Army says resettlement in Valikaamam North High Security Zone not possible

Photo courtesy: Ross Tuttle | Foreign Policy

Tamil Net
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Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Major Gen. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, who had earlier admitted the possibility of resettling uprooted families in Valikaamam North SLA High Security Zone, however, said that resettlement is not possible due to the danger of landmines. He told the representatives of the Committee for Peace and Goodwill so in a meeting held in Jaffna Bishop House Sunday, presided by Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Committee for De-mining in Jaffna Secretariat said that SLA had not permitted de-mining in its HSZ in Valikaamam North. Mahinda Kathursinghe’s announcement has caused shock and despair among the families uprooted by SLA from their properties in Valikaamam North, sources in Jaffna said.

Prof. Pon Balasundarampillai, former VC of Jaffna University and S. Paramanathan representing the Welfare Association for Uprooted Persons were among the participants in the meeting.

Meanwhile, responding to questions raised as to why only Sinhala pilgrims are permitted to use Tho’ndaimaanaa’ru-Chelvachchannithi road while local people are not allowed Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that he will soon make transport arrangements for the local people to travel along the said road.

Sinhala Buddhist pilgrims from South are allowed by SLA to use the road on their way to Keerimalai and Maathakal.

SLA had opened the road for a few days for public use during the Chelvachchanithi temple festival but had again blocked it for local people.

© Tamil Net

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190 Sinhalese families seek resettlement in Jaffna

By K.T.Rajasingham | Asian Tribune
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After a lapse of 30 long years, 190 Sinhalese families consisting of more than 600 people - men, women and children have arrived in Jaffna claiming resettlement in the district. According to reports these Sinhalese families came from Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Kurunegale, Matale and some other parts in the South.

Day before yesterday 180 families arrived and yesterday it was reported that another 500 Sinhalese families were expected in Jaffna, but only 10 more families arrived.

These Sinhalese men and women, who have suddenly shown up, said that they were earlier living in the Jaffna district up to 1980 and left the peninsula once the ethnic conflict broke out in earnest.

They said that though they lived there, they have never owned either any houses or any plot of land in Jaffna and were living either in rented houses or with their friends and relatives.

It is reported that the Governor of the Northern Province retired Major General Chandrasri has said that he was not given any advance information about the arrival of these Sinhalese families.

Asian Tribune contacted Mrs. Imalda Sugumar, the Government Agent of the Jaffna district and she also told that the government was not given any advance notice about the arrival of these Sinhalese families for resettlement.

When Asian Tribune contacted the Government Agent of Jaffna, she was returning to Jaffna from Colombo.

Mrs. Imalda Sugumar said that the arrival of these Sinhalese families was reported to her by her officials when she was in Colombo. She said that she has called for a report from the Divisional Secretariat in Jaffna and rushing back to attend to this suddenly emerged humanitarian problem.

She added that once in Jaffna, she would meet those people, verify their claims and send a report to the President Secretariat for appropriate direction.

The majority of the families which have arrived in Jaffna for resettlement reported that they have matrimonial and other social links with the Tamil families in Jaffna. They all speak fluent Tamil, it was reported.

In a memorandum to the Government Agent of Jaffna, they have pointed out that prior to 1980, Tamils and the Sinhalese lived amicably and peacefully in the Peninsula. They have expressed confident that they could live peacefully with Tamils in the future.

They further revealed that during Mrs. Bandaranaike’s period as Prime Minister in the seventies, they were allocated with government lands at Thirunagar, Thirunelvely as well as in Navatkuly, but they said they did not occupy those allotted plots, but they say that still they have those letters sent to them, those days, by the government.

Many of those Sinhalese families who came to Jaffna for resettlement are said to be staying with their relatives and friends except for 76 families who are staying at the old Jaffna Railway Station.

Jaffna Municipality is providing them with water and other facilities. Also it is learnt that the Tamils living around Jaffna old Railway Station are providing these Sinhalese families with necessary help and assistance.

Furthermore, some Tamils visited these families and provided them with some of their basic requirements.

It is not known who were behind arranging and suddenly sending these Sinhalese families to Jaffna.

According to a report, officials from Samudhri attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs have arrived in Jaffna yesterday, to look into the interest of these Sinhalese families who have claimed resettlement.

Samudhri official L.K.G. Gunatilake has led the team from Colombo met these families who are staying in the old Jaffna Railway Station, talked to them and collected details about their resettlement claims.

Asian Tribune learns that round the clock security has been provided for these families in the railway station by the Army and police.

© Asian Tribune

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'Don’t beg for pardon': Fonseka tells family

By Gandhya Senanayake | Daily Mirror
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Former army commander Sarath Fonseka has asked his wife and children not to appeal for a pardon on his behalf, as he had done nothing wrong, Anoma Fonseka told Daily Mirror online.

“I visited my husband today after a special request was made and he told me not to apologize as he had done nothing wrong.

If we did something wrong it was compulsory to apologize and if we didn’t we need not do so,” Ms. Fonseka said.

She said he was mentally and physically in good health and was eating prison meals. My husband is a strong man.

Commenting on the facilities provided to the former army commander, she said he was just like any other prisoner and that a treadmill was requested as the court had given permission due to his health condition and that he had requested a television as all inmates had access to one.

© Daily Mirror

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Ex Army Chief's wife should appeal to President for husband’s release – Govt.

By Zacki Jabbar | The Island
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Anoma Fonseka should stop holding public protests and request President Mahinda Rajapaksa to release her husband, Sarath Fonseka, who was serving a 30-month jail term, the government said on Thursday.

Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the weekly Cabinet press briefing in Colombo that Anoma should follow Chandrika Kumaratunga’s example and appeal for her husband’s freedom.

"Chandrika appealed twelve times to the then President J. R. Jayewardene to release her husband Vijaya Kumaranatunga, who was imprisoned on Naxalite charges," he said. "We think Anoma should follow Chandrika’s example, without protesting all over the country."

Rambukwella said that Fonseka had rejected the findings of the two court martials against him, but had forgotten that three of those who sat in judgement, were those he had picked to preside over military tribunals during his tenure as army commander.

"How can Fonseka now reject the verdicts given by the very people whom he had appointed to hear cases against other Army personnel," he queried.

Fonseka was convicted by a Military Court for allegedly violating tender procedure in purchasing military equipment, when he was the army commander and sentenced to a 30-month rigorous imprisonment term, which commenced on the 23rd of this month.

He was earlier found guilty by another Military Tribunal of allegedly dabbling in politics, while in uniform and stripped of his rank and pension rights.

© The Island

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Post war suicide rate is escalating in the former LTTE town

Sri Lanka Guardian
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According to authoritative news published in the independent Neruppu.com website, the suicide rate in the former Tamil Tiger capital Kilinochchi has reached an alarming level after the war.

According to psychiatrist Dr M Jeyarajah, serving at the Kilinochchi District hospital, under the present circumstances over four persons, mainly women, are committing suicide in Killinochchi per day.

The cause for the alarming death rate is attributed to failures of social conditions for the victims. According to him, those who have lost their husbands in the war and those unable to find the whereabouts of their spouses following the war are the ones taking their lives in frustration and deep sorrow.

Lack of protection and financial difficulties are leading to their suicidal tendency.

© Sri Lanka Guardian

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Lessons to be learnt for national reconciliation

By Shanie | The Island
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"The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the heart of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice."

When Sri Lanka obtained independence from colonial rule, we were far ahead of almost all countries of Asia in all areas of the indices that measure the quality of life. We were a participatory democracy where the citizens had had the benefit of universal suffrage for nearly two decades – something that had not been enjoyed by most countries of the world, including the western democracies. Our literacy rate was not only well over Asian standards but over most countries of the world as well. This was because education was freely accessible to all with good schools available in all regions. Similarly health services were freely accessible to all with state hospitals and dispensaries in towns and villages throughout the country.

Co-operative stores throughout the country provided food items at reasonable prices, basic items like rice, rationed and subsidised, available to all citizens. A network of roads, railways and waterways connected all parts of the country. We had an enviable postal system that delivered mail to almost all parts of the country within 24 hours.

But above all these tangible indices, there was ethnic harmony and national integration. The Jaffna Tamil trader had his cigar boutique in the deep south; the Matara Sinhala baker opened his business in the far north and was almost the sole supplier of bread to the Jaffna citizen. Tamil and Muslim traders were able to do business in Kiribathgoda and Sinhala industrialists were able to set up plants in the north and east. Public servants of all ethnic communities served in all parts of the country with great acceptance. They learnt the language of the district and were able to communicate and serve the people of the villages where they served. Teachers of all ethnic communities taught children of all communities in all parts of the country. They were not those who merely taught in the English medium. Sinhala teachers taught Sinhala to Tamil students at Jaffna Hindu College and in many other schools. Similarly, Tamil teachers taught Tamil to Sinhala students at Ananda College Colombo and in other schools.

But where have we taken Sri Lanka in sixty years of self-rule? Over these years, we have destroyed all that was precious in our culture of pluralism and tolerance. The blame should go not just to the politician for whom any means is justified to acquire and retain power. The greater blame lies with the intellectuals, the media and the religious and civil society leaders who really create public opinion. They have been shamelessly willing to compromise their consciences and sacrifice principles of justice to seek favours from politicians in power for their personal advancement. Nothing is more symbolic of this attitude of mind than the harassment of Sarath Fonseka. Irrespective of what opinion we may have of the qualities of the former Army Commander, there can be no doubt that he has been the victim of abuse of power.

Rule of Law and the Public Interest

The last bulwark we had in the slide downwards in governance over the sixty years was an independent judiciary. The public service has been becoming increasingly politicised since the nineteen seventies; it was to check this alarming trend that public opinion, expressed through the JVP, formulated the Seventeenth Amendment which sought to depoliticise key areas of governance. Unfortunately, the seventeenth amendment became a dead letter, despite it being a part of the constitution until the eighteenth amendment was passed, since President Mahinda Rajapaksa took office. We were back to a politicised public service, etc.

The Friday Forum is an informal group of public-spirited citizens who wish ‘to contribute to the future development of Sri Lanka within a framework of democracy, social justice and pluralism.’ Recently they have issued two excellent statements on current issues that concern all those wanting to see Sri Lanka move towards democracy and good governance. The most recent were their submissions to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. But what we are concerned now was their earlier statement on the issue relating to the Attorney-General’s Department. From the very inception, the Department came under the purview of the Ministry of Justice. But after the recent General Election, and the consequent formation of the new cabinet, the subjects allocated to the various Ministries were also re-assigned. The Attorney General’s Department has been taken away from the Ministry of Justice, and not being assigned to any specific Ministry, automatically comes under the direct purview of the President. The significance of this re-allocation is seen in the number of prosecutions being brought against Sarath Fonseka, the principal opponent of the President at the last election.

On the issue of the taking away the Attorney General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice, the Friday Forum had this to say: "That in a democracy, the Attorney-General should not only function but must be seen to function in an independent manner cannot be emphasised more. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has, in no uncertain terms, recognized and affirmed the independent role of the AG (Land Reform Commission v. Grand Central Ltd. [1981] SLR 147).

The AG is the custodian of the Rule of Law and of the public interest in a democracy. The functions of the AG must always be informed by no other factor or consideration than the upholding of the public interest and the Rule of Law. Even in countries where the Attorney-General is a political appointee, there is an expectation that the holder of that office must act independently of the Executive, especially in prosecutorial functions, because to do so otherwise would negate the preservation of the Rule of Law and the public interest.

If the Attorney-General, in discharging the functions of office, provides legal advice to the government or engages in the prosecutorial function in a non-independent manner, moved more by political and partisan considerations, the Rule of Law is defeated and the public interest stands desecrated."

Needless to add, it is the duty of the Attorney General to defend the rule of law and the public interest, irrespective of whether his department comes under the purview of the President or the Minister of Justice or any other Minister. For democratic governance and in the interests of justice, the Attorney General General must maintain the highest standards of independence and integrity in the discharge of his functions. And more, he must only be independent but also seen to be independent.

Justice for political opponents

The prosecutions that keep mounting against Sarath Fonseka will offend the sense of justice of all except the perverse. To the credit of Sarath Fonseka, he has borne all this with quiet dignity in the same way that Sirimavo Bandaranaike bore the deprivation of her civic rights after the sham of an inquiry by a hand-picked Commission by the then UNP Government of J. R. Jayewardene. It must not be forgotten that JRJ was not content to deprive his principal political opponent of her civic rights but then went to see the principal supporters of his opponent at the following Presidential Election was incarcerated in prison under emergency regulations. These included Vijaya Kumaratunge and Ratnasiri Wickramanayake.

The Friday Forum has stated that the functions of the Attorney General must be informed by no other factor than the upholding of the public interest and the rule of law. We also do not need to remind all state prosecutors of the wise words of a former Attorney General that the duty of the Attorney General’s Department is not to win every case for the State but to help the Judge arrive at the correct decision.

Many religious and civil society and political leaders have petitioned the President that Sarath Fonseka should be pardoned. But the President are reported to have stated that the President would "consider" a pardon only if an appeal came from Sarath Fonseka or his family. Fonseka has quite rightly rejected this. If the President is unwilling to accept the pleas of those who have petitioned him, Sarath Fonseka seems willing to bide his time as Sirimavo Bandaranaike did in the eighties. History has given its verdict on the perversion of justice that deprived Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights. History will also no doubt give its due verdict on the incarceration of a former Army Commander and now a principal political leader and the deprivation of his seat in Parliament.

‘Mercy is above the sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the heart of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.’

© The Island

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