by

Zacki Jabbar

Many government politicians had been accused of raping and killing children and women, but no action had been taken against them, the UNP said yesterday.

pic courtesy of: facebook.com/UNPofficialpage

Anuradhapura District UNP parliamentarian Chandrani Bandara told a news conference in Colombo that in the majority of cases where children and women had been raped and in most instances killed, the culprits were UPFA politicians, but the Rajapaksa regime was protecting even such criminals, she said.

Continue reading ‘Govt Politicians Accused of Raping and Killing Children and Women are Protected by Rajapaksa Regime-UNP’ »

The 1,076 km-long Tamil Nadu coastline is on high alert following an Intelligence Bureau warning of possible attacks by terrorists infiltrating Sri Lankan waters.

Coastal Security Group personnel have stepped up vigil. C.Sylendra Babu, Additional Director General of Police, Coastal Security Group (CSG), said on Thursday that a 38-strong fleet manned by security personnel was monitoring the movements of vessels to pre-empt infiltration by sea.

Continue reading ‘Security Intensified along 1,076 km Tamil Nadu Coastline Due to Intelligence alert of “Terrorists” Infiltrating via Sri Lankan Waters’ »

By

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha M.P.

The impending visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, can be seen as a great opportunity for the government to improve policies and practices as to Human Rights in this country. I can only hope that this opportunity will be taken, and that she will not instead be seen as a threat.

Unfortunately, some indiscretions early in her career have coloured our perceptions of her. Most notably, back in 2009, when the Council was discussing Sri Lanka at a Special Session initiated by the British – and sadly, it now seems from Wikileaks, supported by the Americans, even though at the time we thought the Americans still had the balanced approach to us they had evinced during our eradication of terror – Navi Pillay made a statement designed to put us in the dock.

Continue reading ‘Govt Must See Impending Visit of Navi Pillay as an Opportunity and not View her as a Threat.’ »

by

Lata Ganapathy

Girls in pretty cotton paavaadais with neatly-braided hair and studious-looking boys with vibhuti on their foreheads lustily belt out “Varaveena” in Mohanam or “Brova bharama” in Bahudari to the strains of a tuneful tambura — a likely scene from a typical music (paatu) class of the Madras of the 70-s. Are things all that different today in the bustling metropolis that is Chennai?

The classical music scene is a fascinating fusion of age-old values and changing times-pic courtesy: The Hindu

Brushing the ‘Tam-Brahm’ (Tamil Brahmin) label aside, parents continue to aspire for their kids to learn Carnatic music or Bharatanatyam.

Come to think of it, the stereotype is hardly considered an embarrassment in such families. Learning music or dance is as natural as slogging to be a topper in school and as normal as moving to the U.S. for a degree in engineering. This is quite simply what you do.

Continue reading ‘“Bhagavathar is a Cool Dude” now: Carnatic Music is Popular even in the Modern Ethos of Chennai’ »

by

Nita Bhalla

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay

NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United Nations human rights chief said on Friday she has an “open mind” and will not be “pre-judging anything” ahead of her first trip to Sri Lanka, which is under growing pressure from the international community to address alleged war crimes.

Navi Pillay, who arrives in Sri Lanka on August 25 for a week, is the first senior U.N. official to visit the country since the end of a nearly three-decade-long bloody conflict in 2009, despite Colombo extending an invitation to the body more than two years ago.

Continue reading ‘UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has an “Open Mind” and will not be “Pre-judging anything” on Sri Lanka Prior to her Visit’ »

by

Deepanjana Pal

At 6 pm yesterday, a gangrape took place in central Mumbai. News of this terrible incident reached us a few hours later, after the young woman – a photojournalist – was taken to a hospital and reports of her rape appeared in a couple of city publications. (See here and here.)

Predictably and understandably, outrage swelled through social media. Along with expressions of shock, horror, grief and disbelief, there was also curiosity.

It seems everyone wants to know what precisely happened and to whom it happened. How old is she? Where does she work? What was she wearing? How many people raped her? Where was she raped? How long did they rape her? What did her companion do? What kind of work makes a ‘girl’ go walking around an area ‘known’ to be frequented by drug addicts? So great was the curiosity that some, thinking themselves the Indian Twitter equivalent of Wikileaks, decided to let their followers know details about the raped woman. After a few minutes, better sense prevailed and the tweets were deleted, but hashtags and retweets remain.

Continue reading ‘Why the Gangrape of a Photojournalist in Mumbai Violates all Women who are not Safe in Their Country’ »

by

Anand Patwardhan

Pune, Aug 22. Last night a FTII and Yugpath student organized screening of “Jai Bhim Comrade” began with a tribute to anti-superstition campaigner Narendra Dabholkar, who had just the previous day been gunned down by fanatics in the same city. It was our 4th screening of the film at the FTII and as before, the large NFAI auditorium was overflowing. The screening and discussions went off without a hitch.

Narendra Dabholkar-pic courtesy of: Mid-Day

Not a single audience question led me to suspect that Hindutva elements were in attendance.

Continue reading ‘A Personal Account of the Attack on Kabir Kala Manch at the FTII in Punyanagari (The Virtuous City)’ »

(Text of an Editorial Appearing in “The Hindu”of August 22nd 2013 Under the Heading “Crowd Censoring”)

Tamil nationalist groups are again displaying an intolerant streak. They want Madras Café, a film loosely based on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, to be banned because it shows the Tamil Eelam struggle in Sri Lanka in a poor light. Though the Madras High Court has rightly declined to stay the release of the film, some groups seeking to ban the film are readying themselves to create a law and order problem as a form of protest.

Continue reading ‘Demand to Ban “Madras Cafe” Displays an Intolerant Streak of Tamil Nationalist Groups.’ »

The Tamil version of the John Abraham-starrer Madras Café was cleared by the censors with no cuts on Thursday, but the film’s distributors found no takers among the exhibitors for a release in Tamil Nadu on Friday.

Continue reading ‘Censors Clear Tamil Version of “Madras Cafe” but Theatres in Tamil Nadu Refuse to Screen Film Due to Fear of Pro-LTTE Tamil Extremists’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

The Sri Lankan government is considering confiscating Indian trawlers if they trespass into their waters, Sri Lanka’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne said here on Thursday.

“We recognise the fact that this is a livelihood issue for the Indian fishermen. We will release them immediately. It is the owners of the trawlers who need to be dealt with – those business magnates. We have decided not to return the trawlers we confiscate. At least, that should act as a deterrent,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka May Confiscate Indian Fishing Trawlers Poaching in Lankan Waters to Penalise Business Magnates Instead of Tamil Nadu Fishermen’ »

Students’ Association
Film and Television Institute of India, FTII Students’ Association Press Release, 22/08/13

Five students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) were attacked outside of the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) on Wednesday 21/08/13 by the Akhila Bharateeya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP)

Continue reading ‘Akhila Bharateeya Vidyarthi Parishad Goondas Attack Students of Pune Film and Television Institute after Screening of Anand Patwardhan’s Documentary”Jai Bheem Comrade”’ »

GENEVA (22 AUGUST 2013) Australia’s indefinite detention of 46 recognized refugees on security grounds amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, inflicting serious psychological harm on them, a UN Committee has found after examining their cases.

The Geneva-based Human Rights Committee said Australia should release the refugees, who have been held for at least two and a half years, and offer them compensation and rehabilitation.

The refugees — 42 Tamils from Sri Lanka, three Rohingya from Myanmar and a Kuwaiti — brought their complaints to Human Rights Committee, arguing that they were unable to challenge the legality of their detention in the Australian courts.

Continue reading ‘Australia’s detention of 46 refugees ‘cruel and degrading,’ UN rights experts find’ »

by

Milan Lin-Rodrigo

Shyam Selvadurai-pic by: Kevin Kelly

Book Review: The Hungry Ghosts, by Shyam Selvadurai
Doubleday Canada, 373 pp; $29.95

I greatly enjoyed reading Shyam Selvadurai’s recent novel “The Hungry Ghosts.” Already the author of two successful works of fiction, he has given us another thought provoking story, weaving together a number of serious themes into one complex fabric. The story reflects many aspects of the author’s own experience growing up gay in Sri Lanka and eventually moving to Canada, thereby contributing much to its authenticity.

Continue reading ‘Shyam Selvadurai’s Beautifully Written Novel “The Hungry Ghosts” is full of Substance and Dichotomy’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

UNHRC session-March 2013-pic: UN

Louise Arbour, the last UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Sri Lanka, arrived in the country in October 2007, just over a year into the Government’s ‘humanitarian operation’ to liberate the north and east from the Tamil Tigers. Government forces had recently secured the strategic LTTE base in Toppigala, flushing the Tigers completely out of the Eastern Province with that major victory. The Sri Lanka Army then headed by Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka was turning its eyes on the LTTE’s major bases of the North, a battle that would last two years more and have lasting effects on the country’s post-conflict narrative.

As security forces began the offensives to surround and contain the LTTE to its Wanni stronghold, concern was already rising about the plight of civilians caught in the fighting. When the military overran LTTE bases in Mannar in January 2008, the Army Commander announced that the war would be over in six months. The harsh reality of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the ever-shrinking Tiger-controlled spaces of the north meant that in reality, the final battle would take one year longer than he anticipated. The scars and controversy arising therefrom, would last much longer.

Continue reading ‘Future Course of International Action on Sri Lanka will be Determined by what Navi Pillay reports after her Sri Lankan Trip.’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Bala Tampoe-pic by: Meera Srinivasan

When Bala Thampoe, a young Botany lecturer, was asked to address a group of workers on trade union and political rights for public servants, he had no clue.

Like for many young Marxists, the working class was just a category in his mind. “Students become Leftists without any grasp of the working class movement, I was no different,” he says blushing mildly.

Even now “comrade Bala”, the senior most, active trade union leader in Sri Lanka, does not claim to have all the answers. But he continues to have enormous faith in the need to register protest. A couple of months ago, he was at the forefront in organising workers for a strike in connection with the electricity tariff hike in the country.

Continue reading ‘Bala Thampoe:Senior Most Trade Union Leader in Sri Lanka is Yet Active at 91’ »

by

Alan Keenan

Some recent moves by Sri Lanka meant to show it was finally confronting the country’s entrenched culture of impunity have been dramatically undone by two incidents this month. On 1 August, soldiers shot unarmed Sinhalese protestors demanding clean drinking water in a village outside the capital, Colombo, and on 10 August police failed to prevent a mob attack on a Muslim mosque in the Grandpass area of Colombo or arrest those responsible. Both events illustrate the problems that have led to two critical resolutions by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC): the militarisation of governance, impunity for human rights violations and clear anti-minority bias in government policies.

Continue reading ‘Navi Pillay should Press Colombo to end Impunity,Restore Rule of Law and Protect Rights of all Ethnic and Religious Communities.’ »

Press Trust of India-Security has been stepped up in this island following an alert from the Intelligence Bureau that terrorists plan to sneak in through the Palk Strait from Jaffna in Sri Lanka and attack Madurai and Mayiladuthurai in the State, police said.

Superintendent of Police Mayilvahanan said there was information that eight terrorists plan to infiltrate by sea and coastal people have been advised to inform police in case they saw any strangers.

Continue reading ‘Security Increased in Tamil Nadu Due to Intelligence Alert that ” 8 Terrorists” are Coming From Jaffna Via Palk Straits to Attack Madurai and Mayilaaduthurai’ »

by

Aarti Dhar

In 1985, the Rockefeller Foundation published a report titled Good Health at Low Cost to discuss why some countries or regions achieve better health and social outcomes than others at a similar level of income and to show the role of political will and socially progressive policies. Twenty-five years on, the Good Health at Low Cost project revisited these places but looked anew at Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, and Tamil Nadu in India, which have all either achieved substantial improvements in health or access to services or implemented innovative health policies relative to their neighbours.

A series of comparative case studies (2009–11) looked at how and why each region accomplished these changes. Attributes of success included good governance and political commitment, effective bureaucracies that preserve institutional memory and can learn from experience, and the ability to innovate and adapt to resource limitations.

Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu Model of Low Cost Health Care Can Serve as Example for Other States in India.’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Lies are believed amongst every race; And was any race ever the sole possessor of Truth? – – Abdallah al-Mar’arri (973-1057)[i]

pic courtesy of: defence.lk

When Martin Wickremesinghe’s Bhavatharanaya was first published, some Sinhala-Buddhists (lay and ordained) wanted it banned for ‘insulting’ the Buddha.

There are American Evangelicals who think that Harry Potter books should be prohibited for promoting anti-Christian values.

The BJP student union thrashed the Head of the History Department at Delhi University for including a critical essay on Ramayana by AK Ramanujan[ii] in the BA (Hons) curriculum; they said the essay offended Hindu sensibilities.

A group of Islamist lawyers in Egypt tried to get the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights banned for promoting ‘sin’[iii].

Imagine a country where the fundamentalists of all four faiths are allowed by the state to ban any book they consider offensive to their various religions. Imagine a country where bigoted monks/clerics have a monopoly on deciding what the people should read and write, see and hear, accept and enjoy.

If the latest Rajapaksa scheme bears fruit,Sri Lanka will become that country.

Continue reading ‘Are Rajapaksas Planning to Ignite Intra-Religious Conflicts Just as they are Igniting Inter-religious Conflicts?’ »

By
Sachin Parathalingam

I was interviewed recently by Ceylon Today with regard to the forthcoming visit of Navenethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Some of what I said had to be edited out for reasons of space but, though the paper did a good job, I thought that some of what they had to omit was worth reproducing.-Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha MP

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay , is due to arrive in a few weeks. Do you view her arrival as an opportunity for the government or a signal of caution to the government?

I think this could be a great opportunity for the government but some elements in it may treat it as something to worry about, which could have unfortunate consequences.

Continue reading ‘“Navi Pillay Visit Could be a Great Opportunity for Sri Lanka”-Rajiva Wijesinha MP’ »

Text and pix By Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai

Although the war ended in May 2009, the illegal journeys to Australia, either to seek refugee status or enter Australian soil through other false declarations, have not come to an end. In fact, according to the authorities, it is an ongoing crisis.

Local people confirm that large groups of persons who initially worked for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) during the Provincial Council elections in the Eastern Province, have decided to undertake risky boat journeys to Australia, not knowing the weather conditions, not having necessary clothing and without knowing the duration of the journey. They were among the first batches to leave the country in desperation.

Continue reading ‘The illegal boat ride to Australia’ »

by

Premalal Wijeratne

A special police team under the Senior SSP for Nuwara Eliya, M.H.K.B, Mahagedara, has been dispatched to the Talawakelle Police to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident where the Minister of Estates and Infrastructure, Arumugam Thondaman, had allegedly stormed into the police station, abused the officers on duty, and had behaved in a manner that obstructed the police officers from carrying out their duties.

Continue reading ‘Cabinet Minister Arumugan Thondaman of CWC Goes on the Rampage at Talawakelle Police Station.’ »

By

Vishnuguptha

“My grief lies all within, and these external manners of lament are merely shadows to the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortured soul” – ~William Shakespeare

Darmasena wakes up every morning to the haunting melody of the cuckoo’s morning call. Bare-bodied and in his one and only ragged pair of shorts, he gets off the rattan mat spread across the cow-dung floor of his parents’ shack of a home.

The overnight’s rain had kept him awake most of the evening as he had to help his father with the mending of the thatched roof over his head, to keep the falling rain drops off his body; the leaks were right above his sleeping area, by the time the leaks were fixed it was well past midnight. He went to sleep after eating half a meal – rice and kiri hodi – and woke up to the cuckoo’s call.

Continue reading ‘Tamils, the Imaginary Enemy up in the North are your Brothers and Sisters’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

The US has refused to include Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias and Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe in a military programme, scheduled to be held in Auckland, New Zealand during the second week of September, citing accountability issues.

They were among three Majors General nominated by army headquarters for ‘Pacific Army Management seminar’ scheduled to begin on Sept. 9. The US accepted the nomination of Boniface Perera, current Security Forces Commander, Vanni.

Continue reading ‘US Denies Admission to Gen.Jagath Dias and Gen.Sudantha Ranasinghe for Military Seminar in New Zealand Due to “Accountability”Issues.’ »

By

Meena Menon

Former Pakistan president General(retd) Pervez Musharraf was charged with murder and criminal conspiracy in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case by an anti terrorism court on Tuesday in Rawalpindi. In a nation which has been ruled by the military for the best part, he is the first ex army general to be so indicted.

pic via: facebook.com/pages/Benazir-Bhutto

His lawyer Mr. Ilyas Siddiqui told The Hindu on the phone that the prosecution has summoned witnesses including journalist and friend of Ms Bhutto Mark Siegel. His statement reportedly recorded by the Federal Investigation Agency said that the former president telephoned Ms Bhutto and threatened her with dire consequences if she returned to Pakistan before the 2008 general elections.

Continue reading ‘Pervez Musharraf Charged with Murder and Criminal Conspiracy in the Benazir Bhutto Assassination case’ »

by

Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne

The SAMAGI BALAWEGAYA or FORCE for UNITY led a protest on a very worthy cause on August 14, at the Fort Railway station. Going by those who have fallen ill with anti Ranil phobia, it seemed to have been a little underwhelming. A foreign news agency in its report on the protest said “among one thousand People demonstrated”.

Rally on Aug 14-pic courtesy of: twitter.com/AzzamAmeen

Another report on a hardly pro-government website but certainly anti NSSP, said: “…According to eyewitness accounts, the Opposition rally managed to garner a crowd of between 800 and 1000 protesters.” With such misinformation those who are committed to defend the regime could easily conclude that the rally billed ‘Enough is Enough’, did not appear to have gathered enough people.

Continue reading ‘August 14 “Force for Unity” Opposition Protest which Mobilised Thousands of People Against a Fascist Type Govt was a Great Success’ »

by

Kath Noble

It doesn’t take many people to destroy a country. This is a lesson that we have to learn, and we have to do it fast, while the hard won peace in Sri Lanka is still more or less intact.

Grandpass Mosque-pic: ALJazeeraTV

On Saturday night, a mob attacked a mosque in the Grandpass area of Colombo. The respected journalist DBS Jeyaraj has said that he believes that it was carefully planned. According to his report, thugs from outside the area met at the local Buddhist temple, then made their way clandestinely through land occupied by Sinhalese to the back of the mosque. On hearing the bells of the temple being rung, they started throwing stones and bottles at the building. Another group – led along the main road by monks, shouting that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country and Muslims should be thrown out – joined the attack.

Continue reading ‘Sinhala Extremist Organizations Try to Hide Their Involvement in Specific Acts of Violence After They Take Place’ »

By

Upul Joseph Fernando

There are many who question the validity of the much-bandied about contention that Mahinda Rajapaksa ultimately succumbed to Indian pressure to hold the Northern Provincial Council election with the 13th Amendment in place in its original form. Not so, those who doubt, argue, and come up with another more likely explanation. They are convinced that in addition to Indian, American and Western influence, Russia too was instrumental in helping change Rajapaksa’s mind about the election. This has also been confirmed by sources at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Continue reading ‘Did China and Russia Advise Mahinda Rajapaksa not to Antagonise India as the USA Told JR Jayewardene Earlier?’ »

by

Ranga Jayasuriya

With two crucial events in its political calendar, the government is trying to put on its best face to the world. It has vouched to retrain itself as it braces for more troubles.

The two events are the forthcoming visit by the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, later this month and the Commonwealth Heads of the Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for November this year.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Govt Panders to Navi Pillay and Commonwealth Due to fear of International Isolation.’ »

Press Trust of India- Among various religious groups, Muslims have the lowest living standard with the average per capita expenditure of just Rs. 32.66 in a day, says a government survey.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Sikh community enjoys a much better lifestyle as the average per capita spending among them is Rs. 55.30 per day, while the same for Hindus is Rs. 37.50. For Christians it is Rs. 51.43.

Continue reading ‘Muslims in India are the Poorest Religious Group with Lowest Living Standards and Expenditure says NSSO Survey’ »

by

Karthik Subramanian

There is a lot of interest on the etymology behind the famed Madras Baashai online. The dialect offers plenty of scope for both fun-filled ‘guess work’ and proper research on the origin of the words. Some of it sounds very plausible — take the case of OC, the slang for free. There are articles in newspapers as well as crowd-sourced online forums that suggest the word came about from the era of the East India Company when official postages used to carry ‘On Company Service’ and was shipped around free of cost.

And there are words possibly borne out of the figment of imagination of popular comedians such as Thengai Srinivasan — most notably jalsa and jilpa (both meaning ‘fun’) — that have become so popular.

But does this mean most of the lexicons of Madras Baashai have relatively recent origins, dating back to the last three-and-a-half centuries that the city has thrived. Or do some words go back even further in time?

Continue reading ‘“Vaa Vaathyare Vootandey”:Origins and Growth of the Unique Chennai Tamil Dialect Known as “Madras Baashai”.’ »

by

N Sathiya Moorthy

The recent Indian demarche to Sri Lanka on the continuing arrests and judicial detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the island-nation should bring back to memory the October 2008 Joint Statement on the subject. According to this statement, the two countries had “agreed to put in place practical arrangements to deal with bona fide Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)… keeping in mind the humanitarian and livelihood dimensions of the fishermen issue”. However, that is not to be, and today, the Tamil Nadu fishers are threatening to take to the seas as a form of protest.

It should bring to mind the threat from the other side in the reverse, ahead of the annual, 45-day ‘fishing holiday’ in Tamil Nadu last year. A senior Minister in Sri Lanka, Douglas Devananda, had said that he would lead 5000 Sri Lankan Tamil fishers on to the IMBL, so as to bar the south Indian counterparts from ‘violating’ their seas and hitting at their livelihoods. When counter-protests in Tamil Nadu became louder and shriller at the time, it was explained that the threat was aimed at forcing the hands of the Governments in the two countries to urgently negotiate an agreement to the dispute during the ‘fishing holiday’ that would have provided both the time, inclination and opportunity for all stake-holders to sit down and address mutual concerns, meaningfully.

Continue reading ‘Constant Trespassing of Indian Fishermen in Sri Lankan Waters and Their Continuing Arrest and Detention.’ »

After nearly a two week delay, popular Tamil actor Vijay’s film “Thalaivaa” (Leader) finally hit screens across Tamil Nadu, sending his die-hard fans into frenzied celebrations.

In keeping with the traditional manner of welcoming a new release in Tamil Nadu, the fans poured milk on huge cut outs of the actor, garlanded his posters and banners and danced to the beats of folk music.

Sources close to the film unit said the movie was released in around 600 theatres.

Continue reading ‘Actor Vijay Thanks Chief Minister Jayalalithaa as Delayed “Thalaiva” Film Screens in Tamil Nadu Without Tag Line “Time to Lead”’ »

Part III:

A Tennis Rejuvenation in Namibia

by Harrish Thirukumaran

‘Sports don’t always come as a cakewalk as it does take patience as well’

At the BNC, the daily schedule would be as follows: in the morning to mid-afternoon the students were able to participate in expanded non-academic programs such as yoga, basketball, and tennis. From 2 to 5 pm, the volunteers including my Brock group were required to somewhat educate some of the students through work such as reading, hands-on activities, and math.

In pic-Johaness and Risto:

A project that enlisted my past athletic skills and allowed me to feel closer to the BNC kids was the tennis program. It was one of the many activities that attracted students to learn the sport and have as pastime during the holiday breaks. It was a joyous opportunity to contribute, along with another one of my volunteer mates for the students.

Continue reading ‘Instilling Patience and Social Skills via Sportsmanship: Namibian experiences of a student-volunteer’ »

A Two Part Panel Discussion on Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s Book – “Long War, Cold Peace” ~ On 21st August 2013 and 30th August 2013 – at 3:30 PM, at The Marga Auditorium:

‘Was it a Just War? How can we get to a Just Peace?’

by

Ananth Palakidnar

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will stress on the need to demilitarize the North, and request the United Nations Human Rights Commission’s intervention to obtain the release of Tamil political detainees, when the Alliance meet the UNHRC Chief, Navaneetham Pillay, on 30 August.

Continue reading ‘TNA to Complain About a Number of Issues at Scheduled Meeting with UN Human Rights Commissioner Navaneetham Pillay’ »

By

Madura Ranwala

Several individuals were injured and 14 vehicles damaged as a result of a clash between supporters of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) and the National Workers’ Union (NWU) at Commercial Junction in Kotagala yesterday (19), an election monitoring group said.

The CWC and NWU are both constituent parties of the UPFA.

Continue reading ‘UPFA MP Digambaram Calls UPFA MInister Thondaman ” a Dictator Like Prabhakaran “After CWC-NUW Clash at Kotagala.’ »

By

Don Asoka Wijewardena

Nearly 300 new Tamil drivers and conductors, who are interested in joining the private bus industry, have been registered with the National Transport Commission (NTC). They will work in the Kilinochchi and Mannar districts. These drivers and conductors would undergo training from August 21 to 23, the NTC said.

Continue reading ‘300 Tamils Given Training by NTC to be Given Jobs as Drivers and Conductors in Private Buses in Kilinochchi and Mannar Districts’ »

by

Srilal Miththapala

On the evening of August 17 (Saturday) news began to filter in that Gemunu, the iconic and infamous elephant of Yala National Park had been shot by someone, and was injured. Subsequent reports, confirmed by the DWC, said that a group of unknown persons carrying firearms , had come across Gemunu inside the park, and when the tusker had engaged in his ‘usual antics’, they had panicked and shot at him.

Continue reading ‘Who Fired Guns and Injured the Iconic Elephant at Yala National Park Known as “Gemunu” to Visitors?’ »

By

W.A. Sunil

Sinhala extremists led by several Buddhist monks attacked a mosque at Grandpass in Colombo on Saturday during the evening prayers at about 6.30 pm. According to local residents, more than 150 people came armed with wooden poles, stones and glass bottles. The mob has also attacked several homes belonging to Muslim people. At least 12 people were injured, three of whom remain in hospital, one in a critical condition.

No one identified the organisation that led the assault. There are several Sinhala-Buddhist extremist groups led by Buddhist monks—Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist power force), Sinhala Ravaya (Sinhala Echo) and Ravana Balakaya (Ravana Force)—whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment. About a week ago, Sinhala Ravaya monks went to the area and told Islamic clerics to close down the mosque.

Continue reading ‘Grandpass Mosque Attack Reveals Pattern Where Govt is Whipping up Communalism Through Sinhala Buddhist Extremist Groups’ »

By
Latheef Farook

Shawwal moon sighting controversy?

Predominantly Muslim area of Kinniya is located in the north east coast of the island. Around 98 percent of the population there are Muslims.

They belong to all walks of life from religious scholars, educationists, traders, farmers and fishermen to number of other professions.

The entire atmosphere changes during the Holy Month of Ramadan with people getting deeply involved in fasting and night prayers.This is one area where the moon was sighted frequently on the basis of which the Muslims island wide began and ended their Ramadan fast.

This year was no exception. Muslims there were keen to see the Shawwal Moon on Wednesday 6 August 2013 and the moon sighting committee of All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulama Kinniya Branch, ACJUKB, had made arrangements for it.

Continue reading ‘Time to Overhaul All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulama to Restore its Integrity and Dignity and to Serve Community’s Needs.’ »

BY

SUDHISH KAMATH

Ever since the promos of Chennai Express came out, there has been an outrage of sorts from the South, especially from hardcore Chennaiites. And those not exactly outraged were at least mildly amused by the misrepresentation and approximation of different races, cultures and accents from the South through its “Tamil” heroine played by Deepika Padukone.

But how seriously can you take a film made by people who can’t tell a lungi from veshti or Bharatanatyam from Kathakali?

When I watched the film in a packed hall during the middle of the week, I could see how it entertained the audience. It made people laugh. Not with it. But at it.

Continue reading ‘“Chennai Express”Continues Hindi Film Trend of Misrepresenting South India via the Madrasi Myth’ »

by

Col R Hariharan

National security after 66 years of independence

[This background note on the state of national security since independence was prepared for two TV interviews on August 15 and 16, 2013.]

Overview on national security since 1947

Indian armed forces were guardians of British colonial rule before independence. They have now distinguished themselves as the defenders of independent India by shedding their blood on more than one occasion. This has not been an easy process. It meant moving away from the Commander-in-Chief system of the British to Chiefs of staff for each of the three services. It also meant downgrading the status of Service Chiefs in the government hierarchy; C-in-C was next only to the Viceroy in Colonial India. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is now on par with the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission. But the armed forces have reconciled to this realizing that elected government is supreme in a democracy.

But this is having its impact on the decision making process on national security and management of strategic defence. We see the anachronism of Defence Secretary – a bureaucrat – leading a delegation of three chiefs for holding a strategic dialogue with China. Chiefs of armed forces who had access to the Prime Minister in Pandit Nehru’s times have access only to the Defence Minister. Security chiefs are merely on listening watch in the decision making process after they have had their say with the defence minister.

Continue reading ‘India has Lost some of its Influence in Countries like Sri Lanka.Nepal.Maldives and Bangla Desh After China’s Entry into Region.’ »

By

B.Kolappan

The names are different. Prabhakaran is Bhaskaran (played by Ajay Ratnam) in the film. Rajiv Gandhi is referred to as the young former prime minister. And the LTTE is LTF. Though the producers of Madras Cafe have insisted the film has nothing to do with the Tamil Tigers, the connections are unmistakable. Six months after some Muslim groups protested against the release of Kamal Hassan’s Viswaroopam, members of some Tamil nationalist organisations – who watched a special screening here on Sunday – are gearing up to challenge the release of the film, dubbed in Tamil.

Continue reading ‘“Naam Thamizhar”Seeman Opposes release of Hindi film “Madras Cafe”Portraying LTTE’s Prabhakaran as LTE’s Bhaskaran.’ »

By

N. Sathiya Moorthy

Clearly, someone wants to embarrass the government of the day just as they want to harass the Muslim community to a point of no-return. They had played out the game, and successfully to sub-serve their own skewed yet limited interests in the case of the Tamils.

They do not have a popular mandate and cannot hope to have one on their own. Yet, they are able to pressure any government of any day, politically and ideologically, to have their say – and way. Thus was born the Tamil militancy in the country. Thus was nurtured the JVP militancy, particularly of the second, ‘Sinhala-nationalist’ edition of the late eighties.
Continue reading ‘Blatant Targeting of the Muslim Community,Their Mosques and Shops,Citing One Reason or the Other’ »

by

Sandeep Dikshit

Sri Lanka has ruled out early repatriation of over 100 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by it recently for allegedly crossing into Sri Lankan territorial waters.

Some of them have been in custody for over two months, and Colombo says they would have to undergo the judicial process though the intention is not to deprive them of their liberty for long.

“But there has to be some deterrence, otherwise why won’t they come over and over again?’” asked Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs G.L Peiris who maintained that India’s transfer of Kachchatheevu island to Sri Lanka was a settled matter and cannot be reopened.

Continue reading ‘Tamil Nadu Fishermen Arrested in Sri Lankan Territorial waters will be Tried in Courts -GL Peiris tells India’ »

by

Vasudha Venugopal

In a development that brings out the online convergence of love for Tamil and passion for free software, Mozilla Firefox – a free, open-source web browser, considered one of the most secure – will soon be available in Tamil.

A group of over 10 volunteers who have been translating the browser menu and other settings into Tamil, for over a year now, have confirmed the browser can be downloaded from the Mozilla website after Tuesday.

In the Tamil Mozilla, the options are kopu for ‘file’, viruppangal for ‘preferences’, and nagal yedu for ‘copy’, among others.

Continue reading ‘Web Browser Mozilla Firefox Will Soon be Available in the Tamil language’ »

By

Dinouk Colombage

A week after the communal clashes that disrupted the lives of the residents in Grandpass in Colombo, an uneasy peace has settled in the area. On the streets it appears the people in the area have returned to their daily routines, but below the surface, fear and mistrust of one another is growing and threatening to once again break down the community.

Friday (16) afternoon prayers went ahead as scheduled at the Rahmaniya Jumma Mosque in Grandpass, however, a small police presence was noticeable outside the religious building. Police spokesperson, SP G.M.H.B. Siriwardana, explained that they had posted police personnel outside the mosque to ensure that the peace was maintained.

Continue reading ‘“Thozhugai”(Prayers) Continue at the Rahmaniya Jumma Mosque in Grandpass with Police Personnel Posted Outside’ »

In honour of ‘Shanie’ (Lankanesan Nesiah)

‘Shanie’ in his Notebooks turned the microscope inwards and called things by their proper names. He was a patriot of a Sri Lanka that could and should have been, but never was.

It is only in a Patria which is just, equal, democratic and tolerant (a la Shanie) that the dream of a lasting peace and humane development can be realised.

——————————

Rethinking Patriotism; Re-imaging the Patriot

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara


“There can be no patriotism without justice… As soon as the right of one individual is violated, the right of everyone is jeopardised”.
– Georges Clemenceau[i]

In the morning of January 13th 1948, Mahatma Gandhi began the final fast of his life.

The target of Gandhi’s last fast was not the Colonial rulers but the government and people of newly independent India. His demands were equally unusual. Gandhi wanted Hindu refugees to vacate the Muslim homes/mosques they had seized, even if it meant returning to the wretched refugee camps, in the bitter cold of Delhi-winter. He also wanted Indian government pay Rs.550 million it owed to Pakistan. Nehru and Patel were withholding the payment because they knew that some of the money would be used by Jinnah to buy weapons to be used against India; they also feared Hindu/Sikh fury.

Continue reading ‘Rethinking Patriotism; Re-imaging the Patriot- By Tisaranee Gunasekara’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

The jury is no longer out on the UNP-led protest rally in Colombo last week and what it revealed about the state of that party. The Sunday Times (Colombo), the newspaper least sympathetic to the government, most hostile to the UNP’s dissidents and the most charitable to the existing opposition leadership carried this definitive assessment in the column by its Political Editor.

“…Barely hours after the Magistrate’s order, a crowd of some 2,000 gathered for the protest…The organisers of the event had expected to muster a crowd of at least 5,000 from Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara areas. The lower turnout to an event led by the country’s main opposition to protest the army killings at Weliweriya on August 1 – a fortnight ago, and other burning issues affecting the people, does not speak well for the grand old party. It perhaps would have made a difference if behind-the-scene moves to rope in both the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and its breakaway Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) succeeded. Both were to turn down covert overtures made. However, former General Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party was not asked.

…Going by the UNP’s own estimate of mustering a 5,000 crowd, not the best for the main opposition, the question that begs answer is whether the Police Department, recently beefed up with all the anti-riot paraphernalia could not have coped with it. Egregious enough, it is even more absurd when it ends up with a turnout of only some 2,000. Senior Police officials, who do not wish to be named, concede that there had been occasions when trade union events outside the Fort Railway Station have drawn crowds much higher than this number.” (‘As Pillay comes, Govt. faces more HR issues’, ST, Aug 18, 2013)

Continue reading ‘Opposition Unity And The Return Of The Uncle Nephew Party’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday challenged the UN to furnish evidence relating to the main war crimes allegation that 40,000 persons allegedly disappeared during the final phase of the war in early 2009. He emphasized that none of those propagating war crimes allegations, including the UN, had so far revealed the basis of their accusations.

In a brief interview with The Sunday Island, Rajapaksa said the government intended to take up the issue with United Nations Human Rights Commissioner (UNHRC) Navanethem Pillay scheduled to visit Sri Lanka later this month. The UN should without further delay divulge data to justify the ‘Report of the Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka’, the Defence Secretary said.

Continue reading ‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to Challenge Navi Pillay to Produce Evidence of 40,000 Civilians Being Killed in Final phase of War When he Meets her.’ »

Vishnuguptha

“Mediocre men often mistake aspiration for inspiration; they have first-class ambition along with third-rate powers; and these coming together make a most ill-matched pair of legs, which bear a person along awkwardly in his path of life, and expose him to endless mortifications.” – ~William Mathews

From wherever one looks and to wherever one looks, one sees that the Government is in deep, deep trouble.

They may put out a brave façade. They may brush aside all criticism. But there is no denying that they are knee-deep in ‘fertilizer’.

Whenever a crisis takes shape, they look to the Chief Executive, not so much to convince a public who is getting increasingly disillusioned about the excessive powers vested in the Presidency but because there is no solution either attempted or thought about by the rest.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka has Become a Country of Mediocre Rulers, Politicians, Officials and Supporters’ »

A coup is developing in cricket circles to oust K. Mathivanan from cricket administration.

Mathivanan was a popular choice for the post of Vice-President in this year’s Sri Lanka Cricket elections where he received the most number of votes. However, he has been completely sidelined by a fellow official well known for his crooked deals.

Continue reading ‘Crooked Official Planning Coup to Oust Popular”Mr. Clean” K.Mathivanan from Cricket Administration’ »

By

Ranil Wijayapala

A former militant turned politician and now a Cabinet Minister in the present UPFA Government, Douglas Devananda prior to the announcement of the Provincial Council elections for the North expressed his willingness to contest the elections as the Chief Ministerial candidate. But his name was missing in the UPFA Nominations List. Instead of contesting the elections, Minister Devananda has taken a lead role in the UPFA campaign in the North for the Provincial Council elections. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Minister Devananda says that his dream of becoming the Chief Minister of the North is still alive and that chances were there for him to become the Chief Minister if the UPFA gets the opportunity to run the Northern Provincial Council. In his interview, he also expressed many views about the forthcoming elections and various issues confronting the Northern people.

Excerpts of the interview

Q: Prior to the announcement of the Northern Provincial Council elections you have on many occasions expressed your willingness to contest the elections and about your dream to become the Chief Minister in the North. But you are not contesting the elections this time around. What made you to take this decision?

A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa wanted me to be in the Cabinet since I am the only Tamil Minister in the Cabinet. He does not want to lose the one and only Tamil Minister in the Cabinet. On the other hand, I have been nominated to the Parliament Select Committee. That is the most important thing. There is no other Tamil representation in the Parliamentary Select Committee. If I resign from the Parliament there is no one to represent the PSC. Since I firmly believe that it is only through the Parliament Select Committee we can find a solution to the Northern peoples problems. It is important for me to be in the Select Committee.

Continue reading ‘People of the North Need and Want Development,Rehabilitation and Also Their Political Rights-Douglas Devananda’ »

by

S. Shiva Kumar

Vijay has come a long way. Starting off as a child artiste, mostly in films directed by his father, he made his debut as hero about two decades ago. As a gawky youngster, he played cheesy roles in his early films, replete with sexual innuendo. The first signs that there was a competent actor hidden somewhere was in Fazil’s “Kadhalukku Mariyadhai”. There was an air of self assurance in “Kushi” as he underplayed and was a perfect foil to a slightly over-the-top Jyothika. His fan base kept multiplying as people started appreciating his laidback performances.

The climb to the top was steady. He was anointed with the title “Ilaya Dhalapathi” and films such as “Gilli” and “Pokkiri” catapulted him right to the top. Never known to be prudent in his choice of films or directors, his career has been peppered with box-office turkeys. He’s an ardent admirer of Kamal the actor, but career-wise chose the safer, Rajni path. Well aware of his limitations as an actor he’s clear that he prefers the deafening applause of his fans rather than winning vague awards. Soft spoken and zombie like when asked to appear on-stage, the transformation on-screen is electric, seeming to suggest that he has to be paid to perform.

Continue reading ‘No Amount of Controversy and Hype will save Vijay’s “Thalaiva” at the Box Office When it is Eventually Released in Tamil Nadu’ »

by

Karthik Subramanian

Vijay

Actor Vijay’s film ‘Thalaivaa,’ which has been embroiled in a controversy over its delayed release in Tamil Nadu, will hit the screens on Tuesday (August 20) according Vendhar Films, the film’s distributors in the State.

There is no information yet on whether any deal was brokered with any party to secure the release.

Continue reading ‘“Thalaiva” Film Starring Vijay to be Released in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday August 20th Say Distributors Vendhar Films’ »

K. R. Ravindran, a business leader and CEO of Printcare Plc, has been selected President of Rotary International – one of the world’s largest service organizations, for the years 2015-16.

K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2015-16-pic: Rotary.org

He will be the first Sri Lankan and only the 10th Asian to hold this prestigious office in the 108 year history of the organization.

Continue reading ‘Business Leader K.R. Ravindran the First Sri Lankan to be Elected as President of Rotary International’ »

By

Namini Wijedasa

It was time for Friday prayers but the old mosque on Swarna Chaitya Road in Molawatte, Grandpass, stayed empty last week. Hunks of wood, sawn off the Bo tree that had overshadowed its minarets for many years, were piled outside the door. There were no devotees at the disputed new mosque —or “prayer centre” — either. It stood across the street, with its windows shattered and an armed Special Task Force policeman at its gate.

On this day, Muslims from Molawatte performed Jumma prayers at another mosque. “Leaves and pieces of wood from the Bo tree had fallen into the old mosque while it was being cut,” explained M K B Dissanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs. “So as a temporary measure, they went to a mosque in the next lane.”

Continue reading ‘Buddhist Prelate Blames Muslim Politician from the UNP for Misleading Grandpass Muslims on the Mosque Issue’ »

(Minister of External Affairs G.L Peiris’ Address following the unveiling of the statue of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies on Monday, 12 August, 2103, the 8th death anniversary of the late Minister)

Lakshman Kadirgamar ~(12 August 2005-12 April 1932)

Your Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, my colleagues in the Cabinet of Ministers, Your Excellency’s, Commanders of the three Forces, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Executive Director of the LKIIRSS, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all here this morning for an event of unquestionable significance. A few moment ago, His Excellency President Rajapaksa unveiled the statue of the late Foreign Minister the Hon Lakshman Kadirgamar on the 8th anniversary of his death.

Continue reading ‘Prof. GL Peiris Waxes Eloquent about Lakshman Kadirgamar at Belated Statue Unveiling of the Former Foreign Minister on his 8th Death Anniversary’ »

By

Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

At a recent press briefing the new Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya reportedly warned of attempts by the Tamil diaspora to tarnish the country’s image ahead of several important events — the impending visit of Human Rights chief Navi Pillay, the upcoming Northern PC elections, the UNHRC session and CHOGM.

In view of recent developments, however, it’s hard not to conclude that the Tamil diaspora (and for that matter the NGOs, the Opposition, the human rights crowd and all the usual suspects) won’t have to work very hard at their usual pastime of tarnishing Sri Lanka’s reputation. Perhaps they can all take a rest, seeing that the Government of Sri Lanka is doing such a good job of it itself.

Continue reading ‘Grandpass Incidents and the Tolerance of Religious Intolerance’ »

By

Mark Binelli

Robert Thurman-pic-via:facebook.com/Robert.A.F.Thurman

Robert Thurman is friends with the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys, has fought to free Tibet, and raised a Hollywood celebrity (Uma). Now 71, America’s leading Buddhist scholar is still trying to rein in his overcrowded schedule – and occasionally his temper – and finish building the house he started 40 years ago.

*******************************

Approximately 375 million years after a half-mile-wide meteorite crashed into what’s now the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, a Swedish ex-model named Nena von Schlebrügge had a strange dream. In it, she and her husband, the renowned Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman – who had been living near the Catskills town of Woodstock since 1968, when they were graduate students – were in their seventies and Bob was pounding nails on an unfamiliar rooftop. The next morning, von Schlebrügge woke up rattled. “If you get any big offers, turn them down,” she warned Thurman, “or you’re never going to retire!”

Thurman has written or translated over a dozen books, holds the endowed chair of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, and tirelessly works to raise awareness about the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Among his family – the couple have four children, including the actress Uma Thurman – he has earned the reputation of an inveterate overextender, a workaholic with “a bad tendency,” his wife has noted, “to say yes to everything.” His family nickname is “Get a Life, Bob.” Thurman built the house on their Woodstock property himself. “And I’m still building it!” he tells me, sounding secretly pleased. “It’s not quite finished – for 40 years now.” His son Ganden bequeathed him with his carpentry motto: “Why Do It Right When You Can Do It Yourself?”

Uma Thurman-pic courtesy of: contactmusic.com

By

Gamini Weerakoon

Journalists are used to being kicked by all and sundry but not by beauty queens – rather ex-beauty queens. Last week we were surprised to read a front page report about Rosy Senanayake ‘flaying the media’.

Rosy, the young lady – rather not so young – ex beauty queen, turned diplomat, turned politician had taken on the media, particularly the press at a press conference last week and said that some journalists, instead of highlighting the rampant corruption and abuse of power by ruling party politicians, were engaged in boosting their egos and images through their writings.

Continue reading ‘“Rosa Polla Geneng Balla Maranda”: Rosy Senanayake Kicks the Media With her Dainty Foot.’ »

by

N Sathiya Moorthy

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa that India would work towards ensuring that the Tamils “masters of their own destiny within the framework of a united Sri Lanka” has to be seen in perspective. So should be his reiteration that India had for “long advocated the creation of an environment…” for “reconciliation and devolution of political powers in Sri Lanka”.

At times over-used, and often clichéd, Prime Minister Singh’s reassurance that there was no change in Government of India’s position on the ethnic issue should come as a relief to the ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ in the island-nation, as also to moderate sections, if any, of the pan-Tamil political class nearer home in Tamil Nadu. Yet, there is more than meeting the eye when it comes to the Tamils in Sri Lanka being the ‘masters of their own destiny’, over the short, medium and long-terms.

Continue reading ‘New Delhi Must Ensure that Moderate tamils are “Masters of Their Own Destiny” within the Framework of a United Sri Lanka’ »

by

Charumathi Ramachandran

‘Madras Week’ (August 18-25) is here once again and brings with it waves of nostalgia. I want to chronologically show how the place attracted poets, artists, musicians and dancers, who were also welcomed into its fold.

Continue reading ‘“Madras Week” (Aug 18-25) Celebrates City of Chennai the Cultural Hub That Historically Attracted Artists, Poets, Musicians, Singers and Dancers’ »

by

Kavitha Muralidharan

“Mullum Malarum”

As a young student in 1958, J. Mahendran could poke fun at Tamil cinema, even when the legendary MGR was seated on the dais. “We too fall in love. But we never sing duets,” he said. MGR appreciated his nerve instead of taking offence, happily cheering him and the audience too joined him in the applause. Two decades later, Mahendran came up with another stunner. The crowd was only more than willing to applaud. Mullum Malarum (1978) had no duets.

In a career that spanned more than two decades, Mahendran directed only 12 films, but redefined Tamil cinema with an authority that remains unchallenged till date.

Continue reading ‘Ace Filmmaker J. Mahendran who Redefined Tamil Cinema by his Movies Planning to Make a Comeback Soon’ »

The makers of Vijay-starrer ‘Thalaiva,’ who approached the city police on Friday with permission for a day’s token fast, were denied the request.

The movie has been mired in controversy and its release, earlier scheduled for the Eid weekend, was suspended after cinema halls received threats from some groups.

Continue reading ‘Vijay, Amala Paul, Sathyaraj and Other Actors and Crew of “Thalaiva” Tamil Film Denied Permission to Stage One-Day Fast Protesting Screening “Delay” in Tamil Nadu’ »

by

Ranga Jayasuriya

Twenty years have passed since Samuel Huntington wrote his 1993 seminal essay, Clash of Civilization, which he later expanded into a ground breaking book, Clash of Civilization and the Remaking of World Order.

In his original essay, which was both lauded and disputed, Huntington, one of the pre-eminent social scientists of the 20th century, observed that the fundamental source of conflict in the future will not be political or economic, but cultural and religious.
Continue reading ‘Is Rise of Anti-Muslim Attacks in Sri Lanka a Symptom of the “Clash of Civilizations” Theory of Samuel Huntington?’ »

by

Kelum Bandara

The Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs Ministry is to introduce a new law seeking action against publications, either in print or online, that defames the original teachings and traditions of the major religions, officials said yesterday.

As a first step in this effort, the Ministry has drafted a bill that provides for the establishment of a Buddhist Publications Regulatory Board with authority to regulate any publication that is in violation of Buddhism, its philosophy or traditions.

Continue reading ‘Buddhist Publications Regulatory Board to be set up to Take action Against Print and On Line Publications “Violating”Buddhism’ »

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has demanded a high level investigation into the alleged failure on the part of the police to disperse mobs responsible for causing damage to a mosque and several houses at Grandpass recently.

Minister Bathiudeen has also forwarded a DVD containing CCTV footage depicting what he called police inaction, while reminding IGP N. K. Illangakoon that the latter assured an impartial investigation if evidence was produced to substantiate the allegation.

Continue reading ‘Rishad Badhiyutheen Sends CCTV Footage to IGP Illangakoon and Demands Probe into Mob Violence Against Mosque in Grandpass’ »

by

Nirgunan Tiruchelvam

Michael Tissera ~pic courtesy of: cricturf.com

Sri Lanka’s rise in Test cricket is one of the finest underdog stories in the game’s history. England have played Test cricket for 126 years, while Sri Lanka have only competed for 31. Yet Sri Lanka has two batsmen with 10,000 Test runs while England have none. Sri Lanka have also produced the game’s highest wicket-taker: Muttiah Muralitharan’s career haul of 800 is more than double the tally of England’s leading bowler (Ian Botham with 383).

Sri Lanka has won Tests in England, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa. However, a Test win in India has remained elusive. Their score-line in India is appalling. They have played 17 Tests in India, losing 10. Eight of the losses have been innings defeats. The darkest humiliation was the 1994 tour that featured three innings defeats. The 2-0 drubbing in 2009 was also lop-sided.

However, if you were to delve into the era before they got Test status, you would find an instance of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was previously known) defeating India in India. It happened in Ahmedabad, in 1965.
Continue reading ‘When Sri Lanka (Then Ceylon ) Led by Michael Tissera Won in 1965 Its First Unofficial Test Match Against India’ »

By

Raj Gonsalkorale

Sri Lanka has many “national questions”. Law and order issues, constitutional issues, political accountability issues and several others that could all be termed national issues although the issue that is commonly referred to as the national question is the ethnic issue associated with minority empowerment and granting of equal rights through the concept of self- determination, specifically for the Tamil community in the country.

While some may argue that it is time to move on and not dwell in history, others may equally justifiably argue that it is difficult to move on without a better and a shared understanding amongst the major communities in the country as to the nature and extent of the national question.

In order to understand the issue, which we may refer to as Tamil nationalism and how one might find ways and means for its expression within a multi ethnic secular unitary State, one has to retrace history as it is the events of the past that made it an issue. Rather than going into historical details, considering that this article is focussed on the future rather than the past, an attempt has been made to encapsulate a few milestone events that may have established Tamil nationalism as an issue.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s national question; is it not time to move on?’ »

by

Pushpakumara Jayaratne

Pelassa Magistrate Namal Perera ordered the Moulavi of the Paragahadeniya Grand Mosque in Mawathagama and the Road Development Authority yesterday, to remove the sign board erected in front of the Mawathagama Paragahadeniya Mosque, which reads, ‘Mosque ahead- keep silence’, within 14 days.

Continue reading ‘Pelessa Magistrate Orders Removal of “Mosque Ahead-Silence Please” Signboard Opposite Parakahadeniya Grand Mosque Within 14 Days’ »

by

Dharisha Bastians

Still grappling with the Weliweriya controversy, the Government was forced to open a battle on another front, this time in Grandpass, Colombo, where agitations and attacks by mobs led by hard-line groups against the Muslim community almost created an opening for outright communal clashes.

The old Molawatte mosque, where countless Muslims from the Grandpass area have answered the call to prayer since childhood, is a tiny structure sheltered by the leafy boughs of an ancient Bo tree on Swarna Chaitya Road. Long time residents in the suburb of Grandpass say the narrow lane has always been scattered with Buddhist temples and Muslim masjids or prayer centres.

Swarna Chaitya Road is named for the golden stupa about halfway down the lane, yet, the old green and silver mosque a few metres away is an equally iconic landmark. The lane also houses a dhamma school and a few yards away from the mosque, the Samadhi Viharaya.
Continue reading ‘President Rajapaksa Telephoned Defence Secretary Gotabhaya from Minister Fowzie’s House During Grandpass Incidents’ »

by

Dr. Ameer Ali

The attack on the Grandpass mosque last week is the latest of the never ending anti-Muslim provocations conducted by Bodu Bala Sena and Sinhala Ravaya with their extremist mob. Ever since the defeat of the LTTE in 2009 these un-Buddhist militants have taken an apparent pledge to cleanse the island of Sri Lanka of all non-Buddhist elements and transform it into a pure land of Theravada Buddhism in their own image.

The real tragedy is the inaction against and toleration of the activities of this unruly minority by the ruling authorities who are morally, legally and constitutionally bound to protect the security and welfare all its citizens. What is the end game of all this conspiracy?

Continue reading ‘Perhaps Anti-Muslim Fervour in Sri Lanka May Diminish if Defence Secretary Succeeds to the Throne?’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“The most alarming aspect of the video to me was the seemingly delightful bloodlust they appeared to have. They….seemed not to value human life…” / – Bradley Manning

– (Statement at the Trial – referring to an American attack on Iraqi civilians

The ‘Rajapaksa Model’ of warfare had eight fundamentals, Indian journalist VK Shashikumar wrote in the Indian Defence Review[i]. These included political will, telling the world to ‘go to hell’, a no-negotiations policy, regulating media, rejecting ceasefires and giving troops complete operational freedom.

All these are discernible – albeit in embryonic form – in Operation Weliweriya.

In Weliweriya, the Siblings had the political will to use brute force against what was essentially a microcosm of their Sinhala-base, during an election season. An army unit (led by a war-hero Brigadier no less[ii]) was dispatched to punish the demonstrating people of Weliweriya.

Most regimes would have baulked at using such tactics, just months away from hosting an international summit. But the Rajapaksas did not give a damn.

Continue reading ‘If There is a War Crimes Tribunal the Rajapaksas will Try to Save Their Skins by Blaming Ordinary Soldiers and Ground Commanders’ »

By

DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

While it is by no means the place of a uniformed officer, however highly placed, decorated or both, to comment on the peaceful political conduct of members of parliament and/or of academics, the story told by the new Chief of Defence Staff, to the effect that Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran attended an event of or sponsored by the so-called Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is – if true—deeply distressing in several respects and warrants condemnation.

If it is a mischievous untruth, a denial must promptly be issued by the TNA and a protest lodged from the floor of the House. If there is some truth to a story which has been maliciously spun out of recognition, a clarification must be issued by these gentlemen. If for instance they had made dissenting speeches at such an event, the text or transcript of these must be made public.

Continue reading ‘Did Tamil National Alliance Attend a Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam Event?’ »

By

Latheef Farook

The timely settlement of the dispute over the mosque at the Swarna Chaithiya Mawatha averted a potentially disastrous conflict which had all the ingredients to turn the area into a killing field. This could have even spilled over to other parts of the country.

This farsighted and generous gesture, in the true spirit of Buddhist teachings, included the cutting of the nearby Bo tree and offering Muslims to pray in the temple “Banamaduwa”, (preaching hall)l need to be admired by Muslims all peace loving citizens of this country.

This is the need of the hour in a country which was torn apart due to a few hundred Buddhist extremist’s reckless attacks vandalizing mosques, Muslim owned businesses and a vicious hostile media campaign poisoning the minds of main stream Sinhalese against Muslims.

Continue reading ‘Buddhist Extremists Hope to Attain “NIBBANA” by Attacking Muslims, Mosques and Muslim Owned Businesses’ »

By

Tariq A. Al-Maeena

A mistake once committed is rarely repeated by a rational entity. However such is not the case with the government of Sri Lanka. It is becoming increasingly obvious that following the 30-year war with the Tamil minority, the Sri Lankan rulers have not learned their lesson.

Today, they are busily spreading the seeds of discord against another minority; the island’s Muslim Sri Lankans. They are clever enough not to openly support a reign of terror directly. Instead, they quietly look the other way while terrorist Buddhist groups like the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) do their dirty work.

Continue reading ‘Leaders of Gulf States Must Send Clear Message to Sri Lankan President to Quit Playing Games and Restrain Anti-Muslim Violence.’ »

General Jagath Jayasuriya who assumed duties as the Chief of Defence Staff paid a courtesy call on Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Aug 2, 2013

Intelligence reports have revealed that Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians R Sambandan and A Sumanthiran have participated in a program organized by the so-called Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam in (TGTE) Canada in violation of country’s Constitution, Chief of Defence Staff General Jagath Jayasuriya told the media yesterday

He said that intelligence reports confirmed that these parliamentarians have participated in these programs organized by TGTE in Canada.
Continue reading ‘TNA MP’s Sampanthan and Sumanthiran Have Participated in Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam Program in Canada Alleges Gen Jagath Jayasuriya’ »

by

Vishnuguptha

“I stay a little longer, as one stays, to cover up the embers that still burn.”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It’s been like this for quite some time now. The anxieties of the parents, fractured hopes and aspirations of the youth, dashed ambitions of the workers; unfulfilled dreams of adolescents, broken promises of the women, starved bellies of the poor and fleeing expectations of the professionals for justice have all been burning inside them; slowly but surely consuming the outer coating of false armour.

Accident at Eriyagama-via Newsfirst.lk-Aug 8, 2013

They penetrate into the very bones and marrow, eventually attempting to reside in that very essence of man’s spirit that is fighting to extricate itself from the traps and cobwebs of tradition and convention and of decency and self-restraint. But if let go, alas, the explosion would gobble up every living thing around it, leaving behind once again dust and ashes with orphans of a civil catastrophe roaming the streets with bare hands and empty faces.
Continue reading ‘War Victory Against LTTE has Liberated a Certain Class of Sinhala Buddhists Suffering From an Inferiority Complex vis a vis Tamils.’ »

(Text of a Media Communique Issued by te Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development)

Hon. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, participating at the ceremony held to mark the laying of Foundation Stone to the building complex of the Central Banks’ Northern Provincial Branch at Kilinochchi Vidya Nagar on the 12th of August, 2013, said that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was in the process of conducting many a Poverty Alleviation Programmes in the Northern Province in an extremely commendable manner with proven outcomes. Hon. Basil Rajapaske, the Minister of Economic Development participated at the ceremony as the Chief Guest.
Continue reading ‘Central Bank to Set Up a Branch for the Northern Province at Vidya Nagar in Kilinochchi’ »

By

Izeth Hussain

When President Rajapaksa met our newspaper editors some weeks ago he advised them to ignore the anti-Muslim campaign. The idea was that giving publicity to the campaign would be tantamount to adding fuel to fire whereas ignoring it would lead to the campaign fading away. In the ensuing weeks that expectation has proved to be a completely mistaken one. Not only did the anti-Muslim campaign continue to flourish, it has actually taken a turn for the worse.

Continue reading ‘Grandpass Violence has Given Rise to Two Epochal Developments’ »

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and AMY CHOZICK

(Lydia Polgreen contributed reporting, and Kitty Bennett contributed research)

Soon after the 10th anniversary of the foundation bearing his name, Bill Clinton met with a small group of aides and two lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Two weeks of interviews with Clinton Foundation executives and former employees had led the lawyers to some unsettling conclusions.

Chelsea Clinton with Basel, a Cambodian, May 30, 2013. President Bill Clinton met Basel earlier in 2006-pic courtesy of: twitter.com/ChelseaClinton

The review echoed criticism of Mr. Clinton’s early years in the White House: For all of its successes, the Clinton Foundation had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest. It ran multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, despite vast amounts of money flowing in.

And concern was rising inside and outside the organization about Douglas J. Band, a onetime personal assistant to Mr. Clinton who had started a lucrative corporate consulting firm — which Mr. Clinton joined as a paid adviser — while overseeing the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation’s glitzy annual gathering of chief executives, heads of state, and celebrities.
Continue reading ‘Concerns Over Future Direction of “Clinton Global Initiative” as Hillary and Chelsea Get More Involved with the Foundation.’ »

Statement condemning the attack on the Masjid Deenul Islam at Grandpass, Colombo

August 15, 2013
Colombo, Sri Lanka

We the undersigned strongly condemn the violent and unprovoked attack on the Masjid Deenul Islam in Grandpass area on Saturday, August 10, 2013 by an extremist mob injuring 12 people, in the wake of the Eid Festival.

pic courtesy of: twitter.com/azzamameen

We are outraged over the spate of violent attacks against Christian and Muslim places of worship, and remain deeply concerned about the rise of extremist rhetoric around the island.

Continue reading ‘Violent Attack by Extremist Mob on “Masjid Deenul Islam” at Grandpass Strongly Condemned -Statement with 208 Signatories.’ »

by

Leena Manimekalai

“Absent, I come to the home of the absent“ – Poet Mahmoud Darwish

Traveling on A9 highway connecting rest of Srilanka to Jaffna Peninsula, the former rebel runway, now reconstructed as carpet road which shines as Chinese currency running parallel to the new railway track that is an Indian “work in progress” can make your ride feel nails in the air.

Even my Sinhalese friend who drove me to Jaffna was embarrassed by the distasteful hoardings of Rajapakshe grandiosely propagating development schemes like “Vadikkil Vasantham ; Kizhakkil Udhayam” (Spring in North ; Sunrise in East).
Continue reading ‘Literary Post-mortem in Jaffna: Ploughing the Wounds of Conflict’ »

By Philip Miller

Trincomalee-pic: Wikipedia

It looks like a normal Scottish Loch. A picturesque valley with a sparkling expanse of water. Except that lurking in the corner is a harbour with watchtowers, police patrol boats and mysterious sheds.

This is Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, better known as Faslane. It is home to Britain’s strategic nuclear submarine fleet, and a key issue in the Scottish independence referendum campaign.

Continue reading ‘What Scotland can learn about Geopolitics, Imperialism and Military Bases from The Tamil Independence Struggle in Sri Lanka’ »

By

Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne

Grandpass Mosque~pic: AlJazeeraTV

In a way, the Grandpass incident seemed like an answer to the Weliweriya mass uprising. In spite of stories made by the pro-government media, the protest of masses against the water pollution started out of their genuine concern for their basic health right. Water in that whole area was becoming unusable for day-to-day home use. The acid level rose sharply in the last few years.

Though there could have been number of reasons, people were certain that some factories had been responsible for the continued increase of pollution. Hence masses were demanding the government to safeguard their access to safe water. It was a spontaneous mass movement led by religious leaders who were in contact with these people on a daily basis.

The Government claims that there was a terrorist or conspiratorial group which created an incident for the army to be called in. It is still not clear who and for what reason the army was sent there to carry out a brutal attack.

Continue reading ‘What is Before Us Today in the Political Domain is the Struggle to Defeat MAARA-The Force of Destruction’ »

By

S.L.Gunasekara

There was a time in this Country when the name on practically everybody’s lips was “Prabhakaran”, There was an earlier time when it was “Wijeweera”. Still later the name on practically everybody’s lips was “Shirani Bandaranayaka”, the allegedly ‘former’ Chief Justice. Today, it is “Wigneswaran”.

Wigneswaran’s name is looked upon with horror, by one segment of the people; and with hope, by another, who regard him as a second Chelvanayagam.

Chelvanayagam, to my mind, was an avowed and unrepentant racist cum hypocrite.

I recall writing an article to the ‘Island’ way back in 2001 criticising a speech made by Mr. Justice Wigneswaran (as he then was) upon being welcomed as a Judge of the Supreme Court at a ceremonial sitting of that Court. I had no doubt from that time onwards that Wigneswaran was an out and out racist. Indeed, his recent utterances only confirmed that belief.

Continue reading ‘Wigneswaran was an Exemplary Judge and will make an Excellent Chief Minister but he is an out and out Racist like Chelvanayagam.’ »

Muslim Ministers of the Sri Lankan Government today expressed their “unequivocal and unreserved” condemnation on the Saturday’s attack on a Muslim Prayer center in Grandpass, Colombo calling the attack premeditated and planned.

The group of Muslim ministers in a joint statement requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to immediately conduct an independent investigation into the “sad and dastardly act of violence” inflicted on the devotees assembled in the mosque for prayers.

Continue reading ‘Muslim Ministers in Govt Urge President Rajapaksa to Halt the Trend of “Openly Espousing Religious Hatred” Against the Muslim Community.’ »

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday assured the residents of Rathupaswala, in Weliweriya, that the factory which allegedly discharged effluents contaminating their ground water would be relocated.

The President gave the assurance when he met residents of the Rathupaswala area and relevant officials on the Weliweirya water issue last afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat. He said that the new factories must be constructed in BOI Zones.

Continue reading ‘President Rajapaksa Assures Rathupaswela Residents that Gloves Factory Contaminating Groundwater will be Relocated.’ »

By

Risidra Mendis

Environmentalists are protesting an alleged decision taken by the Wildlife Resources and Conservation Ministry to transfer four baby elephants from the transit home, Ath Athuru Sevana in Ritigala, to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage.

Continue reading ‘Environmentalists Protest Against Wildlife Ministry Decision to Transfer 4 baby Elephants from Transit Home in Ritigala to Pinnawela Orphanage.’ »

Statue of Lakshman Kadirgamar~pic courtesy of: defence.lk

President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveiled a statue of the late veteran politician Lakshman Kadirgamar on his 8th Death Anniversary yesterday at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) in Colombo.

Kadirgamar was assassinated by the LTTE on August 12, 2005. President Rajapaksa followed by ministers and parliamentarians paid a floral tribute to the statue. Kadirgamar’s widow, Suganthi Kadirgamar and relatives were present on the occasion.

Ven. Prof Bellanwila Wimalarathana Nayaka Thera and members of clergy representing all religions, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L Peiris, Ministers AHM Fowzie, Dinesh Gunawardena, WDJ Seneviratne, MP AHM Azwer were among those present.
Continue reading ‘After a Long, Long Wait ……Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s Statue Unveiled at Last!’ »

by

Vishnuguptha

Ravishan Perera- one of the victims of Weliweriya-pic courtesy of: Derana TV

“The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?” ― George Orwell,

The column that appeared on Sunday, October 14, 2012 commenced thus: “Government-sponsored intimidation of leading members of the bureaucracy, judiciary and the media is not a new phenomenon. Its history could be traced to as far back as the fifties, yet for our conversation, let us begin with the seventies.

A remarkable increase in the Government-sponsored intimidation, harassment and even murder has occurred during the last four decades. This mode of government conduct may not be limited to intimidation and harassment directly perpetrated by the security forces such as the Police and members of the three armed forces of the Government. More often than not, the intimidation has been committed by either civilians or personnel of the police and other security forces in their civil personalities and clad in civil.”
Continue reading ‘Weliweriya Killing Under this Govt is not the First of its Kind and Most Definitely wont be the Last of Its Kind’ »

By

Dr.Tissa Vitarana

The political scene in Sri Lanka has been marked by several extra-parliamentary struggles,perhaps more than any other country which has a parliamentary democratic system. These range from trade union struggles, to achieve workers’ rights or to correct injustices, to armed struggles to achieve separation (like that of the LTTE) or to topple the elected government (like that of the JVP in 1971 or 1988). There have been attempted coups to topple the government like that of 1962. There have been mass racist attacks targeted against minority communities engineered by the elected UNP government, like the Black July of 1983.But the Hartal of 1953 is unique in that it was a mass uprising generated by the broad opposition to the elected UNP Government of 1952 by nearly all sections of society, including the bulk of those that voted for it, though the struggles were limited to areas where the LSSP and the Left were strong.

Continue reading ‘HARTAL of August 12th 1953:Powerful People’s Protest That Shook the UNP Govt of Dudley Senanayake’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

“Fanatics are picturesque; mankind would rather see gestures than listen to reason…” – Nietzsche (The Anti-Christ)

For the regime, Weliweriya was an unexpected, unwelcome and an ominous digression. With the mob-attack on the Grandpass mosque, Sri Lanka is back in the familiar Rajapaksa-groove.

Grandpass, in the morning of Sunday, Aug 11-pic courtesy of: BBC Sinhala

In Weliweriya, the police felt unable to deal with a group of peaceful demonstrators. The army stepped into the breach, ready for war, and led by a Brigadier, no less. The peaceful demonstrators were shot at and assaulted.

In Grandpass, a violent mob reportedly attacked a mosque and some (presumably Muslim) houses. Several people, including two policemen, were injured in the resulting melee. But the saffron-thugs, as always, got away scot-free.

The peaceful demonstrators in Weliweriya were led by the Buddhist monks in the area. Today they are under threat, from powers that be.

The mob in Grandpass was also led by some monks. They were allowed to depart in freedom.
Continue reading ‘From Weliweriya Army Attack on People to Grandpass Mob Attack on Mosque’ »

By M. A. Sumanthiran MP

‘I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent’. – Mahatma Gandhi

pic by: Dharisha Bastians

Grief is the inevitable consequence of violence. The tragic and inexcusable events of Weliweriya have left its residents with unimaginable grief.

Akila Dinesh Jayawardena was a 17-year-old student of Chandrajothi Vidhyalaya, Yakkala. He was killed by a soldier’s bullet as he inched through protesters searching for his mother. As his body lay at the mortuary of the Gampaha hospital on the evening of August 1, two others, Ravishan Perera and Nilantha Pushpakumara, fought for their lives. But, they, too, did not survive. Ravishan was 19 years old at the time of his death. Nilantha was 29. Close to 50 others were treated for injuries. Some were critical.

Continue reading ‘Just as we are United in our Grief Over Weliweriya we Must be United in our Struggle against Tyranny-Sumanthiran MP’ »

By Taylor Dibbert

original pic by: Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Lock (USAF)

Three years ago, I lived briefly in Harare, Zimbabwe. Having just finished my first year of graduate school, I worked for one of the country’s leading human rights organizations. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe was and still is a mess.

According to Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission (ZEC), President Robert Mugabe has just “won” another five years in office. The results of the vote are questionable and one member of the ZEC has already resigned in protest. US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a firm statement on August 3. In addition to emphasizing that the US didn’t think the election results were credible, Kerry cited voters roll irregularities, media bias and problems related to the security forces. He also mentioned that many of the country’s political reforms – prescribed in the new constitution and the Global Political Agreement (GPA) – remain unfulfilled.
Continue reading ‘Relentless Dictatorship in Zimbabwe Illustrates Limits of Western Power and Influence.’ »

by

Meera Srinivasan

“Six feet of land”, says Jothi, drawing an imaginary rectangle above the ground, “is all that really belongs to us, to be buried after death”.

Like most labourers working in Sri Lanka’s tea plantations, she does not have even an inch of land she can call her own.

Toiling for nearly two centuries, plantation Tamils — brought down by the British from Tirunelveli, Tiruchi, Madurai and Thanjavur in the early nineteenth century — have been contributing consistently to Sri Lanka’s economy. But a majority of the several thousand faceless labourers behind the world-famous Ceylon tea are till date, landless.

Continue reading ‘Plantation Tamils of Sri Lanka: The Long Battle for Land and to Belong’ »

Ten documentary films by Leena Manimekalai will be screened on Saturday August 10th at Jeevana Jyothi Auditorium opposite Connemara Library at Egmore, Chennai.

The films will be shown one by one from 11. am till 8.00 pm. The filmmaker Leena will be present and will participate in the discussions at the end. The screening is free of charge and open to all.

Continue reading ‘Day long Screening of Ten Films by Leena Manimekalai at Jeevana Jyothi in Egmore on August 10th’ »

By Ranjit Mulleriyawa

A “Summer Romance with trees– with a Dowry of an Ecosystem Restored”

Beside the Dambulla- Kandalama road, is a unique Arboretum representing the flora of the semi-evergreen, monsoon dry forest of Sri Lanka. Its creator is an Englishman – Francis Home Popham, known only as Sam.

Sam Popham was born on the 29th of February, 1923.He was educated at Eaton and Magdalene College Cambridge, where he graduated in History. He first came to Sri Lanka (then ‘Ceylon’) as a young British Naval Officer during the second world war. Based in Trincomalee, he would often travel through Dambulla admiring the forest vegetation on either side of the Dambulla-Kandy road.
Continue reading ‘Popham Arboretum: A Sanctuary of Tropical Trees Created by the “Hermit of Dambulla”’ »

By Chitra Weerarathne

Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Viraj Dayaratne yesterday told the Supreme Court that it would be possible to provide information, both in the Sinhala and Tamil languages, as regards the National Identity Cards, within a period of six months.

He added that electronic ID cards would be issued both in Sinhala and Tamil with English as a link language within three years.

Continue reading ‘National Identity Card Information in Sinhala and Tamil Languages Within 6 Months Says Deputy Solicitor General in Court’ »

By

Gagani Weerakoon

Sittings of Parliament were suspended for half an hour yesterday when the government objected to moving an adjournment motion by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) over alleged land grabbing in the North.

When TNA Leader, R. Sampanthan, got up to move the motion, UPFA Parliamentarian, A.H.M. Azwer, raising a Point of Order with regard to the motion, said it could not be debated in the House as the matter was sub judice.

Continue reading ‘Parliament Sittings Suspended for 30 Minutes Due to AHM Azwer Objecting to Motion Presented by R.Sampanthan.’ »

By

Saman Indrajith

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday demanded that government immediately investigate what it called land grabs by the security force members in the North and East and to redress the grievances of Tamil people.

Moving a motion for the debate at the time of adjournment, TNA leader R. Sampanthan, MP, said that the government, through the armed forces, continued to hold substantial extents of land owned and or possessed by Tamil civilians. Having been evicted from those lands, civilians were not allowed to return to them, the TNA leader said.
Continue reading ‘TNA Submits Motion in Parliament Demanding Investigation Into Land Grab by Armed Forcesin the North and East’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday alleged that in the wake of the recent army crackdown on Weliweriya protesters, on the night of August 6, an attempt was being made to strengthen the call for an international war crimes investigation against the Sri Lanka Army.

Defence Secretary Rajapaksa lashed out at the main Opposition UNP for calling for an international investigation into incidents involving the army and those protesting against latex gloves manufacturing factory situated at Nedungamuwa, Weliweriya managed by Dipped Products PLC, of Hayleys Group, which is alleged to have polluted water in the Rathupaswela area.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake issued a statement on behalf of the UNP early this week calling for an international probe.

Continue reading ‘“Unfortunately Troops Reacted When Missiles were Thrown at Them”-Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Responds to Weliweriya Incident’ »

By

Tisaranee Gunasekara

Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, new Commander of the Army Pays Courtesy Call on President-pic: News.lk

“It is the President who has unleashed this wave of terror, of course he knows its going on, even if he leaves the details to underlings and never gets his own hands soiled”.
– Denias Dombo (An anti-Mugabe activist)[i]

Robert Mugabe’s landslide victory barely caused a stir, internationally. When the predictable happens, it is not quite Breaking-News. The world seems to have realised that Mugabe will never relinquish power, voluntarily. The usual Western condemnations did emanate, but they were almost token protests, lacking in vigour, purpose or direction.

As journalist Wilf Mbanga pointed out, “What happened…was a demonstration of what can be done by a small group of people who have everything to lose and who have spent more than 30 years cementing their grip on power and wealth”[ii].

In an editorial-comment on Zimbabwean elections, The Washington Post mentioned four methods used by Mr. Mugabe and others of his ilk to turn multiparty polls into electoral tragicomedies with predestined ends: “First take control of the state media and exclude your opponents well before the voting. Then seize control of the election machinery itself and make sure that your rigged triumph is plausible (in other words not 99 percent). Third avoid any signs of voter intimidation that can be recorded by a camera. Last declare that the people have spoken and never look back”[iii].

Continue reading ‘The Rajapaksaised Military in Sri Lanka will Tolerate any Injustice as in the case of Gen.Fonseka and Rampage against Anyone as in Weliweriya.’ »

by

Sandeep Dikshit

Sri Lankan High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam was summoned to the South Block on Wednesday and a formal démarche made against the large number of Indian fishermen languishing in Sri Lankan custody for periods up to two months.

The démarche reflected India’s exasperation over the absence of any movement on the release of the fishermen despite several high-level interventions.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Envoy Prasad Kariyawasam Summoned to South Block and Issued Demarche to release 114 Tamil Nadu Fishermen and 21 Boats in Lankan Custody’ »