A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Monday, June 5, 2017
In
an unprecedented show of solidarity with the Muslim community, the
Ambassadors of the European Union headed by its Chief, Ambassador Tung
Lai Marque and like-minded top diplomats and Heads of Missions from
Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, USA and South Africa
visited the Devatagaha Mosque in Colombo and expressed their strong
condemnation and disappointment at the inaction of the Government to
prosecute hate mongering and violence by some Buddhist extremists
against a minority community, attacking their mosques and setting fire
to their businesses
Rumours abound that President Sirisena’s men have saved the violent
racist monk Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero from the clutches of
the law.
Four police teams were deployed on the orders of the Law and Order
Minister Sagala Ratnayake to search and arrest the fugitive monk. Many
believe that a top VIP provided the safe house for the Venerable Thero
to hide in when numerous police teams were deployed to bring him to
justice. This has severely demoralised the Police and the credibility of
the Inspector General of Police is in question.
Did the President know about the VIP conspiracy to save the venerable
Thero from imprisonment? The President himself has softened his stand of
stern action against hate speech prior to his Australian tour, to a
need for discussion and compromise when it comes to religious conflict.
It is unfortunate that almost all of President Sirisena’s decisions on
hate mongering seem to waver from time to time.
Is the President worried about the people power of Venerable Galagoda
Aththe Gnanasra Thero who contested the last general election and
harnessed a mere 27,000 votes island wide when he received 6,217, 162
votes at the January 2015?
But wait! Was the Thero’s arrest ordered for hate speech in the first instance? Was not the wanted for contempt of Court? Many in the legal fraternity too have questioned the independence of the Judiciary when the Court of Appeal accepted a Counsel’s submission that Ven. Gnanasara Thero was indisposed on 24 May even without a medical certificate from a recognised medical professional or hospital.
But wait! Was the Thero’s arrest ordered for hate speech in the first instance? Was not the wanted for contempt of Court? Many in the legal fraternity too have questioned the independence of the Judiciary when the Court of Appeal accepted a Counsel’s submission that Ven. Gnanasara Thero was indisposed on 24 May even without a medical certificate from a recognised medical professional or hospital.
The contempt of Court case came up before a bench comprising Justices
Rohini Walgama (CA President) and S. Thurairaja. The Court directed
Counsel Anusha Perusinghe, who appeared for Ven. Gnanasara Thero, to
produce him on the next date with a medical certificate. Will a lesser
mortal be allowed to go scot-free without even a medical certificate in
the Court of Appeal? Just only the day before, Ven Gnanasara Thero was
spearheading the hate campaign against Muslims, in the best of health.
What is even worse is that there was no warrant issued even when he
failed to appear on 31 May. The Counsel submitted that Ven. Gnansara
Thero was hospitalised. Was the Court provided evidence of his
hospitalisation or a valid medical certificate? Unless and until
transparency is maintained, the independence of the Judiciary would be
questioned and the independent commissions set up by Yahapalanaya would
be another farce?
In another travesty of justice a motion on Cancellation of bail of Don
Prasad was not considered on 3 June. A lengthy legal submission was made
under Sec 14 (1) ii,ii, & iii of Bail Act No. 30 of 1997 to cancel
the bail granted to Don Prasad at the MC Fort Case B/3720/16 citing
three complaints of breach. Surprisingly, Police informed courts that
they were unaware of any complaint against Don Prasad. Notices were
given to the Police with copy of complaint prior to the case.
The Hon. Judge directed the Police to investigate into complaints made
and whether the suspect has engaged in similar offences and to report to
Courts under Sec 14 (1) of Bail Act to take appropriate action. Justice
and Rule of Law for Muslims seem to be very so difficult to reach. Will
a complaint to the Police Commission on Police irresponsibility help?
The much-hyped independent commissions carry serious questions of
credibility; will the Police Commission be more credible than the police
officers who misled the Court claiming that there were no complaints?
In
an unprecedented show of solidarity with the Muslim community, the
Ambassadors of the European Union headed by its Chief, Ambassador Tung
Lai Marque and like-minded top diplomats and Heads of Missions from
Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, USA and South Africa
visited the Devatagaha Mosque in Colombo and expressed their strong
condemnation and disappointment at the inaction of the Government to
prosecute hate mongering and violence by some Buddhist extremists
against a minority community, attacking their mosques and setting fire
to their businesses. They called for freedom of religion and rule of law
to be respected. There have been over 34 acts of violence against the
Muslim community and more than double that figure against the
Evangelical Christians this year, where law enforcement has not
prevailed during this year; No arrests have been made despite ample
evidence.
The international community’s strong condemnation has come as a shock to
the Government. Earlier, the US Ambassador, High Commissioner of the UK
and the United Nations expressed their disapproval of the Government’s
handling of the racist campaign by extremist Buddhist elements.
Alan Keenan in his tweet posts: “To my knowledge this public diplomatic
intervention is unprecedented in Sri Lanka. Unnecessary if Government
enforced the law.” Keenan is International Crisis Group’s (ICG) Sri
Lanka Senior Analyst based in London. He coordinates and contributes to
the organisation’s research, publications, and advocacy on Sri Lanka.
The European Council approved granting the Generalised System of
Preferences Plus (GSP+) tariff concession to Sri Lanka last month
allowing our nation to export its products tax-free to the European
market. It was granted as Sri Lanka ratified and implemented measures
contained in a number of international conventions on human and labour
rights, environment protection and good governance. Like all other GSP+
beneficiaries, Sri Lanka committed to maintain its ratification and
effective implementation of the 27 conventions when it applied for the
scheme. Will the current wave of Buddhist extremism have any impact on
the newfound relief for the Yahapalanaya Government?
Sri Lanka lost the GSP plus concessions during the regime of Mahinda
Rajapaksa when it was denied preferential access to the EU market on 15
August 2010. The decision to withdraw the preferential tariff system
GSP+ was taken by the Council of Ministers of the European Union in
February 2010 due to the failure of the then Government to adhere to
international conventions, which affected at least 30% of our total
exports that went to the European Union. If Yahapalanaya is to succeed,
and more importantly, if Sri Lanka is to succeed, equality, justice and
rule of law has to be established and maintained without fear or favour.