Psychiatrists of Sri Lanka reject government's claim that psychiatric drugs caused violence among prisoners

Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists says that the publicity given in the media on the connection between the violent and aggressive behaviour of prisoners and the abuse of the drugs used in psychiatric practice has no rational basis. 

"The drugs used in psychiatric practice in Sri Lanka are also used all over the world and these drugs are brought under the guidance of regulatory authorities. In Sri Lanka, psychiatrists have been using these drugs during the last seven decades with great benefit to patients. These drugs are prescribed based on well-accepted guidelines. Nome of these drugs are responsible for violent or aggressive behaviour and in fact, many of these drugs promote calmness and cause mild drowsiness," the statement further said. 

Sri Lankan Minister Wimal Weerawansa and Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Kamal Gunarathna were two of the bigwigs who said that the prisoners had been under the influence of psychiatric drugs stolen from a medical store in the prison. 

 

US Bar Association to open an office in Sri Lanka - Wimal Weerawansa

Senior Minister and ruling coalition partner of Sri Lanka government, Wimal Weerawans said that the US Bar Association was planning to open an office in Colombo.

In a scathing attack against the visit of US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, Weerawansa stated that the move to open an office of US Bar Association in Colombo was for appearing for the US criminals like rapists who would roam freely after the ACSA and SOFA agreements are signed by Sri Lanka. He said that these agreements would enable US to use the ports and airports of Sri Lanka while US officials would be immune from the law of Sri Lanka.    

He added that the move to open the office of the US Bar Association in Colombo had been delayed due to the protest of Bar Association of Sri Lanka. 

Change in Wimal Weerawansa's tone after meeting with the President

Sri Lanka's Minister Wimal Weerawansa who met President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday showed a change of tone today.

Addressing a press briefing held in Colombo today, Minister Wimal Weerawansa slammed the attempt of the opposition to field a common candidate at the upcoming Presidential.

Weerawansa said that country did not need a common candidate but a common programme. Wimal laughed at the common candidate branding he or she as a common substitute to bear the defeat when there are no candidates for the parties to field.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka has not so far experienced the effects of ushering apolitical characters into political power.

Wimal's party National Freedom Front submitted the 12 point resolution of the party to the President yesterday and said they expected a positive response from the party. He also vowed to take strong decision unless they would not be able to change the path of the government positively. 

In a nutshell, the proposals seek the government to avoid any attempt to probe the human rights violations in the war internationally or locally, not to devolve power further or to discuss such devolution, to suppress Tamil struggle for state, to revoke concessions provided to multinational companies and to assist local industries, to sign a free trade agreement with China, not to allow casino and drugs and to introduce a new constitution that strengthens central governance.

Sri Lanka finds out an enemy in (Ban Ki-)Moon

(July 07, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity
)Many Russians feel real psychological comfort in feeling surrounded by the enemy. For politicians, it can also be used as a means of evading responsibility. I remember a conversation I had with a journalist some time ago, who reported listening in on a cabinet meeting with Fidel Castro at a time when Cuba had long been the subject of an American naval blockade. According to this story, Fidel is supposed to have pointed out of the window at the silhouettes of American war ships scattered across the horizon, and said: “if they went, we’ll be forced to make them out of cardboard”.
-Alexei Levinson, Sociologist, senior researcher at the Levada Center, Moscow

The position of The Enemy of Sri Lanka government is vacant since Tamil rebel leader Velupillai Prabakaran was assassinated on May 18, 2009 in the battlefront in Vanni. Although the Tamil Ealam struggle tries to appear as it is not over, the government supported by former deputy leader and the international leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) looks confident to tackle the threat of the half-hearted Tamil Diaspora.

The government's attempts to depict Tamil Diaspora as a formidable enemy was not successful not because it was not a  non-enemy but simply because it is not discernible to the majority Sinhala polity to get them mobilized. It seems not tangible to them. The leaders in Tamil Diaspora do not have attractive names. The persons like Rudrakumaran have meek appearance in photos. Other Tamil heroes are so timid that they are afraid even to pose in photo.

The government could have saved their man Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, the self-proclaimed successor of Prabakaran out in the Tamil Diaspora. KP had a substantial personality to create a fear psychosis locally. Unfortunately, he lost it following the Malaysian apprehension saga in which he was brought to Sri Lanka like a chic.

A low intensity guerrilla warfare could have been a better alternate for a mighty enemy like Prabakaran, if there was one. The government could have tried one themselves. A new Prabakaran could be fictionized, may be one like Osama Bin Laden. A fictitious enemy is better since it can take any shape unlike a real one.

After all, here comes Ban Ki-Moon, the General Secretary of the United Nations. This man, or better say, this position is not a new found enemy. Many a rogue state previously have used him (never her so far) as an enemy to manage internal politics.

Sri Lanka government or the ruling Rajapaksa family has meticulously planned the violent protest before the UN office in Colombo on July 06. The President has sent his 'political' son (his words) Wimal Weerawansa to lead the mob. Even the man's attire is significant. A short-sleeved bush coat with close resemblance to military fatigue. with Lenin-style cap.

The hullabaloo the organized mob created before the UN office created powerful images. However, it is yet to be seen if the penetration is enough for an emergence of a wave of protest that can undermine the social repercussions of the issues like the loss of European Union's GSP Plus, the warnings from US regarding its GSP, broken promise of Rs. 2500 pay hike, ballooning cost of living and more taxes etc.

The government cannot continue providing support and infrastructure like people, transport etc. If Wimal is the contractor, he will have to form a sustainable protest movement within a short period of time. Wimal will not like the JVP be contracted again although it is the best option for the government. The JVP has already taken the Ban Ki-Moon's committee for an island wide poster campaign.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Blaming in Sinhala and apologizing in formal English in Sri Lankan politics

(July 04, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka government may tender an apology to the United Nations (UN) over comments made by government Minister Wimal Weerawansa urging the public to surround the UN office in Colombo and prevent the staff from leaving the premises in protest over the UN panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said responding to a question posed by a journalist from Innercitypress at a media briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York on Saturday.

He said that the UN has received some indications that an apology might be in order.

Sri Lanka government coalition party National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Minister of Housing and Construction Wimal Weerawansa vowed last week to launch a fast unto death unless the panel appointed by the UN General Secretary to advise him on Sri Lanka is not dissolved.

Weerawansa also warned the UN that a protest would be held before the UN office of Colombo.
He urged the Sri Lankan people to surround the UN office in Colombo and keep its staff hostage until UN chief Ban Ki Moon would decide to dissolve the three-member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Maithripala Sirisena, the General Secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and senior Minister accused several unnamed Western countries for conspiring against the island nation.

In an exclusive interview with the state-owned Sinhala daily The Dinamina on Friday, the Minister said that the countries that tried to trap Sri Lanka amidst war are speaking against it. He also said that there is a massive conspiracy behind the revoke of GSP Plus tariff concessions by European Union.

Commenting on the panel appointed by the UN Secretary to advise him on the war crime charges against Sri Lanka, Minister Maithripala Sirisena said that the UN Secretary’s move would be a failure since UN is not him but the member nations.

The Minister pointed out that Russia, China, India and the non-aligned nations have come to the rescue of Sri Lanka. “Those who speak about the human rights of Sri Lanka, avoid speaking about war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Minister charged.

The problem that remains with these vociferous Ministers is their inability to build up as leaders in an environment of diplomacy due to the sheer backwardness in aspects such as class, culture and language. To hide these weaknesses, they always revert to ethnic extremism their clan knows too well. They do not bother about the troubles their immediate bosses have to undergo since they actually want to see them in trouble. Otherwise, how can they climb up in the power ladder?

They wield their tongues freely in Sinhala language while their leaders have to rent English professors like Rajive Wijesinha to write letters of apology in Queen's English. What an irony! 


You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Sri Lanka getting more violent and self-disastrous against UN

(July 01, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka is resorting to more violent and self-disastrous methods to deal with the war crime charges raised by international community against the rulers.

Instead of handling the issue directly with the UN in framework of international politics, the government of Sri Lanka is seeking statements from other countries that can be manipulated to pressure the UN General Secretary to withdraw the panel. But, only Russia raised voice against the panel. Even China keep mum, as same as it did in the UN proceedings to frame charges against Sudan President.

In July 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on 4 March 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide. The warrant will be delivered to the Sudanese government, which is unlikely to execute it. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. The court's decision is opposed by the African Union, League of Arab States, Non-Aligned Movement, and the governments of Russia and China.

Even al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, one of the longest-running and deadliest wars of the 20th century, by granting limited autonomy to Southern Sudan.Sri Lanka is a significant case in which the policy of the rulers is mere suppression and no power devolution at all, an attitude that is blatantly against the norms accepted by international politics.

Now, Sri Lanka government coalition party National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Minister of Housing and Construction Wimal Weerawansa vows to launch a fast unto death unless the panel appointed by the UN General Secretary to advise him on Sri Lanka is not dissolved.

Weerawansa has also warned the UN that a protest would be held before the UN office of Colombo.

He urged the Sri Lankan people to surround the UN office in Colombo and keep its staff inside until UN chief Ban Ki Moon decides to dissolve the three-member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo yesterday, Weerawansa said that discussions are underway with national organizations in this regard.

Weerawansa also said that the appointment of the advisory panel should not be perceived as a simple act as it could be followed by the appointment of an investigation committee to look into allegations of violations of human rights and war crimes.

This would eventually lead to the leaders and war heroes of Sri Lanka produced before an international court of justice, he added.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Wimal Weerawansa; completion of capitalist metamorphosis of an our time revolutionary

(May 02, Colombo - Lanka Polity)  Wimal Weerawansa is my friend one time if not now. I do not have any reason to consider him as an enemy despite whatever the role he played in Sri Lankan politics in which, I think, he did what history asked him to do as same as Vepupillai Prabakaran did. I am not aware if he has any such enmity with me. We have not met for as long a time as two decades.

We both entered politics in latter half of the 1980s as activists of the People's Liberation Front (JVP) that was underground by the time. I was several years senior to him. He hailed from a lower middle class family.

After the defeat of the 1989 insurrection, I quit JVP but he continued in it while working as a journalist. He gradually went up in the power ladder of the JVP and became the Propaganda Secretary and the Parliamentary Group Leader.

He is very famous for his eloquence in disseminating radical ideas deep fried in Sinhala chauvinism. But, Wimal was not as much popular among party cadres as he was popular among less educated masses. He was  actually sacked from the party in 2007 and he quickly responded by putting together several disgruntled and sacked party groups to form a political party. The beginning of the party was half-hearted but soon it gathered momentum and moved with new hopes of creating an alternative for the JVP.

Wimal's party National Freedom Front (JNP) introduced a new culture that deviated from the traditional JVP professional revolutionary cadre. But the journey was brief since the people gathered around Wimal were too ambitious and power greedy. Wimal too was not in a caliber to give leadership to such a greedy and opportunist lot.

A good example is Kamal Deshapriya Mannawaththa, an old colleague of Wimal that broke away from the party with a group in late 1990s due to an internal power crisis. Mannawaththa was swiftly ushered to the post of National Organizer of the JNP after a decade of political inactivity. Wimal praised the man too much to make him think he could be the real leader of the party. He wanted his group to get washed into the Provincial Councils but the circumstances were extremely difficult and Wimal had to thwart Mannawaththa. The party was losing elections and ultimately, he left with his group sparing ex-JVP politburo member Nandana Gunathilaka who remained in the party for opportunistic reasons. Sometimes later, he also joined the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party. While he was a cabinet Minister, Mannawaththa was in his staff. He left Gunathilaka since the latter did not give into his need of having a nominal party instead of directly joining the ruling party. Mannawaththa could have secured a national list seat through his strategy that Gunathilaka spoiled.

With this, Wimal was entirely surrounded by a naked lot of power greedy, ambitious, inefficient guys that wanted Wimal's shoulder to go up before they kick the ladder. The best example is Achala Suranga Jagoda, national list MP of the JNP, a notable absentee of this set of photos who is now to cross over to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Wimal was in a path that there was no return. He could not lose because the militant JVP was after him. Just before the presidential was called, Wimal was almost alone in late 2009. When ex-Army Commander Sarath Fonseka posed a serious challenge to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Wimal gambled his future taking his side boldly while the others were waiting and seeing. He won the gamble and the pictures of his assuming duties as a powerful cabinet Minister shows what he achieved in return.

Many blame Wimal and the blamers have reasons since so many JVP cadres and sympathizers sacrificed their lives and day for the party to achieve socialism. Instead leading the party towards socialism, a set of bureaucrat have settled in a game of power play and Wimal is a winner for the moment, while the likes of Somawansa Amarasinghe, Anura Kumara Disanayaka and Lal Kantha have lost. Then why blame Wimal alone?

Now, gone is gone. Wimal is now in the core of Sri Lanka's capitalist politics. His former colleagues have failed in whatever their targets. Wimal is a creative man in many senses. Let us see what changes he may do in capitalist politics.

But our warning is beware of those who are around you!
-Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe

One arm of Sri Lanka government protests UK while another arm consoles

(March 01, Colombo - Lanka Polity)  Sri Lanka government has sent one arm of the ruling coalition to protest the British government while another arm denied the government had any link with the protest.

National Freedom Front (JNP), a coalition party of Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa's close ally ex-MP Vimal Weerawansa held a protest demonstration before the British High Commission of Colombo today alleging the former Colonial ruler was aiding and abetting terrorism.

Addressing a forcible protest meeting held blocking the gates of the High Commission, vociferous Weerawansa warned that the JNP would continue protests unless UK avoids anti-Sri Lankan actions like British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's attendance last week at a meeting of Global Tamil Forum.

Weerawansa's clan left the High Commission after handing in a protest letter to a High Commission official leaving a hoarding across the gate in which British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband dressed in Tamil Tiger military outfits.

British Prime Minister met the representatives of the Tamil organization following the meeting held in British Parliamentary House. The Global Tamil Forum was successful to win cross party representation from UK for the event held in support of the fight for the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils. British Foreign Ministry later defended the Foreign Secretary's action stating that it held the position of engaging with all stakeholders of the issue.

Sri Lanka accuses the Global Tamil Forum of being sympathizers of Tamil Tiger rebels that were militarily defeated last year. However, Sri Lankan authorities failed to do anything to prevent the meeting being a success with the participation of the bigwigs.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the protest was a private affair that the government had no link.

Vimal Weerawansa is running for elections from Colombo district and he needs shows to gain votes amidst a tooth and nail fight among ruling coalition candidates for re-election under the proportional representation.

Is Sri Lanka opposition dare to debate?

(December 29, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The leader of Sri Lanka's National Freedom Front (JNP) has challenged opposition president candidate Sarath Fonseka for a debate on the arms deals Fonseka's son-in-law is allegedly involved. Weerawansa has asked to name other suitable persons, maximum two, to represent Fonseka, if he cannot debate, to the debate that Weerawansa proposes to be held before all media.

Weerawansa's suggestion is timely as reports and rumors point to mass scale corruption in the arms deals under Mahinda Rajapaksa regime. A debate will focus public attention to the issue. The politicians can give out the real information and they can clear their names from corruption charges.

Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and the opposition must grab this opportunity readily if they are genuine with their proposals to alleviate corruption under their future rule.

Although Weerawansa is a junior close to the ruling elite, he is one of the most influential orators of the ruling coalition. Therefore, he has opened up a path for a debate between the two macro-level presidential candidates in future.

Go on men! Take this chance! Pave way for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka to perform their 'stripping-the-other' politics face-to-face. It will at least be entertaining in this polity where people are natualized with corruption.

Wimal in President's entourage; Nandana shows a different body language

(July 19, 2009) Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse is displaying ex-revolutionary People's Liberation Front (JVP) member and present leader of the National Freedom Front (JNP) Wimal Weerawansa in a way the revolutionaries get frustrated about their one time idol.

Rajapakse accompanies Weerawansa in his entourages to foreign countries and media give wide publicity to Wimal's participation.

Observers say that the President is trying to show that the ex-revolutionary has become an obedient partner of his bandwagon.

The President similarly petted the militant leaders like Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leader Champika Ranawaka and ex-military wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) Karuna Amman till their image was tarnished and dropped them later.

Meanwhile, New Minister of Tourism Nandana Gunathilaka (JNP) who is not in good terms with Weerawansa has issued a poster in which he appears before the President Mahinda Rajapakse who is bending before him taking both of his hands. This body language is displayed in a poster that is said published by the friends of Peradeniya University.