Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 18 Jun 2010 19:26

Indian aid to Sri Lanka benefiting Chinese: Jaya

Chennai: AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa on Friday said the huge Indian financial assistance to Sri Lanka was benefiting the Chinese, who had won all the reconstruction contracts in the country.

Noting that India has sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore towards reconstruction of the war-ravaged Tamil areas in Sri Lanka, she said that the reconstruction contracts have now been awarded by the Sri Lankan Government to China.

"So the Indian taxpayers' money, sent for the benefit of the Tamils of Sri Lanka, is ending up in China's kitty," she said, according to a statement here.

Terming as "alarming" media reports that more than 25,000 convict labourers from China have landed in Sri Lanka to execute contract works relating to highways and railways, she alleged that this labour force has been "infiltrated with Chinese spies and intelligence personnel with a specific mandate to commence anti-Indian surveillance and espionage operations".

Rajapaksa cautions against 'sympathy for terrorism'

According to Jayalalithaa, India should have used Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's recent visit to India to put things in perspective, rather than merely exchange empty pleasantries.

"A large number of Tamil men-folk have died in the war. Several thousands of able-bodied young men are still interned in concentration camps, branded as suspected LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) activists. To expose the hapless and vulnerable remnants of the Tamil population, consisting of the old, the disabled and the womenfolk, to the overtures and excesses of a 25,000 strong prison-labour force from China would be disastrous," Jayalalithaa warned.

She demanded that the Indian government act before it is too late.

"It has to talk to Sri Lanka, and talk tough," she added.

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 19 Jun 2010 13:47

Kanson
There is some information that Chinese is operating against India with the help of Srilankans...

There are lot of Sri Lankans operating against Sri Lanka with the help of U.S. Norway and rest of the west. So, it is not much of a surprise if they work against India. But what can they really do is the biggest question. What you have to worry about is enemies within and not outside.

The ability for our country to do any harm to India is almost zero.

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 19 Jun 2010 14:00

Also Don't forget the Role of nice Gents in Britain, USA , Norway et all. These were the guys who didnt let Prabhakaran go to peace.

That is why no sane person in SL likes the west.

Thusitha, sorry . People like the kashaps would have got Sri lanka in more trouble by being Hostile to India.

Kashyapa is not hostile towards SL as well as most of the Sri Lankans. I looked at his past comments, he criticize India and some of the comments in this blog. But never an Anti Indian. He is giving his viewpoints so that you guys can understand what we are thinking as well.

And all these worries about we supporting China is al rubbish. Chinese are trying to secure a shipping line and other commercial interests in SL. But SL would never be a red state. That is why we killed so many during communist insurgencies. There would not be any stupid movements like Maoist in SL.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 19 Jun 2010 14:29

Excellent article in a Srilankan News paper. There are some visionaries left in Srilanka.

India’s gross betrayal of the Tamil people
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.p ... 13140.html

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 20 Jun 2010 10:00

Excellent article in a Srilankan News paper. There are some visionaries left in Srilanka.

India’s gross betrayal of the Tamil people

It should be noted that the writer of this article, in an earlier article, published a week after the war was concluded, warned that the revival, if any, of the Tamil Tigers, will be from within Tamil Nadu, and not Sri Lanka. The cause for the uprising of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka in 1980 was the Sri Lankan government trying to suppress the Tamil people’s issues. Today, if the Tamil Tigers are seeking to rear their heads again in Tamil Nadu, it is because India is assisting the Sri Lankan government to suppress the problems of the Tamil people. If India does not desist from playing this dangerous game of using the Tamil population to accomplish its own ulterior motives –its political and economic goals, it would become impossible to avert an imminent blood bath in Tamil Nadu.

Daily mirror belongs to Ranil, who hated the destruction of LTTE. You call the author a visionary? Is it because he is threatening India with a blood bath unless they listen to mouth pieces of LTTE?

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 11:03

@thusitha:

Don't jump too much. India does not requires SL for anything. You have nothing to offer us. And don't worry SL being chinese satellite state won't worry us. China has also been supporting Pak since 1965. But see where Pak are today. Don't get too deluded that SL can threaten India in anything.

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 11:08

On a side note i saw lots of SL fans disappointed yesterday when India thrashed Pak.

Here is one of the comments from cricinfo:

randikaayya on (June 20 2010, 04:39 AM GMT)
Its heartening to see Pakistan coming together well as a unit once again. As a Sri Lankan my most despised Pakistani over the years has been Afridi, I always felt he was plainly hyped by media like the Indian cricketers. But here he proved me wrong emphatically, weldone sir! Had it not been for the umpiring mishaps Pakistan would have won comfortably!

So heartbreaking for SL fans. Hope your not so overhyped cricketers would have won you a single test match in India ever.
Such a third class team and these arrogant lankans feel they are no.1 in test or ODI. Duh.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 20 Jun 2010 11:17

satyam wrote:@thusitha:

Don't jump too much. India does not requires SL for anything. You have nothing to offer us. And don't worry SL being chinese satellite state won't worry us. China has also been supporting Pak since 1965. But see where Pak are today. Don't get too deluded that SL can threaten India in anything.

Well said, Satyam saar.

Srilankan tamils are not an Indian problem. Lip service is the best that they can hope for. Some morons in Tamil nadu may be getting excited. They are all oldies who are increasingly becoming irrelevant. If the GOI has to go after some ltte inspired Indian rascals, they will be openly and publicly butchered in broad daylight. No minority vote banks to protect, no? and no loss either.

The sinahalese are a tiresome lot like the pakis, with a similar gimme gimme mentality.

RG was a cowboy who was mercifully removed by the voters before before he became an international headache.

Maldives, srilanka!!!! ??? where would this don quixote have landed us next?? Kirghistan??

Let the sinhalas stew in their own juice. Ingrates will end up in the soup any way.

They need us more than we need them if at all, because in the SAARC region srilanka is now India’s second largest trading partner.

What is there in that godforsaken island that we cannot get else where?

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 11:25

^^^

@chetak:

No these deluded lankans feel that if India was not there, they would have become some developed state. Heck Delhi has more per capita income and population than SL.

I would request these lankans to check their records in International maths olympiad, physics olympiad, chemistry olympiad, biology olympiad. They have average performace just like Pakiz.

SL is not Japan or Singapore. Don't jump too much

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 20 Jun 2010 11:52

satyam
Don't jump too much. India does not requires SL for anything. You have nothing to offer us.

If that is the case, why go to SL? Why talk about Chinese taking over SL. SL has nothing to offer, so why bother with all these statements and analysis.

And don't worry SL being chinese satellite state won't worry us. China has also been supporting Pak since 1965. But see where Pak are today. Don't get too deluded that SL can threaten India in anything.

Can you please clarify where I have made a threatening statement against India?

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 20 Jun 2010 11:56

satyam
On a side note i saw lots of SL fans disappointed yesterday when India thrashed Pak.

Here is one of the comments from cricinfo:

randikaayya on (June 20 2010, 04:39 AM GMT)
Its heartening to see Pakistan coming together well as a unit once again. As a Sri Lankan my most despised Pakistani over the years has been Afridi, I always felt he was plainly hyped by media like the Indian cricketers. But here he proved me wrong emphatically, weldone sir! Had it not been for the umpiring mishaps Pakistan would have won comfortably!

So heartbreaking for SL fans. Hope your not so overhyped cricketers would have won you a single test match in India ever.
Such a third class team and these arrogant lankans feel they are no.1 in test or ODI. Duh.

Just to let you know, there are quite a lot of SL who support PAK when they are playing against SL.
Some Sri Lankans will support India, some will Support PAK. So what is the big deal. Do you want every one in SL to support Indians. Is that cricket?

Anyway what has Cricket got to do with defence.

thusitha · Post by **thusitha** » 20 Jun 2010 12:02

satyam
No these deluded lankans feel that if India was not there, they would have become some developed state. Heck Delhi has more per capita income and population than SL.

Are you imagining things? Can you please provide with an article where deluded Sri Lankans are speculating on what would be if India did not exist.

I would request these lankans to check their records in International maths olympiad, physics olympiad, chemistry olympiad, biology olympiad. They have average performace just like Pakiz.
SL is not Japan or Singapore. Don't jump too much

Again please provide some kind of links where people are saying this kind of things. The stuff people say when they are at a pub doesn't count.
It is silly to compare a country with 1 billion of people with a country of 20 million people.

If you really want to do that kind of comparisions please do it with countries like U.S., Russia, China etc with a comparative number of people. We have not produced people like Ramanujan in our country yet.

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 12:21

thusitha wrote:
satyam
No these deluded lankans feel that if India was not there, they would have become some developed state. Heck Delhi has more per capita income and population than SL.
Are you imagining things? Can you please provide with an article where deluded Sri Lankans are speculating on what would be if India did not exist.

I would request these lankans to check their records in International maths olympiad, physics olympiad, chemistry olympiad, biology olympiad. They have average performace just like Pakiz.
SL is not Japan or Singapore. Don't jump too much
Again please provide some kind of links where people are saying this kind of things. The stuff people say when they are at a pub doesn't count.
It is silly to compare a country with 1 billion of people with a country of 20 million people.

If you really want to do that kind of comparisions please do it with countries like U.S., Russia, China etc with a comparative number of people. We have not produced people like Ramanujan in our country yet.

I am talking these with my experience from SL friends. They all feel that entire India is supporting terrorist activity against SL. Whereas fact of the matter is 99 % of the Indians are worried about their daily bread and butter.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Jun 2010 12:22

thusitha wrote:
Rahul M wrote:
thanks for the article. it echoes my earlier post almost to a comma, just shows that the kashyaps are not running the foreign policy of SL.
Your assumption might be wrong. If it was not for people like Kashap taking over our nation, we would be still be bombed by LTTE left, right and centre.

is that so ? if people like kashyap really took over you would have had a full fledged tamil insurgency in SL supported by virtually every country in the world with kashyap's favourite sugar-daddy washing his hands of the issue. it is for people like kashyap who see value in only antagonising India and in that way emulating his other favourite pakistan.

you know, there have been presidents of SL who thought just like kashyap, people like premadasa who saw more value in screwing India and IPKF than ridding his country of LTTE. well he did screw IPKF but to India it was little more than a scratch, if that. his own country however had to endure the terror of LTTE for 20 more years and he gave his own life in the process. so do consider if thinking like kashyap is a good thing for your country. it won't matter much for us but it will matter a lot to you.

Just to let you know, there are quite a lot of SL who support PAK when they are playing against SL.

why on earth would they do that ?

And all these worries about we supporting China is al rubbish. Chinese are trying to secure a shipping line and other commercial interests in SL. But SL would never be a red state. That is why we killed so many during communist insurgencies. There would not be any stupid movements like Maoist in SL.

no one, but no one expects SL to be a red state, least of all the chinese. FWIW, what is the level of crimsonisation of the PRC's taller than mountain and deeper than ocean friend, pakistan ? nil ?
being allied with china has nothing to do with communism, it has everything to do with a delusional bunch of sri lankans who think that having the two asian giants fight it out in sri lanka is good for SL !

@ satyam, does it trouble you to be at least courteous to others, whatever your disagreements may be with them ? what kind of comment is this ? "Don't jump too much."
consider this an unofficial warning. and cut out the irrelevant rhetoric about olympiads and such.

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 12:25

thusitha wrote:
satyam
Don't jump too much. India does not requires SL for anything. You have nothing to offer us.
If that is the case, why go to SL? Why talk about Chinese taking over SL. SL has nothing to offer, so why bother with all these statements and analysis.

And don't worry SL being chinese satellite state won't worry us. China has also been supporting Pak since 1965. But see where Pak are today. Don't get too deluded that SL can threaten India in anything.
Can you please clarify where I have made a threatening statement against India?

This was my first comment on this section. Where have i mentioned anything about Chinese support anywhere. It is after reading from you and Kashyap about china i had to mention it is not going to bother India.

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 12:30

And finally i would honestly like SL to be a developed economy . I would like SL to become to India what Japan has become to China economy wise. So that SL could invest money in India just like Japan, South korea invests in China

I have absolutely nothing against Srilanka. So please before writing anything against India , don't generalise 1 billion people on the basis of few idiots that India doesn't wants a stable SL.

I want SL to become another South korea or Japan, so that it benefits India in long term.

satyam · Post by **satyam** » 20 Jun 2010 12:34

Rahul M wrote:
consider this an unofficial warning. and cut out the irrelevant rhetoric about olympiads and such.
[/b]

I brought olympiad in order to highlight the fact that don't blame all your shortcoming on India . SL too has many faults in education sector. India too has.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 20 Jun 2010 13:11

Sri Lanka abuses
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/edito ... ka_abuses/

Sri Lanka and Its Journalists -- A Country Going Wrong
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-dietz ... 87653.html

Indian aid to Sri Lanka benefiting Chinese: Jaya
http://sify.com/news/indian-aid-to-sri- ... hhdeh.html

Sri Lanka's unreported war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/ma ... man-rights

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 20 Jun 2010 22:46

This should start to clear any doubts about the intentions of the GOI with regards to srilanka.

This guy was arrested earlier

Sathyalaya Ramakrishnan reporting from Chennai
Chennai, 20 June, (Asiantribune.com):

A hard core former LTTE cadre has arrested by Chennai Police, and has been subsequently lodged in the special camp in Chengalpet.

Sri Lankan Tamil, named N Chianjeevi, a 38-year-old, a former LTTE militant wanted in two cases of procurement of war material from Tamil Nadu was picked up in Chennai on Thursday, the police said on Saturday.

And

http://www.asiantribune.com/node/12610

Two more LTTE cadres arrested in Tamil Nadu for storing material for LTTE arsenal in Kilinochchi
Thu, 2008-08-07 01:17

By Walter Jayawardhana

One with high tech communication equipment and the other with the a load of the chemical, potassium nitrate, used for explosives-both meant for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka have been arrested by the anti-terrorist unit of the Tamil Nadu Police.

The Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu police made two separate arrests on last Monday as well as again on Tuesday.

Their arrests revealed of the continuing crusade by the Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu police against the Sri Lankan terrorist group who has become increasingly dependent on the neighboring South Indian state for its war arsenal which is said to be depleting rapidly following other supply lines are cut off.

The police arrested, a suspected LTTE cadre called P. Selvam alias Selvakumar for possessing high tech mobile telephone gadgets meant for his hometown, Kilinochchi, the LTTE stronghold in Northern Sri Lanka. The arrest on a tip off at Keelakattalai in Tamil Nadu, near Chennai. He was said to be in possession of motorized mobile phone devices capable of operating from remote places.

The initial police investigations revealed that the suspect came to India in 1997 as a refugee and lived in India until 2003 and also earned a living by running a fast food restaurant at Kelambakkam near Chennai in addition to working as a coordinator of a NGO.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 23 Jun 2010 18:06

UN to probe Sri Lanka abuse claims

23-06-2010
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. Photo: Reuters
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has set up a panel to look into alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka last year. Mr Ban's spokesman said the panel would offer advice on how to deal with the alleged perpetrators of abuses. Human rights groups have accused both the army and the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels of war crimes - allegations which have been denied.
http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englis ... 677921.htm

UN to probe Sri Lanka war 'abuses'
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/ ... 02729.html

Japan backs UN war crimes probe into Sri Lanka war
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... dHD1RvLiGQ

Back to Google News
UN sets up Sri Lanka war crimes probe

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... SpTL5sU9SQ

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 25 Jun 2010 13:58

UN war crimes panel chief 'criticises S.Lanka ban'
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... fuO62vFSZA

Srilanka War Crime panel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lri2FGCS ... r_embedded#!

If Sri lanka is not cooperating it is time to announce this country as a nation that does not cooperating with human rights abuses in large scale. Those who are supporting and linking should also be named as supporting state sponsored terrorism. I think UN panel will probe into both Government and LTTE's violation of basic human rights. The Truth should come out. If the Government ordered killing of unarmed individuals then it must be brought to light.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 28 Jun 2010 02:31

SRI LANKA CHALLENGES UN/US/DELHI OVER WAR CRIMES MOVES
http://www.groundreport.com/Business/SR ... _1/2925138

‘Development’ the same old story, the bait and the sinister plan, of unconverted Sri Lankan government for the past several decade to cheat not only the Tamil Diaspora but also the whole world. Colombo is seeking acquittal of its crimes in the international arena as well as money for its greed. Norway based Professor N. Shanmugaratnam, a leading development specialist among Eezham Tamils, repeatedly warns against development without political solution, even though he is a supporter of ‘united Sri Lanka.’
http://www.sibernews.com/201006263589.html

One year on, Sri Lanka still resists rights probe
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll ... 02/FOREIGN

Sri Lanka: Tamils dispossession worsens
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/44579

Why is the Govt. afraid of experts’ panel: TNA
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.p ... 14140.html

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 28 Jun 2010 03:34

Exactly what I've been warning about for aeons,that TN will become the next launchpad for the Eelamists war games into SL,thanks to asinine and fossilised TN leadership,the ruling party only interested in big bucks and getting re-elected,allowing the Eelamists to regroup.This should come as a rude shock to the govt. in the state led by the geriatric DMK supremo,who still commands the land with a tight grip.The GOI should take immediate action in assisting the local govt. to eradicate all pro-Eelamist conspirators and expose the traitors in Eelamist pay.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 28 Jun 2010 04:03

“Give autonomy to Tamils within united Sri Lanka”
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.p ... 14118.html

‘Sinhala Zionism’ and Anti-devolution

Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya’s recent remarks about the need for a political settlement are apposite; his realism is a welcome change from the Sinhala supremacist myopia of his predecessor and his political bosses. In a speech to a group of businessmen, on the first anniversary of the defeating of the LTTE, Gen. Jayasuriya said that “it is up to the government and the people now to fund the root cause of the problem and give a proper solution… I believe in the end a proper solution is needed” (The Straits Times – 11.6.2010). Unfortunately his words are likely to be unheeded, if not scorned. The Rajapakses will not deliver a political solution, because they do not believe in the existence of an ethnic problem, as thePresident himself had stated, publicly, time and time again. Disbelieving in the existence of an ethnic problem, they, logically, do not see the need for a political solution.

In the Sinhala supremacist narrative, the Tigers were conjured into being by inimical international forces (including India) to destroy Lanka, the sole refuge of Sinhala Buddhism. Alien Tamils always wanted to possess Lanka, and in this desire they had been aided and abetted, from way back in history, by other alien races and religions. According to this worldview, the Sinhala Only and other legislative measures introduced since 1956 to ensure Sinhala supremacy are warranted acts, long overdue steps to restore the ‘natural balance’ which the British (and other colonialists) destroyed. Even the Black July is seen as a ‘justifiable reaction’ by ‘much goaded’ Sinhalese. In this narrative, there are no Tamil (or minority grievances) and being ‘aliens’ in Sri Lanka, the Tamils (and other minorities) have no right to grievances. The Rajapakses subscribe to this ‘Sinhala Zionist’ worldview, by and large. Consequently, only the wilfully inane and illogical could have believed and can continue to believe that the Rajapakses will deliver a political solution to the ethnic problem, with or without the Tigers.

Not only will the Rajapakses not deliver a political solution; even the restoration of normalcy or a real improvement in the living conditions of the North-Eastern Tamils is unlikely to happen, except marginally and minimally. The fact that the 2010 budget sets aside Rs.201 billion for defence but only Rs.2 billon for resettlement demonstrates the very low priority accorded by the government to Tamil wellbeing. It also reveals the regime’s inability/unwillingness to see the nexus between development and security. Given such a militarist mindset, reconciliation is but a mirage, a delusion spun occasionally by the state media, for purposes of propaganda.

Listen to your own voices from Lanka.
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/0 ... nd-colombo

It will be good to see Rajapakse and Fosenka in the Hague Courts both arguing against each other if the world is to get any justice. There are enough sinhalese who wish to provide evidence against their own president if allowed against war crimes.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 28 Jun 2010 06:56

joshvajohn wrote:UN war crimes panel chief 'criticises S.Lanka ban'
(AFP) – 3 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... fuO62vFSZA

Srilanka War Crime panel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lri2FGCS ... r_embedded#!

If Sri lanka is not cooperating it is time to announce this country as a nation that does not cooperating with human rights abuses in large scale. Those who are supporting and linking should also be named as supporting state sponsored terrorism. I think UN panel will probe into both Government and LTTE's violation of basic human rights. The Truth should come out. If the Government ordered killing of unarmed individuals then it must be brought to light.

This is not useful at this stage. Western elites that were supporting the LTTE must not be allowed to browbeat the Sri Lankans. Maybe later, there can be a purely Sri Lankan Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with Tamils and Sinhalese, on the South African pattern. Such a Sri Lankan commission should have the power to investigate sources of LTTE support in western countries, and in Church organizations.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 28 Jun 2010 10:12

There are reports that Sri Lankan Tamils are using the Kerala coastline for human trafficking. A month back around 38 Sri Lankan Tamils were picked up from a lodge/hotel in Kollam, Kerala. These people were to be later moved by launches to the high seas, where the plan was to take them to Australia. The police and agencies suspected a many of these tamils to be LTTE ex-cadres or sympathisers. The person who arranged for all this have been now arrested. Looks like TN Police Q Branch is also following up along with K.P

A report

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 28 Jun 2010 22:08

Sri Lanka's Wartime Abuses
http://www.eurasiareview.com/2010062840 ... buses.html

Norway says surrendering rebels killed in Sri Lanka
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 010_pg20_8

Karunanidhi expresses his concern about the suffering of Sri Lankan Tamils:
http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/0 ... n-drawn-do

Human rights probe will help Sri Lanka
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials ... a-1.644318

Lanka defies UN, EU, US
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100627/Columns/political.html

Rajapaksa family tighten their grip on reins of Government
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 148486.ece

India and China Battle over Sri Lanka
PDF Print E-mail
Written by Harsh Pant
Monday, 21 June 2010 02:17
http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Intern ... Lanka.html

With the LTTE out of the picture and Sri Lanka growing stronger, India struggles to maintain its relevance in the strategically crucial Indian Ocean nation. But so far, China is ahead of the game.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 29 Jun 2010 00:12

JJ, Take it easy. All this BS about HR abuses wont bring back the jackals calling themselves tigers.
As for Harsh Pant dont know whether he is coming or going.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 29 Jun 2010 10:53

First it is essential to find out whether they were tigers or innocent people who were simply kept as shield by terror group. When they were returning to their place, Srilankan army did not mind but just indiscriminately fired and killed many of such ordinary people. If a government kills their own citizens in large numbers who are caught between rebels and army and these people were coming armless then it is a criminal act. According to International law even the rebels when they are surrendering they are not to be shot dead. But if a government says these rules do not apply because we use China against India and then use Indian support against their own citizens, then the people are left with no option. If SL government wants to come out clear they can do it with the cooperation of UN panel. India cannot afford to have too many conflicts around her that such issues should be settled permanently with reasonable settledment for the affected people rather than trying to eliminate them by saying all of you are rebels. I thought there is no strategic thinkers in Srilanka in this regard even though there are some reasonable sinhala voices are coming the government is mindless in this case. Even Indian government is working without any proper or systematic strategy in this case.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 30 Jun 2010 15:50

Gopalan trophy to be continued
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/article492288.ece

lsunil · Post by **lsunil** » 02 Jul 2010 21:23

This is sick. So the members feel it's right to ignore the SL tamils cause they doubt whether they have stayed true? That they could have been compromised by one of the expansionist? BS.

The ceylons have got away with tamil genocide in 83 and they have got away with it again in 2009. The tamils are back to square one with uncertainty. India should just get out of the way and let the west deal with sri lanka.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 06 Jul 2010 14:27

Sri Lanka government supporters protest against UN war crimes panel
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news ... panel.html

Sri Lankans besiege UN office over war crimes panel
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_ ... 519247.stm

Sri Lanka Minister and Mob Hold UN Staff Hostage,
http://www.innercitypress.com/sri4panel070610.html

ajit_tr · Post by **ajit_tr** » 06 Jul 2010 18:36

Sri Lanka in nuclear talks with India

Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said Sri Lanka was holding talks with India over the possibility of sharing nuclear energy.

Speaking in Colombo at the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit and the 24th Summit of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which brought together 186 business delegates from all over the region, Dr. Amunugama said Sri Lanka would soon be in a position to guarantee investors that there would never be power cuts.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 06 Jul 2010 18:52

Swamy elaborates through fresh revelations that the Congress Party-led coalition government in India played a crucial role in the LTTE's rout. The preceding regime in New Delhi under the Bharatiya Janata Party had covertly orchestrated the Norway-sponsored ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the LTTE in 2002. But the Indian establishment under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, a woman widowed by Prabhakaran, progressively tilted towards the Sri Lankan government in the war's endgame. India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) cracked down hard on LTTE's networks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and kept a gimlet eye on developments in Sri Lanka during the final years of the war. Swamy divulges that the IB was the first to uncover the truth about a mysterious accident off Sri Lanka's coast in 2007, when Soosai, the LTTE's naval chief, barely escaped death.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi, widely regarded as an LTTE backer, actually did nothing to prevent the Tigers from breathing their last breath. While serving Karunanidhi's government, the Tamil Nadu police's "Q Branch" crippled LTTE insurgents on Indian soil with seizures and arrests. Indian interdictions were critical at the finish because "the Tigers' dependence on Tamil Nadu had soared parallel to their mounting difficulties in Western countries". (p 87) Swamy does not dispute rumors that India harbored the leader of the breakaway faction of the LTTE, Karuna Amman, who weakened Prabhakaran's de facto state like none other. Recalling LTTE propagandists' accusations in 2004 that India covertly aided the renegade Karuna, the author mentions that this former bodyguard turned bete noire of Prabhakaran "quietly spent time in India when Sri Lanka became too dangerous for him". (p xlii).

Swamy spotted the irony as early as 2007 that Rajapaksa was not returning India's favors by implementing verbal assurances of a power devolution package for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils. Now that the war is over, New Delhi finds itself with even less leverage to ensure that Colombo grants political autonomy to the discriminated people of the north and east.

Swamy could have raised a number of moot questions in this regard: What did India gain geostrategically from propelling the LTTE's defeat? Is Sri Lanka any less susceptible to China's influence because India was instrumental in wiping out the LTTE? Is Rajapaksa's illiberal reign a sign of progress or regression? Will India benefit from an imposed victor's peace on Tamils in Sri Lanka? In one reproduced column from 2008, Swamy writes matter-of-factly that "everyone agrees India matters the most in Sri Lanka". (p 133) A good year after the war, with Indian military and diplomatic aid no longer absolutely imperative for Sri Lanka, serious doubts arose about such convictions. A line of inquiry that Swamy ignores, but one which is nonetheless tangential to the LTTE's fall, is whether India allowed itself to be taken for a ride by the deceptive and ethnic chauvinist Sri Lankan government?

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LG03Df01.html

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 13 Jul 2010 14:11

The fact that this thread has been relegated to page 2 partly underlines the stance of the author of this piece who condemns the world's silence on the alleged dictatorial trends in the island nd the threat to the free press.That the Sri Lankan "solution" is being keenly watched by other supposed dictatorial states is why what happens in the island might become an attractive ploy to other "democracies" in silencing their critics.

Why the media silence on Sri Lanka's descent into dictatorship?Local journalists who speak out against human rights abuses fear for their lives and the world press turns a blind eye

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... threatened

EXcerpts:

The situation has been deteriorating for some time. According to Amnesty International at least 14 media workers have been killed in the country since 2006 and more than 20 are thought to have fled – more per capita than have left Iran. Arbitrary arrests, abductions and assassinations have been documented for over three decades. No one has ever been prosecuted for these attacks on the media.

The end of the war has changed nothing. Phones are tapped. Emails hacked. Media outlets harassed and journalists threatened. One – Prageeth Eknaligoda – has been missing since January's presidential election. Small wonder that so many journalists say they now resort to self-censorship.

And they are not the only ones who live in fear. NGO workers, lawyers, members of the opposition – the culture of impunity puts them all at risk. The state has also ramped up its vitriol against external critics: last week a cabinet minister began a hunger strike and orchestrated a siege of the UN offices in Colombo in response to the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, setting up a panel of experts to advise him on accountability for alleged war crimes during the final stages of the civil war last year. The minister has since ended his "fast to death" amid growing speculation that the protests were supported, if not sponsored, by the government.

All this is happening under the noses of the world's press. While burning effigies of Ban draw the spotlight for a few days, Sri Lanka's slow descent into dictatorship has mostly gone unnoticed. Global media coverage of the conflict in Sri Lanka during the past four years is about a tenth of that given to Iraq. In 2009, the New York Times and the Guardian devoted four times more space to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza (death toll 1,400) than the bloody end of Sri Lanka's civil war (estimates range between 7,000 and 40,000 civilian dead). China Daily gave Gaza over six times the coverage, and the Independent Newspapers group in South Africa over 10 times. All papers ran more articles on Tiger Woods last year than on the Sri Lankan conflict.

This global silence plays into the hands of the Sri Lankan government's apologists, both those who delude themselves and say, as one did in a meeting at London's Frontline Club last week, that missing journalists have merely run off with mistresses, and those who are paid to delude others. The government has spent lavishly on public relations firms such as Bell Pottinger – which counts General Pinochet and Trafigura among its past clients – and its US subcontractor Qorvis, which also represents Equatorial Guinea's unsavoury dictator. The pardoning on World Press Freedom Day of JS Tissainayagam, a journalist previously sentenced to 20 years' hard labour, is part of this PR strategy.

All of us who care about universal values, and freedom of expression in particular, have a duty not to let Rajapaksa's twisted version of events go unanswered. If we do so, we encourage other states to believe that they too can get away with the "Sri Lanka option" – using brutal methods to crush internal opposition, without regard for civilian casualties or international law. It has been reported that leaders from Colombia to Thailand have been following Rajapaksa's "success" with great interest

PS: Yes a free press is an absolute for any democracy,but where was the great western media and their accompanying fellow travellers,the western and western funded NGOs,when the Tigers were running amok and massacring thousands of innocent civilians?

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 14 Jul 2010 12:26

Why does the civilized world tolerate war criminals of Sri Lanka?
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/21492.asp

Tamils not safe under Sri Lankan rule
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/44756

US backs UN in Sri Lanka war crimes dispute
(AFP) – Jul 6, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 4HovaKf5Rg

WHERE DOES INDIA STAND?
http://www.dailymirror.lk/print/index.p ... 15365.html

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 14 Jul 2010 12:47

The news that Ranil and Rajapakse have come to an agreement on creating an "Executive PM" instead of the current "Executive Pres." is a major development.The Ex.Pres. created by JRJ was much to blame for many of the anti-democratic happenings in the island during the last 30 yrs.CBK tried to change it but could not muster enough support and the on-going war required a strong hand at the helm.Now that the war is over,a return to a more democratic and parliamentary style of functioning will help the country and people's participation in decision making considerably.That Rajapakse has agreed to it is perhaps an iindication that he has realised that it is now time to wind down his govts.' pro-active anti-opposition/media attitude to every bit of criticism against his govt.The true test will be how the media is treated henceforth.

Sridhar · Post by **Sridhar** » 15 Jul 2010 09:33

Paging Stan. You must have followed the recent developments on the KP front. What is your take on the developments, and implications for all concerned, especially India.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 16 Jul 2010 07:03

Sri Lanka’s ‘war crimes’
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/daw ... crimes-570

The verdict on Sri Lanka should come as a warning to other armies fighting on their own soil. The principle of showing humanity to civilians and wounded enemy soldiers and prisoners is sacrosanct and must be respected.

Tamil Tiger is extinct, and regime knows it
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/op ... 5892329407

Former Sri Lanka rebels 'abused in detention'
By Swaminathan Natarajan BBC Tamil service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south+asia-10647108

Srilanka used India to crush the LTTE with the promise that they will deliver Srilankan Tamils a fair settlement. Now after eliminating the terror they use Chinese to threaten India and thus continue to crush Srilankan Tamils. The Sri lankan president is not in a mood to listen to anyone in Indian government as they use Chinese card to keep India off even at hte cost of emotional uprising though at present it is in small scale in Tamil Nadu.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 16 Jul 2010 07:15

Sri Lanka’s ‘war crimes’
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/daw ... crimes-570

Quote:
The verdict on Sri Lanka should come as a warning to other armies fighting on their own soil. The principle of showing humanity to civilians and wounded enemy soldiers and prisoners is sacrosanct and must be respected.