PTSD: Reefer Madness & Dangerous Drugs

Dr. Phil Leveque Professor of Pharmacology Salem-News.com-Jul-27-2014 

Marijuana is the Best, Safest Drug

Marijuana (Cannabis) helps the symptoms of PTSD.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is one of the worst afflictions to hit us as thinking people. Although it has been recorded in history for about 4,000 years, it probably has been around longer than that. Even military dogs get it, so it must be much more universal for thinking critters than we have considered.

We, as a country, have recorded PTSD in every war since our revolutionary war, but it certainly afflicted soldiers far before that time. The British had severe penalties against their own soldiers who we now know could not do combat anymore for psychological reasons; they were shot or hung for "lack of moral fiber". Who wants to get shot, maimed or killed anyhow? The several standard treatments for PTSD are frequently worse than the psychological condition itself.

For years, our military opined that PTSD was a temporary condition except for officers who, if they showed even a tendency for a psychological breakdown, were most frequently sent to the rear or even home. This was usually not the case for enlisted men. From front line battle situations they were sometimes sent to the rear and given a triple dose of sleeping pills to "sleep it off", a shower, a change of clothes, a couple of warm meals and then - back to where bullets, artillery and mortar rounds were flying. Their foxholes were still about as lethal as standing up in a firefight.

In Vietnam in particular, the "legal drug pushers" were issuing every type of drug you can imagine and most you've never heard of or thought of. PTSD was considered some sort of depression by the military, which it wasn't.....it's actually a combination of terror and anguishabout comrades destroyed or killed beside ones self.

The medics even had a new type of drug to play with called Anti-Depressants, which really weren't that at all. Most of them caused sleep or at least goofiness. Who wants to be goofy on the front lines?

Although a ton or more of anti-depressants where forced on the troops it was later conceded that they really didn't work at all. They literally destroyed whole battalions of combat troops.

Many of the morphine-like drugs were used and they are really great for pain of wounds and they really do cause sleep. I will presume they caused a lot of deaths by suicide or accidental overdose of those who did not want to go back to the front lines.

The opiate deaths in the U.S. are about 40,000 per year; even to this day Vietnam PTSD Veterans are still committing suicide with them.

Most combat men, Army and Marines, discovered alcohol as a tranquilizer and sleep aid, some in basic training. This was a two-edged sword. About 88,000 people, veterans included, die each year from alcohol by overdosing or destroying their livers.

Combat men and women usually smoke a lot of cigarettes. Cigarettes kill about 480,000 people per year and even 2nd hand smoke kills about 42,000, which makes it just about as bad as opiates.

Some other drugs kill veterans and civilians but the above are the most important drugs- the most DANGEROUS.

A really strange thing has come about particularly with the Vietnam veterans. They've seen the evolution of the marijuana movement.

Marijuana grows wild or semi-wild all over that country. It is certain that many U.S. troops had used it before but while they were in Vietnam its use literally exploded. When they came home many brought it with them and were astonished when customs took it away from them.

That didn't stop them from using marijuana. They had discovered that it helped them sleep, and eat, and often cope with the aftermath of war on their psyches. And so they self-medicated with marijuana, even though it was not legal in the U.S. Those that chose marijuana over alcohol or hard drugs are mostly still here to tell about it.

In the meantime, medical marijuana was legalized starting about 1996. When the veterans found this out, they came in droves to get their medical marijuana permits.

In New Mexico, 50% of permit holders are veterans with PTSD. Thousands of Oregon veterans suffering from PTSD are legal, card-carrying patients. Some states still restrict it for PTSD but most veterans have other conditions which will get them a permit.

About 23 states have legalized medical marijuana. Five more states are about to legalize it.

Locking the stable door after the horses have bolted

Sunday, July 27, 2014

For most of the post-war years, the Rajapaksa Government’s actions have been informed by a strange and intensely contradictory mixture of the classic classroom bully as well as its exact opposite, the sniveling skinny kid who gets picked on in the playground.

Devastating consequences of blatant lying
So on the one hand, it blustered and roared to the world that its handling of the Wanni war was beyond reproach. Unbelievably we were told very early on that there were ‘zero’ civilian casualties. Civilized engagement with the global community (earlier evidenced by Sri Lankan governments even at the height of civil conflict), deteriorated to unimaginable levels.

Officers of the United Nations and high-level diplomats were grossly insulted. Blatant falsehoods were uttered before international committees. One particularly striking example was when the incumbent in the office of Chief Justice appeared before the Committee against Torture in an earlier avatar as advisor to the Rajapaksa Cabinet and claimed that the ‘disappeared’ web journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda was safe and sound after seeking asylum overseas. Later, when questioned by a local court on this claim during the hearing of a habeas corpus application into Ekneligoda’s disappearance, all that he could say was that only God knew Ekneligoda’s whereabouts.

The point is not that previous administrations did not lie. The point is that such utter disregard for convention and indeed, basic decency was not shown. The image of Sri Lanka as a rogue nation defiantly thumbing its nose at all and sundry emerged with devastating consequences. Inept and politically appointed loyalists manning overseas missions excelled only in fattening themselves and their disreputable families. Each week, a different scandal surfaced regarding these so-called ambassadors of the nation.

Hugely damaging Government strategies
Even as this out-of-control post-war juggernaut smashed a democratic system into smithereens, Sri Lankans were being told that the country had become a victim of Western conspiracies due to anger over not halting the war effort. Eerily reminiscent of the child who complains of classroom bullying, we heard the constant refrain that Sri Lanka is being picked on because it is a small country.

Yet the truth is that much of our current woes have been a direct result of hugely damaging strategies of this Government alone. If a judicious inquiry into the deaths and disappearances of civilians had been conducted, if the integrity of the judiciary had not been so terribly undermined in pursuance of political greed and if pure common sense had informed government policy, all the alleged international conspiracies taken together would not have sufficed to put us into this unhappy position.

Even at the very late stage of the 2011 Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report, Sri Lanka might have drawn back from the brink. But this Government chose to continue on its ruinous way. Hence last week’s announcement that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has expanded the mandate of a local commission of inquiry to include investigation into war crimes and appointed three international advisors needs to be taken with more than a proverbial pinch of salt.

Deliberate suppression of the Udalagama report
This move is stamped with the markers of an exercise aimed at deflecting international pressure. This Government’s record in appointing international advisors to local bodies has scarcely been encouraging. In 2007, well known names in international law tasked to ‘advise’ the Udalagama Commission of Inquiry departed after being accused by the Government of ‘interfering’ in the commission process. The Udalagama Commission itself wound up in disarray after it was prematurely dissolved by the Government. A key recommendation by the LLRC that the Udalagama report should be published remains ignored.

The logical inference therein is that the Udalagama findings pinpoint state responsibility in regard to the 2007 killings of Tamils and Muslims in Trincomalee and possibly Mutur. These two crimes formed a backdrop to the present cry for accountability. Indeed, a private media newspaper attempted to pass off the submissions of defence counsel appearing before the Udalagama Commission as a ‘leaked’ excerpt from the Commission report, after the Commission was disbanded. The Government’s hysterical over-reaction following the exposure of this despicable ‘planted’ story was a good indication. These are, of course, old tricks of the trade.

In fact, the implication of state agents in the Trincomalee incident in particular was indicated by a separate fact finding report of the National Human Rights Commission when it was independently constituted unlike now.

Do we deserve this?
Regardless, these theatrical ‘commission exercises’ prove nothing. However high profile and solid the academic and professional credentials of the ‘advisors’ may be, the point is that if they lean the Government’s way, even ever so slightly, this ‘advice’ will merely be used as a delaying tactic. This appears to be the strategy being contemplated. On the off-chance meanwhile that the ‘advisors’ may openly clash with government politicians and the Department of the Attorney General on direct issues of state responsibility, they will doubtless be summarily packed off with insults. This is the fate that was meted out to the international experts who assisted the Udalagama Commission.

But the larger issue is not about the country. Rather, it is about raw political power. This desperate wriggling now as the Government resorts to appointing ‘international experts’ amounts to locking the stable door after the horses have bolted. It is as simple as that.

And the question is not merely that Sri Lanka need not worry about international intervention. This is also about the quality of citizenship that we demand. True enough, bombs do not go off on the streets and the casualty lists do not come in. Yet as opposed to deaths from conflict, Sri Lanka has been relegated to a virtual pariah nation in the international sphere, there is a catastrophic collapse in law enforcement and a clear militarization of the State framed by militant Sinhala-Buddhism putting the enlightened teachings of the Gautama Buddha to shame.
Is this truly what post-war Sri Lanka deserves?

India told Sri Lanka to resolve Tamil issue for better trade, says Seshadri Chari

PTI Jul 26, 2014

SINGAPORE: India has told Sri Lanka that it needs to resolve the Tamil issue for making progress in bilateral trade and commerce, a senior BJP leader has said.

"We have told them (Sri Lanka) that you should resolve the Tamil issue if you want trade and commerce between Colombo and New Delhi (to progress)," Seshadri Chari, National Convener of Foreign Policy Cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, told PTI.

He made the remarks after addressing a Singapore forum on "Prime Minister Modi's Government: Imperatives & Challenges".

Talking about China, Chari said, "We are dealing with China from the same point of view. We have told the Chinese that there would not be any negotiations or talks on Arunachal Pradesh."

"The Chinese are not worried about our Arunachal Pradesh," he said, adding that the Chinese were more worried about Tibet and Xinjiang.

Responding to a question on foreign policy of the new government, he said the government of India decides on foreign policy issues and not Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, an apparent reference to the perceived veto the two states had with the previous administration in Delhi.

He also pointed out that the actual principles of India's foreign policy have never changed since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's time.

"What has changed is the tougher course of correction and response mechanism," Chari said while addressing about 500 participants at the forum hosted by Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies.

Manifesto For A “People’s Peaceful Planet – 2025”

By Kusal Perera -July 27, 2014

Kusal Perera

With the end of the Second World War, strengthening and uniting the larger world as the “United Nations” despite a slow growing cold war between two super powers, the USA and the USSR, the decade of 50 began with some sense of relief. The world psyche in general was that there will not be a “Third World War”, on this planet earth.

There nevertheless were serious localised armed conflicts even in the decade of 50. They were cocooned in smaller geographical areas like Korea, Vietnam, Algeria and the Suez Canal. The Korean and Vietnamese wars ended leaving 03 countries instead of 02. There were also internal armed uprisings and civil wars like in Cuba, Kenya and also in Rwanda towards 1959.

But, there was good and the bad of the Second World War. The good was that, science and technological leap in this human world was immense and unprecedented in post world war two, than ever before. Starting with the Soviet Russia’s Sputnik, man is said to have landed in the moon, brought its soil back home and is studying Saturn and Venus. The bad is that, this knowledge advancement was not focused or was not meant for the development of the quality of human life, only. While in general terms, life expectancy at birth increased, child mortality at birth decreased, deceases like malaria and polio were almost eradicated and more humans started living much longer than pre WW II, commuting and communicating in unbelievable speed, wide spread famine, hunger, poverty in most parts of the world, not only remained at pathetic levels, but increased too.

Its not that the world does not produce enough for the 7.2 billion people living on this planet earth. According to FAO (2002) the modern world produces enough food for every human to consume 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day. That’s what’s required for a decent healthy life. Problem is, the lop sided global economic order does not allow fair distribution and access to all. “The causes of poverty include poor people’s lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict and hunger itself.” says the “2013 World Hunger & Poverty Facts and Statistics” sheet.

Yet the world has powerful nations speaking of and advocating justice, democracy, accountability and good governance. There are powerful nations that have “coerced” members of the UN to adopt universal charters on human rights, child and women’s rights, labour rights, have laid down restrictions on use of weapons and ammunitions in conflicts, on collateral damage in armed conflicts and wars, inter State and governmental responsibilities and much more, to keep the world in peace and with decent living. That’s for the rest of the people on this planet and not for them. They go unchecked and unquestioned with a right to violate all that. They have usurped the right to police this planet. Not simply on the strength of their economies alone, but also on the strength of their modern armed forces, their military hardware and mass scale arms manufacture.

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Solheim Ready To Testify 

• Former peace envoy willing to share information with Government Commission

By Easwaran Rutnam

Former Norwegian peace envoy, Erik Solheim, says he is ready to testify before the Government Commission of Inquiry tasked to investigate the war.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Solheim said that he has nothing to hide and is willing to share whatever he knows with the Government Commission. Earlier, Solhiem had offered to testify before the UN led investigation which has already commenced investigations into the war.

Now that the domestic Commission on Mission Persons has been asked to investigate the war, Solheim says he will come forward and share information if required. “The information I may be able to provide is for sure also available to the domestic probe and the President-appointed international experts. I have nothing to hide,” he declared.

Solhiem played a key role in Sri Lanka during the war and had direct links with the LTTE and the Government as peace facilitator.

Despite the end of the Norwegian mediatory role in Sri Lanka, Solhiem continues to follow the Sri Lankan situation even after the war. Recently, Solhiem had met Tamil politicians in Paris during a Diaspora meeting.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had recently expanded the mandate of the Presidential Commission on Mission Persons and had appointed three international experts to advice the Commission. In a Gazette notification, President’s Secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, said the President is of the opinion that the Commission of Inquiry should have the benefit of the advice of distinguished international experts, whose internationally recognized expertise and experience encompasses legal and other relevant dimensions of the matters covered in the mandate.

Accordingly, the President named Sir Desmond de Silva, QC (Chairman), Sir Geoffrey Nice, QC and Prof. David Crane as the three experts to advice the Commission.

The experts will serve on an Advisory Council to the Commission of Inquiry to which the President says he may appoint other experts as may be required from time to time, to advise the Chairman and Members of the Commission of Inquiry, at their request, on matters pertaining to the work of the Commission.

Sir Desmond has developed a vast experience before international criminal tribunals in relation to the gravest of international crimes while Sir Geoffrey Nice led the prosecution in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

The Mission Persons Commission has now been tasked with investigating and reporting on the principal facts and circumstances that had led to the loss of civilian life during the internal armed conflict that ended on 19th May 2009, and whether any person, group or institution, directly or indirectly bears responsibility in this regard by reason of a violation or violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law.

கூட்டமைப்பை பிளவுபடுத்தும் சதி ஒரு போதும் வெற்றியளிக்காது

 Sun, 07/27/2014

அரசாங்கம் ஏனைய கட்சிகளைப் பிரித்து, துருவப்படுத்தி வெற்றி கண்டது போன்று தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பையும் பிளவுபடுத்த நினைக்கின்றது. அதற்காக சில ஊடகங்களையும் பயன்படுத்த முனைகின்றது. கூட்டமைப்பை பிளவுபடுத்த அரசாங்கம் மேற்கொள்ளும் முயற்சி ஒரு போதும் பலிக்காது. கூட்டமைப்பு தமிழ் மக்களின் தியாகத்தால் கட்டியெழுப்பப்பட்ட ஓர் கட்சியாகும் என்று தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் தலைவரும் சிரேஷ்ட பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினருமான இரா.சம்பந்தன்  தெரிவித்தார்.

தமிழத் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு இரண்டாகப் பிளவுபட்டுள்ளதாக சிங்கள ஊடகமொன்று வெளியிட்டுள்ள செய்தி தொடர்பில் அவரிடம் தொடர்பு கொண்டு கேட்டபோதே அவர் இவ்வாறு தெரிவித்தார்.

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் பாராளுமன்ற குழுத் தலைவரான இரா.சம்பந்தன் மேலும் கூறுகையில்,

தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பைப் பொறுத்தமட்டில் எந்த விவகாரம் தொடர்பிலும் எந்தவித பிளவுமின்றியே தனது ஒருமித்த செயற்பாட்டை மேற்கொண்டு வருகின்றது. கூட்டமைப்பைப் பிளவுபடுத்த வேண்டுமென்பதில் அரசாங்கம் கடும் பிரயத்தனங்களை மேற்கொண்டு வந்தது. எனினும் அது சாத்தியமாகவில்லை.

தமிழரசுக் கட்சியின் பேராளர் மாநாடு புரட்டாசி மாதம் நடைபெறவுள்ளது. இந்தப் பேராளர் மாநாட்டில் எமது மாவட்டம் தோறும் உள்ள கிளைகள் மற்றும் பேராளர்கள் ஒன்றுகூடுவார்கள். இவர்கள் ஒன்று கூடி ஏகமனதான தீர்மானங்களை மேற்கொள்வார்கள்.

என்னைப் பொறுத்தமட்டில் நான் தமிழரசுக் கட்சியின் தலைவராகக் கடந்த மூன்று வருடங்களாக இருந்து வருகிறேன். அந்த வகையில், எனது பொறுப்புக்களை வேறு ஒருவரிடம் ஒப்படைக்கலாம் என்று கருதுகிறேன். அது தொடர்பில் தமிழத் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் உறுப்பினர்கள், பேராளர்கள் ஒன்று கூடி இணக்கமான முடிவுக்கு வருவார்கள். இதன் மூலம் ஒரு போதும் பிளவுபடவோ, பிரச்சினைகள் எழவோ இடமில்லை.

கூட்டமைப்பின் உறுப்பினர்கள் எவரும் பதவி மோகத்தைக் கொண்டவர்கள் அல்ல. அவர்கள் தமிழர்களின் ஈடேற்றத்துக்காக மிகுந்த அர்ப்பணிப்புடன் சேவையாற்றி வருகின்றனர். அந்த வகையில் கூட்டமைப்பை பிளவுபடுத்த எடுக்கும் முயற்சிகள் பயனற்ற ஒன்றாகவே அமையும்.

இதேவேளை, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பை பதிவு செய்ய வேண்டும் என்பது தொடர்பில் கூட்டமைப்பில் அங்கத்துவம் வகிக்கும் கட்சிகள் தங்கள் கருத்துக்களை வெளியிட்டு வருகின்றன. அது தொடர்பில் சாதகமாகப் பரீசிலிக்கப்படும். எப்படியாவது கூட்டமைப்பை பிளவுபடுத்தி தமிழ் மக்களை அரசியல் அநாதைகளாக்கலாம் என்று அரசு கங்கணம் கட்டி செயற்படுவதையே காண முடிகின்றது. அதற்கு கட்சியோ தமிழ் மக்களோ ஒரு போதும் இடமளிக்க மாட்டார்கள் என்பதே யதார்த்தமாகும் என்றார்.

இதேவேளை, ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தல் வேட்பாளர் தொடர்பாக தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டணியில் பாரிய பிளவு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும் ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் எதிர்க்கட்சி வேட்பாளருக்கு ஆதரவளிக்க வேண்டுமென சில உறுப்பினர்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றனர் என்றும் மேலும் சிலர், தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு சார்பில் வேட்பாளரொருவரை நிறுத்த வேண்டுமென தெரிவித்துள்ளதால் இந்தப் பிளவு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும் குறித்த சிங்கள ஊடகமொன்று செய்தி வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.

அந்தச் செய்தியில் மேலும்,

பிரதான இரு கட்சிகளின் வேட்பாளர்களுக்கும் ஆதரவு வழங்குவதால் தமிழ் மக்களின் பிரச்சினைகளுக்கு தீர்வு கிடைக்கப் போவதில்லை. எனவே தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு சார்பில் ஒரு வேட்பாளரை ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் நிறுத்தி தமிழர் மக்களின் பலத்தைக் காட்டுவதுடன் கூட்டமைபைச் சேர்ந்த எம்.பிக்கள் எதிர்க்கட்சி வேட்பாளருக்கு நிபந்தனையுடன் ஆதரவு வழங்க வேண்டுமெனக் கருதுகின்றனர். இந்த நிலையின் கீழ் அடுத்த ஜனாதிபதி வேட்பாளர் தொடர்பில் தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்புக்குள் கடும் கருத்து மோத்ல்கள் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளன என்றும் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

Throw The ‘Look Africa’ Policy Into The Waste Paper Basket And Adopt A ‘Look West’ Policy Instead – ST Editorial

July 27, 2014

Despite the uproar made by some of the leaders of the government, the recent expansion of the scope of the Commission on Disappearances the Rajapaksa regime has given the message that not only has it capitulated to international pressure, but that it will be forced to act only when there is international pressure, the Editorial of today’s Sunday Times – a prominent weekly English newspaper in Sri Lanka – remarks.

Sinha Ratnatunga – Editor Sunday Times

Today’s editorial titled ‘Losing the Diplomatic War’ it has been pointed out that the Rajapksa regime misled by its foreign policy pundits, has ignored the good old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ in responding to mounting allegations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law violations during the final phases of the war.

Recalling the foreign policy blunders, the Editorial notes

-          The first court martial of the former Army Commander

-          The deceptive inquiry by the military on allegations of ‘war crimes’

-          Prolonged delay in setting up the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)

-          Delay in implementing its recommendations despite the mechanism giving the Government an early window of opportunity have not boded well with Sri Lanka’s image.

The Editorial further notes that there is much to do in mending fences with the West – an area that has been completely abandoned by the External Affairs Ministry under the Rajapaksa regime, pointing out that even through back channel initiatives, it would take steadfast efforts for a long period for mend relations with the White House and Capitol Hill.

“The Government will have to set its priorities right in the first place. For instance, the insane ‘Look Africa’ foreign policy must be just thrown into the WPB and a more useful ‘Look West’ approach adopted, surely,” the piece notes pointing out Sri Lanka and its people have much more in common with the West than with Africa.

Furthermore, it asserts that if Sri Lanka is to succeed in this modern world, it cannot afford to shun the West or be shunned by it.

Sabotage of media workshop and death threats are govt. orchestrated – SLWJA

[MEDIA RELEASE: July 26, 2014 ] -

26/07/2014

The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA)  condemns in the strongest terms yet another act of intimidation of media by the government orchestrated mobs who sabotaged a planned media workshop for Jaffna journalists scheduled at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) today( 26). The workshop on Digital media Security for a group of media personnel from Jaffna was to be held at the Sri Lanka Press Institute today.  However, 16 journalists who were heading to Colombo for the media workshop was detained by the Army at the Omanthai Military  Check Point on the purported charges of having Cannabis in their procession on Friday evening and were handed over to the police.  They  were subsequently released by the police,  on the same day night and were instructed  to  return to Jaffna.  (The driver of the van travelled by journalists remains in police custody.)

The media personnel however headed to Colombo for the workshop. However,  this morning,  a group of government organized mobs have gathered in front of the SLPI, threatening to storm the institution should the workshop be held.  The hapless organizers were forced to abandon the workshop.

Subsequently, the activists of media organizations who have been planning to hold a media conference about the incident are now receiving death threats. The Convener of Free Media Movement,  Sunil Jayasekara received a series of anonymous calls, threatening with murder should the planed media conference go ahead.
SLWJA  sees in this latest incident, the familiar pattern of intimidation that has been unleashed by the government and its military apparatus in the past. Earlier, two workshops organized by the Transparency International were sabotaged in the same manner.

We condemn this latest incident in the strongest term and stand in solidarity with our colleagues. We are, especially, concerned about the security of Jaffna  media colleagues and would continue to monitor the situation.

We call upon the government to abandon its not so covert modest operandi that is put in place to intimidate the press and media activists.  Those acts  continue to vindicate the hollowness of the government’s commitment to democracy and fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.
Ranga Jayasuriya

General Secretary
On behalf of the Executive Committee

Thousands ‘Walk for Unity’

SUNDAY, 27 JULY 2014

The ‘Walk for Unity’ organized by the Socialist Youth Union to celebrate the ‘Brotherhood Day’ that ‘walked’ from Maligawatta to Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre was participated by a large gathering. A rally and a cultural show were held at the Open Air theatre later.

Thousands ‘Walk for Unity’ by Maria Anderson

Don’t say we are bad boys next time – Thugs warn SLPI

By SLB -26/07/2014 
Leader of the gang who disrupted the media workshop to be held in the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Press Institute warned that ” if this institute allows any such training in the future done say we are bad boys”.  The person who can be clearly indentified in the video was referring to a workshop where Tamil journalists form the Jaffna was invited.  This flagrant violation of peoples right to association and expression took place in the heart of the city on 26 July 2014 .

This was a clear warning they will use the violence against Tamil journalists participating in training workshops in the South of Sri Lanka.  He further warned that if such workshops are held any where in the country they will be there to stop them.

The thug leader using megaphone shouted that SLPI is a Brothel  of Tigers and not a institute of journalists. He called on the people to rise up against these activities to safeguard the future of the country.  He bosted that Tamil journalists have fled and the workshop has been cancealed because of their presense.

Issuing a press statement the largest journalists union of the country the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association said that this act of intimidation of media was carried out by the government orchestrated mobs.

Speaking to SLB form Coombo a press freedom activist said that  this could be  the initial stage of parallel clinician set up in the lines of extremist Bodu Bala Sena.

The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) was established and manage by  the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, the Free Media Movement, and the Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association, to provide direction and leadership in media related activities.