Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

YOu can not burn all the books we have.

Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public issues it is not another road to oppression. Just as no self-appointed group has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.

Minorities -- whether as a result of ethnic background, religious belief, geographic location, income level, or simply as the losers in elections or political debate -- enjoy guaranteed basic human rights that no government, and no majority, elected or not, should remove.

Minorities need to trust that the government will protect their rights and self-identity. Once this is accomplished, such groups can participate in, and contribute to their country's democratic institutions.

Among the basic human rights that any democratic government must protect are freedom of speech and expression freedom of religion and belief due process and equal protection under the law and freedom to organize, speak out, dissent, and participate fully in the public life of their society.

Democracies understand that protecting the rights of minorities to uphold cultural identity, social practices, individual consciences, and religious activities is one of their primary tasks.

Acceptance of ethnic and cultural groups that seem strange if not alien to the majority can represent one of the greatest challenges that any democratic government can face. But democracies recognize that diversity can be an enormous asset. They treat these differences in identity, culture, and values as a challenge that can strengthen and enrich them, not as a threat.

There can be no single answer to how minority-group differences in views and values are resolved -- only the sure knowledge that only through the democratic process of tolerance, debate, and willingness to compromise can free societies reach agreements that embrace the twin pillars of majority rule and minority rights.

-United State Department of State - Principles of Democracy
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/principles/majority.htm

The role of co-chairs ends with the abrogation of the CFA
JVP propaganda secretary, Wimal Weerawansa says that the role of the co-chairs has ended with the abrogation of the Cease Fire Agreement by the government.

He said this when we inquired him about the sudden visit of the Japanese special peace envoy, Mr. Yashushi Akashi

Need for the role of Norway to continue as Sri Lanka's negotiator and meet with LTTE - Tokyo Co-Chairs

THAT FACT IS WELL-KNOWN TO THESE FOREIGN BIRDS... SO OUR VELU DOG IS DESTINED TO BE SENT TO PEELAM... WHETHER HE LIKES OR NOT...

Vital aid to Sri Lanka could be denied: Japanese envoy
Japan's peace envoy opened talks in Sri Lanka on Sunday, hinting international donors may hold back much-needed foreign aid if the island's decades-long ethnic conflict escalates, officials said.

Yasushi Akashi, who arrived in Sri Lanka for three days of crucial talks on Sunday, met the Marxist JVP, the main left party, for an hour-long discussion, the party said in a statement.

We don't burn books, that's something your thugs excell at...

GOSL should think of terminating dependence on foreign countries.

Vital aid to Sri Lanka could be denied: Japanese envoy