Remove 13A-Lock, Stock and Barrel – People should know why President hesitates.
Posted on June 12th, 2013
By Charles.S.Perera
The President is respectedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by the people of Sri Lanka. Therefore, he has a right to keep the people informed without hiding any thing from them. The 13 Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka must be removed lock,stock and barrel, without leaving any trace of it remaining in the Constitution.
It was a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-desecrationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the Constitution of the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka, by a manipulating Indian Government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At the time there was no alternative left for the then President J.R.Jayawardhane other than to give into the pressure of India, with terrorism remaining the main threat, and the friend on whom he heavily depended for support, theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ USA dropping him off like a hot brick,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ at a time he ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ needed his friend the USA most.
It was a case of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ accepting the proposal made by India to adopt the 13A to the Constitution or allow terrorism to continue undeterred protected by India which would have kept its armed forces ready in case Sri Lanka attacks the terrorists.
The proposal had been accepted by the President of Sri Lanka under duress.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Therefore, legally the document they signed accepting the inclusion of 13A into the Sri Lanka Constitution is not valid, and therefore null and void.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If despite that the President having a two third majority in Parliament hesitates to remove it. He is ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ making all efforts to keep the 13 Amendment removing only some still unspecifiedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ powers given to the Provincial Councils under the 13th Amendment. He consults all ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political parties. He even asks the TNA which is openly defying the authority of the President , the Constitution and the Parliament to participate in the PSC along with the other Political parties to decide on the 13 Amendment. There must be some ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ reason for the President to do so.
If so, the majority of the people who wants the 13A removed completely from the Constitution of Sri Lanka, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has a right to know why the President hesitates to take such a decision himself.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He could perhaps do so ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ using his Executive powers and face the consequences as he did in the case of his determination to carry out military operations against the terrorists until they were completely eliminated.
More time the President takes to take a decision, more and more international trouble shooters will pop up to stop the President carry out his duties towards his people. India our enemy number one is already on the war path, inviting the TNA the terrorists in civil to discus the implementation of the 13 Amendment.
DBS Jeyaraj accentuate the Indian Prime MinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s displeasure on the proposal to remove land and police powers from the 13A.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jehan Perera the pro-terrorist NGO begins his articleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with the blessings of The IslandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Sahabandu. Sarawanbavan the TNA MP informs that India has sought an urgent meeting with the TNA on the 13 Amendment.
Not only the Tamil Diaspora and the Western anti Sri Lanka players but also the Sri Lanka NGO funded goons are on the war path against the removal of the 13Amendment. It is time that the President takes a positive decision.
It appears that there should not be any difficulty in rescinding the India Sri Lanka Pact from what the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ DMDK founder and Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly A. VijayakantinƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has said in a statement to Yahaoo News of the 11 June,2013 in reference to the 1974 agreement with which India transferred Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka:
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- As circumstances change and unforeseen hardship is caused, it is quite natural for any treaty to be reviewed and altered if necessary,” ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So why not the India Sri Lanka Pact ?
India cannot also wash its hands off ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ its responsibility of the thousands of civilians and Army personal who lost their lives between 1987 and May,2009, since the India Sri Lanka Pact was forced on the then ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ President of Sri Lanka. In intervening by trespassing into the Air Space of Sri Lanka to save the terrorists by dropping packets of lentils and forcing the government to enter into a pact, India hasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ committed herself, committed to the very hilt to accountƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ aiding and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ abettingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ terrorism in Sri Lanka.
This is the very India which refused transport to thousands of Sri Lanka Soldiers in Jaffna besieged by the terrorists that in 1987 forced the Sri Lanka Armed forces to stop a winning war against the terrorists.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In doing so India gave a life line to the terrorists to continue its massacresƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ from 1987 to 2009.
If not for IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s intervention, forcing itself into the air space of Sri Lanka, thousands of lives would have been saved from terrorism, and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces may have eliminated terrorism in 1987 itself. India which now dictates terms to Sri Lanka to implement the 13AmendmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is as responsible as the terrorists for the deaths of those thousands of Civilians and the Army Personal in Sri Lanka.
Though India is our close neighbour ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and pronounces incessantly its close connection with Sri Lank and its special relationship with the Island it cannot be ruled out that India is secretly working in close collaboration withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ America and other anti Sri Lanka, to divide the Island allowing USA to have a Military Base in Trincomalee.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-India desperately planning to divide Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ wrote Ashraf Javed Lahore on 22ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ March, 2011, in an article toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Nation, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and added , ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- In a desperate move to assert its hegemony in South Asia, India is covertly planning to divide Sri Lanka in order to teach a lesson to the well-educated island nation for looking towards China for leadership and guidance, it has been reliably learnt on Monday. WikiLeaks cable also exposed New Delhis designs to divide Sri Lankan by creating ethnic and sectarian strife among its people. With reference to Sri Lanka, India has stepped up work on three-pronged strategy; divide the overall population, support militant groups which are loyal to India and urge international powers to press Colombo on war crimes, a Sri Lanka-based defense analyst (not Sri Lankan) told this report by phone.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
The President Mahinda Rajapakse should not hesitate to remove the 13 Amendment from the Constitution completely, and pass new legislation for a more workable and a progressive system of regional administration.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If he has any impediments against such a decision the President should inform the people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is the PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s duty to the people who elected him to the high Office.
June 12th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
“He could perhaps do so using his Executive powers and face the consequences as he did in the case of his determination to carry out military operations against the terrorists until they were completely eliminated.”
Yes.
The war crimes BS against him will NEVER go away. So no point trying to APPEASE Endia or Tamilians.
Endia is anyway angry with SL over our true friendship with China. So we have nothing to lose from Endia.
June 12th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
J R BECAME A TRAITOR BY IMPLIMENTING 13A BY FORCE
MAHINDA… WHY CANT U ACT LIKE J.R AND USE YOUR POWER TO SCRAP THE SAME
IS THERE A HIDDEN REASON? DO SOME THING TO THIS JAYANTHA DHANAPALA. GANG PUT THEM IN NANDIKADAL
June 12th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
The president should ditch the 13A. Ditching 13A is NO LESS vital than winning the War. If 13A is implemented it is equal to have LOST the war despite all the brave lives lost. Hope that is clear to the president and the patriotic citizens who love Sri Lanka – S de Silva – London
June 13th, 2013 at 4:07 am
It is best that the Parliament & a Referendum removes the 13-A.
See news item below :
* Major Tamil party of Sri Lanka to visit India to discuss 13th Amendment and other issues
Thu, Jun 13, 2013, 11:52 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 13, Colombo: Party representatives of Sri Lanka’s major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will visit India within the next few days to discuss the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and other issues faced by Tamils in the North and East of the country with the Indian officials.
TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran has confirmed the visit to India, but said that dates for the tour are yet to be finalized.
He told the media that the Sri Lankan government should not only implement the 13th Amendment but go beyond it and during their visit, the TNA would discuss many issues with the Indian government including the 13th Amendment.
The TNA delegates plan to meet with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Congress Party Leader, Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid and Finance Minister Palaniyandi Chidambaram during the visit”.
June 13th, 2013 at 7:52 am
Is the President being blackmailed by India??
June 13th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Fran Diaz,
Yes, indeed, not only should the 13th Amendment be REPEALED forthwith, but TREASON laws should be ENFORCED to PROTECT the nation by prosecuting these traitors. The TNA delegates meeting with Indian Government Officials would be considered a TREASONOUS ACT and SEVERELY PROSECUTED in the USA. Why not in Sri Lanka?
The TNA continues with IMPUNITY to flout the TREASON laws of Sri Lanka, plotting and scheming with FOREIGN COUNTRIES to undermine the INTEGRITY and GOVERNANCE of their motherland, inviting interference, including MILITARY INVASION, by other countries in the INTERNAL AFFAIRS of their Sovereign Nation.
If this is not HIGH TREASON, what is?
I have REPEATEDLY pointed out at LankaWeb that the FAILURE of the GOSL to INVESTIGATE, gather EVIDENCE, PROSECUTE, CONVICT and PUNISH these SERIAL TRAITORS is having SEVERE IMPACT on the security of Sri Lanka and the safety of its citizens.
Sri Lanka needs to ENFORCE its EXISTING TREASON laws and STRENGTHEN those laws further by CLOSING LOOPHOLES and prescribing mandatory MINIMUM sentences up to and including DEATH.
These sentences should include LIFE IMPRISONMENT at HARD LABOR, CONFISCATION of funds and real assets, and the denial of CIVIC RIGHTS such as voting, political activity and employment in positions that require a high-level of public trust (eg. publishing, governance, police, armed forces, legal, engineering, education, banking, notarial, etc).
NO OTHER COUNTRY that permits OPEN TREACHERY by its citizens and elected officials, as Sri Lanka does. IGNORING the situation only ENCOURAGES further TREACHERY. Sri Lanka should ACT FIRMLY NOW or it will forever be beset by FOREIGN INTERFERENCE in collusion with Local Quislings!
Tens of thousands of Sri Lanka’s honored sons and daughters have given their lives, in their last full measure of devotion to their motherland, to defend and protect Sri Lanka.
I call upon the PRESENT LEADERS of Sri Lanka ACT to PROTECT and PRESERVE what those heroes achieved through their ultimate sacrifice.
June 13th, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Jayawewa! FINALLY … it is HERE as we had OFTEN DEMANDED …. CONTROL & OVERSIGHT of NGOs!
Now, let us see whether the Law is ENFORCED!
Laws UNFORCED are Laws NON-EXISTENT!
…………………………
Sri Lankan government clamps down on errant NGOs
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 13, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has taken a series of measures to clamp down on the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) engaged in activities that threaten the peace and security in the country.
Accordingly, the government has appointed a special Board of intellectuals to probe charges and allegations being made against NGOs and their operations and has made it compulsory for all NGOs operating in the country to register themselves with the Office for the Registration of Non-Governmental Organizations.
The Government Information Department said the measures were taken to “thwart certain NGOs from hatching conspiracies to effect regime change by engaging in politics in the guise of doing social work in the country.”
The Director General of Media Centre for National Security Lakshman Hulugalle told media that strict legal action will be taken against NGOs failing to comply with this registration rule and evict such NGOs.
The Registration of NGOs has been brought under the purview of the Defence Ministry with effect from 2010. The registration process of NGOs is implemented under the supervision of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
According to Hulugalle, there are nearly 100 NGOs operating in the country currently, and a large number of them have been identified to be surreptitiously engaging in activities inimical to the state by hatching various conspiracies through opposition politicians.
Some of the NGOs found to have evaded the registration with the Defence Ministry and instead have registered as non-profit organizations at the Department for the Registrar of Companies, the spokesman said.
Hulugalle said that legislation has been enacted making every NGO to comply with regulations and conditions stipulated in the amended gazette notification published in 2006 after registering it with the Office for the Registration of NGOs on February 26,1999.
Accordingly, NGOs should submit a report to the government listing its role, staff and funding and donations received from abroad, their manner of expenditure and their proposals and plans, he said. Their assets should also be registered with the relevant unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
June 13th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Let me put it BLUNTLY: Holding NPC elections and devolving power to the Provincial Councils will lead to an UPRISING AGAINST the Government and its TOPPLING in Sri Lanka by Patriotic Forces OPPOSED to Devolution of Power to UNREPENTANT SEPARATISTS.
The current UPFA Government was returned to Power in the last General Elections in a LANDSLIDE VICTORY because it REUNIFIED Sri Lanka and SECURED the safety of its ALL of its citizens. The UPFA Government CONTINUES to enjoy that support even today based on that ACCOMPLISHMENT, and the VISION of transforming Sri Lanka into the New Wonder of Asia as ably articulated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
However, that LOYALTY is given to by PATRIOTS only to PATRIOTIC LEADERS who continue to Defend and Protect the Nation … not to those who fail to do so because they fear PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES and DODGE their DUTY to PROTECT.
Ultimately, it is NOT THE SURVIVAL of the LEADERS that is at stake here; it is the SURVIVAL of the NATION and its PEOPLE.
The GOSL should HEED THE WARNING in the Cries of the Patriots: that if it Devolves Power to SEPARATISTS, it will FALL from Power just as RAPIDLY as it ROSE to Power on the Adulation of the Vast Majority of citizens of Sri Lanka.
There is NO ISSUE of GREATER IMPORTANCE to Sri Lanka’s SURVIVAL than REPEALING the 13th Amendment and DISSOLVING the Provincial Councils, PERMANENTLY RIDDING Sri Lanka of this FOREIGN IMPOSED BALL & CHAIN that threatens to sow Civil Discord and Communal Divisions in Perpetuity!
Instead of DISINTEGRATING the Country into a Patchwork Quilt of Racist Apartheid Fiefdoms, INTEGRATE the country into ONE Indivisible Nation, of ONE Inseparable People, sharing ONE Indomitable Destiny, based on EQUAL RIGHTS for ALL of Sri Lanka’s people, under ONE system of National Laws, irrespective of Communal Considerations!
Sow the Wind with any other seed, and we will Reap the Whirlwind!
June 14th, 2013 at 3:19 pm
HERE is ANOTHER ADDLE-PATED FOOL OF A MINISTER in the GOSL Cabinet currying favor from Western Neocolonialists parroting their demands!
He should RESIGN NOW without delay …. he does not belong in a PATRIOTIC Government committed to defending the Nation. Perhaps the Tiger Nominated Agents (TNA) can offer him a Portfolio in their Northern Provincial Council Eelam after the PC elections!
Let us REMEMBER this man when the Eelamists take over the Northern PC and Unilaterally Proclaim a Separate State … calling for Foreign Intervention … and WAR begins ANEW in Sri Lanka!
Begone FOOL!
……………………
Sri Lanka Minister ready to resign to safeguard provincial councils
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Rajitha Senaratne said that he was ready to sacrifice his cabinet portfolio to stop further reducing the powers devolved to the provinces through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Addressing a press briefing held in Colombo today, the Minister said that he would not change his position on the 13th Amendment.
He further said that the government would be defeated before the international forces unless it fails to stop the moves to further curtail the powers of the provincial councils.
The Minister also rejected the proposals for a referendum on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
The Cabinet of ministers yesterday decided to ask the government to appoint a parliamentary select committee to study the issues regarding the amendment of the 13th Amendment since there was opposition from some cabinet ministers to diluting powers vested to PCs in the 13th Amendment.
Constituent parties of the ruling alliance had expressed divergent views on the changes to the 13th Amendment but all were in agreement that the 13the Amendment which was formulated by India and trusted on Sri Lanka should be changed to fit to current situation after the end of the war.
June 15th, 2013 at 11:24 am
Indeed, as Neville Laduahetty says, “Thus the interests of the People are at variance with the interests of the Councillors. ”
But, we must ALSO ask “Which People”? ALL of the citizens of the whole of Sri Lanka, or ONLY the residents of ONE OR MORE Provinces?
Therein lies the DANGER. If for example, “the People” of a particular Province, for whatever reason, want to secede from union with Sri Lanka, then will they have, or can they acquire, the Legal Power to do it using the powers devolved under the 13th Amendment? Even if there is no difference in opinion between “the People” of that province and “the Provincial Councillors” of that province, it could very well happen that the People of the Other Provinces, and/or their Provincial Councillors, may disagree with the steps contemplated by the Province in question.
That is why Sri Lanka should NEVER RECOGNIZE of ANY SUB-NATIONAL GROUP of Sri Lankans, defined on ANY BASIS such as regional, ethnic, religious, or whatever, as having Sovereignty, or the Power to decide on whether to remain a part of Sri Lanka, or to act independently of the Sri Lankan Nation State.
ONLY the ENTIRE PEOPLE of Sri Lanka, expressing their views through NATIONWIDE ELECTIONS and REFERENDA, should be recognized as being SOVEREIGN, and be RECOGNIZED as having the Legal Power to decide on such matters.
That is why Land and Police Powers are so critica to maintaining the Sovereignty of ALL PEOPLE of Sri Lankal. Without Land Powers the Nation State has no control over its territory, and without Police Powers it will have no authority or the means to enforce the Land Powers, which more generally can be taken to include immigration/emigration as well.
Recall that during the period from March 15, 1815 to February 4, 1948, MILLIONS of Indian laborers were imported into Sri Lanka by the British, ignoring the protests of the native people of Sri Lanka, PERMANENTLY AFFECTING their RIGHTS and DISPOSSESSING them. That is the PRICE Sri Lankans paid for having lost our Sovereignty and Control over our country for 150 years. We should LEARN well that LESSON of the CONSEQUENCES of losing Land and Police Powers to foreign powers or internal groups, who have agendas inimical to the continued existence and sovereignty of our nation.
FORTUNATELY, there is an Internationally Recognized LEGAL PRINCIPLE and a CLEAR LEGAL PRECEDENT for a National Government to claim the Sovereignty of ALL PEOPLE of a country over ALL of its territory, and enforce its authority even over sub-groups of states and people residing in those territories: The United States of America in the US Civil War:
The Southern (Confederate) States of the USA argued that since they had joined the American Union voluntarily, and since they had reserved States Rights to themselves under the US Constitution at that time, they had every right to SECEDE from the Union if they so decided, WITHOUT REGARD to wishes of THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION AS A WHOLE.
Not so, argued President Abraham Lincoln and the Union (Federal) States. They maintained that ONLY the ALL of PEOPLE of the Nation were Sovereign, not the States, not the People of a SUB-GROUP of those States.
The argument was that ALL OF THE PEOPLE of THE United States had ACQUIRED A RIGHT TO ENJOY THE BOUNTY of the ENTIRE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES ACCUMULATED during the Previous 100 Years of Union as ONE NATION STATE. ALL of the People of the US had invested their efforts, their treasure, and their hopes in building that Union of States, argued the Unionists, and no SUB-GROUP of States had the right ANYMORE to DENY them those ACCUMULATED EARNED RIGHTS, which are now INALIENABLE.
Well, Sri Lanka has certainly existed as a well-recognized Sovereign Nation-State for several thousand years, with brief interruptions due to invasions, and ALL OF ITS PEOPLE, from then until now, have invested their efforts, their treasure, and their hopes in an Undivided Sovereign Sri Lanka. That is a RIGHT EARNED and PASSED ONTO to subsequent generations of Sri Lankan Citizens over several millenia, which TRUMPS the RIGHT EARNED by ALL of the citizens of the United States, over a mere 100 years of existence as one nation from the American Revolution to the American Civil War, to CONTINUED EXISTENCE as a ONE undivided Nation.
This EXAMPLE of ONLY ALL OFF THE PEOPLE of a Nation State being Sovereign, and that this Sovereignty is EARNED RIGHT BY ALL OF THE PEOPLE to ALL OF THE TERRITORY OF A NATION, is IMPORTANT to Sri Lanka for TWO reasons:
1. It FORMS a BASIS for asserting that the WILL OF ALL CITIZENS OF Sri Lanka has PRIORITY/PRECEDENCE over the WILL OF ANY SEPARATIST SUB-GROUP of People in Sri Lanka. Therefore, any National Question, such as REPEALING the 13th Amendment and the DISSOLUTION of the Provincial Councils, must be decided in a NATIONWIDE REFERENDUM that queries the wishes of ALL PEOPLE of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the WILL of ALL of Sri Lanka, thus expressed, is PARAMOUNT, and has precedence over the WILL of its Representatives elected to ANY and ALL branches (the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary) of Government.
2. This Legal Principle is well established in the United States, forming as it did the very legal basis on which the Civil War against the Separatist Confederates, was fought and won, and the writ of the Union Government was consolidated over the ENTIRE United States, and subsequently extended to new territories that joined, or were annexed, into the United States. Yet, the United States is one of the foremost critics of Sri Lanka that demands Devolution of Power to ACTIVE separatists, who threaten its very existence as a Sovereign Nation, and refuse to abide by its unitary status. That is CLEARLY CONTRARY to the Principles the United States used in the past, and uses today, to assure its own existence as a United Sovereign Nation.
Therefore, this Principle can be USED to FEND off ALL of the Foreign Critics of Sri Lanka who demand that autonomous power be devolved to former and continuing separatists by pointing out the HYPOCRISY, DOUBLE STANDARDS, ILLEGALITY under their own laws, of their positions on this issue. We can INVOKE the same principle they used to defend and protect thier own countries, to defend and protect Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty over ALL of its territory, and ALL of its people.
What is GOOD for the American GOOSE, we must INSIST, is GOOD for the Sri Lankan GANDER as well!