way
For another flowering of
the human spirit.
A resurrection, yes
A resurrection, please!

“The Campaign for Justice”: Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14

IFJ Launches Twelfth Annual Report: Focus on Gender and Impunity

02 May 2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today launched the twelfth annual press freedom report for South Asia, ‘The Campaign for Justice’, together with UNESCO as part of its activities marking World Press Freedom Day 2014.

Produced in partnership with IFJ affiliates in the region and members of the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN), the report provides an annual report card on the situation of press freedom, media rights and other development relevant to media in South Asia.

The 2014 report also highlights two pressing issues of concern, impunity over crimes against journalists and gender equity for the growing number of women journalists working in the region. The report is a key campaign tool for the IFJ and its affiliates to improve the safety and security of journalists and ensure balanced as well as safe participation of women in journalism in the region.

“South Asia remains one of the most dangerous regions in the world for journalists to operate in and impunity is rife. We must continue to campaign for media workers to ensure governments observe their rightful obligation in ensuring their safety and security and that justice is swiftly delivered on journalist attacks,” IFJ Asia-Pacific acting director, Jane Worthington said.

“Sadly, the region carries the mantle for a near perfect record on impunity. This must be brought to an end and the IFJ believes that governments which take the security of journalists seriously should be supported in that endeavour.”

In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the targeted killings of journalists and fatal attacks have remained disturbingly high over the year in review (May 2013 to April 2014) making them the frontline states in the world. The internal conflicts and state’s security agencies’ often-hostile treatment of journalists have presented serious challenges for independent journalism. Those journalists brave enough to operate professionally in such situation are targeted, with a blanket of impunity for violent acts compounding the problems of media. The IFJ’s repeated call on Pakistani government to improve the security situation for journalists have gone unheard and the situation has only deteriorated in the beginning of 2014.

In Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh, the state’s attempt to silence critical media continued in different ways. In Sri Lanka, the government arbitrarily detained and questioned rights activists and journalists while also trying to control grips over media by introducing vaguely worded code of conduct and issuing orders to human rights activists to remain silent. In the Maldives, the state remained indifferent to attacks on critical media and in Bangladesh, the government continued to use the legal provisions to restrict journalists and bloggers to speak up on trials of the war crimes. A Bangladeshi editor has been jailed for a year on allegations of serious crimes of sedition, and breach of state secrets, but he is yet to be formally charged.

In India, the pivotal country of the South Asian region, the year has been one of mounting uncertainty. An economic downturn has interrupted the phase of rapid growth and unbound optimism that began in 2004. Several new media ventures have been scrapped and staff from existing and established media companies has been thinned down in a process of attrition. The continuation of harsh incidents on female journalists in India has been an issue of concern as yet another female journalist was gang raped while on field reporting. The difficulties for journalists in the conflict areas of India remain unchanged.

The IFJ said journalists in the region continue to operate in harsh situations and their struggle for securing the payment of fair wages and working conditions continues, however, there were also some significant achievements and victories.

Journalists in South Asia made several important breakthroughs. Significant achievements were recorded in terms of the legal recognition of their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and decent wages and working conditions.

India’s journalists’ unions scored a significant triumph in February 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled, in a petition brought by some of the country’s biggest newspaper publishers, that the legislative protection afforded for their wages and working conditions was perfectly in order and consistent with constitutional guarantees on fundamental rights.

“This will bring an end to a long campaign of stonewalling by India’s newspaper publishers to deny journalists and other workers the benefits of new wage,” the IFJ said.

In Pakistan, a landmark case resulted in the handing down of the country’s first successful prosecution over the killing of a Pakistani journalist.  The Anti-Terrorist Court based in Karachi on March 2014 handed down life sentences to four of the killers involved in the high-profile murder of Wali Khan Babar of Geo TV. Khan Babar was gunned down on his way home in Karachi in January 2011.

The significance of the judgement is that it marks only the second time in Pakistan’s history that the murderers of a journalist have been brought to justice. The first was American journalist Daniel Pearl’s killer, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, in 2002.

The annual press freedom report for South Asia, “The Campaign for Justice”, seeks to outline the situations and successes so as to help the journalists unions of the region achieve significant progress in ensuring press freedom for independent journalism by sharing knowledge and experiences within themselves.

Read the full report here.

Download a copy of the full report here.

THE_CAMPAIGN_FOR_JUSTICE-“the Campaign for Justice” Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14 by Thavam Ratna