By B. Anton Jeyanathan

Patabandi Don Nandasiri Wijeweera known to the world at large as Rohana Wijeweera–pic: JVPSriLanka.com

(The writer is a retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Police.)

The 5th of April dawned and passed without much concern or notice by the majority of the present generation who were born after the 1970′s and 1980′s, as they never experienced the atrocities committed by members of the JVP under the propaganda of a revolution. The 5th of April every year from the year 1971, is a day which any policemen of the Sri Lanka Police could not overlook or forget. It was on the 5th of April 1971 the JVP mounted an attack on the Wellawaya Police Station, and commenced their so called revolution. It was the start of a series of attacks on various police stations throughout the island, mostly in the Southern, Western and North Western provinces, the killing of policemen, ransacking of police stations and removal of firearms.

The attack on the Wellawaya Police Station took place on 5 April 1971 and continued throughout April. One of the five lessons the JVP inculcated in the minds of youngsters was “how to grab arms and ammunition by attacking police stations”. The JVP did not have much arms to boast about, except maybe some homemade shot guns and some side arms which they had stolen or obtained from underworld characters. They needed firearms to attack the police stations and kill the policemen.

Indoctrination

In their master plan to revolutionarily grab power from the “capitalist bourgeois” they had been conducting classes on “marxism”, “Indian expansionism”, “grabbing of arms and ammunition from police stations” etc. Altogether they had five lessons. They had a well knit network throughout the island, especially among university students, unemployed and under employed youth, and they held such classes clandestinely in various areas under cover. Even some of their frontline comrades visited government departments and held such classes during the lunch hour or after hours. They had also infiltrated to recruit members of the armed forces, specially from the air force and navy.

Continue reading ‘How The Attempt by The JVP in April 1971 To Rescue Rohana Wijeweera From Prison in Jaffna Ended in Failure’ »

Veteran Tamil film actor Vinu Chakravarthy, who regaled fans with his commanding screen presence in over 1,000 films, including Annamalai and Guru Sishyan, breathed his last on April 27th 2017 evening around 7 pm. He was 71. He was ailing for the past few years. Besides being diabetic, he had high blood pressure.

Vinu Chakravarthy (December 15, 1945 – 27 April 2017)

Vinu Chakravarthy has made over 1,000 films in four South Indian languages – 900 in Tamil, 30 in Malayalam, 5 in Telugu and one in Badaga language. He has also written scripts and directed movies on his own. The 2007 released Tamil movie Muni was his landmark 1000th movie.

Chakravarthy was born on December 15, 1945, in Usilampatti to Adimoola Thevar and Manjuvani Ammal. He studied at Wesley School, Royapettah and graduated in commerce from A. M. Jain College. He was eldest son among other 3 sons and a daughter.

On completion of his education, Chakravarthy worked as a Reserve Sub-Inspector at the Ice House police station for six months before joining the Southern Railways where he worked for four years.

Chakravarthy was working as a script writer for Kannada director Puttanna Kanagal when he was noticed by film producer Tiruppur Mani who, in 1977, gave him a role in the Kannada film Parasangada Gendetimma which was later remade into Tamil.

A regular in Rajinikanth films, the actor had worked with leading stars including Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, and Vijayakant among others. He was considered a lucky charm for the superstar with whom he had shared screen space in 25 films.

Continue reading ‘Vinu Chakravarthy With His Vibrant Voice and Emphatic Delivery Played Comedian,Villain and Character Actor Roles in Over 1000 Films’ »

BY GAGANI WEERAKOON

President Maithripala Sirisena appeared to have stirred the hornets’ nest by suggesting a top military post to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka who is also a Cabinet minister in Maithri-Ranil Unity Government of Yahalapanaya. While factual clarity of this ‘suggestion’ remain unconfirmed with various members of the same Cabinet issuing contradictory remarks, it is clear that Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s official statement made in his capacity as the Cabinet Spokesman led to all hell break loose. Even though, many opinions have been already expressed on the matter, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is more experienced in governance than President Sirisena by serving in the same office on two previous occasions, remains silent or rather has not issued any statement on the issue. This also leads to question the clarity of the suggestion vis-a-vis the said appointment.

Tough action

President Sirisena who was under apparent influence of certain ministers who demanded that government take tough action against ‘unruly’ trade unions (TUs) had proposed a special Subcommittee headed by Minister Fonseka to make recommendations on how best to deal with emergency situations triggered by incidents such as disruption of the power supply, port activities and fuel distribution.

The idea was mooted against the backdrop of the disruption caused to fuel distribution by petroleum workers launching an indefinite duration strike against the move to lease the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm to an Indian Oil Company. The strike was called off on Monday night after an assurance given by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who left for India for talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Continue reading ‘Trade Unions Mount Pressure on President Sirisena in the Same Way as What Happened to Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike in 1956-59.’ »

By Paneetha Ameresekere

Three things came out of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India last week.

Those were India’s concerns over the leasing out of the Hambantota Port to the Chinese in a debt swap, India’s interest in the Trincomalee oil tank farm to counter the Chinese threat and Wickremesinghe’s keenness in getting Indian aid to develop certain northern roads linking up with the East and the’South’ of the country in a tourism promotional ‘putsch’.

Nonetheless, what figured, vis-à-vis the outcome of these New Delhi talks which Wickremesinghe had with the Indian hierarchy headed by Premier Narendra Modi was that the last thing that India would want, already surrounded by hostile neigbours, such as Pakistan to the North-West, China to the North-East , an uneasy relationship with Bangladesh to the East, to also have their southern flank comprising Sri Lanka, to be a launching pad for Chinese influence, thereby completing the encirclement of India. To India’s west and to a greater part of its eastern flank is the Indian Ocean.

India fought a border war with China in 1962 and lost thousands of square miles of territory to the latter. Meanwhile, since independence in 1947, India has also fought four wars with Pakistan, i.e. in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. All three warring neighbours, India, Pakistan and China, are also nuclear armed.

Continue reading ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe Plays Politico-economic Chess With the Chinese Dragon,Indian Tiger and Trade Union Hyenas.’ »

By

“Sunday Times”Diplomatic Editor

Some say India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi neatly cajoled his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe into swinging by New Delhi, making what was to be a private visit to attend a wedding into a one-day ‘working visit’– and then got him entrapped to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Others rubbish such a theory, but it seems that someone tipped off Ceylon Petroleum Corporation trade unions and wound them up to threaten a strike if the Sri Lankan Premier signed an MOU in New Delhi. The MOU, inter-alia, would hand over some of the oil tanks in Trincomalee to the Indian Oil Company.

It was a known fact that Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody was against the move. He said so publicly and wanted an appointment with President Maithripala Sirisena to lodge a protest together with the trade unions. But the story goes that the President had not granted him an appointment on the basis that the Prime Minister was adamant in going ahead with the project and that it was in the premier’s hands. What followed was trade union action that caused havoc in and around petrol sheds in the country and traffic snarls from last Sunday night.

Wickremesinghe assured the trade unions thereafter that he would not sign any agreement with India in New Delhi without consulting the petroleum workers. But he had Strategic Development and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama do so in New Delhi. The MoU was not made public either.. They were both in the Hindi and English languages, with the English version to be considered in case of any interpretation issues.

Continue reading ‘Ranil Assured Trade Unions he Wont Sign MOU with India Without Consulting them and Got Malik Samarawickrama to do so in New Delhi’ »

BY DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

While the Ramayana narrative makes clear that a land link between India and Lanka was of decisive and devastating strategic consequence for the island of Lanka, the Romans and the British made it clear that the building of roadways was an essential part of annexation and empire building. What is true of imperialismsgone by is true of contemporary regional sub-imperialisms. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has discussed a highway linking India and Sri Lanka, and more accurately Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, in his meeting with Indian Minister of Highways Nitin Gadkari. The PM has also invited India to build highways in Sri Lanka’s North and East, linking Mannar and Vavuniya, and Mannar and Trincomalee.

DS Senayaka used the British connection – and the contentious Citizenship acts–to balance off India and minimize Indian influence on the island. SWRD and Sirimavo Bandaranaike sought to dilute Indian influence by immersing Sri Lankan in Afro-Asianism and the Non Aligned Movement. JR Jayewardene played North India off against Tamil secessionism and Tamil nadu. Premadasa played Tamil secessionism against Indian expansionism/annexationism. Lakshman Kadirgamar and then Mahinda Rajapaksa strove to “Look East”, and use China to balance off India and the US.

What was common to all of Sri Lanka’s leaders was to rightly regard as the worst case scenario, a nexus between India, Tamil nadu and Sri Lanka’s Tamil North. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has overturned all that. He has openly called for Sri Lanka’s economy to be linked with five South Indian states Indian states including Tamil nadu, and he is giving India a large foothold in Trincomalee and the island’s North in general, through highway building and economic projects. He is also hell-bent on signing ETCA which will allow greater penetration of the whole Sri Lankan economy by India.

Continue reading ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Act of Treachery is Comparable to that of Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam.’ »

In what seemed an otherwise bhai-bhai friendship between the two countries, the sour point was the nagging, continuing issue of poaching in Sri Lankan waters by southern Indian fishermen. The crisis is causing an estimated Rs. Five billion loss annually to Sri Lanka.

Premier Modi said on March 13, 2015, addressing Sri Lanka’s Parliament: “The world sees India as the new frontier of economic opportunity. But, our neighbours should have the first claim on India. And I again repeat, the first claim on India is of our neighbours–of Sri Lanka”. And again, “Sri Lanka’s success is of great significance to India”. His “Neighbourhood First Policy’ is based on “Sabka Saath; Sabka Vikas” (Together we progress).

The Sri Lankan Fisheries Ministry, to its credit has kept pressing the poaching issue. Not only are the northern Sri Lankan Tamils being deprived of their livelihood, but the entire maritime resources of the Palk Bay/Gulf of Mannar area is being raped. Mindful of this, the Modi Government seems to move the Tamil Nadu state Government to take action together with the Central Government.

Continue reading ‘New Delhi Assures Colombothat Measures are being taken to Wean Tamil Nadu Fishermen Away from Poaching in the Territorial Waters of Sri Lanka’ »

If Sri Lankans are wondering how many times Sri Lanka has won approval for a renewed duty concession to the markets of the European Union (EU) under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus, they may be excused.

This week, there was another huge hurrah for having defeated the EU parliamentary vote on a resolution sponsored by a section of MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) to prevent Sri Lanka obtaining GSP+ concessions. GSP Plus was revoked in 2011 during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration, ostensibly on negative human rights factors but, what many would concede, were on more political or diplomatic grounds.

A few months ago, both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced publicly that the EU had restored GSP+ to Sri Lanka and hailed it as a major victory for the new National Unity Government’s foreign policy. It was a premature announcement, as is this week’s defeat of a parliamentary putsch by a group of MEPs (heavily lobbied by the anti-Lankan Diaspora).

The outcome of the vote — there was a substantial margin of 436 votes against the resolution, 119 for and 22 abstentions — is not to be downplayed. It shows a major shift in approach to Sri Lanka by the EU Parliament, and that is clearly a change in attitude towards the nearly-new Government in Colombo. But there are still more steps along the way before Sri Lanka officially gets GSP+.

Continue reading ‘Anti-Lanka Resolution on GSP Plus Defeated in the European Parliament but Hurdles Still Ahead for Full Restoration’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

In the chaotic merry-go-round characterizing the drafting of Sri Lanka’s proposed Counter-Terror Act (CTA), the periodic surfacing of one version followed by another has given rise to unexpected horrors. Each time that a new draft emerges or should I rather say, is ‘extracted’ with great pain out of a process gripped by skullduggery and secrecy, its devious drafters conceive new and ingenious ways to confound scrutiny.

Legal clauses to mask and deceive

Even as one objection is taken to categorically dangerous definitions of proposed offences, these are whipped away, soothing the unwary. Yet later, they emerge, clothed in chameleon colours to mask and deceive. Nothing proves this point better than the CTA draft that went before the Cabinet of Ministers this week. This contains hasty revisions made on the cusp of a suddenly suspenseful vote in the European Parliament seeking a rejection of the EU GSP Plus facility which was defeated.

Ostensibly, its contents were supposed to have been improved. Yet what we see is not reassuring. The draft reeks of bad faith and is extraordinarily contradictory. Indeed and outrageously so, it contradicts explanations for drafting positions taken by the drafters themselves. Two glaring examples will suffice for the moment. The initial CTA version leaked to this newspaper last year had included the offence of espionage. Following public concern, this was removed in a later version. As formally recorded, the reason given for this removal was because this offence would more properly belong in a separate National Intelligence Act.

Continue reading ‘Secrecy and Skulduggery By Devious Drafters to Confound Scrutiny of Proposed Counter Terror Act’ »

By Namini Wijedasa

The Counter Terrorism Act policy framework approved by the Cabinet this week has reintroduced offences originally listed under “espionage”– whilst merely removing the word “espionage” from the document.

As such, the draft makes it an offence to voluntarily engage in any illegal, unlawful or unauthorised act for the purpose of gathering any ‘confidential information’ — or directly gather confidential information — “for the purpose of supplying such information to a person who is conspiring, preparing, abetting, or attempting to commit terrorism or any terrorism related offence or any other offence contained in this Act.”

It is also an offence to provide to another person any confidential information, knowing such information will be used by such other person to conspire, abet, attempt or commit terrorism or a terrorism-related offence or any other offence contained in the Act.

Continue reading ‘New Counter Terrorism Law Undermines Right To Information Law’ »

By Kasun Warakapitiya

Foreign workers, both with and without work visas, are arriving in Sri Lanka with the country facing an acute labour shortage, a cabinet minister said yesterday.

Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told the Sunday Times that an estimated 200,000 strong foreign labour force was in Sri Lanka.

He said the Government should have strict immigration regulations to check the influx of foreign workers.

The minister said a majority of the foreign workers were Indians, Bangladeshis and Maldivians. “We are facing a labour shortage even for simple tasks such cleaning up a well or harvesting, thereby creating a market for foreign labour. But we need to strictly regulate their arrival and departure,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Over 200,000 Foreign Workers From China, India, Bangladesh and Maldives in Sri Lanka With and Without Visas’ »

By Namini Wijedasa

Cabinet approval on a Resettlement Ministry paper to award 6,000 prefabricated houses to the war-affected of the North and East, was held up this week, after President Maithripala Sirisena sought further clarification.

Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan has been promoting the initiative of steel giant ArcelorMittal since 2015. Its logistics partner is Kumarca Engineering & Management (Pvt) Ltd, owned by controversial businessman Ravi Wettasinghe.

The Cabinet paper submitted on Tuesday by Minister Swaminathan mooted setting up 6,000 prefabricated steel frame houses, down from the initial 65,000 houses. Despite sustained opposition from civil society groups and the TNA, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEM) recently approved the amended proposal.

When it came before Cabinet on Tuesday, however, President Sirisena wanted to see the report of a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) that examined the terms and conditions of the project. The CANC, as previously published in the Sunday Times, has rejected the ArcelorMittal proposal and recommended that fresh tenders be called.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena seeks Further Clarification on Resettlement Ministry’s 6,000 Prefabricated Houses Project for N-E’ »

by Rajan Philips

“My legs have carried me for 90 years. Now they have earned their well-deserved rest”, he would tell his visitors at the Jesuit House in Akkara Panaha, Negombo, where he spent the last years of his life confined to his bed and a wheel chair. Now his entire mortal coil has earned its rest. Fr. Paul Caspersz, a priest of the order of the Society of Jesus for 65 years, died last Wednesday at the age of 92. His funeral was in Kandy, where he lived for over 40 years, and he was laid to rest at the Lewella Jesuit cemetery.

Fr. Paul Caspersz

It was difficult to see Fr Paul unable to walk, although he was otherwise his usual self. Tall and handsome, he was well proportioned in physical appearance. He was equally well adjusted in his character and in his bearing. He was inspired as a teenager to become a Jesuit and to go to Oxford as a Jesuit “after reading a page or two about Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits in the context of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation”, in the unlikeliest of sources: ‘A History of England’ by T.F. Tout. He accomplished both and remained true to his faith, his celibate life, and the fierce commitment of Jesuits to the first cause that inspired them. Fr. Paul was much more.

Continue reading ‘Celebrating the life of a Socialist Jesuit Priest: Fr Paul Caspersz, SJ (1925-2017)’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

India and Sri Lanka have arrived at a compromise on the sensitive and problematic issue of the Trincomalee oil tanks, with both sides climbing down from their earlier positions but gaining some ground at the same time.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation of Economic Projects signed in New Delhi on April 25 in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe, India has agreed to the Sri Lankan proposal to refurbish and use the 99 giant oil tanks as a “Joint Venture” between the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

Previously, by the tripartite agreement signed in 2003, the tanks were to be refurbished and used entirely by the LIOC on a 35 year lease, though there was a provision for the Sri Lankan government to use the tanks for “national and security” purposes when needed.

The Sri Lankan government had mooted the idea of developing and running the tanks as a Joint Venture in 2016 because it felt that it needed a certain number of tanks (the number varied from time to time) under its control to store fuel for power generation during an expected drought.

There were also proposals for a wholesale takeover of the tanks from the LIOC on the grounds that the 2003 agreement was legally flawed and also that India had developed only 17 of the 99 tanks since taking them over.

Continue reading ‘India and Sri Lanka Reach Mutually Beneficial Compromise on Problematic Issue of Trincomalee Oil Tanks’ »

By

Gerard D.Muttucumaru

What though the spicy breezesBlow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle; Though every prospect pleases, And only man is vile – Anglican Bishop Reginald Heber

Old Parliament with Secretariat behind, 1930s (Plate & Co.)

The British gave us a nation that was respected regionally and globally. In an earlier article, I stated that the leading companies in Sri Lanka today bear British names and were started by them. The Ceylon Civil Service was exemplary in the region. The universities were top class. Even the legendary Father of Singapore looked to Ceylon as an example of what Singapore could be. How ironic!

Today, students go to Singapore to study and leaders in business and government go to Singapore for almost everything, even medical treatment. Today, we look to Singapore to learn how to run a civil service, hotels, universities and hospitals. I could go on and on.

What have we done in the last 60-plus years? What has happened to Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans? Was the good Bishop right as early as the 18th Century? I know he angered a lot of people with this observation. Would he be right today?

I am a Sri Lankan-born American who left the then Ceylon at the age of 10. My late father Emmanuel Muttukumaru, a lawyer and agriculture expert, served in the United Nations with some of the legends of Sri Lanka. They include one of the stars of the then Ceylon Civil Service Andrew Joseph, one of Asia’s most respected journalists Varindra Tarzie Vittachi, Gamani Corea and Raju Coomaraswamy. They were contemporaries and very good friends. My father and the eighth Speaker of the Ceylon Parliament Shirley Corea, were both lawyers in Chilaw and Chairmen of the Planters Association. What has happened today to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka?

What I see should disturb every Sri Lankan today, especially the comfortable and complacent elite and those in positions of leadership and power in business and government. How many times have we heard the phrase, “with great power comes great responsibility”?
Continue reading ‘What Has Happened to Ceylon and to the Ceylonese?’ »

by
Emily Jane Fox

A group of young boys on bicycles stopped in their tracks outside of a pizza shop as Ivanka Trump drove by in a tan S.U.V., in the middle of a flashing motorcade on her trip to Germany in her new role.

Ivanka Trump

Throngs of police officers and Secret Service officers wove through the 2,711 concrete rectangles arranged in a grid outside of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Through each pillar, officers were hurrying the scores of smartphone-wielding revelers and members of the international press away as they buffered Trump to walk through.
Continue reading ‘US First Daughter Ivanka Trump’s First Official Visit to Germany Was a Success Until She Began Defending Her Father.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

To make up for lost time and avoid delays in the execution of joint projects, India and Sri Lanka have agreed on a tight time table in respect of each of the projects mentioned in the MoU signed in New Delhi on April 25 in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Informed sources in New Delhi told newsin.asia that the two countries agreed that projects will be executed by “Joint Ventures” between Indian and Sri Lankan entities, and that the first moves in respect of each will be made between May and July.

The sources stressed the Joint Ventures aspect of the MoU to allay fears in Sri Lanka that India is out to gobble up Sri Lanka’s resources by executing projects unilaterally.

Continue reading ‘India Involved Projects in Sri Lanka Will Be Developed As Joint Ventures to Allay Fears in Island of Indian Expansion.’ »

By K. Ratnayake

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has called upon Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka to resign from the government’s ministry and return to the position of army commander. In a bid to “discipline the country,” Fonseka would be head of the country’s three armed forces for two years.

Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne announced the president’s request at a media conference on Wednesday. His statements revealed extensive discussions in the previous day’s cabinet meeting over how to suppress mounting strikes, protests and unrest among workers and youth, and prevent any disruption to state-run entities or the operations of the corporate elite.

The immediate incident that rattled the government was a strike on Monday at the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which halted fuel supplies in the entire country.

The proposal made to Fonseka is a warning that the government of Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is planning an escalating assault against workers, the poor and young people.

Continue reading ‘Sirisena’s Proposal to Fonseka is a Warning that Govt is Planning an Escalating Assault Against Workers, Young Persons and the Poor.’ »

By Charumini de Silva

The Government yesterday expressed confidence that the country will regain the GSP plus trade concession by 15 May and called on the business community to make this a ‘turning point’ in the economy to increase the country’s exports to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio over 100%.

“Sri Lanka overcame the biggest hurdle to secure GSP+ trade facilitation on Thursday by defeating a motion to deny us the trade concession at the European parliament. It has now been forwarded to the 28 member European Union Council of Ministers for approval. There are some procedural matters that need addressing, after which I am confident we will get GSP+ by 15 May,” Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva told journalists in Colombo yesterday.

With the regain of GSP+, he said, some 6,600 products could enter European Union (EU) markets without any tax, which he called a ‘massive scope’ that Sri Lanka needs to now exploit for economic prosperity.

Continue reading ‘Govt is Confident Sri Lanka will Regain the GSP Plus Trade Concession From EU by May 15th.’ »

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday listed a litany of wrongs that President Maithripala Sirisena had committed against the party since becoming its leader and vowed to give leadership to the opposition forces to defeat the ineffective government.

He also openly defied the threats made by the SLFP’s current leadership and urged everyone to attend the anti-government rally at Galle Face on May Day.

The text of Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement is as follows –

“In January 2015, a new leader took over an undivided SLFP. I made no attempt to retain the leadership of the SLFP at that time because of the need to preserve the unity of the party through which all of us had engaged in politics. Both I and the party rank and file believed that no harm would befall the party under the leadership of an individual who had been a party member for four decades and its General Secretary for 13 years. Even though many members of the opposition felt we should have contested the 2015 Parliamentary election separately, we contested that election under the SLFP and the UPFA because of our desire to protect the party. Even at that time, we did have serious misgivings about the new SLFP leader’s conduct”.

“The moment he became president, the present leader of the SLFP gave the Prime Ministership to the UNP which had only 43 Members of Parliament. Though this sent shock waves through the membership of the SLFP, there was the expectation that things would change once he became the leader of the SLFP. But that too did not happen”.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Provides List of Wrongs Committed by Maithripala Sirisena against SLFP’ »

By

Ryan Gilbey

Robert Jonathan Demme, film director, born 22 February 1944; died 26 April 2017

Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme, who has died aged 73 from complications from cancer, rose from his colourful if tawdry beginnings under the aegis of the exploitation maestro Roger Corman to become one of the most eclectic, delightful and original film-makers in Hollywood. He also happened to be one of the nicest: the compassionate sensibility that lent his work its warmth and musicality was no put-on. Plainly put, he loved people.

Even his darkest work, such as the hit thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which gave him his first taste of box-office success nearly two decades into his career and also brought him a best director Oscar, had a beguiling tenderness about it. For all that film’s gruesome frights, it was the connection between the FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and her macabre mentor, the serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), that lent the film its emotional bite.

His movies could be bewilderingly diverse – he made the innovative concert film Stop Making Sense (1984), the uproarious screwball thriller Something Wild (1986), the Aids drama Philadelphia (1993) and a remake of The Manchurian Candidate (2004) – but they were united by their colour and vim, as well as a deep-seated sense of conscientiousness and community. Demme cared deeply about what he put on the screen.

Continue reading ‘Jonathan Demme Who Directed Films Like “The Silence Of The Lambs” and “Philadelphia” Dies at 73 of Cancer Complications’ »

By

Sudha G Tilak.

Vinod Khanna, who has died aged 70, belonged to the second wave of Punjabi heroes who ruled Bollywood – known as “Partition Punjabis”.

Vinod Khanna

His family hailed from Peshawar in Pakistan and had moved to India in 1947 when the country was divided.

The heroes on screen then were all swashbuckling heroes known for their strapping good looks, cultivated on screen mannerisms and individual styles.

He embodied all that but also brought all the panache of 1970s cinema to his acting.

Continue reading ‘Vinod Khanna The Villain Turned Hero Actor With Muscles and Good Looks Passes Away at 70’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lanka’s north and east shut down on Thursday following a hartal call by protesters demanding an answer from the government to questions about their missing relatives. Shops remained closed all day and transport services were minimal, media reports said.

Over the last few months, families have been protesting in different places across Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority areas, voicing concern over the allegedly enforced disappearances of their relatives during the three-decade war and the years that followed.

Amnesty International estimates that since the 1980s, there have been at least 60,000 and as many as 100,000 cases of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka, including Tamils, who went missing during and after the war, and Sinhalese, who were disappeared around the time of the JVP youth uprisings.

Continue reading ‘Shops Closed and Transport Curtailed as Hartal is Observed Successfully in Sri Lanka’s North and East’ »

The main left front of the Joint Opposition (JO), the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL), indicated a break with the JO and that they will conduct a separate May Day rally and meeting at the Viharamahadevi Open Air theater on May Day instead of participating in the May Day rally of the JO, which will be held at Galle Face Green on the same day.

Continue reading ‘Communist Party Unhappy With Joint Opposition Political Agenda Will Hold Separate May Day Rally at Viharamahadevi Open air Theatre’ »

By

Dr.Rajitha Senaratne

(POWER SHARING IN SRI LANKA -S.J.V. Chelvanayagam Memorial lecture– delivered by Dr.Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine on 26thApril 2017)

S.J.V. Chelvanayagam Memorial lecture-2017-pic via: @TNAmediaoffice

When we were political cubs, we knew of Chelvanayagam as one who was the “father” figure of Tamil Nationalism.He was one Tamil political leader who was affectionately called “Thanthai” – meaning‘Father’ –Chelva. Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayagam dominated Tamil politics in the first 03 decades in post independent Ceylon.

I would say that Chelvanayagam was fortunate. He did not live to see the agony of the Tamil people and of Sri Lanka that got dragged into a long brutal war. He was fortunate that he was not there to shoulder the heavy responsibility that his most favoured political recruit, R. Sampanthan, is burdened with now as leader of TNA.

Chelvanayagam was a man of principles. He never compromised on his convictions and principles.He differed with leaders like G.G.PonnambalamaSnr. in the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and C. Suntheralingam on the issue of disfranchising the Indian origin Tamil labour. He stood by their rights consistently, as Prof. RatnajeevanHoole had recently confirmed.

Continue reading ‘SJV Chelvanayagam Was Fortunate He Did Not Live to See the Agony of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka.’ »

President Maithripala Sirisena today appointed 25 senior lawyers including TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, J. C. Weliamuna, Upul Jayasuriya and Nizam Kariapper as President’s Counsel.

A statement from the President’s office said these lawyers were appointed in recognition of their professional integrity and diligence.

Continue reading ‘25 Senior Lawyers Including JC Weliamuna,MA Sumanthiran and Nizam Kariapper Appointed as President’s Counsel by President Sirisena’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Ceylon Bank Employees Union President and civil society activist Rusiripala Tennakoon yesterday urged the ruling Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition and the Joint Opposition to state their position on alleged moves to impose a staggering 28 per cent tax on Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

Pointing out that the JVP, which had worked overtime to oust the Rajapaksa administration, had accused the yahapalana rulers of planning to tax the EPF, Tennakoon said that move had to be condemned, opposed and thwarted.

The trade union activist said that the entire private sector was in a dilemma over the government move and expected a clear statement from it in that regard. Responding to a query, Tennakoon emphasised that all political parties and trade union organizations should address the EPF issue on May Day this year.

Continue reading ‘Public Outcry Against Govt Proposal to Impose 28% Tax on Employees Provident Fund(EPF)’ »

In the wake of a crippling petroleum strike and a wave of protests against the Government, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Rajitha Senaratne made a shock announcement yesterday that President Maithripala Sirisena had requested wartime army chief Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka to take over the military as commander or Chief of Defence Staff in order to bring “discipline” to the country.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet briefing last afternoon, Minister Senaratne said that a series of political motivated strikes and trade union action were disrupting public life with the aim of toppling the ruling Government. The former army commander turned politician and cabinet minister, Fonseka was the “best person” to control the situation, the Cabinet Spokesman added.

“A country without discipline can never develop. Everyone knows that Sarath Fonseka is a very disciplined official,” Senaratne added.

A room full of shocked reporters at the Government Information Department repeatedly requested clarification on the development.

Continue reading ‘Sarath Fonseka Ready to Take Over Responsibility of “Disciplining”The Country if He is Given the Necessary Powers.’ »

By Paneetha Ameresekere reporting from New Delhi

China ranked high in Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s meeting with Indian Premier Narendra Modi, at Hyderabad House, New Delhi yesterday, official sources who didn’t want to be named told this reporter.

Reporters were not allowed to cover these meetings, with opportunities provided only for the taking of photographs and to be present when pleasantries were exchanged between Wickremesinghe and Indian officials, including Modi, before the beginning of talks, during the former’s various engagements in Delhi.

Wickremesinghe’s official engagements concluded yesterday.

Continue reading ‘Indian Prime Minister Raises Concerns Over China and Hambantota Port in Direct Talks With the Sri Lankan Premier’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

“New Silk Road or New Great Game? India Developing New Sri Lanka Port to Combat China” (Wayne Shepard, Forbes, April 21, 2017)

“Will they leave?” was the urgent question President Premadasa posed to me after having kept me behind as Varadarajah Perumal and the others left the meeting at Sucharitha in January 1989 when the new Chief Minister and Cabinet of the North-East Provincial Council met the newly elected President, Ranasinghe Premadasa for the first time.

I knew he was asking about the Indians and replied: “From what I gather, they hope to keep back two brigades in Trincomalee”.

Trincomalee was always the greatest prize but only Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and this Government are ready to give it to our neighbour, India. President Premadasa’s question remains relevant: “Will they leave?” With the solid commercial agreement that the PM is about to commit our country to, they probably will not, and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get them to leave.

I am appalled that the JVP and FSP, which needlessly spilled Southern blood allegedly against Indian expansionism, including the FSP leader, who sincerely and bravely fought against foreign troops in Trincomalee, are not spearheading a nationwide mobilisation against this historic geopolitical and economic treachery.

Continue reading ‘Why is Prime Minister Wickremesinghe About to Give Away Trincomalee to India?’ »

Cabinet Co-spokesperson Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said today there was the possibility that Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka would be appointed to a post that would allow him to oversee all of the defense establishments in the country.

While the Cabinet Co-spokesperson declined to offer more details on the powers the post would be vested with, he did say the President has broached the subject with the Regional Development Minister, who had shown his acquiescence.

Continue reading ‘Sarath Fonseka to Be Given Top Post in Defence Establishment With Powers to “Discipline” People Engaging in Protests.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Cooperation in Economic
Projects” during the on-going visit of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India. The MoU envisages joint ventures in several areas of development.

Wickremesinghe and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, welcomed the signing of the MoU and expressed satisfaction over the implementation of projects already agreed upon. They hoped that the various projects mentioned in the MoU would also be executed expeditiously.

Continue reading ‘India and Sri Lanka Sign Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi For “Cooperation in Economic Projects”Including Trinco.’ »

Sri Lanka’s cabinet, on Wednesday granted approval to hand over some elephants from an elephant orphanage in the Central Hills of Pinnawala, to individuals and religious places under definite conditions.

The Government Information Department said the maintenance of the present number of 88 elephants in a restricted land area of 30 acres at Pinnawala had become a difficult task.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, to provide some elephants to individuals and religious places under definite conditions, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Continue reading ‘“Excess” Elephants from Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage to be Handed Over to Private Individuals and Religious Institutions.’ »

By

Ajith Siriwardana

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Rajitha Senaratne said today the President Maithripala Sirisena requested Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka to quit the ministerial portfolio and take up the post of army commander or overall commander for two years to discipline the country.

He told the weekly Cabinet briefing that Field Marshal Fonseka was known as a well-disciplined character in the country and that he would expedite investigations over several issues as well.

Minister Senaratne said the Field Marshal had agreed to quit his ministerial portfolio and take up the post if he was given proper powers and responsibility.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena wants Sarath Fonseka to Resign as Cabinet Minister and Take Up Top Defence Post to Discipline the Country.’ »

By Ananth Palakidnar

Several hundred rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres, both men and women, presently serving in the Civil Security Department (CSD), staged a demonstration yesterday against the handing over of Army-managed agricultural farms and pre-schools to the Northern Provincial Council.

The procession of ex-LTTE cadres, which commenced at the Kilinochchi Depot junction, on the A-9 highway, ended at the Kilinochchi District Secretariat.

A large number of rehabilitated former LTTE cadres, carrying placards went in the procession, chanting slogans demanding that their livelihood not be hampered by handing over the agricultural farms, managed by the Army, to the Northern Provincial Council.

Continue reading ‘Rehabilitated EX-LTTE Cadres Protest Against Army managed Farms Providing Jobs to Them Being Transferred to Northern Provincial Council’ »

by Nirupama Subramanian

When the visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a working lunch on Wednesday, an agreement for the development of the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm will be the hottest dish on the table.

Sri Lankan and Indian government sources said the two sides will finalise an MoU for a joint venture to develop the 99-tank storage facility, which is an extension of Trincomalee Port, ahead of Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka for the United Nations Vesak Day celebrations in the second week of May.

In Sri Lanka, news of the impending deal triggered a strike Monday by unions of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to protest “the handing over of a national asset” to India. The strike created panic and chaos at petrol pumps, and massive traffic jams in Colombo.

Continue reading ‘India Gets to Develop Trinco Tank Farm in China Bay To Balance China Constructing Port City in Colombo’ »

BY

Suhasini Haidar & Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday for official meetings expected to finalise an MoU on developing energy and infrastructure projects in Trincomalee, as well as fast-tracking negotiations for the upgraded Free Trade Agreement —the ETCA (Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement) — both of which face opposition in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Wickremsinghe, whose visit is also expected to confirm a number of agreements to be announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka next month, May 12-14, will meet with Mr. Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Trincomalee oil storage

MEA officials said they hoped to see the agreement on the Trinco Oil storage, which was first negotiated in 2003, as well as the development of infrastructure — highways, power plants, a refinery and an SEZ — around the key port town of Trincomalee to be wrapped up during Mr. Wickremsinghe’s talks on Wednesday.

Continue reading ‘Lankan PM Arrives in New Delhi to Sign Fast-tracked MOU’s While Opposition Protests Against Agreements with India’ »

By Dr. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

The victory in Round One of the French elections and his highly probable election as the new President of France on May 7th, of Emmanuel Macron, the young outsider with a neo-Centrist or ‘Alt-Centrist’ stance, underscores that the global trend goes against conventional, traditional, established Governments and Oppositions, and favors unorthodox, out of the box, alternative personalities, outside the established party structures and system, with new political fusions/mixes, discourses and projects of Alt-Right, Alt-Left and Alt-Centre.

It was Albert Einstein who is said to have defined insanity as trying to do the same thing and expecting a different result. The Opposition, including its new wing the SLPP, is doing just that. It is expecting that the formula of a purely and exclusively Mahinda-centric,Centre-Left populist nationalism, which narrowly lost two national elections in 2015, can win in 2019-2020, without much change and solely on the basis of the unpopularity of the Government of the day.

This county was the victim of the same erroneous thinking on the part of an earlier version of the Opposition, led by Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which kept the UNP in office and the Opposition out for 17 long and bloody years, until a new factor was introduced into the equation- namely Chandrika, in 1992-1994.

Continue reading ‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a National Election Can Re-unify the SLFP and Cut Into UNP Votes.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Agitations against major Indian and Chinese projects in Sri Lanka, trigged by a fear of domination by these powers, may adversely affect the investment climate in the island and reduce the flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at a time when Sri Lanka desperately needs FDI to tide over a severe resource crunch.

Because of politically-inspired agitations by workers and political parties, work on the China-funded and built US$.1.4 billion Colombo Port City was stopped for nearly an year in 2015. Changes sought in the management system to run the China-funded and built US$ 1.4 billion Hambantota port after an opposition led agitation, created a major rift between Sri Lanka and China.

The sudden stoppage of work on the India-funded 500 mw power plant in Sampur caused dismay in India. And now, demands are being made for the retrieval of the 99 oil storage tanks in Trincomalee given to India through a bilateral agreement in 2003. This has upset India.

While both India and China will try to adjust to the unstable and unpredictable political situation in Sri Lanka given the strategic need to have a foothold in the island, Sri Lanka’s stock as a destination for FDI is bound to fall if policy instability induced by a volatile polity becomes endemic.

Continue reading ‘Politically Motivated Protests Against Chinese and Indian Projects May Affect Foreign Investments in Sri Lanka’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

The government is reportedly considering bringing garbage disposal under a centralized authority and to legislate a law on garbage recycling. In the meantime, untended rubbish is piling up by the road side.

Garbage is not funny business. A year or so back when rubbish piles heaped up in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon in the midst of a grinding power struggle that left the government rudderless, it was viewed as the most conspicuous sign of the state failure.

Perception is sometimes far more powerful than reality. We hope our government would manage to clear up the mess before people, perhaps prematurely, take it for a failure and react accordingly.

Continue reading ‘Our Provincial Councils are “White Elephants” Not Due to Lack of Powers But Due to Lack of Competent Persons to Run Them.’ »

By Tejshree Thapa

(The writer is a senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch.)

The refrain I heard over and over again, travelling through Sri Lanka’s southern Sinhala belt, was this: “Politicians rise on the bodies of our dead children.”

Parent after parent, across political divides, repeated this phrase. Politicians, they said, promise justice and accountability only to win votes. But when the time comes to act on the tens of thousands of enforced disappearances, killings, cases of torture and sexual violence, and other grave human rights abuses by all sides during Sri Lanka’s nearly three decades of civil war, they all renege on their campaign vows.

The sense of despair is palpable, even as people cling to the hope of justice for their dead children.

Continue reading ‘Need for International Attention For Possible Justice and Accountability is an Element Uniting North and South of Sri Lanka.’ »

By Frances Bulathsinghala

Concealed from privileged city dwellers, tucked away from posh tourist resorts and invisible to policy makers are the rubbish dumps in the cities of South Asia. But the thick wall of apathy cracked on April 14 when a 300 ft high mountain of garbage, allowed to build up for years in the low-lying Colombo suburb of Meetotamulla in Kolonnawa, came crashing, killing at least 33 persons, destroying 98 homes and displacing 600.

The local people saw this as ‘murder’ rather than accidental death. They had warned the authorities of such a disaster, had protested for years against the open dumping of garbage but the protesters were silenced by arrests and imprisonment.

Until the disaster struck, 1500 tons of municipal waste from the capital city were dumped in the Meetotamulla area occupied mostly by a low-income group. The fact that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had to wear a face mask when visiting the site to offer his condolences for the deaths that occurred, showed what the people had to endure for years.

Meetotamulla families were assured that no more garbage would be dumped in the area. But when garbage was taken to other areas like Kotikawatte, another Colombo suburb, people protested. As a result, a gazette notification was issued making garbage collection an essential service and prohibiting protest against garbage disposal.

Continue reading ‘Corruption and Political Indifference Undermines Garbage Disposal Management in South Asia’ »

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) trade unionists last night decided to call off their strike which had crippled fuel distribution throughout the country. Their decision to abandon trade union action came following an assurance given by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would not enter into an agreement with India on the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm.

Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister, issued a letter that the Prime Minister had agreed to grant the three demands put forward by the warring unions.

The other demands are the renovation of the Sapugaskanda oil refinery and bringing Hambantota oil refinery under the CPC.

Continue reading ‘Petroleum Coropration Strike Ends After Govt Agrees to Not Give Trincomalee Oil Tank farm to India’ »

By Norman Palihawadane

Health Minister and Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said that the government had the power to dump garbage at any location found suitable for the purpose and none could oppose that action.

Commenting on Colombo Bishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s warning to the government not to use police and security forces against the people protesting against government dumping garbage at their residential areas, the Minister said: “None could protest against this move by way of a solution to the garbage crisis in the capital. It is illegal. The government decision has been backed by the courts, too. The government has decided to dispose garbage collected in the city at several selected places. We have selected those places after studying the suitability of the locations for the purpose. Now, those with vested interests and working for their political survival cannot come and tell us that those places are not suitable.

Cardinal Ranjith on Monday pointed out that it would be counterproductive for a government to use police and military personnel to force the public to allow the dumping of garbage in their environs.

Continue reading ‘None Can Protest Against Govt Dumping Garbage at any Suitable Location says Rajitha Senaratne’ »

by Norman Palihawadane

Bishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has said it will be counterproductive for a government to use police and military personnel to force the public to allow the dumping of garbage in their environs, he said.

Continue reading ‘Govt Using Army and Police to Forcibly Dump Garbage Against People’s Protests Will Be Couterproductive Warns Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

A scientific study of garbage disposal in Colombo done by EML Consultants Pivate Ltd.,for the Central Environment Authority (CEA) had concluded that sanitary land filling would be the only practical way of disposing Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Colombo, the Ministry’s former Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said here on Thursday.

Speaking to Daily Express, Rajapaksa said that the final report released by the Ministry of Urban Development in August 2015, had recommended that sanitary land filling should take place at Aruwakkalu in Puttalam district, 170 km from Colombo.

The garbage, collected and stored at Meetotamulla in the outskirts of Colombo, should be transported to Aruwakkalu by rail on a daily basis. Taking it by road was ruled out. At Aruwakkalu it was to be dumped in a disused limestone mine which was attached to the Holcim cement factory. The disused mine has a capacity of 4,700,000m

Continue reading ‘Scientific Study Recommended Garbage Collected at Meethotamulla to be Taken by Train Daily to be Dumped in Disused Limestone Mine at Aruvaakkallu -Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’ »

by Jeremy Luedi

Increased international interest in the Indian Ocean comes at a convenient time for Sri Lanka, as the country continues to recoup after the end of its decades-long civil war which ended in 2009. The island nation is being courted (and courting in turn) by various major powers, each seeking a stake in developing Sri Lanka’s strategic location midway between the Middle East and the Straits of Malacca. While opportunities present themselves, all this attention also comes with its own set of complications.

International actors, notably India and Japan have become increasingly concerned about the level of Chinese investment and influence in Sri Lanka. This has in turn set off a flurry of activity among all parties to secure Sri Lanka’s favours. On April 12th, Prime Ministers Abe and Wickremesinghe met to discuss furthering bilateral cooperation. This is PM Wickremesinghe’s second visit to Japan since coming to power in 2015, and his ninth overall. The meeting resulted in $410 million in Japanese loans for Sri Lankan infrastructure projects, as well as $9.2 million in grant aid for the development of the Trincomalee port.

Other recent developments include Japan’s decision to appoint a special representative to coordinate development in Sri Lanka, as well as a code sharing agreement between Sri Lankan Airlines and JAL which will help facilitate six new routes between Japan and South Asia, aiding trade and tourism ties between Colombo and Tokyo.

Continue reading ‘China,India and Japan in Great Game of Competing for the Harbours of Sri Lanka.’ »

By

Sachin Parashar

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka may find it difficult to wriggle out of China’s clutches because of the massive debt it owes to Beijing but to balance things out, it is now set to allow India to jointly develop the Trincomalee port in northeastern part of the country.

Diplomatic sources said Sri Lanka has readied an MoU for joint development of the project and that it’s likely to be signed during PM Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Colombo.

Official sources also confirmed that Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe would visit India this month to review bilateral ties.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Offers Trincomalee to India to Counter Balance Giving Hambantota to China’ »

By Manekshaw

The civilians in Mullaitivu have launched a protest against the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) expanding its presence in the Mullaitivu District by acquiring nearly 617 acres for the expansion of the Navy presence in the Mullaitivu District.

The civilian protest is led by the Wanni Electoral District, Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian, Dr. S. Sivamohan in the vicinity of the Navy base which was established in the Mullaitivu District close to the Nanthikadal lagoon in September 2013.

The SLN base has been named SLNS Gotabaya after former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa .

Continue reading ‘Protest Launched in Mullaitheevu Against Further Expansion of “SLNS Gotabhaya” Naval Base by 617 Acres’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Although New Delhi and Colombo have expressed satisfaction over recent bilateral talks on the Palk Bay fishing conflict, northern Sri Lankan fishermen say a much-needed long-term solution remains elusive.

Following resistance from the fisherfolk and some efforts taken by the two governments, the number of Indian trawlers coming into Sri Lankan waters has reduced, observe fishermen. However, fully resolving the crisis requires greater political will from the two governments and sympathy from fisher leaders in Tamil Nadu, they emphasise.

“The talks are simply dragging without any major decision. This delay is only to the Indian fishermen’s advantage, because they somehow get the extension they wanted,” says Mannar-based fisher leader Mohamed Alam, referring to Tamil Nadu fisher leaders’ earlier demand for three more years to phase out bottom trawling, which Sri Lanka rejected.

Continue reading ‘Indo-Lanka Talks on Fishing Keep Dragging on While Tamil Nadu Trawlers Continue Destructive Poaching in Northern Waters’ »

SANJA DE SILVA JAYATILLEKA

The dreadful tragedy of Meethotamulla has shocked even those who usually go about minding their own business, to spin around and look back at what could possibly have led to such needless waste of human lives. In a country that faced frequent terrorist violence in its main streets for decades and yet was resilient, Meethotamulla struck like a sharp knife in the collective gut of the country’s conscience. It’s a wound that’s refusing to heal until each of us finds answers.

Conversations with cab drivers, social media posts, speak to this need. Today, my cabbie told me that several thousand people come in to Colombo each day, and if they could bring their lunch in their own lunch box like he did, rather than wrapped in paper, tens of thousands of plastic papers could be eliminated from the city’s dustbins. Many people are trying to find ways of helping with the problem of garbage, taking individual responsibility for this enormous tragedy and resolving to do whatever they can to prevent a recurrence.

Continue reading ‘What Prevents President Sirisena From Acting Before Tragedy Strikes and Lives are Lost?’ »

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — In the ruins of a tropical hideaway where jetsetters once sipped rum under the Caribbean sun, the abandoned children tried to make a life for themselves. They begged and scavenged for food, but they never could scrape together enough to beat back the hunger, until the U.N. peacekeepers moved in a few blocks away.

The men who came from a far-away place and spoke a strange language offered the Haitian children cookies and other snacks. Sometimes they gave them a few dollars. But the price was high: The Sri Lankan peacekeepers wanted sex from girls and boys as young as 12.

“I did not even have breasts,” said a girl, known as V01 — Victim No. 1. She told U.N. investigators that over the next three years, from ages 12 to 15, she had sex with nearly 50 peacekeepers, including a “Commandant” who gave her 75 cents. Sometimes she slept in U.N. trucks on the base next to the decaying resort, whose once-glamorous buildings were being overtaken by jungle.

Justice for victims like V01 is rare. An Associated Press investigation of U.N. missions during the past 12 years found nearly 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and other personnel around the world — signaling the crisis is much larger than previously known. More than 300 of the allegations involved children, the AP found, but only a fraction of the alleged perpetrators served jail time.

Legally, the U.N. is in a bind. It has no jurisdiction over peacekeepers, leaving punishment to the countries that contribute the troops.

Continue reading ‘134 Sri Lankan Soldiers Stationed as UN Peacekeepers in Haiti Abused 9 Children From 2004 to 2007 in Sex Ring’ »

By

P.K.Balachandran

The landslide disaster at Meetotamulla within Colombo city limits last Friday, in which a 300 ft high mountain of garbage came down on hapless slum dwellers killing 26 and wrecking 84 houses fully and 36 partially, could have been averted if steps had been taken to remove the dump even as late as January 2016.

With 1500 tons of municipal waste from the capital city being dumped there everyday in a haphazard fashion, people living around the mound had been in constant fear of being buried under three million tons of muck, in case there were exceptionally heavy rains or an earth tremor.

They had approached the court and agitated on the street under the leadership of Attorney at Law Nuwan Bopage. But to no avail.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government, which did a lot for urban development, had a plan to shift the dump to Aruwakkalu in Puttalam district and carry the garbage from Colombo by rail every day. But the shifting did not take place for want of environmental clearance. The people of Meetotamulla allege that politically connected contractors who collected and deposited garbage and the Municipal Council had a vested interest in a “non-change” policy.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Govt Plan to Dump Meethotamulla Garbage in Puttalam was Stopped by Politically Connected Contractors’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Collective of Civil Society Organizations has urged the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration to inquire into war crimes allegations in accordance with Geneva Resolution 30/1 co-sponsored by the government.

Addressing the media at the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), Maradana on Tuesday (April 18), Akalanka Hettiarachchi (Aluth Parapura) emphasized that all those who had perpetrated crimes during the war and post-conflict should be dealt forthwith.

Continue reading ‘Civil Society Organizations Collective wants Govt to Probe War Crimes Allegations in Accordance with UN Resolution Co-sponsored by Lanka’ »

By DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

A few days after the Meethotamulla tragedy in Sri Lanka, a referendum was held in Turkey. The people of Turkey rejected Western liberal warnings and voted in favour of an executive presidency.

The Meethotamulla tragedy, which occurred utterly inauspiciously as it were during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holiday, was symbolic. Two years into the neoliberal Yahapalana government (and a perennially UNP Municipal Council), at least 30 people died horribly, buried under an avalanche of a visibly growing mountain of garbage, neglected and deprioritised despite warnings (including from Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith) and protests by the residents.

It is eerily symbolic of this government’s policies and performance which taken together is a growing pile of dangerous neglect and toxicity, which will bury this country and its people under the collective and growing weight of its colossal callousness and incompetence.

It is clear. This country will have to bury this government under an electoral avalanche first, or this Government will bury us. Furthermore, it seems imperative to retain the Executive Presidency to put in place the kind of strong leader who has the foresight and ability to save us from yet another such catastrophe by timely and determined action. It would be fortunate if the country had the choice of a person who has proven successful in matters of conceptualizing and managing urban development and renewal, to work the same developmental miracle on a national scale, leaving no garbage dump, literal or metaphorical, uncleared. We need a man who strategized, organized, cut through red tape and managed to clear all ‘uncleared’ areas.

Continue reading ‘Meethotamulla Tragedy Shows that Unless Country Buries this Govt in Electoral Avalanche First the Govt Will Bury Us’ »

Politics, rather than science, is playing an important role in marine fisheries governance especially in South Asian countries, said Maarten Bavinck, a Dutch scientist, whose research projects include providing space for small scale fishers of India and Sri Lanka.

“The dispute between India and Sri Lanka over the fishing activities in the Palk Bay remain unsolved mainly due to political reasons, he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Tropical Marine Fisheries Governance: The Way Forward’, organised by the Marine Biological Association of India (MBAI) at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) on Tuesday.

Bavinck, a professor at the University of Amsterdam in Netherlands said the Tamil Nadu Government should initiate steps to reduce its fishing fleets in the Palk Bay to resolve the conflict in the region.

“Trawling needs to be contained in the Palk Bay, where fishing activities across the international boundary line have been causing social and economic hardship for around 25,000 small scale fishermen and their families in Northern Sri Lanka. This has led to political tensions between the neighbours”, he said.

Continue reading ‘Trawling by Tamil Nadu Fishers in Palk Bay Causes Hardship for 25.000 Small Scale Fifing Families of Northern Sri Lanka’ »

By

Padma Rao Sundarji

Mahinda Rajapaksa was President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. He is a human rights lawyer by profession, but has been the butt of widespread outrage and criticism for alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the final stages of the 30-year long civil war against the armed separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which invented the “suicide bomb”, forcibly recruited child soldiers and used civilians as human shields. In his first global television interview since his election defeat in 2015, Rajapaksa spoke to WION’s senior international correspondent Padma Rao Sundarji for the “World Is One: Global Leadership” series at his residence in Colombo.

Padma Rao Sundarji:
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Thank you for receiving me and WION for this exclusive interview. I’ll start with India/China/Pakistan -the region. Sri Lanka is today steeped in external debt to China. The current government under President Maithripala Sirisena is under tremendous pressure. It is slated to give China up to 80% stake in the port of Hambantota and a 99-year lease on 15,000 acres of land nearby. Your critics say that it is your government that began the dependency on China, your supporters blame the present government in Colombo. Either way, India is not happy. Who is more responsible?

pic via: facebook.com/PresidentRajapaksa/ – April 7, 2017

Mahinda Rajapaksa:

They say we are responsible and we say the present government is responsible. Some even say India is responsible. We had decided to consciously re-orient our countries towards Asia, which, of course, means the two power houses India and China. We did this for more than one reason. Firstly, we identify ourselves as Asians and therefore we identify our destiny as part of that of the continent of Asia.
Continue reading ‘“I Never Left The Fray”- Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa In An Exclusive Interview’ »

By

Iromi Perera and Vijay Nagaraj

On the afternoon of 14 April tonnes of garbage at Meethotamulla, one of the biggest dumping sites just outside Colombo, came crashing down destroying scores of homes. At the time of writing, the death toll was reportedly 26 but was expected to rise. There have been serious allegations made by the affected community that rescue efforts did not even begin in earnest till very late into the night owing to a lack of direction and the failure of authorities.

Meethotamulla Rahula Vidyalaya – via: facebook.com/MyCleanSriLanka/

According to Nuwan Bopage, a lawyer representing residents of Meethotamulla, people were left using shovels to get to those buried. “During that whole time we could hear the dying breath of those buried under the garbage,” he said at a media conference the next day.

Behind the tragedy is a litany of broken promises—including an assurance by the Prime Minister himself in 2015 of solving the problem within six months—and protests being met with tear gas or batons. A group of residents from Meethotamulla approached the Supreme Court in 2014 seeking to stop the dumping of garbage.
Continue reading ‘Meetotamulla Is One More Tragedy of the Poor Underclass Being Victimised in the Name of Development’ »

By P.K.Blachandran

Colombo, April 16: The landslide disaster at Meetotamulla within Colombo city limits on Friday, in which a 300 ft high mountain of garbage came down on hapless slum dwellers killing 24 and wrecking 145 houses, may have come as a surprise to the elite of Colombo who live in posh localities. But for the residents of run down Meetotamulla, it was a disaster waiting to happen for decades.

pic via: defence.lk

With 1500 tons of municipal waste from the capital city being dumped there everyday in a haphazard fashion, people were living in constant fear of being buried under three million tons of muck in case there were exceptionally heavy rains or an earth tremor.

Indeed, when the tropical storm ‘Roanu’ struck Colombo in May 2016, the storm waters mixed with a great deal of muck from the mound swamped their dwellings. It was reported that 60% of the population had become ill as a result of being in an exceptionally filthy environment at that time.

Unable to bear the constant stench, and apprehensive about diseases spreading, the residents of Meetotamula had, even prior to the floods, launched an agitation under the leadership of Attorney Nuwan Bopage.
Continue reading ‘Meetotamulla Garbage Dump Landslide Tragedy was a Disaster Waiting to Happen’ »

By

Dr. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

“The correctness or incorrectness of the ideological and political line decides everything.”(Mao)

UNP leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is mightily helped by the confusion in the ranks of the SLFP and Oppositional forces in general. The SLFP voters and the broader constituency of non-UNP (or non-hardcore UNP) voters are being sent three messages, all of which are wrong. The three messages come, NOT from Mahinda Rajapaksa but from President Sirisena, ex-president Kumaratunga and architect-strategist of the breakaway Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (Sri Lanka People’s Front SLPF), Basil Rajapaksa.

Chandrika Kumaratunga wants a strategic alliance of the SLFP and the UNP, even under the UNP’s leadership. She seems willing to go as far as fusion, which means turning the clock back to pre-1951 and her father’s rupture with the UNP. The alliance she advocates is with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the neoliberal globalism he represents, rather than with a populist-patriotic (‘neo-Premadasaist’) tendency of the UNP. Chandrika sees the UNP-TNA-SLFP-civil society liberals-West as a durable and desirable bloc.

President Sirisena sees the UNP-SLFP alliance not as strategic, and certainly not as a potential fusion, unless the UNP is led by an ideological co-thinker who is a centrist-populist. He is striving to cultivate such a constituency within the UNP. If not, or until that fructifies, the alliance with the UNP is tactical, not strategic. He is keeping open the January 2015 alignment and its possible recycling but that is not his Plan A, not least because he sees its exponentially growing unpopularity. He has his eye on the exits that are coming up but he hasn’t made up his mind. His main aim is to nurture a moderate, more youthful and modern, non-Rajapaksa/post-Rajapaksa SLFP which is ideologically progressive or even mildly social democrat. He hopes to use it to seize the hegemony within the existing Yahapalana coalition or lead it to victory as part of a new centrist alliance with compatible elements of the JO and the UNP.

Continue reading ‘“Stop Handing Trincomalee to India”Should be Key Slogan of Joint Opposition May Day Rally’ »

By Dr. Archana Arul

If there is considerable consternation in political circles in India over what took place at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva recently over a two-year extension for Sri Lanka to come to terms with issues of the post-conflict era, it is only understandable.

Once again the international community, led by the United States and Britain, have given one more chance to the powers that be in Colombo to put in motion a judicial and political process that squarely comes to term with the national reconciliation process.

That there has been constant huffing and puffing on how to go about the procedural aspects of substantive issues in the island nation has been conveniently glossed over — for now, there is another extension and in the name of a Consensus Resolution on which there was no vote.

In the event of a division, member-nations would have been forced to spell out their views leading to embarrassing moments in the fashion they were going to characterise their versions of the goings on in Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘Has There Been Genuine National Reconciliation in Sri Lanka?’ »

By Udeni Saman Kumara

President Maithripala Sirisena in an interview with our sister paper Maubima said that people who elected him are still hopeful that the problems could be resolved through this government. “I like to unite and not to divide”, he said.

Q; This is the third year since you were elected as President. Half of the term of the government is already over. Are you satisfied with your performance in terms of establishing good governance?

I ask this question in the backdrop of some people alleging that there has been no development in the country since you took over.

A: The meaning in that statement, that no development is happening in the country is that compared to the development seen previously, not much seems to be happening now. That is one. Mega projects have not begun. Roads are not being built fast.

Based on such things, there is a view that the country is not moving forward. In fact, when we took over governance we inherited a set-up akin to an embellished celluloid doll. The country was hopelessly in debt. Had that development not been so much of a problem the former President might not have held elections two years in advance. He held the election because he was basically stuck and without the ability to move even another inch further.

Q;People expected a change because they had many problems over the previous government?

A: They were well aware and understood the enormity of the problems like the economic crisis, issues related to the Human Rights Council and the problems of the ruler’s family, when they went in for an election. We also could take more loans and carry out development just as they did. But we did not go down that path. The development projects they had carried out had many irregularities.

Continue reading ‘” Coalition Govt of Two Major Parties is a new Experience but I Will Lead The SLFP to Victory in Future Elections” -President Sirisena’ »

By

SANJA DE SILVA JAYATILLEKA

It was not easy to watch the proceedings on Friday April 7that the UN Security Council’s emergency‘open session’ on Syria without thinking of Sri Lanka, although the actual circumstances of the UN’s engagement with the two countries are very different.

Only one thing seemed alarmingly similar. It seemed like a set up.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley’s dramatic gesture of holding up photographs of chemical-gassed children only served to bring to mind the now famous theatrical display of a vial of anthrax by US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the same venue to warn the Council of the imminent danger that lay before the world from WMDs in Iraq.

It was only a matter of time before one of the members would hold up a photograph of that particular shameful attempt, and so it happened at the hands of the Bolivian Ambassador/Permanent Representative Sacha Lorenty who proved that there are still good men left in the world, taking on every irrational argument by the West,and quoting his President Evo Morales’ condemnation of the US strike on Syria, even though Bolivia had no dog in this fight. He stood up for the principles that all those Security Council members had signed up to.

The Russian Deputy Ambassador inevitably referred to the 2003 ‘Anthrax episode’ as well, since the Security Council session’s target for verbal recriminations by US, UK and France was more Russia than Syria. He made it a point to warn Britain not to even try to get into a war in the Middle East because in that part of the world they remember, he said, Britain’s colonial hypocrisy.

Continue reading ‘Current Western Outrage Over Syria Seems to be a “Set Up” as in the case of Sri Lanka’s War Against LTTE’ »

Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the fourth most important leader in China, visited Sri Lanka this week, he was pleasantly surprised to get a very warm reception.

“The warm hospitality I got was far beyond expectations,” Yu publicly declared on Thursday.

Yu had come on a two-day visit as head of an 80-member Chinese business delegation and had met President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss the multi-billion dollar China-funded projects including the Hambantota port and the Colombo Port City.

While the US$ 1.4 billion Port City project has resumed after an year of suspension by the Sri Lankan government on charges of corruption, the Hambantota port project is held up over the division of stakes in a public-private sector joint venture to be established to run the port.

Continue reading ‘Yu Zhengsheng Returns After 2 Day Lankan Trip Without Visiting Hambantota Harbour or Signing Port Agreement.’ »

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

The government appears to be in hot water these days as the Chinese have demanded the complete handover of the Hambantota Port to the China Merchants Port Holdings Company, without the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) having any stake in it. The Chinese, on seeing the new amendments put forward by the SLPA urging them to reduce the 99-year lease plan to a 33-year lease, are also in a quandary as to whether they should release the US$ 1.2 billion loan, obtained by the former government, in full or to give it in instalments, Ceylon Today learns.

It is also learnt that the top Chinese official, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Yu Zhengsheng, who is also a member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful decision-making body in China, had arrived in Sri Lanka (6 to 8 April 2017), to put pressure on Sri Lanka to embark on the Hambantota Port project soon. The government, which was initially firm in going forward with the project, is now in two minds as the Chinese have demanded the complete control over the Hambantota Port.

Continue reading ‘China Demands Full Control of Hambantota Harbour Without any Stake for Sri Lanka Ports Authority’ »

by Anura Gunasekera

When absolute virtue is your launching pad, there is no way but down thereafter and that has been the sad story of the Yahapalanaya regime from its laboured birth.

Yahapalanaya is a collage of intrinsically incompatible points of view and an uneasy cohabitation between groups and individuals who would not, normally, bed with each other. Given its current state of incompetence and paucity of achievement, the union between a mare and a donkey, which produces the sterile mule seems an apt comparison. Briefly, and fortuitously for the nation, these disparate groups and individuals found a common objective; the ouster of a man who, in one narrow sense, may be described as the liberator of the Nation State of Sri Lanka, and from another point of view, will be seen as the man who decided that having freed it, that it belonged to him to do as he pleased with.

Yahapalanaya owes its existence, not to previous performance but to promises, some partly addressed and most others yet unfulfilled and simply languishing in the wish lists of those who voted for it. It must perform, and quickly, as it has no laurels to rest on to reinforce its bid for continued existence, or for that matter, for its legitimacy. At the maximum it has another year for productive action, before it is compelled to abandon even a pretence of service to the nation and the main protagonists start preparing for the next election; when all the actors and principals currently in action, as well as others presently side-lined but hopeful of a piece of future action, initiate the deals, alliances, the horse-trading, when yesterday’s sworn enemy becomes today’s friend and vice-versa; when it becomes politic to cast aside sanctimoniously enunciated principles, assurances and ethics in favour of the expediency of the moment.

Continue reading ‘Yahapalanaya Regime – Lunacy,Idiocy or Plain Hubris?’ »

Multiple award-winning film director Vasantha Obeyesekere, whose adoption of real life stories onto the big screen made him one of the biggest names in the country’s film industry, passed away last morning at a private hospital in Colombo. He was 80.

Vasantha Obeyesekere

In a film-making career that spanned nearly five decades, Obeyesekere won several presidential awards and numerous other awards, nationally and internationally, while courting both fame and controversy over the years for his work.

Having passed out of the University of Ceylon in 1962, he dabbled in a teaching career before joining the editorial staff of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. His foray into cinema came in 1967 with the film Sath Samudura, on which he worked as an assistant director. His first film was Wes Gaththo, which Obeyesekere not only produced and directed, but for which he wrote the screen play and acted in too.

Continue reading ‘Famous Film Director Vasantha Obeyesekere, Who Immortalised Real Life Stories On The Silver Screen, Is No More’ »

By Namini Wijedasa

If the Government intends to slash its original proposal of 65,000 prefabricated houses down to 6,000 houses for the war-displaced, it must call a fresh tender as many more contractors will qualify for the smaller project and offer better prices, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran said this week.

Despite sustained opposition to the project, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) last week granted approval for the construction of 6,000 prefabricated houses in the North and East by international steel giant ArcelorMittal. The proposal will go to Cabinet for ratification.

But the original tender, floated by the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ministry, had been for 65,000 houses and not 6,000, pointed out Mr. Sumanthiran. The TNA has unanimously rejected prefabricated steel dwellings and called for the cheaper, culturally-suitable brick-and-mortar houses.

Continue reading ‘Pre-fab Housing Project for North -East Slashed From 65,000 to 6,000 Houses Without Calling for Fresh Tenders’ »

By Chris Kamalendran

Sri Lanka has expressed disappointment over the failure by the Indian authorities to honour the pledges made at the last round of joint Indo-Lanka talks on the fisheries issue.

Fisheries Ministry Secretary Rani Adhikari, who headed the Sri Lanka delegation at the talks held on Friday in Colombo, told the Sunday Times she requested the Indian delegation to implement the agreement reached during the previous round of talks to increase patrolling of the Palk Strait to prevent poaching.

The last round of talks was held in New Delhi in December last year.

Ms Adhikari said Sri Lanka also pointed out that though a hotline had been established between the Sri Lankan coastguards and their Indian counterparts, the action taken against cases of poaching was insufficient.

Sri Lanka had emphasised that the Government wanted to totally prevent poaching and not merely stop illegal fishing methods such as bottom trawling.

Continue reading ‘India Fails to Honour Pledges Made to Sri Lanka About Preventing Indian Fishermen from Poaching in Sri Lankan Waters’ »

By Namini Wijedasa

Resistance is growing in the East to W.M. Mendis’s (WMM) proposed ethyl alcohol plant, approved by the Finance Ministry within 18 months of Maithripala Sirisena winning the presidency, on a platform that decried, among other things, “the ethanol mafia”.

The Batticaloa District Coordinating Committee met on March 27 and resolved to oppose the project. Members wanted it removed from the Batticaloa District and addressed a memorandum to President Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other ministers.

“Everyone in the Batticaloa District, including ministers, MPs and members of Provincial Councils, are unanimous in their opposition to the project,” a local Government official said. A spokesman for the Excise Dept said this week that WMM–owned by Arjun Aloysius, son-in-law of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran who is currently being investigated over the Bond issue–has not yet been issued a manufacturing licence for the plant. “They are still in construction stage,” the official said.

Meanwhile, WMM published notices in the local media stating that, the said plant will produce ethyl and is not a distillery. Ethyl is also known as ethanol, grain alcohol or, alcohol.

Continue reading ‘Opposition Ferments in East Against Finance Ministry Approved W.M. Mendis Project of an Ethyl Alcohol Plant In B’caloa District’ »

by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

What the upcoming round of sub-national elections (PCs and PSs) will decide is the respective strengths of the official SLFP and the JO/SLPP. I for one am pretty certain that the JO/Podujana Peramuna will beat the official SLFP into third place in the PS/PC elections—the reason being the official SLFP’s role as the UNP’s ‘tail’.

After the electoral outcome and on that basis, the two entities can either try vainly to eliminate the other politically and monopolize (not merely dominate) the space the rival occupies, or they can sensibly decide to reunite, perhaps not as a single party, but as a front or bloc, just as the LSSP and CP did when they came to their senses in 1968.

What would work in the short term is a post-electoral agreement to form non-UNP administrations at the PS and PC levels, in other words, flip over and thereby counterbalance the 2015 agreement the official SLFP leadership entered into with the UNP, to form a ‘unity’ government at the national level.

Continue reading ‘Sirisena Led “Official”SLFP’s Role as UNP Tail Will Result in Being Beaten to Third Place in Polls.’ »

By Namini Wijedasa

Despite three months’ renovation work which disrupted airline schedules, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) will not upgrade the Bandaranaike International Airport’s runway in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation-accepted classification for runways capable of accommodating new large aircraft such as A380s.

Notwithstanding its recent widening at a cost of US$ 50 million, the BIA runway will remain Code E or one that can facilitate aircraft with a wingspan of more than 52 metres but less than 65 metres. The A380 aircraft has a wingspan of more than 80 metres. This is because the width of the core runway at BIA is still 45m and it was only the “shoulders” on either side that were extended during the renovation work.

In media announcements, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd bizarrely claimed that the BIA’s upgraded runway was a “modified Code F”. Such classification does not exist anywhere in International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) literature, which only refers to Code E or Code F runways. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has repeatedly said the BIA runway was capable of accommodating the A380.

Continue reading ‘Despite 3 Months Renovation Costing US 50 Million $ the Katunayake Airport Runway has not been Upgraded to Accommodate Large Aircraft’ »

By

Hiranthi Wijemanne

It was Lao Tzu who said, “When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.” This epitomizes Ravi Jayewardene, who in 1983 during the first manifestations of unprecedented violence and destruction, began a response to protect our motherland, threatened by separatist forces of immeasurable proportions.

Ravi became a catalyst for change during one of the most challenging period in Sri Lanka’s history, as brutal attacks of violence occurred by terrorist forces on unarmed, innocent, villagers, living in the border areas of the North Central Province, soon spreading to Batticaloa and Trincomalee in the eastern province, and occuring even in the highly populated capital city Colombo.

I visited these areas, met the families of men, women and innocent children killed in the most brutal of manner, and was aghast that any humans were capable of such brutality and inhumanity on people who were poor, innocent and unarmed, including children and even pregnant women.

It was in this national crisis that Ravi revealed his true character and patriotism, as he sensed with his keen military acumen that this was no ordinary war, but an insurgency of an immense and ruthless nature, which needed great skill, strong determination and immense courage to overcome.

Continue reading ‘Ravi Jayewardene Revealed His Character and Patriotism During the National Crisis of War’ »

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

A common view held by many across the Commonwealth that Sri Lanka holds out a beacon of hope to the world in reversing the tide of authoritarianism underscores darker and more complex realities.

Even in those early days when elation prevailed after the surprise election defeat of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015, many of us instinctively knew that this was just the beginning of a long, hard road towards reversing systemic Rule of Law failures, much of which had predated Rajapaksa rule (2005-end 2014).

Journalists being briefed on the Right to Information Act

Two years later, the formidable challenges before us are very clear. During the previous decade, the abuse of power had been unprecedented, even when assessed against the country’s turbulent post-independence history after British colonial fetters were shaken off in 1948. Ordinary law and order had deteriorated to abysmal depths. State, economic and military powers were concentrated in the office of the Executive President. Corruption on the part of a ruling family cabal was rampant and ugly. Shaky at its best, the scales of the State tilted dangerously towards raw, naked authoritarianism. Editors and journalists were assassinated, beaten up and threatened. A decades-long secessionist war fought by the LTTE in the Northern peninsula was brought to a bloody end in 2009 but even after, terror continued to stalk the land.

Yet the stage for this departure from the democratic path had been set quite a while ago. Prolonged ethnic conflict and more sporadic but equally violent clashes between the majority Sinhalese government and rebellious Sinhalese youth in the South had paved the way for emergency law to become the norm. Checks and balances once holding arbitrary executive discretion in check became weaker. Under the Kumaratunga Presidency, a Supreme Court headed by her handpicked Chief Justice in 1999 became politicised with severe adverse impact on a once revered institution. Attacks on critical journalists waxed and waned with criminal defamation law being used to stifle dissenters until a vigorous media-led campaign resulted in its repeal.

Continue reading ‘Challenges to Media freedom in Sri Lanka; The ‘New’ Government’s Performance’ »

By
Asoka N. I. Ekanayaka
Emeritus Professor

I share with many millions of people in this country (who may not even know what the letters SAITM stand for) a certain indifference to the SAITM controversy that seems to be occupying so much media attention at this time. I have never been a teacher in that medical school and no child of mine ever been educated there. Having never done private practice in a lifetime as a health professional neither do I feel at all threatened that those who have actually been educated in a private medical school might in some way compete with me for a livelihood! Nor have my powers of critical thinking become hamstrung by blind servitude to antiquated leftwing ideology that has a lofty disdain for the private sector other than when it can make one rich personally. Therefore I have no vested interest in the outcome of the current controversy.

Nevertheless one cannot but be appalled by the self righteous hypocrisy and sanctimonious humbug surrounding the debate. The worst thing about fallen human nature is not so much the bad things people do or the wrong judgments they make, but the deceit of the heart that makes them hide their evil intentions in a cloak of righteousness, their selfish motives in a deceptive veneer of pretentious selfless commitment to some highfaluting principle. One observes something like this at play in the prevailing obsession with “standards of medical education” that seems to dominate the SAITM discussion where some alleged shortfall in the standard of training is the ammunition used by opponents of SAITM like the GMOA and SLMC and militant medical students to blast their quarry.

Only God knows the real motives in the minds of men whatever the outward posturing. In the present case to what extent real motives may have to do with politics, ideology, fear of market competition or plain envy is a matter of speculation. However there has been plenty of discussion about the inconsistency of those who are on the one hand ever so particular about shortcoming in the standard of training at SAITM, and on the other quite tolerant of the glaring shortcomings that continue to bedevil the quality of medical training in several existing medical schools in the island. It would seem that amidst all the pompous talk about standards of medical training there is in practice a sickening double standard! We need not here further embarrass those other medical schools whose own shortcomings and failures conveniently ignored by the medical establishment make a mockery of all the fuss about standards at SAITM.

Continue reading ‘The SAITM Controversy: From Hippocrates to Hypocrisy’ »

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa has made a miraculous recovery and was discharged from the National Hospital less than four hours after being granted bail this morning.

Weerawansa was taken to the Colombo Fort Magistrate Court by ambulance this morning from the Colombo National Hospital.

He was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital from the Prison Hospital on March 29.
Weerawansa had engaged in a 9-day hunger strike previously in protest of his bail application being turned down twice.

Weerawansa was being held on charges he caused the government a loss of Rs. 90 million by misusing state-owned vehicles while he was Minister of Housing during the previous regime.

Continue reading ‘Hospitalised Wimal Weerawansa Miraculously Recovers from Illnesss and is Discharged from Hospital After Receiving Bail’ »

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has rejected the solution offered by the government on the SAITM issue.

Speaking to the media this evening, GMOA Secretary Dr. Navin de Zoysa said they wanted the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) shut down, not taken over by the government.

He also promised that the GMOA would set up a branch within the newly nationalised Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital and continue their protest to have SAITM closed.

The government announced earlier today the Health Ministry would take over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital.

Continue reading ‘Govt Wants to Nationalise Neville Fernando Hospital but GMOA Rejects it Saying It Wants SAITM Shut down and not Govt take Over’ »

By

Zahrah Imtiaz

The usually crowded waiting rooms of the Colombo National Hospital (CNH) were deserted yesterday as the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) and 100 other trade unions launched the 24 hour strike against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).

Thousands of patients seeking treatment at Government hospitals were left in the lurch. This comes in the wake of the AHINI outbreak and high Dengue prevalence in the Trincomalee and many other districts.
Patients caught unaware of the strike were turned away destitute and sent to private hospitals in the area.

“We came to the hospital at 10 a.m because my grandson is suffering from a very high fever. There is no one here to give us medicine so we are going to Nawaloka,” said W. Malani who had come to the National Hospital all the way from Wattala, not aware the doctors’ were on strike.

Hospital attendants and nurses at the National hospital were assigned to deal with patients and had to either turn patients away or dole out basic assistance.

Continue reading ‘Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) and 100 trade unions launch 24 hour strike against South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).’ »

by Dilanthi Jayamanne

Thousands patients were inconvenienced by the doctors token strike yesterday.

Director of the National Hospital (NHSL), Dr Anil Jasinghe said the OPD was not functioning though emergency admissions were carried out. The scheduled clinics had been cancelled. The NHSL attended to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 clinic patients daily. Routine surgeries had been cancelled. However the ICU and wards and fever patients were being attended to. All emergency services were maintained, he added.

The Director of the Anuradhapura Teaching hospital was on leave and our efforts to contact his two Deputy Directors were in vain. However, sources said the doctors’ strike had crippled the hospital.

The Jaffna, Kurunegala and Kandy Teaching Hospitals were also affected by the strike.

Continue reading ‘Thousands of Patients Faced Distress as Govt Hospital Doctors Led by GMOA Held One Day Token Strike’ »

By

Dr. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA

A country usually rolls out the red carpet for a visiting foreign dignitary but can a country turn into a carpet? Well, ours just did. We live in a time and a country in which a visiting celebrity from India can think nothing of openly criticizing and cautioning us against our old friend China while speaking at the launch of a biography of Sri Lankan Prime Minister, with the said PM and the President in the audience.

“Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday flagged India’s concerns over China’s presence in Sri Lanka, pointing to “military intervention in the guise of trade” even in the earlier avatar of China’s Silk Road initiative. He was speaking at the launch of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political biography, authored by Dinesh Weerakody.

Referring to Chinese admiral Zheng He’s explorations in the 15th century, Mr. Tharoor said they were not just initiatives to promote trade, but also “direct military intervention under the pretext of ushering in a harmonious world order under China’s emperor”.

Some in India wondered whether China’s interest in the Indian Ocean Region undermines India’s own historical links and cultural networks built over generations and centuries, said the former Minister of State for External Affairs echoing South Block’s apparent preoccupation with Beijing’s growing presence in the region.” (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/chinese-presence-in-sri-lanka-worries-tharoor/article17835070.ece)

Now this is suffused with unintended irony. The ancient chronicles of the largest community on this island one of the oldest nations in the world, are marked by references to military interventions from and occupations by India with the scantest reference to aggression from China. Determined doubtless by geopolitics, recent Sri Lankan memory also contains an episode of sponsorship of cross-border separatist terrorism capped by coercive intervention, while the only memories of China are those of consistent, unambiguous support in our thirty years war against separatist terrorism.

Continue reading ‘Prime Minister Wanting to Indianize and Tamil Naduize Sri Lanka is a Threat to the Nation’ »

By

Shashi Tharoor

(Following is the address delivered by keynote speaker, Indian MP and world-famous author Dr. Shashi Tharoor at the launch of Dinesh Weerakkody’s book ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe: A Life’ on 4 April 2017)

It is presumptuous for a second-term MP to congratulate a fourth-term PM, but I am emboldened by Ranil Wickremesinghe’s own graciousness and generosity to me. At one level, it can be claimed that nothing could be easier than speaking about India-Sri Lanka relations. After all, Sri Lanka is India’s closest neighbor, and the relationship between our two countries is more than 2500 years old. Indeed, both sides have built, and built upon, a long legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic exchange.

Lanka features centrally in our sacred epic the Ramayana and, for that reason, is probably the one foreign country that has always had a place in our popular imagination. Then there are the old Sinhalese legends of Sri Lanka’s links to Orissa in India, which are of course manifest in the striking similarities of the Kandyan and Odissi dance forms. Add to this the fact that a significant Tamil minority on the island enjoys ties of kinship and cultural affiliation with India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, and the historical bonds only grow stronger.

In more recent years, our relationship has been marked by frequent and close contact at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, cooperation in the fields of education, culture and defence, frequent cricket matches, as well as a broad understanding on major issues of international interest.

And then there’s of course tea. Today you export twice as much as we do, largely because we drink 90% of what we grow. But an addiction to tea unites us. And now we can learn better marketing from you (Dilmah).

Continue reading ‘Issue of Sri Lankan Tamils is an Emotional and Political Subject in India’ »

By Sajeewa Chamikara

One of the common practices of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, especially in the North and East of Sri Lanka after the end of the conflict, was the forceful encroachment of land that belonged to private owners, often from the most marginalized communities, to implement ‘development initiatives.’ According to the National Physical Plan 2011 – 2030, passed in 2007, large swaths of land in the North and the East were earmarked for development activities and at the end of the war those areas were taken over by the security forces instead of resettling those who were displaced. The present administration has also allowed this policy to continue.

The entire Walikamam North in the Jaffna District is held by the military and those who used to live and work in this area have been languishing in IDP camps or live on rented properties for seven long years. A 50-acre land that was inhabited by about 45 families in Iranamadu, Kilinochchi is now held by the Army and the Air Force. A similar situation prevails in the Malayalapuram North, Kilinochchi where a 20 acre land, which was the home to 20 families, is held by the Army. Meanwhile a 10 kilometre stretch of beach front, which was used by 300 fisher families along Punagari, Mulangavil and Iranativu areas are now being held by the Navy. Around 50 acres of Paraviyanpark, Kilinochchi which was used by about 75 families is now held by the Army. Ten acres of Thiruwaiaru, Kilinochchi are also being held by the Army.
A 525-acre land in Kopapilaw, Mullaitivu, which was used by 320 families is now declared as a high security zone and is controlled by the security forces. A 90-acre land, where 84 families used to live in Puthukudiyiruppu, is now controlled by the Navy.

Continue reading ‘Present Govt Continues With Last Govt Policy of Retaining Lands of the People in the North and East for the Security Forces and Development Purposes.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

Parliament sittings were limited to 55 minutes as the Joint Opposition (JO) MPs disrupted sessions demanding more time for them to participate in a debate on the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka. MEP leader MP Dinesh Gunawardena said that it was unfair to allocate only 31 minutes of the 210 minutes long debate to the JO. The issue dragged on for 55 minutes without a solution.

JO Leader Gunawardena: We submitted this motion for the debate on the Geneva resolution a month ago. Then it was decided to allocate a full day for the debate. Out of the time allocated for the debate only 31 minutes have been given to the Joint Opposition.

Speaker Jaysuriya: We have additional 34 minutes. You can take that, too.

MP Gunawardena: We have no issue with the attempts made by you to give us more time. But, there are 52 MPs in the Joint Opposition Group. We are to debate an issue which is very critical and it matters most for the country’s future. In such an important debate we are given only 31 minutes and 180 to others. How can that be justified? I need at least one hour for the purpose of presenting this motion.

Chief Government Whip and Parliament Affairs and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka: Today is a special day. Cremation of Most Ven Davuldena Gnanissara is scheduled for this evening. We have agreed to end the sessions at 3 pm. None opposed it.

Speaker Jayasuriya: Can’t we reach an agreement since we have additional 34 minutes that can be given to the Joint Opposition?

Continue reading ‘Haggling Over Joint Opposition Demand for Allocation of More Time in Debate Ends in Cancellation of UNHRC Debate and Adjournment of Parliament.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Colombo, April 5 (newsin.asia): Former Indian junior Minister for External Affairs and UN Under Secretary General, Dr.Shashi Tharoor, has warned Sri Lankans that the Chinese, in the guise of promoting economic relations with Sri Lanka, may well end up interfering in the internal affairs of the country as the legendary Chinese Admiral Zheng He did in the 15 th.Century.

“There are some concerns in India if China’s interests here undermine our own historical and cultural links built over generations,” Tharoor said in his keynote at the launch of a political biography of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe authored by Dinesh Weerakkody here on Tuesday.

“China ‘s ambitions in the South China Sea have extended well into the Indian Ocean and the prospect of an emerging superpower casting its shadow has caused anxiety in a number of states that have been looking to India as an alternative security provider,” the Congress Member of Parliament said.

Referring to China’s latest push, the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative, he said it must be remembered that the older silk route at that time carried serious geopolitical tensions too.

“India has been better at projecting soft power in the region than hard power but there are concerns that we are gradually being strangled by China’s string of pearls around our oceanic neck,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Concerns About Chinese Interests in Sri Lanka Undermining Historical and Cultural Links with India -Shashi Tharoor’ »

By
Meera Srinivasan

Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday flagged India’s concerns over China’s presence in Sri Lanka, pointing to “military intervention in the guise of trade” even in the earlier avatar of China’s Silk Road initiative.

He was speaking at the launch of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political biography, authored by Dinesh Weerakody.

Referring to Chinese admiral Zheng He’s explorations in the 15th century, Mr. Tharoor said they were not just initiatives to promote trade, but also “direct military intervention under the pretext of ushering in a harmonious world order under China’s emperor”.

Continue reading ‘Chinese Companies Given Preferential Treatment Over Indian Companies to Invest in Sri Lanka Insinuates Indian MP Shashi Tharoor.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

The government would not remove the Navy camps at Silawathura and Mullikulam as they were necessary for curbing arms and drug and human smuggling operations, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

In answer to a question raised by SLMC MP MHM Salman, who demanded that the removal of the Navy base at Silawathura and release of land to civilians, the Prime Minister said that a Navy Base had been established in Silawathura Grama Niladhari Division of the Musali Divisional Secretariat Division of the Mannar District. The location of this Navy base was strategically important for the national security.

“It is an important location in terms of preventing illegal migration and illegal transportation of goods too,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Prime Minister Wickremesinghe Tells Parliament Navy Camps in Mullikkulam and Silaavathurai Wont be Removed.’ »

By Harim Peiris

In Sri Lanka’s ethnically polarized political society, the political discourse of both the Sinhala and Tamil polity is sadly limited and largely restricted to being within their own respective communities, with occasional broadsides against each other. There is insufficient dialogue and engagement between the different political views, especially on the issues of reconciliation. Within that context, it was interesting to note recently the call by two former Members of Parliament for the Jaffna District, V. Anandasangaree and Suresh Premachandra, for TNA and Opposition Leader R. Sambanthan resign as Leader of the Opposition. They accused him of using the Opposition Leader’s position to defend the government and the reconciliation process, which they claim has not addressed the needs of the Tamil community.

Continue reading ‘Attempts to Undermine Rajavarothayam Sampanthan’s Positive Leadership of the Tamil National Alliance.’ »

By Harischandra Gunaratna

Environmentalists are calling for action against a powerful Cabinet Minister from the Vanni electoral District for going ahead with what they call unlawful settlements in the forest reserves in and around Wilpattu in defiance of President Maithripala Sirisena’s orders.

Dineth Mallikarachchi, leading environmentalist, addressing journalists at a news conference organised by the National Joint Committee at the National Library Services at Colombo-07 on Tuesday (April 4) to protect the country’s forest cover and fauna and flora from rapacious ministers.

Mallikar-achchi flayed Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and National Unity Alliance leader and former Colombo Deputy Mayor Azad Sally for making false statements that the government was planning to evict those who were already settled. “They are working with selfish and vested interests and their bogus claims would only lead to racial tensions,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Environmentalists Demand Protection for Wilpattu Forest Reserves From Unlawful Actions of a Rapacious Cabinet Minister.’ »

By

Ephrem Fernando

The golden age of humanity was the era of the Antonines, especially that of Marcus Aurelius the second Antonine emperor. He admired the changelessness of the Roman Church.

In my daily paper The Island of March 30, I read a piece which by far was the most Interesting news for me. It was the stand taken by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith against the Fundamentalists, whom he accused of forcible conversions and urged the government to pass laws to prevent such conversions.

Continue reading ‘Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s Strong Stand Against Religious Fundamentalism and Forcible Conversions.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

Those who built the Hambantota Port had expected all ships going past Sri Lanka to stop there for refuelling, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

“They thought that ships would come there the way the vehicles come to the petrol shed at the Alexandra Place in Colombo for refuelling.

The agreements they entered into with China over the Hambantota port were not favourable to our country, Wickremesinghe said.

Continue reading ‘Rajapaksa Govt Agreements with China Over Hambantota Port Unfavourable to Sri Lanka Says Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

By Sarath de Alwis

An otherwise obvious cliché needs to be reframed to draw out the lessons from the life of Ravi Jayewardene who passed away at the age of eighty whose obsequies will be held on Thursday 6th April.

Ravi Jayawardene

It is not enough to say that he was the only son of President J. R. Jayewardene. It cries out for far more precise qualification.

He was the humble, fearless, bold and wise son of President J. R. Jayewardene, who did many things right and a few things not quite right. The mortal remains of his only son lie at ‘Wijayanthi’ the stately ancestral home of the Jayewardene family, where he was born.

The point needs emphasis. Giving to the nation is a dying art in this age when duty free sports utility vehicles are a must for the practice of the sport called politics.

Today, it is the Library and Museum of the Jayewardene Center. That it is now in a state of disrepair in the custody of the state is a commentary on our indifference to our recent history as a civic nation and our preoccupation with the mythic history of the Sinhala tribe.

Continue reading ‘Ravi Jayawardene’s Life Must Be Celebrated for his Self-effacing nature and Lifelong Contempt for Sycophants.’ »

By Nisthar Cassim

The launch of a biography on Ranil Wickremesinghe last night at the BMICH saw praised being heaped on the Prime Minister, who credited patience for his success but said that it was time to ensure victory for Sri Lanka by uniting for peace and development.

pic via: facebook.com/ranil.wickremesinghe.leader/- March 31, 2017

“There are many who helped me but it is time for all of us to unite for lasting peace and equitable development,” the Prime Minister told a packed audience at the BMICH comprising political leaders, clergy, diplomats, business leaders, civil society members and public servants.

“We all, including the main Opposition and other opposition parties, must discuss and move forward jointly. This will be a great victory. Let us all spend the time ahead of us on this challenge and within the next five years create a new political culture, a good Sri Lankan identity and a prosperous economy,” the Prime Minster said during his brief speech.
He said Sri Lanka needed to forge ahead by recapturing opportunities lost to the 30-year war. “For this we need unity,” the Prime Minister said, recalling how all parties put forward Maithripala Sirisena as a common presidential candidate and formed a national government for at least five years, which was a key achievement.

Continue reading ‘Prime Minister Praised for his Patience at Launch of a Biography on Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

Indian lawmaker Dr. Shashi Tharoor yesterday voiced his country’s concerns about China’s presence in Sri Lanka as well as its growing influence in the Indian Ocean.

“There are some concerns in India if China’s interests here undermine our own historical and cultural links built over generations,” Tharoor said in his keynote at the launch of a political biography of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe authored by Dinesh Weerakkody.

Dr. Tharoor said that China ‘s ambitions in the South China Sea have extended well into the Indian Ocean and the prospect of an emerging superpower casting its shadow has caused anxiety in a number of states that have been looking to India as an alternative security provider.

Continue reading ‘Indian MP Sashi Tharoor Expresses in Colombo the Concerns of his Country Over China’s Presence in Sri Lanka and Growing Influence.’ »

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Denying the Joint Opposition’s allegations that law enforcement authorities had been targeting military personnel as well as the police over several high profile cases, police headquarters yesterday emphasised that they couldn’t be exempted from investigations.

Police spokesman DIG Priyantha Jayakody said that those who believed people could be excused as they were members of the military or the police should have their heads examined.

Jayakody was addressing the media at police headquarters.

Continue reading ‘Military Personnel Allegedly Involved in Crimes Will Not Be Exempted from Investigations Emphasises Police Spokesperson Jayakody.’ »

Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development Eran Wickramaratne yesterday told Parliament that no action had been taken to investigate allegations over the misuse of public funds by Gamini Senarath, the Chief of Staff of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Piyadasa Kudabalage, who functioned as Directors of the companies associated with controversial Canwill Holdings Ltd.

The Minister, responding to a question raised by JVP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, said: “Piyadasa Kudabalage has been paid a considerably large allowance of Rs. 600,000 on a monthly basis. During the period March 2012 until January 2015 he was paid a total of Rs. 20.8 million.”

According to the Minister, both Gamini Senarath and Piyadasa Kudabalage have only invested Rs. 10 million each in the company, which started in December 2011, to receive a high allowance in return. The other investors of the company included Sri Lanka Insurance, which invested Rs. 5 billion, Litro Gas Rs. 450 million and the Employees Provident Fund Rs. 2.5 billion. Helanco Hotels and Spa Ltd. and Sino Lanka Hotels and Spa Ltd. are subsidiaries of Canwill Holdings. Helanco Hotels and Spa Ltd. was involved in constructing the Hambantota Hyatt while Sino Lanka Hotels and Spa Ltd. started construction of the Kollupitiya Hyatt.

Continue reading ‘Eran Wickramaratne Discloses Details About Alleged Misuse of Public Funds by Gamini Senarath ,Ex-Chief of Staff of Mahinda Rajapaksa’ »

By

Zacky Jabbar

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had won over people not by changing his attire or religion, but by his royal conduct and breeding, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday in Colombo.

Senaratne , speaking at the launch of the book “Ranil Wickremesinghe – A Political Biography” by Dinesh Weerakkody at the BMICH, attended by a representative gathering including President Maithripala Sirisena, said that Wickremesinghe had the strength of character to be who he was – a liberal humanist, who did not just follow the herd.

In an obvious reference to Royal College Colombo 7 , where the Prime Minister had his early education and learnt of books and men and learnt to play the game, Senaratne said that Wickremesinghe had displayed his “Royal Breeding” by not getting swayed in the populist Sinhala only campaign, but embraced all communities and religions in a bid to establish a One Sri Lanka.

The allegation that Wickremesinghe did not have the support of the traditional Sinhala Buddhists ,was a myth which had been shattered, Senaratne added.

Continue reading ‘Allegation That Ranil Wickremesinghe Does not Have Support of Traditional Sinhala Buddhists is a Shattered Myth – Rajitha Senaratne’ »

(Text of Editorial Appearing in “The Island” of April 5th 2017 Under the Heading “Lester, the Lodestar”)

Lester James Peries -pic courtesy of: ljpspfoundation.org

Today is a special day; internationally acclaimed icon of the Sri Lankan cinema, Lester James Peries, turns 98. He, in our book, is a national hero in that he almost single-handedly led the freedom struggle of the Sri Lankan cinema and liberated the local movie industry from the clutches of foreign ‘invaders’. The living legend is a national treasure!

Lester, with his Rekawa (Line of destiny), premiered in the mid 1950s, ended the ennui of a cinematic winter Sri Lankans had been facing for years. The country had got Independence, but its cinema hadn’t. With that super flick, which not only warmed the cockles of viewers’ hearts but also changed the course of the local cinema, began the marathon innings of the filmmaking genius. Lester has since inspired and guided generations of filmmakers and stars besides gifting numerous creations to the nation; some of these talented men and women have won international recognition.

Lester James Peries

By

Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

After the UN Human Rights Council 34th session ended in Geneva, the US said it introduced three resolutions that were adopted with ‘broad cross regional support.’ The list included Resolution 34/1 on Sri Lanka.

The statement says that ‘Sri Lanka was one of the 47 co-sponsors’ of Resolution 34/1. This assertion is extremely disingenuous, if it is made on the basis that the resolution was adopted without a vote in the 47-member HRC. How could any member state of the HRC or friend of Sri Lanka be expected to raise its voice against the resolution when Sri Lanka itself had submitted to co-sponsoring it?

Interestingly the other two resolutions led by the US at the 34th session, on South Sudan and North Korea, relate to HRC mandated exercises to collect evidence that can be used in future ‘accountability mechanisms.’

Continue reading ‘Where is the Pressure for Prosecutions by a Hybrid Court Coming From?’ »

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The red pill and its opposite, the blue pill, are popular cultural symbols representing the choice between embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red pill) and the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue pill).

Last week, National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa drank a cup of milk and gave up his hunger strike, if you can call that a hunger strike because the man was on saline from day two. And I can’t say that a lot of people were surprised, or cared about his ‘hunger strike’ at all, which is a good thing because it shows that most of those who voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015 have been red-pilled.

Continue reading ‘Ultra- Nationalist Sinhala Politicians Becoming Political Dinosaurs’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

Wimal Weerawansa is a destructive politician. After Anagarika Dharmapala, he is probably the most effective rabble rouser who could manage to send a sizeable portion of the population to an ethnic frenzy through his gifted oratory. His leader for a short while, Rohana Wijeweera was also a provocative orator, however, though he was a closeted bigot, Wijeweera spent most of his speaking prowess to promote a class struggle.

The most eventful individual on the other end of the ethnic divide, Velupillai Prabakaran was a coy trigger-happy mass murderer. He mesmerized a much larger section of Tamils at home and abroad through his resort to untrammeled violence directed against Sinhalese, Muslims and dissidents of his own community.

What all those men had in common was their ability to exploit fault lines in our society and the limits of our state, then and now. Anagarika Darmapala exploited liberal leanings of the Colonial British to espouse his border line racism. He would not have survived had it been the French, the Dutch, Belgian or any other colonizer.

Rohana Wijeweera mobilized two generations of Sri Lankan youth, who were in fact the product of a baby-boom propelled by successive governments’ welfare policies, to wage a war against the very state. He was stopped on both occasions, but it was too late and too costly.

Both Prabhakaran and Wijeweera thrived in the perceived and often hyperbolic grievances of a segment of people and exploited the limits of coercive power of the state to advance their myopic ends. If Sri Lanka- which invested all its fortune to maintain a bloated welfare state, which over time became too big for the limited government revenue to maintain- allocated a fraction of its budget on its internal security, both of them could have been stopped a long way before they unleashed their carnage.

Continue reading ‘Wimal Weerawansa Arrested For Misappropriation is a Small Fish Who Could Raise the Question “WHY ME?”’ »

By Harischandra Gunaratna

The much-awaited short list of Gratiaen Prize 2016 was announced at the British Council auditorium yesterday evening at a simple ceremony.

The short listed works are:

1. “Introspection”(poetry) by Jean Arasanayagam

2. “The Memory of Loss”(novel) by Rizvina Morseth de Alwis

3. “Short eats” (short stories) by Shehan Karunatilaka

4. “Stories” (novel) by Charulatha Abeysekera Thewarathanthri, and

5. “Borrowed Dust a collection of poems” by Vivimarie VanderPoorten

Continue reading ‘2 Novels, 1 Short Story Collection and Two Books of Poetry Short Listed for 2016 Gratiaen Prize’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Expressing solidarity with their counterparts across the Palk Bay, Sri Lankan trade unions on Monday protested against the “attack” on Maruti workers.

Members of Sri Lankan Trade Unions protesting outside the Indian High Commission in Colombo. | Photo Credit: Photo credit: Meera Srinivasan

With posters displaying slogans in Sinhala, Tamil and English asking the Indian State to stop “prosecuting” workers, leaders and members of different unions here gathered outside the Indian mission’s premises on Colombo’s sea-facing Galle Road.

Observing that workers in India and Sri Lanka faced similar challenges, Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary of the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union said that often, imprisonment was used to intimidate working people and to discourage them from unionising in future. “That is what we are seeing in this case involving Maruti workers. It is important that we stand in solidarity in times like these,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Workers Protest Outside Colombo Indian High Commission in Solidarity With Maruti Workers Convicted by New Delhi Court’ »

Four gazettes reportedly impacting the Northern Muslim resettlement process in Wilpattu proximity are to be rescinded.

“I informed the officials that I will present a Cabinet Paper to do way with the gazettes affecting resettlement of Northern Muslim IDPs.” said Minister of Industry and Commerce and Vanni District MP Rishad Bathiudeen on 31 March in Colombo.

Minister Bathiudeen was speaking to some members of the press shortly after meeting a team of government officials led by Secretary to the President P. B. Abeykoon at the Presidential Secretariat.

Continue reading ‘Rishad Bathiudeen to Present Cabinet Paper Rescinding 4 Gazettes Declaring Muslim Settled Lands as Forest Reserve.’ »

By

R.S. Karunaratne

I still follow a piece of advice given to his students by T. Max Perera who ran an English institute at Horana way back in the 1950s. One day he advised us to read advertisements published in newspapers and name boards to learn good English. Since then I have been reading advertisements and name boards including marriage proposals in order to learn the language. Some habits you cannot give up easily. As a result even as a septuagenarian, I still read advertisements although I have stopped applying for jobs and responding to marriage proposals.

A few decades ago I applied for the post of English teacher at a prestigious international school in Colombo.

I attended the interview, but later I changed my mind.

I remembered the day I was interviewed by its principal who spoke flawless English. However, when I saw an advertisement inserted by the same international school for the “Post of Vice Principle,” I did not know whether to laugh or cry. How can anyone excuse such a major blunder appearing in a Sunday newspaper? For the post of “Vice Principle”, the candidate was required to possess an excellent command of English!

Continue reading ‘Classic Howlers Caused by Faulty Usage of the English Language in Sri Lanka and India.’ »

By Nisthar Cassim

In an emphatic move, Beijing has brought together two competing bidders for the Hambantota Port to work together, reinforcing China’s serious intent on Sri Lanka though the latter is still grappling with differences of opinion on the crucial $ 1.4 billion public-private partnership (PPP) project.

The Daily FT learns that the Beijing administration had asked China Merchants Port Holdings Company Ltd. (CMPort), the chosen party by the Lankan Government, and China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. (CHEC), the other Chinese Government-controlled entity and failed bidder, to work together by forming a Joint Venture between them for the way forward on the Hambantota Port.

The Beijing-initiated move is seen as a strong signal from China that it means “serious business” as far as the Hambantota Port is concerned. As per the Beijing agreement, CMPort will own the controlling 51% stake in the Joint Venture to be formed between them which in turn will own 80% stake initially in the PPP with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for the Hambantota Port.

Continue reading ‘Govt in Beijing Demonstrates Serious Intent by Intervening Directly to “Unite”Chinese Companies Competing for Hambantota Port Control.’ »

by Zacki Jabbar

The government says that only 600 acres of state land and not 100,000 acres from Muslims settled close to the northern border of the Wilpattu Forest Reserve, have been acquired by the President’s March 24, Gazette notification.

Acknowledging the crucial contribution of the Muslim community to electing Maithripala Sirisena as President, Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said at a news conference on Friday, that some Muslims had distorted the facts about Wilpattu.

Jayasekera claimed that Muslim settlements including places of religious worship and private lands had been protected by the said Gazette pertaining to 600 acres and not 100,000 acres contrary ot claims made by some Muslim organisations.

Continue reading ‘Only 600 Acres of Land with Muslim Settlers Gazetted as North Wilpattu Forest Reserve says Dayasiri Jayasekera’ »

By

Don Manu

Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka fired the first shot. When CID detectives, probing the daylight killing of former editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, came to question him in January and obtain his testimony, he laid the blame squarely at the doorstep of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He claimed that a ‘death squad’ run by military intelligence but who took their orders from Gotabaya was responsible.

Last Monday, the CID presented his explosive testimony in a Mount Lavinia court room and stated that their investigations, solely on the strength of Field Marshall Fonseka’s testimonial to them, had been carried out by a special group, operating under military intelligence and that the same group had been responsible for the attacks on journalists, Keith Noyah and Upali Tennekoon and abducting several other media persons.

The revelation in open court implicating Gotabaya Rajapaksa by claiming he directed a top secret death squad that targeted journalists and dissidents was picked by the international TV news channel the Qatar-based Al Jazeera and the French news agency AFP and presented to the world as another instance of the Rajapaksa regime’s ruthless crackdown on the media.

Continue reading ‘The War of Words Between Sarath Fonseka and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa About a Death Squad Run by Military Intelligence’ »