Sri Lankan leaders indirectly admit charges leveled against them

“When the American forces entered the room that Bin Laden was in they first shot his wife. Then they shot bin Laden. At this point both of them were unarmed. But none of us, or the international community is questioning this,” said Sri Lanka Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at a meeting held in Nugegoda on June 17, as quoted by News First.

“But the Channel 4 video, we don't know if it is accurate or not, shows LTTE terrorists being arrested by the army. They are being questioned. But later they show the body. They make it out to be a big thing. But they don't show who this terrorist is,” pointed out the Defence Secretary.

“This terrorist is the terrorist who brutally murdered our Buddhist priests in the Eastern Province in cold blood. This is the person who killed 600 unarmed police officers after tying their hands. This is the person who killed the innocent women and their children in in villages in cold blood. None of this is mentioned about these people in the documentary,” said the Defence Secretary.

This statement raises several questions. Does the senior government official know the identity of the said dead man whose body was shown in the Channel 4 film?

Does the Defense Secretary attempt to justify the killing, stating that the dead man is a terrorist?

If so, the official seems to play into the hands of his enemies who seek a war crimes probe against him. The charges against Sri Lanka government leaders are related to extra judicial killings allegedly committed during war. This kind of statements or arguments amount to admitting the charges.

Do the Sri Lankan leaders think that this is the way to face the situation in which they are really in trouble?


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Link to Killing Fields of Sri Lanka

Watch Channel 4 video Killing Fields of Sri Lanka

Jon Snow presents a forensic investigation into the final weeks of the quarter-century-long civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the secessionist rebels, the Tamil Tigers.

With disturbing and distressing descriptions and film of executions, atrocities and the shelling of civilians the programme features devastating new video evidence of war crimes - some of the most horrific footage Channel 4 has ever broadcast.

Captured on mobile phones, both by Tamils under attack and government soldiers as war trophies, the disturbing footage shows: the extra-judicial executions of prisoners; the aftermath of targeted shelling of civilian camps; and dead female Tamil fighters who appear to have been raped or sexually assaulted, abused and murdered.

The film is made and broadcast as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon faces growing criticism for refusing to launch an investigation into 'credible allegations' that Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes during the closing weeks of the bloody conflict with the Tamil Tigers.

In April 2011, Ban Ki-moon published a report by a UN-appointed panel of experts, which concluded that as many as 40,000 people were killed in the final weeks of the war between the Tamil Tigers and government forces.

It called for the creation of an international mechanism to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed by government forces and the Tamil Tigers during that time.

This film provides powerful evidence that will lend new urgency to the panel's call for an international inquiry to be mounted, including harrowing interviews with eye-witnesses, new photographic stills, official Sri Lankan army video footage, and satellite imagery.

Also examined in the film are some of the horrific atrocities carried out by the Tamil Tigers, who used civilians as human shields.

Channel 4 News has consistently reported on the bloody denouement of Sri Lanka's civil war. Sri Lanka's Killing Fields presents a further damning account of the actions of Sri Lankan forces, in a war that the government still insists was conducted with a policy of Zero Civilian Casualties.

The film raises serious questions about the consequences if the UN fails to act, not only with respect to Sri Lanka but also to future violations of international law.

You can follow the programme on Twitter using #KillingFields

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields will be shown to MPs and parliamentary officials at a special showing in the House of Commons next week.

If you wish to contact your MP directly on this or any other matter you can go to Theyworkforyou.com (you can click on the link at the left hand side of this page) to find out who your representative is and how to contact them.


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“There is no arsenic in our rice” - Minister of Agriculture; “ That is certainly true” - Agribusiness Corporations

Research conducted recently by a group of scientists of universities in Sri Lanka has shown that there is arsenic poison in rice produced in the country and that around 20,000 farmers in Rajarata have become ill and have died due to arsenic poison that is in the rice produced in the country. The research has revealed that this was due to the arsenic poison mixed in the agrochemicals used in Rajarata.

Agribusiness corporations have become very upset by this revelation and have published a full page advertisement with 20 such corporations coming together . It denies this and has the caption that “ scientific truth that protects agriculture will ever prevail”. In the mean time the Hon Minister of Agriculture issues a statement saying that “There is no arsenic in t he rice produced in the country”. He says that “28 varieties of agrochemicals were tested and there was arsenic present only in two of those”.

During the last 20 years there were around 20,000 farmers in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts who were killed by this mystery Kidney disease ( axiology /origin – CKDu ) which baffled the doctors. Last week a group of scientists comprising of chemists, phamocologists, botanists, medical doctors, forensic doctors of the universities of Kelaniya and Rajarata fond the following facts. In this research done for six months they found that the disease was connected with the agrochemicals that the farmers were using. This was linked with arsenic poison. The farmers had this suspicion for quite a long time and now it has been proved with evidence conclusively. However, the perpetrators have not yet accepted this . These scientists have investigated 8 varieties of agrochemicals The hard water in this region converts the arsenic in agrochemicals into Calcium arsenate ( Ca3( AsO4 )2 , which is a highly poisonous chemical. This dissolves in water. Due to the hardness of water in Rajarata this becomes even more dangerous. “We are 100 sure that there are dangerous quantities of arsenic in the agrochemicals imported into the country. We have to continue our reaserch a little more to show that this is linked to the CKDu disease in Rajarata” says the head of the research team Prof. Nalin De Silva.

We invited the importing agrochemical companies to look at the research that we were doing. Three of them came and they have not challenged our researches. In testing these agrochemicals it was proved that they contained between 100 to 3,000 micrograms per kg. This is a dangerous lethal quantity of poison that can kill a human person. Importing of agrochemicals that contain arsenic is against the Sri Lankan law.

It takes time for symptoms of arsenic poisoning to appear. So patients find it too late for treatment Arsenic poisoning can cause heart attacks, diabetes, weakening of body immunity etc. frequent attacks of viral diseases occur. It is also causes cancer. It can cause deformed babies too. In Padaviya out of a population of about 10,000 over 500 people suffer this disease. In this area 40% of the people who die are due to this disease says the doctor in charge of Padaviya hospital.

The important question is this. All agrochemicals are poisonous. They are poisonous to animals, poisonous to plans, poisonous to microbes in the soil, poisonous to insects. T here is no doubt that they are poisonous to the human body in diverse ways. It is impossible to completely get rid of pests with chemical pesticides. It only leads to breeding of more resistant pests and creating pest epidemics of larger scale.

So, what is “the scientific truth that protects agriculture that will prevail”. Agriculture is something given by nature free of charge. Sunlight given free of charge, CO 2 gas also given free, and water given free is absorbed by the leaves of trees. The required minerals are transformed by the microbes and earthworms of the soil. This all happens free. What we do by using agrochemicals is the killing of this free process given by nature. We kill nature, kill animals, plants and finally humans. This is an unscientific falsehood that destroys agriculture and nature. Therefore what we need to do is to give up this entire destructive process of chemical farming.

Mr. Olivier De Schutter, the special Rapporteur on the right to food of the United Nations submitted a report to the Human Rights Council of the UN on 17 December 2010 titled “Agro ecology and right to food” (Report no. A/ HRC/ 16/ 49 ) where he says that the way to solve the hunger crisis of the world is by adopting agro ecology. He says that states must pay serious attention to reorienting their agriculture systems towards a mode of production that are highly productive, highly sustainable, and contribute to the progressive realization of human right to food and that this can be done by adopting agro ecological methods. What we need to do today is to save the scientific truth of agriculture from the agribusiness TNCs that propagate the unscientific farming with poison for increasing their profits.

Sarath Fernando

MONLAR ( Movement for Land and Agriculture Reform ), 1151/58A, 4th Lane Kotte Road, Rajagiriya e-mail : monlar@sltnet.lk and sarathfdo@sltnet.lk




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Second programme of leadership and positive attitude training for Sri Lanka university students starts today

The second programme of leadership and positive attitude training programme of the new university students of Sri Lanka is to commence today.

The programme handled by the military is to be held in 29 centers island wide.

10,032 students have been called for the programme. Registration of the participants started at the respective centers yesterday.

9848 students participated in the first programme that was held in 28 centers. Two new centers have been added to the list of centers. They are the Kothalawala Defense Academy and the Medawachchiya Punewa Navy camp. The training programme will not be held this time at the Elpitiya Police Training School.


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Is this the democracy granted to the Tamils by Sri Lanka government?

Jaffna peninsula is in the hands of the Sri Lanka state security forces since 1995.

However, even after the Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) was defeated in two years back, still the normalcy does not appear to prevail in Jaffna.

Excessive military presence and their high handedness prevents people enjoying the democratic rights at least to the level enjoyed by the people of the other parts of the country.

Following report is from Daily Mirror:

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Mavai Senathiraja accused the Army of dispersing a meeting they held at the Alawetti Mahajana College in Jaffna last evening using excessive force.
“More than 100 soldiers came to the College and said that we cannot hold the meeting here and subsequently began removing the microphones before assaulting the participants. When our bodyguards, who are also policemen, intervened they too were assaulted”, he said. “Several people had been injured and a complaint was lodged with the Thellipala police and also the Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe”, he added.
The TNA held the meeting to introduce their candidates to the public for the forthcoming Local Government Elections. Parliamentarians Mavai Senathiraja, Suresh Premachandra, M.A Sumanthiran, A. Vinayagamoorthi and E. Sarawanabawan participated in the meeting.

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People's Liberation Front (JVP) initiative for the human rights of Tamil political prisoners

We adopted the following news story from the People's Liberation Front (JVP) affiliated Lanka Truth website.

The 'We are Sri Lankans' is also a human rights initiative of the JVP.

We identify this trend of the JVP as a unique phenomenon. JVP backed the war that was the main reason for the violation of human rights of the Tamils.

‘We are Sri Lankans (WESL)’ an organization agitating for the release of Tamil political prisoners said Tuesday(14) Tamils held in prisons and detention camps countrywide were allegedly being abused and neglected by prison authorities.
WESL Executive Committee member Udul Premaratne told a media briefing they had received information that individuals who were arrested on suspicion of having links to the LTTE were being harassed by inmates and prison officers.
“These detainees are being mistreated simply because they are ‘Tamil political prisoners’. However, it is an act of injustice to allow them to languish in detention camps without filing charges against them. So far the government has even failed to release the names of those being detained in such centres,” he charged.
Referring to a statement made by Minister Dinesh Gunawardena that at present only about 700 are being detained as LTTE suspects, Mr. Premaratne said the number was quite different to that released by government sources earlier. “According to the government, some 1,700 identified as hardcore LTTE cadres at detention camps. If these figures are accurate, how can the number now suddenly decrease to a mere 700? What happened to the others?” Mr. Premaratne asked.
He said the relatives of some of these individuals were mistreated and even sexually harassed by prisons officials during their visits to the prisons. “A large number are continuing to be detained because of the language barrier and the lack of means for legal support,” he added.
Mr. Premaratne said if the government was genuinely interested in restoring peace in the country, it was vital for it to focus attention on the issue of political prisoners and establish a mechanism to ensure that individuals without any charges are released.

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Netherlands investigators now in Sri Lanka to inquire ex-Tamil Tiger leader KP

A special investigation team from the Netherlands that has arrived in Sri Lanka to probe the terrorist activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) in relation to Netherlands is to inquire ex-LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.

Sri Lanka defense sources say that the government of Sri Lanka has granted permission to the Netherlands investigators to record statements from KP who is now under the government protection.

The group especially will inquire into the fund raising and supply of weapons by the LTTE during the period from 1983 to 2009, reported state media.

Spokesman of the investigating team Jacho Birents says statements have already being recorded from around 90 persons.


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Channel 4 airs Sri Lanka's killing fields; government repeats it is not authentic

"Footage of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, with its echoes of Srebrenica, means the international community is more likely to act, a top lawyer tells Channel 4 News. But is prosecution possible?" Channel 4 questioned in its website yesterday as the government of Sri Lanka denied the one hour video aired by Channel 4 TV stating it was a a mere ‘collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a minuscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka.'

Documenting the final weeks of the bloody civil war when an estimated 40,000 people died, the Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields reveals shocking new evidence of serious war crimes.
The film includes footage of government soldiers executing bound prisoners; the dead bodies of naked, abused women dumped in a truck; and the bombing of civilian hospitals.
The barbaric images were captured on mobile phones, many apparently by government soldiers filming grim trophy videos.
The faces of a number of the soldiers can be seen while conversations are heard as the killings are discussed.
In one video, a soldier admits he would like to mutilate the corpse of a dead naked woman "if no one was around".
While pressure builds on the international community to answer calls for an investigation, a top international lawyer has told Channel 4 News the use of new technologies has created a sea change in the reporting of serious crimes.
Mobile phone footage, pictures and testimony distributed online has seen information become instantly accessible to a global audience.
"There has never been a greater awareness of these types of crimes than right now, and it is because of the use of social media," Mark Ellis, chief executive of the International Bar Association, told Channel 4 News.
"It is much more difficult for the international community to stay silent when facing this onslaught of evidence shown by the social media process - it increases the likelihood that the international community must act." (Channel 4)

The video shown at UNHRC

The statement of the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka:

“This document, like the Darusman Report, does no more than put together a sequence of events and images, to justify a conclusion arrived at in advance. The origins of this footage are yet to be established, and no one has so far taken responsibility for its contents. It is a mere collection of visuals previously aired through LTTE websites and a minuscule section of the international media, at the behest of parties with vested interests to undermine the present efforts at reconciliation and development taking place in Sri Lanka. The views expressed in the film are without any guarantee of authenticity.
“This is one of the matters before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission which is scheduled to complete its work by mid-November 2011.
“When Minister Burt telephoned the Minister of External Affairs during the afternoon of June 14, 2011, Prof. Peiris emphasized that the Sri Lankan Commission is entitled to the space and time to complete its work. He took the opportunity to brief Minister Burt on the significant progress that has been made in a variety of fields.
These, he pointed out, include the demining of vast tracts of land, the resettlement of displaced persons, the reintegration into society of former combatants including child soldiers after exposure to programmes of training, the return to their rightful owners of lands previously included in High Security Zones, and the revival of the economy of areas affected by military operations and restoration of livelihoods of those who, for many decades, had been under the yoke of LTTE terrorism.
It must be noted that, in the interest of transparency, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission invited INGOs who have been aggressively critical, to give evidence before the Commission, but this has been publicly rejected by these organizations.
It is much to be regretted that Minister Burt has taken no account of the Sri Lankan Government’s strong refutation of the suggestion that the Government of Sri Lanka deliberately targeted its own civilians, as alleged in the video.
This is in stark contrast with the visible standards maintained by the Sri Lankan Army during a three year long operation to liberate the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the menace of the LTTE, including bringing to safety 300,000 innocent Tamil civilians being held as human shields by the LTTE which has been proscribed as a terrorist organization in 32 countries.
At this crucial time what Sri Lanka needs from its friends is not threats but the space and support for restoration of what was lost over three decades and the opportunity to move rapidly forward towards reconciliation and economic development.”

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Sri Lankan migrant employees in a fast unto death in Iraq; Sri Lanka government shuns responsibility stating they are illegal

Thirty Sri Lankan migrate workers have commenced a fast unto death in Al Amara, Iraq, reported a local TV station.

They say they urge the authorities to pay them the 19 months arrears of the unpaid salaries and allow them to return to Sri Lanka. The relevant employees began a fast unto death previously also but suspended the action as the officials of the Iraq government pledged to grant them solutions, reported the TV station.

A spokesman of the Lebanon embassy of Sri Lanka said to the TV station that the officials are trying hard to solve the issue.

However, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) said that it was unable to directly intervene to resolve the issue of these migrant workers.

Due to the volatile conditions in the country, the Sri Lankan government had brought the country's migrants back to the country and stopped sending any new workers to Iraq, said SLFEB Chairman, Kingsley Ranawana adding that Sri Lankan migrant workers who are on a fast unto death in Iraq had however, illegally entered the country.


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Sri Lanka police narcotic bureau officials under threat following arrest of a drug dealer

Sri Lanka media reported that the police narcotic bureau officials that arrested a large haul of heroine yesterday are under death threats.

Bureau director J.P.U. Jayasinghe and the officials in the squad that conducted the raid to confiscate the seven kilo heroine stock that was hidden in a house in Rajagiriya are under threat, local media said.
Police sources say the narcotic investigators are on the hunt of a person named Thotalanga Japan Chooti who is believed the king pin of Colombo drug scandals.

The suspect is in the protection of a powerful politician of Colombo district and even uses a vehicle belonged to the politico, sources say.

Police recently arrested a wealthy person known as Lalithra whose statements led to the recovery of the heroine stock. Media reported that the said politician attempted to get the man released before the suspect himself showed police the safe house where heroine was hidden yesterday.


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Sri Lankan trade unions complains to ILO against restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activity.

A coalition of Sri Lankan trade unions has complained to the International Labor Organization (ILO) seeking an intervention against the restrictions imposed by the government on trade union activity.

The complaint has been lodged by Thushara Ilangakoon of Health Services Trade Union Alliance, Anton Marcus of Trade Union Confederation and Saman Ratnapriya of Government Nursing Officers Association.

They allege that the fundamental rights of the workers to strike has been curtailed and activists are regularly intimidated in violation of the principles of the ILO conventions.


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Two new Supreme Court judges take oath in Sri Lanka

Two new Supreme Court judges took oaths before the President Mahinda Rajapaksa today at the Temple Trees.

The two new judges are the former Chairman of Court of Appeal Sathya Hettige and former Solicitor General President's Counsel W.P.J. Dep. Presidential Secretary Lilith Weerathunga was also present at the official swearing in of the two Supreme Court judges.

Meanwhile, Deputy Solicitor General Ms. Eva Wanasundara was promoted as the Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice sources said.


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Sri Lanka - India ferry service first ship today

The first passenger ship of the ferry service relaunched between Sri Lanka and India following the end of war will sail from Tutokorin today.

The ship is to arrive in the Colombo harbor tomorrow.

The nine story ship has seating arrangements for 1044 passengers. It also has a 250 seat auditorium, restaurants, recreational facilities and medical facilities.

The shipping agent Arugambay Travels says that 10% is levied from the children up to two years of age, 50% up to 12 years of age and 40% from the senior citizens.

One way ticket is around 60 US dollars. A passenger can carry up to 100 kilos of baggage.



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Colombo drug dealer arrested; close associate of government MP

Sri Lanka police arrested a person believed the main distributor of heroine in Colombo city.

Police also found a stock of over seven kilos heroine worth of Rs. 40 million in the man's custody.

A woman associate and a luxury vehicle belonged to him was also taken into custody. She was the custodian of a safe house where heroine was stocked.

The suspect is known as Lalithra. He is believed a close associate of a government MP of Colombo district.

Police say the MP tried hard to get the suspect released from police custody.

Police said the suspect had imported heroine directly from Pakistan and sold in Sri Lanka.


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Inhuman treatment for a Sri Lankan migrant worker in Saudi Arabia

A Sri Lankan who was found guilty for selling liquor in a public place in Taif city Saudi Arabia while being drunk has been subjected to 430 lashes, reported Emirates 24/7 news service said yesterday.

The Emirates did not report the name of the person. However, the man was apparently a migrant laborer. Thousands of Sri Lankans work in Saudi Arabia as unskilled and skilled laborers. Of them, the vast majority is housemaids.

Of the 400 lashes, 80 is for being drunk, reported the news service. SEventy lashes are to be repeated five times for selling liquor. The man is also sentenced for five years and he is to be deported from Saudi Arabia after his punishment is over.


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People;s Liberation Front (JVP) of Sri Lanka to hold a massive protest in Colombo today

People's Liberation Front (JVP) of Sri Lanka has organized a massive protest campaign today in Colombo in protest of the killing of Free Trade Zone employee Roshen Janaka by police.

The protest is to be held at 3 p.m. today at at Lipton Circus, said a JVP spokesman.

JVP was to hold a public lecture today on government's bifurcate police before the international pressure at the Viharamahadevi Indoor Stadium but cancelled it to go to the massive protest, a party spokesman said.

Roshan Janaka, a 22 year old employee of Free Trade Zone was critically injured in police fire on Monday and succumbed to injuries last evening.


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Normalcy of Katunayaka Free Trade Zone of Sri Lanka marred by police violence

(June 01, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's local media reported that a young man injured in the clash between the police and the agitators on Monday in Katunayaka Free Trade Zone is in critical condition.

Sinhala daily The Divaina newspaper reported that 22 year old Free Trade Zone employee Roshen Shanaka has sustained gun shot injuries near his waist.

The man's kidneys are not functioning and his right leg has been amputated, says the newspaper. The patient depends on life saving machines, some other media reported.

The patient Roshen shanaka is a resident of Minuwangoda. He is the fourth of the five siblings of the family and joined an employment in the Free Trade Zone four months ago, family sources said to media.

Meanwhile, BBC Sinhala service reported that another Free Trade Zone employee who pleaded to police not to harm him because he had undergone a by-pass surgery has also been attacked by police.

A left oriented News Service UPU said based on ground sources, "The problem started on Monday 30 June, with the arrival of several ministers including Sarath Gunaratne and Priyadarshani Fernando claiming to distribute leaflets to the factories to make the workers aware of the benefits of the proposed pension scheme. They have come with a large group of security personnel. NSSP leaders of the area informed UPU news that the arrival of these ministers at a time when the government has announced that the pension will not be applicable to the free trade zones is quite strange. Workers were provoked into hooting and work stoppage. Police who came with the ministers wanted to stop hooting and that started the clash which ended with one worker critically injured. Trade union activists of JTUA shut down free trade zones after clashes between police."

Health Services Trade Union Alliance Chairman Saman Rathnapriya said that over 300 employees of the Free Trade Zone were injured and treated in hospitals. Of them, around 20 are critically injured, he said.

The employees of Free Trade Zone agitated against the government proposal to set up a pension fund for private sector employees with additional deductions from their salaries and other benefits.

Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Jayanthi Bandaranaike said to media that the Free Trade Zone of Katunayaka that was closed since yesterday would be reopened as usual since tomorrow.

Several factories have sustained damages, a foreign manager of a factory said to BBC Sinhala Service appearing anonymous. The Chairman of the BOI said that out of the 50,000 workers of the 84 factories of the Katunayaka Free Trade Zone, 4500 employees of six factories joined the agitations. The unrest was spreading to other factories, the official said.

The Joint Trade Union Alliance that comprised of 26 trade unions including powerful Lanka Bank Employees' Union, Ceylon Mercantile Union and Free Trade Zone General Employees' Union says that they have decided to launch a token strike in protest of the proposed private sector pension fund.

The Joint Trade Union Alliance is to hold an agitation today noon before the Colombo Fort railway station to protest the police attack at the Free Trade Zone employees yesterday.

Joint Trade Union Alliance says that it has also taken measures to file a fundamental rights petition against the assault that took place on Monday in Katunayaka Free Trade Zone.


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Sri Lanka government defeated by private sector employees

(May 31, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee that met under the patronage of party leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday evening unanimously decided to hold the proposed private sector pension scheme temporarily.

The decision drew a close resemblance with the socialist dictatorships of the former Eastern Block in which the central Committee of the Communist Party was the actual governing council of Sri Lanka.

The Central Committee decided to reconsider the bill and to hold it until a new bill that they say suits the needs of the private sector employees is drafted.

SLFP central committee granted powers to the the parliamentary group of the ruling coalition to proceed with the matter. They say they will call for consultation from the trade unions and public, a step that could have taken prior to draft the bill. This proves that democracy  is not default in this system and it is something that should be won through struggles.

Meanwhile, the government also decided to close the Free Trade Zone in Katunayaka today to establish 'industrial' peace. Peace for them is just industrial peace. It is the peace that is needed by the investors to run their production process.

The employees of the Free Trade Zone held protests continuously and yesterday clashed with police injuring 15 police personnel including a Deputy Inspector General. Police used tear gas to disperse them. Mainstream media did not report that 230 employees of the Free Trade Zone in Katunayakewho were injured by the police attack and they been admitted Negombo Hospital, as reported by Lanka Truth website.

Sri Lanka government early yesterday said they had decided to exempt the employees working in the Free Trade Zones and the affiliated industry from the proposed Private Sector Pension Scheme, reported the official website of the Government Information Department.

The proposed private sector pension scheme (PSPS) would be optional and employees could obtain their contributions with interest if they leave a job before mandatory 120 months to be eligible for the pension benefits, the government said. It was a clear change from the original plan to give such employees only 60% of what they saved without interest when they reached the age of 60 years.

The workers of the Katunayaka Free Trade Zone of Sri Lanka launched a wave of protests against the proposed private sector pension scheme.

Sources from the Free Trade Zone said that the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) led Inter Company Employees' Union was behind the protests.

The government's decision to take a step back is a real victory to the workers and also to the JVP too.


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Non academic staff of Sri Lanka's universities warns to strike

(May 27, 2011,  Lanka Polity) While the struggle of Sri Lanka's university teachers is dragging without a solution, the non-academic staff of the universities also threatened strike action unless their demands are granted within a fortnight.

R.M. Chandrapala, the Chairman of the Inter University Trade Union Federation (IUTUF) said that the executive committee of the federation that represents 10 trade unions came to this decision recently.

He said that the decision of the IUTUF was informed to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Disanayaka, the secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education Sunil Jayantha Nawarathna and the Chairman of the University Grants Commission Gamini Samaranayaka in writing.

The trade union official said that the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Disanayaka breached the promise to the university non academic staff to grant the promised other half of the salary increase that was given in 2007 after a strike.


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Isolated open dwelling places for the stray dogs of Sri Lanka

(May 27, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's health authorities have planned to establish isolated open dwelling places for the stray dogs.

The first of such canine dwelling grounds is to be established in a two acre land in Anuradhapura for the stray dogs in the area.

The government says it has stopped execution of stray dogs as a policy and spends around Rs. 200 million per annum for sterilization programmes for dogs.

Sri lanka Ministry of Health says that 2000 to 2500 dog bites are reported everyday in Sri Lanka. Most of these dog bites are treated in government hospitals and a single vaccination costs Rs. 30,000 for the government.

The cost for treatment for dog bites cost Rs. 500 million to the public coffers.

Sri Lanka's dog population is believed 2.5 million and the majority of them are stray dogs.


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Twenty Sri Lankans die everyday due to smoking

(May 26, 2011,  Lanka Polity) The Chairman of Sri Lanka Tobacco and Alcohol Authority Prof. Carlo Fonseka says that 60 Sri Lankans die everyday due to illnesses caused by smoking.

Citing the latest research reports, the medical professor said that every year 20,000 persons die due to excessive smoking.

The professor accused that the tobacco companies have programmes to make the people addicted to nicotine in tobacco since very young ages.

The authority has planned programmes to prevent people from smoking to mark the World Anti-Smoking Day that falls on May 31.

Under the Mahinda Chinthana policy of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, publicity on smoking has been banned in Sri Lanka. Selling cigarettes to under aged and smoking in public places have also been banned. Government has imposed heavy taxes on tobacco and that income is one of the most lucrative sources of income of the government.

However, not only the official reports, but also the public observances show that there is a trend of decline in smoking in Sri Lanka. The government can spend the tax money for education on smoking and also to create alternate activities for the people to engage.



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Sri Lanka foreign policy pendulum swings from India to China this time

(May 21, 2011,  Lanka Polity) As soon as the official visit to India ended without apparent success, Sri Lanka Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris will leave for an official tour in China on May 23.

The Foreign Minister's tour is on an invitation of his counterpart in China, Sri Lanka Ministry of External Affairs say.

Minister Peiris is to have bilateral talks with the Foreign Minister of China and other senior politicians and officials during his two day visit.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Minister wished to raise the issues pertaining to the UN panel report on Sri Lanka at these discussions.

Same facts were reported in advance to the Foreign Minister's tour in India but the statements at the end of the tour lacked what the government aimed regarding the 'Darusman' report.

Sri Lanka's pendulum behavior of  swinging between India and China is symbolized through this tour. The foreign policy of the island nation seemed to be manipulating the interests of these two countries in relation to the Indian Ocean.

If you do not support us, we will go to your enemy is Sri Lanka's foreign policy. The defeated Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) also dis the same in between Europe and US.


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What a time bomb Sri Lanka's Eastern Province Chief Minister Pillaiyan is sitting on!

(May 20, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka government sources say that the Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan agreed to corporate with the government further as TMVP delegation met the President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday.

The TMVP leader and the Chief Minister raised the problems he and his party men were facing. A team of Army reportedly raided the house of the Chief Minister without a warrant, as TMVP accuses. It is reported that the President instructed the Inspector General of Police to take measures to conduct investigations in line with the law and to pay due respect to the privileges of the Eastern Province Chief Minister.

Then who ordered the raids, if the President is against them? Some media reported that the raid was conducted under the orders of the Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The Police was also instructed by the President to speed up investigations regarding the arrested TMVP provincial councilor Pradeep Master. He was arrested last week in suspicion for the killing of a coordinating secretary of Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, a rival of the TMVP.

The President reportedly highlighted at the meeting the need of respect by all sections of the society to the rule of law.

The Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka, Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya and President's Secretary Lalith Weerathunga also participated in the discussion.

Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka appears as the person who arranged the meeting for Pillaiya. That means Pillaiyan has no very good rapport with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The clashes between paramilitary politicians Deputy Minister Karuna Amman and the Chief Minister Pillaiyan haunt the Batticaloa district since a long time. Karuna who nearly lost the entire ground and fled to UK once to be arrested and imprisoned there for breach of immigration laws fought back after returning to the home country.

He somehow won the heart of the ruling family and elevated into national politics as a Deputy Minister and a Vice President of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

The killings that took place in Batticloa last week appears as a direct clash between these two paramilitary leaders.

However, with Karuna's advent to the ruling family, Pillaiyan is in a very disadvantaged position. He seems sitting on a time bomb as metaphorically said by certain media. It is a time bomb of which the remote controller is in other people's hand. It may be in the hands of his arch rival Karuna.

One thing is definite. Pillaiyan who has been sidelined by the government will not be able to win a future election for a Provincial council or any other set up that will be created in future, especially in a context the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has reappeared and invaded the main stream politics of Tamil polity.

However, Karuna will cling to power still preventing his enemy's hold. Power is power and the color of the power will not be a matter to Karuna. Poor Pillaiyan! Unknown gunmen killed the Chief Minister's secretary at Athurugiriya some times back. Culprits are yet to arrested.

Lanka-e-News that appears since recently a pro-Pillaiyan media says that Pillaiyan has the widest support of the former paramilitary cadres. It also hints that Pillaiyan has a huge arms cache as well.


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Why military style leadership training for university students of Sri Lanka?

(May 19, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate the so called 'leadership and positive attitude training course' of the new intake of university students on May 23.

The Ministry of Higher Education has made this course compulsory for the students. One who fails to follow this course without valid reason cannot enter into a university to follow a formal course. This condition appears to be a violation of human rights and definitely it will be raised in the courts, if enacted as per what is meant by the calling letter for this course.

The ceremonial inauguration will be held with the participation of the 10,000 students that are to be taken in for the training as the first group of the batch. All 20,000 students of the 2011 batch are to be trained under the programme.

They will be provided training at 28 training centers under the Defense Ministry. The duration of the training course is three weeks.

The authorities have not clearly indicated why the Ministry of Higher Education opted to the military to provide leadership training while the university system had better teachers for such course. The university teachers' associations that have focused their attention primarily to the salary issue for which they are struggling keep mum regarding this training.

The Minister of Higher Education S.B. Disanayaka said that the programme was not a military training although it would be held in military camps. The male and female students are provided with separate lodgings in hostels and the Ministry has taken steps to guarantee the security of the students, he says.

The military style training of the university students seem to be also a post-war situation. The massive military machine that was created for the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) may be idling without meaningful tasks to their caliber. That can be one reason the government wants them to be engaged in a task like this that can earn them back a kind of respect from an elite section of the society. It is true that the military machine absorbed a good portion of the highly skilled labor of the country. Therefore, the military may adapt to the new responsibilities.

Certain sections of the polity, especially the leftists, argue that this is another move of the government to militarize the society. However, the argument inherits the counter argument itself since the move can also be a measure to demilitarize Army through actions by which they are made to engage more in non-military activities.

Yet one thing is crystal clear. A country cannot be militarized when military has no powerful enemy to engage in a war.

This can be another poor perception of the education authorities of Sri Lanka who still think that all university students are JVP members. They wonder how the JVP recruits them and think that it is done through the brainwashing conducted in ragging. Then the higher education authorities seem to take the ragging and brainwashing to their hand. The Hon. Minister of Higher Education has told that the leadership training is an action to stop ragging in universities.

The standards of the university education system in Sri Lanka is deteriorating rapidly according to some academics. Will this so called leadership training speed it up? Perhaps, this can be the intention of the government that is promoting pay universities or the private universities. The parents that do not like military style leadership training will be able to send their children to private universities when they are opened.

Leadership training is not a basic requirement to enter the private universities. Are they not making leaders?

Leaders are the people like S.B. Disanayaka, Hon. Minister of Higher Education who changes parties time to time to cling to leadership. He was once in fame of building a massive mansion in Hanguranketha. The house was named by state media under Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga as Samurdhi Mahal since the Minister held the post of Minister of Samurdhi (Poverty Alleviation). The Minister was also jailed for two years by Supreme Court for contempt of court. Later he was pardoned by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.


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Elections for the rest of the local government bodies to be held on same day in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Election Secretariat says that the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils will take action to hold the elections for all the remaining local government authorities on the same day. However, the Ministry has not been affirmative of the wish of the Election Secretariat yet.

Sri Lanka government did not call for nominations for 23 local government bodies including capital city Colombo Municipal Council citing the Cricket World Cup although some of the councils situated very far from the cricket esplanades.

The elections of 67 local government bodies were postponed mainly due to judiciary action caused by petitions filed against the rejection of nominations.

The Court of Appeal is to deliver the judgement regarding these councils on May 12. The verdict was to be delivered on May 05 but it postponed due to one judge of the bench was sick on that day.

Meanwhile, a legal issue has been erupted since the postponed election will not be held before May 30 because the 2009 voters' list that was valid when the nominations were called is to expire on May 31.
Sri Lanka has 335 local government authorities. Elections were held on March 17 for 234 of them. elections for 90 of them are expected to be held in June now. In 2008 elections were held for 9 local authorities in Batticaloa District and in 2009 elections were held for 2 local authorities in the Northern Province.


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