Cadet killings a ‘cowardly’ act, says ethnic bloc

Coffins of the 23 cadets killed in an artillery strike on Wednesday are laid out at the KIO headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State. (PHOTO: Lachid Kachin)

By DVB-21 November 2014

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) has condemned Wednesday’s killing of 23 cadets at a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training camp near Laiza as a “cowardly” act, as has the US-based Kachin Alliance. The Burmese military has, however, declared that the direct strike was a mistake and that the artillery shell which hit the camp was meant as a warning shot.
Cadet Killings a ‘Cowardly’ Act, Says Ethnic Bloc by Thavam

Escaping China: the perilous journey of the Uighurs 

Saturday 22 Nov 2014

Until a secret raid on a moonless night in March, Major-General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot thought he was getting a grip on the problem. After the incident, he had to think again.

The 46-year old police commander was handed one of the toughest jobs in Thai policing last year when he was made top immigration cop in southern part of the country. The region is nothing less than a jungle-covered transit lounge, frequented by brokers, smugglers, human traffickers, shadowy boatmen and the like.

Escaping China the Perilous Journey of the Uighurs by Thavam

China Sends Chilling Warning To Teachers Speaking Critically Of Government

A volunteer English teacher sits outside the Central Government Offices in the Admiralty business district of Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. Talks between pro-democracy student leaders and the government tonight may offer the best chance of a peaceful ending to more than three weeks of demonstrations that have disrupted Hong Kong and divided its citizens. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg via Getty Images

 | By JACK CHANG-11/21/2014 

BEIJING (AP) — Over two weeks, the Communist Party-run Liaoning Daily newspaper sent reporters to sit in on dozens of university lectures all over the country looking for what the paper said were professors "being scornful of China."

During visits to more than 20 schools, the regional paper wrote last week, it found exactly what it said it was looking for: 

China Sends Chilling Warning to Teachers Speaking Critically of Government by Thavam

Flood of illegal immigrants pour into NYC public schools

Youths hitch a ride atop a freight train in Oaxaca, Mexico, on their way to the US border, where they would join a flood of unaccompanied minors seeking to enter the country.
By Susan Edelman and Isabel Vincent- -November 23, 2014

New York has sent a warning to its schools: Expect more illegal immigrants.
The city Department of Education has told principals it plans this year to enroll 2,350 migrant children from Central America who crossed into the United States unaccompanied — with many more to come.Flood of Illegal Immigrants Pour Into NYC Public Schools by Thavam

Ayurveda’s Turmeric Milk, Skin Salve And Face Wash.

Ayurveda’s Turmeric Milk, Skin Salve And Face Wash.

by Peggy Breeze - Sep 24, 2014

Turmeric: The Multipurpose Super Herb

The curative properties of turmeric have lent it to be used as a spice in Indian recipes and medicine in Ayurveda for thousands of years. The healthy nutrients of milk team up perfectly with the anti-inflammatory qualities of turmeric. Turmeric milk or Haldi ka doodh (haldi means turmeric, doodh means milk) brings this sweet nectar onto the favorite’s list of healing rasāyanas of many traditional yogis and Ayurvedic Consultants.

The 6 Tastes:

Ayurveda’s Turmeric Milk, Skin Salve and Face Wash. by Thavam

No Fire Zone documentary wins Britdoc Impact award  22 November 2014 The ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ documentary was one of 5 documentaries to win a Britdoc Impact prize on Friday. The Britdoc Impact awards, held by the non-profit Britdoc organisation, honour documentaries that have had significant impact in work towards social change and justice. As a consequence of winning the Britdoc Impact award, the documentary as also been nominated to enter a competition with other documentaries called the “#Netflixhi5” award, where the it could potentially win an extra $5000 of funding for its campaign. A vote for the No Fire Zone documentary to win the #NetflixHi5 award can be placed by adapting and tweeting “#NetflixHi5 to @nofirezonemovie via @C4BRITDOC.” The documentary is also up for nomination at the Emmy awards next week. No Fire Zone documentary nominated for Emmy awards (13 October 2014)

Landslide exposes land-related deprivation of Up-Country Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2014, 14:35 GMT]
The SL military is interfering in the assistance and resettlement of the Up-Country Tamil landslide victims in Meeriya-bedda in the same manner it interferes in the resettlement of Tamils in the North and East. The military is everywhere monitoring everyone visiting the affected. The victims have been demanding proper responses to their questions on where and how the resettlement housing and livelihood plans would be implemented, before moving into a longer-term temporary settlement inside an abandoned station factory. SL military, doctors and nurses, claiming to assist the the Tamil victims are all Sinhala-speakers. The military and language are used as means of oppression. A Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist approach is oppressing minorities in the Up-Country, said Rev Fr Fontgallan of the Leo Marga Ashram in Bandarawela. 

After 2009, two military bases were established in Talawakelle and Badulla where Up-Country Tamils live in significant numbers. 

It is said that the military would be constructing the resettlement houses for the landslide-victims. 



Rev. Fr. Santhiapillai Guy de Fontgalland is the founder of Leo Marga Ashram (LMA), an alternative development-oriented action group based in Bandarawela. A few days ago, TamilNet interviewed him on the situation of landslide-affected victims of Meeriya-bedda in Badulla district. 

Guy de Fontgalland, who has authored more than a dozen books, most of them on the plight of deprived communities in the Up-Country, is of the opinion that the people are facing unsaid hunger. As a result of the deterioration and other multiple factors, they would eventually face famine. He listed a number of factors such as the majoritarian oppression, dictatorial rule, corruption and inflation in cost of living. 

* * * Since the British times, it has become a practice of building the so-called “Lines” or “Kaamburaa” [from the word Camera] rooms in low-lying lands in the Up-Country, he said. 

In Meeriya-bedda too, the lines of rooms, where the people had been settled, were situated in a dale between two mountains. He described the catastrophe that occurred on the fateful day of October 29, 2014, as a Tsunami to the villagers. A 300-feet section of the highest mountain in the area had slide onto the settlement, causing the disaster. 

When new lands were identified for resettlement at another low-lying locality, the people started to complain. The military presence is silencing the people from mobilising to articulate their needs, Guy de Fontgalland told TamilNet. 

The victims expect at least 10 perches of land for residential and 20 perches for agricultural and farming purposes per family. But, nobody, be it the government, trade unionists or politicians seem to care about listening to the needs of the victims. 

* * * There is an organisation with a 11-member-board, the Plantation Human Development Trust (PHDT), which comprises of five members from the regional plantation companies, four members from the Sri Lankan government and two trade union representatives. It is this body, which is going to ultimately decide the fate, where the resettlement housing should be established. 

In the past, the PHDT– constructed houses were not complete enough for the people to resettle. In most cases, the people themselves had to invest their own resources to complete the housing. In addition, the people have to bear the expenses for water and electricity. 

To a normal village, the SL government takes responsibility to bring electricity to their village. But, for a plantation settlement, the people have to bear the expenses to bring electricity to their settlement. 

The people were forced to take up loans for which they have to pay interest at the rate of 16% per year. In addition, those qualify for housing should have worked in the estate for 5 years and that they should be below the age of 45. 

There is also a political purpose behind the announcement that PHDT will be constructing the resettlement houses for Meeriaya-bedda victims. It is also connected to the snap presidential elections, according to Fr Fontgalland. 

In the previous budget, placed in December 2013, it was claimed that the government would be constructing 50,000 rooms or “kaamburaas” as multi-floored blocks. The people are opposed to the construction of multi-floored line rooms. 

* *  In Meeriya-bedda too, there was a talk of constructing blocks. But, Fontgalland thinks that single houses would be built for Meeriyabedda victims. But, what he senses as the major problems are the lack of surveying and no one listening to the real needs of the people who have been dependent on their self-sustained livelihood so far. 

The first issue is that the land allocated per family seems to be limited to 7 perches. This is not enough for the people to engage in household farming. “They can’t even plant a tree of their own. This will only force the people to abandon the settlement and seek places like the old locality. The families expect 40 perches of land together with electricity and water supply,” Fr. Fontgalland told TamilNet. 

These are people who were not dependent on Estate employment. They were largely dependent on self-sustained farming. Therefore, they need compensation for their losses. They have lost three-wheelers, jewellery and virtually everything they owned. Such losses should be surveyed and compensated. 

* * * 63 families have been completely affected by the disaster. The parents, who went to work, and the children who went to school that morning, survived the disaster. Initial reports had put the number of people missing at 300. But, according to final reports, 37 people went missing and 13 of them are confirmed dead following the recovery of their remains. 

Landslide danger has been identified in 10 districts in the Up-Country. There are several reasons that cause the disaster and the man-made ones range from large dam constructions to logging of trees, Fontgalland said. Some scientists also add that the deepening of Hambantota port as one of the factors, he added. 

“Unfortunately, the political leaders and union leaders of the Up-Country have very little concern on the welfare of the people.” 

It is a shame that the people who have toiled for the economic development of the island and who brought the first foreign exchange income into the country are still not able to own a perch of their own land in Up-Country, he said. 
* * *
Fr. Fontgalland has authored the following works on Up-Country Tamils: The Up country Tamils- A National Race, The Up country Tamils and Politics, Plantation women’s Rights, The Impact of Globalization on the Plantation Sector in Sri Lanka, Social Development and Poverty in the Plantation in Sri Lanka, The challenges faced by the Plantation Tamils in the 21st Century, Searching for Alternatives and Plantation community Moves for a Change.

With a vision of liberating the plantation community and a mission of creating an alternative leadership in the plantation sector through conscientisation programs aimed at a people’s movement, Fontgalland is working through Leo Marga Ashram (LMA), a non governmental and a Non-Profit organization opened to all, irrespective of ethnicity and religion.

Protest against death sentence of remaining Eelam-Tamil fishermen held in North-East

21 November 2014

Relatives of the fishermen outside Jaffna prison (Uthayan) Relatives of three Tamil fishermen, who remain on death row, have staged a protest outside Jaffna prison, calling on the Sri Lankan state to release the men, reported the Uthayan. A total of 8 fishermen were sentenced to death over drug trafficking charges, however the 5 Indian Tamil fishermen were released after protests in Tamil Nadu and subsequent intervention by the Indian government. Muththuraja Kamal Christian, 38, Gnanapirakasam Thusanthan, 28, both from Kurunagar and Christhurasa Gilmetraj, 25 from Mandaithivu, are were sentenced last month. Fishery associations, villagers and the men’s families took part in the protest. Indian fishermen freed after Rajapaksa issues pardon (19 November 2014) Rajapaksa pardons Indian fishermen, after India files appeal (12 November 2014) India gives 'unstinted support' to death row fishermen (04 November 2014)

The South Asia nuclear threat and the Sirimavo Doctrine – II (continued)

November 21, 2014, 6:38 pm 

Izeth Hussain

In addition to the first part of this article there have been other articles indicating deep Indian anxieties over the issue of Chinese submarines docking at Colombo port. Noteworthy articles by Col.R.Hariharan and by Kanwal Siral a former Indian Foreign Secretary have been reproduced in the local press. There have also been statements by official spokesmen of the Sri Lankan and Chinese Governments claiming that nothing really untoward had occurred, but as far as I am aware there has been no strictly official statement by the Indian Government. Evidently all three Governments want to play the issue down. But the stark fact is that there has been a symbolic projection of Chinese naval power in the Indian Ocean at a site that is in close proximity to India, the implications of which require assessment. Very probably the three Governments will work out an understanding regarding the projection of Chinese naval power at Colombo.

The South Asia Nuclear Threat and the Sirimavo Doctrine – II (Continued) by Thavam

Social Responsibility in Universities in Unstable Times

Guest lecture delivered at the international conference, ‘Revisiting Social Responsibility in Contexts of Crisis: Challenges and Possibilities in Sri Lanka’ at Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, 17 November 2014

by Prof Sasanka Perera 

- on 11/22/2014 

Vice Chancellor, the dean and colleagues, let me wish all of you a very good morning.

When the Dean, Faculty of Arts wrote to me some time ago and asked if I am willing to speak at this conference under the theme, ‘Revisiting Social Responsibility in Contexts of Crisis,’ I postponed responding to him. That is because I was quite anxious that this was yet another generic theme couched within a developmentalist and feel-good agenda. But after a reminder from him, and on a closer reading, I realized that the conference offered a certain obvious space for critical self-reflection on what social responsibility might mean, if one wanted to do so. This space is my point of departure.
Social Responsibility in Universities in Unstable Times by Thavam

Minority votes a crucial factor – TNA

Minority votes a crucial factor – TNA

BY UMESH MORAMUDALI AND  RUWAN LAKNATH JAYAKODY-2014-11-23

As the momentum gathers, in the run up to the Presidential Election, the votes of the minority become a very crucial factor for the main players, to secure a win. The votes of the Tamils and Muslims might be crucial to the outcome at this Presidential election, TNA Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said. The major party, representing the Tamils in the country, stressed that the vote base of nearly one million could swing the decision, based on the ability of the beneficiary to provide solutions to the serious problems faced by the Tamil people.

Expressing his views on the common candidate, fielded by the Opposition, former Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, he said, "I never heard about corruption from his side. He is a good candidate."
He noted that the number one problem in Sri Lanka is massive corruption and nepotism, adding that if Sirisena can stop corruption and nepotism, people in the country will be very happy.
According to Premachandran, all parliamentarians of the party are to hold a special meeting today in Colombo to take final decision on who to support at the Presidential Election to be held in January next year.
Premachandran stressed that their support will be extended to whoever addresses the issues of Tamil people in the country.
"Tamils have different problems about which people in the South are not aware. We want those to be addressed.

Demands of the TNA
The TNA demands include, a solution to the ethnic issue, withdrawing the Army from the Northern Province, resettling the people in the Northern Province on their own lands and the release of political prisoners.
Further elaborating on their demands, he said, although these issues were discussed with the United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government, led by the President, no solutions were provided to the issues faced by the Tamil community.
"For one year, from 2011 to 2012, we had discussions. We could not move an inch. We need a domestic solution to ensure the rights of the Tamil community," he added.
When questioned about abolishing the Executive Presidency and TNA's stance on it, he said, the TNA too believed that Executive Presidency was not needed.

"In order to extend our support to either candidate we need to meet them and discuss what they are hoping to do, their manifesto and whether it protects the rights of the Tamil community," he stressed.
No free and fair election
Premachandran predicted that the upcoming presidential election would not be a free and fair election, noting that a lot of violence could take place considering the critical situation the present government has faced.
"Only the people who live in North know that they have been inconvenienced. People in the South are not aware of such issues. If anyone wants to win votes he or she should address the problems of the people," he said.

Justifying his claims further, he said,
"I don't think that Sinhala people are against resettlement. Also, Army regulations imposed in the North should be curtailed. I think Sinhala people will also agree with that."
He claimed that the government keeps putting up camps in the Northern Province claiming that there are threats of the LTTE remerging.
Premachandran, while stressing that such LTTE supported activities or LTTE reactivation activities are not taking place in the Northern Province, emphasized that the government had created propaganda to attract Sinhala Buddhist votes by claiming that LTTE is reemerging and regrouping.

"This is all rubbish. The common candidate should inform the public that there is no LTTE grouping and it is only government propaganda," he stressed.
Tamil votes in Northern Province amounted to nearly 600,000 while there are 400,000 Tamil votes in the Eastern Province.
Stance on Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)
Expressing the TNA's stance on the PSC formed to address the ethnic issue, Premachandran said, the party is not against the PSC and willing to join in bilateral talks with the government or any other party.

"The settlements to the ethnic issue should be discussed and resolution should be passed to ensure the rights of the Tamil community," he added.
Premachandran further noted, they are yet to discuss with the government or the Opposition and the common candidate. However, presidential election results indicate that the vote of the Tamil community, particularly in the Northern Province is a crucial factor on deciding the winner or loser.

UNP backs Maithripala’s candidacy

By Dharisha Bastians- November 22, 2014  

• Main Opposition clinches Opposition candidate deal by endorsing SLFP General Secretary at Working Committee
• G20 elections committee also overwhelmingly favour move
• Karu pushes for UNP to support the Maithripala option
• Common Opposition alliance to be inked soon
• UNP and SLFP finally coming back together: Rajitha

 The United National Party Working Committee, the party’s apex decision-making body yesterday endorsed the candidature of Maithripala Sirisena as the common Opposition candidate.

Following months of uncertainty about whether UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would contest President Rajapaksa in the 2015 election, the Working Committee formally endorsed the selection of the former Health Minister.
Earlier in the day, the UNP’s special committee on elections, dubbed the G20, met to discuss the issue of Sirisena’s candidacy.
UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya spoke in favour of the SLFP General Secretary, saying it was a viable choice and urging the UNP to throw its weight behind his candidacy.
UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake has also been a vocal backer of common Opposition candidacy. Overwhelmingly, the G20 was in favour of supporting Sirisena and saw his candidacy as a real chance to beat the incumbent President, sources with knowledge about the meeting told Daily FT.
Wickremesinghe and Jayasuriya were both front-runners for the common candidacy, but disagreement within the party diminished their chances as negotiations reached fever pitch during the last week.

Despite UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa’s insistence that Wickremesinghe must be the candidate and contest under the elephant symbol, yesterday he agreed to go along with the decision of the party.
Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said all those opinions were ultimately subservient to the Working Committee decision. “Now the party has decided. That is our choice. That is who we will support,” he said.
Sirisena will campaign on an explicit platform to abolish the presidency.
The Working Committee meeting was held at Sirikotha last evening, with several members expressing their opinions and putting forward conditions, party sources told Daily FT.
A strict agenda will be set out as part of the alliance agreement according to which the common candidate will be expected to work, sources added.
An agreement on the Opposition alliance is likely to be inked in the coming days, with final modalities now being hammered out between the UNP, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and other opposition groups.
The UNP, as the main Opposition party, will be the nucleus around which the alliance will form. The party’s grassroots machinery and organisation will play a large role in the Sirisena campaign.
Both sides have hailed the opportunity to show bipartisanship.
“UNP members are overwhelmingly in favour of this move,” UNP National List Legislator Eran Wickremaratne told Daily FT. “It’s surprising, despite Maithripala being a SLFPer,” he said.
Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne, who quit the Government yesterday, said that after more than 50 years, the SLFP and the UNP were coming back together. “After years of separation these two parts of the whole will be reunited,” he said during the press conference at New Town Hall.
The two parties have been split ever since S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike stepped out of the UNP in 1951 – three years after independence – to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Maithri Threat – Will It Translate In To Votes Against Rajapaksa?

By Hilmy Ahamed -November 22, 2014 

Hilmy Ahamed

The threat posed by Maithripala Sirisena and Co. to the popular war-winning President is the biggest pre election political upheaval since the defection from the Chandrika Kumaratunga government by SB, GL and eleven others that gave the crown to Ranil Wicremesinghe in December 2001. Will this be repeated in the January 2015 elections? This time around, the number of defections are rumored to be far greater with 21 to 46 predicted, a far greater number than in 2001. Yet, President Mahinda Rajapaksa remains more popular than the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga presidency of that time. This defection could not have come as a surprise to the president as his brother, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa controls the country’s well trained and well equipped intelligence network. He is sure to have calculated his risks when he ventured to bid for his third term with two years left from his second term.

Read More

Special Video: Barbaric Tyrannical Rajapaksa & His Clan Disrupts The TV Channel

Following news story published by the Sirasa TV, an independent Television channel based in Colombo

( November 22, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We wish to inform our viewers that they can inform their friends and relatives currently watching our channels on Dialog and Peo TV that they can also watch our channels on UHF and VHF frequencies.

And viewers can also tune in to the programmes on Sirasa FM.

This reminder is being made following several complaints received from our viewers, on disturbances to our channels transmission on Dialog TV and Peo TV.

We also remind our viewers to stay tuned to a special edition of the Satana political programme, scheduled to be aired at 7.30 pm on Saturday on Sirasa TV.

Watch here the recorded programme;

Maithri :My victory a foregone conclusion; shall abolish executive Presidency within 100 days and Ranil is P.M. - whole country rejoices

(Lanka-e-News- 21.Nov.2014, 11.00PM) In the evenning former SLFP general secretary and Minister Maithripala Sirisena addressing a media briefing at the new Town Hall revealed , he will be contesting as Presidential candidate at the upcoming elections , and the UNP working committee has officially approved it. This announcement receiving a huge applause from the media in its entirety that were present was something noteworthy .

Maithri commencing his speech by reciting the Gatha ‘appamadho amatha padhin ‘ and ‘nahi Werana werani ‘was something extremely rarely done by a speaker , and hence was most welcomed by all . A senior SLFP advisor and former President of the country Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunge also attended this media conference.

Ministers Rajitha Senaratne , Duminda Dissanayake , deputy minister K D S Gunarathne ,national list MPs Professor Rajiva Weerasinghe , as well as the two MPs Arjuna Ranatunge and Vasantha Senanayake who crossed over to the UNP yesterday also participated n the discussion.

The common candidate Maithripala Sirisena alias destroyer of executive Presidency ,speaking most optimistically at the conference, he said he is definitely going to win the Presidential elections , and he will certainly be abolishing the executive Presidency within 100 days of his victory .

Maithripala Sirisena also expressed his effusive thanks and his respect to the UNP and its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for taking the initiative to field him as the common candidate .

Sirisena said he was deeply beholden to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who made a supreme sacrifice , the other UNP leaders and the UNP working committee for appointing him as the common candidate -something that has never happened in Sri Lanka ‘s history , that is, a general secretary of the SLFP being selected by the UNP as the common Presidential candidate . He also acknowledged his debt to other political parties and organizations that decided he should assume this responsibility.

For 45 years he was with the SLFP , and he was its general secretary for 13 years ,the longest period in the SLFP history ,Sirisena added.

Recalling briefly the democratic history of the SLFP, he said , the present rulers by introducing the 18 th amendment following the war victory , plunged the country into a lawless , chaotic anti democratic state raging with corruption.

Corruption is overriding , with injustice and lawlessness reigning supreme. The very foundation of law is destroyed. Independent Courts are not impartial. Police force is degraded , and it is unable to discharge its duties duly. The country is being ingloriously led into what is called a ‘glorious dictatorship ‘ he quipped. ‘A number of SLFP ministers therefore decided that this trend must be changed, and discussed with UNP and other parties, but I never thought let alone dream that these parties will choose me as the common candidate ,’ he observed.

Siresena also spoke with deep regret that he was subjected to great pain of mind when the national drug policy was obstructed. ‘When the display of cancer warning on a packet of cigarettes was reduced from 80 % to 60 % , I was thoroughly disillusioned while I was in courts seated on a bench’, Sirisena was charged with emotion when he revealed this. ‘As we are born so we have to die. During this life span we should contribute to the well being of man, and die’, Sirisena stressed.

He urged the Commanders of the three forces, IGP and the Elections commissioner to assist to ensure that there is a fair and free election.

He also requested them not to bow to illegal orders , and he would give due recognition to those who performed their duties abiding by the laws ,after he becomes the President.

The government sector will be de politicized and made independent , supremacy of the law , media freedom and a new elections system will be established, he pointed out. Answering a question posed by the media , he said , he is still the SLFP gen. secretary. The people must decide whether the true SLFP is in the Temple Trees or here , Sirisena further noted.

Replying to questions posed by the media , Sirisena said, like in 1972 , while functioning as a Parliamentary constitution committee the constitution can be ratified. Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the prime minister of his government , he added.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunge speaking on the occasion revealed how she was insulted by the present rulers . Referring to one such insult , she said, her birthday was chosen on purpose to dismiss her from the SLFP President post. She also briefly recalled how Ministers were barred from speaking to her. Anyway this is not the occasion to highlight them , and these humiliations were not what prompted her to attend this campaign , she asserted

‘I am happy that I am now able to enter my political ancestral home . I remained silent for 9 years . There were requests made to me to come forward as Presidential candidate again, but I turned down the offer because I am not power greedy,’ she told.

Certainly there will be a lot of intimidations , pressures and even threats to life in the future, but we embarked on this struggle while being fully aware of those . At a time when the country is nose diving into a calamitous situation , the people must rally round the opposition holding hands with it to avert this dire crises ominously threatening the country , Chandrika went on to warn.

Her full speech can be heard by clicking here .

Moreover the media discussion was telecast through all TV channels Island wide. According to reports , after this media discussion was telecast , the entire nation started rejoicing and reveling as though the whole country had instantly transformed into a wedding house.

Residents of Polonnaruwa had come out to the streets to celebrate, and just now , based on reports ,people of Avisawella too had come out to the streets to celebrate.

At the meeting this morning of UNP M.P.s and opposition leaders it was announced that a common candidate shall be fielded , and it is Mathripala Sirisena of the SLFP who has crossed over to the UNP. It was also decided that he should be extended the fullest support .

The UNP working committee that met subsequently ratified this decision . The UNP was also to convene a special media discussion today (21) at 6.00 p.m.

To listen to the historic speech of Maithripala Sirisena , click here .