A bold new strategic direction for Sri Lanka without India
Posted on March 14th, 2013
Shenali WadugeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
It is now 4 years since the end of terrorism in Sri Lanka. Instead of accolades for becoming the only nation to eliminate terrorism Sri Lanka is being subject to harassment by the US-European-Indian axis of evil and this is unlikely to cede any time soon. The humiliation that the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry continuously subjects Sri Lanka to must stop. We may be a small nation but we have an ancient history to be proud of. Our kings were held in esteem and respected for the manner the country was led. Where are we going wrong? Obviously the policy of begging, appeasing or striking deals with the enemy is not the course Sri Lanka should take and we must put a full stop to this ugly practice. We must draw upon the same energy that weathered the odds and boldly refused to give in to pressure which won us the war. Our battle now must be to charter a new bolder strategic direction with that same energetic commitment with a new strategy and policy in place. That course must start by understanding who our enemies are and that includes both local and international.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka must come to terms with reality. Sri Lanka cannot maintain relations with a country that functions to dictates of domestic politics. We cannot as a sovereign nation watch with bated breath as to how Tamil Nadu politicians exert pressure on IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Central Government and watch as IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Central Government passively succumbs. This drama has gone on for far too long ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it is time we woke up to the reality that we are not playing a role in kollywood. Moreover, despite what we feel about the Indian Governments we have never treated Indians arriving in Sri Lanka differently. Can India say the same ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” our pilgrims are attacked, our children going to take part in sports are attacked, our missions/offices are stoned, our military personnel are asked to leave or face consequencesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.and IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reaction is just a statement.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India has not shown any reason for us to change our opinions of India. The destabilizing policy adopted by successive Indian Governments is unlikely to change. At no time has India shown it has genuine intentions of treating Sri Lanka as a sovereign nation and respecting Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s territorial integrity. We should not be fooled by diplomatic statements. None of these statements have changed the manner India has chosen to join US and EU nations to denigrate Sri Lanka when its own backyard is anything but clean.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yet Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Government has allowed India to establish itself through a series of investment drives that lead us to question how detrimental these investments are to Sri Lanka given the way India is insulting Sri Lanka by its allegiance to the West-backed Resolution at the UN. No friend would do what India did and is doing and we can but ask what the Sri Lankan Government is doing by continuously allowing India to fortify key areas inside Sri Lanka. When India has been functioning as an enemy would these investments and Indian presence not be to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s disadvantage?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These concerns raised are further highlighted by the fact that Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s public officials are functioning worse than the politicians in terms of corruption. While it has been easy for us to always point fingers at the politicians we have neglected to notice the damage a handful of public officials are doing to Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In analyzing the current wave of deals, agreements proposals etc between nations and the manner nations have been given concessions, tax holidays etc we can but conclude that these officials have been functioning against the interest of the country.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Public officials do not need to be repeatedly told or lectured that in reading through the clauses of proposals made by nations it is their duty to put the interests of the country first. They do not need to be told that in evaluating the risks of proposals made it is of paramount importance to ensure the sovereignty of the nation and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka nor the peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rights gets violated.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, it is the abject negligence of these principles that have led to a series of agreements signed that are detrimental to the nation and we see these happening before our very eyes. Granting Indians to enter Sri Lanka on tourist visa with the plan to use them to work on farms with a lame excuse that there is a shortage of farmers was just one instance and officials had to quickly deny and put a stop to the influx of Indians arriving in Sri Lanka following public outrage. Yet they appear not to know how many Indians are even in Sri Lanka as at present. Can our nation function in this manner where it takes the public to be alert whilst the public officials are asleep or simply do not care to view things in a larger picture.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Investors must enter with a win-win deal and that win-win must be for the country and not the officials signing the deals. Giving India all the investments in Sri Lanka is unlikely to get Sri Lanka anywhere and these short term gains that do not even bring anything to the public is likely to lead to a very dangerous scenario at all levels.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The other examples include Sampoor coal power plant ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” many in the public put forward their views on why Sri Lanka should not enter the agreement not only because of the cost factor but because eventually India will decide how Sri Lanka should receive electricity. Plenty of warnings were also given not to allow India to hold any prime property in the heart of Colombo because it would then allow India to spy on virtually everything that happens in Colombo and the defense and naval establishments ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” those warnings too were ignored.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is also a plant being set up by the Indians in Hambantota by starting a dummy company in Singapore and it is not very difficult to get deals through when officials are easy to bribe. These Indian entities would end up jeopardizing ChinaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s interest and China is likely to walk away and Sri Lanka would have lost another key investor and a key world power ally.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is another sugar refining plant where the sugar is cultivated in India. Why have Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s officials not wondered what use is there for a refining plant in Sri Lanka if the sugar is cultivated in India? These are very commonsense questions that should have made Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s officials protect Sri Lanka and not allow these to come through.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Moreover, we need to be all the while mindful that the balkanization of India is what steers the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s interest in Asia. Tamil Nadu is a key state being targeted. It is having an unprecedented wave of Christian influence, its economic growth is far above the other states in India, the state has a nuclear base, its natural assets and port are all reasons why the West would want to provide autonomy to Tamil Nadu and using the Tamil factor in Sri Lanka is a perfect way to start that ball rolling. If India wishes to play into the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s plan it is their business but that is no reason Sri Lanka should dig its own grave too.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s future cannot depend on making diplomatic trips to nations and begging these countries to support Sri Lanka. That may be a favorite pastime of the head of the external affairs ministry but those trips at the cost of the Sri Lankan taxpayer has not reaped any benefits to date.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The recipe of appeasing has not worked and we need to finally accept this. Countries that have a plan to destabilize Sri Lanka will not change that course of action just because we send an emissary begging for breathing space. We now need to charter our own destiny and a country that proudly went to war despite the odds and despite tremendous pressures to put a halt to that onward march should take a leaf from its own success story.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka cannot be allowed to be destroyed by its own people. It is obvious that the strategy of the West is to get our own people to bury us and most of the catastrophes Sri Lanka has faced of late have been because of our own doing. Sri Lanka cannot be destroyed by CORRUPT PUBLIC OFFICIALS HOLDING POSTS IN CRITICAL SECTORS like POWER, PORTS and FINANCE who are functioning worse than politicians. It appears their weak corners have been perfectly targeted by vested external interests and they are getting their agendas through easily.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is evident by the manner these officials are making Sri Lanka into a very docile situation leading to a possible Greece like scenario. When we can be borrowing from friends and allies at lower interest why are we opting for the most dangerous option of going for bond issues where bonds are held by nations hostile to us? Will any of these corrupt officials have answers? Most probably they will abandon the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-regimeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and the country and flee as we have seen similar corrupt officials do in the past and some of these have strong links to the LTTE.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The concern of the public remains how far the Government is aware of the need to always protect the national security of the country in all its policies formulated with a neighbor that has been using successive Governments to destabilize Sri Lanka. This knowledge should have been enough to ensure that any investments with India do not compromise Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereignty.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is a good time for the leaders and policy makers to assess how far India has been allowed to make inroads into Sri Lanka and how adversely it is likely to affect even the power held by the politicians in the long term. All short term gains may have a golden lining but the clouds that prevail beyond that especially for them is something that should at least make them finally wake up.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We need to see some measured change in the way India is being allowed to raise their stakes in Sri Lanka because it appears that we are slowly having our sovereignty usurped from us while our attention is being diverted to other corners.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The best solution for Sri Lanka is to reassess who our real friends have been not those who say they are our friends but betray us continuously. We do not need to apologize to the US-EU-Indian axis of evil which says one thing but does the opposite. We should not go behind such countries any more. They must learn to respect nations.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s future will be powerfully placed if we learn to chart our future by forging strong bonds with our natural allies since history and allies that have never betrayed us in times of need. That list of nations should not be hard to compile.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We need to say goodbye to appeasement and begin a new chapter in how we use our geopolitical presence to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s advantage.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
March 14th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Indian intentions revolve around domination, exploitation and making Sri Lanka a subjugated nation. This policy started not today it is historic.The Sinhalese must have special policy of assertion of our fundamental rights in its dealings with India.Indian hegemony must be fought .Unfortunately what we have today is a subservient ruling class that bends itself backwards to please India.
March 14th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
“We need to say goodbye to appeasement and begin a new chapter in how we use our geopolitical presence to Sri Lanka’s advantage.”
ABSOLUTELY.
But SW is not the leader. SL leaders are so NAIVE. They keep APPEASING until the appeased attack them back.
SL is like “itha onda gaani emathaama budding”.
Keep on appeasing Indian desires and Indians (Tamils) GOSL. One illegitimate child is 13 amendment, another is Indian Tamils, another is Trinco Indian oil, LIOC, LLRC, etc. etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.
“itha onda GOSL emathaama budding”.
March 14th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
thanks shenali being bold and hitting the target – what we need now is a peoples movement to oust all these corrupt politicians and administrators (traitors to be exact) in slfp, unp and jvp and capture power in heladeepa. so long we have these guys who takes bribes, commissions etc from foreigners, we will not be able to run the country in the way it should be. gota is the the only administrator who can take a bold stance with respect to indians. his brother plays the same double game played by all our political leaders. we now need a strategy to safeguard our country in case of a surprise attack., which might happen and not depend on these corrupt people.
we need to accommodate chinese naval force at magampura harbour. we need russians to keep a watch at trincomalee. this will be deterrence to indian and the anglo saxon ungulates and they will have second thoughts of an invasion.
if ussr was there in existence, usa would have invaded iraq. their strategy worked in dismantling ussr, the work of cia.
we need a movement like bbs to kick this administration out and capture power which of course will be a bitter pill to most catholics, christians, english speaking murderous colombons and corrupt ngo people.
i hope lankaweb would be the place to instigate this new strategy – you cannot expect these ponnayas in this government to do this.
March 14th, 2013 at 3:51 pm
correction – ‘if ussr was there in existence, usa would have invaded iraq.’
if ussr was there in existence, usa would have not invaded iraq.
March 14th, 2013 at 5:43 pm
Hela patriot said “Unfortunately what we have today is a subservient ruling class that bends itself backwards to please India.”
And you can also say about India, “Unfortunately what India has today is a subservient ruling class that bends itself backwards to please (..?..).”
Indias ruling class is crushing their own people. Who is really at the top of their pecking order? Indian government wants to put SL at the bottom. It fits in perfectly well with their antediluvian cosmology.
March 14th, 2013 at 10:27 pm
“Yet they appear not to know how many Indians are even in Sri Lanka as at present.”
Good point.
Can immigration tell us how many Indians from TN come via Katunayaka and go back on monthly/yearly basis?. In 60’s it took only about two weeks for a Kallathoni to get a passport after crossing the sea (they called it “pasipoto’) and become a naturalised citizen of Sri Lanka. And now we have lost Colombo to them.
SL should have a system whereby the real traitors (in immigration, customs and MF) who betray the nation to be given capital punishment as in those Sinhala kings’ time.
March 15th, 2013 at 12:12 am
SV,
“we need to accommodate chinese naval force at magampura harbour. we need russians to keep a watch at trincomalee. this will be deterrence to indian and the anglo saxon ungulates and they will have second thoughts of an invasion.”
Who are the Anglo Saxon ungulates you are talking about all the time?. They are non other than Germans invited by the Celtics to defend their country anainst Romans. These ungulates then drove away the celtics to the hills and took over the country and later virtually the whole world. They fought two world wars against their mother country.
The lesson for us here is that we should not accomodate any powerful people in our strategic areas of importance. I think MR knows this. Perhaps that is the reason he went to powerless Japan.
March 15th, 2013 at 2:50 am
aloy – anyone can appreciate what you mean and mention that we need our strategic areas to ourselves – i am hinting deterrence here – if we have some military support from china and russia, (if not for them we would have been doomed at un with all these resolutions going against us) we can keep indians and anglo saxon ungulates, (i mean americans, british (england), canadians, australians etc.) at bay.
i hope you realise the importance of this move, which our administrators will never understand. do you understand what mahinda’s stance and gota’s stance? they say the opposite things. if mahinda was not his brother, gota would have gone even further in inviting chinese and russians or by now gota would have been removed from office.
by the sound of your name it seems you are a catholic or christian, generally inclined with english speaking world values the typical colombon mentality – well that is your prerogative and conditioning – i had been a great appreciator of english speaking values until i found who these tie wearing, gentlemanly people really were – a bunch of hypocrites who have fooled the world with deception, with their titles sirs, lords and ladies, while their profile goes as follows – serial killers, mass murderers, pedophiles, arsonists, sex maniacs, gay and lesbian exhibitionists, family sex advocates, well you asked me who anglo saxons were – this is their definition(enough?). they have committed the worst war crimes but they are so powerful (partly by deception) they have the audacity to go after others to expose war crimes committed by others. people like you must read ‘revolt in the temple’ and read the chapter on under the british yoke (written by wijewardenes – a surprise) you will realise why i call them ungulates. they are a ‘pig fatherly’ race.
in fact anglo saxon were from germandic barbaric tribes of angles and saxony, who invaded england and kicked the celtics out of england. the meadows in england were thick hilly forests, cleared by wasp for forage as they were cattle farmers, which with time turned into meadows. i am really worried we too will end up with the same fate as our hill country would disappear with this tea growing instead of a re-forestation plan. the present administration is full of fools and generally in our present political arena – i don’t see a single brain – that’s why we now need to kick these ponnayas out and capture power – bbs (you must be dreading them) is one such movement.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:05 am
SV,
Thanks for your input. I am not afraid of BBS, infact I think they are the answer to my pleas in this site. I hope they would not get involved in politics.
We must always think that we are a small nation with only about 15m to deffend it. We need an inteligent (and shrewd) leader to take us forward avoiding the traps being laid by UK and India. My role model is the great LKY of Singapore. Perhaps people can reform.
Yes, I am a Catholic, but my family is 60% Buddhist, though living in central Colombo I am not a Colombon, appeciating western values.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:22 am
1927- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi sets up Jaffna Yout Council, the foundation of the mMarxist-leftist moments in the isaland nation.
1951- India and Indians in the isalnd nation divided the UNP and funded, managed and set policies of Bandarnayake’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
1960- Helped with the formation of Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna.
1969- Development of the (Indian) Tamil terrorist movement.
1979 Provided training to terrorists in Palestine camps and in tamil Nadu in India
2005-erred by supporting Mahinda and rejecting Ranil
So it keeps on trying.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:46 am
Foreign Office Wake Up! – Repeating here the earlier comments by Dr Stephen Long on the foreign office competency to go with your thoughts appear very relevant: “….A “perfect storm” is brewing. The Government is no match for the Diaspora’s well-orchestrated and well-funded PR and media campaign…. It still doesn’t understand how the spin machine industry works, and it has done nothing pro-active to protect itself from its media enemies – other than sponsor a few junkets for the press and business types, and have its embassies around the world issue feeble press releases that never get picked up by the right media outlets. I know the GOSL tries, but trying just doesn’t cut it these days”. The response I had is that thre is no money to get a more effective campaign against the diaspora. I see this as no more than an excuse when looking at the waste elsewhere. In any event this expenditure must be considered as part of engaging ourselves in War and being successful at that. So GoSL, better start thinking on these lines right now before we all miss the boat! – S de Silva – London
March 15th, 2013 at 6:09 am
aloy
this is in addition to sunil”S explanations
u can learn in detail about colombon mentality , new western science and””ANGLO SAXON uNGULATES” if u read prof. NaLIN de silva”S articles and books like ‘APE PRAVADA”
i aggree with sunil. these are the people who ruined us Mahinda is surrounded by their “HENCHAYYAS” we are going to loose the hill country in the near futurebecause of plantation and resevoirs
This was pointed out by profs.. basnayake, weerasooriya etc even before 1980
yes there should be a movement like B B S to wake up sinhala buddhists..
we have to name these colonial parasites whenever possible some are,,,, G L PEIRIS , DAYAN JAYATILEKE, JAYADEVA UYANGODA. TISARANI GUNASEKARA , BRIAN SENEVIRATNE ETC AND LOT MORE
March 15th, 2013 at 6:33 am
Some ramdon but relevant factors :
India too is being ‘wagged’. We think India is also wagged to wag Sri Lanka too. This has happened, at least in part. Some things India does is to prevent Lanka going too far west. Whilst being a democracy, India is mindful of her two giant neighbors too.
The Cold War affected India too. India’s two giant neighbors were/are communist countries. The JVP followed communist policies (style of the region). The ltte, formed to eradicate Tamil low Caste problems, was allowed to flourish during the Cold War years. Now ltte rump is being used for other purposes ?
India and Sri Lanka are the two present day democracies in the larger Asian scene that were earlier Colonised by Britain.
Under the British, Lanka was made to depend on Tamil Labor in the tea industry which habit was continued after Independence from Britain.
It is time to REMOVE that dependency on Tamil Labor as Tamil Nadu leaders are inimical to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has to Modernise & Mechanise the labor sector, making it attractive for all others to enter the jobs in the plantations sector, tea especially. That way, dependencies on Tamil Nadu & India diminishes.
March 15th, 2013 at 7:17 am
Indians went to Burma, Malasia, Fiji, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa on the back of the British. British did not colonise any of its tropical dominions. Please look around.
March 15th, 2013 at 8:00 am
Christie,
The British dominated over their Colonies and imposed their will on the Colonised and used the indigenous people as near slaves, wherever possible for material wealth which was exported to Britain. See British Museums, homes of the wealthy British, high standards of living then, etc. Indians merge into the countries they migrate to till they are so large in numbers they ‘take over’. Same as Muslims. Either way, it’s a kind of take over of any unwary country. Note: that is why Lanka has to stop importing Labor from Tamil Nadu.
Britain is located in the west. India is located in the east, near Lanka, Burma, Fiji etc. Proximity of the motherland matters. If Britain was located where India is, the British would be still in Lanka , Burma, Fiji, etc.
Also, the Indians do not go back to India because of Caste/poverty issues. There are no such issues in Britain and the British
did go back home.
There is also the cultural factor. The British did not fit into the eastern colonies, culturally speaking. And the tropical heat, tropical diseases, insects, etc. were also negative factors for the British, whilst the Indians accepted these discomforts.
I think there are more factors here …
March 15th, 2013 at 10:20 am
One more obvious fact – the British did not have, never had, a massive population as in India where it is now close to a billion souls. Cooler countries always have lesser populations than warmer/tropical countries.
March 15th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
aloy – apologies for not comprehending you, well myself being a morottan with a devadiittya background, and schooling at randles hill was conditioned on believe western values – u and i are on the same plane as most of the forum members and contributors are – we are average intelligent people who have lot of common sense, even to run a country based on a reformed simple constitution, the bane of the ungulates, who doesn’t have a written constitution of their own , preaching us on human rights. i emphasise again it’s the human responsibility and not human rights that matters most.
fran – tea was introduced to ceylon by the ungulate to kill the tea industry in china – a punishment.
we need to keep only the productive estates and produce quality tea instead of mass production of low quality crap. the unproductive tea estates should come under a re-forestation plan (i wrote this to many leaders including our friend mahinda, but no action taken yet) they all are for the all precious vote – to hell with the country!
well if someone says they have no funds to fight the sakkili diaspora, we can find from swiss banks the answer.
this bloody ponna hypocrites – no buddhist values, no sinha+hela values – playing to the tune of the aspirations of their voters. these bastards are addicted to elections – now they are aiming at the next election – to hell with the country! i hope gota will join the slfp and be nominated for presidency instead of this man mahinda.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:36 pm
Sunil,
Thank you for response. The unproductive tea areas ought to be re-planted or re-forested.
Please do not lay blame on the President. He has done yeoman service to the nation and continues to do so. Those inimical to Lanka have tried to corner him with war crimes charges to make him less effective and thereby less popular with the voters. You can see how many valuable leaders (both Sinhela & Tamil) have been removed/eliminated through various means in the near past. Please don’t fall for the traps set by others. We can see ourselves through this false mess only if we keep cool heads.
Sri Lanka will win through, somehow. The good people of Lanka far outnumber the false ones. In the end, it is good human thoughts & good actions that matters. Truth/truth always wins through – that is a Universal Law.
March 15th, 2013 at 5:59 pm
“….A “perfect storm” is brewing. The Government is no match for the Diaspora’s well-orchestrated and well-funded PR and media campaign…. It still doesn’t understand how the spin machine industry works, and it has done nothing pro-active to protect itself from its media enemies – other than sponsor a few junkets for the press and business types, and have its embassies around the world issue feeble press releases that never get picked up by the right media outlets. I know the GOSL tries, but trying just doesn’t cut it these days”. The response I had is that thre is no money to get a more effective campaign against the diaspora. I see this as no more than an excuse when looking at the waste elsewhere…”
– S deSilva, I have been saying this for years but its fallen on deaf ears. This is another reason LTTE diaspoa say we are stupid. Few people understand that PR is a necessary defence expenditure. I hope MOD personnnel are reading this. Stop blaming each other for everything and the key problem – Bogus diaspora propoganda and marketing.
March 16th, 2013 at 6:47 am
Look friends there is no LTTE or LTTE Diaspora.
Tamil terrorist outfit is Indian made and maintained. It lost the battle and the war is not over. india keeps attacking the island nation whereever it can. The current UNHCR attacks are all Indian. US is doing what Indian in the US tell and what India ask.
March 16th, 2013 at 8:54 am
TAMIL NADU keeps attacking Sri Lanka whenever it can. Fishermen are the latest ruse, with the ltte activity diminished. TN
wants a diversion to detract the low caste/Dalit origin leaders like Vaiko etc. and Lanka presents the perfect place for the
distractions.
Let’s never forget TN aspirations for Separatism. TN was always a problem for North India.
March 18th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
The Central Government of India will ALWAYS be BLACKMAILED by TAMIL NADU demagogues, and Sri Lanka will ALWAYS pay the price because India has to placate its Crown Jewel where it has invested its most precious assets.
It is TIME that the GOSL realizes this FACT OF LIFE and prepares to get Sri Lanka out of India’s DEADLY EMBRACE.
Therefore, Sri Lanka should
REDUCE its TRADE and ECONOMIC Cooperation with India,
halt MILITARY cooperation with India,
limit Indian embassies to only the embassy in Colombo, c
utoff access by India to the North and East,
give up cooperation with India on reconstruction work in the North and East,
DISCOURAGE and LIMIT Indian INVESTMENTS in Sri Lanka, and
Reach out towards OTHER POWERS to fill those voids.
Sri Lanka’s SURVIVAL is at stake. India is a CONTINUING THREAT to Sri Lanka’s survival, we cannot afford to ignore it or let it continue to grow as a cancer within Sri Lanka.
GOSL: Get Sri Lanka out of INDIA’S DEADLY EMBRACE before it is TOO LATE!
March 18th, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Ananda-USA,
I’m thinking along same lines.
SL should NOT sink into chaos with Endia.
March 19th, 2013 at 12:25 am
The FANATICS (see artilce below) are not only at the FRINGE in Tamil Nadu, but at the dead CENTER of Politics as well.
They range from the current Chief Minister Jayalalitha (AIADMK), the former CM Karunanidhi (DMK), and other assorted political demagogues like Ramadoss, Vaiko etc ,ad inifinitum, ad nauseam.
All Indians should realize that TODAY these RACIST DEMANDS are being made against Sri Lanka; TOMORROW they will be used against North Indians to demonize them and to separate Dravida Nadu from the rest of India.
TODAY, the whole show is being orchestrated by the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in search of their vanished EELAM in Sri Lanka. However, they are also laying the gropund work to destabilize and ultimately to DISRUPT India itself, because of their RACIST belief that Dravida Nadu must separate itself from ARYAN NORTH INDIA in order to thrive as a homeland for Dravidian peoples.
ALSO KNOW THIS: The current AGENDA against Sri Lanka will never succeed, not as long as the Sinhalese survive as a people in Sri Lanka.
We Sinhalese, because of our Buddhist Culture and Tolerant Beliefs (that, for example largely eliminated caste discrimination in Sri Lanka, and uplifted women to equal status with men), have willingly granted equal citizenship rights to ALL Tamils in Sri Lanka irrespective of whether they are the so-called “Sri Lankan Tamils” or the so-called “Indian Tamils”.
However, NO Sri Lankans of whatever stripe will ever be accorded any SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS on the basis of their communal attributes, such as race, religion, language, caste, or sex.
Accordingly, NO PART OF Sri Lanka will be given any form of Sub-National Autonomy on ANY Basis. Our recent and ancient history amply demonstrates that it is too Dangerous to the Integrity and Survival of Sri Lanka as ONE Sovereign Nation.
Every adult Sri Lankan citizen is enfranchised to freely elect his/her candidate to the National Parliament. Beyond that, Sri Lanka will not allow itself to be sliced and diced into a patchwork of Communal Bantustans for RACIST DEMAGOGUES to live discriminating against others in magnificent isolation.
If India wants to do that … that is India’s own funeral … we want no part of it. In the not too distant future India will come to regret these communal policies as it inexorably hurtles towards communal disintegration.
Indian Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and in the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora can bay at the moon for an EELAM in Sri Lanka until HELL BOILS OVER … BUT the GREAT MAJORITY OF PEOPLE in Sri Lanka will NEVER ALLOW it. We have suffered for over three decades and paid richly in blood and treasure to demonstrate our committment to that goal.
So, GIVE UP this QUEST to slice and dice Sri Lanka.
Neither India, nor the UN, nor the Western Neo-Colonialists stirring the pot to incite Communal strife in Sri Lanka to benefit their own geo-political agendas WILL SUCCEED.
The Sinhala people of Sri Lanka have fought this battle over and over again for over three thousand years, and have protected their ancient heritage against enimies from near and far … and we have not given up. Ignore our history at your peril.
WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP!
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Mindless solidarity
The Hindu
March 19, 2013
A fanatic fringe seems intent on hijacking the protest movement in Tamil Nadu against Sri Lanka’s treatment of its Tamil citizens.
With the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam no longer in the picture, large sections of the people in Tamil Nadu have begun to openly sympathise with the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. But, even as the protest movement gathers momentum, extremist outfits without any popular base have started carrying out violent attacks on Sri Lankan students and offices. After the ransacking of the Madurai office of Mihin Lanka, which offers cheap flights to Sri Lanka from different cities in Tamil Nadu, activists belonging to some of these outfits assaulted a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was part of a student team. Even Sri Lankan Tamils on pilgrimage to India have been at the receiving end of violence by people claiming to represent these outfits. Also, the very same people claiming to champion the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils have sought to paint the troubles of Indian fishermen venturing into Sri Lankan waters in the colours of a Sinhalese-Tamil conflict, though the conflict is essentially between Indian Tamil and Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen over fishing rights and livelihood concerns. Clearly, the efforts of these outfits seem directed at gaining publicity and winning new followers rather than at furthering the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils. Obfuscation of the real issues appears to be part of the overall strategy.
That the protests and attacks have peaked at a time when a resolution on human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan military toward the end of the war with the LTTE in 2009 is before the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva is certainly no coincidence. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the principal opposition party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, have been asking the Centre to put pressure on Sri Lanka to punish those responsible for human rights abuses and to honour its responsibilities and commitments to Sri Lankan Tamils.
However, the mindless violence of some of the fringe Tamil outfits is putting at risk India’s own moral authority to urge Sri Lanka to move towards a political settlement of the ethnic conflict. India’s approach toward Sri Lanka cannot hinge entirely or even primarily on domestic politics in Tamil Nadu. Those in Tamil Nadu talking of a separate Tamil Eelam as a solution seem to have no clue about the human costs that would be involved in partitioning a country and a people. India must look beyond Tamil Nadu while bringing to bear diplomatic pressure on Sri Lanka and working in coordination with other countries to ensure full and equal rights for Tamils as citizens of a united Sri Lanka.
March 19th, 2013 at 12:37 am
I would like India to explain their support for Autonomy for Tamils in Sri Lanka, and rationalize their denial of Autonomy for the Muslims of Kashmir.
How is it that they shed crocodile tears for Sri Lankan Tamils, demands removal of the Army from the North and East, while India pursues diametrically opposite polices in Kashmir?
Bloody Hypocrites …. just like the US … piously prescribing bitter medicine to others that they themselves never swallow!
Bah, Humbug!
March 19th, 2013 at 1:03 am
GOOD! Hike the duty AGAIN by 300%.
Demolish Trade with India!
Buy goods Made in CHINA instead!
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Geopolitics may hurt Bajaj in Lanka
By Yuga Chaudhari
DNAIndia.com
Bajaj Auto, India’s biggest two-wheeler exporter, risks a decline in exports to Sri Lanka if the island nation hikes import duties yet again.
Sri Lanka faces a vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 21 over alleged violation of human rights of its ethnic Tamil population and there is a huge political pressure on India to vote against it.
“Last year, when India voted against Sri Lanka, we saw import duties going up and exports to Sri Lanka dropping from 20,000-22,000 units per month in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 to around 8,000-10,000 by end of first quarter of this fiscal,” a Morgan Stanley report said.
Sales have recovered from the April 2012 low and now they are at 15,000 units a month.
About a third of Bajaj Auto’s turnover comes from exports and Sri Lanka is one of its biggest markets.
At its peak, the company used to sell around 10,000 three-wheelers and 10,000 two-wheelers every month in that country.
However, a duty hike last year led to significant demand contraction there.
Indian automakers account for 90% of Sri Lanka’s motorcycle and three-wheeler imports and 30% of car imports.
Sri Lanka exports formed an estimated 7% of Bajaj’s fiscal 2012 revenue and 10% of operating profit.
In fact, the company was also considering to launch its four-wheeler — RE60 — in Sri Lanka before its India debut.
“If the duties are further hiked, then the company might delay the launch of the vehicle. Even if they launch it, volumes may get affected,” said Surjit Singh Arora, analyst with Prabhudas Lilladher.
This could be a double-whammy for Bajaj Auto.
To be sure, domestic motorcycle sales have been flat this fiscal and are not expected to recover soon.
“We are expecting the overall two-wheeler market to grow 7-8% in fiscal 2014 on the higher side,” said Arora.
Motorcycles grew just 0.90% during April-February over the year-ago period.
“Sri Lanka is about 3% of sales and 5% of Ebitda this fiscal and we expect recovery in fiscal 2014 (plus RE60 launch) and Sri Lanka to form 7% of sales and 8-9% of Ebitda,” said the Morgan Stanley report.
“If there is any import duty hike then our earnings could be at risk,” the report cautioned.
“There was an impact last year on our sales when the Sri Lankan government increased duties. We will have to wait and see the situation this time,” said an
executive of Bajaj Auto, who requested to be left unnamed.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:07 am
Wonderful … May the camel of good fortune spit in his myopic eye!
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Karunanidhi’s DMK withdraws support to Indian government over Sri Lanka
ColomboPage.com
Mar 19, Colombo: Tamil Nadu’s Tamil political party led by M. Karunanidhi Tuesday withdrew its support to the central Indian union government over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, Indian media reported.
The party leader has said that his party would not give any outside support to the union government.
The five DMK ministers in the central government are expected to submit their resignation either today or tomorrow, according to media reports.
Karunanidhi has said that DMK is ready to reconsider its decision if India supports the US-sponsored resolution before March 21.
The US tabled a toned down version of its resolution against Sri Lanka Monday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:16 am
Here is ANOTHER ADMISSION that the Congress Party of India, and its leaders Indira and Rajiv Gandhi in particular, AIDED and ABETTED Tamil terrorists in Sri Lanka!
It is presented here to PROVE that the Congress Party is NOT ANTI-TAMIL!
FOR SURE, it is CERTAINLY ANTI-Sri Lankan!
Bloody Murderers …. all of them!
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Embargo will hurt Tamils: TN Congress
By Express News Service – CHENNAI
NewIndianExpress.com
18th March 2013 08:08 AM
Condemning attempts to malign the image of leaders of the party, especially Prime Minister Minister Manmohan Singh, in the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, TNCC chief B S Gnanadesikan, on Sunday, said economic sanctions against Sri Lanka will hurt the Tamil population.
In a statement, Gnanadesikan said the youngsters were being provoked against the Congress. However, none could deny the fact that the Congress party and its leaders, including Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, were instrumental in the armed Tamil movement sustaining in Sri Lanka, he recalled.
No civilised society could accept the way in which Manmohan Singh was being maligned and represented in the State by several groups, he charged.
March 19th, 2013 at 1:31 am
YIKES! Maldives Govt prohibits any non-Moslems from settling in the Maldives and religious fanatics destroy all ancient Buddhist structures in the Maldives! It is well known that the virulently fanatical Wahhabi sect dominates the Maldives!
Yet, here they are requesting asylum in, and unfettered access to Sri Lanka!
As the sea levels rise in the future, is Sri Lanka going to become inundated with, and innocently accept, these intolerant violent people of today, because of our historical links of the past with the people of the Maldives?
Patali Champika is CORRECT TO RAISE THE ALARM!
As we all know, Religious Extremists and Racists are the BANE of Sri Lanka!
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Lanka not concerned by increase of Maldivians: High Commissioner Ahmed Naif
Mar 18, 2013
Sri Lankan government is not the least bit concerned by the increase in Maldivians resident in the country, Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Hussain Shihab assured on Monday.
Shihab’s assurance came after a Sri Lankan Minister reportedly called for the deportation of Maldivians who are currently seeking asylum in Sri Lanka.
Local media reported Minister of Technology Research and Atomic Energy, Patali Champika Ranawaka, as calling on the government of Sri Lanka to take action against Maldivians who are converging in areas within the country.
During a ceremony to launch Patali’s book entitled ‘Al Jihad Al Qaeda’, the minister allegedly claimed that foreigners were flooding Sri Lanka due to conflicts in other countries.
“Because of the internal tensions in the Maldives, thousands of its citizens are now in areas such as Dehiwela, Ratmalana, Nugegoda, and they are seeking political protection and [it] would be a tremendous problem to Sri Lanka in the near future,” the Minister was quoted as saying in the Sri Lankan publication ‘Mirror’.
Sri Lankan media claimed the minister had then called for the government to carry out a proper census and subsequently arrange for the deportation of those seeking asylum.
The minister’s comments were made in light of proliferation of Saudi ‘madrassas’ – religious teachers – who are accused of propagating extremist Islamic ideas in Sri Lanka.
In response to the Minister’s call, Shihab said so far the High Commission has no information of any Maldivians who have sought asylum in Sri Lanka. According to the High Commissioner, the relations between Maldives and Sri Lanka are at an all time high and the latter was receiving tremendous economic benefits from Maldivians living in the country.
“Sri Lanka is benefiting greatly by Maldivians. Every year Maldivians spend millions of dollars in Sri Lanka. There have not been any concerns raised by the Sri Lankan authorities over the increase in Maldivians travelling to the country. This is the peak period in Maldives-Sri Lanka relations. Lanka acknowledges the benefits they get from Maldivians,” Shihab explained.
Shihab also said the Sri Lankan minister’s comments could be based on some “wrong” information. However, he was quick to reassure that it was not the policy or the stand of the Sri Lankan government.
“If the Sri Lanka government was concerned, why would they ease the visa process for Maldivians? But Lanka has facilitated the visa of Maldivians coming here [Sri Lanka] for medical treatment. So there is no policy to implement any restrictions on Maldivians,” he added.
March 19th, 2013 at 8:37 am
BOYCOTT Tamil Nadu!
END Trade, Travel and ALL interactions with Tamil Nadu!
Let us NOT HELP Sri Lanka’s ENEMIES!
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Sri Lanka warns its nationals against traveling to Tamil Nadu
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 19, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government today warned its citizens against visiting to the State of Tamil Nadu in India and requested them to travel with caution.
….More
March 19th, 2013 at 6:43 pm
Tamil Nadu Political parties are jockeying for position in the upcoming National elections, and are posing as the “Most Tamil” of all Tamils by raising Sri Lankan Tamil issues. The current ploy by the Karunanidhi/DMK leaving the UPA government coalition is just that: Internal Indian Politics. However, these internal politics of India have tremendous security impacts on Sri Lanka at the UN and elsewhere.
Regional communal politics of India ALSO impacts India Nationally in many ways.
It raises comparisons with India’s policies in Kashmir, encouraging Kashmiris, aided and abetted by Pakistan, to raise human rights issues and cries of “genocide” at the UN. India knows this, aware that India itself initiated, aided and abetted Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka and has BLOODY HANDS that could be exposed at the UN in any broader discussion of human rights abuses by India.
Yesterday,the Lok Sabha censured Pakistan for interfering in India’s internal matters by passing a Resolution in Pakistan’s parliament condemning human rights abuses by India in Kashmir. If that is interference by Pakistan in India’s internal matters, will not a Resolution in the Lok Sabha against “human rights abuses” against Tamils in Sri Lanka also be interference in the internal affiars of Sri Lanka? Indians are WELL AWARE of this Double Standard being exposed to the world.
India is surrounded by neighbors who are angry at India. Sri Lanka is ARGUABLY the ONLY NEIGHBORING COUNTRY that STILL wants to maintain amicable relations and an alliance with India.
India has disagreements
with Pakistan on the Jammu & Kashmir territories, and competes with Pakistan in Afghanistan threatening Pakistan’s Western border as well,
with China on border territories that India lost to China in the Indo-Chinese war and on support for the Tibetans,
with Bangla Desh on borders and the influx of illegal immigrants,
with Nepal on its relations with China, and now
with Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan Tamil, Fishing rights in the Palk Strait, and Sri Lanka’s relations with China,
to name but a few of India’s conflicts with its neighbors.
Finally, Indians are mortified by Dravidian animosity, vociferously led by Indian Tamils, towards the majority non-Dravidian peoples of India that is creating a North-South divide in India. Dravidians, in general, and Indian Tamils in particular, feel dominated by the Northerners and viciously attack the Northerners.
Indians are particularly worried that these internal regional squabbles in India are affecting India’s Foreign Policy to the Deteriment of its Overall National Security.
For example, Chief Minister Mamata recently scuttled an a painfully arrived at agreement between India and Bangla Desh on the repatriation of illegal Bangla Deshi immigrants into India. The recent pulling out opf Karunanidhi’s DMK out of the UPA coalition on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, placing the UPA govt at risk, as an election ploy is yet another example of Communal election politics in India. On top of this, 800 million people of India live in areas dominated by Naxalite/Maoist terrorists over which the National govt has little control.
ALL of these things CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE that the COMMUNAL Policies of India are creating centrifugal forces that threaten NATIONAL INTEGRITY of India.
The lesson Sri Lanka must learn from all of this is two fold:
1. Don’t adopt the federal system of India as a model for Sri Lanka; India is CLEARLY on its way to DISINTEGRATION. Mercifully, Sri Lanka is small enough to be governed efficiently by a UNITARY non-FEDERAL form of government.
2. Anticipate that Dravidian/Tamil Nadu – Central Government politics in India will always ADVERSELY AFFECT Sri – Lanka. Therefore, PREVENT the growth of Indian Influence in Sri Lanka by EVERY MEANS and GET OUT OF THe DEADLY EMBRACE of India before it is TOO LATE!
I recommend the following program on India’s NDTV to readers to get a first hand view of these issues being discussed by both Dravidian and non-Dravidian political commentators. Note that many of them take on the communal Tamil commentators (Esp. Elangovan) to task and defend Sri Lanka and India’s National Interests vigorously!
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-right-centre/will-a-parliament-resolution-on-sri-lanka-backfire-on-india/268986?relatedviaplayer
March 20th, 2013 at 1:39 pm
Gonseka: GO AWAY …. WE WILL NOT TRUST you to DEFEND Sri Lanka … EVER AGAIN!
It is Gonseka’s attempts to discredit the GOSL that precipitated the War Crimes Charges by the UN in Geneva.
He brought Brave Long-Suffering Sri Lanka into DISREPUTE and STAINED the FABULOUS ACHIEVEENT of the Patriotic Sri Lanka Defence Forces.
Driven by Unlimited Personal Ambition and Jealousy, Gonseka BETRAYED his Motherland to its ENEMIES.
GO AWAY Gonseka … HIDE YOUR HEAD IN SHAME in some deep dark hole … never to be seen again!
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LTTE fighters were dressed in Indian Army uniforms: Fonseka
ColomboPage.com
March 20, 2013
The LTTE fighters were dressed in Indian Army uniforms during the final battles of the nearly three-decade long civil war, former Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka has said.
Fonseka in an address to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Colombo yesterday also denied that his troops killed Balachandran, the 12-year-old son of slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Britain’s Channel 4 television network last month released new photographs of what they called Balachandran inside a military bunker having a snack and another frame which showed his bullet riddled body.
“These pictures could have been doctored,” Fonseka said. “The bunker where he was looks too tidy and orderly to be one of our bunkers. In the battle field, we did not have the luxury of having such neat and tidy bunkers,” Fonseka said.
“The camouflaged uniform worn by someone who is claimed to be a Sri Lankan soldier is not we issue our troops. This is the camouflage that is used by Indian troops. We know Tigers used smuggled Indian Army-type uniforms,” he said.
However, Fonseka repeated his offer to face any independent international investigation and said it was his “duty” as the commander at the time to face any probe.
He accused the government of not addressing accountability issues and allowing calls for a war crimes probe to escalate without addressing the basic questions many had.
“People want to know what happened. Some want to clear doubts,” Fonseka said, adding that he was prepared to answer the charges if he was questioned by any international independent probe. Fonseka fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse soon after crushing the LTTE in May 2009 and went on to challenge Rajapaksa in the January 2010 presidential election.
He suffered a crushing defeat and was later arrested and jailed till May last year when he was freed on a presidential pardon. Fonseka said Sri Lanka will face more international allegations of war crimes unless it agreed to a probe.