Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Now, the troops have stumbled on another hideout, which showed that the guerrillas had built a string of underground shelters. In the many months after the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002, it was well known that enormous quantities of cement and steel were transported to the Wanni. Then, authorities who kept track of this development were unable to discern the reasons since construction activity, like the erection of buildings or houses, did not match the vast quantities of cement.

The pictures on this page show one such underground shelter located near the eastern coast closer to the Nayaru lagoon. The entrance to this shelter gives the appearance of a small hut. However, it is the entrance to the underground shelter through a flight of steps. Foliage from large trees makes it less visible from air.

The last government institution in Kilinochchi town the main hospital was yesterday being pulled out into a safer area, following approval from Colombo.

The hospital with patients, records and essential equipment, was being shifted to two schools in Dharamapuram and Urthirapuram, and to two small hospitals in Vishvamadu and Pudukudiyiruppu, some 18 kilometres north of Killinochchi, Provincial Health Services Regional Director Dr. T. Sathyamoorthi told The Sunday Times.

The relocation comes after Dr. Sathyamoorthi sought permission from Health Services Director General Dr. Ajith Mendis, explaining the ground realities and the difficulties faced by the doctors. At present the hospital is manned by some 20 doctors and 235 other staff members.

Speaking at the opening of the State Timber Corporation depot in Piliyandala yesterday (Oct 02nd), Environment Minister and JHU theoretician Patali Champika Ranawaka said they regret this state is inefficient.

Providing details about foreign debt, Mr. Ranawaka said US $ 12 bn had been borrowed by this government, but had not been utilised.

There is no need to go begging for money. It is only a matter of utilizing the debts already in hand, he said at this ceremony, attended by the Minister of Sports, Gamini Lokuge.

Sri Lanka: Can the Tamil Tigers save the Tamils?

From Uthayam, Australia

But what is left for the Tamils now? We have a leadership that cannot step into the world because they are banned. We have a leadership that cannot step out of their house because they are hunted by their enemies, some of whom are among our own people. We have a leadership that cannot give a piece of bread, a grain of rice or a drop of medicine to our people.

AS I write Government forces are closing in on the last bit of territory held by the LTTE in the Vanni. Everyone was expecting the LTTE to pull a rabbit out of their hat and turn the tide. Other than throwing a few canisters of CS gas, they have not produced anything to prove that they can fight the Sri Lankan forces. There is hardly time left either for the LTTE to inspire confidence among the cadres to keep on fighting. The last remaining cadres can fight, but for what? The advance of the Sri Lankan forces has driven the last nail into Prabhakaran`s promised Eelam. It is now clear that the last battles are fought to protect Prabhakaran and his status and not the Tamil people trapped in a losing war. All reports indicate that the LTTE, apart from losing territory, has lost manpower and firepower. They have now lost even the prestige they had by holding on to territory. The LTTE can no longer boast that they are running a de facto state.

A school in remote Neluwa area has run into problems as the Education Department cannot offer assistance to match the capacity and commitment of its principal and the depleted teaching staff.

The main problem facing the school currently is that they are unable to pay their electricity and internet bills.

According to a professional who visited the school that`s about 85 km from Galle, the principal had showed an electricity bill (red noticed) for Rs. 30,000.00 (accumulated over a few months) which she is unable to pay since the education dept says it doesn`t have any allocations for such payments.

Every time, UNP politicians (RANILW), IC, Mr. Raman, Col. HAriharan from India, many both and foreign and domestic journalists said SLA would not do this.

SLA Commander also gave battle destinations in advance, so that, VELU as the most experienced Military LEADER for 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, could get ready.

Yet, LTT could not stop what SLA has done.

SLA Commnader asked so many times from LTT not to go for civilians and instead come to face to face with them if LTT is really strong and brave.

LTTE using kovils -- Military


The military yesterday charged that the LTTE was using Hindu kovils for safe keeping, as they had found a stock of military items, including weapons and grenades, in the Makiapiddy Hindu Kovil, hidden behind the `Vel Cart`.

Army headquarters said that security forces threw a security blanket over Kandaroddai village yesterday in order to nab four LTTE cadres who had fled after hiding inside the Makiapiddy Hindu kovil (temple) behind its VEL Cart with their arms and ammunition.

The UNP has condemned the statement made to a Canadian newspaper by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka regarding minority communities.

The UNP organized a media briefing at the Opposition Leader`s Office in Colombo this morning (Sept. 29th), where MPs from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities spoke.

One of them, Kabir Hashim, said his Muslim community was having very close ties, even blood relationships, with the majority Sinhalese.

Kilinochchi is now a `ghost town` with the LTTE withdrawing all its offices, business establishments, hotels and media centres following the rapid advancement of the security forces towards the region from various directions in the Wanni, informed sources said. The LTTE had even abandoned its `Peace Secretariat` and the adjoining buildings where most of the meetings with key figures of the international community had taken place with the LTTE`s late political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan and its late theoretician Anton Balasingham, sources said.

by Norman Palihawadena

A member of a prominent Italian based International Non- governmental Organisation serving in Kilinochchi has ignored the call by the Sri Lanka Government to return to the Government-controlled Vavuniya.

He had told his organisation that he had joined the LTTE and would fight along with them, sources said.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said that he, too, had been informed of that development by the INGO and that he had information that the Italian concerned had said that he was prepared to die with the LTTE fighters.

By The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Kentucky doctor is being sued over the amputation of a patient`s penis, a procedure the doctor contends was `medically necessary` and authorized by the patient.

Lawyer Clay Robinson says Dr. John Patterson performed the surgery because the patient, 61-year-old Phillip Seaton, had cancer.

In a written statement in answer to the lawsuit, Robinson said Patterson had been given permission to perform any medical procedure deemed necessary.

Seaton and his wife, Deborah, have sued in Shelby County Circuit Court over the amputation, which took place during a scheduled circumcision to treat inflammation.

by Mel Gunasakera

`Our forces are around four kilometres (2.5 miles) from Kilinochchi town. In fact we can see some of the buildings,` Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said.

He also said the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was `now a caged animal.`

`Our military campaign won`t stop until we liberate our motherland from the LTTE,` Fonseka added.

The US has been in a recession since 2004(if u want go to shadowstats.com) but now its worse and on the verge of going into an economic collapse similar to the soviet union`s economic collapse! then US could go into a 10-20 year inflationary depression because the massive debt accmulated through the decades will need a cleansing period, thus the US economy will shrink a massive amount and the US military will suffer alot due to lack of funding to maintain and build equipment! this period will mark the end of the american superpower, we are just in the process of it all,the end result will be alot of pain, this is not like past recessions and depressions where the american economic fundamentals were strong with little debt so u could recover quickly, this time the US has $10 Trillion debt which is 50% owed to other nations and the economic fundamentals of the US are in tatters! u are going to see the US dollar soon collapsing under the pressures, the pillars will give way and then all those debt and weak fundamentals will cripple the US economy! it will take a few decades to recover from a mess that has been building up for nearly 20 years!

Troops, now closing in on Mullaitivu stormed the LTTE`s famous Pasarai Sea Tiger base in Andakulam in the Welioya sector and took over the entire complex with triangular bunkers providing overhead protection on Monday.

The Sea Tiger camp, believed to have been used by terrorists operating as Sea Tigers had two separate huts which served as sentry points.

The camp has been surrounded by three triangular-type tall bunkers with overhead protection layers made of concrete. The troops continued to engage terrorist bunker lines and also fired artillery rounds against their positions.

Secularism in India

In present day India, the concept of secularism always occurs in our minds along with its corollary, communalism.

In 1976, the 42nd amendment of the preamble of the constitution included the term secular to describe the Indian State. Thus, India today is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic.

Indian constitution is framed with extreme clarity of its objectives. Indian being a secular state, according to the constitution, it has to observe an attitude of neutrality and impartiality towards all religions. This concept of a Secular State is founded on the idea that the state is concerned only with relations between man and man and not between man and God. The latter relation is a matter of individual conscience.