Seeking India’s Help Over 13A By Terrorist SupportiveTNA Sounds Feeble Minded.
Posted on June 20th, 2013
In Retrospect By Sarath Kumara
June 21st 2013
In a somewhat asinine perspective the TNA who appear to be losing their foothold in Sri Lankan politics as their terrorist supportive role in the past is gradually coming to light,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ have once again mired themselves in controversy while synonymously attempting to dragƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India into a situation which could embarrass the Indian Administration if it chose to dance to TNA tunes as it involves an issueƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ far removed from IndianƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ jurisdiction and entirely an internal Sri LankanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ matter.
This namelyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ beingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka Not India!!! set in place by a previous adminitration .
This is an issue many political analysts believe was a grave Faux Pas made by the JR Jayawardena administrationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in 1987ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ which not onlyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ risksƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ compromising NationalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Security but also gives false hopes to a miniscule minority within Sri Lanka some of whomƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to all intents and purposes have never given up attempting to divide Sri Lanka using illegitimate means to do so where their call would more rationally be favourable towards being aligned with national unity amongst all Sri Lankans comprising a single unitary state and one leadership.
Hence, at times it seems quite bewildering to theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ rational mind that in the aftermath of almost three decades of an internal illegitimate armed insurrection
by the infamous Tamil Tigers,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ put down by the present administration,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ despite its redundant state they seem toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ live on aided and abetted by the TNA who having gained entry into the political spectrum by some ungainly means as they really should have been stripped of their political rights on the basis of their links to the Tamil Tigers albeit curiously tolerated perhaps by the leniencies and moderation ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ pragmatic President who in all probabilities now
needs to begin calling their shots and confronting them as contentious and detrimental towards the well being of Sovereign Independent SriƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lanka particularly when they start running to the Indian AdministrationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ yelping like a pack of disoriented jackals thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ~quotinfg from some late breaking news reportsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ” India should take ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-measuresƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to ensure that the Sri Lankan government does not succeed in robbing provincial councils of certain powers under the 13th amendment, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We hope that India will take measures to arrest the trend and reverse the process and hold Sri Lanka to its word (of going beyond the 13th amendment),ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ quoting M A Sumanthiran, member of the six-member Tamil National Alliance delegation,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as posted on Indan Express.
In this respect it needs to be made clear thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ neither is Sri Lanka robbing anyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ provincial councils of any powers related to 13A in anyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ verifiable sense as
any related powersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ conjoiningƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ amendmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was never incorporated fully towards implementation,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ nor is there a needƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to arrest any trend or reverse any process beyond reversing the powers allocated to the 13th Amendment at ratification time if applicable or atƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the leastƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ re-structuring itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as it is non Nation friendly and provides platforms forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ secessionary elements like the TNAƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ towards reviving the meticuloisly eliminated Tamil Tigers which some of their supportives including a few flybynight politico sensationalists in Tamil Nadu have sworn to do using the term revival of Tamilealam.
Surely an aberration of the norm which provides all the present freedoms enjoyed by all SriƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lankan citizens including the TNA which therefore becomes a contentious issue if those within this spectrum are attempting to ursurp it for all the wrong reasons involving their own agendas and attempting to involve India where far more pressing issuesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ appear to be an ongoing concern for India to deal with
What Indian Administrators in all probabilities need to realise if they already haven’t is that all the rhetoric emanating from the TNA Camp about devolution of power, non fulfilment of agreements reached towards vesting powers to the Tamil community and the role played by provincial councils towards themƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ are worthless and deemable as null and void on a two pronged basis ~ there are many Tamils who overwhelmingly support the GOSL and repudiate attempts by the TNA to represent them on the basis that they were Tamil Tiger supportives and still are and
there is no felt need towards this call to block the proposed changes to the 13th Amendment( depite it being an internal matter not a real concern for India beyond appeasing its block vote in Tamil NaduƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ relative to the ruling party!)
The vociferous call to abandon or change the venue of the Commonwealth Prime MinistersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ summit also seems a wasted effort which has visible links to the TNA’s agitations over 13 A.
Furthermore from a Sri Lankan StandpointƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Administration has concluded that the Provincial Council System does not really serve the needs of Sri L
anka where there may be other options which primarily revolve around a united Sri Lanka andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamils too are an integral pert of her existence and functioning as there is a strong indication that the PCS too needs to either be re-vamped or discontinued altogether by virtue of its misuse.
June 20th, 2013 at 5:50 pm
My Comment on the Article below:
As a Patriotic Sri Lankan, I second garawi’s comment.
The average Sri Lankan enjoys a much higher standard of living and social equity than the average Indian citizen, despite a 30 year war against Tamil separatists, initiated, funded, and orchestrated by India. With similar cultures & economies at independence, one would have expected no difference today between the two countries; so why is there such a vast difference?
The answer is SIMPLE: The Buddhist mindset of the Majority Community of Sri Lanka has supported and enabled progress in every area leading to the higher economic and social equity. Caste and sex discrimination has vanished, people have attained 95% literacy comparable to advanced Western nations, and enjoy good universal healthcare. Despite what the Eelamist Tamil separatists egged on by Tamil Nadu racists would have you believe, ethnic and religious discrimination has also largely vanished.
An UNDYING DEDICATION to PRESERVING our Sovereignty remains undiminished!
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Garawi’s Comment:
While the India’s poor is starving the govenrment is meddling in Sri Lankan politics and trying to impose their power on her. It will be better to spent time and money to improve the condition at home before preaching to the others.
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Poorest of poor survive on Rs 17 a day in villages: NSSO
By PTI – NEW DELHI
20th June 2013 05:05 PM
Poorest of poor in the country survive on barely Rs 17 per day in villages and Rs 23 a day in cities, as per the latest data released by the National Sample Survey Office today.
According to the data, which relates to 2011-12 (July-June), five per cent population on the bottom rung had an average monthly per capita expenditure (MCPE) of Rs 521.44 in rural areas and Rs 700.50 in urban areas.
On the other end of the spectrum, top five per cent of the population had an MPCE of Rs 4,481 in rural areas and Rs 10,282 in urban areas.
The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 68th round of survey is based on samples consisting of 7,496 villages in rural India and 5,263 urban blocks except some remote areas, during July 2011June 2012, the release said.
On an average on the all-India basis, MPCE was around Rs 1,430 for rural India and about Rs 2,630 for urban India.
“Thus average urban MPCE was about 84 per cent higher than average rural MPCE for the country as a whole, though there were wide variations in this differential across states,” it said.
For the average rural Indian, food accounted for 52.9 per cent of the value of consumption during 2011-12. This included 10.8 per cent for cereals and cereal substitutes, 8 per cent for milk and milk products, 7.9 per cent on beverages, refreshments and processed food, and 6.6 per cent on vegetables, the release said.
Among non-food item categories, fuel and light for household purposes (excluding transportation) accounted for 8 per cent, clothing and footwear 7 per cent, medical expenses 6.7 per cent, education 3.5 per cent, conveyance 4.2 per cent, other consumer services (excluding conveyance) 4 per cent, and consumer durables 4.5 per cent.
June 20th, 2013 at 7:51 pm
My Comment on the Following Article, albeit one year late:
Sinhala regime has committed genocides? When has protecting one’s own people against Separatist Tamil terrorism initiated, funded, praised and orchestrated by India, killing 150,000 innocent citizens over 30 years become genocide?
India is culpable for all the murder and mayhem their surrogates, the LTTE inflicted on our people. Our closest cousins became our worst enemies. Even today, we are still struggling against the Eelamist Diaspora, and the Poison Pill embedded in our Constitution at gunpoint by India (aka 13th Amendment) designed to Balkanize our Motherland into a Patchwork of Racist, Apartheid Bantustans.
India, mired in a multitude of separatist wars and Naxalite terrorism, should mind its own business; it has no valid advice, or moral authority, to offer us when it cannot keep its own house in order.
We will rebuild our country as ONE Indivisible Nation, of ONE Inseparable People, sharing One Indomitable destiny, free of ALL discrimination. India MUST BUTT OUT of Sri Lanka!
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China gains edge in Sri Lanka
By Jayadeva Ranade
NewIndianExpress.com
July 2, 2012
Traditionally close Indo-Sri Lankan ties forged by shared culture and ethnicity and reinforced by history and legend, are showing signs of coming under strain. Partially caused by New Delhi’s failure to provide more forthcoming policy responses to Colombo’s requests, India’s diplomatic influence is now getting eroded. China stepped in to occupy the space and has, of late, begun expanding its presence in Sri Lanka. It is acquiring a meaningful presence in the political, commercial and cultural sectors. It is already influential in Sri Lanka’s defence establishment.
The development assumes significance in the backdrop of China’s uncompromising efforts to secure global acceptance of its pre-eminence in the region, which coincides with India’s shrinking influence in its immediate neighbourhood. The latter could get accentuated following establishment of full diplomatic relations between China and Bhutan and imminent resolution of their boundary issue.
In keeping with the practice followed by it in many countries, Beijing has sought to first exploit the economic and trade route. China’s investments in Sri Lanka, which till 2004, were estimated at under $250 million, increased sharply in the aftermath of the tsunami when Beijing extended assistance of $300 million. There was a noticeable spurt in Chinese lending after the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, with almost $6.5 billion being invested primarily in infrastructural projects. Bilateral trade similarly registered an increase and in the first six months of 2011, totalled $1.28 billion, or an increase of nearly 40 per cent over the previous year.
Already burdened by domestic and external debt in excess of Sri Lankan Rupees 5.5 trillion, Sri Lanka is eager for loans for its projects. China’s loans to Sri Lanka, though, are neither at preferential rates and nor as grants-in-aid, but they do offer a grace period of 4-5 years for repayment. China is learnt to have been pressurising Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to increase government spending on infrastructure to at least 6.3 per cent of the GDP to enable Sri Lanka become a middle income nation. Sri Lanka recently announced that it would spend $21 billion in the period 2012-2015, or 6.5 per cent of the GDP each year. China is expected to contribute more than half this amount. Additionally, in 2011, the China Development Bank Corporation agreed to provide $1.5 billion over a three year period for roads, power plants and irrigation schemes.
Chinese companies have so far bagged at least 14 major infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, making China a major player in Sri Lanka’s development efforts. Chinese companies seem to have an edge and often bypass the tender process emerging suddenly as single bidders. The procedural opacity allows for high cost over-runs.
For example, the project for construction of a 350-metre high transmission and communications tower, on seven and a half acres of prime property along the picturesque Beira waterfront in central Colombo, was awarded to a Chinese company without competition. Construction of the $108 million-tower is being funded by China’s Exim Bank. Apparently prompted by compulsions of ensuring occupancy of the tower and revenues for its owners, the Sri Lankan government has asked the three main telecommunications service providers — Airtel, Etilsat and Dialog — to move into the tower once it is completed. This will additionally facilitate security monitoring of all communications, including by the Chinese company. Interesting, albeit unrelated, is the scandal brewing in Pakistan of a Chinese telecommunications company also emerging suddenly as the sole candidate for supply of a telecommunications trunk system with integrated security-related software.
The Hambantota Port Development project which, according to reliable inputs, was awarded to China while India was still in talks with Sri Lanka, is a prime example including of cost over-runs in projects. China lent $400 million for the first phase of the new port in Hambantota and China’s Exim bank lent $77 million for an oil bunkering facility. The cost of the first phase, originally estimated at $360 million, escalated by $40 million. The total cost of the port’s development, including the oil bunkering facility, is estimated at $600-750 million. It is assessed, however, that the cost would finally exceed $2 billion. High costs have made Hambantota port commercially unviable. To salvage the situation, the Sri Lankan authorities have directed, for a start, that all automobiles be imported only through Hambantota port, resulting in the addition of SL Rupees 40,000 to the cost price of each vehicle.
Lanka IOC’s market share will be affected if China, which has strongly indicated a willingness to invest $2 billion in the Sapugaskanda Refinery Expansion and Modernisation (SOREM) project, is awarded the contract.
Of long term significance are the inroads being made by China’s ‘soft power’. As a first step, China Radio International recently obtained a licence to operate a 24-hour FM Radio channel in Sri Lanka. It is presently broadcasting an hour-long programme in Sinhala each day directly from China via Sri Lanka’s ‘Youth FM’. China Central Television (CCTV) has also decided to telecast Chinese soaps and programmes with subtitles in Sinhalese in addition to the popular Chinese programmes telecast for the past three months by Sri Lanka’s state-owned ITN. An unbearably high rate of tax was simultaneously imposed on Sirisa TV, which used to show popular Indian tele-serials. China’s official news agency Xinhua has plans to expand its operations in the island. Beijing has also increased the number of scholarships for Sri Lankan students and an agreement was signed in October 2011, to establish Confucius Centres across Sri Lanka. The China Institute for Contemporary International Relations, affiliated with China’s intelligence establishment, has proposed a long-term partnership with the Bandaranayake Centre of International Studies.
China’s extensive ties with the Sri Lankan armed forces are expanding. The Sri Lankan government recently signed an agreement with China for the purchase of six MA-60 aircraft at a cost of $105.4 million. China has also indicated interest in a $100 million project for construction of family accommodation for Sri Lanka’s military personnel in the north and east and separately announced a grant of $1.5 million for modernisation of the Defence Services College in Colombo.
India needs to evolve steps to ensure that its influence in the region does not shrink, its foreign policy objectives and national aspirations are not compromised, and its interests are protected. It must, among other measures, capitalise on its inherent advantages and increase its lead as the largest source of tourism, direct foreign investment and export market for Sri Lanka.
Jayadeva Ranade is a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India
June 21st, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Not only should the 13th amendment be abolished but a new amendment put in it’s place that:
-Bans any political party in supporting any terrorist group or seeking foreign assistance on domestic issues
-places most power to the center
-Officially state that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist nation that gives the right to other faiths to function as long as they do not
‘ engage in any separatist plans.
– Denies any conversions to other faiths. But allows conversions to the Buddhist faith.
This would make Sri Lanka a functioning Theocracy with Democratic principles.
June 21st, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Ananda,
That is outdated news. MOST of it never happened.