Russia ready for talks with Kiev after pro-west victory in Ukrainian election

Foreign minister says Moscow prepared to enter talks with new leadership after Petro Poroshenko wins presidential poll

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. Photograph: Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty Images

Alec Luhn in Kiev-Monday 26 May 2014 

Moscow and Kiev promised to resume dialogue on Monday after preliminary results suggested that the pro-west businessman Petro Poroshenko had won Ukraine's presidential election – although renewed fighting in the east of the country dampened hopes of an immediate solution to the crisis.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow was ready to enter talks with the new leadership, in his country's first high-level response to Saturday's election. "We shouldn't miss the chance that we have now to establish an equal dialogue of mutual respect considering the vote that has taken place, the results of which Russia is ready to respect," Lavrov said.

Pro-Russia forces who have occupied government buildings in eastern Ukraine since April followed Moscow's lead in welcoming Poroshenko's election. Denis Pushilin, supreme council chairman of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, said they were ready to negotiate with Ukraine's new leadership, but only with the participation of intermediaries including Russia.

Violence flared in the east on Monday morning when armed men seized Donetsk airport. There were reports of gunfire later in the day.

Late on Sunday night the first deputy PM, Vitaly Yarema, promised that Kiev's "anti-terrorist operation" would be renewed after a pause during the presidential vote, which in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions involved only a handful of polling stations.

Lavrov said the renewal of the anti-terrorist operation would be a "colossal mistake" and could threaten the resumption of dialogue.

Poroshenko has not backed off from the harsh tone struck by Kiev regarding the armed rebels in the two regions, repeating on Monday that there could be no negotiations with terrorists and comparing the pro-Russian militia men to Somalian pirates.

But he said he would try to gain the trust of residents in the east, who have looked at the Kiev government with extreme suspicion. He has promised that his first trip as president will be to eastern Ukraine.

"We will try to win the trust of those who didn't vote for me," Poroshenko told journalists. "Now the main mission is the unification of the state, the establishment of peace and the eradication of lawlessness."

He also promised to return Crimea to Ukraine, arguing that the annexation of the territory was hurting Russia's economy. A key point in any negotiations with Moscow will be the price at which Ukraine purchases Russian natural gas. Moscow has demanded Ukraine pay back billions of dollars it saved on a significantly reduced gas price under the former president Viktor Yanukovich.

Poroshenko called for negotiations with Moscow in the presence of international intermediaries. Lavrov said Russia was ready to work with the US and the EU on realising the OSCE-drafted roadmap to defuse the crisis. But he said Russia did not need an intermediary in its bilateral relations with Ukraine, especially not the former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, as suggested by Poroshenko's ally Vitali Klitschko, the newly elected mayor of Kiev.

Battle at Donetsk airport; new Ukraine leader says no talks with "terrorists"

Smoke rises from Donetsk international airport during heavy fighting between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces May 26, 2014.

BY ALASTAIR, MACDONALD, AND, GABRIELA AND BACZYNSKA-Mon May 26, 2014

(Reuters) - Ukraine launched air strikes and a paratrooper assault against pro-Russian rebels who seized an airport on Monday, even as its newly elected leader vowed to reassert control in the east and refused to negotiate with "terrorists".

Battle at Donetsk Airport New Ukraine Leader Says No Talks With Terrorists by nelvely

Thai military leader: Junta will hold power ‘indefinitely’

By Chico Harlan, Monday, May 26, 8:39 AM

BANGKOK — Thailand’s new military leader said Monday that the junta would hold power “indefinitely,” and warned citizens not to instigate chaos or criticize his rule.

“It’s no use,” Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a testy news conference that ended with him departing the stage mid-question.

Four days after his military seized power in a bloodless coup, Prayuth received his most important mark of legitimacy, an endorsement from Thailand’s beloved but ailing 86-year-old king.

No member of the opaque monarchy has spoken publicly about the coup, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej did not appear at Monday’s ceremony. Still, the stamp of approval carries broad implications in a country where the king has ruled for more nearly seven decades and where second-guessing his decisions amount to treason.

In his first days in power, Prayuth has proved both repressive and swift, suspending the constitution, eliminating the senate, installing a curfew and detaining more than 200 political leaders, academics and journalists. The series of moves has drawn criticism from foreign governments and further subverted what was already a weak democracy.

Prayuth said Monday that he intended to rebuild a democratic system, but the timetable would “depend on the situation.” He added the military has “full control” over the government and would establish an agency to oversee reforms.

Asked when elections might take place, he said, “It depends on the situation.” He then abruptly ended the news conference.

Prayuth grabbed power at a delicate time, with the country politically divided and many fearful of escalating violence. A majority in the Thailand’s north still supports the ousted government, which had been led for most of the past three years by prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Her older brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai, but still acts as the patriarch for Thailand’s largest political party.

There’s only one figure in Thailand who trumps Thaksin: the king. Though he’s rarely seen in public now, King Bhumibol has the status here of a semi-deity, his gold-framed picture placed in front of buildings and in restaurants, his good deeds taking the form of tall tales. The king is also protected by harsh lese majesty laws, which ban any form of criticism. The junta has said that lese majesty cases will be heard in a military, rather than criminal, court.

Since the coup, there have been daily protests of several hundred — a violation of martial law that prohibits gatherings of more than five. The protests are only loosely organized, but Prayuth on Monday issued a harsh warning, saying the military would use force if necessary. Hours later, as protesters finished work and gathered at Victory Monument — a landmark in downtown Bangkok — there were no clashes, but troops with loudspeakers berated the citizens as foreigner-sympathizers. Within two hours, the protestors went home.

“The danger is if somebody wants to be the provocateur, you could have a chain reaction,” said Gothom Arya, a lecturer at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University. “One small incident can degenerate the whole situation.”

In the months before the coup, Bangkok was gripped by anti-government protests, led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a politician-turned-agitator who lambasted Thaksin for what he called runaway corruption. Both Suthep and Yingluck were among the scores detained last week, but both were released by the military on Monday, according to the Associated Press.

Suthep still faces insurrection charges for his role in the protests.

Voravit Chansiri contributed to this report.

யாழ்.குடாநாட்டில் தொடரும் நில ஆக்கிரமிப்பு பற்றி தனக்கு ஏதும் தெரியாதென்கிறார் அரச அதிபர் :

குளோபல்தமிழ்ச்செய்தியாளர்-26 மே 2014

உலக தமிழ்ச் செய்திகள்

யாழ்.குடாநாட்டில் தொடரும் நில ஆக்கிரமிப்பு பற்றி தனக்கு ஏதும் தெரியாதென அரசாங்க அதிபர் சுந்தரம் அருமை நாயகம் சாதிக்க தனக்கு அறிக்கை சமர்ப்பிக்க கோரியுள்ளார் அமைச்சர் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா.மாவட்ட ஒருங்கிணைப்புக்குழுக்கூட்டத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற காரசாரமான விவாதத்தின் போதே அரசாங்க அதிபர் தெரியாதென தெரிவிக்க  அமைச்சரோ இப்போது தான் கேள்விப்பட்ட விடயம் போல அறிக்கை கோரியுள்ளார்.

யாழ். மாவட்ட செயலகத்தில்  இன்று காலை 9.3௦0 மணியளவில் மாவட்ட  ஒருங்கிணைப்புகுழு கூட்டத்தொடர் ஆரம்பமாகியிருந்தது. வடமாகாண முதலமைச்சர் சி.வி. விக்னேஸ்வரன் மற்றும் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா இணைத்தலைமையில் இக் கூட்டம் இடம்பெற்றிருந்தது. இதன்போது யாழ் மாவட்டத்தின் செயற்பாடுகள் பற்றி காரசாரமான விவாதங்கள் இடம்பெற்றன.

வலி.வடக்கு நில சுவீகரிப்பிற்கு மேலதிகமாக சேந்தான்குளம் கச்சாயென பல பகுதிகளில் கடற்படை நிலங்களை கையகப்படுத்த அறிவிப்புக்களை விடுத்துள்ளது. ஏற்கனவே இடம்பெற்ற நில சுவிகரிப்புக்களிற்கு எதிராக வழக்குகள் தாக்கல் செய்யப்பட்டு நிலுவையில் உள்ள நிலையில் தற்போது மேலும் மேலும் நிலச்சுவீகரிப்பு இடம்பெறுவதாக கூட்டமைப்பு தரப்பு குற்றஞ்சாட்டியது.

அவ்வேளையில் குறிக்க அமைச்சர் புதிதாக சுவீகரிக்கப்படும் நில பகுதிகள் பற்றி அரச அதிபரிடம் விளக்கம் கேட்க அரச அதிபரோ தமக்கு இது பற்றி தெரியாதென்றார்.அனைத்து சுவீகரிப்பு அறிவித்தல்களிலும் பிரதேச செயலர்கள் ஒப்பமிட்டுள்ளனர். அவ்வாறாயின் அவர்கள் தங்களின் கீழில்லையாவென கேள்வி எழுப்பினர்  பிரதிநிதிகள்.அவ்வேளையிலேயே நில சுவீகரிப்பு பற்றி அறிக்கை சமர்ப்பிக்க கோரிக்கை விடுத்தார் அமைச்சர் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா.

Words, Memory And History

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Political rights have been preserved by traitors….the liberty of the mind by heretics.”Robert G Ingersoll (The Great Infidels)

( May 25, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardane, the officer who led Operation Weliweriya, has a new job – Military Attaché of the Lankan Embassy in Turkey .

Brigadier Gunawardane and three Lieutenant-Colonels implicated in the Weliweriya killings were suspended, with fanfare, in late August 2013 and reinstated, with stealthy silence, eight months later. Now, according to the illegally-censored website Sri Lanka Mirror, Brigadier Gunawardane will join a select band of military-favourites who adorn Lankan embassies across the world.

Words, Memory and History by nelvely

Wiggie wants Mahinda to walk the talk

Sunday 25th May 2014

“Going as part of President Rajapaksa’s entourage would give the impression that all is fine between the Northern Provincial Council and the Government of Sri Lanka, when in fact it is not,” said Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran. 
Wigneswaran, who hit headlines last week following his refusal to join a Presidential delegation to New Delhi to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, pointed out: “It is unfortunate that public affairs have become an exercise in tokenism. We act for world consumption but not with sincerity. I declined the invitation because I did not want to become a party to tokenism.”
In an email interview with the Daily FT, the former Judge turned politician stressed: “Sinhalese leaders make a lot of fanfare attempting to speak in Tamil but do not recruit adequate translators in Courts. There are cases which have languished for more than 20 years purely because there are no translators. Tamils are not allowed to sing the National Anthem in the language they understand. We try to take shortcuts and attempt to sweep the main issues under the carpet.”
Following are excerpts from the interview:

Q: Why did you reject President Rajapaksa’s invitation to join his delegation to India’s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi’s swearing in ceremony? 

Wiggie Wants Mahinda to Walk the Talk by nelvely

May 2009: Mayuran
-Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) Tamil Guardian 24 May 2014

Illustration Keera Ratnam

The following account written by Paul M.M. Cooper is based on survivor interviews toTamils Against Genocide (TAG). Personal details of Mayuran (not his real name), place names and dates have been changed to protect his identity.
Mayuran was in his mid-30s when the Sri Lankan army advanced into the LTTE-controlled North-East of Sri Lanka in its final assault. He first joined the LTTE when he was sixteen, and had been part of a team that laid claymore mines along enemy positions and also taught combat to new recruits. In Mayuran's own words, here is what he saw.
In 2009, when the Sri Lankan Army first declared its so-called “no-fire zones” people began to flock to these small areas in their tens of thousands as the shells began to fall all over landscape of mudflats and low jungle of the Jaffna Peninsula.

Houses, bunkers, camps and refugee infrastructure were constantly hit in the wake of the Government offensive into the North. Soon, after the government had repeatedly hit the no-fire zones with barrages of artillery, rocket strikes and air strikes, the Tamil people of the North began to realise the pattern. There were no such things as safe-zones. The government knew the co-ordinates of them well, and were still striking them – and striking them hard.

The UN building was clearly marked and so were the hospitals. All were hit with artillery strikes. The Government knew the coordinates of all these buildings. Schools were repeatedly hit too, though most of these had been converted to hospitals by then.

People tried to leave in their thousands, but with the constant shelling and the rumours of Sri Lankan troops firing on civilians, nobody got very far. By the end of the war, which lasted 30 years, most families within the territory had at least one member in the LTTE. Parents and families couldn’t leave behind their children and relatives to seek shelter in Government-controlled areas. Everyone huddled together while the bombs fells all around.

Fear was everywhere. Towards the end, the Sri Lankan army began using weapons the LTTE had never seen before: weapons seen only in YouTube videos from Iraq and other war torn places, explosives that created huge smoke, flames and unusually loud booms.

Mayuran saw what he believes to this day to be chemical weapons used against civilians. The aftermath told it all: whole bodies charred and burned so as to be indistinguishable as human forms, and all the trees and sand around the blast radius burned, any plastic and clothes melted.

The navy was surrounding the area constantly with gunboats and patrol craft, encircling the area and preventing people from leaving by sea. As Mayuran fled the area before the Mullivaikal massacre began, he saw the Navy firing on and shelling those who were trying to flee by boat. The chaos and screaming, dead bodies floating in the sea.

Mayuran lost 10 family members in the war. When it ended, he fled, fearing for his life, and he sought political refuge in Britain. He gave a full account of his role in the war to the UK Border Agency, believing he had been right to join the LTTE. He did not wish to disown any of his actions. The Border Agency agreed that Mayuran would be persecuted by the government in Sri Lanka, but they said that he, by virtue of being a member of the LTTE, had committed war crimes, and would therefore not be allowed to live in Britain.

A British court rejected all allegations against Mayuran, deciding that his team had laid claymore mines in locations where enemy soldiers, and not civilians, would be injured. Although he had trained new recruits, when he found people under 18 wishing to join, he had refused to let them join. The whole time, he believed he was fighting on behalf of the Tamil people. The court said: "Undoubtedly there were human rights abuses committed by the LTTE but there is insufficient reason to connect all or any of them to this appellant."

Finally, Mayuran was allowed to stay.
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the end of the war in Sri Lanka. Mayuran’s story is also that of thousands of Tamils who witnessed Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Say No to Genocide.

 May 2009 profiles 
Ainkaran 

Ahalya

The Dying Of Men And Institutions In Sri Lanka

| by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

( May 25, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It would be a fair guess to say that not even the most perceptive amongst us could have predicted the extreme degeneration of the police service and most unfortunately, the country’s judicial institution, in post-war Sri Lanka.

The Dying of Men and Institutions in Sri Lanka by nelvely

History Likely To Repeat Itself As Tragedy, Not Farce

By Emil van der Poorten -May 25, 2014

Emil van der Poorten

I don’t know whether it was Karl Marx who said something about history repeating itself as farce, but the prospects for a young village entrepreneur of my acquaintance suggests the possibility of tragedy rather than farce.

I have in the past referred to the banditry that those who lease our durian trees for the fruiting season are subject to.  To recap the scenario: we lease our durian trees out to the highest bidder who then proceeds to erect a watch-hut (pela) and, with the assistance of family and, perhaps, a friend or two, depending on the crop yielding enough to pay them a retainer, try to ensure that the predators, both the biped and quadruped brands, are kept at bay, the fruit harvested and then, either, sold to a retailer or the fruit retailed by the lessee himself who takes them down to the A10 highway connecting Kurunegala with Kandy.

Raiders’ “Durian-harvesting tool”

What is seemingly a simple enough equation has ended up quite violently with major tragedy – loss of life – being avoided more by simple luck than any kind of planning on the part of the lessee.

For several years now, the successful bidder has been raided by drunken, armed thugs from a village several miles down the hill and, in fact, from the adjacent province.  Our attempts to seek the help of the local (Galagedera) police to either prevent these occurrences or to arrest those conducting the raids has not been successful.

Read More

Rapporteur Raises Land Issue

By Easwaran Rutnam-Sunday, May 25, 2014

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Chaloka Beyani, has in a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), ahead of its 26th regular session which begins next month, expressed concerns at the significant number of people still living in protracted displacement following the war in Sri Lanka. He said there is a need to establish how many people are still displaced, and also how many still do not have access to their original lands. The Special Rapporteur called for data, disaggregated by gender and age, on internal displacement, for adequate planning, as well as a survey of the intention of displaced persons with regard to durable solutions.

Beyani, who visited Sri Lanka last December, notes in his report that the people who have returned or settled elsewhere in the North still live in very precarious conditions and need more durable housing, access to social services, and livelihood opportunities.

On a positive note Beyani welcomed the efforts made by the Government of Sri Lanka to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed during the conflict and the demining in return areas, and stressed that the post-conflict reconstruction process should also focus on addressing durable solutions for all internally displaced persons, both those who had been relocated by the Government and those who had returned to their areas of origin on a comprehensive basis. In the national context of transition from relief to development in the aftermath of conflict, he said that it is essential that the Government and development actors engage in resolving the issue of displaced persons and address their durable solutions needs and livelihoods in development plans, the rule of law, human rights and good governance programmes.

From 2 to 6 December, 2013, the Special Rapporteur undertook, at the invitation of the Government, a visit to Sri Lanka. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Colombo, Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, and met with internally displaced persons.

He said that following his visit he welcomed the agreement to conduct a joint needs assessment, which will be vital for establishing agreed sets of statistical data on the number of internally displaced persons who have returned or been resettled.

Amila shot near Tangalle courts on Namal’s behind the scene manipulation- three fourths of Nil Balakaya youths desert
(Lanka-e-News- 25.May.2014, 8.30AM) It is two close cronies of captain Moorthy , the co ordinating secretary to Namal Rajapakse M.P., and on latter’s orchestration that Amila Hithpriya Rajapakse was shot at when he was in a shop in front of the Tangalle court when he had come there to attend courts on 22nd. The reason for this attack is centered on Amila turning hostile to and opposing the Nil Balakaya of Namal Rajapakse , according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

Amila Rajapakse who received injuries to his right side and in a critical condition in hospital after having just managed to escape death, had identified the assailants . Though he has made a statement in this regard to the police it has not been recorded. The victim had identified his assailants as Pallikudawe Ukkuwa and another individual. Pallikuduwe Ukkuwa is at the moment under the care and custody of Captain Moorthy Kodituwakku and Namal Rajapakse, based on Lanka e news inside information reports. 

Indika Jayaweera alias Pallikuduwe Ukkuwa is an individual employed by Namal Rajapakse to carry out his murder contracts . This Namal’s contract killer had acquired a State land illegally along the coast and built a guest house, 'Rock View Hotel' which he is running About a year ago , this same Ukkuwa shot at two youths openly at Tangalle town in front of a number of eye witnesses , and killed one of the victims. Until today , no action had been taken against him legally because of the illegal pressures exerted by Namal Rajapakse .

At the recent Tangalle Municipal elections , the government could win only by a bare majority of about a hundred votes because , Ukkuwa intimidated and frightened the Muslim voters from voting at Muslim street by brandishing weapons. It was well known that the Muslims at the Muslim street were antagonistic to the government.

Amila Rajapakse who resides at No. 48, Susanaboomipura , Tangalle was shot at 22nd at about noon when he was at the rear of a shop in front of the courts belonging to Bandularatne.

The shooting had been done with a 9 m.m. Browning pistol , and its empty cartridges were fallen at the venue , according to the police . But the victim says he was shot at with a gun when he tried to flee after warding off the gun. Two bullets are lodged in the right side of Amila and he is taking treatment in hospital.

Amila who has a number of cases including rape , two house burglaries and robberies had last 22nd come to attend Tangalle courts in connection with one of those cases. The cause of this attack on Amila was his leaving the Nil Balakaya and bitterly castigating it publicly as doing no service to the electorate, after Amila having been with the Nil Balakaya for sometime earlier . By now three fourths of the Tangalle Nil Balakaya have abandoned it . At the last May day celebrations Nil Balakaya had experienced tremendous difficulties to muster crowds for the May day rally. They had to offer bribes of Rs. 2500.00 in cash and a shirt to each youth and gather crowds. Owing to the growing bitterness and hatred against Namal and Captain Moorthy , the Nil Balakaya youths have abandoned it.

Namal and Moorthy had been nursing a vituperative and virulent grudge against Amila on this account. Based on the statement made to the police by the owner of the shop, D. Loku Marrakkalage Bandularatne where the incident occurred , it had become clearly evident that Amila fell victim because of the behind the scenes manipulations of Namal Rajapakse. ‘Even if there is a robbery or rape in Tangalle , the police hold us liable. You know all these criminals who commit them are mollycoddled by Baapa ( Gotabaya is referred to as Baapa (uncle) who is Namal’s baapa).’ The police to save their skin apprehend us and throw into jail. We are made the scapegoats. They say ,don’t betray loku baby (Namal) and punish us. They did absolutely nothing worthwhile for us.’ Amila had related to Bandularatne. In Bandularatane’s police statement all what Amila told him is mentioned.

Interestingly , so far statements have been recorded of four individuals in connection with this incident , but nobody had been arrested yet.

I Stand By What I Write!

| by S. V. Kirubaharan

( May 25, 2014, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian) Soon after a resolution was successfully passed on Sri Lanka in the 25th session of the Human Rights Council – HRC, I wrote an article in April, titled, “Successful Resolution And Sabotage By Tamil Stooges!”

In a website, there were 63 responses. Some of these were by people with such names as “KnowYourGamesKirubh ; buggeroff ; FOFF ; dieyouasspora,” etc. Beyond doubt all these and many other comments were written by an individual who lives in Columbus-land. This person is non-grata among the diaspora and writes nasty remarks with bogus names, especially when the author is known to him. He suffers from an inferiority complex, jealousy and guilt and is a disgrace to Tamils. Some of my friends told me that he writes anonymous petitions and has seriously damaged a few families in Columbus-land.

I Stand by What I Write! by nelvely

Social Media to Come Under Watch in Sri Lanka

By P K Balachandran

Published: 23rd May 2014 

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Lanka intends to take steps to prevent the use of Internet and social media to cause social and political unrest in his country.

“With the spread of cyber crime causing unrest in countries, Sri Lanka wishes to take precautions against such acts,” Rajapaksa told Chinese President Xi Jinping at Shanghai on Wednesday.

Earlier, Rajapaksa told the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA): “We witnessed the corrupt use of social media to create domestic unrest and cyber crime. Youth have been targeted and they became pawns of misplaced agendas. These are dangerous trends that need to be arrested and addressed effectively through this forum.”

The fact that Rajapaksa conveyed this to his Chinese counterpart at a meeting in  which the contours of “strategic cooperation” between the two countries were discussed, has given rise to speculation that Lanka may be looking for Chinese assistance to fight “misuse” of the social media. 

Sino-Lankan cooperation seems likely because both countries are under pressure from the Western democracies to improve their human rights record. 

China has the expertise to help Lanka. According to The Atlantic of April 22, 2013, Beijing has set up a “Great Firewall”  under the Ministry of Public Security.

“The  project is a complex system that monitors all levels of information flow within the state and across China’s borders. Its total cost remains a state secret, but the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) was quoted by one of the participating developers, Guangdong Hong’an Group, as saying that the investment had already reached RMB 6.4 billion (USD 770 million) in 2002,” The Atlantic said.

Bringing Politics to the Stage: Observations on Post-War Political Theatre in Sri Lanka

Image courtesy Floating Space production of ‘My Other History‘

 05/26/2014 

During the summer of 2010 I was tasked to assist a foreign post graduate student to conduct her research on Sri Lanka’s post war theatre. As part of this research we interviewed around 20 theatre practitioners from the English and Sinhala theatre in Colombo to encapsulate how the theatre and its practitioners are responding to the contemporary political issues in the post-war context and the to obtain their opinion on the state of theatre in Sri Lanka. We also went to see some of the Political Theatre performances staged in Colombo to observe what’s been portrayed and discussed in contemporary Political Theatre. My colleague went back to her university after completing her three month research in Sri Lanka in September 2010. Thereafter I continued to follow and observe Political Theatre in Colombo and managed to attend a considerable amount of productions staged from 2010 to 2014 for my post graduate research paper. This article is based on my research and observations on Political Theatre in Colombo over the last five years.

Bringing Politics to the Stage Observations on Post-War Political Theatre in Sri Lanka by nelvely

Modi and Mahinda: the twain will meet tomorrow

Modi
by Rajan Philips-May 24, 2014,

It was not Prime Minister Modi’s idea to invite his South Asian counterparts to grace his swearing in tomorrow in New Delhi. It was not even an idea that started in India’s External Affairs Ministry. Apparently it began as a public image idea in a think tank discussion involving retired Indian diplomats and government officials. They ran it by the new PM and after a brief chat on the phone Mr. Modi okayed the idea. 

Modi and Mahinda the Twain Will Meet Tomorrow by nelvely

A Landslide In The Bovine-Belt

By Kumar David -May 25, 2014

Dr. Kumar David

This essay argues that despite the victory of a right-wing Hindutva party and leader, Indian democracy and secularism are secure. The landslide was in an extended cow-belt; let me call it the bovine-belt. Cow-belt refers to the solid Hindi speaking cluster (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Delhi). To expand it to the bovine-belt I add Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa. Interestingly less than 40% of India’s 1.2 billion live in the so defined cow-belt; expand it to the bovine-belt and that adds another 300 million souls. If the cow-belt is the Hindi heartland, then the larger bovine-belt is the current Hindutva heartland. Here you will find the 2014 base support of the BJP, the RSS and Shiv Sena (Maharashtra only).

The parliamentary seats won by the BJP (NDA) in the 2014 elections were 282 (336), but 264 (320) of these were in the bovine-belt; that is to say the BJP/NDA performed appallingly in Kerala (0 out of 20 seats), West Bengal (2/42), Tamil Nadu (2/39), Telangana (2/17), Orissa (1/21) and did not do well in most small states in the North East and elsewhere. This is a bovine-belt landslide, not an all India triumph for Modi and the BJP. Since India employs a first-past-the-post system, even in the heart of the cow-belt, Utter Pradesh, India’s most populous state with 80 seats where the BJP carried 71, its vote share was 42%. Only in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra (BJP-Shiv Sena combine) did it poll over 50%. (The UP numbers in the table are slightly inexact). The biggest landslide was in the bovine-belt beyond the core cow-belt. Nationally, the percentage polls were; NDA, that is BJP+, 39%; Congress+ 24%; Others 37%.                        Read More

Lanka cannot mislead India under Modi, says opposition

The UNP bigwig said Sri Lanka's failure to keep promises made to the Congress government was a main reason whyIndo-Lanka relations had soured during the UPA government in Delhi.

Press Trust of India | Colombo | May 25, 2014 

Sri Lanka would no longer be able to mislead India under Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi like it had done with the previous Congress-led UPA government, the country’s main opposition party has said.

Tissa Attanayake, the general secretary of the United National Party (UNP) told a gathering in the central district of Kandy yesterday that the era of duping India had ended with BJP leader Modi’s victory.

“Sri Lanka had incredibly misled Dr Manmohan Singh’s government. It has now ended. Mr Modi is a forceful leader who has built his own power base,” Attanayake said.

The UNP bigwig said Sri Lanka’s failure to keep promises made to the Congress government was a main reason why Indo-Lanka relations had soured during the UPA government in Delhi.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was seen as having failed to keep the pledges made to Singh during his state visit to Delhi in 2010.

One such was the full implementation of the thirteenth amendment conferring unfettered powers to the northern provincial council in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated north

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and political parties in Tamil Nadu were critical of Rajapaksa’s continuous failure to implement the “13 plus” policy or making provincial councils more meaningful.

TNA won the first ever elections to the northern provincial council in September last year and made repeated calls to allow full powers to the provinces.

The system of provincial councils was introduced after direct Indian intervention in Sri Lanka in 1987 as part of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord to resolve the then ongoing Sri Lankan civil war.

Pakistan releases Indian fishermen, Sri Lanka to follow

PTI | May 25, 2014

KARACHI/COLOMBO: In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian fishermen while Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the release of all detained Indian fishermen on the eve of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi.

Authorities released 59 Indian fishermen from Malir Jail in Karachi and another 92 from Nara jail in Hyderabad in Sindh province.

The release comes ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to India to attend the swearing in of Modi.

Syed Nazir Hussain, the superintendent of the Malir jail in Karachi, told PTI that the Indian prisoners were released on written directives of the interior and foreign ministries. "Most of these prisoners are poor Indian fishermen who were arrested and brought here for trespassing into Pakistani territorial waters," he said.

The freed prisoners were taken in an airconditioned bus from Karachi to Wagah border in Lahore from where they will be handed over to Indian authorities.

Pakistan had released around 337 Indian prisoners from jails in August last year. Later on Diwali also, 15 Indian fishermen were released as a goodwill gesture.


(A Pakistani policeman checks a list of Indian fishermen sitting with their belongings before they are released at Karachi's Malir Jail)

Pakistan maritime security forces frequently arrest Indian fishermen and seize their boats for fishing in its territorial waters.


(Released Indian fishermen coming to Wagah border from Karachi in a bus to enter India)

Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan presidential spokesman said Rajapaksa has ordered the release of all Indian fishermen ahead of his visit to India on Monday. However, Sri Lankan fisheries ministry officials could not indicate the number of Indian fishermen currently in detention.

Sri Lankan navy also arrest Indian fishermen for alleged poaching in Lankan waters. This is the second instance when Sri Lanka is releasing Indian fishermen.

The Tamil Nadu government had been demanding the release of all Indian fishermen before bilateral talks to resolve the fishermen issue could resume.

Sri Lanka had seized over 160 fishermen despite the agreements reached at talks held in Chennai in January.

The bilateral talks began in mid January to find a solution to the fishermen issue that often boils into a major political controversy in India.

Pakistan frees Indian fishermen

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In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian fishermen, a day ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi. (AFP photo)