Black Lives Matter – And so do Tamil Lives

The President’s commitment to act as a Buddhist is comforting. The Buddhist tradition of always being truthful and of building hospitals for all kinds of beasts should help Tamils feel safe even if we are esteemed only as beasts

by Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

( July 13, 2016, Jaffna, Sri Lanka Guardian) My son Yovahn, a Junior at Rice University, is a Student Counsellor to Freshmen coming in for orientation. Unlike in Sri Lanka, their own racism was something White racists felt compelled by law and custom to hide. However, with the Donald Trump phenomenon, American racists no longer feel that need.  The Police in several cities have been killing Blacks, unabashed that bystanders were filming them. So the university has asked student counsellors to push the slogan “Black Lives Matter.”

Renukaruban: Tortured on Visit to Marry

I had a call from Yovahn this morning (11.07.2016), saying that some trainees are responding that the slogan implies that other lives do not matter. He really needed a listener in me and went on to justify the slogan saying that no one is saying White lives do not matter whereas many are acting as if Black lives really do not matter.”

That 18-year-old’s perception has escaped the seemingly sophisticated mind of, besides many other Sri Lankans’,the Joint Opposition’s Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena’s who complained that a bill tabled in the House to put up a Secretariat to look into disappearances in the North and the East implies that there have been no disappearances elsewhere (Ceylon Today, 11.07.2016). It is an attempt to trivialize well-documented disappearances in the North-East. Indeed, our January 8 revolution is coming apart with reports of a British Tamil, Velauthapillai Renukaruban, having been tortured while holidaying here (Guardian, 10.07.2016) and from Shereen Saroor  frtom Mannar that Santhiyagu Anton (aged 38) was abducted from Uyilankulam.

Mangala Samaraweera – No Confidence Motion?

Even worse, in the same article today,Udaya Gammanpila threatened a no-confidence motion against the Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera for being “still of the view that foreign Judges must be employed for [a] war crimes tribunal, despite the President’s statement last week assuring the public that only local Judges would be employed for this purpose.”

The President’s Pledge

What did the President say last week before the Maha Sanga? Quoting from the Presidential Media Division, he pledged that: “He would not hesitate to act for the freedom and the independence of the motherland. It is the policy of the current government to act according to the advice and guidance of the venerable Maha Sanga in its every activity related to the national security and other matters [my emphasis]. … The President said he would be committed to protect[ing] Sri Lankan society [my emphasis] by respecting the proud history of the country as a Buddhist as well as the Head of the State.”

He should turn his attention to protecting Velauthapillai Renukaruban and Santhiyagu Anton because I like to think we Tamils too are part of Sri Lankan society needing the protection of the President when we are butchered and need the butchers to be punished to keep safe those still alive. I think old history and the Maha Sanga are poor examples for a President to follow when he wants to keep all of Sri Lankan society safe. That old history also shows how Tamil lives came to be no more esteemed than that of beasts.

Shereen Saroor of Mannar Women’s Development Federation Reports Santhiyogu Anton’s Abduction by CID

To see that, let us turn to the Mahavamsa, a chronicle taken as serious history by many Sinhalese. There the king Duttugemunu is in a depression after emerging victorious in a battle where several Tamils have been killed. The Sanga acts quickly. Eight Arahants are sent to counsel him not to worry about “any hindrance in [his] way to heaven” since he had killed only a human and a half – that is, the Tamil who “had come unto the three refuges” and the other who had “taken on himself the five precepts” – and the rest of the Tamils are “not to be more esteemed than beasts”! (Chapter. 25: 98, 103, 107-112).

Buddhism and Truthfulness

The President’s commitment to act as a Buddhist is comforting. The Buddhist tradition of always being truthful and of building hospitals for all kinds of beasts should help Tamils feel safe even if we are esteemed only as beasts.

His commitment to Buddhist truthfulness must help him focus on his promise through a special policy speech in parliament on 01.09.2015 pledging: “I request Sri Lankan intellectuals dispersed around the country and abroad to use your expertise and skills to develop the motherland in this consensual political environment. My Government will establish a special bureau under my directive to coordinate the expatriate Sri Lankans who wish to return to the motherland and we will offer a red carpet welcome to them.”

US Police Brutality

There is still no special bureau, and yet this morning’s dual citizenship ceremony had Mr. SB Nawinna telling the new citizens they are encouraged to work here! Such unintended promises to individuals to make a good speech, pale into insignificance when examined with unkept commitments to other nations. For example, under the Indian Emigration Act of 1922, the Indian Government permitted emigration of unskilled labour only to countries that provided reciprocal assurance of “perfect equality of status of Indians” with other local British subjects. We know what happened to the Estate Labour as soon as Sri Lankans took over.

More to the point of the recent pledge, here is what the President said after the UNHRC Resolution 30/1: he insisted that  Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and integrity weren’t compromised,  and stressed that the new journey started on 8 January must be persisted with, shunning extremists.  Ranil Wickremesinghe said at the same time that the passage of the US resolution and the international community uniting for Sri Lanka  were key for the country’s future wellbeing.

And they said much more in the UNHRC resolution A/HRC/30/L.29 itself which they co-sponsored and passed on 29 June, 2015.  It states in Paragraph 1 that it

“Takes note with appreciation of the oral update presented by the United Nations High Commissioner to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-seventh session, the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka and its investigation on Sri Lanka requested by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/12, including its findings and conclusions, and encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations contained therein when implementing measures for truth-seeking, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence;”

And what is that footnote 2 to resolution 25/1? It is that much maligned A/HRC/30/CRP.2, better known as Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), a tome that details atrocities by our armed forces and the LTTE. This report has therefore been endorsed by our government. It lays the foundation for needing foreign participation in its paragraph 1246 after detailing the failures of our legal system:

1246: In these circumstances, OISL believes that for an accountability mechanism to succeed in Sri Lanka, it will require more than a domestic mechanism [My emphasis].  Sri Lanka should draw on the lessons learnt and good practices of other countries that have succeeded with hybrid special courts, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators [my emphasis], that will be essential to give confidence to all Sri Lankans, in particular the victims, in the independence and impartiality of the process, particularly given the politicisation and highly polarised environment in Sri Lanka.

Even more to the point, that 2015 resolution states in Paragraph 6 that it

“Welcomes the recognition by the Government of Sri Lanka that accountability is essential to uphold the rule of law and to build confidence in the people of all communities of Sri Lanka in the justice system, notes with appreciation the proposal of the Government of Sri Lanka to establish a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable; affirms that a credible justice process should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality; and also affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the special counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators.[Emphasis mine].

Samaraweera: Says the Same Thing whether at the UN or in Sri Lanka – the Only True, Truthful, Buddhist Minister?

Our President and Prime Minister agreed to foreign involvement. 

Buddhist truthfulness demands keeping our legally binding commitments. As someone told me, to tell local people differently is to behave like schoolboy rowdies and to not respect our intelligence.

Congratulating Minister Samaraweera

I would congratulate our Foreign Minister for being a good Buddhist insofar as he seems the only Minister committed to keeping his word and to caring for Tamil lives as well in protecting Sri Lankan society.  I urge the President to keep his pledge to the Maha Sanga and be a good Buddhist by honoring his commitments.

SRI LANKA: JOURNALIST DAYA NETHTHASINGHE ASSAULTED

( Daya Neththasingh)

12/07/2016

Environmentalist and journalist of the ‘SathHanda’ newspaper – Daya Neththasinghe has come under an assault, reports say.

He was at a public meeting at the Natharama Temple in Delwala when the incident had occurred.

The meeting held under the auspices of the Galle District Secretariat and politician Piyasena Gamage, focused on a small scale power plant built after blocking the ‘Aandaa Dola’.

According to reports, thugs of Piyasena Gamage had assaulted Mr. Neththasinghe when he had attempted to portray the environmental impact of the project.

SriLanka Mirror

Cabinet portfolios after one year: Spotlight on education 

Wednesday, 13 July 2016

The Cabinet of the new Government elected on 8 August 2015 made nearly 700 decisions during the last 11 months, and 36 of these decisions concerned education or technological knowhow
On 9 September 2015, soon after the National Government Cabinet was announced last year, I wrote a column with the heading ‘Making sense of the 48 portfolios in the Cabinet’. My outlook was positive.

“Having juggled to secure the presidency and then to form a minority Government in the general election, the President and Ranil Wickremesinghe are engaged in a tightrope act of governing, the likes of which we have not seen before. In consideration, I suggest we cut the Government some slack and see how we can build efficiency, effectiveness and accountability within the 48+ Cabinet which seems to be our destiny at this point.”

Today, after nearly one year, the portfolios are essentially unchanged except when M.K.A.D.S. Gunawardana died and his portfolio of Land was given over to John Amaratunga and Tilak Marapona, Minister for Law and Order, resigned and his portfolio was given to Sagala Ratnayaka. Two additional portfolios were created to keep the number of Ministers the same, with the portfolios of Special Assignments created for Sarath Amunugama and Regional Development for Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.

Maintaining a large Cabinet is indeed a burden on taxpayers. Some would compare costs of duty free cars for the Cabinet against the cost of nutrition package for pregnant women, for example, but I would not grudge giving the Cabinet Members the facilities they need to do their jobs, as long as they are judged on their performance.

Do our Ministers provide for themselves in order to dole out welfare packages to supporters, or do they make policies that drive the economy and create jobs that pull people out of poverty or help us as a society feel safer and more secure?

The Cabinet decisions in the past year are not reassuring. Our Prime Minister should take a leaf from his younger counterpart in Canada about guiding his Cabinet of Ministers. In November 2015, Justin Trudeau made public his ministerial mandate letters, essentially the marching orders for his Cabinet for the next four years, which he said will help Canadians hold their Government accountable.

In the absence of such a public declaration or even a sign of internal directives, we owe it to ourselves to check how our Ministers are doing. Through this column I hope to make an attempt, beginning with education-related portfolios. My method is admittedly limited, since I will using only press releases from the 43 Cabinet meetings held from 8 August 2015 to date. I could be missing some of the small but effective initiatives that did not require Cabinet approval, but we need to start somewhere.

The Cabinet of the new Government elected on 8 August 2015 made nearly 700 decisions during the last 11 months, and 36 of these decisions concerned education or technological knowhow. The proposals were put forward by five Ministers, including the Minister for Sports and the Minister for Science and Technology. Although the portfolio of Dayasiri Jayasekera, the Minister for Sports, does not directly concern education, it shows how one might make a positive impact in others’ territory in a crowded Cabinet.

I categorised each of the cabinet papers as a policy or a project, and the projects were further categorised as welfare, construction or other. Projects are popular with voters. Beneficiaries will applaud and others would not care. However, I would take a good policy any day over projects that are not connected to potential or performance.

Of the 36 education-related Cabinet decisions, 31 concerned projects – welfare (4); construction (16) and other (11). Only five decisions concerned policies. The policies included cash vouchers for school uniforms and a continuation of that policy, recognition of NVQ qualifications for recruitment in Government and the Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) as an alternative qualification to the B.Com degree in Government, and an Amendment of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka Act.

Dayasiri Jayasekera (Sports)

I found Dayasiri Jayasekera’s Cabinet paper on implementing a Sports and Physical Health Promotion National Week in January interesting in that it gave statistics from the education sector to justify it. The engagement of Sri Lankan children and young adults in sports is as low at 25% in schools and 8% in universities, he cited.

The other proposal to implement 13 development projects that included renovation or construction of stadiums and pavilions in Hingurakgoda, Thamankaduwa and Dimbulagala educational divisions as part of the ‘Lift Polonnaruwa’ larger project was an obvious ‘Yes, Mr. President’ project. Overall, if Jayasekera were to be given a mandate, would it include the participation of schoolchildren and university students in sports or would the mandate be shared with the two other relevant Ministries?

Susil Premajayantha (S&T/Research)

The Science and Technology portfolio is a problematic one because projects which are attractive to a Minister in charge would overlap with many other Ministries including Ministries for Industries, Higher Education, Information Technology, and others.

During the last 11 months, Premajayantha got approval for three projects – an e-education initiative (of which type of project we already have too many with no accountability); research on solar panels, for which I like to see our competitive advantage; and an international summit on technology.

If I were to a suggest a mandate for the Minister, it would be to evaluate the contributions of research institutes under his purview – i.e. National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Industrial Technology Institute, Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technology and National Engineering Research and Development Centre, and do a summit of those and the host of other research institutes under other ministries, to see how they all can learn from each other and justify the tax money spent them.

Another mandate would be to review the three grant and/or policy making bodies – National Research Council, National Science Foundation and the National Science and Technology Commission – and rationalise their missions. The Vidatha centres that were established under the previous regime too should be evaluated.

Akila Viraj Kariyawasam (Education)

Kariyawasam did the best in terms of policy, in my opinion. Two of his Cabinet papers were on the use of cash vouchers in place of procurement and distribution of materials for school uniforms. It is a bold experiment, the lessons from which can be extended to other services by Government, including the cash vouchers for fertiliser program which is being implemented more slowly.

However, I am not so enamoured by the ‘The nearest school is the best school’ program. It is the same old idea under a new name and continues the centrist approach to implementation with no regard to the autonomy that should be given to the provinces. His mandate should be to let the province run the programs, keeping a light but targeted oversight mechanism from the Centre.

Mahinda Samarasinghe (Skills Development and Vocational Training)

Samarasinghe got approval for Cabinet papers of which one was a policy to issue a circular mandating the acceptance of NVQ level 3 in place of GCE (O/L) and Level 4 in place of GCE (A/L) in Government recruitment and promotion.

The three construction projects approved are for the reconstruction and relocation of Automobile Engineering Training Institute, Orugodawatte and the construction of Advanced Technological Institutes (SLIATE) in Kegalle, Dehiwala, Jaffna, Galle, Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Sammanthurai and improvements to the technical college in Vavuniya.

In his paper on SLIATE, the Minister says the SLIATE graduates are in demand. We like to see more evidence in that regard and more focus on the quality of other programs under his purview. The National Apprentice and Industrial Training Agency is a particularly important institution with monopoly powers over the private initiatives to expand training opportunities.

A Cabinet paper for funds for regular performance evaluation of technical and vocational institutions will go a long way to make the inputs to sector more effective. The inputs to skills development and vocational training relative to higher education too should receive more attention.

Lakshman Kiriella (Higher Education)

Kiriella takes the cake for putting forward the most education-related construction projects, not counting the larger highway projects which he put forward in his dual role as Minster for Highways. The projects receiving approval included extensive infrastructure development in almost all universities, but the Minister is silent on the accountability of these institutions. If he thinks the performance issues in higher education should be left as an internal affairs of the public university system, he is making a mistake.

I have written at length about what can and should be done from the outside to make our universities more open and accountable. If the Ministry does not focus on the performance and accountability of public universities, it will continue to pick taxpayer pockets to fund higher education, bring students to the doors of the universities with the Government absorbing the output, to the benefit of none but the 4% of Sri Lankan youth and the faculty and employees who enjoy benefits of self-administration with no accountability.

Tony Blair, Chilcot Report & The UNP Led Government

By Latheef Farook –July 12, 2016

Latheef Farook

After losing more than two dozen elections the United National Party, UNP, was voted to power last year. The entire Muslim community voted for UNP to free themselves from the post-war persecution of Muslims by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

However dismissing Muslim sentiments the UNP led coalition aligned itself, virtually unconditionally with the United States led British, French and Israeli   neo con war mongers who have unleashed, world-wide a barbaric war against Islam and Muslims, destroyed several Muslim countries, killed millions of Muslims, forcing out millions of them into refugee camps and to cross the mighty oceans facing death for hundreds of them in deep waters and the rest finally ending up in European streets as beggars.

As part of this samaraweera foreign policy, war criminal Tony Blair and his family were invited by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on a two week holiday during November 2005.

This not only shocked but also insulted Sri Lanka –once a proud voice of the Non Aligned Movement and a fearless defender of justice for oppressed people worldwide in all third world fora and beyond.

Allowing war criminal Tony Blair to step into the soil of Sri Lanka, dismissing the island’s intelligentsia and the sentiments of the Muslim community, is the last think one could expect from a government claiming to establish good governance.

However it was not something unexpected as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UNP government was perhaps the only third world country that refused to condemn the US led invasion of Iraq. When some Muslim parliamentarians tried to condemn the US invasion they were told, according to several sources, by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to leave the government and do so.

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Namal’s arrest not political revenge: here’s the B report!

Jul 12, 2016

The FCID yesterday (11) arrested MP Namal Rajapaksa over allegations of obtaining a Rs. 450 million bribe from India’s Krrish Group for signing an agreement for a 650 million USD hotel project at a plot of land near Transworks House, presently being used as the car park for Hilton Hotel in Colombo Fort, and he was produced before courts and remanded. Three politicians and several leading businessmen are involved in this deal. Krrish Group gets the land from the UDA. The related agreement had been prepared by lawyer Sujani Bogollagama for Namal Rajapaksa Associates law firm, owned by Namal.

We have received information as to how Namal directly got involved in the pore jct, which goes as,

Namal had sent a SMS message to the then stock market chairman Nalaka Godahewa telling him to accept Rs. 450 million (3.5 million USD) from Krrish Group to give basic approval for the project. Krrish Group has deposited the money in an account owned by Namal in a Singaporean bank. The UDA informed Kriish Group in 2012 that they should be paid Rs. 450 million as per the agreement. The latter responded by saying it had paid all the dues. Over this dispute, the project got suspended. The UDA has imposed a Rs. 550 million fine on Krrish Group. The first exposure came in 2013. There was suspicion that law enforcement officials had been going after journalist Mandana Abeywicrakama at the time to get hold of documents relating to the deal.

In the meantime, on Namal’s advice, Godahewa paid back Rs. 400 million to Krrish Group. The FCID is presently investigating the receipt for Rs. 450 million received by the Singaporean bank and Namal’s SMS message to Godahewa. Godahewa’s paying back of Rs. 400 million to Krrish Group itself makes it clear that this money had been received as a commission for a deal.

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Equality Before the Law — Not for Sri Lankan Muslim Women

Sri Lanka has a dual legal system with regard to marriage and divorce. Kandyan Sinhalese have the option of marrying under either the 1952 Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act or the 1907 General Marriage Registration Ordinance (general law). A Muslim couple marrying in the country is solely governed by the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA), which also established a parallel Quazi (Muslim judge) Court system to administer the Act.

by Hyshyama Hamin

( July 12, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the weeks following the period of Ramadhan and the traditional Muslim holiday of Eid, it is an important moment to reflect; Ramadhan is a time for strengthening one’s faith, practicing compassion for community and family, and reflecting on our gratitude for the blessings that fill our lives. However, for many Muslim women in Sri Lanka this year legal redress is still awaited, justice is still denied and equal protections under the law are merely a prayer instead of a right.

In the light of some serious cases of violations faced by Muslim women under the Muslim family law, we need to reflect on whether or not Sri Lankan Muslim women are equal to all other citizens under the law, or whether laws in the name of minority rights are causing them to be second class citizens, failed by the State and community.

Sri Lanka has a dual legal system with regard to marriage and divorce. Kandyan Sinhalese have the option of marrying under either the 1952 Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act or the 1907 General Marriage Registration Ordinance (general law). A Muslim couple marrying in the country is solely governed by the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 (MMDA), which also established a parallel Quazi (Muslim judge) Court system to administer the Act.

Since the implementation of the MMDA, there have been serious concerns raised by women’s groups and individuals with regard to discriminatory provisions in the Act as well as the quality of service and practices of the Quazi Courts, which put Muslim women and girls in socially and economically vulnerable situations.

Despite the 1978 Constitution guaranteeing equality before the law, provisions of the MMDA contradict and supersede the fundamental rights of Muslim women as Sri Lankan citizens. For instance, it treats Muslim women as minors, who even as adults are unable to marry without the permission of a male guardian. The MMDA also legally allows for child marriage of Muslims since it does not specify a minimum age for marriage. The State mandated the minimum age of marriage of 18 years does not apply to the Muslim community. Neither does the Penal Code statutory rape provisions for married Muslim girls between 12 and 16 years of age.

Other unequal provisions include the lack of guaranteed consent of bride, different conditions for divorce for men and women, arbitrary nature of maintenance and compensation for different types of divorce, polygamy and the lack of conditions for it. Furthermore, while Muslim women have no legal restriction whatsoever to become judges of Civil Courts, they are restricted from being Quazis, marriage registrars, adjudicators or members of the Board of Quazis under the MMDA. As these are State-salaried positions, this directly violates the constitutional right of non-discrimination for Muslim women.

The bottom line is that the MMDA inhibits Muslim women from enjoying full citizenship rights on par with their fellow citizens. This is also attributed to the special provision Article 16 of the Constitution, which protects pre-existing laws such as the MMDA regardless of inconsistencies to the fundamental rights chapter. A provision that has granted the government almost explicit permission to ignore concerns with regard to the MMDA as ‘Muslim issues’ which must be dealt with within the community rather than at the national level.

State complacent and MMDA reformers dragging their feet

Muslim women’s groups have advocated for reforms of the MMDA for over two decades, despite receiving severe pushback from other community representatives in leadership positions. Earlier this year community-based women’s organizations even called for the government to remove certain provisions such as the minimum age of marriage out of the jurisdiction of the MMDA and make 18 the minimum age of marriage for all citizens.

The argument is on the basis that a child rights issue such as lack of minimum age of marriage should not be left to the arbitrary decision making of a few individuals, especially given that there is lack of consensus from within the Muslim community about the matter. Also of import is that Sri Lanka, as a democratic country, has national and international child protection and gender equality commitments and cannot possibly deem allowing child marriages as a ‘minority or religious right’ regardless of prevalence.

At least three national level committees have been set up since the 1970s to look into matters of Muslim family law, with little result. The most recent is the Muslim Personal Law (MPL) Reforms Committee (2009), which was commissioned by the then Minister of Justice Milinda Moragoda with the aim of recommending reforms to the MMDA. The committee report, which has taken over six years in the making, is expected to be completed and handed over to the government in July 2016. However, little information is known by the broader community about the recommendations for reforms decided (or left undecided) by the 16 member committee.

There are grave concerns with regard to whether or not provisions such as the minimum age of marriage will be made on par with the State and whether women will be able to be Quazis, among other recommendations proposed previously by Muslim women’s groups. There is also little information about the consultations and engagement with the diverse Muslim groups in Sri Lanka such as the different ethnic communities in preparing the recommendations.

Therefore despite the government conveniently putting the onus of responsibility of reforming the MMDA in the hands of the Muslim community, the fact of the matter is that there is no consensus on these issues, which include rights and responsibilities the state is obliged to guarantee.

Role of Sri Lankan Muslims

While the efforts for constitutional and family law reforms are ongoing – it is an opportune time for Sri Lankan Muslims to ask whether we have allowed ourselves to be marginalized and subjected to a sub-par legal system, simply on the basis of our religious affiliation. And whether we have allowed for token cultural and religious rights in namesake ‘Islamic law’ to trump justice and equality as articulated and promoted in the Quran and practices of the Prophet (PBUH).

In light of the ongoing conversations about constitutional reforms, it is time for Sri Lankan Muslims to seriously reflect on whether or not Sri Lankan Muslim women and men are equal to all other citizens under the law, or whether laws in the name of minority rights are causing specially Muslim women to be second class citizens, failed by the State and their own community.

Younger Sri Lankan Muslims in particular must engage in a parallel thought process and deliberate on some key questions if we really care about the laws that govern our rights and lives.

• Who are the decision makers about reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act?
• Do these individuals represent the diverse viewpoints of the Sri Lankan Muslims and ethnic minorities within?
• More importantly, do they really hold the best interest of Muslim women, men and children or are they seeking to protect the law on the basis of perceived ‘religious rights’ and/or male privilege?
  It is also time to acknowledge as a community that there are serious problems within the MMDA that reforms may not be able to address, and for which alternative state mechanisms need to be discussed and pursued.

The next few months will determine the state of affairs for Muslim marriages in Sri Lanka. The Muslim community also needs to consider all its options, beyond just MMDA reforms, with regard to ensuring equal legal protection for Muslim women, men and children and a restoration of fundamental and citizenship rights. It is about time we acknowledge that archaic practices do not benefit the community nor address current issues – and that we determinedly choose legal systems and processes that will contribute to a just society for everyone. After all family life is where the individual sense of religious and cultural identity is most strongly imbued and it is there that justice, equality and fairness should begin.

Dadallage who inflated himself as hero of State officers mafia finally deflates – turns zero ! gives retirement letter

(Lanka-e-News -12.July.2016, 11.30PM) The former secretary of ministry of public administration , Jinasiri Dadallage who sought in vain to become a hero for the corrupt and crooked State officers mafia , had at last come to his senses: He  had decided to abandon his mafia cronies and the corrupt  to  go on retirement . His letter of retirement was forwarded yesterday(11) to the president.

Dadallage who is as cunning  as is traitorous while forwarding his letter of retirement had also incited a group to demand that he be kept back in service, but  based on unofficial information , the president has accepted Dadallage’s resignation without demur.

In any case , Dadallage prior to giving his letter of retirement had met the president along with minister Madduma Bandara . The president however has expressed his deep resentment at Dadallage’s conduct – making uncalled for , unlawful and irresponsible statements to the media violating the disciplinary code despite being a responsible high rung senior public servant.

The president was most stern and angered over the efforts of unscrupulous faceless Dadallage to justify the unlawful distribution of Sil clothes during the reign of the Rajapakses defrauding public funds , and his trying to compare that with the lawful relief granted by Samurdhi to its beneficiaries based on government policy. 

Dadallage who was dismissed from the post of secretary , public administration  has been appointed as secretary , postal ministry . He has however still not taken up that appointment.

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by     (2016-07-12 21:44:26)

‘Maithripala Sirisena Slept On My Bed’ Says Sujeewa Senasinghe’s Brother Namal

July 12, 2016

Namal Senasinghe, the elder brother of Deputy Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe has claimed that President Maithripala Sirisena has slept on his bed.

Dr Namal Senasinghe

Senasinghe, who shot to limelight today after he abused a diner, Shaminda Herat at a star class restaurant over the weekend said in response to the video uploaded by Herat, “What this idiot did not know was Maithripala Sirisena used my Kandy house for his campaign. He slept on my bed.” According to Senasinghe, Herat had been bragging about Sirisena.

Namal Senasinghe, a doctor by profession also went on to further criticize the minorities in the country by trying to justify his comments where he told Herat that he (Senasinghe) was a Sinhala Buddhist and Sri Lanka was a Sinhala Buddhist nation, in spite of Senasinghe himself living in England for some 20 years. It is believed Senasinghe had assumed Herat was a Muslim as he was sporting a beard.

“The people who are criticizing this are from a certain community, and they cannot swallow the fact that this is a Sinhala Buddhist country. Wake up. These guys cannot enter the west now. So swallow the pride and live in harmony in Sri Lanka,” Senasinghe said in response to the video after members of the public including Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils took to social media to protest against Senasinghe’s racist utterance. In particular Muslims took on Senasinghe, which resulted in him continuing to carry out his tirade against the community.

However, just hours after making various comments on Herat’s post, including where he even went on to claim that Herat was a criminal, Senasinghe appeared to have deleted his comments.

Colombo Telegraph is in possession of print screens of Senasinghe’s comments. Senasinghe’s Facebook profile was deactivated and his response which was initially available on his official website was also deleted.

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Half of Gotabaya’s military security detail replaced by STF



July 12, 2016 

Almost half of the military security detail of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been replaced with the Police Special Task Force (STF).

 Gotabaya Rajapaksa told Ada Derana that 25 out of 50 military detail provided for his security was replaced with the STF personnel as of this morning (12).

 However, he earlier had urged the Defence Secretary not to replace his military security with police personnel due to life threats against him.  

 The former Defence Secretary also pointed out former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he face life threats due to “strict decisions” they got in their bid to eliminate terrorism. 

Military security provided to former President was replaced by the STF personnel earlier as well. 

However, responding to this, the Prime Minister said at the Parliament, “it is not the military personnel, but the STF that provide security for me and the President.”

Rajapaksa loyalist Lokuvithana set to acquire Holcim for China using a state bank letter

Jul 12, 2016

Onyx, a company owned by Nandana Lokuwithana, is said to have Bid 400 million USD to buy the Holcim Lanka Ltd., the troubled cement company apparently only valued at 200 million USD.   Lokuwithana’s bid comes in the wake of revelations of a Chinese Government attempt to secure access to the ports of Galle and Trincomalee (in addition to Colombo and Hambantota) via the purchase of Holcim Lanka Ltd., a subsidiary fully owned by the troubled global cement giant LafargeHolcim.  That bid came from China Resources Cement Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of the China Resources Group which in turn is a state-owned Chinese enterprise and is said to have less to do with commercial benefits than China's long term expansionary and strategic goals in the region.

Nandana Jayadewa Lokuwithana, is a Dubai based Sri Lankan businessman from Nattandiya who has been named in the Panama Papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) where he is connected to an entity called ‘Nilona Fashions’ incorporated in December 2000 and is within the jurisdiction of Seychelles.  His operations are also under investigated by the FCID and the Bribery Commission.

Lokuwithana has gained notoriety as a front man of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his then powerful brother Basil.  He is popularly known as ‘The Sri Lankan who bought the Mariott Hotel in Dubai’.  Lokuliwithana, tellingly, is supposed to have been first introduced to the Rajapaksas by Sajin Vass Gunawardena, another Rajapaksa loyalist currently under investigation.

Friendship with the then ‘Ruling Family’ saw Lokuwithana acquiring Ceylon Heavy Industries and Construction company (CHICO) (Sri Lanka’s former Ceylon Steel Corporation) for US$ 77 million, a purchase which is being investigated by FCID on the suspicion that he put up the money as a frontman for the Rajapaksas.  Onyx Industries FZC is a company based in Sarjah.  Onyx employs about 60 people at its Sharjah facility and mainly imports and trades steel products from China for the construction industry.  Lokuwithana’s friendship with high ranking Chinese officials has raised speculation that the bid to acquire Holcim is an effort for China to get a foothold on the aforementioned ports without creating a diplomatic furor.

Reports of the Chinese bid have irked India which fears the current expansion of Chinese strategic interests in the region and especially in Sri Lanka.

Adding to the intrigue is the nature of Lokuwithana’s bid itself.   Onyx has put in a bid to by Holcim Lanka for USD 400 million and it is said that he has already given a comfort letter from a State Bank of Sri Lanka.  He has apparently deposited 200 million USD in the said Bank and taken the letter against that deposit and the money held for the Steel Corporation.

Piyadasa Kudabalage, former MD/CEO of Litro Gas a front man and close ally of Former Presidents Secretary Gamini Senarth is said to have been instrumental in organizing the Bank letter. Kudabalage was a member of many Boards in Government owned companies during the past regime.

Holcim entered into an agreement with the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation in 1993 to lease 5141 acres of cement quarry land in Aruwakkalu, Puttalam for a period of 50 years.  Holcim thereby made massive profits from the extraction of limestone alone with little returns for Sri Lanka, according to a recent communication sent to the Company by the Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The sale ran into trouble with accusations that Holcim had withheld important information from potential buyers including the nature of its agreement with the Cement Corporation and rent owed on properties leased.

The divestiture of Holcim Lanka Ltd is said to be part of LafargeHolcim'sdivestment plan to collect 3.7 billion CHF by the end of 2016..

The angels I lost in Gaza

Image on left shows author’s nephews, clockwise from left: Abdelghani (11), Izzedine (5), Emad (9), Issa (7) and, sitting on the floor, Omar (12). Image on right shows author’s nieces and nephews, from left, Marwa (5), Muhammad (12), Marah (11), Suleiman (3) and Yasser (8) as they took shelter in a kindergarten.-Ahmad Abu Amer

Ahmad Abu Amer’s home, which was destroyed during Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza. Dozens of olive trees were uprooted on his farm and his land was badly damaged.-Marah (5) and Marwa (10).-Suleiman (3) on what would be his last birthday.

Doa'a Abu Amer- 8 July 2016

On 28 July, I received what was to be the last call from my family. They reassured me they had evacuated Abassan, our village, to a more secure place in Khan Younis.

But I was not much comforted by the pictures of the kids playing with toys they sent me or their voice messages. I was on edge the entire time: the bombardment had become more aggressive and the number of martyrs had reached 1,500. Thousands were injured.

I woke up on the morning of 29 July panicked from a nightmare. I had a quick breakfast that I was barely able to swallow. I spent the morning glancing constantly at my phone, not straying anywhere from an Internet connection.

Then the WhatsApp messages began. The condolences came streaming in.

Disaster

My world crumbled. I wanted to transport myself from Australia to Gaza in any way possible. I grabbed my phone, hand shaking, and furiously began dialing all the numbers of my family that I could find. There were no answers.

I thought of my sister and the last call, the pictures of my nephews and nieces I received just a few hours ago. My mind raced to my last visit to my sister’s home, how worried she was and how we spoke of not surviving. I could hear the laughter of my nephews and nieces.

I imagined their last moments, their fear. This thought is still stuck in my mind. I will never get rid of it.

Despite the messages I got from friends, I was in denial. Then I finally got through to my brother Mahmoud. “Is what I have heard right?” I screamed down the line. “Is it? Where are my sister and my nephews?”

After a pause, he quietly answered: “Yes sister, we have lost our beloved Oroba and all her family.”

These were my five nephews:

Omar, 12, was the oldest. He seemed so mature even at his young age. He would help and advise his brothers. He had a passion to learn new things every day. I wept remembering the day he taught himself how to use Photoshop to design me a card for my birthday.

Abdelghani, 11, was full of energy. He would visit me in the early hours of the morning and bring me breakfast. We would watch Mr. Bean cartoons, the bungling Brit his all-time favorite.

Emad, 9, was cheeky but could also be quiet and shy like his brother Issa, 7. Izzedine was just 5, the youngest and most adorable whom I always remember returning home one day happy and excited to be starting his first year at school.

One memory kept giving way to another, like a movie reel through my mind.

And then there was Ahmad. There had also been no answer from my brother’s phone. I spent that night mourning the loss of my sister and her children, but holding out some hope that perhaps Ahmad and some of my family, sheltered in the same building, had survived.

I was exhausted.

Return

I found the first news of them a couple of hours later on a Gaza website. Local authorities, it was reported, had pulled their bodies from a building that had been targeted earlier that morning.

Thirty-four people died in the bombing of the al-Dali building. Whole families. Ahmad’s family too.

What had they done to deserve to feel the wrath of a missile fired from an F-16?

More memories: Muhammad, 12, Yasser, 8.

Suleiman … he was just 3.

Then my nieces, my butterflies and princesses, Marah, 10, Marwa, 5, their simple dreams of just having a peaceful childhood.

I remember them squatting with their cousins over what looked like a grave they had decorated with flowers in the front yard where they would play soccer. Me watching unnoticed.

They said their prayers before I asked what was going on. “We just buried a bird that fell from the tree. We couldn’t help it,” was their answer.

I couldn’t help you, my angels. But that bird will await you in the heavens, your souls will be freed from living in constant fear.

My angels: I have returned to Gaza. I found only your dreams and the memory of your laughter in the rubble of our homes. Your names are still engraved on your seats at school. Your memories motivate your friends to hold onto their dreams and continue life. Your bodies rest beneath the earth in your graves. I can hear your whispers. They won’t leave me.

My beloved angels: It’s been nearly two years since I lost you. I wrote your story to strengthen myself and impress on those who will read it that you taught life. I promise you that I will teach my children to pursue your dreams.

All images courtesy of the author.

Doa’a Abu Amer is a human rights activist and international relations coordinator in the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees’ Affairs in the Gaza Strip. She is also a fundraiser for resilience projects for local organizations in her community.

Indian Kashmir suffers worst violence in years after militant leader’s death

Youths shout pro-independence slogans in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, as clashes between Indian troops and protesters continued for a fourth consecutive day despite a curfew. (Dar Yasin/AP)

By Annie Gowen July 12

TRAL, India — The stones winged through the air, across a bridge separating protesters and Indian security forces in riot gear. The demonstrators had whatever sharp rocks they could pick off the road, the troops had slingshots poised for return fire.

At least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured in four days of violent protests in Indian-administered Kashmir after the death of a young, social-media-savvy separatist named Burhan Wani. Tires were set ablaze, curfews imposed and mobs took over police stations, holding one officer hostage and drowning another by pushing his vehicle into the Jhelum River.

Officials said it was the worst bout of violence in years in Kashmir, the Himalayan region claimed by both India and neighboring Pakistan and the scene of a decades-long insurgent movement that many say has been bolstered by support from Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appealed for peace through one of his junior ministers. But the vehement reaction to Wani’s death took many in the government — and even some hard-line separatists — by surprise.

“Indian troopers shoot at us. Our weapon is only the stone,” said one of the protesters, Nisar Ahmad Bhat, 30, who owns a small company that makes cricket bats. “Burhan Wani is our freedom fighter. He is a real person, a hero to us.”

 

[This violent militant was a folk hero on social media. Now his death has roiled Indian Kashmir.]

In recent months, Wani, the operational commander of the terrorist group Hizb ul-Mujahideen, had become somewhat of a folk hero in this region by boldly uncovering his face and posting photos and videos online that show him and his cohorts playing cricket and posing with guns while in hiding. He was killed Friday in a shootout with police, and his funeral was attended by thousands.

In Wani’s home town of Tral on Tuesday, young men hung on to large flatbed trucks making their way slowly through the streets, shouting “Freedom!” and “One solution, gun solution!” and waving Pakistani flags. Women watched from the sidelines, some with tears in their eyes. Others offered cups of water to the protesters as the temperature soared past 90 degrees.

Mourners crowded around a tent set up at the home of the Wani family, adorned with banners of the slain man, a leader of a group suspected to have killed more than 200 civilians and 100 police officers in the past decade, according to a December estimate by the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.

“We are happy. My son fought for the people of Kashmir,” said his father, Muzafar Hussain Wani, a school principal. “We don’t know if he was involved in any violence. Only he knows himself. Police say he was involved in attacks. But the police, these are our enemies. And the mujahideen [fighters] attack them. It is the job of the mujahideen to attack them. That was my son’s job.”

In a sequestered area of the home, heavily veiled women sat together on the floor, already beginning to weave the fabric of the martyr’s myth.

Burhan Wani’s mother, Mymoona Muzafar Wani, said she recalled one time when she was praying and Wani asked what she was praying for.

 

“I told my son I wanted him to be a doctor or an engineer,” she recalled. “He told me I should pray that he become a martyr.” He left home about a year after that conversation, when he was 15.

Wani’s growing repute refocused attention on the faltering Hizb ul-Mujahideen and helped bring new, often well-educated recruits into its fold at a time of dwindling membership and tighter border security, some analysts said.

Wani “has emerged as the poster boy for a new generation of Kashmiri militants, credited with resuscitating a dying jihad in the Valley’’ with dozens of Facebook fan pages “updated round-the-clock,” the Institute for Conflict Management report said. Wani also announced a recruitment drive on Aug. 21, offering lieutenants a bonus of about $50.

Kamal Kant Sharma, deputy inspector general of the Central Reserve Police Force in Kashmir’s largest city, played down the recruitment drive, noting that the number of militants operating in the area was under 200. He accused Pakistani sympathizers of spreading “fear” among the region’s youths.

Yet many of the young men vowing to join Burhan’s cause in Tral on Tuesday appeared to be well-educated and with decent jobs but angry about growing up in a heavily militarized zone where they said they suffered abuse at the hands of security forces.

One student in a private school said he had taken up stone-pelting in the hope that he could somehow wrest an AK-47 from a soldier or police officer and enlist in the insurgent cause. “I only want jihad, to fight for a free Kashmir,” he said.

He comes from a prosperous family that also had a small business building cricket bats — a common trade in Kashmir. One of his brothers was in jail on charges that he had participated in an insurgent attack last year; another was killed in 2010. Pakistani militants routinely stayed at his home on the way to operations, he said.

Muneer Mustafa, 30, a cousin of Wani’s who is a banker from Dubai, led the way to the graveyard for martyrs, a place where those killed in what is referred to here as the independence struggle are buried. Onlookers somberly passed by, holding their hands aloft in prayer.

Mustafa said he had returned to his home town just a month ago to work for the independence cause. He showed off marks on his body — a scar on his wrist and burns on his back — that he attributed to police brutality after he was taken into custody as a seventh-grader while playing volleyball in the park.

“I’m not scared,” he said. “I have seen so many youngsters lose their lives for Kashmir, what’s one more life?” Of the 11 members who were in his youth cricket team years ago, he said, nine have been killed.