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Sunday 9 September 2012

An Army Major Is Hospitalised; Mervyn Silva’s Son Malaka Silva Has Done It Again

Army Major Shri Pradeep was admitted to the National Hospital after being assaulted by a group led by controversial minister Mervyn Silva‘s son Malaka Silva at a five star hotel in Colombo last night, according to a complaint made to the police.

Army Major was assaulted by Malaka Silva, Former Minister Mano Wijeratne’s son and five other persons at the Jaic Hilton car park at around 3.30 early this morning Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said a corporal who was with the Major at the time of the incident was also injured during the clash. The Slave Island police have recorded a statement from the Army Major who charged that his official pistol had been taken away by the group.

Chaminda Senasinghe and (inset) Malaka Silva

Not unlike his father, Minister Silva’s son Malaka has been notorious for terrorizing Colombo and its nightspots and is also a paid government official in Minister Silva’s Ministry. No one dares speak out against the Silva family due to their connections both with the underworld and their immunity due to presidential patronage.

Malaka’s track record

In September 2007 Chaminda Senasinghe was attacked by Malaka Silva at the Bistro Latino Restaurant and Salsa Bar.

Malaka Silva and two of his bodyguards on November 2, 2006 pleaded guilty to attacking attacking Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers who were on a drug raid at a night club in a five star hotel.

Colombo High Court Judge Upali Abeyratne ordered each of them to pay compensation of Rs. 10,000 each and enter into a bond in Rs 100,000 each to be of good behaviour for one year. The accused were Malaka Silva and his bodyguards Sampath Kumara Rajapakse and Prasanna Kumara Suresh. The judge ordered that the compensation be directed to the Police Rewards Fund.

In a direct indictment by the Attorney General the three accused were charged with willfully causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty. Malaka Silva was charged with intimidating and obstructing the PNB team which went on a narcotics raid with a court order to the night club My Kind of Place at Taj Samudra in the early hours of July 24, 2005.

The accused were indicted with assaulting police personnel including PC R.W. A. Dayan Lasantha – an offence punishable under Section 323 of the Penal Code.

According to the statements given by PNB officers and PNB OIC Buddhika Balachandra at the magisterial inquiry, on the said date the narcotics team, on a tip-off had raided the night club to arrest an ‘ecstasy’ dealer who was said to have been trafficking the drug at the hotel. When the PNB officers who were in plain clothes were leaving the night club after completing the ten-minute raid, Malaka Silva had obstructed them and abused them in foul language. Malaka Silva had allegedly threatened the police officer at gunpoint and assaulted the police officers. Later he had called his bodyguard who was armed with a pistol and attacked the police officers.

The PNB team had allegedly withdrawn from the place as the accused were armed and as they did not want to create a problem there. Later they had complained to the Colombo Fort police station.

The accused had later surrendered to the police station. Ironically two days after the attack former Police Chief, Chandra Fernando, announced the release of Malaka Silva and his mates saying that there was no evidence. Media reported that the police were under pressure not to work hard on the case.

In his attempt to defend his son, Mervyn Silva abused journalists in filth and stated that he knows what to do with the owners of Sirasa and Swarnavahini – two privately owned media outlets.

Earlier in connection with this trial Malaka had also been banned from entry into night clubs after 7 p.m with a warning that if the ban were violated the one million rupee bail on the two persons would be converted to a fine and charged from them. (Sunday Leader September  9, 2007) (Colombotelegraph)

Sunday 22 July 2012

இராணுவத்தின் பாதுகாப்புக் கருத்தரங்கு சர்வதேசத்தின் கவனத்தைப் பெறுமா?

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விடுதலைப்புலிகளுக்கு எதிரான போர் எப்படி வெற்றி கொள்ளப்பட்டது என்பதை மையப்படுத்தி கடந்த ஆண்டு பாதுகாப்புக் கருத்தரங்கை நடத்திய இலங்கை இராணுவம், இம்முறை போருக்குப் பிந்திய நிலைமைகளை மையப்படுத்தி இரண்டாவது கருத்தரங்கை ஒழுங்கு செய்துள்ளது.

தீவிரவாதத்தைத் தோற்கடித்த சிறிலங்காவின் அனுபவங்கள் என்ற தொனிப்பொருளில் கடந்த ஆண்டு மே மாதம் 31ம் திகதி தொடக்கம் யூன் 2ம் திகதி வரை முதலாவது பாதுகாப்புக் கருத்தரங்கு நடத்தப்பட்டது. அந்தக் கருத்தரங்கில் பங்கேற்கக் கூடாது என்று உலக நாடுகளை சர்வதேச மனித உரிமை அமைப்புகள் கோரியிருந்தன. 

இறுதிக்கட்டப் போரில் இலங்கைப் படையினரால் போர்க் குற்றங்கள் இழைக்கப்பட்டதாகவும் அதனைத் தமது சாதனையாக வெளிப்படுத்தும் பாதுகாப்புக் கருத்தரங்கில் பங்கேற்க வேண்டாம் என்றும் சா்வதேச மன்னிப்புச் சபை போன்ற அமைப்புகள் கோரியிருந்தன.

இந்தக் கோரிக்கை சர்வதேச அளவில் தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தவே செய்தது.
அதன் காரணமாக மேற்குலக நாடுகள் பல தமது அதிகாரபூர்வ பிரதிநிதிகளை அனுப்பி வைக்கவில்லை. அல்லது அனுப்புவதாக உறுதியளித்துவிட்டு கடைசி நேரத்தில் விலகிக்கொண்டன.

இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கிற்கு பிரதிநிதிகளை அனுப்புமாறு ஐ.நா. உள்ளிட்ட 54 நாடுகளுக்கு அழைப்பு விடுத்திருந்தது இலங்கைப் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சு. அழைப்பு அனுப்பப்பட்ட நாடுகளில் கணிசமானவை அதை நிராகரித்து விட்டன.

இதனால் சிறிய, முக்கியத்துவம் இல்லாத பெரும்பாலும் ஆபிரிக்க நாடுகளின் இராணுவப் பிரதிநிதிகளை அழைத்து வந்து அந்தக் கருத்தரங்கை வெற்றிகரமாக நடத்தியது அரசாங்கம்.

இதனால் வெளிநாட்டு இராணுவப் பிரதிநிதிகளுக்காக ஒதுக்கப்பட்ட ஆசனங்கள் வெறுமையாகக் கிடக்க இலங்கை இராணுவத்தின் மூத்த அதிகாரிகள் அந்த இடங்களை நிரப்பினர்.

இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கில் 42 நாடுகளின் 300 பிரதிநிதிகள் கலந்துகொள்ள உள்ளதாக கருத்தரங்கு ஆரம்பிப்பதற்கு முதல் நாள் இராணுவத்தளபதி லெப். ஜெனரல் ஜகத் ஜெயசூரிய கூறியிருந்தார்.

ஆனால் அந்தக் கருத்தரங்கில் 41 நாடுகளின் 80ற்கும் அதிகமான பிரதிநிதிகளே பங்கேற்றதாக கடைசியில் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

இந்த 41 நாடுகளுக்குள் இலஙங்கையும் அடங்கியிருந்தது. அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்ட 54 நாடுகளில், 41 நாடுகள் பங்கேற்றதாகக் கருதக்கூடாது. இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கிற்கு இலங்கை அரசினால் அழைக்கப்படாத 15ற்கும் அதிகமான நாடுகளின் பிரதிநிதிகளும் பங்கேற்றிருந்தனர்.

இலங்கை அரசினால் தெரிவு செய்யப்பட்டு அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்ட நாடுகளில் கிட்டத்தட்ட பாதியளவு நாடுகள் இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கைப் புறக்கணித்திருந்தன.

பல நாடுகள் பார்வையாளர்களாக கொழும்பிலுள்ள தமது தூதுவர்களையும், இராணுவ ஆலோசகர்களையும் அனுப்பி வைத்தன. முதலாவது இராணுவக் கருத்தரங்கு சர்ச்சைகளுக்குரியதாக இருந்தநிலையில் இம்முறை மிகக் கவனமாகத் தொனிப்பொருளை தேர்ந்தெடுத்துள்ளது இராணுவம்.

இதுமட்டுமன்றி இம்முறை 63 நாடுகளுக்கு அழைப்புகள் அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளன.
கொழும்பு கலதாரி ஹோட்டலில் நடக்கவுள்ள இந்த மூன்று நாள் கருத்தரங்கின் தொனிப்பொருள் நிலையான அமைதி உறுதிப்பாட்டை நோக்கி என்பதாகும்.

போருக்குப் பிந்திய சூழலில் இலங்கைப் படையினர், நாட்டின் அபிவிருத்தி மற்றும் உட்கட்டுமான வளர்ச்சியில் எவ்வாறு பங்களிக்கின்றனர் என்பதை வெளிப்படுத்தும் வகையில் தான் இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கு ஒழுங்கு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. வரும் ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் 10ம் திகதி தொடக்கம் 12ம் திகதி வரை இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கு இடம்பெறவுள்ளது. 

5 (R) தான் என சுருக்கமாக அமைக்கப்படும் 
-மீள்கட்டுமானம் (Reconstruction),
-மீள்குடியேற்றம் (Resettlement), 
-புனர்வாழ்வு(Rehabilitation),
-மீள் ஒருங்கிணைப்பு(Reintegration),
-நல்லிணக்கம்(Reconciliation)

ஆகியனவே இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கின் முதன்மையான விடயங்களாக இருக்கும்.

இந்த மாநாட்டில் பங்கேற்பதை அமெரிக்கா, பிரித்தானியா, சீனா உள்ளிட்ட பல நாடுகள் உறுதி செய்துள்ளதாகவும் சில நாடுகள் தமது உயர்மட்ட அரசகுழுவை அனுப்புவது குறித்து கலந்துரையாடி வருவதாகவும் இராணுவத்தளபதி கூறியுள்ளார்.

-முதல்நாள் அமர்வு மீள்கட்டுமானம் மற்றும் மீள்குடியமர்வு குறித்ததாக இருக்கும்.
-இரண்டாம் நாள் அமர்வு புனர்வாழ்வு மற்றும் மீள் ஒருங்கிணைப்பு பற்றியதாக இருக்கும்.
-மூன்றாம் நாள் அமர்வு நல்லிணக்கம் பற்றியதாக இருக்கும்.இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கில் 22 வல்லுனர்களும், இராணுவ அதிகாரிகளும் உரையாற்றவுள்ளனர்.

அமெரிக்கா, பிரித்தானியா, இந்தியா, பாகிஸ்தான் போன்ற நாடுகளில் இருந்து பேச்சாளர்கள் வரவுள்ளனர். இவர்களை விடஇந்த விவகாரங்களுடன் தொடர்புடைய அமைச்சர்கள். படை அதிகாரிகள், அரச அதிகாரிகளும் உரையாற்றவுள்ளனர்.

இந்தக கருத்தரங்கிற்கு 63 நாடுகளுக்கு அழைப்பு விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ள போதும் கடந்த 10ம் திகதி வரை 14 நாடுகளின் 24 பிரதிநிதிகள் வருகையை உறுதி செய்துள்ளனர்.

இம்முறை போர் பற்றிக் கருத்தரங்கு நடத்தினால் அதற்கு எந்தளவு வரவேற்பு இருக்கும் என்று தெரியாத நிலையில் தான் அரசாங்கம் தனது பாதையை மாற்றிக்கொண்டுள்ளது.

சர்வதேச அளவில் இப்போது வடக்கில் சிவில் நிர்வாகத்தில் இலங்கை இராணுவத்தின் தலையீடு குறித்து பேசப்படுகிறது. வடக்கில் இராணுவத் தலையீடுகள் பற்றிய சர்ச்சைகளுக்கு முடிவு கட்டவும் அதிகப்படையினரை இலங்கை அபிவிருத்திக்காகப் பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்கிறது என்பதைக் காட்டவுமே இந்த ஏற்பாடு. கடந்த முறைபோன்று இம்முறை இந்தக் கருத்தரங்கு தொடர்பாக மனித உரிமை அமைப்புகள் எந்தக் கருத்தையும் வெளியிடவில்லை. இது இலங்கை இராணுவத்துக்குச் சாதகமான ஒன்று.

அதைவிட இந்தமுறை ஒழுங்கு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள தொனிப்பொருள் பல கேள்விகள் சந்தேகங்களுக்கு சர்வதேச சமூகம் விடைகாண விரும்பும் விடயங்களை ஒட்டியதாகவுள்ளது. எனவே இம்முறை அதிகளவு நாடுகள் பங்கேற்கலாம். (Tamilwin

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Sunday 4 December 2011

Sri Lankan government boosts military spending

The Sri Lankan government presented its 2012 budgetary estimates to parliament on October 18, unveiling a nearly 7 percent increase in military expenditure. The boost to already high levels of defence spending indicates that the government, facing a deep financial crisis, is preparing for violent confrontations with working people. Read more>>>

Sunday 26 December 2010

Degeneration of Sri Lanka Police

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No Justice - No Nation & One Justice - One nation - by Basil Fernando




What makes a nation a nation is above all the justice that prevails within that nation. It is justice that creates the bond between the people. Justiceconnects one with the other. Justice among the people is the one thing that is common to all in a nation if it exists. Justice binds one person or group or a particular nationality with different races and religions. Justice provides the actual bondage between genders. Justice creates the bondage irrespective of culture and language. Justice is the common language of a nation that wants to stay together and the absence of justice is the characteristic of any nation that courts disunity, instability, violence between groups and individuals. Without the bond of justice no other kind of reconciliation or inner levels of understanding and friendship can be built.

However, this area of the presence and absence of justice has ceased to be discussed when dealing with problems of violence, conflicts and the problems of dealing with even issues of terrorism and anti terrorism. Once the factor of justice is removed from the discourse of any of these subjects, voluminous discourses can be created but no real solutions can be found to any of the problems that are being discussed. In an attempt to undo violence more violence is created which in turn creates counter-violence and the cycle goes on. In the attempt to impose the power of one group over another a similar kind of cycle takes place where one power is resisted by another power which at the end develops into conflict. Conflicts in turn develop into direct or indirect violence and violence enjoys the cycle mentioned above.

 This same applies to terrorism and counter-terrorism. In trying to deal with injustice by means of terrorism a counter-culture is created which justifies far worse forms of violence to suppress terrorism than any kind of terrorism itself could create. And that has the same theme; what is called achieving national security. With the idea of national security the state subjects its people to be targets and as a result the people develop a fear and distrust of the state which creates its own cycle of reactions against the state. This leads to chains of reactions in political strategies and counter strategies and the entire nations is involved in attempts in maneuvering and out maneuvering others and there is an endless cycle of deception, violence and distrust throughout the nation. Whole institutional cultures can develop in any of these areas either under the pretext of dealing with violence or terrorism or under the pretext of trying to create unity among various groups by coercion. The ultimate result of this is the loss of the very concept of  the 'nation'.

Today the world over there is a phenomenon of loss in the sense of a nation at many levels. This happens not only in less developed countries and what are referred to economically backward countries or in countries where democracy is weak. This is happening today in the most developed centres in the world. The whole terrorism and anti terrorism discourse has virtually split the internal unity of many people creating internal distrust, removing the belief in the foundation of trust which helped to build unity among or within nations.

 Even in countries like the United States the development of the military establishment and the internal institutions like the CIA are virtually challenging the fundamentals of the state and the governance and the principles of bonding among the people of the country as built under the original constitution.

 This threat of course, is much greater in the new nations and the countries which are building their new political foundations. When there is no common bond of a justice framework within a nation that is common to all, the attempt to develop unity within the nation is bound to fail. Either competition between groups or other internal factors can intervene to transform any and all disagreements into major conflicts. This sets in motion the chains of violence as described above to sink into the internal fabric of communities and thus destroy whatever bonds may have existed in the past.

 The common criteria for justice and the capacities to mete out those criteria which are available to all the citizens is the only common bond that would last and would ensure that differences are ironed out by ideologies of tolerance and linkages are built among the groups and sectors of society. The greatest parameter for developing tolerance is not culture, religion or sentimentalities that could be promoted but a common parameter and methodologies of justice that could mete out to all similar basic treatments in society.
Illusion of power sharing without a justice framework. 

Attempts to preach tolerance by teaching constitutional methodologies and even often what is called power sharing without providing a common bond of justice within the whole society are bound to fail. Sri Lanka's transformation into a violent nation is essentially in the area of the breakdown of the possibilities of building bridges of justice among all communities. Various kinds of coercion built on the basis of violence have developed in place ofjustice. On the one hand the state relies more on national security laws which in turn gradually develop into the use of the muscle power of the state agencies against the citizen has now become the outcome of all kinds of conflicts that have developed within the nation. Even the limited framework of the law and justice that were established in the past has been eroded and removed by new forces replacing ideologies of relying on the strength of armed power in order to demonstrate strength. As a result armed conflicts have developed in and between communities and between the state and representatives of groupings within the communities. The political structures which were developed have been replaced by new security structures and they in turn have been met by greater force and greater violence. The result, once again as described above, is to set in motion that chain of events where distrust, fear and a concrete loss of faith in anything that is common between the people of the nation.

 In the initial stages of independence struggles the development of culture as a bond may unite a nation against an oppressor. Once independence has been achieved it becomes an obstacle against unity rather than a bond that creates unity. Language and culture without parameters of justice has only inflamed the basis for violence and conflicts rather than developing centres for linkages and understanding. Though bridges are made to bring about new constitutional setups, new types of power sharing and the like, there is no discourse about the kind of justice that needs to be developed within the nation as a whole.

 Instead, the limited bonds of the law which existed in Sri Lanka in the past have now been abandoned. It is now one of the most lawless places in the world today. It has even given up the concept of respect for a constitution. The principles of constitutionalism which treated the constitution as a supreme law have been replaced by even constitutional methods which displaced the law. Lawlessness has been achieved by deep and sophisticated means. Today the limited bonds built through limited forms of equality brought about by the framework of the law have disappeared in Sri Lanka.

 The disappearance in the law has been accompanied by massive disappearances of people where the state engages in murder in the name of trying to secure national security. Murder itself has ceased to be considered a major crime anymore in the framework of SriLanka. With that the attempt to get even limited criminal justice for the people of all communities has been lost. Today the people cannot resort even to the protection of the law in order to protect their right to life, property, their own children or anything else. A sense of the protection of the law has disappeared from the nation. The disappearance of the law is the symbolic aspect of the disappearance of justice within the nation.

 There is no other way to reestablish unity within Sri Lanka between races, between the people of the same race, between the state and the people and any other relationship within the nation including those of the most intimate relationships between the sexes, the development of respect between genders, the achievement of equal status for women. In all these aspects, nothing can be achieved when justice, as the main bond is lost.

 Therefore to achieve one nation the strategy must be to work towards one justice for all; no justice for any has created the present situation. This can only be broken with the common understanding that the parameters of justice have been established for all. Without that discourse on justice there is no possibility of achieving betterment in terms of internal relationships and the achievement of durable political structures. There can also be no possibility of achieving stability within the nation in terms of achieving any understanding of beliefs that are necessary to build trust among the people. (Janasansadaya)

Thursday 9 December 2010

JVP MP Sunil Handunneththi was attacked by....?

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Does It Mean Gota’s Men Cracked Handunneththi’s Head?


Defense Secretary, retired lieutenant in the S.L Army, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, blatantly violating ministerial regulations and engaging in politics, has said emergency regulations cannot be removed due to the activities of the JVP and the TNA.  

The JVP and the TNA, are political parties that oppose the government but are increasingly being hailed by masses in the North. This situation irritates the Rajapakse regime and the Army has been directly deployed to prevent the two parties having any rapport with the masses in the North.

Meanwhile, a Sinhala speaking armed group assaulted and attempted to assassinate JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi, who went to Jaffna for political activities with several others. Fortunately, the murder attempt was thwarted and would be assassins retreated when a crowd gathered at the site.    

However, two groups were appointed on orders of President Percy Mahendra regarding the attack but so far no one has been arrested.  While investigations are being carried out the relevant secretary (Minister) talking about implementing laws and withdrawing them could be termed as the cart jumping before the horse.(Lanka Truth)  

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Sri Lanka Navy celebrates its 60th anniversary today

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Sri Lanka Navy celebrates its 60th anniversary today. It was established in 1932 as Royal Ceylon Voluntary sub service and Royal Ceylon voluntary. Thereafter, on a day like today in the year 1950, Royal Ceylon Navy was established. Pictured here President Mahinda Rajapaksa presiding over the event to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of the Navy with his son Yoshitha Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Navy in the foreground.