Thousands of ex-LTTE soldiers still unemployed

Sunday 01 January 2012

By Elmo Leonard 

Unaccounted numbers of rehabilitated Tamil LTTE soldiers --- both male and female go unemployed in Sri Lanka’s north and east, Sinhalese, Human Rights Activist and Trainer, Marini de Livera said. 
Most of these young men and women had received weapons training. All they now want is a source of livelihood. If another armed Tamil movement begins, the hungry, rehabilitated Tamil youth will have no option but to join in militancy, De Livera, who since 2003 is involved in training Sri Lanka Army majors and captains in human rights, said. 
Working in an honorary capacity for the past five years with the army, De Livera is also an attorney-at-law, holds a post graduate Diploma in Human Rights and is a senior lecturer in her discipline. It is a mistake to send ex-combatants back to their villages and towns of origin without ensuring them a mode of livelihood, she said.

Marginalized Tamil people

During the island nation’s 27-year civil strife that ended May 2009, it was the poor and marginalized Tamil people of the north and east who remained in the war theatre; the others had found a home in First World nations as USA, Canada, UK, Australia, besides other countries.  
On inquiry what 200 ex-combatants in a rehabilitation camp wanted most, the response was that they had wished for toiletries such as soap and shampoo, while some had requested for Tamil-English dictionaries. Their requests were collated through an email. One youth had said that while the parents of all ex-combatants visited them, his father could not and requested for a wheel chair for his father. De Livera found the father lying in a hut with amputated legs. Now, father and son see each other.                 
De Livera at a recent public forum in Colombo appealed that someone provides employment to female ex-combatant Balachandran Subakhani, 26, from Chulipurum in the island’s north-east. Subakhani had surrendered to the army two days after the war ended. Subakhani who fought in the frontlines had spoken only of AK47 and T56 expertise. She was also successful at the Advanced Level examination. 

Sinhalese women were evil

De Livera told delegates at the International Volunteer Day that at their first meeting Subakhani had said that all Sinhalese women were evil. Subakhani had asked De Livera, why she came to see her. De Livera had answered, “Because I love you.”
Subakhani’s father died in the war. She lives in a little hut with her mother. For a time, they had lived by pawning their jewellery. Now, they do not know when they will get the next meal. On surrender, Subakhani was taken to the Ambepussa Rehabalitation Centre, then to the Tellipillay RC. 
Now, Subakhani’s only wish is to find employment in the public sector, but has been “prevented from seeing a government gazette,” De Livera told the gathering, among them foreign United Nations delegates.
Of the much talked about white flag incident, De Livera said that when international media had interviewed Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the interviewee had said that the Sri Lanka Army was human rights friendly, having been trained in that discipline. De Livera said she was elated to hear that as she was the trainer for the army. 
De Livera has to pay double the fee for English classes for Subakhani. For reasons unknown to De Livera, no teacher in Chulipuram had initially wished to teach a poor girl English. Subakhani is now computer literate. 
De Livera does not understand Tamil and initially spoke to Subakhani in faulty English and Sinhala. Now, they communicate in English.   
De Livera called on Sinhalese families to ‘adopt’ Tamil ex-combatant youth, not by physically getting them down to their homes but by spending for their education and finding them jobs. There has to be inter-personal contact between the Sinhalese and Tamils if the wounds of the long conflict are to be healed. There is a common denominator between people who lived in conflict zones as Ruwanda, Kosovo and Sri Lanka, De Livera said. 
With the A9 road now open, there is no excuse for the Sinhalese keeping away from humanitarian work in the north and east of the island, De Livera stressed.
There are 130 government schools in the north and a few teachers versed in English. A question is how English could be taught effectively to those youth. De Livera is now writing a book of English plays intended for fulfilling that aspiration, she said.

Read more...

Mayor accused of blackmailing hoteliers

By Saroj Pathirana    01 January, 2012

Hoteliers in a popular tourist destination in Sri Lanka have accused a local politician of blackmailing them and demanding ransom from hotels at the peak of a tourism season.

The Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association (HHA) told BBC Sandeshaya that the town's Mayor, Winnie Kariyawasam, discontinued collecting garbage from Coral Sands hotel for weeks after they refused to pay "extortion" money.

Mr Kariyawasam, who admitted that the urban council stopped collecting garbage from the said hotel, categorically denied accusations of blackmail and extortion.

Siri Goonewardene, president of the HHA and the vice president of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) says the 'blackmail' intensified after the HHA refused to pay a tax imposed by the local government body led by Mr. Kariyawasam.

He claimed that the Hikkaduwa Urban Council demanded Rs 350,000 for banners displayed at hotel venues by sponsors of the 2011 Hikkaduwa Beach Festival.

'Confiscate property'

"The sponsors refused to pay any taxes on flags displayed as a letter of understanding was given by the Mayor that no taxes will be charged on them," said Mr Goonewardene.

The sponsors refused to pay any taxes on flags displayed as a letter of understanding was given by the Mayor that no taxes will be charged on them   Siri Goonewardene, president of Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association

But the Mayor, who rejects any such understanding, accuses Mr Goonewardene, the owner of the Coral Sands hotel, of stopping the payment of a cheque issued for Rs 350,000 as tax for displaying the banners.

"The owner of Coral Sands is working on a political agenda," Winnie Kariyawasam told BBC Sinhala service.

The Mayor is also accused by the association of demanding the payment of Rs 300,000 as a penalty for the non payment of tax soon after the industry was devastated by the tsunami in December 2004.

"The Urban Council has failed to give us details of how this amount has been arrived at," said a statement issued by the HHA in the weekend.

Mr Kariyawasam, however, points the finger particularly at the owner of Coral Sands, claiming that all other hoteliers have paid due taxes.

"I have requested the local government commissioner to launch an investigation to confiscate his properties," he added.

India cannot dictate terms says Govt

01 January, 2012

'Neither India nor other country can dictate how our country is governed'

The Sri Lanka government has denied it is under pressure from India to devolve more powers to provinces.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, who heads the government delegation for talks with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said its apparent U turn over land and police powers has nothing to do with India.

"No no no no, there was no pressure. Neither India nor other country can dictate how our country is governed," he said in response to a question by BBC Sandesaya.

The government, he said, is "always prepared to discuss land and police powers as well as the re merger of the north and east."

'Only SLFP'

The minister, however, clarified that the team led by him only represents the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the ruling coalition.

We are always prepared to discuss land and police powers as well as the re merger of the north and east   Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva

The TNA that left talks with the government citing the government's failure to respond to a ten-point plan submitted in March, later re-initiated talks on the government's request.

In a statement issued on 4 August, last year, the TNA called on the government define and state the government's policy on the structure of governance, the division of subjects between the centre and the devolved units and fiscal and financial powers before continuing the dialogue.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a recent meeting with newspaper editors has said that the government was not willing to devolve land and police powers to the regions, in line with the 13 amendment to the constitution.

The Indian government, responding to the release of the war panel report, urged Sri Lanka to fulfil it's continuous pledges to implement the 13 amendment that devolved land and police powers to the provinces.

A Sinhala nationalist partner of the coalition government has, meanwhile, criticised the response by India to the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which was submitted to the parliament on 16 December.

Saying that the present government has not given any assurances to India to devolve more powers to provinces, the Jathika Hela Urumaya asked India "to clarify which Sri Lankan government has given this assurance."

Conservatives laying groundwork for Office of Religious Freedom

The Globe and Mail

The Harper government is preparing to carve out a new role for Canada as a champion of religious rights abroad, another sign of the Conservative shift in foreign policy and one that has roots in the tragic 2011 assassination of a Pakistani cabinet minister.

Early in 2012, the Tories will finally flesh out a campaign promise to install the Office of Religious Freedom within the secular confines of the Department of Foreign Affairs – a controversial pledge that has drawn accusations of vote pandering and blurring lines between church and state.

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The Conservatives are unapologetic about making a defence of the right to worship a central objective of Canadian foreign policy, noting, as a recent Pew Centre study found, that assaults around the world on religious freedom have increased in recent years.

They say however it was a charismatic Pakistani foe of religious persecution that helped clinch their decision to create the office – a man who visited with Prime Minister Stephen Harper only weeks before he was shot dead in Islamabad.

Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic, was the first Pakistan minister for minority affairs and the only Christian serving in the Islamic state’s cabinet when he died on March 2, 2011. A militant Islamist group claimed responsibility for killing Mr. Bhatti, who had been urging reform of blasphemy laws.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who’s also the party’s point man for outreach to new Canadian voters, said Mr. Bhatti made a major impression on Mr. Harper when they met in early February, 2011.

“The Prime Minister was deeply affected by this as was everyone who had the chance to meet him,” the minister said. “His visit to Canada shortly before his assassination helped to galvanize within the government the reality of this kind of persecution.”

The Conservatives say they were impressed by Mr. Bhatti’s refusal to stop fighting religious intolerance despite death threats.

“Just before I brought Shahbaz to meet the Prime Minister, I told the Prime Minister it would be a miracle if the man he was about to meet would be alive in a few months’ time,” Mr. Kenney recalled.

The minister said he counselled Mr. Bhatti against returning home – to no avail.

“Shahbaz was very conscious that in returning to Pakistan he would be facing not just the possibility but also the likelihood of assassination,” the minister said.

“I pleaded with him to consider staying in Canada, but he insisted that he had to be in solidarity with his people.”

The new Conservative office – which will publicly criticize regimes that mistreat religious minorities – is in part a workaround to avoid the pushback the Tories previously encountered from the Foreign Affairs bureaucracy. Conservatives privately complain that civil servants in some instances resisted their efforts to raise concern about religious persecution.

Former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, for one, offers qualified support for the new office.

He said it can “turn a Canadian spotlight on people in danger” and can provide the persecuted “with the protection of visibility and concern.”

But he says it can’t be a tool for pressure groups the Conservatives hope to appease in Canada.

“It’s a good thing provided it defends all cases of religious persecution, not just those that are bothering domestic constituencies at home, and that it doesn’t ignore other human-rights violations, which usually accompany religious persecution, like limits on freedom of the press, denial of democratic rights and persecution.”

Exams Dept. bogus certificate business is not something that is recent ! –fee for amending is Rs.75000/-

(Lanka-e-News -01.Jan.2012, 11.55P.M.) Following this year’s G C E advanced level examination results muck up by Govt. officials, the attention of the public was drawn to the examination Dept.’s performances and activities. It has now come to light that for a long time a group of examination Dept. officials have been engaged in issuing counterfeit results on the sly for money, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

To change the results thus of the G C E ord. level or the adv. Level examinations or to change the grades of the subjects , the illicit fee charged by the intermediary varies from Rs. 50,000/-to Rs. 75,000/-

The most vexatious and perplexing part of all these crimes committed by the Dept .is these unscrupulous elements have not spared the most important Sri Lanka degree qualifications from their sordid earnings – they issue a degree certificate for a fee of Rs. 3 to 5 lakhs. A policy of the much hyped University Grant Commission ?

Though these bogus results have been ‘manufactured’ , the special feature about it is , on a cursory examination , it is this bogus result that is revealed as true . But for an in depth investigation , its spuriousness cannot be detected. This is because all registers of records had been tampered with and amended for this purpose .

The beneficiary of this bogus result gives full payment to the intermediary only after inspecting the examination result via the ordinary results process and is computer generated.

It is learnt that there are so many who have obtained such spurious results and are spread across the globe, and who have not leaked out the racket.

A great majority of them have obtained such certificates to get jobs and to pursue higher studies abroad. When a foreign Institution inquires about the veracity of this certificate , what they get back is a confirmation of this computer generated result , meaning that the racket remains hidden sans complications.

Two of SL ‘s high profile cricketers are among those who have taken advantage of these bogus Advanced level exam. results , after amending them.

Going by the announcements made by the Examinations Commissioner in response to the havoc wreaked by his Dept. on the students examination results this year , it is very evident that his Dept. information and data storage division is not competent to maintain records duly and efficiently. He openly and shamelessly stated that , if a candidate has given an index No. of a previous exam to this year’s exam result , the student receives the result of another candidate. This is a most ridiculous statement.

In such an instance , what ought to have been done by the Dept. ordinarily is to notify the candidate that his number is in error , and cannot proceed any further . On the other hand when the Commissioner says, his Dept . gives a result of another candidate, he is implying that his Dept . will commit wrongs in respect of two candidates , instead of making a rectification.

The bottom line is , this bungling of the students’ results and thereby their future is part and parcel of an overall administration which does not care two hoots for discipline , rule of law and the future of the country , and when its concern is wholly and solely to politicize every sector in order to make them subservient to its evil power perpetuation.

We shall be bringing forth to you more exposures on the bogus results ‘factory’ and those behind it shortly.

Using the LLRC report as a consensus mechanism

Sunday January 01, 2012

By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

A careful and sober reading of the Report of Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) reveals its many complexities when weighed against the current political ethos. Gradually, the responses to this Report are bound to be far more measured rather than starkly divided between those who unhesitatingly support its contents and those who, just as unequivocally, dismiss the same. Bringing this administration to task     read more..

A Murderer Turned Politician Let loose to kill again

 Sunday, January 01, 2012 

By Nirmala Kannangara in Tangalle - Pictures by Thusitha Kumara

Sampath Vidanapathirana, Police guard at the resort- picture taken over the closed gates, The Nature Tangalle where the unfortunate incident occured, Kuram Shaikah Zaman, The poster that announced the Christmas party at The Nature and The lawn where Zaman lay bleeding

Sri Lanka’s booming holiday season has been marred by the brutal murder and assault of two tourists in Tangalle on Christmas Eve.
British tourist Kuram Shaikah Zaman was murdered while his friend, Russian national Victoria Alexandrovna, was viciously assaulted during a visit to a tourist resort in Tangalle.
According to the International Committee of Red Cross, Zaman worked in the Gaza Strip fitting prosthetic limbs.
Police say the Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha, Sampath Vidanapathirana is the main suspect in this case.
Read More »

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 *groundview journalism For citizens 

Killer Representative

I am assembling the scene, a local hood and his gang come to a Christmas Eve gathering at a beach hotel, want to dance with foreign women, see a bloke from town trotting high with a blonde, but when they ask for a spin, are spurned, although they are hot shots in the area, their chief an elected representative; they have guns and knives in their pockets, or placed discreetly on their reserved table, and they tear a woman from her boyfriend, cutting her up and him, then shooting. Government in a tither, keeping press at bay, we cannot have these stories displayed in the West where similar incidents take place in the most respected capitals, says another representative, and the perpetrators have been booked, are under investigation, although the head of the local governing council has been known to kill in the past but nobody is sure who can, or will, introduce historical evidence.

A President With A Jumbo Ego

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Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Performing Arts Theatre, Mahinda Rajapaksa College Homagama, Rajapaksa with Namal at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Rajapaksa at Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Harbour and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s name in English, Sinhala, Tamil and Chinese on the foundation stone

In a country which prides itself on being ‘A Land Like No Other’ Sri Lanka has set yet another precedent. By passing local council rules and regulations, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has seen fit to name buildings, a cricket stadium, a school and a port after him showing scant regard for local authorities to actually approve these name changes.
More recently the impressive new performing arts theatre has been named after the President – and if that is not bad enough, at the entrance you find a large mugshot of Rajapaksa. On the foundation stone, of which there are two, his name is found, not just once but four times, in English, Tamil, Sinhala and even Chinese! Making sure it is shoved down the throats of this nation irrespective of whether we find it offensive or not.
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A/Level Mess Up: The Buck Passed Around

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

Contradictory Results Sheets, Bandula Gunawardena and Contradictory Results Sheets

The futures of thousands of students lie in limbo while authorities look to shirk responsibility. The government made contradictory statements before finally appointing yet another committee to probe the controversy over the 2011 GCE Advanced Level examination results.
Serious doubts have been cast over the results of the A/Level examination results released by the Examinations Department last week. The A/Level results of several students that were posted on the Examinations Department website, in the possession of The Sunday Leader show the disparities in the district and national rankings.
One student who was placed in the 29th position in the district was later moved to the 235th position by the Examinations Department. A huge change in the district ranking.

Read More »

Wishes for a peaceful and a happy New Year from the President

*groundview journalism For citizens 

I probably was one among millions of people in Sri Lanka privileged to receive a SMS from the President, wishing me “a peaceful and a happy New Year”. (A large majority who do not own a cell phone would receive no such wishes from the highest in the land). While many might argue this to be another gimmick of the President to gain popularity at the expense of the exchequer, I was prepared to grant His Excellency, these minor indulgences, since it causes little harm to anyone, and may even give an ego boost to some, to receive a direct wish from the President himself. However I thought if the President had taken the liberty to wish me out of the goodness of his heart, then I felt obliged to return his wishes. I therefore typed a message to the President, and tried sending it using the “Reply” option, only to receive a automated response stating “invalid contact details: President”. It is obvious that the privilege of wishing is only one way when it comes to the President. This is understandable given that if everyone decides to return his wishes, his phone could be clogged by millions of messages (some of which may not be very pleasant to read too!). I thought however to share with Groundviews, the message I had wanted to send to our “Dear Leader” which reads as follows:

“Thank you Sir for your kind wishes. While returning your wishes, I am sure you will realize that you as the President of this country, can do a lot to make these these wishes of “peace and happiness”come true for you and us, the citizens of Sri Lanka, by ensuring that the country is administered with respect for good governance, democracy and above all the rule of law.”

My decision to send this reciprocal message stemmed from the fact that I remember receiving similar messages in 2011, both on Jan 1 and also for the Sinhala & Hindu New Year. But when one looks at the track record of the political administration of the year, what one saw was a trail of mismanagement which brought neither peace nor happiness to many people. When the President wishes his fellow citizens (though some feel he sees them more as his subjects), he should realize, that as the Head of the State with untrammelled powers (JR once said that the only thing the President couldn’t do was make a man a woman and a woman a man!), his actions or inactions can determine the peace and happiness of the citizens of Sri Lanka.

A review of the events in 2011 makes this very clear. The crime rate in the country has soared to unprecedented levels including nearly 500 murders and 1600 rape cases reported being upto November 2011. Kusal Perera in the Sunday leader today, states that there were 241 cases of kidnappings/abductions. Corruption, wastage and abuse are rampant. The bid for the Commonwealth Games spending nearly Rs800m and the Mihin Air losses in the billions are examples.

The education system is a sordid mess and the recent A/level debacle is a case in point. The bungled implementation of the veggie crate policy saw hundreds of farmers and vendors up in arms. Custodial killings resulted in two police stations being attacked after suspects were killed while in custody.

The murder of a much loved doctor in Karandeniya was a dastardly act involving contract killings undertaken by security personnel. (Ironically it is to the military institutions that university students are sent for leadership training.) The recent killing for the first time in the country of a foreign tourist, took the country to its lowest point. There is also the gun duel in broad daylight between rival politicians(a sitting MP and a former MP) from the same party, that ended in one of them being killed and the other seriously injured. Political thuggery is the order of the day with politicians themselves behaving like thugs (even inside the parliament sometimes) with non ever being brought to book.

Recently I attended a wedding reception at the Galle Face and when returning to my vehicle, on a curb adjoining the hotel, I saw a mother sleeping huddled with her two young children because of the cold that is being felt in Colombo these days. It was only the previous week that night races were organized for the rich to flaunt their (often ill gotten) wealth.

Now one could ask me what has this got to do with a kindly President (with probably no precedent) who takes the time to wish the citizens of the country on such celebratory occasions. I have reason to do so, because this situation has arisen not only because of inept criminalised political governance and administration, but also because of political complicity in these lawless acts which brings so much misery and social unease to many people in this country. The deliberate creation of a special breed of sycophants comprising academics, professionals, bureaucrats has also helped consolidate the situation.

In such a situation these wishes are seemingly very hollow and serve only to create a deceptive illusion of benevolence.”