Fonseka-Sampanthan Pact and post-war reconciliation of Sri Lanka

By Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe

(January 16, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led present ruling coalition has once again resorted to racism targetting to win the early presidential to be held on January 26 seeking re-election of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.


Rajapaksa intended to investe the last year's war victory for his re-election but he was ill-fated to face a pitch battle in which the probability for losing is also high with the opposition deciding to set forth the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka as the common opposition candidate. Fonseka though he was a hardline Sinhala chauvinist in the past took the capitalist liberal line during his campaign and mustered support of the majority of the minority community political parties pushing Rajapaksa into jealousy and further risk of defeat.


In 2004 general election, the present ruling coalition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) concocted a story of 'an Elephant-Tiger Pact' that did an enormous damage to the United National Party (UNP) whose leader ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe signed the 2002 ceasefire agreement. Ultimately, the UNP lost the election. In the Presidential held an year later, they performed extremely well and Wickramasinghe lost to the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a narrow margin. He was deprived of minority Tamil community votes by then powerful Tamil Tiger rebels who called for a boycott of the Presidential. Rajapaksas supported by Sinhala chauvinist 'Marxist' People's Liberation Front (JVP) thrived in their racist campaign based on the concocted story of Elephant-Tiger Pact. The so-called pact was for dividing the nation, the UPFA then said.

Six years have passed and none of the government politicians have disclosed a copy of that so called Elephant-Tiger Pact. Definitely, one such never existed.

History repeats. The UPFA has now resorted to a new racist campaign based on a so-called Sampanthan-Fonseka pact. They do not articulate clearly if it is to divide the nation like the fabricated 'Elephant-Tiger Pact'. Who cares? They need no content. When the content is secret, the fear created in the minds of the majority Sinhala community is endless.

Rajapaksa's campaign managers that know too well that people do not believe what the state media says manipulated several pawns that were planted in privately-owned Lankadeepa newspaper. They fabricated a story to be published on January 10 in which Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan says that the TNA had pledged support to Fonseka since the latter agreed to their 'conditions'.

'Derana TV' another television owned by the family members of a powerful cabinet Minister Sarath Amunugama was 'clever' in obtaining a statement from a junior TNA MP about an 'agreement'. The approach of these Sinhala media in interviews with the Tamil MPs is extremely racist. These MPs do not understand Sinhala language properly. On the other hand, these 'embedded' journalists are hard-boiled than them.

Now the story is published. The writer who wrote it failed to prove she was correct and resigned the job. She will definitely be given a good position in state-owned Lake House soon after the Presidential if Rajapaksas win. Now, the racist campaigners of the UPFA, including Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, are following up the fabricated story on the pretended assupmtion of it as a fact. Even the Norwegian embassy staff is also involved in the signing of the so-called agreement as witnesses, they say. Why Norway? Why was it not US or a any other European country? Norway facilitated the ceasefire and was subjected to the wrath of the Sinhala majority for a long time by the UPFA politicians.

This reminds us Barry Levinsons's movie 'Wag the Dog' in which a false war with Albania is created by a Hollywood cinematographer in media to deviate the voters' focus from a sex scandal of a US President seeking reelection, two weeks ahead of the polls.

One can say that the 'Sampanthan-Fonseka Pact' is a success of the campaign managers of Rajapaksa. But this trick is played on the ethnic reconciliation in the post-war period. TNA expresses the frustration in Tamil community over Rajapaksa rule. The backing Fonseka received from the majority Sinhala community is also caused by similar frustration. It is democracy the TNA pledges support to any of the candidates of the presidential. They could have supported to Rajapaksa. TNA says that the support pledged to Fonseka is not conditional. Fonseka has said he will work for a political solution based on power devolution that exceeds the perimeters of the Provincial Councils that were introduced under the 13th amendment to the constitution, two decades ago.

Are conditions and agreements are so important, if they exist? Have Sri Lankan politicians kept all promises, pledges, conditions and agreements so far in the history? We do not believe in these pledges etc. But, we believe in the joint actions of Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and other communities of Sri Lanka. One day the ethnic unity will bring results although it will not be tomorrow.

They can do any gimmick to win elections.That is capitalist democracy. They do not stuff ballot boxes by force like in some past elections in Sri Lanka. Instead, they subtly manipulate media to build opinions in your mind to compell you to vote to them. That is their democracy that we have had to accept for the moment. The problem here is that this game is played on the potential reconcilation among ethnicities in the post-war period. It is The UPFA is campaigning against a negotiated settlement. They are creating fear and hatred  in the minds of the Sinhala majority people. Their campaign is Sinhala racist and anti Tamil now. This campaign violates all the norms of the democracy, rule of law and the codes of ethics of politics and social life.

There are two sectors in Sri Lankan polity that is happy about this development. They are the Tamil extremists that do not accept anything less than seperate state irresepective of whatever amount of blood is needed to be shed and years are needed to achieve this goal as a solution for the problem of the Tamils. Steps towards Tamil-Sinhala reconciliation are allergic to them. The other group is the Sinhala racist forces that are risked of losing their livelihood following the unexpected defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). These two groups are a single bunch of opportunists with good mutual understanding, respect and rapport. By circumstances, one was made to defeat the other militarily. For them, blood is not more worth than any other object they meet across their path. They need the other for their existence. That is why the Sinhala chauvinists are giving a hand to the Tamil nationalist extremists.

The most important speech delivered by Sri Lanka opposition presidential candidate

(January 14, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The most politically important speech made by Sri Lanka's opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka in his campaign is the speech he delivered to the business community. As a candidate vying for a better capitalist governance, he expllains his positions clearly to the capitalist class of Sri Lanka. The full text of the speech is as follows:

Dear Friends, I come before you today, not as a politician with years of experience, but as someone with a lifelong commitment to safeguarding the country. It was this commitment that saw me leading the security forces to a decisive military victory over the LTTE, which many said was not possible.

Of course the victory would not have been possible without the commitment of the three forces, the police and the civil defence force, many of who made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.

The victory we secured for all Sri Lankans was not an end in itself. It was the decisive beginning towards restoring peace that would enable us to re-build the country and put it firmly on the path to economic recovery and development. We owed this to the general public who gave us the moral support and patiently endured many economic hardships. We owed this to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and those who suffered permanent disabilities. We even owed the international community that supported the war against terrorism.

Sadly, this hasn’t happened.

Corruption and Mismanagement
Nearly eight months after victory was declared, the incumbent regime is continuing to glorify the military triumph as a personal achievement at the expense of the follow-up needs - that of reconciliation, peace building, infrastructure development and economic resuscitation. It has effectively managed to place the nation in a time warp of victory euphoria, disguising the rampant corruption and one family rule, while sidelining the urgent need for progress on numerous fronts, the least of which is good governance that ensures transparency and accountability.

The nation’s wealth is being squandered on self- perpetuating projects that are both wasteful and meaningless. Billions have been lost due to corruption, nepotism, mismanagement and waste. Public funds are being used to sustain and nurture a single family. The goodwill of the international community has been destroyed, so much so the US and the European Union have become our harshest critics. The economy is in ruins and we are on the verge of losing the GSP+ trade concessions that are of immense benefit to our export sector and the hundreds of thousands employed in the apparel, ceramics and many other sectors.

Under the guise of security, our citizens are increasingly being denied their democratic freedoms. Dissent has been suppressed, sometimes violently, with the independent media and its journalists coming under frequent threats and attack. A significant segment of the Tamil population from the north continues to languish in IDP shelter and in transit camps with uncertain futures. The rule of law has morphed into the rule of political might, depriving the common man the right to equal justice. Even powerful groups such as the formal business sector, professional bodies, academics, the judiciary and those maintaining law and order have not been spared
The nation is gradually drifting towards a dictatorship, with fear replacing freedom and discontent replacing hope.

My Vision
Was this the post war developments we envisaged? Certainly not. This is why I consented to contest the Presidential Election as the common candidate of the opposition. Sri Lanka at this juncture needs a leader, who is disciplined, committed, honest, forthright and not afraid to make tough decisions. Just as my decisions of the past, my decision of the future will always be in the interest of the nation. I have delivered on my promise to rid the country of terrorism. Now I promise to restore democracy and good governance, eliminating corruption, waste and all other evils that have blighted the promising prospects secured with our hard fought victory over terrorism.

I have a vision of a free Sri Lankan, where decent and functional democracy prevails and the rights of all citizens are upheld. A Sri Lanka free of discrimination and with equal opportunity for all. A Sri Lanka not weighed down by the tyranny of an Executive Presidency, but where the best men and women run for Parliament and those elected have the highest standards of ethics. A Sri Lanka where every family enjoys three square meals a day and every Sri Lankan is ensured access to a safe health service, quality education and gainful employment.

Believable Change
To do this, Sri Lanka needs change, believable change.

As a man who keeps his promises, I have pledged that my first act upon assuming office will be to reactivate the 17th Amendment to the Constitution by appointing the Constitutional Council for the re-establishment of the Independent Commissions. I will then dismantle the jumbo cabinet and invite all parties representing Parliament to nominate members to a caretaker cabinet. I will then dissolve Parliament. Within a month cabinet papers will be presented for the approval of a Constitution Amendment Bill to abolish the Executive Presidency and take necessary step to ensure that the most free and fair elections in Sri Lanka is held.

Within three weeks my multi-party Caretaker Cabinet will bring new regulations to combat fraud and corruption in conformity with the UN Convention against Corruption. A powerful agency to combat fraud and corruption will be established along with an independent commission to audit all public finances. I will also ask the new Parliament to pass Parliamentary Code on Ethics, similar to that of developed democracies and appoint an independent Parliamentary Ethics Commission to uphold Parliamentary ethics on finances.

Fiscal Responsibility
These mechanisms will ensure that government acts in a fiscally responsible manner and cuts waste and losses due to corruption. Prof Indraratne; the President of the Sri Lanka Economic Association has estimated that corruption in government causes a loss of 9 % of GDP. This is a staggering Rs 400 billion a year at present. In addition the wasteful government expenditure including expenditure incurred by 108 ministers is phenomenal. Elimination of corruption and waste will help the immediate reduction of heavy and unwarranted taxes and help bring the budget deficit to a manageable level, leading to freeing up of resources for the private sector, lower interest rates and sustained lower inflation.

Economic Growth
The time has come for Sri Lanka to unleash its true potential and boost economic growth. We need to have an economy where the private sector and the public sector work in partnership to serve the people in a corruption-free environment.

We must ensure there is the right amount of regulations and the rights and obligations of workers as well as employers are protected.

We also need to learn from the economic policies of our previous governments, so future mistakes are avoided. We must undertake necessary reforms and adopt pragmatic approaches.

We need to create wealth in Sri Lanka by encouraging not only big business but equally importantly village level entrepreneurship. We need to ensure the distribution of this new wealth equitably to all people, not just for a selected few.

The Ease of Doing Business ranking for Sri Lanka has dropped from 97 to 105 from 2009 to 2010. Under my watch, I will ensure Sri Lanka is brought to the top 50 by streamlining and simplifying the process of starting a business, making tax payment, obtaining construction permits, registering property, obtain credit and carrying out cross border trading. I assure you that the current kappam regime will be demolished. We will also look into impediments to accessing finance, especially leasing, for the Small and Medium Enterprise sector, which has become very expensive because of wrong tax policies.

The streamlining process will also see the reintroduction of the one-stop-shop concept that was practiced by the BOI in the old days, to help improve investor facilitation. Today, the BOI only gives licences and the investor has to deal with various government departments to get other approvals. The National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) which was set up mainly to assist Small and Medium Enterprise has proved to be ineffective. Both the BOI and NEDA have to be refocused on business facilitation throughout the country, with special provisions for the development of North and East.

Another area we will focus on is the construction industry, which at present has no work as most government projects are carried out by foreign contractors including labour at very high cost. Foreign contractors must be made to subcontract a part of their work to local contractors.

I will also urgently address the problems faced by the tourist industry to make sure the infrastructure is ready to receive the expected large inflow of tourists.

Better Salaries
I have pledged to increase the salaries of the public sector employees. As I have explained, this can be done by eliminating waste, mismanagement and ridding the country of corruption that continues to gobble up billions of rupees in state revenue. By negotiating with the private sector stakeholders and by assisting in eliminating unwarranted taxes and payments that increase the cost of doing business as well as by having a realistic exchange rate, low interest rates and low inflation I hope the salaries of private sector employees can be increased. By adjusting the income tax threshold I hope to help these employees take home more of their hard earned salaries.

I will also take steps to correct the tax anomalies that see the private sector retirement benefits being taxed 3 times; employees contribute to the EPF from their after tax salaries (only Rs 25,000 per year is allowed as qualifying payment); the fund itself pays tax; the benefits are again taxed when the employee receives it. This creates hardship to the retirees and needs to be set right.

Employment opportunities for the Youth
Youth unemployment is an area that needs to be addressed urgently. Accordingly, within three months, I will take steps to initiate a ‘Youth Challenge Programme’ which will provide vocational training for young people between the ages of 17 and 25 and will establish a ‘Youth at Work Programme’ under which the government and the private sector will find jobs for youth who complete the youth challenge programme.

GSP +
I have stated time and again that this government is pilfering a golden opportunity to reap the economic benefits of defeating the LTTE. However it bears repeating, because today, when we have a unique opportunity to put our country on the right path, the prospect is being wasted because of the government’s arrogance and political expedience. This fact is nowhere better illustrated than by the foolhardy manner in which the GSP+ issue is being mishandled. The President, Ministers and even the Governor of the Central Bank have gone on record stating that the European Union need not bother granting the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka.

The government’s sole purpose is to portray the GSP+ issue as an international conspiracy, to stoke up anti-west fervour and hoodwink the people into believing the west is all out to undermine the country’s economic progress. Playing politics with the lives of the innocent people has now become a pastime for those who put us in this dismal situation in the first place.

The GSP+ concessions were not a gift granted to the Rajapaksa administration. It was the result of hard work done by previous administrations and our Foreign Service, which ensured Sri Lanka was among the 15 countries the EU saw fit for the trade concessions, based on adherence to certain accepted standards of democracy. The benefits of these concessions are now obvious. Today the EU has overtaken the United States as Sri Lanka’s main export market for garments.

These trade concessions are not applicable purely to the apparel sector. Thousands of other products also benefit from it. The fact that Sri Lanka is a GSP + recipient nation has attracted the attention of many investors, who see our country as a gateway to the European Market. Furthermore, the potential of utilising the concessions to promote other products remain enormous, while it also give the apparel industry the additional fillip - to explore new and better options for market penetration in Europe.

Yet all this is now at risk due to the actions of a few. The EU is now threatening to discontinue the GSP + citing our poor human rights record.

I am not willing to gamble with the lives of the people of my country, especially the poorer segments who should not be punished for the grave mistakes of power hungry politicians. Given the opportunity, I promise I will make a determined effort to safeguard the GSP+ concessions, because losing it would mean wide scale livelihood loss for hundreds of thousands of Sri Lanka and a marked step backward for the apparel industry as a whole.

I am confident that with the return of good governance, democracy and due process to Sri Lanka, we will be in a position to obtain these concessions for a longer period. The lives of 800,000 people directly depend on this.

Political Partnership
Many political parties, forces, organisations and individuals have gathered around me in the hope that we can usher a better tomorrow for our country. The political parties that invited me to run for President reflect the great diversity among us. This is our strength. You may wonder how the JVP which professes a socialist, welfare oriented economy can be in the same league as the UNP which is known for its open economic policies. This is a valid question. I would like to ask a question which I initially asked myself. Why are such politically, ideologically and communally diverse parties rallying behind one candidate at this point?

The answer is a testament of our current predicament. All those who are now rallying behind me believe that there should be a country left for us to have ideologies and differences in opinion. It is no longer a matter about open or closed economy. It is now a matter of preserving democracy, re-establishing law and order and delivering on a functional state. After the Presidential elections the JVP and the UNP will go before the people and present their respective cases on their own if they wish to do so. Yet at this moment we are united in the cause to save our mother land. For, that necessity far outweighs any other difference we may have. It is in this spirit that so many others have thronged around us.

Conclusion
It is this spirit that will pave the way for a realistic and believable change on January 26, when the country votes for a new era of unity, vibrant democracy and development that will provide an equal opportunity for every Sri Lankan to enjoy the benefits of an economically strong and free country.

What can professionals do?

Rohan Samarajiva

In the course of writing an article on the apparent end of constitutionalism in Sri Lanka, I asked myself what I personally could do to resist the egregious lawless behavior that caused me to write it. My question was why the populace allowed this feudal behavior. How could I be the change I wanted to see?

While thinking about this, I happened to see a shamelessly partisan street hoarding that had been put up by an organization I had made a small contribution to establish and fund: the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, a private limited company fully owned by the government of Sri Lanka. I decided to collect additional evidence including a copy of the ICTA newsletter entitled Catalyst that contained election propaganda for the President. I then wrote the following letter to each of the members of the ICTA Board, with copies to the Elections Commissioner and the World Bank, which continues to fund e Sri Lanka, the program ICTA was created to implement.

No response to my letter yet, but I was pleased to see the offending hoardings taken down on the 12th December. This suggests that professionals talking to professionals can yield results and slow down the slide from the rule of law. This may also be a useful decentralized way of collecting evidence for an election petition should the need arise.

7 January 2009.

Dear Member of the Board of ICTA (Pvt) Limited,

Unethical, and possibly unlawful, election propaganda by ICTA

I write as a citizen, as a former member of the ICTA Board, and as one of the people responsible for designing e Sri Lanka, for setting up the organization and obtaining the funds.

Attached please find evidence of election propaganda by ICTA. These actions may have been taken without your knowledge or approval, but the Board is responsible.

We established ICTA as an entity above politics, for example hiring those associated with the opposition at the time such as Mr Dilanthe Withanage and Mr Athula Pushpakumara. The then leader of the opposition (now President) was invited to participate in events within ICTA premises.

I hope you will discipline the responsible officers and restore ICTA to its non-partisan position. Otherwise you will be held accountable for the politicization and destruction of yet another organization designed for the common good.

If professionals do not speak for good governance, there will be no good governance. I hope you will play your part.

Sincerely,

Rohan Samarajiva
Cc: Commissioner of Elections / Country Director, World Bank, Colombo

Struggle for gender equality of Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka

(January 14, Colombo - Lanka Polity) A leading Buddhist priest of Sri Lanka, Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero lodged a complaint against the state Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs regarding non-safeguarding quality of the female Buddhist monks.

The Thero complained to the Human Rights Commission that the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs had rejected registering the monasteries of the female monks.

There are 147 monasteries of the female Buddhist monks in which 500 senior and 2000 novice monks reside, says Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero.

The Buddhist term 'Sangha' includes both male and female monks, the Thero says.

Sri Lanka President's secretary describes how Tamil Nadu Tamils were deceived by Sri Lanka and India

(January 14, Colombo - Lanka Polity)The way the Indian central government led by Congress Party deceived the Tamil Nadu Tamils ahead of the general election as Sri Lanka's war was raging in the last stage with high casualties was revealed in an interview given by Lalith Weerathunga, the secretary of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Daily Mirror website. Following is the report accompanied with the video of the interview.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa helped India’s Congress party win the General Elections in Tamil Nadu last year by reaching an agreement with the Indian government to stop using heavy weapons during the last stages of the war, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga told Daily Mirror online.

In an interview on the ‘HOT SEAT’ segment of the website Mr. Weeratunga said the President had turned down a request from India to stop the military operations last year but later reached an agreement to stop using heavy weapons in order to help the Congress win the polls.

"Elections were being held in India so if the government of India did not do something to stop what the rest of the world thought the massacre of Tamils (as it was wrongly termed) the Tamils would not vote for the Congress. They said “please stop this”. But the President said “sorry I cannot do that”. But he added “ok what do you want me to do to ensure victory of the Congress Party”? They requested that the use of heavy weaponry be stopped. This is what brought India and Sri Lanka closer. With the halt in use of heavy weaponry (with approval of the Sri Lankan Security Council that Sri Lanka would no longer use heavy weaponry) the Congress gained strength and the victory in Tamil Nadu can be attributed to this decision by the Government of Sri Lanka," he told Daily Mirror online.

However, it is yet to verify if Sri Lanka actually bowed to this pledge as no independent inquiry has been undertaken regarding the allegations raised by various quarters including the ex-Army Chief that war crimes including shelling hospitals and no-fire zones took place in the final phase of war.

Soon after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, citing a UN source, the Times of UK reported that 20,000 people were killed in the final throes of the civil war, mostly by government shelling. However, one UN official described the method used to calculate the toll – which appeared to involve multiplying the figure recorded by doctors by five – as dangerous extrapolation. The Sri Lankan government rejected the Times report. Earlier UN said 7,000 civilians were killed and 16,700 wounded in the fighting from Jan. 20 until May 7 before the final battles.

Major-General Ashok Mehta, a former commander of Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka, said that India’s role was “distressing and disturbing”. “We were complicit in this last phase of the offensive when a great number of civilians were killed,” General Mehta, who is now retired, told The Times. “Having taken a decision to go along with the campaign, we went along with it all the way and ignored what was happening on the ground.”

Tamil Nadu with 60 million Tamils was the last bit of straw for the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists that  were ahead of the imminent defeat of the armed struggle for a seperate Ealam state for Tamils. They begged for mediation to prevent their defeat but for no avail.

Almost all the Tamil Nadu politicians raised Sri Lanka's war as their main issue but Chief Minister Karunanidi's DMK allied with the Congress Party registered a landslide victory in the parliamentary election following the central government's statement that Sri Lanka government had agreed not to use heavy weaponry against the civilians trapped in the contracting rebel-held territory. Hours after  the election were finished in India, Sri Lanka eliminated the leadership of the Tamil Tigers Velupillai Prabakaran and wiped out the rebel movement from the island.

Sri Lanka presidential election enters a phase of violence

(January 13, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The campaign for Sri Lanka's presidential that is scheduled to be held on January 26 entered into a phase of violence as terrorists suspected to be sponsored by the government opened fire on a bus carrying supporters of the opposition killing an elderly woman and injuring two others.

The incident took place close to the village of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a van and a motorcycle blocked the way for the bus before opening fire. The terrorists fled following gunning down 60 year old Somawathi Kuruppuarachchi on the spot. The vehicles used in the terror attack were later recovered by Hungama police as they were abandoned. However no arrests had been made so far despite the government stated "The Government of Sri Lanka is appalled at this tragedy, vehemently condemns it, and will not tolerate any such acts of violence in the midst of this democratic electoral process. All steps are being taken to bring those responsible to justice. Instructions have been given to the authorities to bolster security at political events up to and on polling day to ensure that all Sri Lankans can participate safely in the electoral process."

Expressing concern over the incident the US called for a peaceful election in Sri Lanka.

The area has a history of political violence and the group of victims was travelling to attend a propaganda meeting held with the auspices of United National Party Deputy Chairman Sajith Premadasa, the son of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa who was killed by a suicide bomber on May 01, 1993.

Since there is a pitch battle for the presidency more incidents can be expected in the coming couple of weeks ahead of the election.

A Presidential fear of a teledrama

(January 12, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Upeksha Swarnamali is an actress cum dancer that became popular acting the role 'Paba' in a mega teledrama telecast by public-owned Independent Television Network of Sri Lanka.

She is popular although she is not a clever actor. However, she is a brave woman who is not afraid to express her conscience publicly regarding the presidential breaking the taboo in the field she is employed. She appeared in the platform of opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and expressed support to him outraging the state media bosses that subsequently imposed an unofficial ban on her.

A scene that alluded she was kidnapped was shot and Upeksha Swarnamali simply vanished from the teledrama. The melodrama did not end from there; public-owned print media propaganda organ of the Rajapaksa regime, Dinamina Sinhala daily ran a concocted story in which Upeksha Swarnamali's mother Nirmalee de Silva had reportedly blamed Fonseka's campaigners for misleading the 'ignorant' actress.

However, the mother and the daughter appeared before media yesterday and denied the report published by The Dinamina.

Many of the popular artistes appeared in the advertisement series of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Namal Rajapaksa that urge people to vote to a 'sensitive leader'. Reportedly, they were compelled to appear in the advertisements by making a fear psychosis of tarnishing the future of their career if they failed to support Mahinda Rajapaksa. The punishment given to Upeksha Swarnamali is believed a lesson taught to the rebels in the art field.

War cost country Rs 23 trillion – Siyambalapitiya

We re-publish this article by Mario Andree (The Island) since the facts and the arguements in it are vital. Thanks go to the writer and the newspaper. 

Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that the Government had spent a total of Rs 23 trillion on the three-decade war. 

This works out to Rs. 920 billion per year in the 25 years of war, which is now a saving for the government in addition to the targeted revenue budget per year.

The 2009 targeted revenue was Rs. 855 billion, and the government spends only around Rs. 2 billion on ministers, and Rs 278 billion on development.

According to the previous situation, compared to the current, the tax and price situations have not changed but have increased.

The expenditure towards war can be used for the benefit of the citizens by reducing taxation and prices of daily needs as the expenditure towards war is a balance after the liberation.

He also told the media on Sunday that the policy statement of Gen (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka is an impossible statement to be implemented in the current situation. To provide some of it, an additional funding of Rs. 350 billion will be required apart from the yearly targeted budget.

These statements’ implications definitely will lead to a high amount of currency circulation within the country which will increase the inflation rates of the country leading to a catastrophe of the livelihood, he pointed out.

He also said this is possible with the high tax amounts charged from the public. An amount of Rs. 1,500 will have to be additionally charged from individuals of the country.

Fonseka’s statement

The policy statement states a salary increment of Rs. 10,000 for all government servants.

This would mean that for a staff of 1.2 million the total salary payment would be increased by Rs 144 billion from the treasury, adding another 10 billion on payments of over time and EPF, Minister Siyambalapitiya pointed out.

The media team of President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced a salary increment of Rs. 2,500 for public servants on on Sunday. This will also need an additional funding of Rs. 36 billion, adding another 2.5 billion for other payments.

"With no proper production and value additional developments, will there be a possibility to provide such increases stated in Fonseka’s Policy Statement?" Siyambalapitiya asked.

The restructure of the pension anomalies will for the increase by Rs. 25 billion, yet according to Fonseka’s policy how this is done is unclear and unstated anywhere in his statement, Siyambalapitiya said.

The minimum Samurdhi benefit to increase to Rs. 500 will need an additional funding of Rs. 5 billion, also 98 billion to provide a Rs. 2,000 monthly payment to the youth and the senior citizens and Rs. 900 million to provide the Rs. 3000 to the estimated unemployed 25,000 degree holders with a Rs. 3000 monthly payment, Siyambalapitiya said.

There is also a further requirement of Rs. 30 billion to provide the fertilizer at Rs. 350. Currently, urea is provided at Rs. 350 while the actual amount is Rs. 9,000, this expense is unnecessary as the agriculture segment is gaining at a rapid pace, Siyambalapitiya said.

He has also stated Rs. 27 billion will be needed to pay all Golden Key investors.

Tax benefits

Sarath Fonseka’s policy statement also states the reduction and removal of some taxes on some food items.

Currently rice has no tax charge, the dhal and sugar tax is at Rs. 1 per kg, onions and potatoes are charged at Rs. 5 per kg.

The tax is to protect local producers. If the tax is removed, they will be in a drastic situation.

The reduction of tax on household LP Gas; the current tax is Rs. 108.75 per 12.5 kg cylinder, the total consumption of the country per year is at 850,000 cylinders the reduction will cause a 1,100 million decline of the state revenue, Siyambalapitiya said.

The reduction of petrol prices, as proposed by the court. It was suggested that petrol is supposed to be supplied at Rs 100 per litre. If this is activated, the government will lose Rs. 31,925 million.

Currently, Siyambalapitiya said the government gains Rs. 22,000 million from diesel, Rs. 550 million from kerosene oil and Rs 9,375 million from petrol.

Totally the government will have to lose 350 billion by providing the promises in Sarath Fonseka’s Policy Statement. The reduction of some taxes will lead to high increases in other taxes which will not suit the Sri Lankan Citizens, Siyambalapitiya said.

Implementing the salary increment announced by the current government would also lead to a tax increase or introduction of new taxes.

The Deputy Minister of Finance strongly stated that he would resign from his position the second Sarath Fonseka or his team proves how he is going to find the funds without heaping burdens on the people by increasing or introducing any other taxes.

A Sinhala activist addresses the funeral of Prabakaran's father challenging taboos of the polity

(January 11, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Dharmasiri Lankapeli, a journalist and trade union activist who is also a member of Nawa Samasamaja Party and the Kaluthara district representative of Left Front presidential candidate Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratna was arrested and later released by Velevetithurai police of Jaffna. The reason for the arrest was his Sinhala language address at the funeral of Veerasami Thiruvengadam Velupillai on January 10th. Late Velupillai is the father of Velupillai Prabakaran, the founder leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), who was killed in the final battle with the Army on May 18 in the last bastions of the rebel-held Vanni in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

Mr. Velupillai was a peaceful man who never followed his youngest son's extremely violent path for the liberation of the Sri Lankan Tamils. He lived most of his life since 1983 to 2002 in south India and settled in rebel-held Mallavi during the Norway-brokered ceasefire. He was arrested by Sri Lanka security forces from a IDP camp following the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the government says he was kept in protective custody in Panagoda Army camp since then.


He passed away on January 07 and with the legal permission of the dead man's sons and daughters, the body was taken by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.K. Sivajilingam to his village Valvetithurai for cremation. Dharmasiri Lankapeli accompanied Sivajilingam and he dared to address the funeral in Sinhala language challenging the taboos of the Lankan polity over Prabakaran and his family.


Prabakaran's siblings Manoharan (Denmark) Jegatheeswari (India) Vinodini (Canada) decline President Mahinda Rajapaksa's offer to come to Sri Lanka for the funeral.


Photos of the dead bodies believed to be of late LTTE leader's two sons and daughters were in internet and the taboos do not open space for questioning these killings. The killing of the youngest son of Prabakaran, 12-year-old Balachandran was also readily approved by the Sri Lankan polity that is predominantly Buddhist in religion wise.


According to Buddhist history Suprabuddha was the father of Devadatta who conspired to assassinate Lord Buddha. He was also the father of Yasodhara, the wife of Siddhartha Gauthama who attained the Buddha status later. No one denounced Suprabuddha for being Devadatta's father. In the same way, no one denounced Yasodhara for being Devadatta's sister.

Sri Lankan media did not dare despite all of their so-called liberal policies to address this dead man as ‘Mr. Velupillai’ although he is completely innocent. Mr. Velupillai was a loyal public servant who retired as a district land officer. He hailed from the reputed "Thirumeni" family in Valvettithurai. The family holds hereditary trusteeship of Velvettithurai Sivan temple.


Mahawansa, the prominent historical chronicle venerated by Sinhalese describe how the hero of the Sinhalese King Dutugemunu respected his enemy Tamil King Elara who was defeated by him. That history did not repeat even before the children and the elders of Prabakaran.

Regenerative Agriculture; a People’s Agenda

by Sarath Fernando
Moderator, MONLAR
(Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform)

In today’s Sri Lanka, the growing poverty of the rural population is one of our biggest problems. Small farmers in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world are being marginalized. Agriculture has been transformed into an activity that requires considerable capital investment. 

It is estimated that over half of all small scale farmers will be reduced to destitution because of market globalization. In India, around 40 million small farmers will suffer that same fate in the next decade. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target or reducing the world’s hungry people by half by the year 2015 cannot be achieved. Instead, the hungry increased from 840 million in 2000 to over one billion in 2009. People who are excluded from the globalized market since they are not needed by it are called upon to develop their own agenda.

A strategy of the poor to overcome their poverty cannot depend on external capital whether local or international. Whoever invests such capital will have the interest of earning more capital and not of allowing this capital to be distributed or "trickled down" to reduce poverty. Lenders use the process to get what they want. Thus the sovereignty of the people is taken away, and even elected representatives have little opportunity of disagreeing with them.

Therefore, we need to present ordinary people, the majority of whom are poor, with a strategy that addresses their needs directly. It must be economically sound, address social justice, achieve economic sustainability, and deliver true democracy that respects sovereignty of the people and prevents political violence. It should allow ordinary people to take over the agenda of formulating economic policies and political systems that affect them. 

The essential need of the poor is to solve the problem of hunger. Then address health, housing, education, livelihoods and culture. Issues arising from modernization - improving skills and understanding, skills of organization and self-government, needs of advancement and entertainment and so on – must then be addressed.

The most basic need is to guarantee the opportunity to use people’s creative potential, and this can begin now. Dr. Vandana Shiva identifies three different economies in human history, the "economy of nature", "economy of the people" (or the subsistence economy, where people meet their economic needs outside the market) and then the "market economy". Those who cannot survive in the market economy have to maximize their potential in the economy of nature and in the people’s economy where they have considerable comparative advantage.

The fundamental principle of a strategy of non-dependence on capital is to integrate the abilities of human beings, their creativity, with the benefits that are available in nature free of cost. A major transformation of the way food is produced is an essential starting point. 

The priority need is for "survival" and it should be the guiding principle for us all. Concerns such as "sustainability" show that there is an overall threat to survival. But it is necessary to recognize that what the world needs today is not mere "sustainability". Trying to sustain systems that are not basically sustainable is impossible. We need the recovery and restoration of regeneration. 

The Agenda

The agenda of people excluded should be one of survival based on recovering nature’s ability to restore, part of an emerging promotion of "ecological agriculture". This is much broader than the idea of "organic agriculture", which is the production of food without external chemical inputs, or even "sustainable agriculture". We should refer to "regenerative agriculture". We need to restore natural processes. We need nature’s ability to regenerate if humankind and other life forms are to survive.

The natural growth process of a tree or plant is entirely dependent on nature’s free contribution. They absorb sunlight for free, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, water from rain. There is a completely natural cycle where food is produced in leaves, enough to feed not only the plant, but other plants, animals and human beings as well. Plants grow and give flowers and fruits to feed others. Then they grow old and decay to become part of a bigger process. Decaying leaves, branches and also animals, including their dung, fall to the ground and decay, a process carried out by millions and billions of micro organisms, earthworms and other tiny animals. Top soil is a medium that can sustain these microorganisms, but not if it is eroded either by wind or rain. Microbial activity can also be destroyed by unnecessary ploughing and cleaning of top soil, addition of poisonous external inputs such as weed-killers, pesticides or chemical fertilizer. 

We need diversity to ensure ecological sustainability and regeneration. Insect and plant diversity provides natural balance, natural fertility and natural pest control.

The recycling of organic matter ensures this diversity. It is known that animal dung and urine promote microbial activity. Therefore, we need to combine animals with plants in a proper approach to ecological agriculture. It has also been found that the indigenous varieties of animals, cows etc. give much better results. We should use indigenous seeds since they are much more adapted to local conditions, whereas high yielding varieties require external fertilizer and thus capital.

Experiences in such ecological farming have shown that the overall productivity of land can be equal to, or even much bigger than the type of external input dependent agriculture.

Sri Lanka has a large population of small farmers where such a strategy of "regenerative agriculture" could be followed effectively. 

We cannot continue to depend on imports of food and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. At the moment there is considerable loss of natural soil fertility due to the use of damaging inputs of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and weed-killers; tremendous pollution of water, soil, food and atmosphere, and deaths and illnesses caused by pesticide poisoning; environmental damage caused by unhealthy agricultural and productive activities and loss of immunity caused by chemical contamination of food.

It is now possible to think of an agenda that the poor, marginalized and excluded people could present as their programme. The overall agenda should be that people use a production process that makes the best use of nature’s resources to meet their survival needs first, then their other needs and those of the rest of society. 

Since they have only limited access to nature’s resources, this has to be done in a non-depleting and non-destructive manner. Nature’s regenerative capacity is central. This should be relevant to not only the poor, but also to the rest of the country. It should also be meaningful in the present global context, something that can unite the poor people in Sri Lanka with those in the rest of the world.

Many organisations and people are currently working on a similar agenda. One way of proceeding would be to present a policy document for wider discussion initially among those organizations, and through them to a wider public. This should be done without creating any illusion that the elected president, whoever it is, would carry out such an agenda. 

This has to be a people’s agenda planned and carried out by them. They should claim ownership and it should be based on their experiences. Much of this agenda can be carried out irrespective of what the government does. Practical implementation is the best way of understanding the concepts in depth.

Sri Lanka ruling coalition likely to resort to racism as the minority community leaders express support to opposition presidential candidate

(January 09, Colombo - Lanka Polity) “Sri Lanka ruling party is likely to resort to Sinhala racism or ethnic chauvinism in the days ahead up to January 26 presidential since major elements of the ethnic minorities of the island nation are bent to express support to the opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka.

Sivageetha Prabakaran, the lady Mayor of Eastern Province Batticaloa Municipal Council has expressed her support to Fonseka breaking away from the ruling alliance while Minister Segu Isadeen, a Muslim leader of the ruling coalition also did the same on the same day.

Ms. Prabakaran was elected the Mayor via Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) ticket in the local government elections held immediately after the state forces wiped out the Tamil Tiger rebels from the Eastern Province.

Rumours are spreading that her former colleague, Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan, an ex-rebel, is also likely to express support to Fonseka's candidature. No wonder if former Deputy of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, a Minister of National Integration will also cross over to the opposition in this context..

Two political leaders of the Upcountry Tamils recently expressed support to Fonseka and rumors are spreading that Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) leader and powerful Minister Arumugam Thondaman will also express support to Fonseka before January 26.

The major Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) is supporting the opposition candidate from the beginning.Ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Muslim leader Minister A.H.M. Fowzie is also slated to express support to the opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka.

There is a long list of names of the Ministers that are to express support to Fonseka and it appears that the opposition campaign managers are using these 'resources' thriftily.

In this backdrop, the campaign managers of President Mahinda Rajapaksa have already turned to brand Fonseka as a traitor who is backed by the remnants of the LTTE despite the claims that Rajapaksa led the forces to wipe out the rebels outright. The major evidence cited is the backing of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Fonseka is receiving. TNA was considered a proxy of the LTTE when the latter was powerful. In any case, the TNA is still strong among Tamil people and Rajapaksa also discussed with them to win their support before it discovered the TNA was the same LTTE, as a Minister stated on Friday.

Analysts point out that Rajapaksa regime will resort to racism and ethnic chauvinism as they have decided to lay all their eggs in the basket of Sinhala vote base. Sinhala polity is also divided since opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka is also an arch-Sinhala nationalist who in September 2008 said to Canadian National Post "I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country...We are also a strong nation ... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue thing."

Fonseka, the ex-Army Chief led the state forces to an outright win over the Tamil Tigers and he claims for equal credits with Rajapaksa for the war victory.

Shock and anger continue one year after Lasantha Wickrematunge’s unpunished murder

(January 08, Colombo - Lanka Polity) “A year has gone by without any progress in the investigation into his murder,” Lal Wickrematunge said today to Reporters Without Borders, on the eve of the first anniversary of the fatal shooting of his brother, Lasantha Wickrematunge, the Colombo-based Sunday Leader’s well-known managing editor. It is Lal who has replaced him at the helm of investigative weekly, some of whose journalists were recently threatened.

“When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me,” Lasantha Wickrematunge wrote in an editorial that was published after his death. Known for his revelations and criticism of the government, he was called a “terrorist journalist” by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while the president’s brother, defence minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, used the courts in a bid to silence him and tried to smear his reputation in foreign press intervieඅs after his death.

“The emotion and anger have not gone away in the year since this famous Sri Lankan journalist’s death,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The anger is being sustained by the government’s flagrant obstruction of the investigation. Lasantha Wickrematunge’s name and memory will not disappear and, in that sense, those who were behind his murder made a mistake.

“Even if these criminals continue to feel sufficiently protected that they can threaten the Sunday Leader’s new editor in messages written in the same red ink, we are confident that one day they will be punished.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We urge the various candidates for the 26 January presidential election to pledge to shed light on this murder and on the other serious press freedom violations that have taken place in recent years and to punish the perpetrators and instigators severely. Some candidates are promising the truth. We hope this is not just words.”

Lal Wickrematunge told Reporters Without Borders: “After a 10-month investigation, the case was transferred to the criminal investigation department but since then they have not taken any serious statements. They called me once, but not again. The examination of the case before the courts has been postponed 24 times. Each time, the police say they don’t have enough evidence. And the only eye witness has been missing for months.”

Lasantha’s widow, Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, herself a journalist and lawyer who has sought refugee abroad, said in an email to Reporters Without Borders: “One year later, no progress has been made (...) Accusations are being hurled in a desperate attempt to exploit the issue for political gain.”

The murdered journalist’s relatives and friends will meet at his grave in Colombo tomorrow and then participate in series of activities in his memory. Lasantha was attacked by four gunmen on motorcycles as he was driving to work on 8 January 2009. He was taken unconscious to a hospital where he died from his head injuries.

Sri Lanka was ranked 162nd out of 175 countries in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. This was the worst ranking of any democratic country.

-RSF

Blatant misuse of public property in a tough battle for the presidency of Sri Lanka

(January 07, Colombo - Lanka Polity) A written complaint lodged by the All Sri Lanka Harbor Workers' Common Union leader Chandrasiri Mahagamage before the Election Commissioner points to shocking revelation of blatant misuse of public property for the presidential campaign of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Minister in charge of the Ports Authority  is Chamal Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The complainers  say that 300 workers and 70 vehicles of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority have been deployed in presidential propaganda and election violence. The union has exposed the names of the employees and the numbers of the vehicles.

The personnel  have been stationed in three places in Colombo, Embilipitiya in south and Dambulla in north for election operations.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is using or rather misusing  the platforms of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for his rallies. Ports Authority employees have been deployed in erecting the stages with overtime and bata allowances violating the election laws, the union points out.

The President  has not spared a single pebble unmoved in the state sector in a tough presidential battle with his ex-Army chief Sarath Fonseka. Senior public servants like his powerful brother defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who has no right for party politics due to his public-paid position is also running a series of seminars in support of his brother blatantly violating the election laws and the establishment code of the public service. Even the President's Secretary, a senior civil servant is also talking in public in support of Rajapaksa. Thousands of people are summoned to a massive tent set up in the Prime Minister's place now he occupies for meetings and they are treated with  food and beverages. Nobody knows who bears the costs as the government says no public funds are used for them.

On the New Year eve, the President  delivered an SMS to all 12 million mobile phone users via the service providers. Many identified the act as an infringement of the privacy of the phone users and the President's unauthorized New Year greeting finally turned to be a spam.

The use of pubic media for the President's propaganda and for slinging  mud at his major opponent was so irresistible to the Election Commissioner and he took measures to ban five programmes of state TV for its notorious content.

Police also came under criticism  of the Election Commissioner for not removing the illegal mega billboards with the images of the President at every nook and corner of the island.

Sri Lankan Tamils Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

(January 05, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The decision of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to support opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka at the January 26 presidential is a crucial victory for the opposition and the TNA move has potentials to make impact on the voters of the other minority communities as well.

In 2005, United National Party (UNP) candidate Ranil Wickramasinghe lost the presidential to the current President Mahinda Rajapaksa since he was deprived of the Tamil votes by the election boycott of the then powerful Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sinhala polity is divided with the candidature of the ex-Army chief Sarath Fonseka and Rajapaksa can claim for the arch-chauvinist Sinhala votes and his campaign will be more Sinhala-centered in the days following the TNA decision.

Already the Upcountry Tamil party Ceylon Workers' Congress is divided and the government is receiving half-heated support from major political parties of the Upcountry Tamils. UNP bagged 128,289 votes at the Central Provincial Council election last year while the ruling coalition was able to achieve only 146,418 despite all its war successes and the state-sponsored propaganda. UNP also won the Nuwaraeliya-Maskeliya electorate that is the heart of the plantations. The decision of the TNA can have a great impact on the Upcountry Tamil polity. The same happened in the 2005 presidential and the turnout in the plantations was also low.

Although the leaders of several Muslim splinter groups are with the government, the major Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress supports opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka.

A number of paramilitary based political groups of Tamil origin support Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Eastern Provincial Council election was held in 2008 just after the province was cleared of Tamil Tiger rebels. The TNA had no opportunity to contest due to the prevalent conditions. Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) leader ex-paramilitary cadre Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan swore in as the Chief Minister after the government coalition won the election. Due to the clashes with ex-TMVPer Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman and due to the displeasure caused by the sidelining of the Chief Minister from the development work in the province handled by the President's all powerful brother Basil Rajapaksa, the TMVP is also not offering fullest corporation for Rajapaksa's presidential campaign at the moment.

The major Tamil constituent in the parliament is TNA. It was branded as a proxy of the Tamil Tigers before the latter's defeat. TNA has lost gravity since then but it performed unexpectedly well in the local government elections of Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council. They won the Vavuniya Urban Council while they were placed second to the government coalition in Jaffna Municipal Council through a low profile campaign vis-a-vis state-sponsored propaganda of the opponent.  The ruling coalition collapsed to third position in Vavuniya Urban Council.

All these facts lead to the argument that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has poor support from the minority communities of the country. Quite extraordinarily the Tamils have opted to Sarath Fonseka who was equally Sinhala chauvinist and equally instrumental in the brutal repression of the Tamil struggle. Jaffna University Teachers for Human Rights identified the war victory in the terms "For both parties, the key to military dominance lay not in brilliant strategies, but in an utter disregard for the lives of civilians and combatants alike, driven by their leaders’ single-minded pursuit of personal power."

However, the Tamils appear to be tired of the Sinhala chauvinist rule of the Rajapaksa regime and they have expressed their displeasure through choosing Fonseka but with less hopes for a better future.

Senthan Nada, a Toronto spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop the War in Sri Lanka, told Digital Journal in an e-mail on Sunday that Tamils in Sri Lanka are like “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” because both candidates were partnered together during the military operations.

“I think The Tamils have to choose between the lesser of the evils. Tamils are considering Sarath Fonseka as a common opposition candidate and lesser evil of the two evils,” he says.

People's power defeats state terror at Kelaniya in Sri Lanka

(January 04, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The supporters of opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka faced the thugs believed to be of the Sri Lankan Minister of Labor Mervin Silva at Kiribathgoda town, the center of the Minister's electorate. The hooligans were wielding clubs and bottles filled with sand etc. and police that observed the gang did not disperse them as they should have done. Instead, the police officials approached the group of Sarath Fonseka's supporters that were engaged in propaganda and asked them to stop their campaign. However, the campaigners including both the members of the United National Party (UNP) and the People's Liberation Front (JVP) did not turn away and marched forward to face the consequences.

They endured it with people's power and the thugs had to flee as the police was compelled to fire  tear gas at them. The whole episode was telecast by many private media channels. The state-owned media had a totally different version in which a group of supporters of the government being attacked by a mob that came in white vans. Nobody seems to believe it since the evidence were abundant to understand who attacked whom.

Most of the pro-Fonseka media have also forgotten the importance of this incident. We think it is politically important since the atrocity was faced and defeated with people’s power though it was the UNP and the JVP.

The workers of the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation taught a lesson to the same Minister few years back as he manhandled an official right inside the premises of the television channel. However, his bosses continue to ignore the people’s response regarding this Minister’s notorious behavior at whatever the cost. Mervin Silva is a symbolic character that depicts one of the many faces of the monstrous regime of Rajapaksas.

We think the incident that took place at Kiribathgoda is politically important since it a step forward by people in the struggle to free them from state terror. Kelaniya electorate is a good venue to begin the struggle since the state terror is mingled with underworld there.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa's maximum to Tamil demands

(January 03, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa's maximum reaction to the long-standing Tamil demand for autonomy is to be the 13th amendment to the constitution minus the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces that came under the Indo-Lanka accord that preceded the constitutional amendment.

The jubilant President who successfully suppressed the three decade old armed struggle of the Tamils last year is struggling to win the support of the Tamils ahead of the early presidential poll in which he is facing a pitch battle with his ex-Army chief retired General Sarath Fonseka.

However, he has laid his hopes basically on the Sinhala chauvinist votes and unwilling and afraid to go beyond  the line of 13th amendment. Even in the latter years of 1980s, the Tamils rejected the 13th amendment and the Provincial Councils that were in fact imposed on them parallel to an Indian military intervention. Then the two provinces were merged and later the Sinhala nationalist Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) carried out a successful lawsuit in 2006 to demerge the two provinces in a judgment delivered by the ex-Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva whose role is highly questioned by media and civil society. The problem now remains is if the Tamil nationalists have the moral right to accept a lesser version of the 13th amendment after more than two decades they rejected it and following so much blood was shed.

Rajapaksa regime reportedly intends to hold elections for the Northern Provincial Council in coming June. They held elections for the Eastern Provincial Council in 2008 immediately after the areas under the rebels in the Eastern Province were 'liberated.' However, the Eastern Province Chief Minister, ex-rebel and ex-paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan expressed displeasure several times over the way the central government deals with the powers of the Provincial Council. It is an open secret that the President's all powerful brother Basil Rajapaksa and the President-nominated Governor of the Eastern Province Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama have sidelined the Chief Minister that hails from a subaltern background in the development work in the province that are directly handled by the central government.

The Rajapaksa regime is violating the fundamentals of power devolution even in the nominal decentralization they have offered to the Tamils. The fate of the would be-Provincial Council in the Northern Province will be the same if it goes to the hands of the pro-government ex-paramilitary elements groups the likes led by Ministers Douglas Devananda and Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman.