Sri Lanka: awaiting justice for a decade

Some of the lands of survivors are yet to be released, relatives are still missing and reconciliation is afar

Meera Srinivasan-
MAY 18, 2019

Given a choice between living in a camp for displaced persons and in a home of his own, Dinesh Kumar would have chosen the latter any day. But nothing prepared him for the daily battle at his new house.

“I go to the sea to fish, but the catch has fallen drastically in the years we were displaced. I do some home gardening with my wife, we barely manage,” said the 30-year-old, standing in front of his small, Army-built house in Tellippalai, in Jaffna peninsula. Authorities have named the colony ‘Nallinakkapuram’ (colony of reconciliation). But for residents here, concerns over finding livelihood and drinking water have trumped the relief of being back on their land.

Over the last couple of years, over 80 families have relocated here, after being displaced for decades during Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long civil war between the state armed forces and rebel Tigers. The war ended 10 years ago with a brutal finish, as the armed forces defeated the LTTE. It claimed 40,000 civilian lives in the last phase alone, leaving behind a trail of grief and mass destruction.

For the survivors, healing hasn’t been easy. The post-war efforts of the two governments in power since 2009 have at best been patchy, and grossly inadequate, going by several residents’ accounts.

With justice out of sight, reconciliation appears even harder for some. Nallinakkapuram residents pointed to gaping holes in the roof of their homes built by the Army. During the rains, many are forced to seek shelter elsewhere. Residents in some other areas, who tried building their own homes with foreign donor grants, often found themselves trapped in debt. The grants proved insufficient amid spiralling costs and jobs remain scarce in the war-hit areas.

 

The lack of jobs and the pressure of predatory loans, especially among women, have been recurring themes across the Northern and Eastern Provinces, which have tried bouncing back for a decade now. A Presidential Task Force has been working on reviving old factories to generate employment, but the pace has hardly helped, according to many.

Emerging local conflicts over land and water among former and newly resettled residents have not only fanned tensions within the community, but point to the many challenges in resettlement.
Seemingly ‘bread-and-butter issues’, they add up to a stifling post-war reality that makes everyday life significantly harder for the war-hit community. “We lost our homes, we lost our loved ones. Today, as we try to build a new life for our children, we are struggling to make ends meet,” said a resident, who asked not to be named, citing possible “action” from the military. “Why take a risk,” he said.

Militarisation

Ten years after the war, there are families in the north who are still agitating to retrieve their military-held land. Most of the private land held by the Army has been returned in the last few years, but the military still holds considerable amount of state land which, residents say, ought to be used for the public, or for the thousands who don’t make it to beneficiary lists of various projects because they are landless.

“With so few jobs available, a relative of ours worked in an Army-run farm until last year. But wearing the uniform they give and toiling in their farms made her uncomfortable after a point,” said a young woman in Kilinochchi, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “In our case I work in a garment factory, so she quit, but some people don’t have a choice.”

For those who were already concerned about the lingering military presence after the war, the recent Easter attacks have brought a new, but familiar concern. “The attacks were somewhere else, but the military started intimidating us in the north first. The number of security checks and the heightened surveillance is bringing back awful memories of those war years,” said Leelavathi Ananthanatarajah, an activist based in Kilinochchi.

Old fears

“Some of us are hoping to go to Mullivaikkal tomorrow for remembrance, but we fear they will try to prevent us from even remembering the dead,” she said.

The post-war years have been rather unkind to many like her who are looking for their missing relatives. Enforced disappearances are among the chief concerns of many survivors of the war.

The Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government set up the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) “only to show Geneva that they are doing something,” she said, referring to annual UNHRC sessions.

“We know their task is huge and not straightforward. But we say take some five cases where substantial evidence is available. Show us how you might deal with those cases for us to put our faith in the mechanism,” said Ms. Ananthanatarajah, secretary of an association of families of disappeared persons in the north-east.

Moreover, politicians who promise to deliver on accountability never fail to mention they will never punish a “war-hero”. “What are the chances that we will know the truth? And authorities speak of interim relief and reparations already. That could only mean that authorities think justice is dispensable for us, right? Surely it is not,” she said.

Peace is still elusive 10 years after end of conflict in Sri Lanka

By Gary AnandasangareeOpinion-Fri., May 17, 2019

Ten years ago, the 26-year-old armed conflict ended in Sri Lanka — and yet peace has not yet been achieved. As we mark this solemn anniversary on May 18, the prospects for peace and security have never been dimmer.

Having claimed victory in the armed conflict in 2009, the Sri Lankan government could have enacted measures to achieve peace. The president at the time, Mahinda Rajapaksa, instead further traumatized those who survived the armed conflict by placing the 300,000 Tamil civilians who survived Mullivaikal (the sliver of land where the armed conflict ended) in open prison camps.

With an over presence of members from the Sri Lankan military in these prison camps, many Tamil civilians were tortured, sexually abused, and further victimized.

Months later, as civilians were released, many were unable to return to their traditional lands as they were occupied by the military. The military continues to occupy civilian lands in the North and East of the Island. Family members who saw their loved ones surrender to the Sri Lankan army during the final hours of the conflict have never heard from them again.

Instead, these families of the disappeared have been on a never ending search for answers. Those who were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act continue to languish in prison – a place rampant with systematic and widespread torture and abuse. These civilians continue to live in highly militarized environments with constant reminders that peace has eluded their lives. Hence, those who survived Mullivaikal continue to live in limbo, without any answer, or justice to the atrocities committed.

 

In these 10 years the Sri Lankan government’s meagre attempts to build confidence, seek justice and ultimately attain peace have proven to be disingenuous.

The United Nations Human Rights Council established an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2014. In 2015, the UN investigation concluded that war crimes and crimes against humanity occurred on the island.

Following these conclusions and as a result of sustained international pressure, the Sri Lankan government committed to establishing a domestic hybrid legal process to investigate and prosecute these allegations. The government of Sri Lanka has not been forthcoming in its commitment to enact domestic laws covering war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Sri Lankan government failed to seize the opportunity to transform the Sri Lankan state to ensure that it reflects the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious nature of its polity. Rather, 10 years onward, Sri Lanka failed to capture and address the root causes of the conflict, first and foremost, between the Tamil people and the Sri Lankan state, and second, among other minorities on the island.

The unitary state structure fails to ensure that the Tamil population in the Northern and Eastern provinces are afforded even basic decision-making powers over their land, language, culture and policing, let alone a robust federal framework where the Tamil population could have self-determination over matters. This structure also reinforces the primacy of the Sinhala language and the Buddhist religion within the constitution. In these 10 years, these realities were reinforced, both by action and in words.

The Easter Sunday attack on Christian churches, and the ensuing attacks and targeting of the Muslim population have changed the terrain on the island. It is not that these fault lines were not already alive, but the Easter Sunday attacks highlighted the abject failure of the Sri Lankan state to protect minorities. The investigation that followed reveals further lapses within the Sri Lankan security structure and its dysfunctional government.

The full potential of Sri Lanka cannot be met if the state and its people do not recognize the true nature of the state. The current state structure does not work.

The current leadership, and those leaders in waiting, lack the bold leadership required to ensure that justice is served, a new political pact is established, and minorities on the island are protected. The current majoritarian Sinhala/Buddhist state structure have not served the island well, and in order to move forward, the state must reflect the needs and aspirations of all of the people on the island.

Ten years on, the island cannot afford a bloodbath. It needs to seek truth, ensure accountability, deliver justice and rework its polity. Otherwise, failure to learn from history may risk repeating it.

Gary Anandasangaree is a human rights activist and is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Park.

The end of something

Sanjana Hattotuwa-May 18, 2019, 6:40 pm 

A decade after the end of the war, Sri Lanka is visibly, and far more than what’s acknowledged or reported openly, reeling from violent conflict. The anti-Muslim riots last week – of a scale, scope and speed of destruction that dwarfed Digana just over a year ago – coupled with the increase of everyday racism and attacks in Negombo, after the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, have kept the country on tenterhooks. The responses are revealing. A President and Prime Minister, who do not speak to or work with each other, call upon the public to be united and undivided.

In Singapore, and by some accounts, shopping, at the time of the Easter Sunday attacks, the President took over a day to return to the country. At the time of the anti-Muslim riots last week, the President was attending a banal conference in China. Mob violence that featured horrific public lynching, the destruction of nearly 500 buildings including mosques, widespread looting, wanton vandalism and violence against Muslim women, children and men, didn’t, however, compel the President to issue a statement of any kind, to date. How can one comprehend, much less counter, this callousness?

On social media, hundreds of pages that have whipped up communal tension either by normalising majoritarianism or by directly attacking Muslims before and after Easter Sunday, suddenly pivoted to messages of calm, reflection and non-violence, appealing to the mobs to exercise their franchise instead of taking matters into their own hands. Coded and couched in some of the messaging was a clear call to change government, which is a dark signature across many hundreds of pages that while commendably calling for non-violence, featured no condemnation of the violence, those who took part in it, the violence against the Muslims or the odious Buddhist monks who were part of the mobs. The pivot to celebrating Vesak, at scale and across many hundreds of sites that are hugely popular, now shapes the conversation and influences engagement away from the aftermath of the unprecedented destruction, once again producing and promoting country, community, cities and context write large through an exclusive Sinhala-Buddhist lens, which is its own continuing violence.

Eerily and disturbingly reminiscent of the awful Channel Four video from a decade ago, the controversy of CCTV footage capturing a soldier ostensibly beckoning violent mobs was comprehensively debunked by the Army Commander. After investigations by the Army, we are told, the footage revealed that the soldier was adjusting the strap attached to his weapon, and not, as widely perceived, beckoning a violent mob. The Army Commander, who after Easter Sunday claimed that the reason for terrorism was ‘too much of peace’ and ‘too much of freedom’ is silent as to why, once the soldier moves away, the screen is flooded with hundreds of young men wielding sticks and stones, walking and destroying freely. The government has repeatedly said that maximum force will be used against anyone disobeying curfew. The visual evidence, from Negombo and again from last week, tells a different story on the ground and one which the government is silent on, and perhaps, helpless around. It’s frightening and speaks to one of two scenarios. Either the command and control structure of the defence forces has collapsed, with strict orders unheeded, and with impunity, by foot soldiers. More worryingly, the unwillingness and seeming inability of armed Police and Army to arrest or control violent mobs, literally in front of their eyes, suggests connivance, complicity and compliance with a set of instructions not in the public domain. Those who appear to be in control may not command allegiance, and those more in control, may not be in government.

After the riots, the BBC ran with stories that spoke to how several Sinhalese had helped Muslims in the worst affected areas by giving them safe refuge, even as their properties were burnt. Since Easter Sunday, a leitmotif of Muslims - beyond the theatrics of those in Parliament and old men hogging the headlines – is to state the many ways they too are, at heart, in spirit, body, mind and soul, truly Sri Lankan. It has been distressing and disturbing to watch, almost as if this public expression is necessary to remind a larger community of what they say. Worse, that those not saying it or enthusiastically agreeing, are somehow suspect. This is also the larger language of systemic, ingrained racism, which latches to acts, statements, media coverage and stories around acts of kindness by the Sinhalese or Buddhists, without adequate questioning that goes to the heart of why ethnic, religious, sexual and other minorities in Sri Lanka live in growing fear. Even as stories from the North of Sri Lanka speak to how the Army has escalated checks and surveillance of Tamils, who had nothing whatsoever to do with the Easter Sunday terrorism, social media and the South started to venerate and hero worship soldiers. Even presented with evidence over a fortnight around how they mingled with mobs, the veneration continues. For a decade, questions around accountability have endured, anchored to the end of the war. If in 2019 hundreds of men, repeatedly roaming free during curfews, are able to gather, travel, kill and leave a wake of destruction, it doesn’t leave much to the imagination as to what ground conditions would have been like a decade ago against the Tamils, in a context far removed from CCTV, independent media and social media’s critical gaze.

Every video and story which continues to celebrate the humanity, kindness and protection afforded by Sinhalese-Buddhist is an embrace of racism, not a rejection. The reason these stories are needed, made and so warmly, widely welcomed, is because they serve as a temporary palliative – making a larger community who are participants and architects of everyday racism feel good, that they are somehow removed from the natural end of what they believe in. The South wants othering, without violence, exclusive rights, without marginalisation, a country for itself, as well as minorities who know their place, their own shops, stickers and signs, without allowing minorities to do the same. The mainstream media’s racism is well-known, founded on the political affiliations and partisan aspirations of owners. The opposition, quick to vociferously decry Muslim MPs in and out of Parliament, is completely silent on the outright hate and misinformation spread by card-carrying party cadre on social media, as well as that curious incident of the SLFP MP bailing out and transporting mobsters. A President, entirely and enduringly silent around anti-Muslim violence, blames human rights activists and NGOs for the Easter Sunday terrorism. Impunity abounds, as does hypocrisy. And yet, we just go on as if everything is fine.

This week, innumerable references from leading politicians, religious figures and civil society on the end of the war as well as the anti-Tamil pogrom in July 1983 were used to calm heightened emotions and quell the violence. Save for a handful, the most active on social media today weren’t alive in 1983 and were too young to critically engage with conditions, context and conversations at the end of the war, a decade ago. The warnings, in this light and for a younger demographic, are resonant and relevant. They also miss the point that we are already witnessing another Black July. Since Easter Sunday, the spread, scale and scope of violence – verbal and kinetic, digital and physical – against the Muslims and Tamils indicates the success of the Easter Sunday terrorism, targeted precisely to prise open festering communal divisions. As a post on Facebook sardonically noted, Sinhala Buddhists in greater numbers took over the task of ISIS terrorism, gratefully and with glee. The structural conditions, the systemic racism, the sustained impunity, seething violence and sickening impunity, controlled and condoned by the State in July 1983, are on full display in May 2019.

This weekend, we celebrate Vesak and the end of war. The ironies could not be starker.

Sri Lanka: Failed Pledges Mar 10 Years Since War’s End

Women mourn at the graves of their relatives who died in 2009 during the last days of the war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, May 18, 2015.

 © 2015 AP Photo

May 17, 2019

(New York) – Ten years since the end of Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war, the government has failed to provide justice for the conflict’s many victims, Human Rights Watch said today. The conflict ended on May 18, 2009, with the total defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The Sri Lankan government pledged to provide justice for wartime abuses and to take other measures to promote respect for human rights in a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution adopted in October 2015. While there has been some progress to address these commitments, there has been none to provide justice and accountability.

“The end of Sri Lanka’s long civil war in May 2009 provided an opportunity not only to rebuild shattered lives and society, but also to restore respect for rights and the rule of law,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director. “Yet successive Sri Lankan administrations have frittered away this opportunity, failing to investigate atrocities by both sides, hold those responsible for the worst crimes accountable, or provide truth and reparations to the victims.”

Under Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, Sri Lanka committed to 25 key undertakings across a range of human rights issues. A core pledge was to set up four transitional justice mechanisms to promote “reconciliation, accountability and human rights” in the country. These included an accountability mechanism involving international judges, prosecutors, investigators, and defense lawyers; a truth and reconciliation mechanism; an office on missing persons; and an office for reparations.

The Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations overcame delays and were established, but neither is fully functioning. There has been no progress on establishing a war crimes tribunal with international involvement. Instead, Sri Lankan political leaders have repeatedly opposed using foreign judges, who would be less vulnerable to threats, and said that “war heroes” will be protected from prosecution.

In March 2019, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, told the Human Rights Council that in Sri Lanka, “there has been minimal progress on accountability. Continuing impunity risks fuelling communal or interethnic violence, and instability. Resolving these cases, and bringing the perpetrators of past crimes to justice, is necessary to restore the confidence of victims from all communities.”

Numerous UN experts and treaty bodies since 2015 have highlighted the marginalization and misrepresentation faced by minority communities, as well as a trust-deficit between these communities and the government that has been due in significant part to a culture of impunity.

The Sri Lankan government has also not fulfilled its 2015 commitment to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which allows prolonged detention without trial. Those detained under the law have frequently been subjected to torture and sexual violence. A proposed replacement, the draft Counter Terrorism Act, is before parliament. While the bill is an improvement on the Prevention of Terrorism Act, several problematic provisions remain, and there are reports that amendments will be introduced to further undermine human rights protections. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to arrest and detain people under the existing law.

The torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, particularly in political cases, has remained a problem since the end of the conflict. The UN special rapporteur on torture found after a 2016 visit to Sri Lanka that “torture and ill-treatment, including of a sexual nature, still occur, in particular in the early stages of arrest and interrogation, often for the purpose of eliciting confessions.”

The government also promised in 2015 to return land to families that the military appropriated during the war and still occupied. The security forces have not only used this land for military purposes, but also for agriculture, tourism, and other commercial ventures. While the government has released land in a number of sites in the north and east, the process in returning other sites has been slow.

Instead of taking action against those implicated in past abuses, the government has often protected and promoted them. In January 2019, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, whose 58 Division was linked to numerous laws-of-war violations during the final months of the war, became army chief of staff. On May 11, the government reinstated Prabath Bulathwatte, a military intelligence official whose unit was accused of attacks on at least three journalists, including the 2009 murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.

The appalling Easter Sunday bombings and the ensuing mob violence targeting Muslims underline existing tensions in Sri Lanka 10 years after the war’s end and the urgent need to uphold human rights protections. The government enacted emergency regulations after the attacks that provide sweeping powers for detention without trial and curtail freedom of expression and other fundamental rights. The police have been slow to respond to mob attacks on Muslim shops and businesses, in which at least one man has died.

The government needs to act promptly and adequately to protect marginalized groups from harassment and violence while upholding basic due process standards and respecting international law.

The UN and concerned governments should maintain engagement with and pressure on the Sri Lankan government to protect human rights and promote reform, reconciliation, and accountability.

“On the tenth anniversary of the end of the war and in the aftermath of the Easter bombings, the Sri Lankan government should recommit itself to defending the human rights of everyone in Sri Lanka,” Ganguly said. “For that to happen, the government needs to live up to its commitments to provide justice, compensate those harmed, and reform laws and practices to uphold human rights standards.”

Take tough decisions - Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa

GAGANI WEERAKOON- MAY 19 2019

Former President and incumbent Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview with Ceylon Today said, a terrorist of religious extremism doesn’t really have a religion. His beliefs don’t represent a religion or a race.

EXCERPTS:

The country is yet to return to a state of normalcy following the Easter Sunday attacks. As former President, do you see at least some sort of a peaceful state?

This is a very unfortunate situation. Even weeks after the unfortunate incident, the fear and the doubt among the people of the country still loom. The country is not stable. There are no proper political leaders of the country a person can turn to. No matter how often you say the schools are open, tuition classes are in operation and the country is safe, people still doubt it. This is the kind of situation in the country now.

Hasn’t what started as religious extremism now taken a racist trend?

A terrorist of religious extremism doesn’t really have a religion. His beliefs don’t represent a religion or a race. The only aim of them is to reach targets through suicide. In this case, the terrorists don’t even have a proper target. When religious extremist terrorists have gone that far, they themselves don’t even know what they are doing, any more.

The Opposition is accused of using the current turmoil for their political gains

I completely reject that accusation. Our Opposition has supported the Government like no other Opposition has supported a Government before.
When we were fighting LTTE terrorists and wanted to take a loan from a bank, the then Opposition forced banks to not give us loans told foreign countries not to give us loans.
That was the situation back then. But we have clearly told the Government that we will support to end this terrorism unconditionally. We took no political gain out of this. Not for anything else but for fighting terrorism, we have rendered our full support to the Government. The Government has not perceived our message the correct way.

It is reported that the NTJ was founded as early as 2012/2013. As the President back then, shouldn’t you be the one who is responsible for their armed uprising?

That is not true. We only came to a proper realisation of this organisation in 2014. By then, we were in the midst of rebuilding the country after the internal conflict was ended.
We immediately sent an intelligence team abroad for training and instructed them to receive necessary training. That was not something we could have solved willy-nilly. It was not a war where we could have shot at each other like we have done with the LTTE.
We had to gather intelligence. In order to do so, we had to infiltrate the organisation. We sent two officers to USA for a special training. The duo came back after training, entered the organisation, took residence there, gained their trust and the intelligence gathering was going on smoothly. Then, the Government was toppled. The new Government shut down the whole operation.

You admit to gathering intelligence about the NTJ. Doesn’t it prove that the organisation posed a threat to country?

Yes. Where does an extremist end up? In terrorism! We have witnessed it in many extremist groups. Our Government had the capability to foresee it and admitting it. That’s why we kept on monitoring them. Now take Easter Sunday attacks. The intelligence got the secret information about the attack, with names, places and times. What more was needed? If the information was read in time, the eight suicide bombers could have been apprehended within hours.

Not only the President and the Prime Minister, but as the Leader of the Opposition, you too received that intelligence report, didn’t you?

The intelligence report has been sent to every parliamentarian but no one seems to have seen it.

Why didn’t you receive the intelligence report?

I saw the report after the bombings. My security officer came to me and told me about the reports which had come for me.

So, hasn’t your security officer committed a serious offence by not giving you the report in time?

Yes, it is an offence.

Are you going to take action against him? Because this ended up in such carnage and the whole country suffered.

I am not the Government now, am I?

But that is your security officer?

I thoroughly advised the security officer about the gravity of it. I went to my hometown on 9 April... Went on the train the following day with the crowd... There were even Muslims in the train... Went from Matara to Tangalle, then to Kataragama and Nuwara Eliya...Went to a kovil and to a church in Nuwara Eliya. Walked around a lot... Had I known about the attacks I wouldn’t have done those, would I? If I had known beforehand, the first thing I would have done is to stay at home for my own safety.

What I am trying to point here is the seriousness of this intelligence report not reaching your hands...

The intelligence report sent to the President came to the IGP through the Defence Secretary. The IGP sent it to the DIGs and the other officers received the report through DIGs. These officers ill-performed their duty, by not telling us about it. They claim the security was provided individually. However, I think it is the duty of these officers to inform us about the report.

There is an allegation that Rajapaksas fed and raised the extremist organisations like NTJ, BBS and Shiv Sena...

There are allegations that Rajapaksas create a Buddhist fundamentalist force and on the other hand now say they created a Muslim fundamental force too.
 They say so because it is the easiest thing to do. When something happens it is always the Rajapkasas that should be responsible.

But there are pictures circulating in the internet showing you and your brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa with the leaders of those organisations...

This is a misunderstanding. The pictures were not taken with the leaders of the NTJ. Ones in the picture are the ones who broke off from the NTJ.
Come and see how many people come to my house in the mornings. Do they come after booking appointments? No. People come and when they come, I go and meet them. Among them was this group of people who had come to hand over a Quran. They did so, took a picture and went.
That was what happened and that was the only connection. They said that they are against covering faces as it doesn’t go well with the culture, among other things. They wanted us to intervene and arrange a meeting with the Mahanayaka Theras as they wanted to apologise for insulting Buddhism.

The one who disgraced Lord Buddha still acts as a hero in media. Why isn’t anyone questioning this?

It is not my job to do so.

But as the Opposition, can’t you take legal action against this?

For that, we need to go to courts with lawyers. If the Government want to conduct an investigation, there are plenty of Police Officers at their disposal.

But the people are looking up to the Opposition when the Government is not taking any action...

That is wrong. The Opposition can make a voice but we can’t take action. The Government should be willing to listen to that voice. We are ready to even take to the streets with the public if that’s what takes to make our voice heard. The Government has so far watched every happening but has not taken action.
 We are ready to take to the streets with people but we also have to realise the situation the public is currently in. At a time when people are afraid to send their children to school, we really can’t ask them to hit the streets and protest. We have a responsibility too. But at some point even we, as political leaders, might have to come out.
The Sharia University was established during your regime. Do you now regret about that decision?

Sharia University was not established during our time. It was formed as a vocational training centre through the Vocational Training Authority.
There are various tertiary education level vocational training institutes and most of these operate through Temples.
 The first was Kataragama Temple and then, Beliaththa Getamanna Temple, and Kirivehara and so on. We operated centring religious places because we initially didn’t have funds to make our own establishments.
We used conference halls and dining halls in temples for vocational training. We gave the training opportunity to Muslims as well, to Christians and Hindus even. I am the former President, not the former Minister under whose purview vocational training fell... that was Dullas Alahapperuma.
When the permission was requested, we gave it, only to build a Vocational Training Centre. This is what now has been turned into a Sharia University. The Government clearly has the power to take over this university.

When going through the information about this university, it was reported that there are no sanitary facilities for women built in this university. Isn’t that alarming?

This kind of situation should be dealt with executing the law of the country. The Government has a responsibility to serve each and every individual of the country under the same law. The existing Government should do these things, not the former Government.

Zahran Hashim himself has conducted multiple classes islandwide to spread extremism. Didn’t your Government get even the slightest of hints about these?

Yes, I have been told. Senthil Thondaman told me that there is an Arabic University called Al Mustafa in the estates and Political Science is being taught there. Work of a religious organisation has been in action, but it was not established under our Government.
 But we sensed other factors and that’s why we infiltrated the organisation and gathered intelligence. We spent a good amount of money and gathered intelligence not to sit and wait idly, but because we wanted to take action against these organisations. The issue is the Government wants their votes. That’s why no action was taken even with good intelligence at hand.
 The result is three or four hundreds innocent lives lost. Today, the death toll is 300 and next it becomes 250 and then 280. We still don’t know the exact number of deaths. Who is to blame...clearly, the Government.
The Government cannot evade responsibility by saying they didn’t know or they weren’t there. When the two leaders were accused, they systematically turned it towards all 225 of parliamentarians. Social media was used to carry out their plans. Everybody is now blaming the 225 and the main duo escaped the scrutiny. It is clear to us.

You are directly blaming the Government, but this Government is only four years old. The Government is blaming you for letting this issue grow when you had the opportunity to eliminate it when the threat was just emerging?

We completely deny it. The Government can’t really make accusations like that. We would have dealt with it if we could have. It requires reliable intelligence. If we had acted hastily, we would have been accused of using ‘white vans’. A proper procedure based on evidence needed to be followed.
That’s why we gave it to intelligence to handle. Then, an election came and the people wanted a change. That change was made to solve all this.

You talked about white vans. Western Province Governor Azath Salley directly accused Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying he only calls the Security Council to decide whom to abduct the next day?

It’s a blatant lie. We never talked about abducting people there. Our Security Council hadn’t stooped that low. Only professionals were there. There were about seven intelligence units. Military intelligence was the strongest. The intelligence was all over the place.
The Defence Secretary gathered all of them, processed and assigned each and everyone with responsibilities. Then I was given a report. Every day at six in the morning I was briefed on what has happened and what is about to happen. It was only after briefing me that DIG Wakishta went on to do his daily duties.

The Government should ensure national security. The President and the Prime Minister have neglected that responsibility. Can’t legal actions be taken against them?

We need to resolve this conflict before taking any legal action. The utmost priority should be to rid people of fear and doubt, prevent terrorist threats and return people to a life of normalcy. After these priorities are fulfilled, we can always seek legal assistance through Civil and Criminal Courts.
Has the Opposition taken such decision to take legal action?

The discussions are being held as to how we should act.

How do you perceive the Government sending IGP on compulsory leave?

I don’t like to discuss a decision taken by the President of the country. He was unable to remove a person directly from a position because of the 19th Amendment. Within that, the President’s power to fire IGP and AG has been taken from him. Prime Minister meticulously made it happen.
It didn’t affect me, so I had no problem with it. When I asked the IGP to go, he resigned on the day itself.

The IGP is not resigning even after he has been asked to. Isn’t this an ethical issue?

 The IGP didn’t resign when he was asked to and the President can’t really do anything about it. That’s why he was sent on compulsory leave. An investigation should be held after the IGP was sent on mandatory leave.
 If the IGP goes to Courts, reasons should be adduced. Courts will be handling it from there. I think a President should be able to fire anyone.
 That power is taken from him and now it is as if his hands are tied behind his back.

The President said he got to know about the attack at 10 a.m. Singapore time. But when converted to local time, it is only 7:30 in the morning. The attacks took place at 8:45 a.m. Why haven’t you questioned about this?

Sometimes, there are small issues regarding time...

But at a serious time like this?

I think the President made that statement without really knowing what he was saying.

Some see signs of international intervention behind these bombings. How do you see this?

The majority of us say that this could be a result of international intervention. Vasudeva states very clearly that this is an agenda of a foreign country to fulfil their needs.

Your Government extended a defence agreement signed by Chandrika Kumaratunga with the USA. The current Government too extended it last month. With this agreement and the current situation in the country, the likelihood of the American Army entering the country is high, isn’t it?

During our time I think the agreement was signed only for ten years. We made it mutually beneficial. But this Government extended it for a longer period of time. It is at the hands of the Government. No foreign Army can enter our country without our Government intervening in it.

According to you, is this defence agreement good for our country?

We wanted to end the war and the agreement we signed had crucial benefits to us. We received a large net of intelligence. When SL Navy attacked terrorist weapons ships, that intelligence came in handy. That type of benefits was there.

Do you agree with Government blocking social media and the people’s right to information?

No.

Is it really a solution for the issue?

First, understand the technology. Facebook can be accessed through VPN even it it’s blocked. Even children do this now. We can’t change it.              
Not only social media platforms being restricted, there are restrictions on reporting on recovered weapons, swords and knives and other items in media in general. What is your take on this?

It is simply a joke. After this restriction, now people have started circulating wrong information. Even if the security forces find swords or knives, people assume and spread that sniper guns were found. The ban will only give life to speculations and misinformation.

You are a seasoned politician and a mature leader. What do you see as the motive behind this social media ban?

I think the decision to ban social media merely is motivated by personal reasons. When the President, Prime Minister or Minister is being ridiculed in social media over a statement or their conduct, these people think such can be stopped by imposing a ban. You should be mature enough to realise you cannot stop these things by forcing a ban on social media.

When reviewed what has happened in the last few weeks, it seems like the country is slowly going towards military rule or a dictatorship. How do you review this situation?

I don’t think it is possible to go for a dictatorial rule. If that is going to happen the public will most certainly intervene and prevent it. I also don’t think the country will go under a military rule. Our military forces are well disciplined and conduct themselves honourably.  Otherwise, with anyone else in that situation, with such powers and strength, there would be a major change.

Some allege that Rajapaksas are eyeing to go for such tyranny amidst all this chaos?

I have not heard anything about such allegations. In fact, this is the first time I am hearing this. On the other hand, is it only Rajapaksas that should get the blame for every wrong this government does!

Even though you say so, Ven. Wendaruwe Upali Anunayake Thera was quoted as saying there should be a dictatorial administration in the country?

No. What Venerable Thera said was completely different and his statement was taken out of context.

That explanation was given only later...

The Venerable Thera clearly said one thing. He said that the country needs a steadfast policy.
A leader must be straightforward and should have a steadfast policy to rule the country. If the leadership is not strong and straightforward it created lots of other problems.
Every community, every religion has a right to live in harmony in society. It is fundamental that every citizen of this country can live without fear and a leader who is incapable of taking straightforward decision cannot assure that.

Two stalwarts in your camp, MPs Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila have said that they will not stand in the same camp with Minister Rishad Bathiudeen or Governors A.L.M. Hizbullah and  Azath Salley. Are they echoing your sentiments?

Now, Rishad will not come with us. We will not go with Rishad and his allies. Now we have brought forward a No Confidence Motion (NCM) against Rishad. Last time when we moved an NCM there was an allegation that we did not discuss it in the Parliamentary Group. So, we are planning to discuss it at the group meeting.

You said you will not stand in the same camp with Bathiudeen. History has proven that he has acquired the most crucial ministries and institutions in any Government. Can you give an assurance none of these Muslim political leaders who are accused of their involvement in various misdeeds, including sponsoring radicalisation will not be included in your future Government?

Most certainly... now we have already mobilised a new Muslim political leadership to work with. This new leadership will equally be accepted by moderate Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalese.

Are you suggesting that Muslim politicians like Salley, Bathiudeen and Hizbullah will get swept away from politics?

I can’t point a finger, at all Muslim political leaders. The government must act where there is evidence. In my opinion Hizbullah has only the Sharia University against him. He clearly stated that he has no connection. When Hizbullah was campaigning for me during last Presidential Election, suicide bomber Zahran was campaigning for President Sirisena.

Now there is a discussion among various parties whether to hold an election or not?   What is your opinion?

We must go for an immediate election. Only a new Government, irrespective of which party, will be able to give an assurance to the people that they are safe to lead a normal life. Be it General Election or Presidential, the Opposition is ready to face it.

Do you have a message to give to the Government?

Yes. The President is the Head of Government. He should act like the President and should not try to wash his hands off from responsibilities by saying this is not his Government. We will also not be able to say that it is not his Government. It is true that he is acting more in favour of the Opposition against the Prime Minister on certain occasions as this Government has reached a certain situation. However, based on the situation we will be compelled to criticise both.  

Rishard Bathiudeen In Trouble Or Is It The Government In Trouble?

By N. Logathayalan –MAY 19, 2019

Today 18 May 2019 is Mullivaikal Day commemorating the deaths of those who were slaughtered 10 years ago. It coincides rather vulgarly with Vesak Day, 2019.

Rishard Bathiudeen

Many Tamils commemorated the day in Mullivaikal and elsewhere but more somberly with smaller crowds than last year’s big event. The mood today was angry. Emergency Regulations rammed through parliament in the aftermath of the Easter Day Bombings on 21 April 2019 have been used to arrest and hold without bail students at University of Jaffna for being in possession of innocuous photos of Veluppillai Prabhakaran. At the same time those like Minister Rishard Bathiudeen against whom there appears to be serious evidence that he is behind far more heinous acts were going about in expensive government cars. There is no equal application of the law.

A decision by Tamil elders had to be made on whether to support or vote against the motion of No Confidence presented by some 66 MPs against Minister Rishard Bathiudeen. The milieu among Tamils was explosive because a) Rishard Bathiudeen recruits only Muslims into his ministry, b) high officials of his ministry and of the mineral sands corporation that was under him openly complain of how tender awards are shamelessly manipulated, c) he is consistently working against the Tamils of the North East in general, and d) perhaps understandably, he is drawing a support base of Tamils too who are attracted by favors he selectively does them.

The anger is the most intense because many Tamils believe how he is connected to the recent violence but nothing has been done by the police. The TNA itself is badly divided.  MPs M.A. Sumanthiran and Rajavarothayam Sampanthan have taken the stand that at this juncture the party must vote against the resolution so as not to disturb the stability of the government. MP Shanthi Sriskanatharasa says she would stand behind her leader. ITAK Leader Mavai Senathirajah surprisingly says that if the party decides not to support the resolution he would abstain. Worrisomely for the alliance four MPs (Charles Nirmalanathan,Sivagnanam Sritharan, Siddharthan Dharmalingam and one other from the North vow to vote for the resolution as do several (if not all) Batticloa District TNA MPs. It is therefore to pressure the TNA leadership into unwaveringly support the no-confidence motion despite the entreaties of the TNA Leader that many district party unit members of the ITAK met in Mannar today while the Vavuniya group will meet tomorrow Sunday.

Mullivaikal, 2019

Saying that one of those who blasted bombs on 21 April used Minister Rishard Bathiudeen’s car, many TNA MPs hold the view that they must vote for the motion of no-confidence against Minister Bathiudeen. His view was bolstered during revelations that came during the debate.

During the debate it was confirmed that the son of the treasurer of Bathiuddin’s Party the ACMC, had used Bathiudeen’s car for the bombing. Likewise, several days after the bombing when the Minister’s home was subject to a police round up and search, two pairs of vehicle number plates bearing numbers Wpku-1887 and  NpLp-0786 were recovered. Neither pair was attached to any vehicle. One set, that is NpLp-0786, was found to be phony. That is, although the Department of Motor Traffic had not issued those plates, no action was taken. Urging that just because someone is minister he should not be above the law, the meeting was very serious that their party must uphold the rule of law.

As such the Mannar branch of the ITAK saw 24 of its 20 members and  both youth wing members voting together yielding 22 votes to nil arguing that the TNA must support the motion.

Accordingly, after May 22 Parliament will take up for debate the extension of the emergency law.  It was further decided at the ITAK (Mannar Branch) meeting that the party must support only an extension that applies to inquiries into the Easter day Bombings and cannot be widened to charge those like the university students in Jaffna.

That spells trouble. If the motion passes and Bathiudeen, badly offended, walks out of the government with his 5 ACTC seats, it could spell trouble for the government – bad trouble,

Read More

Sri Lanka is burning — again

Government troopers in Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka, on May 17. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)

 

By Amarnath Amarasingam and Lisa Fuller-May 17

 

Amarnath Amarasingam is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and the co-editor of “Sri Lanka: The Struggle for Peace in the Aftermath of War.” Lisa Fuller is a Sri Lanka-based freelance journalist. She previously worked as civilian peacekeeper and senior staff member for Nonviolent Peaceforce in conflict zones in Sri Lanka, Iraq and South Sudan.

On May 29, 1915, a large group of Buddhists celebrating the festival of Vesak made its way through the streets of Kandy in central Sri Lanka. When the noisy procession — with its elephants, drummers and singers — approached a mosque, some Muslims hooted and hollered.

In response, some procession members attacked Muslims and the mosque, triggering nine days of riots across the country. By the end of the violence, 25 Muslims lay dead and more than 4,000 Muslim shops, houses and mosques were damaged or destroyed. This was the first of at least nine anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka over the last century, the most recent of which occurred this week.

In the past, relatively minor events would ignite long-simmering economic and nationalist anxieties — and lead to wildly disproportionate violence. But this time, the trigger was different.

The recent Islamic State-connected Easter Sunday bombings, which killed more than 250 people on April 21, immediately sparked anti-Muslim violence. Within hours of the bombings, a Muslim-owned shop was burned to the ground. The violence reached a fever pitch on Monday, when mobs reportedly armed with gasoline bombs swept through western Sri Lanka, destroying 500 Muslim shops, houses and mosques, and in some cases carrying out brutal assaults on Muslims themselves. Residents of the affected towns reported dozens of injured, and one man was killed.

These riots were different from other recent anti-Muslim violence. Last year, riots in central Sri Lanka targeted properties and businesses, but not people: The injuries and a lone fatality were collateral damage rather than direct assaults, according to more than a dozen victims and witnesses interviewed in four of the affected towns.

This week, rioters brutally attacked Muslims. Some videos show horrifying celebrations of the violence. In one particularly graphic video, police appear to comply with rioters’ instructions to drag a severely injured man along the road rather than take him to the hospital in a trishaw.

The scale of the violence was also different. It took rioters three days to destroy 465 properties in 2018. This week, mobs destroyed an estimated500 properties within a single day.

Though the riots dissipated after a day, there is widespread fear that more violence could erupt at any time, potentially even at a level on par with Black July, a horrific pogrom that targeted the minority Tamil population and helped spark a 26-year civil war in 1983.

What is particularly disturbing about the riots this week is that the government has both failed to stem anti-Muslim violence and have made decisions that implicitly encouraged hatred.

A week after the Easter bombings, the government banned face coverings, effectively outlawing niqabs and burqas. This seemed to imply that clothing worn by some religiously conservative Muslim women posed an inherent danger. In fact, the Easter Sunday bombers reportedly wore polo shirts and baseball caps.

During widespread search operations, police arrested Muslim religious leaders and publicly confiscated knives, swords and other sharp objectsfrom mosques and homes — as though to suggest that such objects were evidence of radicalism and specific to the Muslim population. Ironically, many of the rioters were armed with the very same objects; the man who died in the riots was hacked to death with swords.

The government then failed to effectively stop the mob attacks. Local residents reported that the mobs roamed freely for hours without an apparent response from government forces. Residents of some towns said some police officers genuinely tried to control the mobs, but were grossly outnumbered: For example, a resident of the town of Kobeigane said that residents there saw fewer than 30 police officers deployed to protect them from a mob of an estimated 600 people. Videos circulating on social mediasuggest that some members of security forces may have been complicit in the attacks.

As the dust settles, it is clear that some of the violence was organic, with local populations retaliating after the Easter attacks. But there is also evidence of political involvement and coordinated thugs, roaming from town to town, targeting Muslim-owned businesses and reportedly even settling personal vendettas under the guise of communal angst.

Muslims on the ground say that, this time, the hatred they face is ubiquitous and unrelenting. The country is facing the worrying possibility that the forces that led to violence against the Tamil minority during the civil war still exist — but now have a new target. If political leaders don’t step in this time, there is a real risk that Sri Lanka could see violence on an unprecedented scale, a truly terrifying thought in a country that has only recently emerged from a close to three decades-long conflict.

Terrorism can’t be managed, has to be eliminated

Some went overseas and delayed their return to Sri Lanka to avoid taking responsibility

Politicians play games with anything (Including terrorism) for personal and other profit

the military is needed now to rid the country of the terrorists. Once the job is done, it is best that the military returns to barracks

18 May 2019

A simple question needs to be addressed on the Easter Bomb Attacks in Sri Lanka. Could the Government of Sri Lanka have pursued an intelligence-based anti-terrorist drive to combat the ISIS-linked terrorist groups without the bomb blasts happening? The answer is clearly NO.  

The local and international Human Rights Groups, Powerful Nations and even the Stakeholders of the bomb blast would have pounced on the Government with such force that it would have crippled operations. The inevitable happened; everybody is in a state of dismay.   

The VIP’s on all sides looked after themselves based on this information leaving the people they lead at the mercy of the terrorists. What a bunch of cowards, all of them

Where does the Crime really lie? Removing the terrorist threat is one thing, avoiding a terrorist attack is another. The Government of Sri Lanka had information of the Easter Attack. The VIP’s on all sides looked after themselves based on this information leaving the people they lead at the mercy of the terrorists. What a bunch of cowards, all of them. It is impossible to imagine that such people are human. Some went overseas and delayed their return to Sri Lanka to avoid taking responsibility. Some left this area to enjoy the cool climate of Nuwara Eliya, others didn’t attend church, etc. The result: More than 250 dead and 500 injured.   

We have yet to learn that terrorism cannot be managed. It has to be eliminated. The Mahabharata clearly says this about evil. Terrorists are genuine to their cause. Politicians play games with anything (Including terrorism) for personal and other profit. This was one of the reasons for the 30-year war in Sri Lanka.  

The relative state of the world is based on two things. One, the ‘Unfathomable Relationship with the so called Beyond’ and the other, ‘Reason’. These two aspects have made the world what it is today. What the Muslim World has lost is the ‘Reason’ aspect of the equation.  

The Quran and other religious text have been written for all time by individuals’ superior to the average human. If anyone says he is master of the Quran, Bible, Vedas or Thripitaka he is only fooling himself and the others. One has to understand the meaning, purpose, spirit and context in which the timeless and unchangeable verses have been stated. It is only by living them that the individual can have a better vision/relationship with the so called ‘World From Beyond’.   

If a bomb goes off anywhere in the world there is a 90% chance that it is the work of a Muslim terrorist group. Does this mean (as some try to make us believe) that all Muslims are terrorists? The answer is clearly NO.

It is like the Universities in Sri Lanka, where a united evil minority with power creates a lot of noise. The world outside links the visible minority with the entire university system. There after all university students are labelled as being extremists. The same is true for the Global Muslim Community. The truth is, the silent and informal Muslim majority is full of colour, joy and happiness just like you and me. Else, their system must self-destruct (ie They must eat themselves up after eating us). But it has not happened. It has lasted for around 1500 years.   
There is a lot to learn from Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. The way he handled the aftermath, in this hour of need, prevented a country wide backlash and further bloodshed. Many thanks and God’s blessings to him. We must all learn from him that the best way to protect and further one’s religion is to live its teachings in the right spirit. Religion is something that needs to be lived silently by individuals. It should not be used as a marketing tool to further other interests.  

We can see developments in the political arena where the stage is being set so that the public are made to believe that a military leader is the need for the country. We hope and pray that the people of Sri Lanka would not fall prey to this. If one observes carefully the civil government is doing a reasonable job to rid the country of the terrorist. We do not need a military-biased Government again.  

A doctor is needed to help us out of a sickness. We do not need a doctor when we do not have a sickness. Similarly the military is needed now to rid the country of the terrorists. Once the job is done, it is best that the military returns to barracks. Only political and personal gain will be achieved by extending the stay of the gun in civil society. If a military leader heads the county the civil society will lose its diversity, dignity and colour. Only one way will exist for everything, just like what the Muslim community is faced with. This is a critical area to watch in the future.