Ruhunu University students openly attacked by MaRa’s goons: Sanath Jayasuriya and Aruna Gunaratne the gang leaders
(Lanka-e-News-03.June.2014, 6.30PM) Following the protests staged by the students of Ruhunu University against holding the ‘Deyata kirula’ exhibition on the University premises , and after they had concluded their demonstrations , last evening , the regime deploying a group of hoodlums and hooligans who suddenly stormed into the University , launched a brutal attack on the students with clubs while the police and the administrators were idly watching. In other words tacitly encouraging the gangs and goons in their murderous violence .

Prior to this ruthless attack , the deputy Minister Sanath Jayasuriya , local body members of the government , Sarath De Alwis and Aruna Gumaratne ( relative of Mahinda Rajapakse) were seen near the University entrance gate after having brought the goons and gangs .These gangs have been screaming and shouting Deyata kirula exhibition shall be held . Meanwhile some of them armed with clubs and rods have climbed over the gate into the University premises and attacked the students . The students who were running helter –skelter in fear were hounded out and attacked mercilessly.

These hoodlums who fled after attacking the students had returned to launch a second attack on the students taking advantage of the lawless climate in which the police and the administrators remained as idle spectators ( enjoying the violent scene like watching a football match ?), and inspired by the complete impunity the hooligans were enjoying under the lawless regime.

The students have held discussions with the authorities in connection with this ruthless attack but without avail. Even the Vice chancellor had not been able to do anything for the students for their security. Neither the police had done anything to enforce the law .

These goons and gangs who were near the gates of the University have in the night after leaving the University precincts been congregating around the students’ hostels . Meanwhile another two bus loads of goons had also been brought to the scene. They were armed with clubs , seen drinking liquor and roaming threateningly . They stood in groups at different points . 

In the circumstances the students who had no protection from the University authorities , the police or from a government notorious for stoking anarchy were forced to stay inside the University in fear for their lives. Even the injured students could not be dispatched to the hospital.

It is well to recall, the Minister of higher education S.B Dissanayake who parades as an SOB ( son of a Brahmin) and does lip service to precious education and learning of children who are the country’s future investment, earlier warned that if the students do not permit the Dayata Kirula to be held , not only the students , even their parents may have to go in search of homes to live.( The pictures herein show how Sanath Jayasuriya and Aruna Gunasekera , a close relative of Mahinda Rajapakse directing the goons. On the right side of Sanath is Aruna in red shirt)

Sri Lanka Waits in Vain for the Rain

The lack of a national water management policy is hampering Sri Lanka's efforts to tackle recurring droughts. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

By Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, May 30 2014 (IPS) - Stuck in mid-day rush hour traffic, commuters packed tight into a tin-roofed bus in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, peer expectantly up at the sky that is beating a savage heat down on the city.

No one speaks, but it is clear they are all waiting for the same thing: for the heavens to open up and provide some relief from the scorching weather that is slowly cooking this island nation.

Over 200 km east, in the agricultural district of Ampara, farmers and rural folk wait equally expectantly for the elusive monsoon, already a few weeks late in coming.

Sri Lanka Waits in Vain for the Rain by nelvely

SRI LANKA: The Island of mass graves

The following article was published as the editorial of the latest issue of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa-June 3, 2014

Sri Lanka is once again on the edge of a political crucible in terms of its international relations as well as in its domestic politics. The country is ignoring calls for an independent and credible investigation into alleged wartime atrocities while at the same time carrying out atrocities against its own people.
None of the elected or appointed officials have been able to fulfil even the basic requirements of their offices, but instead put all their efforts into finding loopholes to escape the situation and to justify what they have done.

SRI LANKA the Island of Mass Graves by nelvely

Did you too laugh, my brother?

Photo courtesy The Global Mail

• by Channa Wickremesekera-
06/02/2014 

Tell me my brother in the North,

Who is not allowed to weep today

Tell me about the times when you laughed

On your long road to defeat and subjugation

Tell us as we too begin

Our own mirthful journey to hell

Lined with billboards of paradise

Did you too laugh my brother?

When they piled on the battlefield

The putrid bodies of young men

Seeing in their grimacing faces

The pain of a vanquished enemy

Not the tears of a bereaved mother.

And when the Muslims ran

To beat the cruel deadline

Did you too laugh my brother,

Watching those traitors stumble and fall?

And when your king promised you

The sun and moon

Did you too cheer wildly

And silence the critics with menacing looks

Even if you too felt deep down

That this road to glory was paved with blood

And ended in dust?

And when the sceptics warned

Before they were throttled

That all this fanfare

Will drown in thunder

Did you too laugh my brother,

Did you too laugh

Asia: Council must urge governments to rein in big businesses violating human rights of the people

Tuesday, 03 June 2014 

A written submission to the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre

While celebrating extraordinary tales of economic growth, many of the Asian countries have seen their citizens falling through the cracks. Even a cursory glance at the recent stories of growth and development in these countries shows how inequitable it has been for those at the margins of society. Many hardships are faced to access what should be theirs as a matter of right. Unfortunately, the big corporate houses have often been found to be behind many of the human rights violations despite their claims of being champions of corporate social responsibility.

This written submission refers to conditions in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines. In many of these countries a substantial section of the population stands at the threshold of poverty and food insecurity due to skewed development policies adopted by their governments.

Large scale land acquisitions facilitated for establishing special economic zones (SEZs) aimed at encouraging manufacturing in India and for promoting export-oriented agriculture and land development in the Philippines come across as the worst examples of sacrificing people on the altar of development. The push for SEZs requires about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and that increases to a whopping 1.49 lakh hectares if one includes all projects which include industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects. The evidence shows that the authorities in India have often used coercive force for the acquisitions and have seldom compensated the people adequately.

2000 acres of land being handed over to POSCO in the name of 'public interest' is a case in point. The lands are being claimed as government land and are acquired by the Industrial Development Corporation of India (IDCO) but they are in fact public land, which forest dwellers, farmers and adivasis (indigenous people) have been depending on for generations. Just like the air, sea, or river, those who depend on the forest for their survival, have so far shared it. They have their own rules for its use, protection and conservation, set up over generations. The government, acting at the behest of POSCO, has acquired the land forcibly, displacing more than 22,000 people even by the most modest estimates. It has further cut down some 60,000 trees on this land already and is ready to cut down an estimated ten times more. Deforestation may only benefit the POSCO and indirectly the government from the revenue generated from the project. The environmental impact caused by the massive deforestation is of no 'public interest', nor is it 'public responsibility' to bear the long-term consequences of deforestation. Similar are the stories of many such projects being carried out for the corporations across the country.

The absence of a clear land use policy in the Philippines has led to a lot of land being appropriated by the big agribusiness companies often at the cost of small and marginal farmers' rights and food security. The mushrooming of such projects has also resulted in large scale internal displacement or land dispossession of farmers and has even reduced them to farm labourers. There are also reported cases of involuntary disappearances of farmers and/or activists opposed to the big agribusiness companies. Mining is another woe for the poor of the Philippines with Mindanao, the mining capital of the country, being worst affected as more than half of the region's 2.4 million residents live in poverty. This has caused a huge unrest in the area with people protesting against the corporations. The situation is not much different for the urban poor whose habitats are being demolished for various projects. The ALRC, for example, has intervened in the case of an ongoing demolition drive affecting more than 5,500 families, or 30,000 people of San Roque, North Triangle, Quezon City. The demolition and eviction drive to make way for the implementation of the Vertis North Project under the Quezon City Central Business District has exposed the affected citizens to severe hardships while also endangering their livelihood and thereby pushing them towards poverty. Many other communities in the Philippines are living under perennial threat of getting displaced.

Huge tragedies like Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1137 workers and left another 1000 with serious injuries have brought to the fore the rampant violation of labour and human rights of workers by big businesses. Turned literally into a sweatshop for global brands with some 4,500 garment factories employ approximately 4 million workers, Bangladesh has seen many calamities like this. The blaze in multi-floor Tazreen Fashion factory in the Ashulia district on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka that killed more than 100 workers in 2012 is just one of countless examples of the death traps that are passed off as factories in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, neither the government nor the business has owned up their role in making of the disasters and they have failed to bring into any serious reforms into the living and working conditions. Many of the big companies like Benetton, Bonmarché, Mango, Matalan, Primark and Walmart whose labels were found in the dust have refused to pay compensation to those injured and killed in the Rana Plaza collapse. Some like Walmart are contesting the claims that their label was being manufactured there. The response of the government of Bangladesh is worse which has asked the relatives to prove that their kith and kin worked in the complex to get compensation and has even required them to provide DNA evidence, an impossibility in the cases of over 300 bodies charred beyond recognition, that a certain body is that of their own kin.

Land grabbing, especially for Palm oil, has emerged as a serious issue in Indonesia as well and is threatening scores of small farmers with imminent loss of their livelihood opportunities.

The situation demands an immediate action from the international community for initiating land and labour reforms and put an end to the continuing violation of the rights of the people. The United Nations Human Rights Council, a vital global institution, must stand in the forefront of these actions instead of merely asking Asian governments to take action on their own which they are most unlikely to take in any case. The Council must seriously consider making the corporate social responsibilities into an international law obligation by substantially developing international law which is visibly lacking at the moment. The Council must also take notice not merely of the adverse impacts on communities affected by projects but also criticize the countries where these big businesses are based and urge them to rein them in.

Sri Lankan asylum seeker’s application had been 'frozen', say refugee advocates

Claims processing delays could have been to blame for death of Leorsin Seemanpillai who set himself alight and died from burns

Leo Seemanpillai had been living in Geelong, waiting for his application for a protection visa to be finalised. Photograph: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Refugee supporters claim the immigration department had put a "freeze" on the application for protection of a now-deceased Sri Lankan asylum seeker because he had reached the Australian mainland.

Leorsin Seemanpillai, 29, set himself alight on Saturday evening and died on Sunday morning at Alfred hospital.

He was living in Geelong, waiting for his application for a protection visa to be finalised.

The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, has cautioned against drawing conclusions about what drove Seemanpillai to self-harm, and that there had been no visa decision, nor had he been told he was being deported.

"This is a terrible and tragic incident and none of us can know the mind of someone in this situation," Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

But Asylum Seeker Resource Centre spokeswoman Pamela Curr blames processing delays on the application of Seemanpillai, whose boat reached Darwin in January 2013.

Curr understands all asylum seekers who made it to Australia after August 2012, but before the federal parliament passed laws to excise the mainland in May 2013, have had their applications frozen.

"We don't know but maybe Leo would still be alive if his claims were being processed in a timely way," Curr said. "These direct-entry people were all ‘frozen’."

The no-advantage test, introduced by the Gillard government in August 2012, did not apply to asylum seekers who reached the mainland. It was aimed at ensuring those who arrived by boat were not advantaged over people waiting in refugee camps.

In senate estimates in May 2013, immigration department secretary Martin Bowles said that 699 asylum seekers reached the mainland and would not be detained in offshore centres.

Curr said it was six months before Seemanpillai had been allowed to make his refugee status claim and after 18 months he still hadn't had an official interview.

A spokeswoman for Morrison denied direct-entry cases had been frozen.

Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the cruelty of the Abbott government's refugee policy was pushing people to breaking point

"It's clear that Leo was a casualty of the system," Senator Hanson-Young said.

The minister hit back at what he considered the politicising of the death.

"If they are [politicising it] then that is a disgraceful and grubby and despicable thing for the Greens to do," he told Sky News.

Seemanpillai had been receiving community mental health support "for some time" and was in contact with a case worker as late as last Friday. There was nothing to indicate during those meetings he had intended to take his own life.

Morrison said he was satisfied Seemanpillai had received adequate assistance while on the bridging visa, with work rights and ongoing mental health support.

The department will conduct a review of the arrangements.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

Tamil Deaths In Australian Custody

| by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

( June 3, 2014, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I feel sad about the suicide of 29 year old Leo Seemanpillai, in Geelong – in the Australian state of Victoria. I chanted Sivapuranam believing that it would release the soul of Leo to merge with the Lord. I feel sad that I as a Tamil had not done enough to help preserve the life of Leo. 

Tamil Deaths in Australian Custody by nelvely

Dambala Amila Thera As A Common Candidate!

By Kumar David - June 3, 2014

Prof. Kumar David

In a surprise move (expect many more in the coming months) Ven Dambara Amila Thera, convenor of the AIMP, has declared that the JVP has requested him to come forward as a Common Candidate (CC) of the opposition, and he would be happy to do so if sufficient numbers backed him. This is what a report in the Ceylon Today newspaper reported in its front page on 3 June. The Thera, according to the report, went on to make some pretty revealing comments. “Abolishing the Executive Presidency was not the sole reason” he is reported to have said.  “Improving infrastructure development, establishing the independence of the judiciary, creating a platform for good governance and a people friendly economy based on local production and manufacturing merged with new technology” were stated as reasons for his candidacy!

Dambara Amila Thera

Oh so the good Thera envisages implementing a full governmental programme! Oh so if he wins he will remain Executive President for six years to do all this! If EP is abolished straight away what is the good Thero’s role? None!

This is the same trick that Ranil is trying. Do the two of them think the people of Sri Lanka are so dumb as not to see through his ploy? Respected Thera, are you offering yourself as a Common Candidate for the express purpose of forthwith abolishing the Executive Presidency, or do you have ambition to be president for six years to implement yoru programme? You and your sponsors, the JVP, must answer this question first, with no iffs-and-buts, before anyone can take you seriously.

A common candidate from parties of Tamil speaking people mooted : Disunited opposition to be taught a lesson
(Lanka-e-News- 02.June.2014, 9.30PM) The Tamil speaking political parties of Sri Lanka (SL) who are disgusted with the tug of war that is raging in the south among the opposition political parties over the appointment of a common candidate , had planned to field their own Tamil speaking people’s common candidate at the next Presidential elections, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

It is learnt that the discussions that are being held between the Tamil and Muslim political parties have been for the most part fruitful in this direction.

It is an undisputed fact that if Medamulana Rajapakse regime is to be defeated , the opposition political parties should of necessity buckle down to a common and logical program . Instead of that these parties are stooping to divisiveness and selfishness pursuing personal agendas and self centered aims whereby they are playing into the hands of the Medamulana Rajapakses while driving themselves more and more into a hellhole.

The political parties of the Tamil speaking people who are therefore disillusioned and disgruntled with those opposition parties claim , as a result of their rudderless and self centered aims and activities , those parties will not even be able to secure a single vote out of the 51 % votes necessary to win elections.

In the circumstances , it is the view of the Tamil speaking people’s political parties that instead of supporting a candidate of the south who cannot even poll a single vote and is supposed to be a common candidate though he is truly not , it is better for them to field their own separate Tamil speaking people’s candidate ,and request the second preferential vote be cast in favor of the candidate of the south . 

It is also the perception of the Tamil speaking people’s political parties, rather than support a candidate of the south on conditions which cannot be relied upon, it is better the aspirations of the Tamil speaking people are fulfilled and an inestimable force be built up by casting the second preferential vote for a candidate of the south.

Dayan proposes Anura’s name as Presidential candidate

 Tuesday, 03 June 2014 

Former Sri Lankan diplomat, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has proposed the name of JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the next Presidential candidate of the opposition.

He has told a weekend newspaper that the UNP has no strength to contest with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and win, but the UNP is also behaving like the dog in the manger

 “There are many issues regarding Ven. Sobitha Thero’s knowledge on politics and his ability to administrate. I don’t think could get many votes,” Jayatilleka has added.

He has noted that under such an environment the JVP should turn its attention to make changes and come forward as a national force at the next presidential election.

“I think Anura Kumara Dissanayaka should be announced as the presidential candidate. Then the masses be invigorated and a significant leap forward could be achieved through it,” Dr. Jayatilleka has said.

Assessing Governance In Sri Lanka – Treading A Minefield

By Udan Fernando -June 3, 2014 

Chairperson – Transparency International Sri Lanka, the Chief Guest, the Executive Director – Transparency International Sri Lanka, Ladies and gentlemen.

I consider it an honour to deliver the keynote address reviewing the latest Governance Report by Transparency International Sri Lanka. I thank you for this invitation. It’s a pleasure to be part of this gathering where you launch this report.

Let me make a general remark before I do my job proper.

Dr. Udan Fernando at the ceremony to launch the Sri Lanka Governance Report 2012-2013, at BMICH on 29th May, 2014.

Nobody — including the government, corporate or non-governmental organisaitons (NGOs) — are against governance as a concept, even good governance. Anybody would embrace it; subscribe to it. Some would even uphold it as a value, a standard and a norm.

[Indian example Modi slogan: minimum government, maximum governance]

Governance is not understood or misunderstood as a ‘foreign’, ‘western’ conspiratorial idea to destabilise the country.  As such, there is reasonable consensus in society about the value of the concept. However, it becomes a problem when one questions the practice of governance. Such an effort can be construed as being conspiratorial. Therefore, assessing governance is a dangerous minefield to tread. One can easily be branded as a traitor or a betrayer, and the consequences can sometimes be dangerous. Against such a backdrop, bringing out a report on governance, dwelling on some touchy issues and crucial dimensions of the practice of governance is indeed a brave act. Therefore, Transparency International Sri Lanka needs to be congratulated for its commitment to speak out when a great majority is not speaking either out of fear or due to self-censorship.                    Read More

A modest proposal for the development of the Buddhisms and Tourisms also

by The Silva 

- on 06/03/2014 

Last time I am writing opened letter. Peoples are reading it and telling me, The Silva, you are writing very intelligent things in support of Our Majesty and his country. We are proud of you. Even His Majesty is sending text message early in the morning saying well done! It is true that my neighbour and his neighbour are also getting same text message even if they are not doing anything like I am doing. And to be telling the truth, I am very suspicious that the whole neighbourhood is getting similar message because Our Majesty is in the habits of getting up in the mornings and playing with his phone and our numbers. But I am proud to be thinking the message is for myself only. As my wife is always reminding me, in Our Majesty’s country we are entitled to be misled. Therefore and because of this, this time I am writing article, hoping I will get more textual contacting from the palace.

A Modest Proposal for the Development of the Buddhisms and Tourisms Also by nelvely

SriLankan gobbles up Rs. 60 m a day

Published on Monday, 02 June 2014 19:59

The SriLankan Airlines incurs a loss of nearly Rs. 60 million a day, reports by the Central Bank point out.

The airlines’ losses are increasing by the year and the increase of losses stood at 31 per cent in 2012.

SriLankan cites increased prices of aviation fuel, economic downturn in Europe and delay in expanding and modernizing its fleet of aircraft as the reasons for its continued losses.

However, other international airlines earn huge profits, with Emirates recording a 43 pc increase in its profit to 887 million USD in 2013.

According to economists, an absence of a proper institutional vision and inexperienced persons holding top positions are the reasons for this grave setback by the SriLankan Airlines.

Its chairman is Nishantha Wickramasinghe, who is the brother of first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, and has failed even at the GCE O/L exam.

The airline has an eight member director board, including Shamindra Rajapaksa, son of speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.

Jayalalithaa takes firm stand on Sri Lankan Tamil issue

Jayalalithaa takes firm stand on Sri Lankan Tamil issue

Karthick S | Jun 3, 2014

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has taken a firm stand on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue despite conciliatory gestures by the Island nation in recent times, including release of Indian fishermen from the jails in that country.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday, the chief minister reiterated her stand. She demanded the Centre sponsor a resolution in the UN condemning the genocide in Sri Lanka and to hold all those responsible for it accountable. She said the resolution should demand a referendum among the Tamils in Sri Lanka for the formation of a separate Tamil Eelam.

Jayalalithaa said there were very strong sentiments among people in Tamil Nadu on a range of issues relating to India's relations with the present regime in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the final stages of the civil war in that country. The final stages of the war witnessed an 'ethnic pogrom' and 'genocide' perpetrated on the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

She recalled the four resolutions passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly condemning the 'continuous discrimination' against the Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka and "violation of their human rights."

Similarly, she demanded retrieval of Katchatheevu and restoration of traditional fishing rights of fishermen in Tamil Nadu. During her press briefing after the meeting, Jayalalithaa said she had discussed fishermen issues with Modi.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) appreciated Jayalalithaa's concern for the welfare of the minority Tamils in the island nation. "We welcome her firm stand for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils," TNA spokesperson Suresh Premachandran said.

A day before the meeting between Modi and Jayalalithaa, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had ordered the release of 29 Indian fishermen arrested last week for allegedly fishing in the Sri Lankan waters. The fishermen issue figured during the bilateral talks in New Delhi last week when President Rajapaksa visited Delhi to attend Modi's swearing-in as the Prime Minister. Prior to the swearing-in ceremony, Rajapaksa had ordered the release of a batch of Indian fishermen.

Jayalalithaa said she had written 41 times in the last three years to the then Prime Minister on the 76 incidents of apprehension and 67 incidents of attacks on or harassment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy. 'These incidents have caused unrest among the fishermen community in Tamil Nadu. Such incidents are a national issue as any attack on an innocent Indian is an attack on India," she said in the memorandum.

She requested Modi to protect the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay area. The chief minister reiterated her demand that Katchatheevu be retrieved from Sri Lanka and the traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen be restored.

On Day Jayalalithaa Meets Modi, Sri Lanka Releases Indian Fishermen as 'Goodwill Measure'

All India | Written by Sam Daniel Stalin | Updated: June 03, 2014 

Photo: PTI

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Delhi on May 25

Chennai:  Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the release of 29 Indian fishermen who were arrested by the country's Navy a few days ago for allegedly trespassing into Lankan waters.

Mr Rajapaksa has described the move as a "goodwill measure".

The fishermen, who are from Tamil Nadu, will be released today, the day Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

During her meeting with Mr Modi, Ms Jayalalithaa is expected to bring up the issue of  detention of Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy for fishing in the island nation's waters.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Sunday, Ms Jayalalithaa had called for a "decisive shift in stand" on the issue, as against the "meek response" by the earlier United Progressive Alliance or UPA regime.

Ms Jayalalithaa has claimed that 33 fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka; the Lankan authorities are going to release 29 of them.

Nearly 600 Indian fishermen have lost their lives to attacks by the Lankan Navy over the last few decades, according to government figures.

Sri Lankan authorities claim that Indian fishermen affect the livelihood of local fishermen who are trying to rebuild their lives after the end of the civil war.

But fishermen in Tamil Nadu believe that they have traditional fishing rights to fish in Lankan waters.

India had earlier unsuccessfully sought a lease agreement with the island nation so that fishermen from Tamil Nadu could be allowed to legally fish in Lankan waters.

The Sri Lankan President had ordered the release of all fishermen before his recent visit to India, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on May 26.