US 'set to launch air strikes' on senior Isis leaders in Syria

White House will 'take action' against threats as Turkey comes under pressure to halt flow of jihadists across its border

Turkey is under mounting pressure to stem the flow of jihadists across its border into Syria.

Toby Helm and Martin Chulov

 Sunday 24 August 2014

The United States was said to be considering air strikes aimed at eliminating individual leaders of Islamic State as Turkey came under mounting pressure to stem the flow of jihadists across its border intoSyria.

As Washington on Saturday debated extending air strikes into Syria, senior British politicians urged Ankara to act to block recruits from the UK and other countries from entering Syria via Turkey, en route to joining Islamic State (formerly Isis). This weekend large numbers of Isis jihadists were trying to secure greater control of the border area, pushing northwards in armoured trucks looted from abandoned Iraqi military bases.

Isis wants to establish dominance in the area to make it easier for potential recruits to gain safe passage and to allow the movement of vital supplies, including weapons and oil. The route has been used by most of the foreign fighters who have joined the cause, and is believed to have been taken by several hundred of those who have joined Isis from the UK.

US officials said that there was now a "new context" for confronting Isis – and cutting off its supply routes – following the beheading of US journalist James Foley. In a sign that Washington may widen the field of its air strikes, the White House said it was ready to "take action" against any threat to America in Iraq or Syria. US military officials confirmed on Saturday night it had carried out an air strike against Isis near the Mosul Dam to support Iraqi and Kurdish operations.

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said before the strike: "If we see plotting against Americans, if we see a threat to the US emanating from anywhere, we stand ready to take action against that threat. We have made it very clear time and again that if you come after Americans, we're going to come after you, wherever you are – and that's what's going to guide our planning in the days to come."

According to US military officials cited in the Wall Street Journal, the time needed to mount strikes at high-value targets, such as individual leaders, could be an hour, or "as much as a week". The official added: "If it's based on training camps, we could do that pretty soon." Similar briefings cited by the New York Times suggested officials were discussing the possibility of mounting unmanned drone strikes on Isis leaders, as has happened in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.

Islamic State declared itself a "caliphate" in late June and has since added large parts of northern Iraq to territory it already held in eastern Syria.

President Barack Obama authorised air raids in Iraq two weeks ago to help regional Kurdish and Iraqi forces fighting Isis in the country's north. If Washington widened its attacks to extremists in Syria, this would mark a turning point, ending its hands-off approach to the country's civil war.

EU countries have for weeks been putting pressure on Turkey to do more to seal its border. Because Ankara has wanted to oust President Bashar al-Assad from control in Syria, Turkey has kept its border open to jihadists who oppose him, including Isis fighters, and this has allowed the area to become a safe haven over the past three years. While the Turks now say that Isis is no longer welcome, Ankara has not sent in troops in large numbers to patrol the border.

Meanwhile, senior UK politicians called for greater pressure to be exerted on Turkey via the European Union and Nato – of which Turkey is a member. Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said that Turkey had a "vital role to play in preventing the free passage of jihadists travelling to … join Islamic State".

Campbell, a member of the House of Commons intelligence and security committee, said there should be a "full-scale diplomatic initiative" to draw Turkey closer towards the EU, and moves to offer it a faster route towards membership in return for its full cooperation in the fight against Isis.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: "People and arms continue to move across the Turkish border with Syria, and Turkey, a Nato ally, has a key role to play in developing a more effective regional response to Isis. The priority now must be for Turkey to offer guarantees to its partners and allies that it is taking the necessary steps to uphold its responsibilities to secure key border areas that represent a vital front in the struggle to contain, disrupt and defeat Isis."

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond has not explicitly ruled out supporting a policy of US air strikes but sources say there is no prospect of the UK taking part. Campbell said UK participation would need the approval of parliament, as well as UN backing.

On Saturday, the UN called for a concerted effort to end the siege of Amerli, a town 110 miles north of Baghdad which is encircled by Isis jihadists. The town is home to 18,000 Turkmen people who, as Shias, are directly targeted by supporters of Isis, who consider them apostates.

Downing Street said that David Cameron, who warned a week ago that Isis was an "exceptionally dangerous" movement which represented a generational threat, would remain on holiday in Cornwall until the middle of this week. After news of the beheading of James Foley broke, he returned from Cornwall to London to chair emergency meetings, but then returned to his family.

Taliban offensive in southern Afghan district 'worst fighting’ in years

Afghan men, right, walk past a U.S. soldier to attend a meeting in Washer district, Helmand province, in August 2011. (Abdul Khaleq/AP)

By Erin Cunningham August 23 at 3:44 PM

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — The Taliban came at night, slipping into Sarwan Qala village and scaling the roofs of its mud-baked homes to fire on police and army checkpoints nearby.
Taliban Offensive in Southern Afghan District 'Worst Fighting’ in Years by Thavam

Ukraine marks defiant national day, rebels parade captives

1 OF 3. Border guards march during Ukraine's Independence Day military parade, in the centre of Kiev August 24, 2014.

BY RICHARD BALMFORTH AND THOMAS GROVE-KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine Sun Aug 24, 2014

(Reuters) - Ukraine marked its independence day on Sunday with a military march past in Kiev intended to send a message of defiance to Russia, but pro-Moscow rebels countered by parading captured Ukrainian troops through the streets in their stronghold.

Ukraine Marks Defiant National Day, Rebels Parade Captives by Thavam

Prabowo goes home empty-handed after a dramatic day in Indonesia

Supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto run to avoid tear gas fired by riot police during a protest near the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday. Pic: AP.

By Patrick Tibke Aug 22, 2014

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto attempted to invade Indonesia’s Constitutional Court yesterday, as a panel of nine judges finally reaffirmed Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo as the lawful winner of this year’s election.

Reports estimate that between 2,000 to 3,000 people marched on the court building in anticipation of the final verdict, carrying flags and banners to show their allegiance to Prabowo’s Gerindra Party and chanting slogans rejecting the legitimacy of Jokowi’s victory.

Chaos erupted when a group of demonstrators attempted to drive a Unimog truck through a line of barbed wire, which had been erected by police to barricade a road leading to the court’s entrance. Further waves of protestors then tried to break police lines and storm the building on foot.

Heavily armoured riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protestors, whilst reinforcements moved in to secure the court building. Many of the protestors appeared to have come prepared for a skirmish with the police, particularly those wearing colourful paramilitary fatigues complete with matching berets. Eyewitnesses estimate that perhaps as many as 100 demonstrators were able to barrage their way through police lines, forcing the court’s judges to repeatedly postpone proceedings whilst the unrest was brought under control.

According to Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Commissioner Rikwanto, at least 46 people were injured during clashes between police and demonstrators, and four people were arrested on suspicion of being “provocateurs.” A short story on Kompas.com reports that only six of the day’s official casualties were in a severe enough condition to warrant inpatient status, whilst the remaining 40 left hospital within a few hours after receiving treatment for minor, tear-gas related injuries.

Meanwhile, Prabowo’s supporters accused the authorities of using “repressive” and heavy-handed tactics in their attempts to disperse a “peaceful protest.” Speaking at a regrouping of demonstrators after the initial crackdown, an unnamed orator later claimed that one protestor had been shot dead by police and another two had gone missing. Commissioner Rikwanto denied these allegations unequivocally, however, describing them as “hoax” charges intended to provoke further unrest. “There were no [deaths]“, he is quoted as saying on Liputan6.com, “[but there were] casualties earlier and they have already been treated.”

Prabowo’s supporters have also alleged that rubber bullets were used to quell the demonstration, leaving one man seriously injured with a fractured skull. This allegation was, again, immediately denied by Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Dwi Priyanto, who told reporters that no such weaponry was sanctioned during yesterday’s operation. “This is security level 4,” he is quoted as saying, “So we cannot yet use projectile weapons.”

The man who was allegedly shot at with the rubber bullet was hit in the back of head. He was adamant that it must have been a rubber bullet or else his injuries wouldn’t be so severe. “If it was [just] tear gas then [I'd look] like that,” he told reporters whilst pointing to teary-eyed demonstrator in the hospital where he was interviewed.

It is perhaps more likely that the man was clubbed over the head by a baton-wielding and haphazard police officer, as were many of the more intrepid demonstrators who wandered too close to police lines. Earlier in the day Kompas.com reported two separate cases of protestors showing fractured skulls after being struck by police batons – with both casualties claiming that their attack was completely unprovoked. One man explained that he was trying to flee from an encroaching line of police when he was beaten around the back of the head; and the other man claimed that he was trying to alight a wayward Unimog when he was struck in the very same spot. The casualties were interviewed at a nearby hospital after being picked up by Prabowo’s very own private ambulance service, whose vehicles were out in force yesterday. Little white people-carrier vans plastered with Gerindra campaign slogans andflattering portraits of a stern-faced Prabowo could often be seen among the demonstrators.Kompas.com notes that the two casualties each exhibited head wounds of 10cm and 15cm respectively.

By the end of the day’s drama, Prabowo’s campaign team had finally accepted the verdict of the Constitutional Court, yet they remained incredulous as to the legitimacy of Jokowi’s victory. At a press conference organised by Prabowo’s “Red and White Coalition” yesterday evening, campaign spokesman Tantowi Yahya announced that “Even though the Coalition accepts the verdict, we insist that the decision does not reflect substantive justice nor truth in Indonesia.” Neither Prabowo nor his running mate Hatta Rajasa bothered to attend the press conference, as they were reportedly visiting injured cadres in hospital instead.

August 21 was always going to be a tumultuous day in Jakarta, but things seem to have gone relatively smoothly despite the unrest outside the Constitutional Court. We now have a clear winner of this year’s presidential election, and we even have acquiescence from Prabowo’s camp that the court’s word is final  – even if it thinks the findings are wrong. Dare I say it, but the days of “losing is not an option” might just be over. All we need now is for Prabowo’s supporters to put away their Unimogs, ditch the paramilitary fatigues, stop loitering around the Constitutional Court and start participating – peacefully – in the national conversation. This would put the finishing touches to an already pointlessly protracted election, and also salvage some dignity for the ordinary men and women who were unfortunate enough to fall for Prabowo’s talk of “rescuing the Republic of Indonesia” and struggling for “real democracy.” For Prabowo himself, however, there is no surely dignity left to salvage.

Well, at least Prabowo can take away one valuable lesson from this spectacular saga of self-humiliation, and that’s never to say “losing is not an option” if losing is, quite clearly, a likely possibility.

Ebola Briton to fly to the UK

SUNDAY 24 AUGUST 2014

A Briton infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone is being evacuated to the UK, the African country's health ministry says.

The patient is not currently seriously unwell and is being medically evacuated in a specially equipped C17 Royal Air Force (RAF) plane to RAF Northolt in the UK.

Upon arrival in the UK, the patient will be transported to an isolation unit at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

In a statement, the Department of Health said: "The UK has well established and practised infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed to minimise the risk of transmission while the patient is in transit and receiving treatment at the Royal Free Hospital.

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person. No cases of imported Ebola have been reported in the UK.

Professor John Watson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said: "It is important to be reassured that although a case of Ebola in a British national healthcare worker residing in Sierra Leone has been identified and is being brought back to the UK the overall risk to the public in the UK remains very low.

'The best care possible'

“We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts. “UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with imported infectious diseases and this patient will be isolated and will receive the best care possible."

Dr Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection at Public Health England, said: "The patient is being transferred to the Royal Free Hospital for appropriate treatment in an isolation unit, with all appropriate protocols promptly activated by the Department of Health, PHE and NHS England.

"Protective measures will be strictly maintained to minimise the risk of transmission to staff transporting the patient to the UK and healthcare workers treating the individual. "For Ebola to be transmitted from one person to another contact with blood or other body fluids is needed and as such, the risk to the general population remains very low.”
Consular assistance is being provided to the Briton.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put the number of people infected with the deadly virus at 2,615.

Some 1,427 have died since the disease was identified in Guinea in March and spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

Quarantine measures

Rigorous quarantine measures are used to stop the spread of Ebola, as well as high standards of hygiene for anyone who might come into contact with sufferers.

Symptoms of the virus appear as a sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

According to the WHO, this is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and, in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

The effects of the disease normally appear between two and 21 days after infection.

It is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through person-to-person transmission.

Outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%.

The WHO says the disease can be passed between people by direct contact - through broken skin or mucous membranes - with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments contaminated with such fluids.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued updated travel advice earlier this week which urged people to carefully assess their need to travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Healthcare facilities 'overwhelmed'

"General medical facilities throughout Sierra Leone are currently under severe strain due to the Ebola outbreak, and unable to provide the same standard of healthcare as in the UK. Dedicated healthcare facilities for Ebola are overwhelmed," the FCO warned.

The Sierra Leone parliament has voted to pass a new law which means anyone caught hiding an Ebola patient can receive prison terms of up to two years.

Some 910 cases have been recorded in the country - and 392 deaths - but the WHO believes the magnitude of the outbreak has been underestimated because people are hiding infected friends and family in their homes.

In a situation assessment issued on Friday, the organisation warned: "As Ebola has no cure, some believe infected loved ones will be more comfortable dying at home."

It was confirmed on Friday that an Irish engineer who died at home after returning from working in Sierra Leone had not contracted Ebola.

Dessie Quinn, 43, was being treated for malaria after returning two weeks ago from the West African country and was found dead in bed in Co Donegal by a friend in the early hours of Thursday.The Health Service Executive said test samples proved negative for Ebola.

The All-Time Worst People in History

List Criteria: Horrible, real (not fictional) people who have committed historical crimes. History judges them, and so do we.

The absolute worst people in history, ranked by the wisdom of the crowd. Who are the worst people in history? This list includes mass-murdering dictators, psychopathic serial killers, sociopathic religious leaders, insane politicians, deceptive political commentators, andannoying celebrities and Hollywood douchebags who make our eyes and ears bleed. Who are the worst people of all time? This human scum has incited genocide, executed ethnic cleansing, enslaved entire races of people, practiced cannibalism, orchestrated arbitrary homicide, brainwashed people who trusted them, yelled at film crew members, and been paid by TV studios to be awful.

Anyone can vote on this list of vile villains and evil lunatics, making it an accurate, real-time ranking of the world's worst people ever. Call out history's biggest scumbags, and see how your picks stack up against everyone else's. Because those who do not rank the worst people in history are doomed to repeat it. Or something like that.

The All-Time Worst People in History

Mahinda Rajapaksa Ranked 16th Worst Person In History

August 23, 2014

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been ranked as the 16th worst person in history by a website that has compiled a list that includes 50 such notorious non-fictional personalities.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has reached the 16th position obtaining a total of 7540 votes at the time of writing, while some 1688 votes had been cast against the position in the list that has been compiled by the ‘Ranker’ website.

Noting the criteria used to select the personalities for the list, the Ranker states it is a collection of ‘horrible, read (not fictional) people who have committed historical crimes.’.

“History judges them, and so do we,” the website states.

Meanwhile, Mahinda’s baby brother and Sri Lanka’s Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been included in the same list and currently ranks as the 29th with a total of 1261 votes in cast in favour of the position.

Among the 50 ‘horrible’ people are Joseph Stalin – ranking number one with 12572 votes – as well as several other sordid characters such as Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Jeffrey Dahmer,Slobodan Milosevic and George Bush.

In short, the list is a compilation of most infamous mass-murderers, psychopathic serial killers, sociopathic religious leaders, dictators, deceptive political commentators etc. The list is open for voting – making it an accurate, real-time ranking of the ‘world’s worst people’ and some 348, 406 votes had been cast for the list at the time of writing.

Basil’s reawakening through north!

 Saturday, 23 August 2014 

The opening of bids for tenders for the proposed highways in the northern province under the ‘Uthuru Wasanthaya – Maga Neguma’ project of economic development minister Basil Rohana Rajapaksa took place at the ministry recently.

A Chinese company is to be given the main contract for the project, while leading local constructors Maga, Sierra and CIC attended to handover sub-contracts.

Here, minister Basil has inquired from the company representatives about the cost of construction for a kilometer. Their response was that between Rs. 60 million and Rs. 90 million would be required. Immediately telephoning Road Development Authority chairman and highways ministry secretary Ranjith Premasiri, minister Basil told him that contractor representatives were demanding Rs. 180 million per kilometer. The ministry secretary answered that that was a very high figure. Minister Basil then told him to let him know about his estimate.

A few minutes later, Premasiri telephoned the minister and said between Rs. 60 million and Rs. 65 million would be fair enough. The company representatives then asked that they be paid Rs. 65 m per km. Again telephoning the highways ministry secretary, minister Basil told him to inform the Chinese contractor in writing that the cost of construction was Rs. 130 m per km.

Overhearing the conversation, the company representatives looked stunned and once out of the meeting, discussed amongst themselves, “It’s OK to take something. These devils make colossal swindling. The commission is 100%. The Chinese will add something more. Then, it would be at least Rs. 150 m per km. it will take about 500 years to repay this loan.”

The top official of the economic development ministry, who revealed this incident to us, said “This project alone will assure at least one billion US dollars for minister Basil.” As such, the northern reawakening is only for the Rajapaksas.

Enough Of The Diagnoses, Bring On The Cure!

By Emil van der Poorten -August 23, 2014

Emil van der Poorten

For a long time now, writers focusing on Sri Lankan ethics or morality of some description have described, often at great length, what ails the body politic in this country.  I cannot, in all conscience, exclude myself from this lot.

However, now that we’ve seemingly plumbed the depths of the ocean of corruption and violence that is Sri Lanka today, isn’t it time that we sought solutions, no matter how minor or temporary, to our homeland’s predicament?

Let me take a preliminary stab at this task, as overwhelming as the issues facing us might seem.

Those who believe in the need for and, therefore, seek change to the status quo have, first, to escape from the brain-washing that has resulted in a belief that the other side of the current political coin, totally debased as it is, presents a means of purchasing our way out of the morass that it has bought us.  Suffice it to say that I believe that suggesting that the UNP of Ranil Wickremesinghe, Karu Jayasuriya and Sajith Premadasa is a real alternative to what the Rajapaksa Regime (RR) has visited upon us is to pay pooja to something that has already proved its value, or lack thereof, in spades.  After all, it was the J. R. Jayewardene regime that started the ball of massive corruption and impunity rolling and these, his unapologetic successors, have not, in any way, sought to distance themselves from that legacy.

For starters, we need leaders who are not already discredited by opportunistic political behaviour or who do not already have a track record of previous, current or sporadic collaboration of any kind with the RR.  If that sounds like some absolutist dictum, so be it.  To modify an aphorism that the RR is particularly fond of, “You are either for democracy or against it.”  There can be no half measures in that calculation and to seek salvation through those who’ve either ignored or equivocated on that score is just plain stupid.Read More

India Insists on 13A as Way Forward for Lanka

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at a meeting with the leaders and MPs of the Tamil National Alliance in New Delhi on Friday | Pti

By Devirupa Mitra

Published: 23rd August 2014 

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told a visiting delegation of Sri Lankan Tamil Members of Parliament on Friday that New Delhi continues to look at the 13th amendment as the framework for a political solution in the island nation. This was the first engagement of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) with the new dispensation in New Delhi, though their first interlocutor was an old acquaintance. Swaraj had met with the visiting delegation members in her earlier avatar as the Leader of Opposition, when she led a parliamentary group to the island nation in 2012. Giving the details of the meeting, spokesperson in the External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said the 6-member delegation gave a presentation in fairly detailed manner on what they perceive as current situation in Sri Lanka in terms of political environment and their engagement or otherwise with the Sri Lanka government.

During the long meeting in South Block, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was basically in listening mode. The TNA delegation informed her in detail how the Northern Province chief minister CV Vigneswaran was unable to function, hemmed in by Colombo-appointed bureaucrats taking all vital decisions.

She conveyed that India was for a “political solution that addresses substantially the aspirations of Tamil community in Sri Lanka for equality, dignity, justice and self-respect within the framework of United Sri Lanka”.

The MEA spokesperson said that the 13th amendment “is stemming from India-Sri Lanka accord… That’s the framework in which we are working”.

There was also discussion of India-assisted development projects, including the massive housing project in north and east.

The veteran TNA leader R Sampanthan, who led the delegation, said that they would make suggestions on what India could do at the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sampanthan said, “India’s involvement in the resolution of the Sri Lankan Tamil issue is vital.”

“They (people who live in Sri Lanka) have their roots in India. Their culture is Indian and everything is Indian. So, I think India is one country that can play a major role,” he said. Sampanthan said that the delegation explained Swaraj “the difficulties people are facing, the aggressive programme implemented by the Sri Lankan Government to change the democratic composition of the northern and eastern provinces and the cultural and linguistic identity of the areas.”

He said that the Sri Lankan government has not taken any steps to “implement the 13th amendment for devolving powers to the Tamil minority.”

“We have also talked about various other matters that are of concern of Tamil people and requested that some action can be taken by India. India should be pro-active in dealing with these questions,” he stressed.

13வது சட்டத்திருத்தத்தின்படி தமிழர் பிரச்னைக்கு தீர்வு: இலங்கை தமிழ் எம்.பி.க்களிடம் மோடி உறுதி

Posted Date : 10:34 (23/08/2014)Last updated : 16:41 (23/08/2014)

புதுடெல்லி: இலங்கை அரசியல் சாசனத்தின் 13வது சட்டதிருத்தத்தின்படி, தமிழர் பிரச்னைக்கு தீர்வு காண்பதில் ஆக்கப்பூர்வ நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும் என்று இலங்கை தமிழ் எம்.பி.க்களிடம் பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி உறுதியளித்துள்ளார்.
 

டெல்லியில் இன்று பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடியை, இலங்கை தமிழர் தேசிய கூட்டமைப்பு தலைவர் சம்பந்தன் தலைமையிலான எம்.பி.க்கள் குழுவினர் சந்தித்து பேசினர்.

பின்னர் இச்சந்திப்பு தொடர்பாக பிரதமர் அலுவலகம் வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கையில், "ஒருங்கிணைந்த இலங்கையில் தமிழர்கள் கவுரவத்துடனும், சிங்களர்களுக்கு சமமாகவும், நீதியுடனும், சுயமரியாதையுடனும் வாழ அரசியல் தீர்வு தேவை என்பதை பிரதமர் தன்னை சந்தித்த இலங்கை தமிழ் எம்.பி.க்களிடம் வலியுறுத்தினார்.

இலங்கை அரசியல் சாசனத்தின் 13வது சட்டதிருத்தத்தின்படி, தமிழர் பிரச்னைக்கு தீர்வு காண்பதில் ஆக்கப்பூர்வ நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.

இலங்கையின் வடக்கு மற்றும் கிழக்கு மாகாணங்களில் வாழ்வாதாரத்தை மேம்படுத்துதல், மறுசீரமைப்பு, வீடு கட்டுதல், கல்வி, மருத்துவமனைகள் மற்றும் உட்கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகளை மேம்படுத்துவதில் இந்தியா உதவி புரியும்" என்று கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இலங்கை தமிழ் எம்.பி.க்கள் 6 பேர் நேற்று வெளியுறவுத்துறை அமைச்சர் சுஷ்மா ஸ்வராஜ், முன்னாள் பிரதமர் மன்மோகன் சிங் ஆகியோரை சந்தித்து பேசியது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

India firm on Tamil rights in Sri Lanka

Tamil National Alliance leader and Sri Lankan MP R. Sampanthan being greeted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a Meeting at South Block in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

India was keen on engaging with the Sri Lankan government and all political parties to help with the ongoing reconciliation process in the island nation.

NATIONAL BUREAU-August 23, 2014

This was conveyed to a visiting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday, signalling broad continuity of the Sri Lankan policy adopted by the United Progressive Alliance government. External Affairs Ministry spokesman said the Minister stressed the need for a political solution that “addresses substantially the aspirations of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka for equality, dignity, justice and self respect within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.” The delegation led by R. Sampanthan will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to put forth a detailed projection of their understanding of the situation and suggestions on India’s engagement in Sri Lanka, the spokesperson said. The TNA delegation includes parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah, M.A. Sumanthiran, Suresh Premachandran, Selvam Adaikalanathan and P. Selvarajah.

Pointing to “the lack of political will” of the Sri Lankan government to bring about an acceptable political solution, TNA parliamentarian Mr. Sumanthiran said: “We told her that the Sri Lankan government has a very different agenda – militarising the Northern Province, taking away land and changing the demography of the [Tamil-majority] province.”

According to a TNA source, Ms. Swaraj assured the delegation that India would continue to emphasise the need for devolution of powers as per the 13th Amendment, and “going beyond that” for a meaningful solution.

(With additional reporting by Colombo correspondent)

Muslim Extremism

SL Muslims at the crossroads – 13

by Izeth Hussain-August 22, 2014,

I have in mind a few more articles before I conclude this series on the SL Muslims at the crossroads, which will inevitably take some weeks. In the meanwhile there could be a case for urgent action because further violence along the lines of what we witnessed at Aluthgama – on a wider scale, which some extremist groups evidently desire – could well transmogrify the Muslim problem into something resembling the Tamil one. In this situation one question acquires priority over everything else: What should be done?

I believe that our first priority should be to address the issues that have been bedeviling Sinhalese-Muslim relations, sometimes for decades. In the remainder of this series I will address those issues, not in depth which will require much space and time, but in a limited way trying to get at the essentials. The in-depth studies can follow later. This is the prerequisite for meaningful Sinhalese-Muslim dialogue. Unless the ground is prepared by identifying the issues and trying to work out solutions for them, what is meant to be dialogue could end up in polemics. This already seems to have happened over some recent well-meaning civil society initiatives for dialogue.

I cannot see that there are any intractable problems between the Sinhalese and the Muslims, or even anything that should prove really recalcitrant to solution provided that there is a will to solve bilateral problems on both sides. Very probably there is a structural reason for this. It arises out of the fact that there are two distinct kinds of ethnic groups, one of which has an authentic claim to a homeland and the other hasn’t. This is a distinction to which crucial importance has been given, as far as I know, only by Walker Connor, one of the early theorists of ethnicity. By homeland is meant much more than an area of traditional habitation, which our Muslims can legitimately claim in the Eastern Province. By homeland is meant an area to which an ethnic group is indigenous, not one to which an ethnic group migrated in historical times. It provides the basis for claims to autonomy and even to separation, and it is the source of most of the major ethnic problems of our time. If the Muslim ethnic problem really becomes a major one comparable to the Tamil ethnic problem, it would be an anomaly. We must bear this firmly in mind in dealing with Sinhalese-Muslim issues.

Of the issues bedeviling Sinhalese-Muslim relations two, namely alleged Muslim extremism and population increase, have to be put in a special category as they are seen as posing existential threats to the Sinhalese. These really require much more substantial treatment than can be given in the present series of articles, while most of the rest can be disposed of fairly briskly. I will now deal with alleged Muslim extremism. At the root of this issue is confusion on the Sinhalese side about religious extremism and political extremism.

What prevailed among Sri Lankan Muslims over the centuries was orthodox Sunni Islam. Wahabism which arose in Saudi Arabia in the eighteenth century made an impact on Indian Muslims in the next century through the Deoband movement, but not in Sri Lanka. Its spread in Sri Lanka was well after the Second World War, the consequence of the Saudis spending their oil billions to propagate it. Even so the Wahabis remain a minority in the totality of the Muslim world. Others and I have found it practically impossible to establish what percentage of SL Muslims is Wahabi. Part of the problem is that the Wahabis or Salafis themselves eschew the use of those names since they claim that they are simply Muslims who practice Islam in all its pristine purity whereas others have deviated from it. I myself identify the Wahabi by the following: he wears a long beard, his wife and daughters wear the burqa with openings only for the eyes, and he eschews music and television. The strict Wahabi is in a minority, and so are Wahabis in a broader sense, meaning Muslims who are influenced to some extent by Wahabism. The mainstream Sri Lankan Muslim remains resolutely Sunni.

Many non-Muslim Sri Lankans, perhaps the majority of them, could have the impression that since Saudi Arabia is the land of the Prophet and Mecca is the centre of the Islamic world as symbolized by the Hajj pilgrimage, Wahabism with all its associations rightly or wrongly with fundamentalism and jihadist terrorist groups, is mainstream Islam commanding the allegiance of the great majority of Muslim. The truth is that the great majority in the Islamic world, including the Muslims in Sri Lanka, practicse Islam in the Sunni orthodox form, not in the Sunni variant form of Wahabism. I am insisting on these facts because it is important not to over-estimate the extent of Islamic fundamentalism and its progeny, the jihadist groups.

However, though in a minority, Wahabi and other fundamentalists have been making a far greater impact than their numbers warrant. This is partly because of Middle East oil billions and partly because of Western backing. For instance the spectacular performance of the IS, formerly the ISIS, has had behind it not just oil billions but Western weapons and Western military training. Happily those political factors don’t apply in Sri Lanka. Here what apply are the traditional extremism and militancy that have characterized Wahabism right from its inception in the eighteenth century. That has led to serious divisions and conflicts between the orthodox Muslims and the Wahabis, particularly in the Eastern Province. The death of Pailuwan, a Sufi mystic and I am told theologian of above average ability, led to very horrible developments in the Eastern Province. Dehiwela where I live seems to have a high concentration of Muslim females who wear the burqa, refugees I am told from the EP who are unable to return because of opposition from the Wahabis. In Beruwela some years ago there were deaths caused by orthodox Muslims consequent to intolerable provocations by Wahabis. And so on.

There are two things to be emphasized here. The dissensions between the orthodox Muslims and the Wahabis are of a purely religious order and have no political dimension to them at all. Secondly the Sinhalese don’t enter into the picture in any way. There has been confusion in the Sinhalese mind about religious extremism and political extremism, caused by the activities of jihadists abroad. In Sri Lanka it makes sense to talk of Muslim extremism, meaning the religious extremism of the Wahabis; it makes no sense at all to talk of Muslim extremism in the political sense. It is therefore preposterous to hold that Muslim extremism in any sense poses an existential threat to the Sinhalese. It would be a good idea for the government to declare that charges of Muslim extremism in a political sense amount to anti-Muslim hate speech, which is punishable under the law.

This is the situation at present, but it can change. I have in mind the sudden emergence into public prominence of the Thawhid Jamaath some weeks ago after its public debate with the BBS, in the course of which its leader made some utterly bizarre pronouncements on Buddhism, including the detail that it encourages cannibalism. No Sri Lankan who knows anything about our Muslims can believe for an instant that any sizeable body of them can entertain such bizarre notions about Buddhism. More recently the TJ shot to public prominence again over the Gaza horrors. Muslim demonstrations on Gaza had been going all over the island, but the TJ project to hold one led to counter-action by the BBS and the banning of the demonstration. The last Political Watch column in the Sunday Island gives prominence to the TJ. It could be that the TJ is emerging as a significant force, whereas just some weeks ago it seemed to be negligible as a political factor. The question in my mind and that of some other Muslims is this: Is the TJ being promoted by a sinister group to bolster the image of Muslim extremism?

(To be continued)

izethhussain@gmail.com