Advancing Reconciliation and Development in Sri Lanka

By Mangala Samaraweera.-27/02/2016

‘Reconciliation and Development’, as you would agree, are intertwined. It is difficult, almost impossible, to have one without the other.

At the time we gained Independence, in February 1948, Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, was in a unique position among the countries in the developing world as she had experience of representative government and development indicators that were unparalleled in the developing word. In fact, An editorial published in London on the day of Sri Lanka’s independence predicted that in a short space of time Ceylon would become the Switzerland of the East.

The different communities in the country showed promise of being able to live and work towards common national goals in peace, harmony and unity. They had worked together in the past, to gain independence from the British despite the fact that they followed different faiths, spoke different languages and followed different customs.

However, what followed is something that the world knows only too well. We made mistakes which saw our country plunge into torment and conflict for well over three decades.

The failure to manage such justifiable grievances led to conflict and violence. Sri Lanka’s post-independence leadership was unable to terms with her diversity as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual country. As a result these grievances were transformed into inter-communal resentment and feelings of discrimination and unfair treatment.  Our post-Independence leaders, who were acutely aware of the diverse character of our island, sadly faltered at decisive moments and failed to stand up to extremists.

As a result, unmet grievances led to violence and ultimately created the conditions necessary for terrorism, which then transformed into a brutal war. By the time the war ended there were serious allegations of violations of human rights and war crimes hurled against both parties to the conflict and Sri Lanka was facing virtual isolation internationally.
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A Case For Extirpating Wahabism

By Izeth Hussain –February 27, 2016

Izeth Hussain

Verily God will not change the condition of men, till they change what is in themselves. – Koran – Sura 13 verse 14.

The main purpose of this article is to point out that there might be a case for action by Muslims, as well as non-Muslims constituting the international community as a whole, towards extirpating Wahabism and all its clones from off the face of the earth. I choose the word “extirpating” advisedly to mean a process of rooting out so that Wahabism will never ever again manifest itself on this earth. I have been provoked into arguing this case by the anti-Shia hate campaign for which our mosques have been misused over several weeks. I cannot see the slightest justification for this hate campaign. We have a small community of Shias in the form of the Borahs who have always had excellent relations with our Sunni Muslims consisting of the Moors, the Malays, and the Memons, and also with non-Muslim Sri Lankans. In addition there are a few hundred non-Borah Shias here, who took to Shi-ism mainly because they were enthused by Iran’s 1979 Revolution. They could be the target of the Wahabi hate campaign. But, as far as my enquiries reveal, they have not been aggressively pushing a Shia agenda nor have they been using unethical methods to increase their ranks.

What, then, is the explanation for the entirely gratuitous and utterly irrational anti-Shia hate campaign that has been sustained for several weeks, desecrating our mosques in the process? The question is an important one, because the answers to it could constitute some of the reasons why Wahabism should be extirpated. Part of the explanation is the intolerant and totalitarian mind-set of the Wahabis. They hold that not only non-Muslims but professing Muslims such as the Sunnis and the Shias – in short all those who don’t abide by Wahabi tenets – are in reality non-Muslims and should therefore be put to the sword. But according to the well-entrenched belief system of all non-Wahabi Muslims the shahada – the confession of faith that there is only one God and Mohammed is his Prophet – suffices to make a person a Muslim, and that is not something that should be questioned. The fierce fanatical intolerance of the Wahabis means that they cannot live in peaceful accommodation with other Muslims. They have been busy dismantling Sunni Islam in Sri Lanka, now they want to eliminate Shi’ism, and next they will want to destroy the Sufi orders that have traditionally structured orthodox Islam in Sri Lanka. Only the Kharijites of early Islam showed a like intolerance. They were quickly banned by other Muslims. It is time to ban the Wahabis.                      Read More

Get moving on the RTI Act

We do understand the need to prosecute those who are found to have indulged in financial fraud, but what is more important in the long run is to put in place a system that makes fraud difficult or impossible. In the case of the former ‘need’ the exercise cannot be selective.

by Manik de Silva

( February 28, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) When the campaign staff of Maithripala Sirisena started articulating the when-elected plans, neither he nor his spokespersons were taken seriously. It’s not their fault. Election-time, after all, is all about promises, never mind their doability. How many times, for example, have we heard the slogan, ‘I will abolish the executive presidency if elected’?

The fact that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe dispensation got the 19th Amendment passed, even with its flaws, was therefore a remarkable and happy departure from past practices pertaining to manifestos and their implementation. No one can be faulted therefore for hoping that the rest of the promised reforms would get implemented, although about 300 days have passed since the end-date of the 100 Day Programme came and went.

It wasn’t going to be easy of course. First, there was the General Election. That sent everything to the back burner. Then there was the period of limbo when those in power couldn’t name a cabinet. The daily grind of governing can also get in the way of making laws. We had the case of a little girl being raped and murdered, we had the issue of the National Anthem being sung in Tamil, we had a debate about how ‘Danno Budunge’ should be sung and now we have ECTA.

Some of the distractions are not of the government’s own making, but some certainly are. It makes sense politically. Who, after all, talks of the famous ‘100 Days’ now? It is almost a year since Maithripala Sirisena and almost all the SLFP high rankers spoke at a rally pledging to put the entire elections system right, but is there any talk of the 20th Amendment now? Political expediency is not what the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government promised us, however.

Today we are offered the media-bytes of impending arrests, arrests and promises of further action. This might keep the vociferously anti-Rajapaksa supporters of the government happy and annoy those on the other side, but righting wrongs is not only about punishing wrongdoers. It is about correcting the flaws of the system.

We are still in the early days of the independent commissions. There is a woeful absence of information about how these entities operate. It will take time and we should be patient. However, there’s nothing to stop the government from going ahead with complementing reforms, in particular getting busy with the Right to Information Act.

The draft was ready more than 10 months ago. The input of all relevant sections of society was obtained before it was put together. And yet, apart from the odd ‘we will do it soon,’ there’s no sign of it getting done.

Since anti-corruption was picked as a veritable pay-off line by the Sirisena campaign and has been retained as a ‘must-say’ in the rhetoric of this government, one would have thought the Right to Information Act would have been treated as a matter of priority. Given the fascination that the government and its defenders demonstrate about the need to be squeaky clean with money, why is this important weapon against financial wrongdoing being constantly footnoted?

The Right to Information Act would, over time and with regular reference, create a more alert and pro-active citizenry. It would put politicians tempted to bend rule or even brazenly rob on the back foot. They’d be forced to think twice before doing ‘what was always done and what every did and worse, were expected to do’.

And it’s not just the politicians and others in the public sphere that would have to be careful. A comprehensive RTI Act would cover other organisations too. Each and every entity obtaining money from the government, foreign governments or international organizations would be open to scrutiny. This is the case in the RTI Acts of Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and South Africa.

A few days ago the Minister of National Co-existence, Dialogue and Official Languages, Mano Ganesan told Parliament that “the government had not received financial statements from NGOs in respect of funds received from overseas donors since 2000, barring the period 2011-2013.”

Minister Ganesan revealed that “NGOs had received Rs. 13.9 bn (Rs 13,926,619,942) in 2011, Rs. 11. 4 bn (Rs.11,488,308,761) in 2012 and Rs. 10.8 bn (Rs.10,840,293,929) in 2013”. If these are typical figures for a year, we are talking about a figure in the region of staggering Rs 150 billion going unreported.

Minister Ganesan would no doubt take steps to find out who received money, how much money was received and how the money was spent.

President Sirisena and his supporters, including Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to put things in order. We do understand the need to prosecute those who are found to have indulged in financial fraud, but what is more important in the long run is to put in place a system that makes fraud difficult or impossible. In the case of the former ‘need’ the exercise cannot be selective. Minister Ganesan will be naming names or should be. In the case of the latter ‘need’ then the RTI has to be seen as one of the most important instruments of prevention, provided of course that the draft and the final document curtain relevance and limit it to state entities and individuals therein.

In light of all this, perhaps it is high time that the President and Prime Minister move the forces they command to get the RTI Act back on track.

( Manik de Silva is the Chief Editor of the Sunday Island, where this piece originally appeared)

Sirisena To Appoint Presidential Commission To Probe Rajapaksa Era Media Attacks

February 27, 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena is to appoint a Presidential Commission to investigate the attacks on journalists and media organizations which were carried out during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule.

The Presidential Commission will be tasked with probing the attacks on several journalists including Poddala Jayantha, as well as the attacks on Sirasa TV and Lankaenews.

Meanwhile, speaking at the US Institute of Peace, Washington DC on Friday, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that the investigation into the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga was moving extremely well.

“But for obvious reasons, and until the suspects are rounded, the details are curtailed. But I assure you that the investigations of Lasantha Wickrematunga and Prageeth Ekneligoda are moving forward,” he added.

Samaraweera also went on to claim that there was ‘total and absolute’ freedom for the media to write as they wish in Sri Lanka since the change of government.

Incidentally, his statement about media freedom in the country comes just weeks after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lashed out at a television channel and newspapers, where he said that if they don’t stop their nonsense he will take them on and also demanded a journalist to go home for writing an article asking him to give up his party leadership.                  Read More

Letting go of unnecessary tension over ETCA

- Feb 27, 2016

The Resolution for the Appointment of the Constitutional Assembly, which was presented seven weeks ago to start off with the drafting of the new Constitution, is still in the labour room unable to deliver. The Resolution was put off for the second time in Parliament on Wednesday after two days of extensive debate.

It was presented to the House by the Prime Minister on January 9 and taken up for a full day debate on January 12, but was put off given the lack of consensus on its content that outlined the process of constitutional making exercise. Even though Parliament sat eight days after that, the Government did not move the Resolution for debate.

In the meantime, the Government asked for the proposals of the Opposition parties and the SLFP group representing the Government to amend the Resolution. The Resolution, which was put forth for debate last Tuesday, had been revised accommodating the proposals agreed by the both sides. Yet, the two main parties working in a tenuous national government have been unable to reach a final agreement on it until the debate was taken up on Tuesday.

This lack of agreement drove the Prime Minister to inform Parliament that the Resolution would not be moved for vote at the end of debate on Wednesday as scheduled, but be adjourned for a further date till the Cabinet finalizes the amendments. On the one hand, this decision gets along well with the democratic and transparent policies and consensual politics sought by the Government, but on the other hand, it causes for procrastination of the much-awaited and long overdue Constitutional reforms.

Constitutional making process
The differences of opinions, as seen at the very outset on the basic structure of Constitutional making process, are a strong indication that more and far bitter struggles lie ahead, and that those will begin to vex when the drafting is in full flow.

Among the varied views aired during the debate, there were clashing views even to what was previously thought that there was a common agreement in general. For example, Pivituru Hela Urumaya Leader Udaya Gammanpila in his speech maintained that they in the Opposition do not prefer a new Constitution, but only an Amendment to the existing Constitution.

"The Government has three main aims in bringing these Constitutional Reforms. One is to abolish the Executive Presidency, the second is to revise the electoral system and the third is to provide for a power devolution mechanism that exceeds the 13th Amendment. Personally, I disagree with the first and third of them, but agree for electoral reforms. When all these are presented together in one Constitution, we cannot object selectively," he said.

Taking part in the debate, SLFP seniors and Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and W D J Seneviratne, reiterated that the Prime Minister agreed to all the amendments proposed by the SLFP, and that the two parties are now on the same page about the Resolution.

However, JVP MPs Sunil Handunnetti and Anura Kumara Dissanayake observed that the UNP and SLFP were trying to play happy families, while they have been unable to come to an agreement within the Government on the proposed Constitutional Assembly, which is a pre-requisite for the Constitutional drafting. "If both parties have agreed as claimed, why the Resolution cannot be moved for vote without adjourning for another date," they asked. Both the JVP and TNA were seen continuously pushing the Government to adopt the Resolution without further delay.

Taking the House to a new turn, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, known for his tough talk lately against the critics on the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, expounded on the much talked-of agreement in Parliament on Tuesday.

One million job opportunities
The Premier with yet another blistering speech called upon the detractors of the ETCA not to spread myth, canard, hatred and anger over an agreement for which no draft has yet been finalised. He promised that the final draft would be presented to the House and that he would seek the consensus of all groups concerned before signing it.

However, the Prime Minister was resolute that the ETCA would be signed by the middle of this year. Elaborating on his plans to deliver his Government's pre-election promise to generate one million job opportunities in the country, he noted Sri Lanka should find a bigger market than its domestic market to cater to this purpose.

He explained that the ETCA is only one out of the many trade and investment agreements Sri Lanka is planning to sign in the period to come. "We have planned trade and investment agreements with the US, India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Singapore and several East Asian and SAARC countries. Nobody should unnecessarily fear to face local and foreign competition. When we take the Lankan history of business, no business had collapsed due to local and foreign competition, instead we only find instances where they had thrived by facing the competition," he remarked.

"We do all these things thinking of the country and its future. We can no longer live as frogs in the well. We have to speed up with the fast moving world. We have to see the world with a broadened mind-set and be strong to face challenges in the world", he stressed.

The Prime Minister assured that the ETCA would not allow any foreigner to get employment in Sri Lanka in a manner that blocks employment opportunities for Sri Lankans. He emphasised that the agreement does not allow 'movement of natural persons', and that the professional groups in the country would be unaffected by it. However, he said both India and Sri Lanka would initially present their drafts separately and agree on the final draft through negotiation.

"It is unfair that you look for malefic signs in a horoscope of an unborn child. What we are trying to produce is a child with 'Raja Yoga'. We won't let anybody to set the country on fire by spreading falsehood and myth," he stressed in a firm voice.

Party leaders
After days of strenuous fight, the 'Joint Opposition' finally managed to win all of their demands in Parliament, but without the official recognition as a separate independent group in the Opposition. Yet, the leaders of minor parties in the UPFA, who are now in the Opposition, have been given the rights and privileges entitled by other party leaders. Those include the rights to attend the Party Leaders' Meetings and raise matters of public importance under the Standing Order 23 -2.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya explaining on this matter to the House on Tuesday pointed out the demands of this group included the right to move adjournment motions, appoint their members to the Committee on Public Enterprises, Public Accounts Committee and the Public Petitions Committee, more time to speak at the debates, and to raise questions under the Standing Order 23 -2. He said he agreed to all of them, except the demand to make special statements under the Standing Order 23-2. However, it was known on the following day that this issue had also been solved in favour of the 'Joint Opposition' following a special high level discussion.

MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara commenting on these developments told media, "We are given all the parts of the body, now it is up to us to assemble them and make 'a man' out of them. That is not very difficult".
- http://www.dailynews.lk/-

Anuradhapura Prison inmates end hunger strike

February 27, 2016

The two inmates of the Anuradhapura Prison who launched a hunger strike demanding that they be charged in court or sent to a rehabilitation camp, have ended their protest fast.

The two Tamil prisoners, who were detained under the PTA over alleged links to the LTTE, had commenced the hunger strike around 6 days ago, refusing meals until a solution is provided.

However, the Commissioner General of Prisons Department H.N.C. Dhanasinghe stated that that the inmates have decided to end the strike due to prisons officials taking steps to proceed with their legal cases.

Meanwhile the hunger strike launched by 13 inmates of the Magazine Prison in Colombo is still ongoing. 

TNA Parliamentarian Charles Nirmalananthan today paid a visit to the protesting prisoners, who are detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for allegedly having links with the LTTE.

Ada Derana reporter said that prisoners demand that they be released on bail or rehabilitated and that they do not want presidential pardons.  

Ekneliyagoda is one who worked for ‘Lanka e news’ the world acclaimed and most leading news website in SL –some maybe unaware but we know- Ajith Perera Dy. Minister

(Lanka-e-News- 26.Feb.2016, 11.30PM) A despicable ‘rabid hunting dog’ of the daily mirror newspaper was heard telling another ‘garbage eating  hunting dog’ of the  UPFA during a media briefing on the 24 th that Prageeth Ekneliyagoda was n’t a journalist.

The present deputy minister and lawyer Ajith P. Perera who championed the cause of the victims when  these rabid hunting dogs and garbage eating hunting dogs were on their rampage while  the scoundrels associated with them were saying  ‘hurrah,’  had the undernoted answer to give in response to these unscrupulous low bred rascals.
 
 ‘Ekneliyagoda is a genuine journalist. He was the editor of the UNP official newspaper ‘Siyarata.’ He was also a journalist who worked for the world acclaimed , and country’s leading news website ‘ Lanka e news.’ Some of them may not know, but we know that .Therefore the offence  of abducting Ekneliyagoda is a crime irrespective of whether or not he is a journalist. If there is evidence to substantiate the charges , those responsible must be arrested  no matter their status and  positions .Not only those who abducted and killed him , but even those who gave the orders must be  taken into custody,’ the deputy minister    most clearly and categorically said when addressing a rally  at Pandura on the 25 th  .Elaborating further , the deputy minister had this to say …

‘The issue now is , the individual who gave the order is now in panic and fear .He is frightened he too will be netted since the  individuals who are now trapped may disclose who gave the order , or he must be panicking  they  have already disgorged it . These are the fears haunting him. Hence , what were not told then  are being said now about Ekneliyagoda in desperation.

They could have told then Ekneliyagoda is a terrorist, and died with the Tigers, but instead they said , Ekneliyagoda is abroad. Therefore stories concocted at the present belated stage to excuse themselves  have no value.We all know Ekneliyagoda was abducted , and he went missing. If this is to be related in familiar language he was killed.

Killing of Ekneliyagoda is a crime whether or no he is a journalist .Based on our penal code it is a crime in our country.Therefore it is a punishable offence. If anyone says , such punishment shall not be meted out , it is unethical . It is against  the law and  is not campatible with any religious tenets.’

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by     (2016-02-27 00:34:45)

Sri Lanka: On astrological advice, Health Minister’s bypass delayed by a day

( February 28, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Astrological considerations prompted the family members of Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne to put off heart surgery scheduled for Wednesday at a Singapore Hospital.

The bypass surgery was carried out on Thursday morning and Minister Senaratne was reported to be in good condition yesterday.

His son Chatura, Gampaha District UNP Parliamentarian, has been in touch with both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe giving them regular updates on his father’s condition.

The minister is due in Colombo next week. ( ST)

MS visits Rajitha in Singapore

2016-02-27-President Maithripala Sirisena left for Singapore this morning to visit Health Minister Rajitha Senarathne, who is receiving treatment at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. (T.K.G. Kapila)

SF leaves for Singapore to visit Rajitha

2016-02-27-Regional Development Minister and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka left for Singapore this afternoon to visit Health Minister Rajitha Senarathne, who is undergoing treatment at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. President Maithripala Sirisena also left for Singapore this morning to visit Minister Senarathne.

Kanthale farmers join 'fertilizer struggle'

SATURDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2016

Farmers in Kanthale engaged in an agitation today (27th) demanding allocations to buy paddy and give back the fertilizer subsidy of Rs.350.

Farmers in Kanthale held a press conference on the bund of Kanthale Tank boycotting the 'harvest' meeting.

Sex is a dirty word: Yes or No?

 

2016-02-26

PART 1

Victor Ivan, founder editor of the Ravaya newspaper, had recently discussed a taboo subject in two ground breaking articles. 

This is in response to President Maithripala Sirisena’s outraged remarks after a female fan threw a bra at pop icon -Enrique Iglesias. 

His writing here is ground breaking because, as I recall, Ranga Jayasuriya (One of the Daily Mirror columnists) is the only other journalist to have written about the sexual dilemmas of Sri Lankans in recent times. 

He said bluntly and with courage that Sri Lanka needs a sexual revolution. Everyone else avoids the topic like the Ebola virus.

Victor’s Ivan’s writing was timely and fills a void because the print media in both Sinhala and English (And presumably in Tamil) avoid any serious discussion of the fundamental questions related to sex and sexuality in Sri Lanka. 

Views are highly conservative and puritanical, defending the stifling status quo. Writing about sex is approved of only if it is crime-related, or when it becomes gossip. 

Hence, the subject is effectively taboo, and ‘sex’ amounts to a dirty word rather than a noun, which clinically states one’s gender and preferences.

Victor Ivan’s thinking in this context is laudable because many journalists of his generation share the same horror of this taboo word. The younger generation by and large share the same horror and prejudice. If anything, they seem to be even more puritanical than their predecessors, coming out with titillation, gossip and dirty jokes using the internet instead of any serious exchange of views.

The very word leads us to a hidden world, where things are assumed or taken for granted, rather than known, identified and discussed based on empirical data. 

In a modern society, this amounts to a huge social malaise, and it doesn’t help that almost all our top intellectuals and thinkers are Victorian prudes. 

Discussing sexuality, as I have discovered, is the best way to alienate ‘thinking’ people, both men and women. Their minds go blank the moment you say ‘sex.’

The problems imposed on our society by this Puritanism and refusal to discuss a subject so vital to our reproduction, well being and safety are enormous. 

- See more >>>

Thajudeen murder revealed

- Feb 27, 2016

The Island exposed that from the investigations conducted so far, it was revealed that during the former regime, when a young politician was trying owning the Havlock Rugby Club, protesting against has caused Wasim Thajudeen’s murder.

When the young politician was trying to buy the Havelocks Rugby Club an aggressive rugby player Wasim Thajudeen has showed his resentment. Information’s has revealed this conflict which has gone too far has been the caused for the murder of Thajudeen.

Following the court order to arrest the perpetrators, 16 suspects has been identified by the police department so far.

The investigations have focused to arrest few members of the army and a son of a political stalwart.

Three people involved for the murder has agreed for a confession and they would be produced as a state witness in future.

Sri Lanka: DIG, Senior retired DIG, Two PSD Officers to be Arrested for Thajudeen Killing

(File photo: Gotabhaya ordering DIG Anura Senanayaka – original image (c) Sanakav 16MM)

28/02/2016 

Arrests likely in next two weeks, Suspects not permitted to leave country.

A Deputy Inspector General of Police who had close links with the top brass of the previous administration is among the possible suspects in the Wasim Thajudeen case, authoritative police sources told the Sunday Observer.

“Although the senior police officer is not directly linked to the murder, there is evidence to suggest that he aided the suspects who allegedly perpetrated the crime,” a senior spokesperson of the Department said yesterday. The police are also likely to arrest a retired senior DIG who played a key role in the Department at the time of Thajudeen’s murder. There were allegations that he was instrumental in altering police records with regard to the rugby player’s killing, attributing his death to a fatal accident.

Among other possible suspects in the case are two prominent security officers of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

One of them is known as ‘Captain Tissa,’ police sources confirmed yesterday.

“Captain Tissa was in Colombo at the time of the murder. His telephone records were carefully analysed by the CID,” the officer revealed.

“The arrests will be made based on circumstantial and scientific evidence gathered by the police teams conducting the investigation,” he added.

They said all the possible suspects in the case were under surveillance and they could not leave the country.

The suspects are likely to be arrested within the next two weeks. Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Pieris, who ruled that Thajudeen’s death might have been a murder, directed the CID to proceed with the investigation and arrest the possible suspects.

by Rasika Jayakody
Sunday Observer

Maithri cancels super luxury toilet and fittings worth Rs. 580 million ordered by MR - yet under the contract SL must pay –COPE

(Lanka-e-News -27.Feb.2016, 11.30PM)  Here is a report that deserves a place in the Guinness book of records solely and wholly because it reveals how cruel and wicked a leader of a country can become when he is possessed of inordinate powers and rapacious greed.

During the brutal corrupt reign of Mahinda Rajapakse for his personal use and luxurious lifestyle  , he had given an order costing  about US dollars 4 million  (about Rupees 580 million !) to instal  a super luxury bed , and to include  a  bathroom fitted with all the latest fiitings in a plane belonging to the Sri Lankan airlines.Though the incumbent president Maithripala Sirisena had cancelled this contract , according to Ranjan Ramanayake , the deputy  minister of   social services and welfare , the country is liable to pay this colossal sum under the contractual terms.

At  the  media briefing held on 25th afternoon at the UNP headquarters , Sri Kotha, Ranjan Ramanayake revealing the report of COPE as its member went on to comment as follows :

‘Our ex president had told a newspaper today , that he earlier on spent most of his time in the service of the  people, but now he is spending his time in jails, Commissions and courts. 

It is owing to the corruption  and frauds committed during his reign that he has to face these traumas and dramas.It is last week , the COPE took up the subject of the SL airlines for discussion. 

Today what we are going to present for discussion is the super luxury bathroom with the  complete  latest fittings , and  the  super luxury bed  imported for the Sri Lanka airlines service , that is for Air Lanka  by the ex president . All these were to be installed in the front area of the airline. These fittings alone are valued at US dollars four million!

In order to fix and install these luxury fittings and bed , the plane has to be left idling for two days at the relevant airport . Though Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled this contract,  according to the contractual terms , these expenses have to be borne by our country. It is only top notch leaders  of most prosperous and advanced countries who use  such luxury fittings and enjoy super luxury bed comforts .Our country cannot bear these colossal expenses. 

Hence , it is because the ex president resorted to this type of profligacy  of thisw magnitude with utter disregard to the  people’s burning needs that he has to spend his time in jails, Commissions , courts , bribery and corruption commission, and the presidential committee inquiring into grave frauds and corruption.’

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by     (2016-02-28 00:34:51)

Illicit drugs and school children: Immediate need for effective corrective action - II

by Chandra Wickramasinghe.-February 26, 2016

(former Council Member of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board)

(Continued from yesterday)

Re –vamping the Criminal Justice System of the country

What can one expect when thugs, racketeers and people of criminal persuasion have a field day in the knowledge that the chances of their being incarcerated are somewhat remote.It is,as a cynic put it, a matter of law and disorder! There have been Presidential Commissions appointed to examine and report on the current state of law and order in the country. The recommendations made in these Commission reports do not seem to have found favour in certain quarters which would have been materially affected by their implementation.This is most unfortunate as the Criminal Justice System of the country which should take a good share of the blame for the parlous state of affairs in this regard and which needs to go through a complete revamping, continues to plod along the same tortuous ways and by-ways, much to the exasperation of the ordinary citizenry.

The illicit drug problem is only symptomatic of the larger moral and socio-economic malaise that seems to afflict the entire polity of this island.What appears to be necessary is a searching appraisal of the overall current situation with a view to assessing the magnitude of the problem in all its dimensions.Once this is ascertained, the next step would be to map out strategies to combat the problem.These should comprise comprehnsive preventive strategies and the necessary rehabilitative programmes.The former should be re-inforced by tough legislative measures which would effectively circumscribe and stymie the illegal activities of the drug lords who fund and organize the mafia networks. Educational programmes to build up awareness, particularly in the minds of the youth, should be organized sensitively and incorporated in the school curricula and disseminated via the electronic media. I am aware that certain Corporate plans have been formulated by the National Dangerous Drugs Board to combat the drug problem.There was in fact a comprehensive Master Plan prepared and adopted more than a decade ago which has only been desultorily implemented.One cannot underscore the key role strategic planning plays in the formulation of policies and their implementation in meeting challenges and successfully overcoming them.In this regard, it has to be remarked that the failure to react decisively and the resultant paralyzing inaction in many areas of national policy, could only be attributed to the lack of or oftentimes the absence of, properly formulated strategies to meet exigent situations.We seem to be fast becoming a nation of crisis riders, looking on askance while things deteriorate and then suddenly blow up in one’s face! We then ride the resultant anarchic chaos the best we could and once the panic abates and a sense of normalcy returns, sit back and await the visitation of the next crisis!                 Read more...

Cut off from PA aid, relatives of slain in Gaza face destitution

Relatives of Palestinians slain by the Israeli military protest in Gaza City to demand delivery of assistance from the Palestinian Authority, 12 January.Mohammed AsadAPA images

Hanadi al-Qayid looked tired.

The 45-year-old lost two of her children when fighter jets shelled her home in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah during Israel’s assault in the summer of 2014.

Now she attends a regular sit-in demonstration outside a branch of the Palestinian Authority office responsible for the welfare of the families of the dead and wounded. Relatives of the martyrs, are they are known, gather weekly in Gaza City to protest the decision to suspend the payment of allowances to families of the those slain by Israel in 2014.

“Officials tend to say that it is a great honor for them to serve the families of martyrs. But we have become beggars due to these offensive practices,” al-Qayid told The Electronic Intifada.

Walaa, 15, and Ahmad, 12, were not the first of al-Qayid’s children to lose their lives to the Israeli military. In 2003, their oldest brother, Mahmoud, was shot and killed by the army and as if that wasn’t enough, her husband, Said, suffered a heart attack five months ago and had to undergo urgent surgery to save his life, surgery the family needed to borrow money to pay for.

“I’ve found myself alone in consecutive ordeals,” she said, another reason her anger at the PA is so acute. “I am really upset. I have no option but to take to the streets to demand that the PA pay our allowances so we can meet the basic needs for our surviving family.”

Al-Qayid remains optimistic that the sit-in will eventually bear fruit. But she has been protesting for a year and a half and still there has been no change of heart by the West Bank-controlled PA. Indeed, the 2016 budget was passed without any resolution to the issue.

Political divisions

The problem is a consequence of the division between Fatah and Hamas, the West Bank and Gaza. It is established in Palestinian Liberation Organization law that families of those slain and injured during the struggle for the Palestinian cause should receive regular financial assistance regardless of political leanings. Yet Palestinians in Gaza, which has been run by Hamas since 2007, often face difficulties in claiming their allowances.

After each of the three wars waged on Gaza since — in winter 2008-2009, November 2012 and summer 2014 — the PA objected to paying allowances to families of the slain. It took three years for the relatives of those killed in 2012 to obtain their rights, when Mahmoud Abbas, the PA leader, finally relented and issued an order in May 2015 to pay them their dues.

The PA’s position proved to be the same after the 2014 war, and Alaa al-Birawi, spokesman for the Committee of the Families of the Martyred and Injured, set up to secure allowances for relatives of the slain, said the families of 2,360 individuals were now appealing to officials in both the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization for a swift resolution.

“For a year and a half we have listened to outrageous pretexts from all sides whenever we ask for our rights. Some blame us for causing the war, and how dare to ask for compensation?” al-Birawi told The Electronic Intifada.

“It is lamentable that the PA continues to torment and mistreat such families on behalf of Israel,” he said. The authority, he said, uses Palestinian divisions to dodge its responsibilities.

“The PA cannot blame financial difficulties only when it comes to Gaza’s martyrs. It pays what equals to $500 for every martyr that has fallen in the West Bank during the current uprising,” al-Birawi said. “That is totally unjustified. We all know that the PA has huge sums that can help the thousands in Gaza who have lost their breadwinners.”

But Mohammed Nahal, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization branch in Gaza that tackles issues related to the families of martyrs, refused to blame only the Palestinian Authority.

“We blame Hamas for not letting the PA fully reestablish its presence in the Gaza Strip so that all outstanding issues can be settled more easily, including the problem of those families,” he said.

His office had lobbied Rami Hamdallah, the appointed PA prime minister, to allocate funds, but to no avail, he said.

“The issue is highly problematic. We hoped that issue could be tackled before the start of the current year. We demanded that the government increase the funds allocated to the [martyrs’ families] foundation so that we could absorb the huge numbers of families who lost relatives during the 2014 assault. But we were not able to do anything,” he added.

Political blackmail

For now, said al-Birawi, the most pressing cases had to be dealt with first.

“Our absolute priority right now is to settle the issue of 32 families who lost both parents and whose homes were completely destroyed during the war. They are the most vulnerable,” he said.

Nearly 150 families lost three or more members in a single Israeli strike during the summer 2014 onslaught, totaling nearly 750 fatalities, according to a United Nations monitoring group.

The families’ plight goes beyond a monthly allowance, al-Birawi added. Absent PA designation as relatives of martyrs to the cause, they are deprived of free health insurance and their children will not get a free education at a Palestinian university.

Samira al-Tawil’s husband, Khaled, was also killed in the Israeli aggression of 2014. With eight children, four of them still in school, her family is now in deep financial trouble.

“I do not have any source of income to bring up my children. We have been blackmailed by the political split,” she told The Electronic Intifada.

She added that she even had to borrow money to take a taxi to participate in the protests arranged by the Martyrs’ Families committee. These demonstrations are wearying in themselves. Protesters spend nights sleeping outdoors to highlight their predicament and underscore the possible consequences of not receiving their allowances.

Awad Nawasra, 56, takes part in most of the sit-ins. He lost four members of his family in the 2014 war.

“Believe me, if I were not in acute need for the money, you would not see me participating here. But we are desperately in need,” Nawasra, who is unemployed, told The Electronic Intifada.

And it is not only relatives of the slain who are being cut off. Families of those injured and maimed who are no longer able to work and earn money have also found the PA reluctant to fulfill its obligations to them.

Muhammad Khali, 33, was severely injured in both legs during the last Israeli offensive, and doctors advised him not to do any kind of arduous physical exercise or work.

“I really wanted to lead a normal life, to make money to educate my little children,” he said. “But I am totally helpless. I can’t help my own children.”

The former construction worker wishes he could participate in the sit-in protests, but must be content with following the news from home.

All he has left is an innate faith in humanity.

“I hope that all of this is going to work out in the end,” he said. “I hope the officials’ consciences will prevail.”

Isra Saleh el-Namey is a journalist from Gaza.