Defence.lk
February 08, 2012
"Ruthless" the documentary movie produced by the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development was launched today,(08 Feb) morning at the auditorium of Media Center for National Security. The Documentary depicts many horrendous atrocities committed by Tamil Tigers, during the past three decade long of war. So far, quite a few were revealed to the world. Majority of them were hidden and remained unknown and needed to be unearthed to show the world that, how Tamil Tigers really were. Sometimes, people who have witnessed them still feared to reveal their horrific experiences since; they know who LTTE was when they were under them.
However, the documentary "Ruthless" recounts true accounts of survivors who once, had lived under brutal and repressive regime of Tamil Tigers; now speak freely, of what they had experienced during the days of war.
The Tamil Tigers not only targeted innocent civilians but also targeted many religious places, the clergy, children and even their disabled and wounded cadres.
The "Ruthless" is a story about such crimes against humanity.
It is well known to the world that many calculated efforts are being taken by various groups to whitewash the LTTE and its atrocities and accusing the government of Sri Lanka for allegedly committed war crimes instead.
The "Ruthless" is released amidst such allegations to show the world that what really had happened during the time of war.
"Ruthless" Video PART I.
"Ruthless" Video Part II
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"Sandahiru Seya" The triumphant Stupa
Defence.lk
The government has planned to erect nine monumental Stupas in each province of the country in appreciation of the noble service rendered by the armed forces and Police to defeat terrorism and bring lasting peace to the country. As the first phase of the project, construction of the first Stupa in the ancient city of Anuradapura is being underway on the directions of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The laying of foundation is being done about 40-50 feet below the ground level.
Estimated material required for entire construction as follows.
| Material | Quantity |
| Bricks (16"x8"x2") | 30 Million |
| 6"x9" metal | 75000 cubes |
| ABC material | 90000 cubes |
| Cements (50Kg Bags) | 40000 |
Those interested can witness the ongoing construction at the site at Anuradhapura (near to southern entrance of Sri Maha Bhodi and opposite the Sarananda Pirivena) and make their contribution for this noble project.
Donations can be made in following ways.
1. Cash - Can be deposited to the following accounts
"Sandahiru Seya Fund" A/C Number 72535040 of Bank of Ceylon - Independence Square Branch
"Sandahiru Seya Trust" A/C Number 204-1-001-8-0004467 of People's Bank - Headquarters Branch
2. Cheque - drawing to the A/C Number 7040500 of Bank of Ceylon - Torintan Branch or A/C Number 204-1-001-8-0004467 of People's Bank - Headquarters Branch
3. Buying tickets (for bricks and cements) from ticketing counters at the site, all police stations, Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank branches island wide.
For donations, please contact following officials of the Ministry of Defence who coordinate the project.
| Mr. Lesli Rupasinghe | +94 11 2430 860/870 Ext 279 |
| Lt Col Milan Athukorala | +94 11 2430 860/870 Ext 222 |
Religious Observances before commence the construction
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Laying foundation stones
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81 comments:
From defence sales to electricity grids, India upgrades Lanka ties
Business-Standard.com
Jyoti Malhotra / New Delhi
February 09, 2012
India’s promise to sell two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) to Sri Lanka, during their first-ever defence dialogue in New Delhi last week, as well as the recent agreement to build an electricity transmission line from Madurai to Trincomalee and connect the electricity grids of the two countries, is an indication of India’s serious willingness to revamp its primary relationship with its southern neighbour.
The defence dialogue was held between Defence secretary Shashikant Sharma and his counterpart, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
As Sri Lanka recovers from its crippling 26-year-long civil war with the LTTE, which ended in May 2009 with the killing of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, it is reaching out to the international community for help across the board. At the end of 2011, Colombo’s foreign exchange reserves were a lowly $5.9 billion, while its trade deficit had touched $8.83 billion.
The international community – from Japan’s Marubeni Corp to China’s companies building and expanding the Hambantota and Colombo ports respectively, to Qatar airways setting up a direct relationship with Hambantota airport – is already responding in a big way.
Sri Lanka’s biggest partners, however, remain India and China. The island nation’s strategic location astride the world’s busiest sea-lanes, besides its highly literate work-force and 25 year tax holidays on offer, also means that geography is destiny.
External Affairs minister SM Krishna promised tied aid worth $703 million during his visit to Colombo last month, in sectors ranging from laying rail tracks, building houses for the displaced Tamil population to revamping the water supply in the central Dambulla uplands.
India is keenly aware of China’s interest in expanding its sphere of influence into India’s neighbourhood – Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, Gwadar port in Pakistan, Kyauk Phu port in Myanmar – and officials say it is ready to protect its own interests.
Certainly, an expanded defence dialogue is one way to do so, especially in a post-conflict Sri Lanka. Equally, in the last phase of the conflict – when, in the run up to Prabhakaran’s killing, the Sri Lanka army carried out most of its human rights violations -- it was India’s solid support to Rajapaksa’s campaign to finish the LTTE that helped Colombo stave off considerable international pressure.
Neither Indian nor Sri Lankan officials are willing to talk, on the record, about Delhi’s moral and psychological support to Colombo during that intense, last few weeks of the civil war. Suffice to say that western nations, especially the US and the European Union, were pressing Rajapaksa to end the war because Tamil civilians as well as LTTE cadres were being killed by the Sri Lankan army in significant numbers.
Rajapaksa ignored the not-so-covert threats by these western nations, Indian and Sri Lankan officials told Business Standard on the condition of anonymity, because Delhi “was standing behind Rajapaksa like a rock.”
As for implied Western accusations that Delhi would also be stained with some of Rajapaksa’s blood, the Manmohan Singh government’s foreign secretary at the time, Shivshanker Menon, simply ignored the charges.
With the conflict out of the way, India now looks determined to engage with Sri Lanka across the board. Besides Krishna’s visit, former president Abdul Kalam was in Sri Lanka in late January at the invitation of the Lankan president and was treated like a rock star wherever he went – whether Colombo, Moratuwa or Jaffna.
From defence sales to electricity grids, India upgrades Lanka ties
....continued 1.....
In the northern part of the island, which had borne the brunt of the civil war, India extended a line of credit worth $382.37 million for track-laying on the Pallai-Kankesanthurai sector, besides signaling and telecommunications for the northern railways. In the Dambulla region, an MoU worth $60.69 million for the supply, erection and commissioning of water treatment plants and distribution was signed. Also in the Jaffna area, about 49,000 houses for Tamils displaced by the war will be built, at a cost of $260 million.
But it is the decision to build a 500 Mw coal project at Sampur, near Trincomalee, a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) that is really setting the Indian Ocean on fire.
Although the MoU for India’s largest project with Sri Lanka was signed in 2006, it has now been given the status of a Strategic Development Project and is therefore tax-exempt, by Sri Lanka’s economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa, another brother of the President.
In addition, Colombo has finally agreed to the Indian proposal to build a 283-km high voltage electricity transmission line from Madurai to Trincomalee – 264 km of overland line and 39 km of submarine cable – so as to connect the electricity grids between south India and northern Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s trade and commerce minister Rishad Bathiudeen has been told to push the Inter-Agency committee appointed last year to review the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India. The proposed CEPA hit a brick wall in 2008 when Sri Lankan businessmen said they feared they would be swamped by Indian imports.
As for Sampur, Lankan power and energy minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Business Times that “no preference will be given to Chinese companies, to supply and install power generators or any other part of the coal power plant.”
Clearly, the reference to China is a Sri Lankan acknowledgement that the Asian giant’s expanded presence in the island nation is getting under India’s skin.
Even if the first phase of the development of the Hambantota port by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for $360 million was first offered to India – and when India took so long to respond, the offer was moved to China – it is now said that the second phase, worth $810 million, has also been given to CHEC.
CHEC has also been contracted to build a $200 million airport in nearby Matalla. Meanwhile, the first terminal of the Colombo South Port expansion project with three terminals, has been given to China Merchant Holdings Ltd. As much as 70 per cent of the port’s transshipments are to India, while 30 per cent of India’s cargo arrives here.
Meanwhile, in Norocholai, a 300 MW coal-fired power plant built by China Machinery and Engineering Corporation was commissioned last March. Reports from Colombo say that although it seems to have run into some mismanagement, China’s Exim bank has promised to fund a second phase of the project worth $1.3 billion to expand capacity to 900 Mw.
Mounting environmental concerns means that Sampur and Norocholai will be the only coal-fired plants in Sri Lanka.
None other than President Rajapaksa has denied that China’s presence in Sri Lanka is to counter India’s influence. “No one has said anything to us, not India, not even the US. Even the US, the British and India are now inviting China to come and invest,” Rajapaksa told foreign journalists last week, on the eve of Sri Lanka’s 64th Independence Day celebrations.
From defence sales to electricity grids, India upgrades Lanka ties
.....continued 2...
Analysts point out that India’s willingness to take greater responsibility for its southern neighbour is accompanied by the belief that president Rajapaksa will move towards greater devolution of powers in the states and amend its unitary constitution in favour of a much more federal state. The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, a result of the 1987 accord between the two states is ripe for implementation, the analysts said, pointing towards a “13th amendment plus,” which would give the country’s vast Tamil population equal dignity and rights.
Krishna told journalists as much during his visit to Colombo, during which he was invited to a ‘Pongal’ ceremony at ‘Temple Trees,’ the official residence of the President. He had been “heartened to hear from the Sri Lankan president that he was committed to solving the national problem on the 13th Amendment-plus approach,” Krishna said.
But according to the Sri Lankan The Island newspaper, President Rajapaksa has denied making any such promise. “Oh, no, how can I make promises like that? I have referred the issue to Parliament,” he said, referring to a parliamentary select committee that had been set up for the purpose.
Every Day, in Every Way, Sri Lanka ... Our Resplendent Motherland ... Moves Ahead!
Jayawewa, Sri Lanka!
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Second phase of Sri Lanka's Colombo Outer Circular Highway to begin on February 18
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Ports and Highways Nirmala Kothalawala says the second phase of the construction of the Colombo Outer Circular Highway will begin on February 18.
The construction of the 28-km expressway will be carried out in three phases and the work on the first phase of construction from Kottawa to Kaduwela has already commenced.
The outer circular highway will start from Kerawalapitiya along the Colombo - Katunayake Expressway to link Southern Expressway crossing A-4 highway at Kottawa and the main A-1 Colombo-Kandy highway at Kadawata.
The second phase of the project from Kaduwela to Kadawata at a cost of US$ 400 million will begin on the 18th.
The Ministry has estimated the third phase of this project from Kadawata to Kerawalapitiya to cost around US$ 290 million.
The Japanese government has granted US$ 630 million to complete the stretch of road from Kottawa to Kadawata.
The highway is expected to provide a circular beltway to bypass the city of Colombo and reduce traffic congestion.
The TNA and ALL FOREIGN POWERS who advocate devolution of power to separatists should be IGNORED.
Devolution of Power on COMMUNAL BASES is Anathma to Sri Lankans in that it divides and separates them by allocating special rights to different citizens of Sri Lanka.
ALL of Sri Lanka is the Birthright of ALL Sri Lankan citizens; not PART by PART but as a whole.
Only the Central Government has the MOTIVATION, the WILL and the STRENGTH to preserve that principle for all Sri Lankans.
Therefore, LAND and POLICE powers should not be DEVOLVED to the Provinces.
Indeed, the Provinces are TOO LARGE and can pose SEPARATISM threats to the Central Government and the integrity of the nation.
Therefore, Provincial Local Governments should be DISSOLVED. They are an UNNECESSARY layer of administrative bureaucracy imposed on tax payers.
DISTRICTS should be the largest regional administrative units, administered by the Central Government ... as in the past.
ONE VOTE for EACH citizen to elect his/her candidate to the National Parliament is SUFFICIENT FRANCHISE for any law abiding citizen. All other demands for regional power on COMMUNAL BASES are based on sepratist goals and should be DISCOURAGED & ERADICATED.,
GET RID OF the 13th Amendment from the Constution as a FOREIGN SHACKLE imposed by India on sovereign Sri Lanka under the threat of MILITARY OCCUPATION. Such agreements imposed by force are ILLEGAL under International Law ... ABROGATE the 13th Amendment NOW.
Ask the people for their consent to do so in a National Referendum if the GOSL, fearing foreign pressure, wishes to have a FIG LEAF to hide behind! Let the PEOPLE defend the leaders from the front.
ONE undivided NATION, of ONE undivided PEOPLE, sharing ONE undivided DESTINY, CAN be, SHOULD be, MUST be, our UNWAVERING GOAL!
NO SEPARATIST POISON PILLS should be left embedded in the governance of our country.
Never Again!
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Political parties slam TNA demands
By Ravi Ladduwahetty
Island.lk
February 8, 2012
A majority of the political parties represented in Parliament, in individual interviews with The Island yesterday, slammed the demands made by the Tamil National Alliance, which include self rule and autonomy, as absolutely frivolous and wishful thinking.
EPDP leader and Minister of Rural Industries and Traditional Industries Douglas Devananda told The Island that the sole motive of the TNA was to drag the negotiations to a point of no return as they were acutely conscious of being politically isolated if a permanent solution was found.
"These demands are frivolous and there is no reason why the TNA should be asking for such excessive demands such as self rule which is ridiculous. Even if they want that, they should be coming to the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee on the ethnic question and presenting their demands which they are not even doing," the EPDP Leader said.
He also queried whether the TNA was acting as the sole representatives of the Tamil people of the North and the East when other minority parties, represented in Parliament, were also there. "In fact, I too polled more preferential votes than some of the TNA MPs at the election," he said.
Political parties slam TNA demands
....continued......
Jathika Hela Urumaya MP and Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka said that the North and the East had a mere 4 per cent of the population and the TNA, despite having high demands, had to come up with solutions acceptable to the majority community which lived with them. "They can present their demands to the Parliamentary Select Committee but, they have to be acceptable to the majority community," he said.
He said that the TNA should come out of its hyper world of make believe about self rule which, he said, will be rejected totally by the majority community. He added that the Tamil people of the North and the East were suffering today due to the racist ideas of the TNA.
The Minister demanded to know from the TNA why its members were silent at the time the LTTE was causing murder, mayhem and carnage for 30 years and also why the TNA was so critical of the Armed Forces, who wiped out terrorism for the TNA to engage in politics.
"What moral right has the TNA to ask for self rule when it did not utter a word in protest when the LTTE blasted the Vavuniya- Chunnakam power line and the Vavuniya- Kankesanthurai railway line," the Minister queried. The TNA’s self rule idea would also defeat the existing reconciliation process as well, he alleged.
National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa also reiterated his earlier position that the TNA demands were excessive and said that they could get their demands from Rudrakumaran, the self proclaimed Prime Minister of Tamil Ealam.
United National Party General Secretary and Kandy District MP Tissa Attanayake also said that the government and the majority community did not need to provide self rule to the TNA just because they have asked for it. He added that the solutions the TNA had asked for should be acceptable to not only all parties in Parliament but the majority of the people as well.
He also said that it was up to the government to spell out what its stand on the matter was based on the negotiations that it had with the TNA for the last one year and also in relation to the negotiations that it had with India and in consonance with the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation report.
JVP Gampaha District MP Vijitha Herath said that the demand for self rule was frivolous and ridiculous, but stressed that the demands arose with the government delaying the solutions and mainly due to the delay in the establishment of civil administration of the once war torn regions.
The ugly idea of separatism and also the demands that arose were due to the vacillation of the government which resulted in the government being subject to pressures of foreign forces. The government should have implemented the establishment of civil administration in the North without which no solution could have been found yet, he said.
"It was the delay in these basics that prompted the theories of separatism and self rule. Had the government implemented civil administration, then it would not have got cornered into a situation where those demands, locally and internationally, would have come," he said.
Dr. Fernandopulle is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Why is the US not being charged with WAR CRIMES at the ICC in Hague for the murders being committed DAILY in Afghanistan and Pakistan today, and the thousands already committed in Iraq? What about the killings in "free fire zone" of Fallujah or the murder of civilians in Haditha, Iraq?
This CHAMPION of "Human Rights" is NAKED!
Was it not Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State, who intoned "I came, I saw, He died!" regarding the execution-style killing of Mohammed Gaddafi of Libya?
Different Strokes for Different Folks ... Indeed!
BLOODY HYPOCRITES!
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Intl community, Tiger rump ignore LTTE atrocities - Dr Fernandopulle
Nadira GUNATILLEKE
DailyNews.lk
February 09, 2012
MP Dr Sudarshani Fernandopulle said she opposes the stance taken by the West, Europe and the international community on the assassination of her husband, former Highways and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and other murders carried out by the LTTE.
Dr Fernandopulle told the Daily News yesterday that the international community and others always side with the diaspora and talk about the final days of the humanitarian operation and LTTE terrorists killed during the past, but not about the victims of the LTTE.
“The LTTE killed Highways and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar, scholar Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam and a large number of people. They killed pregnant mothers, innocent children, elders, the disabled and civilians. But the international community never talks about such killings,” she said.
Dr Fernandopulle said the West, Europe and sections of the international community are indirectly promoting terrorism and supporting terrorists by not talking about the victims of the LTTE and only talking about the last days of the humanitarian operation, while being biased towards the diaspora.
“Their practice can create new problems for the Tamil community now living in peace and harmony in Sri Lanka,” she said.
Dr Fernandopulle said that the international community never talks about or points finger at the US and other powerful countries for violating human rights in Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations. “Since Sri Lanka is a small country, they point fingers at us,” she said.
Only the TNA, Tamil Separatists, and their Foreign Supporters seeking to DIVIDE & RULE Sri Lanka AGAIN want DEVOLUTION.
The Vast Majority of law-abiding patriotic Sri Lankan citizens want a strong unitary nation in which they can live safely and prosper together without communal discord.
DEVOLUTION is the FIRST STEP towards the future DISINTEGRATION OF Sri Lanka. Devolution is the Poison Pill Sri Lanka's enemies want to EMBED in its GUT.
If the US wants to DIVIDE itself into a Union North, a Confederate South and a Hispanic West ... let them do so, altough they fought it tooth and nail in the US Civil War.
If India wants to give up Kashmir to Islamists, the North Western Provinces independence, and allow its Dravidian states to secede into a GREATER Tamil Nadu .... let India do so ... although they are fighting tooth and nail to preserve the Indian Union as is.
But, we the People of Sri Lanka will NOT ALLOW the disintegration of our nation.
We will FIGHT until all forces, internal and external, attempting to divide and rule Our Resplendent Motherland are DEFEATED, PULLED OUT by the ROOTS, and ERADICATED from Mother Lanka!
Ratna Deepa, Janma Bhumi
Lanka Deepa, Vijaya Bhumi
Mey Apey Udaara Wu
Mathru Bhumi-yayi
Mathru Bhumi-yayi!
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‘Northern people need development, not devolution’
By Nadira GUNATILLEKE
DailyNews.lk
February 09, 2012
People in the North and East need development and not devolution of power, said Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha yesterday.
“The people in the North and East need better housing, schools and healthcare facilities. They need a decent life. Once they get these facilities, they will think rationally about everything including devolution of power,” he told the Daily News .
“People are today talking about refugees. What about the people chased away from their homes by the LTTE? A large number of IDPs were chased away by the LTTE from their original homes in the North and East and are now living in other parts of the country. A large number of IDPs have been living outside the North and East for decades due to the LTTE’s ethnic cleansing process. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) should talk about these people’s rights. This is a much bigger issue, because the number of IDPs is high and they have been living as IDPs for decades,” he said.
Mustapha said some political parties talk about the devolution of power to the people in the North and East. “But these people have not seen a school, a hospital, a water tap or an electric bulb for 30 years.
They live much below the poverty line. They can understand democracy and devolution of power only when they are above the poverty line.
But politicians thrive on people living in poverty and they use poverty as a tool to gain political advantage,” he said.
“The TNA should think about this situation. The LTTE totally destroyed everything including political leadership and infrastructure
facilities. The TNA in the past acted only as the proxy of the LTTE. The TNA today is free to speak and be involved in politics. The TNA should get together with the government and build the North and East. People are waiting for a decent life with shelter, healthcare and educational facilities.
It is only then that they can think and talk about the devolution of power and other concepts,” Deputy Minister Mustapha added.
Hooray .... One more Separatist TERRORIST bites the dust!
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Canadian Tamil pleads guilty to charges of supporting Sri Lanka's LTTE terrorists
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 08, New York: A Canadian Tamil man today pleaded guilty in a United States district court to charges of conspiring to provide material support to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a proscribed organization in the U.S.
The Ontario resident Ramanan Mylvaganam pleaded guilty before the District Judge Raymond J. Dearie of United States Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, New York to conspiring to procure sophisticated technology, including submarine design software and night vision equipment for the LTTE in 2006.
Mylvaganam faces a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment.
Mylvaganam, 35, a Canadian citizen who previously lived in the United States, was arrested by Canada's RCMP officiers in Toronto and extradited to U.S. in 2009, following his indictment in the Eastern District Court of New York.
Five of his co-defendants, three of whom are Canadian citizens previously pleaded guilty to terrorism-related offenses in connection with their support for the LTTE.
According to court documents, Mylvaganam conspired to purchase approximately $22,000 worth of submarine design software for the LTTE from a UK company. He has also attempted to purchase night vision equipment for the LTTE from a company in British Columbia, Canada.
In addition, the defendant has assisted a co-conspirator in purchasing computer equipment, electronics components and communications equipment for the LTTE.
The United States State Department in 1997designated the LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the LTTE therefore may not legally raise money or procure equipment or materials in the United States.
"The defendant conspired to provide sophisticated technological equipment to the LTTE, a foreign terrorist organization that has carried out brutal acts of violence against numerous civilians and elected officials," United States Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement Wednesday.
"We will use all resources at our disposal to bring terrorist organizations and their supporters to justice." She asserted.
Whatever these rankings mean, until POLITICS IS EXPELLED FROM CAMPUSES and Student & Faculty DISCIPLINE is restred and made inviolable, Sri Lanka's Universities will wallow in the MUD.
Patriotism & Self-Discipline should be the cornerstones of the gift of a University education to its brightest students.
Nation Building to become the New Wonder of Asia cannot be spearheaded by an undisciplined RABBLE!
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Six Sri Lankan universities upgraded to international standards
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 08, Colombo: Sri Lankan government's efforts to improve higher education had been paid off when six universities in the country were ranked among the top 100 universities in South Asia.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne has said that according to the international grading of universities six universities of Sri Lanka have been upgraded. They were Colombo, Peradeniya, Sri Jayewardenepura, Jaffna, Rajarata and the Open University.
However, according to the Secretary the Ruhunu, Sabaragamuwa and Moratuwa universities have suffered a setback.
However the Top 100 in South Asia in the 2012 Ranking Web of World Universities placed Colombo University in the top at 8th place and ranked Peradeniya University at 23rd followed by University of Moratuwa at 50th, University of Sri Jayewardenepura at 61st and University of Kelaniya at 98th. Jaffna, Rajarata and the Open University were not among the top 100.
The Secretary said it is the objective of the Higher Education Ministry to upgrade local universities to international standards by next year and the President has allocated 600 million rupees for that purpose.
AS USUAL, the UNP remains the same old UNPATRIOTIC party by establishing COMMON CAUSE with the TNA which only yesterday waged a TERRORIST WAR to carve out an EELAM state from Sri Lanka.
The UNP's desire to regain political power knows NO LIMITS ... including collaborating with Sri Lanka's enemies to destabilize and undermine the nation.
Sri Lankan Voters .... Please take note of these TREACHEROUS ACTIVITIES ... and PUNISH them accordingly at the polls.
Who do the UNP represent? The vast majority of law-abiding patriotic, but befuddled, citizens who listen to the UNP's siren song and vote for the UNP, or the unrepentant terrorist separatists of the TNA?
The TNA will not join the PSC until it is assured an autonomous state in a merged North & East for TAMILS ONLY ... that the late unlamented SunGod failed to win by unremitting murderous terrorism and war. It is that agenda that the UNP is helping to achieve with its COLLABORATION with Sri Lanka's enemies within and without.
If the TNA does not want to join in ALL PARTY PSC deliberations on a matter of intense concern to all citizens and requiring the participation of all representatives of the citizenry, then let the GOSL ABANDON this effort completely.
This should be the LAST OPPORTUNITY for the TNA to provide its input on their manufactured grievances. There should be NO GUARANTEE that their SEPARATIST GOALS ... in any form ... will be met by the PSC.
Let the GOSL decide what is appropriate for preserving the integrity of the nation, and the lives and prosperity of ALL of its citizens EQUALLY, and hold a binding NATIONAL REFERENDUM on a path forward.
The GOSL should adopt a policy of ETHNIC INTEGRATION to create a demographically homogeneous distribution of communities in the nation. No policy favoring any community, that denies the same benefits to ALL other communities, identified by race, language, religion, caste, sex, or wealth should be adopted into law.
The GOSL should DISMANTLE Provincial Councils as regional entities that are too large and pose SEPARATIST THREATS to national unity. Districts administered by the GOSL should be largest regional entities in the nation.
EACH adult exercising ONE vote to elect his/her candidate to parliament is SUFFICIENT FRANCHISE for any law-abiding citizen. Only putative SEPARATISTS and DEMAGOGUES seeking to pit different communities against each other and profit from discord seek MORE UNEQUAL RIGHTS for different communities.
DEMOLISH COMMUNAL CONSIDERATIONS PERMANENTLY as acceptable BASES for the allocation of citizens rights, for that will be inherently UNFAIR & BIASED to those denied equal rights.
DEMOLISH & EXPUNGE the concept of separate Sinhala Areas, Tamil Areas, Muslim Areas etc. ALL of Sri Lanka SHOULD BE, indeed MUST BE, the birthright of ALL Sri Lankans to reside in wherever they please.
Once the PSC is ABANDONED and a policy by National Referendum is promulgated, all parties and individuals who undermine peace and tranquility in the nation should be firmly prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to HARD-LABOR in prison, or if the crimes are severe enough ... put against a wall and shot.
The rights of VICTIMS of Separatist Terror must have PRIORITY over the "rights and powers" demanded by those who unleashed THAT VERY TERROR upon the innocent heads of the citizens of our beloved Motherland.
ENOUGH FOOLISHNESS ... Please do not sacrifice the nation to please foreign powers.
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Sri Lanka major opposition not to participate in the PSC without Tamil party
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 10, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major opposition United National party (UNP) has agreed with the major Tamil constituent, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) not to participate in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) proposed by the government if TNA will not take part in it.
Sri Lanka major opposition not to participate in the PSC without Tamil party
.......continued.........
The TNA held talks with the UNP yesterday in the parliamentary complex.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MPs Mangala Samaraweera and Jayalath Jayawardena participated in the talks while TNA was represented by leader R. Sampanthan, MPs Suresh Premachandran, M.A. Sumanthiran and Selvam Adaikalanathan.
Sri Lanka government has proposed the PSC as a means to find a solution to the ethnic problem of the country.
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged all political parties to participate in the PSC to reach a solution that is applicable to all communities.
However, the opposition parties UNP, TNA and the Marxist party JVP have not yet heeded the President's call.
"Nothing to be afraid since it is just power devolution" says this ADDLEPATED MUTT of a Minister.
Is this Minister a HALF-WIT not to understand that EVERYTHING that matters ... land, police, economic rights ... for the EXCLUSIVE USE of the Tamil Community Alone ... is what being demanded in this "power devolution"?
Does he not understand that the allocation of legal and property rights according to COMMUNAL CONSIDERATIONS to a community will discriminate against other citizens who do not belong to that community?
Does he not understand that this the VERY BASIS of SEPARATISM?
BLOODY HELL!
The GOSL should FIRE this addlepated fool immediately!
He does not have the required minimum of gray cells to be a Government Minister!
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Thirteenth amendment won't harm SL - minister
Ridma DISSANAYAKE
DailyNews.lk
February 10, 2012
The devolution of power under the 13th Amendment is aimed at preventing a disintegration of the country. Several parties who have no correct understanding about the 13th Amendment are expressing fear over this. But there is nothing to be afraid since it is just power devolution, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr.Rajitha Senaratne said.
The minister pointed out that the full implementation of the 13th amendment will help chief ministers in the provinces to provide a better service to the public in their areas.
Minister Senaratne was addressing the opening ceremony of the 106th Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) fish stall in Anuradhapura, recently.
The CFC had spent over Rs.1.5 million on each CFC fish stall and they are to establish 250 fish stalls islandwide at the end of this year.
According to Minister Senaratne, chief ministers and Provincial Council ministers should have more power and power devolution would help build trust among communities and prevent separatism.
Those who oppose the 13th Amendment have not properly understood the amendment, the minister stated.
This could be the TIP OF THE ICEBERG of a major ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PIPELINE into Sri Lanka.
The GOSL should carefully monitor the overstaying of visitors coming into Sri Lanka on TOURIST and other temporary visas.
The US Govt did not control its borders, and now has over 12 million illegals in the country. Local Hispanic politicians blithely advocate giving them citizenship in the US ... this is a HUGE PROBLEM for the US with no politician having the guts to enforce the law and deport these illigal aliens instantly on detection.
Sri Lanka had such a problem in the past with "Kallathonis" prior to Independence when the British wanted cheap labor to exploit Sri Lankan land. Finally, under the Bandaranaike-Shastri Pact half were given Sri Lankan citizenship and the India agreed to accept the rest. But, India never really carried out their part of the bargain, and today many of the Kallathonis who should have been ejected by Sri Lanka are treated as Sri Lankan citizens.
During the heyday of the LTTE, the Sri Lanka Govt lost control of the borders of the North & East, and Indian Tamils entered Sri Lanka at will. Only the fear of being killed in the ongoing conflict limited the numbers of illegal Indian immigrants, and those who entered did so for terrorism purposes with LTYTE blessing.
Now that the legitimate GOSL has regained control of Sri Lanka's own borders, let the GOSL dedicate all necessary resources to prevent the inundation of Sri Lanka with illegal, largely Indian Tamil, immigrants.
Failure to prevent illegal immigration can change the demographics of Sri Lanka in favor of TAMIL SEPARATISTS, impose vast burdens on the public welfare and education systems, and deprive Sri Lankan citizens of jobs ... just as illegal immigration of Mexican citizens is doing in the United States.
The time to prevent such a scenario from unfolding is NOW!
ACT NOW and ACT FIRMLY to forestall ALL illegal immigration, or becoming the New Wonder of Asia will remain an UNACHIEVABLE DREAM!
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Sri Lanka deports 25 illegally employed Indian nationals
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 11, Colombo: Sri Lanka immigration and emigration authorities have taken steps to deport 25 Indian nationals who were illegally employed in Batticaloa area of the Eastern Province.
The Indian nationals have been employed in rice harvesting.
During the rice harvesting season, the paddy cultivating districts have a large demand for labor and ground reports say that Indian laborers tend to migrate to the island this time.
However, the Indian laborers come to Sri Lanka under tourist visas and work in the country violating visa regulations.
Sri Lanka police say the operations will continue to arrest these illegal immigrants.
My Comment at LankaWeb:
Ananda-USA Says:
February 11th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Well said, Shenali!
As you say, the West castigates Sri Lanka for wiping out a murderous terrorist movement that inflicted unremitting terror and war upon the innocent people of our Motherland. The sacrifice of our thousands of honoured dead, civilians, government employees, soldiers, sailors, airmen and police alike on the altar of Eelam to defeat these murderers seems to matter only to us patriotic Sri Lankans … these crimes are dismissed by the West as if they never happened. The execution of over 1,000 captured policemen by the LTTE after the fall of Mullaitivu ALONE should damn this movement in the eyes of bona-fide human rights activists … yet they hear no evil and see no evil incarnate. Clearly, there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
The LTTE movement led by the late unlamented SunGod was no different from the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot that killed millions of innocent people in Cambodia. The United States caused the deaths of over a million people in Iraq, directly or indirectly, invading that country on the basis of a fabricated false claim that Saddam Hussein was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. The perpetrators of these MUCH GREATER war crimes were NEVER HELD TO ACCOUNT for their crimes.
Today, daily indiscriminate bombings by drones in Pakistan to “save the lives of American foot soldiers” on the ground, are causing massive civilian casualties due to the inability to differentiate between terrorists and innocent civilians on the ground.
Yet, that is acceptable to them, while, in contrast, Sri Lanka deployed foot soldiers on the ground and avoided the massive use of indirect weapons, incurring higher casualties among our own troops, to avoid such civilian casualties.
In Fallujah, Iraq, a populated city was essentially levelled as a free-fire zone for indirect weapons, and in Haditha, Iraq American troops got away Scot free with blasting men, women and children to bits in retaliation for a IED attack. The innocent dead keep piling up in Afghanistan and Pakistan even as they charge Sri Lanka with war crimes for eradicating the LTTE terror machine in by leaf, branch, trunk and root with far less “colatteral damage”.
Given that asymmetric wars against terrorist guerilla groups can never be waged without civilian casualties, it is quite strange how the West sets up “zero-casualties” standards for Sri Lanka while they blithely continue to pummel both terrorists and civilians alike with high-tech shotguns.
Perhaps Sri Lanka’s REAL CRIME is in exposing these western nations for their HYPOCRITICAL policies and military bunglings. In waging the final phase of the Eelam War EFFECTIVELY and delivering a COMPLETE SOLUTION in a manner, that made Western Militaries and Governments ENVIOUS, Sri Lanka incurred their wrath. So now, they are going all out to dismantle that accomplishment by subterfuge and war crimes charges.
Is this what we can expect from OUR NATURAL ALLIES … the Western Democracies? More ENVY and More ENMITY?
I would have expected the West to be ECSTATIC that the oldest functioning democracy in South Asia, Sri Lanka, has managed to rescue itself through its own efforts from the clutches of terrorism, without the aid of one foreign soldier, while they are mired up to their necks fighting their “anti-terrorist” and “democracy” wars all over the world … with no end in sight. Isn't Sri Lanka's transformation into another free-market success story in their interest? Apparently NOT!
My Comment at LankaWeb:
Ananda-USA Says:
February 11th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
......continued....
Everything the West put their hands to in foreign lands in recent years, on various spurious pretexts, seems to blow up in their faces. The evolving situation in “newly democratized” Libya where chaos reigns with the lawless “internet democrats” fighting each other for supremacy is a classic example of the blunders of the West.
Having ignominiously advanced to the rear out of Vietnam, abandoning South Vietnam to the Nationalist patriots of Vietnam who were mis-labelled and demonized as “Communists”, after spending mountains of treasure and tens of thousands of lives, and failing to impose their will on the indigenous forces of Vietnam, I would have thought that the US would have learned that foreign powers cannot impose their will on popular mass movements in other nations. Yet, that drive to impose their will on other nations and their people, and to exploit their resources, continues unabated under various pretexts … the “democracy” and “human rights” pretexts being the latest.
The latest targets are, of course, Syria and Iran which are being undermined and destabilized with the insertion of funds, weapons, mercenaries, and economic sanctions as a prelude to military attack and destruction. Although their moves may succeed in the short term, in the long term they will only create lasting enemies in the vast majority of the peoples of these nations. The US instigated coup-de-etat against the democratic Mossadegh govt of Iran laid the seeds of Iranian opposition to the United States now. I tremble at the thought of the retribution the US is earning in the indelible minds of the citizens of a vast swathe of the world’s nations through its current “Arab Spring” activities. It seems these self-appointed “Western democrats” NEVER LEARN the folly of trying to control the destinies of the peoples of other nations who have fertile independent minds of their own.
It truly seems as if the “Colonialism” that pursued the “white man’s destiny” to Christianize and Exploit the world in an earlier age, has now resurrected itself in a new guise as “High-Tech Neo-Colonialism” to Democratize and Exploit other nations … come hell or high water … spreading death and destruction in its bloody wake.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
Ananda-USA Says:
February 11th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Marco,
Yes, I do live in the USA and love this country. But, it is the duty of every person to adhere to the truth and help steer a person or a country one loves off the path of injustice and self-destruction. That is why the US has to be persuaded to jettison its current hypocritical attitudes and adhere strictly to the wonderful altruistic words embedded in its constitution.
All my life I have been promoting a close alliance between Sri Lanka and the United States for the benefit of both countries. However, I see a frightening trend in the “democracy” and “human rights” movements being now waged by the West worldwide. It is driven by a global Western agenda positioning itself to prosper in the coming resource poor world dominating the resources of other nations. Contrary to public pronouncements of bonhomie and goodwill, the actions themselves seem to be completely self-centered and divorced from altruism towards the poor and destitute in this world.
Everywhere the West has intervened in the name of democracy and human rights societies have been destroyed and driven back to tribal existences, governments are dismantled, tens of thousands are killed, economic infrastructure painfully developed over decades is left in ruins, communities are pitted against each other in internecine warfare, and the people are left defenceless preyed upon by criminals and armed groups. In fact, it seems that the West is really interested in destroying central authority and leaving nations as disorganized rabble whose resources can be exploited piecemeal …. as in the heyday of colonialism … divide and rule.
In particular, I simply cannot fathom the attitudes of erudite Western leaders on Sri Lanka, except that they are driven by their own long term interest in keeping the rest of the world weak and vulnerable to continued exploitation of resources.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
............
Ananda-USA Says:
February 11th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
More in response to Marco:
The misguided policies of the US have not only had fatal consequences for hundreds of thousands of citizens across the world, but they are also having serious impacts on American citizens as well.
The uncritical support of the US for Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and the failure to bring about a lasting peace in the Middle East by exerting the necessary pressure on Israel, led to the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
The global war waged against Al Quaida in response to that attack embroiled and destabilized many countries and imposed unbearable security costs on the United States to the tune of several trillions of dollars. It created massive non-productive security establishments and economic burdens for the American economy.
Meanwhile, under the cover of the national security emergencies, various tax policies favorable to the richest Americans were implemented, and oversight of financial instiutions were relaxed. The US economy became a Wild West where financial institutions made a mockery of fair play and took the American public to the cleaners.
All of this profligate waste of public money on unnecessary foreign wars driven by extremely conservative idealogies, and the lax oversight of financial institutions came home to roost in the last years of the Bush administration, leaving Obama to pick up the pieces.
Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure while the banks and large investors who profited have sequestered their gains away from the government’s reach. The bailout monies given to banks to save homeowners homes from foreclosure, only restored the “paper losses” of the banks and never benefited the homeowners they were supposed to help. Obama is now proposing another measure to “help” homeowners … but the banks may steal loot again. Likewise, major investment firms, such as Goldman Sachs, ran away with loads of Govt handouts on the fears they generated of a global financial collapse, while rogue companies like Enron created artificial energy shortages and bilked entire States … like California .. into allowing them to raid public treasuries.
All of these blunders of over-spending, mis-spending, and not exercising oversight had serious consequences for both Americans and people in foreign lands. I have already addressed the deadly consequences to the peoples of foreign lands of US military interventions. In the US we are now seeing some of the consequences of these policies and unlimited spending on military adventures. The US is just beginning to emerge from the longest lasting, deepest recession, since the Great Depression. National unemployment that hit 9.5% has recovered to 8.3% as of last week. The unemployment rate among the youth is a whopping 24%. These figures do not include those who have simply given up looking for work, or the millions of people who are now underemployed having lost their jobs, and are now earning only a fraction of what they were earning a few years ago before this economic decline. Most of them, particularly senior employees, will never regain that earning power in their lifetimes.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
Ananda-USA Says:
February 11th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
.........continued..........
While all of this has been happening, the income distribution in the US has become severely polarized into a majority of have-nots (99%) and a very small minority of haves (1%). The average American no longer feels confident that they will be rewarded for hardwork on the basis of merit, or that they can rely on their government to work for them and ensure fair play. According to a recent PBS report by Bill Moyers, the income of the richest 1% of income earners increased 2500 times that of the average worker. That is why we are seeing a persistent and enduring Occupy movement spreading like a virus across the United States. The middle class, in particular, is vanishing and Americans are being concentrated into a very small minority (1%) of rich people and into vast majority (99%) of poor people trying to eke out a living. To them, the American dream seems to be beyond reach.
While there is always a hue and cry about the need to control excessive political campaign contributions that distort government by the people, of the people, for the people, in favor of the rich and powerful, the recent legalization of SuperPACs, which can contribute unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns, has severely affected the current Presidential campaign, and exacerbated the feeling of powerlessness among the people. Who owns America? they ask. The American people are now seething with anger and are ready to revolt … that is the meaning of the Occupy and Tea Party movements that have emerged on the opposing liberal and conservative sides of the American political fence.
I have assaulted your sensibilities with this long harangue only to drive home the point that, altough it may seem odd that I rail against the West while living in it, I am not alone in constructively criticizing the United States, to create a more perfect union … if you will. That is an American tradition. The US is not perfect, and is making errors in foreign and domestic policy that have serious repercussions at home. I am joined by millions of other Americans who are realizing that their nation is losing its way, its sense of right and wrong, is being misgoverned, and is becoming insensitive to wishes of a vast majority of its citizens.
The revised Policy on Abortion is a good compromise that preserves the rights of the child, the mother and Sri Lanka's society at large.
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Sri Lanka to legalize abortion conditionally
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 11, Colombo: Sri Lanka Ministry of Child Development and Women's Affairs, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Justice have formed a committee to take steps to change implementation of law on abortions.
Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka and only allowed when the pregnancy or child birth is life threatening to the mother. However illegal abortions are performed in large numbers by untrained people under unhygienic conditions.
Although no official figures available it is estimated that around 1,000 cases of illegal abortions are taking place in a day in Sri Lanka.
As the issue has become a serious health concern for the country, the government is now considering to allow legal abortion for certain cases.
Under the amended law abortions will be permitted in the case of underage rape, underage victims of incest by a family members or blood relatives and of fetuses with severe abnormalities.
The women who belong to these categories will be able to apply legally for abortion following the legal amendments, the Minister of Child Development and Women's Affairs Tissa Karalliyadde said.
Another LTTE human smuggling network bites the dust!
Yahoo!
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Joint European operation busts Sri Lankan people smugglers
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 10, Brussels: A joint operation by several European judicial authorities has busted a Sri Lankan criminal network involved in human smuggling and arrested 27 suspects in three European countries, the Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union said in a press release Friday.
According to Europol, on 6 February, judicial authorities and officers from the Finnish Border Guard, French Police (O.C.R.I.E.S.T) and Belgian Federal Police, ran a joint operation against a Sri Lankan criminal network.
The network is suspected of facilitating the illegal entry of people from Sri Lanka to France, frequently using a route through the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Tanzania, Turkey and Finland.
So far, the authorities have arrested and interrogated 27 suspects in Finland, France and Belgium.
The main target of the operation was a suspect named Saran who was arrested on Sunday in France. Following the arrest Saran has been interrogated at the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris and charged with facilitating illegal immigration.
Searches conducted by Europol in the member states have led to the seizure of documentary evidence and goods.
Over 100 officers from Finland, France and Belgium have been involved in the operation resulted over a year of joint international efforts at police and judicial level, supported by Eurojust and Europol.
The investigation into the criminal network has been launched when the Finnish Border Guards in December 2010 arrested two females with counterfeit Indian passports and an Indian male at Helsinki Vantaa airport.
The preliminary investigation has led to the discovery of an active crime network facilitating the smuggling of illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka into the EU.
According to Europol, some of the illegals used totally counterfeit British passports produced in Thailand to travel to Canada. So far over 50 facilitations were discovered in the course of this investigation.
Following the preliminary investigations by the Finnish authorities, a joint investigation team (JIT) of Finnish and French authorities with Europol was established in September 2011.
Eurojust, an European agency cooperating with judicial matters, and Europol will continue to follow the developments of the related investigations to analyze the results of the operation and ensure the best outcome at judicial level, the Europol statement said.
This bill demonstrates the barriers raised by Provincial Councils to National Development projects of the National Government.
The National Government is currently prevented from land use within the Provinces without approval of the Provincial Government.
For example, if these powers of the Provincial Governments remain in force, the PCs of the North & East dominsted by Racist TNA elements can prevent any development activities undertaken in the National Interest.
That is why I have long advocated the elimination of Provincial Councils altogether in favor of Districts administered direly by the National Government.
Large Provinces dominated by communal parties with SEPARATIST agendfas will pose a threat to the National Government, and will seek exclusive land and police powers to undermine the National Government and move towards the creation of a separate Tamils-only separate state.
ABROGATE the 13th Amendment ILLEGALLY IMPOSED on Sri Lanka by India by the force of arms, NOW!
ELIMINATE Provincial Councils, NOW!
The territorial integrity of Sri Lanka in the long term is at stake!
We should NEVER FORGET the lessons of our nation's recent and ancient history of invasions, divisions and disintegration into warring regions!
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Sri Lankan government says no move to usurp powers from Provincial Councils
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 12, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government does not have any intention of usurping powers vested with the Provincial Councils, says Acting Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.
He has said the government would not take away any powers currently vested with the Provincial Councils.
Yapa has made these comments in response to opposition raised by political parties against the amendments proposed by the government to the Town and Country Planning Ordinance.
The amendments have been placed before the Provincial Councils for approval following a Supreme Court directive before they are to be taken up in the parliament.
According to the government, the proposed amendments to the Bill allow the government to acquire lands within municipal and urban areas for economic, social, historical, environmental and religious purposes to promote and regulate a system of integrated planning and development for securing proper infrastructure.
Opposition political parties say they would vote against amendments in the Provincial Councils.
According to Yapa, the government would address any objections raised by opposition political parties.
"We still do not know the outcome and the response to the amendments by the Provincial Councils. However, if there are any issues, we are ready to address them," he has said.
What NONSENSE! The TNA claims to represent the VICTIMS, and claims to be the aggrieved party!
On the CONTRARY, for over 30 years the TNA was the political mouth piece, and rabid supporters of the crimes perpetrated by the LTTE, who terrorized and murdered Sri Lankan citizens by the tens of thousands.
This NONSENSE of defeated terrorist wolves wearing sheepskins and posing as victims must be ended forthwith.
The TNA should be treated as defeated terrorists ... no more, no less.
This is the fault of the GOSL for not prosecuting these murderers to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes and treason against the people of Sri Lanka during the last three decades, treating them like a LEGITIMATE political party and not a defeated criminals, and allowing them to pose as legitimate law abiding politicians.
MURDEROUS AGGRESSORS are wailing for sympathy as VICTIMS now.
It is as if Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge have suddenly become human rights activists.
Why do we tolerate this double talk of these SEPARATIST snakes?
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United States to placate TNA?
By S. Selvakumar
Nation.lk
February 12, 2012
The Tamil National Alliance is likely to change its earlier firm stand that it would participate in the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee(PSC) only after holding discussions with the government on matters to be taken up at the PSC on finding a solution to the ethnic problem. This change of mind could be influenced by the visit of two US dignitaries scheduled to arrive in the country today, according to political observers.
US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Mario Otero and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake were expected to arrive in Colombo today and the duo’s first official assignment would be a meeting with a high delegation of the TNA headed by its leader MP R. Sampanthan.
Meanwhile, authoritative governmental sources expressed displeasure of the duo’s inaugural meeting being with the TNA whereas it should have been with state officials of the host country.
Asked to comment on this, TNA spokesman and parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran told The Nation that it should be the norm since the TNA was the aggrieved party and the US delegation was quite right in their intention to meet them first. “They should be first apprised of our grievances that should be conveyed to the government and not vice versa,” Premachandran said.
Asked on their adamant stand of not willing to join the PSC all this duration, Premachandran shot back, “Why should we? Time and again, we have asked the government to discuss and reach a formal agreement before taking up the matter at the proposed PSC. But see what happened? The government avoided meeting us for talks on the scheduled dates January 17, 18 and 19 and invited us to join the PSC. Is there any rationale in such behaviour? We are the representatives of the victims,” Premachandran reasoned out.
Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa who left for Pakistan on a three day official tour is expected back in the Island today and the visiting America delegation would meet him tomorrow, official sources say.
The UNP's position is CLEAR: Acquire power AT ANY COST, even if it means sinking Sri Lanka in collusion with the TNA and foreign enemies of Sri Lanka.
The LIMITLESS TREACHERY of the current leadership of this grand old party that ushered in Sri Lanka's independence is too much to bear for ordinary patriotic Sri Lankans. We are so ashamed of them.
May GOD damn the UNP!
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Govt. furious over UNP’s war crimes stance
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
February 11, 2012
The government reacted angrily to the main Opposition UNP’s call for the establishment of a mechanism acceptable to the international community to inquire into war crime allegations directed at the Sri Lankan government.
Strongly criticizing the Lessons learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) headed by former Attorney General, C. R. de Silva for its failure to address accountability issues, the UNP asserted that the government couldn’t ‘move forward on the human rights record’ unless it undertook an inquiry up to international standard.
The UNP made its position on the war crimes inquiry public in parliament on Friday (Feb. 10). The UNP’s move was conveyed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on a two-day visit to Islamabad. The President is expected to be back today (Feb. 12). The new development was also brought to the notice of Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
The government said that those wanting special mechanism to investigate Sri Lanka should explain their position on atrocities committed by Western powers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya as revealed by whistle-blowing website, WikiLeaks. In spite of preaching to Sri Lanka of IHL (international humanitarian law), there hadn’t no independent inquiries into conduct of Western powers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the government said.
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, while observing ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ aired by UK-based Channel 4 had caused much concern among international human rights agencies, said that the LLRC had recommended that "the government initiate an independent investigation into the matters to establish the truth or otherwise of the allegations arising from the video footage."
Wickremesinghe said: "The mechanism for this independent investigation must be acceptable both domestically and internationally as being able to conduct an impartial inquiry including the examination of the video footage. There is a great urgency for this matter to be concluded in order that the government can move forward on the human rights record."
Authoritative government officials told The Sunday Island that the UNP couldn’t have been unaware ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ directed by Callum Macrae for UK-based Channel 4 News at the behest of the LTTE rump to justify unsubstantiated allegations made by UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts (PoE) which called for external inquiry into accountability issues here early last year.
In fact, the LTTE and those human rights champions, who had conveniently turned a blind eye to LTTE atrocities until the conclusion of the conflict, cited the 50-minute documentary as evidence of war crimes. The TNA, which categorized the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people before the eruption of Eelam War IV, is spearheading the campaign for an international inquiry.
They alleged that the UNP statement was obviously timed for the forthcoming UN Human Rights Commission sessions in Geneva.
Asked whether the government was concerned about the latest development, officials said that the UNP never supported the war effort. The latest statement only reiterated their position, a senior official said alleging the UNP was bending backwards to please US, EU and UK missions in Colombo.
Govt. furious over UNP’s war crimes stance
......continued.....
The government said that those who recently claimed a partnership between President Rajapaksa and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe should read the UNP statement to realize how wrong they were. The bottom line was that the UNP had thrown its weight behind those out to punish Sri Lanka for defeating LTTE terrorism, they alleged.
Political sources said that the UNP had also ignored the position taken up by parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe with regard to the report of Ban’s Panel of Experts. Rajapakshe strongly condemned the allegations made against the Sri Lankan military in a hard hitting missive addressed to the UNSG last year.
Against the backdrop of US Ambassador Patricia Butenis calling President Rajapaksa and his brother, Basil and Gotabhaya and Gen. Sarath Fonseka war criminals in a diplomatic cable in early 2009, the UNP and the TNA should explain their decision to support Gen. Fonseka’s candidature at the Jan. 2009 presidential polls, UPFA sources said.
Slain EPRLF MP Sam Tambimutu’s son, Arun, now SLFP organizer for Batticaloa told The Sunday Island that those shedding crocodile tears for war victims did absolutely nothing to rein-in the LTTE.
The government also pointed out that the UNP went out of its way to defend the Norwegian-arranged CFA regardless of a recent Norwegian study, which highlighted even shortcomings on the part of Wickremesinghe in the run-up to the collapse of the agreement.
The UNP didn’t target the LTTE for the gradual collapse of the CFA, beginning with its decision to quit the negotiating process in April 2003, during Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Premier. Unbridled terror directed at its (LTTE’s) opponents, use of children as cannon fodder, assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, the near successful assassination bid on Gen. Fonseka and the Mavil-aru crisis led to the all-out war in August 2006, UPFA sources noted.
The National Govt of India does not appreciate the level of organization of the Racist parties in Tamil Nadu.
They are monitoring who comes into Tamil Nadu at all times, and can mobilize a "protest" in an instant.
The National Govt of India should be asking why these networks were created and to what purpose.
This is the same organizational network that in the future will work towards SECESSION of Tamil Nadu and other Dravidian states from the hated "Aryan States" of Northern India.
Tamil racism knows no national or state boundaries.
................
Lankan minister forced to leave Coimbatore following protests
DNAIndia.com
February 11, 2012
In the second such incident in about month, a Sri Lankan minister was forced to leave Coimbatore on Saturday after a group of Naam Tamizhar Katchi workers staged a demonstration in front of his hotel, demanding that he leave India immediately.
Arumugam Thondaiman, the minister, vacated the hotel shortly after the protest and left the city for Chennai, police said.
Some NTK workers almost laid siege to the hotel located in the heart of the city, where Thondaiman was staying and raised slogans against him and the Sri Lankan government, they said.
The protesters attempted to jump over the main gate of the hotel but were prevented and chased away, police said. They also took 15 persons into custody in connection with the incident.
On January 10 last month, suspected MDMK and NTK activists allegedly barged into the house of the Ramanathaswamy Temple priest in Rameswaram and threw stones and slippers when a relative of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was about to perform a 'pooja'.
My Comment at LankaWeb.com:
Ananda-USA Says:
February 12th, 2012 at 12:07 am
You left out Hilary Clinton’s role in the recent murder of Moammar Gaddafi after his capture.
The day before he was killed, dear old Hilary, the US Secretary of State in charge of formulating US Foreign Policy, piously intoned that the “US Policy is that Gaddafi should be killed”. Next day he was killed after being captured alive … no doubt by those encouraged by the official sanction given by the world’s most powerful nation.
Whereupon, dear old Hilary … the paragon of global human rights who is horrified by the fate of the late unlamented SunGod of Sri Lanka in the heat of battle … addressed an adoring crowd of Libyan “internet democrats” and pronounced like the Julius Caesar of old: “I came, I spoke, He died!”
If that is not a war crime, especially when American mercenaries on ground were busily orchestrating the war against Gaddafi … I wonder what is!
So, what happened to the UN probe that was launched to “investigate” the violation of Gaddafi’s human rights?
It probably ended up in the same circular file that dear old Ban Ki Moon files all war crimes charges the Government of Sri Lanka makes against the LTTE!
Different Strokes for Different Folks my friend.
He who has the gold makes the rules. The converse is also true: He who makes the rules keeps all the gold.
Our goal as Sri Lankan patriots is to help propel Sri Lanka into becoming the New Wonder of Asia as soon as possible so we can grab a hefty portion of that gold.
Only then will Sri Lanka command global respect.
Until then, our pleas will end up in that circular file.
Easily, my Friend, Easily ... when the underlying MOTIVE is to destabilize and undermine Sri Lanka.
What does the US stand to gain in doing that? ... you may ask.
The answers is: to please the Tamils of Tamil Nadu for the following reasons.
There are three scenarios.
1. In the short term, help placate Tamils in Tamil Nadu by pushing for power devolution to Tamils in Sri Lanka, and helping to keep India whole for use as an ALLY to confront the RISING POWER of China. The aim here is to help prevent dissatisfaction of the Dravidian South, and possible secession from the Indian Union, albeit at Sri Lanka's expense.
2. In the longer term, if Tamil Nadu, and some other Dravidian States, SECEDE from India due to their RACIST ANIMOSITY towards the non-Dravidian peoples of India, position the USA as an ally of Tamil Nadu so that the USA can get Military and Naval Bases in Tamil Nadu to contain the the RISING POWER of China in the Indian Ocean. That will help offset and contain any bases China may have in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean region.
3. Another LOW-COST option is to EXPLOIT the "war crimes" and "human rights" to WEAN Sri Lanka away from its alliance with China at LOW COST without any significant replacement of the massive Chinese investments in Sri Lanka.
To that end, the USA seeks to destabilize and undermine the UPFA Govt of Sri Lanka, to install a more compliant UNP-led government through which it hopes to accomplish all objectives: the ejection of Chinese from Sri Lanka, the pleasing of Tamils in India by engineering the creation of a de-facto autonomous Eelam in Sri Lanka, and acquiring a Military and Naval base in Sri Lanka supplanting China in that role.
THESE are the US Policy OBJECTIVES & SCENARIOS driving its fabricated "war crimes" and "human rights" strategy in Sri Lanka.
We Patriots of Sri Lanka STRONGLY DISAGREE with this Flaweed Policy that UNDERMINES the NATURAL ALLIANCE between the USA and Sri Lanka. By Emotional, Political and Economic Temperaments, Sri Lanka and the United States, and indeed ALL Western Democracies, are NATURAL ALLIES. This Flawed Policy DISRUPTS that NATURAL ALLIANCE.
Do not DRIVE Sri Lanka away from YOUR FOLD by Flawed Misguided Geo-Political Policies INIMICAL to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is the OLDEST FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY of South Asia having enjoyed Universal Francihse a quarter of a century before it gained independence in 1948. Democratic self-government is in our blood, and our tolerant largely-Buddhist principles have led to a flowering of human development in Sri Lanka. A strong free-market based democratic Sri Lanka, at peace with all nations of the world, will be an ASSET to Western Democracies, NOT A THREAT.
We believe in what you believe. We are committed to EQUAL RIGHTS and EQUAL RESPONSIBILITIES for all of our people irrespective of community by race, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth.
We just differ in the path we want to take in perfecting our democracy and enhancing the lives of our people of the present and future generations.
We do not believe that allocating special rights to different communities in different regions of the country, that are unavailable to all citizens equally, will lead to peace and prosperity.
Instead of equality it will create new inequalities and strife based on communal considerations. We want to ERADICATE all communal considerations as a basis for the allocation of civic rights to our citizens.
ALL of Sri Lanka is the BIRTHRIGHT of all Sri Lankan citizens without regard to their community. That is the path towards harmony and peace essential to promoting prosperity and human dignity.
.......continued ......
Look at what Sri Lanka has achieved in literacy, human development, healthcare, labor rights, women's rights, rural electrification, transportation, land ownership, business entrepreneurship, and so on, even while it was embroiled in a 30-year war by murderous terrorists seeking to carve out a RACIST SEPARATIST state of Eelam from Sri Lanka.
That Eelam was in many ways the twin of the Confederacy in that it sought to divide the USA and create a RACIST state founded upon slavery. The US Civil War, waged to forestall that calamity, rescued the United States not only from the shame of slavery but also spared all future generations of US citizens from continuous conflict between two aggressive, philosophically opposed, nations born in war. Sri Lankans deserve no less.
Therefore, REVERSE THIS FLAWED POLICY and become a STRONG ALLY of Sri Lanka.
Put your MONEY where your MOUTH is and HELP Sri Lanka become the Shining New Wonder of Asia in the NEXT DECADE!
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‘How could Amb. Blake forget TNA’s war-time partnership with LTTE’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
February 14, 2012
Sri Lanka’s war-time External Affairs Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama yesterday said US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, in spite of being based in Colombo during the war had failed to appreciate rapid development made in the wake of the government’s triumph over terrorism.
Unlike US Under Secretary for Civilian Security for Democracy and Human Rights, Maria Otera, Ambassador Blake had been one of those fully aware of what was going on in Sri Lanka since 2003, Bogollagama said.
"Ambassador Blake knew how we bent backwards to appease the LTTE in spite of grave provocations, including the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and attempts on the lives of Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Army Commander, Gen. Sarath Fonseka."
Bogollagama was responding to Monday’s threat by Blake and Otera that unless Sri Lanka implemented a credible solution for accountability issues, the US would be compelled to go for an international mechanism for that purpose.
In a brief interview with The Island, Bogollagama said that Ambassador Blake had served the US mission in New Delhi as its Deputy (2003 to 2006) before taking over the mission in Colombo in early Sept. 2006 in the aftermath of the LTTE launching an all-out multi-pronged offensive targeting the SLN base at Trincomalee and the northern frontline extending from Kilali to Nargarkovil on the Vadamaratchchy east coast.
In fact, Ambassador Blake had conveniently overlooked the LTTE’s partnership with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) during the war, the former MP said. Had Ambassador Blake bothered to peruse diplomatic cables originating from the US mission in Colombo during 2003-2009, he would know the TNA role, the former minister said. The TNA had never publicly condemned the LTTE, which the party proudly categorized as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people, using children as cannon fodder, he said. But today, the TNA had been allowed to pursue an international war crimes inquiry at the expense of a government, which restored peace through defeating terrorism, he said.
Bogollagama recalled how those wanting to haul Sri Lanka up before an international inquiry now, had remained silent when the LTTE fired mortars targeting a group of diplomats in late Feb. 2007. "What really surprised me is that Ambassador Blake had been among the diplomats targeted on that day. Did the TNA at least issue a statement condemning the attack? Did the TNA ever condemn a single LTTE atrocity?"
.....continued .....
Bogollagama said that it would be interesting to know whether US Under Secretary for Civilian Security for Democracy and Human Rights, Otera had inquired into the circumstances, in which the LTTE held about 300,000 people hostage and how the TNA reacted to the catastrophic situation. "Those human rights champions weren’t interested at all about the civilians. They felt civilian hostages can impede military operations to such an extent that the government will give into efforts to evacuate Prabhakaran, his family and top commanders, including Pottu Amman."
Had the LTTE leadership survived with the help of those pursuing an international inquiry targeting Sri Lanka, the TNA wouldn’t have had the clout it enjoyed today, Bogollagama said. Instead of thanking the government for giving it a fresh opportunity to serve the Tamil speaking people not only in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, but in the South as well, the TNA was making a despicable attempt to undermine the very government, which facilitated its return to national politics by eradicating terrorism.
Responding to a query, Bogollagama said that the LTTE leadership would never have allowed the TNA to throw its weight behind Gen. Sarath Fonseka at the last presidential polls had it been evacuated to another country at the conclusion of ground fighting. The TNA joined the UNP and the JVP to field Gen. Fonseka against incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Jan. 2009 polls. Unfortunately, the likes of Ambassador Blake, despite being conversant with the situation here and involved with the crisis for almost a decade, continued to express views injurious to US-Sri Lanka relations.
Visiting Sri Lanka; 3 years after the civil war
T.E. Narasimhan
Rediff.com
February 16, 2012
Nearly three years after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam lost the war, T E Narasimhan visits north Sri Lanka to find a country limping back to normal.
The roads here are sturdy and clean. Japanese cars and motorcycles -- Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Yamaha and others -- zip on them at great speed. The colonial buildings are magnificent.
At 152 metres, the World Trade Centre is the tallest structure in the island country. The malls are home to brands such as Nike, Marks & Spencer and Hermes. The hotels include an Aman, a Taj, a Hilton and an InterContinental.
The four casinos (MGM, Bellagio, Ballys and Stardust, their names copied from Las Vegas) are popular for roulette, poker, blackjack and baccarat. There are discos for the young and energetic. The city sleeps little. This is Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
But just a few hours' journey away, the northern parts of the country shut down by 8:00 pm. There are few billboards in the towns; most of these advertise mobile telephony services like Mobitel and Dialog.
The roads, except in towns like Trincomalee and Jaffna, are a shambles. India-made auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers (TVS and Bajaj) ply on these roads. Large parts of the area are yet to be electrified.
An award-winning documentary made by well-known film-maker Vinodth has a six-year-old surprised to see an electric bulb in a shop. "How does the light travel towards the earth," he asks his mother. All he'd seen in his growing up years had been the wick in lamps send a faint glow skyward. Clearly he had no idea what electricity was.
This is the price people have paid for the separatist movement launched by the LTTE, in 1976 under Velupillai Prabhakaran for the Tamils of north Sri Lanka. The conflict ended in May 2009 after Prabhakaran was killed.
During these years, the well-off residents of north Sri Lanka, Tamil as well as Sinhalese, moved to Western countries like the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. Still others headed for West Asia.
Those who couldn't afford to go abroad ended up in relief camps within Sri Lanka. All told, 80,000 to 100,000 people reportedly died in the conflict and 3,95,000 were displaced.
Over two-and-a-half years after the war ended, the signs of the devastation are starkly visible. The drive of over 100 km from Nagadeep to Jaffna is beautiful, with greenery on both the sides. There are neat rows of beautiful houses -- some 5,000 in number.
A closer look shows bullet marks on the walls. The houses are empty, the windows are broken and the floors are destroyed. The occupants who had fled the conflict zone have not returned to reclaim their property.
V Muruganathan, one of the few who have returned, sells a coconut for 125 Sri Lankan rupees ($1.2) near Nagadeep, which is more than twice of what it costs in Colombo and thrice what it costs in Tamil Nadu. "What to do," he says when you protest the high price tag. "There is hardly any adult tree here which does not have bullet marks."
North Sri Lanka contributes less than 4 per cent to the country's gross domestic product. It's not difficult to see why. This used to be an agrarian economy. But the farmland was ravaged in the war -- this is where pitched battles were fought between LTTE and the Sri Lankan army.
Almost 70 per cent of the agricultural land and 40 per cent of the coastal areas were under LTTE control. Mines and LTTE bunkers can still be found in the fields. The yield of the once-famous Jaffna mango has come down 75 to 80 per cent.
Visiting Sri Lanka; 3 years after the civil war
....continued 1.....
In May 2009, when LTTE accepted defeat, the prices of farm produce, as well as other commodities like petrol, were sky high. Prices have fallen almost 50 per cent since then, but are still higher than elsewhere in the country, according to exporter Somi Hazari, founding president of the India-Sri Lanka Trade Chamber.
(The most lucrative business during the war was the sale of medicine, transported by air, at astronomical prices. Now, the prices are the same as in Colombo.)
Jaffna, in the pre-war years, was famous for producing an army of lawyers and academicians. It was also well-known for its colonial architecture (Portuguese and British).
But all that is distant history. LTTE had made Jaffna its cultural and political home, so it was damaged greatly in the war. People are still camped in the bombed-out shell of what was once Jaffna's landmark railway station.
Some farmers have begun to till the fertile fields of red-soil. There are small crowds at groceries. And these include Sir Lankan soldiers who are extremely courteous. However, there are not many hotels in the town. People rent out their homes, even garages, to tourists.
Tourism is the big thing that people here feel will pull them out of poverty. The Sri Lankan administration says that 850,000 tourists came to the country in 2011, resulting in earnings of $800 million. (The projection for 2012 is 1 million tourists and $1.2 billion in earnings.).
But not too many tourists from abroad go to north Sri Lanka. In my three days here, I see just four or five Western tourists at Trincomalee (113 km south of Jaffna) which has one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, and a handful of Indians who've come to see the temples. But there are quite a few tourists from other parts of Sri Lanka.
Prakasham, 90, relaxes on an easy chair in front of the blue sea at Trincomalee. His eyes follow his two-year-old great-granddaughter as she rides her bicycle. Once a cleaner in the Sri Lankan Railways, Prakasham now owns a beach resort called French Garden which is worth a few hundred thousand dollars.
The resort is Spartan but clean. The view is breathtaking. This was the family's ancestral land. But Prakasham had to leave once the war started. His land was used by LTTE as a seaside bunker and even played host to the Indian Peace Keeping Force in the 1980s.
After the war, Prakasham returned and set up this resort. In spite of newfound riches, Prakasham finds it difficult to forget the horrors of the 30-year war. "Those were horrible #215 now things are good."
Samantha's story is no different. A fisherman, he along with his wife and three children fled the northern city of Kilinochchi, which was the capital of the rebels, in 2008.
After a year on the run, they ended up in a camp for displaced civilians, destitute and exhausted.
Seven months after LTTE's defeat in May 2009, Samantha and his family left the camp in a bus with about 100 people and came to Trincomalee on the A9 Highway (the 321-km road connects Kandy with Jaffna), which had reopened after many years, clutching a precious $220 in government and aid-agency grants.
While his kinsmen went back to fishing, Samantha, now 58, set up a restaurant named A-Z, on the highway. The shack serves sea food and fetches him around $500 a month. His children are back in school, and he has started rebuilding his ancestral home nearby.
Visiting Sri Lanka; 3 years after the civil war
....continued 2.....
Highways such as the A9 and other arterial roads have opened up the once-isolated villages to commerce. The demand for goods and services, as a result, has seen double-digit growth.
"From the growth perspective," says Sri Lanka Export Development Board Chairman Janaka Ratnayake, "It has been tremendous."
Elsewhere in the north, there is talk of a new five-star hotel, a salt manufacturing plant and an apparel factory. There is money floating around, for sure. People who had migrated to the West have returned in large numbers after they lost their jobs to the recession.
Even otherwise, foreign money, the result of remittances from immigrants, is plentiful in North compared to South, says Hazari, the exporter. Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal says remittances from workers were $5.2 billion in 2011, up 27 per cent from 2010. He expects it to climb to $6.5 billion in 2012.
This has stoked a rise in stock indices -- the 25-share Milanka index of the Colombo Stock Exchange has climbed over 30 per cent in the last two years. Real estate prices have risen almost five times in the last two years, and the Sri Lankan Rupee has strengthened almost 3 per cent vis-a-vis the dollar.
The Sri Lankan government plans to invest over a billion dollars in 31 projects to rebuild the north. The presence of Chinese companies in the road projects is unmistakable. The Indian hand can be seen in newly-built homes, schools and hospitals.
With peace returning to the region, labour is abundant. By the end of August 2011, the majority of the 395,000 internally-displaced persons had returned to their homes. In Chennai, the Sri Lankan High Commission has issued 8,253 emergency certificates for Sri Lankan to return to their country.
Almost all have left the camps except 2,005 families. The United Nation High Commission for Refugees expects others to come back this year. While this has improved the workforce, businessmen lament not many of them are trained, thanks to the war.
Among those who have returned are former LTTE men. Of the 11,000 or so LTTE soldiers captured by the Sri Lankan army, around 3,500 are known to have been released.
An auto-rickshaw driver in one of the towns acknowledges that he was an LTTE soldier during the war, so does the man who serves me tea from his stall in one of the villages. There are many such stories of former rebels who are now driving auto-rickshaws and load vehicles for road contractors.
Some of the former rebels are also turning out to be good tourist guides in areas such as Thiriyai, a small Tamil village in the Trincomalee district. This village, with expansive beaches and widespread greenery, was an important LTTE training camp.
There is no visible sign of LTTE in any of the towns and villages. I do not come across any poster, new or old, of the rebels or any pamphlet and propaganda material. LTTE, it seems, has been totally erased from public memory.
Billboards and posters now have only one picture: President Mahinda Rajapaksa. People are reluctant to talk about LTTE, or engage in a debate about the efficacy of what the Rajapaksa-led government has done, because they fear the presence of informants everywhere.
Social and economic discrimination against Tamils, the issue over which LTTE launched its war, is also not spoken about. There is apprehension in the air. Heavily-armed soldiers of the Sri Lankan army can be seen all over.
Vinodth, the filmmaker, fears that if they are deprived of gainful employment for long, the Tamils may clash with the soldiers once again. To provide livelihood for all, he concludes, is the biggest challenge the government faces. The war over territory may have ended in May 2009; but the war over mind and heart still needs one big push.
That would be GREAT ... bring ALL Anti-National Elements UNDER ONE ROOF ... so they can be more EASILY IDENTIFIED as DISRUPTIVE PARASITES, AGITATORS and TRAITORS by the Patriotic Citizens of Sri Lanka in the next Elections.
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UNP wants alliance with JVP, TNA to topple UPFA
By Zacki Jabbar
Island.lk
February 15, 2012
In a new turn of events, the UNP yesterday invited the JVP, with whom it had parted ways after the last Presidential Election and the Tamil National Alliance, to join it in toppling the Mahinda Rajapasksa regime, for burdening the people with unbearable increases in the price of essential goods and service.
Matara District UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera, addressing a news conference in Colombo, urged all political parties, including the JVP and TNA, to participate in the demonstration against the skyrocketing cost of living, planned for tomorrow at the Fort Railway station.
The Nawa Samasamaja Party, United Socialist Front, Democratic People’s Front and a number of trade unions have already pledged their support for tomorrow’s protest, he said adding that the JVP and TNA cannot shirk their duty by the masses.
Samaraweera said that the UNP would continue with its countrywide agitation until the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime reduced the price of fuel and other essential goods and services.
Millions of rupees were being wasted on image boosting exercises such as the ‘Deyata Kirula’ exhibition, while the people were being taxed excessively, to cover up for the Rajapaksa regime’s economic bungling, he observed.
Samaraweera said that the poor man’s kerosense had been increased by a massive Rs.35 per litre, but the government was prepared to waste over Rs.70 million constructing toilets at the ‘Deyata Kirula’ exhibition, instead of using it to provide the poor villagers with much needed relief.
Corruption at the highest levels, had resulted in State ventures suffering huge losses. Sri Lankan Airlines was in debt to the tune of Rs.3,000 million, while Mihin Air had lost Rs.1,500 million over the last year, he said.
My Comment at DBSJeyaraj.com
................
Come on DBSJ,
Stop wailing about little things, and focus on the main issue of how to prevent a recurrence of separatist terrorism in Sri Lanka that could complete the job the SunGod started.
The murderous LTTE terrorist organization was only recently eradicated from the North and the East. No country that had fought what amounts to a Civil War has ever abandoned its military presence in the affected areas hoping that all is well, and that the resentful defeated party will join law-abiding citizens overnight. This will not be the case among the Tamils in LTTE areas who were enslaved, held hostage, and brainwashed from childhood, and still fear a return by their tormentors, many of whom are walking around Scot-free among them. Even today, they feel threatened by those they see around them.
Today, former LTTE combatants are being released after "rehabilitation" without any meaningful guarantee of their "good" behaviour in the future. Only an omnipresent police and defence forces presence can ensure it.
Meanwhile, the unrepentant separatists of the TNA are demanding pretty much the same Eelam that the late unlamented SunGod wanted. After all, during those 30 years, let us not forget the TNA enthusiastically served as his mouthpieces in Colombo. The TNA is now working hand-in-glove with the Eelamist Tamil Diaspora to bring foreign pressure to bear on Sri Lanka to achieve that Eelam. Instead of learning from the past, they are persisting in the same old racist divisive goals and tactics.
Eelamist supporters in Tamil Nadu are continuing to feed the fire, and to all intents and purposes are gearing up to revive the violent struggle in Sri Lanka again. The smuggling of various LTTE/Eelamist operatives between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka has resumed. Robberies in the North and East, and manufactured agitations like the "Grease Yakka" phenomenon, seem to represent a few of their initial moves, but radicalizing Tamil Nadu itself is the greater threat to both India and Sri Lanka.
All of this Eelamist activity gives sufficient reason for any prudent government of Sri Lanka to believe that the Eelamist threat is far from over, and the presence of the Defense Forces on the ground, in every community, cannot be relaxed for the foreseeable future. On the contrary, every indication is that it must be INCREASED to forestall the growth of terrorism again to avoid the mistakes that successive Sri Lankan governments made in the last 30 years. After all, if Eelamist terrorism had been scotched by early allocation of sufficient resources, increasing size and capabilities of the defence forces, and stationing them in the affected areas to PROTECT law-abiding citizens of all stripes, the calamities that befell the Tamil community, and Sri Lankan citizens in general, could have been avoided. Of course, this does not factor in the disruptive interference of the Indian government in favour of their client terrorists, that to a great extent prevented firm action by the government of Sri Lanka to secure its sovereign territory.
Never again should any segment of the Sri Lankan citizenry be left undefended and open to threats and violence by armed groups.
My Comment at DBSJeyaraj.com
....continued.....
That is why MORE Army Camps and other defense establishments, should be opened not only in Mannar but all over the North and the East. It is important to garrison and heavily patrol Mannar, in particular, as the location closest to Tamil Nadu.
Why you cite this litany of lame excuses to prevent the PROTECTION of not only the Tamil people, but also all citizens of Sri Lanka baffles me, because I well know how much you abhor the terrorist violence that practically destroyed the Tamil community you love so much. As one who has great many Tamil friends, neighbors, classmates, etc that I love very much, I don't want to see a resurgence of Eelamist activity either. There is too much to be done to repair the ravage of the past three decades, and to finally usher in a new golden age to our country.
Heavy presence of the security forces is the only thing that can maintain peace and harmony in Sri Lanka until we can rebuild our society free of communal divisions. No amount of wishful reliance on the good sense of people can replace it. I wish you would support it for all of our sakes.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Please dont lecture to me about merits of militarization. I have only written about an appeal made by women’s organizations from nine villages. They have voiced their concerns in a petition signed by 564 women. They are not objecting to an army camp being set up but only to it being located in their vicinity. So the prudent thing is to find an alternative site instead of engaging in pro-miitarization propaganda
By the way even a tyro knows that such excessive militarization of the North and East is not sustainable in the long run. Down sizing of the army and de-militarization of the North and East is inevitable at some point of time
My Reply:
DBSJ,
I don’t know how people can be protected, and terrorist activities monitored, by locating the police and defence facilities far away from the places where people live. After all, we are trying to protect the people, not police wild animals in jungles.
Usually, these kinds of “petitions” are conjured up by “concerned citizens” seemingly without political connections. That is a time-honored tactic developed and refined into a fine art by the Eelamists. The objective is to get rid of the defense facilities to leave the path open to those who want to engage in terrorist activities, and threaten and regain control over the people, under the guise of a genuine civil protest to solve a “practical problem” affecting people’s lives. The most practical problem faced by residents of the North and East is to remain beyond the grasp of the Tamil Saviours of the LTTE who enslaved and murdered them at will.
All of these “protests” are “orchestrated” by the Eelamists and the TNA to achieve their separatist goals; I don’t buy them as genuine at all. We will see more and more of these kinds of activities in the future, but mindful of all the mistakes we have made in the past, the government should not be dissuaded from doing what is need to ensure security and enable law-abiding people to survive and prosper.
Heavens! DBSJ didn't like my comments (see above) criticizing the TNA and Eelamists at his blog.
After ridiculing my post, he has shut me out from posting comments.
He pretends to be an "Impartial Journalist" ... but he is really pushing TNA's agenda by opening his blog to TNA operatives to push their separatist propaganda.
There is NO DOUBT that Western Powers are creating a Civil War in Syria with the objectives of regime change, the destruction of yet another of Israel's opponents,and an ally of Iran.
As in other "Arab Spring" countries where they undermined governments and initiated regime change, they may find that they have fallen from the frying pan into the fire, handing those countries over to far more virulent Islamists.
These BIRD BRAINS will NEVER LEARN the limits of THEIR POWER to control events in other countries as each well laid plot BLOWS UP IN THEIR FACES without ANY BENEFITS to them!
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China paper says West stirring up civil war in Syria
February 20, 2012
BEIJING (Reuters) - Western countries are stirring up a civil war in Syria with their wholehearted support for the opposition, a top Chinese newspaper said Monday, slamming calls for the country's leader to hand over power as an incitement to further violence.
China and Russia angered Western and Arab states this month by blocking a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that backed an Arab plan urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit amid his government's violent crackdown on opposition protests.
Stung by the criticism, China has since sent envoys to the region to seek a diplomatic solution, including Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, who met Assad in Damascus Saturday and backed his plans for a referendum and multi-party elections.
Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, in a front page commentary in its overseas edition, said China must stick to its line in opposing any attempt to force regime change or intervene in Syria.
"If Western countries continue to fully support Syria's opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will be no way to thus avoid the possibility of foreign armed intervention," Qu Xing, who the paper identified as a foreign affairs expert, wrote in the piece.
If the Security Council had passed the resolution backing the Arab League for Assad to step down, that would only have lead to more violence, Qu wrote.
"Assad would have had his back up against the wall with all means of retreat cut off, and the opposition would have been encouraged to press steadily forward. Clashes would have been even worse than they are now."
Over the weekend, thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the heart of the capital in one of the biggest anti-government rallies there since a nationwide uprising started nearly a year ago.
The latest unrest took place as Chinese envoy Zhai met Assad and appealed to all sides to end the violence. Zhai also met opposition members.
Zhai also expressed Beijing's support for Assad's plan to hold a referendum and multi-party elections within four months -- a move the West and some in Syria's fragmented opposition movement have dismissed as a sham.
Chinese state media has published numerous commentaries in recent days on Syria, warning against armed intervention, forced regime change or sanctions, in a reflection of government thinking on the issue.
China and Russia have been Assad's most important international defenders during the crackdown which has killed several thousand people and divided world powers. The United Nations, the United States, Europe, Turkey and Arab powers want Assad to step down and have condemned the repression.
This SUPPORTS our long held OPPOSITION to DEVOLUTION of POWER to the Provinces, and our call for dissolution of ALL Provincial Councils in favor of Districts administered directly by the National Government.
India's National Counter Terrorism Centre is not the ONLY National proposal that has encountered opposition from the States. Practically EVERY OTHER Proposal in the National Interest that required State Governments to give up control or cooperate with other states, be it sharing of river water, allocation of government benefits to regional scheduled castes, regional languages, creation of additional states by subdivision, siting of nuclear and conventional power generation stations, interstate highway and railway construction, maintenance of anti-terrorist security measures, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, has run into opposition from local state politicians who view them as threats to their own political power and control at the state level.
Why do we in Sri Lanka, not as large as most Indian states, need to hoist the full apparatus of a federalist system on ourselves to placate unrepentant terrorists? When universal franchise of one-person one-vote to elect one's preferred representative to parliament is all any bona-fide law-abiding citizens needs and wants?
Make no Mistake ... The demand for devolution of power, in particular land and police powers, is motivated and driven by the quest for a separate state for the Tamils in the future; to win through subterfuge in peace what the Eelamists failed to win by murderous war!
Let us not shackle ourselves with the Devolution Ball & Chain to please Separatists and foreign powers warming their feet at the fire in our belly.
DEVOLUTION is a Recipe for National Suicide for Sri Lanka!
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Row over Indian anti- terror outfit highlights dangers in devolution
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
February 20, 2012
A simmering controversy over India’s decision to establish a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has highlighted the danger in the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which some members of the ruling UPFA believe might pave the way for federalism.
Government sources told The Island that the dispute over the proposed agency couldn’t have come at a worse time for those pushing for police powers for the Northern Province in spite of Sri Lanka’s refusal to compromise national security. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has thrown her weight behind those opposed to the Central Government decision. They had alleged that some of the provisions threatened federalism.
The Indian media quoted Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as having said that the proposed move was against the federal structure of the Indian Constitution.
India recently declared that the new anti-terrorism body would come into operation on March 1 with policies to carry out arrests and conduct search operations in any part of the country.
The Indian media quoted officials as having said that the agency had worked out on a US model aimed at combating terrorism by collecting and ascertaining threats, sharing the inputs and information with other agencies and converting those into actionable data.
The counter-terrorism agency will be a separate body located in the Intelligence Bureau under the control of the Home Ministry.
The NCTC will also have the power to seek information, including documents, reports, transcripts, and cyber information from any agency, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency, NATGRID, National Technical Research Organization, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and all seven central armed police forces including the National Security Guard (NSG).
Indeed, every bit of PUMPED STORAGE capacity should be utilezed in combination with Solar and Wind renewable energies to reduce the consumption of IMPORTED fossil fuels.
However, are there unexploited new water resources and development sites available to produce 3,000 MW of hydropower? Can this be done without submerging valuable land needed for other purposes?
The GoSL should undertake a crash program to provide FINANCIAL INCENTIVES to private individuals ... homeowners and businesses ... to deploy rooftop Photovoltaic arrays and small wind turbines. Allow them to become self-sufficient in energy, and even deliver net-energy to the grid, with small grid-tied generating systems that can use the storage capacity of the grid to store the generated electricity. The proposed pumped storage systems can lift the current limitations on the total transient renewable energy input to the grid from the current 300MW to a much higher level.
Furthermore, The GoSL should develop a long term plan to introduce and convert the nations vehicle fleet ... private and government, cars, trucks and trains ... to electric vehicles, and to develop a nationwide network of vehicle charging stations.
These vehicles can be all-electric or plug-in-electric vehicles with V2G smart power controllers that will allow the CEB to utilize the battery storage capacity of the vehicles for load levelling purposes.
Electric vehicle transportation is a PERFECT FIT for Sri Lanka because of the small commuting distances travelled by most Sri Lankans compared to the large distances travelled by most Americans ion a daily basis.
THINK AHEAD, ACT NOW and ACT WISELY ... for the nation CANNOT AFFORD to depend on IMPORTED FUELS for long!
Indeed, NO COUNTRY can afford to do so!
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Bid for 3-fold increase in hydropower; SL to be less dependent on fuel power generation
By Sandasen MARASINGHE
DailyNews.lk
February 21, 2012
The Power and Energy Ministry is taking measures to increase the hydropower generation capacity threefold to insulate the country’s power generation from the fossil fuel crisis and provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity.
A ministry source said that Sri Lanka has a 1,200 MW hydro power generating capacity and the ministry has planned to set up nine hydropower generating projects, increasing the capacity by another 3,500 MW, drastically dropping the use of heavy fuel in power generation. The source said that the South Korean government which has the best hydropower management technology in the world, has promised to provide the know-how relating to the pump water storage system as well as funds for feasibility tests.
He added that as Sri Lanka is rich in water resources, this could be used in hydropower generation and nine locations have been identified for the pump water storage system.
The sources said that the daily requirement of power in Sri Lanka is 2,032 MW and the contribution of hydropower to this is around 15 percent.
Bid for 3-fold increase in hydropower; SL to be less dependent on fuel power generation
....continued.....
He added the most significant feature of this technology is that the water used in hydropower generation is stored in a reservoir in a lower gradient rather than releasing them to sea.
“The same water is later pumped back to the reservoir at the upper elevation. The CEB could save more than 75 percent of heavy fuel usage in power generation during the peak hours,” the source said.
He said that with the establishment of such a system, solar and wind energy could be added to the national grid for a continuous output which is also an additional benefit.
He added that this type of power generation projects would enable the government to provide electricity to the people at a stable price though the price of fuel in the world market fluctuates.
The source said that the South Korean government is the only country that uses this technology and promised to provide this technology to Sri Lanka after discussions between Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and South Korean Knowledge Economy Minister Seok Cho in South Korea.
Devolution discussions with the TNA ENCOURAGES the SLMC to take similar positions against National Proposals.
Will we EVER LEARN that the path to National Integration does not lie through DEVOLUTION setting up ethnic fiefdoms for separatists of every stripe?
DISSOLVE Provincial Councilas, ABROGATE the ILLEGAL Indian Imposed 13th Amendment, administer Sri Lanka through DISTRICTS directly from the National Government.
Only putative SEPARATISTS want POWER to be DEVOLVED on Communal
Bases. One-Person One-Vote to elect one's representatives to Parliament is SUFFICIENT FRANCHISE for EACH & EVERY law-abiding citizen of Sri Lanka.
Only SEPARATISTS want DEVOLUTION to create a patchwork of Bantustans, forever at war, in Sri Lanka.
Say NO to DEVOLUTION!
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Constituent partner of Sri Lankan government may vote against land amendment bill
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 20, Colombo: Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a constituent partner of the Sri Lankan government, says the party would vote against the proposed amendments to the Town and Country Planning Ordinance.
The Town and Country Planning Amendment Bill is currently facing much controversy since it is believed the central government is to take over certain powers vested with the provincial councils.
The SLMC High Command has decided to oppose the Bill in the provincial councils and if and when it is presented before parliament.
SLMC General Secretary M.T. Hassan Ali has said that the SLMC would oppose the amendment bill since it interfered with powers vested with the provincial councils.
The proposed amendments to the Ordinance would allow the government to acquire lands within municipal and urban areas for economic, social, historical, environmental and religious purposes.
The Supreme Court had directed the government to present the Ordinance to all the provincial councils for approval before it is presented in the parliament.
The Eastern Provincial Council is to take up the bill for a vote on the 27th.
Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan has said his support for the bill is based on whether the changes proposed by him and the council are included in the bill.
The Sovereignty of Sri Lanka is NON-NEGOTIABLE.
The GoSL SHOULD NOT NEGOTIATE away Sri Lanka's sovereignty piece-by-piece ... be it "war crimes" investigations or "devolution of power" to former terrorists ... as these Western Powers want.
Although it may seem as if the West is succeeding all over the world in destabilizing, undermining, and overturning developing countries with their "democracy" and "human rights" campaign cloaking their Neo-Colonialist agenda, it will FAIL.
It is already blowing up in their faces with ISLAMISTS coming to power in most of the Arab Spring Countries. Let us GIRD OUR LOINS, hunker down and forge ahead with our own plans to ERADICATE COMMUNALISM from Sri Lanka and to Transform Sri Lanka into the New Wonder of Asia.
NO DEVOLUTION OF POWER to Unrepentant Murderous Separatists!
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GoSL won’t negotiate with US on HR Resolution – GL
By Shamindra Ferdinando in Geneva
February 22, 2012
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday stressed that the government wouldn’t negotiate with the US on the proposed resolution, which the Obama administration intended to move against Sri Lanka during the 19th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) scheduled to begin on Feb. 27.
The sessions will continue till March 23.
Asked whether the Sri Lankan delegation now in Geneva would reach an agreement with the US regarding the strongly-worded resolution, Minister Peiris said that the government’s position on the particular issue wasn’t negotiable. The Sri Lankan delegation included parliamentarian, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena and Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs, Mrs Shenuka Seneviratne.
When pointed out that some Geneva-based diplomatic missions of countries represented at the UNHRC had been told of Sri Lanka having a covert dialogue with the US regarding the resolution, Prof. Peiris said perhaps an attempt was being made to mislead members of the UNHRC.
A senior delegation official told The Island that the government was in the process of informing member states of the ongoing attempt to persuade them to either vote against Sri Lanka or abstain claiming Sri Lanka was having a secret dialogue.
The HRC consists of five regional groups, namely: African States (Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Djibouti, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda), Latin American and Caribbean states (Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay), Asian states (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand), Western Europe and other states (Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United States) and Eastern European states (Russia, Rumania, Czech Republic, Poland and Moldova).
US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton in a letter dated Jan. 25 warned Prof. Peiris of the impending US move. Having leaked the Secretary of State’s confidential letter to a section of the Colombo-based media, the US was now alleging the Sri Lankan government released it to the media, government sources said. "The bottom line is that the External Affairs Ministry didn’t release Clinton’s letter," delegation sources said.
Sources said that during previous sessions, the US unsuccessfully campaigned against a report published by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, which accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza. The mission consisted of four persons led by South African Richard Goldstone. The report released in Sept. 2009 dealt with Gaza conflict (Dec 2008 to Jan. 2009).
GoSL won’t negotiate with US on HR Resolution – GL
...............
The US House of Representatives in November 2009 passed a non binding resolution with an overwhelming majority condemning the report. Altogether 334 representatives voted in favour of the resolution asking the Obama administration to oppose the report, while 36 voted against it. Twenty two abstained.
During the 13th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council sessions in March, 2010, the US voted against a Human Rights Council resolution ‘Follow-up to the report of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ that establishes "a committee of independent experts" charged with monitoring compliance with the Goldstone Report. The US received the backing of Hungary, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Italy and Ukraine. France, Norway and the UK were among those who skipped the vote.
Of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, 29 countries supported the resolution, six opposed, 11 abstained and one was absent at the time of the voting.
The Geneva vote was preceded by the UN adopting a resolution on the Goldstone report in Feb. 2010. In spite of heavy lobbying by the US, the draft resolution was adopted by a record vote of 98 in favor to 7 against (including Israel), with 31 abstentions. The US and Canada were among the countries which opposed the resolution.
The UN had adopted another resolution on the Goldstone report in November 2009. The draft resolution endorsing the Goldstone report was adopted by a record vote of 114 in favor to 18 against, with 44 abstentions. Among those who opposed the resolution were Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and United States.
In the wake of Goldstone releasing his report in Sept. 2009, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the ‘human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory and East Jerusalem’ and ‘Goldstone report.’ The UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution with 25 countries voting for it, while six governments, including Italy, the Netherlands and the US rejected it.
In April last year, Goldstone, who headed the UN inquiry, disputed his own findings in an Op-Ed in the Washington Post.
Goldstone made his controversial move in the wake of the Human Rights Council voting to send the report to the U.N. General Assembly with the recommendation that the U.N. Security Council turned it over to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in the Hague for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Lanka capable of solving its internal issues - Russian envoy
By Chaminda PERERA
DailyNews.lk
February 23, 2012
Russia yesterday said that Sri Lanka's situation with regard to human rights does not in any way call for an external intervention and the Sri Lankan government is capable of solving its internal issues including human rights.
According to Russian ambassador to Sri Lanka, Vladimir P. Mikhaylov Russia strongly views that powerful nations do not have any right to dictate terms to other countries on how these countries should be governed and what kind of leaders should be in power.
He said that Russia is of the view that solving internal matters of soverign nations purely lies with the legitimate governments of particular countries and external intervention in this regard is totally unwarranted.
Speaking at a press conference to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Russia at the Russian Centre in Colombo, Vladimir Mikholov said that no massive scale Human Rights violation have taken place in Sri Lanka at present or even before. He said that the government has appointed a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission of Sri Lanka to deal with the issues and the Commission has obtained evidence from hundreds of people and made their recommendations. He rejected the reports that Russia is not concerned on human rights violations. The Russian envoy said that Russia does care about human rights. "We do care about human rights, if they are violated on a massive scale", he stressed.
The Ambassador said that the legitimate government and institutions such as President, parliament who are elected by the majority of the people have every right to solve their problems and the United Nations has also ensured that right. "We always advocate that democratically elected government of Sri Lanka has a right to lead the people of Sri lanka. They know better how to deal with domestic problems and nobody should dictate terms to them" he added. He said that Russia would not participate in Friends of Syria forum in Tunisia. The Russian envoy said that not a single representative of the legitimate governments is participating in that forum.
No regional intervention should be allowed in Maldives: Sri Lanka
DNAIndia.com
February 23, 2012
Sri Lanka's High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam on Thursday said that his country was against any third party regional intervention in Maldives, where President Mohamed Nasheed was recently ousted.
Talking to PTI after inaugurating two-day National HRD Conclave of Federation of Gujarat Industries here, Kariyawasam said, "There should be no third-party regional intervention (in Maldives), and India has taken a right stand on the issue."
Asked about India's claim on permanent membership of UN security council, he said Sri Lanka backed India on this.
Talking about the recent incident of firing by Sri Lankan Navy on fishermen from Tamil Nadu, the High Commissioner denied that the Navy opened fire, but agreed that there should be an agreement among the SAARC countries on releasing fishermen straying into foreign waters within fifteen days.
About trade/industry cooperation between the two countries, he said NTPC had inked a joint venture pact with Ceylon Electricity Board to set up a 500 MW coal-based power plant in Sri Lanka, and the work on it would start in a month.
The plant, with investment of USD 800 million, would come up at Sampur, and is expected to go on stream by 2016.
Talking about the post-LTTE development in the areas held earlier by the insurgents, he said Sri Lankan government had successfully completed reconstruction of government buildings, roads, houses, places of worship and infrastructure facilities in the North and the East, which had revived the economy in these parts.
Sri Lankan capital gets modified underground power cable system
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 22, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka will open the modified underground system of power cables in the capital Colombo Thursday (23).
Under the Colombo City Electricity Development Project the underground power cable system was modified to replace and refurbish outdated and overloaded electrical switchgear and underground cables.
Ceylon Electricity Board has received funds for the project under a loan agreement between the government and Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC has provided Rs. 6 billion and the government has contributed Rs. 6.1 billion to complete the project.
The gas-insulated cable system is expected to provide solutions to the problem of dropping voltage in certain areas in Colombo and provide a reliable and uninterrupted electricity supply to electricity consumers in the capital city.
The Minister will also open the automatic distribution control center at Havelock Town and the new grid stations located in the Kelanithissa Power Plant premises and Kotahena tomorrow.
This is how UNREPENTANT UNPUNISHED TREASONOUS TERRORISTS BEHAVE when they feel they have Sri Lanka's Government on the RUN with Foreign Assistance.
But, just like the SunGod, they are MISCALCULATING ... and will REAP WHAT THEY SOW ... in the Fullness of Time.
Sri Lanka WILL NOT BE COWED into COMPROMISING ITS SOVEREIGNTY and dissolving itself into a patchwork quilt of ethnic Bantustans!
We, the Patriotic People of Lanka, WILL NOT ALLOW IT!
It is as SIMPLE AS THAT.
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Sri Lanka Tamil party again refuses to name members to proposed parliamentary committee
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 23, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) continues to maintain its stance of refusing to name members to the parliamentary select committee (PSC) proposed by the government to reach consensus on finding a solution to the ethnic issue.
TNA Leader R. Sampanthan during a one-to-one meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday has said that TNA would propose names to the PSC only when the party and the government reach a substantive agreement on the political solution.
Sampanthan has noted that it was essential for the government and the TNA to reach a consensus on the political solution before the PSC process.
The talks between the government and the TNA came to a standstill after the government withdrew from the talks in January calling on the TNA to submit names of representatives to the PSC.
However, the government has not yet responded to the TNA's request to reach a consensus on finding a political solution before going to the PSC.
Meanwhile, the major opposition United National party has said that the TNA's participation in the PSC is necessary for a meaningful solution and that the party would participate in the PSC only if the government and the TNA reached an agreement.
This Long-Awaited National Census will EXPOSE the late unlamented SunGod's ... the Tamil Saviour's ... TRUE ACHIEVEMENT: The REDUCTION of the Tamil Minority of Sri Lanka from the Second Largest Community to the Third Largest Community of Sri Lanka.
The TNA is CONTINUING the SunGod's agenda PREVENTING the Tamils from taking their rightful place in Sri Lanka as patriotic Sri Lankan citizens devoid of Communal Divisions.
The TNA will COMPLETE the job the SunGod began: the CONVERSION of the Tamils of Sri Lanka into an International Diaspora with only a miniscule minority remaining in Sri Lanka.
When will the Tamils regain their SANITY and EXPEL the TNA?
They now have the PROTECTION of the Government of Sri Lanka to REJECT THEIR TERRORIST TORMENTORS ... SO ACT NOW!
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Sri Lanka to begin final stage of census next week
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 23, Colombo: Sri Lanka will commence the final stage of its first island wide census in over 30 years on February 27th, the government announced on Wednesday.
The 14th population and housing census of the country will be carried out in four stages. The first and second stages related to mapping of the grama niladari divisions and census on buildings have already been completed. The final stage will be carried out in two rounds.
Addressing a media briefing on Wednesday (22) the Director General of the Census Department Mrs. D.B.P.Suranjana Vidyaratne said the information gathering on people and their residences will be conducted from 27th February until 19th of March.
The census will start from mid night on 19th March and 20th March is the census day.
The two days of March 20th and 21st have been set aside to make corrections related to deaths and births.
Enumeration of homeless people will be carried out on the 19th of March and a group of special officials has been deployed for this purpose. A revision round of enumeration will also be conducted.
During the first round of the final stage data relating to community, internal migration, education, economic activities and residences will be collected.
Nearly 100,000 supervisors and 80,000 enumerators will take part in the census.
The Director General appealed to the public to to assist the census officers by providing the correct information they request. The privacy of the information provided will be protected, she assured.
The Department has allocated 1.7 billion rupees for the census.
The last nationwide census in Sri Lanka was conducted in 1981.
ABSOLUTELY! The USA is doing favors for Tamil Racists at Sri Lanka's expense in pursuit of its global policy of establishing security relationships to contain China.
The US is making a GRIEVOUS MISTAKE allying itself with racist terrorists against the OLDEST FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY of Asia.
Double Standards Galore!
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Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister says US resolution cannot be seen in a good light
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 24, Colombo: External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka Prof. G.L. Peiris says the country does not see the so called resolution to be presented before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva against Sri Lanka by the US as a good move.
Peiris has told a local media in Geneva that although the US officials tried to give the impression that the resolution was a good move to indirectly help the Sri Lankan government, it was not so.
He has said the government did not appreciate any country that tried to force itself on Sri Lanka without asking for assistance.
However, Peiris has said the Sri Lankan government was ready to face any challenge.
The UN Human Rights Council sessions are to commence on the 27th in Geneva and continue till March 23rd.
FINALLY, the GOSL may be seeing the LIGHT!
Reconciliation CANNOT take place between the VICTIMIZED Sri Lankan people and their UNREPENTANT MURDEROUS TERRORIST TORMENTORS who were NEVER HELD ACCOUNTABLE for their Crimes & Treason against their country.
Instead of being PILLORIED & HARRIED worldwide by the TNA & the Eelamist Diaspora, and running with our tails between our legs, let us put them on the DEFENSIVE and PROSECUTE them to the Fullest Extent Possible in Sri Lanka and Worldwide for their Crimes.
They DO NOT UNDERSTAND, or ACKNOWLEDGE, their RACIST ERRORS and are STILL PURSUING their Racist SEPARATIST Goals.
Let us not allow the TNA to WIN through UNDERHAND SUBTERFUGE in PEACE posing as VICTIMS, what they FAILED TO WIN IN WAR as MURDEROUS AGGRESSORS!
The GOSL should STOP NEGOTIATING with the TNA, bi-laterally or multi-laterally!
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Sri Lanka Tamil party has to answer for LTTE atrocities at UNHCR - Minister
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil political party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is answerable for the human rights violations committed by the vanquished terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a government minister has said.
Addressing a media briefing Economic development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has said that if the TNA participates in the UN Human Rights Council's sessions in Geneva next week, it will have to answer for the human rights violations carried out by the LTTE terrorists.
The Minister revealed that the government has received reports that relatives of Tamil politicians slain by the LTTE have already left for Geneva to participate in the UNHCR sessions and the TNA would have to answer them.
The Minister has noted that the government was more concerned on human rights during the course of the humanitarian operation and it has been taking a serious effort to promote reconciliation and ethnic harmony, which is also not a mystery to the world.
The US has neither the RIGHT, nor the ETHICAL and LEGAL STANDING, to DEMAND any action from the Government of the Sovereign Nation of Sri Lanka on the LLRC report.
The LLRC report merely presents "RECOMMENDATIONS" not IMPERATIVES cast in Iron!
The GOSL should study the LLRC recommendations, and implement only those that are in the best interests of the People of Sri Lanka, and the long-term INTEGRITY & SECURITY of the Nation.
Implemented actions do not have to coincide with the LLRC recommendations, if any of the latter do not serve the nation's overarching best interests.
The LLRC has no RESPONSIBILITY for preserving the integrity and the security of the nation ... it can make recommendations without having to bear the consequences of doing so.
In contrast, the GOSL has both the responsibility and the authority to implement solutions, and will be held accountable by the people for any and all mistakes it makes.
It is easy to say, but hard to do.
"Facile' Dictu, Difficile' Factu!"
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US calls for a detailed action plan from Sri Lanka on LLRC recommendations
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 24, Colombo: The United States says it expected the Sri Lankan government to announce a detailed action plan to address the reconciliation and accountability issues when the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was released but to date it has not seen any plan from the government on how the recommendations made by the Commission will be implemented.
At the daily press briefing on Thursday, the US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said the United States supported allowing the domestic commission appointed by the Sri Lankan government to have time and space to carry out its work and believed that an action plan would be announced when that report was made public.
The LLRC appointed by the Sri Lankan President to probe the last seven years of the conflict with the LTTE released its report in December 2011.
The Spokesperson said the US was very consistent in its dialogue with the Government of Sri Lanka regarding the issue of reconciliation and accountability and wanted the government to follow up on some of the recommendations from the report subsequent to the report's publication.
Welcoming the LLRC report, the Spokesperson said it includes many strong recommendations that, when implemented, could help improve and contribute to genuine reconciliation and strengthening of democratic institutions and practices in Sri Lanka.
"But to date, frankly, we've not seen a detailed action plan from the Government of Sri Lanka on how it's going to implement these recommendations," Toner said adding that the US is still encouraging Sri Lanka to "move forward to take concrete steps on this implementation plan."
The Spokesman noted that while encouraging Sri Lanka the US is working with its partners in Geneva on a resolution within the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that will call for actions on important steps towards reconciliation.
The United States had earlier said that it will support the resolution to pressure the Sri Lankan government to take prompt measures to implement the LLRC recommendations and address the accountability issues.
"But I think our goal ultimately is the same here: We want to see these recommendations implemented and so that they can help lead towards reconciliation," he said.
US calls for a detailed action plan from Sri Lanka on LLRC recommendations
.....continuing......
Responding to a question whether there is a concerted effort by the United States and a desire to pass a resolution, the Spokesperson said the US would not be pursuing a resolution otherwise.
The Spokesperson however, stressed that the US would support the local efforts to address those issues but would engage in international mechanisms if appropriate.
Pointing out that it is just two months after the release of LLRC report, the Sri Lankan government says the presentation of a resolution against the country is unwarranted and counterproductive at this time when the government is in the process of implementing the recommendations made in the LLRC report.
A high-level ministerial delegation led by External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris is already in Geneva to woo the support of the member states of UNHRC against the resolution.
The delegation is scheduled to meet representatives of other countries, especially, Sri Lanka's friendly countries such as China, Cuba and Russia, to hold discussions during the next few days.
The EU, like the US, should BUTT OUT OF Sovereign Sri Lanka's National Matters.
"Reconciliation" is not the same thing as Granting the Separatist TNA demands for Devolution of Power to them on an ethnic basis to the "so called" Tamils majority areas from which people of other communities were ethnically cleansed during their defeated terrorist leaders, Velupillai Prabhakaran's reign.
"Reconciliation" means, to the majority of Sri Lanka's people, that the Tamil Community and theit self-appointed "sole representatives" of the TNA, GIVE UP THEIR DEMANDS for Autonomy for Tamils in all shapes and forms.
That includes giving up their demand for "Devolution of Power", including land and police powers, on an Ethnic Basis to Tamils in the North and East, and entering into participation in the democratic process in Sri Lanka as EQUAL CITIZENS without demanding any Special Rights unavailable to other communities of Sri Lanka.
Anything short of that by these DEFEATED RACIST TERRORISTS is NOT RECONCILIATION, but a DEMAND FOR CAPITULATION by the majority of the citizens of Sri Lanka to a demand for an ethnic Tamils-only Bantustan supported by their Foreign Allies.
Sri Lanka will never give in to such Racist SEPARATIST DEMANDS ... come HELL or HIGH WATER!
NEVER!
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EU urges Sri Lanka to implement LLRC recommendations promptly
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 23, Brussels: Just days ahead of a resolution to be tabled at the UN Human Rights Council against the country, the European Union (EU) today called on Sri Lanka to expeditiously act on the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
Issuing a statement on Thursday through the High Representative, the EU said if implemented effectively, the LLRC recommendations can make a significant contribution to the process of national reconciliation.
The EU statement agreed with the view of the LLRC that the root cause of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka lay in the failure of successive Governments to address the genuine grievances of the Tamil people.
Pointing out that the genuine reconciliation among all groups and communities in the country is essential, the EU said justice and accountability for past events is required to achieve it.
The EU expressed regret that the LLRC has largely ignored the questions raised in the report by the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary-General.
It said that the LLRC has called for investigations into possible crimes committed by the regular forces as well as by the LTTE and called for Sri Lanka to pursue those.
The EU said it continues to encourage the Sri Lankan government to engage with the UN Secretary-General and relevant UN bodies both on the LLRC report and the Experts Panel report. "Sri Lanka, as an active member of the international community, has an opportunity to present an implementation plan which shows the world that concrete and meaningful measures are effectively being taken towards genuine reconciliation," the statement said.
The full text of the EU statement
In Addition, it should be noted that about 6,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and policemen died fighting for their country during the final phase of the war in 2009.
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Sri Lanka releases statistics on deaths during the war
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 25, Colombo: The Census and Statistics Department of Sri Lanka has released an official report on the deaths occurred in the five districts of Northern Province for the last four years of the war that ended in May 2009.
According to the 80-page report on Enumeration of Vital Events-2011 released Saturday, the Department records a total of 22,329 deaths in Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullativu and Kilinochchi districts during the five years before the end of the conflict in May 2009 and nearly 8,000 deaths due to the fighting during the first five months of 2009.
The Department had carried out the census project of Enumeration of Vital Events (EVE-2011) in the Northern Province from June 10 - August 15.
The deaths were categorized under old/sick, natural disaster, accident, homicide and suicide, other which includes the deaths due to fighting, and unknown causes.
Natural deaths include deaths due to succumbing to diseases, aging, due to natural disasters etc. while 'other deaths' include deaths due to accidents, homicides, suicides, acts of terrorism etc. However 71% of the deaths that occurred in 2009 are reported as being due to extraordinary circumstances but majority of the deaths, prior to and beyond that, are reported to be the results of natural causes.
The five districts of the Province recorded 22,239 deaths due to all causes during the period 2005-2009 and over half of those, 11,172 were in 2009.
In 2009, a total of 7,934 died due to 'other deaths' and 2,523 died natural deaths.
Out of the total deaths during the final stage of Sri Lankan war 6,858, including 552 children under the age of 10 were killed due to the fighting and another 2,635 were gone missing.
Most of the killed From January to May of 2009 were from Kilinochchi district, where the Tamil Tiger terrorists had their de facto capital.
The census recorded 2,614 deaths in Kilinochchi, 1,576 in Mullaitivu, 1,273 in Jaffna, 1,047 in Vavuniya and 348 in Mannar.
In relation to the total size of the population, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts have shown higher deaths during the year 2009.
The report did not differentiate the deaths, whether they were of civilians or Tiger combatants.
The actual recorded figures are much less than the estimates by international rights groups, which have put the death toll as high as 40,000 during the five months of 2009.
The EVE-2011 concluded the total population of the Northern Province to be 997,754, out of which 934,392 were Sri Lankan Tamils. There are only 21,860 Sinhala and 32,659 Muslims in the five districts of the Northern Province. All ethnic groups live in the five districts with Sri Lankan Tamil being the majority.
Among the Sinhalese, about 75 percent lives in Vavuniya District. Most of the Muslim population lives in the Mannar District.
According to the last Population of Census and Housing covering the entire province was conducted by the Department in 1981, the population of the Province was 1,109,404.
The United Nations has estimated that up to 100,000 people died in the 30-year conflict.
EVE-2011 Full Report
DOUBLE STANDARDS, Indeed!
The US POT calling the Sri Lankan KETTLE Black ... me thinks!
At least Sri Lanka didn't kill people in far-off lands in wars engineered on spurious pretexts (Iraq, 1,000,000+ dead), with indiscriminate indirect fire and drone missiles.
Sri Lanka defended and protected its own people against unremitting terrorism within its own territory, using the minimum of indirect fire, while the hypocrites of the West defended terrorists rights ignoring the rights of their victims to LIFE, LIBERTY and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!
Everyday the human casualties of US sand Western big-power interventions in developing nations, where they have no-reason to be (e.g., Vietnam, Libya), grow in number while that dear old LACKEY Ban Ki Moon sanctions and whitewashes everything at the UN.
Neither the United Nations nor the United States are IMPARTIAL ... far from it ... they are close collaborators in the Neo-Colonialist crimes.
BLOODY HYPOCRITES!
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GoSL refers to US HR record, demands impartiality
Pillay disassociates from resolution against sri Lanka
By Shamindra Ferdinando in Geveva
Island.lk
February 24, 2012
External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday said that the hands of those wanting to haul Sri Lanka up before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), on the basis of unsubstantiated UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s so-called Panel of Experts (PoE) report, weren’t clean. Unlike unproven allegations contained in the PoE’s report and ‘Channel 4 News’ production, ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ the conduct of those human rights champions had been exposed on numerous occasions since the launch of global war on terror, Prof. Peiris told The Island.
The minister was addressing the Sri Lankan media accompanying the government delegation following a series of meetings with member states of the UNHRC.
"There is a limit to selectivity," an irate Prof. Peiris said, alleging that those pursuing Sri Lanka on the human rights front for political reasons as well as domestic compulsions had caused irreversible damage to the UNHRC process.
Asked whether the Sri Lankan delegation had raised the contentious issue of double-standards with those spearheading the anti-Sri Lanka campaign here, Prof. Peiris said: "Most certainly, we had an opportunity to tell all those concerned how their despicable strategy will cause rapid erosion of confidence in the UNHRC process."
Prof. Peiris pointed out that some Tamils living abroad were campaigning against those who had rescued their kith and kin from the LTTE’s grip. He said they were being rather ungrateful.
The global Tamil community, Minister Peiris emphasised, should be eternally thankful to the incumbent government for saving children from the LTTE’s clutches. Those who were raising the so-called accountability issues had failed to prevent the LTTE from using children as cannon fodder until May 2009, the minister said.
GoSL refers to US HR record, demands impartiality
....continued.....
The UN made an abortive bid to persuade the LTTE to stop using children way back in 1998. None of those organisations protesting against crushing of the LTTE ever bothered at least to issue a statement condemning the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar during the Ceasefire Agreement. The Minister said that the government couldn’t get at those directly involved in the Kadirgamar assassination, though the LTTE was destroyed. The failure on that part of the government to get at the assassins didn’t mean that it was either reluctant or not interested in punishing those responsible, the Minister said.
Asked whether Sri Lanka was confident of countering the US-led resolution, Prof. Peiris emphasised that even those supportive of the anti-Sri Lanka effort, realised that it was nothing but politically motivated campaign. Prof. Peiris said that he didn’t want to point a finger at any particular country, but the international media coverage on global war on terror as well as the whistle-blowing website, Wiki Leaks had exposed the conduct of those promoting human rights in Sri Lanka.
Prof. Peiris said that he had an opportunity to discuss a very unfair condition that the identities of those who had made oral and written submissions to the UNSG’s panel wouldn’t be revealed for 20 years. He said: "How could a country recovering from a bloody war be undermined on the basis of information provided by anonymous persons, whereas a spate of reports, which dealt with horrendous crimes committed since the launch of global war on terror over a decade ago had gone unnoticed?"
In the run-up to the UNHRC sessions scheduled to begin on Feb. 27, HR violations and atrocities committed by the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan as well as abuse of prisoners, too, had come up for discussions.
Prof. Peiris said that since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, the Sri Lankan government had moved faster on the accountability issue than any other country accused of large scale violations during global war on terror or in the case of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
He said that the Sri Lankan delegation had briefed member states of the UNHRC on action taken by the government to address an entire gamut of post-war issues, ranging from resettlement and rehabilitation to accountability issues.
The TNA is running scared of being asked to account for LTTE/TNA atrocities.
This is the way to go.
Pursue them from PILLAR to POST where ever they appear ... ask them inconvenient questions, haul them before tribunals and investigative committees, demand equal time to question them.
The TNA posing as VICTIMS today were the PURVEYORS of TERROR yesterday.
Hold them ACCOUNTABLE.
PROSECUTE them.
CONVICT them.
SENTENCE them to HARD LABOR in PRISON!
ENOUGH allowing racist terrorists wolves to hide under VICTIMS sheepskins!
ENOUGH!
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Sri Lanka's major Tamil party not to participate in the UNHRC sessions
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 25, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil constituent Tamil National Alliance (TNA) announced today that the party would not participate in the next week's UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva.
The press statement released by TNA says that the party came to this decision at a discussion held by the seniors of the party yesterday.
"TNA considers it imperative that in the present situation calm should be maintained and that nothing should be done which could exacerbate tensions. In these circumstances the TNA has decided not to be present in Geneva," a statement issued by the party said.
A resolution on Sri Lanka backed by the United States and European countries is expected to be taken up at the19th session of the UNHRC starting next Monday (27).
Before the end of the war in May 2009, the TNA was considered as the proxy party of the vanquished Tamil Tiger terrorist group LTTE. The government accuses the TNA of furthering the separatist cause of LTTE.
A government minister recently said the TNA is answerable for the human rights violations committed by the LTTE and if the party participates in the UN HRC sessions in Geneva next week, it will have to answer for the human rights violations carried out by the LTTE terrorists.
The Minister said the relatives of Tamil politicians slain by the LTTE have already left for Geneva to participate in the UNHCR sessions and the TNA would have to answer them.
Western Neo-Colonialists ply their divide-and-rule trade in the quest for global dominance.
They are not motivated by "Democracy" an d "Human Rights" for the benefit of developing nations.
They are striving to keep them FOREVER divided and vulnerable without any effective central authority that can resist the sucking away of their National Resources.
Weaken, Destabilize and Undermine National Governments.
Deny the sovereign national rights the West enjoys ... like the right to nuclear energy and, yes, nuclear weapons to defend themselves from foreign threats ... that they themselves enjoy in magnificent abundance!
BLOODY HYPOCRITES!
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Sri Lanka protest is not against the UN, ruling party clarifies
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 26, Colombo: The massive protest planned for tomorrow in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo to show solidarity is not a protest against the United Nation but to defeat political onslaughts by Western countries attempting to exert their influence on Sri Lanka, the organizers of the protest explained.
Ministers of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) organizing the peaceful protest have urged the Sri Lankan public to come to a common front to support a protest against a resolution that is expected to be tabled at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Monday in Geneva.
The resolution, backed by the United States and some European countries intends to pressure the Sri Lankan government to take prompt measures to implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and address the accountability issues.
The UPFA ministers addressing a media briefing Sunday in Colombo said that this kind of proposal will loosen ethnic ties in the Island.
Announcing the protest, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Maithripala Sirisena requested the general public to gather at protests to be held at main cities countrywide.
Minister Dullas Alahapperuma requesting all quarters of the country to join the protests said the protests in Sri Lanka have not been organized against the United Nations, but it is necessary to defeat political interferences by certain Western countries in a sovereign country's affairs.
The Minister also criticized the opposition leader for making statements that support the resolution against Sri Lanka to be brought to the Human Rights Council.
Alahapperuma said certain countries attempt to bring the proposal at the UNHRC since the President rejected requests of the Western block on the eve of the final battle between the LTTE and the Security Forces.
Minister Dilan Perera stressing that tomorrow's protest is not against the UN or Human Rights Council said the UN should adhere to a policy that ensures rights of all countries equally.
Speaking at the media briefing Minister DEW Gunasekera said the proposal is aimed at creating chaos in the country under the guise of Human Rights. If the President bowed down to the conditions laid by the Western nations Sri Lanka could have been a divided country, he said.
Sri Lanka protest is not against the UN, ruling party clarifies
......continued.....
Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara questioned why the Human Rights groups were silent in black July in 1983 and violence in 1988 and 1989.
The Minister noted that it is not reasonable to bring a resolution while the government is striving to seek a lasting solution for the ethnic issue.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan delegation led by External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris continued their efforts to lobby support from member states of the UNHRC for Sri Lanka to defeat the resolution.
Minister Susil Premajayantha has that said that friendly countries of Sri Lanka and countries which appreciate freedom and democracy would extend their support at the HRC session in Geneva and expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will be successful in defeating the resolution.
An earlier attempt to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka in 2009 failed with the support of friendly nations such as India, Pakistan, China and Russia.
Although China and Russia have assured their support to Sri Lanka, India has largely been silent on the issue.
The protests are planned to be held on Monday February 27 at 3:00 p.m., near Colombo Fort Railway Station.
More demonstrations will be held in Colombo at the Khan clock tower in Fort on February 28, before Ceylon Electricity Board headquarters on March 01, and at Maradana Technical Junction on March 02.
Is Wimal Right?
What role does Sri Lanka's newly found Oil Resources play in motivating Western Opposition to Sri Lanka?
Does the West know more about the size and future potential of those petroleum deposits than the Government of Sri Lanka? Did it initiate a quest to corral those petroleum reserves for themselves?
The GOSL should review the Oil Exploration data and assess its true potential using INDEPENDENT Consultants, so the GOSL can take necessary action to BETTER PROTECT the National Interests of the People of Sri Lanka.
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Geneva moves are the first step of oil plunder, says Sri Lankan Minister
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 26, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Wimal Weerawansa said that the moves in Geneva would be the first step of plundering the oil resources that is found in Sri Lanka.
Addressing a public meeting held in Thimbirigasyaya yesterday, Minister Weerawansa said that if the resolution the international forces moved would be passed at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, a new chapter of the history would open in which the leaders that brought peace to country would be taken to war crime tribunals.
The Minister further stated that although the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake promised to support Sri Lanka at his recent visit to the island, US was now moving a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council session.
Protecting Lanka from foreign interference: People pledge solidarity
by L.S. Ananda WEDARACHCHI
SundayObserver.lk
February 26, 2012
People should rally round the Government as they did during the height of the humanitarian operation, Petroleum Industries Minister and UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said.
He said that people in the country should unite to protect the country from foreign interference at this crucial hour irrespective of party politics, ethnic and religious differences. He called upon the people to join the pro-government protest campaign organised at regional level parallel to the United Nations Human Rights Council UNHRC Summit sessions in Geneva tomorrow, Monday.
While the main protest campaign would be held in Colombo at 3 pm. tomorrow, there would be rallies in 150 towns including Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara .
Thousands of people will join the campaign to convey the message that the country is ready to a meet any challenge posed by foreign elements, he said.
The "Tiger Nominated Agents" of the Tamil National Alliance (aka TNA) are again doing what they do BEST: Plotting and Inviting Foreign Powers to Intervene, Destabilize and Undermine Sovereign Sri Lanka.
If that is not TREASON ... I don't know what is!
King Charles I of England (1600-1649) was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell, later to become the Lord Protector, for plotting to bring in an Irish Catholic Army to invade England. At that time Cromwell had offered a Constitutional Monarchy to the king who was under arrest after defeat by the Parliamentary forces.
Like this Royal Traitor to his people, the Tigers rarely shed their stripes.
Should these TREACHEROUS TNA leaders be BEHEADED like that treacherous king in jolly old England plotting war on his own people with foreign powers?
Should TNA leaders be immune from ACCOUNTABILITY for their CONTINUING TREASON?
I think NOT!
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Sri Lanka Tamil party members visit South India to pressure government on LLRC recommendations
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 25, Colombo: Several representatives of Sri Lanka's major Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are currently visiting South India.
During their visit TNA parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah, Selvam Adaikalanathan and Suresh Premachandran are to meet several South Indian political leaders in Chennai.
The TNA delegation is to call on Tamil Nadu state government to exert pressure on the Central Indian government to support a resolution to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva calling for the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations.
The local media has reported that the TNA leadership has refused to comment on the TNA members' visit to South India.
The TNA has been calling on the government to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and has been taking their grievances to India for its support to put pressure on the government.
The Tamil party has earlier rejected the LLRC report saying that the LLRC's processes and practices have failed to win the confidence of the Tamil community and questioned the competence and independence of the LLRC.
The First Golden Rule is "He who has all the gold, makes the rules".
Likewise, he who pays the bulk of UN dues, and gives economic aid to most developing nations joining Western Neo-Colonialists on the UNHCR panel sitting in judgment on Sri Lanka, may make the rules.
As they ponder the issues, the UNHCR panel members outside the Westyern Club should keep in mind the Second Golden Rule, which is the CONVERSE of the First Golden Rule: "He who makes the rules will keep ALL the Gold," and decide whether their own nations can pursue LIFE, LIBERTY and HAPPINESS in a world controlled by those who enforce the First Golden Rule.
Or will they forever be condemned to remain the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Western Neo-Colonialists?
Ponder deep, and ponder wisely, my friends, for your own future survival may depend upon it.
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Stage set for David vs. Goliath battle in Geneva
By Shamindra Ferdinando in Geneva
Island.lk
February 25, 2012
The stage is now set for an excruciating David vs. Goliath style battle at the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with the US alleging that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission had failed to address accountability issues in the wake of Sri Lanka’s triumph over LTTE terrorism.
Sri Lanka defeated the LTTE on May 19, 2009 on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon in the Wanni.
The US, EU and a leading EU member state, UK are spearheading the campaign in which influential international human rights watchdogs and the LTTE rump are involved.
The US-led group is exerting pressure on those countries not willing to vote against the resolution to either abstain or absent themselves.
The US move prompted the Sri Lankan delegation to urge member states to consider their position on merit, though being asked to undermine Sri Lanka.
External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris Friday said that the proposed resolution has nothing to do with well being of Sri Lanka. Instead it was an intrusive move on the part of some to avenge the defeat of the LTTE.
Responding to a query by The Sunday Island, Leader of the House, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the ongoing campaign targeting the country’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, and discussions in UK parliament over accountability issues in Sri Lanka were all part of the overall strategy in the run-up to the UNHRC sessions begining on Monday. (Feb. 27). The 19th sessions will continue till March 23.
LTTE activists are expected to launch a protest campaign to coincide with the inauguration of the sessions tomorrow. The Office of Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Ms. Tamara Kumanayakam, told The Sunday Island that LTTE activists had been summoned to Geneva in support of the US-EU-UK led campaign.
The forthcoming LTTE protest could be the biggest in the region since the defeat of terrorism, mission sources said.
The HRC consists of five regional groups - African States (Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Djibouti, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda), Latin American and Caribbean states - Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay), Asian states - Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Thailand), Western Europe and other states (Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United States) and Eastern European states (Russia, Rumania, Czech Republic, Poland and Moldova).
Stage set for David vs. Goliath battle in Geneva
.............
The US is expected to move the proposed resolution during the course of the sessions. During bilateral and multilateral discussions here over the past couple of days, those promoting the anti-Sri Lanka resolution asserted that the failure on the part of Sri Lanka to address accountability issues could lead to violence in the future.
While emphasizing the need to address grievances and concerns of the Sri Lankan Tamil community, the US led group said the international community had a moral obligation to intervene.
Prof. Peiris during bilateral and multilateral talks with member states of the UN body pointed out that the US claim of moral obligation on the part of the international community seemed hollow due to what was going in Iraq and Afghanistan and other countries since the launch of global war on terror over a decade ago.
Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva on Friday explained to UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay, a South African, how the US-led strategy was going to derail the national reconciliation process.
Undue external pressure would cause unrest and political turmoil, Minister de Silva warned, while accusing the UNHRC of being selective in its concern on the issue of accountability.
He didn’t mince his words when he stressed that UNHRC’s concern on the execution of unarmed Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, by the US had been restricted to a mere statement to the media.
Minister Peiris, too, pointed at several meetings the hypocrisy of the US and the British with regard to human rights. He warned that countries would lose their faith on UNHRC process if an influential section of the international community was allowed to manipulate the organization to advance its political strategies.
The GOSL should be much more conservative in Borrowing and Spending funds on projects that will not generate income quickly to pay for themselves.
Western critics arrayed against Sri Lanka would like nothing better than to gain leverage over Sri Lanka through such a DEBT TRAP.
Greece has essentially lost sovereign control over its finances and is now being dictated to by Germany & France.
If Sri Lanka falls into such a situation, the consequences, both economic and political, will be far worse.
Let us be more conservative for a few years.
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Debt trap: More loans to repay existing loans
SundayTimes.lk
February 26, 2012
Acting minister says it is within limits but officials say financial situation dismal
Cash flow problems have forced the government to raise a further loan of US$ 600 million this year through Development Bonds. This money will go to repay previous loans as well as interest on loans for the current year.
The Cabinet on February 8 approved a proposal by the Acting Finance Minister Gitanjana Gunawardena, for this purpose. The minister in charge of the subject, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was away on an official visit to Pakistan.
Mr. Gunawardena told ministers that the $ 600 million dollars would be disbursed
* for payments for Development Bonds that would mature in March and June this year. The amount is US $ 317 million.
* for payment of Overseas Banking Unit (OBU) loans, which mature in August and November this year. The amount is US $ 150 million.
* for payment of interest for 2012 Development Bond Loans (US$ 85.3 million) and other financial deficits that may arise when loan re-payments are made. The amount is US $ 133 million.
The raising of US $600 million, for which authority has now been given to the Central Bank, official sources pointed out, reflected the dismal financial situation. “We have to resort to a recurring cycle where every now and then, loans have to be raised to pay back previous ones or just to pay interest,” an official said speaking on grounds of anonymity.
However, acting Minister Gunawardena asserted to his ministerial colleagues that the latest loan of US$ 600 million through Development Bonds was within the ‘approved limit’. He said that according to the Appropriation Act No 52, the maximum limit for obtaining government loans, both domestic and foreign, was Rs. 1,139 billion.
From this gross credit, whilst Rs 588 billion is for repayment of loans, a further Rs. 551 billion was required to meet the budget gap for 2012 for new loans, he pointed out.
This is the only decent thing supportive of the integrity of Sri Lanka that I can remember Rev. Malcolm Ranjith having done!
I hope that THIS PATRIOTIC POLICY is CONTINUED by him.
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Sri Lanka Archbishop denounces US-backed resolution
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has denounced the move by the United States to support a United Nations resolution against Sri Lanka as an "undue meddling in the sovereignty and integrity of Sri Lanka."
In a communique issued through the Chairman of the, Current Affairs Committee of Archdiocese of Colombo, Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, the Archbishop has said that the move b certain Western countries is an insult on the intellect of the Sri Lankan public.
The Archbishop has expressed the view that the best way to counteract the undue influence is for the government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
According to the statement, the Cardinal Ranjith is of the view that the "authoritative reply which we (Sri Lanka) can give to this unwarranted interference is to immediately implement the recommendations of the Lesson Learnt Reconciliation Commission report, which are based on the evidence and submission of the people of our own country."
The Archbishop urged the government to take action in implementing the LLRC recommendations without a delay.
He has requested the Sri Lankan public to disregard racial and religious differences and line up to fulfill this objective.
Putin strongly warns against military intervention in Syria, attack on Iran
February 27, 2012
MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin has accused the United States and its Western allies of supporting the Arab Spring revolts in its own interests and strongly warned against a military intervention in Syria.
Putin said in an article published Monday in the Moscow News daily that the Western push for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government was "cynical." He insisted that both the government and opposition forces should pull out of cities to end bloodshed.
Putin defended a Russia-China veto of a U.N. resolution condemning Assad's crackdown on protests, saying that Moscow wouldn't allow the replay of what happened in Libya, where a NATO air campaign helped Libyans end Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
He also warned strongly against any attack on Iran, saying its consequences would be "catastrophic."
Jayawewa!
The TOTAL ABOLITION of POWER DEVOLUTION to ALL Sub-National entities ... on COMMUNAL bases ... or otherwise ... is what is required to PROTECT the INTEGRITY of Sri Lanka.
This is what we have ADVOCATED for many DECADES!
SHU the DOOR to DEVOLUTION and Leave no ROOM for BACKROOM DEALS to HANDOVER our Resplendent Sri Lankan Motherland to its ENEMIES!
Ratna Deepa Janma Bhumi
Lanka Deepa Vijaya Bhumi
Mey Apey Udara Wu
Mathru Bhumi-yayi!
Mathru Bhumi-yayi!
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Sri Lanka's nationalist organizations call for abolition of power devolution
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Sinhala National and Buddhist Organizations have commenced collecting one million signatures for a petition demanding the abolition of 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The Collective of National and Buddhist Organizations demands to abolish all power devolution measures and to bring state back to total unitary nature.
The signing of petitions commenced yesterday at the sacred Bo Tree of Colombo Pettah with the participation of the leading activists of the National and Buddhist Organizations led by Gunadasa Amarasekera.
The organizers of the campaign named 'This is the Last Chance' will hand over the petition with one million signatures to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
YEAH, RIGHT!
This man who de,livered Sri Lanka to its ENEMIES making "White Flag" FALSE ALLEGATIONS to further his EGO-CENTRIC AMBITIONS, does want to go "somewhere" ... "anywhere" ... out of Sri Lanka from where he can WEAVE his PLOTS with Sri Lanka's ENEMIES to EXACT REVENGE against those who FOILED his TREACHEROUS PLANS.
He has done DAMAGE ENOUGH!
Let us not TRUST him AGAIN and fall into the same hole during the light of the day that we fell into during the darkness of the night!
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Fonseka offers to go anywhere to defend SL
By Kamal Bogoda
Island.lk
February 28, 2012
Former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka yesterday said that the 19th sessions of the UNHRC in Geneva were detrimental to the interests of corrupt government leaders and not those of Sri Lanka.
Addressing the media while he was being taken to the Colombo High Courts to attend the the Hicorp fraud case filed against him, Gen. Fonseka said the current situation in Geneva had been long expected and the government was helpless before the international community.
Fonseka said that he was ready to defend the country at any forum, but the government had sent some incapable persons to Geneva for that purpose.
The Colombo High Court yesterday postponed issuing a verdict on whether to continue with proceedings on the Hicorp fraud case. The verdict was scheduled to be delivered yesterday however it was put off till March 15 by High Court judge Sunil Rajapakse.
Postponing the decision for the second time in the case this year, the judge said that a large number of documents of the court martial needed to be examined.
Sarath Fonseka, his son-in-law Danuna Tilakaratne and Director of HiCorp Pvt. Ltd. Wellington de Hoedt have been indicted with defrauding the Army by purchasing military hardware without adhering to the tender procedure.
Defence has raised an argument that that due to the Court Martial finding Sarath Fonseka guilty on charges related to the Hi-Corp fraud case, the High Court cannot continue the Hicorp case against Gen. Fonseka.
My Comment at
In Colombo – Analysis
Sri Lanka: A Two-Act Drama Unfolding In Colombo – Analysis
By Dr Kumar David
February 29, 2012
Dr. Kumar David, the author of this article, is quite WRONG. These are his HOPES and WISHES that he would like to see happen, but is not the true state of affairs in Sri Lanka. Certainly not in the minds of Sri Lanka's teeming millions who know who saved their lives when everyone else had abandoned them to the will of murderous terrorists!
I know Kumar David from my days as an Engineering Student at the University of Sri Lanka at Peradeniya. Then, he was a radical leftist "revolutionary" preaching an eternal "viplavaya" ... often in support of the JVP that initiated terrorism in Sri Lanka.
Today, Kumar David has embraced the Racist Separatist "cause" of the Eelamist Tamil separatists demanding a COMMUNAL Tamils-only state in Sri Lanka citing all kinds of "discrimination" against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. It is quite interesting that his opposition to the popular UPFA Govt of Sri Lanka is shared by his former (?) allies of the newly revived radical wing of the JVP currently orchestrating demonstrations in Sri Lanka. His current vendetta against the UPFA government and support of the Eelamist cause can be studied at depth on the SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup.com website.
Perhaps he has received a large cash infusion from certain Western governments to carry on this campaign ahainst Sri Lanka.
NO ONE ... certainly not those who know his self-serving antics well ... gives attention to this man's rants and raving ... against our Resplendent Motherland of Sri Lanka.
He came to NOUGHT in the minds of the ordinary patriotic citizens of Sri Lanka ... as a hated and despised spoiled brat from Sri Lanka ... long ago.
His sponsors are WASTING their money!
My Comment at
In Colombo – Analysis
Sri Lanka: A Two-Act Drama Unfolding In Colombo – Analysis
By Dr Kumar David
February 29, 2012
Dr. Kumar David, the author of this article, is quite WRONG. These are his HOPES and WISHES that he would like to see happen, but is not the true state of affairs in Sri Lanka. Certainly not in the minds of Sri Lanka's teeming millions who know who saved their lives when everyone else had abandoned them to the will of murderous terrorists!
I know Kumar David from my days as an Engineering Student at the University of Sri Lanka at Peradeniya. Then, he was a radical leftist "revolutionary" preaching an eternal "viplavaya" ... often in support of the JVP that initiated terrorism in Sri Lanka.
Today, Kumar David has embraced the Racist Separatist "cause" of the Eelamist Tamil separatists demanding a COMMUNAL Tamils-only state in Sri Lanka citing all kinds of "discrimination" against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. It is quite interesting that his opposition to the popular UPFA Govt of Sri Lanka is shared by his former (?) allies of the newly revived radical wing of the JVP currently orchestrating demonstrations in Sri Lanka. His current vendetta against the UPFA government and support of the Eelamist cause can be studied at depth on the SouthAsiaAnalysisGroup.com website.
Perhaps he has received a large cash infusion from certain Western governments to carry on this campaign ahainst Sri Lanka.
NO ONE ... certainly not those who know his self-serving antics well ... gives attention to this man's rants and raving ... against our Resplendent Motherland of Sri Lanka.
He came to NOUGHT in the minds of the ordinary patriotic citizens of Sri Lanka ... as a hated and despised spoiled brat from Sri Lanka ... long ago.
His sponsors are WASTING their money!
We don't think so!
However, the UNP ... the disgraceful party that is permanently poised in the arse-licking position towards the West ... should know better!
In the last three decades, the UNP attempted on many occasions to deliver Sri Lanka bound hand and foot to its Western and Eelamist ENEMIES, but was FOILED in consummating that goal by the steps taken to defend Sri Lanka by the current patriotic UPFA Govt. This, the UNP CONSISTENTLY failed to do.
The UNP shares a large part of the responsibility for Sri Lanka's current problems ... colluding with the Eelamists within Sri Lanka and abroad.
The support given by the UNP to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) ... the former mouthpiece of the LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka's parliament ... to boycott the PSC deliberations, is an example of that continuing TREACHERY.
The Protests and Demonstrations in the streets of Sri Lanka currently being engineered by the UNP ... in collusion with their erstwhile enemies in the JVP ... on every imaginable issue ... to propel themselves into power by destabilizing and undermining the legitimate popular government of Sri Lanka ... at a time when Sri Lanka is being assaulted by at the UN ... is APPALLING! It is yet another example of their DUPLICITY.
The vast majority of patriotic citizens of Sri Lanka ... who know well the FAILURE of the UNP to protect them and their nation in their decades of need .. NEED NO PONTIFICAL HOMILIES from the UNP on who bows in servile obedience to foreign Western interests.
WE KNOW WHO .. that is INDELIBLY ETCHED in our patriotic Sri Lankan minds!
Shame on you ... UNP!
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Sri Lanka bowed down to the UN and the US, opposition says
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka main opposition United National Party (UNP) says the government has adhered to the demands of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the United States.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has said that Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe in his speech at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva had agreed to implement the demands being made by the US.
He has explained that the Sri Lankan government has agreed to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) as pointed out in the US draft resolution.
The US backed draft resolution calls on the Sri Lankan government to implement the constructive recommendations in the LLRC report and requests the government to present a comprehensive action plan before the next regular session of the UNHRC.
Additionally, the government is asked to take immediate measures to address serious allegations of violations of international law by initiating credible and independent investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for such violations.
Attanayake has observed that Minister Samarasinghe's statement at the UNHRC sessions was a contradiction to Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's stand that the government would not bow down to the UNHRC.
According to Attanayake, the government could have avoided all these issues had it implemented the recommendations of the LLRC.
In his speech Monday, Minister Samarasinghe explained to the Council that the government has already implemented some of these measures recommended by the LLRC including the resettlement of IDPs, demining, rehabilitation of ex-combatants, implementation of the language policy, recruitment of Tamil police officers and gradually removing the military from the civil administration in the North.
The government will continue to address the recommended measures comprehensively in a "systematic and thorough" manner, the Minister has assured.
The Minister has assured to keep the Council informed of Sri Lanka's progress on these issues in the sessions in June, September and in the course of the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October.
Our Thanks to Thailand ... a brother Buddhist nation!
This is a Pleasant and Welcome Surprise, given that Thai officialdom was not so helpful in combating the LTTE in the past.
We sadly recall, that Thailand allowed the LTTE to maintain an extensive network of facilities in the interior, and on the coast, of Thailand.
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Thailand supports Sri Lanka's home-grown process for national reconciliation
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 28, Geneva: Thailand has publically come to the aid of Sri Lanka in its struggle to convince the United Nations Human Right Council that it should be given enough time to complete its domestic process for national reconciliation.
Thailand, one of the 47 members of the UNHRC has said that the Council should take into account the views of countries concerned and the efforts they have made when making decisions.
Addressing the High level Segment of the 19th session Monday, Thailand's Foreign Affairs Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has said that in Thailand's view the Council should pursue further efforts to enhance a cooperative approach, particularly on country situations and make use of the available tools in a discerning manner.
The Council should allow adequate time to exhaust domestic remedies and engage them in the whole deliberation process, he has said.
Sri Lanka has made considerable advances towards reconciliation and sustainable development after years of strife, the Thai envoy has pointed out.
"We view that Sri Lanka's home-grown process should be prioritized to address the remaining issues," he has said.
"We thus support the Sri Lankan Government's voluntary engagement with the international community. We also value its efforts to consider how to best implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)," Thailand has declared.
Portugal, which is not currently a member of the Council, recognized the LLRC report saying that it included important, constructive elements and encouraged the Sri Lankan government to implement its recommendations.
However, the Portugal Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paolo Sacadura Cabral Portas has stressed that the issue of accountability for serious human rights and humanitarian law violations has also to be dealt with and is a requisite for reconciliation.
Sri Lanka is bracing to avert a possible a UN resolution which has the backing of the United States and the European member states in the Council.
Following the address to the Council yesterday, Sri Lanka's representative to the 19th session Plantation Minister and President's Special Envoy for Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said the reaction to his speech has been very positive and Sri Lanka has received support from several member states.
UN sources say the Council is somewhat toning down the draft resolution from its initial tough stand to gain a wider support from the member states and member states receiving aid support from the United States are more likely to support the resolution against Sri Lanka.
Interesting, a'int it, how Britain becomes extremely forceful and law-enforcing when their money and economy is at stake, but quite forgiving when Sri Lanka's money and survival is at risk?
Bloody HYPOCRITES ... as always!
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Britain defends the decision to deport asylum seekers
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 28 (BBC) Britain has questioned concerns raised by two charities which say that Sri Lankan Tamils deported from the UK are at danger of being tortured or raped. Another charter flight returning people to the island nation, including Tamil and Sinhala failed asylum-seekers, is due to leave on Tuesday.
But Human Rights Watch and Freedom from Torture say that the flights should be suspended because some ethnic Tamils been subjected to cruel treatment after arriving.
Courts satisfied about safety
The British Foreign Office told the BBC that the government only sends people back to Sri Lanka when it and the courts are satisfied that an individual has no protection needs.
It cited a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that not all Tamil asylum-seekers require protection. And it said there had been no substantiated allegations of mistreatment of those returned from the UK.
In effect Britain is disputing strongly-worded statements released by the US-based Human Rights Watch and the British-based Freedom from Torture.
Beaten and raped
The former said last weekend that the Sri Lankan military and police have arrested some Tamil returnees, beating them, covering them in kerosene or raping them to force them to confess involvement with the Tamil Tigers.
The organisations say that although British High Commission officials meet most returnees and give them a small assistance package, this is far from adequate protection.
Police denies accusations
And they say deportation charter flights including one due to leave on Tuesday should be suspended.
Racist Politicians of Tamil Nadu, without exception, want to crucify Sri Lanka at the UNHCR.
So what's new? They always have and always will.
Racists who perpetuate casteism in Tamil Nadu against other Tamils, and demonize the non-Tamil peoples of India, now want to appear as "human rights" advocates!
LUDICROUS hypocrites!
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India should not support Sri Lanka at UNHRC hearing: Karunanidhi
TimesofIndia.com
February 29, 2012
CHENNAI: DMK, a key constituent of the ruling UPA at the Centre, on Wednesday said India should not support Sri Lanka, which is facing war crime charges, in the hearings being conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"India should not back Sri Lanka at any cost when the UNHRC resolution comes up for voting," DMK president M Karunanidhi said in a statement, stressing that Sri Lanka should be tried for alleged war crimes.
Citing the resolution passed in the meeting last year, Karunanidhi said perpetrators of the alleged crimes must face action and the Indian government should also make efforts in this regard.
Karunanidhi said Sri Lankan minister Mahinda Samarasingha had claimed to have suggested that India would support Sri Lanka in the voting.
MDMK leader Vaiko on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voicing concern over India's reported move at the UNHRC. PMK leader S Ramadoss also expressed concern over the issue.
I don't understand why.
Over two years after the LTTE was defeated, these are STILL people without IDs, with no way of verifing who they are and whether they are illegal immigrants from Tamil Nadu?
This situation must be ended SOON, and all illegals should be DEPORTED to Tamil Nadu.
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Over half of voters in two local government areas of Sri Lanka's Mullaitivu District have no IDs
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 28, Colombo: An independent elections monitor in Sri Lanka says that a majority of the voters in Puthukudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu local government areas in the Mullaitivu District do not have identity cards.
The Campaign for a Free and Fair Election (CaFFE) says that 51% of the voters in the two local government areas do not possess an ID card.
Elections to the two local government bodies of Puthukudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu in the Mullativu District are scheduled to be held on March 24th.
Elections for the two local government bodies were postponed on two occasions last year due to the resettlement process and the de-mining.
Executive Director of CaFFE, Keerthi Tennakoon says that out of the 44,682 eligible voters in Puthukudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu local government areas, only 22,857 voters possess an ID card.
However, the Election Secretariat of Sri Lanka said it will be issuing temporary IDs to the eligible voters in the first week of next month.
This is situation that cries out for government oversight, with unscheduled surprise inspections and heavy penalties imposed on both the tea leaf sellers and small factory buyers.
This would be similar to the food inspections conducted by the US Food & Drug Administration.
When the quality of Sri Lanka tea is degraged .... prices drop and everybody loses!
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Greed of tea smallholders, factories ruining Ceylon Tea
Tea commissioner warned of ‘war’ in industry
By Steve A. Morrell
Island.lk
February 28, 2012
The country’s Tea Commissioner has been warned by experts that a war-like situation was brewing in the tea industry.
Tea smallholders who produce 70-75% of the national output continue to violate conventions and requirements with regard to leaf quality, openly ignoring basics with impunity, concerned industry sources have charged. And owners of small scale factories are no better. Together, they are ruining the Ceylon Tea brand.
The Tea Commissioner, the highest authority on Ceylon Tea, has been notified about these startling developments in the industry.
The tea factory owners who accept produce from smallholders go to unimaginable distances to collect green leaf. Quite often tea collectors delegated to collect green leaf, transport produce covering long distances; often 60 to 70 kilometers. They cannot do this trip twice each day. What happens then is that plucked leaf is left somewhere in the village, largely unprotected and stuffed into bags exceeding capacity, awaiting collection and usually exposed to scorching sun.
In certain other areas there is chaos where factories compete with each other to grab a lion’s share of leaf to operate their factories economically.
There are now over 400,000 tea smallholders dispersed in the central hills, and lower highland areas of Galle and Ratnapura. Additionally the lower Uva valleys, and the upper Uva areas of Passara, Madulsima, Bandarawela, and the mountainous regions of Monaragala.
In- transit conditions are no better. Leaf is transported more often, in open tractors piled sky-high in un-aerated bags which damages leaf further.
Plucked leaf stuffed tight in these bags and left in this condition for at least six hours or more results in heat build-up in each of these bags, seriously damaging produce. Leaf was bruised, and the heat condition renders such leaf not fit for manufacture. As much as 50 percent had to be discarded. But it was not discarded, sources charged.
Small tea factory owners, mainly members of the Tea Factory Owners Association, being greedy for enhanced profits have built factories and installed machines in excess to their needs. This has prompted them to hunt for green leaf travelling any distance to ‘capture’ produce from tea smallholders.
Smallholders quick to pounce on the band wagon harvest sub- standard leaf and irrespective of low quality, they were paid on the Tea Commissioner’s price formula. Their profits are ensured, it is claimed.
Tea factories have installed expensive imported machinery to ‘clean’ sub- standard raw material resulting in excessive refuse tea which is now about 18 %.
US "clarifies" US Special Forces "presence" in Sri Lanka.
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U.S. clarifies its military presence in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 03, Colombo: Clarifying the status of its military presence in Sri Lanka, the United States said today the references in the press to U.S. Special Forces being stationed in the country are misleading.
Issuing a statement today, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo said the members of the U.S. military are assigned to work in the Embassy in Colombo as part of the bilateral engagement between the United States and Sri Lanka.
"The Embassy Defense Attaché is the lead representative for the U.S. Department of Defense and those assigned to that office support programs and training that enhance cooperation," the statement said.
"Through U.S. Pacific Command, the Embassy has contributed US$9 million since 2009 toward projects such as renovating and rebuilding hospitals and schools in communities across Sri Lanka. The U.S. military has recently participated in joint programs with Sri Lanka such as the Pacific Airlift Rally and Joint/Combined Exchange Training for medical and humanitarian assistance."
The Sri Lanka Air Force co-hosted the Pacific Airlift Rally 2011 with the Pacific Air Command of the United State Air Force in Colombo last August.
The TNA is CLEARLY "reorganizing" itself to confuse opponents and to protect itself better from legal prosecution. The stated "disagreements" between the "factions" are just a cover story that allows different factions to take responsibility for different parallel actions without becoming targeted and extinguished as a whole.
Metamorphosing into, and adopting, multiple identities is a STANDARD DEFENCE TACTIC practiced by the Eelamist Diaspora from its very beginning. As soon as the law arrives at the front door to arrest the man, they step out the back door as a woman, and her children!
We are now seeing this strategy in action ... AGAIN.
Nevertheless, let us pursue each part of the TNA both separately and together as a group.
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Sri Lanka's Tamil National Alliance split into three groups - report
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 03, Colombo: The Tamil National Alliance, the major Tamil constituency in the country has split to three factions, Sri Lanka's Sinhala nationalist daily The Divaina reported today.
The three factions, according to the newspaper, are led by incumbent leader R. Sampanthan, Suresh Premachandran and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam.
Reportedly, the other two factions have blamed TNA leader R. Sampanthan for rejecting to participate in the UN Human Rights Council being held now in Geneva.
They have said that Sampanthan will join the government and accept a Ministerial portfolio.
Sampanthan has reportedly decided not to travel to Geneva to attend the UNHRC sessions and the decision has caused a clash within the party.
Following a meeting of the TNA parliamentary group yesterday for over six hours, the party said it would monitor all the developments in Geneva despite not attending the meeting.
Earlier TNA said they would send a delegation to Geneva to apprise the international community of their grievances and later decided not to attend.
However, media reports said that Sampanthan had written to all 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council asking them to support the UN resolution against the country to be presented with the support of US and other Western nations.
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