India elections: death toll hits 43 after attacks on Muslims in Assam

Police discover five more bodies of women and children after 'barbaric' rampage by tribal separatists

Local media have reported that Bodos attacked Muslims as punishment for failing to vote for their candidate. Photograph: Jaipal Singh/EPA

Agence France-Press in Narayanguri

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Indian police discovered five more bodies of women and children on Wednesday after a "barbaric" rampage by tribal separatists targeting Muslims in north-east Assam, taking the total number killed to 43.

The bodies were found as authorities continued their search of two districts in the remote tea-growing state where masked gunmen last week shot dead Muslim villagers, including babies, as they slept.

Police have accused tribal Bodo rebels of killing the Muslims, whose migrant community has been locked for years in land disputes with the indigenous group in the state, which borders Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Local media have reported that Bodos attacked the Muslims as punishment for failing to vote for their candidate last month in the country's mammoth staggered election, which is drawing to a close.

The Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, told reporters from the worst-hit Narayanguri village: "So far the death toll is put at 43. The killings were indeed barbaric, with even a five-month-old baby not spared. It is unfortunate that bodies are still being recovered and we have reports that 11 more people are missing."

A police spokesman travelling with Gogoi said the bodies of three children and two women were the latest found in the district of Baksa, about 130 miles west of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

The death toll has climbed from at least 32 on Sunday after a series of bodies were discovered in recent days, while several people wounded in the carnage on 1-2 May have also died in hospital.

Gogoi said 15 children, aged between eight months and 14 years, had been left orphaned by the bloodshed and were being sent to a charity-run home in Guwahati.

Villagers cried as they recalled their ordeals, while others pleaded with officials travelling with the chief minister to help shift them to hospital for treatment.

"I saw my mother and father dying in front of me. I managed to save myself hiding under the bed as masked gunmen put bullets in my parents," 14-year-old Habiba Nessa told AFP.

Security forces are searching for the Bodo guerrillas blamed for the violence, which has forced several thousand people to flee their homes in fear, officials have said.

The violence came during the final stretch of the general election, which has seen religious and ethnic tensions flare and which the Hindu nationalist hardliner Narendra Modi and his opposition party are expected to win.

A 'descent into terror' - N Ireland's worst year

WEDNESDAY 07 MAY 2014

The arrest of Gerry Adams over the death of Jean McConville has put 1972 in the spotlight again. Channel 4 News speaks to author Susan McKay and revisits the worst year of Northern Ireland's conflict.

Bloody Sunday

Bloody Friday

A 'Descent Into Terror' - N Ireland's Worst Year by Thavam Ratna

Thai court ousts Yingluck; Cabinet appoints new PM

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Pic: AP.

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices May 07, 2014

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has found caretaker prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra guilty in the illegal transfer of National Security Council secretary Thawil Pliensri and has ordered her to step down.

The judges ruled that the transfer is considered “interference” and a “conflict of interest” that is “lacking in ethics and morals”.

Thawil Pliensri was transferred from his post of National Security Council secretary in 2011, shortly after the newly-elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra took office (we reported).

+++More updates and reactions to follow+++

5.30pm: That concludes our LIVE-blog of today’s events. Thank you very much for reading and follow @Saksith and @ASCorrespondent for further updates to the political situation in Thailand in the coming days.

5.00pm: Video of Yingluck Shinawatra’s statement:

4.11pm: Yingluck Shinawatra has just finished a live address on Thai television. She said she did not violate any law and that she will always stand by the Thai people. “I thank all Thai people for trusting me and my administration, and appreciate your support in difficult times.”

                                                                    Read Full Story 

Russia is fomenting disorder in Ukraine to disrupt election, says William Hague

UK foreign secretary accuses Moscow of failing to take action on Geneva accord and denies extremists are dominating Ukraine

William Hague in Ukraine, where he has been meeting leaders before elections on 25 May. Photograph: Andrew Kravchenko/AFP/Getty Images

Nicholas Watt- Wednesday 7 May 2014

Russia is deliberately fomenting disorder in Ukraine to disrupt the presidential elections in the former Soviet republic later this month, the British foreign secretary, William Hague, has said.

As the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said pro-Russia rebels in the east of the country should be included in talks on an equal basis to the government in Kiev, Hague accused Moscow of failing to take action to implement the Geneva accord.

Hague, who has been meeting civic and political leaders in Ukraine before elections on 25 May, denied that extremists were dominating the country. "The idea that some extremists have taken over here is far, far wide of the mark," he said, pointing out that he had met Mykhailo Dobkin, the presidential candidate of the former governing Party of the Regions. The foreign secretary said Dobkin wanted the elections to take place on 25 May and was opposed to any further annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia.

The foreign secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "They [Ukrainians] cannot be bullied out of having their elections by disorder that is deliberately fomented and co-ordinated from another country – in this case from Russia. They are entitled to have their democratic choice, to choose their own president. Hopefully that new president will be a unifying figure who can clear out corruption, who can set a good economic programme and who can bring about this de-escalation."

Hague was speaking after his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned that "we are not far from a military confrontation" amid an intensification of fighting in the south and east of Ukraine. Moscow called for rebels in control of much of the south and east to be included in talks on an equal basis.

The foreign secretary accused Moscow of disruptive behaviour amid fears that Russia is going out of its way to block the elections or to ensure they have little credibility in a disjointed country. He said of the Geneva accord agreed on 17 April: "Russia took not a single action, not one action we can identify to implement that agreement.

The foreign secretary added that the possibility of the permanent presence of larger numbers of Nato forces in eastern Europe should worry Russia. "It is moving forward in a way that should worry Russia in the long term … There will be Nato countries that increase their defence expenditure, that see a revitalised role for Nato. Yes, we will reduce our energy dependence on Russia in western European countries. We will exclude Russia from the G8 and the OECD. Taken over the next decade these events will have a major effect on Russia."

• Join our journalists to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine

Ukrainian troops seek control in Mariupol

WEDNESDAY 07 MAY 2014

Ukrainian troops push into Mariupol and retake a municipal building only for it to fall back into pro-Russian hands. William Hague accuses Russia of "co-ordinating" violence in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Troops Seek Control in Mariupol by Thavam Ratna

Nigeria offers $300,000 reward for help finding kidnapped schoolgirls

US and Britain have offered military support to find over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist group Boko Haram

Brig Gen Chris Olukolade, Nigeria's top military spokesman, speaks to people at a demonstration calling on the government to rescue the kidnapped schoolgirls. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

Monica Mark in Abuja, Rory Carroll

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Police in Nigeria have offered a $300,000 (£177,000) cash reward for credible information leading to the rescue of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The call for help follows the US and Britain offering military and technical support to Nigeria to hunt down the group, which abducted a second group of schoolgirls on Monday, as Barack Obama led a mounting international outcry.

A statement from the Nigerian police high command said anyone who "volunteers credible information that will lead to the location and rescue of the female students" was eligible for the 50m naira reward. It said "any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality".

Boko Haram is holding 257 girls from a raid on a school on 15 April and a further eight, aged between eight and 15, taken in an overnight raid on a village in the sect's stronghold in north-eastern Borno state on Monday.

"In the short term our goal is obviously to help the international community, and the Nigerian government, as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies," Obama told NBC on Tuesday night. "But we're also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organisations like this that ... can cause such havoc in people's day-to-day lives."

Obama said the US was doing its utmost to help resolve the "terrible situation" but stopped short of offering to send troops – in contrast to Britain, which is prepared to send special forces and intelligence gathering aircraft.

The offers from Washington and London follow widespread criticism of the Nigerian government's perceived sluggish response to the crisis. Relatives of the girls have protested in the capital, Abuja.

Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to sell the captives into slavery and said militants would attack more schools and abduct more girls. The group's name means "Western education is sinful". In a separate atrocity this week militants reportedly shot at least 52 people in a remote village.

The United Nations warned that any parties participating in the buying or selling of the schoolgirls could face prosecution under international law. "We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law," said UN rights spokesperson Rupert Colville. "So just because they think they are safe now, they won't necessarily be in two years, five years or 10 years' time."

திருகோணமலை கிராமங்களில் தேடுதல் வேட்டை

ராணுவம் தேடுதல் வேட்டை ( ஆவணப்படம்)-கடைசியாக பிரசுரிக்கப்பட்டது: 6 மே, 2014 

திருகோணமலை மாவட்டம் ஈச்சிலம்பத்தை பிரதேசத்திலுள்ள கடலோர கிராமங்களில் இன்று செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை இராணுவம் , கடற்படை மற்றும் காவல்துறை இணைந்து கூட்டு தேடுதல் நடவடிக்கையொன்றில் ஈடுபட்டனர்.

அந்த பிரதேசத்தில் நேற்று திங்கட்கிழமை மாலை ரி- 56 ரக துப்பாக்கி மீட்பு மற்றும் சந்தேகத்திற்குரிய இருவரது நடமாட்டம் அவதானிக்கப்பட்டதையடுத்தே இந்த தேடுதல் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டதாக பாதுகாப்பு தரப்பு தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்ற போதிலும் சந்தேக நபர்கள் எவரும் கைது செய்யப்படவில்லை என்றும் தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.

ஈச்சிலம்பத்தை பிரதேசத்திலுள்ள கடலோர கிராமங்களான வாழைத்தோட்டம் , புண்ணையடி , முட்டுச்சேனை ,கல்லடீ மற்றும் இலங்கைத்துறை ஆகிய கிராமங்களை உள்ளடக்கியதாக இந்த தேடுதல் இடம் பெற்றதாக பிரதேச தகவல்கள் மூலம் தெரியவருகின்றது.

அதிகாலை 4 மணி தொடக்கம் காலை 6 மணி வரை தங்கள் கிராமங்கள் சுற்றிவளைக்கப்பட்டு 15 வயதுக்கு மேற்பட்ட ஆண்களை அந்த பகுதியிலுள்ள வழிபாட்டு தலமொன்றில் கூடுமாறு பாதுகாப்புப் படையினரால் ஒலிபெருக்கி மூலம் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டதாக உள்ளுர் மக்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்கள்.

குறிப்பிட்ட இடத்தில் கூடிய பொது மக்களிடம் சந்தேகத்திற்கிடமான நபர்களின் நடமாட்டங்கள் தொடர்பில் விழிப்பாக இருப்பதோடு தகவல் தர வேண்டியதன் அவசியம் பற்றியும் வலியுறுத்திக் கூறப்பட்டதாகவும் அவர்கள் குறிப்பிடுகின்றார்.

கிராமங்களை விட்டு எவரும் வெளியிடங்களுக்கு செல்வதற்கு கூட அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட்ட நிலையில் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட இந் நடவடிக்கையினால் நண்பகல் வரை பிரதேசத்தின் வழமை நிலை பாதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்ததாக கூறப்படுகின்றது.

அதேவேளை இந்த பாதுகாப்பு நடவடிக்கை தொடர்பாக இராணுவ தரப்பு வெளியிட்டுள்ள தகவலில் நேற்று திங்கட்கிழமை மாலை 6.30 மணியளவில் லங்கா பட்டுனா (இலங்கைத்துறை முகத்துவாரம்) கடற்படை முகாமுக்கு அருகாமையில் ரி-56 ரக துப்பாக்கி மற்றும் அதற்கான ரவைகளும் பையொன்றில் போடப்பட்ட நிலையில் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

அதற்கு முன்னதாக கடற்படை வீரர்கள் நடைப்பயிற்சியில் ஈடுபட்டுக் கொண்டிருந்த போது, சந்தேகத்திற்கிடமான இருவரது நடமாட்டங்கள் அவதானிக்கப்பட்டு அவர்களை கடற்படை நெருங்க முற்பட்ட வேளை தம்வசம் வைத்திருந்த பையொன்றை வீசிவிட்டு தப்பி ஒடிவிட்டனர். அந்த பையிலே குறித்த ரி –56 ரக துப்பாக்கி மற்றும் ரவைகள் கண்டு பிடிக்கப்பட்டன. இதனையடுத்தே இந்த தேடுதல் நடவடிக்கை என கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

போருக்கு முன்னர் ஈச்சிலம்பத்தை பிரதேசம் விடுதலைப்புலிகளின் கட்டுப்பாட்டின் கீழ் இருந்த பிரதேசமாகும். போருக்கு பின்னர் கிழக்கு மாகாணத்தில் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட முதலாவது சுற்றிவளைப்பு தேடுதல் என்பதும் இங்கு குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Lankan Muslims In London And Political Myopia

By Raashid Riza –May 6, 2014

Raashid Riza

There was a protest that took place yesterday by a group of Sri Lankan Muslims in Britain outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London mostly regarding the spate of anti Muslim activities that have been occurring in Sri Lanka. But in this instance what the group responsible for yesterday’s protest sought to achieve is unclear, what is pointedly obvious is the blatant incongruence between what they did and what they thought its influence would be. The very premise of having any such protest is not just questionable, but can create a cycle of many political unknowns. There are significant issues that the Muslim community in Sri Lanka currently faces, their plight is most depressing and worrying, as I have highlighted here. But knee jerk reactions to or exploitation of a genuine plight to gain isolated political mileage is not the prudent way to operate.

As any other Lankan Muslim Londoner, I am as familiar with the Sri Lankan Muslim Diaspora, the numerical minority and the politically weakest of the three Sri Lankan ethnic Diaspora groups in London. And it beggars belief as to what would have led to the said group deciding to protest outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. I argued here a few years back that there is a significant structural disconnect between some parts of the strategies of the British Tamil Diaspora and the genuine needs of the Sri Lankan Tamil people whose plight we must all sympathise with. If this trend isn’t stymied and nipped in the bud, there is a very fair chance that the Lankan Muslim Diaspora in Britain would suffer the same fate and alienation that sections of the Tamil Diaspora have suffered. This would not just result in loss of authority and negotiating power (which for the Muslims in London is currently hardly existent anyway) but would indeed cause damage to the Lankan Muslims in Sri Lanka, the very Muslims that they claim to represent.

Protest is certainly a beacon of democracy that needs to be put into good use, I am not doctrinally against the principle of protesting outside embassies, indeed I was amongst those who marched to the Israeli embassy in London off Kensington High Street on a cold spring morning in 2010 when the Marvi Marmara and the Gaza flotilla were attacked.

The role of the Diaspora is extremely important, the monetary and intellectual power they hold, not to mention the electoral influence they have upon their elected representatives in British electorates can be used to good effect. But the fundamental matter that has to be understood, which sections of the global Tamil Diaspora failed miserably in understanding, is that the whims, strategies and the dictates of the Diaspora must never supersede the needs and political intonations of the local peoples they claim to represent, in this instance the Sri Lankan Muslim community living in Sri Lanka, which to the overwhelming vast majority is still very much the parent community. If there was a coordinated effort by the Sri Lankan Muslims on the ground and the Lankan British Muslim Diaspora and the protest was a reconciled act by both parties, then that could have been lauded. But on this occasion, such is not the case and this was indeed repudiated very wisely by the National Shura Council, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka in this statement and this video statement by NM Ameen.                                               Read More

SL military wants Jaffna University shut down on Mu’l’livaaykkaal Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2014, 07:01 GMT]
The Registrar of the University of Jaffna Mr V. Kandeepan, has issued a notice instructing the students at the University hostels to vacate the premises between 16 May and 20 May without citing any reason. All the education activities have also been cancelled for four days, bringing the entire University to a standstill during the Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance this year. The instruction has come from the occupying Sri Lankan military, informed sources told TamilNet. Since 2009, the University student community has been fighting for the collective right of remembering those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle. In the meantime, the Eastern University in Batticaloa is already at a standstill as Tamil students have been protesting against the Vice Chancellor for collaborating with the genocidal regime of Colombo. 
All education activities have been cancelled and the students are instructed to vacate the hostels for 4 days between 16 May to 20 May.
The Eezham Tamil students and the academics organised in the teachers union have been marking Mu’l’livaaykkaal Remembrance on 17 and 18 May and the Tamil Heroes Remembrance Day on November 27. 

The instruction to shut down the University was passed to the Vice Chancellor Ms Vasanthy Arasaratnam from Palaali military base, according to informed sources. 

The University was also closed during the Tamil Heroes Remembrance Day last year. 

A notice conveying the ‘instruction’ with the signature of the Registrar has been put up at several places inside the University premises on Tuesday. 

The SL military intelligence recently entered the premises of the University under the cover of policing the Sinhala students in a dispute. The Jaffna University Student Union had condemned the military interference. 

The SL military intelligence has been deploying the Sinhala students to keep the Tamil students threatened inside their Universities in Jaffna and Batticaloa. 

The education activities are already at a standstill at the Eastern University as the Eezham Tamil students in Batticaloa had voiced against the Vice Chancellor for suppressing the students from mobilising against the injustices taking place at the University. 

Northern CM in hospital 

By Saman Gamage-May 5, 2014

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has been admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital on Sunday night for a heart ailment.

A Jaffna Hospital spokesman said yesterday that the Chief Minister was being treated at the cardiology unit.

He said Mr. Wigneswaran was also scheduled to undergo surgery to remove a boil on his back just below the neck..

Last year too he was admitted to the same hospital for a heart ailment.

My dear Journalists; The struggle that has been carried out by you at risk to you and your loved ones -BASL President Upul jayasuriya's speech for Press Freedom day


(Lanka-e-News- 05.May.2014, 11.30PM) “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” 

This principle has been defined by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 and has been re-affirmed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1966, further outlining permissible restrictions to protect the rights and reputations of others, national security, and public health, so long as such restrictions are supported by statute. 

My Dear Journalists the Struggle That Has Been Carried Out by You at Risk to You and Your Loved Ones -BASL... by Thavam Ratna

Will An Unsteady State Of Governance Bring A Lasting Peace?

By Ayathuray Rajasingam -May 6, 2014

Ayathuray Rajasingam

Time to realize the message of Bhagavad Gita

The message of Bhagavad Gita extends to the area of promoting good governance and sustainable development. Even Buddhism is indebted to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. Gita stresses the concept of duty and its significance for good leadership. Duty needs to be done without attachment and without any discriminations whatsoever and for those who do their duty without attachment will attain the supreme goal. It is the steady state of governance which will promote a lasting peace in any country.

Good governance denotes the ability to manage one’s anger which should not be allowed to gain control over an individual. According to Gita, complete delusion arises from anger and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence will be lost and when intelligence is lost, one falls down. The control of anger is a vital aspect of human relations. Prince Duryodhana  was shown in Maha Bharath as emotionally blackmailing Karna to engage in unrighteousness and followed an unsteady state of governance. This is what is happening in Sri Lanka today.

Sri Lanka political leaders always want to be in the forefront whenever there is a conference on the subject of the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, but when it comes to practice, they completely ignore its teachings and focus on misleading the public on various pretexts, especially engaged in emotional blackmailing which leads to unsteady state of governance. The appointment of Karuna Amman as a Minister, who was earlier involved in the bombing at Daladawa Maligawa, shooting of innocent Policemen and later seen in various clubs with women, is one of the cases in point. Now the protection given to the BBS leader, Gnanassara Thero for being in possession of an automatic firearm is another case to expose the unsteady state of governance by President Rajapaksa. The BBS is been utilized as an emotional blackmailing of the ethnic communities which reflects the uncultured behavior of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his siblings. Political leaders in countries where pluralism is practiced have yet to learn a lot from Federal countries like Canada. In Federal countries there are different decision-makers with different constituencies and democratic claims of equal strength with a steady state of governance. Should there be any conflicts, Judicial Review is seen as the best practical solution for settling disputes about Federalism. Political leaders in those countries are discouraged to engage in emotional blackmailing of the minority communities. In Federal countries democracy cannot appear to be a tyranny of the majority community. This is why Federalism is seen as a pathway to a strong democracy and for a lasting peace                                         .Read More

5 years today - IDP death toll rises, call for UN war crimes probe

06 May 2014

May 06 2009 - IDP death toll rises, call for UN war crimes probe

Amid intense shelling of civilians trapped by advancing Sri Lankan forces, at least 10 elderly people in government-run Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps died this day due lack of a lack of proper medical care and psychological stress, TamilNet reports.

Meanwhile, amidst the escalating death tolls, 125 academics from Canada and elsewhere signed a petition calling on the Canadian government to take urgent steps to stop the intensifying humanitarian crisis.

Amongst other things they called on Canada to “Urge the UN Security Council to authorize timely and decisive measures to halt mass atrocities in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka, including the dispatch of a special envoy to the region, and the creation of a commission of inquiry into crimes under international law committed by any person or entity.”

See the report here and the full text of their appeal here. 

5 Years Today - IDP Death Toll Rises, Call for UN War Crimes Probe by Thavam Ratna

Tamil Chauvinism

 By Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

(May 6, 2014, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian)  I write in response to the  Lanka Guardian  article 'Are Tamils ​​a All Insurances?' by Professor Uyangoda, republished by Sri Lanka Guardian.

The article confirmed to me yet again that some Sinhalese have demonstrated that the claim of sovereignty would be legitimate only when we facilitate preservation of sovereignty of others who are a part of our system along the time based vertical line of hierarchy or along the lateral line of democracy through which we take the other as our equal opposition - so that the picture of our sovereignty is incomplete without the other. The latter is not easy when the 'other' side is seen to be far less than 50% of the whole. Tamils ​​cannot claim nationhood without respecting Sinhalese as the 'other side' with Equal level of sovereignty as themselves. For better or for worse - we are in this together.

Tamil chauvinism by Mahendra Thavam

Letter To The President; On Eternal Peace Versus Ephemeral Peace

By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan -May 6, 2014 

Dr. Muttukrishna Saravananthan

His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa,

The President Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka,

Office of the President,

Temple Trees,

150 Galle Road,

Colombo 3,

Sri Lanka.

Dear President Rajapaksa,

I applied and was selected by the United States – Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission (US-SLFC) to be a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington D.C. from October 2008 to April 2009 (subsequently extended till July 2009).

To begin with, I was in fact surprised that I was selected through a due process of application (in response to a newspaper advertisement by the US-SLFC) and interview in a country where such privileges, I am sure you would agree with me, are mostly afforded to people with influence, patronage, and power. I did not realise that the foregoing was the case until a compatriot working at The World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. (whom I had not met before) asked me how I got this scholarship. Thus, the selection process of the US-SLFC in itself is worthy of emulation by your Government; and indeed all the future Governments of Sri Lanka.

My time in the United States of America as a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar was marked by two historically momentous events; one in my host country and the other in my home country. The American people made history in November 2008 by electing a President who hails from a minority community that was brought to the United States as slaves centuries ago. About six months later in May 2009 your government was successful in defeating a terrorist organisation (to most people of Sri Lanka including myself; though the struggle by the Tamil community for equality could not be termed “terrorism”) in our home soil.

For the vast majority of the people of the United States and Sri Lanka, and indeed of the world, the foregoing two momentous events would have been a mere dream or just wishful thinking few months prior to those historic events. Both of the aforementioned events were inspirational to minority communities and governments the world over.

However, while the election of the first African-American President of the United States of America was achieved entirely by non-violent democratic process, the defeat of the LTTE was entirely by military violence using overwhelming force. While the momentous event in my host country has resulted in social cohesion and national unity (in my opinion), the same cannot be said about the momentous event in my home country because in all the elections since May 2009 (until September 2012) you and your political coalition have been consistently and emphatically defeated in parts of the country which bore the brunt of the civil war. Therein lies the lesson to be learnt; that is, whilst democracy established through forbearance is eternal, democracy solely established through violence and militarism is ephemeral!

While through my participation in the Fulbright exchange programme, I have personally come to realize that democracy established through forbearance is eternal but democracy established through violence and militarism is ephemeral, it is my (spiritually speaking ) hope that the philosophy of Lord Buddha will guide you one day to the realization of this fundamental truth as well. I am convinced that such a realization on your part would result in eternal `real’ peace in our beloved country.

*This essay is taken from the book, ‘Letters to Our Presidents’ published by US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission