Why doesn’t the Government ban the TNA at least now? if it wants an undivided Sri Lanka
Posted on September 17th, 2013
Dr Sudath Gunasekara President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara 7.9.2013
I am emboldened to hear that the President had said “I will not allow the separation of the country.”
“What Prabakaran (the late LTTE leader) could not do none of today’s ones will ever be able to do,” Rajapaksa told a political gathering in the central district of Kandy-â„¢. This clarion call indeed I think
will be warmly welcome by the whole nation. But the people want action rather than political rhetoric. I have no doubt the President will do it, not for mere political survival like many other politicians have done in the recent past, but for the emancipation of the nation. I still have full confidence in him as the most patriotic and down to earth natural leader the post independent Sri Lanka has produced.
Everybody knows that the TNA is an extremely communal minded Tamil political party that stands for a separate State for Tamils in Sri Lanka. It is the veritable successor to the Ponnambalan-Chelvanayagam racist legacy that totally rejects historical realities of this Island nation and that tries to build up a new theory of a traditional Tamil Homeland in the north and the east based on pseudo history invented by racist Tamils who claim that it had been so from the dawn of history.TNA had been the political shadow of LTTE whom they called their -ËœBoys-â„¢ and today they are the veritable torch bearers for the EELAM of Prabhakaran. This fact has been clearly established with the TNA entering the NPC election fray.
I would like to open this discussion with some speeches made by TNA MPP at their meetings
First I quote below what Suresh Premachandran TNA MP is said to have stated at the maiden election rally of the TNA in the campaign for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) poll, held at the Mannar public esplanade.
‘IF WE HAVE ARMS, IT’S FEDERALISM AND BEYOND’ – ‘If we don’t have weapons we will get nothing’: Suresh Premachandran, MP of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said the Tamil people can begin talks on a federal solution only if ‘we have weapons.’
“We can talk going even beyond that. If we don’t have weapons we will get nothing,” he added. He said this at the maiden election rally of the TNA in the campaign for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) poll, held at the Mannar public esplanade with the participation of all TNA candidates contesting for the NPC, including NPC Chief Ministerial candidate C.V. Vigneswaran. Parliamentarians Mavai Senthirajah was also present.
TNA MP P. Ariyanendran addressing the gathering said the ‘struggle’ to find a solution for the Tamil people’s problems was continued by Selva after which a full blown armed conflict ensued. “The armed conflict was continued by leader Prabhakaran. But today, we live on without anything,” he said. “It is your duty to vote for the TNA and ensure its victory to fight for Tamils’ rights as well as to get what we want. Vote for us and we will be able to get what we require,” he said.
A closer scrutiny of what Suresh Premachandran and P. Ariyanendran have said clearly shows that they still hold on to the ideology of the Eelam. The communal Tamil politicians have not changed a wee bit from their racist anti Sinhala and anti Sri Lankan attitude ever since the idea of a separate State for Tamils in Si Lanka was mooted by people like Chelvanayagam way back in 1947. These open utterances of TNA politicians also clearly prove that they are planning to again go back to an arm struggle and never change their strategy in future either. They also show that these Tamil politicians never want the ordinary Tamils in this country to live with the majority Sinhala together. They want a separate Tamil Kingdome in the Sri Lanka covering 1/3 of the total land area and 2/3 of the coastal belt from Chilaw in the west to Kataragama in the south east as the labour room of their future world Elam Empire.
Next I would like to draw your attention to what Vignesvaran, the Chief Ministerial candidate had said at another occasion.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Chief Ministerial candidate for the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran says the 13th Amendment to the constitution has its shortcomings but yet it cannot be changed without consulting India.
Wigneswaran said that the 13th Amendment came about as a solution to address issues faced by Tamils.
-This is an international agreement. This came about following an agreement between India and Sri Lanka. But if it is going to be changed then India must be consulted,- he said.
He said that the Tamils had put forward several proposals for the Indo-Lanka accord but everything was not accepted and so the 13th Amendment, in his view, has some shortcomings.
He also said that Tamils in Sri Lanka do have issues and it is -shocking- if the Sinhalese majority is not aware of that.
Wigneswaran is also confident that the Tamils in the North will vote for the TNA at the election and not fall prey to the false assurences given by the government. (Colombo Gazette)
This summarizes the extremist Tamil racist mind of Vignesvara than any other statement made by him at any other occasion. How can he says that-â„¢ the Tamils had put forward several proposals for the Indo-Lanka accord but everything was not accepted by the 13th Amendment has some shortcomings in his view-â„¢, if he was not a party to the drafting of such proposals while he was in service as a judicial officer of the Government?
Any fool who has a wee bit of brain can understand the never dying communal mind of these Tamil politicians from the above statements. If they talk like this without any power one can imagine how they will talk and behave when they have some power.
Finally, now the election manifesto of the TNA is made and is publicly known no one could have the slightest doubt regarding the true colours of the TNA outfit. It is EELAM and nothing but the EELLAM they are asking for. When Prabhakaran was alive they acted as the proxy of the LTTE. Now it is evident that the TNA has openly taken over the mission of Prabhakaran. This shows, though Prabha is no more, the LTTE ideology is still fully alive in the hands of these crazy communal Tamil politicians comprising only a bunch of self seeking outfit who has no regard to the wellbeing of the common Tamil people. As such today TNA is the biggest threat to the Sri Lankan State. Therefore allowing them to consolidate politically by winning the NPC elections will be putting the nation from the frying pan to the burning red hot hearth. Should the Government remain blind to this national tragedy for short term political mileage?
The present Government has to its credit the winning of the war against the LTTE as the greatest achievement that any post independence government could claim. But unfortunately it has miserably failed to consolidate that victory and pass its full benefits to posterity. Had the Government banned all communal political parties, abolish the Provincial Councils along with the Provinces, created by the British Colonial rulers as a strategic device of divide and rule, and gone back to the traditional Tunrata Divisions, adopted a new Constitution based on the traditions and customs of the land and abolished the Indo-Lanka Pact of 1987, if not all, at least most of the present day political confusions could have been avoided.
Instead of abolishing the disastrous PCC, today the Government has taken steps to hold elections to the North Provincial council and thereby provided a new spring board for the racist Tamils to resurrect the EELAM ideology and launch the next phase of the independent Tamil movement. ‚ I can vouch that the NPC election will also backfire on the Government (already it had done so) like the invitation extended to Pillay without realizing her Tamil ethnic affiliations and miserable South African apartheid socio-political background. The Government-â„¢s expectations of winning the NPC election I think are only a day dream. One must understand that Tamils and Muslims, unlike Sinhalese, will never change their racial and communal biases and they will ever remain as Tamils and Muslims. Therefore they will always vote with their communities. Even if you drop manna from all six heavens in addition to all infrastructural facilities and other benefits provided by the Government in the post war period, they will still vote with the racial Tamil politicians who beat the communal drum unless and until the political party system in this country is organized on national policies sans ethnic bias.
So in the light of this backdrop banning TNA to begin with is the best way to make what the President had said at the Kandy (Kundasale) meeting a reality. Late is better than never. Also if you don-â„¢t do it NOW it will never be done by anybody. I doubt anyone will be born in the foreseeable future to carry out such a bold decision. Also please remember you have already missed that golden opportunity in 2009. But there is no use in crying over split milk.
Bravo Mr President, go ahead with your historic decision to save this country and the Nation! I reiterate such decision will be the first logical step saving this country from imminent disaster and in restoring the pristine Sri Lanka that was there in the pre 13th century in this resplendent Island prior to the barbaric South Indian Magha devastations.
September 17th, 2013 at 2:04 pm
“TNA’s Chief Ministerial candidate, a retired Supreme Court judge C .V. Vigneswaran at a media conference in Jaffna recently has said that if the power was not devolved to the North after TNA’s victory at the upcoming Northern Provincial Council polls on September 21, they will have to take up arms.”
Now is the time to SILENCE these terrorists.
September 17th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
November 21, 2013 will be a DAY OF INFAMY, comparable to that infamous day of March 14, 1815, when a junta of treacherous gullible chiefs of Sri Lanka handed over Sri Lanka’s hallowed Crown to the Perfidious Albion!
On November 21, 2013, the very UPFA GOSL, that WAGED and WON a WAR of National Liberation and Reunification of Sri Lanka will ABJECTLY CAPITULATE and hand over in PEACE control of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province to the political PROXY of the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This capitulation to the LTTE, militarily crushed in battle at great cost in blood and treasure, to comply with a Constitutional Amendment RAMMED DOWN Sri Lanka’s protesting throat by India … the very power responsible for inciting and fostering Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka, boggles my mind.
On November 21, 2013 the Tiger Nominated Agents of the TNA will take control of the Northern Province and begin its incremental campaign to create the Separatist State of Eelam, that will inexorably seek UNION with Tamil Nadu in India.
This unbelievable TURN OF EVENTS, breathed new life on this Day of Infamy, November 21, 2013, will spawn the Eelam War V, for the PATRIOTS of Sri Lanka will NEVER ACCEPT the Division of Sri Lanka into a patchwork quilt of Communal States.
Those leaders of Sri Lanka who stood by and allowed this tragedy to occur will be Swept Away and Consumed in the ensuing maelstrom, for they who seed the wind shall reap the whirlwind!
It is NOT the SURVIVAL of LEADERS that is at stake here, but the SURVIVAL of the NATION & ALL of its PEOPLE.
September 17th, 2013 at 2:26 pm
War is better than this peace we have.
At least we CAN win the war. But we can’t win this treachery. It is getting worse every day.
September 17th, 2013 at 4:28 pm
The article makes several pertinent points as to why the Tamil National Alliance should be disbanded but in the meantime the proverbial rug can be pulled from under their feet. With the support of the Buddhist Sanga, the majority and any pragmatic thinking minority do away with the 13th amendment as soon as possible.
Continue the process of settling Singhalese in these two provinces. rebuild Buddhist temple that have been destroyed since the time of the European occupation in those provinces and maintain a high level of the military and intelligence in those provinces. None of my suggestions are a violation of human rights but the necessary steps needed to ensure that the Tamil National Alliance in it’s present form lose
Just like the LITE once they have lost their battle for a separate nation then one can use the legal system to disband the new face of LITE and finally learn from the war, never let any part of Sri Lanka be dominated by any minority. The majority is large enough to ensure that every province to every district has a strong presence of the majority Singhalese. Again that is not a violation of any kind and it reminds me of the integration process that is still part of American culture where the minority blacks were send to schools which are predominantly white in order that segregation does not happen. Sri Lanka will be doing the reverse where no minority pockets in Sri Lanka is lacking a strong presence of members of the majority.
September 17th, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Here’s good news :
” FR petition filed in Sri Lanka Supreme Court against TNA election manifesto
Tue, Sep 17, 2013, 07:32 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 17, Colombo: General Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Patriotic National Movement Gunadasa Amarasekera has filed a petition in the Supreme Court yesterday appealing to declare the election manifesto of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is against the constitution.
The petitioner cites in his petition that the TNA election manifesto has been unscrupulously targeted to establish a separate state in the unitary Sri Lanka.
The petitioner further demanded to deliver an injunction suspending the Northern Provincial Council election until the examination of the petition is concluded.
TNA secretary Mavai Senathirajah, leader R. Sampanthan and Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya have been mentioned as the respondents of the petition.
Petitioner has further cited in the petition that the manifesto TNA, once considered as a proxy party of the defeated terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , is in line with the hidden agenda of the LTTE”.
September 17th, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Wigneswaran has learned NOTHING serving on the bench of Sri Lanka’s highest court. Perhaps he earned his salary snoozing UNDER the bench all those years like rattler lying hidden in the grass until plush retirement at patriotic tax payer’s expense, when he can rise up to commit TREASON against the Motherland that fed and housed him all his adult years.!
This TREASONOUS INGRATE now piously pontificates:
“Prabhakaran is indeed a hero. President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows that the LTTE leader Prabhakaran was a warrior. Prabhakaran is not a terrorist. He was a hero and a warrior who fought for the liberation of the Tamils.”
Wigneswaran looks like an EELAMIST, walks like an EELAMIST, talks like an EELAMIST, and even smells like an EELAMIST …I humbly submit that we LABEL HIM AN EELAMIST … and be done with it! Sampanthan and Wigneswaran …. BIRDS OF A FEATHER …. FLOCKING TOGETHER; a pox on both their houses!
MY God, the deadly rattlers we have held close to our national breast keeps me awake at night wondering “Who Next will drive a stake through the heart of our beloved Motherland? First, that jealous man of unlimited abmbition, the C-in-C of the Army Sarath Gonseka, then the Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake currying favor with the West, and now Supreme Court Justice C. V. Wigneswaran rises to surface as a commiited Eelamist.
This is why Western Nations treat TRAITORS with EXTREME PREJUDICE: DETTERENCE … my friends … DETERRENCE of would be TRAITORS is the Name of the Game!
Commit TREASON they say … and thou shall DIE a most SHAMEFUL death … without honor … without glory … and be ETERNALLY condemned by your countrymen to OBLIVION in an unmarked grave!
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Minister accuses Sri Lanka Tamil party of attempting to mobilize youth against the country
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 16, Colombo: A Sri Lankan government Minister today accused the major Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) of misleading the youth in the North and attempting to mobilize the youth for their separatist demand.
Spiking at a media briefing today leader of the coalition party National Freedom Front and Minister of Housing and Construction Wimal Weerawansa said the TNA is expressing views to the Sinhala community that are contradictory to the views of the Tamil Community in the North.
He said the old Tamil politicians of the party are determined to mobilize the youth in the North through another Prabhakaran.
Minister’s statement comes following a speech made by the TNA’s chief ministerial candidate for Northern Province C. V. Vigneswaran at Valvettithurai glorifying the slain terrorist leader Prabhakaran as a hero.
“Prabhakaran is indeed a hero. President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows that the LTTE leader Prabhakaran was a warrior. Prabhakaran is not a terrorist. He was a hero and a warrior who fought for the liberation of the Tamils,” Wigneswaran has been quoted in the media as saying.
Minister Weerawansa said the old politicians of TNA have an undying desire to put the cyanide capsule around the Tamil youth’s neck and guide them to their graves to fulfill their separatist dreams.
He said that the TNA politicians have no qualms about mobilizing the poor and underprivileged youth in the North through another Prabhakaran since their children never joined the terrorists but grew up and were educated while living in Colombo
The Minister said that Vigneswaran had studied, worked and lived in Colombo and would have no qualms about Tamil youth in the North adorning the cyanide capsule again.
He said the TNA politicians are trying to convert the Northern Provincial Council election to a public referendum for self-rule. He requested the northern public to defeat the separatist politics of the TNA.
September 18th, 2013 at 1:04 am
I thought Prabakaran and his murderers gone we can rest in peace but now the other way around. Everyday we see situation becomes more dangerous with black vultures roaming around our skys to swallow our freedom and peace.
For God’s sake Mr.President we love you, we worship you and we are with you but just for a miniute listen to the wishes of the Majority Sinhalese,Muslims and Tamils who are behind you and supporting you. BAN TNA FOR THE SAKE OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY. PERIOD! Enough is enough we cannot afford another bloodshed. We cannot just ignore their threats longer and their treacherous acts towards our homeland. They openly threaten us, They openly collect money from abroad from their sympathyzers they openly say they want to have an armed struggle. Why we wait SIR MR.PRESIDENT? Why we do not take precautions before they spill blood all over the country again? Those LTTE murderers wont stop killing innocents again unless we stop them. The Govt should not be afraid because the Sri Lankan public is with you Sir. You see every country in the world.If someone or a group is a threat to the country they arrest them and put them in jail.In my country all the traitors living like kings doing all bullshit things and enjoying the freedom. All the traitors Sinhalese,Tamils or Muslims must be brought to justice and punish like any othe democratic country in the world.
Sinhala and Muslim people must be given lands and other facilities to live in Nothern and Eastern areas like the Tamils live in all parts of Lanka. We are all same the sons & daughters of Mother Lanka. Everyone should have the freedom to live where ever they like. Serve all the people from the same spoon and help our country to grow and be an example to the world.
September 18th, 2013 at 4:47 am
For the Tamil lead party, the TNA, (still unregistered !), in the NPC elections, the only way to unite the Tamils is to call for Eelam once more. They have nothing to offer to the Tamil people, more than half of whom are classified as ‘low caste’ by the the so called ‘high caste’ Tamils.
Only two seats have been allocated for the so called ‘low caste’ Tamils in the NPC when over 50% of the population there are so called ‘low caste’ (according to the ‘high caste’ Tamil classification). Caste based politics is banned by the Social Disabilities Act of 1957 ? Or do we need further Laws to ensure that ? The most able people to serve the public there should be elected, and certainly not by Caste base !
Who gains by Eelam ?
Who gains by maintaining the Caste system ?
September 18th, 2013 at 5:00 am
Thank you Dr Sudath for alerting the populace on the dangers of the TNA, NPC elections, 13A etc for the nth time. Is the GoSL so utterly deaf and blind to your reasoning?? Please have your views herein published in the Sinhala papers – S de Silva – London
September 18th, 2013 at 5:07 am
From the interview of Hindustan Times with the President.
“HT: The Geneva Convention applies to warring states but not to non-state actors like the LTTE. Given that there are civil war and sectarian wars all over the world and from the point of view of a human rights lawyer, do you think there ought to be amendments to those laws?”
This is a HUGE opportunity for people.
Pro-SL people should set up a rebel group = NON-STATE ACTOR. And start getting rid of THREATS to the nation.
As Geneva Convention does NOT apply to them, NO war crimes!!
September 18th, 2013 at 5:49 am
FIVE GROUPS have challenged the TNA Manifesto in the Supreme Court. It seems that only the SC can save the Nation. Will the SC deliver in time ? If not, why ?
“Five groups challenge TNA manifesto in SC
Island, September 17, 2013, 9:20 pm
By Chitra Weerarathne
Five organisations have filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the TNA’s election manifesto publicised in the Northern Province, in connection with the forthcoming Provincial Council polls.
The organizations are: the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), the Patriotic Buddhist Front (PBF), the Swarnahansa Foundation, the Buddhist Way Organisation and the Jaffna Buddhist Association. The respective individual petitioners of the aforesaid five organisations are: Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, Venerable Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera, Punyawardene Alwis, Sachchischandra Dhamasiri, Attorney-at-Law and Arulnethrarathnam Ravikumara.
All the petitioner have said that the TNA election manifesto, which says that the Tamils have a right to have a separate state in the north is a violation of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, which refers to Sri Lanka as a unitary, sovereign state.
The petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to declare as illegal, the TNA manifesto, which, they say, lays claim for a separate state and seeks to incite racial divisions among the people.
The petitioners have asked the court to suspend the polls till the petitions are finally determined.
Among the respondents are the General Secretary of the TNA, Mawai Senadhiraja, President of the TNA, R. Sampandan and the Commissioner of Elections”.
September 18th, 2013 at 8:47 am
Let us WAIT & SEE whether the Supreme Court that spawned Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake will DEFEND & PROTECT the Motherland … or is still a DEFENDER & PROTECTOR of its anti-national enemies.
So far … the Supreme Court has been a FOX minding the HEN House … a USELESS ENTITY presiding over the dissolution of our beloved Motherland … and populated by bunch of tax-payer supported hidden traitors!
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Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court issues notice to Tamil party over election manifesto
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 18, Colombo: The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today issued notice on the leaders of the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to appear before the court on 2nd October to show cause regarding the constitutionality of the TNA election manifesto.
The apex court issued the notice when a petition filed by President of the Patriotic National Movement Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera against the TNA election manifesto was taken up for hearing.
The Supreme Court granted leave to proceed with the petition but did not deliver an injunction order suspending the Northern Provincial Council election as demanded by the petitioner.
The tri-member bench hearing the petitions comprised Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, Justices K. Sripavan and Rohini Marasinghe.
Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera filed a petition in the Supreme Court on September 17 appealing to declare the election manifesto of the TNA is against the constitution.
The petitioner cited in his petition that the TNA election manifesto has been unscrupulously targeted to establish a separate state in the unitary Sri Lanka.
The petitioner further demanded to deliver an injunction suspending the Northern Provincial Council election until the examination of the petition is concluded.
The petition requested the Court to ascertain whether the TNA manifesto is in contravention to the Sri Lanka Constitution as it has suggested forming a separate state in Sri Lankan soil.
Petitioner has further cited in the petition that the manifesto is in line with the hidden agenda of the LTTE. In its election manifesto, the TNA, once considered as a proxy for the terrorist group LTTE during the war, has called for establishing power sharing arrangements in a unit of a merged Northern and Eastern Provinces based on a Federal structure. TNA secretary Mavai Senathirajah, leader R. Sampanthan and Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya have been mentioned as the respondents of the petition.
Four more petitions have been filed in the court by Sinhala organizations requesting the court to suspend the Northern Provincial Council elections over the charge that the TNA manifesto violated the Constitution.
The petitioners claim that the TNA manifesto violates the sixth amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution which says that no political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.
Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has power to proscribe any political party or other association or organization found guilty of having the objective to establish a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.
TNA leaders have vehemently rejected the allegation that its election manifesto demanded a separate state of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.
However, comments made by the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the Northern Province, former Supreme Court judge C. Vigneswaran glorifying the slain terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as a hero not a terrorist, has fueled fears in the southern polity that the party is attempting to revive the arms struggle to achieve the separate state goal.
September 18th, 2013 at 9:20 am
While the Elamist Racists undermine Sri Lanka politically on the tilting deck of the Titanic, the People of Sri Lanka, buffeted by newly inclement weather patterns, are running short of food!
It was not too long ago that the GOSL balleyhooed that self-sufficiency in FOOD is at hand!
If the following report is TRUE, then Sri Lanka still teeters on the cusp of famine without a sufficiently large BUFFER in the volume of FOOD PRODUCTION.
Let there be NO MISTAKE, as the world’s population continues to double, and double again, FOOD will become the most PRECIOUS of National Resources. Even NOW, even in the United States, the inflation adjusted price of food has increased several fold, and people are spending an increasing fraction of their incomes to feed themselves.
The MESSAGE is CLEAR: Increasing demand and decreasing supplies, affected by changing weather patterns, are threatening the wold’s food supply.
The GOSL should take HEED, and ALLOCATE sufficient funds to ENSURE that Sri Lanka becomes not only SELF-SUFFICIENT in food, but also a LARGE SCALE EXPORTER of High Quality Food to the world, including sea food grown in intelligently managed, and actively protected, marine resources surrounding our Island homeland, that may become Sri Lanka’s largest foreign exchange earner in the not too distant future.
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Concerns growing over worsening food security in Sri Lanka
By Amantha Perera
Reuters
September 18, 2013
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Long-term interventions are essential to stem deteriorating food security among victims of frequent extreme weather events in Sri Lanka, experts warn.
In the last 20 months, parts of Sri Lanka have been hit by a severe drought and two bouts of floods that experts at the World Food Programme (WFP) and the government say have worsened the food security of victims.
In the last five years, according to UN estimates, between 3.5 million and 4 million people out of a population of little over 20 million have been affected by natural disasters in Sri Lanka.
Ismail Omer, the WFP country head for Sri Lanka, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that his organisation fears that in some parts of the country, food security has fallen to the levels seen in 2011, when the country had just begun to recover from a decades-long civil conflict that ended only in May 2009.
Overall the WFP estimates that at least 1.2 million people in the country are in need of food aid.
In 2011, WFP and other agencies estimated that at least 60 percent of the population in the country’s north and east were food insecure and in need of food assistance. This was the region where the conflict was most intense.
By the middle of last year, according to WFP estimates, just 40 percent of people in that region still needed help. But subsequent drought and the floods have destroyed harvests in Sri Lanka’s northern, eastern, north western, north central and southern regions.
“Just within the last twelve months, approximately half a million people were first affected by drought resulting in reduced harvest yields in September-October 2012, then a cyclone before Christmas 2012 followed by severe flooding in the beginning of 2013 affecting harvest yields,” Omer said.
In some parts of the island’s eastern and northwestern regions – both vital areas for production of rice, the national staple – harvest losses were estimated to be around 30 percent.
This year, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organsiation, the paddy rice harvest is expected to recover and yield more than 4.1 million metric tonnes for the first time in about five years.
SMALL-SCALE FARMERS STRUGGLING
However according to Liyanapathirana Rupasena, a director at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agararian Research Institute (HARTI), many small-scale farmers are yet to recover.
“These are farmers who hold one hectare or less. More often than not they fund each crop with loans. When harvests fail, one after the other, they find it hard to recover,” he said.
According to a study by the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, 70 percent of the estimated two million rice farmers in Sri Lanka own one hectare or less.
One is Wijerathane Thenakoon, a 47-year-old rice farmer from North Central Anuradhapura District, who has been planting a one-acre (0.4 hectare) plot of rice for the last 30 years. His farming income, which has been dwindling year by year, is the sold source of support for his family of five, including three school going children.
“Honestly, I don’t think I can recover from the losses of the last two years. If this harvest does not give me a good income, I will sell off the plot,” said Thenakoon, who owes debts of around Rs 200,000 ($1,400). His annual income from his paddy harvest is around Rs 175,000 ($1,200), he said.
He received emergency relief after the floods in December but nothing thereafter.
Experts like Rupasena warn that when incomes dwindle, farmers like Thenakoon will cut down on expenditure that they feel is non-essential. “Education and health expenses are right on top of this list. Many feel they can defer these,” said W.L. Sumathipala, the former head of the government’s Climate Change Unit.
A survey conducted by the WFP and HARTI in 10 of the worst-affected districts hit by floods in January this year found that 41 percent of those surveyed were eating less preferred foods, skipping meals and incurring debt.
Just as worrying, “a review of the reported natural disaster impacts during the past eight years indicates a trend of increasing frequency of events,” said a U.N. Humanitarian Bulletin on the first half of this year.
Sumathipala said one of the biggest obstacles to bringing change was lack of funding. Funding constraints have already hampered relief work targeting those affected by the latest disasters. Due to lack of funding, the WFP did not proceed with a $2.6 million programme to provide assistance to 60,000 of the half million people affected by floods in January this year, officials said.
Rupasena said that due to the growing frequency of weather disasters – currently there are fears that a moderate drought has again begun in Sri Lanka’s northwestern regions – plans should be put in place to maintain buffer stocks and emergency supplies or funding to assist in such emergencies.
More effort also should be put into trying to better predict future disasters, he said.
Constant monitoring of food security levels in disaster-affected communities and long-term investment in flood mitigation prgrammes, such as renovating irrigation canals and rehabilitating damaged water networks, also could help, WFP official said.
Floods are most common natural disaster in Sri Lanka, accounting for 41 percent of all people affected by disasters.
Amantha Perera is a freelance writer based in Sri Lanka.
September 18th, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Weneed not get panick over Wineshvaran’s UTTERENCES as I see no Human Being in his image JUST LIKE THAT OF THAT PILLIYA,SAKKILI PILLAY!!!
If both of them had or have an atom of a common sence or brain,will these two ever speack such BULLSHIT???
Pillay criticised LTTE AND BRANDED THEM A TERRORIST MOVEMENT IN UNCERTAIN TERMS, and find fault with SL Govt for Authoritarian Governance??? She should have gone before a mirror to see WHO THAT AUTHORITARIAN IS? Its THIS SAKKILI PILLAY!
Wigneshvaran having lived in Colombo with SL Govts Security now OPENS HIS DIRTY,SMELLY MOUTH & SAY PRABAHA IS GREAT???
BOTH THESE SAKKILIYAS ARE SPEAKING FROM THEIR BACKSIDE!!!
September 18th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Ananda,
“Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court issues notice to Tamil party over election manifesto”
But that commences on October 2. Long after the horses have bolted!!!
Then TNA would say they scrap it because by then they would have won the election with this manifesto and the whole world knows Tamils voted for the TE manifesto.
September 18th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Dear Dr.Sudath!.. Judging by the massive response, we feel Lankans care, BUT we do not have a UNITING force to carry out important proposals & place them in front of our President..HE Rajapaksha.
Few weeks ago, I suggested that Mr. Chanaka Bandara from Australia & others from legal profession in Sri Lanka to form a joint committee, to further THREE important issues, which will BLUNT the TNA & other fringe parties in breaking up the country.
FIRST…….Settle Sinhalese & Muslims in North & East who lost their homes & land during LTTE debacle. THIS time NOT only the people who lost homes, BUT also NEW settlers manily Sinhalse to North & East. THIS IS IMPERATIVE if we are to call Lanka a multicultural society. WE CANNOT allow any race to say that any region or area, belongs EXCLUSIVELY to them.
SECOND….GET RID of Tamils including busineses RESIDING in Colombo DISTRICT. Problems like Gampha water polution would not have occured if GOVT. banned buinesses from locating in the DISTRICT so that people can reside & use facilities freely, WITHOUT making room for busineses. YES we need busineses to be in Lanka NOT in major ctties & close to crowded neighbourhoods.
How do we do this when Supereme court has come out againt us in the past?. There is a way, UDA under Mr. Goatabhaya can handle this without much problems.
COLOMBO must be available mostly to Sinahalese Buddhists as SRI LANKA is & always been a BUDDHIST NATION. The scenic areas like Dehiwala & Mt. Lavania.. down to Panadura area are OUT OF BOUNDS TO TAMILS & MUSLIMS s they have made it a point to drive Sinhalese away from these cities & areas.
I KNOW many people will say, we are RACISTS or whatever, WELL what are the Tamils & Muslims ARE NOT THEY?
WE NEED NOT be afraid to govern our country as a majority, which we NEVER REALLY DID. WE listen to India, or some other country or Christian or people of other religions, to OCCUPY the central & most lucrative areas in Colombo & vcinity.
With respect 13th amendment, sooner the better it is removed from our sight ONCE & FOR ALL. LET INDIA growl, get annoyed or do whatever, JUST GO ON DOING the way we defeated the LTTE.
THIRD.. Implement immediatelly war CRIMES against LTTE & their cohuts NOT for last TWO years of war, BUT 26 years of WAR & DESTRUCTION. Once they are punished, EVEN retd. Justice like Wigneswaran WILL NOT DARE talk about legal aspects of lankan adminsitration. IF HE IS RETIRED he must know that his VALUE & INFLUENCE is very much diminished. MY ADVICE to him, DO NOT DARE THREATEN US, even sleeping lot will WAKE UP & FINSH YOU once & for all.
When we were in High School,WE NEVER allowed any Tamil or Muslim to utter a remark like that, to SINHALESE. Now beacuse of our leneancy & buddhist values we practice, they are TALKING A LOT. IF TNA MPs are punished for leaving the country to attend unnecessary JAUNTS abroad, they need to GET PERMISSION from Speaker of the Parliament.
Anybody leaving the country without PRIOR PERMISSION, will lose their pay & eventually MP status of the country.
FOUR.. Implement & act decisively on 6th aamendment to our constitution. These are some of the immediate steps needed & ones that come to my mind. I AM NOT A LAWYER, but if our legal minds get together, I am sure we can face any eventuality……Thank you all…..May the NOBLE TRIPLE GEMS guard & guide us & also protect our beloved PRESIDENT……..~ another expat babaling away..as usual..`J…
September 18th, 2013 at 5:43 pm
It is most likely knowing the mindset of the racist Tamils, that the TNA will win the Northern Provincial Council. Then they will ask for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment which still carries provisions for land and police powers. If they are denied then they will go to the so called “International Community” with that grievance. From then onwards it will be back to usual Eelam politics and terrorism this time ably assisted by the International Community intent now more than ever on regime change.
UPFA and her leaders will be left licking the soiled hands = like the proverbial cat that crapped on a rock! – and the nation back to square one!
It is time Sri Lanka became Assertive once more like in 2009 and charted her own way in seeking what is good for Sri Lanka.
September 19th, 2013 at 4:27 am
Ratanapala is more or less correct.
The fact that the TNA is allowed to run for elections with its ILLEGAL MANIFESTO, thus breaking the Constitution, right from the start, does not auger well for Sri Lanka. It is the will of ex-Empires operating here, riding on the back of discontented Tamil voters who are ignorant.
The Law of the Land is being ignored (illegal TNA Manifesto), and that is sad ! What is the protection for the rest of Lanka with the Constitution weakened by the 13-A ?
September 19th, 2013 at 11:28 am
I spoke of “Foreign Enemies” of Sri Lanka … well here is a manifestation of that enmity driven by the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora and by the global agendas of the Foreign Powers themselves.
The TOTAL DEFEAT of the LTTE on the battlefield would not have possible if the GOSL had followed the advice of these Foreign Powers reeking with double-standards in their solving theier own problems in their own interest.
LIKEWISE, SECURING TOTAL PEACE & PROSPERITY for Sri Lanka and its People in the LONG TERM will not be possible by empowering Separatists to create Communal Fiefdoms in Sri Lanka just to placate these Foreign Powers.
As in the conduct of Eelam War IV, the GOSL must use the CLEAR EVIDENCE of TREASON & SEPARATIST INTENTIONS now available in the RUNUP to the PC Elections, and REVOKE the 13th Amendment, DISMANTLE the Provincial Council System, and BAN all Communal Parties … before Sri Lanka unravels again.
Following the advice of Foreign Powers piously pontificating on negotiations, and asking for their help to combat terrorism which never came, over 30 long years, left Sri Lanka in ruins, our citizens destitute and victimized by terror. Instead, we must CONTINUE to use OUR OWN WIT to SOLVE OUR OWN PROBLEMS and REJECT THE ADVICE of Foreign Powers seeking to placate their local political constituencies and plying their own global agendas.
These Comments are being made now because they fear that the GOSL might respond to the recent Separatist Actions of the TNA by REVOKING the 13th Amendment.
PUT THESE JAUNDICED FOREIGNERS OUT OF THEIR MISERY by REVOKING the 13th Amendment, DISMANTLING the Provincial Council System, and BANNING all COMMUNAL PARTIES!
If BANNING the Nazi Party serves the Western Powers WELL in preserving their future SECURITY, Sri Lanka would be JUST AS WELL served by BANNING the TNA to PROTECT itself.
If DISMANTLING the Berlin Wall and the Post-War division of Germany into two nations serves Germany WELL, then DISMANTLING the Provincial Council System imposed by India upon SRi Lanka by FORCE OF ARMS, would serve Sri Lanka JUST AS WELL.
Let us FIRMLY REJECT DOUBLE-STANDARDS & ASSERT Sri Lanka’s SOVEREIGNTY to Govern Itself: What is good for the fat Western GOOSE must be GOOD for the under-fed Sri Lankan GANDER as well!
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Sri Lanka lashes out at Germany and U.S. for undermining Northern PC elections
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 19, Geneva: Sri Lanka today expressed dismay at the concerns expressed by the United States, Germany and Ireland at the General Debate of the 24th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva and asked the detractors at HRC not to discredit the Northern PC election process or prejudge its outcome.
In a Right of Reply with regard to references made to Sri Lanka by Germany, the U.S. and Ireland under the General Debate at the ongoing session, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Manisha Gunasekera on Thursday said, it is ironic that Germany chose to discredit the election process for the Northern Provincial Council and prejudge its outcome and impact when Sri Lanka is holding the first ever election to the Council since the introduction of the Provincial Council system in 1987.
Delivering a statement at the General Debate on “Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention” on Tuesday, German Ambassador Hanns Schumacher said the upcoming elections in the Northern Province could help to reconcile and enfranchise the Tamil population, but only if they are free and fair and if the 13th amendment is not revoked.
Sri Lanka pointed out that commitment of the Sri Lankan government to ensure the transparent and free and fair conduct of the election not only to the Northern Provincial Council, but also to the Central and North Western Provincial Councils which go to polls this Saturday is clearly demonstrated by the presence of 24 election observers from the South Asian region as well as from Commonwealth countries, on the invitation of the Elections Commissioner.
Sri Lanka further noted that there has been no practice in the country for external monitors to observe provincial council elections but the Election Commissioner invited the foreign observers as confidence building measure and to assure transparency.
Sri Lankan delegation lashed out at Germany for lack of objectivity displayed by ignoring the steps taken by the government to achieve comprehensive reconciliation as recommended by the LLRC and to investigate alleged atrocities during the final phase of the war.
Sri Lanka said it is surprised that the U.S. should declare that ‘Sri Lanka should set visit dates and provide access for relevant special rapporteurs’ when the UNHRC has been updated twice in the current session of the government’s proactive engagement with special procedures mandate holders and the invitations it has extended in this regard.
The U.S. said at the General Debate that Sri Lanka should set dates for Special Rapporteurs to visit and provide relevant access.
The Sri Lankan government will decide the schedule for such visits according to the requirement of the country and appropriate timing, the delegation said.
Responding to the concerns expressed by Ireland on the treatment of the prisoners incarcerated in connection with the conflict, enforced disappearances, torture and human rights violations, Sri Lanka denied that there were human rights violations against the prisoners detained in connection with terrorist activities.
The legal legal representatives and family members, as well as the National Human Rights Commission and the ICRC have free access to all those in custody, the delegation told the Council.
The envoy told the Council that instances of reported cases of torture have diminished considerably throughout the last five years and the government has recently appointed a Commission to investigate allegations of disappearances, which will complement ongoing action.
The Sri Lankan delegation said it is disconcerting to keep noting the same allegations, particularly when the Council has been continuously sensitized to the action taken on the very same issues.
“We can only keep hoping for an objective and constructive approach from the HRC,” the envoy said.
September 19th, 2013 at 11:32 am
TNA manifesto worse than Vaddukodai resolution – KP
DailyNews.lk
September 19, 2013
Vavuniya Group Corr
Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP castigated the TNA saying that the election manifesto of the Tamil National Alliance was a more serious demand than the Vadukkoddai document which called for a separate state.
K Pathmanathan
Addressing a media conference at the Sencholai Child Development Centre in Kilinochchi yesterday, Kumaran Pathmanathan, formerly with the LTTE, said that the TNA manifesto was more serious than Vadukkoddai agreement and the LTTE Oslo Pact. “Certain words have been included in the manifesto to cover up its seriousness.”
He said that holding of the Northern polls was democratically a significant opportunity gained by the Northerners, adding that people living in the North would gain many benefits through this provincial council. “I call upon the Tamils to rally round President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as there is no hope for them by voting for an unstable political party. It is high time that they make the best use of this golden opportunity and vote the UPFA into power and live in freedom, peace and harmony.”
He further told the media that it was only now that people who underwent hardships were gaining benefits. “In such a situation, TNA is trying to return to that era. Northern Tamils had to face enormous difficulties in the past. TNA is trying to unleash hardships on their people again.
KP said: “The TNA is misleading innocent and poor Tamils. It is a sin to hoodwink the public in this manner.
The TNA is misleading the public saying their needs would not be met through this PC. They claim there should be struggles to win their privileges.” KP emphasized that the TNA wanted to begin this struggle after winning the polls.
They also claim that youth in the province are geared for the struggle.
Making reference to Vartharaja Perumal, he claimed that Perumal misused powers of the first PC established in the North. ” TNA is now planning to do the same thing citing Eelam. Their aim is to achieve their objectives, but not serve the public by winning the poll.
They intend to secure positions and meet their ends,” Pathmanathan added.
He also blamed the TNA for not accepting that they were at fault. Instead of accepting their fault, they point their finger at others.
The TNA Chief Ministerial candidate Vigneshwaran, was very hard on the LTTE when he was sitting in judgment while a member of the judiciary and today he is praising the LTTE as heroes merely to win their votes.
He pointed out that there was no unity among the members of the TNA and they have hardly cared to get the organization registered as a recognized political party.
How can such a party run the province? “I call upon the Tamils to rally round President Mahinda Rajapaksa as there is no hope for them by voting to an unstable political party. It is high time that they make the best use of this golden opportunity by voting the UPFA into power and live in freedom, peace and harmony,” he said.
September 19th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Ho! Ho! Ho! Looks like the UNP does not like any criticism of the TNA or the LTTE!
SHAME! Oh, how LOW this Grand Old Party of PATRIOTS that led Sri Lanka to Independence has fallen! Now it has descended into the PIT of ANTI-NATIONAL VIPERS!
Isn’t there ANYBODY in this Grand Old Party that can RESCUE IT and LEAD IT in a PATRIOTIC DIRECTION?
Hellooo … Anyone LISTENING at Siri Kotha? ANYONE?
How about Rohan Senanayake … my dear old classmate? Can he EMULATE his PATRIOTIC ancestors?
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Opposition demands Sri Lanka Election Commissioner to probe ex-LTTE leader’s media brief
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 19, Colombo: Tissa Attanayake, the General Secretary of Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has demanded the Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya to probe the media statement given by the former international wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.
Addressing a press conference in Kilinochchi on Wednesday (18) former LTTE Chief Arms Procurer slammed the leadership of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is campaigning for the Northern Provincial Council election.
Pathmanathan claimed that the TNA’s election manifesto for the Provincial Council elections is worse than the Vaddukoddai Resolution in 1976 and the Oslo Declaration of 2002, only with “code words to cheat the people.”
He urged the Tamil people not listen to “old TNA lies” and to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
UNP General Secretary in his letter to the Election Commissioner said KP’s press briefing violated the election laws.
The opposition further accused that public property was also used in this press briefing in which the parties contesting the election were heavily criticized.
September 20th, 2013 at 5:31 am
Any political party or persons contravening the 6th Amendment should be prosecuted by the Ministry of Defence &/or the Ministry for Law & Order (the new Ministry). The 6-A is tied to Security issues and should be acted on immediately.
The TNA Manifesto is a clear indication of transgression of the Laws of Sri Lanka. The existing TNA Manifesto must be removed and a new written up in keeping to the Law of the Land. If not, the TNA members ought to be prosecuted under the 6-A.
September 20th, 2013 at 8:23 am
Oops! Obviously I meant September 21, 2013 as the DAY OF INFAMY. and NOT November 21, 2013! Clearly, as in all things, Haste makes Waste!