Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

[A_Gupta]

MDMK and PMK oppose India gifting away Coast Guard ship to Sri Lanka
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-md ... ka-2120173

[arshyam]

A couple of video reports in Tamil from northern Sri Lanka. Good visuals, though there is some amount of awkwardness when people speak. Mentions that we re-built the rail line after the war and supplied locomotives, though Rajapakse decided to source coaches for the train from China.



Awkwardness is higher in this video, as people aren't sure about talking freely yet. Both Tamil and Sinhala folks express hope for peace, but the 30 years' war has taken its toll. Good visuals again, nevertheless.


There is more on the channel's YT page, but I haven't watched them yet. Will post after doing so later.

[Tuan]

First Tamil in 32 years to lead Sri Lanka opposition
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asi ... 97828.html

[Malayappan]

http://www.slguardian.org/how-india-kil ... the-region

The article sums up -

Chinese President to grab power in the Indian Ocean disappeared in no time. The Chinese funded Mattala Airport is now being turned to a paddy store. The Hambantota Port is viewed as an unwarranted investment. India has tamed the red dragon which came to blow the Indian Ocean. India has been able to turn the US sponsored international war crimes resolution into a domestic investigation within Sri Lanka. India has tamed both China and America who wanted to dance in her region in a manner that killed two birds with a single stone. In reality the winner of the last presidential and general elections is not Maithri or Ranil. India was the winner.

[A_Gupta]

This is a nice ambition to have:
"Sri Lanka should be the Hong Kong of India"
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015 ... nt-page-1/

When it comes to India, Sri Lanka is today placed in a similar position as that of Hong Kong.

India is a significant global player and it is estimated that economically it may surpass China (given China’s fast ageing population and the gender imbalance), and it has the ability to become the world’s biggest economy.

Unlike how Hong Kong prospered thanks to China (Hong Kong is located in very close proximity to China); Sri Lanka (located in very close proximity to India), has thus far been unable to grab the opportunity and capitalise on India’s growth.

India had closer to a double digit GDP growth in the past decade, but, as stated before, Sri Lanka failed to capitalise on this.

In the past ten years Sri Lanka ‘put all its eggs only in the China basket’. After the war, it sadly developed a relationship of mistrust and annoyance with India (true, Thamilnadu created the problem, but, Sri Lanka diplomatically failed to secure New Delhi’s support).

Sri Lanka failed to relaise that it cannot rise to prosperity solely on the back of China, but, it could comfortably do so on the back of India.

[Philip]

Sorry JEM.I just saw your post/query. The two elections couldn't have gone better for India. The eminence grise who orchestrated the defeat of Rajapakse and his "familia" by putting up a surprise candidate in the form of a nonentity by name Sirisena was CBK (Chandrika). A secret strategy brilliantly concocted that first dethroned Rajapakse in January and then when he attempted to grab power and become PM through the general election,persuauded the electorate (and the minorities) to vote against many of her own party (corrupted by Rajapakse and co.) in favour of Ranil W. Rajapkse has always held that the elections were between him and Chandrika,and he famously lost!

It is no coincidence that the Lankan "triumvirate" of Sirisena,Ranil and CBK are visting India in quick succession in the aftermath of the gen. elections and formation of the cabinet,etc. Lanka expects much from India in the form of trade,aid and support in international fora,especially against a declining diaspora who have now no one to train their guns on.Political vagrants like Vaiko are ranting and raving against their own reflections in the mirror ,especially now that a Tamil has again after decades been rightfully made "Leader of the Opposition" in parliament. The next 5 years should be calm,peaceful and prosperous for the island.Huge opportunities await the shrewd Indian businessman.A Lankan wrote recently that the island should be the equivalent of a Hong Kong to India as HK is to China,and that the love affair with China by the Rjapakse familia was a mistake.

One noticeable and very welcome innovation in our foreign policy has been M.Modi'semphasis on re-establishing strong ties between the two nations through Buddhism. This should've been done decades ago but the Italian queen,sorry...ex-queen of India and her mouthless mouthpiece ,the mendicant of "snake-oil",cared a fig for the island,scorning opportunities when they presented themselves. Mr.Modi's recent remarks about Buddhism in Bihar is not skin deep,but a deep understanding of how historic cultural and religious ties ,especially the spread of Indian religions and culture throughout Asia could be a unifying force for good between nations that shared this common heritage. Indo-Lankan relations could not look better for decades as they do now.

[Tuan]

Philip, what's your take on the Ranil's policy with regard to China, going forward? Of course, both info and gut feel are welcome. I would, and I think the forum would as well, benefit from your view on that.

It is no coincidence that the Lankan "triumvirate" of Sirisena,Ranil and CBK are visting India in quick succession in the aftermath of the gen. elections and formation of the cabinet,etc. Lanka expects much from India in the form of trade,aid and support in international fora,especially against a declining diaspora who have now no one to train their guns on.Political vagrants like Vaiko are ranting and raving against their own reflections in the mirror ,especially now that a Tamil has again after decades been rightfully made "Leader of the Opposition" in parliament. The next 5 years should be calm,peaceful and prosperous for the island.Huge opportunities await the shrewd Indian businessman.A Lankan wrote recently that the island should be the equivalent of a Hong Kong to India as HK is to China,and that the love affair with China by the Rjapakse familia was a mistake.

One noticeable and very welcome innovation in our foreign policy has been M.Modi'semphasis on re-establishing strong ties between the two nations through Buddhism. This should've been done decades ago but the Italian queen,sorry...ex-queen of India and her mouthless mouthpiece ,the mendicant of "snake-oil",cared a fig for the island,scorning opportunities when they presented themselves. Mr.Modi's recent remarks about Buddhism in Bihar is not skin deep,but a deep understanding of how historic cultural and religious ties ,especially the spread of Indian religions and culture throughout Asia could be a unifying force for good between nations that shared this common heritage. Indo-Lankan relations could not look better for decades as they do now.

Philipji, good point indeed, however, JE Menon Sir was wondering what would be the foreign policy of Ranil with regard to China though.

IMHO, these past presidential and general elections in Sri Lanka were significant to all great players’ grand strategies: (1) the One Belt, One Road (OBOR), China’s proposed strategy to enhance connectivity and trade between Eurasian nations, a part of which is the proposed Maritime Silk Road (MSR), aimed at furthering collaboration between south east Asia, Oceania and East Africa; (2) Project Mausam, India’s effort to reconnect with its ancient trading partners along the Indian Ocean, widely regarded as its answer to the MSR; and (3) the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor, the USA’s effort to better connect south and south east Asian nations.

I don’t think the West including the US or the UK really care about reconciliation in Sri Lanka or that Tamil grievances have not been met. Rather, these series of events including the UN resolution on human rights, the presidential and general election , upcoming UN report on war crimes are all part and parcel of these great powers’ grand strategies. Great powers may set the agenda, but geopolitical depictions are depend on the game the rest of the world play , and it is small states that will decide the fate of their designs to repaint the new world order. As such, one can only hope that this time around the SL politicians could take advantage of this golden opportunity to build another "Hong Kong" in Asia, unlike many other previous ones where they utterly failed to understand the geostrategic great game of the multipolar world.

[arshyam]

I don’t think the West including the US or the UK or China really care about reconciliation in Sri Lanka or that Tamil grievances have not been met. ...

Fixed that for you. Ultimately, only India really cares whether Sri Lanka is unified, prosperous, etc.

China actually has the most to gain by an internally unstable SL, as they can gain influence over the Sinhala population and get their strategic foothold, while India will be hobbled due to her limitations over the Tamil population in both countries. And then, any ethnic problem means the Tamil population in the north will look to/seek refuge in India (they have nowhere else to go, beyond a point), and that will add to India's problems in dealing with the Chinese presence. Again, no skin off China, they will gain the most here, as any Indian moves will be perceived by the southern Sinhala population as against them (China will help this no doubt with some soothing investments).

As for the west, their interest in SL is to only use that faultline to exploit within India, as for them, India is the larger strategic threat, and anything they can do to hobble India, they will do. China has no role here, 'cos no listens to Chinese propaganda in India .

Net net, it's only in India's interest that SL is unified and stable so it can prosper on its own (or gain access to Indian markets a la Hong Kong), and this plan does not provide for any Chinese presence anywhere close. Historically, India and SL are culturally and ethically very close, and this needs to be built upon.

[Tuan]

I don’t think the West including the US or the UK or China really care about reconciliation in Sri Lanka or that Tamil grievances have not been met. ...

Fixed that for you. Ultimately, only India really cares whether Sri Lanka is unified, prosperous, etc.

China actually has the most to gain by an internally unstable SL, as they can gain influence over the Sinhala population and get their strategic foothold, while India will be hobbled due to her limitations over the Tamil population in both countries. And then, any ethnic problem means the Tamil population in the north will look to/seek refuge in India (they have nowhere else to go, beyond a point), and that will add to India's problems in dealing with the Chinese presence. Again, no skin off China, they will gain the most here, as any Indian moves will be perceived by the southern Sinhala population as against them (China will help this no doubt with some soothing investments).

While I somewhat agree with you regarding India’s good intentions towards SL, I’m appalled by the fact that both Delhi and Washington joined hands with Colombo on the forthcoming resolution at the UNHRC. This is because despite regime change there is little evidence that the new government has either the capacity or the political will to domestically investigate, try and punish perpetrators of war crimes.

Not to mention, Sirisena, even as he campaigned for the presidency, had admitted being acting minister of defense when most of the innocent civilians were killed, was insistent that Rajapakse and the military leaders implicated in mass atrocities against Tamils would not be brought before an international tribunal for war crimes. Then how could one argue that there is stability and reconciliation process taking placce, whereas there’s no justice or accountability, without which there would be no reconciliation!

[Tuvaluan]

I’m appalled by the fact that both Delhi and Washington joined hands with Colombo on the forthcoming resolution at the UNHRC.

A couple of things: 1) UN resolutions are not worth the paper they are written on and has no moral standing to point fingers anywhere given that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, among other dictatorships is part of the "Human Rights Council", so any stance taken by the Indian govt. is just to ensure that its relations with the SL govt are not affected. (2) a lot of sri lankans on both sides died during the conflict and there is no such thing as international law, and any attempt to "punish" those in the SL govt. is not only illegitimate, it is unnecessary. What is needed is a "truth and reconciliation" that is run internally by the SL people to reveal and accept what happened to both sides. Attempting to bring in third parties in what is an internal SL affair will only provide space for mischief makers in the "international community", who had a large hand in ensuring the SL conflict kept burning for decades, and I mean countries like Norway among others.

[Tuan]

I’m appalled by the fact that both Delhi and Washington joined hands with Colombo on the forthcoming resolution at the UNHRC.

A couple of things: 1) UN resolutions are not worth the paper they are written on and has no moral standing to point fingers anywhere given that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, among other dictatorships is part of the "Human Rights Council", so any stance taken by the Indian govt. is just to ensure that its relations with the SL govt are not affected. (2) a lot of sri lankans on both sides died during the conflict and there is no such thing as international law, and any attempt to "punish" those in the SL govt. is not only illegitimate, it is unnecessary. What is needed is a "truth and reconciliation" that is run internally by the SL people to reveal and accept what happened to both sides. Attempting to bring in third parties in what is an internal SL affair will only provide space for mischief makers in the "international community", who had a large hand in ensuring the SL conflict kept burning for decades, and I mean countries like Norway among others.

Tuvaluan Sir, Rajapaksa had already set up a "truth and reconciliation" commission that did nothing but much of a hype. Here is a Sinhalese scholar's view on that:

Revisiting Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka: The Rhetoric, Realities & Opportunities

While the government is advocating for a domestic mechanism, one must also be cautious in terms of what is possible in the present system and whether such a mechanism is able to deliver on truth, justice and reparations. The previous government of Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in 2010 as their answer to a ‘home grown solution’. Although there was much hype, the track record of implementation of the LLRC recommendations has been dismal with reports indicating to only 13% being fully implemented. There are no known official figures indicating to the progress of other past commission recommendations, many of which are not in the public domain. With such a past record, it is paramount, that any new mechanisms introduced must overcome past mistakes and established within a new legal and policy order.

Also important is to unpack statements by the Sirisena government on what is meant by a ‘credible domestic mechanism’. What elements would such a mechanism have? Would it address issues of truth, justice, reparations and reform? Would it be purely domestic or have an international dimension? It is to be seen what happens with the new government, but there is no discounting the grievances of thousands of citizens across Sri Lanka whose call for truth, justice and reparations must be given attention and is critical for reconciliation in Sri Lanka. In this regard, there must be attention on key issues and elements essential for a mechanism/s, some of which are listed below.

[Tuvaluan]

Tuan, no need to Sir me. Since Rajapakse was complete fraud/crook and a despot, so it is not completely surprising . I think it is up to the SL Tamils to demand that it be done correctly if the LLRC is suspected to be dead in the water -- demand for a progress report on the LLRC for starters, via political pressure applied through SL tamil parties.

[Tuan]

All these discussions shall do nothing but re-open old wounds. It is an endless task....we may have to start with the first JVP revolt, crimes of the Sri Lankan army against the Sinhala youth, the crimes of IPKF, the crimes of the Pol Potist Tigers and the atrocities committed at the end of the fourth Eelam War. What is required is an independent international enquiry, with active Indian and UN participation; get the report quickly and get the guilty punished. Then we'll talk about reconciliation, reconstruction, and reintegration etc.

[Tuvaluan]

All these discussions shall do nothing but re-open old wounds. It is an endless task...

These things are difficult but allow for everyone to acknowledge mistakes done by all sides -- don't see how this is any worse than allowing some "international court" to meddle with SL's internal affairs.

[Tuan]

This is not SL’s internal affairs anymore. There are more than a million SL Tamils living all over the world who are labeled as prisoners/ fugitives/terrorists/criminals/migrants/refugees/fresh-off-the boats and labours, whatever you name it, with the hope of returning back home one day, sooner than later. Words cannot describe the ordeal we go through on a daily basis in foreign lands.

Here is a beautiful poem written by a migrant about her “home” you may want to read:
http://zeyeon.tumblr.com/post/580522238 ... rsan-shire

[Tuvaluan]

This is not SL’s internal affairs anymore. There are more than a million SL Tamils living all over the world who are labeled as prisoners/ fugitives/terrorists/criminals/migrants/refugees/fresh-off-the boats and labours, whatever you name it, with the hope of returning back home one day, sooner than later.

Sorry, I do not buy this line that other countries are involved -- it really is none of their business. Period. Repatriation of refugees and creating a process for it has to be an internal SL process -- it is not the business of other countries that may have given citizenship to such refugees to interfere with SL's internal political process.

[arshyam]

All these discussions shall do nothing but re-open old wounds. It is an endless task....we may have to start with the first JVP revolt, crimes of the Sri Lankan army against the Sinhala youth, the crimes of IPKF, the crimes of the Pol Potist Tigers and the atrocities committed at the end of the fourth Eelam War. What is required is an independent international enquiry, with active Indian and UN participation; get the report quickly and get the guilty punished. Then we'll talk about reconciliation, reconstruction, and reintegration etc.

You are contradicting yourself - if internal system will open old wounds, why would external investigations not? They both will supposedly discuss the same issue, won't they?

And, nice try, but take such nonsense elsewhere. Don't think for a moment you can slip in something like this and no one would notice.

the crimes of IPKF,

[Tuan]

You are contradicting yourself - if internal system will open old wounds, why would external investigations not? They both will supposedly discuss the same issue, won't they?

I meant the discussions on this forum may re-open old wounds for a person like me.

And, nice try, but take such nonsense elsewhere. Don't think for a moment you can slip in something like this and no one would notice.

Since we're discussing about "truth and reconciliation" commission, I had to bring all the truth out, shouldn't I?

[Tuvaluan]

I meant the discussions on this forum may re-open old wounds for a person like me.

That is pretty much the point of such things, isn't it? Hiding all the ugliness and pretending everything is fixed right now is exactly what is going on.

Since we're discussing about "truth and reconciliation" commission, I had to bring all the truth out, shouldn't I?

you (or any SL ex-citizen) are not relevant to the process of reconciliation between the groups in Sri Lanka, unless you are back on the ground in Sri Lanka as a citizen of Sri Lanka. It is not about you bringing any truth out -- it is about all sides facing the unpleasentness of their own hand in the mess.

Only people who remain in Sri Lanka and are willing to be involved can be part of this process -- else too much scope for troublemakers with their own agendas to muddy the waters, and ruin the entire process.

You are already pointing fingers at IPKF, when they are not relevant to the bigger picture of civil war, so what you just did exactly why outsiders who are now citizens of other countries cannot be allowed to be part of this process of reconciliation between SL citizen groups.

[arshyam]

^^ Tuvaluan saar as usual hit the nail on the head. Nothing more to add from me.

Tuan, like it or not, SL has to find the way forward by themselves. Outside countries cannot do anything beyond help the economy with trade deals, provide support in intl fora, etc. Having an intl investigation will not solve anything, but will only make things worse (like you yourself said about re-opening wounds). It's like asking the local goonda to intercede on a family dispute - no one will come out of it happy and unhurt. South Africa did use the option of an internal TRC, perhaps that's something SL should take a look at again (I know they did look at it earlier, but didn't do much follow up). India for her part, will restrict herself to offerring moral support to the country as a whole, and not take sides internally. Of course, India has an interest in seeing normalcy returning in the north and the Tamil refugees sitting in TN camps go back. To that extent, India is more involved than other external entities. But beyond that, it is not India's place to run the show or tell the SL govt what to do. And if is not India's place (which is the biggest and closest neighbour), it is definitely not anyone else's. Hence internal SL solutions driven by SL citizens. Only. Hope that helps.

[schinnas]

Sri Lanka will have lasting peace and harmony only when they adopt a federalistic model similar to India. A country with two distinct ethnicities just cannot afford to have a chauvinistic unitary nation state model. All this talk that India should not involve in SL matters is just bull droppings. The truth is India is always involved in the affairs of countries next door - whether it is Nepal, Bangladesh or SL. In fact every major country will be involved in the affairs of its neighours to ensure that its interests are protected.

A unified and peaceful SL is in India's interests and it also protects SL from entities such as China which will incite such divisions and fish in troubled waters. It is a strategic necessity for India to counsel Sri Lanka and apply diplomatic pressure and cajoling to ensure that they make the right moves to punish those guilty of war crimes and move towards de-centralization of power and a federalistic constitution.

In fact, one can argue that a federalistic constitution has helped India remain united and all ethnicities of India prosper with equality. Countries which were lacking confidence in themselves and choose a repressive unitary model when they have multiple sizable ethnicity always pay the price.

[schinnas]

Sri Lanka will have lasting peace and harmony only when they adopt a federalistic model similar to India. A country with two distinct ethnicities just cannot afford to have a chauvinistic unitary nation state model. All this talk that India should not involve in SL matters is just bull droppings. The truth is India is always involved in the affairs of countries next door - whether it is Nepal, Bangladesh or SL. In fact every major country will be involved in the affairs of its neighours to ensure that its interests are protected.

A unified and peaceful SL is in India's interests and it also protects SL from entities such as China which will incite such divisions and fish in troubled waters. It is a strategic necessity for India to counsel Sri Lanka and apply diplomatic pressure and cajoling to ensure that they make the right moves to punish those guilty of war crimes and move towards de-centralization of power and a federalistic constitution.

In fact, one can argue that a federalistic constitution has helped India remain united and all ethnicities of India prosper with equality. Countries which were lacking confidence in themselves and choose a repressive unitary model when they have multiple sizable ethnicity always pay the price.

[schinnas]

Sri Lanka will have lasting peace and harmony only when they adopt a federalistic model similar to India. A country with two distinct ethnicities just cannot afford to have a chauvinistic unitary nation state model. All this talk that India should not involve in SL matters is just bull droppings. The truth is India is always involved in the affairs of countries next door - whether it is Nepal, Bangladesh or SL. In fact every major country will be involved in the affairs of its neighours to ensure that its interests are protected.

A unified and peaceful SL is in India's interests and it also protects SL from entities such as China which will incite such divisions and fish in troubled waters. It is a strategic necessity for India to counsel Sri Lanka and apply diplomatic pressure and cajoling to ensure that they make the right moves to punish those guilty of war crimes and move towards de-centralization of power and a federalistic constitution.

In fact, one can argue that a federalistic constitution has helped India remain united and all ethnicities of India prosper with equality. Countries which were lacking confidence in themselves and choose a repressive unitary model when they have multiple sizable ethnicity always pay the price.

[Tuvaluan]

It is a strategic necessity for India to counsel Sri Lanka and apply diplomatic pressure and cajoling to ensure that they make the right moves to punish those guilty of war crimes and move towards de-centralization of power and a federalistic constitution.

In fact, one can argue that a federalistic constitution has helped India remain united and all ethnicities of India prosper with equality. Countries which were lacking confidence in themselves and choose a repressive unitary model when they have multiple sizable ethnicity always pay the price.

Notwithstanding the rightness or wrongness of these views, I fail to see the "strategic necessity" of moralizing to the SL govt. -- what are the strategic goals achieved by India by taking this line.

it is not India's place to go around moralizing about punishing those guilty of war crimes etc. -- it is exactly such moralizing that undercuts Indian interests and gives space for third parties to get a leg in. And how is India supposed to "apply diplomatic pressure"? via the "international community"? please.

[Philip]

Look Sri Lanka is even smaller than Tamilnadu. Federalism will not work in such a small island. Federalism is a bad word in the island as it historically smacks of separatism,unacceptable to the majority of the population. Accelerated devolution of power within the existing sysetm will make for faster decision-making and local development. All matters of state,defence,foreign affairs,etc. have to be under the state's central purview.In India,we criticize even TN when its politicos,esp the fringe elements start trying to "wag the dog" regarding our policy on Lanka.

[Tuan]

Sri Lanka will have lasting peace and harmony only when they adopt a federalistic model similar to India. A country with two distinct ethnicities just cannot afford to have a chauvinistic unitary nation state model. All this talk that India should not involve in SL matters is just bull droppings. The truth is India is always involved in the affairs of countries next door - whether it is Nepal, Bangladesh or SL. In fact every major country will be involved in the affairs of its neighours to ensure that its interests are protected.

A unified and peaceful SL is in India's interests and it also protects SL from entities such as China which will incite such divisions and fish in troubled waters. It is a strategic necessity for India to counsel Sri Lanka and apply diplomatic pressure and cajoling to ensure that they make the right moves to punish those guilty of war crimes and move towards de-centralization of power and a federalistic constitution.

In fact, one can argue that a federalistic constitution has helped India remain united and all ethnicities of India prosper with equality. Countries which were lacking confidence in themselves and choose a repressive unitary model when they have multiple sizable ethnicity always pay the price.

Thank you and I completely agree with you schinnas ji. Even the newly appointed Tamil opposition party leader Sampanthan also sort of emphasizes the same thing.

Sampanthan proposes 3 to 5 regions

Newly appointed Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, in his address to Parliament, said Sri Lanka should have ‘three to five regions’ with maximum power devolved to them taking a good example from India as the giant neighbour to resolve the Tamil national question.

Mr. Sampanthan was appointed as the Opposition Leader of the new Parliament yesterday. His Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 16 seats at the August 17 General Elections from the five electoral districts in the north and the east.

He said he would use the opportunity afforded to him to find a solution to the national question.

“Why can’t we have three to five regions in this country taking a good example from our giant neighbour? Despite all diversities they have been able to stay together thanks to their form of governance. Rather than having so many ministers in the centre why can’t we have three to five regions in this country vested with substantial powers of governance? There are many young members of Parliament who could be ministers, chief ministers in those regions. Give those regions maximum power. And allow those various parts of this country be ruled in such a way that the people themselves are best served. In India there are 29 such states. The country is united. The country stays together because people’s aspirations are respected, honoured and implemented by the states which have been constituted in such a way as to preserve linguistic interests, cultural interests, religious interests and so on. That is what we need,” he said.

Asserting that his party would remain an efficient and effective opposition, he said it would support all positive endeavours of the government.

“We will support the government in its endeavours if they are justified and are for the betterment of people. We’ll work closely with other parties of the opposition to ensure that we together are an effective opposition. We would not hesitate to work together and fight for the cause of the opposition whenever it is required,” he said.

Besides, Mr. Sampanthan said his party would not accept the idea to increase the number of ministries in the government.

[SwamyG]

Systematic killings of tamilians http://www.vikatan.com/news/article.php ... m=referral

I think if the tamilians are just wiped off the face of SL, then it would be just paradise, no?

[Tuan]

Modi's Lanka war crime fix

New Delhi, Sept. 11: Sri Lanka's Tamil leadership has asked India to support an international probe into alleged war crimes on the island at a key UN meet this month, forcing the Narendra Modi government into an uncomfortable choice between a traditional ally and a new friend.

India has traditionally preferred only domestic investigations into human rights abuses, especially in its neighbourhood.

It is also desperate to stand by the government of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, elected in January, which has attempted a shift away from the pronounced pro-China tilt of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Colombo is adamant that it will only agree to a domestic probe.

But three days before Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe arrives in New Delhi for his first overseas visit since taking office, the umbrella Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today made it clear Modi risked belying expectations of the country's Tamils by supporting Colombo.

"We expect the international community, and that includes India, to support an international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka," Leader of Opposition in the Sri Lankan parliament and TNA chairman R. Sampanthan told The Telegraph in an interview over the phone from Colombo. "Our experience with past domestic inquiries suggests that they can't be truly independent."

Sampanthan's clear rejection of a domestic probe comes after days of differences within the TNA - a grouping of four main parties - with some demanding an international probe, and others willing to accept an inquiry conducted by Sri Lankans.

The UN Human Rights Council is expected to meet later this month in Geneva to discuss a report on progress made by Sri Lanka on combating human rights violations after the end of the country's three-decade civil war in 2009.

Sirisena has already told the UNHRC he wants to personally attend the session.

Wickramasinghe, traditionally a friend of India, is expected to discuss the UNHRC report and resolution with Modi during his three-day trip here starting Monday.

Both Sri Lankan and Indian officials had indicated Wickramasinghe might also nudge Modi to use India's influence with the TNA to persuade the grouping to agree to a domestic probe.

Their hopes were based at least in part on differences between some TNA leaders who said they would visit Geneva to attend the UN conference and demand an international probe, and others who appeared more reconciliatory.

But 82-year-old Sampanthan today said the TNA had come to a firm position on the UN session.

"Yes, the new Sri Lankan government is coordinating more with the international community, but it is the TNA's clear position that an international investigation is necessary," Sampanthan said.

Accepting an international probe into Sri Lanka's human rights record would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the Modi government, former Indian high commissioner to Sri Lanka Nirupam Sen said.

Such a precedent could trigger similar demands for investigations in Kashmir, something India is wary of. But there's also a second reason why India does not support international probes in its neighbourhood.

"This is an area where we want to strengthen our influence," Sen told this newspaper. "Why would we want an international presence instead?"

[JE Menon]

^^There is no fix for Modi. The issue will be handled in the way it has always been, respectful of both India's and Sri Lanka's current and future sovereignty, with particular attention to the careful and sensitive integration of the Tamil population into every aspect of Lankan life. It's not going to be easy. But this is not a fix for Modi. It has been for governments past and will be for governments in future.

@SwamyG - trolling? Kindly don't.

[svenkat]

Film about Isaipriya unlikely to hit the screens

The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal has refused to certify ‘Porkalathil Oru Poo’, a film based on the life of a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist Isaipriya, who was allegedly killed by Sri Lankan armed forces during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The decision will effectively end any hopes of getting it released in India.

Reacting to the development, S. Ve. Shekar, regional chairman of CBFC, clarified that the CBFC had gone absolutely by the rule book. “We are here to help the producer legally release the film in India. We are not a censor board. The film was denied certification because it was clearly intended to disparage Sri Lanka, a friendly neighbouring State,” he said.

He further added that there are long sequences of gang rape in the film, which is unsuitable for screening in a public place. “The alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan army are shown in detail. Also, how can we use Ms. Jayalalithaa's speech in a film without her consent?”

Explaining that the decision does not amount to censorship, Mr. Shekar said everyone had a right to make such films, but could not expect CBFC to give certification if the theme itself was problematic. “It is not true that we are scuttling free speech. We recently gave certification for a film called ‘Eelathin Magan’, which directly showed army men executing a young boy. It was made without taking any names. We all know on whom the film was based. But, it was cleverly veiled and we didn’t have a problem,” he said.

[chetak]

The srilankans paid for it in blood.


Dravidian Ideology furthers Church agenda

Dravidian Ideology furthers Church agenda

The beginning of the transformation of the DMK from a sovereign Dravidian party into a Church-reactive, defensive party had begun.

radha@jjamm.net' Radha Rajan
Distortion & Appropriation | 04-05-2015

Twice in the final two years of the previous DMK regime in Tamil Nadu the Church pushed the DMK government into a corner making it look helpless and worse, supposedly drifting away from its ideological moorings. The DMK was accused by Tamil chauvinist splinter parties for not leveraging its status as partner in the UPA government to stop Mahinda Rajapakse from decimating the LTTE to its last man. The Church won its first major political victory in Tamil Nadu politics when the LTTE was presented not merely as the face and voice of the Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka, but was made congruent with the idea of Tamil People.

Note: From when it first invented itself two thousand years ago, in the kind of politics that the Church has perfected in every continent that it invaded and conquered, Tamil People is not the same as Tamil-speaking people.

dmkThe idea of Tamil People/Tamil Nation was a natural progression from the seed of anti-Brahminism, and it was the DMK which propagated it in the 1960s as a political idea. It was also the same DMK which had consistently and aggressively voiced Tamil Nadu’s concerns about the political inequities suffered by Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking minorities. Yet, by operating through its adherents and Tamil chauvinists from within the smaller fast-mushrooming Dravidian splinter parties like the MDMK, the PMK and the Viduthalai Chiruthai (VC), the Church put the DMK on the back-foot.

The beginning of the transformation of the DMK from a sovereign Dravidian party into a Church-reactive, defensive party had begun; only the DMK was in denial about the role of the Church in the unfolding events.

The Tamil Nadu Bar especially the Madras High Court is unabashedly political. Lawyers of Tamil Nadu’s courts reflecting TN’s polity, are vertically split broadly into the DMK and AIADMK factions while an emerging section can be engaged as rent-a-crowd by any party which wants violence to be let loose in court campuses. A significantly large section of TN’s lawyers had been on strike from 2008 boycotting the courts ostensibly on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils, but actually in support of the LTTE.

A violent confrontation between striking lawyers and the police compelled the state government to make a choice between the state’s law-enforcing forces and the lawyers who constituted a sizeable Dravidian electoral constituency. Had the state government not done so, the result would have been a demoralized police force which would have refused to act, leading eventually to spiralling violence and total anarchy in the courts and on the streets.

Both cases had imprints of the Church’s hands all over them.

The taming of Jayalalithaa into a submissive Church agent was completed in record time. The Church’s calibrated measures to lead the Brahmin-led AIADMK back to non-Brahmin Dravidian political objectives began when Jayalalithaa arrested the mathadhipathis of the Kanchi matham in November 2004. The Church’s measured steps gathered momentum when Jayalalithaa:

Admitted Vai.Gopalaswamy ‘Vaiko’, the Christian head of the MDMK, whom she had incarcerated previously under NSA for his pro LTTE and seditious speeches, into the AIADMK orbit
Invited five Christian priests, including a Bishop to her Poe’s Garden residence on Christmas day in 2008 for solemn Christian prayers
Made promises galore to TN Christians in her election manifesto for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections
In a complete turnaround from the earlier stated position of her party, declared on the campaign trail in 2009 that she now believed that the secessionist state of Tamil Eelam was the only solution to the civil war in Sri Lanka
Promised the Christian community during her pre-election visit to Kanyakumari that when with the blessings of Jesus Christ and the good wishes of Christians she would win the Assembly Elections in April 2011, she would use state treasury funds to send Christians to Jerusalem on pilgrimage; that she thought no one could deny Christians their right to build churches anywhere they wished; she had already committed her party in 2009 to creating the Christian state of Tamil Eelam

The lateral expansion of Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian politics today in terms of tenets and scope as breakaway heresies from the parent Justice Party bears a startling resemblance to the lateral expansion of Islam and Christianity as breakaway heresies from their parent Judaism. Like the Abrahamic breakaway heresies, TN’s Dravidian parties too were nothing more than organized bodies of extremist/maximalist cult worshippers; and the hate-filled political speeches of the central cult figures like EV Ramaswamy Naicker, CN Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi and now Thol.Tirumavalavan, is passed off as Dravidian ideology.

If we must understand the dynamics of anti-Brahmin/anti-Hindu Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu, we must understand the common features of all break away Abrahamic heresies:

All of them retain the basic genes from the parent; in this case, conquering the world for their jealous god who will not co-exist with other gods
One principle or idea, usually an idea born of hate or confrontation is developed to give them an independent identity
All of them denounce the parent as an imperfect being and offer themselves unabashedly as improved versions of the parent, their predecessor or both
All of them, without exception seek power – social, political and money power
All of them want territory with their respective central cult figures as new gods
Because they all retain the basic genes from the parent and because moving away from one heresy into another poses no ideological/existential dilemma to the new convert, such movement across the Abrahamic spectrum is discouraged with great violence – Catholic to Protestant to Anglican to Orthodox to Pentecostal and other new missions or from Judaism to Christianity, Islam to Christianity or vice versa
Because all Abrahamic ideologies, parent and heretic offspring alike, are about political power and control of territory, Abrahamic ideologies are always about numbers
In the absence of numbers in the early stages of existence, violence and terror are the usual methods for getting the converts and for terrorizing and subjugating the target people and nation
The Periarite groups and parties, the DMK, AIADMK, MDMK, PMK and the Viduthalai Chiruthai all retain anti-Brahminism as their core ideology; this has expanded to include anti-Hindu, anti-Hindu temples, anti-Sanskrit, anti-North India, anti-Hindi and anti-anything as opportunism demands; all of them have demonstrated at one time or the other their ever-preparedness for violence

The anti-Hindu Dravidian politics which developed around the hate-filled cult of ‘Periyar’ EV Ramaswami Naicker’s Self Respect Movement in the erstwhile Madras Presidency is therefore only an Abrahamic heretic clone.

Taking their cue from the creation of the Muslim League in 1906, the Justice Party also known as South Indian Liberal Federation was created in 1916 by powerful non-Brahmin zamindars and non-Brahmin forward castes as a political instrument with a limited objective – to demand more non-Brahmin representation in colonial government and administration. Even though the Justice party was formed to serve non-Brahmin political interests, the founders and early members of the party TM Nair, Sir P Thegaraya Chetty, the Rajas of Bobbili, Ramnad and Panagal were practicing Hindus and did not subscribe to Tamil secessionist theology associated with later Dravidian political cults.

While the Justice Party rejected extremist formulations which would destabilize society in a manner hoped for by the Church, its creation was nevertheless a step in the intended direction. It was the beginning of caste-identity politics which successfully fragmented not only Hindu consciousness but Hindu society too by pitting jaati against jaati besides accepting without question the Church’s missionary propaganda of ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ castes, ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ castes.

The political marginalization of the Brahmins had begun and the Church had every reason to be pleased; the Brahmins were the weakest link in the Hindu chain and pressure had been successfully exerted on the weakest link. The long-term grand plan was to make Hinduism congruent with Brahmins, disempower the Brahmins and hopefully this would weaken Hinduism, and eventually disempower Hindus politically by de-Hinduising the polity. The Church hoped that the fall of South India to Church machinations would knock down the Hindus in the rest of India, segment by segment, from the political arena and from all seats of power.

This may still happen if India’s polity, especially Hindus like Lalu and Mulayam, Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar and deracinated Hindus in the INC and BJP do not see even now the ultimate purpose of religious conversion and the real purpose behind the thousands of crores of foreign money that is pumped every year into the country by western governments and foreign churches.

The Christian state of Tamil Eelam was critical to Christianizing South Asia and must be seen together with the Church orchestrated upheaval in Nepal and the mischief in Myanmar.

Having created and then deepened previously unknown faultlines in Hindu society, the Church now simply had to wait for natural dynamics to take their course from the point of origin called the Justice Party. It did not have long to wait and three centuries of missionary propaganda about the inherent evil and inequities of varna and jaati vyavastha together with the cancerous spread of the Church in South India yielded bountiful results in the form of EV Ramaswami Naicker.

naicker
Naicker joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 but quit the Congress in 1925 to form the Self Respect Movement. Periyar’s Self Respect Movement was everything that the Church had hoped for. It positioned itself against the Brahmins – the one community the Church feared the most, retained the non-Brahmin identity of the parent but went much beyond it in scope.

The Self Respect Movement was not merely non-Brahmin in its identity but also virulently anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu. If the Justice Party was a political vehicle like the Muslim League, then the Self Respect Movement was like the Khilafat Committee and had well-defined socio-religious objectives—like the Khilafat Committee, it was not constrained by compulsions of electoral politics to observe social and political niceties.

Periyar’s violent anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu campaign which entailed defiling and destroying Hindu temples and murtis and abusing Brahmins and Hindu gods in offensive language in public speeches sent shock-waves across the Justice Party besides causing intense revulsion among a section of its leaders. To cut a long story short, in less than a decade, the fortunes of the Justice Party and Self Respect Movement became a zero sum game.

When the Justice Party lost the Provincial elections in 1937, several of its leaders abandoned the party and joined the Self Respect Movement. In 1938 Periyar merged his Self Respect Movement with the Justice Party (just as Jinnah persuaded the Khilafat Committee to merge with the Muslim League around the same time), took control of Justice Party and renamed it Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944.

By 1944 there was little doubt that Periyar EV Ramaswami Naicker was the inevitable manifestation of the cancerous Church in TN politics.

The Justice Party was a creature of European Christian missionary intent, which fanned the flames of anti-Brahminism as a political ideology in the Madras Presidency in the late 19th and early 20th century. The anti-Brahmin political ideology was a natural consequence of the insidious anti-Brahmin and anti-jaati anti-varna campaigns carried out by European Christian missionaries for three centuries in South India. The bizarre Aryan Invasion Theory was a natural progression of the core idea. The Church’s long-term intent was to sow seeds of discord among the different jaatis, break the jaati and varna vyavastha to cut the socio-cultural and religious roots of Hindus, and then step into the void.

Anti-Brahmin political ideology, as it was conceived and executed, became anti-Hindu because of the deadly idea underlying the Aryan Invasion Theory with ‘Periyar’ EV Ramaswamy Naicker’s Dravidar Kazhagam as the most vocal and powerful proponent of the theory. The resulting anti-Hindu trend in TN polity was fertile soil for the politics of Abrahamic Minority-ism which was exactly the direction in which the Church intended for Dravidian politics to travel. The Church did not have to be seen to be planting the tree; it simply had to sow the seed of poison weed and wait for the weed to sprout.

It is doubtful if it ever occurred to Naicker, but Periyar and all Dravidian parties which followed the Dravidar Kazhagam with anti-Brahminism as the only driving force were creatures of the Church. The resulting anti-Hinduism, Tamil Nation for Tamil People all derived only from this point of origin.

What Dravidian Tamil chauvinist parties from 1916 until 2011 claim to be Dravidian ideology rooted in Self Respect is nothing more than Christian missionary agenda for Tamil Nadu.
naicker‘Periyar’ traveled extensively abroad for two years between 1929-1931 through countries as diverse as Russia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, England, France and Germany. Had Naicker been a man of acute political sense or at least an honest man, such extensive travel ought to have shown him the genocidal path that Islam and the Church were traveling, he should have judged his own society and the religious-civilisational roots of his culture by American and European Abrahamic standards.

Instead Naicker chose to retain the Church’s fabrication of the Aryan-Dravidian race theory as the core of his Self-respect Movement and later his Dravidar Kazhagam in what may only be termed swallow-and-vomit intellectualism.

Goa, Kerala and TN were the favorite breeding grounds for European missionaries and facing the kind of challenge they did in India, the missionaries set about the task of understanding societal dynamics in Hindu India.

It did not take them long to understand that it was the organic jaati and varna vyavastha and the formidable moral authority wielded by Sanyasis and Brahmins which did not allow Christian missionaries to penetrate Hindu societies. Moral authority vested in Brahmins and Sanyasis should not be confused with temporal power which was vested in different collectives with different responsibilities.

When Brahmins, both the marginally few who were affluent and the vast majority of whom were economically backward, took to English-education, pursued government employment and became doctors, engineers and judges, their hold over their villages and local communities slackened in two generations resulting in irreversible consequences not only for their community but also for the villages and temples they left behind. Effectively they left the field open for Christian missionaries and anti-Hindu Dravidian ideology to take root.

Brahmana and Sanyasa dharma embodied exemplary values – austerity, self-denial, ahimsa, learning and imparting learning; the accruing moral authority maintained inter-jaati equilibrium and stability in society. Women and elders in every jaati and varna, Brahmins and Sanyasis were acknowledged as knowers of dharma. The Portuguese, having understood the critical and central role of the Brahmins, simply picked up the Sword of Christ and decimated the Brahmins of Goa to the last man, woman and child. Only one choice was given to the Brahmins – convert or die.
di nobli

Without going into excruciating details about the diabolic tactics which Constanzo Beschi, GU Pope, Di Nobili and other charlatans adopted in South India with the sole objective of usurping the moral authority vested in Brahmins and Sanyasis, suffice it to say that while some learnt Sanskrit and Tamil, others pretended to be Brahmins and Sanyasis by sporting the tuft, sacred thread, saffron robes and living a life of bogus austerity.

Realizing that Inquisitions of the Portuguese variety in Goa would almost certainly inflame the non-Brahmin Hindu martial castes against them, Italian and British Christian missionaries knew that they could penetrate Hindu society only by becoming a cancerous cell that lodges itself quietly and unnoticed within the bloodstream of the body it intends to kill.

This cancerous missionary cell, which was manufactured in the sixteenth century in TN was dignified by the Second Vatican Council with the nomenclature ‘enculturation’.

Enculturation is a cancerous cell and is a political weapon in Christian hands in the war to conquer territory.

In our own times, Sonia Gandhi is the best example of ‘enculturation’ of the Constanzo Beschi and Di Nobili kind. When she ‘encultered’ her Christian, Roman Catholic Italian identity in the sari, when she sported the bindi and waved her hand in conscious imitation of her mother-in-law, and when she was planted inside the family and home of India’s Prime Minister, it had already been decided that she would be the cancerous cell within the Indian National Congress and by extension, in the body politic of the Hindu nation. ‘Indian National’ Congress lost its meaning once again as did the INC-led freedom movement supposedly to free the nation from White Christian colonial rule.

Once penetration into society was achieved, the cancer called the local resident missionary began to spread it. It has always been the way of the Church to defame and defile the highest institutions in target communities, create a vacuum, and then step into the resulting unrest and instability to offer its Jesus-cult religion as solution. Taking note of the moral authority wielded by Brahmins in society, the Church trained its guns on Brahmins and Hindu scriptural texts. It crafted the diabolic Aryan Invasion theory which said –

Brahmins were an alien race called Aryans who invaded the country, defeated the native populace or Dravidians and drove them away from North-India to the South
The Vedas are the roots of Hinduism and the Vedas are composed in Sanskrit
Brahmins spoke Sanskrit while the defeated Dravidian race spoke Tamil. Kannada and Telugu, languages in the Dravidasthan as conceived by the Church and Naicker have been placed on the backburner for the present in favour of Tamil. Tamil holds preeminence in Church calculations because Dravidian ‘Tamil’ can be expanded into Tamil People and Tamil Nation.

Persons of the eminence of Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan, not immune to pecuniary and other benefits accruing from Dravidian state patronage have now begun to mouth the preposterous theory that the language of the Saraswati-Indus script is Dravidian.

This poisonous Aryan-Dravidian propaganda inter alia also meant –

Hinduism is only Brahminism (the Romilla Thapar brand of history writing uses this language)
Because the Vedas are the roots of Hinduism and the Vedas are composed in Sanskrit and it is the religion of the alien race which invaded and occupied this land, Tamil-speaking Dravidians are not Hindus
Dravidians are not Tamil-speaking Hindus in South India but are Tamil People (Tamil Inam) with a culture that has nothing to do with Hinduism
Saivism, the religion of the Tamil People of Dravidasthan, is Tamil Saivism and therefore is not Hinduism

The objective was to eat away the umbilical cord binding Tamil Hindus to Hindus in the rest of India and replace it with a sense of anti-Hindu Dravidian Tamil and anti-Hindu, non-Hindu Church ‘Tamil’ ness.

This was the lemon sold to Kashmiri Hindus too in the name of Kashmiriyat. The Kashmiriyat lemon was sold to Kashmiri Hindus by Kashmiri Muslims which said, we Kashmiris are unique and so Kashmiri Hindus have more in common with Kashmiri Muslims than with the Hindus in the rest of India.

This is vintage Christian war strategy: delink the target community from its parent, give it a sense of separateness resulting in alienation, render it defenseless, alone and vulnerable, and then step in for the kill. The political propaganda that Sikhism is not Hinduism, Jainism is not Hinduism is a piece of the same diabolic fabric. Sikhs and Jains who mouth this fiction must look at the tragic fate of Kashmiri Hindus.

While the political trajectory of Dravidian anti-Hindu politics is now better understood, what has so far escaped the notice of political observers and commentators is the picture that emerges when we connect the dots. First, the growing numbers of breakaway heresies within the Dravidian fold:

Justice Party 1916 (non-Brahmin zamindars and forward castes)
Self Respect Movement 1925 – Dravidar Kazhagam 1944 (EV Ramaswami Naicker)
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1949 (CN Annadurai, Karunanidhi)
All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1972 (MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa).

For the moment, all latter-day heresies which followed the AIADMK in quick succession, including Tamil Muslim and Tamil Christian heresies are left out of the reckoning.The new heresy around the cult of MG Ramachandran dealt a near-mortal blow to the hitherto unchallenged heresy, the DMK. From 1972 when the AIADMK (ADMK as it was then called) was formed until today, the DMK and AIADMK have successfully played the Bad cop/Good cop routine with the Hindus of TN.

The rise of the DMK was marked by physical abuse of Brahmins in public spaces:

Cutting off their sacred thread
Dragging Brahmin men by their tufts and in several instances even cutting off their tuft (apocryphal stories about Chanakya and the evil Dhanananda tell us how King Dhanananda gave Chanakya the choice between death and cutting off his Brahminic tuft)
Obscene and vulgar depiction of Brahmin men and even women, their customs, traditions and their way of life in Tamil films
Public calls to make Brahmin women the common property of non-Brahmin men
Increasing shrill calls for seceding from the Indian Union and the beginning of usage of political phrases Tamil People and Tamil Nation which found prompt echo and support in American/Western think tanks and their foreign policy jargon

mgrMGR’s AIADMK departed marginally from what was widely recognized as Dravidian politics in that MGR did not encourage public humiliation and physical abuse of Brahmins. Significantly, he did not depart even minimally from the anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu Dravidian tenets and policies. Nevertheless, the good cop role assumed by MGR triggered a frenzy of covert political activity by the Church in neighboring Sri Lanka.

Neither the LTTE, nor demands by other splinter Tamil separatist groups for the secessionist state of Tamil Eelam were accidents of history.

Conquest of nations by the sword or by the cancer called religious conversion remains the sole objective of the Church. When the Church’s dream of Dravidasthan comprising the whole of South India fragmented into Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Church changed tracks and began to work on the notion of Tamil Nation comprising the whole of Tamil Nadu in India and the North and East of Sri Lanka.

The notion of Tamil People had already been sowed by the Church both in India and in Sri Lanka and had taken root. The Church’s most promising offspring, the violence-prone DMK had been well groomed as the vehicle for Tamil People/Tamil Nation in India; it was time to deliver a similar creature in Sri Lanka and the emergence of MG Ramachandran in Tamil Nadu provided the perfect backdrop to unveil the Sri Lankan chapter of the Tamil Nation.

Born in a small town near Kandy in Sri Lanka to immigrant parents from Kerala, MGR’s Sri Lanka connection gave the Tamil Nation idea a personal, emotional edge which ultimately and totally unexpectedly, destroyed the movement, its terrorist vehicle and its sponsors in India; the idea of Tamil Nation itself suffered a serious setback.

At the time of independence, in 1948, a peculiar situation prevailed in Sri Lanka where the politically assertive section both among the Sinhala and Tamil people were Christians, a situation which continues till the present day. This was the result of the almost total control of education and state patronage extended to Christian missionary schools and colleges by all colonial powers – Portuguese, Dutch and then the British.

Church-run schools, which received colonial state patronage and government funds, provided education in English as compared to the education in the vernacular languages in Sinhala and Tamil provided by temples and Buddhist monasteries. English education was mandatory for admission to institutions of higher learning which in turn led to employment in government institutions.

The Church in Sri Lanka, in an extension of its rice-bowl conversion in Africa, made admission to their schools and colleges conditional upon religious conversion to Christianity in what may be termed blackboard conversion. The Church in South India targeted the Tamil Nadar community similarly; thus within the same family those who opted to send their children to missionary schools converted to Christianity and were given alien foreign sounding Christian names.

Not surprisingly, in the early years of the twentieth century, only those Sri Lankans – Sinhala and Tamil who were English-educated were employed by the British administration in government jobs and the same section emerged as frontrunners in the country’s polity too. Bandaranaike, Jayawardene, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Chelvanayakam and even Ranasinghe Premadasa, son of Richard Ranasinghe were all Christians. The Church had never had it so good except that the notion of Tamil People which the Church had sown in society rebounded on the Church in an unexpected turn of events.

While the Church fabricated the Tamil People/Tamil Nation fiction in India vis a vis the Brahmins, its work to plant the cancerous cell in Sri Lanka was made easier because the Tamil language and its culture/people had to be presented as being separate only vis a vis the Sinhala language and its culture/people. The fact that both the Sinhala speaking people and the Tamil speaking people were civilisationally, culturally and religiously bound to Hinduism was pushed to the margins of their collective consciousness; and identity of language was privileged over civilisational identity.
Buddhist clergy in Sri LankaThe Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, like the non-Brahmins of Tamil Nadu, was a willing customer for Church peddled separatism. The Church’s invidious propaganda about the separateness of Tamil People from the nationhood of Sri Lanka and about Tamil People being a distinct nationality with a right to their own territory not only worked like cancer in the Tamil psyche but also reactively in the Sinhala psyche.

A brief look at Sri Lanka’s demography is in order to understand how and why the Church’s invidious propaganda succeeded in that country.

Sri Lanka’s demography as per language
Sinhala – 74%
Tamil – 12.6%
Tamil of Indian origin – 5.19%[ii]

Religious demography
Buddhism – 70%
Hinduism – 15%
Islam – 7.5%
Christianity – 7.5%

Sinhala speaking people are both Buddhists and Christians; Tamil speaking people are Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Except for a negligible percentage of Moors who are Muslims, the majority of Sri Lanka’s Muslims are Tamil-speaking just as all Sri Lanka’s Buddhists are Sinhala-speaking.

After independence in 1948, in a move to assert the Sinhala identity of the nation and to stem the trend of what the Buddhist clergy thought was disproportionate numbers of Tamil-speaking people (mostly Tamil Christians and negligible numbers of forward caste Tamil Hindus who did not need the Church’s missionary charity for higher education) in government employment, administration and high-end professions including politics, which the Buddhist clergy correctly attributed to Church-run English medium schools and colleges, the Buddhist clergy prevailed upon the Sri Lankan government to nationalize all educational institutions, impart education in the vernacular languages, and accord primacy once again to Pirivenas or educational institutions run by Buddhist monasteries.

Although the move to nationalize Sri Lanka’s education was formalized only in 1961, the trend towards non-missionary Sinhala and Tamil vernacular schools had already begun in the 1930s. But the government move to nationalize education in 1961 dealt a near-mortal blow to Christian evangelization and religious conversion when the most potent instrument for religious conversion, Church-funded and administered missionary schools and colleges were defanged. The front-end of the assembly line which was delivering Sinhala and Tamil Christian political leaders at the other end had been permanently disabled dealing a terrible blow to the Church agenda to control the government.

The Church’s Tamil People/Tamil Nation boomerang turned around and began to fly back at the Church. The Church trained its guns on the Buddhist clergy again, this time by sharpening the division between the Sinhala majority and Tamil minority by taking recourse to extremism in the form of the LTTE. Needless to say, the top leadership of the LTTE was Christian with notional Hindus in the LTTE cadre playing useful idiots to fulfil the Church agenda.

The time had come to give shape to the Sri Lankan vehicle for Tamil separatism to match the rise and growth of the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The measures that the Church took to realize the Christian state of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and in Tamil Nadu were always well calibrated and in tune with events in both countries. The LTTE burst upon the political scene in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu in 1975; it follows that preparation for the launch must have started at least a few years earlier.

The success of the Church propaganda that the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu were a separate nationality can be gauged from the fact that while the Buddhist clergy, reacting strongly to Tamil separatism which had reared its head even before independence in 1948, wanted to push the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka to the margins of national life, it remained sanguine to the fact that every President that the country elected was Christian; Sinhala Christian. The Buddhist clergy was prepared to accommodate an Abrahamic religion into its conception of Sinhala nationalism while refusing to reach out to the civilisationally related Tamil Hindus who constituted 15% of the population.

Pitting brother against brother is classic Abrahamic/Christian war tactics going back to the Old Testament.

Christians who constitute 7.5% of the population were tactically distributed among the 74% Sinhala, 12.6 % Tamil and 5.19% Indian Tamil populace thus giving the Church a powerful leverage among all sections of the language divide.

The Sinhala-Buddhist Tamil-Hindu animosity had very little to do with religion while it had everything to do with language. The Sinhala-Buddhists and Tamil-Hindus alike failed to see the cancerous cell called the Sinhala Christian and Tamil Christian quietly embedded in their respective bloodstreams and who were the sole beneficiary from the internecine war between the Sinhala and Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka.

The rise of MGR and the formation of the AIADMK coincided not only with the rise and emergence of the LTTE in Sri Lanka but also with the rise and emergence of the Sri Lankan communist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Perumuna or the JVP. Considering the role of the Church behind the Maoists of Orissa and Nepal it is tempting to wonder if the Church may not have had a hand in the creation of this new front with cadres drawn equally from among the economically backward Tamil and Sinhala speaking people in its early years. What cannot also be denied is that the Church has always adroitly turned every event, every phenomenon to its advantage.

The emergence of MGR, the return of Indira Gandhi in 1980 as Prime Minister, the rise of the LTTE and the rise of the JVP, proved to be a direct and four-pronged attack against the Sri Lankan government and an indirect attack against the primacy and power of the island’s Buddhist clergy. The Church was the only beneficiary of the three decades long civil war which tore Sri Lanka apart and which was ended with the determined extermination of the LTTE in 2010. Not only is the Church continuing to harvest Tamil souls in Sri Lanka but is also harvesting souls in Tamil Nadu’s refugee camps. The protracted civil war in Sri Lanka provided the Church with a bountiful harvest.

Indians outside Tamil Nadu remember the dismissal of the DMK government by Prime Minister Chandrashekhar in 1991. What is almost totally unknown is that the reviled LTTE was armed and trained by the Tamil Nadu and Indian governments in camps set up in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka where India’s armed forces gave the LTTE full military training including in guerilla warfare.

ltteThe well-armed and trained LTTE cadre was then sent into Sri Lanka as deadly terrorists in a move which many foreign affairs experts believe was intended by Indira Gandhi and MGR acting in tandem to force the Sri Lankan government to the negotiating table and draft an equitable national constitution which would protect and guarantee equal rights for the Tamil speaking minority community.

While MGR who became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1977 was playing competing Dravidian politics with the defeated DMK around the core issue of Tamil People/Tamil Nation, for Indira Gandhi, who felt the urgent need to assert her strong-man image, it was more a move to reassert her one-woman regional super power status which the creation of Bangladesh had given her in 1971.

Indira Gandhi and MG Ramachandran may have acted for two entirely different reasons when they set up camps in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India to train, arm and finance the LTTE but they created a Bhasmaasura who turned upon the very people who made the LTTE invincible against the Sri Lankan government in the first place. Indira Gandhi was playing with secessionist fire at home and abroad – she created Bhindranwale and the problem of Khalistan and she created the problem of the LTTE and Tamil Eelam – fires which would soon engulf India, herself and her family.

It was not in the capacity of any state government in TN to militarily arm and train the LTTE without the tacit support and active involvement of the central government. Whoever was advising Indira Gandhi on foreign affairs did not have the nation’s interests in mind, that much is obvious when one retrospectively analyses the events of the critical 1970 and 1980s decade. It is not clear why Indira Gandhi and MGR privileged the LTTE over other Tamil political groups, parties and formations but it was this privileging and the money, arms and training provided to the LTTE which gave the LTTE the brute power and the motive to decimate the leadership and cadre of all other Tamil groups so that it could emerge as the sole representative of the Tamil-speaking people of Sri Lanka.

While the frightening growth of the LTTE gave the Tamil secessionist movement in Sri Lanka a phenomenal impetus, it also caused an equally strong reaction from India and the Sri Lankan government. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi brought to an immediate end all help rendered to the LTTE; it also pushed the Sri Lankan government to equip its own army to deal with the LTTE.

Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the subsequent weakening of the Congress party ushered in the era of coalition politics and the huge returns accruing from participation in government in Delhi and the compulsions of coalition politics not only tamed the two major Dravidian parties into a semblance of nationalism but effectively turned Tamil Nadu away not only from the path of secessionism, but also turned it away from the LTTE.

The Church had to regroup and formulate a new war strategy.

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The rise of Brahmin Jayalalithaa within the ranks of the AIADMK and her eventual coronation as General Secretary which shook the very foundations of Dravidian politics, the rise of the BJP in national politics, the fading lure of the idea of secessionist Tamil Eelam and weakening prospects of realizing it even within Tamil Nadu, and the new trend in Indian politics which catapulted both the DMK and the AIADMK to Delhi imposing upon them the primacy of national interests over interests of regional political parties forced the Church to forge new strategies and lay a new road towards its objective of carving the Christian state of Tamil Eelam.

The following trends emerged in Tamil Nadu more or less simultaneously from around the mid 1990s decade and continues till the present:

The Church began to invest in television news channels, schools of journalism and mass communication.
The Church also pushed for creating the department of human rights in Tamil Nadu colleges and universities
Foreign governments, notably the UK and US through DFID and USAID began to fund NGOs in India, primarily Christian NGOs
Foreign Christian funding agencies like World Vision, Action Aid and agencies from Germany, France and the Netherlands began to fund churches and Christian NGOs
Tamil Nadu is the largest recipient of foreign funds
The Church began to fund television soap operas and also financed Tamil films
Christians are entering the Tamil Nadu film industry and the small screen in almost every area – as directors, producers, actors and music directors
Tamil films and television Tamil serials routinely make reference to Tamil People and Tamil Nation
The Church is buying hundreds of acres of land across Tamil Nadu; this is visible even in overcrowded Chennai
Christians are cornering a major chunk of the reservation quota in admission to institutions of higher learning and also in government jobs; there are growing numbers of Christian students in engineering, medical and law colleges and universities
Churches and prayer houses are being built in almost every street in Chennai and close to every Hindu temple, big and small
Churches are coming up even in the holiest of holy Hindu temple towns and they are being allowed by Dravidian parties to come up close to temples
Foreign Christian missionaries from America, Malaysia and South Korea have a free run of the streets in Chennai
Instigating fisher-folk communities is the Church’s latest ploy[iii]

Every penny and paisa that the Church spends, it spends as investment towards realizing its core objective – control of communities leading to control of polity leading ultimately to control of government culminating in bloody or bloodless conquest of territory. The path to this objective is religious conversion; what was achieved solely through enculturation in the 16th and 17th centuries, through the Church’s missionary educational and medical institutions in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is now being achieved through NGOs, through an aggressive political discourse in religious freedom and human rights which always work only to the Church’s advantage to facilitate penetration, conversion and conquest.

Investing in political parties is the Church’s latest venture in Tamil Nadu. The Church’s investment, besides the time-tested and highly successful strategy of planting Christians in important ruling families through the love angle or as close confidants to politicians, is three-pronged:

Donate liberally and in proportion to expected returns to the two largest Dravidian parties
Besides the generous donations, also get Christians to become members of every big and small political party – DMK, AIADMK, MDMK, PMK, DMDK so that these parties, with an eye on the Christian vote bank are compelled to nominate Christians as office bearers at state and district levels
Start new Tamil extremist parties and create more and more Tamil chauvinist outfits to make shrill noises for Tamil People/Tamil Nation, for the LTTE, against the Sri Lankan government, against the central government, even against judges of the High Court and Supreme Court, for human rights, against law-enforcing agencies like police and army; in effect create enough noise and generate enough heat to provoke uncooperative and weak governments to either use force or hopefully to surrender to extremist demands

The ploy has succeeded because the Church always preys upon vulnerability, ambition, hubris and greed. The state government-central government partnership had yielded phenomenal results for the Christian state of Tamil Eelam but that had ended with Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Temptations of sharing power in New Delhi had weakened even the verbal call and support for Eelam. The Church’s next move was to weaken the two largest Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu by making them dependant upon smaller parties for survival.

The Church was the only force which foresaw the advantages of weakening national, nationalist and large regional parties. Tamil Nadu politics had been centered around only two poles for close to half a century. A strong DMK and AIADMK were assets to both the Congress and the BJP not only in state elections but also in national elections. The Church saw how regional parties with no support outside of their states could still influence national policies and it applied the rule with great foresight in Tamil Nadu.

As government support for the LTTE ended and the vehicle was destroyed in Sri Lanka, the Church had to keep the idea of Tamil People/Tamil Nation alive in Tamil Nadu. Even as the Church donated liberally to both the DMK and AIADMK, it punished them both by eating into their varied constituencies through the innumerable splinter parties which mushroomed to coincide with waning government support and interest in Tamil Eelam.

The two largest Dravidian parties were themselves made vulnerable to intra-state coalition politics which diminished their value and leverage in New Delhi. Neither the Congress nor the BJP were strong enough to accommodate the baggage which now came along with the DMK and the AIADMK in the form of their state coalition partners.

The Congress and the BJP would now be subject to pressures not only from Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa but also from Vaiko, Thol Thirumavalavan and Ramdoss; not to speak of the good reverend Father Jegath Gaspar Raj, the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam and the Indian Christian Front. Muslims and Christians not only form political parties which are overtly Christian and Muslim but also spread themselves tactically in all important political parties for leverage.

The DMK and AIADMK must both realize that only when Tamil Nadu’s non-Brahmin communities, when coastal villages and communities remain Hindu, their own electoral constituencies will remain with them. If they allow Christian donation to their parties to pressure their policies, if they allow foreign money to continue to come on the scale it is now coming into Tamil Nadu, inevitably, inexorably, they will be weakened because the first rule in any business is that all investments must yield profit.

The Church is not going to invest money into their parties and the state only to have Karunanidhi and family, Jayalalithaa and baggage to enjoy the fruits of power. The Church wants the whole of Tamil Nadu and a large part of Sri Lanka. If the DMK, AIADMK and the BJP do not see this even now, it may well spell their doom. The Congress in Tamil Nadu is recruiting Christians into the party at all levels as leaders and as cadre.

If because the DMK and AIADMK have already been weakened, and if because the BJP in Tamil Nadu is still clueless about what is happening in the state, the Congress resurrects itself, it will resurrect as a Christian party whose Christian content will not be immediately seen or felt. It will either wear an encultured face like it wears now in Delhi and wore in Andhtra Pradesh under Rajasekhar Reddy or it may even opt for a temporary Hindu face.

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Hindus can be protected and Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu protected from the predatory Church only if India’s polity, Tamil Nadu’s polity and the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka wake up to the Church’s agenda for India, Sri Lanka and Asia.

Notes:
The writer has used the word Church generically to mean not only churches of all denominations, including Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Lutheran, Adventist, Pentecostal and New Life, New Mission but also Christian NGOs, Christian funding agencies, White Christian governments and countries which legitimize and use evangelization and militant Christian missionary objectives as instruments of foreign policy in countries of Asia, especially India, China, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia; the generic Church also includes the United Nations with a charter that enforces Christian ‘liberal’ political principles as the universal socio-political ideal which will be enforced coercively by any one of the arms of the generic Church, including military intervention.

[ii] Indian Tamil people are indentured labour from the erstwhile Madras presidency forcibly transported to Sri Lanka to work in British owned tea-estates.

[iii] South of Cuddalore, every fishing hamlet along Tamil Nadu’s vast coastline is almost 100% Christian. The Church wants fisher-folk to be given the status of Scheduled Tribes where even Christian converts are eligible for reservation quota; and that is why the Church is not asking for Scheduled Caste status. The Church is playing a covert role in getting Tamil Nadu’s fishermen to regularly intrude into Sri Lankan waters, not only to pressure the state government and New Delhi to confront the Sri Lankan government, but also to provoke the Sri Lankan government into using force to deal with trespassing fishermen. The idea is to vitiate Tamil Nadu/India-Sri Lanka relations.
radha@jjamm.net'
Radha Rajan
Radha Rajan is a Chennai-based political analyst. She is also author and animal activist.

[Tuan]

Sri Lanka to set up war reparations office, create truth commission: Minister

The Sri Lankan government has announced it is setting up an office for war reparation and a truth commission to address injustices suffered during its decades-long civil war.

GENEVA: Sri Lanka's new unity government is planning a range of measures to ensure reconciliation after decades of war, including creating an office for war reparations and a truth commission, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said Monday (Sep 14).

"The government of Sri Lanka recognises fully that the process of reconciliation involves addressing the broad areas of truth seeking, justice, reparations and non-recurrence," Samaraweera told the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The council will on Wednesday release a long-awaited report on Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes during its brutal separatist war against the Tamil Tiger guerillas in which at least 100,000 people died.

- AFP/rw

Meanwhile an open letter calls for International Judicial Process for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Sri Lanka

Link

Monday, September 14, 2015

An open letter from a group of eminent international citizens to member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council to ensure justice, truth, and peace for all in Sri Lanka.

Dear colleagues at the Human Rights Council,

In 2009, the international community failed to prevent the terrible systematic massacres, war crimes, rapes, and executions that marked the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians died as a result – most killed by government forces, although the Tamil Tigers too killed civilians. By its failure to prevent these crimes, the international community failed to uphold fundamental principle of the UN: when a state manifestly fails to protect its own people against crimes such as these, the international community has a responsibility to protect the population.

Now a new challenge faces the international community – to ensure that a genuine process of truth recovery, justice, and reparations is initiated to achieve genuine reconciliation that serves the needs of all victims and all the communities of Sri Lanka.

In March 2014 the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) established an international investigation into allegations of crimes committed during and since the war – known as the Office of the High Commissioner’s Investigation on Sri Lanka or OISL.

The HRC established the OISL because it had concluded that the Sri Lankan government was neither willing nor capable of carrying out its own domestic investigation into those crimes. The OISL’s report was due to the HRC last March, but upon the election of President Maithripala Sirisena, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights delayed the report until September 2015. At that time, HRC members made clear that they expected to see concrete steps from the government of Sri Lanka to support a credible justice mechanism, enhance human rights, and facilitate reconciliation. More than six months later, it is clear that reconciliation has not progressed between the Tamils and Sinhalese.

The government has made commendable progress confronting corruption and instituting democratic reforms. The adoption of the 19th Amendment is especially laudable. These reforms, however, while welcome, should not be confused with justice for victims. In effect, democracy is being restored in Sri Lanka’s South, while the largely Tamil lands of the North East remain under military occupation – and the Minister of Defense has pledged that the army will not be withdrawn. While tens of thousands of displaced persons await resettlement, the military has entrenched itself in the North East, engaging in property development and business ventures. There is no incentive for it to relinquish the lands it holds to its rightful owners. Militarization also increases the vulnerability of Tamil women to sexual violence. A March 2015 Report of the Secretary-General stated: “There are indications that abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence have increased in the post-war period. Allegations of sexual violence by the Sri Lankan security forces against members of the Tamil community in the closing months of the war and in the post-conflict period have been extensively documented, but rarely addressed.” The failure to protect Tamils and address this widespread sexual violence has deepened tensions and bred a culture of fear in the North and East of the Island.

Sri Lanka still has the second highest number of disappeared in the world after Iraq. Victims desperately need to know the whereabouts of their missing relatives. Though thousands of Tamils should have been in government custody having been captured or surrendered or arrested, the government reported that there were only 273 political prisoners in custody. The government has failed to take the responsibility for locating or accounting for the disappeared. Despite talk of reconciliation, the administration has not acted on an essential confidence-building measure: releasing the names and details of prisoners it holds or who surrendered at the end of the war. Instead, the government has reinstated and promoted army commanders accused of direct command responsibility for war crimes. The factors which led the HRC to conclude that an international inquiry was necessary have not changed.

We list these events not as an attack on the new government, but instead to demonstrate that even with the best intentions in the world the Sri Lankan government is not capable of running a credible domestic inquiry into the alleged crimes of its own forces. It is certainly not capable of mounting a judicial process which would have that essential quality: the trust of victims.

The Tamil community’s distrust of the government arises from a long history of the failure of the state to administer justice. The Tamil experience has been one of massacres, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and rape, even before the bloody end of the war in 2009. Violence has been paired with laws that have systematically marginalized Tamils. These crimes have been met with near total impunity.

Other communities, too, have suffered from this culture of state impunity. In the seventies and the eighties thousands of Sinhala people were massacred and disappeared by state violence. An end to state impunity in Sri Lanka is in the interests of all the communities of the island.

We raise this history to illustrate the great challenges to justice. As noted above, very little has changed since the UN set up the inquiry over a year ago. The government has announced that a domestic mechanism will be in place by September 2015. Such a mechanism will almost certainly fail to meet a touchstone standard: consultation with affected parties and confidence of the victims. This failure will follow in the pattern of all such previous efforts. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice, Mr. Pablo de Greiff, recently observed that Sri Lanka has a long record of ineffectual “commissions of inquiry.” He noted:

Failed, inadequate or uneven implementation of their recommendations has been a common feature. They have not contributed to closing the significant confidence gap between communities, to securing the rights of victims to truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence, or to making State institutions more trustworthy in the eyes of citizens. On the contrary, the accumulated result of these efforts has increased mistrust in the Government’s determination to genuinely redress those violations.

A judicial process set up by the victor cannot deliver justice for all. As international supporters of human rights and humanitarian law, and in solidarity with all the communities of Sri Lanka, we call on the international community to ensure that Sri Lanka is on a trajectory towards genuine justice and reconciliation.

Soon, the HRC will consider the OISL report into the crimes committed by all sides in the war. This report will follow the UN’s 2011 Panel of Experts Report and the 2012 Petrie Report. These three reports demonstrate the facts and circumstances of the grave atrocities that occurred during and since the civil war’s conclusion. The release of the OISL report should not mark the end of the international community’s responsibility to the people of Sri Lanka.

With the facts in hand, the HRC must fulfill its duty by establishing an international independent judicial process under UN auspices. We do not intend to spell out the specifics of such a mechanism, including its possible location, however at a minimum it must entail:

• Application of international criminal law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;
• Consultation on the mechanism’s design with all affected groups, especially victims;
• Independent operation and adequate funding;
• Guarantees of witness protection;
• Access to information from all sources, including government and military;
• Finally, and most importantly, it must entail the appointment of independent and competent personnel by the UN to constitute a significant majority in key positions – prosecutors, judges, and investigators – and jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the alleged atrocities committed by both sides.

Sri Lanka must incorporate international crimes under its domestic law and also sign on to the Rome Statue to demonstrate its genuine commitment to non-recurrence.

The HRC must be clear that the only way those conditions can be guaranteed is by the establishment of an independent international judicial process. In 2009, the world failed to protect Sri Lankan civilians. In 2015, we urge you to rectify that failure by mounting a credible judicial process. The creation of such a process is essential to prevent future atrocities and promote long-term reconciliation.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Sincerely,

Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President UN General Assembly (2008-2009). Foreign Minister of Nicaragua (1979-1990).
Miloon Kothari, former Special UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing.
Hon. John Dowd AO QC, Former Attorney General of New South Wales. President, International Commission of Jurists, Australia. President of ActionAid Australia.
Yudith Rolón, Director General, Office de Verdad Justica y Reparacion (Truth and Justice Commission on the Arrested & Disappeared, 1954-1989), Paraguay.
Norita Cortiñas, Cofounder, Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Disappeared), Argentina.
Javier Giraldo Moreno, S. J., Sacerdote Jesuita Coordinador del banco de datos Derechos y Violencia en Colombia. Tercer Vicepresidente del Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Colombia.
Jakob von Uexkull, Founder, Right Livelihood Awards and the World Future Council, Sweden.
Maria Stella Caceres, Director of the Museo de la Memorias, Paraguay.
David Deng, Legislative Director, South Sudan Law Society.
Martin Almada, Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate, 2002. Member, Lawyers’ Association of the Americas. Paraguay.
Maude Barlow, Chair, Council of Canadians. Alternative Nobel Prize 2009, Canada.
Medha Patkar, Founder, National Alliance of People Movements, India.
Professor Jake Lynch, Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. Former Secretary General of International Peace Research Association.
Hubert Sauper, Academy Award nominated Director, Darwin’s Nightmare; We Come As Friends.
Alejandro Cerezo Contreras, winner of the Aachen Prize for Peace, Germany 2012, Comité Cerezo México, Organization for Human Rights and for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, Mexico.
John Cavanagh, Director, The Institute for Policy Studies, USA.
Elsadig Elsheikh, Director, Global Justice Program, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Dan Plesch, Director, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, SOAS, University of London.
Dr. Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association. Senior Lecturer in Media and Politics at Northumbria University, UK.
Maria Herrero & Juan Carlos Trujillo, Familiares en Búsqueda and Enlaces Nacionales, (Organizations of Relatives of Forced Disappeared people), Mexico.
Dr. Robert Dubler SC, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Evidence Project, International Commission of Jurists, Australia.
Medea Benjamin, Cofounder, CODEPINK, USA.
Martinez de la Hidalga, Former Medical Coordinator of refugee camps in Croatia and Kurdistan.
Bruce Haigh, Retired Australian Diplomat.
Candy Canezo Diez, Human Rights Activist, Philippines.
Richard Obedi, Executive Director, The Populace Foundation International- Uganda Programme.
Christoph Wiedmer, Director, Society for Threatened Peoples, Switzerland.
Professor Wiliam Schabas, International Human Rights Lawyer.
Christine Ahn, Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ.
Julian Burnside AO QC, Barrister, Australia.
Sara Larrain, Director, Sustainable Chile Programme, Chile.
Dr. David Rampton, LSE Fellow, Global Politics Dept., Government & International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Juan Pablo Eviner, Edmund Rice International, Rights of the Child, Argentina.
Lewis Gordon, International Human Rights Lawyer, USA.
Frances Harrison Author, Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War.
Alnoor Ladha, co-founder of /The Rules, USA.
Nimmi Gowrinathan, Director, Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative. Visiting Professor, Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, City College New York.
Dr. Vidya Jain, Director, Centre for Gandhian Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. Ex Co Secretary General of Asia Pacific Peace Research Association.
Jerry Mander, Founder, International Forum on Globalization, USA.
Tony Clarke, Founder, Polaris Institute, Canada.
Jerald Joseph, Director, Pusat KOMAS, Malaysia.
Guillo Bullrich, Edmund Rice International, Rights of the Child, Argentina.
Dr. Jack Santa Barbara, Director, The Sustainable Scale Project, USA.
Dr. Pradeep Dhakal, Co-Secretary General, Asia Pacific Peace Research Association. Director, Chetanalaya Institute for Humanity, Peace and Spirituality, Nepal.
Stefanie Grant, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at LSE's Centre for the Study of Human Rights.
Elifuraha Laltaika, Executive Director, Association for Law & Advocacy for Pastoralists, Tanzania.
Anna Blackshaw, Board Member, Just Foreign Policy, USA.
Nicole D'Souza, Vice Chair, New South Wales Young Lawyers Human Rights Committee. Project Convener, Sri Lanka Evidence Project, International Commission of Jurists, Australia.
Tathiana Flores, Human Rights Advocate, Costa Rica.
Florencia Santucho, Director International Human Rights Film Festival, International Environmental Film Festival (FINCA), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Prof. P. Ramasamy, Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Malaysia.
Elizabeth Carrasco Gardeazabal, Head of the Documentation Center of the Bolivian Film Archive.
Lena Hendry Program Manager, Pusat KOMAS (Human Rights NGO), Manager Freedom FilmFest, Malaysia.
Mela Márquez Saleg, Executive Director, Foundation Bolivian Cinematheque, Bolivia.
Dr. Stuart Rees AM, Professor Emeritus, University of Sydney.
Julio Santucho, President of the Instituto Multimedia DerhumALC (IMD), Argentina.
Miguel Álvarez Ganda, President, Serapaz, Service and Assessment for Peace, Mexico.
Neamin Zeleke, Executive Director, Ethiopian Satellite Television(ESAT), USA.
Adilson da Costa & Maxi Tahu, Coordinators, Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis, East Timor.
John Miller, Coordinating Director, East Timor Action Network.
Callum Macrae, Film Director: No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka.
Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, The Oakland Institute, USA.

[SwamyG]

JEM cheta, trollingO, enthunnu parayunnu?

Word is that Wickremesinghe was as much as part of the gang against Tamilians. Not any better than Rajapakshe. Even non-tamilians feel Modi/India are looking at SL from purely a Chinese angle.

The point of the matter is:
1. LTTE hijacked the tamil cause.
2. While there is enough sentiment in TN, only some groups are very vocal.
3. TN politicians exploit that sentiment for their own benefit.
4. SL tamilians have no one to support.
5. While some in the West, SL and India are concerned; everyone has their agenda.
6. India had burnt its fingers badly with IPKF and Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
7. The only reason it wants to intervene is because TN exerts pressure, and primarily because of Chinese angle. Else India does not care.

China, Buddhist fanatics, Christian Missionaries ityadi fish in these troubled waters onlee. India is standing like Bheeshma helpless, but knows what is right and wrong. I just hope India is not thinking like Turkey who is always worried about Kurds gaining strength. Tamilians are not Kurds, irrespective of what happened in the past.

Now tell me, if only one community did not exist, then it would be ever lasting peace onlee, no?

Should I sign this post in Hindi now?

[Tuan]

Only India can pull Sri Lanka out of crisis

Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is neither a stranger to the inner circle of New Delhi politics nor an unfamiliar personality in the North Block. However, during the last one year, his profile has undergone a welcome makeover. This seasoned political leader, known more for his failures than successes in his repeated forays for power, pulled a political coup of sorts. With the help of current Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, another political veteran though from the opposition, Wickremesinghe thwarted former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's bid for power twice!

The duo defeated Rajapaksa's bid for a third term as president in January, and seven months later, they outsmarted Rajapaksa’s attempt to come back to power using his loyalists in the seemingly more powerful coalition – the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) - in the recently held general election.

As a result Wickremesinghe now enjoys power with public endorsement of his political agenda twice within a year. In spite of political obstacles the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena duo had made some progress in living up to the expectations of the public. Their promises include increasing the accountability of the president to the parliament, empowerment of the prime minister and cleaning up the administration of corruption and cronyism. Their work done so far, though still not completed, has restored Sri Lanka’s credibility which was eroded both at home and abroad by former president Rajapaksa’s autocratic style of governance.

Wickremesinghe is heading a national alliance government - the first since 1977 - in which the ruling United National Party (UNP) and the main opposition, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), have come together. This has increased the chances of promoting a national agenda to focusing on development in an environment of unity, peace and harmony. Former president Rajapaksa failed to do that despite his success in getting rid of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once and for all. He frittered away five years of peace that followed the military victory in May 2009 by focusing on strengthening his support base. As a result, the socio-political environment was vitiated by acrimony, distrust, religious and ethnic polemics and strife.

This has increased the chances of the present government making further progress in its reform agenda despite widespread cynicism in the political milieu. But Wickremesinghe would be more confident than ever before when he visits New Delhi today for the first time after becoming prime minister.

There is a lot of convergence in the outlook of the Indian and Sri Lankan leaderships than before. Wickremesinghe’s agenda to correct Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China after Rajapaksa had succumbed to its "fatal" charm in areas of strategic security and trade was one such area of convergence. So it was not surprising to find the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena duo welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's renewed efforts to build a broadened and enduring relationship with Sri Lanka when he visited the island nation a few months back. They reciprocated his desire to get rid of other kinks in the relationship between the two countries that had appeared during the earlier regime. This makes the Sri Lankan leader’s New Delhi visit a special one as the Sri Lankan government probably enjoys greater credibility in the corridors of North Block than under Rajapaksa.

Both Wickremesinghe and Sirisena have also shown their readiness to act upon the concerns of both India and the West including the US, which were dealt with superficially during ten years of Rajapaksa's rule. These issues are sure to be included in the Modi-Wickremesinghe talks even if they are not aired in public owing to sensitivity over some of them in both countries.

Both India and the West were irritated by Rajapaksa’s ploy to twist their concerns over his government's dismal human rights record during and after the ethnic conflict to whip up Sinhala nationalism and encourage xenophobia for his political advantage. Similarly, he distorted their insistence on resuming the political dialogue process with the Tamils to resolve their long-standing demand for equity with the Sinhala majority as an encouragement to Tamil separatism.

This had created problems for India as its negative fallout in Tamil Nadu politics adversely affected the fortunes of successive governments in New Delhi. This had cramped India’s efforts to meaningfully contribute to build a win-win relationship with Sri Lanka. This weakness was exploited by China to enter Sri Lanka in a big way.

Though the coalition era has ended in New Delhi, the issue of ethnic amity in Sri Lanka will continue to influence India’s policy not only owing to its impact on Tamil Nadu politics, but also in the interest of national security. India and Sri Lanka are geographically too close to each other, making their national security interests complimentary than contentious. This makes it necessary for them to build a relationship that can be mutually reinforced, notwithstanding their unequal sizes and strengths.

The political dispensation for Sri Lankan Tamils will continue to remain one of lynchpins for the progress of India-Sri Lanka realtions. The Wickremesinghe government had tried to break the impasse in resuming the dialogue process with the Tamils within the ambit of 13th Amendment (13A) to the Constitution which is supported by India. However, it will be politically difficult for the Sri Lankan government to grant land and police powers envisaged in the 13A to the provincial councils. We can expect this issue to come up when Modi and Wickremesinghe meet, though it is a moot point whether it would go beyond making cordial statements.

For both India and the West, Rajapaksa reneging on his promises to them extended their concerns well beyond matters of Sri Lanka’s internal politics; it became a challenge to their strategic power assertion, particularly after he got cozy with China and provided a welcome strategic foothold for the Dragon in Sri Lanka in India’s close proximity and in the Indian Ocean sea lanes through which a bulk of the global maritime trade is conducted. This assumes special significance in light of China increasing assertion of its naval power in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

From the Sri Lankan perspective, there are some issues where it needs India’s help and understanding. The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) discussion on Sri Lanka’s follow-up actions taken on the US-sponsored resolution passed three years back would come up on Friday, after the report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner is presented. Though the US is likely to modify its insistence on a UN-sponsored international inquiry by accepting a domestic inquiry with the assistance of the UNHRC, Sri Lanka needs Indian support to broaden its support base. Though the US move has met with some political criticism in Tamil Nadu and agitation by fringe elements, egged on by the Sri Lankan diaspora, India has always supported domestic inquiries in preference to international ones. In view of this, the compromise solution suggested by the US would probably be supported by India.

The second issue is India-Sri Lanka trade. During his Colombo visit, Prime Minister Modi had revived the idea of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka. India had mooted the idea and it almost came through in 2008. However, in the face of protest from local businesses, the Rajapaksa government developed cold feet and gave it up. Sri Lanka is facing exceptional economic crunch and problems of debt-servicing. Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been lukewarm to the idea of lending more to Sri Lanka to service Chinese loans.

So Sri Lanka urgently needs to hold India’s hand to see it through this crisis. However, it will be difficult for the Sri Lankan government to openly support the CEPA as it is probably a no-go area in Sri Lankan politics. However, it appears the country would not be averse to work out an economic arrangement similar to CEPA though it may be called by a different name. This was indicated in a report in The Sunday Times, Colombo which quoted Sri Lankan deputy foreign minister Harsha de Silva as saying that CEPA issues were likely to be among other important issues during the bilateral talks between Modi and Wickremesinghe. He added, “We must push for such agreements with countries like India. However, we must not blindly enter into such agreements. We must study in detail our own experiences and that of other similar countries to negotiate the best deal for us. Any bilateral or multilateral trade agreement that benefits Sri Lanka must be pursued.”

[chetak]

JEM cheta, trollingO, enthunnu parayunnu?

Word is that Wickremesinghe was as much as part of the gang against Tamilians. Not any better than Rajapakshe. Even non-tamilians feel Modi/India are looking at SL from purely a Chinese angle.

The point of the matter is:
1. LTTE hijacked the tamil cause.
2. While there is enough sentiment in TN, only some groups are very vocal.
3. TN politicians exploit that sentiment for their own benefit.
4. SL tamilians have no one to support.
5. While some in the West, SL and India are concerned; everyone has their agenda.
6. India had burnt its fingers badly with IPKF and Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
7. The only reason it wants to intervene is because TN exerts pressure, and primarily because of Chinese angle. Else India does not care.

China, Buddhist fanatics, Christian Missionaries ityadi fish in these troubled waters onlee.

Now tell me, if only one community did not exist, then it would be ever lasting peace onlee, no?

The ltte was/is a front for the church. without them there would be no prabahakaran or funding or deep state support from many international entities that included many western countries among them. The UK in particularly is very bitter about not having any hold on India at all.

The ease with which the ltte obtained very sophisticated arms and weapons as also a ready market for their drug running business which was never seized in any considerable quantity ever and anywhere, in the numerous countries that they operated in.

The sheer and tremendous international pressure that the lankans govt and the Indian Govt came under to allow the extraction and escape of the first terror family and the top leaders of the ltte is unimaginable.

Hats off to the lankans, they full well knew the fatal consequences of allowing the prabhakaran family and other top leadership to escape alive. The nature of the international support for the LTTE from just one religious entity and it's affiliates convinced them that their ONLY salvation lay the total elimination of the entire top leadership of the ltte. They methodically trapped, cornered and massacred the lot in one fell swoop.

Had the ltte regrouped per the wishes of it's backers, lanka as well as major parts of south India would have been engulfed in armed insurrection by now and fast headed the northeast way. They would have got an island base and a major beach head on the mainland with clear access to the Indian hinterland. None of these entities ever thought that the Indians would survive long as a country and this long laid plan of division was to be progressed like they did in the northeast.

In their final days, the ltte leadership ultimately realized what was going on and also that no help was forthcoming from abroad as negotiations with the lankan army were a sham just to lull them into a false sense of security. They were relentlessly herded like sheep to the slaughter by a very determined lankan army and govt. The desperate ltte radio/satellite communications were intercepted as also the replies from their backers abroad. This along with the negotiations of perfidious western folks in intense despair who were futilely trying to get their terrorist darlings out safely gave the complete picture to the lankans who had little option but to do what they did. They deserve full credit for this. Truly, there is none more cunning than a lankan politician. How so easily they ran rings around that duffer rajiv gandhi when they sucked the IPKF in.

Plans (B), (C), (D) etc will now be brought to play. Modi and his FCRA riposte has stunned the behind the curtain players. There is some very deep thinking going on in the RSS and its associates for some time now. jetli, betli, shetli and other party animals in the BJP would never have the brains to think like this. MQ is in panic as years of perfidious work has come undone. The NAC gang is very very quiet. That's why Modi and the RSS is being pilloried constantly on every TV channel, face book and twitter .

[Dipanker]

Sri Lanka and particularly Rajpaksa govt. is responsible for killing 10's of thousands of Tamil civilians for which he needs to be brought to justice.

[Yayavar]

I would like to get all those responsible for killing 1000+ Indian soldiers, denying treatment to injured, killing of Indian civilians on Indian soil - as in shootouts in TN airports, and killing of ex-Indian PM and other civilians - all to be brought to justice. Both Indians complicit in it and the SL nationals who perpetrated the crimes. That is more important.

SL fought a civil war on their soil and 1000's of Tamil civilians were killed by LTTE, cross-fire, and by government forces. That is a different mess that SL will deal with.

[Tuan]

Sri Lanka plans South Africa-style commission to confront war crimes

Sri Lanka's new government said on Monday it was setting up a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission to look into atrocities during its civil war, as it came under renewed pressure to prosecute perpetrators.

South Africa, which confronted its own apartheid-era crimes through such a body, would advise the nation on how to use the commission to provide remedy to victims and to track down missing people, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

He outlined the plan, and other proposals to set up a criminal justice mechanism and compensate victims, to the U.N. Human Rights Council, hours after the world body announced it would release a long-delayed report on Wednesday calling for accountability for Sri Lankan war crimes.

Successive governments have promised to look into crimes committed by both sides during the 26-year conflict between government forces and separatist "Tamil Tiger" rebels.

According to an earlier U.N. report, around 40,000 ethnic minority Tamils were killed in a final offensive ordered by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2009.

But world organizations have been frustrated by a string of failed plans and a lack of criminal indictments.

Samaraweera said the government planned an independent and credible "Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence.


"The reputation of the vast majority of armed forces was tarnished because of the system and culture created by a few people in positions of responsibility," he said, without elaborating.


INTERNATIONAL, INDEPENDENT

Rights groups say Sri Lanka has failed to address continuing incidents of torture by the police and military against minority Tamils, whose leaders call for an international investigation.

"We will judge the government by the actions they take, not the promises they make," Fred Carver, director of the Sri Lanka Campaign, told Reuters on Monday.

Human Rights Watch urged the council to set out concrete benchmarks for an effective justice and accountability mechanism, including a majority of international judges in an independent system and an independent international prosecutor.

"The families of Sri Lanka’s dead and disappeared have waited years and in some cases decades for justice. This Council must not fail them," said John Fisher of the New York-based group.

Within the commission, leaders from the island's main religions would form a "Compassionate Council" to help victims "discover the truth, understand what happened and help remedy any sense of injustice", Samaraweera said.

The United Nations was meant to release its report on Sri Lanka in March, but agreed to hold off for six months to let the new government look into why suspects had not been prosecuted.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated Rajapaksa's bid for a third term in January, has made tentative steps towards reconciliation at the head of a broad reform coalition.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein praised the government's efforts but said it was time to publish the report whose findings were "of the most serious nature".

[A_Gupta]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/busines ... 029828.ece

NEW DELHI: An ambitious USD 5.19 billion road project to connect India and Sri Lanka with a sea-bridge and an underwater tunnel is believed to have been discussed today by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari during his talks with visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, called on Wickremesinghe here today and discussed construction of a sea bridge and an underwater tunnel linking 22-km stretch between Talaimannar in the island nation and Dhanushkodi in India, official sources said.

[Tuan]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/busines ... 029828.ece

NEW DELHI: An ambitious USD 5.19 billion road project to connect India and Sri Lanka with a sea-bridge and an underwater tunnel is believed to have been discussed today by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari during his talks with visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, called on Wickremesinghe here today and discussed construction of a sea bridge and an underwater tunnel linking 22-km stretch between Talaimannar in the island nation and Dhanushkodi in India, official sources said.

Mahakavi Bharathi, the best Tamil poet in the last millennium, has inspired almost every Tamil poet and writer in the last hundred years. Needless to say Aani Enterprises too belong to his fan club.

Now Prime Minister Modi has also quoted Bharathi in SL parliament thereby winning our approval and faith.

The song, cinematised with some additions in this video, talks about Greater India, from River Sind to Sri Lanka. It promotes the idea of building a bridge to the Sinhala Island. This can be taken literally or metaphorically. Aani Enterprises would like the Sethu Bridge to be built and a free trade agreement signed between the two countries, somewhat akin to EU. A common currency too will benefit SL.

We know extremists from both sides will start throwing mud. But do we care? We speak the facts as we view them.