Core problem is Tamil Nadu – Solution is democracy 

Izeth Hussain-May 27, 2016, 8:00 pm

Problems like everything else under the sun have a protean character. They don’t have an unchangeable essence, they keep changing over time, and our ability to handle them depends largely on how we perceive them and conceptualize them, on whether those perceptions and conceptualizations are reasonably accurate or wildly inaccurate. Until the other day I held that we don’t have a purely indigenous Tamil ethnic problem; rather it is an Indo-Tamil ethnic problem, arising out of the fact that the Government in Delhi can never ignore the possible fall-out in Tamil Nadu of what is done to the Tamils in Sri Lanka. I saw the Tamil Nadu factor as subsumed within the India factor. I now see it as the core factor. It is a radical change in my conceptualization of the ethnic problem – I believe for the better. Let me explain.

I don’t think that it can be seriously contested that we don’t have a purely indigenous Tamil ethnic problem. If not for the Tamil Nadu factor, the rest of the world – including India – would simply regard the Tamils as a defeated people who have to secure their legitimate interests in the best way they can. The international community will take note of them only if they are the victims of horrendous human rights violations or for some other very special reasons. On the other hand, the Tamils in Tamil Nadu have special reasons to empathize with the Sri Lanka Tamils because of commonality of race, language, religion, and culture. Consequently it makes sense to say that the core problem is the Tamil Nadu factor.

It is important to bear in mind that Chennai and Delhi are not identical because the latter can be expected to be far more flexible in negotiations over the Tamil ethnic problem. Delhi will also have its own priorities which could conduce to accommodativeness towards Sri Lanka’s interests. I have noted earlier that India wants permanent membership of the Security Council and obviously wants to emerge as more than a regional power. Towards that end, it must show that it is not an overbearing bully towards a small neighbour, not a power with a neo-imperialist hegemonic drive. So there are sound reasons to believe that Delhi would really want to help solve the Tamil ethnic problem in a definitive enduring manner. But it cannot do so just by coming to terms with Colombo, over-riding the wishes of Chennai.

So the core problem behind the so-called Tamil ethnic problem is the Tamil Nadu factor. What is the solution? I believe that a solution can be found only through democracy, not through devolution on which our Tamils insist. I have already written more than one article arguing that it is wrong to make a shibboleth of devolution, regarding it as the one essential without which there can never be a solution of the ethnic problem. Here I will emphasize just one point, the point of crucial importance: many Sinhalese, probably the majority of them, have the conviction that a wide measure of devolution – on which the Tamils insist fanatically - will lead ineluctably to Eelam. There are strong arguments against that presupposition, but the Sinhalese will never be convinced by them. There are two things that we must bear in mind, one of which is that none of us can be quite sure about what might transpire in the future. The other is that we did come close to a final and definitive break up. That was avoided by the closure of the Marvil Aru anicut which compelled the then Government to go all out for a military victory over the LTTE.

According to the argument that I have developed above the core behind our Tamil ethnic problem is the Tamil Nadu factor, and the solution to that problem has to be through democracy, not devolution. That argument leads to certain questions about the New World Order that has been shaping up for some time. It is a world in which there will be several power centers replacing the US/Soviet duopoly and the US mono-polar world that is supposed to prevail today. Several powers, including India, will have the responsibility of keeping the world in order. But the problem is that the New World Order can easily slide into the New Imperialism. In a multi-polar world some regional powers will be seen as having special responsibilities towards countries in an area around it – in other words its "sphere of influence". We can come to witness something like a transition, or rather retrogression, of the new world order into a new imperialism that remarkably resembles the old imperialism with its spheres of influence and balance of power and all that. It might be true to say that the new world order is the new imperialism is the old imperialism.

Now let us try to fit the Tamil ethnic problem into the international context that I have outlined in the preceding paragraph. We have to try to solve the problem through democracy because devolution – as I have argued earlier – will almost certainly compound the problem and become a force countervailing the advance towards a democratic solution. It has to be a fully functioning democracy with adequate safeguards for the legitimate interests of the minorities as in the West. Is there any reason why we shouldn’t be able to attain that? We did have a fully functioning democracy for most of the time from 1948 to 1977, and we are well on the way to attaining it once again. We indisputably had fair and equal treatment for the minorities from 1948 to 1956. India and several other Afro-Asian countries are practicing democracy and are giving reasonably fair and equal treatment to the minorities. A noteworthy fact is that Tamil expatriates are quite content to live in the democracies of the West and elsewhere without any devolution at all. Why not here?

The answer to that question given by our Tamils is that they are not just any minority but a national minority, which therefore has a right of self-determination inclusive of a right to set up a separate state. What satisfies them abroad will not satisfy them here. In Sri Lanka they have to struggle for Eelam or as close an approximation to it as might be possible. But they are unable to achieve anything like that on their own, and the international community – as I have argued earlier – does not recognize the right of self-determination outside the now defunct colonial context. From where, then, do our Tamils get their power to keep demanding much more than a democratic solution to their problem? That power derives only from the fact that there are sixty million Tamils in Tamil Nadu, and those sixty million have the power to make the Government in Delhi heed the wishes of the Tamils. Let us be clear about what is at issue here. It is not the right of the Tamils to fair and equal treatment, which can be met through democracy as in the West. What is at issue is Tamil power and nothing else.

I have consistently held, over the decades, that India has never been imperialist towards Sri Lanka. It bungled badly over the ethnic problem but that was well-intentioned bungling, behind which there was no imperialist drive. My diplomatic interaction with many Indians over a period of three and a half decades makes me believe that the alleged vice-regal airs of Dixit were an aberration. But at present, in the multi -polar world that is taking shape, it can well slide into neo-imperialism without realizing it. Its backing for the absurd Tamil insistence on a solution through wide measures of devolution can be seen as amounting to neo-imperialist bullying of a small neighbour. The option for Sri Lanka is very clear. It is to go all out for a fully functioning democracy with safeguards for the minorities as in the West. Alternatively, if the international community sees it as having an obsessive racist drive to treat the minorities as inferior, no one can be quite sure what might happen in the future. It could be a de facto or even a de jure Eelam.

izethhussain@gmail.com

A brief history of political arrogance and Eastern Province CM’s place in it 

2016-05-30
Eastern Province Chief Minister Nazeer Ahamed should now be every chief minister’s envy. They hardly make news even when they try their personal best, perhaps except C.V. Wigneshwaran, the Northern CM  for his own antics. CM Ahamed overnight broke ranks with that obscure lot to place himself at the centre of the news cycle. He is now by far the chief minister with the most YouTube views in his name after a video of him insulting a Naval officer at an official function at a school in Sampur went viral. 
    The defence ministry has now banned him from entering military camps and the security forces would not participate in events he  would attend.  The sensible way to diffuse the situation is, even now, for Nazeer Ahamed  to apologize, which he has refused to do. Instead, he has condemned the ban and asked the security forces to apologize to him.   Nor has his own party, SLMC thought it is worthy to discipline the CM. The danger is that his antics have created a situation that could be exploited by groups with vested interests, ranging from closeted bigots to newly baptised patriots.  There were protests in Trincomalee against him and there is always a danger that they could degenerate to take a communal tone.   The Defence Ministry directive would likely to be reviewed on the return of the President from Japan. If the CM and the security forces are at logger heads, not only would it complicate the administrative affairs, but also potentially threaten the ethnic relations. That he and the governor do not see eye to eye, as evident in his subsequent allegations, would not help either. 
 Political imperiousness has always been a problem, and the government has a responsibility to hold the Eastern Province CM accountable for his actions. How it can do that is the problem. It cannot sack the CM who is a SLMC member. The SLMC leadership who is struggling to keep the party together does not want any decision over the CM to aggravate their already dire predicament. After all, Sri Lankan politics does not have that honourable tradition of politicians resigning when they make asses of themselves. 
 Nonetheless, the government has to find means to hold him accountable.  If he refuses to apologize, the least that could be done is that the Attorney General could file charges against him for obstructing a public official from carrying out his duties, or for that matter insulting him.If it chooses to hush things up, perhaps by following those old tactics - such as transferring  to Colombo,  the Navy Commanding officer of the East -- that would only embolden the political thuggery.  And it demoralizes not only the security forces, but also the entire public service. And there would be groups who would capitalize on the government’s mismanagement of the affair. Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa has issued a media statement, raising concerns over a mysterious pattern of incidents to ‘demoralize war heroes’. He perhaps forgot how he ordered the retirement of a dozen senior military officers over their alleged loyalty to the former Army Chief then General Fonseka, who was also cashiered and sentenced to prison.  


   While Sri Lanka has a history of political thuggery, MR is as guilty as many of his predecessors for perpetuating and cementing it.  His regime went to the shameful length to shield a Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman who was accused of murdering a foreign national and sexually abusing his fiancée. Though the perpetrator was later jailed, by then the damage had been done to the image of the country’s legal system (though that was not the only incident which challenged the integrity of the judicial system during his regime, most glaring of them was the AG withdrawing the cases against politically connected suspects, including alleged child molesters). Then there was Mervyn Silva, who stormed the State television and assaulted a journalist. Silva was confronted by the enraged employees and forced to beat a humiliating retreat. MR, instead of disciplining his stooge, was livid that the employees at the State television choose to defend their colleague. That was followed by a series of mysterious attacks on the employees of Rupavahini, some were forced to flee the country. 
The culture of impunity emboldened political thuggery. Mervyn Silva, then, tied  up a Samurdhi officer to a tree and we are yet to know what that disciplinary committee of the SLFP-UPFA recommended against Mervyn Silva. When he was let go with a pat on his back, all the president’s men thought they were above the law. A NWP provincial councillor, Ananda Sarath Kumara forced a teacher to kneel after she allegedly disciplined his daughter. The politico was later fined and jailed, only after the powerful Teachers’ Union threatened trade union action. Rajapaksa goon and erstwhile loyalist Sajin Vas Gunawardena assaulted the then Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London Chris Nonis. Though MR might have dismissed it as a bar fight between two of his acolytes, Chris Nonis with his blooded face surely disagreed, he tendered his resignation.  Given the recent history of political thuggery, the Eastern Province chief ministry might have thought it was his entitlement. The Navy, for a different reason, is likely to be over sensitive to the snub. The ex-President, as part of his strategy to consolidate his power, placed the security forces, at least their top brass, above the rule of law. The brigadier who oversaw the assault on the protesters at Rathupaswala was given  a diplomatic posting. In any other civilized country, he would have been court-martialled. Thus the security forces should now feel not only that their  old privileges have been taken away, they have also been humiliated. The Joint Opposition and BBS-types would  try to capitalize on this sense of victim of the security forces. The government has to address those misperceptions before they become acute.  

 However, there is a marked contrast between ways the current government and its predecessor responded to the incidents of political thuggery and arrogance. The difference lies in the degree of responsiveness to the public concerns. Mervyn Silva could crow about in public meetings that he abducted and ‘broke the legs’ of Poddala Jayantha and still remained in the good books of the President. On the contrary, the Eastern CM should now be regretting for letting his ego to explode. That is the fundamental difference between the Yahapalanaya and its predecessor, sadly though there are inconsistencies (some ministers who insulted journalists remain untouched).  Surely, the government cannot play the role of moral police over its members, who are grown-up men. It is also a little too late to instil public etiquettes in them. Therefore, it has to create some form of deterrence. As for the Eastern Province CM, the public condemnation might have done the trick.  

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The Work Of Rotarians & The Future

By Ranil Wickremesinghe –May 29, 2016 

The digital age has radically changed the way we communicate and interact with each other. Social media can both complement or replace face-to-face association. It has also extended the community beyond the neighbourhood.

But at the same time, social media has its ills. No doubt you have already understood the degree of alienation from social realities in youth – given the diversity, richness and excitement of cyberspace realities; and no doubt you have already taken steps to target and recruit youth for your organizations. Because as noted earlier, I am sure you will agree with me that the success of a service organisation’s ability depends on its capacity to adapt to evolving changes in the global sphere – and to connect and be close and relevant to the younger generations. It is they who will sustain and drive the service organisation in the next few decades.

Prime Minister’s Speech at Rotary International 2016 Convention – May 29th, 2016

The Rotary International President Ravindran,
The Prime Minister of South Korea, the Honorable Hwang Kyo-ahn,
The Secretary-General of the UN, Excellency Ban Ki-moon,
Honoured Rotarians and Guests,

Thank you for inviting me here to Seoul, to help inaugurate the 2016 Rotary International Convention.

It is an honour to be here, and a great source of pride to us in Sri Lanka that you have chosen someone from our rather small country, to head your great organisation this year.

We do not have polio in Sri Lanka. We have not had it now, for more than twenty years. We eradicated it at the height of an armed conflict and terrorism. And the fact that it happened as it did, was due in no small part to you here—to the work of Rotary, and the work of Rotarians at that time in Sri Lanka – inspired by none other than Rotarian President Ravindran.

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A proposal to Maithri from Mahinda faction

 May 29, 2016

SLFP pro Mahinda faction has submitted a fascinating proposal to the chairman of the SLFP and president Maithripala Sirisena. The Mahinda faction asserts that this proposal would be helpful for the UNP and SLFP to jointly continue its national government under a new policy agreement.

When the pro Rajapaksa May Day rally became a flop the joint opposition has temporarily suspended its activities of forming a new party and decided to join with the SLFP. By this attempt the joint opposition tries to build a consensus with the president and thereby join with the current good governance. The pro Mahinda faction’s opinion is that since the current national governance is sidelining the SLFP policies and following only UNP policies this policy agreement submitted would help both the party policies to function and arrive at a common policy agreement. By exercising this, the Mahinda faction is trying to join the good governance and share any government positions available.

The following are the points described in the proposal

Enhancing the country’s economic program (Developing the economic coordination with China and building a corporate plan of the country’s economy.

Actions taken for war related incidents (releasing the soldiers connected to the war incidents, releasing the LTTE carders under a common amnesty, Giving concessions to convicts connected to the war and gradually releasing. Giving punishment to soldiers who are not directly involved to the war but connected to war crimes through a domestic inquiry)

Solution to the national problem (Starting a dialog to find a permanent solution for the national problem, devolve more powers to the provincial council from the 13th amendment, Create a mechanism for the public representatives who able to take majority of votes and allow them to involve with the executive, establishing a national planning commission and provide lands for the landless people)

Amending the executive presidency (not abolishing the executive presidency but curtail its powers and change the electoral system)

Indo Lanka trade agreement (This disadvantage agreement should be nullified and create a new agreement benefiting both the country’s)

Combating corruption (Stop troubling the accused who are not directly connected to serious crimes and frauds and continue the allegations which only connected to serious crimes)

In addition to these proposal a poison free country, electricity crisis and official uniform, four proposals regarding education and jobs are included. In order come to a final policy conclusion the panel experts representing the Maithri and the Mahinda faction has participated in a discussion.

The Story Behind The World's Emptiest International Airport

A Sri Lankan Budhist monk takes pictures of an unseen Sri Lankan airlines Airbus A-340 which transported President Mahinda Rajapakse who became the first passenger to go through the facility at the new Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala, in the southeast of the island on March 18, 2013.  AFP PHOTO/Ishara S. KODIKARA

Wade Shepard ,  

 CONTRIBUTOR-

MAY 28, 2016

Hardly anybody goes to Sri Lanka’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (HRI) because they have a flight. No, the air transport hub is currently a daily flight or two away from being completely defunct, and the people who do go there tend to be tourists making a side trip from the nearby wildlife parks to see the stunning, fully modern airport in the middle of the jungle for themselves.

I arrived at HRI, which is located in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota district, in the mid-morning to find a group of tourists huddle together in front of its passenger terminal. I asked them why they wanted to visit an empty airport.

“It is a really beautiful building,” one of them told me matter-of-factly.

This airport is a landmark, a sign of progress in this region of Sri Lanka, which is located in a forested area a 250 kilometer drive from Colombo. The airport has a 12,000 square meter terminal building, 12 check-in counters, two gates, a runway long enough to handle the largest commercial jets, and capacity for one million passengers per year.

I paid the negligible cost of admission and walked in through the main entrance. A great hall, naturally brightened by massive windows, led me to a giant statue of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion, which sits right at the heart of the terminal. As I walked, my footsteps echoed through the building. There were few other sounds — no flight announcements over the PA, no passengers yakking on their cellphones, no taxi drivers trying to solicit a fare. The high-ceilinged corridors were absent of any visitors, except for myself.

Other than that, everything looked as an airport should: the information booth was fully staffed with three sharply dressed young women, security guards were at their posts, cleaners were scrubbing the floor, the souvenir shops glistened, and a small cafeteria had a cook and a cashier dutifully at work. This airport was fully in service, despite the lack of a viable reason for it to be.

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Residents up in arms over Health Ministry 

dumping hospital waste at IDH 

May 29, 2016, 9:44 pm

National Hospital waste haphazradly dumped in the surroundings of the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Gothatuwa.

Text and pics by Ranjith Wimalasiri

Residents living in the vicinity of the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) at Gothatuwa are up in arms against the health ministry move to dump refuse from the National Hospital in vacant lands in the area transported in ministry vehicles.

They demanded Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senaratne to hold an immediate inquiry into the incident.

A number of residents who spoke to "The Island" said, they ran the risk of facing a serious health hazard if the ministry continued to dump refuse in the area and added that there was an unbearable stench emanating from the dumping sites.

Among the items dumped here are blood stained gauze, parts of human anatomy, shards of glass, empty bottles etc.

"During the recent floods the situation became worse with the water level rising as high as five feet the rotting refuse from the national hospital dumped here washed away with the flood water into the houses," the residents complained.

Handagama’s latest indictment: Fantasising educated middle class should wake up from their dreams

A film director famous for indicting others

Monday, 30 May 2016

Asoka Handagama, an award-winning film director of international repute, has been known for using his medium to serve contemporary society with indictments. His first movie, ‘Channa Kinnari’, has been an indictment on men taking women for granted and being bent on exploiting them. 

The next, ‘This is My Moon’, indicted boldly a section of Sri Lankan society that advocated war for peace. The third, ‘Flying with One Wing’, questioned the hypocritical attitude of extant society toward what is now recognised as ‘The Third Gender’. It was his next movie, ‘A Letter of Fire’, which landed him in real trouble with the authorities. 

He faced a lawsuit and possible imprisonment for the crime of examining the psycho-sexual development of the young in a conservative society. Handagama, broken but not down, was silent for some time but could not remain so for long. This time he directed a children’s movie, ‘Vidhu’, named after its protagonist. That movie questioned the right of the socially downtrodden to live in society. 

Then came ‘Him, Here After’ with a story revolving around the plight of a former LTTE terrorist, rehabilitated and released back to society. His newest, ‘Let Her Cry’, is another indictment and this time the target has been the educated middle class in contemporary Sri Lankan society.

The storyline: A typical Sri Lankan middle class family 

Handagama has selected a representative middle class family as the focus of his story. The husband, played by the Bengali actor Dhritiman Chatterjee, is a university professor fast reaching the retirement age. The veteran Sri Lankan actress Swarna Mallawaarachchi gives life to the professor’s wife who is a typical housewife dedicated to raising a family with two children, a son and a daughter. 

The story later reveals that the daughter was born 10 years after they were blessed with a son, and even then, after invoking the blessings of the renowned Buddhist Temple at Sanchi in India. But the son is out in the States, apparently having escaped parental control back at home. The daughter, the character debuted by Sandali Ash, is still schooling, but not aligned either physically or psychologically with her parents. She lives with them totally immersed in her pastime, watching TV and listening to pop music.

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God created Humans or Humans created God ?

May 29, 2016

It is said that God Created Humans, but today this has been flipped on its head and Humans are said to be creating Gods. This more so true in Sri Lanka, than most other parts of the world. Certain individuals in Sri Lanka are enlisting the help of mere mortals, men pretending to be Pusaris and con men.

In the year 2014, Arumugam Thondaman, general secretary of CWC a then minister under the Rajapakse regime, had a strong belief of this so called Pusaris, who conducted Maha Yagas in return for personal success in their life. Mr. Thondaman subsequently dragged the then President Mahinda Rajapakse into believing these fake Pusaris, and their powers. Following which the chief Pusari in the mix of things under the guidance of Mr. Thondaman, predicted that Mahinda Rajapakse would win the Presidential Election in January 2015.

Mahinda Rajapakse took this to heart and was convinced that Mr. Thondaman's Pusaris, had set him up on the path to victory. However the whole world, saw that this Pusaris prediction, was not only wrong, but was an utter lie. As a result all CWC party members and the general public took this entire incident as a joke. It was later on revealed that this was all instigated by Mrs Roopa Ram, who was responsible for swindling over Rs. 200 Million from the Thondaman foundation, while being employed as a consultant on a monthly retainer of 300,000 Ruppees over a period of three years.

With the humiliating defeat of Mahinda Rajapakse and the subsequent defeat by Mr. Thondaman's party at the general election. These Maha Yagas could not perform at the official residence of Mr. Thondaman, in the year 2015, due to all the humiliation and chaos caused due to the false predictions of these Pusaris. But now after a year Mr. Thondaman has enlisted the help of these same Rogue Pusaris. Who is Mr. Thondaman, trying to full here, himself or his voting population the plantation workers.

They say there is a woman behind every successful man, but this also proves that there are women who bring the downfall of such men too.

Corruption: Gammanpila’s Signature Scams

Mr Brain Shaddick, a victim of a creepy cunning man who damaged the reputation of Sri Lankans to fulfil the greediness ( File Photo) 

At this time, Jayasinghe had requested Shaddick to help him to educate his two sons as he did not have the funds to spend on their higher education. Shaddick had agreed to help Jayasinghe to educate his sons, and they were taken to Australia and enrolled at Monash University out of his own money. It was at this point that Jayasinghe’s son Muditha and Udaya Gammanpila who too was studying at Monash University, became good friends. After returning from Monash, Muditha introduced Gammanpila to his father Sydney Jayasinghe and he was offered a job at Shaddick’s company. That was how Shaddick met Gammanpila

by Nirmala Kannangara

Courtesy: The Sunday Leader

( May 29, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Yet another Rajapaksa follower is soon to be arrested by the Police Special Investigation Unit (SIU) for allegedly cheating an Australian national of more than Rs. 1,000 million.

The long delay at the Attorney General’s (AG) Department over the past few months has prevented the SIU from arresting the ever-pontificating leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya and Colombo District UPFA MP, Udaya Prabath Gammanpila for allegedly using a fraudulent power of attorney to sell 4.1 million shares of Pan Asia Bank and later other assets in Sri Lanka which belonged to Brian Shaddick of Western Australia.

The SIU had questioned Gammanpila and those who aided and abetted him in these frauds and also the two parties that purchased Shaddick’s Pan Asia Bank shares. When the power of attorney was sent to the Examiner of Questioned Documents (EQD) by the SIU, to ascertain the authenticity of Shaddick and his wife Janet’s signatures, it was revealed that Janet Shaddick’s signature had been forged in the power of attorney document and Brian Shaddick’s signature had been cut and pasted.

The mass-scale frauds

The mass-scale frauds committed by Gammanpila are now unfolding and astonishing revelations have now surfaced of how he swindled Shaddick’s wealth together with one Sydney Jayasinghe who happened to be a Director at Pan Asia bank when the illegal share transaction was performed.

Gammanpila began working for Shaddick at his Colombo Scrap Metal Company which later became the Metal Recyclers Colombo as its Assistant General Manager (AGM), and was able to win his heart and established himself as a confidante of Shaddick, and became its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It is from this point that Gammanpila allegedly began swindling Shaddick’s wealth.

Speaking to The Sunday Leader from Australia, Brian Shaddick explained how he came to Sri Lanka to invest in the scrap metal industry and started his first business venture, the Colombo Scrap Metal Company, which was a BOI project.

Lasitha Perera who holds the power of attorney for Brian Shaddick’s local affairs meanwhile explained how Shaddick got Sydney Jayasinghe involved in his businesses through a local employee at the Australian High Commission in Colombo.

“When Shaddick first came to Sri Lanka, one Eeriyagama, who was working at the Australian High Commission, had introduced him to Sydney Jayasinghe. Since a foreigner cannot start a business in Sri Lanka without a Sri Lankan investment, Shaddick wanted Jayasinghe to become his partner in his business ventures but made the full investment without any financial support from Jayasinghe. However Jaysinghe got 50 per cent ownership of this company for being Shaddick’s local partner,” Perera said.

According to Perera, Sydney Jayasinghe became Shaddick’s local partner not only at Colombo Scrap Metal Company but also at Ceylon Tea Garden.

“At this time, Jayasinghe had requested Shaddick to help him to educate his two sons as he did not have the funds to spend on their higher education. Shaddick had agreed to help Jayasinghe to educate his sons, and they were taken to Australia and enrolled at Monash University out of his own money. It was at this point that Jayasinghe’s son Muditha and Udaya Gammanpila who too was studying at Monash University, became good friends. After returning from Monash, Muditha introduced Gammanpila to his father Sydney Jayasinghe and he was offered a job at Shaddick’s company. That was how Shaddick met Gammanpila,” Perera said. Since Metal Recyclers Colombo became a thriving company, it was listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1995 and issuing its shares to the public, the company earned Rs. 460 million.

In order to invest more in Sri Lanka as his businesses were booming, Shaddick had purchased 4.1 million Pan Asia Bank shares to the value of Rs. 110 million. Knowing well that Shaddick had purchased shares from Pan Asia Bank and also had Rs. 460 million in bank accounts from selling Metal Recyclers Colombo shares and also had other assets worth several hundreds of millions of rupees, Gammanpila had told Shaddick that Sydney Jayasinghe’s son Muditha had a plan to murder him and that he should leave the country at the earliest if he wanted to save his life.

According to Shaddick, he had no other option but to leave the country immediately, leaving behind all his businesses in the hands of Gammanpila.

It was only after this that Gammanpila with the help of Sydney Jayasinghe, swindled Shaddick. It was only in 2004, seven years after leaving Sri Lankan shores that Shaddick discovered that his Pan Asia Bank shares had been sold to two companies.“Although Shaddick was in Australia, he had been in contact with the Pan Asia Bank from the time he left Sri Lanka in May 1997. After seeing a Pan Asia Bank advertisement issuing shares, Shaddick had decided to sell his 4.1 million shares and had spoken to the company secretary in 2004. He was then informed that all his shares had been sold. Shaddick had wanted the bank to inform him how the shares that had been bought under his company, Digital Nominee (Pvt) Ltd, had been sold without his approval. The bank had informed him that Gammanpila had sold the shares to two companies using Shaddick’s power of attorney given to Gammanpila,” Perera said.After selling the Pan Asia Bank shares, Gammanpila and Jayasinghe had shifted Metal Recyclers Colombo from Peliyagoda to Enderamulla and had later sold the Peliyagoda property with the buildings therein for Rs. 100 million.

Since Shaddick was not residing in Sri Lanka, Gammanpila as the CEO together with Jayasinghe showed the shareholders that Metal Recyclers Colombo was incurring losses and closed down the business fraudulently evading paying dividends to the shareholders. Shaddick had not been informed of the closure of the very profitable venture.

From Metal Recyclers Colombo alone, Gammanpila and Jayasinghe had allegedly windled Rs. 560 million. Later, Gammanpila and Jayasinghe had got Brian Shaddick’s name removed from the Board of Directors of Ceylon Tea Garden which too was owned by Shaddick, in order to sell the company.

“In the event a company is sold, a board resolution has to be taken. Since Shaddick would not give his permission to sell this company, Udaya Gammanpila had informed the registrar of companies that Brian Shaddick was no longer a director at Ceylon Tea Garden and requested that his name be removed from company documents. Later Gammanpila became an alternate director to Shaddick and together with the board of directors, sold the company to Metropolitan Resource Holdings,” Perera added.

Although Perera was able to find out that Brombil Tea Factory Matugama had been sold for Rs. 190 million, so far he has not been able to find out for how much the company was sold to Metropolitan Resources Holdings.

“Fifty per cent shares of Ceylon Tea Garden were owned by Shaddick and he had invested one million Australian Dollars (AUD 1 million) which is equivalent to Rs. 100 million,” Perera said.

According to Perera, 2.1 million Pan Asia Bank shares had been sold to Vanik Incorporation by Gammanpila soon after Shaddick left the country in
1997 and the rest, 2 million shares, to Dhammika Perera in 2002.

“Pan Asia Bank had accepted the fraudulent power of attorney and allegations are levelled at this bank for not revealing the scam. From the time Shaddick left Sri Lanka, he had spoken to the Pan Asia Bank Secretary, but she had never informed him of the share transaction. Sydney Jayasinghe was a director at Pan Asia and he is alleged to have helped Gammanpila to use the fraudulent power of attorney to sell the shares,” Perera alleged.

According to Perera, although Gammanpila’s involvement in these massive scams started to unfold in 2004, neither Shaddick nor he (Perera) wanted to lodge a police complaint due to the country’s prevailing security situation.

“Gammanpila was a supporter of the Rajapaksas and worked hand in glove with the then Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Neither Shaddick nor I wanted to take a risk and waited in silence. It was only during the 2015 presidential campaign that I came forward and levelled these allegations to which Gammanpila responded that I was making false allegations and that he would take legal action against me. Up to now Gammanpila has never filed a lawsuit against me nor has he sent me a letter of demand.

I want Gammanpila to come for a public debate in any place or even a radio or TV channel so I can prove what a fraudster he is,” Perera said.

After the fall of the Rajapaksa regime, Shaddick had returned to Sri Lanka on August 1, 2015 to lodge a complaint (Case No. 52/ 2015) and had left the country on August 5.

Too expensive

Meanwhile Janet Shaddick said that although they wanted to take legal action against the fraudsters they had to drop the idea since international litigation is too expensive and it was difficult to achieve a positive result.

“Udaya Gammanpila and Jagath Wijeratne met Shaddick in the airport and had driven him to the Hilton Hotel. They both worked for Shaddick. Both Udaya and Jagath had asked Shaddick to leave Sri Lanka as Sydney’s son Muditha had a contract to kill Shaddick,” Janet said.

She further said, “We never entrusted Udaya with looking after our three companies; he was employed by us before Brian left Sri Lanka, but we did believe him when he said that Brian was to be killed. We wanted him to inform us of what was going on in Sri Lanka but he never did so.

It was only after several years that we found out that Sydney and Udaya were planning to steal all our assets. All our money in Pan Asia Bank was taken by Udaya with a false power of attorney. The ‘threat’ to Brian was obviously a scam set up by these two criminals, Udaya and Sydney. Udaya is a fraudster hiding behind his religion.”

Responding to a text message, Udaya Gammanpila responded from Italy refuting the allegations levelled against him.

The text message reads, “This is an utter lie and old story for which I have repeatedly replied. I have already taken legal action against Hirunika for making this allegation. I sent a letter of demand for Rs. 1 billion to Lake House for publishing this story two days ago. I am presently in Italy. Udaya Gammanpila.”

Funds flowed to CSN from Seychelles

by Ashanthi Warunasuriya-Sunday, May 29, 2016

Funds had flowed into the Carlton Sports Network (CSN) from accounts in Seychelles, Government sources said based on ongoing investigations.

A company had been formed in Seychelles to transfer the funds to CSN when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was President. Investigations have also revealed that funds had been transferred to the company in Seychelles from other countries as well.

A foreign investor had looked to purchase shares in CSN through the company, sources said. The transfer of funds to CSN from Seychelles had been carried out through the HSBC bank and the Bank of Ceylon which has a branch in Seychelles. Investigations further revealed that a relative of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had carried out the transactions on behalf of CSN. The police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) is meanwhile investigating the alleged deals carried out by the relative of the former President.

When contacted, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that the deals involving CSN are under investigation.

He said that officials connected to the deal will also be investigated and legal action will be taken.

Seychelles is known to be a destination used by the Rajapaksa family to carry out some of their deals. The Sunday Leader recently reported how several projects launched in Seychelles by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his tenure, are on the brink of closure.

Bank of Ceylon (BOC), Sri Lanka Insurance, Mihin Lanka and Nawaloka Hospital opened their respective offices coinciding with Rajapaksa’s visit to Seychelles in June 2014.

However, the High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the Republic of Seychelles, Tikiri Herath Gunathilaka, had said that despite some of Rajapaksa’s pet projects closing down, many other Sri Lankan companies were interested in commencing operations in Seychelles.

Massive customs fraud by Dialog Broadband Networks

 May 29, 2016

It was revealed at the conclusion of the inquiry that Sri Lanka Customs had seized 25,000 units of CDMA telephone handsets imported by Dialog Broadband Networks (pvt) Ltd in terms of section 135 of the Customs Ordinance as liable for forfeiture for the violation of Section 47 , 50 and 50A (1) of the Customs Ordinance.

Thereafter, while the investigation were in progress Dialog Broadband Networks (pvt) Ltd had filed FR Application under SC(FR) 348/2008 in the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court ordered “that it is a matter that should be inquired into by the Director General of Customs according to law”

1. Dialog Broadband Networks (pvt) Ltd. had imported 175,800 Nos. of telephone sets and supplied to the General Public for the use of telecommunicating with any other person.

2. These telephone sets were imported for the home use by claiming Customs duty exemptions declaring such telephone sets were imported to be used for and by the enterprise… as project related capital goods by way of Custom Bill of Entries (Declaration) submitted to BOI. Section 27(2) of the BOI Act No 4 of 1978 prohibits centrepieces registered under this act to engage wholesale or retail unless authorize under the agreement

3. Accordingly, the account of the goods kept with state were false were and thereby had violated the provisions of the section 47 of the Customs Ordinance.

4. The false Customs Declarations were authenticated by Director General of Customs as Tax Invoices for the purpose of VAT.

5. A trading activity of the CDMA telephone were carried out by the company depriving the state its due revenue amounting Rs. 165,801,093.72 in the form of Custom duty and surcharge on Customs duty. Trading activity of the company with the imported telephone sets on free of Custom duty and surcharge was established as per following;

Jailed for calling the Palestinian Authority rotten

Kifah Quzmar-----Khalil Canaan

Budour Youssef Hassan-28 May 2016

Kifah Quzmar was at a café in downtown Ramallah when a few men followed him to the toilet. After grabbing him, they dragged him out to a car with a yellow Israeli license plate.

The men, it soon transpired, were undercover police working for the Palestinian Authority. They apprehended Quzmar at the West Bank café on 11 May because ofcomments he had made on Facebook.

Following the arrest of his friend Seif al-Idrissi by PA forces in April, Kifah wrote on the social media website: “Do you know why the mukhabarat [PA intelligence service] is a rotten agency? Because the entire PA is rotten.”

According to his brother, Anan, this is not the first time that Kifah had been arrested because of something he wrote on Facebook. “They interrogated him a couple of years ago for a joke mocking the PA which he wrote during a snowstorm,” Anan said.

Kifah was released on bail one week after his arrest this month. His lawyer, Anas al-Barghouti, said Kifah could face charges of insulting the PA. No charges have yet been issued.

Kifah is a business student at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank. He is also a member of the Democratic Progressive Student Pole, the largest left-wing organization in the university.

Moral bankruptcy

Palestinian scholar Abdel Sattar Qassem argued that such arrests expose the moral bankruptcy and illegitimacy of the PA and its leadership.

Qassem, a political science professor at An-Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus, has himself beenrecently arrested for speaking out against the PA.

“Political arrests have been a PA policy since its establishment and they witness increases whenever the PA sees itself under threat,” Qassem told The Electronic Intifada. “They target leftists and Islamists and anyone who is critical of the PA and its security coordination with the Israeli occupation.”

Qassem said that political persecutions and arrests by the PA are designed to serve two intertwined interests.

“They seek to protect the Israeli occupation and prevent any potential uprising against it and they also endeavor to cement the status quo and maintain the privileges that the PA has by preventing any potential uprising against it,” he said.

Many of those regularly arrested by the PA are known for activism against the Israeli occupation, according to Qassem. Arresting them, he argued, sends a message to the PA’s backers in Arab and Western governments that the PA will not allow another intifada.

When an uprising against the occupation began in October last, Mahmoud Abbas, the PA’s leader, said that he wished to avoid an “escalation” with Israel. He has previously described the PA’s cooperation with the Israeli military and intelligence as “sacred.”

Most Palestinians remain reluctant to speak about the issue of political arrests by the PA.

While Kifah Quzmar’s family and friends were prepared to talk about his case, circulating the Facebook post that led to his arrest, other former detainees at PA prisons have avoided publicity for fear of retribution.

Reliable data about the number of people arrested on political grounds by the PA are very hard to find.

“The PA always denies that it holds political prisoners, regularly framing those arrests as either criminal or security,” Anas al-Barghouti, Kifah’s lawyer who also works for the Palestinian prisoner support groupAddameer, said.

“We always struggle to compile names and approximate numbers of political detainees because the PA always tries to keep those facts censored,” Muhannad al-Azzeh, an Addameer spokesperson, told The Electronic intifada. “But from the information that we have managed to compile, there has been a noticeable increase in [detention] over the last few months.”

“Arrest season”

The increase can be linked to the beginning of student union election campaigns in universities.

Students affiliated to the Islamic Bloc have been the main targets; they have been pursued by both Israeli and PA forces. Leftist students — particularly those competing with Fatah, the dominant party in the PA — have also been targeted, albeit to a lesser degree.

Many Palestinian student activists describe the months preceding university elections as “arrest season.”

Arrests of students by the PA, either from their homes or university dorms, hit their peak in March just a month before the elections in most West Bank universities.

A number of female students, especially those affiliated to the Islamic Bloc, have been arrested.

Alaa Manasra, a postgraduate student at Hebron University, was arrested on her way to class on 7 March this year. She was released after seven hours of interrogation that focused on her activism.

Another female student at Hebron University, who spoke on condition of anonymity, believes that there is direct cooperation between the PA and Israel in targeting students.

“The PA basically does Israel’s dirty work, breaking into our homes, confiscating our laptops and trying to stifle any form of activism inside universities to guarantee that the Fatah-affiliated student groups win the elections,” the student said.

The student believes that the arrest campaign has been more aggressive this year in response to the unexpected wins by the Islamic Bloc at Birzeit University, a traditional stronghold of Fatah’s youth wing.

Treated as enemy

Palestinian concerns that the PA is directly coordinating its activities with Israel were reinforced by the arrest of three youths who were allegedly planning an attack on Israeli military targets.

Bassel al-Araj, Haytham Siyaj and Muhammad Harb were arrested by the PA in April.

Anas al-Barghouti, lawyer for the three men, said that the PA tries to spin such arrests in a positive manner. “They claim that the arrests were to ‘protect’ those youths, which is quite ironic,” he said.

It is also quite common for Palestinians to be imprisoned by Israel shortly after being released by the PA.

A recent case in point is that of Khalil Canaan, who wasarrested by Israeli forces from his home in Aida refugee camp beside the West Bank city of Bethlehem about a week ago. He had only been released from PA detention two days earlier.

Palestinians often say that being arrested by the PA is worse than being arrested by Israel.

“It hurts to be arrested and persecuted by your own people, by those who claim to represent the Palestinian cause,” Qassem said, referring to his personal experience of repeated spells in PA jails. 

“Criticism of the PA is labeled as treason and they treat you as an enemy for opposing Abbas.”

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails receive considerable support, regardless of their political affiliation. Meanwhile, Palestinians jailed by the PA receive little solidarity, said Qassem, despite the terrible conditions they face.

“Abbas has repeatedly stated that he’d do anything to prevent the eruption of a third intifada,” Qassem said. “The ongoing repression and arrests demonstrate his commitment to protect Israel and his own status.”

Budour Youssef Hassan is a Palestinian writer and law graduate based in occupied Jerusalem. Blog:budourhassan.wordpress.com. Twitter: @Budour48