News Archive for Jan 2010

My SECOND OPEN LETTER TO GENERAL FONSEKA
Dr Anura Weereratne Barrister and Solicitor Canberra.
Dear General You were advised by well meaning people that you should desist from contesting against a seasoned campaigner who had won the hearts of the people. You ignored that advice.  You are now crying foul and appealing to the International community to save you from a possible arrest.  Nobody is above the law, as your now friend in politics, the former CJ Sarath Silva will confirm.  The Government will certainly investigate you, and if there is a prima facie case against you for an alleged serious breach of the law, you... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

දෙමළ වෙස්සන්තරලා-සිරි සංඟබෝලා සොයමින් හඹා යන චන්ද විශ්ලේෂකවරු
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
2005 නොවැම්බර් මැතිවරණයෙන් මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ පැරදුනා යයි සිතමු. හෙල්පින් හම්බන්තොට මුදල් වංචා චෝදනාව යටතේ ඔහුව හිරභාරයට ගැනීමට සැලසුම් කර තිබුනි. ප්‍රභාකරන් අනුරාධපුරයත්, පොලොන්නරුවත්, මීගමුව දක්වාත් අල්ලාගන්නවා ඇත. නුවර, නුවර එලිය, බදුල්ල, මොනරාගල පැත්තේ පමණක් නොව ගාල්ල, මාතර, රත්නපුරයේ පවා වරින් වර බෝම්බ ද පිපිරෙනු ඇත. රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ කොළඹට වී ජෝන් අමරතුංග, රවි කරුණානායක වැනි අය සමඟ ඇමරිකන්, නොර්වේ, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය වැනි තානාපති වරු සමඟ විස්කි බොමින් කාලය ගෙවනු ඇත. මේ අතරතුර මොකක් හෝ චන්දයක් පැවැත් වීමට රනිල් හා ඇමරිකන් තනාපති තීරනය කලා යයි සිතමු. ලංකාව බේරා ගෙන, අනුරාධපුරය නැවත සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ට ලබා දෙනවා කියා එක් අපේක්‍ෂක යෙක් මරණ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

Assam: Where people defy militant’s diktat
Nava Thakuria
Who says Assam is a land of separatists, where the concept of Indianness is yet to gain popular support! Look how the common people of the insurgency stricken State have shown their braveness to defy the diktats of the separatist militants. They came out in larger number to pay their gratitude to the motherland once again on the 61st Republic Day (of India). Not only the government functions, but also the community programmes for the observation of the Day were flocked by conscious citizens of the region. In the main celebrations held in New Delhi, India had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

The general’s last miscalculated stand
OPEN NOTEBOOK BY RANDOM JOTTINGS
IN the days when now defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka reigned supreme as the army commander—with his Commander in Chief President Mahinda Rajapaksa and immediate boss Defense Secretary Gotobaya Rajapaksa readily indulging his every military wish, and often even personal tantrums (which by all accounts were frequent and sometimes exceedingly tiresome)—the discreet tattle in the Officers’ Mess was how during decisive stages of the final fierce push against the Tamil Tigers, Fonseka displayed an uncanny knack of always being comfortably removed from the action. So much so that some senior officers were... -Full Story- (manilatimes.net - 31/01/10)

The statement by Senator Steve Fielding of last week about the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees stationed on Christmas Island
SRI  LANKA  SUPPORT  GROUP -  Media Release 11   Sri Lanka Support Group, Canberra
Our attention has been drawn to the statement by Senator Steve Fielding of last week about the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees stationed on Christmas Island, where he stated the following:  "Facilities on Christmas Island are pretty good and look more like a motel than a detention centre.. Detainees on the island get good accommodation, great food, phone and internet access and then within three months get a gold pass to live in Australia." It was better treatment than many Australians got from the Government.”  We have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

Voters will not leave room for the opposition to elect a government for several decades.
A Sri Lankan
Earlier they blamed Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe for consecutive election  defeats this time they should blame the combination of political parties for the debacle.  When the JVP 3%, TNA 6%, UNP 45% , Muslim Congress 1%, and Mano Ganeshan 1% and Former President Mrs Bandaranaike ( well over 50% of SLFP votes) when combined the opposition should have recorded 56% to 107% of votes. They should realize that when ever they get the support of Mr. Mano Ganeshan, Mr. Rauf Hakeem , Mrs.C. Bandaranayake, Mr. Sambandan with TNA and the support of JVP they are at a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

It is Sinhala votes that matters!!!
Chanath
Dear All, I don't want to boast or anything, but I guessed that MR would win with about 62% votes. I wished that he get 65%. And I was wrong only by about 3%. I also wrote that if anyone votes against MR is a fool, and nearly wrote that, he/she would be called a traitor. Interestingly, SF had won areas marked by the late LTTE as their map, which shows that SL Tamils are not a grateful lot. War kills people, and the bullet doesn't chose anyone's ethnicity. When I first heard and read about the little... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

A chilling report about US interference into the affairs of Sovereign Sri Lanka
 Insight By Sunil Kumar
The sudden concerns By the US Authorities for Fmr. Gen. Sarath Fonseka's personal safety does not appear to be a mere aftermath of the recently concluded Presidential Election.There appears to have been a very complex and intricate plan by the US in lending support towards the Fonseka cause to unseat President Rajapaksha which is attested to by the contents of this item the authenticity of which hardly needs establishing as every detail belongs to the John Kerry report it has been extracted from. There are however some debatable issues which get bypassed towards rationalities despite... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

COLOMBIAN POLL
by Gomin Dayasri
“By gad, God, you look devilish, ” shrieked the Holy Ghost, holding the election results. “I am seriously considering whether to stop creating Colombians, those tumbler talking men gargling their throats with strong drink and inflated women with deformed minds spinning yarn. A lost generation.” replied the good God forever protecting endangered species. “I beseech m’Lud, Lanka, will perish out of boredom, if that tribe does not multiply” said a ghoulish sound. “ True, but refined, independent and cultured live in Colombo- they have to be saved from possible contamination mostly from the virus emanating from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

Sri Lanka Presidential elections : What's your problem?
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
January 30, 2010 Board of Directors   Asian Human Rights Commission  19/F Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road Kowloon   Hong Kong. Ladies and Gentlemen: You people continue to amaze me, not for your moral decency in your genuine concerns about Rights violations in Sri Lanka, but for your constant invective stupidity in shadow boxing with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his governing administrators.  What is wrong with you guys and gals to go into this constant bellyaching stupor? Today’s Yahoo News says: “A regional rights group... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

The West loses its plot in Sri Lanka as Rajapaksa wins
BY: Hasaka Rathnamalala - MISSISSAUAGA, CANADA
The people of Sri Lanka spoke loudly and clearly this time, indicating that they do not tolerate Sarath Fonseka -the dictator in waiting and the Western influence that comes with him into their nation
NEARLY SIXTY per cent of the Sri Lankans chose incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa to run their country for another six years. This is the first island wide presidential election Sri Lanka has had since 1982, without any hindrance from the Tamil Tigers.  The other significant incident in this election was the sudden appearance of retired army commander, General... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/10)

President Rajapaksa’s win comes as no surprise
• On no occasion did President revile his rival candidates • General Fonseka lost respect of people • Every leader of parties that formed opposition had grudge against President • Elections Commissioner disproved rigging allegations
Over-confident Fonseka jumps the gun Overwhelmed by effervescent optimism, addressing the propaganda rallies in the final phase of his campaign, General Fonseka made it a point to tell the people what he proposed to do immediately after being sworn in as the Executive President. He said in a firm tone that soon after January 27 he would send the corrupt elements to the... -Full Story- (nation.lk - 31/01/10)

One Vote One Value
Rohan Bandarage, Perth Australia.
Sri Lanka perhaps is the only democracy where ‘One Vote – One Value’ concept is not practised. In the 2004 General Elections, the JHU received 552,724 votes and obtained 7 district basis seats, whilst the Tamil Front received 633,654 votes and obtained 20 district basis seats. In effect, each JHU seat has a value of 78,960 whilst each Tamil seat has only 31,682. North & East electors were therefore able to get at least 2 MPs against 1 MP in the South for the same vote value. Contrary to the popular belief, this anomaly is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

The continued bickering and refusal to accept facts by these disgruntled pretenders
Henry, USA
The Editor. The presidential election is over. The winner has been declared. The monitors-none of whom have vested interests in the result-have given their thumbs up that it was a free and fair election.   And still we hear the etrnal refrain from the losers that the elections were rigged. For goodness sake, when is this nonsense going to end?   There is no doubt that the vast majority of the freedom and democracy loving people of Sri Lanka are heaving sighs of relief that the country did not fall into the clutches of an infamous coalition as that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

The Presidential election and what it reveals.
by Gam Vaesiya, Ontario, Canada
The results of the 2010 presidential election in Sri Lanka are depicted in the color-calibrated map shown here (courtesy http://dh-web.org/place.names/maps). The colours range from deep blue for Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR), to bright green for the opposition contender Sarath Fonseka (SF). The vote in the North and the East The strikingly large green areas are deceptive and demand attention. The green areas in the North and the East correspond roughly to the "exclusive Tamil homelands" claimed by the LTTE, and also by the TNA. The later spear-headed the Tamil supported for SF. However, although... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

Statement made by the Election Commissioner
Orpheus Perera
What does this mean? Does it mean that Mahinda won the election by cheating? Or does it mean that the election commissioner is making background for his family to be able to get refugee status in Australia or USA? Or was he is going into a depression because his favourite candidate SF lost the election? There were Sinhalese guys, adult student in a TAFE trying to get refugee status while the war was in progress, trying to claim the refugee status on similar grounds. I think Sri Lanka was always corrupted and lots of people(mostly in urban... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපතිතුමා හා ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය සිසු පරපුර
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
අප පැතූ ආකාරයට මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජයග්‍රහණය කලහ. අප එතුමාට ශුභ පතමු. එතුමාගේ ජයග්‍රහණය මෙරට ශිෂ්‍ය පරපුරේ ජයග්‍රහණයේ පලමු වෙඩි මුරය බවට පත්කර ගත හැකි නම්, එය මේ රට ලබා ගන්නා මහා ජයග්‍රණයකි. තවද එය මහා අනාගත ජයග්‍රහණයක්ද වෙනු ඇත. මෙරට ශිෂ්‍ය පරපුර යනු මහා අගනා සම්පතක් වන අතර, මේ කුඩා දරුවන් දෙස ඒ ආකාරයට දකින්නේ ඉතා සුළු පිරිසකි. මේ සම්පත රටේ මුහුණ දෙන ගැටලු රාශියක් ඇත. එම ගැටළු අතරින් බරපතලම ගැටලුව වන්නේ. අ. පො. ස. (උ. පෙල) සමත්වූවද; ඒ උසස් අධ්‍යාපන වරම් නොලබන ශිෂ්‍ය පරපුරයි. විශ්ව විද්‍යාල වලට ඇතුලත් කරගත හැකි ශිෂ්‍ය සංඛ්‍යව නියතයක් බැවින්,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy (Catpad)-Congratulates President Mahinda Rajapakse on his Victory!
-NEWS SEND BY MICHAEL WALTER -
It gives us immense pleasure to extend our hearty congratulations and warm greetings to His Excellency the President, Mahinda Rajapakse on behalf of Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy as he begins his second tenure as the President of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans has once again have proved their commitment to strengthening democracy. Nothing improves the reputation of a government and its leader more than returning to power with a vast majority. Your Excellency, you have been provided leadership in various capacities, especially during the past four years as the President... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—9 EXPLORING GERMANY: A DRIVE ON WIENSTRASSE (WINE ROUTE)
By Shelton A. Gunaratne
2010
As a habit, I invariably combined my professional (journalistic) and scholarly interests in planning my travels. My winter 1992 tour of the Rhine Valley wine route (Wienstrasse) and the Black Forest (Schwarzwold) was no exception.  I had made arrangements to visit the editorial office of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) one of the superb elite newspapers of the world and to enjoy the luxury of a grand hotel before I set off to the Black Forest to write a free-lance travel piece for The (Fargo, N D) Forum.  My flight landed in Frankfurt-am-Main Airport... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/10)

Prabhakaran Reborn !
Ananda De Costa
The following table shows a predicted Presidential Election Results 2010. This prediction was made by the writer on the 25th January, based on his opinion, knowing the very predictable behaviour of the Sri Lanka voter.   Christians/Catholics Muslims Indian Tamils Tamils Sinhala1 Sinhala2 Total %Population 10 10 5 10 15 50 % Fonseka 90 30 10 90 100 10... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

Sarath Fonseka's moaning and bellyaching
LankaWeb Editorial
It seems high time the Sarath Fonseka led bandwagon's  moaning and bellyaching which also incorporates those of the UNF, TNA and JVP etc. quit their theatrics like sore losers about the illegitimacies  of the Presidential elections as their pleas seem meaningless in the aftermath of a well conducted election which has been accepted and given Carte Blanche as legit and fair by the likes of the UN, The USA, the EU and a host of other sources, the only ones that matter in the scheme of things as the lack of decorum by the losers who aren't gracious enough to accept defeat and congratulate the President ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණය හා දේශද්‍රෝහීන් 4,173,185
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
ජනාධිපතිවරණය  නිමාවට පත්විය. මෙම ජනාධිපතිවරණය හා එහි ප්‍රතිඵල මේ රටට හා ජාතියට කියන්නාවූ කරුණු සම්භාරය අති විශාලය. මෙම කරුණු සම්භාරය මනාව අවබෝධ කරගැනීම රට නිවැරදි ඉලක්කයක් කරා මෙහෙය වන ජාතික බලවේගයන්හි නියමුවන්ගේ ප්‍රධාන කාර්යය භාරය විය යුතුය. අප ඉතා කෙටියෙන් මේ මැතිවරණය ජාතියට හඩගා කිවූ පණිවුඩය කුමක්දැයි හදුනා ගැනීමට බලමු. මැතිවරණය පැවතියේ අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී දේශද්‍රෝහී කණ්ඩායම හා දේශයට ආදරය කරන දේශප්‍රේමී බලවේගය අතරය. අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී දේශද්‍රෝහීන්ගේ ප්‍රධාන අරමුණ වූ ප්‍රභාකරන් ප්‍රමූඛ කොටි සංවිධානය විනාශ කල මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ, හමුදා රණවිරුවන් හා මෙරට දේශප්‍රේමීන්ව ඝාතනය කිරීමේ මෙහෙයවුමට සහය පල කරමින්, එම ක්‍රියාමාර්ගය අනුමත කරමින් මෙරට ජනතාවගෙන් 4,173,185... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

LANKA WEB ELECTION FORECAST 96.05% ACCURATE
By M D P DISSANAYAKE. FCMA, CPA, PhD
The Lanka Web on its website published an article on 24 January 2010, ( two days prior to the date of the election) predicting the election results under the caption of “Forecast results of Presidential Election”. The article contained geographical and statistical analysis of the most probable outcome. The complete text of the writer’s article could still be found in this website. The last paragraph of the writer’s article is re-produced here for easy reference: “With these assumptions, Sivaji, SF and MR are likely to score 3.2%, 35.4% and 61.4% respectively... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

Election Secretariat rules out computer fraud at Jan. 26 polls Counting done manually in the presence of party agents - Top official
by Shamindra Ferdinando
The Election Secretariat yesterday dismissed Opposition allegations that the government and the election staff had manipulated the results of Tuesday’s presidential polls to help incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa secure a second term with a thumping majority of 1.8 million votes. Retired top civil servant Bandula Kulatunga, now consultant to the Elections Secretariat, told The Island that counting of ballot papers was done manually though computers, too, were used in the process. According to him, the use of computers is in addition to manual counting. He said it would not have been possible to manipulate the results... -Full Story- (The Island - 29/01/10)

Is This A Strategic Partnership?
Ishrat Ali Khan
While US President Obama and his hawkish associates term the use of drones strikes against the suspected militants in Pakistan as “very successful”, it is drawing strong reaction against Americans throughout in Pakistan because the drones kill hundreds of innocent civilians along with few militants. The two top US visiting officials, Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, and Senator John McCain, the a former Republican presidential candidate, defended the barrage of increasing US predator strikes inside FATA. Pakistan has repeatedly protested these attacks due to three reasons: (a) Infringement on the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

Voters do not care a DAMN....I said.
Chanath You see, I'm not a SLFP person, nor I have voted for MR before. What I meant was that we have to be vigilant in never allowing parties like JVP, TNA to break the country again. JVP is worse than the LTTE for I know what is communism and how such a system could break people, yes I repeat, break people. You must have seen how the LTTE broke people's ability to think independently.    SF should never allowed win, as he was the main candidate of the JVP! KI can write a story, how it would be,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

The events unveiling prove that Nation has taken the correct stand in 2010
A Sri Lankan
According to the election results TNA /LTTE proxy agents overweeningly voting for the opposition in earlier LTTE controlled areas clearly indicate that LTTE wanted to reactivate thier Elam project by supporting the opposition candidate through this election. Election results prove that if the opposition was elected territorial integrity of Sri Lanka protected with enormous sacrifices would have been in serious danger.   The violence an undemocratic criminal activities planed and now revealed and confessed by the army deserters who were arrested while in a hotel with the opposition leaders indicates that democracy and freedom of our... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

To rebuild the country from the dust and ashes of over thirty years of terrorist mayhem and spineless politics
Henry-USA.
The Editor.   In the little note of congratulations I wrote yesterday, I congratulated the people of Sri Lanka. too for the resounding victory of President Rakapakse, for it is a victory for the people.   It was very heartening to hear what the President had said about not getting involved personally in what the "challenger" and his supporters did during the campaign, terrible as some of those things were. Ours is a nation with one of the proudest and most refined civilizations of the world. In such a nation as ours,there is no room for vengeance.     To all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

CONGRATULATIONS Mr.PRESIDENT
Ranjit Wickremeratne
As a Sri Lankan who loves my homeland sincerely and warmly congratulate the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his greatest victory over Evil,Hate and revenge. It was a God send news to every citizen of the country except the traitors of Mother Lanka. Every citizen as you said who loves the country and want to march foward with you has given their valuable vote to make this historic day to happen. We appreciate and believed your kind words before and after the elections. No leader has shown the country this much of LOVE than you my dear excellency. We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/10)

Plot to assassinate President -Attempt to use retired Army officers and deserters -Lists sent to arrest several people
Rafik Jalaldeen - The Daily News
Media Centre for National Security Director General Lakshman Hulugalle said a plot to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his family members and the Government’s top officials by Sarath Fonseka has been uncovered. Addressing the media yesterday, he said since the Opposition was aware it was heading for defeat in the Presidential election, a plot was hatched to assassinate the President and his family members either before or after the Presidential election. “They had hired 70 rooms in two prestigious hotels,” Hulugalle said. “They have hired retired Army officers and Army deserters to assassinate the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

'Besieged' Fonseka sent SOS to India
COLOMBO: Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday won a landslide mandate for six more years as Sri Lanka’s president, securing 5.5 million votes to opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka’s 3.9 million, on a day of drama which saw his rival seek help from India after army troops surrounded his hotel. Fonseka, a former army chief, appealed to “friendly neighbouring countries” for help. Opposition leaders too approached the Indian High Commission in Colombo to ensure his safety.... -Full Story- (Times of India - 28/01/10)

No Mercy to the Traitors!
Vajiragnana Warnakulasuriya Melbourne, Australia
Mr.President, at the outset let me extend my heartiest congratulations at your resounding Presidential victory! That was the Wish & Hope of those grateful masses to the show the gratitude from the bottom of their hearts for eradicating the evil LTTE menace from the face of Sri Lanka and making a sincere effort to usher an ever-lasting Peace among all citizens in the country!  My kith & kin of Maha-Ambalangoda emphatically rejected Rtd General while the North & East and the “Kulthur” Colombians wasted their Universal franchise.  The misfired conspiracy From the time... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

US to Lanka: Ensure Fonseka’s security
SUNDARARAJAN MURARI
Colombo, Jan. 28: The US, while congratulating Sri Lanka for the first national election in decades and President Rajapaksa on his victory, today indirectly batted for defeated Opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka by asking the authorities to ensure the safety and security of all candidates and campaign workers. A statement released by the US embassy in Colombo said: “We look forward to continuing the partnership between our two countries and working with the government and the people to support a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (telegraphindia.com - 28/01/10)

MR says law will deal with Fonseka
On possible legal action against General Sarath Fonseka over his alleged statements on war crimes, President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed the law of the land will see to that and he did not want to get personally involved in the matter.They were on record that they would send me to Bogambara, shoot Gaotabhaya and set Basil on fire in the event of them grabbing power” the president recalled. “And at the rate they were going they would definitely have done that if they got a chance to do so” he added.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 28/01/10)

Beaten Sri Lankan general considers asylum in Australia
By South Asia correspondent Sally Sara for AM Posted 37 minutes ago Beaten Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka says he could consider seeking asylum in Australia. The former army chief lost Tuesday's presidential election and is coming under increasing pressure from the Sri Lankan government. General Fonseka fears for his safety and his officials have already approached several embassies in Colombo about possible asylum. He says he would also consider seeking asylum in Australia, but Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says there has been no official request as yet. "No such approach has been made," he said.... -Full Story- (abc.net.au - 28/01/10)

Fonseka is unlikely to be allowed to leave
R. Bhagwan Singh
Colombo Jan. 28: Defeated candidate Sarath Fonseka is seeking asylum in a Western country, probably the US for which he holds a green card, or Britain, but the Sri Lankan government is unlikely to allow him to leave, sources here said. The ex-general left his hotel room, where he was holed up for a day with his coalition leaders, and drove away with his personal security guards to an undisclosed place late on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the US has taken up Gen. Fonseka’s cause and has sought "a thorough investigation" of Opposition allegations of poll violations.... -Full Story- (Asian Age - 28/01/10)

Army deserters arrested over assassination plot
Sri Lanka News
A group of army deserters were arrested over alleged plot to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Director General of Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Lakshman Hulugalle revealed short while ago. He further claimed that the arrested Army deserters now being interrogated and if there is adequate evidence to prove that General (retired) Sarath Fonseka too was involved, he too would be taken in to the custody.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

The President's Victory - ' Some thoughts'
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
A period of high drama and a crucial election ended on Tuesday dishing an overwhelming majority of 1.8 million votes giving the President a land-slide victory. The forecast by international media, some local media, Peace Councils, NGO's, anti-govt., forces etc., was that the election is not a cake walk for the President but would be a close tie. As usual, they were skeptical but the election proved them wrong.   One main reason is that the President had withstood international pressure which became incessant towards the end of the war.  Therefore, the people had faith and trust in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

Sri Lanka: Request from HRW
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent. Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
January 28, 2010 OPEN LETTER to Mr. Ban Ki-moon    Secretary of the United  Nations United Nations Headquarters   New York, US. ATTENTION: Human Rights Watch Sir: I have made two observations this morning; one is that you expressed relief on the relatively peaceful conclusion to Sri Lanka’s first post-war national election.   I am glad you did as Sri Lanka is generally a very peaceful nation, and I am sure you have noted by now.  Sri Lankans are a group of people who refuses even slap a mosquito to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

Congratulations Mr President and Many Happy Returns of the Day!
Ratanapala
Congratulations Mr President. You have once again defeated the forces that tried to revive the terrorists and their agenda for dismemberment of Mother Lanka. We wish you All the Very Best for another term as the President of Sri Lanka and wish you many more successes in the future. So it is now the Nations turn to say – Many Happy Returns of the Day to you Mr President! I also wish Many Happy Returns of the Day to Batalande’ Ranil, Pamankade Ravi, Palliye Jayalath J, Salvation Army – Hora hora Avamangala, Choura Raegina Chadrika K(last minute attempt... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

Sri Lanka: President re-elected
Asoka Weerasinghe  Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada
January 28, 2010 The Editor (Letters)  THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: Cest la vie!  You said, “Sri Lanka: President re-elected; rival rejects results”. But the rival who is the retired Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who was one of the team that spearheaded the wiping out of the Tamil Tigers after 27 years of warring can cry foul as much a he wants to, but Sri Lankans with a spirited participation in the democratic process with a 74 percent voter turn out have spoken and have re-elected Mahinda Rajapaksa to be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

The Road to Victory
By, Dr. Nishan Wijesinha
President Mahinda’s road to victory was of ones bravery. When the LTTE was cornered, several times by Generals of the Past, the West opposed and they were saved. But Mahinda went a step ahead by getting the support of the Muslim world and the Chinese. These factors kept the west on their place. Secondly Mahinda had to appoint a son of the moon-shiners as a General as he knew the fields and the trade. When the war was won and the battles were done; the son of the moon-shiners forgot that he was a son... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

Seeking Justice After Sri Lanka's Elections - Jan.27,2010
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Mr. James Ross 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor Human Rights Watch New York,N.Y. 10118-3299 U.S.A.   Dear Sir:   Reference your article on Sri Lanka, your contempt of the electors (the people of Sri Lanka) and democracy which you tout, is evident because they have voted for a mandate that it is different to yours. Human Rights Watch which has on many occasions become the mouthpiece of the Tamil terrorist organization the LTTE  is once again interpreting the result as "anti-Tamil". You keep repeating the manthra of Tamil grievances which need to be addressed but... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

CONGRATULATIONS MR. PRESIDENT ON A RESOUNDING VICTORY
Henry - USA.
CONGRATULATIONS MR. PRESIDENT ON A RESOUNDING VICTORY. Your victory has taken our great country one step closer to peace, and unity, and we wish you all the very best and every blessing to move forward in your quest for a strong, proud and united Sri Lanka.  Congratulations also to all the peaceloving, democratic people of Sri Lanka, whose will and longing has prevailed.  Long Live the Sovereign, Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka!  ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

General Fonseka – Be happy about the number of votes you received
Orpheus Perera
Ex. General Fonseka should have listen to me(my letter dated 30th of November 2009 titled Re. General Sarath Fonseka) The results of the Presidential election is more in favour of SF, than unbiased people would have expected. He came to politics overnight, with one foot in America and the other in Sri Lanka. SF received the Chronic UNP votes, the people who will not change the party even if a UNP leader promise to divide the country into pieces and sell over to foreigners or fill the country with drugs. Remarkably, he got less than what Ranil... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

An open letter to the dumped general
Jay deshabandu
Dear Sarath Fonseka, Today, you have become a normal person like me,  after you were defeated by Mahinda. Now, you and I have the same president and subjected to same rules of the land. So, you are bound to follow and respect the rules of our land. Though you have led the soldiers in the battle field, your ego led you to be a fool and become victimized to LTTE and its supporters unfortunately.  This is not intended for an eulogy for the death of your first forty days of political career, but it is for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

Role played by the LankaWeb
wije
Dear Editor, I know there are few other websites such as SPUR, but the LankaWeb played a key role in posting what we wrote. This is crucial because so many in Sri Lanka and all over the world read LankaWeb. The Island newspaper used to print what I wrote, but I think the owners took a decision (not the good editor) to silence me from their newspaper. LankaWeb and Sinhale Hotnews were the only window I had. I did not want to write in politically correct langauge or avoid telling a spade a spade which I had to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/10)

ෆොනී - මංගල ගුටි කෙළ ගනිති
දිනමිණ
නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණෙන් ජනාධිපතිවරණයට තරග වැදී අන්ත පරාජයක් ලැබූ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතා අතහැර ඔහුගේ සියලු දේශපාලන සගයන් පලා ගොස් තිබේ. ෆොන්සේකා මහතා සහ ඔහුගේ සගයන් 400 දෙනකු පමණ පෙරේදා (26 දා) සිට කොළඹ ප්‍රධාන පෙළේ හෝටලයක සාකච්ඡා කරමින් සිට ඇත. එම හෝටලයේදී ෆොන්සේකා මහතා සහ මංගල සමරවීර මන්ත්‍රීවරයා අතර හටගත් ගුටි බැට හුවමාරුවකින් පසුව රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සහ දෙමළ සන්ධාන මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් හෝටලයෙන් පලාගොස් ඇත. අනතුරුව රාවුෆ් හකීම් මහතා ද හීන්සීරුවේම හෝටලයෙන් පලාගොස් ඇති අතර, මංගල සමරවීර මන්ත්‍රීවරයාට පහර දීමේ සිද්ධියත් සමඟ විපක්‍ෂයේ අවුල් වියවුල් රැසක් හටගෙන තිබේ. මේ නිසා ඊයේ (27) පැවැත්වීමට තිබූ මාධ්‍ය හමුවට එක්වීම ෆොන්සේකා මහතා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

The Nation's Charismatic Leader Has Once Again Prevailed At The Ballot Resoundingly. Jayaweva!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
January 28h, 2010 The Nation of Sri lLnka has once again prevailed over her political enemies and harbingers of evil as the voices of her people have spoken at the ballot! The truth has never been more apparent by the mood and mind of the masses who once again have not been fooled by the lies and false rhetoric of the power hungry opposition which even at this very moment are a disgruntled and disoriented lot looking over their shoulders, perhaps shaking in their shoes while also screaming foul (towards their own comfort ) when... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

Mahinda’s Win is Lanka’s Win
Strategist
Sri Lankans have shown maturity and prudence in this election. Firstly, given the environment in which the election was held it was a “reasonably” peaceful election. Of course there was tension. There will be tension in future as well. A good fight was fought. And, that is democracy. Secondly, the common opposition was not so common and the prudent voters realised this. The common opposition was as common as “anti-rich” party (JVP) saying “pro-rich” party their friends. Two “pro-Tamil” parties who opposed military action against LTTE saying the general who lead the military offensive is their friend.  Marxists... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

CONGRATULATIONS! PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA.
Malin Abeyatunge
Tears of joy came into my eyes when I heard that Mahinda Rajapaksa has won with convincing majority for a second term. I guess the joy and the emotions would have been the same with voters who loved the country.  We congratulate Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa for his unique victory and winning the second term as President of Sri Lanka. We salute the Sri Lankan voters who took the right decision in electing him for a second term. THESE ARE THE VERY VOTERS WHO ELECTED HIM IN 2005  AND GAVE HIM THE MANADATE TO DEFEAT THE  LTTE WHICH... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

Election
Ole Sorensen Denmark
Looking from the sideline, and especially today when election is over, it is unavoidable to with great surprise reflect the passed and compare it with the electionresults. Some questions arise. Since when did monkeys get the right to vote in a socalled civilized country? Could that be a proof of that we are talking about a democratic country.? Must be so? For about three decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered from the sick ideas of a terrorist maniac. Everybody was aware of the daily danger, and so many lost their lives. The first leader... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

රාජ යෝගයත් සමඟ කොට උඩ ගිය මෝඩ ජෙනරාල් - පිටි පස්ස බිම ඇණුනු සරත් ලා දෙන්නා
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
සරත් ෆොන්සේකාට රාජ යෝගයක් තිබුනා යැයි අප දැන ගත්තේ ඔහුගේ භාර්‍ය්‍යාව ගෙනි. කේන්දරයේ රාජයෝගයක් තිබුනත් තමන් ගේ ක්‍රියාකලාපයෙන් එය අහෝසි කර ගත හැකි බව සරත් ලා ගේ චන්ද පරාදයෙන් ඔප්පු වී ඇත. මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ පාලනයේ දුර්වල කම් තිබුන-තිබෙන බව ඇත්තය. නමුත් බටහිර සුදු පාලකයින්ගේත් ,කොළඹ සිටින ඔවුන්ගේ පෙන්දන් වන් රනිල්-චන්ද්‍රිකා-රවි කරුනානායක-පාකියසෝති-ජෙහාන් පෙරේරා වැනි කළු සුද්දන්ගේත් ලනු ගිලගෙන, හුදෙක් තමාගේම වාසිය තකා ලංකාව විනාශ කිරීමේ අතකොළුව හෝ පඹයා හෝ ලෙස ඉදිරියට ඒමෙන්  ලංකාවේ තමන්ට හිමිවීමට තිබූ අයිතිහාසික වීරෝධාර තැන සරත් ෆොන්සේකා අහිමි කරගත්තේය.     ඕනෑම ගොනෙකුට යුද්ධ කල හැකියැයි කී ගොන්නුත් සමඟ එකතුව මහජනතාව රැවටීමට හැකි වේ යැයි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

Regime change by the oppostion, the west and LTTE sympathisers back-fired
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
With the end of the war Gen.(Rtd.) Fonseka became a national hero and an idol of the masses overnight. He commanded great respect wherever he went irrespective of party affiliations.  Because of his popularity when the media asked him in one of their interviews if he would like to get involved in politics his reply was in the negative. But apparently he had greed for power.   Later he made a u-turn, and he was sponsored  as a common candidate for the Presidential election.  Thus a crucial and bitterly fought election ended on Tuesday with a victory for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

PM congratulates Rajapaksa
PTI
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today congratulated Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election and expressed confidence that under his leadership the country would find lasting peace with all communities living with dignity and in harmony. Singh, who telephoned Rajapaksa to congratulate him and sent him a message, said his success in the elections "is a reflection of the trust the people of Sri Lanka has reposed in him." "I am confident that under your leadership, Sri Lanka will find lasting peace where all communities can live with dignity and in harmony," Singh said... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 27/01/10)

Pratibha hails Rajapaksa’s win
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil has congratulated Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election as President of Sri Lanka while analysts feel his decisive victory can augur well for a satisfactory political settlement of the ethnic conflict. In her message, Ms. Patil said she was confident that under Mr. Rajapaksa’s continued leadership, Sri Lanka would “attain greater heights and find lasting peace.” Recalling the historically close and friendly relations between the two countries, she assured him of India’s commitment to further deepen its ties with Sri Lanka. “We look forward to working with you towards this end for the... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 27/01/10)

Sri Lanka's Fonseka moves to safe house
Sri Lanka's defeated opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka has left a luxury hotel in Colombo unimpeded after being holed up there all day surrounded by troops. He drove out of the lakeside hotel complex on Wednesday in a black BMW in a motorcade of several cars, which was stopped briefly by the soldiers before they allowed him to continue to a safe house in Colombo. "We have moved to a house in Colombo, but I can't tell you the location for obvious reasons," one of Fonseka's bodyguards told AFP, asking not to be named. The bodyguard said he was unaware of... -Full Story- (sbs.com.au - 27/01/10)

INNOCENCE IS A CRIME : SINCERITY IS A SIN
ALI SUKHANVER
Innocence and sincerity are no more admirable traits of a human character; they are simply a sin and a crime. A sincerely innocent person is always rewarded with the violation of his basic human rights. This world of modern temperament never lets an innocent and sincere person live a life of calm and peace; he is always exploited and abused. The people of Pakistan are also being punished and penalized for the sins of innocence and sincerity. In fact they are peace-loving by nature, calm by temperament and loving by creed. That is why most of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

The Origin of Life in the Universe: Buddhist Perspective
Dr Ruwan M JayatungeM.D.
  There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all.The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.' Bertrand Russell The origin of life has been a subject of speculation in all known cultures. In the modern era, this question has been considered in terms of a scientific framework. Lord Buddha’s’ explanation of the origin of the Universe, compatible with the modern scientific explanation. Buddha described the origin of the Universe and life in the Aganna Sutta 2500 years ago. According to Buddha’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/10)

Sri Lankan troops surround Fonseka's hotel
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan army on Wednesday surrounded the hotel occupied by main presidential challenger retired General Sarath Fonseka in the city, a military spokesman said. Heavily armed Lankan troops were deployed around the building following information that army deserters were among 400 people present inside the lake-front luxury hotel in central Colombo. "We don't know whether these suspected army deserters are providing security or are associated with Gen (retd) Sarath Fonseka," Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 27/01/10)

Sri Lanka president takes comfortable lead in election
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is taking a comfortable lead over his main rival former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka with nearly half of the votes counted till 10 a.m. (0430 GMT) on Wednesday. President Rajapaksa received 2,960,507 (or 60.27 percent) votes while Fonseka secured 1,690,990 (37.99 percent) votes. Rajapaksa who called the election two years ahead of schedule is now assured of winning re-election, officials said.... -Full Story- (english.people.com.cn - 27/01/10)

Sri Lanka’s President Has Commanding Lead
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s president, had a commanding lead Wednesday in early results from Tuesday’s election, while his opponent, an army general who had been a close ally until a few months ago, was holed up in hotel here and feared arrest.Sarath Fonseka, speaking to Reuters by telephone, said the hotel where he and his allies were staying was surrounded by commandoes.... -Full Story- (nytimes.com - 27/01/10)

SL presidential polls: Rajapaksa leading
COLOMBO: Early returns Wednesday showed Sri Lanka's incumbent president ahead of his estranged former army chief in their bitter race to win the country's first presidential election after its quarter-century war against Tamil Tiger rebels. In a sign of the sky-high tensions between the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former top general and challenger Sarath Fonseka, a military spokesman said troops surrounded the central Colombo hotel where Fonseka was staying... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 27/01/10)

Rajapaksa Forecasting 1.8 Million-Vote Victory in Sri Lanka
By Anusha Ondaatjie Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to win a second term by almost 2 million votes, based on initial returns, a spokesman said today. “We are forecasting a 1.8 million majority,” presidential media spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said in a telephone interview. To contact the reporter on this story: Anusha Ondaatjie in Colombo at... -Full Story- (Bloomberg - 27/01/10)

Rajapaksa takes early lead in Sri Lankan presidential poll
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa took an initial lead early on Wednesday over his main rival former army commander General Sarath Fonseka in the counting of the votes for the presidential election. With over 1 million votes counted by 6 am, Rajapaksa recorded 689,261 votes against Fonseka's 442,292 votes, Xinhua reported. The island's sixth presidential election was held largely free of violence on Tuesday with a turnout estimated to be over 70 per cent.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 27/01/10)

General Sarath Fonseka on the run
Latest information revealed that the Common Opposition Candidate Retired General Sarath Fonseka, sensing defeat in the Presidential Election, has packed his bags and bag ages and is now staying at the The Cinnamon Lake Hotel in Colombo. Sri Lanka Army personnel in large numbers are said to have surrounded the hotel to thwart any attempts to obstruct any breach of the law by certain interested groups, say sources.It is learnt along with him his wife Anoma, two daughters and his arms dealer son-in-law Danuna Tilakaratne are also there to fly out of the country at earliest.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/01/10)

Sri Lanka’s 1st Postwar Vote Passes Peacefully; Economy Figures
By Jay Shankar Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s first peacetime presidential election in three decades passed off with few reports of violence as voters urged the two frontrunners to improve living standards. The candidates in today’s ballot are led by incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, 64, and his former army chief Sarath Fonseka. Both claim credit for the end last May of the Tamil Tiger insurgency that killed 100,000 people and polarized the South Asian nation of 20 million. Across Sri Lanka, 105,000 troops and police guarded the ballot.... -Full Story- (Bloomberg - 26/01/10)

මැතිවරණයට පෙරවදනක් -අප ඉදිරියේ ඇත්තේ අපේත්, අප රටේත්, අප දරුවන්ගේත් අනාගතයයි.අප කුමක් කළ යුතුද?
මෙම ලිපිය ලියන මා හුදෙක් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා මාතෘ භූමියට ආදරය කරන පුරවැසියෙක් වන අතර, මෙහි දැක්වෙන කරුණු මා විසින් විවිධ ලිපි සහ රටේ දේශපාලන පරිසරය අධ්‍යයනය කිරීමෙන් සකස් කරන ලදී.
හෙට පැවැත්වෙන මැතිවරණයට පෙර මෙම ලිපිය කියවන ලෙස මා ඔබ සැමගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ, මෙය ඔබට රට වෙනුවෙන් හා, ඔබේත්, මගේත්, අපගේ අනාගත පරපුරේත් අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් නිවැරදි තීරණයක් ගැනීමට පිටුවහලක් වනු ඇතැයි මා තරයේ විශ්වාස කරන බැවිනි. ඔබගේ කාලය අනුව හැකිනම් මෙය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් හෝ, අවම වශයෙන් 4-5-6 පිටු හෝ කියවන ලෙස කාරුණීකව ඉල්ලා සිටිමි. අප රටේ වර්තමාන තත්ත්වය  අප රටේ ඒක පුද්ගල ආදායම 1948 සිට 2006 දක්වා - ඹී/1000 දක්වා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Caste Your Votes Well Dear Brothers And Sisters Of Mother Lanka! Let The Enemy Be Vanquished!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
January 25th, 2010 To those who falsely beleive that  high flown rhetoric based on innuendo, lies and duplicity could win them a Presidential election by championing a garrrulous emanator of noise he was once noted for as he displayed his ruthless and overpowering modus operandi as a military leader may your beleifs be confounded and trashed!   There seems nothing more veritable towards the reality about who in tangibly verifiable evidence staring all perceptive Sri Lankans in the face, and is more capable of handling the reins of our great Sinhala Nation who in fact is the real liberator... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Allaegations against Mahinda Rajapakshe? And the Real King makers!
INAMULLAH MASIHUDEEN Former CONSUL GENERAL High Command and Polit Bureau Member of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Currently not holding any office or position in MR government or SLFP UPFA or other parties in the UPFA but victimized by MR government.
1.TNA blames MR for all out war not SF and feels Prabhakaran should remain the king maker even after his death along with their Western Masters, and Mahinda should be punished for eradicating Tamil militancy not SF. Is it not the obligation of the People who wanted PEACE as priority to protect and re -elect MR and become king... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Of citizens, Citizenship and Insurance Options
by Malinda Seneviratne
Tomorrow we will as a nation exercise our most fundamental democratic right, that of casting a vote to elect someone to power.  The day after tomorrow we will revert to nonentities, relatively speaking.  Our power will increase from now until the polls close on Tuesday. From 4 pm, January 26, 2010, it will decline until the next major election is announced. This is the reality of participatory democracy; it is a matter of the voter enjoying the status of king-maker for a mere 30 seconds during which time he/she will decide who to vote against or... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

The track records of people are indicators of what we can expect from them
Henry 
Even as the Sri Lankan voter is voting for who will lead the country for the next four or six years, as a Sri Lankan devoted to the future of the Sri Lankan nation, and the generations of Sri Lankans yet to be born, I hope that sanity will prevail among all democratic, freedom loving Sri Lankans.   The track records of people are indicators of what we can expect from them. Those of the JVP and Ranil are true indicators of how deplorable they can be, what we can expect from them, and what a bleak future Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Your Vote Decides the Life or Death for all of us !
  By Citizen Mahinda
Going through ground situations it is very likely that if SF looses, he is trying to unleash violence with  the help of military personals both in service as well as deserted. Though he claims those who are loyal to him are ready to take the battle with him, but this can be seen as heavily dosed these military men with the money received from the West (USA/Norway)  His sole aim is to create state of anarchy by any means to disrupt the free life of the country and to discredit the govt. and then create... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

It is working. Why fix it?
Bill Gates | New York Times | Bloomberg News NY On Sri Lanka and President Rajapakse
 Microsoft Founder and one of Worlds most Influencial and Richest, Mr Bill Gates saying good things about President Rajapakse and Sri Lanka  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjKQTiXDBeE  Bllomberg News, New York says there is EXPONENTIAL GROWTH POTENTIAL in SRI LANKA    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTdxJdJ9te0  SRI LANKA IS NO 1 out of 31 Places to Go in 2010 - New York Times (worlds largest newspaper in circulation) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html  Sri Lanka Development www.srilankadevelopment.com  so they say, IF ITS WORKING WHY FIX IT... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Vote massively to elect President Rajapakse for a second term!
Ratanapala
A vote for Sarath Fonseka is a vote for Ranil W and his band of traitors  who wanted to bring Portuguese in 2005  to celebrate 500th anniversary of the beginning of colonial exploitation of Sri Lanka and Asia. A vote for Sarath Fonseka is a vote for those who tried to seize power by coup in 1962 and  bring the Inquisition back to Sri Lanka A vote for Sarath Fonseka is a vote to re-ignite the flames of racial hatred in Sri Lanka. A vote for Sarath Fonseka is a vote to re-commence Ealam war;... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

මල්වතු නාහිමියන් වෙතට යන ගොරිල්ලා කණ්ඩායම්
රංජනී කුමාරසිංහ
විද්වතුන් නිතිඥයින් හා සරසවි ඇදුරන් ලෙසින් මල්වතු නාහිමියන් ප‍්‍රධාන නායක භික්ෂුන් වහන්සේලා වෙත නානා මාදිලියේ කණ්ඩායම් යනහැටි ජනාධිපතිවරයාට එරෙහිව ප‍්‍රචාරක කටයුතු ගෙනයන වෙබ් පත්තරවල නිතර නිතර දකින්ට ලැබේ.  මෙම ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති පළකරන්නෝ මල්වතුනාහිමියෝ ෆොන්සේකාට පක්ෂපාතිව කටයුතු කරතියි සැකය ඇති කරති. වෙබ් පත්තර වඩාත්ම කියවන්නේ ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ වෙසෙන්නන් නොවේ. විදේශිකයින් හා විදේශ රටවල වාසය කරන්නෝ මෙබදු ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති කියවීමෙන් ලංකාවේ ස්වාධීන ජනාධිපතිවරණයක් පවත්වන්නේ නැතිය යන අදහස ඇතිකර ගනිති. ජනාධිපතිවරයාට විරුද්ධව ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති පලකරන විදෙස් මාධ්‍යයන් හා පුද්ගලයින්ද මෙම ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති වලින් ප‍්‍රයෝජණ ගනිති. රජයේ හෝ වෙනත් පෞද්ගලික මාධ්‍යයෝ මල්වතුනාහිමියන් ප‍්‍රධාන නායක ස්වාමින් වහන්සේලා වෙත යන මෙම පිල්ලි පිළිබදව කිසිම තොරතුරක් හෙලි නොකරති.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

ආමි ජෙනරාල් ගේ බොරු වෙස්මුහුන ගැලවූ ඇමෙරිකාවේ වසන සැබෑ වීරයා
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
මිනිසුන්ගේ වීර ක්‍රියා ගැන ඇසූ විට මනුෂ්‍යත්වයේ නාමයෙන් අප තුල මුදිතා වක් හටගනී. දැනට කලකට පෙර ශීත කාලයේ වොෂින්ටන් නඟරය අසල පොටැමික් ගඟේ අයිස් වතුරට ජෙට් ගුවන් යානයක් කඩා වැටින. හෙලි කොප්ටරයෙන් ලනුවක් දමා වතුරේ ගිලෙන අය බේරා ගන්නා විට හෙලිකොප්ටර් නියමුවන් දුටු කරුණක් වූයේ එක් පුද්ගලයෙක් තමාට ලනුව අල්ලාගන්නට ලැබුන විට එය වෙනත් කෙනෙකුට දීමය. මෙසේ කල ඔහු මිය ගියේ ය. මේ පුද්ගලයා කව්දැයි පසුව සොයාගෙන ගුවන් යානය වැටුන තැන තිබෙන පාලම ට ඔහුගේ නම දෙන ලදී.     ඇමෙරිකාවේ සබ්වේ රේල්වේ වල ඉඳහිට හෝ යනවිට මට මතක් වන්නේ තමන්ගේ දූවරුන් දෙදෙනා සමඟ රේල් වේදිකාවේ සිටි කළු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

THE NAXALITE MILITANTS
ALI SUKHANVER
In the second week of the last December , the Central Board of investigation , India (CBI) issued its 66 pages probe report into the alleged rape and murder of two kashmiri women Nilofar Jan and her seventeen years old sister-in-law Asiya Jan . The dead bodies of these two women were found in a stream on 30th May 2009 in Shopian. According to the details these two women were kidnapped, raped and murdered by the Indian troops deputed there in the Shopian town. After the discovery of their dead bodies the Shopian town observed a 47... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

A TALE OF DISHONEST SOLDIERS
ALI SUKHANVER
The enigmatic dreamlike valley of the Indian held Kashmir belongs to the people of Kashmir; says the history. The Kashmiris are a nation, having an individual identity, a separate culture and independent traditional values. It might be the fertility of their lands or the geographical importance of their sky-kissing hills which are pouring out precious rivers that the independence of this charismatic land is always in danger. Not a single moment without fear .No peace, no security. The people of the Indian held Kashmir sometimes feel that they are not human beings but lifeless objects; every morning... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/10)

Rise and fall of Fonseka
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Q: When a man fights for 40 years of his life for a cause and then overnight joins the enemies he fought what do you call him? A: Sarath Fonseka, of course! Q: When a man who gets the biggest ride in his life to fame and glory in the most viable vehicle available and gets off without even saying thank you to the driver what do you call him? A: Fonseka, of course! Q: When a man, who is carried on the shoulders of his comrades, turns around and betrays them saying that they... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Vadukoddai Referendum in Sri Lanka on 26 January
Dilrook Kannangara
LTTE Diaspora is holding referenda all over the world to garner support for the Vadukaddai Resolution. What they are trying to do is to show the world that Tamils of Sri Lankan origin want a separate country as they once declared in 1976 and 1977. At the 1977 General Election an overwhelming majority of Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka approved the Vaddukaddai Resolution. Even so called moderates like Ananda Sangaree too joined in the TULF’s campaign for a separate Tamil nation.  The LTTE Diaspora realised by early 2009 that the LTTE is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

VOTE FOR PEACE, PROSPERITY AND DEVELOPMENT
Warna Hettiarachchi Toronto Canada
My Dear Fellow Sri Lankans, You are at a very critical point of our Nation’s history – You are about to either choose or reject the leader of your country who gave you PEACE after defeating the world’s most ruthless and dangerous killing machine called LTTE! This same leader of our Nation gave you the freedom and let you walk on your own soil without having to worry about blowing to bits by a suicide bomber or a claymore mine. This same Leader gave you that freedom you never had for 30-years! Yes, 30-years of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Laundering of black money
The high drama of bribing a Member of Parliament to cross over from one Camp to another was a prime time mega show on the TV channels last week. This clearly indicated the availability of large sums of "Black Money" which are being used to undertake buying over of Members of Parliament and political bigwigs. I am certain that such large sums of money are not monies earned through legal means, and definitely earned through illegal means. Wealth amassed through illegal activities which cannot be accounted for, is the wealth that needs to be laundered. Illegal activities are many and... -Full Story- (The Island - 24/01/10)

Tomorrow's election
Opposition presidential candidate and former Army Commander Gen. (retd) Sarath Fonseka has vowed to court-martial those commanders for 'taking part in politics' in the event of his victory tomorrow. Ironically, what those valiant soldiers have been telling the State TV is identical to what Gen. Fonseka himself said in the immediate aftermath of the war. He was showering praise on the government leaders and vice versa! He also took on the Opposition politicians calling them names. He did not spare even Tamil Nadu politicians––quite rightly so; he called them a bunch of jokers.... -Full Story- (The Island - 24/01/10)

UNP, JVP, TNA, LTTE backers and Fonseka on the same wave length
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
In 2005, the TNA, Mano Ganeshan and Rauf Hakeem had agreements with the LTTE and meekly followed their instructions. The UNP had a cease-fire agreement with the LTTE. The UNP leadership avoided stepping on to Prabhakaran's toes and therefore was in his good books. Surprisingly, the JVP an ultra-nationalist party, has joined this team and sponsored Gen. Fonseka whom they ridiculed during the battle against the LTTE.  The TNA leader Sampanthan at a meeting in Nalloor on Sunday 24th said, "... We decided to offer our support to Sarath Fonseka. He agreed to consider our demands favourably... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Dear Voters, Its Your Own Nanthikandal Battle on January 26. Do it for a Brighter Future without Fail
Dilrook Kannangara
It will be exactly 250 days from the victory in Nanthikandal to the election date. What a coincidence! May be it’s natures way of reminding the people of Sri Lanka they have their battle to fight, and win for a brighter future. Lose this battle, and Sri Lanka will be dragged once again into a period of darkness ruled by the Tigers and their agents. Suicide bombers will come out of the high security prisons and prowl the streets once again endangering the lives of millions. It will reverse all what we won with 23 trillion... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

No-nonsense national security is overwhelming government priority this week
Ajit Randeniya
The presidential election campaigns that just-ended had a few defining moments. Though the likely result of the election was largely determined at the very moment the common candidate announced his ridiculous decision that he wanted to be king, the people’s resolve was sealed when it was announced that he was going to be sponsored by the US and Norwegian embassies. The last nail in the coffin was the formation of the ‘rogues alliance’ of Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mangala Samaraweera and Somawansa Amersinghe to manage his ‘campaign’.  That was until the never-ending series of ‘campaign’ faux pas and other... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

සියළු දෙනාම ජයග්‍රහණය කරන ජනාධිපතිවරණයක්!
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහ මහතා වේදිකාවල රගමින් "සොයාපු දේ හම්භ උනා කාලෙ හොදා" යයි උදාන ගීතය ගයමින් ඔහුගේ හා ඔහුගේ අතවැසි ගෝල බාලයන් ලබපු ජයග්‍රහණය සම්බන්ධව මෙනෙහි කරමින් සිටින යුගයක් අප පසුකරමින් සිටිමු. ඒ සමගම 1988-1989 වකවානුවේදී අතුරුදන්වූ තම දරුවන් සොයා දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා, ඔවුනගේ ඡායාරූප අතැතිව එම දරුවන්ගේ දෙමව්පියෝ පාරක් පාරක් ගානේ ගමන් කරයි. සෝමවංශ මහතාට හම්භ වී ඇත්තේ එම දූ දරුවන් නම් නොවේ. කොහොම හරි ඔවුනට සොයාපු දේ සම්භ වී ඇත. එය ඔහු ලැබුවාවූ අති විශිෂඨ ජයග්‍රහණයකි. මින් ඉදිරියට සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහ, විජිත හේරත්, අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක, සුනිල් හදුනෙත්ති යන මහත්වරුන්ට ධනපති ක්‍රමය තුල යහතින් ජීවත්වීමට ඇවැසි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

CHANGE or CONTINUITY ?
SUSANTHA  WIJE
If it is CHANGE you want, to get back to an era before May 19th 2009, certainly by all means, yes. Please, Please vote for Sarath Fonseka. Keep trying to be happy thereafter eh ! If it is CONTINUITY of the suppression of Tamil Tiger Terrorism, in beautiful Sri Lanka, if it is for the continuity of your Happiness and that of your family, if it is for the continuity of the Happiness of all Sri Lankans, that, now, YOU have PEACE OF MIND to lead the life you want to lead, if it is for the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Why I will vote for Mahinda -Sri Lanka is like a patient who has under gone a life saving 30 hour marathon operation who is recovering well in a not so ideal ICU. Its too risky to try a another major surgery with a new lead surgeon in charge!
By Nadeep Ambalangoda
My votes is for President Mahinda  Rajapakse (MR).MR and Sarath Fonseka (SF) are heroes not doubt. I have nothing to gain either from MR or SF personally and I vote according to my conscience and calculations - to best of my ability -  having one thing - the good of  my beloved motherland in mind. Now, that does not mean that my decision will necessarily  turn out to be for the better of Mother Lanka. I can only hope I am right...   Below are some random but related thoughts  why I will vote for MR... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Is he sane? Or, could he be suffering from PTSD Syndrome? SHELL SHOCK TO PALALY SYNDROME : SOME REFLECTIONS
By Gamini Gunwardane Rtd. Snr. DIG
I am indebted to Dr. Ruwan Jayatunge for his two part article in ‘The Island’ of 2nd and 4th Jan. with the above heading i.e. on PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It helped me to understand the behaviour of some of my men in Jaffna in 1984/85 which baffled me all this time, without being able to find an explanation as to the cause of such behaviour.  Before I state the behavioral problems that baffled me, I must give a brief background description of the circumstances in which these incidents occurred.  I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

SRI LANKA, A NATION BEYOND THE 1ST WORLD!
By Manisha Fernando
Prelude We are Sri Lankans, a nation of people of diverse cultures, rich traditions and a long and proud heritage, documented to date back thousands of years, much longer than any comparative Western chronicle found to date. Yet we are branded as ‘3rd world countries’ or ‘developing nations’ and sometimes even as ‘failed states’ by some. Whilst some people are bold enough to challenge the classification, a majority are passive in aspirations of who they want to be as a nation in the future. As always there are a few who are too earnest to accept... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Sarath's Honesty - for 30+ years
Ananda De Costa
For 30+ years, Tamil Tigers were known as heroes in the western world and in Tamil Nadu. Dehiwala and Nugegoda fly-over Bridges were limited to drawing  board  only. Hambantota  Port  Development was said to have been prevented by bribes given to ministers by Singapore Government. Colombo-Katunayaka Expressway construction never properly started. The war was called “The beggar’s bandage”. Any honest man should accept the achievement of Mahinda government. There is no need to discover a  “corruption scandal”, all of a sudden; we all know the corruption was there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

FORECAST RESULTS OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
For the Presidential Election there are 22 electoral districts with 14,288,502 voters eligible to vote. In 2005 election North and East voters did not participate. With their participation in this election, about 80% or 11.3 million voters are likely to cast their ballots. Even though the election is seen as a two cornered contest, the presence of Mr Sivajilingam of TNA cannot be ignored. He is a popular MP in the area, in as much as Douglas Devanandan and Karuna Muralitharan. Mr Sivajilingam is expected to cut into the votes of both leading... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

SHAME ON YOU MY SINHALA NATION
RANJIT WICKREMERATNE
Hardly not a year has passed since we crushed the most ruthless gang of murderers from our beloved soil. We as a nation suffered thirty years of bloody war which started by Tamil terrorists helped by foreign elements. They killed by thousands and destroyed our properties in millions and took our land inch by inch and no one was dare to stop them until this great man came to power. It was in 2005 and he promised the nation that he will end this misery before he leaves office after six years. Like a miracle he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Bangladesh readies to hang Bangabandhu killers
Nava Thakuria
The days for the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder-president of People's Republic of Bangladesh and also the Father of the Nation, who led 1971 liberation war have been numbered. Mujib, who was popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal) was killed with almost all his family members within four years of the successful completion of the freedom movement. The count down has already started for the convicted as the court has signed the death warrants. Following the final verdict of the Supreme Court (of Bangladesh), the District and Sessions Judge of Dhaka Abdul Gafar signed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

CORRUPTION -WE REPORT. YOU DECIDE.
Sri Lanka News
  AIRLINES that crashed thanks to the GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS   There are rumours being circulated these days in all kinds of anonymous pamphlets about SriLankan Airlines suffering a loss of US $ 100 million.  Such documents deserve to be trashed. On the other hand, in these times of trial-by-media and ‘guilty-until-proven-innocent’, it is also necessary that the truth be told and the people’s right to information be affirmed and honoured.      The following is a partial list of airlines that have suffered losses due to the global financial crisis:   Japan Airlines                          US $ 1,040... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/10)

Opposition planning for Iranian-style chaos after election
H. L. D. Mahindapala
What is already known is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will win on January 26. The question then is: what will the opposition do on January 27? Informed sources predict that they will come out crying foul on January 27 and ask for re-count or another election with the JVP-led mobs taking to the streets, hoping to create chaos. Reason: The NGOs, JVP, UNP and some sections of the local media have already launched a massive campaign to invalidate the election on the lines of the Iranian election of 2009 which declared the incumbent President Mahmoud... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

STF finds arms cache, Fonseka’s posters at temple
Sunday Observer
The Special Task Force personnel recovered 54 hand grenades and two T-56 rifles from a temple in Colombo yesterday. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara confirmed that the grenades and assault rifles were recovered from Bodhirajarama Temple in Maligawatte last evening. Reports said several posters and propaganda material in support of New Democratic Front Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka too were found during the raid. It is alleged that these military items were aimed at using to unleash violence by the JVP-UNP backed main opposition to unleash violence on the eve of the Presidential elections. Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa alleged... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Vote for the Common Candidate-General Sarath Fonseka & Know What Will Happen
By Darmitha
So much has been written in all media channels for an against the two major Presidential Candidates who will contest on 26th January 2010 that there is no more need to repeat them here. There are just a few factors we need to consider regarding Mahinda Rajapakse & Gen.Sarath Fonseka which should open the eyes of most of us to understand the dangers looming above our heads. 1.We have Mahinda Rajapakse who has been involved in Sri Lankan politics for 40 years or so who      understands the pulse of the people and the complexities of governance; 2.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Abolishment of Executive Presidency not in Fonseka's Manifesto - So Call it "Avishvasaneeya Venasak" - 'Unbelievable Change'
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Media and Information Minister Anura P. Yapa, addressing a meeting of the UPFA Activists on the 22nd at Katugampola, has said that the major promise made by Gen. Fonseka, to abolish the Executive Presidency, is not in his election Manifesto 'Vishvasaneeya Venasak'.  Gen. Fonseka referring to this lapse says that his contract with the UNP,JVP,TNP and Mano Ganeshan is not to go home after winning the elections. But to remain as Executive President for some time dealing with Defence, Education and Finance.  Somawanse Amerasinghe at a meeting at Matara on the same day had said, that the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—8 ON TOURING NORTHERN ENGLAND:Learning about Lake District and Yorkshire
By Shelton A. Gunaratne
2010
 Although our 1990 tour of Northern England, which covered more than 1,000 km, was not a literary tour for the egghead types, it so happened that our tour director Patrick Bennet took us through the scenic Lake District National Park, which is also closely associated with the Romantic poetry of William Wordsworth (1770-1850), who was England’s poet laureate from 1843 until his death, and his circle of fellow poets.  ‘Wordsworth Country’ Wordsworth was one of the three Lake Poets identified as the Lake School. The other two were Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and Robert... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

කොහොල්ලෑ බබෙක් බවට තමන් ගේ විහින්ම වැටුන ආමි ජෙනරාල්!
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
ලංකාව වැනි දූපතක යුද්ධයක් කරන විට ගුවන් හා නාවික හමුදා වල අතිශය වැදගත් කම සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාවට නොතේරේ. පාබල හමුදාවට අවම හානියක් වන ලෙසටත්, සතුරාට උපරිම විනාශයක් වන් ආකාරයටත් සටන් කල හැකිවනුයේ ගුවන් හමුදාව අහසින් ගොස් සතුරාගේ ඉදිරියෙන් ඇති කාල තුවක්කු, යුද්ධ ටැන්කි ආදියට බෝම්බ දමා ඒවා විනාශ කර දැමීමෙනි. මීට අමතරව සතුරාට මුහුදු මඟින් ලබා ගත හැකි අවි ආයුධ කපා දැමීම ද ඉතාමත්ම අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය උපක්‍රම යකි. සතුරු ප්‍රදේශයේ කරණා චර පුරුෂ සේවය ද තවත් වැදගත්ම කාර්‍ය යකි. මෙවැනි කාරණා නිසා තමන් නිසා යුද්ධය දිනා ගත හැකිවුනා යැයි කීමට හමුදාපති වරයෙකුට ඉඩක් නැත.     නමුත් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා දඹදිව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Ven Kassapa Thero (OBE) in the UK urges all Sri Lankans to vote for President Rajapaksa
By Janaka Alahapperuma
 The Chief Incumbent of the Birminham Buddhist Vihara, the President of the Midlands Buddhist Association in the UK, the President of the Buddhist Relief Organisation (IBRO) attached to the United Nations (UN) and the Vice President of the Sri Lankan Sangha Sabha of the UK, Venerable Dr. Witharandeniye Kassapa Nayaka Thero urged all Sri Lankans to vote for President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the upcoming elections. In the special statement issued by Ven Thero kindly requested all Sri Lankan voters to unite, support and cast their vote wisely for President Rajapaksa who, with brave leadership defeated thirty... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Avatar of the defeated EELAM war fights for the Presidency
Dr. Kodisinghe Herath (PhD) - NZ
The ‘avatar’ of the Eelam war has raised its head at the presidential election with the support of all the stake holders of the last Eelam war who are still alive and have waited for an opportunity to take revenge from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Great Leader of the nation for destroying their main component, the LTTE and to revive and re-establish themselves again to put this country into further trouble and to achieve their targets. The Eelam War was the curse of Sri Lanka that almost all the citizens have suffered with for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Is Voting game - democracy?
Anura Seneviratna, Dr MB Ranatunga, Sumith de Silva, Ira Mediwake, Asanka Haradasa, Sapumal Watteaarachchige, Ranjith Wijetunge, Dhanapala Godagangdeni, Sam Samararatne (for expat Hela team).
Putting a cross on a piece of paper as the vote is for a responsible decision. There may be many reasons to take this decision. To select suitable people for governing a country – suitability for majority citizens is a good economy. As economy is basic to survival it is a fair reason. Most countries are inherited with money economy like putting a cross to select suitable people for governing, is another gamble of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Voting for Fonseka for all the wrong reasons?
by Kalana Senaratne
The Presidential election of 2010 has brought out some of the most glaring delusions and dilemmas which shape the political stance of the Opposition, and which confront the voter, in particular. The run up to the election of 26th January has largely shown how bankrupt the political elements opposing President Rajapaksa are, which indeed is a great political tragedy – for while President Rajapaksa’s track record concerning notions of good governance is somewhat dismal, the alternative that is offered to the voter in the form of Sarath Fonseka and his political allies, is abysmal. In supporting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW WESTERN EVILS TO DESTROY OUR NATION – CAST YOUR VOTE WISELY
BY LASANTHA JAYALATH FROM MELBOURNE
As an ordinary citizen who has no voting rights in Sri Lanka, I urge all Sri Lankans to leave alone your party politics and cast your vote from your heart to prosper and to save our beautiful motherland.  We suffered enough for the past 30 years, and our kids need a bright future. I have enormous respect for both MR and SF but I personally believe this is not the right time to change for economic prosperity. We have won the war because our war hero’s and collective effort from all armed forces. We... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ, බරාක් ඔබාමා සහ කරමල සුදු කුකුළා
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
දකින කුකුළාගේ කරමල සුදු ය කියා කියමනක් ඇත. ලංකාවේ මිනිසුන්ට බුද්ධාගමේ අගයක් නැත්තේ ලංකාවේ එය ලාබෙට ලැබෙන නිසාය කියා සිංගප්පූරුවේ සිට ගොස් කැලිෆෝර්නියාවේ පදින්ච්ව සිටි කාන්තාවක් වරක් මට පැවසුවේය. යම් භාණ්ඩයක මිල අඩු නම් එය නිසැකවම බාල බඩුවක් විය යුතුය කියා බොහෝ මිනිස්සු සිතයි. මෙසේ අලවේස මෙන් හැසිරීම සාමාන්‍ය මිනිස් ගතියක් වුවද මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ජනාධිපති ධූරය ගැන ද කොළඹ සිටින සමහර ලංකාවේ අය අවතක්සේරු කර බලන්නේ කරුණු කාරණා හරි හැටි නොදන්නා-නොතේරෙන කම නිසාමය.     මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ගැන හරි ආකාරයට දන්නේ බටහිර සුදු පාලක රටවල කුමණ්ත්‍රන කාරයිනුත් කොළඹට වී සිටින කළු-සුද්දන් කල්ලියත් ය. 2005 දී ට වඩා දහස්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

After the defeat of LTTE – People have a right and a duty to prevent separatist ideas from destabilizing our country again
By Lakshman Wickramasinghe
Tamil separatism has many faces. The most well known face was LTTE’s terrorism. Eight months ago Sri Lanka was liberated from LTTE’s separatist driven terrorism when they were comprehensively defeated at Nandikadal. This unprecedented feat was achieved by a Team of committed, skillful, and innovative military commanders, officers, and fighting men and women, and defense officials, working synergistically under the political leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksha and his government. Once a political decision was taken by President Rajapaksha to defeat LTTE militarily, every constituent part of the Team performed magnificently. The team included, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksha,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

Oil in Haiti – Economic Reasons for the UN/US Occupation
There is evidence that the United States found oil in Haiti decades ago and due to the geopolitical circumstances and big business interests of that era made the decision to keep Haitian oil in reserve for when Middle Eastern oil had dried up.... -Full Story- (pakalert.wordpress.com - 23/01/10)

COUNTRY INFORMATION UPDATE
EMBASSY OF SRI LANKA
WASHINGTON – Sri Lankans are preparing for a nationwide presidential election vote Tuesday, Jan. 26. The two main candidates, incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sarath Fonseka, a retired general and the former Army Chief and 20 other candidates have garnered national and international interest. Foreign election observers now in Sri Lanka said recently that they would monitor the presidential elections in all districts, including the North and East, where the LTTE terrorist group was defeated in May. Forty election monitors of the Association of Asian Elections Authorities (AAEA) told reporters that they would try to observe... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/10)

ANARCHIST JVP POLITICS AND 1987-1989 TERROR MENACE – Part.I
By A.A.M.NIZAM
The youth who go to vote for the first time in the forthcoming Presidential Election is not aware of the horrendous tragedy faced by the nation during the 87/89 terror period as they were either toddlers or babies at that time.  When the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (the JVP) surfaced in the political map of Sri Lanka in the 1960s veteran politicians such as Dr. N.M. Perera and Dr. Colvin R. de Silva warned the nation of a CIA conspiracy to unleash anarchy in the country and cautioned that the newly emerged political group JVP will be the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

ANARCHIST JVP POLITICS AND 1987-1989 TERROR MENACE.- Part.II
A.A.M.NIZAM - MATARA.
President Premadasa upon getting elected predominantly due to the polls boycott ruthlessly enforced by the JVP, in gratification of their assistance, released 1800 hardcore JVPers who had been kept interned by President J.R.Jayawardene. With the new lease of life they enjoyed from President Premadasa they magnified their terror activities and started eliminating people whom they deemed will be obstacles to their, what they called the 2nd Revolution.  President Premadasa was not concerned about the JVP’s ruthless terror as he was, enticed by the tiger terrorists was keen only to have his honeymoon with the tigers and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

Crocodile tears
Island Editorial
The ruler of heaven, Sakra, is said to be sitting on a thermo-sensitive seat which responds to pleas of earthlings in distress and transmits them to him in the form of heat. In other words, the heat of his holy seat rises whenever humans get into trouble and importune him thus jolting him into action; whenever that happens we are told Sakra looks down through clouds and, if needs be, embarks on a humanitarian mission exercising his R2P (Right to Protect). Some foreign governments also act in a similar manner as regards this country. Their leaders get... -Full Story- (The Island - 22/01/10)

I Do Not Like Thee General Dear ….
I do not like thee general dear, The reason why is quite clear, I do not like thee general dear, Because you change from year to year. Once Mahinda was your pride and joy, Now you are Ranil’s lacky boy. He once said you were not good even for the salvation army, Now he wants you to run Sri Lanka with the army.  I do not like thee general dear, The reason why is quite clear, I do not like thee general dear, Because you change from year to year  Once you said you want a hundred thousand troops to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

“Beware of the devil with no track record, ever changing tunes and most of all military might
Dr. Chula Rajapakse Colombo
I recently listened to a very eloquent presentation on “ Why I will vote for General Fonseka” in which the speaker introduced the General’s pledges in the document “Vishvasaneeya Venesak”. I could not help but notice the many contradictions in the General’s pledges of the many statements he has made in the recent past. For example, until his fall out with the President recently , in his many TV appearances the General only extolled the virtues of the President & Defense Secretary though now he is highly critical of them, only a few months ago... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

President withstood foreign 'aggression'
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Towards the end of the war, when the Tamil diaspora and the LTTE saw no light at the end of the tunnel, they requested the politicians with whom they were aligned  to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop the war. Thereafter, delegation after delegation visited Sri Lanka to coerce the President for ceasefires. The President had said that, there was a time when he had declined to answer the phone because of the incessant calls from foreign countries requesting a ceasefire .   Towards the end of the war, a top European delegation consisting of David Miliband (UK) and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
By far ordinary Sri Lankans are innocent, peace loving, dedicated and hardworking people. This is a well known fact throughout the world. Sri Lankans who work overseas are considered and treated with great respect due to above rare qualities. Many Sri Lankans find it easier to find high level employment opportunities overseas due to the recognition of qualities of Sri Lankans. In overseas job market, Sri Lankans stays well ahead of any other countrymen in the sub-continent. But sadly, for no fault of their own, those who live in Sri Lanka had to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

Act wisely to prevent another wave of death and destruction
S. Akurugoda
We, the ordinary citizens of this country, remember the days around May 18th last year.  While all those who love the country were jubilant, Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the UNP was hiding in Europe. Although the  official statement of the Leader of the Opposition, congratulating the President and his security forces for defeating the LTTE, had mentioned names of the commanders of the Navy and the Air Force, it had  failed to mention the name of the Commander of the Army, Sarath Fonseka (SF). This is an indication of the extent of his gratitude towards the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

The President Mahinda Rajapakse, who led Sri Lanka away from its perilous past, should be trusted to lead us towards a brighter future.
By Charles.S.Perera
There are two  candidates for the Presidential Elections scheduled for the 26th Janurary, 2010.  One is the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse, and the other the retired Commander of the Sri Lanka Army  Sarath Fonseka .  Sarath Fonseka  is a last minute candidate chosen by Ranil Wickramasinghe of the UNP, as their was no suitable man among the members of the UNP, who is respectable  and popular enough to be nominated  for the highest office. Ranil Wickramasinghe formed an  alliance  with three  other politically bankrupt Parties who have neither the political base nor  the people of  recognizable stature ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

FOUL MOUTHED SARATH FONSEKA
Malin Abeyatunge
I watched the press conference by Presidential Candidate Sarath Fonseka (SF) in Utube and was appalled to hear the abusing language he used against Upul Ilangamage who courageously exposed SF’s involvement with his son-in law Danun Thilakaratne’s Oklohoma based company Hicorp. He called Upul Kalawedda, paahara miniha, Ooh, Mey Yaka etc. These are the very words of so unbecoming that came out from SF’s foul mouth. He exposed his anger and fury on his face when he uttered these abusive words. This is the type of person the so called COLOMBIANS wants as Sri Lanka’s next president.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/10)

The CHANGE euphoria in Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election
Shenali Waduge
What has America learned from the Obama “Change” experiment? By end 2009, almost 700,000 Americans had lost their jobs, 1.4million Americans were unemployed, a further 30,000 US troops had been sent to Afghanistan & Iraq was being replaced with Iran. Summing up the disappointment felt by most Americans on the Obama “Change” was a single poster that read “He has a Dream, We got a Nightmare”. It is now Sri Lanka’s turn to carry the CHANGE slogan & the common candidate is outlining a long list of CHANGE promises that repeatedly demands voters to think twice.  If... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

“Roti” Fonseka’s tele-fornicating bill was 20 lakhs – ex-Army officers
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The major plank of the Wickremesinghe-Hakeem-Mangala-Mano-Sampanthan-Soma-HANSA was to project “Roti” Fonseka – remember how he forcibly thrust a roti down the throat of his cook because it was misshapen? – as the man to combat corruption and restore peace and reconciliation. But the mounting scandals, exposing his character and his career, have damaged the image of the opposition’s Common Candidate beyond repair, questioning his capacity to deliver his promise of a corruption-free regime. In the latest expose aired on national TV “Roti” Fonseka comes out not only as a corrupt officer handing over deals to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

So You Have Decided to Vote Sarath Fonseka? Read This To the End, and then Vote!
SuduBanda
So you have decided to vote Sarath Fonseka, haven’t you? It’s all right. I understand. I am not here to sling mud at Sarath Fonseka. I will never ask or beg you to vote Mahinda. You don’t have to. I just want you to read this to the end. I respect Sarath Fonseka, as much as you do. In fact I personally want to vote him, but I can’t. I’ll tell you why. Please read till the end. You have decided to vote Sarath Fonseka for one of these three reasons 1) You are voting Sarath Fonseka simply... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

General Fonseka is an ungrateful man
Herold Leelawardena
Both SF and RanilW may have collected their big cheques from the so-called International Community. The JVP may have collected their small cheques from them. All other big and small WOGs such as Mangala, Mano, Hakeem, may have collected even smaller cheques from them. And the NGO suckers may have collected their something in addition to their regular stipends from them. At the point of accepting nomination for the Presidential elections, it looked as if those that got said money had hanged on to most of it without spending. But of late, they are all in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Gen. Fonseka's sole claim to victory, Green Card and eye on Presidency!
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
The Army, Navy and the Airforce fought the war as a team with the leadership given by the President as Commander-in-Chief. But after the war, Fonseka claimed sole victory and belittled the role of the Navy and the Air Force.  This week on a TV programme the former battle commanders of the Vanni front while discussing about the war analysed the role of the Navy and the Air Force. They discussed in detail how the Navy and the Air Force backed them to the hilt during their confrontations with the terrorists. They paid a glowing tribute to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

The great myth of the ‘Tamil vote’ in 2005 presidential election
Ajit Randeniya
There are many characteristics about the public persona of Ranil Wickremesinghe even his political enemies would be likely to find disturbing; he comes across as a man immersed in a great sea of self-pity, some one who weeps into the pillow every night due to ‘permanent background misery’.  Judging by Ranil’s never-ending references to the 2005 presidential election, it appears that most of his worries originate from the ‘trauma’ of the loss at that election. More specifically, he seems to have internalised the belief that Prabhakaran ‘did it’, by disallowing the Tamils to vote.  The internalisation of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Sambandan Told not to Come Close in Public but LTTE TamilNet is Kissing Close to SF!
Kumar Moses
They are either passionately kissing or one is giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the other. Whichever way you look at it, the former General and the LTTE’s mouthpiece – TamilNet - are mouth to mouth. Not a day passes without TamilNet carrying propaganda material in support of the former General who was absent from the warfront from May 11th to May 17th – the most important time of the 34 year old war. This is enough evidence for patriots to reject him and stick to the known patriotic leader. LTTE Diaspora openly and clearly supports Fonseka. Their argument... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Those Who Divide the National Vote Will be Cursed by Future Generations
Dilrook Kannangara
LTTE was a small army of 10,000 rudimentary fighters. Sri Lanka army comprised more than 100,000 well trained soldiers and the Indian army has more than 1,000,000 well trained soldiers. However, LTTE stumped them both. How did they do it? By simply driving a wedge between the two giant armies. This is exactly what the LTTE is doing today through its Tiger Nominated Agents (TNA). They want the national vote divided so that they can thrive once again. In 2008 things changed with the Sri Lankan and Indian armies. They identified the common enemy – the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Sri Lankan envoy balances dialogue
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
January 21, 2010 The Editor EMBASSY    Ottawa Sir: Sri Lanka’s new envoy to Canada, Ms. Chitranganee Wagiswara is correct when she reminds Canada that the Tamil separatist war ended on May 18 last year and there is a new reality that Sri Lanka is facing right now – to find sustained stability, reconciliation, development and peace after the country was haemorrhaged for 27 long years with guns, bullets, landmines and bombs by the most ruthless terrorists in the world, the Tamil Tigers.  They were the terrorists who perfected the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Anesthetized consciences
By Mario Perera, Kadawata
This presidential election campaign plagued with murder and mayhem to an unprecedented degree will enter the annals of our history as the most violent, unscrupulous and disgraceful campaign of its nature. What is most disconcerting is that the vast majority of incidents have been perpetrated by forces backing the president. The Constitution which is the fundamental law, the ground of all laws is being brazenly flouted, trod upon and steam-rolled over. So too the decrees of the Supreme Court the highest guardian and supervisor of all laws and of the rights and duties they confer.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/10)

Rs. 430 Billion 'Lie' Exposed by Central Bank Chief
Subha Pathum – Tissa Dear Friends,
Please see below the truth regarding “Rs. 430 billion fraud” as explained by the Central Bank Chief. It is interesting to know that Rs. 35 billion ‘VAT Scam’ (as informed) truly occurred during the UNP Administration during Nov 2002 to Dec 2004!! All we can do at this stage (about one week for the election) is to expose this lie crafted by ‘traitors of the nation’ by ensuring a greater circulation of the truth among innocent voters so that they will judge these liars at the ‘Peoples’ Court’ on 26th January.  Please... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

සරත් ෆොන්සේකාට විදේශ බලවේගයක් ඉනා බේතක් දුන්නාද?
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
සරත් ෆොන්සේකා රූකඩයක් එසේ නැත්නම් අතකොලු වක් ද? ඔහුට ගොනා යැයි කියූ අය සමඟ එක් වී ගොනෙක් මෙන් කථා කරන්නේ ඔහුට සුදු කොටියෙක් ඉනා බේතක් කැවු වා වත් ද? සරත් ෆොන්සේකාත්, ඔහුගේ නීති උපදේශක සරත් සිල්වාත් ජාත්‍යන්තර බලවේග වලට අසුවුන-යටවුන ලංකාවේ අළුත්ම රූකඩ දෙක නොවේද යන කාරණය අවුරුදු හතළිහක් පමණ කාලයක් තිස්සේ ලෝකයේ දේශපාලන භූගෝල විද්ධ්‍යාව අධ්‍යයනය කරමින් සිටින අයෙකු වශයෙනුත්, පිටරටක වාසය කලත් ලංකාවේ අනාගත ඉරනම ගැන නිතරම සිතමින් සිටින අයෙකු වශයෙනුත් මගේ සිතට බලවත් අසහනයක් ගෙන දේ.     ලංකාව පරණ යටත් විජිතයකි. ටැන්ගනීකාවේ අගමැතිව සිටි ජුලියස් නියරේරේ විසින් පෙන්නා දුන් පරිදි සුදු ජාතීන් යටත් විජිතවලට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

HANDS OFF SRI LANKA (2) !! European Union vs Sri Lanka
Wimal Ediriwira  -  The SINHALÉ (“Sri Lanka”) Centre
What is happening?  The ‘International Community’ of White, Christian, Western (ICWCW) nations have preposterously accused Sri Lanka of ‘War Crimes’ and ‘Human Rights violations’ !  1. So, hasn’t Sri Lanka committed any ‘War Crimes’ and ‘Human Rights violations’?  Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country which, throughout its 2,560-year documented history, has never waged war against any other country and has never invaded any other country and whose Buddhist people even never kill any innocent creatures – even tiny insects!  2. And what about the ‘International Community’ of White, Christian, Western nations?... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Consortium of patriotic organisations
Consortium of Patriotic Organisations
Soon after, Tamil terrorism was expunged from Sri Lanka by literally drowning it in Nandikadaal lagoon, due to the unwavering determination, joined up thinking and collective action, the rejoicing nation was taken aback as rumours started to spread regarding an unfortunate state of affairs, namely, a rift between the General on one side and the President and the Secretary of Defence on the other. This was soon followed by another rumour plunging the whole nation into a pool of amazement. This second rumour was, the army General who was assigned by the president to obliterate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

SARATH FONSEKA’S BIG MOUTH
By Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE
 The colourful (or discolourful) vocabulary of SF has surprised many in Sri Lanka and worldwide. His selection of words for different situations, had been well below the standards of a professional ex-Army Commander. His own dictionary must be full of these abrupt and abusive words. Compare the speeches of SF with that of Dr G P Malalasekera, Dr W S Karunaratne, Mr S W R D Bandaranaike, of yester years. The audience listen attentively with great admiration to those intellectuals. It is a well known fact that during his tenure in Office, SF... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Promises, promises, promises
S. L. Gunasekera
Excerpts from the book “Fonseka Vs Rajapaksa The issues before us” Making promises which they know they cannot honour for the sole purpose of deceiving the people into voting for them is, regrettably, part of the stock in trade of the professional politician. Thus, we found Mrs. Bandaranaike promising to bring rice from the moon in 1970; Ranasinghe Premadasa promising to give each person who earned less than a particular amount a sum of Rs. 25,000 from the public coffers in 1988. J. R. Jayewardene promising to give each citizen eight lbs of grain a week... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Do you know who this Bicycle Politico is?
By Kramavedi – Matara.
It was a period in which a mere chit put the country in darkness, scared the people and the people were subjected to murder in a contest by the State Terrorist outfits such as Green Tigers, Yellow Cats, and Pra etc.  Amidst these death warnings and threats the son of a powerful politician established over one hundred party organizations throughout the electorate.  In such a situation, on the recommendation of Anura Bandaranaike this person came to the area being appointed as a Co-Organisor of the electorate. When he came to the electorate he was not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Political allegiance of Sri Lankan Muslims Where should it be? – Part.IV
By A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA
At present a record number of Muslim Parliamentarians, amounting to eighteen serve as Ministers and Deputy Ministers in President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, who was branded as an anti-Muslim by the reactionary treacherous elements. The number of Muslim Ministers in the present Cabinet amounts to 27% which is in far excess of the Muslim population in the country. Despite a Supreme Court ruling to dismiss the veteran Muslim politician Mr. A.H.M.Fowzie, from his Ministerial portfolio, President Mahinda Rajapakse used his prerogative not to act according to the SC ruling as such an action could hurt the feelings... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Finally, the manifestos!
by Kath Noble Courtesy The Island 
After a month or so of the kind of campaigning that would have been better conducted in a boxing ring, with padded gloves and a referee to point out the numerous punches landing so painfully below the belt, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka have released their manifestos. Serious reflection on the choice facing Sri Lanka is now possible. Voters, of course, haven’t minded the delay. They don’t read them anyway. This occurred to me as I was leafing through ‘A Brighter Future’. When have I ever read a manifesto? Not at home in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS- Harima Badu Hayak
Malin Abeyatunge
New Democratic Front (NDF) comprised of harima Badu Hayak namely UNP, JVP, Mangala, Hakeem, Ganeshan and Sarath Fonseka looks a real achcharu. People are waiting to see how these Harima Badu Haya going to compromise their ideological and political differences and their personalities. UNP led by Ranil is no doubt ultra capitalistic and apes the west. JVP led by Somawansa is ultra Marxist leaning more towards the communist block. Where does Mangala stand? No where as he has no policy or political ideology but opportunism is his key necessity. Hakeem a Muslim fundamentalist and opportunist who will... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

Prof. Fonseka, Gen. Fonseka and Gamini Fonseka
Despite fighting a war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa embarked upon a journey to eradicate the menace of liquor, drugs and narcotics to save the people and the majority community at the correct time, said Professor Carlo Foneska today. He said the President established the Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol upon assuming office to combat the menace. "This step brought in a revenue Rs.17 million", Fonseka said. Professor Carlo Fonseka contradicted General Sarath Fonseka's statement that consumption of alcohol activated the brain cells." There is no medical evidence to prove Sarath Fonseka's view", he added.... -Full Story- (news.lk - 20/01/10)

STUDY REVEALS FIGHTING ON THE GROUND WAS ONLY PART OF A MAJOR WAR THE GOVERNMENT FOUGHT SILENTLY ON SEVERAL OTHER FRONTS
PRESS RELEASE
A new book released this week following an intensive study of Eelam War IV concludes that while winning the ground war itself was a remarkable feat the government was fighting on many other fronts at the same time to secure victory on the ground. They included pressure from a number of key western governments to call a ceasefire to allow them to rescue Prabhakaran and other top LTTE leaders and their families, ban on selling arms to Sri Lankan government by United States and the European Union countries, cutting down foreign aid, arms suppliers to the government... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

After the 26th, Gen Sarath Fonseka should be brought to a war crimes tribunal in Sri Lanka
Nimal R  Melbourne Australia
I believe that many Sri Lankans are aware of what His Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse told Gen Sarath Fonseka just prior to departing from his office, after handing over his resignation, “Sarath, after you get in to politics and become a loser, please come and join me to rebuild the country”. Of course, there is no doubt that Gan Sarath Fonseka would have had a chance of joining Hon Mahinda Rajapakse the great statesman of Sri Lanka after his defeat on the 26th (as many of his opponents have done in the past) had the General... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/10)

People's Tribunal on Sri Lanka, Dublin
Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
January 19, 2010 OPEN LETTER To the Judges of the People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka (PTSL)  Dublin, Ireland Judge Francois Houtart (Belgium); Judge Rajinder Sachar (India); Judge Nawal al Saadawi (Egypt); Judge Sulak Sivaraksa (Thailand); Judge Denis Halliday (Ireland); Judge Gianni Tognoni (Italy); Judge Daniel  Feierstein (Argentina); Judge Mary Lawlor (Ireland); Judge Oystein Tveter (Norway); Judge Eren Keskin (Turkey); Judge Francesco Martone (Italy) & Dr. Jude Lal Fernando (Member of the Convening Committee – Sri Lanka). Judges of the Tribunal: I am impressed by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

Death of a ‘Bhadralok’ Communist: Jyoti Basu (1914-2010)
Ajit Randeniya
The death last Sunday of Mr Jyoti Basu, the best-known face of communism in India marks the end of an era when the privileged classes created by colonialists gave birth to Communists who led the campaign against it, proving one of the enduring maxims of Marxism.  Basu was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) from 1940 until 1964 when whe walked out to found the CPI-M party, also known as ‘Bharat ki Kamyunist Party (Marksvadi), and ‘Marksvadi Kamyunist Party’ (MaKaPa) in Hindi.  Basu’s other claim to fame lies in becoming the longest serving Chief... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

The Presidential Election as seen from a distance….
Anjalika Silva - USA
As the election draws near and the mud slinging intensifies, those who watch from a distance have a “Bird’s eye view” of the games being played.  It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict what can happen if sanity prevails.  Due to selective amnesia the probability of sanity drifts further and further away dragging the country deeper into regression.  Let’s see if we can predict some of the possible scenarios running up to January 26 and thereafter.  Scenario 1:  President Rajapakse wins the election, the development projects will continue.  The country will demand more transparency... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

JVP Ungratefools, Who Ended Reckless Privatisation and World Bank Dictatorship?
Dilrook Kannangara
Ungrateful fools of the JVP have forgotten their own slogans! There was a time when JVP activists were trying to die over privatisation of everything under the sun. All governments whether the green camp or the blue camp, were hell bent on privatising anything they could sell. From profit making enterprises to national icons, from sensitive state entities to potential money spinners, everything was under the reckless privatisation spell. Even the national carrier was privatised recklessly. Bank of Ceylon and the Peoples Bank were almost privatised. Ceylon Electricity Board, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lanka Post were... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

Sri Lankans living abroad: Re-elect President for peace, development
Lakshmi de Silva
Our country lost tens of thousands of lives due to terrorism over the past three decades and defeating terrorism was like a dream come true, said Ven Kottawe Nanda Thera who has been residing in the USA for nearly 25 years. Addressing a recent press conference of Sri Lankans living abroad in Colombo the Thera said during these long years we browsed the Internet each morning and though we were living thousands of miles away from our Motherland the tragic incidents of killings were greatly felt by us more than when we lived here.... -Full Story- (Daily News - 19/01/10)

Leader of the SLNC proposes measures for Women’s participation in politics
Press Release - Media Sec. for Minister of Justice and Law Reform Gamini Sarath Godakanda
The Leader of the Sri Lanka National Congress, Minister Milinda Moragoda, has highlighted the importance of getting more women involved in the political process. To do this it policies conducive to facilitating their entry into politics must be put in place. In Sri Lanka, women are vastly underrepresented in government, with women representatives comprising only 1.8% of the representatives at the local government level, 5.0% in the provincial councils and 5.8 % in parliament. This is the one of the lowest ratios of any... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

All Sri Lankans, Buddhists and Patriots,
Dalai Lama
It is the hour of need again for all Sri-Lankans, especially to all Sinhalese. Since the great win against the LTTE terrorists and western powers ( including NGOs), it took only 6 months to betray your country by modern "Don Juan Dharampala", Sarath Fonseka. In a time where undivided solidarity needs to be presented to the rest of the world, Sarath Fonseka's betrayal has divided your country into two. As a fellow Buddhist it is my honorable duty to inform all Sri-Lankans, especially Buddhist monks about the incoming danger to your country. This is the time... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

Political Allegiance of Sri Lanka Muslims - Part.III Political allegiance of Sri Lankan Muslims Where should it be?
By A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA
 Part III By A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA The continuous and brutal murder of Iraqi population by the United States and its allies are known even to a Muslim child in this country and need no elaboration. The whole world sans Western countries condemned these massacres.  It is indeed shame not only for Sri Lankan Muslims but for Sri Lankans as a whole to have a person to lead the main opposition party who went to the United Nations and justified the massacres of Iraqis by the Bush Administration. Muslims in the Eastern Province experienced the worst atrocities from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

A wonderful Plan of Development of Sri Lanka by Sarath Fonseka
Swarnaith Udana
Why cannot anybody else think about it. Only Sarath Fonseka(SF) is wise enough of such a genius plan.   According to S,F to reduce cost of living and and increase salaries economists have to be chased away(He could have meant "killed"-like Pol Pot).   So I think SF is consistent in these matters and now applying SF's super wisdom logic consistently  we conclude:   To develop the country Engineers should be killed or at least chased away.   To improve health the nurses and doctors should be killed or at least chased away.   To improve education,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

Mad The Sunday Leader
Orpheus Perera says:
criminalloyar says: January 16, 2010 at 12:53 pm http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2010/01/10/an-open-letter-to-mr-gotabaya-rajapaksa/comment-page-1/comment-12303 Gotta is bloody criminal Reply Orpheus Perera says: January 19, 2010 at 9:15 am Hi criminalloyar So was Ranil who employed Gonawala Sunil to carry out his crimes. He also built a torture chamber to torture JVP and innocent suspects. Later the house was demolished and a road built over it. Premadasa was a criminal in a way. But he did worked hard and for the common man. Rajapajsha Brother’s came out from somewhere to save the country. MR had first four years to get rid... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

2010 Presidential Election and Realization of People's Expectations
Press statement of De Dham Rakno-Daya Wijesinghe 14th January, 2010
This presidential election is different to all previous ones. This is the first time that an army general is contesting for the presidency. One of the principal candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is a statesman par excellence and an extra ordinary politician who was able to defeat terrorism in spite of the tremendous pressure brought against the military campaign by foreign powers. He was thus able to ensure the security of the people, which no previous President could do. His good and bad qualities, strengths and weaknesses, in respect of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF PATRIOTIC SRI LANKANS FOR A UNITARY SRI LANKA (GA - PLUS)
Memorandum on Key National Issues to Candidates seeking Electoral Office - 2010
Our nation succeeded in gaining some breathing space as of May 2009 following the elimination of the three decade long canker of terrorism launched by the heavily armed militant Tamil separatist groups.  This great victory was achieved through the enormous sacrifices of blood, sweat, tears, life and limb made especially by the valiant members of the armed forces, police, civil defence and intelligence services with several thousands falling in action and an equal number becoming disabled, who need to be cared for by their fellow countrymen.  The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

I am Wenuri Wijesinghe, I am 13 years old.
Wenuri Wijesinghe
My late father Nalin Wijesinghe was a Lieutenant Commander at the Sri Lanka Navy. He was killed in action on 29th of August, 1995 during a rescue operation conducted to free the crew of the merchant ship Irish Mona which was under control of LTTE terrorist at Mullativ seas. It happened just 8 months before I was born, therefore I was not fortunate like many children to get the love of a father. The story of his tragic death was told by my mother when I used to wonder why I didn’t have a father like my... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

UNP,JVP and Pro-LTTE Tamil website says, "Defeat Rajapakse"
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera
In an interview to a Sri Lankan Daily on 17th Jan. Ranil had said that the TNA leader Sampanthan, met Gen. Fonseka and he gave him the 10 point Programme which had been approved by all parties supporting him.  With regard to Ranil's meeting with Sampanthan he had added, "...Other issues which resolve to power sharing and all the matters are up to the Parliament and not Gen. Fonseka because he would cease to be the executive President and he has no political party to back him..."  So basically what he said was once the incumbent President is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

The style of addressing the public in the Election Campaign of 2010
Chitra Sandanayake
It is with sadness that I write to say that people with some education and trying to be political leaders, try to capture the people’s vote by stooping to the lowest level speeches in their public addresses. They themselves will regret later for saying what they have said. It is hard for any one to decide which way to go because of the foul and indecent language they use. It is hard to get the message across when all they are trying to do is rouse feelings of disgust and hatred. Have not we moved away from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/10)

Country needs honest reasoning on the part of her patriotic sons and daughters
Henry-USA
As the day for one of the most important elections in Sri Lanka in modern history draws nigh, all patriots who believe in democracy, peace and prosperity for Sri Lankans present and future need to think before they cast their vote-but that is some thing that every voter does anyway, I hope.  The choice thay make of what is best for the country and its people will obviously have very far reaching consequences. The way I see it, the choice is clear for highly obvious reasons, and it would be pure betrayal of honest reasoning if General Sarath... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

ජනාධිපතිවරණය හා කොළඹ ජනතාවගේ සැබෑ ගැටළු
චන්‍ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිත‍ගේ විසිනි.
මේ රටේ වාසය කරන ජනතාව, බරපතල ගැටලු ගනනාවකට මුහුණ දෙමින් සිටී. සමහර ගැටලු තමන් මුහුණ දෙනවාදැයි ඒවායින් පීඩා විදින මිනිසුන් පවා නොහදුනන තත්වයක් මෙරට තුල පවතින අතර, තමන් මුහුණ දෙන ප්‍රශ්න නිසි ලෙස නොහදුනන මිනිසුන්ට විධායක ජනාධිපති කම අහෝසි කිරීම, රුපියල් 10,000 කින් රජයේ සේවකයින්ගේ වැටුප් වැඩි කිරීම, ස්විධීන කොමිසන් සභා පිහිටුවීම යන මැතිවරණ පොරොන්දු තමන්ගේ ජීවිත වලට බලපාන්නේ කෙසේදැයි මනාව අවබෝධ කර ගැනීමට සෑහෙන කාලයක් ගතවේ. එම නිසා මෙම ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී මෙරට ජනතාව මුහුණ දෙන ජීවන ගැටලු සම්බන්ධව යම් හඩක් නැංවීම ජනතාවගේ පැත්තෙන් අපට උරුමව ඇති බවක් හැගේ. මෙරට ජනතාවට උරුමව ඇති ජීවන ගැටලුවල ස්වාභාවය විවිධ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

SHOULDN’T THE CENTRAL BANK TRACK THE FUNDS COMING INTO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Malin Abeyatunge
I wrote this letter on 5/12 2009 and this was published in patriotic websites like Lankaweb, Sinhale Hotnews and is in the public domain.The most recent news that SF group has tried to bribe National Freedom Front Member of Parliament Mohamed Muzzamil MP is only a tip of the iceberg. Wimal Weerawansa also mentions that a foreign country is involved in this transaction. What I have said on 5/12/2009 is becoming true and I hope you will re-publish this letter to bring the matter into focus again.. Now the race has begun and how Sarath Fonseka’s election... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

රුපියල් බිලියන 430 මගඩිය !
සී. ඒ. චන්ද්‍රප්‍රේම
ඉකුත් අවුරුදු හතර පුරා දූෂණය හා වංචාව නිසා රටට සිදුවූ පාඩුව රු. බිලියන 430 ක්‌ හැටියට විපක්‌ෂය ගණන් බලා ඇත. තෙල්, සංස්‌ථාවේ "හෙජිං" ගිවිසුම, වැට්‌ මගඩිය, මිහින්එයාර්, කෙරවලපිටිය විදුලි බලාගාරය ඇතුළු වංචනික ගනුදෙනු 14 ක්‌ නිසා මේ පාඩුව සිදුවී ඇතැයි කියෑවේ. මේ ගනුදෙනු ගැන, වගකිව යුතු රජයේ නිලධරයකු වන මහ බැංකු අධිපති අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් මහතාගෙන් අප විමසා සිටි විට, අපට ලැබුණු පිළිතුරු මෙසේය. කෙරවලපිටිය විදුලි බලාගාරය ප්‍රශ්නය - කෙරවලපිටිය විදුලි බලාගාරයේ සැබෑ වියදම ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 200 ක්‌ව තිබියදී එහි වියදම ඩොලර් මිලියන 400 කට වංචනිකව ඇස්‌තමේන්තු කළ බව ඇත්තක්‌ද? පිළිතුර - කෙරවලපිටිය බලාගාරය සඳහා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

The Rs. 430 billion fraud
From ‘The Island’ (Internet edition) on 18 Jan 2006
The loss to the country due to corruption over the past few years has been estimated a Rs.t 430 billion . Fourteen corrupt deals of the government including the CPC hedging deal, Mihinair, the Kerawalapitiya power plant, the VAT scam among others, are said to have caused this massive loss. Since this is a matter of the utmost public interest, we decided to request clarifications regarding the fourteen tainted mega deals of the government from a responsible state official. In this interview, we go through all 14 deals with central... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

Who wants a change? or “Vishvasaneeya VINASHAYAK”?
Malin Abeyatunge
DNF puppet Sarath Fonseka (SF) has named his Montessori level manifesto “vishvasaneeya venesak” borrowed the word from Obama “Change” for his election campaign. Well, what suits for USA will not suit for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans do not want a change at this moment. If by a potta chance SF is elected president it aill not be a “Vishvasneeya Venesak “ but a “Vishvasneeya Vinashayak”  Let us examine the some salient changes SF is talking of in his manifesto. (1) Abolition of Executive Presidency? That’s what he said at the beginning but now he says he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

2010 Presidential Election –Elect President Mahinda to prevent the re-emergence of Tamil Racism and their aspiration to dismember our Motherland!
Ratanapala
For all practical purposes there are only two contenders for this presidential election – the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Presidential hopeful Gen Sarath Fonseka. Both are Sri Lankan heroes for having defeated the curse of terrorism which stalked our motherland for the last 30 years. President Rajapakse is accredited for having managed the war and the economy despite a global financial crisis. He has been ably assisted by his brothers Gotabhaya and Basil in managing the situation under dire circumstances. On the war front the three service commanders Sarath Fonseka, Asoka Karannagoda and Romesh Gunathilaka together... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

war is over and no reason for Sri Lanka not to be a party to the Ottawa Convention
PRESS RELEASE BY SRI LANKA NATIONAL CONGRESS Gamini Sarath Godakanda Media Sec. For Minister Milinda Moragoda
The newly formed Sri Lanka National Congress, in keeping with its commitment to humanitarian values, advocates that Sri Lanka sign the Ottawa Convention to ban land mines and other cruel weapons such as Cluster bombs. The Sri Lanka National Congress under the leadership of Minister Milinda Moragoda intends requesting the government to review its position on signing the Ottawa Convention on the banning of Land Mines; now that the war is over and humanitarian de-mining is being undertaken, there is no reason for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

SF Talk: before and now… his credibility??
Posted by: Prasanna
Before: “I will abolish executive presidency right after January 26th!!!!!” Now: “I have to keep the presidency and will appoint 5 ministers.” They are Sampanthan, Somawansa, Hakim, Mangala and Ranil. Before: Sept 23, 2008 National post interview- “Sri Lanka belongs to only Sinhalese people, and minorities should stop unfair demands.” Never denied his stupid comments for the last 1 ½ years. Now: “National Post reporter Stewart Bell wrongly interpreted what I said in that press interview” Before: “We have to keep IDP’s for very long period, since LTTE members are in that group. We have to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

Karuna Amman stands above all Tamil Politicians, Tamil writers and intellectuals as a patriotic Sri Lankan-a catalyst of unity.
By Charles.S.Perera
 In Sri Lanka the Tamil Community is seeking to separate itself from the Sri Lankan identity to assert their Tamil identity separate from the rest of the Sri Lankan Communities. They refuse to accept the Sinhala as the majority Community. They clamour about an ethnic problem , and make demands seeking parity with the Sinhala Community. Take for instance Sampanthan and the rest of the members of the TNA, they do not stand for a united Sri Lanka, but a Sri Lanka divided between the Sinhala and the Tamils. Even Anandasangaree, or even Douglas Devanada peddle their... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයට ලංසුවක්‌!
දිවයින කතුවැකිය
හැම දෙයකටම තිබෙන්නේ මිලක්‌ හෙවත් වෙළෙඳ වටිනාකමක්‌ බව ධනවාදී පාරිභෝගික සමාජයක එන මූලික සිද්ධාන්තයකි. ඒ අනුව නිශ්චල හා චංචල දේපොළ පමණක්‌ නොව සාහිත්‍ය කලාව, සාරධර්ම හා පුද්ගලයෝද විකිණෙති. සාහිත්‍ය කලාව, සාරධර්ම යනාදිය විකිණීම යනු ඒ සමාජය කුණු වී ඕජස්‌ ගලන වණයක්‌ බවට පත්වීමක්‌ සේ සමහරු හඳුන්වති. එහෙත් එය වැළැක්‌විය හැකිද? ඡේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන උතුමාණන්ගේ විවෘත ආර්ථික සොරොව්ව ඔස්‌සේ මේ රටට ගලා ආ සංස්‌කෘතික හා සදාචාර පරිහානිය තුළින් අප තවමත් පාඩම් ඉගෙන ගෙන ඇති බවක්‌ ද කිව නොහැක. මේ උතුමාණන්ගේ දේශපාලන භාවිතයේ බරපතල මෙන්ම දුෂ්ටතම ප්‍රතිඵලයක්‌ වූයේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයටත් මිලක්‌ නියම වීමය. ඒ අනුව දේශපාලනඥයාටද අගයක්‌ නියම වීමය. 1948... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

දේශපාලන සක්කිලියා
එඩ්වඩ් ගුණසේකර
අපගේ ශබ්දකෝෂයේ කලකට පෙර භාවිතා වූ වචනයකි සක්කිලියා යන්න. මෙම වචනය සමාජ ගතවූයේ බාල්දි කක්කුසි සංස්කෘතියක් තිබූ එදා සමාජයේ; එම බාල්දි කක්කුසි වල එකතුවන අසූචි එකතු කර පිරිසිදු කරන පාරම්පරික ජන කොට්ඨාශයක් උදෙසායි. සක්කිලියා බිහිවන්නේ සක්කිලි මවකට හා පියෙකුට දාව වන අතර,ඔහුගේ ස‍හෝදර සහෝදරියන්ද, ඔවුනගේ දූ දරුවන්ද, ඔහුගේ බිරිද හා දූ දරුවන්ද සක්කිලීන් වශයෙන් සැලකීම එකල සමාජ සම්මතය විය. පසුගියදා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කාලාන්තරයක් මුලුල්ලේ කරගෙන ගිය; මහජන මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් මුදලට බිලිබා ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාදාමයේ සුලමුල හෙලි දරව් කර ගැනීමට අවස්ථාවක් උදාවිය. මේ හරහා වර්තමානයේ මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය කරන කණ්ඩායමක් නිරාවරණය විය. මේ හරහා මේ මහත්වරුන්ගේ ප්‍රතිරූප දේශපාලන අසූචි වලින් බරිතව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/10)

Sapphire gate: Wimal will produce irrefutable evidence
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Muslim presidential candidate, presidential advisor implicated National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, yesterday said that he had both photographic and audio evidence to implicate UNP National List and Muslim presidential candidate, MP Myown Mustapha, and presidential advisor Nazeer Ahmed in an attempt to bribe NFF member, M. Musammil, MP. Mustapha quit the presidential race last Friday (Jan 15) to throw his weight behind the Opposition presidential candidate General (Retd) Sarath Fonseka.... -Full Story- (The Island - 17/01/10)

The Sapphire-gate
That most politicians are ready to compromise anything, even the national interest, if the correct price is quoted, is only too well known. There have been rumours of political crossovers induced by bribes. But, it is for the first time that damning evidence of a shameless move to lure a politician with a bribe into defecting has surfaced. Last year, while the Indian parliament was debating an Indo-American nuclear deal, which threatened the very survival of the Congress-led government, Opposition parliamentarians stormed the well of the House waving as they did wads and wads of money which, they said, they... -Full Story- (The Island - 17/01/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—7-ON TOURING SCOTLAND WITH A 10-YEAR-OLD:Learning about battles, massacres, firths, lochs and monsters
By Shelton A. Gunaratne Ó2010
The most memorable of our five-day tour of Scotland (16-20 June 1990), from the point of view of a 10-year-old, was our breathtaking scenic tour through the rugged highlands and lochs west and southwest of Aviemore [a small town of fewer than 70,000 people in 1990, but more than108,000 now].  From Aviemore, we fanned out southwest to see the site of the Massacre of Glencoe (1692) and northwest to see the site of the Battle of Culloden Moor ((1746) at Inverness. and to get a glimpse of the legendary Loch [lake] Ness monster at... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

Pawnseka should throw in the towel ‘now’ to save himself and the nation
Ajit Randeniya
The US and Norwegian sponsored anti-corruption brigade’s attempt to bribe National Freedom Front (NFF) MP Mohamed Muzzamil is polemicist’s dream. It provides more ‘I told you so’ opportunities than a drunken gambler’s wife would get in a casino!  However, avenues available for the honest expression of contempt and indignation over this dastardly act are narrower than one would expect. In March 2004, when Tony Blair went to Tripoli to apologise to Colonel Muammar Gadaffi for past bombings of Libya including the murder of his little daughter, Gadaffi resorted to the traditional Arabic way of expressing extreme contempt... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

Let's help to save Sri Lanka's architectural heritage
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
January 17, 2010 The Editor (Letters) The Ottawa Citizen Sir: Every year in our City of Ottawa, during the ‘Doors Open Ottawa’ day we are allowed to take a peek inside Ottawa’s most exciting buildings. We are asked to learn about their architectural, historical and functional significance. Visit elaborate embassies we are told among other buildings of architectural significance. Yet, Canada seems to have a callous disregard when it comes to other's architectural heritage. We have decided to demolish completely our embassy in Colombo which is the historical building,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

International Film Festival begins tomorrow in the City
Nava Thakuria
Guwahati: The prime city of Northeast will host an important international film festival starting from tomorrow. Organized by Cine Arts Society, Assam (CineASA) for the second consecutive year, the weeklong Guwahati festival will showcase nearly 40 films from international arena for the film goers of the region. The Second CineASA Guwahati International Film Festival 2010 will be inaugurated on January 18 by the Assam Governor JB Patnaik. The Sri Lankan film ‘Akasha Kusum’ will be screened as the inaugural film. The director of the movie, an eminent filmmaker from the island nation, Prasanna Vithange will grace the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

Credibility Factor of Flag Bearer of LTTE Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Prof. Hudson McLean
‘Flagrant abuse of state resources’– Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu by Lynn Ockersz http://www.island.lk/2010/01/17/news3.html The UK spokesman and the left arm of lawyer Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran (self-appointed leader of LTTE) in USA, and friend of money-bags Raj Rajaratnam (awaiting Trial), tries to pretends to be the Judge, Jury and the Hangman in his complaints of government use of State property during the current Presidential Elections. The Oxford and LSE educated disco-dancing Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu has been himself accused of mishandling of funds which do not belong to him or to the Centre for Policy Alternatives. This is another British... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

The real 'war hero'
by Herold Leelawardena
Here in the political platforms of Sri Lanka, General Fonseka is claiming that he is the man who wiped out LTTE and all its leaders. He is asking us to vote him on that account. Our people are not uninformed any more. Moreover, we have a literacy rate of 93% for entire country, and 97% for Sinhalese. So, most of us could understand how and what led to LTTE and all its leaders had been wiped out. At the last phase of the war, the so-called world leaders rushed their emissaries here to put pressure on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/10)

Mahinda heading for victory; Fonseka heading for Oklahoma
H. L. D. Mahindapala
On the eve of the 2005 presidential elections I wrote that “Mahinda Rajapakse will win with a paper thin margin that can be slipped under the door.” Trying to predict election results is a hazardous business. Not even the pollsters get it right all the time. However, I’m ready to gamble again and declare that Mahinda Rajapakse will win again with a margin that can’t be pushed under the door this time, come January 26, 2010. There are several key factors that lead to this conclusion. First, the opposition has fired all its bullets and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

Sarath and Corruption - unanswered questions
Ananda De Costa
Soon after Sarath’s resignation, came his corruption story initiated by journalists, not by government. People got carried away by this story in Asian Tribune that only a few saw the hidden second motive behind the story with the heading “ Every Bullet ... Innocent Tamil Civilians ..”. If this story was published six months ago it would have been an entirely different story. Why the comprehension of so many patriots weakened once they knew that Sarath was now going against Mahinda. True patriots should never lose their heads over stories of various actions by individuals. Regardless... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

Delhi backing Fonseka against Rajapakse?
R. Bhagwan Singh
Chennai Jan. 16: Is India backing Gen. Sarath Fonseka in his battle for the Sri Lankan presidency against incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa? The conduct of the Tamil National Alliance, which has 22 MPs in the island's Parliament, could point to just that. The TNA, which has been in constant consultations with Delhi regarding its course of action, particularly after the fall of the LTTE last May - whose proxy it had been until then - had announced on January 4 that it would support Gen. Fonseka because he had given definite proposals to help the Tamils while... -Full Story- (Asian Age - 16/01/10)

Clinton and rape of Sri Lanka
By Wendell W Solomons
Delivering a speech at the UN Security Council on Sept. 30th, 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that rape was used as a weapon of war in the Balkans, in Myanmar and in Sri Lanka. She said that in too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators were not punished, and the impunity encouraged others to commit the same crime. In Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned US Ambassador Patricia Butenis to express his concern over the Clinton allegation. Explaining Clinton’s remark, Ambassador Butenis said that the Secretary of State... -Full Story- (lawyers-law.com - 16/01/10)

Religion and Governance in Sri Lanka
Primary author of this article is Prasad Mapatuna of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
According to a recent survey conducted by Gallup Consultants, (an international consulting body http://www.gallup.com) Sri Lanka is one of the top religious countries in the world. This survey was based on a few simple questions such as “is religion an important part of your daily life” asked from a sample of around 1000 individuals from each country. The analysis is published on http://www.gallup.com/poll/114211/Alabamians-Iranians-Common.aspx. According to this survey, Sri Lanka is at 2nd place where 99% of the participants acknowledging that religion is an important part of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

Clarification
Seema Sengupta.
This has reference to L. Jayasooriya’s post INDIA STARTED IT ALL dated January 15, 2010. While appreciating the sentiment contained therein, may I dispel this erroneous notion of the Indian government having exerted some influence on me to keep mum? You will appreciate that it is neither possible nor appropriate for a columnist to respond to every comment. However, I do take these remarks seriously as they play a vital role in enriching my learning process. As a foreign national and an independent journalist I thought it prudent to keep myself out of the political discourse... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

Mahinda and Corruption – The Untold Story
Dilrook Kannangara
Corruption has become a hot topic once again. Unfortunately corruption is discussed only during election time. Winners of elections burry it for good until their opponents resurrect it at the next election. So the cycle continues. Lack of credible direct evidence of corruption is the main difficulty in taking action against it. However empirical evidence is available for all to see about the degree of relative corruption. Relative corruption is the level of corruption of one government compared to another government. In 1994 Chandrika alleged massive corruption of the UNP government. It worked well for her but... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

Political allegiance of Sri Lankan Muslims -Where should it be? – Part. II
By A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA
The second structural change in the life of Sri Lankan Muslims and enormous service to the community took place during the reign of the late Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who dearly valued cordial relationships with Middle Eastern and Muslim countries all over the world. It was in gratitude to her cordial relationship that President Nasser sent several oil shipments to Sri Lanka when western countries imposed sanctions on oil supplies to Sri Lanka following the bold step taken by her to nationalise the oil companies in Sri Lanka and establish the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. In... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/10)

President vs. General – Let the Bout Begin.
Preview of the election from an outsider’s point of view – Ranga Welaratne writes from Lyon, France.
I visited my beloved country during the recent festive season, the land of my forefathers, where due to my extended sojourn overseas, I no longer have the right to vote. I have now lived exactly half of my life away from this island nation so I can look at the country from a different perspective to someone living and breathing in Sri Lanka everyday. This is I think   especially true when it comes to politics. I don’t think I have preconceived ideas... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

Political allegiance of Sri Lankan Muslims -Where should it be? Part I
By A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA
The Muslim community in Sri Lanka prior to the formation of the people’s revolutionary government of late Prime Minister Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike in 1956 was more or less a community of serfdom depending entirely on the handouts from the rich traders/merchants, or from the landowners in the agricultural areas, or from the rich families in the fishing areas or from the owners of large herds of animal husbandry. An ordinary Muslim was voiceless and they had to dutifully oblige the master if they were to stay on their vocation and sustain their families. Due to these pathetic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

Why Sarath Fonseka Appears To Be An Also Ran For The Presidency!
Lankaweb Editorial
With Election day fast approaching the case against Retd.Gen.Sarath Fonseka's entitlement to legitimacy as far as his candidature goes seems to be gaining momentum towards his disqualification and the man seems to have disentitled himself from every conceivable perspective to legitimately run for the highest office in addition to inviting a whole lot of unwelcome attention to his modus operandi as well as his two faced mentality in the eyes of many who are fast becoming aware that he does post dubious tendencies in much of his manouvering alongside the capacity to be a braggart about his... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

Jehan Perera about, "The importance of Ranil Wickremasinghe" ! A comment
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Jehan Perera, National Peace Council, who argued for peace talks, pauses and supported the West to stop the war against the terrorists in an article titled, "The importance of Ranil Wickremasinghe" to an English Daily of 12th Jan. 2010 says, "...Tamil National Alliance decision to support the candidacy of Sarath Fonseka reflects the trust and confidence that members of the ethnic communities (Tamils) have in the UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe ... Members of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka and abroad had expressed the view at different forums that they have greater confidence in Ranil than in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

US ambassador of Sri Lanka met the JVP leader
Today (15)  US ambassador of Sri Lanka, Patricia A. Buteric met the JVP leader, Comrade Somawansha Amarasinghe at the JVP head office Palawatta, Battaramulla. JVP Colombo district MP, Comrade Sunil Hanunneththi was also present at this meeting.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

LTTE Activist from Toronto currently visiting Sri Lanka
Mahinda Gunasekera
                                                                                             84 Tambrook Drive                                                                                                 Agincourt, Ontario                                                                                                 Canada M1W 3L9                                                                                                 Tel. (416) 498 - 0783       Inspector General of Police Colombo, Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

Lanka’s Rajapaksa set for easy win: Opinion poll
NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa seems set for an easy victory over his rival and former army chief Sarath Fonseka in the Jan 26 presidential poll, according to an opinion survey. Viplav Communications Pvt. Ltd., which has earlier been strategic advisors to numerous Indian politicians and conducted election surveys in India, conducted the survey in Sri Lanka. The findings of the survey were made available to IANS here. The poll shows Rajapaksa leading in all provinces other than the Tamil-dominated north and multi-racial east and enjoying a 12 percent lead over his opponent in the island as a... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 15/01/10)

Detained Sri Lankan Tamil MP is released
A Sri Lankan Tamil MP who has been detained by the security forces for eight months has been released. Sathasivam Kanagaratnam, an MP from the Vanni district, chose to stay in areas controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels until the country's war ended in May. He was detained and taken to Colombo for interrogation where he has been held ever since. The government refused to release him in spite of repeated requests by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The TNA is the largest Tamil party in the Sri Lankan parliament.... -Full Story- (BBC - 15/01/10)

Rajapakse set for an easy win?
New Delhi, Jan. 15: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa seems set for an easy victory over his rival and former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka in the January 26 presidential poll, according to an opinion survey. Viplav Communications Pvt. Ltd, which has earlier been strategic advisers to numerous Indian politicians and conducted election surveys in India, conducted the survey in Sri Lanka. The findings of the survey were made available to IANS here. The poll shows Mr Rajapakse leading in all provinces other than the Tamil-dominated north and multi-racial east and enjoying a 12 per cent lead over his opponent in... -Full Story- (Asian Age - 15/01/10)

Tamils should vote for Rajapaksa: Swamy
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Friday urged the Tamils of Sri Lanka to vote for Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Presidential elections. Dr. Swamy said if the Tamils wanted Indian opinion on their side, they should vote for the Tamil-speaking Sinhala leader, Mr. Rajapaksa. It was surprising that some representatives of the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) floated the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and canvassed the support of Tamils of India for the Opposition candidate, General (retired) Sarath Fonseka.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 15/01/10)

CONFIRMATION OF SECRET AGREEMENT TO DIVIDE SRI LANKA- TNA MPs
By DR M D P DISSANAYAKE
Two leading parliamentary members of Tamil National Alliance have now publicly confirmed the existence of a secret agreement between TNA and Sarath Fonseka. TNA MP Thangeshwari Kadiraman and MP Sishakthi Ananda have issued a statement confirming that under the agreement, the Tamils will be allowed self-rule by Sarath Fonseka, if elected. This was the main demand of Velupillai Prabhakaran. Sarath Fonseka and Ranil Wickremasinghe have also agreed to re-merge North and East and withdraw Army Camps from Tamil dominant provinces in North and East, virtually laying the foundation for the ultimate division of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

NEPAL IN SEARCH OF LOST IDENTITY
BY: PREM RAJ
INTRODUCTION South Asia is injured and bleeding due to the chicaneries of India using her intelligence agencies as the tools of governance within and without the frontiers of her country to make its dream of expansionism realize by grabbing the land, sucking the resources and placing its own stooges in the parliaments of neighbouring countries. Whether it’s Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Srilanka, Myanmar, Tibet or Nepal, the water resources are being ceased by India while making barrages and dams all along to turn the neighbour’s land barren and this aqua bombing has since long been pounding but... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

INDIA STARTED IT ALL
L. Jayasooriya
Three patriotic men MR, Gota and SF were working as a team until one night when India telephoned MR that a military coup was imminent. We first got the news from a Pakistani journalist Ashraf Javed in an article titled “India forces Sri Lanka to replace Gen. Fonseka” published in the Nation in Pakistan. Later this was followed by an article “President and the General” by an Indian journalist Seema Sengupta that appeared in the Sinhale Hot News. Both articles can be read in the internet under their names. In response to Sema Sengupta under comments I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/10)

'Mahinda Rajapaksa won Congress' victory'
Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times
President Mahinda Rajapaksa helped the Congress party to win in Tamil Nadu during the 2009 general elections, a top Presidential aide said on Thursday. Secretary to Rajapaksa, Lalith Weeratunge said that Rajapaksa reached an agreement with India to stop using heavy weapons during the last stage of the war in May. That agreement, according to him, ensured victory for Congress. Elections in Tamil Nadu took place in May, in the last phase of the general elections. At that time, there was an increasing demand for India to intervene in the war between the government troops and... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 14/01/10)

LTTE elements behind TNA's decision to support General Fonseka
While most of the Sri Lankan Tamil media have, for some unknown reason, failed to report the Presidential election rally held by the Tamil National Alliance in Vavuniya on Tuesday to canvass support for former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, BBC Tamil Service carried excerpts of speeches made by Messrs Sambanthan, Mavai Senathirajah and Suresh Premachandran asking the Tamil voters to defeat Mahinda Rajapakse. This is the first time that a main Sri Lankan Tamil political party has on its own volition conducted an election rally in support of a Sinhala Sri Lankan Presidential candidate. TNA, as well its predecessor... -Full Story- (asiantribune.com - 14/01/10)

Fonseka’s son-in-law, with no fixed job, gifts $4500 hand bags to his wife – Capt. Upul Illangamge
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The JVP-UNP campaign to project their Common Candidate, Sarath Fonseka, as “Mr. Clean” was dented severely by Capt. Upul Illangamge, close family friend of the Gen. Fonseka for 35 years, who unmasked the hidden face of Fonseka, yesterday at a press conference in Colombo. The overall picture he presented to the media made Fonseka look like a crude, cruel, vindictive, foul-mouthed and corrupt crook. With documentary evidence from the state of Oklahama where Fonseka’s son-in-law, Danun Tillekeratne, had registered his arms dealing Hicorp Inc., along with its subsidiary British Borneo Corporation, Capt. Illangamge exposed intimate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/10)

Canada, please don't do it
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
January 13, 2010 Editor (Letters)                                                                                                                                                                                                                          THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: Please Canada let us not do it to Sri Lanka.  It is not right.  When we decided to build the Bank of Canada’s Currency Museum in the late 1970s, we decided to preserve the “historic Bank of Canada building” on Ottawa’s Wellington Street which was built in 1937, and our architects were innovative to design the Museum around this historic building without demolishing it. And yet, Canada has decided to demolish completely our embassy building in Colombo which is the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/10)

WHAT A CHOICE- PITY THE SRI LANKAN VOTER
Concerned Citizen
The Sri Lankan voter has been asked to appoint a person to be the next President . A President who will be a dictator for the next 6 years with a subservient parliament ,Judiciary, Public service , a power given to that position by a Machiavellian Jayawardena who manipulated a parliament by holding the members to ransom. The cunning architect of all evil in that country had the resignation letters of the MPs with which he threatened . This really brings into question the legality of this position. No one dare question that position if he or... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/10)

Why we should vote for the President Mahinda Rajapakse , and not Sarath Fonseka ?
By Charles.S.Perera
Sarath Fonseka calls for a change. But a change for the better cannot come from Sarath Fonseka , who is not a real patriot . A patriot would not come forward to lead a country as its President only to stop corruption, and to end the executive powers of the President. There should be the greater objective of unifying the country under one flag and get the different Communities in Sri Lanka to shed their Communal identities to become one with the Sri Lankan Nation. His latest acceptance of the TNA to support him in his election... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/10)

Upul Joseph Fernando, Chinese aid and General Fonseka
Herold Leelawardena.
The contents of the article that Upul Joseph Fernando wrote to daily Mirror that published on 23rd December is untrue. He has been writing a lot of fallacy to Lankadeepa for some time. Pamphlets that he wrote to promote RanilW at the last Presidential election were of no different. Fortunately they bore no fruit because people realize they are nothing but canard. Today, like Joseph, there are many others that say evil things about Chinese and their aid to Sri Lanka. These Josephs are paid by Westerners, RanilW and parties that are on the same wave length.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/10)

DEATH TO DEMOCRACY AND ROAD TO DICTATORSHIP - Part IV
A.A.M.NIZAM, MATARA.
The best human quality is to give credit to those who deserve, and refrain from indulging in self aggrandizement.  It is hilarious to find Sarath Fonseka attempting to claim sole ownership for defeating the terrorists and that too without having involved at the beginning and end of the war.  If the operation unfortunately failed will he come forward to accept the responsibility in the same vain?.  A person like him will naturally together with his new found foreign servile treacherous cabal will blame the President and castigate him to the hilt in such an unfortunate event.  Lenin... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Sarath Silva in the hot seat
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B, Ph.D.
The Daily Mirror interview of Sarath Silva by Diane de Silva reveals the extent to which a former Chief Justice can go in playing the game of distorting and twisting facts because of his personal anger against a village man who became a successful president. He hoped Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) would be a Sakra Deyyyo! Whatever has happened to Sarath Silva’s legal training based on logic and reason? The unreasonable excuses that he gave to justify his decision to work against MR makes one wonder if he has also become a victim of an IC... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Are the Tamil parties on a Hidden Agenda?
Malin Abeyatunge
Are the Tamil parties on a Hidden Agenda? Yes they are. Since of late we see some Tamil political parties and Tamil politicians have pledged to support Sarath Fonseka (SF) who claimed himself and army alone defeated the scourge of LTTE terrorism. Among them are most prominently TNA, Sellsamy, some members of the political parties representing the up country Tamils and Mano Ganeshan. No doubt that TNA is the other side of the LTTE coin. They,  until the LTTE was defeated claimed that LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamils. They made every effort to stop... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Statement on Channel 4 Video - January 7,2010
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Mr. Philip AlstonSpecial Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary ExecutionsUnited Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Dear Sir: Your press conference on January 7,2010 to express your views and that of your so-called "experts" once again exposes your personal vendetta against Sri Lanka and your continued "hope" that by misusing your position at the U.N. you will achieve your dream of a war crimes inquiry against Sri Lanka. Today that view is confirmed by the Secretary General as he states that you are "acting independently" and distances the UN from your statement. I would... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Battle-scarred Tamils emerge as Lanka kingmakers
Published Date: January 12, 2010 By Amal Jayasinghe
For decades, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels fought for an independent ethnic homeland. In May they were defeated, but observers say Tamil voters could now be key to who becomes the next president. The two main candidates - incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse and former army chief Sarath Fonseka - both claim credit for crushing the Tigers and ending the island's bloody ethnic conflict. With the majority Sinhalese vote split between Rajapakse and Fonseka, a close race is expected and Sri Lanka's 2.5 million battle-scarred Tamils could decide who wins the election... -Full Story- (kuwaittimes.net - 12/01/10)

Defining “Change” for Sri Lanka – Do we know what we want ?
Anjalika Silva, USA
As a Presidential Election prematurely tabled comes up in a few days, there are many arguments being made in broad and undefined terms as necessity for change. Corruption and Nepotism, two age old Sri Lanka traditions have suddenly emerged as important criteria in support of change. Looking superficially and delving into this deeper we need to become educated and impart depth to those who cross our path before sacred principles of a nation are sacrificed together with true democracy. There are invisible forces that have ruined nations throughout the world and sooner or later, it may... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Philip Alston and his mission exposed
Ben Silva
The video clip that was in the hands of Mr Philip Alston shows a man in Sri Lankan army uniform shooting a man at point blank range and 8 more dead bodies in a field nearby. There are five possibilities/options 1. Victims Tamil and the man a GOSL soldier 2. The victims may also be Sinhalese and the shooter an LTTE man 3. The victims may be Tamils opposed to LTTE, and the man in Uniform an LTTE fighter 4. Victims and LTTE man are all actors, 5. Moving images produced with the aid of computer hardware... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

Tissanayagam saga: Part III- New space opens for greater democracy in Sri Lanka
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Considering that the nation was plunged into violence for 33 years, starting from the Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976, it was incongruous and irrational for the “free media” agents to demand that they be given carte blanche right to publish anything and everything deemed necessary by the editors, including some military secrets. Justice T. S. Fernando in one of his judgments dismissed such claims as the “freedom of the wild asses”. There is no unlimited right granted in any democracy to dissent if that right is likely to lead to the very suppression of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/10)

How the UNP with its “Common Candidate” will take Sri Lanka again on the IMF Free Trade Economy on the Path of Debt.
By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.
Minister Champika Ranawake has said that the Jayawardena Government borrowed $ 68 million for the Mahaweli Project, has already paid $ 314 million as interest and capital and has yet to pay another $ 548 million in the future, all on account of that debt. Many will say that the statistics have been fictitiously taken out of a hat and that Minister Ranawaka was talking nonsense. However it is important to note that this is what really happened and illustrates how Sri Lanka was made indebted by the UNP during its Eighteen Years 1977-1994. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

Sri Lanka Tamils back war-winning general for president
COLOMBO (Reuters) - The political proxy of the Tamil Tigers unanimously backed on Wednesday the presidential bid of the general who crushed the separatists in May, saying it was the only way to thwart incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa's re-election. World The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a group of ethnic Tamil parties that took orders from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said Rajapaksa's record on human rights and law and order made defeating him a priority. TNA parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan told a news conference some in the alliance had reservations about supporting General Sarath Fonseka, who won few... -Full Story- (Reuters - 11/01/10)

Philip Alston’s ‘kangaroo court’ justice stinks to High heavens
Ajit Randeniya
It is obvious that Sarath Pawnseka’s pathetically negative election campaign, if you can call that a campaign, based on non-credible charges of corruption against President Rajapakse and un-funded promises of ‘milk and honey’ for everyone has backfired. The foreign conspirators and local morons who are sponsoring his candidature have failed miserably to correctly gauge the sentiments of the Sri Lankan electorate. The ‘campaign’ is dead for all practical purposes; Pawnseka appearing on the same stage with Somawansa Amerasinghe has seen to that! Now it appears that his sponsors Robert Blake, the British High Commissioner Peter Hayes... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

SWAN OUT OF THE KNOWN LAKE……………..yet to perform in unknown terrain
Piyal Samarakone
She is gathering her momentum in a rapid pace setting aside all the disbeliefs and creating a political whirlwind which apparently touched by every nook and corner of the island at present. One can argue that she will never get a chance to perform or at least trying hard to believe so, nevertheless all those twists and somersaults being taken place in the centre stage we are forced to recall the famous phrase of  “never say never”. The divided minds find extremely difficult to understand whether they are really on the correct side of the political... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

CARLO FONSEKA IN SUNDAY ISLAND
L. Jayasooriya
Carlo Fonseka in an article in the Sunday Island of 10th January 2010, titled “Whom to vote for President” says that SF has nothing but military experience and voting for him would be like voting for Adolf Hitler. Within the body of that letter was a photograph of Hitler in a military cap which gave me the feeling that he was attempting to convey the impression that Hitler was a pure military man. Though he was a military man to begin with later he got into politics and was very much involved in politics. That was why... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

The Return of Mr. Philip Alston and Petty Desires for Vengeance
By Robert Stevens
After a long period of silence Philip Alston has returned to us armed with the questionable (read: forged) Channel 4 video provided by JDS (Journalists for Democracy). Unfortunately Mr.Alston has proven to be a wrongly motivated and at times incompetent individual who was put into silence when this forged video first came out and the Government of Sri Lanka offered a powerful and unquestionable rebuttal to it. The detailed technical analysis that was made widely available and conducted by Siri Hewa a foremost expert in communication, video technology and media proved the video was filmed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

DEATH TO DEMOCRACY AND ROAD TO DICTATORSHIP - Part III
A.A.M.NIZAM - MATARA.
Sri Lanka was able to defeat the terrorist menace since the country was gifted with a right leader at the right time who is politically matured, who is devoid of a communal mindset, who respects all communities alike, who has the flair to convince anyone and turn even the foe to become a friend, who respects the women folk as the fountain of motherhood, who dearly adore the children – the posterity of our nation, who esteem family values, who is dedicated to safeguard the cultural heritage and religious ethics, who are conscious of the important... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

Prof. Philip Alston on Sri Lanka and the Chanel 4 video clip
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
January 10, 2010 Prof.Philip Alston                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary of Arbitrary Executions New York, NY Dear Philip: It certainly took me a while to figure out the rules of your new Country War Crimes Board Game that you have used Sri Lanka as the guinea pig to test its effectiveness  – Phlip(Flip) All Stones and win a Chanel 4 TV. Hmmm…tricky, tricky! I know it is tricky as the player has to Phlip(Flip) All Stones against you and try to corral the country Israel that you are guarding... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

President Rajapaksa visits Jaffna Nallur Kovil
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Jaffna for his political campaign in the north of Sri Lanka today, 10th January. He visited Nallur Kovil for Hindu religious observances. He was blessed according to the Hindu traditions by the chief priest of the kovil. The President was seen in bare top, which is a very rare sight in public. EPDP leader and the Minister Douglus Devananda, many politicians, Security personal and large number of devotees and supporters gathered at the ceremony. At present Jaffna town is very busy with Presidential election campaigns and a few days earlier the oppositions... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

A simple message and a simple choice for the people - save the country
Ben Silva
There are two main contestants for the post of Presidency. One candidate liberated Sri Lanka from terrorists, that terrorised Sri Lanka for 30 years and United Sri Lanka again. He also stood firm against foreign domination. He has experience as a President. The other candidate, with no political experience at all, has teamed up with terrorist supporters, TNA and the UNP that actually gave part of Sri Lanka and most of the coastline to be under control of terrorists. This candidate has agreed to merge  North and the East, release LTTE prisoners and dismantle high security... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/10)

FONSEKA Vs. RAJAPAKSE - The Issues Before Us
S L Gunasekara
By The Same Author The Indo Lanka Accord – An Analysis Tigers, `Moderates’ And Pandora’s Package A Tragedy Of Errors The Wages Of Sin Abomination The Report Of The Eleven `Pundits’ Where Angels Fear To Tread © S L Gunasekara Published By S.L.Gunasekara, 119/3, Model Farm Road, Colombo 8. Printed By ……………………………………………………………… 3 Contents Dedication 4 Introduction 5. Chapter One: Credit For Winning The War 8 i) The Rival Claims 8 ii) “Selling The War” 9 iii) The Debate About Credit For The Victory 9 iv) The Greatest Contribution To The Victory 11 Chapter Two:... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/10)

Philippics, Bias and Videos
Bandula Kothalawala London N7
Mr Philip Alston has done it again! In his typical almost inimitable style, Mr Alston has presented the findings of the experts, of course, designated by him on the “execution videos”. It is quite obvious that Mr Alston has made this an exceedingly personal issue and his ten-minute presentation smacks of a gauche attempt to vindicate himself rather than anything else and his performance bears the hallmark of amateurish bravado. Sadly, it falls far below the professional standards expected of a high-ranking UN official. Mr Alston sounds dismissive of the opinions expressed by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/10)

Sarath Fonseka and the Karuna Paradigm
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
"Give us what Colombo gets" "Col. Karuna" was the first major Tamil politician to present the Tamil problems from a non-racial perspective. For this, Mano Ganeshan branded Karuna as a "Tamil traitor." This had been the usual habit of Tamil separatists in Ceylon/Sri Lanka since 1920s. Even G.G. Ponnambalam was given this title when he worked with the Colombo government. Jaffna mayor Alfred Duraiyappa was another. In reality Karuna was only copying what the JVP was saying in 1971-milk to Colombo and forage to villages. Even the Youth Commission Report submitted to R Premadasa... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/10)

Have the Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka faulted by supporting the Government to defeat the LTTE?
Achala Gunasekara-Rockwell. PhD (ABD) USA.
It has often been asked in international circles, more particularly the pro-LTTE West, as to how Buddhist monks, who have a worldwide reputation for advocating nonviolence, have for the past quarter century in Sri Lanka supported the government's use of ‘violence’ against the Tamil ‘militants’ in contemporary Sri Lanka. This crusade, in my opinion, is part and parcel of the same vicious, anti-Sri Lankan propaganda program carried out by the LTTE and their Western sympathizers to discredit and embarrass the Government and the Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka. Therefore, I think it is the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Towards a new model of governance
By Mario Perera, Kadawata
Much ink has flowed with regard to the flaws of our present political machinery. The more frequent punching bags are those labeled family banditism and dictatorial behaviour of the president sabotaging the constitution. Family relationships and nepotism always played a part in our politics. However that did not necessarily mean that clans self-appropriated the helm of government. What the opposition is harping on could be called family banditism or the exercise of family power through dictatorial means. It also depicts the degeneration of such power through the display of force and procurement of financial kick... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

IEDs, BIGGER, STRONGER and DEADLIER in Afghanistan says NATO
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: Your story ‘IEDs: BIGGER, STRONGER, DEADLIER – Expect more roadside bomb attacks: NATO’, takes me back to midnight of July 23, 1983, when four IEDs, Bigger, Stronger and Deadlier were activated by the Tamil Tigers at the junction of Tinnaveli along Palaly and Jaffna Roads in north Sri Lanka which killed 13 soldiers on jeep patrol. This was the incident that triggered the July 25 riots in Colombo when their bodies were brought for burial. Its fallout are now recorded in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—6 -ON TOURING ENGLAND WITH A 10-YEAR-OLD: FIRE AND JOY
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010
Patrick Bennet, an Englishman, was our tour director. David Price, a Welshman, was our coach driver. Trafalgar Tours had assigned them to take good care of us and show us the best of England and Scotland over 11 days beginning June 12, 1990. If we add up the motorway distances between the cities where we were scheduled to stay overnight, Price had the enviable task of driving us though a distance of at least 2,520 km. My hunch was that he did more driving than that because a sightseeing tour cannot always stick to the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

When The Enemies of The State Collude With A Rogue General In A Vain Bid For Power! Does The Nation Of Sri Lanka Have To Tolerate Such An Affront?
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Jan.7th 2010 The Greatest Danger of A Sarath Fonseka Leadership even in hypothetical interpretation has been exposed in his wheeling and dealing with pro LTTE Forces as well as defunct members of the terror group themselves! The Nation of Sri Lanka needs to be made aware that the biggest threat to the Lankan people at present is, despite its unforeseeable and unlikely eventuality of a Fonseka win at the polls comes from the attempt by fmr. Gen. Sarath Fonseka to join forces with the enemies of the Nation in his attempt to seize power... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Sense of proportion and UN Malpractice
Ben Silva
Mr  Philip Alston, Open letter UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings, Dear Sir, Sense of proportion and UN Malpractice It is essential  to get the correct perspective and a sense of proportion related to issues in Sri Lanka. LTTE have carried out a large number of extrajudicial killings including the killings associated  with the  Kent and Dollar farm, where over 60 civilians were killed by LTTE..  Further, 600 Policemen  who surrendered were  killed  by LTTE, in June 1990 ,Wikipedia, Ref:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_attributed_to_the_LTTE <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_attributed_to_the_LTTE> . Massive list of killings carried out by LTTE is given in the reference above.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

How the UNP & its Common Candidate will develop our Education?
By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.
The UNP of 1977 to 1995 and the Ranil Wickremasinghe Administration of 2002- 2004, instead of developing our education system have actually reoriented it in favour of the rich. In actuality the UNP successfully created a two tier education system, one for the rich and another for the middle classes. Sri Lanka could be proud of its universal education system- free education for all up to the tertiary level. At the primary and secondary levels it was a systematic broad education, with Central Schools in all Districts to which the scholars from all walks... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Media Release - Foreign Ministry clarifies presence of Heads of Missions/ Posts and senior Officials in Colombo
Media Release- Public Communications Division
Foreign Ministry clarifies presence of Heads of Missions/ Posts and senior Officials in Colombo The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to news items published recently in some sections of the print media claiming that some Heads of Missions and Officials serving in Sri Lanka Missions abroad are in the country for election related work. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to clarify that some Heads of Missions/ Posts and senior Officials have been in Colombo after making satisfactory acting arrangements to avail themselves of their personal leave during... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Dear UNPers, our Tamil and Muslim Friends
Group of concerned UNPers
We sent you many letters recently. We will continue to do so in time to come in order to save our country and moreover our party, the UNP from extinction. It is no secret Mangala/JVP combine trapped our beloved leader Ranil Wicremasinghe to agree to put forward Sarath Fonseka who never had any UNP links as the opposition candidate. Unlike late Janaka Perera, Fonseka was not even close to the UNP. In fact he hated us. He still does. You can see it very clearly with his close association with his JVP/Mangala combo. Mangala and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

A TRIBUTE TO A GREAT SON OF MOTHER LANKA – LATE DR. D.S. BANDARAGE
Kithsiri Senadeera – Sydney, Australia
Under the British rule and in early post-independence era Sri Lanka’s corporate sector was dominated by British colonials and missionary educated mercantile executives. One of the first to rise to senior executive level of Sri Lanka’s corporate sector from a Buddhist school-Ananda College- was Dr D.S.Bandarage, who passed away recently. Hailing from a renowned patriotic family from Down South, Induruwa village, little Bandarage entered Ananda College by wining a scholarship as the most outstanding student from the Southern Province. At College he excelled in his studies as well in extra curricular activities... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

UNITED WE STAND AND DIVIDED WE FALL.
RANJIT WICKREMERATNE
Because we were united we were able to have Freedom and Peace in our country after very long time. It was only few months back we all celebrated our greatest victory over the most ruthless terror organization in the world L.T.T.E. Most of us thought we wont be able to achieve victory as long as our people were not united and the second reason was that our politicians were fighting each other to gain power without supporting to end the terror which was terrorizing our beloved homeland day by day. We spend millions of rupees and sacrificed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

I will never merge North and East -President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Chaminda Perera
Opposition singing different tune in North-Will never give false promises - President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday stressed that he would never merge the North and the East under his administration. He said certain elements in the Opposition are changing its tune when they go to the North with the sole objective of winning the election. The President was speaking at a meeting with handicraftsmen, representatives of National Poets Association and Dhamma school teachers at Temple Trees yesterday. He added that certain elements in the Opposition promised the people in Jaffna that North and the East will be merged... -Full Story- (Daily News - 09/01/10)

Radio Swan – The Imperial Song of Fonseka
By Dr. Prashan Premaratne, Australia
CIA was directly involved in the ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion in Cuba in 1961. Ever since Castro assumed power in Cuba, United States launched multiple attempts to kill Fidel Castro so that they could continue their imperial march into Americas. One of the more open acts of the era was the launch of a pirate radio station to misinform the Cubans by the CIA. The radio was called “Swan Radio” as it was based in Swan Island near the coastline of Honduras. Ironically, Fonseka uses Swan as his symbol. It is not clear... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Fonseka accused of making 'secret pact' with TNA
B. Muralidhar Reddy
Within hours after the post-Prabakaran Tamil National Alliance (TNA) formally announced its decision to back the candidature of Sarath Fonseka, commander turned politician and common Opposition consensus Presidential nominee for the January 26 poll, a senior Minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government alleged that a `secret pact’ between the two was detrimental to the interests of the island nation.... -Full Story- (beta.thehindu.com - 09/01/10)

Tissanayagam saga: media, state and freedom Part II
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The state of the media in Sri Lanka is not all black and white. It has it own gradations and shades. It has its ups and downs. It has its own strengths and weaknesses. But what is remarkable is the staying power of the media to produce pluralist opinions under the most trying conditions. Once, when I was in The Observer in the early nineties, Article 18 and later Chris Morris of the BBC, interviewed me about the dominant role played by the state media and the perceived threats to free media in Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Why we should not vote for Sarath Fonseka at the Presidential Elerctions?
By Charles.S.Perera
To begin with he has no viable political manifesto. He is there to eradicate corruption. Corruption is as old as the beginning of humanity and that cannot be eradicated through political means. There is no one country in the world where there is no corruption, let alone political corruption. Sarath Fonseka is groping blindly for political recognition by waving a blinking, out moded slogan to attract attention and fish the voters willing to bite the bait of the slogan I fight to end corruption. Sarath Fonseka was a party to end terrorism, but to end corruption he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

DEATH TO DEMOCRACY AND ROAD TO DICTATORSHIP – Part II
A.A.M.NIZAM - MATARA.
Immediately after the end of the war the popularity and the respect shown to the President reached its zenith and he became an idol loved by Sri Lankans of all walks of life and of all ages.  He was also praised and admired by foreign Heads of State and Leaders for his great achievement in showing the world that terrorism can be defeated.  The aura made people all over the country to affectionately call the President as Maharajano (The Great King), Dutugemunu the 2nd, and even as Prince Diyasena (a belief prevalent in Sri Lanka on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Immoral life styles of Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton and Sarath Fonseka !
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Tiger Woods, the golf legend, was earning up to $100 million a year and until recently sponsored by almost all reputed companies. But because of the wide publicity given to his sex scandals all sponsors have ditched him. It is alleged that Tiger had as many as 14 mistresses and he had paid enormous amounts of money to keep their mouths shut. The latest is that his wife has filed for a divorce and he has temporarily withdrawn from tournaments. It's a pity that his career had come on the line. In the past, in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

5th OPEN LETTER TO SARATH FONSEKA -FONSEKA AND THE FOOL’S THEORY
By Stanley Perera from Melbourne
My dear Sarath, If you had shut your mouth, all the people would have guessed that you are a fool.  Now that you have opened your mouth, you have proved beyond any reasonable doubt that you are a fool. You say that you entered politics to clean the country of corruption.  That means you have admitted you yourself are corrupt with the arms deals.  With the revelations by K.T.Rajasingham, you have to perform a miracle to clear your name of corruption.  It is hard to disprove the allegations as the report is well researched. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Has Sri Lanka ever had uncorrupt leaders?
Shenali Waduge
This is a question the public needs to ask themselves. For in answering this basic question the voter will realize the hypocrisy of democracy itself & the reality that the voter’s democratic right during any election is to choose the seemingly “lesser” corrupt leader to office. By & large all elections end up deposing one party/leader & enthroning another but all doing the same thing in different versions. In so making this statement it truly places all past & present leaders in the same pedestal for none can claim that they have not sinned for their involvement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

Cat is Out of the Bag...Will the True Sri Lankans still vote for SF?
Hot News
We fought for 30 Years! Are we going back 30 Years? How is this possible? Watch the News clip to the end.. You listen and you judge. This will be the only channel who will carry this story. Please don't say it cannot be believed. Other TV channels will not carry this story thinking this will harm SF in a very big way. If you don't believe, ask your friend or Ranil to translate what's said in Tamil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4gRVncKBPA These information are not rubbish. Written agreements, and the TNA says it is not possible getaway after the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/10)

New Alara Kalama Suthra
Swarnajith Udana
Do not believe what Wimal says about Con Candidate; He is going  Kade to MR. Do not believe what SB says about Con Candidate; He is going Kade to MR. Do not believe what Johnny says about Con Candidate; He is going  Kade to MR. Do not believe what Gota says about Con Candidate; He is the the brother of MR. Do not believe what Mangala says about Con Candidate. He is going  kade for LTTE diaspora. Do not believe what Ranil says about Con Candidate. He is going  Kade (shopping) for Miliband and Solehim. Do not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

UN and the probing of the video of Tamil executions
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada
January 8, 2010 The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: ‘UN expert urges probe of Tamil execution’ as announced to the media by Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, as shown on the video footage aired on BBC’s Chanel 4 last August is in itself troubling. While Alston has decided to act God by continuing to hunt down Sri Lankan government as war criminals for having succeeded in eliminating the most ruthless terrorists the Tamil Tigers to the chagrin of the US, UK, Canada, Norway, France and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

OPEN LETTER TO UNO GENERAL SECRETARY BANKY MOON UNO MUST BE FAIR AND RESPONSIBLE
BY STANLEY PERERA FROM MELBOURNE
UNO representative in Colombo. Please ensure that this open letter is delivered to General Secretary Banky Moon. Dear Sir, The UNO is calling for an explanation from Sri Lanka on a statement made by the retired army commander Sarath Fonseka regarding the killing of three hard core Tamil Tiger LTTE Terrorists leaders. THREE HARD CORE TAMIL TIGER TERRORIST LEADERS who are responsible in killing 75,000 innocent and unarmed civilians. The UNO is acting on hear say news broadcast by a news media. There is no complaint made by any single individual.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

All that exercise of the traffic police officers…..
Letter to the Editor -By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai
Every morning when one drives along Galle road in Dehiwela one sees traffic police officers standing every 10 meters or so and vigorously waving their hands urging the motorists to go faster. Actually the vehicles are bumper to bumper and what this desperate waving achieves beats me. All these dancing does is to amuse the motorists which sure makes the snail spaced traffic tolerable, and even enjoyable! And then they disappear altogether from the roads from about 10 a.m. till about 5 p.m. letting any illegal parking, unwarranted... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Subha and Yasa -
Mr. Thusita Weerakoon B.A., Attorney at Law
History “Subha Saha Yasa” is a famous drama in Sri Lanka. There are few Sri Lankans who have not seen the drama or at least heard about that story.  It was written and staged by one of the great Sri Lankan artists, the late Mr Simon Navagattegama.  It appears that “Subha Saha Yasa” is being played on the political stage in Sri Lanka, at present.  This article is focussed on comparing and analysing the key roles played in history and in the on going political stage, in Sri Lanka. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Sarath and Sarath: two old Sri Lankan political virgins?
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
Which Sarath came first? Legal eagle or the military egg? The law bird showed early signs of political interest from the Bench. He wanted the price of petrol reduced! But the egg gave auto-confessions that he will be a political misfit. Now both of them, Sarath Fonseka and Sarath Silva, appear on stage jointly wearing pure white national dresses. They depict two human bodies free of Loba-Dwesha-Moha, practicing Seela-Samadhi and Pragna. In layman’s terms, the former wants to end corruption and usher democracy. The latter is so upset that Mahinda Rajapaksa has violated the oath... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Canadian Tamil Congress - Town Hall Meeting
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
January 7, 2010 Paul Calandra, MP Conservative Member for Oak-Ridges-Markham House of Commons, Ottawa Dear Paul: It has been brought to my notice by one of your Conservative Sri Lankan-Canadian constituents that you are now into the Hokey-Pokey cunning business of Town Hall meetings organized by the pro-Tamil Tiger front, the Canadian Tamil Congress.  “Hokey-Pokey cunning” I said, since the recent planned meeting was under wraps until it was announced on the morning of the happening perhaps to filter the non-supporters of their separatist Eelam cause.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

SRI LANKA'S REAL LEADERS AND TRAITORS - Analysis
Warna Hettiarachchi Canada
Dear Rtd Gen Sarath Fonseka, You shared the victory and responsibility of winning the 30-year terrorist war in Sri Lanka along with three other service commanders, the victorious President who provided political stability and leadership determined to destroy LTTE terror in order to bring economic prosperity to people and a Strategic & brilliant Defence Minister. Among those deserve partial credibility for this victory are the SL Police, STF and its intelligence operatives for capturing LTTE suicide-bombers to save innocent civilians from being cold-bloodedly blasted into bits. After all this, you have become a self-promoting... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Keep Tamils behind bars
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada
January 7, 2010 The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Sir: Canada is finally getting its act together in regards to Tamil refugee claimants. I agree with the Government’s decision to keep the alleged Tamils behind bars by invoking the rarely used, controversial law for closed-door Immigration hearings. The bottom line is Canada should not accept any Tamil refugee claimant who had dealings with the ruthless Tamil Tiger terrorists who have been banned in Canada. We should not pollute our citizenry by introducing terrorists into our... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

President Rajapaksa inspects Colombo Harbour New Development Project
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa inspected the construction site of the Colombo South Port (2nd Port) of the Colombo Harbour new development project in the early hours of 06thJanuary. The project has undertaken by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co of South Korea.  The new expansion includes 4 terminals, channels and breakwaters. President also talked about the progress of the project with the officials. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Port Authority Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama, Local Project Director Mr Janaka Kurukulasooriya  and Korean Project Director Mr Kin Haung are seen here with the President.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Our srilankans
Binie Ramachandran
I'm a Srilankan Born , Now a British Citizen living in the UK. I'm not a supporter for any Government, But Its sad to say how the Srilankan's forget there past so quickly. We have being fighting a War for 30 years and this is the only Government who manage to finish this war. When our Parents, Brother & Sisters, Children were dying every day our people of Srilanka wanted the War to end. Now the Jobs done they  are fighting for the position. Why can't all leaders of all Parties get to gather and make the Country better than fighting and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

The immature politics of a pretentious General
The Presidential elections has unfortunately turned out to be a charade of a general who has taken upon himself the task of remoulding the Nation. In this effort he has no qualms simply sacrificing the interest of the Nation, belittling his own colleagues in the Defence forces or ‘marketing’ openly the national security issues. As a tactic to dilute the nationalist agenda which enabled the nation to emerge strongly under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapakse it is necessary for the General and his associates to feed the ethnic and separatist parasites of the minorities who refuse to comprehend the... -Full Story- (The Island - 08/01/10)

Some Thoughts for Good Governance and National Development
Dr. Sudath Gunasekara President Senior Citizens Movement, Mahanuwara
Many a critique has been written in recent times on the problem of good governance and development in this country in the post –independent period. Therefore this is only another lonely attempt to look, may be desperately, at these issues from a new perspective in order to draw the attention of those who are seriously concerned about them since the subjects of good governance and development have become the high lights of the day as there is another election around the corner. Hope the following issues will draw the concerned attention... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/10)

Time to let Tissanayagam go
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The good news is that J.S. Tissanayagam, the journalist jailed for 20 years rigorous imprisonment, can be released on bail. The better news will be if the government pardons him and gives him the “put-put” fare to go home. I think he has paid enough for whatever he is supposed to have done. He too must have had enough time to ponder over what he has done. If he goes back to resume his pro-Prabhakaran politics he will confirm all the allegations made against him. He could prove his innocence convincingly, if he is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/01/10)

TAMILS SHOULD VOTE FOR PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA
Dr. Raju Selva
I have made many appeals to the Tamil Diaspora by my letters to the print media and various websites to stop lobbying, fund raising and morally and financially supporting LTTE in their countries.. Starting with my first letter published in the Daily Mirror titled “Prabahakran leading Tamils up the garden path”(August 5 2006) the following letters were published in Sri Lankan papers and various websites. Some of them were “What has LTTE done to the Tamil Community (Daily News 29/9/2006); “LTTE Doesn’t care for Hindus (Daily News 12/8/2007);LTTE Continues to Bring Misery to Innocent Tamil People”;... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/01/10)

SARATH FONSEKA – A PUPPET ON A STRING
Malin Abeyatunge
Who brought Sarath Fonseka (SF) as common candidate for presidential race? Each party to UNF i.e UNP, JVP, Mangala, Hakeem and Mano said to be claming for credit.  On 26 the January 2010 when SF faces a humiliating defeat, all these parties will disclaim the SF candidature for Presidency and have a free for all. However, be that as may, SF  who claims himself as the only war hero to defeat LTTE has since  become a puppet on a string maneuvered and manipulated by the five puppeteers according to their tune and choice. As it is,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/01/10)

Death to Democracy and Road to Dictatorship - Part I
A.A.M.NIZAM - MATARA.
We Sri Lankans succeeded in ending 30 years of brutal terrorists aggression in May this year due to the wholehearted contribution made by each and every patriotic citizen that enabled the armed forces to destroy the military wing of the terrorists at Nandikadal annihilating the LTTE military leadership and put an end to the life of its megalamaniac leader Prabhakaran.  This splendid success could never have been achieved if not for the total commitment made by all those who contributed towards this goal, in the face of sturdy and unprecedented combined attempts made by the powerful... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Use Your Vote Wisely
An Unbiased Voter.
A reply to “Use your vote wisely”. Thanks for the e mail, ‘Use your vote wisely’.  No truer word was spoken.  To do that one needs an unbiased assessment, devoid of party loyalties and personal agendas, of what is best for the Country and its population of 20 million people. M.R. deserves kudos not brickbats for standing up to the huge pressure exerted by the West in its attempt to scuttle our war against terrorism and throw a lifeline to the movements’ leaders.  I f they had succeeded, the fate of this Country would... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

MR & SF: Peoples’ jury demands you to prove your integrity and will to deliver
Visvamithra
Since 1977 motherlanka has been betrayed and her destiny destroyed by too many dishonest, twofaced Machiavellians. The innocent people have suffered enormous hardship in the hand of these two faced self-seeking autocrats who preached morality in public and practiced completely opposite in private. They were so drunk with power and dare to use alarming subterfuge to mislead and cajole the innocent citizens. The need of the hour is to demand the both prospective candidates who stand the forthcoming presidential election to prove their integrity by deeds not by words.  They should give a clear undertaking to all citizens... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—5 -DUBLIN IS RICH WITH HISTORY, CULTURE
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010
When I first visited Dublin in June 1990, it impressed me as a city that takes great pride in its history and culture.  While every city has a history and a culture, not many cities can produce solid evidence to support their greatness. Dublin is the place to visit the haunts of such literary giants as essayist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), playwright William Congreve (1670-1729), dramatist Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774), playwright R. B. Sheridan (1751-1816), lyricist Thomas Moore (1779-1852), folklorist Lady Gregory (1852-1932), playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), playwright Bernard Shaw (1856-1970), poet W. B. Yeats (1865-1939),... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Art of lying exclusivity of certain politicians
Wijitha Nakkawita
The art of hollering lies is the exclusivity of certain politicians. In the past elections there were some outstanding examples. One such person was the late J.R. Jayewardene. Before he came to power in 1977 he said he would create a just and righteous society. But on coming to power the country saw the opposite of the just and converse of righteousness coming to remain. When the very first Opposition meeting was held in Colombo Jayewardene’s goon squads arrived at the meeting armed with bicycle chains, clubs and knives and attacked the meeting. Several people were critically... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Sunday Leader’s editor defends controversial Fonseka interview
B. Muralidhar Reddy
Editor of Sri Lanka’s English weekly, Sunday Leader, who carried the controversial December 13 interview with the commander turned politician Sarath Fonseka, added a new dimension today with her insistence that she had quoted the retired General `perfectly accurately’. In a detailed report under the title `Her Story’, the Editor of the paper Frederica Jansz said, “The article which, perfectly accurately, quoted the General as saying he had heard that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given an illegal order asking Brigadier Shavendra Silva (later promoted General) to not accomodate surrendering LTTE cadres, became more than a news story.... -Full Story- (beta.thehindu.com - 04/01/10)

'Fonseka's son got arms contracts illegally'
PK Balachandran
COLOMBO: The Mahinda Rajapaksa camp has accused the joint opposition Presidential candidate, Gen.Sarath Fonseka, of giving arms contracts to his son’s firm based in Oklahoma in the US, when he was chairing the army tender board as the Commander of the Sri Lankan army. The accusation was made by the Minister of Construction Industries, Dr.Rajitha Senaratne, at a press conference here on Sunday. The minister said that the General had made full use of the rule that for arms purchases under $ 25 million, the tender board could be chaired by the Army Commander, and that purchases... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 04/01/10)

Fonseka promises Tamils to give back lands
P K Balachandran
COLOMBO: The Opposition presidential candidate, Gen Sarath Fonseka, has told the Tamils of Jaffna at a public meeting on Saturday that he would return their lands and buildings taken away by the army when these areas were designated as High Security Zones (HSZs). Fonseka had a different take on the HSZs when he was Security Forces commander in Jaffna during the 2002-2004-peace process. At that time, when he was asked by journalists if he would dismantle the HSZs to allow the original inhabitants to return, he said that such a step would only result in the area... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 04/01/10)

Sri Lanka to relax forex controls
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka plans to relax its strict foreign exchange controls, reflecting new confidence in the country's finances after the end of a 37-year conflict on the island, the central bank said on Monday. Sri Lankans will be allowed to open foreign bank accounts, while local firms will be able to seek listings in overseas markets according to new laws to be brought in shortly, Central Bank of Sri Lanka governor Nivard Cabraal said. Foreigners will also be allowed to invest freely in bonds issued by local companies and be granted freedom to open Sri Lankan rupee accounts, he added.... -Full Story- (channelnewsasia.com - 04/01/10)

Supporters injured as parties clash in Sri Lanka election
COLOMBO, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least eight political activists were injured while a police vehicle suffered damages in election violence on Sunday in Sri Lanka, said the police. They said that five people were injured in the Colombo suburb of Kiribathgoda in the morning when opposition party activists went house-to-house campaigning in Kiribathgoda. "We were set upon by a group of government supporters," Varuna Deeptha Rajapakse, an opposition activist said. Police said they used tear gas to quell violence when the opposition group hit back at government supporters. In the central district town of Nawalapitiya another clash occurred between... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 04/01/10)

Sri Lanka invites Maxis, Telekom to invest in maiden satellite project
NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka is inviting two top Malaysian teleco operators Maxis Communications Berhad and Telekom Malaysia to invest in their US$150 million (RM525 million) maiden satellite project. Plans are in the pipeline to launch the nation's first geostationary satellite after it signed a deal with United Kingdombased Surrey Satellite Technologies Limited (SSTL) last December. "We have invited Maxis (Communications) and Telekom Malaysia, both of which have already invested in Sri Lanka," Priyantha Kariyapperuma, directorgeneral of Sri Lanka's Telecom Regulatory Commission, told Bernama in telephone interview from Colombo.... -Full Story- (biz.thestar.com.my - 04/01/10)

Sri Lanka Economy to Expand More Than Forecast, Cabraal Says
By Anusha Ondaatjie and Shamim Adam
Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s economy is likely to expand more than forecast in 2010 amid low inflation and interest rates, central bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. The South Asian island’s gross domestic product will probably grow 7 percent this year after an expansion of 3.5 percent in 2009, Cabraal said in a presentation on 2010 policy in Colombo today. That would be the fastest pace in four years and compares with an October forecast of as much as 6 percent.... -Full Story- (businessweek.com - 04/01/10)

India an opportunity to earn foreign rev for Sri Lanka: Report
COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan shipping sector should consider India an opportunity to earn foreign income, rather than a threat, a top official of Colombo Dockyard was quoted as saying by a local newspaper. "Sri Lanka should not consider India as a threat any longer but an opportunity to earn foreign income for the country", Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC ) MD and CEO Mangala P B Yapa told state-owned Daily News as his company readies to hand over one of the largest ship it has built to India.... -Full Story- (Times of India - 04/01/10)

Sri Lanka's displaced Tamils-A market-based solution
Eking a living from handouts
SQUATTING under an umbrella bearing an EU logo, a woman in a faded sari dips into her blue UNICEF bag and pulls out two towels, some toothbrushes and toothpaste, sanitary napkins and a small bottle of disinfectant. She is soon ringed by hagglers wanting her paltry wares for even less than the pittance she asks. Another woman clambers from a bus lugging a sack of flour donated by the World Food Programme. She jostles for space among the throngs of internally displaced Tamils peddling their rations near the hospital in Vavuniya in the north of... -Full Story- (economist.com - 04/01/10)

Fowza: from victims to volunteers in Sri Lanka
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Over 120,000 houses along Sri Lanka's coastline were destroyed, and over 516,000 people were displaced, while over 30,000 drowned in the 2004 tsunami. In its aftermath, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) worked tirelessly to help the victims and clear up the devastated areas throughout the island. A number of victims of the tidal wave are now volunteers for the SLRCS themselves and many work in the worst affected areas – like Ampara district in the east coast. This is the first of three stories about three victims... -Full Story- (Relief Web - 04/01/10)

“Sunday Leader” Editor nails Fonseka as “a weak, vacillating, indecisive, inexperienced , ‘liar’ ”
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Don’t believe a word of what the state media says about Sarath Fonseka, the Common Candidate of the Opposition. They are biased. Believe only what the Sunday Leader says about Sarath Fonseka. It can never be wrong about Fonseka because it is the only paper that has openly declared its commitment to back Fonseka. The last statement by the Editor of The Sunday Leader, Fredrica Jansz on Fonseka is a case in point. It was, indeed, stunning, She told her readers last Sunday (January 3, 2010) that Fonseka, the preferred candidate of The Sunday Leader... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Why do we have to think twice
A Professional
We heard Presidents secretary Lalith Weeratunga ( Every body respect him as an honest uncorrupted government officer) , who was an eyewitness and he was physically present at both meetings. 1. This was prior to the Indian election. During the final stages of the war while the LTTE leadership was still active and government struggling to finish and win the war. Powerful Indian delegation has come and requested the government to stop the war. President has told them straight away even if the Indian forces land again in SL he will not stop the war to liberate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

J.C.Weliamuna is a ‘pickpocket’ preying on Sri Lankan society
Ajit Randeniya
The motley crew of people and political parties Robert Blake commissioned to manufacture Adigar Pawnseka’s farcical presidential candidature has now dwindled down effectively to the bank robber and self-confessed murderer Somawansa Amarasinghe. Amarasinghe seems to be stealing the limelight at every possible occasion; the photograph of his bare-bodied appearance in a Hindu temple, by the side of Pawnseka, was a sight to behold! Now it appears other non-political agents of Blake and the western intelligence agencies are slowly stepping out in an apparent attempt to fill the embarrassing gap in support to the pawn. The most... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

The Real Unpublished Reason for Fonseka Breakup
Kumar Moses
Various factors lead to the present predicament of Fonseka. Canceling arms shipments, not giving enough power and not giving enough recognition are some reasons but these are all ancillary reasons. The real reason was never published. It all started with the Tamil Nadu election which was held on 13th May 2009. This was scheduled a long time ago and it was public knowledge. Fonseka, the army commander at that time, knew this as well. He planned a trip to China long time ago with his son in law who was in Sri Lanka at this time.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Fonseka Promise of Palaly International Airport is a Nonstarter
Dilrook Kannangara
Fonseka’s Jaffna campaign was a total flop.. Apart from the massive contingent traveled from Colombo, the participants were not many. However, he didn’t forget to promise the impossible. The man who refused to budge High Security Zones (HSZs) a few years ago is now promising to move HSZs and convert the Palaly Air Force base into an international airport. Obviously the people of Jaffna didn’t take him seriously. Still his promise is not totally unfounded. During Sirima Bandaranaike time there was an international airport in Palaly. It operated airlines to and from India. It was never... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Sri Lanka: Canada's hypocrisy
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada
January 2, 2010 Hon. Lawrence Cannon, MPMinister of Foreign Affairs House of Commons, Ottawa. Dear Lawrence Cannon: I hope you had the time to read today’s OTTAWA CITIZEN.  In case you didn’t it’s worth a glance.  The headline on its front page said FIVE FALLEN, FIVE MOURNED above the photo image of five caskets carried by soldiers at Khandahar Airfield wrapped in Canada flags.  It said the journalist Michelle Lang’s casket was the first of five slain Canadians to be carried by pallbearers into military transport aircraft during Friday’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

MASSIVE CONDOMINIUM PROJECT
L. Jayasooriya
The government has announced a massive 600,000 unit condominium project for the “so-called” low income groups. Irrespective of the definition of “low income groups” the idea is sound and is the most economical provided a few vital factors are borne in mind. The first is the choice of the architect. It is most important that the architect chosen knows his work because there are many who have disgraced the profession as can be seen by the quality of the two storey flats they have been building for the so-called middle class. Most of those flats have now... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

Sunday Leader and its vendetta against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and Gotabhaya Rajapakse.
By Charles.S.Perera
Sunday Leader is best known for its attacks on political leaders and specially against the present government leadership. This trend of the Sunday Leader has a long history. It culminated in the murder of its then Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga. His death had not the time enough to be regretted, bemoaned, lamented and grieved as it was made an occasion to, bring out hatred , curses and accusations some most deplorable in the haste to put the blame on those the Sunday Leader always condemned, the President, and the Army, accused of having a hand in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

SRI LANKA'S REAL LEADERS AND TRAITORS - Analysis
Warna Hettiarachchi Canada
You shared the victory and responsibility of winning the 30-year terrorist war in Sri Lanka along with three other service commanders, the victorious President who provided political stability and leadership determined to destroy LTTE terror in order to bring economic prosperity to people and a Strategic & brilliant Defence Minister. Among those deserve partial credibility for this victory are the SL Police, STF and its intelligence operatives for capturing LTTE suicide-bombers to save innocent civilians from being cold-bloodedly blasted into bits. After all this, you have become a self-promoting traitor to assert that Minister of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/10)

"HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO MOTHER LANKA"
I WISH TO WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT MAYBE TIMELY AS IT IS SEEMED NOT SUFFICIENTLY TALKED IN SUPPORTING THE RIGHT CANDIDATE IN THE FORTHCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. (I SAW GENERAL FONSEKA AS A GOOD GENTLEMAN ONLY WHEN HE WAS AS THE COMMANDER OF SLA, AND I STILL LIKE THE WAY HOW HE WAS PROJECTING A GENTLEMAN. BUT IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE HE CHANGED HIMSELF 180 DEGREES BEYOND RECOGNITION. IT IS ALSO EQUALLY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND WHY HE HAD TO CHANGE, AND FOR WHOSE NEED? PEOPLE WHO CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY. THEREFORE IT IS A EXTREMELY SAD... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/10)

Will Sartath Fonseka Quit ?
By Ambalangodaya
Colombo, 31 December, (Asiantribune.com): Sarath Fonseka .. will he say bye … bye to politics soon? With many dangerous underground post election plans of JVP with the support of some army deserters coming to light, family members and close friends of Presidential candidate of General Sarath Fonseka had begun to bring pressure upon him to withdraw from the campaign and leave the country. It is now evident that General Fonseka has ventured to contest having believed the sunshine stories of a few individuals whose ulterior motives and sinister goals got exposed within a short period.His friends and relations... -Full Story- (asiantribune.com - 01/01/10)

Radar- Gate: Kickbacks to Foneska
By K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo, 27 December, (Asiantribune.com): General Fonseka - has to answer our questionsBy now it has become a set routine for Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka to deny any wrong doing as army commander. But his every denial prompts Asian Tribune to dig deep into his past and unearth something to unsettle him. Yet, instead of offering his side, the retired general goes into an overdrive to run down Asian Tribune in interviews to various Sinhala publication... -Full Story- (asiantribune.com - 01/01/10)

Fonseka’s Contingency Plan-2, to take over the country is ready
By K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo, 29 December, (Asiantribune.com): Sarath Fonseka & Somawansa In case Sarath Fonseka is defeated in the forthcoming Presidential election, there is a plan to take over the country by force, it is reliably learnt. The Contingency Plan - 2, that has now come to the fore, is to be put into operation just immediately after the elections results are announced on 27th January 2010, reliable sources say.... -Full Story- (asiantribune.com - 01/01/10)

Sri Lanka to Be Regional Air, Ocean Traffic Hub
By Ed Johnson Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a New Year’s message pledging to develop the country into a regional hub for ocean and air traffic and a knowledge-based society. After defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and ending the civil war, the government will be “even more focused on diverting our energies to development,” Rajapaksa said in a statement today. “We shall build on the foundation already laid in the construction of harbors, airports, extensive road networks and the marked increase in IT literacy in Sri Lanka,” he said.... -Full Story- (Bloomberg - 01/01/10)

Sri Lanka dismisses EU trade move
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's president on Friday dismissed the European Union's suspension of preferential trade status to the island, saying his government would resist foreign "strategic interference". "We will not be held back by threatened economic sanctions or withdrawn trade concessions by those who seek strategic interference in the national affairs of Sri Lanka," President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a New Year message. The statement was a clear reference to the EU decision last month to suspend Sri Lanka's preferential trade status on the grounds that it had breached commitments on human rights and good governance. During the final... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 01/01/10)

Key factors in Sri Lanka's presidential poll
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking re-election this month, with the main challenger his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who led the military to victory in a 25-year war against separatists. WHO IS LEADING THE POLL CAMPAIGN? With a record 22 candidates in the field, the incumbent president leads Fonseka. But analysts say there has been a shift towards Fonseka since last week despite his party's complaints that state authorities are engaged in acts of sabotage. On Thursday, the local body of Transparency International said the government had been misusing state property for Rajapaksa's campaign. Analysts... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 01/01/10)

අපට නොපෙනෙන මහා රාජ්‍යය හෙවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දේශපාලනාවලිය
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි
ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පාලනය කරන රාජ්‍යය පද්ධතීන් දෙකක් පවතී. ඒ අදෘෂ්‍යමාන මහා රාජ්‍යය හා එම රාජ්‍ය විසින් නිර්මාණිත ව්‍යස්ථාවකට අනුව ස්ථාපිත දෘෂ්‍යමාන රාජ්‍යය වශයෙනි. මේ රටේ අති බහුතරයක් කර්යයන් පාලනය කරනු ලබන්නේ, අදෘෂ්‍යමාන රාජ්‍යයයි. මෙම යාන්ත්‍රණය කාලාන්තරයක් මුලුල්ලේ මුලු ලෝකය පුරාම විහිදී බූවල්ලෙකු සේ සිය හස්තයන් මගින් ලෝකයේ සෑම රටක්ම සිය ග්‍රහණයට නතුකර ගැනීමට වෙර දරමින් සිටී. මෙම යාන්ත්‍රණය අති බලවත් බැවින් ලෝකයේ ඇති සෑම රටක්ම කිසියම් තරමකට මෙම ග්‍රහණයට අසුව ඇති බැවින් කිසිම රටක රාජ්‍ය නායකයකු ස්වාධීන නම් නොවේ. මෙම යාන්ත්‍රණය ලොවෙහි ඇති සෑම රාජ්‍යයක් සදහාම ඔවුන් විසින් සකස් කරන ලද ව්‍යාපෘතියකට අනුව මෙහෙයවයි. මෙම මෙහෙයවීමේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/10)

We value your comments and suggestions about LankaWeb. Please forward them to editor@.Lankaweb.com
All news material (c) relevant agency/newspaper/author. The LankaWeb is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. News items on Lankaweb.com are from independent journalists. The views expressed are not necessarily of Lankaweb.com. Lankaweb.com shall not be liable for the accuracy, content or the reliability of any news items. (c) LankaWeb 1996-2009


DISCLAIMER

Copyright(c) 2009 www.lankaweb.Com All rights reserved.
Reproduction In Whole Or In Part Without Express Permission is Prohibited.