WIGNESWARAN’SPROPOSED POLITICAL 

MARRIAGE TO JAYALALITHA

2016-06-01

C V Wignesvaran, the Chief Minister of Northern Province, is a retired Supreme Court Judge. As much as his judiciary judgements would one day be called for ultimate arbitration by history, one would also expect his political judgements shall stand the test of time and history. A man who was catapulted into politics on the backs of a defeated people, a scholar of no mean criteria, this Northern pundit seems to have unfortunately bartered his scholarship with the squalor of Tamil Nadu politics.

Firstly, Jayalalitha, the Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu was no ‘political prisoner’. Jayalalitha became the first Chief Minister in India to lose the post due to a conviction while in office. She became the first Member of Legislative Assembly from the state of Tamil Nadu, third Member of all Assemblies in India and the seventh politician who lost his or her post after the July 2013 Supreme Court judgement on Representation of the People Act, which prevents members of the State Legislative Assemblies and Members of Parliament from holding the post after conviction. She was convicted for the third time overall and was forced to step down from the Chief Minister’s office for the second time. Jayalalitha is among six former Chief Ministers of different States in India to have been charged and jailed in various corruption cases. Indian State politics is riddled with corruption. Its deep entrenchment in the sordid affairs of Indian Mafioso-schemes is chronicled in the media, both in India and abroad. Widespread Poverty and an engrained propensity for personality cult built around celluloid heroes have dominated Indian politics and their avaricious path towards power and glory has paid an awful price. With all that corruption and gangster-dominated politics, especially in South India, with her gullibility to short-term election pledges and natural susceptibility towards caste-ridden violence, the fact that India has sustained a modern, robust democracy has dumbfounded many a western mind. But none of those stupendously positive feats could justify the rampant corruption and violence that has enwrapped the life of statepolitics of India.

That India still remains as a leader in the modern world and in particular, her assured place in the close conclaves of the world’s ‘nuclear club’ alone speaks volumes for her advancement as a global economic and political leader. Yet she has produced such political dregs like Jayalalitha, a proven chauvinistic Tamil leader whose singular qualification is her one-time affiliation to the late M G Ramachandran (MGR), a Dravidian superstar of yesteryear. Courting Indian leaders of the calibre of Gandhi, Nehru, Shasthri and Desai is different. Some of our own leaders in the past have not been all that reluctant to do so either. But what would perplex most is when one of our democratically elected Chief Ministers makes it more than palpable to depend on a discredited politico in Tamil Nadu for the buttressing of his position at home.

One has to grant the popularity of Jayalalitha as onetime silver screen heroine. Yet to court her friendship and support for a cause that has been seen as a losing agenda in Sri Lanka would further extend the gulf that yawns between the two communities in Sri Lanka. Complete and comprehensive implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment, (13th) is desired by many enlightened Sri Lankan politicians. Since the defeat of the Rajapaksas, triumphalism and its dangerously destructive properties seem to have regressed to a corner. Although the groups that reside on the fringes of the political spectrum in Sri Lanka, led by some Buddhist monks who in fact are political mobsters clad in yellow robes, might every now and then attempt to rekindle the racial flames among a people whose memories are utterly short-lived, a reasonable number of majority of reasonable men and women would outright reject a return to vengeance-ridden politics. If Chief Minister Wignesvaran, the savant he is, is as keen to keep his hopes and aspirations to lead a vigorous and open-minded community to the wonders of the Twenty First Century as he is to maintain a harmonious balance among his provincial colleagues, then he must be reminded that keeping his own image and reputation would do him good by rejecting the dregs of South Indian politics.

Embracing the ‘puritan’ kind might be tough but it has its unsurprisingly longlasting benefits, both to the Chief Minister and his community. Representing a community that once was the pride of education, learnedness, hard work and the cream of public service, Wignesvaran should realize that when one calls for Federalism, it would not only be in relation to the North and East, it shall also apply to the rest of the provinces. The Provincial Council system that was introduced via the 13th did not restrict the Constitution from extending the Provincial decentralization to the rest of the country. Within the context of proposed Federalism, these provincial governments would constitute themselves as provinces which are quasiindependent of the Centre. It will be unbelievable that any Sinhalese-dominated government, at present or in the future, would consent to decentralize administrative and political power to the provinces beyond what has already been granted by the 13th. Such a system would spell acute fragility at the centre and vast inefficiencies and confusion in the provinces. Political instability which such an arrangement would engender would eventually defeat the very purpose of decentralization of political, administrative and economic power. Presiding over a diverse group of Chief Ministers and other provincial administrations run by the same political party has already proven to be too cumbersome for our ‘centre-oriented’ politicians who have shown amazing naiveté and incapacity in multi-tasking. They have not learnt to walk and chew gum at the same time! This woeful lack of understanding of the macro picture and failure to relate to it has been the constant flaw in Sri Lanka’s Tamil political leadership.

Time after time this facet of their thought cum action process has failed the country, not to forget their own community. While not failing to acknowledge the serious setbacks and discriminatory treatment the Tamil community in Sri Lanka has endured at the hands of the Sinhalese-led leadership, the writer feels strongly that the approach that is being seemingly adopted by the present leadership of our brethren in the North is not likely to be successful. As much as it plays a pivotal role in the rest of the country, economic development in the North and East is the critical factor that would determine future politics in these two provinces. There is no acceptable substitute for economic enhancement of a people. Cultural, ethnic and other nuanced aspects of life recede in the presence of empty stomachs. Dwelling in cultural and ethnic politics would only increase the tensions and stress between the two ethnic groups and contribute more to the destruction of a harmonious equilibrium that the leaderships of the two communities attempt to sustain. Instead of broadcasting seeds of tension, the leadership of both communities must get busy opening up information and communications technology (ICT) centres, training centres for vocations that the emerging markets need and demand. Wealth and material prosperity might not be the be–all and end–all, but its validity in a fast-growing global economy cannot be underestimated or denied. The great Stupas and tremendous works of art consummated by our ancestors were obviously not built on empty stomachs. Granaries must have been overflowing as much as those life-enriching waters from the massive reservoirs they constructed in the olden days that have quenched the thirst of the dry zone soil.

Transformation from a conflicttorn environment and time may not be smooth, but in order to make any advance in a thriving society, to be an economic force that the global marketplace recognizes, one has to let go of the past and hug the present so that the future might mean something more than a Palmyrah tree. The sweet memories of hiding behind a Palmyra tree may remain just that- a memory in the past. That proverbial Palmyrah curtain is not only broken, it’s scorched and seared. Weapons of war have ravaged the ground but have not extinguished the spirit of a determined people.

The typically arid planes in the North are gradually turning its red rich soil many times over and reinvigorating the region’s past as one inhabited by a hard-working people, enriched by their labours. As the saying goes, “Surround yourself with people who are only going to lift you higher”. The Chief Minister of the Northern Province is a learned man; his prowess as a legal luminary is undisputed. But his political skills are being tested today. In an unwise haste to score political points among his not-so-erudite voter bloc, Wignesvaran may have decided to cuddle with a yesteryear’s screen heroine-turned-politician in Tamil Nadu. But to the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, modern day politics could be much more exacting than reading a lengthy legal brief. Exchanging scholarship for squalor is not only bad politics, it’s a gross betrayal of common sense. The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com

Animal sacrifices in Hindu Kovils to be prohibited ! Ironically, it is Minister of Hindu affairs to table Cabinet paper !

(Lanka-e-News -01.June.2016, 11.30PM) A Cabinet paper is to be tabled next week aimed at banning all animal sacrifices absolutely in all Hindu Temples, Kovils and other Hindu religious places in Sri Lanka , based on reports.

What is astonishing about this cabinet paper is , this is being tabled by Swaminathan , the minister In charge of Hindu affairs. The Hindu religious and Cultural affairs department has already  forwarded the draft to the legal draftsman’s department to take  necessary action.

In the past a group of Buddhists staged protests against animal sacrifices being performed in the Hindu Temples and  Devales
 .
In Nepal where the largest Gardhimai animal sacrifice ritual  in the world  is performed , the administrative council itself halted  these sacrifices last year.  This animal sacrifice festival has a history dating as far back as over a century , and about 500,000 cattle are sacrificed each time.

In Sri Lanka , the animal sacrifice ritual was performed publicly in the Chilaw Munneswaram Kovil.

Though prohibition of animal sacrifice in a country is an index that the country is heading towards civilized  conduct , a most a different most atrocious trend  was noticed at Polonnaruwa yesterday. When an Elephant was knocked down by a train at Polonnaruwa , and was breathing its last , its ear lobe and  tail had been severed and taken away by a group. This is a group entertaining wrong conceptions that had brutally cut off the ears and tail while the pachyderm was still alive. 

The police are conducting a search to arrest these inhuman culprits.

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by     (2016-06-01 21:17:28)

Directive rescinded to allow asylum seekers to return

June 1, 2016, 9:52 pm 

The government has rescinded a directive issued by the previous government in March, 2011 meant to deprive those who had obtained/sought political asylum overseas from visiting the country.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson yesterday told The Island that the move was taken in accordance with their overall strategy to bring back those who had fled the country during the conflict.

The official said: "The Government has issued a circular today ending the restrictive practice of preventing the issuance of passports to Sri Lankan citizens resident abroad, who were compelled to leave Sri Lanka due to political persecution.

 "The previous government in March 2011 issued instruction to all Sri Lankan missions abroad to refrain from issuing passports to those who sought asylum due to political persecution.

 "This circular constituted a serious violation of our citizen’s rights under the constitution and under the many human rights conventions to which Sri Lanka has become a party over the years. It has also caused immense hardship and difficulty to many Sri Lankans who were forced to leave the country as a result of their struggle against authoritarian rule.

"The Government of Sri Lanka has renewed its commitment to upholding citizen’s rights and the rule of law. Freedom of movement and impartial treatment of our citizens, irrespective of  their political beliefs, will be secured for all our citizens. Furthermore, as a result of the good governance and reconciliation efforts of the current government, many Sri Lankans living abroad have expressed an interest in visiting and investing in Sri Lanka. Ending this restrictive practice will further enable our citizens overseas to visit and return to Sri Lanka and thereby contribute to the country’s development and reconciliation process.

"Therefore, the Government has directed the Controller-General, Department ?of Immigration and Emigration, to issue a circular ending this draconian practice and restore the procedure followed since Independence of enabling every Sri Lankan citizen living abroad to obtain a passport. "

Garbage pile-up delays return to normalcy

By Shaahidah Riza-2016-06-02

It has been two weeks since torrential rains caused several areas in Colombo and suburbs go under flood water. People in Kolonnawa and Wellampitiya, two of the worst hit areas, are now gradually trying to establish normalcy to their lives. Ceylon Today visited these areas in order to ascertain the cleaning activities taking place there. What greeted us was a pungent smell; a stark reminder of the garbage that was washed on to the streets with the deluge.

Kolonnawa always had a garbage problem, as evident in the case of the Meethotamulla garbage dump, which is several feet high and holds about 1,500 tonnes of garbage deposited from all over Colombo. The residents of Kolonnawa pay a dear price for the mismanagement of the government authorities in this regard.

Ekasiyaekewatte is a small by-road that leads to the Meethotamulla garbage dump. Houses of all shapes and sizes line this road; however, one particular characteristic is evident in all of these houses. The boundary wall in each house is slanted.

Vice Chairman of the Kolonnawa Urban Council, Suresh Kodagoda, explained that these slants were due to the garbage being dumped on a marshland, which contains loose soil. When pressure caused by the weight of the garbage is placed on loose soil, it tends to give way elsewhere.

Unstable

"The earth upon which the garbage is dumped is not hard packed earth. When there is a colossal weight pressing down on loose packed land the tendency is for that pressure to push up land elsewhere and this in turn causes damages to the floors and walls of homes nearby. The floods worsened their situation. The torrential rains washed away the Meethotamulla garbage dump.Therefore, the flood water which inundated these houses in close proximity to the garbage dump is laced with an oily substance which has seeped into the walls of the houses. The houses must be purged of this as it carries infections which can prove fatal. It is not healthy for little children to inhale and exhale as this contaminates the air. The cleaning process in these areas will take several months. It will take nearly a year to purge the infections caused by the floods in the houses in Meethotamulla," he said.

Kelum who lives in Ekasisyaekewatte just a few feet away from the garbage dump was engrossed in cleaning his single bedroom house when we approached him. He noted that despite the flood water subsiding last week they had been cleaning the house for the same duration.

"The cleaning service from the Urban Council only cleaned the roads. They didn't clean the houses. At least the roads are passable. I disinfected the house more than thrice. It is very difficult to rid the house of the stench. I used at least 3 bottles of Dettol for this purpose," he said.

Faleela used to live in a one bedroom wooden shack in Nagahamulla, Kolonnawa. What are left of the house are only four pillars and a tin roof. The wooden walls have broken off. She was washing her pots and pans which were inundated by the flood water.

"I lost everything. The only other things I can save are these pots and pans. That would be one item less for me to purchase. I lost all my clothes and jewellery," she said.

She pointed towards the items she had lugged to the front of the house. A gas stove lay overturned, so was a CPU. A broken cot and mattresses were added to the pile. She rummaged through the garbage and pulled out an electric whisk.

"I bought this only a week before the floods to make Watalappan for Ramadan festival. This year Ramadan will be very hard for us," she remarked.

Touring the roads of Kolonnawa, Sedawatte, Kohilawatte, Kotikawatte, Mulleriyawa and Wellampitiya the sights of garbage piled up along with the precious belongings of the residents were very common.
More than usual

A garbage collector who was piling it all on to his truck noted that he does eight shifts in Kolonnawa alone. "On a normal day whenever we notice something remotely expensive kept to be thrown away, we would check whether it could be cleaned for reuse. However, all the stuff that has been thrown has the appearance of being new, yet not useable at all, especially the electronic items.

We don't know how to or where to dispose of these. There were massive mattresses and glassware which were also thrown. This garbage accumulated is due to floods, therefore it is sudden. However, there is no system, which we are aware of, that would accommodate all of these," he observed.

The cleaning activities are principally done by the Civil Defence Force (CDF) under the President's orders. According to CDF spokesperson Vajira Kumarathunga almost all flood affected areas have been cleared to save Kolonnawa and its surrounding areas. He added that measures have been taken to clean up Kolonnawa as well. However, the task proved to be difficult as the garbage accumulated tends to aggregate into a larger pile within hours of removing piles of garbage on the road.

Colonel Nanda Madugalle of the Civil Defence Force is in charge of garbage disposal in Kolonnawa. Based in Mulleriyawa he coordinates the cleaning programme. He noted that garbage disposal is a big problem and added the CDF does not have adequate equipment to expedite this.

"We only have three Bekoloders. We need more. Therefore we requested for more. Despite this we do have a disposal issue. We cannot use the Meethotamulla site. Currently we are using cemetery in Mulleriyawa and a ground as a temporary dumping point.

We have spoken to the relevant authorities to sort this out. We have deployed many CDF personnel to Brandiyawatte, Kuda Buthgamuwa and Ambatale Road where the cleaning is taking place. The monsoon rain is also helpful to some extent although it slows our team.

The rain washes away traces of garbage making matters easier for us. At the same time it makes it muddier too. More equipment will help us speed up the process and establish some degree of normalcy for the people in these areas," he said.

Pix by Ruwan Walpola

White Vans and unlawful detention under the PTA

eatured image courtesy Quartz

WATCHDOG on 06/01/2016

By Swastika Arulingam, Marisa de Silva and Gajen Mahendra

Rasathurai Jeyanthan, from Nunavil, Jaffna, was abducted in a white van, and was later found to be in custody of the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) last month. He was taken away from his home on 10^th April, 2016, by unidentified men in civil clothes claiming to be from the “police”. His family who saw him being taken away was asked to go to the Vavuniya and Boossa detention facilities by the abductors, but they were only able to establish his whereabouts and that he was in fact alive on 12^th April when a Commissioner from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) spoke to Jeyanthan and established that he was being detained at the TID office in Colombo.

It appears that he was arrested and detained without due process being followed. According to his lawyers Jeyanthan had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and had been given a detention order which expired on 9^th of May, 2016. They further state that he is yet to be produced in Court, as is required under the law. He was also not offered opportunities to contact his lawyers, and his family had been misled about the location of his detention. Two motorcycles belonging to his brother and 3 mobile phones belonging to his mother and wife and his own, have been confiscated by the TID and not returned as yet.

Background

Jeyanthan was previously detained from 18^th May 2009 to April 1^st 2011 after he surrendered to the army in Omanthai during the final days of the war. He was then sent for ‘rehabilitation’ to the Vavuniya Tamil Maha Vidyalayam, from where he was subsequently released in 2011. The family then moved to their current house in November 2009, from where they had earlier been displaced from in 1996. After being released from detention, intelligence operatives/security personnel would visit him frequently and conducted inquiries, for approximately the first six months following his release. But these visits later stopped. Two of Jeyanthan’s brothers had also been detained after the war’s end, undergone ‘rehabilitation’ and are now released.

The Incident

According to Jeyanthan’s mother, he had been mending the fence of his house when four men in civilian clothing had arrived and approached him. After a brief conversation with them, Jeyanthan had brought the two men onto the front lawn, and was conversing with them in Sinhala. The two men would not answer any questions posed by Jeyanthan’s mother or wife but spoke only to Jeyanthan. Jeyanthan’s mother grew suspicious of the strangers’ motives when she realized that they had been gripping Jeyanthan’s hands whilst they spoke to him.

When the family had asked the men who they were, why they were gripping his hands, and if Jeyanthan had committed a crime, the two men had asked the family to stand aside, as they needed to question Jeyanthan. The men had got Jeyanthan to sit down on a chair, whilst one of the men locked legs with him, so he was unable to stand up, and also had his arms in a tight grip. When Jeyanthan’s brother had pointed out that they couldn’t question Jeyanthan without producing identification the two men had asked him also to stand aside.

Thereafter, when Jeyanthan’s mother had repeatedly protested and asked for identification the two men had said, that they were from the Police. When she had pressed further they had said,“We have come in civvies (civilian clothing). You should know who we are.”

Following the inquiry, the two men had searched the house and brought out with them 5 mobile phone boxes, which had the phone warranty cards etc. They had then proceeded to record all the phone details, and then returned all the phones except for Jeyanthan’s phone, which they took with them. They had then handcuffed Jeyanthan and asked his wife to pack him clothes enough for a week. When Jeyanthan’s mother repeatedly pointed out that he lived with them and asked why he had to be handcuffed, and demanded to know what crime he had committed, the men had replied that “the family might not know what Jeyanthan had done, but that he knows. We can’t tell you.”

Approximately 30 minutes into the inquiry, and after Jeyanthan had been handcuffed, one of the two men made a phone call, after which, a white HiAce van, with black tinted windows, had arrived at the house with three men inside. In addition, two more men had arrived at the house in a motorcycle. According to the family, one of the men who arrived in the van had carried a rifle and a pistol. All the men had been in civilian clothes. They had then surrounded the premises. A total of seven men were at the premises when Jeyanthan was led into the van and taken away. Two of the men had also taken two motorcycles belonging to Jeyanthan and his brother (both registered under his brother’s name), along with the bike insurance and other documents, which had been parked outside the house.

Before the men left with Jeyanthan, the family was asked to come to a house in Ariyalai after two hours and not before. When the family asked for an address the men had asked them to come to a house near the Neernachchiththaazhvu Amman Koyil in Ariyalai, claiming that it was ‘their place’.

Search for Jeyanthan

Jeyanthan’s mother and other family members immediately went to the nearby Police Station to lodge a complaint. The family had conveyed to the police personnel that the abductors had come in a HiAce van, given the number of the van (69-1010), that they claimed to be from the ‘Police’, and that they had also taken away two motorcycles belonging to the family. The policemen had then discussed among themselves and informed the family that since the abductors had claimed to be from the ‘Police’, and since the family had been given a location to come to, that they could not accept a complaint from the family.

When Jeyanthan’s mother and other family members went to the house in Ariyalai as instructed, they saw one of the seven abductors there. According to the family, the house was dilapidated and had no sign boards outside indicating that it was an ‘official’ premises, unlike a usual Police Station. The family also saw the two motorcycles taken away from their house, parked outside these premises. As the family was waiting to speak to someone, the HiAce van which the abductors came in earlier in the day, arrived at this house from the direction of Jaffna. One of the abductors got down from the van and told the family that Jeyanthan was inside the van but they wouldn’t be allowed to see him. As the glasses of the van were tinted the family was not certain if Jeyanthan was actually inside the van. The man further said that they “couldn’t do anything here (in Ariyalai)” and had asked the family to come to Vavuniya the next day (Monday, April 11). When the family had asked to at least allow Jeyanthan’s two-year old daughter to see him, the abductor had refused and said that it would be impossible as “he (Jeyanthan) might get agitated.” The family had then returned home and left for Vavuniya on the 11^th morning.

In Vavuniya the family was asked to come to a house in the vicinity of the Damro (furniture shop) showroom on the Kandy Road. Earlier in Ariyalai, the family had been given a number to call once they arrived in Vavuniya, and that they would be given directions to the place at that point. According to the family, the premises in Vavuniya was situated in the vicinity of the Damro showroom and a timber mill, located on the same side of the road. This location, according to Jeyanthan’s sister-in-law was directly opposite the Vavuniya ‘Police Station’ (Note: although there is no ‘Police Station’ in the vicinity, the sprawling ‘Office of the Superintendent of Police’ premises is situated directly opposite the timber mill). The premises had several houses, according to Jeyanthan’s sister-in-law. There was a vehicle similar to the dark blue Police jeeps and a couple of motorcycles within the premises (Note: Given the precise description of the location provided by the family the location, linked below, seems to fit the description of the location where Jeyanthan was held in Vavuniya^[1].)

The family then saw one of the abductors there. This man saw the family and inquired if they had come to see Jeyanthan. He had then inquired from another man in Sinhala and responded to the family saying that Jeyanthan was no longer in Vavuniya and that he had been taken for further inquiry to Boossa. The family had then been asked to visit Jeyanthan in Boossa with a letter from their Grama Sevaka (GS) certifying their residency. As the three women who went to Vavuniya did not know Sinhala they realized their stay there would be futile, so they returned home on the same day.

Human Rights Commission intervention

Jeyanthan’s family and lawyer informed us that on Tuesday 12^th April, a Commissioner from the HRC had spoken to Jeyanthan at the TID office in Colombo, whilst on a routine visit there, in accordance with their mandate. Coincidentally, Jeyanthan had just been brought to the TID office from Vavuniya, when the Commissioner was visiting. Therefore the Commissioner had managed to speak to Jeyanthan and establish his whereabouts, his lawyer said.

The family had then lodged a complaint at the HRC in Jaffna on 15 April. Then the family had visited Jeyanthan at the TID office on Sunday 17 April, after which they also lodged a complaint at the HRC Colombo office and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well. When his family had gone to visit Jeyanthan on 24 April (Sunday) at the TID office in Colombo, they had only been able to have very general conversation, as there had been TID officers and cameras all around them.

On the 30^th of April, Jeyanthan’s wife and mother had been called by the TID in Kilinochchi, and asked to be present at the Kilinochchi police station, with their mobile phones. Upon their arrival, they had been asked to hand over their phones to persons identified as TID. Thereafter, as the TID had brought Jeyanthan to the Vavuniya police station (near the Damro showroom) to meet with his family, they were allowed to visit with him on 1 May. Having asked the TID for their motorcycles to be returned to them, the TID had promised to release at least one.

According to section 7(1) of the PTA on arrest and detention without a detention order, the arrested person must be produced before a magistrate within 72 hours. In Jeyanthan’s case it doesn’t appear that a Detention Order by the Minister of Defence had been issued within the 72 hour period, and neither was he produced before a Magistrate.  Hence even the bare minimum protection provided under the PTA for a detainee appears not to have been adhered to by authorities.

In this context it is welcoming that the Human Right Commission of Sri Lanka has issued directives on arrest and detention under the PTA. The directives include amongst others, communicating to the arrestee the reasons for the arrest, the identification of the person making the arrest to the arrestee, regulations guaranteeing the right to know of relatives of the person arrested of his or her whereabouts, the guarantees to be represented by an attorney at law, guaranteeing medical assistance when needed and the official recognition by way of receipt of property seized by authorities.[2]

Arbitrary arrests and detentions have left areas in Jaffna in a state of tension and suspiciousness. A glimmer of hope which dared rise in the hearts of these war torn communities is once again crushed by the callous nature in which most of these arrests and interrogations have been done. The promises made by the new Government on reconciliation, good governance and the reestablishment of the rule of seem to be slowly fading away. The words of a TID Official to one of the authors upon her requesting that her client have legal access in mid- 2015 acts as a stark reminder of the ground reality. He said’ whether it be Mahinda Government or Maithripala Government we (The TID) are still the same. We will do our job”.

Seven years following the war, the Tamil community, particularly from the North and East, are still unable to live freely without fear of abduction, arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention. Last year the winds of ‘change’ heralded in a new government. A glimmer of hope dared to grow within the heavy hearts of a war weary people. Your government asked the people to trust you…to support you. One and a half years down the road, we’re right back where we started. Yahapalanaya government, will your legacy too be one of broken promises?

---

[1]https://www.google.lk/maps/@8.7463541,80.4953519,3a,90y,287.79h,82.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfPHTyhGHYgTSBhVh6s066Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[2] http://hrcsl.lk/english/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Directives-on-Arrest-Detention-by-HRCSL-E-.pdf

Central Bank’s Profits/Losses Have No Relevance For Its Conduct Of Monetary Policy

By Sirimevan Colombage –June 1, 2016

Prof. Sirimevan Colombage

Several newspaper articles have appeared recently with regard to the losses incurred by the Central Bank for the third consecutive year in 2015. A critic has alleged that the continuously loss-making Central Bank is no better thanSriLankan Airlines. It was further argued that when a central bank becomes bankrupt with a negative networth due to continued losses, the public as the owners of the central bank are required to recapitalize the bank at great costs.

A clarification on these issues is called for as such haphazard remarks might give a wrong impression to the public that the Central Bank is just another inefficient loss-making public enterprise that needs to be recapitalized using public funds to avoid bankruptcy.

In the context of the broader national economic goals assigned to the Central Bank as the country’s monetary authority, it is inaccurate to equalize the Bank with a loss-making airline which became bankrupt due to its own mismanagement. The implications of profits or losses of a central bank need to be analyzed by taking into account its unparalleled legal status in the monetary system rather than partially looking at a decline in its capital base as in the case of a commercial entity.

Central banks are not commercial enterprises

Central banks all over the world have been functioning as public policy institutions but not as commercial ventures which are driven by the profit maximization motive.

In terms of the Monetary Law Act (MLA), the objectives of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are to ensure (a) economic and price stability, and (b) financial system stability, with a view to encouraging and promoting the development of the productive resources.

Hence, one could argue that it is inappropriate to equate the Central Bank with a commercial enterprise like a loss-making airline, and to conclude that the Bank would go bankrupt with its continuous losses. Admittedly, empirical evidence suggests that a stronger capital base of a central bank helps to carry out its functions smoothly without compromising its independence. But it does not mean that central banks should drive their monetary policy operations keeping profit motive in the forefront undermining its monetary policy objectives which are of broader national interest.

Read More

Women beedi rollers and necrocapitalism in Sri Lanka

Women in one village in the Jaffna district of northern Sri Lanka have been rolling beedi with their bare hands for over fifty years in a gendered survival economy. This is no accident.

Women beedi workers in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

PRASHANTHI JAYASEKARA 1 June 2016
"Economic empowerment” and “restoring livelihoods” are tropes that are too often fetishised within Sri Lanka’s post-war development discourse, especially in relation to women living in former war-affected regions. Be it providing small grants, microfinance, or cattle and poultry to “rebuild livelihoods”, the state and development actors alike have been spearheading various development projects targeting women. While the extent to which these programmes empower women remains questionable, some women continue to be left out of post war development altogether. This is the case with the women of Vettikadu, a poor low caste village in former war affected Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka.  

For over fifty years women in Vettikadu have been rolling beediwithin the confines of their homes. Despite the fact that the bare hands of these workers undertake the core production functions associated with the beedi trade, they are only compensated one fifth of the final market value of each beedi stick that they roll. The remaining market value goes to the bigger players within the trade.

This alienation of workers from the final product is maintained through informality that is imposed upon the workers. In other words, the company’s only connection with the workers is through middle men who manage the extraction of labour. In this way the company escapes its obligation to pay fair compensation, provide other welfare benefits such as insurance and pensions, while seriously undermining the workers’ health and wellbeing. Given the paltry wages that are paid, women are compelled to manage by borrowing - buying food on credit, mortgaging lands or pawning jewellery - or simply by cutting down on essentials like the number of meals or medical treatment. Meanwhile, the island-wide beedi industry has been growing exponentially, almost at 200%, since 2007, and is currently an industry worth 4 billion rupees a year.

Rolled beedi

The entrapment of these workers in a violent trade is mediated through poverty. Anandhi Amma, an eighty year old woman from Vettikadu, has been rolling beedi since her childhood owing to dire poverty. In 1996 her son, a fisherman, who was the primary breadwinner of the family disappeared after being taken away by the military on suspicion of ferrying LTTE cadres. With her son gone, the sole burden of supporting her family fell on Anandhi Amma’s aged shoulders. Other women such as Sarojini and Geethanjali also started making beedi at a tender age following the death of family members.

Sarojini was barely ten, when hunger within the family pushed her to start rolling beedi. Twenty seven years later, it is this everyday experience of poverty that keeps her entrapped in a trade that exploits her labour. Her “choice” of the way in which she expends her labour is therefore determined by poverty, and the obligation to provide for her husband who is injured and unable to work, and their five school going children. This is an added burden to her household obligation to cook, clean, and care. Often, she is subject to beatings by her husband for failing to ‘fulfill’ these ‘duties’.

For years these workers have been rolling beedi with no breaks during the day, at inconceivable speed under precarious, exploitative and injurious conditions, and inhaling the thick air filled with tobacco dust and fumes through their lungs and their skin. The physical and emotional toll on women’s bodies is immense. Many work until their death. And this exploitation continues all the way to India where tendu leaves - which are used to roll beedi - are plucked by poor Adivasi women, whose labour is exploited within a transnational trade.

The violent nature of alternative forms of work available to these women who have missed school due to war and poverty, exacerbates their dependency on the beedi trade, which requires limited skills and no capital outlay.

The village’s predominant form of livelihood is fishing, and is a masculine domain, controlled by powerful upper class boat owning men. It is an economic space which is difficult for women to access and navigate without being subject to sexual harassment and unfair competition. There are not that many alternative jobs outside the village for these women. The limited jobs that are available in textile shops for example are also mired in violence.  Some women workers our reseacrh team met in Jaffna town cited the exploitation and harassments within these workplaces. The terms and conditions of employment are severe: no proper breaks or facilities, including toilets, absence of contracts, leave and statutory welfare benefits, and low wages that are often not paid in full or on time. The women workers also said that they are generally paid much lower than their male counterparts. We were told that caste is an unwritten element of hiring practices; some textile shops hire poorer women from lower castes because  it provides the employers with greater room for exploitation, and sexual harassments that they are subjected to within the workspace, as well as while travelling outside for work.

It is within this context of “outside” and “inside” the village being unsafe that a large cardre of women is engaged in rolling beedi within their houses. While rolling beedi is a form of survival for the women, it is part of an accumulation economy for the big players within the trade. It is on the backs of these poor rural women living in a gendered survival economy that the beedi trade is accumulating capital. It is a trade within which women’s bare labouring bodies are exploited in a necroeconomic space, where the labouring body is exposed to violence until death. It is precisely through the entrapment of workers by their continuous alienation from the end product value that the workers must continue to work in such necroeconomic spaces to pay for daily necessities.

Women’s entrapment within necroeconomic spaces is by no means an accident. It is under the auspices of the necropolitics of the state that the spaces of violent accumulation such as the beedi trade have thrived for over fifty years. A necropolitical state order that fails to provide secure work and social protection to alleviate poverty and rebuild lives after a war, reduces these women - to borrow from Agamben - to a ‘bare life’, lives that are unprotected, and  exposed to all forms of violence.

Even though the war has ended, in Vettikadu, the continuation and expansion of necroeconomic spaces such as the beedi trade is indicative of how conditions of war and conflict exist even within a ‘post-war’ political economy. The necropolitics of the centre that produce, regulate and exploit these women within necroeconomic spaces can collectively be identified as a necrocapitalist project - the legalised process through which women’s labouring bodies are exposed to violence until their death.

This is not a failure of development in post-war Sri Lanka; this is the face of development.

The names of individuals and the village in this article have been changed to protect identities.

All images by Nadhiya Najab.

We are not lackeys of black money earners so shall come thousand times to record statements –Nalin Perera of Mariyans -A slap in the face of frightened corrupt public officers !

(Lanka-e-News -01.June.2016, 11.30PM) The Presidential special  commission inquiring into corruption summoned Nalin Perera the leader  of Mariyans musical group yesterday (31) to record a statement  in connection with an alleged corrupt activity  during the inauguration of the first phase of Hambantota Port .Nalin after recording his statement at the Commission , made some eye opening and pithy  comments when he was interviewed by a Lankadeepa journalist. It is our view his comments would inspire those whose conscience are clear.

 ‘ We have not been lackeys to earners of  black money. Summon us , I shall come any number of times to make statements.’ Nalin said.

This was in contradistinction  to  what many others say,  when summoned before an Institution in connection with  an investigation  to record evidence under the law . They  show reluctance  , and consider that as a hindrance. They ask ’are we rogues?’ and ‘Is this good governance?’ 

For people like Nalin Perera who are not rogues , those are not issues. 

This attitude of Nalin with a clear conscience is diametrically opposed to that of  the corrupt State officers who are fraught with fear  and unnerved  when summoned before an Institution to investigate .

May we recall , when  a State administrative officer had to go before the court in connection with a fraud amounting to about Rs. 6 million in which funds meant for tourist promotion was misused to promote the image of the Rajapakses instead , she phoned Lanka e news . While saying she is not a rogue and she would swear on anything to affirm  that ,was in mortal fear of attending courts.

‘In this country are dogs. It is useless working for these dogs. If I had stayed back when I went to Netherlands , everything would have been over,’  she blurted.

Believe it or not , even when Lanka e news portal was reduced to ashes , never did we say ‘In Sri Lanka are dogs’ We never even thought of  it.

Even when General Fonseka and Deshamanya Kotalawela were thrown into prison unjustifiably , they never said ‘in SL are dogs.’ 

To say, people love the country is to say, they are for justice.’ If they are truly not wrong or guilty  , they must have the strength to face any investigation. Otherwise , it implies they are having something to hide.  

During this  crucial period when the cowardly State officers of the mafia group are threatening to resign from public service  if the corrupt State officers are hauled up before the law based on their criminal activities - corruption ,  Nalin Perera’s  fearless enunciations  pertaining to his interrogation should  serve as  a model to all law abiding citizens  ,and those with a backbone .

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by     (2016-06-01 21:25:18)

Vijitha Herath freed from drunken charges

2016-06-01
Colombo Additional Magistrate Chandana Kalansooriya today acquitted the JVP MP Vijitha Herath from the drunken driving charge in the inquiry conducted against him over the accident that took place on May 30 in the Rajagiriya area. 

The Welikada Police had filed three charges against him-reckless driving, not preventing a possible accident and drunken driving. 

The Magistrate acquitted the suspect from the third charge, since it was apparently not possible to continue as a proper allegation. 

However, the Additional Judicial Medical Officer, K.K. Joozar, had mentioned in his Legal Medical Examination Form that the suspect’s breath, smelled of alcohol at the time of the examination, but the JMO had not mentioned that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol. 

The Magistrate considering a precedent, Sumanaratne Vs Borella OIC, stated that it was not sufficient that the ‘breath, smelling of alcohol’ to be regarded as ‘under the influence of alcohol’ to continue with the litigation under the charge of drunken driving. 

After pleading guilty to the rest of the charges, the suspect was ordered to pay a Crown Cost of 1500 Rupees over the other charges, for which he was convicted by the Magistrate. 

The suspect also agreed to pay Rs. 17,423 to the damaged property of Telecom post in the accident. 

Mr. Herath was arrested by the Welikada Police on Monday night, and released on police bail later for crashing onto a telecom post in Rajagiriya. (Shehan Chamika Silva)

GAIL, NTPC and Petronet LNG aim to regain ground in Sri Lanka

 Jun 01, 2016

Three Indian energy companies have initiated a move to make a joint bid for regaining lost ground in Sri Lanka after Colombo dumped plans for an Indianbuilt coal-fired power plant in the port city of Trincomalee.

State-run gas utility GAIL, generation utility NTPC and Petronet LNG Ltd -a private company promoted by public sector oil firms -have taken baby steps to work out an alternative energy package with a substantial takeaway in terms of air quality management.

Sri Lanka recently informed India that it was cancelling the proposal for the 500mw coal-fired power plant due to public protests over pollution and wants to set up a liquid gas-based project, considered this is least polluting.

The power plant deal has been hanging fire for several years. The 500-mw station was to be built by India's largest power producer NTPC in joint venture with Ceylon Po wer Board at Sampur in Trincomalee. The alternative package being prepared by the three Indian energy firms aims at leveraging their individual core competence to address Sri Lanka's concerns. The broad contours of the package go like this: Petronet LNG would set up a gas import terminal, GAIL would source the fuel and help CNG network such as in Delhi and Mumbai , while NTPC would build and operate the power plant.

Sources aware of the deve lopment said a team of executives from the companies and government officials was in Sri Lanka to get an idea about the project dynamics and prospects. Admittedly , the proposal is in a nascent stage and a lot of distance remains to be covered since it involves international relations.

The proposal for helping Sri Lanka set up CNG network in Colombo and other key cities could be a clincher and add to the scale of the LNG project, essential for economic viability . Both GAIL and Petronet, India's largest liquid gas importer, have tied up substantial quantities of liquid gas, which can be shipped to fuel the power station and CNG networks. NTPC is India's largest power producer and has expertise in operating power plants based on coal, gas and hydro.If the plan goes through, it would be a second energy project in Sri Lanka. IOC Lanka, a subsidiary of state-owned refiner-retailer IndianOil, operates fuel retail network and tank farms in that country .

Courtesy - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

US Jewry forces Israel’s hand over two-state solution

Yvonne Ridley

-May 31, 2016

Palestinians are constantly accused of being the real obstacle to peace in the Middle East but a new initiative by a group of America’s most influential Jews may just prove otherwise this week.

For decades, various Western politicians have talked about a two-state solution. It has been on just about everyone’s lips outside of Israel but has never really been taken seriously within the Zionist state itself. Now, suddenly, it seems that Tel Aviv wants to embrace “two-states” and has sent instructions to its embassies, friends on university campuses and those inside other institutions far and wide to promote the notion that Israel wants to talk two-state peace.

Yiftah Curiel, the head of media operations at London’s Israeli Embassy, for instance, was despatched to Oxford last week to opine about the values and reality of a two-state solution during the prestigious university’s Union Debate on its viability. Chutzpah is a wonderfully expressive Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew “ḥutspâ”; I don’t believe that there is anything like it in the English language that can completely convey the audacity of the Israeli government. In this case, therefore, we will have to stick with chutzpah, for that is what best describes Curiel’s performance.

The acerbic Israeli columnist and journalist Gideon Levy, who followed the debate closely, observed wryly: “Do you get it? Israel claims it supports two states – perhaps because it has realised that a two-state solution is no longer viable.” What, he asked, has prevented Israel from implementing this solution over the past 50 or so years of occupation? “And how does the official representative of the state – which has never ceased building more and more settlements, the entire purpose of which is to thwart the two-state solution – dare say that Israel is in favour of dividing the land?”

Writing in Haaretz, Levy admitted: “But Israeli chutzpah knows no bounds, and neither does the temerity of its propagandists.”

So what is behind this new enthusiasm of the Israeli government for a two-state solution? The answer, perhaps, lies thousands of miles away in America, where two separate working documents are about to be published in a bid to prepare the ground for a two-state solution that will satisfy Palestinian ambitions and Israel’s security demands.

The proposals will include RELOCATING settlers; FREEZING illegal settlements; SOVEREIGNTY for Palestinians; RADICAL departures from Israel’s right-wing government policies; and PREPARING the next US president to insist on peace talks.

News of the audacious plans must have hit Benjamin Netanyahu hard, because he has made it quite clear to the Obama administration — as well as other interested parties, such as the United Nations, the British and the French — that he will not tolerate outside interference. While repelling Washington’s advances has been relatively easy to-date, even Netanyahu appears to have woken up to the fact that neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton are likely to tolerate the same abrasive treatment. Both potential presidential nominees have made it quite clear that they have ambitions to bring peace to the region by ending the Palestine-Israel conflict, even though Netanyahu and his predecessors have, with the greatest of ease, managed to lead most US presidents into the long grass during their terms of office.

The latest twist in all of this is different, though. What will have shaken the Israeli prime minister is that this latest initiative is being driven by several independent and influential organisations which have always made sure that they are on the same page as Tel Aviv — until now. In a rare move, it seems that the hugely influential Israel Policy Forum has seized control of the Zionist project, leaving Netanyahu isolated or having to play catch up. After Curiel’s rhetoric at the Oxford Union last Thursday, it looks as if Tel Aviv has been panicked into the latter.

The IPF, said to be alarmed at the development and unpredictability of Netanyahu’s right wing government, is now working alongside a number of equally anxious retired Israeli military and security officials as well as a Washington think tank. IPF funder Alan Solow, Commanders for Israel Security and the Centre for a New American Security, a foreign policy think tank backed by many political heavyweights including former Senator Joe Lieberman, will unveil their two-state plans this week.

While the right-wing American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC — arguably the main pro-Israel Lobby group in the US) also promotes the idea of peace talks it would never push any initiatives without a green light from Tel Aviv. Nor would it publish plans showing what two states would look like without consulting Israel first, but that is exactly what these other US groups will do in a few days’ time.

“The debate over Israel’s future is not taking place in Israel,” commented Gideon Levy after the Oxford event. “It is taking place everywhere but Israel. Israel is not dealing with its future – it is dealing with its present and, mainly, its past. People don’t talk about the future here.”

This new initiative in Washington, once considered by many to be under political occupation by Israel while the Palestinians suffer under its military occupation, may change Tel Aviv’s narcissism. However, if Israelis and their right-wing Prime Minister Netanyahu revert to their default position, then the Zionist state will be exposed as being the real obstacle to peace, which is something that the Palestinians and their supporters have known all along. It will take more than the usual Zionist chutzpah to get out of that particular hole.