By Meera Sirinivasan
TheHindu.com
December 19, 2013
Dec 19 (Hindu) Tamil Nadu fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters interfere with the livelihood of Sri Lankan Tamils struggling to make a living from the sea after a brutal war
The haunting image - from a reporting assignment over a month ago - of an army of Indian trawlers charging towards the shore of Analativu, a small island in the northern tip of Sri Lanka, remains vivid in my memory.
Though there were no arrests reported that night, the Sri Lankan Navy, on several occasions before and after that, have arrested Indian fishermen on charges of trespassing. Not just in Analativu, but at different points off Sri Lanka's northern and eastern coasts.
Indian fishermen have, over decades, fished in Sri Lankan waters - some have faced arrests; but the year 2013 has been particularly bad. A total of 600 fishermen from India - all from Tamil Nadu - were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy this year, a sharp increase compared to the last few years (See box). Nearly 400 of the fishermen arrested this year have been released, while about 200 fishermen are currently in Sri Lankan prisons. A total of 107 trawlers were apprehended from the fishermen, of which the Indian side has retrieved about 40 so far.
Satellite images have, beyond doubt, established that Indian fishermen frequently cross the agreed-upon International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) that defines the two nations' respective fishing zones on either side of it.
However, many including Tamil Nadu politicians, passionately argue in defence of the fishermen, usually on three major grounds: that the fishermen erroneously stray into Sri Lankan waters without intending to; that it would take time to deter fishermen away from a zone where they traditionally held fishing rights; and that it is, at the end of the day, about their livelihood.
The argument that the fishermen naively stray into Sri Lankan territory falls flat, for, virtually all the trawlers found trespassing are equipped with GPS monitors that would clearly indicate where they are headed.
Change of course
Even if Indian fishermen traditionally held fishing rights across Palk Strait earlier - they had the zone virtually to themselves during Sri Lanka's 30-year civil war that ended in 2009 - four years is not too short a time to change their course. The idea of "traditional fishing rights" is also questionable, particularly when Indian fishermen are found coming all the way around, off the island's north-eastern coast, near Mullaitivu.
And to all those staunch defenders of livelihood issues who argue that it is, after all, a question of survival for those "poor fishermen" and therefore has to be dealt with with more lenience: you are right. It is, indeed, a very serious livelihood issue. And that is precisely why it should not get enmeshed in shrill political rhetoric.
So far, every case of arrest plays out in a predictable fashion with all the actors playing their part well, exactly by the book.
The moment news of an arrest is out, Tamil Nadu politicians put out a strong statement condemning the "atrocity of the Sri Lankan Navy" and urging New Delhi to take a strong position that is not diluted by its diplomatic compulsions. Both the ruling AIADMK and the DMK in the Opposition and all other political parties in Tamil Nadu share the same position on the issue.
Soon, New Delhi assures Tamil Nadu that it would do its best to get the fishermen released soon, a cue for backdoor diplomatic exchanges. New Delhi and the Indian mission in Sri Lanka, in particular, seem to have had a very hard time throughout 2013 - caught between Tamil Nadu's unreasonable demands and an increasingly strained diplomatic equation with Sri Lanka that effectively weakens its leverage vis-�-vis pushing for the rights of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
The Sri Lankan government, on its part, soon highlights how poaching by Indian fishermen has severely affected the Sri Lankan economy. Some forces within the Sri Lankan government also tend to use the fishing conflict to bait the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the northern provincial government recently, provoking it to take on Tamil Nadu in this matter.
The issue gets further complicated when Sri Lankan fishermen are simultaneously caught poaching in Indian waters - as many as 171 fishermen were arrested in October and November 2013 alone. The fishermen arrested there, it is reliably learnt, are Sinhala fishermen using well-equipped longliners.
Following these parallel arrests, the two countries virtually end up with a barter deal on the release of the arrested fishermen.
The Tamil Nadu government and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who has been strongly criticising New Delhi for its stance, has, in the last few years, taken no serious measures to deter its fishermen from poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
If Tamil Nadu politicians care for Sri Lankan Tamils as much as they claim to, how come they completely miss the larger point about Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen being the worst-hit in this maritime mess? If it is about Tamil Nadu fishermen's livelihood, what is it then, for Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen on this side of Palk Strait who are struggling to cope with the after-effects of a brutal war?
2013 has shown that diplomatic trade-offs can, at best, be a myopic response to an acute problem. If the livelihood concern flagged by many is for real, then Tamil Nadu has the biggest responsibility.
It has to change its strategy from resorting to unreasonable, emotional outbursts to finding ways to equip its own fishermen in the best, long-term interest of their livelihood by, say, offering training in deep-sea fishing methods. It should actively discourage the fishermen from crossing the IMBL.
The TNA might want to open up channels of communication with the Tamil Nadu government to engage with it, particularly on the fisheries conflict.
An amalgam of Tamil political parties with varying degrees of Tamil nationalism among its constituents, the TNA has repeatedly emphasised how deeply it values the solidarity expressed by Tamil Nadu in support of Sri Lankan Tamils. However, only an ongoing dialogue between the party and Tamil Nadu will help get across certain specific realities about Sri Lankan Tamils.
Political stakes
Unlike earlier, the TNA also has political stakes with regard to this issue, as the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a member of the ruling coalition in Sri Lanka that had a strong support base among fishermen, seems to be losing ground to the TNA, going by its performance in the recent Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections.
In Kayts, an island off Jaffna, for instance, the EPDP secured 31.48 per cent of the votes in the September elections to the NPC, as compared to the 71.99 per cent that it cornered in the 2010 parliamentary elections. The fisheries issue, therefore, offers new political space for the TNA provincial administration as well. Even if the TNA does its bit, the future of several thousand fishermen in Sri Lanka's Northern Province - in Jaffna alone there are nearly 20,000 Tamil-speaking fishermen whose lives are tied to the sea - is, clearly, in Tamil Nadu's hands.
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27 comments:
This Opinion article is UNUSUALLY SUPPORTIVE of Sri Lanka. In this article The Hindu castigates the Tamil Nadu politicians of being emotional and obstructive but also of undermining international law.
WHY THIS SUDDEN TURNAROUND by The Hindu? All of a sudden The Hindu has woken up to these INCONTROVERTIBLE FACTS, while in the past they hid the facts and supported the Indian Tamil Fishermen on the same issue? Why?
The Reason, of course boils down Politics of the looming Lok Sabha Elections. The Hindu supports the Congress Party and castigated Sri Lanka on the Fish Poaching issue to support Karunanidhi who is a Congress Party ally. Now that the BJP, allied to Jayalolita, seems destined to govern India, it wants to attack Jayalolita.
BOTTOM LINE IS: Irrespective of whether the Congress or the BJP is in power, the Racist demagogues of Tamil Nadu will be an ally of the governing Coalition through either Karunanidhi or Jayalotlita. There is little to chosse between these two racist demagogues.
The Hindu's support for Sri Lanka is just an ABERRATION reflecting the IMPENDING CHANGE OF THE GUARD in the Lok Sabha election. After the elections, The Hindu will revert to its usual political role of supporting Congress party's interests through Karunanidhi's DMK ... which will mean supporting the Indian Tamil Fishermen's Interests at Sri Lanka's expense, DAMN the ILLEGALITY of it, and the UNDERMINING of India long-term interest in having a friendly ally in Sri Lanka.
Jayalolita, with a foot in both the BJP and the USA camps, can pose a serious threat to Sri Lanka with National elections looming in both countries.
As we recall, when she was Secretary of Defence, Billary Clinton visited Jayalolita and other TN politicians to orchestrate the last UNHCR vote against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Billary Clinton may become the next President of the US in the Presidential elections scheduled for 2016, giving Jayalolita greater power to undermine Sri Lanka.
Billary's agenda in Tamil Nadu has far greater dimensions than throwing Sri Lanka to the wolves as a dispensible pawn in her great game of geopolitics. She saw that the Congress party was heading towards defeat, and decided to create a ally in the opposition so that whoever (Congress/BJP) wins the Lok Sabha elections, she is well poised to influence India's Foreign and Economic Policy, and to moderate the impact of the BJP's Hindu Nationalist policies aimed at the Evangelical Christian Movement, should the BJP rise to power.
She intends to use India as a counter to China and as a foil to Pakistan in its support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Ahmed Karzai, who wants to reduce dependence on the US, has recently requested India to step in as its main supplier, not only of reconstruction aid, but also of military weapons, to defend against the Taliban/Al-Quaida forces. Little does he know that India is slowly becoming a puppet of the USA and will not buffer Afghanistan from US policies.
The GOSL has to be PREPARED to COUNTER both India and the USA working together. The way to do that is to take the bull by the horns, lay out our National Policies and REPEAL the 13th Amendment and the PROVINCIAL COUNCIL SYSTEM in favor of a Government Agent administered District System and adopt and implement a National Policy of Ethnic Integration geared to creating a uniform demographic distribution of ethnic communities throughout the nation.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
I must disagree with your post above on several counts.
1. "The article failed to prove that if Jayalalithaa becomes Prime Minister of India she will be an existential threat to Sri Lanka."
India has already posed an EXISTENTIAL THREAT to Sri Lanka by seeding Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka and CREATING a separatist movement in Sri Lanka that bedevils Sri Lanka to this day. Yesterday the prime initiator of that threat was Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv. Today it could be Jayalalitha. India's Separatist CREATION may still split Sri Lanka in two .... this time under the supervision of the UN and the Hegemons of the West. Jayalalitha functions as a MEANS of making that a reality, and in that sense she is n EXISTENTIAL THREAT to Sri Lanka as Dilrook quite rightly points out.
2. You said regarding wiping out Sri Lanka by India, "That was stated by Ahmadinejad about Israel".
India/Jayalalitha does not have to make foolish threats like Ahmedinejad did against Israel to pose an EXISTENTIAL threat. Ahmadinejad by his foolish statements compromised Iran's National Interests and gave the West a means of DEMONIZING Iran. Iran has every right as a Sovereign Nation to develop nuclear technology for economic-security or for military-security related reasons, just as the nuclear powers among its critics have done. The current nuclear powers developed their nuclear arsenals in response to a perceived threat from other nuclear powers. Iran is being threatened EVERDAY with military attacks by Israel and the US, and NATO; are they less significant than Ahmedinejad's ravings?
Furthermore, given the fact that the United Nations today is a US Puppet, and that "Coalitions of the Willing" can always be created to circumvent the UN in those rare instances when it does not rubber stamp unilateral actions by the US, what makes you so confident that " the support of the world" is required to annihilate Sri Lanka by India aligned with the US?
Do you not see the recent games that were played in the so-called "Arab Uprising" to undermine and destroy nations opposed to the Western Neo-Colonialists? See what is happening now in Syria, where Seymour Hersh of "Abu Gharib expose" fame has exposed that the chemical weapons used were used by the rebels sponsored by the Sunni-powers (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) and the Western Hegemons. Without a mighty protector like China, Sri Lanka can be demonized and manipulated into the cross-hairs of their global sniper rifle.
3. You said Sri Lanka should " invite under a military agreement with both China and Russia that their warships be anchored in the harbors of Sri Lanka" and "Russia who has always shown a keen interest in being a power in the Indian Ocean would not help India destroy Sri Lanka."
ABSOLUTELY WRONG! Russia was an ally of India long before the USA became enamoured of India, and despite inroads the US has made into India, bot India and Russia still value and preserve that alliance. Therefore, Russia will not defend SRi Lanka against India, but China may.
4. You said "Why do I make such a claim because to date all that India has done against Sri Lanka such as the two human rights violations have backfired on her with the region siding Sri Lanka."
In what way have India's actions against SL at the UN "back fired" significantly against India? Please explain.
5. You said "As for Pakistan she will be one of the first to come to Sri Lanka’s aid and so will China. " implying they will wage war against India in defence of Sri Lanka!
....Continued 1....
I can assure you that they WILL NOT MAKE WAR ON INDIA to rescue Sri Lanka. Countries will go to war only to preserve their ESSENTIAL INTERESTS. You have to understand this ESSENTIAL FACT that all nations consider before making war: GAIN/BENEFIT in making war must exceed the RISK/LOSS in making war.
Sri Lanka is not valuable enough for ANY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD to go to war in defence of it. Short of WAR, they will help Sri Lanka, but they will not fight a war on Sri Lanka's behalf: the RISK to their own countries EXCEEDS the GAIN to their own countries.
The only way in which Sri Lanka can change that is by first becoming an economic and military power comparable to Israel, in its own right that would make Sri Lanka a VERY VALUABLE ALLY. Then the RISK to Pakistan and China will be REDUCED and the POTENTIAL for GAIN INCREASED sufficiently to contemplate making war on Sri Lanka's behalf. Sri Lanka will have to become MUCH STRONGER ECONOMICALLY and TECHNOLOGICALLY to even contemplate making the expenditures necessary to become a military power like Israel.
My Comment from LankaWeb.com.
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Sirih said “Whole model is based on concrete and even the interior walls are concrete” !!!
I agree with you completely! Who in his right mind would build interior non-load bearing partition walls out of solid concrete? The cost would indeed be prohibitive!
As you point out, the foundations are usually built from reinforced concrete. But, the structural load bearing frame of a building may be built either using bolted or welded steel I-beams of various sizes, or from steel-reinforced concrete pillars and beams, or an appropriate combination of these to minimize cost. For the floors, relatively thin steel-reinforced floor panels, or honeycomb extruded metal panels, supported on the structural framework, can be used. In Sri Lanka, steel I-beam construction is reserved for large commercial buildings, to minimize the dead load due to reinforced concrete.
The rest of the non-load bearing exterior walls, and interior partition walls, can be built using a SANDWICH construction approach that uses sheet rock panels mounted on an inexpensive framework built from galvanized sheet steel, or inexpensive wood, structural members.
In colder countries, the hollow space within the sandwich wall construction is filled with thermal fiberglass blankets or with pumped-in foam thermal insulation. Interior thermal wall insulation is not used in Sri Lanka, but this could change in the future as energy costs rise, and people demand more comfortable buildings with dust-free actively cooled environments. I remember how keeping our old-style breeze-cooled open verandah homes free of dust was a continuous battle in Sri Lanka.
Recently my family built a large 4-storey building in a suburb of Colombo using this approach to structural design, at a much lower overall cost than the all-concrete method you are rightly criticizing. I am now working with architects to design and build a multistory residence-cum-office building with zero-net-energy use, minimal net water use and net-waste generation, with highly energy efficient natural cooling and dust control built-in, at a fraction of the cost of the approaches currently being used in Sri Lanka. A major problem, of course, is getting the necessary local government permits for these novel approaches.
More hospitals to get MRI scanners
By Sandasen Marasinghe, Irangika Range and Disna Mudalige
DAilyNews.lk
December 22, 2013
Four Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners will be provided to Lady Ridgeway Hospital and hospitals in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Kandy soon, Health Deputy Minister Lalith Dissanayake said.
The Deputy Minister stated that these scanners will be provided with foreign aid.
He added that only four out of 1,076 hospitals in the country so far have MRI scanners as they are very expensive and maintenance is costly.
He added that the two MRI machines at the Colombo National Hospital provide services to 60 patients daily, while scanners at the Peradeniya, Kandy and Karapitiya Hospitals provide services to approximately 20, 9 and 6 patients daily. The Deputy Minister made these observations in response to a question raised by UNP MP Eran Wickramaratne.
- See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/local/more-hospitals-get-mri-scanners#sthash.hRd1GBZJ.dpuf
The GOSL is considering taking back the Oil Storage tanks in Trincomalee from the IOC.
Now, only if the GOSL also rejects the Indian Oil Company (ONGC) bids for Offshore Oil Exploration and Production in Sri Lankan waters. The call for bids has been issued by the GOSL.
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Sri Lanka considering to take oil tanks back from Indian company
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 21, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to take back the petroleum storage tank complex in the East that was given to an Indian oil company on a long lease.
During the reply speech at the last budget debate on Friday in parliament Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the government is considering to take back the 99 oil tanks in Trincomalee that were leased to Lanka IOC, the local subsidiary of Indian Oil Company.
The President said the main opposition United National Party (UNP) when they were in power in 2002 privatized the state-owned enterprises and this government is ready to take back and preserve the state enterprises.
“Our oil storage tanks located in Trincomalee were privatized. We are currently having talks to take them back (under state control),” the President has said in parliament.
The China Bay petroleum storage tank complex was handed over to India’s state-run Indian Oil Corporation in 2002 by the UNP government which was in power between 2002 and 2004.
The tank farm in 850 acres of land has 99 tanks each with the capacity to hold 12,100 metric tons of oil.
In 2003, Lanka IOC bought one-third share in Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd which operates the China Bay tank farm. The Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC) entered into a MoU with Lanka IOC to grant a long-term lease to the Indian firm for operating the 99 storage tanks at Trincomalee for 35 years for an annual fee of only $100,000.
Under privatization, the government gave Lanka IOC 99 storage tanks, of which 15 are being used and two more are being refurbished at a cost of US$17 million.
The Sri Lankan government now expects to convert the petroleum storage tanks to a profitable venture with foreign investment.
The China Bay tank farm that connects to the Trincomalee harbor is of historic and strategic significance and it is the largest tank farm located between the Middle East and Singapore. It was built by the British in 1930s to supply fuel to Royal Navy ships.
Sri Lankan government requests expatriates to return home
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 23, Colombo: The government of Sri Lanka has called on local expatriates to return to the country since past problems have been overcome after the defeat of terrorism four years ago.
Defense and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that Sri Lankans who have left the country for various reasons was a serious loss to the country.
Addressing an event in Colombo today, the Defense and Urban Development Secretary observed that many of the country's best and brightest had left the country to seek greener pastures in other countries due to the uncertain situation that prevailed in the country from the 1980s until 2009.
He noted that regardless of whether these individuals left to escape the conflict, pursue higher education, obtain more lucrative employment or enjoy a better quality of life, their departure was a serious loss to the nation.
However, Rajapaksa said that it is now time for the Sri Lankan expatriates from all communities to return to their homes since the country has overcome the problems it faced in the past and is poised for rapid and equitable growth.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com
.......
Charles,
Your comment that the Eelamists are "taunting the Sinhala going on the old adage “Sinhalaya modaya. ” has revived a haunting memory of the Eelam War IV period 2006-2009. During that time, I and many other Patriots were blogging at the DefenceWire blog trying to guess what the Eelamists were going to next, and strategizing how to counter them.
Until 2009, it was not apparent to the Eelamists that they were going to be TOTALLY CRUSHED this time, and no one was going to save them despite their global wailing as victims. So they kept commenting at Defencewire how the Thalaivar was invincible, how the Sinhala Army will be wiped out, how Kilinochchi will become the "Stanlingrad" of the Sinhala Army, how Unceasing Waves attacks were imminent, how the GOSL was lying about the military disasters already suffered, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, all predicated on the INVINCIBILITY of the LTTE.
Accompanying all of those comments was a steady drumbeat of "Sinhala Modaya" insults, in their deluded conviction that somehow Sinhala people were inherently inferior and incapable of doing anything right. As Kilinochchi fell without a whimper, and the LTTE kept getting corralled like sheep into the minute Mullaitivu pocket, those Sinhalaya Modaya comments abated and finally vanished. After May 19, 2009 all of the Eelamist propagandists vanished from Defencewire .... there was NOT A HUM from them ... their SHOCK was almost PALPABLE.
Now, with the rise of an Eelamist controlled Northern PC, that CRUSHING DEFEAT of 2009 has faded from the collective memory of the Eelamists, and Eelamist hopes are being resurrected. They have forgotten the lesson they learned that underneath that tolerant Sinhala Buddhist exterior there is a Sinhala Lion ready, able and willing to fight given sufficient Provocation. These stupid guys have forgotten that they with all of their vaunted "Superior Intelligence" that is an "Inherent Characteristic" of the Eelamists, were OUTSMARTED wholesale and totally DEFEATED by those they called "Sinhala Modayas"! So, they are back at the game of Demonizing Sinhala people and Hurling Insults all over again.
They MISTOOK TOLERANCE for STUPIDITY then, and they are MISTAKING TOLERANCE for STUPIDITY now.
The TIME HAS CLEARLY COME for the "Sinhala Modayas" to ADMINISTER that Lesson AGAIN, this time not in the battlefield of WAR, but in the battlefield of National POLITICS and Political STRATEGY, by REPEALING the 13th Amendment altogether, DISSOLVING the Provincial Council System, BANNING all Communal Parties, and ADOPTING Ethnic Integration as National Policy with wiping out Regional Ethnic Concentrations in Sri Lanka as its centerpiece, and INCREASING the presence of the Armed Forces throughout the former war zones and coastal borders.
MAKE NO MISTAKE: This is a WAR. We don't need their Acceptance; we need only STRICT compulsory Compliance with the law by EVERY citizen of Sri Lanka, irrespective of community. VIOLATE the LAW, EARN Hard Labor in PRISON.
Let the "Sinhala Modaya" insult BOOMERANG in their faces ..... ONCE AGAIN!
The GOSL census of WAR CASUALTIES covering 1983 to May, 2009 completed on December 20, 2013, will be checked to prevent duplication and false data, and will be released in March, 2014.
The TNA is already trying to discredit this Census for it will DISPROVE their FALSE ALLEGATIONS, and will saddle the Eelamists with civilian casualties from their own terrorism outside the LAST PHASE of the war.
The TNA wants to focus on the LAST PHASE ONLY, but the Census will SHED LIGHT on their murders throughout the ENTIRE CONFLICT.
It will expose their murder and mayhem in Sri Lanka, and will hold them responsible for all of the deaths leading up to that final despicable act of cowering behind a human shield in the Mullaitivu pocket, while the CHORUS of Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora WOLVES in VICTIM's sheepskins wailed "Save Our Surya Deva" ... to no avail.
It looks as if this particular stick of Eelamist Dynamite, held aloft to be thrown at us, will blow their own arms off!
POETIC JUSTICE .... me thinks!
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Sri Lankan government rejects Tamil party's claim, asserts census of missing in war follows international norms
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 26, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government Thursday has vehemently rejected a claim by the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance, that the census conducted by the government on human and material losses due to the war will attempt to play down the number of casualties.
The Department of Census and Statistics dismissing the TNA's claim said the census conducted by the Department was done according to international standards and norms with every aspect of loss being addressed.
The TNA claimed that the circumstances of incidences of disappearances and deaths were not accommodated in the census process and the party could not agree with the procedures employed by the Department.
Speaking to local Daily Mirror, the Director General of the Census and Statistics Department, D.C.A Gunawardena has said that the TNA's claim was a "political gimmick".
According to the Director General the census was carried out completely following international standards and practices of data collection.
"We have devised a questionnaire after consultation with a steering committee which comprises experts in their relevant fields and all stakeholders," he was quoted as saying.
The assertion by the TNA is wrong and is based on their politics, the official has said.
The Director General has explained that contrary to the claim by the TNA, the questionnaire comprised the causes of loss and every other factor relating to the loss.
He has said that the census procedure inquired about all the circumstances of a death and also the census officials checked the documents and other material evidence of the relatives or family possessed in order to ascertain the authenticity of their claims.
....Continued 1....
According to the official, the census was carried out island wide ensuring that all data was gathered without duplication.
"This was not conducted in an ad hoc manner, we provided the technical expertise to the officials who are conducting the census. We are trying our level best to eradicate any duplication or gathering of false data," Gunawardena told the Daily Mirror.
He said the Department was following all internationally laid down procedures in conducting the census.
In accordance with one of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the Department of Census and Statistics last month commenced the nationwide census to ascertain details of people injured, disabled, and missing since 1983 up to May 2009.
The survey, carried out in 14,022 Grama Niladhari Divisions, island wide deploying 16,000 officials to collect information, was completed by December 20th. In North one enumerator handled every 500 households while in South every 1000 households were questioned by one.
The report of the island wide survey will be available in March next year, according to the Department.
These CHALLENGES to the Authority of the GOSL, which allowed the TNA to gain control of the Northern Province, instead of REPEALING the Foreign Imposed 13th Amendment and DISMANTLING the Provincial Council System, WILL NOT END HERE but will CONTINUE as long as the Provincial Council System exists and the Tamil Separatists HOPES of a SEPARATE STATE are kept alive.
We WARNED the GOSL of what will happen; this is JUST THE TIP of the Eelamist Iceberg that will ATTEMPT TO SINK Sri Lanka!
The ONLY WAY to END THIS and Achieve PEACE & SECURITY for ALL People of Sri Lanka, is to DEMOLISH these HOPES and make the Eelamists FEEL HOPELESS!
..........................
Northern Province surveys: NO GO FOR BOGUS CENSUS
By Chaminda Perera
DailyNews.lk
December 23, 2013
*Surveys conducted by dept. on par with international norms
*Attempt to conduct alternate survey illegal, unacceptable
Census and Statistics Department Director General D.C.A. Gunawardena yesterday said that no organization other than the Department of Census and Statistics is authorized to carry out surveys or a census of persons, in the Northern Province.
Gunawardena's comments came in the wake of the Tamil National Alliance's (TNAs) announcement that 'an alternate survey on human and property damage in the Northern Province during the 30 year conflict' will be conducted by their representatives.
He said that his department is empowered by law to conduct surveys on any subject in the country, including the North as and when necessary, and that the surveys by non-state actors are illegal and will not be acceptable.
"Various persons and entities are trying to conduct surveys contrary to accepted norms and practices", he said, adding that the surveys conducted by his department are strictly as per international norms and practices.
He added that special permission has to be sought from the Presidential Task Force on Northern Development, if an organization intends to conduct a survey in the Northern Province.
The Department has started an islandwide census to assess the human and property damage caused during nearly three-decades of conflict.
The nationwide survey is a key recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Meanwhile, Public Administration Ministry Secretary P.B. Abeykoon said his ministry has mobilized Grama Niladharis and other government officials at village level to conduct this survey efficiently and accurately. The first legal sanction in Sri Lanka provided under the Census Ordinance was granted in 1968 on the lines of the English law for the conduct of the first Census in 1871.
This was amended in 1880 and repealed in 1900. A new Ordinance was drafted thereafter on the lines of the Indian Census Act and was passed by the Legislature. The Census
Ordinance of 1900 substantially remained the basis for census taking in Sri Lanka throughout the years, with minor amendments in 1945, 1955, 1980 and 2000.
The GOSL ENCOURAGED the Eelamists Separatists by rainsing the TNA to power in the Northern Province, and now REAPS its REWARD!
EVERY DAY, in EVERY WAY the Eelamists will undermine the GOSL and threaten the PEACE & SECURITY of the Nation.
When will the GOSL WAKE UP, REPEAL the Foreign Imposed 13th Amendment, DISMANTLE the Provincial Council System, INCREASE the presence of the Armed Forces in the former war zones and along our borders, and Adopt a National Policy of Ethnic Integration designed to HOMOGENIZE the distribution of Ethnic Communities throughout the country?
SOON we hope, before the NATION falls prey to these Separatist Racists .... and becomes a patchwork nation of communal Apartheid Bantustans perpetually at war with one another!
.................
Main Tamil party of Sri Lanka pushes for an international probe into war crimes allegations
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has said that it will push for an independent international probe into alleged war crimes committed by the government during the final phase of the civil war against the Tamil Tiger terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Tamil party parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has told media that a TNA delegation will go to Geneva to present their case at the UN Human Rights Council session in March next year.
The TNA will brief the diplomatic communities ahead of the UNHRC session on the situation in Sri Lanka and the need to conduct an independent investigation.
According to Premachandran the party at its annual convention held in Vavuniya last week has decided to step up their efforts at the UNHRC this time to call for an international investigation.
The government anticipates the western governments to force the UNHRC to adopt another resolution on Sri Lankan calling for an independent international investigation into the war crime allegations at the March 2014 session in Geneva where the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navanetham Pillay will present the formal report on her August 2013 visit to Sri Lanka.
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris recently said that the international pressure to achieve the tasks recommended by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to achieve reconciliation is not productive.
He said the threatening and the international pressure are not the path for Sri Lanka to go forward and asked the international community to give Sri Lanka a vote of trust, "because the Sri Lankan government has the greatest will to do things right and is dedicating great resources to reconciliation and reconstruction."
Jayawewa!
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Sri Lanka's Southern Expressway extension to Matara will be opened on January 31
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 28, Colombo: The extension of the Southern Expressway from Galle to Godagama in Matara will be declared open on the 31st of January, the Ministry of Highways, Ports and Shipping announced.
The four-lane 35-kilometer extension of Sri Lanka's first ever expressway was constructed at a cost of US$ 180 million with the funds from EXIM Bank of China.
The Segment will have two interchanges at Wathawana area in Galle Deniyaya Road and in Kokmaduwa along the Weligama Kananke Road.
According to the Secretary to the Ministry of Highways, Ports and Shipping Ranjith Premasiri the expressway will be extended further from Matara to Hambantota connecting Mattala International Airport to Colombo.
Construction of the 75-kilometer segment from Matara- Godagama to Hambantota Harbor via Beliatta, Andarawewa, and Mattala will commence next month, the official said. The project is estimated to be completed in four years.
Meanwhile, the 11-kilometer Kottawa - Kaduwela section of the Outer Circular Highway (OCH) to the capital Colombo will be declared open in February, Premasiri said.
The construction of the 8.9-kilometer segment from Kaduwela to Kadawata is now being completed and this segment will also be declared open next year, he said. The construction work of the 9.3-kilometer Kadawata to Kerawalapitiya segment will be started shortly.
Once completed, the OCH will connect the Southern and proposed Northern expressways to provide unrestricted high-speed traffic movement from North to South.
There should be a ONE-TO-ONE correspondence in PENALTIES METED OUT TO THE TNA with the TNA's Anti-National Activities.
EVERY TIME the TNA launches an move to UNDERMINE the GOSL and move towards Eelam, ONE MORE Pribviledge enjoyed by the TNA in the Northern & Eastern Provinces should be ELIMINATED .... in the National Interest.
That way, the TNA will realize that its Anti-National ACTIVITIES are COUNTER PRODUCTIVE and results in further limiting its FREEDOM OF ACTION & PRIVILEGES enjoyed before.
Better still, the GOSL should do the following:
1. REPEAL the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka's Constitution,
2. DISMANTLE the Provincial Council System in favor of appointed Government Agent administered Districts,
3. BAN all COMMUNAL parties with communal party names and party constitutions with communal agendas,
4. INCREASE the presence of the Armed Forces in the former SEPARATIST war-torn areas,
5. ADOPT a O)NE-NATION National Policy of Ethnic Integration to HOMOGENIZE the ethnic distribution of population in the nation, with Government Sponsored and Promoted Voluntary Settlement of people as its centerpiece,
6. SETTLE Armed Forces personnel and their families in the North & East with salary incentives, civilian infrastructure (nice homes with gardens that can be farmed, schools and technical colleges, hospitals, post offices, shopping centers) with incentives for employment-intensive business to locate there) to form the nucleii of the Ethnic Integration settlements,
7. DEPLOY the NAVY and the COAST GUARD in bases within eyesight of each other along the coastline to guard the nation and its maritime resources against terrorist and economic human summglers, gun and drug runners and fish poachers,
8. REDUCE & DISCOURAGE involvement by India in Sri Lanka's CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, MILITARY and DIPLOMATIC areas. Impose STRONG Visa requirements against Indian visitors, ARREST and DEPORT all Kallathonis, Heavily Tax Indian products, impose strict Quality Standards on Indian goods and give Incentives to local producers of import substitution goods. Impose a strict Quota on Indian citizens residing in Sri Lanka for ANY Purpose .... business or otherwise, and deny visas to Indian journalists from Tamil Nadu. STOP ALL FORMS OF COLONIZATION of Sri Lanka by India. India is NO FRIEND of Sri Lanka.
9. INVEST HEAVILY in Civilian Infrastructure and Education/Training of Sri Lanka's citizens as opposed to spending on CURRENT CONSUMPTION. Make Sri Lanka SELF-SUFFICIENT in Energy and Food, promote Innovation and Local Production for Export not only to Western countries, but also to the Developing world. Let Sri Lanka become the friendly purveyor of advanced technologies, reliable manufactured goods, and technical/professional services to the developing world.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com
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Lorenzo,
You can PREACH UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME to ME on the need for a Military Takeover, but I will NEVER support pitting Sri Lanka’s Armed forces against the POPULARLY ELECTED Government of the Nation it is sworn to serve.
NO ONE has ELECTED the Military, but the vast majority of the PEOPLE of Sri Lanka ELECTED this Government. No one in his right mind would advocate nullifying the FREE WILL of the PEOPLE.
Deshapremi Bedha is not something a Patriot should contribute to, and I will not stoop to doing that.
In my postings at LankaWeb I try to define what I think should be done in Sri Lanka’s National Interest. Their content will ULTIMATELY RESONATE in the hearts and minds of those Patriots … ordinary citizens and political leaders alike of Sri Lanka who do read LankaWeb posts … and someday will re-appear as Government Policy. We can depend on the suicidal uncompromising nature of the Tamil Separatists to ensure that … for as before they will underestimate the TOLERANCE & WILL of their fellow citizens.
I recall my Crying in the Wilderness for over 25 years in private and in public media, advocating a Military Solution to LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka, even as I was criticized as a war-monger by friend and foe alike. Most, discouraged and dispirited by our own peace-niks and the holier-than-thou jaundiced Western media that helped to propagate the myth of LTTE invincibility, said it will never happen. The situation then seemed to be infinitely darker and hopeless than it is now.
Nevertheless, IT DID HAPPEN, under the guidance of a POPULARLY ELECTED PATRIOTIC government reflecting the WILL OF THE PEOPLE of Sri Lanka. The Patriotic Forces came together, and the entire Nation’s resources were harnessed to accomplish that goal with single-minded focus …. as I had preached over several decades. I hasten to add that I do not take sole credit for that, but perhaps in some small way my writings had planted a seed in the right minds, or gave comfort to and confirmed their own views, that there was another viable alternative to abject capitulation. It took time for those seeds planted in the minds of patriots to germinate, take root, grow and blossom as that War of National Liberation from Terror.
Likewise, it will take MORE TIME, and REPEATED TELLING, for the truth of what I say here on the steps that should be taken to consolidate that Military Victory to hit home, and for the leaders of Sri Lanka to act upon it, but IT MUST HAPPEN without turning the Patriotic Forces of our Motherland against each other and undermining what has been achieved to date.
In the ULTIMATE ANALYSIS, the WILL OF THE PEOPLE must triumph for they will bear the BURDEN of their own decisions. I am CONFIDENT that it will … WHEN THE TIME IS RIPE!
My Comment at LankaWeb.com.
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Lorenzo,
The people of Sri Lanka are not blind ... they will act .... against the Government if necessary .... at the correct time. If the GOSL does not respond, other leaders will EMERGE from the Political System to replace them. However, I am QUITE UNWILLING to FORGET the Patriotic Achievements of the UPFA Government and the Rajapaksa Clan as BLITHELY as you.
The GOSL has to contend with, and balance, many competing issues; they cannot act in haste like individuals without any responsibilities to protect and defend the Nation and the lives and welfare of the People.
It is easy for you to advocate a Military Takeover, but who will guarantee their good behavior once in power, and who can oust them once they are in power, when the bullet and not the ballot rules? Gonseka is a PRIME EXAMPLE of how even an illusion of power can corrupt ABSOLUTELY.
If you recall, the JVP styling themselves as "patriots" also tried to solve "national problems" they perceived through the tinted glasses of their "class struggle" without BOTHERING TO OBTAIN THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. They didn't bother convince the people of their views through the force of argument using Democratic process available to them, but tried to impose their will on the people by the argument of force. As you are well aware, they were SOUNDLY REJECTED by the people of Sri Lanka, who will never forget how the JVP tried to usurp the free will of the people.
If the Military, now widely regarded as a positive Patriotic Force defending the nation by most Sri Lankans, try to usurp the freedoms of the people in a similar fashion, they will lose the Love and Respect they currently enjoy among the people. That LOSS OF TRUST would be a TERRIBLE LOSS not only for the Military, but for the Entire Nation. When you can't trust and rely upon your defenders of last resort, to obey the civilian government Empowered by the Free Will of the People expressed through Elections, who can you trust?
That will DESTROY the very fabric of Sri Lankan society and disintegrate it into warring factions .... comprising not only of the usual suspects, the Tamil Separatists, but also factions among the majority Sinhalese. Once that TRUST is LOST in the Institutions of Self-Government and Civil Society it is VERY HARD to REGAIN it ... as we see in Somalia and Libya of today, and saw in Lebanon two-three decades ago.
No THINKING PATRIOT in his right mind would ADVOCATE and PROMOTE such an AWFUL CALAMITY in Sri Lanka, that is only now EMERGING from the Eelam and JVP conflicts YEARNING for a brighter future.
A Classic Example of the Lack of "Freedom of Expression" in the BBC!
Priyath Liyanage, head of BBC Sinhala-Service, is suspended and replaced by a non-Sinhala, for giving both points of view on BBC's biased anti-Sri Lanka documentary on the war! BBC protects its "Party Line"!
BBC ... Puhul Hora Karen Danay! Get your new non-Sinhala supervisor, Dejan Radojevic, to translate that without help!
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BBC Sinhala service head suspended
SundayObserver.lk
December 29, 2013
BBC Sinhala Service (Sandeshaya) head Priyath Liyanage who aired a news bulletin unfavourable to the controversial BBC World Service documentary "Sri Lanka's Unfinished War" by Frances Harrison, has been suspended with immediate effect.
Liyanage who had authorised a three-minute bulletin that carried defensive comments from Military Spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasuriya in response to Harrison's documentary on abuses and human rights violations in the North during the last stages of the war against terrorism is believed to have triggered the removal of the former from his position, the Sunday Observer reliably learns.
The news bulletin which has now been removed from the list of archives of the Sinhala Service bulletins was broadcast after Harrison's documentary was screened for the first time on the BBC World Service on November 9. It is learnt that the BBC had made moves to suspend Liyanage who himself conducted the bulletin on the interview of Military Spokesman had allegedly intended to attack Harrison's documentary on Sri Lanka.
A non-Sinhala supervisor, Dejan Radojevic, (BBC World Service Europe Editor) has been appointed to head an all-Sinhala staff on the Sinhala service for the first time in history.
The staff of experienced media workers of the Sinhala Service office in London comprising Chandana Keerthi Bandara, Saroj Pathirana, Upali Gajanayake, M J R David and Wimal Hewage are now confined to translate only news items gathered from other Sri Lankan news portals and publications.
Former BBC Sinhala Service Sri Lankan Correspondent Elmo Fernando has been summoned back from his retirement to report despite his successor Azzam Ameen functioning as the Colombo Reporter.
Also 10 provincial freelance correspondents of the Sinhala Service have not been assigned any work nor paid for their contributions for a month now, sources in London said.
Liyanage has been suspended following an inquiry conducted by two BBC officials.
"I did no WRONG but I was TORTURED" wails the Thamil Prabhakaran who gathered military and political intelligence VIOLATING the terms of his "Tourist Visa"!
This "Journalist" speaks with a FORKED TONGUE .... CLEARLY violating the ETHICS of Journalism as well as Sri Lanka's Visa laws!
Bravo Immigration Dept; One more Terrorist Propagandist BOOTED out of Sri Lanka!
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Deported Journalist Claims Torture in SL
NewIndianExprress.com
December 29, 2013
Tamil Nadu journalist Tamil Prabhakaran arrived in Chennai on Saturday after the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) handed him over to the Immigration Department for deportation.
The TID had apparently concluded after interrogation that he had no terrorist links and had not indulged in terrorist activity, and that the only fault was that he had violated visa regulations.
Speaking to reporters at the Chennai airport, Prabhakaran claimed he was psychologically tortured and subjected to probe like a 'criminal or terrorist'.
"I was subjected to psychological torture and repeatedly subjected to investigations like a criminal or a terrorist when I had done nothing wrong," Prabhakaran said.
Prabhakaran, who had gone to Sri Lanka on a tourist visa, was detained on December 25 in Kilinochchi district in the former war zone of North Lanka by the local police. After overnight interrogation, they handed him over to the Terrorist Investigation Division, which took him to Colombo to find out why he was taking pictures of military installations and interviewing Tamil politicians when he was on a tourist visa.
While Lankan authorities asserted that he was doing journalistic work while being on a tourist visa and taking pictures of army camps and troops, Prabhakaran categorically denied taking pictures of any military area and said he had only captured a few photographs of certain civil functions.
"Even they were taken in the presence and knowledge of Lankan authorities and the arrest came much later," the journalist said.
Officials of the Indian High Commission in Colombo were given consular access to the detainee and they had found him to be quite alright. After investigations, TID told the High Commission that Tamil Prabhakaran had no terror links but had violated visa regulations and, therefore, he would be handed over to the Immigration Department for deportation.
In Chennai, he said: "I was repeatedly interrogated and they kept me in handcuffs throughout my detention period, even when I was sleeping. I was subjected to emotional and psychological torture."
Claiming that the Lankan authorities treatment of him was a violation of human rights, Prabhakaran said, "I was given petrol when I asked for water and was subjected to several more types of torture that are a clear violation of human rights. I will release proof for this shortly," he added.
Lorenzo,
You have real problem with extreme negativity. You should jettison this unending litany of criticism and proposing of "extreme solutions" which are not solutions at all, but prescriptions for disaster.
Please overcome your depression, and your ... take no prisoners, my way or the highway ... approach, before it drives you completely off the rails.
I am appalled at HOW QUICKLY some people have FORGOTTEN the pit of EXTREME DEPRESSION that most Sri Lankans were wallowing in before the Rajapaksa Family, to their eternal credit, rescued the nation rejecting the oft chanted mantra of "this war cannot be won" mindset and the "appease the terrorists and separatists" advise of the "so called" experts, both local and foreign. Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga fell for it, but not the Rajapaksas. The buoyant spirit I feel today in Sri Lanka is entirely due their yeoman efforts.
I am also appalled at HOW QUICKLY some people are TURNING ON and DEMONIZING those self-sacrificing leaders who placed themselves and their families in harms way to rescue the nation. Ingrates Incarnate ... in my view!
Have faith, be optimistic, and give merit where merit is earned, and exercise better judgment before venting steam blindly attributing all ills of the country to these self-sacrificing leaders without understanding the limits to their ability to cure them, or the forces at play they must overcome!
Give your advice, but don't UNDERMINE them for you will only play into the hands of the enemies of our Motherland!
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
.................
Lorenzo,
You have real problem with extreme negativity. You should jettison this unending litany of criticism and proposing of "extreme solutions" which are not solutions at all, but prescriptions for disaster.
Please overcome your depression, and your ... take no prisoners, my way or the highway ... approach, before it drives you completely off the rails.
I am appalled at HOW QUICKLY some people have FORGOTTEN the pit of EXTREME DEPRESSION that most Sri Lankans were wallowing in before the Rajapaksa Family, to their eternal credit, rescued the nation rejecting the oft chanted mantra of "this war cannot be won" mindset and the "appease the terrorists and separatists" advise of the "so called" experts, both local and foreign. Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga fell for it, but not the Rajapaksas. The buoyant spirit I feel today in Sri Lanka is entirely due their yeoman efforts.
I am also appalled at HOW QUICKLY some people are TURNING ON and DEMONIZING those self-sacrificing leaders who placed themselves and their families in harms way to rescue the nation. Ingrates Incarnate ... in my view!
Have faith, be optimistic, and give merit where merit is earned, and exercise better judgment before venting steam blindly attributing all ills of the country to these self-sacrificing leaders without understanding the limits to their ability to cure them, or the forces at play they must overcome!
Give your advice, but don't UNDERMINE them for you will only play into the hands of the enemies of our Motherland!
My Comment from LankaWeb.com
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Susantha,
1. You said "You have said that the Army will come through the back door."
A Military Takeover as Lorenzo, and others, propose, is seizing control of the country without authorit,; that is indeed coming in through the back door. What is a military takeover except an illegal coup-d-etat through the backdoor? Is that allowed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka? Will the Consitution be amended first, and the Military be granted permission by the people, for such a takeover ... perhaps through a referendum? If not, it is an ILLEGAL TREASONOUS ACT that must be implemented by stealth! Ergo .... through the backdoor!
2. You said "It is a down-right insult and a perverse comment to the Army Commander. Just your thought that the Army Commander will come through the back door is very insulting."
You have failed to correctly read and understand what I wrote before lashing out .... as you had done on an earlier occasion and apologized pleading your age. Well, you have made a mistake AGAIN!
I am not the one who enthusiastically advocated a Military Takeover, but others including you.
I am not the one who expects support from the officer corps for such a takeover, but those who advocate it.
I am among those who categorically oppose such a takeover. Remember? Or have you forgotten already?
Such a takeover would require the participation of at least some officers in the Armed Forces, not necessarily the Army. In expecting some officers to violate their oaths of fealty to the nation and its constitution, the people who are advocating such a step INSULT the loyal officer core who protect and defend the country. It is they who Indirectly INSULT the officer corps, not me.
Please don't get on a high horse and try to put words in my mouth, or attribute to me words I have NEVER uttered.
In particular, I never insulted the Army Commander, or expect him to break his oath to serve the nation loyally.
In fact only those who advocate a military takeover insult the Army Commander by expecting him to break his oath of fealty to the nation and be disloyal.
Get your FACTS STRAIGHT, Susantha!
..... Continued 1 .....
3. You said ..."Ananda, please try to control your insinuating rhetorics."
Let me see, when I criticize advocating a Military Takeover (which by the way is TREASON), continually CRITICIZING the governing leadership of Sri Lanka in the most EXTREME ways making unproven accusations of the most VILE MOTIVES, and FORGETTING their yeoman achievements in rescuing the nation from terrorism, as UNFAIR and UNGRATEFUL, ..... that is "insinuating rhetorics"? In which universe? It is not rhetoric, but a plain statement of fact.
I offer up your own statement " All your suggestions and plans will be tabled by the President for immediate action, because they are the best in your view. Is it wishful thinking ? or may be Iam a dreamer to say so." an a PRIME EXAMPLE of an "insinuating rhetorical statement" because it indirectly implies and mocks (ie., insinuates) Fran and me for not being able to influence the GOSL or the President.
By the way, you are ABSOLUTELY right in your assessment of my helplessness; I humbly admit that I do not have any such power over the GOSL and the President, and never implied that I had any such power at any time.
However, in the knowledge that often the pen is mightier than the sword, we do offer advice ... because we love Sri Lanka ... for the patriotic leaders of Sri Lanka to adopt or ignore.
Furthemore, it will give these leaders comfort in their darkest hours that they have millions of Sri Lankans, just like us, supporting them, who will not abandon them come what may.
Finally, let me ask, how you would describe those who commit the transgressions I have criticized? Not at all, perhaps?
4. You said "Just don’t take pot shots on those who comment in this forum, purely to lay emphatic on your very distinguish plans and excellent thoughts, which in my point of view is just crap."
Opposing extreme comments that UNDERMINE Sri Lanka, and not letting them go unchallenged, is a duty, not a matter of taking "pot shots". If many such statements go unchallenged, then an impression takes hold that most readers at LankaWeb, and even LankaWeb itself, agree with these comments ... which is simply wrong. Most readers are a silent majority, reluctant to oppose other aggressive writers. I too avoid doing so because I dislike these cat fights, until I get so concerned that I am forced to act.
BTW, who gave you the right to act as an imperious LankaWeb moderator? As I recall you appeared on LankaWeb ONLY ABOUT A YEAR AGO, but you have now arrogated to yourself the right to define its rules!
It is time to climb down from that very high horse, Susantha!
More DIRTY TRICKS Orchestrated by Eelamists to DISCREDIT the GOSL, and keep the Refugee Pipeline Open!
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External Affairs Ministry raises concerns... ‘OPERATION DISCREDIT’ SCUPPERED
By Chamikara WEERASINGHE
DailyNews.lk
December 30, 2013
‘With support of Tamil political elements in North’
Journalist on tourist visa arrested for filming military installation in Jaffna
The External Affairs Ministry yesterday raised concerns about some suspicious incidents having taken place during the week, apparently with the support of some Tamil political elements in the North.
“Attempts are being made to discredit the Armed Forces,” External Affairs Ministry sources said. External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama yesterday said they are concerned about the incident in which an Indian journalist who was travelling on a tourist visa, was arrested while filming a Sri Lankan military installation in Jaffna without requisite permission.
The man is said to have come to Sri Lanka on the invitation of a Tamil National Alliance MP. “The incident concerns national security and it had taken place a few months ahead of the UNHRC sessions to be had in Geneva in March,” explained Amunugama.
Meanwhile, a 22 -year old Tamil national named Suriyakumar Thamil Amudhan was arrested by the Police from a friend’s house in Mulathivu,
when he was planning to leave for Australia staging his own abduction to claim he was being harassed by the Armed Forces in Sri Lanka.
Suriyakumar Thamil Amudhan had remained missing for sometime before he was arrested by the Police, and some Tamil politicians accused the Security Forces of having abducted him. Amudhan’s father had filed a complaint with the Point Pedro Police that his son had gone missing and that he had sent SMS texts from his phone that four armed members in an army jeep, had abducted him and that he was tortured by them.
Following his arrest, Amudhan had confessed to the Police, that he had staged this incident and had feigned his own disappearance in an attempt to seek asylum in Australia, where his sister lives. He had said that he had made up the story about being tortured by the Sri Lanka Army to attract international attention to help his plan.
Police said, the suspect and his family had worked out a sinister design to discredit the Army with false accusations.
“They were backed by some Tamil politicians,” they said.
NO AMOUNT of Computer "Apps" to WARN Fishermen of crossing the Maritime Boundary will help, if they are ECONOMICALLY motivated to KNOWINGLY POACH FISH, or POLITICALLY MOTIVATED to ENGINEER a CONFRONTATION between Sri Lanka and India.
The ONLY WAY to deter Poachers is to make the ECONOMIC LOSS PROHIBITIVE by CONFISCATING their BOATS and EQUIPMENT, and IMPRISONING them at HARD LABOR (i.e., they have to EARN their keep) on EXTENDED SENTENCES.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka must expect RETALIATION against our own Fishermen, and EDUCATE them, TRAIN them and ASSIST them by providing Navy/Coast Guard patrols to compel them to STAY WITHIN Sri Lankan waters.
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Apps to alert fishermen about maritime border
By N. Anand
TheHindu.com
December 30, 2013
Concerned over the rising attack on fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Centre has developed a mobile application that would alert the fishermen about a few km from the actual point.
This application has been developed to safeguard the fishermen from Nagapattinam to Tuticorin when they proceed in boats for fishing as IMBL is located closer to their coastline as compared to other districts of Tamil Nadu. There about seven lakh fishermen in the State, of which nearly three lakh are in these districts, said S. Velvizhi, MSSRF principal scientist.
The application developed for Android based mobile phones, forms part of Fisher Friend Mobile Application (FFMA) phase-II programme. Five mobilephones incorporating features such as providing cyclone and disaster alerts, real time data on fish colony and danger zones and helpline numbers, was distributed to five fishermen from Kasimedu.
Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Velvizhi said “We upgraded FFMA-II based on feedback provided by the fishing community. It was launched 20 days ago and is currently being used by 110 people. The real-time data is provided in Tamil, English and Telugu. In the next few days, the apps would be offered to fishermen of Kerala, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Odisha.
FFMA-II is jointly developed by MSSRF that provided design and data, Qualcomm (financial support and technical advice) and Tata Consultancy Services (application developer). FFMA-III will be uploaded on Google so as to extend its reach.
Sri Lankan President asserts not to let any powers to divide the country
Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 02:26 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Dec 30, Galle: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated that he will not allow any power to divide the country or handover power to any authority that would lead to the division.
The President made these remarks Monday at a ceremony held to declare open Dakshinapaya, the administrative building of the Southern Provincial Council.
Speaking at the occasion, the President said the provincial councils and the government should work together in the best interests of the people and all must act as one nation since the victory of freedom was achieved with great difficulty and sacrifice.
He said although there are different opinions regarding the provincial council system both the provincial council and the central government need to act in cooperation within a single country by respecting the state policy.
The seven storied administrative office complex in Labuduwa Galle was constructed at a cost of Rs. 575 million.
The Southern Province Secretariat has been awarded the ISO:9001.2008 standard certificate for maintaining services under a systematic management procedure .
Ministers Gunaratna Weerakoon, Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody, Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijeyalal de Silva, Deputy Minister Nishantha Mutuhettigama, MPs Romesh Pathirana, Mohan de Silva and Manusha Nanayakkara and provincial council members were present at the occasion.
(Photos by Nishanka de Silva)
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
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Lorenzo,
I wish you had not rank listed people who comment here, by seniority, patriotism or whatever, just as I wish you had not written up a “Shadow Cabinet” some time ago … even in jest.
It makes us objects of ridicule ….. anonymous bloggers fighting for prestige and position on the Web! Especially when no one really knows whether they are even Eelamists and/or Western agents working under deep cover ….. it is indeed a ludicrous sight!!!
I just don’t care about such things. We must be judged by what we write … just leave it at that.
This is not a simple disagreement on the “METHOD” of attaining the SAME goal, but a radical undermining of the FREELY ELECTED GOSL, that WILL NOT attain stated goal, and could have a serious adverse impact on the safety and lives of people in Sri Lanka. We all know that the enemies of Sri Lanka …. among them those who engineered the Arab Spring …. would LOVE to TOPPLE this GOSL. I don’t want to do anything that undermines Sri Lanka; My entire family, thousands of friends, and everything I value in this world are there in Sri Lanka.
I request you not to send the 9 POINT PLAN as is … it needs to be refined further … and CERTAINLY it should not be sent by you, who proposes to initiate a military takeover if it is not accepted and implemented. I certainly don’t want to associated with such an IMPLIED THREAT.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, like me, is not someone who would take kindly to people waving cudgels at him. That was what David Cameron tried to do, and failed. We must not do such things to this courageous, honourable and decent man, who has done everything he could to preserve what we care about.
I don’t like the trend of things, and I have been pondering the wisdom of my continuing to blog here. I may discontinue my participation totally and attend to other important work on helping Sri Lanka that I have under way.
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