By

Marianne David

In the running for the position of Colombo Mayor, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Prime Minister’s Office Rosy Senanayake is confident of victory and armed with comprehensive plans to turn Colombo into a “safe, smart, economically viable, and corruption-free city”. Having announced her candidature recently, Senanayake is now preparing for the elections, which are expected to be held in January.

In an interview with Daily FT, she outlined her plans for Colombo and also spoke on a wide range of topics including the Government’s key achievements, education, women’s rights, women in politics and abortion. Senanayake also addressed the allegations against her son in relation to the bond investigation.

Following are excerpts:

Question: You are running for Mayor of Colombo and the elections will be held soon. Could you tell us your plans for Colombo?

Answer :

Yes, I am getting ready for the elections and right now we are finalising the list of nominations. Things have changed for the first time in terms of women’s political representation and we are looking at women having a mandatory representation of 25% in line with the amendment. The elections will be held hopefully in January.

Continue reading ‘Rosy Senanayake Has “Rosy” plans For City If and When Elected Mayor of Colombo’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

Joint Opposition (JO) activists protesting against government move to hand over the Mattala airport to an Indian company were attcked by the police yesterday outside the Consulate in Hambantota.

Police used water cannon and fired tear gas to disperse crowds gathered outside the Indian mission.

Police arrested 26 persons during the crackdown. Yesterday’s protest was the first by the JO against India since the change of government.

Continue reading ‘Joint Opposition Demonstrates Outside Indian Consulate in Hambantota In Protest Against Mattala Airport Agreement With India.’ »

M.S.M.Ayub

Whenever the discourse on Constitution-making came to fore during the past two decades, the bone of contention was the nature of the state with the Tamils wanting a federal mode of governance and the Sinhalese insisting on a unitary state. However, even after more than thirty years since the ethnic problem took a violent turn, both the Sinhalese and the Tamils are fighting over ethnological terms such as federalism, unitary state and right to self-determination.

With Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who is also the Chairman of the Steering Committee set-up under the Constitutional Assembly presenting an Interim Report of his committee in the Parliament on September 21, the terminological war with special emphasis on nature of the state has again become the main subject discussed in the political arena and media.

This time, while almost all Sinhalese nationalists are insisting that the country’s unitary state that has been incorporated in the Constitution must be preserved, Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara, a strong and strident Sinhalese nationalist, has come up with a different stance in an article published in the Daily Mirror on Wednesday. The essence of his article was that despite almost all other Sinhalese nationalists stressing the need to retain the current nature of the State, Sri Lanka is already a federal state. He stressed that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which brought in this federal structure into the country should be revoked.

Almost all political parties in the country or the leaders of them had at least once in their history been supportive of the federal system though they call others traitors for doing the same

Continue reading ‘How Can Federalism Be Anathema to Any Political Party or Party Leader in Sri Lanka?’ »

By C. A. Chandraprema

When looking at the interim report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly, the game plan of the yahapalana coalition becomes immediately apparent. For over one and a half years, we have been intermittently receiving various documents from the Steering Committee which made it only too clear what the yahapalana government has in mind in terms of constitutional reform. The most immediate thing that becomes apparent in this interim report is the strategy they seem to have adopted to see that they get the Constitutional reforms they desire. On the first three numbered pages of this interim report, they have proposed various changes to Articles 1 to 9 of the present Constitution. In actual fact, not much damage will be done to the yahapalana purpose even if they drop all the proposals made to change Articles 1 to 9 of the present Constitution. However, the contents of Articles 1 to 9 are such that the mere fact that changes have been proposed to them is enough to spark off controversy.

Yet, these are the very provisions where they can back off without doing any substantial damage to their real objectives. The game plan obviously is that once a controversy is generated, for the yahapalana side to retreat on all reforms proposed to Articles 1 to 9 of the present Constitution and to agree to retain the present provisions as they are so that the real reforms they want can be got through as a compromise measure. This is the same principle used by drug smugglers. When a big shipment is being brought in, the smugglers also ship in dummy consignments which are supposed to get caught to the authorities while the main shipment gets through. Here, too, we have a dummy consignment in the first few pages which they can afford to discard without doing much damage to their ultimate purpose.

Continue reading ‘Steering Committee Interim Report Indicates Game Plan of the “Yahapalana” Coalition.’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

Philosophy, said Kautilya (Chanakya) in the Arthashathra, deals primarily with the right and wrong use of force. At least from that time, it was recognized that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing even what is necessary or unavoidable. This was of course the very premise of the Just War doctrine of Christian theologians St Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. A war had to be for the right cause and the right cause was not self-evident or merely self-referential and self–proclaimed. It needed to pass certain criteria to qualify. This too was not enough. For war to be just it not only needed to satisfy the criteria for a just cause but be fought by just means, which too needed to meet certain criteria to warrant the appellation. Modern theologians, especially of the Protestant persuasion, have added a third criterion, that of Just Peace, i.e. of the outcome of the war.

These preliminary remarks are intended by me to make two points. Firstly that Sri Lanka fought a Just War by basically just means (albeit certain excesses noted by the LLRC which need judicial investigation, but NOT by Special Courts let alone hybrid ones). However, Sri Lanka has not yet arrived at a Just Peace and is still searching for it. It is a necessary and legitimate search; an imperative one.

Secondly, this Government and its new constitution must be opposed, but not every form of opposition is valid, helpful and desirable. It is in the context of the return and rise of the Sinhala New Right, that Prof Peiris’ polemical response (‘The Devolution Debate: Facts that should not be forgotten’, The Island, Thursday October 5th) must be situated and understood.

The rising tide of Sinhala fundamentalist opposition will damage not only the progressive patriotic Joint Opposition (JO) and the cause of a patriotic, modernizing presidential candidate, but will play into the hands of the Government and what is worse, into the hands of Sri Lanka’s external enemies and lead within our lifetime, to the (avoidable) dismemberment of this country.

Continue reading ‘Rising Tide of Sinhala Fundamentalism Will Play Into The Hands Of The Govt’ »

(Text Of Press Release issued by the Tamil National Alliance Media Office on October 5th 2017)

The visiting UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Rt. Hon. Mark Field met with the Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Hon.R. Sampanthan today (04.10.2017) at Westminster House in Colombo.

Detailing the current political situation to the Honorable Minister Mr. Sampanthan said that the Tamil National Alliance genuinely participated in the processes of framing a new Constitution. Highlighting the Constitutional making process Mr. Sampanthan said from 1957 onwards there had been various attempts made to recognize the pluralism in this country, but unfortunately, none of those efforts came to be realized.
“The need for a power sharing arrangement has been in discussion over 30 years since 1957. Only in 1987 with the involvement of Indian Government for the very first time a power sharing arrangement was recognized in the constitution of this country Mr. Sampanthan said. “From that time, onwards steps were taken by every successive Government to address the National question and evolve a final solution” he added”.

Continue reading ‘If New Constitution is not Framed to Resolve National Question There Could be Recurrence of Violence Warns Opposition Leader Sampanthan.’ »

Sri Lanka’s large state banks have been asked to bid at low rates at volumes given by then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, at two controversial bond auctions alleged to have been rigged, a commission of inquiry had been told.

A meeting of state bank officials of National Savings Bank, People’s Bank and Bank of Ceylon had been called on March 28, by Minister Karunanayake, Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper reported

People’s Bank General Manager Vasantha Kumara was quoted as saying that the state banks were given the rage of rates to bid at four different maturities offered at the auction the following day.

The Minister had assured the banks that bids are higher rates (lower prices) would not be accepted. Kumara had his Treasury to confirm with the Public Debt Department of the central bank, that such would be the case.

The bank had been told that the message would be conveyed the tender board.

Continue reading ‘Ravi Karunanayake Misused His Powers as Finance Minister to Manipulate Treasury Bond Auctions For Perpetual to Make More Money’ »

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte and Sarath Dharmasena

Chairmen and senior officials of three major state banks––the Bank of Ceylon, the People’s Bank and the National Savings Bank–– testifying before the presidential commission of inquiry probing the bond scams yesterday said that on two occasions in 2016, the then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had instructed them to make bids at the treasury bond auctions at lower interest (yield) rates and their institutions had therefore been deprived of an opportunity to make substantial profits.

Those who testified before the Commission yesterday included Chairman People’s Bank Hemasiri Fernando, Chairman Bank of Ceylon Roland Perera and Chairman National Savings Bank Ashwin de Silva and some key officials of the three institutions.

The senior officials of the three banks also said that though they had followed the instructions given by Minister Ravi Karunanayake, the latter had failed to honour his promise that the Central Bank would not accept bids at rates higher than the yield rate range he had mentioned to them.

Continue reading ‘Ravi Karunanayake Ordered Three State Run Banks to Make Lower Bids at Two Treasury Bond Auctions While Higher Bids From Other Dealers was Accepted.’ »

By Himal Kotelawala

Chairmen, CEOs/General Managers and other senior officials of the three state-owned banks yesterday told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the controversial bond issuance that former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had on two occasions instructed them to bid at lower-than-market yield rates, assuring them that bids at higher rates would not be accepted.

However, much to their surprise, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had accepted bids at significantly higher yield rates from other primary dealers at the Treasury bond auctions held following the two meetings in late March 2016, resulting in a notional opportunity loss to the banks.

Leading evidence before the commission, officers of the Attorney General’s Department questioned eight witnesses from the Bank of Ceylon (BoC), the National Savings Bank (NSB) and People’s Bank on events leading up to the two auctions, all of whom attested to two separate meetings chaired by the former Minister on 28 March and 30 March 2016, instructing them to bid low, supposedly seeking their assistance to bring down high interest rates prevalent in the market at the time.

Continue reading ‘“Betrayal” of State Owned Banks at Treasury Bonds Auction by Ex- Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake ?’ »

Sri Lanka’s finance ministry employees went nuts when a mini forutune was offered to them by Chilaw Plantations company in the form of precious coconuts at a near 50 percent discount.

Some 1,200 employees at the General Treasury Building in Colombo Fort had the good fortune to double their money buying coconuts at 65 rupees each and flipping them at double the cost.

However, the party was short-lived when the vendor got wise and restricted the number of nuts each treasury staffer could purchase to just eight. It is not clear on what basis / formula the nuts were rationed at eight per person.

Police stepped up security at the treasury as the coconut cargo pulled up with each truck carrying nearly 1.5 million rupees worth of fresh nuts.

Continue reading ‘Police Summoned to Control Crowds in Fort as Chilaw Plantations Company Sells Coconuts at 50% Discount for Finance Ministry Employees.’ »

Sri Lanka’s minister in charge of law and order has become a victim of a hit-and-run attack on the Southern Expressway, but the police department which is under him has failed to track the offending motorist.

Adding insult to injury, the traffic police has given the run around to Minister Sagala Ratnayaka’s personal security officer when he tried to lodge a formal complaint about the incident on Friday night.

Traffic police had insisted that the minister’s vehicle be brought for their inspection leaving the minister high and dry on the expressway while those responsible for traffic on the E1 failed to detain the hit-and-run vehicle.

“If this is the way I am treated, I dread to think what the ordinary people of this country have to put up with,” an exasperated minister was quoted as saying during a meeting with senior police officers at Temple Trees on Monday.

Continue reading ‘Shabby Treatment Given to Sagala Ratnayake by Traffic Police Over Vehicle Convoy Incident Despite the Law and Order Minister Being in Charge of Police.’ »

By Faizer Shaheid

Former Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva has grown more and more politically inclined over the years, but his take on the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Act raises a little more than a few eyebrows. While the enactment itself is largely positive, the manner in which the Bill was passed has definitely shocked many people including those who endorsed the contents of the enactment.

Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Faiszer Musthapha has been championing the cause of women participating in politics for some time. Therefore, when the Bill was introduced, the general consensus was to support his initiative to bring forth a guaranteed 25% quota for women. The Bill was introduced together with the proposed 20th Amendment, which was eventually struck down after the Supreme Court ruled that certain provisions require a referendum.

However, the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Act was given the green light to proceed, and subsequently, a major change was introduced to the Bill during the Committee Stage of the Bill. The Minister proposed inclusion of electoral reforms, and then heads began to crack.

Continue reading ‘Ex-Chief Justice Sarath Silva’s FR Petition Seeking Judicial Review of PC Elections Bill is Doomed to Fail.’ »

By Nanda Wickremasinghe

While rapidly strengthening its military ties with Sri Lanka, the Trump administration is voicing concerns over Colombo’s “unsustainable debts” with China. These views were outlined last month by Alice Wells, the US acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, in a report to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Entitled, “Maintaining US Influence in South Asia: the FY 2018 budget,” the report deals with Washington’s foreign assistance to South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, over the next financial year.

Wells told the House Foreign Affairs committee that Sri Lanka’s “historic” elections in January 2015 had “ushered in a path to reform and reconciliation” She also noted, however, that Washington would “continue its oversight of implementation” of steps outlined in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution passed in October 2015.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Govt Linking Country With US Led War Drive Against China Will Have Catastrophic Consequences’ »

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte and Sarath Dharmasena

Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera, PC yesterday told the presidential commission of inquiry probing bond scams that Perpetual Treasuries (Pvt.) Ltd (PTL) had maintained two ‘things-to-do’ files for RK and AM.

PC de Livera mentioned this while former Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran was testifying before the Commission. Mehendran denied any knowledge of the files or the initials, RK and AM.

The SASG said the aforesaid facts were corroborated by text messages exchanged between Mahendran and his Personal Assistant Steve Samuel.

The details of messages exchanged between the duo were marked and submitted to the Commission.

Continue reading ‘Did Perpetual Treasuries(Pvt)Ltd have Two “Things – to – do” Files for Arjuna Mahendran and Ravi Karunanayake Marked “AM’ And “RK” ?’ »

By

Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda

Discussions on a possible new Constitution seem to be dominated by two important issues. One is the organization of the country as “united or unitary”. The other is regarding the status of Buddhism. The leadership keeps assuring the populace that the current status of pre-eminence of Buddhism will not only be retained, but be enhanced.

In the circumstances, one is encouraged to consider the extent to which the supposed pre-eminence in the current Constitution has manifested itself. Besides the establishment of a Ministry of Buddhasasana, a Department and the attendant bureaucracy, the extent to which this action has benefited in improving Buddhism, promoting scholarship and disseminating the doctrine would bear elucidation. I must leave this to better informed authorities to do, but would like to draw attention to a few anachronistic features.

Much debate can surround consideration of the appropriateness of any kind of discrimination or privilege extended to one component of an acknowledged diverse community, with a professed desire to encourage participation, unity, respect and inclusivity in its diversity. To develop cohesion, even the slightest whiff of inequality may not have a place. If unity is desired, impartiality should be manifest.

Continue reading ‘Buddha Sasana Ministry and Mahanayakes Appear to do Little to Curb Rowdy Behavious of Monks.’ »

By Chitra Weerarathne

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva told the Supreme Court yesterday that Geetha Kumarasinghe had been elected to Parliament on August 17, 2015 and her nominations accepted without protests. There had been no election petition against her. She took the oaths as a Member of Parliament, before the Speaker, sat and voted in Parliament.

Counsel was supporting the application of appeal by Kumarasinghe against a Court of Appeal judgment, which disqualified her on the grounds that she was a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and Switzerland.

Some voters of Galle petitioned Court of Appeal against her election.

An election could be set aside by an election petition and not by a writ of quo warranto in the Court of Appeal, Kumarasinghe’s counsel argued.

Continue reading ‘Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe’s Lawyer Romesh de Silva PC tells Court that her Election to Parliament Could Not be Set Aside by Quo warranto writ in Appeal Court.’ »

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena

Former Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran, testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the bond scams, yesterday, said it was Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who had instructed him to issue Treasury bonds only through public auctions.

Mehendran was answering a query raised by Commission member Justice Prasanna S. Jayawardena. He said Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had instructed him to stop direct placement and he (Mahendran) had, on Feb. 27, 2015, instructed the Public Debt Department to do so.

Continue reading ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe Instructed him to Issue Treasury Bonds Only Through Public Auction Says Arjuna Mahendran Before Inquiry Commission.’ »

The Mount Lavinia magistrate today remanded monk and former member of parliament Akmeemana Dayarathana for leading a violent mob which stormed a refugee centre and caused severe distress to peace-loving Buddhists.

Police told the magistrate that the monk’s hate speech and his violent actions that were uploaded live over his own facebook page had upset law abiding Buddhists who were shocked to see such violence unleashed by a monk.

Monk Dayarathana’s radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force) raided the multi-storeyed UN-protected refugee shelter at Mount Lavinia on Tuesday forcing 31 Rohingya, including 16 children, to leave.

Continue reading ‘JHU Ex-MP and”Sinhalese National Force”‘s Buddhist Monk Leader Akmeemana Dayarathana Arrested and Remanded for Attack on Rohingya Refugees.’ »

Catalonia’s regional government declared a landslide win for the “yes” side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into ugly scenes of mayhem on Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots.

Catalonia has “won the right to become an independent state,” Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally from Spain if the “yes” side wins.

“Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,” Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote.

Continue reading ‘Catalonia’s Regional Govt Claims It has Right to Independence From Spain After Landslide “YES” win in Referendum’ »

By

Selvanayagam Ravishanth

Former minister Basil Rajapaksa stunned journalists in Jaffna Sunday by admitting that security forces commanded by his president brother Mahinda committed “crimes” during and after the Tamil separatist war.

Basil told the Jaffna Press Club that troops continued to break the law even after the end of the war in May 2009. It is the first time that one of the kingpins of the Rajapaksa administration admitted, in the former war zone, that armed forces had committed crimes.

His remarks strengthened charges made by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka that there may have been individuals who stepped out of line and who should be investigated and punished to clear the good name of the Sri Lankan forces.

Asked for his views on Field Marshal Fonseka’s remarks, including his willingness to testify before any war crimes tribunal, Rajapaksa said he was reluctant to comment, but ended up admitting to “crimes” by security forces.

Continue reading ‘“Our Forces Didn’t Commit “War Crimes” But Individuals May Have Done “Crimes” Admits Basil Rajapaksa in Jaffna.’ »

By Sanja de Silva Jayatilleka

The 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council closed just a few days back, on the 29th of September. At that session, there were allegations of genocide, systematic discrimination, rape and torture in custody, extrajudicial killings and militarization leveled at Sri Lanka besides a call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein, for the second time in two sessions, for Universal Jurisdiction to be exercised. Universal Jurisdiction allows the courts of another country to prosecute a Sri Lankan citizen for alleged violations of crimes against humanity normally outside its national jurisdiction.

In reply, Sri Lanka’s official representatives (the representatives of the Sri Lankan state, appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka) in Geneva said nothing, according to the summary of the full proceedings provided by the United Nations Office in Geneva. By contrast in all these debates, other States which had accusations of violations of human rights used their ‘Right of Reply’ (an opportunity presented to States), to answer those allegation and to clarify any confusion. Sri Lanka did not.

The accusations came from the Non-Government Organizations. NGOs participateat these debates because the United Nations regards them as essential partners in the promotion and protection of Human Rights. To disregard their submissions is to set your country up for criticism by States who take the civil society/NGO submissions seriously, especially in the absence of a refutation by the country concerned, and therefore find them credible. The record of the 36th session shows no refutation by the Sri Lankan state.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s Official Representatives Remained Silent When Criticism was Levelled Against Country at UNHRC in Geneva.’ »

By

Darshana Sanjeewa

The term of office of newly appointed Navy Commander Vice Admiral Travis Sinniah, who turned 55 on September 26, had only been extended by one month by President Maithripala Sirisena, sources said.

Although the President has the power to extend the tenure of the Navy Commander by another year he has only been granted a one month extension which would now expire on October 26.

Continue reading ‘Navy Commander Travis Sinniah Appointed on Aug 22 Has to “Retire” on Oct 26 as President Extends his Term by One Month Only.’ »

Six suspects who were arrested by police in connection with a mob attack on a group of Rohingya refugees who were seeking shelter at a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) safe house in Mount Lavinia on Tuesday (26), have been remanded until October 9 by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate.

The latest suspects arrested include Liyanage Abeyrathne and Suresh Priyasad alias Dan who goes by the moniker Dan Priyasad. Prior to his arrest Dan Priyasad had posted on this social media page saying that Police had visited his home to arrest him but he was in hiding.

Police have also arrested a 24-year-old woman, who has been identified as Kalyani Podi Menike, a resident of Ratmalana for taking part in the attack. The others who are in remand custody include Janitha Niroshana Deepagey, Nawalage Don Chinthaka Sanjeewa and Nanayakkara Godakanda Kankanamlage Gayan Madushanka Senevirathne.

Continue reading ‘Dan Priyasad and 5 Others Remanded Till Oct 9th Over Attack on Rohingyas; Akmeemana Dayaratne and Arambepola Rathnasara Summoned for Police CCD Inquiry’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The government yesterday said the proposed new Constitution wouldn’t have any federal features whatsoever though some interested parties distorted facts in an obvious bid to derail the process.

The assurance was given by member of the Steering Committee spearheading the project, UNP National List MP Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, PC, at a special press conference at the Information Department.

The former LSSP stalwart was flanked by UNP National List MP Ashu Marasinghe and attorney-at-law Suren Fernando, a member of panel of experts assisting the Constitutional Assembly as well as the Steering Committee.

When The Island pointed out that no less a person than President Maithripala Sirisena had declared on Sept. 29 that he was yet to see the interim report of Steering Committee submitted to parliament on Sept 21, Dr Wickramaratne said President Sirisena inquired from him about the proposed Constitution having federal features.

Continue reading ‘Proposed New Constitution Wont Have any Federal Features Assures Dr.Jayampathy Wickramaratne MP’ »

by FR J.C. PIERIS

The Left, politically speaking, is not merely a philosophy, an ideology or a method of economy. It is an attitude and a belief in all that is best in humanity; in all that will enhance and ennoble the dignity and worth of each and every human being. The Left always stands for the equality of all, justice for all and universal (sisterhood/brotherhood) fraternity. For the true leftist ‘Common Good’ is the primary concern, always taking priority over his personal privileges, perks or profits.

A true leftist is never satisfied with the ‘status quo’ as long as one poverty ridden, oppressed person is found somewhere in the world. A sincere leftist is a woman/man full of ‘maithree’ and compassion, not only for her/his fellow human beings, but for all living beings, flora and fauna and even the inanimate planet earth, our common home. A true and a sincere leftist, even though s/he may call herself/himself an atheist, is a hidden but an authentic Buddhist, a genuine Christian, a true Hindu or a true Muslim.

A genuine leftist may not be perfect but s/he is a full human being. He is ready to sacrifice anything, even his life, for the good of the people, the common good. He is a humble man who is ready to set aside his personal views or ideas for the sake of serving the people better. He has no disgusting yen for position, power or pelf.

Continue reading ‘Historic Moment for Left Movement to Unite and Take Political Leadership in the Interests of Sri Lanka.’ »

Former Sabaragamuwa Province Chief Minister Maheepala Herath yesterday said that he is against the policy of usurping the powers given to provincial councils.

Addressing the last session of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council, Herath said that he likes to be a provincial councillor than a parliamentarian.

The tenure of the sixth Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council expired yesterday.

Continue reading ‘Ex- Sabaragamuwa Chief Minister Maheepala Herath Against Policy of Usurping Powers Given to Provincial Councils.’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

In midst of an impossible muddle of governance in Colombo, the handing down of the death sentence to the accused in the Sivaloganathan Vithya rape and murder case by a trial-at-bar in Jaffna this week is one tentative indication that, (to borrow from Longfellow) the mills of justice in Sri Lanka have started grinding again, exceedingly fine.

The phenomenon of exceptional prosecutions

Indeed, this trial is noteworthy in a way that goes far beyond its verdict. It is more than merely symbolic that the court sittings were held in Jaffna. The last such nationally prominent case was far back as the mid 1990’s when Chemmani school girl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy’s rape and murder, (as well as the murder of her mother, brother and neighbour), was prosecuted before a Colombo trial-at-bar.

This was also a successful prosecution at the time. Many would be struck by the poignant and painful commonalities. In both cases, the primary victims were bright schoolgirls, intent on pursuing their studies but robbed of those dreams by the vicious acts of others. Vithya was a child of the generation of the displaced with her family having to leave her native village Pungudutivu in 1990 due to war and returning only decades later. On all accounts, she had wanted to teach or be a journalist after her studies.

Continue reading ‘Vithya Sivaloganathan Rape and Murder Trial at Bar Case Verdict in Jaffna Indicates “Mills of Justice Have Started Grinding Again” in Sri Lanka.’ »

(Excerpts from the “Sunday Times” Political Column of October 1st 2017)

With local government polls now ahead, President Maithripala Sirisena has embarked on an ambitious project to consolidate his position as leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Last Thursday evening, he took the unusual step of conducting one-on-one meetings with SLFP ministers, parliamentarians and chief ministers. The venue for the special event was the Cinnamon Hilltop at Kaluwella in Galle.

There were no ‘note takers,’ secretaries or other officials. Seated in a ground floor room of what was once the abode of Col. Henry Steel Olcott, a former US military officer, journalist and lawyer well known for the Buddhist revivalist movement in Sri Lanka, the President made notes of the discussions personally.

The SLFP stalwarts had been summoned to this new hotel on Thursday for an overnight session. They were accommodated at this new boutique hotel as well as those nearby. They had finished an early dinner. Sirisena arrived shortly after 7 p.m. With a short break at his upstairs suite, he walked into the room with a notebook in hand to invite those present, one by one, for separate meetings. He jotted down the varied issues they raised. They ranged from electoral problems, difficulties in servicing their electorates to the future of their party. One message Sirisena gave all of them was that he planned to hold such meetings regularly, if possible every week. The bilateral sessions went on till 11 p.m. that night.

Continue reading ‘Sirisena Has Series of Meetings With SLFP Stalwarts In Serious Bid To Consolidate His Leadership Over Party as EP and NCP Councillors Desert UPFA’ »

BY Mirudhula Thambiah

“Kutty cried the entire day when my Chellam (darling) went missing. Kutty joined us in our search for her. Kutty was very attached to my daughter and she loved Kutty very much. Kutty was her best friend,” Vithya’s mother Saraswathy wept while recollecting memories of her daughter and her best friend Kutty.

We have only heard about Vithya’s brutal death and all of Sri Lanka wept for her. Meanwhile, her loving dog, Kutty, had also wept for days and kept searching for its loving friend.

Vithya was the youngest in the family and she always, since her childhood, had a pet dog.

Continue reading ‘Vithya Sivaloganathan’s Pet Dog “Kutty” Kept Pining and Searching for Murdered “Best Friend ” for Many Days.’ »

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

All is not well for the 31 Rohingya boat people, who belong to a Muslim ethnic group in majority-Buddhist Myanmar, after they sought refuge in Sri Lanka in April this year.

A group of Sinhala nationalist and extremist Buddhist monks marched to their residence in Mount Lavinia on the morning of 26 September and began calling on the Rohingya to step out of their apartment or else it would be attacked.

The mob wanted the Rohingya to leave the country immediately, labelling them as ‘terrorists’ who have been offered shelter in Sri Lanka. These Rohingya sought refuge after fleeing violence in their Rakhine State of Myanmar following a military crackdown on suspected Muslim militants.

The group of 31 includes 17 children, seven women and seven men, were rescued by the Sri Lanka Coast Guard while they were adrift in the northern waters.

Continue reading ‘How a Mob Led By Buddhist Monks Laid Siege to a UNHCR Safe House with Refugees Comprising 17 Children, 7 Women and 7 Men’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

“An insult to humanity” — that is how the leftist political party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna termed the recent Buddhist monk-led attacks on a United Nations safe house sheltering Rohingya refugees in suburban Colombo. The men in robes were calling for the refugees to be deported.

The incident not only alarmed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — the agency caring for them here — but also outraged many Sri Lankans, including politicians. Condemning the attacks, Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne slammed both the hard-line monks, calling them “animals”, and the police for “not preventing” the incident. A magistrate court has summoned three attackers, including two monks, local media reports said.

Continue reading ‘Why Should Rohingya Refugees Be Made to Live in Infamous Boosa Detention Centre With Terrorist Suspects?’ »

(Text of Editorial Published in the Pakistan Newspaper ” Dawn” of September 30th, 2017)

THE juggernaut of hatred in the name of faith is spreading. It is hounding the Rohingya Muslims as they flee Myanmar in various directions to escape ethnic cleansing. Added to the list of excesses committed against them is an attack led by Buddhist monks on a UN-run safe house in Colombo where several of them had been given shelter.

The perpetrators, a Sinhalese nationalist group, justified their action with claims that the Rohingyas had been involved in violence against the Buddhists in Myanmar. Reports say the protesters demanded that these Muslim refugees in transition, who are awaiting the processing of their cases for asylum in a third country under the aegis of the UNHCR, be sent back from where they had arrived in Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘“Buddhist Monk – Led Attack on Rohingyas in Sri Lanka is a Warning of How Far and Fast Hatred Can Spread”- Dawn’ »

By Gagani Weerakoon

President Maithripala Sirisena who went to Gemunupura Buddhist Centre in Ampara on Friday (29) to present the Akthapathra to newly elected Mahanayake of the Udarata Amarapura Samagri Sangha Sabha,Most Ven.Girambe Mangala Nayaka Thera emphasized that the draft report for the new constitutional proposals in any way does not project a concept of a Federal State.

The President also emphasized that he will not allow anyone to draft a Constitution which will harm the unitary status of the country, and further said that he will not leave any room to change the foremost place given for Buddhism in the existing Constitution.

“The Government is paying its prime attention to provide solutions for the problems faced by the people in the North and the East, ensuring sustainable peace in the country, building reconciliation among all the communities in a way which will prevent the recurrence of war”, he added.

The President pointed out that if the people of the country entertain ideas of recurrence of the war, the country will again move forward to a dark era, and said that the government is committed to build reconciliation and trust among all the communities without leaving any room for such idea to prevail among the public. President Sirisena also said that he requests Mahanayaka Theras and all the religious leaders including Hindu, Islamic and Christian religious leaders to discuss in this regard sitting at the same table.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Declares He Wont Allow Drafting of a New Constitution if it Harms Unitary Status and Foremost Place to Buddhism.’ »

By Risidra Mendis

They come from as far as the Beira Lake, Bolgoda, Kelani Ganga, Attidiya, Thalawathugoda, Diyatha Uyana and the Diyawanna Oya and are well settled way before their feeding time at the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala. Seated patiently and close to each other, the visiting Spot Billed Pelicans and the resident pelicans at the zoo wait for their food to arrive. Pelican feeding time at the Zoo is always an interesting sight to witness, as the numbers of birds differ everyday.

If you happen to be one of those lucky visitors, you will see about 100-200 pelicans at feeding time. On other days, it may be just around 20-30 birds on the ground with a few perched on top of trees, eagerly waiting for their fish. While some eat at the zoo and stay within the premises, others are visitors who come for their meal and then fly away only to return the following day, in time to be fed.

Continue reading ‘Over 100 Spot-billed Pelicans in the Wild Fly to Dehiwela Zoo Daily at Feeding Time to Share Meals With Resident Pelicans’ »

By Ananth Palakidnar

The schoolgirl Vithya Sivaloganathan murder Trial-at-Bar verdict came in for the praise by the law abiding citizens of the Jaffna Peninsula and the country at large. Seven of the accused were convicted for conspiracy, abduction, rape and murder and were sentenced to death.

The verdict and handing down of the death sentence was given by the three-Judge Trial-at-Bar Bench, which comprised High Court Judges Balendran Sasi Mahendran, Manickavasagar Illanchelian and Annalingam Premshankar.

This was the first ever Trial-at-Bar to be held in Jaffna and it lasted five months from May this year.

It was significant in many ways as it highlighted the dignity of the judiciary of the country tormented by three decades of separatist war.

Continue reading ‘Vithya Sivaloganathan Rape and Murder Case was the First Ever Trial At Bar Conducted By High Court in Jaffna.’ »

by C.A.Chandraprema

The ‘sil redi’ judgment against former presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga and former Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General Anusha Pelpita continues to make waves. Indeed the discussion of this judgment is fully justified. This writer cannot think of another judgment at the High Court level which is fraught with such serious implications for the way the most important institutions and the public service in this country functions. The sil redi judgement itself says that no part of the money involved was taken by Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Pelpita for their personal use yet they were sentenced to three years RI and a fine of two million rupees as well as an unprecedented fine of Rs 50 million each on the grounds that they had misappropriated Rs 600 million from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to be spent on sil redi to confer an advantage on Mahinda Rajapaksa at the last presidential elections.

Even though the last presidential election is mentioned as the pivotal event in this whole judgment, Weeratunga and Pelpita were never charged under the Presidentail elections law. The sil redi judgment would have been more comprehensible to the ordinary man on the street if an election related offence was proved first and they were subsequently convicted of having ‘misappropriated’ Rs. 600 million from the TRC to commit that election related offence. The reason why Weeratunga and Pelpita were never charged under the Presidential elections law is obviously the state of utter confusion that prevails with regard to election offences. If our elections laws are properly implemented, there will in fact be no election campaigns of any kind in this country.

Continue reading ‘Benefit of the Doubt in “Sil Redi” Case Should Have Been Given to Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Pelpita’ »

Police have arrested a man and woman for taking part in a violent demonstration against Rohingya refugees and are looking for several others, including three Buddhist monks who led the mob and “behaved like animals.”

Police said a search was underway for monk Akmeemana Dayaratne and two other monks who orchestrated the mob violence against the UN safe house where 31 refugees were sheltered.

Video footage broadcast live on Facebook by the monks themselves showed them inciting violence and urging bystanders to storm the multi-storied building where 16 children and seven women and seven men huddled in upstairs rooms.

Continue reading ‘Police Launch Search for Akmeemana Dyaratne Thero and Two Other Bhikkus For Orchestrating Mob Violence Against Rohingyas’ »

By Dr Palitha Kohona

Sri Lanka is a rare case where a brutal terrorist challenge to the state was comprehensively defeated, substantially through its own efforts, despite all the advice, reservations and fears publicly expressed to the contrary. Unfortunately, the elimination of terrorism has won it few plaudits internationally. Instead, the tables have been turned and the military success of the Sri Lankan state and its security forces is overshadowed by extensive accusations relating to alleged violations of the norms of war and of human rights. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the country to free it of the terrorist challenge, has been accused of not giving negotiations a chance. I will address only this allegation in this overview. Curiously, the terrorist group, the LTTE, which savagely terrorised the population for over 27 years, is hardly mentioned while accusations of gross violations by the security forces dominate the headlines and the state is made to feel guilty of wrongdoing.

Analysts have sought to identify the reasons for this strangely illogical outcome. At the time that President Rajapaksa was elected, many, including senior officials of Sri Lanka, believed that the once feared LTTE could not be defeated militarily. Additionally, the then Opposition was publicly skeptical of the government’s ability to overcome the LTTE. The comments of a senior opposition member of Parliament that the soldiers went to Pamankada (a suburb of Colombo) but claimed to have gone to Alimankada (Elephant Pass in the North) reflected this skepticism. In 2006, the Chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) General Henrickson advised Sri Lankan officials at the highest levels, including the Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, not to entertain any thoughts of confronting the LTTE militarily as the terrorist group was far too good, too professional and better motivated compared with the security forces and its leadership and would prevail in the event of a confrontation Similar warnings were voiced by many heads of Western Diplomatic Missions based in Colombo, despite their own publicly proclaimed anti-terrorist policies and military actions designed to destroy terrorists far from their own borders, including in the South Asian neighbourhood. Either through pragmatism, desperation founded on experience, or for other reasons best known to themselves, many advocated continued negotiations with the LTTE despite the fact that the multiple efforts to end the conflict through negotiations since 1985, including with Indian intervention, and despite the many concessions made by different elected presidents, had failed.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Launched Full Scale War Against LTTE After Tigers Rejected Peace Through Negotiations’ »

By Saman Gunadasa

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena recently addressed the United Nations General Assembly, appealing to the international powers to back his crisis-ridden government, while denouncing those demanding democratic and social rights at home as “extremists.”

Sirisena’s and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government, now two-and-a-half years old, faces growing opposition from workers, youth and the rural poor, as well as from Tamil people whose living conditions have been devastated by the three-decade communal war in the country’s north and east. While Sirisena was addressing the UN, power workers were on strike and students and doctors were holding protests against the privatisation of education in Colombo.

Sirisena’s self-serving speech on September 19 boasted about democratic rights and reform measures to alleviate poverty. He pompously claimed to be an example in the international arena of “a leader who has shed power while holding office… [and] removing groups who use autocratic governance.”

Continue reading ‘Blatant Lies in President Sirisena’s Self – Serving Speech at UN on Sep 19’ »

By A.J.A. Abeynayake

Colombo District Judge Sujeewa Nissanka yesterday rejected a petition seeking to reinstate former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

The judge decided to reject the case after the preliminary objections that the petitioners had no legal right to continue with the case.

The petition was filed by former Chairman of the Boralesgamuwa Urban Council Aruna Priyashantha and former Urban Councillor Asanka Priyanath. It named former General Secretary of the SLFP Aruna Priyadarshana Yapa and current General Secretary of the party Duminda Dissanayake and the Elections Commissioner as respondents

Continue reading ‘Petition Seeking Re-instatement of Mahinda Rajapaksa as SLFP Head Dismissed by Courts as Petitioners Had no Legal Right to Pursue Case’ »

By

Thulasi Muttulingam

(This Article written in 2015 is being re-posted now in view of the verdict issued by the three -member trial – at- bar bench in Jaffna on March 27th 2017. Vidya Sivaloganathan’s family has obtained justice for now)

Vidhya Sivaloganathan’s family remembers her as sensitive and soft. She had recently cried when her mother said they would have to sell the family’s goat because they couldn’t afford to keep it anymore. “No amma. She’s part of the family now. We’ll reduce our meals and share with her what we eat. Please do not give her away,” she had begged. Every evening as soon as she returned home from school, she would go straight to her ‘pets.’

Vidhya Sivaloganathan

“We reared the livestock –the goat, the cow and the chickens for eggs and milk but Vidhya always treated them like personal friends,” recalls her mother Saraswathi Sivaloganathan. “I often scolded her over it because she was always cuddling them and getting her white uniform dirty. She would cuddle them before going to school and then cuddle them as soon as she returned from school too. Kutty the goat would beckon with her horned head to Vidhya for more cuddling when she left for school. She would laugh and say, ‘I’ll pet you more, as soon as I get back Kutty.’ That was their ritual. As soon as she returned, all the animals would go to greet her including Chella Mani the hen, clucking all the way. She would pick the hen up, pretend that she could understand its seemingly indignant clucking and say, ‘Oh is that right Chella Mani? Amma hasn’t fed you properly today? How mean of her, here have some biscuits.’

“She would then feed the hen securely tucked under one of her arms, pieces of biscuits with her other hand while still in her school uniform,” recalls her mother tearing up at the memory. “It used to annoy me no end but now all those memories are so bitter-sweet to us. It is who she was. If I ever scolded her for talking to dumb animals as equals, she would say, ‘amma they are not dumb animals. They are intelligent sentient beings without a voice. We have to be extra kind to them.’”

“The animals knew,” says her brother Nishanthan (22). “It was finally the dogs who led us to her body. On the days leading up to her funeral and at the funeral itself, the dogs and goat acted half-crazed against certain individuals, wanting to head-butt or bite them. We thought they had become unbalanced with grief just as we had and tied them up. But it turned out the individuals the animals had been reacting against, were Vidhya’s rapists and murderers. They had had the nerve to show up repeatedly at our house to offer their sympathy until the police caught them.”

Continue reading ‘Vidhya Sivaloganathan’s Family in Pungudutheevu is Waiting for Justice’ »

by Percey Kuruneru

Thirteen UPFA members of the North Central Provincial Council resigned from the party to join the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) yesterday.

Former Chief Minister of the NCP SM Ranjith Samarakoon, addressing a press conference, at his party office in Anuradhapura announced the decision of 13 UPFA councilors to join the SLPP.

Continue reading ‘13 UPFA North Central Province Councillors Resign From Party and Join Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.’ »

By

Chandre Dharmawardana

The proposed constitution has provoked much debate, but mainly within the framework of traditional thinking with emphasis on a few issues like “Unitary and Devolved power, the place of Buddhism, or the executive presidency. In my view, these ignore the most urgent issues that Sri Lanka will face in the next decade, due to climate change as well as the on-going technological tsunami. I discussed how we may harness the digital revolution to our advantage in a previous article (Island, September 2017) entitled “Unit of Devolution – look in cyberspace”. Someone will ask, what has climate change got to do with the Constitution? Here I try to show that it has everything to do with the Constitution, and that it can even be used to strengthen the unitary character of the country that even those who want “maximum devolution” claim to support.

Just after the defeat of the LTTE, in 2009, I presented a talk to a gathering of officials at the Presidential Secretariat, entitled “Four Challenges to Sri Lanka and their Technological Solutions”. One of the challenges was the looming danger of global warming and the rising sea level. The attached map (shown then) roughly indicates how much of the island will go under salt water if nothing is done. It is painfully similar to the map of Sri Lanka under the Tsunami.

My suggestion was the building of a raised wall (bund or dyke) along the marine periphery of the Island, which will also have a highway for electric vehicles, communications, security and heliports integrated into it.

The region that is likely to go under water (at least its maritime strip) should be declared a 10th province and held under the central government because of its encompassing nature, affecting the whole island.

Continue reading ‘Entire Littoral of the Island Must Be Protected by a Dike With Coastal Regions Being Carved Out as 10th Province of Sri Lanka.’ »

Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province is ready to accommodate Rohingyas stranded in the island and facing threats from radical Buddhist monks, says C.V.K.Sivagnanam, Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC).

On Thursday, an NPC member, M.K.Shivajilingam, had made a Special Mention in the Council condemning the hounding of 31 Rohingyas, mostly women and children, in Mount Lavinia, 10 km from the capital, and their subsequent placement under “protective custody” in the high security Boosa detention center.

Given the opposition to the Rohingyas in Sinhalase-Buddhist dominated South Sri Lanka, the government should allow the Tamil-dominated Northern Province to accommodate them, Shivajilingam suggested.

Continue reading ‘Rohingya Refugees in Lanka Can be Accommodated in North Says Northern Provincial Council Chairman C.V.K. Sivagnanam.’ »

The Colombo District Court this afternoon rejected the petitions submitted seeking the reinstatement of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Two former Central Committee members of the SLFP; Aruna Priyashantha and Asanka Srinath filed the petition seeking to reinstate former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Chairman of the SLFP.

Continue reading ‘Petitions Seeking Re-instatement of Mahinda Rajapaksa as SLFP Chairman Dismissed by Colombo District Court’ »

Five Anuradhapura District Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Provincial Councillors of the North Central Province (NCP) have decided to join the Podu Jana Peramuna.

The Podu Jana Peramuna was formed by former Foreign Affairs Minister G.L. Pieris and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 2, 2016.

Continue reading ‘Five North Central Provincial Councillors from Anuradhapura District Desert Maithri’s SLFP and Join Podu Jana Peramuna.’ »

In a potentially far reaching slashing of peoples’ everyday freedoms, a council of state officials appointed the by President Maithripala Sirisena is to decide what food is ‘essential’ for people, and ban imports of foods that does not match their opinion.

According to a statement from the President’s office a National Economic Council “expects to take immediate steps to stop importing of all non-essential food items as well as unhealthy foods into the country.”

Sri Lanka has a Department of Customs and customs officers created by colonial European colonialists and also jails and police to take away the freedoms of ordinary citizens and punish those who do not live according to the wishes of the rulers.

There is no information yet on what criteria the Economic Council will decide what foods are ‘essential’ for the people or ‘healthy.’

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena’s “National Economic Council” to Dectermine What Imported Foods are Healthy and Essential for Sri Lankan People’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Sri Lanka’s longstanding commitment to the UN as well as the EU not to implement the death penalty will save those who had been sentenced to death on Wednesday for gang rape and murder of 18-year-old student Vidya.

The Trial-at bar, which heard the Vidya murder case in Jaffna sentenced seven of the accused to death .

The bench comprised High Court Judges Shashi Mahendran (President), Anna Lingam Ravi Shankar and Manickawasagar Illancheliyan.The bench found the accused guilty of all 41 counts.

Two other accused who turned state witnesses were exonerated of all charges.

Continue reading ‘Though Sentenced to Death the Seven Convicted in Vidya Sivaloganathan Rape and Murder Case Will Not Be Hanged.’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Joint Opposition yesterday revealed that the English version of the recently ratified Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act differed from the Sinhala text.

JO parliamentary group leader Dinesh Gunawardena said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had endorsed it without verification. The Speaker’s failure to detect the mistake had resulted in the Government Printer issuing the relevant gazette notification with it.

Gunawardena said so at the weekly JO media briefing at Dr. N. M. Perera centre at Cotta Road,Borella. The JO parliamentary group leader was flanked by former External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, LSSP leader Prof. Tissa Vitharana and Pivuthuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila, MP.Unless remedial measures were taken the government’s promise to hold the much-delayed local government polls in January 2018, too, would go unfulfilled, MP Gunawardena said. MEP leader Gunawardena faulted Speaker Jayasuriya for what he called an unprecedented constitutional crisis caused by the ruling UNP-SLFP coalition putting off both local government and Provincial Council polls indefinitely.

Continue reading ‘Speaker Karu Jayasuriya Flayed by JO Leader Dinesh Gunawardena For Alleged Partisan Conduct in Parliament’ »

By Dharisha Bastians

Police have made no arrests yet in the monk-led attack on a United Nations safe house on Tuesday, which forced authorities to relocate 31 Rohingya refugees, mainly women and children who had fled persecution in Myanmar, into the high security detention centre in Boosa for their protection.

The mob calling itself Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa streamed the storming of the safe house run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Mount Lavinia live on the social media network Facebook.

Speaking to Daily FT, Police Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunesekera said no arrests have been made so far, despite video footage of the attack being widely available, because police were still “conducting investigations”.

The refugees were transferred to Boosa, a controversial detention centre in Galle, for their protection on the request of the UNHCR, the Police Spokesman said. “This is because Boosa is a high security facility,” Gunesekera added.

Continue reading ‘None Involved in “Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa” Mob Attack on UNHCR Shelter Housing Rohingya Men,Women and Children Arrested by Police So Far..’ »

Lawyers appearing for the convicts in the Vithya Sivaloganathan rape and murder said they would file an appeal at the Appeals Court within 14 days.

The lawyers insist their clients – who were sentenced to death by the Jaffna High Court yesterday – were not guilty of the rape and murder of Vithya.

Continue reading ‘Lawyers to Lodge Appeal Against High Court Sentence on Behalf of Seven Convicted in Vithya Sivaloganathan Rape and Murder Case’ »

by Hemantha Randunu and Dinasena Rathugamage

The Trial-at bar, which heard the Vidya murder case in Jaffna sentenced seven of the accused to death yesterday.

The bench comprised High Court Judges Shashi Mahendran (President), Anna Lingam Ravi Shankar and Manickawasagar Illancheliyan.

The 332 page verdict was read out by the President of the Trial-at-bar and Vavuniya High Court Judge Shashi Mahendran.

The bench found the accused guilty of all 41 counts.

Two other accused who turned state witnesses were exonerated of all charges.

Continue reading ‘Rape and Murder Case Victim Vidya Sivaloganathan’s Mother Faints in Court as 332 Page Verdict is Read By High Court Judge Shashi Mahendran’ »

Three SLFP members of the Eastern Provincial Council obtained the membership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by Prof. G.L. Peiris today.

They claimed that the SLFP is destroying the country after joining with the United National Party (UNP).

Accordingly, Provincial Councilors W. D. Weerasinghe, T. M. Jayasena and Chandra Thevarapperuma joined the SLPP.

Courtesy:Daily Mirror

By

S.S.Selvanayagam

Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva today filed fundamental rights violation petition challenging the enactment of Provincial Council Elections Amendment Bill.

He takes Attorney General, the Speaker as well as the Chairman and members of the Elections Commission to target charging that at the Committee Stage all the operative Clauses of the published Bill and passed at the Second Reading are deleted and entirely new set of provisions that purport to be a replacement of the gamut of the Principal Enactment is introduced.

He also indicts the Attorney General has purported to examine the Constitutionality of these provisions smuggled in behind the back of the sovereign People amounting to an act of deception.

Continue reading ‘Ex-Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva Files Petition Challenging the Enactment of Provincial Councils Elections Amendment Bill.’ »

By

Kalathma Jayawardhane

The Joint Opposition today charged that the government was committing several mistakes in the rules and regulations with regard to the elections, in an attempt of postponing elections.

JO Leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena told a news conference that the government was influencing on the democracy as well as the election procedure of the country even though they had come to power to serve the country with good-governance.

He also urged the government to hold the elections as per the Constitution.

“We have gone to the Supreme Court with regard to the draft of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Continue reading ‘Dinesh Lambastes Karu:”I Have Never Witnessed Such A Speaker Throughout the Past Years in Parliament”.’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

Have you ever known a government that benefited from the postponement of elections; one that didn’t pay with heavy interest for such postponement? Why buy time when time isn’t working in your favor?

There is a way of dislodging a government that seeks to entrench itself as long as it can, not holding elections, and that is to defeat it at a national referendum (as in Pinochet’s Chile in 1988). The attempt at a new Constitution will provide that chance.

There are, however, competing models of opposition/resistance. One is the “rejectionist-isolationist” model, which was the previous Government’s policy towards the Darusman Report– despite my public and private urging in April 2011 as Ambassador to France, of critical engagement and detailed rebuttal. Then there is the model of our response in Geneva in May 2009 to the hostile Western draft resolution on Sri Lanka, which we closely engaged –wrestled– with, rationally critiqued, incorporated the positive elements of, and then defeated by a pre-emptive counter-resolution which obtained a vote of almost two-thirds of the Council. Critical engagement is the only way to win over the middle ground, isolating and defeating the hardliners. If you do not engage constructively, rationally and critically, then you become the hardliner and isolate yourself –as the second term Rajapaksa administration so disastrously did in Geneva and the global arena in 2012-2014.

Continue reading ‘Steering Committee Iterim Report is Intellectually Shoddy and Farcically Dishonest.’ »

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Levelling a scathing criticism against the Buddhist monks that engaged in demonstrations against a group of Rohingya refugees, Co-cabinet spokesperson and Senior Government Minister Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said strong action should be taken against the protestors and police team which failed to take appropriate action.

“If anyone has attacked a refugee safe house then they should be arrested despite being monks, and anyone who stood by when that was happening should also be dealt with by the law. The Government will take action on this,” Senaratne said while speaking at the weekly Cabinet press briefing.

Continue reading ‘Anyone Attacking a Refugee Safe House Should be Arrested Despite Being Monks” States Cabinet Spokesman Dr.Rajitha Senaratne’ »

Seven accused in the gang rape and murder of schoolgirl Shivaloganathan Vidya (18) have been sentenced to death by a three judge Trial-at-Bar.

The verdict was announced a short while ago at the Jaffna High Court.

Vavuniya High Court Judge B. Sasi Mahendran is President of the Trial-at-Bar. The other members of the bench are Jaffna High Court Judge M. Ilancheliyan and Trincomalee High Court Judge A. Premashankar.

Heavy security prevailed at the Jaffna High Court premises this morning as the accused were led into courts.

Continue reading ‘Seven of Nine Accused Including “Swiss”Kumar Sentenced to Death for Gang rape and Murder of 18 Year Old Jaffna Schoolgirl Vidya Shivaloganathan’ »

(Text of Press Release Issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Over the “protest”incident concerning Rohingya Refugees comprising men,women and children at a UNHCR Refugee shelter in Sri Lanka)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is alarmed and concerned by yesterday’s incident at a refugee shelter housing mostly women and children on the outskirts of Colombo.

On Tuesday, a group protested outside the shelter housing 31 refugees – most of them women and children – who had been rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy from a boat in Sri Lankan waters in April this year.

Continue reading ‘UNHCR Alarmed and Concerned Over ” Protest” Outside Refugee Shelter with Women and Children in the Outskirts of Colombo’ »

(Text of Statement made by the Minister of Finance and Media, Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, MP., on the Rohingya Refugees in Sri Lanka)

27 September 2017

I would like to condemn in the strongest possible terms, the attack against Rohingya refugees – refugees who were under the care of UNHCR,yesterday in Mount Lavinia,by a group of thugs in robes.

In fact I condemn these actions not only as the Minister in charge of Media.

I am also condemning it as a Buddhist, a Buddhist who is very proud of the fact that Buddhism is a religion of non-violence and compassion.

Continue reading ‘Mangala Samaraweera as a Minister and Buddhist Strongly Condemns Attack on Rohingya Refugees by a “Group of Thugs in Robes”’ »

Sri Lanka’s government Wednesday said a handful of Buddhist monks behaved like animals when they led a mob attack against Rohingya refugees, including 16 small children and seven women.

Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said the government condemned in the strongest possible terms the Tuesday’s storming of a UN safe house where 31 Rohingya refugees were sheltering at Mount Lavinia.

“As a Buddhist I am ashamed at what happened,” Senaratne told reporters.

“Mothers carrying very young children were forced out…,” he said. “These monks who led the attack are not Buddhists, they acted like animals… (thirisan)”

The mob broke down the gates of the safe house and smashed windows and furniture as frightened refugees huddled together upstairs.

There were no reports of casualties among the refugees, who were later taken to another location, but two police officers were wounded and admitted to hospital.

Senaratne said police had been ordered to take disciplinary action against officers found to have failed to control the mob.

“This is not what the Buddha taught. We have to show compassion to these refugees,” he said.

Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera joined the condemnation by issuing a special statement slamming the ultra nationalist monks who led the attack as “thugs in robes.”

“I condemn these actions not only as the minister in charge of media, I am also condemning it as a Buddhist, a Buddhist who is very proud of the fact that Buddhism is a religion of non-violence and compassion,” Samaraweera said.

He urged the acting Inspector-General Chandana Wickramaratne to take stern action against those involved in the violence.

Sri Lanka’s extremist Buddhist monks have close links with their ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused of orchestrating violence against minority Muslims in the two countries.

One of the monks who stormed the building posted a video on Facebook filmed by his radical group Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force) as he urged others to join him and smash the premises.

“These are Rohingya terrorists who killed Buddhist monks in Myanmar,” the monk said in his live commentary, pointing to Rohingya mothers with small children in their arms.

The 31 Rohingya refugees were rescued by the Sri Lankan navy five months ago after they were found drifting in a boat off the island’s northern coast

They had been living in India for several years before leaving a refugee camp in Tamil Nadu state.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed alarm over Tuesday’s attack and urged Sri Lankans to show empathy for civilians fleeing persecution and violence.

Almost half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since August 25.

They have been the target of decades of state-backed persecution and discrimination in the mainly Buddhist country, where many view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Courtesy:ECONOMYNEXT

A small group of Buddhist monks belonging to an extremist Sri Lankan nationalist organization on Tuesday attacked houses of Rohingya Muslim refugees in the outskirts of the capital, forcing the police to arrest the “illegal immigrants”.

The 31 refugees, including women and children, were sent away to the detention camp at Boosa in South Sri Lanka, because the Migrants’’ Detention Center at Mirihana near Colombo, was full, reliable reports said.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the cooperation of which was sought, was assured that the sojourn of the refugees in Boosa, primarily meant for terror suspects, would only be temporary. The UNHCR accepted the arrangement, sources said.

The government and the UNHCR are working together to ensure the refugees’ “safety” and that the Detention Center is in “good condition,” reliable sources said.

Continue reading ‘31 Rohingyas Including Women and Children Moved to Boosa Detention Camp After Extremist Buddhist Monks Attack UNHRC Protected Safe House’ »

Radical Buddhist monks stormed a United Nations safe house for Rohingya refugees near Sri Lanka’s capital Tuesday and forced authorities to relocate the group, officials said.

Saffron-robed Buddhist monks led a mob that broke down gates and entered the walled multi-storied compound as frightened refugees huddled together in upstair rooms, a police official said.

“We have pushed back the mob and the refugees will be relocated in a safer place,” the official told AFP, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Continue reading ‘“Sinhala Jathika Balamuluwa” (Sinhala National Force) Mob Attacks United Nations Safe House in Colombo Suburb with Rohingya Muslim Refugees.’ »

By

Vishwamithra

“The greatest enemy of clear language is insincerity”
~George Orwell

The separation occurred soon after the cessation of the war. In the immediate aftermath of the end of the war, the Rajapaksas had nothing short of praise and flattery for General Sarath Fonseka, the man who led his forces to a victorious end of the most destructive conflict between the Government forces and the LTTE militants.

There is no dispute about, who gave military leadership to the soldiers of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The astute leadership qualities of General Fonseka, while he was still the Army Commander, were the qualities the Rajapaksas announced to the country as exemplary and worthy of idolisation.

Now they seem to be empty rhetoric.

Politicians are notorious for such meaningless words. They rarely mean what they utter on the political platform. Being used to deception by words and action, politicians are seldom matched by any other for abuse of language. The Rajapaksas belong to that miserable category.

The war-victory gave them a very plausible avenue to trek. And they willingly chose to travel that path. Sarath Fonseka’s tirade against former Jagath Jayasuriya, Army Commander, who in fact succeeded him, may have contained many truths; the allegations Fonseka hurled against Jayasuriya are not light; they are indeed in the realm of abuse of Human Rights and would have arisen the curiosity of many international organizations whose sharpened daggers are already in readiness to be used.

Fonseka would have been justified had he been only a private citizen, having retired from the Army. Sarath Fonseka must remember that he is not a private citizen anymore. He is now Field Marshal and a politician and a Cabinet Minister.

He being forthright will not suffice in the grand scheme of things; he should also be wise. Wisdom is not an inborn quality; it is a product of patience, it dawns on you when you have enough and gruelling experience tempered by iron discipline of mind.

Only a handful of Sri Lankan politicians could be classified as wise and Sarath Fonseka has time and again proved that he has not arrived at the lofty summit of wisdom.

Continue reading ‘Field Marshall Fonseka’s Character is that of a Fearless Leader and Forthright Speaker of Truth’ »

By
Gomin Dayasri

Among the merry pack at Temple Trees in the final days of the Rajapaksa regime, on whom would you place an honest gentleman’s tag! Say Lalith Weeratunga, a worthy recipient.

The image of a ‘gentleman’ is hard to locate but once found, grows in stature to acquire another, the honour of ‘Mr. Clean”

To this day he can be certified as an honest gentleman, in a diminishing world of such kindred spirits. Wrongs have no complexions and its solitary colour is just that of a wrong. Deemed a small city lad, entered a big city school (Royal College).

Known to be unsophisticatedly suave, a reputation Lalith earned in the cherry company he kept at school: alas, the crowd he moved around in his final days in office was not the same – accelerated the path to his undoing.

Life at the top made it difficult for Lalith Weeratunga to live a life between two contrasting worlds and maintain equilibrium. Lalith fell instantly to a trap of over socialising and enjoyed every moment of it. Lalith should have stayed at home and done the undone homework left in office to gather dust. In retirement he would be assured of a bedroom in his home than a hard bed in a cell.

Continue reading ‘Decline and Fall of the Scrupulously Honest “Mr.Clean” Lalith Weeratunga’ »

Rural Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka yesterday rejected reports that he was not included in the UN Delegation headed by President Maithripala Sirisena to New York. The Field Marshal said he couldn’t go to the US because his visa was denied.

“I could’ t go to the US because my visa was rejected. This was the third time that my US visa got rejected this year. I was not granted Visa to attend my daughter’s graduation as well. My green card was also not renewed,” he told the Daily Mirror.

Commenting on the remarks of MP Udaya Gammanpila, that Minister Fonseka had been removed from the delegation, the minister said the President had removed the joint opposition and not him.

Continue reading ‘Sarath Fonseka Denies Reports That he was not Included in the President Sirisena led Delegation to the UN in New York.’ »

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

The report of the Steering Committee could be said to be the draft Constitution in embryo and must be understood as such. However unsatisfactorily rendered it addresses two of the oldest, most vital questions in our contemporary history and indeed that of any state. One is the ethno-national question and the other, the question of models: presidentialism vs. parliamentarism. Taken together, the two issues pertain to the nature and structure of the state itself.

One would think that given the stakes involved, the discussion would be honest and serious. Instead, the both the government, led in this instance by the Prime Minister, but not limited to him, and the opposition led by former president Rajapaksa have started off on the wrong foot. The PM has kicked off with the mega-lie that the minority parties have agreed to a unitary state. This is a lie on two counts.

Continue reading ‘Ranil,Mahinda and Jayampathy Are Being Dishonest About the Steering Committee Interim Report’ »

By Risidra Mendis

It was a fun filled occasion for people but certainly not for the animals of the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala, when it was declared open to the public by Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, a few days ago. Night time at the zoo is usually quiet as the animals are finally free to get some rest away from the prying eyes of the visitors. However, their nocturnal peace was shattered when an area of 15 acres was opened to the public. Even though the Minister and Director General National Zoological Gardens Dammika Malsinghe assured animal welfare activists and the media that animals will not be harassed when the night zoo is opened, that is exactly what happened to some of them.

The scheduled opening of the zoo was 7.30p.m. However, as the deadline drew near, at around 6.45p.m., loud noises of last minute construction work were heard near the Bengal tiger enclosure. The workers were more focussed on meeting their deadline before the minister’s arrival, than on the welfare of the sleeping animals.

Even though the minister arrived at around 7.12p.m., officials from the ministry and zoo as well as foreign dignitaries were kept waiting for Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who never arrived. It was State Minister of Finance, Eran Wickramaratne who finally arrived to represent Samaraweera.

Continue reading ‘Animals Suffer Harassment on Opening Night of Special Nocturnal Zone at Dehiwela Zoo.’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

Given Sri Lanka’s recent history as one of the main sources of refugees during the three decades of ethnic conflict and the JVP’s 1988-1989 insurgency, the recent protests against the Rohingya refugees are downright hypocritical. However, they are incorrigible too, for despite all the bluster by ultra-nationalist monks, Sri Lanka currently hosts only 30 Rohingyas.

Three previous groups of Rohingyas who were rescued by the Navy in 2008, 2012 and 2013 have already been relocated to a third country. There are about 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers from different countries, including 30 from Myanmar, according to the UNHCR office in Colombo. That is a fraction compared to 136,605 Sri Lankan refugees and 8,634 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers in various countries in the world, mainly in India, according to the UNHCR’s 2012 figures.

Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, but, it had generally acted in the spirit of the convention. An exception to the norm was seen during the latter half of the Rajapaksa regime, when Colombo, allegedly on the insistence of Pakistan, deported hundreds of members of the Ahamediyya community back to Pakistan, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, that is a fundamental principle in international law that forbids a receiving country from sending asylum seekers back to a place where they would be in danger of persecution.

Perhaps it is overly idealistic to suggest that Sri Lanka on its own accepts refugees who had fled persecution elsewhere, though one could see the potential for a soft power boost for the country through a limited gesture to that effect.

Continue reading ‘Special Task Force and Military Intelligence Must Keep Tabs on Sinhala Buddhist Ultra-nationalists in Sri Lanka’ »

To his foes, Ataullah is a reckless amateur who has brought untold misery to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya after launching an insurgency in Myanmar.

But to supporters of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), their leader is an intrepid fighter who left a life of luxury in Saudi Arabia to defend the stateless group against overwhelming odds.

“He’s very charismatic,” said Richard Horsey, an independent analyst based in Myanmar.

“He inspires people. He speaks in a way that resonates with the grievances felt by that community.”

Ataullah is believed to have ordered the deadly attacks by ARSA in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last month, provoking a ferocious offensive by security forces that has sent around 422,000 Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh.
Continue reading ‘Karachi Born Ataullah is Charismatic Leader of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army That Launched Attacks in Myanmar’s Rakhine State’ »

By S.S. Selvanayagam

Senior Counsel contended in the Supreme Court that former actress turned politician Geetha Kumarasinghe’s candidacy should have been objected to at the time of her nomination or by way of an election petition.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, with Sugath Caldera and Niran Anketell, made his submission for Kumarasinghe.

The divisional bench of five judges comprised Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, B.P. Aluvihara, Sisira J. De Abrew, Anil Gooneratne and Nalin Perera.

The Supreme Court on 15 May granted Special Leave to Appeal with the application filed by Galle District UPFA Parliamentarian Geetha Kumarasinghe seeking to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal which disqualified her as a Member of Parliament on her impugned dual citizenship.

Continue reading ‘Galle District MP Geetha Kumarasinghe’s Appeal heard Before 5 Judge Bench Presided Over by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep.’ »

Sri Lanka’s customs authorities have stumbled on a bottomless gold mine as more smugglers resort to stuffing their bottoms with gems and precious metals, an official said Monday.

The latest discovery came on Sunday when a Coimbatore bound passenger was found with his rectum stuffed with seven gold biscuits and six gold chains with a value of 4.5 million rupees, customs spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said.

He said officials at the Bandaranaike International noticed a trend of more and more smugglers using their rear end to try and smuggle out gems and gold and there had been at least one detection every week this year.

Continue reading ‘Customs Detect Rise in Smugglers Using Their “Rear Ends” To Take out Gold and Gems Through Colombo airport’ »

By

Sanja de Silva Jayatilleka

68th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China

The 72nd UN General Assembly which President Maithripala is currently attending, has already gained notoriety around the world, because unusually, one of its member states threatened to totally destroy another.

Ahead of it, on the 18th of September, President Sirisena joined other world leaders in adopting a Political Declaration for UN Reform “to initiate meaningful reform to make the UN a more effective and efficient organization.” The new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres pledged to overhaul the United Nations bureaucracy to make it more responsive to the people it serves.

While this is a welcome initiative by the new Secretary General, it is hoped that Reform of the UN does not remain limited to rationalizing its bureaucracy. The UN, as the premier multilateral organization in the world needs to be more democratized if it is to be representative of its members and therefore more effective.

That need became even more evident following the threat to annihilate North Korea. Several countries have been engaged in efforts to defuse tension in the Korean peninsula through diplomacy, which is the only safe track when one is dealing with a nuclear power. One wonders what went through the minds of the South Korean delegation!

Continue reading ‘China’s View on UN and Multilateral Diplomacy is Consonant with Sri Lanka’s National Interest.’ »

By

Don Manu

Perhaps, it signalled the beginning of the end for the ingrained respect the people of Lanka have long held sacrosanct in their hearts for the sacred saffron robe.

Last week, as monks took to the streets to ask the public their money to tinkle and jingle in monks’ begging bowls as alms, what the nation witnessed was a radical departure from the Vinaya Code as laid down by the Buddha for monks to follow in their speech, conduct and behaviour; and the emergence of a breakaway sect that seemed prepared to flout all religious norms and traditional practices in the interest of corrupt partisan politics.

But first a little bit of history.

The Buddha Sasana, the community of monks, was first established in Lanka by Arahant Mahinda, son of India’s Emperor Asoka during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa who reigned over Lanka from the capital of Anuradhapura in 250BC. Unlike Winston Churchill announcing to the British Parliament at Westminster in 1940 after the Dunkirk debacle “that if the British Empire and the Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour” — it didn’t survive the decade — and unlike Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler proclaiming that the Third Reich would last for a thousand years — it didn’t last for a decade either — Devanampiyatissa Anuradhapura lasted for more than thousand three hundred years. And whilst it flourished as the nation’s capital, so did the Buddha Sasana thrive without sag.

But with repeated Chola invasions, the Sinhala kingdom was forced to abandon the historic capital and to seek new lodgings at Polonnaruwa where hope of resurrection of the glory of Anuradhapura bloomed for 150 years. But alas, the promise was not to last. With the Chola onslaughts, the Sinhala kings were forced to pack their bags and go further and further down south and set up their royal camps in Yapahuwa; then forced to move the caravan to Dambadeniya, to Kurunegala, to Gampola and then to Kotte and Kandy. With this migration and with the people dislocated, the Buddha Sasana was rendered virtually extinct.

Continue reading ‘‘Salli Saranang Gatchchami’: Vinaya Code Violated by Monks in Sacred Saffron Robes who are Being Exploited by Vile Politicians.’ »

By Shaahidah Riza

President’s Counsel and member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), parliamentarian Jayampathy Wickramaratne spoke to Ceylon Today about the salient points pertaining to the Interim report, of the steering committee, which centred on the Constitutional Assembly of Sri Lanka.

Emphasizing on the need to include the word Aekiya Rajya in the English and Sinhalese version of the Constitution, he added that the Sri Lankan lawmakers have a ‘unitary mindset’ and that the proposal by the TNA to include the term Aekiya in English is a good development.

Excerpts of the Interview:

Question: How did you come to a consensus on the voting system?

Answer: Vast majority of people are against the preferential vote. They want MPs for the electorates. But at the same time they want the proportional representation, so that different shades of political opinion are reflected in the Parliament. What is proposed is a mixed member proportional representation system (MMP) where the candidate has to run for the electorate and run for the party. The overall composition of the Parliament is determined by the party vote which I think is important. You eliminate the preferential voting and everybody has his own MP at the electorate and at the same time the overall composition is proportionate.

Continue reading ‘“The Best Devolution Proposals came from the Seven Sinhala SLFP Chief Ministers” – Dr.Jayampathy Wickramaratne’ »

by Victor Ivan
Translation by K.A.N. Perera

While attending a public discussion on the renaissance movement, a participant approached me and shared his opinion on the intellectual poverty of the Sri Lankan people as a nation and asked me whether it would be possible for me to investigate this and clarify the historical context of the issue.

Smallness of thinking

As I see it, the main reason for the intellectual poverty of Sri Lankan people lies in the fact that, for ages, they have been restricting their knowledge, exclusively to the religion that they believe in. Perceived from a philosophical sense, of all religious leaders, the Buddha offers an in-depth philosophical analysis. Yet, unfortunately, the doctrine of the Buddha has been understood by many in a very narrow sense despite its profundity and matter of fact approach to the human issues.

Not only in the distant past, even at present the Buddhist is entrenched in viewing Buddhism as the culmination and crowning glory of all knowledge. In the long history of over 2300 years, all literary and intellectual activities that can be classified as of academic value were executed in very close association with Buddhism. In this background, not a single book of non-religious nature like Art, Literature, Mathematics, Science, Philosophy, the purpose of life or the nature of the world was written during this long period. Similarly, not a single book on these subjects published in other countries was translated into Sinhala. Consequently, Buddhism remained only, or the main source of knowledge and inspiration over this long period.

Religious leaders like the Buddha, Mahavira, Confucius, philosophers of the calibre of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Mathematicians like Euclid and scientists like Archimedes can be described as great intellectuals who lived in the pre Christian era. They were unique people in the respective fields that they represented. Pythagoras and Euclid stand out prominently in the field of mathematics. Archimedes stands out in both mathematics and engineering fields, Socrates in ethics, Plato in political science and conceptual issues. Aristotle represents four different areas viz. political science, art, logic and physical science.

Continue reading ‘Reasons for Intellectual Poverty of the Sri Lankan People as a Nation’ »

By
Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

As the US government engages in the complicated process of approving its budget for Financial Year 2018, we are told that the Trump administration had requested US$ 3.4 million in foreign assistance for Sri Lanka. Readers could be forgiven if they thought it was a typo in the news reports they read. But it was confirmed in Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells’s statement to the US House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on Sept. 7.

US Senate and House Sub-committees have both opposed the 92% slash in funding, with the Senate Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations Appropriations recently approving a sum of US$35 million under the ‘Economic Support Fund,’ according to reports. But this amount, modest as it is, comes with hefty conditions attached that would have implications for Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and independence, since it is conditional on laws being repealed or changed, demands as to how Sri Lanka’s military shall be deployed, decisions on the military’s restructuring and its size etc. It further links the assistance to ‘supporting a credible justice mechanism in compliance with UNHRC Resolution (A/HCR/30/ L.29) of October, 2015’ (which incorporates all of the above and more).

The latter condition was also central to Wells’s testimony before the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee when she said “We (meaning the governments of the US and Sri Lanka) “are working together to fulfil the steps to which our nations agreed in a resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council in 2015.” Wells links the assistance to constitutional reform, devolution of power, repeal of the PTA and other specifics contained in Resolution 30/1 such as the Office of Missing Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Commission and prosecutions for alleged war crimes. Such is the tall order that (it would appear) is expected in order to receive the grand sum of US$3.4 million in assistance in 2018.

Continue reading ‘Why is Sri Lanka Getting Entangled in the “War Games” of Nuclear Powers?’ »

By

Gagani Weerakoon Reporting from New York

The success of the United Nations depends upon the independent strength of its members. To overcome the perils of the present, and to achieve the promise of the future, we must begin with the wisdom of the past. Our success depends on a coalition of strong and independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote security, prosperity and peace, for themselves and for the world. We do not expect diverse countries to share the same cultures, traditions, or even systems of government, but we do expect all nations to uphold these two core sovereign duties, to respect the interests of their own people and the rights of every other sovereign nation, President of the United States of America Donald Trump said in his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly moments before he called North Korean leader Kim Jung Un “rocket man,” and described him as being on “a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” He also threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if the US finds itself “forced to defend itself or its allies.”

The tone and the language used by Trump in a place like the United Nations, where peace and tolerance were supposedly upheld, came under criticism by many. However, Trump’s emphasis on independent nations being entitled for their sovereignty came as a blessing for Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena took the podium to tell international community and especially the UN and its affiliates that Sri Lanka needs its due space in addressing local issues.

Prior to his speech President Sirisena met US President Trump on the corridors to the main auditorium and extended his greetings.

Continue reading ‘“I Dont Want Sri Lanka to be Another Myanmar” -President Sirisena tells UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Al-Hussein in New York’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

“At a time when national borders are vanishing, the borders in our own mind need to be erased in the interests of serious inquiry and discussion.”—Mervyn de Silva, The Age of Identity, 1993

As in life, there are no guarantees in politics. One can only avoid the most obvious mistakes and cultivate the wisdom to manage things prudently. A Constitution cannot function as a prison house. Countries, like people, stay together because of consent and mutual agreement. The “stability” that most Sinhala “patriots” (actually ultranationalists) crave, cannot be ensured by rigidity and unilateral imposition. The stability of the whole can be achieved only through dialogue and consensus, involving mutual compromise and concessions, between the component parts. That is surely the logic and spirit of the Social Contract.

It is impossible to adopt a policy that is so constricting as to be rejected by all political representatives of a given community, simply because the majority community thinks the status quo of provincial devolution too risky. If one cannot persuade a single political organization of the Tamils to accept the district as the unit of devolution, how is it going to be put into policy and practice except by unilateral imposition, and why would anyone in their right minds think, after the experience of 1987 and given the current globalization of the Tamil issue and the unremitting external pressure on us, that the majority community is going to be permitted to unilaterally impose a political settlement upon the Tamils?

One of my late father, Mervyn de Silva’s ceaseless endeavors was to educate both the West-centric elite and the parochial ‘patriotic’ upper-middle and middle classes in the realities of Sri Lanka’s ethnic question in “the new global environment” as he put it, thereby freeing them from their shared myopia. It is obvious from the discourse of many Sinhala “nationalists” that the points he made need to be repeated. Since my father’s death I have realized that it is my task to share his insights in an effort as to prevent the cycle of the island’s tragic contemporary history from repeating itself. The effort may prove a Sisyphean burden, but it is part of my social and intellectual responsibility; the voluntarily accepted burden of a role that is an inheritance, part of my heritage.

Continue reading ‘Stability Craved by Sinhala Ultra-nationalists Cannot be Ensured by Rigidity and Unilateral Imposition.’ »

The “Sunday Times” Political Editor

Hopes of elections this year to three Provincial Councils – North Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern – were buoyed by last Tuesday’s announcement of the Supreme Court determination, but evaporated just hours later.

Ruling coalition leaders, not in favour of PC polls, adopted other counter measures that will now cause an indefinite delay. It came during a tense, behind-the-scenes political drama. Members of the Elections Commission threatened to resign. Even President Maithripala Sirisena, who was in New York to attend the 72nd sessions of the UN General Assembly kept himself busy from his hotel suite appealing for help from minority parties that backed his Government. It paid off.

This came after the SC determination, by majority 2-1 vote on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution became public last Tuesday. Contrary to expectations of coalition leaders, the Court held that the three clauses of 20A (i.e. 2, 3 and 4) were inconsistent with the Constitution. Hence, the Court held that it required not only a two thirds majority vote in Parliament but also the approval of the people at a referendum. In essence the ruling affected the entirety of 20A. Clause 1 only referred to “This Act may be cited as the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution.” Clause 4, the last one, contained the usual interpretative clause which said “In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.”

If there was no timely action on their part this week, coalition leaders realised, that the Elections Commission would gazette the date for nominations for the three PC elections. They knew that the Commission would thereafter set a date in December this year for the polls. Conducting a referendum to thwart the move was a high risk they did not wish to take. Hence they embarked on other hurried measures.

What 20A sought was to introduce a provision to enable elections to all Provincial Councils to be held on the same date. For this, the Government wanted to empower Parliament to determine the date (which is also referred to as “specified date’) on which PCs shall stand dissolved. Another provision was to include the term of office of any Provincial Council ending prior to the specified date to be deemed, to be extended. The term of any PC which continues beyond the specified date to stand dissolved on a fresh specified date. The third and final amendment was to enable Parliament to exercise powers of a dissolved PC until the specified date is determined.

That the SC held that 20A was not consistent with the Constitution was bad news for the coalition leadership. The first indications of their course of action emerged from President Maithripala Sirisena’s side. He did not favour the idea of an early PC poll. As is customary, he was the recipient of a sealed copy of the SC determination sent to Parliament.

Continue reading ‘How Maithri and Ranil Worked Hard Together to Garner a Two-Thirds Majority To Pass P.C. Elections Amendment Bill in Parliament’ »

By Chandani Kirinde

It is not unusual for any govt with a two-third majority in Parliament, to trespass on Constitutional provisions meant to safeguard the Fundamental Rights (FR) of the people and keep the Legislature in check. On Thursday (21), in Parliament, there was a classic example of this when the ‘Yahapalana’ Govt. decided that “might is right”, and used its large majority in Parliament to push through an Amendment to the Provincial Councils (PC) Elections Act, which helps it postpone elections to several PCs.

This was two days after the Supreme Court, in a majority decision, shot down the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which the Govt had set for debate on Wednesday. The Amendment would have helped extend the term of at least three PCs, the five-year term of which are set to lapse within the next two weeks, and also helped curtail the terms of the six other PCs, the terms of which end in 2018 and 2019.

The SC, by a 2-1 ruling said, “Advancing the election date will not violate the Constitution, as it will not deprive the voter of his franchise, as he will be able to exercise his vote in advance or, before the expiry of the date. On the other hand, the delay in exercising the franchise will affect the FR of the voters.”

Continue reading ‘Yahapalana Govt Following “Might is Right” Route of Rajapaksa May Result in “Yesterday Once More”.’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardena

Applying Marx’s denunciation of historic personages repeating themselves ‘first as tragedy, second as farce’ to grotesque financial scandals in Sri Lanka is a tad adventurous. But there is no question that one satire follows the other, tragically and farcically, with little respite.

In the interests of sanity

Close upon Arjun Aloysius, principal shareholder and director of Perpetual Treasuries (Pvt) Ltd being declared a ‘non-compellable witness’ by the Commission of Inquiry inquiring into the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) bond issuance, his father-in-law, former CBSL Governor Arjuna Mahendran made other equally riveting news.

Mahendran attempted, through his counsel, to hold out that his appearance on summons and testifying before the Commission was a gracious concession. Under Section 7 (c) of the 1948 parent statute, the Commission has the power to summon ‘any person residing in Sri Lanka’. Based on this, it was argued that because Mahendran was resident in Singapore, he was not subjected to the Commission’s jurisdiction. However, he was anyway presenting himself and deserved to be treated courteously by his interrogators.

In the interests of sanity and basic common sense, it was a relief to see the Commission peremptorily putting the record straight, declaring that it was necessary that Mahendran obey the summons particularly in the context of his appointment as CBSL Governor. Previous reasoning as to why Mahendran’s son-in-law, Aloysius was allowed to claim the privilege against self-incrimination (referred to as the ‘golden rule of the law’) was meanwhile reiterated.

Continue reading ‘Primary Objective of Presidential Inquiry Commission Must be to Ferret Out the Truth for the Record.’ »

A verbal battle, where strong words were exchanged in the lobbies of Parliament, raised eyebrows among opposition MPs.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, who is also the official Government spokesperson, and former Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake lambasted Minister Rauff Hakeem, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader.

“This is a shameful thing to do,” lamented Senaratne.“You don’t know what gratitude is. We have done so much for your party and you still behave this way. Don’t forget there are more Muslims in our party too,” declared Karunanayake. He claimed the UNP has done so much for the SLMC. Hakeem responded angrily that their remarks would have only strengthened his and his party’s resolve to vote against the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Bill last Thursday.

Continue reading ‘Blazing Verbal Battle In Parliament Between Rauff Hakeem, Rajitha Senaratne and Ravi Karunanayake’ »

by Anura Gunasekera

About 2,600 years ago, Gautama Buddha, the first Buddhist thero and, unarguably, one of the noblest human beings to have trod the soil of this planet, following a vision derived from a spiritual awakening on conclusion of several difficult years of physical and mental hardship, walked the roads of his land, barefoot, on the first “Pindapatha ” journey. A merchant prince, having renounced all worldly possessions, ties and responsibilities, was taking the first few steps along the path of asceticism, frugality and uncompromising moral integrity, he had chartered for himself.

A few days ago, a large group of saffron–clad individuals, the present day flag-bearers of the Buddha’s austere creed, having alighted from a fleet of luxury vehicles – their normal mode of travel – undertook a similar journey; but the difference in purpose and integrity between these two journeys was much greater than the massive gulf of time and space which separated the two.

That which I now speak of was a journey in which the participating monks opened their begging bowls to a gullible public, not for food for their personal sustenance but in order to solicit money to pay a fine, rightfully imposed on two criminals by the country’s judiciary, determined on the conclusion of a strict legal process.

There cannot be a greater travesty of the Buddha’s teachings than this, nor a greater perversion of the principles of right conduct and right thought, first enunciated by that great being.

What is the crime that we speak of that Weeratunge and Palpita, two senior public servants have committed?

Continue reading ‘In Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Fantasy World There is no Right or Wrong but the Simple Exercise of his Will.’ »

by C.A.Chandraprema

The scenes in Parliament on Wednesday last week made Parliamentary history. Never before have we seen anything like the horse trading that went on at the last moment to get the amendments to the PC Elections Bill passed. When the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress wanted the proportion of provincial councilors elected on the proportional representation system increased to 50% from the 40% that had been decided on earlier, the government agreed in order to get the two thirds majority needed to pass the amendments to the PC elections law that enables the government to postpone PC elections. For the government, these amendments to the PC elections law were literally a matter of life or death. If the elections to the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provincial Councils could not be postponed, the government was staring defeat in the face.

At the presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2015, even though they were contesting against everyone else, the Mahinda Rajapaksa led UPFA won both the Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provinces. So the result of an election in these provinces was a foregone conclusion. This upped the ante for the government and made them agree to anything to avoid what they had deemed to be certain defeat – an eventuality that would have had fatal consequences on their already tenuous hold on power. Hence the last minute horse trading that went on the floor of parliament to increase the percentage of the provincial councilors elected on the proportional representation system with no consideration given to what effect this will have on the stability of the provincial councils as institutions. This is a government that is engaged in a headlong quest for political survival and such considerations no longer matter.

Continue reading ‘“Yahapalana”Govt will Do Anything to Avoid Electoral Contest with Mahinda Rajapaksa led Joint Opposition.’ »

A new project for water supply to Jaffna utilizing rainfall into the Vadmarachchi Lagoon with a surface area of 78 sq. km. was announced on Friday by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Policy Development Office.

“The Project envisages making use of 20% of the annual rainfall in to the Vadamarachchi Lagoon with a surface area of 78 sq km. This project approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and the Chief Minister of Northern Province, is implemented under guidance of Vidya Jothi Eng. A.D.S Gunewardana, retired Secretary Ministry of Irrigation and retired Director of Irrigation,” a news release issued by the office said.

The Northern Development Committee, appointed by the Prime Minister, working out of the Policy Development Office, monitors implementation, it added.

Continue reading ‘Prof. R.K.Guganesharajah of Surrey University Proposes Simple Brilliant Plan to Supply Water to Jaffna Utilising Rainfall into Vadamaratchy Lagoon.’ »

In a dramatic turn of events, Former UNP Parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera stormed into a UNP youth wing meeting in Ja-ela, chaired by former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, and lashed out at the organisers for sidelining him.

Perara’s main allegation was that the organisers failed to give him a speech at the event, although he is the UNP organiser for the Ja-ela electorate.

The former Parliamentarian’s criticism was directed at Karunanayake and UNP MP Kavinda Jayawardena, the two main organisers of the event.

Continue reading ‘UNP Stalwart Joseph Michael Perera Lashes Out Publicly at “I Dont Remember” Ravi Karunanayake For Sidelining him at Ja-Ela Meeting’ »

Actress-turned politician Geetha Kumarasinghe has accused her police bodyguards of gross negligence leading to a gas stove fire that caused her severe burns nearly three weeks ago, officials said.

In a statement to police after recovering from burns suffered at her home in the Welikada police area at the beginning of this month, Kumarasinghe said she blamed her Ministerial Security Division (MSD) guards for the incident.

She told police that she had instructed her MSD security guard and the driver to check on a gas leak at her kitchen, but both had given the all clear.

As she tried to light a coconut oil lamp for the Buddha, the entire area was engulfed in flames which burnt her.

Continue reading ‘Gas Stove Fire Causing Severe Burns to Actress-Politico Geetha Kumarasinghe MP Due to Negligence by her MSD Bodyguards’ »

By

Lucien Rajakarunanayake

The Supreme Court’s order on the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution was one that wholly supported the democratic rights of voters. It clearly stated that any move by the government to postpone the Provincial Council polls – even to have them all on a single day – should be approved by a 2/3rd majority in Parliament and also at a referendum, because it is a major constitutional change.

So what does the Government do?

The resulting action at the Diyawanna Chamber of Lawmakers was to play a crooked game of deceit, showing little respect for Hulftsdorp, and play its now masterly Game of Delimitation to hoodwink the people about its commitment to democracy and postpone the Provincial Council polls.

Delimitation is the buzzword of this alliance of these charlatan democrats – be they green or blue in political colouring – and they readily used the borderline game to delay the PC polls and go ahead with their charlatan support for democracy.

Continue reading ‘Deceitful Move to Postpone Provincial Council Polls in the Name of De-limitation by UNP-SLFP “Yamapalanaya” Government’ »

By Himal Kotelawala

A senior Attorney General Department official assisting the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the controversial bond issuance yesterday suggested that Former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran had interfered with due process in the 27 February 2015 treasury bond auction, thereby influencing its outcome. Mahendran denied the allegation, claiming that bids were accepted in concurrence with the then CBSL deputy governors and senior Public Dept Department (PDD) officials, with the objective of raising funds to meet the unprecedentedly massive requirements of the Government.

Acting Solicitor General Dappula de Livera in his cross-examination of Mahendran said the Former Governor had meddled with the due process, with an ulterior motive in mind.

“I totally reject that,” said Mahendran.

Suggesting that Mahendran had “dragged” his two deputy governors, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and Ananda Silva with him to the PDD the second time he is said to have visited it, de Livera said that evidence the two had given, under oath, was that neither of them knew where they were even going.

“They went with you because you called them,” he said.

“We all agreed to go,” countered Mahendran, explaining that his two deputies had come into his office “because we had a problem.”

A sum of Rs. 172 billion had to be raised in March 2015, and Mahendran, he claimed, did not have the “foggiest” on how the Central Bank was going to do that.

“I was expecting them to guide me,” he said, adding that he had then suggested to them to go along with him to the PDD to see how much money the auction had raised.

Continue reading ‘Arjuna Mahendran Denies he Influenced Outcome of Central Bank Treasury Bond Auction on Feb 27 2015’ »

by Saman Indrajith

The government will not accept any asylum seeking refugees from any country to Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said.

The PM has also said the decision not to permit any refugees was taken in line with the Yahapalana government’s foreign policy.

The Prime Minister said so when he was asked by the Government parliamentary group yesterday about its standpoint over the Rohingya refugees seeking asylum in Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Wont Accept Asylum Seeking Rohingya Muslim Refugees From Myanmar States Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

By

Abhijit Singh

Last week’s Indian Ocean conference at Colombo generated much enthusiasm in India’s strategic circles. Organised by the India Foundation (a prominent Delhi think tank aligned closely with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government) in collaboration with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, the meeting drew participants from across the Indo-Pacific region, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Fiji, Australia, Japan, South Korea and the US.

A slew of analyses by Indian observers, including a compelling post by Darshana Baruah in The Interpreter, hailed the meeting as another example of India’s invigorated Indian Ocean diplomacy. For many, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s call for the development of security architecture at the conference and for littoral states to strengthen cooperation created an unmistakable aura of responsible Indian leadership in maritime South Asia. Swaraj’s characterisation of the Indian Ocean as ‘not just a water body, but a global stage for social, economic and diplomatic dialogue’ seemed like the perfect premise for regional engagement.

And yet, the Indian commentariat’s endorsement of this energised maritime diplomacy does not obscure the paradox that Delhi’s political establishment increasingly faces, but refuses to acknowledge: that the rhetoric on India’s leadership in the Indian Ocean isn’t matched by the facts on the ground, which increasingly seem to favour China.

Continue reading ‘India’s Rhetoric About Indian Leadership in Indian Ocean Does Not Match Realities on Ground.’ »

Attorney General’s Department counsel assisting the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the bond scams yesterday deplored aspersions cast upon them by the senior counsel for former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran on Wednesday.

Following is the text of the Statement made by Counsel of the Attorney General’s Department, Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda:

“On 20th September 2017, following Senior Additional Solicitor General Mr. Dappula De Livera, PC, having made an application for a brief adjournment of proceedings to commence the examination of Mr. Arjuna Mahendran, while initially objecting to the application and later diluting that submission, President’s Counsel Mr. Romesh De Silva made reference to the team of counsel from the Attorney General’s Department assisting the Commission, participating at the Commission “at the tax payers’ expense”. Ostensibly, Mr. De Silva made such a reference following instructions to do so from his client Mr. Arjuna Mahendran, and having received fees to make such an utterance.

Continue reading ‘Attorney-Generals Dept Counsel Assist Presidential Inquiry Commission Without Additional Remuneration says Addl Solicitor- General’ »

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena

Arjuna Mahendran admitted before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the bond scams yesterday that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had asked him to accept the post of Governor of the Central Bank.

Mahendran, giving evidence before the Commission of Inquiry, said he thought it was on the evening of Jan 08, 2015 that he had been asked to accept the post by the Prime Minister.

Mahendran said so in response to questions posed by Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera, PC.

Continue reading ‘Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Asked Arjuna Mahendran to be Central Bank Governor’ »

By

S.Venkatnarayan

Kamal Haasan

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder Arvind Kejriwal is now busy wooing Tamil film actor Kamal Haasan to enter politics. He flew down to Chennai today for lunch with the actor. Kamal Haasan’s youngest daughter Akshara received him at the airport.

Kamal Haasan, 63, recently confirmed that he is considering a political career. He met Kejriwal and other AAP leaders at his ancestral home in Chennai, which doubles up as his office.

The Delhi Chief Minister’s flash visit to Chennai comes on the back of his return to Delhi after a nine-day meditation break in Maharashtra.

The two men made comments praising each other. Kejriwal has asked Kamal Haasan to take the political plunge. They will stay in regular touch.

Nayagan (1987)

Kamal Haasan had last met the AAP chief in 2015 to discuss a film shoot in Delhi. “The current state of national politics will be discussed,” a source close to the Chief Minister had said on the lunch meeting. The two have been in touch over the past two years and share a “mutual respect”.

This is the second Chief Minister that the actor has interacted with after meeting Kerala’s Marxist Pinarayi Vijayan. At a meet organised by The Hindu Tamil last week, the actor had said: “Yes, I met Pinarayi and I may meet a few other Chief Ministers. This is political tourism.”
Continue reading ‘Tamil Film Star Kamal Haasan may Enter Politics With Aim Of Being Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.’ »

by Vamanan

(R.Govardhanam passed away in Salem,Tamil Nadu on Sep 18th 2017)

R Govardhanam was neither an M S Viswanathan nor a K V Mahadevan in prolificacy of melodies, but it was the tacit conviction among Tamil film music connoisseurs that he was an equally gifted composer who came up with entrancing songs. Some, like sound engineer Sampath who was his colleague in AVM Studio, put down the scarceness of opportunities to plain ill luck, while his musical colleague and competitor MSV blamed it on his plain appearance. “One could mistake him for an accountant in a provision store,” MSV once remarked. Looks apart, the fact remains that Govardhanam was a fiend with notes — he had only to give ear to a piece of music before he poured out the notes in all their profusion.

R Kovarthanam (Feb 21, 1918 – Sept 18, 2017)

Govardhanam’s father had been an accountant in a grocery store, though he was a musician too. Govardhanam’s elder brother, R Sudarshanam had joined Gubbi Veeranna’s troupe and then worked in film music orchestras before helming one himself in AVM Studio and its gramophone record wing, Saraswathi Stores. It was while accompanying his elder brother to a recording, that 10-year-old Govardhanam’s natural proclivity of deciphering music had suddenly burst out in full bloom. After this, during a song recording, Nadaswaram exponent, Tiruvavadudurai Rajarathinam had played his beloved ‘todi’ to the boy and been astounded by the latter’s swiftness in scanning the raga’s notational contours.
Continue reading ‘Govarthanam ♫ The unsung maestro of Tamil Cinema Music’ »

by Gehan Gunatilleke

The concept of extradition features prominently in the recent debate over Sri Lanka’s Enforced Disappearance Bill. Opponents of the Bill claim that it enables the extradition of Sri Lankan citizens to foreign countries with no jurisdiction over offences committed in Sri Lanka. These claims are likely ill advised. Yet they probably stem from fears that such opponents genuinely hold. Thus they must be respectfully engaged through a careful analysis of the law, and ultimately by appealing to reason. This article explains the concept of extradition and aims to clarify how it will operate under the Bill, once enacted.

What is extradition?

Extradition involves the transfer of a person from one state to another. It takes place when a state with jurisdiction over a crime requests the transfer of a person accused or convicted of that crime, for the purpose of prosecution or punishment. The most important feature of extradition is something opponents of the Enforced Disappearance Bill often neglect to mention: the requesting state must have jurisdiction over the crime concerned to request extradition.

Continue reading ‘Enforced Disappearances Bill and Distracting Conspiracy Theories Over Extradition.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

The Steering Committee, tasked with drafting a new constitution has raised the hackles of some of its members by proposing that the term, ‘unitary state’ be done away with.

The Steering Committee interim report submitted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Constitutional Assembly yesterday states that people in the south are scared of the term, ‘federal’ while the people in the North fear the word, ‘unitary.’

The report says: “The classical definition of the English term ‘unitary state’ has undergone change. In the United Kingdom, it is now possible for Northern Ireland and Scotland to move away from the union. Therefore the English term ‘unitary state’ will not be appropriate for Sri Lanka. The Sinhala term ‘aekiya raajyaya’ best describes an undivided and indivisible country. The Tamil language equivalent of this is ‘orumiththa nadu.’ In these circumstances, the following formulation may be considered: Sri Lanka [Ceylon] is a free, sovereign and independent republic which is an aekeiya rajyaya/orumiththa nadu means a state which is undivided and indivisible, and in which the power to amend the constitution, or to repeal and replace the constitution, shall remain within the parliament and people of Sri Lanka as provided in this constitution.”

Continue reading ‘Steering Committee Interim Report Wants “Unitary”in English Replaced by “Aikeeya Raajyaya” in Sinhala and “Orumiththa Naadu” in Tamil’ »

The Steering Committee of Sri Lanka’s “Constitutional Assembly” presented its Interim Report to parliament, which, apart from being the country’ legislature, also functions as the “Constitutional Assembly” charged with the responsibility of drafting a new constitution for Sri Lanka.

The Steering Committee consists of the leaders of all political parties represented in parliament and is chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Interim Report is not a prescriptive document, but a rough draft of the issues to be addressed by the Constitutional Assembly. It mentions matters on which there has been consensus as well as those which had elicited conflicting views.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had campaigned hard to give the country a “federal” constitution with a wide measure of inalienable autonomy to the provinces within an “undivided and indivisible Sri Lanka”. But the mainstream Sri Lankan parties, including the two in the government – Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP and the United National Party (UNP) – opposed a federal structure tooth and nail.

As per the compromise arrived at finally, Sri Lanka is to be an “undivided and indivisible country” with “maximum devolution of power to the provinces.”

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka to be “Undivided and Indivisible Country With Maximum Devolution of Power to the Provinces” -Steering Committee Interim Report’ »

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

Nearing the delivery of an election promise of the Unity Government, the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Steering Committee (SC) Ranil Wickremesinghe tabled an interim report promising the country to present a better Constitution, which will help develop the nation, keep Sri Lanka intact and cultivate peace and harmony among all citizens.

The interim report tabled yesterday at the Constitutional Assembly deals with matters covered by chapters 1 and 2 of the present Constitution, Nature of the State, Sovereignty, Religion, Form of Government, Electoral Reforms, Principles of Devolution and Land along with the formulations that reflect the deliberations of the SC. This interim report also includes the observations and comments by members of the SC on principles and formulations.

Delivering the historical speech, the Prime Minister said: “Today the Government took another step in presenting a new Constitution as a part of the pledge made on 8 January 2015. We expect to draft a Constitution which has no divisions such as race, religion, ethnicity or social background. It is a Constitution that will ensure equal distribution of the benefits of economic development. The Constitution should be used to widen democracy and establish peace and stability. These are unfamiliar things for us for over three decades. Building a strong economy and prosperity for all are some of our aims. The interim report is a legal document that can be used as the base to start discussions.”

Continue reading ‘“Agreement on New Constitution Between UNP and SLFP Will Determine Future of the Country” – Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

By Saman Indrajith

The SLFP yesterday insisted that the executive presidency had to be retained if the unitary character of the state was to be safeguarded.

Addressing a press conference held in the Parliament complex, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said a president with certain executive powers was essential for the stability of the country.

“It was proposed by the UNP at the Steering Committee meetings that the executive presidency be replaced by an executive prime minister. We cannot agree as we do not see that as a solution to the problem. We are firmly of the view that an executive President is essential for the stability of the country” the Minister said, expressing his party’s views on the recently released Interim report of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly.

De Silva said the SLFP had opposed the UNP’s proposal to have the President appointed by Parliament.

Continue reading ‘SLFP Wants Executive Presidency to be Retained in new Constitution For Country’s Stability.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

The JVP says that the new constitution to be introduced should abolish the executive presidency if democracy is to be strengthened.

JVP leader and Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake said so, expressing views after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had presented the Interim Report of the Steering Committee before the Constitutional Assembly that met in the Main Chamber of the House of Parliament.

Dissanayake said the JVP had a different view over the constitution. The electoral system should be changed, he said. “It should be done by way of a new constitution and not by any other means,” the JVP leader said. “The other matter is that the executive presidency should also be changed.”

Continue reading ‘JVP Wants Executive Presidency to be Abolished in New Constitution.’ »

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader and City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauff Hakeem has requested Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, PC to summon Colombo based Myanmar Ambassador over on-going violence directed at Rhohingya people in that country.

Minister Hakeem has made four recommendations in respect of the situation there. The following is the text of Hakeem’s letter to Marapana:

“Not a single day passes without the international media as well as the human rights community reporting on the horrendous crimes being committed against the people of the Rakhine Province of Myanmar. The unfortunate plight of the Rhohingya people has been staring squarely in the face of humanity for a few years now, with its intensity at unprecedented levels in the last few weeks.

“When crimes against humanity are perpetrated against a people on the grounds of race, religion, language, or ethnicity, or on any outer grounds, which appear repugnant to human conscience, it is our collective duty to do all that within our power to help bring an immediate end to it, ensure amelioration of the conditions of persecuted people, and to work with partners in the region and the world to facilitate their peaceful living, including return and resettlement in safety and dignity, with guarantees of protection and non-recurrence in the future. It is our strong belief that Sri Lanka, under the National Unity Government, is in a position to demonstrate initiative and/or leadership in ensuring such a positive outcome through peaceful means.

Continue reading ‘SLMC Leader Hakeem Wants Foreign Minister Marapana to Summon Myanmar Ambassador To Ministry Over Rohingya Muslims Issue.’ »

By

Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

Sri Lanka’s future depends on the ability which the UNP and the SLFP possess to reach an agreement on the fundamentals of the new Constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Constitutional Assembly today.

The Prime Minister made this remark while presenting the interim report of the steering committee established under the constitutional assembly. The report was actually presented to the constitutional assembly by him.

“It is up to the SLFP and the UNP to reach an agreement on the fundamentals of the new constitution and the future of this country depends on the ability which the two parties have to reach such an agreement” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Wickremesinghe said keeping the unitary status of the country and maintaining the foremost status of Buddhism will be some of the fundamentals of the new Constitution.

Continue reading ‘Draft New Constitution Interim Report of Constitutional assembly Steering Committee Presented By Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa today said the government has openly insulted the judiciary and flouted the Constitution by introducing changes to the Provincial Councils Election Bill through the backdoor.

Issuing a statement, he said these changes have been made when the Supreme Court (SC) had given a clear ruling that the extension of the terms of the Provincial Councils (PCs) or a postponement of elections would require a referendum in addition to a two thirds majority in Parliament.

He said all provincial councils will stand automatically dissolved in terms of Article 154E of the Constitution as they complete their five year terms.

“The Sabaragamauwa, North Central and Eastern provinces are to stand dissolved in a few days time. The other PCs will stand dissolved at various times in 2018 and 2019. Though the dissolution of the provincial councils will take place as scheduled, the latest changes to the provincial councils elections law will enable the government to indefinitely delay elections to the PCs on the excuse that constituencies need to be demarcated,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Accuses Govt of Openly Insulting the Judiciary and Flouting the Constitution.’ »

(Text Of Statement made in Parliament on September 21st 2017 by Leader of the Opposition and Trincomalee District MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan)

Hon Chairman,

It is not my intention at present to comment on the matters contained in the Interim Report submitted by the Hon Prime Minister or the annexures tabled therewith. These matters will be dealt with at future meetings of the Constitutional Assembly that will be held for that purpose.

I wish to lay emphasis on the urgent relevance and importance of some aspects of the process that we are engaged in.

We are engaged in the process of making a Constitution for our country, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. As Sri Lankan Members of Parliament we on behalf of the people we represent are engaged in making the basic Supreme Law – the Constitution of Sri Lanka .

This is being done within the firm framework of a united undivided and indivisible Sri Lanka. This is the framework within which the Constitution will be evolved and which all of us will voluntarily acknowledge and accept

The successful conclusion of this Constitution making process on the basis of an acceptable reasonable and substantial national consensus would bring about a firm finality to this issue.

Continue reading ‘Current Constitution Making Exercise Could Create the Ideal of a Sri Lankan Identity and Sri Lankan Nation -R.Sampanthan’ »

By

Gehan Gunatilleke

It is most unfortunate that further confusion and misinformation is being disseminated on the issue of extradition. In an article appearing in the Island today (21 September), it is claimed that extradition under the Torture Act applies only to non-Sri Lankans, whereas extradition under the Enforced Disappearances Bill applies to Sri Lankan nationals as well. A cursory glance at section 7 of the Torture Act will clarify that this is simply untrue.

Section 7(1) – which precedes section 7(2) referenced in my earlier post – states:

“Where a person is arrested for an offence under this Act, the Minister in charge of the subject of Foreign Affairs shall inform the relevant authorities in any other State having jurisdiction over that offence, of the measures which the Government of Sri Lanka has taken, or proposes to take, for the prosecution or extradition that person, for that offence.”

This scheme of extradition can apply to a Sri Lankan national. For example, if a Sri Lankan commits torture in India (an ordinary citizen can commit torture if with the consent of a public officer), the state of India has territorial jurisdiction over that offence. Sri Lanka is then bound to extradite or prosecute this person, if a request for extradition is made by India.

Continue reading ‘Nowhere in the World can a State Without Jurisdiction Over an Offence Request Extradition.’ »

The passage of a law to bring directly elected provincial council members has cut down campaign costs, paving the way for campaign financing laws, while expanding female representation, State Minister Eran Wickramaratne said.

Half the members of provincial councils will be elected on the basis of geographical seats instead of the current districts where candidates will only have to campaign in a small area at a lower cost and the balance 50 percent will elected on the party vote on a district basis.

The change ends the ‘manape’ or preferential vote, which has led to intra-party rivalry and violence.

The current administration is also hoping to make national parliament polls also on a mix of ‘first past the post’ and proportional representative basis.

“The change in the system will reduce the expense of elections,” State Minister of Finance Wickramaratne told EconomyNext.

Continue reading ‘Changes in Electoral Law Will Abolish the Preferential Vote(Manape) System That Led to Intra-Party Rivalry and Violence.’ »

The Sri Lankan parliament on Wednesday passed the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Bill to give 25% reservation for women in the Provincial Councils in the country, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, M.A.Sumanthiran said.

Currently, women’s representation in the nine provincial councils is only 4.1%, although women are 51% of the Sri Lankan electorate, and Sri Lanka has had Universal Adult Suffrage since 1932.

Women’s representation is no better in the other elected bodies. It is 5.7% in the national parliament and 1.8% in the local bodies like Pradeshiya Sabhas, Urban Councils and Municipalities.

This, despite the fact that Sri Lanka boasts of having given the world its first woman Prime Minister Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Her daughter Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who was twice elected as Executive President, holds the record of winning a Presidential election by a majority of 60%.

There is yet no law to reserve seats for women in the country’s parliament.

Continue reading ‘Amended Provincial Councils Elections Act Will Ensure At Least 25 % Of Provincial Council Seats for Women.’ »

By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

“Fuggetaboutit…”
– Johnny Depp, ‘Donnie Brasco’

It is old news that those who regard themselves as Sinhala nationalists always preferred the district to the province as the primary unit of the devolution of power. What is amazing though is that they do not recognize that this is no longer an issue in the real world of politics; only in their individual or collective imagination. Thus the debate on the district vs. province is a non-debate. It takes place only in a mono-ethnic echo chamber.

Why is it no longer a legitimate subject for debate?

Because Sri Lanka as a society and the Sri Lankan political class as an elite have realized at very considerable cost, that which is obvious. Namely that whenever there are more than one entity in any unit, in politics or in life, the name of the game is a relationship, not a unipolar, unilateral decision. Relationships are usually negotiated; they require consensus, agreement. Any relationship which is a one-sided imposition is doomed to fail and when it does, most others outside the relationship tend to take the side of the person who suffered the imposition rather than the one who imposed it.

What this means is that on an island in which there are more than one community, the shape of the structure within which they all live cannot be decided and imposed by any one community upon the other. It has to be the result of mutual agreement. That agreement may not be to the complete satisfaction of all parties concerned but it has to be one that all parties can live with. Of course, not all parties have an equal share in the outcome because not all parties are of the same size, just as in a corporate entity there are majority and minority shareholders. But all have to be consulted and compromises negotiated.

It is not for nothing that Gautama the Buddha preached the Middle Path and Aristotle, the Golden Mean. What is the middle path in Sri Lanka? The Sinhala nationalists want the district as the safest unit of devolution. The Tamil nationalists feel safest in a permanently merged North and East, i.e. the Northeast as a single unit; a region. President JR Jayewardene put it best in an interview given in the mid-1980s to the Editor of the Lanka Guardian when he said: “The Tamils say Regional Councils and no less; the Sinhalese say District Councils and no more. I say Provincial Councils.”

Continue reading ‘It Is Best To Stick To The Existing System Of Devolution Agreed Upon With India,’ »