Mysterious LTTE posters have appeared inside several IDP camps threatening the inhabitants and the Sri Lanka government.
The posters, mainly hand-written on pieces of paper contain the following messages:
"Our National Leader (Thalaivar) is not dead. How can anyone kill him? He is invincible. The Army is lying. Anyone collaborating with the Army will be severely dealt with. The Eelam struggle still continues under our leader."
A careful investigation of the source and origin of these poster messages indicates a huge blunder in the administration of the IDP camps. In some cases, inmates under observation as LTTE suspects have even escaped the camps.
In addition to the civil administration in place at these camps, an Intelligence and Counter-Insurgency/Terrorism function was assigned to the camps due to heavy infiltrations by LTTE cadres.
In doing so, the various IDP camps in Vavuniya, Jaffna and Mannar were divided-up among the various intelligence agencies.
These agencies included the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), The Terrorists Investigations Department, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the police Special Branch etc.
Based on our observations it was evident that the posters were coming up at Non-DMI administered IDP camps. Many outstanding Intelligence Officers we spoke to were somewhat alarmed at the proposition of smoking-out remaining terrorists when so many agencies are in charge.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
LTTE posters inside IDP camps
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...continued....
4. The LESSON IS: Foreign armies that have to ultimately go home can rarely win an extended guerilla war even with competent military leadership, without the LOCAL people being willing to fight and die for their country on their own behalf.
There were other aspects related to the safe havens in surrounding countries, inability to take the ground war to North Vietnam because of the Chinese threat (a la Chinese intervention in the Korean war) that prevented the US forces from undertaking operations to convert the war from one of attrition in South Vietnam to the conquest of the whole of Vietnam.
The willingness of our Sri Lankan soldiers, made up OF THE LOCAL people, supported BY THE LOCAL PEOPLE, fighting FOR THE LOCAL PEOPLE made VICTORY against the LTTE a CERTAINTY in Sri Lanka given competent leadership.
5. If we apply this LESSON to Afghanistan, as long as the Afghan Army is not much larger, and is not ably led by Afghans, and is not viewed as being truly indigenous, and the borders remain open to infiltration, the US & NATO forces will fail in Afghanistan.
The ONLY way that war can be won is if the Afghan Army is increased at least to 750,000 men, the US & NATO contingents to 500,000 men initially and quickly pulled out of Afghanistan after enabling the Afghan Government to defend their borders and fight their own war with an even larger army.
Funds to support economic growth and development, and arms to protect the country, and diplomatic support to sustain it are the best ways in which the West can support Afghanistan thereafter, but long-term presence of foreign troops on the ground in Afghanistan will be counter-productive.
2. "the basic point of contention as there is no separate Indian interest \ TN interest \ Kerala interest \ AP interst etc.Its always INDIA's interest."
complete nonsense.
ypu agree that india supported SL's govt on war.
did TN support SL's govt on war??
if your answer is YES, then there is something seriously wrong with you.
if your answer is NO, that proves my point.
4. "This Aryan \ Dravidian principle might hold good for a very few selected audience in absolute minority.People dont view it that way,especially in these Global Village days"
did i talk about a war or any other similar discriminatory division on that?
no. what i said was the liguistic reality. there are indo aryan languages the majority speaks, and there are dravidian languages a minority speaks.
this is the reality. a linguistic division is ACTUALLY there.
on top of that the "DRAVIDIAN" thing is very much real in tamil madu ppl's politics, unfortunately.
look at all the political parties represented in tamil madu. EVERY one is a DRAVIDIAN party!!!!
these are UNDENIABLE truths. you can be a devil's advocate by just arguing for the sake of arguing.
but no use. the reality is different.
now i'm even more convinced that what we agreed is the way to go. the discussion led me to look into some material on the subject.
priyasantha, thanks for the link.
didn't i say so????
Indian said...
[I am dumbfounded by your lack of knowledge on whats happening here.
I noticed the same with Ananda-USA as well.Its not surprising considering what you write here is entirely based on what you are told \ what you read.]
Indian,
Here you go again!
I gave you credit for correctly predicting the outcome of the recent Indian elections, whereas the great majority of the Indian think tanks and political pundits expected a BJP victory or a close election, but I didn't anoint you in any way, shape, or form, as the SOLE OMNISCIENT ORACLE on Indian politics!
Yes, even the majority of the Tamil people of Tamil Nadu voted against COMMUNAL politicians like Vaiko, and barely re-elected Thirumavalavan, but they also reduced DMK's share of the vote.
You disagreed with Moshe on his statement "Indian interests and TN interests are not the SAME, ALWAYS" by saying " Thats crap and the basic point of contention as there is no separate Indian interest \ TN interest \ Kerala interest \ AP interst etc.Its always INDIA's interest.Nothing else matters"
I disagree with your view on this entirely, and agree with Moshe, that Tamil Nadu has a separate agenda from the other Indian states. Moshe never said anything about the other Indian states, although it may apply to the majority of the Muslim people of J&K as well...perhaps as a result of Pakistani input to the equation.
The variances between India's interests and TN interests have been displayed many times in the past, but you simply dismiss all of that on the basis that you are privy to personal data that we do not have. For example, the Tamil Liberation Army and its past demands for secession, now being renewed by LTTE leaning elements, the refusal to accept Hindi as the unifying national language, alienation from the peoples of North India, and the support for the LTTE by ALL major TN politicians including Jayalalitha..the previous lone holdout, etc are evidence of that. The future will tell how all of this pans out and whether the saner patriotic people Tamil Nadu will also become corrupted and biased against India.
You have also disagreed with me in the past about the threat and the seriousness of Maoist terrorism to the integrity of India. Well, that situation is slowly coming to a head now, but I am glad to see that the Indian Govt and the States are taking a harder line against the Maoists. I hope the move to crush these elements will gain strength and cohesion, and India will be able to stamp them out. As I see it it, India still does not have a focused program cutting across all affected states to do that AS A NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER OF THE HIGHEST PRIORITY, and as such, is unlikely to succeed.
Finally, while I recognize that the people of Tamil Nadu are good people, not intrinsically ill disposed towards Sri Lanka, I also recognize that most Indians who pose a threat to Sri Lanka, support the LTTE, and seek to partition our country, now and in the past, reside in Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, it is prudent for us to develop ways and means of confronting and diffusing that threat. As Moshe, I and other were discussing, that would be by developing closer relations with India as a whole, and the people of Northern India with whom the Sinhala people share a close kinship.
Having said that, I want to remind you that many Sinhala people have Tamil relatives, are of mixed parentage, and have many close friends and neighbors who are Tamil. As such, as Sri Lankan citizens, we can no more disown our Tamil heritage, than we can disown our North Indian heritage, NOR DO WE WISH TO.
That is why you see MOST Sri Lankan Patriots here espousing ETHNIC INTEGRATION as a solution to Sri Lanka's communal and separatist ILLS, rather than the creation of multiple mono-ethnic bantustan-like homelands for each ethnicity to perpetuate our communal conflicts.
That DIVORCE of the constituent peoples of Sri Lanka is NEITHER DESIRABLE NOR POSSIBLE! Instead, we want to UNIFY the people into ONE FAMILY.
Ananda and sara,
ok. the wizkids lost.
but their methodologies (true sometimes they failed. in vietnam they failed BIG TIME!) were not all crap.
agree with ananda that the MAIN reason for the defeat was the lukewarm attitude of south vietnamese to join in the war against their very own north vietnamese brothers.
their rivalry was mostly sustained artificially by coalition troops.
essentially the US was trying to stop the inevitable. they were trying to "protect" those who actually didn't need such "protection".
even the north vietnam general would have succeeded if he was in the place of RM, etc.
but RM was/is MUCH MORE than vietnam. my facsination with,
1. his mathematical models
2. the means he used to identify, get into the open, those models
will never end.
agree with ananda that north vietnamese were PRIMARILY nationalists than communists. they had to put up with communism bcos they SU, china helped them win the war.
//Moshe Dyan said,
did TN support SL's govt on war//
Please explain to me what impact TN supporting \not supporing SL would have had on this war?
If the answer is Nothing,then whatever you typed about TN interest \ Conflict of interest etc is hogwash and if the answer is anything else,then you definitely need urgent medical attention.
Moshe,
Yes, I suppose RM would have had the last laugh.
But just out of interest, would they have shed communism any way, even if there was no war? I suppose the answer is Yes.
Moshe said
[but RM was/is MUCH MORE than vietnam. my facsination with,
1. his mathematical models
2. the means he used to identify, get into the open, those models
will never end.]
I share your enthusiasm for such models.
Correct me if I am wrong, but this guy is an MBA. He is also a systems analyst. He is not a mathematician or a sceintist.
The management mumbo jumbo of these so called MBA's have been a contributory factor for the state the world economy is today.
I consider these as nothing better than Black Magic, seth Shanthi etc..
I don't think RM had the required knowledge of real mathematics or the sceitific training to understand a mathematical model.
He must have used the talents of others. No problem there because that is what managers do.
In Sri Lanka they say that MBA stands for 'Mukuth Beri Aya'.
No personal insult intended to anyone in this blog.
US says never threatened to block IMF loan to SL
Chargé d’ affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Colombo James Moore, called at his request on Foreign Ministry Secretary Palitha Kohona today and stated that the US government has on no occasion, either publicly or privately, threatened to block the IMF loan to Sri Lanka on political grounds, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
You didn't try to block IMF loan? Thanks for all that help USA offered in the past. Also thanks for threatening our president with bogus war crime charges. We may be poor but we are not dumb. However, we like humor as much as Americans do. That is why we like your humor Mr. James Moore. Nevertheless, your bosses have chosen to take the side of LTTE terrorist supporters at the expense of antagonizing 20 million US friendly population for no apparent reason.
I sincerely hope that my country can stand up to terrorism and economic terrorism without the IMF loans.
May Triple Gems Bless Sri Lanka!!
News Iem:
UK is outsorcing torture.
(Great. Exporting democracy and outsourcing torture. A part of the British sense of justice and fair play!
But then, they lost a good prospective source in the LTTE. Probably, why they did not like GOSL).
Indian,
Since you talked about TN influence on SL, you may find this to be interesting.
DMK wants Lanka to release fishermen
Any idea why DMK think that it is Ok to violate laws in SL?
THE AFGHAN WAR
Getting an Afghan army to fight the Taliban will be like GOSL raising a Tamil army to fight the LTTE. Whatever the differences they may have the feeling will be that they are the same people.
In Iraq the Americans have the Siites and Sunnis. But you know the well known Arab saying which goes something like.
Me and my brother and against my neighbour.
All the village against the next village...
and so on...finally,
All Muslims against the Infidel.
This is again Group Dynamics at play.
The sub groups have a tendency to make alliances with each other to fight a Group at a higher level.
Tamil Doctors tell about their lies,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Jul1247070430CH.html
S Lanka medics recant on deaths
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8141007.stm
Learning of Hindi and Chinese is certainly very important for us.
Learning Hindi and the reviving of our Indian roots go hand in hand. Singhala speakers can easily learn Hindi, what lacks in SL is a Hindi speaking community so that others can interact with them and improve their language skills. Though Hindi films are very popular in SL, if one has a Hindi speaking class mate, the learning is faster.
However, we should not neglect Tamil. It is the language spoken by more than 15% of the population and just by interacting with them one can learn it. It is strategically important to learn Tamil from a very young age. It will stimulate the neuronal networks linked to language learning.
It is found that multi lingual parents do naturally impart their language skills to their offspring. Multilingual kids catch still more languages easily. Similarly, mono linguals find it very hard even to learn a second languages.
So, isn’t it better to promote all the five languages : Singhala, Tamil, English, Hindi & Chinese ?
The contact with the forthcoming Chinese Industrial Zone, will enable many Lankans to better their Chinese.
Suggest, our Hindi cousins will set up Industrial/Cultural Centres all over SL.
Fellas...why are we buying Israeli Dvora's when our own Colombo class FAC are up for the Task ?
Hmmmm.....dont make sense fellas ?
Mithra,
Learning another language is also supposed to reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's during old age.
No LTTE Infiltrators in TN, just LOST Fishermen!
My Comment:
No, NO! There are NO LTTE infiltrators in Tamil Nadu...they are ALL FISHERMEN! Don't you know this? Why do you have to ASK? These fishermen are now all in SAFE HOUSES...just ask Vaiko, Ramadoss, Thirumavalavan and that great actor Karunanidhi. They can tell you where these FISHERMEN are! LoL! Unpatriotic Connivers trying to FOOL the PEOPLE!
Hunt for LTTE in Tamil Nadu
ExpressBuzz.com
July 07, 2009
RAMESWARAM: A massive combing operation was today launched by Tamil Nadu police aided by intelligence and Coast Guard personnel in nearby islands and all the coastal districts of the state to verify whether any LTTE militant had infiltrated into the areas in the aftermath of the outfit's defeat in Sri Lanka.
The operations, ordered by the Union Home Ministry, were being carried out jointly by the state police, including the Coastal Security Group and "Q" Branch, various intelligence wing personnel and Coast Guard, official sources said.
Police used metal detectors and sniffer dogs to thoroughly check the casurina jungle in Dhanushkodi area and various islands, including the Musal Tivu in the Gulf of Mannar.
The operations would continue till tonight, they said.
Both the state police and Navy and Coast Guard stepped up vigil in the coastal areas during the past few months following escalation of hostilities between Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, whose leader V Prabhakaran along with several of his associates were reportedly killed in May.
Robert Strange McNamara (1916-2009)
Biography #1:
Born: 9 June 1916
Birthplace: San Francisco, California
Died: 6 July 2009
Best Known As: U.S. Secretary of Defense, 1961-68
Robert Strange McNamara served as the United States Secretary of Defense under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-68), overseeing military strategies and policies during the Cold War and the Vietnam War.
A native of San Francisco, McNamara served in World War II and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he went to work with the Ford Motor Company and rapidly rose in the ranks until he was named company president in 1960. Five weeks later he accepted Kennedy's offer to serve in the cabinet as the defense secretary. McNamara restructured the military and moved from a reliance on nuclear weapons to a flexible strategy of conventional and limited wars meant to contain the communist forces of the Soviet Union and China.
The escalation of American involvement in Vietnam occupied McNamara's time and energy throughout his tenure, and McNamara's businesslike approach and use of non-military analysts rankled Pentagon officials, members of Congress and anti-war protesters. By 1967 he was openly skeptical that the U.S. could be victorious in Vietnam and resigned to become the president of the World Bank, a post he held from 1968 to 1981.
In later years he wrote about his experiences (1995's In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam) and lectured on contemporary politics. He was the subject of the Oscar-winning 2003 documentary The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara, which was directed by Errol Morris.
Biography #2:
McNamara, Robert Strange (b. 1916), US Secretary of Defense during the war in Vietnam. Born in San Francisco and educated at Berkeley, McNamara studied and then taught at Harvard University in the early 1940s. After a stint in the US Army Air Corps during WW II, he achieved technocratic fame for his incorporation of systems analysis into management at the Ford Motor Company, where he became president in 1960.
McNamara was appointed Secretary of Defense by John F. Kennedy in 1961 and was closely associated with the think-tank theology that produced MAD (mutually assured destruction) and other attempts to make sense of the nuclear weapons dilemma (see Wohlstetter).
But his principal claim to infamy rests on the arrogance of his and other members of the ‘best and the brightest’ who so totally mismanaged US involvement in South-East Asia. Misled by optimistic military and intelligence assessments, he initially believed that US participation could be limited to support for the South Vietnamese forces.
He soon found himself supervising the deployment of ever-larger US resources, which he and his team of systems analysts attempted to direct from Washington, down to the choice of targets and the bomb loads for individual air strikes. By October 1966 he had reached the blindingly obvious conclusion that the North Vietnamese had adopted ‘a strategy of keeping us busy and waiting us out (a strategy of attriting our national will) ’.
Having no answers to people, his own as well as the Vietnamese, who did not respond according to his mathematical computations, by 1967 he had soured on the war to the point of calling for an immediate bombing halt and a stand-down in ground operations. But by that time he had committed the USA too deeply and wars cannot simply be walked away from.
His resignation made little impact and he went on to further demonstrate his lack of sympathy or understanding for human nature at the World Bank. Recently he has produced his long-awaited mea culpa for Vietnam, which unsurprisingly concentrates on the stategic errors for which he was only partially responsible while skating over the ineffable hubris of his attempt to micro-manage the war tactically.
Biography #3:
Robert Strange McNamara
(1916–), secretary of defense and president of the World Bank
Born in San Francisco into a family of humble means, McNamara graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with an economics degree in 1937, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1939, where he also joined the faculty, teaching financial management systems based on statistical controls. During World War II, the Army Air Forces appointed McNamara and several of his colleagues as officers to develop methods of statistical control for managing the strategic bombing campaign against Germany.
Hailed for their brilliance in applying statistical methods to large‐scale organization in this pre‐computer age, McNamara and several other “stat control” officers were hired by the Ford Motor Company in 1946 to rejuvenate the flagging auto giant. The “whiz kids” introduced new managerial and product changes and built Ford into a success. Six of the men eventually became Ford executives.
Shortly after becoming company president in late 1960, McNamara resigned to become John F. Kennedy's secretary of defense, a position he held from 1961 to 1968. Kennedy's respect for McNamara's liberal Harvard connections, youthful vigor, and reputation for efficiency and success were key factors behind his appointment. With his confidence in civilianized, centralized defense decision making, McNamara appointed a team of civilian analysts—“defense intellectuals”—to apply quantitative systems analysis for “cost effectiveness” (capability as a return on investment) over procurement and other decisions of the military. The McNamara “revolution” at the Department of Defense (DoD) included program budgeting, evaluation of systems‐wide costs, five‐year plans linking defense spending with missions, and efforts at reducing interservice rivalry and redundancy and increasing coordination and efficiency. Although a number of the McNamara reforms proved successful and were permanently accepted by the Pentagon, others put him continually at odds with the top brass.
While reforming Pentagon practices, McNamara also engaged in the military buildup of the early years of the Kennedy administration. He improved the strategic nuclear forces, increasing the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine‐launched ballistic missiles (while reducing the number of manned bombers) and bolstering the capability of U.S. nuclear forces to survive a nuclear attack and thus mount a retaliatory “second strike.” After briefly supporting a “counterforce” policy of targeting only Soviet missiles, not cities, McNamara reluctantly returned to a deterrence policy of “Mutual Assured Destruction.” Endorsing the doctrine of Flexible Response, which envisioned U.S. capability of responding to a variety of levels of threat, McNamara also expanded U.S. conventional forces.
McNamara's influence on policymaking stemmed from his overwhelming use of quantitative analysis, his reputation for success, and his personal friendship with John Kennedy and later Lyndon B. Johnson. In the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, McNamara proposed the selective naval blockade which successfully sealed off the island.
McNamara Biography #3
...continued...
During the Vietnam War (1960–75), McNamara supported the policies of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to prevent the victory of Communistled insurgents, later joined by North Vietnamese regular forces, to overthrow the U.S.‐backed government of South Vietnam. This included expanding U.S. military advisers' roles under Kennedy, and then under Johnson a policy of graduated escalation that sought to maintain the Saigon government with increasing use of U.S. ground, air, and naval forces while not disrupting Johnson's domestic reforms in the United States. Years later, McNamara said that the United States could have disengaged after Kennedy's death in 1963; but at the time, he supported Johnson's decision to remain committed. Linked to Johnson's conduct of the war, McNamara was attacked by peace and antiwar movements for continuing the war and by the political Right for restricting U.S. military force. By 1967, he privately advised the president to end the war through negotiations.
In February 1968 McNamara left the Pentagon to become president of the World Bank. He served as its head from 1968 to 1981, focusing on the Third World. In later years, he became a prolific author and lecturer suggesting in books such as Blundering into Disaster (1986) drastic limitations on nuclear weapons. McNamara's principal role during Vietnam, however, has continued to haunt him. His controversial memoir, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (1995)—where the aging former secretary of defense called the war “terribly wrong”—outraged both supporters and critics of the war, and highlighted the deep divisions that still surrounded America's involvement in Vietnam.
[See also Civil‐Military Relations: Civilian Control of the Military; Joint Chiefs of Staff; Strategy: Nuclear Warfare Strategy and War Plans.]
Bibliography
David M. Barrett, Uncertain Warriors: Lyndon Johnson and His Vietnam Advisors, 1993.
Deborah Shapley, Promise and Power: The Life and Times of Robert McNamara, 1993.
Paul Hendrickson, The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and the Five Lives of a Lost War, 1996.
H. R. McMaster, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam, 1997
SARA said...
[Getting an Afghan army to fight the Taliban will be like GOSL raising a Tamil army to fight the LTTE. Whatever the differences they may have the feeling will be that they are the same people.]
Sara,
Your analogy is wrong.
The majority of Afghans, like the majority of Sri Lankans, want to live in peace and prosper without harrasment by religious fanatics who want to keep their people illiterate, their women subjugated, and regulate every personal freedom.
Afghanistan, during the time of the Afghan king, was one of the most socially advanced, cosmopolitan and free Moslem countries in the world; yet, it is a backward shadow of that now.
The Afghans will fight for these freedoms, but not for any neo-colonialist westernized hierarchy. Given a reasonably inclusive non-elitist uncorrupt government, which is able to attract international aid to rehabilitate the country and put it on its path to progress quickly, they will fight for their country.
If some semblance of that progress is demonstrated with US & NATO help, they will flock to enroll in the Afghan Armed forces to kick the Taliban out permanently. But, that will not happen if the Govt is viewed as a PUPPET of the Western infidels, is corrupt, and above all UNCOMMITTED and UNABLE to DELIVER SECURITY to the people.
If the Afghans think that the Govt is propped up only by foreign forces, and when the latter leave, they will have to face the Taliban, without a strong uncommitted Govt led by elites who will flee abroad, they will not fight!
Do you remember how hard it was for the SL Army to attract recruits after the repeated military failures, and changes in defense policy under the SL Govts that preceded the present GOSL? Yet, when the current GOSL demonstrated COMMITTMENT to winning the war, and that it had ABLE LEADERSHIP in place to conduct that war, Sinhala youth flocked to join the SLDF. Even as the SLA was incurring heavy casualties at the war front.. they SHOWED PROGRESS .. and the youth responded. They are not afraid to die for their country if they can see ABLE LEADERSHIP and a REASONABLE expectation of success; not vacillation and oscillation at every turn, with their role reduced to cannon fodder.
It can be so for Afghanistan as well, if the Afghans are able to summon that kind of leadership. More than Sri Lanka, Afghanistan already has, and will have, US & NATO support...the question is will they step up to the plate, and will they be given the oppotunity to do that by the Western Powers? To be successful, the US & NATO must let a representative Afghan leadership, that not confined to the educated westernized elite that will largely avoid taking the field, emerge and take over the war effort. If they do that, then the US & NATO should pull out as soon as possible, and let the Afghans secure their own country.
Just like us, THEY WILL and THEY CAN. These are terrific warriors, they just need proper leadership and support at this time FROM THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
sara,
he (or anyone for that matter) need not be a "mathematician" by profession or qualification to be a mathematician!!!
if really interested, it is good to get hold of some of his work spanning a LONG time in MANY fields.
indian,
covered in all your usual BULLCRAP i can make out your answer to the following question.
did tamil madu support SL's war or not (india DID support it BIGTIME).
didn't i say so???? no further questions!!!
jaffna should have a coast guard unit manned by local fisherman. they also want these Tamil nadu pests off territorial waters to protect their own livelihood.
on the subject of language....
priyasantha was arguing that tamil speaking govt servents are 8%-17%.
average = (8+17)/2 = 12.5%
ok.
the TOTAL tamil speakers is 25%.
of coourse tamil only speakers is MUCH MUCH less.
has this 25% come down????
if YES, has it come down to 12.5% the midpoint between 0% and 25%. = (0+25)/2=12.5%
so we have a NICE COMPROMISE. while tamil only speakers have reduced from 25% to 12.5%, tamil speaking govt staff has increased to 12.5%.
this is a fantastic compromise!!!! THIS IS THE WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.
ok, if the commision's report is true, the average tamil speakers in govt staf is 12.5%.
now, for some reason, IF the tamil only speakers is MORE THAN 12.5% there is a problem. BUT you can see whose fault it is. to find a solution, BOTH parties must compromise. if tamil only speakers have NOT DONE THEIR part they must do it ASAP.
but i'm 100% sure, they have done their part and done their share in the solution process bcos unlike sakkily tamil elam supporters in funny names, they are willing to integrate. well done!!!
so the commission's 25% bullshit figure is outdated. it has to be reduced to reflect the practical reality.
i'm not surprised bcos it is headed by an old school bankrupt politician. our tamil brothers and sisters have beaten this old slow idiot easily.
panhinda,
yes and no.
if for rescue work YES.
if it is to keep "Tamil nadu pests off territorial waters to protect their own livelihood", no. execution of this law cannot be delegated.
our coast guard should protect their livlihood and their rightful fisheries resources with their assistance.
the problem you brought up is a BIG one. i hope GOSL will solve it without ANY FURTHER DELAY (35 years late already!!!).
/*
no. execution of this law cannot be delegated.
*/
well, i disagree with you.
Watch it free (if you have 1 hour and 47 minutes):
McNamara & The Fog of War
/*
P. B. wants to return
*/
corrupt mf wants to return!
A final note on Vietnam:
The Viet Minh, who later formed the North Vietnamese Govt, were the true nationalist patriots of Vietnam.
They fought the Japanese, quite effectively, during World War II, after the French had abandoned Indochina unable to cope with the Japanese onslaught. The Francophile Vietnamese elite did little, if anything, to resist the Japanese. The Viet Minh received assistance from both sides (KuominTang and Communist) sides of the Chinese resistance to the Japanese occupation of China.
When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the Viet Minh took charge of their surrender in Vietnam and added the Japanese arms to their inventory of weapons. The French tried to return to Indochina to resume their role as its colonial master, but the Viet Minh refused to accept their return; they wanted all foreigners out.
The French, later supplied with weapons by the US, made the key mistakes typical of colonial armies: they tried to hold on to the cities and roads, leaving the countryside to the Viet Minh. Although they fought bravely, the French, confined themselves to cities with roads linking them, and were ambushed again and again by the Viet Minh and cutoff.
Bled by WW II, the French had no heart for this war so far from home, and had too few troops in the field to hold the countryside as well. The Sri Lanka Army had the same problem of insufficient troops in Sri Lanka in the past, and employed the same road-bound strategies against the LTTE that were so disastrous to the French Army in Vietnam.
The end came for the French on May 17, 1954 at a place called Dien Bien Phu. Not having reliable access by road, the French Army air dropped troops and created a "fortress" in a valley surrounded by hills.. a very poor choice for a "fortress" by all conventional norms of warfare! Dien Bien Phu was very near the Laotian border; the French hoped to interdict Viet Minh supply lines and disrupt the Viet Minh by this thrust deep into their midst as a part of a hedge-hog concept for unraveling the Viet Minh. The ultimate objective was to force the Viet Minh towards a "political solution."
They believed that they could hold it, assuming wrong that the Viet Minh had no heavy artillery, and could not transport artillery into the hills given the lack of roads. They were wrong..the Viet Minh occupied the high hills around the French "fortress", hauled heavy artillery dismatled into pieces using teams of mules and men, and dug them deep into the hills. The artillery barrage from these guns, with perfect observation capability from high up in the hills, shut off the airstrip built by the French, and reduced them to being supplied by parachute drops. The much lighter calibre French artillery firing soon-to-be-scarce rounds blindly against dug-in gun positions on the hills could not make any impact on the Viet Minh barrage. Soon, the French were trapped within their own fortress completely exposed to observation by the Viet Minh.
The Final assaults began on May 1, 1954, and the battle ended on May 7, 1954 with the surrender of the entire French force. Of the total of 16,000 French troops deployed, 2,293 were dead 5,195 were wounded, and 10,998 were captured. The Viet Minh casualties were 4,020 dead, 9,118 wounded and 792 missing; the French estimate of Viet Minh casualties is much larger at 23,000.
The demoralization of the French Army and the people by this loss of 10% of their forces in Indochina was total, and led to the withdrawal of the French from Indochina in 1956, with a Geneva Accord concluded in 1954. This loss had serious repercussions on other French colonial possessions, with the loss of prestige among the North African French colonial troops who saw their masters humbled in Vietnam. Six months later, the War of Independence began in Algeria .. directly across the Mediterranean Sea from France, and considered by many Frenchmen to be an integral part of France itself. It nearly led to a civil war between the French themselves. Algeria achieved independence in 1962.
A final note on Vietnam:
...continued....
Of greater relevance to the next phase of the Vietnam conflict, is that as a result of this victory, the Viet Minh gained enormous prestige and legitimacy in the eyes of ordinary Vietnamese as true patriots. The Geneva Accords of 1954 that partitioned Vietnam in two, with a small Catholic Francophile elite governing South Vietnam, and the Viet Minh gaining control of the North, mandated a countrywide election to be held with the goal of reunifying the country. With their hard won prestige, the Viet Minh would have won this election hands down, but the election was never held at the instigation of the Western Powers, principally the US, which viewed the Viet Minh as communists and not as NATIONALISTS seeking merely to drive the colonialists out.
In my view, how the United States, a country that drove out a colonial power to gain its own independence, came to oppose an authentic national liberation movement in Vietnam that deserved its unstinting support, is the TRUE FAILURE of US POLICY & THE TRUE TRAGEDY of the Vietnam conflict.
The vietnam war wasnt an exclusively american one...Australia had significant ivovlement on the side of the South coz they feared if unchecked the red banner of socialism would fly over Sydney harbour..
Mcnamara was certainly a genius as Moshe says but he didnt have much support in the US administration (both civilian and military)..His genius was ultimately no match agaisnt Soviet tactiicians and Vietnamese determination..
tata,
thanks.
ive watched this a few times. then there is the other thing of moshe dayan visiting vietnam; he says counter insurgency warfare is helicopter gunship warfare.
Increasing competentcy In Hindi and Chinese is a brilliant idea..Just as a precautionary measure we should increase competency in Russian as well..The resurgent Russia would not repeat the mistake of the USSR by not getting involved in the Indian ocean..SLs relationship with USSR was not very good..But relations with Russia is improving and we should solidify that..
Our (North) Indian friend seems to be under the illusion that a majority of his non-Hindi speaking people are totally in love with the all embracing concept of Bharat Matha..Pretty similar to what the Russians felt about other nations in the USSR (until reality hit them hard in 1990)..
another instance where the administration ignored him was on ABMs. he said ABMs is a waste of money/time against ICBMs, SBMs.
instead that money is better spent on furthering nuclear deterrence.
he also drew up the US nuclear attack plans (where to attack, what % of nuclear weapons to be delivered by planes/ICBMs/other BMs/subs, etc.) which are followed until this date.
but yet again US is NOT the nuclear superpower!!!!
he won some, lost some. that makes his experience complete (not only bcos "when you lose you call it experience"!!!!). a great mind, certainly not the greatest.
diyasena,
yes.
sometimes defeat occurs and it doesn't go away. you ask what happened, over and over and over again. you want to go back and change it. you are reminded that you are defeated. such a SHITTY feeling!!!
the 2007 WC, 2009 T20WC will just won't leave many SLs.
but no excuse for those who fall into the same thing again and again!!!
Moshe,
We were outclassed by a better team in the 2007 world cup..But 2009 T20 was unforgivable..9 competent players cannot always do well against 11 on the other side..
Mcnamara was in the US admin at the wrong time..Imagine a Mcnamara as SecDef with Raegan as president..
diyasena,
i'd say 8 instead of 9!!! further study reveals 7!!!
I'm assuming the old man was a burden as well (he did well in only one game)..I cant think of the other one..
//Ananda-USA said,
but I didn't anoint you in any way, shape, or form, as the SOLE OMNISCIENT ORACLE on Indian politics!//
LOL.To get facts right,I never ever claimed to be the SOLE OMNISCIENT ORACALE on Indian politics and in anycase I wonder who you are to have the authority to anoint someone as ORACLE on Indian politics.I for one know the facts,the ground reality and dont have the need to fret about having to be anointed as anything on the virtual world.
I am old enough to understand that views expressed here are that of an individual and never consider them as that of a state.
MosheDyan,
Everyone has their rights to have their own views.Though I am bemused by some of the **** flowing here related to India in General & TN in specific,I do respect a individual's right to have their own views.
That doesnt necessarily mean I agree to them or they are facts.
Ciao people
Hey Indian...
Your comment
"To get facts right,I never ever claimed to be the SOLE OMNISCIENT ORACALE on Indian politics and in anycase I wonder who you are to have the authority to anoint someone as ORACLE on Indian politics."
indicates that SARCASM is lost on you! You take EVERYTHING literally, don't you? LoL!
Ananda-USA,
LOL.Maybe I lost a bit of sarcasm - owing to knowing certain views which are so far from truth.
Anycase,not everyone even in my own family have the same views on all topics.So lets leave it aside.
Had some nostalgic memories today as I met a childhood friend of mine after almost a decade.
During the course of discussion a lot of things related to Srilanka,Rupavahini in particular came to light.
I was born and brought up in a coastal town in TN which is very very close to the northen tip of Lanka and hence we used to get Rupavahini signals when the weather was good.
Almost every house in our town used to have twin antenna's.One tuned to the Doordarshan relay station in Kodaikanal and a smaller one tuned to Rupavahini.
Used to rush from school as Rupavahini used to telecast cartoons on weekdays everyday at 4:30.At times,when the weather used to actup,me and my brother used to take turns in rotating the antenna to get a clearer picture.
Also I was a big fan of KnightRider series and another series related to Kung-fu and if I remember correct it was titled "Monkey" - that was the name of the protagonist in that serial.
Friday night supper time was always with a game show.We call it tambola and its a number game.Dont know whats the name there in Lanka.Is that show still on.
Talks on Rupavahini brought a whole rush of childhood memories - those were THE days and I miss them for sure.
Howz Rupavahini doing these days??
indian,
kannikumaree????
now ppl in SL watch TN TV!!
nice to hear you had enjoyed rupavahini. its a bit unpopular for news bcos govt runs it otherwise ok.
diyasena,
this is a point of disagreement. not happy with MJ's performance in key matches. obviously we can't drop him. we should look for his replacement and give an opening. he was a very good player and it is difficult to replace him.
//MosheDyan said,
indian,kannikumaree????//
LOL its Kanyakumari.
My town is Tuticorin
kanyakumari. sexy!
BTW DJ is talking some nonsense. he mixes truth with fiction.
"The idea of Tamil Eelam can be defeated only by the counter-idea of reformed and restructured Sri Lankan state which may remain unitary but contains an irreducible autonomous political space for the Tamil people of the North and East. It cannot be defeated by the idea of Sri Lanka shorn of even the 13th amendment. Armed Tamil secessionism can and has been defeated, but the politics of collective Tamil identity cannot be militarily defeated or suppressed; it can only be politically addressed."
clearly there is a mismatch between DJ and the president.
"restructured Sri Lankan state which may remain unitary but contains an irreducible autonomous political space for the Tamil people of the North and East."
he says "MAY BE" for unitary but "IRREDUCIBLE" for an automous political space for tamils of the NE.
he should interchange the 2 words!!! still autonomous is completely unacceptable.
i don't like addressing the "tamil identity". it must be destroyed.
if the "soluition" is worded this way, that's an attempt to mislead the ppl.
Ananda,
Thanks for that perceptive comment about Afghanistan.
I have a few questuions first.
1) How do you pull out all that information, seemingly, on, any subject? They are definitely genuine stuff coming from your mind.
2) How do you put so much so fast in to your comments?
Es wahak kata wahak ne. It is simply amazing.
Now about Afghanistan....
My experience with the Arabs/Muslims has been that they seem to be incapable of independent thinking.
Everyone repeats what his own Mullah says.
Every Mullah repeats what his senior Mullah says.
Every senior Mullah repeats what the Grand Ayatollah (or his equivalent Grand Mullah in the case of Sunnis) says.
The Grand Ayatollah/Mullah repeats what Allah decrees (or at elast what he is supposed to be decreeing).
In my opinion the end result in Afghanistan will depend not on what you and I are saying and not on what Obama, UN and EU are doing.
It will depend on what Allah decrees, and what it is, is anybody's guess. My only hope is that the decree does not include Pakistan as collateral damage.
Al Jazeera Reporting
Rajiv Wijesinghe gives a well deserved lashing to Al Jazeera on their bised reporting.
Well done Rajiv, way to go!
Moshe,
But he saved us from utter embarrasment in the irish game..I cnat remember but he got some runs in one of the must win games (cant remember windies or Kiwi game)..
Some disturbing observations made during the past few days,
1. India is increasing its meddling on Sri Lankan affairs - Indian Ambassador meeting people's representatives of Jaffna. Has Sri Lankan Ambassador started meeting with the peoples representatives of Maosit or Jihadist or Kashmir areas? I do not see much difference of Blake's and Indian ambassadorial politics here. Why is this meddling? Do not they know to respect other nations?
2. India inviting scum Mongala to meet with the high ranking officials of the Indian establishment. -perhaps this is to make him another RAW Agent to spoil the soup to Indian agenda!
3. Dayan J., who is clearly being identified as a RAW Agent in Sri Lanka starts chanting all the rhetorics that India wanted to achieve in the 80s in relation to Sri Lanka despite total irrelevance in the current context. He may think that the Sri Lankans can be spun by Muralitharan like spin bowling, but fortunately many are identifying him as the NEW FOUND ASS CLOWN in Sri Lanka! - Good job guys!
4. The biggest accessory to defrauding hundreds of billions of Rupees to Sri Lanka by previous regimes - the ex Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundara has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to nullify the previous Supreme Court Order against him. This scoundrel was accessory to defrauding billions of billions of Rupees belonging to peoples of Sri Lanka on his tenure. He was the "Yes Man" Treasury, making all the approvals for frauds by the politicians working alongside them. He is one of the biggest reasons for financial turmoil that Sri Lanka currently in.
NOLTTE=peace,
Any idea why India is interested in talking to one of the most useless men in South, Mangala Samaraweera. He has no political power nor he has any popular support. Citizens in his hometown Mathara are extremely patriotic and I can't see him getting elected from Mathara ever again. This got to be a real mystery as to why India is talking to these jokers. India is better off if they talk to street begger in Colombo.
NOLTTE=Peace,
I still remember the Rathwaththa work. After the crime, what I heard was that, they tried to make it a race issue. Those who hide behind race to cover their crimes shall be punished in the courts of law one day.
Ok, I'm back momentarily.
Gotta comment on this.
Gentlemen, I appreciate the desire among Lankans to work more closely with India - thank you for your kind thoughts. I hope India and SL can work together. I genuinely appreciate the Lankan spirit.
However, you are completely mistaken when you think that Sinhala connections to India can be used as a 'counter' to TN.
Guys, it ain't happening. First, I would wager that 99.99% of people in India don't realize there is a North India - Sinhala connection.
Second, despite what you think, Tamil Nadu isn't anti India or vice versa. Not a chance, zip, nada.
I will give away all India - SL relations in the blink of an eye if it means harming the internal interests of TN. TN is like Punjab or Uttar Pradesh or Maharashtra; an Indian state.
Third, the idea that a Sinhala - North India connection can hold enough strength to drive a wedge between TN and India is completely out of sorts with reality. That's all I can say.
However, the suggestions that a few Sinhala learn Hindi is very interesting; it may help us to cement our relationship further. Certainly I think more Indians should learn Sinhala.
But on the whole, Wijapala has it right.
Saul,
I think that you got the idea little bit off. This is not about harming TN but safeguarding Sri Lanka. What we suggest is that we strengthen our historical ties with India, specifically the Magadha kingdom. This is not a one day excursion to India and this is not just the only angle. We rekindle our old ties with various cultural, educational means. For example, most of the famous Sri Lankan musicians go to Shanthiniketan to earn their Visharada Degree. Likewise, Sri Lanka needs to drum up and rekindle these ties. May be we can arrange a student cultural exchange program with a catchy title. Now, having said this don't get rooted in one idea since we are talking things in conceptual terms.
Since you think that Indians don't know about these old ties, I have a story for you from Eelam War III. When LTTE was getting close to recapture Jaffna, Indian navy was about to send ships to evacuate our soldiers. As usual, the same terror stooges in TN protested and talked to the foreign ministry in Delhi. The minister told the TN delegation that "By now you should know that all of the Sri Lankans are of Indian decent. Therefore we are bound to protect the dignity of all Sri Lankans, not just Tamils." The government of India exactly knew what it is when it comes to ethnic ties with Sri Lanka. Just in case you are not aware, until the 13th century, Sinhalese had the tendency to challenge legitimacy of a king if he is not linked to some Magadha royal family. For this purpose, the great king Vijayabahu married Tilokasundari, a princess from Kalinga, with the view of strengthening ties with the Kalingas.
Lets not get too carried away with history. However, I am all for strengthening our ties with North India for several reasons.
(1) That is where my ethnicity, language, religion, and lots of tradition are from.
(2) That will dilute TN originated anti SL action.
(3) It is commercially helpful to Sri Lanka.
Sam,
Let me start by saying that I intend no disrespect to Lankans, nor do I assume that Lankans intend to break the Indian state.
I could well be wrong in what I stated in my previous post. It is possible that I am uninformed and more aware people in India have a better appreciation for the Sinhala - North India connection.
I am just giving my perspective from an individual situation, based on my experience as a North Indian.
This does not mean at SL cannot deepen this relationship and 'market' it to the people of India. I am all for further strengthening of relations between Lankans and all of India. As I said connecting through language is a very interesting idea. I would love the idea of more Indians learning Sinhala.
Saul,
Thanks for the kind thoughts. I believe that you are Marathi or Gujarati? An outsider needs to understand a few things about Sinhala-Buddhist culture with respect to the belief that it is their duty to protect the Buddhism for 5,000 year since the Gautama Buddha until the advent of next Buddha. There is an ancient text called Rajavaliya (you can buy the English translation) which traces ancient Sinhala-Buddhist view of the world. Reading first few chapters of Rajavaliya will give you a very quick path in to the Sinhala mindset even if they are not Buddhists. I strongly recommend you to read those chapters to understand the Sinhala perspective. Just imagine you are Sinhalese and read the first 20 pages to feel the Sinhala connection to India. I am not a believer of these ancient texts in face value. However, I read them to better understand my society. I believe that it may be helpful to you since you like to engage in discussions with Sinhalese. Give it a try.
Sam,
Thank you very much for this suggestion! I welcome opportunities for learning and this seems like a valuable opportunity.
I have bookmarked this link and will read it over the weekend.
I am from the hill state of Uttaranchal in the North (it was formerly part of Uttar Pradesh). A quick perusal of the book you mentioned speaks of the Himalayas - well, that's where I come from, i.e my state is in the Indian Himalayas.
Indians talking to Mangala v. simple....ya always talk to opposition to rile the govt.(apple cart) it's an old trick...we are'nt that stupid fellas....! I more worry abt. RAW causing problems now ...more that ever ! But,we gotta keep our distance..friend yes but, keep at arms length...it's History baby...keeps repeating in Indo-Lanka plot !
Anyone Bing ?
Canadian HC avenging its rejected MP?
http://www.island.lk/2009/07/10/news21.html
Sam,
You said to Saul..
"I think that you got the idea little bit off. This is not about harming TN but safeguarding Sri Lanka. ...
.... Now, having said this don't get rooted in one idea since we are talking things in conceptual terms."
Bravo! That is exactly right.
We need to rekindle our ties with India and show that we too have an "Umbilical Cord Relationship" of HUMONGOUS PROPORTIONS that is closer, thicker and more all encompassing than the Tamil Nadu Umbilical Cord that is being WAVED IN OUR FACES all the time by these Eelamists!
Hey, my BURIYA is well connected TOO!
Hemantha...this iz called a tit for tat cuz...she's a govt official ! All the BS cant see the thru this one ! ha ha ha ....ask any ltte moron who shows up....Visa in 4 hrs. no problem.
It's just like the IMF loan......Hillary & her ltte idiots just wanna concessions from GOSL to further their interest here in S. Asia. They have been doing this for yrs. NO Suprise ! Canada,UK, UN all the same...price of been a developing nation.
Ask Singapore....Chewing gum ban was lifted in return for trade concessions (MFN)
Hypocrisy baby : = )
Saul,
If you read the first 20 pages of the Rajavaliya, as Sam Perera very appropriately suggested, the first thing to note is that "Jambudvipa" is India. It is also called "Dambadiva" in Sinhala, and figures prominently in all of our ancient literature.
As Sam said, our cultural, religious, linguistic and historical connections to India run deep, even today, in the innermost recesses of our minds. As I had said before, that is rarely recognized or appreciated by most Indians, except a perceptive few, or those who have interacted and lived closely with Sri Lankans.
A very large number of my friends, during my college years and now, including my roommates at universities in the US, are Indian. We just click together like ducks taking to water! Many things I have to painfully explain to Americans, Indians have lived through, instinctively know, and have shared.
That is why we are deeply hurt by any Indian transgressions against Sri Lanka treating Sinhala people like Martians while Sri Lankan Tamils are viewed as India's own; it is like being beaten up by the elder brother. In our "Indian-like" culture of Sri Lanka, younger brothers tend to worship the elder ... exactly like you see between Lakshmana and Rama in the enactments of the Ramayana ...that is our culture as well. We are, in fact, an ancient branch of India's own people and traditions.
of course MOST indian's don't see sinhala as a close linguistic group.
that is exactly what we are going to counter by learning hindi which is spoken by the RULERS of india & the VAST majority of india.
TN refusing to learn hindi is THE biggest advantage for SL.
by having a larger number of hindi speakers in SL than tamil speakers, TN influence can be MORE THAN countered. it can also be BYPASSED effortlessly.
there are HUGE advantages to do so.
1. VERY SIMILAR languages.
for instance a sinhalese can understand hindi adequately to make out what the hell it is but not tamil
2. hindi is anyway popular in SL than tamil. only problem is lack of PROPER learning opportunities.
e.g. MOST ppl watch hindi films. they are MORE popular than sinhala films, i guess!!!!! ONLY tamils watch tamil films.
3. mastering hindi allows access to economic activity of 450,000,000 ppl with an economy of US$ 1,230,000,000,000 (HINDI ONLY) against a mere US$ 100,000,000,000+ of tamil madu!!!!!
4. restart cultural/linguistic/religious connections as in the past.
of course this makes tamil elamists panicking!!! that is the idea!
the hindi plan is a very long term one.
going by the percebtage growth of hindi speakers in the link by priyasantha, i recon that in a few decades it will reach 50%++.
but the advantages listed come almost instantly!!!!! that's the beauty of it.
one arrogant sakkiliya once said SL has only 2 neighbours - tamil madu and antarctica!!! what an idiot he is! TN is not a neighbour at all. india is our neighbour.
we have to manage relations with india. giving into indian influence is not the way to do things.
after all we have MANY MANY diplomatic partners, not just india.
i blame the govt for the trouble caused by mongal, that jayalath paraya, hakeem swine, etc. we have anti-treason/separatism/terrorism/inteference laws. those whould be used to punish them. obviously that will be "DRACONIAN" to some, but there is no other legitimate way.
Ananda USA, thanks for your insight and context. I must say that I am quite ashamed that I never realized the historical/ cultural links of India to Sri Lanka - and I considered myself extremely well read. Oh well, live and learn.
I agree - while I know only two Lankans (for brief periods), I do realize in retrospect that I got along inordinately well with them. So I see what you meant.
Closer ties is always good; I think the language exchange idea is quite brilliant actually for Lankans to become more 'embedded' in the modern Indian psyche. These and other similar ideas will be very potent.
As for me, Indian Tamils are part of my blood; but closer ties with an independent and proud Lanka is very much to be desired.
diyasena,
yes. he's very good. but it is time we start looking for his replacement. within 2-3 years at MOST we have to replace him unless he improves consitency. replacing SJ is also important. very little has happened in this regard.
Ananda-USA,
You mentioned the 'Singhal" clan of Orissa..Can you ask your friend if their is any mention of the Sinhabahu story in their folklore..Vijaya was only one child of the Sinhabahu and Sinhaseevali,,The others must have stayed on in Bengal/ Orissa
Saul,
Uttaranchal was part of the ancient Kosala kingdom right? (maybe there is a diiferent name in Hindi)..It was one of the first places the Buddha visited after attainin Buddhahood..
Since we are exploring cultural connections does anyone know of any ancient relations between SL and Iran/Persia?? A sword bearing lion features in the Iranian flag from the 16 the century till the Islamic revolution of 1979..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iran
Moshe,
I think we already have the replacement for SJ in Mahela Udawatte (a hard hitting left hander)..Unfortunately he was dropped after one tour of Zimbabwe and havent heard of him since..Kapugedara could be a good replacement for MJ if he can concnetrate on cricket rather than social life
And if Samaraweera can work on being a bit more aggressive we could have him at No.3 in ODIs to play the role of Gurusinghe..That will provide a bit of stability if both openers fail
diyasena,
the lion cat is a bit misleading. we did have close relations with iran thousands of years ago.
lion, for OBVIOUS REASONS we re used by many nations/communities.
b4 the modern flag was adopted, the old jew flag was a lion too!!!. it was similat to this coa
meant to say lions, different looking ones.
Moshe,
True the lion was used by many nations..the lion on his hindquarters like in the jewish coat of arms, appeats in the dutch and scotiish coat of arms as well..What intrigued me was the sword being inserted later and the lion being on 3 legs like our flag..It probably must have evolved separately..
Patriots,
Mangala Samarawera GONE CRAZY!
Mea Mangala Ponnayata PISSU Hedila Neada?
Mangala Samaraweera, the former Foreign Minister and now an opposition MP, said: “There are allegations that the Government is attempting to change the ethnic balance of the area. Influential people close to the Government have argued for such a solution.”
Diyasena,
Yes, it was the outer reaches though.
Still smoking them out...
Swarnam committed suicide – wife
Last Updated:
Monday, July 06, 2009
Published:
Monday, July 06, 2009 News Source:
SinhalaNet®
[COLOMBO, SinhalaNet 2009.07.07 09:26AM] Wife of one of the Eastern Province LTTE leaders Swarnam has told the Army that her husband seriously injured in battle with the armed forces had swallowed cyanide and committed suicide unable to bear the excruciating pain.
Swarnam’s wife and another woman, wife of Thevan, a prominent LTTE cadre, were arrested by the armed forces in a welfare centre in Vavuniya last week.
Swarnam’s wife has said that they got married in 1996 when the latter was a prominent LTTE fighter in the East. Both, Swaranam’s and Thevan’s wife have been brought to Colombo and are being interrogated by the Colombo Crime Division.
matara,
"the Government is attempting to change the ethnic balance of the area. Influential people close to the Government have argued for such a solution."
mate, those "influential" ppl includes ME too!!! lol!
that is the ONLY solution. mongal saramaweera is like a dog with rabies. such a dog gets frightened seeing WATER!!! very funny behaviour!!
let it be.
diyasena,
yes.
will try to get some info from tehran friends. this is a VERY GOOD time for them to revisit pre-islamic revolution history of iran!!!!
Moshe,
please do..Might help resolve the origins of the 'lion' in the Sinhabahu story..Ancient Persia had a lot of relations (commercial and of course many wars) with the Greek states..My reckoning always was the 'lion' was either a blond or european wearing a lion's head helmet (like alexander the great)..Either way a european exile..But of course the 'lion' could refer to someone of sheer bravery and ferociosness as well..
How to Sponsor a Ranaviru Child
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2. Directorate of Welfare of the Sri Lanka Navy Scholarship Program
3. Ranaviru Seva Authority Scholarship Program.
For further details please visit;
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Diyasena
The coming of the Sihalas as depicted in some of the Ajanta frescoes. (Ajanya cave 26?)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22955235@N00/1432681360/sizes/o/in/set-72157600028124617/
Guys I have some bad news.....
The Eelamists have been waging a propaganda war all over the web. May friends have informed me as well.
Many people have tried to edit wikipedia articles to claim that there was genocide in sri lanka. Some claim that Sri Lanka has planned a "comprehensive genocide", other changes include duttugemunu was a Tamil, Anuradhapura was a Tamil city called anuradhapuram before sinhalese changed it, sinhalese are tamils, Tamils live in Sri Lanka long before Sinhalese, Singhalese civilians killing Tamil civilians in the east, Navy sank hundreds of boats carrying civilians, Mahinda Rajapaske stole money from Tamils, Gota admired hitler, Sigiriya was built by Tamils etc.
Almost all the major articles related to sri lanka have been targeted by the Eelamists.
Articles about the army, Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan army, Anuradhapura, Sinhalese people, Duttugemunu, Gotabaya Rajapakse, mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lankan Civil War, Polonnaruwa, Vijaya etc have been changed greatly to tell the Eelamist viewpoint.
Some of these articles have been changed back by great efforts by various Sri Lankan patriots, but we need your help.
I urge the people here to combat this at least in wikipedia. Thats where foreigners first see information about sri lanka these day.
The last thing I need people to find out about sri lanka is that false LTTE propaganda like "sri lanka planned a genocide of the original habitats of Sri Lanka, the Tamils, and hid it from the rest of the world."
We need your help.
Diyasena, bro...
Will do. I fired off an email asking Singhal about the Sinhabhahu story.
You guys speak about Sinhala (Sinha+Hela). However, we always forget about "Hela", the native people of Sri Lanka who inhabited the land for hundreds of thousands of years before Vijaya.
The most prominent link that we have kept to Hela is none other than "Speaking Sinhala (Hela Basa)" (not the writing version), which still contains a very high percentage of unique Hela words still remaining in the Sinhala language. Say "Bada Ridenawa" - and you are speaking Hela.
The other note, about Mongala's claim of some people arguing to change ethnic balance. Just because some Indians recently satisfied his anal passage, he may be talking this nonesense.
Every inch of Sri Lanka belongs to all the peoples of Sri Lanka irrespective of their ethnicity. Ethnic congregation is utterly harmful. We all should unite as Sri Lankans to bring ever lasting peace.
In the year 1658, Dutch captured Jaffna from Portuguese and started bringing in Tamils in wholesale from South India to cultivate Tobacco. This is the first time that the ethnic balance of Sri Lanka got altered in modern times. From there onwards various South Indians came and settled in the North and migrated to East etc, as there was a market for them because of wealthy Tobacco Farmer class (Vellalas).
Then the British came and altered the Ethnic balance of the country by bringing in Indian Tamils to work in the Coffee and Tea plantations int the Hill Country of Sri Lanka.
When British gave almost all the Civil Administration jobs to Tamils, Sinhalese became second-class citizens of Sri Lanka and suffered for over hundred years under the British and Tamil apartheid. The discriminatory policies brought in by Brits in collaboration with the Tamils made thousands of Sinhalese lose their lands, and livelyhoods altering their whole social, economical, and ethnic balance making them virtual refugees in Sri Lanka.
For our luck, we got our official freedom back from the Brits (still the Tamil civil administration and political ghosts haunted Sinhalese in many ways even after the Official freedom from Brits). Wadukkodai Resolution is one of the key elements of this discriminatory legacy towards Sinhalese.
Then in the 80s and 90s LTTE chased away all the Muslims and Sinhalese from the North and many parts of East by massacring them and giving them 24 hours to leave their homes.
Would this murderer Mongala need any more facts about Changing the Ethnic Balance???
This c&ck s&cker scum should be in jail for killing people and defrauding millions of Rupees of public money (remember him using the Ministry credit card to throw away lavish personal parties, and going on shopping trips in Singapore) than talking about ethnic balance.
Now it is time to create more and more 'Ethnic Integration', and not letting any ethnicity to congregate as it creates division.
"Equal opportunities and Ethnic Integration is the Key for long lasting Peace! {not what either Dayan J., or this c&ck s&cker Mongala says.
Saul, Saul,
Why does thou bear the name of Saul of Tarsus (AD 40)?
of "Saul, Saul, Why does thou persecute me?" fame!
TNA "no longer associated with LTTE"
Excerpt: " Meanwhile, in another dramatic development in Colombo, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), once known as the proxy of the LTTE has now completely disassociated itself from the terror outfit, according to a TNA Wanni District parliamentarian. "We are keen to represent the Development & Reconciliation Committee (DRC) of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to help the Tamil people to seek resolutions to their grievances", he noted.
He said the LTTE was no more active or functional in Sri Lanka and they (the TNA) had nothing to do with or to contribute to statements made by LTTE's Pathmanathan of a 'transnational government' in exile. "We and our people suffered for more than three decades because of a separate state dream and now we look to the future to live as Sri Lankans', he opined.
Courtesy: Government Information Department "
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friendship towards India:
NR: They say you value friendships a lot. You have friends in India.
President: I will do anything for a friend - not for any bad work, of course. But when a friend in difficulty approaches me, I will do whatever is possible to comfort them. Even when a country needs a friend, I always trust that country as a friend. Personal friendship has become important even in international relations. That is why I always treat India as a friend. A little more than that: a relation, I would say. Because of that, I will not get angry with others also.
NR: You are happy overall with India's response to the recent developments?
President: Yes, India was very helpful, first by understanding what was happening. We had a list and we knew what was possible and what was not. We bought the weapons we wanted from China. It was a commercial deal. China helped us and when somebody helps you, you appreciate it, don't you? But we paid them on international terms. We were very clear about this. That is also why I stood by Pakistan. When they were isolated, I got up and defended them. Then I canvassed for India during the process of choosing a Secretary-General for the Commonwealth [Kamalesh Sharma, a senior Indian diplomat, was chosen for this post by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 2007 and took up his post in April 2008]. I think no other country's leader would have been doing that openly. There were people in Sri Lanka who were interested in the job. But I said I wanted an Indian candidate. "In this region, we must have a leader. Here's the SAARC leader, at that time. So make them also powerful internationally and then we have a friend to defend us in international forums." That was my reasoning.
Mahinda Rajapaka defines his Goal
Excerpt: "The President who asserted that the Government was committed to bring justice and solace to any individual or section of society subjected to unfair treatment called upon everyone to stand for the truth by dismissing untruth.
"My sole ambition and objective is to resettle all displaced persons in their former lands and build a country where all can live in peace and harmony devoid of any petty differences as to race, religion or caste," the President added.
Several Muslim delegates who expressed their sentiments that no previous government was able to protect and safeguard Muslims when nearly 20,000 Muslims were evicted from Jaffna within two hours and the terrorists killed a large number of Muslims at Kattankudy.
They said President Rajapaksa and his Government was a blessing not only for Muslims but the whole nation as Muslims had been provided with full protection under their administration. The Muslim businessmen handed over to the President a donation to be credited to the 'Api Wenuwen Api' war heroes fund. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera, Service Chiefs, IGP and the Director General of the Civil Security Force were also present. "
Sam,
"When LTTE was getting close to recapture Jaffna, Indian navy was about to send ships to evacuate our soldiers. As usual, the same terror stooges in TN protested and talked to the foreign ministry in Delhi."
If the Indian navy had evacuated the SLA, Jaffna would have fallen to the LTTE without a fight. Seems that the "terror stooges" in TN had done something positive after all.
Saul,
"I could well be wrong in what I stated in my previous post. It is possible that I am uninformed and more aware people in India have a better appreciation for the Sinhala - North India connection."
It is far more likely that the "defense enthusiasts" here are uninformed about the nonexistent Sinhala-N. India connection. That conclusion was strengthened after the two Indians on this blog- one a southern "Dravidian enemy" and the other a northern "Aryan friend"- both found the ideas here to be bunkum.
//Sam said,
When LTTE was getting close to recapture Jaffna, Indian navy was about to send ships to evacuate our soldiers. As usual, the same terror stooges in TN protested and talked to the foreign ministry in Delhi//
To quote the Long ranger "The President said that she had sent Lakshman Kadirgamar to arrange Indian ships to evacuate the soldiers and asked for our opinion. The Defence Chiefs, Defence Secretary and the Defence Minister were at the meeting, but no one answered. I told the President not to do it and explained to her that we would not be able to save at least 10,000 soldiers, if this plan was carried out. I said that the only way left for us was to fight and that I would take up that responsibility. - Maj Gen Perera prior to taking over the post of OOC Jaffna, April 2000 (Excerpts from interview with Tissa Ravindra Perera) "
INS never came then,not because there was protest in TN,but because the GoSL had a change of heart.
GoldenEagle said...
[ The Eelamists have been waging a propaganda war all over the web. May friends have informed me as well.
Many people have tried to edit wikipedia articles to claim that there was genocide in sri lanka. Some claim that Sri Lanka has planned a "comprehensive genocide", other changes include duttugemunu was a Tamil, Anuradhapura was a Tamil city called anuradhapuram before sinhalese changed it, sinhalese are tamils, Tamils live in Sri Lanka long before Sinhalese, Singhalese civilians killing Tamil civilians in the east, Navy sank hundreds of boats carrying civilians, Mahinda Rajapaske stole money from Tamils, Gota admired hitler, Sigiriya was built by Tamils etc.]
Patriots,
This situation that GoldenEagle has brought to our atten is SERIOUS, and it is something we can help correct.
Let us all go to wikipedia.org and start editing these items and post protests against these distortions.
A little bit every day, and we may be able to turn this ship around.
Thanks GoldenEagle!
CASC,
thank you for the link..Is this the coming of Sinhalas to orissa or SL? The presence of elephants is a tad confusing..
GoldenEagle,
Thanks for the notice brother..Fabricating things (history, credit cards, wikipedia articles) seems to be genetic trait of theirs..
Ananda aiya,
1. Instead of editing individual articles is their a way of wikipedia admin know of whats going on?
2. If not can we make a list at lanka patriots of articles that need to be monitored so members can split it among themselves..Say each member takes 10 articles and monitors them daily for alterations..
After a little while,
thought to visit back!!!!
How come?
voice from USA adopting a lion flag after blogging more than a year here?
"ANE KALE WANE WAASE" KIWWALU!!!
Wijayapala,
How is our mutual friend Atticus Finch doing now?
Man I missed you, brother!
You are one of the best intellectuals which I like to preserve similar to gold in my memory.
Moshe,
How are doing my brother?
You were my best mate for last one year and many more years to come!
Sleep well brother, SL is in good hands with MR, GR and SF being still there.
Api noddannana chess and Saman,
I missed you both badly, mates,
Come and say hello to old bugger, whenever, you can!
Diyasena,
Yes, we need to do the work at Wikipedia in an organized way, and I will setup a lead article to do that at SLPatriots blog.
Everyone will be able to post information and make suggestions on division of the work, and mark the areas already done.
GoldenEagle, with your leave, I will use your post as the article as well. If you don't have access to SLP, please post your email address at DW.
Regarding whether there is a more direct way of bringing inaccuracies to Wikipedia's attention...I don't know, but I will try to find out.
Patriots,
I have setup GoldenEagle's post on LTTE Misinformation at Wikipedia.org, and elsewhere, at the SriLankaPatriots Blog .
Please go there and make your contributions by listing the links to the erroneous Wikipedia.org articles that need to be corrected, and volunteer to correct them.
We CAN DO THIS! Please STAY TUNED for more information as we get moving!
Ananda aiye
matath pivisumak denawada oyage blog ekata
aroshsri@yahoo.com
gladiator said...
Ananda aiye
matath pivisumak denawada oyage blog ekata
aroshsri@yahoo.com
.............
Brother,
Done. Please login by clicking on the long hyperlink in the email I sent you and using your email ID.
Jayawewa!
ananda aiye
sthuthiy
Pope tricked into believing Tiger propaganda on bombing of Tamil Church -Glen Jenvey
09 Aug 2007
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6907
Navaali St. Peter’s Church victims remembered
[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 July 2009, 17:37 GMT]
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29753
Ananda
my email is goldeneagle800500@yahoo.com
I would love to join your blog. Thanks for your help on this matter.
Lions in coat of arms, Europe:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armorial_au_lion
Indian,
"INS never came then,not because there was protest in TN,but because the GoSL had a change of heart."
We are not talking about the same issue. Please read my dialogue Saul again. I did not say that India did not send the ships because TN influence. What the government of India did was to say that "all Sri Lankans are originating from India, not just Tamils." I hope this makes things clear to you.
Diyasena said...
True the lion was used by many nations..the lion on his hindquarters like in the jewish coat of arms, appears in the Dutch and Scottish coat of arms as well..What intrigued me was the sword being inserted later and the lion being on 3 legs like our flag..It probably must have evolved separately..
Has anyone a photo of King Dutugamunu’s lion flag, found in the cave2 in Dambulla ?
Has any one ever seen the lion in our flag in any stone carving among ancient ruins?
Note that all our historic lions are ver stylised and as in any eastern art work all the edges are smoothed out.
MR flag is less controversial.
wijeyapala,
"If the Indian navy had evacuated the SLA, Jaffna would have fallen to the LTTE without a fight. Seems that the "terror stooges" in TN had done something positive after all."
Let me see if I get this right. Are you implicating that TN terror stooges did not want Indian Navy to evacuate our soldiers because they want LTTE to fail? Are you also implying that India listened to TN and did not want to send ships to evacuate our soldier?
Please clarify.
"It is far more likely that the "defense enthusiasts" here are uninformed about the nonexistent Sinhala-N. India connection. That conclusion was strengthened after the two Indians on this blog- one a southern "Dravidian enemy" and the other a northern "Aryan friend"- both found the ideas here to be bunkum."
Since you say that there was no such connection between Sinhalese and Magadha, do you think that any Sinhalese connections of language, religion, and tradition to Magadha kingdom are just figments of imagination of somebody in the ancient Sinhala society? Any idea why Sinhalese questioned the legitimacy of kings if they are not connected to Magadha or later derived states of Magdha? Any idea why many common Sinhala first names are very common in Bengal? Any idea why some Bengali villages still have the names same as some Sinhala family names? Any idea why Sinhala language is classified as an Indo-European language rather than a Dravidian language? Please clarify.
mithra,
"Has anyone a photo of King Dutugamunu’s lion flag, found in the cave2 in Dambulla ?"
Dambulla temple do not allow to take any photos inside these days. However this link may help you.
Ranaviru Fund said...
[How to Sponsor a Ranaviru Child....]
Ranaviru fund allocated a girl of 13, the daughter of a Corporal KIA in response to our application. I have noted the following, though, regarding the matter.
1) They took more than 2 months since the application to do the allocation. We had lost hope of getting it when it came to us. Why can't they do it faster?
2) Once the allocation is done there apepears to be no follow up from them to ensure that the aponsor actually sending the money. Some may loose interest and give up, in which case the child suffers.
3) The family of this child seem to be quite well to do. I don't think Rs 1000 a month is going to make much of a difference to them.
There may be more deserving cases for whom Rs 1000 would mean a lot. Some are saying that there is a lot of favoritism in these allocation.
Stiil we are extremely happy that we are helping a SL student in some way and are thinking of adopting more.
Ananda,
Am I able to join the SLP blog please?
Thanks.
Selection of memorable moments for me, from defencewire blog (with apologies to those i have missed):
Defencewire:
If your Black Cats cannot do it, we will-- if you want us to.
http://defencewire.blogspot.com/2008_11_29_archive.html
Ogre:
Love your country, honor your mother, fight for what you believe in. One Country for all of us.
http://defencewire.blogspot.com/2009/04/lttes-grand-finale-before-1st-may.html
Thusitha:
I am the first
http://defencewire.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-is-where-it-all-ends.html
Sam Perera:
Periodic cultural re-pollination with Magadha cousins through cultural events, special emissaries to Magadha lands, invited guests from Magadha etc. shall be continued.
http://defencewire.blogspot.com/2009/06/ltte-posters-inside-idp-camps.html
"Are you implicating that TN terror stooges did not want Indian Navy to evacuate our soldiers because they want LTTE to fail? Are you also implying that India listened to TN and did not want to send ships to evacuate our soldier?"
None of the above- you simply brought up a poor example with the soldier evacuation.
"Defense enthusiasts" tend to give too much credit for the intelligence of the bad guys. If it's true that the TN Eelamists blocked the evacuation, then they had shot themselves in the foot (which they have done before).
wijeyapala,
"None of the above- you simply brought up a poor example with the soldier evacuation."
I don't think that we have the same focus. My dialog with Saul was if India is aware of Sinhalese connection to India. So the focus was not the soldier evacuation but what Indian foreign minister told the TN delegation which I put in quotes. Please carefully read what I wrote before you put your two cents worth.
Hi Sara, please read my answers preceded with RVF
Ranaviru fund allocated a girl of 13, the daughter of a Corporal KIA in response to our application. I have noted the following, though, regarding the matter.
1) They took more than 2 months since the application to do the allocation. We had lost hope of getting it when it came to us. Why can't they do it faster?
RVF : The child is selected by the donor from the website and an application is sent to us. Once we receive the application we respond to the donor within 24 hours informing that the child has been assigned to the donor. Also we update the website within 24 hours to avoid a situation of the same child being requested by two different donors. We batch process the applications and send them once a week to Sri Lanka Navy and the Ranaviru Seva Authroiry (RVSA). They repond within a week with child's details to the donor. Thus the maximum time for the donor to receive the child's details will not exceed 2 weeks.
However we must admit that there were delays when we initially started the program with the SLAF. We can guarantee that there are no such delays anymore.
Please email us the reference number of the child, and we will check and get back to you regarding the cause for the 2 month delay.
2) Once the allocation is done there apepears to be no follow up from them to ensure that the aponsor actually sending the money. Some may loose interest and give up, in which case the child suffers.
RVF : This is not true. In the case of the RVSA program the funds will first reach the RVSA account and RVSA sends the funds to the child's guardian. If the donor does not send the funds RVSA will definitely follow up. In the case of the Navy program, once a donor pledges support, Navy informs the recipient family that their child is sponsored by a donor. In the event a donor does not send the money, the recipient family will notify that they have not received the money and then a follow up is done. If there is no positive response from the donor, we publish the child again in the website and ask for support.
3) The family of this child seem to be quite well to do. I don't think Rs 1000 a month is going to make much of a difference to them. There may be more deserving cases for whom Rs 1000 would mean a lot.
RVF : In the case of RVSA scholarship program the children are all coming from low income families who had made an application for the scholarship. Thus if you sponsor a child from the RVSA program you are guranteed to get a child from a low income family. In the case of the Navy scholarship program all the children or Navy personnel who have been KIA, DIA or MIA are included giving preference to children belonging to lower ranks.
Some are saying that there is a lot of favoritism in these allocation.
RVF : We do not favor any child. None of the children or their parents are known to us. All children are equally important to us. We are only trying to facilitate a noble cause to show gratitude to armed forces members and their families for their great sacrifices.
We are a group of private volunteers working in our own professions spendng every bit of our 'free' time for the cause. Currently we are acting as facilitators to the sponsorship programs done by the Navy and the Ranaviru Seva Authority. We do not personally know a sinlge child or their families.
Tambala . this is the second part of that story.
http://www.lankaenews.com/Sinhala/news.php?id=9572
Would this child be having good feeling about us?
This bitch (teacher)should be killed
Goolge said..
[ Ananda,
Am I able to join the SLP blog please?
Thanks.]
Yes, brother. Please post your email address here at DW, and I will email you an invitation.
GoldenEagle said..
[Ananda
my email is goldeneagle800500@yahoo.com
I would love to join your blog. Thanks for your help on this matter.]
Welcome, brother!
I emailed you an invitation to SriLankaPatriots Blog. Please double click on the long hyperlink to login. :)
We Are the Same…Not Different
By Ven. Walpola Piyananda
Los Angeles, California
Chief Sangha Nayake of America
May 28, 2009
The old saying, “the world is getting smaller all the time,” was never more true than it is today. We have seen how the economic crisis in the United States triggered the downturn in the entire world economy, and we have also seen how extremist terrorism quickly spread like a cancer from one country to another – seemingly overnight. Geopolitical boundaries have very little meaning these days in terms of events; even if we think they are local and insignificant, each and every one of them affects the whole planet. In other words, we’re all downwind of everything that happens to everyone.
There are metaphysical and spiritual reasons for this phenomenon, the main ones being: we are all connected at deeper levels than we ever suspected; there is no such thing as separation; “me,” “mine” and “I” are myths; karma, cause and effect, is the fundamental law of the universe.
The Buddha explained the mechanism of cause and effect in his teaching of Dependent Origination: as conditions arise and pass away, phenomenon also arises and passes away; for one condition to exist, such and such a condition must arise; for a condition to cease to exist, such and such a condition must cease; and so on.
Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans now have a golden opportunity to realize these basic, ancient truths. For example, the primary cause for the social and economic ruination of Sri Lanka during the past three decades has ceased to exist: Prabhakaran, his LTTE, and its dreams of a racially-segregated Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka are finished. That primary cause having ceased, now is the time to work on eliminating the other, more subtle, secondary causes that threaten to keep us de-stabilized, and from resuming our rightful place as a global economic player. Those causes are the unfounded feelings of separation that exist between Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, and Malays; the illusionary sense of false identity claimed by each of these groups; and the equally-illusionary false notion that one group is superior to the other, or that one is entitled to dominate the others because of history, tradition, or size of population. All of these causes must cease to exist, and be replaced by strong new positive conditions, which are spawned by all groups identifying themselves as Sri Lankan first.
con't
The terrorist conflict first arose because of perceived differences between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, and it eventually spread out of control. In actuality, the Sinhalese and Tamil races both trace their origins to the Indian sub-continent: one group theoretically from the North, and the other from the South. We look alike, our blood is the same color, we share the same cultural and religious roots, we both share the same aspirations for success and happiness, and we both experience suffering in the same way. So how can we claim to be different? Realistically, we can’t.
As our President recently said, and I paraphrase, “There are only two types of Sri Lankans: one type loves the country and wants to see it unified and prosperous; and the other type wants to perpetuate the old ideas of disunity and separation. There are no other types; and there are no minorities.” I completely agree with the President, and support him in his efforts to help us change our mind-set to accommodate this new view: there is no other way to achieve peace and harmony in our motherland except by unifying our individual hopes for its future.
The Buddha taught us that the present moment was the only reality, and this timeless message is so relevant and important for our current situation in Sri Lanka. Old wrongs and past issues must pass away, and allow new conditions to arise that will stimulate a fresh start. Two generations have already grown up since the old wrongs were committed, and young people today only learn about them from their elders who knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate them in the minds of their children. This negative mental indoctrination of successive generations does nothing but keep the false idea of separation alive, and if we are to succeed in rebuilding our country, it must be stopped for good. It must be replaced by the idea that we are all Sri Lankans – regardless of the group we came from.
On a positive note, we have the opportunity now to encourage conditions to emerge that will greatly benefit our country in a wide variety of ways. We can show our Tamil brothers in the North and East (and everywhere else on the island, for that mater) that we are serious about including them in a consensus Government that appreciates our language, cultural and religious differences rather than ignores, criticizes, or condemns them. We can also eliminate political parties founded on racial or ethnic platforms. Another way is to direct our collective energies toward fostering social and economic programs that create an environment conducive to growth. In addition, we can support the arising of conditions that make everyone feel safe from the threats of physical and mental terrorism, and insures that all are free to enjoy the benefits of a new, reformed political culture that is free from corruption and self-serving bureaucratic obstacles.
To the so-called “Tamil Diaspora,” I ask you to take a second look at your imagined need for an ethnic Tamil homeland in the first place. Why is this necessary – particularly in the free democratic country of Sri Lanka? How will it benefit you? What role do you see yourselves playing in the new unified Sri Lanka? How can you help it recover and eventually prosper? Many members of the Diaspora were born in the Western countries they currently live in, and have no real sense of “life on the ground” in the country they wish to divide. To those, please ask yourselves: “Would Sri Lanka be better for my Tamil brethren in a separate country only for Tamils – or in a free, unified democracy where everyone is included in the political process?” This latter is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s goal, and I’m confident that he will make it a reality.
In conclusion, all of us, as citizens of one nation, need to allow the conditions to arise that are conducive for success in our new, reborn Sri Lanka. Each one of us is responsible for the outcome, and each one of us will enjoy the rewards.
The Hindu Bhagavad Gita says, “Understanding, wisdom, clarity, forbearance and truthfulness, inner control and peace, joy, grief, the arising and passing away of things; Whatever exists is disposed to such states of mind, and all these varieties come from me.” Let us learn to accept our differences and appreciate them as the products of countless generations of conditions.
As our Christian friends quote from the Bible, “All things must pass away, and all things are made new.” I implore you all to let the past pass away, and create the new with optimism and re-invigorated commitment to your country.
Our Muslim friends use the phrase from the Quoran, “For those who believe and work deeds of righteousness is a reward that will never fail.” To this I say, “Inshallah!”
In the words of the Buddha, “Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a Law Eternal.” I implore you to put aside hatred and ill-will towards any living being, and focus your attention on the good that lives in everyone
Ranaviru Fund said...
[Hi Sara, please read my answers preceded with RVF]
Thank you for the quick feed back. It clears up many things. I am sorry if I made any inappropriate remarks. I appreciate the good work done by you volunteers.
I will be sending the reference No to you as requested. However, I am happy that things have been streamlined now.
When I received the adoptation, I inquired through e-mail from RVF whether the money should be sent through RVF or direct to the child and I was told that both would be OK.
Accordingly, last month I sent Rs 5000 by cheque to the child concerned, as the donation for the next 5 months (up to Oct).
Within this time I will be making arrangements to issue a standing order for the money to be transferred monthly to the account No. given to us.
Thank you once more and our deep appreciation for the service you all are rendering. Hope many people would join this scheme and make it a success.
Ananda
intnews123@googlemail.com
Thank you.
I found this article in Reuters on Thu Mar 22, 2007 regarding resettling IDP in liberated areas in East in 2007. What UN and IC telling us today is completely opposte of what they wanted us to do in 2007. UN and IC's duplicity nakedly revealed.
Too soon to resettle east Sri Lanka refugees: U.N.
Diyasena asked...
[ CASC,
thank you for the link..Is this the coming of Sinhalas to orissa or SL? The presence of elephants is a tad confusing..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22955235@N00/1432681360/sizes/o/in/set-72157600028124617/
]
Diyasena,
I have seen this fresco before in the book "A Reign of Ten Kings; Sri Lanka-The World, 500 BC-1200AD" by Nalini De Lanerolle, published by the Ceylon Tourist Board. This a WONDERFUL book. It is on Pages viii and 15, and the figure captions referring to the "coming of Simhala" to SL, and the "army of King Simhala", respectively.
It would be interesting to find out why the painter, and the potentially "royal" sponsor of the fresco, thought it was important enough to perpetuate this event in a very large, detailed and beautiful fresco.
The Ajanta Caves (see
Wikipedia) was part of a Buddhist monastery/college of learning dated to the 5th century AD. The sponsoring king/ royal dynasty (identified as the Vākāţaka king Harisena) MUST have been Buddhist also; not Hindu. Interestingly, the overall appearance of the main entrance to the caves looks somewhat like the entrance to the Dambulla cave (103-77BC) temple though it is much grander and larger than Dambulla.
This construction took place six to seven centuries after Dharma-Ashoka's time (273 BC to 232 BC), afte the Buddhist conference held in Sri Lanka to codify and set down Buddhist teachings, and at a time when Sri Lanka was a leading Buddhist nation [reigning kings: Mahasena (274-301AD), Dhatusena (455-473AD) and Kasyapa (473-491AD))]. Those Buddhist connections between Sri Lanka and India, and the importance of Sri Lanka as a place of Buddhist learning to the Buddhist community as a whole, may have been the underlying reason for the fresco.
Goolge,
Welcome! I emailed you an invitation to the SriLankaPatriots Blog. Please double click on the long hyperlink to login using your email ID. :)
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http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/About/masa.htm
Ananda
Thank you very much.
CASC said..
[ I implore you to put aside hatred and ill-will towards any living being, and focus your attention on the good that lives in everyone. ]
Beautifully said, brother!
To which I fain add:
Full many a gem of the purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear
Full many a flower is born, to blush unseen
To waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Thomas Grey
rana,
cheers.
i came to the same conclusion after fact checking. but will always keep an eye on developments. he is human after all and bound to fail.
goolge,
thanks for the links. that's for those who have never seen israel, i suppose.
a good way to keep the BIG diaspora connected.
a good model for SL as well. but careful not to let the LTTE diaspora in. israel can use "JEWISH", but if SL uses "SINHALA" all hell will break lose!!
a dose of history.....
The Sinhalese are an indigenous people in Sri Lanka, and have lived there for over 2500 years. `Sinhala` means `of lion blood`, because the prince who first settled in the island (with 500 followers in 6th century BC) was supposed to have had a lion for a grandfather according to legend. We are of Indo-Aryan descent, and speak `Sinhala`, the oldest of the living Indo-Aryan languages. The Sinhalese have the oldest, continuously recorded history in the world-the story of our race can be traced back over 2500 years.
The Sinhalese invented the sluicegate a 1000 years before the rest of the world (TRY MESSING UP WITH THAT AND SEE HOW YOU WILL GET SCREWWED!!!), and are considered to have built the most sophisticated irrigation systems in the world according to British excavation engineers. The oldest historical tree in the world (i.e. having the longest recorded written history) is in Sri Lanka, and lives to this day. Last year, over 10 Buddhist pilgrims were lined up and shot at this most sacred religious site by Tamil terrorists. This tree is a branch from the original Bodhi tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment in 6th century BC. The world`s first museum was built in Sri Lanka 2200 years ago. It housed the parts of the ship that brought the Bodhi sapling to Sri Lanka from India in 3rd century BC.
The University of Cambridge, England has 274 volumes of `Epigraphica Zeylanica` with over 3000 inscriptions from Ceylon (that is more inscriptions than the whole of mainland China has, even though Sri Lanka is only 1/2 the size of the state of New York), including one dating back to 6th century BC. Over 2000 of these have been deciphered, indicating the consistent development of the Sinhalese language.
Recent excavations found the ruins of a steel plant (built circa 300 BC) manned solely by wind power. According to the British engineers who discovered it, it is the only such plant (that uses only wind power) known in the world, and proves that Sri Lanka did indeed export high quality steel to Persia to make the famed Persian swords. At one time, the Sinhalese ships were the biggest at Shanghai harbor (Chinese records), and history records a time when the representative of the Sinhalese sat on the right hand side seat of Claudius Caesar.
Sinhalas are the only race in the world known to have a monument built in honor of a fallen enemy (2nd century BC). A Tamil invader was killed in a war by a Sinhalese king, who decreed that anyone passing the monument pay homage to the dead king, who even though an invader, was a just king while he ruled. A Sinhalese aristocrat did so at the cost of his life as recent as 1815, while fleeing from the British who were at his heels. The ancient Sinhalese believed neither in being ruled by foreign powers nor the contrary. Whenever there were invaders, they were successfully overthrown, but once the kingdom was won back, these very same invaders were `allowed to live as they pleased` (ancient inscriptions). The kings even built religious monuments for these very same invaders, some of which exist to this day. Such was the level of tolerance known in my country until colonial invasion.
* On irrigation: `Neither in the lands of their (i.e. of the Indo-Aryan settlers) origin nor in South India did there develop an irrigation system of the magnitude or complexity of that which the Sinhalese afterwards constructed in Ceylon nothing comparable and contemporaneous (i.e. 1st century A.D.-12th century A.D.) with the ancient dam, canal and tank system of Ceylon , mingling the waters of rivers flowing in different directions is known in continental India` (A Short Account of the History of Irrigation Works, C.W. Nicholas, JRASCB 1960, 43-69).
* On architecture: `The constructive and artistic genius of the Sinhalese race proceeded in the following century (i.e. 2nd century B.C.) to develop the design to an extent not found elsewhere. The most important examples erected in Ceylon are comparable with the greatest pyramids of Egypt. The two largest dagabas at Anuradhapura surpass in contents, and three exceeded in height all but the two enormous pyramids Khufru and Khafra at Gizeh` (Ancient Ceylon, H. Parker, 262).
* On literature: `One of the greatest contributions of the Sinhalese people to the cultural development of South and South East Asia and to world literature is the creation of a historic literature. It is well- known that on the Indian sub-continent before the invasion of the Islamic conquerors virtually no historic literature had developed. ...Sri Lanka tells a different story. In the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa and in various other Sinhalese texts, we are given an account of the political and cultural history of the island from earliest times until the present time.` (Wilhelm Geiger-His Life and Works, Heinz Bechert, 2nd ed., 69). Even the identification of Emperor Asoka was made possible by the Mahavansa so is the dating of the history of South India.
* On being colonized: `The Sinhalese voluntarily surrendered their Island to the British Sovereign with full reservation of their rights and liberties. They may thus claim to be one of the few ancient races of the world who have not been conquered.` (Sketches of Ceylon History, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, 1906)
ENDS.
a good read on 13
Sara please read my answers preceded with RVF
When I received the adoptation, I inquired through e-mail from RVF whether the money should be sent through RVF or direct to the child and I was told that both would be OK.
RVF : When you say RVF do you mean Ranaviru Fund? We do not accept funds for this cause, and we have never told a donor to deposit scholarship funds to our account.
The only time where scholarship donors deposited funds to our account was to help the Sri Lanka Airforce Seva Vanithat Unit (SLAF-SVU) scholarship ceremony. This facility was provided only inorder to help those donors residing abroad to pay with their credit cards the Rs.1000 needed to be gievn to the child at the scholarship ceremony.
Ranaviru Fund (RVF) has never told any donor to desposit scholarship funds to the RVF account.
Under Navy program - Scholarship donation needs to be made directly into the child's account every month.
Under Ranaviru Seva Authority (RVSA) program - Scholarship donation needs to be made 6 monthly, Annually, bi-annually to the RVSA account. RVSA will deposit the funds to the child's account. There is no provision to make monthly donations under this scheme.
The above details are available in the website and are also clearly clarified to the donor when we reply confirming the donors application.
Moshe,
I hope we start something like this too. And yes, with absolutely no mention of race - it should be for all young SRI LANKANS living abroad.
It will develope strong links between young Sri Lankans abroad, help Tamil youngsters see the reality in Sri Lanka, and create future leaders in other countries who have Sri Lankan well-being at heart. These future leaders will also be able to mobilise Sri Lankan diaspora for causes to protect the motherland.
Ranaviru Fund said...
[Sara please read my answers preceded with RVF]
I checked the past e-mail and found that the fund concerned is run by The Seva Vanitha Army Branch Of Sri Lanka.
Here is the text of the 2nd e-mail sent by them.
From: sevavanitha army branch" sevavanitha@yahoo.com
6/9/2009 7:09 AM
The child is in year 7 so you can diposit Rs 1000/- monthly to her account directly to her account.
As our scholarship scheem you can donate money for a month as follows;
Year 1 to 5 - RS 750/-
Year 6 to O/L - RS 1000/-
A/L RS 1500/-
I could also could not find a refernce number.
THE DELAY:
My application was sent on 8th April 2009 and the nomination was received on 4th June 2009. That is after 61 days, (i.e.) after about 2months.
RVF,
In any case can you please let me know how to get an application for adoption from your organization as we are desirous of adopting another child.
Patriots,
The Tamil Eelam Liberation OrganizationWebsite still shows Tamil Eelam as a separate region in the North & East of Sri Lanka and makes the same old statements about July 83 riots.
I think it is about time that ALL Parties espousing Separatism and Ethnic Affiliations in their Party Names and Party Manifestos were proscribed, and that Includes the TELO.
Moshe, love your article on our history.
Here is an addition: it was Sri Lankan Buddhist monks who put the Lord Buddha's teaching into the written form. This was probably instrumental in preserving these teachings for the benefit of the whole world.
ANCIENT STEEL MAKING IN SL
Moshe,
Your write up about achievements of ancient Sri Lankans is highly appreciated.
You have mentioned there about high quality steel being made in SL around 300 BC. Dr Gill Juleff is a researher on this subject and if you go to the following site you will find an article by her on it captioned 'ANCIENT IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTION AT SAMANALAWEVA'.
http://www.sab.ac.lk/journal/1998/1998B12.pdf
The December 2007 issue of SLEN (the monthly periodical of the Institution of Engineers, SL) carries a front page article by Dr Premala Sivaprgasapillai (the first woman to enter the Engineering Faculty of the University of Ceylon) on Dr Juleff's work.
The Editorial of the same points out the steel so produced was exported to Africa and may have been used in the Damascus swords that baffled the invading armies of the Crusaders.
goolge,
sure. it should be for all sri lankans in general.
goolge & sara,
glad you like it.
that was someone else's work. got it in an email from someone never even been to SL!! no mention where he got it.
credits to whoever did it. excellent work.
(always) excuse me for spelling MISHAPS (lol!!)
www.srilankaequity.com
· The All Share Price Index increased by 14.8 points to close at 2,363.1points (+0.6%) whilst the Milanka Price Index also increased by 8.1 points to close at 2,640.7 points (+0.3%)
· The total turnover was LKR 159.9 mn (USD1391k) vs. 12-months average daily turnover of LKR342.7 mn (USD2981.1k) whilst the volume traded was 6535k against the 12-months average daily volume of 11810k
· Top traded counters were John Keells Holdings LKR42.6mn (USD370.6k, -1.4%), Lanka Cement LKR14.5mn (USD126.1k, +8.5%), Seylan Bank (Non Voting) LKR6.8mn (USD59.2k, +3.9%), Environmental Resources Investments LKR6.6mn (USD57.4, +15.48%) and National Development Bank LKR5.5mn (USD47.9k, +0.7%)
· High networth and retail interest was evident on John Keells Holdings whilst Lanka Cement resulted in the highest retail buying transactions. Buying interest continued in Banking stocks. Overall, the marked ended its eight day straight downward spiral and rebounded today on the back of the blue chip stocks firming up.
· Foreign purchases amounted to LKR27.1mn (USD235.8k) whilst foreign sales amounted to LKR39.4mn (USD342.8).
The Small Miracle
Sri Lanka Tourism is poised for growth after recovering from the quarter century long national conflicts. Tourism in Sri Lanka is an industry that can be promoted in the shortest possible time and is expected to bounce back quickly. Even with travel advisories not being completely removed and it being off season for surfing,Arugambay the previously not accessible Eastern part of the island attracted significant amount of foreigners. With its long coastal line, hill country, ancient cities and surfing attractions (Arugambay being one of the top 10 suf points in the world) Sri Lanka is all geared up to attract tourists once the global economic environment improves.
The number of visitors to the country went up by 8.1% in June 2009 to 30,234 following the declaration of complete victory on the war front in the later weeks of May, however the arrivals are still down 16.3% in the first half of the year.
During June 09 arrivals from India, on which the trade has pinned much hope grew by 8.1% to 6,124. Many western travel advisories (like Britain, Belgium, Australia, etc) on the country have been eased since the war ended. This would unblock arrivals to Sri Lanka this winter. The local tourism sector can accommodate up to 650,000
arrivals per year with 15,000 decent rooms island wide where so far the annual volumes have been in the range of 400,000 to 500,000.
The local corporates and hoteliers are amused by the opportunity which lies ahead and have plans to utilize it. John Keells Holdings which controls circa 40% of the city 5 star room supply and 774 hotel rooms in strategic locations of the country is planning to build 3 new hotels with 150 rooms each which includes one resort hotel in Trincomalee where it already owns a 60 room resort hotel. Likewise it is highly possible that Aitken Spence with 100 acres of land in Trincomalee would also look out for opportunities of this nature. Thus a complete turnaround could be expected from early 2010.
Sri Lanka: A business hub?
With the war ending and Sri Lanka opening up for various business locally and with rest of the world more so than before the interest from neighboring India is set to get a boost. Numbers of foreign interests are already present in Sri Lanka and a significant overseas business interests are expected to fall through with the new developments in the country’s untapped areas.
The neighboring India has already vested interest in the country by way of owning listed companies such as LIOC and Watawala plantations and private interests such as purchase of Dutch Lanka Trailers by India’s TATA group, India’s Ramco group, Birla group and Shanghi Cement India having shown interest in the Kankasanthurai plant of Lanka Cement.
We believe that apart from the manufacturing opportunities in the country new areas like Jaffna are poised to be a potential Business Process and Knowledge Process Outsourcing hub. With the natural harbor in Colombo and a new port coming in Hambantota Sri Lanka is poised to be a regional hub and benefit from the increased economic activity.
http://www.srilankaequity.com
Patriots,
Today I viewed the entire three part ITN interview of four of the Tamil doctors who were taken into custody in the NFZ at the defence.lk site. I plan to post them at the SriLankaPatriots blog.
Dr. Sivapalan, who had served the LTTE from 1996, said that there were only 60 civilian casualties, all due to LTTE shootings, at the time when the Voice of Tigers announced the deaths of 1000 and the wounding of 2000 civilians. During calls by news media, they said they were forced to exaggerate casualty figures by as much as two orders of magnitude.
They said there was no shelling whatever of the NFZ by the Sri Lanka Army, except once when the LTTE had moved an AA gun about 100m away from the Puthukudiruppu hospital, and 2 shells fell near the AA gun. They said there was no shelling whatever in the NFZ at the Puthumathalan hospital.
They said that the deaths of 50 A/L age girls at the "Sencholai girls school" was a falsehood. The girls school had been relocated to Kilinochchi, and the building was being used for Military training of A/L girls with firing range and weapons handling classes. Because of the military training activity it was bombed and 50 girls were killed. The LTTE quickly came and removed all military equipment, then brought UNHCR and iNGOs and used it as an example of killing of civilians by the SLAF who bombed a girls school.
Near the very end (15th May onwards), they said there were no shelling attacks, and no air force bombings. They said in small arms crossfire there were at most 10 civilian deaths and 20 injuries.
They said most of the injuries suffered by civilians were from LTTE attacks against escaping civilians, and from attacks against parents resisting the forced conscription of their children.
This showed the ENORMITY of the LIES and HOODWINKING of the western news media, international organizations, foreign countries and the UN, with and without their ACTIVE COLLABORATION, that has been practiced AS AN ART FORM by the LTTE.
Since all this was VERY CLEAR to us at DW, and DEFIED COMMONSENSE of even the most GULLIBLE PERSONS, these revelations go a long way to DEMONSTRATE the DELIBERATE ILL WILL harboured by all of these foreign institutions against Sri Lanka.
Our thousands of INNOCENT DEAD, Sinhalese and Tamils alike, over a 30 period did not matter to them. Only the attainment of their POLITICAL AGENDAS mattered.
As these events recede into the distant past in the years ahead, WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET what these ENEMIES of Sri Lanka attempted to do when the very survival of our country was at stake.
We must NEVER LET OUR GUARD DOWN, or be LULLED into TRUSTING THEM when they return to beguile us with smiles and sweet talk in the future.
[Sara said
I checked the past e-mail and found that the fund concerned is run by The Seva Vanitha Army Branch Of Sri Lanka.
]
RVF : Sorry, but we will not be able to answer your queries because we have not worked with the Seva Vanitha Army. Please direct your questions regarding the delays and your allegations of favoritism to Seva Vanitha army branch.
[Sara said
In any case can you please let me know how to get an application for adoption from your organization as we are desirous of adopting another child.
]
RVF : We are currently supporting 3 programs
1. Assistance for Children with Medical Needs via Ranaviru Seva Authority
2. Directorate of Welfare of the Sri Lanka Navy Scholarship Program
3. Ranaviru Seva Authority Scholarship Program.
For details of the application procedure and application forms please visit;
http://www.ranavirufund.org/ranaviruchildren.html
Ranaviru Fund,
Thanks for the reply. I visited your site and found it to be much better organized than the army one and I am also happy that it caters for all services including Police. I will be sponsoring one more quite soon.
I wonder why all these units cannot be amalgamated in to one. That would prove to be much more effective and also avoid any possible duplication of recipients.
Thanks, but I don't intend to follow up further with the remarks made by me with Army SV unit. That may discourage some people who are doing good voluntary work. Your comments made me realize that perhaps things are being controlled properly by them too.
They were not complaints or allegations but just mentioned as a response to your post in this blog. Things that you write in a blog may not be appropriate in other fora.
Indian foreign minister, S M Krishna in Lok Sabha:
"‘With Sri Lanka, we have been in continuous dialogue. Recently, a high-powered Delegation (led by Basil Rajapaksa) came and met me, and met the Home Minister (Palaniappan Chidambaram) and others. And they gave certain assurances with reference to the Tamil minorities. The 13th Amendment, which means devolution of powers, is an article of faith with us, and they also say that they fully subscribe not only to the 13th Amendment but beyond 13th plus. So, in our relationship between two countries, we will have to trust them and we hope that they will act in the days to come"
If you do nothing (just keep having lot of faith in Rajapaksa) some day after the presidential and parliamentary elections you may end up with 13th plus (plus =???). Only way to stop that from happening is by opposing it. If a sufficient fraction of the population resists, it can be stopped.
Constitution amendment powers to any party would be a very risky thing at this moment. JR abused such powers and he won't be the last.
http://asiantribune.com/07/11/delhi-gets-firsthand-account-of-the-situation-in-sri-lanka%e2%80%99s-idp-camps/
People,
I did a search for "Sri Lanka tourism" in youtube, and one of the videos is a dubious Al-Jazeera report about IDP camps. Please log into youtube and flag it.
I hope if many people flag it, it will be taken out of this category.
The video is tagged "Sri Lanka Tourism and Link to Talking Bird Amazing...." - and it has a lot of tags that don't appear even on the legitimate videos! I also suggest these tags be copied onto legitimate tourist videos, if their owners are reading this.
Eelam Racists Still Flocking Together in Tamil Nadu
Eelam leaders look inwards, admit flaws
ExpressBuzz.com
July 11, 2009
CHENNAI: Indications of the Eelam Tamils movement in the State charting a new course came to fore on Friday, with the movement’s prominent leader P.Nedumaran and CPI leader D.Pandian admitting that mistakes were made in their efforts to secure the rights for Eelam Tamils.
They were speaking while releasing a new book, ‘Aneethiyin Kaavalarkal’ (Guardians of injustice) by A.K.Joseph Kennedy that deals in part with the politics surrounding Eelam Tamils.
Pandian said, “By restricting the movement to Tamil Nadu and making the issue a Tamils only issue, we drew a circle around the issue, largely restricting its scope. In this context I admit that we have made a mistake in carrying the movement forward.” “Even when protests were happening abroad, only Eelam Tamils participated in them instead of involving the larger community around them.” “ The movement should have focussed on the crimes against humanity and thus involved the international community.
Today when we ask why China and Cuba voted in favour of Sri Lanka at UNHCR, it was more the failure of our efforts to take the issue to international fora,” he said.
He also criticised the politics around the issue saying each political party was trying to show that it offered more for Eelam Tamils than other parties.” The issue was reduced to mere bickering among parties in one state and did not even extend to parties in other states. Pandian also criticised Karunanidhi for his statement that Tamils must not anger Rajapakse and must behave like ‘good children.’ “He (Karunanidhi) is saying this about a murderer (Rajapakse), who has still not given any rights to the Tamils,”he noted.
Nedumaran said he agreed with the views of Pandian.
He found the government of India as a hindrance in taking the issue to the international community. Other countries viewed Lanka as being in India’s sphere of influence and hence they toed India’s policy.
It came out from the leaders that the next phase of the movement for Eelam Tamils in the state would look at ensuring the rights of Tamils and good living conditions in Lankan refugee camps.
guys,
Please read Dayan's latest article and take heed (read between the lines). He should not be villified. Do not think that the difficulties for SL is over. There is much work to be done. Overtly opposing 13th may in fact work against the ultimate object of achieving a level-playing field. The enemies are not lying still.
http://www.island.lk/2009/07/12/features6.html
What is needed is not the non-implementation of 13th. But it should be to make it impossible to use it for asymmetrical devolution. Is there any reason why 13 could not be "implemented" while legislating for further (political) devolution down to village level, using water catchments for administrative devolution and enshrining integration as a national policy in which those organisations and political entities who do so are rewarded and strengthened while others are not privileged and weakened?
Can a legal expert answer this. I suspect that the phase we have entered now is the most crucial for SL (in the last 500 years). SL has merely gotten on her knees right now. It is imperative that she is permitted to get back on her feet while distracting her protagonists.
POT calling the KETTLE black! Maoists accusing Police of Atrocities!
DEMOCRACY in Action in INDIA! LoL!
Do these TACTICS sound Familiar to US?
Lalgarh: 2 CPI-M activists lynched by Maoists
ExpressBuzz.com
July 11, 2009
LALGARH: Maoist rebels abducted and lynched two Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists here Friday night, even as the joint security operation to nab the ultras in and around the enclave of West Midnapore district continued.
A group of the left-wing radicals raided the Chandra area near the Kotwali police station of the district and took away Baren Mahato and Gurucharan Mahato at gunpoint.
"They were beaten to death," Inspector General of State Police (Western Range) Kuldip Singh told IANS.
The badly mutilated bodies of the two were found in the early hours Saturday, some distance from the area where they were abducted.
An eyewitness said that the Maoists asked for the houses of the two CPI-M men, and dragged them out. They also ransacked the houses.
Meanwhile, the joint forces of the central paramilitary troops and state armed police faced the fury of students and parents in four areas around here - about 200 km from the state capital Kolkata - on Friday and Saturday over a demand that the security personnel vacate the schools where they are staying.
The parents said studies have been disrupted as classes remained suspended with the forces taking over the schools.
At Binpur high school, the agitators locked the school gate with a security contingent inside leading to a baton charge by the police.
The protesters then blocked a key highway in Binpur town. A section of the students and their parents are on hunger strike Saturday before the school gate in support of their demand.
Lalgarh is the headquarters of the Binpur -1 Community Development block.
The massive security operation was launched by the state government June 18 to flush out the Maoists who had established their control around this belt since November 2008 alongside the tribal body People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) after torching police camps and offices of the ruling CPI-M and driving out the civil administration.
Lalgarh has been on the boil since November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
Complaining of police atrocities after the blast, angry tribals backed by Maoists launched an agitation, virtually cutting off the area from the rest of West Midnapore district.
Maoists are active in areas under 21 police stations in the state's three western districts - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.
Mayil Ravana, Bro
I am firing this off before I have completed analyzing Dayan Jayatilleka's arguments. A more in-depth post will follow, but for now here is my first response:
Dayan makes two objections to abandoning the 13th:
1. No Tamil party will accept a unit of devolution less than a province,
2. The 13th is a fait-accompli between the two nations: India and Sri Lanka, that cannot be abandoned.
BOTH of these are BOGUS reasons, for
(1) is a Tamil position formerly buttressed by the existence of the LTTE when the Tamils FELT POWERFUL on the one hand, and the vast majority were cowed and HAD NO INDEPENDENT VOICE. That is no longer the case, and the Tamil population is now even smaller with over 1 million SL Tamils now permanently residing in the Diaspora. In fact, Karuna says Eastern Tamils do not want devolution.
In any case, where is it written that such a small minority, spread over the entire country with the majority outside the North and the East, have some inalienable god-given right to an autonomous state in the North and East as well?
(2) was a DICTAT imposed upon Sri Lanka by a biased foreign power at the point of a gun leveled at its sovereign head. Such agreements UNDER DURESS are NOT ENFORCEABLE under any LAW. In any case, this is an issue to be decided by the PEOPLE of Lanka, not any foreign or local bodies.
He brings up Yugoslavia as an example of why SL should not deny autonomy, but forgets to mention hundreds of other countries in the world that get along fine without autonomous provinces without disintegration. Besides, Yugoslavia flew apart precisely because of FOREIGN interference (Germany, German-led EU, US, and NATO) and FOREIGN power-block agendas that stoked internal fires. These are PRECISELY the kinds of forces WE HAVE TO WORRY about as well.
Also, at which point of smallness does autonomy cease to be viable? How about autonomy for former Portuguese Goa, or the many Moslem majority cities, of India? How about an autonomous Chinatown in San Francisco, or within a district, a village, or a man's home? Diplomatic relation between man and wife via the good offices of a marriage counselor ... shall we say?
There are those who argue that SIZE is should not be a consideration in devolution of power.
Au contraire; there is a size level at which devolution and autonomy becomes a unsustainable, unworkable, ridiculous.
Consider the "unwritten" but well recognized management principle that each manager can at most manage six subordinates. A global enterprise, such as Chevron, Inc, has many levels of management with each level devolving power to at least six subordinate departments, with power cascading down the hierarchy in smaller and smaller chunks, while control information and feedback flows upwards up the hierarchy, yes sir, in smaller and smaller chunks. Sometimes, the management becomes so top heavy and unweildy that the organization consumes more than it produces and collapses from within.
Consider now a small business, such as your corner grocery shop, or my engineering R&D company. Does that need six subordinate departments because one employee has an inflated ego and can't get along with the others? Should the six employees be individually stacked vertically in six-levels of hierarchical management, or will such devolution of power destroy the business making it inefficient, too costly and top heavy? Reductio Ad Absurdum; SIZE matters!
Sri Lanka is a VERY SMALL BUSINESS in the industry of governing people of sovereign nations. Only covetous neighbors, and internal proxies emboldened by them, have a compelling need to further subdivide it, to set the stage for prying out that part of the small business at some future propitious date!
This guy Dayan Jayatilleka's arguments must be confronted head on!
Let the Panadura debates RESUME in OUR TIME!
Ananda_USA,
Your arguments are no less valid against Dayan's less cogent ones. I am pointing to the hidden message (remember, as an Ambassador he is writing much more to a foreign audience than to us)regarding the care we have to take in continuing the struggle.
An example is how the LTTE provided an opportunity for SL to build a formidable Armed Force under the noses of buch bigger powers.
A great thing about Sri Lankans is the very thing that the Tamil Eelamists see as a weakness. That is we vigorously disagree with each other to the point of coming to blows. But moderators among us keep everyone focused on the central theme. Ultimately, via disparate paths we all move towards the same goals. These many paths approach and their abundance, I believe is what makes us unbeatable. (oops did I let out a secret).
Moshe and SARA,
Thank you for pointing out the fascinating history of smelting and the steel industry in SL.
Even though they were not interested in conquering the World, it appears they had significant influence on history elsewhere, either through technology, politics or diplomacy.
It is also gratifying to note that the Samanalawewa enterprise was not far from Balangoda where the remains of our robust and ancient ancestor was found. The South of the Island may be a treasure trove of archeology yet to be discovered.
"The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was born out of India's intervention after the unfortunate ethnic violence in July 1983. When the 13th Amendment was originally tested for its constitutionality before a Full Bench of the Supreme Court at the time, President J.R. Jayewardene and UNP Chairman Harsha Abeywardena petitioned the court in support and 39 persons including Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike petitioned against it. The 9-bench Supreme Court held 5-4 in favour (notwithstanding a conditional judgment by one of the judges which the government took as being in favour) and when it was fixed for a three day debate in Parliament, government MPs from the United National Party (UNP) were kept at the Oberoi Hotel and transported under armed escort daily to the House.
Then Agriculture Minister Gamani Jayasuriya opposed the 13th Amendment in the Cabinet and in public, and was therefore not slotted to speak by his own party despite his request to speak. "That would be like throwing a bomb in Parliament" commented President Jayewardene. The then Opposition Leader, Anura Bandaranaike, gave 30 minutes from his time to Jayasuriya, but the Speaker disallowed it though convention permits the practice. Eventually, Jayasuriya tendered his resignation as an MP and invoked another convention that permits such a person to make a personal statement. Then they said he can make his speech only after the vote.
The bill was introduced by the Minister of Public Administration, a ministry not directly related to devolution and the then Prime Minister R. Premadasa refused to open the debate. Two UNPers voted against the 2nd reading of the bill but voted for it in the 3rd reading.
Such was the controversy surrounding the passage of the 13th Amendment at the time. One of the principal elements of the 13th Amendment was the creation of Provincial Councils as an 'instrument of power sharing' -- a measure intended to satisfy Tamil grievances. The North and Eastern provinces were merged into one unit. In practice, however, the North-Eastern Provincial Council did not serve its purpose and had to function for the most part under a Governor. As a result, it was the seven other provinces where the need for such PCs was not felt necessary, that were saddled with it eventually.
If there was colossal waste of public funds, it amounted to a virtual duplication of functions of the central government in those areas. Waste, corruption and maladministration became rampant in a system which replicated the role of the Cabinet, and the elected representatives were just an extension of the MPs' family and friends."
-Political Column (Sunday Times)
Guys,
Many countries in the World have more than one official language according the CIA-factbook:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html
Those who have more than two official languages usualy have one of the European (English or French as one of those). Switzerland has three official languages.
Many African countries only have a European language as official (where Uncle Tom's still rule).
It is interesting that in SL Sinhala is Official and National language and Tamil is a National language (what is the difference between official and national? An oxymoron?)
Also Divehi (Maldives) is considered a sinhala dialect.
Many Countries do not actually have an official language (e.g. China, India, Singapore, Australia- presumably because the dominant language is effectively imposed in any case). Smaller nations around these larger countries (Taiwan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand) have sought to install official languages.
Interestingly English, is not "official" in UK but is in Ireland : ). Try communicating with an English civil servant in Gaelic.
It appears that Tamil-Eelamists made language an unnecessary issue when the intent of the Native Languages act was to help non-English speakers be more empowered. As a result, the issue of devolution to the Tamil-dominated areas will become difficult. The very conditions that the Eelamists imposed will now become a mill-stone around their necks.
Either they will have to give up relative official status of Tamil (as if), permit integration of communities in the North as it is the case elsewhere or give up the 13th amendment as an unattainable goal (as long as the separatist history is still fresh in Sri lankan minds).
I think they should go for the compromise of effective integration of the North and devolution (ala 13th) to be coupled. That and a condition of a 30 year moratorium on dilution of Defence Forces presence in the North and East should put most Sri Lankans at ease and they can have the 13th implemented. I hope MR will push for a solution like this.
Can a constitutional Expert comment:
When English is not the official language of UK, the British saw fit to impose English as the official language its colonies (except those that had a majority English speakers- NZ appears to have only made English official following the demand to make Maori and Sign language official in the late 1980's- early 1990's). Thus the "official" status of a foreign language appear to be imposed only on non-white colonies.
Is this the reason that official status needed to be accorded to the native languages? (because English was already officially entrenched?)
What is this
"VISIT SRI LANKA 2011" ?
In 1815 or thereabouts, the British created the "Singhalese" ethnic group. Prior to that "Sinhala" was the language of the people of "Sinhale" (named "Ceylon" by corruption to European languages).
"Tamil" identity was also created in parallel. While the Europeans may not have created these classifications deliberately to divide at first, they certainly used it later. What is very evident in written form is that the British "managers" had the intent of creating a "native class" that did their bidding and rule the rest.
It is very clear then that the Jaffna Tamils were considered suitable candidates within the next hundred years. The exploitation of the racists tendencies between "Sinhala" and "Tamil" was merely an opportunity that was taken to further the original dogma of divide and rule along "class-lines" to "race-lines".
The "feline-like affection" of "Tamil coolies" to their "masters" and the "sullenness" of the "effeminate singhalese" whose "affectation" was compared to the "West Indian Nigger" was commented on by just one ruling British racist. It does not take much to extrapolate from this to the policy that the British continued to pursue on the island.
The identity of the island has now evolved from the "Sinhala" into "Sri Lankan". The language clearly remains sinhala.
Interestingly, most foreigners (including my children) refer to "spoken sinhala" as "Sri Lankan".
Perhaps, the current situation could have still been achieved (most people speaking and reading and writing sinhala and the media using it) without the need for an offcial language policy.
Similarly, with or without 13th amendment, could other goals to unify the island be achieved. 9it could equally be said that the Tamils could have equally assumed complete control of the island if they had not made such a song and dance about language, identity etc. Because a minority of elite Tamils wanted more than just soft power, they woke up the sleeping (sinhala) dogs.
Time to break into song;
Who let the dogs out!
who who who who who!
Here goes Freedom !!!!
These thing will lead to another uprise.
"National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader and parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa’s wife had reportedly entered the Ratnavali Girls School in Gampaha and created a stir there on Wednesday (8).
According to reports, Weerawansa’s wife had visited the school with NFF parliamentarian Piyasiri Wijenayake’s wife and met with the principal. Weerawansa’s wife had then created a commotion claiming an A/Level student in the school was sending short messages (sms) to her husband’s mobile phone and that she wanted to speak to the relevant girl immediately.
School authorities have however denied the request.
Weerawasa’s wife and Wijenayake’s wife have then
shouted at the school authorities in bad language. Unable to control the situation, the teachers had summoned the girl to the principal’s office.
Weerawansa’s wife had then shouted at the girl, threatened her with death and even tired to attack her in front of the teachers.
Disgruntled parents and teachers have said that it was unpleasant to see wives of politicians entering schools and disrupting school work. They also observe that although the student in question is involved with Weerawansa in such a manner, it was Weerwansa’s fault to have a relationship with a minor.
People in Gampaha have expressed shock that the Child Protection Authority has not taken action against Weerawansa."
The same news item from a different perspective (Lakbima)
"Who is writing to Wimal?
It is reported that National Freedom Front(NFF) leader, Wimal Weerawansa’s wife Sashi Weerawansa had barged into Gampaha Ratnawali Balika Maha Vidyalala to find out for herself about a student who was writing letters to her husband.
Meanwhile, our attempts to contact the principal of Ratnawali Vidyalaya to ascertain the truth was to no avail. However, a teacher who was witness to the incident confirmed that Sashi Weerawansa had come to the school bringing with her the letters purported to have been written by the student.
It is reported that the student had stated in her letters that she was fascinated with the way Wimal Weerawansa spoke. She had also stated that she had fallen in love with his smile and hairstyle.
She is said to have posted these letters to Weerawansa’s residence and Sashi had been in receipt of all the letters.
However, it is reported that Sashi had advised her to continue with her studies without getting involved in other issues.
Meanwhile , the student had promised the principal that she will stop writing letters to Weerawansa and concentrate on her studies. The student is said to be sitting for the A/L examination next month."
MayilRavana said...
[ Many countries in the World have more than one official language according the CIA-factbook: ]
The CIA factbook may not be the sole, or the best, authority on National/Official languages. For another list see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_official_languages_by_state
In India, most Central Govt communications are either in Hindi or in English, which is not even an official language.
The Wikipedia list cites English as the only official language of the UK, but we know better ... the English have not spoken the Queen's English in years. They speak various English Dialects incomprehensible to mere mortals like us who have been brought up to speak the "Queen's English"! LoL!
I think Tamil should remain an official language in SL, and we Sinhalese should learn it well, in addition to English, Hindi and Chinese. English proficiency should be pushed towards 100% for obvious economic reasons.
In addition, if at least 10% of Sinhala people can gain proficiency in Tamil, Hindi and Chinese ... we would be well poised for great achievements.
POOR Brits: Are they in Over Their Heads in CIVILIAN Casualties too?
Perhaps they can get some TIPS on WHAT TO DO from the SLDF!
Climbing toll raises British doubts on Afghanistan
By ALASTAIR GRANT and DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer Alastair Grant And David Stringer, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 10, 5:51 pm ET
WOOTTON BASSETT, England – Thousands of mourners bowed their heads in tribute Friday to the passing coffins of British soldiers killed in a new offensive in Afghanistan, where the climbing toll has created doubts in Britain about the human cost of the war.
News of 15 battlefield deaths in 10 days has many Britons rethinking the country's commitment to a conflict that seems no closer to a successful conclusion than when troops first arrived seven years ago.
A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said a total of eight deaths were announced Friday, making it one of the darkest days of the war. She spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.
"The casualties should fix peoples' minds on the fact that we've let the soldiers down," said Adam Holloway, an opposition Conservative Party lawmaker who sits on Parliament's defense committee. "The death toll means we should do it properly or we shouldn't do it at all."
Holloway, a frequent visitor to Afghanistan, said Britain has never had the troop strength needed to hold ground there and has failed to provide the promised security or reconstruction, leading many Afghans to believe the Taliban militants will outlast Western forces.
"We're in a mess," he said.
He cautioned that there is still no widespread public revolt against the government's war policy. He said his constituents do not seem extremely worried about the troubled Afghan campaign, despite the increasing casualties.
But some communities are grieving. Schoolchildren, businessmen and army veterans stood side by side in Wootton Bassett, a small market town about 85 miles (135 km) west of London, as the bodies of five soldiers killed between Saturday and Tuesday were driven through the crowds after being flown to a nearby air base.
Wootton Bassett's mayor, Steve Bucknell, said it was becoming increasingly hard to accept the rising number of British casualties.
"We keep on asking ourselves how many more? Each time we pray it's the last one, knowing it probably isn't going to be," Bucknell said.
It has become traditional for the residents to line the streets when hearses carrying soldiers' coffins pass through the town on the sad trip from a military airport to a cemetery.
The casualty count mounted Friday night when officials said five soldiers were killed in two separate explosions while on patrol. Earlier in the evening, the Ministry of Defense announced that a soldier from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment had been killed in an explosion. Two other deaths were announced earlier in the day.
The names of the dead soldiers are likely to be released in the next 24 hours.
The deaths have come in volatile southern Helmand province in the past nine days amid a new offensive to uproot Taliban fighters. Seven years after British forces first deployed to Afghanistan — and after the loss of 185 troops — ex-military chiefs are criticizing tactics and equipment while members of the public wonder about the benefit of taking part in the conflict.
Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth and Prime Minister Gordon Brown claim that Britain's role in Afghanistan is crucial to root out extremist terrorists who could potentially attack the United Kingdom, and to prevent a tide of Afghan heroin from reaching British streets.
Brown said Friday that the war is vital to Britain's security.
Climbing toll raises British doubts on Afghanistan
....continued....
"There is a chain of terror that runs from the mountains and towns of Afghanistan to the streets of Britain," he told reporters at the G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy. "Having talked to President Obama and the rest of the world leaders, there is a recognition that this is a task the world has got to accept together and this is a task we have got to fulfill."
Michael Clarke, head of London-based military think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said public concern is mounting and urged politicians to be more honest about Britain's initial reasons for joining the 2001 invasion.
"What they won't really say is that it's about the credibility of the NATO alliance, and our military relationship with the United States," Clarke said.
Some critics say that Britain should either withdraw from the mission, or that troops must be provided with better equipment, including more helicopters. Britain, the United States and Canada have long complained that they have engaged in heavy fighting in Afghanistan while some European nations have shied away from combat roles.
Tony Philippson, whose son James was killed in Afghanistan in 2006, said the public remained skeptical about whether foreign troops will ever be able to suppress the Taliban and bring peace to the country.
"I've always felt it was a risky business and I think it's still on a knife edge about whether they can succeed," Philippson told the BBC.
Gen. Charles Guthrie, the head of Britain's military between 1997 and 2001, said he believes British soldiers have died as a direct result of a shortage of helicopters for troops in Afghanistan. British troops are suffering heavy casualties from roadside bombs, and a lack of helicopters mean soldiers must make more journey across Helmand by road.
"If there had been more, it is very likely fewer soldiers would have been killed by roadside bombs," Guthrie — a longtime advocate of higher defense spending — was quoted as telling the Daily Mail newspaper.
Britain's defense ministry declined to disclose how many helicopters Britain has in Afghanistan on security grounds, but said additional aircraft are being sent to support the mission.
The ministry said that the two latest casualties died in separate incidents Thursday. The bloodshed has intensified as Afghans prepare for elections planned for next month.
___________
Associated Press Writer Gregory Katz contributed to this report.
Patriots,
The story about the 15 British soldiers who died in Afghanistan recently, and the rising cost of the war in British lives, underscores my recent post at DW on what it will take to win the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and the Al-Quaida.
It is no more, no less, than what it took to win the Eelam war against the LTTE: total commitment, a sufficiently large number of boots on the ground, and a quick ramp up of local Afghan troops to protect their own country.
Adam Holloway, the British opposition Conservative Party lawmaker said it all, when he intoned "The death toll means we should do it properly or we shouldn't do it at all."
Indeed, these kinds of wars cannot be fought on the cheap with a few professional troops scurrying about like the cavalry against the indians, or by deploying more helicopters and avoiding the mined roads.
Mined roads indicate you have no control on the ground, of the battlefield in a guerilla war. The roads are not something to be avoided, but to be held as a consequence, and by-product, of occupying the intervening land with massive force. Using helicopters to ferry troops between strong points because it is too dangerous to move by road, while allowing the enemy to occupy the terrain in between, is the old colonial strategy of war on the cheap that failed again and again, in Vietnam, and elsewhere.
If they want to do this right, they have to pump in lots of money for economic development to create jobs for the Afghan people, to raise a 750,000 man Afghan army, and to deploy 500,000 man US + NATO force while the country is being stabilized and local forces raised. Cutting corners, deploying technology to offset inadequate manpower, they are only fooling themselves waiting for the inevitable ignominious exit when the cost in lives and treasure become unbearable, and the will to fight evaporates back home in Britain and the US.
These are symptoms of flawed military and political thinking, that the GOSL and the SLDF avoided since 2006, and is even now is moving to anticipate and meet in the challenges that lie in the years ahead. Hard won experience taught our military leaders the need for adequate troops and arms to hold and defend the land without gaps, and the need to sustain that readiness and posture at all times. It was NOT BY ACCIDENT, but BY DESIGN, that the entire LTTE leadership was corralled and wiped out like fish in a barrel ... there were no gaps in that trap that netted them.
It is for these very same reasons, underscored by the flaws we are again seeing in the conduct of the evolving Afghan war, that the MOD is adding 100,000 more troops to the SLA, and is planning to increase the SLN and SLAF manpower. The MOD is moving inexorably towards that 500,000 man SLDF that I have been vociferously advocating for years.
I hope, moreover, that the GOSL will, in time, supplement that with the 3,000,000 man National Guard comprising all adults who can bear arms; men and women, between the ages of 18 and 60, to support and backup the full-time regular defense forces.
Participation by ALL in the defense of the Motherland must become an INSTINCTIVE PATRIOTIC RESPONSE, an accepted facet of life shared in common by all in Sri Lanka.
There is no better way to achieve a secure future for the nation than by giving each citizen a PERSONAL STAKE and a ROLE to play in an OMNIPRESENT, ever READY, ever VIGILANT, People's Defense Force.
No enemy, no matter how strong, will then even contemplate taking on this ISLAND FORTRESS, defended by its ENTIRE PEOPLE, within its own shores.
Are These More False Allegations by escaping LTTE cadre?
What is the TRUTH?
Tamils dying in Lanka camps: Refugee
ExpressBuzz.com
July 12, 2009
RAMESWARAM: Tamils in large numbers are dying in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka due to spread of epidemic. Hundreds of children, men and women have died of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, a Sri Lankan Tamil, who reached Arichalmunai near Dhanushkodi said on Saturday.
Manivannan (35) of Adampan in Mannar district in Sri Lanka, his wife Regina (30), and their sons — Sudar (5) and Mukilan — reached Arichalmunai coast in the wee hours of Saturday.
At Dhanushkodi police station, Manivannan, who was grievously injured in a rocket attack during the Eelam war, told reporters that while he was in his house at Pokkalai near Mannar, the army shelled the area.
Due to the injuries in his left leg, he could not move about and was treated at Mathalam hospital. But, for want of drugs, he became lame.
He said that even though the war had ended in the island, Tamils could not live peacefully. There were three lakh inmates in the army refugee camp in Vavuniya living without basic amenities.
The water being supplied in the camps was not potable and due to these conditions many refugees have complaints of vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and other contagious diseases. Since there was no proper medical treatment, large number of inmates, including children, have died.
The future of the children in the camps was bleak, Manivannan added.
After interrogation by the intelligence officials, the family was sent to Mandapam camp.
LONE REFUGEE: Meanwhile, a lone refugee landed at Dhanushkodi on Friday.
Jeyaraj (55), of Kilinochi district, said that he had been ferried across to Dhanushkodi from Mannar after he gave the boatmen his 20 gram gold chain.
He said that his wife and two children were killed in army shelling and he had decided to come to India.
Upul Joseph Fernando is waiting for the arrival of American white masters to save his pal Ranil Wickramasinghe. When others despise the Yankee meddlers, monkeys like UJF is ready worship his white meddlers. Perhaps we need to cleanup up our country of imperial collaborators like UJF before the local mafia.
//Ananda-USA said,
In India, most Central Govt communications are either in Hindi or in English, which is not even an official language//
The facts get screwed when the source is Wikipedia.My suggestion is ignore Wikipedia - it has no credibility since anyone can edit the information.
English is one amongst the official languages of India.
In 1976, Official Language Rules were framed under the provisions of section 8(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963. Its salient features are as under:
1. they apply to all Central Government Offices, including any office of a Commission, Committee or Tribunal appointed by the Central Government and Corporation or Company owned or controlled by it;
2. Communications from a Central Government Office to State/Union Territories or to any person in Region "A" comprising the States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana and UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Delhi, shall be in Hindi;
3. Communications from a Central Government Office to States/UTs in Region "B" comprising the States of Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, shall ordinarily be in Hindi. However, communication to any person in Region "B" may be either in English or Hindi;
4. Communications from a Central Government Office to a State Government Office in region 'C' comprising all other States and UTs not included in region 'A' & 'B' or to any office (note being a Central Government Office) or person shall be in English;
5. Communications between Central Government Offices and from Central Government Offices to the Offices of the State Governments/Union Territories and individuals, etc., will be in Hindi in such proportions as may be determined from time to time;
6. All Manuals, Codes and other Procedural literature relating to Central Government Offices are required to be prepared both in Hindi and English. All Forms, Headings of Registers, Name Plates, Notice Boards and various items of stationery, etc., are also required to be in Hindi and English;
7. It shall be the responsibility of the officer signing the documents specified in section 3(3) of the Act to ensure that these are issued both in Hindi and English
8. Shall be the responsibility of the administrative head of each Central Government Office to ensure that the provisions of the Act, the Rules and directions issued under Sub-Rule-2 are properly complied with and to devise suitable and effective check points for this purpose
For more see http://india.gov.in/knowindia/official_language.php
mayil,
that's a damn good suggestion. we have concentrated on the north central provinece mainly for excavations. south and the south-east are equally important. cave stuff was found almost effortlessly. a little bit of effort will give plenty of archeological findings.
iraq has a shit story.
after the US left within days close to 100 civilians have died.
i'm 100% sure the "internal" havoc in iraq is going to SPILL OVER.
be wary of the left-wing loony!
here's how it works. left-wing loonies are 'first base' thinkers. why? their powers of logical deduction never go beyond the first base. uneducated dumb masses also find first base logic appealing.
here are some examples;
* improve local industries -> close the economy.
* ethnic problem -> tighten regulation, limit freedoms.
* national security -> quadruple the army.
if the left-wing lunatic could stretch their imagination to the second base, then they learn protectionsm hurt economy, people always get their freedoms they desire and there are much better ways of maintaining national security than maintaining a massive commie army like in china.
SL Vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, Colombo
Pakistan 90, all out.
SL 45/1
Jayawewa!
avidimu,
economic nationalism is a BULLSHIT concept. the only economic policy that goes with nationalism is capitalism which is the only successful economic policy.
the left wing is not nationalist. nationalists are generally righ wingers. VERY STRANGELY SL's dumb left wing jumps where it is popular!!
unless these idiots are kept under control, we will be in deep shit.
one BIG SAKKILIYA in this regard is that wickramabahu kari-na-ratne. the leftover JVP is the other.
Indian,
I knew that Hindi and English were the official languages for Indian Govt communications, but didn't have the appropriate reference.
Thanks for the link on Indian Govt official languages .. good info. :)
Not only Wikipedia, the CIA website also had inadequate/ inaccurate information.
Moshe,
What is the deal with the guy who got stoned at Menik Farm? Is he opposed to MR's policies ... or what?
jagath jayasuriya is the new army commander. another brilliant gun!!
he was the vanni overall commander during victory operations. SF, as we prayed, got the CDS job.
Ananda,
according to the report namal rajapaksha (MR's son) has got stoned!! but this has to be taken with a pinch of salt until more info on this comes.
Moshe,
re: Avidimu
Be weary of new comers who make contradictory or in the least quizzical comments.
Looks like the guy is a Johnny Walker fan (heh heh).
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