By Sebastian Rasalingam, Toronto, Canada
What has all this to do with Sinhalization of the North, and Tamilization of the South?
(June 29, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) Two recent articles highlight various aspects of a debate fundamental to the "National Question" of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, it is hardly discussed in the national press in Sri Lanka, although much discussed in gatherings of expatriates. I hear of sinhalese "intrusion" into the north being discussed by my children (people in their fiftees) and their friends.
D. B. S. Jeyaraj, the well-known columnist has high-lighted the settling of some 150 "Sinhalese" in the "Tamil Village" of Kokkacchankulam, near Vavniya (click here to read). This is presented as an example of the "sinhalization" of the North.
A comment on Jeyraj's article, written by a Sinhalese academic appeared in the Sri Lanka Guardian (click here to read). According to him, the place-name Kokkacchankulam is said to be Sinhala, arising from Kok-Aththana, a type of Datura with fruits having hooks ("koku") for seed dispersal.
Also the area is claimed to have a Buddhist past as recorded by the archeology department. All this utterly unsurprising to me. The majority of the Sinhalese (and any Tamils of that era) lived in the North of the Mahaveli river untill about the 10th century. Populations have moved north, and south, depending on the pressures of war, pestillance or peace.
The anger against Colombo doing things in the North reminds me of the anger of the Tamil parliamentarians in the 1940s. It was against the Colombo authorities building causeways connecting villages in the North. The real anger was that such "intrusions" disturb the power- and caste- structure enjoyed by the Lords who ran the affairs of the Tamils.
Reading through the blogs to Jeyraj's article, we find that some bloggers express the sentiment that this is a "land grab" of the territory that belongs to "Eelam". To others this is "state sponsored colonization" of "Tamil territory". Still others feel that any-one should be able to live anywhere in the Country, but settling these "Sinhalese families" have been done without notifying the right administrative officials etc., etc. Others, mainly Sinhala bloggers, have pointed out a massive "Tamil colonization" of the South.
The big North-South migration started in 1905, when the British opened the Jaffna-Colombo railway. Anyone who made it good moved to the south. Today moving to the South is a first step to moving abroad, preferably to Canada. I too moved from Jaffna to Mannar, and from there to Hatton, and finally to Colombo in the 1950s. Coming from a "low-caste", and having married an Indian Tamil woman in Hatton, I was truly an out-caste paraiah among the Tamils. Although most Tamils could readily get a housing loan from the "Bank of Ceylon" run by Mr. Loganathan, especially at the Wellawatta branch, I found that I could not even open an account even with a government pay cheque.
However, although I was an outcaste among the Tamils, I found that my Sinhalese mates invited me to have tea with them - a strange experience for a man who was always spoken to by Tamils in the curt "inga va" Tamil. The politics of the Tamils in the Ramanathan era was Caste Politics. Ramanathan wanted the caste system written into the Ceylon constitution. The Tamil politics put into place by G. G. Ponnambalam and S. J. V. Chelvanayagam was Race Politics vis a vis the Sinhalese. Caste politics continued within Tamil society itself. It was only the Leftists who went beyond these shackles -- but then they were considered a lunatic-fringe. Even in the 2010 presidential elections, they garnered less than a fraction of a percent of the votes.
What has all this to do with Sinhalization of the North, and Tamilization of the South?
The best thing that could happen to Sri Lanka, and the only thing that would guarantee the stifling of future ethnic discord is the disruption of in-grained ethnic enclaves which are not only racially segregated, but also caste segregated. Mr. Jeyaraj had mentioned villages including Kokachchankulam around Nedunkerny, but failed to note that even up to the 1980s, these had Caste Enclaves that even the war lords did not disrupt. The war did not destroy the segregation of Caste and Women in Tamil society, but mobilized them and hijacked them for political ends, as they were the easiest to subjugate and control.
I strongly believe that the State should have a clear program of settling Sinhalese in the villages of the North, and at least some Tamil IDPS in the villages of the south. The Sinhalese, with 75% of the population, would be demographically highly pressurized and hence the move to the sparse regions of the North and the East would be no different than the move of the White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestants (WASPS) of the US East coast to the "homelands" of the Hispanics West in the USA. Such redistribution of population, and NOT devolution of power into the hands of corrupt regional lords, is the best investment for long-term peace in Sri Lanka. Such a redistribution of population will also strongly undermine the Caste and gender discrimination endemic in traditional Tamil society with its Manu Dharma. Sinhalese society is far far less caste conscious, and accords greater power to its womenfolk.
The Sinhalese, lving in the prosperous and modern Southern Sri Lanka would need state incentives to settle in the sparsely populated North which needs labour as well as investors for its deveopment. The pro-LTTE expats have done little to help the North, and instead push their "boycott Sri Lanka" campaigne which hurts the poor Tamils more than any other ethnic group.
Instead of emphasizing divisions and differences, we need to emphasize the close similarities and common basics of the citizens of Sri Lanka.
Modern Hinduism and Buddhism have much in common. Instead of objecting that "Sinhalization" inevitably leads to the Buddhist temple and the Bo tree "invading Tamil land", we must welcome the Buddhist monks to the Hindu Temples, asking them to build the Buddha Statue and plant the Bo tree just next to the Temple itself. The Kururals and the Buddhist Sangha should be colleagues. After all, Buddhist temples in the South HAVE already integrated Hindu Gods like Vishnu, Skanda and Ganesh. Some Buddhist temples have Kururals, known as "Kapuralas", as officials. The Sinhalese and the Tamils have an enormous amount of common cultural and genetic baggage, as well as linguistic commonality. A Tamil sentence, translated word for word, without changing the structure, already becomes Sinhalese. The alphabets and grammar are very similar. Both Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan said that Buddhism is the most refined rendering of the Vedic-Hindu-Jain tradition of Indian belief.
So, Jayraj should rejoice in the implantation of Sinhala Villages in the North, and the Sinhalese nationalists should welcome the Tamilization of the Greater Colombo region, with its flourishing Hindu temples. Population redistribution is a must. As an old Tamil who has seen Tamil politics opposing the Donoughmore reforms, and finally morphing into Eelam militarism, I believe that these are the best investments for a future of peace and prosperity in Sri Lanka.
If there had been population restructing in Sri Lanka, together with the further development of the railway and road ways left by the British, we would never had three decades of civil war. So, let us plan for the future intellegently and avoid ethnic, caste or religious enclaves of any kind.
52 comments:
D. B. S. Jayaraj and the history of the Kok-aththana-kulama area.
by Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana
SriLankaGuaradian.org
June 25, 2011
D. B. S. Jayaraj, in http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/2374 writing under the title: "165 Sinhala families settled in Tamil village Kokkachchaankulam in Vavuniya", forgets, or fails to mention, the ancient history of this area. Jeyaraj says that "Kokkachchaankulam is a Tamil village in Vedivaithakallu GS div under Nedunkerny divisional secretary in the Vavuniya North Piradesha sabhai."
Kokkachchaankulam is the Tamil form of the Sinhala place name "Kok-aththana-kulama". See place-names website: "kok-aththana-kulama" for details.
The word "Kokkachchan" has no evident meaning in Tamil. However, in Sinhala, "Koku-aththana" is a type of Datura, for which the Tamil name is "Oomathai", or "Vellaiyumatti".The fruits of this type of Aththana have spikes, and hence the appellation "Koku" in Sinhala. It is possible that the "spiky" form of Attana is also called "kokkaimattai" in Tamil.
So Kok-aththana-kulam is an original Sinhala village settled by Tamil speaking people in the relatively recent past. It is hence not unreasonable that some of the kith and kin, descendants of the of the original settlers, as well as their language - the official language -- return to this area to produce the varigated cultural tapestry that is Sri Lanka.
The Sinhalese - really, Sinhala speaking Sri Lankans -may also have "traditional homelands" where even the names are of Sinhalese origin. They are not preventing the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans from settling or living in Koku-aththana-kulama. The numbers of the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans living in these areas have already dwindled a lot, while swelling the numbers in " Wellawattai, Kottachenai", and Scarborough. Indeed, there is a case for calling the latter "Iskaappurai" by Tamil residents. The word "borough" can be etymologically connect with the Indo-Sanskrit-sinhala word "pura", for "town", and "ur" in old Tamil.
Vedivaithakallu is a place known in ancient times as "Vaedavasgala", and is said to be the location of rocky caves used for meditation.
Nedunkerny was known in ancient times as "NaedunKaenna", or Naedunkurana, and has
important ruins that are associated with a stupa, remnants of a temple, and a small tank, recorded in the annual reports of the Archaeological dept., 1980-82. Around it there are many stone slabs, inscriptions etc.
Interested readers should pay some attention to the history of these areas before making claims of ethnic exclusivity. After all, what is found, even in Lewis, Gnannaprakasar, K. Velu Pillai in Yalpana Vaibhava Kaumudi etc., is instructive in this regard.
Indian Navy to buy 80 interception boats from Sri Lankan builder
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 30, Colombo: The Indian Navy aiming to increase the security in the coastal areas around the country has decided to purchase 80 high speed interceptor boats from a Sri Lanka-based ship manufacturer at a cost of 67 million dollars.
The contract to purchase 80 Fast Interception Craft (FIC) from Solas Marine Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is in its final stages and the deal is expected to be finalized soon, a PTI report said today.
Dubai based multinational company, Solas Marine Services Group established the Solas Marine Lanka (Pvt) Ltd under Sri Lanka Board of Investment. The company is located along the Hamilton Canal at Wattala, near Colombo.
According to Indian naval officials the boats with speeds between 45-50 miles per hour are planned to be used for coastal security duties and to engage any suspicious craft or activities in the coastal areas.
The Indian Navy expects to induct the 80 FIC in the next three years, the report said.
Pernicious caste curse of Tamils living in the dark ages
No amount of militant or political solution can gain Tamils their rights unless this caste menace is eradicated even by enforcement of laws.
By Pearl Thevanayagam
(June 30, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mr Sebastian Rasalingam’ article, Sinhalisation of the North and Tamilisation of the South in yesterday’s Sri Lanka Guardian, is of utmost necessity and urgent issue Tamils need to address if we are to reach closure on our prejudices and shine the torch inwards for permanent integration into Sri Lankan polity and obtain our legitimate rights from the majority Sinhala government.
Tamil leaders have systematically fuelled caste based hierarchy and even abroad they cannot desist from trumpeting their castes while paying obeisance to the LTTE leader for championing their rights. When I wrote on Jaffna’s Caste Curse in mid ‘90s for The Sunday Leader most of my friends ridiculed me and said I was living in cloud cuckoo land.
I am still not sure what my caste is. On the one hand my late father used to say we have a family tree and on the other my mother used to say we have enough mix in our blood that it would be indeed very difficult to define our caste-base.
As a 12 year old I became conscious of how Tamils used the caste system to enslave least 75 percent of the Tamil population by obtaining their services virtually free based on their belonging to the servile class. I wondered about my own family’s hypocrisy when on the one hand they practised Catholicism to the letter treating our servants kindly and generously and on the other never allowing us to mix with those who are perceived to belong to lower castes. They even interrogated my classmates before they could be allowed into the hall.
I still remember the day Rev. Sr. Christobel asked me to accompany her on a visit to Thiddy, an enclave of shanties right behind St Patrick’s College which housed the Parayar community, the most untouchables of castes in Jaffna because they were the lavatory cleaners. Knowing what would be in store for me if my mother knew I kept my visit a secret. I have always wondered why this community had auburn hair and either blue or brown eyes and reddish complexion. We visited a few houses, gave them some food and clothing, bandaged festering wounds, cleaned up a little round the houses and gave them advice on how to maintain hygiene.
For someone who was brought up to believe that some were born to serve us, that particular day was an eye-opener for me. I realised even at that young age that even though we were Christians we were not practising Christ’s message that all are equal in the eyes of God and we were created in his image.
As to the appearance of the Parayar community it suddenly dawned on me they could be descendents of the colonialists and as they departed, those who were left behind had no place in the caste system ergo relegated to do the most menial of jobs.
I was touched and enlightened by this scholar Mr Rasalingam’s honest, erudite and simple explanation on the fate that befell Tamils and why Tamils need to change their attitudes. They are still living in the dark ages carrying with them the burden of ignorance, arrogance and narrow-mindedness.
No amount of militant or political solution can gain Tamils their rights unless this caste menace is eradicated even by enforcement of laws.
Please accept my congratulations on this excellent article Mr Rasalingam.
Curiously, this author recounts the current caste situation in Jaffna, but does not offer any solution for the CURSE OF CASTE.
Caste divisions not only held most Tamils in bondage within Tamil society, but also poisoned their relationship to the Sinhala majority community of Sri Lanka, that had gradually suppressed and overcome its own caste divisions, never as great as in Tamil society, many decades ago.
Caste among Tamils was an important factor that led to the persistent alienation of Tamils from their fellow Sinhala citizens.
Discriminated against by their own elite, who projected their caste driven ambitions into a Tamil-Sinhala struggle, they were brainwashed by that elite into believing that the Sinhala people were responsible for their difficulties.
The solution they proposed was to separate from Sinhala society ... that had NOTHING to do with their pain.
This points to ETHNIC INTEGRATION with the Sinhala and Muslim communities in Sri Lanka, and DEMOGRAPHIC HOMOGENIZATION of the North and East through settlement without coercion as an important means of achieving it, as the ONLY PERMANENT SOLUTION to overcoming these discriminatory attitudes.
Ethnic Integration will promote close contact between communities and increase intercommunity empathy, unfettered by the old Tamil caste system, or its newly metamorphosed incarnation.
That will enable the Tamil society to shed its caste divisions and reintegrate into the general Sri Lankan society without wrongly viewing the majority Sinhala people as their enemies.
.................
Caste in Jaffna – current realities
The so-called depressed classes have now become the vote bank for some political formations, of rather dubious character. While their votes are avidly canvassed and probably paid for, there is no organized movement to improve their educational, lifestyle and cultural status. Adding to their numbers are those left over from the so-called elite castes. They are a little better off economically and yet have some advantages in terms of education, lifestyle and culture.
by Dr.Rajasingham Narendran
(July 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I have read recent articles by Sebastian Rasalingam and Pearl Thevanayagam on the caste problem in Jaffna, with much interest.
I respond here briefly on what I perceive as the extended dimensions of the caste problems of old, now. I will not name castes nor refer to them as high or low. I find such descriptions very distasteful personally. I also want to stress that my observations are not backed by any structured study. They are observations that can be disputed by anyone who knows more and corrected where it is merited.
Caste in Jaffna – current realities
........continued......
The prolonged civil unrest in the north, with intervening periods of brutal warfare and acts of terrorism has left the social hierarchy in Jaffna in tatters. What we see now is an inverted pyramid, with the so-called depressed castes (some call them Dalits- an Indian term) - a majority and the poorer of the so-called elite castes, at the top in terms of numbers. The majority of the so-called ‘Elite’ both caste-wise and education and culture-wise have abandoned Jaffna and have either migrated to the West or the south of Sri Lanka. The few who remain form the narrow end of the inverted pyramid.
The absence of an educated and cultured class of people has robbed Jaffna of its icing and its essential character. There are few to set standards and be examples. This is a tragedy in terms of quality of the Jaffna society, although it had an ugly, caste-based dimension. At the broader end of the inverted pyramid, are the victims of both the abhorrent aspects of the caste system of old and the real victims of the prolonged civil unrest and war. In most instances it is a combination of the two. The depressed classes have been stranded without the equipment to deal with their dominant status in terms of numbers in Jaffna. They lack leadership, the guidance and the finances to assert their new strength in numbers. They were exploited by the LTTE as a ready source of cannon fodder although families that lost their sons and daughters to the war were declared ‘Mavirar Kudumbams’ by the LTTE and honoured once a year. The little they gained by way of social status because of the cannon fodder role they played was lost on 19th May’2009. Their social status however has not improved as a result of the LTTE era, meaningfully. The only improvement I see is that there is a reluctance to refer to them by old caste names. The public expressions of caste discrimination are on the wane, although in households of the caste elite, this consciousness is yet present.
The so-called depressed classes have now become the vote bank for some political formations, of rather dubious character. While their votes are avidly canvassed and probably paid for, there is no organized movement to improve their educational, lifestyle and cultural status. Adding to their numbers are those left over from the so-called elite castes. They are a little better off economically and yet have some advantages in terms of education, lifestyle and culture. These constitute the vote banks for political formations such as the TNA.
A new social order has to evolve in Jaffna taking into account these realities. What would ultimately result is a class- defined hierarchy dictated by financial status. The necessary alignments are already shaping. There are many at the bottom of the pyramid aspiring to reach the middle and even the top. Few have done this already. Unfortunately, for many at the bottom this is yet a dream. The social problems currently visible in Jaffna are also manifestations of the hierarchical realignment taking place. Centuries of oppression have left their scars and have been exposed as the result of our past thirty odd year history. Jaffna was not prepared for the calamity that befell it, especially in terms of the mass migration that has taken place and a fall -back position to cope with it. Land ownership is yet a monopoly of those elite castes that have migrated and is an issue to be resolved, because the vast majority of the depressed castes are landless. Unless these issues are confronted and resolved in a wise manner, we will see more social turbulence. We are now paying the price for caste-based oppression of old.
Sri Lanka Army warns military groups to surrender or suffer
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 01, Batticaloa: The Commander of Sri Lanka Army Eastern Command Major General Boniface Perera warned the armed groups in the Eastern Province to suffer unless they surrender their weapons.
Addressing a meeting held in Batticaloa today, the senior military officer said that military had identified the persons carrying weapons in the area and warned them to surrender cautioning that they would be followed otherwise.
Paramilitary groups that surrendered their weapons earlier were called for this discussion participated by the senior defence officials of the area.
The police and military have taken stern measures to tighten security in the area after the robbery of Rs. 3.7 million from Muttur People's Bank.
Gun toting gang robs Batticaloa bank
By M.S. Vadanakumar
DailyMirror.lk
July 01, 2011
A gang of five had robbed Rs. 3.7 million in cash along with several items of jewellery from the branch of a state bank at Thimilaithivu in Batticaloa, police said.
The gang had appeared in a van carrying T-56 weapons and had locked the employees in a room after threatening them at gun-point. The value of the stolen jewellery was yet to estimated, police added.
Sri Lanka to increase border vigil
ByR. K. Radhakrishnan
TheHindu.com
June 30, 2011
The Sri Lankan government plans to establish a Migration Intelligence Unit and a National Stolen and Lost Travel Document Passport database with “on-line real-time access” to Interpol's global database to enhance Sri Lanka's border security, strengthening its counter terrorism capacity.
The government website said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) initiated the project under the directions of the Defence Ministry. The government will implement the project by the end of this year. “The Interpol database services will be integrated with Sri Lanka's immigration information system through the National Central Bureau,” said Migration Management Head Shantha Kulasekara. He said with the implementation of this project the Immigration Border Control System will be able to instantly access the Interpol database services, which has over 20 million data on lost passports and related documents.
The decision came on Thursday at the end of a two-day workshop. Participants included senior officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Immigration and Emigration, the Criminal Investigation Department and the State Intelligence Service.
The workshop was a component of a Canada-funded project to support Sri Lanka's border security by strengthening its capacity to collect, analyse and share immigration intelligence. It is part of a global Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building programme established by the government of Canada.
“This project will contribute to increase collaboration on border security and border management…Canada is pleased to assist in strengthening existing border control mechanisms to bolster Sri Lanka's counter-terrorism capacity,” Canadian High Commissioner Bruce Levy told the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry website.
Why did ‘genocidal’ GoSL save 300,000 civilians, 11,000 LTTE cadres, Ex-Foreign Minister asks.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
June 29, 2011
Responding to a US threat to examine ‘other options’ unless Sri Lanka quickly addressed war crime allegations, former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that Sri Lankan military effort against the LTTE was definitely an integral part of the US-led global war on terror.
There couldn’t be any dispute over that, Bogollagama said in a brief interview with The Island yesterday. The ex-MP emphasised that it would be a huge mistake for the international community to decry Sri Lanka’s successful war against the LTTE on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations made in the controversial ‘Darusman Report’ and the Channel 4 film, ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’. Responding to a query, Bogollagama said that the US action targeting Sri Lanka hadn’t been prompted by domestic political issues like the case of the UK and some other European countries. "We never practised extra-judicial killings as a state policy, in spite of repeated LTTE provocations and target killings in the South, including high profile political assassinations," Bogollagama said.
The US support had, Bogollagama said, facilitated the Sri Lanka campaign. "We benefited immensely from their assistance ranging from the Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Courageous’ to intelligence leading to some of the operations targeting LTTE ships on the high seas and measures to deny LTTE financial support. The US also thwarted attempts by the LTTE to acquire weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles," the former Foreign Minister said. "We need to discuss the war crimes issue with the US and bare the on-going attempt to discredit the country at the behest of the LTTE rump," he said.
Referring to ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ Bogollagama pointed out that the very basis of the charge that Sri Lanka had ordered UN staff out of Vanni in Sept. 2008 to conduct a war without witnesses had now been proved wrong. The ICRC had been present at Puthukudirippu on the Vanni east front until Jan. 2009, Bogollagama said adding that the international community couldn’t be unaware that the government had gone out of its way to ensure food supplies to
civilians trapped in the war zone until shortly before the LTTE collapsed.
Bogollagama said that the government of Sri Lanka had been accused of waging what the LTTE rump and a section of the media called a genocidal war against Tamil speaking people. But they had forgotten that even after the UN quit Kilinochchi at the behest of the government in Oct. 2008, the World Food Programme (WFP) continued to move overland food convoys until Jan. 23, 2009. Although overland food convoys had to be stopped, the government again with the support of the international community had moved 3,150 MT of food, including vegetables from Feb. 19, 2009 to May 8, 2009, Bogollagama said.
Why did ‘genocidal’ GoSL save 300,000 civilians, 11,000 LTTE cadres, Ex-Foreign Minister asks.
.......continued.......
The ex--Foreign Minister said if the government had wanted to exterminate the entire Vanni community, it wouldn’t have sent them food and medicine and allowed the ICRC to carry out an operation to evacuate the sick and wounded from the war zone. The government had also allowed a group of Indian medical personnel to be stationed at Pulmoddai, north of Trincomalee to receive the sick and the wounded, Bogollagama said. Had there been deliberate artillery strikes by the Sri Lankan Army on makeshift medical facilities in the war zone as alleged by "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields" the military wouldn’t have facilitated evacuation of the wounded, he said.
Bogollagama said those levelling war crimes allegations against SriLanka turned a blind eye to the fact the Sri Lanka military had acknowledged the detention of over 11,600 LTTE cadres following the conclusion of the war. "If the military didn’t want witnesses, it could have massacred them or held them in detention for many years. But within two years of the conclusion of the conflict, over 7,000 ex-LTTE personnel are now free and living with their families. There is a likelihood of the remaining personnel being released by end of this year. An army struggling to hide indiscriminate military action will never ever release thousands of detainees soon after the war," Bogollagama said.
The government had, through the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, gone to the extent of involving the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in an unprecedented plan to help ex-LTTE cadres find employment, he said. "What all our critics have to realise is that the government throughout the offensive never sought to deny international organisations access to civilians. The UN and other foreign agencies employed hundreds of Tamil workers living in areas under LTTE control. In fact, the LTTE detained Tamils employed by the UN for helping civilians to reach government-held areas, at an early phase of the Vanni offensive," the former Kurunegala District MP said.
India to build hospital for hill people of Sri Lanka
By R. K. Radhakrishnan
TheHindu.com
July 01, 2011
The project will be completed in early 2013
Indian High Commissioner Ashok. K. Kantha and Sri Lankan health department officials will formally lay the foundation stone for the construction of a 150-bed hospital at Dickoya near Hatton in the Central province on Monday. The hospital will offer specialised services in the hill areas of Sri Lanka
Preliminary work on the site had commenced in April. The project will be completed in in early 2013. The hospital will cost about Rs. 50 crore.
The Tamil people who work in the plantations and tea estates in the Hill districts had come from India. India had launched a series of measures, in cooperation with the Sri Lankan government, for their welfare.
The agreement to award the hospital work was signed in March by the then BSM joint secretary, T.S. Tirumurti, on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, and K. R. Tirumurahan, managing director of Green Valley's Shelters (P) Limited in Chennai.
The hospital will be constructed under the grant of the Government of India. Hospital Services Consultation Corporation Ltd (HSCC) India is the Project Management Consultant.
Recognising the need for establishment of a well equipped general hospital at Dickoya near Hatton, the Government of India agreed to render assistance to Government of Sri Lanka. The establishment of a new hospital in the Central Province in Sri Lanka will augment the facilities in the existing hospital and provide health services to a large number of people of Indian origin living in this area.
India has continued to extend extensive assistance to the Indian-origin Tamils living in that area especially in the area of education, health, housing and public transportation.
What EXPERIENCE, both past and present, in fighting asymmetric warfare and terrorism do each of the countries consulted by India have?
Here is a PARTIAL list, with "C" signifying a current threat.
India - Moslem/Kasmiri/Pakistani terror groups (C), Maoist Naxalites (C), Assamese & Nagaland terrorists (C), Sikh separatists, Tamil National Army ....
US - Al-Quaida (C), Taliban/Afghan terrorists (C), Palestinian terrorists (C), Iraqi terror groups (C),Domestic right wingers (C), Vietcong ....
UK - Moslem/Al Quaida terrorists (C), Iraqi terror groups (C), Taliban/Afghan terror groups (C), European and domestic anarchists (C), Irish Republican Army terrorists, Malayan Chinese communists ....
Sri Lanka - Tamil separatist terror groups, principally the LTTE (C)
Israel - Palestinian terrorists (C), Hezbollah (C), Hamas (C), Al Quaida (C) ...
France - Moslem/Al Quaida terrorists (C), European and domestic anarchists (C), Vietminh, Algerian nationalists
Japan - Domestic anarchists (C), North Korean terrorists (C?), Vietnamese communists
Australia - Al Quaida/Moslem terrorists (C)
Malaysia - Al Quaida (C), Jamah Islamiya Moslem terrorists (C), Malayan Chinese Communist insurgency, Indonesian - Malayan conflict
Bangladesh - Maoist/Naxalite terrorists (C), Assamese/Naga terrorist elements (C)
..................
Sri Lanka and India armies to strengthen bilateral corporation
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 01, New Delhi: Sri Lanka and India armies during their first structured Army-to-Army staff talks have agreed to strengthen bilateral military cooperation between them through training, administration, and welfare programmes.
The three-day talks between India and Sri Lanka that began on Wednesday (29) in New Delhi ended today with Indian army agreeing to help the Sri Lankan army to build capacity and to share their experiences in counter-insurgency operations.
The Sri Lankan delegation for the talks was led by Sri Lanka Army's Military Secretary Major General H. C. P. Goonetilleke while Indian Army's Additional Director General (International Cooperation) Major General I. P. Singh led the Indian delegation.
The two sides have discussed the matters of interest that could be implemented between the two armies over the next year. They also agreed to send their military instructors to each other's military academies.
During the discussions, India has agreed to open up more opportunities for the Sri Lankan Army personnel to train in Indian military academies and colleges. In addition the Indian army has agreed to enhance the scope of the training courses for the Sri Lankan officers.
The armies also have agreed to share their experiences and organizational structure in the fields of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and expertise in battle concepts and doctrines, particularly in tackling insurgency, the Indo Asian News Service reported.
India has held similar staff talks with only nine other countries, specifically US, UK, Israel, France, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Singapore.
During the visit the Sri Lankan delegation has also met the Indian Army chief General V.K. Singh.
The Sri Lankan delegation is expected to return home on Saturday.
Darusman Report improper - Akashi
DailyNews.lk
July 01, 2011
* Int’l community should not create various issues
* Any inquiry should be conducted locally
* LTTE ruthless terrorist organization
“The Darusman Report though intended only to be an advisory report to the Secretary General of the UN, is improper,” said Senior Adviser on Foreign Policy in Japan Yasushi Akashi when he addressed the 16th Joint Committee of the Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Meeting held in Tokyo last week.
Akashi was speaking on the subject of ‘Recent Political Developments in Sri Lanka’, as the keynote speaker at this meeting.
Yasushi Akashi(pic)
Akashi said that any inquiry into the last days of the war should be conducted locally through recognized individuals of good judgement. “The LLRC is such a body. Therefore we should ask anyone who has representations to direct them to the LLRC.”
The global community should also await the findings of the local committee and not try to jump the gun by creating various issues in international fora, he said.
Akashi also said that the LTTE was a ruthless terrorist organization and should not be equated in status to a sovereign state such as Sri Lanka. Such an equation is not only unjustified but would pose a threat to the global fight against terrorism.
He also said that the LTTE sabotaged the Tokyo meeting of which Japan and the United States were to be co-chairs.
“They again sabotaged the Geneva meeting when the government of Sri Lanka had already sent its delegates.”
He said that time and time again, the international community had provided opportunities for the LTTE to enter the negotiation process.
“But every one of those opportunities were deliberately rejected by the LTTE which took most unhelpful attitudes. All those countries that took part in the process of assisting in bringing peace to Sri Lanka, were confronted by the policy of non co-operation and sabotage by the LTTE which ensured the failure of all such attempts,” Akashi said.
Therefore, he said no tears should be shed for the LTTE.
Referring to the advisory report of Darusman and others to the Secretary General, he said that having painstakingly read this report together with the report of the International Crisis Group, it became clear that pages of the NGO report have been reproduced as original writings of the Commissioners.
Therefore professional study of the report submitted to the Secretary General when compared with the documents of relevant INGOs would show that there was much copying and passing off of other peoples writings as the views of the Commissioners.
Finally, Akashi said that the global community should help Sri Lanka to look to the future. There was much reconstruction work to be done, particularly in the North and East. Japan should contribute to this process in spite of the difficulty that she herself is undergoing as a result of the recent earthquake and tsunami. He also commended the Sri Lanka Ambassador in Japan for boldly visiting the affected areas and providing food and drink to the victims. The Ambassador had fed them with rice and curry and given them tea. This gesture was greatly appreciated. He also said that the work of the rescue team sent by Sri Lanka was outstanding and was the best of rescue organisations that went into the devastated areas. Due to mass media publicity, the Sri Lanka Ambassador Wasantha Karannagoda is now a national hero in Japan, Akashi said.
These meetings were attended also by Yasao Fukuda former Prime Minister of Japan, Fugita Chairman of the Sri Lanka-Japan and Japan-Sri Lanka Committee, Senior Minister of International Monetary Co-operation Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Sri Lanka Ambassador Wasantha Karannagoda. This meeting was adjudged a great success. At last year’s meeting 30 Japanese entrepreneurs participated. This year however, the number of businessmen from Japan rose to 132, showing their interest in investing in Sri Lanka.
EXPOSE': Unaltered Channel 4 Video killers spoke TAMIL, not Sinhalese!!!
...........
Sri Lanka says original of Channel 4 video obtained
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 02, Colombo: Sri Lanka says it has obtained the unaltered video of the footage aired by Britain's Channel 4in its documentary "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" on June 14.
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has reportedly said that the Sri Lankan authorities had the original Channel 4 video clip before it was doctored by vicious elements.
The video reportedly obtained from England was aired on a local television station.
The footage shows that armed men in military clothing shooting a group of naked and bound men similar to the footage aired by Channel 4.
The armed men in the acquired video are however speaking in Tamil, the language spoken by the Tamil Tigers while in the Channel 4 version, the shooters are speaking in Singhalese, the language used by the military.
"We got this original video and we gave it to a local television station to air. It shows the armed men speaking in Tamil and not Sinhalese. So that shows that the video aired in Britain was a fake," Sri Lankan military spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala has told Xinhua.
The controversial video aired by Channel 4 drew the ire of Western countries and right organizations which called for an international inquiry on the war crimes allegedly committed by Sri Lanka during the last stage of the three decades long war that ended in May 2009.
The United States and the United Kingdom even issued stern warnings to the Sri Lankan government to conduct an inquiry soon into the alleged war crimes or else face an international investigation.
New video emerges
BBC.com
July 02, 2011
Sri Lanka army say that they are investigating into a video that was telecast by a private television channel believed as the unaltered video used to create the Channel 4 documentary on Sri Lanka.
Army Spokesman Major General Ubaya Madawela told BBC Sandesshaya that they have received a copy of the video which is now being analysed by an army expert panel.
He said that the private television station has obtained the video from a foreign source.
In the latest video men in army uniform speak in Tamil language whereas the footage shown in Channel 4 documentary spoke in Sinhala language.
The footage shows men in army uniform carrying out execution of blind folded men having their hands tied together in the back.
LTTE attrocities
Major General Ubaya Madawela said the footage is evidence to atrocities committed by the LTTE during the thirty years of war.
“Many soldiers and policemen who were missing in action were not accounted for. Now we can conclude they were killed by the LTTE in this way in the territory they were holding during the war” he said.
He said the video will be given to international scrutiny.
Clearer pictures
Government parliamentarian and former secretary to the Ministry of Human Rights, Dr.Rajiv Wijesinghe talking to Sandeshaya from London said that the latest video is clearer than the previous one with shady areas.
“If some one rejects the latest video how can that person says the previous one authentic” he questioned.
The Channel 4documentary investigated alleged war crimes carried out by the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final weeks of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 and was broadcast in the UK.
Named ‘Killing Fields in Sri Lanka, it was shown to the United Nations Human Rights Council at the end of May.
How indeed!
Hello, ICRC ... how about some straight talking for once?
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SLN responds to Channel 4 News allegations:How come ICRC evacuated 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory?
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
July 1, 2011
Responding to ‘Channel 4 News’ allegation that the government of Sri Lanka had deliberately denied food to those trapped on the Vanni east front during the final phase of the Vanni offensive, navy headquarters yesterday said that the a food ship reached the North less than a week before the LTTE collapsed on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009.
Navy headquarters spokesperson Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya told The Island that four vessels, Sinhabahu, Green Ocean, Binhtan and City of Dublin had been deployed to move 2361.315 MT food items from Trincomalee to Puthumathalan, where the LTTE made its last stand. The SLN spokesperson said that food shipments were made from Feb. 17, 2009 to May 14, 2009 as the army fought its way into rapidly dwindling area held by terrorists.
WFP-led overland food convoys came to a halt on Nov. 23, 2009 as fighting escalated on the Vanni east front. According to Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, the WFP carried 12 overland food convoys beginning Oct, 2008 to Jan 23, 2009, before heavy fighting forced a halt to overland supply convoys.
Commander Warnakulasuriya said that supplies to Puthumathalan from Feb 17 to May 14, 2009 comprised wheat flour (1095 MT), dhal (273 MT), vegetable oil (92 MT), sugar (97 MT), medical items (3.5 MT), samaposha (1MT), cerelac (1.05 MT), sprats (1 MT), green gram (2 MT), rice (698 MT), pumpkin/carrot (19.21 MT), potato (05 MT), cone soya beans (29.92 MT), chili powder (1.4 MT), coriander (0.7 MT), salt (3.25 MT), Cummins seed (0.7 MT), pepper seed (0.7 MT), soya (2 MT), T leaves (2.50 MT), garlic (3.50 MT), milk food, medical, clothing and other items (21.13 MT), b onions (05 MT) and other items (1.765 MT). The Puthumathan bound cargo included 12,600 litres if kerosene, 720 litres of patrol and 274 litres of 2T oil, the official said.
The official said that in spite of fierce fighting, the government went to the extent of facilitating the evacuation of those sick, wounded and helpers from Puthumathalan to Trincomalee and Pulmoddai from Jan. to May, 2009. Responding to a query, the SLN spokesperson said that the ICRC had spearheaded the evacuation programme, which bought 12, 820 persons out of Puthumathalan in Green Ocean (12,663) and Seruvila II (157).
There couldn’t have been a similar evacuation operation in any part of the world during a large scale military operation, the Commander said. He pointed out the absurdity in allegations that the military had deliberately targeted civilians and then allowed the wounded to be evacuated by the ICRC from Puthumathalan to Pulmoddai, where the government of India stationed a medical team to treat the sick and the wounded.
SLN responds to Channel 4 News allegations:How come ICRC evacuated 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory?
......continued.....
Intelligence sources told The Island that some LTTE cadres could have taken advantage of the evacuation plan to reach safety. Although the military had been concerned about the possibility of some terrorists escaping the advancing army, the government continued tthe operation until last possible day to save lives, sources said.
The SLN spokesperson said that those evacuated by the ICRC would be able to tell those gunning Sri Lanka on the human rights front how hard the government strived to evacuate the sick and the wounded. Apart from them, SLN units deployed off Puthumathalan had rescued hundreds of Tamils fleeing in boats and moved them to safety, he said.
Commenting on food supplies to Jaffna during eelam war IV, Commander Warnakulasuriya said that due to loss of overland main supply route, all requirements of the military and civilians in the peninsula and the Jaffna islands had to me moved by sea and air. In spite of heavy commitments on the war front, the government moved 478,126.563 MT of food cargo from 2007 to 2009 for civilians living in the Jaffna district. The official said that throughout hostilities since mid 1990, successive governments ensured that people living in Jaffna received adequate food stocks, in spite of the absence of overland supply route
C 4 fiasco will face natural death soon - Basil
Chaminda Perera
DailyNews.lk
July 02, 2011
“The massive propaganda campaign carried out by treacherous elements in foreign countries against the country’s sovereignty and independence resulted in the controversial Darusman Report, the infamous video footage telecast by British Channel 4, among others,” said Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
He said that the much talked about Channel 4 fiasco will face a natural death. The original audio and visual clip are now with the Sri Lankan authorities.
The minister said Sri Lankan authorities had the original Channel 4 video clip before it was doctored by vicious elements involved against the country.
Minister Rajapaksa stressed that the Channel 4 video is an attempt to disgrace the Security Forces who liberated the country from terrorists.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate the carpeting of provincial roads in the Colombo district at Kolonnawa yesterday, Minister Rajapaksa said that this original video clip will be made public soon.
A stretch of 167 kilometres of provincial roads in the Colombo district will be carpeted under this project.
The carpeting of Kotuvila road in Kolonnawa was inaugurated by the Economic Development Minister. Over 104 provincial roads in the district have been earmarked for carpeting under this project for which the government will allocate Rs 2,035 million.
The minister said that there are people among us who support international forces against the country. He requested them not to betray the Motherland for dollars and Euros.
“Certain groups of people in the country is in the habit of opposing everything what the Government is going to do,” he said. He added that they voiced their opposition when the Government was going to introduce the pension scheme for the private sector. “These people have launched various campaigns against the fertilizer subsidy too,” he added.
The Minister said that the country has a stock of rice sufficient for consumption of four months. He said the country was self sufficient in rice within a very short span due to various steps taken by the government for the benefit of farming community.
Colombo District Parliamentarian Duminda Silva and Western Provincial Councillor Nimal Lanza were also present.
Meanwhile, Minister Rajapaksa also said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a person born in the village who knew the trials and tribulations of the ordinary masses including farmers, fishermen and schoolchildren launched the Maga Neguma project to eliminate difficult roads in the country and provide a modern road network.
As a result at least one rural road in each of the 36000 villages belonging to 14000 Grama Niladhari divisions has now been concreted, said Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The minister was addressing a meeting after inaugurating the Polonnaruwa district Provincial Road Rehabilitation programme on Tuesday.
The minister said that when the President assured duties in his second term of office the ministers, MPs Provincial Council and Local Council members whom he met informed him that even though main roads in the nine provinces had been renovated under Maga Neguma, Gama Neguma and Jathika Saviya programmes the Local Council roads had remained neglected and such benefits of development had not filtered down to village areas. Following this the President allocated massive funds for carpeting provincial roads from the 2011 budget. The President also emphasized that those roads should be rehabilitated in a manner that would last for at least 10 to 12 years.
C 4 fiasco will face natural death soon - Basil
.......continued.......
”It was due to the Presidents’ vision that villages in Polonnaruwa district too are now getting equipped with modern roads similar to the construction of main highways in the country,’ he said. Minister Rajapaksa said carpeting and developing a road will cost Rs 10 million per kilometre.
As such 63 km of of roads in Polonnaruwa electorate will be modernized at a cost of Rs 630 million. Polonnaruwa district will have the largest number of carpeted roads in extent of 127 km. The total expenditure on this will be Rs 1270 million. The North Central Provincial Council has not received such a large allocation for Polonnaruwa district during its 21 years of existence. Minister Rajapaksa said Minister Maithripala Sirisena in his capacity as the Former Agriculture Minister in the Presidents’ first Cabinet has rendered vital service towards the improvement of paddy cultivation.
The fertilizer subsidy he introduced at Rs 350 per 50 kg bag of fertilizer has been continued for six years of 13 seasons. By 2010 the farmer population had been able to increase rice production by 117 percent utilizing the fertilizer subsidy.
‘Sri Lankan’s economic dependence on foreign countries built by British rulers has now been eradicated to enable the country to stand on its own feet. Sri Lanka has now attained a growth rate of 8.5 percent and built up a foreign exchange reserve of 7 billion rupees equivalent to 24 months food imports.
In addition to mega development projects like airports, expressways, power stations and irrigation schemes the government has taken development to the village to enable people to lead a contented life without depending on others in a free and sovereign country.
‘Those who felt jealous about this process were hatching conspiracies against the state for the sake of dollars and Euros,” Minister Rajapaksa said.
Given the efforts of anti-national elements to discredit Sri Lanka and her armed forces, it is ESSENTIAL that the public be able to easily differentiate between Government personnel and private Security Forces personnel.
ESSENTIAL!
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Sri Lanka Defence Ministry orders all private security officers to wear same uniform
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 02, Colombo: In a move to distinguish the government security personnel from the private security officers, the Sri Lanka Defence Ministry has ordered all private security firms in the country to provide the same uniform to their security officers.
Sri Lanka Army spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawela said the government has taken measures to change the uniform of all the security officers of the private security firms so that the private security personnel wear uniforms that are not similar to uniforms of the armed forces.
Accordingly, from Thursday the uniform of all the private security personnel will be dark brown trousers with a light brown shirt and a dark brown cap.
The Army spokesman said that the decision was implemented from yesterday following lengthy discussions with the private security firms.
The uniform of the private security personnel have been designed according to the guidelines issued by the Defence Ministry, the Army spokesman said.
Weiss gets wiser: denies 40,000 figure
H. L. D. Mahindapala
LankaWeb
July 02, 2011
Gordon Weiss, former UN spokesperson in Colombo, who claimed that 40,000 died in the last stages of the Vadukoddai War between January 2009 and May 18, 2009, has revised his figures again.
When he was in Sri Lanka he put the figure at 7,000. After he left his UN job and went to Australia he jacked it up to 40,000 to sensationalize his book, The Cage. At a book launch held in Melbourne last week, he changed his figure again and came down to 10,000 under questioning by Chanaka Bandarage, a lawyer.
Bandarage then asked why the brochure had mentioned 40,000. Weiss had disowned responsibility and passed the buck to the Deakin University which produced the brochure. Rohan Bastin, a Sri Lankan-born academic, organized this book launch. Bastin who was relying on Weiss’s figures was shame-faced and had nothing to say about the discrepancy in the Deakin University figures and the revised figures quoted by Weiss.
This denial by Weiss blows up the fictitious figure of 40,000 mentioned in the report of the Advisory Panel of Experts (APEs) appointed by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General. It also blasts the myths of the anti-Sri Lankan NGOs and pundits who went to the town with Weiss’s figure of 40,000.
The local pundits in NGOs (example: Sanjana Hattotuwa of the Centre for Peace Alternative) also concluded that the book was an indictment of the war conducted by the Security Forces. But the accusers are not agreed on the critical issue of the number of casualties. Loud-mouth Hattotuwa in his review too avoided the discrepancies in the number of casualties. Obviously, it does not fit with his condemnation of the conduct of the war by the government.
In addition to the rubbery figures of Weiss, the Tamil lobby claims that the figures quoted by all sources are conservative. Prof. Francis Boyle, the most vociferous propagandist for the Jaffna Tamils, claims 50,000 died. The Tamil spokesperson in Australia, Dr. Victor Kulendran, told an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program, in reply to my questioning these figures, that all the figures quoted are conservative and that the figure is around 120,000. The UN, however, is on record saying that it has distanced itself from Gordon Weiss and also that there was no way of counting the casualties.
Embarrassed by his claims under questioning, Weiss even pleaded at one stage not to spoil his book launch with questions. His book has come under fire from several critical quarters. The book is teeming with inaccuracies.
But the shady part is that he refuses to meet his critics face-to-face. When Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe was going on air to comment on the latest developments in Sri Lanka he refused to face him. When I appeared on ABC – once on Lateline and once on Phillip Adam’s program — I too requested that he should appear and defend his book. But he refused.
He also engaged in an e-mail correspondence with me promising to reply the series of questions I forwarded. After sometime he played dead and automated messages kept coming from his end.
Meanwhile, ABC has decided to air “The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” video tomorrow despite the London Sunday Times dismissing it as a shoddy piece of journalism. ABC has also refused to give an opportunity for the critics to present their point of view.
The Tamil lobby, of course, is running around Western capitals thinking that Weiss’s book, the report of the APEs and the fictions in the Channel 4 video are going to win them their elusive Eelam.
Brutal Killing of Soldiers by LTTE in Real Video: SL Army
OutlookIndia.com
July 03, 2011
The Sri Lankan military has claimed that the original version of a British channel's "doctored" documentary depicting rights violations by the Army has been found and it shows "brutal killings" of soldiers by the LTTE during the last phase of the war.
The Army said a private TV channel had found the real footage of the "doctored version" of the documentary which shows exactly the opposite of what the Channel 4 aired.
"This video obtained by a private TV station shows the brutal killings of soldiers by the LTTE," military spokesman Major General Ubhaya Madawela told BBC.
He said the "real" video's footage carry Tamil conversations opposed to the Sinhala conversations heard in the "doctored" video.
Channel 4's documentary 'Sri Lanka Killing Fields' aired in the UK had carried gruesome pictures of executions of LTTE cadres at the hands of government troops.
"We know many of our soldiers were taken captive by the LTTE during the war. Only a very few of them were handed over via the ICRC," Madawela said.
"Now we can think that those who are shown being shot and killed are those soldiers who to date remain missing," Madawela stressed.
He said the private channel which carried the real footage had handed over the tapes to the Army for verification.
Sri Lanka had earlier dismissed the documentary as an attempt to discredit the government through a fake video.
Sri Lanka completes resettlement in Jaffna
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 03, Jaffna: Sri Lanka says the final stage of the resettlement process of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Jaffna peninsula was completed today under the patronage of Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa.
The resettlement of 863 displaced families took place in Kevil village in Jaffna today at a function head with the participation of Minister Rajapaksa as the chief guest. Ten houses built by the Sri Lanka Army were also handed over to the people during the event.
The families are now allowed to resettle in Pokkaruppu, Vettrilaikernai and Maruthankerny areas that were under the military control earlier.
I am certain the TNA will demand what amounts to Eelam in all but name.
The Eelamist mind has still not accepted that in Sri Lanka no powers will be devolved on the basis of separate communities, whether they are based on race, language, religion, sex, caste or wealth.
Sri Lanka has only ONE COMMUNITY: that of Sri Lankan citizens.
Sri Lanka will not be sliced and diced into separate walled-off min-states for exclusive use of separate communities.
ALL of Sri Lanka belongs to ALL of its citizens, EQUALLY, as a WHOLE, not PART by PART.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka will not handover any power to a community whose members waged a separatist war only two years ago.
NO WAY, JOSE'!
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Sri Lanka Tamil party asks for a debate in parliament on North and East situation
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 03, Colombo: The major Tamil political party of Sri Lanka, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has requested for a debate in parliament on the current situation in the North and East and the issues faced by the Tamil people in the area.
A one-day debate has been fixed for the purpose this week, parliamentary sources said.
A TNA parliamentarian said the party has prepared a report on the situation in the North and East and the issues faced by the Tamil people and that it would be tabled in parliament on the day of the debate.
The TNA maintains that the issues faced by the Tamil people in the North and East need to be addressed urgently.
Resolution on Sri Lanka's ethnic issue in parliament this week
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 03, Colombo: Sri Lanka government is preparing to bring a resolution to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a political solution to the ethnic issue on Tuesday (5), government sources said.
Leader of the House and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resource Management Nimal Siripala de Silva is to table the resolution. He is also a member of the government team that currently holds talks with the major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
Government sources say the PSC that will have a quasi-judicial power, will comprise 31 members, with the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government nominating 19 members and the opposition nominating 12 members to the PSC.
Sources said that the 16 political parties in the UPFA government will have one slot each in the committee while dominating Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would be given four positions in the PSC.
The government meanwhile has called on the opposition political parties to officially state their stance on the proposed PSC.
Minister de Silva has told the media that the opposition political parties needed to officially state their stance, as there has not been any official communication apart from reports in the media on the matter.
He has said that none of the opposition political parties have officially informed the government that they would not be participating in the PSC.
According to de Silva, decisions on the PSC could not be taken based on media reports.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa proposed the setting up of a PSC to discuss and bring a political solution to the ethnic issue.
He has said that he will accept any decision of the parliament on the ethnic issue and a solution should not be confined to discussions with one party.
Sri Lankan TRAITOR Ranil Wickramasinghe meets with the UN Secretary General to find out how he may feed the fake "war crimes" fire.
Before he heads back home, he may also collect more money from his foreign masters as blood money for his treachery!!
When will the United National Party (UNP) GET RID OF this pestiferous traitor who CONTINUALLY HEAPS DISHONOR upon its head?
SHAME!
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Sri Lanka opposition leader meets UN Chief
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 06, New York: Sri Lanka Opposition and United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe Tuesday met United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and held discussions.
The meeting took place Tuesday afternoon at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Opposition Leader has appraised the UNSG on the developments in Sri Lanka and discussed Sri Lanka's response to the report of the Panel of Experts appointed by the Secretary-General.
Wickremasinghe told ColomboPage over the phone before he left New York Tuesday night that from the discussions he had with Mr. Ban he understood the UNSG will pursue the matter until Sri Lanka conducts a credible investigation on the allegations of human right violations cited in the report.
"The problem will not simply go away until Sri Lanka conducts an acceptable (to UN) investigation," Wickremasinghe said.
The opposition leader said the major issues discussed during the meeting included restitution of democracy in the country, upholding human rights and freedom of expression.
Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to United States, Devinda Subasinghe who accompanied the Opposition Leader during his visit to New York said it is an opportune time for Sri Lanka to start a high-level dialogue with the United Nations and the United States which is urging the Sri Lankan government to investigate the allegations .
Does the GOSL propose to devolve power to a community that blackmails SL with fake "war crimes" videos?
This is what we will reap when we allow TNA TRAITORS, and residual LTTE terrorist leaders in Sri Lanka, to get away SCOT FREE without holding them accountable for that crimes in COURTS OF LAW!
Don't think allowing to get away in the name of "reconciliation" will be of any benefit to the nation; it will only reward and encourage them to persist in further mischief.
Prosecute them for their "crimes against humanity" in the past 30 years!
ENFORCE the laws of the land!
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Channel 4 controversy:
Govt intelligence uncovers several cropped video clips - Minister Keheliya
By Chamikara WEERASINGHE
DailyNews.lk
July 6, 2011
Media and Mass Communication Minister and Defence spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said the government’s intelligence network has found several cropped video clips and multimedia files from sources that enabled the making of controversial Channel 4 video footage.
Minister
Keheliya Rambukwella
‘We are investigating these clips to understand the outsourcing of the jigsaw puzzle and show how these bits and pieces were doctored and remastered into a single slide show to be telecast all over Europe, while a UN human rights meeting was held in Geneva,” he said.
According to intelligence reports, the controversial Channel 4 footage is an improved version of similar footage they have telecast two years ago accusing the government of war crimes and human rights violations.
‘The video is clearly doctored and designed to discredit the Sri Lankan Security Forces right from the start to the end. There are no doubts about it, Rambukwella said.
”The sequence of events, the background commentary and the timing of its telecast in the background of the unrest, release the controversial Darusman Report, stands to prove that it was an organized attempt to discredit the Sri Lankan government,” he explained.
Much of the damage has been done by the commentary,” he said.
Asked if the video material under investigation were real and whether their authenticity has been established to be good enough for investigations, Rambukwella said, “we are talking about half a million persons and a legitimate Army whose valiant efforts, bravery and sacrifices have freed the country.
”We are concerned about their dignity,which they richly deserve, he added. The video tapes are only worth looked into to reveal the truth against a handful of people who are on a role to paint a different picture about them under the cover of human rights in an international conspiracy,” he explained.
There are less than 10 people being shot dead in the video telecast by Channel 4.
After creating such big controversy, the Channel cannot establish the authenticity of their video leave aside the identity of those allegedly killed, he said.
”Sri Lankan security forces have liberated 300,000 Tamil civilians from the grip of LTTE terrorism.
Of them 98 percent have been resettled in their places of origin.
They are now leading a normal life,” he said.
”The Army arrested over 7000 proven LTTE cadres who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society,” he added.
What are we hearing here?
Are we so critically dependent on hydropower still?
How can it happen that the 800MW Norochcholai coal power plant, and Kerawalapitiya thermal power plant are both out of commission!
Heads need to roll for this kind of bungling at the CEB!
Furthermore, we need more emphasis on the development of distributed renewable sources of power, especially solar power at the residential level.
EMPOWER homeowners, and convert their homes into net producers of solar electrical energy .. Sri Lanka's most abundant form of renewable energy!
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Sri Lanka Power and Energy Ministry appoints an energy supply committee with wide powers
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka Ministry of Power and Energy announced the appointment of an energy supply committee with wide powers to supply electricity to the public without interruption.
The committee is chaired by Tissa Herath, ex-chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board. The official is presently an additional secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy.
The Ministry announced that the power generated by the other generators is sufficient for the consumption despite the drop in hydropower generation due lack of rains in the reservoir catchment areas.
However, the Ceylon Electricity Board requested the public to use electricity thriftily especially between 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, local media reports said that the unannounced power cuts has caused chaos in the Biyagama Export processing Zone Monday and Tuesday.
The Electricity Board is in a dire situation due to the lack of rains to produce enough hydropower while the breakdown of recently commissioned Norochcholai coal power plant and Kerawalapitiya thermal power plant has affected the production of thermal power.
THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR FROM India!
No Pressure, No ultimatums, No Invasions to IMPOSE dictats on Sovereign Sri Lanka.
We just need India's Friendship and help as a Good Neighbor & the fount of our peoples, or cultures and our religions!
In particular .. NO 13th AMENDMENT ... SCRAP this foreign imposed dictat NOW!
We have attained greater social equity in Sri Lanka than in India despite a 30 year war; we can deviuse our own political solutions using our own NATIVE WIT.
We know what JUSTICE is, we have PRACTICED Dharmista Rajaya for millenia, and we are fully able to handle OUR OWN affairs ourselves!
Foreigners ... PLEASE BUTT OUT!!
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India wants a strong, united Sri Lanka - Indian For. Secy. Nirupama Rao
S. Thilllainathan in New Delhi
DailyNews.lk
July 06, 2011
Pic: Nirupama Rao
“India is a friend of Sri Lanka. We want a strong Sri Lanka; this would help India. We are not going to bring pressure on Sri Lanka on the question of resolving the conflict. On the contrary, we are eager in helping Sri Lanka to bring a permanent solution to the conflict which will be acceptable to all its communities,” Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
“India hopes to see the conflict in Sri Lanka settled permanently under a united and unitary Sri Lanka, where there would be reconstruction, rebuilding and prosperity. Whether a settlement would be arrived at under the 13th amendment or not is a matter entirely for Sri Lanka.
The latter must discuss with the TNA and other Tamil parties and arrive at an amicable settlement,” Rao told a visiting delegation of Lankan newspaper editors at a meeting here.
“But the Tamil people have difficulties which must be sorted out by the Lankan government.
As for the Darusman and other reports, India will always try to help Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka must convey to the international community the factual situation on these issues,” Rao explained.
Associated with Rao at the meeting were Joint Secretary for the External Affairs Ministry and spokesman Vishnu Prakash and Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Jt. Secretary in Charge of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
The VAST MAJORITY of Sri Lankans OPPOSE DEVOLUTION of power to regions on communal bases, and federalism as one incarnation of it.
We view it as a first step towards eventual disintegration of our country .. as demonstrated by the terrorist Eelam War that was recently put down only at GREAT COST in BLOOD & TREASURE.
We want to bequeath a PERMANENTLY united unitary nation to our descendants as their inalienable heritage.
What OTHER nations do is THEIR business; what OUR nation does is OUR business.
The Government of Sri Lanka is DUTY BOUND to accept the wishes of the citizens who elected it to office!
...............
Lanka Opposed to Devolve Power to Tamil Community
OutlookIndia.com
July 08, 2011
The government is opposed to federalism to devolve power to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka in a bid to address the political aspirations of the minority ethnic community in the country.
The government would not offer a federal solution to the country's ethnic problem, senior minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament today.
De Silva, who is a member of the government's panel which is currently engaged in talks with the main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said the government stands opposed to federalism as a form of devolving political power to Tamil minority.
"However we are for a negotiated solution by talking to all parties and seeking their views. It must be a sustainable solution," the minister stressed.
De Silva said a majority in the country would oppose a federal solution.
He was responding to a remark by the main opposition UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella who said that UNP was not averse to a federal solution.
The UNP under Ranil Wickremesinghe's leadership between 2002 and 2004 talked to the LTTE through Norway's facilitation.
The LTTE had agreed during the talks that they would explore a federal solution to end the ethnic strife.
However, the UNP's willingness to arrive at a federal solution saw them being ousted from power with the majority Sinhalese overwhelmingly disapproving the Norwegian facilitation and the federal solution it sought to achieve.
The LTTE waged a bloody three-decade civil war for a separate state for the Tamils of Sri Lanka, alleging discrimination against the minority community at the hands of the majority Sinhalas.
But the Lankan military crushed the rebels and ended the ethnic conflict that killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people.
Talk all you want, but there had BETTER NOT BE any agreement to devolve power to regions on ethnic basis, or to grant police and land powers to the provinces.
The people of Sri Lanka did not sacrifice the lives of their sons and daughters on the altar of patriotism, only to allow terrorist supporters win through subterfuge in peace, what they lost through violence in war.
It is OK to disagree in these discussions because agreement with these separatists can only be achieved by abdication of the right of Sri Lankans to a united unitary nation.
Don't hand over Mother Lanka to the rump LTTE, bound hand and foot just to placate Eelamists and foreign naysayers!
...............
Written proposal at end of talks
By Ajantha Kumara Agalakada
DailyMirror.lk
July 07, 2011
The government and the Tamil National Alliance had agreed yesterday to come up with a written proposal only after the conclusion of the talks between the two parties on a solution to the North-East problem through devolution of power.
Written proposal at end of Govt.-TNA talks
The TNA had earlier requested the government to state
its position in writing regarding 12 points that had been raised during the previous rounds of talks between the two parties.
However, at yesterday’s talks, the government delegation had said it was better to talk first and come up with a written proposal later, with the participation of both parties.
Matters regarding the 13th Amendment had had been discussed at length at yesterday’s meeting. The next meeting between the two parties is scheduled for August 4.
The government delegation comrprised Leader of the House Nimal Siripala De Silva, External Affairs Minster G.L. Peiris and MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena. The TNA delegation comprised MPs R.Sambanthan, M.A. Sumanthiran, and President’s Counsel K. Kanag Iswaran.
A thing of Beauty, a gem Incomparable, a patriotic Paen to the motherland ... that was Kumar Sangakkara's Cowdrey Lecture at the Marylebourne Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's, England last Monday.
Surely, he deserves FORGIVENESS for his FIVE MINUTE laundering of our collective knickers in public, unwisely driving through the covers at the grand pajandrums of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, within a HOUR LONG speech incomparable at the podium?
Let us look beyond his expose' of of the Cricket Board on a higher, more uplifting level, and give credit to our hero for the lilting cadence of his speech that matched the beauty of his cricket.
Bravo, Sangakkara! .... for voicing the virtues that all of us Sri Lankans should aspire to:
“Fans of different races, castes, ethnicities and religions who together celebrate their diversity by uniting for a common national cause – they are my foundation, they are my family. I will play my cricket for them. Their spirit is the true spirit of cricket. With me are all my people. I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.”
Prosecute him to the Fullest Extent of the Law!
.............
Tamil man arrested in Sri Lanka for providing false information to Channel 4
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 08, Kandy: Sri Lanka police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) today produced a person arrested under suspicion for providing false information to Britain's Channel 4 before Kandy Additional Magistrate Tikiri Jayatilleke.
The magistrate ordered the suspect to be detained for 90 days for further investigations.
The suspect Kandavanam Jegatheeswaran, an ethnic Tamil, who has arrived from UK, was arrested on June 30 under information provided by a Muslim businessman, police sources said.
A special police team made the arrest, sources said.
Like HELL it will be: Only in his DREAMS!
No devolution of POWER on ethnic basis.
Throw out the 13th Amendment and Eliminate ALL Provincial Councils.
...........
Sri Lankan Tamil Minister says political solution to ethnic issue based on 13th Amendment
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 08, Colombo: A Tamil Minister in the Sri Lankan government says that the political solution to the ethnic issue would be based on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises Minister Douglas Devananda has told parliament that there would be devolution of power under the 13th Amendment.
He has said that the expectations of the people in the North would be fulfilled by the government.
Devananda has added that the main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) would be left speechless in such a scenario.
Sri Lankan government urged to settle land disputes in the North and East
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 09, Colombo: A minister of Sri Lankan government in has warned of the possibility of a different kind of terrorism erupting in the country over land disputes if they are not resolved promptly.
Lands and Land Development Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon addressing a ceremony in Pottuvil has said that land disputes needed to be resolved soon.
He has said that terrorist activities had contributed to the increase in land disputes as a large number of people, especially the Muslims, lost their residences and lands pushing them to the status of IDPs.
He has observed that the conflict in the North and East for the past three decades had compounded land disputes in the Eastern Province.
According to Tennakoon, the Land Ministry has decided to resolve land disputes in the Eastern Province on a priority basis since the LTTE had driven away a large number of Muslim families out of their lands and homes to distribute those lands among LTTE war heroes' families creating a new group of IDPs in the Eastern Province.
NONSENSE!
India's Role is Vital only insofar as it is compatible with preserving Sri Lanka's security and sovereignty.
If it is inimical to those objectives, then we MUST DO WITHOUT India's help.
Acceptance of Assistance from ANY & ALL FOREIGN COUNTRIES is CONTINGENT upon that criterion.
Let us not roll over and play dead just to please India.
Let us evaluate everything against that standard.
...............
India’s role vital for Lanka: Govt.
By Yohan Perera
DailyMirror.lk
July 09, 2011
The government yesterday said Sri Lanka would not be able to achieve its development goals without India which was going to play a vital role in achieving such targets.
Speaking during an adjournment debate, External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris told Parliament that no country could formulate its economic development goals in isolation. Therefore he pointed out that it is vital for Sri Lanka to work with the neighbouring countries to achieve its economic goals.
Prof. Peiris said Sri Lanka would not be able to achieve its set target of becoming a shipping hub in South Asia without the support of India. Therefore he said the shipping industry in Sri Lanka was vastly dependent on India as 70 percent of container transshipment that reach the Colombo Port is from that country.
He also said the Colombo Dockyard had managed to secure a massive order from an Indian company to build 11 vessels.
Dockyard will gross a revenue of US $ 240 million out of this order alone, he told the House.
The Minister further stated that India was one of the biggest tourism markets which Sri Lanka was looking to and thereby pointed out that 25 percent of tourists that visit Sri Lanka would be from India by 2015. He said the situation was the same when it came to people to people contacts and thereby said a programme would be launched soon to enable low income groups to visit India on pilgrimages by train.
Minister Peiris also pointed out that the allegation made by the opposition with regard to the joint statement issued by India and Sri Lanka was false. He said there was no signing of a pact as it was only a media statement. This was released at the end of the minister’s visit to India recently.
“The outpouring of venom by the opposition on India is totally unnecessary,” he said adding that 43,000 houses out of 50,000 which India had offered to build would be ready soon.
However Prof. Peiris said the government was not afraid of raising its voice whenever necessary, referring to the fishermen’s issue.
The UNP CONNIVES with Foreigners and Eelamists to CREATE Problems for Sri Lanka pursuing Partisan Political Interests, then sheds copious tears pretending to have superior knowledge on how to handle the problems they themselves foster with tender loving care!
Bloody Hypocrites ... all of them!
............
Main opposition legislator says Sri Lankan government has failed to act tactfully
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 09, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella says the government failed to tactfully address the controversial Channel 4 video.
Kiriella has warned that in the event the Channel 4 video is screened in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka's image would be further tarnished.
He has told parliament that the government could have avoided such a situation by tactfully addressing the issue.
He has added that Sri Lanka was in a mess with regard to the United Nation Expert Panel Report.
However, Kiriella has said that the government had acknowledged that there had been human rights violations in the country by agreeing to address the issue in agreement with India.
He has further noted that Sri Lanka had put herself in a disadvantageous position by ignoring 99 complaints on human rights violations confirmed by the Human Rights Commission.
Indeed, the VAST MAJORITY of Sri Lankan citizens OPPOSE political solutions that devolve power on ethnic bases to any group of people.
They also FIRMLY OPPOSE federal solutions.
Expecting anti-national opposition political parties to develop a "political solution" is a fool's errand .. it will never happen.
They don't want any solution that preserves a united and unitary Sri Lanka.
They only want solutions that slice and dice the nation into small pieces that each of them can control as a personal fiefdom: a collection of communal bantustans.
The ONLY POLITICAL SOLUTION that should be implemented is one that preserves ONE NATION of ONE Sri Lankan PEOPLE sharing ONE common DESTINY, irrespective of the community they belong to.
No Devolution of power to regions on COMMUNAL BASES.
No Provincial Councils. Scrap the 13th Amendment.
No Devolution of Police and Land Powers to sub-national entities.
Full and Complete Universal Franchise comprising One Vote for Each Adult citizen to elect his/her representative to the National Parliament.
Equal Rights, and Equal Responsibilities, to each citizen, irrespective of community, guaranteed by ONE system of NATIONAL law.
No additional benefits based on communal attributes are necessary.
That should be the full and complete extent of the System of Governance in Sri Lanka.
................
Sri Lankan government seeks opposition support to find a political solution to the ethnic issue
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 08, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has called on the opposition political parties to render their support to find a political solution to the ethnic issue.
Leader of the House and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resource Management Nimal Siripala de Silva has observed that the government is committed to finding a political solution.
The Minsiter is also a member of the government team that currently holds talks with the major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
The Minister has said that the political solution would not be based on a federal system but the government is for a sustainable negotiated solution by talking to all parties and seeking their views.
According to the Minister a majority of Sri Lankans oppose a federal solution.
De Silva has added that the Northern Provincial Council elections would be held soon and that there was no conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils.
He has said that there were more Tamils residing in the South than in the North and there are no conflicts between the communities.
According to de Silva, the Tamil people in the North have a good rapport with the security personnel deployed in the Northern areas.
Arrested Dutch Tamils directly linked to LTTE - prosecutor
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 09, The Hague: A Dutch prosecutor has told a court in The Hague that four Tamils arrested last year in Netherlands have direct links with the Tamil Tiger terrorists group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The four Tamils, accused of extorting money from other Dutch Tamils are currently on trial in the Netherlands, the Radio Netherlands reported.
The four accused are also being charged for organizing illegal lotteries with all proceeds going to the LTTE and for being members of a criminal and terrorist organization.
The European Union listed LTTE as a terrorist organization in 2006.
According to the prosecutor, the four Tamils have registered all the Tamil families in the Netherlands and kept details on who was paying the money to the organization and who were not. Those who were paying money for the LTTE were coerced to pay often.
The prosecutor has described the LTTE as a "violent and ruthless "organization that carried out suicide attacks and recruited child soldiers to deploy for combat.
The Dutch authorities have launched a complex and elaborate investigation called 'Operation Koninck' to uncover the prominent role Tamil Tiger leaders in the Netherlands played in financing the civil war in Sri Lanka.
The LTTE waged a war against the Sri Lankan government for over three decades which killed over 100,000 people on both sides of the ethnic divide. The government defeated the LTTE in May 2009 eliminating all its senior leaders in Sri Lanka. However, the Tiger leaders living outside the country are still actively engaged in reviving the organization.
A lawyer appearing for one of the four suspects has told the Dutch court that the Sri Lankan army has seriously violated human rights in their war against the LTTE. He has alleged that many Tamils have been kidnapped or have disappeared.
The case against the four Tamil suspects is expected to take many more months as Dutch police are still investigating many of the charges against them.
A Dutch team was in Sri Lanka recently as a part of their investigation to interrogate the former senior LTTE leader and the group's international arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan and other former LTTE leaders who are detained by the Sri Lankan government.
The team was in Sri Lanka to investigate funding activities and weapons procurement by Tamil leaders based in the Netherlands during the conflict.
According to a report in Daily Mirror, the Dutch detectives have interviewed 13 former LTTE cadres before leaving the country last week.
Most missing Tamil children were recruited by LTTE : UNICEF
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
July 9, 2011
A study spearheaded by UNICEF in collaboration with the Northern Provincial Department of Probation and Child Care and Government Agent of Vavuniya has revealed that the majority of complaints received from Tamil speaking parents related to children forcibly recruited by the LTTE.
Of 676 complaints regarding missing children, about 64 per cent related to ex-LTTE child soldiers. UNICEF has facilitated re-unification of 78 children with their families.
UNICEF says it launched the project in Dec. 2009 in response to a spate of tracing requests received since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009. It believes in spite of difficulties in tracking down those listed missing, more children could be found and re-united with their families.
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Island expressed satisfaction that the UN agency had received the required assistance from the Northern Provincial administration. Those shedding crocodile tears for their personal and political gain should throw their weight behind the UNICEF effort to track down missing children, he said.
"We never interfered with the UNICEF-led Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) project," he declared.
The following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: Who called for the inquiry?
A: UNICEF initiated the project in response to pleas by those trying to locate their children. Recently I had an opportunity to discuss the FTR project with the Colombo-based head of the UNICEF. We really appreciate their intervention and help to locate missing children over the years. In spite of a large scale poster campaign in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, UNICEF received 2,564 tracing applications, including 676 regarding missing children. The rest were adults. There’s no doubt that some of the missing adults were LTTE cadres.
Q: Did those looking for missing children come across any evidence to suggest they fought for the LTTE?
A: According to a UNICEF analysis, the vast majority of those listed as missing were between 16 and 18-years old. But the most important factor is that 64 per cent of those seeking to locate their children alleged the LTTE took them away during war.
Q: Had there been any cases investigated by the UNICEF relating to children missing before eruption of Eelam War IV in Aug. 2006?
A: Had there been a genuine attempt by international and local sponsors of the LTTE at least after the Norway arranged CFA came into operation in Feb. 2002, lives of thousands of children could have been saved. A case in point is the story of a girl and her younger brother taken away by the LTTE from the East to Vanni during Eelam War IV. After the killing of their father in May 2005 in Batticaloa, the LTTE had handed over the children to an orphanage as their mother was away in the Middle East. As the LTTE retreated from the East, it had moved the children to Sencholai before being taken to Vanni East. After the collapse of the LTTE in May 2009, UNICEF had helped their mother, who returned from overseas, to find her children accommodated at orphanages at Vavuniya and Mannar.
Most missing Tamil children were recruited by LTTE : UNICEF
.......continued 1......
Responding to another query, the Defence Secretary said that that the gradual transformation of the LTTE from a hit and run outfit to a conventional fighting formation largely depended on massive recruitment of children to its fighting ranks. Although the UN had raised the issue with the LTTE following protests by Tamil families as well as successive governments, the global community never succeeded in stopping this strategy until Sri Lanka finished off the LTTE in May 2009.
"Child recruitment continued even weeks before the conclusion of the conflict,’’ the Defence Secretary said.
He said that for want of punitive action as well as negligence on the part of those responsible for children’s welfare, the LTTE had an opportunity to build a fighting force comprising of over 30,000 personnel at the onset of Eelam War IV.
"Although during a visit to Sri Lanka in 1998, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, obtained an assurance from the LTTE that gave hope for an improvement in the situation of children, the LTTE continued to recruit children in the ensuing three years,’’ Rajapaksa said.
``On a visit to North in Feb. 2001, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Andre Roberfroid met senior representatives of the LTTE to express the UN’s growing concerns. But the LTTE continued recruitment.’’
The Defence Secretary said that the Norwegian arranged CFA backed by the US, EU and Japan, gave the LTTE an opportunity to step up child recruitment under the very noses of Nordic truce monitoring mission.
Those attacking Sri Lanka on the human rights front could easily obtain data relating to complaints received by the Norwegian-led monitoring mission, he said.
"As far as I remember, there were thousands of complaints regarding children and young adults abducted by the LTTE, though they couldn’t intervene," the Defence Secretary said.
Referring to how a European country had intervened to save the life of an EPRLF MP years ago, though the LTTE subsequently killed him and his wife in Colombo, the Defence Secretary said that the bottom line was that those wanting to haul up Sri Lanka before an international war crimes tribunal never wanted to deny the LTTE wherewithal to wage war.
"What Prabhakaran couldn’t have achieved with 100 rounds of heavy artillery he realized by using a brain-washed child suicide cadre. Had the international community brought enough pressure on the LTTE by taking punitive action against its overseas network, which raised funds for procurement of arms, ammunition and equipment, the LTTE would have been forced to scale down child recruitment,’’ Rajapaksa said.
The Defence Secretary suggested that those targeting Sri Lanka on accountability issues, too, should be investigated for their complicity in the LTTE build-up.
Most missing Tamil children were recruited by LTTE : UNICEF
.......continued 2.......
Commenting on post-war rehabilitation of ex-LTTE cadres, the Defence Secretary said that Sri Lanka was grateful to International Organization for Migration (IOM) for assisting ex-LTTE cadres. Appreciating assistance extended by the international community in this regard, the Defence Secretary said that Tamil Diaspora should support the project aimed at helping those who once fought for the LTTE. Unfortunately they weren’t interested in helping ex-LTTE cadres but destabilizing post-war Sri Lanka, he said.
Those seeking war crimes investigation here should make a genuine effort to establish the total number of LTTE cadres killed in action during the conflict, including the deployment of the IPKF from July 1987 to March 1990, he said.
They should also establish the number of Tamil speaking people killed in fighting among various Tamil groups.
A section of the international community and the Tamil Diaspora were making a desperate bid to portray all Tamils killed in the conflict as civilians.
"The question is whether the world want us to believe we lost 6,000 officers and men killed and some 30,000 wounded during Eelam War IV fighting civilians," Rajapaksa asked.
President launches priority road projects in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 10, Agalawatta: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a function in Agalawatta today launched the construction work for two priority road projects under the government's programme to upgrade transport facilities and develop the entire road network of the country.
Under the programme funded by China, the President launched two projects today. The 47-kilometer Pelawatta, Neluwa-Morawaka road linking the Western and Southern Provinces will be developed at a cost of 4 billion rupees and the 17.5-kilometer Horawala- Pitigala road via Pelawatta at a cost of 1.448 billion rupees.
The development of these roads is aimed at enriching the low-grown tea industry and the living conditions of the people in the area.
Borrowing for infrastructure development is good because, unlike borrowing for routine consumption, it leads to economic growth and benefits the people in the long term.
However, those expenditures must lead to REAL economic growth and not be wasteful boondoggles that only enrich corrupt politicians and businessmen.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka will have to PAY BACK all of these borrowed funds .. SOMETIME!
Is the GOSL making arrangements to raise the required revenue from the growing economy, and save sufficient funds from its income for loan repayments?
Raising revenue will require efficiently collecting tax revenues from the resulting increase in economic activity, preventing it from being siphoned off through corruption and waste, and scheduling repayment in installments on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Let Sri Lanka beware of the creeping uncontyrolled accumulation of a mountain of DEBT that have led many Western democracies, such as the United States, Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (aka the "PIGS") to teeter on the verge of economic collapse.
ECONOMIC STRENGTH ... must underpin its MILITARY STRENGTH ... as the unshakeable pillar on which the nation's security rests.
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China is Sri Lanka's top lender this year
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 10, Colombo: The Chinese government has become the top most aid provider to Sri Lanka this year with a total aid commitment of US$ 759.8 million during the period of January to end of April 2011, according to a recently released report by the Finance and Planning Ministry.
The mid-year Fiscal Position Report-2011released by the Finance and Planning Ministry lists China as the top lender surpassing Japan. Japan has committed.
China has committed nearly 55% of the total aid to the Sri Lankan government while Japan came second with nearly 30%. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) committed US$ 413.2 million multilateral aid.
All of China's aid is for the rehabilitation and improvement of road networks in Sri Lanka. A majority of US$ 500 million is for the improvement and rehabilitation of Priority Roads. Another US$ 138.2 is for the construction of the Southern Expressway from Pinnaduwa to Godagama in the South.
Lenders and donor agencies to Sri Lanka have made a total commitment of US$ 1.385 billion from January till end April 2011. Project loans amounted to US$ 1.361 billion while grants have only amounted to US$ 24.4 million.
China's influence on Sri Lanka has raised concerns in the United States. A recently released US Congressional report has said that China, seeking to gain influence in the Indian Ocean, has increased its aid to Sri Lanka dramatically since 2005.
"In the view of some analysts and observers, China is seeking to gain influence with the Sri Lankan government as part of a 'string of pearls' naval strategy to develop port access in the northern reaches of the Indian Ocean," the report by bi-partisan and Congressional Research Service has reportedly said.
The Finance Ministry's mid-year report states that the government now has an un�]disbursed balance of foreign financing of US$ 8.6 billion available with a time period of 2- 5 years for project implementation.
A major portion of the un-disbursed funds, US$ 3.1 billion is for Roads and Transport while US$ 1.09 billion is for Power and Energy. Among other major sectors that un-disbursed funds are earmarked include, Water Supply and Sanitation - US$ 922 million, Agriculture, Fisheries, Irrigation and Land - US$ 722 million, Ports - US$ 388 million and Rehabilitation of Conflict Affected Areas - US$ 338 million.
Wailing Fake "Refugees" sold "all their possessions" and were helped by equally innocent "Tamil Diaspora Organizations" to try to break into New Zealand (or elsewhere ... who knows what the REAL target country is?) to get a WHOLE SHIP for their criminal activities.
These are LTTE terrorists, and their families, trying to escape the law and sneak into some unsuspecting country, with bleeding heart stories posing as "innocent victims".
After they get in, of course, they become aggressive and demanding, and will tie up the law enforcement agencies in court with an unending stream of funds from the LTTE mafia, and lawyers who will magically come forward to represent them.
Then, they will do everything to undermine the laws of that country through criminal activities, exploit its welfare programs, and AGGRESSIVELY engage in the politics of blackmail demanding special benefits other citizens don't have.
All this, while the Sri Lanka they wrongfully demonize to hide their crimes there, is prepared to accept them back ... as ordinary citizens!
These are NOT TRUE REFUGEES, but a part of a GLOBAL CRIMINAL MAFIA that manipulates the refugee laws of gullible economically well developed countries to gain entry through BLACKMAIL.
They are not "humanitarian refugees" but "economic refugees". They are artful conmen trying to join their bretheren in the Global LTTE mafia network plying their expertise in lies, deceit and congames!
Beware, New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada, Europe .... the safety of your citizenry is at risk if you accept these criminals!
................
Tamil migrants refuse to leave ship
By Thirumalai Manivannan
BBC.com.uk
July 11, 2011
A ship with Sri Lankan migrants off Indonesia (file photo - January 2010)
The refugees are refusing to leave their ship, until they are assured of asylum either by New Zealand or by any other “similar country"
A group of Sri Lankan Tamil migrants who have been foiled in their attempt to sail to New Zealand by the Indonesian authorities, are refusing to leave their ship demanding they be sent to New Zealand.
The ship, MV Alicia, carrying 87 Sri Lankan Tamils, seeking to reach New Zealand, has been anchored off Indonesian shores, after developing mechanical snags mid sea.
The refugees are refusing to leave their ship, until they are assured of asylum either by New Zealand or by any other “similar country”.
They also want the UN to guarantee their safety.
The New Zealand government has reportedly refused to entertain any asylum request from the refugees, according to media reports.
'Pregnant'
The ship carrying the group, which includes six women and five children, developed mechanical trouble on 9 July.
Most of us are civilians, though some belong to the families of the former LTTE fighters
Selvakumar, a spokesman for the migrants
One of the women in the group is reported to be pregnant.
The ship in distress was reportedly spotted by Indonesian maritime police, who escorted it into the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pinang, in Riau province of Indonesia.
Selvakumar, who was speaking for the migrants from the ship, told the BBC Tamil that they were mostly from northern Sri Lanka and were among those trapped in Mullaitheevu district during the final stages of the war between Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers.
They had all left Sri Lanka separately in the immediate aftermath of the war.
Most of them had been living in Malaysia for the past two years.
Tamil migrants refuse to leave ship
......continued.....
Living in Malaysia
They had hired the ship from Jakarta, by selling off their remaining possessions and through financial help from diaspora organisations, he said.
“Most of us are civilians, though some belong to the families of the former LTTE fighters” he said.
He however said none from the group was a member of the LTTE.
Selvakumar said the Indonesian authorities had interrogated four of them but they had all now returned to the ship now.
He said the Indonesian authorities were asking them to get off the ship but they would not do so unless there was a security guarantee by the UN and an assurance from the New Zealand Government that their asylum request would be granted.
He said they had provisions in the ship which would last for a month and the health condition of the migrants was good “ so far”.
Local officials of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) were present during their interrogation, Selvakumar said.
He said the IOM officials had assured them they would be in touch with the UN officials on their plight.
He said so far no UN official had visited them.
Once Again, the well greased machinery of the LTTE Mafia Network shifts into HIGH GEAR to COMPEL the Government of New Zealand to bend to their demands.
Make no mistake ... they will win!
Democratically Elected Western Governments HAVE NO DEFENSE against this kind of BLACKMAIL!
Poor "Helpless" New Zealanders ... Poor Defenceless BABES IN THE WOODS!
...........
Refusal to take Sri Lankan boat people sparks humanitarian debate in New Zealand
People.com
July 12, 2011
Human rights and refugee groups Tuesday accused New Zealand's government of a lack of compassion after it refused to accept more than 80 asylum seekers detained by the Indonesian Navy who waved signs saying they wanted to go to New Zealand.
The debate grew as members of the government cast doubt on whether the boat people were genuine refugees and whether they really intended to come to New Zealand.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key repeated his assertion that the asylum seekers were "not welcome" in the country unless they came through official channels such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Key said that welcoming refugees who arrived by boat would reward people-smugglers, who made money from, but did not care about the people on the boat.
In an interview with TV3, Key reiterated remarks he made Monday and said those who claimed asylum by other methods were "queue jumping" and he did not want to open a floodgate to "millions of others."
The boat carrying Tamil asylum seekers was detained Saturday by the Indonesian Navy as they apparently tried to make their way to New Zealand.
The group was reported to include six women and five children.
POLITICAL PRESSURE
New Zealand Immigration Minister Jonathon Coleman said Tuesday there was "no concrete evidence" that the Sri Lankans were actually trying to reach New Zealand.
"When they had a look at the boat, there was no evidence that they were truly intending to come here, so I'm sure there is a range of things that the people on that boat are trying to do to leverage their position," Coleman said.
"While there is obviously the capacity for them to come to New Zealand, we feel in this case it was pretty unlikely that that was their intended destination."
Coleman said he had received no information that any maps or charts demonstrating their intention to come to New Zealand had been found on the boat.
He said they had been holding signs indicating they wanted to come to New Zealand to "create a wave of political pressure."
Coleman said New Zealand was one of a "very few countries" that played its part in taking refugees.
"We've got a very good reputation internationally in that regard."
The government was under no legal obligation to take every person who sought asylum in New Zealand, but each applicant was considered individually.
"There is a process that is gone through to sort out the genuine cases from the non-genuine cases."
EXTREME DESPERATION
The Refugee Council of New Zealand (RCNZ) Tuesday issued a statement saying the Sri Lankans were probably fortunate they got no closer to the Tasman Sea before they were detained off the coast of Bintan Island and taken to the port of Tanjung Pinang.
"The stormy Tasman, particularly in winter, forms a most formidable natural barrier and it's more likely they could have come to disaster," said RCNZ spokesperson Gary Poole.
"What this does clearly illustrate, however, is the level of extreme desperation experienced by the Tamil people who are prepared to risk everything to find a home in a safe country. Migrants who are seeking merely economic betterment would never take such extreme risks with the lives of their families."
Refusal to take Sri Lankan boat people sparks humanitarian debate in New Zealand
.....continued.....
The RCNZ agreed with Key's statement that a boat containing extremely desperate asylum seekers would probably eventually try to make its way into New Zealand waters.
"Although the Tasman Sea makes it very difficult, it's at least possible that a steel-hulled boat could possibly come the great distance to New Zealand," Poole said.
However, the issue should "most definitely not be allowed to become a political football," he said.
"There should be a sensible, balanced, bi-partisan, multi-party approach to policy, debated and agreed well beforehand."
LACK OF COMPASSION
Amnesty International said Key's comments showed "a deeply concerning lack of compassion for some of the world's most vulnerable people and ignores the violent and terrifying situations these people are fleeing."
"By making a blanket statement that asylum seekers are not welcome in New Zealand, our Prime Minister is showing a total disregard for our country's legal and moral responsibility to offer protection to refugees," said Patrick Holmes, chief executive officer of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand.
As a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, New Zealand had an international legal obligation to assess the claims of any asylum seekers who arrived in New Zealand and provide protection to genuine refugees, said a statement from the organization.
"While New Zealand accepts an annual quota of 750 refugees through the UN system, this should not be confused with those that claim asylum at the border. New Zealand has a responsibility to process the claims of these individuals and offer protection to those found to be genuine refugees," said Holmes.
"The claim that asylum seekers are queue jumping simply is not true those fleeing conflicts in places like Sri Lanka have no access to refugee resettlement programs and are simply running for their lives. In the case of Australia, more than 90 percent of asylum seekers arriving by boat are found to be genuine refugees.
"Accepting one boatload of asylum seekers is not going to see our country suddenly overrun by a flood of refugees. In the last five years, an average of 250 asylum seekers have arrived each year in New Zealand."
Keith Locke, immigration spokesperson for the opposition Green Party, agreed that Key's statements showed a lack of compassion.
"The Prime Minister is violating the 1951 Refugee Convention by rejecting asylum seekers before any process has taken place to establish whether they are genuine refugees," said Locke.
"It is also a reversal of government policy, because in 2010 New Zealand did accept some of the Tamil boat people taken aboard the Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking, after the UN High Commissioner of Refugees certified them as genuine refugees," said Locke.
"In recent years under the Key Government, New Zealand has not filled its United Nations quota of refugees arriving in New Zealand each year," said Locke.
"There is certainly the capacity in our refugee system to accept more asylum seekers who have a genuine fear of returning to their country.
"It is upsetting that our Prime Minister was so cold-hearted in rejecting people who were probably having a hard time in Sri Lanka, and have just completed a difficult ocean voyage.
"New Zealanders are a compassionate people, and John Key should be representing that."
Chinese-made bullet train goes abroad for the first time!
July 08, 2011
According to CSR Cooperation Limited, China will export 228 bullet trains to Malaysia to develop intercity transportation for Kuala Lumpur, signifying CRH China Railway High-Speed bullet train is going abroad for the first time.
So far, this is the biggest deal signed for the Chinese domestically-made bullet train. This set of train is specially coordinated according to the track gauge standard in Malaysia and is three tons lighter than other trains of the same kind, saving approximately 20,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
As the transportation hub of the entire country, Kuala Lumpur shares the largest percentage of public transportation trip. After put into operation, the bullet train will provide considerable convenience to the local people.
This is a MISTAKE!
Access should largely be DENIED to NGOs in general.
Access should only granted to those who are TRUSTED not to DESTABILIZE these areas ONCE AGAIN, as they did prior to the military defeat of the LTTE.
Many foreign NGOs plying anti-national agendas should be EXPELLED from Sri Lanka.
Fixing problems they create in Sri Lanka .. is just too DIFFICULT & EXPENSIVE in BLOOD & TREASURE.
..................
No more approval needed for NGOs to travel to Northern Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 12, Colombo: Sri Lanka Defence Ministry has lifted from today all the restrictions that were imposed on the diplomats, and international and local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to travel to the war-torn North.
Accordingly, the NGOs and diplomats can travel to the North without producing a Ministry of Defense (MOD) travel approval document.
However, the individuals and groups plan to visit military installations in the North or meet with military officials will still require approval from the Defence Ministry.
The Sri Lankan government last week lifted all travel restrictions it had imposed on foreign passport holders including the expatriate Sri Lankans with foreign passports.
Foreign travelers were required to get permission from the MOD before travelling to the northern districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya.
Bloggers,
Please shift over to the new article by H.L.D. Mahindapala that I posted today.
Tamil speaking Sri Lankans had shown almost an inexhaustible capacity to produce engineers, doctors, accountants, clerks and shopkeepers but the Tamil political culture failed to produce an enlightened political leadership that could rise above their Jaffna peninsularity of mind and lead the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans towards realistic and attainable political goals. Not since Sir Pon Arunachalam left the Ceylon National Congress, rupturing hopes of communal harmony, has Tamil speaking Sri Lankans produced a political leadership which has had the vision to accept co-existence in a multi-ethnic society as the most natural, viable and peaceful path for the welfare of all communities in Sri Lanka.
Tamil speaking Sri Lankans suffered the most in Sri Lanka because of their leaders’ blind refusal to co-exist in a multi-ethnic society sharing the land in common with the other communities. Their suicidal political ambitions, arising from an exaggerated view of their self-importance and superiority, drove them to an end at Nanthik Kadal, they never thought would come.
Tigers wanted more than 100,000 Muslims in Jaffna Peninsula to get out within 3 hours, leaving their belongings and treasured valuables - that was a text book example of 'ethnic cleansing'. Tigers made Idi Amin look like an angel as Idi Amin had a heart to give the Asians in Uganda three months to leave the country and not 3 hours.
Tigers did the most to destroy the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans. In counting on gains through its strength as a conventional military force, and dragging out the war for 25 years Tigers missed opportunities to even entrench their own position. Tigers’ singular focus on military strength, to the detriment of political gains and support from the people on the ground, all while ensuring their emergence as the dominant Tamil armed force was the cause of their demise.
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