Sri Lanka Watch, News and Discussions

[ajtr]

US piles pressure on Sri Lanka​

By Feizal Samath

COLOMBO - When garment factory workers outside Colombo once organized a noisy protest over a bonus issue, police threatened to file charges - of hostage-taking - against them. The Sri Lankan authorities zeroed in on this because the workers' senior managers were inside the factory premises during the protest.

Hostage-taking is worlds away from labor-related action, but rights advocates say this example, which occurred five years ago, shows the state's approach to workers' rights.

Amid international pressure, the government last year changed plans to use the hostage-taking law against the workers involved in this case. Instead, indictments were filed under regular laws



around intimidation and threats against 35 former employees, 33 of whom are women.

"This is the kind of pressure we face in ensuring the rights of workers. Can you believe that these young women were to be charged for hostage-taking?" asked Anton Marcus, convener of the Free Trade Zone and General Services Employees Union.

Trade unions have long complained about the government's refusal to accede to International Labor Organization (ILO) rules on the Right of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining in the Workplace.

On June 30, the US government said it had accepted a petition from trade unions, filed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) on behalf of Sri Lankan trade unions, to review workers' rights in the country.

The US action is linked to its annual review of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), in which Sri Lanka and other countries receive trade concessions on exports to the United States. The current 12-month GSP agreement runs until December 2010.

This adds to the pressure the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is already under. It comes on the heels of human-rights concerns expressed by the European Union, which has linked these to its trade concessions for the South Asian island nation.

A July 1 deadline set by the EU, asking the government to give a written undertaking that it will improve rights concerns, passed without a response from Colombo.

According to Marcus, one of the main complaints in the trade unions' petition to the US government was the difficulty in forming unions and having collective bargaining agreements between workers and employers.

For instance, he says, there are only four such agreements among the 300-odd factories in the garment sector, a key source of export revenue. Three of them are from one company, he said. "What about the rest of the garment sector?" Marcus asked.

The lack of space for organizing also means that workers can get fired for protesting employers' actions, such as the suspension of trade union activists. This happened in the case of 255 garment workers who protested a colleague's dismissal some years ago.

"There are clear rules about not sacking workers taking part in a strike but this is not observed," Marcus said.

Under the US government review of workers' rights, a public hearing will begin in Washington in August.

The government has been invited to take part. Labor Minister Gamini Lokuge told Inter Press Service that he had not received a copy of the AFL-CIO petition, but rejected claims of major violations of workers' rights.

Ravi Peiris, secretary general of the Employers' Federation of Ceylon, which represents the bulk of Sri Lankan business, agreed, saying the US review was baseless and unnecessary.

"Most [local] trade unions were politically affiliated and some misuse their bargaining power for incorrect reasons," Peiris told the Daily Mirror newspaper. "Sri Lanka's labor rights are the best protected in South Asia. I can say with certainty that our labor standards are the best in South Asia."

US statements have said that the government's acceptance of the AFL-CIO petition was not a decision to revoke GSP.

"It is the beginning of a formal, collaborative process to work with the Sri Lankan government to address the concerns in the petition and work to improve support of and adherence to workers' rights," said Jeff Anderson, US Embassy spokesman in Colombo. "GSP privileges will continue throughout the process."

United States officials took pains to say that the labor review was about workers' rights and not about human rights linked to political issues, although it is clear that Sri Lanka's overall rights record is under scrutiny. Washington has also raised human-rights issues in the past.

"It's an issue about workers' rights and not human rights," Anderson said.

For its part, the EU has made clear that it is tying trade privileges with measures that it believes Sri Lanka needs to put in place to improve its rights record since its military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009.

It has said that in return for a six-month extension of GSP concessions to the European market, it wants to see Colombo undertake steps such as the reinstatement of independent commissions, removal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the release of political prisoners. The Rajapaksa government has rejected these earlier.

On July 1, the EU said it supported a new United Nations panel to review the human rights situation in the country.

The defeat of the Tigers ended a near 30-year campaign for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in this majority Sinhalese nation. Since then, Rajapaksa has come under intense international pressure over human-rights violations, especially relating to the final stages of the war. He has repeatedly denied these accusations.

 

[Neil]

EU to withdraw Sri Lanka trade concessions deal

The European Union has decided to withdraw Sri Lanka's preferential trade access to EU markets after it failed to improve its human rights record.

The concessions will be stopped on 15 August on a temporary basis after Sri Lanka refused to implement human right conventions.

The deal, known as GSP Plus, gives 16 developing countries trade benefits in return for set commitments.

Sri Lankan officials say the demands amount to interference in its affairs.

Last month, the government said the request was an insult to Sri Lankans and should be placed "in the dustbin".

The Sri Lankan government has faced repeated accusations of human rights violations carried out during its civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels, which the military won in 2009.
Garments industry

The EU was particularly critical of alleged human rights abuses during the last stage of the war.

The move comes after the government failed to make a written promise of progress on three human rights conventions, which deal with torture, children's rights, and civil and political rights.

"We very much regret the choice of Sri Lanka not to take up an offer made in good faith and in line with the EU commitment to a global human rights agenda," EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, said in a statement.
Correspondents say the move may not necessarily be a huge blow to the government, but could hit business hard.

Sri Lanka's garments industry will likely be impacted the most, as it enjoys tax breaks to sell to retailers in Europe.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that there are fears for the jobs of textile workers, although some clothing companies say the industry is so buoyant that they will not be affected.

The EU says it is open to talks in the future, but that it would depend on the island nation's commitment to the charters and to working with the EU, our correspondent adds.

President Mahinda Rajaspaksa, who has often denounced foreign criticism, has shrugged off the decision, saying that they do not need the concessions.

"If the EU doesn't want to give it, let them keep it. I don't want it. We have gone and explained what we have done," he said.

In 2008, Sri Lankan exports to the EU totalled 1.24bn euros (£1bn; $1.55bn)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10514634.stm

 

[ajtr]

THE ENIGMA OF DELHI's PREDICAMENT IN OVER APPEASING THE SRI LANKA REGIME​

by Vssubramaniam July 03, 2010


THE ENIGMA OF DELHI's PREDICAMENT IN OVER APPEASING THE SRI LANKA REGIME

Delhi's predicament is an enigma for most political observers especially when Delhi went overboard to further appease SL specifically during the June 2010 visit of the Sri Lankan President. This invited derisive comments from reputed Indian analysts; 'though there was much euphoria in Sri Lanka(SL), but discerning Indian observers did not share in..(that) optimism. Delhi is not happy over Colombo's lukewarm response on the solution to the issue of finding a speedy solution to the ethnic issue. More discerning, important provisions of the 13th Amendment are jettisoned' (ExpressBuzz 29 Jun 2010). Delhi invested heavily, politically on the 13th Amendment plus supporting SL's war against Eelam Tamils or LTTE despite risks of alienating TN, a constituent state in the Indian Union .It is in this war that the massacres and the interning of civilians occured in astounding numbers to become 'crimes against humanity'.

On his return to Colombo the SL President '..We will take our own time and find the solution, you can't ask for an instant solution like instant noodles"¦We will certainly change all this. My commitment remains'. (Times of India). The use of instant noodles imagery belittles Manmohan Singh's pre-visit call emphasizing the '..need for speeding up the..devolution of powers to ethnic Tamils' (Indiatimes 10 Jun). Delhi is caught in a predicament; its inability to deliver on its repeated promises to TN on the 13th Amendment plus (devolution package). The TN CM placed his champion of the Tamils credentials at grave risks in responding positively to Singh's devolution promise. The TN CM's latest cry of despair, 'No political solution has yet been found for Tamils in Sri Lanka, despite periodic assurances..' resonates throughout India including Delhi.

Contrast this to the Rajapakse words and actions following his December 2006 Delhi visit. Unlike then Rajapakse is now far too intoxicated by his unexpected and undeserved yet decisive win (May 2009) in the war against Tamil militancy. Recent Rajapakse rhetoric is evasive on the 13th Amendment commitments he made in 2006; is also provocative and abrasive towards its erstwhile ally a Delhi, that supported/contributed the most overtly and covertly to the defeat of the Tamil militancy. Delhi also continues to give decisive diplomatic support in the UN, (using its South Block UN arm) the NAM, and UNHRC to stall the international community's morally noble war crimes initiatives against SL.

Delhi's heavy investment in over appeasing SL involved buying decisive TN support during the critical period (2007-2009) of the Eelam war to successfully manage sensitive pro-militant opinion in TN. Delhi's promises to TN to deliver in full on the 13th Thirteenth Amendment plus was made after intense consultations with the Rajapakses. The DMK government reciprocated by taking unprecedented risks in effectively supporting the SL genocide against Eelam Tamils, risking its long established credentials as champion of Tamil rights worldwide. To the Eelam Tamils who for over six decades were repeatedly let down by SL regimes reneging on their pacts/agreements, Rajapakse reneging on his promises to Delhi did not come as a surprise. On this occasion the party let down was Delhi, SL's superpower neighbour that risked underwriting the untrustworthy SL's commitments; and damaging its own standing politically.

Delhi had sound grounds to trust Rajapakse who since his 2006 election repeatedly affirmed that he is for maximum devolution within a unitary state. Delhi took Rajapakse's promises in good faith though the joint statement at the end of the SL President's visit then did not call for a political solution within a unitary state. Delhi's foreign policy establishment dominated by the South Block though skeptical on Rajapakse intentions misled the naïve political leadership into ruling out Rajapakse reneging on his commitments to Delhi. Rajapakses outclassed Delhi on the diplomatic front by getting Delhi deeply involved in SL's war for the stain of the SL genocide to smear Delhi's image as well. Hence though Mahinda Rajapakse openly acknowledged and expressed gratitude for Delhi's support for SL, he had a Gothabhaya Rajapakse taunting Delhi with the trio 'in the loop' line whenever the excesses in the war issue surfaced. This effectively implies that there was the Delhi trio's involvement in those excesses now the subject for Ban's panel on SL's war crimes. Is this SL's cunning dual track diplomacy or the action(s) of those without any scruples?

Rajapakses now no longer speaks of a merged North and East, a key feature in the Indo-SL Accord and the 13th Amendment; instead he only refers to the North, undermining the historical reality of the 'Tamil homelands'. The Rajapakses and the Delhi South Block have an agreed position on this; to undermine the TN DMK government's Tamil champion credentials electorally as also another consenting party to erasing the 'Tamil homelands in SL. The embarassment to TN DMK also has the potential to de-stabilse the UPA government in Delhi as well. Once mainstream Tamils who are basically Pro-Eelam are convinced of this massive DMK/Congress betrayal of Tamil interests, alienation of TN Tamils is likely to become irreversible. The Rajapakses relish such outcomes, neutralising TN and Delhi importing SL's destructive divisive culture into India to compete for membership of the notorious Colombo club that had China as a Gold class member already. The Rajapakses and SL regimes unlike Delhi thrive on divisive politics. This invited a reputable analyst Nateri Adigal to question the Delhi South Block bureaucrats, is 'Tamil Nadu being forced to go the Eelam way', Merinews, 8 October 2008.
The Rajapakses antics did not stop with these. On the war crimes, SL used the 'in the loop' taunt to embarrass Delhi. Colombo assisted by the South Block bureaucrats effectively dragged India deep into SL's war crimes mud pool. Palitha Kohona, SL's Representative in the UN deceptively obtained the signature from the NAM Chair (Egypt) who though embarrassed, soon after disowned that signature to a letter to Ban opposing the UN expert panel and supporting SL. NAM was not in session. This deceptive letter was most damaging to the image of NAM and its members (India included). Yet SL (Palitha) still crows that the 118 members NAM supports SL on Ban's expert panel issue. The South Block's muted response disassociating India from that letter has not erased fully the damage to India's image. Delhi's support for the UNHRC May 2009 resolution commending SL's conduct in the war in retrospect came close to Delhi's abdicating its high human rights moral ground to the West, appeasing and intimately associating with SL as a genocide/terrorist state and its massacres and ethnic cleansing. SL with a reputation tattered by its massacres of tens of thousands and interning of hundreds of thousands civilians behind barb wire fences camps was desperate to farm out its tattered image. It found a willing partner in the South Block Delhi that also contributed the most to the destruction of the life safety shield (Tamil militants) of the Eelam Tamils in the May 2009 massacres. India's dharmic image was also to some degree tattered by this.

The joint statement at the close of President Rajapakse's June 2010 visit to Delhi had PM Manmohan Singh's categorical reference to building on the 13th Amendment to 'create the necessary conditions for a lasting settlement' but Rajapakse after omitting any reference to the 13th Amendment, reiterated instead to 'his determination to evolve a political settlement acceptable to all communities ..creating the necessary conditions in which all the people of Sri Lanka could lead their lives in an atmosphere of peace, justice and dignity consistent with democracy, pluralism ...'.

There is an obvious parting of the ways between Delhi and Colombo over resolving the Tamil issue in SL, post LTTE. Rajapakse now free of the formidable LTTE has no inhibitions in delivering his message to Delhi more assertively. No more of the India imposed Indo-Sri Lanka Accord (1978) and the 13th Amendment plus or minus, instead; '..We will take our own time and find the solution, you can't ask for an instant solution like instant noodles"¦'. Instead just await Rajapakse's vague 'homegrown' solution. SL 'militarily defeated the LTTE using their own (home grown) plan and strategy' and SL will now bring 'a political solution to the ethnic conflict in our own way'. The 13th Amendment gave '.. some measure of credibility to India as Sri Lanka's superpower neighbour' but Delhi lost that when it lost the LTTE leverage that gave birth to it in 1978. Now post LTTE SL also has China a friendly superpower on site in India's soft underbelly. This should remind readers of the 'crying wolf' adage. The China factor invented/used by the South Block as a debating point to justify Delhi's SL appeasement policy, Rajapakse made it a reality to become an effective weapon to blackmail Delhi. Is there anyone in the South Block to atone for this blunder?

The Rajapakses set aside the interim proposals of the APRC (a body appointed by Rajapakse) in favour of the 13th Amendment before. Now the 13th Amendment perceived as an Indian solution is jettisoned in favour of another vague 'our own home grown' solution. The difference; the LTTE is no more and with the 'winner takes all' (Palitha Kohona) rationale Rajapakse is for a solution for a SL minus the 'Tamil homelands'. This would require the SL genocide to continue to conclusion and (ethnic) cleanse sufficient number of Tamils to erase 'Tamil homelands' demographically. According to the enlightened and humane international community this is genocide involving ethnic cleansing; again crimes against humanity. How long will Delhi isolate itself from mainstream international initiatives on such 'crimes against humanity'? Delhi's silence in the face of SL's plans to Sinhalise the Tamil homelands by Indian dharmic standards are adharmic. Has a secular Delhi jettisoned all its dharmic underpinnings?

So much for 'the dharmic good' the South Block earned for Delhi at tremendous costs. The South Block needs to remind Rajapakse that his key 'unitary' concept itself is not 'home grown'. It came to SL with the independence constitution; it is not an inflexible, or straight jacket concept; it accomodates sufficient multi-ethnicity devolution without undermining the unity of any country leave alone SL. Rajapakse crowing much about 'home grown' solutions is purely to buy time to complete SL genocide; hence his another back to the drawing boards proposal. Will Delhi and the South Block continue to appease Colombo further and go along with SL and its highly immoral genocide? Delhi's 13th Amendment accommodates both the unity of SL and the linguistic aspirations of linguistic minorities, the foundation on which stands a united India. Hasn't Delhi the moral courage to stand up for the merits in the 13th Amendment and against SL continuing the genocide on the Tamils for its SL minus 'Tamil homelands' vision.

The world has moved forward in recognizing the role of state terrorism in giving birth to and nurturing armed militancy fighting state terrorism; militancy fighting state terrorism being of a distinct category not in the class of the Jihardi terrorists. With the LTTE totally defeated and no more a threat to SL, the international community reckons that SL's state terrorism is a bigger menace that is committing crimes that the international community views needs to be effectively checked. Will Delhi also change now and support the UNHRC office, the UN and the international community on measures to restraint SL from committing more 'crimes against humanity'? A re-think by Delhi of its appeasement of SL policy will free it from the predicament that the South Block policies led India into.

The South Block's far too contrived strategic interest rationale to justify Delhi's disastrous appeasement policies contributed the most to Delhi's predicament especially when the conduct of SL is under serious international review. Morally such politico-economic interests high jacking the moral underpinnings in the Indian psyche to allow Delhi overlooking SL's genocide crimes is morally untenable. Delhi is morally obliged after destroying the protective shield(LTTE) that Eelam Tamils had, to join the international community in discouraging SL from continuing to unleash state terrorism/genocide on a weak and defenseless people and support the UN war crimes initiatives. These are bound to elevate India's standing as champion of the universal dharmic 'good' for the benefit of humanity.

 

[anoop_mig25]

why it was necessary for delhi to have protective shield (LTTE) of Eelam Tamils ? if ltte demands for freedom of tamil regions from Sri Lanka have been mate wont it have demand same in future for the freedom of tamilnadu from india.Sri Lanka freed of ltte is it going to attack us or our economical assets. if delhi is smart enough and do not bow to to please various tamil parties then it can easily cultivate good relationship with Sri Lanka. ltte haed was itself responsible for its loss. if in past ltte chief had accepted various plan as well as din`t kill ant of the other leaders then today result would have been something different . he wanted to live like king in his area

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...lans-branch-in-Jaffna/articleshow/6212129.cms

Indian Bank plans branch in Jaffna
TNN, Jul 25, 2010, 12.46am IST

CHENNAI: The city-based Indian Bank is planning to open a branch in Jaffna in Sri Lanka. "Talks are in an advanced stage at the moment," chairman and managing director TM Bhasin said. A couple of months back, the bank had sent representatives to the region to evaluate the possibility of setting up a branch. Indian Bank already has a branch in Colombo and it is also looking at the possibility of opening a branch in Kandy as well as a representative office in Jakarta in Indonesia, he said.

The bank's net profit during the first quarter, ending June 2010, grew by 11% to touch Rs 368.15 crore. CASA (current account saving account) deposit as a percentage of the total deposits of the bank recorded a growth of 33.34% in the first quarter of the fiscal as against 30.39% during the corresponding period last year. In keeping with the focus of raising low-cost deposits, the bank has launched a supreme current account with a health cover.

Indian Bank's total business during the April-June quarter recorded a year-on-year growth of 24% to touch Rs 1,59,027 crore (Rs 1,28,700 crore). Of this, deposits accounted for Rs 91,000 crore, with advances constituting the remainder. The credit deposit(CD) ratio of the bank stood stood at 74.8% for the period ending June 30, as against 67.8% for the corresponding period in 2009.

While the net interest income of the bank rose by 25.6% on a year-on-year basis to touch Rs 926.65 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal, core non-interest income witnessed a growth of 54.4% during the same period to touch Rs 257.79 crore. While the bank's capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) stood at 12.5% during the same period, the ration of net non-performing assets (NPA) to net advances was at 0.76%.

"We have shifted to identifying NPAs through the online CBS (core banking solution) which would enable the bank track all NPAs and special mention accounts on a day-to-day basis," Bhasin said. "The accounts under the NPA category would be generated from the head office and the relevant branch office and circle office under which these accounts fall would be asked to push for recovery. Otherwise, a lot of time is wasted in identifying NPA accounts," said Bhasin.

With base rate coming into play, Indian Bank is planning to reprice its loans totalling Rs 6,000 crore which where under the bank's base rate of 8%. As per the RBI guidelines, banks cannot charge below the base rate for loans.

 

[RAM]

'Any country facing terrorism should follow Lankan model'

In an exclusive interview, with 'The Asian Age' Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that Sri Lanka's military victory over the LTTE offers lessons for the international community. Following are excerpts of the interview on 15th September, 2010.
Q. Recently you visited India for defence talks. There was defence cooperation for years before and during the conflict, so what are both sides talking today?
A. India could not do certain things, meet certain needs of the Sri Lankan armed forces, like supply of weapons, because of the sensitivities during the conflict period. Now that issue is no longer there, so we can think of going beyond that. The whole idea is to improve the defence relationship, to strengthen regional security, to improve maritime security in the Indian Ocean.
Q. There are concerns in India about China looking to beef up its presence in Sri Lanka, particularly its role in the Hambantota port project.
A. It is purely a business arrangement, nothing beyond that. I don't think there is any issue in that sense. Wherever possible, when India has faced any security concerns, we have always bent backwards to accommodate them. With India, we are not looking at government-to-government relations alone; we are interested in people-to-people ties and trade. I know that Indian investors are interested in infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka. We are studying India's successful PPP (public-private partnership) model.
Q. There has been criticism of the delay in the rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils.
A. I don't think any other place in the world has so quickly resettled these people in their original habitats in such a short period. In one year we have resettled a majority of the three lakh IDPs. Very few are remaining, and that is because of the delay in clearing landmines. We cannot solve problems overnight but the government has aggressively invested more money in the North and East than the other provinces.
Q. Sri Lanka has also been criticized for not minimizing the civilian casualties of the war.
A. India knows what is LTTE but most of the outside world does not. It was a most ruthless terrorist organisation. Some think the attack on the USS Cole was the first attack by a terrorist group but by that time the LTTE had done many attacks on ships. It had done more suicide attacks in one year in Sri Lanka than all the suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq put together. The LTTE's weaponry was equivalent to that of the armed forces - heavy artillery guns, mortars, machine guns, missiles, Naval suicide boats and, ultimately, even small aircraft. That was the magnitude of its military strength. So it was not a small insurrection or a civil disturbance. By defeating the LTTE, we have stopped the killings of innocent civilians.
Q. How are you dealing with the former LTTE combatants?
A. We have rehabilitated about 500 child soldiers. We started a skill development programme for the 11,000 former combatants who surrendered; some of whom have completed this programme and joined the society. This is the truth but the other side does not know the true story.
Q. What can the world learn from Sri Lanka's experience with terrorism?
A. What we have done is to defeat the terrorists. I should say any country which faces terrorism should follow the Sri Lankan model. I think in fighting terrorism as well as humanitarian assistance in a conflict like this, there are lots of lessons for others to learn rather than criticise. But there were concerns about humanitarian assistance during the conflict. Our military operations and humanitarian assistance ran parallely. One can say the actions were not effective, maybe there were weaknesses, but it was a success. Of course, there were issues but in a situation there would be issues. We had no-fire-zones and restrictions on use of heavy weapons which are not normally done anywhere in the world in this type of situation, but we did that.
Q. Looking back at the last days of the conflict, would you have done anything differently? There were reports that some LTTE leaders wanted to surrender but they were shot, there was also talk of ceasefire.
A. Prabhakaran did not want to surrender. Even the night before they were defeated, they tried to launch a counter attack and escape. There would have been no problem if they had surrendered, but we came to that last minute after a hard battle and a lot of sacrifices, so we were not ready for ceasefire.
Q. And did they inform the UN?
A. Nobody informed us about any surrender. We took the time to defeat the LTTE because of the civilians. If we had no such concerns, we could have bombarded the place, used all our artillery and walked through within a day but we took over two months. So the international community must consider the risks that we took.
Q. Looking ahead, do you have a political solution of the ethnic problem, a devolution package?
A. Political jargons alone will not bring about a solution. We have created an environment for everybody to live peacefully, as Sri Lankans, as one nation. All other issues are for politicians. The ground reality is we must give people the opportunity to live peacefully, with jobs and education. That is what they want and the government will ensure that is there in Sri Lanka.
Q. What will be your message to the Lankan-Tamils living in India and abroad?
A. Some of them left long ago; others, more recently. The second and third generations have concerns about their children's education. I know it is difficult to give all that up and come. But if they come, they are most welcome. I think they must bring their know-how, knowledge, and invest their wealth here because development is the main requirement.
http://www.defenceforum.in/forum/south-asia-asean-fareast/1437-15.htm

 

[ajtr]

India cozies up to Sri Lankan strongman ​

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - As in Myanmar, so in Sri Lanka India's policy seems to be dictated by strategic interests rather than principles of democracy and justice.

Its invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi has earned it the ire of Tamils and pro-democracy activists in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Rajapaksa's conduct of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), especially in the final stages last year when thousands of Tamil civilians were killed and many times that number displaced, has been criticized by many, with the Tamil



diaspora and several international organizations even calling for the setting up of a tribunal to try him and some civilian and military officials for war crimes.

In a recent report, the International Crisis Group said it had a "substantial body of evidence" that provided "a compelling case for investigation of the conduct of hostilities and the role of the military and political leadership" of the government and the LTTE.

Rajapaksa has been accused of authoritarian rule as well. Over the past year, his government has crushed political opposition and silenced the media. Former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who dared to challenge Rajapaksa politically, is in jail, put away by a military court for 30 months. Journalists critical of the Rajapaksa regime have "disappeared".

Power is concentrated in the Rajapaksa family. The president, his brothers and their sons control important portfolios and much of the funds allocated by the national budget. What is more, a recent constitutional amendment, the 18th to the Sri Lankan constitution, has removed the two-term limit on the presidency, easing the way for Rajapaksa to remain president for life.

The prestige India bestowed on Rajapaksa by making him a guest of honor at the Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony has angered Tamils and rights activists. While Suren Surendiran of the Tamil Global Forum described it as "a shame", protesters led by V Gopalaswamy (better known as Vaiko) – a politician in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu who is among the LTTE's strongest supporters – waved black flags and burned effigies of Rajapaksa on the day of the closing ceremony.

Indian officials clarify that Rajapaksa was not a chief guest as reported in sections of the media but a "guest of honor". It appears that Rajapaksa's public relations team pumped up his status at the Games' closing ceremony.

Some analysts have said that invitation to Rajapaksa is part of a campaign supported by some Commonwealth member countries to strengthen the Sri Lankan government's bid to host the Commonwealth Games at Hambantota in 2018.

However, there is more to the Indian invite. It is part of a charm offensive to ensure that its island neighbor remains firmly in its sphere of influence.

Except for a few years in the 1980s, relations between India and Sri Lanka have been cordial. Its failed "peacekeeping" effort in the island between 1987 and 1990 contributed to Delhi adopting a hands-off policy towards the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. This and the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991 resulted in economic and strategic interests coming to dominate India's agenda in Sri Lanka.

Right through the war, India, while maintaining a public position of support for a political solution to the ethnic conflict, backed the military operations against the LTTE. It did raise its voice against aerial operations that resulted in thousands of civilian deaths but it did little to push the government to correct its course. In fact, it seemed that Delhi and Colombo were acting in tandem to defeat the LTTE.

Since the defeat of the LTTE, India has contributed significantly to rehabilitation of displaced Tamils and to reconstruction of the war-ravaged north. But beyond a bit of nudging, it has done little to pressure the Rajapaksa government to find a political solution to the conflict. It has been careful not to tread on Rajapaksa's toes.

Growing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka, especially since Rajapaksa became president in December 2005, appears to be behind Delhi's reluctance to do anything that could push him into a closer embrace of the Chinese.

There is reason for India to be wary. China's aid to Sri Lanka was a few million dollars in 2005 but jumped to US$1.2 billion in 2009, making it the island's largest aid donor. Beijing has provided Sri Lanka with $3.06 billion in financial assistance for various projects. It has built and funded a major port development project at Hambantota (Rajapaksa's home town) in the south of the island.

Colombo has been skillfully playing India and China against each other. And India has gone out of its way to keep it happy. The invitation to Rajapaksa to the Games' closing ceremony is part of its assiduous wooing of the powerful Sri Lankan president.

There are parallels between India's courting of Rajapaksa and its wooing of Myanmar's generals. As in Sri Lanka, in Myanmar India's main competitor is China.

It was in a bid to counter China's influence in Myanmar that India decided to move away from its criticism and isolation of the generals to engaging them. Over the past 15 years it has repeatedly rolled out the red carpet for the junta top brass and rarely has it condemned them for their human-rights violations. Even after the military's ruthless crushing of the monks' protest in 2007, which evoked sharp Western condemnation, Delhi remained silent for several months, breaking that silence eventually to issue a bland statement of "concern".

Similarly, Delhi's feting of Rajapaksa comes at a time when some Western countries and international organizations are calling for his trial for war crimes. In contrast to Myanmar's military rulers, however, who were roundly rejected by voters in elections 20 years ago, Rajapaksa is an elected leader, who won a second term as president by a convincing majority.

Instead of supporting pro-democracy activists in its neighborhood as it used to some decades ago, India is serenading authoritarian rulers and strengthening them domestically, rights activists complain. Pragmatism rather than lofty principles is increasingly determining its foreign policy.

Indian officials admit that Rajapaksa's growing authoritarianism and "seeming reluctance to address the ethnic conflict is worrying". But "public criticism of his government will not bring the desired change", an official in the Ministry of External Affairs said. As for the war crimes allegations: "Western countries have never allowed a probe into their own conduct or that of their allies, preferring to use this against Asian and African countries where their influence is limited." Besides, Rajapaksa has put in place a probe through the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the official said.

But the LLRC's mandate is to assess why a cease fire in February 2002 broke down in 2008 and led to renewed fighting, not to probe allegations of war crimes or even human-rights violations during the war. Set up in May this year, the LLRC has conducted several hearings where officials and public have deposed.

However, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group have refused to appear before the LLRC because it "did not meet international standards for independent and impartial inquiries". They have said the LLRC is flawed as its members were appointed by the government, it has no real mandate to investigate war crimes in the last stages of the conflict, it lacks any mechanism to protect witnesses and it falls short of minimum international standards for a commission of inquiry.

Accusing several members of the LLRC of being government loyalists, who have in the past defended the government publicly against war-crimes allegations, critics have said that "accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka demands an independent international investigation".

Several of those believed to have been part of the decision making that resulted in war crimes are citizens of Western countries. The president's brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is Sri Lanka's defense secretary, is a naturalized US citizen, while former army chief Fonseka is a US green card holder. Both have been the focus of a campaign by the Tamils against Genocide to have them prosecuted in the US for genocide and war crimes.

"As a matter of policy, the US should fully investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity allegations against its citizens and residents on the basis of any available theory of responsibility, and where appropriate prosecute," the International Crisis Group report on Sri Lanka says.

That will not happen. It would mean opening the door to international calls for prosecution of several US presidents, civilian and military officials for war crimes.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

 

[SajeevJino]

Sri Lanka eyes Mi-17 helicopters​

Sri Lanka is conducting a feasibility study into the purchase of Mi-17 helicopters from Russia for use by the air force in its commercial venture

The aircraft would be purchased under a $300 million credit line with Russia's state-owned arms trading business Rosoboronexport State Corp., a report by Sri Lanka's Sunday Leader newspaper said.

Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said up to 14 helicopters could be purchased but nothing would be decided until conclusion of the feasibility study.

Sri Lanka initially agreed to purchase up to 14 helicopters because of requirements during the war with the separatist Tamil Tigers.

"Since the war was coming to an end, we decided there was no immediate requirement to purchase 14 helicopters," he is quoted as saying by the Sunday Leader.

"I do not know when the study will be completed but I don't think the air force would utilize the entire facility and purchase 14 helicopters."

Rambukwella said the air force was looking at purchasing helicopters to expand its existing commercial air transport work in its company called Helitours.

The air force would pay back the loan from profits generated by the commercial venture once the helicopters are in service, he said.

Helitours Sri Lanka is "the largest and premier domestic air service in Sri Lanka launched in the 1972," its Web site says.

The Helitours fleet consists of 20 aircraft in a mix of fixed-wing and helicopters, including the Mi-17 as well as the Bell 206, 212 and 412 helicopters.

Helitours also operates the 45-passenger Antonov high-wing twin-turboprop AN 32 B aircraft and the Harbin Y-12, a 15-passenger high-wing twin-turboprop aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. in China.

Air force spokesman Group Capt. Andrew Wijesuriya wouldn't comment on the purchase of the Mi-17 helicopters but said Helitours would remain an ongoing commercial venture, the Sunday Leaders reported.

Helitours is run as a profit-making business and will continue as such until the country's domestic passenger services improve and the private sector starts to invest in the sector, said Wijesuriya.

Helitours is based at the air force's Ratmalana Air Base, otherwise known as Colombo Airport, which handles domestic as well as military flights.

The Mi-17 -- a transporter which can be fitted out as a gunship -- was designed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant. The aircraft first flew in the 1970s and around 12,000 have been built, mostly by the Kazan Helicopter Plant in Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan.

Sri Lanka eyes Mi-17 helicopters

 

[blank_quest]

#India launches largest donor funded project in #Srilanka estmtd at $270 million, unprecedented in scale reach & impact pic.twitter.com/cV2eKI8r

 

[blank_quest]

430000 houses are for internally displaced persons in Northern & Eastern provinces of Srilanka.

 

[HeinzGud]

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary repeats call for abolition of 13 Amendment

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday reiterated that post-war political strategy of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) left him with no alternative but to strongly recommend the abolition of the 13th Amendment. He urged the government, the Opposition as well as the international community to examine the conduct of the one-time mouthpiece of the LTTE.

It was up to Parliament to decide on the 13th Amendment, the Defence Secretary said, adding that the eradication of the LTTE conventional military capability shouldn't be a reason for the government to be complacent.

The TNA couldn't be allowed to dictate terms to the State as regards the deployment of security forces during war or peace time, the Defence Secretary said, noting that it was the sole prerogative of the government. He said the 13th Amendment was nothing but a springboard for those seeking to accomplish what the LTTE had failed achieve through terrorism.

Commenting on persistent TNA allegations that outsiders were being settled in Tamil areas since the end of the conflict, the Defence Secretary said that the main Tamil party was making an attempt to trigger ethnic tensions. "First of all let me tell you there is absolutely no necessity for the government to move outsiders to Northern and eastern Provinces. But people must have the right to live in any part of the country. There cannot be different sets of rules for Tamil speaking people and others." He said people from the North and the East had moved to Colombo and its suburbs during the conflict and were living there peacefully. Likewise, other people, too, should have a right to live in any part of the country without being troubled by political parties or politicians, he added.

LankaWeb – Defence Secretary repeats call for abolition of 13-A

 

[ersakthivel]

I feel saddened by many of the posts here.Nort Indians still view the problems of srilankan Tamils through the assasination of Rajiv gandhi.And through this single act the Sinhalse in Sri lanka have acquired the right to kill tamils of North and east in Sri lanka with impunity.

Sri lanka was just another colonial estate of british. there never was a single nation called sri lanka. Through out the history of Sri Lanka Tamil and Sinhalese Kingdoms have existed independantly with separate language ,religion and culture from time immemorial. The british conquered all of sri lanka and united it as an administrative unit , not as a nation state, just like the brits governed from delhi a vast swathe of regions from Afganistan , pakistan, bangla desh, burma , Nepal and v (Tibet ,with some special suremacy ).

After independance all these regions are separate nation states safeguarding their own citizen's culture , right to live with dignity,and religion. But this was denied to Sri Lankan tamils. Their fate was handed over to Sinhalese by the british act of colonialism. Since independence ,tamils in Sri lanka have been waging peaceful agitation under various civilian leaders to have their language, religious rights and freedom to live as equals to Sinhalese in Srilanka.

Of course the present Indian union too was never a single nation state in any period of history. But tall leaders like nehru and gandhi who spent 27 years in british prision have the sagacity to safeguard the free democratic rights of each and every separate language, religious and cultural regions of India, the reorganization of India into federation of language based states with their own ruling language, police powers , and education through mother tongue stopped the fisiporous tendencies of the multi lingual multi religious giant called India.

but Sri Lanka never allows the same powers to Sri Lankan Tamils who are the citizens of Srilanka from time immemorial just as the Sinhalese. Even know the murderous RAJAPAKSE regime is insisting on unitary structure of governance against the truly federal state structure that is functioning beautifully and effectively in India.

That is why I say that states like Sri Lanka are a blot on the human civilization. It is incomprehensible that they just can not look 18 miles across their sea shore and adapt the best practices of India, that too when they have only two languages to contend with !!! , when India manages 20 plus languages with ease.A lot of people think that RAJAPAKSE is a civilized leader of a true nation state called SRILANKA.

But the sad truth is no regime in Sri Lanka will follow the Indian federal structure to safeguard the rights of all linguistic groups who live there.They just used the "global fight against terrorism " with deadly ease to hoodwink the international community and play upon the insecurities of "night watchman MMS government " in India.

Unfortunately not a single Sinhalese majority Srilankan government ever tried to address these issues sincerely. They always played hide and seek with these peaceful protests. And in the late seventies and early eigthies the Srilankan state in collusion with prisoners committed a genocide of tamil peaceful political activists inside Srilankan Prison.

Only then the peaceful struggle turned violent.All these are beyond the memory of many posters here. Even before the advent of LTTE and the armed struggle , in the eighties the Srilankan government was always anti -india. It always lobbied with the US to keep Indian ocean as nuclear free zone. It voted in favor of resolutions like these in UN which run counter to India's core interest of having a nuclear counter to CHINA.

In the 1972 war many pakistani army men traveled as civilian passengers to Lanka and then transited to bangladesh and fought with the indian army there.indira gandhi knew of these acts. And when the violently suppressed civilian protests turned into armed rebellion Indira used RAW to train the LTTE and arm it.But after her death Rajiv gandhi fell into a well laid trap set by the Srilankans in the name of Indo-Srilankan accord, which was opposed by LTTE under the guise of stopping US VOA station in triconamallee .Sri lanka is adept at playing one power against another in it's pursuit of extinction of Sri lankan tamils.

The LTTE knew that the 13 th amendment which was the bedrock of Indo-Srilanka Accord ,will never be honored with the right spirit, which is subsequently proved by Rajapakse regime's refusal to honor the 13 th amendment now after full four years of extinction of LTTE.princelings like Gotabaya will be used to snuff out the rights of tamils.All strange reasoning will be used to dump the 13 th amendment which is the bedrock of Indo-Srilankan Accord. India sent and lost 2000 of it's soldiers to fight the LTTE only after the sri lanakan Government assured that they will honor the rights enshrined in the 13th amendment to sr lankan tamils .But now there is no armed resistance and Sinhalese are going to treacherously dump the 13 th amendment rights to TAMILS there.

A population of just 20 million plus Sinhalese have succeeded in committing genocide of 40000 tamils under the very nose of 80 million tamils. Would it have happened if not for the treacherous act of this Sonia- MMS combine in colluding with the blood thirsty butcher called RAJAPAKSE? many of the surrendered families of LTTE fighters were raped butchered and shot enmasse .From 12 year old kid to 20 year old girl the savagery of Sri Lankan Armed forces under the direct order of Rajapakse regime only parallels the blood hound attitude displayed by the nazis against jews.Now they are colouring this crime against humanity as their model of "FIGHTING TERRORISM SUCCESSFULLY WITHOUT ANY SHAME".

the sinhalese have no right to suppress the rights of tamils there.


What did indira do in Bangladesh? She armed Mukthi bahini , when the Pakistani army went on a rampage in then WEST PAKISTAN. And braved the whole world including US to fight for the liberation of Bangladesh.

Did she entered into an Agreement with the then united pakistan government and sent indian peace keeping force to suppress the Mukthi Bahini, which was armed and trained by India?Did she suspect that the west Bengal will fight for it's independence once Bangladesh is liberated?

But this was what Rajiv did, due to his fatal inexperience and the clique of advisors who surrounded him . These advisors always suspected that if free TAMIL ELAM is born as tamil nation in Sri Lanka it will increase separatist tendencies in Tamil Nadu.Rajiv just couldn't see through the treacherous web created by these foggy bottomas and the clever power play of the then Jayawardhane regime in Sri lanka.Rest is history.

The Sr lankans achieved the impossible of using Indian soldiers to fight the LTTE. Even now in 2008 it was the indian navy's critical aid to sri Lankan navy that resulted in the destruction of LTTE arms replenishment chain by sinking many of their ships.

It was sad history until now. the myopic budhist -Sinhalese chauvinistic regimes in Sri Lanka had achieved the impossible of wiping out LTTE, ofcourse aided by their myopic act of Rajiv assasination and Prabhakaran-Karuna split.But what is disheartening is the Indian regime under Manmohan is behaving senile four years after the mass genocide of Tamils.

India has rightfully honored the cultural, language,and religious rights along with property rights of J& K residents from 1947 till today with the Indian constitutional provision no-347.Contrast with the consistent refusal of RAJAPAJSE regime which said after the first days of victory "that they will offer 13 th Amandment plus rights to Tamils" and watch their forked tongue today which says No 13 th Amendment. the LTTE knew this is what the intention of SriLankan government. that is why they bitterly opposed this accord but pummeled into submission by the RAJIV government.

The Indian establishment is such a toothless coward now that they refuse to call the bluff of China card by Srilanka. many bud headed strategic analysts here in India are using this fig leaf of imagination to cow down the mighty Indian giant before the minnow Sri LANKA. Simply saying the Sri LANKAN goverernment has no china card to play. Ang they know that in Srilanka too. there is not a single sea worthy chinese naval unit in that can oppose the mighty indian navy at it's door step called SRI LANKA.It is a shame that 20 million Sinhalese are using this non existent China card to root out the native Tamilians in Sri LANKA.

 

[ersakthivel]

Myannamar has a land border with china. but Srilanka is simply at the mercy of india if a resolute indian leader like narendra Modi rises to power and throws the rule book to SRI LANKA.he was the only leader during the last national election campaign who said that "My Tamil brothers are dying there in Srilanka by thousands and the MMS regime is just watching over it".I hope his day arrives soon at Indian Capital.

 

[ersakthivel]

Lot of people dig up the bogey of a separate Dravida state idea which was once freely floating in tamil nadu to support the supression of tamils by the Sinhalese. But the truth is very different. If the Sri LANKAN government adopted the same three language policy adopted by nehru which resulted in linguistics reorganization of indian states the peaceful Sri lankan struggle for their rights would also have died down like the DRAVIDA NADU proposal dying out in TN thanks to nehru's sagacity.

But you cannot expect such noble foresighted gestures from the Sinhala-budhist chauvinistic regimes of Sri LANKA.

Well Tamils were one of the largest monetary contributors to the emergency funds set up by the Indian government during the Indo-China war.And the separate dravida nation theory was abandoned by ANNADURAI (who was the then leader of the DMK movement) once China attacked India. Also the term dravida was nothing original as kannadigas, telugus, and keralites never considered them as having any special affinity with each other and the Tamilians so that an Independent Dravida nation can be set up.

Simply it was a bargaining chip used to corner the central government to honor the linguistic rights of regional language speakers, which were recognized by titans like Nehru who spent their valuable years in british jail and full of democratic spirits.Once the three language policy is announced by Nehru the proposal died it's natural death.

An unusual benefit of the three language policy is english replacing hindi as connecting language, which resulted in explosion of english medium schools and private english language based engineering colleges in tamil nadu, karnataka and Andhra . the availability of the massive stream of english educated tech graduates powered the software revolution.That's why most of the indian software professionals and software exports are from these three states.

Situation is now so drastic for tamil in Tamil Nadu , that majority of primary school going kids in the cities are learning english first and a language and medium of instruction and tamil is relegated to secondary position.

infact there is no viability of a separate nation called tamil Nadu.because the main rivers of Tamilnadu like kaveri and Periyar recieve waters from karnataka and kerala.So the best chance for Tamilians is to get justice through the supreme court to resolve theses vexed issues.

Once the economic liberalization is unleashed tamil nadu did not depend upon the central government for industrialization. Now tamil nadu is the number one state in India in Industrialization. it has the highest power consumption per capita among the indian states. In fact a significant part of the construction and indusrtial labor force is from north india and north east india. if they return Tamilnadu will come to stand still.

So very thought of a separate dravida nadu proposal is commical nowadays, infact I never heard of it echoing anywhere in the past two decades.

 

[ersakthivel]

Chinese simply invaded and annexed Tibet to preclude the possibility of any troubles from the Himalayan roof by the powers inimical to it. But the napoleanic MMS govt is shivering in it's spine that a 20 million sinhalese will drive the dagger through the jugular vein of Nuclear super power called india is covering under the table not to offend them.

China has no capacity to intimidate India in at the tip of Kanyakumari. The MMS govt is frittering away the core interest of India in the vain pursuit of Sharm al Saik like diplomacy . No future Sri LAnkan leader will respect the core strategic interests of India , if this govt behaves in such a cowardly manner.

But the MMS govt is meekly allowing Srilanka to play the Chinese card.

Contrast this with the steady unflinching manner in which the chinese are making in roads into nepal which was under the indian influence till now after eliminating the himalayn buffer called Tibet and boldly arming Pakistan with nuclear weapons to tame India.

England went to war with Argentina over a remote sparesly inhabited Island called Falklands under Thatcher with much more daunting logisitics and against the advice of the Americans.

nations are not respected for the armaments they possess. They are respected for the political will to stand up for their core interests.Even North korea and Venezuela are standing up to the US to safeguard their national interests.The Vietnamese fought and defeated the Chinese army.


This is what happens when you make the substitute the captain of the team. Shame on them.

 

[IBSA]

The hardline Buddhists targeting Sri Lanka's Muslims

After a series of attacks on mosques, wild rumours about animal slaughter and an attempt to outlaw the halal system of classification, the BBC's Charles Haviland investigates how Sri Lanka's Muslim minority is being targeted by hardline Buddhists.

On a January morning a crowd of Buddhist monks storm a law college, yelling, chanting and even hitting one or two seemingly random people and pushing back the police. Furiously they shout that the exam results have been distorted to favour Muslims.

A few weeks later, apparently abetted by the police, monks attack a slaughterhouse in Dematagoda, Colombo, alleging that calves are being slaughtered inside (illegal in the capital) or the meat is improperly stored.

Both are incorrect, but the monks spread rumours that the facility is Muslim-owned as most of the truck drivers are Muslim.

Sri Lankan monks are now taking this so-called "direct action" every few days. It is part of a growing wave of anti-Muslim activities in Sri Lanka carried out by new hardline Buddhist groups - a trend that is making many people anxious, even fearful.

It comes four years after the army in this mainly Sinhalese Buddhist country defeated Tamil separatists.

Regular attacks

During Sri Lanka's bitter civil war war the Muslims - a small Tamil-speaking minority, about 9% of the population - kept a low profile, although many suffered violence.

Muslims are seen as having remained largely loyal to the state during the 26-year conflict. Indeed in 1990 they were expelled en masse from the north of Sri Lanka by Tamil rebels with just a few hours' notice.

But they now fear that ethnic majority hardliners are trying to target them.

At their recent rallies, the most prominent new hardline group, the Buddhist Strength Force (Bodu Bala Sena, BBS) have used coarse, derogatory language to describe Muslim imams and have told the Sinhalese majority not to rent property to Muslims.

At one meeting attracting thousands, the organisation's secretary, Gnanasara Thero, told each Buddhist present to become "an unofficial policeman against Muslim extremism" and said "so-called democrats" were destroying the Sinhala race.

Away from the rallies, I visited a temple in the suburb of Dehiwala as the early morning sun hit the majestic bo tree.

The presiding monk, Akmeemana Dayarathana, has founded another ultra-nationalist Buddhist group, Sinhala Echo. He says the Sinhalese have real grievances, that Muslims are trying to convert people, building too many mosques - even having too many children. In fact statistics show that both the Sinhalese and Muslim population percentages have grown slightly over three decades.

He says, without giving any evidence, that Muslims propagated a message that Sinhalese families should be small.

"Then they started to increase their own population," he says. "This is the only country for the Sinhalese."

He proceeds to give a unique take on geography and religion.

"Look around the world - Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and others, they were all Buddhist countries - but the Muslims destroyed the culture and then took over the country. We worry they're planning it here too."

A few days later his organisation stormed a house where they alleged Christian conversions were taking place and verbally abused the family inside, some of them - according to a local website - physically assaulting a woman.

Top-level support

Since last April, when monks led an attack on a mosque during Friday prayers in the town of Dambulla, there have been regular accounts of mosques being attacked or vandalised, for instance with graffiti or pictures of pigs. There have also been assaults on churches and Christian pastors but it is the Muslims who are the most concerned.

In the south of the country on 18 March, a mob of hundreds including monks surrounded a pastor's house, set fire to tyres outside and shouted abusively to those inside.

"Muslims are worried all over the country," Mufti MIM Rizwe tells me. "Everybody is [in] fear."

He is president of the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), the main organisation of Muslim clerics, and meets me at a hotel where imams have come together for emergency discussions on the situation.

He defends the halal system of food classification, which the hardline monks are now trying to outlaw, and strongly denies that the community is fostering extremism as they claim. He rejects their accusation that Muslims have been destroying Buddhist holy sites.

"You can't show one incident that Muslims have reacted in this way," he says. "No single statue or any religious worship places have been targeted by Muslims, totally not. Muslims have never done this. We hope we are guiding our Muslims to be calm and respect every religion."

Days later his organisation appears on a platform with moderate Buddhist monks who have decided to distance themselves from the hardliners. The hardliners are withering in their description of the moderates, calling them "unethical and immoral".

It has become clear that the BBS has top-level support. At its ceremony to open a new training school, the guest of honour was the powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother of the president.

"It is the monks who protect our country, religion and race," he said in a speech.

"No one should doubt these clergy. We're here to give you encouragement."

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was reported to have told a BBS delegation in January not to promote "communal hatred", but the official communique was issued only in English, not in Sinhala.

It is also apparent that Muslim leaders have shied away from any kind of confrontation with the powerful monks or any supporters they may have in government on this issue, remaining largely conciliatory in their language and actions.

Mood of triumphalism

Civic society activists are concerned. Sanjana Hattotuwa, editor of a citizen media initiative, groundviews.org, showed me some of the anti-Muslim web pages that are fast growing in number.

The main picture on a Sinhala Facebook page called "My Conscience", with more than 8,000 followers, shows a lion - symbol of the Sinhalese - devouring a wild boar depicted with a crescent and star on its forehead.

Mr Hattotuwa believes the dominant mood in the country is one of triumphalism, four years after the Tamil Tigers were beaten, and that this is encouraging victimisation of a new minority.

"The country is seen today as Sinhala Buddhist," he says. "Everybody else has a rightful place. If they articulate concerns that question the dominant narrative then they should be put into their place. So the end of the war ironically has given the space for new social fault lines to occur."

He rejects the concern voiced by some people that the socially conservative Muslim community is doing too little to integrate.

"Integration means a recognition that this country is comprised of many communities and each one of them has the right to live where they want, how they want."

Clearly not everyone in the government - which in any case contains Muslim ministers - is happy with the rise of the hardliners.

Some Sinhalese ministers have expressed unease and a prominent newly retired diplomat, Dayan Jayatilleka, calls the BBS an "ethno-religious fascist movement from the dark underside of Sinhala society".

Many Sri Lankans feel there are uncomfortable echoes of the 1983 pogroms, when Sinhala violence against Tamils precipitated the war.

But hardline Buddhist rallies and "direct action" stunts are happening all the time now. And their social and political influence is expanding.

BBC News - The hardline Buddhists targeting Sri Lanka's Muslims

 

[ladder]

Lankan army to reduce military presence at former LTTE stronghold in north

Sri Lanka Army has said that it would reduce the number of military camps in former rebel stronghold of northern Jaffna and hand over lands back to their original owners.

"We will reduce the existing 17 military camps in Jaffna to just three," Army chief Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya said.

The fourteen camps pulled out from different parts in Jaffna would be relocated in the main Palaly cantonment, he said yesterday.

Lands which located the camps would be handed back to their original owners and lands that would be difficult to be handed back due to national security considerations would be subject to compensation, he said.

Sri Lanka has come under international pressure for de-escalation of the military presence in Jaffna which is considered crucial to achieving reconciliation with the Tamil minority.

The international rights watch groups claim that a large military presence in the north since end to the war with the LTTE in 2009 clamped the civilian life in the former conflict regions.

- See more at: Lankan army to reduce military presence at former LTTE stronghold in north - Indian Express

http://http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lankan-army-to-reduce-military-presence-at-former-ltte-stronghold-in-north/1119158/

============================================================================================

Recently during FM Khursid's telephonic conversation with his Sri Lankan counterpart he had raised the Issue.

Khurshid also referred to reports that the Sri Lankan Army was acquiring private land in the northern province to set up high security zones.

The minister emphasised that "such a move would not be helpful", the sources said.

Don't dilute autonomy, India tells Sri Lanka | Business Standard

 

[Himanshu Pandey]

Shri lank and its issues are a thron for India and its forign policy also for the peace of India.... I never came to understand how the interest of shri lankans govt... who is facing the charges of mass murders becoame more important then the feeling of millions of Indian. If we can't pose a just thing like human rights for shri lankan tamils... how can we dream to be a world power or something to get noted..

India need to stand with the tamils of shri lanka and it should invest all the money it is giving in donation in tamil areas of shri lanka.. it will improve the life standards of these people and will be able to reduce the anger in Indians.. its just plain common sense and GOI can't use it... my Question is why?

 

[TrueSpirit]

I feel saddened by many of the posts here.Nort Indians still view the problems of srilankan Tamils through the assasination of Rajiv gandhi.

Which post are you talking about ?

India has rightfully honored the cultural, language,and religious rights along with property rights of J& K residents from 1947 till today with the Indian constitutional provision no-347.

Are you sure, Sir ? What has Indian govt. done for Hindus in Kashmir ? They were all killed, raped, hacked & remnants driven out. Today, there is hardly any Hindu community left in Kashmir, which was once cradle of our civilization. You can find out the condition of the few Hindu families still left there. It happened under the very nose of central Congress regime & its lackeys. So, do you think that India has been following a correct policy in J&K? And, do you want that nations silently tolerate secessionist tendencies & threats to their national integrity even when the insurgents are the most most heartless terrorists ever ?

I doubt any nation-state would tolerate something as diabolically vicious as LTTE.

Indira Gandhi got her due in the end (she created JS Bhindranwala) & many innocent civilians too had to bear the brunt of her short-sighted policy in pursuit of power through whatever means.

I am not condoning Sri Lankan govt.'s suppression of minority rights & blatant display of Sinhalese chauvinism.

All I am stating is that no matter what the grouse is (every one is having nursing some grouse or the other), anyone who takes up arms against the state & its people, is bound to suffer the consequences. There is no substitute for constructive & sincere dialogue & this is what India should have facilitated in Sri Lanka. Sponsoring terrorists like LTTE in our own backyard is not only amoral but strategically stupid policy, much more stupid than the US policy that led it to create Afghan insurgency groups (including AL-Qaeda) & appeasement of Taliban.

 

[kseeker]

Buddhist mob attacks mosque in Sri Lankan capital

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/11/world/asia/sri-lanka-violence

It seems, ISI will start funding Sri Lankan Muslims to avenge their Muslim brothers humiliation...