Day: 13 January 2016

Sirisena’s promises to Champoor Tamils not fulfilled, SL Navy refuses to vacate

Karu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 2016, 23:21 GMT] The uprooted Eezham Tamils from Champoor in Moothoor East of Trincomalee district complain that the occupying Sri Lanka Navy, which was supposed to vacate from Champoor Maha Viththiyaalayam School and the adjacent residential areas of 237 acres, has indefinitely postponed the hand over of lands back to the people. The promises made by SL President Maithiripala Sirisena have not been fulfilled, the uprooted Tamils said. The Eastern Provincial Governor Austin Fernando, who is a former defence secretary of occupying Colombo went on record…

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Changing the name of the country from ”Sri Lanka to Sinhale” in the NEW Constitution..

Karu

BY RUWAN LAKNATH JAYAKODY The Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), the Bodu Jana Peramuna (BJP) and the Eksath Sinhale Mahajana Peramuna (ESMP) called on provisions to be included in the new Constitution changing the name of the country from Sri Lanka to Sinhale. Chief Executive Officer of the BBS, Dr. Dilanthe Withanage said, the BBS which had previously contested at the General Election under the moniker BJP would be contesting independently at the forthcoming local government elections as the ESMP. General Secretary of the ESMP, Dr. Nath Amarakoon added that the…

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HUGO SWIRE MUST INSIST THAT THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT HAS A CLEAR PLAN TO END TORTURE

Karu

As Foreign Minister Hugo Swire prepares to visit Sri Lanka this week, the human rights charity Freedom from Torture is calling on him to make sure that UK taxpayers’ money is not handed over to the Sri Lankan military unless the government offers a clear and effective plan to tackle endemic torture in the security sector. The charity has issued the call following 27 cases of torture in 2015 uncovered by Freedom from Torture and the International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka. It is also warning against premature optimism…

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Tamil leader appeals to Rajapaksa to support new Constitution

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Sri Lanka’s main opposition Tamilleader R Sampanthan today appealed to Mahinda Rajapaksa to back the new Constitution-making process, saying the former president’s support is important. “I wish to make a special appeal to him to place the country’s interests before anything else,” he said. Addressing parliament today on the proposal to convert the House to a Constitutional Assembly, Sampanthan said Rajapaksa was a leader of national stature and his support was important in the constitution making process. He asked all political parties including Rajapaksa to contribute positively to the new…

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Indian FS Jaishankar Holds Bilateral Talks With Sri Lanka

Karu

COLOMBO: In what appears to be a low-key, business-like visit to Sri Lanka, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Tuesday had talks with his Lankan counterpart, Chitranganee Wagiswara, on the entire gamut of bilateral relations. He also met the Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama; called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the evening; and had dinner with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. On Wednesday, prior to his departure for New Delhi, Jaishankar will call on President Maithripala Sirisena and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, a key supporter of…

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No bail for Pillayan, remanded until Jan. 27

Karu

The Batticaloa Magistrate today further remanded former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, who was arrested in connection with the murder of ex-MP Joseph Pararajasingham, until January 27.    The suspect was further remanded when the case was taken up for hearing before the Batticaloa Magistrate today.    Pillayan was arrested on October 11 when he arrived at the CID to give a statement in connection with the assassination of late Tamil politician, who was shot dead on Christmas Eve in 2005.    A gunman opened fire on…

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Government urged to invite UN envoy on sexual violence

Karu

The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has welcomed the announcement by the Government of Sri Lanka that it has endorsed the G8 Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. However ITJP has called on President Maithripala Sirisena to demonstrate his commitment on this issue by immediately extending an invitation to the UN Secretary General’s Special Rapporteur on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, to visit Sri Lanka. The UN Secretary-General’s most recent report on conflict-related sexual violence said one of the major unaddressed issues in Sri Lanka was impunity…

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US based Sri Lankan sets Guinness record for fastest half marathon in a suit

Karu

THIS GUY’S MARKETING STUNT WAS SO ON-BRAND THAT WE’RE ACTUALLY WRITING ABOUT IT THE COFOUNDER OF MENSWEAR STARTUP MINISTRY OF SUPPLY RAN A HALF MARATHON IN A SUIT; IT WAS PART CUNNING PR, AND PART EXTREME R&D. IT WORKED. BY DAVID ZAX Gihan Amarasiriwardena, who trained in engineering at MIT, likes to run his apparel company, Ministry of Supply, like a tech company. When Fast Company last checked in on him, Amarasiriwardena was articulating a philosophy of apparel design that closely resembled that of tech design: rapid prototyping, constant iteration,…

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Mr. Sampanthan, do not forget, you are the Opposition Leader – EDITORIAL

Karu

What is Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan’s stand on the alleged involvement by Colombo District UNP parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra in the abduction of a youth from a shop in Dematagoda last month? What has he got to say about the escalating of the Chronic Kidney Disease in the North Central Province? What does he suggest to make the Mattala International Airport productive? Why doesn’t he speak about the incredible and highly suspicious delay in taking action against the multi-million/billion-rupee frauds that had allegedly taken place during the past regime? One might…

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Liberal pluralism, Tamil People’s Council and the new Constitution

Karu

by Mahendran Thiruvarangan More than six years after the war’s end, a particular line of thinking has come to the forefront in Tamil nationalists’ defence of their politics around national self-determination. I would broadly describe this philosophy as liberal pluralism. Predicating the politics around state re-formation primarily, if not solely, on ethnicity or culture, it tends to build a one-to-one relationship between cultural identities, territories and the state. It is not an entirely new phenomenon as far as Tamil politics in Sri Lanka is concerned. It has been the bedrock…

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Sinhala Extremists are now attempting to gain political advantage of visit by the Norwegian like in 2004 & 2005

Karu

Why is Norway back Southern (Sinhala) extremists are now attempting to gain undue political advantage of the recent visit by the Norwegian Foreign Minister who was on a brief visit to Colombo. These extremists used anti-Norway slogans in 2004 and 2005 elections to gain victory. Norway was invited to mediate in the Sri Lankan peace process in 2000 by the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration. However, in 2002 she extended her support to the anti-Norway moves to topple Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Government. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the Opposition Leader in 2002 had close…

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Dilan ready to debate GL

Karu

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Housing and Samurdhi State Minister Dilan Perera yesterday said that he was ready for an open debate with former External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L Peiris over his contradictory views regarding the drafting of the new constitution. He told a media briefing in Colombo that Prof. Peiris had been writing articles complaining against the current efforts of the government to amend the constitution. But, Prof. Peiris himself tried to amend the constitution thrice, in 1995, 1997 and in 2000 under the former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s government,…

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‘Home-made’ solution not possible, NPC councillor calls for protest on Wednesday

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[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 2016, 23:05 GMT] Northern Provincial Councillor M.K. Shivajilingam on Monday urged the public to attend a protest in Jaffna on Wednesday expressing their opposition to the deceptive politics being staged by the Colombo regime, particularly its leaders Maithiripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe, who are scheduled to visit Jaffna in just another PR stunt on Friday, when Tamils across the globe mark the secular festival of Thaip-Pongkal. Mr Shivajingam said there has been no progress at all on five important fronts: release of 200 political prisoners, establishing…

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Hugo Swire must insist that that the Sri Lanka government has a clear plan to end torture

Karu

( January 12, 2016, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) As Foreign Minister Hugo Swireprepares to visit Sri Lanka this week, the human rights charity Freedom from Torture is calling on him to make sure that UK taxpayers’ money is not handed over unless President Sirisena offers a clear plan to tackle endemic torture by the country’s military and security forces. The charity has issued the call following fresh cases of torture in 2015 uncovered by Freedom from Torture and the International Trust and Justice Project. It is also warning against any…

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We need Mahinda’s assistance for the new constitution – Opposition leader

Karu

The opposition leader R. Sampanthan said that it is necessary to get the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s support for the new constitution. The opposition leader and the leader of TNA said this when he joined for a debate in parliament today for the forming of the constitutional council needed for the proposal submitted to the parliament last Saturday aiming to form a new constitution. “Mahinda Rajapaksa is a national leader. Therefore we need his support for this national task. I think he would think about the betterment of the country…

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Challenges of Tamil politics in Sri Lanka

Karu

The difference between the political universe in the Sinhalese south, and the Tamil north cum Muslim-Tamil north-east, is that the former is a sharp and acid standoff, the latter is confusion. Seven years have passed since the LTTE was wiped out but it has not been time enough for Tamils to find their feet. Thirty years of civil war cast a pall; the LTTE conjured up phantasmagorical images of a leader and an imagined Eelamdivorced from all reality; war-crimes seared people’s lives. Among Sinhalese those who advocate reason and reconciliation…

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Tamil Leaders Opposed When Sinhalese Leaders Proposed Federalism

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By D.B.S.Jeyaraj “A thousand and one objections could be raised against the system, but when the objections are dissipated, I am convinced that some form of Federal Government will be the only solution’” – S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike in 1926. “We suggest the creation of a federal state as in the United States of America” – Kandyan National Assembly in 1927. Political developments in Sri Lanka during the post –independence years has devalued the concept of power sharing through the federal idea. Each major ethnicity has viewed the question suspiciously through its particular…

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If Not For Norway Mediation LTTE Would Have Captured Jaffna and Declared a Separate State

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By Upul Joseph Fernando Southern extremists are now attempting to gain undue political advantage of the recent visit by the Norwegian Foreign Minister who was on a brief visit to Colombo. These extremists used anti-Norway slogans in 2004 and 2005 elections to gain victory. Norway was invited to mediate in the Sri Lankan peace process in 2000 by the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration. However, in 2002 she extended her support to the anti-Norway moves to topple Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Government. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the Opposition Leader in 2002 had close and cordial…

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ISIS activity in SL: What is the Govt. doing?

Karu

ast week Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi acknowledged that ‘at least 36 Sri Lankans have gone to Syria’and that ‘some of them have joined the ISIS’.  That was after the Sunday Times reported in the previous week, that State Intelligence Service (SIS) has alerted the government that 45 Sri Lankans from nine families have gone to Syria so far to join the Islamic terrorist group. Later the Ministry of Defence assured in a media statement that, “the security forces and all intelligence wings are on full alert to the possibilities of…

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JVP recognises concerns of Tamils in the North

Karu

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which in 1983 was accused of attacking Tamils, today recognised the legitimate concerns of the Tamils in the North. Speaking in Parliament today, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the Tamils in the North have suffered as a result of the war and continue to face social and economic issues. “The Tamils also face the psychological issue of being second citizens of this country,” he said. The JVP leader said that he does not believe the concerns of the Tamils will be addressed by…

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