Video: BBS Assaults Children

May 31, 2014

During a protest march of the Bodu Bala Sena that has picked up steam in Badulla in the past few weeks are caught on footage assaulting a child who was a part of that procession, whom they perceived was a Muslim

The assault occurred while a speaker was addressing the gathering stating that the BBS were the real owners of the country.

The individual who assaulted the child abused the child asking him ” Umba thambiyekda kiyapang? ammata hukanna thambiyekda kiyapang”, –  Tell, are you a thambiya? Tell, a mother fucker thambiya? ( Thambiya is a derogatory term for Muslims)

The crowd thereafter handed over the child to the Police

Modi’s example

Editorial-May 30, 2014,

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got off to a flying start in his new job. Having risen to that position through sheer hard work and dedication to the cause he believes in, he seems to know what he is doing and what needs to be done to achieve success.

PM Modi has already extended the hand of friendship to India’s neighbours and stressed the need for unity among SAARC member states to overcome international challenges as a regional grouping. He has also demonstrated a desire to give domestic politics a radical shake up which it is badly in need of. In spite of being at the helm of a fissiparous, mammoth coalition consisting of as many as 30 constituents, he has appointed a small Cabinet. Ambitious politicians in his government may not be well disposed towards such measures, but the ordinary Indians must be really appreciative of his approach.

Above all, the new premier seems to have realised the need for separating his family from his job if he is to embark on an arduous political journey without encumbrances to achieve his goals. There have been several such leaders. Dr. Abdul Kalam is one of them. When he was India’s President, he even paid, from his private funds, for entertaining his kith occasionally at his official residence. He led so simple a life that on one rainy day, as the media reported, he woke up in the dead of night as a section of the Rashtrapati Bhavan roof started leaking and his bed got wet. He quietly went into another room and had the roof repaired the following day. What would have been the fate of the maintenance staff if such a thing had happened in this country? They would have been made to clamber up the rain-soaked roof forthwith to effect repairs at the risk of falling off or being struck by lightning; or all of them would have been fired before dawn. But, the same cannot be said of most other Indian politicians who are as corrupt and arrogant as their counterparts elsewhere, especially here.

The new Indian premier, no doubt, wants to build a stronger, inclusive India, but some members of his parliamentary team must be desperate to make the most of their electoral fortune and line their pockets. We only hope that PM Modi, by trying to restrain them, won’t face a mutiny as greedy politicians who savour power after a lapse of many years act like starved leeches thirsting for blood.

PM Modi has banned his ministers from hiring their family members as their personal staff, as we reported yesterday. This is another step in the right direction. Any institution where family connections or cronyism take precedence over efficiency and professionalism is doomed. Not even a wayside eatery could be run properly on that basis. India is somewhat lucky that it is blessed with a robust public service where square pegs cannot easily be catapulted into round holes unlike in this country where jokers are plucked from obscurity and made top officials overnight.

The recruitment of politicians’ family members as their personal staff is a big racket as is common knowledge. They draw fat salaries and enjoy attractive perks for doing little or nothing in return. In this country, they even become entitled to pensions after completing a mere five years in service. The only thing they evince a keen interest in is helping themselves to public funds as much as possible.

A country stands to gain only when the main criterion for the recruitment of officials paid with public funds becomes merit rather than family ties and/or purported loyalty to the ruling party or its leaders. PM Modi’s example is worthy of emulation.

Modi – A Magic Wand?

By Hameed Abdul Karim -May 31, 2014

Hameed Abdul Karim

I was with an Indian HR guy a few days ago and quite naturally the topic ofNarendra Modi’s massive victory crept into the conversation. This Indian Bhai was quite ecstatic in his praise for Modi. ‘Already the stock market has hit a new record high’ he gloated and I thought to myself ‘Right: the capitalists are already raking in the shekels while the poor are wondering whether they will get the toilets Modi promised them’. But courtesy prevented me from giving expression to my thoughts.

More than 60% of India’s teeming population doesn’t have toilets and quite happily they resort to the great outdoors to defecate. Sometimes they do it quite openly and if this ‘exercise’ can be turned into a tourist attraction, India will be full of tourists without bothering about seasons. Don’t get me wrong. This exercise is not quite all that bad. Why, it provides employment opportunities. Over a million Indians make a living by carrying human excrement on their heads for disposal at some dump or another according to the celebrated social activist Arundathi Roy.

So Modi’s promise of providing toilets for every home was not at all misplaced. It may have brought in many votes, but then you will have to wonder how the million excrement carriers (and that’s old stats) are going to make a living in Modi’s toileted India!

                         Read More

Constable who issued traffic fine notice on Dep. Minister Hemal shot at and vehicle set on fire
(Lanka-e-News- 31.May.2014, 5.15PM) A police constable who issued a notice of traffic offence fine to the deputy Minister for internal trade, Hemal Gunasekera recently for driving in excess of the speed limit when traveling by his vehicle has been shot at, attacked and was a victim of attempted murder, while his car was also burnt to ashes, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

This incident took place on Tuesday the 20th of May. The deputy Minister of the brutal lawless regime has been traveling by vehicle at excess speed with his child and an employee along the Galle – Colombo expressway. The police officers who were on duty at Kurundugaha Hethpama division checking speeding vehicles had detected this vehicle traveling at 141 kms. per hour and had ordered to stop. But the vehicle has sped without stopping brazenly violating traffic laws. Later the vehicle was stopped after the Kottawa station was informed .

The police constable (PC) Suminda Saman (8628) of Kottawa police exit point had halted this vehicle on instructions received, not knowing whose vehicle it was .The PC in due execution of his duty had told the driver of the vehicle that he has been traveling at 141 kms. per hour and therefore to hand over his driving license for he is liable to a fine.

The Deputy Minister’s driver had replied he has no driving license (another grave offense!). At this juncture the most ‘honorable’ deputy Minister ( or rather monster of a monstrous regime) Hemal Gunasekera of the most dishonorable regime who had been in the rear seat of the vehicle had alighted , and abused the PC who was duly performing his duties in the choicest filthy language. He had also screamed he is a deputy Minister and cannot be fined, and that the PC had caused embarrassment to him . The Minister who felt his shameless hooliganism had not punished the PC enough , had related the incident to the police higher up via phone and tried to make the PC to fall at his feet and ask for pardon ( all because the PC performed his duty duly , and the Minister under a lawless barbaric regime was not reformed enough to understand his own criminal conduct).

PC Suminda Saman on the other hand has stood his ground and refused to kowtow to the brute of a deputy Minister or any other , and written the traffic offense fine order paper stating he has not done anything wrong and that he was duly discharging his duties .

After the PC ( of a rare breed of duty conscious officers of the present police force under a JaRa -MaRa regime) had refused to ask for pardon and issued the notice of fine ignoring the escalating dispute. The deputy Minister had left the venue in a huff after threatening the PC that he would teach him a bitter lesson . 

The OIC of the station under whom Suminda was serving had been in the Presidential security division for sometime. The OIC who knew about the monsters in the MaRa regime had told Suminda ‘ if you have asked for pardon , the matter would have ended.’

As is customary under the present lawless regime which emulates eccentric ‘Kekille King’s’ laws , Suminda was officially and unbelievably harassed for being duty conscious : an inquiry was instituted against him , and investigations are in progress. A statement has also been recorded of his.

While this is the true reprehensible background to this episode , last evening (30) , when Suminda was traveling from home in his car , he had noticed a group following him in a Van . He had then changed his route and tried to escape. The trailing Van’s number plate had been covered with a Tee shirt.

At Bombuwala , Dodangoda , the Van had come and crossed the path of the PC’s car. When Suminda tried to leave his car and flee , someone had clung on to his legs. At about the same time there had been a gunshot sound. Thereafter he was dragged into a rubber estate in the vicinity and about ten assailants have attacked him most ruthlessly. When Suminda managed to open his eyes , he had seen his car gutted by fire.

Later , the assailants have got on to their Van and fled. The victim who made a complaint to the police is now receiving treatment at the Dodangoda hospital.

In Sumnda’s police statement it is mentioned that he is suspicious that the Deputy Minister is responsible for this attack, and if he sees the assailants he can identify them.

May we reveal that Hemal Gunasekera is a deputy Minister of the brutal murderous Rajapakse regime who is possessed of a most obnoxious stupid arrogance simply because his father who was the registrar at the Sri Jayawardena University found a minion job for desperate MaRa at the Sri Jayawardena University library when he was roaming the streets without a job at that time after having failed in the GCE adv. level examination . 

Medamulana MaRa ‘s gratitude towards Hemal’s father overrides every consideration in the interests of the country even after MaRa rose from minion to President. Naturally therefore he has allowed Hemal to do all the crooked and criminal activities regardless of the damage inflicted on people and the country.

VIDEO: Police officer assaulted, car torched

May 31, 2014
A police officer on his way for duty at the Dodangoda Interchange of the Southern Expressway has been assaulted by a group of individuals, who had then proceeded to set fire to the victim’s vehicle.

The officer was traveling in his car when the men had given chase to him in a double cab and blocked his vehicle. 

The policeman has been admitted to the Kalutara Hospital following the assault which took place Bobuwala, Dodangoda last night.

The officer’s car has been completely destroyed in the fire while police are conducting further investigations.

Another complaint against the blocking of websites

 Saturday, 31 May 2014 

The Professional Web Journalists’ Association (PWJA) has lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the blocking of srilankamirror.com and independent.lk websites in Sri Lanka.

Lodging the complaint the Association has said that the entry to their web-sites had been obstructed without any warning.

The government has last week blocked the srilankamirror.com and independent.lk websites and the move has come under severe criticism.

According to the PWJA, it is the duty and the right of the Sri Lankan people as Citizens of the Commonwealth of Nations to demand the Head of State of Sri Lanka as the new chair in office of the CW for the next two years, honour all democratic pledges adopted unanimously and signed into as a member country.

Increasing tobacco's taxes discourage smokers - UN

 

Saturday, 31 May 2014 

The United Nation Secretary General said that the increasing  taxes on tobacco products discourage young people from taking up smoking. He said it  in a press statement released for the World no- tobacco day which falls on 31st May.

“Increasing taxes on tobacco products discourages young people from taking up smoking and encourages current smokers to reduce use or quit altogether.  Tobacco taxes are a direct route to preventing cancer, stroke and disease – and to saving lives.”

Overcoming The Logic Of Terror

By Rajan Hoole -May 31, 2014

Rajan Hoole

The 1990s: The Culture of Untruth and a Perilous Vacuum – Part 9

More than a decade after the JVP insurgency the country remains trapped in the logic of terror. Instead of evolving means to surmount it, the tendency in activist circles has been to dissemble and play games with it. When terror is part of our environment, ordinary and average people often take on roles they never dreamed of. The causes may be alienation from the ruling class, a feeling of inferiority, desire for revenge, being already compromised or simply, misplaced nationalist sympathy. Being aligned with the party of terror makes them feel bigger, powerful and able to taunt and threaten others. Often they do this using the cover and privileges of civil society, while advancing its destruction.

In turn, this leads to an inescapable logic of counter-terror. Others feeling angry and threatened by those playing the terror game, are drawn into using terror in response or simply using state structures that would do the job. This is a reality. Few living in the North or the South could say truthfully that they did not feel this way sometime. The result is an ugly and heart- rending catastrophe for the society as a whole. This happened throughout the country. The task of human rights activism is to rise above the logic of terror and challenge it rather than become part of it.

Paradoxically, the notion of ‘political correctness’ advanced by left-liberal sections in the West has frequently the effect of fortifying terror rather than challenging it. In a case like Sri Lanka, they could easily identify the evil of state repression and the resulting alienation. This leads them to a lenient view of a group like the LTTE. They refuse to see that such groups, while using this sympathy to challenge the State, do in fact stand for an order that is exceedingly more inhumane and archaic than what obtained. Although very vocal in their anti-racism, the arrogance of some of these left- liberal sections is more insidious than racism paraded openly.                         Read More

In conversation with Eshantha Peiris

by Groundviews 

- on 05/30/2014 

Eshantha Peiris is currently a principal conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka, co-director of the Old Joes Choir, and director of Contempo Choir, in addition to being the keyboardist of the fusion band Thriloka. He is also the co-founder of MusicMatters.

We began our conversation looking at how Eshantha developed an interest in music, and why he came back to Sri Lanka after a stint studying music in New York. Eshantha talks about the space to create and produce music, as well as the space to, even though he hasn’t, branch out as a commercial artiste. Eshantha also flags what to him makes the contemporary music scene in Sri Lanka vibrant and special.

Given Eshantha’s prowess and interest in the Baroque period, he then answers how playing with Thriloka has influenced his approach to music. Given that he learnt music composition Eshantha goes into why he hasn’t composed more, and also talks briefly about his new album, which we cover in more detail later in the interview. He also explains a composition, done some years ago, that through its narrative structure captures the onset and devastation of the Boxing Day tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in 2004.

Asked why he co-founded MusicMatters, Eshantha goes into his approach around teaching music to children. Given that Eshantha was able to study in the US because of funding by a corporate entity in Sri Lanka, he is asked whether the lack of a culture of supporting the development of the arts impedes young musicians from blossoming to their fullest potential through international exposure and learning.

We then talk about, in relation to MIA’s music and her public utterances, what relationship an artist does and should have with her or his political context and milieu.

Towards the end of our conversation, we go into the production of Eshantha’s latest album, which is, to the best of our knowledge, Sri Lanka’s first crowd funded or crowd seeded music album. Eshantha explains why he took this novel route towards producing his album, and why embraces a Creative Commons share alike licensing model for the music he’s composed for it. We end by talking about when he will officially release the album in Sri Lanka, during the Musicmatters music festival slated for early August.

Eshantha Peiris from Young Asia Television on Vimeo.

India gang rapes: Police says all suspects 

arrested

May 31, 2014

Police in India say they have now arrested all suspects in connection with the gang rape and murder of two teenage cousins.
Three suspected attackers have been detained, along with two policemen accused of dereliction of duty and criminal conspiracy.
 
The girls, who belonged to a low caste, were found hanged from a tree in Uttar Pradesh state earlier in the week.
Alleged police inaction has sparked outrage.
The father of one victim told the BBC he was ridiculed by police when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.
He said that when policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they "refused to look for my girl".
The government has pledged to set up a fast-track court to deal with the case.
 
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that two more gang rapes of minors occurred in Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, this week.
 
'You are safe'

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh mocked female journalists when asked about the rising number of rape cases at a news briefing.
"You are safe, why are you bothered?" Akhilesh Yadav said.
"No other state has the kind of police control room we have here. If there is any incident, we will take action."
Police say they are now calling off their search for suspects over the attack, reports the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi.
 
Among those arrested are two officers, who have also been sacked over claims they refused to help look for the girls.
Senior police official Atul Saxena earlier announced there would be a "thorough investigation" into the allegations of caste discrimination by police.
Divisions between India's castes run deep, and violence is often used by upper castes to instil fear in lower castes, correspondents say.
Although both the victim and the accused in the latest case belonged to a group known as "Other Backward Classes", the victims were lower in that hierarchy.
 
Lack of sanitation

The girls, two cousins aged 14 and 16, went missing in Badaun district on Tuesday night. They had apparently gone out to relieve themselves as they had no toilet at home.
Their bodies were discovered the following day. A post-mortem examination confirmed multiple sexual assaults and death due to hanging.
 
The victims' families say it took police more than 12 hours to respond to reports they were missing.
Campaigners have highlighted the lack of sanitation in rural areas as being a risk to women's security as well as their health, as they are often attacked when having to go out to use the toilet, particularly at night.

Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.
The government tightened laws on sexual violence last year after widespread protests following the attack.
Fast-track courts were brought to the fore to deal with rape and the death penalty was also brought in for the most extreme cases.
 
Some women's groups argue that the low conviction rate for rape should be challenged with more effective policing rather than stiffer sentences.

Malaysian police arrest 13 over gang-rape of two teens 

 May 31, 2014

Malaysian police have arrested at least 13 people, including a father and his two sons, over the alleged gang-rape of two teenage girls, an officer said Friday.
The girls -- aged 15 and 17 -- were raped on May 20 for hours by a group of men in an abandoned hut in the northern state of Kelantan, Lai Yong Heng, the state's director of crime investigation, said.
 
Police have arrested 13 men, aged from 15 to 38, and are looking for "a few more" in connection with the gang-rape, he added.
Lai dismissed early reports that almost 40 people took turns in the rape, saying it was fewer but that some raped the girls more than once.
"It's definitely more than 10. We are still investigating," he told AFP.
 
All those detained are from the same village, where the assault took place, and some are related, Lai said. Most of them were believed to have been on drugs, and the girls were lured to the hut.
Suri Kempe, an official with women's rights group Sisters in Islam, said the frequent number of rape cases being reported was "extremely worrying".
 
"Boys are being raised in a culture where being masculine means being aggressive, and that it's perfectly acceptable to use violence to get what you want," she said in a statement.
Almost 3,000 rape cases were reported in 2012 in the Southeast Asian country of 28 million people, according to police statistics, with many of the victims aged 16 and below.
 
But activists say many more cases go unreported due to a continuing stigma for rape victims in the country. (AFP/nd)

Japan’s Abe pledges greater role in Asia-Pacific security, as Chinese power grows

By Karen DeYoung, Published: May 30 

Wong Maye-E/AP - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greets another delegate before he delivers his keynote speech May 30 in Singapore. Abe is in Singapore to attend the 13th Asia Security Summit.

SINGAPORE — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that his country was ready to take a stronger role in collective defense in the Asia-Pacific area and beyond, and made clear that he views China as the most immediate threat to regional stability.

“Japan intends to play an even greater and more proactive role than it has until now in making peace in Asia and the world something more certain,” Abe told a gathering of East Asian defense ministers and officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, gathered here for the annual Shangri-La Dialogue on regional security.

Abe’s muscular remarks echoed a nationally televised address he made in Japan this month calling for a reinterpretation of Japan’s post-World War II constitution to expand the role of its military to aid allies and in U.N. peacekeeping operations. The use of Japan’s military for anything other than self-defense has been banned since the aftermath of the war, and Abe’s proposed change is controversial there.

He said that Japan’s “new banner” would be used to help “ensure the security of the seas and the skies, and thoroughly maintain freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight,” a direct challenge to China’s increasingly confrontational actions in disputed waters of the South China Sea and East China Sea.

In recent weeks, China has flown military jets near the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands it claims in the East China Sea and has charged that Japanese fighters have entered a disputed air zone between the two countries.

China is also in disputes with its neighbors farther south, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, over nearly all of the South China Sea, with its busy international shipping lanes and rich oil and gas resources. Nearly all those governments have had direct clashes with Beijing; the Philippines has asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to intervene, and anti-China riots broke out this month in Vietnam after China positioned an oil rig in waters claimed by both countries.

The territorial and maritime disputes have stymied U.S. efforts to protect its own economic and defense interests in the region and to act as an honest broker, even as the Obama administration has called on China to respect international law and other accords it has signed with other Asian countries.

“The least-desirable state of affairs is having to fear that coercion and threats will take the place of rules and laws, and that unexpected situations will arise at arbitrary times and places,” Abe said. “We do not welcome” conflict between “fighter aircraft and vessels at sea. What we should exchange are words.”

Although many in the region view Abe as uncomfortably hawkish, he was clearly playing to a sympathetic audience of Asia-Pacific states in an increasingly volatile region that fears what it sees as growing Chinese power and North Korean aggression as rapidly growing threats.

China has sent a second-tier military delegation to the conference, and Abe’s only applause line of the night came after his response to a Chinese officer who noted Abe’s controversial visit late last year to a shrine honoring Japanese war dead and asked if he had similar good wishes for the souls of the “millions and millions of people in China, Korea and many countries in this region that have been killed by the Japanese Army.”

Abe responded that he had expressed remorse for World War II many times and, in a direct dig at China’s communist government, said Japan had subsequently “created a peaceful, free and democratic nation based on that reflection. We protect human rights and respect the law.”

Asked whether Japan was willing to submit its maritime disputes with China to independent third-party arbitration called for in international law, he said “that is what China should think about. . . . China is the one challenging the status quo.”

“There is no territorial dispute,” Abe said. “Japan effectively controls the islands.”

UK leaders tell Sudan: lift Meriam's death sentence

Photo: Meriam Ibrahim's husband Daniel Wani with the couple's young son and baby daughter, who are both in prison with their mother.

SATURDAY 31 MAY 2014

Meriam Ibrahim's lawyer tells Channel 4 News that reports she is to be freed are not true, as the UK's political leaders call on the Sudanese government to lift her death sentence.

UK Leaders Tell Sudan Lift Meriam's Death Sentence by nelvely

Anti-racism rallies take place in Belfast and Derry

31 May 2014 

About 4,000 people have attended anti-racism rallies in Belfast and Londonderry following a recent spate of racist attacks in Northern Ireland.

Speakers included MLA Anna Lo, who this week said racist abuse had influenced her decision not to seek re-election.

The rallies also followed controversy over a Belfast pastor who described Islam as "heathen" and "satanic".

Pastor James McConnell received support from some NI politicians, including First Minister Peter Robinson.

Last week, Mr Robinson said he would not trust Muslims involved in violence or devotees of Sharia law, but would trust Muslims "to go to the shops" for him.

The first minister has since clarified his remarks, claimed he was misinterpreted, and apologised to Islamic leaders in Belfast.

About 100 people attend the rally in Derry

The Belfast event, Stand Up and Rally Against Racism, began at the city hall at noon.

It was attended by about 4,000 people, according to a police spokeswoman.

The crowd chanted Anna Lo's name and cheered when they were addressed by the Hong-Kong born MLA, who is a member of the Alliance party.

Ms Lo told the rally she was "not going away" and said everyone must stand up against racism and sectarianism in Northern Ireland.

"Plenty of people have shown they want a diverse society," she told the crowd.

"They want respect for ethnic minorities. What Mr Robinson said was total disrespect and condescending of the Muslim community."

'Ethnic cleansing'

Muslim leaders were also among the gathering in Belfast.

Earlier this month, police said they were reviewing the number of patrols in Belfast following a spate of hate crime attacks on homes and property in the city.

Shoppers outside a Tesco branch in Belfast city centre made reference to the comments made by Mr Robinson

In April, a senior police officer said said the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), had been orchestrating racist attacks in south and east Belfast.

ACC Will Kerr told the Policing Board it had contributed to an overall 70% rise in hate crime in Belfast and had "a deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing".

Saturday's anti-racism rally in Derry attracted about 100 supporters.

Among the crowd was Environment Minister Mark H Durkan and Mayor of Derry Martin Reilly.

The city centre rally was addressed by a member of the local Muslim community, Sameh Hassan.