Deputy minister made a policeman kneel on highway: Sally says

Deputy minister made a policeman kneel on highway: Sally says

 May 28, 2014
Azad Sally, leader of National Unity Front, has alleged that a policeman was made to kneel on a highway.

He made this statement at a media briefing held Wednesday in Colombo.

“A deputy minister had been speeding on the highway. He was travelling at 140 kilometres per hour. He was stopped at the Kottawa interchange and the police had given him a ticket. What happened there? He made the policeman who gave him the ticket sit on the pavement and, within two hours, they had transferred him.”

“The man in the police who tried to enforce the law was made to kneel on the highway. This is the law of the country. We have said before that the law in this country has gone to the dogs. We say this everyday.”

He added: “Incidents like this are shown on the TV everyday. You cannot watch a news bulletin because of all the murders and thefts.”

Who is the Deputy Minister that Azad Sally is referring to?

Vass to be tried for threatening CID ASP

Sunday, 01 June 2014

Former DIG Vaas Gunawardena will be tried on September 22 for intimidating CID ASP Shani Abeysekera and some other CID detectives while he was being questioned by them over the killing of millionaire businessman Mohamed Shiyam.

The former DIG who is in remand in connection with the killing of Mohamed Shiyam was today produced in the Colombo High Court to answer the charges against him for threatening to kill ASP Shani Abeysekera, Special Investigation Unit OIC M.A.S. Ranjith Munasinghe and some other CID officers saying, “Shani, I am a murderer; you won’t be able to keep me inside forever. When I am out, see what I will do to all of you.”

When the case taken up for inquiry, Counsel Ananda Vidyaratne told Magistrate Tennakoon that his client Vaas Gunawardena was prepared to arrive at an amicable settlement,   

When State Counsel Chaminda Athukorala asked Mr. Abeysekera whether such a settlement was possible he said he was not prepared to arrive at such a settlement and this led to Judge Devika Tennakoon fixing the  trial for September 12.

Reports from Sudan claim Meriam Ibrahim 'to be freed' from death-row

Reports suggest Sudanese woman may be released within days, but her lawyers claim it's a ploy to silence outcry

Nadia Khomami-Saturday 31 May 2014

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for her Christian beliefs, will be freed in the next few days it was reported on Saturday night. The mother of two, who gave birth to a daughter on Tuesday while shackled in heavy chains, has been in jail since January.

The 27-year-old, whose young son Martin has also been forced to stay in prison with her, had been found guilty of apostasy, having married Daniel Wani, a Christian, who holds dual Sudanese-US citizenship. Her 2011 marriage was also annulled and Ibrahim was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery.

Ibrahim told the court that she was raised a Christian after her Muslim father abandoned the family when she was a child. Her refusal to recant in the conservative Islamic country led to her death sentence by hanging, but in a dramatic turn of events Sudanese officials said her release was imminent. Abdullahi Alazreg, under-secretary at Sudan's ministry of foreign affairs, said: "The related authorities in the country are working to release Meriam through legal measures. I expect her to be released soon."

The announcement came on the back of international outrage that turned into a global campaign to save Ibrahim but her lawyers played down the announcement. "It's a statement to silence the international media," said Elshareef Ali Mohammed. "This is what the government does. We will not believe that she is being freed until she walks out of the prison."

He said he had even heard reports that the spokesman was in the UK on medical leave when he told the BBC she would soon be freed: "If they were to release her, the announcement would come from the appeal court, not from the ministry of foreign affairs. But at least it shows our campaign to free Meriam is rattling them. We must keep up the pressure."

Mark Simmonds, the Foreign Office's Africa minister, said on Saturday that Britain was "putting intense pressure on the Sudanese government" to ensure her release: "Hopefully the international outrage will push the Sudanese authorities into a situation where they feel they have to release Meriam."

Meriam Ibrahim with her husband Daniel. Photograph: courtesy of Gabriel Wani

David Cameron had joined political leaders around the world in condemning the Sudanese government's actions. The prime minister said Ibrahim's treatment was "barbaric and had no place in today's world" and that the UK would "continue to press the government of Sudan to act".

He said: "Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right. I urge the government of Sudan to overturn the sentence and immediately provide appropriate support and medical care for her and her children."

Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband had both said Ibrahim's case was "abhorrent", while Tony Blair described it as a "brutal and sickening distortion of faith".

An Amnesty International petition asking the Sudanese government to halt Ibrahim's execution attracted more than 200,000 signatures, and more than 600,000 people added their name to a separate petition on change.org.

Since her arrest, Ibrahim, a graduate of Sudan University's school of medicine, has been held on death row with her son and since last week her newborn daughter Maya. She was pregnant at the time of her sentencing and was told that her death sentence would be deferred for two years to allow her to nurse her baby.

The case has led to debates over whether the government should continue giving foreign aid to Sudan. Former defence secretary Liam Fox said the UK should reconsider whether it was "acceptable" to give aid money to "states which allow treatment such as that handed out to Meriam Ibrahim", but international development secretary Justine Greening said it was "totally perverse" to take away UK-funded food, water and other vital supplies to those worst affected.

"British aid to Sudan only goes on helping the very poorest Sudanese people via the UN and NGOs, and not a penny is given to the Sudanese government," she said.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population and its legal system has been based on Islamic law since the 1980s.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are urgently seeking clarification from the Sudanese authorities of reports that Meriam Ibrahim …is to be freed. We have been strongly urging the government of the Republic of Sudan to do all it can to overturn its decision to sentence her to death."

The Communist Party’s Terrorism Survival Plan

Old 'people's war' tactics are being mobilized against a new threat.

• BY RACHEL LU-MAY 30, 2014

HONG KONG — Terrorism is on the mind of the average Chinese citizen these days. Assailants have attacked crowded areas like train stations and markets in large cities around China, indiscriminately killing travelers, vendors, and passersby. Particularly shocking was a March 1 knife attack in the southern metropolis of Kunming, which claimed 29 victims, followed by a bomb attack in a crowded market in Urumqi, capital of the western region of Xinjiang, which killed 31 on May 22. Chinese authorities have blamed these attacks on Uighur separatists from Xinjiang.

The Communist Party’s Terrorism Survival Plan by nelvely

Mavi Marmara's March for Freedom Continues

IHH Special to Salem-News.com-May-31-2014 

After four years, the court has issued an arrest warrant with a red notice to INTERPOL for four defendants.

The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the Freedom Flotilla. Israel have reportedly offered $20 million in compensation for the families of Turks killed in the raid. Photo: IHH

(ISTANBUL, Turkey) - It has been 4 years since the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, with over 700 volunteers from 37 different countries, was attacked by the Israeli armed forces in international waters on its way to break the illegal blockade on Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid.

During this attack nine humanitarian aid volunteers were killed and dozens of others injured on board the Mavi Marmara vessel. Last week, one of these injured, Ugur Suleyman Soylemez, who had been in a coma since the attack, also lost his life raising the death toll from nine to ten and refreshing the painful memories of the attack.

The legal actions, which were started by the victims very soon after the attack in a number of different countries around the world, are today showing their results. Last week, during the sixth session of the Mavi Marmara trial in Istanbul, the court issued an arrest warrant with a red notice to INTERPOL for the four defendants in the case.

In addition to the domestic actions, a State referral was made to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the Comoros, which was the flag state of the Mavi Marmara. Immediately after this referral the Prosecutor of this Court started a preliminary investigation into the attack and will decide whether or not to start a full investigation.

The ruling of the Turkish Court and the ICC procedure have the potential to be a historical ruling and opportunity for the international community to at last take action against Israel’s broad and continuing violations of international law.

The humanitarian crisis existing in Gaza was the main reason the Freedom Flotilla set sail in 2010. Four years later the significance of the Flotilla is still very clear, as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen.

Numerous United Nations and NGO’s have reported the exacerbation of the crisis in Gaza, which is the result of the unlawful blockade imposed by Israel, which has prevents the population of Gaza to live a dignified life.

Israel also continues its aggression on the other territories of Palestine, making life as difficult as possible for the entire population of the Palestinian people. Every day Palestinians are indiscriminately killed, children are arrested, homes demolished for new settlements and the list continues.

Israel must understand that like every other state or nation, it is subject to the rule of law. For this reason we, the Freedom Flotilla coalition, call upon the international community to break the silence against Israel’s violations of international law and bring the criminals to justice.

In our fight against impunity around the world, this recent ruling by the Turkish court and the ICC procedure are a starting point and an opportunity we have to take as the collective conscience of humanity.

Source: Press release issued by IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation on the 4th anniversary of the Mavi Marmara attack.

Mavi Marmara MUSIC VIDEO BELOW, Produced by Bonnie King:

Nearly 800 killed in Iraq's bloodiest month this year - UN

A general view of Firdos Square, one of the main squares of Baghdad April 29, 2014.

BAGHDAD Sun Jun 1, 2014 

(Reuters) - Nearly 800 people were killed in violence across Iraq in May, the United Nations said on Sunday, making it the deadliest month so far this year.

Of the total 799 people killed, 196 were members of the Iraqi security forces, and the rest were civilians - often victims of attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground and momentum in Iraq over the past year.

The real toll is in fact higher because the UN figures do not include casualties in the western province of Anbar, where the Iraqi army has been fighting tribal and insurgent groups since they overran two cities at the start of the year.

Despite deteriorating security, Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won the largest share of parliamentary seats in national elections last month, dealing a blow to his opponents who blame him for leading the country to ruin.

Bloodshed remains below the levels seen in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian Shi'ite-Sunni killings reached their peak, but last year was Iraq's deadliest since violence began to ease in 2008.

“I strongly deplore the sustained level of violence and terrorist acts that continues rocking the country," UN envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov said in a statement.

"I urge the political leaders to work swiftly for the formation of an inclusive government within the constitutionally mandated timeframe and focus on a substantive solution to the situation in Anbar.”

Excluding Anbar, the worst affected governorate was Baghdad, where 315 people were killed. The Sunni-dominated northern province of Nineveh was the second most violent, followed by Salahaddin, Kirkuk and Diyala.

The UN said figures from the Anbar health directorate put the number of civilian casualties there at 195, with about half in the provincial capital Ramadi and the rest in the city of Fallujah, which is just 70 km (43 miles) west of Baghdad.

Monitoring group Iraq Body Count put the monthly civilian death toll across Iraq higher at 1,027, bringing its tally so far this year to 5,055, of which 521 people were killed in Fallujah alone by government forces.

Harvard study says 70 percent of domestic violence is committed by women against men

by Joseph Earnest November 15, 2013

 

Newscast Media HOUSTON—Three years ago I wrote an article based on a scientific study done by Harvard Medical School that revealed domestic violence was not as one-sided as the media often depicts it.  The article to this very day is the second most popular article I've written and is widely cited online and offline.

I have since discovered that the original article that was published on the Harvard Medical School Web site has been scrubbed, and my guess is that certain activist groups perhaps pressured the professors to remove it.  Most of these institutions depend on endowments and grants to function, so it is understandable how that may have been the cause of its removal. As you can see, if you click on this original hyperlink, the article is gone:

Original link from Harvard Medical School was here >> (pop-up)

However, fear not.  Even three years ago, my discernment and sound judgment enabled me to envisage something like that happening, so I took a screen-shot of the entire article, just in case it was taken down.  I am re-posting the article and will compress it into PDF format that way you are able to use it as a reference resource.  You will find the PDF at the very end of the article.

One thing about Newscast Media is that it does not receive any funds from sponsors and is self-funded, therefore we are not beholden to any entity, and have the liberty to publish content as we so wish. That's what true independent and objective journalism exemplifies.

Another interesting aspect of the article is the comments section.  There are over 250 comments on this particular article, that you might find either amusing, or instructive at the very end. Below is the original article:

=======================================================

Original article by Joseph Earnest July 15, 2010

 Newscast Media HOUSTON—As the media flashes images and plays tapes of Mel Gibson screaming at his former lover, one has to wonder what the other side of the story is. It is obvious that Mel Gibson was set up by his girlfriend, whom he claims tried to extort him. While I don't condone any kind of violence, I have to present to my reading audience some cold hard facts that the 'mainstream media' has chosen to ignore in relation to domestic violence.

Forensic expert  Arlo West said on Good Morning America, in regard to the tapes, "I believe these are professionally done. I think she had help. She clearly was speaking into what we call a large diaphragm microphone. Her voice is very well engineered. She sounds great. To authenticate a recording it must be an original."

The information presented to you comes from investigative research of data produced by reputable organizations like Harvard Medical School, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Psychiatric Association, just to mention a few.

The mainstream media seems to imply that men are the sole perpetrators of violence against women, but research proves otherwise.  A recent study by Harvard Medical School conducted a survey of 11,000 men and women and found that 50% of the violence was reciprocal. Both men and women also took responsibility for being equally violent in the heat of passion.  

The Harvard study found that when violence was one-sided, meaning unprovoked, both men and the women themselves who took the study said 70% of the time it was the women who committed violence against the men.

See screenshot of study here>>  (pop-up)

 Another study by the American Psychiatric Association that backs the Harvard Medical School study was published by Joan Arehart-Treichel who says, "When it comes to non-reciprocal violence between intimate partners, women are more often the perpetrators."   View comments (250)+plus

What the U.S. Gave Up to Get Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Back

ABC US News | ABC International News

Mullah Mohammad Fazl, left, and Abdul Haq Wasiq are shown in these undated photos. Image credit: Department of Defense
May 31, 2014
WASHINGTON — Most of the reaction to Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release after five years as a captive of the Taliban has been celebratory, but a pair of lawmakers questioned whether the deal reached with the Taliban was legal and whether the price paid was too high.

What the U.S. Gave Up to Get Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Back by nelvely

Jaffna Library burns - May 31st 1981

31 May 2014
On 31st May 1981, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage - the Jaffna Public Library - was set ablaze by state security forces and state sponsored mobs. 

Over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, housed within an impressive building inspired by ancient Dravidian architecture, were destroyed during the burning that continued unchecked for two nights.

Nancy Murray, a western author, wrote at the time:

"They burned to the ground certain chosen targets - including the Jaffna Public Library, with its 95,000 volumes and priceless manuscripts…no mention of this appeared in the national newspapers, not even the burning of the library, the symbol of Tamils' cultural identity. The government delayed bringing in emergency rule until 2 June, by which time the key targets had been destroyed."

The destruction took place under the rule of the UNP at a time when District Development Council elections were underway, and two notorious Sinhala chauvinist cabinet ministers - Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake - were in Jaffna. Earlier on the 31st May, three Sinhalese police officers were killed during a rally by the TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front).
   

Cultural Vandalism and Genocide

The term genocide is only a recent one, having been coined in 1945 by Raphael Lemkin, lecturer on comparative law at the Institute of Criminology of the Free University of Poland and Deputy Prosecutor of the District Court of Warsaw. Since then, it has become a crucial term for understanding events, particularly ethnic violence, in the world.

Lemkin defined genocide as "a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves."

He said that the objective of such a plan would be disintegration of the political
and social institutions of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.

For Lemkin, "genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the
actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group."

Whilst genocide has come to be associated with the concentrated killings of large numbers of people, such as in a few bloody month in Rwanda recently or during the years of the Holocuast of WW2, Lemkin's concept is just as valid if it happens over decades.

Furthermore, the destruction of a people's culture, whilst not given particular attention in the massive bloodletting which has characterised the well known instances of genocide, remains an integral part of the crime as Lemkin saw it.

"An attack targeting a collectivity can also take the form of systematic and organized destruction of the art and cultural heritage in which the unique genius and achievement of a collectivity are revealed in fields of science, arts and literature," he wrote. "The contribution of any particular collectivity to world culture as a whole forms the wealth of all of humanity, even while exhibiting unique characteristics."

"The [perpetrator] causes not only the immediate irrevocable losses of the destroyed work as property and as the culture of the collectivity directly concerned (whose unique genius contributed to the creation of this work); it is also all humanity which experiences a loss by this act of vandalism."

"In the acts of barbarity, as well as in those of vandalism, the asocial and destructive spirit of the [perpetrator] is made evident. This spirit, by definition, is the opposite of the culture and progress of humanity."

Virtual LTTE Resurrection Is Vital For Govt.To Remain In Power .

| by Pearl Thevanayagam

(May 31, 2014, Bradford UK, Sri Lanka Guardian) UK media is outraged that the government would only publish the details of the gist of talks between Blair and Bush before Iraq invasion and not transcripts and full notes of conversations although Chilcot inquiry is in possession of these.

David Cameron’s government is going along with this charade since if the invasion of Iraq was proven to be a grave injustice UK could be hauled up for war crimes.

These two democracies preach human rights to third world nations but their own actions belie the very concept of democracy it touts. UK makes use of the 30 year ban under Official Secrets Act to whitewash its actions. It is against the law to even ask a colleague what his/her salary is.

It is not as though UK lies but it keeps mum on sensitive information. The silence on Iraq invasion at the behest of US amounts to not just lying but gross violation of the rights of Iraqi people who are still reeling from the mayhem caused by two super-powers who took it upon themselves the mantle as defenders of human rights. Whichever government is in power British stiff upper-lip believes what Britain does in the name of national security should be kept private and should not come out in the open.Its strategy worked when it was the colonial power but not any longer. Nations, particularly third world nations, are not taking its arrogance lying down.

Which brings us closer home to the actions of the government on resurrecting the LTTE to retain its hold on the North and East and justify its militarising these zones. Jesus, a refugee, who was crucified on the cross and left to die in front of witnesses, resurrected himself on the third day and even his disciples showed disbelief. LTTE leader Pirabkaran was killed along with his many cadres and tens of thousands of civilians by government security forces and their bodies exhibited to prove their annihilation and thus an end to the rebel outfit.

But unlike Jesus, Pirabakaran is not coming back in life form nor are those who perished in Mullivaikkal.

Unearthing buried cache of LTTE weapons, arresting innocent youth who may or may not have links with the remnants of the LTTE is akin to US style of maintaining Al Quaeda is lurking round the corner despite the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.

US needs the Bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins to justify its invasions into countries which have oil supplies and minerals to protect its own economic interests and to hell with the rights of those citizens. Wherever US set foot in the name of peace it left destruction and human miseries. Its actions are reverberating in that those affected by the wars instigated by the US are converging on US and European shores seeking asylum.

There is no doubt the LTTE left behind its arms and ammunition plundered from the military but just because they were found in private properties does not prove the occupants are resurrecting the LTTE.

Leaders need fresh impetus to sustain their power. The propaganda machinery of the government is aided and abetted by scare-mongers such as sycophant Tamil websites, the editors of which are handsomely rewarded who plug in fabricated details and who have an axe to grind lend flimsy evidence the LTTE are re-grouping. It is ironic these website editors are spongers on western governments while bartering their own kith and kin to the Sri Lankan government to feed their debauchery and idle lifestyle.

Their revelations are going viral with India and Malaysia while the hard-core LTTE arms procurer Kumar Pathmanathan aka KP is kept in relative luxury and comfort by the government. The three hapless Sri Lankan Tamils would certainly have claimed they were either targeted by the government as LTTE activists or pursued by the now defunct LTTE for defecting.

The recent upsurge in cordon and search operations in the North East terrorising civilians, the continuous presence of the armed forces, the appointment of military hierarchy as governors and emissaries, procuring lands of Tamils and fortifying military cantonments proves the government is bent on embarking on a genocidal mission.

Victory parades are celebrated with the exhibition of war machinery for all and sundry to see and it is quite contradictory to the government’s declaration the war is over. It is also flouting war paraphernalia in Mullivaikkal to promote war tourism not unlike Auschwitz camp where Jews were tortured and gassed by Hitler’s Nazis which is now attracting tourists.

Propagandising LTTE resurgence could become a reality if the government carries on its vile campaign.

(The writer has been a journalist for 25 years and worked in national newspapers as sub-editor, news reporter and news editor. She was Colombo Correspondent for Times of India and has contributed to Wall Street Journal where she was on work experience from The Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley, California. Currently residing in UK she is also co-founder of EJN (Exiled Journalists Network) UK in 2005 the membership of which is 200 from 40 countries. She can be reached at pearltheva@hotmail.com)

Citizens, Nations And State

By Rajasingham Narendran -May 31, 2014

Dr. Rajasingham Narendran

“As all men have a right- to be free, so all nations have a right to live freely. However, the larger nations whose freedom is secure still tend to consider freedom a privilege to which they are entitled. This is why even when the ‘threat’ to the ‘free world’ is mentioned, only the still free nations come to mind and silence covers the enslaved, their freedom not being a matter of concern. Not genocide alone is the shame of our century! Equally shameful is the silence of the world which call itself ‘Free’,  ‘the closing of eyes’ ( and of consciences too) in the face of this genocide. If we consider other centuries, we can agree that always those who were free tended not to notice those who were oppressed by slavery. Because of this, in all ages the consciousness of freedom has glowed most clearly among the enslaved. Fate has determined that we, the enslaved of all nations, testify to freedom in this age. A free nation in an independent State such is the authentic nationality principle, and such is our ideal” (Juozas Girnius)

The terms Country and State are synonymous and both apply to self-governing political entities. A nationhowever, is a group of people who share the same culture but do not have sovereignty. A state with the ‘s’ in lower case, constitutes a part of a whole country, with limited self-governing powers. Citizens are free and thus have freedom when they can lead a life of their choice;  are free to choose their leaders; are treated equally, justly and with dignity in a State that functions within just laws; and within the parameters of a constitution that guarantees his/her rights on the basis of universally acceptable civilizational norms.

What makes an independent State are: Has permanent residents; has absolute sovereignty over its territory; has organized economic activity that regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money; has a transportation network for moving goods and people; has an education system; has recognition from other independent States.

A nation is a group of homogenous people- community who share the same culture, language, institutions, religion, and history- usually a group of people larger than a tribe or community. Territorially is not a necessary precondition, although it provides a necessary pre-requisite for sharing power within a State. When a nation of people has an independent State of their own it is called a nation-state. There are nations with States and nations without States (Kurds & Tamils). France, Germany, Egypt and Japan are nation-States. Canada and Belgium are States with two nations. The USA is called a nation-state, because of the shared American ‘ culture’ , despite it being a multicultural society. The Tamils of Indian origin working in the plantations in the hill country in Sri Lanka were a stateless people until J.R.Jayewardene finally resolved the issue.                                            Read More

S.B. who talks like an SOB (son of a Brahmin) appropriates Col.7 mansion on forged deed
(Lanka-e-News- 31.May.2014, 5.15PM) The Minister of higher education Dissanayake Mudiyansalage Sumanaweera Banda Dissanayake alias S.B. Dissanayake who parades as a paragon of virtue and speaks like an SOB (son of a Brahmin) has transferred a palatial house at Hewa Avenue , Colombo 07 on a spurious deed under the pretext of acquiring it for the higher education Ministry.

This mansion which belonged to Nadaraja ,a very wealthy individual who was living in Cinnamon gardens some years ago and passed away some years ago. This mansion was transferred to a Sri Lankan lecturer who is residing in Jamaica.

This SOB Sumanaweera Banda who is noted for doing lip service to education and duping the younger generation who are the country’s future investment, has after making false pretenses that the mansion is being acquired for the higher education Ministry , has fraudulently transferred it into his name on bogus deeds. This SOB Sumanaweera Banda has also taken by now into his possession many articles of historical value worth many millions that were in the mansion on the sly.

In any event , a complaint has been lodged with the CI , but it is learnt that tremendous efforts are being made to suppress the investigations , as is the practice under the regime laden with Ministers who are having a whale of a time in the climate of impunity they are enjoying with the patronage of the corrupt Rajapakses who are at the top of the hierarchy.

Ministers involved in import of kudu (heroin) in containers are scott free . Ministers involved in murders and rape are scott free . Ministers involved in outrageous rackets and corruption are also scott free under the Rajapakse’s ‘Asia’s miracle in the making of Sri Lanka ‘

No hand in Jaffna Twitter campaign - Students’ Union

By  Arthur Wamanan and Sandun Jayawardana

Sunday, 25 May 2014 02:14

- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-online/item/29567-no-hand-in-jaffna-twitter-campaign-students%E2%80%99-union.html#sthash.3zZXGYHE.dpuf

The Jaffna University Students’ Union has denied any knowledge or involvement in the Twitter campaign against alleged threats to students and lecturers. Speaking to The Nation, President, Jaffna University Students Union, P. Subhakar said that they were unaware of such an online campaign. He, however, stated that the two-day strike organized by the students ended on Friday (May23).

Recently, University officials announced that campus would be closed during the fifth year commemoration since the end of the war.
“We have called on the University officials to refrain from declaring holidays in May and November in future, as it could hamper the relationship between Tamil and Sinhala students on the campus. We need to have a cordial relationship. However, those who wish to remember the dead can do so. But there is no need to close down campus,” he said.

A Twitter campaign, under the hashtag ‘Hands Off Jaffna Uni’, was launched last week to coincide with a two-day strike called by students on Thursday (May 22) and Friday (May 23) to protest alleged death threats leveled at some lecturers and students of the university. The campaign is continuing and has attracted support from the Tamil Diaspora and those in Tamil Nadu.

Leaflets allegedly left on campus last week spoke of serious measures against those who attempt to revive extremist sentiments within the campus. A group calling itself ‘Nation Protection Force’ (Thesam Kaakkum Padai) issued a ‘final warning’ stated that several students, lecturers, deans and journalists had been identified of trying to instill extremist sentiments among others.

Meanwhile, Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya strongly refuted allegations leveled by some that the army was behind the death threats and was also attempting to ‘interfere’ in the university’s affairs.
“We’re not as petty-minded as they think we are,” he said, rejecting allegations of military interference at the university.

Referring to the Twitter campaign #HandsOffJaffnaUni, Brigadier Wanigasooriya said there was nothing wrong with the campaign since the army had no intention of getting involved in the university’s activities.
“At any event, the army has no access to the university premises and has no deployments anywhere nearby. What happens within the university is the responsibility of campus authorities,” he added.    
Referring to the ban on public commemorations in the North during Victory Day week, the military spokesman said that was put in place as certain sections were attempting to ‘celebrate terrorism’ which could not be allowed as it would be tantamount to ‘acceptance of terrorism’.

“There is a larger agenda here among some to get the Army out of Jaffna, which will not happen. The armed forces are there to protect national security which is a central government function”.
Brigadier Wanigasooriya further said the army wanted universities to function unhindered as universities were places that produce future developers of the nation.
When contacted, Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said Police had so far not received any complaints regarding death threats leveled at lecturers and students at the university. 

- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-online/item/29567-no-hand-in-jaffna-twitter-campaign-students%E2%80%99-union.html#sthash.3zZXGYHE.dpuf

Sri Lankan Muslims at crossroads – 3

By Izeth Hussain-May 30, 2014

In the second part (Island of May 17) of this series of articles on SL Muslims at the cross-roads I dealt with the bizarre case of a Muslim who reportedly made outrageous statements against Buddhism at a public meeting, He had reportedly stated that in worshipping the Triple Gem the Buddhists are worshipping stones, that Buddhism encourages cannibalism, that the Buddha himself had once eaten human flesh, and that the Buddha had spoken about Allah. His statements were reportedly recorded in a video which has been in circulation since June 2013. My initial reaction, as well as those of my Muslim contacts, was one of total incredulity because it seemed to us impossible that any Muslim in his right mind would have made such statements. It seemed to us further that the video was probably inauthentic, just a piece of anti-Muslim propagandist garbage.

But it turns out to be authentic, and had been put across on MTV about a couple of weeks earlier. According to my informants, the person who made those statements was the President of a group that calls itself the Tawheed Jamaat, about which I must make a very important clarification. It is quite unlike the Tawheed Jamaat of South India which is very powerful with a huge membership, and boasts in Zainul-Abdeen a theologian of high caliber, according to a friend who is capable of making informed judgments on Islamic theology. The local Tawheed Jamaat, on the other hand, is small and relatively insignificant. It cannot be regarded as representative of mainstream Sunni Islam in Sri Lanka, nor for that matter of Wahabi Islam. Undue importance should not therefore be given to the utterances of its leader.

It appears that the members of the Tawheed Jamaat had been irked, just like many other Muslims, by the ignorant denigration of Islam that has been going on in Sri Lanka, inspired partly by the Islamophobic idiocies of the West. That had led to the issue of a challenge to the BBS for a public debate on religion – there is an authentic video on that challenge also. It was in that context that the Tawheed Jamaat representative had made absurd observations on Buddhism based on wrong interpretations of obscure Buddhist texts – or so I am told. The upshot was that he was arrested, brought to trial, apologized, and released. Evidently the apology meant that he repudiated his absurd charges against Buddhism.

What importance should be given to this episode? I think none whatever because it is just too ridiculous to be taken seriously. As I have pointed out above the Tawheed Jamaat has no representative capacity worth speaking about. How many of the more than one and a half million SL Muslims share the views about Buddhism expressed by the TJ representative – that Buddhism encourages cannibalism, that the Buddha ate human flesh and so on? I believe that none, none whatever, share those views because the TJ representative himself, by his apology, repudiated those views. It would therefore be totally absurd for anyone to draw any conclusions from those statements about Muslim extremists and Islamic fundamentalism. I am making this point because there seems to be something sinister about the revival of that offensive video. It was originally issued in June 2013, it was seen by thousands, but it evidently failed to make much of an impact. It is possible that it has been revived – shown on MTV and so on – with the objective of rousing mass anti-Muslim hatred.

One point about this episode cannot be ignored. Those absurdly offensive statements hurt the Buddhists, and therefore it was meet and proper that the perpetrator was subjected to action under the law. But what about all the offensive statements about Islam that hurt the Muslims deeply? Why were the perpetrators not subjected to action under the law? I refer to the most outrageous of all the insults to Islam in Sri Lanka: the demonstration in which Allah was imaged as a pig and burnt in effigy. The police performed their accustomed role of passive spectators. I believe they did a little more than that by restraining horrified Muslims who could have got out of hand – and perhaps that was wise. But why was there no legal action thereafter?

That leads to a crucially important question: what really is the strategy of the Sinhalese Buddhist State towards the SL Muslims? It was earlier expected that the anti-Muslim campaign would culminate in another gory July ’83 holocaust, this time against the Muslims. That is not the general expectation today, not because it is thought that the Government has developed moral scruples but because it fears the possible international repercussions. But other horrors can be perpetrated against the Muslims that are just as horrible as July ’83, possibly in the long run even more horrible. I have in mind the fact that the Sinhalese State seems to be in the grip of a fierce hierarchical drive aimed at establishing the Sinhalese Buddhists firmly and securely at the apex and relegating the Muslims to the position of outcastes. That seems to be the significance of the double standards to which I pointed above: punitive legal action against the Muslim but none against the Sinhalese. It is true that the culture of impunity applies to the Sinhalese as well, but not so consistently as against the Muslims, as shown during the anti-Muslim campaign of the last two years.

It should be beyond dispute that the Muslim strategy of political quietism has proved to be utterly disastrous: polishing the boot of Sinhala power has only earned good hard kicks on the backside. Just as well maybe, because the strategy of political quietism was essentially self-seeking, not aimed at the national good inclusive of the good of the Muslims. I have advocated a two-pronged strategy: struggle for the impartial application of the rule of law to all, and dialogue on the issues that have been bedeviling Sinhalese-Muslim relations for decades. The first, the struggle for the rule of law has a very particular importance. It has been a besetting vice of Muslims in the decadent phases of Islamic civilization to withdraw into themselves, to go into a self-imposed ghetto and limit their interaction with the others to the bare minimum. That goes against the greatest Sri Lankan need of the present hour: the need for national integration. In struggling for the rule of law our Muslims will be making common cause with the Sinhalese and the Tamils in a common struggle for the national good.

There is one point in particular that our Muslims must bear in mind. Under the brutal and stupid rule of the 1977 Jay Gang the SL civil society was practically dead, not much more animate than a door-mat. In recent years it has been becoming vibrant in unexpected ways. It is not so vibrant, not so vital, as in India and the West but it certainly counts in the affairs of the nation. The SL Muslims can therefore make their struggle to live in peace and dignity part of the national struggle for a better Sri Lanka. I have in mind the splendid statement of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka against the BBS and in support of the Muslims (Island of May 22). Let the Muslims invoke the blessings of Allah on the heads of the BASL members, and let their names be inscribed in gold in the memories of the Muslims.

Izethhussain@gmail.com