by
Austin Fernando

On February 14, 2013 Ambassador Rao welcomed Congressman Ami Bera, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Mike Honda to the Indian Embassy for a reception-pic: U.S. Dept of State: South and Central Asia

Having read a post by HE Jaliya Wickramasuriya, our Ambassador in the USA, titled “A Role for Sri Lanka in US Pivot to Asia”, I thought it may be ideal to understand how others compete to be in the US pivot to Asia to do business. I mean “business” only in economic terms and exclude issues such as politics, rights, accountability etc; the presently more quoted US interests.

Concurrently, Minister Maithripala Sirisena stating that “the Sri Lankan government had implicit faith in the Indian central government and would continue to maintain close ties with them despite the current situation in Tamil Nadu” meant to me another aspect of relationship building with India.

Sri Lanka Embassy on Dec 14, 2012 dedicated its annual Christmas Day Celebration to a prayer service in honoring the memory of the victims of the tragic shooting incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut-pic: slembassyusa.org

Since USA and India are hand in glove on many fronts Minister Sirisena’s statement too should be considered as a means to engage India and the USA as a joint response for a common cause.
Continue reading ‘Nirupama Rao and Jaliya Wickramasuriya: Contrasting Approaches of Two South Asian Ambassadors in Washington’ »

Beirut) – United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities should not deport 19 Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka because they would be at serious risk of torture and persecution upon return. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has recognized all 19 as refugees, but the UAE authorities have told the group they must leave the country by April 11, 2013.

“For the UAE to return recognized Tamil refugees to a grave risk of torture in Sri Lanka would signal a total disregard for their well-being – and the most basic principle of international refugee and human rights law,” said Bill Frelick, refugee program director at Human Rights Watch. “Sri Lanka’s treatment of Tamils they deem politically suspect is dismal and under no circumstances should the UAE deport this group there.”

Continue reading ‘United Arab Emirates Must not Deport 19 Tamil Asylum Seekers back to Sri Lanka-Human Rights Watch’ »

By

A Special Correspondent

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan has urged the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Naina Lal Kidwai to cancel the proposed trip by a delegation of Parliamentarians to Sri Lanka, “in solidarity with the sufferings of innocent civilian Tamils in Sri Lanka and out of respect for the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu.”

[Organised under the auspices of the FICCI, the trip, by the delegation of six MPs, is to begin on Monday (April 8) and conclude on Friday].

Continue reading ‘Indian Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan Wants Indian MP’s Trip to Sri Lanka Cancelled “Out of Respect for Feelings of People of Tamil Nadu”’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

A delegation of six Indian parliamentarians will visit Sri Lanka between April 8 and April 12. They will also visit Colombo and Jaffna during the trip, which is being organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Continue reading ‘Six Indian MP’s Visit Sri Lanka From April 8th to 12th on Trip Organized byIndian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’ »

By

Janaka Perera

The 42nd anniversary of the April 1971 insurgency fell on Friday. This is an account of little-known facts of the attempt to free JVP Leader Rohana Wijeweera from the Jaffna Prison during the uprising.

In 1969-1970 the JVP – then popularly called the Che Guevarists – was supporting the Opposition United Front’s election campaign against the UNP Government. Simultaneously they were preparing for an armed insurrection if things did not turn out in their favor after the polls. Hence their covert operations continued even though the UF won the Parliamentary Election of May 27, 1970. Less than four months later on August 10 the JVP held its maiden pubic rally at Hyde Park, Colombo.

The following year on March 10 five JVP members were killed in an accidental explosion in Kegalle while manufacturing hand bombs. Three days later the police arrested Rohana Wijeweera and over 400 JVP members in the jungles of Ampara. On March 16, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike declared a country-wide State of Emergency. Following a high level security conference in Colombo a decision was taken to detain Wijeweera in Jaffna so that he would have no contact with his party members. Since there was no JVP activity in the North, the authorities considered Jaffna to be safe area to hold him in custody.

Continue reading ‘How 150 JVP Cadres Came by Train in April 1971 to Jaffna to Free Rohana Wijeweera Held in Jaffna Fort Prison’ »

by

Izeth Hussain

I read in a newspaper an account of a recent meeting on the Government’s foreign policy, in which several ex-Ambassadors and others had participated. The outcome was apparently unfavorable to the Government, since it was seen as making foreign policy mistakes which have placed Sri Lanka in a very disadvantageous position. In any case there seems to be a very widespread public perception that the Government has been seriously blundering in the sphere of foreign relations, as a result of which Sri Lanka is getting isolated and could even face punitive sanctions. I have already seen one article in which facts and figures are cited to show that sanctions won’t bite all that much. If sanctions become a realistic prospect, we can expect many more articles in which brilliant statistical casuistry will be expended to show that sanctions won’t matter at all, and may even be beneficial for the economy.

Continue reading ‘“I very Much Doubt That Our Govt Would Find in China or Any Other Country a Factor to Counter Balance India’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

True to Sri Lankan style, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint a ‘presidential commission’ to conduct an inquiry into the Matale mass grave.

The mandate of the proposed commission is to be finalized in two days, Presidential Spokesman Mohan Samaranayake, said, confiding to our correspondent that he too is awaiting further instruction with regard to the latest presidential decision. Indications are that the decision to appoint a commission was made in a hurry, in an apparent move to wade off an international scrutiny on the issue which could even risk an international tribunal on the matter, such as the one on the Rwandan Genocide or on the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Continue reading ‘Is Sri Lanka Capable of Conducting Independent Investigation Into Mass Graves Found in Matale Due to Gota Factor?’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

(A grieving mother of two teenage sons who were abducted by the Army in 1989, narrates how she was stopped and sent back when she went to meet then Military Coordinating Officer (MCO) for Matale,
Lt. Col. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa).

The two teenage sons of K.G. Kamalawathi were snatched by the soldiers who arrived at her residence during a notorious ‘military round up’ of local youth on 13 December 1989. The two teenagers, Susantha Janaka (18) and Rohana Nishantha (17), were GCE Advanced Level students at Science College and Vijaya Vidyalaya, Matale.

The two boys were having their lunch when the military unceremoniously entered their home at Warakanda Watta, Ukuwela, Matale, and took them to the Rest House Camp, near Vijaya Vidyalaya, which was located in the vicinity of the current mass grave at the backyard of the Matale Hospital, from where 154 skeleton remains dating back to 1986-89 as stated in the investigations, had been uncovered.

Continue reading ‘Mother of 2 Missing Sons in Matale and the Military Coordinating Officer Lt.Col Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’ »

by

Kamal Nissanka

The Liberal Party is concerned about the ongoing multifaceted campaigns by a few self-proclaimed organizations in Sri Lanka against religious minorities. A clear sinister campaign is also launched by these organizations to boycott commercial establishments run by Muslims. The Liberal Party understands that the demands by these extremist organizations cannot be practically followed by the general public owing to the unpredictable behaviour of the market forces.

Liberals feel that the ongoing hate campaign against Muslims is now directed at their culture including dress codes, eating habits and so forth. However, we feel that the prime cause of the recent resurgence of this majority extremism is business rivalry. Muslims who have benefited from the open economic policies since 1977, have a greater share in capital for development and investment opportunities in the post-conflict period with their inborn skill in trade. Others should not be jealous about this historical phenomenon.

Continue reading ‘Liberal Party is Concerned About On Going Campaign by a Few Self-Proclaimed Organizations Against Religious Minorities in Sri Lanka’ »

By

Umesh Moramudali

With racial discrimination on the rise, Minister of National Languages and Social Integration, Vasudeva Nanayakkara is due to submit a Cabinet paper, seeking approval to ban hate language, which is designed to incite communal disharmony. Ceylon Today interviewed asked him about the steps he intends taking to stem the increasing incidents of racial attacks against minority communities

Excerpts of the interview:

Continue reading ‘“I Dont Want to Ban Any Organization But I Want New Laws Banning Hate Language And Prevent Spread of Communal Hatred -Vasudeva Nanayakkara’ »

By

Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

MA Sumanthiran MP-pic: YoungAsiaTV

TNA parliamentarian, Attorney-at-Law M. A. Sumanthiran says the international community has realized that the request for time and space is not a genuine one but only for the government to implement its own agenda. He observed that if the government acts responsibly at least at this stage and engages constructively with the international community following the adoption of the 2013 resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the country could deal with all outstanding issues. “The people of this country will have to ask themselves the question as to why the very countries that banned the LTTE and helped the government win the war, are now applying pressure to settle the six-decade long ethnic issue by peaceful means,” Sumanthiran said.

Following is the interview:

Continue reading ‘National Action Plan Does Not Deal With Even Half of the Constructive Recommendations by the LLRC-MA Sumanthiran MP’ »

The famed Tamil Language scholar and Tamil Pandit Madulugiriye Wijerathne was honoured with the Buddha’s Light Award for the monumental contribution he has made for the propagation of Buddhism through the Tamil Language.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Scholar Madulugiriye Wijerathne Honoured with Award in Tamil Nadu for Propagation of Buddhism Through Tamil’ »

by

N. Sathiya Moorthy

Military Spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasooriya’s exposition that Sri Lanka will need foreign help to determine the number of deaths in ‘Eelam War IV’ stands to reason. He has said, and rightly so, that many have migrated through the years of ethnic conflict; some among the 300,000 freed from the LTTE’s clutches during the closing weeks of the war or hospitalised at the time had escaped to foreign countries. There is nothing new in the claim for it to be dubbed an imaginative, post-Geneva initiative.

Continue reading ‘War and violence have been excuses for many Tamils to present their ‘economic migration’ aspirations as ‘political asylum’,’ »

By

Krishan Francis

Sinhala Ravaya Meeting in Warakapola-Feb 2013-via~facebook.com/sinhalarawayapage

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A red-robbed Buddhist monk calmly picked up stones and hurled them at a security camera. Then, as police looked on, his followers smashed up a popular, Muslim-owned clothing store.

Last month’s attack on the Fashion Bug chain near Colombo, filmed by a local television station whose cameraman was attacked by the mob, was the most public outburst in a growing anti-Muslim campaign by Sri Lanka’s Buddhist nationalist groups.

The escalation in attacks and anti-Muslim rhetoric has caused fears of a new wave of ethnic violence in a country still recovering from a quarter-century civil war between the government, controlled by ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, and a mainly Hindu ethnic Tamil rebel group.

“They just finished hunting the Tamils, without solving any of the issues, and now they are starting on the Muslim hunt. Virtually all minority communities are being threatened,” said Muslim political leader Azad Salley.

Continue reading ‘Anti-Muslim Campaign led by Buddhist Monks is Fast Gaining Ground Among Youth’ »

Who is Dr.Indra Samarasekera?

Dr. Indira Samarasekera

She is the 12th president of the University of Alberta, one of Canada’s most respected research-intensive universities. Building strong international partnerships is a signature feature of her leadership. The International aspect involves German Research Centres, the Aga Khan University, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) apart from others.

Indira Samarasekera is probably the first Tamil to become the president of a major North American university. Samarasekera began her career at the University of British Columbia as a professor in the Department of Materials Engineering. Using her knowledge of heat transfer and stress analysis, she researched new processes of steel production involving a major emphasis on continuous casting and hot rolling. Samarasekera has also consulted for companies all around the world. Prior to her coming to the University of Alberta, Samarasekera, for five years, served as Vice-President Research at the University of British Columbia.

Continue reading ‘Indira Samarasekera: First Tamil Woman of Sri Lankan Origin to Become President of a Major North American University’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“The history or the future of Sri Lanka does not belong to any group”.
Ranasinghe Premadasa (Speech on 12.11.1990)

Character can be fate, for both individuals and collectives. The answer to where Sri Lanka is headed depends, at least in part, on what Sri Lanka is.

In 1956, the dominant Sinhala opinion deemed that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala country; after two decades of resistance, the dominant Tamil opinion abandoned the struggle for equality, accepted that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala country and demanded a separate Tamil state on that basis.

None clung to the myth of Sri Lanka not being a country for Tamils with greater assiduity than Vellupillai Pirapaharan.

In 1956, SWRD Bandaranaike used the Tamil-bogey to come to power. Today the Rajapaksas are using the Muslim-bogey to perpetuate their power. Just as their politico-ideological forefathers told the Tamils to get back to Tamilnadu/India, the Sinhala-Buddhist supremacists of today are acting as if every Lankan Muslim is a dual citizen of Saudi Arabia, by birth.

Continue reading ‘If Bodu Bala Sena is Allowed to Wreak Havoc a Muslim Counter-Extremism Deadlier than the LTTE May Emerge’ »

By

Kuldip Nayar

Kuldip Nayar is a syndicated columnist and a former member of India’s Rajya Sabha

Sri Lanka and India, although separated only by a channel, have never gotten along well. It is like the UK and France being at war with each other, centuries ago. Both Colombo and New Delhi are really distant neighbours. Their mistrust is so deep that one attributes all types of motives to the other. Yet, all their enmity is not over territory or policies but on the discriminatory treatment meted out to Tamils living in Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘Sinhalese Have no Option But to Satisfy Aspirations of The Tamils Sooner or Later’ »

By
Ven Maduluwewa Sobitha Thero

Ven Maduluwewa Sobitha Thero-pic: YoungAsiaTV

1. Abolition of Executive Presidency

The Executive Presidency (EP) shall be immediately and totally abolished with a return to a Parliamentary form of Government.

The best thing that can happen is for the present Government to agree to the abolition of the Executive Presidency and bring a constitutional amendment to that effect.

Continue reading ‘Suggestions for Immediate Constitutional Reform’ »

by

Manjula Dissanayake

pic: UKInSriLanka

Who are the “diaspora”? The International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) describes them as “a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry, but maintain active connections with it. A diaspora includes both emigrants and their descendants.” According to the World Bank, the official global diaspora remittances reached a record $500 billion in 2012. Sri Lanka, my home country, accounted for $5 billion of it sent by nearly 2 million Sri Lankans living abroad. For sending remittances equivalent to 8 percent of the country’s GDP, the Sri Lankan diaspora merit more than just a pat on the back. They deserve some serious attention from a wide spectrum of stakeholders, from the international community to local policy makers.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Diaspora from Sinhala,Tamil, Muslim Backgrounds Are Investing in Students Outside Their Own Ethnicity and Religion’ »

By

Dr.Ruvaiz Haniffa

SLMC Leader and Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem opens party office in Kandy-Feb 2013-pic: slmc.lk

The speech of Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thera at a public meeting in Kandy on March 17 shamed the nation and sent shudders over the spines of the island’s Muslim community.

Addressing the gathering Bodu Bala Sena Secretary Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thera asked the Sinhalese to rise against the island’s Muslims, whom he described in very derogatory terms not worthy of a monk, besides accusing Muslims of converting Buddhists into Islam and treating Sinhalese girls and boys in their establishments as slaves.

Inciting them he also asked all Sinhalese girls working for Muslim owned establishments to leave. However he had conveniently forgotten to ask Sinhalese working in the Gulf to return home!

Continue reading ‘Muslim Community in Sri Lanka Feels it is Abandoned by Their Govt and Betrayed by Their Own Politicians’ »

By

Dr. Devanesan Nesiah

The title of this article is a line from a beautifully haunting hymn written by Bishop Heber of Calcutta who, clearly, had an imperialistic mindset. He visited our island in 1825, and the hymn must have been written around that time. The next line reads, ‘The Heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone’.

Because of the racism implicit in it, this hymn is no longer sung in most churches. But in the light of the extended anti-Muslim hysteria sweeping the country, we may need to pose the question, ‘are we vile?’ Are Sri Lankans a nation? Are we one people? Are we a law abiding democracy? Are we a model of friendly co-existence?

Reverend Isaac Poobalan-pic: BBC

Till a few decades ago the answers would have been a resounding no to the first question and an emphatic yes to each of the others. But now there are some fanatical groups claiming be Buddhists who seem determined to reverse each of these answers. We do remain the Isle of Serendipity, but at the pace at which we are destroying our physical environment, even this claim may soon ring hollow.
Continue reading ‘Where every prospect pleases, man alone vile’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”
~Charles de Gaulle

In this fast changing world, most of those closet-gay guys and gals came out of their self-built closets and identified themselves as what they really are-either gay or not. The badge of sexual-preference was not one of disgrace anymore; on the contrary, it became a badge of honor, indeed. The changing world with its ever-increasing propensities for promiscuity began embracing various concepts of sexual preferences with no further inhibitions. The hang-ups that were hitherto embargoed by ‘conservative’ thinkers and pundits as ‘unnatural’ are being treated with ‘celebratory’ echoes. The long lines that were formed behind these once-closeted ‘complexes’ began to add more and more newcomers who earlier did not have either the courage of their sexual convictions or the knowledge based on science that would have shone more light on these behavioral concepts, an openness which would have made Oscar Wilde an instant celebrity instead of the castigated sub-human of yesteryear.

Continue reading ‘1983 Ethnic Violence Would Look Like a Walk in the Park Should a Muslim -Sinhala Riot Occur Now’ »

By

Christie F.J.Richards

Rod is R.D. Perera. We met in 1954 when he enrolled in the University Entrance class (HSC) at Jaffna College.

Before it became associated with the slogan of Eelam, Vaddukoddai’s sole claim to fame was that Jaffna College was located there. Apart from that Vaddukoddai was a cultural desert. There were no good restaurants, shops or other commercial establishments. There were a couple of thosai kadais and toddy spots under Palmyra trees for those who were inclined to patronize them (some senior students and staff members of Jaffna College included). The most exciting pastime of Jaffna College boarders was to steal the neighbours’ chickens for midnight feasts!

It was the practice those days for parents in the south and particularly Colombo to send their problematic sons to Jaffna schools. They figured that that a change of environment would help their sons to focus on studies without unnecessary distractions. The very problematic boys were sent to St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna famous for its stern discipline meted out by the Catholic priests, most of whom were Irish. The soft discipline cases were sent to the likes of Jaffna College and St. Johns College.

Continue reading ‘A Personal Story About a Sinhala Buddhist Student at Jaffna College Living With a Tamil Christian Family’ »

By Valli Sanmugalingam and Ali Beydoun

In Sept. 2007, Mahmoud Ahmedinaejad, president of the authoritarian and oppressive Iranian regime, gave a speech at Columbia University, claiming that “women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom” and denying that the Holocaust occurred.

The speech was met with uproar and protests from within Columbia University as well as from the media and general public, claiming that the University was providing a platform for Ahmedinaejad to promote his controversial ideas.

This Saturday, AU will be repeating history on our own Quad. The South Asian Arts Festival, sponsored by the School of International Service, will be presenting Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka Ambassador to US , as its keynote speaker.

Wickramasuriya is the official representative of another authoritarian and oppressive regime, and AU is disturbingly allowing him a platform to deny Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils on the island.
Continue reading ‘Opposition to Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya Delivering Keynote Speech at South Asian Arts festival’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“A state of permanent war….where violence pervades all spheres of life, where the rich flourish and the poor live in misery; a state that will be deserted by the best of its children?
Yuri Avnery (Countercurrents)

Last week, the Cimmerian darkness enveloping Sri Lanka was breached by a spark of resistance. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) decided to invite the lawful Chief Justice of the country, rather than the usurper, to grace its annual convocation.

In a country becoming habituated into fear and submission, the principled decision by the BASL – and its new president – was both rare and laudable. It demonstrated that courage is not dead in Sri Lanka. More pertinently it reminded the rest of society of the necessity – and the possibility – of resisting the Rajapaksa plague.

The Rajapaksas, shocked by this unexpected sign of independent life in the legal community, are resorting to their usual tactic of demonisation. A group of tamed SLFP lawyers accused the BASL and its new President of being LTTE proxies. Somehow the charge lacked vigour and credibility, probably because the Tiger has been dead, manifestly and uninterruptedly, for almost 4 years.

Therein stems the Siblings’ desperate need for a new enemy, an enemy terrifying enough to frighten the absolute majority of Sinhalese into mute compliance.

Continue reading ‘A Crime is a Crime to the Bodu Bala Sena only if Perpetrator is a Muslim/Tamil/Christian and Victim is Sinhala Buddhist’ »

The Most Revd Justin Welby was today enthroned as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in a service that celebrated the diversity of the Anglican Communion.

PIC: bbc.co.UK

As the Archbishop of Canterbury entered the cathedral, he was greeted by a fanfare and questioned by Evangeline Kanagasooriam, a young member of the congregation. He replied: “I am Justin, a servant of Jesus Christ.”

More than 2,000 people from around the world gathered in Canterbury Cathedral for a celebration marked by traditional elements of Anglican worship blended with contemporary music, vibrant Ghanaian dancing and African drums, a Punjabi hymn and a blessing spoken in French.
Continue reading ‘New Archbishop of Canterbury Most Revd Justin Welby Greeted at Investiture in Cathedral by 17 year old Evangeline Kanagasooriyam’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

“The attack on religious freedoms radicalises the polity and unleashes dangers that cannot be controlled even by those who foster them” Retired Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran at the BASL Convocation on 30 March

Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem meeting with Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bob J Carr and Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor, 2 April, 2013-pic via: twitter.com/bobjcarr

It played out like the perfect symphony in the end.

Crazed mobs attacked the Fashion Bug warehouse in Pepiliyana after night had fallen on Thursday, 28 March. They vandalized property and vehicles, destroyed merchandise and injured personnel, including the manager of the warehouse and a TV journalist. Seventeen suspects were arrested in an investigation overseen by Senior DIG Western Province Anura Senanayake. By Tuesday (2) morning, the suspects included three Buddhist monks who had surrendered to the police the previous day and were subsequently arrested. In a clear sign that the regime did not want to be associated with any attempted arrest of members of the Sangha, despite the ample video evidence of their role in the attack, the three offending priests surrendered a day before the matter was taken up and “settled” in court.

Continue reading ‘Each Time the Muslim Community Chooses the Path of Least Resistance the Attacks Against Them Seem to Intensify’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

More than three years after he made a bid for the presidency and 10 months after his release from prison, former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka yesterday inaugurated his political party under the symbol of the flaming torch, pledging to change Sri Lanka’s political culture and restore much-needed democracy.The Elections Commission formally registered the former General’s Democratic Party on Monday after a long-drawn registration battle.Fonseka hailed the birth of the Democratic Party as a defining moment in Sri Lanka’s democracy.

pic via: facebook.com/sarathfonseka ~ facebook.com/Democraticparty.lk

“This has been a difficult journey. We have endured a presidential election, parliamentary elections, a prison term, suppression and setbacks. We never gave up,” the former Army Chief told journalists and party supporters at the Solis Hotel in Kotte last afternoon.
Continue reading ‘Fearless Fonny in Fresh Fight for People’s Freedom Inaugurates his Democratic Party Under Flaming Torch Symbol’ »

by

National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka

(Text of Press Release Issued by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka)

The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) is deeply concerned regarding the
prevalence in Sri Lanka of an organized campaign of hatred against adherents of non‐majority
faiths.

In recent months Muslims and Christians alike have faced numerous attacks and violence against
their practice of worship. Additionally Muslim owned business establishments and Muslim women
in their religious attire have faced attack and assault.

Continue reading ‘We Call Upon Govt to Instruct Law -Enforcement Authorities to Stop Majoritarian Vigilantism Against Muslims and Christians-NCEASL’ »

(Text of a media release issued by the Tamil National Alliance)

The Tamil National Alliance expresses its grave concern over an attack today, 3rd March 2013, by armed assailants of the Kilinochchi distribution office of the Uthayan newspaper.

Two staff were hospitalized after sustaining injuries, and property – including vehicles – has been damaged. The attack took place when a vehicle carrying copies of the newspaper for distribution arrived at the Kilinochchi office. The incident is the latest in a series of brutal attacks on Uthayan staff in the last few months.
Continue reading ‘TNA Expresses Grave Concern Over Attack on “Uthayan”Newspaper Kilinochchi Office by Armed Assailants’ »

by

Karu Jayasuriya M.P.

(Text of Media Release by Hon. Karu Jayasuriya UNP Member of Parliament Gampaha District – 3rd April 2013)

Once again the right of the people in the North to hold dissenting opinion has been threatened. The latest example is the attack on the office of the Udayan newspaper by goons.

According to the government democratic rights have been established not only in the North but across the country. There cannot be room for any kind of harassment in the North. The attack on the Udayan office has taken place under this background.

Continue reading ‘“If There is Security in the North as Claimed by Govt who Attacked the “Udayan”Newspaper Office?’ »

By
Frances Harrison

Perhaps most shocking was that they came in military uniform to an arts festival. It could have been a bold move to include a session on war reporting in the latest literary event in the Sri Lankan capital – Colomboscope. Sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and organised by the British Council and Goethe Institute, the boundaries of freedom of expression should at least have been nudged forward a little.

Continue reading ‘“Colomboscope”Arts Festival Panel Discussion Turned Into Pro- Sri Lanka Govt Propaganda Stunt on War’ »

by

YUDHANJAYA WIJERATNE (ALCH3MIST)

Once, in Europe, there was a country that had just gotten through a war. It wasn’t the best place to be. It wasn’t the richest country in the world. Nevertheless, it was home to large numbers of people from a variety of races. People were, by and large, getting along and getting up on their feet again.

Then some madmen came along and changed all that.

They incited racism. They incited hate. They incited riots. And finally, when all the reins were in their hands, they incited a holocaust. Perfectly innocent people turned against neighbors they had lived with for decades.

This was wartime Germany, back in WWII. An estimated six million people of Jewish descent died in the holocaust that followed.

Let’s not pussyfoot around the issue. This WAS germany: and this, unless we act now, is also where Sri Lanka is heading. What was started by the religious extremist group “Bodu Bala Sena” is now spiralling into chaos.

Continue reading ‘Hamudhuruwane! Booruwane! STAND DOWN!’ »

They call upon Centre to impose economic sanctions on island nation

Actor Rajnikanth along with leading Tamil film actors during the day long fast in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, in Chennai on Tuesday. Photo: PTI

Endorsing the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution on Sri Lanka, the South Indian Artistes Association, the apex body of film actors in South India, on Tuesday called upon the Union government to impose economic sanctions on the island nation till the safety and rights of Tamils there was ensured.
Continue reading ‘Film actors fast for Sri Lankan cause’ »

By

Upul Joseph Fernando

When the resolution against Sri Lanka was being tabled in Geneva, it was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar, who appeared to be the busiest person, perhaps, even more so than our own Minister of External Affairs. She took special pains to instruct to the Pakistan High Commissioner in Geneva, Zamir Akram, to rope in the Muslim countries to defeat the resolution against Sri Lanka.

Akram had separate discussions with the countries of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation to convince them of the necessity to defeat the resolution. The decision by Kuwait, Mauritania, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to vote against the resolution was a sequel to these discussions.

Continue reading ‘Why are the Islamic Nations Ignoring the Present Plight of Muslims in Sri Lanka?’ »

By

Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne

Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne

Kandy people’s assembly met at the YMBA hall on 31 Sunday. This is the 3rd such assembly to meet, after Colombo and Kurunegala. All these were organised by the civil society organizations led by the Platform for Freedom. The Protest of the Opposition, the action alliance convened by the leader of the opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe, supported this social programme.

The main idea behind this project is to give an opportunity to all areas, for the militant and radical leaders to participate in discussions. It is expected that such discussions will lead to protest actions against the policies of the government. Kandy people’s assembly was chaired by lawyers Navaratne Bandara, Widyaratne and a social activist.

Continue reading ‘We Have to Fight Against Communal Attacks Directed At Muslims and Smaller Christian Groups’ »

By

P.Jayaram

Way back in 1994, four Colombo-based Indian journalists and the Sinhalese correspondent of an international news agency got a rare permission to visit Jaffna. Rare because, at that time, the northern peninsula was almost totally controlled by the Tamil Tigers, who had driven out the government forces in conventional battles. Journalists required permission from both sides to the island’s festering conflict — the government and the LTTE — as well as from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the only agency which had been allowed access to the region by the Tigers.

That was a time when the Tigers were reportedly all set to make a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) for their proposed Eelam state, but had baulked only for fear of India’s reaction. They were only too aware that without New Delhi’s nod, the international community would ignore their UDI. But the Tigers apparently believed it was only a matter of time. Therefore, prior to issuing permission for the visit the scribes were informed they had to carry their passports because “immigration clearance” to enter Eelam was mandatory.

Continue reading ‘One Balachandran and the many Nameless Child Soldiers of the LTTE who Perished in the Conflict’ »

By

Indika Sri Aravinda

Vasudeva Nanayakkara

Minister of National Language and Social Integration Vasudeva Nanayakara is to submit a Cabinet paper seeking a ban on extremist groups, including the Bodu Bala Sena, Ravana Balaya and Sinhala Ravaya.

The Minister told The Sunday Leader that the Cabinet paper is being drafted and will be submitted in two weeks time.

Continue reading ‘Vasudeva Nanayakkara to Submit Cabinet Paper Seeking Ban on Bodhu Bala Sena,Ravana Balaya and Sinhala Ravaya’ »

By

Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI, (AlertNet) – The Sri Lankan government must find and prosecute those responsible for the massacre of 17 aid workers during the country’s 25-year civil war, French charity Action Contre La Faim (ACF) has said.

The killing of the aid workers, who were shot at point-blank range outside their office in northeast Sri Lanka in 2006, was the worst attack on humanitarians since the 2003 bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad.

“It’s important that those responsible be held accountable. If we want real peace and reconciliation and justice in Sri Lanka, any investigations conducted must be transparent which they have not been so far,” Pauline Chetcuti, ACF’s Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor told AlertNet by phone from Paris.

Continue reading ‘Those Responsible for the “Mutur Massacre” of August 4th 2006 Must be Prosecuted says French Charity ACF’ »

by

Dasun Edirisinghe

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva yesterday called for legal action against those responsible for torturing and killing his party members between 1987 and 1990.

Addressing the meida in Colombo, he said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had campaigned against the killing of youth by the then UNP government’s death squads and later the People’s Alliance government in 1994 had worked tirelessly to punish those responsible for the Suriyakanda mass grave.

Silva said the UNP politicians in the area had a lot to answer for and current Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had been the army’s District Coordinator at that time.

Continue reading ‘Current Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was Army’s District Coordinator at That Time-JVP’ »

By

S.L.Gunasekara

What greater act of enmity and/or treachery can one country commit towards another other than by arming, equipping and training a gang of disgruntled citizens of that country to commit mass murders of residents of the latter country, regardless of their ages, genders, ethnicity and/or religious persuasions and to destroy the property of that country?

While doing so is sufficiently vile and despicable, how much worse would it be when that country engages in such conduct while having the gumption to falsely proclaim its undying love and affection for, and its centuries old ties of alleged close `friendship’ with that country?

The time is now opportune for Sri Lanka to examine the conduct of India when both our country and our people are being specifically targeted and attacked by and at the behest of the twin clowns of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha for the only reason that both of them hope, by doing so they could inveigle the gullible voters of Tamil Nadu to vote for them.

Continue reading ‘Time for Sri Lanka to Examine the Conduct of India When Both Our Country and People are Being Specifically Targeted and Attacked’ »

By

Chrishanthi Christopher

The Hambantota Port, named after President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is proving to be a disaster. The Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port (MMRP), opened two years ago with the aim of increasing the number of cargo ships berthing at the Port, and rejuvenating bunkering, which at this point in time has proved to be a failure.

The Port, originally designed as a service and industrial harbour, and built by obtaining a massive loan, at an exorbitant rate of interest from China remains deserted as vessels fail to call at the Port, as envisaged.

Continue reading ‘Hambantota Harbour Named After President Rajapaksa Languishes Without Sufficient Ships Calling’ »

by

Karu Jayasuriya M.P.

(Brief Notes of the Media Conference held by Hon. Karu Jayasuriya MP UNP for Gampaha District, on 2nd April 2013)

pic via: facebook.com/KaruJayasuriya

• This press conference is being held today at a time when all spheres in the country are in disarray.

• When we look at some incidents, we get the feeling that whether we are living in a country in which the law of the jungle prevails.

• Incidents of this nature could happen in a tribal society, not in a country with a long history of democracy.

• The incident which took place at Pepiliyana brought disrepute to the country. This had wide publicity internationally. This is a huge black mark for the country, similar to what happened in the previous occasions, this incident too took place when the police officers were standing close by.

Continue reading ‘Country Cannot March Forward by Demeaning the Judiciary and Crowning the Law of the Jungle’ »

By

Praveen Swami

I’d travelled up the elevators in the Akashdeep Building up to the eleventh floor, as high as they would go. Less than two dozen steps now separated me from the Asian Regional Institute of the Juche Idea, the largest Indian outpost of “supreme commander Kim Jong-Il and his impregnable country”. Kim’s trusted spokesman, Vishwanath, hadn’t taken my calls, returned my mail, or sent me flowers. “To study Juche idea,” the website had promised, “it costs nothing, but pays in plenty”. There was nothing up the stairs, though, bar bird-poo and pigeons.

Heartbreak, not for the first time, had followed seduction (Kim Jong-Il, mind, ended up dead, having first starved millions of his people. So perhaps I got off easy).

Later, I received a mail from Vishwanath, declining to meet. “I wish you had visited the Democratic People’s Republic Korea and seen with your own eyes, what this country [is] today”. “Seeing is believing,” he concluded.

Seeing is indeed believing.

Continue reading ‘Political ‘Fan Bhakti’ is killing Indian democracy’ »

By

Charitha Ratwatte

Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor recently commented that “Africa must shake off its romantic view of China and accept Beijing as a competitor as much as a partner capable of the same exploitative practices as the old European colonial powers.”

Governor Lamido Sanusi reflects the growing number of senior African bureaucrats who fear that Africa’s emerging industries are being drowned in a sea of cheap industrial products from China. He further said: “Africa is opening itself up to a new form of imperialism, China takes from us primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism.”

Continue reading ‘China’s Dragon, Africa’s Lion, India’s Tiger and Their Effect on Sri Lanka’s Asiatic Lion’ »

By

An Anonymous Writer

When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers, so goes an old Kenyan proverb. In the maelstrom of political hysteria unleashed by Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi ostensibly in aid of Sri Lankan Tamils, democracy, truth and solidarity have been the biggest casualties. Over the past few months, Tamil Nadu has witnessed attacks on Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and Christian pilgrims, and the government sanctioned blockade of Sri Lankan schoolchildren and sportspersons.

The latest salvo from Chennai regarding Sri Lanka is the Tamil Nadu assembly resolution calling upon India to press for a United Nations Security Council mandated referendum amongst Tamils living in Sri Lanka as well as Tamils of Sri Lankan origin in other countries on the question of carving out an independent Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. This is in addition to demands to declare Sri Lanka a ‘hostile state’, impose some form of sanctions etc.

Continue reading ‘Of Imagined Solidarities and Real Fears – The Politics of the Sri Lankan Tamil Cause in Tamil Nadu: A critical view’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

Lanka is faced with its Srebrenica moment. The Judicial Medical Officer’s report on the mass grave at the Matale Hospital premises, and another specialist report by Prof. Raj Somadeva, the Professor of Forensic Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya, have established that (a) the mass grave dates back to the government’s counter-insurgency campaign against the Southern insurgency in 1989-90 and (b) that the victims had been subjected to extensive torture, before they were killed and buried. That is while the survivors say that the Army in 1989, operated a torture chamber in a school, Vijaya Vidyalaya, located near the site of the mass grave.

Continue reading ‘Will President Rajapaksa Order Probe Into Matale Mass Graves With Brother Gotabhaya Being Commanding Officer There in 1989 -90?’ »

By

Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Veteran film actor Ravindra Randeniya refers to him as the ‘master of movie set-making’, an apt title for Errol Kelly, Sri Lanka’s quintessential art director and production designer, who, despite his international repute and an incomparable contribution to the world of cinema, remains the epitome of humility.

For Errol Kelly, it had been one wonderful cinematic journey, a path strewn with difficulties but successes only a few could achieve in actual life. “I was lured by this art at the tender age of 17 years,” says Kelly with a smile.

Continue reading ‘Errol Kelly:Master Movieset Maker who Created India,Pakistan and Bangladesh in Colombo for”Midnight’s Children”’ »

By

C. V.Wigneswaran

(Text of address delivered by former Supreme Court Judge C.V.Wigneswaran at 39th annual convocation of Bar Association of Sri Lanka on March 30th 2013 )

Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshwaraha Guru Saakshaat Para Brahma Tasmai Shree Gurave Namaha

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the event – Mar 30, 2013

Your Ladyship Dr.Mrs.Shirani Bandaranaike, President of the Bar Association Mr.Upul Jayasuriya, Former Attorney General Mr.Sunil de Silva, my dear Brothers and Sisters!

It was not very long ago that I had the good fortune to address the Original Judiciary at their Annual Judicial Officers’ Conference. I mentioned then that it took eight long years since my retirement for them to remember me. It was indeed a pleasant surprise when your President- elect just a few days ago, last Wednesday, called on me to invite me to address you. Despite the short notice it showed that the Legal Profession still appreciates though rather belatedly the values and principles for which some of us stood for at great inconvenience, when in recent times such values are getting watered down or eroded around us.

Continue reading ‘Could it be said that Parliament is a Kangaroo Court Arrogating Judicial Powers to Itself?’ »

By

Upul Jayasuriya

(Text of Inaugural Address by Upul Jayasuriya PC the New President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka at the Navaranghagala on March 30th 2013)

Ven. Maha sangha, Your Lordships Judges of the Supreme Court Hon. Attorney General, Your Lordship President of the Court of Appeal and other judges of the Court of Appeal, other judges Your Excellencies of foreign Missions, Distinguished guests Ladies & Gentlement,

I would like on this important occasion to thank all of you for the overwhelming support I received at the last election of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. In the annals of the records of our association, the pattern of voting for the last election of office bearers reflects a rare trend. A clear unanimity amongst lawyers was reflected in the voting. While I take pride in receiving your trust and confidence, I am not so conceited to think that it was merely because of my popularity that this pattern of voting has emerged in our association!

Continue reading ‘The Bar Association Shall March With The Avowed Objective Of Protecting The Integrity Of The Bench And The Bar.’ »

By

Izeth Hussain

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, the term “racism” has come into vogue. I myself have been using it for years, in preference to the term “ethnic” in connection with our famous ethnic problem. But otherwise it has been normally used in Sri Lanka only to allege “Tamil racism”, the assumption behind which is that the Sinhalese of course have never been racist towards the Tamils, or towards anyone else for that matter. But now, in connection with the anti-Muslim hate campaign and the halal problem, – which involve Buddhist monks and a political party that is part of the Government – many including no less than the President have used the term “racism”. There is therefore recognition among the Sinhalese power elite that there could be racists within their own ranks. I see this as a step or even a great leap forward, the beginnings of a possible sea-change, holding out promise for the future.

Continue reading ‘Genocidal Drive is the Underlying Reality Behind Racist Anti-Muslim Campaign’ »

By

N. Sathiya Moorthy

Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has reiterated the government’s post-war apprehension that the mood of the international community, particularly the sentiments in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu, could ‘discourage those pushing for devolution of power under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.’ Much as Colombo would have to share a lot of blame in this regard, after a point unbridled anti-Sri Lanka diatribe, including personal attacks on its leadership, could make the armed forces’ high concentration in the North a precondition for a political solution – which the local population and the international community despise.

It does not end there. The ‘Diaspora diplomats’ of the ‘LTTE cause’ have now targeted the US, the hand that they said was going to feed the Tamils in Sri Lanka. To them, the 2013 US resolution at the UNHRC had been ‘diluted.’ Yet, they declare from available platforms across the world that it has still taken them closer to their goal of a ‘separate State.’ They can now be expected to tell their people back home that the international community has cheated them, just as India and Norway had done, and they alone could fight for the cause dear to them, and for which they had suffered every loss known to mankind for long.

Continue reading ‘TNA the “Credible Voice”of the Tamil Community in the Island has Abdicated its Right and Responsibility to the “Diaspora Diplomats”’ »

By

S.Sivathasan

“Youth is the embodiment of revolt and revolt is the very quintessence of youth.” Nehru

What is seen in Tamil Nadu now are the words of Nehru in full flush. The students and the youth have given expression to their depth of feeling in ample measure. An emotional upsurge sparked by the continuing tragedy of Tamils in Sri Lanka has rolled over to spurning the traditional political leadership in Tamil Nadu. Herein lies the significance of the struggle which defines an altogether new political direction in the state. The change in its incipient stage as of now portends great challenges to Delhi. More importantly it has strong implications on Sri Lanka and the future of the Tamils.

Continue reading ‘Emotional Upsurge in Tamil Nadu Over Continuing Tragedy of Tamils in Sri Lanka has Strong Implications for Future of Tamils’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

Cricket, the celebrated game of gentlemen is turning out to be a totally farcical spectacle manipulated and maneuvered by power-brokers and unscrupulous traders of corruption and bribery. The days of glory and glamour seem to have passed; though some spectacular display on the field appears to be continuing both with the willow and the leather by some extraordinary talent and skills of Kumar Sangakkara, T M Dilshan and Rangana Herat and the like though their brilliance is being eclipsed by a sinister game of planning and plotting that is taking place behind the dark curtains of the Cricket Administration Bodies and the Ministry of Sports.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Cricketers are not Representing Govt but are Representatives of Our Country,Our Values and Our Heritage’ »

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“The elephant is crashing about in the room, trampling people to death, and politely ignoring it is no longer an option”.
AC Grayling (To Set Prometheus Free)

With the mob-attack on a Muslim-owned shop, Sri Lanka took a giant leap towards a new conflagration.

The attack on the Pepiliyana outlet of the ‘Fashion Bug’ happened less than a month after Gotabhaya Rajapaksa publicly associated himself with the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and less than a fortnight after the outfits’ Rabble-Rouser-in-Chief, Rev. Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thero, launched an uncouth diatribe against the Muslim owners of the ‘Fashion Bug’, accusing them of conspiring to turn pure Sinhala-Buddhist maidens into harem-inmates

According to media reports, the mob-attack happened consequent to a rumour of a 15 year old Sinhala-Buddhist employee of Fashion Bug being raped, within the premises, by a Muslim fellow-employee. The connection between this wholly apocryphal rumour and Ven. Gnanasara Thero’s Kandy-diatribe against ‘Fashion Bug’ is obvious. Like the Nazis and the White Racists, the BBS is using the image of the ‘Lascivious and Predatory Muslim’ threatening Sinhala-Buddhist womanhood, and by extension Mother Lanka, in order to weld ordinary, law-abiding Sinhala-Buddhist men into a baying mob. Muslim-owned establishments are being depicted as dens of sexual iniquity; implicit and explicit images/charges of a sexual nature are being used to titillate and incite Sinhala-Buddhist men, and to provide the resultant mob with a cast-iron and time-honoured justification for hating – and attacking – any Muslim.

Continue reading ‘Bodu Bala Sena is Politically and Morally Responsible for the Outrage Against”Fashion Bug” at Pepiliyana’ »

By

Thayalan Bartlett

“On a quiet day in August of 1977, the night mail train from Bandarawela was making its way to Colombo. On the winding journey to the capital the train routinely stopped at Nawalapitya at around 1.00am to take in passengers. Breaking the still of the night were blood-curdling shouts from people embarking the train looking for Tamils. This was followed by screams from hundreds of people who were being pulled out on to the platform and beaten mercilessly. The train left the platform leaving behind some fathers and husbands whilst their families were released after being beaten and robbed. It was heartrending as children were torn from their fathers and some were moaning perhaps for the last time. The screams continued and they began to grow, mile after mile and station after station throughout the night as a bloodied train made its way to Colombo. My sister was 14 and I was 12yrs old and we were on that train. We understood nothing but numbing fear because we were Tamils. We survived the attack unscathed only because we had Sinhalese friends who enveloped us with their care and protection but above all prayer which saw the attackers mostly miss our carriage when they passed by. There were times when they boarded our carriage and flashed their torches right in our faces asking “themela the?” (are you a Tamil? ) Miraculously their lights blinded them from us being identified as Tamils.

Two months after this experience we saw ourselves seeking refuge in Jaffna. Leaving my school S’ Thomas’ College and being torn from dear friends who were mostly Sinhalese added to my trauma. I could never understand this move until my father explained it many years later. Unknown to me and my sister we had carried the screams from the platforms of Nawalapitya to our home in Bambalapitya, waking up in the night screaming for help. As a father he could take no more and Jaffna became a justified move.What was planted in Nawalapitya was fear and we spent the next few years in Jaffna, in an environment where we sadly saw that the resentment towards the Singhalese was the ‘right thing’ which eventually brought forth a fruit of false ideology. An ideology that eventually caused a war. A war that would last 30 years. A war that we now realise was useless for the Tamils as much as it was for the Sinhalese and the country as a whole. ”

My blog is primarily for trends related to marketing and advertising and you may wonder why I am posting an article that contravenes that theme. It doesn’t. In fact it complements it. Our primary role as brand advocates is to engage with consumers by understanding their social, cultural and behavioural transformations. Transformation is a natural phenomenon that occurs through time, influencing social and cultural trends and shaping the way consumers respond to brands. However, when one forces time to bring about drastic changes upon society like it is happening in Sri Lanka today, the results could be unnatural and the effects seriously conflict with the aspirations of making Sri Lanka a land of enterprise. The tilling of the ground to seed the nation with yet another tree to bear yet another fruit of false ideology is gradually underway. The time for harvest will be soon and the consequences severe if it goes unchecked. The only difference this time is that the terrain the tree grows in will not be in the North. With the country at heart, I share this space hoping it would enlighten people to ensure that in post war Sri Lanka no opportunity should be lost to hatred for one another.

Continue reading ‘The Majority of Sinhalese are not Representative of the Extremism They are Identified With’ »

by

Capt.Elmo Jayawardena

(Long War, Cold Peace by Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka -Vijitha Yapa Publishers- A review by Capt Elmo Jayawardena )

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has not stopped at merely hitting the nail on the head; he’s gone a lot deeper. The man has taken a Black and Decker and drilled the skull of the reader and carefully pushed in 498 pages of faction and action (shameful and laudable) that relate to our “Long War” of almost three decades.

It is a timely publication too. The International Tambourine Men gathered in Geneva flaunting their lily white innocence in attempts to barbecue us. At least, we the ordinary habitants of this land should know how the cookie crumbled while we suffered the consequences of divisibility for thirty grisly years. Of course the ‘mea culpa’ rests with none other than the leadership. They festered the wound of ethnic divide and titillated political maggots that nearly annihilated us as a nation. We need to know some truths that have been gagged and swept under the carpets by both sides, ably assisted by the good Samaritans who sat on the third seat preaching negotiated peace. ‘Long War, Cold Peace’ is the answer. Dr. Dayan is punching hard, in a ring where he knows the rules, and he is not holding anything back. There is a good possibility that the book may take him to the mouth of a long menacing serpent in the political game of ‘Snakes and Ladders.” But then, with his historically valuable contribution in ‘Long War, Cold Peace’, he will walk tall among people who really matter.

Continue reading ‘“Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka,I Salute You for a Book of Excellence”’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

At a ‘Think Tank’ session held in the South a couple of weeks ago, an American representative in attendance in the audience made a very relevant point. Drawing an example from his own country’s 2004 Presidential Elections, he stated that a party that is running on a totally negative platform would always lose, unless that negative slant is overshadowed by a strikingly bright positive campaign.

It’s true that John Kerry in 2004 ran one of the most lackluster campaigns in the recent history of American Presidential Elections. However, when Carl Rove and his Republican PR gang swift-boated the Democratic candidate unmercifully and painted a picture of a ‘traitor’, Kerry could not recover.

Ultimately the negative campaign that the Republicans ran against Kerry proved too lethal and decisive. Coupled with that brutal negativity, the ‘Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove’ axis turned the 9/11 disaster into a positive pitch for the incumbent, President George W Bush. The result was a comfortable victory for Bush and his Republicans.

Continue reading ‘UNP Under Its Current Leadership is a Party with a Colorful Past, a Colorless Present and a Bleak Future…’ »

By

Jaliya Wickramasuriya

As economic and political power shifts east, western nations are responding by reinforcing trade and security alliances across Asia. With the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, a new military base in Australia, and deepening alliances across the region, the U.S. has recommitted to the Asia Pacific. As President Obama’s foreign policy pivots to Asia and the vision of “America’s Pacific Century” unfolds, U.S. strategic relations with Sri Lanka must also be examined.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka is Well-Positioned to Become a Stronger Geopolitical and Strategic Ally of the US in the Days to Come’ »

By

Austin Fernando

Robert O. Blake has once said, “International mechanisms can become appropriate in cases where states are either unable or unwilling to meet their obligations.” After Geneva March 2013, US officials have reiterated this in stricter terms.

TNA MP Suresh Premachandran has said the final Geneva Resolution will not relieve the affected Tamils and reminded the UNHRC wish (2012) to implement the LLRC recommendations, which allegedly has been defaulted. TNA Leader R Sampanthan has said that if Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) complied by implementing the LLRC recommendations, a second resolution could have been avoided.

However, Japan’s Yasushi Akashi has made a favourable statement for Sri Lanka, quoting his visits to North Sri Lanka and how “the whole country coped with the challenges”

In Geneva Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe described positive developments. Later, Minister Wimal Weerawansa exhorted that Sri Lanka is unshaken by Geneva resolutions, while Minister DEW Gunasekara feared worse befalling by government defaulting.

Is this confusion due to different viewer notions?

Continue reading ‘Responding to Geneva by Exemplary Restitution’ »

By
Human Rights Watch

(New York, March 28, 2013) – The Sri Lankan government should act on the call by a government deputy minister to investigate war crimes by examining his own role in serious abuses, Human Rights Watch said today.

In early March 2013, Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as Col. Karuna, called for war crimes investigations into the Tamil National Alliance, an opposition coalition of ethnic Tamil political parties, presumably because some members had links to the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Karuna was effectively the second-in-command of the LTTE and the head of its Eastern Province forces until he broke away from the group’s leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, in March 2004.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Govt Must Probe War Crimes of the LTTE Starting with Investigation of Its Own Deputy Minister Better Known as “Col”Karuna-Human Rights Watch’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants…”
Camus (Resistance, Rebellion and Death)

The Rajapaksas are imposing the superstructure of a prosperous, developed nation on the base of an underdeveloped, cash-strapped economy.

The Rajapaksas are antagonising every single ethnic and religious minority in Sri Lanka, simultaneously.

The Rajapaksas are loosing friends and isolating the country internationally.

Any one of these strategic mistakes would suffice to undermine Lankan stability and security. The harm the confluence of all three can do to Sri Lanka and all her people would be unfathomably immense and unimaginable various.

Previous governments were not immune to these mistakes, but none committed all three, all at once. Their simultaneous occurrence is a function of familial rule, of the measures implemented by the Siblings to promote dynastic needs and satiate megalomaniac desires.

The Rajapaksas are parasitic rulers; they can grow and thrive only by sucking the nation dry, of its resources, potential and friends.

Continue reading ‘Rajapaksas are Parasitic Rulers Sucking the Nation Dry of Resources,Potential and Friends’ »

(Text of Interview given by Robert O. Blake, Jr. Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs to the BBC Sinhala Service)

BBC: First of all, this is the second resolution, and having agreed the international community that Sri Lanka has so far failed to implement their pledges, their obligations. What would the U.S. do if they do not implement, if they do not abide by this resolution?

Assistant Secretary Blake: I don’t want to speculate about future actions, but I think the resolution underlines the importance of Sri Lanka now taking meaningful action on reconciliation and accountability in order to move forward to achieve peace and prosperity on the island.

BBC: Do you believe that Sri Lankan government will abide by this resolution?

Assistant Secretary Blake: Well, again, I can’t speak for the Sri Lankan government but I think it’s very important now that again, forward progress be made on important issues like holding elections for the Northern Provincial Council that have been promised for September of this year. I think it’s important that they move forward on the dialogue with the Tamil National Alliance to achieve an agreement on devolution. And I think it’s important to address a lot of the serious human rights concerns that many people on the island have identified.

Continue reading ‘The United States and International Community are Trying to Re-Unite not Divide Sri Lanka- Robert Blake Tells BBC Sinhala Service’ »

By

G. Parthasarathy

With a population of barely 20 million, people in Sri Lanka have, in recent years, shed earlier prejudices and fears about India. Roughly one-third of its Tamil population of 3 million are descendants of Indian workers.

Facing discrimination in the years following independence, Tamils who have inhabited the island’s north-east for centuries, resorted to an armed struggle, in which India rather unwisely associated with armed Tamil groups in the 1980s. Nevertheless, the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Accord provided substantive autonomy to the Tamil-dominated north.

This Agreement’s provisions were enacted as the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution. India, thus, has a historical role and responsibility in facilitating the devolution of powers to the Tamil-majority northern province.

Continue reading ‘New Delhi is Unable to Explain to the People of Tamil Nadu as to Why Reason Must Prevail Over Emotion in Conduct of Foreign Policy’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

A swashbuckling opening for the country’s second airport ahead of a vote on a US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka could not quite take away the sting of defeat at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Days later, warning bells sounded in Washington DC about an impending international war crimes probe if Sri Lanka fails to mount a credible investigation into alleged atrocities. The ruling administration in Colombo is choosing to focus instead on keeping the memory of war and bloodshed paramount in the people’s minds

On 2 June 1987, the LTTE slaughtered 33 Buddhist monks and four civilians in cold blood in a remote jungle village in the Ampara District. Thirty of the monks were novice priests, being escorted by bus on pilgrimage by their mentor, Ven. Hegoda Sri Indrasara Thera. After ambushing the bus the Tiger cadres went on the rampage, attacking the monks and four civilians travelling alongside with swords and bullets. The Tigers had hoped the attack on the Sangha would incense the Sinhalese community, whose Buddhist sensibilities would be deeply wounded by the atrocities against the theros, inciting them to reactionary violence against the Tamil population. It never materialised. But the Aranthalawa Massacre stands out in Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict as one of its most brutal and unforgiving moments.

Twenty-six years later, a Buddhist Cultural Centre has been constructed at the site of the gruesome murders. It will be named in honour of the teacher monk, Indrasara Thero. But the commemoration does not end there. The site also features a ‘monument’ to the massacre, a gruesome sculpture recreated inside an old CTB bus that inartistically portrays the slain and bleeding monks.

Continue reading ‘Several Key Member States Will Send Low-Level Representation if Commonwealth Summit Takes Place in Sri Lanka’ »

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Interviewed by Dianne Silva

(Academic and former Diplomat Dayan Jayatilleka spoke to the Daily Mirror on the consequences of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution against Sri Lanka, the importance of holding the Northern Provincial Council elections in a free and fair manner and Sri Lanka’s lack of foreign policy architecture).

Consequences of the UNHRC resolution

Continue reading ‘By Hosting the Commonwealth Summit Sri Lanka Has Set Itself Up As a Target For a Massive International Campaign-Dayan Jayatilleka’ »

By

Latheef Farook

The speech of Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thera at a public meeting in Kandy on March 17 shamed the nation and sent shudders over the spines of the island’s Muslim community.

Addressing the gathering Bodu Bala Sena Secretary Ven. Galagodatte Gnanasara Thera asked the Sinhalese to rise against the island’s Muslims, whom he described in very derogatory terms not worthy of a monk, besides accusing Muslims of converting Buddhists into Islam and treating Sinhalese girls and boys in their establishments as slaves.

Inciting them he also asked all Sinhalese girls working for Muslim owned establishments to leave. However he had conveniently forgotten to ask Sinhalese working in the Gulf to return home!
Continue reading ‘Jathika Hela Urumaya,Bodu Bala Sena,Sinhala Ravaya Combine Incites Sinhalese Against Muslims Without Realizing Dangers Involved’ »

By

B.Kolappan

From a bitter critic of the LTTE to a champion of the ‘Tamil Eelam’ cause, the political evolution of the AIADMK headed by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has always been a roller-coaster ride.

Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Transforms From Opponent of the Tamil Tigers Into a Champion of Tamil Eelam’ »

by

Vishakha Wijenayake

The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has highlighted in their website the fact the latest census reports have indicated a reduction of the percentage of the Buddhists in Sri Lanka by around nine per cent during the recent past.

Stirred up the masses

The BBS has likewise stirred up the masses with rhetoric on the low birth rate amongst the Sinhalese community. Yet another foreign conspiracy, they claim. The Sri Lankan Government, according to them, direly needs and yet lacks a national policy on population ‘control.’

Continue reading ‘Bodu Bala Sena Stirs up Masses with Rhetoric on the Low Birth Rate Amongst the Sinhalese Community’ »

By

Frances Harrison

Sri Lanka is a test case for reform of the Commonwealth, intended to produce a renewed commitment to rule of law, democracy and human rights. It looks as if the 54-nation body is already failing dismally.

The custodian of the Commonwealth’s political values is a rotating group of Foreign Ministers gathered in what’s called the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Last year its role was strengthened by new guidelines. It was not enough to deal with military coups – the Commonwealth decided it needed to tackle situations where its political values were undermined without a government being actually overthrown. After all, the Commonwealth claims to be an organisation based on the “shared values of peace, democracy, development, justice and human rights” as the Queen, its head, tells us.

And yet we have a country about to head the Commonwealth for two years and host its major heads of government meeting in November, that stands accused (in two UN reports) of crimes against humanity and murdering possibly seventy thousand of its own citizens. This is perhaps the worst bloodshed of this century and certainly not your run of the mill human rights problem – it is something quite out of the ordinary. Perhaps that’s the problem. As Samantha Power writes, “policymakers, journalists and citizens are extremely slow to muster the imagination needed to reckon with evil”.

Continue reading ‘Why is the Commonwealth Secretary-General not Following the Organization’s Own Guidelines in the case of Sri Lanka?’ »

By

Sankaran Krishna

A photograph often cuts through tonnes of verbiage and exposes the truth. One such photograph was published on March 19 soon after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi announced his party’s withdrawal from the United Progressive Alliance government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It showed a handful of smiling DMK cadres outside party headquarters distributing bright yellow “laddus” as fireworks were set off “celebrating” the party’s decision.

Why would withdrawal from the ruling coalition, based on principled differences with the Congress over the Sri Lankan issue, specifically on the milquetoast Resolution supported by India at the recent Geneva meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, be worthy of celebration? Should it not be marked by solemnity and a commitment to pressure the Centre to do the right thing by the Sri Lankan Tamils? Isn’t there something crass about distributing ‘laddus’ when issues such as the wanton killing of civilians, denial of rights to a minority, and other weighty matters are at stake?

Continue reading ‘Opportunism of Parties like the DMK,AIADMK and Congress Over the Sri Lankan Tamil Issue Exposed Clearly’ »

By

Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne

The US resolution on accountability and reconciliation, which was moved at the UNHRC, remains a threat directed at the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

But many Tamils feel that it falls far short of their expectations. It is naïve of them to believe that global powers will go against a regime that has won the heart of the IMF.

Despite the theatrics by Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the President follows the path laid down by the global capitalist masters; he has also satisfied the conditions placed by the IMF with regard to the path of development. Already steps have been taken to place the burden of repayments on the shoulders of the proletariat and the plebian masses of all communities.

Continue reading ‘Stupid Govt Delegation did not Realise That UNHRC was Not the Forum to “Explain”How many Roads and Bridges had Been Built in the North’ »

By Major General Boniface Perera RWP RSP

Sri Lanka is an island with a land mass of 65,610 Sq km. About 74% of the Sri Lankan population is represented by Sinhalese and about 12.55% is Tamils, the majority of who live in the North and the East of the island and the rest is represented by few other communities (i.e. Muslims and Malay). India with a population of over one billion people is the closest neighbour of Sri Lanka which has only a population of 20 million. However the Southern Indian Tamil population exceeds 60 million as against 2 million Tamils in Sri Lanka. Proximity to Southern India and vast the Tamil population in those states is a very crucial factor in dealing with the subject of security in Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka, located in the southern tip of India, lies at the crossroads of all maritime routes in the region (See Map). 70% of the global oil trade and 50% of container traffic pass through the Indian Ocean. Today, this sea route is operational with 36,000 ships passing through Sri Lanka’s southern port of Hambantota annually, including 4,500 oil tankers. Sri Lanka is governed by a Presidential system with the Judiciary, the Legislature and the executive combining in the Governance process. It is an economically booming region mainly due to the rapid development of two giants: India and China.

Continue reading ‘The Southern Port of Hambantota Epitomizes Sri Lanka’s Increasingly Robust Relationship with China in Recent Years’ »

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday called upon the Union government to take steps to move a resolution in the United Nations Security Council, asking for various measures against the Sri Lankan regime including a referendum for the creation of separate Eelam.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa moved the resolution and the House adopted it unanimously through a voice vote.
Continue reading ‘Jayalalithaa Wants Indian Govt to Take Steps to Move Resolution Against Sri Lanka at the UN Security Council’ »

By

P.Satyanarayana

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has called for a referendum among Sri Lankan Tamils on the formation of a ‘Separate Eelam’ (Tamil land) within Sri Lanka. The referendum, she said, should be held for the sake of their future welfare. “The referendum should be conducted among Tamils in Sri Lanka and other displaced Tamils across the world. A resolution should also be adopted in the UN security council in this regard,” she told the assembly.

Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu Legislature Unanimously Adopts Resolution by Chief Minister Jayalaithaa Calling for Referendum to Create Eelam’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA-Sri Lanka’s former captain Arjun Ranatunga on Wednesday slammed IPL Governing Council’s decision to withdraw Sri Lankan cricketers from Chennai matches of the tournament and asked the players to opt out of the entire high-profile event beginning from April 3.

Continue reading ‘“Captain Cool”Arjuna Ranatunga says Sri Lankan Cricketers Must Pull Out of IPL Tournament’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA-Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan is disappointed at the IPL governing council’s move to disallow players from his country to play matches in Chennai, a decision taken in view of the prevailing anti-Sinhalese sentiments in the state.

Bowing to intense political pressure, top Sri Lankan players were yesterday withdrawn from the Chennai matches of the high-profile IPL after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa refused to host them due to the growing political tensions in the state resulting from the treatment of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.

“It’s a sad (day) for cricket as we are not allowed to play in a certain part of India. It is a government decision, if they cannot provide security for us, we have to be cautious,” Muralitharan, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, told ‘NDTV.’

Continue reading ‘“It’s a Sad Day for Cricket as we are not Allowed to Play in a Certain Part of India”-Muttiah Muralitharan’ »

by Dr.SUDHARSHAN SENEVIRATNE

(TEXT OF ACCEPTANCE SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA on January 4th at Seattle. USA)

President Bartman, members and professionals of the AIA, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Dr. Sudharshan Seneviratne addressing Archaeological Institute of America Awards Ceremony, Jan 4, 2013

I was honored to receive a communication from President Bartman stating my name as recipient of the 2013 Award for Best Practice in Conservation and Heritage Management. It also gratified me to note that heritage initiatives carried out in Sri Lanka during the past few decades have been recognized by one of the oldest standing professional bodies of heritage in the world and by the community of global heritage professionals at large.
Continue reading ‘Humanizing, De-colonizing and De-politicizing Archaeology & Heritage Management’ »

By

Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.

(Remarks by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha at the launch on Saturday March 23, at COLOMBOSCOPE, of Dayan Jayatilleka’s ‘Long War, Cold Peace’ -Vijitha Yapa Publishers, 2013)

In Parliament yesterday I told Dr Jayalath Jayawardena, who is a master manipulator, that instead of making insidious use of the government’s misfortunes, he should be constructive, and move a motion to suggest that Prof Pieris be replaced as Foreign Minister by Dr Dayan Jayatilleka. He told me, characteristically, that he would be happy to suggest me instead, but I assured him that I knew my limitations.

I had no doubt that I would do a better job than Prof Pieris, but so would almost anyone in this room – but there was no need to think of simply improving on what we have, when there is available a man who understands international relations thoroughly, and whose track record is one of great success.
Continue reading ‘“Dr.Jayalath Jayawardena Should Suggest in Parliament That Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Replace Prof.GL Peiris as Foreign Minister”’ »

By

N Sathiya Moorthy

Independent of the evolving politics and engaging protests, there is more to Tamil Nadu and the politics in the State than the ‘Sri Lankan Tamil issue’. If anything, the politics and the protests have the potential to do more harm than good to the State and its people -and by possible extension, the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils that the divided pan-Tamil, Dravidian polity has sought to espouse.

Overnight, political parties in the State have become undependable allies at the Centre. If the DMK partner from the State in the ruling UPA coalition at the Centre withdrew its Ministers and also the support to the Manmohan Singh Government, the party along with its then PMK and MDMK allies had pulled out of the BJP-NDA Government in December 2003, hastening early polls to Parliament. In its turn, the AIADMK, the rival of the party, did it to the BJP-NDA Government of Prime Minister Vajpayee early on in 1999, causing early parliamentary polls, but with years to spare.

Continue reading ‘Inspiration and Input for Protesters in Tamil Nadu Come From Diaspora Groups Whose Linkages to the LTTE are Discernible’ »

by

Kath Noble

The UN Human Rights Council sessions ended last week with the passage of another resolution on Sri Lanka. It was a victory for the United States, which secured 25 votes in favour compared to 13 against, with eight abstentions and the representative from Gabon being recorded as AWOL.

Life having continued as normal in Colombo, the Government is bound to learn all the wrong lessons from the experience.

For a start, it will think that it can continue to allow the Bodu Bala Sena to run around inciting hatred against Muslims, since Muslim countries overwhelmingly backed Sri Lanka. Half of the votes the Sri Lankan delegation could muster were from Muslim countries – Pakistan, the Maldives, Indonesia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritania – as well as half of the abstentions. Only Libya and Sierra Leone – both recent ‘beneficiaries’ of Western military intervention – voted with the United States.

Continue reading ‘Separatism Would Have Been Dead and Buried if Mahinda Rajapaksa had Followed up the Military Defeat of the LTTE with a Generous Political Package’ »

(Text of an Editorial Appearing in “The Hindu”of March 27th 2013 under the heading”Chauvinism at its Worst”)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa did more than give her stamp of approval to calls for protests against the participation of Sri Lankan players in the Indian Premier League. By declaring that the State government will permit the matches to be held in Chennai only if the organisers provided an undertaking that no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff would participate in these matches, she effectively endorsed chauvinism and discrimination in sport and politics.

Continue reading ‘Keeping Sri Lankan Players out of Matches in Chennai will Have larger,Long-term Repercussions For Cricket and India’s International relations’ »

By

Vasudeva Nanayakkara

Organized, merciless attacks carried out by gangs in Tamil Nadu on innocent civilians who travel to India on pilgrimages in search of spiritual serenity/happiness, have caused much distress amongst all and they have displayed horror whilst sympathizing with those who have been subjected to violent attacks. It is understandable if protests have been targeted at the Sri Lankan Government or politicians.

Although the Tamil Nadu State Government has initiated rearguard action to prevent such organized attacks, allowing attacks of the above nature to continue blatantly displays a void in the democratic government administration structure.

As such, necessary stringent action has to be taken to effectively control the anarchical situation that currently exists in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Continue reading ‘Forcibly Entering Places of Worship, Creating Violence and Injuring Worshippers can Bring Dishonour to Sri Lanka and Sinhala Buddhist Majority’ »

By

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

(Full Text of Keynote Address delivered on March 25th by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Secretary of Defence and Urban Development at the Serendip coast Festival 2013 at the Light house hotel in Galle)

Good Morning.

I would like to thank Mr. Geoffrey Dobbs, Mr. Herman Guneratne and the others involved in the Serendip Coast Festival for inviting me to speak here today. I am aware that many of the organisers were also responsible for the Galle Literary Festivalthat was heldon an annual basis over the last few years, which brought many world-renowned authors, poets and other illustrious individuals to this historic city. I believe today’s event and the Serendip Coast Festival represents the continuation of their efforts to promote Galle as a hub for similar events. This deserves encouragement and appreciation, because it provides an opportunity for a particularly discerning and influential segment of the international community to visit Sri Lanka and see the situation on the ground. As you will have noticed, the ground realities are rather different from what is often reported about this country internationally. Particularly in context of the fact that Sri Lanka only emerged from a vicious, three decades long terrorist conflict less than four years ago, I believe it is fair to say that the progress we have achieved is remarkable.

Just over a month ago, I had the opportunity to accompany His Excellency the President MahindaRajapaksa on his official visit to Jaffna.During this visit, he presided over the inauguration of a new power plant in Chunnakam, the opening of a new building complex for the Jaffna Hospital, and several other official functions. He also took the opportunity to travel throughout the peninsula and make a number of unscheduled stops to talk to the ordinary people in the area. He did all of his travels by road. I particularly remember that on the last day of his visit, he opened the Pier at Nagadeepa at about 6.30 in the evening, then attended a ceremony at a Kovil in Karainagar. This event ended at around 8pm. Afterwards, he travelled by road across the Peninsula to Palaly, which is a journey that takes about an hour. This is the President of Sri Lanka, travelling across the breadth of the Jaffna Peninsula, by night, on road. A few years ago, I don’t think even a military convoy could have travelled from Karainagar to Palaly by road without being confronted by a terrorist attack. Yet today, the Head of State is able to make such a journey. This exemplifies the peace, stability and security that exist in every part of the countryafter the defeat of terrorism in May 2009.

Continue reading ‘The Most Important Country that had to be Managed During War was India Because of the Political Pressures in Tamil Nadu’ »

By

M R Venkatesh

The anger of the common man, especially the youth, in Tamil Nadu is palpable. Colleges are being shut down. Even school children are seen discussing the mess in Sri Lanka. Private conversations invariably veer to this colossal human tragedy. In more ways than one this rage is explainable. After all, what has happened in Sri Lanka is unacceptable, inhuman and absolutely deplorable.

Expectedly, the issue concerning Sri Lankan Tamils once again dominates the political discourse in the state. Once politicians, especially those from Tamil Nadu are involved; one can reasonably be assured that it will be nothing but an elaborate exercise in semantics. After all, when it comes to rhetoric and hogwash, probably politicians from my home state are second to none.

Continue reading ‘By Bringing Sri Lanka into Our Economic Embrace we can Dominate Their Internal Politics and Offer True Protection to Tamils’ »

By

Fred Carver

Sri Lanka is disrupting BBC broadcasts in an apparent attempt to censor reports of a United Nations resolution that criticises escalating violence against the island’s ethnic Tamils.

The Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) interrupted transmissions by the BBC’s Tamil language service as a high level UN human rights session in Geneva prepared to criticise the government for failing to investigate war atrocities or stem ongoing persecution.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Disrupts Transmission of BBC Tamil Service”Thamizhosai”in Violation of Agreement with SLBC’ »

(Text of Press Release Issued by BBC)

The BBC’s World Service Director, Peter Horrocks, today announced the suspension of BBC broadcasts on SLBC (the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation) following continued interruption and interference of BBC Tamil programming on SLBC.

Continue reading ‘BBC World Service Suspends Broadcasts in Sri Lanka on SLBC Due to Continued Disruption of Tamil Programs’ »

(Text of Joint statement signed by Activists and Organizations working for Women’s rights Condemning Views Expressed by Child Development and Women’s Affairs minister Tissa Karaliyadda on 11th March 2013, regarding women in leadership)

On the 11th March the Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, Mr. Tissa Karaliyadda, stated that “women are incapable of performing duties of the head chair.” He went on to state that “when a woman is given authority in a department or a ministry they tend to suppress other women are under their administration out of jealousy. This situation will lead to inefficiency in that particular organization. Hence always the main chair should be given to a male and the assistant should be a female” (Source: http://www.mirror.lk/news/5843-a-male-should-always-be-the-chairperson). The same was circulated through a mobile phone message alert system. It has also generated several discussions in the cyber space and a few news agencies have republished his statement. In past too, the minister had made similar claims (Mawbima, 12 November 2012, Divaina, 15 March 2013). In such a context, we issue this condemning statement.

Continue reading ‘Women’s Affairs Minister Karaliyadda Condemned for Anti-Women Statement Belittling Leadership Capability of Women’ »

by

Nirgunan Tiruchelvam

A hurricane hit Sri Lankan cricket last week, but it was barely mentioned. Kusal Perera, a 22 year-old left-handed batsman and wicket-keeper blasted 336 off 275 balls for Colts CC against Saracens at Havelock Park, Colombo. The innings featured savage hitting with 14 sixes and 29 fours.

The innings is the highest score in the Sri Lankan domestic competition. It is also the only triple century in the 75 year history of the Sri Lankan domestic competition. Domestic cricket in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) was not recorded as first-class until the 1988-89 season, but there were no triple centuries in club cricket before that. The only other triple centuries in Sri Lankan first-class cricket were at Test level – Sanath Jayasuriya’s 340 against India in 1997 and Mahela Jayawardena’s 375 against South Africa in 2006.

Continue reading ‘Kusal Perera’s Awesome Achievement:336 with 14 Sixes and 29 Fours for Colts Against Saracens’ »

PRESS TUST OF INDIA- Bowing to intense political pressure, top Sri Lankan players were on Tuesday withdrawn from the Chennai matches of the IPL after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa refused to host them in view of the prevailing anti-Sri Lanka sentiments in the State.

Ms. Jayalalithaa wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh making it clear that IPL matches would be permitted in the State only if there were no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff in these matches beginning April 3.

A few hours later, the IPL Governing Council met to discuss the issue and decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in IPL League matches in Chennai.

Continue reading ‘IPL Governing Council Bows to Jayalalithaa and Officially “Withdraws”Sri Lankan Cricketers From Playing in Chennai’ »

by

Gargi Parsai

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Friday amid unruly scenes of AIADMK members breaking mikes and throwing papers in the air, even as the DMK protested against the Chair proceeding with conducting private members’ business.

The House also witnessed acrimonious exchanges between DMK members and Congress member Renuka Chowdhury soon after she left the Chair while adjourning the House to meet again on April 22 after recess.

Continue reading ‘DMK and ADMK Rajya Sabha Members Run Amok Over Lankan Tamil Issue Breaking Mikes and Throwing Papers in Indian Upper House’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA-Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday made a strong appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to attend Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo during November 15-17.

In her letter to Dr Singh, the Chief Minister said the Sri Lankan regime, “which continues to deny Tamils their legitimate human rights, equality and democratic freedom,” had “clearly violated” the central credo of the Commonwealth – democracy and human rights. “Nations have been suspended from the Commonwealth for far less,” she pointed out.

Continue reading ‘Jayalalithaa Does not Want Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Attend Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA-As protests in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils continued, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today said IPL matches would be permitted in the state only if there were no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff in these matches.

“In view of the popular antipathy and anger in Tamil Nadu against the actions of the Government of Sri Lanka, the Government of Tamil Nadu is of the view that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu”, she said.

Continue reading ‘Jayalalithaa Bans Sri Lankan Players,Umpires,Officials and Support Staff from Participating in IPL Cricket Matches in Tamil Nadu’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA-Faced with the looming threat on the safety of Sri Lankan players taking part in the upcoming Indian Premier League, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has sought the government’s advice on the cricketers who are scheduled to play in Chennai.

SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said that they have sought the External Affairs Ministry’s advice and hence, the players would be given suggestions depending on the MEA instructions.

Continue reading ‘Indian External Affairs Ministry Advice Sought on Safety of Sri Lankan Cricketers Playing in IPL Tournament’ »

By

Frances Harrison

He lay in agony on the ground on a tarpaulin sheet in the open, bandaged in rags in the scorching tropical heat after two major surgeries on his leg and hip, but Thevam considered himself extremely lucky. Just the day before he’d been moved out of the school building turned into a makeshift hospital. A day later and he too would have been among the eight dead and many more injured in the shell attack on the hospital. No matter that the building had a clear red cross painted on its roof, visible to government drones and surveillance planes.

Thevam is a 39-year-old Tamil shopkeeper with a wife and two young children from northern Sri Lanka. He is a witness to war crimes whose mother was killed while sheltering in a bunker, and himself still bears huge angry scars on his body. He was granted refugee status in Australia two years ago but is not free to restart his life. Thevam is one of 51 Tamils who have failed their security clearance and shockingly he hasn’t even been told why.

Continue reading ‘“None of the Hardened Ex-LTTE Fighters I have met Wanted to Take up Arms Again”’ »

By

MA Sumanthiran M.P.

(Text of Speech made in Parliament on 21st March 2013 during debate on the Resettlement Authority Bill)

Thank you Mr. Deputy Chairman.

The Hon. Minister for External Affairs concluded with a question: ‘Is this right? Can we be happy with the way our Motherland is being treated by the United Nations system?’ I’d like to suggest that the question – more relevant question and the more serious question is not that. Is this how our Motherland should treat us, who are also citizens of this country? Merely because we are inferior in number that the greater in number should treat us as second class, or worse, third class citizens of this country. If you can answer that question in good conscience as you claimed then most of these issues can be resolved.

Continue reading ‘“Sheer Arrogance to Think That Because we are a Numerical Minority we don’t have a Voice or we Cannot Speak?-Sumanthiran MP’ »

By
Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.

In the last column in this series, I will look at the Civil Rights Movement, which was founded in 1971. In discussing its contribution to Rights, and the manner in which Rights can be most productively promoted, I will also talk about one of its founding members, Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe, whose 86th birthday it would have been today.

Like his father, Cyril Wickremesinghe, who was the first Ceylonese Government Agent, he was a radical in his commitment to social equity. At least, I like to think this was his father’s essential approach, though he was also a pillar of the establishment, a great friend of D S Senanayake and D R Wijewardene, whose eldest daughter married his eldest son. But, like DS, much of his working life was spent providing better opportunities to the peasantry, through the opening up of agricultural lands in the North Central Province.

Continue reading ‘Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe and the Civil Rights Movement’ »

By
Ranga Jayasuriya

Our persistent opposition to any kind of international criticism of our mishandling of domestic affairs has much to do with the inflated egos of our foreign policy handlers and politicians, than whatever those lofty claims of sovereign equality, internal sovereignty and non interference of internal affairs, and so forth. Sometimes, when those inflated egos explode, the whole affair takes a very ugly turn, like External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris’s outburst at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute last Friday, turned out to be.

Peiris exploded after the visiting Canadian Senator Hugh Segal noted, in his response to a journalist, that the Canadian Courts had given many rulings unfavourable to the government , on the ‘first nation’ which constituted four per cent of the total population, but that Toronto did not sack its Chief Justice due to those rulings.

Continue reading ‘“Spineless”GL Who Lets Sajin Vaas Call the Shots at Ministry “Bursts Out”at Canadian Senator to Score Brownie Points with Ruling Regime’ »

By

S. L. Gunasekara

The resolution against Sri Lanka proposed by the International thug otherwise known as the United States of America has, predictably, been passed by the UNHRC. Similarly and equally predictably, the resolution to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was also passed by Parliament by a 2/3 majority.

Theoretically, where a person votes for or in favour of a resolution, by such act conveys his agreement with the factual basis on which the resolution is founded. However, was this laudable theory consistent with the facts in these two cases? I think not.

Continue reading ‘Can the MP’s who Voted to Impeach Chief Justice at Behest of Their “Master” Condemn Countries for Voting Against Sri Lanka in UN at Behest of Their”Master”?’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris said yesterday that the second US sponsored resolution was meant to ensure that Sri Lanka would come up for consideration as part of United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) agenda every six months, with human rights chief Navi Pillay to brief the council at its 24th sessions in September this year.

It was to be followed by the presentation of a comprehensive report to the 25th sessions in March 2014, Minister Peiris told The Island in a brief interview following last Thursday’s vote in Geneva. The presentation at the 25th sessions would pave the way for a discussion, the minister said, alleging that an obvious attempt was being made to ensure continuous attention on Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘“Is There Any Other Country Which Has Attracted This Kind of Focus”?-Asks Prof.GL Peiris’ »

By

Col R Hariharan

The UNHRC passed the U.S. sponsored resolution (A/HRC/22/L.1/Rev.1) on Sri Lanka at its 22nd session at Geneva on March 21, 2013. The text of the resolution is at Annexure. The resolution was passed by 25 votes to 13. Eight nations abstained. Gabon was absent.

The result was not unexpected. However, the content and wording of the resolution was stronger than the UNHRC’s 2012 resolution on Sri Lanka. It makes accountability in observing international human rights laws as its primary focus and has called for a “credible and impartial investigation” into such violations. This is important as it reflects the lack of faith in what Sri Lanka has done so far. Equally important is the reference to the continuing fundamental rights violations in the country.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Tamils and UNHRC Resolution Became Critical Issues Even for National Parties After Upsurge in Tamil Nadu When Pictures of Prabhakaran’s son were published’ »

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA: After quitting the UPA coalition on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, DMK on Monday demanded that India should boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled to be held in Colombo in November this year.

“While Commonwealth Secretariat should not convene the meeting at Colombo, but if it happens, India should boycott the meeting in order to reflect the sentiments of Tamils worldover and to keep up the democratic spirits,” the DMK Executive Meeting said.

Continue reading ‘DMK Wants India to Boycott Commonwealth Summit if Held in Sri Lanka to Reflect Sentiments of Tamils’ »