Aluth Avurudu Message from His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa:
The fullest joy of the New Year is realized in a free country where home and hearth is in full abundance. The ability to make the country self-sufficient in rice, built a society rich in ethical values and seeing this birth of a New Year of happiness, gives us much cause for satisfaction. It is a joy to us all that today, more than at other times, our people are committed to observing the tradition of the New Year and thus the revival of the nation.
The great tradition of bonding among families that is seen in the New Year adds strength to our society. Therefore, we must value the traditions that have come down to us from centuries past, protect them, and bestow this heritage to the generations that follow. This is what assures the continuance of the Sri Lankan nations.
I wish you all a prosperous New Year !
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Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World - Documentary
39 comments:
Happy Sinhala & Happy New Year Everybody!
May 2013 bring you Good Health, Great Wealth, and Unbounded Prosperity!
President orders officials to accelerate construction of Sri Lanka's second zoo
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 13, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has instructed the officials to accelerate construction of the Sri Lanka's second zoological gardens in Pinnawala, the state-run radio reported.
The first stage of the Pinnawala zoo now being constructed in a 48-acre land adjacent to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage will comprise only animals, birds and other fauna endemic to Sri Lanka.
The President, who has made an observation visit to the construction site recently, has ordered the officials to accelerate the project. The project is expected to be completed before June this year.
The construction of the second zoo started in 2009, was to be completed by April of 2012.
The second phase of the project to house foreign species will be constructed in the future. The government has allocated about 500 million rupees for the project.
The government says the complete zoo which will covers 100 acres adjacent to the world famous tourist hot spot, Pinnawala elephant orphanage, will provide direct and indirect employment to a large number of the people in the area.
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
By D. Nath Amerakone, Sri Lanka
A recent editorial in The Island Journal of 12th April, 2013 entitled "A Criminals' Paradise" reveals the true situation of politics in our country. The Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) of Sri Lanka has discussed this subject on a number of occasions: The dilemma of Professionals who have to accommodate administrative manipulations by politicians for their survival. What then is the way out of this mess?
The solution lies in a change of the system of government. Western form of democracry criminalizes politics. Success in elections call for popularity among the masses with little or no education. The politicians have to placate criminal elements. The legislators have to please their supporters to get back to power. Thus, politicking has become a game for the criminals to feather narrow objectives by cornering the votes of the least educated and the least productive. They have to embezzle public funds to keep the system going.
Western Imperialists parading democracy have survived as long as they exploited their colonies. After they were forced to abandon the colonies, they tried Neo-Colonialism to further their exploitation by criminalizing society. Minorities are encouraged to demand special treatment embracing terrorism as a tool of choice. Religious fanaticism is promoted as freedom of belief. These dubious startegies are now gettig exposed. USA, as the foremost champion of democracy, is driven by arms manufacturers, arms dealers and international criminals like the LTTE diaspora and the drug mafia. UK is home to terrorists and criminals from all over the world. In this context, most European nations are struggling to survive. Western system of governance is failing in most countries. What is the alternative?
As a solution to this dilemma of capitalist Western-style democracies, I submit an extract of article by Eric U on China's Government Structure. We know very little of China to make use of their techniques to allay the problems of our nation.
Our President with a two third majority in Parliament is the only persons who could even think of a solution. As a start the Ministers of Education, Higher Education, and Public Adminsitration may be sent to China on a prolonged education tour. The members of the Oppositon in Parliament too may benefit from an in depth study of the China's Government Structure.
The Chinese example in bringing about a meritocracy could be the answer to the lamentation in the Island Journal's editorial as well.
You may consider giving the attached article publicity at your website in the interest of the nation.
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
......Continued 1......
A Brief Look at China's Government
Stuff You Thought You Knew, But Didn't
A Bit of Background
You probably already know that China has a system of annual university entrance examinations, taken by about 10 million students each year. This set of examinations is quite stiff and perhaps even harsh, covering many subjects and occupying three days. The tests require broad understanding, deep knowledge and high intelligence, if one is to do well.
Any student whose results are near the top of the list, is in the top 2% or 3% of a pool of 1.5 billion people.
Getting a high mark qualifies a student to enter one of the top two or three universities, which will virtually guarantee a great job on graduation, a high salary and a good life. Moving down the scale of results, the prospects become increasingly meager.
You may not know that China also has a system of bar examinations which every graduate lawyer must pass in order to practice law in China.
For these, we can bypass "stiff" and "harsh" and go directly to "severe". Out of about 250,000 graduate lawyers who sit for the exam, only about 20,000 will pass and obtain qualifications to actually be a practicing lawyer in China.
Once again, the exams require broad understanding of all matters legal, deep knowledge of the laws, and high intelligence.
So if you happen to meet a Chinese lawyer, you can be assured you are dealing with someone from top 1% or 2% of a pool of 1.5 billion people.
I mention these two items only to introduce a third - the Civil Service Examinations.
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
......Continued 2......
Becoming a Government Official in China
The Imperial examinations were designed many centuries ago to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. They lasted as long as 72 hours, and required a great depth and breadth of knowledge to pass.
It was an eminently fair system in that the exam itself had no qualifications. Almost anyone, even from the least educated family in the poorest town, could sit the exam and, if that person did well enough, he or she could join the civil service and potentially rise to the top.
The modern civil service examination system evolved from the imperial one, and today, millions of graduates write these each year. And for these, we can bypass "severe" and go directly to "brutal", because out of the millions of candidates only about 10,000 will get a pass.
The Chinese Have High Standards
And that pass doesn't get you a job; all it gets you is an interview. If you meet anyone in China's central government, you can rest assured you are speaking to a person who is not only exceptionally well educated and knowledgeable on a broad range of national issues but is in the top 1% of a pool of 1.5 billion people.
Moreover, China's government officials are all highly-educated and trained engineers, economists, sociologists, scientists, often at a Ph.D. level. Contrast this with the Western system where most politicians are either lawyers or those with no useful education.
We should also remember that the Chinese generally score about 10% higher on standard IQ tests than do Caucasian Westerners, and couple this with the Chinese process of weeding out all but the top 1% from consideration.
When you add further the prospect of doing your weeding from a pool of 1.5 billion people, you might expect China's Central Government to be rather better qualified than that of most other countries. And it is.
The point of this is to bring your attention to the disparity between the quality of 'politicians' in Western countries and China's government officials. The discrepancy is so vast that comparisons are largely meaningless.
Friends, Family and 'Connections'
There are some who will tell you that family connections in China can produce a government job for some favored son, a claim that may be true in some places though extremely difficult at the national level.
But no amount of 'connections' will move you into senior positions or to the top of decision-making power; those places are reserved for persons of deep experience and proven ability.
"Of the Communist Party’s highest ruling body, the 25-member Politburo, only seven came from any background of wealth or power.
The rest of them, including the president and the prime minister, were from ordinary backgrounds with no special advantages. They worked and competed all the way to the top. In the larger Central Committee, those with privileged backgrounds are even scarcer.
A visit to any top university campus in China would make it obvious to anyone that the Communist Party continues to attract the best and the brightest of the country’s youth.
In fact, China’s Communist Party may be one of the most meritocratic and upwardly mobile major political organizations in the world - far more meritocratic than the ruling elites of most Western countries and the vast majority of developing countries." (1)
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
......Continued 3......
Choosing the Nation's Leaders
Consider how it would be if a Western country could identify and assemble the 300 best, brightest, wisest, most educated and experienced people in the nation, men and women of great proportion whose depth and breadth of knowledge and ability were the envy of all. And consider this group selecting some to be their leaders - the Prime Minister, President, Cabinet members.
That's essentially how China does it. On what basis can we tell them their way is wrong? For Westerners to refer to this as a dictatorship is offensive and merely stupid.
In contradistinction to the West, China's system cannot produce incompetence at the top because in a population of 1.5 billion people there are just too many available candidates with stunningly impressive credentials.
In China's system, leaders and officials are evaluated and selected by their peers, not by the unqualified and uninformed 'man in the street'.
It is the only government system in the world that ensures competence at the top, because these people are evaluated on the basis of real credentials rather than public popularity or TV charisma.
Leaders are selected on the basis of true leadership, on their ability to bring together all factions, to create harmony and consensus on their realisable vision for the country, to wisely control and direct the military.
They have a firm understanding of the economy, of the nation, of society and its problems and the best way to meet them. They are not only admired and respected by their peers, but able to draw others to them in order to form that consensus and harmony that are so desirable and necessary for stability.
Education and Training of Government Officials
There is another factor to consider, that of education and training. In the West, senior government officials - the politicians - are seldom renowned for competence or even intelligence.
For the Western politicians who who exercise all the real decision power to shape a country, there is no education or training available or required. It is all a kind of 'earn while you learn' system.
In China, those who will become the senior officials and civil servants have entered a lifelong career in a formidable meritocracy where promotion and responsibility can be obtained only by demonstrated ability. Once in the system, the education and training are never-ending.
The system is generally well understood within China, and it meshes well with Chinese culture and tradition as well as conforming to the Chinese psyche in their Confucian overview and their desire for social order and (yes) harmony.
The Western world understands this dimly, if at all, and inevitably forms incorrect and often absurd conclusions about China and its government - especially the mindless references to China being a 'dictatorship'.
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
......Continued 4.....
The President Goes to School
The Central Party School in Beijing has been called the most mysterious school in China, and is like no other university or college anywhere.
Here is a link to an article on this university that will give you more information: Read here.
At various times, the most promising young and middle-aged officials attend this university for up to a year at a time, to expand their knowledge and understanding of all issues relating to China.
The Headmaster of the school is often the President of China, and the lecturers are usually foreign dignitaries, high-level officials, and renowned experts on everything from economics and international finance to social policy, foreign policy, industrial policy and even military matters.
The cornerstone of the school's educational policy is that everything is on the table. There are no forbidden topics, and even reactionary, revolutionary or just plain whacky positions are discussed, analysed and debated to resolution.
All manner of planning, problems, solutions, alternatives, will be discussed, examined, debated, explained, with any number of prominent experts available as reference material. When these sessions are completed, all students will have an MBA-level or better appreciation of the entire subject. And this is only one subject of many they will encounter.
When you consider that these officials entered the government with an already high level of education, and with an already demonstrated broad level of understanding and exceptional intelligence, these additional layers of training and education cannot help but produce an impressive level of overall knowledge and ability throughout the government.
Nothing like this system exists in the West, which is why senior civil servants in most Western countries often look on their leader-politicians with a mixture of disdain and contempt for their lack of knowledge and ability.
The Functioning of China's Government
Few Westerners have bothered to learn even the simple basics about the form of China's government, preferring instead to parrot foolish Western supremacist nonsense about China being a dictatorship.
China has a one-party government. If you listen to Western ideologues, you will be told this is heresy in the eyes of the Gods of Goverment in 6 galaxies. But it is no such thing, and contains enormous advantages.
Here, there is no forced separation of officials on the basis of political ideology. China's entire social spectrum is represented in government in the same way as in Chinese - or any other - society.
There is no partisan in-fighting. Unlike the West, China's system looks for consensus rather than conflict.
Government decision-making is not a sport where my team has to win. It is simply a group of people with various viewpoints working together to obtain a consensus for policy and action for the overall good of their nation.
From everything I have seen, China's one-party system is superior in many respects to what we have in the West. This is what has produced a growth rate of over 10% per year for 30 years, compared to perhaps 3% in the West.
And how can it be otherwise? China's government doesn't waste its time fighting juvenile ideological battles with 'opposition parties', but instead everyone gets down to the business of doing the best for the nation.
China's government leaders manage by consensus, not by power, authority or bullying. It is their job to create agreement and unified willing participation in the country's policies to meet its goals.
At this level there are no children, and there is no one person with the power to start a war just because he doesn't like someone, or who is free to alienate other nations on the basis of some blind personal ideology.
China's Government Structure- Meritocracy at its best?
......Continued 5.....
Lobbying and Influence
In China, many people and industries are permitted to present their case, but private or short-term interests will not emerge victorious in this system.
Your proposals will receive support and will succeed only if they are to the long-term benefit of the country as a whole - the greatest good for the nation and for the population. That's how it works.
In the US system, corporations control the government; in China's, the government controls the corporations. And those firms may often not get their way even if they are government-owned.
Consider the introduction of HSR (High-Speed Rail) in China. Some Chinese airlines (especially the state-owned ones), complained like hell, and with good reason, about the inauguration of HSR. Some have had to dramatically scale back their flight schedules because many people prefer the train.
But the wide HSR network was seen as being in the best interests of the entire country and it went ahead. Read more here.
That is also why China has the best (and cheapest) mobile phone system in the world. Read more here.
The "Loyal Opposition"
China's system also has an 'opposition', but this body has two major differences from Western governments. Also, it functions intelligently, so let's make that three major differences.
First, it does not function to 'oppose' but rather to consult. This body is charged with the responsibility to consider not only the government's directions and policies but also to devise alternatives and make recommendations. And the government must by law consider and respond to all these consultations - which it does.
Second, this opposition group are not the marginalised 'losers' as in the Western systems but a second tier of extremely competent people who were not selected to the top governing positions. And, rather than lose all this expertise, this secondary group was created to contribute to the development of their country.
The Success of Government
Probably the greatest deciding factor permitting China's rise is the political environment. China's one-party government is in for the long term; it makes no short-term decisions for the sake of political expediency.
China makes decisions for the good of the whole country and, having made them, implements them. There is no partisanship, no lobbyists, no special interest groups that skew these important decisions and rob the population of what they might have had.
The benefits of this system can be seen in its results. China has already far surpassed the undeveloped nations that adopted Western democratic governments,and likely has a brighter future than most of them.
Why is the West so eager for China to abandon a centuries-old system that clearly works well, in favor of one designed for ideological battles, conflicts and shouting wars?
Many foreign observers are now, (finally) admitting openly that China's form of government exhibits signs of superiority over Western systems, and that it is largely responsible for China's efficiency, for its rapid development, and for its speed of response in areas like the Sichuan earthquake and the planning and deployment of its high-speed train system.
The "Free World" could learn a lot from China's government system. It works, beautifully. It has transformed the economy and brought hundreds of millions out of poverty.
It has put men into space, built the world's fastest trains, the longest undersea tunnels, the world's longest bridges, the largest dams. It is rapidly creating the world's largest genuine middle class. And it's hardly begun.
(1) From an article by Eric Li.
Bravo, GOSL!
Stop the CREEPING COLONIZATION of Sri Lanka by Indian workers.
Keep jobs in Sri Lanka for Sri Lankan citizens!
Get Sri Lanka out of the DEADLY EMBRACE of India that destabilizes and undermines Sri Lanka at every opportunity!
BRAVO!
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Govt. curbs jobs for Indian skilled workers
By Chris Kamalendran
SundayTimes.lk
April 13, 2013
The Government is to reduce the number of Indian skilled workers in Sri Lanka and replace them with Sri Lankans, Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge said. He said the new policy decision by the Government would include a reduction of Indian workers in existing projects and limitations on the number coming for future projects both in the public and private sectors.
The minister referred particularly to the Colombo Dockyard where some 800 Indian skilled workers were employed. The other sectors included the steel manufacturing industry where more than 1,500 Indians were employed.He said the Board of Investment (BOI) would be directed to impose restrictions on the number of Indians recruited for projects approved by it.
“‘Our policy is to encourage Sri Lankans to be trained for the jobs now being done by foreigners,” Mr. Lokuge said though denying the new policy was linked to the strained relationship with India, and especially the crisis in Tamil Nadu. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who is the President of the All Ceylon Harbour and Dock Workers’ Union told the Sunday Times that the move to discourage foreign workers would give more job opportunities for Sri Lankans.
However, the latest Central Bank report on Wednesday claimed that the unemployment rate declined to 4 per cent last year from 4.2 per cent in 2011. Over the past few weeks, there have been several attacks on Sri Lankan visitors including pilgrims and Sri Lankan institutions in Tamil Nadu.
The latest attack was on a group of Sri Lankan Tamil artistes hosted by their counterparts in Chennai. The residence in which they were staying was attacked by a group who warned that no one and nothing from Sri Lanka should be brought to Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, India is continuing to delay issuing a visa for Sri Lanka’s new Deputy High Commissioner to Chennai. The Sunday Times reported exclusively last week that the visa application has been pending since December last year. The Indian High Commission has declined comment on this issue.
When I exclaimed God Forbid! earlier at the US expression of wanting to support Sri Lanka more, I was expecting a dirty move such as this!
There was someone who commented that the press release by the US Ambassador in Sri Lanka the US is “Ready to Help Sri Lanka More” may indicate that they genuinely want to help, and we should explore this “opening”. I don’t think so, it is more smoke and mirrors …. the carrot and stick to drive the Sri Lankan mule. The US certainly has a strange way of “Helping More”. … my bloody foot!
Even at the height of the war when Sri Lanka urgently needed economic help, US aid to Sri Lanka was a MERE PITTANCE (less than $25 million/year, mostly in for soft “human rights” and “democracy building” work to pay its NGOs undermining Sri Lanka). This amount of assistance is unworthy of being identified as “Aid” from the immensely rich “Sole SuperPower” demanding immediate attention on a daily basis from Sri Lanka.
The US wants Sri Lanka to say “How High” when the US says “Jump!”. When the GOSL does not jump, the stick comes down hard, forgetting in the process that the US is alenating the vast majority of the PEOPLE of Sri Lanka, not just ots Government. The kind of jumping the US wants Sri Lanka to do, the GOSL simply cannot and should not do, because it will compromise the ESSENTIAL INTERESTS of Sri Lanka’s people: its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The GOSL must expect that the next shoe to fall will be increased excise duties and embargoes against goods exported from Sri Lanka to the United States. Since the US is Sri Lanka’s biggest export market, Sri Lanka will have to develop and reorient its exports to non-US, and even non-EU markets. In anticipation of these moves, the GOSL has been redirecting its trade towards Asia, Africa and other non-US/non-EU markets for some time now. This has to be accelerated as a high national priority.
Another thing that Sri Lanka should anticipate is that John Kerry’s predecessor as Secy of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton may become the next US President. She is clearly positioning herself to run for the Presidency. If she becomes President, having taken campaign funds from the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in the past, and very likely to do so now under the new US campaign financing laws that have totally dismantled all limits on the buying of politicians by lobbyists, Sri Lanka should prepare for US Foreign Policy to become EXTREMELY INIMICAL to Sri Lanka.
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US State Department proposes to cut aid to Sri Lanka by 20 percent
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 15, Colombo: The US Secretary of State John Kerry in his budgetary proposals sent to the Congress last week for approval has proposed a 20 percent cut in US aid to Sri Lanka, a PTI report said Monday.
US State Department proposes to cut aid to Sri Lanka by 20 percent
......Continued 1......
Kerry has proposed a US$ 11-million in aid to Sri Lanka, which, according to a senior State Department official, is a “drop of 20 percent” from the actual spending in the 2012 fiscal year.
The move to cut aid is believed to be a reflection of the increasingly souring relationship between the two countries following the adoption of the two UN resolutions sponsored by the US against Sri Lanka.
A senior State Department official has anonymously told PTI the aid cut reflects that US had difficult time in programming a lot of their money in Sri Lanka due to the Sri Lankan military’ involvement in US-funded programs.
“We tried to do a lot in the North to help the IDPs and get back to their normal life and support reconstruction efforts there. But in several cases, we had programmes that we were trying to support, to which the government – the military got quite involved in them, and so we were not able to pursue those programmes,” the official was quoted as saying.
“So, we made a decision that Sri Lanka as a middle-income country, and in a country where we are having difficulty in programming, that is a place where we should probably cut that have a lot of own resources,” the official has told PTI.
While the actual US development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2012 was $8 million, Kerry has proposed about $6 million for 2014.
The US has repeatedly expressed its displeasure in Sri Lanka’s lack of progress toward reconciliation and accountability after the end of the war in May 2009 and is pressuring the Sri Lankan government to conduct a credible independent investigation into the allegations of human rights violations during the last phase of the war.
When GULLIBLE Westerners encourage DISHONESTY, there is NOTHING to stop waves of fake Tamil refugees invading their shores.
Meanwhile, Western Neo-Colonialists HAPPILY USE THESE FAKE ACCUSATIONS for their own ends to destabilize and undermine Sri Lanka.
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Tamils flee for cash, not from harm
by DINOO KELLEGHAN, in COLOMBO
The Australian, April 13-14, 2013
Dinoo Kelleghan is a former foreign editor of The Australian and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1997-2004.
IN contrast to the weary boatloads of Sri Lankans making the dangerous asylum-shopping trip to Australia, millions of different shoppers are out in force here as the island prepares for Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations this weekend.
This year, economists noted a change in the spending patterns – lower-income people are spending more freely than the better-paid shoppers in the capital, Colombo.
The reason? The gushing torrents of remittances home from Sri Lankans who have gone abroad for employment, often making empty claims of persecution to leapfrog others who stand patiently in long queues outside Western embassies in Colombo to get a work visa.
The hunger for foreign money is intense in Sri Lanka, born of decades of dependency on remittances from those who went overseas legally to work, and the tens of thousands who smuggled themselves out of the country during the 30-year civil war that ended in 2009. Asylum-seeking has become a habit, unconnected to reality, and the trawler that sailed into Geraldton this week with 66 Sri Lankans aboard is simply a part of that economic pattern.
THE asylum boat that arrived in Geraldton this week should be viewed in context.
The number of Sri Lankans of every walk of life who have at least one relative in Australia is astonishing. Every doctor, every lawyer, trishaw driver I have met over the past two months after returning home following 33 years in Australia has a family member in Melbourne or Sydney.
Vicariously they will ask you where you have lived, whether jobs are not plentiful, whether life is not marvellous overseas.
Yes, you can find work in Australia easily. Yes, you get money there even if you don’t work. People get free houses there, money for getting a baby, sustained help in finding work. Just a little bit of hardship at the start but everyone knows you’ll get there in the end, and if you go in by boat as an asylum-seeker the Australian government just has to take notice of you, and they start looking after you straight away.
These are facts, and no matter what propaganda Canberra puts out to deter people-smuggling, these facts are good enough to make many Sri Lankans make a down payment of half a million rupees to a people-smuggler and pledge to pay the rest when they start earning in Australia, plus, for Tamils blackmailed emotionally by the Tiger-controlled smuggling syndicates, a dollar a month for “Tamil welfare” for the rest of time.
The civil war has been over almost four years. There is no foundation on which Sri Lankans – Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or Burgher – can claim to have a well-founded fear of persecution.
There are a few individuals who have tense relations with government and other political parties but my own experience as a member over seven years on Australia’s Refugee Review Tribunal indicates that embassies here are well aware of them, share information, track them and help them with visas for getaways.
Tamils flee for cash, not from harm
.........Continued 1.....
As Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canberra, Thisara Samarasinghe, said the so-called asylum-seekers were fleeing to Australia for “economic opportunities”. “I do not consider there’s any Sri Lankan should leave Sri Lankan shores and ask for refugee status in any country,” Admiral Samarasinghe told ABC’s Lateline on Wednesday night.
Tamils in the northeast who get on the boats to Australia are not fleeing persecution but leaving for a chance of a better life.
The area has always been poorer than the rest of Sri Lanka – it is dryer, harder to cultivate, there has never been any industry, and this was the fault of governments since independence in 1948 but also of industrialists, many of whom are Tamil, who never bothered to invest there.
The decades of Tiger control of the area cemented in the poverty while the rest of the country was starting to prosper. The Tigers, who collected millions of dollars for development of “Eelam”, merely squatted on the land and controlled it with a fascist hand.
While life is poor and jobs are hard to find the facts are at variance with those who claim that Tamils in the area live destitute and face persecution from the authorities. The government-run bank of Ceylon in 2011 revealed that within two years after the war’s end, about 40,000 displaced persons in the north who lived in the main Manik farm IDP camp had opened new accounts and that about $US1 billion then rested in some 80,000 IDP accounts.
When I interviewed some former Tiger fighters last year who are now living normally following rehabilitation, none of them said they were suffering from persecution even when pressed. Their problems were lack of jobs, lack of education and training to get jobs, and difficulties with others over contested land.
As for claims that Tamils face persecution simply for having been actual or suspected Tiger foot-soldiers, the outgoing head of the International Organisation for Migration, Richard Danziger, was reported saying on April 10 that the IOM had encountered about a dozen complaints of current harassment from the 8000 former Tigers fighters it had been assisting. About 300 ex-militants were still in custody but 12,000 had been through rehabilitation.
Even if, hypothetically, Tamils in Sri Lanka’s north and east suffered persecution they would find a much easier and shorter and cheaper passage to India, just across the narrow Palk Strait. The fact that some of the Tamils coming by boat to Australia originate from camps in India in fact makes persecution claims against Sri Lanka irrelevant.
Sri Lanka’s Tamil population is spread widely throughout the island, not huddled in fearful groups in a few places. Tamils now outnumber Sinhalese in the capital, Colombo. At least six of the 20 billionaires on the Sri Lankan stock exchange are Tamil.
The country is doing well despite rising prices – growth is more than 6 per cent. But there are about two million Sri Lankans working abroad, earning enough to send home about $US10bn ($9.5bn). That’s the party many Sri Lankans want to join.
Dinoo Kelleghan is a former foreign editor of The Australian and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1997-2004
I am tired of this ONE-SIDED DEMONIZATION of Sinhala Buddhists as RACISTS, and the GLORIFICATION of the Tamil Valhalla of Tamil Nadu by Eelamists wanting to capture and create a Tamils-Only Eelam in a large part of Sri Lanka, on behalf of 12.5% minority in Sri Lanka few of whom live in the areas claimed by for the Tamil Eelam.
We Sri Lankans KNOW that NO MINORITY …. Tamils, Muslims, Hindus, or Christians … are EVER TREATED BADLY in Sri Lanka, and there was NO CAUSE for the attacks launched on Sinhala People and the war that followed. That was how Sri Lanka’s ENEMIES exploited Sri Lanka’s Military and Economic weakness. That EQUITY was achieved for ALL of Sri Lanka’s People, NOT BY MINORITIES, but by the POLICIES ENACTED by SUCCESSIVE Sri Lankan governments dominated by the SINHALA BUDDHIST MAJORITY of Sri Lanka.
Our Tolerant Buddhist Ways created the Social Equity in Sri Lanka today.
So, I am going to start posting videos posted on the Web by various segments of Indian Tamils in Tamil Nadu of the ENDEMIC DISCRIMINATION they face in Tamil Nadu.
If, you won”t believe me, then listen to THEM: Tamils from Tamil Nadu waling about they VICIOUS DISCRIMINATION they face in the Tamil HELL of Tamil Nadu!
This is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG of information that is available … Hope you like IT!
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu: Parts I-VI (In Tamil)
By Aravindan Neelakandan
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-I
Dalit Hindus in Dindugal district are being harassed by upper castes who are Christians. Hence pseudo-Dalit movements fall silent over the atrocities. When a Dalit youth is attacked and human excreta forced into his mouth, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn the other way and a fact finding team exposes the truth
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-II
While caste Christians make atrocities against Dalits, the pseudo-Dalit organizations as well as media turn the other way. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri.B.Gautham, Chennai) exposes the atrocity indulged in against the Dalits through a fact finding mission.
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-III
When Caste Christians force excreta on a Dalit youth for daring to walk the road of upper castes, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn a blind eye. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri. B.Gautham) exposes the inhuman atrocity and analyses the factors and offers a solution for social harmony and justice through a fact finding mission.
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-IV
When Caste Christians force excreta on a Dalit youth for daring to walk the road of upper castes, pseudo-Dalit leaders and media turn a blind eye. Movement for National Vigilance (Sri. B.Gautham) exposes the inhuman atrocity and analyses the factors and offers a solution for social harmony and justice through a fact finding mission.
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-V
Atrocities on Dalits in Tamil Nadu-VI
This is part-6 of the atrocity Hindu Dalits face in Tamil Nadu, Didukkal district. When Christian upper caste Christians thrust human excreta in Hindu Dalits Mouths for walking in the street with footwear, media and pseudo-Dalit leadership look the other way. But a fact finding team exposes this here. We thank Sri. Gautham for giving permission to upload the video.
Here is more on the ENDEMIC DISCRIMINATION by Tamils against Other Tamils in the Festering Hell Hole of Tamil Nadu. When viewing, please activate the ENGLISH Captions!
There is NO DISCRIMINATION even REMOTELY like this in Sri Lanka.
How dare these HYPOCRITES criticize Sri Lanka; they should look at their own crumbling house and UPLIFT their own people FIRST!
Let us GET THE TRUTH OUT into the OPEN!
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Casteism in Tamilnadu - a discussion
A discussion about caste discrimination of Dalit Christians in Tamilnadu. (English subtitles available). Director Amudhan discusses his documentary "Seruppu" which details the hardships and discrimination faced by Dalit Christians in Trichy, Tamilnadu.
On Caste Divisions in Sri Lanka and India
Yes, there were strong caste divisions in Sri Lanka … related to the SERVICES the various groups performed for the king, but not embedded in the RELIGION as in India. As we well know Buddhism rejects caste distinctions as a basis for determining the worth of individuals, and fought that battle in India during the Buddha’s day as well.
That is precisely why Dr. Babasehab Ambedkar led his Dalit community to embrace Buddhism in 1955.
The majority Buddhist religion is PRECISELY the reason why caste distinctions have practically vanished among the Sinhala people since independence, irrespective of their religion (Buddhism, Christianity), whereas the Hindu majority Tamil community is STILL strongly divided along caste lines.
In fact, I remember when I was an Engineering student at the Peradeniya eFac, certain of my Tamil colleagues came all the way from Jaffna to Colombo to borrow my class notes, rather than walk to the homes of high caste Tamil students in Jaffna. At Peradeniya, we sat together in class, lived together in the residential halls, played and partied together, but yet when the Tamil students went back home, the caste distinctions were reasserted. However, our Tamil batchmates from Colombo did not do this; they were fully assimilated and integrated into the tolerant mindset of the Buddhist majority community in the South of Sri Lanka.
In every country, it is the majority community that sets the tone and mores of the society as a whole. If the majority community is tolerant, the society as a whole is tolerant. If the majority community is intolerant, the society as a whole becomes intolerant. The teachings of the RELIGION of the majority community, as it relates to differences in communal attributes such as caste, race, religion, and sex is CRITICAL to social justice.
On the eve of India’s independence, Dr. Ambedkar was trying to get Mahatma Gandhi to include in the Consitution of India a clause declaring caste discrimination as illegal. But, Mahatma encountered strong opposition from the rest of the Indian Congress. Therefore, since the Dalits were OUTSIDE the Hindu caste system, and therefore a de-facto NON-EXISTENT community, Ambedkar demanded classification of the Dalits as a unique sovereign community within India. Mahatma Gandhi opposed this also … saying that such a declaration would make PERMANENT the discrimination against Dalits … and prevent their EVER being assimilated into a caste-less future Hindu society. As it turned out, Ambedkar caved in and supported the Congress’s bid for independence from India, accepting only a promise from Mahatma that a national referendum would be held on the issue after independence. We know that in 1955 or so, frustrated with the failure to get Hindu society to accept the Dalits as equal human beings, Dr. Ambedkar left the Hindu religion and embraced the other great religion of India … Buddhism … that would accept ALL human beings as equals.
Although Ambedkar was absolutely right in departing a religion that denied him and his people basic human rights, Mahatma’s warning that allocation of different special rights to different communities defined by caste would permanently embed caste divisions within India and prevent progress towards a casteless society was PROPHETIC.
Today, Indian communities compete for government benefits (aka “reservations”) on the basis of caste. Although the intention was to alleviate the historical disadvantages of different caste groups, the identification of SCHEDULED CASTES, BACKWARD CASTES, and OTHER BACKWARD CASTES, ad inifinitum, ad nauseam in India has been to create a permanent caste structure fiercely protected by caste group in their quest for
free government benefits.
As one Indian Supreme Court judge once quipped “There is no other country in the world like India, in which people compete to degrade/debase their social status just to secure government benefits”. He was DEAD RIGHT … there is NO OTHER. The path to communal hell is clearly paved with good government intentions.
The government benefits enjoyed by these “Historically Disadvantaged Communities” to the exclusion of other Indian citizens in need, has caused immense animosity and conflict among the citizens of India, in addition to the standard caste warfare between caste groups trying to preserve the hierarchical caste system of Hinduism.
For example, there are many utterly poor Brahmins … damned by the “poorna noola” they wear across their chests … pulling rickshaws, and cleaning toilets, in the New Delhi area. They are in need just like the Dalits, but are excluded from applying for government benefits because they belong to a high caste!
The SOLUTION TO THIS SELF-INFLICTED DILEMMA is SIMPLE. Give Government Assistance to people on the basis of DEMONSTRATED POVERTY and NEED ONLY … not on the basis of any other communal attribute.
But fear and greed of those who are already on the gravy train, and the political clout they wield in VOTE BANK POLITICS will never allow that. As I recall, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, had proposed precisely this solution, but got nowhere in taking the country in that direction. The vested interests created by the caste based system enacted … and foreseen 67-odd years ago by Mahatma Gandhi … are just too entrenched. And so, India continues down the path of communal DISCORD and eventual DISINTEGRATION with its people pitted against each other trying to preserve their caste-based allocations of the pie.
That brings us to Sri Lanka. The Tamil Eelamists demand that Sri Lanka also go down a parallel path to COMMUNAL HELL by dividing Sri Lanka on the basis of another communal attribute: RACE.
This kind of Communal Division of Sri Lanka into a Patchwork Quilt of Communal Apartheid Bantustans is PRECISELY what the majority of Sri Lankans want to avoid.
We don’t view India as a success, but as a COMMUNAL HELL HOLE, A CATACLYSMIC DISASTER in the MAKING.
Instead, we Sri Lankans are headed in a FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION: towards a society in which the only meaningful attribute of its people is that they are Sri Lankan CITIZENS.
In such a society and system of governance, all other COMMUNAL attributes of race, religion, language, caste, and sex are unimportant and ignored. Any person’s status as a legal Sri Lankan citizen qualifies him/her to compete on the basis of the content of his/her demonstrated character, ability and merit for all the benefits Sri Lanka has to offer.
That is OUR GOAL in our drive to build ONE NATION of ONE PEOPLE sharing ONE DESTINY!
When THIEVES FALL OUT ....NOTHING could be SWEETER!
Now Norway is sued fpor unpaid funds by Kumar Rupasinghe's Norway-UK supported NGO that undermined the WAR EFFORT during EELAM WAR IV in collusion with Norway and the UK!
NO, We have not forgotten Rupasinghe antics in bed with the Tamil Separatists at the behest of Norway!
We Sri Lankan Patriots will NEVER FORGET such Treachery!
A POX on both their houses!
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Four Norwegians liable, Colombo court rules
* UK, Norway funded peace project goes sour
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
May 15, 2013
A major diplomatic dispute is in the offing with the District Court of Colombo ruling that four Norwegian foreign ministry officials, including its former Ambassador in Colombo, Hilde Haraldstad, are accountable for multiple banking transactions undertaken by local NGO, the Foundation for Co-Existence, in support of ‘peace projects’ underwritten by the governments of Norway and the UK during eelam war IV.
The ruling comes in the wake of Norway warning of breaking diplomatic relations if Sri Lanka went ahead with the case. The dispute has sent shock waves through the local NGO community, with Norway insisting those recipients of its funding should throw their weight behind them.
At the fifth hearing of the case, Additional District Judge Amali Ranaweera has said that of the 11 defendants, four persons, namely first defendant Ms Haraldstad, fifth defendant State Secretary Espen Barth Eide, sixth defendant Deputy Director General Kjersti Anderson and ninth defendant Foreign Service Control unit director Erik Glenne, were liable in Sri Lankan court.
The decision was given on April 30th. The hearing will resume on August 2.
NGO guru Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe had moved the District Court of Colombo against 11 Norwegian officials, including former minister Erik Solheim, who had spearheaded the Norwegian peace initiative here. According to the plaintiff, Norway had failed to honour the tripartite agreement, signed in June 2008, under which the Foundation for Co-Existence was to be paid by both the Norwegian and British governments.
The signatories to the agreement were Tore Hattrem, the then Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo, on behalf of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tom Owen–Edmunds, Head of Political and Development Section of the British High Commission, on behalf of British High Commission in Colombo and Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, on behalf of the Foundation for Co-Existence.
The agreement covered a three-year period.
The court was told that Norway had suspended payments, though the British fulfilled their part of the agreement.
Rupesinghe is seeking compensation from Norway to the tune of Rs 98,528,065.69 on the basis he obtained bank overdraft facilities on the strength of the Norwegian undertaking.
Four Norwegians liable, Colombo court rules
.....Continued ....
There hadn’t been any previous case similar to the ongoing legal dispute involving a local NGO and its foreign partners.
Interestingly, Norway was to fund the projects to the tune of 75 per cent with the remaining funding coming from the UK.
Having made some payments, in accordance with the agreement, Norway suspended further payments in early May 2009, just weeks ahead of the conclusion of the conflict. However, the UK met its full commitment in keeping with the agreement.
Well informed sources told The Island that Norway had strongly voiced its concern over the attempt to haul its representatives up before a Sri Lankan court. Norway through local lawyers representing the country’s interests asserted that all Norwegians cited as defendants enjoyed diplomatic immunity hence legal action couldn’t be instituted against them. Norway went to the extent of warning that diplomatic relations between the two countries could be at stake unless the case was dropped.
At one point the External Affairs Ministry intervened on behalf of Norway, though it subsequently changed its position.
Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka, during the period of 1997 to 2009, revealed Norwegian funding for a range of NGO-run projects, with Rupesinghe being identified as the recipient of the lion’s share of Norwegian finding amounting to $ 6 mn (NOK 35 mn).
This EXCELLENT IDEA should be expanded to include ALL LAND formerly controlled by the LTTE.
This helps achieve FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY, retain PERSONNEL of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces to DEFEND THE NATION, and CREATE AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENTS populated by PATRIOTS ... all at the Expense of the Sepaaratists.
NOTHING COULD BE SWEETER!
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Sri Lanka Army recruits civilian farmers to run Kandakadu Agriculture Farm
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 16, Colombo: Sri Lanka Army says it has recruited professional farmers to the military for the first time in the history and they are now employed in Kandakadu Agriculture Farm in Welikanda.
This group of civilian employees of the Army comprising 139 males and 61 females started their work at the farm on May 12.
The farmers enjoy all the benefits of uniform personnel and the males are eligible for pension after 22 years of service while the pensionable retirement period for females is 15 years.
Kandakadu farm was a huge animal farm spanning over 11,140 acres. During the three-decade long war the farm was under the control of Tamil Tiger terrorists.
After the end of war, security forces took control of the area and the farm was re-opened in 2011. So far 300 acres have been cultivated and the Army expects to cultivate further 300 acres with this batch of agricultural employees.
The peace-time Sri Lankan Army aims to broaden its horizons by foraying into large scale agro-industry, farming and dairy products.
According to the Army, due to troop requirements and escalation of terrorist violence in related areas, almost all the agricultural and dairy farms, maintained by the Army before the war intensified, have been left unattended. The Army now has focused on using the abandoned lands for agro projects to support government's island-wide agricultural drive.
Sri Lanka strengthens local government to promote democracy and equitable economic growth
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 15, Kampala: Sri Lanka considers the local government as the most practical expression of the ideals and aspirations of a functioning democracy and actively works toward strengthening the local government to promote democracy and economic growth with equity, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.
Delivering the keynote address yesterday (May 14) at the Commonwealth Local Government Conference (CLGC) 2013 held in Kampala, Uganda, under the theme "Developmental Local Government: Putting Local Government at the Heart of Development," the President spoke about the evolution of local government in Sri Lanka, a system that dates as far back as the 4th century B.C.
"We, in Sri Lanka, have consistently regarded local government as the most practical expression of the ideals and aspirations of a functioning democracy," he said.
"Local government has not only been practical, but also effective in taking development directly to the people," President Rajapaksa said, drawing on Sri Lanka's experiences. "I am of the view that a certain level of state intervention is also necessary in order to ensure equitable distribution of the benefits and social inclusivity," he added.
President further said that local government was among the first target of terrorism that ravaged Sri Lanka for three decades. Restoring Local government and accelerating economic growth were the priorities of Sri Lanka immediately after the end of the war, President stressed.
"The twin pillars of durable peace and political stability have opened doors for Sri Lanka to move forward on accelerated economic and social development," President Rajapaksa said.
He also pointed out the need to man the local government institutions with officials who are adequately trained and equipped for the tasks assigned if local government are to be of real service to the people.
"We have, therefore, placed considerable emphasis on practical programmes of instruction," the President said.
President Rajapaksa stressed that the local government institutions must operate within the overall framework of policy determined by the central government. "This element of cohesion is absolutely essential to ensure the absence of contradictions and the delivery of substantial benefits to the people," he emphasized.
He said Sri Lanka is currently discussing a programme of partnership with the Commonwealth to be launched next month to strengthen local government to support the implementation of the country's national policy.
Growth with equity, inclusive development, youth and local entrepreneurship are some of the ideas being considered as core themes of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo this year, the President noted.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, delivering the inaugural address, also commended Sri Lanka's efforts in ending terrorism in the country and assured Uganda's presence at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo this year.
"I salute the people of Sri Lanka for achieving peace," President Museveni said. "We're looking forward to attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in November."
Addressing the gathering via video message, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said, "CLGC makes an immense contribution to democracy at a level which citizens benefit most."
Re:Sri Lanka Army recruits civilian farmers to run Kandakadu Agriculture Farm
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Yes, … this is EXCELLENT NEWS Indeed. It is a step in the right direction on the path towards that Dream of an Ethnically Integrated Sri Lanka that you and I have CONSISTENTLY PROMOTED in our writings.
A Sri Lanka in which citizenship alone is the basis of the right to enjoy its bounty in equal measure. A Sri Lanka that is ONE Indivisible Nation, of ONE Inseparable People, sharing ONE Undivided National Destiny.
However, while STUBBORN-NESS and PERSISTENCE are ESSENTIAL personal traits for success, so is UNWAVERING LOYALTY to one’s own country … unblemished and unfettered by one’s own petty ambitions and desires.
On that score, Sarath Fonseka failed the ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TEST. All of us patriots who uncritically cheered Fonseka on as our champion in war then, now see him as the flawed jealous man, driven by unlimited ambition and willing to sacrifice his motherland on the altar of his unbounded ambition, that he has revealed himself to be.
CLEARLY, Fonseka is NOT THE MAN for this JOB of Ethnically Integrating Sri Lanka for the common good of all Sri Lankans; Gotabhaya Rajapaksa IS the MAN for that JOB. All of us patriots must offer him our UNSTINTING HELP to achieve that National Goal.
The ADVERSE IMPACT of Local Politics in India on India’s Foreign Policy is being hotly debated within India.
The following article is but ONE example. We can nurse a fond hope that SANITY will ultimately prevail, and India will be able to suppress these Local Demagogues and better treat its neighbors.
In my view, at the ROOT of India’s troubles is its failure to ERADICATE discrimination within its own society, on the basis of caste, ethnicity etc etc, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. India has permanently embedded communalism within its weak federal structure pitting its various communities against each other to gain government benefits. This has become a tried and tested path to power for power hungry politicians who grow like weeds in the grass in India.
As a result, Local and State politicians have seized the opportunity to create political power bases on communal issues that make them law unto themselves, to the detriment of India as a whole. Today Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee are perfect examples of such communal politicians, although in the past Mamata had advocated the dismantling of caste based system of preferences to one based on NEED alone, irrespective of communal attributes. Clearly, she has decided to win by joining the devils rather than lose by confronting them.
India, and Indians, like to preach to Sri Lanka the superiority of their “Federal” system of government in the “world’s largest democracy”, and advocate devolution of power to Eelamists in Sri Lanka.
BIGNESS alone does not a better system of government make, for now India is a country teetering on the threshold of disintegration into its constituent regions PRECISELY because of its WEAK Federal Government and the FLAWED COMMUNAL POLICIES it had adopted in governance since independence.
The final chapter on India disintegration remains yet to be written. Indians remain myopic, casting stones at smaller neighboring countries while being oblivious to the cancer that is consuming itself. Blind to the end, they ignore the lessons to be learned on the blowback on Tamil separatism in India that they inherited by blindly supporting and pandering to Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka.
Empowerment of Communalism being the BASIC THREAT to National Survival, Sri Lanka should REJECT all FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED Federal Prescriptions for Communal Autonomy advocated by India that is itself plunging headlong into OBLIVION. If India wishes to committ HARAKIRI scratching its Sores in Communal Valhalla, that is India’s business. SURVIVAL as a thriving unitary sovereign nation of a united people … is Sri Lanka’s business.
One of the few BENEFITS of SMALLNESS that Sri Lanka enjoys is that it does not need the Multilayered, Intrinsically Weak, Governing Structure of a Federal state required to govern large countries such as India and the United States.
Let us mind OUR OWN BUSINESS of GOVERNING Sri Lanka with the SIMPLEST, MOST STREAMLINED, CENTRALIZED form of Governance we can DEVISE OURSELVES to preserve Sri Lanka’s INTEGRITY, ensure EQUITY for its citizens without regard to communal attributes, and GROW our ECONOMY towards becoming the New Wonder of Asia.
The GOSL should inform those who advocate Federal Systems for Sri Lanka, that they are SIMPLY NOT QUALIFIED TO OFFER ADVICE on the basis of their own experiences; they should look towards squashing centrifugal tendencies within their own countries FIRST.
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India’s foreign policy is not soft. It’s “soft power”….
By Prashant Panday
TimesofIndia.IndiaTimes.com
May 03, 2013
In the vicious political environment that exists in India today, every incident – no matter how tragic – is quickly converted to a political issue. Even as Sarabjit Singh died yesterday, the BJP was out calling our foreign policy “soft”. Begs me to ask: What would the BJP have done differently if it was ruling? Attacked Pakistan? Is that going to be the BJP’s foreign policy if it comes to power? Do they even understand what foreign policy means? All of Vajpayee’s extensive foreign trips in the 1970s have yielded them this understanding???? For this dimwittedness alone, the BJP should never come to power.
The BJP has the habit of raising the pitch sky high. On every issue, but most notably on foreign policy issues, where it appears to prefer a “hardline” approach. If one were to follow its advice, India should attack China and Pakistan both. And while we are at it, let’s also show Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also how tough we can be. And if we haven’t attacked them yet, it shows we (sorry, Congressmen) are cowards. For a street bully (or ruffian) that the BJP wants India to be, attacking is the only way to demonstrate power. Beat up the guy next door, even if it means getting a bloody nose yourself in the process too. That’s a sign of “bravery” and “courage”. But the BJP forgets that even the street dog knows which fight to pick. It never fights a Rottweiler. And if someone calls it a coward for this, so be it. Lest we forget, China is a Rottweiler. Even the US and Japan acknowledge that. Japan and China have been sparring over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. Japan is seeking to establish a “hotline” with China to “discuss” things out. It is even seeking help from Mongolia. It has the US backing too. But Japan hasn’t attacked China. Does that make Japan a “coward”????
And yet, the defining characteristic of the BJP is not its hardline on foreign policy. It’s its doublespeak. When the BJP ruled, it did NOTHING to demonstrate its preference for a muscular foreign policy. In fact, quite the opposite. It was Vajpayee who cuddled up to Musharraf, even as he came to India and insulted us. It was under the same BJP regime that Afzal Guru attacked the Indian Parliament, and save for more high pitched statements, the BJP did nothing to show him the gallows. And worse, as evidence of the party’s muscular foreign policy and it’s “bravery”, they released known top-deck Pakistani terrorists in exchange for a hijacked plane. That time, they called it a “sympathetic” move to save the hostages. Today, they would call it “softness” or “cowardice” if the Congress did the same thing. Today, they say India should have a “no negotiations” policy with terrorists, like Israel has. Yet when they come to power, they will forget all about it. The BJP is nothing but double-speak; so its politicization of the Sarabjit death is understandable.
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India’s foreign policy is not soft. It’s “soft power”….
But here’s the other point. We Indians are behaving as if this is the first case of an Indian death on Pakistani soil. Let’s be clear here. Pakistan is a sworn enemy of India. It’s hand in Kashmir is well known. Any peace overtures we make are with the full knowledge that they may not work. And yet, there is no other way to handle a neighbour like Pakistan; one that will surely self-destruct one day. India does what it does because that’s the best – in fact, the only – way to protect itself. Attacking Pakistan is neither feasible, nor smart. It’s plain naivete to think India can attack Pakistan and subdue it. It smacks of ignorance. It may help the BJP politically, but it will hurt India by dragging it into an avoidable conflict. It will cost us billions, and will slow our economic growth down for decades. Worse, it may bring the international focus back on Kashmir, something that India’s “soft” foreign policy has so smartly avoided so far.
At this point I know what the BJP apologists will say. We’re not talking of going to war to Pakistan. But there is a way to teach them a lesson. Oh really? Please enlighten me. You didn’t when you were in power.
The only way for any country to exert power is through soft power. As a country’s economic clout grows, so does it influence in the world. We have got where we have because our economy has become a force to reckon with. The US didn’t welcome us into the nuclear club because they suddenly fell in love with us. They did it for their own self interest. Yet, how did we return the favor. By not giving them any nuclear plants to build (whatever the reason). By not giving them defence contracts so we could prove to ourselves that we are “independent” and not under the influence of the US. It’s building relationships that matters in foreign policy. India needs to woo the US. That’s the only way it can counter both Pakistan and China. But will we do that? The same BJP will say “we’ve sold our soul to the US”. Why talk only of the US? We have messed up our relationship with Italy and the EU now. Forget getting support from them if we ever get jammed.
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India’s foreign policy is not soft. It’s “soft power”….
And then we have the likes of Mamata Banerjee who also want to have a hand in foreign policy. Had she not torpedoed the Teesta water deal, we would have forged a stronger relationship with Bangladesh. But she had her parochial Bengal politics to think about. Today, as we talk of “exchanging enclaves” with Bangladesh, the BJP finds it unacceptable. You want to know why? Because India will be giving away a little more that it will be getting in return. Such small thinking is making Bangladesh move away from India. Their politicians are saying “It doesn’t help to be a friend with India”. One day, they will welcome China into their country. That day, the BJP (which will forever remain in opposition, if it continues like this) will lecture us about “India doesn’t have clout with Bangladesh”. But hello….how does India get clout over Bangladesh? By attacking it? Or by being like the “generous big brother”, and behaving like one?
It’s the same with Sri Lanka where Jayalalitha decided that she was the savior of all Tamilians, no matter what their nationality. And now that our relations with that country are messed up, why not blame that on the Congress too? Honestly, if the Congress should get tough, it should be with those inside India; not outside.
And is the BJP any different? Just look at the irony. The man who is responsible (directly or indirectly) for the “extra judicial” massacre of thousands in Gujarat makes a statement accusing Pakistan of having carried out extra-judicial killing! If this is not a case of the pot calling the kettle black, what is?
Let’s not beat around the bush. Foreign policy cannot be practiced as it is being right now. We cannot have state governments playing local politics one day, then blaming the Center when relations sour. We cannot have our media playing up jingoism, then demanding why India doesn’t have friends in the neighborhood. Foreign policy should be left to the experts, and kept completely out of the public domain. And most importantly, there is no place for extremism or false bravado in foreign policy. Understanding global relationships as they exist between nations is a complex task. Its not for us naïve locals to think about.
The real truth is that thanks to vicious internal politics, India’s long standing foreign policy is being questioned. A foreign policy built on “soft power” is being called “soft”. A demand for a more muscular policy is being made. At this rate, we may soon have a war on our hands. Maybe with China, who everyone dreads, including the US and Japan. But the BJP’s deep-seated inferiority complex may push India towards a war. But why should the party care? It is only interested in winning power in 2014. After that, it can go back to releasing terrorists and entertaining dictators all over again….
8 Myths About India's Growth
On closer inspection, the Indian miracle turns out to be pretty ordinary after all.
By Daniel Altman
ForeignPolicy.com
April 29, 2013
Is India different? Last month, India's finance minister confidently declared that nothing could stop his country from becoming the world's third-biggest economy. He may well be right, but size alone does not make India a special case. Its growth has been fast, but it is no trailblazer.
Here are eight popular myths about India's growth, all of which are easily debunked:
India has outperformed other emerging economies in the recent past. In the two decades from 1992 to 2012, average living standards in India did rise faster than those in most countries that started from a similar level. In fact, only nine other countries in the world saw living standards, measured by purchasing power, climb more quickly: Albania, Armenia, Bhutan, China, Equatorial Guinea, the Maldives, Mozambique, Sudan, and Vietnam. Faster growth was to be expected in countries that started out with lower living standards than India's, but several of these -- Albania, Armenia, Bhutan, China, and the Maldives -- actually started out with higher purchasing power. Relative to them, India underperformed.
India will grow faster than other emerging economies in the future. For the next five years, the International Monetary Fund projects that living standards in several countries will grow faster than India's. Among them, again, are countries with a higher starting position: Bhutan, China, the Republic of Congo, and Georgia. India will likely outperform many other economies that have similar living standards today, but it hasn't unlocked every secret of economic growth just yet.
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8 Myths About India's Growth
When India finally opens its markets to trade, exports will supercharge its growth. India is not the easiest place to be an exporter, but it's hardly the most difficult, either. In terms of both time and money needed to ship a container of goods, India ranks in the middle of the pack, according to the World Bank. If anything, exports could become more expensive for Indian companies if the United States and others forced India to drop some of its remaining export subsidies. In 2011, India's exports and imports represented 54 percent of GDP, about the same share as in China. It's unlikely that exports will change the growth story anytime soon.
The urbanization of India's huge rural population will lead to unprecedented increases in living standards. Urbanization has been a critical ingredient to economic growth for many countries. Simply putting labor next to capital by attracting people into cities tends to raise workers' productivity and, eventually, their incomes. More than two thirds of India's population still lives in rural areas, compared with less than half in China. But India is not under-urbanized compared to other poor countries; if you look at how living standards compare to urbanization among all the world's countries, India sits right on the best-fit line. There's no reason to believe that urbanization will help India's growth more than it has for any other country.
India's service industry will provide a huge boost to employment. India's legions of call-center staffers, software developers, and information-technology experts have led some analysts to proclaim a "service revolution" that will provide an alternative to manufacturing as a path to prosperity. Yet economists suggest that India's service sector has merely caught up to international norms, and there is no particular reason to believe that it will take over a much bigger share of the economy as the country grows. The literacy rate in China is much higher, and it's not clear that India even has more English speakers. Moreover, as wages rise in China, the opportunity for India to raise living standards through manufacturing -- not services -- will expand enormously.
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8 Myths About India's Growth
India has more mathematical, scientific, and engineering geniuses to drive its economic growth than other countries. In absolute terms, this may be true; after all, India has a population of more than 1.2 billion people. But a population this big will have more people at either end of the distribution of economic ability: more geniuses, and more people with serious challenges to their cognitive capacity. The question is whether the extra geniuses will have a positive effect that is disproportionate to India's population. If this were true more generally, populous countries like Germany and France would have higher living standards than smaller countries with similar advantages, like Switzerland and Denmark. Clearly, this is not the case.
As a democracy, India is more conducive to free-market capitalism. The links between democracy and economic growth have interested economists for decades, and the rise of state capitalism in non-democratic countries like China and Saudi Arabia has posed an ideological challenge. India is often touted as the world's biggest democracy; the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators rank it in the 59th percentile for "voice and accountability" of citizens and government, just shy of several members of the European Union. Still, India's markets are far from free. The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom calls India "mostly unfree" with a ranking of 119 out of 177 countries, as a result of heavy government involvement in the economy, from regulatory requirements to trade barriers. It's also one of the toughest places in the world to start a business.
The British legacy of a strong legal system gives India an edge. If it does, it's not a very big edge. Geographical factors like coastline, rainfall, and temperature can explain a big share of the differences in living standards between countries today. Controlling for these factors, former British colonies tend to do better than the average among all countries. But among the former colonies, India is one of the worst performers. Indeed, its living standards are worse than you might have expected given its geography. That may be because the vast majority of India's workers operate outside the strictures and protections of the legal system, in an environment more reminiscent of London's 19th century slums than Canary Wharf.
To sum up, there's little basis for any sort of mystique surrounding India's economic growth. On its current path, India shows no obvious signs of rewriting the textbooks; on the contrary, it has confirmed much of what economists already understood about urbanization, industrialization, trade, and institutions. Don't get me wrong -- India is undoubtedly a fascinating country for many other reasons. But to an economist, it's just another poor country that happens to be very, very big.
ARREST, PROSECUTE & IMPRISON these TRAITORS to the Nation.
The TNA shows its Tiger Spots with IMPUNITY.
Teach them the ERROR of their WAYS NOW .... before the FAILURE TO PUNISH encourages them into Full Fledged Terrorism AGAIN!
Have we NOT LEARNED these LESSONS from our RECENT PAST?
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Sri Lanka Tamils defy ban on rebel memorial
May 18, 2013
COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's main opposition Tamil party Saturday defied a military ban and staged a commemoration of their war dead as the government celebrated the fourth anniversary of defeating Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said it staged the remembrance in the northern town of Vavuniya for those who died in the final battle which also killed Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his entire top leadership.
"We had a meeting to commemorate all those who died in the conflict," TNA lawmaker Suresh Premachandran told AFP from Vavuniya, 260 kilometres (162 miles) north of Colombo.
The event came as Sri Lankan troops held a parades in the capital to mark the victory over Tamil Tiger rebels and an end to 37 years of ethnic bloodshed.
The state-run Daily News said the Vavuniya meeting was illegal and warned anyone commemorating the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would be jailed.
Witnesses said the TNA-led ceremony ended peacefully amid a heavy police presence in the area, a front-line town near the former war zone in the island's north.
In the capital Colombo, President Mahinda Rajapakse viewed the military parade showcasing heavy weapons used against the Tigers who were known for their ferocious suicide bomb attacks.
"We will not allow a single inch of the land that you won by the sacrifice of your life to be taken away," Rajapakse said. "There will be no room for separation."
A naval craft taking part in the celebrations capsized and a search was on for an officer who was reported missing after the accident, a military official said, adding that the other four crew members had been rescued.
The military offensive which crushed the Tigers had triggered allegations of war crimes with rights groups saying that up to 40,000 civilians perished in the last months of fighting alone.
Sri Lanka Police release Tamils arrested during commemoration of dead in the war
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 19, Mannar: Sri Lanka Police in Mannar have released the 15 people arrested on Saturday during a function held by the Tamils in Mannar to commemorate the Tamil people died in the war.
The police arrested 15 people including three members of Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) and a journalist on early Saturday while they were participating in the commemoration. Seven women were also among the arrested.
All 15 people were released on personal bail late Saturday after they were produced before the Judicial Medical Officer.
A senior police officer of the Mannar police said the 15 people were arrested for carrying the photo of the slain Tami Tiger terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Tamil National Alliance also defied the government's ban on commemorating the terrorists who died in the war and held a remembrance in Vavuniya for those who died in the final battle which also killed Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his entire top leadership.
"We had a meeting to commemorate all those who died in the conflict," TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has told AFP.
However, the TNA has held its function peacefully amid heavy presence of police.
Sri Lanka Invites its Accomplished Patriotic Sons and Daughters to Return and Rebuild their Motherland!!
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A comprehensive brain-gain initiative for Sri Lanka launched amidst wide public and private sector support
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 20, Colombo: WorkInSriLanka, a volunteer-led initiative to advocate Sri Lanka as an attractive destination for highly skilled individuals and high caliber businesses, was launched at a forum at the Taj Samudra, Colombo, on 14 of May 2013 with Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as the Chief Guest.
The forum comprised key public sector officials, industry leaders, heads of international non-government organizations, representatives of all major industries and relevant government institutions, and civil society experts.
In the initial phase, WorkInSriLanka has developed a web portal, www.workinsrilanka.lk that provides comprehensive information needed for relocation and links users with key industry bodies.
WorkInSriLanka is actively engaged in building partnerships with key industries in Sri Lanka, while concurrently building a worldwide network to create awareness of the site and its services amongst educated professionals, mainly Sri Lankans, abroad. Beyond the information portal, future plans include the following:
Become a channel for executive level job placement - provide networking and connectivity to high level positions which are often not openly advertised;
Showcase Sri Lanka as a preferred investment destination - optimizing the five hub strategy, especially the knowledge hub focusing on ITES industries; and
Become an advocacy organization - work with the government and others to further improve Sri Lanka's attractiveness as the preferred relocation destination for experienced professionals.
Governor Cabraal, making the keynote address at the launch highlighted the paradigm shift in the mind-set of Sri Lankans as more are considering work in Sri Lanka rather than work outside Sri Lanka. He added that many are convinced that Sri Lanka has immense opportunities for both Sri Lankans abroad as well as foreigners with a wide range of skills, especially to fill the growing demand for highly skilled labor driven by the national five-hub strategy for economic development.
Furthermore, the Governor pointed out that while people may have left Sri Lanka for different reasons, the country must now welcome them back and create new spaces for them in the growing economy as Sri Lanka already has many highly qualified professionals who have remained in the country through difficult times. He also stressed on the significance of returning Sri Lankans integrating themselves into Sri Lankan society and their local communities in order to make brain gain meaningful. Cabraal also encouraged Sri Lankans seeking international exposure and returning to Sri Lanka as it broadened their knowledge and understanding, resulting in increased productivity and competitiveness.
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A comprehensive brain-gain initiative for Sri Lanka launched amidst wide public and private sector support
A panel discussion on the topic of Sri Lanka's need and readiness for brain gain was also held with Dr. Ranee Jayamaha (Chairperson, HNB), Sujiva Dewaraja (Chairman, SLASSCOM), Prof. Ajith de Alwis (Science Lead, SLINTEC) and Prof. H.D Karunaratne (Dean, faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo), Dulith Herath (CEO, Kapruka.com), Shantha Kulasekara, (Head - Immigration / Border Management and Labor Migration, International Organization for Migration, Sri Lanka) and Ms. Kanchana Ambagahawita (Chairperson, WorkInSriLanka) as panellists.
The panel discussion was moderated by Mano Sekaram (CEO, 99X Technologies).The panel discussion which had very high participation from a cross section of the audience brought out several factors involving the attractiveness and ability to bring globally demanded skilled labor and Sri Lankan expatriates back to Sri Lanka. It was noted that as Sri Lanka is progressing into becoming a knowledge based economy there is a need for all sectors adapt to changing demands and provide technology based solutions and that there are many vacancies in such emerging areas that the industries are finding it difficult to fill with locally available skills at present.
Further, it was noted that there was greater potential in attracting expatriates back to Sri Lanka as they already have family ties and a sense of attachment to Sri Lanka. On the issue of whether encouraging highly skilled labor to return would undermine opportunities of Sri Lankans who are already in the country, it was noted by educationists who were present that
the Sri Lankan students', especially graduates and professionals, aptitude was very high and that exposure to new skills and competition will enhance the value of the local graduates. Further, it was also discussed that Sri Lanka has room to improve its social infrastructure, such as public transport, lifestyle activities and organizational culture in some instances to make Sri Lanka more welcoming to highly skilled professionals. Several panelists highlighted the need for a concerted effort between organizations, private sector, national level policy-makers and the government to solve the macro impediments that may act as barriers to entry and create a strong foundation to encourage brain gain in Sri Lanka that will help economic growth as well increase the value of Sri Lankan human capital.
Ms. Kanchana Ambagahawita, (Chairperson, WorkInSriLanka and Senior Economist, Central Bank of Sri Lanka) stressed that this volunteer initiative was to address a growing need for highly skilled professionals in fast growing industries and it is vital that WorkInSriLanka is a concerted effort of the entire country. She highlighted that it is a dynamic process and a learning experience and invited all stakeholders to contribute to the development of the initiative and make a constructive effort to operationalize these goals.
In addition to this, Imran Furkan (Executive Director, SLASSCOM and Team Member WorkInSriLanka) outlined the criteria for partnerships with WorkInSriLanka, where the initiative focused on values based on patriotism, value for human capital, an interest beyond financial assistance and a drive for mutually beneficial long term partnerships. WorkInSriLanka invites any industry or civil society body to partner with the initiative and work towards the common goal of improving Sri Lanka's human capital.
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A comprehensive brain-gain initiative for Sri Lanka launched amidst wide public and private sector support
WorkInSriLanka is a project by SL2College which is a non-profit volunteer based organization with a vast global outreach for building Sri Lanka's human capital by assisting students to find world-class universities and career opportunities free of charge. Mr. Nayana Samaranayake, (Founder & Director, SL2College and Senior Engineer, Google) stated that WorkInSriLanka was an initiative attracting world class professionals, especially Sri Lankans, to return and become a part of Sri Lanka's economic development.
Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, (Chairman, SL2College and CEO of WSO2) making the closing remarks at the event highlighted the unquestioned and unanimous interest and support the WorkInSriLanka initiative received from a vast cross section of industries, the public sector and civil society organizations.
The WorkInSriLanka initiative is a volunteer-based initiative that has been planned and implemented by a team of twelve volunteers with varied skills, knowledge and backgrounds.
The team comprises Ms. Kanchana Ambagahawita (Chairperson, WorkInSriLanka and Senior Economist, Central Bank of Sri Lanka), Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, (Chairman, SL2College and CEO of WSO2), Nayana Samaranayake, (Founder & Director, SL2College and Senior Engineer, Google), Chamil Hathurusinghe (Finance Manager, Ceylon Tea Services - Dilmah), Kirthevasan Kandasamy ( Undergraduate Student, University of Moratuwa), Ms. Nadeesha Nanayakkara ( Senior Engineer, Virtusa) Madhura Mendis (Software Engineer, WSO2), Praveena Sarathchandra (Software Engineer, WSO2), Pamod Sylvester (Software Engineer, WSO2), Harindu Alwis (Marketing Officer, WSO2), Ms. Gillian Dass, Senior Associate Product Manager, WSO2) and Imran Furkan (Executive Director, SLASSCOM ) and assisted by Ms. Marlene Machado.
The Dalai Lama is not a Good Political Ledar for the People of Tibet
“Sri Lankan Buddhists do not have a strong moral figure like the Dalai Lama who successfully maintained the Tibetan effort against China on the high moral road for many decades. ”
I DISAGREE TOTALLY with the premise that the Dalai Lama has “successfully maintained the Tibetan effort against China on the high moral road for many decades”.
While the Dalai Lama has been a “Good Leader” on a religious level, he has been an UNMITIGATED FAILURE as the titular Political Leader of his People.
His “Ahimsa” approach to regaining the Sovereignty of Tibet has been an absolute failure. Under his “Leadership” Tibet has been permanently lost to the Tibetans without offering substantial and effective resistance to the Occupation by China. All that he has done is to discourage and prevent patriotic Tibetans from organizing and fighting for their country, by sapping and undermining their motivation to fight for their country with useless and ineffective pious pontifications.
I am proud to be a Buddhist, but I do not believe in remaining SUPINELY PASSIVE when the very existence of my people is threatened. When confronted by unmitigated evil I know that “non-violence” simply will not work; it will only lead your people to an early extinction; to slaughter like sheep losing everything they love and treasure as a people.
Non-violent methods simply cannot cope with murderers like Hitler, Pol Pot, and Prabhakaran. For example, the non-violent methods of Mohandas K. Gandhi that succeeded against a weakened war-weary post-WWII Britian would not have worked against Hitler, either to save the 6 million Jews and 20% of Poles he slaughtered in extermination camps, or the vast majority of the peoples of Europe conquered by Nazi Germany. The enemy MUST HAVE A MODICUM OF DECENCY AND MORAL CONSCIENCE for Gandhi-style non-violence to work. In its absence, non-violence is simply a Prescription for Suicide.
It is in this context, that I had long advocated (over 20 years) a MILITARY SOLUTION to the Eelamist terror inflicted upon Sri Lanka by murderous racist Tamil terrorist group, aided and abetted by India and Tamil Nadu. No amount of APPEASEMENT, NEGOTIATIONS, or even ABJECT SURRENDER, would have saved the lives and livelihoods of the the vast majority of Sri Lanka’s people. All those years, spanning three decades, wallowing in Buddhist “non-violence”, failing to marshall the ENTIRE RESOURCES of the Nation to combat the terror quickly and effectively, only killed more people and left the law-abiding citizens of Sri Lanka totally defenceless. In failing to do so, successive Srri Lanka governments abdicated the principal duty of a government to protect its citizens.
While we celebrate the final emergence of a Patriotic Government of the UPFA willing to sacrifice itself, if necessary, to defend and protect the Nation and its People, we … as a people … should be TOTALLY ASHAMED at the DELAY of 30 long years while Sri Lanka burned to ashes.
We heeded the advice of our enemies, and Western pundits plying their own agendas, who exploited our “Buddhist beliefs” to sap our fighting spirit, to coax us into ultimately destructive unworkable solutions amounting to abject surrender; we heeded “solutions” that they themselves had rejected in their own historical struggles for national survival.
Let Buddhism reign in its proper sphere after the rule of law has been established by secular force applied rigorously and firmly where necessary. In the absence of PEACE, the ESSENTIAL PRE–REQUISITE for very survival of a people, religion only adds to the misery.
The Dalai Lama may be a VERY GOOD RELIGIOUS LEADER; but he is a VERY POOR POLITICAL LEADER of his people. He has ACCOMPLISHED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to regain his country for his people.
Finally, a CONCRETE MOVE to REPEAL the 13th Amendment.
Bravo!
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Sri Lanka Buddhist party reveals its constitutional amendment
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 22, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Sinhala Buddhist political party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Wednesday revealed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution proposed by them.
Legal adviser of JHU Udaya Gammanpila, Member of Western Provincial Council, briefed the content of the proposition today at a press conference held in Colombo.
JHU Gampaha district MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero said the party expects to bring in the proposal to the parliament as a private member's motion.
Full Text of the Amendment:
The proposition named as An Act to amend the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka aims primarily to repeal the 13th amendment to the constitution which paved way for the power devolving Provincial Council system in the island.
Full text of the draft constitutional amendment is as follows: Whereas the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was purportedly enacted, consequent to the Indo- Sri Lanka Accord being entered into between the President of Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister of India in 1987 under duress in defiance of the sovereignty of the people of Sri Lanka and,
Whereas the Supreme Court of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka did not approve the provisions of the 13th amendment Bill as being consistent with the Constitution in as much as only four judges of the Supreme Court out of nine held that the approval of the people at a referendum was not required to enact the 13th Amendment whilst five judges held that at least one or more of the provisions of the Bill was in violation of the Constitution and therefore required the approval of the people at a referendum and,
Whereas in terms of Article 80(2) of the Constitution "where the Supreme Court has determined that a Bill or any provision thereof requires the approval of the people at a referendum" such bill or such provision shall become law only upon the same being approved by the people at a referendum and the President certifies that the Bill or any Provision thereof has been so approved in the manner as set out in the said Article.
Whereas the majority of the Judges that constituted the bench of the Supreme Court had determined that the Bill or any one or more of the provisions thereof requires the approval of the people at a referendum, such Bill can become law only if complied with Article 80(2) upon being approved by the people at a referendum and therefore the purported certificate of the Speaker endorsed on the Bill purportedly under Articles 79 and 80(1) of the Constitution is invalid and unconstitutional and,
Whereas the Supreme Court has determined that any Bill or any Provision thereof requires the approval at a referendum the only cause of action available under the law is to comply with the process set out in Article 80(2) and the purported Amendment made to Clause 154G(2)(b) and 154G(3)(b) of the 13th Amendment Bill in Parliament without a further determination by the Supreme Court is unconstitutional and unlawful and,
Whereas the 13th Amendment in Article 154A(3) provides for the establishment of one administrative unit for two or more Provinces, to accommodate the unlawful undertaking given by the then President of Sri Lanka in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord to establish one administrative unit for the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka on the erroneous and false basis that the Northern and Eastern Provinces form part of the homeland of one single ethnic and /or linguistic community as claimed by the separatist forces and,
Sri Lanka Buddhist party reveals its constitutional amendment
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Whereas the 13th Amendment has sought to abdicate the legislative power vested in Parliament and the Executive power vested in the President by the division of governmental power and restricted the Parliament and the President respectively exercising the legislative and executive power of the people and thereby offended the unitary character of the State, Whereas the 13th Amendment has vested inter alia police powers (including powers in relation to maintenance of public order) in Provincial Councils which was hitherto exercise by the Government of Sri Lanka, which will be a serious threat to national security concerns of the Republic in as much as, ,
(a) the 13th Amendment provides for the Chief Minister of a Province to directly control the Head of the Provincial Police Force and thereby all Police Officers of the said Force and even national police units operating in any province. (vide Item 11 of the Appendix of List 1 of the 9th Schedule) thereby effectively taking away the powers of the Inspector General of Police and the Government of Sri Lanka exercising any authority over such police force, ,
(b) the 13th Amendment entrusts the responsibility of prevention, detection, investigation of all offences (except the offences specified in the Schedule therein) and institution of prosecutions (subject to the powers of the Attorney General) to Provincial Councils and to enact any law on any such matter and further empower any Provincial Council to prevent any Police Officers of another Province entering such Province (vide the limitations contained in sub paragraph (k) of the 2nd item of List II of the 9th Schedule) and thereby jeopardizing the management of law and order and the national security of the Republic.
(c) the 13th Amendment even restricts police officers of the national police force from being in uniform compelling them to be in plain clothes even when performing the limited responsibilities allowed within a province such as when engaging in prevention, detection and investigation of a scheduled offence (vide Item 10:1 read with 12:1 of the relevant Appendix of the 9th Schedule).
Whereas the 13th Amendment, though based on the Constitutional structure of India, denies the Government of Sri Lanka to intervene in the event of a Province acting against the interests of the Republic, although the Central government of India is empowered to intervene in similar situations. (Vide Article 256 and 257 of the Constitution of India).
Whereas the power of the Government of Sri Lanka to give directions with regard to the manner of exercising executive power by a Province is restricted to a situation where the maintenance of essential supplies and services is threatened or that the security of Sri Lanka is threatened by war or external aggression or armed rebellion (vide Article 154J and 154K) no such limitation is placed under the Constitution on the Government of India and,
Whereas the 13th Amendment seeks to weaken the Government of Sri Lanka whilst strengthening the Provincial Councils and thereby destroying the unitary character of the State, territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and the sovereignty of its people and,
Sri Lanka Buddhist party reveals its constitutional amendment
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Whereas Sri Lanka is a Free, sovereign, independent and unitary State and it is the duty of the State to safeguard the independence, sovereignty, unity and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and the provisions of the 13th Amendment are a threat to the independence, sovereignty, unity and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
BE it enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as follows:- 1. This Act may be cited as the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 2. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as the "Constitution") is hereby amended by the repeal of ; ,
(a) Chapter XVIIA
(b) Article 155(3A)
(c) Ninth Schedule
3. Article 170 of the Constitution is hereby amended by the substitution, in the definition of "written law" for the words "and includes statutes made by Provincial Councils, orders" of the words "and include orders".
4. In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.
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