Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has raised several issues faced by the people in Jaffna including the presence of offices of a political party, adjoining check-points manned by the Army.

Anandasangaree said the people of Jaffna have innumerable problems and hardly anyone had attended to them. He strongly urged President Rajapaksa to listen to the problems of the civilians from various people without depending on one or two persons. I have nothing against any individual. But to what extent you can depend on one or two for matters relating to the North and whether you should also consult people like Mr. D. Siddarthan, Mr. T. Sritharan, me and such others is a matter for you to decide, he said in his letter.

Its Christmas day. For a change, I was at home with my family.

Early morning, I went for Christmas Mass in my parish. Many years ago, I had been active in the church, as a student and teacher in the Sunday School, as an Alter Server and in the Young Christian Students Movement. But I had not gone to my parish for a long time, though I have been visiting and staying in churches all over Sri Lanka, especially in the war ravaged North. I thought I will go today, as it was Christmas, also because of my family.

Walter K lin, the Secretary-General`s Representative for the Human Rights of IDPs
23 December 2008 An independent United Nations human rights expert has called on Sri Lanka to significantly improve access for more humanitarian relief and personnel to reach hundreds of thousands of people displaced in the northern Vanni region by the ongoing conflict between the Government and Tamil separatists.

In a letter to the Government, Walter K lin, the Secretary-General`s Representative for the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), acknowledged Sri Lanka`s continuing efforts to enable humanitarian convoys to reach the estimated 200,000-300,000 IDPs in the region.

Reminiscing Black July is almost over. There were plenty of articles in most of our print media and in web portals with differing points of view on Black July . Yet what was missing in most of that discussion was a reading about the LTTE psyche, 25 years after the Black July. Does the LTTE work towards achieving any justification or sympathy from the South for their struggle, liberation or separatist war or what ever label one may wish to stick on it in the South? This is the single most important question the South needs to ask itself. The southern political leadership had from the very beginning of the conflict opposed this Tamil homeland complete.

Sinhala cine Hero for close ties with Tamils [NIP]

SRI LANKA`S newest film star politician, Ranjan Ramanayake, says that the on-going war in the island should be stopped, ethnic harmony established, and close ties with Tamil Nadu forged. `Going to war was a foolish decision,` the 46- year- old action king of the Sinhalese screen told Express on Friday, after announcing that he had asked the opposition United National Party (UNP) to nominate him as CM of Sabaragamuwa Province if the UNP wins the provincial elections to be held shortly.

by Kandiah Mylvaganam

The Tragedies behind the recent tragedy on the claymore attack near the Thirumurukandy is little known to the outside world. Many know that sixteen (16) lives were lost in this brutal attack including five from the same family. But the misery for the living is worse than those who died in that incident. I append the statement of the Village Officer, who gives the details of those remaining. To them life is a misery for the rest of their lives.

The village officer from this area Mr. A.Simsan Paul states as follows:

Choices are 3 with 2 extremes:

1. Unitary State with hegemony by Sinhala majority as the status quo based on their supremacy.

2. Compromised devolution with power sharing on the principle of equal citizenry to all communities.

3. Eelam for Tamil speaking and Sri Lanka for Sinhalese speaking communities.

There must be a nationwide referendum to determine which one is the most popular.

Please vote for one.

Eighteen civilians including six children were killed in two claymore attacks on two vehicles in Tiger controlled Wanni allegedly carried out by army deep penetration teams on May 23, the Tigers said.

Sixteen civilians were killed when the van they were travelling in was caught in a claymore attack at Murgunadi, just south of Kilinochchi on May 23 afternoon around 2.15 p.m.

The van with the civilians was returning from the Muzhangkaavil Hospital to Kilinochchi on the Akkarayan-Murugandi Road when the explosion took place. Initial reports said that the civilians were on their way to attend the funeral of LTTE military top ranker Balraj when the explosion took place at a location called Barathipuram.

# It is illegal to implement the 13th Amendment in a de-merged East. We will not touch it!
# The 13th Amendment proposal came from President and not the APRC!
# He had been prevented by nationalist parties to be progressive.
# The people are scared to death, they don`t want to criticize the TMVP or do anything to displease them, because the penalty could be death.

Successive governments have failed to accept democratic verdicts of the Tamil people in the NE for several decades. Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan talks to HARD TALK about the reservations of the Party towards the government`s move to discuss the 13th Amendment as a possible resolution to the conflict.

By: M.R.Wilson

APRC has disregarded the parity of status or equality the central principle of democracy in toto, and given its specious proposals for an interim solution for the burning issues of the ethnic conflict 60 years old in Sri Lanka, since 1948.

Sri Lankan Buddhist Singhalese Constitution formulated by the qualitative strength of the majoitarian Singhalese community is replete with hawkish communal extremism and any proposals put forward by the APRC to conform to the stipulations of the Constitution of this nature would be injudious and communal.

1997: Lawrence `killed by racists`
Jurors at the inquest into the death of Stephen Lawrence have decided the black teenager was unlawfully killed `in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths`.
The condemnatory words of the jurors at Southwark Crown Court went far beyond the normally bland verdicts of `unlawful` or `accidental` death or, in cases of doubt, an `open` verdict.

The jurors` decision reflects the strong feelings generated by the Lawrence murder four years ago for which no-one has yet been convicted.

By Amantha Perera

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has mounted pressure at the UN for a government investigation into allegations of complicity of Sri Lankan security forces in child recruitment and international investigators to look into human rights abuses.

HRW which released its latest report on child recruitment titled Complicit In Crime: State Collusion In Abductions And Child Recruitment By The Karuna Group, said that while both the Karuna group and the Tigers were guilty of underage recruitment, it too had come across instances of government troop complicity in the recruitment of children.