Wikileaks says U.S. spied on another ally -- this time, Japan

By Anna Fifield-July 31 

The United States has for years been intercepting phone calls between Japanese officials on sensitive issues including trade, climate change and bilateral relations, according to a cache of cables that anti-secrecy group Wikileaks released Friday.

With American and Japanese officials meeting in Hawaii – along with representatives of 10 other Pacific Rim nations – to try to close the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, Wikileaks released the potentially damaging cables that included conversations about trade.

The release could pose another hurdle to the already difficult TPP negotiations, and will compound Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s domestic woes. Abe is facing loud protests at home over his attempts to loosen the restrictions on Japan’s military and allow it to play a more active role in its alliance with the United States.

In the cache dubbed “Target Tokyo” released Friday, Wikileaks alleges that the National Security Agency had 35 targets in Japan going back at least as far as 2006, when Abe began his first stint as prime minister.

The targets included the switchboard for the Japanese Cabinet office, the official workplace of the prime minister, and the line of the executive secretary to Abe’s chief cabinet secretary. Officials from the central bank and the finance and trade ministries also had their phones tapped, as did the natural gas division of Mitsubishi and the petroleum division of Mitsui, Wikileaks claimed. 

 

“The reports demonstrate the depth of U.S. surveillance of the Japanese government, indicating that intelligence was gathered and processed from numerous Japanese government ministries and offices,” the group, which is led by Julian Assange, said in a statement.

[Being Julian Assange]

Four of the reports that Wikileaks released are classified “top secret,” and one is categorized so that it can be shared with the U.S.’ "Five Eyes" intelligence partners: Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand.

One of the reports, from 2009, purports to show that the NSA intercepted talking points drafted for the agriculture minister to present at World Trade Organization negotiations with the U.S. trade representative.

“The minister could also address the need to ensure that the results of the WTO agriculture negotiations do not curtail agriculture in the member countries, and Japan's anticipation of an early appointment by the USTR of a chief agricultural negotiator,” the report says. Fisheries subsidies, and tariffs on forestry and fishery products, might also come up, it said.

Other parts of the leak deal with climate change negotiations and a feud between the U.S. and Japan over cherries, but it is the trade component that will probably be most controversial.

Japan has an entrenched agriculture lobby, and farm products have been one of the most difficult parts of the TPP negotiations between the U.S. and Japan, by far the two biggest economies in the 12-nation pact.

 

The U.S. is pushing to seal the deal this weekend at the talks in Hawaii, and any delay could imperil the whole proposal. The completed deal will need to go through Congress before the end of the year – before lawmakers begin their 2016 election campaigns in earnest.

The documents were released in the middle of the afternoon in Japan, but the initial response in Tokyo was muted.

“We are closely communicating with the U.S. on NSA’s information gathering, but we refrain from commenting on this matter because of the character of this issue,” said Kenko Sone, a spokesman for the prime minister. “The government continues to make every effort to secure the information.”

Wikileaks’ previous disclosures that the United States had been intercepting phone calls from the leaders of Germany, France and Brazil led to indignation in those countries and rebukes.

 

Julian Assange granted political asylum by Ecuador; Britain maintains extradition pledge

Assange not under sealed indictment, U.S. officials say

The saga of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

 

Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.

Big powers jostling for influence in security-starved Africa 

July 29, 2015, 12:00 pm

Even if some sections of the world are currently seeing the African continent through the eyes of US President Barrack Obama, who is on an historic African tour, the more knowledgeable among them would need to concede that the continent has not changed much over the decades since decolonization.

If these perceptive sections are familiar with the work of that famous Algerian psychoanalyst and political activist of the fifties and sixties, Frantz Fanon, they would be struck by the fact that the common people of Africa are being compelled by many of their rulers to remain bogged down in the situation of ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, the title given by Fanon for his remarkable socio-political tract on Africa’s development dilemmas.

Political observers and students of Africa would do well to read ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, if they have not already done so, to better understand the exploitative mindset of some of the continent’s rulers and to gain a deeper insight into the political, economic and social ‘dynamics’ of the continent, which have conspired to keep the majority of Africa’s people in abject poverty and deprivation. The socio-political and economic conditions in most of Africa are remaining unchanged, the readers of Fanon would realize.

To be sure, most of us in Asia are in no position to speak patronizingly about Africa. For the majority of the people of Asia, and even for those of Latin America, nothing has changed markedly over the decades from the development point of view. Some of the political classes of the Asian continent, for instance, are thriving, mostly on the basis of ‘Black Money’ and we in Sri Lanka are more than familiar with this species of parasitism.

We realize that President Obama could very well have been speaking about the political and social elites of the majority of the developing countries when he was quoted as saying by the media, during his tour of Kenya, that one ‘does not have to be a forensic accountant to know what is going on.’ Obama gave the examples of ‘officials driving expensive cars or building houses far above what their salaries would allow.’

In ‘The Wretched of the Earth’, Fanon, elucidating on what went wrong with post-independence Africa, pinpoints in particular the parasitic role of the ruling classes in the continent’s economic, political and social backwardness. If national unity, for example, is continuing to evade some countries of Africa, it is mainly because the continent’s ruling classes have failed to work towards it over the years. However, they have not forgotten to work assiduously towards their class and self interests. This is, of course, applicable to the majority of the countries of South Asia too, with Sri Lanka’s political elite ‘outshining’ its counterparts in the region from the viewpoint of acquisitiveness.

What the US President had to say of gay rights and ‘difference’ in Kenya is, in fact, profoundly relevant to the problem of ethnicity which affects the majority of developing countries. Obama said: ’When you start treating people differently, because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen.’ The US President has gone to the heart of the problem of ethnicity here. When minority communities, for example, are treated ‘differently’ by governments, things begin to ‘go wrong’ for countries. But it is the bounden duty of democratic governments to build national unity within their boundaries. Fanon has proved prophetic in this regard because most developing countries have failed to address the issue of ethnicity earnestly and knowledgeably.

A connected question which should have the developing countries concerned is whether the presence of the major global powers in Africa is contributing in a substantial way towards the development and material uplift of the continent. Sections in China are reportedly pooh-poohing the US President's visit to the African continent by saying that the US is merely trying to upstage China, which is already enjoying a substantial presence in the continent by way of its involvement in the latter's infrastructure development. These quarters have gone on to suggest that the US suffers from policy inconsistency in Africa.

While it should not come as a surprise that the world's biggest powers are jostling for influence in the African continent, for this is the veritable natural tendency of powers of this kind, the issue that needs to be broached is whether the African people are enjoying a notable degree of security as a result of such involvement of the major powers in the affairs of the region.

What is pinpointed as 'security' here is not the mere enforcement of law and order by states. The US President too had occasion to emphasize the need for 'security' during his visits to Kenya and Ethiopia in the course of his talks with the relevant authorities, but what he apparently implied was mainly law enforcement.

But the law-enforcement dimension of security has gone very little distance in satisfying the fundamental emotional and material needs of the people of Africa, as the current conditions of instability in the continent amply demonstrate. As could be seen, internal conflicts and wars have only multiplied over the years in Africa, leaving people in their tens of thousands homeless and destitute. At present there are more than 30 million destitute and displaced persons in sub-Saharan Africa alone and neither law enforcement nor infrastructure development has helped their cause.

The US President has done right to focus on the rights of the 'different' sections of African society but it is also mandatory that the right to food and other aspects of the African people's material needs are met. It is also essential to increasingly democratize these societies so that the people will be saved from the clutches of the repressive sections of the political class.

Accordingly, a broad interpretation needs to be placed on 'security'. A purely law and order approach to security would lead to the repression of civilian publics everywhere in the developing world. However, if 'security' is understood to mean increasing democratization of polities, the liberation of the peoples of the developing world could be achieved to a degree.

Defending Religion From Itself

BY KNOX THAMES-JULY 30, 2015

There is a growing threat to religious freedom around the globe. In an earlier era, the greatest hostility to faith came from secular autocracies or totalitarian regimes. But that has changed. Today, the most active persecutors of religious minorities and dissenters are religious extremists. In this still-young century, the world has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of extremist groups who attack the religious “other” for perceived transgressions.

No longer are states the sole perpetrator of abuses, as was the case during the Cold War. In the Middle East, the Islamic State has become the chief exemplar of a terrorist organization espousing a vile, religiously inspired ideology that despises diversity of thought and belief. Its genocidal attacks on the Yazidis almost one year ago and the choice “convert or die” it offers to Christians (also documented in a recent and much-discussed article in the New York Times) are gruesome evidence of its intentions. But Muslims aren’t safe, either. Shiite Muslims or dissenting Sunnis can also find themselves facing death sentences.

The Middle East is not the only region grappling with this new trend. In South Asia, the Taliban (in both its Afghan and Pakistani versions) have struck at Christians and other non-Muslims, while also viciously attacking other Islamic sects for being the “wrong” kind of Muslim. In Burma, the 969 movement of radical Buddhist monks has incited mob attacks against Rohingya Muslims. And these extremist monks are following the same agenda as like-minded Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka, who have targeted Christians and Muslims in that small island nation.

In Africa, too, violent religious extremism can be found in a growing number of countries. The terrorist organization Boko Haram has assaulted bothchurches and mosques who speak out against its ideology and attacks. In the Central African Republic, religiously affiliated militias have been responsible for mass violence in Christian and Muslim communities. Extremists in various other parts of the continent have announced the founding of Islamic State franchises.

This new reality presents a vexing challenge to the international community and its commitment to human rights and religious freedom. These groups are often outside the reach of normal diplomatic channels. They don’t care what the world thinks, as they are actively trying to upend the international order.

In response, governments need to develop fresh approaches. There is no single recipe for fighting religious bigotry. Violent religious extremism grows out of many factors and is often situation-specific. So the response must be flexible, comprehensive, and coordinated, not fragmented across different bureaus and agencies. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (of which I am director of policy and research) proposed aseries of changes to U.S. law and policy last year that would better position the United States to engage on these issues. The Commission’s recommendations include expanding the “country of particular concern” designation of worst religious-freedom violators to include failed states and nonstate actors, increasing funding for fieldwork grants, and including messaging on the importance of religious freedom and tolerance in strategic communications programs.

Concerns about religious freedom are interwoven with many of the greatest foreign-policy challenges facing the United States. President Barack Obama recognized this in his speech at the Countering Violent Extremism summit in February, noting that genuine democracy and political stability require “freedom of religion — because when people are free to practice their faith as they choose, it helps hold diverse societies together.”

Better incorporating promotion of freedom of religion into American efforts to confront ISIS and others extremists can enhance efforts to fight terrorism. Religious freedom is ultimately about freedom of thought — the right of individuals to believe what they want and to act on those beliefs in peaceful and noncoercive ways. Environments that support religious freedom are therefore better positioned to reject violent ideologies. Religious freedom is certainly not a cure-all. But it can make counter-terrorism efforts more durable by protecting civic space for diversity of thought and belief.

But this cannot be the United States’ fight alone. The challenges are transnational, with extremist groups linked across borders through ideology and criminality. To respond effectively, countries that value diversity of thought and belief must, too, work in coalition. Already there are multinational efforts against extremism and terrorism, such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum. But other efforts are under way to build coalitions of like-minded governments to advance freedom of religion. A network of legislators from around the world has leveraged the political capital of its individual members to protect religious freedom in places like Pakistan, Burma, and Indonesia. The European Union’s new human rights action planplaces a greater emphasis on promoting religious freedom and protecting religious minorities, more tightly focusing the 28-nation union on this issue.

And while the United States and other governments need new proactive policies, they must also discourage bad policies by partner governments that fuel extremism. Separate studies by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life have shown that, while the world is overwhelmingly religious, government restrictions on the free practice of religion are increasing. This is a recipe for increased violations and instability. In many places, heavy-handed government responses have made martyrs out of extremists and created grievances that fuel insurgencies. The recently released State Department country reports on terrorism noted this dynamic, especially in reference to several Central Asian states. To name but one example, the report on Tajikistan underscored the “negative impact on religious freedoms” of the government’s efforts to stem violent religious extremism, such as banning women and minors from attending mosques. These abuses can trigger violent reactions. In 2010, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistankilled 25 Tajik soldiers in response to the country’s oppressive religion law, which limits the free practice of Islam.

Extremist groups can also find inspiration from regressive laws in the nations where they operate. Take the example of blasphemy laws. When such laws are on the books, extremists often feel emboldened to enforce them through their own rough justice. In Pakistan, which leads the world in the number of people jailed for this so-called “crime,” the blasphemy law has fueled extremist violence against human rights defenders and has instigated mob attacks against Christians and Ahmadi Muslims.In an ironic twist, blasphemy laws empower the very extremists governments claim to be fighting against.

Religious extremists are killing religious minorities and dissenting members of their own faith, and they represent a clear and present danger to diversity of thought and belief. These violent groups will, for the foreseeable future, present a major challenge to the United States and its allies for reasons of national security, humanitarian concerns, and human rights. To be sure, secular authoritarian regimes like North Korea and Eritrea will continue their abusive ways, and the United States and the international community should redouble their efforts to press for authoritarian regimes to reform. But the rise of violent religious extremism requires a new approach — one where governments recognize the problem, pivot quickly, and work in concert to meet this challenge.

Tokyo Electric execs to be charged over Fukushima nuclear disaster

General aerial view of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, taken by Kyodo March 11, 2015.

REUTERS/KYODO

 Fri Jul 31, 2015

A Japanese civilian judiciary panel on Friday forced prosecutors to indict three former Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) executives for failing to take measures to prevent the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The decision is unlikely to lead to a conviction of the former executives, after prosecutors twice said they would not bring charges, but means they will be summoned to appear in court to give evidence.

Tokyo prosecutors in January rejected the panel's judgment that the three should be charged, citing insufficient evidence. But the 11 unidentified citizens on the panel forced the indictment after a second vote, which makes an indictment mandatory.

The three are former chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, 75, and former executives Sakae Muto, 65, and Ichiro Takekuro, 69.

Citizens' panels, made up of residents selected by lottery, are a rarely used but high-profile feature of Japan's legal system introduced after World War Two to curb bureaucratic overreach.

The panel ruled that the former executives had failed to take countermeasures to strengthen the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant despite foreseeing the dangers of a severe nuclear crisis it faced from tsunamis, according to a copy of the 31-page ruling seen by Reuters.

The Tokyo Public Prosecutors' office could not be immediately reached for comment.

An earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant, 220 km (130 miles) northeast of Tokyo, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee nearby towns and contaminating water, food and air in the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Prosecutors declined in 2013 to charge more than 30 Tepco and other officials who had been accused by residents of ignoring the risks of natural disasters and failing to respond appropriately to the crisis.

Prosecutors reopened the case after the citizens' panel ruled last year that the three former Tepco executives should be charged.

(Editing by Aaron Sheldrick and Nick Macfie)

10 Heart Disease Symptoms You Just Ignore

July 29 at 8:30pm

Our bodies are so intelligent that they always tell us timely if something is wrong with them. Whether it is a disease that is slowly and silently settling in our body or something that might give us a heart attack or stroke tomorrow, our body has its way to show us the symptoms.

Nowadays, heart disease is the main killer in the world and the reasons are quite a few: genetic predispositions, poor diet, no exercise, stress, polluted environment and negligence.

Therefore, we strongly advise you to take care of your health, and once you notice some of the following symptoms, to consult your doctor and go for a medical check-up so that you avoid getting a serious cardiovascular disease.

1. Sickness

If you experience stomach pain, bloating, indigestion, vomiting or feeling sick, it means that you have some heart problems which should be checked.

2. Pressure

Feeling pressure in the chest or even in the upper back area may be a symptom which should be taken care of, especially if it lasts for a long time or becomes unbearable.

3. Chest pain

People experience chest pain because of many different reasons, which doesn’t have to be connected with a heart disease. However, a more precise description of the kind of pain you will feel if it is something that has to do with a cardiovascular disease, is elaborated by Jean C. McSweeney, PhD, RN, and Associate Dean For Research at the University of Arkansas.
She says, if you have a heart disease, you will feel pain under your breast bone, inclined to the left part of your chest. 
In addition, the pain would be constant, as if something hard is giving you a sense of fullness or pressure. 

4. Anxiety

Any feeling of unexplained anxiety, accompanied by a feeling of light-heartedness or dizziness, might be a signal that you have a heart problem.

5. Unusual pain elsewhere

In practice, it seems that in most cases, people who have suffered from a heart disease haven’t experienced chest pain or discomfort. However, they have experienced some other unusual and severe pain elsewhere in their body. According to Amy Thompson, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, most of the pain connected with heart attacks will start in the chest area. However, it will reach its peak somewhere else in the body, for example in the neck or jaw.

6. Looking ill

There will certainly be a change in your complexion, which will be a sign that you are ill and suffering from a heart disease. If your blood pressure is low and your face is pale or grey, you probably need to see your doctor.

7. Sweating

A cold sweat is common prior to a heart attack.

8. Tiredness and weakness

If you are not able to keep up with your daily activities and you feel tired and weak all the time, it means that your body is fighting an illness and therefore has no energy for anything else.

9. Palpitations

A sign of heart failure is also fast or irregular beating of your heart which might be accompanied by dizziness or tiredness.

10. Dizziness and shortness of breath

And, the last but not least, if you are gasping for some air and feel breathless, you should immediately go to the hospital because it could be an indication of an upcoming heart attack. 

வெள்ளை வான் பின்னணியில் மைத்திரி அரசும் 

உள்ளதா?; சுரேஷ் பிரேமச்சந்திரன் சந்தேகம்

2015-07-27 

நாட்டில் மீண்டும் உருவாகியுள்ள  வெள்ளை வான் கலாசாரத்தின் பின்னணி என்ன? மகிந்த ஆட்சியில் தொடர்ந்தது போன்று மைத்திரி ஆட்சியிலும் தொடர்கதையாக இருக்கின்றதா என சந்தேகம் எழுந்துள்ளதாக தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் முன்னாள் பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினரும் யாழ். மாவட்ட வேட்பாளருமான சுரேஷ் பிரேமச்சந்திரன் தெரிவித்தார்.

இந்த வெள்ளை வான் கலாசாரத்தை உருவாக்கியவர்கள் முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ மற்றும் அவரது சகோதரரான முன்னாள் பாதுகாப்புச் செயலாளர் கோதாபய ராஜபக்ஷ ஆகியோரே என்றும் அவர் குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளார்.

யாழ். ஊடக அமையத்தில் நேற்று திங்கட் கிழமை நடைபெற்ற ஊடகவியலாளர் சந்திப்பில் கலந்துகொண்டு உரையாற்றுகையிலேயே  இவ்வாறு தெரிவித்த சுரேஷ் பிரேமச்சந்திரன் மேலும் கூறுகையில்;

தமிழ் மக்களுக்கு உரித்தான 767 வாகனங்களை  இராணுவத்தினர் கைப்பற்றியிருக்கின்றனர். அவை அனைத்தும்  விடுதலைப் புலிகளுக்குச் சொந்தமானவை  என்பதாலேயே தாம் வைத்திருப்பதாகக் கூறுகின்றனர்.

ஆனால் பெரும்பாலானவை பொது மக்களுக்குச்  சொந்தமானவை.  இப்போதுதான் வாகனங்கள் தொடர்பான உண்மை இராணுவத் தரப்பில் இருந்து வெளிவந்திருக்கின்றது. 

இவ்வாறான நிலையிலேயே கடந்த வாரம் வெள்ளை வானொன்றும் கைப்பற்றப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது.  ஆனால் அது தொடர்பில் உண்மை வெளிப்படுத்தப்படாமையால்   சந்தேகங்கள் ஏற்பட்டுள்ளன.  

இவ்வாறு கடந்த காலங்களில் வெள்ளை வான் கலாசாரத்தை ஏற்படுத்திய கோதாபய மீண்டும் வெள்ளை வான் கலாசாரத்தை உருவாக்க முற்படுகிறாரா என எண்ணத் தோன்றுகிறது.

ஆனால் மறுபக்கம் வெள்ளை வானை தங்கள் இடங்களில் கண்டவுடன் கோதாபய ராஜபக்ஷ  பயப்படுகின்றார். ஏனென்றால்  வெள்ளை வான் மூலம் நடைபெறும் செயல்கள் அவருக்குத் தெரியும்.

தமிழ் இளைஞர், யுவதிகள் வெள்ளை வான்கள் மூலம் கடத்தப்பட்டு, துன்புறுத்தப்பட்டுக் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர். இதனை அவர் நன்கு அறிவார். இதனால் அதன் பயத்தை உணர்ந்து வெள்ளை வான் தொடர்பில் அச்சம் கொள்கின்றார்.

கடந்த காலங்களில் வெள்ளை வானில் வடக்கு, கிழக்கு,  கொழும்பு உள்ளிட்ட இடங்களில் பலரும் கடத்தப்பட்டிருக்கின்றனர். அவர்களது பெற்றோர்கள் இன்றும் தேடி அலைந்து திரிகின்றனர்.

அதனைக் கண்டுகொள்ளாத மகிந்த மற்றும்  கோதா இன்று மட்டும் வெள்ளை வானைக் கண்டவுடன்  அஞ்சுவது ஏன்? வெள்ளை வான் தொடர்பில் தெரியும் என்பதாலா அல்லது வெள்ளை வானை மீண்டும் உருவாக்க முற்படுவதற்கா?  

அதேவேளையில் இராணுவத்தினரால் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டது. இராணுவத்தினருக்கு பாதுகாப்பிற்காக இலக்கத்தகடுகள் அற்றதும் இலக்கத்தகடுகள் மாற்றப்பட்டதுமான வாகனங்களை பயன்படுத்தலாம் என்றும் கூறப்படுகின்றது.

இவ்வாறு அந்த வெள்ளை வான் தொடர்பில் உரிய விசாரணைகளை  முன்னெடுக்காது இந்த அரசும் செயற்படுமாயின் இதற்கு மைத்திரி அரசும் உடந்தையா  என்ற சந்தேகம் எழுகின்றது என்றார்.

''White Van godfather and criminals still free ; Illegal firearms and phones still with them'' : LeN Editor reveals to Lankadeepa

(Lanka-e-news -30.July.2015, 11.10PM) The  godfathers of the white Van murder culture are still free and the telephones that were utilised in connection with these crimes had still not been discovered , Lanka e news editor Sandaruwan Senadheera revealed. He made this revelation during a discussion with Lankadeepa at an interview pertaining to the website bans and the harassment inflicted on journalists.

Q
The ex president says , now in Sri Lanka (SL) there is no media freedom , and many media are functioning with partiality favoring certain groups . What is your opinion ?

''White Van Godfather and Criminals Still Free Illegal Firearms and Phones Still With Them'' LeN Editor Rev... by Thavam Ratna

We Must Not Allow The January 8th Democratic Gains To Be Rolled Back

By Veluppillai Thangavelu –July 30, 2015

Veluppillai Thangavelu

General election to Sri Lanka’s 15th parliament is less than 3 weeks away. It will be held on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule to elect 225 members. There is hectic campaign by the two main contenders namely the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) too entice the voters. Each alliance is claiming victory at the polls, but we will know how the voters will cast their vote. Surprisingly the voters have an uncanny knack and sophistication in picking the winning party.

Both the UNFGG and UPFA are facing the electorate as a divided house. UNFGG is facing the poll minus its allies the JVP, TNA and the Democratic Party (DP) led by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. It is not clear why the DP is contesting separately when its leader owes the national government led by theUNP for quashing his previous convictions and rehabilitating him militarily as well as politically. If not for President Maithripala Sirisena‘s magnanimity in reinstating his voting right and right to stand for elections Sarath Fonseka would have remained in political doldrums for many years.

By a twist of fate the UPFA election campaign is led by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to the discomfort of president Sirisena. Though president Sirisena was forced to give nomination to Rajapaksa against his wish, he has called up on the people to defeat him at the forthcoming polls. He went further to claim he want appoint him as prime minister even if the UPFA wins the elections.

At the presidential elections Mahinda Rajapaksa lost by a margin of only 449,072 votes. And Rajapaksa still feels bitter that his defeat was caused by the vote bank of Thamils in the North, East provinces and in Tamil dominated Nuwara Eliya electoral district.  He has been harping on his defeat since 9th January, the day after the elections. Rajapaksa has reason to feel bitter since he won majority of the votes in the remaining 16 districts in the south.  He polled 5,299,151 (5,299,151 (50.64%) as against 4.996,446 (48.38%) for president Sirisena.

Read More

Part II: Would reconciliation process work in post-war Sri Lanka?

by Satheesan Kumarasamy

(From previous issue)

( July 30, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamils were propagating through Tamil media outlets and academic journals in countries where Tamils live, such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, etc., that Tamils lost their kingdoms after the occupation of their countries from foreign invaders. Thus, proponent of the primordialist theory on ethnic conflict is valid in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict because, in the context of South Africa, blacks saw whites as a threat to their identity and allowed them to marginalize in all sectors of their lives including economics and politics.

Part II Would Reconciliation Process Work in Post-war Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

The CM of the Northern Provincial Council visit to the UK

Thursday, 30 July 2015

The APPG for Tamils was delighted to receive an update from the Chief Minister, Justice CV Wigneswaran of the Northern Provincial Council on an invitation from the Chair of the APPG for Tamils, James Berry MP.

 

Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs attended the meeting and discussed post war justice, reconstruction and

economic development challenges for the war-affected areas in the Island of Sri Lanka.

 

The Chief Minister welcomed Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to the war affected areas in the Northern Province in 2013 and his calls for an independent UN investigation into alleged war crimes in the civil war.

 

He highlighted what changes he would like to see around governance & administration in Sri Lanka and possible routes to restore civilian life. He also addressed the legacy of the war and avenues for rebuilding the Northern Province.

 

The Chief Minister also urged the MPs to ask the UK government not to support a domestic mechanism to investigate the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka, as this would not deliver a meaningful truth and justice for the victims.

 

The APPG for Tamils wants to see truth and justice for all victims of human rights abuses in the civil war and is committed to working for a lasting peace in the Island of Sri Lanka.

 

Kingston and Surbiton James Berry MP, Chair of the APPGt, commented:

 

“It was an absolute honour to host the Chief Minister, who generously took time out of his personal visit to the UK, to meet with us.

 

“He presented a fascinating but saddening picture of the situation in Sri Lanka.

 

“The APPGt intends to follow up on the submission the Chief Minister presented to the Foreign Office. The APPGt also plans to meet in the early autumn to evaluate the issues around the forthcoming UN report on war crimes in Sri Lanka – the response to this report is the next big focus for us at the APPGt and for many Tamils in the UK.”

In Jaffna Exit Boycott Enter Fifth Column

By S. Sivathasan –July 29, 2015

S. Sivathasan

Tryst of Tamils with Boycott

It is 135 years since Mr. Charles Boycott entered the English vocabulary and also the dictionary. ‘Boycott’ as noun and ‘to boycott’ as verb. As a term it connotes a finer shade and more to the word ostracize or spurn or set aside. For 85 years the idea has plagued the Tamils with its rampant use and devastating damage. It ravaged Tamil politics from State Council elections. Ever active, it dealt a mortal blow to Tamils in 2005. It stalked unerringly till December 2014 and demised in January 2015. When political ineptitude of the Tamils invaded the scene even in a fragmented form, Mr. Boycott showed his head. But the ghost too seems exorcised from January 8, after 85 years.

Scourge of Fifth Column

Yet, poor satisfaction for the Tamils. A curse goes off but a scourge comes in. Boycott is replaced by Fifth Column – a group from within to undermine the larger interest. Oh fate, oh fate, what malevolence have you in store for the Tamils? So asked Bharathi our renaissance poet, in helpless anguish. Boycott philosophy, in its final gasp made its last try in 2013 Provincial and 2015 Presidential. It is now ditched.

In its place have mushroomed from June 2015, cancerous elements ruinous for the Tamil cause. What are they committed to? Acting the Fifth Column – to eat up from within. Who are they? Single digit MPs of 1994 and their ilk, who came into limelight amidst the havoc of boycotts. Tamils of little consequence decisively rejected by the mass of the people time and again. Anti-social elements who terrorized voters in times past. The most venal are status seekers who piggy backed on the TNA, only to find their impossible ambitions unfulfilled. Yet others who had a monopoly over violence with immunity guaranteed by the state previously are at their last try. They now seek to enter the fray as spoil sport to weaken Tamil representation. Voters have to rise to a man to relegate them to limbo. Unless cauterized in time, they will become malignant and turn again into destroyers. At what moment do they raise their head? When the TNA has surged forward as sole authentic voice, widely acknowledged by the Tamils.                                                                 Read More