| Pillay to visit Sri Lanka in August |
| http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201305/20130528pillay_visit_sri_lanka_august.htm |
|
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will undertake a visit to Sri
Lanka from 25 to 31 August 2013, in response to an invitation formally extended
to her by the Sri Lankan government in April 2011. Addressing the Human Rights Council -23rd Regular Session in Geneva yesterday Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka in Geneva and the Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation Ravinatha P. Aryasinha said that Sri Lanka considers this visit as part of its continued, transparent and proactive engagement with the High Commissioner and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “We believe that the visit would enable the High Commissioner to experience at first hand the significant strides made and also efforts presently underway in the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka, in the relatively brief period of 4 years since the end of the ruthless terrorist conflict that decimated our nation and its peoples for 30 long years.” He also said, “We hope that through the visit, a platform will be built for constructive engagement between Sri Lankan Government and the OHCHR, laying by the fallacies that have in recent years guided the UN system's actions and engagement with respect to Sri Lanka and its reconciliation process.” |
Thursday, May 30, 2013
|
Canada
turned a blind eye to LTTE for so many years
We no longer have credibility in lecturing Sri Lanka – former Canadian HC to Sri Lanka |
| http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201305/20130529canada_turned_blind_eye_ltte_so_many_years.htm |
| Having turned a blind eye to the Tamil
Tigers for so many years, we no longer have credibility in lecturing Sri Lanka
over its post-war policies, Martin Collacot, the Canadian High Commissioner to
Sri Lanka in 1983 said.
The fact that Canada alone chose not to send its foreign minister to the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, however, may be more the
result of domestic Canadian considerations - such as increasing political
support among Tamil voters - than anything else, he wrote in a comment tiled
"How Canada became the odd man out in Sri Lanka" in National Post. Canada has the largest Sri Lankan Tamil community outside of South Asia and many Tamils living in Canada came here as refugees. Indeed, in one year alone (2003), Canada accepted far more Tamil refugee claimants than all the other countries in the world combined. Some of these refugees had ties to the Tamil Tigers military and terrorist group that was then fighting against Sri Lanka's government, the former Canadian High Commissioner said. The voting power of these Tamils distorted Canadian policy: Liberal governments repeatedly ignored CSIS recommendations that the Tamil Tigers be designated as a terrorist organization, even though Britain and the United States had done so. As a result, the Tigers were able to use Canada as one of their principal bases for fundraising - a situation that may well have contributed to prolonging the conflict and carnage in Sri Lanka. Even after the Conservatives took office in 2006, and wasted no time in adding the Tamil Tigers to the official national list of terrorist groups, Tiger supporters continued to exercise considerable influence within the Liberal Party of Canada. At the Liberals' December 2006 leadership convention, for example, a block of delegates pressing to have the Tigers removed from the terrorist list played a key role in the selection of the new leader. As for calls for an international investigation into the alleged massacre of Tamil civilians, many killings occurred in large measure because the Tigers chose to use their own population as human shields. |
http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/05/31/fea01.asp
If ever the nation of Sri Lanka stood united wherein all factions of
society whatever their opposing views came together to say NO – that was when
India forced Sri Lanka’s then President J R Jayewardena to sign the Indo-Lanka
Accord on July 29, 1987 threatening to invade Sri Lanka if it did not do so. The
SLFP, key members of the UNP, the nationalists, the JVP and even Prabhakaran
opposed it so much so that the signing of the Accord was done under emergency
with curfew and a gag on media and eventually led to the deaths of 70,000 JVP
youth who rose against it.
When Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says that Sri Lanka should not sign anything to please India and that the threat to national security is a concern – the entire nation must pay heed. Unlike most he is a man who has delivered and a man who commands our respect because he has earned it by his actions and deeds. Sambathan may say he does not want to talk to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa because he is not the government but this same Sambanthan had no qualms about taking orders from the terrorist leader Prabhakaran and even went so far as to quote from Prabhakaran’s Mahavir Speech in Parliament which was opposed by JHU Ratana Thera. If our memories are not short we may well come up with numerous other instances of LTTE-TNA links that beckons Sambathan to respond to what makes Gotabhaya repulsive and Prabhakaran not! As a politician living off taxpayers money we demand him to answer. In our eyes we continue to equate the TNA with the LTTE and they have done or said nothing to change our opinion.
The 13th Amendment was signed under duress, the concerns of the Supreme Court were ignored, and there was no people’s mandate. The first Provincial Council election in the merged North-East held in 1988 voted the EPRLF into power in which Varatharaja Perumal became the Chief Minister and Dayan Jayatillake was its ONLY Sinhala (Christian) member. It did not take two years for Perumal to declare an unilateral declaration of independence going so far as to even print letterheads to the effect. Then President Premadasa had to dissolve the Provincial Council and Perumal fled to India.
The 13th Amendment was said to be a solution to the “ethnic problem” – that it provided no solution reveals the lack of any “ethnic” problem as well as the fact that it was never meant to solve anything for anyone in Sri Lanka.
Politicians have put the interests of the nation aside for political and personal gain and failed to do what is right by the wishes of the people vis a vis the 13th Amendment.
If there was a historical problem can we have evidence of such prior to arrival of the colonials? Even Elara the Tamil King followed the doctrines of the Dasa Raja Dharma and punished his own son for harming a cattle! Genetically the Sri Lankan Tamils are the same as the Tamil Nadu Tamils and have NO similarities with the Sinhalese.
Yet the Tamils who lived through history NEVER demanded a separate area to live separately from the Sinhalese! Let it also be known that the local Tamils teamed up with the Sinhalese kings during invasions by Tamils from Tamil Nadu.
The civilization that developed from the Sinhalese is indigenous as shown in the new archaeological findings whereas the DNA of the Tamils is clearly matching with those Tamil invaders from Tamil Nadu which nullifies claims of any Tamil Homeland.
There was no animosity between the Sinhalese and the Tamils and much of the hype that revolves around two-three incidents were mostly planted and created and nothing that proportionately permits people to generalize. Again we say that the 1983 riots had no involvement of the Sinhalese public except organized goons of the UNP Government possibly with the involvement of foreign interlopers turning a situation from bad to worse for it met their agenda. It is time the Tamils come out and said how many Sinhalese saved them and kept and fed them in their homes.
When we say we do not trust the TNA parliamentarians there are valid reasons to say so. It was the TNA that claimed the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamil people. The Tamil people did not come out and deny this? Always, the fear of the LTTE was used to maintain their silence. Now that the LTTE is no more why do the Tamils remain silent and why do they continue to vote for the TNA if the TNA was always voicing what the LTTE wanted and aligned itself with the LTTE.
There is enough of evidence in TNA manifestos to prove that they are working towards the separation of the country. When they specifically demand land and police powers are we so childish to think that they may not do what Varatharaja Perumal did in 1990 by declaring the North as independent. Our worries are far greater than 1990 because we are well aware that the TNA, the Tamil Diaspora and other institutions funded from abroad.
Let's think about those who played a key role as architects of various federal solution packages.
We now have foreign mission heads directly dealing with the provincial councils and striking MOUs – these are all dangerous scenarios. Whilst, President Premadasa packed off British envoy Gladstone, our foreign ministry is too diplomatic even to call for an explanation! If this be the case we can well imagine what other MOUs may come to our knowledge after the damage has been done and all we will end up doing is nothing.
These ground realities are what moves us to be alert at all times – the very people presently bringing packages called “solutions” were instrumental in drafting packages that were craftily linked to dividing and separating Sri Lanka.
We do not accept the “reconciliation” gimmick. There can be no time bar scenario. Reconciliation must cover every crime that took place and not a period suitable to the West. Ideally it has to start from 1505 when the country was invaded.
We do not accept the traditional homeland theme because there is no archeological or historical evidence to prove so. Moreover when more than 1/3 of the Tamil population as a whole live outside of the area being demarcated as exclusively Tamils it also ignores that these areas were populated by Sinhalese and Muslims too and moreover, there cannot be a federal system based on ethnicity when more Tamils live outside that enclave and have no desire to go and live up North.
We would also like to ask of Tamils who now complain about the quality of the facilities and the slow progress of the roads etc whether they would have made the same complaints to the LTTE and how far they enjoyed any luxury during the 30 years they lived under the LTTE. Therefore, let the Tamil people not forget that the North was left in such a decrepit condition not by the Sri Lankan government or the Sinhalese but because the LTTE did not do anything to develop the North or areas they controlled and destroyed whatever state infrastructure was in place – transformers and even railway tracks. Therefore, the Tamils need to show far more appreciation than they do currently which only a handful do.
How many LTTE members went so far as to build homes with their own hands as the Sri Lankan military personnel are now doing? The Sri Lanka military deserve far more accolades than they are getting for the tireless work they do.
Be that as it may the point in question is that whatever the TNA says, whatever links the TNA has had with the LTTE or continues to have with the LTTE representatives in the Tamil Diaspora – the Tamils would not vote for the government even if elections were held in the North.
The Defense Secretary leads the calls for the repeal of the 13th Amendment – it is based on solid evidence of the likely outcome and the nationalists of Sri Lanka who have all the while been alert to destabilizing operations taking place have made known their reservations clearly and objectively to the government.
The power of the Sangha should never be underestimated or ridiculed. Whatever said and done they have always played a key role in protecting the nation.
Sir John Kotelawala retired from politics after his embarrassing defeat when he undermined the power of the nationalists in 1956, J R Jayewardena never expected 70,000 Sinhalese youth to give up their lives for a cause, Chandrika Bandaranaike professed to do everything in her power to pass the regional councils but that fell flat on her face, the CFA was drafted to slowly carve out the West’s Eelam but that too crumbled into oblivion….. the dreams are kept alive through the 13th Amendment which is not India’s baby anymore because India’s future lies in the hands of a foreigner.
History, MOUs, CFAs and all
If ever the nation of Sri Lanka stood united wherein all factions of
society whatever their opposing views came together to say NO – that was when
India forced Sri Lanka’s then President J R Jayewardena to sign the Indo-Lanka
Accord on July 29, 1987 threatening to invade Sri Lanka if it did not do so. The
SLFP, key members of the UNP, the nationalists, the JVP and even Prabhakaran
opposed it so much so that the signing of the Accord was done under emergency
with curfew and a gag on media and eventually led to the deaths of 70,000 JVP
youth who rose against it. When Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says that Sri Lanka should not sign anything to please India and that the threat to national security is a concern – the entire nation must pay heed. Unlike most he is a man who has delivered and a man who commands our respect because he has earned it by his actions and deeds. Sambathan may say he does not want to talk to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa because he is not the government but this same Sambanthan had no qualms about taking orders from the terrorist leader Prabhakaran and even went so far as to quote from Prabhakaran’s Mahavir Speech in Parliament which was opposed by JHU Ratana Thera. If our memories are not short we may well come up with numerous other instances of LTTE-TNA links that beckons Sambathan to respond to what makes Gotabhaya repulsive and Prabhakaran not! As a politician living off taxpayers money we demand him to answer. In our eyes we continue to equate the TNA with the LTTE and they have done or said nothing to change our opinion.
 Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa |
The 13th Amendment was signed under duress, the concerns of the Supreme Court were ignored, and there was no people’s mandate. The first Provincial Council election in the merged North-East held in 1988 voted the EPRLF into power in which Varatharaja Perumal became the Chief Minister and Dayan Jayatillake was its ONLY Sinhala (Christian) member. It did not take two years for Perumal to declare an unilateral declaration of independence going so far as to even print letterheads to the effect. Then President Premadasa had to dissolve the Provincial Council and Perumal fled to India.
Solutions for WHOM?
The 13th Amendment was said to be a solution to the “ethnic problem” – that it provided no solution reveals the lack of any “ethnic” problem as well as the fact that it was never meant to solve anything for anyone in Sri Lanka.
Politicians have put the interests of the nation aside for political and personal gain and failed to do what is right by the wishes of the people vis a vis the 13th Amendment.
Where is this “ethnic” problem?
If there was a historical problem can we have evidence of such prior to arrival of the colonials? Even Elara the Tamil King followed the doctrines of the Dasa Raja Dharma and punished his own son for harming a cattle! Genetically the Sri Lankan Tamils are the same as the Tamil Nadu Tamils and have NO similarities with the Sinhalese.
Yet the Tamils who lived through history NEVER demanded a separate area to live separately from the Sinhalese! Let it also be known that the local Tamils teamed up with the Sinhalese kings during invasions by Tamils from Tamil Nadu.
 R Sambathan |
The civilization that developed from the Sinhalese is indigenous as shown in the new archaeological findings whereas the DNA of the Tamils is clearly matching with those Tamil invaders from Tamil Nadu which nullifies claims of any Tamil Homeland.
There was no animosity between the Sinhalese and the Tamils and much of the hype that revolves around two-three incidents were mostly planted and created and nothing that proportionately permits people to generalize. Again we say that the 1983 riots had no involvement of the Sinhalese public except organized goons of the UNP Government possibly with the involvement of foreign interlopers turning a situation from bad to worse for it met their agenda. It is time the Tamils come out and said how many Sinhalese saved them and kept and fed them in their homes.
When we say we do not trust the TNA parliamentarians there are valid reasons to say so. It was the TNA that claimed the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamil people. The Tamil people did not come out and deny this? Always, the fear of the LTTE was used to maintain their silence. Now that the LTTE is no more why do the Tamils remain silent and why do they continue to vote for the TNA if the TNA was always voicing what the LTTE wanted and aligned itself with the LTTE.
There is enough of evidence in TNA manifestos to prove that they are working towards the separation of the country. When they specifically demand land and police powers are we so childish to think that they may not do what Varatharaja Perumal did in 1990 by declaring the North as independent. Our worries are far greater than 1990 because we are well aware that the TNA, the Tamil Diaspora and other institutions funded from abroad.
Let's think about those who played a key role as architects of various federal solution packages.
We now have foreign mission heads directly dealing with the provincial councils and striking MOUs – these are all dangerous scenarios. Whilst, President Premadasa packed off British envoy Gladstone, our foreign ministry is too diplomatic even to call for an explanation! If this be the case we can well imagine what other MOUs may come to our knowledge after the damage has been done and all we will end up doing is nothing.
Drafting packages
These ground realities are what moves us to be alert at all times – the very people presently bringing packages called “solutions” were instrumental in drafting packages that were craftily linked to dividing and separating Sri Lanka.
We do not accept the “reconciliation” gimmick. There can be no time bar scenario. Reconciliation must cover every crime that took place and not a period suitable to the West. Ideally it has to start from 1505 when the country was invaded.
 Parliament |
We do not accept the traditional homeland theme because there is no archeological or historical evidence to prove so. Moreover when more than 1/3 of the Tamil population as a whole live outside of the area being demarcated as exclusively Tamils it also ignores that these areas were populated by Sinhalese and Muslims too and moreover, there cannot be a federal system based on ethnicity when more Tamils live outside that enclave and have no desire to go and live up North.
We would also like to ask of Tamils who now complain about the quality of the facilities and the slow progress of the roads etc whether they would have made the same complaints to the LTTE and how far they enjoyed any luxury during the 30 years they lived under the LTTE. Therefore, let the Tamil people not forget that the North was left in such a decrepit condition not by the Sri Lankan government or the Sinhalese but because the LTTE did not do anything to develop the North or areas they controlled and destroyed whatever state infrastructure was in place – transformers and even railway tracks. Therefore, the Tamils need to show far more appreciation than they do currently which only a handful do.
How many LTTE members went so far as to build homes with their own hands as the Sri Lankan military personnel are now doing? The Sri Lanka military deserve far more accolades than they are getting for the tireless work they do.
Be that as it may the point in question is that whatever the TNA says, whatever links the TNA has had with the LTTE or continues to have with the LTTE representatives in the Tamil Diaspora – the Tamils would not vote for the government even if elections were held in the North.
The Defense Secretary leads the calls for the repeal of the 13th Amendment – it is based on solid evidence of the likely outcome and the nationalists of Sri Lanka who have all the while been alert to destabilizing operations taking place have made known their reservations clearly and objectively to the government.
The power of the Sangha should never be underestimated or ridiculed. Whatever said and done they have always played a key role in protecting the nation.
Sir John Kotelawala retired from politics after his embarrassing defeat when he undermined the power of the nationalists in 1956, J R Jayewardena never expected 70,000 Sinhalese youth to give up their lives for a cause, Chandrika Bandaranaike professed to do everything in her power to pass the regional councils but that fell flat on her face, the CFA was drafted to slowly carve out the West’s Eelam but that too crumbled into oblivion….. the dreams are kept alive through the 13th Amendment which is not India’s baby anymore because India’s future lies in the hands of a foreigner.
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=More_facilities_for_Kilinochchi_Mullaithivu_mass_20130529_03
More facilities for Kilinochchi & Mullaithivu mass
Four new projects
have been launched in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu Districts with a view of
uplifting the living standards of the citizens under the patronage of Hon.
Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development yesterday (28th May).
On par with the rapid development drive in Kilinochchi and
Mullaithivu Districts a series of development initiatives had been carried out
under the guidance of Hon. Minister Basil Rajapaksa to provide the populace with
the essential needs.
Spending over Rs.5000 lacks, projects were initiated to
facilitate the livelihood, health and water supply which are essential for the
resettled people in kilinochchi and Mulathivu Districts.
Pandiyamkulam irrigation scheme in Mulathivu District was
constructed spending over Rs. 1985 lacks and in the meantime, Mallavi irrigation
scheme was constructed by spending over Rs.1922 lacks. These projects would
improve the water supply infrastructure and services in respective areas.
Meanwhile, Survey Department Office in Kilinochchi,
Puthukuduirippu Hospital and Divisional Secretariat were also ceremonially
opened for the citizens by the Minister.
 |
 |
 |
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Demining_process_nearing_completion_20130529_01
Demining process nearing completion
Almost every district situated in the North and East of Sri
Lanka were highly contaminated with indiscriminately laid landmines and booby
traps by LTTE at the conclusion of the three decade long ruthless war.
An unknown number of landmines had been laid in cultivable paddy
fields, farm lands and beautiful landscapes not only threatening the lives and
livelihoods of innocent peasant community, but also threatening the lives of
innocent animals.
Completing an extensive process of demining work to meet the
huge humanitarian challenge just after eliminating thirty years of brutal
terrorism, government has nearly come to its end.
Troops played a prominent role in providing a dedicated service
to expedite the demining process. Demining of
each and
every inch of the land and making land safe for people to return to their
villages was then a priority. Demining by hand was slow and painstaking which
needed vigilant concentration to carryout.
each and
every inch of the land and making land safe for people to return to their
villages was then a priority. Demining by hand was slow and painstaking which
needed vigilant concentration to carryout.
However, Sri Lanka will be the first country to succeed in
removing mine fields in a short period of time eradicating a three decade long
terrorism.
Soon after the defeat of LTTE in year 2009, the government with
the support of donor countries like Australia, Japan, China, India, the EU, the
US, UNDP, UNICEF, national and international mine action groups implemented a
comprehensive and rapid de-mining programme to clear 2,064 square kilometres of
land, which had been heavily mined during the conflict.
Once, Britain's Prince Harry noted that, "threat of landmines in
the Northern Sri Lanka could be eradicated in the next five years, if funding
can be sustained".
Humanitarian demining process of the government has allowed
the citizens of the war affected regions to move in their territory without
hesitation and to engage in livelihood freely.
From the recognized area of 2,064 square kilometres, 1,968 Sq.
Km have been cleared and only 96 Sq. Km are remaining.
During this hard attempt, troops and demining groups have
removed over 500,000 anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, and numerous forms
of improvised explosive devices. The total thus recovered is said to be about
one million.
Areas determined for development had been cleared allowing the
development process to continue without any difficulty.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/05/29/fea03.asp
How TGTE tries UN card
TGTE’s call for a UN monitored protection mechanism in North
and East :
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity.-Bible Psalms
At the TGTE’s International Conference held in Lancaster, Pensylvania USA in May 15-18, 2013, Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah Chairperson of the purported TGTE Senate presented a paper calling for the establishment if a UN Monitored International Protection Mechanism in the North and East of Sri Lanka.(Colombo Telegraph May 25, 2013)
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) is a purported government in exile among the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora which aims to keep alive the idea of Tamil Eelam a state which TGTE aspires to create in the North and East provinces of Sri Lanka. Visvanathan Rudrakumaran is the Prime Minister of the Provisional Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam. He was the former legal advisor to the (LTTE). By profession he is a lawyer in the USA. He is currently a US citizen and lives in New York.
 |
|
Vocational training for Northern
youth
|
Rudrakumaran is the son of the former Jaffna Mayor Viswanathan. He studied at Jaffna Central College and Colombo Law College Prior to the military defeat of the LTTE, he was the international legal advisor to the barbaric leader of the LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran and was the head of its international and diplomatic affairs.
Peace talks
Rudrakumaran made valuable contributions to the LTTE, including coordinating lawyers in the defense in Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case, assisting in Suresh Manikkavasagam trial in Canada and challenging US decision to name LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. He has represented the LTTE in several peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka.
Speaking about the fast of her husband Dr.Bawan Sri Skandarajah calling for a separate homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka which lasted six days in Toronto, Canada Usha Sri Skandarajah stated thus: ‘Yet I was strong and I know from where I got that strength.
It was the will and resolve we both have to stand and be counted together with our freedom fighters and many hundred and thousands of fellow Tamils involved in the struggle to emancipate our homeland; further strengthened by our faith in the divine and our constant efforts to connect with IT.’(Source:Tamil Nation.Org)
Canadian authorities
The TGTE has been very correctly called a "ploy to perpetuate terrorism" by the Government of Sri Lanka Formed following the defeat of the LTTE and the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the TGTE is based internationally, including in Canada, the UK, Norway and the USA.
Initially it was Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias Kumaran Pathmanathan also known as KP, who had become leader of the Tamil Tigers after Prabhakaran had been killed by the Security Forces, who proposed that a government in exile be established. Presently KP had realized the grave mistakes committed by the LTTE and is engaged in the welfare of his brethren in the North and East.
Usha speaking at the TGTE’s International Conference held in Lancaster, Pensylvania USA in May 15-18, said that;
 |
|
Stephan Harper
|
 |
|
John Baird
|
 |
|
Rajiv
Gandhi
|
‘The TGTE Senate in a document entitled, ‘The Roadmap to Achieving the Restoration of an Independent Sovereign State of Tamil Eelam – A Work in Progress’, presented at the 4th Annual Assembly convened in London, UK in December 2012, said it was pleased that the TGTE is giving this initiative high priority and made recommendations for action that included:
* Lobbying for the setting up of an ‘International Protection Mechanism’ to uphold the safety and rights of the Tamil people in their land of Sri Lanka.
* Drawing up a Paper on the legal issues, precedents and new possibilities; approach sympathetic governments, groups, and individuals to take this up at global forums.
* Calling for the immediate lifting of the ban by the Sri Lankan government 'on credible international human rights organizations' obtaining free access into the North-East with recommendations to demand and campaign for the immediate admission without conditions and restrictions INGOs such as Amnesty International (a Nobel Peace Prize Winner), Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group into the North-East.
* Demanding free access to the North-East to members of the International Media without conditions and restrictions.
* Encouraging Investigative Journalists to report on the situation (on the ground) in Sri Lanka.’
It is important to note the partiality of the Amnesty International (referred to above by Usha as a Nobel Prize Winner) towards the TGTE after having accepted a donation of Canadian Dollars 50,000 from one of its front organizations as admitted by its Director.
In a report dated February 8, 2012 in Khaleed Times written by Qadijah Irshad the Sri Lankan government has questioned human rights watchdog Amnesty International’s objectivity after the organisation received 50,000 Canadian dollars from a pro-LTTE group, the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC).
The $50,000 donation to Amnesty International which has consistently taken a pro-LTTE stance despite the Tamil Tigers being proscribed as a terrorist organization by the UN and most countries including Canada, was officially announced by CTC head Suntharamoorthy Umasuthan at the annual Thai Pongal dinner in Scarborough.
It was reported that Ontario Premier Dalton Mc Guinty was a special guest at the fund raiser, along with Sri Lankan Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran. Umasuthan in his address, thanked Canadian Premier Stephan Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for supporting their cause.
One could discern the influence the TGTE commands over the Canadian Authorities resulting in their subsequent refusal to attend the CHOGM to be held in Colombo this November.
In the end quote to her speech, Usha said that;
‘Are we seeing the realization of a ‘UN monitored International Protection Mechanism’ through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights who has been mandated to monitor the Sri Lankan government under monitoring powers authorized by the UN Human Rights Council Resolution passed at the 22nd session?
As a consequence it is now conceivable that as per TGTE’s call a ‘UN monitored International Protection Mechanism’, in the form of UN field presence, even an office in the North-East to monitor human rights abuses might hopefully become a reality and must happen sooner than later considering the urgent need for monitoring in a highly militarized North-East that’s governed by an autocratic regime.’
Unfair accusations
The speech contained many unfair accusations against the Sri Lankan government unsupported by substantial proof.
The rehabilitation and re-integration in to society of thousands of former LTTE cadres without any punishment by even going to the extent of providing them with shelter and means of livelihood, the re-settlement of internally displaced persons and the improvement of infrastructure facilities in the North and East were totally overlooked in this one sided presentation by Usha.
The time has come for the Government of Sri Lanka to initiate counter measures and make the international community aware of the devious methods used by the separatist elements to destabilize the regime in order to protect our motherland from this separatist propaganda which is being spread relentlessly almost by the day.
The government’s resolve to keep the North and East under constant surveillance is a move in the right direction given these circumstances in order to safeguard the security of our country without permitting it to descend in to the mire that all Sri Lankans experienced during the three decades of miserable civil strife.
It is regrettable that the Sri Lankan Diaspora living abroad are in this manner misguided to lobby for unwarranted foreign intervention in our motherland thereby violating its sovereignty in order to foster their separatist agenda to divide our island nation in to parts which should be resisted by all patriotic Sri Lankans here and abroad.
In conclusion let all Sri Lankans hope and pray that that glorious day will soon dawn when national reconciliation becomes a reality and all Sri Lankans could live together in peace, harmony and unity as stated in the Bible quoted at the outset of this piece.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2013/05/29/main_Editorial.asp
COUNTER TERRORISM, INDIA AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The attacks in Chattisgarh by the Maoist rebels have caught the Indian Congress leadership in a tailspin. Terrorism is not alien to India, but after a brutal -- what was called a ‘barbaric’ Indian government crackdown – by a well known Indian journalist Mr. Bernard De Mello --- the Maoists are still a potent force, and are capable of wreaking damage of the kind they did earlier this week killing 24 people in an ambush attack.
What would be India’s appraisal of counter-terrorism activity in this backdrop? India has by all reckoning been one of Sri Lanka’s detractor nations as far as the UN Human Rights Council Resolutions of 2012 and 13 went. The Indian political establishment has professed concern about human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka, in concert with other signatories to the resolution, notably the United States.
But yet, the Indian record is far from squeaky clean, to put it by way of glorious understatement -- and now, the Chattisgarh attack drives home the point.
It’s time therefore that India became a party to a regional re-appraisal of how counter terrorism operations are conducted. Before that, perhaps the Indian political establishment should reconsider its stand on human rights vis-a-viz counter-insurgency, in the aftermath of terrorist attacks.
This is important, particularly from the point of view that terrorism in the modern day and age never quite ceases. The Maoist ambush is one case in point, but look at the work of the Tamil Tiger rump the world over and the work of terrorist sympathizers and terrorists in all but name, aimed at perpetuating in a different form, the terrorism that earlier wreaked havoc on the ground.
The opposite editorial page for instance documents the work of the Tamil Tiger Transnational operation, which is of course little more than a joke in real terms. Notwithstanding that, the fact that they have a free run in countries such as the United States where the LTTE is banned, is clear indication enough that a terrorist operation generally morphs into something different when the active terrorist phase is over, or is in some kind of temporary abeyance.
Nobody advocates barbarism or torture or the breaking of backs, in infiltrating and prying open terror cells in the job of rooting out terror. But, as the Indians are now only too well aware, counter-terror techniques can lapse into the unorthodox, and the barbaric and brutal, unbeknownst even to the political or bureaucratic establishment – and yet, the results could be rather unspectacular, and the Chattisgarh attacks go to show.
The Indian political establishment could also probably do well to ascertain what causes the outbreak of terrorism in so many diverse and far flung locations within the Indian union territory. Terrorism is terrorism, but legitimate rebellion may sometimes have deep-rooted economic causes. The FARC for instance is now the process of negotiating a deal with the Colombian government to improve the lives of rural dwellers and the chronically poor in urban ghettos.
In India, there are different brands of empathy for terror, and in the state of Tamil Nadu for instance, perhaps it would be the Indian Centre that would be the first to admit to the fact that terrorist sympathizers there are motivated by parochial petty party political reasons alone.
However terrorism is terrorism, and there is only one way to fight it, and it is time that India joined the regional actors against terrorism rather than work at cross purposes with them by intervening in so called human rights issues in Sri Lanka for instance. The Indians to a very great extent have been in principle -- within the umbrella of SAARC – in favour of cracking down on terror, but when political imperatives have intervened in terms of coalition politics etc., there has been the conspicuous deviation from this policy. The Chattisgarh attacks show that the Indian bureaucracy and political leadership needs to be ‘on the ball’ i.e.: unwavering and focused, and on the same page as terrorism fighters throughout the sub-continent, and the extended Asian region.
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Govt_ensures_right_of_information_to_relatives_of_LTTE_20130528_01
Govt ensures right of information to relatives of LTTE suspects
The government has established a mechanism to ensure the right
of information to the relatives of LTTE suspects, said Sri Lanka's Permanent
Representative to the UN in Geneva and Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation to the
23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Ravinatha Aryasinha yesterday.
Aryasinha said that a centralized , comprehensive database of
detainees established by the Terrorist Investigation Diviison (TID) of the
Police with units operating around the clock in Colombo, Vavuniya and Boosa
enables the Next of Kin (NoK) to receive details about those who are released
from detention.
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative added that information is
provided to the Next of Kin of the detainees only because they have requested
that such information is not made public due to privacy concerns.
"Upto now, around 3,220 inquiries have been made by the
relatives to the TID alone. Of the 2,729 complaints recorded, investigations
into 1,628 investigations have been completed while investigations into 1,101
investigations were in progress as of February 2013", "he said. Aryasinghe added
that a special committee has been appointed to look into the cases where
suspects remain in custody pending indictment.
"In order to file cases against the suspects that remain in
remand custody pending indictment, a special committee has been appointed to
look into their cases," he said.
He added that the scope of this committee is to review and
advise further course of action to be taken against these suspects, including
the possibility of release of suspects following rehabilitation.
Courtesy : Daily News
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Sri_Lanka_has_begun_to_reap_the_fruits_of_peace_20130527_04
In just four short
years, Sri Lanka has begun to reap the fruits of peace. Revealed the "Matthews
Asia" in a recently published news article.
Sri Lanka has begun to reap the fruits of peace - Matthews Asia
In just four short
years, Sri Lanka has begun to reap the fruits of peace. Revealed the "Matthews
Asia" in a recently published news article.
Mentioning the economic growth article said that, by diverting
resources that were previously spent on its military toward things like
infrastructure, tourism and education, its economy has experienced solid growth.
Article also mentioned that, besides transportation
infrastructure, the government is focusing on tourism. With coconut trees lining
its blue waters, Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places I've been to in
Asia. It added.
Further the news revealed that, last year the number of overseas
visitors grew by 17% to 1 million, translating into revenues of US$1 billion.
But even with this spike in visitors, Sri Lanka still has the potential for
further growth when compared to the region's more popular and better-established
tourist draws. Article said.
Matthews Asia mentioned that, in order to retain and grow its
top talent, the government is looking to grow both its public and private
universities and is seeking strategic foreign direct investments in education.
The writer bearing in mind the victory parade rehearsals he
witnessed said that, "as I watched the green army helicopters and fighter jets
fly overhead during the Victory Parade; I couldn't help but relegate its civil
war to the history books and instead focus on the upward growth arc of this
tropical island nation".
Sunday, May 26, 2013
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Air_Force_assistance_to_children_of_Mullaitivu_20130522_02
Last modified on: 5/22/2013 11:53:07 AM
Last modified on: 5/22/2013 11:53:07 AM
Air Force assistance to children of Mullaitivu
Continuing its community service in the North and East, the Sri
Lanka Air Force (SLAF) donated school appliances and other educational aids for
the children of 'Udayasooriyan' Pre -School in Mullaitivu at a function held on
20th May.
The event was organized by the SLAF Seva Vanitha Unit. There are
more than 50 children in the Pre-School and gift packs were distributed among
them during the event. The gift packs included school bags, stationary items and
school uniforms. A set of furniture was also donated to the Pre -School in order
to ease it's much needed material needs.
The SLAF took measures to refurbish the school which was
destroyed by the terrorists during the war last year.
Air Force officers, members of the SLAF Seva Vanitha Unit, and
parents of the Pre-School children were present at the occasion.
|
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=From_Sheer_Hatred_To_StarkReality_20130524_06
From Sheer Hatred To Stark Reality
The true story of
two former LTTE militants
By Camelia Nathaniel
Many young Tamil girls and boys having grown up with the war
that plagued the country for over three decades have been idolising the
terrorist outfit - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Young
Jayawardhani was no different, and her mind was poisoned with hatred propagated
by the terrorists since it was so easy for the LTTE because she was an orphan at
the Sencholai home for orphans.
ayawardhani never felt the warmth of a loving mother's hug and
tenderness. Countless times she dreamed of that perfect life with a family, and
could only wonder what life would have been like, had she not lost her parents.
All she wanted was to live a life with people who cared about her.
All she ever wanted was to be free and happy. But life it seems
never treated her fairly. The only family that Jayawardhani had ever known was
the other orphans at the Sencholai Orphanage, and the LTTE. She received her
education at the orphanage, which she is very grateful for.
Poisoned mind
She felt grateful to the LTTE for giving her a place to stay and
educating her. Jayawardhani grew up to believe that the Sri Lankan army and the
Sinhala people were cruel and unreliable. Her mind was poisoned with the notion
that they were out to destroy the Tamils. The hatred persuaded her to later join
the terrorist outfit and start a misguided journey to save the Tamil people.
"The only family I knew was the other orphans at the home and the LTTErs were
the heroes fighting to liberate my people. The only mother I knew was the lady
who took care of us at the orphanage," she reminisced.
Having joined the LTTE she had fiercely fought against the
government forces and did so with great pride and dedication. "I felt that I was
fighting for a cause. I had never known anyone else in my life other than the
children at the orphanage and later my fellow cadres. We were made to believe
that the government forces, specially the army were brutal killers simply out to
kill us." For many other cadres, fighting for the LTTE was similar to
Jayawardhani's, as they too were brainwashed and misguided by the LTTE. They too
have a story to tell of how the former 'killing machines' of the LTTE turned
innocent youth into killers.
She had later met a young man SidambaranathanNaganathan senior
to her in the terrorist organisation and the two of them fell in love. However
their love affair was not looked upon favourably by the LTTE. "The terrorist
leaders were of the opinion that if these cadres were to marry and raise
families the organisation would not have the required manpower to battle. For
Jayawadhani and Naganathan it was a long struggle that they finally were able to
overcome. "However it was not a piece of cake and we had to each conduct our
assigned missions successfully in order to have permission to enter wedlock.
However we did what we had to do and finally got married and settled down in
Murusumudai." They had their share of trials and tribulations, but they had
somehow kept their marriage together.
Realising LTTE atrocities
As time went by, they had two children and Jayawardhani
conceived their third son. Just like many others who had initially believed in
the terrorists, her husband and she gradually saw the LTTE atrocities.
"I have seen the way they punished our fellow fighters if they
dared to question the motives or actions of the terrorist leaders. I have also
on several occasions seen them killing the very cadres who fought for their
cause, but were unfortunate to have been left disabled having sustained injuries
in battle. Even during the last stages of the war LTTE leaders destroyed many of
their own cadres who were considered a burden on them," Naganathan recalled.
These innocent people were caught up in a struggle that they
eventually realised not for the liberation of the Tamil people, but for power.
Many innocent civilians had been caught up amid an escalating war between the
security forces and the LTTE. They had lost everything and their lives have been
shattered. They finally started to realise that the LTTE had no good intentions
and that the Tamil people were just pawns in the whole scheme that was to gain
power for LTTE leaders.
During the latter stages of the war, the government troops had
ordered the people in the LTTE controlled areas to go toward the government
troops, said Jayawardhani. "Yet the LTTE cadres did not allow them to cross and
they kept shooting at those who tried to cross over to the army controlled
areas. The ones crossing the earth bund, which held thousands, and separated
them from the real world, had the courage to do so sensing that real freedom was
not with the terrorists as they had been made to believe, but beyond the earth
bund. Those who crossed over were urging the others to follow via loudspeakers,
and many of the people were crossing over, and denying the LTTE the opportunity
of holding them as a human shield to prevent being attacked by the government
troops," she said.
The government did whatever it took to rescue those being held
as a human shield by the LTTE.
Human shield
The rebels on the other hand were enticing the government forces
to commit mayhem on the civilians in the No Fire Zone to attract them the
international attention and sympathy.
Almost 300,000 civilians were held under LTTE custody, which
offered them protection from heavy Army gunfire or air raids, but allowed them
the use of heavy weapons against government forces under the cover of the 'human
shield'.
By this time Jayawardhani had given birth to her third son and
she and her husband had decided to take their two older children and seven days
old son and cross over to the government troops and surrender.
Jayawardhani was not the only one who experienced the LTTE's
brutality. She had been a freedom fighter for them for many years; someone who
had believed so passionately in their cause. However, once she felt the
fragrance of real freedom beyond the earth bund, she wanted to go for it; but
the LTTE who were supposed to be fighting for the freedom of Tamils were the
very ones obstructing their freedom.
"My husband escorted me and my seven days old infant first and
took us toward the earth bund to help me get across while he went back to get
our other children. However, the LTTE fired at us and the last thing I knew was
I felt something hitting my face," she said. Naganathan says that the instant he
saw his wife fall he ran toward her, but saw her motionless body in a pool of
blood. "I thought that my wife was dead along with our baby. Yet when I turned
to leave, I heard the infant make a sound and I picked it up and ran toward the
army. The army soldiers took the injured baby from my arms and put into a
helicopter and I did not know where they took the infant at the time," he
recalled agonisingly.
Stark reminder
Somehow for Jayawardhani's luck the army had found her. Having
found that she was still alive the army had transported her onboard a helicopter
to Colombo. "I regained consciousness only after six months where the doctors
had performed several surgeries on my face, as the blast had shattered part of
it. I had lost one eye and my nose including several bones was shattered. I have
no nose but the doctors have transplanted a piece of flesh from my thigh to
construct my face. When I look at my face today in the mirror I am terrified at
what I see, yet it is a stark reminder of what the very ones I trusted and
believed in had done to me. I now realise that I was just a number, a part of
the fighting machine, nothing more to the LTTE."
However Jayawardhani now views the army and the Sinhala people
as her rescuers and her family. "Neither the army nor the government has valid
reasons to save my life. Yet they struggled for six months to give me life and
resurrect me from the dead. Contrary to the many allegations directed toward the
army accusing them of theft and massacre, I am a good example of their kindness
and love. I had lost my ring finger during the battle and you would not believe
that the army soldiers who had found me had preserved my wedding ring on my lost
finger and returned it to me after I regained consciousness," she said with
immense gratitude toward her rescuers.
Jayawardhani's infant was taken to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital
where the child was cared for during the time she was unconscious. "After I
regained consciousness I told the hospital authorities that I had a
seven-day-old infant born at the time of the attack. I had no idea if my son was
alive or dead. Their records however indicated that the army had airlifted an
infant to Colombo and that a motherless infant was receiving treatment at the
children's hospital. After a DNA test, it was confirmed that the infant was mine
and my little son was handed back to me.
I was moved beyond words at the sheer efforts taken by the
Sinhala people to save me and my son, even today I cannot understand their
generosity and kindness toward someone like me who had been intently out to
destroy them. The magnitude of their kindness is far beyond my comprehension, as
it had been a Sinhala doctor attached to the children's hospital, who also had a
child at the time, breast fed my son too to keep him alive. How do I ever repay
her, or the army for what has been done for me? No amount of words will ever be
enough to express my gratitude toward them," she said.
The LTTE - the hypocrites
Jayawardhani says that she has nothing but hatred for most of
the ex-LTTE leaders enjoying freedom today. "These are hypocrites who abandoned
us and left us to die for carving their own way out," she added.
Today Jayawardhani and Naganathan live with their two children
in Vadukkodai in Koddaikadu Jaffna, enjoying the freedom. Many other ex-LTTE
cadres just like Jayawardhani and Naganathan are not forced today to do anything
but live a life of peace. They are all now slowly rebuilding their shattered
lives. Certain elements of the Tamil Diaspora whose children have all this time
enjoying the comfort in foreign countries are now voicing their concerns for the
Tamil people. Is it that they are doing so for their people or in fact for
protecting their own interests to hold onto the privileges offered to them by
these countries and prevent them from being sent back? They claim to be fighting
for a separate land for the Tamil people, yet would any of them now domiciled in
foreign countries ever give up their comforts and return to this country and
live in this so called separate state that they say they want? No.
It is the people who have been caught up in the war that
suffered the most. None of them want to go through that ever again. Never.
LTTE unleashed terror during Vesak:
Dimbulagala Hamuduruvo sacrificed his life for nation
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/05/26/fea04.asp
As the Buddhists around the world celebrate Vesak, it is time for us to commemorate the services rendered by one of the great Nayaka Theras in Sri Lanka - Most Ven. Matara Kithalagama Sri Seelalankara Nakaya Thera, better known as Dimbulagala Hamuduruvo. The Chief Incumbent of the Dimbulagala Temple in Dimbulagala was assassinated by the LTTE terrorists during the month of Vesak 18 years ago.
 |
Today is the 18th death anniversary of the Dimbulagala Nayaka Thera, whose life was taken away by the blood-thirsty Tiger terrorists on May 26, 1995.
Dimbulagala was known as the Gunners rock during British colonial rule. It is a rock formation in the Polonnaruwa district and when anthropologist Charles Gabriel Seligman visited it way back in 1911, a section of Veddha community had taken refuge in a cave within the rock.
By the 12th century AD, the Sinhalese had constructed a temple within the Dimbulagala rock formation.
The world-renowned Dimbulagala Raja Maha Viharaya was restored in 1950s. In 1990s, the villagers around the rock were of mixed Veddha and Sinhala ancestry, speaking both Sinhala and Veddha languages.
Temple developed
It was due to the untiring efforts of the Dimbulagala Nayaka Thera that the Dimbulagala temple was developed, rendering a yeoman service to the people in the area. The late Chief Priest of Dimbulagala Temple, Matara Kitalagama Sri Seelalankara Thera was a leader who had rendered a yeoman service to the nation.
Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne once said that the need for Bhikkus of his calibre was widely felt today and the late Nayaka Thera exerted pressure on the government in 1970s and settled more than 65,000 cultivators on the land and converted it to fertile and successful cultivations in Dimbulagala.
He pioneered the building of temples in 84 villages on the banks of the Mahaweli and ordained more than 1,500 Buddhist monks during his lifetime,” he said. The Thera was a national leader and despite death threats from the LTTE he continued his work, until the terrorists gunned him down. The Thera not only toiled for the continuance of Buddha Sasana but also for the future of the Sinhalese.
Bomb on train
 Most Ven. Matara Kithalagama Sri Seelalankara Nakaya Thera |
The assassination of Dimbulagala Nayaka Thera was not the only murder committed by Velupillai Prabhakaran’s barbaric Tiger cadres during the month of Vesak. On May 26, 2008, the LTTE terrorists exploded a bomb on a commuter train during rush hour at Dehiwala, killing eight people and injuring 73 civilians. It was the 21st terrorist attack committed by the LTTE within the first five months of 2008, which had killed 149 civilians.
The blast hit the Colombo-Panadura train at the Dehiwela station. Many of the dead were women, including one who was pregnant. Bodies were pulled from the wreckage after the blast that took place during the evening’s rush hour.
Commuter Ramani Padmalatha, 42, was quoted as saying to AFP that the train suddenly slowed after a “deafening noise”. “People were shouting ‘bomb, bomb!’ and scrambling to get out of the windows of the carriage... I managed to jump out from the door. People were stumbling out of that carriage with blood stains on their clothes, some with burns, some looking dazed,” she said.
Eyewitness R.A. Upali was on record telling the BBC Sinhala service the explosion took place as the train was pulling out of the station. “I ran to the place where the explosion happened.
I saw people fall on the platform. People with minor injuries ran towards us,” he was quoted as saying. The train compartment’s windows were blown out and part of its roof was torn off in the blast, which left bloodstained bags and umbrellas strewn among the debris.
The attack came ten days after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed a bus carrying police officers, while an explosion in the previous month - April, 2008, inside a bus killed more than 20 people.
Claymore mine
On May 28, 2007, the LTTE exploded a claymore mine at Ratmalana, killing eight civilians and wounding 37 others. The claymore mine attack against the Special Task Force (STF) at Bellek Kadai junction, Ratmalana, was another merciless LTTE attack during the month of Vesak. Among the dead were two women and five men. Among the injured are six Special Task Force personnel.
Six vehicles and several shops were badly damaged in the explosion. “It looks like a claymore mine was placed on the roof of a roadside shop and detonated with a remote controlled device as the truck passed,” a police officer at the scene was quoted as saying after the incident. The LTTE had planted the claymore in an abandoned shop.
There had been another LTTE attack during Vesak in 1987, this time by storming into a Sinhala village to butcher innocent civilians to death.
On May 29, 1987, armed LTTE terrorists raided Kadawathmadu ancient Sinhala village in Polonnaruwa district, killing seven civilians and injuring five others.
However, the terrorists failed in their attempt for mass killing as most villagers slept in jungle hideouts due to LTTE threats.
Brutal massacre
During the 2006 Vesak month, (on May 29), LTTE terrorists brutally massacred 12 civilians working at an irrigation canal construction site in eastern Welikanda. 15 armed cadres of LTTE - some in striped uniforms and some in civilian dress tied the construction workers together and fired at them point blank range killing 12 instant.
Six civilians including two children and a woman were killed on May 29, 2008 when artillery shells fired by the LTTE during a sea battle with the Security Forces fell in the Jaffna town area in the wee hours.
Five Sinhala settlers were shot dead by armed terrorists in Mahindapura and Dehiwatte in Polonnaruwa district on May 30, 1985.
In another brutal attack on ordinary citizens during the Vesak season, the LTTE shot dead 12 civilians in Omadiyamadu, close to Welikanda on May 30, 2006. The 12 Sinhala villagers from Mahasenpura had been restoring a neglected stream to get water for their families.
Continued LTTE atrocities prompted the European Union to formally ban the LTTE as a terrorist organisation on May 30, 2006. The 25-nation bloc rubber-stamped the ban, which was agreed in principle, at a meeting of EU Ministers. The ban followed a series of deadly LTTE ambushes on the military, including the abortive attacks on the Pearl Cruise II vessel carrying 710 services.
These are only a handful of LTTE atrocities during its three decades of terror which unleashed nothing but misery to over 20 million people.
Nelsonian eye
Most countries and international organisations turned a Nelsonian eye against these brutal killings and did not utter a word on behalf of the innocent civilians killed by the LTTE. But after the LTTE was military crushed by Sri Lanka’s valiant Security Forces, there are enough and more people to pontificate to us on reconciliation and on the human rights of LTTE terrorists killed in action. Certain countries have tried to intimidate Sri Lanka by bringing in successive resolutions at the UNHRC.
In the meantime, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in a Vesak Day message pointed out that Vesak Day is a celebration for Buddhists worldwide and an opportunity for all members of the international community to benefit from their rich traditions.
“This year’s observance, falling at a time of widespread strife and misery, is an occasion to examine how Buddhist teachings can help us respond to prevailing challenges. Confronting the troubling problems facing our world is consonant with Buddhism. The Buddha himself, as a young prince, left the safety of his palace to discover the four sufferings, birth, sickness, old age and death,” the UN Secretary General said in his message.
Toothless tiger
The UN appeared to be a toothless tiger when the LTTE was at its best and all Sri Lankans were at the receiving end, and its leaders didn’t utter a word against Prabhakaran’s terror acts. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see the UN Secretary General issuing Vesak messages, though they had ignored thousands of murders committed by the LTTE during the month of Vesak.
Now that Sri Lanka has won its lone battle with the support of a few friendly countries, we don’t need arbitrators or peace merchants to intimidate us in the guise of advice. The democratically elected leaders of Sri Lanka know what is most suitable for the country as they read the pulse of the people more than any outsider.
The West should refrain from attempting to meddle in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and the leaders of Sri Lanka would never compromise on the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have enough and more experience on how the so-called peace brokers and facilitators had taken the nation for rides.
Hence, Sri Lanka could bounce back with its own indigenous solution on reconciliation and development. The results of the reconciliation and development efforts are already evident as the people in the North and the East have begun a new lease of life.
Hence, the West should not hamper the steady development that Sri Lanka has achieved after the liberation of the country from the clutches of LTTE terror. If they are sincerely interested in the well-being of the Tamils, they should make a tangible contribution to development activities in the North.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
| Thttp://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201305/20130516channel4_tampering_tamil_civilian_statements.htmhursday, May 16, 2013 - 5.42
GMT |
| Channel 4 tampering with Tamil
civilian statements - Ambassador Amza Expose of distortion in translation |
|
Channel-4 has made serious mistakes by misinterpreting what the witnesses
have said in Tamil, to suit the Channel-4 agenda, Head of Mission of Sri Lanka
to the EU, Ambassador P.M. Amza said. During his intervention at the end of a panel discussion that followed the screening of the film “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka”, held at the premises of the European Parliament on May 14 which was jointly organized by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group, Ambassador Amza stated that the pointed that in the “Killing Fields” documentary, the civilians who spoke in Tamil at no stage stated that the attacks were carried out specifically by the Sri Lankan Army, rather they always mentioned that “they attacked”, leaving it ambiguous. Ambassador Amza further elaborated that when a question was posed in English to an unidentified victim regarding an alleged attack on a hospital by asking “do you think this was an accident?”, the answer from the victim in Tamil was, “Athavathu aspaththirikku aim panniththan adichchiruppinam” which literally means “they may have aimed and attacked the hospital”. The Ambassador contended the Channel-4 of translating it as “the hospital was targeted”, giving implication to the viewers that it was done by the Sri Lanka Army. In this context, the Ambassador questioned the Director/Producer, Callum Macrae who was present as one of the Panellists, on what basis he gave an interpretation to what the witness referred to as “they”, to indicate that it was the Sri Lanka Army. Pointing out to a similar mistake in the subsequent Channel-4 Documentary, “Sri Lanka Killing Fields: War Crime Unpunished”, during which an unidentified witness makes a statement in Tamil saying “Enkalidamirunthu 150 meeter irukkum 15 perukku melai kayakkarnkal ippadi bankarukkulliruntha ellorayum veliyil iluththu iluthu pottu suttukkondu waran” which provides literal translation as “the distance may be about 150 meters from us. More than 15 injured civilians were inside the bunker when they pulled them out one by one and fired”. The Channel-4 took the liberty of translating it to mean “as I got up from the bunker, about 150 meters away from where I saw a group of Army soldiers pulling out over 15 civilians staying in a bunker and spraying bullets on them at close range”. The Ambassador emphasized that at no stage, the witness stated that it was Sri Lankan Army that was pulling the civilians out from the bunkers and killing them. The Ambassador also pointed out that anyone with a sound knowledge of the Tamil language would identify them as serious mistakes and misinterpretations and manipulations done to suit the Channel-4 agenda. As the civilians’ statements constitute important evidence in any conflict, tampering them to give a completely false view, is a matter of serious concern, he said. The Ambassador also refuted allegations on the killing of a 12 year old boy identified as the son of the LTTE leader. The Ambassador, while casting doubts on Channel-4 making sweeping conclusions based on few pictures depicting a man clad in a uniform similar to Sri Lanka Army personnel, a clean and neat bunker, a man in slippers, and an ‘expert opinion’ based on the pictures given to him that the boy was captured by the Army who then fed him a snack then killed him at point blank range, questioned as to why the ‘expert opinion’ disregarded the possibility of him being killed by his own bodyguards, to avoid being captured by the Sri Lankan Armed forces. The Ambassador reminded that the LTTE was not an ordinary group of terrorists, but was one in which all its cadres mandatorily carried cyanide capsules to kill themselves if captured by the Army. It was also a ruthless terrorist group which never hesitated to use even disabled and pregnant women as suicide bombers in order to achieve its objectives. Referring to a similar allegation where just by showing a 20 second footage of a group of females suspected as LTTE cadres, been taken away in a tractor, and giving an interpretation that their destiny was not know thereafter, he used the opportunity to remind the gathering about the comprehensive efforts taken by the Government in rehabilitating over 12,000 former LTTE cadres including 594 child soldiers after the end of the conflict, who have now been successfully integrated into the society and are leading peaceful and dignified lives. Ambassador Amza stated that irrespective of Sri Lanka’s categorical rejection of the Channel-4 footage and its authenticity, Sri Lanka nevertheless, is in the process of investigating the allegations. In this context, he reiterated Sri Lanka’s request to Channel-4 to provide original materials available with them to help thei nvestigation process rather than pleading for Pounds through projects such as the ‘Kick-starter’, in order to go on a globe-trotting venture with the film. The Ambassador added that, as a native Tamil speaker, he could provide ample evidence to prove that Channe-4 indeed had a sinister motive to discredit Sri Lanka with the connivance of the pro-LTTE diaspora organizations, and further alluded that it was ironical to see how one time arden supporters of the LTTE and its killing spree through funding and other propaganda activities are now projecting themselves as independent human rights activists, having been oblivious to the countless human rights violations carried out by the LTTE. Intervention by the Ambassador P.M. Amza, Head of Mission to the European Union, at the Screening of the “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” at the Premises of the European Parliament on 14 May 2013 1. The Government of Sri Lanka strongly protests the use of the premises of the European Parliament for screening of this film today. My presence here is to reject the contents of this film and to make a brief statement. I would like to stress that my presence is in no way meant to give credence to either the event or the documentary. 2. I am a native Tamil Speaker. I personally have seen to my own eyes how the conflict began, how the innocent people from South to North and from West to East in Sri Lanka suffered during the last 30 years. I also witnessed how the LTTE led Diaspora manipulated matters, in this part of the world taking advantage of some of the generous national policies. Hence, I can speak with confidence and authority on what is happening in my country, especially to those who make empty slogans while having not done anything for the Tamils in the country. Much of what is shown are part of a sinister effort to make Government of Sri Lanka look guilty. For that, the truth has been ignored or suppressed. 3. Sri Lanka Armed Forces have never targeted its own civilians deliberately as alleged. The fact that over 290,000 civilians fled the LTTE towards the Army during the last stage of fighting is a clear testimony to this. Even the critics of Sri Lanka acknowledge this fact and appreciate the efforts of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces to rescue the civilians from the clutches of the LTTE which used them as human shields. In his Hard Talk interview, on 10 April 2013, Sir John Holms, the Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that the basic problem to the casualties is that the LTTE was not releasing the civilians. 4. This disputed series of Channel -4 films contain materials which are discredited, uncorroborated and unsubstantiated. It comes out as a routine pattern, aiming at intergovernmental fora and events. However, the material is largely rehashed and recycled to suite to the story. The Channel-4 Documentaries often talked about the shelling of civilians targets. In the “Killing Fields” Documentary the Channel-4 had shown the LTTE carrying mortars and using artilleries. Sir John Holms during his Hard Talk interview also confirmed that the LTTE were firing shells. In the “Killing Fields” documentary, the civilians at no stage stated that the attacks were carried out specifically by the Sri Lankan Army, rather they always mentioned “they attacked”. When a question was posed in English, to an unidentified victim, regarding an alleged attack on a hospital asking “Do you think this was an accident?”, The answer come from the “victim” in Tamil was “Athavathu aspaththirikku aim panniththan adichchiruppinam” which literally mean, “they might have attacked aiming the hospital only”. The Channel-4 however translated it as “the hospital was targeted” giving implication to the viewers that it was done by the Sri Lanka Army. In this context, I recall my question to the Director/Producer of the film, which I raised in London in June 2011, during a live debate that was broadcasted by BBC Asia Network in London, as I am yet to hear his reply. On what basis did you interpret that the “witness” referred to the “Sri Lanka Army” when he said “they”? The Channel-4 did the same mistake once again. In its subsequent documentary, “Sri Lanka Killing Fields : War Crime Unpunished” the Channel-4 repeated this mistake. At the 28th minute of the programme the Channel-4 telecasted statement of an unidentified witness. He said in Tamil “ “Enkalidamirunthu 150 meeter irukkum 15 perukku melai kayakkarnkal ippadi bankarukkulliruntha ellorayum veliyil iluththu iluthu pottu suttukkondu waran”. The literal meaning of this “the distance may be about 150 meters far from us. More than 15 injured civilians were inside the bunker when they pulled them one by one and were firing”. The Channel-4 had taken the liberty to translate it as “As I got up from the bunker, about 150 meters away from where I was, I saw a group of Army soldiers pulling out over 15 civilians staying in a bunker and spraying bullets on them at close range. Here again one would notice the witness at no stage said that it was the Sri Lankan Army that was pulling out the civilians from the bunkers and killing them. Those who understand Tamil would know these are serious mistakes on the part of the Channel-4. A misinterpretations and manipulations done to suit its agenda. As the civilians’ statements constitute important evidence in any conflict, tampering with them in my belief is a serious matter. 5. Take the credentials of the main actress in the Channel-4 Documentaries - Damilvani. Who is she? How reliable is what she claims? A person with three different aliases in different locations, namely, Damilvany Kumar, Vany Kumar, Damilvany Gananakumar. She was indeed from the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) of the LTTE and brought to Sri Lanka by Castro, former Head of the LTTE Foreign Division. What she uttered about direct infusion of blood, amputation of legs without anaesthesia, are all exaggerated stories that a genuine bio-medical student would think twice. The doctor, who appears in the Channel-4’s latest releases along with Damilvany, lately stated that they made comments under pressure from LTTE regarding the humanitarian situation in the un-cleared areas during the last stages of the humanitarian operation and also contended the baseless allegations of Vany Kumar on alleged amputations without anaesthesia and re-administering blood wasted from dead and wounded etc. 6. It is a known fact that the demonstration by civilians outside the UN Office shown in the film was orchestrated by the LTTE. Further, there were several humanitarian agencies including ICRC and the local staff of UN that remained till the last stretch of the conflict. One could not rule out the possibility that the LTTE would harm the international workers and put the blame on the GoSL, had they stayed. 7. Many of the allegations in the films are based on similar assertions. The most hyped up event in the latest episode is the killing of a 12 year old boy identified as the son of the LTTE leader. The video shows several pictures depicting a man clad in a uniform similar to the SL Army, a clean and neat bunker, a man in slippers, and an “expert opinion” based on the pictures given to him stating that he has examined the pictures and that it was a close range shoot. These un connected material allows the producer to make a sweeping conclusion that the boy was captured by the Army, who fed him with a snack, then killed him at point blank. Why has he disregard the following possibilities?, • That he was killed by his own bodyguards. Remember we are talking about no ordinary group of terrorists, but those who wore cyanide capsules to kill themselves if captured by the Army, those who even used disabled women as suicide bombers. There were even suicide attacks when the stream of tens of thousands of people were moving into government areas at the end of the final battle. As history has proved many times, what excludes the perception that the battle hardened carders cannot shoot the son of the leader rather than letting him to be captured by the enemy?. • The “expert” has only examined the pictures given to him and not the real body, so, how can one confirm without an iota of doubt that the bullets came from a gun used by the Military and not the LTTE? • Had the Army wanted to deliberately kill a 12 year old boy, why did the Government rehabilitate 594 child soldiers who surrendered and the UN Security Council came to the decision that Sri Lanka should be removed from the Annex II to the Resolution 1612, as it has cooperated with the UN on the aspects of implementing the 1612 Resolution on Children and Armed Conflict. 8. Casting doubt does not mean the truth is being told. Showing a visual of a group of girls suspected to be Tamil Tigers loaded to trailers, taken away, the narrator says "we only have these 20 second footage. No idea what happen to them"? If one is to claim that casting doubt is professional journalism, we only challenge them to tell the world how and why, over 12,000 Ex-LTTE cadres, including core LTTE leaders and their families have been saved, cared for and rehabilitated by the Government? 9. It is a similar sweeping conclusion that the military presence in North is correlated to the number of rapes reported. Had there been any perpetrators, as done in the past, they should be brought to justice. That is why, irrespective of our categorical rejection of the Channel 4 footage and its authenticity, the Government, and the Military, going by the recommendations of the LLRC has launched a Court of Inquiry. This is the first thing that any professional military in the world would do. I would like to reiterate our request to the Channel-4 to provide the original materials used by them to help the investigation process, which to date has not been acceded to. 10. As a democratic country, Sri Lanka has done much to recover from the deadly effects of the 30 long years of the terrorist conflict that has devastated every aspect of life in the country. It is a painful and delicate reconciliation process. We are mindful of the challenges ahead and once more I wish to reiterate that repetitive bashing of Sri Lanka with vested agenda would not be of any help in bringing justice or reconciliation but it will only keep the wounds open for ever. 11. My next point is even more worrisome. Why reputed NGOs are letting their name and prestige to be used for promoting this kind of cynical activities. When the money of LTTE comes through its front organizations under the guise of charity, even some of the reputed NGOs present here have become gullible to LTTE propaganda. It appears they have forgotten, the crimes of the LTTE, when accepting the donations in dollars. I am saying this with authority and proof at hand. 12. Though the LTTE, a banned Terrorist Organization in 32 countries including the EU has been defeated in Sri Lanka completely and comprehensively, the remaining LTTE rumps are still active outside of Sri Lanka, particularly in Europe. Being a Tamil speaker myself, I can provide enough and more evidence to prove that the Channel-4 has a sinister motive to discredit Sri Lanka with the connivance of the Pro-LTTE Diaspora Organizations; The screening of the selected version of the documentary during the 3rd Anniversary of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is a clear indication to this. It is in one hand ironical to see how the one time ardent supporters of LTTE and its killing spree, through funding and other propaganda, are now reborn as independent human rights activists. 13. Further, the objective of the producer is very clear now with his kick-starter project coming into light pleading pounds to make a globe-rotting venture with the film. Can he with conscious tell this audience that he is satisfied that the money he collects now, are not from the same people who once supported killing of innocent Tamil people in my country. If he cannot, we have to assume that he does not care as long as it fulfils the 20,000 pound target to help him roam around the globe with his product. 14. In conclusion I must say that No fire Zone is doing an injustice to the ordinary Sri Lankan people who are yearning for nothing but peace, dignity and normalcy in life. If the supporters of this venture believe that by cooking up stories like the “No Fire Zone” can bring them peace and dignity, it is nothing but a grave mistake. Please do not seek globe-rotting their plight; my Sri Lankan Tamil brothers and sisters living in the country do not deserve such treatment |
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=79094
Visits to former Tiger strongholds and
"Little England" with Target Travels
May 15, 2013, 8:25 pm
Target Travels which is the wholly owned travel arm of the conglomerate, Ranfer Group of Companies will re-initiate its activities in the domestic travel sector in keeping with the rapid changes occurring within the Sri Lankan tourism sector. The company will organise two tours this month.
The first will be during Vesak holidays organised jointly with Expo Rail and Hotel Galway to Nuwara Eliya. The tour will commence from the Fort Railway Station on 25th Saturday and travel to the hills in . the super luxury first class rail compartment attached to the Badulla Express train where the guests will enjoy breathtaking views nd ghreat scenery throughout the journey. Breakfast and lunch will be served during the journey..
The ride from Nawalapitiya onwards the train will meander its way through rolling hills, beautifully manicured tea gardens which will surely take one’s breath away.
MV Farah lll, the vessel seized by the LTTE : On the coast of MullaitivuOne could also venture out to the "open deck" area of the Expo carriage to take photographs or simply enjoy the freshness of the mountains and the misty salubrious climate. No sooner the train reaches Nanuoya the group is whisked away to Hotel Galway and a grand dinner buffet awaits the guests.
Next morning after b’fast the group will visit Sita Amman Kovil, Japanese Garden, Lake Gregory area, Bale market and the Nuwara Eliya market. After checking out from the Hotel, the guests will be transferred back to Nanuoya station to catch the "Down" train to Colombo. Lunch, tea and dinner will be served on board.ETA Colombo Fort Station.
The second tour is to the historic "Mullaitive War Zone" during 31st May-2nd June(2n/3d).The main focus is Mullative (Pudukudirippu)area where the Sri Lanka Army defeated the LTTE.
There are 12 vital site visits covered in the tour, namely Vishwamadhu area (Prabhakaran’s Hospital bunker, fruit farm and torture chambers) in addition to Farah 3 the pirated Jordanian ship by the LTTE. Soosai’s house, submarine boat yard, the swimming pool, submarine testing tank, Prabhakaran’s four tier bunker, vehicle graveyard, SL Army Victory Monument and memorial for 1600 slain SL army officers. An officer from SLA will accompany as a guide to all the sites.The stay for two night will be at Green House and Lagoon’s Edge(overlooking Nandikadal) maintained by the Sri Lanka Army Mullaitive Camp with sumptuous Sri Lankan meals served by the army chefs.Both properties have AC facilities.
On this tour the group will cover towns and villages that were featured during the 30 year war .Some of them are Anuradhapura, Medawachchiya, Vavuniya, Omantai, Puliyankulam, Nedunkani, Oddusudan, Wellamullawaikkal, Pudumathalan in addition to Nanthikadal Lagoon and Pudukudirippu which were key areas connected to the final battle "Humanitarian Operation".
There are only 14 beds Available for the tour and Sri Lankans and expats are advised to book early. Travel by a 25 seater luxury, AC mini coach.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
|
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Northerners_thrive_in_a_North_Reborn_NP_Governor_20130510_01
| |
|
Rehabilitated former LTTE Cadres to contest elections
Rehabilitated former LTTE cadres have expressed interest in
entering main stream politics. Minister of Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms
Chandrasiri Gajadeera said that several rehabilitated former LTTE cadres have
expressed interest to enter politics. He said that measures would be taken for
them to contest in future local government elections in a democratic manner.
Gajadheera said that the Tamil Diaspora and other elements are
trying to disrupt peaceful existence in the country and are organizing
themselves to entice the Tamil youth back into battle.
The Minister said that appeals have been to the Tamil youth to
resist such sinister attempts and enter politics in a democratic manner to win
their rights and demands. He said that so far six rehabilitated former cadres
have expressed interest in contesting at the next election. (niz)
Courtesy : Department of Government Information
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)