Intense fighiting in Mannar-ENB070508
Intense fighting in Mannaar - LTTE
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2008, 18:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army units launched an attempt to move its troops from Thirukkeatheesvaram towards Veaddaiyaamu'rippu in Mannaar Tuesday morning from 5:30 a.m. till noon with artillery barrage, but sustained heavy casualties, LTTE offiicals in Vanni said. Meanwhile, on another front where SLA attempted to move from Ka'rukkaaykku'lam targeting Vaddakka'ndal was confronted by the Tigers from 8:15 a.m. An Armoured Personnel Carrier was destroyed in LTTE mine, killing at least 9 SLA soldiers and wounding many, according to the LTTE.
The fighting in the second front intensified around 10:00 a.m. as Main Battle Tanks and additional SLA troops were deployed using APC vehicles amid stiff Tiger resistance till one APC vehicle was destroyed in the mine.
The SLA sustained heavy losses on both the fronts, the Tigers said.
SLA, LTTE clash in Naakarkoayil FDL areas
[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 15:19 GMT]
Heavy clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Naakarkoayil Northern Front Defence Lines erupted Monday early morning and lasted till evening. Both sides launched artillery shells, Multi-barrel rocket launcher and mortar fire engaging in heavy duel. A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter was seen flying between Naakarkoayil FDL area and Palaali SLA Military Base many times and roads from the battle front to Palaali remained blocked by SLA for a long time for public use while vehicles kept transporting injured and killed troops.
Information of injured and casualty figures were not available.
SLA launched its incessant attacks on LTTE held areas from their bases in Vadmaraadch, Thenmaraadchi and from Koapai.
Meanwhile, nearly 200 private lorries that had been permitted by SLA to transport sand for construction work from Ma’natkaadu in Vadamaraadchi east were suddenly ordered Monday morning by the SLA to suspend work and return as the roads they used were blocked for public use due to the heavy clash going on in Naakarkoayil.
Tigers attack SLN point in Mannaar city
[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 03:33 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) mounted a raid on a coastal point of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Koanthaippiddi in Mannaar city in the early hours of Monday around 2:00 a.m. and seized arms and ammunitions from the point, killing three SLN personnel, according to LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiarayan. The LTTE unit which engaged in the attack has recovered the body of a slain SLN trooper, he said. Meanwhile, the Tigers also launched an artillery attack on the installations of the Sri Lanka Army and Navy in Mannaar.
Military Spokesperson of the Tigers, Mr. Irasaiah Ilanthirayan (Marshall)The LTTE has seized one Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher (RPG), one RPD LMG, a communication set, ammunitions and other military items such as two bullet proof jackets, two helmets.
Tigers were making arrangements to hand over the body of the SLN trooper, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
The attacked locality was a threatening coastal point from where the SLN had launched attacks against fishermen, he added.
Koanthaippiddi is located inside Sri Lankan High Security Zone in Mannaar city. The point is located near Mannaar Fort.
Informed military sources in Colombo confirmed that a seaborne raid had taken place, but did not provide casualty details.
LTTE unloaded three shiploads of arms in two months: Report P. Karunakharan
Sun, May 4 05:49 PM
Colombo, May 4 (IANS)-(Indo-Asian News Service - Telling the South Asia story. Every Day.)Despite the Sri Lankan Navy's claim that it had destroyed all 10 arms ships of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the country's intelligence agencies have revealed that the guerrillas unloaded at least three shiploads of military hardware in the last two months, a media report here said Sunday.
It said that intense use of heavy artillery shells by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northeastern Weli Oya and northern Wanni and Jaffna fronts has 'raised fresh concerns' about the LTTE's ability to replenish their dwindling armoury regularly.
'The general impression among the public was that the LTTE had been starved of military supplies since the navy destroyed a fleet of LTTE vessels which functioned as floating armouries for the group. However, recent reports by intelligence agencies suggest otherwise,' the English weekly Lakbima News said in its defence column Sunday.
'They (intelligence reports) paint a gloomy picture, revealing that the LTTE had unloaded three shiploads of arms during the months of February and March,' it said.
Quoting a recent report 'filed by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and presented to the National Security Council', the media report said a shipload of arms was smuggled to the Wanni March 12.
'Another report by the State Intelligence Services (SIS) stated that two vessels had been unloaded by the LTTE during Feb 16-17. These consignments were transferred to trawlers from ships anchored in the deep seas and unloaded in Chalai, Mullaitivu and Veththilaikerny on the northeastern coast,' it said.
According to the media report, the recent developments in the battlefront 'appear to substantiate the findings of these two reports' with the significant increase in artillery and mortar attacks by the LTTE being observed during recent battles, including the one that left over 200 combatants killed and nearly 1000 wounded on both sides in Muhamalai in the northern Jaffna Peninsula April 23.
==============Eastern Polls: Empowering people for Nation Building Javid Yusuf
The East: Thriving with advent of democracy After 20 years Provincial Council elections are to be held in the Eastern Province. Consequent to the Supreme Court ruling demerging the "temporarily" merged North East and the Government's decision to implement the 13th amendment as a first step to resolve the national question, elections have now been fixed for May 10.
Detractors of the Government have criticised the decision to hold elections on several grounds. The UNP's criticism is that elections are being held with TMVP cadres being allowed to carry arms. The TNA opposition is on the ground that elections are being held in a demerged Eastern Province while they insist on a merged North Eastern Province.
The SLMC claims that the election is one that no one wants.
The question then is what could the Government have done. One option would have been to continue with Governor's rule which is what the North East enjoyed for 20 years.
If this had been done there would have been howls of protest saying such a course of action was undemocratic. The people of the East were deprived of the benefits of devolution under the guidance of democratically elected representatives during the last 20 years as the administration of Varatharajah Perumal was shortlived.
The situation has been a cause of particular dissatisfaction for Muslims from the East as the Provincial administration sans political direction by elected representative was almost exclusively manned by Tamil officers and therefore did not enjoy the confidence of Muslims.
13th amendment The alternative path chosen by the Government is to set up an elected Provincial Council to exercise the powers that have been devolved under the 13th amendment which is by any standard more democratic than Governor's rule.
While there is merit in the argument that the carrying of arms by the TMVP has a negative fallout, the situation is mitigated by the fact that they have been given strict instructions not to use such arms.
In the face of potential threats from the LTTE to TMVP cadres and the impracticality of providing security to each and every TMVP cadre, the Government seems to have adopted this course of action. The Government also has been successful in strictly enforcing compliance with these directions as evidenced by the fact that there are no reports from Election monitoring groups of the use of arms by TMVP cadres.
While permitting any group to carry arms is not a desirable option, given the circumstances, if the Government is able to continue to prevent the TMVP from using such arms, the Government will have succeeded in making the best of a difficult situation.
The invaluable contribution that would have resulted in the TMVP's "controlled participation" at the Provincial Council Elections is that it would facilitate its transformation from an armed group into one that would opt for a democratic process.
Democratic
Development: A priority in East One of the objectives of the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002 was the transformation of the LTTE into a democratic political entity and towards this end the LTTE was allowed to open political offices in Government controlled areas.
Unfortunately this objective was not achieved during this period and the LTTE did not undergo the intended transformation. In the present instance by its participation at the Local Government Elections and the Provincial Council Elections, the TMVP is halfway through the process of transformation into a democratic entity.
The criticisms on the grounds of carrying arms and violence ring hollow when one is reminded of the DDC Elections in 1981 under UNP rule which resulted in the burning of the Jaffna library and the 1987 Provincial elections when stuffing of ballot boxes on a large scale was first practised.
The TNA's criticism too does not have merit because it could still contest the East and continue to canvas the merger. The SLMCs view that no one wants an election is not likely to find favour with anyone on the premise that even a flawed democratic process is better than no democracy.
The elections to the Eastern Provincial Council can be justified on the following three broad grounds:-
1. It is a revival of the democratic process in the Eastern Province after a period of 20 years.
2. The elected Provincial Council will have an opportunity to put devolution into practice in an area where it was originally intended. This will enable weaknesses in the 13th Amendment to be identified as well as give an opportunity to those who have apprehensions about the dangers of devolution to see whether such fears are justified or not.
3. As it is a Province that has all three communities living in almost equal numbers, it will be an opportunity to commence the process of reconciliation and co-existence which should in turn facilitate nation building.
Revival After 20 years of the non-functioning of the Provincial Government, people are being provided an opportunity to look after their affairs through their elected representatives. The process of Local government and Provincial government has fallen into disuse with the inevitable negative consequences on the people.
The conflict and the militarisation of society has snuffed out possibility of all forms of democratic discourse which has prevented the Province from harnessing its rich intellectual and material resources for its development.
The revival of the democratic process will therefore empower the people of the East and facilitate efforts to bring it on par with other Provinces in the country. How well they succeed will of course depend entirely on the people of the East and their representatives.
Devolution The implementation of the 13th Amendment has been envisaged by the government as a first step in the process of resolving the conflict. The election of the Eastern Provincial Council will give the people of the East an opportunity to practice devolution in accordance with the 13th Amendment.
Thereby the inadequacies in the devolved powers and structures could be identified and steps could thereafter be taken to strengthen gaps in the system.
Devolution has been held out as a solution to the ethnic problem. There has been support for this view as well as opposition on the grounds that it threatens the sovereignty of the country.
Devolution has not been implemented in any form in the North and East which were the areas that it was meant for since the aborted rule of Varatharajah Perumal. Thereafter the North and East has been ruled by the Governor.
Nation building The third argument in support of holding the Eastern Province elections is that it creates the conditions to facilitate co-existence and nation building. Whether this objective will be achieved will depend on the elections and its outcome.
The space for leading the Eastern Province towards such a goal has been created by the holding of elections in the East but the realisation of such goals will depend on the wisdom of its representatives and its people.
Unfortunately there are many obstacles to be overcome. Immediately after the elections were announced the SLMC set the negative tone for the election campaign by raising the communal cry and stating that it would work towards the objective of installing a Muslim Chief Minister which in turn drew a counter response from the Tamil community.
The question that the voters have to ask themselves is whether the ethnicity of the Chief Minister is the critical factor in determining the suitability of a person to that post.
Is it not more advisable to look for a Chief Minister who enjoys the trust and confidence of all three communities; someone who will apply the principles of justice and fair play to all irrespective of ethnicity or religion; someone who ensures good governance and transparency in the process of developing the East which has been fractured by the scars caused by the conflict; someone who will have the capacity to give the lead in this healing process.
The government seems to have been able to retrieve the situation somewhat with its formula for the Chief Ministership.
Authoritative Government spokesmen have stated that the one who is elected with the most number of votes will become the Chief Minister.
The one who will succeed is likely to be one who is able to draw at least a minimum level of votes from the communities other than the one he belongs to.
The government has two high profile candidates who will probably endeavour to do just that. Given the high level of suspicion among the communities it will be a formidable task to achieve even a minimum level of cross community voting.
The UNP on the other hand has sponsored only the SLMC leader as its Chief Ministerial candidate and there are no possible contenders from any of the other communities.
The future Chief Minister and his team will have their work cut out in bringing the communities together and becoming partners in the effort to make the Eastern Province a model in more ways than one - in development, in ethnic harmony and in devolution.
Thus a huge responsibility is cast on the voters at the May 10 election as their decision can influence the course of not only the future of the Province but also the nature of the solution to the ethnic conflict. ==============Lanka wins big projects in Qatar and BahrainPublished: Monday, 5 May, 2008, 03:31 AM Doha Time COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has laid the foundation to export professional services for the booming construction industry in Middle East countries like Qatar and Bahrain, according to report in a Colombo newspaper.Qatar, with the third largest gas reserves in the world and having the highest per capita income in the world at $70,000, is well placed to both make investments in the island, as well as import Sri Lankan professional skills because of the construction boom there.CEO and secretary general of the Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI) Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya said that the CCI recently opened an office in Qatar as part of efforts to enhance the Gulf country’s construction industry capacity, especially for professional services.He added that the Qatar office would give the CCI more room to prospect for opportunities in the Gulf country which has already lined up more that $130bn capital expenditure, half of which is going for non energy sectors.There is over a trillion dollars worth of pure construction projects in the region right now, he said.Thalgodapitiya noted that there’s also a lot of infrastructure creation in the Gulf and this is an opportunity for Sri Lankan construction firms and skilled labour.He disclosed that the State Engineering Corp is undertaking a project worth QR439mn to construct 345 residential villas on Salwa Road in Qatar and MoUs had been signed for the construction of another 15,000 houses and an 80km road.He said SEC had signed another agreement in Bahrain to build 15,000 houses.Over a million Sri Lankans are employed in the six GCC states with 130,000 in Qatar alone. Thalgodapitiya noted that this could easily be increased to 200,000 because of the huge business expansion and infrastructure creation in Qatar.Thalgodapitiya said that a large number of foreign guests from Qatar, India, UK and Malaysia are expected to visit the Excon 2008 annual trade fair of the Chamber of Construction Industry to be held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Hall in Colombo from May 9 to 11.
Record number of maids recruited from Sri Lanka
By Sunita Menon, Staff ReporterPublished: May 05, 2008, 00:28
Dubai: The recruitment of Sri Lankan domestic workers in the UAE recorded an all time high this year.
"About 886 individual recruitment agreements were attested by the consulate in February and the figure further went up to 998 in March this year. This means the demand for Sri Lankan domestic helpers has gone up this year. It's a record high if we compare the figures in the last five years," said Ahmad Zein, consul labour and welfare at the Sri Lankan consulate in Dubai, yesterday.
Experts in the labour sector were of the opinion that the rise in the demand for Sri Lankan domestic workers has a lot to do with the Dh825 mandatory minimum wages stipulated for them by Colombo early this year. Previously they were paid Dh600.
Huge remittances
There are about 175,000 Sri Lankans in the UAE of which an estimated 55 per cent are employed as housemaids.
Of about 1.5 million Sri Lankans working overseas, a million are women. The country earns about $2.7 billion (about Dh9.9 billion) in foreign remittances by its overseas workers annually.
"The pay scale varies in the Gulf and Middle East countries as it is based on the per capita income in each of these countries. There was some unhappiness aired initially by recruitment agents in the UAE as well as in Sri Lanka who felt that a mandatory pay scale could have an adverse effect on recruitment but so far things are looking good," said Zein.
He said there had been no complaints of harassment registered so far this year by a Sri Lankan domestic helper.
Zein has credited this encouraging trend to the changing outlook of sponsors towards domestic helpers and the training programme by the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment for its nationals heading overseas for employment.
"There are about 1,500 registered recruitment agents in Sri Lanka who have their network spread across the Gulf and Middle East countries. These agents provide the sponsors with agreements to sign if they want to hire domestic helpers."
Minimum wages
Following are the minimum monthly wages for domestic workers in these countries:
The Philippines: Dh1,470 ($400)
India: Dh1,100
Sri Lanka: Dh825
Indonesia: Dh800
Bangladesh: Dh750
Eastern poll last nail in LTTE coffin
Minister Susil Premajayantha
Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Education, heading the Government campaign in the Batticaloa district told the 'Asian Tribune' that elections are going very much to plan.
People are determined to drive out the last vestiges of LTTE rule. This is the nail in their coffin. They are aware that voting for the UNP would annul that. We are confident that the UPFA would win close to 70 percent of seats at least.
The energetic campaign workers are going all out to ensure a victory for the government coalition, he said.
Here are excerpts from the interview given by Minister Susil Premajayantha:
Q: What is the latest about the East provincial council election ?
A: I stick to my original position, that the United Peoples Freedom Alliance will have a landslide victory in the East Provincial council elections. I am in charge of the election campaign for the UPFA in the Batticaloa district. Some of the opposition party leaders like the Tissa Attanayake, Secretary General of the UNP alleged that there are some armed groups engaged with election campaign.
So I challenged that if you can show one photograph or a video clip with proof, please show it. So far they have not done it. Then I told them that don't make baseless allegations. Because you are uttering all these baseless allegations from being in Colombo, why don't you go to those particular areas and visit those places? And tell the truth.
So far there are some election monitors stationed by several organizations the leading organization is People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL). Because they have the strength and experience in last many elections and they know how to station their representatives to monitor the election activities.
Yesterday PAFFREL in a report revealed that there was no major incidents except for some minor ones and this is the situation there.
Q: We learn that Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal is holding today a big public meeting in Batticaloa at the Webber Stadium.
A: Yes, they are having an election meeting, but I am not going to be there, because I am at Ampara today and tomorrow I will be in Batticaloa.
I understand that TMVP is involved in pocket meetings and also electorate wise election meetings. Furthermore TMVP activists are all very energetic youngsters and they are all involved in house to house campaigns distributing election pamphlets.
Furthermore, I understood that intellectuals in the province have come forward to back TMVP in the election.
Q: There is an allegation that Parliamentarian Sampathan, General Secretary of the TNA has made a statement that they do not accept this election and said that it is a farce ?
A: That is their position.
Q: We learned that TNA parliamentarians are continuously telephoning their supporters in the province and asking not to vote for TMVP and the ruling party UPFA, but to vote for UNP.
A: Asking to vote for UNP means that the TNA parliamentarian wanted their supporters to vote for Rauff Hakeem and thus voting for Hakeem means they are inviting LTTE back to the Eastern Province. People will not allow that - they want to hammer the last nail in the LTTE coffin.
Q: You mean to say that voting for UNP amounts to inviting LTTE back to the Eastern province ?
A: Of course, voting for the UNP amounts to inviting the LTTE. No doubt about it. I understand that most of the Tamils in all the three districts in the Eastern Province know very well what they should to do in these circumstances.
Q: How is the TMVP's position in the Ampara district ?
A: In the Ampaarai district they have three candidates, and I am confident that all three of them will win in Ampara. There are 76,000 Tamil votes there and if they can poll about 35 to 40,000 votes, then I think that is a best turning point. Definitely they have a clear chance of winning in that district.
Q: In this provincial council election, tell us one voter can cast how many votes ?
A: One voter can cast one vote for the Party and three preferential votes for the candidates of the same party.
Q: Will those three preferential votes be counted ?
A: Of course, after counting the party position then they count the preferential votes to find the position of the candidates.
Q: Is it possible for the voter to cast all three preferential votes to one candidate ?
A: No, he has to cast for three different candidates of his/her choice in the same party. One voter can cast one preferential vote for a candidate, thus he/she can cast his vote for three different candidate of his choice.
Q: What is the meaning of voting for the party ?
A: The party vote is used to determine the party position in all three districts and party which gets the highest number of votes will get two bonus seats, that mean 35 elected seats plus two bonus seats in the Eastern Provincial Council.
Q: There is a talk that no party will have majority in this election and the council will be a hung council.
A: I don't think that it is possible. To break this stalemate only they give two bonus seats to the party that wins majority of the votes.
Asian Tribune
Developing the North
The appointment of a Task Force Committee to oversee the development of the North hot on the heels of the Eastern Reawaking programme is a commendable move and is a clear indication that the Government is bent on continuing with the emancipation of population that had undergone huge privations and misery during the long drawn out conflict.
It also means that the Government means business and is also going all out to militarily defeat the LTTE whilst devolving power through the political mechanism worked out through the APRC process.
The move also opens a new chapter in the lives of the people of the North who had borne the brunt of the three decades long war and a clear indication that the Government will reassert its writ in that part of the country which had been cut off from the national mainstream due to the conflict.
Cabinet approval had been received for setting up this Task Force headed by Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda and is a prelude to the establishment of the Northern Provincial Council.
According to our weekend paper the Sunday Observer the Committee had lost no time in formulating a work programme to be implemented in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
It is hoped that the Northern development programme would be undertaken with the same vigour with which the East is currently being developed following the eviction of the LTTE from the province. What has to be borne in mind is that the dynamics of the North are different to the East with different demands and aspirations of the people for their social and economic development.
One cannot get away from the inference that the Government had set its sights on developing the North on the premise that the LTTE will be completely vanquished in the near future and the people liberated as in the East.
Also unlike in the East the Government may have to start from scratch in the North which has been reduced to a virtual wasteland with the ravages of war taking a heavy toll. Recreating the infrastructure would present a monumental challenge and the Task force should also set its sights on building up the broken livelihoods of the people who had been cast off their moorings by a brutal war inflicted on them by the LTTE.
Attention would have to be paid on how to get economic activity in this once thriving landscape started and priorities identified that would bring immediate relief to the people. There is no doubt the devastation is vast in the North compared to the East and the rebuilding process would present a gigantic challenge.
Focus should be drawn towards the reconstruction of homes, schools and places of religious worship damaged during the long years of the conflict which would no doubt be a monumental undertaking. Attention should also be paid towards protecting the sensitivities of the people of the North who are by nature tradition bound in all undertakings.
There is a lot of thinking to do before a final blueprint is drawn up. Factored into the envisaged programmes should be the industry drive and enterprises associated with the people of the North so that optimum results could be attained.
Above all, while resurrecting a once thriving economy connecting it with the mainstream of national development, measures should also be taken to erase the scars of war from the minds of these people.
The rebuilding process should also take into account the vast damage inflicted on the education sector in the North particularly in the context of forcible recruitment of youth by the LTTE.
More than anything what is of paramount importance is cleansing the Jaffna population of the hatred and animosity and suspicion with which they had been looking at the their brethren in the South over long decades so that they would be integrated with the rest of their countrymen in amity and brotherhood shedding aside the cloak of enmity that had clung onto them all these years.
The process no doubt would be gargantuan one and it would mind boggling even to contemplate the cost of this exercise. No doubt international donors will come to our assistance to help the Government accomplish this colossal task.
Now that a political process had been activated through the APRC it is hoped that the international community would favourably view this programme launched by the Government to develop the North to bring these people on par with the rest of country offering them equal treatment and justice.
US envoy meets Maoist leader
Published: Saturday, 3 May, 2008, 03:02 AM Doha Time KATHMANDU:
The United States ambassador to Nepal has met for the first time with the Maoist leader, the embassy said yesterday, despite the former rebels still being on a US list of terrorist organisations. “US Ambassador Nancy Powell met yesterday with Communist Party of Nepal Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to discuss the outcome of the April 10 elections,” a statement said. Dahal, who goes by the name of Prachanda or the “fierce one,” led the Maoists to a surprise victory in the elections to a 601-member body whose first job will be to abolish the world’s last Hindu monarchy and then rewrite the constitution. The Maoists were placed on a list of US terrorist organisations in 2003, and are yet to be removed, despite winning more than a third of the seats in the assembly that will decide the aid-dependant country’s political future. During the meeting with the Maoist chief, Powell “sought commitments that the new government would respect current donor agreements and ensure the safety of those implementing them,” the embassy statement said. During the landmark elections in the impoverished Himalayan country, former US president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center was monitoring the polls, urged the US government to take the ex-rebels off the terrorist list. “My hope is and my cautious expectation is that the US will in the future recognise the authenticity and the non-terrorist nature of the commitment of the Maoists,” the ex-Democratic president told journalists in Kathmandu. “It was a serious mistake for the United States to continue to boycott... consultations and communications with the Maoists,” Carter said. The former rebels, who launched their civil war in 1996, are unlikely to be removed from the list quickly, the US embassy said. “We at the embassy are working with government colleagues in Washington to review the current designation of the Maoists on the Terrorist Exclusion List, and Specially Designated National List,” the embassy spokesman said. “Any decision to alter that designation would take some time, it depends on the Maoists’ actions, including a rejection of violence to achieve political goals,” the spokesman said. The US has repeatedly called on the Maoists to completely stop using violence and intimidation, and to rein in their much feared Young Communist League. The Maoists won 220 of the 601 seats in the assembly that will chart Nepal’s political future and have said they plan to lead the government with or without the parties they defeated. The polls last month were a key component of the 2006 peace deal reached between the ultra-leftists and mainstream parties. Nepal’s King Gyanendra looks almost certain to be the last in a 240-year line with the Maoists’ win. The former insurgents have called on the monarch to step down gracefully before his dynasty is officially abolished. The decade-long war killed at least 13,000 people and ruined Nepal’s economy, leaving it one of the poorest countries in the world. – AFP
India’s concern about the Eastern provincial council
More than anybody else, the foreign diplomatic community are carefully watching as to whether a Tamil or a Muslim would become the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province where the Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farm are located. The emergence of the war by which the Provincial Council system was created, also could be attributed to the interest shown by the super powers and regional powers towards Trincomalee harbour .
The information circulated that J.R.Jayewardane who came into power in 1977 had decided to lease the Oil Tank Farm at Trincomalee to a company that has connections with the American Government and that the Trincomalee harbour would be used to berth and service American warships, made India panic and be restive and as a result India ventured to provide battle training to North and East Tamil youth and supply arms to them that transformed the ethnic problem into war.
If one reads the Indo-Lanka Agreement, it would be very clear that the biggest concern of India regarding Sri Lanka has not been the sufferings of the Tamil people, but the concern over Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farm.
One of the aims of this Indo-Lanka Accord indicates that the Sri Lankan Government would ensure that Trincomalee harbour would not be used in a manner that would be detrimental to the Indian interests and the Oil Tank Farm would be leased to an Indian Firm.
India through the setting up of the Provincial Council System attempted to amalgamate the North and East into one province because India wanted the Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farm to be under a Chief Minister who would be supportive to India .
India had a fear that if the East became a separate Provincial Council and was under a Muslim or Sinhala Chief Minister, it would have an adverse effect on the Indian requirements with regard to the Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farms.
That was why India was eying the Muslim Congress that was getting strengthened during that time and also its then leader Ashroff during the first Provincial Council Elections in 1988.
Pakistan and Iran focused their attention on the Muslim Congress during its formative stages.
With regard to the above in his book the former Indian High Commissioner J.N. Dixit explains as follows:
“The dawning of a new party under the name and style of Muslim Congress under a youthful leader M.H.M. Ashroff to fulfill the aims and aspirations of the Muslims, is a special event. It could be observed that the old-guards of the Muslim community who were pledging allegiance to either UNP or SLFP were isolated in the face of this emerging new Party. There was reliable information that this Party received material from Pakistan and Iran . I learnt that in 1988 the Iranian Ambassador to Sri Lanka has suggested to the Sri Lankan Minister of Justice that when devolving power in accordance with the Into-Lanka Accord the Sri Lanka Government should consider introducing personal legislation for the Muslim Community.
Though Muslims spoke Tamil, like the Tamils, the LTTE commenced to victimize Muslims and because of the difficulties faced by them due to the Sinhala Only concept, the Muslim Community was influenced to establish a separate political identity for themselves………”
In his book at page 353 according to the analysis of Dixit , India would have won the hearts of Ashroff and the Muslim Congress, before Muslim countries like Pakistan and Iran for Trincomalee Harbour and Oil Tank Farm.
The purpose of India and Dixit was made easy due to the 1988 Provincial Council elections held in the way the Indian Peace Keeping Forces deemed fit.
M.R. Narayan Swamy in his book “Tigers of Lanka’ explains the way as to how, the Indian High Commission office during the 1988 North-East Provincial Council elections provided funds to all the minority parties including the Sri Lanka Muslim congress:
“The Indian Government announced in July 1988 that the North-East Election would be held in November with or without the process, handing out cash donations to the EPRLF, ENDLF and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) much in the manner of the secret payment made to the LTTE by New Delhi in August 1977” (Page 289)
In the book “Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka” written by Rohan Gunaratna explains as given below the way how India helped Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Ashroff:
“It is alleged that the SLMC Leader M.H.M Ashroff, through his close connections with the EPRLF and ENDLF, continued to receive covert Indian assistance for building up his party.”(Page 381)
India tried to silence the Muslim Congress leader Ashroff by giving money and other assistance in a North and East amalgamated provincial council that would be set up.
India had strengthened the power of the Muslim Congress during the 1988 Provincial Council elections, through the Indian Peace Keeping Force. About this K. M. De Silva and Harvard Wriggins who wrote the J.R. Jayewardane’s biography says as follows:
“It was not only the declared number of votes to be so large to arouse suspicion, in certain Muslim areas the declared number of votes for those Muslim candidates in those areas were so large that surprised them. The part played by the Indian Peace Keeping Force during this election was well known to create problems..”(Page 191)
By giving assistance to Ashroff to strengthen the power in the Provincial Council, India minimized the pressures that would be levelled at the Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farm by world Muslim powers.
India thought by 1988 with a Chief Minister who would be helpful to Tamils it would be able to safeguard the expectations of the Eastern Province .
But, the Indian interests in the Eastern Province were once more threatened due to the dissolution of the North Eastern Provincial Council by Premadasa’s government and due to the LTTE establishing their power in the Eastern Province .
From then onwards India was afraid of the LTTE power in the Eastern Province . The position that would be created if the Trincomalee harbour and the Oil Tank Farm would go under the rule of the LTTE had made India to fear.
India has publicly announced this fear, by indicating that the LTTE was erecting fresh camps around Trincomalee,which would pose a question, after the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Accord in 2002.
India tried to control the LTTE that posed a problem against the requirements in the Eastern Province through Muslim Congress which was strengthened by assisting them during the 1988 Provincial Council elections.
The book “Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka ” mentions as to how Indian Secret Agency “RAW” created conflicts between the LTTE and the Muslim Congress when the Indian Peace Keeping Force was present, as follows:“Meanwhile the LTTE-SLMC Conflict was aggravated by “RAW” intervention. In order to counter the growing LTTE threat in the Muslim areas and to maintain a balance of power on all sides.”(Page 381)
It was the thinking of certain quarters that India expected that consequent to the signing of Ranil’s peace accord in 2002, Muslims would come forward to create conflicts between the Muslim congress and the LTTE.
It augured well for Indian desires of the then LTTE Leader in the Eastern Province Karuna’s attitude against Eastern Province Muslims
It was the thinking of some that India expected that Muslim Congress and the Muslims would rally against the Cessation of Hostilities and the Peace Accord and that this would create conflicts between the Muslim Congress and the LTTE.
The attitude against the Eastern Province Muslims by the then LTTE Eastern Leader Karuna augured well for the expectations of the Indian High Commission.
But, the then Muslim Congress Leader Rauf Hakeem, without fulfilling the Indian expectations, went on to agree to the Cessation of Hostilities, Peace Accord and to safeguard the Muslim interests he had also met the LTTE leader Prabhakaran to agree on a compromise.
When the Indo-Lanka accord was signed in 1987,the Leader of the Muslim Congress Ashroff was not able to include in the Accord, the safety of Muslims and any representation within the Accord could not be ensured.
But in 2002 Muslim Congress Leader Rauf Hakeem was able to discuss with the LTTE and ensured the safety of Muslims and their representation with the 2002 Peace process.
In 1987 when the Indo-Lanka accord was signed the Muslims and the Tamils in the Eastern province were one group of Tamil speaking people. But in the 2002 Peace process Muslims were a group that had forwarded their claims for a separate entity for the Eastern Province Muslims.
This agreement between the Muslim Congress and the LTTE was not aligned with the expectations of India . The result of this was the Muslim Congress was split into two and the Athaulla group left the Party.
The accord entered between Muslim Congress and the LTTE was not of the liking of the then Eastern Province LTTE Leader Karuna. This accord created conflicts between LTTE Leader Prabhakaran and Karuna. As a result of these conflicts, Mahinda Rajapaksa who came to power in 2005 was able to salvage Eastern Province from the grips of the LTTE.
In the May 10 Eastern Province elections, the Mahinda Government wants to support the Karuna-Pillayan Group.
Hakeem, the leader of the Muslim Congress has entered the Eastern Province election contest, sacrificing his Parliamentary seat, to ensure the safety of the Muslims of that areas.
Whether India would like, an armed Chief Minister who would safeguard the interests of the Government that is dependent on such Muslim countries like Pakistan and Iran and again the LTTE who would ensure Indian interests or a Muslim Democratic Chief Minister who would safeguard the interests of India in the Eastern Province , is only known to India .
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