A Sri Lankan software engineer suspected by authorities of having provided technical and logistical support to the Easter Sunday suicide bombers was monitored by Indian intelligence agencies three years ago for links with Islamic State suspects, investigators said.
Four sources in Sri Lankan investigating agencies said they believed Aadhil Ameez, a 24-year-old, was the link between two groups that carried out the attacks on churches and hotels that killed more than 250 people and wounded hundreds more.
Aadhil has been arrested and is in police custody, the sources said. His arrest has not been made public, but when asked by Reuters, Ruwan Gunasekera, the main spokesman for the Sri Lankan police, confirmed Aadhil was taken into custody on April 25, four days after the attacks.
The spokesman declined to give more details.
A police official at India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and another police official in the western state of Gujarat said they were providing assistance to Sri Lankan authorities.
Aadhil, who describes himself on his LinkedIn profile as a senior engineer/programmer/web designer with a masters degree in computer science and a bachelors in political science from U.K. universities, could not be reached for comment.
He does not yet have a lawyer and under Sri Lanka’s tough new emergency laws imposed after the attacks, he can be held indefinitely.
AFP / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHISri Lanka has been under a state of emergency since the suicide bombings
Sri Lankan police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse mobs attacking mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in several towns Monday, as the country suffered a violent new backlash from the Easter suicide bombings.
Police and troops fought off hundreds of Christian-led rioters in at least six towns in North-Western Province where a curfew was imposed, police said.
“Several shops have been attacked,” a senior police officer told AFP. “When mobs tried to attack mosques, we fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse them.”
The curfew started in the six towns but was extended across the province amid fears that violence could spread. There were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests.
“There is a strong political element to the riots today,” the police officer said. “There are people trying to make political capital out of this situation.”
Earlier, authorities banned Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms after overnight riots gripped several towns in the region including Chilaw.
Christian groups attacked Muslim-owned shops in a sign of the heightened tensions since jihadist suicide bombers attacked three hotels and three churches on April 21 killing 258 people.
AFP / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHIFacebook was blocked after Muslim shops were targetted in Sri Lanka
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged the public not to believe rumours and warned that civil unrest will stretch the already thinly deployed security forces.
“I appeal to all citizens to remain calm and not be swayed by false information,” Wickremesinghe said on Twitter, which was not targeted in the social media blockade.
“Security forces are working tirelessly to apprehend terrorists and ensure the security of the country, but each time there is civil unrest, we increase their burden and hamper ongoing investigations.”
A state of emergency has been in place since the bombings — which the Islamic State group claims to have helped — and security forces have been given sweeping powers to detain suspects.
– Mosque attack –
Police said a mob targeted Muslim-owned shops in Chilaw on Sunday in anger at a Facebook post by a shopkeeper.
“Don’t laugh more, 1 day u will cry,” he wrote, and local Christians took it to be a warning of an impending attack.
AFP / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHISri Lanka has been on high alert since the Easter Sunday attacks
The mobs smashed the man’s shop and vandalised a nearby mosque prompting security forces to fire in the air to disperse the crowd on Sunday, but the violence spread to nearby towns where Muslim businesses were also attacked.
A curfew was imposed until dawn Monday and reimposed after a 10-hour break.
There have already been clashes between Christians and Muslims in Negombo, the town north of Colombo that was targeted by the suicide attackers.
The main body of Islamic clerics, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), said there was increased suspicion of Muslims after the Easter Sunday attacks.
“We call upon the members of the Muslim communities to be more patient and guard your actions and avoid unnecessary postings or hosting on social media,” the ACJU said.
Internet service providers said they have been instructed by the telecommunications regulator to block access to Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Instagram.
The latest unrest came as Catholic churches resumed public Sunday masses for the first time since the bombings.
Worshippers were searched before being allowed into churches that were guarded by armed police and troops. There were no reports of disruption to services, however.
-Schools reopen –
Dozens of people have been detained since the Easter Sunday attacks. Amid the heightened security, students are only allowed into schools after checks for explosives.
AFP / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHIWorkshippers have started to return to churches in Sri Lanka
Public schools completed their reopening from extended Easter holidays after the attacks, but attendance was extremely low, according to education authorities.
Private Catholic schools were to open on Tuesday, but many plan to stay closed until next week, parent groups said.
Muslims make up around 10 percent of Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka’s 21 million population and Christians about 7.6 percent.
On 21 April 2019
Easter Sunday – on the holiest day in the Christian Calendar, suicide bombers
simultaneously attacked three Catholic Churches and three 5 – Star Hotels in
Sri Lanka killing over 250 including nearly 40 foreigners visiting the island. The
reason for attacking the Catholics and White Foreigners can be adduced to ISIS
losing territory in the Middle-east to Christchurch massacre of Muslims by a
white nationalist in New Zealand. This is all beside the point for now the
population of Muslims in Sri Lanka is nearing 10% – they are now transitioning
from ‘peaceful to more belligerent and later to more militaristic. Their
readiness for much more sinister ‘happenings’ is clearly seeing from what is
being unearthed during the recent investigations by the security forces. If
they did not attack the Christians certainly they were ready to carryout a much
more large scale and much more wide spread attack on the Sinhala Buddhists is
now clear as daylight.
However, from
happenings around the world there is no denying that militant Islam is on the
march towards word domination. This, they mean to achieve by population growth –
also called the Womb Bomb, and through the spread of Wahabbi militaristic
intimidation, occupation of land and conversion to Islam and Sharia. The
Eelamists wanted only a part of the island, the Islamists want the whole! One
needs to see the spread of Muslims throughout the Island from villages to towns
to cities to understand this phenomenon! Slowly and very strategically they now
occupy most of the economic heartland of Sri Lanka and exclusively Muslim
enclaves spread around the island!
In the Fifteen Hundreds,
the Catholic Portuguese started killing the Muslims – their enemies in trade in
the low lands of Sri Lanka controlled by them. These Muslims mainly males
sought refuge among the Sinhalese in the Up Country where they were given land
and even women and re-settled. Some of them were settled in the now Eastern
Province. Of the present population majority cannot be of great and distant
antiquity as even up to 50 years ago they could not speak Sinhala properly. If
they have lived in the island for over a 1000 years ago, they should have been
speaking Sinhala fluently. This Goebbelesian lie is now being repeated
ad-nauseam by Muslims and later even by politicians of all hues who go
salivating after the Muslim vote!
In early 2017 I
tried to show the spread of Muslims in Sri Lanka. Historically a tiny trading minority
the Muslims, now has taken a wow to make Sri Lanka a Muslim country in the near
future, the same as they did in the Maldives. This is no longer mere rhetoric
as they have done the same against much more powerful countries elsewhere in
the world. They are today threatening the UK and many countries in the EU
including France, Germany and Nordic Countries to make them majority Muslim /
Islamic countries by the middle of this century.
Historically this has
already happened for countries in South Asia from Afghanistan, Pakistan to
Bangladesh and South-East Asia from Malaysia to Indonesia. They are now
threatening Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Philippines and even Australia. It is time to take serious note of the Islamic
juggernaut and take practical measures to stop it in its track!
What is to be
feared is the present calamity metamorphosing into urban guerrilla warfare a
war tactic much more sinister and much more difficult to contain than that of
the LTTE and a thousand fold more bloodier. This will take Sri Lanka towards
another Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Yemen.
In the melee, the
intervention by the International Community led by US with R2P to fulfil their
agenda of containing China is the bigger picture of it all!
Sri Lankans has much
to lose if they do not act wisely, prudently and decisively!
I append below
what I wrote in 2017 slightly amended.
What Can the Sinhalese do about the Muslim population explosion and land grab?
Posted on March 5th, 2017
Ratanapala
5 Mar 2017
In the aftermath of the 1976 Non Aligned Nations
Conference in Colombo, one of the ‘distinguished’ attendees Col Gadhafi, gave a
radio interview to the local Muslims. (See Radio Ceylon Transcripts of 1976) On
this occasion he inquired from them about their demographics in Sri Lanka and
gave them the following advice and guide lines:
To increase their population from
what was around 7% at that time
To buy land alongside major roads –
Economic arteries that emanate from major economic centres
To construct mosques so that the call
to prayer ( Azan) can be heard from the next mosque
It is in this background and context we have to
understand how far the Muslims have come since 1976.
Population has increased from around 5% to now near
10%! They have been on a rush to multiply with polygamy, indiscriminate and
runaway breeding. This increase is facilitated by funding for such practices
from the Middle East. Increase in numbers has also brought about a new
militancy in challenging the indigenous Buddhist Culture, Buddhism and the
Sinhalese.
As for the purchase of land they have over achieved
what Col Gadhafi wanted them to realize. One only has to go along the major
road arteries that emanate from Colombo or other major cities to understand
this creepy crawly encroachment – on either side of these roads to find out who
owns these trading establishments. Over and above these one has to look at what
is happening to the suburbs of Colombo – all prime land is being bought over by
Muslims to make a clean sweep of Colombo and her environs. Then it goes to
other areas down the southern coast line – Wadduwa, Kaluthara Beruwala
Aluthgama. Even 30 years ago in some areas it was only the village temple that
was left after Muslim encroachment. Today I believe after the demise of
the temple priest the temple land too is in their hands.
Mosques are mushrooming all over the island,
apparently there is a mosque for every 40 Muslim families in the island. In total,
they now outnumber all the Buddhist Temples and Hindu Kovils.
In Colombo the most tax money invested city
in the island, Sinhalese are losing ownership to Muslims who did not even
have a right to own land in Sri Lanka prior to 1815! A city and all its modern
infrastructure that is built with tax payer funds are passing slowly into the
hands of an exclusive and predatory community – the Muslims. One needs only
venture out into the city public spaces to see who really ‘enjoys’ the high
standard of living that Colombo has over the rest of the country! They are
there in the hotels, restaurants, other eateries, high end shops, other places
of entertainment and in the parks, because they are the only ones who can now
afford such luxuries being a parasitic community that preys on the host through
trade monopolization. These are the scenes that face those who are leaving the
city in the evenings in packed buses breathing diesel fumes after a hard day’s
work quite apathetic to what is happening to them and their heritage.
Now that Muslims have cornered the inner-city,
gradually they are moving onto city outskirts in a deliberate and methodical
way displacing Sinhalese street by street by street! They follow the law of the
land where it is convenient and find all the loop holes to creep through to buy
land quite legally – that is under the current laws which are quite unfavourable
to the Sinhalese. They also use their political clout being an influential
minority and capable of being the kingmaker in Sri Lankan politics.
Currently areas around Dehiwala, Galkissa – Mt
Lavinia, Kalubowila are under intense attack; other areas around Colombo too
are similarly attacked the difference is only in the degree. Large contingents
of Maldivian Muslims seem to prefer this area. People have reported seeing
foreigners in Islamic attire being ‘very busy’ at all time of the day in these
areas – purchase of land and building of mosques are going a pace.
Can this sort of uncontrolled change
of demographics lead to Reconciliation? There must be a mix of ethnicities and
communities if Sri Lanka is to have real reconciliation and long term peace.
Construction of exclusive enclaves by displacing the native is the agenda.
What
this leaves the Sinhalese is only taking up arms to reclaim their homeland and
heritage. A friend of mine who recently returned from Sri Lanka having visited
his wife’s house in Waidya Road, Mt Lavinia mentioned to me that this street is
unrecognizable from what it was 20 years before and now almost entirely Muslim!
Another friend of mine who is living abroad and has his parental house in
Dickmans Road, is having a court case with a Muslim man in the adjoining land,
who claims a half of his parapet wall as belonging to him. This is a classic
case of a Bedum Naduwa where the weaker party gets overwhelmed, as owners of
this – property living abroad cannot participate in lengthy court proceedings.
Eventually frustrated owners will sell the land to the Muslim who will go on to
‘offer’ a ‘good’ price for the land and property.
One by one the pieces of the checker board turn
Islamic Green! In Colombo and its environs, as it is in a multiplicity of other
major cities towns and suburbs, Sinhalese are replaced at an ever-increasing
pace as more and more land – real estate is passing hands from
Sinhalese to Muslim for rupees which only has a transient value. This is going
a pace in a street my street manner and as we speak and no politician of ‘worth
of his traitorous self’ will ever touch this subject for the fear of losing
Muslim votes. The root cause for all this is the division
of Sinhalese between two traitorous political parties the UNP and the SLFP. Unless
Sinhalese understand the calamity that is waiting to happen and unite there
will not be any place left on our motherland for them. It is time Sinhalese
whether they are Buddhist, Christian or other who share a common history and
culture unite to save their motherland end up from being another Sharialand!
The problem is where does all this leave the
Sinhalese. Even the Maldivian Muslims and others who mysteriously appear in Sri
Lanka in the garb of refugees, whose legal status is if at all dubious, mainly
go for land in Colombo and suburbs the most developed part of the island
pushing the Sinhalese out. The secret is that Colombo and other major cities
are money making centres which allow these foreigners to ‘get rich’ quickly
because they are backed by rich and powerful minority conglomerates. The recent
Central Bank Bond Scam is a clear case in point, where an entity such as Perpetual
Treasuries with just the right ‘connections to powerful personnel’ in high
places, managed by a few and operated from a small office in Colombo made huge
‘profits’ that surpassed the profits of all other enterprises who hire tens of
thousands of employees, operating from hundreds of offices manoeuvring large
scale logistical operations!
In Kandy, Muslims have ‘ring circled’ the Temple of
the Tooth – Dalada Maligawa with clever purchasing of land from unpatriotic
Buddhist Priests and other landowners. A mosque built on land leased out by the
Temple is now getting ready to rival the very pinnacle of Buddhist faith in Sri
Lanka! Can this or anything close to this ever happen in a Muslim country? Can
somebody carry even a postcard depicting Lord Buddha to Saudi Arabia let alone
Maldives?
Ring circling of Buddhist places of worship is now
happening all over Sri Lanka; Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Kekirawa, Matale,
Polonnaruwa, Mawanella and even cave complexes such as Kuragala – to name
only a few. At Kuragala they are extending the territory by burying their dead
in the adjoining government lands – another ploy they use to capture land!
Surely time has come for the Sinhala
Buddhists in Sri Lanka to be more assertive and protect what is their own if it
is only for the sake of their sons and daughters let alone their long and much
revered 2600-year-old heritage! It is apparent that mere protesting and
petitioning the powers that be, has done little to address the Sinhala
grievances.
Creations of little ‘Bantustans’ are happening all
over Sri Lanka mainly with small Muslim communities to begin with, which later
expand by uncontrolled breeding, the purchase of adjoining land and the
building of mosques. Movement of Muslim enterprises to purchase prime land in
economic zones is going a pace. Many a little shop in Colombo as well as in
other major cities and towns with Sinhala sounding name boards in front are in
fact owned and operated by Muslim enterprises. No wonder Muslims are
not interested in getting parts of the country to themselves, when their aim is
to conquer and acquire the whole island for themselves and Islam!
Already in the East, Buddhist places of worship are
being desecrated and Buddhist land occupied while a hapless government is
looking askance. All this is happening in a majority Buddhist country where the
minorities are making inroads to erase our history and our relationship to our
past in the North and East. Sinhalese are like ‘lambs to slaughter’ waiting and
hoping while losing ground while sands of time are passing by pushing them inch
by inch towards oblivion. This is the generation that is going to willingly
give up what is theirs without a whimper. Can this happen in any other self-respecting
country other than Sri Lanka?
In the West Wilpattu wild life sanctuary is already
being bulldozed making land for Muslims settlements. How many of these are
illegal immigrants, the government has no clue. Elsewhere in the country,
they are buying up land in all economic centers as well as cornering all
businesses under their control. Today they control most of wholesale economy
and what the Sinhala trader does is just the drip of what they can get out of
retail trade – outcome of which is very much determined at a higher level by
the wholesaler.
All political parties are in there to grab power at
whatever cost to the nation. So far in our recent politics we see how Muslim
politicians position themselves to be part of any government in power and
always end up by being rewarded by ‘plum, influential and moneymaking’
ministries. In all these and all the while it is the Sinhalese who are losing
ground in their age-old homestead – Sinhale now Sri Lanka!
In other parts of the world where they have become
a reasonable size community they have not failed to bring about Muslim law of
Sharia and inconvenience members of those not belonging to their community.
This has happened in Europe – the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria to name
just a few countries who are waking up to this reality of Muslim invasion.
Imagine if they were able to challenge the British in Birmingham – the very
heart of English land and try to impose Sharia, what they will do to Sri Lanka.
Singapore a small enclave squeezed between two
giant Muslim nations – Malaysia and Indonesia – the then Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew saw to it to balance the ethnic mix in order to keep the peace as well
as do justice by all communities. Not even a mere housing complex escaped his
dictates and Singapore maintains its diversity without any community falling
prey to another. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese has been losing ground ever since
they lost their independence in 1815 and in a much more insidious manner since
gaining Independence from the British in 1948 by being caught is a big lie
called Democracy and Human Rights. Sri Lanka has been left with a bunch of
uneducated and corrupt politicians stealing the nation’s wealth.
There is a bright star in the horizon with the
ascendency of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the US. He is a realist who has
‘seen through’ the illusion of Democracy and Human Rights and understands
better the nationalistic realities from Europe, Russia to Asia. These countries
have realized they are about to loose their land and culture to predatory
Islamist and their creed Jihadist Islam and from now onwards have a sympathetic
ear in Washington. He understands the mechanics of Islamic Terrorism and what
their international goals are. It is time patriots in Sri Lanka sought his ear
and understanding for all the inequities Sri Lanka has been receiving at the
hands of the Hillary / Obama led US Administration, UN and other liberal
‘democracies’ in Europe.
Sinhalese must have in-built safeguards to protect
their land. The Tamils have Thesavalamai in the North and Muslims have the
Mukkuwa Law in the East where they are numerically dominant in historically
recent enclaves to protect their interests. Sinhalese have nothing comparable
to safeguard the land they fought to keep as on entity for over two millennia
and very recently from Racist Tamils who were fighting for a third of the land
and 2/3 of the seaboard. All what Sinhalese are doing are fighting prairie
fires here and there and not addressing bigger problem
This discussion must commence in earnest if
Sinhalese are to survive in their motherland! What if all of a sudden, the oil
rich middle eastern countries decide to invest a Billion Dollars to change the
demography of Colombo and decide to buy off Colombo and other centres of
commerce? Do we have an answer? Here I am trying highlight by fast
forwarding what is already happening around the country albeit at a slower but
accelerating pace. The growth of the Sharia University in the East, a Rs 3.6 Billion investment by Middle Eastern
Powers is a clear case in point.
What is the ultimate intent? It is total
domination. It is not asking for a part of the country like the racist Tamils.
When the population reaches 10%, conversion to Islam will increase
exponentially. Already they are marrying off poor Sinhala girls with the intent
of making a bastardized nation of Muslim Sinhalese. This is how countries like
Indonesia and Malaysia got converted to Islam. It is a fight to the finish with
nothing held back – intimidation, persuasion, through marriage, through
terrorism – you name it, it is happening under our very noses!
It is in the Koran – how to deceive the infidel and
to conquer! This is called Taqiyya – See below what Taqiyya is.
https://youtu.be/Mmf0zi4FI6Q
Sinhalese need a clear policy with respect to land
and laws. Sri Lanka will never achieve peaceful co-existence unless there is
equitable distribution of the majority Sinhalese in all areas of the island. It
is paramount to prevent exclusive enclaves – which finally end up as breeding
grounds to extremists and extremism. Sri
Lanka must be a single land under a single set of laws that is applicable to
all – Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim!
Two days back Negombo was also in the brink of flaring up
due to Religious Tension ( I do not call it a racial tension as the Muslims are
not a race but a section of a either Tamil or Sinhala who believe in re
particular religion)
Tension is created due to a face book posting and other news in Chilaw. Kuliyapitiya
,Bingiriya and Dummalassooriya ,by some
elements due to various other reasons as published in papers and social media .
The area we live in Jayawardane Pura was predominantly
Sinhalese many decades back. But slowly
Muslim Population increased visibly and yet Sinhala Buddhist and Catholics
lived in absolute harmony with Muslims.Today
sections of these towns have become
sectorial with Muslim Ghetto like formations .
They used to say
that Americans with the West who
are supposed to be responsible for
mushrooming up of the extremism after invading Iraq ,Afgansitan and Libya .They invaded Vietnam in Asia
against formation of such Buddhist Extremism like in Burma .They have
suppressed them and today both in
Vietnam and Burma.
My assumption is that the West and Americans are using CIA
and MI5 with Raw and also Indian Mozad were jointly studying the trend of
extremism for many years and take either military action to disturb the nations
with ulterior motive of eradicating extremism or initiate a long term plan
.People in these countries suffer, and
yet they show their friendly face and try to creep in .
Wherever they interfered, they were successful in either
eradicating or suppressing extremism for a while but they will never stop until
they are eradicated.
We have heard that Apple Phones have already developed the
technologies for future and I phone 11, 12 14, 15 etc. by studying technology of future .
Similarly CIA would have been having researches, trials and
generated theories about extremism if it can threaten the existence of capitalism.
They say that even Garbachev was a CIA agent in USSR who was
planted a five decades ago.
Analogue with Muslim Extremism is similar to CIA .RAW and
MOZAD plans for future .They have started spreading out pockets of Muslims in every district or city
or even in a group of villages .During Sinhala King Muslims from middle east were coming to trade and one of
the Sinhala Kings carved our Riddeegama
Kurunegala and gave to Muslim Traders .It has spreaded out everywhere .Most of the Muslims
may not be aware that an unseen hand has been making plans for decades to have
pockets of Muslim Villages in every corner in Sri Lanka.
In the event of Religious Cleansing ( if it ever happens)
they may move to places like Kattankudi
and ask for space with a view of forming a caliphate.
My contention is this trend has been planned and well
executed by Muslim extremist elements for many years.
It is a well rooted tree which should be deprived of the
fertiliser like backlash from majorities and ideological help and military help
from Muslims nations.
Ordinary innocent Muslims will suffer in the cyclone of
terrorism
By 2013 the US-led proxy war on Syria had stalled. A staged chemical attack and threats of direct US military intervention were thwarted by Russian efforts to diplomatically resolve the impasse through the declaration and disposal of Syria’s entire chemical weapons arsenal.
With US-backed militants having already reached the full extent of their gains on the battlefield and now facing incremental but inevitable defeat — the US appeared to be out of time and out of options.
Then suddenly — as if on cue — Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – alleged leader of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) was resurrected after US claims he had died years early, and provided the US with the perfect pretext to militarily intervene in Syria anyway.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamist militant group Isis, has called on Muslims to obey him, in his first video sermon.
Baghdadi has been appointed caliph by the jihadist group, which has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The sudden wave of violence unleashed by ISIS across Iraq and Syria was on such a scale that only state sponsorship could have accounted for it.
Creating the Perfect Enemy
In fact, the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as early as 2012 had even noted (PDF) a Western and Persian Gulf-led conspiracy to create what it called at the time a Salafist” [Islamic] principality” [State] precisely in eastern Syria where ISIS would eventually find itself based.
The DIA document would explain (emphasis added):
If the situation unravels there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).
On clarifying who these supporting powers were, the DIA memo would state:
The West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition; while Russia, China, and Iran support the regime.
The goal had been to further isolate the Syrian government in aid of Washington’s ultimate goal of overthrowing Damascus. When growing numbers of extremists failed to do this, the US then used the presence of ISIS as a pretext for a revised version of the direct military intervention Russia had thwarted just a year earlier.
For one year the US posed as fighting ISIS while simultaneously seizing Syria’s oil fields and building an army of militants it had hoped to use to both push ISIS into Syrian government-held territory, and with which to fight the Syrian government itself.
By 2015, Russia began its own military intervention. It immediately targeted ISIS supply linesleading out of NATO-member Turkey — something the US has failed to do up to and including today, isolating the terrorist group within Syrian territory before Russian air power along with Syrian, Iranian, and Hezbollah ground forces encircled and eliminated them along with Al Nusra and other extremist groups everywhere west of the Euphrates River.
On the American-occupied side of the Euphrates, ISIS persisted until just this year and at times was even protected from pursuing Syrian and Russian forces by a US-declared exclusion zone.
It is now clear US efforts to overthrow the Syrian government have failed. It is also clear that Washington’s pretext for illegally occupying Syrian territory is no longer politically tenable.
Just as America’s presence in Syria was becoming increasingly awkward and unsustainable, al-Baghdadi has again emerged — just in time — to grant the US victory in eastern Syria but to also remind the global public that ISIS is still an enduring threat that will require America’s continued presence in the region.
The United States vowed on Monday (April 29) that it would track down and defeat surviving leaders of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) movement after its elusive supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared to speak in a newly released videotape.
The US-led coalition against the group will fight across the world to ensure an enduring defeat of these terrorists and that any leaders who remain are delivered the justice that they deserve”, a State Department spokesman said.
US hegemony requires the US military to maintain a presence around the globe — which in turn requires a perpetual pretext to do so. Just as the US deliberately created ISIS to serve as a pretext for illegally occupying Syrian territory remain there indefinitely – it has and will continue to use ISIS’ convenient expansion worldwide to justify a continued, global US military presence worldwide as well. Washington Couldn’t Create a more Convenient Villain Students of history would be hard pressed to find similar examples of a military or political leader like al-Baghdadi who openly, even eagerly conceded defeat and grant a supposed adversary a massive political victory. So convenient and artificial is al-Baghdadi’s most recent reappearance and all of his alleged activities in the past that many around the globe are questioning the veracity of the video and of al-Baghdadi himself. Considering America’s own Defense Intelligence Agency has all but admitted the US deliberately created ISIS in the first place — it takes no stretch of the imagination to conclude they created al-Baghdadi as well. The summation of ISIS’ fighting capacity is drawn from its admitted state sponsors – both Saudi Arabia and Qatar – as admitted by US politicians themselves, the UK Independent would report. Riyadh, Doha, and in turn, those underwriting both regimes in Washington – are the true leaders” of ISIS — arming, funding, and directing the terrorist organization — with al-Baghdadi a mere figurehead who emerges when the needs of Western foreign policy and propaganda require. If the US could create a villain to consistently serve Washington’s interests both in Syria and around the globe, they would have difficulty creating one more ideal than Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook”, where this article first appeared.
I have read in one of our newspapers (DailyMirror,
10-05-19) that the approval has been given by the cabinet to Minister Akila
Viraj Kariyawasam’s ‘Tab project’. And it is a whopping 3.5 billion rupee
project.
Now, we have thousands and thousands of schools that lack
basic amenities and facilities. Children are sitting on rickety chairs or even
bare ground under roofs that leak when it rains, let too much sun when it
shines and that could also come down on their heads, at any time with hardly
any advance notice. The standards of sanitation and hygiene maintained at these
schools hardly need any description or elaboration. And a good proportion of
those children is suffering from malnutrition. We all know about this and so do
the Mr Minister and his learned cabinet too, I am sure.
The quality of the teaching profession is not something
that we can be proud of, anymore. Many, who are engaged in this noble
profession have now become mere businessmen preferring money-making by giving
tuition to enriching and improving the mental prowess of our children.
Sincerity of purpose meant to be in one of the noblest professions on earth has
somehow lost its way, here in Sri Lanka.
Isn’t this a colossal waste of money, anyway? And here we
have someone, who seems to be trying to become the 21st century’s St Nicholas from the East, with his plan to spend
this vast amount that could have gone into much more worthwhile projects in the
field of education, teaching and also addressing the immediate needs of the
school children, from rural and remote areas, in particular. To be fair, our
teachers themselves have their own grievances too that need to be resolved. So
all in all, we have so many more important and urgent things here crying for
attention and one is driven to wonder what made this ‘tab project’ take
priority over such issues.
By the way, I
wonder whether there will be a small sticker or a stamp on the back of each of
those tabs to say ‘a gift from Akila’! However, St Nicholas, on the other hand,
was using his own money and didn’t want his identity revealed. Just showing
where the comparison ends, no sooner than it starts, perhaps quite regrettably
from Mr AVKs’ point of view!
Listening to what the National University Teachers Association had
to tell about the construction of the private Muslim University in Batticaloa
was like watching one of the convoluted conspiracy
stories in a Bond’s film. A set of disguised masterful plans and
deceit with a huge sum of cash changing hands in the main characters are common
in Bond films. An apparent small project that requested
permission only for some innocuous courses for adults transforming later
multiple times with the name as well as the aim of the project into a vast
university that looks designed to cater to vast number of students
including foreign students as well. The teachers enrolled so far are all
foreign and it is no brainer to suspect it is going to be a regional hub
for fundamental extreme views that would harm not only our country but the
whole volatile region.
The government has so far kept mum on their action on
this project and anything but a taking over the entire project with the
buildings to facilitate the two universities already in the
East would lead to disastrous consequences in the future. President’s
admission it will be continued as a private university and Hakeem’s impromptu
proposal to take it under his ministry are all diabolical plans to keep things
to cool down to continue with its master plan later.
In fact this has revealed why Hakeem has asked for the Higher
Education Ministry at the first place. Building this university has
been a masterplan involving most of these corrupt Muslim ministers with
subtle connections with the extreme movement.
Credit to the Ex president Mrs Chandrika Kumaranatunga who
immediately called for a ban of the mushrooming madrassas in the country.
As usual this government has shown only apathy and inept handling of the
situation so far. Even the banning of face coverings is only
under emergency regulations not so far gazetted.
Are there more things than that meets the eye. It is not so long
ago high profile Minister Mustafa’s close relative was taken into custody on
terrorist charges in Australia when working in a university. It was
revealed later one of the suicide bombers went a university in Australia for
higher education. Though he was later cleared there looks a fishy connection
here somewhere. A lot of students go for university degrees in Australia &
the authorities should investigate this line of connection.Minister Mustafa of
course has kept so far a dead silence.
Only the foot soldiers are being rounded up and taken to custody
while the master minds & MPs & Ministers alleged to have aided and
abetted remain at large. The NGOs and civil right organizations who
advocated a national government concept and campaigned the voters to
bring this disjointed weak government to power should take a fair share of
the blame for the chaos the country experiencing now. Another good
example why all the concepts and policies borrowed from the West would not suit
us well.
A main breeding ground for terrorist activities in future will be
the mushrooming settlements in Wilpattu being built with foreign funds under
the auspices of Minister Bathiudeen. The government should take immediate steps
to remove all en masse and provide them with housing facilities in Muslim
areas. This has to be done with utmost importance.
Police spokesman keeps harping on the fact that Wellampitiya
police officers are being investigated for the reasons that led to
the release the nine culprits. However one wonders why not those
nine are not rearrested immediately under the PTA? Finding fault of those
officers is secondary to this equation. Why was not such a crime place not put
under guard leaving things to be taken out by the culprits. Are not these items
to be confiscated by the State. Who removed what should be investigated without
bias.
Where are the NGOs ,civil right clan and university pundits
who were harping on the importance of a National government. What a mess ,a
disjointed & weak administration it has led us to. The 19th amendment has
put paid to the strong control a President had over the country. It has to be
rescinded as the first measure of a new government. No wonder the proposed
Counter Terrorism bill will bring harm only to the country in future.
Many people will find it difficult to compare human populations to rat populations. Many humans will suffer for that cognitive impairment. When a pair of reproductively competent rats are placed in a closed space and provided with sufficient food, they will reproduce and reproduce until the space is filled with rats. At a critical density, wars break out. Some rats, alpha males, claim territory and defend it. Others attack. Sound familiar? Only difference between rats and humans is the language-making capability of the human left brain. We humans give names to our territoriesó”World Trade Center” is one. The right brain, impelled by drives and emotions, is the fundamental force operating here. The left brain makes “reasons” for what the right brain is going to do anyway. Some of these “reasons” are: democracy, Islam, God, Allah, terrorist, Third World, globalization.
What we are seeing is the result of an exponentially increasing population. This is population biology at work. Anthropologists and population biologists studied all the wars in history for which adequate data were available. They learned that war breaks out when the percentage of the population consisting of single males in the age range 16-26 exceeds a certain fraction of the total population. Whatever Osama bin Laden may call it, whatever Al Fatah, or the PLO, or Jonas Savimbi, or Mexican President Fox, or the Australians who refuse to allow the Indonesian refugees into their country, whatever the East Timorese may call it, the Afghanis, the Pakistanisówhatever name is given is not correct; the correct name is overpopulation.
And this is just the beginning. World population stands at over 6 billion now. Projections differ on how high it will go. At one point it was projected to top out at 15 billion. Then it was reduced to 13 billion. The latest numbers I have seen are 9 billion. This will happen in the next 25 years. What happens after that? Mass die off. Itís a fact of population biology. Eventually the bacteria on the Petri dish use up all the resources and die. We live on a spherical Petri dish. Almost all the resourcesóremember that “living space” is a resourceóare used up. As groups led by alpha males come into unavoidable contact with each other, conflict erupts. Osama bin Laden is an alpha male. Yasser Arafat is an alpha male. The clerics of the Taliban are alpha males. God help us, our alpha male is George W. Bush. The attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and whatever was going on in Pennsylvania are conflicts between population segments assembled behind alpha males in an overpopulated, confined space, in which the segments are seeking to expand into territory that is resource rich compared to their own.
Unfortunately, all the players are thinking from inside the box. Bush tells us weíll find the terrorists and punish them. The terrorists are only the proximate problem. The terrorists are the vanguard of the real problem: the surplus billions of people on this spherical Petri dish. Only when the true problem is identified and addressed will we escape the inevitable fate of our speciesóa mass die off that will sometimes look like terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and will at other times look like AIDS and at other times like “ethnic cleansing” in Serbia.
Control of our specieís reproductive drive is the central survival issue our species must solve if Homo sapiens is to be a successful evolutionary experiment. Solving the issue will require the cooperation of all human beings. We are not doing very well.
John Omaha, Ph.D., is with Chemotion Institute: Treatment, Education & Research for the Ingestive Disorders P.O. Box 528 Chico, CA 95927 530-899-7719 E-mail: jomaha@sunset.net
SINGAPORE (IDN) – I gave leadership to the government that defeated the terrorists that no one thought could ever be defeated. From the moment this government came into power in January 2015, they have been persecuting the members of the armed forces and the intelligence services that ended that war,” said former President and Current Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapakse in an emotional 10 minute address to parliament on April 23.
Photo: The Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, which was among three Colombo hotels hit by suicide bombers on Easter Sunday.
With his voice almost cracking up with emotion, the war-winning president said that the armed forces personnel who carried out their duties on behalf of the nation were harassed and hunted down by this government”. He slammed the government for listening to foreign (western) powers and undermining national security.
The government should at least now realise that you cannot run this country according to the dictates coming from foreign countries. We have to solve our own problems. Because the government was engaged in relentlessly persecuting its own armed forces, we became an easy target for terrorists,” pointed out Rajapakse, adding that no other country in the world has persecuted and weakened their own armed forces and intelligence services in this manner”.
While social media is blocked by the government, his comments have triggered a debate in much of the mainstream media about how the government led by President Maitripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been inept at protecting the security of the country, because they have allowed western governments, NGOs funded by them and UN organisations like the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to dictate national security policies to them.
In September 2015, the government virtually surrendered the policy making process to the UNHRC when it co-sponsored a resolution calling upon the government to account for alleged war crimes and missing persons during the final push to eliminate one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world at the time, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
This has led to pressure on the government to set up war crimes courts with foreign judges, set up a missing persons investigation centre and imprisonment of former intelligence officers and army personnel, many of whom are seen by most Sri Lankans as war heroes, who brought peace to the country. At the time of the Easter Sunday attack, the government was on the verge of repealing the ‘Prevention of Terrorism Act’ under the dictates of the West and UNHRC.
If that had happened what position would we be at today?” asked Rajapakse.
In a video interview given by leading Constitutional Lawyer Manohara de Silva on April 23 that was widely circulated via email, he also slammed the government for giving the responsibility for the country’s security to the international community. He blamed the 2015 UNHRC resolution for the current situation where the country’s security guard was lowered.
He pointed out that the new anti-terror law that was presented to parliament recently, makes it impossible to pursue or charge anyone for terrorism activity if that person is a foreign national – even though he may have been a Sri Lankan national before.
If the country he lives now don’t agree, we can’t charge him,” he notes. So this law is going to be subservient to the West (because most of those who support terrorism in Sri Lanka have obtained asylum in Western countries, especially LTTE sympathisers)”. He accuses the government of trying to please the West rather than protecting our citizens”.
Silva pointed out in the interview that about 40 intelligence officers who helped to end terrorism in Sri Lanka are now behind bars. They are still held on remand when there is no sound evidence against them,” he notes. If so they should be charged by now.”
This has led to a situation, argues Silva, that intelligence officers are afraid to investigate terrorism threats today because they are worried that they would be framed like those in jail. We cannot operate our intelligence services this way. This is why we have to depend on Indian intelligence,” he argues.
Silva also points out that 54 bills have been passed against our army” under pressure from UNHRC and the missing persons act passed does not allow the police to the investigations, but delegates it to the ‘Office of Missing Persons’ that is stacked with anti-national NGO types, one of whom is Dr Nilmalka Fernando, a well-known anti-Buddhist western-funded NGO activist.
In a statement released to the media today on April 25, Sri Lanka’s major Buddhist chapter, Asgiriya chapter, called upon the government to give an immediate pardon to all imprisoned intelligence officials and draft them back into the country’s national security framework. Religious extremism spread in the country because experienced intelligence officials have been imprisoned for various reasons. They did an immense service to defeat terrorism. We need to consider our national security and they should be pardoned and released immediately,” the statement said.
Another Sri Lankan lawyer, Dharshan Weerasekare, author of ‘UN’s Relentless Pursuit of Sri Lanka’ in a commentary published in Lankaweb has called into question the timing and reason for the Easter Sunday attack.
What is crucial is that the bombings not be permitted to become a pretext for the Government to join the U.S.’s ‘War on Terror.’ For the past four years, the U.S. and India (the U.S.’s new ally in Asia) have been busy trying to gain maximum indirect control over Sri Lanka in order to prevent the Chinese from establishing a presence in this country,” he argues.They would have succeeded had it not been for the collapse of the ‘National Government’ and the subsequent collapse of the drive to enact a new Constitution”.
With both presidential and parliamentary elections due in Sri Lanka within the next 12 months, the nationalist alliance led by Rajapakse is strongly tipped to win both elections. Survival of the staunchly pro-Western Wickremasingle is crucial for the West to control Sri Lanka’s destiny.
In March 2018 when a no-confidence motion against the PM was gathering momentum a riot broke out between Muslims and Buddhists in Central Sri Lanka. Timely action by local community leaders of both communities prevented it becoming a major nationwide conflict.
Then when Sirisena sacked Wickremasinghe and appointed Rajapakse as PM in November 2018, Western ambassadors in Colombo openly interfered in the domestic political process to get Wickremasinghe reinstalled. Now come the terror attacks that have the potential to create chaos in the country so that Sri Lanka could be called a ‘failed state’, ripe for the West’s new-colonialism via the R2P (Right to Protect) framework.
Sri Lanka which sits at a strategically vital spot in the Indian Ocean is crucial for both the Americans as well as the Chinese, the former in order to further entrench their control over this region, the latter to break out of the ‘encirclement’ notes Weerasekare, pointing out that a new government that would take power after elections next year could be heavily pro-nationalist as well as pro-Chinese.
In short, all the hopes that the Americans/Indians had in January 2015 are now in ruins, and the ‘gains’ they made in the last four years are very much in danger of being reversed.”
Sri Lanka’s oldest leftist party Lanka Sama Samaji Party (LSSP), while issuing a condolence message to victims of the bombing, said there was something more sinister than what meets the eye. This whole attack has similarities with events abroad that have been attributed to the CIA of the USA,” the statement argued.
The statement added: It is known that the CIA and USA think tanks are operating here with the support of the Government. With the blue print for a police state, the diabolical Counter Terrorist Act (CTA) available, to ensure that the UNF (governing alliance) can stay in power, without holding elections, the path to becoming a neo-colony of the USA can go ahead without interruption.”
Thus, what happened on Easter Sunday, may not be merely a jihadist attack on Christians and Western tourists to take revenge on the New Zealand Christchurch massacre in March 2019. This could well be part of the dirty geo-political wars being fought around the world by major powers with young brainwashed religious zealots as fodder. [IDN-InDepthNews – 25 April 2019]
Photo: The Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo, which was among three Colombo hotels hit by suicide bombers on Easter Sunday. CC BY-SA 4.0
Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy takes on a terrifying question: How does the Taliban convince children to become suicide bombers? Propaganda footage from a training camp is intercut with interviews of young camp graduates. A shocking vision.
Gamini Parakrama Dissanayake On behalf of Sri Lankans in Tokyo
Mr. Mahinda Deshapriya Chairman ELECTION COMMISSION Elections Secretariat, P.O. Box 02, Sarana Mawatha, Rajagiriya, 10107, Sri Lanka
We Sri Lankans in Tokyo, Japan are kindly requesting you to hold
provincial elections without any further delay. You have the sole
authority to hold such elections and if you have any obstructions, you
should go to courts without making statements like “I will resign if
elections are not held”. If the member Rathnajeevan Hoole could go to
courts seeking preventing of general elections, we don’t understand why you
cannot go to courts to secure the democratic rights of Sri Lankans.
We are aware that there are foreign elements and NGO’s
behind Rathnajeevan Hoole to act as a puppet but we don’t expect you too
to be a puppet of the prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe or any other
elements.
We expect you to do the right thing without any further delay.
The speed with which the Police, STF and Armed services swung into action following the explosions, despite their initial failing, is commendable. They seemed to know where to strike no sooner than the green light was given. Within hours, the police visited the most vulnerable spot in Dematagoda, and the three police officers and also the pregnant wife and children of the prime suspect blew themselves into smithereens. Security Forces with STF then raided the right places in Sammanthurai, Kalmunai and Katthankudy with devastating results. All this is good and no doubt that the Forces are in good health and kicking yet, despite the beating they got from the government for being efficient.
But the immediate problem however is, who will monitor and follow this through, to a conclusion? Who co-ordinates all this work and give directions? We do not see outwardly the existence of such an institution in place right now.
With regard to co-ordination and direction, one needs concurrent activity in so many areas from the word ‘go’. (a) Examination of so many deadly items recovered from so many places for investigation and intelligence reconstruction purposes. (b) Case preparation and prosecution. (c) Interrogation of so many suspects arrested, and following up on what they reveal and connect the dots (d) matters of custody and relations with Prisons Department. (e) Sifting and co-ordination of exchange of information among intelligence and investigation people, to piece together for the whole picture to emerge. (f) Relations with foreign intelligence and enforcement agencies. (g) Need to trace the financial sources of the Terrorists, and many more.
There is also the need to co-ordinate with the AG’s Department and Justice Ministry, the need for new laws in terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 of 2001 as pointed out by Neville Ladduwahetty in his article in ‘The Island’ of 3/5. The need to take immediate strategic action regarding Sharia Law, and the Sharia University; and correct many other political blunders done for short term political gains. What are the long term political decisions to be made now, while things are hot and before the sense of urgency is lost with time? There are so many other things to do; the list is too long to be given here.
If we are keen to learn from history, we have a fine model to look at; in the way the then government handled efficiently the crisis that arose from the 1971 JVP Insurgency, which was totally a new experience then. When the crisis hit the ceiling when JVP struck on the night of 5th April ’71 the big political guns went into hiding. One couldn’t be surprised as they did not know what had hit them, in those peaceful albeit some post-election violence. It was unprecedented. The Opposition UNP got to a side, did not obstruct and engage in the blame game. Only two people stood fast, like the rock of Gibraltar. That was Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike and her cocky young nephew Felix Dias Bandaranaike, the brilliant lawyer and Minister of Justice, finest speaker in Parliament, disliked by all. It is said that on the night of the 5th it was Mrs. B herself who served coffee to the top officials who manned ‘Ops Room’ which was hastily set up at the Temple Trees. No wonder that Sir John described her cynically as “the only man in the Cabinet!”
They immediately re-called IGP Stanley Senanayake who had gone to England and replaced the acting IGP Leel Gunasekera, a Civil Servant whom they had earlier appointed, in their euphoria after the 2/3 victory at the recent election. They scrapped the Janatha Committees that they had appointed to oversee the top administration, following their romantic escapade with socialism.
Mrs. B. immediately brought in as Additional Secy. Defence, a totally new idea, Mr. S.A. Dissanayake, Rtd. IGP. He had helped them in the ’62 Coup case, again an unprecedented investigation, as DIG CID where his brother was the 1st accused. Mr. Tyrell Gunatilleke, the then Director CID described to me the following discussion that took place between the top two immediately thereafter.
Mrs. B.: ‘Jingle’ who else do you need on board?
S.A.D.: Eleric Abeygunawardane as Additional. (The brilliant IGP who had retired immediately after the election).
Mrs. B.: Will he come?
SAD. : Madam, if you personally talk to him, he might.
She did. And he came in. (Note here the respect with which they treated the Police top brass then.)
Mr. Abeygunawardena set up his office in a Government Bungalow in either Wijerama Mawatha or in Longdon Place, my memory is not clear here, to monitor and direct operations then on. That relieved the IG to restore the police stations which were in shambles after the unprecedented simultaneous attack.
The Police station OICs and ASPs were asked to send their investigation files direct to this office. Under Emergency Regulations, admissions made to ASPs by suspects were made admissible in courts. Mr. Abeygunawardane’s office had a few Senior State Counsels like Ranjith Abeysuriya, Kenneth Seneviratne and some others to prepare cases for prosecution and advise the police officers on further investigations. Thus cases were filed in courts without delay. Mr. A had a few CID and Intelligence officers attached to him, who continued to monitor and direct operations to arrest the balance rebel leaders who were hiding.
India loaned us Gurkha soldiers to guard Katunayake Air Port. On 8th April a full day curfew was declared and a load of ammunition was air lifted here, as we had run short of ammunition! The important thing is all this was done logically and on time.
Then Mrs. B declared a ten day amnesty Thousands surrendered to local DROs and temples. They were all accommodated in detention camps in the closed University campuses, under army volunteer officers. Middle level Public Officers were detailed to ferret out the chaff from the paddy, and the rest were released.
FDB, Minister of Justice then set up a new Court called the Criminal Justice Commission, chaired by three Supreme Court Judges. Rohana Wijeweera and the top leaders numbering 42(?) suspects were charged here and convicted. It was called the ‘Maha naduwa’.
Parallely, we in the CID were asked to probe whether and how the JVP was funded.
Mrs. B also had a long term strategy. She declared that we were sitting on a ‘powder keg’, and proceeded to take several radical steps. She brought in the unpopular Land Reforms Act, Nationalization of Tea, Rubber estates, Oil companies, Insurance trade, import & export trade and so many which was thought socialist reforms, to take the sails off the JVP thinking.
Of course there were abuses. She got another arm of the CID to investigate such cases, and the Kataragama Beauty Queen case was the well-known conviction obtained against an Army volunteer Captain and a Sergeant.
When the Parliament finally met, many MPs mainly government MPs, brought in many allegations of abuse against the police. Mrs. B dismissed them with the following words: “If not for the police, none of you will be here talking ill of them.”
Mr. J.R. Jayewardene, when he came to power had the JVP convicts released from prison on the grounds that CJC was bad in law. He had the return 20 years later.
UPFA MP Kumara Welgama, on Sunday, disputed President Maithripala Sirisena’s claim, at a Kalutara District Security Committee meeting, that the security situation was under control.
Welgama said that though the President had assured that normalcy had returned, his head of security had been informed by his superiors to ensure his safety. Thus, the statements the President made on the security situation were contradictory, Welgama said.
When Welgama made that statement, the President did not respond, according to sources.
The meeting was held at Kalutara District Secretariat with the participation of a large number of politicians and state officials. It was closed to media except the presidential media division.
The President told those present that the security situation was under control.
Welgama then criticized the President and the government, and at the end of his speech, those who were present applauded the MP.
Welgama added that he had been informed by his security, on April 21, the day of the Easter Bombings, of the impending attack, but he had not paid much attention to it. But as the Minister of Defence, the President should have informed the people, he said.
The president, ministers and other MPs should take the responsibility for the situation. All the politicians were aware of potential attacks and, therefore, neither they nor their family members had gone to church, Welgama said.
“We must go for elections only after solving the problem completely. All must extend their support for the security forces to bring the situation under control. The security forces can tackle the situation if there is no political interference.”
Several others including MP Jayantha Samaraweera also expressed their views. The President left, saying he had to attend the Cabinet meeting.
A Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and an ally or partner, defines the legal status of any member of the U.S. armed services (land, sea or air) serving on active duty anywhere in such a country, excluding personnel of U.S. Armed Forces attached to the United States embassy in that country and such personnel who have been specifically mentioned as being outside the binding clauses of such agreement. They can include the civilian staff, being American citizens in the employ of, serving with or accompanying the U.S. Armed Forces personnel in the ally/partner country. Usually, a SOFA will not cover civilians ordinarily resident in the partner/ally country, occupying similar capacities with US Armed Forces personnel coming under the agreement. Army Commander Lt. General Mahesh Senanayake is the latest aficionado of these hyped–up anti-SOFA elements. His take on it was, to put it mildly, very shocking: He is on record as having said that How can we sign such an agreement? That is like committing suicide after writing all my properties to someone else”. One presumes he knows what he is talking about because he has been privy to the contents of the pending agreement.
What is significant and to the point, however, is not anyone’s fear about the contents of the SOFA because on closer analysis one sees that the Commander has preceded his comments by observing that There are various regional and world powers trying to take advantage of the current situation due to the strategic and geographical (and geo-political?) importance of Sri Lanka’s location.
When the Army Commander comes out with such a firm statement at this specific juncture , one may be excused for presuming that the Commander-in-Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces, President Maithripala Sirisena, might well heed his Army Commander’s advice to tear up the proposed SOFA with the U.S. That matters have been brought to the brink of the signing of this geo-politically defining landmark agreement mostly because of the accommodation by the UNP-led Government is seen in diplomatic and other political circles as the outer manifestation of America’s success in seducing Sri Lanka away from capitulating blindly to Beijing with whom this country may well be having a similar agreement.
Presidential election as an excuse
The political grapevine is abuzz with speculation whether this is the real reason behind President Sirisena’s trip to Beijing, ostensibly to attend a conference, but more importantly for a briefing with Xi Jinping on advice as to what position is to be now adopted with the Americans relating to the SOFA agreement. Xi Jinping can be trusted to have some tough things to say to the Sri Lankan President, not forgetting that he botched the plan to reinstate Rajapaksa in power and thereby put an end to Ranil Wickremesignhe’s cooperation with the U.S. to the detriment of China’s Belt and Road plans and the crunch plan to take total control of the South China Seas.
A positive nod from Sirisena to Xi Jinping, offering the imminent Presidential Election as an excuse for ‘postponement’ could totally jeopardise the SOFA signing in Colombo. That would be the best news Beijing has heard in several decades, especially ever since Xi Jinping lost out when Sirisena botched plans to reinstate Rajapaksa in power last September.
Coincidence or not, it’s interesting that the Army Commander’s opinions were voiced exactly at this specific juncture. Seducing Sirisena into the SOFA process began way back on 29.11.2016 at the Galle Dialogue at which President Sirisena met U.S. Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, since renamed the U.S. INDOPACOM (broadened to include the entire Indian Ocean) at the Galle Dialogue 2016 Maritime Security Conference, at which Harris also met PM Wickremesinghe, and Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces Commanders. This led to the USS Somerset arriving here to support the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit Exchange with Sri Lanka Marines and still later on had U.S. Marines, Sailors work with the Sri Lanka Navy’s newly-minted Marine Corps.
Admiral Harris then stressed the importance of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and expanding partnerships among like-minded nations TO UPHOLD THE RULES-BASED GLOBAL OPERATING SYSTEM. SRI LANKA IS A WELCOME AND SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR TO THE SYSTEM.
Admiral Harris also met privately with Commanders of the Sri Lanka Navy, Army, and Air Force, along with discussions with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene, and other senior Government leaders.
Expanded cooperation with the United States – cooperation that benefits both countries in meaningful ways” was how Admiral Harris put it. SOFA is the plum in that scenario of cooperation. But those in the know will tell you that SOFA has absolutely nothing in it even remotely engendering Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity or sovereignty. The US-Korea SOFA has been inexistence for decades and it has in not in any way been negative for South Korea: Just the opposite in fact.
The difference is that there was no way that Beijing could find broad political support in Korea of the nature found in Sri Lanka…and so the US-Korea went through and persists to this day with no negative issue whatsoever emerging from it. Unfortunately for China, her support was across the border in North Korea. Not so in Sri Lanka pre-2015 and for Beijing, hopefully, post-2019!
So, then the sudden recent spate of news taking up space in the print media against the SOFA is a manifestation of the pro-US and pro-China forces trying to hit, while the iron is hot with the staunchly pro-U.S., pro-SOFA Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at his weakest since getting ‘outside’ help in 2015 to send Beijing man, Mahinda Rajapaksa, out of power.
Commander Senanayake’s opinion, therefore, is the first hard indication of a split in opinion among leaders of the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka vis-a-vis the proposed SOFA.
The contention that the current security situation in Sri Lanka is being exploited to hurry up the signing process however, is flawed. The fear is that any future Government reneging on such agreements, such as the SOFA with the U.S., can have nasty diplomatic and bilateral trade negatives emerging from it. Those negatives, as Iran well knows, can hurt extremely harmfully. They can destroy Sri Lanka economically and in affairs before the UNHRC.
This is what is back of the sudden haste to drum up resistance to tear up the imminent SOFA threat that sends grave danger signals to China’s Lankan political stooges on one side and America’s friends in Colombo on the other.
How very badly the U.S. wants SOFA to go through, will, I am afraid, also determine the outcome of the coming presidential and general elections. For the U.S. and China, it’s now a winner takes all” prospect in Sri Lanka…and that’s fraught with all sorts of dangers. The U.S. plays very rough, China plays dirty.
The National Sangha Council (NSC) will lodge a complaint with the Police Headquarters tomorrow (14) against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, calling for his arrest and that he be charged in Court over his involvement in the Easter Sunday (21 April) attacks.
The carnage, due to the suicide bomb attacks in churches, hotels and elsewhere, claimed the lives of over 250 and injured over 500 others.
The Council claimed that Wickremesinghe, among others, had prior knowledge about the attacks, but had not, as part of the Government, taken any action to prevent them. This constitutes negligent behaviour and conduct, the Council alleged.
The Council also claimed that the suppression of information about the crime and aiding and abetting in it too were grave offences.
Sri Lankan security personnel stand guard at a checkpoint on a roadside in Colombo on May 13, 2019. A Muslim man was slashed to death in Sri Lanka, police said after imposing a nationwide curfew to contain a violent new backlash against Easter suicide bombings
A Muslim mas was slashed to death in Sri Lanka Monday, police said after imposing a nationwide curfew to contain a violent new backlash against Easter suicide bombings.
The 45-year-old man died shortly after admission to a hospital in Puttalam district during anti-Muslim rioting which began Sunday in the area, a police official told AFP.
“Mobs had attacked him with sharp weapons at his carpentry workshop,” the official said. “This is the first death from the riots.”
His death was reported after authorities ordered the entire country placed under a night curfew and police were ordered to use maximum force to deal with troublemakers.
Police will take stern action against rioters and constables have been issued with orders to use maximum force, Police Chief Chandana Wickramaratne warned in a televised address after rampaging mobs set fire to Muslim-owned shops and vehicles.
Homes and mosques were also vandalised by large groups of people armed with sticks and blunt weapons, police said.
The unrest was concentrated in three districts north of the capital, but a night curfew was imposed across the country to prevent the spread of violence, police said.
The latest rioting came three weeks after a string of suicide bomb attacks against three Christian churches and three luxury hotels, leaving 258 people dead and nearly 500 wounded.
The
Easter Sunday terror attacks done by Islamic terrorists in Sri Lanka consider
as a barbaric aggression by Islamic terrorists against a peaceful nation and no
religion in the world based on the concept of taweed (There is no God, but
Allah himself) would not support for such a barbaric attack and many Islam
devotees condemn the attacks. After this
barbaric attack, several significant issues emerged in Sri Lanka and they
should be publicly discussed and debated without political alignments. I would
like to present the issues point by point to consider.
After the barbaric
Islamic attack, security forces in Sri Lanka checked Islamic Mosques and houses,
and found many swords and offensive weapons, which are banned in Sri Lanka in
terms of the Offensive Weapons Act.
Legally it is very clear that no one can keep in hand such weapons and
it is a criminal act if any person or an organization keep offensive weapons.
The law indicates that such offensive weapons could be displayed in a shop but
cannot keep such weapons in hands. I saw a statement of Mr. A.M. Ameen, the
leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Council that offensive weapons were kept in Muslim
Mosques and houses to safeguard girls. What was the legal provision he was
talking about? The criminal law of Sri
Lanka clearly prohibits keeping offensive weapons for any reason and this law
is effective in the country since independence.
In this environment, how the president of Sri Lanka considers this
offense as a simple activity. If any
person in Sri Lanka needs a weapon for personal security, he or she can get a
gun after obtaining a legally valid permit from the government.
Could Sri Lanka allow
only one religious group to violate the law of the country ignoring other
religious groups? The law of a country provides justice to all citizens and why
the government doesn’t consider giving justice to all citizens? The law of Sri Lanka is applicable to all
communities without except to any.
Does Saudi Arabia or any
other Muslim country allow to violate criminal law provisions in the name of
religion or Allah? The answer to these
questions is no and why the Muslim community in Sri Lanka attempts to violate
the law, which is not allowed in any Muslim country? In this connect it is
quite important that many Muslim people condemn the terror attacks and
attempted to express that terror attacks were not authenticated by the Islam
religion in Sri Lanka.
There are personal laws
such as Muslim Law, Thesawalamai law, Buddhist Vihara and Property law and
Kandyan Law. These laws are allowed in Sri Lanka considering human rights and
the common law provisions in Sri Lanka clearly indicate that no personal laws
in Sri Lanka can violate the rights of any citizen of the country. However, it seems that legal provisions in
relation to Muslim Marriage and divorce in Sri Lanka contradict with the common
law and why the government wants to keep such laws discriminating other
citizens of the country. Many practices
of Muslim law in Sri Lanka in relation to marriage and divorce are unacceptable
to the international community and the government needs to change the Muslim
personal law consistent to common law practices.
Personal laws of Muslim
and Thesavalamai use to discriminates women, children and lower caste people in
Sri Lanka. It is a violation of Human right convention of the United
Nations. Why the Human Rights Commission
of the United Nations in Geneva did not question or focus on this issue. Is this international organization playing
politics in Sri Lanka than performing the role assigned by the United Nations?
As Rt Rev Cardinal Malcolm
Ranjith publicly stated some politicians and individuals have unduly enriched
in the country. Did these people pay a
fair share of tax to the government? In terms of the Land Reform Commission Act
in 1972, a person can hold only 50 acres, but it is reported that certain
personnel hold more than 50 acres and how did such transactions legally
register. Why is the government not
investigating the issues and punish responsible persons?
Did the unduly enriched
people engage in money laundering activities? Why the government is not engaging
in the investigation?
Education is a national
activity of Sri Lanka. The primary and
secondary education in Sri Lanka is a government role or government supervised
role. How can deviate from such role allowing Madrasa and other higher education
institutions disregarding law and regulation of the country? The Curriculum in primary and secondary education
must be approved by the Department of Education and how private organizations
offer different curriculum without government approval?
The
national reconciliation process began after 2015 was mythical acting against
the United Nations’ accepted universal human rights and advocates of the
yahapalana regime didn’t question about the dishonest process.
As
a religion Islam contains vital philosophical views such as sakaat (Muslims who
have money give 1/40 to people, siyam (fasting during the Ramadan) and salaat
(pray five times a day) etc. Any religion, which is peaceful has a right to
exist and if Muslim devotees consider that non-believers should be killed, it
is unacceptable philosophy and such a religion would not exist because it is
discharging criminal acts, which are subject to prosecution and punishment.
See how arrogant these Muslim
leaders are. Isn’t it a situation where
the tail wagging the dog. I put the entire blame squarely on all Sinhala
politicians who have miserably failed to build up the status of the Sinhala
Nation and consolidate their dignity and rightful place on this land of the
Sinhala race, in their crazy chase after minority votes for power ever since 1948.
Doesn’t this clearly shows that
the danger is beyond comprehension
Why doesn’t this stupid
Government declare possessing these swords, axes, mallets, mattocks and knives and all similar weapons by any
Muslim as illegal and take over all of them and charge them for possessing
illegal weapons and whatever other crimes for which they could be charged. If
on the other hand this government is not going to ban and declare that it is a
serious offence to possess them and take them over and charge them or else give at least one gun to every
Sinhala and Tamil house and immediately in this country for them to protect
their lives.
Although ජමිතුල් උලමා ‘s version
is this, according to Abdul Saleem of Harispattuwa the Minister of Muslim
affairs these swords are stocked for
grass cutting and according to Asad Sali Sirisena’s Governor WP every Muslim
house has a sward to protect girls. His bulla again Sirisena’s Governor EP does
not say either of these purpose though he also justifies possession of swards
by Muslims, because he knows they are meant to slaughter Sinhala people.
In this backdrop it is crystal
clear that all these fellows are one well organized gang of criminals. As such
their elimination is a must to bring this country back to normalcy. In order to
reach this target the president should immediately sack his two Muslim
Governor, (Hisbulla and Asad Sali), the Minister of Muslim Affairs and arrest
them along with ජමිතුල් උලමා and fully disarm all Muslims who are planning a
massive jihard all over the country and initiate action against all culprits.
If Ranil obstructs it then sack him as well and initiate action against his as
well in the same manner.
Looking at the way the President
has failed even to issue the gazette banning Muslim terror organization Thahith
Jamad for two weeks, and the Presidential order issued on April 29th
under sec 5 of the Public Security Ordinance the order banning Thavhith Jamad
is not included. Also I read that in another gazette issued there were 23
mistakes. We know there is no point in asking the President to do this as he
will never do anything to dissatisfy Muslims as he is dreaming of their votes
although he will never get a single vote from them.
Whether he likes it or not the
whole country wants him to take penal action against these Muslim terrorist
immediately lest it escalate any further. O All Sri Lankans know our President
is only a talking machine confined to his own world of self- delusion and as
Sarath De Alwis (Colombo Telegraph 12 5
2019) has quite correctly said he has got reduced to a Dead Man Walking.
The general public is asking the
most pertinent question as to how you justify keeping Rev Galabodaatte
Hammuduruvo in jail so long for a trifle issue while Ulamas and Muslim
Ministers and Governors who have taken to arms and openly justify for keeping
them with them and admit they have swards in all Muslim houses and Mosques and
waged war against the State and the Sinhala nation who are the real Bhumiputras
of this country are left free. They even write to you challenging right of the
government to take them over and take action against them. They claim they have
a right to keep such weapons with them and ask for permission permission to
keep them where they are.
Mr President and PM if you duo fail
to take action against all Muslims involved in this well organized massacre
with many more to follow and try to protect them to get their votes, please
remember the Sinhala voters will put you to the dust bin of history at the next
election, if they are fortunate live to vote.
The Lankaweb
published the first part of this series on February 8, 2019. In its last
para we identified ” Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe by
far the most shrewd and intelligent politician of Sri Lanka.”
MINISTRY OF LAW AND
ORDER- UNDER RANIL
Since the formation of
the Government, Ranil Wickremasinghe or his UNP colleagues held the role of Law
and Order. Ranil himself held it for couple of months and then relegated
to his erstwhile friend Sagala Ratnayake and then to Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
During this period
Ranil dismantled the intelligence network, downgraded its manpower, experienced
Officers were transferred to other Divisions in addition to arresting and
jailing them. Most of them are still behind bars, with no sign of legal
action being instituted.
Ranil did all this
ground work to satisfy LTTE diaspora, the West, the Indian political mafia and
Muslim minorities. At the time the Ministry was removed from him, the
Ministry was virtually defunct.
MINISTRY OF LAW AND
ORDER-UNDER MAITHREE:
Maithreepala took over
the Ministry on 1 November 2018. Just couple of days before taking over the
Ministry, the President appointed Mr Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister.
RANIL’S ANGER:
The loss of powerful
Ministry of Law and Order and the appointment of Mahinda Rajapakse, did not go
down well in the books of Master Mind Ranil Wickremasinghe. He became the
Prime Minister again, yet without the Ministry of Law and Order.
ATTACK ON CHURCHES:
On 21 April 2019, the
Churches were attacked, whilst President Sirisena was holidaying and shopping
for his son’s wedding. Ranil escaped to Nuwaraeliya for a holiday,
instead of going to his famous downsouth destinations off Baddegama.
MOTIVES:
I.
Since the
attack on Churches and killing hundreds of innocent worshippers, Ranil used the
opportunity to blame the President as he was the Minister.
II.
Advocating
that President is incapable of holding the role of Ministry of Law and Order,
Ranil, his kiths and kins are now gearing up for a political promotion for
convicted criminal Sarath Fonseka.
III.
Without
Tamils and Muslims support, Ranil is a political pedestrian. Therefore,
he will use his skills of political manoeuvre to retain the position of Prime
Minister and destroy Maithreepala politically.
The Bond Scam, the
failure to bring back Arjun Mahendran, the alleged coup to assassinate the
President Maithreepala and the former Defence Secretary, the 21 April attack on
Churches by Muslim Terrorists may not be mere coincidences.
Fighting Tamil terrorists and Muslim
terrorists are two different things.
1. (During the war) Tamils were a
net economic burden to the nation.
Over 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils lived
in the north and the east but a very small amount of tax was paid by them.
Their expenses were enormous. A massive number of taxpayer funded schools, a
large number of Tamil university students (far more than 12.8% their ethnic
percentage then), very high free medical cost, free fertilizer, free food, etc.
The more the dead and emigrated, the
lesser the recurring economic burden on the economy as tax payers were
extremely few in the north. (Sorry, economic realities don’t play catch-up with
morality).
This is not the case with Muslims. They
make a net positive contribution to the economy and less tax money is drawn by
them for education, healthcare, higher education, etc.(for whatever
reason). Therefore inevitable disruption of Muslims’ economy in a conflict
has an adverse impact on the nation.
2. India (the main sponsor of
Tamils) doesn’t provide any economic benefit to Sri Lanka. In fact, India is a net economic drain on Sri Lanka. So if
India imposed sanctions, etc. It would have benefited Sri Lanka! Even in India
only 6% of the population is Tamil. So whatever happened in Sri Lanka to Tamils
mattered a little to India.
However, OIC countries are providing
Sri Lanka over $7 billion net gains. They are at the heart of this conflict and
they stand up for each other of the Muslim community. If Sri Lanka gets them
off side, that is the end of the nation and the economy of the Sinhala
community. Almost 100% of these countries’ population is Muslim.
3. The distribution is another
factor. Over 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils live/d in the north and east. The north
is/was almost 100% Tamil only. The collapse of the northern economy didn’t
impact Sinhalese and Muslims. But Muslims are everywhere. The collapse of their
economy affects all.
4. Although Tamil terrorists
maintained links with other terrorist groups and nations, it was limited.
Muslim terrorists are very tightly linked to at least 50 similar terrorist
groups around the world.
5. Muslims are far more integrated
to the Sri Lankan society than Tamils economically and politically. No Tamil politician is voted by Sinhalese but plenty of
Muslim politicians are voted into parliament by Sinhalese. e.g. Imitiyas,
Marikkar, Cader, Fowzi, Aboosally, Hameed, MH Mohammad, Hasheem, Musammil.
Muslim businessmen sponsor many
community events benefiting all.
Uprooting Muslim terrorists has
collateral damage and the impact seeps into the entire Lankan community.
Self-isolated Tamil community didn’t have any such impact.
For these reasons we must be extra
careful in handling this. We cannot exterminate Muslim terrorists as easily
(and as least costly) as we exterminated Tamil terrorists.
However, it must be done. That’s why
a very clever strategy is needed that saves the economy and the nation both at
the same time.
