JAYALALITHA WITHDRAWS HER PARTY DELEGATE FROM TEAM OF MPS TO SRILANKA IN PROTEST
Posted on April 12th, 2012
By Walter Jayawardhana
Tamil NaduƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Chief Minister and and General Secretary ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of the AIADMK Jayalalitha Jeyaram said her party would boycott the 15 member parliamentary delegation scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on a fact finding mission scheduled April 16 arguing it may prove an eyewash .
So, the the parliamentary delegation arriving in Sri Lanka to inspect developmental activities taken up in the island with Indian assistance for resettling and rehabilitating the Tamils displaced by the prolonged war with the LTTE will arrive minus a representative of Tamil NaduƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ruling party.
The Hindu quoting ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a statement by Ms. Jayalalitha said that she had decided to depute Rajya Sabha MP William Rabi Bernard at the request of the Centre, which is sending the delegation to inspect developmental activities taken up in Sri Lanka.
She had agreed to depute a party representative hoping that the visit would help the delegation understand the real situation in Sri Lanka and provide some solace for the Tamils if it were to interact with them.
She was under the impression that the team would be able to identify the flaws in the resettlement and rehabilitation efforts of the Sri Lankan government. However, the itinerary prepared by the External Affairs Ministry provided no opportunity for the team members to interact with the Tamils, she charged.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-On the contrary, priority has been accorded only for meetings and banquets with top Sri Lankan leaders, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The itinerary looks as if the tour itself is a formality and that the agenda has been chalked out by the Sri Lankan government to create a favourable impression for it in India. This view is strengthened by the absence of journalists, human rights activists and independent observers in the delegation,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ she said.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-I think the visit of this delegation will prove an eyewash, as was the case with the 2009 visit of a parliamentary delegation, in which Kanimozhi, daughter of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi, was also a member, and which enjoyed a banquet with Mr. Rajapaksa and received gifts,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ she was quoted as saying.
Ms. Jayalalithaa ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ reportedly alleged that Mr. Rajapaksa had not accepted even the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-soft resolutionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ passed by the UNHRC, had failed to stop attacks on Tamil fishermen by his navy and had plans to represent before the International Atomic Energy Agency against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.
As his government continued to indulge in anti-Tamil activities, evinced no change in attitude towards Tamils, and the delegation had not been given an opportunity to discuss the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-realitiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ with Mr. Rajapaksa, the AIADMK had decided to withdraw its representative from the delegation, she announced.
Recalling that the Assembly had passed a resolution urging the Centre to press the U.N. to declare those involved in genocide in Sri Lanka as war criminals, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that the House had also called sought economic embargo on Sri Lanka until all those displaced returned to their native place to lead a life of dignity. The Centre did not act on this resolution.
It was because of her tough stand that it shed its ambivalence and voted in favour of the US-sponsored resolution condemning Sri Lanka for human rights violations at the UN Human Rights Council, but that too was done only after diluting its tenor. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-I thanked the Centre then because it will be the first step towards Tamils gaining their rights,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ she was quoted having ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ said.
April 12th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
one has to thread carefully in these circumstances as it seems at least current Tamilnadu power brokers wants what LTTE wanted. One urgent step should be to diversify mono ethnic population clusters in the country which are contrary to multiethnic nature of the population. The other is achieving more economic independence which unfortunately has gone in the reverse direction due to largely serving the interest of city folks who contribute very little to the economy and had only a minor hand in liberating the country from terrorism
April 12th, 2012 at 7:54 pm
The woman is the TRASH OF INDIA. The woman was hiding under the trucks during the time of LTTE when Nedumaran, Viko and Seman were trying to kill her. At night she slept under the trucks and buses.
April 12th, 2012 at 9:58 pm
They say seeing is believing. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Direct contact and first hand information is the quickest and easiest way to evaluate a situation. Therefore, is Jayalalitha afraid that her Tamilnadu MPs, if sent to SriLanka, would discover the truth that she had been lying about the living conditions of Tamils in SriLanka, which propoganda she had been dishing out on a daily basis, to mislead her people for cheap popularity and thereby cover up her own shortcomings and failure to elevate the status of Tamils in Tamilnadu to the higher level enjoyed by those residing in SriLanka? Is Jayalalitha embarassed by the benefits, facilities and equality of opportunity enjoyed by the SriLankan Tamils?
April 12th, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Stanley,
Where is the class action against TNA?
Sambanthan is going to kick the bucket next month. You have to get them before that. Otherwise a worse terrorist will become the TNA leader.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Lorenzo,
I have made a head way and the progress is slow but steady. The pleasing news is Charles and Janaka are with me the three muskateer Pereras have joined forces to make a progress in our efforts. Think big, think positive. I will show you results very soon.
April 13th, 2012 at 3:14 am
Stanley,
Thanks for the good news.
Charles Perera
Stanley Perera
Janaka Perera
In the days gone by.
Janaka Perera
Shavendra Silva
Jagath Dias
Sarath Fonseka
Prasanna Silva
The winning team!
BTW what happened to Fernandos?
JAYAWEWA!
April 13th, 2012 at 4:03 am
Less of Ms. Jayalalitha & her team, less of Tamil Nadu interference in Lanka, the better ! No one misses them.
Tamil Nadu leaders are unable to even clean up their cities. We received an e-mail just yesterday about the deplorable amount of garbage that accumulates in the cities of India, including Chennai. Some person who has travelled 50 countries says that Indian cities are in a deplorable state of garbage accumulation. If they cannot keep at least have cleaner cities, what right has Jayalalitha & Co. to talk about rights of Tamils in Lanka ? First look after the Tamils of Tamil Nadu and next talk of the Tamils outside.
A.. Sooriyarachi is right – Tamil Nadu leaders are probably embarrassed by the rights enjoyed by Tamils outside of TN – what a sad state of affairs.
Question of the Century : Why do Tamils flee Tamil Nadu ?
April 13th, 2012 at 4:28 am
Is there any truth in the following?
The Prasanna De Silva Case:
According to a report by The Guardian, De Silva’s withdrawal is expected within the next days. A reason for the withdrawal is a 28-pages background dossier supported by ECCHR on the alleged involvement of De Silva in war crimes committed during the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war (January – May 2009). The dossier was prepared by the Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland with the support of ECCHR and TRIAL.
http://www.ecchr.de/index.php/sri-lanka.404/articles/the-prasanna-de-silva-case.html
April 13th, 2012 at 6:08 am
I am repeating this response I sent in a while earlier to another article, as I think it is important at this point in time to point to some home truths. Apart from Ms Jayalalitha, there is a question of illegal migrants and the tea industry.
Our concerns are that the problem of illegal migrants has not received any wide publicity in the local press, particularly in the Sinhala & Tamil media, or for that matter in the English media.
Illegal migrants come into Lanka fleeing mostly places like Tamil Nadu. They are traumatised by caste discrimination of thousands of years in those places. Has Lanka the facilities to look after emotionally damaged people such as these folk ? Our authorities and people are sleeping – they don’t know what they are up against !
Illegal migrants are fodder for Separatists political organisations like the TNA plus those with hidden agendas against Lanka. Separatism is inevitable as Tamil numbers increase.
The latest may be that entry into Lanka is made in the guise of Pilgrims. Sita Matha Temple upcountry has suddenly been established (strange, after thousands of years after the Rama/Sita legend), and even Kataragama may be the initial destination. Our authorities will allow all this, in the name of tourism and business. How sincere are these ventures ? Just a few days ago, there was an article in the Lankaweb by Walter Jayawardhana, that the Madhya Pradesh state government is paying folks there to come to Lanka as pilgrims to visit the Sita Matha Temple upcountry ! Do these pilgrims go back ?
If Lankan authorities think they are getting cheap Tamil labor, they are mistaken. The cost of wars later to counter Separatism via Terrorism far outweighs the cost of tea plucking machines to do the work in a tea estate. ANYONE CAN OPERATE THESE TEA MACHINES. See web site for pictures of these machines :
(1) http://www.google.com/search?q=tea+plucking+machines&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS298&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=HxSIT_bTMIn9ggfs5sjSCQ&ved=0CG8QsAQ&biw=1344&bih=635
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2POQUb-3sCM
There are many more articles on the internet on tea machines, together with details where to purchase these machines. These tea machines are now widely used all over the worlds tea gardens.
In Sri Lanka’s tea gardens, around 300,000 tea pluckers work EVERY DAY TO PLUCK TWO LEAVES & A BUD. Actually, we think there are many more people than this number plucking tea, as no one can pluck tea 7 days a week, the year around. So Lanka is very dependent on Tamil labor to do this task. This is where illegal migrants come in. They entered the country via the Mannar Route and find their way into the Upcountry, and then again disappear into the other cities and areas of Lanka. Now the latest rouse to enter Lanka may be Pilgrimages, Ferry rides, fishermen, etc.
Is dividing our country along Ethnic lines worth it, just to get a few dollars more for better tea in the world market ? !! For that seems to be what is happening to ignorant Sri Lanka.
Please send in comments on this view of the Separatists matter which affects us all on a daily basis, now at international level.
April 13th, 2012 at 6:10 am
Editor,
I am sorry I was unable to get the web address I gave above to conform to the usual space allocated.
Fran
April 13th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
“LOKETA PARAKASE, GEDERATA MARAGATHE”
Why worry about Sri Lanka? Why not try to fix inequalities in India. Why not uplift home front than worry about your neighbor? Let me high light some facts and rest my case.
Country India Sri Lanka
Per Capita Nominal 1527 2830
Per Capita Purchasing
power parity 4463 5400
Life expectancy 64.7 72.4
Literacy 74.1 97.3
Secondary Edu 15% 50%+
Post-Secondary 7% 12%
April 14th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Fran Diaz,
I totally agree with your comment on the need to deploy tea-plucking machines on our tea estates, not only to the INCREASE the VERY LOW PRODUCTIVITY of the tea pluckers, but also to give them a means of EARNING MORE, while avoiding the CALAMITOUS IMPORTATION of foreign workers as the British Planters did in our colonial past.
As you say, NO FOREIGN WORKERS from Tamil Nadu should be imported to Sri Lanka. That will only condemn them also to a poverty stricken life as a disaffected underclass in Sri Lanka, but will also INCREASE the RANKS of DISAFFECTED Tamils calling for separatism in the future.
Instead of importing labor, let us INCREASE THE INCOME of the tea estates through increases in PRODUCTIVITY, and thereby increase THE EARNINGS of our EXISTING labor force to such an extent that people unwilling to pluck tea at current rates of income would enter the labor force as well.
As a part owner of a family Tea Estate in Sri Lanka that we are striving to convert into MODEL OPERATION for others to emulate, I APPLAUD your suggestions. We, like most other Tea Estates in Sri Lanka, are beset by a shortage of labor and labor costs that outstrip the income from tea, leading to an inability to improve the available facilities (such as homes, and medical dispensaries) to benefit the workers. Without increasing income and cutting costs, we cannot provide those benefits. Therefore, I have been looking into MECHANIZATION as a means of improving the PRODUCTIVITY of our work force, and have designed and built several machines by modifying existing garden tools, for a variety of operations on the estate.
Tea plucking is not the only process requiring mechanization. Plucking, Pruning, Weeding, Spraying, Fertilizing, Erosion Control, and even Watering from tube wells during droughts, need to be mechanized. I have modified and adapted a few gardening tools available in the US for this purpose, but they are not entirely satisfactory. I have also built wind and mini-hydro turbines to generate electricity on this land.
Therefore, I was AMAZED to find the vast array of POWER TOOLS designed for these very purposes at the Link YOU provided. I had searched the internet before, but found very little information on such tools. I must have used the wrong search criteria.
Many thanks to you for your great suggestions and information, on both the dangers of importing foreign workers AGAIN to Sri Lanka, and the need to enhance the capabilities of those we already have through mechanization.
Please keep thinking along these lines that address two key security and quality-of-life issues affecting the people of Sri Lanka.
April 15th, 2012 at 10:24 am
Ananda – USA,
Thank you for appreciation. Yes, we agree that Security and upliftment of life styles a must in Lanka for all deprived sectors & Tamil Nadu (also for the rest of India) for all their people too. Whenever India suffers, Lankans suffer too.
We congratulate you on the direction you have taken re the management of your tea gardens, and wish you all the very best.
———————–
We would love to see the Caste system of Tamil Nadu (and India) removed, as gently as possible. The Sinhala people, particularly the Buddhists, have suffered greatly due to Colonisation as well as Tamil leaders wanting ‘Separation’. We like to see an end to such sorrow for Sinhala Buddhists especially.
We wish that Jayalalitha would modernise the sanitary system of Tamil Nadu, at least the cities at first, and set free some 95,000 Tamils of Dalit origin from such tasks. Modenrisation & mechanisation of tasks is the way to go.