Sri Lanka: Sale of Trincomalee to the Danish King

( May 6, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Marcelis Boschower was a Dutchman sent by the Prince of the Netherlands and the State-General to conclude a treaty with the King of Kandy for ejecting the Portuguese from Ceylon. But he is better known as Migomu Rala (Prince of Negombo) and the crony of King Senarat.

Sri Lanka Sale of Trincomalee to the Danish King.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Govt. cracks down on railway strikers ! If they don’t return to work will be treated as have vacated their posts

(Lanka-e-News- 06.May.2017, 11.45PM)   Stern action will be taken against the railway drivers and controllers  who commenced a strike   on the 5  th taking cover under the SAITM issue which in fact are guiles and guises  to bring back the deposed Rajapkses who were discarded by the people , minister Nimal Siripala De Silva asserted.

 It has been decided that all drivers and controllers who are on a contractual basis shall compulsorily return to work on the 5 th , failing which they will be considered  as having vacated their posts.  This decision was announced  by Railways Authority Vijaya Samarasinghe in pursuance of the advice of the minister. 

Though the railway drivers and controllers notified  that if the minister would have a discussion with them , they will  abandon the strike , the minister had disdainfully rejected that proposal saying , if they don’t  return to work abandoning  their  unreasonable demands , they will be treated as having vacated their posts. 

If a strike is staged based on justifiable grounds such as against increase of  the prices of essential foods beyond what people can bear , or threats  posed to national security  ,  or any agreement being  signed which betrays national interests , are understandable . But just staging meaningless and sinister strikes citing trifling and unreasonable grounds like the SAITM  medical education issue are absolutely unjust and unfair , and cannot be condoned under any circumstances . These actions are unjust and no civilized society should tolerate this nonsense of these strikers who have become a national scourge and curse. The sole and whole motive behind these strikes is to cripple the good governance government before the corrupt and crooked Rajapakses are jailed which is by now a certainty and is going to materialize  very shortly.
 
In the circumstances , to combat the conspiracies of these evil and sinister manipulators , it is best these strikers are treated as having vacated posts , and replaced by drivers and controllers brought even  from India to carry on the essential services.  Otherwise because of these conspiratorial actions citing SAITM as the issue , and owing to harboring fears owing to  these scoundrels   , no foreign investor will come forward to invest in  Sri Lanka . The outcome : the country ‘s economy will be routed. Even the remedial proposals made by the government to elevate  the standard of education has come a cropper  owing to the villainous machinations of these conspirators.

Meanwhile another 225 trade unions have refused to extend support to these unjust and inane strikes.

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by     (2017-05-06 21:23:15)

Sex, sexism and Lakshman Kiriella

 May 06, 2017

When MP Geetha Kumarasinghe asked a question from Highways and Higher Education minister Lakshman Kiriella in parliament yesterday (04), he gave her a vulgar answer. She asked as to why the extension of the southern highway from Matara to Beliatte was yet to be completed. Minister Kiriella gave a lewd answer, saying the work was on its final stage, and that if needed he could accompany her to inspect the work. MPs who relish immorality welcomed his remark with laughter. It cannot be surmised that parliament comprised babies who could not understand the double-meaning of what Kiriella said. But, when a female MP was ridiculed at the country’s most supreme institution merely because of being a woman, there was no one to oppose it. That is how things work in a Sri Lanka that boasts about its culture and civilization.

Geetha could be the member of the joint opposition or any other group, but that is irrelevant here. Also, the court ruling against her parliamentary seat because of her dual citizenship is irrelevant here. The question here is the different treatment meted out based on one’s gender. The elderly minister Kiriella might have seen Geetha Kumarasinghe not as an MP, but as the sexy actress Geetha Kumarasinghe of the past, her body only. Just like it is commonly seen in this country, where it is boasted that Sri Lanka is the noblest country in the world, a woman was seen by Kiriella as merely a toy. The respect she deserves was irrelevant to him.

Sri Lanka has set records by searching for ‘sex’ in the internet, but Sri Lankans do not know what sexism is. If Sri Lanka was a nation that was aware of sexism, it would not have searched the internet for sex and set records. When those in parliament do not see it as an offence to inconvenience a person based on that person’s gender, what can be said about the others in the country.

Also, the particular remark was made by an elderly politician who has been in politics for a long time, a senior advocate, a cabinet minister who is in charge of higher education and the chief government whip. What is regretful here is that this particular person is not good-mannered. In front of Geetha, he fell to the level of Mervyn Silva. It is a different matter had Mervyn Silva made such a remark. The Rajapaksa regime, bad-mannered in all fronts, had used Mervyn Silva to abuse its opponents. People expelled that regime to see a change. But, when it comes to sexism, all are the same.

But, this government is called ‘yahapaalana’ (good governance). From its inception, it has been talking about equality, and so much had been said about it along the lines of race, gender etc. But, the government of president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that speak so much about gender equality did not include a single woman when many president’s counsels were appointed recently. Knowingly or unknowingly to both, women are not treated equally, and we do not know how the lewd mouths of Kiriellas could be kept shut. We thank Prof. Maithri Wickremesinghe, the PM’s wife, for having expressed disapproval over the absence of women in the new PC appointees.

Had this garrulous Kiriella been in the parliament of an European country, the response he would have received would not be easy. He would have to resign within 24 hours and a big compensation would have to be paid to the aggrieved party. But, this is Sri Lanka, where everyone takes that with a laugh.

Senior advocate Kiriella should learn to conduct himself in a manner that safeguards the dignity of woman, as a father of daughters some years younger than Geetha Kumarasinghe and as the husband of a beautiful woman. What we have to tell the Kiriellas who engulf themselves in male chauvinism, which is worse than racism, is that ‘shame on you.’

The Joys Of Country Living!

By Emil van der Poorten –May 7, 2017 

Emil van der Poorten

Friends who are compelled to live in the urban centres of Sri Lanka often express their envy at what they see as our idyllic existence in “the boonies” of our land..

Let me take this opportunity of disabusing them of these false impressions, even though it might already be too late.

What follows is a very brief sampling of what now constitutes a rural Sri Lankan existence.

As pretty well all of our help, both domestic and field, hail from adjacent “colonies” – squatter settlements harking back to the time when that famous Sri

Lankan ‘land management system’ kicked in and resulted in a complete collapse of what was left after the post-Land Reform “management” of the State Plantations Corporation of hitherto productive agricultural land.

I have previously mentioned the fact that one of the largest cocoa (inter-planted with rubber) plantations in Sri Lanka in a region of the country deemed ideal for the Nectar of the Gods has been reduced to not so much as one cocoa bean being produced on approximately 1500 acres of land. The vegetation here has been totally denuded and anything that could be sold for any purpose whatsoever has been removed over the last thirty years.

Bad enough? Think of the fact that whatever vegetation survived the initial denudation was replaced by Guinea “A” grass. In dry weather, some firebug puts a match to the dry grass and the resultant smoke has a particularly negative effect on the wild bee populations of the area. Where one could, periodically capture a colony of honey bees and, with an adequate expenditure of time and effort, split this original hive into several new colonies, such a basic exercise is no longer possible. How do I know? Because we did exactly this in the time before the malicious machinations of Hector Kobbekaduwa and his Land “Reform” legislation. Now, there aren’t any wild colonies from which to draw and, perhaps even more significant, Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee (Sinhala – Bambara) colonies are beginning to disappear as well.

I distinctly recall counting, in the mid-fifties of the last century, more than half a hundred of these giant honey bee colonies festooning the undersides of the limbs of one particularly huge tree a short way up the road from the Galagedera Police Station on the highway connecting Kandy and Kurunegala. Now? Despite the tree retaining its identity as the “Bambara Gaha” (Bambara tree) there is not one hive on it. These very fierce bees, unlike their smaller cousins who nest in cavities in trees, small caves etc., follow their food supply. If they aren’t there any longer, the reason is simple: their food supply has disappeared.

When one thinks about the international battles waged against the likes of the Monsanto Corporation for their behaviour in the matter of decimating bee populations, we, in Sri Lanka better look at what we are doing to such economic resources, to the one creature without which our very existences could be at risk!

At a more immediate level, a road that provided access to automobile traffic has deteriorated (again) to the point that it is virtually impassable to cars, motorbikes three-wheelers etc. Over a period of almost 45 years, it has seen no maintenance of any description and the only way it has been kept open for emergency use is by the volunteer labour of those who need it to reach a hospital or similar emergency facility.

Immediately prior to the advent of the Good Governance (“Yahapalanaya”) government, we held a small gathering to drum up support from the man who proved to be an incoming Cabinet Minister. In fact, I made the mistake of heaping praise in the media on this individual who promised to rectify this terrible anomaly. As they used to say in the “good old days,” “alack and alas.” Nothing has come out of all that froth and bubble except a string of excuses that are, if nothing else, insulting to the intelligence of those at whom they are directed.

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Ranil Wickremesinghe, the selfless leader of Sri Lanka

A review of Dinesh Weerakkody’s book on the Prime Minister

Saturday, 6 May 2017

Dinesh Weerakkody recently launched a biography of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe among a distinguished gathering. The keynote speech was delivered by Sashi Tharoor, Indian politician and former Under Secretary General of United Nations.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the selfless leader of Sri Lanka.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

1 BILLION LKR REMITTTED TO RAJAPAKSA’S COUSIN, AMBASSADOR UDAYANGA’S ACCOUNT

Image: Udayanga Weeratunga with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

06/05/2017

Speaking at the parliament on 05th May  Minister Mangala Samaraweera  said  that Rs 1 billion had been transferred to the account of  a close relative of former President Rajapaksa, when he was the Ambassador to the Ukraine.

” To date,14 accounts in the Commercial Bank and 2 accounts in the HSBC in Weeratunga’s name have been frozen. An international red alert is out on him and he will not be able to hide from us as we know his whereabouts” the Foreign Minister said.

Samaraweera added that Lanka’s Ambassador to the US during the previous Government had remitted a commission of USD 332,000 to a bank account during the process of a purchase of a new office building. He said the money had been handed over when investigations began.

In addition, the Minister said that a close associate of Rajapaksa, who had been employed in the Consulate General’s Office in New York during the former regime, had received a remittance of USD 100,000 into his personal account, monies which had been allocated for the former President’s expenditure. He had also obtained an additional USD 20,000 as pocket money on an earlier occasion.

“The son and daughter-in-law of Gotabaya Rajapaksa remained in the Consulate General’s Office in Los Angeles for two years during the previous regime. Two drivers had been sent there and they had taken salaries from both places. The Consulate General’s Office in Berlin was a safe house for a suspect in the Lasantha Wickrematunge murder” Minister said.

-Edited version form Rs 1B remitted to Udayanga’s Moscow Account appeared in Ceylon Today.

Why 108 security personnel for Mahinda M.P if bullet proof vehicle is unnecessary for president Maithri..? Anura Dissanayake the new body guard of Mahinda.?

(Lanka-e-News- 06.May.2017, 11.45PM)  The withdrawal of 42 security personnel from the security contingent of 108 personnel of Machiavellian mendacious ex president Mahinda Rajapakse has hurt and hit Anura Dissanayake the venal and villainous JVP  leader for the wrong reasons. He has therefore made a statement in that connection in parliament , and alleged it is a political revenge directed against Mahinda .

Anura Dissanayake the notorious JVP leader, is already best known for worst political opportunism and cutthroat-ism  was in the habit of grabbing monies from the UNP when the latter was in the opposition during the tenure of office of Mahinda Rajapakse is still persisting in that obnoxious habit. He is now  grabbing money from the Rajapakses who are in the opposition. This faceless , policy-less unscrupulous politico who is more a wheeler dealer and less a principled party leader showing concern over  the trimming  down of the security detail of former crooked and criminal ex president, even more than Namal Rajapakse the ex president’s son is therefore not a matter for surprise.

In any event , since  this faceless policy-less JVP leader has also proved he is acutely  lacking even in gray matter by showing this solicitude towards  a most corrupt and criminal  ex president  , we deem it necessary  that he is  educated  on the legal position in this regard. We hope he is intelligent and intelligible enough to understand what we are trying to teach him.

Truly , what is the security detail attaching to an ex president ? What is the strength  of the security ? Based on a decision delivered by the Supreme court (SC) on 2007-05-03 , it is most clearly stated , the ex president is entitled to 7 police constables under an ASP.

This was a court decision secured  fraudulently by none other than Mahinda Rajapakse via  a notorious chief justice (CJ) Sarath N Silva of all times , who was the best man for Mahinda Rajapakse’s wedding. He was also the same infamous CJ who gave a verdict in favor of Mahinda to save the latter  in the Tsunami fund misappropriation case that was filed against Mahinda Rajapakse.
 
That decision determining the security detail for an ex president delivered at that time after Mahinda Rajapakse became the president  was to take revenge  on Mahinda’s predecessor  ex president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge who even lost an eye  due to an LTTE suicide bomber’s  attack. 

161 security personnel of Chandrika withdrawn in a night 

The court decision was delivered on the 3 rd evening . On the 5 th morning the security contingent comprising 168 personnel of Chandrika was trimmed down to 7 police constables . That is 161 security personnel were withdrawn in a night ! When that was questioned in parliament , the chief whip of the government at that time Dinesh Gunawardena dodged the issue by not giving an answer.

That time Anura Dissanayake could not open his mouth . Perhaps he  feared if he opens,  its stench would pervade the entire parliament.  He remained silent because even at that time the venal and sinister Anura and his clan of opportunists were building their party headquarters after collecting many millions of rupees from Mahinda Rajapakse who  was propelled to  the presidential throne  by Anura and his self seeking clan.   As usual following the kickbacks received they were doing all the sordid biddings of Mahinda Rajapakse. Chandrika of course had to flee to England then  to save her life .

When  Chandika fled to England following  the curtailment of her security , Mahinda on the other hand made his PSD (President’s security division) security contingent into a team comprising as large as 4000 members of the forces .Machiavellian  Medamulana included all his murderous pals into  it ,while appointing them as majors and  captains to form illicit  para military murder squads . It were these murder squads of Mahinda’s PSD who were responsible for the abduction and attempted murder of Mervyn Silva’s son ;murder of  two University students on Kandy road while painting the picture  that was an accident; illicit digging for treasure across the entire country; and robbery of the valuable sword from the Museum. 

If Chandrika’s security is curtailed , why Mahinda be entitled to more personnel ?

Sadly , Mahinda who thought he would never taste defeat and is a nomerenna miniha (never will die) , after being thrown out lock , stock and barrel by the people  is today strangled by the same court decision he manipulated against Chandrika then. According to that court decision , ex president Mahinda should be  only entitled to 7 police officers under an ASP.

Mahinda the deposed and presently people discarded ex president is only a Kurunegala district M.P. Hence if the two security  police officers he is entitled to as an M.P. , are added , he is entitled to a security contingent of 9 police officers. If  at the peak of the war , Chandrika the ex president who was the target of the LTTE was only provided with  a security detail of 7 police officers based on a court verdict , when the war is now  over , 9 police officers as security detail for Mahinda is more than adequate .

While that is the true position , neither Maithripala Sirisena nor Ranil Wickremesinghe did  nothing   of any  sort to curtail  Mahinda’s security to that extent. When Mahinda lost at elections , he was provided with a security contingent of 213 members. Thereafter based on a security evaluation , it was reduced to 108 members. . Now he has a contingent of 66 security personnel after it was trimmed down by 42 members  . Hence the JVP leader becoming jittery  over Medamulana Mahinda’s security curtailment is  for obvious reasons given  his venal and carpet bagging traits. If the JVP leader is truly concerned ,  still he has the opportunity to become Mahinda’s bodyguard and mudguard giving up his M.P. post , in which case the country will heave a sigh of relief – the country would gain through the riddance  of another most opportunistic selfish , self seeking , sinister politician 

Vehicle to ward off lightning and Mahinda’s new bodyguard  cum mudguard 

We were critical of the good governance government over its vehicle mania , but criticizing the use of a bullet proof vehicle by the president for security reasons is reprehensible. This is because in any country the State  leader must have a special security detail. Yet Machiavellian Mahinda the presently discarded deposed ex president made a most abominable  announcement  in regard to the bullet proof vehicle used by the incumbent president.
 
Mahinda  said , he used a bullet proof vehicle because there was a war during his time when he was  president. But now , since there is no war , Maithripala Sirisena cannot be allowed to use a bullet proof vehicle. Hence , if Maithri is using a bullet proof vehicle now , it is not to protect against  bullets but against lightning striking him. Mahinda made these remarks before his lickspittles and lackeys most joyously amidst cheers. 

If  Mahinda is arguing  that since there is no war now , the security detail of president Maithripala shall  be reduced , then by the same token the security contingent of Mahinda  shall  also be reduced from 66 personnel to 9 , in accordance with what the law permits for an ordinary M.P. like Mahinda. 

All  these days when the corrupt crooked Rajapakse rascals  were being brought before the law  for their monumental rackets and frauds , it was  only the  Rajapakse crooks and criminals who screamed that  those actions were motivated  by political vendetta , but now wheeler dealer  Anura Dissanayake also falling into that category of crooks and criminals with his  ‘Anura’s deal debates’ surely deserve to be publicized  to the whole world. The true JVP members must feel ashamed at the hypocrisy , villainy and venal actions of their  leader who is a disgrace not only to the party but a bane to the entire country .

By Chandra Pradeep 

Translated by Jeff 

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by     (2017-05-06 21:50:13)

Sri Lanka’s war general faces investigation over embassy murder

May 05, 2017

ECONOMYNEXT – Retired army major general Kamal Gunaratne is under investigation over the murder of an employee at the Sri Lankan embassy in Brazil , foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera announced in parliament.

While Gunaratne was deputy ambassador, a Sri Lankan government employee Nimal Rupasinghe was murdered, the minister said.

“Now it is clear there had been a big murder at our embassy. A person who worked there, Nimal Rupasinghe, a government employee was killed when he (Gunaratne) was deputy ambassador….,” the minister told parliament on Friday. “An investigation is now going on.”

He said two others involved in the murder had been given promotions and sent to the United States from Brazil.
He did not give a motive for the killing, but the victim’s family has lodged a complaint with the authorities that he was forced to do menial jobs at the embassy.

Rupasinghe was hit on the head and killed as he tried to get a transfer back to Colombo as he could not bear cruel and degrading treatment, the family has said.

Retired major general Gunaratne was rewarded with a diplomatic posting after his role in the final phase of the war against the Tamil Tigers who were crushed by May 2009.

More recently, a complaint was lodged against Gunaratne for threatening a GCE O/L level student accused of bullying his nephew. Gunaratne initially denied intimidating the young student of D. S. Senanayake college, but later settled the case.

Gunaratne also authored a book, “Road to Nandikadal” in which he sets out his point of view of Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil separatists. Minister Samaraweera said the book was a catalogue of atrocities of the Sri Lankan military and was the evidence Tiger sympathisers abroad have been waiting for.

"Please read the book," the minister said. “He speaks about how houses were burnt and how he took pleasure watching it.”

Minister Samaraweera said the former administration had turned Sri Lankan missions abroad into safe havens for criminals who carried out murder of journalists and other human rights abuses.

He said he discovered that a key suspect in the Lasantha Wickrematunga assassination had been given a job in the Sri Lankan embassy in Berlin.

Another death squad leader had been nominated as a second secretary to the Sri Lankan embassy in Thailand. (COLOMBO, May 5, 2017 - updated)

Numbers & Flashbacks

By Mano Ratwatte –May 5, 2017

Mano Ratwatte

Émigré lankans to Lankans living, breathing, suffering politicians and garbage collapses within Sri Lanka are talking about the May Day numbers. Joining that herd, this hypocritical émigré is also chipping in his 2 paisa worth into the Indo-US vs China tug-of-war experiment that is called the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; previously known as Republic of Sri Lanka and previous to that as Ceylon.

Why don’t all the politicians really show they genuinely care for the working class? How can they do that? Just DO NOT waste money, generate huge amounts of garbage; let the people enjoy a quiet holiday with their families. US doesn’t celebrate May 1st but they celebrate on the first Monday of September. No one pumps people with booze and money to attend rallies in scorching heat.  No organizers are threatened to bring bus loads or lose standing.

If all the political leaders can say in unison “We respect working class people of Sri Lanka; we will not use you as political props; please enjoy the day off with your family and friends”, imagine Yahapaalana change which can brought about to the political psyche and culture. No more “us vs. them” division of the working class. Crowds don’t translate to election won or lost; enthusiasm does.

It is not easy to fill a large Green like the Galle Face Brown (previously green). Whatever party affiliation one doth profess, it is not easy to get massive crowds if one is in the opposition.

No free train rides or conscription of government workers from CTB or CGR or whatever JSS or other union once you have lost an election or two.

The SLFP branch now known as SLPP wins the numbers game for now. It is clear by the numbers of opinion columns( mea culpa) and the frenetic arguments, side swipes, insults and comments from all and sundry: from Tamil Tiger Eelam expats to the liberals to the conservatives to pro US liberals who denigrate every disabled poor village lad who served in the military on whose blood and sacrifices the hard fought war was ended, and who are now forgotten by those in Maybach Benzes and Colombites that something about those numbers struck a raw nerve. Otherwise why the sudden removal of security from the former twice defeated President? Is that nice? Probably not. It was not nice for some to spite CBK and remove her security during the war too. That went to the courts but the whodunnint vis-à-vis her security is anyone’s guess; because those pointing fingers at each other now were thick as thieves and single-minded in defeating the LTTE. Was President Rajapakse’s security withdrawal because the clever plan to challenge him backfired?

Numbers are important to gauge the opposition. But numbers at rallies do not indicate who will win but they do send signals of change in attitudes towards incumbent regimes. Certain people are feeling insecure because of the relentless insults and assaults on the majority ethnic group. It is easier for a governing party in to command buses, trains and have rich sponsors with gunny sacks of cash than an opposition. That has always been the case.

What is with this “us vs. them” mentality of rallies to posture and shout and scream in scorching heat? And what is with crowds and bragging about numbers?  SLFP had a large rally in 1977 too and they were routed at the polls. There were absurd slogans this writer was also guilty of shouting as a teenager in the SLFP led regime because of family.

Flashback – a: Looking back, gosh what a farce.  This writer in his eager teenage years, took part in a rally all the way from Havelock park to Galle Face shouting slogans like “Pesalaiyen thel ena thuru, miris nathuwa buth kannam, Pesalaiyen thel ana thuru seeni nathuwa they bonnam”. “Mao wani Sirimavo” etc.*

Before that, he recalls after Hon Dudley Senanayake died, and Hon Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was allegedly hooted when she went to pay her respects to him. The May Day catchers had to even shout “mathini dudleyta garu keruwaa; ung mathinita hoo kiwwa”.** There were absurd personality based slogans in the UNP rally as well as other rallies.

That was during the notorious rations and queues period; this writer confesses to enjoying the attention and the thrill too of hanging out with dedicated party supporters, sycophants and loyalists, and started harboring teeny weeny bits of ambitions of becoming political; ah luckily those dreams were shattered when he went to canvass for a family member who ended up losing to an honorable Muslim Gentleman in the sweep; a story this writer highlighted before too, because there were people who unfairly slam all Sinhalese of being racists; in the birthplace of the world’s first female Prime minister those horrible Sinhala Buddhist racist fellas turned the tide and voted for someone of another ethno-religio group. People were blunt in their verdict when one went house to house canvassing.

1977, saw the biggest rally and parade that the opposition UNP ever held. Their passion was palpable. Everyone who had an ear to the ground knew it was TAPS for the SLFP. At that parade, this writer saw his late amazing Buddhism and Sinhala teacher, and her son who were active UNP organizers in the parade shouting slogans, proudly wearing green caps. And she was an incredible teacher who gave this writer a glowing letter of recommendation despite the political differences and the occasional scolding he received.

Flashback – b: This writer will never forget such one scolding. One day, she was annoyed by the rowdy chitter-chatter during Dhammapada recitals and says “Ratwatte thamusey katawagannawa, thamuseyla deyshapalana waasiyata aagama maarukarapu ewung”.*** That was a low blow, and not true at all about this writer’s immediate family and ancestors; it was a calculated insult at the belief the assassinated SWRD converted to Buddhism for politics. Ah sometimes frustrated angry teachers held this guy by the nape quite harshly, squeezed and insulted everyone in his family!. But all in good spirit given the times. Attending public schools and getting the heartbeat of the people through classmates it was clear that was a fancy dream.

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Now the country is not at war: I do not understand how Rajapakse can argue that he needs more Security and privileges than I do -CBK

(Lanka-e-News- 06.May.2017, 11.50PM) The former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunaga issues a statement regarding Mahinda Rajapakse's Security Detail as follows 

The Regularisation of Hon. Mahinda Rajapakse's Security Detail

I watched with amusement the agitation of the Joint Opposition MP's regarding the reduction of the Security accorded to Hon. Mahinda Rajapakse.

It is pertinent to remind Hon. Rajapakse of the manner in which he treated another former president and the Security he accorded her.

I retired in November 2005, while the civil war between the State of Sri Lanka and the LTTE was going on. The LTTE issued several formal statements announcing that they would attempt to assassinate Chandrika even after her retirement, giving the main reason for this as the take-over of Jaffna from the LTTE by the Kumaratunga Government and clearing Jaffna of the LTTE, compelling the LTTE to limit themselves to the smaller areas of Killinochchi and Mullativu.

The Special Committee of the Security Council studied my security needs after retirement and suggested that I be given a Security detail of 300 personnel with the required vehicles and weaponry. Acting on my usual principle of cutting down Government expenditure to the maximum, I rejected the Security Council proposal and agreed to only 150 personnel and 10 vehicles, including security vehicles.

In September 2007, 15 months after my retirement, President Rajapakse and his brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who was responsible for the entire security apparatus of the Sri Lankan State, instructed the relevant authorities to withdraw every single one of my Security personnel, all vehicles and weaponry. I was left without any Security for two months.

Protests expressed by a few MP's of the UNP and several foreign governments (ALL MP's and other representatives of the SLFP being forbidden from talking to Chandrika Kumaratunga or taking up any issues for her) compelled the Rajapakse Government to restore a small part of her Security - 40 personnel in all and five vehicles in poor condition. Until the present day my Security remains the same.

The Sirisena/Wickramasinghe did inform me that I could ask for more Security. My Security has now been increased by only eight more Security personnel. 

At present the country is not at war, the security situation is stable and I do not understand how Hon. Rajapakse can argue that he needs more Security and privileges than I do. 

I am not surprised that Hon. Mahinda Rajapakse is acting, as usual, as if the country owes him and his family special privileges that need not be given to any other Sri Lankan.

Signed: 

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

Colombo, 6th May, 2017.

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by     (2017-05-06 21:45:06)

Rs. 330 mn for vehicles of Ministers and two officials 

2017-05-06

The government yesterday sought parliamentary approval for a supplementary estimate to cover Rs. 330 million for the purchase of vehicles for three cabinet ministers, three state ministers, a Provincial Governor and a Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Among them, Rs. 43 million is for the purchase of a vehicle for Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorala, another Rs. 42 million for Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha and Rs. 43 million for National Co-Existence, Dialogue and official Language Minister Mano Ganesan.

A further Rs. 43.7 million has been allocated for the purchase of a vehicle for city planning and water supply State Minister Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Rs. 43 million for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development State Minister Dilip Wedaarachchi and the balance payment of Rs. 29 million for the purchase of a vehicle for Skills development and vocational training State Minister Palitha Range Bandara.

Meanwhile, Rs. 43 million has been allocated for the purchase of a vehicle for Eastern Provincial Council Governor Austin Fernando and another Rs. 43 million to purchase a vehicle for the use of Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) to the Prime Minister’s office.

The estimate also sought approval to cover foreign travel expenses of Foreign Affairs Ministry and Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Ministry amounting Rs. 23.6 million and Rs. 0.9 million respectively.

A supplementary allocation of Rs. 10 million was also sought for the Expenditure on repairs and maintenance of official residence of Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha. (Ajith Siriwardana)

In photos: widespread solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian prisoners

The Electronic Intifada 6 May 2012

An estimated 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners are on an open-ended hunger strike that began on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The strike is a direct challenge to Israel’s regime of arrest and detention to try to break the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

Prisoners are specifically calling for a resumption of family visits and an end to the widespread, abusive practices of administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — and solitary confinement. Ahmad Saadat, Palestinian parliamentarian and leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is currently on hunger strike after more than three years of solitary confinement. Israel currently holds nearly 20 percent of the 132 Palestinian Legislative Council members in administrative detention.

Two prisoners, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, both being held without charge or trial, are on the brink of death after 68 days of hunger strike. Amnesty International has issued a call for urgent action to save Diab and Halahleh’s lives. Several other prisoners have also been on hunger strike for weeks and have been transferred to a prison clinic. Some, like Biab and Halahleh, have not been allowed to see independent doctors.

Today, Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights - Israel issued an urgent, joint statement regarding the grave condition of Thaer Halahleh, Bilal Diab and a third hunger striker, Hassan Safadi, whom they said are being subjected to “medical negligence” by Israeli authorities.

In contrast to the deafening silence from world media and governments, there has been widespread support for the mass hunger strike throughout historic Palestine and in exile. Nearly all Palestinian families living under Israeli occupation have been affected by Israel’s regime of arrest and detention and Palestinian political prisoners are celebrated as national heroes.

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WORLD VIEW: US Ally Gets Life for Crimes Against Humanity

President-Ronald-Reagan, with Hissene Habre, at the White House

By Jonathan Power-May 2, 2017

LAST MAY  a court in Senegal convicted and sentenced to life-imprisonment Hissene Habre, the former ruler of Chad, for the crime of torture and crimes against humanity.

On Thursday last, an appeal court upheld the sentence and now Habre, who ran from Chad after a coup in a military transport that airlifted him, his entourage and a Mercedes to what he hoped would be a luxurious exile in Senegal, is languishing in an ordinary prison cell.

Habre’s government killed more than 40,000 people during his presidency from 1982 to 1990, when he was deposed. The American government made a last-minute effort to save Habre but failed.

He had long been an important, if secret, ally. He was, according to Michael Bronner, writing in the respected Foreign Policy magazine in January 2014, “The centrepiece of the Reagan Administration’s attempt to undermine Muammar Gadaffi who had become an increasing threat and embarrassment to the US with his support of international terrorism”.

Senegal became the first country in the world to ratify the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to Hugh Brody, the head of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Senegal “is a country that always considered itself to be in the avant-garde of international law and human rights”. Nevertheless, for years it gave Habre refuge, before finally succumbing to pressure from human rights organizations, Belgium and the African Union to put him on trial.

One of the people who staggered to freedom from his jail in Chad, the moment of the release of all Habre’s political prisoners, was Souleymane Guengueng. He was a former accountant, nearly blind and barely alive. In 2013 he would prove to be Habre’s undoing.

792 Witnesses Brody sent a student law team to Senegal to interview him. While in prison Guengueng had compiled 792 witness accounts that he had coaxed out of fellow prisoners. The students hid copies of the documents in the laundry room of the monastery in which they were staying. One of them took the risk of an airport search by putting them in his bag and taking a plane home.

The next step was for Brody and his colleagues in January 2000 to file a case against Habre. Brody says, “When we began we didn’t know who was who- who would give information back to Habre. We were really afraid he would try to escape from Senegal”.

Fortunately, they had had Guengueng’s documents which were the documentary core of the case. They filed the case on January 26th. Two days later the senior investigating judged summoned the Chadians to tell their stories. The case made headlines across Africa. Four days later the judge indicted Habre and placed him under house arrest. The New York Times editorialised: “An African Pinochet…a welcome new chapter in the evolution of international law.”

But the drama still had many acts to go. On July 4th the judge was removed from the case. The following year the country’s top court ruled that Senegal didn’t have jurisdiction over crimes committed by Habre in another country.

Then Brody helped Chadian victims, who had been given refuge in Belgium, to file a criminal complaint under the country’s law of universal jurisdiction.

In 2009, after Senegal had repeatedly failed to respond to an extradition request, Belgium took the case to the World Court, the International Court of Justice. In March 2012 the court convened. Days later Senegal elected a new president, Macky Sall. He announced that Habre would be tried in Senegal. Senegal’s minister of justice, Aminata Toure, told Bronner, “We have to walk the talk”. On July 20th the World Court issued its unanimous decision, ordering Senegal to “without further delay submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.”

On June 30th 2013 the police arrested Habre at his house where he had lived in gilded exile for 22 years. The Obama Administration welcomed the trial. It began in the summer of 2015 and finished in May last year.

It was the first time that a former head of state has been prosecuted for human rights abuses in a country other than his own, (and where until recently he had enjoyed the hospitality and protection of his hosts). The conviction is also significant as it required the intervention of courts across several jurisdictions. It also required the African Union with its 54 member states to mandate Senegal’s prosecution and judges to proceed with the case. It has allowed the African Union to reclaim some of the moral high ground it has lost during its campaign of threatening to withdraw from the ICC because of its alleged bias against Africa. It points the way to reconciling the conflicting demands of international law, regional politics and national sovereignty. Other parts of the world could emulate it with their own human rights criminals.

For 17 years Jonathan Power was a foreign affairs columnist and commentator for the International Herald Tribune.