28th May 2014

Why Jayalalithaa gave Modi’s swearing-in a miss

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

The presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not the only reason why Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa stayed away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, says N Sathiya Moorthy. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa kept the nation waiting for a while before deciding to skip the historic swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaya, like most other Tamil Nadu politicians, cited the invitation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt ceremony, but the reasons in the case of each one of them could be many. Having become used to seeing their leader draw the centre-stage in Delhi whenever she visited the national capital, party cadres would have been upset and demoralised to see ‘Amma’ as a one-in-five […]

Look at the positives side not the discrimination of the Tamil community by us

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

President Mahinda says critics should look at the positives in Sri Lanka following the end of the war and not just look at the non implementation of the 13+ political package he promised before the killing of more than 40,000 Tamil Civilians by the Army in May 2009. The Tamil community has been cheated and discriminated by the sucessive Sinhala governments for 60 years since the independence received from British rule. The Tamil youth took arms after their political leaders failed to stop the discriminations by the Sinhala leaders who played the race card to stay in power. The President recalled that Sri Lanka suffered during the brutal war but is now on the fast track of development but he refused to talk about the […]

North CM, Aussie envoy hold talks

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran had talks with the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ms Robyn Mudie in Jaffna today. The Australian High Commissioner was in Jaffna on a visit when she met Wigneswaran to discuss the latest developments in the North. A wide range of issues were discussed but the details were not immediately made available to the media. Australia has been a strong critic of attempts to launch an international investigation in the country over the human rights issue. However recently the Australian Government had said it will push Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and to engage with domestic and international stakeholders to advance an effective and transparent reconciliation agenda. Brett Mason, Parliamentary Secretary to […]

”Implement the 13th Amendment in full” Modi to Rajapaksha – UNP awaits Govt.’s response

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

UNP awaits Govt.’s response Calming that the UNP would always back the government if it made a genuine effort to resolve the national issue, UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella today enquired what the government intended doing with regard to the request made by the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for a political solution to the national issue.Kiriella who referred to the reports published by the Indian media in this regard, at a news conference said his party would raise a question in this regard when Parliament meets next week.“The Sri Lankan government will now have to face the music for not adhering to the promises it had given to India and the international community as a whole,” he said The UNP MP said Sri Lanka […]

The Return Of India: New Realities For The Govt & The TNA

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

By Dayan Jayatilleka – Something happened. Things just changed. Unnoticed by the Sri Lanka’s cosmopolitan civil society intelligentsia which was engaged in “much wailing and gnashing of teeth” (as the Bible has it), and “how many angels can dance on a pinhead” type disputations (convoluted and obfuscatory, with much lost in translation), the tectonic plates just shifted. The five post-war years were largely wasted because the South and North, the Sinhalese and Tamil political elites represented by the Government and the TNA adopted political postures that were exceedingly unrealistic but did not appear to be so. The mutual and shared unrealism was possible because of one factor and that factor has just changed; it no longer exists. Thus in an overarching, parabolic, strategic sense the worst may be over, though in […]

Media Not Allowed To Cover Sumanthiran Cross-Examining Gotabaya

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

Sri Lanka Tuesday prevented media from covering the court proceedings when the President’s brother, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapakasa was cross-examined by Lawyer MA Sumanthiran. Yesterday, the defamation case filed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa against Lasantha Wickrematunge and the Sunday Leader on its reporting on MiG 27 purchase by the Defence Ministry was taken up at the District Court of Mt. Lavinia before Judge Gihan Ranawaka. Earlier Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave evidence-in-chief on the 22nd of May. The Cross Examination was started on the 27th May by Lawyer MA Sumanthiren. In a strange twist the Police debarred media personnel from entering the Courts to cover the proceedings. On earlier occasions it was evident that an entire media entourage was encouraged and prosecution Counsel Ali Sabri PC was seen and quite openly giving […]

‘Lands in Killinochchi was captured by the Army from the LTTE’ so the Army refuses to give it to the Tamil owners.

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

A group of people who had come from Chavakachcheri held a protest in Kilinochchi demanding a land which had been used by the Army after it was captured from the LTTE, the army said. “A group of 40 people arrived in Chavakachcheri staged a protest in Kilinochchi asking for the land. The land was captured by the Army from the LTTE. None of the protesters had legal deeds for the land although they claimed it was theirs,” Defence Ministry spokesman, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said. He said the land was adjacent to the land where the slain LTTE Leader used to commemorate Martyrs’ Day. A Tamil civilian asked if the Army claims the lands in Tamil area are theirs now than did we have TWO countries before […]

Sri Lanka confident it can fool Sushma Swaraj.

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

Sri Lankan government Ministers have welcomed the appointment of Sushma Swaraj as India’s External Affairs Minister. Swaraj had called upon the Lankan government to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC); go beyond the 13 Amendment in devolving power to the provinces; and remove the army from civilian duties in Tamil areas in April 2012. To date none had been done by the Sri Lankan government and the Tamils who had been cheated by sucesive governments believe that they will never do it. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Perera, said that having interacted with Swaraj when she came to Sri Lanka in April 2012 as head of an all-party parliamentary delegation, he could say that she has a “vast knowledge” of international relations and […]

Minister Wimal Weerawansa is the Winner.

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

Clown in the govt. circus If ever there was a contest to determine the best comedian amongst the members of the Cabinet, the accolade would undoubtedly be conferred on Wimal Weerawansa.Even though many of the Cabinet members are all comedians, Weerawansa is a clear cut winner in comic acting; so much so that he can be placed on par with veteran comedians such as Rowan Atkinson and Robin Williams. While he is notorious for spending twenty to thirty thousand rupees each month for the maintenance of his hair, he was also publicly shamed for having toured Disneyland and living a royal lifestyle. His comedy is so supreme that local veterans like Freddie Silva and Eddie Jayamanne would have been out of job had they still been around.Weerawansa has displayed […]

The rise and fall of Tamil Leader Prabhakaran

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

Bhadrakumar could foresee what is in store for the Tamils. By M K Bhadrakumar The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran’s death circa May 19, 2009, in circumstances we will never quite get to know, concludes a morality play. As the curtain comes down and we leave the theatre, the spectacle continues to haunt us. We feel a deep unease and can’t quite figure out the reason. Something rankles somewhere. And then we realize we have blood on our hands. Not only our hands, but our whole body and deeper down, our conscience – what remains of it after the mundane battles of our day-to-day life – are also dripping with blood. Prabhakaran’s blood. No, it is not only Prabhakaran’s, but also of 70,000 Sri Lankan Tamils […]

TEN Sri Lankans Elected as Councillors in London

28th May 2014 // 0 Comments

1. Selvanayagam Michael, Labour Party: 2609 Croydon (Broad Green) 2. Sasikala Suresh, Labour Party, 1458, Harrow (Headstone South) 3. Krishna Suresh Labour Party, 1448, Harrow (Rayners Lane) 4. Paul Sathianesan Labour East Ham (North) 5. Thavathurai Jayachandran Labour Redbridge 6, Yogan Yoganathan – Liberal Democrat – 1111 – Kingston (ST MARK’S) 7. Thay Thayalan – Liberal Democrat – 836 – Kingston (TOLWORTH AND HOOK RISE) 8, Eliza Packiadevi Mann – Liberal Democrat 1465 Southwark (Riverside) 9. Kairul Kareema Marikar Labour 1392 – Harrow (West Harrow) 10. Councillor Kana Naheerathan Labour 1981 – Brent (Queensbury)

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