Saturday, April 23, 2016

Tamils recognize Muslims as a nation, TNA assures SLMC

April 22, 2016

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has assured the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) that the Tamils see the Muslims as a distinct “nation” inhabiting Sri Lanka.

Defining a “nation” as a “historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture,” Lankan Tamils and Muslims look upon themselves as distinct nations or nationalities while being citizens of Lanka, and demand appropriate special rights.

However, a recent statement by the Tamil Peoples’ Council (TPC), headed by TNA member and Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, had identified the Muslims as a “group” (kuzhu) and not a “nation’’ (desam), causing dismay in the SLMC.

The dismay stems from the Muslims’ fear that, as Tamil-speakers, they might get subsumed under the “Tamil” identity if the Lankan government accepts the Tamil demand for the unification of the Northern and Eastern Provinces to form a single Tamil-speaking province. Today, the Muslims are a factor in at least the Eastern Province.

Clarifying the Tamil position at an SLMC-organized seminar in Batticaloa on Thursday, TNA spokesman, M.A.Sumanthiran, said that the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the dominant group in the TNA, under whose name and symbol the TNA fights elections, has always referred to the Muslims as a “nation” in all its documents from 1949 till date.
“And the Tamils have endorsed this in every election,” Sumanthiran pointed out. Source: The New Indian Express -Agencies

Who Established The Sri Lanka College Of Journalism

By Darshanie Ratnawalli –April 24, 2016

Darshanie Ratnawalli

YGLs Of South Asia ‘Learn’: Who Established The Sri Lanka College Of Journalism

“Let him take credit for it if he wants. What does it matter?” Waruna Karunatilake told me among other things when I called him to verify if Ranga Kalansooriya was indeed the person who established the Sri Lanka College of Journalism (SLCJ). Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya, a former Director General of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) stood up before an audience of Young Global Leaders (YGLs) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and claimed – I quote verbatim – “I am the person who established the Sri Lanka College of Journalism. But I have to say I am ashamed of the quality of journalism in Sri Lanka as well as elsewhere.”

Kalansooriya made this claim at an informal and niche diplomatic event involving YGLs, a network of achievers mobilized by WEF. He was not challenged simply because there were no veteran journalists in the audience. However journalists albeit of a greener hue were present and that he still decided to make a false claim about a core journalistic institution in Sri Lanka attests to how much he has bought into the theory he articulated several times during his speech; that Sri Lankan journalists have a capacity issue. Finding out who really established the Sri Lanka College of Journalism would be quite beyond the capacity of this lot, Dr. Kalansooriya must have told himself smugly.

Ranga Kalansooriya, Co-ordinator, Sri Lanka College of Journalism shares his thoughts with the Director of Sri Lanka College of Journalism Dr. Uvais Ahamed in 2005

We all bought it, YGLs, green journalists, expert panelists. I must confess that I only have a passing acquaintance with the SL College of Journalism, i.e. I sometimes pass it on my way to the bank. During the refreshment break Asanga Abeyegoonesekera, under whose chairmanship thisniche YGL event is being held in Sri Lankamakes a beeline for Ranga Kalansooriya and bears him off to meet the YGLs connected to media in their respective countries, passing me with a dismissive ‘thank you for coming’. How strange, I think, after all I edited this man Asanga’s book, ‘Towards a better world order’ and I am there supposedly to cover the event on his invitation and I and my partner had met him socially just last night. Then I console myself philosophically, after all Ranga Kalansooriya is the person who established the SLCJ, who am I?

Tamil man found dead in Batticaloa
Mr Sriskantharajah is originally from Magaloor Nagapuram, reported Batti News.

Earlier this month another body was found in Batticaloa by the same police division.

23 April 2016

The body of a Tamil man was found within bushes in Onthachimadam in Batticaloa on Friday.

The man has been identified as that of 54 year old Ariyakutti Sriskantharajah who was last seen by his family on April 7th.

Mr Sriskantharajah is originally from Magaloor Nagapuram, reported Batti News.

His body, which was found in a decomposed state by Kalavanchikudi police officers, has been taken to Batticaloa hospital for post-mortem examination.

Earlier this month another body was found in Batticaloa by the same police division.

The body of an unidentified man was found in a stream under the bridge by Pattiruppu-Poratheevu main road, reported the news site.

Gota rushes to America in fear that Anura Senanayake may blurt out !

(Lanka-e-News -23.April.2016, 11.30PM) Gotabaya Rajapakse has left for America , based on reports reaching Lanka e news. The excuse cited by him for the tour is that his mother in law (wife’s mother) is ill. His mother in law lives in California ,U.S. According to reports reaching Lanka e news inside formation division , he has fled to the US on an assurance given that he will not be arrested in the U.S.

Some other sources say , there is another reason for Gotabaya’s trip , that is, the imminent arrest of former DIG Anura Senanayake based on the confession made by the former Narahenpita crimes division OIC Sumith Champika Perera following his arrest on charges of suppressing information in Thajudeen’s murder.

Like how Champika Perera had revealed in his confession that it was Anura Senanayake who gave him unlawful orders , the latter too is getting ready to make a confession disclosing who gave him illegal orders. Not only in relation to Thajudeen murder, Anura Sananayake is likely to betray Gotabaya Rajapakse pertaining to several other crimes too, and divulge who gave the illegal orders . Informed sources say, because of this fear that is haunting Gotabaya , he had under the pretext of visiting his ailing mother in law , escaped to the U.S.

Mahinda and Gotabaya rift

Following the Hyde Park rally which was attended by Mahinda Rajapakse , a rift had resulted between Mahinda and Gotabaya . The latter’s view had been , the leadership of the joint opposition should be given to him as a new leader and not Mahinda. Basil Rajapakse is averse to Gotabaya coming to the fore and Mahinda does not want Gotabaya to be the leader. Consequently , after the Hyde park rally , Mahinda had told a close friend of his that he lost Gotabaya. The Rajapakse cronies say , this embitterment may have prompted Gotabaya to leave for America.

In any event , informed sources of the Diplomatic circles of the US government say , if the Sri Lankan security divisions have need to arrest Gotabaya for any crime committed in SL, his stay in America is no bar.

It is well to recall , at the height of the LTTE war in SL in 1990 , Gotabaya went to America and took up residence after leaving the army. He made a parting shot at that time when he was leaving his motherland ‘ In the future in the war it will be not soldiers who will be dying , rather it will be Majors and Colonels.’ Therefore he is fleeing SL before that , Gotabaya had told jocularly , at the function.

Gotabaya was a Colonel when he left. After going to America he obtained his US citizenship and never visited his motherland for 15 long years, let alone think of it . This was how he demonstrated his so called much boasted patriotic spirit . Even in the processions and demonstrations staged in America against the LTTE , Gotabaya never participated even just as a moral supporter. However when his elder brother Mahinda Rajapakse became a candidate for the presidential election in 2005, and after half of the election campaign was over , Gotabaya returned to the Island , and undertook the task of distributing the election campaign leaflets to the camps of the forces.

Finally Mahinda Rajapakse became the president and the unsavory details of what happened thereafter is well known to Lanka e news fans. In any case , Gotabaya during the past was saying he had withdrawn his US citizenship.

After returning to SL while Gotabaya was still crowing yankee doodle do in true tie and coat American style , his Machiavellian brother president Mahinda Rajapakse crowed any diddle will do much louder in national style , and together drove the country to an irretrievable economic abyss.

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by (2016-04-23 19:58:00)

Taking back the space of legitimate public dissent

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The regular posturing by the so-called Rajapaksa-led Joint Opposition calling for the upholding of democratic rights in Sri Lanka must be treated with the rightful contempt that it deserves.

Condemning hypocritical posturing

Even as sanctimonious hypocrisy drips off the tongues of these worthies when they speak with fervor on multifarious topics, ranging from the appointments of the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police to contemplated tax increases, let us remind them of some salient home truths.

In truth, these are individuals who do not have even a smidgen of honesty or integrity to critique the performance of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government, as problematic as that has become.

These were the same hypocrites who stood idly by even as former President Mahinda Rajapaksa literally destroyed the remnants of institutional independence in this unfortunate country, rendering public officers and judges quivering like jellies as they responded to the crack of the Medamulana whip.

When the ugly tentacles of political and family patronage, the likes of which the public had never seen before, reached out to every nook and cranny and public funds were spent with impunity on Rajapaksa-projects that were monumentally useless, engineering much of the current economic crisis that we face, did these characters ever utter a whimper of protest?

A larger question that is relevant

Now in their dotage, the once seemingly ‘leftist’ patrons of this oppositional movement look more than extraordinarily ridiculous in the public eye as they bellow forth on the need to observe the Rule of Law. Was the Rule of Law observed when they virtually kicked a Chief Justice out of office with less ceremony than that afforded to a common criminal? Lest we forget, one leftist worthy in that motley crowd referred to the Chief Justice on the floor of the House in disparaging tones more fit to be used by a street cleaner.

No doubt, now that the roles have been reversed, judicial independence would be spoken of in the same unctuous manner as is used by the flag bearers of the Joint Opposition towards other matters. As Sri Lanka’s media, more used to sound bites and quotable quotes rather than engaging in probing investigative journalism, rush to give these individuals airtime, viewers can only ask wonderingly if they take the people of this country to be fools.

But there is a larger question that is relevant here. The capturing of the legitimate space of public dissent by the Rajapaksa-led Joint Opposition should worry those genuinely concerned with Sri Lanka’s governance. This is the unfortunate result of the absence of forceful and independent voices who professed their commitment to restoring Sri Lanka’s democratic culture during the January 2015 change.

Storm clouds of public anger

As citizens look on in profound skepticism at the theatrics of the Joint Opposition, cynicism in regard to the very terms ‘Rule of Law’ and good governance or ‘yahapalanaya’ increases in an insidious tidal wave of apathy throughout the country. This is heightened by the many missteps of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition Government. In the South, its apathy on moving against gross corruption allegations against the frontliners of the previous regime has become more and more pronounced. It is becoming clear that easy excuses that the legal process is complex and takes time will not do. The effect of show arrests and publicity circuses are also dwindling. In the North and East, there is extreme unease about the process of reconciliation and justice held out by the Government which has so far, been limited to rhetoric.

So sixteen months into a dimming Rainbow Presidency, we have storm clouds of furious public questioning directed at this Government at several levels. Worse, there is unseemly crowing by the very individuals implicated in abuse of public finds about the tardiness of the authorities in taking action against them. Disillusionment and withdrawal of the citizenry from public engagement with the process of governance is exceedingly more dangerous than outright oppression. As history of this nation itself shows us, repression only leads to a critical mass of anger which builds up over time and releases itself in a catastrophic reaction against those who repress. This is exactly what happened last year.

However, in our critical questioning of the distasteful deterioration of the January 2015 democratic movement to ‘politics as usual,’ we may acknowledge some basic facts. The political drivers of this movement had only one aim in mind, namely regime change and the expulsion of the Rajapaksas for political gain. The grand rhetoric of good governance was merely a cover for a much more pedestrian grab for power. This is a conclusion that seems inevitable, given the singular inability of the coalition administration to bring about structural reforms, even in terms of small essential steps.

Conformity to due process needed

Thus, there are certain questions that this Government should be asked to answer. First and foremost is its commitment to constitutional governance. Essentially, should Sri Lanka be plunged into suspenseful disquiet each and every time that the Constitutional Council sits to determine its primary function under the 19th Amendment, which is of approving or recommending nominees to key positions and bodies? Public controversy over the appointments of the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police were bad enough. Are we to see this process repeated, for example, in the case of appointments to the appellate courts? This would bring about a farcical situation indeed.

The process thereto needs therefore to be clarified and made publicly accountable. Individuals who have a clear conflict of interest in the making of relevant decisions by the Council should be compelled by law not to participate in the decision making. This is an obvious principle of caution that any first year law student would be familiar with. In the appointment of the IGP therefore, it was against all norms that a Minister who was under investigation by the police should have sat in and deliberated on the Council.

What was in issue then and now is conformity to due process. This is what the popular vote in January 2015 underscored. This must preoccupy critical minds in regard to the functioning of this Government, quite apart from the Joint Opposition’s laughable lecturing on governance, casually shrugging off its disgraceful history with nary an apology.

Even at this rather muddled state that we are, a turn-around is still possible.

Clearing The Debris Of Communal Strife From Our Education

By Rajan Hoole and Kopalasingam Sritharan –April 23, 2016

Revisiting Tamil Self Determination – Part VI

The article by Laksiri Fernando the series started with, speaks of the importance of public awareness and education in reconciliation. But is our educational establishment anywhere near equal to this task?

Dr. Rajani Thiranagama

Unfortunately the higher education institutions lost their vitality in creating spaces for new ideas and social activism. They failed at leading the country towards social justice and ethnic peace. The first thing about education is respect for the nation’s young as architects of our future at their formative age and for the value of their time. Once, as in the case of the Jaffna Youth Congress, left politics inspired confidence and hope for social change in the youth. But the failure of socialist experiments in the USSR and China and those of the traditional left parities in Sri Lanka, led to emergence of youth movements with simplistic slogans. Their use of terror to supposedly advance social revolution, inevitably, caused violent upheavals across the country.

Fernando returns to the theme of education in his commendation of Harper Lee’s classic ‘To kill a mockingbird’ with a quotation from the book “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” Its hero was a man who took the responsibility of saving the life of a black man ‘at the risk of his professional standing (defined primarily by the white society) and personal safety under mob threats and protest.’

Jaffna University and the Politics of Memory

Dr. Rajani Thiranagama wrote in March 1989 (UTHR(J) Report No.2):

“On another but complementary direction we started a process of self-criticism through dialogue and discussion and tried to re-examine our past and look into the future – not directed by fear, but by fundamental principles of justice to the people. Thus we were critical of local militant groups, both with regard to their terror and murder as well as the actions that create conditions resulting in wanton, purposeless sacrifice of ordinary people.”

23/04/2016

Kapila Jayaratne, national programme manager of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Surveillance of the Family Health Bureau, said Sri Lanka has reduced malaria cases from over 400,000 in 1991 to zero cases by November 2012, sustaining this achievement to date in spite of the nearly three decades of conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Colombo: Sri Lanka has steadily reduced the number of malaria cases and has applied for World Health Organization (WHO) certification on its malaria-free status, the government information department said on Friday.

He added that Sri Lanka would be celebrating the fourth consecutive year of no malaria but there are high-risk groups which pose a threat to the island nation.

These include Sri Lankan businessmen and traders who travel frequently to India and other neighbouring countries, Sri Lankans engaged in the gem business in African countries like Madagascar and Mozambique, and military personnel returning from peace-keeping missions in the African region.

Certification of malaria elimination is the official recognition of malaria-free status granted by WHO.

The final decision on granting certification is made by the WHO Director General.

Countries are expected to continue reporting on an annual basis to WHO on the maintenance of the malaria-free status.

IANS /HealthEconomicTimes

New IGP after taking over duties assures: FCID will be fortified ; Thajudeen murderers will be arrested ; advises police rank and file

(Lanka-e-News -23.April.2016, 10.45PM) The highest rank a police officer can attain during his life time is the post of IGP (Inspector General of Police). Any officer after becoming the IGP , the next he can go into is history. Hence it is in the hands of the police officer alone after he becomes the IGP to decide whether posterity must describe him as poojitha (famous ) or Koojitha (infamous).

The IGP who bears the name of Poojitha Senadhibandara Jayasundara took over his duties officially at the Police headquarters yesterday (22). After he was ceremonially welcomed by his officers at the inauguration , he addressed them . Thereafter he participated in a general media conference.

The new IGP addressing the police officers said, the main goal of the police should be to create an environment of peace in which all can live with trust and without fear of crimes and violence .

Towards this goal , the civil security committees that are now existing for every grama niladhari division of the 14667 in Sri Lanka (SL), shall be re structured and empowered . Incidentally , Jayasundara is an officer who built the community police service in the districts where he worked before.

Hitherto the police was identified as Police department , but henceforth, from today it shall be the Sri Lanka Police, the new IGP asserted while adding this announcement is being made with the approval of the President, Prime Minister , the minister in charge, the secretary to the ministry and the DIGs .

Following the conclusion of the war and end of terrorism , the Sri Lankan people are clamoring for freedom , and that is from the Police, and making that happen is the duty of the police. In the instance where the demand cannot be met by adequate supply by the police , like the prices shoot up and people get disillusioned when the demand is greater than the supply , the Police too will earn the displeasure of the people, the new IGP who is a Bachelor of commerce graduate observed.

If the police reputation is to be protected three habits shall be cultivated , those are : avoid illicit earnings; shun corruption in connection with heroin raids ; and building an unblemished character , the IGP pointed out.

Poojitha Jayasundara convening a press briefing after addressing the police officers said, the FCID shall continue and the necessary facilities will be provided in that direction . That is essential for the public. The FCID is not bound to carry out contracts of those who are shouting. We shall certainly act against those who misuse State funds and assets.

Of course everything cannot be done hurriedly. That will be done step by step. Evidence have to be gathered , legal advice have to be sought , but every investigation will be conducted and concluded.

When answering the question posed to him whether every suspect no matter who involved in the Thajudeen murder will be arrested ? the new IGP quoting the Sinhala adage ‘whom to complain of the problems concerning the fence, the stream and the paddy field ?’ went on to say , the resentment and wrath provoked among the people when the individual who should enforce the law breaks it is justifiable.

While saying he is prepared to accept any fair criticisms at any time , Poojitha Jayasundara made a request to the media , not to indulge in unfair criticisms in order to ‘sell the news.’

The new IGP also said , this might be his first and last media conference and in future , all information connected with the media can be obtained from police media spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera and former Police media spokesman Ajith Gunasekera .

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by (2016-04-23 17:26:45)

Sri Lanka’s ‘historical error’ in choosing new IGP: activists

ECONOMYNEXT,-April 23, 2016, 8:25 pm

The Constitutional Council’s selection of a new IGP through a secret ballot carried out in the absence of two of the three civil society representatives was slammed Saturday as a "historic blunder."

An activist group known as Decent Lanka 2015 which includes journalist Kusal Perera and lawyer Srinath Perera accused the CC chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya of "bluffing" the people.

Jayasuriya did not vote when the Council met on Monday (April 18) in parliament to decide a nominee to be the new IGP from among three candidates — S. M. Wickramasinghe, Pujith Jayasundara and Chandana Wickramaratne.

Jayasundara, 56, was chosen through a secret ballot in sharp contrast to the procedure adopted in choosing the Attorney General in February by the same Council.

Objections by JVP representative Vijitha Herath that the Council’s procedure was seriously flawed and against the constitution were overruled and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reportedly initiated the secret ballot following a meeting that lasted less than an hour.

"What the people need from the Council is not a majority decision in appointing a person to a high position, but the appointment of the right person through a credible, open procedure," the activists said while expressing their "disgust."

They were also critical of two out of the three civil society representatives in the Council — Mohamed Shibly Aziz, 70, eminent President’s Counsel and Radhika Coomaraswamy, 63, a former under secretary general of the UN.

Both were absent while while only A. T. Ariyaratne, 84, was the sole civil society voice.

"It is... disturbing how the three members who are included in the Council to represent the ‘People’ compromise their responsibility.

"Though numerically outnumbered, they have to represent the people and stand for a transparent procedure in selecting persons to high positions in the state.

"This particular decision (of appointing IGP) carries with it, lot more heavy blunders that make it a historical error. An error that should never again be allowed over selections and recommendations in the future and this corrected IF possible through public demand.

"All publicity about requesting CV’s (curriculum vitaes) for scrutiny from the three nominees sent in by the President and inviting them for a viva voce that never happened was nothing but sheer political bluffing."

The activists demanded that the Council publish the CV’s it received from the three candidates and explain why they the three officers were not allowed to make a case for themselves before the Council.

They also wanted the council to declare the criteria for choosing Jayasundara over the other three and spell out the procedure adopted in deciding he was better than the other two.

At least one member of the council objected to their having to choose one out of three candidates nominated by President Sirisena in contrast to the practice adopted in appointing the Attorney General in February.

"The Prime Minister tried to explain that this was an exceptional situation where the President had to choose a candidate out of three that included the head of his own security and village-mate," a source said.

He was referring to Senior Deputy Inspector-General Wickramasinghe who had aligned himself with President Sirisena after serving over a decade as head of security of his arch-enemy, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Double Standards

In the case of nominating an Attorney General, the council returned the three names suggested for consideration by the President and asked him to make only one nomination which he later did and which was ratified by the panel.

Following a brief but intense debate on double standards, the council through a majority decided to go in for a vote at the Speaker’s chamber in parliament where only eight out of the 10 Council members were present.

The results were not officially released to the public, but sources close to the process, which was also watched by two senior members of parliamentary staff, said there were five votes in favour of Jayasundara.

Senior DIG Wickramasinghe got one vote while another vote was "spoilt." Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who is the chairman of the council did not cast his vote.

Both Senior DIGs Wickramasinghe and Jayasundara had launched intense media campaigns to lobby for the top post while third placed Senior DIG Chandana Wickramaratne remained a dark horse.

Wickramaratne was seriously handicapped as politicians feared giving the top job to a younger man who could have held the post for seven years, longer than the term of the current government.

"He (Wickramaratne) was never really in contention because the two main parties feared that his tenure could guarantee that he could remain independent if he so desired," the source said shortly after Monday’s vote.

Jayasundara and Wickramasinghe have the same seniority while Wickramaratne is seven months junior to them in service while being four years younger.

All three officers were invited to parliament on Monday, but they were not asked a single question nor invited to make any presentation, although it appeared that all three were prepared to make a case for themselves.

The Speaker invited them to have a cup of tea before thanking them for their presence.

SL Foreign Ministry instructs visiting foreign citizens to North to obtain ‘military visa’

Apr 23, 2016

The officials of Colombo's Foreign Ministry have started to cite an updated ‘news report’ in the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry website, dated 03 March 2016, in instructing foreign citizens travelling to the five districts in North to obtain ‘prior approval’ from the genocidal military of ‘Sri Lanka’, a Tamil visitor from Europe engaged in providing humanitarian assistance has complained to rights activists in Colombo this week. The latest ‘development’ comes after increased reports of abduction-styled arrests that have been carried out by Colombo's military intelligence in North. The Eezham Tamil visitor, engaged in humanitarian work from abroad for a long time, was recently lured into ‘think’ as ‘Sri Lankan’ by the ‘reconciliation’ desk of the foreign ministry in the country of citizenship.

SL Defence Ministry silently implements travel restrictions to North
At Colombo, the diplomatic mission representing the citizenship, was also advising the visitor to proceed with securing approval based on the ‘travel advisories’ indicated in the SL military website.

Foreign travellers visiting to Jaffna, Ki'linochchi, Mullaiththeevu districts and to areas north of Vidaththaltheevu in Mannaar district and to the north of Oamanthai in Vavuniyaa are required to apply for such ‘military visa‘ through fax or email.

“As of now requests up to 3 months considered for multiple entry,” according to the update on SL Defence Ministry website.

In practice, this means the SL military check-posts, which are operating at the land-based entry points into former LTTE administered areas in the North, continuing to subject the visitors to their scrutiny as a border agency to the occupied heartland of Eezham Tamils.

In addition, the military officers of relevant military Brigades occupying the country of Eezham Tamils will have details ready for their shadow scrutiny processes at village level.

In the meantime, the SL Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Mangala Samaraweera, has been closely working with the military intelligence in deploying a Colombo-based research outfit camouflaged as poverty-related ‘think tank’ to hire foreign academics in Western countries to conduct ‘counter-insurgency’ and ‘peace-building’ research to spy on Tamil diaspora organisations, an informed Tamil political officer attached to a foreign mission told TamilNet.

At the same time, former SL President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who now heads the so-called ‘Office of the National Unity and Reconciliation’, is engaged in deploying her close confidants dependent on Western funding and some selected Tamil diaspora academics with Peradeniya background to brainwash non-politicised Tamil diaspora activists to imagine themselves as ‘Sri Lankans’.

- http://tamilnet.com -

Complicity In Local Corruption

By Emil van der Poorten –April 24, 2016

Emil van der Poorten

I have, more times than I care to count, made extensive reference to the corruption in the local government here: the Tumpane Pradeshiya Sabha (TPS), in particular. For “openers” let me say that the fact that this local version of governance cannot be excused through reference to what Sri Lankan history has (unjustly?) identified as an area populated by fools: the term “Tumpane modaya” (Tumpane Fool) hardly needs explanation in the context of the folklore of this country despite the fact that, like most broad generalizations, it leaves something to be desired in terms of accuracy.

I have watched, with what can accurately be described as bemusement, the havoc that this outfit has visited upon those unfortunate enough to live within its boundaries. This has ranged from profit being made by employees of that body performing “contracts” for the construction of service facilities while supposedly being those responsible for ensuring their quality, to unaccounted “disappearances” of funds intended for the reconstruction of a road destroyed by the very TPS’s vehicles. Remember the ten million rupee transfer of funds to fix a certain road, 5.3 million of which was not spent on that specific task? The frosting on that particular cake is the fact that the contractor who was supposed to receive the 4.7 million rupees told me that he would soon be suing the local body for a part of that sum which was still owing him despite the fact that had fulfilled his obligations in respect of the work.

My recently more frequent visits to the offices of this branch of the local government system and conversations with what amounts to the Chief Executive Officers of this august body have yielded interesting results.

(Lanka-e-News -23.April.2016, 11.30PM) Medamulana brutal corrupt Rajapakses who held sway during their ‘nefarious decade’ between 2005 to 2015 , keeping the people cruelly trampled under their despotic boots are again trying to seize power and hand over the reins to their Rajapakse descendents so that these scoundrels can selfishly fatten and flourish for generations of theirs to come . With this dastardly end in view , they have offered a ‘santhosam’ of Rs. 100 million to every one of those stalwarts of the UNP who deserts the party to join them and participate in the May day rally on the 1 st of May . These crooked and corrupt ‘thieves on behalf of thieves’ have made these plans for their joint opposition rally organized by the coconut robbers.

Medamulana Rajapakse who kicked out the SLFP party that was responsible to elect him as president twice ,has by disregarding and disdaining the decisions of the party’s Central working committee ruthlessly and recklessly split the party into two . Moreover , he had now taken the definite stance to hold a May day rally against the party.

The Medamulana Rajapakse crooks and cheats who during their ‘nefarious decade ‘ pocketed more than half of the loan amount of US dollars 60 billion received , that is Rupees 8400 billion in SL rupees (Rs. 8400,000,000,000.00 ! ) are now getting ready for another political subterfuge by throwing away those monies as bait to lure the UNP electoral organizers who could not enter parliament and are desperate.

A group of such desperate bankrupt UNP organizers have met in the house of a bigwig representing the equally or more bankrupt Medamulana crooked Rajapakse’s ‘thieves on behalf of thieves’ clan secretly in the dead of night, and have had discussions. The discussion was to lure the UNP ers to get on the the stage of Medamulana ‘thieves on behalf of thieves’. A payment of over Rs. 100 million was offered to every one of those who would agree , and this discussion was primarily aimed at deciding on that. But , because the FCID is now investigating the financial transactions , it was questioned how that can be done confidentially?

This secret discussion was held after Ranil Wickremesinghe invited the UNP electoral organizers and held discussions at the Sri Kotha.

Meanwhile, a pro Rajapakse media reported that Harindra Dunuwile ,UNP Pathadumbara organizer had sent a letter to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe intimating that he had resigned his post as organizer. However at the media briefing today of the UNP , the general secretary Kabeer Hashim revealed no such letter was received when answering a question posed by a journalist.

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by (2016-04-23 19:51:59)