U.S. alleges Russian fighting in Ukraine hours ahead of cease-fire

A purported satellite image shows Russian arms near Debaltseve, Ukraine. (Courtesy of Geoff Pyatt)
By Michael Birnbaum February 14 at 9:37 AM

MOSCOW – The Obama administration on Saturday released satellite images that it said showed that the Russian army had joined rebels to mount a full-scale assault on surrounded government troops in eastern Ukraine, hours before a cease-fire set to take effect at midnight.

Families fleeing the violence in eastern Ukraine cross into Russia ahead of the rollout of a planned cease-fire. (Reuters)

U.S. Alleges Russian Fighting in Ukraine Hours Ahead of Cease-fire by Thavam Ratna

Recent protests highlight urgency of Burma’s Rohingya crisis

Rohingya Muslims. Pic: AP.

By Casey Hynes Feb 14, 2015

By Casey Hynes Feb 14, 2015After a brief window of hope earlier last week, Rohingya in Burma’s Rakhine State were once again shut out of the political system after protesters demanded they be barred from participating in an upcoming referendum. The Rohingya are among the most persecuted people in Burma, and are frequently the targets of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence. Despite the fact that many Rohingya were born in Burma and that their families have lived in the country for generations, the government refuses to recognize them as citizens, insisting that they are refugees from Bangladesh and must therefore identify as Bengali.

Things were looking ever-so-slightly up for the persecuted minority last week, when the government said it would issue Rohingya white cards, documents that would allow them to vote. However, the government backtracked on that after Buddhist nationalistprotesters demanded that they reverse course.

Anti-Rohingya sentiment has simmered and occasionally reached a boiling point in Rakhine State since 2012. The situation for Rohingya is dire, as many are forced to flee the country or live in crowded, sparse camps. The lack of recognition of their citizenship is a huge barrier to them defending their rights. Buddhist-Muslim violence has also spread to other parts of the country, but tensions are particularly concentrated in Rakhine state.

“Many Rakhine feel that if Rohingya are legally recognized, then they’ll encroach on Rakhine culture, land, and resources,” said Matthew Smith, co-founder and executive director of the organization Fortify Rights. “It’s a genuine fear.”

As noted in the Washington Post, Burma has made rapid, significant progress in recent years, welcoming foreign investment and paving the way for groundbreaking innovations in the country. But it is still a nation rife with human rights violations, and the Rohingya continue to suffer regularly, particularly due to what Smith describes as a “base discrimination against Muslims” that “permeates everything in Rakhine State.”

Reuters described the dark situation faced by Rohingya in a June 2014 piece that addressed a nationalist campaign to constrict the amount of humanitarian aid provided to the community of one million, including 140,000 displaced people.

Smith criticized the government’s lack of action on protection for the Rohingya.

“Thein Sein is playing politics in all the wrong ways,” he said. “The sign of a great leader is a willingness to take principled positions on unpopular issues, and we’re just not seeing that from [Burma’s] political elite. That’s because some actually believe the nonsense they preach on this issue, while others demonstrate political cowardice.”

Human rights groups and advocates have condemned the treatment of the Rohingya, and Human Rights Watch described the appalling situation as an ethnic cleansing campaign. Nonetheless, they have so far been left behind when it comes to official policy and the government often seems on the side of nationalists who resent and oppose the Rohingyas’ place in Burma. Indeed, Smith said, “the government has been fanning anti-Rohingya flames for years and continues to do so. It’s irresponsible.” The situation in Rakhine is far from stable, with locals nervous about the potential for violent flare-ups.

“Local Rakhine in Sittwe have told us they’re nervous there will be more violence, and the protests are a worrying sign,” Smith said. “If anything, the protests are representative of the simmering anger and unchecked misunderstandings in the state.”

Smith said that the Rohingya crisis has already given pause to some foreign investors and is a concern for some in the diplomatic community. But a sustained campaign of documenting violence and abuses against the Rohingya, and consistent, widespread pressure for their recognition is the only way to ensure these criminal behaviors will stop.

It’s up to the government to take a firm stand in favor of the Rohingya and “combat deep-seeded discriminatory and hateful attitudes,” but it’s also up to the international community to hold the government accountable, Smith said. U.S. President Barack Obama urged the Burmese government to act on behalf of the Rohingya, but little has improved since that visit. Even iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been reluctant to explicitly take up their cause.

“There’s a well-founded fear that the Rohingya will be sacrificed by the international community on the altar of political reform, and we’re already seeing that from some corners,” Smith said. “There’s not nearly enough outrage in the international community about what’s happening in Rakhine state, and there’s a trend of compromise on Rohingya rights in the name of pragmatism. That’s truly detrimental to long term stability in the region.”

Islamic Reformation- with special reference to India

by R. Upadhyay

( February 13, 2015, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The recent Islamist terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo cartoon journalists in Paris and army children in Peshawar school perhaps prompted Sultan Shahin , Indian Editor of New Age Islam to write an advisory paper entitled “Muslim must confront Islamist terror ideologically –An Islamic reformation required”. While it is conceded that reforms within Islam will have to come from within, this paper examines whether at all it is possible when indications are to the contrary!

Another author Muhammad Yunus in the Urdu section of the same web site maintained that “Hadith Is Not a DivineScripture of Islam”.

Islamic Reformation- With Special Reference to India by Thavam Ratna

Argentina's president may face charges over alleged terrorist attack cover-up

 Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signals to supporters during an event announcing new government projects at the government palace. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires-Friday 13 February 2015

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner may face formal charges weeks after mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had prepared criminal complaint

Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, may face formal charges in connection with her alleged role in covering up the country’s worst terrorist attack. 

Argentina's president may face charges over alleged terrorist attack cover-up.odt by Thavam Ratna

India's "Common Man" takes office in Delhi, vows to fight divisive politics

Arvind Kejriwal gestures to his supporters after casting his vote outside a polling station during the state assembly election in New Delhi February 7, 2015.

BY SANJEEV MIGLANI-Sat Feb 14, 2015 3
(Reuters) - A two-year-old anti-graft party took office in the Indian capital on Saturday, promising to fight divisive politics in a challenge to the federal government of Narendra Modi that has faced criticism for attacks on churches and other minorities.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) handed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party the biggest defeat this week any party has suffered in decades, promising to protect women in the crime-ridden mega city and deliver drinking water and power.

Arvind Kejriwal, a 46-year-old former tax official, was sworn in as Delhi's chief minister in a public ground filled with thousands of his supporters, wearing boat-shaped white caps emblazoned with the words: "I am a common man."

He said there had been a spate of attacks on churches in recent days and his administration would move quickly to ensure the capital remains safe for people of all faiths.

"Some people are trying to stir up politics of hatred. We will not tolerate this," he said.

On Friday, people broke into a Christian school in south Delhi, stole some money, damaged closed-circuit television cameras and ransacked parts of the building.

It was the sixth attack on a Christian building in the city, prompting Modi to summon the city police chief and ask him to tighten security around religious places.

Modi's rivals, however, say he is not doing enough to rein in the hardliners in his Hindu nationalist party and affiliate groups who have been quarrelling with Muslim and Christian groups over religious conversions.

Kejriwal, whose first term as Delhi chief minister lasted just 49 days and ended in chaos exactly a year ago, also promised to fight Delhi's "VIP culture" of politicians and their motorcades and retinue of servants that citizens have come to resent.

"We will neither have red beacons on top of ministers' vehicles, nor on the chief minister's car," he said to loud applause.

Kejriwal's rise to power does not immediately present a threat to Modi as his party has little presence outside Delhi. But his stunning victory has re-energised regional leaders who are bitterly opposed to Modi and are preparing for a clutch of state elections over this year and the next.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

Tamils hold fire to ruling coalition in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, left, and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Source: AFP

SRI Lanka’s new government has appealed to the UN to delay a report into atrocities committed during its civil war, days after a key political ally accused successive governments of Tamil genocide and called for a speedy probe from the world body.

The Australian-Amanda Hodge-THE AUSTRALIAN-FEBRUARY 14, 2015

The Tamil National Alliance-dominated Northern Provincial Council passed the incendiary resolution on Tuesday, defending the move by saying the country needed to understand its past to build a harmonious future.

The former war-torn region’s chief minister, Canagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran, told The Weekend Australian the 11-page document was intended to “educate our Sinhalese brothers and sisters” on the history of Tamil persecution in Sri Lanka.

“We need to explain to our friends in the present government, ‘This is what your predecessors did. Do not go the same way as them’, so they can take that into consideration with their policies,” he said.

The move highlights the challenges facing the government, a coalition of almost 40 parties from across the political and ­religious spectrum that came ­together last month to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa after 10 years in power.

The new administration of President Maithripala Sirisena, Mr Rajapaksa’s former health minister, has promised to reunite the country and conduct an independent investigation into ­allegations of war crimes by the Tamil Tigers and government forces. Both sides are accused of killing civilians, with the UN estimating as many as 40,000 were killed in the final phase of the war that ended in May 2009.

The UN launched a fresh study last year, to be released next month, after criticising the Rajapaksa government’s ­Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission for lacking “tangible results”. Mr Rajapaksa refused to allow UN investi­gators into the country, insisting only Sri Lankans could conduct such an inquiry.

In a speech this week to Washington’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said more time was needed to set up mechanisms to deal with any recommendations from the new report.

“Unlike the previous government, we are not in a state of ­denial saying that violations have not happened,” he said.

“We believe such violations have happened. We are ready to ensure that those who have violated human rights in Sri Lanka will be brought to justice through such a mechanism.”

In the month since its shock election victory, the new government has embarked on a 100-day reform agenda to reverse the anti-democratic policies of the Rajapaksa government.

It has already reinstated sacked chief justice Shirani Bada­ranayake, impeached for refusing to support a law granting greater powers to the president’s brother, replaced contro­-versial ex-military northern governor GA Chadrasiri with a respected diplomat, and this week promised to hand back an initial 400ha of an estimated 2600ha of Tamil-owned land seized by the military during the three-decade long conflict.

It is also in the process of winding back extraordinary presidential powers.

Professor Wigneswaran said his council was concerned at recent public assurances that there would be no demilitarisation of the north — a priority for the Tamil community.

“Our people have a lot of expectations and on the ground very little is being done,” he said.

“We want the international community to be aware there has been a continuous process of decimation of our people.”

The document details ­episodes of violence and ­oppression, dating from the 1956 Sinhala Only Act to the brutal final phase of the war.

TNA welcomes NPC genocide resolution

13 February 2015

The Tamil National Alliance welcomed the genocide resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council and urged it to “go further” and follow it up.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, TNA General Secretary Maavai Senathirajah said the alliance welcomes the resolution, which calls on the UN to investigate charges of genocide against Sri Lanka and prosecute those responsible, and urged the NPC to follow up on developments related to the resolution to “alert” the UN Human Rights Council.

“The war crimes were committed during the previous Rajapaksa regime,” said the MP, who is also the leader of the TNA’s main constituent party, ITAK.

“Therefore the resolution was passed urging the UN to investigate those who had committed war crimes. The NPC should go further and follow up on the developments with regard to the resolution in order to alert the UNHRC at the March session in Geneva,” he said.

The resolution said the Tamil people "have no hope for justice in any domestic Sri Lankan mechanism, whether conducted by the Rajapaksa regime, Sirisena regime, or its successor" the resolution called for justice and accountability for the Tamil genocide "to be driven and carried out by the international community".

"This Council further notes that Lt.-Gen. Sarath Fonseka was President Rajapakse’s Army Commander during the later stages of the war, and is currently President Sirisena’s advisor on defense matters", the resolution stated, adding that "no regime will investigate its own leaders remains equally true under Sirisena’s administration, given his role in the military leadership in 2009 and Fonseka’s continued position of privilege."

"There has been no change in the oppressive level of militarization in the NorthEast with the election of Maithripala Sirisena [...] This Council urgently calls upon the international community to create conditions suitable and sustainable to protect the Tamils of the NorthEast Provinces in Sri Lanka from genocide."

Genocide resolution ‘beyond NPC’s limitations’ – President Sirisena (13 Feb 2015)

We welcome NPC resolution – Batticaloa MP Ariyanethiran (11 Feb 2015)

TNPF welcomes NPC resolution on genocide as a 'victory for all of us' (11 Feb 2015)

BTF urges UK to act on NPC resolution (11 Feb 2015)

Sri Lanka War Investigation Must Continue Despite The Change: TCSF

February 13, 2015

The Tamil Civil Society Forum has last night written to Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasising that the Sri Lanka investigation process set in motion through the UNHRC resolutions of 2012, 2013 and 2014, has to continue despite the change in Government.

“We respectfully insist that your office proceed with the release of the findings of the OISL inquiry and in the event of finding of serious crimes being committed recommend to the relevant UN agencies and member states of the UN to take all steps necessary for international criminal prosecutions to be initiated.” the TCSF said.

We publish below the statement in full;

Vavuniya, 12 February 2015

His Excellency Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland

Your Excellency,

OISL Inquiry

We write on behalf of the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), a network of more than 100 civil society activists from the North – East of Sri Lanka, in relation to the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session in March 2015 at which the report of your office’s inquiry on Sri Lanka (OISL) is due. TCSF has been an active campaigner for peace with truth and justice in Sri Lanka. As the OISL team is aware we have been engaged with the inquiry and hence take a keen interest as to its outcome.

Convenor – Bishop Dr. Rayappu Joseph

We write to emphasise that the international investigation process set in motion through the UNHRC resolutions of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the resolve to usher in accountability in Sri Lanka, has to continue despite the change in Government.

The Sri Lankan Government that took office under President Maithripala Sirisena on 09 January 2015 has spoken of its intentions to create a domestic mechanism to inquire into crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war. It is quite clear from the reasons that are being given for this desire to set up a domestic mechanism that such announcements are driven by instrumental reasons in so far as they seek to postpone the release of the OISL inquiry report in March and/or seek a postponement of any action that the report may recommend. Such a postponement this Government hopes, will help permanently dislodge the call for international investigations. In our opinion, two key reasons explain why domestic mechanisms in Sri Lanka would not lead to robust accountability even under the new Government:

A) Key figures in the new Government including President Sirisena were an integral part of the former government under Mahinda Rajapaksa and have maintained that the Sri Lankan armed forces fought ‘a clean war’. Moreover certain key members of President Srisena’s government were actively involved in the conduct of the war. Even those in the present Government who had no direct connection with the conduct of the war or with the past administration narrowly conceive failure of the former Government’s failure on the question of accountability as a mismanagement of foreign policy. Hence even under this new Government there is no real political will for accountability.

B) Given the pride of place that Sinhala Buddhist nationalist politics gives to the Sri Lankan armed forces as the protector of the Sinhala Buddhist political order and given that all parties in the South of Sri Lanka have avowedly expressed their commitment to Sinhala Buddhist ideological politics it is very unlikely that a credible domestic mechanism would ever be set up in Sri Lanka that inquires into the violations committed by Sri Lankan armed forces.

For these reasons we are pessimistic about any new proposals for a domestic mechanism in Sri Lanka. We wish to respectfully urge you not to take any promise for domestic investigations seriously, particularly in the absence of any concrete proposals that demonstrate such intentions. We also would kindly refer you to the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council on the 10th of February 2015 also expressing disbelief in the credibility of domestic mechanisms delivering on accountability, truth and justice.

We believe that giving more time and space to the Sri Lankan Government will not only lead to a further delaying of justice but to its complete abandonment. We recall that the setting up of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and its report served as an eye washer on accountability, belittled the serious crimes that were committed during the last stages of the war and delayed international action on accountability. Tamil people are not in a position to give time and space for another LLRC.

We respectfully insist that your office proceed with the release of the findings of the OISL inquiry and in the event of finding of serious crimes being committed recommend to the relevant UN agencies and member states of the UN to take all steps necessary for international criminal prosecutions to be initiated.

Thank you

Kumaravadivel Guruparan – Co-Spokesperson TCSF and Elil Rajendram  TCSF Co-Spokesperson TCSF

*The Tamil Civil Society Forum is a network of more then 100 Tamil Civil Society Activists from the North-East of Sri Lanka convened by Bishop Dr Rayappu Joseph. 

Vanni IDPs remain without housing and basic needs says TNA MP

13 February 2015

There is still no proper housing and basic needs for internally displaced persons in Vanni, the district's Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, Sivasakthy Ananthan, was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying on Thursday. 

Describing the situation in Kanakarayankulam in the Vanni, an area that was severely affected by the armed conflict, Mr Ananthan said "there are more than 500 people in need of housing in this area," adding, "They are disabled as well. It has been six years since the three-decade war came to an end."

"There are hundreds of people who are disabled. During the Rajapaksa regime we had demanded to provide them with immediate requirements. However, this was left uncompleted. The rehabilitated are not residing in proper houses. Their basic fundamental needs are not being met. This has even resulted in the countless number of children interrupting their education halfway through," he said.

Stating that there were around 40,000 widows and 12,000 orphans in the region, Mr Ananthan said: "We attempted to bring aid for the affected, but it was impossible under the former government. The relief measures were not done in a proper way."

"The result was that at the presidential election the minorities cast their votes and made Maithripala Sirisena the new President. The protest against the missing persons staged in the North and South was to remind the new governance of their responsibilities," he said. 

"We had demanded that this should be done immediately in the 100-day programme. A rock solid government was defeated by the power of a minority."

Online Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka

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• - on 02/13/2015

The tension between the burgeoning technological capacities for bothexpression and repression online is a global phenomenon, compounded by the absence of a dedicated international legal framework that sets out obligations for states with regard to the protections of freedom of expression online. Within this context, Sri Lanka is particularly vulnerable: existing protections for offline freedom of expression are poor both in terms of substance and implementation. While the right to freedom of speech, expression, and publishing is protected under Article 14 (1)(a) of Sri Lanka’s constitution, it is subject to numerous restrictions, aimed at preserving national security, public order, racial and religious harmony, and morality. Moreover, its scope is much narrower than what is entailed by Sri Lanka’s obligations under international human rights law.

Online Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

Proposals On Constitutional Reforms; Some Observations

By S. Sivathasan -February 13, 2015 

S. Sivathasan

Precursor to Reforms

The current constitution, the way it led to concentration of power and authority in the hands of the uninhibited former President, the unstoppable erosion of citizens’ rights and the evil forces of fascism overtaking those of democracy were creating a veritable spectre. The polity alarmed at this prospect got seriously engaged in stopping it. Reform of the constitution was seen as a way out. To precede it a change of regime was considered most conducive. Now that it has happened, what next?

A serious debate on the parameters of a new constitution or a drastic change in the salient features that were contributing to the earlier malady. The 25 points in the 100 day plan set out though a bit discursively some of the cardinal principles envisaged for promising times. The skeleton needed fleshing up with regard to a new constitution. With a strong mandate enhancing the confidence of the new government, proposals have been formulated with a clothing of authority for people’s participatory engagement.

Eliciting the views of the public through public fora is an innovative precedent for us. The Colombo Telegraph has picked up this initiative for further support. Calling the Maithripala Proposals a Discussion Paper, it set the ball rolling by publishing the Proposals on 9th February. The writer’s lines seek to place the effort in perspective with observations on the proposals..

President

“The President shall always … act on the advice of the Prime Minister”, is prescription to establish the primacy of parliament.
Read More

Pitch for Peace in Sri Lanka

By Anuradha M Chenoy-13th February 2015

Sri Lanka is going through a major transition. This transition happened with the election of new president Maithripala Sirisena last month. Sirisena was part of the previous Rajapakse government who left to form a new coalition that included Tamil parties and was called the rainbow coalition. The Indian policy-making elite was particularly delighted because, unlike the Rajapakse regime, this coalition by its very nature was inclusive. It is only on the basis of a multi-ethnic inclusivity that it was felt a transition should be made from a government of war to a government of peace.

The Rajapakse government won the war against the LTTE, but was blamed internationally of huge human rights violations of almost genocidal proportions of the minority Tamil citizens. But even after the LTTE was decimated, the Rajapakse government went into a triumphalism mode. It tried to whitewash the war crimes, isolate and ghettoise the Tamils, militarising all institutions, continuing with impunity, refusing reconciliation with legitimate Tamil groups, and so on.

Under Rajapakse, any dissenting voice, Sinhala or other, was curbed. Journalists who reported the truth disappeared and were threatened. A political cartoonist, Eknaligoda, disappeared. Human rights activists were declared national security risks. Even a Supreme Court justice who dared to question Rajapakse was impeached. All international standards of democracy had been flouted.

Since the civil war had ended after 26 years, the majority Sinhala community tolerated the excesses of the Rajapakse regime. Rajapakse himself thought he was unbeatable and would win a third term. His regime was controlled by his family and friends and most structures bent to suit this control. But the people of Sri Lanka silently voted against the Rajapakse regime. Clearly, all the minorities had a collective role, but an important role was also played by Sinhala people, who decided they had enough and brought in the Sirisena government.

The new government has taken bold and correct steps to dismantle the militarised regime and emergency-type features that characterised post-war Sri Lanka. It has stopped intimidating the media and ended compulsory military training in schools and colleges. The government has promised investigation into the murder of important journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, indicative of freedom of the press.

What will be critical for the new government however, will be its policy of peace and reconciliation. This lies in changing the Lankan Constitution and allowing the 13th Amendment. The Rajapakse regime called this the “Indian Amendment”. In truth, the Indians are in favour of this. But that does not make the amendment bad. Like the rest of South Asia, Sri Lanka badly needs cooperative federalism where ethnic group rights are maintained within the state structure.

The Indian strategic elite is also quite happy with the new regime, because it believes that the Rajapakse government was getting too close to the Chinese. It had given China permission to make the port of Hambantota, and India has been concerned that the Chinese military would be given access to Sri Lankan ports.

In this strategic tug of war, India, in order to sway the Sri Lankan government, would periodically raise the question of human rights violations of the ethnic Tamils (also, because it is an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu). The Sri Lankan regime would give the Chinese more quarters, to put pressure on the Indians so as to quieten them on human rights issues. Ultimately, it was the people, especially the ethnic minorities and liberal opinion, that were losing out. And ultimately, it was these forces that rallied round and threw out the Rajapakse regime.

So what now? India and the US are happy with the new regime. Both feel that the Sirisena regime will not be as open to the Chinese as the previous one was. But, is that all? The truth is that if the new regime has to survive and do well, it will first have to focus on building a democratic and inclusive system, where all groups have equal rights and access as citizens. They should have a right to their language and practise their religion unencumbered by majoritarian constructs. This state reconstruction after a long war cannot happen.

This government will have to restore the institutions and rebalance the institutions of the executive, legislature and judiciary. The fact that the new government has reinstated the impeached Justice Shirani Bandarnayake is a sure sign of taking the correct steps.

And what of the strategic angle? Sri Lanka is a small player between big states. It uses one to leverage the other. It needs India, China and the US in different ways, just as China needs India and the US and India have relations with USA and China. So there is little point using their own citizens as pawns in these strategic games. Nor is it viable for South Asians as a community to play with big powers against the interest of South Asians.

It will be good if India thus supports the new regime. The Sri Lankan president has been invited by PM Modi. This is a welcome step. India should encourage the reconciliation process, the renewed debate on the 13th Amendment should not just continue but should be accepted as a good compromise. Meanwhile, both Chinese and Indian ships that come for trade and in support of peace should be welcomed, while military ships of all countries should keep off Sri Lanka. That would be a good compromise.

A stable Sri Lanka is important for India. For this, Sri Lanka has to restore religious and ethnic minorities’ rights. The Sirisena government has taken steps in the right direction. India should support this by enhancing their aid, calling on closer ties of SAARC countries, and at the same time ensuring that Sri Lankan sovereignty and integrity is maintained. India should support Sri Lankan strategic autonomy. This can come only with internal stability and cohesion. The new government is taking steps in the right direction. Sri Lanka is at a stage of changing from a post-war country to one of real peace and harmony.