ENB - English

The Hindu : News / Resources : Capital punishment in Rajiv Gandhi case: Jayalalithaa's statement (full text)

2011-08-31T03:33:00.000+01:00

The Hindu : News / Resources : Capital punishment in Rajiv Gandhi case: Jayalalithaa's statement (full text)

Capital punishment in Rajiv Gandhi case: Jayalalithaa's statement (full text)

2011-08-30T16:49:00.000+01:00

The Hindu : News / Resources : Capital punishment in Rajiv Gandhi case: Jayalalithaa's statement (full text)

Chinese pay bribes to win Hambantota contracts: Wikileaks cable

2011-08-26T11:54:00.000+01:00

Chinese pay bribes to win Hambantota contracts: Wikileaks cable

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

2011-02-11T17:36:00.000Z

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Mubarak's day of departure?

2011-02-04T10:22:00.000Z

President Obama on Sri Lanka and US Torture - Full Video

2010-12-15T07:28:00.000Z

McChrystal US commander in Afghanistan sacked

2010-06-24T10:08:00.002+01:00

General Stanley McChrystal has been relieved of his command of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

McChrystal's departure follows a 30-minute meeting with Barack Obama, the US president, on Wednesday.

He had been summoned to Washington after a Rolling Stone magazine article portrayed the general and his aides as dismissive of the Obama administration and its strategy in Afghanistan.

Obama nominated General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, to take command of the war in Afghanistan.

In a statement in the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Obama said he was not "personally insulted" by McChrystal's comments, but called his conduct unbecoming.

"The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general," Obama said.

"It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system."

No change to strategy

Obama made it clear that the change in command would not mean significant changes to his war strategy in Afghanistan.

"This is a change in personnel, not a change in policy," he said.

McChrystal emailed a short statement to reporters shortly after Obama's announcement, calling it a "privilege and honour" to have served as the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan.

"I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan, and am deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations and the Afghan people," he wrote.

"It was out of respect for this commitment that I tendered my resignation."

"Poor judgment"

The Rolling Stone article, released on the internet on Tuesday, contained quotes critical of Joseph Biden, the US vice-president, and several other high-ranking officials.

At one point, McChrystal referred to a leaked memo from Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador in Kabul, which questioned the competence of the Afghan government.

McChrystal had already apologised for his remarks.

In a statement released on Tuesday, he called his comments "a mistake reflecting poor judgment".

A spokesman for Nato, James Appathurai, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the military alliance still had "full confidence" in McChrystal.

The Afghan government also took the unusual step of endorsing McChrystal and urging Obama not to remove him from command.

Waheed Omer, a spokesman for Afghan president Hamid Karzai, said Karzai "respects" the decision.

"We had hoped this would not have happened, but the decision has been made and we respect it," Omer said. "[Karzai] looks forward to working with his replacement."

The change of command is the latest bit of bad news in a difficult month for the Nato mission in Afghanistan. Six Nato soldiers were killed in attacks across the country on Wednesday, bringing the death toll for foreign troops in June to 75.

Al Jazeera

May 18

2010-05-16T03:39:00.004+01:00

Note: Please double click on cover 'Veera kaaviyam May 18'

The Island Volcanic Ash: Eyjafjallajokul

2010-04-16T14:24:00.002+01:00

Airports Close for Second Day as Ash Spreads Across Europe
By ALAN COWELL, NICOLA CLARK and MARK McDONALD
April 15, 2010
PARIS — Air travel chaos across the globe deepened on Friday as a vast, high-altitude plume of volcanic ash from Iceland spread farther across northern and central Europe, forcing the authorities to close airspace and ground airplanes to forestall potentially dangerous damage to jet engines.
By Friday morning, most of Europe’s major airports — crucial hubs for international travelers — were closed. Thousands of flights had been canceled since the disruption began on Thursday, stranding or delaying millions of passengers from North America to Asia.
“I’ve never seen such chaos,” said Erich Klug, 35 , a buyer for an auto parts company who was stranded at the Frankfurt airport after it closed down on Friday. Hundreds of people there stood in line to buy train tickets for onward travel.
Aviation authorities said there was no prospect of a return to normal flights until Saturday at the earliest, raising questions about a wide range issues from the economy and business to family vacations and even to whether President Obama would be able to fly to the funeral on Sunday of the Polish president and his wife, killed in an unrelated air crash last week.

Neither did the volcanic eruption in Iceland seem to be easing. At 6 a.m. Friday local time, the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center reported in London, there was still “significant eruption continuing.” The volcano erupted Wednesday for the second time in a month, forcing evacuations and causing flooding about 75 miles east of Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. Icelandic airports remained open because they are west of the volcano and wind was blowing the ash away to the south and east.
For the first time, an international agency warned on Friday of potential health risks. In Geneva, the World Health Organization said people with respiratory problems should “limit their activities outdoors or stay indoors” if ash started falling from the sky.

In a telephone interview, a spokesman, Dan Epstein, said there were no apparent health risks if the ash stayed in the upper atmposphere. But if the ash reached the ground, people with illnesses such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis could be at risk.There have been no reports of significant amounts of ash falling on densely populated areas.
Eurocontrol, the agency in Brussels that is responsible for coordinating air traffic across the region, said the cloud’s impact “will continue for at least the next 24 hours.”
British authorities, which closed all British airspace Thursday for the first time in many people’s memory, said Friday there would be no flights over England until early Saturday morning at the earliest.
Germany’s civil aviation authority said that as of noon, all German airspace, except Munich airport, was closed and would remain so until 6 p.m.
Thomas Uber, a spokesman for Frankfurt airport, a major hub for Lufthansa, said “no one knows” how long the facility would be closed but the re-opening would be much later than initially foreseen at mid- afternoon. “The cloud is way up north but we are erring on the safe side,” he said. As a measure of the disruption, he said the airport set up 1,000 cots in open terminal areas last night and almost all were taken.

Lufthansa, the country’s flag carrier, said passengers for flights within Germany were being offered vouchers at airport check-in counters for rail tickets to their destinations. Passengers to destinations outside Germany were being offered free re-bookings on other flights, the airline said on its Web site.

Eurocontrol said it expected more than 60 percent of the 28,000 scheduled flights across Europe would be cancelled on Friday. Of the 300 flights that would usually arrive in Europe in the morning from other areas, only about one third arrived Friday, Eurocontrol said.

The disruption Friday seemed to be setting a new pattern as the volcanic plume drifted slowly eastward over central Europe and western Russia, moving away from the areas first affected. As Ireland, to the west, and Scotland to the north eased restrictions, Czech authorities to the east in central Europe, began closing down their airspace. Eurocontrol said that much of Polish airspace, including the Warsaw airport, was now closed and said the region would likely continue to face severe disruptions to air travel for at least another 24 hours.

It was not immediately clear if that would affect world leaders planning to attend the state funeral on Sunday of President Lech Kaczynski of Poland and his wife.

Before the volcano erupted, the White House said President Obama would depart Washington on Saturday evening to fly to Krakow, Poland, for the funeral. For many Europeans, the closures seemed a puzzle.

While satellite photographs from above show the cloud to be dark and menacing, it remains largely invisible from the ground. Reporters in Paris, London and Frankfurt said Friday that the skies overhead were blue and mostly clear.

At Frankfurt airport, Dominique Spiesser, 54, a chemical engineer from Switzerland who was on a business trip in India, said he only learned that the airport was closed after his flight landed early Friday.
Gesturing toward a patch of sunlight streaming down a nearby stairwell, Mr. Spiesser said: “When you see sunshine like that it’s difficult to understand.”
Nonetheless, the plume represents a severe threat to aircraft, aviation authorities said, as it is made up of minute particles of silicate that can disable jet engines, forcing planes to stall in flight.
By Friday the tally of airport closings, which began Thursday in Scotland, had spread to Heathrow and Gatwick in Britain; Charles de Gaulle and Orly in Paris; Frankfurt; and hubs in Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.
Britain’s National Air Traffic Service said Friday that restrictions on flights in English-controlled airspace would remain in effect until 1 a.m. Saturday “at the earliest.”
The agency noted that some airspace closures had been lifted in Northern Ireland and the northern parts of Scotland, and that some airports — including Glasgow — had reopened and would remain so until 7 p.m. But the bulk of Britain’s airports, including London, would remain closed.
“In general, the situation cannot be said to be improving with any certainty,” the agency said.
About 6,000 scheduled flights use British airspace in an average day, aviation experts said. The ash from the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced EYE-a-fyat-la-jo-kutl), was reported to be drifting at 18,000 to 33,000 feet above the earth. At those altitudes, the cloud is directly in the way of commercial airliners but not an immediate health threat to people on the ground, the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network, based in Britain, said on its Web site.

The closing of British airspace disrupted the great majority of trans-Atlantic flights, including those on the New York-London route, the second busiest international route in the world after the Hong Kong to Singapoore, Taiwan, route, according to the International Air Transport Association. Eurocontrol said roughly half of the 600 daily flights between North America and Europe probably faced cancellations or delays on Friday.
Severe disruption extended all the way to the Asia-Pacific, where major carriers like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Qantas, the Australian airline, were among those that canceled, delayed or diverted flights to and from Europe on Thursday and Friday. Qantas, which cancelled various flights on Friday, said in a statement that it would also not offer flights to London and Frankfurt on Saturday.
Major American carriers that fly to Britain were allowing their passengers to rebook flights without penalty on Thursday. The potential economic effect of the closings is “virtually impossible” to determine at this stage, said Peter Morris, chief economist at Ascend, an aviation consultancy in London.

“A ballpark estimate would be that half a million to a million people’s travel will be disrupted in the U.K. over a couple of days, assuming things start to clear up soon,” he said. “For the long-haul players, especially those headed to the other side of the world, it’s a nightmare.”

Globally, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, an industry consultancy based in Sydney, said Friday that if the disruptions continued for three days “some 6 million passengers will be affected” — and many could forfeit their flights.
In recent decades, more than 90 aircraft have suffered damage from volcanic plumes, according to the International Civil Aviation Authority, an arm of the United Nations.

Volcanic ash is primarily made of silicates, or glass fibers, which, once ingested into a jet engine, can melt, causing the engine to flame out and stall.

Alan Cowell and Nicola Clark reported from Paris, and Mark McDonald from Hong Kong. Jack Ewing contributed reporting from Frankfurt; Bettina Wassener from Hong Kong; and Liz Robbins from New York.This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only.

Obama calls for action to safeguard nuclear stocks

2010-04-13T17:31:00.002+01:00

Dozens of countries held nuclear materials that could be sold or stolen, and that a weapon fashioned from an apple-size piece of plutonium could kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people.
“Terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda have tried to acquire the material for a nuclear weapon, and if they ever succeed, they would surely use it. Were they to do so, it would be a catastrophe for the world.” Mr. Obama

Obama Calls for Joint Action to Safeguard Nuclear Stocks
April 13, 2010
Obama Calls for Joint Action to Safeguard Nuclear Stocks
By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON — Saying that the prospect of nuclear terrorism had emerged as one of the greatest threats to global security, President Obama called on world leaders “not simply to talk, but to act” to secure or destroy vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear materials.

Mr. Obama, addressing a plenary session of the 47-nation nuclear security conference he had convened here, told fellow leaders Tuesday morning that it was time “not simply to make pledges, but to make real progress for the security of our people.”

“All this, in turn, requires something else, something more fundamental,” Mr. Obama continued. “It requires a new mindset — that we summon the will, as nations, as partners, to do what this moment in history demands.”

Seeking to lend force to his warning, Mr. Obama said that dozens of countries held nuclear materials that could be sold or stolen, and that a weapon fashioned from an apple-size piece of plutonium could kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people.

“Terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda have tried to acquire the material for a nuclear weapon, and if they ever succeed, they would surely use it. Were they to do so, it would be a catastrophe for the world.”

A day after Ukraine, Canada and Malaysia offered individual undertakings to tighten controls or reduce nuclear stocks, Mr. Obama said that “the problems of the 21st century cannot be solved by nations acting in isolation — they must be solved by all of us coming together.”

Joint undertakings toward that end will be spelled out in a communiqué from the group to be issued at day’s end, and more individual commitments are expected as well.

Mr. Obama also announced that there would be another nuclear security conference in two years, and that the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, had agreed to be the host. That would seem to ensure a particularly close focus on the North Korean nuclear program, just as Iran has drawn particular attention at this meeting.

On Monday, Mr. Obama secured a promise from President Hu Jintao of China to join negotiations on a new package of sanctions against Iran, administration officials said, but Mr. Hu made no specific commitment to backing measures that the United States considers severe enough to force a change in direction in Iran’s nuclear program.

In a 90-minute conversation here, Mr. Obama sought to win more cooperation from China by directly addressing one of the main issues behind Beijing’s reluctance to confront Iran: its concern that Iran could retaliate by cutting off oil shipments to China. The Chinese import nearly 12 percent of their oil from Iran.

Mr. Obama assured Mr. Hu that he was “sensitive to China’s energy needs” and would work to make sure that Beijing had a steady supply of oil if Iran cut China off in retaliation for joining in severe sanctions.

American officials portrayed the Chinese response as the most encouraging sign yet that Beijing would support an international effort to ratchet up the pressure on Iran and as a sign of “international unity” on stopping Iran’s nuclear program before the country can develop a working nuclear weapon.

On Tuesday, though, Chinese officials in Beijing seem to strike a more cautious note.

“We believe that the Security Council’s relevant actions should be conducive to easing the situation and conducive to promoting a fitting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations,”

Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry official, said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

“China supports a dual-track strategy and has always believed that dialogue and negotiations are the optimal channels for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. Sanctions and pressure cannot fundamentally resolve the issues.”

Iran’s state-financed Press TV satellite broadcaster highlighted news agency reports saying that China still favored diplomacy to resolve dispute over Tehran’s nuclear intentions.

The developments had distinct echoes of former President George W. Bush’s three efforts to corral Chinese support for penalties to be imposed on Iran by the United Nations Security Council. Those penalties were intended to make it prohibitively expensive for Iranian leaders to enrich uranium or to refuse to answer questions posed by international nuclear inspectors.

In those cases, former American officials said, the Chinese agreed to go along with efforts to address Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but then used Security Council negotiating sessions to water down the resolutions that were ultimately adopted.

Mr. Obama also used his meeting with Mr. Hu, the fourth face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world’s largest economy and its biggest lender, to keep up the pressure on Beijing to let market forces push up the value of China’s currency. That is a critical political task for Mr. Obama, because the fixed exchange rate has kept Chinese goods artificially cheap and, in the eyes of many experts, handicapped American exports and cost tens of thousands of American jobs.

In anticipation of Monday’s meeting, Chinese officials told Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner last week that they were about to resume a controlled loosening of their exchange rate, which would increase the relative costs of Chinese exports.

Mr. Obama’s senior Asia adviser, Jeffrey A. Bader, told reporters after the meeting on Monday that Mr. Obama told Mr. Hu that a market-oriented exchange rate would be “an essential contribution” to a “sustained and balanced economic recovery.”

The session with Mr. Hu came just before the opening of the first summit meeting devoted to the challenges of keeping nuclear weapons and material out of the hands of terrorists. At a dinner Monday evening in the cavernous Washington Convention Center, Mr. Obama led a discussion of the nature of the threat and the vulnerability of tons of nuclear material that could be fashioned into a weapon.

Earlier in the day, John O. Brennan, Mr. Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, offered a sampling of Mr. Obama’s argument when he told reporters that the United States had continuing evidence of Al Qaeda’s interest in obtaining highly enriched uranium or plutonium, the only materials from which a nuclear weapon can be made, and that it would be used “to threaten our security and world order in an unprecedented manner.”

But he cited no incidents beyond the now-famous campfire conversations that Osama bin Laden held in August 2001 with two Pakistanis who had deep ties to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons laboratories. While Al Qaeda has tried repeated purchases, Mr. Brennan said, “fortunately, I think they’ve been scammed a number of times, but we know that they continued to pursue that. We know of individuals within the organization that have been given that responsibility.”

The main focus of Mr. Obama’s meeting is to obtain commitments from each of the 47 countries attending to lock up or eliminate nuclear material.

One such agreement was announced Monday with Ukraine which, after the fall of the Soviet Union, was, because of its remainder stockpiles of nuclear missiles and bombs, briefly the world’s third-largest nuclear power. It gave up the arsenal, but for the past 10 years had resisted surrendering its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, held at research reactors and another nuclear center.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit group that studies proliferation, has estimated Ukraine’s stockpile at about 360 pounds, or roughly enough for seven weapons.

According to a senior administration official, under the deal announced Monday the United States will pay to secure the highly enriched uranium, which will probably be sent to Russia for conversion into low- enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. As part of the deal, the United States will also help supply Ukraine with new low-enriched fuel and a new research facility.

But over all, it was Iran that dominated the day, because the administration has a goal of putting sanctions in place this spring, Mr. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times last week.

On Monday, Mr. Obama laid out the details of the sanctions package for Mr. Hu, according to a senior White House official familiar with the discussion. These are likely to include additional measures to deny

Iran access to international credit, choke off foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector and punish companies owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which controls swaths of Iran’s economy, as well as its nuclear program.

The administration is betting that a large segment of Iranian society detests the Revolutionary Guards for its role in suppressing the protests that followed elections last June, and may welcome properly targeted sanctions.

“Until two weeks ago, the Chinese would not discuss a sanctions resolution at all,” the official said. But the Obama administration, in hopes of winning over Beijing, has sought support from other oil producers to reassure China of its oil supply. Last year, it sent a senior White House adviser on Iran, Dennis B. Ross, to Saudi Arabia to seek a guarantee that it would help supply China’s needs, in the event of an Iranian cutoff.

“We’ll look for ways to make sure that if there are sanctions, they won’t be negatively affected,” said the senior official.

There was little evidence in the meeting of the succession of spats that have soured Chinese-American relations over the last several months, American officials said. While Mr. Hu raised Chinese complaints about American weapons sales to Taiwan, an official said, he did so fleetingly. And he did not mention Mr. Obama’s decision to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Brian Knowlton, contributed reporting from Washington, Andrew Jacobs from Beijing and Alan Cowell from Paris.

Fonseka warned against speaking to international bodies on ‘war crimes’

2010-02-18T17:58:00.002Z

*Fonseka warned against speaking to international bodies on ‘war crimes’:PTI
*Mahinda Rajapaksa: Unwise Actions Could Endanger Democracy: B.Raman
*No link between Fonseka arrest and run for prez: Lanka envoy
========================================
News » International
Colombo, February 11, 2010
Fonseka warned against speaking to international bodies on ‘war crimes’ PTI
Sri Lankan government has warned the detained ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka against providing “evidence to certain international organisations” on alleged war crimes during the final battle with LTTE as it took strong exception to his remarks that he would “reveal the truth“.

“He has reportedly spoken regarding certain things that took place during the war. He also said he is going to provide evidence,” Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene said.

“If he (Fonseka) is going to give evidence to certain international organisations regarding incidents that have taken place after the war was initiated then I believe that the army has the right to question such a military officer,” he told reporters, without naming the global bodies.

Wimal Weerawansa, the chief of the National Freedom Front, a partner of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), also cautioned Gen. (Retd.) Fonseka on the issue.

“Why is a doubt being created in the world? He (Fonseka) was not the one who commanded all the forces,” Mr. Weerawansa said on Wednesday, implying that the General was only responsible for army that time as its head, and not for Air Force and Navy.

“The state leader or someone in the political arena can say this. If something has taken place and you are revealing it, then we will make inquires about it. However, for a former army commander, who was there during the war, to make these revelations, it is a betrayal,” he said.

Prior to his detention, Gen. (Retd.) Fonseka had said on Monday that he was “not going to save anyone who has committed war crimes,” according to BBC Sinhala service.

International human rights organisations as well as the U.S. State Department had alleged that Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes during the final phase of the war against Tamil Tigers.

"I am definitely going to reveal what I know, what I was told and what I heard. Anyone who has committed war crimes should definitely be brought into courts," Gen. (Retd.) Fonseka, who was trounced by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the January 26 Presidential polls, had said.
============================================
Paper no. 3660
11-Feb-2010
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Unwise Actions Could Endanger Democracy
By B. Raman
After having won an impressive victory over Gen.Sarath Fonseka, his former Army chief, in the prematurely called Presidential elections on January 26, 2010, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has got the Parliament dissolved before it had completed its term so that fresh elections to a new House could be held. The new elections are scheduled to be held on April 8, 2010.

2. It seems to be his hope and calculation that his party and others supporting him would win an equally impressive victory in the elections to the Parliament by taking advantage of the confusion prevailing in the ranks of the opposition after the defeat of Fonseka in the Presidential elections. If his hopes are realised, this will enable him to undertake a programme for finding a solution to the grievances of the Tamils and putting Sri Lanka back on the road to economic recovery.

3. Mr.Rajapaksa was within his rights in calling for premature parliamentary elections and nobody could have objected to his action. What is, however, highly objectionable is the manner in which the President and his two brothers----Mr.Gothbaya Rajapaksa and Mr.Basil Rajapaksa---- have been trying to humiliate Gen. Fonseka and intimidate his supporters apparently in order to ensure that the votes, which Fonseka got in the Presidential elections, do not get translated into votes against Mr.Rajapaksa's party and its electoral allies.

4. A campaign of intimidation and vendetta was started against Fonseka and his supporters after the Presidential elections. Over a dozen officers of the Armed Forces----three of them Majors-General---- have been sacked on national security grounds without specifying the reasons in detail. They were apparently suspected of being loyal to Fonseka and not to the President.

5. The purge of Fonseka's supporters in the Armed Forces was followed by the arrest of Fonseka himself in an undignified manner despite the fact that he was the chief of the Army and had displayed commendable leadership qualities in having the LTTE crushed. Fonseka himself once narrowly escaped being killed by the LTTE. This showed how the LTTE considered his elimination important for achieving its objective.

6. While many people-----including the President himself and his two brothers-----played an important role in the elimination of the LTTE, the role of Fonseka and his come-back after almost having been killed by the LTTE fired the imagination of the officers and other ranks in the Armed Forces and made them fight as a team with determination against the LTTE. When the history of the victory over the LTTE is written, Fonseka's generalship would stand out in any account.

7. In its long history, the Sri Lankan army had not produced many heroes to whom the soldiers can look up to for inspiration. Fonseka was an exception as a professional soldier. Apparently blinded by political ambition after the victory over the LTTE, Fonseka conducted himself in an erratic and irresponsible manner and tried to play down the role of the President and his brothers and others in the victory.

8. His over-sized pride in himself and in his role and the bad advice which he received from those around him made him cross the limits of decency and loyalty and make wild allegations against the President and Mr.Gothbaya, who, as the Defence Secretary, co-ordinated the operations against the LTTE.

9. Mr.Rajapaksa had valid reasons to be angry against the General, but he has allowed the anger to get the better of him. His post-election actions against the General---including the circumstances of his arrest in an undignified manner not under the ordinary laws of the land, but under the special laws governing the Armed Forces and his plans to have him court-martialed under charges relating to violations of national security when he was a serving General have given rise to suspicions of a vendetta against the General for having dared to criticise the President and his brothers and for letting himself be used by the opposition in an attempt to have Mr.Rajapaksa defeated in the Presidential elections for a second term.

10. One could also discern an attempt by Mr.Rajapaksa and his brothers to make it difficult for Fonseka to influence the forthcoming Parliamentary elections by keeping him in detention fighting cases started against him by the Government. Mr.Rajapaksa does not seem to realise that his actions could not only create public revulsion for his style of functioning, but could also sow the seeds for the politicisation of the Sri Lankan Army and make it go down the way of the Armies of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

11. The political leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot escape their share of responsibility for politicising their armed forces and facilitating the military dominance of the political life of their countries by actions which were exploited by the Army to project the political class in a bad light.

12. If democracy has till now survived and flourished in Sri Lanka, an important contributing factor was the wisdom shown by the predecessors of Mr.Rajapaksa in maintaining the professionalism of the Army and keeping it politically neutral. By deviating from the path of wisdom followed by his predecessors and by conducting himself in the manner he has been doing due largely to sheer spite, Mr.Rajapaksa has already broken the healthy traditions which had won Sri Lanka the respect of the international community.

13. If Mr.Rajapaksa does not pull himself back and refrain from such vindictive actions, there is a danger of Sri Lanka meeting the fate of Pakistan and Bangladesh due to the unwise actions of Mr.Rajapaksa and his brothers.
==============================================
No link between Fonseka arrest and run for prez: Lanka envoy
Sachin Parashar, TNN, 10 February 2010, 03:54am IST
NEW DELHI: A day after the arrest of former army chief Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan high commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam said the development would have no adverse effect on the island nation’s stability as the charges against Fonseka are not linked to his status as the main opposition candidate in the January presidential elections. Fonseka’s arrest is being looked upon by many as a crackdown on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s opponents in the run-up to parliamentary elections.

"It is important to not see a link between his candidature in the presidential polls and the arrest which is a part of a separate process altogether. There are serious allegations of misconduct as a military officer against him and the investigations into these are bound by military rules," said Kariyawasam in an exclusive interview to TOI, adding that only the investigations will determine the exact form of charges to be pressed against him.

While Kariyawasam said the process of devolution of power to Tamils is already underway, he admitted it could be delayed by the fact that there is no real leadership currently among the Tamils.

"We and India are on the same page over empowering people in the north and east. However, the fact is that we need a new Tamil leadership to emerge. We can’t work with diaspora groups who are enamoured by the idea of separatism," said Kariyawasam, adding Sri Lanka needed more time as the war was just over. He was responding to a query on how seriously Rajapaksa would take his commitment on devolution in the face of his resounding win over Fonseka who was backed by the Tamils.

As for the resettlement, he said there were only about 70,000 refugees living in military camps now. "Even among these there are many who are living there because the camps have good facilities," he said.

Kariyawasam also sought to allay India’s concerns over the growing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka and that the firmly entrenched Rajapaksa might use the proximity with China as a leverage against India. He said India will always be the most important country for Sri Lanka. "There is a misperception. Our friendship with China is not at India’s expense. Sri Lanka will never do anything which will harm India’s strategic interest," he said.

"We have a commercial and profitable partnership with China which should make India happy too because it will lead to overall development which, in turn, will help Indian firms who are investing in Sri Lanka," he added.

'He was definitely planning a coup' -Gothabaya

2010-02-11T02:22:00.001Z

'He was definitely planning a coup' — The Straits Times Blogs

Gen. Fonseka was forcibly dragged away from his office

2010-02-09T20:06:00.004Z

To view a video please double click on the above picture.
Gen. Fonseka was forcibly dragged away from his office February 8th, 2010
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
In a disturbing turn of events, retired four star General Sarath Fonseka was taken into custody by a contingent of military police on the night of Monday, February 8th 2010.

General Fonseka a widely regarded as the most successful army commander in post-Independence Sri Lanka was roughly manhandled, assaulted and forcibly dragged away by military personnel who had saluted him with respect only a few months ago.
The ex-army chief who was the main challenger of President Mahinda Rajapakse in the recently concluded Presidential poll is currently “housed” at a chalet within the Naval headquarters precincts in Colombo.
Gen. Fonseka who also held the position of Chief of Defence staff (CDS) prior to contesting the Presidential elections is detained pending interrogation into alleged military offences committed by him while in service as Army chief and chief of defence staff.
Although a charge sheet is yet to be formulated the General is very likely to face in camera court-martial proceedings at the hands of a military tribunal that would debar media coverage.
The manner and mode in which the highly decorated war hero was arrested and detained has come in for heavy criticism by opposition politicians on whom the cruel irony of the man who defeated “terrorism” being treated like a terrorist was not lost.
Discussions
General Fonseka was in his political office at Rajakeeya Mawatte (Reid avenue) near Royal College in Colombo 7 discussing political strategies and campaign tactics for the forthcoming Parliamentary polls with a group of political allies.
Among those participating in the discussions were Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC)leader and MP Rauff Hakeem, Democratic Peoples Front (DPF)leader and MP Mano Ganesan, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Somawansa Amerasinghe and JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti.
Fonseka’s media secretary Senaka de Silva a.k.a “Shah” Silva was also a participant. Senaka Silva is a former captain of the Sri Lankan Army.
The highly confidential discussions were conducted behind closed doors in Gen. Fonseka’s boardroom on the first floor of the building.
The security personnel in charge of personal security for the General and other political leaders like Hakeem, Ganesan and Handunnetty were waiting in an outer enclosure.
The time was about 9.40 pm when a contingent of military personnel swooped down on the premises in a commando type raid. While scores of soldiers took up positions around and inside the building a special squad burst into the room where the meeting was going on.
Before entering the room by breaking down the door the military personnel had disarmed the security officers of Fonseka and other political leaders by relieving them of their firearms.
Upon entering the room the Military Police, Provost-Marshal Brigadier Wijesiri had introduced himself and asked the politicial leaders to leave the room as the Army had been instructed to detain and question General Fonseka.
The political leaders had objected to this high-handed action and politely refused to vacate the room and leave the General to the tender mercies of his erstwhile military subordinates.
At this point General Fonseka had said that if he was to be arrested for questioning then it had to be done in the proper way. He said that the army could not arrest him as he was no longer in the army and that only the Police could arrest him.
Fonseka’s media secretary Senaka de Silva had also spoken supportively of the General.
When the political representatives tried to intervene they were curtly ordered to remain silent and not interfere in a matter of national security.
Interrogation
The Provost Marshall Wijesiri had then said that the General had to be taken into custody by the Military police for interrogation about certain offences committed by him while wearing the military uniform.
Since they were military offences it was the military Pol’ce that was entitled to arrest him, emphasised the Provost Marshall.
He also rapidly read out from his orders outlining the reasons for taking Sarath Fonseka into custody.
The charges under which Fonseka is to be interrogated included
a) Politicking whilst in uniform.
b) Conspiring against the Commander-in-Chief whilst in Service.
c) Harboring more than 1,500 deserters whilst on service.
d) Corrupt practices relating to military procurements.
Sarath Fonseka then protested vehemently and asserted that he would not leave the office unless and until the Police took him into custody and that the military Police had no authority to arrest him as he was now a civilian out of uniform.
The military Police officials seemed hesitant to proceed further in the face of the defiant stance adopted by Sarath Fonseka who reiterated that he was willing to submit to arrest by the Police but not the military Police.

Suddenly a fresh group of military personnel entered the room. They were led by Major-General Sumith Manawaduge, commanding officer of Colombo district operations in the Army.

Incidently it was Maj-Gen Manawaduge who was in charge of an earlier operation on January 26th-27th when a contingent of troops encircled the Lakeside Cinnamon Hotel where Sarath Fonseka and some associates were staying.
Manawaduge then barked out orders to the military personnel to take hold of Fonseka. At one point he had rasped to hesitating personnel “Ai balagana inne. Bellen allaganda” (Why are you just watching and waiting, grasp his throat).
Egged on by their commanding officer the soldiers then seized their former commander and tried to pull him out. But Fonseka held on to a table refusing to accompany them. He kept on shouting “Let the Police come. I will come then”.
When Senaka de Silva also protested , Maj-Gen Manawaduge ordered his men to arrest the ex-captain and hand him over to the Police for further questioning.
Spectacle
He then ordered soldiers to drag the general (adagena yande). The soldiers then grasped the hands and legs of Sarath Fonseka and forcibly dragged him along.
The politicians witnessing this disgusting spectacle of an ex-Army chief being humiliated in this way remonstrated with the army officers but to no avail as Maj-Gen Manawaduge simply ignored them.
Sarath Fonseka kept on shouting and struggling as he was forcibly dragged down the steps from the first floor. Some of the soldiers dragging the General were seen hitting their former commander in a bid to restrain him.
One soldier was seen delivering a powerful punch to the back of Sarath Fonseka’s head.
When the soldiers assaulted him the General retorted by resorting to colourful expressions and choice epithets in both the Sinhala and English languages.
The 59 year old General who had survived an LTTE suicide bomb attempt on his life in April 2006 was manhandled very roughly by the soldiers who dragged him down the stairs by pulling his hands.
At one point the struggling Fonseka’s flailing legs smashed into a window cracking the glass pane. The General was wearing brown trousers and a white shirt at the time of arrest.
Handcuffed
After reaching ground level the General was handcuffed and then bodily carried towards a vehicle.
Fonseka then asked the soldiers to put him down saying he would walk without struggling. Thereafter a handcuffed Fonseka walked a very short distance to the bullet-proof Land Rover jeep in which he was taken to Navy headquarters.
He has been detained in a chalet within Naval headquarters premises.
Detaining Fonseka within Navy precincts is perceived as another attempt to humiliate and anger him as the ex-army chief was at loggerheads with his counterpart former Navy chief Admiral Karannagoda and had constantly undermined the navy during his tenure as Army chief.
Senaka de Silva was taken separately and reportedly handed over to the Police for questioning.
The political leaders at Fonseka’s office were prevented from leaving the place for nearly half an hour by the Army.
The Army also blocked mediapersons from photographing the “arrest” and reportedly confiscated film rolls and cameras from photojournalists working for domestic and foreign media. Deplorable
The SLMC,DPF and JVP leaders who witnessed the deplorable drama have been informing media persons of what had happened exactly “He was dragged away in a very disgraceful manner in front of our own eyes” Rauff Hakeem told Reuters.Hakeem described the act as “authoritarian and vindictive”.
A JVP spokesman told Agency France-Presse (AFP) “The General refused to be taken away.They grabbed him and virtually carried him away after threatening the others.There must have been over a hundred soldiers”.
DPF leader Mano Ganesan told a Tamil newspaper that the General was “Dragged out bodily like a dog, taken downstairs,handcuffed and put into a vehicle”.
It was only a few hours earlier that Sarath Fonseka held a media briefing where he said that he was prepared to testify in any inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by Sri Lankan armed forces.
“I am definitely going to reveal what I know, what I was told and what I heard. Anyone who has committed war crimes should definitely be brought into the courts,” Gen Fonseka said at the briefing.
With this “arrest” any such possibility of Fonseka testifying has been ruled out in the near future.
The arrest of Fonseka comes at a time when he and other opposition leaders were engaged in preparing elaborate documentation for legal action challenging the Presidential election result
Opposition
Although President Rajapakse won with a majority of 1.8 million votes the opposition has refuted the figures and alleged that malpractices and manipulation on a massive scale had occurred.
Fonseka’s arrest could be a setback to opposition efforts to initiate legal action. It is mandatory that legal action should be taken within three weeks of the poll held on January 26th.
The arrest could also hamper Opposition efforts to contest forthcoming Parliamentary elections on a common platform spearheaded by General Fonseka. Though defeated at the Presidential hustings Fonseka yet remains a key political figure capable of mobilising broad support.
Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe currently on a visit to New Delhi has condemned the arrest as “illegal”.
Meanwhile efforts are on to “gather” evidence justifying a court-martial trial of the ex-army chief by a military tribunal.
Lakshman Huligalle,director Media Centre of National Security and newly appointed and recently promoted Military spokesman Major-General Prasad Samarasinghe have both stated that the General has been detained for questioning into alleged military offences done while he was in service.
While interrogation with a view to court-martial Fonseka goes on one level It is learnt that other “investigations” and “probes” are also being undertaken concurrently.
Investigation
One line of investigation is about Fonseka’s complicity in an alleged Coup d’etat conspiracy against the Government.
Another probe is about Fonseka’s alleged involvement in an assassination plot against President Rajapakse and his two siblings Gotabhaya and Basil Rajapakse.
A third line of investigation is about General Fonseka’s role in the killings of “The Sunday Leader” Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge and Tamil National Alliance MP from Jaffna, Nadarajah Raviraj.
It appears that moves are afoot to keep the General detained indefinitely for a while and conduct the Parliamentary poll with him in custody.
The General’s arrest has evoked an international outcry with the UN, USA and Amnesty International expressing concern.
In a related development a bunch of investigative sleuths from the Police went to the General’s private residence on Queens road and removed his personal revolver.
Meanwhile Mrs. Anoma Fonseka has stated that she is very worried about her husband’s health as he has been deprived of medication.
Fonseka has to take specified medicine every six hours due to internal injuries sustained when a woman suicide bomber exploded herself at Army headquarters in an abortive assassination attempt.

President's Speech at the 62nd Independence Day

2010-02-05T01:01:00.003Z

President's Speech at the 62nd Independence Day
Feb 4, 2010
Today we celebrate the anniversary of Independence after the liberation of the entire country from terrorist threat for the first time in 30 years. I am proud to proclaim that we are in a position to raise the flag of Sri Lanka with dignity in the entire country.
In 1815, Variyapola Sumangala Thero hoisted our flag on this historic land after lowering the Union Jack. I wish to pay my respect to the venerable monks as well as the revered clergy of all religions for their dedication and commitment displayed to preserve this freedom.
When I unfurled the national flag today, I remembered those heroic soldiers who sacrificed their lives and limbs for the freedom of the country and all those who worked with dedication for the liberation struggle.
Friends,
Freedom is a responsibility. The people of this country have entrusted me with that responsibility on January 26 by a larger majority than in the 2005 Presidential election. I would like to assure you that I will fulfill that trust placed upon me.
Accordingly, it was demonstrated to the world that for us the Motherland is first, second and third. Thus, we have become richer with the supreme human quality of gratitude. It is my fortune to fight along side people with such great qualities to preserve the freedom of our nation. It is indeed a privilege to live in a country with such intelligent people. I am fortunate to be the leader of a country of fathers, mothers and children who know the value of gratitude.
I have succeeded in uniting the territory. Now, I am entrusted with the task of uniting the hearts of all sections of our people. I willingly take over the noble task of creating peace among our communities.

The first Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. D. S. Senanayake stated on the occasion of the first Independence Day that the meaning of freedom is to curtail sorrows and enhance happiness. That is the desire of the people when a country attains independence. I would like to point out that the past four years was the most meaningful era of freedom since we attained independence.

Friends,

This is the time when the benefits of unifying the nation begin to show results. Now that the war has ended, the nation is saving more than the cost of the war. International research magazines recently reported that Sri Lanka is among the 31 countries in the list of best tourist destinations. Sri Lanka is second only to China among Asia's fastest growing economies. Sri Lanka is also listed among the best countries for investment. We cordially invite investors here.

We were able to gain such achievements because infrastructure was speedily built whilst the war was being waged. I will use this mandate given by you to re- establish all that was lost for the past 30 years due to the war.

Our country which fell back in progress because of the war needs to be advanced swiftly. Peace alone is not enough. An efficient, advanced nation needs to be built to replace a country which is lazy, lethargic and lacks energy. It is meaningless to blame our nation for its inefficiency whilst referring to the efficiency and progress of other countries. We proved at the recent overwhelming victory that our people could overtake them.

In the development of the country the private sector too has a responsibility similar to that of the public sector. There is a better environment for the private sector which was at a standstill during the war. I expect a public service which can take quick decisions and which is people friendly. I will make the government service a service for the public.

You are aware that during the operation to defend the country, I protected the heroes who fought for the country. I represented them everywhere. And now in the nation building process, I will protect the honest and skilled people who work for the betterment of the country. The country cannot be developed with harassment, gross punishments or by the gun. Discipline is not revenge. The nation can only be built through commitment, discipline and elimination of corruption.

In the Mahinda Chintana, we mentioned that Sri Lanka will be made a centre of marine, aviation, commercial, energy and knowledge. You may feel that this target is very far. But we will bring the benefits of these five great economic forces closer to your feet in the near future in order to end the era of sorrow and tears. We will give more opportunities to artistes, authors, musicians so that the yield of their creativity would enhance the contentment of the society.

We will make this a country where people return to, instead of leave for fear of life or poverty. We need to remove the bureaucratic hurdles on the path to economic development as we removed road barriers. My people were at a standstill for thirty years because of terrorists. Now this era is over. We will create a country where people can live at ease.

I implore the separatist forces and local and international conspirators not to underestimate our motherland and the people of this nation.

Friends,

We have brought massive development to the North and East regions as never witnessed in history after removing their fear of death. Uthuru Vasanthaya (Northern Spring) and Nagenahira Navodaya (Eastern Awakening) are some of the major development projects in the country. The people of the North and East suffered for thirty years without their democratic rights. I was able to grant them democracy. That is the greatest victory we have achieved.

We do not strengthen the parties based on divisive politics on the basis of colour or tribe, pro- LTTE or separatist.

I am certain that the people in the North and East could stand on their own feet through a solution wrought by devolving powers to the villages and empowering them in the entire country.

In accordance with Mahinda Chintana: Vision Ahead, I believe that discussions should be held with the people and their representatives of those areas to find solutions and take action as necessary.

(In Tamil)

My dear people

Today is our Independence Day. It is a very happy day for all of us. Thirty years of terrorism is now over. We are celebrating our independence in such an atmosphere for the first time. Now all of you can live in consolation without fear or doubt.

Anyone can go anywhere freely. That is very important. This is our motherland. All of us are children of one mother. All of us are kings today. We all should live together as brothers with equal rights and with dignity. Let us discuss our issues among ourselves and resolve them.

Everyone will receive all facilities in equal manner. That is called equality and equal rights.

One country, one people, one law. That is our way, the only way.

Thus, there is no racism, separatism or terrorism. Never forget the motherland; never betray it. We consider no one in our country as a minority person. All those who love the country are children of Mother Lanka.

Our motherland is emerging as a hub of development. Democracy should be protected forever.

Recently, the people of Northern and Eastern provinces too were able to vote democratically. I am very pleased about it. Politicians should not mislead the innocent people.

Hereafter, we will not entertain narrow divisions based on race, religion, language and political ideology in terms of regions. Never leave room for the politics of hate. Peace, brotherhood, co-existence and prosperity -- that is our prime objective.

Let us join together. Let us build this country for the sake of our future generations.

(end of Tamil text)

Friends,

You all are aware that our foreign policy is independent and non-aligned. It is no secret that we have maintained close friendly relationships with our neighbours such as India, China, Japan and others. We also maintain close affinity with Africa, the West, the Middle East and the European countries.

In my foreign policy, whatever I have done was in the interest of the people of this country. Now the world should have a correct opinion about us. The Tiger terrorism that impacted on other countries too has ended. The state of war is now over. We are entering into a new era of co-existence after finishing the period of some controversy. I would like to say that we are now entering the golden era of international relations.

Friends,

I never thought of gaining political mileage and take decisions that betrayed the nation. I will never betray the country. The decisions I took from the time when I decided to defeat terrorism, were taken while thinking of the country's welfare. I did not think of political power when I took decisions. I did not take decisions to implement major projects; the Norochcholai coal power station and Upper Kotmale hydroelectric project to obtain foreign assistance to stay in power. I have done this for the development of the country. I have done this because those are essential for the country. We will not surrender even an inch of territory from our Motherland. As I have always said, we will not take even a single step backwards to stay in power. On the other hand, we will go forward many steps under any difficult conditions in the interest of the nation.

My feet were worn out by walking in long marches with my people. I have sweated in the fight for the rights of the working class. My voice was trained and tuned to rise up against injustice.

I spent my free time listening to the grievances of the common people. The only time I could not listen to the problems of the common people was when I was imprisoned for fighting for the democratic rights of the people. Our house has become a home for the common people. Today, the luxurious carpets at the Temple Trees affectionately receive the feet of common people.

I did not ask you to crown me. However, please remember that I have placed the crown of freedom, prosperity and heroism on the heads of you and your children.

I have understood the fatherly love and affection of your sons and daughters for me. The affection of the sons and daughters of this country was an enormous blessing for me.

It was on this historic place that Veera Keppetipola sacrificed his life without any fear, for the freedom of the nation. I believe that the leaders who ruled this nation should have a heart which will not betray the country similar to that of Veera Keppetipola.

Now I am addressing you from the place where the child hero, Madduma Bandara, son of Keppetipola's sister, sacrificed his life without display of any fear. Please remember that the hearts of your sons and daughters too are filled with unlimited love for the motherland similar to that of Madduma Bandara. Your sons and daughters have unlimited love for me for the same reason.

I feel I am the world's luckiest leader of state to earn the love and affection of such a heroic and talented generation of children.

Friends,

Please protect your child who grows up with love for the country. We have to build a society where your sons and daughters could live with knowledge and good values. It is for our children that we build this nation to be the Pride of Asia.

I wish you a prosperous future.

May the Triple Gem bless you and the blessings of the Sacred Tooth relic be with you.

Courtesy: GDI

இராணுவத் தலைமை மறுசீரமைப்பு

2010-01-31T16:34:00.004Z

Major shuffle in the Army after poll victory
Brigadier in custody; more arrests in the offing
A series of senior level transfers have been effected in the army in the wake of Tuesday’s presidential election.
The Sunday Times learns that most of the officers who had been transferred were close to the defeated presidential candidate and war-winning army commander Gen. (retd.) Sarath Fonseka. These changes came amidst claims by Gen. Fonseka that he has heard several senior officers loyal to him had been discharged or suspended.
Detectives on Friday arrested Brigadier Duminda Keppetiwalana, a serving officer who is Commandant of the Army Training School in Ampara. He was one time Military Assistant when Gen. Fonseka was Commander of the Army. Twenty other retired officers and soldiers are now in custody and more are due to be arrested.

In the latest army shuffle, Major General Daya Ratnayake has been appointed as the new Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army. He was earlier Commissioner General (Rehabilitation) under the Ministry of Defence.

The incumbent, Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe has been moved out to the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS). He will serve as Director General (Joint Plans).

Major General Jammika Liyanage, Commandant of the Army’s Volunteer Force has been posted as Director General – General Staff at the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (OCDS). Taking over as Commandant of the Volunteer Force is Major General Aruna Jayatilleke until yesterday the Adjutant General.

Among the other changes: Brigadier A.T. de Z. Abeysekera has been appointed as the new Adjutant General. Major General Srinath Rajapaksa, Director General-General Staff at Army Headquarters has been posted as Director General (Intelligence) at the OCDS.

Major General Athula Jayawardena, Master General Ordnance (MGO) has been appointed as Security Forces Commander, Mullaitivu. He is succeeded by Major General Jagath Rambukpotha. He was Security Forces Commander (East). This post is being taken over by Brigadier Susil Udumalgala.

Major General L.A.D. Ameratunga has been appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) 59 Division. He is succeeded as Director Infantry by Major General L.B.R. Marks, who was until yesterday Security Forces Commander, Jaffna. This post is being taken over by Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe.
Brigadier Chandana Rajaguru has been appointed as Security Force Commander, Kilinochchi. He succeeds Maj. Gen. Hathurusinghe. Major General Mano Perera, SF Commander, Mullativu has been appointed GOC of Army’s 11 Division.

Major General Janaka Walgama, GOC of the Army’s 65 Division has been appointed Commissioner General (Rehabilitation) at the MoD. He is succeeded as officiating GOC 56 Division by Brigadier
Kumar Herath. Major General Chagi Gallage, GOC 53 Division has been appointed Director General (Training) at Army Headquarters.

Major General Rajitha Silva has been moved from OCDS as GOC of the Army’s 58 Division.

President Mahinda fly to Delhi

2010-01-26T09:44:00.003Z

* President Mahinda fly to Delhi - Sri Lanka Guardian
* Sri Lanka opposition accuses President Rajapaksa of plotting coup- The Times - UK
* Presidential election tomorrow andanalysts cautious on promises - Fiscal position ‘in danger’ * No matter who wins, India's stake in Lanka will go up- Times of India

President Mahinda fly to Delhi
Monday, January 25, 2010 (January 25, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)
According to information reaching through reliable sources confirm, President Mahinda Rajapakse is now flying to Delhi in a special jet. It is unclear why the President has decided to fly to Delhi suddenly without engaging in the election process.

One source confirmed that the President made arrangements with the Indian political leadership to have an urgent meeting as the indications of voting in the election are expected to be unfavourable for him. The President is expected to request for Indian military intervention to prevent his opponent Gen Sarath Fonseka becoming the President.

It is unclear how India could pre-empt and militarily intervene to thwart a democratic decision of the people.

When Sri Lanka Guardian contacted a source close to the President Mahinda Rajapakse, he rubbished the claim of Mahinda’s desperation and said, ‘the President is flying to Delhi for a special religious pooja at a Hindu temple somewhere in Delhi’.
===========
From The Times January 25, 2010
Sri Lanka opposition accuses President Rajapaksa of plotting coup

Chandrika Kumaratunga, right, came out in support of General Fonseka, left
Ralph Michael in Colombo Sri Lanka’s opposition accused President Rajapaksa yesterday of planning to stage a coup if he did not win tomorrow’s fiercely contested election.

Opposition leaders backing Sarath Fonseka, the former army chief who is the main challenger to Mr Rajapaksa, cited troop movements and plans to block the results and gag the independent media.

“In the face of inevitable defeat the Rajapaksa regime seems to be conspiring to thwart the democratic process,” Mangala Samaraweera, a former Foreign Minister who supports General Fonseka, said.

The general, who led the military campaign that defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May, said that the Government had moved 15 armoured personnel carriers to Colombo, the capital, and recalled senior army officers considered disloyal.

The President’s office denied the allegations and said it was confident that Mr Rajapaksa, who dismissed General Fonseka as army chief last year, would easily win the first election since the defeat of the Tigers.

Diplomats and political analysts said that the leading candidates, who have split the vote of the Sinhalese majority, appeared to be neck and neck when the campaigning ended on Saturday. They also warned that the two men’s rivalry, which observers say has caused at least four deaths, could spiral out of control — especially if the election result is disputed.

Mr Rajapaksa, 65, announced on Saturday that he had ordered the police to take “stern action” against anyone disrupting peace and democracy in Sri Lanka. “I will not hesitate to call for the armed forces if the police and the STF [Special Task Force] fail to ensure peace and democracy in society,” he said.

Mr Rajapaksa, who called the election early to capitalise on the Tigers’ defeat, suffered one of his biggest setbacks yet yesterday when his predecessor, who is also the matriarch of the ruling party, declared her support for General Fonseka.

Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was President until 2005, is an influential political figure in Sri Lanka. Her father, a former Prime Minister, founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that Mr Rajapaksa heads.

“I took the decision to end four years of silence, as I am concerned about the violence, intimidation and corruption,” she said after meeting General Fonseka. “Our party has deteriorated in recent years and I see an opportunity to revive it through a change of the culture of violence, intimidation, corruption and nepotism.”

The leaders of the opposition alliance backing General Fonseka said that they had appealed to police and security forces not to carry out any illegal orders.

“We have to be ready now to protect our franchise,” said Ranil Wickremesinghe, a former Prime Minister who leads the opposition United National Party. “We are making counter plans. We will get on to the streets if necessary.”

General Fonseka, 59, has accused the Government of politicising the 275,000-strong army by installing loyalists as senior commanders and forcing some to speak out against him. He said that he had the support of the lower ranks. “We are 100 per cent certain that the military and police will not carry out the orders [to seize power],” he said.

The result, which is due on Wednesday, will depend to a large extent on how Sri Lanka’s 2.5 million Tamils vote. Many blame Mr Rajapaksa and General Fonseka for alleged war crimes last year.
=========
Presidential election tomorrow and analysts cautious on promises
Fiscal position ‘in danger’
By Devan Daniel
A Citigroup report on Sri Lanka’s presidential elections to be held tomorrow says the promises made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his rival Rtd. General Sarath Fonseka to increase public sector wages and subsidies may prove to be difficult to implement given the state of the country’s public finances — a warning often repeated by economist and analysts with the Central Bank being more vocal.

"Both candidates promise higher public sector salaries and larger subsidies, although this may be difficult to implement given the fiscal deficit stipulations required by the IMF’s (US$ 2.6 billion) Stand-By Arrangement," said a Citigroup report titled ‘Sri Lanka Macro Flash: Elections — What can We Expect on January 26’.

The stipulations of the IMF for Sri Lanka’s budget deficit is based on the government’s own targets set on the Fiscal Management Responsibility Act, where the deficit — historically underestimated at each budget — is expected to reach five percent of GDP by 2011.

The government proposes to achieve this target by rationalising public spending and broadening the tax net, without introducing new taxes.

While the IMF is confident the government could reach the budget deficit of seven percent for 2009, data is yet to come in for analysis.

According to available data for the first nine months of 2009, the budget deficit has grown by 30 percent to US$ 322.6 billion, which works out to 6.5 percent of GDP.

The deficit for the corresponding period of 2008 was Rs. 246.9 billion, 5.6 percent of GDP. By the end of 2008, the deficit reached Rs. 340 billion and 7.7 percent of GDP. The original estimate for the budget deficit was Rs. 293 billion, 7 percent of GDP.

On the positive side, during the first nine months of 2009, revenue collection had improved by 12 percent but recurrent public spending increased by 19 percent, while capital spending on long term infrastructure declined by 2.7 percent.

Going into 2010, the Central Bank warned that the fiscal position was in a precarious position and the government should therefore desist from increasing public sector wages and reckless spending.

Analysts warn that since public sector wage increases are captured in GDP figures economic growth may not be real.

They said 2010 would be a difficult year with parliamentary elections to be held next.

"It is unlikely we will have fiscal stability this year irrespective of who comes in to power," an analyst told the Island Financial Review.

Infrastructure development and integration of the North and East to the rest of economy would require more government spending while expenditure on public health, education and other subsidies are expected to continue.

"If we are not careful about the budget deficit we could have problems financing the deficit. Now that we are a Middle Income country, concessionary loans may be hard to come by which means the country would have to borrow at market rates. Inflation is waiting in the sidelines to catch up with us if we are not careful and so is the spectre of high interest rates," a dealer told the Island Financial Review.

Dealers said investors remained uncertain in the run up to the presidential election and domestic borrowings had also dried up.

Public debt has increased to Rs. 4,154 billion in 2009 compared to Rs. 3,578 billion the previous year.

According to the Central Bank, government debt was 105 percent that of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2002. In 2004 it came down to 102.3 percent and has since declined gradually to reach 81.1 percent in 2008.

In 2004, the outstanding debt stock amounted to Rs. 2.139 trillion with the domestic debt stock amounting to Rs. 1.143 trillion. In 2008, the outstanding debt stock reached Rs. 3.578 trillion.

However, the government’s debt stock increased to 84.4 percent of GDP in 2009. The estimated outstanding debt stock amounts to Rs. 4.154 trillion with the domestic component reaching Rs. 2.407 trillion.

If MR wins a second term...

The Citigroup report said Rajapaksa’s election manifesto focuses on developing employment generating infrastructure projects in key areas such as ports, aviation, energy, roads and housing.

It said Rajapaksa also proposes to conform to the devolution of power to the provinces under the 13th Amendment.

"A victory for President Rajapaksa would in our view bring two key benefits: (1) policy continuity, and (2) infrastructure development," Citigroup said.

Economists and analysts speaking to the Island Financial Review agreed that this would be the case, but warned that infrastructure development alone would not help unless there was more fiscal discipline.

Some dealers said they expected the exchange rate to remain stable throughout the year while inflation is expected to reach around 8 percent for 2010.

Economists and analysts said despite winning the war and placing the country on the trajectory for strong economic growth, the government’s recklessness in some areas of public spending (such as the upkeep of a large number of ministers and some infrastructure projects a few analysts termed ‘ego projects’) and corruption levels could put pressure on sustainable and equitable development.

If SF wins...

"On the other hand," Citigroup said, "Fonseka’s pledges suggest he would: (1) help weed out the causes of profligacy in public finances through improved governance and an independent audit commission, and (2) take more conciliatory measures towards appeasement and resettlement of the Tamil minority, which would go down well with the international community."

Economists and analysts agree that ending corruption and implementing the 17th Amendment would go down well with the economy, some suggesting it would be a prerequisite for sustainable inclusive development.

But uncertainty behind the UNP-JVP coalition is the biggest drawback and this could delay investments until such time the alliance proves itself.

Some dealers said UNP economic policies could lead to a depreciation of the rupee leading to double digit inflation.

"If this happens Central Bank’s independence would be validated and they would have to tighten its monetary policy to curtail inflation and then interest rates would increase once again," a dealer said.

Economists found it difficult to explain the economic implications of a Fonseka victory.

"The UNP and JVP have not indicated how they plan to run the economy. Fighting corruption and executive presidency is top on their list. While ending corruption is crucial, diluting powers of the president is debatable. There is uncertainty about the economic implications as the Fonseka camp has not been very clear on this," an economist said.

According to Citigroup, this gives Rajapaksa a slight edge.

"At this juncture, it appears that Rajapaksa may be marginally better positioned to deliver on promises. This is because Fonseka’s coalition government has varying ideologies (the JVP is generally know to have leftist leanings while UNP is more pro-market), which could make implementing reforms more difficult," it said.

An analyst summed the presidential election tomorrow in these terms: "On the face of it, the choice is between corruption and chaos. Voting has much to do with trusting and hoping."

Note from the Business Desk…

The comments from economists and analysts were gathered over a period of time since the presidential election was announced last year. None of them wanted to be quoted saying they were free to express their views on condition of anonymity.
============
No matter who wins, India's stake in Lanka will go up
Indrani Bagchi, TNN, 26 January 2010, 02:48am டைம்ஸ் ஒப் இந்தியா
NEW DELHI: A closely fought election in Sri Lanka on Tuesday will be watched closely in India, but notwithstanding the result, India's investment in its island neighbour will only increase. Working quietly after coming under criticism, India is now on its way to outgunning Chinese presence in Sri Lanka.

The election -- the first after the war with LTTE ended -- was a shoo-in for President Mahinda Rajapakse until his former friend and general Sarath Fonseka became the combined Opposition candidate, and proved to be a formidable rival. With the Tamil National Alliance (TNA, formerly allied closely to the LTTE) openly declaring itself in favour of Fonseka, both sides are now wooing the Tamil minority. That itself opens up the field in Tuesday's election.

What's significant in these elections is that India has become virtually a non-story -- neither of the candidates nor the vocal voters have really made India an issue. Both Fonseka and Rajapakse are comfortable with India, a feature that, like in Bangladesh, will facilitate increased Indian investment in Sri Lanka. But no one is willing to take a call on the election.

Finally, India seems to be getting a fix on how to deal with its neighbourhood. After Sheikh Hasina's visit, Bangladesh has been elevated to priority by India, but in Sri Lanka, the maturing of the Indian presence is the real story.

From the time India sent in 250,000 family rescue packs to the internally displaced persons during the war and rendered vital assistance to the war itself, it has moved to qualitatively change its largely positive ties with Sri Lanka. In 2010, India has already given $105 million in assistance to the country, making it the single largest grant in one year to any country. Although Bangladesh was the latest country to hit the $1 billion mark in assistance from India, Sri Lanka has moved way beyond the pledges and is actually showing results on the ground.

For the new president, the imperatives are clear: a political package for the north, empowerment in the east, speed up reconstruction and send the IDPs back home.

For the latter, India already has seven demining teams at work on the ground while starting a comprehensive agriculture initiative (Afghanistan is the other country where India is focusing on agriculture). But its big projects -- running over $700 million -- will be to work on connectivity in the north, particularly through two big railway projects, which India actually swiped from China. The northern railway project and the Medavachiya-Talaimanar railway will put the north on the Sri Lanka map again, but equally important, it will be the point of connectivity with India too.

Importantly, India has not been its normal lazy, timorous self when clearing projects in Sri Lanka. Thanks to strong political direction, Indian officialdom has been nothing short of fleet-footed in Sri Lanka, a benchmark Bangladeshis should hold India to.

A rejuvenated CEPA, an interconnected electrical grid and the railway projects are all awaiting a signing ceremony -- the signature will be of either Fonseka or Rajapakse during their first official visit.

TNA and Sri Lanka Ex-General communique

2010-01-07T02:47:00.002Z

Tamil Party -and Sri Lanka Ex-General communique
January 5, 2010 at 12:54 am · ~ Press Releases

Full Text of “Programme of Immediate Relief Measures for War Affected Persons & Areas for Peace”, handed over to Hon. R. Sampanthan, Leader of the TNA by General Sarath Fonseka common Presidential Candidate at his campaign headquarters on Jan 4, 2010:
1. Restoration of Civil Administration and Normalcy

1. Full restoration of all institutions of Civil Administration from the Office of Grama Sevaka upwards – Free from Military, Police and Political interference.

2. Committees for each District headed by the respective District Secretary (GA), and comprising,

-Nomine of the President

-Divisional Secretaries

-Other Officials (Representatives of such Officials)

-Members of Parliament / Their Representatives

-Representatives of Local Authorities

-Judicial Officer/s

-Securities Forces /Commanders / Officers North / East

-DIG – Police /Officers

-Civil Society Representatives

To prepare Plan Action for immediate implementation within one month.
Monthly Reports on progress to be submitted to the President, Cabinet and Parliament.

A dedicated Secretariat to be established under the President to monitor progress and ensure implementation.

3. The immediate measures stated herein to be implemented through Presidential Orders, including appointing Presidential task Forces therefor.

4. Securities Forces to be stationed at strategic location only, taking into consideration national security. High Security Zones to be dismantled in keeping with the re-location of the Security Forces.

5. Free movement of all persons to be guaranteed without being impeded by Security and Police personnel.

6. Polce to be manned, as far as practicable by Officers, who are conversant in Tamil.

2. Prohibition of ‘para-military cadres’ and armed groups (self styled ‘war loads’)

1. All ‘para-military cadres’ and ‘armed groups’ to be disarmed forthwith.

2. Areas of civilian activity to be free of weapons.

3. Except the Security Forces and Police, only persons with permits under the Firearms Ordinance, would be entitled to possess firearms.

3. Re-settlement and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons.

1. De-mining of areas to be speedily concluded, through De-mining Units.

2. Displaced persons to be returned to their original homes, and where homes have been destroyed alternative accommodation to be provided, with financial support to establish themselves and develop livelihoods.

3. Social infrastructure requirements, such as provision of essential Foods, Medical Centers, Hospitals, Schools, Transport, etc., to be provided.

4. Land & Agriculture

1. Restoration of possession of private land and buildings, now occupied by Security Forces / Police Government Agencies, to those lawfully entitled to such land and buildings.

2. Committees referred to in 1.2 above to arrange for such restoration.

3. Committee to submit a Scheme to the Government for payment of compensation for damage caused to buildings.

4.
(a) Eviction of persons legitimately entitled to State Land from such Lands

(b) Other instances of deprivation of legitimate title holders of State Lands, and

(c) Unlawful occupation of State Lands

To be reviewed and the position regularized on lawful and just basis.

5. Indiscriminate alienations of State Lands to be terminated. Allocations thus far made to be reviewed and cancelled, where such allocation:

-has not been transparent, or

-lacked equal opportunity to all concerned, or

-lacked proper consultation with the elected Representatives of the areas concerned , or

-are unwarranted, or

-has been on a corrupt basis

6. Relief packages for full cultivation of lands

7. A special law enacted to decide on disputes, as to ownership and succession of lands.

5. Fisheries

1. Full restoration of fishing rights

2. Joint Committees to be set-up of Representatives of those engaged in the fishing industry and the Navy to ensure security.

6. Trade and Commerce

1. All barriers in respect to transport of passengers, goods, agricultural and fisheries produce to be eliminated forthwith.

2. No payments (‘Kappang’) to be levied by anyone. Stringent action to be taken against those who do so.

7. Transport

1. Trains service to be restored., without delay within the Jaffna Peninsula, i.e. Elephant Pass to Point Pedro.

2. All implements for shipping and air transport to removed, with effective facilities which would ensure a reduction of costs of shipping and air transport.

3. Establishment of a new rail line, with private sector participation, from Point Pedro to Trincomalee.

8. Special Relief Packages

1. For dependents of all persons, who have lost their lives during the war, including military and polce personnel, and civilians.

2. For persons disabled, as result of the war.

9. Persons in Detention

1. Release of all persons in detention, within a period of one month against whom, there is no evidence, and on the basis that such detention would not be a stigma or a set back for their future.

2. Rehabilitation of those persons, who had been engaged in war activities, on the basis of a general amnesty.

10. An overall measure affecting all Sri Lankans:

The State of Emergency presently in force and the Regulation made thereunder to be terminated, since it affects the liberties and fundamental rights of all People,

in accordance with my Pledges

General Sarath Fonseka
Jan 4, 2010

S.Lanka's main Tamil party backs ex-general

2010-01-04T21:06:00.001Z

S.Lanka's main Tamil party backs ex-general
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's main minority Tamil party on Monday backed the main opposition presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, who as army chief led the offensive that crushed Tamil rebels last year, officials said.

Fonseka, a former four-star general who quit in November following differences with his political boss President Mahinda Rajapakse, pledged in a letter to end a state of emergency if he was elected in the January 26 vote.

The moderate Tamil National Alliance (TNA) agreed to back Fonseka's campaign after he signed a three-page programme that he hopes to implement in the island's former war zone, a party official said.

"We have decided to support General Fonseka, but a formal announcement will be made on Tuesday," said the TNA official, who declined to be named. The TNA has 21 seats in Sri Lanka's 225-member parliament.

In his letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP on Monday, Fonseka promised to free Tamil detainees within a month if no charges had been brought against them.

The former military chief, who is credited with leading the military drive against the separatist Tamil Tigers, also promised to establish a completely civilian administration.

"Full restoration of all institutions of civil administration from the office of village headman upwards will be free from military, police and political interference," the letter to the TNA said.

The TNA was at one time seen as a proxy of the Tamil Tigers who were crushed in May with the elimination of the rebels' military leadership after 37 years of fighting.

Fonseka pledged to end the state of emergency which had been in force since March 1983, largely to deal with Tamil rebels as well as militants among the majority Sinhalese.

The emergency gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods without trial. France has led international calls on Sri Lanka to end the emergency after the ethnic conflict ended in May.

Rajapakse called the January poll in a bid to capitalise on the victory over the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who launched their campaign for a Tamil homeland in 1972.

Fonseka and Rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict. Fonseka quit after accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely suspecting him of trying to stage a coup.

ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தல் 2010

2009-12-03T20:24:00.002Z

At least five candidates in the fray, Tamils weigh options
By Franklin R. Satyapalan
At least five candidates including NSSP leader Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne and United Socialist Party leader Siritunga Jayasuriya plan to run at the January 26 Presidential Election, political sources said yesterday.
Mr. Mano Ganesan, leader of the Democratic Peoples Front (DPF), said that the Tamil political parties were considering two options – either run a Tamil candidate to create awareness among the international community that the Tamils were opposed to President Rajapaksa or back the common opposition candidate. They were due to meet other Tamil political parties on டிசம்பர்

Analysts expect both major contenders, President Rajapaksa and General Fonseka to also field `dummy’ candidates to use their entitlements – polling and counting agents, television time etc. With nominations due on December 17, a Buddhist monk, Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratana Thero and Mr. Wije Dias are also mentioned as possible contenders along with the two main runners. Fonseka will address a news conference in Colombo this morning when he is expected to declare his candidature and field questions. Analysts pointed out that although various opposition personalities are on record saying Fonseka is their candidate, he had himself not publicly spoken for himself. The TNA said yesterday that it was maintaining an open mind on its attitude to the election with Mr. N. Sri Kanthan, MP, saying that the party will soon take a decision on three options that are open to them. He rejected the theory that the TNA would call for a boycott of the election saying "we want the Tamil people to participate and there is no question of ignoring or boycotting the election".
Sri Kanthan identified the options before them – fielding a Tamil candidate with the backing of other Tamil parties, back somebody like Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne who had consistently stood up for the cause of the Tamil people or support one of the main candidates.
Mr. Dharmalingam Siddharthan, leader of PLOTE, speaking for his party and the EPRLF (Naba Wing) indicated support for President Rajapaksa.
"There is a lot of infrastructure development taking place in the North and East and we place our faith in the President who has given us a firm assurance that he would implement what the Tamil people look forward to in his second term," Siddharthan said expressing the view that the majority of the Tamils would support the Rajapaksa ticket.

SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem was in Nintavur yesterday celebrating the Eid Ul Mubarak along with his party’s General Secretary M.T. Hassen Ali, MP, and Basheer Cegu Dawood, opposition leader of the Eastern Provincial Council.
Hassen Ali said that there would be no problem about a symbol for Fonseka whom they would meet when they return to Colombo and confirmed that they would sign a MOU with the General. He said their main task was to defeat President Rajapakse and the SLMC was willing to take a risk about Fonseka not stepping down within 180 days should he be elected.

Hassan Ali complained that the UPFA government had prevented the people from occupying 500 houses built for tsunami affected Muslims by the Saudi government and also what he called the grabbing of Muslim land in the Eastern Province. "The President is silent on the APRC proposals and believes that speaking a few words in Tamil would gain him the support of the Tamil people," he said. Their party hierarchy was in the Eastern Province to obtain the views of the people with regard to the common candidate and this process will continue for three days before they return to Colombo and meet Fonseka to explain the ground situation in the Eastern Province to him, he added.

"We are not worried abut a two-third majority to abolish the executive presidency or that Fonseka will not step down. What we want to do is to defeat Rajapaksa," he said.

The NSSP leader said that he was entering the race because democracy is not taken seriously by either of the two major parties. The right to self determination, equality and autonomy for all communities were the only base on which the executive presidency can be abolished.

"What I am setting out to do is to attack both camps and ensure that they will not get the required 50% plus one in the first round. This is only my target," Karunaratne said.

Colombo, November 28, 2009
Fonseka announces candidature
B. Muralidhar Reddy
Within hours of the announcement of the date for the Sri Lankan presidential polls, the former Army chief, General (retired) Sarath Fonseka threw his hat into the political ring.
In an appearance at a lawyers’ forum here on Friday night along with United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, General (retired) Sarath Fonseka declared he would be contesting in the January 26 presidential polls against the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a common candidate of the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the UNP and other parties that have backed his candidature.
The UNP, main opposition party led by the former Prime Minister, Mr. Wickremesinghe, made the formal announcement on the presidential nominee of his party on the 55th birth anniversary of the late LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabakaran.

Mr. Wickremesinghe is also the leader of the newly-floated 18-party United National Front (UNF). Ironically, exactly a year ago Mr. Samaraweera had accused General Fonseka of being a racist and manipulating statistics on the causalities of the rank and file of the Tigers in a bid to bolster the sagging morale of the military and leading the people of the island nation up the garden path. Meanwhile, Mr. Rajapaksa declared that he would never hesitate to front up to challenges or take any decisions which would ultimately benefit the people and the country.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the construction of Sri Lanka’s second international airport, a Chinese-aided project, in Mattala in his home district Hambantota.

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yang Xiuping was present on the occasion. Ms. Xiuping said that as a long-standing friend of Sri Lanka, her country was prepared to back such mega development projects. “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” she added.

In his address, General (retired) Fonseka also said he had agreed to the UNP’s and JVP’s demand to work towards the abolition of the executive presidency, one of the conditions for their support to his candidature.

"Common Presidential Candidate" Dr. Vickramabau Karunarathne
Statement by Nava Sama Samaja Party
We are suffering because we have failed to resolve basic problems in our country. We cannot claim to be a free and democratic country unless we resolve the national problem and also stop international global capitalist interference.

Mahinda regime used military forces backed by India and global powers to crush the Tamil uprising caused by continuous discrimination and repression. They claim it is a great victory. However our ---- devastated. The Tamil homeland is in ruins and people are made paupers drifting here and there.
Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne, at a rally protesting the burning of Sunday Leader offices, Nov 23, 2007
Thousands were killed; thousands disappeared; thousands are disabled, and thousands are made political prisoners. Large numbers living abroad curse the rulers who brought this misery to them. In Sinhala areas too a large number is killed while a larger number are made invalids. The people in general are made poorer. Many young people are unemployed. Cost of living is simply unbearable and the working masses are forced to bear the cost of the war.

Continuation of 300,000 armed forces means that they are unable to find suitable jobs for them. On the other hand the war is not over. If this situation continues, and there is no other way out, inevitably youth will take up arms against oppression and discrimination. In the mean time unbelievable corruption exists from top to bottom. Corruption and misappropriation has become the common practice in society. Indian and global companies are gobbling up the economy. We have become vassals of Indian rulers.

Estate worker's powerful strike started a wave of strikes that came to Colombo shaking the regime. The inability of Mahinda to use the military power accumulated during the war, against the workers, created a big hole in the system. The repercussion of this strike wave was a split in the monolithic chauvinis structure. The inability of Mahinda Regime to crush worker's strikes, student's actions and mass protests, made the capitalists to seek an alternative leadership from a military hard liner, General Sarath.

Mahinda followed the agenda given by the Indian rulers backed by Global powers. He is still prompted by these masters to continue their agenda. On the other hand the terrible bankruptcy in Lankan society is used by far-right militaristic section of the global powers to put forward General Sarath. Sarath hails bloody devastation created by the war and stands for strengthening the military, and also for centralization.

JVP four points proposal designed to eliminate devolution and crush aspirations of Tamil speaking people is accepted as the common programme of General Sarath. It is no way an answer to the tragedy created by Mahinda Chinthanaya.

It is necessary to condemn what Mahinda regime has done and sharply take up the issue of national unity based on Equality, Autonomy, and the Rights of Self Determination. Democracy and freedom can prevail only if there is state based on national unity. Without this fundamental task achieved, no development could take place, and we will be eternally trampled by Global powers. Therefore on behalf of workers, peasants, fishers and other suffering masses, Left Front with the support of other left and democratic parties, organizations and intellectuals decided to put forward Comrade Vickramabahu as its Presidential Candidate.

Vickramabahu was born in March 08, 1943 at Lunugala in Badulla in a traditional teacher's family. His father was late Mudiyanse Karunarathne. Mother was late Vimala Kothalawale; both retired as principals. He received primary education at Ananda Shasthralaya, Mathugama. Joined Ananda College Colombo in 1953.

Passed university entrance from Ananda College, Colombo in mathematics stream and entered the Engineering faculty of the University of Ceylon. He graduated as a first class electrical engineer and qualified for a commonwealth scholarship to read for a doctorate at the Cambridge University. With a doctorate from Cambridge he returned to Lanka in 1970. As an under graduate he joined the LSSP in 1962. He was elected to the Central Committee in 1972. But in the same year he was sacked from the party for opposing opportunist politics of the leadership.

While being brilliant in education, he excelled as a sportsman and a sculpture artist as well. While teaching at Peradeniya University, he was thoroughly engaged in politics. In 1978, he was sacked from university and jailed for hoisting black flags against the draconian constitution of J. R. Jayawardhane.

Since then, he dedicated his life for left politics. He always actively participated in struggles of workers and for the rights of the communities that were marginalized gender wise, racial wise and economic wise.

He was in remand for long periods and in 88 he was shot by the JVP for defending the rights of the Tamil speaking people Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne is contesting Presidential elections as the candidate of the Left Front.

Locking Tamil nationalism through presidential candidature
[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 November 2009, 12:27 GMT]
A Tamil candidature in the presidential elections, proposing a political solution deviating from the goals of Tamil nationalism, is a tactic to bind and nullify the aspirations of Eezham Tamils, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo. In the current circumstances, Tamils naturally boiling with anger about both the main candidates are most likely to cast their votes en masse to any respectable Tamil candidate. But it is an artful move to get a mandate by stealth from the surviving people of the North and East for dropping the fundamentals of Tamil nationalism set earlier in 1977 and for locking them with political subjugation within a single state in the island. Therefore the election proposal of any potential Tamil candidate should be the removal of the 6th Amendment to the constitution and not any half-backed formula, the commentator further said.
The commentator in Colombo further writes:
The 6th Amendment enacted in 1983 that prevents expressions on secession has disenfranchised the Eezham Tamils from democratically telling what they want.
Therefore any Tamil political party that contests the elections to register Tamil rights or opinion has to first fight for the removal of this Amendment.
This is the foremost politically fundamental right that has to be achieved by any nation of self-respect in the island.
A Tamil candidate is not going to win a presidential election in the island, but the point has to be made to the people of the island and to the international community.
There is no need to politically deviate the cause of Tamil nationalism beyond retrieval, by proposals of external or internal compulsions.
Self respect of Eezham Tamil nation subjected to such a long subjugation comes only when unity is proposed with the right to secession.
Removal of the Sixth Amendment and the release of interned people as well as their liberation fighters are the issues of practical value for any meaningful reconciliation.
But it seems a leading Tamil political alliance and some diaspora groups have taken the bait of conceiving political solution only through the deviating phrase of ‘self-determination’ and then interpreting it as ‘internal self-determination.’

The deviating term ‘internal self-determination,’ its real meaning and the ‘international connections’ behind the concept are well known to those who closely watch the Eezham question. The insertion of the phrase in Oslo meet was later revised by the LTTE in what was implied in the process of the ISGA proposal and the P-TOMS agreement.

Eezham Tamils today are not in a position to undertake such experiments, which the LTTE was able to do because of its confidence in the de facto state it created. But any such experiment at present will put Tamils into irredeemable political subjugation.

In the last ever International negotiations between the GoSL and the LTTE in Geneva in October 2006, the most crucial act of symbolic value of the Tamil delegation was that it challenged the GoSL to ரேபிள் the Sixth Amendment as a token of its commitment to democracy and pluralism. The concluding paragraph of the introduction to the proposed solution by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that has been leaked to influential sections in India is reproduced here for Tamils to know what is cooking. This proposal may surface before the elections and a Tamil candidature may be used to get a no-other-option mandate from Tamils in the island: "The Tamil people in Sri Lanka have been subjected to discrimination within the model of a unitary state where majoritarianism reigns. They have been denied the right to express their right to self-determination within an internal arrangement, such as a federal government. In such a situation the denial of the existence of the right to self-determination itself will give rise to the right to unilateral secession as an expression of that right. Therefore the recognition of the right to self-determination of the Tamil people will in no way erode state sovereignty. In point of fact, if the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka is to be preserved from claims to the right of secession, it is a sine qua non that the right to self-determination of the Tamils is recognized and the nature of the state is restructured to enable meaningful exercise of internal self- determination."
Eezham Tamils in the island and in the diaspora may now understand in better light why certain sections are vehemently opposed to re-mandating the main principle of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, opposed to the country councils in the diaspora and opposed to base the proposed transnational government on clear principles of Eezham Tamil nationalism.
But why should they be so uneasy about free expression of Tamil aspirations in the diaspora, unless some external forces are disturbed about such democratic expressions, is a question.
The argument that such expressions will affect peace prospects in the island is not acceptable. On the contrary they will strengthen and safeguard Tamil interests in the island and in the diaspora now, as well as in the long run. Tamil circles did not fail to notice that the Left front of Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne contesting elections in the island had not fallen into this trap of interpreting self-determination through the deviation of Indo-Western concept of 'internal self-determination', designed to nullify national questions in the world.
5

TNA looking at five options
By Kelum Bandara
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is currently looking at five options to be taken at the upcoming Presidential election, but the final stand is to be decided at the Parliamentary group meeting scheduled for next week, party sources said. Party sources said that one section of the TNA has highlighted that they should talk to the two main candidates and support one of them while some others are pressing to field a Tamil candidate representing the party with the possible support of other likeminded Tamil parties.
A second source said some TNA MPs do not want to support of any of the two main candidates,
but leave it open for the Tamil people to decide. There are views within the TNA that they should campaign for Candidate Wickramabahu Karunaratne identified by them as a person who has espoused Tamil aspirations throughout history. The last option being considered by the TNA is to boycott the election as done in 2005. Sources said that the group meeting would be held prior to the next parliamentary session scheduled for December 8. “The TNA will take a decision bearing in mind the political realities in the country at the moment,” sources said.

On the invitation of Sarath Fonseka, Gajendran returned to Sri Lanka – Media
[ Wednesday, 02 December 2009, 12:31.45 AM GMT +05:30 ]
A media has published a news item, Tamil National Alliance Parliament Member Selvaraj Gajendran has returned to the country after two years, on the invitation of Presidential Candidate Sarath Fonseka.
Sarath Fonseka while officially informed his entry to the politics, he requested the parents of Liberation tigers of leader V.Pirabakaran to join with him to defeat Mahinda. He said all the former tigers members and its supporters should join with him and function. On this context, Selvaraja Gajendran has returned to the country was published by the media. During the past war among the Tamil Eelam Liberation tigers and military, Gajendran had informed to prepare 40000 confines to obtain the bodies of military.

7

Pillayan not concerned about constitutional “jargon”
TMVP Leader Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (Pillayan) said today that he is not concerned about constitutional jargon such as the 13th Amendment or the 17th Amendment when resolving the problems confronting his people.
Addressing the media, Mr. Chandrakanthan, who pledged his support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the upcoming election, said that what is relevant for him is the resolution of his people’s problems.
“We are not bothered about constitutional terms such as the 13th Amendment or the 17th Amendment. We want solutions to our problems,” he said. (KB)

Mano Ganesan backs Fonseksa
[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 December 2009, 11:17 GMT]
Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganesan Thursday announced that his party would support General (retd) Sarath Fonseka, the joint opposition candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections in Sri Lanka. The DPF leader also said that he was presently negotiating with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to win their support to General Fonseka.
"This decision was taken by our party as General Fonseka assures that if he is elected as the president he would abolish the Executive Presidency and implement the 17th amendment and go beyond the 13th amendment to find a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict," said Mr. Ganesan.
The announcement was made at a press conference in Colombo.

Sri Lanka: Gen. Fonseka Devalues Himself

2009-11-20T08:12:00.002Z

Paper no. 3507 17-Nov-2009
Sri Lanka: Gen. Fonseka Devalues Himself
By B. Raman
The Khalistani terrorism in India and the terrorism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka are two unique instances in the history of terrorism where the State prevailed over the terrorists without conceding their demands.

2. The threat faced by Sri Lanka was more complex and difficult to handle than the threat faced by India. Sri Lanka was confronted with a ruthless mix of a full-blown insurgency seeking territorial control and terrorism seeking to intimidate the civil society. The Khalistani terrorism was a purely terrorist movement with no mix of an insurgency.

3. The situation, which Sri Lanka faced, was similar to that faced by the US and other NATO forces and the Afghan National Army in Afghanistan. They have not yet been able to find an effective answer to the complex mix of insurgent and terrorist tactics used by the Neo Taliban.

4. It goes to the credit of the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism machinery of Sri Lanka that after having struggled against the LTTE for nearly 23 years till 2006, they were able to fashion an appropriate mix of tactics to prevail over the LTTE.

5. This mix had a number of components. The political component, which was handled by President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, focussed on giving the security forces and the intelligence agencies the resources and capacities needed by them to prevail over the LTTE and at the same time, ensuring that the counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations of the security forces did not drive more Tamils into the arms of the LTTE.

6. The diplomatic component, which was handled by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, ensured the diplomatic isolation of the LTTE. In fact, it was the success of the Sri Lankan diplomacy in getting the LTTE declared as a terrorist organisation by the European Union countries and in persuading the US, the EU countries and the Governments in South-East Asia to act energetically against the flow of money and weapons to the LTTE, which laid the foundation for the ultimate success of the Army on the ground.

7. If Sri Lankan diplomacy had not acted as energetically as it did in getting the sources of weapons supply to the LTTE choked off, the LTTE might not have collapsed as completely as it did.

8. It also goes to the credit of Rajapaksa and his Foreign Office that they realised the importance of India in any effective strategy to defeat the LTTE. China and Pakistan might have supplied arms and ammunition to the SL security forces, but what really helped the security forces was the assistance rendered by the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and intelligence to their SL counterparts in ensuring that the LTTE was not able to smuggle in fresh stocks of weapons from abroad. Another contribution made by the Government of India was in the handling of any political fall-out in Tamil Nadu to prevent any backlash against the Sri Lankan operations in Indian territory.

9. It is the political and diplomatic handling of the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency campaign by Rajapaksa and his political aides such as his Foreign Minister and professional aides such as his brother Gothbaya Rajapaksa, who as the Defence Secretary was the Chief Co-ordinator, that paved the way for the ultimate success of the armed forces.

10. The Armed Forces fought bravely. The credit for working out a ground strategy, which will prevail against the LTTE, should go to Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the chief of the Army, who subsequently became the Chief of the Defence Staff after the victory over the LTTE. The victory of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces over the LTTE was even more remarkable than that of the Indian security forces over the Khalistani terrorists, who were as ruthless as the LTTE.

11. We were not able to neutralise the command and control and leadership of the Khalistani terrorists as completely as the Sri Lankan Armed Forces under the leadership of Fonseka were able to do in respect of the LTTE. In any history of counter-terrorism, the way the entire Sri Lankan counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency machinery under Rajapaksa fought against the LTTE and prevailed over it would form an important chapter.

12. In his newly-assumed post of the Chief of the Defence Staff, Fonseka would have been able to do a retrospective analysis of the entire evolution of the LTTE and the way different SL Governments had handled the threat in order to draw lessons for the future. Such an exercise would have been of immense benefit to his own country as well as to India and others who face similar problems.

13. Instead of doing so, he has allowed his pique over perceived slights by the Government to get the better of him and has resigned from his post as the CDS after making a series of allegations against the Government. A perusal of his letter to Rajapaksa does not speak well of his intellectual maturity as an individual. He was a brilliant professional, but professionalism alone does not make a good leader.

14. Media reports say that he has developed political ambitions of contesting the next Presidential elections against Rajapaksa. He has every right to do so as a Sri Lankan citizen. Unfortunately, his letter to Rajapaksa does not bring out any latent political acumen in him. They only bring out his huge ego and his pique. The message which comes out of the letter is: "I am the super hero of the success against the LTTE. My role in the triumph has not been sufficiently recognised."

15. As one reads his letter, one's mind goes back to our triumph against Khalistani terrorism. The success was achieved when K.P.S.Gill was the Director-General of Police of Punjab. He has never projected himself as the super hero of the success. He is always the first to admit that the success of the Punjab Police under his leadership would not have been possible without the political leadership and guidance of Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister and Beant Singh as the Chief Minister of Punjab, without the team work put in by the police, the armed forces, the intelligence agencies and the Foreign Office and without the co-operation of foreign intelligence agencies which gave a lot of valuable intelligence.

16. Punjab is the most important of our successes against terrorism and insurgency, but not the only one. We have had other successes in Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Kashmir. The professionals--- whether from the Armed Forces, the police or the intelligence agencies--- who were instrumental in making those successes possible, did not go around projecting themselves as super heroes. They recognised the role of others and maintained their sense of balance.

17. By failing to maintain his sense of balance and by allowing his pique to get the better of him, Fonseka has only devalued himself. The political forces in Sri Lanka which are exploiting his pique as a stick to beat Rajapaksa with are playing an unwise game. They may end up by diluting the professionalism of the SL Army.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)

'US fund manager cleared of funding terrorism'

2009-10-20T15:02:00.003+01:00

'US fund manager cleared of funding terrorism' COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lankan-born hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was investigated for allegedly funding Tamil Tiger rebels, but there was no evidence against him, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said Monday.
US authorities on Friday charged Rajaratnam, 52, with fraud after saying they had uncovered the biggest ever case of insider-trading by a hedge fund.
He was among several wealthy overseas Sri Lankans whose donations to a Maryland-based charity, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), are suspected of making their way to the separatist Tamil Tigers.
"At the time Mr. Rajaratnam made the donations, the TRO was not banned by the Sri Lankan government, nor the US. It was a donation made in good faith," the central bank's investigations unit chief, D.K. Wijesuriya, told AFP.
The central bank is the leading investigating authority in Sri Lanka for all financial transactions that are suspected of breaching money-laundering laws.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are considered a terrorist organisation by Sri Lanka, the United States and the European Union. After decades of civil war, the government declared victory over the LTTE in May.
Wijesuriya said their investigations did not uncover any wrongdoing by Rajaratnam, who he said had given the money to the TRO for reconstruction work following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The TRO was outlawed in Sri Lanka in November 2007 and its assets were frozen a year later.
Sri Lanka's securities regulator said there were no probes on Rajaratnam's dealings in the island's tiny 10-billion-dollar bourse.
"None of his trades ever aroused our suspicion. This (the US charges) came as a surprise," the Securities and Exchange Commission director general, Channa de Silva, told AFP.
Federal prosecutors in New York charged Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Management hedge fund, with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Sri Lankan shares tumbled 3.1 percent in morning trade Monday on fears of economic fallout from the US case against Rajaratnam, who has substantial business interests on the island.
Rajaratnam, who had his primary education in Sri Lanka, is the world's 559th richest person according to Forbes magazine with a net worth of 1.3 billion dollars.
Sri Lanka's justice ministry thanked Rajaratnam last month for donating millions of dollars to rehabilitate child soldiers conscripted by the Tamil Tigers.

Hedge funds face insider trading scrutiny
By Kabir Chibber Business reporter, BBC News
When Raj Rajaratnam arrives on Monday morning to address the staff at his hedge fund's Madison Avenue offices in New York, the mood will probably be sombre.
On Friday, Mr Rajaratnam was charged with five others with carrying out $25m (£15.3m) in insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It has been labelled the biggest hedge fund insider trading case in US history.
Despite efforts by the prosecutors, he is now free on $100m bail - the highest ever set by a US court.
Among the questions his staff ask, the first will probably be if it is true. The second might be: why?
Mr Rajaratnam is estimated to be worth about $1.3bn by Forbes magazine. Galleon, the hedge fund he founded, had managed up to $7bn in assets.
And the SEC has signalled that this is only the beginning, as authorities crack down on the secretive world of hedge funds.
Crackdown
"It would be wise for investment advisers and corporate executives to closely look at today's case, their own internal operations, and the increasing focus and scrutiny on hedge fund trading by the SEC and others," said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division.
“ This case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street ” US attorney Preet Bharara
Hedge funds are largely unregulated pools of money that try to make money regardless of whether markets go up or down.
Their activities include betting on downward movements - known as shorting - which was blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis last year and temporarily banned by financial authorities.
Their size and backing by many of the world's largest banks make them some of the largest players in the financial world.
The reputation of hedge funds took a beating earlier this year when Bernard Madoff was jailed for 150 years for running a $65bn Ponzi scheme.
Soon afterwards, Mr Khuzami told the US Congress that the SEC had failed in its mission to protect investors. "It is a sobering and humbling experience," he said.
"We deeply regret our failure to detect the Madoff fraud and pledge to continue to fix the problems that contributed to this failure," he and acting director of exams and compliance John Walsh added.
Mr Rajaratnam's arrest is probably the first step as the SEC attempts to restore investor confidence.
Sri Lanka impact
The charges are an interesting twist in the life story of the 52-year-old Mr Rajaratnam.
Born in Sri Lanka, he was educated at the prestigious Wharton business school in Pennsylvania and went to set up a hedge fund for boutique investment bank Needham.
The hedge fund was spun off with Mr Rajaratnam at its head in 1997.
Galleon was well known for its extensive research reports, according to the New York Times, and for having many senior technology executives as its investors.
Mr Rajaratnam was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2007 for allegedly funding the Tamil Tiger rebel movement in Sri Lanka, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said on Monday.
He was among several wealthy Sri Lankans who donated to the US-based charity, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, which may have been funnelled to the Tamil Tigers.
"At the time Mr Rajaratnam made the donations, the TRO was not banned by the Sri Lankan government, nor the US," said DK Wijesuriya, the central bank's investigations unit head. "It was a donation made in good faith."
The central bank added that investigations are still ongoing into the matter and he had not yet been cleared.
Sri Lankan shares tumbled 3.1% on fears about the case against Mr Rajaratnam, who has substantial investments in the country.
Wider net cast
The other people arrested along with Mr Rajaratnam also hint at the scope of the authorities' ambitions.
They include Anil Kumar, a director at prestigious consulting firm McKinsey and Robert Moffat, of computer group IBM's systems and technology division.
Among the other hedge fund insiders charged are Rajiv Goel, a director of strategic investments at Intel Capital, the investment arm of microchip giant Intel.
All investors in Galleon, they are alleged to have secured inside information regarding firms including Google, AMD, and Hilton Hotels.
Hedge funds commonly hire lobbyists and other insiders as they seek to eke out every shred of profitable information about companies.
The SEC seems able and willing to go after the rest of Wall Street as it cracks down on hedge funds.
"Greed is not good," US attorney Preet Bharara told a press conference on Friday. "This case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street."
Story from BBC NEWS:Published: 2009/10/19 12:50:36 GMT
Raj Rajaratnam Became Billionaire Demanding Edge

By Katherine Burton and Saijel Kishan
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Every weekday at 8:35 a.m., Galleon Group’s 70 analysts, portfolio managers and traders pack into a conference room on the 34th floor of the IBM Building, a gray- green polished
granite skyscraper on New York’s Madison Avenue. Tardy arrivals are fined $25.
At the head of the table, Chief Executive Officer Raj Rajaratnam fires off questions to the staff of his $3.7 billion hedge-fund firm: Which companies’ margins are peaking? What would change your mind about
this stock? What’s the risk of that company failing to win an expected contract? The 52-year-old billionaire expects his analysts to have an edge: better information than anyone else, say people who have
attended the meetings.
U.S. prosecutors allege that Rajaratnam’s own edge was illegal. He was arrested on Oct. 16 at his home on Manhattan’s Sutton Place, charged with using inside information to trade shares including Google
Inc., Polycom Inc., Hilton Hotels Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., according to complaints. Five other defendants also were arrested in New York and California in a $20 million scheme that
prosecutors say is the largest-ever insider trading case involving hedge funds.
“Every trader wants an edge, and there are many gray areas when it comes to aggressive research,” said Ron Geffner, a lawyer at New York-based Sadis & Goldberg LLP, whose clients include hedge funds.
“But if you trade on material, non-public information that comes from a company insider who is breaching his fiduciary duty, odds are that it is illegal.”
559th Richest Person
Rajaratnam’s net worth of $1.3 billion makes him the 559th richest person in the world, according to Forbes Magazine, on par with the likes of hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson and investor Wilbur Ross.
Rajaratnam has invested in at least two New York City restaurants, Opia, in midtown Manhattan, according to people who know him, and Rosa Mexicano.
Galleon was among the 10 largest hedge funds in the world in the early years of this decade, and it managed $7 billion at its peak in 2008. It also was one of the three largest technology hedge funds along with
Lawrence Bowman’s Bowman Technology Fund, which closed in 2001, and Daniel Benton’s Andor Capital Management LLC, which shut down last year.
Galleon’s $1.2 billion Diversified fund has climbed 21.5 percent a year, on average, since 1992, according to a September marketing document from the firm, compared with 7.6 percent for the Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index of the largest U.S. companies. The fund has returned 22.3 percent this year, according to an investor letter.
Charitable Giving
As Rajaratnam’s wealth grew, he and his wife Asha Pabla, who have three children, created a family foundation and have given money to fight AIDS in India. They donated $5 million to help the 2004 tsunami
victims in his home country of Sri Lanka, where Rajaratnam was on vacation with his family when the disaster struck.
The foundation donated $400,000 in 2005 to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization in Cumberland, Maryland, according to tax forms filed by the foundation with the Internal Revenue Service. Two years
later, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets of the charity, saying it was a front for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, which the State Department had designated as a terrorist group 10
years earlier.
‘Thousands of Homes’
“His donation was responsible for rebuilding thousands of homes for Tamils, Sinhalese, and Muslims without discrimination,” Dan Gagnier, a spokesman for Galleon, said in an e-mailed statement.
Sri Lanka authorities will review “significant” transactions carried out by Rajaratnam, Channa De Silva, director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, said in an interview today. The
agency will “collaborate” with foreign governments in their investigations.
“We don’t want a market glazed with investors of this reputation and will make every attempt to keep the Sri Lankan market clean,” De Silva said.
Born in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, Rajaratnam was educated there at St. Thomas’ Preparatory School before leaving for England, where he studied engineering at the University of Sussex. He came to the
U.S. to get his master’s of business administration, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1983.
High-Tech Companies
His first job after graduation was at Chase Manhattan Bank, where he was a lending officer in the group that made loans to high-tech companies. In 1985, he joined Needham & Co., a New York-based
investment bank that specialized in technology and health-care companies. He started as an analyst covering the electronics industry and rose through the ranks, becoming head of research in 1987, chief
operating officer in 1989 and president in 1991. A year later, at 34, Rajaratnam started a fund, Needham Emerging Growth Partners LP, according to Galleon’s marketing documents.
Rajaratnam and Needham colleagues Krishen Sud, Gary Rosenbach and Ari Arjavalingam formed Galleon Group in January 1997. By the end of that year, they were managing $830 million, much of it from
technology company executives Rajaratnam had gotten to know throughout his career, according to “The New Investment Superstars: 13 Great Investors and Their Strategies for Superior Returns,” written by
Lois Peltz (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2001).
Splitting Up
As the Internet bubble burst in 2000, the Galleon Diversified Fund climbed 43.7 percent in the three-year period through 2002, while the S&P 500 dropped 37.6 percent.
Galleon’s assets jumped to $5 billion by 2001, making it one of the 10 biggest hedge funds in the world. That year Sud, who was co-head of the firm’s health-care fund and who had been friends with
Rajaratnam since the two were classmates at Wharton two decades before, left to start his own firm, taking six employees with him.
Rajaratnam faces 13 fraud and conspiracy counts, many of which carry 20-year maximum sentences. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces 10 years in prison if convicted at trial, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Josh Klein said in court on Oct. 16.
Prosecutors also charged Rajiv Goel, who worked at Intel Capital as a director in strategic investments, Anil Kumar, who worked as a director at McKinsey & Co., International Business Machines Corp.
executive Robert Moffat, and former officials at Bear Stearns Asset Management Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland, who were affiliated with the firm’s $1 billion New Castle Partners.
Temporary Leave
Moffat ran one of five major businesses at IBM, the world’s largest computer-services provider, and reported to Chief Executive Officer Sam Palmisano. The Armonk, New York-based company placed
Moffat on temporary leave and Rodney Adkins was put in charge of his group on an acting basis, Edward Barbini, an IBM spokesman, said today.
Yolande Daeninck, a spokeswoman for McKinsey, said the firm is “distressed” by Kumar’s arrest. Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman, said the company is investigating and has put Goel on leave.
At the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton in Manhattan set Rajaratnam’s bail at $100 million, to be secured by $20 million in assets and guaranteed by his wife and four others. Rajaratnam, who
gave up his passport, may not travel more than 110 miles from New York City.
$100 Million Bail
Klein asked Eaton to hold Rajaratnam in jail pending his trial. He said the hedge-fund manager had “enormous incentive” to flee to his native Sri Lanka or elsewhere. The prosecutor said there’s additional
evidence, there may be more charges against Rajaratnam and that the evidence is “overwhelming.”
Defense attorney Jim Walden said in court that prosecutors are misconstruing the evidence against Rajaratnam and that the case isn’t as strong as prosecutors allege.
Prosecutors say Rajaratnam traded on leaks from insiders at Polycom, Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and Market Street Partners. In another alleged scheme, Chiesi got tips from an unidentified person at
Akamai Technologies Inc. and from Moffat, according to one of the criminal complaints. These tips generated others, prosecutors said, as Chiesi passed them onto to Rajaratnam, who in turn gave Chiesi
inside information.
The government’s complaint quotes conversations between Chiesi and Rajaratnam, including a July 24, 2008, discussion that they allegedly had after she spoke to the person at Akamai. That day, Akamai
stock had closed at $32.18.
‘Gonna Guide Down’
“Akamai,” Chiesi told Rajaratnam, according to the complaint. “They’re gonna guide down. I just got a call from my guy.”
After Chiesi said that the company’s comments would bring the stock down to $25 a share, Rajaratnam replied that he would be “radio silent” and asked when Akamai would report, according to the
complaint.
Galleon said in an Oct. 16 statement after Rajaratnam’s arrest that the firm “continues to operate and is highly liquid.”
While there is no key-man clause that would allow investors to pull out based on Rajaratnam’s arrest, investors in the Diversified and Buccaneer’s Fund can withdraw their money on a quarterly basis with 45
days notice, according to marketing documents.
Galleon’s portfolio managers include Jeff Bernstein, who runs the Diversified Fund, and Leon Shaulov, the senior manager of the Galleon Buccaneer’s Fund, a short-term trading fund.
Retaining top managers and holding on to clients may prove challenging in light of the investigation, said Craig Lilly, a Palo Alto, California-based attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP, whose clients
include hedge funds.
“This may spell the end of the firm,” Lilly said. “They will probably face a tremendous wave of redemptions as well as brain-drain as senior people head for the exit door.”
Last Updated: October 19, 2009 15:20 EDT

Rajaratnam and the Tamil Tigers Connection
October 18, 2009 , 11:21 pm
Updated: As Zachery Kouwe and I report in The New York Times, Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund executive accused of leading a $20 million insider trading ring, has drawn scrutiny for donations he's given to his homeland of Sri Lanka.
More specifically, authorities have looked into millions of dollars in donations that apparently landed in the coffers of the Tamil Tigers, the violent separatist group that battled the Sri Lankan government for a quarter century until earlier this year.
A 2007 investigation into the American branch of the Tigers, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or L.T.T.E., turned up an "Individual B" who authorities say donated $2 million to the rebel group. People briefed on the matter, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal, said that individual was Mr. Rajaratnam.
According to the complaint in the case (filed against Karunakaran Kandasamy, the purported head of the L.T.T.E.'s American wing) Individual B is described in a Tamil-language letter found by investigators as "among the people who provide financial support for our struggle for freedom." It also describes Individual B's "long lasting desire to meet and discuss with the National Leader" of the L.T.T.E., Velupillai Prabhakaran. (Individual B is mentioned on pages 10 through 12 in the complaint below, as well as page 22.)
That's not the only instance of Mr. Rajaratnam's money being examined. In 2005 and 2006, a charity he founded to help rebuild Sri Lankan homes after the devastating 2004 tsunami donated a total of $3.5
million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, a charity law enforcement figures later accused of raising funds for the L.T.T.E. See the Internal Revenue Service documents here and here.
However, it's important to note that Individual B was never named in the complaint, and Mr. Rajaratnam was never charged in that case. It doesn't seem apparent that the L.T.T.E. case and the insider trading
charges are related.
Jim Walden, a lawyer for Mr. Rajaratnam, said in a statement that his client is not an L.T.T.E. supporter. Mr. Walden adds: "As everyone knows, Mr. Rajaratnam gave money to rebuild homes destroyed by
the Tsunami. His donation was responsible for rebuilding thousands of homes for Tamils, Sinhalese, and Muslims without discrimination. He obviously had the homes rebuilt, as they are standing today. Go see them."
Update 11:25 p.m. A spokesman for the Sri Lankan defense ministry tells The Financial Times that his country's government believes Mr. Rajaratnam was financing the "L.T.T.E. frontline organization" through several schemes. The spokesman did not elaborate.
- Michael J. de la Merced

Six charged in $20m insider trade case

By Joanna Chung in New York
Published: October 16 2009 16:21 Last updated: October 16 2009 21:41
Billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam and present and former executives of Bear Stearns, IBM, Intel and McKinsey were charged on Friday in an alleged insider trading scheme that US prosecutors called the biggest ever involving hedge funds.
In a possible sign of escalating federal efforts to uncover white collar crime, Preet Bharara, US attorney in Manhattan, said the case marked the first time court-authorised wire taps – a traditional tool of investigators pursuing mob bosses and drug kingpins – had been used in a significant insider trading case.
Mr Bharara said the investigation, aided by an unnamed co-operating witness, was continuing. He said the charges “should be a wake up call for every hedge fund manager and every Wall Street trader and
every corporate executive who is even thinking about engaging in insider trading”.
Documents: Complaint against Rajaratnam et al
Complaint against Chiesi et alProsecutors claimed Mr Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon hedge fund, and others used insider information from sources inside hedge funds, public companies, Moody’s Investors Service and an investor
relations firm to trade ahead of earnings announcements, acquisitions and joint venture deals.
The alleged scheme, which ran from 2006 until earlier this year, involved trades in companies including Google, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Hilton and produced profits of more than $20m, most of which
went to Mr Rajaratnam, according to federal prosecutors. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought civil charges, put the proceeds of the scheme at more than $25m.
Among those charged with trading on and providing tips were Mr Rajaratnam; Danielle Chiesi, an employee of New Castle, a hedge fund set up by Bear; and Mark Kurland, a New Castle executive who
formerly served as Bear’s head of research and asset management.
Some alleged offences occurred after Bear – and New Castle – were acquired by JPMorgan Chase in March last year. New Castle, which faces civil charges filed by the SEC, was separated from JPMorgan in late 2008.
Among those charged with providing inside information were Robert Moffat, a senior vice-president at IBM; Rajiv Goel, a director in strategic investments at the investment arm of Intel; and Anil Kumar, a director at McKinsey.
Mr Kumar said he was shocked by the complaint and emphatically denied all charges.
Moody’s said last night: “Moody’s has strict policies against divulging confidential information, and the alleged wrongdoing by an individual at Moody’s would be an egregious violation of Moody’s policies and values.”
Mr Rajaratnam, named this year as the 236th richest American by Forbes, was due to fly to London yesterday, according to court documents, with a return flight to New York from Geneva scheduled for October 22.

Wire taps used to fight white-collar crime

By Joanna Chung in New York
Published: October 16 2009 23:09 Last updated: October 16 2009 23:09
US prosecutors signalled a new aggressiveness in their pursuit of white-collar crime on Friday by revealing that they had used court-authorised wire taps in the investigation that led to the filing of insider trading
charges against hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam and five other people.
Preet Bharara, US attorney in Manhattan, warned that the “same powerful investigative techniques that worked so successfully with mob and drug cartels” would also be used in white-collar probes. He said
Friday’s case marked the first time wire taps had been used in a significant insider trading case.
“As the defendants in this case have now learned the hard way, they may have been privy to a lot of confidential corporate information but there was one secret they did not know: we were listening,” he said. “To the extent that it is possible to do in white-collar cases, we are going to do that.”
The criminal complaints filed yesterday against Mr Rajaratnam and current and former executives of Bear Stearns, IBM, Intel and McKinsey include transcripts of phone conversations recorded from both cell
phones and land lines. Prosecutors also used recorded conversations with an unnamed individual who became a co-operating witness for the government.
Yet there are questions about how frequently such tools will be used in future investigations.
“Electronic surveillance only works when the authorities are focusing on criminal activity as it unfolds,” said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor. “In the white-collar area, that is rarely the case.”
John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University, said Friday’s insider-trading case also highlighted the importance of securing cooperating witnesses.
“That is the hard part: getting the first witness,” he said. “Then, you can use him to divide and conquer the rest.”
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Sri Lankan tycoon held in hedge funds scam
The Hindu: B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: The arrest by U.S. authorities on Friday of Sri Lanka-born Raj Rajaratnam, founder and head of the New York-based Galleon Management hedge fund, on charges of “vast insider trading” has
triggered alarm bells in the government and business circles of Sri Lanka.
Mr. Rajaratnam’s firm has a stake in all of the 10 top listed Sri Lankan companies. The island nation’s nearly $10 billion stock exchange is rated as being among the world’s best performing markets.
Observers here are of the view that the “scam” could have an adverse impact on Sri Lanka’s stock market and the economy which is showing signs of recovery after the military defeat of the LTTE in May.
Mr. Rajaratnam (52) was among six persons arrested on charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. In September this year, Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda told President
Mahinda Rajapaksa that Mr. Rajaratnam was willing to pay $1 million for the rehabilitation of LTTE child-soldiers. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama objected to the proposal on the ground that the
Foreign Ministry had given a dossier to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Directorate of Intelligence on Money Laundering which said Mr. Rajaratnam was involved in LTTE financing. In a report, The Wall
Street Journal quoted unnamed federal agents as saying that they uncovered documents showing Mr. Rajaratnam was among several wealthy Sri Lankans in the U.S. whose donations to a Maryland-based
charity made their way to the LTTE.

Raj’s arrest triggers panic in Lanka

Alleged Hedge-fund fraud in US By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan-born billionaire businessman Raj Rajaratnam's arrest in the United States on Friday on an alleged US$ 20 million insider trading charges has hit Sri Lanka like a thunderbolt with not only the Colombo Securities & Exchange Commission(SEC) here scrambling to check whether his million-dollar dealings bordered on any illegality, but also high-level politicians under a cloud for involvement with him.
The US Attorney, Preet Bharara, announced Rajaratnam's company Galleon Group had as much as US$ 7 billion in assets. "This is not a garden variety insider-trading case", he told a news conference after
the arrest. "This case represents the largest hegde fund insider-trading case ever charged criminally".
In Colombo, news that his arrest by US federal agents who wire tapped his telephone calls by court authority sent the political establishment as well as the business community into a tail-spin. Cabinet Ministers
and former Cabinet Ministers with whom the US-based Sri Lankan fund manager had been talking were concerned if their names would come up in the investigations.
In September this year, Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda had told President Mahinda Rajapaksa that Rajaratnam was willing to pay US$ 1 million for the rehabilitation of LTTE child-soldiers. Foreign
Minister Rohitha Bogollagama had objected to the exercise saying that the Foreign Ministry had given a dossier to the US Treasury Department's Directorate of Intelligence on Money Laundering that
Rajaratnam is a front for LTTE finances.
Minister Bogollagama yesterday confirmed to the Sunday Times that he had objected to his Cabinet colleague's suggestion. The Justice Ministry later made a public announcement stating that Rajaratnam
would be giving this money.
Rajaratnam's tentacles into the Sri Lankan political mainstream extends to meetings with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. His business associates included frontline
Cabinet Ministers, past and present. Much of his Sri Lankan portfolio is managed by the son of a now retired multi-millionaire businessman of a blue-chip company and who is married to a Cabinet Minister's
sister.
The single largest known US contributor to a charity linked to the LTTE, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), Rajaratnam was a major contributor to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
campaigns.
Rajaratnam had given as much as US$ 3.5 million to the TRO. "The TRO passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for designated terrorist groups responsible for heinous acts of
terrorism," director of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control at the time said.
The New York-based businessman has a stake in all ten of the top listed Sri Lankan companies.In the general sense of things we need to probe and find out whether any of the transactions Rajaratnam was involved were questionable, said an SEC official, who declined to be named. “There haven’t been
any issues in the past (over his investments) but due to the new developments it is incumbent on our part to look at these issues afresh”
Mr. Rajaratnam, is the single largest foreign investor in Sri Lankas stock market, investing millions in blue chips companies and lately in smaller firms. This has raised some eyebrows, according to stock market
analysts.
When he first began investing in 2002-03, it raised concerns on whether he was using funds indirectly raised by the LTTE, a charge he vehemently rejected.
US TV footage and newspaper pictures of Mr Rajaratnam being led by US agents in handcuffs would be the worst nightmare for any top corporate CEO and a “good” lessons for Sri Lankan corporate
bosses who get away scot free on similar issues, said a respected corporate CEO, who didn’t want to be identified. “That’s what is called democracy, where no one --the richest and the most powerful
included -- is above the law. That is governance in the real sense, not the kind of nonsense that is practiced here -- where everything is only on paper and annual reports,” he said.
But a Colombo executive, who has associated with the suspect, said it was unfair to condemn Mr Rajaratnam until “proven guilty” “He has invested heavily in the stock market here and also spent his own
funds on tsunami housing for the needy and recently gave a million dollars to a government project to rehabilitate LTTE cadres. This present issue has been brought upon by competitors and is a fall-out from
the global financial crisis,” the executive, who declined to be named, said, adding that, “instead of a trial by media, let’s wait for the legal system to ascertain whether he is guilty or not.”
Mr Rajaratnam, 52, was ranked No. 559 by Forbes magazine this year among the world's wealthiest billionaires, with a $1.3 billion net worth, according to AP news agency reports. He was among six hedge
fund managers and corporate executives arrested on Friday in a hedge fund insider trading case that US authorities say generated more than $25 million in illegal profits and was a wake-up call for Wall Street.
He was given bail at $100 million to be secured by $20 million in collateral despite a request by prosecutors to deny bail. The judge also ordered Mr. Rajaratnam, who has both U.S. and Sri Lankan
citizenship, to stay within 110 miles of New York City.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference it was the largest hedge fund case ever prosecuted and marked the first use of court-authorized wiretaps to capture conversations by suspects in an insider
trading case. "Greed is not good," Mr. Bharara said. "This case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street." AP quoted Joseph Demarest Jr., head of the New York FBI office, as saying it was clear that "the
$20 million in illicit profits come at the expense of the average public investor."
In Colombo, the corporate world was stunned and officials at the companies and banks where the savvy US-educated investor has major stakes declined to comment. “He is an investor like anyone else,” said
one official, declining further comment.
According to latest available figures, Mr Rajaratnam, whose father -- J.M. Rajaratnam was the chairman of Singer (Sri Lanka) in the 1970s before being promoted to head the multinational's South East Asian
operation based in Bangkok, has a 9.2% stake in John Keells Holdings (JKH), his biggest investment upto date and, through two Galleon-related funds has 13% in People’s Merchant Bank (PMB) and 3.4%
in Commercial Bank.
Brokers in Colombo say that, Mr Rajaratnam, who began investing in the Sri Lankan bourse soon after the United National Party-led peace process began in 2002, has investments -- individually and through
the Galleon Fund group in the 10 top Colombo blue chips (biggest companies) which include DFCC, NDB, Dialog, SLT and Hayleys, though in some of these companies he has exited (sold his stock) in the
recent past.
His most recent, big investment was in Hemas Hospitals, and like in all other companies he has not sought a board (director) position, though, brokers say, many companies would have “loved” to have him on
board given his international status as a global investor.
“While there have been no issues with his investments in the big companies, there has been ‘talk’ in the market over his investments in smaller firms where the return (on investment) is lower,” one stock market
analyst said.
Mr Rajaratnam is the second Sri Lankan investor who made it big in the US to hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2006, Sri Lankan-born Sanjay Kumar, former Chief of a California-based company
called Computer Associates International, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined US $8 million for securities fraud and obstruction of justice following a two-year investigation of an improper
accounting scheme. Some years back, Mohamed Muhsin, former World Bank Vice President in charge of IT, hit the headlines in the US media over allegations of impropriety during his tenure at the bank,
charges he has rejected.
The Sri Lankan suspect was a prominent speaker at the local CIMA business summit in June 2005, sharing the podium with well known personalities like former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed
and cricket legend Imran Khan.
In an interview with the Sunday Times FT published on June 5, 2005, Mr Rajaratnam dismissed speculation that he had funded Tamil Tiger guerrillas. "I have funded orphanages in Mullaitivu, as much as I have
funded education projects in Kalutara. I funded Vanni Tech as much as I funded Sunera Foundation. I know there is speculation, but I don't worry about it one bit. When somebody is successful, apparently it
appears that no good deed goes unpunished. People don't understand philanthropy in this country.
“Here when you do charity people say that I have got political ambitions. I am very tenacious, so these statements are not bothering me," he was quoted as saying.
According to US news reports, also charged in the insider dealing scheme were Rajiv Goel, 51, of Los Altos, Calif., a director of strategic investments at Intel Capital, the investment arm of Intel Corp., Anil
Kumar, 51, of Santa Clara, Calif., a director at McKinsey & Co. Inc., a global management consulting firm, and Robert Moffat, 53, of Ridgefield, Conn., senior vice president and group executive at
International Business Machines Corp.'s Systems and Technology Group.
Mr Rajaratnam, like any US businessman, has contributed to political campaigns, the latest being $30,800 to Barack Obama and $4,600 to Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election. He lives in a $10
million condominium with his wife of 20 years, their three children and two elderly parents, according to the reports. Mr Rajaratnam has a degree from Britains University of Sussex and an MBA from the
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He founded Galleon Group in 1997 making it among the biggest hedge funds in the world.

பிரபல வர்த்தகர் ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் கைது

வீரகேசரி இணையம் 10/18/2009 10:35:33 AM -

வர்த்தக மோசடியில் ஈடுபட்டார் என்ற சந்தேகத்தின் பேரில் பிரபல அமெரிக்க தமிழ் வர்த்தகர் ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் கைது செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்.
உலக பிரபல்யம் பெற்ற கெலொன் நிறுவனத்தின் உரிமையாளரும், உலக செல்வந்த வரிசையில் 559ஆம் இடத்தை வகிப்பவருமான ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் நேற்றைய தினம் அவரது வீட்டில் வைத்து கைது செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்.
பங்குச் சந்தை மற்றும் நிதிச் சந்தை கொடுக்கல் வாங்கல்களின் போது மோசடியான முறையில் இலாபமீட்டியுள்ளதாக இவர் மீது குற்றம் சுமத்தப்படுகிறது.ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் இலங்கையைப்
பிறப்பிடமாகக் கொண்டவர் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
2006ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் 2007ஆம் ஆண்டு வரையில் இவ்வாறான சட்டவிரோத வர்த்தக நடவடிக்கைகளின் மூலம் 20 பில்லியன் அமெரிக்க டொலர் வருமானமாக ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் ஈட்டியுள்ளார்.
தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலி உறுப்பினர்களுக்கு மறுவாழ்வு அளிக்கவும் ராஜ் ராஜரட்ணம் நிதி உதவி வழங்கியுள்ளதாக சர்வதேச செய்திகள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.

We will decide fearlessly- President

2009-10-20T09:51:00.005+01:00

Last modified on: 10/19/2009 7:26:49 AM

We will decide fearlessly- President

Armed forces' sacrificed not in vain :

(By : Rasika Somarathna in Matale)
Even though terrorism had been defeated certain forces which preached separatism and who tried to divide the country were still at large.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and to defeat this and in the struggles ahead to build a new country we shall not fear to take necessary decisions in the face of any dangers that we may face," said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Rajapaksa stressed that he would not permit Sri Lanka's war heroes to be produced before any international war crimes tribunal.
"They fought to defend the Nation and we are always committed to defend them with dedication and we would never back down from that responsibility," he added.
He was addressing a large gathering at the Central Province War Heroes' felicitation at the Aluvihare temple premises in Matale. The President said the people contributed to this victory without any differences, in the face of many hardships. "They correctly understood that we had launched a proper battle to defeat of terrorism."
"Our mothers and fathers sacrificed their children to the armed forces, police and civil defence corps, as never before seen in our history. The leadership too led from the front.
"My own son joined the security forces and the children of other high ranking security forces personnel and other officials too joined the ranks," he said.
"Their immense commitment was not in vain. It is these sacrifices that have enabled the country to stand tall today without the shadow of terrorism hovering over us," President Rajapaksa added. The President also pointed out that at the time he took over the responsibility of leading the country, the separatist terrorists were on the verge of achieving their goal of dividing the country. "Many foreign forces attempted to persuade us that the path to peace was to give in to a terrorist organization which they claimed was invincible," President Rajapaksa said.
"Some local politicians too had embraced these ideas in order to realize their own selfish personal goals at the expense of the country," he said.
"Certain authorities even feared to identify terrorists as such and tried to belittle the efforts of the security forces," he said.
"The people wanted us to defeat the foundations of a cowardly peace and instead establish a genuine and dignified peace for our land by defending terrorism decisively. "The fundamental platform that we based our initiative was an undivided country, a national consensus and an honourable peace." "In the Mahinda Chinthana policy framework we gave emphasis to the word unitary which some scorned upon at that time.
We chose the right people for right positions without any affiliations.
We sought help from friendly nations, we went to the international community with our side of the story, we equipped the armed forces with the necessary manpower and equipment. We inculcated belief, trust and hope in the minds of the people," the President observed. He also noted that the present regime had treated all who contributed to the cause of saving the motherland from the clutches of terrorism from top to the bottom equally. However, Security Forces personnel should also be prepared to protect the dignified position they hold in society now with exemplary behaviour. They should not become pawns of undesirable elements for financial gains or otherwise," he added.
The President also pointed out that the two thirds mandate which the UPFA got during the southern polls is a clear manifestation of the peoples thinking regarding their duty towards the motherland.
Referring to the War Heroes felicitation which concluded yesterday, the President said that Matale was a fitting destination to hold such a ceremony as it possessed a historical past the country could be proud of. Its present contribution to the recently concluded conflict too has been commendable, he added.
During the ceremony Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, former Army Commander and the present Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka, former Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Air Force Commander Air Marshall Roshan Gunatilleke, Former Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera, Director General of Civil Defence Force Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera and IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne were felicitated.
Religious and political leaders of the area felicitated the President during the ceremony. Before the ceremony the President paid his homage to the famous Aluvihare temple.
Religious and political leaders representing the people of the Central Province felicitated the President and the war heroes and the ceremony ended with the chanting of Pirit.
A large crowd including war heroes' relatives participated.
Mementoes were present to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by senior political leaders in the Province, namely, Ministers D.M. Jayaratne, Janaka Bandara Tennekoon, Rohana Kumara Dissanayake, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, CPC Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa and Basnayake Nilame N. Jayawardhana. Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and NCP Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake were also present.
Courtesy : Daily News

Sri Lankans threaten to blow up boat in Indonesia

2009-10-15T16:30:00.002+01:00

No vacancy for boatpeople as Kevin Rudd toughens stance

KEVIN Rudd has been forced to expand the immigration detention centre at Christmas Island in a last-ditch attempt to avoid transferring asylum-seekers to the mainland.
And as officials began processing the 56 asylum-seekers intercepted on Monday - the 32nd boat to arrive this year - the Coalition renewed its attack on the government, accusing the Prime Minister of "losing control of our borders" and of replacing the Howard era Pacific Solution with an "Indonesian solution" of managing refugees.
But Mr Rudd moved to toughen the government's rhetoric following revelations he personally intervened through a conversation with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to have a boat carrying 260 asylum-seekers stopped by the Indonesian navy.
Last night, more than 260 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers were locked in a deadly stand-off with Indonesian authorities, threatening to blow up their boat if forced to disembark at the port in Merak.
"I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for taking a hard line on illegal immigration to Australia," Mr Rudd said yesterday.
He said the government was working with countries in the region to stem the flow of irregular migrants, and that the harsh policies adopted by the Howard government had failed.
Mr Rudd's comments followed the interception on Monday of 56 asylum-seekers northwest of Ashmore Reef, bringing to 1704 the number of asylum-seekers to arrive by boat this year.
But Malcolm Turnbull seized on the arrival of the new boats, claiming there was now no doubt Labor's changes had encouraged people smugglers.
"Mr Rudd has to now admit that his border protection policies are failing. He has lost control of our borders. Since he started softening our border protection policies, we've had 41 boats and just under 2000 arrivals," the Opposition Leader said.
Since coming to office, Labor has made several changes to immigration policy, dismantling the Pacific Solution of offshore processing and introducing a risk-based approach to mandatory detention.
The border protection debate raged as a Lowy Institute poll released yesterday showing 76 per cent of Australians were somewhat concerned or very concerned about unauthorised asylum-seekers.
It rated as the 10th-biggest critical threat to the vital interests of the country in the next 10 years.
News of the interceptions came as the Immigration Department confirmed it was "reconfiguring" its Christmas Island detention centre to accommodate up to 1400 detainees - an increase of 200 on its maximum "surge" capacity.
The expansion, which is being achieved by a "reconfiguration of the activities room" represents a near doubling of the facility's "normal" capacity of 800 people.
The spokesman said this would not mean activities would be cancelled. "They will continue to have access to a range of educational and recreational activities," he said.
Earlier in the day there were plans to move transportable buildings from the area known as "construction camp" to the main detention centre, but these were cancelled.
The move is a temporary reprieve for the government, which has been drawing up plans to move large numbers of asylum-seekers to the mainland.
The Australian understands the government was discussing plans to send asylum-seekers direct to Darwin or Learmonth air base, 1200km north of Perth, as recently as two weeks ago.
It is understood a proposal was presented to cabinet to allow asylum-seekers to be processed directly on the mainland, if the number of boat arrivals meant facilities on Christmas Island could not cope.
Another proposal was for asylum-seekers to be sent to Darwin or Learmonth after their initial processing on Christmas Island.
This would have allowed space to be created on the island for future arrivals.
Yesterday, Immigration Minister Chris Evans made clear the Darwin option remained on the table should favourable seasonal conditions push the number of boats beyond the coping capacity of Christmas Island.
"If additional accommodation is required beyond that, adult men who are nearing the end of their processing on Christmas Island may be transferred to the Northern Immigration Detention Centre for the final stages of processing," a spokesman for Senator Evans told The Australian. An Immigration Department spokesman said yesterday there were 1016 asylum-seekers and 19 crew on Christmas Island, 820 of whom were housed at the detention centre.
The facility has an operating capacity of 800 people and, under normal circumstances, a "surge" capacity of 1200.
The numbers at the facility do not include the 56 intercepted on Monday, which will push the facility well into its normal surge capacity of 1200.
Indonesia last night played down impressions Jakarta had acted at the behest of Kevin Rudd, who on the weekend phoned Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono requesting the boat be stopped.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the boat, which would have overwhelmed Australia's offshore detention facility, had been stopped in the interest of regional co-operation.
"It's not like that," he said of the reports. "In the context of regional co-operation, we share information, we co-ordinate ... This was only one part of that co-ordination."
Speaking in Hobart where he was attending a community cabinet, the Prime Minister lashed out at former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who on Monday said the government's policies had created a "pipeline" of 10,000 asylum-seekers travelling to Australia via people-smugglers every year.
Mr Rudd said Mr Ruddock had "zero credibility" on the issue.
"Phillip Ruddock was also that minister who said that asylum-seekers had thrown their kids overboard," he said.
"I therefore place zero credibility on anything that Phillip Ruddock says about anything since that time ... In one fell swoop, he destroyed his credibility to make comments on this issue."
Mr Rudd said in the two years after the Howard government introduced the system of temporary protection visas for refugees, the number of boat arrivals mushroomed to nearly 10,000.
"So I would say to those who want to bring back TPVs, who want to bring back the Pacific Solution, ask yourself this question - what is the record in the two years immediately following the introduction of these measures?" Mr Rudd said.
But writing in The Australian today, Mr Ruddock said only domestic measures had proved effective in stemming the flow. "These included the return to Indonesia of a number of vessels ..., the implementation of the so-called Pacific Solution with the co-operation of Nauru and Papua New Guinea and humane mandatory detention for those who reached Australia," he said.
Opposition spokeswoman Sharman Stone said Kevin Rudd had replaced the Pacific Solution with the "Indonesia solution".
"While Mr Rudd was successful in his panicked phone call to SBY, he has not addressed the problem," Dr Stone told The Australian.
Yesterday, outspoken Christian minister Fred Nile told The Australian he was exploring the possibility of extricating by boat about 1900 Assyrian Christian refugees in Iraq, who have been trying for years to come to Australia.
"I thought what would happen if they were somehow able to all put together their money and hire a boat and just sail to Christmas Island," Mr Nile told The Australian.
"Would the government welcome them with open arms as they are with all these boatpeople that are coming at the moment?" Mr Nile said he was now actively considering the idea.

Sri Lankans threaten to blow up boat in Indonesia

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Merak, Indonesia October 14, 2009 Article from: The Australian

MORE than 260 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers were last night threatening to blow up their boat if the Indonesian navy forced them to disembark at the port in Merak after the large cargo boat they were piloting towards Christmas Island broke down.
"We have gas canisters and we have told the navy we will blow up the boat and jump into the ocean if they try to force us off the boat," said a spokesman for the asylum-seekers, who would only give his name as Alex.
Alex said the Sri Lankans had each paid $US15,000 ($16,533) to board the wooden craft in Malaysia 13 days ago, after travelling there by air from Jaffna.
"If the authorities in Sri Lanka know this is me on this boat, they will hunt down my wife and children in Jaffna and kill them," the frightened man said. "I have been waiting for my wife and children to follow me here. As soon as possible, we need to get to Australia."
The Sri Lankan asylum-seekers and six Indonesian crew members were under military guard aboard the cargo ship in western Java after being intercepted trying to sail to Christmas Island.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono intervened directly in the case of the asylum-seekers, who were detained trying to sail to Christmas Island at the weekend.
Dr Yudhoyono has ordered his navy chief of staff to treat with care the group of hungry and tired refugees, who last night were expected to be towed to shore after their cargo boat's engine died. They were then to be dealt with by immigration officials after having refused for the past three days to leave their stricken boat.
Kevin Rudd confirmed yesterday he had made a personal plea to Dr Yudhoyono for the Indonesians to intercept the boat.
Alex denied last night that those on board the boat were associated with Tamil Tigers.
"We are civilians, not Tamil Tigers. Every day there are Tamils being killed and raped in the refugee camps. Men are blindfolded and shot in the back of the head.
"In Sri Lanka if you are Tamil there is no opportunity - the government can detain you without cause, and take you to trial without evidence."
Alex said the group's choice of Australia as a destination was not based on intimate knowledge of federal government immigration policy, but simply "because we had to flee somewhere".
"Another boat full of Tamils left Malaysia for Canada, and for that people were paying $US45,000 per person," he said. "That was far too expensive."
He said the group had been at sea for 13 days before being captured by an Indonesian navy vessel early on Saturday morning. "We spent a month in the jungle in Malaysia before that," he said.
International Organisation for Migration staff were working with Immigration Department officials last night to resolve the standoff, with the Sri Lankans adamant they wanted to continue their journey to Australia. Alex refused to give details of the agent who had taken money from members for the group in Malaysia, repeatedly saying he feared for his life.
He was allowed to speak to The Australian for only a few moments, before senior navy officers made him rejoin the larger group.
The group consisted of women and children as well as men, and a number of extremely young children.
Four of the boatpeople were in hospital last night being treated for non life-threatening issues, including one woman who reportedly was pregnant.
A military source, who refused to be named, said navy ships guarding the asylum-seekers had accompanied the boat after it was intercepted in the Sunda Strait near Anak Krakatau, an active volcano that attracts thousands of tourists to its spectacular displays.
"We're guarding them so that no one can get on or off, and so they don't escape," the source said. The boat was moored alongside an Indonesian submarine chaser and bore a large hand-painted sign saying: "We are Sri Lankan civilians plz save our life."
Australian Federal Police and Immigration Department officers had already visited the boat people, the source said. However they were refusing to speak to officials.
A doctor dealing with the four people in hospital said they included a baby with skin problems, a woman who is seven months pregnant, another with gastritis and a fourth who had a spinal injury sustained on the cargo boat.
Others had been given medical assessments on the boat and determined to be fine.
Erwin Hilianka, from the Banten province health department, said the illegal immigrants were suffering no serious illnesses but were only sick due to weakness and not eating.
The boat was intercepted early on Sunday morning, authorities said, and arrived in Merak harbour late the same day.
Indonesian police said they were investigating whether the six Indonesian crew members were involved in a known people-smuggling ring.
Thousands of asylum-seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka and Burma use Indonesia as a staging point to get to Australia where they apply for refugee status, often travelling first through Malaysia.
Many make their initial applications to the UN High Commission for Refugees in Jakarta, giving them temporary right to stay in the country while their claims are processed.
A large number of them then use this opportunity to organise risky voyages such as the most recent one to be intercepted, often with the services of organised people-smuggling rings.
Australia has launched a joint policing program with Indonesia to combat the people trafficking wave, with at least a dozen ports across the country being targeted.
Despite tough language from Jakarta for Australia's benefit, officials admit they are unable to stem the flow of refugees through the country. Many of the asylum-seekers themselves admit the flow has increased
as a result of the Rudd government's softer measures on the problem.
These measures, which many asylum-seekers believe will give them a greater chance at being accepted as refugees by Australia if they try the journey by boat, have led to the main detention and processing centre at Christmas Island being filled beyond its capacity.
However Indonesian detention centres are also stretched beyond capacity, despite financial and other assistance from foreign governments including Australia and from the International Organisation for Migration.
The IOM works with the UNHCR giving shelter, food and medical treatment to thousands of asylum-seekers living in the community in areas such as Puncak, a mountainous resort region full of low-rent hostels south of Jakarta.
Hundreds more are in immigration detention centres across the country, with the latest boatload almost certain to join that category unless any of them can produce documentation showing they had refugee applications already being assessed by the UN.
Asylum-seekers who are successful in such applications while living in Indonesia then have the right to be considered for resettlement in a third country that has signed the international treaty dealing with refugees.
Chief among these countries are Australia, the US and Canada. Indonesia has never signed the treaty and, despite promises by Dr Yudhoyono during a visit by Mr Rudd last year, has not enacted anti-people smuggling legislation.

BBC Sinhala service
Lankan migrants in Indonesia 'very ill'

The Sri Lankan migrants captured off Indonesian waters are in very poor conditions and still feeling tired due to the long journey in the sea, Indonesian authorities say.
Head of information department of Indonesian Navy, First Admiral Iskandar Sitompul told BBC Sinhala service that many Tamil nationals were among the captured migrants who have been “floating in the sea” for many days.
30 women and 30 children are among the 260 migrants in a cargo ship intercepted by the Indonesian authorities on Sunday, he added.
The migrants, suspected of trying to sail illegally to Australia, were captured on Sunday by the Indonesian authorities.Via Malaysia
First Admiral Iskandar Sitompul added that the migrants are still being questioned “one by one” in the sea off Merak harbour by navy officials.
The migrants might be allowed into Indonesia, “hopefully tomorrow” after the interrogations, he added, and will be detained in migration centres.
The migrants had set sail from Malaysia and paid nearly 15,000 US dollars per person to a people smuggler, he told BBC Indonesian service.
“First they went to Singapore then Malaysia, but not all together. They started the journey in July and at the end a total of 260 people met up in Malaysia,” First Admiral Sitompul said.
'Broken bones'
He added that the migrants had had food when they left Malaysia, but now the food is finished, and when found, some of them were malnourished.
Most of them have skin problems because of the condition on the boat. Some have broken bones and four of them were admitted to the hospital.
A spokesman at the Sri Lankan embassy in Indonesia told BBC Sandeshaya that they were not informed of the incident.
Hundreds of thousands of Tamil nationals have left Sri Lanka as a result of the conflict between the Sri Lanka military and Tamil Tigers.
Although the military conflict has ended in May, many Tamil nationals are still trying to migrate, usually by illegal means, to the West and other countries.
In an apparent attempt to turn the tide, Australia recently deported six Sri Lankan illegal migrants.
The Sri Lankan high commissioner in Australia has told the media that all of the deported were Sinhala nationals and there was no threat to their life in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's Economy

2009-10-11T21:30:00.002+01:00

No sir, no sir, but give us three bags full
What Sri Lanka needs is a Sarath Fonseka for the country’s economy

By Romesh AbeywickremaThe Subday Leader LK October 11 2009
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. Well, that’s how it is supposed to be. Just ask the 17 UNP pole-vaulters, or the 10 from the NFF for that matter.
Of late, however, there is something odd going on in this island of ours. ‘We don’t want it, but we want it.’ ‘We don’t need your preaching, but give us the moolah,’ we have been telling the West. Ditto with
the IMF: ‘No conditions please; we are Sri Lanka, so just dole out the 2.5 billion.’ To the US: ‘Put your house in order before lecturing us.’ And then we go and ask these very people for favours. How
intelligent is that?
Just a couple of weeks ago we had a chorus led by the likes of Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal stating to anyone willing to lend an ear that Sri Lanka can do jolly well without the EU’s GSP+
concession, “which in any event was to be a temporary measure, granted following the 2004 tsunami. We can do without it.”
However, this stance was reversed the very next week when another batch from our world record cabinet of ministers started crying that without GSP+ poor Sri Lanka will be kaput.
The President weighs in
Intriguingly enough, the high and mighty in government have kept their distance from this slandering cum pleading match, preferring to play goody goody as and when the requirement arose. However, that
ended on the last campaign date in the south when the Chief Executive himself went on record to say that the cost/benefit of GSP+ was the equivalent of the Hambantota Port, so if the country can build the
port it can also build alternatives to GSP+.
Last week, the main alliance partner of the government, the JHU, began a signature campaign against the US. One wonders how many of the signatories realise the fact that over one-third of our apparel
exports are shipped to that very country. The loss of that market share apparently does not figure in the political equation. What benefit does this stance bring to the country? If the US wanted financial aid from
Sri Lanka, then the strategy would be spot on.
It is time the ‘give it if you want, be damned if you don’t’ strategy is seriously evaluated by the warriors in government purely on its financial merits. The strategy is fine if the audience is the Southern Province of
Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, it isn’t so. The average man from the EU or US doesn’t differentiate between the information intended for Hambantota, in the deep south of Sri Lanka, and Washington D.C. in the
US. Everything that happens in the world is reported in real time. The world is wired, and what you want to know is right there waiting to be read on some electronic device. If what you want to know is
whether criteria has been fulfilled for GSP +… well, go on and click. Which is what the West is busy doing.
Though the strategy of staggered provincial polls has produced the desired results for the government, the years-long campaign has been nothing short of a nightmare on the public relations front. Details of
campaign-talk are being reported and accessed from all over the world. It seems our politicians are yet to come to terms with the wired world they live in, even though the most hi-tech communication devices
are an essential part of their get-up.
Although targeted to the local audience, the government’s West-bashing has effectively antagonized the West unlike ever before, without the government even realising it. Politicians in Sri Lanka seem to think
that the whole world operates on their terms. It is not so. For the rest of the world, a friend is a friend and a foe is a foe. The foe by day/friend by night policy of our politicians is not the way of the world.
Military wars, economic wars
When the war was won, many took it for granted that the economic war would be a cakewalk – foreign funds would flow like a tsunami, the people were told. Nothing of the sort happened. Even the IMF stretched the government’s endurance to its limits before the first tranche of the promised US $2.1 billion was doled out.
Then the unthinkable happened last week. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka issued an official statement on Thursday stating that “the key targets and structural benchmarks as agreed with the IMF at the end of September 2009 were comfortably achieved by Sri Lanka.” It goes on to reassure the public that “This follows the successful achievement of the targets set for July 2009 as well.” Targets as agreed with the IMF?
Weren’t we Sri Lankans told ad nauseam that there were no conditions (read: targets) with the IMF? What exactly are these ‘targets’ and ‘structural adjustments’ as ‘agreed to with the IMF’ that have been fulfilled? What, then, has not been fulfilled? (The answer to that obviously has to come from the IMF.)
Is the cat out of the bag? Cat or no cat, it seems the famous ‘plug’ is back in place, securely as ever, with the Central Bank itself assuring us it is so!
The different messages emanating from different quarters in the government point to one thing – no one seems to know whether they are coming or going. Either way, the guiding principle is to do whatever that pleases the political masters.
OECD classification
That the economic war is far from being won was apparent by a classification issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) just last month, which largely went unreported.
Under the heading “Sustainable credit and export credits,” this influential organisation lists “Low income countries subject to IMF/World Bank concessionality requirements,” and Sri Lanka is listed as a country “subject to the Non-Concessional Borrowing Policy of the IMF.”
Those who are approached for credit don’t just lend over the counter. They seek the resources of such organisations as OECD, whose job is to provide that service. The mandarins running our economy just don’t seem to see the big picture, namely, the high-cost funding that Sri Lanka has relied on for some time.
What is missed sorely in the economic front is the equivalent of a Sarath Fonseka spearheading the economic machinery of government. With the administration settling on the controversial duo of P.B. Jayasundera and Nivard Cabraal to deliver the goods, the status quo is likely to continue.
Meanwhile, the chorus will go on: ‘No sir, no sir, but give us three bags full.’

Behind The Sri Lankan Bloodbath

2009-10-11T20:31:00.002+01:00

Behind The Sri Lankan Bloodbath

Brahma Chellaney, 10.09.09, 12:01 AM EDT -Forbe

Colombo's victory over the Tamils shows India's power on the wane. Thousands of noncombatants, according to the United Nations, were killed in the final phase of the Sri Lankan war this year as government forces overran the Tamil Tiger guerrillas. Nearly five months after
Colombo's stunning military triumph, the peace dividend remains elusive, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa setting out--in the name of "eternal vigilance"--to expand by 50% an already-large military. Little effort has been made to reach out to the Tamil minority and begin a process of national reconciliation.
China, clearly, was the decisive factor in ending the war through its generous supply of offensive weapons and its munificent aid. It even got its ally Pakistan to actively assist Rajapaksa in his war strategy.
Today, China is the key factor in providing Colombo the diplomatic cover against the institution of a U.N. investigation into possible war crimes, or the appointment of a U.N. special envoy on Sri Lanka. In return for such support, Beijing has been able to make strategic inroads into a critically located country in India's backyard.
China's assistance, India's role has received little international attention. But India, too, contributed to the Sri Lankan bloodbath through its military aid, except that it has ended up, strangely, with its leverage
undermined.
For years, India had pursued a hands-off approach toward Sri Lanka in response to two developments--a disastrous 1987-1990 peacekeeping operation there; and the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a member of the Tamil Tigers. But having been outmaneuvered by China's success in extending strategic reach to Sri Lanka in recent years, New Delhi got sucked into providing major assistance to Colombo, lest it lose further ground in Sri Lanka.
From opening an unlimited line of military credit for Sri Lanka to extending critical naval and intelligence assistance, India provided sustained war support despite a deteriorating humanitarian situation there. A "major turning point" in the war, as Sri Lankan navy chief Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda acknowledged, came when the rebels' supply ships were eliminated, one by one, with input from Indian naval intelligence, cutting off all supplies to the rebel-held areas. That in turn allowed the Sri Lankan ground forces to make rapid advances and unravel the de facto state the Tigers had established in the island nation's north and east.
Sri Lanka, for its part, practiced adroit but duplicitous diplomacy: It assured India it would approach other arms suppliers only if New Delhi couldn't provide a particular weapon system it needed. Yet it quietly began buying arms from China and Pakistan without even letting India know. In doing so, Colombo mocked Indian appeals that it rely for its legitimate defense needs on India, the main regional power. It was only by turning to India's adversaries for weapons, training and other aid that Colombo pulled off a startling military triumph. In any event, Colombo was emboldened by the fact that the more it chipped away at India's traditional role, the more New Delhi seemed willing to pander to its needs.
Indeed, Rajapaksa deftly played the China, India and Pakistan cards to maximize gains. After key Tamil Tiger leaders had been killed in the fighting, Rajapaksa--to New Delhi's mortification--thanked China, India and Pakistan in the same breath for Sri Lanka's victory.
Today, India stands more marginalized than ever in Sri Lanka. Its natural constituency--the Tamils--feels not only betrayed, but also looks at India as a colluder in the bloodbath. India already had alienated the Sinhalese majority in the 1980s, when it first armed the Tamil Tigers and then sought to disarm them through an ill-starred peacekeeping foray that left almost three times as many Indian troops dead as the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan.
India's waning leverage over Sri Lanka is manifest from the way it now has to jostle for influence there with arch-rivals China and Pakistan. Hambantota--the billion-dollar port Beijing is building in Sri Lanka's
southeast--symbolizes the Chinese strategic challenge to India from the oceans.
Even as some 280,000 displaced Tamils--equivalent to the population of Belfast--continue to be held incommunicado in barbed-wire camps, India has been unable to persuade Colombo to set them free, with
incidents being reported of security forces opening fire on those seeking to escape from the appalling conditions. One of the few persons allowed to visit some of these camps was U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said after his tour in May: "I have traveled around the world and visited similar places, but these are by far the most appalling scenes I have seen ..." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said recently that India has conveyed its "concerns in no uncertain terms to Sri Lanka on various occasions, stressing the need for them to focus on resettling and rehabilitating the displaced Tamil population at the earliest." But India seems unable to make a difference even with messages delivered in "no uncertain terms."
The story of the loss of India's preeminent role in Sri Lanka actually begins in 1987, when New Delhi made an abrupt U-turn in policy and demanded that the Tigers lay down their arms. Their refusal to bow to the diktat was viewed as treachery, and the Indian army was ordered to rout them.
Since then, Sri Lanka has served as a reminder of how India's foreign policy is driven not by resolute, long-term goals, but by a meandering approach influenced by the personal caprice of those in power. The 1987 policy reversal occurred after then Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene--a wily old fox--sold neophyte Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi the line that an "Eelam," or Tamil homeland, in Sri Lanka would be a dangerous precursor to a Greater Eelam uniting Tamils on both sides of the Palk Straits. In buying that myth, Gandhi did not consider a simple truth: If Bangladesh's 1971 creation did not provoke an Indian Bengali nationalist demand for a Greater Bangladesh, why would an Eelam lead to a Greater Eelam?
Actually, the Tamils in India and Sri Lanka have pursued divergent identities since the fall of the Pandyan kingdom in the 14th century. While the Eelam struggle is rooted in the treatment of Tamils as second- class citizens in Sri Lanka--where affirmative action has been instituted for the majority Sinhalese and a mono-ethnic national identity sought to be shaped--the Tamils in India face no discrimination and have been fully integrated into the national mainstream.
Another personality driven shift in India's Sri Lanka policy came after the 2004 change of government in New Delhi, when the desire to avenge Gandhi's assassination trumped strategic considerations, with the hands-off approach being abandoned. That handily meshed with the hawkish agenda of Rajapaksa, who began chasing the military option soon after coming to power in 2005. "It is their duty to help us in this stage," Rajapaksa said about India. And Indian help came liberally.
In fact, such has been the unstinting Indian support that even after the crushing of the Tamil Tigers, India went out of the way to castigate the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, in June for shining a spotlight on the deplorable human-rights situation in Sri Lanka, including the continuing internment of internally displaced Tamils. India accused Pillay--a distinguished South African judge of Indian descent who has sought an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes committed by all sides in Sri Lanka--of going beyond her brief, saying "the independence of the high commissioner cannot be presumed to exceed that of the U.N. secretary-general."
The costs of lending such support have been high. New Delhi today is groping to bring direction to its Sri Lanka policy by defining its objectives more coherently, even as it struggles to respond to the Chinese
strategy to build maritime choke points in the Indian Ocean region. Indeed, India has ceded strategic space in its regional backyard in such a manner that Bhutan now remains its sole pocket of influence. In Sri Lanka, India has allowed itself to become a marginal player despite its geostrategic advantage and trade and investment clout.
More fundamentally, the pernicious myth Jayewardene planted in Gandhi's mind triggered a chain of events still exacting costs on Indian security and interests. In fact, nothing better illustrates the fallacy Jayewardene sold Gandhi than the absence of a Tamil backlash in India to the killings of thousands of countless Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka this year, and to the continued incarceration in tent camps of 280,000 Tamil refugees, including 80,000 children. In fact, even as the Sri Lankan war reached a gory culmination, India's Tamil Nadu state voted in national elections for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Gandhi's widow, Sonia Gandhi, although that governing coalition had shied away from raising its voice over the Sri Lankan slaughter.
Today, the upsurge of Sinhalese chauvinism flows from the fact that the Sri Lankan military accomplished a task whose pursuit forced the mightier Indian army to make an ignominious exit 19 years ago.
Consequently, Colombo is going to be even less inclined than before to listen to New Delhi. Indeed, the manner in which Colombo played the China and Pakistan cards in recent years to outsmart India is likely to remain an enduring feature of Sri Lankan diplomacy, making Sri Lanka a potential springboard for anti-India maneuvers.

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Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, is the author, most recently, of Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan.

My life in Menik farm IDP camp

2009-10-05T11:25:00.001+01:00

My life in Menik farm IDP camp from March to July 2009

A Personal Account
by A Special Correspondent
1. Introduction
A quarter million people, who have been on the run from artillery fire for more than a year, are now restricted by barbed wire inside an area less than one kilometre square. A comparison with the size of some heavily populated cities (Table) gives some idea of the congestion that is made even more acute by restricting the freedom of movement of the inmates. The scenario has drawn the attention of United Nations,
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, governments of many leading countries and several other local and international NGOs, as well as all the major media.
The scenario has continued for over six months and there is no end in sight despite pressures applied on and promises made by the Sri Lankan Government. The account below adds to the existing descriptions
of the camp conditions and is based entirely on my first hand experience as an inmate in the zone-3 camp (Figure) for more than four months.
2. Administration
The administration of each camp named zone-0 to zone-5 is conducted by one sub office inside each zone. These sub offices in theory comes under the Assistant Government Agent Division (AGA) of
Cheddikulam-Vavuniya. Each sub office has a “figure head”, a Tamil, who used to be the head of an AGA division in Vanni prior to displacement and as a rule these “figure heads” are not interned inside the
camp. Scores of staff, all of them Tamils, who worked under these heads in Vanni, who are presently interned inside the camps, staff the zone sub offices and live in fear and are eager to get out just like any of
the other inmates.
Above each of these “zone figure heads” are another head who are all Sinhalese and are employees of the Ministry of Resettlement. The military units that support these “Sinhalese civil servant heads” work in
close association with them. The Tamils inmates, “the Tamil figure head” and all other interned staff, take orders from the military.
Once when I was in the sub-office a convoy arrived with the Minister of Resettlement and several personnel with video cameras. While the minister took photographs standing in front of the sub office we, the
inmates, were chased out. Then a van with video cameras drove by and started throwing bread and some “sambol” at the inmates crowded behind the office.
The inmates rushed competing for the bread while the amused cameramen were videoing. Observing the scene it seemed to me that these video shots will be screened on the state television that night with the
news of the minister’s visit to the camp for the pleasure of the Sinhala viewers. Inmates on many occasions have told me of seeing similar scenes being videoed.
3. Military
(“When we risked our lives to escape from the war zone we viewed the Sri Lankan army as our saviours. Just three months later we hate them and see them as “masters”- a 40 year old male inmate)
Gun and stick (long baton rods) wielding military control the inmates at all times. I have not witnessed the guns being used on inmates though I have heard guns being fired on many occasions. The sticks on the
other hand were used regularly reminding me of the way black slaves were beaten in the “Roots” television drama. Being treated worse than animals is a very accurate description. The following incident is
typical.
A medical employee inmate was regularly carrying some refrigerated medicines from one OPD clinic to another inside the same camp. The employee used a short cut through the tents instead of using the
longer gravel road. One military duo attempted to stop the employee suspecting that he is a seller of some goods. Such sellers are treated like criminals as described later. When this employee in question failed
to stop because he never suspected that the target of the military order to stop was him. The angered military duo drove their motorbike through the narrow space between the tents; brining down clothes that
were hanging on strings stretched cross the tents; and endangering young children playing in that space.
They reached the employee, stopped and got off the motorbike and walked angrily towards the employee shouting something in Sinhalese. The Tamil employee who does not understand Sinhalese kept
repeating “hospital.. hospital”, which is a word most of the people in world would understand. (Indeed 95 percent of the inmates all of whom are Tamils do not understand Sinhalese where as 99 percent of the
military all of whom are Sinhalese do not know Tamil and give their orders as “masters” in Sinhalese which the “slaves” do not understand.)
The enraged military man kicked the employee on his face and stomach several times with his boots while the employee kept repeating “hospital.. hospital”. It was only after the military man was too tired to
deliver any more kicks that he stopped to look at what was in the box that the employee was carrying. Several of us witnessed this in close quarters frozen in fear. When the scene cleared I asked one senior
government employee inmate if this misconduct by the military ought to be reported. I was told that if I attempt anything like that I will “disappear”.
I have on many occasions taken the trek on the gravel road from one end of the zone-3 camp to its sub-office. This gravel road also separates zone-3 and zone-2 camps. It is therefore an area where the
master-slave scenario is played out frequently when the inmates of one camp attempt to go to the other through the barbed wire to meet family members and friends. Anyone caught while attempting to cross
are beaten brutally and the degree of brutality became worse as the inmates appeared undeterred by the military brutality.
In reality, the people were desperate to see and help family members and friends in the adjacent camp who have arrived at different times from the war zone and have lost close relatives in the war. Military
brutality in such circumstance was ineffective. Though some procedure was instituted to let a limited number of people to crossover to the other camp for the day, this was ineffective and people continued to
defy the military and breach the barbed wire behind its back.
4. Living area
It was obvious when we arrived in the camp that even the basics like water, toilets and tent were not in place to hold the people they are detaining. Many of us drank the water that were not meant for drinking
and ended up with diarrhoea almost immediately after arrival. One could go on about the conditions at the start. There were improvements as time went by but only in comparison to what was there to start
with.
The tent was unbearably hot once the sun came out but there were hardly any shade to take shelter from the sun; the place was like a desert with crowded tents. Within two months the tarpaulin material used
for the tents were shredded to pieces by the strong winds that started in June. For more than a month we lived in shredded tents with no privacy at all until they were replaced. The wind during June/July was
extreme and it was like living permanently in a sandstorm.
Everyone was covered with sand that will come raining down every few minutes. There were a couple of heavy downpours soon after we arrived in the camp. Some of the camps in the lower lying areas were
flooded. The wind that came with the downpours lifted the roofs of some of the tents. Fear of the monsoon rains was often expressed by the inmates during conversation. I had left the camp before the August
heavy rains.
The toilets are only less than five meters from my tent and the smell was strong when the emptying of the toilet pits is not carried out in time which is always the case. When there is water shortage, which is
frequent, concern about how one is going to use the toilet becomes the most serious problem of the day, surpassing the problems of food, health and other major issues. Queues for toilets are common in the
morning but is usually not so during the day.
Each camp is divided in units of around 300 tents, averaging 2000 inmates, with most units having an enclosed bathing space for 20 people, one for males and one for females. The spacing of this bathing area
is such that the water running off the bathing of one person runs into the basin containing the bathing water of the person next to them. Majority of the inmates therefore prefer to bath in the open though lacking
in privacy.
I have never seen flies and mosquitoes in such numbers in my life. While eating, one hand is fully occupied with chasing the flies; a practice that children will not adopt thus consuming food contaminated by flies
that come straight from the toilets very nearby. Inmates attempted with no success to keep the flies out of their tent by cutting the mosquito nets given to them and draping it around the tent. A few weeks later
when mosquitoes were on the rise inmates did not have enough nets to sleep at night. Once the sun sets, one can literally sense dust falling on the face while sitting inside the tent which is in fact the swarms of
mosquitoes flying around.
The camp sites are zigzagged with open canals that take away the dirty water. This is the best breeding area for the mosquitoes and the water in the canal is always covered with a thick layer of mosquitoes
lying low during the daytime ready for swamping once the sun sets. These canals are always more than a meter wide and there are never adequate cross over points to walk over. Older people and young
children frequently fall into these dirty canal water while jumping across it.
5. Retailers
The very first commercial event in the camp after our arrival was the bank. First came the state run banks, with loud announcements of caring for the people. This was quickly followed by other private banks.
Banking advertisements were the most prolific in the camp and everyone knew that they were all competing for the savings of the war refugees now interned in terrible conditions.
The trucks of items for sale were first brought in by the Multi-Purpose-Cooperative Societies (MPCS). The struggle people went through to buy small quantities of sugar and tea were stories in their own right.
The reason is the huge number of people dying to have a hot cup of tea and the tiny amounts that were brought in for sale. This situation lasted for a few months before more trucks of items for sale and more
retail outlets were installed.
Other sellers came along and curiously all of these sellers were Sinhalese except for an odd Muslim seller. A large supermarket style building was erected by “Sathosa” chain to sell mostly expensive items. Ice
-cream and Soda outlets were erected. Vegetable and fruit sellers came in substantive numbers. The camp inmates attempted to buy some of these items and resell it with a small profit in order to generate
some income for themselves.
This was banned by the military and thus was the basis for the frequent cruelty of the military against inmates. There were regular incidents where the military will scatter the wares of these inmate sellers and
beat them severely. The inmates came to understand this as a deliberate effort to stop inmates making money whereas selected Sinhalese sellers were given all rights to sell what they like at the price they
chose. There was always a market for these wares because the camp inmates included regular salaried people like teachers, health workers, administrative staff etc. Most of the items brought in for sale were
those that could be sold with big profit like ice-cream, soda, and biscuits. Basic needs, such as sun hats for children were not sold. Anyone who visited the camp could see very young children roaming around
without a hat, one cause for the frequent illness suffered by the children. It was a profit driven retailing with no concern for the people and the inmates understood this clearly.
I was once in the zone-3 camp office when some UNHCR staff were talking to the senior Tamil staff in the office. This was at the time when zone-3 camp was moving from large scale cooking to family level
cooking. WFP had started providing the basic dry items (rice, white flour, lentils, sugar and vegetable oil). The UNHCR staff inquired the Tamil officers about vegetables and they were told that Tamil officers
have been instructed by the Vavuniya District Secretariat that no vegetables are to be given to inmates. This remained the case until I left the camp. The people with regular salaries could afford to buy the
vegetables which were very expensive and the others, the majority just survived with the dry rations.
Majority of the children including infants did not have milk (powder) except an occasional packet handed out by some charity. Once a father of a seven month old baby came begging for some sugar to put in
the plain tea (black tea) to be given to his seven month old baby because the mother did not have enough breast milk and the baby was hungry. Plain tea had become the regular diet for this baby.
The remnants of trees that were chopped to clear the forest to set up the camp were initially used by the inmates for firewood. This quickly ran out once self cooking was begun with WFP dry rations. No axes
were given to the inmates to chop the wood and people could be seen going around pleading a few who had bought an axe for loan of the axe. People were forced to go to edge of camp to collect firewood
and were often beaten up by mindless military personnel. Collecting firewood also thus became synonym with military brutality.
6. Health service
Each zone has two or three OPD clinics of varying sizes. Most of the doctors attending the clinics are non-Tamil speakers. Most of them are Sinhalese and sometimes Indian doctors are in attendance too;
necessitating an interpreter. Skilled interpreters are rare and anyone with a minimum knowledge of Sinhala is recruited from the inmates. Older women not wishing to use the young male unskilled interpreter
have approached me to explain their reproductive system related illness to the doctor in English.
The queues are very long and the doctors work at break neck speed. I have seen a doctor writing a prescription to a 12 year old boy without finding out what is wrong with the boy. The medicines that are
dispensed are arranged in a table and the total list of medicines consists of around 30 different medicines. The medicine dispensers too work with breakneck speed in dispensing them. Once an educated
mother told me that she visited the doctor for treatment for her baby as well as for herself. The medicine dispensers mixed up the medicines and gave the baby what should have been given to the mother. Since
the mother had some awareness of the medications she spotted it. Most mothers in the camp who do not have such awareness would have given the adult medicine to the baby. God only knows how many
babies, children and even adults died due such medical negligence. Who is there in the camp to watch, monitor and investigate? Deaths are just that, deaths and no investigations are done as to the cause of it.
Patients often queue up for doctors for hours even before the doctors arrive from outside. No one in the OPD clinic will know when the doctors are likely to arrive. One just waits around taking one’s chances.
For all this the level of sickness among inmates is far higher than among the population at large and it is obvious.
Take the eight tent group where I was staying. Five of the tents out of the eight had children under 10. One child died; one became seriously ill and taken away to Vavuniya hospital and all the other children
had frequent fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The children were wasting away and it was visibly obvious. Some of the children had persistent skin disease despite several visits to the doctors and treatment. Four
of the children contracted HepatitisA and the parents were told by the doctors to just take good care of them and give lots of fruits because the hospitals had no medicine. Fruits were very expensive in the
camp. There is a native treatment for HepatitisA involving a plant named “Keelkainelli” in Tamil. Even to get this plant was a struggle because it meant someone has to bring it from outside and handover to the
inmates at the meeting spot as described later.
People young and old suddenly dying after a few days of fever is a common occurrence. All of us were left puzzled as to the cause and no one gave any explanation. All of us without exception have suffered
diarrhoea at least once and most of us many times.
I used to keep telling myself during the stay in the camp how lucky I was that I do not have any young children under my care. The unhygienic living, especially the play area and the continuous illness is an
ordeal for the young mothers. Even thinking about the condition of newborns and their mothers who are sent back to the camp conditions soon after birth is an ordeal. Perhaps the most telling scenes of the
camp conditions and the health service can be found by visiting the OPD clinics and observing young mothers with very sick babies waiting for long time in queues with tears trickling down their face.
7. Family separation
Family separation caused by many factors is yet another ordeal that runs through the community. Contacting family living elsewhere also became an ordeal because most people have lost the addresses and
phone numbers during the escape. Until after May, the camp postal service was non-existent and the camp phone service that permitted a three-minute call required standing in queues for two days; most of the
time without success. Possessing a mobile phone was a crime and remained a crime until the time I left the camp. For a short period during July the military was even confiscating radios because of the rumour
that the Voice of Tiger radio service had restarted.
Hundreds of injured people were taken by ICRC ship throughout the war period from Vanni. Often an adult family member and sometimes young children who had no other care giver left in Vanni
accompanied the injured. The injured person and the accompanying family members were separated within a day or two of arrival and the family members were taken to the camps while the injured was sent
away to some hospital. I have known family after family desperately trying without much assistance from any authorities to locate the injured family member who could have been transferred to any number of
the hospitals. Many a tearful months were spent by these families not knowing anything about the fate of their injured family member. Reunion of the injured with the family in many cases took place purely by
the efforts of the family with next to no help from the authorities.
The war conditions and the eventual escape from the war zone separated families. Often while escaping part of the family would cross over while the others failed to cross over. Again many families wrote
dozens of letters and made many tearful trips to the sub-office trying to locate the missing members. The success often came by sheer luck and not through any set procedure. It was chaos all around. The most
heartbreaking scenes prior to June was when bus loads of refugees were just arriving in the camps. People in the camps would run behind these buses hoping to catch a glimpse of a missing relative. If someone
in the bus waves at them, there would be endless speculation on to whom the wave was directed and who that person was. These were all signs of longing that the family members who were not already in the
camp had survived and made it across.
It is these people suffering intense anxieties about friends and families who were brutally stopped by the military from entering adjacent camps to checkout if the missing loved one has arrived there. The number
of times inmates were brutally beaten when caught attempting to cross is countless. The camps were full of stories on how even women were beaten up. Walking down the gravel road that separates zone-2
and zone-3 one can see the barbed wire being breached at several places where the determined people have made spaces to crossover. The military would at gunpoint gather young men to mend these
breached places and the people kept breaching them again and again. Once I saw an old man just squatting on the zone-3 side of the gravel road watching through the barbed wire the goings on in zone-2. A
military person walking past called the old man on to the road and started beating him. It was clear to me that the beating on this occasion was purely for sadistic pleasure. I have seen a few more instances of
sadistic actions by the military. The beating of the hospital worker described earlier also was of this category.
The military also separated families by taking away people suspected of LTTE membership at Omanthai where all refugees were first recorded. Trying to locate the whereabouts of such members was the most
traumatic. In many cases families did not even know if the member had perished in Vanni or were taken away by the military. ICRC played a part in giving information to the families whenever it managed to
find out the whereabouts of the missing person. If the names are not in ICRC list then locating such cases is impossible. Many families were still searching for members in this category when I left.
If there was any doubt that the Menik Farm camps are anything other than prisons the procedure in place for outside visitors to meet inmates will clear away any doubt. Each zone has a space allocated where
outsiders must come to seek face to face meeting with inmates. There were times when they were barred from brining anything to be given to the inmates. This was relaxed later. The visitor gives a piece of
paper to the personnel manning the place with the names of the inmates they wish to meet. This will be announced in the public announcement system. Mind you, not every tent is within the audible limits of this
announcement system. By the time the inmate hears the announcement and takes the long trek to the meeting place anything from one to two hours would have passed. Across a divide separated by barbed
wires the inmates and visitors must identify and signal to each other that they will enter the meeting area on the next turn. A fixed number of inmates (around 50 in zone-3) are permitted into the meeting area at
a time and their corresponding visitors are also then permitted in.
The actual meeting area is divided by iron sheets up to the chest and above it are wooden grills similar to what one would find in a prison. The visitors and inmates can talk through this grill and also exchange
items over the grill. One is permitted only around 20 minutes maximum to talk because there will be hundreds more waiting. Even within this short time one is often interrupted by the military demanding the
national identity card of the visitor and details about the relationship to the inmate. The waiting area for the zone-3 visitors has no shade and they will be waiting in the burning sun for hours.
8. Deaths
If an inmate dies in a hospital outside camp to which the inmate was transferred earlier, there is a small chance he or she will get something resembling a funeral. Of course there must be a relative who is a
permanent resident of Vavuniya who is willing to hold the funeral in their home. If this is the scenario then only three relatives from inside the camp are permitted to leave the camp to attend the funeral. A police
person is sent with them and the very next day this police person must ensure that the inmates are back in camp. A three and a half year old boy died near my tent and his aunts who brought him up were not
allowed to even go and see the dead body of the boy. Any death within the camp has no chance of a funeral. The body is just removed by the military and nothing is heard of after that.
Even in death families have no privacy to mourn. While people close to the deceased mourned onlookers would gather around because it all had to be done in the open space.
9. Mysterious happenings
Once there were rumours of three to six bodies of young women floating in the river adjacent to the camp. There were speculations as to the reasons for the presence of these bodies. There were rumours of
white-van abductions within the camp. There were also stories of a young man disappearing while going to collect water. We were not treated like people with intelligence who deserve to find out what is going
on. There were only rumours based on such facts and no way of finding out anything else.
There were these people whom the camp inmates called ‘CIDs”. They were apparently senior LTTE members who had been taken away and then “released” into the camp to be with their families. Their job is
to spot LTTE members and LTTE Police members who have not reported to the military. One such CID man was living close to my tent. I have seen him interrogating other men suspected of close liaison with
LTTE. This CID man has apparently said that he is doing this after he was beaten severely until he agreed to do this task. We also heard another well known female LTTE member coming in Sri Lankan
military uniform to the camps and identifying LTTE members in the camp.
10. What inmates talked about
Until end of May, till the last of the displaced arrived, most people talked a lot about who were killed since they had left. Stories of entire families being killed were common in the conversations of the inmates.
Especially when extended families or people from the same locality met for the first time since getting out of the war zone, they had numerous stories to share about the fate of the unfortunate relatives and
villagers. How best to trace missing relatives was always part of this topic of conversation. Descriptions of the experience of crossing over from the war zone were the ones described in minute details by those
who had displaced in March. While crossing over people faced intense fears of being shot at either by the military or by the LTTE. Families often got separated when they were fired at. Wealthier people hired
boats to cross over. One mother lost all of her four children when her boat was fired at by the military suspecting it to be an LTTE boat.
Those who arrived in May described the experience of the last few days of the war in great detail. Many said that during the last few days they never walked erect due to fear of being hit by shelling. When
making the move to exit the area they said that they had to walk over dead bodies.
Other topics included the amount of money they had wasted in transporting their possessions as they displaced again and again in Vanni. The loss of their entire possessions was acutely felt and discussed over
and over again. When feeling a little less tense the inmates never tire of describing their yard and all the trees and vegetables that would be growing in their yard. The soothing shades of large mango and jack
trees in their yard were frequently remembered and contrasted with the lack of shade from the scorching sun in the camp.
The going on in the camp itself also dominated the conversation of inmates who were living near each other. The most common topic is the fights among inmates that always took place at the water collection
queues. These fights indicative of the tension caused by competition for the limited availability of water created a very bad atmosphere among the inmates who were otherwise very amicable and helpful to each
other.
(This is a personal naarative by someone who was an inmate of the Menik Farm IDP camp from March to July this year) Source: http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/10/my_life_in_menik_farm_idp_camp.html

Merkel wins, Germans opt for center-right coalition

2009-09-27T22:36:00.002+01:00

Merkel wins, Germans opt for center-right coalition
By Noah Barkin and Madeline ChambersBERLIN (Reuters) - German voters gave Chancellor Angela Merkel a second term in an election on Sunday and a mandate to form a new government with the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) that is expected to cut taxes to boost growth.
The conservative Merkel has ruled for the past four years in an awkward "grand coalition" with her main rivals, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
The election result frees her from the shackles of that partnership and allows her to form the center-right coalition she has argued is best placed to nurture Europe's largest economy back to health following its worst post-war recession.
The next government faces major economic challenges. It will have to get a surging budget deficit under control, cope with rising unemployment and ward off a credit crunch as fragile banks rein in lending.
Together with the FDP, Merkel is expected to pare back the role of the state in the economy and extend the lifespan of German nuclear plants that are scheduled to be phased out over the next decade.
The parties, which last ruled Germany between 1982 and 1998 when Helmut Kohl was chancellor, will have to overcome differences on the size and timing of tax cuts in coalition talks over the coming weeks. Some analysts say, given budget constraints, such cuts will likely have to wait at least a year.
"We can really celebrate tonight, but afterwards we have a hard job ahead of us," Merkel, wearing a bright red suit, told cheering supporters.
Projections from ARD and ZDF public television showed Merkel's conservative bloc -- the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) -- on 33.6 percent, down from their score of 35.2 percent in 2005, and their second-worst result in the post-war era.
But the FDP, a party which saw its support rise in the wake of the financial crisis, compensated for those losses, surging to a record high of 14.6 percent and putting the center-right over the top.
CAUTIOUS CAMPAIGN
The SPD, which has been in government for over a decade, will join the environmentalist Greens and Left party in the opposition after plummeting double digits to 23.1 percent, their worst result since the war.
Merkel's SPD challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who served as her foreign minister for the past four years, called it a "bitter defeat." Projections showed the Greens on 10.5 percent and the Left on 12.1 percent.
Merkel was accused of running a cautious campaign short on substance and passion, but Germans have been content with her steady, low-key style and -- unlike voters in the United States and Japan -- did not seem keen for a change in leadership.
"This is a very good result for Angela Merkel, even if it is quite a weak result for her party," said Jan Techau, an analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations. "She has been confirmed in her post, which is a big achievement in the depths of such a severe recession."
In addition to a soaring deficit, which is projected to rise to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, the new government will face a host of other tasks in the next months.
The future of 25,000 German workers at carmaker Opel will depend on Berlin's ability to push through a sale of the General Motors unit to Canadian car parts group Magna.On the foreign policy front, a new coalition will have to renew a parliamentary mandate for German participation in an unpopular NATO-led mission in Afghanistan within months of taking power.
The German vote took place against a backdrop of heightened security after al Qaeda issued several videos last week threatening to punish Germany if voters backed a government that kept German troops in Afghanistan.
Germany has some 4,200 soldiers stationed there as part of a NATO-led force and all the main parties support the deployment, except the Left party.
(Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

நிலவில் நீர் மூலக்கூறுகள் கண்டுபிடிப்பு

2009-09-25T19:18:00.004+01:00

நிலவில் நீர் மூலக்கூறுகள் கண்டுபிடிப்பு
NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface
09.24.09 These images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
Credits: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.
Full image and caption See all images PASADENA, Calif. --
NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon.
Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.
NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3, instrument reported the observations. M3 was carried into space on Oct. 22, 2008, aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. Data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS, on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and the High-Resolution Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on NASA's Epoxi spacecraft contributed to confirmation of the finding. The spacecraft imaging spectrometers made it possible to map lunar water more effectively than ever before.
The confirmation of elevated water molecules and hydroxyl at these concentrations in the moon's polar regions raises new questions about its origin and effect on the mineralogy of the moon. Answers to these questions will be studied and debated for years to come.
"Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This surprising finding has come about through the ingenuity, perseverance and international cooperation between NASA and the India Space Research Organization."
From its perch in lunar orbit, M3's state-of-the-art spectrometer measured light reflecting off the moon's surface at infrared wavelengths, splitting the spectral colors of the lunar surface into small enough bits to reveal a new level of detail in surface composition. When the M3 science team analyzed data from the instrument, they found the wavelengths of light being absorbed were consistent with the absorption patterns for water molecules and hydroxyl.
"For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to water and hydroxyl-bearing materials," said Carle Pieters, M3's principal investigator from Brown University, Providence, R.I. "When we say 'water on the moon,' we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimeters of the moon's surface.
The M3 team found water molecules and hydroxyl at diverse areas of the sunlit region of the moon's surface, but the water signature appeared stronger at the moon's higher latitudes. Water molecules and hydroxyl previously were suspected in data from a Cassini flyby of the moon in 1999, but the findings were not published until now.
"The data from Cassini's VIMS instrument and M3 closely agree," said Roger Clark, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist in Denver and member of both the VIMS and M3 teams. "We see both water and hydroxyl. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil. To put that into perspective, if you harvested one ton of the top layer of the moon's surface, you could get as much as 32 ounces of water."
For additional confirmation, scientists turned to the Epoxi mission while it was flying past the moon in June 2009 on its way to a November 2010 encounter with comet Hartley 2. The spacecraft not only confirmed the VIMS and M3 findings, but also expanded on them.
"With our extended spectral range and views over the north pole, we were able to explore the distribution of both water and hydroxyl as a function of temperature, latitude, composition, and time of day," said Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland. Sunshine is Epoxi's deputy principal investigator and a scientist on the M3 team. "Our analysis unequivocally confirms the presence of these molecules on the moon's surface and reveals that the entire surface appears to be hydrated during at least some portion of the lunar day."
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the M3 instrument, Cassini mission and Epoxi spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Indian Space Research Organization built, launched and operated the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
===
Chandrayaan-I finds traces of water on moon The Hindu N. Gopal Raj
===
Very important step made with the discovery: U.S. scientist ==========================================
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Chandrayaan-1 probe had found traces of water across the surface of large parts of the moon, challenging the long-held view that the earth’s natural satellite is bone dry.
The spacecraft also found indications that water is being produced in the lunar soil through interactions with charged particles streaming out from the sun.
This major discovery is a vindication of the Chandryaan-1 mission, which encountered many problems and finally ended abruptly last month.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a U.S.-supplied instrument that flew on the Chandrayaan-1, examined the intensity of different colours of sunlight bouncing off the lunar surface.
In a paper being published online this week by Science, American and Indian scientists report that the instrument found a distinctive signature of water and hydroxyl emanating from the moon. (A water molecule is made up of one oxygen atom linked to two hydrogen atoms, while hydroxyl has the oxygen atom attached to just one hydrogen atom.)
The M3 discovered the signature of water and hydroxyl on the surface soil and rocks at many diverse places in sunlit regions of the moon. The signature was stronger at the higher latitudes. Two U.S. space missions, Cassini and the Deep Impact spacecraft, had provided supporting evidence.
“We’ve made a very important step with this discovery,” said Carle Pieters of Brown University in the U.S., principal investigator for the M3. But “when we say ‘water on the moon,’ we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimetres of the moon’s surface,” she cautioned in a press release issued by the university.
What was detected was water molecules present in extremely minute quantities on the surface soil and rocks, noted J.N. Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and principal scientist for the Chandrayaan-1. He estimated that less than a teaspoon of water could be squeezed out from several kg of lunar soil.
The widespread distribution of water seen by M3 was “a complete surprise,” said Lawrence Taylor of the University of Tennessee in the U.S., one of the authors of the paper. Scientists have begun finding signs of water in some lunar minerals, he told this correspondent.

Obama's Speech to the UN General Assembly 24-Sep-2009

2009-09-23T16:38:00.002+01:00

Obama’s Speech to the U N General Assembly 24/Sep/2009

Text: (Note: This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only)Obama’s Speech to the United Nations General Assembly Following is a text of President Obama's prepared speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, as released by the White House.

==============( Highlights )

Responsibility and leadership in the 21st century demand more. In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold. The traditional division between nations of the south and north makes no sense in an interconnected world. Nor do alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long gone Cold War.
The time has come to realize that the old habits and arguments are irrelevant to the challenges faced by our people. They lead nations to act in opposition to the very goals that they claim to pursue, and to vote – often in this body – against the interests of their own people. They build up walls between us and the future that our people seek, and the time has come for those walls to come down. Together, we must build new coalitions that bridge old divides – coalitions of different faiths and creeds; of north and south, east and west; black, white, and brown.
The choice is ours. We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the 20th century into the 21st; that put off hard choices, refused to look ahead, and failed to keep pace because
we defined ourselves by what we were against instead of what we were for. Or, we can be a generation that chooses to see the shoreline beyond the rough waters ahead; that comes together to serve the
common interests of human beings, and finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations.
That is the future America wants – a future of peace and prosperity that we can only reach if we recognize that all nations have rights, but all nations have responsibilities as well. That is the bargain that makes this work. That must be the guiding principle of international cooperation.
Today, I put forward four pillars that are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: 1) Non-proliferation and disarmament; 2) The promotion of peace and security; 3) The preservation of our planet; 4) and a Global economy that advances opportunity for all people.(Read the full text)

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

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentleman: it is my honor to address you for the first time as the forty-fourth President of the United States. I come before you humbled by
the responsibility that the American people have placed upon me; mindful of the enormous challenges of our moment in history; and determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity
at home and abroad.
I have been in office for just nine months, though some days it seems a lot longer. I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world. These expectations are not about me.
Rather, they are rooted – I believe – in a discontent with a status quo that has allowed us to be increasingly defined by our differences, and outpaced by our problems. But they are also rooted in hope – the
hope that real change is possible, and the hope that America will be a leader in bringing about such change.
I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to
opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too
often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction.
Like all of you, my responsibility is to act in the interest of my nation and my people, and I will never apologize for defending those interests. But it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 – more than at
any point in human history – the interests of nations and peoples are shared.
The religious convictions that we hold in our hearts can forge new bonds among people, or tear us apart. The technology we harness can light the path to peace, or forever darken it. The energy we use can
sustain our planet, or destroy it. What happens to the hope of a single child – anywhere – can enrich our world, or impoverish it.
In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future. No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together. I have carried this
message from London to Ankara; from Port of Spain to Moscow; from Accra to Cairo; and it's what I will speak about today. Because the time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must
embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interests and mutual respect, and our work must begin now.
We know the future will be forged by deeds and not simply words. Speeches alone will not solve our problems – it will take persistent action. So for those who question the character and cause of my nation, I
ask you to look at the concrete actions that we have taken in just nine months.
On my first day in office, I prohibited – without exception or equivocation – the use of torture by the United States of America. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard
work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.
We have set a clear and focused goal: to work with all members of this body to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies – a network that has killed thousands of people of many faiths
and nations, and that plotted to blow up this very building. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, we – and many nations here – are helping those governments develop the capacity to take the lead in this effort, while
working to advance opportunity and security for their people.
In Iraq, we are responsibly ending a war. We have removed American combat brigades from Iraqi cities, and set a deadline of next August to remove all of our combat brigades from Iraqi territory. And I
have made clear that we will help Iraqis transition to full responsibility for their future, and keep our commitment to remove all American troops by the end of 2011.
I have outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. In Moscow, the United States and Russia announced that we would pursue substantial reductions in our strategic
warheads and launchers. At the Conference on Disarmament, we agreed on a work plan to negotiate an end to the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. And this week, my Secretary of State will
become the first senior American representative to the annual Members Conference of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Upon taking office, I appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and America has worked steadily and aggressively to advance the cause of two states – Israel and Palestine – in which peace and
security take root, and the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians are respected.
To confront climate change, we have invested 80 billion dollars in clean energy. We have substantially increased our fuel-efficiency standards. We have provided new incentives for conservation, launched an
energy partnership across the Americas, and moved from a bystander to a leader in international climate negotiations.
To overcome an economic crisis that touches every corner of the world, we worked with the G-20 nations to forge a coordinated international response of over two trillion dollars in stimulus to bring the global
economy back from the brink. We mobilized resources that helped prevent the crisis from spreading further to developing countries. And we joined with others to launch a $20 billion global food security
initiative that will lend a hand to those who need it most, and help them build their own capacity.
We have also re-engaged the United Nations. We have paid our bills. We have joined the Human Rights Council. We have signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have fully
embraced the Millennium Development Goals. And we address our priorities here, in this institution – for instance, through the Security Council meeting that I will chair tomorrow on nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament, and through the issues that I will discuss today.
This is what we have done. But this is just a beginning. Some of our actions have yielded progress. Some have laid the groundwork for progress in the future. But make no mistake: this cannot be solely
America's endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone. We have sought – in word and deed – a
new era of engagement with the world. Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.
If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility. Consider the course that we are on if we fail to confront the status quo. Extremists sowing terror in pockets of
the world. Protracted conflicts that grind on and on. Genocide and mass atrocities. More and more nations with nuclear weapons. Melting ice caps and ravaged populations. Persistent poverty and pandemic
disease. I say this not to sow fear, but to state a fact: the magnitude of our challenges has yet to be met by the measure of our action.
This body was founded on the belief that the nations of the world could solve their problems together. Franklin Roosevelt, who died before he could see his vision for this institution become a reality, put it this
way – and I quote: "The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one Nation…. It cannot be a peace of large nations – or of small nations. It must be a peace which rests on
the cooperative effort of the whole world."
The cooperative effort of the whole world. Those words ring even more true today, when it is not simply peace – but our very health and prosperity that we hold in common. Yet I also know that this body is
made up of sovereign states. And sadly, but not surprisingly, this body has often become a forum for sowing discord instead of forging common ground; a venue for playing politics and exploiting grievances
rather than solving problems. After all, it is easy to walk up to this podium and to point fingers and stoke division. Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles, and absolving ourselves of responsibility
for our choices and our actions. Anyone can do that.
Responsibility and leadership in the 21st century demand more. In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No
world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold. The traditional division between nations of the south and north makes no sense
in an interconnected world. Nor do alignments of nations rooted in the cleavages of a long gone Cold War.
The time has come to realize that the old habits and arguments are irrelevant to the challenges faced by our people. They lead nations to act in opposition to the very goals that they claim to pursue, and to vote
– often in this body – against the interests of their own people. They build up walls between us and the future that our people seek, and the time has come for those walls to come down. Together, we must
build new coalitions that bridge old divides – coalitions of different faiths and creeds; of north and south, east and west; black, white, and brown.
The choice is ours. We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the 20th century into the 21st; that put off hard choices, refused to look ahead, and failed to keep pace because
we defined ourselves by what we were against instead of what we were for. Or, we can be a generation that chooses to see the shoreline beyond the rough waters ahead; that comes together to serve the
common interests of human beings, and finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations.
That is the future America wants – a future of peace and prosperity that we can only reach if we recognize that all nations have rights, but all nations have responsibilities as well. That is the bargain that makes
this work. That must be the guiding principle of international cooperation.
Today, I put forward four pillars that are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a
global economy that advances opportunity for all people.
First, we must stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and seek the goal of a world without them.
This institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man's capacity to kill had to be contained. For decades, we averted disaster, even under the shadow of a super-power stand-off.
But today, the threat of proliferation is growing in scope and complexity. If we fail to act, we will invite nuclear arms races in every region, and the prospect of wars and acts of terror on a scale that we can
hardly imagine.
A fragile consensus stands in the way of this frightening outcome – the basic bargain that shapes the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. It says that all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy; that
nations with nuclear weapons have the responsibility to move toward disarmament; and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them. The next twelve months could be pivotal in determining
whether this compact will be strengthened or will slowly dissolve.
America will keep our end of the bargain. We will pursue a new agreement with Russia to substantially reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. We will move forward with ratification of the Test Ban
Treaty, and work with others to bring the Treaty into force so that nuclear testing is permanently prohibited. We will complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts, and reduces the
role of nuclear weapons. And we will call upon countries to begin negotiations in January on a treaty to end the production of fissile material for weapons.
I will also host a Summit next April that reaffirms each nation's responsibility to secure nuclear material on its territory, and to help those who can't – because we must never allow a single nuclear device to fall
into the hands of a violent extremist. And we will work to strengthen the institutions and initiatives that combat nuclear smuggling and theft.
All of this must support efforts to strengthen the NPT. Those nations that refuse to live up to their obligations must face consequences. This is not about singling out individual nations – it is about standing up for
the rights of all nations that do live up to their responsibilities. Because a world in which IAEA inspections are avoided and the United Nation's demands are ignored will leave all people less safe, and all
nations less secure.
In their actions to date, the governments of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous slope. We respect their rights as members of the community of nations. I am committed to diplomacy
that opens a path to greater prosperity and a more secure peace for both nations if they live up to their obligations.
But if the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards; if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own
people; if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East – then they must be held accountable. The world must stand together to demonstrate that
international law is not an empty promise, and that Treaties will be enforced. We must insist that the future not belong to fear.
That brings me to the second pillar for our future: the pursuit of peace.
The United Nations was born of the belief that the people of the world can live their lives, raise their families, and resolve their differences peacefully. And yet we know that in too many parts of the world, this
ideal remains an abstraction. We can either accept that outcome as inevitable, and tolerate constant and crippling conflict. Or we can recognize that the yearning for peace is universal, and reassert our resolve
to end conflicts around the world.
That effort must begin with an unshakeable determination that the murder of innocent men, women and children will never be tolerated. On this, there can be no dispute. The violent extremists who promote
conflict by distorting faith have discredited and isolated themselves. They offer nothing but hatred and destruction. In confronting them, America will forge lasting partnerships to target terrorists, share
intelligence, coordinate law enforcement, and protect our people. We will permit no safe-haven for al Qaeda to launch attacks from Afghanistan or any other nation. We will stand by our friends on the front
lines, as we and many nations will do in pledging support for the Pakistani people tomorrow. And we will pursue positive engagement that builds bridges among faiths, and new partnerships for opportunity.
But our efforts to promote peace cannot be limited to defeating violent extremists. For the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is the hope of human beings – the belief that the future belongs to those who
build, not destroy; the confidence that conflicts can end, and a new day begin.
That is why we will strengthen our support for effective peacekeeping, while energizing our efforts to prevent conflicts before they take hold. We will pursue a lasting peace in Sudan through support for the
people of Darfur, and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so that we secure the peace that the Sudanese people deserve. And in countries ravaged by violence – from Haiti to Congo
to East Timor – we will work with the UN and other partners to support an enduring peace.
I will also continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel, Palestine, and the Arab world. Yesterday, I had a constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. We have made
some progress. Palestinians have strengthened their efforts on security. Israelis have facilitated greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians. As a result of these efforts by both sides, the economy in the
West Bank has begun to grow. But more progress is needed. We continue to call on Palestinians to end incitement against Israel, and we continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of
continued Israeli settlements.
The time has come to re-launch negotiations – without preconditions – that address the permanent-status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians; borders, refugees and Jerusalem. The goal is clear: two
states living side by side in peace and security – a Jewish State of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began
in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people. As we pursue this goal, we will also pursue peace between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, and a broader peace between Israel and its many
neighbors. In pursuit of that goal, we will develop regional initiatives with multilateral participation, alongside bilateral negotiations.
I am not naïve. I know this will be difficult. But all of us must decide whether we are serious about peace, or whether we only lend it lip-service. To break the old patterns – to break the cycle of insecurity and
despair – all of us must say publicly what we would acknowledge in private. The United States does Israel no favors when we fail to couple an unwavering commitment to its security with an insistence that
Israel respect the legitimate claims and rights of the Palestinians. And nations within this body do the Palestinians no favors when they choose vitriolic attacks over a constructive willingness to recognize Israel's
legitimacy, and its right to exist in peace and security.
We must remember that the greatest price of this conflict is not paid by us. It is paid by the Israeli girl in Sderot who closes her eyes in fear that a rocket will take her life in the night. It is paid by the Palestinian
boy in Gaza who has no clean water and no country to call his own. These are God's children. And after all of the politics and all of the posturing, this is about the right of every human being to live with dignity
and security. That is a lesson embedded in the three great faiths that call one small slice of Earth the Holy Land. And that is why – even though there will be setbacks, and false starts, and tough days – I will not
waiver in my pursuit of peace.
Third, we must recognize that in the 21st century, there will be no peace unless we make take responsibility for the preservation of our planet.
The danger posed by climate change cannot be denied, and our responsibility to meet it must not be deferred. If we continue down our current course, every member of this Assembly will see irreversible
changes within their borders. Our efforts to end conflicts will be eclipsed by wars over refugees and resources. Development will be devastated by drought and famine. Land that human beings have lived on
for millennia will disappear. Future generations will look back and wonder why we refused to act – why we failed to pass on intact the environment that was our inheritance.
That is why the days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over. We will move forward with investments to transform our energy economy, while providing incentives to make clean energy the
profitable kind of energy. We will press ahead with deep cuts in emissions to reach the goals that we set for 2020, and eventually 2050. We will continue to promote renewable energy and efficiency – and
share new technologies – with countries around the world. And we will seize every opportunity for progress to address this threat in a cooperative effort with the whole world.
Those wealthy nations that did so much to damage the environment in the 20th century must accept our obligation to lead. But responsibility does not end there. While we must acknowledge the need for
differentiated responses, any effort to curb carbon emissions must include the fast-growing carbon emitters who can do more to reduce their air pollution without inhibiting growth. And any effort that fails to
help the poorest nations both adapt to the problems that climate change has already wrought – and travel a path of clean development – will not work.
It is hard to change something as fundamental as how we use energy. It's even harder to do so in the midst of a global recession. Certainly, it will be tempting to sit back and wait for others to move first. But
we cannot make this journey unless we all move forward together. As we head into Copenhagen, let us resolve to focus on what each of us can do for the sake of our common future.
This leads me to the final pillar that must fortify our future: a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.
The world is still recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In America, we see the engine of growth beginning to churn, yet many still struggle to find a job or pay their bills. Across
the globe, we find promising signs, yet little certainty about what lies ahead. And far too many people in far too many places live through the daily crises that challenge our common humanity – the despair of an
empty stomach; the thirst brought on by dwindling water; the injustice of a child dying from a treatable disease, or a mother losing her life as she gives birth.
In Pittsburgh, we will work with the world's largest economies to chart a course for growth that is balanced and sustained. That means vigilance to ensure that we do not let up until our people are back to
work. That means taking steps to rekindle demand, so that a global recovery can be sustained. And that means setting new rules of the road and strengthening regulation for all financial centers, so that we put
an end to the greed, excess and abuse that led us into disaster, and prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.
At a time of such interdependence, we have a moral and pragmatic interest in broader questions of development. And so we will continue our historic effort to help people feed themselves. We have set aside
$63 billion to carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS; to end deaths from tuberculosis and malaria; to eradicate polio; and to strengthen public health systems. We are joining with other countries to
contribute H1N1 vaccines to the World Health Organization. We will integrate more economies into a system of global trade. We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year's
Summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.
Now is the time for all of us to do our part. Growth will not be sustained or shared unless all nations embrace their responsibility. Wealthy nations must open their markets to more goods and extend a hand to
those with less, while reforming international institutions to give more nations a greater voice. Developing nations must root out the corruption that is an obstacle to progress – for opportunity cannot thrive
where individuals are oppressed and business have to pay bribes. That's why we will support honest police and independent judges; civil society and a vibrant private sector. Our goal is simple: a global
economy in which growth is sustained, and opportunity is available to all.
The changes that I have spoken about today will not be easy to make. And they will not be realized simply by leaders like us coming together in forums like this. For as in any assembly of members, real change
can only come through the people we represent. That is why we must do the hard work to lay the groundwork for progress in our own capitals. That is where we will build the consensus to end conflicts and to
harness technology for peaceful purposes; to change the way we use energy, and to promote growth that can be sustained and shared.
I believe that the people of the world want this future for their children. And that is why we must champion those principles which ensure that governments reflect the will of the people. These principles cannot
be afterthoughts – democracy and human rights are essential to achieving each of the goals that I have discussed today. Because governments of the people and by the people are more likely to act in the
broader interests of their own people, rather than the narrow interest of those in power.
The test of our leadership will not be the degree to which we feed the fears and old hatreds of our people. True leadership will not be measured by the ability to muzzle dissent, or to intimidate and harass
political opponents at home. The people of the world want change. They will not long tolerate those who are on the wrong side of history.
This Assembly's Charter commits each of us, and I quote – "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women." Among those
rights is the freedom to speak your mind and worship as you please; the promise of equality of the races, and the opportunity for women and girls to pursue their own potential; the ability of citizens to have a
say in how you are governed, and to have confidence in the administration of justice. For just as no nation should be forced to accept the tyranny of another nation, no individual should be forced to accept the
tyranny of their own government.
As an African-American, I will never forget that I would not be here today without the steady pursuit of a more perfect union in my country. That guides my belief that no matter how dark the day may seem,
transformative change can be forged by those who choose the side of justice. And I pledge that America will always stand with those who stand up for their dignity and their rights – for the student who seeks
to learn; the voter who demands to be heard; the innocent who longs to be free; and the oppressed who yearns to be equal.
Democracy cannot be imposed on any nation from the outside. Each society must search for its own path, and no path is perfect. Each country will pursue a path rooted in the culture of its people, and – in the
past – America has too often been selective in its promotion of democracy. But that does not weaken our commitment, it only reinforces it. There are basic principles that are universal; there are certain truths
which are self evident – and the United States of America will never waiver in our efforts to stand up for the right of people everywhere to determine their own destiny.
Sixty-five years ago, a weary Franklin Roosevelt spoke to the American people in his fourth and final inaugural address. After years of war, he sought to sum up the lessons that could be drawn from the
terrible suffering and enormous sacrifice that had taken place. "We have learned," he said, "to be citizens of the world, members of the human community."
The United Nations was built by men and women like Roosevelt from every corner of the world – from Africa and Asia; form Europe to the Americas. These architects of international cooperation had an
idealism that was anything but naïve – it was rooted in the hard-earned lessons of war, and the wisdom that nations could advance their interests by acting together instead of splitting apart.
Now it falls to us – for this institution will be what we make of it. The United Nations does extraordinary good around the world in feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and mending places that have been
broken. But it also struggles to enforce its will, and to live up to the ideals of its founding.
I believe that those imperfections are not a reason to walk away from this institution – they are a calling to redouble our efforts. The United Nations can either be a place where we bicker about outdated
grievances, or forge common ground; a place where we focus on what drives us apart, or what brings us together; a place where we indulge tyranny, or a source of moral authority. In short, the United Nations
can be an institution that is disconnected from what matters in the lives of our citizens, or it can be indispensable in advancing the interests of the people we serve.
We have reached a pivotal moment. The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation – one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations. With confidence in our
cause, and with a commitment to our values, we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people deserve. Thank you.
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TamilNet Editorial Board: Comments on Tamil national aspirations

2009-09-20T12:35:00.002+01:00

Vaddukkoaddai and Thimphu
[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 September 2009, 13:04 GMT]

Calling for the creation of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam, based on Vaddukkoadai Resolution (VR) was the last spontaneous and definite mandate by Eezham Tamils in a totally free and democratic atmosphere. As the need for democratic political organisation unfolds afresh, Tamils have to take up the thread directly from the VR. The Thimphu principles and all the other formulas put forward subsequently under the duress of powers, and failed as negotiation models, do not get precedence over the VR as bases for political organization. Mu’l’livaaykkaal was not the real defeat. The defeat comes only when Tamils are made to politically denounce their heart-felt aspirations. The diaspora needs to peruse and correct course of any proposal that stops just at self-determination. In UN charter and in international law it is just an empty phrase that doesn’t protect nations or ethnicities.
TamilNet Editorial Board
The Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976, calling for independent, sovereign, Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka was a proclamation of all democratic Tamil political parties, including Ceylon Workers Congress, the then united political party of the Upcountry Tamils. The Eezham Tamil voters of the North and East overwhelmingly endorsed it in the 1977 elections. Thus it was a definite democratic mandate of Tamils and so far they didn’t get another chance to democratically tell what is in their heart.The Thimphu principles of 1985 were a diluted version of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, after truncating independence and sovereignty and stopping just at Tamil nation, homeland and self-determination. The Thimphu principles, diluted to facilitate negotiation with Colombo, were jointly put forward by all the Tamil militant organizations of that time. There was no mandate of the people. The most important fact to be noted is that the Indian Establishment that was always keen in nullifying Tamil independence in the island was behind making Tamil militancy then under its influence agreeable to the principles as a minimum platform for negotiation.The Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987 imposed on Tamils touched only the point of homeland, that too temporarily, and it was recently breached by Colombo. There was no credible mandate as the LTTE boycotted and the elections took place under the coercing presence of the Indian military. However, the provincial government elected under it finally felt it necessary to declare independent and sovereign Eelam, before winding up and while the Indian military was present.The Oslo communiqué of 2002 was a further dilution of Vaddukkoaddai in another way, by its adoption of an invented phrase ‘internal self-determination’. Norway and some other powers that later became the Co-Chairs were behind making the LTTE agreeable to experiment negotiation with this dilution. Again there was no mandate of people.The ISGA of 2004, which has reference to Vaddukkoaddai but not to Thimphu, was only an interim proposal during the Co-Chair sponsored peace. It was apparently a move of the LTTE to supersede Oslo Communiqué. The mandate it received from Tamils has to be considered limited as the elections took place with the 6th Amendment to the constitution in effect. Its only electoral validity today is that it binds the TNA.Even after considerably diluting the freely mandated aspirations of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution to suit their geopolitical agenda, India and the Co-Chairs miserably failed in making the Sri Lankan state agreeable for experimenting political solutions.Had they succeeded, there would have been a different course of events and they would have had a standing in telling the Tamil mind to consider experimenting within a united Sri Lanka. But they chose the path of brutally abetting or allowing a crushing military defeat and open as well as barbed-wire incarceration of the whole nation of Tamils in the island.Eezham Tamils are now left with the option of politically organising themselves afresh. In the emerging scenario of democratic organisation of Eezham Tamil politics there need to be no place for Thimphu, Oslo or any other – non mandated, experimental, and failed negotiation formulas extended by militancy under duress of powers.If there is democracy then nothing should prevent the democratic stream to get back to what was last mandated by people and what has become the heart-felt need of Eezham Tamils more than ever now, and to begin the political process and negotiation from that point.However, the very forces that have inflicted military defeat on Tamils are now all out to defeat them politically by capturing, hijacking or deviating the democratic politics of Tamils.India and the West compete in subtle ways in this exercise, adopting crude as well as highly sophisticated methods. Preparations, institutional arrangements and recruitments have been done long back as it was their foregone conclusion to inflict military defeat on Tamil nationalism.The powers have carefully studied the non nation-centred ‘virtue’ of sections of Tamil elite or rather weakness of the Eezham Tamil nationalism, cultivated since colonial times to always orientate their politics in terms of the interests of others - British colonial interests, Colombo-centric interests, Indian interests, Western interests and there was a time when some were orientating it to the interests of Russia and China. The elite politics of Eezham Tamils - except for the rare occasion of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, and that too is said to be a result of youth pressure - was always hiding its mind fearing for others and was thinking in terms of others. Influenced and discouraged by calculated power machinations, campaigns and Karunanidhis, the murmur heard in some elite circles now is that if a powerful armed struggle has failed, what could be achieved through democratic politics and claiming for what the heart aspires is only bravado.They fail to see that it is more legitimate and more workable in democratic organisation to come out boldly with what you feel righteously deserving, register the claim and then to fight for it or negotiate until acceptable results are achieved.This is possible only when we have the guts to independently evolve our politics firmly by ourselves first and then only to relate it to others. Of course this is not possible when we start looking at ourselves through the eyes of others. This mindset is the biggest impediment to our political organisation.Mu’l’livaaykkaal was not the real defeat. Colombo and the powers know it. Their victory comes only when Tamils are made to politically denounce their heart-felt aspirations. It is in order to achieve this victory much easier, they advice or find agents to advise Tamils to drop their national aspiration, even though democratically registering a national aspiration could in no way be considered an obstacle for negotiation.Powers have created a desperate situation for Eezham Tamils hoping their will power would wither even politically. But one should not fail to see that if not for Tamils, for the sake of their own interests, the powers have to find out solutions very soon in the island. Tamils have to be ready with their own politics to face the situation.In the past, the failure of democratic Tamil politicians in adhering to people’s emotional needs with firmness and their inability to resist undue power interests, paved way for the rise and acceptance of militancy.Tamils should take care that their political organisation now needs to be truly representative of their aspirations and needs to be firm in negotiation if they want to uphold democracy and avoid another rise of militancy. No need to say the powers should respect this reality, as they too share the fear. It is now an acid test for the emerging democratic politics of Eezham Tamil nationalism.The move in the diaspora for transnational government of Tamil Eelam is not only for negotiating the liberation and emancipation of Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka but it is also an alternative government of the diaspora, standing for the global unity, cultural identity, development and global status of the diaspora. The move for this government needs not to bother about anyone in proclaiming the independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in the island and requesting a mandate from the people in the diaspora.Self-determination, as it is understood in contemporary times is a vague term when applied to people or ethnicities. According to UN charter 1(2), self-determination is interpreted as existing only in state-to-state relationship. Legally, it protects only states. “Self-determination does not entail the right to be independent, or even to vote for independence” (Geoffrey Robertson, Penguin 2008, p165).“International law provides no right of secession in the name of self-determination” (Rosalyn Higgins, Peoples and Minorities in International Law, 1995, p33).“At best, the people’s right to self-determination connotes the right of all citizens to participate in the political process, but this gives power to majorities and not to minorities (Robertson, ibid). The diaspora needs to seriously peruse and correct the course of any proposal that stops just at self-determination.The Tamil National Alliance in the island, operating under constraints of Colombo and India, should not on its own, denounce the independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils and should not agree for experimenting anything other than a confederation with the right to secede, is an opinion strongly felt in the diaspora.Emerging Tamil politics needs to act with far sight. The present scenario of geopolitics is not going to remain the same. The national aspiration for independence and sovereignty, which is a hard reality for Eezham Tamils today, may also get re-defined. In any future possibility of shared sovereignty, either regionally or globally, the Eezham Tamils should be able to find their niche smoothly without again facing the tragedy they have undergone for ages.It is with sadness most of the Eezham Tamils look at a few Marxists among them, especially of the former ‘Peking Wing’, who denounce separate nationalism for Eezham Tamils. The Marxist Communist Party of India also has adopted a similar line.It is hard to understand that if national liberation of Eezham Tamils oppressed on ethnic grounds and ‘Eezham’ as a political unit is not acceptable to them, in what way the united Sri Lankan nationalism and Sri Lanka as a political unit upheld by them is ideologically justifiable. While viewing Tamil national struggle as serving imperialism, they practically serve the very imperialism by weakening the struggle. Ironically, many Sinhala Marxists see justice and recognise the Tamil national struggle in the island.The Marxists contributed immensely to the social progress of Eezham Tamils in the past. They have a duty in structuring and strengthening the Tamil nation further, through achieving social equality. The democratisation of politics is an atmosphere conducive for them, but they should not deprive Tamils getting their contribution by keeping Tamil national liberation as an untouchable topic, by not participating in it and by not recognising that their goals can be better achieved by accepting Tamil nationalism as a unit to apply their progressive ideas and shaping it at home and in transnational governance.

Tamil national aspirations, TNA and transnational governance
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 23:36 GMT]

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) or any other political party claiming that they represent Tamils have no right to proclaim that they have moved away from the 1977 mandate for independence and sovereignty of the Eezham Tamil nation, to satisfy India, Mahinda Rajapaksa or any other power. They may negotiate but without dropping the fundamentals, until any acceptable formula is freshly mandated by all Tamils including those who are now in the diaspora. Meanwhile, the emerging novel concept of transnational governance will be misled if it is orientated merely with an idea of negotiation. It is not just a negotiation platform. There is no need to show Tamils have ‘democratically’ dropped their aspiration just because some powers want it as a pre-requisite for negotiation.
TamilNet Editorial Board
Brutal military victory and inhuman incarceration will make Eezham Tamils to forget their national aspiration is the belief of Colombo and the powers that abetted it in the course of war.Not that they don’t know that the war and the attitude behind the war have made Eezham Tamils to feel the necessity of their national liberation more than ever now. But arrogance and greed never see reason.Some of the powers are very honest in the show. They openly sit on all international intervention. Never hide their greed in grabbing land or resources of Tamils while they are incarcerated and one of them is said to be overtly intimidating Tamil political leaders not to voice political aspirations of their people but to accept formulas dictated by it as solutions.Then there is another set of powers, which now shed tears for the incarcerated, advice reconciliation for the sake of the unity of the island, urge the diaspora to engage with Colombo government and show semblances of diplomatic and economic pressure just for getting official entry into the scenario.While the former are not at all recognising their responsibility to the current plight of Tamils, the latter are at least indirectly recognising it, and are demanding for certain immediate humanitarian measures.However, none of them were so far able to make even little impact in altering the genocidal attitude of Colombo. On the contrary, Colombo is fast institutionalising ethnic totalitarianism in all its forms in the island.Sense and sensibility would tell anyone that realities in the island demand partition for lasting peace, democratisation, eventual reconciliation and for regional /global cooperation. But Tamils have to carefully note that none of the powers want to recognise the inevitability and righteousness in the development and demands of Tamil nationalism in the island. Rather they want us to believe that national liberation was only a demand of ‘terrorism’, what exists is only an ordinary ‘minority issue’ and this could be sorted out by reconciliation, development and little international pressure on Colombo to observe human rights.Everyone knows what is behind this attitude is no sane political ideology but sheer power opportunism.The powers are fully aware that what they are doing is not going to resolve the conflict in the island. If they are confident in the righteousness of their outlook there is no need for them to worry about an armed struggle erupting in the island again. Their anxiety only reveals that they are wrong in their moves. India’s fear, stemming from its guilt, is very explicit as could be seen from the observations of M K Narayanan recently about the possibilities of Tamil diaspora supporting another armed struggle.They all come out with a sane advise to Tamils to struggle politically. But what is unholy behind this advice is dictating and coercing Tamils to drop their liberation aspiration even in democratically organised political movements. In short, ‘defeated Tamils’ have no political rights either, even to democratically tell what they want.This is where Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka and in the diaspora need to take a firm stand and voice it boldly.When Tamils had the last chance of democratically voicing themselves in 1977, they have given a clear and overwhelming mandate, based on their self-determination, for the creation of an independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in their homeland, i.e., North and East of the island. The Tamil National Alliance or any other political party claiming that they represent Tamils have no right to proclaim that they have moved away from this mandate to satisfy India, Mahinda Rajapaksa or any other power. They may negotiate but without dropping the fundamentals, until any acceptable formula is freshly mandated by all Tamils including those who are now in the diaspora. This is a new reality.The Eezham Tamil diaspora living as free citizens in liberal democratic countries, outside of the dictates of Colombo and New Delhi, has a bigger responsibility in evolving a political formation to represent the hearts of Tamils.TamilNet has long been writing on democratically formed transnational governance of Eezham Tamils and as prerequisites re-mandating the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution and forming grass root democratic bodies.It is with sadness we note that according to BBC report Wednesday, the proposal to form a transnational government by V. Rudrakumaran talks only of homeland and self-determination – a truncation of the vital parts of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution.Some supporting circles of this move said that the phrase ‘transnational government of Tamil Eelam’ covers the rest of Tamil aspirations. They should realise that the phrase ‘Tamil Nadu’ doesn’t mean anything in India.Why the hesitation in telling what the Tamils have mandated democratically? Who is blocking?Transnational government is primarily a symbolic as well as a functioning body that should be formed by the free will of the diaspora Tamils upholding the independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in the island. It is an alternative government to be formed democratically when all governments disregarded them. The whole concept of transnational governance will be misled if it is orientated merely with an idea of negotiation. It is not just a negotiation platform. There is no need to show Tamils have ‘democratically’ dropped their aspiration just because some powers want it as a pre-requisite for negotiation. Another unsafe move in the announcement for transnational government, in the given hostility of Colombo and some powers, is the call for voter register. All know how totalitarian powers in the past made use of voter register to hunt people. Voter register will make only a faction of core supporters to register and the transnational government will not be truly representative. Attention has to be drawn here how a successful poll was conducted in May this year, among the Tamil diaspora in Norway, without any voter register. The BBC reporter Wednesday was unkind even to the ‘homeland’ of the proposed transnational government. “The group is clearly still wedded to the idea of a separate homeland, which many observers consider to be defunct after their military defeat,” he said.This is not a conducive image for the effort when such a government has to be formed with a new and inclusive paradigm. The move for the transnational government has to go beyond the already created image that it is an LTTE project. According to BBC, the Colombo government has made it clear that it is now hunting for Mr. Rudrakumaran, even though it has no business to interfere into the democratic activities of the free citizens in the diaspora in the liberal democracies. The best option for a successful transnational government is not making it from the above but evolving it from the grass root. Such a government cannot be intimidated or hijacked by anyone, as it will be prevalent everywhere in the diaspora.Eezham Tamils in Norway are already discussing the formation of a democratically elected country council, adopting the goal for independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam, which has been mandated by 99 percent of the Norwegian Tamil voters (the voter turn out was 80 percent). If such elected councils in every country could device ways of forming a transnational government, that will be more representative, democratic, secure and forceful.Re-mandating the main principle of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, preceding the formation of the transnational government, is vital for setting the goals of the government democratically and in no uncertain terms, convincing everyone of their validity without doubt or refutation.

A roadmap to liberation
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 22:30 GMT]

What is currently seen as the biggest threat of destabilisation by Colombo and by some powers is not the militancy of Tamils. Militancy of a small nation can be crushed by ganging up and by fabricating all excuses, as has already been witnessed by us. But what exactly threatens the establishments is the effort of Tamils organising themselves politically. What they expect is the ‘defeated’ Tamils to play political stooges. Tamil national question today appeals to an array of oppressed masses deprived of political justice all over the world. It is a topic that appeals to progressive minds thinking of restructuring the polity of human civilisation. The responsibility of Eezham Tamils and their diaspora is to present the case with a progressive political theme and language.
TamilNet Editorial Board
Unfolding events, whether in war or in elections, clearly indicate that Sri Lanka, known for its state terrorism, is all out to subjugate Tamils militarily and politically. All Eezham Tamils in their heart are aware that they have no option other than facing the challenge.We live in times state terrorism in the island to the extent of multifaceted genocide is rationalised and is unashamedly blessed by the international community – from the UN, world powers and India to some other states in the region.All know well that the Sri Lankan state cannot bring in any solution other than escalating the conflict, but it seems this is what precisely they want that to happen, until the question ‘who is going to have the geopolitical say in the island’ is resolved among the powers.As such is the reality, it is folly to argue that things would have been different had the Tamil struggle opted a different course. There was no option between fighting and conceding to machinations of subjugation. What is currently seen as the biggest threat of destabilisation by Colombo and by some powers is not the militancy of Tamils. Militancy of a small nation can be crushed by ganging up and by fabricating all excuses, as has already been witnessed by us. But what exactly threatens the establishments is the effort of Tamils organising themselves politically. What they expect is the ‘defeated’ Tamils to play political stooges.Independent political organisation is a fundamental right of every society and is a vital norm of contemporary human civilisation.The responsibility of aptly asserting to this fundamental right falls squarely on every member of the Eezham Tamil nation. It is not just Tamils caring for themselves, but more than that, it is meeting a challenge of global perspective having a bearing to entire humanity. In a remarkable way the people of Jaffna have demonstrated their resentment to the present political approach towards them in the recent municipal elections. It was a bold and clear boycott when only 20 percent turned out for voting– a slap in the face to all political parties, including the TNA that was playing words with ‘self-determination.’ In this instance no one instructed the people to boycott voting. It was spontaneous.As Lionel Bopage, a former general secretary of the JVP, has recently pointed out, the Sri Lankan state had long back disenfranchised the Eezham Tamils by enacting the 6th Amendment to the constitution in 1983 that prevents them from politically airing their aspiration of nationhood.As political organisation of their choice is constitutionally prevented in the island, the onus righteously falls on the diaspora of Eezham Tamils to rise up to the occasion.Colombo is engaged in a dubious propaganda that diaspora’s political organisation is harmful to its ‘home made’ solution that is nothing but structural genocide.In the highly internationalised conflict in the island, diaspora’s political organisation is justifiable not only in voicing for the people facing genocide in the homeland but also in globally responding to the global system that failed in its political cum humanitarian values and humiliated the diaspora.The efforts of diaspora Tamils in re-affirming self-determination, independence and sovereignty proclaimed by the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976 and their novel concept of transnational governance for a nation victimised by the international community have become challenges worse than a war to Colombo. The Vaddukkoaddai Resolution was rebuked as ‘Tamil tribalism’ by a Sinhala writer, in a Colombo newspaper recently.“The Vaddukkoaddai war was a tragedy bought upon themselves by their intransient, self-defeating, short-sighted, Jaffna-centric extremism. Peninsular politics was never dominated or driven by any modern political ideology – liberalism, communism, socialism, multi-culturalism or even Gandhism which was a mere passing fad without any deep roots – other than primal communalism,” says this writer in Daily Mirror, according to whom all progressive politics in the island come from the South.It is as though answering him Arundhati Roy wrote in her recent book: “I have always been struck by the fact that the political party in Turkey that carried out the Armenian genocide was called the Committee for Union and Progress.”On the strategy of power centres inventing phrases of deception to invalidate struggles of people, she further wrote: “This theft of language, this technique of usurping words and deploying them like weapons, of using them to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant, has been one of the most brilliant strategic victories of the tsars of the new dispensation. It has allowed them to marginalise their detractors, deprive them of a language in which to voice their critique and dismiss them as being 'anti-progress', 'anti-development', 'anti-reform' and of course 'anti-national'—negativists of the worst sort.”The Sri Lankan state, genetically impotent in forging a national polity for the island, had no limits in its duplicity in nullifying Tamil political organisation. Cultural pluralism is a convenient fad in some of the elite lips today to camouflage Colombo-centric capitalist greed. Pluralism has gone with the wind ever since colonial orientalism re-invented Mahavamsa to become the basis for the idea of state, forcing even leftists to betray their principles. Tamil political organisation was accused as Jaffna-centric while more than 50 percent of the island’s wealth is Colombo-centric. It was accused as caste-centric, replacing casteism with communalism, while no one other than belonging to a particular caste of Sinhalese could become a monk in the leading Buddhist chapters formidable in the island’s polity.Responding to all sorts of challenges and evolving social inclusion, the polity of Tamils has irreversibly graduated into Tamil nationalism with local genius, thanks to state oppression, international victimisation and the course of militancy. Tamil national question today appeals to an array of oppressed masses deprived of political justice all over the world. It is a topic that appeals to progressive minds thinking of restructuring the polity of human civilisation.The responsibility of Eezham Tamils and their diaspora is to present the case with a progressive political theme and language. Lionel Bopage has hinted that Tamil militancy was only aiming to liberate the homeland from the occupying forces but it did not attempt to destabilise the Sri Lankan state. He says the old JVP was aiming at total destabilisation of the state.If properly structured, the political organisation of Tamil nationalism is sure to find congenial partnership with alternative Sinhala polity in destabilising the Sri Lankan state, is the view of some sections that see such a course a positive achievement to the island and to the world civilisation.Any successful political move doesn’t come from negativism.There may be a thousand odd slips in the course of Tamil militancy that are now going to be exaggerated by the ‘victorious’ opponents to demoralise Tamils and to confirm subjugation.Tamils should carefully deduce and grasp in mind the theoretical, strategic and tactical drawbacks of the past, but these cannot be the cornerstones for political resurgence.Political resurgence comes from holding on to positive achievements.It should be clearly remembered that neither the war nor the cause of Ezham Tamils has ever been surrendered. A consensus is emerging now in the diaspora for its global unification as evidenced by the spontaneous moves for a number of global outfits. Above all, the most positive development is the awakening of the diaspora youth. The direct involvement of them in the protests of the last stage of war has given them an ownership of the struggle, enlightened them of the world they deal with and relieved them from myopia. The vital point to be kept in mind is that resurgence of Tamil politics should begin from the people, by the people and for the people. It cannot and should not begin from the intelligence agencies and embassies. Those days have gone and Tamils have seen enough of them. The rot should be kept far away until Tamils organise themselves.Some intelligence agencies in the West are said to be advising the diaspora youth to join Sinhala political parties than maintaining separate polity for Tamils. There is also a microscopic section in the diaspora believing in Rajapaksa remedy, even after seeing what has happened to people of the shade of opinion like Dayan Jayatillake. Tamils willingly finding fellowship with island-wide political parties can happen only with parties such as of Vikramabahu Karunaratne that are prepared to recognise Tamils as a nation in the island entitled to the right to self-determination.A lot of questions come about a democratically formed transnational government. TamilNet has already published a few articles on this, initiating the debate. As an alternative government having no territory, its power comes only from the will of people and its ability to do service. It cannot have any affiliation to any organisation.Transnational governance is not an elite exercise coming from the above and asking the people to vote. Such an exercise, when not orientated in the grass root, is always exposed to the danger of getting hijacked or succumbing to intimidation. But when it is formed with a clear bearing and mandate, through a series of democratic exercises among the diaspora in different parts of the world and if constituently linked from top to bottom, such a structure will be withstanding and cannot be ignored or sabotaged by anyone.It is essentially as a matter of proclamation of the will of Eezham Tamils to the international community and to set a firm bearing for the transnational governance, efforts of re-mandating the main principle of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution are being organized in the diaspora, in different parts of the world.The diaspora in Norway that has already re-mandated VR, with 99 percent assent in a 80 percent voter turn out is soon expected to experiment with an elected council for Eezham Tamils in Norway. In the process of people taking over Tamil polity, the society, especially the diaspora that is in a position to materialise it now, needs new blood of politicians and it goes without saying that the diaspora youth has a major role to play.

Holding grounds is fundamental to everything
[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 2009, 22:34 GMT]

Professing defeatism or surrendering the basic grounds are not the ways to begin or to sustain the struggle with the masses, even in ways anew, perhaps through democratic means. Talking on the need to continue the struggle is not to rule out the need to negotiate. But negotiation is not collaboration. Negotiators need a firm platform supported by the hearts of the masses on behalf of whom they negotiate. Negotiation cannot take place when the platform is surrendered. It is to safeguard the platform for struggle and negotiation the Tamil circles are now keen in re-affirming the democratically mandated Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976 that upholds independence, sovereignty and self-determination of Eezham Tamils, at least where there is freedom of expression. Even after 2000 years the Jews were able to regain their land because they never lost their nationalism or the thought of Israel.
TamilNet Editorial Board
The Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram's questions or rather ‘leads’ and Rajapaksa’s elucidations that appeared in The Hindu for three consecutive days are not an ordinary media interview. Timed with the interview came the statements of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and External Affairs Minister of India S M Krishna.The whole exercise orchestrated by the Colombo-Chennai-New Delhi axis was primarily meant for nullifying the liberation struggle of Eezham Tamil nationalism.Shielding the guilty party and victimising the victimised for the war crimes, imposing post-war subjugation on the ‘defeated’ people, waving aside the seriousness of the crime of keeping people perishing in the concentration camps and pretending no solutions as fantastic solutions, echoed in the orchestrations are the workings of fascist and Stalinist minds in collaboration.Mahinda Rajapaksa, the most explicit among the lot, rules out federalism, even rejects the existence of minorities and envisages ‘ethnic mix’ for what he thinks reconciliation.He wants the UN, which he was keeping out during the war, to certify de-mining for resettlement, talks of the need of increasing the number of military and wants his re-election to implement what he is having in his mind – a ‘home-gown solution’.Karunanidhi rules out Tamil Eelam, envisages struggling for regional autonomy and advocates appeasement with the Sinhala state.In a statement in the Indian parliament last Thursday, Krishna is convinced of the ‘closure to the cycle of violence and terrorism’ in the island, viewed the crisis in the island not as a national question but ‘aspirations of the minorities’ and wanted the full implementation of the 13th amendment and go beyond. It is clear Colombo and New Delhi have nothing new to offer, after what they see as ‘end of terrorism’, but are at a dangerous track of proclaiming a new phase of war against Eezham Tamil nationalism, covertly conducted through structural genocide and annihilation of the Tamil homeland in the island. As privately revealed by certain diplomatic circles, India has no positive or innovative programme of its own for Eezham Tamils beyond allowing Colombo’s agenda with superficial restrains and gaining its interests in the island. Whatever the feelings of the Eezham Tamils to look upon India as the ultimate ‘deliverer’ of their legitimate aspirations, the Indian Establishment is consistently not convinced of the need to identify any overlapping interests with Eezham Tamils, thanks to the docility of the leadership in Tamil Nadu.Hitherto, in waging the war against Eezham Tamils, neither Colombo nor any of the powers abetting Colombo had the guts to say that they do it against a national liberation struggle. They had to go for the smokescreen ‘terrorism’.As they now claim ‘terrorism’ is over, nothing should actually prevent them from recognizing the legitimacy of the concerned people upholding their national liberation struggle.What the Eezham Tamils have to understand is that the war was not against the LTTE or terrorism, but against the national liberation struggle of Eezham Tamils. The Tamil struggle was found conducive neither to the geopolitical interests of powers eying on the strategic island in order to have a hold on South Asia and the Indian Ocean, nor to the interests of India in defending its surroundings.While time will tell whether India was right or wrong in its modus operandi, the reality for Eezham Tamils today is that both Colombo and New Delhi have come open in waging a war on the nationalism of Eezham Tamils and they have found a suitable person in Karunanidhi to inaugurate it.What is at stake is even the democratic right of Eezham Tamils to open their mouth and tell what they want.Tamils have to carefully note that even the West, which in contrast to India, belatedly show hostility to Colombo, talk about war crimes and human rights, once again for its own interests, has not come forward after the war at least to recognize Eezham Tamils as a nation – leave apart the national liberation struggle.Tamils don’t have the folly of expecting political solution from the rogue imperialism of China, but are concerned of Japan reassuring faith on the ‘vision’ of Rajapaksa.All make mistake in looking at the issue something like post-war Germany or Japan for everyone to poke nose to make ‘economic miracles’. Neither the Tamils were fighting for aggressive empires nor the war ended like the Mikado surrendering after the two atom bombs.It was a humble liberation struggle of people oppressed for ages who are now hardened than ever in the consciousness of their identity, thanks to the collective oppression of all the powers.The important point is that the war didn’t end in surrender.Perhaps the most memorable act of the LTTE under Pirapaharan that will be remembered forever is that other than running a de-facto independent state, it didn’t surrender the liberation struggle of the Eezham Tamils to anybody at anytime. The struggle needs to continue from that point, as it has become clear that ‘reconciliation’ is only an honourable term used by Colombo and abetters to mean a suicidal course set for the Eezham Tamil nation.But continuing the struggle in ways anew, now perhaps through democratic means, could neither begin nor could sustain itself with the masses, by professing defeatism or by surrendering the basic grounds.Talking on the need to continue the struggle is not to rule out the need to negotiate.But negotiation is not collaboration. Negotiators need a firm platform supported by the hearts of the masses on behalf of whom they negotiate. Negotiation cannot take place when the platform is surrendered.We don’t live in feudal times when a group of Muthaliyars of Jaffna signed a document with the Portuguese or the chieftains of Kandy signed the convention with the British, in renouncing sovereignty and confirming the setting in of colonialism. It is to safeguard the platform for struggle and negotiation the Tamil circles are now keen in re-affirming the democratically mandated Vaddukkoaddai Resolution of 1976 that upholds independence, sovereignty and self-determination of Eezham Tamils, at least in places where there is freedom of expression. They have already demonstrated that in Norway and France and it is set to take place in the rest of the diaspora. But it is with sadness the Tamil circles note that exercising such a basic freedom is not possible today for Eezham Tamils in India, the greatest democracy in the world.It is again impelled by the same need the Eezham Tamils think of a transnational government of them. The diaspora need not be apologetic of it as their issue is actually international but refused to be addressed as international even by the apex international body, the UN. However, transnational governance is a novel democratic exercise. It needs firm theoretical basis to function as a transnational body, needs firm adherence to principles such as independence and sovereignty found in the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution to achieve the goal at home, needs a popular participatory structure beginning from grass-root democracy in the diaspora and the initiation of it needs to be above controversy for convincing the participation of people. There are some efforts in the diaspora to begin this exercise country wise.Transnational government is not merely for the immediate need of international negotiation, but to sustain the struggle that may take years and to look after the well-being of the people in the diaspora and at home for long times to come, in the context of unfolding global scenario. The West should think of regaining its international credibility by recognising nations such as the Eezham Tamils and promoting their democratic moves struggling against genocide and oppression. This will bring in more durable acceptance of it and its civilization than what petty geopolitics could bring in.A Tamil housewife in New Zealand was recently heard saying that she stopped buying Sri Lankan tea as a protest possible within her means for what the Sri Lankan state did to her people. Another person in the diaspora said that he will never claim himself a Sri Lankan hereafter and will stick only to his Eezham Tamil identity.Such individual sentiments and protests may look insignificant but when organized they can become something like Mahatma Gandhi’s Khadar movement. Imagine global Tamils deciding not to buy Chinese goods and they joining hands with Tibetans and others affected, in campaigning against Chinese economic interests!The diaspora, especially the younger generation, is sure going to tell the West to stop hoodwinking and to come out with substantial solutions, beginning from the recognition of Eezham Tamils as a nation and their struggle a national liberation struggle. India is a unique issue for Eezham Tamils. They always look upon the country and its people. Its Establishment wouldn’t have dared to embark upon betrayal, had there been an intelligent show of strength and solidarity in Tamil Nadu. But forces of deception were at work from media to political parties. India has to be addressed internally by Eezham Tamils. Much anger is simmering in Tamil Nadu but it expects the Eezham Tamils to come out with their position on the national question. The Eezham Tamils, especially the diaspora need to play the cards carefully. Let there be negotiation on all fronts. But the national grounds for negotiation should not be lost, just because some ask for it. If it is lost it can’t be regained even if there are going to be favourable geopolitics.Even after 2000 years the Jews were able to regain their land because they never lost their nationalism or the thought of Israel.

Breaking the deadlock through transnational governance
[TamilNet, Monday, 15 June 2009, 09:52 GMT]

The need of the time now is the metamorphosis of the existing infrastructure into a democratic and inclusive transnational government of Eezham Tamils to strengthen the diaspora socially, economically and culturally; to achieve the goal of independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in the home country and to meet the international challenges internationally. Many of our readers confuse between the concepts of transnational government and government in exile. While the government in exile is a conventional phenomenon that needs a host country, the transnational government is a novel experiment that has no precedence.
TamilNet Editorial Board
A government in exile functions outside of its territory with an aim of taking control of that territory. Such a government may have already existed in an independent and sovereign country and have lost its power or may have been formed anew to claim an independent and sovereign country. Whatever the case may be, a government in exile needs a host country.But the transnational government we speak of is a novel experiment that has no precedence.Whatever excuses there may be, the contemporary world system including its apex body the United Nations, have shown least regards for the life, safety, dignity and human rights of Eezham Tamils and even now continue to abet structural genocide in the island of Sri Lanka.There is no second word that all Eezham Tamils are traumatised and grieved by the grave injustice committed on them by the entire world system. Unless the world system recognizes the self-determination of Eezham Tamils and directly intervenes in the island, no justice is going to be seen. With the kind of blunders made by the powers involved in forfeiting leverages and with the development of new axes in the region, it is doubtful whether the world system will have any pressure to act on its own to justify the cause of Eezham Tamils other than oppressing them further to accept subjugation within the rot of the united Sri Lanka.It is the ways of the contemporary world system that impels Eezham Tamils to respond with the unique experiment of a transnational government to safe guard their unity, identity, dignity, aspirations and well-being.A contemporary reality that is going to be faced by Eezham Tamils in the home country is compulsion in brutal ways by Colombo, the Indian Establishment and by certain other powers to drop Tamil national aspirations and to accept an imposed Sri Lankan identity. Colombo is already intimidating with success the subservient Tamil political entities to drop the ethnic identity. What is proposed is a ‘home grown solution’ that is none other than structural genocide.The Indian Establishment and its agents are said to be busy in forging a ‘coalition’ of political parties, not to go beyond the 'Rajiv’s dream' of 13th Amendment. It is also said that certain sections in the West are also behind it.A situation is going to emerge in which no Tamil in the home country could open mouth to ask for justice and to express their heart-felt aspirations. Only the diaspora and the transnational government could uphold the freedom of aspiration and freedom of expression of Eezham Tamils.Those who have to face the reality from the ‘conquerors’ in Colombo and New Delhi may do so for survival but the transnational government should emerge in parallel in the diaspora to uphold the unconquered spirit of Eezham Tamils, to support the political course in the homeland and to see the Eezham Tamil politics are not hijacked by others. The transnational government need not openly include the home politicians even though both should collaborate with each other.The disastrous geopolitics played by the Beijing-New Delhi-Islamabad axis and the West at the cost of Eezham Tamils, undeservingly favouring genocidal Colombo and the continued injustice they are committing, are not ephemeral episodes to subside with patchwork solutions envisaged by the conquerors and geopolitical players.When the volcano erupts, a genuine support the Eezham Tamils at home could fall back on is going to be nothing but a transnational government of the diaspora. Therefore, all Tamil political players, irrespective of differences and shades of opinion, should extend support to forge such an outfit, at least symbolic in the beginning. One of the positive achievements of the LTTE is the international infrastructure uniting and motivating the diaspora. Otherwise the diaspora would have gone astray like the 19th century migrants.The need of the time now is the metamorphosis of the infrastructure into a democratic and inclusive transnational government of Eezham Tamils to strengthen the diaspora socially, economically and culturally; to achieve the goal of independence and sovereignty of Eezham Tamils in the home country and to meet the international challenges internationally.It is not a must that the transnational government needs a host country to operate. What is actually needed is the will power of more than a million Eezham Tamils living across the world. Despite a global ban, if the LTTE had successfully demonstrated a global infrastructure in raising revenue, in mobilising the masses and in running economic and cultural institutions, why a democratised and inclusive transnational government not feasible?If multinational corporations can operate as successful power centres why can’t transnational governments?Some of our readers have mailed meaningful feedback how such a government can viably operate for the well-being of the diaspora as well as for the liberation of the people in the home country.If the traumatised Eezham Tamils at home are going to be kept voiceless by the conquerors and the international community, at least the traumatised diaspora should be immediately engaged with a positive and noble venture of resurrection. Otherwise the diaspora will be disillusioned.However, the process of this noble venture is not a hasty affair. For a smooth beginning, primarily it needs consensus of the existing infrastructure, and to become inclusive it needs the consensus of the circles outside of it also. It needs a strong foundation, careful planning and step-by-step implementation. The existing infrastructure has a greater responsibility in the metamorphosis from command structure to representative structure.Possible steps are re-affirming the political fundamentals of the Vaddukkoaddai resolution through mandate, electing representatives at national as well as at global level for an Assembly, which will also initially be a constitutional assembly, and then electing an executive.It is also advisable to create as many as possible grass-root democratic organizations among Eezham Tamils, vested with specific tasks to face the different facets of the current misery. Such grass-root institutions are helpful in sustaining and safe guarding the democratic nature of the superstructure of transnational governance. If successful, and if the time demands, the transnational government can also become the government in exile. An important prerequisite with the Eezham Tamil people, who for ages have seen nothing but deception, is that those who take the proposals for implementation with people need to be above all suspicion. Sectarian initiatives will only bungle the move at the outset itself. Obviously the move for a transnational government based on democratic mandate is going to raise eyebrows in the Establishments that have a strong reservation against Eezham Tamil nationalism and want to erase it by coercion, deception, seemingly sympathetic talk and the hoodwink of devolution and development. Any genuinely mass-oriented structure will only be viewed more dangerous than armed groups that could readily be lured to play stooges to them. But the Eezham Tamils pushed to frustration’s end can’t help looking after their own affairs at their own will power. They need not any more care for other’s national or imperial interests unless there are returns. It is not out of context to bring in here two examples from the South Asian scenario:Those who have travelled in the northeastern frontier states of India might have noticed that people from these states whenever travel to Kolkata (Culcutta) and beyond, use to say that they go to ‘India’. In their heart, India is a foreign country, different from theirs and perhaps a coloniser. The Indian Establishment, which attempts to impose Sri Lankan identity on Eezham Tamils, after all what had happened and while the threat of genocide persists, should realise the futility of it at least through its own experience.Anyone who compares the Tibetan refugees and the Eezham Tamil refugees in India can see a big difference in the treatment. The Tibetans are allowed a government in exile. They are allowed to manage themselves through their own co-operative systems. They are also helped and allowed to develop into an affluent identity on par with Anglo Indians. From the status of refugees in India they now operate all over the world with dignity and self-assurance. Their nationhood is now respected and recognised everywhere in the world, even though their independence and sovereignty are not conceded by China. In contrast, the Eezham Tamil refugees in India disintegrated in the camps. For over quarter a century they are living under suspicious eyes. Only one organization trusted by the Indian Establishment is allowed to work in these camps. And, now, there are proposals to send them back to end up in the internment camps run by Colombo.The difference is not merely because of the bias of the Indian Establishment in treating Eezham Tamils. It is also because of deficiencies in the social and political organisation of Eezham Tamils. That is yet another reason why we need a transnational government for the diaspora.

Historic task awaits all freedom fighters
[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 June 2009, 20:59 GMT]

The Eezham Tamil nation doesn’t need words to explain the current situation because everybody feels it in the core of their heart. This is a situation that warrants no one else but only the members of the nation to rise up to the occasion. Unprecedented catastrophe awaits unprecedented response from the nation.
TamilNet Editorial Board
It is time for all Eezham Tamil freedom fighters to realise that there is no credible alternative other than taking up the matter directly to the people concerned for a mandate to reaffirm the political fundamentals and to direct the course of action.Incumbency, elitism and adventurism are no answers to the gravity of the situation that needs handling with legitimacy not only the genocidal regime of Colombo but also an entire world.It is heartening to see moves being discussed towards the formation of a global structure for Eezham Tamils, but how to evolve it mass orientated, how to make it responsible to the people and what is the relationship of this body to the already existing infrastructure are the questions.All freedom fighters with a record of service to the Eezham Tamil nation have a historic responsibility in this regard to come forward united in forging a neutral interim body with full commitment to execute conducting a mandate among Eezham Tamils in forming a government, even if it is going to be bereft of territory at the moment.Fortunately the Eezham Tamil nation’s resources and organizational infrastructure are intact in the diaspora. But these have to be immediately transformed with unity and consensus into backing the formulation of the much-needed political structure. Any failure will only see the hijacking of the cause by the same forces that crushed Tamil nationalism militarily.Some feedbacks to our earlier columns questioned the legitimacy of the diaspora in forming a government and hinted that the future politics of Eezham Tamils will surge up from the conditions of the internment camps.While not denying the fact that the nature of politics is going to be determined by the ground realities of oppression in the homeland, a parallel political stream in the diaspora is not a liability but contributory to the Tamil nationalist cause. The diaspora on one hand cannot be idling at a historic responsibility in meeting the demands of the homeland and on the other hand has to look after its own needs of identity, self-respect and emotional integrity as well.No one should forget that the diaspora, especially of those who migrated after the 1972 constitution have a say on Tamil Eelam, as the Eezham Tamils have not accepted the Sri Lankan state and have become the diaspora largely as a consequence to it.Many readers may wonder why TamilNet doesn’t cover ongoing factional news and debate on Tamil politics. A media is expected to do that, but as an alternative media committed to a cause TamilNet wishes to refrain from contributing to confusion.It is our earnest hope that an environment will be created soon, conducive for all freedom loving people of the nation to participate in unison in upholding the struggle.It may be the worst of times but it is also the best of times for Phoenix-like regeneration.

Setting the hands of the clock right
[TamilNet, Monday, 01 June 2009, 20:04 GMT]

The Eezham Tamils and their political representatives have no obligation to anyone now, to engage in the deliberations of fruitless alternatives. But the world has an obligation now to tell the Tamils whether its opposition is to what it has perceived as 'terrorism' or to Tamil nationalism. The Eezham Tamil mainstream has a historic responsibility on its shoulders to be performed right now. If the oppression to their nationalism is trans-national, the Eezham Tamils have to respond by forming a trans-national government fully responsible to them based on democracy, to negotiate with the world and to look after their own affairs.
TamilNet Editorial Board
The events of the past few weeks, while marking a dark phase of Tamil history and indelible shame on contemporary world leadership, have imperceptibly brought in new equations in global power politics. The onslaught on Eezham Tamil liberation, wrongly chosen by a brutal alliance of the world to test the effectiveness of 'War on Terror' and the diplomatic con of 'Human Rights', aiming at world domination, not only backfired at the perpetrators, but has also paved way for the emergence of a counter alliance, worst in its outlook. The world will be witnessing the results very soon. But, the unfortunate irony is that the Eezham Tamil question is always kept at the receiving end, as a 'punishment' for upholding the independence of the struggle. The bias of the Indian Establishment towards the independence of Eezham Tamils and their liberation movement played a crucial role in keeping the genocidal Sri Lanka at the crest of the waves and the Tamils at the receiving end. But this treacherous foreign policy of India is heading for the same disaster Krishna Menon led India into in the 50s and 60s on the question of Tibet and China. The stubbornness of the Indian Establishment in refusing to recognise the need for the liberation of Eezham Tamils is what that paved way for the Co-Chairs meddling cum failure and the prolonged agony in the island. The 'punishment' meted out by India for Tamils accepting Co-Chairs mediation is massacre and incarceration.Now, all those who were a party to the war crimes, especially the new Strategic Partners, India and China using UN, are busy in masking the war criminals and in abetting Colombo in treating all Tamils as Prisoners of War. The camps and the 'rehabilitation' model adopted by Colombo and endorsed by the UN is explicit about it. The West backing a similar move in Pakistan's Swat Valley can afford to make only a verbal fuss of what is happening in the island, in making a whole nation as prisoners of war. The trauma faced by Eezham Tamils everywhere, including in the diaspora, is immense. They have demonstrated a hitherto unseen solidarity with their cause. Now, their trauma has come to a stage of not merely denouncing all leaders of the world, but even cursing their own deities. The world leadership, which didn't care for the will of the people didn't demonstrate its own will to bring in a solution either, other than confirming genocide. Therefore, the struggle is only further imposed on Eezham Tamils. The sentiments expressed by the Eezham Tamils in the last few days show that they have not conceded 'victory' to Colombo. The general thinking among them, is that the agenda for the catastrophe was set by the Indian Establishment with the connivance of M. Karunanidhi, and the coup de grace was served by the White House administration by its failure to act at the right time in doing what it was telling. Tamils have still not seriously started thinking about the gravity of the treacherous roles played by China, Japan, Pakistan and some others. The sentiments of the Eezham Tamils also show that Pirapaharan is not a mortal or physical entity, but a symbol for them. The symbol will be there and the 'file' cannot be closed as long as the issues are alive. Colombo and the Indian Establishment, harping on the scenario created by them, are in a hurry to close the file and turn the hands of the clock backwards by talking about the implementation of the 13th Amendment as solution. The Congress President Sonia Gandhi, even at the height of the election campaign, didn't move an inch from the 13th Amendment. Tamils find it a mockery that it took decades of their struggle for India to come out with this half-baked solution and it took another two decades of bloodbath of Tamils just for India to talk about implementing it. Adding insult to injury is Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram's statement of sending the Eezham Tamil refugees in India back to join the already incarcerated people in the camps and the open prisons in the island. Meanwhile, Eezham Tamils closely watch the various circles that come out with different shades of political formulas as solution, with an excuse that independence and sovereignty to Eezham Tamils is impossible in this generation, as the present world doesn't have 'appetite' for new nation states. India's Home Minister Chidambaram himself, slightly differing from his party chief, has called for a federal solution during his election campaign. Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim advocates federal with 'some autonomy'. The main political parties of Tamil Nadu have said Thamizh Eezham is the solution. But, one has to wait and see whether they would be sticking to that agenda in practice. Now it seems that some well-wishers in India are embarked upon promoting a confederation model. While thanking good intention, what the Tamil circles wonder is that who is going to deliver these verbal proposals, when all leverages of Colombo are forfeited. The reality faced by Tamils today is multifaceted genocide by Colombo. Political circles in Colombo tell that no solution will be forthcoming until the demographic and structural genocide of Tamils are completed. When something in the name of a solution is finally delivered to hoodwink, it will be only symbolic.The Eezham Tamils and their political representatives have no obligation to anyone now, to engage in the deliberations of fruitless alternatives. But the world has an obligation now to tell the Tamils whether its opposition is to what it has perceived as 'terrorism' or to Tamil nationalism. Whether the need for another armed struggle, more effective than ever, is going to be imposed upon the Tamils or not, lies very much on the responses of the International Community to the precarious situation created by it. It is also the responsibility of the International Community now to demonstrate in deeds, and not in words, the viability of political alternatives in the context of Sri Lanka that has beyond any doubt proved its genocidal capabilities during the current war. Everybody knows that without the de-construction of the Sri Lankan state and its concept of 'Sinhala Only' sovereignty, no viable alternative can emerge. Therefore, the Tamils are not at all impressed by any of the empty statements and diplomatic deliberations of the IC pleading Sri Lanka drunk with 'victory' to come out with 'political solutions', unless the IC directly takes over the Tamil provinces without caring for Sri Lanka's sovereignty, in order to bring in a political solution satisfying the national aspirations of Tamils.Leaving such matters to the conmen and the gullible, the Eezham Tamil mainstream has a historic responsibility on its shoulders to be performed right now, without wasting any time. The foremost is the task of re-structuring the political struggle. All the anger, frustration and unfulfilled aspirations have to be now translated into positive energy of formulating a political idiom suitable enough for a global discourse to achieve liberation. Among the very few classical as well as living cultures of humanity, such as the Chinese, Hebrews and Arabs, the Tamils, especially the Eezham Tamils, have become an endangered identity. The world neither protected them nor allowed them to protect themselves. The response of Eezham Tamils to such a situation should suit their great cultural heritage. If the present world system is working against them in toto and if the world doesn't have enough appetite to look into their righteous aspirations, then the Tamils matching to their civilisation should come out with introducing something innovative and creative to the world system itself. If the oppression to their nationalism is trans-national, the Eezham Tamils have to respond by forming a trans-national government fully responsible to them based on democracy, to negotiate with the world and to look after their own affairs. Needless to say, the appropriate beginning is re-mandating the fundamentals of Vaddukkoaddai Resolution, and based on that democratically endorsed commitment, electing representatives for a trans-national assembly and government. The Eezham Tamils democratically denouncing the shackles of Sri Lankan identity imposed on them is an important step. Equally important is that the innovative models should originate from within the Eezham Tamil nation.It may not be immediately possible to involve people who have no political freedom in the camps and in the open prisons in the island of Sri Lanka and people in the camps for over quarter a century in India. But, the global Eezham Tamil diaspora is free to demonstrate this noble venture. Eezham Tamils in Norway have already set a model for conducting democratic elections in diaspora context. A publication on the procedures experimented in Norway are awaited soon. The Tamil request to the civilised world at this juncture is to support their democratic experiment and to listen to their democratic voices.

Demonstrate the politics of war
[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 May 2009, 20:32 GMT]

The Tamil national cause cannot afford to be deviated and exploited by others through questions such as whether the LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan is alive or not or whether the armed struggle has to be continued or not. The Tamil diaspora, the only section of the Eezham Tamil community that has the freedom and means to come out with authentic voice, has a historic responsibility in telling the world what they aspire for in no uncertain terms, and in seeing their righteous cause not hijacked by their enemies.
Opinion:TamilNet Editorial Board
More than the massacre, maiming and incarceration, what causes the height of the trauma to Eezham Tamils is the utter disregard of the norms of civilization and shameful deceit committed by India, IC and the UN in the happenings of the island of Sri Lanka. This will remain as an indelible blot in the annals of history, irremovable scar in the minds of Tamils and will globally discredit the existing power systems, sowing seeds for their deconstruction in future, unless they at least act now in upholding political justice. Any effort on their part to exploit the situation to impose political subjugation on Tamils, thinking that there is a political vacuum in Eezham Tamil nationalism, is sure to bring in further disaster. The Tamil national cause cannot afford to be deviated and exploited by others through questions such as whether Pirapaharan is alive or not or whether the armed struggle has to be continued or not. The answer to the second question is going to depend very much on the successes and failures of the IC in resolving the conflict. Meanwhile, the Eezham Tamil diaspora, the only section of the community that has the freedom and means to come out with authentic voice, has a historic responsibility in telling the world what they aspire for in no uncertain terms, and in seeing their righteous cause not hijacked by their enemies. The Tamil diaspora in France, and especially in Norway have already embarked upon this noble venture with foresight, by re-mandating the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution through unblemished popular politics. It is high time the rest of the diaspora follow suit not only in specifying the course, but also in leading it further by democratically bringing in a political leadership to stand by that. The existing structures should wholeheartedly, and in one voice, need to support it. A grave concern of Tamils at this juncture is the stand of India. Whether it was in 1987 or now, the bitterness of Eezham Tamils about the Indian Establishment is its unrealistic stand of resolving the crisis within the state of Sri Lanka, not recognising the Tamil independence and sovereignty that have very much become a must today. Tamil Nadu has a great role to play now. As both the major parties of Tamil Nadu have openly stated that Tamil Eelam is the solution to the crisis, they should not waste any time now in declaring that in the state assembly. This is sure to inspire the Indian parliament and various governments of the International Community. A few who saw the spontaneous, democratic demonstration of the political will of Diaspora Tamils as 'LTTE orchestrations' need to realise that the model experimented in the Norway mandate took place without any compulsion either in participation or in expressing opinion. It is surprising that certain sections, which accept intimidated elections taking place at gunpoint in Sri Lanka as 'democratic' and envisaged further elections like that to ensure their positions criticising the free political expression of the diaspora through self-evolved structures. However, this is not the occasion for the Eezham Tamil nation, either in the island or in the diaspora to waste time in fruitless arguments. The Sri Lankan state is not going to spare the non-LTTE Tamil political forces either, and danger is imminent to them. Unconfirmed reports say that a Colombo based political entity, having Eelam in its name, has been 'ordered' recently to conduct elections in the island under the identity of the ruling party that is fighting 'Tamil terrorism'. As has been already demonstrated in the East, the idea is to see that Tamils should not even have their own political parties. This political genocide is one of the many facets of Colombo's agenda. It is also high time now that all Tamil entities join together in truly reflecting the minds of the people they claim to serve rather than serving the minds of others. Failing, they may never be able to find political or social platform among their own people. If political war is what India and the IC want the Tamils to take up, the ball is in the court of India and the IC now. The right sign and support have to come from them. If they know how to handle the Sri Lankan state, that has to be clearly demonstrated by them now. But, if deceit continues to impose half-baked solutions that don't match the long-sufferings and sacrifices of Eezham Tamils, then they only invite troubles.

IC, India shouldn’t impose 'inclusion' on Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 May 2009, 18:23 GMT]

The International Community and India will be contributing to a grave disaster by imposing or enforcing ‘inclusive polity’ on an unwilling Sri Lankan state said the TamilNet political commentator in Colombo Thursday adding that secession is the best option for the island. He cited the events of this week when passions of ‘exclusiveness’ were decisively demonstrated in its goriest possible way by the Sri Lankan state in celebrating ‘victory,’ completely insensitive to the killing, massacres and incarceration of hundreds of thousands of Tamils who are supposed to be its citizens. He also cited the way a dead human being was desecrated whether the identity of the person was another one of the dupe of Colombo or not. Dramatic episodes of the week are an ingenious deviation tactic of the war partners, the commentator said, citing haste shown in ‘closing the file’ and efforts being made to give final touches to the total subjugation of Tamils. However the question remains, who sabotaged last effort to save negotiations, while treacherously annihilating the political wing of the LTTE in the field, the commentator said.At least at this point the IC should learn the futility and danger of envisaging ‘inclusive solution satisfying all sections’ in the island, he further said. Meanwhile, many of our readers perceiving uncertainties, wish to know where does TamilNet stand.Ever since its inception TamilNet has been firmly committed to the Tamil Cause: liberation, independence and sovereignty of the Eezham Tamils. TamilNet reiterates that it will continue to serve in every possible way to uphold its founding principles and goals, and also its independence in serving the Tamil people.

'Long live human dignity; shame on international community'
[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 May 2009, 18:37 GMT]

While the so-called international community is "exposed of its shameful conning," thousands of Tamil civilians and combatants are laying down their lives to "uphold Tamil dignity, and human dignity," says a Tamil academic in Colombo. Those who blame the LTTE for bringing in the disaster know well that Colombo always had the option to negotiate or to come out with a political solution convincing Tamils not to continue the conflict. But Colombo’s aim is not power sharing but genocide and subjugation of Tamils by forcing war on them. "The only way now for the IC to come out of the colossus shame is direct intervention and recognition of the justification for Tamil Eelam," the academic said. Further comments from the academic:"Mahinda Rajapaksa’s untruthfulness to the world on the use of heavy weapons, the number of Tamil civilians involved in the tragedy and the number of them get killed are too well known. Yet the IC shamefully allows them, allows the imprisonment and inhuman humiliation of civilians and in future plans to leave everything in the hands of Colombo."Tamils don’t expect any sense of shame or any justice coming either from Colombo or New Delhi, the partners of the war. The world knows Sonia’s statement a week ago that the war was over by the efforts of her government and Pranab Mukherjee’s statement a couple of months back, putting the number of civilians at 70,000. They will never be bothered about shame. "China, Russia and Vietnam, by sitting on UN, act on behalf of Colombo and New Delhi, to prevent international action and to keep the Tamil question to rot at the backyard of the war partners. The Indian Establishment is particularly adamant in preventing all international efforts. It could have acted long back had it really cared for its natural allies in the island and even now it doesn’t need any ‘invitation’ from any one, if it wants to do any justice to Tamils. It has to only come out of its ‘bias’. "But the Co- Chairs and especially the US among them, which is directly involved in the crisis by setting its course diplomatically, has undeniable responsibility. What is the effect or credibility of the recent White House statements is a question widely asked in the Tamil circles now. "Colombo has neither stopped war nor stopped using heavy weapons and there was no UN to receive the injured and the captured civilians. Only the LTTE responded to the White House statement. "Caring for Colombo’s meaningless sovereignty and waiting for unwilling India’s consent will bring in only disastrous effects on the credibility of the West and on the reliability of the global order it envisages. "It is clear that the LTTE is prepared to meet the White House demands within the means of Tamil dignity and if the US statements are going to mean only a conning, they are prepared to die fighting but not without upholding Tamil dignity. "The ball is in the court of the White House. "With the dignity and self-respect upheld, the Tamils can always rebuild their struggle. But the shameful ones will never find credibility again."

Tamilvany's UK Guardian Interview

2009-09-19T14:10:00.005+01:00

'As the shells fell, we tried to save lives with no blood or medicine'
Damilvany Gnanakumar witnessed Sri Lanka's bloody conflict from a Tamil hospital - then spent months detained in a camp. She tells Gethin Chamberlain her story ,
Gethin Chamberlain guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 September 2009 21.58
Gethin Chamberlain talks to Damilvany Gnanakumar, a 25-year-old British Tamil who witnessed the horrors of the conflict Link to this video
The young mother was standing by the side of the road, clutching her baby. The baby was dead.
Damilvany Gnanakumar watched as she tried to make a decision. Around them, thousands of people were picking their way between bodies strewn across the road, desperate to escape the fighting all around them.
"The mother couldn't bring the dead body and she doesn't want to leave it as well. She was standing … holding the baby. She didn't know what to do … At the end, because of the shell bombing and people rushing – there were thousands and thousands of people, they were rushing in and pushing everyone – she just had to leave the baby at the side of the road, she had to leave the body there and come, she had no choice. And I was thinking in my mind 'What have the people done wrong? Why are they going through this, why is the international government not speaking up for them? I'm still asking."
Four months later and Gnanakumar is sitting on a cream leather sofa in the living room of the family home in Chingford, Essex, reliving the final days of Sri Lanka's brutal civil war.
For most of those four months, the 25-year-old British graduate was imprisoned behind razor wire inside the country's grim internment camps, home to nearly 300,000 people. She was released last week, partly as a result of pressure from this newspaper, and flew back into London on Sunday.
The last time she publicly spoke about the conflict was from the hospital where she was working inside the ever-shrinking war zone in Sri Lanka's north-east. Then, the national army had surrounded the small sliver of land where the remnants of the Tamil Tiger guerrillas held out and where hundreds of thousands of civilians had taken refuge. She had been in despair: a shell had just struck the hospital and dozens were dead. "At the moment, it is like hell," she said then.
Gnanakumar was one of a small group of medics treating the wounded and providing a running commentary to the outside world from behind the lines. For months she had managed to stay alive while around her thousands died. At night, she lived in bunkers dug in the sand. During the day, she helped in the makeshift hospitals, dodging the shells and the bullets, tending the wounded and the dying, as the doctors tried to operate with butchers' knives and watered-down anaesthetic.
Now her damning account provides a powerful rebuke to the claims of the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, that the defeat of the Tamil Tigers was achieved without the spilling of a drop of civilian blood.
Born in Jaffna in the Tamil-dominated north of Sri Lanka in 1984, Gnanakumar and her family moved to Britain in 1994. Until 28 February last year, she had not been back. She had just completed a biomedical degree at Greenwich University, but her short-lived marriage was on the rocks and she decided it was time to make a clean break. She left the house, telling no one where she was going.
Arriving in the capital, Colombo, she headed for Vanni, the Tamil heartland, to stay with a relative she calls her brother (her real brother is back in the UK, along with her two sisters). There seemed little sign of danger, but by June 2008 fighting was getting worse: the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), still thought they would be able to negotiate a ceasefire, as they had done in the past, but the government had other ideas. They were determined to destroy the LTTE once and for all. Gnanakumar decided to stay on to try to help those who were trapped by the advance.
Even before the arrival of the government's ground forces, there had been regular air raids by air force Kfir jets. But in early January artillery barrages began, forcing the population to move.
That was when the reality of the war hit Gnanakumar for the first time.
"It was raining and … you could see everywhere on the road the blood is running with the water and the bodies were left there because there was no-one to identify who was dead and who is alive, the bodies were just laid down on the floor and that's the first time I saw dead bodies and wounded people crying out, shouting."
Wherever they stopped, they built a bunker, digging down until they could stand up in the hole, cutting down palm branches and laying them across the top for a roof and packing sandbags on the top and around the sides.
As the frontline advanced, trapping as many as 300,000 people inside a shrinking enclave of LTTE-held land, Gnanakumar went to the makeshift government hospital, which had moved into a former primary school, and volunteered to help, dressing wounds and administering first aid.
Her laboratory training had not prepared her for anything like this, but she learned as she went along. As the fighting intensified, they were treating as many as 500 people every day in two rooms. "They had a shortage of medicine but they had to somehow save the people. The last two weeks or so there was a shortage of everything."
With replacement blood running out, she had to filter what she could from the patients through a cloth before feeding it back into their veins. When the anaesthetics ran short, they diluted them with distilled water. "I watched when there was a six-year-old boy," she said. "They had to take off the leg and also the arm, but they didn't have proper equipment, they just had a knife that the butchers use to cut the meat, and we have to use that to take off his leg and arm. He cried and cried."
As the army closed in, it got worse.
"People were running and running to get them safe away from the shell bombing, but they couldn't and it came to a point where we thought we are all going to die, there is no way we can be safe anymore here, but we just have to take it. I mean, you can't get out of the shell-bombing. I didn't think that I would be alive and I would be here now. I said OK, I'm going to die, that is the end of it.
"One day I was inside the [operating] theatre and the next room was bombed. We had a lot of the treated people left in the room for the doctors to go and monitor and they all died in that shell bomb. And they [the Sri Lankan forces] again bombed the hospital and one of the doctors died in that."
Inside the hospital, there was no respite. Gnanakumar cannot forget the day a mother was brought in, injured, clutching her baby.
"She had the baby on her lap, the baby is dead and the mother didn't know and the doctor said: 'Don't tell her, because if we tell her now she will start crying out and shouting and … we have to save the mother first.' So we said: 'OK, give the baby to us, we'll look after her you go and get the treatment from the doctor,' and only after she got the treatment we told the truth, that your baby is dead. I can easily say it, but at that moment I was in so much pain, the innocent baby, the mother didn't know the baby was dead, she thought 'my baby is sleeping'.
"There were so many incidents. Another time the mother was dead and the baby was still suckling."
The fighting was getting closer. They ate what they could find and slept, those who could, in the occasional lulls.
"You have to be ready to run, you can't relax and go to sleep, any minute you just have to be ready," she said.
Gnanakumar could not take any more. On 13 May the hospital had been hit, killing about 50 people. "The bunker right next to ours had a shell on top of it and there were six people in the same family died and three were wounded.
"I saw them … suddenly I start hearing people are crying out and I thought, it has to be somewhere really close … I came out of my tent and I saw blood everywhere and the people – I couldn't even imagine that place, there was blood and then the bodies were into pieces everywhere and my brother said: 'Just pack up and let's get away from this place.'"
In the last five days, she says, she believes about 20,000 people died. It is a very high estimate, though the UN has acknowledged the true death toll may never be known. Tamil groups such as the Global Tamil Forum say her account corroborates their own figures drawn from interviews with survivors.
Over the course of the three-decade war, it is estimated that up to 100,000 people died. But independent confirmation of the death toll in the final days has been impossible. The Sri Lankan government has barred independent journalists from the war zone to this day, and has expelled UN officials and aid workers.
Meanwhile, the survivors of the final assault have been spirited away inside sprawling camps in a militarised zone.
It was to those camps, at Menik Farm, that Gnanakumar was taken. Following that last bombing, she joined thousands fleeing towards the government lines. "We start moving and after walking about one hour or so we saw the Sri Lankan army. They were saying: 'Come, you are safe now, food will be provided for you.' There were bodies everywhere, like into pieces. We had to just walk." That was when she saw the mother agonising over what to do with her dead baby. No one had time to bury the bodies, she says. Some pushed them into bunkers and covered them with a little sand. That was the best they could do.
That night, they slept in a school, then they were taken by bus to the town of Vavuniya. She called her mother: "I said, Mum, just get me out of here, I just want to get out of this place. And the phone got cut off."
The Sri Lankan government has built a series of camps to house the estimated 300,000 people who poured out of the war zone. It claims that it needs to hold the civilians until it can weed out the former Tamil Tiger fighters; its critics, including many UN organisations and independent aid groups, question why, even if that is true, it needs to imprison children and the elderly behind barbed wire, and why it has not more quickly identified the rebels. Despite pledges to start sending the internees back to their homes "at the earliest possible opportunity", the UN says only 2,000 have so far been released.
There was no food the first day Gnanakumar arrived, and she had lost contact with the people she had been with. She slept in a tent with strangers.
Even after the privations of the war zone, conditions in the camp still came as a shock.
"Wherever you go there are big queues, whatever you want you have to queue. The toilets are terrible, I can't describe how disgusting. Flies everywhere, mosquitoes, unhygienic … People had all sorts of illnesses.
"People have lost their family members, they are separated from their families … and they are going through depression."
Accounts circulated of rapes and murders, of people disappearing. Some people committed suicide: a teacher was found hanging from a tree.
Military intelligence officers were roaming the camps, looking for former Tamil Tigers, she said. "It is an open prison, you are free to walk but you are inside a prison, you are not allowed to step out. You can't. There were guards everywhere and checkpoints."
A couple of days after she arrived, the British high commission made contact through the UNHCR. An appeal from her parents in the Guardian brought fresh hope and a flurry of activity: she was moved from the overcrowded zone two to zone one, the part of the camp the authorities show to visitors.
"I was there when the UN secretary Ban Ki-moon came in … He stayed there for about 10 minutes and just went. Why didn't he go into the camp and talk to the people and spend some time asking them what their problems were? I thought he has a responsibility and people were expecting something from him. They expected much from him and he just spent 10 minutes and that's it."
The officials told Gnanakumar she would be staying for a couple of days and would then be released. "And then the 48 hours turned into three days and then it turned into weeks and months and I thought OK, now I understand it is not going to happen." She was interrogated five times – what was she doing there? Why had she been in the hospitals?
The call to say she was going home came last week. She was taken to Colombo to meet the president's brother, Basil Rajapaksa.
"He said OK, you went through so much in the country and now you are released you can go and join your family and be happy. He wasn't sorry about it." She was then handed over to British officials.
She speaks in a matter-of-fact way, rarely betraying emotion. Her hair has been tied back tightly – she had beautiful hair before she left, she says, but lost most of it in the camps. She is not sure what she will do now, maybe something in the field of medicine.
"I'm happy and proud of myself that I was able to help the people. I still think it is unreal that I am in the UK … I never thought I would be alive and coming back, even in the camp.
"After looking at the people dying and dead bodies everywhere, it is like nothing threatens me any more, it is like I have had the hard time in my life and I think I am prepared to take up whatever happens in life now.
"I'm not that old Vany that sits down and cries for little things. I'm stronger now after going through and seeing all that problem. My mind is clear now."
The Sri Lankan high commission in London last night denied Gnanakumar's allegations and called the claim of more than 20,000 civilian deaths "unsubstantiated and fabricated". A spokesman said that at no time did it target "government hospitals or any other civilian infrastructure where the civilians were accommodated".
The spokesman said: "The government of Sri Lanka has all reasons to believe that Ms Gnanakumar has gone to Sri Lanka and worked in the conflict area according to the LTTE's agenda, while overstaying her visa."
He said the government was "continuously assisting the internally displaced Sri Lankans".

How India secretly helped Lanka destroy the LTTE

2009-09-17T02:36:00.002+01:00

How India secretly helped Lanka destroy the LTTE
Nitin Anant Gokhale, NDTV's Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor, has been reporting on military affairs and militancy from hostile terrains like India's north-east, the Kashmir valley and the Naxal heartland.
His latest book Sri Lanka: From War to Peace is based on his reportage of the 33-month civil war in Sri Lanka. Gokhale chronicles the details of an unprecedented military campaign by the Sri Lankan armed forces and analysis the reason for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's decline.
In this exclusive excerpt, he details how the Indian government, bound by domestic political compulsions, covertly helped the Sri Lankan army and navy to scour out and destroy the LTTE.
By the end of November 2008, the script was no longer in LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran's hands.It was being written by the Sri Lankan forces tacitly supported by India and openly assisted by China and Pakistan.
Since December 2005, when Mahinda Rajapaksa made his first visit to New Delhi less than a month after he took over as Sri Lanka's president, India was aware of his intention to take the LTTE head on.
Although in the initial days he was advised to seek a negotiated settlement with the Tigers, New Delhi saw merit in Rajapaksa's argument that the LTTE was only biding its time to regroup and rearm itself and that war was inevitable sooner than later.
And if the LTTE was preparing for a showdown, Rajapaksa did not want to be caught off guard either. His armed forces needed to be ready for any eventuality.
The president therefore sent his brothers Basil and Gotabaya to New Delhi with a shopping list for essential weapons and equipment that the Sri Lankan armed forces needed. The shopping list included air defence weapons, artillery guns, Nishant unmanned aerial vehicles and laser designators for precision-guided munitions.Initially, New Delhi was non-committal.
Top officials involved in the talks on either side told me that in its typical bureaucratic style, New Delhi neither said yes nor said no to the visiting Sri Lankans. So the two brothers went back slightly disappointed but were still hopeful of getting Indian help.
Outwardly, India did adopt a hands-off policy vis-a-vis the Sri Lanka conflict. But that was because of domestic political compulsions born out of the fact that the ruling United Progressive Alliance government in New Delhi was dependent upon the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party from Tamil Nadu for its survival in Parliament.
Aware of DMK chief M Karunanidhi's soft corner for Prabhakaran, the UPA did not think it politically prudent to annoy the DMK patriarch by openly supporting the Sri Lankan government against the LTTE.
So, publicly India maintained that it would not give Sri Lanka any offensive weapons.
Excerpted from Sri Lanka: from War to Peace, by Nitin Gokhale, HarAnand Publishers, 2009, with the publisher's permission.

'Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use'

September 14, 2009 13:29

Ever since the war in Sri Lanka [ Images ] ended, one question that has persisted is India's role in the battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

NDTV Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor Nitin Anant Gokhale's book Sri Lanka: From War to Peace answers that question. India gave Sri Lanka helicopters, supported it with intelligence and the Indian Navy effectively pinpointed LTTE [ Images ] ships and shut the door on the rebels.
While China and Pakistan merely gave Sri Lanka the muscle, says Gokhale, India helped the island nation land the knockout punch.
In this interview with rediff.com's Krishnakumar P, Gokhale discusses India's role, the death of LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, the lessons for India and how Sri Lanka still looks at its big neighbour with respect.
How exactly did Prabhakaran meet his end?
In the last two days, the Sri Lankan army had intelligence that all the top LTTE leaders were in a narrow lagoon. They knew this from people who were coming out, and also one of his bodyguards who was captured.
The LTTE had tried to break through that lagoon. They launched waves of attacks, like they are known to do. The idea was to come out of the lagoon and get into the jungles of Mullaitheevu.
Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony died in the first wave of attacks.
If the rest of the top leaders had managed to escape, the war would have been extended. But the army had deployed two defence lines and one of the reserve forces.
When they spotted some movement in the mangroves, they engaged in a gun battle and the top leaders were killed. When President Mahinda Rajapakse [ Images ] addressed the nation, he didn't mention anything about Prabhakaran.
Then Colonel Karuna was flown in to identify the body. It took three hours for a positive identification, as they call it.
You have been following this war, Eelam war 4, since it began...
The day after the failed assassination attempt on Lankan army chief General Sarath Fonseka, I went to Colombo and went to the east where the fighting was happening...
Did you get a sense then that this would be the biggest and bloodiest phase?
I could sense that this army was taking losses. Earlier leaderships did not want to take losses. But that this leadership was different was very evident. But it did not seem very apparent till January 2007.
What were the key aspects of Eelam 4?
As General Fonseka told me: "This time we were playing for a win, not a draw." Earlier, governments would go a distance and pull back. But this time the politico-military objective was to finish the LTTE militarily. Human rights be damned. The Tamil issue, the devolution of power would all come later, it was decided.
The second key thing was the total synergy between the three forces, which was never seen before.
Earlier, the navy used to be their weakest link. It had large boats that used to come under LTTE suicide boat attacks. When such a boat went down, it was a loss of about 40 lives and $15 million. The (then) naval chief (EM>Admiral Vasantha ) Karannagoda said 'Let me take them on at their own game.' He started building smaller boats. They were called arrow boats.
The navy started adopting the LTTE's swarming tactics. The air force too.
Leadership makes a difference. The air force was earlier basically an air transport wing of the army. This time, helicopter gunships were used, casualty evacuation used to happen. So the army knew it would be backed fully.
What was the single biggest turning point?
When they took the east, they realised the LTTE could be taken on. That was the biggest morale booster. Another thing was that the international atmosphere had changed after the 9/11 attacks in the US.
How will you quantify India's role?
When Rajapakse took over, he came to India within a month of taking oath. Initially, he was also saying that he would negotiate. He added that he didn't think the LTTE will be interested.
India straightaway told him that it won't give Sri Lanka offensive weapons.
Within a while of liberating the east, two teams comprising three members each were set up on both sides. They were constantly in touch. Thus, India was always in the loop.
We gave them MI-17 helicopters, but told them to fly those in their colours. The Indian Navy also played an active part in the LTTE's defeat. And we gave them intelligence.
We also denied the LTTE space to come out. We shut the door on them.
India was very clear that the LTTE was a terrorist organsiation. India said 'Go ahead with your operations', but was very clear in telling Sri Lanka not to harm civilians.
In percentage terms, how much did India help Sri Lanka in the war against the LTTE?
About 25 per cent.
In terms of importance?
Very important. Lanka knows despite the hue and cry, India cannot be ignored. And Sri Lanka holds India in respect.
India was quietly supportive of the military and also helped with humanitarian assistance.
Although there is a school of thought that India is no longer important, there is not enough evidence. The port that China was given, remember that they came to India first.
Only when India refused to give them arms, did they go elsewhere. But they have given another port, the northernmost, to India. Trincomalle is with India.
India's importance in the public eye may have diminished. But the Sri Lankan State knows it is a big power.
What role did China and Pakistan play?
China's role is mostly commercial. They gave out weapons at a discounted rate and also gave them a line of credit.
Pakistan mostly gave them training because India expressed its inability to do that. Although, I must say that about 800 officers come and train in India every year. Most senior officers I met in Sri Lanka had done at least three courses in India.
Pakistan's and China's help was mostly commercial in nature and they were able to be open about it.
As I say in the book, Sri Lanka won this war with China and Pakistan's open backing and with India's covert support.
So, the most hands-on help was given by India?
Absolutely. There is this lobby in India that is anti-China. They are obsessed with China. Even in Myanmar, only after India declined did they go to China.
What are the lessons that we can learn?
This is the only second instance in the world in the last 50 years where an insurgency has been put down militarily. Here, we don't do it. Especially in the last 30 years or so it has never happened.
But I don't think we can repeat what happened there. There are some lessons, but we can't take the full template because India is a much more open society and vibrant democracy and has a stronger press.
Can the North-east problem or the Naxal problem be solved militarily?
No. It can't be done. Unlike the North-east and the Naxals, the LTTE created a state within a state, a territory within a territory. It became important to clear the area. You have to clear the area.
In the North-east or Naxal-controlled areas or Kashmir [ Images ], you can't do that.
The lesson is that you can take a military solution up to a point. But you also have to give the military a free hand. In India we always interfere. Be it with ULFA (the United Liberation Front of Asom), the
Naga rebels or in Kashmir, as they were going to deal a final blow, you pull them back.
Once you have decided on it, you can't succumb to the liberal view.
Any non-military aspects of this war that stood out for you?
Nobody was ready for the kind of people who came out of LTTE controlled areas. At one point, 80,000 people came out in one day. If not anything you have to at least feed them.
Lanka failed to gauge the humanitarian issue. They could have done better. They never have dealt with this kind of thing. This is where the expertise of an army like India comes in. A force like the Indian Army [ Images ] would have handled it far better.
Politically, why do you think the ruling party fared badly in two local bodies election recently?
That will happen. The Tamil National Alliance has a hold in certain areas. That shows that like the Rajapakse brothers keep saying, they did not rig it. So they will see it as a victory.
What next?
Rajapakse has shown in the final analysis that a small nation can eliminate terror and still stand up firm against the West.
There are a lot of games going on in the Indian Ocean. The US wants a lever with Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran was a good weapon to use. Likewise the Scandinavian countries were the arms suppliers to the LTTE.
In fact, Fonseka told me on record that 10 minutes before they were killed, ambassadors were calling up the defence secretary (Gotabaya Rajapakse, the persident's brother) to save them (Prabhakaran and top LTTE leaders).
Fonseka said any fool would have known that a ceasefire appeal at that time was to save Prabhakaran and not the people, because there were no people there.
The issue had two aspects: Military and political.
Tamils will very frankly never get the kind of autonomy they have been demanding. But Sri Lanka now has to treat them with dignity. The death of one Prabhakaran should not give rise to another.
This is the chance for Rajapakse. He cannot afford to go wrong. There is too much international scrutiny. India has told them, 'We supported you in the international fora but that doesn't mean you can act with impunity...' So, the real test is to win the peace.

US healthcare shame

2009-09-14T23:43:00.004+01:00

US healthcare shame
by Serge halimi
A Republican Congress and President Bill Clinton abolished a welfare programme in 1996 under the (largely fallacious) pretext that it bred fraud, waste and abuse. Thirteen years on, the reforms that Barack Obama is proposing will not fundamentally change the United States’ abysmal healthcare system because those who profit from it have been able to buy protection from the lawmakers. The welfare programme ditched in 1996 absorbed about 1% of the US budget; today’s well-ensconced private insurance companies swallow most of the 17% of the budget set aside for healthcare.
Paradoxically, the US president is one of the most spirited prosecutors of the system he has chosen to retain. Day after day he recounts how “we are held hostage by health insurance companies that deny coverage, or drop coverage, or charge fees that people can’t afford for care they desperately need… We have a healthcare system that too often works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people” (1).
Obama’s project initially set out with two important objectives. It proposed compulsory health cover for the 46 million Americans outside the system while funding the poorest amongst them. It also suggested the creation of a public insurance system with less prohibitive tariffs than private companies (2), which commit huge resources to finding legal loopholes (“pre-existing conditions”) allowing them not to pay out when their insured clients fall ill.
What is it that so alarms the right? Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, claims that “any government plan will benefit from taxpayer subsidies and be able to operate at a financial loss, competing unfairly in the marketplace until private plans are driven out of business” (3). Other more telling tales of distress might have concerned him, particularly in Louisiana, one of the poorest US states.
American politics is so poisoned by money flowing from industrial and financial lobbies that the only proposals ensured a smooth ride through Congress are those that cut taxes. Banks, insurance companies
and the pharmaceutical industry have almost nothing to fear. Max Baucus, the Democrat chairman of the Senate finance committee, whose approval is needed for reforms to be adopted, is also the lawmaker who receives the most money from private hospitals, insurance companies and doctors. However, his largest donors are hardly worried about the problems of Montana, the small rural state he represents, since 90% of their contributions come from elsewhere in the country, in a perfectly legal and accountable way. Will anyone be surprised to hear that Baucus opposes a complete overhaul of the current medical system?
A year after the crash of neoliberalism, the (small-scale) panic that gripped the ruling classes has vanished. The political system remains locked in their favour. From time to time, a more corrupt or unlucky operator goes to jail; the mantra – morals, ethics, regulation, G20 – is chanted; then it all starts again. Questioned recently about the huge bonuses awarded to traders at BNP-Paribas, Christine Lagarde, France’s economy minister and a former Chicago business lawyer, had only this to say: “If we say no more bonuses, the best trader teams will simply move elsewhere.”
Cradled in a political system that protects them (and which they in turn protect) and profiting from the public’s widespread cynicism and all-round despair, traders and medical insurance companies can only pursue their parasitic ways. “Abuse” is not some aberration in their practice, it’s their essence. So a “reform” they could agree to will not do: what we need is their disappearance.

-----------

(1) Town hall meeting in Montana, 14 August 2009.
(2) In 15 of the 50 states, more than half of the “market” is held by one private healthcare company. See “The Tight Grip of Health Insurers,” Business Week, 3 August 2009.
(3) Bobby Jindal, “How to Make Health-Care Reform Bipartisan”, The Wall Street Journal, 22 July 2009.

Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka

2009-07-10T22:28:00.003+01:00

(Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)
July 10, 2009
Tamil death toll ‘is 1,400 a week’ at Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka
A Tamil girl at a refugee camp in the northern district of VavuniyaRhys Blakely in Mumbai About 1,400 people are dying every week at the giant Manik Farm internment camp set up in Sri Lanka to detain Tamil refugees from the nation’s bloody civil war, senior international aid sources have told The Times.
The death toll will add to concerns that the Sri Lankan Government has failed to halt a humanitarian catastrophe after announcing victory over the Tamil Tiger terrorist organisation in May. It may also lend credence to allegations that the Government, which has termed the internment sites “welfare villages”, has actually constructed concentration camps to house 300,000 people.
Mangala Samaraweera, the former Foreign Minister and now an opposition MP, said: “There are allegations that the Government is attempting to change the ethnic balance of the area. Influential people close to the Government have argued for such a solution.”
News of the death rate came as the International Committee of the Red Cross revealed that it had been asked to scale down its operations by the Sri Lankan authorities, which insist that they have the situation under control.
Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, said: “The challenges now are different. Manning entry and exit points and handling dead bodies, transport of patients, in the post-conflict era are no longer needed.”
Last night, the Red Cross was closing two offices. One of these is in Trincomalee, which had helped to provide medical care to about 30,000 injured civilians evacuated by sea from the conflict zone in the north east.
The other is in Batticaloa, where the Red Cross had been providing “protection services”. This involves following up allegations of abductions and extrajudicial killings, practices that human rights organisations say have become recurring motifs of the Sri Lankan Government.
The Manik Farm camp was set up to house the largest number of the 300,000 mainly Tamil civilians forced to flee the northeast as army forces mounted a brutal offensive against the Tigers, who had been fighting for an ethnic Tamil homeland for 26 years.
Aid workers and the British Government have warned that conditions at the site are inadequate. Most of the deaths are the result of water-borne diseases, particularly diarrhoea, a senior relief worker said on condition of anonymity.
Witness testimonies obtained by The Times in May described long queues for food and inadequate water supplies inside Manik Farm. Women, children and the elderly were shoved aside in the scramble for supplies. Aid agencies are being given only intermittent access to the camp. The Red Cross was not being allowed in yesterday.
Experts suggest that President Rajapaksa, the country’s leader, is yet to make good his victory pledge to reach out to the minority Tamil community. “The discourse used by the Government is of traitors and patriots,” Paikiasothy Saravanamuthu, of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Sri Lankan analyst, said. “There is no indication that this mode of thinking is slipping.”
Mr Rajapaksa is known for not tolerating dissent; a trait that human rights organisations say was demonstrated this week when five Sri Lankan doctors who witnessed the bloody climax of the country’s civil war and made claims of mass civilian deaths recanted much of their testimony.
The doctors said at a press conference on Wednesday that they had deliberately overestimated the civilian casualties. As government officials looked on, they claimed that Tigers had forced them to lie.
The five men added that only up to 750 civilians were killed between January and mid-May in the final battles of the war. They were then taken back to prison, where they have been held for the past two months for allegedly spreading Tiger propaganda.
The number was far below the 7,000 fatalities estimated by the United Nations. An investigation by The Times uncovered evidence that more than 20,000 civilians were killed, mostly by the army.
The doctors denied other former testimony, including the government shelling of a conflict-zone hospital in February for which there are witnesses from the UN and the Red Cross.
The statements met with scepticism from human rights campaigners. Sam Zarifi, the Asia- Pacific director for Amnesty International, said that they were “expected and predicted”. He added: “There are very significant grounds to question whether these statements were voluntary, and they raise serious concerns whether the doctors were subjected to ill-treatment.”

Tamil refugees forced into sex rackets

2009-07-03T11:01:00.012+01:00

Tamil refugees forced into sex rackets

Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent July 02, 2009 Article from: The Australian

CONDITIONS for about 300,000 refugees forcibly detained in camps across Sri Lanka remain dire, with reports of a prostitution racket run by officials in a remote camp.
Aid workers told The Australian yesterday officials at the internally displaced people's camp in Pulmoddai, a remote northeast region, are running the prostitution ring using women kept in the camp.
The Australian understands the allegations are the subject of a joint investigation between the Sri Lankan government and an aid organisation.
"It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," said an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
"It's hard to know whether it's coercive or not, but there is an average of three families living to a tent and it can be extremely difficult trying to get privacy. You can imagine the military coming in and asking for something in return for more space or more favours."
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona described the claims as "absolute rubbish", but confirmed the government was investigating the reports.

"These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped," he told The Australian last night.
"I am sure in a mass of people there may be individuals who want to make a quick buck one way or another, but you have to remember the tents are so close together you can't do anything without the entire neighbourhood knowing. If you had a racket going, thousands of people would know about it."
A UN official said yesterday many families remained separated in the camps and that men and women believed to be Tamil Tiger fighters were being removed with "no due process or proper documentation, like arrest receipts, given to parents or guardians". "These issues are of huge concern for us," the official said. "The lack of freedom of movement is a violation of human rights under Sri Lanka's own constitution."
The restrictions have heightened tensions in the camps, including a mass protest in the Ramanathan camp in the northern town of Vavuniya on Sunday in which IDPs tried to break down barbed-wire fences separating one camp zone - and many relatives - from another.
Tamilnet.com claimed two people were killed and at least two were injured when troops opened fire on the refugees.
But reports from aid workers in the camp suggested troops fired only into the air, causing no casualties, and that camp officials reached a compromise that allowed the IDPs movement between the two camps. UN Sri Lanka co-ordinator Neil Buhne said camp conditions were slowly improving, thanks to better water and sanitation facilities.
"But the main thing is people are still inside these camps and they can't go anywhere. The government has made public commitments to get 80 per cent of people back to their homes by the end of the year (after separating civilians from the fighters) but that's going to be a difficult target to meet."
The Sri Lankan military crushed the Tamil Tiger rebel forces in May after a 26-year civil war. President Mahinda Rajapakse has committed to reaching a political settlement with the Tamil leaders that goes some way to addressing their grievances.
This week he gave the All Parties Committee, established some years ago to find a compromise solution, until next month to submit its report.
Kohona: ‘Victorious soldiers could have raped every single woman’

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 July 2009, 02:20 GMT]

Sri Lankan government officials are running a prostitution racket using Tamil women interned in at least one of the militarised camps for displaced people, The Australian newspaper reported Thursday. "It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the paper. In response to the accusations, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona told the paper: "These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped." Aid workers told The Australian that officials at the internally displaced people's camp in Pulmoddai, a remote northeast region, are running the prostitution ring using women kept in the camp.
"It's hard to know whether it's coercive or not, but there is an average of three families living to a tent and it can be extremely difficult trying to get privacy. You can imagine the military coming in and asking for something in return for more space or more favours," the aid worker said.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona described the claims as "absolute rubbish", but confirmed the government was investigating the reports, the paper said.
"These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped," Kohona told The Australian.

"I am sure in a mass of people there may be individuals who want to make a quick buck one way or another, but you have to remember the tents are so close together you can't do anything without the entire neighbourhood knowing. If you had a racket going, thousands of people would know about it."
A UN official said yesterday many families remained separated in the camps and that men and women believed to be Tamil Tiger fighters were being removed with "no due process or proper documentation, like arrest receipts, given to parents or guardians".
"These issues are of huge concern for us," the official said. "The lack of freedom of movement is a violation of human rights under Sri Lanka's own constitution."
The restrictions have heightened tensions in the camps, including a mass protest in the Ramanathan camp in the northern town of Vavuniya on Sunday in which IDPs tried to break down barbed-wire fences separating one camp zone - and many relatives - from another.
UN Sri Lanka co-ordinator Neil Buhne said camp conditions were slowly improving, thanks to better water and sanitation facilities.
"But the main thing is people are still inside these camps and they can't go anywhere. The government has made public commitments to get 80 per cent of people back to their homes by the end of the year (after separating civilians from the fighters) but that's going to be a difficult target to meet."

Perumal Again?

2009-06-25T16:50:00.002+01:00

Riding the tiger
Uma Vishnu (Indian Express)
"13 EPRLF men killed in Madras"

Varatharaja Perumal stared at the newspaper headline, horrified. A couple of hours ago, he had arrived from Mauritius on an early morning flight with his wife and three children. At the Bombay airport, he had frantically searched for his leader K. Padmanabha and his partymen. Members of Perumal anti-LTTE group, the Eelam People Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), were supposed to have met at the airport and now, they were all gone shot dead by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while they were meeting at a flat in Kodambakkam, Madras, the previous day. What next? Should he take the
next flight to Madras? What about Gowry and the children? Will the LTTE get him next?
Two hours later, Perumal and family were on another flight this time to Lakshadweep. After a month in the islands, it was time to move again, to Chanderi, a town in Madhya Pradesh. Two years in Chanderi and the family had to shift to Ajmer and then, to where they are now, an undisclosed location in North India.
For 19 years, Perumal played this dangerous game of hide-and-seek with the LTTE, a game that ended last month with Lankan troops crushing the LTTE and killing its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Perumal is the little-known third dimension in the Sri Lankan conflict that is often seen as a simplified Tamil versus Sinhalese conflict. The LTTE, which claimed to represent the Tamils, often gunned for Tamil leaders who charted their own political course. Perumal, former chief minister of the Tamil-dominated provinces in the north and once a key Tamil voice, was one such anti-LTTE, pro-Tamil Lankan leader.
I am relieved. But so are the Tamils in Lanka and elsewhere. Such was the fear of Prabhakaran. He motivated his cadres to swallow cyanide pills when they were cornered. But he was such a coward in death he was trying to flee when he was killed, says Perumal, now 56. A map of Sri Lanka hangs on his wall, along with oil paintings by his artist-lawyer daughter.
The story of Perumal flight is the story of Sri Lanka, a country that has been in constant denial about its reality, a nation whose history and geography had ensured that its two communities the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority would live in close proximity, yet fight one of the bloodiest civil wars in Asia.
When Perumal fled Sri Lanka the second time in less than a decade in 1990, he left behind a country in chaos. After years of discriminative policies by pro-Sinhalese governments, Eelam (a separate nation) had become a war cry for most Tamils. The LTTE had by then anointed itself as the sole representative of the Tamil cause and ruthlessly mowed down anyone it thought was a traitor to that cause, even if they were Tamil groups like the EPRLF who were open to the idea of being part of the political process.
By 1987, India under Rajiv Gandhi had plunged into what would later turn out to be a foreign policy cesspool. As part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which called for devolution of powers to the Tamil provinces in the north and east, Rajiv Gandhi sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Lanka. While other Tamil groups aligned with the IPKF and supported the Accord, the LTTE kept out and instead, launched devastating attacks on the IPKF, the EPRLF and other Tamil groups like TELO and PLOTE. In the provincial elections of 1988, the EPRLF was returned as the largest party and Perumal was made Chief Minister of the North East Provincial Council (formed by uniting the North and East provinces, with Trincomalee as capital). The same year, Ranasinghe Premadasa of the rightwing UNP was elected President. He was sharply critical of the Indo-Lanka Accord and promised to send the IPKF home. He began peace talks with the LTTE and promised them de facto control of the Tamil provinces.
Perumal accused Premadasa of obstructing devolution and starving his Council of resources. Finally, as the IPKF began to depart, the LTTE stepped up attacks against other Tamil groups. On March 1, 1990, Perumal moved a controversial resolution declaring a separate Eelam but as the LTTE moved in to take control of Jaffna, Perumal and family fled to Mauritius in a RAW aircraft. After three and a half months in Mauritius, the VP Singh government brought Perumal to India. The night he boarded an Air India flight to Bombay, the LTTE killed his EPRLF colleagues. Perumal had to run again.
The river Betwa, a tributary of the Yamuna, and the surrounding hills have kept Chanderi company through mythology, some recent history and its present-day anonymity. In the Mahabharata, this was said to be the capital of King Shishupala but now, this town spins a different yarn the beautiful Chanderi silks.
In August 1990, three children sat wide-eyed, their noses stuck against the pane of the jeep they were in, looking out at their unfolding lives as they drove into Chanderi. This was where Eelavani, Raghavardhini and Neelambari and their parents Perumal and Gowry would spend the next two years. We were put up in a run-down hunting lodge owned by the Scindias in a secluded part of the town. The only people my daughters saw were the police guards and a few government officers, the police inspector and the tehsildar of that area, says Perumal.
And a swarm of insects. I had never seen such strange ones in my life. At night, they would be all over the place, laughs Gowry, radiant in a Sri Lankan batik skirt with animal prints made with tiger skin, the Tamil Tigers,she jokes. At 48, this daughter of a clerk in Jaffna has been through a lifetime of tumult starting from those heady days in Lanka when Gowry would run to the school gates after classes to distribute anti-government pamphlets that a young, revolutionary Perumal gave her. She would later fall in love with Varada and stand by him through everything a turbulent political career, accusations, death threats, and picking up her three kids and fleeing when told to. Even if it was to Chanderi, a place she had never heard of till she set foot there.
For two years, the Perumals lived a life of anonymity in Chanderi. The children played with the tehsildar children and learnt some funny English from a tutor who came home. The LTTE seemed as far away from them as Colombo was from Chanderi or at least, Perumal and Gowry told themselves that. I was confident of my security and the Indian intelligence. I knew they wouldn’t come close, says Perumal.
But they couldn’t shut the fear out completely. A year after they had moved in, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in May 1991, by the LTTE men who had killed EPRLF leader Padmanabha and his men in Madras.
Two years later, the Perumals had to move again, this time to Ajmer in Rajasthan, a place that was to be their home for the next 12 years. Here, the children went to school with bodyguards, Gowry picked up some more Hindi and Perumal stayed in touch with his network of EPRLF supporters scattered across the globe and at their base in Kodambakkam, Chennai.
Meanwhile, the politics of Lanka kept churning. In 1993, President Premadasa brief honeymoon with the LTTE ended and he was killed by a suicide bomber. In 1994, the People Alliance, under Chandrika
Kumaratunge, came to power. The new President was friendly towards the EPRLF and Perumal saw another opportunity to test the political waters back home. All through this, the LTTE walked in and out of peace talks, carrying out spectacular bombings, including that of the country holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth, in Kandy.
In January 1999, Perumal went back to Colombo, hoping to engage Kumaratunge on the issue of devolution, leaving Gowry and the children behind in Ajmer. But when the UNP came back to power in the parliamentary elections, Perumal found the LTTE getting stronger and his sphere shrinking. In 2004, he came back to Ajmer.
The same year, the family had to move out of Ajmer to their present location. Four years later, as they were preparing for their daughter Eelavani’s wedding in Ajmer, the LTTE came back to haunt them. In January 2008, a few months before the wedding, the Tamil Nadu police arrested Nathan alias Suruli, an LTTE intelligence wing member who had been operating as a taxi driver in Madipakkam, Chennai, for about a year. And then, the story unravelled. According to the police, Nathan had befriended Perumal’s relatives in Chennai and offered to drive them up to Ajmer. During questioning, Nathan apparently admitted he had been operating on instructions from senior LTTE intelligence wing leader Sanjeevi Master and that he had planned to kidnap Perumal.
That was the first time I was scared, says Gowry. Anyway, I am happy nothing happened. Eelavani is married to a Rajasthani and gave birth to a son last month, Raghavardhini is a pilot and Neelambari has graduated in law from DU. India has been good for us.
India and the Perumals
The first time Perumal came to India was in 1977 to see if he could set up a base in Tamil Nadu. Nothing came of the visit but Perumal caught up with some of his favourite MGR movies and went back an inspired 24-year-old.
Perumal came to India again in 1983, this time as a political refugee after the Batticoloa jail break, when 41 Tamil political inmates had jumped jail. Gowry joined him a month later, taking the same sea route from Palali, a town in the northern Lankan city of Jaffna, to Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu. The sea was rough. I was with my mother and two children on that little boat, says Gowry.
That was the first time the Perumals had fled their home in Lanka and it has been 26 years since. Would they want to go back now that Prabhakaran is dead? I will certainly go back. But I am not exactly looking for a political role. I don’t want people to say, he was away during the country’s worst times and now that things are looking up, he has come back. I will be glad if the government can make some use of my experience to correct the flaws in the 13th Amendment and work for devolution of powers to the Tamils within the framework of the Lankan Constitution, says Perumal.
If he does go back, Perumal may be able to cycle to Jaffna University like he used to once

Sri Lanka rejects Tamil 'ceasefire'

2009-04-26T14:48:00.003+01:00

Sri Lanka rejects Tamil 'ceasefire' Sunday, April 26 01:46 pm
"That is a joke. They were not fighting with us, theywere running from us. There is no need of a ceasefire.They must surrender. That is it."

Defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said: "That is a joke. They were not fighting with us, they were running from us. There is no need of a ceasefire. They must surrender. That is it."
Print StorySri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have declared a unilateral ceasefire but the country's defence chef has rejected it as a "joke". Skip related contentRelated photos / videos Sri Lanka rejects Tamil 'ceasefire' .Related contentSri Lanka rejects Tamil rebels' ceasefireSri Lanka: Tamil Tiger Ceasefire 'A Joke'Tamil Tiger rebels call 'ceasefire'Related Hot Topic: Sri LankaHave your say: Sri Lanka
The country's military has surrounded the rebels in a tiny area along with thousands of civilians.
The LTTE said in a statement: "In the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and in response to the calls made by the UN, EU, the governments of India and others, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has announced a unilateral ceasefire."
However, Sri Lanka's defence chief has dismissed the LTTE's declaration as a "joke", and said the guerrillas must either surrender or be destroyed.
Defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said: "That is a joke. They were not fighting with us, they were running from us. There is no need of a ceasefire. They must surrender. That is it."

LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire

2009-04-26T12:20:00.002+01:00

LTTE announces unilateral ceasefire
[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 2009, 10:38 GMT]
"In the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and in response to the calls made by the UN, EU, the governments of the USA, India and others, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has announced an unilateral ceasefire. All of LTTE’s offensive military operations will cease with immediate effect," said a press statement issued by the Political Head Quarters of the LTTE Sunday. "We have taken into account the recent declarations by the G8 nations, the Whitehouse, Indian Ministers and the EU and other members of international community. We are in full agreement that the humanitarian crisis can only be overcome by declaration of an immediate ceasefire," the statement said calling upon the international community to pressure the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate it.
Full text of the LTTE statement follows:
Media Release Political Head Quarters,Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam.26.04.2009.
Announcement of Unilateral Ceasefire
In the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and in response to the calls made by the UN, EU, the governments of the USA, India and others, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has announced an unilateral ceasefire. All of LTTE’s offensive military operations will cease with immediate effect.
The suffering inflicted on our people by the Sri Lankan armed forces in violation of all international humanitarian laws has now reached its peak. Over 165,000 people living within the coastal area under our control in Mullaitivu are being subject to continuous attacks by Sri Lankan Navy, Air Force and Infantry. Death and destruction continues unabated. This has been made worse by the deliberate withholding of food and medicine over many months. Deaths due to starvation is imminent.
Those who were moved out of the war zone have been detained and are held in concentration camps where they are subjected to torture in violation of all international conventions. These IDP population are not permitted to return to their homes. Instead, some are being used as human shields by the Sri Lankan forces.
We welcome the attempts by the UN and its agencies to assist the civilian population and are ready to engage and cooperate with them to address the humanitarian needs of the population. We have taken into account the recent declarations by the G8 nations, the Whitehouse, Indian Ministers and the EU and other members of international community. We are in full agreement that the humanitarian crisis can only be overcome by declaration of an immediate ceasefire. As the first step we have now announced this unilateral ceasefire and call upon the international community to pressure the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate it.
We are of the view that only such a ceasefire can end the humanitarian crisis and help avert the long term impact of this crisis on the region and on the peoples of the island.

Terrorist Rajapakshe

2009-04-18T23:24:00.002+01:00

Sri Lanka cricket team attack: INDIA BLAMED

2009-03-03T22:31:00.005Z

Pakistan minister blames India for Sri Lanka team attack
Tue Mar 3, 5:14 am ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani minister accused India of being behind the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in the city of Lahore on Tuesday, saying the attackers had crossed into Pakistan from India.
"The evidence which we have got shows that these terrorists entered from across the border from India," Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, minister of state for shipping, told private Geo television. "This was a conspiracy to defame Pakistan internationally."
"This incident took place in reaction to 26/11," he said referring to the Mumbai attacks in November in which at least 170 people were killed. "It is a declaration of open war on Pakistan by India," said the minister, who is not one of the government's official spokesmen, but belongs to President Asif Ali Zardari's party.

March 4, 2009

Cricket Team Attacked in Pakistan By JANE PERLEZ and WAQAR GILLANIISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A dozen gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan national cricket team and its police escort in a brazen commando-style operation in the city of Lahore on Tuesday, killing six police officers and wounding at least six cricketers before fleeing in motorized rickshaws, the Lahore police chief and a Sri Lankan official said.
The attackers ambushed a bus carrying the cricket team, using assault rifles, grenades and anti-tank missiles. Some Pakistani officials likened the audacity of the assault to the attacks in Mumbai, India, in November.
Two bystanders were also killed and six officers were wounded, according to the police.
The attack struck not only a major Pakistani city but also the country’s most popular sport — a game followed with near-obsessive fascination by many in the region. “Cricketers have never been attacked in Pakistan despite what the situation has been in the country,” Rashid Latif, a former Pakistan cricket captain, told Reuters. “Today is a black day for Pakistan cricket and a black day for Pakistan.”
For a nation seething with conflict between the authorities and militants linked to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and accused by some of its neighbors of harboring terrorists, the blow to Pakistan’s international prestige and self-image from Tuesday’s attack seemed likely to be profound and enduring — certainly, as far as its sporting ties to the rest of the world were concerned.
“It’s difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan for the foreseeable future,” Haroon Lorgat, the head of the International Cricket Council, the sport’s global governing body, told reporters in London.
The police chief in Lahore, Haji Habibur Rehman, said the gunmen opened fire as the motorcade approached Liberty Circle, a major intersection in Lahore not far from Qaddafi Stadium, the best-known cricket facility in Pakistan. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Mr. Rehman said the gunmen were in their early 20s and were bearded. He described them as resembling Pathans, an ethnic group that dominates North-West Frontier Province and tribal areas, an apparent suggestion that assailants were Taliban militants from the tribal areas.
The police chief said 12 gunmen attacked the cricketers, and were positioned in vehicles, including three-wheeled rickshaws with small motors. Another police official, Shoaib Janbaz, said the gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade but it missed the motorcade and did not explode.
The bus carrying the cricketers accelerated through the gunshots, whisking the players into the relative safety of the stadium, The Associated Press reported. Police escorts who were traveling in a van fired back but failed to hit the attackers, witnesses said.
The assailants fled in the rickshaws and another vehicle stolen near the scene, Mr. Janbaz said, leaving behind rucksacks filled with pistols, hand grenades and an AK-47 assault rifle, he said. Television footage showed several of the gunmen firing with apparent impunity, spraying bullets from automatic rifles from the traffic circle and a grassy sidewalk area.
Two Sri Lankan players — Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana — were being treated for bullet wounds in a hospital but were in stable condition, said a spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission. Team captain Mahela Jayawardene and four other players sustained minor injuries, and British assistant coach Paul Farbrace and Ahsan Raza, an umpire, were also injured, The A.P. said. The governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, described the shooting as a terrorist attack, and said there were similarities with the bloody assaults in Mumbai, India, in November.
“They had heavy weapons,” said Mr. Taseer, as he arrived at the scene. “These were the same methods and the same sort of people as hit Mumbai.”
At least 163 people died in Mumbai when a squad of militants, many of them in their 20s and trained as commandos, attacked targets across the city. Senior members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant group active in Kashmir, have been arrested by Pakistan in connection with the attacks.
But another Pakistani official said the attackers came from India. “This was a conspiracy to defame Pakistan internationally,” said Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol, the minister of state for shipping, according to Reuters.
The safety of visiting foreign teams has been a major problem for the Pakistani government.
The Australian and other cricket teams have refused to play in Pakistan, saying that the safety of its players was at risk and that Pakistan was unable to provide adequate protection. Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa all boycotted a major tournament in Pakistan last year.
The Sri Lankan team was the first international squad to play in Pakistan for over a year, replacing an Indian team that pulled out of the schedule following the Mumbai attacks.
Cricket was exported to many nations by the British in their imperial days and it has remained as a favorite sport in some of those countries, drawing immense followings from the Indian sub-continent to Australia and southern Africa.
But the sport has not been immune from security concerns in other countries apart from Pakistan. In the past teams have refused to play in Sri Lanka, while after the Mumbai attack, the English cricket team, which was in India at the time, flew home and returned only when promised improved security. In July 2005 an Australian team was playing in England but stayed on despite a terrorist attack on the London transit system.
Pakistan is scheduled to be one of four host countries for the World Cup cricket matches in 2011, along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sporting officials on Tuesday did not rule out Pakistan’s participation, but Mr. Lorgat, the International Cricket Council head, told reporters that he would encourage Pakistan to switch its home matches in the near-term to “neutral venues” such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, news services reported.
The test match in Lahore was the second in a two-match series. Pakistani sports officials said the match had been canceled. Helicopters evacuated the uninjured Sri Lankans from the stadium after the attack and officials said they would be flown home as soon as possible.
A Pakistani cricketer, Umar Gul, who was traveling with his team in a bus a short distance behind the Sir Lankan motorcade said that because of the congestion in the Lahore traffic, the Pakistani team did not hear the shooting. The Pakistanis were told to go back to their hotel, where the team heard about the assault, Mr. Gul said.
The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, cut short a trip to Nepal and returned to Colombo after the attack. The foreign minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, told reporters in Katmandu: “It’s a sad day for us. Our national cricket team has been attacked in Pakistan. We condemn and renounce all forms of violence and terrorism.”
India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman seized on the attack to repeat New Delhi’s mantra that Pakistan-based militant groups pose “a grave threat to the entire world.”
“It is in Pakistan’s own interest to take prompt, meaningful and decisive steps to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure once and for all,” the ministry spokesperson said.
There was no indication on Tuesday that the attack was related to the Sri Lankan government’s current offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Jane Perlez reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Waqar Gillani reported from Lahore. Somini Sengupta contributed reporting from New Delhi, Alan Cowell from Paris, and Sharon Otterman from New York.