Brussels Commission: in the Belly of the Beast

If there is optimism about the outcome of the referendum in Downing Street they most definitely have not communicated it to Brussels successfully. EU Diplomats in the city mutter that they think it is all going the wrong way in the UK. In the Commission building, the Berlaymont, some officials say they’re gloomy about the prospects of Brexit.

Thursday 28 Apr 2016

At the weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners yesterday Jean-Claude Juncker did his regular kiss and slap tour of the table before the meeting started. But away from the soothing routine there are strong undercurrents of concern.

Frans Timmermans, former Dutch Foreign Minister and now Vice-President of the Commission, admits that the EU could be in crisis if the UK goes. It’s “not the favourite subject these days in any member state,” he says, before reeling off a list of criticisms that could come from the pen of a Leave campaigner. He insists the litany of criticisms is being taken on by the current Commission which has taken to heart the pan-EU frustration with Europe delving in where it is felt it is not needed or wanted.

Mr Timmermans says the Commission has managed a drastic cut in legislation proposed, 80% down he claims. Apparently that is not reflected in any correlating job cuts as the work is shifting elsewhere (though Commission staff can be rather difficult to shuffle around as Commissioners, not matter the relative workload of the brief, insist on getting the same number of staff in each silo).

Mr Timmermans threatens a messy and ill-tempered divorce if the UK goes its own way.

There was no sign of packing cases in the office of Lord Hill, Britain’s Commissioner in the European Commission. He says he hopes that even if it’s a narrow victory for the Remain camp on June 23rd it could mean the UK pressing the re-set button on its relationship with the EU. Many in Brussels expect relations to be as bad as usual if not worse because they expect David Cameron to have to accomodate the Brexit wing of his party and watch his back. Lord Hill said “Britain ought to press the re-set … (because) that is the logic of having decided where our engagement should be.”

At the end of yet another long featureless corridor in the Berlaymont you come across a few pictures of views in the UK sellotaped to the walls. This is the Brexit Referendum Task Force, a six person team under the veteran British-born Eurocrat, Jonathan Faull.

Mr Faull’s job includes scanning the landscape for issues that might pour petrol on the referendum fires in Britain so the Commission can make sure they don’t fire up before 23rd June. He’s credited, amongst other vanishing tricks, with disappearing the ban on high power kettles and toasters which was gently cruising down the legislative track but mysteriously disappeared. He says: “absolutely not, the Commission is not hiding things.”

Senior diplomats in Brussels think if Britain does exit the EU the Commission that could put Mr Faull in the very awkward position of being asked to lead their effort in the negotiations with the country of his birth.

Jonathan Faull said You sense, talking to Jonathan Faull, he doesn’t want to go there.

Schoolchildren attacked by nationalist protesters in Moscow

Picketers accused of dousing students in ammonia and disinfectant as they arrived at an awards ceremony

 A lawyer stands outside the Memorial human rights centre in Moscow. Photograph: Maria Pleshkova / Demotix/Demotix/Corbis (commissioned)

Anastasia Bazenkova for The Moscow Times, part of the New East network-

Thursday 28 April 2016

Guests at an event organised by Russia’s leading human rights group, Memorial, have been attacked by nationalist activists, the organisation’s executive director has said.

Participants arriving at the award ceremony for young history students were pelted with green disinfectant and ammonia, said Yelena Zhemkova.

“Memorial was holding a very important event at Dom Kino in central Moscow, but the guests and the participants were attacked by a group of aggressive protesters,” Zhemkova said.

The protest was organised by the People’s Liberation Front nationalist movement, local media reported. Roughly 20 activists are said to have congregated outside, holding banners reading “we don’t need alternative history” and shouting insults.

Among those attacked was acclaimed Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The writer, who headed the jury of the school competition, was sprayed in the face with green disinfectant.

A number of international guests were also present, including the German ambassador to Russia, Rüdiger von Fritsch, Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

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Школьный конкурс Мемориала, при входе всех встречают воплями "национал-предатели"

4:43 AM - 28 Apr 2016

The nationalist group’s youth wing coordinator Maria Katasonova denied the attack on Ulitskaya in an interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station. “We don’t know who sprayed Ulitskaya,” she said. “I only saw her turn around and she was already covered in green disinfectant.”

The school competition, titled “A person in history: Russia in the XX century” is an annual event organised by Memorial inviting students from around the country to research local history by studying archives, interviewing locals and examining newspapers and other sources.

Winning students are then invited to Moscow where they attend a number of events organised by Memorial. The culmination of their Moscow programme is the awards ceremony.

Police arriving on the scene after complaints of a disturbance said that the protest was a one-man picket and took no further action.

“Usually, even it’s a real one-man protest, the police will come and put everybody in the back of a van. This time nothing happened, even though our colleague had an eye injury,” Zhemkova said.

The executive director said that although there had been previously protests carried out during previous Memorial events, it was the first time activists had been so aggressive.

A protest had been held in front of the Sakharov Centre where Memorial held an exhibition dedicated to the first Chechen war last month, but no one had been attacked, she said.

A version of this article first appeared on The Moscow Times

US returns stolen ancient Buddhist sculpture to Pakistan

The recovered relic, featuring "footprints of Buddha". Image via New York Post.

28th April 2016 

THE U.S. has returned a rare historical Buddhist sculpture worth US$1.1 million to Pakistan, which has been missing since 1982, when it was stolen from an archaeological dig.

The second-century Buddhapada tablet depicts “footprints of the Buddha” – a symbolic representation of when Buddha had once walked on the earth.

The 227kg slab’s whereabouts was unknown since it disappeared from an archaeological site in the Swat Region of Pakistan 34 years ago, until U.S. authorities arrested a 70-year-old Japanese antiquities dealer in New York City last month in connection to a scheme to smuggle the relic into the U.S.

Tatsuzo Kaku, from Tokyo, later pled guilty to criminal possession of stolen property, and told the court that he was motivated partly by a desire to protect Buddhist art from being neglected or destroyed in its country of origin.

According to the New York Post, after purchasing the statue back in 1982, Kaku allegedly smuggled the artifact to Japan and sold it to a private collector, and over several years, the sculpture switched ownership between Kaku and other antiquities collectors until he tried to sell it at prominent commercial arts event Asia Week New York, leading to his arrest.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, in his statement announcing the sculpture’s return to Pakistan, said:

“This sculpture and others like it are so much more than commercial property – they represent ancient pieces of history and culture that should be celebrated and vigorously protected.”

As the piece is considered “cultural property”, it is protected under Pakistani law, and Pakistani officials said that for the time being, the artifact will remain in New York and may be exhibited at a museum in the city.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

Mahindra to build India's first automobile shredding plant

The steering wheel of a Mahindra e2o electric car is seen in London, Britain April 15, 2016.

REUTERS/STEFAN WERMUTH

BY ADITI SHAH-Thu Apr 28, 2016

A unit of autos-to-technology group Mahindra intends to set up a network of automobile shredding plants, an executive told Reuters on Thursday after announcing plans to build India's first such facility with a state firm.

India is considering introducing a policy to scrap old vehicles, like the cash-for-clunkers programme the United States tried during the global economic recession to boost auto sales.

India also plans to enforce stricter vehicular emission rules, potentially opening up an opportunity for companies like Mahindra, India's top utility vehicle maker by sales with a market capitalisation of $17 billion, to recycle older cars and trucks.

Mahindra Intertrade will set up the first plant in partnership with state-controlled MSTC Ltd near a port, aiming to begin operations within a year, said Sumit Issar, Mahindra Intertrade's managing director.

Issar did not disclose exact investment plans but said the equipment to scrap vehicles alone would cost more than 1 billion rupees ($15 million), apart from land and construction costs.

"I see a huge opportunity in India. The idea is to make the first plant successful and then expand pan-India," Issar said, adding the company was open to scrapping ships and machines too.

India currently does not have an organised car breaking industry, with most of the dismantling done by independent workshops that do not have the right tools for recycling.

As a result, most of the scrap needed by steelmakers and other industries is imported. The planned shredding plant could replace imported scrap and cut India's foreign exchange outflow, the steel ministry said in a statement.

Though vehicles are typically licensed to run for only 15 years in India, there are about 30 million vehicles on roads that pre-date 1990.

"Even if you take a percentage of that you can imagine the kind of feedstock you can get over a period of time," Issar said.

Issar did not detail the likely size of the plant, but said it would need to be able to handle at least 100,000 units a year to be viable.

Mahindra Intertrade has the largest network of steel service centres in India and processes automotive steel as well as electrical steel for power and home appliance applications.

Setting up a shredding unit will feed into its own business and Mahindra could also provide scrap to India's steelmakers and other industries, said Issar.

($1 = 66.5015 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Gene therapy reverses sight loss and is long-lasting

Image copyrightBBC News

By Pallab Ghosh-28 April 2016

A genetic therapy has improved the vision of patients who would otherwise have gone blind.

A clinical study has shown that the improvement is long-lasting and so the therapy is suitable to be offered as a treatment.

The researchers will apply for approval to begin trials to treat more common forms of blindness, such as macular degeneration, next year

The results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A team at Oxford University is treating a rare disorder called choroideremia. The disorder affects young men whose light-detecting cells in the backs of their eyes are dying because they have inherited a faulty gene.

There is so much opportunity. There is so much that I can do and do the things that I have actually wanted to and continue to do the things I really enjoy

Joe Pepper, Gene therapy participant

Until now, there has been no treatment and they gradually become blind.

The therapy involves injecting a working copy of the gene into the back of their eyes to stop more cells from dying.

The researchers found that not only does the treatment halt the disease, it revives some of the dying cells and improves the patient's vision, in some cases markedly.

A 24-year-old history teacher Joe Pepper, who works at St John's school in Leatherhead in Surrey, is the latest patient to have been treated.

Joe played for Hayes Cricket Club in Kent as a boy, but was forced to give it up at 16 when his vision deteriorated.

But he could see well enough to continue his love of the game as a coach at his school.

Without the gene therapy, he would have had to give that up too within a few years, as he gradually became blind. The prospect terrified him.

We would like to develop treatments for more common forms of blindness and this may be available in the next five to 10 years

Prof Robert MacLaren, Oxford University

"When I was 18, my vision was in a very bad place," he said, "[my sight] was degenerating at quite a speed."

He told me: "I was scared of what would have happened, I was scared of not being able to see or live the life I had.

"And now to have the belief that that's not going to happen is a weight off your shoulders."

Joe is popular with the pupils. He is jovial and laughs a lot. He teaches sport and history with a passion and enthusiasm that are infectious.

But his positive personality belies the fact that the past few years have been challenging for him as his sight worsened.

"It was really quite upsetting, not only for me, but for my family.

"I was never blind but every year there would be something new to compensate for, so my life was never steady and it was the constant changes that affected me the most, particularly when I was 18. Not being able to do what my peers were doing I found quite hard for a while."

Joe had his operation in October and began to notice an improvement soon after.

"After the operation I was looking into our garden and I could see more but I wasn't sure.

"I didn't tell my mum and dad. I didn't want to let anyone get excited until we had done a simple vision test in a week's time."

The test involved reading a sight chart of letters. Each line on the chart had progressively smaller letters.

He read line after line, going four lines beyond where he had ever read before. The medical staff were astounded.

It has opened a new chapter of my life for me when I thought that the book was about to close

Jonathan Wyatt, Gene therapy participant

"Everyone in the room just looked at me and I looked at them," he said reliving the moment.

"Anna, the research nurse, was taking me back out of the waiting room and she just looked at me and said it was 'fantastic' - both of us just had tears in our eyes."

Joe met his father in the waiting area. He was alarmed at the sight of his son in tears.

"He thought that it was [bad news] and he just looked at me and we both sat there in each others' arms just realising that actually it had…..." [Joe could not finish his sentence].

It was only when he was giving me his account of the joy and relief he felt with his father that the full emotional impact of the moment hit him for the first time.

After a brief pause he continued: "I cannot explain how terrifying and upsetting it was when I was younger," he continued.

"And now to know that there is so much opportunity, there is so much that I can actually do and do the things that I have actually wanted to and continue to do the things I really enjoy".

Early promise

The clinical study is small. The gene therapy has been tried out on 14 patients in the UK and 18 in the US, Canada and Germany over the past four and a half years.

The remainder have stories that are similar to Joe's.

Wayne Thompson, a 46-year-old IT worker from Staffordshire was delighted to be able to see stars in the night sky for the first time following his operation. Jonathan Wyatt a 68-year-old former lawyer says "it has opened a new chapter of my life for me when I thought that the book was about to close".

As the researchers have gained confidence in their treatment, they have tried it out on progressively younger patients who still have reasonably good vision.

Joe is the youngest and the most successful so far. This suggests that the gene therapy may be most effective on younger patients before the disease becomes irreversible.

The study also indicates that the treatment is long-lasting. The first patient received the therapy four and a half years ago and his treated eye has shown no drop-off in vision. Indeed there are still slight improvements in his vision in that eye.

This is the first indication that the treatment is viable and could be widely used on patients, according to the eye surgeon leading the trial, Prof Robert MacLaren of Oxford University:

"The concept of gene therapy is that it corrects gene defects. Ideally we should only have to do that once, because once the DNA is corrected and inserted into the correct cell, that cell should be able to continue its function as normal," he told BBC News.

"We seem to have achieved this concept of one single treatment that does not need to be repeated which is unlike traditional medicines."

Prof MacLaren says that if the next phase of larger trials goes as he anticipates, a gene therapy for choroideremia will be licensed in three years.

He has also begun to develop gene therapy trials to treat more common forms of blindness, such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. These could begin as early as next year.

Treating these disorders will be more challenging. Choroideremia is caused by a defect in a single gene, whereas the more common forms of blindness involve several.

But Prof MacLaren believes that the choroideremia trials have laid the ground for the next phase of studies and, crucially, shown that gene therapy for blindness is safe and works.

"When I started my career as an eye surgeon when we had these patients that had inherited diseases, not only did we tell them nothing could be done but we would actually discharge them from the clinics.

"We are now calling them back in to test them, to look at them in great detail because potential treatments are available. To treat a disease at the genetic level is surely the most efficient way of treating a disease, to prevent it from happening in the first place.

"We would like to develop treatments for more common forms of blindness and this may be available in the next 5 to ten years," he told BBC News.

The Research is funded by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund which is a partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health.

Follow Pallab on Twitter

Some politicians poison country’s political environment - Sampanthan

2016-04-28

Q. During the last few days the media was highlighting your visit to an Army camp and the fuss some sections of the Joint Opposition was making about it. There had been a complaint too about it. Is this true and what is your opinion about it?
I will tell you what happened exactly.  I went to Kilinochchi where I addressed a meeting in the compound of the house of the MP for Kilinochchi. In the course of the meeting people raised several issues with me, particularly land issues. There were many who complained that their lands for which they held deeds had been acquired by the Army and that such lands had not been returned to them although the Army itself was not using those lands. After the meeting ended several women told me that the lands they complained about were on the other side of the road, meaning that they were opposite the place where the meeting was held. On the other side of the road there was a Murugan temple and they said their lands were behind that temple. I went to those lands with some of the people and looked around. Nobody stopped me or told that I cannot go. There were some soldiers around too. On inspection I observed that there were a number of houses which were unoccupied. What the people told me was therefore true. Some people identified and claimed that some of the houses belonged to them. I was not there for more than twenty minutes. 

In fact a part of the land has been released but there are lands still being kept. I told them I will take it up with the government in due course. I have done this earlier. Some time ago I went to Valikamam in Jaffna where Army had occupied several plots of land. There too people complained their lands were in Army hands but the lands were not being put to any use although crops cultivated before. Due to Army’s involvement they cannot get back to their occupation. When I returned and spoke to the President, he took action to release some of the lands. Hence I assured the people in Kilinochchi that I will take up their matter too.

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Remembering Sivaram Dharmeratnam (11 August 1959– 28 April 2005)

April 28, 2016

Taraki Sivaram or Dharmeratnam Sivaram (11 August 1959– 28 April 2005) was a popular Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka. He was kidnapped by four men on April 28, 2005, in front of the Bambalapitya police station. His body was found the next day in the district of Himbulala, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He had been beaten and shot in the head. The following lecture was given by prof. Mark P. Whitaker in London.

To read Mark’s presentation click here

Dharmeratnam Sivaram – Photo Johan Mikaelsson

                                       Read More

TNA: Sampanthan went to a private land; Not a camp

2016-04-27
The Opposition Leader did not try to forcibly enter the army camp, but entered a private land the Army was illegally occupying in Kilinochchi, TNA Spokesman M. A Sumanthiran said today.

 Addressing a press briefing held at the Opposition leader’s office to clarify allegation that the Opposition Leader had entered an Army camp forcibly, Mr. Sumanthiran said it was the Army that was illegally occupying the private properties in the area. 

“An inquiry should not be held into, why the Opposition Leader entered the land. Instead an inquiry should be held as to why the Army was occupying that land,” he said. 

He said 88 families were living in the area and had left during the war and the Army had occupied the lands since 2009.

 “34 families were able to go back to their properties; the remaining 54 families are unable to go back to their homes because the Army was occupying the properties. So, if there is any discussion with regard to illegality or force, it has been perpetrated by the Army. Not by the Opposition Leader,” he said.

 The Opposition Leader had had visited Kilinochchi on the invitation of said 54 families, who claimed the Army did not allow them to resettle on their lands. 

“The Opposition Leader and several MPs had gone to the area and the persons, who were at the entrance had opened the barricade without any question and had allowed them to enter,” he said.

 “The land, which is being occupied by the Army is not a State land, it is a private land. If the Army wants to occupy the land there is a procedure. People are being made to believe that the Opposition Leader had forcibly entered the land. It is wrong. This did not happen,” the MP said. 

Mr. Sumanthiran said that there was no need for the Army to continue to occupy private property with the end of the war.

 He said the Army had only acquired about 5 acres. There were more than 20 acres which is still private. 

“It is wrong to give a picture that there were some Army camp of some High Security on State land. It is not correct. There is no Army camp. Only people's houses are there,” he said. 

He said the Opposition Leader had met the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday morning and discussed the matter. 

“The Prime Minister assured that he would call for a report from the Army on the matter,” he said. (Darshana Sanjeewa) -

Battle scars: Sri Lanka's north counts the cost of a 26-year war

Nyshka Chandran-  April 29, 2012

Seven years after the end of a devastating civil war, Sri Lanka's northern province lags behind the rest of the country on economic development, and the catch-up process is proving long and tough.

The United Nations estimates about 40,000 people were killed in the 26-year civil war between the government and a separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). International observers accuse both factions of human rights abuses during the conflict, which was born from years of state discrimination against the ethnic Tamil minority.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the nation's top priorities were promoting reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction in conflict-hit areas, as well as bolstering democracy—challenges that are directly related to the north, highlighting just how crucial the province is to national development.

But progress on those fronts has been mixed so far.

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Swedish FM declines the request of CV


2016-04-27
The Swedish Minister of Foreign Ms. Margo Wolstorm presently on a visit to Jaffna stressed on Tuesday, that as Sri Lanka had now assumed a position of a middle income country, her country was not in a position to assist the North and East separately. 

The Swedish Foreign Minister made this declaration, when she met the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial council C.V. Wigneswaran at the latter’s office in Jaffna and a request was made to her to assist the areas in the North and East.

 The Chief Minister, who continued to address the Foreign Minister reiterating that in the aftermath of the war the areas in the North and East were still struggling owing to insufficient foreign aids, and it had become essential for their development these aids were made available. 

In her reply the Swedish Minister emphasised that Sri Lanka was now achieving a status of a middle income economy country and as such, the present conditions did not warrant Sweden to treat the North and East separately and grant aid. 

A decision should be taken by the Swedish Government after a proper discussion, she said. It was also observed that during the discussions the Chief Minister, had with the visiting delegate, which he was aware that the country was now experiencing a situation, where democratic principles were fostered. 

He had also pointed that they had requested for a Federal system in the North and East in order to achieve the aspirations of the Tamil people. 

Taking a swipe at the chief minister’s statement the visiting delegate questioned whether in the face of mounting opposition from the people in the South and the political parties, a demand for federalism would be successful. 

In his reply the Wigneswaran recalled earlier instances in history, where there had been agreements to grant a federal system of Government to the North and East.

 The Swedish minister in wounding up said that she hoped that the political forces in the South would understand the prevailing situation in the country and minimise their objections if any in due course.(Romesh Madushanka)

Independent report on the proposed 65,000 houses by ArcelorMittal in the North and East

04/27/2016

The Government’s controversial 65,000 housing project in the North and East continues to come under heavy criticism with the latest call for review of the entire project by the Tamil National Alliance.

A team of experts, all faculty members from the University of Moratuwa has recently released a preliminary report of their comparison of the proposed steel houses by ArcelorMittal to constructed block wall houses, following a two day visit to Jaffna in April 2016. The three experts are engineers Prof. Priyan Dias and Dr Rangika Halwatura, and Architect Varuna de Silva.

Commenting on the structural and non structural aspects, the report states that when compared to the block wall houses, the steel houses suffer from several key drawbacks (at at least double the cost) including inadequate foundations, insufficient roof support, risk of steel corrosion despite the coatings provided, poor ventilation, poor or non-existent capacity for extension or repair, much shorter lifespan, unlikely to create a sense of ownership, very unlikely to foster the local economy and generate employment.

The report concludes that “the way forward is to construct block wall houses, while finding ways to overcome any disadvantages they may have (e.g. finding new sources of natural resources; alternative technologies to reduce natural resource usage; arranging financing). 

The complete preliminary report is available for download here.

65K Houses Preliminary Report Final by Thavam Ratna

Ambedkar’s Legacy: Critique Of Religion, Quest For Social Justice & The Paradox Of Constitutionalism

By Jayadeva Uyangoda –April 27, 2016

Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda

May I begin my talk this evening by thanking His Excellency Y. K. Sinha the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo for inviting me to deliver this lecture on B. R. Ambedkar? This event is part of a series of celebrations in connection with the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, which fell on the 14th of April. I am afraid my talk may not celebrate great Ambedkar’s memory and legacy as such. It will only present some disjointed and hurriedly constructed thoughts about the life and legacy of this great son of South Asia.

Ambedkar’s name is well known in Sri Lanka. In Sinhalese society, the popular culture of which I am somewhat familiar with, Ambedkar is known as the leader of India’s Harijan communities. The word dalit is not in much use in Sinhalese society. The Gandhian neologism of harijan is better known. Ambedkar is respected as the Harijan leader who embraced Buddhism along with several thousands of his followers. Sinhalese Buddhists are particularly sympathetic to Ambedkar and his social reform movement. For them, Ambedkar’s project constituted a critique and a rejection of Hinduism. This is despite the fact that Buddhism has historically and in terms of elite as well as popular practices been closely interwoven with Hinduism. Quite independent of Ambedkar, Sri Lankan Buddhists have a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards Hinduism and Hindu traditions as well. It is almost like their ambivalence towards India in general, as some of their intellectuals and professionals seem to be inclined to demonstrate these days.

Ambedkar

At the same time, talking publicly of Ambedkar by an ordinary non-Indian South Asian before an audience with even a few well-informed Indian citizens is no mean task. Amebdkar’s life, work and thought have been understood, interpreted, appropriated and commented on a variety of different ways in India. A Sri Lankan, following the debates and controversies taking place in the Indian media around Ambedkar’s legacy, can only be perplexed by the sheer complexity of even the very idea of what his legacy might mean. Three recent events occurred in India add to this unending political drama of making sense of the life, work and thought of one of the greatest Indians of the twentieth century. The suicide of Rohith Vemula, a post-graduate student of the Hyderabad Central University, the arrest and release from custody of, and the subsequent speech by, Kanhaiya Kumar of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the public embrace of Buddhism by the mother and brother of Rohith Vemula on the day of Ambedkar Jayanthi last week are these three very recent events in which the invocation of Ambedkar’s legacy has been made to some dramatic effect.

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Mahinda has a short memory

DR.Vickramabahu Karunaratne-2016-04-28

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa advised the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) that he should be alert on police officers who act according to the whims of the government and harass those with dissenting political views, expecting favours in return.

It is very interesting, because may be a decade ago, when Pujith was DIG Colombo division something very interesting happened. One evening around 8 p.m. two Tamil girls informed me that men in Army Uniforms came in a white van and threatened them to produce the bother of one of them. These uniformed men had indicated a certain specific place and a time. Boy should be there, if not they promised unpleasant consequences. I immediately telephoned Pujith and gave this information. He coordinated well and got the uniformed men into his custody. They were Army intelligence people working disregarding the law and order powers of the police! Within few days Pujith was transferred to Kurunegala and the issue was suppressed. Mahinda has a short memory. He made these remarks related to Pujith at a function held in, Embilipitiya area on the occasion of the birthday celebrations of Ven. Pusulpitiye Suneetharathana Thera. He began addressing the crowd present after wishing the chief prelate long life, said that he had witnessed the new development in the temple and attributed it to the efforts of the Thera. He recalled the past, by calling to memory the brutal killings of the youth that took place during the JVP insurgency, and how bodies were burnt on tires lit. He hinted that his own houses in Medamulana and Hanwella were subjected to attacks by these groups, and he was provided security by former President J.R. Jayewardene and the then Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne. How strange he failed to recollect how youth died when he started the war against terror! Of course in different areas but in our beloved motherland Lanka!

Self-sufficiency in food
He also revealed that his government launched a mass development programme with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in food. But he failed to mention how corruption almost negated the purpose and increased the debt of the country. It had now become a serious issue with the idea of using organic fertilizers and traditional methods for agricultural purposes; and the water stored in tanks not been released for other purposes, except agricultural and related activities. However, he did not try to raise chauvinist issues, instead he compared the festive periods celebrated under his rule where there was plenty and the farmers having received a high price for their harvest were in the forefront of the celebrations. But, he claimed this year it was different as the paddy prices hit rock bottom and fertilizer was beyond the reach of these farmers. He countered allegations by the opponents that he was criticizing the government, but said that these were mentioned to help guide this government!
However, Mahinda group has used the inspection made by the Opposition Leader to arouse racism.

A group of people which included the Leader of the Opposition has entered an Army Camp without any resistance. The camp's main entrance was open and the group of more than 50 persons including Opposition and TNA Leader R. Sampanthan, TNA MPs S. Sritharan, and M.A. Sumanthiran entered the Paravipachchan camp around 3.00 p.m. on 16 April without obtaining prior permission. They remained in the camp premises for several hours. Following the incident the Army lodged a complaint with the Kilinochchi Police and another complaint with the Senior DIG of the Northern Range. A special team of policemen under an ASP was appointed to investigate the incident. The officers and men of the Paravipachchan camp were asked to visit the Kilinochchi Police to make statements.

However, later it was announced that police investigations into a complaint that a group of more than 50 persons led by Opposition and TNA Leader R. Sampanthan forcibly entering an Army Camp at Paravipachchan in Kilinochchi on 16 April have been stalled as the Army has been ordered not to pursue the case. Police said that officers of the Paravipachchan camp had been summoned to Kilinochchi Police to record their statements on the incident but the camp officers declined to cooperate saying that they had been instructed not to proceed with the case. Police said they could not proceed without statements from the camp authorities and men who were manning the entry point to the camp. May be these soldiers had assumed that the Leader of the Opposition and crowd were coming with due permission and respectfully allowed them into the camp!