Day: 24 February 2015

Two ways to stop Rajapaksa

Karu

It is not boredom of retirement, but insecurity that motivates ex-president to make a political comeback. The proxies of the ex-president have fired the first salvo.Over six million Sri Lankans who voted against the kleptocratic regime of Rajapaksa and many others who later realised the full extent of excesses and abuses that took place during his regime have reasons to worry. essrs Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Dinesh Gunawardena and Udaya Gammanpila who cannot win at the next Parliamentary Elections without contesting on the SLFP-UPFA ticket, want Mahinda Rajapaksa to make…

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Government dragging feet on human rights – CaFFE

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By Rathindra Kuruwita Notwithstanding the assurances those in the government had given about protecting and promoting human rights, during the recent presidential election campaign, those promises had not been kept, Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon said. The CaFFE head’s reference made at a media conference was about those who had disappeared, political prisoners, custodial deaths and those who had fled the country. “During the election campaign the leaders of the current government gave a lot of promises about upholding human rights.…

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Immigration officer says Wimal gave letter to issue DPL Passport

Karu

BY Ishara Rathnakara Former Minister, Wimal Weerawansa’s wife, Shashee Weerawansa, who was arrested for providing false information and presenting forged documents to obtain passports, was banned from travelling abroad by Colombo Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya, yesterday (23). It is said that Shashee Weerawansa had obtained a diplomatic passport by providing false documents and CID had told the Court that this diplomatic passport was issued due to a written request by former Minister Wimal Weerawansa to the former Controller General of the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE), Chulananda Perera. Ranasinghe Randunu…

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EPTTA wants two schools taken over by Navy returned

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By Sinniah Gurunathan Two leading schools in the Muttur East, Sampoor Maha Vidiyalayam and Sri Murugan Vidiyalayam, being used as camps of the Sri Lanka Navy since the year 2006, should be handed over to the Ministry of Education to uplift the standard of education of Muttur children, Eastern Provincial Tamil Teachers’ Association (EPTTA) demanded. EPTTA General Secretary, S. Jeyarajah, on Monday met State Minister for Education Radhakrishnan at the latter’s office in Colombo and made the above request. He told the Minister that the above two schools are functioning…

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Probe killings of Tamil political prisoners

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Sri Lanka war-crime alleged over killing of LTTE members New evidence leads to war crime committed on LTTE’s Col Ramesh Probe killings of political prisoners Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, in a letter to the Minister of Justice and Labour, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, asked that he appoint a commission to investigate the brutal murders of Tamil political prisoners detained in Sri Lankan prisons over the years. In a letter sent to the Minister, the TNA MP asked that justice be established without race or religious differences in order to…

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Army-run hotels may be discontinued

Karu

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is unlikely to allow the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continue its hospitality service running hotels enticing tourists, the government said on Friday. Sports and Tourism Minister Navin Dissanayaka told the Business Times that the PM was “not into the army doing business.” He noted that in terms of an economic model it would not hold well for the SLA to be engaged in business activities. Currently, the SLA is involved in running a number of hotels under the Laya chain of hotels with Laya Beach in…

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‘Expat Tamils returned with funds but left due to red tape’ Many even bought land in the North

Karu

‘Expat Tamils returned with funds but left due to red tape’ Many even bought land in the North by Zacki Jabbar recently in Jaffna Some members of the Tamil diaspora had come in their numbers with enough funds to invest in the North, following the end of the war, but the unprecedented red tape had resulted in them making a hasty retreat, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Yarlpanam (CCIY) said. Asked by The Island why the Tamil diaspora was not making big investments in the North of Sri…

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Sumanthiran defends NPC’s Genocide Resolution Says war victims should be prepared to give more evidence

Karu

By Ananth Palakidnar The Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran, defending the NPC’s genocide resolution as democratic and timely, emphasized on the need for the war victims to prepare themselves to gather more evidence in order to strengthen the OHCRC’s OISL report to be released in September this year. He also added that an internal investigation with the OHCR’s supervision, unlike the local investigations in the past, is essential to ensure a constructive UN investigation into the alleged war crimes in the country. Excerpts from the interview: Q :…

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Army in the North: Contesting the views of Prof. Rohan Gunaratna

Karu

This is in response to the views expressed by “International Terrorism Expert” Prof. Rohan Gunaratna to Zahrah Imtiaz in the article titled “Don’t Withdraw Army from North: Prof. Rohan Gunaratna” published in theCeylon Today of Sunday 15 February 2015, page 10. Security I do agree with Prof. Rohan Gunaratna that “Without security there is no freedom and development”, but I would argue that vice versa is true as well; that is, without freedom and development there is no security. While Prof. Rohan Gunaratna opines that “Security is first”, I would…

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‘Australia stayed silent on Sri Lanka killing of 40,000 Tamil Civilians’ in ‘boat people’ deal with Mahinda Rajapaksha : report

Karu

Australia stayed silent about human rights abuses in Sri Lanka in exchange for its co-operation in cracking down on people-smuggling, Colombo’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an interview published Monday. Wickremesinghe said former president Mahinda Rajapakse had agreed to help stop boats carrying asylum-seekers leaving for Australia if Canberra kept quiet about alleged abuses by Rajapakse’s regime. In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Wickremesinghe said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s close relationship with Rajapakse, who was voted out of power last month, was “a mystery” to Sri…

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