Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada.

February 8, 2010

Your Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa
President of Sri Lanka
Temple  Trees
Colombo, Sri Lanka

 Your Excellency:

I wrote to you two days ago complaining about the episode at the Kanneliya Forest Reserve and asked you to rein in the two-bit politician from the Southern Province and read him the Riot Act.

I read about this stunning incident again in the Sunday Times, ‘Freedom of the wild ass by ministerial group’ bylined by Damith Wickremeasekera.

Good God, Your Excellency, the Forest Ranger Sunil Ranaweera to be beaten up for performing his job to the point that he had to be taken to the Udugama Hospital, should not be tolerated by you, neither me nor anyone else.

Being a conservationist myself, I know what it takes to be an excellent knowledgeable Forest Ranger.  According to journalist Malinda Seneviratne, the 25-year veteran Sunil Ranaweera is one of those rare breeds, thus a Sri Lankan treasure that a Minister, who ever he is and his thuggish catchers should not be allowed to push him around and beaten up for doing  the job that he is paid to do.  The Minister who is the culprit in this incident according to the Sunday Times is Vocational Training Minister Piyasena Gamage. What audacity!  What goonish thuggery!  No doubt he will claim his innocence now.

The incident is unbelievable.  This bunch had gone to the Kanneliya Forest Reserve on February 4^th apparently demanded that the Forest Ranger stop the on going pre-planned educational program which involved a group of 175 persons including school children so that they could use the auditorium which they had not reserved for their intended meeting..  What audacity.  What Tin-God arrogance!

They had allegedly demanded that the Forest Ranger provide lunch for more than 200 of them.  When it was explained that they did not have food for such a large number of people, the Minister’s group had invaded the kitchen and started cooking while some of them consumed liquor in violation of the Forest Reserve regulations.  Your Excellency, who the hell do these twits from your ruling party think they are?  Surely, you are not going to look the other way when such brutish acts happen in your back garden, do you?

After the Minister had left his catchers had stayed back and continued to drink liquor and when the Forest Ranger told them to leave, he was assaulted.  Ha! The bunch of  insolent thugs.

The litmus test to you Your Excellency is, will you encourage your children or your grandchildren how ever much they love the environment and conscious of saving its biodiversity in times of global warming to let them apply for a job to become a Forest Ranger? I wouldn’t.  I would tell my children and grandchildren, “Don’t, because you will be beaten up by a Government Minister and his catchers for doing your job.  It won’t be just a slap or two on your face but you will be beaten up good so that you will have to get yourself admitted to hospital to take care of your assault wounds.  Try to find another vocation.”  That is indeed the litmus test and the rub that comes with such a despicable and a sick episode.

Your Excellency, I know your legacy will be written into history as the President who saved the country from 27 years of terrorism and being split into two and along the way said “Boo!” to all the International Tamil Tiger do-gooder pressures.  But let’s add to that legacy a twin clause written into history: Mahinda Rajapaksa is the President of all the President’s until year 2010 who eradicated thuggery by parliamentarians who thought they were Tin God’s no sooner they get elected to parliament and that they had the right to push the masses around, intimidate them and also beat them up.

After you won the second term as President you told Sunil Ranaweera and the villager who were beaten up, “Doing what I say, and saying what I set out to do, I have earned your trust and confidence”.  Let these two unfortunate Sri Lankans know that they have earned your trust and confidence by reining in the Vocational Training Minister Piyasena Gamage and read him the Riot Act.  Tell him that enough is enough and ask him not to embarrass you, not to embarrass a cultured Sri Lanka and not to intimidate your people.

Your Excellency, you might ask yourself, who is this guy Asoka Weerasinghe who is telling me what I should do.  Well….Your Excellency….I claim my right to request you to clean up this thuggish behaviour by your elected representatives, as I am one guy among a few others in Canada who spent four hours a day, every day of the year for 27 years fighting from the Canadian trenches defending the honour of our Motherland Sri Lanka against an army of 250,000 Tamils.   And by the way, I am also a dual citizen.

And do you know what, Your Excellency?  This incident has made me livid.  I think you should  go ahead and inculcate your Ministers and parliamentarians what you and I were inculcated with as youngsters at our Alma Mater, Nalanda – ‘Apadana Sobini Pangna’ : Wisdom Beautifies Character.

Yours sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe

John Kerry is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (US) This is A part analysis of John Kerry Report on Sri Lanka

Stunned by the unexpected annihilation of the terrorists in Sri Lanka and fearing consequently a grave threat to US security interests in the region, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SCFR) hastily scrambled two of its staff members to visit the island nation in the first week of November 2009 with a mandate to evaluate the fall out of the terrorist debacle on US policy in the island and geopolitical, in the region; the two member team were required to made recommendations immediately to stem the alarming deterioration of US leverage on the island.

Arriving in the island at a time when security sensitivity remained high, the evaluating team travelled the country during their weeklong stay with the approval and support of the Sri Lanka Government.

In reciprocation of this courtesy it is to be expected that the report would be couched in veiled parlance. On reading the report one cannot but be taken aback that, coincidentally, LTTE fortunes have a direct correlation to US policy on the island and to US geo-strategic interests in the region.

 Foreign policy objectives

On December 7, 2009 John Kerry, the Chairman of the SCFR, circulating the two member report among the rest of the committee members, makes comment by stressing the strategic importance of Sri Lanka to the US particularly, as the report emphasizes, the geopolitical location of the island; he goes on to add the need to maintain a strategic alliance with the island and the need to re-evaluate US foreign policy in the wake of the military defeat of the LTTE.

It would appear that the US, placing reliance on a fundamentally flawed assumption of the military invincibility of the terrorists, laid all their strategic chips on the LTTE, sadly ignoring other foreign policy tools that were at their disposal. As the report states, Rajapaksa did the unthinkable and the unexpected; his achievement was one of the few instances in modern history in which a terrorist group had been militarily defeated.

When finally Washington realized the vulnerability of the terrorists, in the face of the rolling Government juggernaut, and the fragility and folly of their chosen ‘single agenda’ policy option, desperate attempts were made, finally at the level of the White House, to rescue and salvage US interests by endeavours that included attempts at coercing Sri Lanka to negotiate a truce with the terrorists.

Much of the chagrin with Rajapaksa flows from his recalcitrance to comply. US foreign policy collapsed in the waters of the Nanthikadal lagoon.

Washington admittedly cannot be too happy with Blake who is seen as the chief proponent of the failed policy which has created a temporary power void for the US in the immediate region.

The report is extremely critical of his single agenda policy which has resulted in shortchanging US strategic interests in the region. Wearing his new hat, Blake, it is to be anticipated, would have his time cutout, repairing the damage to US interests in the region, perceived as his responsibility, and further, initiating action to vindicate his previous miscalculations.

Team mission

It was in this backdrop that the special team from Washington was dispatched to Colombo. Their mission: To make recommendations to prevent further erosion of US security interests in the island and increase US leverage in Sri Lanka for securing longer term US strategic interests, expanding the number of tools available at Washington’s disposal.

Serious dichotomy of views

The urgency of the mission also suggests a serious dichotomy of views in Washington. On one side of the coin Blake, described in certain circles, in oxymoronic terms as the smiling ‘Ugly American’, pursuing the failed hard-line policy of all stick while on the flip side, a breath of fresh air from the new Obama administration, wishing to engage in more-carrot-and-less-stick policy.

The visiting team did a quick situational analysis, weighing the ground situation, the strategic importance of the island, the weaknesses and consequences of US policy hitherto pursued, the strengths and vulnerabilities of Sri Lanka State, the US strengths in the island and the tactical options at the disposal of Washington.

The report describes Sri Lanka as being located geographically at the nexus of the maritime trading routes connecting Europe and the Middle East to China and the rest of Asia.

All of China’s and Japan’s energy resources from the Persian Gulf, as the report identifies, transits Sri Lanka and the island has the potential to control or impede the free flow these resources to China, an emerging global power, or to Japan, a strategic partner of the US.

Free flow of trade

Furthermore, half of the world’s container traffic passes through Sri Lanka and the island has again, as indicated before, the potential to control or impede the free flow of trade in the Indian Ocean.

The island lends itself naturally to be an effective choke point, the control of which provides a strong bargaining platform in global rivalries; shades of Somalia where sea terrorists, often referred to as pirates, directed by some unidentified power, impede shipping in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean.

In fact the report makes reference to some acts of piracy off one of the myriads of islands that lie to the West of Sri Lanka.

New great game

The US, as the report explains, has a competing interest with India and China in securing this maritime route; Sri Lanka says the report, is a key piece in a larger geopolitical dynamic, commonly described as the new Great Game.

Potential to destabilize India

The Washington report also identifies the potential of Sri Lanka to destabilize India; it states that the communal tensions in Sri Lanka Sinhala-Tamil or Hindu-Muslim, have the ability to undermine stability in India, particularly Tamil Nadu, home to sixty million Hindu Tamils.

Two thirds of coastline

Unfortunately for the US, the structure of their foreign policy in this region, based on the invincibility of the terrorists, crumbled dramatically when Rajapaksa annihilated the terrorists.

If the LTTE had succeeded, the US would have gained control of two thirds of Sri Lanka coastline, enabling them to secure Persian Gulf energy resources to Japan, interfere if and when the need arose, with the flow of these same resources to China, selectively interfere with free trade in the Indian Ocean and undermine stability in India by provoking Tamil and Hindu sentiments in Tamil Nadu.

The Sea Tigers, the naval arm of the defeated terrorists, which had alarmingly become a very potent force, had the hallmarks of a nascent ‘pirate’ organisation.

To make matters worse not only did Rajapaksa destroy the cornerstone of US policy in the region but he was, as the report identified, responsible for the country’s drift towards China (and the non Western world), considered one of the biggest challengers to US hegemony of the world.

All this threatens US National Security interests and Rajapaksa is considered a threat to US National Security.

US policy, the report states, has to be re-charted. A regime change is considered imperative; Rajapaksa must go.

The problem however is that Rajapaksa is popular across the length and breadth of the country and his Government’s annihilation of the terrorists has made his popularity soar. As the report identifies, there is no political leader in the country to match his popularity. Wickremesinghe, in the report, has been identified as a very close ally of the US who has consistently urged the US to take Sri Lanka to the war crimes tribunal.

As the report admits, Wickremesinghe lacks the charisma to battle Rajapaksa nation-wide. Fonseka is identified as the only individual who perhaps could challenge Rajapaksa’s popularity nationally, having been the Commander of the troops that defeated the terrorists.

Engagement of Fonseka by the US

Blake engaged Fonseka at the height of the war. He persuaded Fonseka to apply for Permanent Residency in the US which would lighten Fonseka’s financial burden of educating his children. Fortune smiled on Fonseka when out of a 6.4 million applicants, Fonseka was one of the chosen few of a mere 50,000 to be accorded permanent residency in the US.

It is not clear what prompted Fonseka, just prior to setting off to the US in September 2008, tell Bryson Hull of Reuters “The Tigers will go underground rather than fight to the last man.” This was contrary to the thinking of the troops on ground, battling the terrorists and the Rajapaksas who were determined and confident of defeating the terrorists totally.

Was Fonseka coerced to say this or was Fonseka out of step with what was happening on the battlefield? In November 2008, when the Army was bogged down in a do or die battle for Killinochchi and Muhamalai, and the future of the war in Fonseka’s mind, was not clear, the Commander of the battling troops left his Motherland and his troops, dying in their hundreds at the time, to tour Washington on his being accorded permanent residency of another country.

This created adverse morale repercussions within the Army; fortunately for Sri Lanka, Fonseka was far removed from the battlefield. Was the timing of the visit sheer ignorance or was he already being influenced by Washington? Fonseka is perhaps the only permanent resident of the US, with perhaps the exception of Pakistan’s Musharaff, to be accorded such a reception in Washington.

Fonseka returned to the country after over month. Immediately on his return, in December 2008, he made that now infamous speech, quite inappropriate, unexpected and uncalled for, about corrupt politicians, political jokers and LTTE links in Tamil Nadu, which embarrassed the Rajapaksa Government no end and nearly provoked Delhi, who had resisted US pressure to intervene in the Sri Lanka offensive, to reconsider their decision.

 Was Fonseka naive or did he make that calculated statement at the behest of his adopted country? Is he a captive of his own doing or is he a loose cannon? This statement provoked a sharp retort from Neduraman who warned the Government of Sri Lanka that the actions of Fonseka suggest that the nation may witness Army rule in the near future which would be disastrous for Sri Lanka-India relations.

Creation of the rift

Rumour Street had it, from about early 2009, that Blake had urged Fonseka, notorious for an inflated ego, to increase the strength of the Army. Fonseka complied by pressing the Government, in the aftermath of the war, to increase the strength of the Army to 300,000 (It is presumed that this is his opinion even at present).

Rumour Street also had it that the same sources leaked it to the Government that they had intelligence that Fonseka was planning a military coup.

The rift was created and the first step for a regime change had begun. In the meantime whispers to both sides, from the different mouths of the same source, continued and the rift widened.

Reportedly, it was conveyed to the Government that Fonseka, still in uniform, was harbouring Presidential ambitions and to Fonseka that he could easily be the top honcho, barring his safety; it was suggested to him that if he made an implicative confession, to his country of adoption, regarding the conduct of the war, that would serve as his life insurance; this, he was apparently assured, would be released only if some harm were to befall him.

A highly controversial trip to the US was arranged in November 2009 with Blake choreographing the moves.

The much publicized statement of Fonseka to a newspaper recently, is reportedly a transcript of a recording that was made in the US which found its way into the island in the pouch of a roving envoy, this, reportedly again, was played to a journalist who had the privilege of listening to it but not permitted to take a copy.

Through a grapevine it was leaked that the journalist does not have a copy of the recording.

One conceivable danger is that if a stone is thrown by the adopted country at Fonseka at any time, it would be construed that Rajapaksa was responsible for the stone giving justification for the incriminating statement to be publicized and Rajapaksa running against a wave of public emotion; a classic case of three birds with one stone.

US moves in the Sri Lankan election

US manoeuvres in the Sri Lankan election is to effect a change in Sri Lanka’s geopolitical position. This calls for a regime change and the ouster of Rajapaksa.

To this end they have instructed the non charismatic politicians to keep out of the fray; they have successfully divided a country which eight months ago was united; they have been able to weaken the Rajapaksa team by corrupting one of the team with a permanent residency; they have been successful in fielding against Rajapaksa, Fonseka, a candidate who has a trifle more appeal than the old political war horses of the Opposition.

The battle is how to present a coarse, humourless General as an erudite individual of some refinement and polish and to dent Rajapaksa’s unbelievable popularity in the country.

To this end, as carried by the Asian Tribune, a massive USD 140 Million has been pumped into the country through conduits that include NGOs which the Kerry report has identified as being friendly to US interests.

US expectations from Fonseka

Mavil Aru in Sampur was the beginning of the end for the terrorists. There has been much bafflement at reports that the previous status quo in Sampur, located on the Southern rim of the Trincomalee harbour and considered ground vital for the control of the harbour, is being restored.

There are indications that the essence of the Wickremesinghe CFA agreement of 2002, which concede control of the North and the East and nearly two thirds of the coastline of the island to the terrorists, is being reintroduced; the CFA enabled the terrorists to build up their illegal state infrastructure which resulted in thousands of soldiers having to lay down their lives simply to dismantle it.

Also there are indications that Kumaratunge’s infamous and ill fated Post Tsunami Operations Management (PTOM) of 2005 which gave equal status to the terrorists and the government of Sri Lanka in the management of Tsunami related funds, and created that insidious mechanism-referred to as ‘Co-Chairs’ (EU, Norway, US, and Japan) which eroded our sovereignty and legalized these countries to interfere at will with the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, is being surreptitiously brought back.

On the last occasion the JVP with Rajapaksa fought against it and had it thrown out at the Supreme Court.

This time however the JVP, heavily dependent on Japan for their funds, appear to be consenting partners.

Rumour Street has it that the US has instructed Fonseka to deny the Indians the Uranium rich soil stretching along the coastline of Mullaitivu and to give access to the US to mine this monazite for a pittance.

The news on the grapevine is also that Fonseka on the dictates of the US has agreed to allow the Norwegians access to the recently staked area, abounding with mineral resources, on the sloping continental shelf off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Considering the strong link between Blake and the Diaspora, it is not surprising that the political arm of the terrorists is supporting Fonseka who time and time again has insisted that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhalese and who insisted that the Tamil persons in the IDP Welfare Centres should be detained indefinitely as there were 20,000 terrorists hiding among 280,000 civilians.

Executive Presidency

The Kerry report has identified the Executive Presidency as one of Sri Lanka’s strengths which enabled it to overcome the terrorists and which Rajapaksa refuses to dismantle. At the moment the three eggs of Executive, Legislature and Judiciary are in three baskets. The dropping of one basket will not crack the other two eggs. To weaken the Sri Lanka State that it may never in the future do the unthinkable of defeating an invincible terrorist group, the US through the NGOs are attempting to put the two eggs of Executive and Legislature in one basket so that when the legislative egg breaks, the executive egg will automatically break.

The battle lines are drawn for January 26 the battle is not between Rajapaksa and Fonseka but between Sri Lanka and the US. On May 18, 2009 Sri Lanka won an historic proxy war on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon defeating the scourge of terrorism and the threat of neo colonialism. On the 26th, the battle is even more crucial; Sri Lankans have to defeat the neo colonialist if they are to protect their victory at Nanthikadal.

The sovereignty of Sri Lanka is being challenged and is at stake; the battle is even more difficult than on May 18, with the US throwing in 140 Million US dollars, buying up one of the key players of May 18 and having the historical comprador class doing, as usual, their dirty work.

By Janaka Alahapperuma

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa participated at the Golden Jubilee Anniversary celebrations and a cultural show of the Peoples’ Friendship University, which was held at the university auditorium in Moscow yesterday evening, 7th February.

President Rajapaksa is seen here being welcomed at the ceremony by the students of the university and the Vice Chancellor Professor Vladimir M. Philipov.

The Sri Lankan President was honoured once again at the cultural show by Prof. Philipov, by presenting a memento, a Russian style gold plated crown, decorated in precious stones. Later the President addressed the gathering and recalled the friendly ties between Sri Lanka and Russia.

 President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the First Lady also participated in the opening ceremony of the “Rajatha Dekma” photo exhibition which was organised by the President’s official photographer, Mr Sudath Silva in the university premises. Rajatha Dekma displays the photographs of Sudath Silva’s quarter century journey in his profession as an official photographer for four successive presidents of Sri Lanka.

Pix by: Sudath Silva

 President Rajapaksa, who is presently on a tour of Russia, received the Honoris Causa Doctorate from the Peoples’ Friendship University formerly known as Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow on 6th February. He was conferred the Doctorate for his contribution to world peace in defeating terrorism and for his distinguished service to education and development. Among the distinguish guests there were many Sri Lankan students at the function.

 On his first state visit after being elected to a second term, President Rajapaksa is due to meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this afternoon.

 Ministers Rohitha Bogollagama, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Susil Premjayantha. Prof. G.L Peiris, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Mr.Wimal Weerawansa MP, Secretary to the President Mr.Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka Ambassador in Moscow Mr.Udayanga Weerathunga, Director Genaral of the Colombo Hospital Dr.Hector Weerasinghe and the co-ordinator to the President Mr Sajin Vas Gunawardena were present at the occasion.

By A. Abdul Aziz,ress Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Sri Lanka.

The World-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jama’at) wishes to express its condemnation and regret at the recommendations of a French Parliamentary Report published on 26 January 2010 which called for a partial ban on Muslim women wearing veils. The recommendations, if adopted, would deny Muslim women the right to cover their faces in public arenas such as hospitals, schools, government buildings and whilst using public transport.

 According to the recommendations, any Muslim woman who attempted to flout the ban would be denied the relevant public service. Therefore if the recommendations are adopted into law, then a country who wishes to represent itself as secular and tolerant would in fact be willing, for example, to deny health services to a woman in need of treatment because she chose to cover her face; and it would be willing to deny education to a female on the same grounds. These are but just two examples of the potential consequences of such a ban. Islam has long been misrepresented as cruel and discriminatory, yet it is in France where such acts are being seriously contemplated. Indeed many French politicians have openly stated that the proposed ban does not go far enough and that if they had their way they would criminalise the covering of the face and implement a full ban across society.

 The Parliamentary Report goes on to state that the covering of a face violates French principles of ‘secularism’ and ‘equality’. Anyone with any sense will realise that the Report itself is an affront and a threat to both of these values. This particular Report recommends that Parliament sanctions a law which would discriminate against one particular sex within one particular religion.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that a person’s choice of dress is a personal matter. Islam teaches modesty for both men and women but underlying all Islamic injunctions is the Qur’anic principle that ‘There is no compulsion in religion’. Thus if a woman, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, chooses not to cover her head then that is her right but on the other hand if a woman, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, chooses to cover her head or face then that too is her right and ought never to be interfered with. This belief was echoed by President Barack Obama in a speech in Cairo last June. He said:

 “…it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We can’t disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.”

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at hereby wishes to make it clear that no woman should ever be forced to adopt Purdah. The burka and niqab are items of dress that many Muslim women choose to wear due to their pride in its decency and modesty.

 Far from being viewed as ‘subservient’, Ahmadi Muslim women are an outstanding example of true freedom of women in practice. They play an active, recognised and valuable role in societies across the world and act as an example of excellence to women in all countries.

 It is hoped that the French Parliament rejects the recommendations of the Report and allows Muslim women to live in peace throughout the country. It is also hoped that other countries do not follow a similar path of discrimination, prejudice and intolerance. For freedom to reign, freedom must be preserved.

Anura Seneviratna (for expat Hela team).  

National motherland of the Hela Nation is the whole Hela Island of Heladiva. Helabasa – Hela culture – National Hela Sovereignty is the inviolable fundamental human right of the nation of Hela people ONLY in our national motherland.

• The pre-historic Heladiva is masked by pseudonym of Lanka has caused  the wrong name in our national land deed, making it vulnerable to our national heritage.
• The nation is degraded to a race against Hela nation. Although, root of a nation is race distinguished by genes, evolved into a nation is inclusive of all migratory races but not limited to blood alone.
• Although, within Heladiva all should be Hela citizens but Helas are cornered into a majority while non indigenous races are separated into minorities violating the national Hela sovereignty. This eventually makes the Hela nation vulnerable to attempts of invasion by minorities.
• By identifying Heladiva artificially as Lanka, in addition to the country’s sovereign Hela nation, language, culture – it promotes Tamil, Muslim, Christian of alien origins, posing a dangerous threat to the invasion of Heladiva and extinction of the Hela nation. While Tamil origin is Tamil Nadu, Muslim origin of 50 Muslim countries and numerous Christian countries; the threat to tiny Heladiva by alien entities is a direct violation of justice due to Hela nation.
• Due to the Lanka mask world does not see the truth of national Hela sovereignty, hence made to believe by the fraudulent global Tamil propaganda spewed out of over 100 million Tamils of a Tamil homeland struggle within Heladiva.
• Usage of Lanka for Heladiva (island of Helas) can invalidate the sovereign heritage of the Hela Nation of only 14 million and our sovereign island territory.
• The illegal racist and alien-national political parties not found in any other host country – can be a severe threat to the national Hela ownership of Heladiva. 

Anura Seneviratna (for expat Hela team).    

ALI SUKHANVER

A close neighbor can be more helpful than a relative living far away. Pakistan is fortunate enough to have a friend like China as a neighbour but unfortunate to have a neighbour like India who never desires for stability and prosperity of Pakistan. The Pakistanis must be thankful to God for making China its neighbour because the situation could have been much painful for them if there were no China in the region. Pak-China friendship is time -tested and progressing by leaps and bounds every moment. Unluckily this friendship is proving itself much agonizing for those countries which dream of ruling this region on the basis of economic and political exploitation. This close cordial relationship between Pakistan and China has always been a target for such countries.

According to the reports the US authorities and other western countries always feel uneasy when they find the exemplary friendship between the two countries going ‘higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the ocean’. That is the reason they always try to create hitches and hurdles between the friendly relations of Pakistan and China. It is also said that the USA is providing nuclear support to India just to counter the increasing influence of China in the region.

USA is very well aware of the fact that China is the only country which has a capability of giving tough time to it and this capability shall certainly increase manifold if Pakistan keeps on strengthening its relations with China. That is why there have been so many efforts to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and China. When we cast a look at the past ten years we find a long list of Chinese workers who lost their lives while working at different development projects in Pakistan.

The terrorists targeted these Chinese workers simply to alarm and warn the Government of China that it must not send its workers to Pakistan. But in spite of all these threats China never backed out of its determination to make Pakistan strong and prosperous. Be it the Karakorum highway project or the Gawadar Port Plan, the heavy water reactor at Khusab or the manufacturing of JF-17-Thunder Air Crafts , China is always there to support Pakistan. The friendship between the two countries is becoming even stronger as time goes by.

Pak–China relations began in 1950 when Pakistan was among the first countries to recognise the People’s Republic of China. In 1962, the worsening Indo-China relationship turned into a series of hostility. That time Pakistan’ proved itself a very strong well-wisher of China by providing it all type of favour. It would not be an exaggeration if we call 1962, the title page of the story of love and friendship between these two countries. Since then this relationship is becoming stronger and stronger resulting in a variety of agreements of economic, military and technical assistance.

The Pak-China friendship is a two-way journey. The whole of the Chinese nation is thankful to the people of Pakistan for their precious support on issues concerning China’s sovereignty, such as Taiwan, and Tibet. The Chinese leadership has always acknowledged the significant role of Pakistan in the early 1970s, which enabled China to break its isolation from the West and the US. Pakistan also helped China become a member for the United Nations. Pakistan has always played an effective role in bringing the Muslim world closer to China.

On the other hand China has always proved itself a very strong support to Pakistan through every time of trial and tribulation. The people of Pakistan can never forget the role of China during Pakistan-Indian tensions in 2008.That was the time when the Chinese leaders very openly promised unlimited financial and military aid to Pakistan. There could have been a very serious type of nuclear war if China were not there to support Pakistan. Above all, China has always provided a very staunch support to the Pakistani stance regarding the Kashmir issue. This affectionate assistance is something very positive for the people of Pakistan but very much discouraging to those who desire and plan for a weaker Pakistan.

 The countries like India are doing their best to dispel the clouds of vagueness and ambiguity between the two friendly countries. Recently it has been reported that the agents of Raw are trying to invade Xinjiang, the Chinese border province, in the guise of Islamic extremists. The RAW has provided them fake Pakistani identities. These agents are directed to create law and order disturbance in the peaceful land of Xinjiang. Most of these agents are the Hindus by creed but they are so well trained that it would be very much difficult to recognise their actual identity.

 According to the details some of these agents would intentionally surrender them before the security forces of China after being involved in some act of terrorism. The only purpose behind is to give the Chinese government an impression that Pakistan is trying to promote religious extremism in Xinjiang.

The Xinjiang is situated in the border area of northwest China and occupies an area of 1.6649 million sq km, accounting for one sixth of Chinese territory. It has a land border of 5,600 km bounded by eight countries. It was an important section of the ancient Silk Rout. According to statistics, a few years back, Xinjiang had a population of 19.25 million. Other than the Uighurs, the vast majority of whom is Muslim, there are 47 ethnic groups in Xinjiang including the Hans. This province is considered one of China’s five autonomous regions for ethnic minorities. It is because of the Muslim majority in this area , the western media in collaboration with the Indian think tanks has been yelling at the so-called flourishing Islamic extremism in is Xinjiang for the last many years.

A recent proof of the western uneasiness over the situation in Xinjiang is exposed through an article written by Rodger Baker who represents the strategic intelligence analyst group Stratfor. In this article Rodger Baker has discussed different elements and factors giving birth to ‘extremism’ in Xinjiang.

The group analyst argues that he sees emerging ‘a Turkistan Islamist movement with links in Central Asia, stretching back to Afghanistan and Pakistan, blending Taliban training, transnational jihadist experiential learning, Hizb al-Tahrir (HT) frameworks and recruiting, and Central Asian ties for support and shelter.’ Rodger calls the extremist movement a ‘different entity’ than what China has faced in the past and comments that the situation is surely ‘not pretty.’

Whatever is the situation in Xinjiang is simply an internal affair of China. The Uighurs is an ethnic group. This group is annoyed over the rapid influx of the Han Chinese settlers. . In 1950 the Uighur tribes were 94% of the whole population of Xinjiang but now they are less than the half. The Uighur tribes have a lot of cultural similarities with the people of Central Asia and are not ready to welcome the Hans Chinese settlers. This conflicting situation is being exploited by India on two grounds; the first one is certainly that India is a tool in the hands of the Western forces that are afraid of strengthening China; secondly India is trying to settle its old scores with China.

The recent report regarding the influx of the RAW agents in the guise of Islamic extremists exposes the hidden Indian desires of destabilizing China and portraying Pakistan behind this disturbance. The conflict between the Hans and the Uighurs is neither a separatist movement nor a symbol of extremism; it is simply an internal affair of China. The propaganda portraying this conflict as ‘Extremism’ is simply the artistic work of the forces hostile to the expected supremacy of China in the near future.

The writer is a Pakistan based bilingual analyst on national and international strategic and defense affairs.

Sarath Wijesinghe Senior Solicitor and Attorney-At-Law- former Chairman Consumer Affairs Authority

GSP+- the background

 GSP+ is a system introduced by USA and EU to conditional help and encourages trade industries and production in selected and identified countries by adjusting tariff and other facilities for a given period. European Union and the member countries intensified the scheme during and aftermath of Tsunami Disaster for Sri Lanka.  Before the introduction of this facility managed our affairs without this concession and we should have known that this is not a permanent facility and should have been ready to be without at some stage in life.

 In fact as President Rajapaksa and the Governor Central Bank has reiterated we can be without this facility if it comes to that, yet it is good to settle mattes in friendly atmosphere based on mutual trust and respect based on accepted international and legal norms and practices. In 2008 alone European   imported apparel worth 1.24 billion thereby the income to Sri Lanka has exceeded to75 million Euro This procedure is regularised by European Community Law and in 1993 Justice Bagwathie- one time Chief Justice of India- has advised EU on the procedure and implementation on the countries awaiting for the facility which is a privilege and favour and not a right. It is internationally accepted and recognized that once a right or a privilege is enjoyed withdrawal too should be based on a just cause and should not be arbitrary.

 Arbitrary withdrawal is not only illegal but is crude and immoral.  The threat of withdrawal GSP+ facility from Sri Lanka has raised serious concerns on the international community, especially at a time when Sri Lanka has helped the world community by militarily crushing the most ruthless and feared terrorist outfit which has terrified and terrorised the entire world.

In fact this is the time the international community should enhance the aid in the interest of the regional security and international security The EU alleges that Sri Lanka has not adhered to the Convention on Human Rights, International Convenient of Civil and political rights, Convention against torture and Convention on rights of Child for which Sri Lanka has agreed to adhere to.

This is an unfair and unrealistic expectation of Sri Lanka on international standards, when in Iraqi, Afghanistan and other war torn countries controlled by EU and USA are far below the expected standards on human rights and war related issues. EU was unreasonable to expect unattainable and difficult tasks of full implementation of 27 Conventions which is an ideological and unrealistic and impossible goal which no country could fulfil.

Conduct discipline and behaviour of the forces in these counties are sub standard and wide publicity is given in world media on gross violations and atrocities on forces civilians’ violation of laws of wars and international humanitarian law in the broad daylight. Termination of trade concessions such as GSP is not a mere mechanical process that come down arbitrarily but one that should be cognized upon its associated possible economic ramifications.

These are processes to support vulnerable developing countries and not a mode of punishment and taking revenge of being independent and fearless of international terrorism. Thanks to President Rajapaksa we are no longer a vulnerable Nation, yet we need the backing and support of our friends aiming at a better and prosperous world. After all UK is still struggling to come to terms of recession and we are victoriously out of it – Our aim is a  Suba Anathiak for the world community! Not to few privileged Nations.

 International political issues

 Then why and what is this indifference to us at this stage, when we are rated the best destination for tourism, stock market reaching the peak, when attempts are being to redefined and re demarcating our foreign policy based on non alignment and respect to each other and each others views and integrity how ever small and powerful the member states are. Steps are being taken to mend the patches of misunderstanding orchestrated by powerful INGO’s and some diplomats, who acted as individuals for some unknown reasons. President Obama has spoken of our long history of friendships and pledge to continue friendship when USA Senate and Senators say that they can not afford to loose Sri Lanka based on petty and minute matters.

Ambassador Robert O’Blake has acted the role of “Dixtith” and could compare to Johe D’Oly in 1809 in taking over Sri Lanka ending the fight over hundreds of years from invaders! His interference on international matters raised eyebrows of the international community and Sri Lankan in general. Presiden Rajapaksa’s relations with China, Russia, Middle East, and African Sub Continent are per excellence and now it is time to turn to the West and EU using his charm and goodwill.

In that context and such a situation GSP+ will be a minute matter for President Rajapaksa to bring about a settlement. We need the West and West needs us in the current political and economic climate of co-operation and friendly relations based on mutual respect. Our Education, Economy, Governance, Legal System, Link Language is a part of the great Western Culture growing in the breeding ground of great Asian culture blended with great religions acting in harmony and absorbing the great concepts of democracy and human rights the Sri Lankan Nation is adhered to.

Surely Sri Lanka should not be pushed towards another power block out of sheer necessity. Whatever happens President Rajapaksa will no deviate from the non aligned policy adoped based on his personality and the vision which has proved to be successful. He is an emerging world leader heading number of regional bodies representing billions of world citizens today! We are ever grateful to USSR and the emerging world and economic power China for saving and bailing us out in danger of being questioned by the world body during the most difficult era of crushing the LTTE the most feared and powerful terrorist organisation in the globe! Still we are independent and non aligned and president Rajapaksa has reiterated so in his policy statement on the day of our independence after gaining independent from terror regime relieving the entire world of LTTE terror.

 EU-NGO’s and International Relations

 West expected Sri Lanka to listen to them and conduct our war on their terms conditions and agenda. They never expected the war to be won militarily and advised us to  settle our matters  which has made our haven hell for the last three decades based on solutions proposed by INGO’s and some interested parties and embassies.

 It was not to their liking that President Rajapaksa crushed terror regime which has been a threat to world and regional peace and a threat to the entire peace loving world. Decision of European Union to suspend the EU’s preferential trade status to Sri Lanka is not a surprise, but a short sighted decision based on incorrect and incomplete information which needs careful scrutiny in the interest of the friendly relations of member countries and give a correct assessment to the Human Right standards in an atmosphere of threat of terror regimes.

Obama vows to continue long lasting relations with Sri Lanka and said that our relations run back to 1789. USA Senate warned that they can not afford to loose Sri Lanka and drift it to the other block. They little realise that Sri Lanka has been a leader of the non alignment and not foolish to align to a super power which we have realise and our history has proved we are a real non aligned country matured politically and experienced the advantages of being non aligned nation committed to the principles of Non alignment, Non violence and Gandian “Pancha Seela”.

On the other hand Sri Lanka has bypassed the difficult period and now we can afford to go through difficulties and the trend is that the people too will be prepared to gulf the difficulties with the new found freedom and the national pride as a result of winning the unwinnable war.

 Conventions and International Instruments

 Convention on Human Right is a non binding instrument to which we have become a signatory. Our Human right mechanism is if not the best one of the best in the world. We have the Human Rights commission which is effective and has teeth. Fundamental jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is cheap, accessible and less cumbersome. Non governmental organisations in the Human Rights area in Sri Lanka are very powerful.  Civil society and the media too are powerful and vigilant in Sri Lanka unlike in the United Kingdom which is complicated in practice and less effective. Sri Lankan NGO’s are funded heavily and they are interested in internal politics than protecting human rights which is worrying.

They misuse our kindness and good natured treatment to outsiders as a weakness and make use of anti national forces and politicians rejected by the masses to achieve their political and financial goals.  EU is not happy the way we conducted the war on terror successfully though the mechanism adopted by the EU and allies in Iraqi and Afghanistan is a miserable failure. Casualties in Iraqi and Afghanistan are fast rising and allegation of human right violations and abuses are fast growing with growing resentment from their own citizens.

The main allegations in addition to the other issues on Sri Lanka are the treatment of Tamil Civilians, Killing of Aid workers and summery executions orchestrated in the channel 4 video issue. Aid workers were definitely killed by LTTE though FAT CAT NGO’s have accuse Sri Lanka forces  considered to be the most disciplined and professional force in the Globe. Treatment of displaces civilians by Sri Lanka is exemplarily and transparent and it is sorry that EU have not considered how the civilians living  under the clutches of terror regime in jungles subjected to starvation and degrading treatment frequently subjected to summary executions and severe punishments from Kangaroo Courts.

Now they are free and proud citizens having exercised franchise after 30 years and gradually gaining complete economic and political freedom. Road network in the North is now excellent and the villager and farmers are enjoying the past glory and ethnic integration. President Rajapaksa has pledged equal rights to all nationalities having declared the their will be no minorities any longer and only the two groups in existence will be those who love the country and do not.

 European Commission

 December 16^th the European Commission will discuss this matter and the pleasant news is that the dissenting views are fast growing and there is strong possibility that they will reconsider the decisions already taken in the interest of world peace and proper economic balance of the world family.

Now Sri Lanka can be proud of an Independent Judiciary without the politician turned and most controversial and disgraced former Chief Justice Silva who has pollicised the judiciary and has engaged in active politicise with the disgraced army commander   who too has pollicised the army by contesting the Commander in chief who appointed him when he was about to be retired. Fonseka as well as Silva has been ungrateful to those who extended the helping hand. These issues too had an ripple effect on the decision making as treatment of IDP’s and the Judicial activism and rule of law have been taken as contributory factors in decision making of the EU saga on GSP+.

 What next and way forward

 What next and what are next steps are being watched by the international brotherhood in decision making of our future developments. We can amicable settle this matter and should not be considered as arms twisting and a violation of human rights or discrimination.

We are in a new era of reconciliation and eradication of party and other differences after successfully eradication terror regime. We are gradually reaching the golden era on international relations by redefining and reintroducing our foreign policy based on the aspirations and the needs of Sri Lnkans and the vision of the visionary Mahinda Rajapaksa who now will concentrate on the combat against bribery corruption and mending broken fences of international relations with the west with his thinking and inherent charm and good will which is proved attractive to the Sri Lankan village fork and the international community.

Most probably Mahinda Rajapaks’ next exploration would be the west as he has already conquered the UN and other parts of the world personally and politically. It is the duty of the civil society, professionals, expatriates and all civilizes to strengthen the hands of President Rajapaks in the interest of the Nation waiting for a bright future- Suba Anagathiyak!

Embassy of Sri Lanka, Seoul, South Korea.

The celebration of the Independence Day and National Day commenced at the Residence of Sri Lanka on 04th February with the flag hoisting ceremony attended by a cross section of Korean and Sri Lankan distinguished personalities, representatives of Sri Lankan migrant workers and Sri Lankan students. A multi religious rituals with the participation of the clergy of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Islamic were observed and the National Day Messages of H.E. the President, Hon. Prime Minister and the Hon. Foreign Minister were read.

Charge d’ Affaires Lakshitha Ratnayake speaking on the occasion mentioned that this year’s independence celebration is very important and meaningful for all Sri Lankans, because we are free from clutches of terrorism and people enjoy full freedom and sovereignty in each corner of the country. Therefore, all communities in Sri Lanka now can live under one flag and maintain unity and harmony among each other. He also stated the importance of improving bilateral relations with South Korea, in order to fulfill the vision of H.E. the President Rajapaksa to make Sri Lanka a “wonder of Asia”. Therefore, Sri Lanka Embassy in South Korea has determined to improve more relations in the fields of employment, investment, tourism, education, culture and aviation etc.

The staff of the embassy had arranged a scrumptious lunch – Sri Lankan cuisine for the participants at the event.

Dr. Raju Selva

I was a very disappointed Tamil moderate who have been voicing my opinion against LTTE Diaspora who were actively supporting LTTE . In a similar manner I raised my voice against Tamil Diaspora asking them not to mislead the ordinary Tamils mainly in the North and East at the Presidential election. I was flabbergasted to observe that LTTE’s Eelam is still alive when one analyses the voting pattern in the North & East. Sarath Fonseka , who claimed that he alone crushed LTTE got majority Tamil votes in the North & East and in Nuwera-Eliya. Not before long, my Tamil brethrens have forgotten under what circumstances they were living under the LTTE control. The parents lived in fear of their young children being abducted and conscripted to LTTE’s child brigade. Many Tamil adults irrespective of their age had to unwillingly joined LTTE’s fighting cadre making them cannon fodder for the SL Army. People under LTTE control were not living even hand to mouth existence.. The Tamils fleeing from LTTE tyranny looked walking skeletons and this was how they were suffering under LTTE control. Even in the IDP camps they had at least three meals a day may be limited to few items but they never had a square meal under LTTE..  Parents did not send their children to school for the fear of being abducted.

But with defeat of LTTE under the leadership of  President Rajapaksa brought freedom to the Tamils in the East first and then in the North. Now the parents need not worry of sending their children to school. Two third of the IDPs have been resettled in their own villages. Tremendous improvement in infra structure, road developments, electricity are seen in the North and the East. Many development projects are in the process and some are in the pipeline to be implemented. Basic needs of shelter, clothing, water, electricity, health facilities have been provided and the Tamils in the North & East are enjoying these facilities which they did not have for 30 years. Avenues have been created to improve their main livelihood like farming, agriculture and fisheries. With the development projects, there is employment for the youth who has never done a job for 30 years other than handling AK 47 by force very often unwillingly. Well, after doing all these to uplift the standard of living of the poor Tamils in the North & East, it is more than sad and incomprehensible to see that majority Tamils have voted against  President Rajapaksa. This I would believe at the instigation of the LTTE proxy TNA who still carries the Eelam baggage and the Tamil Diaspora who still believes that LTTE Eelam can be resurrected. But whatever the reason is, I am ashamed to admit that we Tamils are an ungrateful lot for not being grateful to President Rajapaksa for the good he has done to the Tamil community at large.

Well, the Presidential election is over and President Rajapaksa had won a resounding victory with majority of 1.8 million against his opponent. Now comes the General election and Tamils have the last chance to show their gratitude to President Rajapaksa and his alliance. If the Tamils keep on listening to LTTE proxy TNA and the Tamil Diaspora,. the future of the ordinary Tamils is very bleak.   I therefore earnestly request the Tamils in the North and East to show their goodwill and gratitude to President for what he has done and his future plans to uplift the people in the North & East at least at the General Election without falling prey to TNA & Tamil Diaspora trap.

Future of the Tamils in the North and East lies with  cordially working with  any government that will be in power. Currently it’s with President Rajapaksa government. I would like to conclude my appeal with a wise advice given to the Tamil community by Anandasangaree recently. He said Quote”There is an urgent need for minorities to get unified under one banner, not to confront the Government but to elect some honest and devoted people who have the capacity to convince the Sinhalese masses and to negotiate a settlement with the Government to win all the reasonable demands by adopting a give and take policy.

“Those who had been surviving up-to-date as Members of Parliament, which offices they won by false promises, should honorably quit politics and give way for a team that will work for a solution with devotion and care for all communities to live as equals, enjoying all rights and privileges,” he said.Unquote

 Dr. Raju Selva

Ranjini Deraniyagala Ambassador General United Cultrual Convention, USA

This is alarming indeed. Chilling story!
 
We do hope the president is keeping a watchful eye on this decision. India has ulterior motives. LTTE who have been defeated in the North may have other scheming ideas. If this is done to counter TNA emergence, it may backfire when India settles down to lay her “Aid” demands.

They may try to play an innocent role to creeping in again as various incidents in the past. People have not forgotten the Indian Troops entry in the past. Then we are opening the welcome door to Tamil Nadu access secretly on the other side. You will have to get our Navy prepared now for the waiting Sea tiger operations, the other side.
 
President You will be in a bigger bitter fight than what Dutugemunu had to face. The King Dutugemunu had to face one type of enemy, you will have all enemies mentioned above, then the unpatriotic JVP, and the crazy commander who is also prepared to sell the land to the West or anyone as long as he becomes a dictator.
Do we need to find out who is wanting gain foothold in the island due to the strategic location for International harbors? Go to history- not too far to go as Dutugemunu history.

I believe Russia is the best choice for Sri Lanka for the present time. Not India. Keep them as a deterrent to India. Maintain friends with China to checkmate India. But be cautious with everyone. They all have ulterior motives. They sa there is no “Free Lunch”. Only the Sinhalese give free lunch and make a fool of themselves.
 
You know who would not like Sri Lanka getting too chummy with Russia. They are playing games, you play them too but do not antagonize anyone. Play it cool and be smart about it. Return the same compliment game with a polite snub. Do not show you are angry, defeated or hurt. Always be on par. S.L. is a small country but play your cards right with the “Big Bullies”.
 
Understand why they all want to have a stake in Sri Lanka – Because this beautiful island has a fantastic history, culture, unbeatable religion, tropical scenery, highly educated people and intelligent people who lose their pride due to unpatriotic behavior of some leaders and servile attitude frustrated people who are waiting to sell the country to any outsider to achieve their goals.
 
The Tamils who follow JVP ideals must be thinking. ”These JVP people have no feelings for their country, they are helping us to achieve our goals, they think we are friends with them, what they do not know is that we are using them to achieve our own goals, we do not care whether they achieve theirs or not”.
 
That is why it is important for the President to help the young JVPeers who are being led astray by the old hags with outdated ideas. Encourage them to get a good education which is handed to them on a platter free. 
 
It is important for some people who know about JVP history to form some organization to direct the young JVP movement to drop the foolish idiotic ideals of the Leaders.
 
Once you separate these JVP’s from the young Tamil crowd you can steer a downtrodden plan to destroy the image of TNA in the North and East.
 
Muslims too should be taught a lesson. I do not mean all but some ungrateful ones need to be shaken up before it is to late. I think there is an old story-cannot recall the details-Like” the camel who tried to enter the Tent”.
 
At the same time send cordial letters to the western countries; saying “Thank you for the support given to Sri Lanka (you know they did not, except to make statements on humanitarian grounds) to fight terrorism, I know that is what you are striving to do in all countries-e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. I wish you all good luck in installing Democracy”. “Furthermore we are also striving to follow the humanitarian activities you have undertaken in these countries to prevent civilian casualties while we strive to bring peace and harmony to the island.”
 
It is difficult to dtect who the real patriots are these days. Even this Forum is not filled with patriots. So President and others you do your own detective work. Play your political game and the cards right. I know you are very samrt and knows exactly what you are doing. We only know the surface info.
 
If they say what you do is not true. Just tell the world “WAHT THEY SPREAD ARE ALL LIES”
THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT THEM.
 
Good Luck President. Triple Gem Blessings.
 
Ranjini Deraniyagala
Ambassador General,
United Cultrual Convention, USA

Dr.Levins T.C.Rajaratnam

“There go my people, I must follow them, for I am their Leader” were the words of Mahatma Gandhi practiced to the very syllable by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. That is the secret of his success. Amidst the turbulent waves of politics and the intricacies of conspiracies by vested interests- President Mahinda Rajapaksa was  be re-elected as the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka for a second term.

Victor, Victory & The Victorious

The Victor is President Mahinda Rajapaksa, The Victory was inevitable due to the patriotic deeds of the President and the Victorious are the Nation as a whole.

Expectations of the IDP’s

Thousands of men, women and children driven from their lands are preparing to return home. The demands of an outraged community have been met. We have achieved a victory for a safer world, for our democratic values, and for a stronger Sri Lanka.

 Victory at War

Our Air force Pilots have returned to base. The air strikes have halted. The Naval boats have slowed their speed. The Army has slowed its pace. Aggression against  innocent people by the LTTE and the Terrorists have been halted. When the President ordered our armed forces into combat as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he had three clear goals: to enable the Tamil people, the victims of some of the most vicious atrocities in the North due to terrorists and militant groups, to return to their homes with safety; to destroy the LTTE; and to deploy our armed Forces to protect all the people of the North. Those goals were achieved. Unnecessary conflict has been brought to a just and honorable conclusion.

Nation’s contribution

The sorrow experienced by the people and the tears shed by them was for patriotism. We know the pain, the anguish and we too shudder to think of the darkest hours in our history in the process of destroying the LTTE. We appreciate the countries, the local People  who by sending generous assistance to the refugees and for opening their hearts and  homes to the innocent victims made the task of settling the IDP’s easier.

Liberation

We fought and liberated the people held in hostage, what we achieved and what we have to do now to advance the peace and together with the people, forge a future of freedom, progress and harmony. This can be done only under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The Terrorists were the cause for Men of all ages separated from their loved ones killed and forced to join the Terrorists, children made to watch their parents die; a whole people forced to abandon in hours communities their families had spent generations building.

Tamil Militants

For these atrocities, the Tamil militants and the LTTE and their allies whether they were in the past full time and now part time -they have reformed or not all of them are collectively responsible for the disasters and killings. We should be cautious not to align them but to treat them and rehabilitate them. Recent history has proved that Terrorists in whatever garb will try to revive their traits in some form or the other and would never be loyal to a democratically elected Leader or the Government.

Settlement of IDP’s

The IDP’s could barely talk about what they had been through. All they had left was hope that the world would not turn its back. The President was deeply moved by them. The President has settled a large number of IDP’s he has provided housing, shelter, healthcare, education and sustenance. Moreover, by his personal visit he has touched their hearts and in turn they have touched his by their appreciation.

Liberation of a Nation

When our diplomatic efforts to avert this horror with the LTTE were rebuffed, and the violence mounted, the President took affirmative action. Now the people are free, the roads that were closed for years have opened, the people have been liberated. 

Freedom in the North

The schools have been re-opened , they have freedom to  shape their destiny.No more nights of hiding in bunkers cellars, wondering if the next day will bring death or deliverance.

Unitary State

Now, the Tamil people must join hands with the Muslims, the Singhalese, the Burghers and Malays and assist President Rajapaksa to continue the development work.

Stability of Leadership

Finally, we have averted the wider war this conflict might well have sparked.  Now, we’re entering a new phase – building that peace – and there are formidable challenges, the foremost amongst them is the stability of Leadership and the Government.

IDP and the Militant exploitation

We must get the refugees home safely. Minefields will have to be cleared. Homes destroyed by the war will have to be rebuilt. Homeless people in need of food and medicine will have been assisted and day in and day out they are gradually settled. The fate of the missing will have to be determined. But this next phase also will be dangerous. Bitter memories will still be fresh, we have to prevent vested interests from exploiting the situation by mud slinging campaigns perpetrated by the opposition and its allies whilst still be cautious of those amongst us who may betray especially the Terrorists groups whose survival was dependant on the survival of the LTTE.

Saviour of The Nation & The Destruction of Tamil Militancy

When President Rajapaksa addresses the Tamil people directly, he has been and will be acknowledged by the people. All the Tamil groups and parties with blood in their hands cannot convince the Tamil people. The Tamil people have now learnt by their mistakes and misunderstanding that the democratically elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa is their only salvation. But the Tamil militants should be unarmed and their militant identities destroyed.

Development

We must build and develop our country. For that to happen, the European Union  must plan for tomorrow, not just today. Our friends the United States, China, India and the United Kingdom must assist us in our endeavour. They must provide most of the resources for this effort, but it is in Sri Lanka’s interest to do our part as well.

We must pave a path to a prosperous shared future, a unifying magnet more powerful than the pull of hatred and destruction that has threatened to tear us apart.

LTTE Destroyed.  Terrorism must be destroyed  

As long as any form of Tamil militancy remains and Tamil militants of bygone eras are in power, as long as we give prominence to Tamil criminals and Tamil terror groups the journey for development will be far sighted.

Tolerance & Freedom

Our Government represents tolerance and freedom, not repression and terror. As such every individual or group which transgresses these ideals should be dealt with by the Laws of the land.

President’s Duty towards Nation

We have sent a message of determination and hope to all the world. Think of all the millions of innocent people who died in this bloody century because democracies reacted too late to evil and aggression.

Because of our resolve, the past is gone not with helpless indignation, but with a hopeful affirmation of human dignity and human rights for the 2010. In a world too divided by fear among people of different racial, ethnic and religious groups, we have given confidence to the friends of freedom and pause to those who would exploit human difference for inhuman purposes.

Sri Lanka still faces great challenges in this world, but we look forward to meeting them. We can successfully maintain the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka now that we have re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa . We must stand united as Patriots of Sri Lanka to support and defend the saviour of the Nation, President Mahinda Rajapaksa

 (The writer is the author of “Selected Essays of President Mahinda Rajapaksa” Sarvodaya Vishwa Lekha Publication. ISBN 978-955-51312-2-3. (Dr.Levins T C Rajaratnam is the son of Late Justice T.W.Rajaratnam Former Judge of the Supreme Court and SLFP National List Member of Parliament, grandson of Late T C Rajaratnam O.B.E.,C.B.E.,Founder Member of the UNP., Chairman CWE.,& American Ceylon Missions; Cousin of Late Dr.Neelan Tiruchelvam and Grand nephew of Late S.J.V.Chelvanayagam )

Reyyaz Salley  – Islamic Solidarity Front of North America

 Mahinda’s Victory is People’s Victory was the title of the article I wrote in the Daily News on 22 December 2005 soon after the Presidential Elections. In the last four years he delivered the most anticipated election promise in 2005 – that he can be relied upon to restore peace in the country, a country which has been scarred by conflict for so long was pausing for breath, and wondering what comes next.

Year of war and the worst financial crisis in decades – still not over – few believed that President Rajapaksa can turn things around in few months, even a year. He revised the Mahinda Chinthanaya that outlined his policies in the 2005 presidential elections, this time spelling out more development programs, increased jobs and ensuring a “better tomorrow.”

He looked for ways to reinvigorate the public and rally the believers. Finally, the voters spoke emphatically. They do not want fear anymore. They want stability and a continuity of development work which has brought kiri to gama and kekiri to Colombo in opposite of the norm.

To be fair to the man, he inherited a heap of problems. Sri Lanka was fighting two wars, the open-ended war on terror and a limping economy. A pack of other challenges was also hanging heavy over his head; relations with the West over the war with LTTE, a whopping budget deficit, unemployment and many others.

And he could not get a reprieve. He was expected to deal with all on day one. Charm and charisma had to be sidelined. The Sri Lankan people, and the rest of the world, had had their fill of promises and illusory happy endings. To deal with any of these tenacious issues, the President had to play hard ball; tough, compromising, sometimes accommodating and sometimes plain dirty politics.

None of the immediate challenges he faced was easy. To put the economy back on track he had to face head-on the opposition, a skeptical media, the public and the consequences of his new policies. Every move he made was immediately scrutinized by his political foes.

The President had to show that he was a tough customer, a fighter who was determined to carry out his vision, and promise, even if it meant that he was risking getting his mouth bloodied and hands soiled. If it was not this attitude he wouldn’t have won the war and we might still be living in constant fear.

For the first time following a thirty year long war, voters in the north and the east of Sri Lanka have cast their vote without any intimidation. The people have chosen who they want to lead them into a new era.

The UNP along with the UNF led by it and the JVP are all part of an “unholy alliance” backed General Fonseka. Ranil, Mangala, Rauff, Mano and Sambandan along with the “sahodarayas” want us to believe that Sarath Fonseka will climb down from the executive presidency and bring about a new system under an Executive Prime minister within a few months after being elected president.

They did, what they can best do. Conspire. Scheme. Manipulate. Poor General Fonseka was pushed into a point of “no return”.

Today’s elections result is the real answer to the question who can win the peace, and bring Sri Lanka the stability and prosperity it seeks.

Suba Anagathayak to all the Sri Lankans and most of all to our beloved President Mahinda Rajapaksa!

Reyyaz Salley Chairman
Islamic Solidarity Front of North America

Herold Leelawardena

Is it in the Bible that says; “tell me who your friends are; and I will tell you who you are”. Anyway, Stupid Fonseka (SF) showed the Sinhalese who his friends are: They were the JVP, the Marxists revolutionaries who bloodied this country in two failed revolutions; and the UNP that got its thugs to hammer and slaughter sixty thousand JVP cadres; and the TNA that gave the cover to LTTE suicide bombers to kill and maim tens of thousands of civilians in buses, trains and public places. SF’s alliance or soup is so odd; Sinhalese viewed their moves and speeches with suspicion.

The US and their International Community (IC) thought we are a puny country and expected to act as such. Sinhalese always knew they wanted LTTE leader Piripaharan go free and fight his war on another day. IC knew; Rajapakse not only ignored them but ordered our forces to wipe out LTTE leaders en masse. Sinhalese were grateful for Rajapakse for he had shown IC that Sri lanka could even beat them at their own turf such as in UN human right council.

Sinhalese knew it is the busy bodies of the IC that cajoled SF to contest against Rajapakse to teach him and Sri Lankan nationalists a lesson.

When SF demonstrated the Sinhalese who his friends were they knew who he is. When SF changed his priorities from promise to abolish Presidency to an undertaking to punish Rajapakses, Sinhalese started to suspect his motives. Tamils began to like Fonseka’s wild remarks, but Sinhalese started to dislike it. The more he opened his foul mouth the more he showed his true colours and more Sinhalese started to shift away from him.

Most Sinhalese that worshipped SF as the ‘war hero’ during the war, started to drop that notion and tagged him the ‘traitor’ label. Amazingly those that ridiculed him when he was commanding the army against LTTE just few moons back started to hail him as the ‘greatest war hero ever in Sri Lanka’. Alas for SF, the new Pharisees were by far the minority among Sinhalese. SF did not notice the signs of losing.

Sinhalese do not like ungrateful people. SF is an ungrateful man because he had forgotten that it is Rajapakse that made him the commander of the army just thirteen days before his retirement. If not for Rajapakse SF would have been another retired Major General today. Sinhala people were sad because SF bit the hand that fed him and joined those that ridiculed him. Now that is only one reason Sinhalese had not voted him.

Without analyzing any of the above mentioned aspects, International media started to portray that Sinhala nationalist vote is divided 50-50 between Rajapakse and SF. And, IC had inculcated their NGO and INGO parasites to write fairy tales about Fonseka winning the Presidency. Tamil diaspora and born again Christians and Colombians and those who carry a hatred against Rajapakses took it to the internet face book, twitter and what not and wrote as if they have already won. Stupid Fonseka and his (ill-) advisers took the comments that were posted in them in his favour as a measure of his popularity. When each one of them started patting the others back for their achievements on the E day, voters were casting their votes for Rajapakse in doves. Idiots never knew that vast majority of Sinhalese are not internet savvy and they were not bothered about their opinion.

Those red shirts and green and red flags that you saw in SF’s meeting were the ones that had being bussed from place to place. True, there are hardly any JVPers left in any Sinhala villages today. Also true is; all green blooded Sinhala UNPers had voted SF. But that won’t have been enough for an overall win because not enough of them could be found in Sinhala villages, today.

However, voters in Colombo proper were expected to vote for SF. By and large Colombians are anti-Nationalists and UNPers. No wonder 75% of them listened to RanilW of UNP and voted for SF. Reflection of that vote pattern is another proof to show election had been fair.

TNA and Tamil diaspora had communicated to Tamil voters to vote for SF and get from him what they couldn’t through LTTE. And they did as they were told by the separatists. SF won all but one district in the Eelam map of LTTE with as much as 75% of all votes. 25% that Rajapakse got is a tremendous achievement because he got virtually none in 2005. With the strong presence of the army there, if the government was up to mischief, they could have stuffed the ballet boxes and won all those seats if they resorted to sham practices.

SF also won one district in the central hills where Tamils were the majority is another proof for this election had been fair. The fact that SF had won every where Tamils and Muslims are the majority is a good enough proof for election had been fair.

Now, the so-called International Community, NGO parasites and SF buddies readily accept SF’s winning part of the results but dispute the overall results. SF’s statements have become a joke, and SF has become a joker. So, SF may cobble his soup together again; people know he will not be a winner. People know this time ‘swan’ will get not 39% but less than 30% of the overall votes.

The ‘swan’ is like Humpty Dumpty that fell from the wall. If all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put humpty back together again; how could soiled trio the JVP, the UNP and the TNA put swan back on the wall?

Herold Leelawardena

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම

1776 ජූලි මාසයේ 4 වෙනිදා ඇමෙරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදයේ නිදහස් දිනය ලෙස තෝරා ගත්තේ ජූලි 2 දා වන විටත් නිදහස් ප්‍රකාශනය ගැන ජනපද 13 එකඟතාවයකට පැමිණ නොතිබීමය.  වාද විවාද අවසන්ව එය ප්‍රසිද්ධ කිරීම සඳහා මුද්‍රණාලයට යැවුවේ ජූලි 4 වෙනිදාය. මා දන්නා කරුණක් නම් 1826 ජූලි 4 වෙනිදා ජෝන් ඇඩම්ස් හා තෝමස් ජෙෆර්සන් යන ඇමරිකාවේ දෙවැනි හා තුන්වැනි ජනාධිපතිවරු දෙදෙනා පැය ගණනක පරතරයක් තුල (කලින් ජෙෆර්සන්) මිය ගිය බවය. දෙදෙනාම මළේ ඔවුන් ඇමෙරිකාවේ නිදහස් ප්‍රකාශනය අත්සන් කර හරියටම අවුරුදු පනහකට පසුවය.

චන්‍ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

අප මේ බසයට නැගුණේ, සමාජවාදී රාජ්‍ය පද්ධතියක් දකින්නටය. අපට දකින්නට අවශ්‍යවූයේ සෝවියට් දේශය, සමාජවාදී මහජන චීන සමූහ ආණ්ඩුව, උතුරු කොරියාව, වියට්නාම් ජන රජය, හා කියුබාව වැනි වූ රාජ්‍ය පද්ධතියයි.

මේ බසයට නැගීමට පෙර මේ චාරිකාව යාම සදහා අප වෙනත් බසයක නැගී වසර 30ක්ම ගමන යමින් සිටියහ. අපගේ බසය ඇදගෙන යාමේ කාර්යය තවත් බසයකට පැවරූ මොහොතේ; මහත්සේ උරණවූ අප, එදා බසය පදවා ගෙන ගිය නියමුවන්ට, “කෙස් පැහී, දත් වැටී, ලොම් හැලී, වල පල්ලට යනවිටත් අපට ධනවාදී සමාජ ක්‍රමයක් ඉතිරි කර යන වාමාංශික නායකයිනේ, අපට ඊර්ෂ්‍යා කරන්න එපා”යි හඩගා මේ බසයට නැගුනෙමු.

මේ වන විට මේ බසය තුල අප වසර 44ක්ම ගත කෙලෙමු. නමුත් පෙර බසයේදී මෙන් අප කලබැගෑනියක් නොකලේ මේ බසයේ  සැබෑ නියමුවන්ට සැබෑ ලෙසම මේ ගමන යාමට ඇවැසිව තිබීම හේතුවෙන් ජීවිත පූජා කරන්නට සිදුවූ බැවිණි. කෙලෙසක හෝ දැන් අප ගුවන් තොටුපලට ලගාවී ඇත. ගමනේ ඉතිරි කොටස යා යුත්තේ ගුවනිණි. ඒ සදහා සූදානම්ව පැමිණි බසයෙන් බසින්න.

අප බසයට ආදරය කලද අපට අවශ්‍ය බසය තුලට වී සිටීමට නොවේ. අපට යාමට මහා ගමනක් තිබේ. සබද බසයෙන් බසින්න. බසයේ වර්තමාන නිමුවන් වන සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහ මහතාට හා ටිල්වින් සිල්වා මහතාට බසය, ගමන ආරම්භ කල ස්ථානයට පදවා ගෙන යාමට අවශ්‍යව තිබේ. ගුවන් යානය ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් බලා සිටී. සබද බසයෙන් බසින්න.

By Janaka Alahapperuma

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa was awarded a Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Peoples’ Friendship University (PFU), formally known as Patricia Lumumba University of Moscow in Russia on Saturday 6th February 2010 at 6.00pm.

The PFU is celebrating its Golden Jubilee and to mark the anniversary it has been decided to award the Honorary Doctorate to President Rajapaksa for his contribution for world peace and outstanding success against defeating terrorism. The award ceremony was held at the conference hall of the Great Kremlin Concert Hotel in Moscow.

Head of the University Rector Professor Vladimir M. Filippov presented the President with a diploma at the ceremony. President Rajapaksa addressed the audience following the conferment. The conference hall was fully packed with more than 6000 invitees from over 100 countries. Several world leaders, including Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo also attended the ceremony.

The People’s Friendship University (PFU) was established by the former USSR government on 5th February 1960. On 22nd February 1961 it was named after Patricia Lumumba, a political and public figure, a poet and also the head of the first Peoples’ Democratic Government of Congo. The university was re-named as “Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia on 5th February 1992. Since 1995 PFU has awarded ‘Doctor Honoris Causa’ to distinguished persons for outstanding academic achievements in the fields of science and education and to world leaders in recognition of their contribution towards fostering world peace. The awardees include five (5) Presidents and two (2) Prime Ministers from around the globe.

The official letter informing of the awarding of this degree was handed over to President Rajapaksa by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, during their meeting when he visited Sri Lanka recently. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will meet the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday. Also on the same day at the Russian Ministry of Finance, there will be a US$ 300 million credit line signing ceremony. President Rajapaksa is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with former President and the present Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, other government officials and the business community.

The President’s entourage includes Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama,Minster of Export Development & International Trade Prof.G.L Peiris, Minister of Mass Media & Information, Enterprise Development & Investment Promotion Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Power Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Leader of the National Freedom Front MP Wimal Weerawansa and the Secretary to the President Mr.Lalith Weeratunga.

Russian language speaking Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Moscow Udayanga Weeratunga will host a reception at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the 62nd Independence Day celebrations during the President’s visit to Russia.

Pix by: Sudath Silva

By Shelton A. Gunaratne @ 2010

My encounter with Germany’s Schwarzwald (Black Forest) began on Tuesday (3 March 1992) morning, when I arrived in Karlsruhe (population 289,000) in the federal state of Baden Württemberg. Karlsruhe is the country’s judicial capital or home of justice because it is the location of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) and the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice).

I left Dahn soon after breakfast and drove east on the mountainous B427 to see the ruins of Burg Berwartstein at Erlenbach bei Dahn. The old castle had turned into a restaurant. I tarried at a park with a beautiful lake. Then I turned north on L493 to reach Voderweidenthal to view the looming Rodelstein rocks. Back on B427, I left the Palatinate Forest at Bad Bergzaben on the Wienstrasse, about 22 km from Dahn. After a rest stop at the spa park, I continued east on B427 to Kandel, near the boundary of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, and headed a few kilometers southeast on autobahn 65 to Karlsruhe.

I whiled away some time in Karlsruhe walking in the Schlossgarten (although the 18^th century castle that Margrave Karl Wilhelm built, now the Baden Regional Museum, was closed for the carnival) and the Botanischer Garten with its palm, cactus and orchid house.

Karlsruhe is on the northwestern bounds of the Black Forest, renowned for its picturesque farms, sporting opportunities and folklore. The forest runs for more than 200 km from Bad Sackingen (on the Swiss border) to Durlach (east of Karlsruhe) parallel to the Rhine, which separates Baden-Württemberg from Alsace-Lorraine in France. With an estimated width of 60 km, the Black Forest covers a rectangular mountainous region of approximately 12,000 square km. The forest area offers a network of some 23,000 km of tracks for walking, biking and cross-country skiing. E1, the European long-distance trail, crosses the Black Forest.

Leaving Karlsruhe about 1.30 p.m., I drove south on B36 to visit the massive Schloss (castle) Rastatt built in the first decade of 18^th century by the orders of Markgrafen Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden.  The building now accommodates the military and national museums, as well as various administrative offices. 

Curiosity enticed me to visit the Baroque-style Schloss Favorite in nearby Forch. Built by Margravine Franziska Sibylla Augusta of Sachsen-Lauenburg (1675-1733), it served as a pleasure and hunting palace.

 Baden-Baden

I decided to spend my first night in the Schwarzwald at Baden-Baden (population 55,000), the main northwestern gateway to the forest, where I arrived about 3.30 p.m. after driving some 100 km from Dahn. Baden-Baden, which literally means “bathing-bathing,” is renowned for its thermal springs.

In the late afternoon, I had a pleasant walk on the Lichtentaler Allee, which runs besides the (artificial) Oos River. One of the most beautiful promenades in Europe, it attracts some of the world’s most fashionable people as they emerge from the luxury hotels on the east side of the river. Some 300 different trees and shrubs, including azaleas, ginkgos, oaks, magnolias, maples, silver poplars, rhododendrons and tulips, adorn the park.

I ate dinner—farmhouse-style roast chicken with wine—at the Wienerwald restaurant, and checked in at Jugendherberge Baden-Baden Hardbergstraße 34, located on a hill, for the night.

I spent the next morning exploring the foremost attractions in Baden-Baden. The northern end of Lichtentaler Allee converges into Goetheplatz around which are the 200-year-old Spielbank (casino), the Kurhaus (cure house) and the Trinkhalle (pump room). The Kurhaus, built in the early 1820s, contains stately rooms, restaurants, bars and spa rooms. (Germans have a predilection for baths, spas and casinos, as is evident in place names that includes Bad as a prefix, as in Bad Durkheim, or as a suffix, as in Wiesbaden.)

Spielbank is the oldest casino in Germany. Some believe that Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote his short novel The Gambler (published in 1867) after losing his money at the Spielbank. As Europe’s summer capital in the 19^th century, the town became known for its opera house, concert halls, sports facilities, theaters and the convention center.

I also visited the Neues Schloss, which houses the Zahringen Museum. Completed in 1847, it was the residence of the margraves of Baden. Its terraces offer magnificent views of the town. I walked down steep stairs to see the Stiftskirche (a church that has the tombs of 14 margraves of Baden) and the Romanische Badruinen (the ruins of Roman baths).

I left Baden-Baden about 11.30 a.m. heading southward to Freiburg im Breisgau, the main southwestern gateway to the Black Forest, through the Black Forest Crest Road and the Central Black Forest—a distance of about 155 km.

Black Forest Crest Road

In all my travels, the closest “route to heaven” that I ever encountered was the Black Forest Crest Road (Schwarzwald Hochstrasse) and its circular extension to the “Kingdom of the Cuckoo Clock.”

A drive along this road reveals some of Germany’s most beautiful scenery. As I passed the vineyard and orchard fringe south of Baden-Baden, the dark crests of the forest’s conifers came into view. Mass logging had damaged patches of the forest’s pines and firs at the time of my tour. Storm Lothar also damaged the ecology of the forest in 1999.

A couple of kilometers away, I was intrigued by the walking tracks that ran through the dense forest. As I backtracked and drove a kilometer or so off the Crest Road, I found myself at the portal of the luxurious Schlosshotel Buhlerhohe, a castle turned into a hotel, which provides 45 acres of private park grounds for its guests to indulge in jogging, golfing or just playing in the woods. Not too far away is the Badener Hohe, a popular destination for hikers.

I stopped at Mummelsee to see the small dark lake at the Hornisgrinde (1,164 m), the highest peak of the Northern Black Forest. Between Mummelsee and Ruehestein, the Crest Road circles the upper reaches of the Seebach Valley, then finds its way through a plateau region and the Forbach Valley to Freudenstadt.

I stopped in Freudenstadt, which is strategically located on a high plateau at the confluence of all the main roads in the Northern Black Forest. I visited the town’s marktplatz, its showpiece, and the 17^th century church with identically domed belfries.

My research failed to yield a definitive answer to the question why this natural treasure of Germany is called the Black Forest. However a native of the region expatiates:
The Black Forest is called black because of  [its] special trees [identified as “Tannenbaum.” You might know this from the Christmas song [“O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum”]. They are so dense that the light cannot really get through […] the really dark green of the Tannenbaum [creating the illusion of the color] black.

 Fairy-tale scenery

Then I moved on to explore the “Kingdom of the Cuckoo Clock.” Cuckoo clocks originated in this region of Germany. Triberg native Franz Anton Ketterer built the first cuckoo clock. Ketterer’s clocks soon became popular and many other people in the Black Forest began making them. In the early 1800s, the region had more than 600 cuckoo-clock makers. The only memento I brought home from this tour was a cuckoo clock, which I bought for DM25 at Titisee the next day.

Proceeding southeast, I tarried at Alpirsbach to see the abbey some have described as “the most important Romanesque building in the Black Forest.”

At Schiltach, I admired the wooden gabled houses and old inns. I found fairy-tale scenery along the way to Wolfach, the town with an unusual vista because of its confinement between a mountain and a bend in the Kinzig. (Triberg is 23 km south of Wolfach.)

However, I was disappointed that on my tour I did not encounter any of the fauna unique to the Black Forest—the Hinterwalderberg cows, the Lumbricus badensis giant earthworms, or the breed of horses called Black Forest Foxes—although I faintly recall a few eagles and owls swooping overhead.

 Freiburg im Breisgau

Finally, I drove southeast along the Elz Valley to Freiburg im Breisgau (population 217,600—an increase of more than 40,000 since 1992), my destination for the night. After arriving at 6 p.m., I had no time or energy to tour the city. I stayed overnight at Jugendherberge Freiburg Kartäuserstr. 151.

I spent the morning of my last day in the Black Forest exploring Freiburg, which literally means “free city.” Set among vineyards, this old university city has a unique gutter system called the Bachle­­­­—narrow brooks of swift-flowing water that run along the streets and alleys. The Bachle was a city planning idea in medieval times to carry away the sewage and ensure a supply of fresh water.

The city is also known for the Freiburg Munster, a medieval Gothic cathedral adorning the largest square in the old city. This square resembles an Oriental bazaar with stalls protected by cotton umbrellas or makeshift awnings, on which are piled newly picked vegetables, fresh fruit, fish, tripe, poultry, honey and flowers.

Some historical buildings grace the south side of the cathedral across the square: the Archiepiscopal Palace (1756), the Kaufhaus (1524) and the Wenzingerhaus (1761).

This flourishing city has many more attractions and features than what a passing journalist can see in half a day. I had to be in Stuttgart in the evening after completing my tour of the Wienstrasse and the Schwarzwald.

I left Freiburg about 11.30 a.m. and headed east on B31across the southern Black Forest to Titisee and Donaueschingen. As I reached the ski-jumping resort of Hinterzarten, the 1,493-meter Feldberg, the highest peak in Germany, was majestically staring at me at close range. The lovely lake at Titisee called for a stop and enticed me to buy a cuckoo clock. One of the goals of this tour was to see the source of the Danube—the Donauquelle. I achieved that goal in Donaueschingen, where I saw the confluence of the Brigach and the Breg to form the Danube. A 19^th century circular fountain officially marks the source of the Danube, Europe’s second longest river (2,850 km), after the Volga. The Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau) has become a romantic vision of the European life world. The waltz that Johann Strauss II composed in 1866 bearing that rubric “has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire” (Wikipedia).

I left Donaueschingen about 3.30 p.m. headed for Stuttgart, 124 km north on Autobahn 81in the Neckar Valley. This road marks the eastern bounds of the Black Forest. Stuttgart, where I spent the night, lies parallel to the northern limits of Schwarzwald.

On this tour, I spent two more nights in Germany—in Heilbronn and Frankfurt. The highlight of these two days of leisurely travel was a visit to the Heidelberg Castle (Schloss Heidelberg), the earliest structure of which was built before AD 1214. Although it was expanded into two castles in the late 13^th century, a lightning bolt destroyed the upper castle in 1537. A second lightning bolt destroyed the rebuilt structures of the castle in 1764. Wars and fires also affected the state of the castle. In short, it has been a very unlucky castle. Today, the hall of the castle is used for various festivities. During the Heidelberg Castle Festival in the summer, the courtyard becomes the venue for open-air musicals, operas, theatre performances and classical concerts.

Next: An Australian Adventure

(The writer is professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead.)

Figure 1: The 65-km Black Forest Crest Road (Route B500) runs from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt, where the 90-km “Kingdom of the Cuckoo Clock” Road (Route B294) takes over all the way to Freiburg. A=Baden-Baden, B=Mummelsee, C=Ruehestein, D=Freudenstadt, E=Alpirsbach, F=Schiltach, G=Wolfach, H=Freiburg im Breisgau, I=Titisee, J=Donaueschingen

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 .  Canada

February 6, 2010

Your Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa President of Sri Lanka

Temple Trees, Colombo Sri Lanka.

Your Excellency:

With your busy daily schedule I doubt you have time to read the local newspapers, but, however your morning briefing notes would have flagged the concerns brought to your attention and all Sri Lankans by journalist Malinda Seneviratne in his article ‘Do you know how Kanneliya celebrated Independence Day, Mr. President?”

In brief, a two-bit Minister from the Southern Province had arrived for a meeting to the Kanneliya Forest Reserve facilities. Before his arrival his thuggish movers and shakes who had arrived ahead of this Minister has thrown their weight around bandying his name, got drunk, beat the hell out of the 25-year veteran Forest Ranger who had been taken to the Udugma Hospital after the beating. They had beaten a villager mercilessly who had come to the defence of this Forest Ranger. And this victim has been scared to lodge a complaint with the police or seek treatment in a hospital for his many wounds. This silence should be a concern to you as much as it concerns me.

The manhandling of Sunil Ranaweera, the Forest Ranger, doesn’t look good for the Ministry, Sri Lanka nor you as the President of our “democratic” island.

Sunil, we have been told is an excellent custodian of that patch of land and its indigenous fauna and flora, who seems to care for the land much more than that Minister and his entourage of thugs who had gone about abusing the Forest Ranger as if they were the owners of this patch of land and not visitors.

But what I gleamed reading this article was the pain that Malinda Seneviratne had gone through as a father and a passionate lover of this rich ancient kabook land that he stands on and who wants to preserve it for his children and their children. And my heart says that you too as a father and the surrogate father of all the children of Sri Lanka feels and shares Malinda’s pain.

All what had happened on February 4th isn’t nice Your Excellency. It is time that you rein in these “Umba…Ado…pado..” thuggish, arrack breath Ministers and parliamentarians who throw their weight around and read them the Riot Act. Let’s see that you put a stop to this boorish nonsense as that has no place in our much loved and cultured Sri Lanka.

The bottom line is, the Forest Ranger Sunil Ranaweera and that villager need an apology from that Minister from the South. There shouldn’t be any ifs and buts.

Your Excellency, please pass on to these boorish parliamentarians what you and I were inculcated with as youngsters at our Alma Mater, Nalanda – ‘Apadana Sobini Pangna’ : “Wisdom Beautifies Character.”

Yours sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe

Mahinda weerasinghe -Author of. Mission to Oslo

(UD – Norwegian Foreign office)Translated version of the attached Article appeared in NY TID 5. – 11 February 2010. Page 43 -IN Norwegian it was called “Norsk fallitt pa Sri Lanka” Translated this would mean “Norwegian collapse in Sri Lanka”

The voter turnout for the Sri Lankan presidential election may have been as high as 80 percent, according to election officials.

The Asian international monitors who were in Sri Lanka to oversee the election concluded that the presidential elections on Tuesday were conducted in a free and fair manner.

Incumbent President Rajapaksa ended up with a tally of 6.02 million (58.16 per cent) against 4.12 million or 39.89 per cent received by Gen Fonseka. The 39 percent voter mass mainly consisted of Tamils, Muslims, Christians (mainly Catholics), and the merchant class of all ethnicities. Thus we can safely assume that the Sinhalese Buddhist chauvinists voted en block for the sitting President.

Considering the fact that it has only been just eight months since the defeat of the Catholic LTTE terrorists by the Island nation; it was no mean achievement. The western countries, and especially Norway, the NGO’s such as Human Rights Watch who did their utmost to protect the LTTE terrorist leadership from being eliminated in May 2009, has being working overtime to block the stabilization of the Island nation.

 For an example they strived to block the loan from the IMF at a time when Sri Lanka was as affected as any other country by the global recession. They suspended the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences, a trade arrangement through which the EU provides preferential access to the EU market (GSP) to Sri Lanka. By this EU hoped that it will help their candidate in the electoral process.

This extreme antipathy to Mahinda Rajapakse government is reasonable.  MR and his government had blocked the neo colonial forces interference in the internal affairs of the nation at every turn. This was not an easy thing for the  neo–colonists to digest.

Indeed some time before the elections, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Report blatantly stated that, ‘A regime change is considered imperative; Rajapaksa must go’.

In fact with the extermination of the LTTE terror leadership; the Tamil Diaspora brought some bizeer accusations to the fore.

In an open debate on national Norwegian TV, the LTTE proxies challenged Raymond Johansen (State secretary of the Norwegian Foreign office). They were demanding to know “What has Norway done for them ever”. The LTTE placards outside the Parliament (stortinget) of Oslo made this accusation were more explicit. ‘Norway’ these declared ‘has not carried out its pledges’.

Norwegian man on the road wondered, what was this unwritten ‘understanding’ they have not fulfilled. Have the UD bureaucrats given assurances to the racist Tamil terrorist that they would chop Sri Lanka up and give them a major part of the Island to create their ghetto Elam state?

Now the LTTE jokers are demanding that Norway and the west fulfill their pledges and deliver!

Christians such as Kjell Magne Bondevik, Arne Fjørtoft, Jon Wesborg, Vidar Helgesen, and Erik Solheim should be requested to spell out what these pledges given to the Jaffna Tamil Catholic church (Synonymous with LTTE) were, so Norway can in time fulfill those pledges. After all, a word is a word.

Perhaps in order fulfill a part of such pledges the parliamentarian from National Freedom Front (NFF) MJ Muzamil, MP was offered a 30 million rupee bribe to defect. Muzami claimed that the money has come from the US and Norwegian embassies. Indeed in order to validate this charge the 30 million rupees were spread out on the table for everyone to see, a huge sum by any Sri Lankan standard. Now the bribery and corruption commission will take charge of the money, and if the accusation is flash then they are bound loose a huge sum of money. 

Indeed “The accusation is untrue and totally unacceptable, Norway has never – and will never – interfere in an election in another country,” the Norwegian embassy declared. This made me curious to an extraordinary reality: this being the first time the Norwegian foreign office denied publicly to any wrong doing. Now I wonder why.

Peculiar thing about the democratic electoral process is, one person has only one vote to cast.  But Human Rights Watch which is the the mouthpiece of the Tamil terrorist organization LTTE is interpreting the election result as “anti-Tamil”.  Do they mean that Sri Lankan majority should vote for the division of their country in order to create a ghetto Eelam state where undiluted Jaffna Tamils can reside?

Indeed through its helplessness to manipulate the 2010 election in Lanka, the UD had lost its last chance to destabilize the Island.  

As far as the Norwegian Public is concerned they can look forward to two positive blowbacks from the election results, their money cannot be covertly utilised for “mediating peace” in Sri Lanka , and the Paradise Island has opened up to them to tour without LTTE suicide bombers lurking  in every street corner. Norwegian friends of Sri Lanka must be jubilant for the positive news coming out of Lanka at the moment.

Ananda W. P. Guruge

The death of Sri Lanka’s most eminent and renowned and deservingly legendary surgeon, Desamanya Dr. P. R. Anthonis, within days of reaching the hundredth birthday, engulfed thousands of his friends and well-wishers in depths of sorrow. We have all been beneficiaries of his superior talent as a healer and his remarkable generosity and example as a human being. It is but natural, therefore, that praise for and appreciation of his notable services should accompany our heartfelt condolences to his family and relatives.

I consider it my duty as a close friend and admirer of Dr. Anthonis to highlight an aspect of his many-splendored personality, which endeared him to several generations of his associates. He was a man of letters whose love for literature – especially modern Sinhala poetry of all forms – and Sri Lankan history and culture was deep-seated. He read widely and with his remarkable memory could quote appropriately from both classics and folklore.

My first meeting with him has left an indelible memory. It was a time of extreme anxiety for me. The surgeons in Kandy had come to the conclusion that my mother’s life could be saved only by the amputation of her right leg. I was so upset and desolate that my brother-in-law, Dr. Alick A. Jayasinghe, then Acting Director of Health Services, and one-time student of Dr. Anthonis took me early morning one day to his clinic in what was then called Turret Road. The tall, handsome and fair-complexioned doyen of surgeons received us most courteously. By his name and appearance, I took him to be a person of European descent. The two doctors discussed my mother’s case in their medical jargon in which the frequent use of the word “necrosis” conveyed to me the gravity of my mother’s problem. Dr. Jayasinghe was asked to get in touch with the doctors in Kandy.

While he was on the telephone, Dr. Anthonis switched on to Sinhala and asked me, ” Do you really think that the new form of blank verse in Sinhala introduced by G. B. Senanayake has a future?” To say that I was surprised beyond imagination would be an understatement. Why ask me that question? I thought. But he provided the answer. He had read an article I had contributed a few years ago as a student to the Sinhala Society Journal of the University on “Nisades Kavi” (meterless poetry). As we discussed the subject, my admiration for him as a purveyor of knowledge on Sinhala literature grew. His leisure time hobby was the study of Sinhala poetry. The result was instant friendship, which had lasted over five decades. Of course, he saved my mother’s leg and she could walk up to her death thirty years later.

A bigger surprise awaited me when I called on him to thank him. He produced from his drawer a bulky anthology of Sinhala folk poetry which he had compiled over years and neatly hand-written in his own pearl-like letters. He must have read it many times over. He could turn to whatever poem he wanted in seconds. Out meeting which turned out to be a prolonged literary discussion went on well past his time for lunch. I tried to excuse myself and his response to me was in verse:

“Sastre daenagat veda-mahatunta
Gostare naetiveyi  hari  velavata”

(A physician well versed in his knowledge
Never would have his meals in time)

He also recited a series of verses exchanged between his father and maternal grandfather. So poetry was nothing new to the Anthonis family.

How very intensely he had pursued his hobby. I was flattered that he had read and remembered much of my writings on the subject long before we met. Coming to know each other and sharing a common interest in all aspects of the national culture, he proved to be an exceedingly effective motivator for me to pursue my interest in writing. We met quite often. Hardly had he missed any of my TV, radio or public presentations. The day I retired from the Ceylon Civil Service in search of new pastures abroad, he was at the airport to see me off. Even when the plane was late by several hours he would not leave and that was at the height of his career when he was the most sought-after surgeon in the Island.

He had been a most remarkable correspondent whose letters were both newsy and stimulating. His last letter just a few months ago was on aerial vehicles in literature and folklore. He was asking me whether Wariyapola could really mean an airport. Age and professional engagements never dimmed his love and admiration of national literature, history and culture. Many an audience at several book launching ceremonies I have had in Colombo were thrilled to find this outstanding man of science and medicine speaking on literature and history with confidence and insightful mastery.

The day Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated, Dr. Anthonis came on the national radio to give the nation a medical bulletin on the Prime Minister’s condition. Repeating “Attanagalla” thrice with emotion, he drew the attention of the listeners and proceeded to announce the sad news with parallels in history. His oratory in both English and Sinhala was excellent. His interest in education was life-long. His period of service as the Chancellor of the Colombo University was marked by devotion and involvement. He did not treat his position to be purely ceremonial.

It is such a rare man of manifold talent and dedication that the nation lost with the death of Dr. P. R. Anthonis. May his journey in Samsara be short and may he attain the ultimate bliss of Nibbana.

Ananda W. P. Guruge

Ananda De Costa

The following is an extract from some recent news article written by a critic of Singapore.

“Dr Chee Soon Juan, Singapore’s most prominent  opposition leader and human rights defender, is again in prison, along with his colleague Gandhi Ambalam. In December 2009, they were found guilty under the Miscellaneous Offences Act of distributing pamphlets during the 2006 election that were critical of the ruling People’s Action Party, an action for which they had no permit. They were sentenced to a fine of S$1000 or one week in jail. The Deputy Public Prosecutor stated that it was not the distribution per se that was illegal, but rather the fact that the content was critical of the government.”

Dr.Chee was a university lecturer and a much more decent man than our average politician.  Unfortunately he got caught claiming taxi fare of $20 which he did really not spend, some 10 years ago. That time he was (rightly)  critical of the Singapore government.

From late seventies Sri Lankan and Sri Lankan politicians have been considering Singapore as a role model. Our stupid head politician even asked advice from this economical competitor (according to Lie Kuan Yew- may not be true).  It was the time Singapore Government wanted to emulate Israel. Realising the danger, (sensitivity of Muslims and surrounding countries) they quickly changes the mentor country to Switzerland. They set up goals to catch up economically and socially with the richest country of the world.

Singapore’s Lie Kuan Yew wrote a book explaining what happened to the countries in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, because of the racial politics. There are a lot of lies in these stories (at least on Sri Lanka)  and it is not a lie to say that Singapore itself reverted to racially biased polices and succeeded. This is possibly one of the few counties where loud speakers cannot be used for morning Muslim prayers. They simply passed laws that no religious places should make noises early morning. Singapore is not the country to follow as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. Nevertheless there are lessons we can learn from Singapore. There is law and order in Singapore, not second to any other country.

Let us revert back to Sri Lanka now.

“People’s President” (reject) Fonseka is howling loud to get attention from international community. He considers himself as “People’s President”. Who are the “people” ? Eelamists , Ranil’s good old friends ( Ranil won 4 million votes is 2001 election) and a very few innocent childish Lankans( out of ignorance)  who thought they could help stop corruption and voted for a change are the people.

The bourn again Prabhakaran uses the same tactics as the original smuggler turned killer. He cannot even see that the votes he won were not his, but belong to Ranil and Sampanthan. ( Somawansa is not even worth a single vote.) He has no original ideas but all his words are borrowed from his mentors web site, Tamil Net. He cannot talk without the words “international community”.

He is not going to earn any votes hiding behind the big looser. He is the deputy to the pimp who sold mother Lanka. He has no guts to contest under his own NDF (Non Democratic Front), fearing loss of deposit. His only God is “International Community” or International Corruption Bureau.

What we need is proper laws now. We cannot allow world’s worst thugs to disturb the peace. Lie Kuan Yew once said “what will they do ? They riot ? Riots will be put down.” As Gota rightly said, the law is the answer.

Poor Dr. Chee was caught for $20 taxi fare. Why cannot Sri Lanka catch and jail thieves who claimed much bigger taxi fares ?

Which country with a democratically elected government allows few unruly citizens to demand foreign invasion? Which country allows Jungle New Papers and unqualified news paper hooligans fashionably called “journalist” to publish fabricated and exaggerated stories to create unrest?  Which country allows foreign missionaries to convert citizens from their 2500 years old religion?

We need laws and we need a judiciary system which acts fast to stop this nonsense.

Before it is too late.

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

හුම්මානේ හරිම ලස්සන තැනකි. එම ස්ථානයට දේශීය හා විදේශීය සංචාරකයින් පවා යන තරමට එම ස්ථානය ප්‍රසිද්ධ බවත්, එම පලාතේ ජනතාවට ඒ හේතුවෙන් අමතර ආදායමක් ලබා ගත හැකි තත්වයක් උදාවී ඇති බවත් අපට ඇසේ. එය බලන්න යන සමහර අය අවට පරිසරය පුරා, තමන් කෑමෙන් හා බීමෙන් පසු ඉතිරිවන දෑ විසුරුවා, පලාතම ගද ගස්සන බවත් අපට ඇසේ. ඒ ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාසීන්ගෙන් තුනෙන් පංගුවක ආත්මීය පුරුද්දයි. දැඩි ආදරයකින් වෙලුන ආදරවන්තයින් එකිනෙකාට තුරුළුව හුම්මානේට පැන මියයන බවක්ද අප අසා ඇත්තෙමු. මේ හුම්මානේ ජාතියට හඩගා කියන පණිවුඩයක්ද ඇත්තේය. ගල් දෙබොක්කාවේ මුහුදු රල වැදෙමින් හඩ තලමින්, තල් කදක් සේ ජල කදක් අහස දෙසට එල්ල කරමින් අඛණ්ඩව අපට කියන පණිවුඩය, වන්නේ මේ පරිසරය පවිත්‍ර කර, මහා සංචාරක හෝටල් පද්ධතියක් ඉදිකර බහුතරයක් විදේශීය සංචාරකයින්ගේ දෘෂ්ඨි වින්දනය සදහා පරිසරය සකස් කරදෙන්න යන පණිවුඩය නම් නොවේ.

මේ පුංචි හුම්මානේමහා කාර්යයක් කිරීමට අපට බල කරයි.  මුලු මහත් ජාතියටම මුහුදු රළ පාලනය කරගෙන කුඩා සිදුරකින් මහා ජල කදක් ඉහලට විදිය හැකි බව ආකර්ෂණීය ආකාරයකට පෙන්නා දෙයි. මේ ආකාරයට කෘතිමව තවත් හුම්මාන නිර්මාණය කල හැකි බව දැයට උගන්වයි. තවද මුහුදු වෙරළ දිගේ සුදුසු ස්ථානයන් වල සරල රේඛීයව එකිනෙකට සමාන්තරව, මීටර් දෙකේ පරතරයන් සිටින සේ, කෘතිම හුම්මානයන් සියයක් වුවද ඉදිකල හැකි බව මේ හුම්මානය, පවසන තවත් පණිවුඩයකි. එසේ ඉදිකලහොත් මෙරට සිටින අගනා බුද්ධිමත් තරුණ පෙල, ඒ සෑම සිදුරක් ලගම ටර්බයිනයක් සවිකර අනාගත ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආලෝකමත් කරන බවද පවසා සිටී.

Ben Silva

I am referring to the media report that India is to open a consulate in Jaffna.

Indians are treated with respect and affection by most Sri Lankans. The

Sinhalese are fully aware that their ancestors, religion, language, dress etc came from India.. However the destruction of the Sinhala civilisation is attributed to invasions from South India. We also must never, and I do mean never forget that India, trained, funded and supported the Tamil racist terrorists that caused massive death and destruction in Sri Lanka, which took over 30 years to neutralise. There is absolutely no threat from Sri Lanka to India but there has been death and destructive forces that originated from India

It is generally well known that consulates are used for spying, information gathering and also for creating instability. Already our Government has foolishly allowed Tamil Nadu academics to teach IDPs in the North. Racist comments by Tamil Nadu academics and Politicians, supporting the division of the country have also been reported in the media.

In deed, the permission to open a consulate in Jaffna, is similar to signing of the infamous CFA, a start to the end of Sri Lanka.

This very serious threat from India has to be taken very seriously and the Govt. should be lobbied to stop this madness before it becomes irreversible.

 The step to open a consulate looks very innocent. It is a cunning plan to divide and conquer Sri Lanka. It is a very crafty move, to appease the TAMIL TIGER TERRORIST SYMPATHISERS in Tamil Nadu, and create a LITTLE INDIA, in the Jaffna Peninsula (Ack. Susantha Wijesinghe ) I believe the Indian threat is so serious that Tamil Nadu academics should not be allowed to teach the IDPs. If any assistance from India is obtained, it should be for all Sri Lankans and should not be on an ethnic, or racist basis.

 We are to lucky to have citizens such as Susantha who spotted the danger and made comments. We have already lost a large part of our only homeland and most of our coastline to invaders and if we stay idle, then in a matter of time we lose our only homeland. Already signs are there that we are gradually losing our only homeland in the world.

By Dr. Stephen Long, Los Angeles, California

My last article about Sri Lanka was entitled, “Is Sri Lanka Crazy Enough to Elect a Retired General as President?” Yesterday’s election answered that question with a resounding “No!” It actually answered a number of questions with a resounding “No!” Here are a few of those questions:

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who was a convicted rapist, serial womanizer, and alleged wife beater?” That’s what I like: a role model for the nation’s youth.

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who was a national hero last May, and became a traitor in November?” Another inspirational role model for the kids.

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who was duped into being a puppet for the traitor Ranil, the next ‘Executive Prime Minister,’ according to his statement during a recent interview on GTV, a Tamil network in Europe’?” He thought no one was watching.

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who, in his ignorance of geography, offered free land that doesn’t exist for every newborn – forever?” Come on, General, do the math!

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who is so arrogant and fiscally-irresponsible (not to mention patronizing) that he would promise high raises for everyone in the country – in both private and public sectors?” Once again, General, do the math!

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who had a son-in-law who, under his aegis, illegally sold weapons to both the LTTE and the Army – and pocketed millions for the family coffers?” Do I hear the word “hypocrisy” anyone? Kinda makes me laugh – or hiccup – or is that “Hicorp”?

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who tried to bribe MP’s in order to gain their support?” This is so hypocritical it makes me want to roll around on the floor.

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who threatened to put his own officers in jail because they came forward with embarrassing information against him?” Earth to General: read Dale Carnegie.

 “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who lied when he said the Defence Secretary gave orders to kill LTTE cadres who waved the white flag?” Someone quickly get the fire extinguisher; the General’s pants are blazing!

 This last question is the most critical: “Is Sri Lanka willing to elect someone as President who, because of backroom promises, would leave the barn door wide open for the LTTE to re-group and start the terrorist war all over again?”

 There are many more questions like this – the list is a long one – to which the electorate wisely said “No!”

In a conversation I had this morning with my wise, analytical, and insightful friend, Ven. Maitepe Wimilasara, he said, “Fonseka’s defeat is the final end of the war with the LTTE. They’re finished for good.” I have to agree with him. If Fonseka had won the election the horror would have begun again, and we wouldn’t have President Rajapakse to defeat them. A resurgence of the LTTE would have been pure delight for the Diaspora supporters overseas, the Tamil Nadu political leadership, and the LTTE remnant still licking its wounds and hiding somewhere in Sri Lanka – just waiting for the right opportunity to pounce. Sorry Charlie; no more pouncing.

 Yes, I believe it’s finally over, and we’re all grateful beyond measure.

 I offer my heart-felt congratulations to President Rajapakse for winning his re-election – just as I congratulated him for winning the war against the terrorists when I was in Sri Lanka last May. I know the President to be a good man who is just, fair, highly-intelligent, and sincere about his love for the people he is privileged to govern.

 By the way, I have a list of important questions for him, too. I hope he will answer “Yes!” to all of them very soon, and not be offended by my asking.

 “Mr. President, are you willing to really put a stop to corruption in your administration – I mean really stop it?”

 “Mr. President, are you willing to give key Government positions to men and women who are truly qualified – and fire people you hired for purely political reasons, like the accountant in charge of the Central Bank, and the Mercedes-betting gangster at the Labor Ministry who is a constant source of embarrassment for you?”

 “Mr. President, are you going to arrest Fonseka’s son-in-law and see that he is tried for illicit weapons trading – and prove that Fonseka was behind the whole charade?”

 “Mr. President, are you willing to mend fences with the Western Powers by allowing appropriate investigations for alleged war crimes, and claims of abuses of power and interference with the media?” I admired you for sticking to your guns last May and insisting that the Western Powers mind their own business. It’s time now, though, to shake hands and work it out.

 Finally, “Mr. President, are you willing to respond calmly and wisely the next time you are confronted by Fonseka and his misguided and mismatched political cronies?” I ask this question because they are not going to go away just because they lost an election. Ranil, for one, has had a taste for power and has proven that he will stop at nothing to get it back.

 In conclusion, I am confident that President Rajapakse will have “Yes!” answers to all of these important questions, and that the next six years of his administration will bring peace, prosperity, and many tourists to your beautiful land. After all, nearly 60% of the electorate gave him this mandate with these expectations.

By Janaka Alahapperuma

President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived at Vinukoa International Airport in Moscow today (6th February) for three day official visit to Russian Federation.

This afternoon President Rajapaksa will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the People’s Friendship University of Russian Federation (PFU), formally known as Patricia Lumumba University for his contribution for world peace and outstanding success against defeating terrorism. The PFU is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and to mark this special occasion it has been decided to award the Honorary Doctorate to the Sri Lankan President. After the award ceremony a special reception will be held at the Great Kremlin Concert Hotel in Moscow.

During President Rajapaksa’s three day official visit, there will be a bilateral discussion with his counterpart President Dimithri Medvedev. He is also scheduled to hold talks with former President and the present Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, other government officials and the business community.

 The delegation includes Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa,Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama,Minsters Prof.G.L Peiris, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, MP Wimal Weerawansa and the Secretary to the President Mr.Lalith Weeratunga.

Sri Lankan Ambassador for the Russian Federation Mr Udayanga Weeratunga was present at the Moscow airport to welcome the President and his team.

(Pix By: Sudath Silva)

Ananda Ariyarathne

When Mr.Alagaratnam wakes up in the morning, he does not miss his tea made in the traditional manner it is normally made in Jaffna and his wife who was sharing the burdens in life together bringing up their children has not become changed simply because they have now been living in Colombo for quite some time. Being staunch Hindus, they have their lives strictly controlled by the traditional rites and customs. They have their own relations and friends in the same communities, but live in Colombo just like them. The friends they have among Singhalese and Muslims are the only things that can be seen as outside typically and traditionally outside their way of life.

In spite of the damage caused by LTTE and Prabhakaran they lived where they are even now only with the fear , because of their roots that they might be harassed by the security forces every time a bomb went off killing mostly non-Tamil people. But nothing drastic happened except for some stories about some Tamil people were arrested on suspicion. But that was something even Prabhakaran did in those areas and all those who lived there know that he and his security men were more brutal.

Now that Prabhakaran is no more how light all the people feel and how easy it has become for all the people to live without fear, hidden antagonism and uncertainty. All must realize that what matters is peace. The peace to live without fear. Peace to have self respect and freedom to select a way of life for sustenance.

Historically, in Sri Lanka the people we have are biologically one type. We are a mixed nation biologically and we are different only in the languages and cultural features. We are one people divided by two languages and two cultures. A typical Singhalese farmer walks in a street in Jaffna wearing a traditional waisty with religious marks on the forehead given as blessings when the temple was visited would not look different from a real Tamil citizen of this country and that is proof enough that we are the same people who got distanced through years of geographical distancing due to isolation. That made people to feel as if they are different.

The greatness of rulers varied from time to time and all the people had and have reasons to be proud about great leaders. Starting from the so called first king of Singhalese people, in the recorded history, the relationship with the Tamil Culture was there. Prince Vijaya got his queen and for his seven hundred followers seven hundred noble ladies from Mudurai, a place in present day Tamil Nadu. Even the Singhalese who were left behind when those areas came under Tamil rulers who came from South India from time to time, settled down and got mixed.

The existence of Singhalese people even during Prabhakaran’s fanatic anti-Singhalese proves this fact. The last King Sri Lanka had was not a Singhalese by birth but he lived like one and it is said that he was known to be a great poet too. Singhalese do not hesitate to name him as the last Singhalese King of Sri Lanka.

When the Singhalese and Tamils had one common ruler, and they stood together and fought for freedom .It became complicated only when Local Politicians tried to live in the history, thinking about the glory in the past. That is what started distancing the people. It was a problem with the armchair politicians who did politics as a pass time over a glass of whiskey.

History is gone and if we try to live in the history, we will never prosper. The best advantage of the history is its capacity to teach those who live today. Carry forward the good things and drop the failures as life is precious and short. In a world where people are more educated and therefore have developed the capacity to become more rational, how can some people try to highlight differences and try to establish and maintain those differences. If they are true leaders, what they have to do is not to establish differences, but to have ways to get rid of such.

It was because of short sighted communal feelings, our society was forced to suffer for more than thirty years. And now all can breathe a sigh of relief and only fading signs of doubts and suspicions still linger on because of narrow minded individuals. Such people exist only as long as they look important. It is they who make the others feel doubtful and look at things with squinted eyes. When they talk about demanding self government, they try to look great in the eyes of the so called beneficiaries. What they do not understand is the simple fact that such a thing shall make others react and cause friction.

Isn’t that a fact that the friction created that way distanced people bringing misery for all. Such leaders do not allow the society to heal the wounds and learn to live with each other sharing what we have ?

It is really refreshing to note, at this moment, there is a special man who is not scared of being criticized and as a fighter who faced more risks than those new generation armchair politicians who complicated matters by not allowing people to settle down. He committed himself as he stood against injustice. When he saw injustice was there in another form even in the system where he had become a key figure but had the courage to take a stand he was bold enough to take a decision. His thinking was not liked by a sadist like Prabhakaran. Knowing that his life was in danger, only choice left was to escape. But he did not escape like a rat and instead managed to make others see reason. Then the other progressive people helped and as a result, peace became possible faster than anticipated. He was a man who could call a spade a spade and he came forward ,set an example to show others what is real is the need for peace and happiness of the people.

In the eyes of the so called fire breathing arm chair fighters may call him a traitor. But if they have the courage to be rational they will tell themselves that he was right. Simply because he changed into an enemy of LTTE and because he has proved himself to be a realistic leader who has a balanced head over his shoulders.

The stand he has taken in going to the extent of calling the Tamil people not be misled by TNA, he does so not because he has become a coward but because he sees the futility in a protracted armed conflict that would bleed the whole society. He is a true Sri Lankan who has not lost his roots. One day the Tamil Community will remember him as an honest man who risked his own life to show a path. He is none other than National Integration and Reconciliation Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan.

He got tired of killings and the aimless way Prabhakaran led his people. When he came in he came in committed, he did not take steps towards reconciliation. He took strides. He proved that he could become one among the others. Prabhakaran became ruthless tyrant who had human feelings only for his family members.

All the others were expendable. Others had to die so that he and his family could live. The way he had lived is not a secret anymore now. When the whole Tamil community was treated as a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered it was, Vinyagamurthi Muralidharan who had the guts to change the thinking. He did it with the force as that was the only language Prabhakaran understood. Other Tamil, except for those who tried to find ways to work together, endorsed what Prabhakaran said. TNA existed by towing that line. They might have thought that they would have lost their dignity if they had to suggest to his community to look for ways to live together.

He knew those leaders better and he knew well that those people could not and did not know to play another tune than breathing “Self Government” and that was in a way showing Prabhakaran that they were on his side. They sang that song for so many years and now they cannot get away.

Let us have a hypothetical situation. Say East and North are merged. Self rule will bring in extremists who would want more and more .They will do that while a large number of people with similar roots are well settled in Colombo and suburbs. They will live physically among Singhalese people and they will be compelled to lean towards the so called self ruled region. This will lead to frustration among Singhalese extremists and they will not keep quiet. The result is an uneasy relationship. Small incidents will grow into big differences. If this is to be explained it will take more time. If people learn to respect each other and live together, where will be the problems ?

Anyway, to put it as briefly as possible. We would have a problem pushed on to us. Is this what we want ? Ordinary people have no problems and what is happening in Jaffna when people from the South visit those regions is the best example. That is how the resources become open. Should not the so called Tamil Community leaders allow innocent Tamil people to live first without pushing a self rule concept. Those people need peace and happiness and to be with their children and relatives.

In that case why these insane people trying to establish differences ? The Tamil people should reject such mentally sick people who call themselves their leaders. It is the same thing that has to be said about Singhalese leaders also. We live in a modern world. At the same time, time even those who Singhalese Leaders who think that Self rule is alright are impractical as we do not live in a hypothetical world. The moment you recognize such a situation, you recognize others rights also to think in the same manner. Where can one draw the line ?

If Singhalese and Tamil people can have equal status what else will they need ?. What do not the Tamil people have now what Singhalese people have ? If one has money, who is going to stop him buying land in the middle of Singhalese areas ? But can a Singhalese do the same in a Tamil area ?

It is in such a frame of mind we must look into what is ahead. Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation. Then cannot a Buddhist Singhalese be born as a Tamil in the other life ? and Vice Versa ? Love thy neighbour is the Christian Teaching and what can be difficult for a Singhalese and a Tamil or a Muslim to live next to each other ? Is not that what is happening in Colombo ? If all can live in a place like Colombo, why is it not possible elsewhere ? Is not this an attitude problem ?. Do we need Prabhakarans and Sampandams to bring solutions. This is why a man like Vinayagamurthi Muralidharan becomes futuristic.

When he said that though the pro-LTTE Tamil leaders want a ‘change’ for their own gain, ordinary Tamils were with President Rajapaksa who gave them a remarkable ‘change’ – peace after ending the 30-year LTTE terror, was not he talking loudly what the ordinary man thinks.

“He is the only leader who ended the 30-year terror within four years of his tenure”, When he said that he is trying to open the eyes of those who are actually not blind but blind folded. What ever, some negative thinkers may think, how moving was it to hear the Sri Lankan President speaking in Tamil ? If the first citizen can do that why cannot others do it ? If that can happen will they become Tamils overnight ? Tamil or Singhalese our cultures will remain in our hearts. When I writer this article in English, will I become an Englishman ?

When Minister Muralitharan invited the people to think ‘why so-called patriots need a change’ while people are enjoying the outcome of the change brought about by President Rajapaksa, he told some naked truth. Thirty years of suffering and stagnation is over.

He said voting wisely was important to defeat foreign influence and also the remnants of the LTTE still trying to drag the Tamils in to the stone-age. Being a person who once believed in LTTE knows more than anyone of us how external forces want this country to be separated. As he is not a fanatic like Prabhakaran,he could see that .

“Presidents and Prime Ministers have come and gone but who gave the leadership to defeat the LTTE? They only knelt down before the LTTE and the West. The only leader, who ignored the Western influence and challenged that the LTTE could be defeated was President Rajapaksa. People should remember this with gratitude”, Minister Muralitharan said without any reservation.

“Tamils in the North and the East know who really brought development to their doorsteps and who strove to bring peace while the international community backed by the Opposition and pro-LTTE Tamil politicians were influencing to halt the military offensives to save Velupillai Prabhakaran. I am sure the Tamils will pay their gratitude for these achievements on January 26 to elect President Rajapaksa for his second term”, he said and added,”I think a great responsibility lies in the hands of the Sinhalese and Tamils in this election as this is the most crucial election after decades”, he said inviting people to support President Rajapaksa to strengthen democracy and to prevent an emerging dictatorship”, he said before the elections and we now know with what happened immediately afterwards, how things had gone wrong.

His aspirations were found to be too wishful as things did not happen exactly like that and that was because of the thinking promoted by communal lines and the promises given by General Sarath Fonseka and the group supporting him. They cared a hoot for people’s well being. They had only one aim and that was to bring President Rajapaksa down and to have mayhem re-established. Minister Muralitharan believed that Tamil politicians in the North and the East were working hard to bring back President Rajapaksa to power but he underestimated the elements working on communal lines.

Minister Muralitharan said that no other Government thought about developing the Eastern province other than Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government. He said a massive development drive was introduced in the East and Easterners got good roads, bridges, electricity and several other development projects for the first time in their lives under the UPFA Government.

Another place where he guessed wrong was when asked whether there could be any impact in securing votes in the East after Batticaloa Mayor Sivageetha Prabhakaran pledged her support for Sarath Fonseka he was confident that President Rajapaksa would secure over 60 percent of votes from Batticaloa and her support for Fonseka would not create any impact as she was not a key politician. She does not have a good vote base in Batticaloa. ” People know how President Rajapaksa supported her and others to enter democracy. She cannot make a big impact”, he said, but there could have been another reason which he did not wish to believe.

By the firm stance taken, Minister Muralitharan has clearly shown where he stands wit regard to North and East Merger issue when he said that it was high time to defeat the sinister moves of the TNA which dreams of a merged North and East. ” I don’t think the TNA would be able to re-merge the North and the East as the JVP who went to courts against merging the two provinces and the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva who gave the final nod to de-merge the North and East are in the Fonseka camp. So, will they allow the TNA to re-merge the two provinces. Its just another pipe dream of the TNA which expected Prabhakaran to rule the Eelam State”.

It is really admirable the way he treated the issue. When he said that it is not only the Tamils but the Sinhalese should also seriously think about these factors before casting their votes , he saw the importance in making both Singhalese and Tamils to start thinking as one and decide on what is best for both.

The role played by Minister Muralidharan was actually the missing link found in bridging the gap. It is the Tamil mindset that has to be educated to stop relying on extremist elements as they brought only misery.

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada

Sri Lanka’s 62^nd Independence Anniversary

Brad Adams
Executive Director 
  Human Rights Watch  
350 Fifth Avenue, 34^th Floor  
 New York, NY 101183299   US

Dear Brad:

I just read in Australian News that you guys had come out with another Report on Sri Lanka embarking on Round 17 of the fight with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the squared circle in front of your building with several hundreds of people witnessing this fight.  Many of them were dark skinned Tamils I was told cheering you along to get bashed more.  I thought they were your friends, Brad!  Not nice.

One spectator told me that when one of your women staff members walked around the squared circle in hot pants and stiletto healed shoes carrying the placard with the words Round 17, the announcement that was carried on the PA system was –

“Sri Lanka’s President is leading 16 to 0 against Brad Adams, the Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch and his face seems bloodied and there is a cut under his left eye…no, correction… there are cuts under both eyes and he is bleeding.

“Sri Lanka has been accused over and over again by Human Rights Watch with alleged indefinite arbitrary detention of more than 11,000 Tamil people held in ‘so-called rehabilitation centres’ and Brad Adams, the Human Rights Watch Executive Director has urged the release of those who are not being prosecuted.

“Sri Lanka has rejected this accusation saying that HRW are a bunch of liars.  They have always been a bunch of liars.  The local human rights group said that there is access to detainees for parents and relatives of the detainees.

“Sri Lanka’s rehabilitation spokesperson said that the Tamils who have not been active as hardcore Tamil Tiger terrorists are being rehabilitated and on January 9, we released 712 detainees after rehabilitation. So these HRW wacko’s are down right liars, he said.  Another some 600 child soldiers are housed in two camps in Colombo and northern Vavuniya he said, and they are receiving education and therapy.  Some 80 percent of all the detainees would be rehabilitated to prepare them for their reintegration into society, the spokesperson for Sri Lanka said. The remaining 20 per cent of the detainees are perceived to be hardcore Tamil Tiger terrorists and are the focus of continuing investigations, he said.”

And there you are Brad, what is it that you guys at HRW do not understand in the above explanation?  No wonder why President Rajapaksa wants to bash you into pulp in Round 17 in the squared circle.

I know when it comes to Sri Lanka you guys at HRW are perpetual trouble makers and God damn liars.

Remember, how your crusader Charu Lata Hogg in her exercise of creative writing told the world in compelling detail what she called the scenes of death and destruction in the Vanni.  “Dead bodies of civilians lie strewn along dusty roads.  Hospitals, play grounds and houses stand ravaged by rockets fired from multi-barrel launchers.”

If Lata Hogg had managed to identify the weaponry used and even noted the dirt under her shoed-feet, readers might be forgiven for believing in her in that bit of creative writing, but the only hitch was that she wasn’t even within 50 kilometers of the conflict zone which the readers weren’t told.  That’s what lies you guys at HRW keep spewing out.

  Do I resent you lot for being such God damn liars and hell bent to destroy a puny island democracy?  I would be lying to you if I say, “I don’t”.

I recall, when I was growing up in Sri Lanka, if I was caught lying, my mother would catch me and get me to wash my mouth with Carbolic soap.  Fortunately for you guys at HRW, my Mum is no longer with us or I would had let her loose with a plane ticket to New York and a dozen cakes of Carbolic soap to have you all frog-marched to the washroom by her and force you all to wash your lying mouths with Carbolic soap suds.

Then you at HRW also pretend that you are bunch of powerful Gods who could play Russian roulette with the lives of the most vulnerable Sri Lankans.

Here is a story about you Brad which is worth repeating.

Sometime last May I believe, there was knock on my door.  I opened it and found two smartly dressed ladies hugging several slim publications with two folio cases slung over their shoulders.  They smiled and I greeted them with a smile.

The older one pushed a small brochure at me and said, “We just want to tell you that there is so much suffering in the world, and there is one person who could help all of us.”  “Who is it?” I asked.

Pointing to the sky, she said, “God”.

“Really….” I responded turning my face to the sky to spot this person. “I never met this person may be because I am a Buddhist”, I continued.

After exchanging some God-thoughts, and I holding back my comments of disbelief, she got out the May 2009 issue of AWAKE, opened to page 15 which had a photograph of a Mammoth skeleton with the title “When Giants Roamed Europe”, she asked, “Do you know about Dinosaurs?  Do you know who created these monsters, because they just did not happen?”  I was amused.

“Have you been to the Museum of Nature, down town?” I asked.   “Yes”, the older one said.

“Have you been the Dinosaur Hall?” I asked.  “Yes”, the older one said again.

“I created that Dinosaur Hall together with two other scientists and a designer.  I know about dinosaurs fairly well, and I believe in evolution,” I said.

The four eyes popped out in disbelief.  “You must be having a lot of credentials!” the older one said in jest.

“I am not sure of that”, I said  “But one thing that I do know for sure is that I do organize Buddhist breathing meditation sessions at the Buddhist Temple on Heron Road.  You should join me for one of those sessions.  It will do you a lot of good”, I said.

The ladies did not accept my invitation and they thanked me for listening to them and they turned around and went their way to knock on the next door.  They were Jehovah Witnesses.

Brad, immediately after meeting with these two ladies I happened to read your letter to the Executive Directors of the IMF on May 13, 2009, telling them “We urge you and other IMF members to delay approval of standby arrangements (of the loan of US1.9 billion emergency support) until the government of Sri Lanka takes the following steps to ease the humanitarian crisis….”

“Oh Man, Oh Man! This man Brad Adams is God”, I thought, who believes he has the power to play Russian roulette with the lives of 280,000 displaced Tamil civilians and other vulnerable Sri Lankans who the Sri Lankan government is trying to do its best to normalize their lives by feeding them, taking care of their health, build shelters to house them, de-mine the surrounding terrain for human safety, build temporary schools for the children, et cetera, and they need funds to do all that..

And along comes God Brad Adam, who thinks he has the power to hold back the normalizing of the lives of the thousands of the vulnerable and suffering Sri Lankan civilians, who fled the clutches of the Tamil Tigers dodging bullets fired at them for abandoning the human shield.  Some were not  so lucky and they caught the bullets and dropped dead.

And I couldn’t see Brad your HRW logic when you all get on your high horses and say to the world that we are Human Rights advocates and at the same time violate the rights of the  most vulnerable with their right to live a decent life.  What you all preach is a crotch full of  crap Brad, and you guys know it too damn well too.

You know Brad, but what I do wish is for those two ladies to turn up and knock at my door, so that I could reveal to them what I discovered.

I would tell them, “Do you know what? You were right.  There is a God, or a pretend God, that I truly met who thinks he has the power to manipulate the lives of 288,000 Tamil civilians and many more other Sri Lankans who are vulnerable and suffering in Sri Lanka.  His name is God Brad Adams and he keeps an eye on humanity from the 34th floor of a building in New York. You should go and meet God, and you can finally say to your congregation that you two finally met God and that he is not in high heaven but on the 34^th Floor of 350^th Avenue in New York.

But my question to you God Adams is, now that you have been knocked and punched by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in that squared circle of yours, when are you going to give up lying about Sri Lanka?  You know you are not going anywhere with your cunning lies to the world to seek more funds for the survival of your HRW and for a pay cheque to put a plate of food in front of your family every day.

Surely, you are not going for a lying Round 17 with another lying 300 page Report on Sri Lanka, with another lying Report and another Lying Round 18 for another fight, are you?  You bet Sri Lanka will take you on, and keep proving that HRW are a bunch of no good primordial liars.

Have a good day God Brad Adams and don’t change the Chanel as you may want to hear from me after the next episode of your next lying Report on Sri Lanka.

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe

Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya Melbourne,

Dear Mr.Murphy

Your support for Pro-LTTE Mob in Federal Parliament!

You are parroting what the pro LTTE mob is propagating. You say Tamil community were discriminated and brutally oppressed, because the Britts did not pave the way to power share with the independence.

 What you fail to see I, that during the period of independence, Britts saw the Tamil population was insignificant to make such a provision, besides the country had peace, harmony & unity, unlike here in Australia where initial settlers annihilated the indigenous population eliminating the issue totally.

 It’s the missionary education in the coastal areas of Sri Lanka that should be held responsible for building mistrust between the two groups providing disproportionate employment for the Tamils. Once this was rectified and the disparity of employment numbers got corrected itself, then Tamils cried foul!

 Sri Lanka offered free education, medical facilities and even subsidized food for the masses. This opened avenues for your Brutally Oppressed Tamils to become Top class Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, and Accountants etc. The ungrateful lot managed to be absorbed to the work force in Australia with less difficulty in comparison to other communities. Then they started to bite the hand that fed them spreading falsehood effectively, capitalizing the gullibility of the unsuspecting Australians with their (pro-LTTE) humble and innocent looks. 

 Where does Australian Indigenous people stand? Are there Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, and Accountants, maybe you could count half way down on the hand if they are lucky! Is this the proud history of 200years of History? Sri Lanka certainly does not fit to your description discriminated and brutally oppressed.

 You are just talking crap just to get the votes to save your seat of Lowe. Even though you take boatloads of LTTE criminals just because they have not cause terrorism here to build your votes, it will take some time for them to support you, in the meantime there is enough Anti LTTE mob here to vote you out.

 Incidentally, though you believe they are innocent, last week three of LTTE supporters were sentenced to jail for financially supporting to purchase war related weaponry, then last may they damaged five grocery shops in Melbourne and threw acid on two students causing severe burns in Sydney, these may escalate with the intake of hard core LTTE.  

 You have to listen to both sides to arrive at a rational conclusion.

 Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya

Melbourne,

Ranjit Wickremeratne

Dear readers it’s not even one year passed since the brutal war was ended but we can see another Prabakaran in Sinhala dress was emerging on our soil and we need to be more careful than before because he is with the same kind of Sinhala terrorists like Tamil terrorists led by Prabakaran. You saw how we faced the 1971 uprising 40 years ago and how many innocent lives was taken by those terrorists who now talking about democracy like hypocrits.

This gang now get together with the Sinhala Prabakaran and trying to take our land by a coup. PRABAKARAN FOUGHT OUR VALLIANT SOLDIERS FOR THIRTY YEARS AND KILLED THOUSANDS OF OUR HEROS IN COLD BLOOD but he never succeded because our country is a buddhist country and Lord Buddha has visited three times and we are protected all times from the enemies of our land. He dreamt a seperate land for his people but in vain he died like a dog for his crimes.

Now our Sinhala Prabakaran who was a hero in the begining become a traitor to his motherland by going against the man who brought him to that very place few years back. Though he got everything for his bravery and be part on finishing the war he had different ideas and plans without the knowledge of his superiors and friends. His sinister plans was openly declared to the public after he gave his resignation from his post. Now his heroism is part of history and he will never be a hero to us Sinhalese anymore.

 Prabakaran was greedy for power and glory and promised his people a fairytale seperate dreamland so this new Parabakaran too was greedy that’s why without retiring like a true hero he decided to take this new adventure. Prabakaran promised his people so many things but never gave so was the Sinhala Prabakaran who promised many things same way Prabakaran did. He agreed to give Tamils what Prabakaran promised in return they gave their valuable vote instead to the man who brought us true Freedom our great leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Destroyer of Tamil people became the saviour of them by promising their dreamland with the calloboration of Tamil and Sinhala traitors to our beloved homeland. Their hate song was ” Mahinda Poda” “Prabakaran Wanga” and observed two miniutes silence on that murderer Prabakaran’s memory. So isnt he another Prabakaran? What is his motives? Does he a uniter or a divider? To me he is divider and a traitor to our Motherland nothing else.If someone promised and signed treaties with the sympathisers and supporters of L.T.T.E.terrorists can we expect good for the country? When our President says that all our citizens whether Sinhalese,Tamil,Muslims,Malays or burghers are same and all are Sri Lankan citizens this Sinhala Prabakaran tries to bring back old memories to our minds by telling lies and lies and singing two different songs to north and south. Thanks to our countrymen except north and east the rest didnt believed on his dreamland.Unfortunately our own citizens in the north and east believed this new Prabakaran in some way and gave their valuable vote thinking that he will become the next President of Sri Lanka.

 Now everything is over Prabakaran or his ghost Sinhala Prabakaran cannot do anthing to our beloved homeland or to his peoples.The liers and traitors were rejected by the people for good of the country.The time is to go forward as a united Sri Lanka and bring Peace and Prosparity to our Motherland. Instead of fighting each other and slinging mud each other We tell the traitors and calloborators of L.T.T.E stop dreaming about your homeland or seperatism just march forward with the President to build a united free SRI LANKA. Now itself decide to whom to give your valuable vote in this coming general elections.

Do not listen to lies and broken promises of this gang of liers Sinhala Prabakaran,Ranil,Somawansa,Avamngala and the rest of the clowns. Just think of your future and your children’s future and the future of our beloved country and use your valuable vote for a decent,uncorrupt,diciplined politicians who can bring good governace to the country. Give our President a strong team to follow thru the big projects he has started around the country to the benefit of our citizens. Do not vote for seperatism or terrorism but for PEACE and PROSPARITY.

WE WILL NOT OBSERVE TWO MINIUTES SILENCE FOR TRAITORS OR MURDERERS BUT WE WILL OBSERVE FOR OUR TRUE HEROS WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES TO BRING FREEDOM TO OUR LAND OF HOPE. The clowns in the opposition can and shout loudly “PODA MAHINDA PODA” but the majority of the citizens of MOTHERLANKA will say “WANGA MAHINDA WANGA” and rule our land of Peace for ever with your vision in Mahinda Chintanaya.

 All the buddhists,Christians,Muslims,Hindus and all the religious sects together with all citizens irrespective of colour,party or race should think of your country first,second and third and work together for a better future without terror or violence. Let’s join hands together and give our President a strong Parliament to govern in Peace rather than a New Prabakaran with ruthless,revengeful,hateful mind. Think wisely and do your duty to the country of birth.May God Bless our citizens.

 May Lord Buddha protects our land from evil enemies.

 Ranjit Wickremeratne

Nadira GUNATILLEKE The Daily News

Sri Lankan State sector hospitals use more modern hi-tech medical equipment than in the United Kingdom. This number is 80,000.

Only 61,000 modern hi-tech medical equipment are used in hospitals in the UK, a survey conducted by the Bio Engineering Medical Unit of the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry revealed, a Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said the survey was conducted on modern hi-tech medical equipment used in Sri Lankan State hospitals since 2005.

Since President Mahinda Rajapaksa became the President, the State hospitals have been using 80,000 modern hi-tech medical equipment.

The Sri Lankan State health sector which offers free health service has been using 19,000 additional modern hi-tech medical equipment than in the UK which has a privatised and well developed health service. China will offer a free healthcare service to the country by 2025.

The Sri Lanka’s State health sector has offered free health service since 1934 and it is 75 years old now. The Government was able to add 80,000 modern equipment to the State health sector with the financial provision of the treasury, INGOs, foreign Governments and other organizations. These modern hi-tech medical equipment include latest MRI scanners, CT scanners, X-Ray units etc.

The Sri Lankan Government spends millions of rupees annually to maintain these equipment and spends Rs 50 million per year to maintain the Linear Accelerator System of the Maharagama Cancer Hospital. Every year the Government increased the amount of funds allocated for the National Health budget by Rs 20 million and last year it was increased up to over 250 billion (for 2010). In addition the Ministry has already built many building complexes for almost all State hospitals and majority of them are over five floors.