EELAM WILL BLOOM, NOT ON ACCOUNT OF TNA, BUR ON ACCOUNT OF RAJAPAKSA’S “LOTUS BUD” – SAMPANTHAN

R.Sampanthan.-20/02/2018

People have delivered a verdict and, in a democracy, the people’s verdict must be respected. The Hon. Member who moved the Motion and the Hon. Member who seconded the Motion have referred to various matters. I think, Sir, I will primarily do a brief analysis of the result of the Local Authorities Election held on 10th of February.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna polled 44.69 per cent of the votes cast at that election. The United National Party polled 32.61 per cent. The United People’s Freedom Alliance polled 8.90 per cent. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party polled 4.48 per cent. If one was to add the percentage of the votes polled by the United National Party, the United People’s Freedom Alliance and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, those three parties put together polled 45.99 per cent, almost 46 per cent.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna polled 44.69 per cent, that is almost 2 per cent less than the other three parties put together.

The People’s Liberation Front – JVP – polled 6.26 per cent and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi polled 3.06 per cent. If one was to add the percentage of votes polled by those two parties together with the percentage of votes polled by the United National Party, the United People’s Freedom Alliance and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the total would be 55.31 per cent. So, in other words, parties opposed to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have polled 55.31 per cent and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has polled only 44.69 per cent. This is indisputable. 

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election held in 2015 polled 47.58 per cent. The votes he polled at the Presidential Election in January, 2015 were more than the votes he polled now. There have been three elections in recent times; the Presidential Election in 2015, the Parliamentary Election in 2015 and the Local Authorities Election held this month. In none of these elections has former President Mahinda Rajapaksa been able to obtain more than 50 per cent.

His vote has always been below 50 per cent at the Presidential Election, at the Parliamentary Election and at the Local Authority Election. So, there is nothing to get excited about: elections are held; parties win; parties lose. The Local Authority Elections have been held and you have won. One does not dispute that fact, but the fact of the matter is that you have polled only 44.69 per cent as opposed to 55.31 per cent cast against you. So, what is there to get excited about? Nothing at all. Parliament is not constituted on the basis of votes cast at the Local Authority Elections. Parliament is constituted, -the President is elected, on the basis of votes cast at the Presidential Election – at a Parliamentary Election held for that purpose in keeping with the Constitution and the laws of this country. The Constitution and the laws of this country cannot be subverted by your claiming benefits under the Local Authority Elections to your advantage in the way you please.

I want to make a few comments, Mr. Speaker, if you permit me in regard to the nature of the propaganda that was carried on at this election. I do not want to do something controversial. But, I must refer to the fact that I was quite alarmed when, quite early in the campaign, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the course of an election rally, said that sometimes this election would result in Tamil Eelam blooming after the election is over. The reason he gave for that was, there was a new Constitution being framed which might result in that happening. Sir, ever since the Thirteenth Amendment was enacted in 1987 – 1988, there had been continued efforts on the parts of various Presidents and various Governments to improve the Thirteenth Amendment in such a manner as to bring about a political resolution acceptable to all the citizens in this country. During President Premadasa’s time, there was a Mangala Moonesinghe Parliamentary Select Committee Proposals which made recommendations which went far beyond the Thirteenth Amendment. During President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s time, there were the 2000 Constitutional Proposals brought to Parliament by no less a person than Prof. G.L. Peiris which went far beyond the Thirteenth Amendment and contained various new features in that proposed Constitution and that had been brought as a Bill to Parliament.

Thereafter President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed office. If he will recall his speech that he made at the initial meeting, the inaugural meeting of the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) and the Experts Committee, he talked of maximum possible devolution. He appointed an Expert Committees that came up with the reports. There was Prof. Tissa Vitharana Committee which came up with their own report which took the Constitutional proposals much beyond the Thirteenth Amendment and that was the position.

After the assumption of office of this Parliament, this Parliament was evolved into a Constitutional Assembly. As per a Resolution adopted unanimously in this Parliament with all the Joint Opposition Members being supportive of that Resolution, – none of you opposed it – there was a Steering Committee appointed. You participated in the proceedings of the Steering Committee. None of you opposed it. None of you talked of Eelam in this Parliament. None of you talked of Eelam at the Steering Committee. You accepted it; you went along with the process. Suddenly, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa says, “There Eelam is likely to bloom after the Local Authority Elections if the people are not careful.”

I have information, Sir, that this message was propagated amongst the innocent Sinhala people in this country. They were told, “This is a referendum for an Eelam. If you vote for the Government or if you vote for the UNP, it will result in an Eelam being created. So, do not vote for them. Vote for the ‘Lotus Bud’ ”.

I am told, Sir, that particularly this propaganda was very virulently carried out in all the temples, in all the villages in the Sinhala South. This, I think, is unfortunate, Sir. I want to put on record that my Party at this Election, in our manifesto, talked of a political solution within the framework of an undivided, indivisible, single country.

There was no campaign carried on, anyway, in the North and East which talked of division of the country. We only talked of a solution that is acceptable to our people, that is reasonable substantial power-sharing within the framework of a united, undivided, indivisible single country. That was the propaganda we carried out in all our areas and when we did that, how dare President Rajapaksa say that Eelam could bloom after the election. This is not merely deception of the people in the South, innocent Sinhala people in the South, but it is the deception of everyone including himself.

I would like to put this on record because I want everybody in this country to know that it was a malicious, vicious, fallacious, false propaganda on the part of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and if you proceed with this agenda, I want to tell you, Eelam will bloom, not on account of us, bur on account of your “Lotus Bud”. Your “Lotus Bud” will bloom into an Eelam. That is what will happen. Therefore, please resist your temptation to achieve cheap political gain by carrying on such false propaganda.

(Speech made by Hon R Sampanthan in Parliament on 118.02.18.0

Mothers of the disappeared mark one year on the streets

By: Gary Anandasangaree - Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Park 

Sri Lanka has a long and painful history of “disappearing persons” who are critical of the government. Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared in the world. Towards the end of the war around May 2009, and onwards, a new cohort of disappeared persons emerged, namely, those who surrendered to the Sri Lankan military on the days and hours leading up to, and after, the end of active combat. Some served as members of the LTTE, some in very senior positions, and some who were compelled to join in the last months of the war. Many of those who surrendered themselves to the Sri Lankan army worked within civilian roles in the defacto LTTE controlled areas, and were not active combatants. In many cases the parents, or a spouse, or another loved one, was with the surenderee when they were last seen at the hands of the Sri Lankan military. They almost never returned home. The nine years since have be turmultuous for those who are still in search of their loved ones.

Around February 20, 2017, a group of mothers, in Killinochi, Marunthankerny (Jaffna), Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Mullaithivu started roadside protests to seek answers for those who are disappeared. Their questions are fairly straightforward, yet without answers; their demands, seemingly reasonable, yet undeliverable; and their quest for justice, painful, and at times, seem unrealizable. To date, 7 of these mothers have died in the year since the protest took place.

They ask us (those from the west with any links to government or NGO’s) a very simple question: What happened to our sons and daughters? I saw him get onto a military bus. I know that she survived the end of hostilities. I was with her until the last day. I did want to leave him alone but I was promised that I can see him soon, so where is he? The answer invariably lies with the government.

The estimates of missing women, men and children range from 16,000 to as much as 60,000 unaccounted during the last weeks of the war. President Maithiripala Srisena acknowledged last year that there may be as much as 65,000 missing persons on the island. This has resulted in sleepless nights, with never ending searches for their loved ones. Every tad bit of information increases their hopes, only to be crushed when they appear to get close to their missing family member. These mothers have now taken to the streets to demand justice. They have set up make shift tents with pictures of their loved ones plastered on the walls and they stay day and night seeking justice. I had the opportunity to meet with those in Vavunia and Killinochi during my visit to these areas earlier last month, and have reflected on their future since I met them.

On the last days of the war that ended in Mullivaikal, much damage and destruction took place. Countless lives were lost, and many homes, and villages were pillaged and destroyed. As the LTTE surrendered on May 18, 2009, many of those who either served as cadres in the LTTE, or those who worked within its territories, “surrendered”. They surrendered with the belief that their lives will be safeguarded under the international laws of war. With the case of the members who served within the LTTE, the Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act., would offer a carte blanche opportunity for the Sri Lankan state to prosecute. Many of the cadres, and non-military operatives of the LTTE surrendered with their family members, either their spouses, or with spouses and children.

When the surrender took place, those who were believed to be members of the LTTE, including young people who may have not even know what they were doing, were placed in a special line, and asked to board buses operated by, or on behalf of the Sri Lankan Military. In many instances, it was the parents, or spouses, who walked and encouraged their loved ones to go onto the buses. The vast majority of those who surrendered have been seen by third parties, and often validated with accounts of these people being seen alive when last spotted. They were last seen alive in the hands of, or in the care and control, of the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Since May 2009, parents, spouses, and children searching for their loved ones were given the run around. In the first instance, some family members were extorted and misguided into giving money to army officials or unscrupulous operatives who claimed to have some links to the military. They were sent on wild goose chases to hospitals and camps and cities, only to be told, that their loved ones were not there. Concurrently, government at the time falsely stated that many of those who surrendered were released and they fled the island to places like Europe and North America. The inference was that they have abandoned their family members, including their spouses and children. These lies and misinformation continued for years. In the intervening period, those family members went to the ends of the earth to find their loved ones and demand answers.

The average family has filed complaints to some or most of the following authorities:

(a) The local Police;(b) Military Office;(c) ICRC;(d) The Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission;(e) The Paragama Presidential Commission;(f) The Presidential Task Force;(g) The Zonal Task Force;(h) The OISL Investigation;(i) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights during their state visits;(j) Complaints to Special Rapporteurs;(k) Complaints to several United Nations treaty bodies;(l) The Courts through Habeas Corpus Applications;(m) The Human Rights Commission;(n) And more, including direct pleas and petitions to politicians, including the President and Prime Minister.

Now the government in its attempt to adhere to UNHRC resolution 30-1, is setting up the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP). The OMP appears to have some administrative tools that will enable family members to access certain administrative benefits (i.e. Certificate of Absence to be issued will enable families to transfer title to property etc.) and some financial compensation, it is seen as yet another attempt to prolong and drag the families of the disappeared through another dead end process.

If the expectation is that the OMP can investigate every complaint and find the answers to the missing person, then the mothers will be deeply disappointed. The investigative powers are limited, and its ability to prosecute even more so. If the OMP finds credible evidence, then it has to hand it over to the competent authorities to prosecute. Even then, the OMP is not expected to delve deeper into all the complaints, just some emblematic cases that may reveal some consistent patterns. While this is helpful in seeking some truth, it doesn’t go to the core of what these mothers are seeking.

The handling of the issue of missing persons by the government of Sri Lanka is deeply troubling. The President, when he met with the families of the disappeared suggested that if there is any evidence that their children are alive, then he will personally drive them to the camp to find the missing persons. International dignities, and NGO’s, continue to meet with the family members, and these mothers continue to pour their hearts out. Sadly, no one is able to give them the answers they need in order to have closure.

In reality, however, most of the disappeared are unlikely to be found alive. They are likely dead, but may never be found. One thing is clear - the government is squarely responsible for this. Individual commanders and those in leadership position can share in the responsibility – the government is also responsible for prolonging the misery of families of those who disappeared as it is not addressing the root cause of the missing, but diverting the issue and covering up for its military.

The government of Sri Lanka, particularly, the current President, needs to come clean on this issue. First and foremost, provide a list of disappeared – a task that ought to be relatively easy given the amount of information that is in the government’s purview. This would build confidence by the family members that the government is serious about the plight of those who disappeared.

Secondly, the family members need assurance that the OMP is serious, that it will function independently, and be resourced adequately. The OMP needs to move swiftly towards some initial moves that will gain the confidence of the family members. A slow start void of any substantive and swift action by the OMP will deem its work irrelevant and meaningless to the victims.

Thirdly, the families need support. While many are financially struggling, their real issue is that they are unable to move forward without truth and justice. Fourth, having ratified in the UN Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances in 2016, the Sri Lankan government should honour its intnernational legal obligations to hold criminally responsible any persons involved in the disappearances leading up to, during and after the final phase of the armed conflict.

The painfully inspiring work of these dedicated women who have for a year toiled the heat and dust and pain of demanding justice cannot go home empty handed. In the Killinochi district alone, there are over 1,400 ‘disappeared’ family members seeking answers about their loved ones. After frustrating every available outlet, they have now been left with no choice but to take their struggle directly to the streets. They want the international community to take part in this struggle, and until and unless they have some answers.

The Srisena regime brought hope and renewed aspirations for Tamils in January 2015 with its election. This soon evaporated to a point now where the victims wonder what they have achieved. The normalization of post war, post-Rajapakse (and now pre-Rajapakse) era, has allowed the government to gain new-found allies in their attempts to allow the Sri Lanka state to continue to do what it has always done – that is to be accepted by the international community. You will have to excuse the mothers and the family members if they are not yet ready to reconcile while their loved ones are still accounted. The diaspora groups who often felt a need to reconcile in an attempt to assist the Sri Lankan state towards normalization must rethink their long-term strategy. Once normalized, the actual victims would not have any hope available to them in their search for truth and justice. That would result in a weakened Tamil community and lingering pain and suffering until they find answers – answers that may never come.

Gary Anandasangaree

Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Park

Quotes:

I know that many who survived the end of the war are still looking for their loved ones. This is why a robust accountability mechanism is essential for peace and reconciliation. I personally remain committed to a process of accountability that will have the trust and confidence of the victims of the war and the families of the disappeared.
  - The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, January 16, 2018

I have learned about mothers of the disappeared, the mothers who come this February will mark a year vigilance and activism to ensure that accountability and justice for husbands, and their sons, and their daughters – they inspire me…they are a reminder that our work is not done. 
  - The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for the Status of Women, January 20, 2018

Courtesy: TamilCanadian

Published on: Feb 20, 2018 20:49:50 GMT

Virtues of mother languages; Don’t turn them into vices

  

2018-02-21

Today is the International Mother Languages Day as declared by the United Nations which, in a statement says, languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and the planet. It says that yet, due to the globalization processes, mother languages are increasingly under threat, or disappearing altogether. When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression -- valuable resources for ensuring a better future -- are also lost. 

More than 50 per cent of about 7,000 languages spoken in the world are likely to die out within a few generations, and 96 per cent of these languages are spoken by a mere four per cent of the world’s population. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given pride of place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world. 

The UN says, the International Mother Languages Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. 

This year’s theme, Linguistic diversity and multilingualism is one of the UN’s sustainable development goals. To foster sustainable development, learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language or mother tongue that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are acquired. Local languages, especially minority and indigenous, transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge, thus play an important role in promoting sustainable futures. 

International Mother Language Day also supports target 6 of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “Ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.” 

In Sri Lanka while there is validity in the values and virtues proclaimed in the mother languages, it is tragic that narrow minded extremists, pseudo patriots and some elements in party politics have abused the mother tongue to spark regular riots and a devastating 25-year war that cost tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damage. 

It is commendable that, as an important lesson from this devastation, Sinhala students are now being taught the Tamil language and Tamil students the Sinhala language. All students are being encouraged to learn the English language also so that while maintaining our culture and other virtues we could make full use of the marvels of modern technology.  It is also commendable that in the public sector Sinahala workers who learn Tamil and Tamils who learn Sinhala are given special promotions. We hope that while making full use of the positive aspects of different languages and cultures, pseudo-patriots will not be allowed to whip up racial extremism. 

Languages are meant to bring about unity in diversity. But extremists who use hate speech could cause divisions violence and turmoil. We saw some elements unfortunately engaging in this and it may have been one of the causes of the current political crisis, which has caused tension, turmoil and economic instability in Sri Lanka.   

IN SOLIDARITY WITH FAMILIES OF DISAPPEARED’ YEAR-LONG PROTEST – JOINT CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT

Image: A protesting mother showing the mobile phone number her son called her in 2012 from undisclosed detention center. ( Vikalpa photo)

20/02/2018

(February 20, 2018)  Today marks one year since Families of the Disappeared took to the road in Kilinochchi, Marunthankerny (Jaffna), Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Mullaitivu demanding answers about the fate of their disappeared loved ones. Despite meetings with President Sirisena last year in which he agreed to meet the families’ demands for the release of lists of all detainees and surrendees as well as the release of all prior commission reports, to date no action has been taken to meet those demands. The undersigned civil society organizations stand in solidarity with the families’ as they continue to rightfully demand truth and justice and turn to the international community for support in these demands.

The Sri Lankan government presented the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) as the answer to addressing enforced disappearances last year. Many families of the disappeared were justifiably skeptical of the OMP from the very beginning of the formation of the Act as were we, given the lack of consultation and the secrecy with which the Act was drafted and then passed. After years of failed commissions and inquiries, families were doubtful of the government’s will to actually address disappearances through yet another mechanism. Yet families and civil society took the opportunity multiple times over the last year since the Act was passed to voice their requirements for what would make the OMP a credible process for them, and still their voices went un-heeded.

Calls for the process of nomination of OMP Commissioners to be transparent and conducted in consultation with the families were completely ignored. Even now, the only information available to families and the wider public about who has been nominated as Commissioners is through unconfirmed news reports. Instead, the President has blatantly ignored the provisions in the OMP Act around the appointment of Commissioners and allegations of political deal making within the Constitutional Council abound.

Repeated calls for the OMP to be established alongside a concurrent prosecutorial mechanism to ensure that justice could be delivered to families was also ignored. Families have been clear that they require truth and justice, and are concerned about the OMP’s side-lining of the latter. The failure of the government to set up a real accountability mechanism also calls into question the OMP’s ability to function. Without fear of prosecutions or any type of accountability what reason is there for the security forces to divulge details of what happened to the disappeared?

But most importantly the President’s promises to families in their meeting of June 12, 2017 to release the lists of detainees and surrendees have gone unfulfilled and furthermore been reneged on. The importance of meeting these demands to build the confidence and trust of families of the disappeared cannot be understated. Without meaningful buy-in from families of the disappeared any mechanism to address disappearances will fall short.

Families of the disappeared have now been on the road for 365 days through sweltering heat, rain and dust. Many actors have now come to refer to the protests as “politicized” or “politically-motivated” because the families espouse views that do not reconcile with notions of “good governance” and “regime change”. This rejection of the families lacks the basic humanity to understand the depths of pain and frustration the families feel every day as their pleas for truth about their loved ones go un-answered. Every day that they do not know what happened. Families chose to go on the road out of desperation because this government failed them – and continues to fail them.

The international community’s ‘soft diplomacy’ approach to Sri Lanka has only served to allow the government to place issues of truth, justice and accountability on the backburner, undermining any possibility of meaningfully addressing disappearances whether through the OMP or otherwise. Until and unless the voices of families of the disappeared are taken seriously in any efforts to address them, Sri Lanka will continue its cycle of letting down its most marginalized, and families will continue to suffer every day, wondering what happened to their loved ones.

We unreservedly endorse the plea of the families and urge that the international community and institutions take responsibility for finding a solution to enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka.
It is time for all concerned to take the suffering of our families seriously.

Signatories:

Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR)

Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)

Jaffna Diocesan Laity Council

Jaffna University Students’ Union

Justice and Peace Commission, Diocese of Jaffna

Mannar Citizens Committee

People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL)

SUYAM – Centre for Women’s Empowerment

SUYAMPU – Theatre Active

Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF)

UN Puts "On Hold" Deploying Sri Lanka War Figure Hewage to Lebanon, ICP Asked, Video

By Matthew Russell Lee, video here, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, February 19 – UN Peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix has been informed of the troubling past history in 2008 in Sri Lanka of a commander that country is seeking to deploy to the UN in Lebanon as early as February 18, Rathnappuli Wasantha Kumara Hewage, Inner City Press was informed and exclusively reported on February 14, and got confirmed from the UN on February 15. Now on February 19, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that following questions, the deployment of Hewage has been suspended. Video here; transcript: "We were asked last week about a Sri Lankan officer who was scheduled to deploy to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.  I can confirm that the officer’s deployment is on hold pending a review of the matter.  A decision regarding deployment of this officer will be made once the review is complete. We are in communication with the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka regarding the officer’s background and Sri Lanka is cooperating fully with our inquiries. The United Nations takes reports of potential human rights violations very seriously.  As a matter of policy, we are committed to ensuring that all personnel serving with the UN meet the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, including respect for and commitment to human rights." But why not canceled, given his record? We'll have more on this.

When Lacroix held a rare press conference on January 24, Inner City Press asked him how the UN is vetting “peacekeepers” from Cameroon, as that country's army is burning down whole villages in the Anglophone zones. Lacroix insisted that vetting is intensive. Inner City Press asked about what sources tell it, that the ostensibly vetting of troops from Sri Lanka, after the bloodbath on the beach there, consists of one OHCHR staffer in Geneva. Lacroix said he wasn't sure on that. Video here. 

After the press conference Inner City Press was contacted, and ultimately copied on a letter to Lacroix, below. On February 15, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: there's been a letter sent by… by a number of Tamil Sri Lankan groups to Mr. [Jean-Pierre] Lacroix about the… the impending… I guess, some type of a commander in UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon], Mr. [Rathnappuli Wasantha Kumara] Hewage.  And they've documented to him — he's supposed to deploy on Sunday — that, in fact, he was present during 2008 in Kilinochchi, 2009 in PTK.  These were, you know, highly controversial military actions.  So, their complaint is that, in the past, Office of Human Rights of the UN would vet people, and now that doesn't appear to be the case anymore just by…  Have you seen that letter? Spokesman:  We've… DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] has, indeed, received the letter you mentioned.  They are looking into the case of the gentleman that you mentioned with… who's scheduled be deployed to Lebanon.  As a matter of policy, we're committed to ensuring that all personnel serving with the UN meet the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, including respect for and commitment to human rights.  In accordance with existing policy, the UN should neither select nor deploy for service any individual who has been involved in violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.  In reviewing the background of personnel to be deployed, we consider available information from within and outside of the UN system, thus, will review carefully the information that has been provided to us.  Member States that provide UN personnel to peacekeeping operations also have the responsibility to certify that the personnel they nominate have not been involved, by act or omission, in violations of international humanitarian or human rights law or have been repatriated on disciplinary grounds from any UN operation.  In cases where we have concerns regarding the human rights record of specific troop-contributing countries, we put in place additional measures to ensure that the personnel deployed is in line with the UN human rights screening policy. Inner City Press: one follow-up, because I remember Mr. Lacroix specifically commented on this when he did his press conference.  Seems like these… these… these groups are saying that, in the past, the UN review these in Geneva, and now they're relying on Sri Lanka's own human rights commission, and they say the last people were deployed… Spokesman:  I think from what I understood of what I just said, we review both what the Government tells us and external and internal sources." We'll see. Here was the letter, c/o Debbie Berman, Copy to OHCHR, Geneva and InnerCityPress:

Dear Mr. Lacroix, STOP DEPLOYMEMNT OF UN PEACEKEEPER WITH FRONTLINE COMBAT EXPERIENCE IN SRI LANKA’S 2009 WAR - This is to request you to stop the planned deployment to Lebanon on Sunday 18 February 2018 of a Sri Lankan contingent commander with frontline combat command
experience in the final phase of the civil war in 2008-9. We believe that under the UN’s current vetting criteria, this commander should have been screened out of all UN peacekeeping duties. We note that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has been asked to vet UN peacekeepers from Sri Lanka but consider that ultimately the responsibility lies with your department, as according to the UN, it seeks to ensure that only “individuals with the highest standards of integrity, competence and efficiency” are hired. The Sri Lankan Army says Lt. Col. Rathnappuli Wasantha Kumara Hewage is due to head the 12th Force Protection Company (FPC) for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) An online search of Lt. Col. Hewage reveals he was involved in the assault on Kilinochchi town in Northern Sri Lanka on 22 December 2008 and located in PTK in late February 2009." 

Inner City Press accompanied and covered Ban Ki-moon's trip to Sri Lanka in 2009, and subsequent acceptance of Shavendra Silva as a senior UN Peacekeeping adviser. After Inner City Press published how Palitha Kohona got his former landlord to sponsor, on behalf of the UN Correspondents Association, a screening of the government's genocide denial film "Lies Agreed To," Inner City Press was threatened with ouster from the UN, which occurred, and Inner City Press is still restricted to minders under the Department of Public Information run by British Alison Smale. Meanwhile as noted in the letter, the UN does less and less human rights vetting. We'll have more on this.

While at least four countries have issued travel warnings in the wake of Bangladesh's arrest and crackdown on the resulting protests, the UN on February 8 hid from the issue, and from the need to better vet the security forces the UN is accepting from Bangladesh in light of the crackdown. Inner City Press asked, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: on Bangladesh.  I mean, you had said… the arrest took place some time ago, and various countries have put out already travel warnings, so I'm wondering, at a minimum… the UN with its country team there, have they taken note of what's taking place in the street? Deputy Spokesman:  I've told you what I've got on that for now. Inner City Press: given that there's live fire, you say… very recently, DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] put out a statement thanking Bangladesh for its peacekeepers, and I'm sure they've done great work, but there have been repeated issues of abuses by the security forces, or seeming abuses, killing of civilians, use of live fire on protesters.  Can you describe what vetting goes on, and… and the recent spate of… of these thank you, messages put out by DPKO, are they in any relation to… to… to the vetting process that's going on or issues that have arisen in various delegations, contingents of peacekeepers? Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq:  All peacekeepers are vetted to make sure that they have not engaged in any practices that involve the violation of human rights.  And we go through that on a country-by-country basis. Inner City Press: And so have there been any Bangladesh peacekeepers blocked in the last five years, given the events in the country in which units by name have taken place in crackdowns on their own civilians? Deputy Spokesman:  We raise all concerns with any particular members of incoming peacekeeping troops with the troop-contributing country to make sure that no one is deployed who does not meet our standards." What standards are those? In other news, with Maldives' President declaring a state of emergency, on February 5 Inner City Press  asked the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Stephane Dujarric about it at noon on February 5, before the US then spoke, below.  Under Guterres and his outgoing head of Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, both headed to Korea, it took the UN a full 18 hours to come out with two paragraphs on February 6, below. On February 8, UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca was to brief the UN Security Council about the Maldives under "Any Other Business." But Jenca did not speak to the Press on the way in or out of the Council. Past 2 pm when Kuwait's Ambassador, the President of the Security Council for February, gave a summary of the day's meetings, Maldives wasn't on it. Inner City Press asked, loudly, but no answer; later it was explained that since AOB topics are not listed in the UN Journal, the President feels he cannot speak to it. It would be up to the Secretariat. But under Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretariat says and disclosed less and less. If a briefing on a crackdown happens but no one was speak about it, does it make a sound? Some ask, why is Guterres not sending some sort of envoy or mediator? It can't be that he feels he needs total consent: he sent Nigeria's former president Obasanjo to Kenya, where both sides said they never met with him. So why the different approach to the Maldives? We'll have more on this. The UN's statement from earlier on February 6: "The Secretary-General is seriously concerned about the unfolding situation in the Maldives, in particular the declaration of a state of emergency and the entry of security forces into the Supreme Court premises. The Secretary-General urges the Government of the Maldives to uphold the constitution and rule of law, lift the state of emergency as soon as possible, and take all measures to ensure the safety and security of the people in the country, including members of the judiciary." From the UN transcript: Inner City Press: it seems like President Abdulla Yameen [Abdul Gayoom] has not complied with releasing the opponents.  In fact, he's issued a state of emergency.  I'm wondering, is there… is DPI… is DPA (Department of Political Affairs) actually involved, or is it just… is it issuing statements from New York, or is it trying to speak with him and engage and…? Spokesman:  I think we're very concerned with the ongoing developments in the Maldives, including what we've seen in the last 24 hours.  We're following it very closely.  And I would… you know, the Secretary-General would, again, call on the Government to respect the court ruling and for restraint to be exercised.  And we… I do expect a more formal statement on this shortly." A the UN, shortly means 18 hours. How far will today's UN go to placate some countries, while ignoring others and restricting the Press? On January 26 UN "global communications" chief Alison Smale flew to Charleston, South Carolina for a photo op and UNTV video with China's Xiamen Airlines for having painting the UN's "SDGs" logo on the side of an airplane. This without having answered Press questions about her Department of Public Information's malfeasance with resources allocated by the General Assembly for Kiswahili and about the lack under her "leadership" of any content neutral UN media access rules. Afterward, when Inner City Press asked for the mp4 video of her South Carolina junket - Inner City Press is informed that the plane she celebrated could not in fact fly - it was told to "Ask UN Webcast," which is under Smale. They were asked - and have not given the video. Nor has Smale offered any response to a detailed petition two weeks ago, while re-tweeting her former employer the NYT and current boss Antonio Guterres. But who is making who look bad? And how can a former NYT editor have no content neutral media access rules, and no answers? As she restricts Inner City Press from its UN reporting onCameroon, Myanmar, Kenya, Yemen and elsewhere? We'll have more on this. While any country would try to get the UN to promote its airline, if the UN would do it, Smale is the UN official who responsible for Inner City Press being restricted and evicted as it reports on the UN bribery scandal of Patrick Ho and China Energy Fund Committee. Smale hasn't even deigned to answer petitions in this regard, in September (she said she recognized the need for the "courtesy" of a response, never given) and in January -- too busy flying to South Carolina to promote an airline:

 Today's UN of Antonio Guterres, who just metwith ICC indictee Omar al Bashir, and his Deputy Amina J. Mohammed who has refused Press questions on her rosewood signatures and now the refoulement of 47 people to Cameroon from "her" Nigeria, has become a place of corruption and censorship. On January 30 as Inner City Press sought to complete its reporting for the day on Guterres' Bashir meeting and Mohammed's Cameroon no-answer, it had a problem. It was invited to the month's UN Security Council president's end of presidency reception, 6:30 to 8:30 - but with its accreditation reduced by censorship, it could not get back into the UN after 7 pm, to the already delayed UN video. It ran to at least enter the reception - but the elevator led to a jammed packed third floor, diplomats lined up to shake the outgoing UNSC president's hand. Inner City Press turn to turn tail back to the UN, passing on its way favored, pro-UN correspondents under no such restriction. Periscope here. Inner City Press has written about this to the head of the UN Department of Public Information Alison Smale, in Sepember2017 - no answer but a new threat - and this month, when Smale's DPI it handing out full access passes to no-show state media. No answer at all: pure censorship, for corruption. Smale's DPI diverted funds allocated for Kiswahili, her staff say, now saying they are targeted for retaliation. This is today's UN. Amid UN bribery scandals, failures in countries from Cameroon to Yemen and declining transparency, today's UN does not even pretend to have content neutral rules about which media get full access and which are confined to minders or escorts to cover the General Assembly. 

Inner City Press, which while it pursue the story of Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng's bribery of President of the General Assembly John Ashe was evicted by the UN Department of Public Information from its office, is STILL confined to minders as it pursues the new UN bribery scandal, of Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio allegedly bribing President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa, and Chad's Idriss Deby, for CEFC China Energy. 

Last week Inner City Press asked UN DPI where it is on the list to be restored to (its) office, and regain full office - and was told it is not even on the list, there is no public list, the UN can exclude, permanently, whomever it wants. This is censorship.

Militant Buddhism: Sri Lanka soldiers construct walls of Buddhist vihara in Amparai

20Feb 2018 

The Sri Lankan military declared that it had completed the construction of the walls of a Buddhist vihara in Amparai, as the army continued its involvement in consolidating Sinhala Buddhist presence in the North-East.

A Buddhist ceremony was held at the Mahawapiya temple in Amparai, after construction by the Corps of Engineer Service (CES) and 16 Sri Lanka National Guard (SLNG) of 24 Division was completed earlier this month.

The chief monk at the vihara, “offered his special gratitude to the 24 Division for provision of professional technical assistance to sacred places in Amparai District,” reported a military website.

The latest construction comes amidst a pledge by the United National Party to build 1000 Buddhist viharas in the Tamil homeland, under the guise of reconciliation.

The Sri Lankan state has stepped up the construction of Buddhist shrines across the North-East since the brutal end of the armed conflict in 2009, often with Sri Lankan troops involved in the building.

The US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 said the continued building of such sites despite objections from locals and leaving civil society with the perception of “Buddhist Sinhalese religious and cultural imperialism”.

Related Articles: 

01 February 2018 : UNP pledges to build 1000 Buddhist shrines in Tamil homeland

16 August 2017 : Sri Lanka's Buddhist statues in North-East leave perception of 'imperialism' says US State Dept

05 September 2017 : Buddhas on the A9 - Sinhalisation of Vavuniya

12 August 2017 : Buddhas encroaching Kovils - Sinhalisation of Point Pedro

13 July 2017 : Sri Lankan army renovates Buddhist vihara in Kilinochchi

15 March 2017 : Sri Lankan military building Buddhist vihara on occupied Keppapulavu land

09 June 2015 : Sri Lankan military continues to build Buddhist temples in North-East

04 June 2015 : Arrests at protest against army-built Vihara

Preserving linguistic diversity and traditions

  

 2018-02-21

Mother language or mother tongue is the language used and spoken by the mother, father and other members of the family of an infant.

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• Mother speaks with baby while feeding, soothing...
• More appropriate to call it the family language
• Powerful instruments of heritage
• He pulled down the Union Jack and trampled on it

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This language is inherited by the infant by virtue of his or her birth in that family. Thus Sinhalese is the mother language of a baby born to a Sinhalese speaking family and Tamil is the mother language of an infant born to a Tamil speaking family.

Likewise, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Russian and various other languages are the mother languages of those who are born to respective families using and speaking such languages.

Mother speaking to the baby while feeding, soothing, lulling, pacifying, bathing, washing and dressing and whenever she wants to show and express her love to her infant son or daughter he or she starts to like and love the mother and listens attentively to the words of the mother and learns the language word by word especially when she sings songs in a bid to put him or her in bed.
Very often the infant first learns the words such as Amma, Umma or Mami (Mommy), indicating the mother and words such as Papa, Appa, Ayya indicating the father.

On the Mother Language Day, we should remember that our Mother Languages should be given the due recognition in view of the need to preserve it.

Afterwards, they utter words indicating the other members of the family including the brothers, sisters, and grandparents. Later they learn words and numbers and thus they learn the language of the mother and hence it is called the mother language or the mother tongue. Presumably, it is more appropriate to call it the family language because the infants learn it from all the members of the family and not solely from the mother.

Promoting and developing fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the disseminate mother tongue will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding tolerance and dialogue.

All groups of people are desirous of preserving and developing their tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

Relations among mother language and religious heritage  

Generally, those who use and speak common mother languages build their own culture. There is a binding effect. There may be members belonging to different religious groups but they tolerate one another because of the binding effect and solidarity built among them.

Language should be at the junction of many sensitive and diverse problematic areas. The use or non-use of a language in the public spheres such as schools, the media or the internet is thus linked to levels of individuality, national alliance or power.

People deprived of their legitimate rights

In the past, the people in countries which came under foreign domination were deprived of their legitimate right of using their mother languages. This has adversely affected the national heritage of the respective nations or countries.

The traditions, qualities and culture of those countries which existed for long periods of time and which are extremely important to those countries could not be passed on to future generations affecting the masses socially, culturally and economically

Mother languages under the threat of extinction

There are about three thousand languages in the world but only a limited number of them are used internationally. Many of these languages are under the threat of extinction. Agitations are made constantly by various sources for the recognition of mother languages as State languages. As a result, February 21 has been proclaimed as the International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in November 1999.

International recognition of the language movement

In a bid to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism the International Mother Language Day is observed annually by the UNESCO member states and at the UNESCO Headquarters.

This is mostly the international recognition of the language movement day, which had been commemorated in Bangladesh (Former East Pakistan) since 1952 when a number of Bengali speaking people were killed by the then Pakistan Police and the Army in Dhaka (Formerly Decca)

Students campaign for the recognition of Bengali as one of the State languages

On February 21, 1952, a number of students campaigning for the recognition of Bengali as one of the State languages of Pakistan were killed when Police fired on them.

A Masters Student of the University of Dhaka, Abdul Barket, a student of the Manikgonj District, Rafiquddin Ahmad and an employee of the accounts section in the Dhaka High Court Shafiur were the Language Martyrs, who were killed on February 1952.

Following that Bangladesh officially sent a proposal to UNESCO requesting the world body to adopt a resolution declaring February 21 as the International Mother Language Day.

This proposal was seconded by Ivory Coast, Italy, Indonesia, Iran, Oman, Comoros, Gambia, Chile, Dominion Republic, Pakistan, Papua, New Guinea, Prague, Philippines, Bahamas, Vantaa, India, Micronesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Russia, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Surinam and Honduras.

Mother Language in Sri Lanka in the past

During the reign of Sinhala kings, Sri Lankans enjoyed the privilege of using the mother language.
Foreign languages had not been introduced to our ancestors. Only Sinhala and Tamil languages which are our mother languages had been used in communication by our forefathers.

However, under the Western rule from 1505 onwards, the people of this country were ruled by three powers, Portuguese, Dutch and the British, who spoke and used languages other than our own and which are alien to us.

Communication between the rulers and the subjects did not work well.

There were very limited opportunities for higher education in Sinhala and Tamil. After the Senior School Certificate Examination (Jesta Pathashala Sahathika Patra Vibhagaya), a limited few could advance their education in mother languages, which were referred to as vernacular languages. Until 1956 University education was provided only in the English medium.

Examinations for the recruitment of candidates for positions in the Public Service were conducted only in the English medium, holders in the positions in the Ceylon Civil Service (Later the Ceylon Administrative Service and SLAS), Accountants Service, Engineering Service, and the Government clerical and allied services were conducted only in the English medium.

However, foreign domination could not prevent patriots from maintaining the eminence of our mother languages while preserving our culture.

Buddhist clergy played the pivotal role. Venerable Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Thera is an example.
He pulled down the Union Jack and trampled on it in protest against the Colonialism. The objective of these protests and agitations was to save the country, religion and the language from foreign domination.

Weera Keppetipola, Weera Puran Appu, Gongalegoda Bandara were some of the leaders who fought for the liberation from foreign rule and to save the country, religion and the mother languages.
Special mention should be made about the monk, S. Mahinda Thera who instigated and urged on the Sinhala community to fight for the language and nationalism.

Sinhala and Tamil languages remained rich, especially with religious literature. Grammar or the rules of using mother languages were laid down in books such as Sidat Sangarawa. In spite of step-motherly treatment, the methods of using these languages in the correct form were taught by scholars like Munidasa Kumaratunga. In spite of implementing the Official Language Act, the discussions in the Parliament were continued to be conducted mainly in English as it is the language common to most of the members.

Some Parliamentarians were not happy with it. One such Parliamentarian was T.B. Tennakoon, who was elected to Parliament in 1956 and was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs. Mr Tennakoon could speak and understand English but he preferred to speak in the mother language. Under the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government, he became a Cabinet Minister.

On the Mother Language Day, we should remember that our Mother Languages should be given the due recognition in view of the need to preserve it.