French journalist accuses China of intimidating foreign press

Ursula Gauthier to be expelled from China after government claimed writer had offended nation with column about Xinjiang

French journalist Ursula Gauthier reacts to China expulsion order – video

Tom Phillips in Beijing-Saturday 26 December 2015

China is facing accusations of attempting to muzzle and intimidate foreign press after it said it would expel a French journalist who refused to apologise for an article criticising government policy.

Lu Kang, a spokesperson for China’s ministry of foreign affairs, claimed Ursula Gauthier, the Beijing correspondent for French magazine L’Obs, had offended the Chinese people with a recent column about terrorism and the violence-hit region of Xinjiang. “Gauthier failed to apologise to the Chinese people for her wrong words and it is no longer suitable for her to work in China,” Lu said in a statement, according to Xinhua, Beijing’s official news agency.

Gauthier’s press credentials and visa expire on 31 December, meaning she will effectively be forced to leave the country unless they are renewed before then. It would be the first time a foreign journalist has been expelled from China since 2012 when Melissa Chan, an al-Jazeera English correspondent known for her hard-hitting reports on human rights issues, was forced to leave.

Speaking on Saturday, Gauthier said she believed her expulsion was an attempt to silence criticism of Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang and to intimidate fellow journalists. “They are just telling [foreign journalists]: ‘Beware! Behave! If you don’t [toe the government’s line] you will have the same end as Ursula Gauthier.’ That is what they are saying.”

News of Gauthier’s imminent expulsion sparked outrage among colleagues and freedom of speech groups. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China said it was appalled by Beijing’s move. “Unless the authorities reverse their decision, this will be the first expulsion of a foreign correspondent from China since 2012. It is one of the most flagrant attempts, among many, to use the accreditation and visa process to threaten journalists,” it said.

“The FCCC views this matter as a most serious development and a grave threat to the ability of foreign correspondents to work in China,” the statement added.

Writing on Twitter, Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch, said the expulsion was “disgraceful and counterproductive”.

Ursula Gauthier holds a statement criticising her from the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Gauthier’s combative article, which was published last month after the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris, questioned the Communist party’s policies inXinjiang, a troubled and resource-rich region in China’s far-west that is home to the largely Muslim Uighur minority.

Xinjiang suffers frequent outbreaks of violence including ethnic rioting and, more recently, what appear to beattacks on civilians by Islamic extremists. Draconian security measures mean independent reporting on many such incidents is virtually impossible.

In her article, Gauthier suggested Beijing’s “pitiless repression” of the Uighurs was helping to fuel what appeared to be a growing tide of deadly violence. She claimed Beijing had refused “to acknowledge its own responsibility for the rising exasperation of its minorities”.

The piece infuriated Chinese authorities, which responded with a series ofinflammatory editorials in the state-run media that accused her of supporting terrorist acts. Gauthier was also subjected to a series of vicious online attacks, including death threats.

Officials summoned the journalist telling her that her press credentials would be renewed only if she retracted her report and made a public apology. Gauthier declined to do so. “I told them I would not change a word,” she told the New York Times last week.

In its statement on Saturday, the ministry of foreign affairs accused the French journalist of “pouring fuel on the fire of terrorism and the brutal killing of innocent civilians”. Gauthier dismissed those accusations as “plain nonsense”.

“If it were true, if I was really supporting terrorism, I should have been indicted because it is a crime. [But] they are not indicting me, they are expelling me and they expect people to believe that this is the real issue. It is not the real issue. The real issue is that they have their own narrative of what is happening in Xinjiang and they want everyone in China, including the foreign press, to use their narrative. They don’t want any other kind of explanation or interpretation.”

“Nobody is saying there is no terrorism in Xinjiang,” Gauthier added. “But they want us to say there is only terrorism in Xinjiang. This is the problem.”

The FCCC also attacked Chinese claims that Gauthier was guilty of “speaking for terrorism”. It said: “Insinuating that Gauthier supports terrorism is a particularly egregious personal and professional affront with no basis in fact.”

The FCCC called on Beijing to reverse its decision but the French correspondent said she was preparing to leave on the last flight to Paris on 31 December. “I am very angry,” she said. “In China, they have trashed my name.”

• Additional reporting by Christy Yao 

A hug and high tea - Modi makes surprise visit to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI | BY MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIK AND KRISHNA N. DAS
Sat Dec 26, 2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover in Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, the first time an Indian premier has visited the rival nation in over a decade.

The visit, requested by Modi just hours earlier before he flew back home from Afghanistan, raised hopes that stop-and-start negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbours might finally make progress after three wars and more than 65 years of hostility.

Sharif hugged Modi after he landed at the airport in the eastern city of Lahore and the two left by helicopter for Sharif's nearby family estate.

"So, you have finally come," Sharif told Modi, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry official who was at the meeting.

"Yes, absolutely. I am here," Modi replied, according to the official.

Modi phoned Sharif earlier in the day to wish him on his birthday and asked if he could make a stop in Pakistan on his way home, Pakistan's top diplomat, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, told reporters.

"And the PM said to him, 'Please come, you are our guest, please come and have tea with me'," he said.

It was Sharif's 66th birthday and the family home was festooned with lights for his grand-daughter's wedding on Saturday. Modi and Sharif talked for about 90 minutes and shared an early evening meal before the Indian leader flew back home.

"Among the decisions taken was that ties between the two countries would be strengthened and also people-to-people contact would be strengthened so that the atmosphere can be created in which the peace process can move forward," Chaudhry said.

The next step will be for the two countries' foreign secretaries to meet in the middle of next month, he added.

Modi was on his way back from a visit to Russia. He stopped off in the Afghan capital Kabul earlier on Friday, where he inaugurated a new parliament complex built with Indian help.

The Lahore visit comes after India and Pakistan resumed high-level contacts with a brief conversation between Sharif and Modi at climate change talks in Paris late last month, part of efforts to restart a peace dialogue plagued by militant attacks and long-standing distrust.

A spokesman at Sharif's office earlier told Reuters the two leaders were to discuss a range of bilateral issues, including the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, the most contentious issue dividing the nuclear-armed rivals.

A close aide to Modi said the visit was a spontaneous decision by the prime minister and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and that it should not be seen as a sudden shift in India's position.

"But yes, it's a clear signal that active engagement can be done at a quick pace," the aide said, declining to be identified.

DEEP MISTRUST

Mistrust between India and Pakistan runs deep. Modi's visit is the first by an Indian prime minister to Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed in the Indian city by militants trained in Pakistan.

The two countries were born out of British colonial India in 1947, divided into Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist, came to power in 2014, and has authorised a more robust approach to Pakistan, giving security forces the licence to retaliate forcefully along their disputed border and demanding an end to insurgent attacks in Indian territory.

In Afghanistan, many believe that Islamabad sponsors the Taliban insurgency to weaken the Kabul government and limit the influence of India.

Pakistan rejects the accusation but it has struggled to turn around perceptions in Afghanistan, where social media users sent out a stream of glowing commentary on Modi's visit, contrasting the parliament building with the destruction wrought by Taliban suicide bombers.

Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, said in New Delhi that India was ready to take two steps forward if Pakistan took one to improve ties.

The opposition Congress Party called Modi's visit irresponsible and said that nothing had happened to warrant warming of ties between the rivals. Scheduled high-level talks between the two were cancelled in August after ceasefire violations across the border.

"If the decision is not preposterous then it is utterly ridiculous," Congress leader Manish Tewari said.

Opening the parliament building in Kabul, Modi pledged India's support for the Afghan government and urged regional powers, including Pakistan, to work together to foster peace.

"We know that Afghanistan's success will require the cooperation and support of each of its neighbours," he said. "And all of us in the region - India, Pakistan, Iran and others – must unite in trust and cooperation behind the common purpose and in recognition of our common destiny."

As well as the parliament building, India is also supplying three Russian-made Mi-35 helicopters to Afghanistan's small air force, adding badly needed capacity to provide close air support to its hard-pressed security forces.

(Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in LAHORE; James Mackenzie in KABUL, Rupam Jain Nair and Sankalp Phartiyal in NEW DELHI; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (R) talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Lahore, Pakistan, December 25, 2015.

India: Judicial Independence and the Appointment of Judges

A transcript of DAKSH’s Fourth Annual Constitution Day Lecture

The Fourth Annual Constitution Day Lecture hosted by DAKSH at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) Auditorium on Saturday, 28 November, 2015, was a gathering of members from the legal community, students, and citizens interested in governance.

The lecture was delivered by Mr Raju Ramachandran, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. Mr Ramachandran is an eminent lawyer and a former Additional Solicitor General of India. Mr Ramachandran spoke on the topic of ‘Judicial Independence and the Appointment of Judges’, in light of the recent NJAC judgement. The transcript of Mr. Ramachandran’s lecture is as follows.

( December 24, 2015, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) In 1951, one year after we the people gave ourselves this Constitution, Jawaharlal Nehru said, ‘This magnificent Constitution that we have framed has been kidnapped and purloined by lawyers.’ When he says lawyers, he meant lawyers and judges. He meant the robed fraternity. Many kidnappings and purloins [sic] have happened since then. But, the most egregious kidnapping in recent times happened on 16^th of October this year when the Supreme Court struck down the Constitution’s 99^th amendment and the NJAC Act, which tried to bring in a new constitutional regime governing the appointment of judges.

India Judicial Independence and the Appointment of Judges by Thavam Ratna

Saudi Arabia hospital fire leaves 31 dead, including one child, and more than 100 injured as blaze rips through maternity ward and intensive care unit 'in three minutes'

By NICK ENOCH FOR MAILONLINE

A fire ripped through a hospital in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, killing at least 31 people - including one child - and injuring 123.

The pre-dawn blaze broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the maternity department of the Jazan General Hospital in the kingdom's south, the civil defence agency said on Twitter.

Rescue teams were able to evacuate the children and patients from the ICU, the health ministry said. 

At least 31 people were killed and 123 injured in a fire at a hospital in the southern Saudi city of Jazan

The civil defence agency said in an update later that the fire, on the first floor, had been extinguished and an investigation was under way into the cause. 

Saudi Arabia Hospital Fire Leaves 31 Dead, Including One Child, And More Than 100 Injured as Blaze Rips Thr... by Thavam Ratna

Zimbabwe to adopt China's currency the yuan

Questions raised with plan to make the yuan legal tender in exchange for debt cancellation worth about $40m.

Al Jazeera Staff | 22 Dec 2015

Zimbabwe plans to adopt the Chinese yuan as legal tender in return for debt cancellation worth about $40m - a move one economist predicted "has no future at all".

China has become the largest investor in Zimbabwe, which has been shunned by the West over its human rights record and is struggling to emerge from a deep 1999-2008 recession that forced the government to ditch its own currency in 2009.

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced the plan in a statement on Monday and said the use of the yuan "will be a function of trade between China and Zimbabwe and acceptability with customers in Zimbabwe".

In the last five years, Zimbabwe has received more than $1bn in low-interest loans from China, which is Harare's second largest trading partner after South Africa.

"They [China] said they are cancelling our debts that are maturing this year and we are in the process of finalising the debt instruments and calculating the debts," Chinamasa said.

However, according to one Zimbabwean analyst, the yuan has already been a legal tender for the past two years and Chinamasa's comments are rather puzzling.

"Nothing looks to change from this latest move," economist John Roberston told Al Jazeera.

"Yuan was included in the so-called multi-currency system a couple of years ago. It's nothing new. What is different is the attachment to debts. It seems that the government is trying to pass this on as a concession by China.

"But they don't need to make concessions. This is pretty meaningless as it stands."

China has been accused of exploiting the continent's vast mineral and energy resources at the expense of local people.

On a rare visit to Harare by a Chinese leader, President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of 10 economic agreements earlier this month, including a $1bn loan to expand Zimbabwe's largest thermal power plant.

"There is no yuan circulating in the country," said Robertson. "South African rand and the US dollar have been the dominant currencies. So it's a strange situation now as the yuan has no future at all."

Zimbabwe's central bank chief John Mangudya was in negotiations with the People’s Bank of China "to see whether we can enhance its usage here", according to the finance minister.

But Robertson suggested although China is active in Zimbabwe’s markets and economy, it does not want to sell goods there in return for Chinese currency.

"Nearly everything Zimbabwe can make it imports for a lot of money, and China wants to be a main supplier of these imported goods and would want to take the US dollar in return," he said.

China-Zimbabwe relations date back to 1979 and the African country's "Look East" policy has made China a strong ally in the market.

Relations were further improved when President Robert Mugabe was awarded China's alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize in October for what the committee called his inspired national leadership and service to pan-Africanism.

Mugabe has placed great importance on Zimbabwe's relations with China, especially after the 2003 standoff with the EU that resulted in the economic depression when the interest rate shot up to almost 600 percent.

"China is desperate for the consumer goods market, basically whatever anyone with the buying power can pay for.

"We can see evidence of that in the country all the time. But people accepting payment will want it in dollars - as opposed to yuan - and that will be very damaging to China’s interest here in Zimbabwe," said Robertson.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

How To Get Rid Of Stinky Morning Breath?

October 30, 2015 7:25 AM

Curejoy Expert James Dudley Explains:

Bad morning breath is not just a problem for a few people but there are quite a lot of individuals who want to get rid of the same problem. Bad morning breath is such that even with those with best oral hygiene who crawl into bed at night with sparkling clean mouthsmight wake up the next morning with a stinky morning breath. However, the intensity of bad breath varies from person to person.

What Causes Stinky Morning Breath?

Stinky morning breath happens because while you sleep, salivation decreases since you’re not eating. Without as much saliva in the mouth, food particles and dead cells coat the soft tissues of your mouth and allow the sulfur-producing bacteria responsible for morning breath to build up. Saliva acts as the mouth’s natural tool for cleansing away bacteria. Thus, less saliva means more odor-causing bacteria.

How to Get Rid Of Bad Morning Breath?

Obviously, one of the solutions that you should have already known by now is to maintain a good oral hygiene habit, such as brushing your teeth at least twice a day (or after each meal), flossing daily, and brushing your tongue well with toothpaste or using a tongue scraper. You may include antimicrobial toothpastes and mouthwashes and products that neutralize odor-causing, sulfur-containing compounds while doing so.

However, it is unfortunately one of the surprising thing to believe that nothing can completely cure bad morning breath instantly. Thus, you need to be regular and consistent with the regimes.

How To Prevent Bad Morning Breath?

In order to prevent morning breath it is important to ensure that the mouth is as free from particles such as plaque and food, where bacteria evolve, as possible. Since it is mostly caused by bacteria, eradication of it might help cure the problem. Also you want to create an environment that is less conducive to the bacteria. The bacteria that cause bad breath thrive in an acidic environment.

Having a dry mouth also encourages the growth of bad breath, so it is important to have a moist mouth while you sleep.

Always use a non-alcoholic mouthwash because mouthwash that contains alcohol dries out your mouth.

You might also want to stop breathing through your mouth as even doing so will cause dryness in the mouth and lead to the growth of bacteria.

Greek doctors' long hours 'break EU law', ECJ decides

Greek medics protested in Athens this month over healthcare cuts

23 December 2015

The EU's top court says Greece is violating EU law by allowing doctors to work long hours without adequate rest.

Ten Greek medical associations lodged a complaint at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and were backed by the European Commission. The ECJ ruled in their favour, against Greek law.

The court said that Greek doctors "may have to work more than 24 consecutive hours and even up to 32 hours".

Greek healthcare has suffered major budget cuts under the EU bailout rules.

In 2008-2012 the cut in healthcare spending totalled 25%, a European Parliament report says.

According to the Athens government, the Greek healthcare system is short of 4,500 doctors as well as other medical and paramedical staff.

But Michael Vlastarakos, President of the Panhellenic Medical Association, said another 5,000 doctors and 15,000 nurses were needed.

Workers are entitled to 11 hours' rest in a 24-hour period under EU rules

Doctor on call - by Dr Theodoros Theodoridis, hospital gynaecologist, Thessaloniki

In the public sector, where most people are cared for, doctors never get 11 hours' rest in a 24-hour period. Normally you get six to eight hours.

In my hospital when you have a night shift you are off the next day, so you don't continue working.

But provincial hospitals may have on-call every day - it depends how many doctors there are in each department, and many have a lack of doctors. They may do more than 24 hours continuously.

In the financial crisis more people are coming to the public service to be seen and waiting lists for surgery have increased. Waiting times have lengthened between a normal appointment and surgery, and that creates much stress for everyone.

They are not replacing medical staff who are on sick leave or who retire.

---

Heavily indebted Greece has drastically cut public spending, to make savings demanded by its international creditors - the EU and International Monetary Fund - in three bailouts since 2010.

The ECJ said Greek law violated the EU Working Time Directive, which stipulates that:

• Average weekly working time cannot exceed 48 hours
• All workers are entitled to minimum rest of 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period
• Workers should also have 24 hours' minimum uninterrupted rest in each seven-day period, as well as 11 hours' daily rest.

Greece healthcare crisis

Decline in government spending

10%

of GDP went on healthcare in 2009

4%

of GDP is the expected spend for 2015

• 22% decline in allocated hospital funding in 2015
• 5,000 more doctors needed
• 15,000 more nurses needed

Panhellenic Medical Association, OECD

Getty Images

On-call duty extended the time Greek doctors are required to be at work, the ECJ said.

The ruling also criticised the Greek practice of postponing the 24-hour rest period for a week after the end of a doctor's on-call period.

The working time rules do not apply to the private sector - but most Greeks use the public healthcare system.

The economic think-tank OECD says Greece has the lowest number of nurses per 1,000 population in Europe.

What’s missing out there? People or Politics?

“Thamil Makkal Peravai” (TMP)

“Thamil Makkal Peravai” (TMP)

• by Kusal Perera 
 
• - on 12/25/2015 

“We have clearly included our goal for a suitable solution to the national question

 in the election (2010 April-writer) manifesto. We have emphasized our goal

at every meeting with international representatives…..”

R, Sampanthan, Leader of TNA and ITAK – www.seithy.com / 2015 December 23

“Thamil Makkal Peravai” (TMP) prompted this essay on Christmas Day. I checked up on the English translation of the Tamil word “Peravai” with a few Tamil friends and there were at least 03 suggestions.  One said it’s a “Council”. Another said it’s a “Front” while the third suggested the word “Platform”. A council, front or platform, this new collective of Northern and Eastern politicos and concerned social activists formed during the previous weekend, certainly has an anti TNA projection. Together with Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran simply introduced as Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, Dr. P Lakshman a Senior Cardiologist at the Teaching Hospital, Jaffna and T. Vasantharajah, Secretary of the Batticaloa Civil Society as Co-chairs in this brand new formation “Thamil Makkal Peravai”, they all sound frustrated with TNA politics and its leadership, since President Maithripala Sirisena’s ascent to Sinhala political leadership in late 2014, against former President Rajapaksa.

The Rajapaksa rule was horrible in many ways in any language. His 09 year rule had two distinct phases. Beginning in year 2006 the first phase geared up to wage war against what it called “Separatist terrorists” generalised as “Tamil terrorists”. The social ideology created for that war was a broad “anti-Tamil” Sinhala ideology sponsored by the Rajapaksa leadership with a partly coerced, partly willing Colombo based mainstream media. The JVP and the JHU worked overtime for him on this war project that wanted Tamil “separatism” eliminated at any cost. That did happen after 03 years, in May 2009. This first phase under emergency regulations and the PTA in force carries with it all violations of law, packed with everything indecent and savage in a civilised human society. This first phase that has on record many cases of abductions and enforced disappearances concluded with the mysterious disappearance of Ekneligoda in January 2010.

His second phase in power began after the two back to back elections in 2010; Presidential elections in January and the Parliamentary polls in April. The passage of the 18th Amendment allowed without a Referendum by then Chief Justice Shiranee Bandaranayake gave him absolute power. This second phase has only a single abduction with one Sunil from Wanathamulla abducted and dropped off in Dematagoda over protests against demolition of slum houses. The second phase is all about unbelievably heavy nepotism, mega plunder of public funds and national wealth under a Sinhala “Al Capone” tolerated and accommodated especially by the urban middle class.

Conclusion of the war that led to this “Al Caponic” second phase was a multiple national tragedy. Although it eliminated the LTTE, it left Tamil society completely uprooted and dismantled without a political alternative to the absent LTTE. In the South it allowed the Rajapaksa regime to continue with a militarised Sinhala State accepted without qualms. The UNP and the JVP backed by so called “democratic” voices in urban Sinhala middle class chose to run Gen. Fonseka as their own “war hero” for the 2010 January presidential election thus endorsing militarisation. It is in such context the TNA was expected to politically fill the void in North-East and face a Sinhala “Al Capone” that lived on a Sinhala supremacist social psyche.

That was no easy challenge; complex and immense. The TNA had to start its campaign for immediate humanitarian aid, resettlement with dignity, rehabilitation of ex-LTTE “surrenders”, release of all detainees without charges and early and quick judicial procedure to be in place for suspected LTTE cadres with charges and finally reconciliation and a consensual political solution for power sharing. Meanwhile there was lobbying by Tamil Diaspora groups for international intervention for investigation of “war crimes”, a UN sponsored “referendum” and a “Thamil Eelam” cried out loud by fringe Tamil Nadu groups; all out of the orbit for a decimated Tamil society groping to once again have a foothold in life.

What gave the TNA an opportunity to push through its presence in local Tamil politics initially was international pressure from West that Rajapaksa in a way invited against him. His open and direct posturing with China was problematic, especially for the US. His very apparent ridicule of the West on the strength of China and Putin’s Russia to some extent provoked the UNHRC Resolutions on Sri Lanka. With international pressure thus conspired by the US and the Tamil Diaspora adding to it, resettlement of the displaced with basics were effected within a year though under military supervision. Rehabilitation was also quickened. Then came local government elections in March and July 2011 that became the first post war opportunity for the TNA to politically address the Northern and Eastern Tamil people. With a resounding win at the LG elections, the TNA became the accepted “Tamil voice” in Sri Lankan politics. CHOGM in November 2013 was when the TNA had its first major opportunity to press home its agenda for all reforms and remedies for especially the Tamil people in the North and also for the North and East as a whole. What is now being assessed is its performance thereafter.

The TNA leadership was no different to the Sinhala leaders in the South in how it engaged with the people. Led by ITAK, its leadership that was bogged down in electoral politics for decades and then having lived a displaced political life for another few decades, the ITAK knows and is only capable of electoral politics. The fundamental error therefore was in not taking the people as the uncompromising strength in all lobbying and negotiations beyond and after elections. Post local government elections in 2011 when the TNA won 32 local government bodies in North and the Vanni with over 255,000 people voting for them, the ITAK leadership thought they could bargain their demands on those numbers. They thus allowed the collective strength of those numbers to vaporise without making them a mobilised, agitating force. Rajapaksa too was happy that way. He could call himself a “democrat” having allowed elections, TNA winning them handsomely and thereafter leaving it at that. Rajapaksa was happy he could sell his LLRC for time buying, with the TNA leadership keeping the affected Tamil society in limbo. Its recommendations including “de-militarising” of North and East and the provincial administration were not demanded by TNA.

The next biggest political blunder of the ITAK leadership came with the Northern PC (NPC) elections when they concentrated heavily in bringing a Chief Ministerial candidate of unquestionable integrity and very high quality all round but paid little heed to a people centred “development programme” that the NPC would ensure implementation for its people on the strength of the people. Instead the TNA leadership left the NPC to linger on without political guidance while they spent time with the Colombo government, New Delhi and other power centres in the West. While they were back to negotiations like “Thanthai” Chelva’s old ITAK, while they were also trying to lobby Indian and international support for demands that were not high up in the agenda of the Northern and the Vanni people who survived the most bloodiest and brutal war in Asia after India helped installAwami League in power in December 1971, followed by wiping off the “Mukti Bahini“, Rajapaksa dropped all offers on a political solution having taken New Delhi on a “merry-go-round” for 04 years. He basically reduced all reconciliation efforts to massive constructions in North and East he called “development” that provided his cronies with huge kickbacks.

Between the NPC elections and the overwhelming victory that proved the TNA could easily bring the Tamil people to demand answers for themselves, people were not taken as a political factor. All attempts at negotiations by the ITAK leadership were wholly dependent on their legal expertise and electoral outlook in politics. People in the North and the East were made to understand the fault was with Rajapaksa’s Sinhala politics with its military rule and not in how the ITAK leadership handled their post war responsibilities. That common perception provided good enough reason for Tamil people to go en bloc against Rajapaksa at the 2015 January presidential elections. In North and the Vanni 76.5% of the people and 72.9% in the East voted for Sirisena, thus ensuring the defeat of Rajapaksa solely on the numbers of Tamil votes. They defeated Rajapaksa cultivating a high expectation the TNA leadership would have a better opportunity in solving their festering problems in North and East.

Immediately after his swearing in as Executive President, Sirisena brought in a UNP dominated government for his promised 100 Day programme. The much-hyped 100 Day programme had nothing for the Tamil people. Not even the words “Tamil” and “Muslims” or “ethnic and religious minorities” were mentioned in it even by accident. Yet the TNA was politically naïve and was not prepared to challenge the 100 Day programme to at least demand inclusion of “de-militarisation” of North-East, release of all Tamil detainees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) who for many years have been kept without any charges or even to demand a “Land Dispute Commission” to allow the Tamil people to have legal and official access to their own lands. Instead the ITAK leadership continued to hold out its promise for a total answer to long overdue Tamil problems from this government leadership even after the 100 Day programme was openly flouted and dragged on with very lame excuses. With the forthcoming parliamentary elections in August, Sampanthan addressing Trincomalee TNA members told them, “As far as the TNA is concerned, it does not want to further stretch the journey for a political solution for our people. We want to reach the end to our struggle. Hence the Tamil people must give us an overwhelming victory. If you will give us such a victory, we will definitely find the solutions in the year 2016.” That was in mid July this year. Three months later, the TNA could not even have the 206 Tamil suspects detained without charges released before Diwali. President Sirisena very casually backtracked on his promise given to the TNA leadership in late October and left them helpless.

This “change” that most Colombo middle class is over enthusiastic about is only a “Sinhala” change for the South and nothing more as I argued in an earlier essay titled “Is the Government afraid of ‘Sinhala’ racists or is it racist too?” And there I wrote, “That would therefore leave the hardliners in Tamil politics to question the wisdom of the TNA leadership in backing this government……”. The “Tamil Makkal Peravai” seems just that. Questioning the capability and wisdom of the TNA leadership that seems a failure in advancing the political aspirations of the Tamil people for realistic answers.

Thus the most important question would be to see how the TMP would take over the responsibility of solving problems of the Tamil people entrenched too long in a political quagmire. Will they give the people their due share in political participation to demand answers for their issues? Will they engage democratic Southern groups to storm the streets of Colombo demanding answers from a government that is afraid of Sinhala votes? In short, what is more important is to know how the TMP would differ from the TNA in facing up to this government. Will they garner the strength of the people the TNA never thought of using? Or will they be just a rhetorical “peravai”? The wait, if not too long, will be an interesting wait.

SRI LANKA: An Open Letter to the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

December 24, 2015

2015 Review: Seriously defective, policing, prosecution and justice systems obstructed progress towards “yahapalanaya” (Good Governance)

Despite a welcome change of government, which started on 8^th January 2015, the overall performance of the Government on the issue of its most important promise of ensuring “yahapalanaya” (Good Governance), by the end of the year, people have not witnessed much progress towards good governance. Instead, extremely defective systems of policing, prosecutions, and justice systems have been the stumbling blocks against any progress being made on this most important promise of the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasighe.

After long years of suffering under the executive presidential system, and the security apparatus developed under the Ministry of Defense of the former government, it was quite natural for people to have expected a better delivery of services through a system of good governance as the President and the Prime Minister as promised. However, what the people are continuing to experience is a virtual breakdown of the rule of law, as the main instruments of implementation of law. The policing system has not shown any demonstrable improvement. Similarly, the prosecution system suffers from the same defects as before, and the justice system suffers from extraordinary delays and failures in almost every aspect of delivery of justice.

Despite constant reminders to the Government, by many of its well-wishers of the need for radical reforms in the policing, prosecutions, and justice systems, the Government has turned a blind eye, to all such well-meaning demands.

The government even failed to declare any intention to reform its policing, prosecution and justice systems. The absence of a declared policy to achieve these reforms, has made the people sceptical about the promise of good governance in the country.

The Budget 2016, of the new Government, did not in any way increase allocations for the improvement of the basic institutions of law enforcement and the administration of justice.

Even, the limited attempts that the government has made in order to prosecute some of the members of the previous government on the basis of corruption and other serious crimes have been seriously undermined by the enormous problems that exist in the law enforcement and justice processes.

It is not an acceptable excuse for the Government to say that it has made attempts to investigate and prosecute some of the members of the former government but, the delays and other problems that exist in the justice system is something that the Government has no control over. The truth is that the Government has failed to take control of the situation and to bring about appropriate measures in order to deal with the obstacles on their way in achieving the promises that they have made as the new Government of Sri Lanka.

At this moment, there is no reason to hope for better performance on this score by this Government in the year to come. The Government has not declared any policies nor programmes, to improving its performance by resolving the problems of law enforcement and administration of justice, in the coming year.

If the coming year is going to be like the previous years, the people may find the conditions under which they live as intolerable.

The President and the Prime Minister should explain as to why they are unable to respond positively to the very legitimate demands of the people for making reforms in the policing, the prosecution and the justice systems. People have a right to know as to why the Government is unwilling to give any undertaking about the improvement of these vital areas of life in Sri Lanka. The improvement of justice systems is also vital for making any economic progress.

It is a primary duty of both the President and the Prime Minister, to explain clearly to the people about their designs to improve the situation by radically altering   the existing situation of law enforcement and administration of justice systems. People have a right to expect that the President and the Prime Minister will clearly spell out their programmes, for improving these vital areas of life, liberty in Sri Lanka.