Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 15 Nov 2009 05:33

Pranabda uvacha ---- “A historic opportunity for Sri Lanka”
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/internati ... e48902.ece
Col. Hariharan's take on the Fonseka-Rajapakse slog-a-thon
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cnot ... te552.html

Prabu · Post by **Prabu** » 16 Nov 2009 16:23

Prabhakaran is alive -by TamilWorld

I got this by e mail today. This is in Tamil. The rough translation jist is :

1) Prabakaran, inteligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea tiger chief Susai, escaped successfully on May 17th , through a under ground tunnel from a old French FORT, leading to MULLI VAIKAL, and then by individual speed boats, one by one ! It takes only 12 minutes to reach India (with their boats) and they travelled 3 hours and reached a safe location. IA was instructed NOT to worry about boats escaping from there (!?)
2) Prabakaran was persuaded by their inner ring colleagues to escape to continue the war, after a long argument.
3) Prabakaran's son, Charles Antony lead the ESCAPE episode with sucide squads and died in 2nd stage of escape of Pottu amman. (Ist stage was Prabakaran)
4) Col. Karuna who came to identify the bodies, was shocked to find out that not even one of the bodies claimed by GOSL was found and he told his close aides that "these dumb sinhalies have failed to stop top leaders"
5) And GOSL ( Govt of Srilanka) has used a mask to cover a dead body and did DNA test within few hours and disposed off the body without showing to any international media. Just video clippings were realesd in which the face was fresh and body was submerged in water.
6) Surprisingly, Even President Rakapakse who spoke on parliment (Tuesday) did NOt tell anything on Prabakaran;s death !
7)The body shwn was slimmer and no wrist watch and cyanide capsules were missing !

Based on Tamil weekly NAKEERAN'S repeated efforts, they found that Mr.prabakaran is still alive and safe. he will give a speech after securing his own safety soon. This information is 1000 times reliable according to NAKEERAN (!?)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S.I spoke to a srilankan Tamil here in my place and they strongly feel as long as Pottu Amman is alive, Prabakaran is also alive ! (Their bodies were not found !) he said the DEATH CERTIFICATE for Prabakaran was stil NOT issued so far by the GOSL !

Can any Guru connect the dots and comment on this report ?

Take it for what it is worth.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 16 Nov 2009 16:29

Tubetamil is an LTTE propaganda machinery, very similar to tamilnet.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 17 Nov 2009 07:05

Prabhakaran has been sighted with Elvis, in a supermarket in Memphis. They were engaged in witty philosophical debate about who really deserved to be called The King.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 17 Nov 2009 09:39

I wonder what are the chances that Gen Fonseka's resignation is part of 'prosecution's witness' type of deal with the US. stan, philip, any comments ?

This information is 1000 times reliable........

that seals it IMO. only the % sign is missing.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 17 Nov 2009 14:41

I doubt it, but the story of the war on LTTE and its success, and the aftermath is a spectacle that needs to be written and viewed carefully down the line. But in any case, two different people offer very similar opinions on the man of the moment:

There is unanimous opinion that Sarath Fonseka is a tough soldier and astute commander. He is a man of tremendous courage and remarkable military acumen. But there were other aspects to his character and military record that negated his prospects of being Army commander. Chief among them was an inflated ego of gigantic proportions. This resulted in a lot of friction earlier between Fonseka and his contemporaries . The long standing rivalry between Fonseka and his Naval counterpart Wasantha Karannagoda is legendary. So too was the intra-army strife with another top notch soldier Maj-Gen Janaka Perera

There was also Fonseka’s colossal arrogance. He fancied himself as a combination of Hannibal, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Napoleon & Rommel.In Sarath Fonseka’s self-perception he was Sri Lanka’s greatest military treasure and all glory was due to him alone. It was the “I, me., myself alone” syndrome. Most contemporary officers resented the cantankerous bullying and crowing of Sarath Fonseka. They admired him as a professional but disliked him at a personal level. But Fonseka was highly popular among the rank and file. He always looked after their welfare and earned their respect and regard.

It could be seen therefore that relations between the Rajapakse’s and Fonseka had been under strain for quite sometime. The public “split” was not something sudden out of the blue but a logical culmination of simmering tensions.
....
Sarath Fonseka had been regularly boasting about his prowess in prosecuting the war successfully as the battles were in progress. He saw himself as a latter day Dutu Gemunu and even had at one stage a picture of Gemunu on an elephant before whom a cowering Elara was kneeling. A foreign journalist who saw this “art” said that the face of Gemunu resembled Sarath.

http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/1227
Elsewhere, BRaWman writes,

14. Media reports say that he has developed political ambitions of contesting the next Presidential elections against Rajapaksa. He has every right to do so as a Sri Lankan citizen. Unfortunately, his letter to Rajapaksa does not bring out any latent political acumen in him. They only bring out his huge ego and his pique. The message which comes out of the letter is: "I am the super hero of the success against the LTTE. My role in the triumph has not been sufficiently recognised."

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpap ... r3507.html
DBS also writes,

Shortly after this coup a friendly country {call it I} passed an intelligence tip that a military coup was possible in Sri Lanka too. The friendly country suggested that the army chief could enact a coup with the backing of another country {call it P}. Both countries concerned were sworn enemies but were friendly towards Sri Lanka.

Why I and P? May be cos my anglais letters start with i and p, instead of a and b, say. To be fair, one cant blame Mahinda Rajapakse too much, (From the DBS piece)

Despite their positive military credentials their negative attributes stood in the way of achieving highest military office. Another reason contributing to this was the suspicion and fear about ulterior motives. There was paranoia (unfair perhaps) that Sarath and Janaka could bring about a coup d’etat. This is a perpetual concern of successive regimes since the 1962 abortive coup.

You can read more about this at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Ceylo ... at_attempt

An attempted military coup of 1962 in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) a failed one was planned by several Christian senior military and police officers which tried to topple the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike[1].

From what I understand from Jeyaratnam Wilson's account of what went on, the GoSL attempted to nationalize all schools offering primary education in the late 50s to early 60s. And most of these schools were run by Christian missionaries. Many of the Catholic priests went on a non-violent protest against the takeover, but GoSL under Sirimavo Bandaranaike did nt budge. Finally, Nehru had to mediate and broker a face-saving peace agreement between the two parties. This despite his other concerns on the already-worsening front on the NEFA/Tibet axis. While the GoSL offered a temporary truce and face-saving formula for the Catholic priests, soon and as always, it ignored the agreement Nehru had brokered. In some sense, this was similar to how it treated first the departing brits, then its Burgher population and later the Tamil population. As Nehru refused to look elsewhere during the war days, the Catholic population started growing angry and this coup attempt was a result of that.
DBS concludes as such:

There is lamentable absence of firm policy and a complete abandonment of principle. A no holds barred political expediency seems to be the order of the day. On another level the current situation is also the culmination of a long process of militarisation of Sri Lankan society and a gradual politicisation of the military.

There has been a creeping militarisation that has eroded civic, democratic values. The military was afforded an unhealthy paramountcy over the years. It’s crunch time now! This then is the situation. The nation has come to a sorry state where the former army chief is poised to wage an electoral battle against his former commander in chief. Whatever the outcome of this titanic clash there is no doubt that the country on the whole will suffer irredeemable harm.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 18 Nov 2009 14:08

Deep undercurrents and much farce reg. situ in Cbo at the moment.Detailed report shortly.

Kill not the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Monday, November 16, 2009 Leave a Comment
By Keerthi Ratnayaka

(November 17, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The three forces chiefs did not attended the guard of honor offered to General Sarath Fonseka who retired from active military service today (Nov.16) . The chiefs of the three armed forces generally attend the ceremony held to offer a guard of honor to a Chief of Defence Staff who is retiring from the post. However, the President and Gotabaya has issued an order last night (15) calling on the forces chiefs not to attend the ceremony the following day. Although media personnel were asked to be present at the venue at 9 a.m. as the event was scheduled to commence at 9.30 a.m., they have been taken inside only around 10 a.m. The media personnel have been delayed on an order by Major General Shavendra Silva. This shameless act evident that regime of Rajapaksha is not a product of consensus but one created by lies, fraud , deceit and thuggery.

Prior extend Gen.Fonsekas resignation it was reported, senior official from the Indian intelligence has approached representative of General Sarath Fonseka, who is tipped to lead as the common candidate at the next election what so ever.The General’s representative had communicated to establish ethnic reconciliation, restore democracy and good governance , restore media freedom and abolish the Executive Presidency within 180 days after assuming office, also to rebuild diplomatic relations with India that have broken down at present. Subsequently Mahinda and Gotabaya also staged another dramatic virtually against India by embracing two characterizes who rival with India.

On October end Gotabaya led 5days defence delegation to Pakistan , during stay in Pakistan, hold meetings with Pakistan defense establishment, this week Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman,Pakistan Chief of Air Staff reached Sri Lanka on the invitation of Gotabaya. During the visit, Rao Qamar called on President Mahinda, Prime Minister and services chiefs of Sri Lanka. Prior to reach Sri Lanka, Pakistan Air Chief Marshal has proceeded to China at the invitation of People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) .Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman hold the keynote speaker at the Forum and presented his vision of the role of air forces in future warfare. Not only his defense delegation also had he called President Hu Jintao and Vice President of the People's Republic of China. During the session with Mahinda Rajapaksha he expresses his deep gratitude towards Rao Qamar to the role played by him in the Lahore attack. In the face of Lahore attack he played controversial role collaboration with Sri Lankan High commissioner Jayalath Weerakkody, Pakistan defense establishment blamed India, it was said immediately that India’s foreign intelligence organization, the R&AW, had staged the attack to spoil Pak-Sri Lanka relations. Issuing Pakistan CID report to the press reiterated, that they had source information that the R&AW had planned to attack the Sri Lankan cricketers either on their way to the stadium or at their hotel. Further said that weapons left behind by the attackers had Indian ordnance factory markings, and the dry rations carried by the terrorists were manufactured in India.

In replying Indian government said Pakistanis have lost control over their own militant proxies. RAW disclosed, Lahore terrorist attack has revealed a serious ailment in the Pakistani intelligence net, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)apparatus. RAW exposed Sri Lankan team bus was diverted to the chosen route of the terrorists in the last minute on the basis of an unidentified phone call and subsequently attackers melted away unchallenged even by a patrolling police vehicle, although 12 terrorists involved in the attack none of has been arrested, Pakistan is staging media exhibition by arresting bogus suspects over 100,but yet to arrest any of terrorists, all terrorists (involved in the attack) managed to flee its own territory, due to the belated response by police . RAW claimed Lahore attack was the work of strong and rabid sections within Pakistan’s intelligence and security establishment who were waging a war against the state for their own political, strategic and ideological reasons.As such SL president's greeting remain question.

Apart from this incident, recently new Army commander Jagath Jayasooriya remarked “We received a request from Pakistan to train their officers on our small team operations, so we have decided to open several new training schools in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya to train local and foreign military officers,” But RAW is clamming it is a ploy of Colombo Government, in fact to check the current presence of Indian intelligence in Vanni. In the final phase of war against LTTE Indian defence advisor MK.Narayanan produced nominal roll over hundreds of Indians who were trapped in NFZ and asking their safety from SL military, later who were learned as RAW agents. It is worth to note recently, RAW has gained attention for providing intelligence on Al-Qaeda, Taliban and LTTE targets . Further Gen. Jayasuriya told Media that the SL army was to set up permanent military camps in the ‘liberated’ North and it had ordered pre-fabricated buildings from China to build military camps that would be installed soon by them." SL Army commander added.

The shadowy and reclusive ruler of the military junta in Myanmar general Than Shwe arrived Colombo this week to pay a state visit to Sri Lanka.In June this year Mahinda Rajapaksa also paid state visit to Myanmar on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.Myanmar is of great strategic significance India and china due to long borders with both countries. Since early years of the military regime, India is worried on democracy,same caused Myanmar to move embrace China. When Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win, who visited India in January 2008, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the PM emphasized that there was need for greater urgency in bringing about political reforms and national reconciliation. “This process has to be broad-based to include all sections of society, including Aung San Suu Kyi and the various ethnic groups.”

China is works closely with Miyanmar without any ideological commitment to democracy.Clearly, the Sri Lankan government is alike the Myanmar junta it learned to exploit the China-India battle for influence to its advantage.It was India's refusal to do business with Myanmar laid the space open wide for the Chinese to fill. While India and the world ignored the junta, China quickly expanded its economic and defense ties with Myanmar. China's naval cooperation with Myanmar and its work in modernizing several Myanmar ports has given the Chinese access to the Bay of Bengal and a presence near the vital Malacca, the massive Hambantota port project on Sri Lanka give Chaina a significant presence in the Indian Ocean.What may India is concern over the increasing activities of China ,Pakistan, Miyanmar and Iran While same seem greater strategic implications directly effect with india.In more President has requested the Foreign Minister to further strengthen ties with Pakistan due to doubts over the possibility of the Indian government supporting the candidature of General Sarath Fonseka at the next Presidential election following sudden official visit recently undertaken by the Opposition Leader.A government delegation headed by Basil Rajapaksa and Dullas Alahapperuma are to visit Pakistan after the 20th.Even Mahinda and Gotbaya choose Pakistan and Miyanmar to set challenge on India but both countries are top ranked on the path to becoming a failed states in the world.

It is defficult assert India may act as mute spectator ,as danger knock its front door. Research and Analysis Wing [RAW] is one of most powerful intelligence agency in the world and it is the India’s external intelligence agency. RAW has become an effective instrument of India's national power, and has assumed a significant role in formulating India's foreign policies. RAW has engaged in disinformation campaigns, espionage and sabotage beyond its borders. RAW Working directly under the Prime Minister the structure, rank, pay and perks of the Research & Analysis Wing are kept secret even from Parliament. Numerous missions were assigned to RAW upon its creation. These included monitoring political and military developments in neighboring countries that affects Indian national security. Now, considerable attention is pay by RAW to Pakistan China Sri Lanka and Miyanmar, countries that are seems rivals of India.
The objectives of RAW include:

To monitor the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on India's national security and in the formulation of its foreign policy.
To seek the control and limitation of the supply of military hardware to Pakistan, mostly from European countries, the USA and China.

The HQ of RAW is located in Lodhi Road, New Delhi with different regional headquarters, which have direct links to overseas stations and are headed by a controlling officer who keeps records of different projects assigned to field officers who are posted abroad. Intelligence is usually collected from a variety of sources by field officers, it is vetted by a senior field officer,then passes the information to the Joint Secretary and then on to the Additional Secretary and from there it is disseminated to the concerned end user. The Director RAW is authorized to brief the Prime Minister .

-Sri Lanka Guardian

Tuan · Post by **Tuan** » 18 Nov 2009 20:18

Tamil rebels face doubtful future
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8347242.stm

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 19 Nov 2009 02:37

Stan_Savljevic

From what I understand from Jeyaratnam Wilson's account of what went on, the GoSL attempted to nationalize all schools offering primary education in the late 50s to early 60s. And most of these schools were run by Christian missionaries. Many of the Catholic priests went on a non-violent protest against the takeover, but GoSL under Sirimavo Bandaranaike did nt budge. Finally, Nehru had to mediate and broker a face-saving peace agreement between the two parties. This despite his other concerns on the already-worsening front on the NEFA/Tibet axis. While the GoSL offered a temporary truce and face-saving formula for the Catholic priests, soon and as always, it ignored the agreement Nehru had brokered. In some sense, this was similar to how it treated first the departing brits, then its Burgher population and later the Tamil population. As Nehru refused to look elsewhere during the war days, the Catholic population started growing angry and this coup attempt was a result of that.
DBS concludes as such: .......

Look what happen to countries who were soft on Catholics, Christian e.t.c. e.t.c.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_South_Korea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Hong_Kong

Basically, if we had given too much leeway to Christians, half of the country would be Christian by now. It is o.k. to have religious tolerance. But it is not o.k. to allows colonization via religion.

Only the countries with strong military back grounds such as Vietnam, China, Japan, Burma could hold of Christians conquering these Buddhist nations. But they haven't stopped trying. Do we have such examples of Buddhism or any other religions taking over other countries?

As we know most of the religions are pretty similar, so if there are heaps of demographical changes of religions in nations, people have to wonder why. I have nothing against Christianity as a religion, but totally against this type mass religious conversions.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Nov 2009 15:57

Whatever it is, Ranil Wickremasinghe is going to end up with mud on his face if he realistically expects what he demands, provided that SF wins the elections.... In other words, RW is the "useful idiot" in the party now.

The leader of the newly-floated 18-party United National Front (UNF), Ranil Wickremesinghe, has said that the nomination of the just retired General Sarath Fonseka as a consensus Presidential candidate of the alliance to take on the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is conditional.
....
The conditions put forward by the UNF for the retired General, if he wants to be considered as their consensus Presidential candidate, include the scrapping of, or substantially reducing, the powers of the executive presidency, provision to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Janatha Vimukhthi Peramuna (JVP) important portfolios in the Cabinet, ensuring the speedy resettlement of the northern IDPs, establishing all the independent commissions for good governance and appointment of Mr. Wickremesinghe as the caretaker Prime Minister.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/internati ... e51250.ece

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 19 Nov 2009 18:31

They say that "Truth is stranger than fiction" and the hilarious events taking place in the island today bears this adage out in full.

The spat between the two principal "heroes" who despatched the LTTE into history's dustbin,is reportedly due to the wisdom of (in local parlance ),a "sarong johnnie",namely an astrologer.Apparently,the horoscopes of the "Marx Brothers" and that of Gen.Fons,were analysed by the sarong johnnie.To the Brothers' surprise and dismay,Herr General's horror-scope is on the ascendent,while that of the Pres.MR,is on its way down.Well,any intelligent analyst can tell you that as the victor of the war has reached the peak of his popularity and when you reach the top,there is only one way to go like Churchill after the victory of WW2...downhill!

Herr General (famous for his statement that " a good Tamil is a dead Tamil") on the other,apparently like Pres.Eisenhower has his sights on the top post ,and given the utter bankruptcy of the opposition led by Ranil-as famous as Rajapakse for his repeated electoral defeats,have taken Herr General to their hearts as their Heracles,the superhero who will slay the minotaur from the Sri Lankan south.Ranil hopes that immediately upon winning,Herr General der Fons,will make him PM,then in indecent haste also abolish the "executive presidency",anointing Ranil top dog as "executive prime minister" though the "back door" (those knowledgable ones can chortle with delight here!).Now there are many in the so-called "United National Front",searching for a common candidate to defeat Pakse-raja,who are afeared that once Herr General is in the saddle,he will use the whip! They say that there is no guarantee that he will step down as Exec. Pres. and might even establish a military dictatorship,sending all politicos of the various shades of blue,green,red and yellow to oblivion!.The jury is out on the reliability of Herr General abdicating power once he gains it,which sounds rather idealistic to put it mildly and Ranil has demanded that Gen.Fons accepts in toto his "10 point" programme before he becomes their common candidate.What other choice of candidate do they have though? "Mangy" (Mangala) Samaraweera of the breakaway SLFP,is dynamic and popular and his star is also apparently on the ascendent,but he is still a "light-heavy" when compared to Pakse-raja.

The amusing revealtions from insiders state that Pakse-raja has made trips to Nepal and Tirupathi to get second opinions on his horror-scope and placate the electoral gods.The spate of decisions being made right now,more salarium for the military (a higher priority than striking petro and EB workers) to be accompanied by a scroll of gratis for each soldier,no requirement for passes for the Tamil IDPs to travel in the north-a huge relief,plus more juicy promises expected to woo the voter in the forthcoming presidential election,expected in late Jan. at the auspicious time! Needless to say,the chief topic of conversation in the watering holes of the capital and elsewhere in the island,are the chances of Herr General,who comes fom the "Durawe" caste,rather low down in the pecking order in Lankan society,but high up occupation wise, being mostly from the toddy-tapping community of the south,a fact which will earn him certainly the votes of the majority of barmen and those employed in the arrack taverns of the island! The forthcoming hustings are eagerly awaited not only by those within the island but also those without,especially neighbour India.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 19 Nov 2009 19:55

The closest analogy of prabhakaran being alive is with Bhindrawale. For a few years after bluestar most of the people in punjab believed that he was alive, a rumour no doubt spread by the closet khalistanis. Everyone I spoke to did not believe he was dead even after his pictures were shown on TV.
A few years later when the tide changed, everyone came to their senses.

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 19 Nov 2009 21:06

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8368649.stm

UN confirms Tamil exodus from Sri Lanka refugee camps

Look at the brilliant choice of words - Exodus!...as if they go to some Palestinian desert. They have been sent home, something UN has been demanding all this while...they are not happy because GOSL is doing this without providing a chance for some US/EU parasites to accumulate first class frequent flyer miles and stays @ Galle Face / Hilton ..and drinks at the bars there

Someone should tell UN that the "leader of entire tamil race" and his extended family has already claimed credit for this 'exodus'

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 20 Nov 2009 20:30

Suppiah,you forgot about the Scandinavians too,who simply love dark skinned flesh,especially those found around Nilaveli Beach.! The Swedes were roped in to replace the disgraced Norwegians,but even they were turfed out by the GOSL for their antics.But "Exodus" is a disgraceful word to use for a proud people going back to their own homes.It indicates the bankruputcy of the UN under its Sec.Gen. "Bunkum" Moon.

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 22 Nov 2009 19:49

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Whatever it is, Ranil Wickremasinghe is going to end up with mud on his face if he realistically expects what he demands, provided that SF wins the elections.... In other words, RW is the "useful idiot" in the party now.

Ranil is coming out like a joker, why would a power hungry (he wanted to be both COAS and CDS) Fonseka dilute the executive powers of presidency after he wins?? And give cabinet ministries to TNA, the same party endorsed by LTTE that Fonseka fought tooth and nail. So its mud onlee.

The UNP boss told the media that Fonseka must agree to abolish or drastically prune the powers of the Executive President; appoint him (Wickremesinghe) as the prime minister; give important Cabinet portfolios to the then pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Marxist-Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP); and implement the 17th Amendment of the Constitution, which de-politicises important public appointments by taking them away from the purview of the President.

Political circles wonder how Fonseka would be able to suddenly appoint Wickremesinghe as the prime minister without the United National Front, an electoral alliance which he heads, being the majority group in Parliament, and how it could become a majority group without going through parliamentary election first.

Second, if the TNA is to be included in the Cabinet, what kind of promises will Fonseka have to make to the Tamils? The Tamils, both moderates and extremists, want freedom of movement, and devolution of power. Fonseka has made it clear in his resignation letter to the President that he is against resettling Tamil refugees in their native villages without adequate security forces deployment to check LTTE infiltration. In previous interviews, he has said that devolution is not the answer to Sri Lanka’s ethnic question and the island belongs to the Sinhalese Buddhists.

Third, assuming that Fonseka gives in to the Tamils or the TNA, how will he satisfy the JVP, which is opposed to all the Tamil demands? How can the TNA and JVP co-exist in Fonseka’s cabinet?

Fourthly, as regards the demand for the implementation of the 17th Amendment, no President has implemented it from Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time because it severely abridges the powers of the Executive President. How does the UNP expect a tough as nails General like Fonseka, who is used to exercising unquestioned authority in the army, to clip his own wings so drastically?

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/stor ... E7I/Vl8os=

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Nov 2009 19:09

Rajapakse announces Pres. election,date most probably late Jan.The Fons will now have to take the plunge,agreeing to the opposition's demands or sit on the sidelines.I guess that he will take the plunge but welsh on the opposition later on!

Malayappan · Post by **Malayappan** » 25 Nov 2009 11:21

Beware Of Lanka’s Chi-Pak Axis, article by Inderjit Badhwar

The headline is from an Indian pov, but a lot of observations there indicating possible approaches in future by the two contestants that can have an impact on Sri Lankans. For instance the divergent approaches to resettlement of Tamils...

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 25 Nov 2009 14:08

Herr General is also waiting for the auspicious day on which to announce his worst kept secret,his future political plans.With his undisputable track record of having decisively defeated the LTTE on the ground and into the ground (!),his political future is assured.I do not know why the Pakse-Raja govt. did not send him as high envoy to the US,UK or wherever along with a goodly stock of choice aged arrack or whatever is Herr gegeral's favourite tipple.The JVP has already announced that Herr General is "their" candidate,in an attempt to steal a march over Ranil and the UNP.Ranil's "backdoor" approach to regaining power I'm sure is distasteful to the general and he is his own man.In fact the govt. has done him a mighty favour by showing him in a very short time how much political mileage he can gain for the future,even if he is defeated.There is no shame in losing either,as Ranil's miserable track record has proven.As John le Carre so beautifully put it in his book,"the Tailor of Panama",as in Panama so also in Sri Lanka,disgraced leaders are hung out for a short while to remove their creases and then dry-cleaned for another bout at the hustings! As for the locals,they've adopted Alfred E.Neuman's moto,"What me worry?" to their hearts in their favourite watering holes.

General Fonseka to announce his future plans tomorrow

General Sarath Fonseka is to announce his future plans tomorrow. He says that the next few hours will be the most crucial hours in his life. The General told Express news that President Rajapakse, the Defence Ministry and secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse have something against him claiming that they are not only politically against him, but also do not want him to go to the media.

“They are trying to turn the people against me and to some extent they’ve been successful. They asked me to vacate my official residence on November 22. I could not find an alternative accommodation so far. That is why I’m still in this house where I actually do not want to stay anymore.

I am being treated like an outsider,” said an emotional Fonseka. The General said he was leaving the Army with mixed feelings, after serving it for around 40 years.

“My life is at risk after President Rajapakse decided to reduce my security.

Initially, I had 600 men guarding me. When they reduced it to 25, I protested. Then, they raised it to 70.

“And 70 men are not sufficient for guarding my residence, leave alone my office. I need additional security when I go for public functions,” he told Express news.

Asked if the threat to his life came only from the LTTE, he said: “You know what had happened to the man behind the Indian Army’s Golden Temple operation. I was the one who was attacked after the fall of the LTTE, and it was a suicide attack.” Asked about his relationship with India, the General said: “As the Army Commander, I had been in touch with top Indian officials on many occasions.

Both countries share a good relation and I’ve a lot of respect for India.” Gen. Fonseka has always been criticised by various quarters for his anti-media attitude.

“I am always for media freedom.

There were instances of the media misleading the people. I took it up with them and corrected their mistake.

My being anti-media is just propaganda,” he said.

What will be his priorities for Sri Lanka if he chooses to contest the elections there? “First of all, democratic freedom to all. Sri Lanka should be corruption- free. A just society, media freedom, religious democracy and good relations with neighbouring countries,” the General, who had resigned following a spat with the President, said. Fonseka also vowed to protect human rights.

Sri Lanka’s main Opposition party, the UNP, had announced that it would back Fonseka as its candidate against Rajapakse in the presidential polls.

Asked if he would accept the UNP support, he said: “You will hear from me after 48 hours.”

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Secti ... RTID=68948

PS:One doesn't need an Inderjit Bhardwar to remind one about the Sino-Pak axis in lanka,I'bve been writing about it for at least a decade now.We abdiocated our responsibility and role in the island and others stepped in,despite us having the most cordial relations with Chandrika and Ranil.However,all is not lost.The Rajapakse regime is a realistic one and realises that India being its closest and most powerful neighbour needs to be accomodated.What Lanka wants is a growing economy and funds for development to prevent social unrest,which it has tragically had in devilish amounts in the past both from the south-JVP, and the north-LTTE.India and Indian entrepereneurs can do wonders both for Lankans and themselves in the island in several sphers of the economy.It is our opportunity now that the war is over and evolve a supern working realtionship with Lanka.Strong economic cooperation with Lanka will stop any Sino-Pak axis from developing any further believe me.

ShanB · Post by **ShanB** » 25 Nov 2009 15:00

I believe we have royally messed up our policy in sri lanka. We are making too many enemies in our neighbourhood also courtsey PRC. We really need to get our relations with our neighbours in shape if we are to contain our real enemies. I think our policy must be to actively engage our neighbours like sri lanka and help them in their times of need. We also need to create fear of everything communist in their minds. Its not really that tough with right kind of injected media reports and all you know.

Malayappan · Post by **Malayappan** » 25 Nov 2009 18:29

Philip wrote:One doesn't need an Inderjit Bhardwar to remind one about the Sino-Pak axis in lanka,I'bve been writing about it for at least a decade now.We abdiocated our responsibility and role in the island and others stepped in,despite us having the most cordial relations with Chandrika and Ranil.However,all is not lost.The Rajapakse regime is a realistic one and realises that India being its closest and most powerful neighbour needs to be accomodated.What Lanka wants is a growing economy and funds for development to prevent social unrest,which it has tragically had in devilish amounts in the past both from the south-JVP, and the north-LTTE.India and Indian entrepereneurs can do wonders both for Lankans and themselves in the island in several sphers of the economy.It is our opportunity now that the war is over and evolve a supern working realtionship with Lanka.Strong economic cooperation with Lanka will stop any Sino-Pak axis from developing any further believe me.

Philip,

Agree, but as I touched upon, I found the article more useful for some inputs on SL politics - may not be much of news for you, with your access

!

Also found this post a while ago - not sure you saw that. Apart from strong criticism of India, it also contains some interesting data on India vs China in SL economy. And on your assessment on economic cooperation possibilities, cannot agree with you more! More so in view of the very strong economic connections.

Chellaney on Indo-Sri Lanka relations: How not to win friends and influence your neighbours

Closing line in the linked post -

Sri Lanka will not land in China’s lap unless pushed.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 Nov 2009 17:20

Thanks,Malayappan.Yes,we certainly know how to snatch diplomatic defeat from the jaws of victory.There is a recent India Today report on the chaos in the MEA with one ambassador ,to Sudan refusing to come home or be transferred,wanting a post only in Africa and others about the inaccessibility of the media to India's efforts at reconstruction,demining.etc. in N.Lanka.Talk about mutiny in the ranks!

At the moment,the Chinese are "everwhere" according to an old Lankan pal of mine,who has been quite pro-China in the past,whorecently said "are we beconming a Chinese colony?" Part of the problem lies in the fact that the west,who supported their "boy" ,the late deceased fuhrer Prabhakaran to the hilt,until even they couldn't save him,are by their stupidity and cretinous foreign policy,pushing the GOSL even further into the clutches of the Chinese,Burmese and Pakis.These rogue nations band together to survive and help each other in times of acute crisis.The GOSL is playing the "Buddhist card"
now with Burma and the ASEAN states.India,being the birthplace of Buddhism,has a special place in Lankan hearts so all is not lost.Unfortunately,the asinine MEA have the creativity,agility and innovative ability of a sleeping Buddha statue and cannot come up with ideas of how to cement the already existing Indo-Lankan goodwill that exists between the two peoples,who are doing more for Indo-Lankan relatiosn than the two govts and their mandarins.

''PS:Here's how rogues like China and NoKo band militarily together to stay upright like two drunks!

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/200 ... 259164800/

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 27 Nov 2009 10:38

UK to Block Sri Lanka's Commonwealth Summit Bid

The UK has indicated it will try to block Sri Lanka's bid to host the next Commonwealth summit over its handling of the recent war.

Displaced civilians in Sri Lanka
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans are still displaced

A UK government source said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had "real concerns about Sri Lanka's bid".

The source said: "We simply cannot be in a position where Sri Lanka - whose actions earlier this year had a huge impact on civilians, leading to thousands of displaced people without proper humanitarian access - is seen to be rewarded for its actions."

The UN estimates the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels left at least 7,000 civilians dead with 150,000 people still displaced and living in camps.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 27 Nov 2009 10:49

Philip wrote: Paging Philip and other Sri lanka watchers........

Given the action of British Government and othe EU countries in trying to save the LTTE, especially the histrionics towards the end, and now the open hostility wrt the Commanwealth Games....it is for sure theyhave a dog in the fight.

Can anyone of you be kind enough to give an overview of their interest and point to pages/links where this has been discussed in detail before?

Thank you in advance.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 27 Nov 2009 11:19

rohitvats wrote: Can anyone of you be kind enough to give an overview of their interest and point to pages/links where this has been discussed in detail before?

My guess is that Diego Garcia and post-48 bickering with Sinhalese has left an institutional memory in keeping the flames alive. Very similar to UK's tendency to get involved in J&K. Not just SL, even in Maldives of which Diego Garcia is an extension and where many residents were forcibly pushed out, UK has a deep interest.

If you look at countries that have embassies in Maldives and not use the consulate in SL/India for visa purposes, apart from the saarc nations and china, we see Austria, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Denmark etc. Now how many tourists come from scandinavia to Maldives for fun and pleasure?! There is a claim that the scandinavian countries want to use Maldives and SL as a base for refueling in their deep-antarctic whale hunting missions, a reason why Erik Solheim and Norway were willing to play a key role in brokering peace between LTTE and GoSL. That plus there are tons of hardcore Tam expats in "Lapland" in general, which is hard to believe, given that apart from nokia, I hear of no great businesses from scandinavia for people to take refuge in. Scandinavian countries have a negative growth rate and have a liberal refugee policy.

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 27 Nov 2009 14:18

Champion of Tamil Tigers booted out of Canada

Film director put on a plane by border agents ahead of planned speech at 'Martyrs' Day' event

Colin Freeze and Anthony Reinhart

Last updated on Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 3:55AM EST

Federal agents arrested and kicked a firebrand Tamil speaker out of Canada just ahead of “Martyrs' Day” celebrations set for today in the Toronto region, which is fast becoming the home of the vanquished Tamil Tiger movement.

With the Sri Lankan civil war over after 26 bloody years, a continuing cat-and-mouse game is playing out between Canadian federal agents and supporters of the Tigers, a banned terrorist group in Canada.

Authorities made sure to get film director Sebastian Seeman onto an outbound plane late Thursday, before he could bring his message of vengeance against Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority to a large remembrance celebration for dead Tiger militants Friday night.

The location of the event is kept secret until just before it starts.

Mr. Seeman, touted as a keynote speaker at several Tamil rallies this week, was sent packing to his native India – where he is on bail facing sedition charges – just days after arriving in Toronto. On Wednesday, a crowd of Toronto Tamil students cheered as he lionized his late friend “Praba” – slain Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

“I welcome the Canadian intelligence who are here to take note of my speech,” Mr. Seeman told the audience, but the feeling was not mutual.

Within hours of his taunt, he was arrested, deemed inadmissible and flying home. It wasn't clear why Canadian authorities granted him a visa in the first place.

FULL STORY: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le1379419/

Tamil Tiger supporter deported after speaking at rally

Filmmaker Sebastian Seeman seen here with Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran in a file photo from a Sri Lankan government website.

Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009

TORONTO -- Canadian immigration officials arrested an Indian man in Toronto on Thursday after he gave a fiery speech at an event where the flag of the outlawed Tamil Tigers rebels was flown.

Sebastian Seeman, who was in Canada on a speaking tour, was taken into custody by Canada Border Services Agency officers and questioned before agreeing to leave the country immediately.

A CBSA spokeswoman, Patricia Giolti, confirmed the arrest, and his lawyer Hadayt Nazami said immigration officials had intended to deport him on security grounds unless he left voluntarily.

He departed Canada on Thursday night.

Mr. Seeman was scheduled to speak at a Tamil community function last night but was forced to cancel due to his arrest. He was to speak in Montreal on Sunday.

A film director from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Seeman is known for his hardline speeches in support of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels and their fight for independence.

During his speech in Toronto on Wednesday, Mr. Seeman talked about restarting the civil war in Sri Lanka, according to several Tamil-Canadians who heard it on the radio or watched it on the Internet.

He also spoke harshly about the ethnic Singhala who are the majority in Sri Lanka. "No Singhala can live," he said, according to the witnesses. He also said the war would have ended differently had the rebels bombed 100 Singhala schools for every Tamil school bombed by the Sri Lankan forces.

FULL STORY: http://www.nationalpost.com/most-popula ... id=2273146

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 Nov 2009 16:15

I heard a story recently when in the island ,about colonial "maps",geological surveys regarding the oil potential in the Indian subcontinent,pre-independence maps showing oil wealth on both coastlines of India,including Sri Lanka.It may have been an old civil servant's tale told to me,but in the early part of the last century,oil was the key factor that kept the RN and the British empire alive and kicking.The carving up of territory in the Middle East and Gulf,creation of new states beholden to Britain and the west,was due to the oil factor.In fact,right upto present times,with the latest disclosures of the Iraq Inquiry,capture and control of oil has been the predominant priority of the "Anglo-Saxon" world.The "Atlanticists" ,as some prefer them labelled,have built up huge "expeditionary" forces to support and execute this priority.In addition,client states,local dictators,despotic or benign monarchies,failing states-like Pak,have all been roped in to render yeoman service to the great cause,the real "Great Game",control of the energy resourcs of the world.

Now Sri Lanka,earlier Ceylon,with its almost 500 years of European rule,liberal democracy,exceptionally high rate of literacy and western institutions, after independence began to look in other directions for self-expression.The political regime of top-hat,tail-coated Senanayakes-father and son,and clansman Sir John Kotelawala,were replaced by the equally westernised SWRD Bandaranaike,scion of Maha Mudliar Sir Solomon Bandaranaike,top-hatted too,with a penchant for the gee-gees.However,the route that SWRD (Banda) took was in the other direction.He gave up his western attire (except for his pipe) and went "native",to the consternation of the capitalist class to which he was its most illustrious member.He picked as candidates for his party humble rural folk,not the pampered landowning gentry of Colombo. Making Sinhala the national language,spoken by the vast majority of its people,a language which had been supressed by the centuries of colonialism,awoke a strong sense of nationalism in the Ceylonese.After his assassination in a conspiracy by his fellow capitalists,his widow,Mrs.B.,Mrs.G's closest politcal friend,took the country on the path of Socialism along with her Leftist coalition partners and changed the name of the country to Sri Lanka,further underlining the fact that the island was returning to its ancient historic roots and vast heritage for inspiration for the future.

Given the island's strategic location,Trincomalee the prize port in the entire IOR,Mountbatten's HQ during WW2,large enough to accomodate the world's navies (I remember a former admiral who commanded one of our warships during a JET exercise there) marvelling at the port's characteristics),had several beady eyes cast on it during Cold War days.I remmeber the hoots of derisive laughter from the audience,when a Yanqui strategic "expert" in a lecture in Colombo,pretended not to know about Trinco! Coupled with the island's attractions,the ethnic mix was cleverly exploited by the "Christian west" through Yanqui missionaries,who had educated in the medium of English,the northern Tamils in the Jaffna Peninsula long before the rest of the Sinhalese .These well-educated Tamils became the mainstay of the administration during British rule and strong ties developed and were sustained even after independence through educating the natives in British instuitutions of learning.

However,what gave the west and Europeans a convenient handle was the diaspora of both Tamils and Sinhalese who fled the island after the riots of '83.These immigrants scattered across Europe,became a powerful,rich, political force and were wooed by their host nations to act as Proxies to further the interests of their hosts.The Tamil armed struggle and the LTTE's sole leadership of it,was manipulated for decades by those countries that had vested interests,chief amongst them to return Sri Lanka to its capitalist status,abandoning Non-Alignment ( a joint power sharing project where Tamils in the north along with the Sinhalese capitalist politicos would act as western agents.Unfortunately,Prabhakaran had delusions of grandeur and became uncontrollable given his JT pride).Ripe for the plucking would then be the wealth of Lanka-still undiscovered and the establishment of military bases from where the IOR could be controlled.Diego Garcia has no heavy repair facilities and apart from the established VOA radio station,would be ideal for the USN,RN,etc.The tilt towards rogue nations like China,Burma and Pak annoy the west,especially after Rajapakse gave the US and UK in particular the upturned finger .The Chinese presence is all over the island.In fact the Chinese are all over the globe,especially in the hot-spots of Asia and Africa,like soldier ants marching on building everything from dams,pwoer stations,ports,etc.,etc.

The west is trying to teach Rajapakse a lesson for his disobedience and Herr General Fonseka,lusting after a green card,is being used as a tool of the west.He is the perfect candidate for the US and its poodle,another military man who if elected will follow in the hallowed footsteps of Gen.Zia,Gen.Mush-a-rat the Bandicoot,and scores of other military dictators who have held sawy over the banana and cocount republics of Asia,Africa and the Americas.The fact that he is Ranil's candidate as well as that of the JVP's is not a coincidence.His candidacy was probably first dreamt of in the bowels of Washington.Should he win,Lanka's dream post civil war will turn into another nightmare of even worse proportions.The big Q is what is India going to do with the situ in Lanka in a state of flux? Given our miserable diplomatic track record in Lanka,bugg*r all!

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 27 Nov 2009 16:40

Philip wrote:I heard a story recently when in the island ,about colonial "maps",geological surveys regarding the oil potential in the Indian subcontinent,pre-independence maps showing oil wealth on both coastlines of India...........<snip>

Stan_Savljevic wrote: My guess is that Diego Garcia and post-48 bickering with Sinhalese has left an institutional memory in keeping the flames alive...................

Philip, Stan_S - thank you for the replies. So if I understand correctly, the idea was to use Elam as the base for UK-US activities in the IOR as the grip on the Sinhala mainland had been lost. It was hoped that through the ruling class, Srilanka will be to IOR what Pakistan is to the CAR and ME. But the story did not run as per script and hence, the need to support and nurture the Fuehrer. Also, any Elam in north Lanka would have been used to conviniently finger India in the peninsular region apart from inciting the seperatist agenda in TN. And did the peace-makers(Norway/EU) take their cue on the whole issue from UK? and how valid are the interests of scandinavian countries as explained by Stan_S above to stoke the seperatist agenda?

Stan, could you please give a low down on Diego Garcia and Sri-Lanka? Google did not return any story/history. Or is it that DG was a temp base and Lanka was to be the bigger, better base and loss of which irked the UKstan?

Also, apart from the histrionics towards the end of LTTE, is there any evidence/instance of UK/EU coming to aid of LTTE through the usual Human Right BS?Any news on material support?

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 27 Nov 2009 17:10

Philip
he fact that he is Ranil's candidate as well as that of the JVP's is not a coincidence.His candidacy was probably first dreamt of in the bowels of Washington.Should he win,Lanka's dream post civil war will turn into another nightmare of even worse proportions.The big Q is what is India going to do with the situ in Lanka in a state of flux? Given our miserable diplomatic track record in Lanka,bugg*r all!

I think it is best not to do anything. The best policy is to make sure to stay away from trying to attempt to help SL unless officially asked. It is not a good thing for any country to meddle in the affairs of other nations. Now a days, we are out of all this cold war stuff. Only thing countries should do is friendly competition. It is unnecessary to have fears about Chinese in SL. The more people in the world start mixing, the better the understanding among each other improves.

About SF, I wouldn't put his chances of becoming president of SL at more than 5%. It is like us believing TN people would vote for LTTE supporters. Wouldn't happen. That is the current belief, unless something drastic happens from now to the PE election date. But SF being a candidate is good every SL. Better competition would give good out come to every one in SL. Also if SF last more that few years in SL politics, he would imagine he would end up being a good leader (This is an optimistic assumption, and the behaviour of last few months are actually appalling).

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 27 Nov 2009 18:08

Thusitha,no one is advocating Indian "interference" in the island.Once bitten twice shy,but there are many ways in which the GOI can strengthen the GOSL's hand in swatting away the interference from outside! Economic cooperation through special trad agreements and assisting the island in building up its infrastructure through easy loans and tech support are just some of them.There are many players on the scene who want to use Sri Lanka just as Pak is being used,as catspaw for superior powers.An independent Sri Lanka,as I described,which wants to carve out its own self-expression is anathema to certain powers who wnat to "plant their flag" and "dip their wicks" in the island.As mentioned by another poster,the island was also planned to be used to penetrate India from the south through separatist support for TNadu politicos on the LTTE's payrolls for the Chines epresence,there is large doubt in the minds of many nations in Asia too about China's real intentions in its operations abroad.Are they as harmless as they appear? Writings by China's own military strategists place big Q marks about their intentions.The concerns I mentioned were from islanders and not Indians.

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 27 Nov 2009 19:15

Philip
Thusitha,no one is advocating Indian "interference" in the island.Once bitten twice shy,but there are many ways in which the GOI can strengthen the GOSL's hand in swatting away the interference from outside! Economic cooperation through special trad agreements and assisting the island in building up its infrastructure through easy loans and tech support are just some of them.There are many players on the scene who want to use Sri Lanka just as Pak is being used,as catspaw for superior powers.An independent Sri Lanka,as I described,which wants to carve out its own self-expression is anathema to certain powers who wnat to "plant their flag" and "dip their wicks" in the island.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely appreciate any help we can to get rid of the western meddeling from SL. Not really clear why west would want to meddle with Indian dominance in this region. Maybe bit afraid India becoming a super power. Instead of one super power like U.S. it would be better for all other nations if U.S. India, Russia, China and Brazil become super powers. This way there would be much needed peace in the world.

As mentioned by another poster,the island was also planned to be used to penetrate India from the south through separatist support for TNadu politicos on the LTTE's payrolls for the Chines epresence,there is large doubt in the minds of many nations in Asia too about China's real intentions in its operations abroad.Are they as harmless as they appear? Writings by China's own military strategists place big Q marks about their intentions.The concerns I mentioned were from islanders and not Indians.

How can India blame China for this. You created this first, and I am not clear how such a huge mistake was made by India. After that the west supported it. China might have thought excellent and joined in knowing this would break India. But should they be blamed?

Many in the world would like India and China broken in to part the same way that happened in Russia. I don't believe it is not just China alone that India has to worry about. The U.S., West, Russia as well as China would be happy to see India broken in to smaller pieces.

But there is no away SL would be a launching ground for such a thing. SL people are smarter than that. There is no space for communism in SL. Chinese are smart people and they would not try to start something in the back yard of India. So, it is highly unlikely that China is up to anything other than securing a strategic shipping line from China to Africa. And there is no reason why they shouldn't have one. These parts of the world has been play ground of the west for such a long time, it is about time it is shared by every one. It is about time India and China, two of the oldest nations of the world to come to good understanding of each other and act accordingly. Also China would not always be a state run by the communist party. Another 20-30 years time from now, It would most likely be an open society, most probably with a Singaporian type model of governance.

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 27 Nov 2009 20:06

Sri Lanka to hold presidential poll in January

Fonseka (right) is expected to confirm his candidature at a news conference on Sunday

By Mel Gunasakera (AFP) – 3 hours ago

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka will hold presidential elections on January 26, the electoral office said Friday, with President Mahinda Rajapakse expected to face his former military chief Sarath Fonseka.

"Elections will be held on the 26th of January," Dayananda Dissanayake, the commissioner of elections, told AFP by telephone.

Rajapakse, 64, called the election two years ahead of schedule in a move aimed at helping the government tap public goodwill after the end of the country's 37-year separatist conflict which ended in May.

Local media had widely predicted the poll would be announced for January 23 or 26, which are considered astrologically auspicious for the president.

Fonseka, 58, is expected to confirm his candidature at a news conference on Sunday after he won the backing of Sri Lanka's two main opposition parties this week.

The former general quit as chief of defence staff this month after a rift with Rajapakse over who should take credit for the military defeat of the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... GwewTfxFyA

Sri Lanka's presidential poll set for Jan. 26

A Sri Lankan police officer stands next to a portrait of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Sri Lanka's president called for early elections, hoping to take advantage of his popularity after ending the country's 25-year civil war to win a new six-year term.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI (AP) – 1 hour ago

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan elections officials said Friday that the nation would hold early presidential elections on Jan. 26 in what is expected to be a battle between two men revered for their efforts to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who still has two years left in his six-year term, called early elections to take advantage of his popularity after the military defeated the Tigers and ended the country's 25-year civil war.

But he could face a strong challenge from Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who led the army during the final victory.

Government troops routed the rebels in May, ending their fight for an independent homeland for the country's minority Tamils. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people were killed in the violence.

P.M. Siriwardena, additional commissioner of elections, said nominations for the presidential election will be accepted on Dec. 17 and the vote held Jan. 26.

Fifteen opposition parties have said they would support Fonseka's presidential bid. The retired general is expected to announce his candidacy at a press conference this weekend.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... wD9C7SR700

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 28 Nov 2009 16:13

Rohitvats, I am going to take a while to dig what you asked for. Too many things. I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks.

Petrol bombs hurled at Tamil Nadu Congress leader`s house

Five petrol bombs were hurled at the South Chennai residence of Tamil Nadu Congress leader and former Union Minister EVKS Elangovan a little past midnight. The bombs exploded in the verandah of the house. Elangovan and his family members were away in Erode at the time of the incident. The Congressman had recently torn pro-LTTE posters that came up in Chennai. Police are investigating whether pro-Tamil outfits could be behind the attack. Elangovan, known for his hard-line stand against LTTE for its involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, had removed posters and banners eulogising the leader of the banned organisation, put up by pro-LTTE elements on the occasion of Prabhakaran's birthday.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/petrol_b ... _house.php
Throw these oiseaules in the Cellular Jail, I would like to say, but what can be done if the oiseaules that run the show are wily foxes who will sing both ways just so that they can make the money. PC, your home state beckons you.

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 28 Nov 2009 23:32

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Rohitvats, I am going to take a while to dig what you asked for. Too many things. I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks.

I will await for your reply.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 29 Nov 2009 04:10

Forget jail, just knock them off one by one. The only language they understand is fear.

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 29 Nov 2009 08:22

IDPs free to leave camp from Tuesday

This is going to be really good news. This would cause the west and NGO one less reason to meddle in SL affairs.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/091129/News/nws_20.html

Inmates of IDP camps would be free to leave from Tuesday onwards without any condition being imposed on when they should return, with the camps being declared as ‘open camps.’

There will be no restrictions imposed on the duration of their absence from the camps as well.
The Government has declared that anyone would be able to leave the camps once they have given their personal details to the camp authorities when they would be given a token which needs to be returned upon coming back to camp.

Kashyap · Post by **Kashyap** » 29 Nov 2009 15:33

Sri Lanka's ex-military chief runs for president

By Amal Jayasinghe (AFP) – 2 hours ago

COLOMBO — The Sri Lankan general who led troops to victory over Tamil separatists after decades of war formally announced on Sunday that he would try to unseat the president in January elections.

Sarath Fonseka declared he would stand against President Mahinda Rajapakse, who claims credit for the defeat of Tamil Tigers in May that ended the island's bloody ethnic conflict.

Fonseka told reporters he would reduce the powers vested in the presidential position and he criticised how Rajapakse had run the country.

"If I am elected, I will scrap the executive presidency within six months, hold parliamentary elections and adopt a new constitution that will uphold democracy, social justice and media freedoms," Fonseka told reporters.

He said he was moving into politics because corruption was preventing Sri Lankans from benefiting from the success that military forces had secured while under his command.

"The peace dividend is not being achieved by the people of this country due to corruption which is at a peak," Fonseka said, adding that he was persuaded to run for president by the country's two main opposition parties.

"Sri Lanka had suffered violence and indignity at the hands of terrorists, but now you can't leave the country in the hands of a tin-pot dictator," he said in reference to the president's all-powerful role.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... OulNpqaKIA

Tamils will not vote for Fonseka to be President– CWC

By Gandhya Senanayake

If General Sarath Fonseka is elected as the President he will behave like a dictator and no one will be able to speak out against him or his misdoings and so he will not have the vote of the minorities especially the Tamils, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) said.

The CWC media unit qouted Estate Infrastructure Deputy Minister and Ceylon Workers Congress leader Muthu Sivalingam as saying that General Fonseka, who had claimed credit for the army victory over the LTTE, had no political experience to run for the presidency.

Minister Sivalingam had further noted that the minority could not vote for the General because if they did so they could not voice their needs and fulfill their objectives and goals.

MP Basil Rajapakse who had attended the rally meanwhile had said that the Nuwara Eliya workers could now move freely without being arrested under suspicion unlike earlier times because of the present government and because of the President.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Secti ... RTID=69287

Second arson attack at Buddhist temple

Blaze occurred on birthday of late Tamil Tigers chief

Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Saturday, November 28, 2009

An early morning fire that damaged a Buddhist temple used by Toronto's Sri Lankan community for the second time in six months has been classified as an arson.

Toronto police have increased patrols in the area and are consulting with the hate crimes unit after flames engulfed part of the building at about 2 a.m. yesterday.

There were no injuries.

While police have not yet made any arrests, investigators are almost certainly examining whether the attack was connected to the Tamil nationalist conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Tigers rebels fought a three-decade civil war for independence for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority until May, when government forces wiped out the guerrillas.

Despite the end of the fighting, some expatriate Tamils have continued to agitate for independence. In Toronto on Wednesday, a Tamil activist gave a fiery speech that urged violence against the Sinhalese Buddhists who make up the majority in Sri Lanka. Following his talk, he was arrested and threatened with deportation unless he left Canada on his own.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=

Former Sri Lankan army chief for close ties with India

Colombo, Nov 29 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s former army chief and opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election, General (retd) Sarath Fonseka said here Sunday that he was looking forward to close ties with India.

‘I have always maintained a close friendship with India as a military officer’, Fonseka told reporters while launching his presidential bid.

Fonseka, 58, served as army commander in the final offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May, ending a 26-year civil war. He was later named chief of defence staff, a largely ceremonial post.

Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying that the Indian government had given moral support to Sri Lanka throughout the island’s successful military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

‘I am a fan of India especially Indian movies and music. There were times when I cut school to watch Indian movies,’ Fonseka said.

Fonseka is now backed by the opposition to contest in the Jan 26, 2010 poll.

Source: Former Sri Lankan army chief for close ties with India liberation tigers of tamil eelam, sarath fonseka, xinhua news agency

http://trak.in/news/former-sri-lankan-a ... dia/29124/

Sri Lankan president kicks off re-election campaign

www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-29 09:52:56

COLOMBO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- With Sri Lanka's main opposition making former Army chief General Sarath Fonseka as their common candidate in the forthcoming presidential election, President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed a strong committee to kick off his re-election campaign, officials close to the president said on Saturday.

The committee, led by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and Rajapakse's younger brother Basil Rajapakse, has already commenced its election campaign since Nov. 25, officials from the presidential secretariat said.

The main target of the committee is to tap the votes of the rural masses. Senior Cabinet ministers have been asked to meet all their party supporters and strengthen their party activities at village level.

President Rajapakse has said that though there was a common candidate from the opposition, he would be the country's common candidate who knows the heart beat of all ethnic communities.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009- ... 558427.htm

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 30 Nov 2009 06:10

Whatever it is, I get a really bad feeling about Sarath Fonseka. Just my gut feeling. He is going to divide the house and while he may not win the elections, he is going to ensure a divided polity. I hope that Mahinda Rajapakse wins and gets going on the much-needed reforms. If it has to come to that, GoI will conduct business with Sarath Fonseka, but hopefully that wont have to happen. With peanuts and tender coconut water in my hand, lets see how this show goes during the campaign season.

Jegath Casper, Vai Ko, Seeman, VP --- the dots seem to get darker over time. Jee, there are people who want due rights for the Tamils and then there are assorted oiseaules who have their own agendas. And this Jegath Casper guy was an unknown till very recently, where did he come from? At least Nedumaran has been a known oiseaule since the TNRT and pre-Veerappan days.

Javee · Post by **Javee** » 30 Nov 2009 23:33

Stan,
These fringe players will always remain at the periphery. But you got to give it to them, even after DMK went downhill, these guys never for a minute don their ski's. If Vaiko had this perseverance in other local issues he would be a notable leader rather than being a has been.

I doubt Fons will win the election, RP is too glamorous to loose. I was skeptical of IDP settlement and so far he seem to hold on to his promises and if he dont have a majority hand, this problem will never be solved. I read somewhere about Fons clan and background and it seems that his community (Karava) has a tilt towards Sinhala-Buddhist identity (JVP kind) and so the liberal singhalas and the tamils would never vote for him, severely curtailing his ambitions.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Dec 2009 18:19

Heard from a reliable source that some time ago,when Herr General der Fons was a mere Maj.Gen. and abroad in Blighty,he was accosted by a kindly Indian Brigadier who wanted to make friends with his fellow compatriot from the sub-continent and adddressed him in the most coridal spirit ,calling him by his first name "Sarath".Herr General imperiously looked down at the lower ranking Indian Brigadier and bellowed in his ear,"from henceforth YOU will address me as Major-General Fonseka"!

Herr General der Fons,now displaying all of his 4 stars on his shoulder boards,is running to India for its blessings in his latest "war" against that southern warrior of renown,Pres.Rajapakse! Herr General is now desperate that India will advise the legions of Indian plantation workers to make their mark for the lesser evil,Pres.Rajapakse,and kill off his venture to become pres. of Lanka.I wonder how Herr General will react when he sees his old compatriot today, and whether he will still demand that he be addressed by his rank!

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 06 Dec 2009 05:17

If it is a dirty fight for 'credit' it must be obvious Rajapakse deserves full credit. The army was always there, so was Fonseka. What changed was MR at the top. Even if you are a hardcore Tamil Tiger supporter, you have to take your hats off to the way GOSL under MR managed the international opinion as well as big powers in the neighbourhood and elsewhere playing each other off like a chess champion. Not to speak of a war tired domestic public opinion for years when victory was nowhere in sight. India should, in future, consider offering him some top advisory post like Cambodia did (wrongly) with Thaksin.

As Churchill said, war is too important to be left to generals. I think the Sinhalese are no fools and they know all this. As for Tamils in SL, the plantation ones perhaps dont care and the northern ones that were sympathetic to LTTE will see MR and Fonseka as Hitler and Goebells so makes no difference either.