Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

OK. Fourth explanation. More to come?

yes yes.... the stray dog had a heroic death after peeing and 5hting in his blue ambudey begging for life..... LOL....:))))

WHAT IS INTERESTING HERE IS HOW THE DEFENSE MINISTRY HAD DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A MASSACRE THAT NEVER TOOK PLACE. The planning must have been so meticulous as to know in advance what the end result would look like!

Increase of Buddhist monks giving up their robes
Conflicts in temples, seeking greener pastures and family problems cited as some reasons
By Chandani Kirinde

The number of Buddhist monks who are giving up their robes has increased rapidly during the past five years with nearly 2,500 leaving the Orders between 2007 and 2011, a census has revealed.

The census which began in 2007, of monks who have left the priesthood, has shown that in 2007, 73 had left but the number has increased steadily going up to 516 in 2008, 728 in 2009 and 940 in 2010. Within the first three months of 2011, 230 had given up their robes.

Among the reasons listed for the exodus include giving up the order after graduation, due to conflicts arising among brethren monks, to seek foreign employment, to join the armed forces during the war period, due to a father s addiction to liquor, death of a father and economic difficulties, to care for an elderly spouse left behind at time of ordination, lack of a permanent temple for residence and uncertainty about their future.

The number of Buddhist monks in the country who are registered with the Department of Buddhist Affairs between 1993 and 2011 stands at 42,803 novices with 16,538 monks having received higher ordination (upasampada).

Naseby urges proceeding with devolution process
UNP and TNA confirms support for 13A
April 7, 2012, 5:52 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Sri Lankan government should carry out devolution process without any further delay to ensure post-LTTE national reconciliation, declared Lord Naseby PC.

Based on the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), too, called for devolution of powers to the provinces.

Addressing the media at the Colombo Hilton late last week, Naseby who is a member of the House of Lords of the UK parliament and Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, asserted that it would be a mistake on the part of the victorious GoSL to hold back the process. The failure on the part of the GoSL to move the process would strengthen the hands of those still pursuing Eelam project, he warned.

During his stay here, Naseby met the President, G.L. Peiris, Rauf Hakeem, Rishad Bathiudeen, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Basil Rajapaksa, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Douglas Devananda, the Bishop of Jaffna, the Governor of the Northern Province, Government Agent of Jaffna and Killinochchi, Jaffna Chamber of Commerce & Industry and UK High Commissioner.

Naseby also toured Hambantota, Galle, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Killinochchi.

I understand that the 13th Amendment had been debated in parliament and the position of major parties, including the UNP and TNA are known,' Naseby said.

The British lawmaker quoted UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and TNA leader R. Sampanthan as having told him that their parties supported the implementation of the 13th Amendment. He said that several other UNP MPs, whom he had an opportunity to meet at a meeting in parliament subsequently confirmed Wickremesinghe s stand.

Now that both UNP and TNA had reiterated their commitment to the 13th Amendment, President Mahinda Rajapaksa should go ahead with the devolution process.

Addressing the media ahead of a scheduled meeting with President Rajapaksa, Naseby expressed confidence that the Sri Lankan leader would act courageously and bravely as he did in meeting the threat of LTTE terrorism.

Commenting on the difficulties experienced by the GoSL with the regard to the implementation of the 13th Amendment, Naseby said that police and land powers remained contentious issues, though they needed to be tackled. Naseby asserted that the GoSL would have to start the devolution process at some point and giving Provincial Councils the authority over traffic police duties could be the answer.

He stressed the need to implement the 13th Amendment, restoration of civil administration and election to the Northern Provincial Council as critically important issues, which the government needed to address.

The government would have to realize that the TNA s push for devolution was legitimate and wasn t something the incumbent administration could turn a blind eye.

Apr 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka police have ordered a probe into the vandalization of several statues in the Batticaloa city of Eastern Province Thursday night, the External Affairs Ministry said today.

Statues of Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the scout movement Robert Baden-Powell, which stood in the center of Batticaloa town, have been found decapitated by some unknown culprits.

Two other statues of a poet and a religious leader have also been found vandalized.

'The Inspector General of Police has been instructed to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents to identify motives and culprits behind these acts of vandalism,' the Ministry said.

No one had claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

However, foreign media reports speculate that the attack may have been an act to protest India's and Britain's support for the UN resolution against Sri Lanka that was adapted at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva last month.

Lessons to learn from Geneva
Nirupama Subramanian

Had Sri Lanka taken steps to implement the 13th amendment, India may never have associated itself with the UNHCR resolution.
As Sri Lanka mulls over last month's United Nations Human Rights Council resolution, it may look back with nostalgia at its 2009 triumph at Geneva. Then, barely a week after its victory over the LTTE, a group of western countries wanted a resolution passed against Sri Lanka for the civilian deaths and other alleged rights violations by the army during the last stages of the operation. With the blood on the battlefield not still dry, Sri Lanka managed to snatch victory from the jaws of diplomatic defeat, with a resolution that praised the government for its humane handling of civilians and asserted faith in its abilities to bring about reconciliation.
But few remember that the resolution contained an important line relating to a commitment by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The line, in the preamble to the text, is surprising in its detail: Welcoming also the recent reassurance given by the President of Sri Lanka that he does not regard a military solution as a final solution, as well as his commitment to a political solution with implementation of the thirteenth amendment to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka .
First departure
The inclusion of this reference to the 13th amendment may have well been the price Sri Lanka paid for New Delhi's decision to support that resolution, its first departure from the position that it does not vote for country specific resolutions.
Officials familiar with the backroom bargaining over the 2012 resolution say there was a brief moment when Indian negotiators considered amending the text to reflect some elements of the 2009 resolution, including the significant line from its preamble. That would have served two purposes. One, it may have pressed home to Sri Lanka that the U.S.-sponsored resolution was not something that came out of the blue, even as the link with a positive resolution would have made this one seem less dire two, from the Indian point of view, it could have helped to refocus Sri Lanka's mind on the 13th amendment.
India's constant reminder of this statute irritates Sri Lanka no end. So why does India harp on it? For no other reason than that the 13th amendment remains the only constitutional step ever taken by Sri Lanka towards moving away from a unitary, highly centralised state, to power sharing with the provinces. New Delhi believes if implemented sincerely, it could lead to a solid political peace with the Tamil minority. The amendment came about as a result of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Accord, and it paved the way for devolution of power. The irony is that the limited devolution envisaged by the amendment flourishes in all other provinces of Sri Lanka, where it has empowered local politicians, but not in the Tamil north or the east at which it was primarily aimed.
In fact, had Sri Lanka shown seriousness about resolving the Tamil question and taken concrete steps to bring political normality to the North and East, India might never have associated itself with the 2012 resolution. The allegations against the Sri Lankan army would not have gone away but efforts by the Sri Lankan government towards a political settlement would have brought India firmly on Sri Lanka's side, and helped it win more friends internationally.
Instead, President Rajapaksa played fast and loose. At times, he declared he was in favour of 13th Amendment plus , raising hopes he would actually improve on it. At other times, he spoke of 13th amendment minus police and land powers he talked also of a home grown solution. As a result, his political position on this issue is unclear, and the parliamentary select committee set up recently is seen by the Tamil leadership, not unsurprisingly, as a delaying tactic. As recently as January 2012, he professed commitment to the 13th amendment to S.M Krishna, only to later deny that he had ever made such a commitment to the Indian minister.
13th amendment
Officials said more than the alleged human rights violations, New Delhi's decision not to vote against the resolution was motivated by the desire to send the message that Sri Lanka must act on devolution commitments, either by implementing the 13th amendment or by using it as the starting point for a substantial political settlement of the Tamil question.
Playing on the arithmetic, Sri Lanka has now chosen to count the abstaining countries as friends along with those who voted against the resolution. The eight abstentions with the 15 votes against add up to one less than the 24 votes in favour of the resolution.
While India believes it has succeeded in sending out a powerful message to Sri Lanka and also laying to rest the China bogey it is not clear if Sri Lanka has yet understood all the implications fully. Both the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil minority have always been vociferous in the demand that India must play a role to resolve the island's ethnic question, but have never been satisfied unless India takes their side unquestioningly and completely. Predictably, in the present situation, neither side is happy the Sri Lankan state feels betrayed by India, and has chosen to see the amendments as superficial the Tamils are disappointed that India watered down the resolution.
New Delhi's hope now would be that the Rajapaksa government takes up seriously the issue of a political settlement, even as it implements the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations. Despite the amendments to the resolution, the country is undeniably under watch. Sri Lanka must make a presentation to the UNHRC later this year that will be followed by the Human Rights Commissioner's report at the 22nd session next March. Unless it makes a genuine attempt to reach out to the Tamil political leadership and people, the international community will continue to look unfavourably at it. India would also hope that the Tamil leadership will play a constructive role in helping Sri Lanka, and be able to recognise and separate the possible from the impossible.