India’s CHOGM dilemma: “Leave Sri Lanka aloneâ€Â
Posted on October 25th, 2013
Asada M Erpini
‚ A report in the Indian media dated 25 October, reproduced locally, talks of the Indian PM-â„¢s dilemma vis a vis attending the commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to be held in November in Sri Lanka.
‚ In a few places in the report, there is mention of the -human rights issues and the alleged human rights violations by the Sri Lanka government-. One of the key words here is -alleged-: no one can be punished based on allegations. Allegations have to be proved, beyond reasonable doubt, with evidence. The -Ëœevidence-â„¢ that is being bandied about in international circles is of the calibre of those on which Channel 4-â„¢s -Killing Fields- have been concocted. The fact that Pirabhaharan violated the human rights of all Sri Lankans, including Tamils, over a period of nearly three decades apparently does not count. Additionally, the Sri Lanka government and its armed forces liberating nearly 300,000 Tamils who had been herded like cattle from the North and Northwest and forced to move to the Northeast to be used as a human shield by the Tamils-â„¢ -Ëœsaviour Sun God-â„¢ is of no concern to any of the human rights merchants or to India or to any of the countries in the West that keep on harping on human rights violation in Sri Lanka.
‚ There are at least a few salient truths in the report. The correspondent talks of the possibility of the PM-â„¢s decision affecting -the prospects of the Congress Party in the 2014 parliamentary elections but even the longevity of his coalition-. Additionally, there is reference to the Canadian Prime Minister-â„¢s decision not to attend the CHOGM, saying that it is a move to -woo the voters of Sri Lankan Tamil origin-. I disagree wholeheartedly when the Indian correspondent says, -Canada cannot be faulted on this count-: Canada and its current Prime Minister are one hundred per cent guilty of using exaggerated or concocted human rights issues in a distant Sri Lanka for their political gains.
‚ The absurdity of the Indian stance is the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister reportedly calling for -slapping a trade embargo on Sri Lanka-. Sri Lanka is awash with Bajaj tuk tuks, Ashok Leylands, Tata Benzes, Maruti cars that have taken over the highways in every nook and corner in the country. Indian business men are having a roaring trade in Pettah and other parts of Colombo. A trade embargo, if ever applied, will hurt India much more than Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka-â„¢s servility to India clearly has no bounds: one of the most prestigious hotels in Nuwara Eliya, which used to be the monopoly of the British planters in the good old days, and boasts fittings from a bygone era, does not serve Sri Lankan rice and curry today but has a special Indian restaurant!
‚ The report continues, -Indian interests in Sri Lanka are much larger than either Canada or Britain-. India should have no interest whatsoever in Sri Lanka, and there is no legitimacy in whatever India does as regards Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is an independent, sovereign nation, and it has the capacity to manage its affairs without India dictating terms or poking its unwelcome finger in Sri Lanka-â„¢s affairs. All that India had done is to destabilise Sri Lanka through various means: from the time of Indira Gandhi though her son Rajiv-â„¢s period, India financed, trained and unleashed a group of Tamil terrorists on innocent Sri Lanka to cause mayhem. If one were to move back a few centuries, all that Sri Lanka got from the then India was invasions by Chola and Pandya marauders resulting in the destruction of the ancient capitals Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.
‚ India continues with its unwanted interference in Sri Lanka-â„¢s affairs purely because the island nation is powerless and had failed to cultivate sincere friends. India does not anatagonise Pakistan, and leaves China alone: the latter two countries have the military strength to respond in good measure if and when India dreams of dictating terms to them. When will Sri Lanka reach such a state?
‚ Sathya Meva Jayate!
‚ Asada M Erpini
October 25th, 2013 at 7:53 pm
I hope that spineless Indian PM will not attend the CHOGM so that we can once and for all label him as an enemy of Sri Lanka. He has openly betrayed our country by voting for the American resolutions at the UNHCR.Will he have the balls to call for a trade embargo against Sri Lanka? I hope so as the balance of trade is so much in against Sri Lanka.Also it will stop all those inferior Indian goods coming to Sri Lanka.
It is time the Tamil Nadu people know that It was the support of PM Sing that helped the Sri Lankan government to eliminate the Tamil tigers because of their threat to his government.He must be scared for his life after what happened to Rajive Gahindi to go against the Tamils.
October 26th, 2013 at 11:31 am
Whatever Indian Govt’s intentions are.. they all wait for the last moment to let others know. Either this PM, is afraid of TN leaders or just playing games to feel important. He is NOT ONLY scared of Tamils killing him, even Sinhalese are ready for any eventuality. The lone SOLDIER who attacked Rajiv Ghandi is sttill living & have said he will do it again if he feel like it.
Apart from that INDIAN PM is wasted & he himself asked few times, to be replcaed by a YOUNG leader. But alas RHAUL GHANDI has recently said that HE WILL BE KILLED without mentioning by which party , Tamils in TN or any other numerous enemies INDIA has.
For Sri Lanka sooner, we get out o all deals made with India the better, for Sri Lanka. OUR leaders never ask or include a CLAUSE to agreements/ treaties, that THEY MUST FIRST OF ALL BE in the interest of LANKA or NOT. If not we should NOT SIGN ANY AGREEMENTS or treaties howver TEMPTIMNG they may be.
Lets see if our President will at least make a FIRM UNEQUIVICAL statement & declare Sri Lanka is a BUDDHIST SINHALA NATION & other minorrities can get benefits according to their population strength, NOT because of BTF, GTF, or any othet PARIPPU organizations Tamils expouse to be.
Thank you all….ONE COUNTRY UNDER ONE LEADER Strog & Free……God Bles lanka & its people……J
October 26th, 2013 at 11:49 am
The issue of Human rights violations seldom if ever are used to address the problem but are used for political gain. If it is used to address the problem then India’s caste system alone would damn India from the international community. The new fad of raping women and girls has taken enormous proportions in India’s society and the human rights of hundreds of millions of Indian living on less than a dollar per day in ever growing slums is staggering and places the Sri Lankan human rights violations – DURING A TIME OF WAR almost insignificant.
Across the Middle East mass slaughter is going on in one form or the other.. Daily suicide bombings exact the lives of many each and every day. Similar human rights violations can be seen across the globe including in China, the African continent and even in first world nations. But since they have the power to silence the UNHRC they do not get blamed, leaving the Tamil led UNHRC to place disproportionate emphasis on Sri Lanka.
In this light India is playing the same card of Human rights violations to pressure Colombo to do things contrary to the well being of Sri Lanka. India accusing Sri Lanka of human rights is like the pot calling the kettle black especially when the kettle has been just purchased. It is moments like this that the authenticity of India’s accusations must be questioned. India never accuses China of the myriad Human rights violations because China is stronger than India.
If nations are going to take the high ground of defending human rights in their neighborhood they cannot pick and choose which nation should be damned with such accusations and which nation gets the pass. India’s duplicity is sufficient reason enough to close the Indian Embassy, cut ties with that nation for supporting the Tamil Tigers and openly invite the Chinese navy into Sri Lankan ports.
October 26th, 2013 at 7:18 pm
GREAT! Let us kick India out of the Sampur Power Plant project and give it to the Japanese!
Japan has always stood by Sri Lanka, and Japanese build high Quality Power Generation Equipment.
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Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation to assist power generation in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 26, Colombo: A Japanese diversified conglomerate has expressed willingness to assist the development of Sri Lanka’s power sector, the Economic Development Ministry said.
Japan’s Tokyo based Sumitomo Corporation, a leading integrated trading company engaged in diverse businesses based on its global network, has offered to contribute to the power development in Sri Lanka.
During a meeting between a delegation of the firm and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa held at the Ministry premises in Colombo on October 24, Sumitomo has announced that it is ready to invest in power generation and distribution, provide technical and engineering expertise and the necessary financial support.
Senior General Manager of Sumitomo Corporation India (Pvt) Ltd. Yusuhiko Siromawa has assured Minister Rajapaksathat Sumitomo is planning to assist in the first, second and third phases of the coal power plant project now under construction in Trincomalee.
The Sumitomo Corporation has also expressed its intention to build a anothe thermal power plant with Japanese aid.
October 26th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
NEVER give Police and Land Powers to AVOWED SEPARATISTS who hero worship the arch-terrorist Velupillai Prabhakaran!
Wigneswaran’s “hand of friendship”, thus far constitutes:
1. Honoring dead LTTE terrorists
2. Paying Homage to the late unlamented SunGod who murdered over 150,000 Sri Lankan citizens
3. Promising to restore LTTE cemeteries to help revive Eelamist sentiments
4. Remove/reduce the presence of the Sri Lanka armed forces, and replace them with Tamil policemen, aka TNA goons, so the REVIVAL of the Eelamist terrorist army can be done in secret
5. Replace Maj. Gen Chandrasiri, the Governor of the Province with a civilian stooge who can be bribed, terrorized and cowed into silence as the Eelam project is accelerated
6. Co-opt the GOSL of the support of Muslims evicted from the North by the Eelamists by offering to restore them to their homes … for the moment that is …. until the Eelam project is well established when they can be re-ejected without interference by the Central Govt, and
7. He demands that people who were never residents of the North should not be resettled in the province under state-sponsored colonization schemes, THUS DENYING the right of Sinhala People to settle anywhere in Sri Lanka, with or without GOSL assistance, just as the majority of Tamils from the North and East of Sri Lanka migrated to the GOSL controlled South, settled there and prospered mightily in the last 30 years. Now, he wants to deny that same right to Sinhala citizens of Sri Lanka! The Chutzpah of these RACISTS just BOGGLES my mind!
In short, Wigneswaran wants to adopt policies which will ensure RACIAL PURITY of a Tamil Northern Province … just as Prabhakaran did, and set the stage for regrouping and REVIVAL of the Eelamist movement.
Thus, here is an EElamist spouting the very same “Mein Kampf” AGENDA for the future as Prabhakaran did, he gives us FAIR WARNING of what he and the TNA will do in the near future.
Therefore, he is TOTALLY UNFIT to be Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and constitutes a GRAVE THREAT to Sri Lanka’s National Integrity, and should be dismissed from his office.
Better still, just TAR & FEATHER this SOB, and roll him home to worship the Siva Lingam in the privacy of his own home; he is UNFIT TO SERVE in any government body in Sri Lanka.
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NPC ready to exercise police, land powers, CM Wigneswaran tells inaugural session
By Dinasena Ratugamage
Island.lk
October 25, 2013
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran told the inaugural meeting of the recently elected Council that he was ready to exercise police and land powers granted to the PCs by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution
The Northern Provincial Council began its session in a building at Kaithady in Jaffna after a grand ceremony conducted in accordance with Hindu cultural rituals.
After the election of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman, Mr. Wigneswaran, a retired Supreme Court Justice, said that he was prepared to discuss any problems that could arise with any party in order to find a solution.He said his objective was to deploy a majority of Tamil speaking police officers in the province and to either reduce or remove the unlimited presence of security forces there under powers entrusted to the Council step by step.
The Chief Minister said internal self-determination was possible within a united Sri Lanka. He said his administration would extend a hand of friendship to the Central Government with the expectation of reciprocity.
Mr. Wigneswaran called for the replacement of the present northern governor with a civil official who understands the needs and aspirations of the Tamil people. Asserting that Muslims who were evicted from the North would be rehabilitated as a foremost task under his administration, he said people who were never residents of the North should not be resettled in the province under state-sponsored colonization schemes.
October 27th, 2013 at 11:06 am
Is USAID & the Catholic Church recruiting former Terrorists in the Guise of Charity?
Remember the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) that chanelled a vast stream of funds to Prabhakaran? Is the PIPELINE of TERRORIST FUNDS starting up again …. with USAID?
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Fr. Yogeswaran and ex-LTTE cadres meeting – Smacks of suspicion regarding intention
By Nation.lk
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Questions have been raised regarding a ‘meeting’ held in Trincomalee between Human Rights Campaigner and Legal Advisor Fr. V. Yogeswaran and rehabilitated members of the LTTE and their families.
This ‘special’ meeting was held by Fr. Yogeswaran last Tuesday (22). Those attended included several rehabilitated former LTTE cadres and relatives of LTTE members either undergoing rehabilitation or serving prison sentences.
When contacted, Fr. Yogeswaran denied any such meeting had taken place. “There was no meeting. I never met any such persons,” he emphasized.
However, informed sources disclosed to The Nation that such a meeting had indeed taken place, and that during this meeting, Fr. Yogeswaran had requested rehabilitated former LTTE cadres to submit him letters claiming that they were yet to receive any support from the Government.
He had then registered these individuals with his office. He had allegedly told these individual that ‘someone’ would visit them within the next few days and they would be provided with financial aid afterwards.
He had also met with selected relatives of LTTE members either undergoing rehabilitation or serving prison sentences. He had provided each of them with financial.
The Police, who were alerted to the meeting, had later intervened and questioned the priest about why he was holding such a gathering in his office. At this point, he had allegedly stated that he was conducting it as an ‘act of charity’ and that funds for this activity were being provided by USAID and two priests from Negombo.
According to military officials 0rehabilitated former cadres are provided with assistance, including self-employment training, access to bank loans, and other forms of financial support. As such, to coerce such persons to submit letters claiming they had received ‘no support whatsoever’ from the Government, smacked of a suspicious agenda.
They also point out that if any NGO wanted to provide financial or other aid to rehabilitated LTTE cadres and families, they could do so easily by going through the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation.
October 27th, 2013 at 11:32 am
The GOSL is discharging its responsibility by BUILDING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE at a RAPID PACE.
It is now up to Sri Lankan Patriots, within Sri Lanka and Abroad in the Expatriate Community, to do their utmost to introduce New Technologies and New Businesses to Sri Lanka that leverage these new infrastructure developments to GROW Sri Lanka’s Economic Strength and Technological Expertise at a good profit to yourself.
ALL Expatriates should ask themselves: “Is there any useful skill or knowledge that I have, however big or however small, that I can exploit to introduce a novel capability, product, or service to Sri Lanka geared to the LOCAL or the EXPORT market?
Now is the time to stir yourself and stop being a mere observer of events in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is on a roll to achieving its Grand Vision of becoming the New Wonder of Asia. The GOSL is doing its part; we should do ours!
Ask not what your Motherland can do for you, but what ypou can do for your Motherland!
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Sri Lanka President opens Chinese funded expressway linking Katunayake airport to capital
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa today declared opened the Colombo – Katunayake Expressway (CKE) , the 26 kilometer high speed expressway linking the country’s main Colombo International Airport to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Opening Sri Lanka’s second expressway, President unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the CKE at Peliyagoda and drove his vehicle to the Seeduwa Control Exchange where he paid the toll.
He inspected the video system at the Seeduwa control stations and proceeded to the Katunayake Exchange where he was received by flag-waving school students.
Addressing the occasion the President said with the opening of the highway the government has proven that it can successfully meet any challenge thrown at the government.
He emphasized that the development of a country is gauged by the development of a road network in a country and the expressway declared open today will provide benefits to both the local and foreign people.
Reiterating that the country has achieved peace and there was no bloodshed or terrorist activity in the country after 19th May 2009, the President appealed to the people to give their fullest cooperation to the development programme being implemented by the government for the benefit of the future generation.
He noted that when the government is making effort to develop the country certain elements are making various allegations against the government and therefore, the government has to spend much precious time to file response in Geneva to the allegations.
The 25.8 kilometer long expressway was built at a cost of US$ 291 million with a loan from China.
The CKE is expected to reduce the travel time between Colombo and the Airport to about 20 minutes. Speed limit will be 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph) for the first eight kilometers (5.0 mi) and 110 km/h (68 mph) for the rest of the road.
First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, Chinese diplomats, ministers and parliamentarians also participated in the event.