News Archive for Jan 2014

Gota Has a Case
By Bandu de Silva
“You have met our opponents” That is what the Swiss President told me when I went to present Credentials as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in the Swiss capital in 1984. The President actually used was “enemies” but I have sanitized it thinking that in a democracy like Switzerland they could not be calling the single member in the Opposition in Bundes (Parliament) an “enemy”. I thought it was a problem with the use of the English language. “We considered whether we should accept you as the new Ambassador but we decided in your favour because we... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

Dayan Jayatilleke’s tears for mother Lanka
C. Wijeyawickrema
                 Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke is writing to Colombo Telegraph as if his rear-end is on fire. On Jan 28, he wrote about his friend Lalith W’s wrong strategy in Geneva and America. On Jan 30, he is warning Wigneswaran (W) for trying to divide Sri Lanka (by passing a resolution asking for a war crimes inquiry by UN). Was that not Dayan was behind all these years?  One comment said Dayan was shedding crocodile tears. Dayan (D) must be happiest man in Sri Lanka, because he was able to get President MR into a well during day... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

LTTE Accountability : Central Bank bombed 31 January 1996
Shenali D Waduge
The premeditated murder of innocent civilians was planned by LTTE on 31st January 1996. The time 10:45a.m. Premeditated murder is one of the most serious forms of homicide. The attack on Sri Lanka’s Central Bank was carefully planned, well thought out in advance and wilfully carried out on civilian targets unprepared and unaware of the attack. LTTE came prepared in a suicide driven lorry full of 440 pounds (200kg) of high explosives that crashed through the main gate of the Central Bank building after LTTE gunmen fired at the security guards. 91 CIVILIANS were MURDERED and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

කෘෂිකාර්මික වකුගඩු රෝගයේ අභිරහස හෙළි වේ ද?
වෛද්‍ය චන්න ජයසුමන
අදින් වසර 4කට පමණ එපිට සමාජයේ එතරම් කතා බහට ලක්‌ නො වූ, වැඩි දෙනකු නො දැන සිටි වකුගඩු රෝගයක්‌ ගැන අද බොහෝ දෙනකු කතා කරනු දක්‌නට ලැබේ. එපමණක්‌ නො ව එකී රෝගය සහ ඊට හේතු කාරණා වන දේ ගැන සංවාදය දලු ලා වැඩී නැ`ගී යනු දක්‌නට ලැබේ. මෙකී ප්‍රස්‌තූත වකුගඩු රෝගය ගැන මුල් වරට ලිත සාක්‍ෂියක්‌ හමු වන්නේ 1993-94 කාලයේ පදවි ශ්‍රී පුර ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්වරයා තැබූ සටහනකිනි. තම බල ප්‍රදේශයේ පිරිමි ගොවීන් කිහිප දෙනකු ශරීරය ඉදිමෙන රෝගයකින් මිය යන බව හෙතෙම තම ඉහළ නිලධාරීන්ට දන්වා යවා ඇත. ඒ අනුව සිදු කළ පරීක්‍ෂණයෙන් අනාවරණය වූයේ වකුගඩු රෝගී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

LAUGHABLE: SWIRE IRE ON LLRC
Chaminda Perera Courtesy The Daily News
UN, other organizations accept LLRC as a credible process Govt not concerned about individual views Petroleum Industries Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa yesterday lashed out at British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Hugo Swire for making a statement devaluing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the Sri Lanka government. He stressed that the Sri Lankan government is not concerned about the views of an individual or a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

JFA, APC appeal for media restrain in covering border disputes
Nava Thakuria, Secretary, Journalists' Forum Assam, Guwahati
Guwahati: Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) and Arunachal Press Club (APC) have appealed to the media to exercise restrain while covering the border conflicts between the two neighbouring States in northeast India. The appeal was issued jointly after the incident of firing by armed miscreants at Bihali reserve forest in Assam's Sonitpur district on January 29 killing ten people and injuring eight others which has received wider media coverage in most of the regional media outlets including the Guwahati based satellite news channels. The tension have also mounted along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

නොරොච්චෝල ගල් අඟුරු විදුලි බලාගාරය
විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යංශය
නොරොච්චෝල ගල් අඟරු විදුලි බලාගාරය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්කිරීම සඳහා සියලු විධිවිධාන යොදන බව, චීනයේ CMEC (China Machinery Engineering Corporation) සමාගම, විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය නීතිඥ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මැතිනිය හමුවේ   සහතික වෙයි. නොරොච්චෝල ගල් අඟරු විදුලි බලාගාරය ඉදිකළ චීනයේ China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) සමාගමේ ප්‍රධානීන් හා එහි ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා දායක වූ සෙසු සමාගම්වල  නියෝජිතයන් අද පෙරවරුවේ විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය නීතිඥ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මැතිනිය ප්‍රමුඛ අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන් හා  ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩල නිලධාරීන් හමුවූහ. විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යංශයේදී පැවති මෙම හමුවේදී අදාළ චීන සමාගම අවධාරණය කළේ නොරොච්චෝල ගල් අඟුරු විදුලි බලාගාරය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්කර ගැනීම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

Good and bad sides of table sugar and fructose
Dr Hector Perera     London
There are many kinds of sugars but we often come across mainly two kinds of sugars that are table sugar and fructose. There are good and bad sides of these kinds of sugars and sometimes people just eat them without due care.  The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide (in the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose. Glucose, or commonly called sugar, is an important energy source that is needed by all the cells and organs of our bodies. Some examples are our muscles and our brain. Where does... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

Manmohan-s stint as PM worst period in country-s history: Modi
India Today Online Panaji,
Bharatiya Janata Party-s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi on Sunday tore apart the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre over corruption, price-rise and misrule, saying it-s time "we rid the country of a disease called the Congress".... -Full Story- (indiatoday.intoday.in - 31/01/14)

Welcome to Aboriginal Australia in the 21st Century – John Pilger’s Utopia.
Dr Marcus Waters
It was more than two decades ago when I saw John Pilger’s 1986 documentary The Secret Country for the first time. I was a 17-year-old Aboriginal male suffering the indignity of public housing Australia. My identity came with a sense of collective oppression that turned my indignity into both resistance and motivation. Such feelings of resistance became an empowering experience that lead to a pursuit of justice identified through education. Now, almost 30 years later, I find myself part of the middle class. I own my house. My children have all attended private schools and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/14)

Sri Lanka Accountability: Investigate LTTE-TNA allegiance
Shenali D Waduge
We agree with the US, UK, EU, UN and UNHRC head. There are serious allegations to be investigated. The onus is on the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately INVESTIGATE – how the LTTE emerged, who trained, armed and financially sponsored them and the most important link between a terrorist organization and a political entity such as the TNA. In our eyes both LTTE and TNA are one and the same – the Sri Lankan public now demand that this evil nexus be investigated and the criminality of these entities be exposed and charged under the country’s laws and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

CAN IMPORT SUBSTITUTION SUCCEED?
By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.(Michigan State University)
Dr. Koshi  Mathai, the outgoing IMF  Country Representative for Sri Lanka has voiced himself that “Import Substitution is not in Sri Lanka’s best interest.” He is of the opinion that we should develop our exports further and continue to import all our requirements. He states that import substitution cannot succeed.( “Budget 2014: Import Substitution may derail economic growth”: Sunday Times, 15/12/2013) Going on the path of free market-liberalization, that he upholds as an ideal economic system, which Sri Lanka has closely followed  for three and a half decades where import substitution... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

Not Investigating LTTE is Disastrous for Sri Lanka at the UNHRC and Elsewhere
Dilrook Kannangara
There is broad consensus on the need for an independent domestic investigation into the happenings in Sri Lanka leading to the conclusion of the war (May 2009). However, some argue against investigating the LTTE in the same process. Scales of justice will be uneven and it will be a mockery of justice and investigation if LTTE is left out. When talking about war excessed, LTTE is the elephant in the room and its involvement must be investigated. Leaving out LTTE acts from an investigation is a disaster for Sri Lanka. If LTTE is not investigated, it is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

Not doing what is humanly possible: a Sinhala Buddhist tragedy
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
 Black-white vs. Buddhist approach             Dayan Jayatilleke writing to Colombo Telegraph about his friend Lalith Weeratunga’s trips to Geneva (Jan. 21) and Washington, D,C., to convince America not to proceed with the war crimes resolution against Sri Lanka in March 2014, stated that Lalith’s (MahindaR’s) approach is strategically wrong. This means that Dayan thinks Lalith did not do “everything humanly possible to implement LLRC recommendations.” Dayan is writing from a Marxist, Christian and Eurocentric (black-white) but a Cuban-tempered, point of view and therefore from an anti-Sinhala Buddhist perspective. Dayan is a theoretician for the UNP’s... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

Netizens are up in arms over a DAP assemblyman’s Facebook update saying the posting is discriminatory towards the Sinhalese in the country
PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA:
Netizens are up in arms over a DAP assemblyman’s Facebook update saying the posting is discriminatory towards the Sinhalese in the country.  They accused Sabai assemblyman Kamache Doray Rajoo of being a racist for proudly stating that she had refused to use the services of a tailor in Karak because the man was a Sinhalese.  Her posting on Monday said: “The tailor spoke Tamil but not fluently. I asked if he is from Kerala. He said he was from Sri Lanka. I asked if he is a Tamil. He replied NO. Are you a Singhalese... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

HILARIOUS! Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike ’S HUMAN RIGHTS CARD
Worst election (Wayamba) held under her watch Many journos too killed
CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE -Courtesy The Daily News
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is painting a gloomy picture about Sri Lanka, playing the human rights card, among LTTE sympathizers both local and abroad, said former Western Provincial Council Minister Udaya Gammanpila. “However, it is nice to know that she is concerned about the freedom of expression and people’s rights at last.” “But it was during her time as President that the worst election (Wayamba) of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 64 'GOD COULDN'T BE EVERYWHERE, SO HE CREATED MOTHERS'!
Dr.Tilak Fernando
London was quite a different place, 3-4 decades ago, contrary to what one can witness today. Immigrant community consisted of a few Africans and West Indians at first, 'imported' for cheap labour where the average English blue collar worker hesitated and preferred to be on the doll! Along with the Africans and West Indians was the first generation of Irish immigrants who were mainly involved in the building industry. Subsequently some of them haven upgraded as business tycoons in the field of road construction and motorway maintenance experts. Therefore, much of the Africans, West... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/01/14)

THE BEAST-A liberation theology for Tamils By Mario Perera-Published by Godage & Brothers (Pvt) Ltd), Maradana
Lankaweb Book Introduction
This 256 page book analyses the fanatical declarations of Rev.Fr.S.J.Emmanuel, President of the Global Tamil Forum and reveals him for what he is. Its appearance coincides with the upcoming Geneva Conference and could prove useful in countering the activities of the Global Tamil Forum and its affiliated organizations. Rev. Father S. J. Emmanuel’s comparison of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Pirabhakaran to Jesus Christ has generated a feeling of remorse and resentment among various sections of the Sri Lankan expatriate community living in London. The controversial statement was carried in a newspaper interview by a journalist from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/14)

MoD to probe TNA-LTTE nexus ahead of Geneva HR summit-EU polls monitors’ report used as evidence
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) would probe the nexus between the LTTE and the five-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a senior MoD spokesman told The Island yesterday. The official said that the investigation would focus on the close relationship between the LTTE and the TNA since late 2001, when the political grouping recognised the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people.  Based on the findings, legal action would be taken against TNA members, the MoD said. The international community, too, would be informed of the TNA’s pro-LTTE activities during the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/14)

Re-drawing Provincial Boundaries– A Reply to Mr. C. Wijewickreme
R.M.B Senanayake
 I refer to Mr. Wijewickrema’s snide comments on the viewpoint of Somapala Gunadeera, the former civil servants and the Foreign Service. These institutions have all been changed due mainly to the agitation by those who were ambitious but could not get ahead in obtaining positions in the public service owing to the rules that enveloped these institutions. The continuing attacks on them are borne more out of previous antagonisms and are irrelevant to the issue of provincial boundaries.  Those who belonged to these services were not so naive as those who champion such schemes then or now.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/14)

Sinhala Buddhist extremism and Chinthana Parshadaya
 By Nalin de Silva Courtesy Island
 Mr. Rajan Philips in his article on "The fall of the Tiger, the rise of the Sinhala Roar (Ravaya), and Geneva anxieties" in The Sunday Island of 26th January states: "A much broader broadside came in last week’s Sunday Island Political Column under the headline: "The Mad Monk Phenomenon." Curiously, the Minister of Education and the Sunday Island (SI) columnist are shy of naming names. The Minister laments about the "activities of some Buddhist monks", and the SI columnist lambastes the "The Mad Monk Phenomenon". Neither of them refers by name to any... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/01/14)

Norwegian MPs nominate Snowden for Nobel Peace Prize
RT
Edward Snowden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two Norwegian lawmakers, who say the NSA whistleblower contributed to “transparency and global stability” by revealing the depth and sophistication of the global surveillance apparatus. Snorre Valen and Baard Vegar Solhjell, parliamentarians from Norway’s Socialist Left Party, announced the nomination on Facebook on Wednesday.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 29/01/14)

ACTION PLAN FOR GENEVA – 1 FEBRUARY 2014 TO 28 MARCH 2014
Chanaka Bandarage, Australian Lawyer
 Things to do in the next 2 months: A 1.Under supervision and control of Mr Lalith Weerathunga  and Professor GL Peiris, the Government must send fine emissaries to Western and other important countries., including India and UNHRC member states in Africa and Latin America.  The Government  delegations must be comprised of people who are capable of sitting  on equal footing with foreign government representatives, conduct negotiations and generate good outcomes for Sri Lanka.  The main objective of the lobbying is to persuade the UNHRC member nations (47) and other important countries that the proposed US... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

Summon Lord Buddha to Geneva: Sharmini Serasinghe
C. Wijeyawickrema
Duty of Lankaweb readership             The solution to problems in Sri Lanka today is in the hands of voters in Sri Lanka.  But English language websites and news media are engaged in a propaganda campaign to damage the Sinhala Buddhist cause and distort truth providing false information or half-truth to the English-speaking world. Most of what we see on the Colombo Telegraph website fall into this category.  I think Lankaweb readers have a duty to peruse Colombo Telegraph website and respond to what the anti-Sinhala crowd write there.  CT editor may not print what you write,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

අලියා ගොඩ ගැනීමට නම් ….
January 29, 2014 at 12:01 am |Courtesy lanka C news
එ.ජා.ප.ය යනු අප රටේ සුවිශේෂී දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකි. එය මෙරට ප්‍රධාන විපක්ෂය වෙයි. එසේ ම එය මෙරට පැරණි ම දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වලින් එකකි. එපමණක් නොව එය, මෙරට මැතිවරණ වලට එකම තරඟ ලකුණක් යටතේ වැඩිම කාලයක් මුළුල්ලේ පෙනී සිටි පක්ෂය යි. ඊටත් වඩා අද වන විට එය මෙරට වැඩියෙන් ම කතා බහට ලක් වන දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් බවට පත්ව ඇත. එ.ජා.ප.ය දිගින් දිගට ම මැතිවරණ වලින් පරාජයට පත් වීම අද වන විට පක්ෂය තුළත්, රටේත් ප්‍රධාන මාතෘකාවක් බවට පත්ව ඇත. දේශපාලඥයින් එ.ජා.ප.ය අතහැර ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂය සමග එකතු වීම ද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

Australia commends Sri Lanka's efforts while US & UK displays hypocrisy
P.A.Samaraweera, Melbourne
The US Embassy in Colombo had said, Washington plans to introduce a resolution calling for an international investigation at the March session of the UN Human Rights Council.  PM David Cameron had said, 'Britain will push for an investigation if Sri Lanka did not make an international inquiry by March 2014 ! Ironically, they want an inquiry only for the last stages of the war. They have conveniently swept under the carpet the LTTE terrorism people faced for 30 years. The question which pricks is why an investigation only for what happened during the last stages when the war... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

‘FAIR DINKUM’ SAY THE AUSSIES-‘It takes men of courage to end a war’ Encouraged by what they saw
The Daily News
“It’s been an absolutely amazing achievement,” Victoria Member of the Parliament Marsha Rose Thomson said noting how important it was to see and hear for themselves the ground situation in Sri Lanka while MP Elizabeth (Liz) Jean Beattie said ‘a lot has changed in a short time.’ The Members of Parliament from Australia’s State of Victoria who met President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday morning at Temple Trees had two clear messages - that the transformation Sri Lanka has undergone since the end of the war is “highly impressive” and that there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

India under Narendra Modi – Is Sri Lanka ready for its revolutionary transformation ?
Senaka Weeraratna
The Indian General Elections scheduled for May, 2014 would if the forecasts are proved to be correct result in a sea change in India’s relationship with the rest of the world and revolutionary transformation of her Economy, Industry and Education if the changes in Gujerat introduced by Chief Minister Narendra Modi are an indication.  It will also dramatically affect the ongoing ‘blow hot blow cold’ relations that India currently pursues with Sri Lanka. India under Narendra Modi as Prime Minister will claim its rightful place in Asia as one of its true leaders, politically, economically and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/14)

US back to Lies : Lied on Iraq WMD – Now lying about Sri Lanka War Crimes
Shenali D Waduge
ENOUGH PROOF REMAINS TO SHOW AMERICA IS A SERIAL LIAR – THE WORLD NEEDS TO HAVE SERIOUS RESERVATIONS ABOUT ITS CREDIBILITY.     US on Iraq : Colin Powell shows ‘evidence” – Result - Iraq invasion 1million Iraqi deaths, US citizens in debt – corporate America rich US Government and its officials lied to its citizens on Iraq     US on Sri Lanka: Stephen Rapp and Michelle Sission show ‘evidence” in run-up to US sponsored Resolution against Sri Lanka US Government and its officials are preparing the lies on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/14)

Mrs. Chandrika’s new interfaith trick
C. Wijeyawickrema
“Mr. Gandhi, you worship cow, and we eat cow. How can we be friends?”                                                                                                              Mohamad Ali Jinna Introduction             I was always sympathetic towards SWRD’s three children because the killing of their father when they were so young devastated their childhood. Mrs. B was “forced” by SLFP supporters (example: Ven Henapitagedara Gnanaseeha, G. P. Malalsekera) to get into politics, after W. Dahanayaka’s short debacle, and the children got neglected.  No other three children in the world of 6 billion people could claim that their father and mother both became PMs. If Hilary Clinton wins... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/14)

A Mind Blowing Affidavit Enough To Blow The Credibilities Of Channel IV Off The Face Of The Earth.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
January 29th 2014 Here then is sufficient ammunition to blow the Channel IV reports on Sri Lanka off the face of the earth and expose them for the lying hounds they truly are. For months now even years, Sri Lanka has been taken to task based purely on reports such as these, cooked up to support the Tamil diaspora lamenting the loss of the Tamil Tigers which has had painful repercussions at UN level as well as the smear campaigns posted against Sri Lanka whose campaign against terrorism was precedent setting and perfectly legal in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/01/14)

Full Documentary on Sri Lanka: Reconciling and Rebuilding
Sri Lanka
Attached are the links to the documentary that was shown on ABC - (USA) network today. It will be rebroadcast on CBS, CNBC and FOX networks.Pleas share this via your social media and address book.... -Full Story- (youtube.com - 27/01/14)

A Short Documentary on Sri Lanka: Reconciling and Rebuilding
Sri Lanka
Attached are the links to the documentary that was shown on ABC - (USA) network today. It will be rebroadcast on CBS, CNBC and FOX networks.Pleas share this via your social media and address book.... -Full Story- (youtube.com - 27/01/14)

Afghanistan Experts Stumped By Simple Questions
Play video
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.) had a simple question Wednesday for three of the Obama administration?s top Afghanistan specialists: How many American troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year? None of the witnesses ...... -Full Story- (video.news.com.au - 27/01/14)

Sunday Times Political Editor Waffle & HotAir with Minimal Facts
Prof. Hudson McLean
One thing of importance highlighted by the extensive analysis by the Political Editor of Sunday Times, in this one-sided Waffle, without any denial, is that, there is Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka. Has the Chameleon reached the Peter Principle?
The Definition of Peter Principle: An observation that in an organizational hierarchy, every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence.   http://tinyurl.com/kk9rfgy There are some facts which the SLG should take note, as well as take drastic action, is to give a serious consideration to the questionable Professional Capability of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/01/14)

Sri Lanka is a mature Nation, and needs no International pressure to solve its problems.
By Charles.S.Perera
 Jehan Perera is a Sri Lanka NGO who without a sense of shame writes to bring disrepute to Sri Lanka and help its enemies justify their accusation of Sri Lanka and its Armed Forces for  violation of human rights and war crimes.   He knows that Sri Lanka is being falsely accused by the USA and its allies for no other reasons than for  the elimination of a ruthless group of Tamil terrorists.  These false allegations as Jehan Perera knows,  are to please the expatriate Tamils living in the West who funded the terrorists in Sri Lanka,  and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/01/14)

චෙකොෆියානු සාහිත්යාකරුවා සමාජය ඉදිරිපිට තැබූ කැඩපත නොහොත් මානසික රෝගියාගේ පරිකල්පනය"
පී එස් ද සිල්වා - බ්රිස්බර්න් ඕස්ට්රේිලියාව
වෛද්ය් රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග ගේ "මානසික රෝගියාගේ පරිකල්පනය" කෘතිය 2013 රාජ්ය සාහිත්යෙ සම්මාන ප්රඅදානය සඳහා සමීක්ෂපණය කිරීමට තෝරාගත් ග්රජන්ථ අතරින් එකකි. මනෝ භරාන න්තීන් අත්විඳින මානසික රෝගියෙකුගේ මනස තුල සිදුවන වියෝජනය සාහිත්ය මය ආකාරයට අර්ධ නවකතාවක් ලෙසින් කතුවරයා ඉදිරිපත් කරයි. මෙය එක්තරා ආකාරයකට රැඩිකල් නවකතාවකි. එම නිසා අපේක්ශිත ලෙසටම සාහිත්යක මුතාවාන් ගේ කඩු පහරට "මානසික රෝගියාගේ පරිකල්පනය" ලක් විය. නමුත් මෙම කෘතිය පිළිබඳව කතිකාවන් සයිබර් අවකාශයේ ගොඩනැගෙමින් පවතී. එය යහපත් ප්රාවණතාවකි. ඉන් පෙනී යන්නේ සාහිත්යෙ ඉන්ස්පැක්ටර්වරුන් ගේ අණසක ඉක්මවමින් සාහිත්යව කෙරෙහි ඇල්මක් ඇති තරුණ පරම්පරාවක් හිස ඔසවන බවයි. සන්නස්ගල කියන අයුරින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/01/14)

IDP Camps 2009: Humanitarian Work in Midst of Propaganda War
by Dr. Michael Roberts
he author, Dr. Michael Roberts is the currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Adelaide.... -Full Story- (scribd.com - 26/01/14)

UN ROLE IN SRI LANKA – CREDIBILITY QUESTIONED
Shenali D Waduge
 Let us view some of the comments made by the Office of the UN Secretary General in relation to Sri Lanka.
STATEMENTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE SPOKESMAN OF THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL  New York, 12 September 2011 – ON UN PANEL OF EXPERT REPORT  “The Secretary-General is sending today the report of his Panel of Experts on accountability in Sri Lanka to the President of the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Sri Lankan Government has been informed of the Secretary-General's decision to share the report with the Council and the High Commissioner.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

US interference in Sri Lanka
P.A.Samaraweera, Melbourne
A month ago, US Ambassador at Large Stephen Rapp visited Sri Lanka on a so called Human Rights mission. He spent most of his time in the North interviewing people and collecting information against Sri Lanka for the March Human Rights Council meeting. He was accompanied by the US Ambassador, Michelle Sisson. It had now been reported that last week some more officials had come from the US to Sri Lanka and visited Jaffna with the US Ambassador. They had held a secret meeting with Chief Minister Wignesvaran and MP Sampanthan from 9 PM till midnight. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

A large scale rouge land grab in Ampara
Report published in Sunday Divaina of 19th January 2014 –translated by Ranjith Soysa
In Ampara district about 5000 acres of State Land had been illegally distributed with the direct interference of a Muslim political party. Former Provincial/District   Secretary attached to Pottuvil Provincial/District council had complied about 2000 deeds and had pocketed millions of rupees by indulging in this illegal transaction. This person had completed   1200 illegal deeds in a day by placing the official seal and had allocated two acres of land to rouge recipients. Even though a Provincial/District Secretary can allocate lands only in his area, this... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse lambastes foreign interference as US envoy meets Elilan’s wife
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele J. Sisson met Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthi Sasitharan in Jaffna while the Defence Ministry was exploring the possibility of rehabilitating her in view of her alleged LTTE links. The meeting took place at Hotel Margosa, Chundikulli, Jaffna on Wednesday evening. Among those present were Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran. A mother of three, Sasitharan, contested the first Northern Provincial Council polls last September on the TNA ticket and polled the second highest number of preferential votes secured by a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

Has Cameron heard of the RAB ?
by  Malinda Seneviratne
[The grimace referred to here materialized on Peter Hayes' face a little more than three years ago.  The article was published 'Sunday Lakbima News' on December 26, 2010. Back then, I hadn't known what RAB meant.  I don't think many do, even now.  Good to go back now and then because there are things that happen and continue to happen, terrible things whose architects try to make out they are saint]  I don’t watch TV much.  My daughters don’t let me.  They complain to their mother that I watch ‘adult’ thing when there are children’s programs... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

A RECEPTION ACCORDED TO AHMADIYYA KHALIFA IN JAPAN.
By A. Abdul Aziz.
 Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad directly conveys Islam’s peaceful teachings to people of Japan  During his recent visit to Far-East, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Fifth Khalifa, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad addressed an audience of more than 100 Japanese dignitaries and guests on 9 November 2013 at a Special Reception held at the Mielparque Hotel in Nagoya.   During his address, His Holiness explained Islam’s true and peaceful teachings; he condemned all forms of terrorism and extremism; he spoke movingly about the Japanese people and he appealed to Japan’s leaders to strive for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

Testing military Patience
By Afshain Afzal
 In an attack in Kabul on 18 January 2014 that focused international attention, 22 people, mostly foreigners, including three United Nations staff and head of International Monetary Fund in Afghanistan were killed while over two dozen injured. The attack was followed by another attack at Pakistani city of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province next day on 19 January 2014, which took the lives of at least 30 soldiers and causing injuries to over three dozens. In a statement recorded immediately after an attack, one of the Pakistani Army commanders deployed against Indian Infantry Division in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

Sugar is the main cause of obesity apart from excess fat diets.
Dr Hector Perera        London
The way the body and the brain regulate food intake is extremely complex and involves multiple hormones and neural circuits. I must say one cannot give enough evidence in one simple article, certainly it takes more but the general public might not be bothered to read if the article is too long, so I am making it summarised. The actual digestive process and the reasons why fructose is the worst will be explained in a later article. Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Paediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/01/14)

SL Bar Association must critically evaluate ‘Rule of Law’ of USA and the West
Shenali D Waduge
It was recently announced that the Sri Lanka Bar Association had signed a MOU with the USA Government to promote ‘Rule of Law’. The announcement immediately leads us to wonder exactly what type of rule of law does the US intend to promote in Sri Lanka and whether Sri Lanka's legal fraternity are ignorant of the rules of law that the US ignores? As learned men and respected members of Sri Lankan society it behoves the Bar Association to set an example for all that justice and equality upholds. Yet, in entering into a MOU with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/14)

Viet Nam supports Sri Lanka development
From Sri Lanka Missions abroad
President Truong Tan Sang has affirmed Viet Nam's support for Sri Lanka's national development and reconciliation. Receiving Special Envoy D.E.W Gunasekera of the Sri Lankan President in Ha Noi yesterday, the President praised Sri Lanka’s economic achievements and conveyed his wishes for the country's prosperous future. He also expressed sympathy over the challenges facing Sri Lanka and labelled embargo measures as old-fashioned and counter to the aspirations of citizens. Sang also said co-operation enabling mutual economic development was now the major trend in globalisation, adding that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka had benefited from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/14)

The Mahavamsa phobia
Nalin de Silva
According to learned opinion Mahavamsa was written in the fifth century by a Bhikku named Ven. Mahanama. Mahavamsa may not be the most authoritative book on history in the Western tradition, but it is definitely the most hated book on history by the Tamil separatists, and in general the anti Sinhala Buddhist activists. Mahavamsa is a history book though not in the tradition of Western knowledge after the fifteenth century, where they attempt to separate different disciplines. In the old Sinhala tradition history was not separated from knowledge of other disciplines such as Dhamma. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/14)

Presentation of State Literary Awards and Felicitation Ceremony for Mr. Neville Perera in Sri Lanka Embassy in Germany
Media release of the Sri Lanka embassy in Germany.
The State Literary Awards in Sri Lanka for the year 2012 were recently held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo, where many writers won awards for their contributions. The Best Children's Literature Award in English was won by Mr. Neville Perera for his book 'Kitty and the Bell Necklace'. Since Mr. Neville Perera was unable to go to Sri Lanka to receive the State Literary Awards in Sri Lanka due to sickness, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Germany and the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/14)

What the Chinese Want?: A Prelude to Understanding China’s growing relations with Sri Lanka
By Bandu de Silva
The question what the Chinese want came to my mind when I entered China 58 years ago. That was when I was posted to Sri Lanka’s pioneering  diplomatic mission in Beijing 1957 under Wilmot A Perera. I continued to ask that question for near four years I spent there. My assignment in the Embassy was administration and also negotiating annual rice contracts under the bilateral agreements of 1952 and 1957 as well as cultural/media relations. These functions gave me access to a wide range of varied contacts though under normal circumstances such contacts were... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/01/14)

Historic Hindu Pattini claim to Madhu Church
Shenali D Waduge
With the recent calls to rewrite history it is no better a time than now to bring out all the hard facts that have got both hidden or buried (pun intended). Every time the topic of colonial atrocities are brought forward for debate the quick response is to claim these as history pushing to the background the crimes committed in the name of peaceful coexistence. However, when most of the laws in place today were created with the intention of putting past crimes into the background and to ensure the continuance of the reign of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

Mr. Somapala Gunadheera’s kumbuk tree
C. Wijeyawickrema
Mr. Somapala Gunadheera (SG), a retired CCS officer is promoting what Mr. Tissa Jayatillaka (TJ) has said about Sri Lanka’s present predicament (ref. Colombo Telegraph website). I see both these as blind men of the black-whites paradigm, walking in the dark. So many retired officers, who thrived as CCS/CAS officers when they were young, began writing philosophy and generosity to Tamils after they went home. Only a Fulbright like TJ could talk so boldly about Sinhala ultra-nationalism, because he cannot fathom that the Sinhalese Buddhists (and to some extent the poor Christians) have been treated like the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

Who is interested in human rights?
By Nalin de Silva Courtesy Island
The "Irida Divaina" of 19th January announced with a banner headline that the mask worn by US the US had dropped, and it is very likely that the good translators at the American Embassy in Sri Lanka would have brought it to the notice of the officials in the embassy who are ‘committed’ to human rights. It may be that the embassy is not concerned of news items reported in the Sri Lankan press, especially of the ‘vernacular’ Sinhala as these are mostly read by Sinhala Buddhists. Why should the super power be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

INDIRA GANDHI TOLD THATCHER: STOP HELPING LANKA-Wanted Thatcher to use influence with JR-Declassified document bares details
Courtesy The Daily News
London: Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had asked her British counterpart Margaret Thatcher to stop military assistance to Sri Lanka including training, to crush the separatist Tamil Eelam movement in the 1980s, according to newly declassified documents. In a document relating to Sri Lanka, released by the National Archives here under the 30-year declassification rule, a reference was apparently made to India's suspicion in 1984 that Britain's elite Special Air Service (SAS) was training the Sri Lankan military. Gandhi told... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

Secretary Weeratunga briefs Geneva diplomats on progress in national reconciliation
PERMANENT MISSION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE, GENEVA
Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga who briefed Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva at the Palais des Nations on Tuesday (21st January 2014) on ‘Progress in the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka’, has said the Government of Sri Lanka has done all that was humanly possible to implement the recommendations of the National Plan of Action on the implementation of the LLRC, since its approval by the Cabinet of Ministers in July 2012.  Mr. Weeratunga, who chairs the Committee Monitoring... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 63, "PSYCHO-ANALYTICAL SOJOURN"
Dr. Tilak Fernando
Although theology or spirituality has been on the increase among people from time immemorial, Westerners seemed to have woken up rapidly in recent times and become 'star' crazy, which has resulted in some of the British tabloids to introduce a popular 'star guide' column. It is so popular that first thing in the morning when most of the readers open their newspapers, their first inclination has become to gaze at the planetary guide for the day. In such a backdrop, news spread in London among the Sri Lankan community about a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/01/14)

UN, Radhika Coomaraswamy and the abuse of children
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The failure of UN to be the broad, universal umbrella for all 192 member states, protecting the big and the small evenly and fairly, without being a tool of this or that big power, without  fear or  favour, is seen once again in the manner in  which it turned a blind eye to the abuse of children by the “state” of Vatican. The Vatican City is the smallest “state” in the world. Its claim to “statehood” is based essentially on the ownership of a tiny block of land, (.2 sq miles), in Rome. Nevertheless, it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/14)

The Dilemmas the GOSL finds itself in
Shenali D Waduge
 No post-independent Government has faced such a barrage of disputes as the current Government many of which have been as a result of its own making.  The momentum brought about by the patriotic forces following the LTTE’s closure of the Mavil Aru water supply forced the Rajapakse Government to take a detour from following the customary path of appeasement via negotiation table to a virtual declaration of war. That led to the eventual collapse of the LTTE and liberation of Sri Lanka ending 3 decades of terrorism. The collapse dealt a severe blow to those... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/14)

Tyrants like Dutugamunu & anti-Mahavamsa movement
C. Wijeyawickrema
The retired anthropology professor H.L. Seneviratne, ends his recent Colombo Telegraph essay with a statement, “… tyrants like Dutugamunu used religion for purposes of gaining and remaining in power, and as opium of the masses, and there were willing supporters among the Sangha, as there are plenty that support the tyranny of our own times…”  From the Internet dictionary I found out that a tyrant is a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly; or any person in a position of authority who exercises power oppressively or despotically. Dutugamunu was more like a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/14)

Your British police are wonderful!
by padraigcolman
  When police shot Mark Duggan in Tottenham, riots erupted all over England. There is tension yet again after an inquest jury decided that Duggan’s  killing was lawful. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this particular case, it has revived interest in the conduct of the British police. Since 1990, 1,476 people have died following police contact in Britain.  Blair Peach was a campaigner against the far right, who died from a blow to the head during a demonstration against the National Front in Southall, west London. It took 30 years for Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/14)

MANGALA’S PARTNER: ‘MALICIOUS PROSECUTION’ Sexual relationship since 2010 :Became a drug addict owing to the MP :
Courtesy The Daily News
The suspect who was accused of allegedly stealing a laptop and few whisky bottles from Matara district Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera’s residence in Panadura yesterday said that the parliamentarian and his security guard have misled the police by making a false complaint to the Kesellwatte Police. The suspect who was released on bail over the alleged burglary of a laptop and whisky bottles lodged a complaint at the police headquarters yesterday saying he had a homo - sexual relationship with Samaraweera and the items... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/01/14)

Where are the Colombians?
Gomin Dayasri
Colombians, it is alleged, are becoming Mahindians? -Those in a hurry for the curry; the fickle, the worms of Colombo, in the vision of authentic Colombians. Is it a divided caste within a class? Let’s dwell deep. Exodus is not in hordes since most are made of sterner stuff –with an abundance of true grit. If not for their strength of survival how is it to remain a lifetime loser, living on eternal hope alone?  Understandable, the promised regime change is like the revolution of the old left - permanently around the corner - takes fatal wrong... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/14)

ICRC Sri Lanka during final phase of war
 Shenali D Waduge
The ICRC started operations in Sri Lanka in 1989, an invitation extended by late President Premadasa following his tryst with the LTTE and with LTTE expanding its terror ICRC was able to expand its operations too. What is noteworthy is that ICRC established its offices in areas that were held by LTTE and this certainly questions ICRC’s claim to be ‘impartial’ ‘neutral’ and ‘independent’ as set out by its global mission statement established in 1863. We run through some of ICRC’s past.  Accentuating these ambiguities further is how an impartial, neutral and independent body would call... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/14)

Bishop Rayappah Joseph says, ' arrest me if you can'
P.A.Samaraweera, Melbourne
Ravana Balaya infuriated by a statement made by Rayappah Joseph against Sri Lanka, had asked the IGP to arrest him for making false statements. So he had challeged the Ravana Balaya to get him arrested, if they can. According to the Bishop, he was not wrong on the war crime allegations on Sri Lanka. He had met the US Ambassador at Large, Stephen Rapp and had elaborated war crimes believed to have been committed by the Sri Lankan army during the last phase of the war. During the last phase of the war, it was the LTTE which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/14)

THE AMERICAN CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG
Reported by Keerthi Warankulasuriya (The main news item published in Sunday Divaina of 19th January –translated by Ranjith Soysa)
If the government forces are removed from the North war crimes charges will be withdrawn The demand rejected by the Sri Lankan government .Sri Lankan government has totally rejected the American demand to consider withdrawal of Sri Lankan Government forces from the North and five other stipulations. The Americans have stated that if the Government of Sri Lanka agrees to implement these six stipulations the proposed motion on war crimes will not be tabled in Geneva in March.  The senior... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/14)

Self-Reformation: Resolve, Faith & Rehabilitation
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.
 (Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermons of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, delivered on 17th January 2014, at ‘Baithul Futhuh’, London, U.K. His Holiness is continuing the topic self-reformation by practicing Resolve, Faith and Rehabilitation. ).  Ahmadiyya Supreme Head said:  Last Friday sermon was a discourse on the impediments in reformation of practices that repeatedly pull us backwards and the need to remove these impediments. It was mentioned that if strength of resolve, knowledge and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/01/14)

The Buddhist Monk at the 96 th Mile Post on the Habarana Trincomalee Road: LTTE massacres & Economic Emancipation- the need of the hour
Garvin Karunaratne, Former Government Agent, Matara District
On my visit to Trincomalee in December 2013 I was privy to a monk settling a family dispute. My mission was to hand over a parcel of dry rations to deserving temples and in that process I marched into a temple at Mollipotana near Mavil Aru, at the 96 th mile post on the Habarana Trincomalee Road. I was greeted by a Bo Tree  decorated with Buddhist flags but there was  no one around. I walked into the residence of the monks- all empty rooms with a scattering of furniture. It looked... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan’s questionable tale of harassment in Sri Lanka
Mahinda Gunasekera -By E-mail
January 19, 2014 The Editor Toronto Star 1 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario  Dear Editor, Re:  MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan’s questionable tale of harassment in Sri Lanka I refer to the news report filed by Alex Boutilier published in your edition of January 16, 2014 which describes MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan’s version of her supposed experiences in Sri Lanka where she attempts to show that she was a target of the Sri Lankan intelligence and immigration authorities . In the first place she erred in visiting the country as a tourist without disclosing the fact that she... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

Dr. Pakiasorthy Saravanamuttu: Evidence on Sri Lanka at Canada's House of Commons
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
URGENT Mr. Scott Reid, Conservative MP for Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, Ontario The Chair House of Commons 41st PARLIAMANT , 2nd  SESSION Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.   Dear, Mr. Scott Reid: Re:  Contents of Evidence of Thursday, November 21, 2013 During the last couple of days I have read the evidence that you had sought out mainly from accusers of Human Rights violations in Sri Lanka during the last phase of the 27-year long  bloody ‘Eelam’ war which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

President Rajapaksa arrives in UAE to attend 7th World Future Energy Summit
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend the official opening ceremony of the 7th edition of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The President who left the island today (20 January) on a one-day official visit for UAE reached Abu Dhabi, the capital City of the Arabian nation. Chairman of Department of Municipal Council Affairs Majid Ali Al Mansouri and Sri Lankan Ambassador in the UAE Dr. Mahinda Balasuriya warmly welcomed the President at the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

Remembering a great Assamese soldier of INA
By NJ Thakuria
Umesh Chandra Devchoudhury, who joined the Indian National Army (also known as Azad Hind Fauj) in 1943 and fought many battles under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s command for the motherland of India, was paid rich tributes by his admirers recently. In a formal meeting held at Guwahati Press Club on January 11, distinguished speakers highlighted the spirit of patriotism shown by Devchoudhury and his INA colleagues under the able leadership of the patriot of patriots. Organized by the Assam branch of All India Patriotic Forum, the memorial meeting was started with the floral... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

Pathfinder Foundation as one of Chinies top 10 partners -Milinda Collecet Awards
The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Sri Lanka recognised the Pathfinder Foundation as one of its top 10 partners at a ceremony to mark Chinese New Year and Sri Lanka's National Day held at the BMICH on Friday. HE President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, Minister of Helth Mithreepala Sirisena, Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunge were among those present at this occasion.  The photograph shows Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao presenting the Top Ten Partner award to Milinda Moragoda, Founder, Pathfinder Foundation.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

PAKISTAN: The Prime Minister must intervene for the release of a British/Pakistan national who was arrested on charges of Blasphemy
URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Dr. Masood Ahmad (72), is a member of the minority Ahmadi sect, who is declared non-Muslim under the terms of the country's constitution and subject to widespread discrimination, violence and abuse. Dr Ahmad was arrested from Lahore, Punjab province, on 15 December, 2013, after two persons from a Muslim fundamentalist group secretly filmed him reading a translation of a verse from the Quran. The accusers posed as patients at a clinic run by Dr Ahmad and after receiving medication stayed to ask religious questions. They questioned him about his faith and used mobile phones to secretly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/01/14)

The myth of the rule of Law in an American Police State - and America preaches to the world on human rights!!!
Shenali D Waduge
 The country that proclaims to be the shining example of freedom of every kind cannot escape the harsh realities that questions how far Americans are living in a free state. Tragically, most Americans do not know or realize how successive Governments have been fooling them – now America is a country in debt, majority of its citizen’s impoverished suffering numerous health issues, its war veterans depressed and under medication and American politicians believing it can still dictate to the world because the Companies that rule them say so. Moreover, the example of the Indian diplomatic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/01/14)

The Ugly American – War Criminal Britain and Modern Indian Sepoys bring Resolutions against Sri Lanka
Shenali D Waduge
 What can we say when 3 countries pretend they are the most virtuous nations of the world while as each day unfolds their crimes emerge one after the other? The latest in a never ending list of atrocities are images of US marines burning bodies of Iraqi’s, while a 250 dossier has been submitted to the International Court against UK war crimes in Iraq and India which has more military than civilians in Kashmir and unmarked graveyards think they can bring resolutions against other nations ignoring their crimes. Nations of the world must surely wake up... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/14)

Wigneswaran pushes forward West’s Re- Colonizing game plan in calling for re-write of Sri Lanka’s History
Shenali D Waduge
It has become a key political and imperial strategy of the West intent on de–stabilizing and breaking up Sri Lanka to attribute all ills of this country to the majority Sinhala Buddhists and vilify the ‘Mahavamsa’ the ancient Historical Chronicle (originally written in the 5th Century by Mahanama Mahathera) as the literary source of all ethnic and religious disharmony in the country, while forgetting that most of this country’s current ethnic and religious disputes have originated in events that took place commencing in 1505 with the entry of the Portuguese followed by their successors i.e. Dutch and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/14)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 62-THREE TAMASHAS IN LONDON
Dr.Tilak Fernando Courtesy The Daily News
  On January 19, 1996, cocktails overflowed, short-eats vanished, the sounds of laughter and rejoicing of guests in a social intercourse vibrated through five floors of an impressive post-war building in the City of London. The occasion was stage one of three different 'tamashas' to celebrate the relocation of the Bank of Ceylon's London branch to a new premises at No. 1 Devonshire Square, London EC2, from its old haunts at 22-24 City Road, London EC4. To punctuate the occasion and add more allure and grandeur to the event, the General Manageress and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/14)

A Workable Action Plan for UNHRC 2014 and Beyond
Prepared by: Dilrook Kannangara
Already three resolutions against Sri Lanka have been passed in UNHRC in 2009 (wrong to classify it as a win as today’s problems stem from it), 2012 and 2013. A fourth is on the way in 2014. As per threats made by UK and US officials, it will focus on imposing an international investigation into alleged war crimes. Facing the war crimes issue and defeating it are essential. 1.       The Context UNHRC resolutions, focus and action have little to do with human rights. They are more about wrestling control of matters internal to nations and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/14)

The Burning Sri Lankan National Issue? Collective Hypocrisy And A Collective Mental Illness
Janaka Yagirala
Imagine the following experiment, you have a person with a white cube in front of him (or her). If you ask the question “Is there a black cube in front of you?”, the expected answer from a sane person with a clear conscious would be “No it is a white cube”. Now if the person were to answer “Yes it is a black cube”, what common sense conclusions can you draw about the subject? This may seem like a trivial trick question but understanding these conclusions has huge implications in solving what we are told is he... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/14)

Dr. Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah's Affidavit Description of Conditions in the Vanni Pocket in Refutation of Channel Four
defence.lk
This item is taken from Engage Sri Lanka: Corrupted Journalism, 2013, Appendix 2, pp. 203-14. The pictorial illustrations are the Editor's additions. I, Dr. Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah, Medical Superintendent , Mullaitivu General Hospital, being a Hindu, honestly , sincerely and solemnly swear and MAKE OATH as follows: 1. I am Dr.Veerakanthipillai Shanmugarajah, presently Medical Superintendent ,Mullaitivu. I was born on 11 June 1968 and am presently 44 years old. I am a graduate of Jaffna University's faculty of Medicine, and hold the qualification of Bachelor of Medicine and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/14)

UK war crimes under spotlight ahead of Geneva session 2014
By Shamindra Ferdinando January 14, 2014, 12:00 pm  -Courtesy Island
A prominent British law firm, Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) on Friday (January 10) lodged an unprecedented formal complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. It dealt extensively with atrocities committed by British forces between 2003 and 2008 in Iraq. Alleging that the UK had failed to investigate and prosecute high ranking civilian and military leaders responsible for the situation in Iraq, the two NGOs pushed for an ICC investigation. Although... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/14)

Shocking photos emerge showing U.S. Marines burning bodies of Iraqi insurgents, posing for pictures with skeletons and even an enemy soldier-s remains being eaten by a dog as Pentagon launches probe
By Helen Pow
The explosive photographs, reportedly taken in Fallujah in 2004, have sparked a Marine Corps investigation However, many of the 41 shots, obtained by TMZ, are just too grisly to publish Two pictures show a Marine pouring gasoline on the enemy remains, another two images show the Iraqi soldiers going up in flames while a fifth picture captures the charred bodies U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, determined the photos had not been brought to their attention before... -Full Story- (dailymail.co.uk - 16/01/14)

The kind-hearted Karu Jayasuriya of UNP team
C. Wijeyawickrema
  Karu Jayasuriya (KJ) says it was not fair to attack the Christian evangelical church at Hikkaduwa. He talks about pluralism and freedom, just like MahindaR talks about multi-faith and multi-cultural.  Nobody approves violence, but if both UNP and SLFP live on violence indirectly, then how can they talk about non-violence? Of all the people, it was KJ who supported the GOSL efforts to end Prabhakaran. Unlike the other UNP goats, KJ therefore has a sympathetic eye from the Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka.  But issuing statements on behalf of the demolished church without also talking about... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/14)

Return of coconut oil for cooking and for many other things.
Dr Hector Perera       London
Coconut oil is used extensively in tropical countries especially in, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Philippines etc, which have a good production of coconut oil. At one time, the oil was also popular in western countries like the United States and Canada, but there was a strong propaganda campaign in the 1970s spread by the corn oil and soy oil industry against coconut oil. Coconut oil was considered harmful for the human body due to its high saturated fat content until the last decade (2000s) when people began to question the claims of the propaganda.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/14)

Northern Episcopal vengeance
Durand Appuhamy Negombo Courtesy Island
It has been alleged that two northern Catholic bishops, Drs. Rayappu Joseph and Thomas Saundranayagam, have accused our security forces as having used cluster bombs and chemical weapons during the last phase of eelam war 1V. As for cluster bombs, The Island newspaper of the 11th Jan revealed to us that it was the US Pacific Command that urged our Air force to acquire Cluster bombs for "unarmoured area targets" in 2002. The government, however, refrained from acquiring any cluster bombs. If it had acquired them, the ever-so inimical US would have by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/14)

Stephen J.Rapp do you know WIN and Gallup International say, today US represents the largest threat to world peace ?
By Charles.S.Perera
 “In their annual End of Year poll, researchers for WIN and Gallup International surveyed more than 66,000 people across 65 nations and found that 24 percent of all respondents answered that the United States “is the greatest threat to peace in the world today.” Pakistan and China fell significantly behind the United States on the poll, with 8 and 6 percent, respectively. Afghanistan, Iran, Israel and North Korea all tied for fourth place with 4 percent.”  There is proof of this in Sri Lanka -a country seeking a peaceful existence, where Stephen J. Rapp US Ambassador for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

Neither Rapp Nor The USA Could Ever Substantiate Their Accusations Against Sri Lanka Based On Diaspora Sympathetic Innuendo.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
January 16th. 2014 Yet another worthless attempt to discredit Sri Lanka in advance of the forthcoming Geneva Summit appears to be the case where the pun fittingly needs to be interpreted as "Rapp's Crap" which has been coined by a local satire group interestingly enough towards the related field and as usual instigated by the US and in all probabilities prompted by the UN who in turn have the harriers in the form of  the global Tamil diaspora mostly Tamil Tiger sympathetic, behind them so what else is new  beyond a few cackles! The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

Abu Ghraib 2.0? Horrifying images of US Marines burning Iraqis prompt military investigation
RT
The Pentagon confirmed early Wednesday that a formal investigation has been launched after photographs began to surface purportedly showing US troops burning the remains of dead Iraqis. Those images were published Wednesday morning by website TMZ, which claims to have recently come into possession of 41 photos in all that they believe to have been taken in Fallujah sometime in 2004 amid the US-led Iraq occupation.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 15/01/14)

Combat Trauma and Post War Sri Lanka
Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge
 The Sri Lankan society experienced a 30 year prolonged armed conflict that changed the psychological landscape of the Islanders. A large number of combatants, civilians and the members of the LTTE underwent the detrimental repercussions of combat trauma. Following the armed conflict in Sri Lanka over 90,000 people lost their lives and thousands of families are still grieving. A large numbers became physical and psychological casualties of the war.  The war trauma still echoes in the Sri Lankan society.    War has serious consequences for both short-term survival and longer-term recovery and development (Sørensen, 1998).... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

“City of London” is not part of England – it is a separate state
If ever a country has been referred by many names it has to be England. What is the difference between United Kingdom, England, Great Britain and moreover why is the ‘City of London’ a Corporation and not part of England, having its own laws?  First, let us run though some of the names used for UK. Before the 17th Century – there was no such word as British, 4 separate ‘countries’ prevailed comprising people who had their own identity, language and history – English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish. By 18th century the word British was used. Rule Britannia song was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

Prosecute the prosecutors
By Nalin de Silva
Enough is enough. Stephen Rapp the prosecutor came to Sri Lanka as an official of the USA. He visited the Northern Province with the ambassador in Sri Lanka for USA and gave a judgment. It was a case of the prosecutor becoming the judge, aptly described by the Sinhala saying "naduth hamuduruvange baduth hamuduruvange". The embassy of USA in Sri Lanka tweeted that Sri Lanka forces had used cluster bombs and also engaged in chemical warfare. In fact they had identified St. Anthony’s ground in Pudumathalan, as the place where people had died as a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

SRI LANKAN CRICKET-VICTORY DUE TO UNITY AND DETERMINATION OF YOUNGSTERS
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
The commitment of the Sri Lankan Team to beat Pakistan in a foreign tour  convincingly was largely due to unity.   Politics has played its game for many years in Sri Lankan Cricket.  Today we witness Marvan Atapattu, Hashan Tillekeratne, Chaminda Vaas  with Sanath Jayasuriya on the same bench managing the future leaders of Sri Lankan Cricket.   It is an eye opener for everyone determined to make success in any field.   Sri Lanka’s astonishing victory against Pakistan cannot be attributed to a single person, but to  unity of cricketing legends and the determination of youngsters.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

I Am (2011) - Tom Shadyac Doc Part 1/7
Published on Apr 21, 2013
A worthwhile documentary. We have created a world based on the notion that we are all separate. Fundamentally, there is no separation.... -Full Story- (youtube.com - 15/01/14)

NEW ZEALAND’S PARLIAMENT RECEPTION ACCORDED TO AHMADIYYA KHALIFA.
by A. Abdul Aziz.
 During his recent tour to Far East Tour, the World Head and Fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered an historic address at New Zealand’s National Parliament in Wellington on 4 November 2013.   In front of an audience of Parliamentarians, Ambassadors of State, academics and a range of other guests, the Khalifa advocated the urgent need for justice as a means to develop world peace in the face of increasing tensions and conflicts in various parts of the world. Indeed, His Holiness deemed the establishment of world peace as “the critical... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/14)

Rayappu ‘Goebbels’ Joseph – a viper in the underwear of the local Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Mario Perera, Kadawata
 In a recent commentary I referred to the declaration by Mr.Rapp the visiting US ambassador at large that hard core LTTE’ers should have been prosecuted and not rehabilitated.  Now, as is well known, there is a section of them who have neither been prosecuted nor rehabilitated. A key figure of this number is Rayappu Joseph who has been duly tagged ‘Rayappu Goebbels’. I wish also to make reference to the public utterance over the BBC during an interview, by Gota that had General Fonseka made the white flag comment he would be hanged because it is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/01/14)

Finally the British are taken to the ICC for War Crimes in Iraq
Shenali D Waduge
 When we had been thinking that the ICC was created to put on trial only African and other Third World leaders a 250 page dossier on Britains war crimes in Iraq has been submitted on 11 January 2013 to the ICC by Birmingham-based Public Interest Lawyers and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR.). Knowing the scale of lies the West resort to the possibility that Britain’s case at the Hague is to show that the ICC is unbiased cannot be ruled out as well. Nevertheless, the fact that a dossier detailing some... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/01/14)

Joseph Vaz – Did he take part in the Goa Inquisition?
Shenali D Waduge
What Christianity/Catholicism cannot deny whatever modern day twists their biased historians and followers spin is the fact that western colonial crusaders travelled to foreign lands in Asia, Africa and North and South America to invade, subjugate and convert the indigenous natives by hook or by crook. This reality is etched in stone and cannot be erased. The pages of European Christian history are blood stained and the victims and descendants of victims of Christian rule and bigotry are now no longer prepared to remain silent and keep quiet. They are calling for accountability and settling of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/01/14)

Mahavamsa Buddhism of Wigneswaran and Sharmin S
C. Wijeyawickrema
 Introduction             Lankaweb readers need to surf Colombo Telegraph (CT) website to get an idea of the crazy things taking place on the other side of their world. It is full of examples reminding us the Sixteen Dreams of the King Kosol. Recently, I saw two news items on CT. First was by one Sharmini Serasinghe, who on her own words “was Director Communications of the former Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) under Secretary Generals Jayantha Dhanapala and Dr. John Gooneratne, with over thirty years in journalism in both the print and electronic media” says... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/01/14)

US accuses countries forgetting its own use of Cluster Bombs and WMDs
Shenali D Waduge
“Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” – Henry Kissinger.  America cries ‘bring down dictators’ little forgetting that they vote for Presidents who do not think twice about ordering use of chemicals upon entire villages and wiping out the natives of nations they invade on fictitious allegations that they have become masters at cooking up. While US falsely accuses countries of possessing ‘weapons of mass destruction’ America conveniently hides its use of depleted uranium and cluster bombs but has the audacity to send officials to sovereign nations and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/14)

The pursuit of happiness?
By Shelton A. Gunaratne  professor emeritus in communication, lives in Moorhead, Minn.
 Tracy Frank’s story titled “The pursuit of happiness?” in the Sunday edition of The (Fargo, N.D.) Forum’s She Says section (Jan. 12, 2014) drew my instant attention because it was the exact topic of our monthly Buddhist Discussion Group on Saturday. However, after I read her story, I failed to extract a satisfactory answer to the question, either implicit or explicit, on why chasing the American dream has failed to create happiness among the large majority of Americans. The sidebar to Frank’s story says: “Americans have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/14)

UNHRC SESSIONS IN GENEVA IN MARCH 2014
Chanaka Bandarage
(i)                An International Commission of Enquiry against Sri Lanka?  At the next UNHRC sessions in Geneva in March 2014, there is the possibility that an International Commission of Enquiry can be set up to investigate the war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka, in relation to the final stages of the war against Tamil Tigers.    Though they may think it will be easy, setting up of such an International Commission of Enquiry  against Sri Lanka will not be an easy task for the adversaries of Sri Lanka.  It is true at UNHRC in Geneva we have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/14)

Two shades of immunity
Kishore Mahbubani
The writer is dean and professor in the practice of public policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore-Courtesy The Indian Express As we move away from a monocivilisational world of Western domination of world history to a multicivilisational world, our minds must begin retooling themselves. We have to develop the capability of carrying competing, if not contradictory, narratives and understand that both may be correct, even if they contradict each other. We will have to learn to shed black and white judgements... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/01/14)

From a missing housekeeper to an indicted diplomat: the Khobragade incident timeline
November, 2012: Sangeeta Richard arrives in the US to work for Devyani Khobragade, deputy consul general at the Indian consulate in New York, at her home as a babysitter, housekeeper -- technically called India Based Domestic Assistant. June 23: She goes missing. Some days before, Richard seeks Khobragade’s permission to work elsewhere as well. She is turned down as she is in the US on official passport, which prevents her from working for anyone else. June 24: The Indian consulate in New York informs the Office of Foreign Missions (OFM), a US state department wing that services foreign missions, about... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 13/01/14)

$8.75 an hour, including Rs 30,000 a month to husband
Ananya Bhardwaj
Uttam Khobragade, father of diplomat Devyani, claims Sangeeta Richard was given full wages and never ill-treated, yet she disappeared without reason. He said that the deal had been for $8.75 an hour, from which Rs 30,000 would be sent to her husband every month.... -Full Story- (archive.indianexpress.com - 13/01/14)

Everything you need to know about Devyani Khobragade-s story
The US attorney-s statement: There has been much misinformation and factual inaccuracy in the reporting on the charges against Devyani Khobragade.... -Full Story- (archive.indianexpress.com - 13/01/14)

Diplomat-s immunity was India-s pride: Here-s how the last few hours of crisis played out
Yashwant Raj
But before anyone could pull out a beer in celebration, another communication arrived from the state department, this time asking the embassy to waive the immunity just conferred on the diplomat so she could be prosecuted for the charges brought against her.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 13/01/14)

Punish US diplomats with same sex companions: Yashwant Sinha
With India cutting down privileges of US diplomats following an IFS officer-s arrest in New York, BJP leader Yaswant Singh on Tuesday demanded that the government take action against US personnel in India having same sex companions following the Supreme Court order against gay sex.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 13/01/14)

Syria attraction: Russia moving into Eastern Mediterranean oil bonanza
William Engdahl
The wars for control of Syria, and actually there is more than one going on simultaneously, have a strong background in an undeclared war over who will control the region’s gigantic and newly-discovered oil and gas reserves. Now, Russia has just secured a major contract with the Syrian government. This comes after they brilliantly handed President Obama a face-saving way out of unwanted direct military action in Syria by brokering a deal with Syrian President Bashar Assad to remove the country’s stock of chemical weapons. Regardless of whether Assad remains president, Russia holds exploration and development rights... -Full Story- (rt.com - 13/01/14)

A Rural Renaiussance in the Offing
By Garvin Karunaratne
My travel to Kataragama in December 2013 took me to the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa Airport and via the new road that is being built through Lunugamvehera Tank to Kataragama.  . I have worked stationed within Hambantota for over a year working in the Agrarian Services and Marketing Department and have covered Hambantota from Matara for another two years working on the Paddy Purchasing Scheme of the Agrarian Services Department and the Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Scheme of the Marketing Department. .  I lived in a chummery with  Vet Surgeon Balachandran and Assistant Commissioner Nanayakkara.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

Indian Diplomat Khobragade’s ‘human rights’ treatment shows how grateful US is to India
Shenali D Waduge
Firstly, what must be said is that if Devyani Khobragade did wrong whether she is an American, an Indian or a diplomat a wrong is a wrong. Both India and Ms. Khobragade has to accept this. Therefore, the question of her innocence is not what is being argued. What is under discussion is for forging a document did the Indian diplomat have to be strip searched, cavity searched and DNA swabbed. How does stripping clothes of a diplomat have anything to do with a forged document? Given that the authorities decided to arrest because they had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

Foolish antics of MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Comments of MP Paul Dewar
 Mahinda Gunasekera Tambrook Drive Agincourt, Ontario anada
By E-mail     January 10, 2014  Hon. Thomas Mulcair, MP, Leader of the NDP Leader of the Opposition House of Commons, Ottawa   Dear Mr. Mulcair, Re: Puerile Antics of MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Comments of MP Paul Dewar I am writing to bring to your attention the foolish antics of MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan on her recent visit to Sri Lanka as reported in the media, which I trust you are fully aware of. She is a caucus member of the NDP and the Deputy Whip of your Party, and should know... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

Fury in Sri Lanka at U.S. Embassy Tweet on Killing of Tamils
By ROBERT MACKEY
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense expressed shock and anger on Friday at what it called a “baseless allegation” against the nation’s military in a photo caption posted on the official Twitter feed of the United States Embassy the day before. The photograph showed the American ambassador to Sri Lanka, Michele J. Sison, and Stephen J. Rapp, the United States ambassador at large for war crimes issues, during a visit to the Tamil-dominated north of the country,... -Full Story- (thelede.blogs.nytimes.com - 12/01/14)

Exclusive: Devastating dossier on "abuse" by UK forces in Iraq goes to International Criminal Court
Jonathan Owen
A devastating 250-page dossier, detailing allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock executions and sexual assault, has been presented to the International Criminal Court, and could result in some of Britain-s leading defence figures facing prosecution for "systematic" war crimes.General Sir Peter Wall, the head of the British Army; former defence secretary Geoff Hoon; and former defence minister Adam Ingram are among those named in the report, entitled "The Responsibility of UK Officials for War Crimes Involving Systematic Detainee Abuse in Iraq from 2003-2008".... -Full Story- (independent.co.uk - 12/01/14)

SPECIAL RECEPTION TO MARK OPENING OF MASROOR MOSQUE IN BRISBANE
By A. Abdul Aziz.
 During his recent Far-East Tour, Ahmadiyya  Khalifa delivered the key-note address at a Special Reception held to mark the opening of the Masroor Mosque in Brisbane, Australia. Various non-Ahmadi dignitaries and guests, including Members of Parliament and Queensland’s Commissioner of Police, attended the event.   In his keynote address, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad reassured the local people that the new Mosque would be a centre of peace; he said that true worship required high moral standards at all times and he spoke of the humanitarian efforts made by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.   Speaking about the new... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

Kashmir – Paradise turned Hell
By Latheef Farook
“Indian brutalities meant that India may have lost Kashmir”, Said Late Minister Rajiv Gandhi. India  dispatched troops and occupied Kashmir on 27 October 1947. Kashmiris observe 27 October as BLACK DAY.   Kashmir which continues to bleed today under Indian atrocities has  often been described as “Emerald set in Pearls”, “Jewel of Asia “ and “ Heaven on Earth”. These enchanting beauties provoked the famous Persian poet Urfi Shiraz to say that” if roasted fowl is brought to Kashmir not only shall it come to life, but shall be on its wings again”. In his first visit to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

Goa Inquisition was most merciless and cruel
Richard Zimler-s novel,
Richard Zimler-s novel, Guardian of the Dawn, documents the little-known Portuguese Inquisition in India, in 16th century Goa. He points out that, apart from their laws and religion, the Portuguese also imported and enforced their infamous methods of interrogation to subdue troublemakers. Zimler has won numerous awards for his work, including a 1994 US National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction and 1998 Herodotus Award for best historical novel. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon was picked as 1998 Book of the Year by British critics, while Hunting Midnight has been nominated for the 2005 IMPAC... -Full Story- (rediff.com - 12/01/14)

Europe’s Hypocritical History of Cannibalism
By Sarah Everts
From prehistory to the present with many episodes in between, the region has a surprisingly meaty history of humans eating humansn 2001, a lonely computer technician living in the countryside in Northern Germany advertised online for a well-built man willing to participate in a mutually satisfying sexual act. Armin Meiwes’ notice was similar to many others on the Internet except for a rather important detail: The requested man must be willing to be killed and eaten. Related Content Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism Cannibals of the Past Had Plenty of Reasons to Eat People... -Full Story- (smithsonianmag.com - 12/01/14)

Europe and its cannibals
Jen Paton 5 February 2010
A spell-binding history of cannibalism in the middle ages: its use as a propaganda tool, and place in Christendom-s self-image; the cannibal as a philosophical hypothetical, and a justification for colonialism; and Richard the Lionheart-s fondness for "Saracen-s head-s all hot" In the fourteenth century Romance of Richard the Lionheart, the crusader king falls ill outside of Acre: the food he needs to recover, he claims, is pork. Since rumor has it Saracens taste of pork, his men cook and feed him human flesh without his knowledge. Demanding to see the head of the “pig”... -Full Story- (opendemocracy.net - 12/01/14)

Counting the Days at Guantánamo
By Zak Newman, Washington Legislative Office, ACLU at 10:15am
The U.S. government took its first prisoners to Guantánamo Bay 12 years ago today. In the 4,380 days since, we have seen indefinite detention without formal charge or trial, the use of torture and other abusive treatment, and unlawful and inherently unfair military commission proceedings. Now home to 155 men, the detention camp has for 12 years violated both the basic rights of its captives, and our American values. But there is cause for hope that we may someday soon stop counting the days of injustice and abuse at... -Full Story- (https:/aclu.org/ - 12/01/14)

Fat is a necessary part of our diet; however we need to know our limit.
Dr Hector Perera      London
When choosing the best foods for a healthy diet it is important to not completely eliminate fat. Omega-3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats are considered healthy fats. Healthy fats differ from unhealthy fats because healthy fats are responsible for numerous bodily functions, where unhealthy fats are empty calories which have no nutritional value. Before looking at the different types of healthy fats, it is important to understand the bodily functions that healthy fat is generally responsible for. The human brain is made up of 60 percent fat. Fat is essential for brain functions... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/01/14)

A black-white plan to salvage Sri Lanka
C. Wijeyawickrema
Dayan Jayatilleke of the 13A + fame has come up with his latest proposal to save Sri Lanka from the March 2014 UNHRC Geneva trap. He no longer talks about Indian MIGs moved to South Indian air fields ready to face Sri Lanka or the American Navy ships. He said Wigneswaran was the best thing that had happened for the Tamils and became silent after one or two letters, warning W to be patient and moderate (or not to become another Vyatharaja Perumal). W has no agenda to accommodate Dayan’s soft path, and instead W wants to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/14)

40, 000 Civilian Deaths In Sri Lanka – David Shearer D’Post 6/1/14 -Fact or Fiction?
Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokeperson, United Sri Lanka Assn. Wellington NZ
Prime Minister John Key was right   not to refer to the allegation of 40,000 civilian deaths of highly questionable credibility, in the last months of Sri Lanka’s war of liberation from Tiger Terror, at the  CHOGM in Colombo in November , and David Shearer is wrong for being critical of this  (Opinion Dompost 6th Jan). Thisbecomes evident when one traces how this figure evolved and the evidence against such a high figure. The Tamil Net made the first claim of the number of civilian deaths at around 7000,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/14)

Mannar Bishop Rayappah Joseph lies to Ambassador Rapp
P.A.Samaraweera, Melbourne
It is no secret that Rayappah Joseph was a mouth-piece of the terrorists when the North was under the control of the LTTE. Now he is a candle holder to the LTTE rump and had been undermining Sri Lanka and accusing the govt of war crimes. It had been reported, that at a meeting with Ambassador Stephen Rapp, he had said that the Sri Lankan Air Force had used unconventional weapons and targeted hospitals at Pundikudiruppu, Dharmapuram and Puthumalu killing patients and civilians. He had said this at the meeting, as if he had been an eye witness.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/01/14)

Barrack Obama a haughty man of high sounding words, Mahinda Rajapakse a friendly man of determination and hard work.
By Charles.S.Perera
 Barrack Obama knows how to use words making  phrases which are beautiful  and inspiring. However, his words do not match his deeds.  He had said, “ And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to score up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

Rathika Sitsabaiesan & Paul Dewar on Sri Lanka
 Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
10 January 2014 Hon. Tom Mulcair, MP, Leader of the NDP Leader of the Opposition,  House of Commons, Ottawa cc. Paul Dewar, Foreign Affairs Critic for NDP;  Rathika Sitsabaeisan, Deputy Whip for NDP Dear Tom Mulcair: Re: Your Caucus Members, Paul Dewar and Rathika Sitsabaiesan –           As  Prime Minister-in-Waiting, it is imperative and crucial that you try to understand  the harm  that these two members of your caucus are presenting to your party being a “brainless” anti-Sri Lanka  bashing Tag team.  I certainly could christen this Tag Team... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

Buddhist Psychotherapy
Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.
Renowned Psychologists like William James, Carl Jung, and Eric Fromm saw much of value in Buddhist philosophy and its positive impact on mental health. The modern mental health clinicians have found incomparable therapeutic efficacy in Buddhist psychotherapy. Buddhist psychotherapy has become a major complementary therapeutic strategy in mental health. Recent research has highlighted the importance of Buddhist psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, factitious disorders, addiction disorders, medically unexplained symptoms and various other psychological ailments. Buddhist psychology is increasingly informing psychotherapeutic practice in the western world (Kelly, 2008). Psychotherapy is generally defined... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

Forbear to judge us, for U.S is the worst sinner
Dr Kamal Wickremasinghe
We are in the middle of yet another visit by a US government official, Stephen J. Rapp, an Obama political appointee apparently supervising the unusual US version of “Global Criminal Justice”. The grandiose description of Rapp as an “ambassador-at-large”, appears to have been designed by the US state department - who seem to take it for granted that they are ruling a global empire - to exude an air of almost UN-like legitimate authority. But Rapp is just a US government agent who has no legitimate powers to seek... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

Ambassador Rapp tells Defence Secy:‘Instead of rehabilitating terrorists, you should have prosecuted them’
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island
Sri Lanka’s post-war rehabiliation project to reintegrate former LTTE combatants into society has come in for criticism from the United States. The US has faulted President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government for releasing those who had fought for the LTTE without prosecuting them.  Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice, Stephen J. Rapp has told Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa that LTTE terrorists should have been prosecuted instead of being rehabilitated. The meeting took place at the Defence Ministry on January 6. He was accompanied by Michele J. Sison, US ambassador in Colombo. Ambassador is on his... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

US asked SL to use cluster bombs against Tigers
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island
Even though the US recommended that the Sri Lankan government swiftly acquire cluster bombs to target the LTTE, the country never felt the need to do so, an authoritative official told The Island. The US made the recommendation in the wake of the Oslo arranged Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the then Premier Ranil Wickreme-singhe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. It was among a series of recommendations made to the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force to strengthen their capabilities during the CFA. Although Sri Lanka hadn’t been signatory to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

The Return of the Ugly American
NEW DELHI – Nearly a month after American authorities arrested India-s deputy consul general in New York, Devyani Khobragade, outside her children-s school and charged her with paying her Indian domestic worker a salary below the minimum wage, bilateral relations remain tense. India-s government has reacted with fury to the mistreatment of an official enjoying diplomatic immunity, and public indignation has been widespread and nearly unanimous. So, has an era of steadily improving ties between the two countries come to an end?... -Full Story- (project-syndicate.org - 10/01/14)

US, UK, EU and UN are a bunch of liars using office to push military interventions
Shenali D Waduge
 The ‘civilized’ world is shamelessly showing us how uncivilized it is by the extent of hypocrisies they commit and the lies they tell without even batting an eyelid. To cap it off they think they are God’s gift to mankind and doing the world a favour. Their lies have led to millions of people either dead, displaced, without the likelihood of ever returning to their homes, sick with ailments that have no cure, fertile grounds made infertile and now they are even targeting their own citizens back home. The world needs to finally wake up and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/01/14)

Letter to Stephen Rapp
Warna Hettiarachchi Toronto, Canada
Mr. Stephen Rapp, Here are some questions for you: 1. How many terror suspects do you currently have imprisoned  at Guantanamo Bay? 2. How long have they been incarcerated for? 3. Where is the investigation of US military abusing prisoners of war (POW's) at Abu Gharib Prison in Iraq, where terror suspected were subjected to inhumane extreme humiliation, torture, killing and  denigration? 4. Where is the investigation of US AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship killing two Reuters journalists and ten other innocent unarmed  civilians including children in Baghdad during invasion of Iraq? 5. Where is the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

‘Have you ever addressed accountability issues in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan?’ Gotabhaya asks Ambassador Rapp:
by Shamindra FerdinandoCourtesy Island
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday alleged that the US was undermining the post-war reconciliation process by strengthening the hands of those who had been propagating unsubstantiated war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka. J. Rapp The US had made common cause with them for some strange reason at the expense of US-Sri Lanka relations, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said. An irate Defence Secretary Rajapaksa told The Island that he really couldn’t understand the US interest in alleged accountability issues here when its own conduct in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya was under heavy fire. Even a decade... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

Are Wahhabis on warpath against moderate Muslim Suffi’s in Sri Lanka
 Shenali D Waduge
It comes as no surprise when Sri Lanka is being accused of ‘attacking’ Muslims. The allegations come from the very globalists who created a brand of Islam better known as Wahhabism mandated to destroy Islam from within. Suffi’s of Sri Lanka are today under attack by the Wahhabis. Globalist media is quick to point fingers at the Buddhists. The LTTE strategy was to wipe out the moderate Tamils which they did successfully, the Wahhabis are using that same blueprint in Sri Lanka by targeting the moderate Muslims – the Suffis before launching a future wave of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

LIFE ABROAD - Part 61: OBJECT IS IMMATERIAL IF CORE IS GOLD!
Dr.Tilak Fernando
I should thank advocate Sepala Munasinghe who has advised me whenever I went off beam on certain past incidents that had taken place in London. Last week too, he was very prompt in emailing a feed back to me after reading episode 60 titled 'Not forgetting the old country'. Being a senior Sri Lankan, who had lived in England from 1958, he qualifies as an authoritative source of information on certain matters surrounding the Sri Lankan community in England going back to a few decades. His feedback this time was to elucidate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

President Rajapaksa holds bilateral discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held bilateral discussions at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Israel on Wednesday 08 January. President Rajapaksa arrived in Jerusalem this morning together with First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa for two days as the final destination on his Middle East official visit. The bi-lateral discussions mainly focused on the areas of agriculture, Information technology (IT), water management, trade and employment. During the talks between President Rajapaksa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both leaders agreed to expand bilateral relations in a number of sectors, including trade, agriculture... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

Scribes bodies ask due for media employees
By Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Northeast India based two active scribes body urge the managements of newspaper and news channels based in the trouble torn region to offer basic minimum facilities to the media employees. Expressing serious concern at the pitiable salaries, offered to newspaper and news channels workers by the respective managements, both the media bodies asserted that the condition has direct implications on the health of journalism as well. The media persons’ organizations disclosed that most of the media employees in northeast India are working in a helpless situation, precisely the private television journalists, and asked the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/01/14)

US COURT SHAMES TIGER RUDRA Engaged in misconduct warranting discipline: Court rejects plea of private reprimand
Daily News
The self-proclaimed leader of the mythical and mono ethnic Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam Visvanathan Rudrakumaran has been publicly reprimanded by the United States Courts Committee on Admissions and Grievances for serious misconduct. Visvanathan Rudrakumaran was the international legal advisor of LTTE terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran placed in charge of the organisation-s international and diplomatic affairs. He coordinated the lawyers in the defence of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and unsucessfully challenged the US government decision to proscribe the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organisation in 1997. The US Courts committee concluded in its report that there... -Full Story- (Daily News - 09/01/14)

US Court publicly reprimands -Eelam leader- Rudrakumaran for misconduct
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
The leader of the so-called -Eelam government in exile- Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran has been publicly reprimanded by the United States s Courts Committee on Admissions and Grievances for serious misconduct. The Committee concluded in its report that there was clear and convincing evidence that Rudrakumaran had engaged in misconduct warranting the imposition of discipline. The Committee found that Rudrakumaran had, inter alia: (a) defaulted on scheduling orders in twenty-seven cases, resulting in their dismissal, although he succeeded in reinstating eight of them; (2) created an unnecessary and substantial risk of potential... -Full Story- (priu.gov.lk - 09/01/14)

IS FIGHTING TERRORISM A CRIME?
by Dr. Chandana Jayalath
The United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, in the Office of Global Criminal Justice at the Department of States Stephen J. Rapp is now in Sri Lanka until January 11. Ambassador Rapp’s visit should be examined in the backdrop of Navi Pillai, Suren Surendiran and others on behalf of the UK headquartered Global Tamil Forum (GTF) demanding that Sri Lanka should be hauled up before an international war crimes tribunal. The British premier Cameron too wants to investigate just the final months of the war on the Vanni east front, for the sake of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

Why is India inviting Sri Lankan Fishermen?-Will India allow Indian Groups to go to neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China to discuss issues impinging on bi-lateral relations?
By Bandu de Silva
Whatever the reason may be, Chief Minister Jayalaliha Jeyram had a point when she expressed reservations on the proposed meeting of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen which matter was earlier reported in The Hindu of 29 December 2013. Her reservations were, ostensibly, on account of her assertion that her concerns went beyond the issue of fishermen, and involved the issue of Tamil Nadu’s sovereignty claims over the Kachchativu island which is at the centre of the dispute. (The Hindu).  Quite right! Sri Lankan government should take a leaf from her and object to any such... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

The Sinhalese in Jaffna face problems merely because of them being Sinhala
(Translation of an interview of Ven Akmeemana Dayarathne thero had with Eric Gamini Jinapriya published in Sunday Divaina of 29th Dec 2013 by Ranjith Soysa))
 On  24th of  November in Irida Divaina , M.A.Sumanthran, MP has stated that still it is  a problem to know definitely  whether the Sinhalese who have arrived in Navakuuli were displaced due to war or not. Therefore, we decided to seek the comments from Ven Akmeemana Dayarratne thero who is involved  in the resettlement of the Sinhalese in the North. Question- What is the position of the Sinhlaese who were resettled in Jaffna? Answer-... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

Stop treating expatriates as cash-cows: Patriotism isn't a one-way street
By Professor Shelton A. Gunaratne
 A long-time friend of mine, Gamini Gunawardena, has been circulating an appeal to Sri Lankan (presumably non-Tamil) expatriates  to boost up their patriotic  fervor to think of "ways and means of meeting the poor Sri Lanka lobby in the U.S.,  which is easily overwhelmed by the LTTE propaganda machinery."    Gunawardena, a retired deputy inspector general of police,  wants to jolt the expatriates "into action in this hour of need for your motherland Sri Lanka."   Some expatriates are already doing this by writing to newspapers in their adopted countries (e.g., Australia, Britain, Canada,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

Sri Lanka and the Philippines discuss collaboration between the Colombo Process and Abu Dhabi Dialogue
PRESS RELEASE Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN Geneva.
Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Dilan Perera met with his counterpart, Secretary Labour and Employment Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz of the Philippines on Monday 6 January in Manila.  The areas for collaboration discussed at the meeting included pre-departure orientation, qualification recognition process, comprehensive information orientation programmes and recruitment standards. Minister Perera and Secretary Dimapilis-Baldoz met in their respective capacities as the current chairs-in-office of the two Regional Consultative Processes on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour in Asia, the Colombo Process and the Abu Dhabi... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

President Rajapaksa arrives in Israel
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entourage arrived in Jerusalem in Israel this morning on 08 January as the final leg of the three nation Middle East official visit. President Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa were warmly welcomed by Israeli and Sri Lankan children as they arrived in Jerusalem.  Sri Lankan Head of State arrived in Jerusalem from Bethlehem.   The President is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions today with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sri Lankan President will meet his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres tomorrow and is also expected to plant a sapling for the remembrance... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/01/14)

Navy responds to Jayalalithaa: TRADITIONAL FISHING BUNKUM, MAAM-SL Navy acting in line with United Nations Conventions of the Laws of the Sea:
Sandasen Marasinghe
No country can speak about ‘traditional fishing waters’ in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters other than Sri Lankans, Navy Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasooriya said. He made this observation yesterday when queried about a statement allegedly made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday alleging that the Sri Lanka Navy is establishing its authoritarian presence by chasing and arresting Tamil Nadu fishermen fishing in their traditional fishing waters in the Gulf of Mannar. Commander Warnakulasooriya said the Sri Lanka Navy is acting in line with the United Nations... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/01/14)

In India, a Spectre For Us All, And A Resistance Coming
By John Pilger
January 03, 2014 "Information Clearing House -  In five-star hotels on Mumbai's seafront, children of the rich squeal joyfully as they play hide and seek. Nearby, at the National Theatre for the Performing Arts, people arrive for the Mumbai Literary Festival: famous authors and notables drawn from India's Raj class. They step deftly over a woman lying across the pavement, her birch brooms laid out for sale, her two children silhouettes in a banyan tree that is their home. It is Children's Day in India. On page nine of the Times of India, a study reports... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/01/14)

“BUDDHA IS SUPREME”
H. L. D. Mahindapala
In keeping with their religious beliefs, the Buddhists were preparing to celebrate the full moon day of May 1918 in all its traditional splendour. In the Buddhist calendar, it is the day set aside to commemorate the three most sacred events in the life of Buddha – his birth, his Enlightenment and his passing away. This holiest day of the Buddhists is known to the Sri Lankan Buddhists as Wesak. Apart from religious observances, the common practice was to turn the night into a festival of lights. The full moon, the hand-made lanterns and the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

Stephen Rapp, are US war crimes legal?
 Shenali D Waduge
The cliché ‘thick as thieves’ must have been coined with US in mind. Does the US Government and its officials actually believe they have done the world a favour by maiming, killing and making homeless over 20million people since Vietnam? The US Government seems to have a very haughty opinion that the entire world except for America are guilty even if proved innocent and the US thinks it can go bombing people and places to smithereens and get away with it too. Well they can and they have because there is no other country to stand... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

Can Canada tell when MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan is telling the Truth or Lying?
Shenali D Waduge
 Truth or Lies is what Canada needs to ask of its MPs for Rathika Sitsabaiesan has been caught red handed telling absolute fibs. She says she was under house arrest, then she denies it but not before she ensures her party’s leader makes a buffoon of himself by demanding from Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Ottawa of Rathika’s house arrest. With the objective of maximum publicity achieved Rathika can go back to Canada and tell one lie after another about her ‘torture’ in Sri Lanka. The question is are Canadians foolish enough to believe her? But... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

NDP Parliamentarian R. Sitsabaisen
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Hon. T. Mulcair Leader of the Opposition House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario   Dear Sir:   Further to my letter to you of January 3, 2014 regarding the deceitful, dishonest activities of your rookie M.P. Ms Sitsabaisen on a visit to Sri Lanka, I am forwarding to you a news report in Sri Lanka based on an interview she gave there before she left, in which she denies being under house arrest, being intimidated etc. It confirms the fact that this entire episode was a charade she concocted to gain publicity to appeal to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

Sri Lankan President holds bilateral discussions with the King of Jordan.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is on an official tour of Middle East, has begun bilateral discussions with the King of Jordan on Sunday afternoon (05 January) at the Royal Hashemite Court in Amman. President Rajapaksa was received with a warm welcome by the King of Jordan His Majesty King Abdulla II Ibn Al Hussein at the Royal Court where bilateral discussions took place between Sri Lanka and Jordan. Both leaders focused attention on a number of topics relevant to both countries, including cooperation in defense-related activities and progress of the Joint Committee. King Abdullah stressed the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

‘Civilians’ in Sri Lanka’s armed conflict
By Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy Island
Sri Lanka’s detractors claim that it should be held accountable for the violations committed during the final stages (January to May 2009) of the conflict. The issues that dominate this claim are: 1. High number of "civilians" killed during this period. 2. Indiscriminate firing into No Fire Zones (NFZs). 3. Denial of humanitarian aid to those in the NFZs by deliberately under-estimating their numbers. Issues of distinction between "civilians" and those directly participating in hostilities, rules regarding NFZs, and denial of humanitarian aid do not arise in the case of insurgencies or internal disturbances.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

John Pilger: 'We Have Been Misled'
Audio transcript Courtesy BBC Radio 4 Today
January 05, 2014 "Information Clearing House - When I travelled in Iraq in the 1990s, the two principal Moslem groups, the Shia and Sunni, had their differences but they lived side by side, even intermarried and regarded themselves with pride as Iraqis. There was no Al Qaida, there were no jihadists. We blew all that to bits in 2003 with 'shock and awe'. And today Sunni and Shia are fighting each other right across the Middle East. A recent poll asked people... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/01/14)

Pilger: "We have been misled"
The journalist John Pilger discusses the subject of censorship.
An excellent historical report by an astute professional journalist which describes the cruel world we all live in today. And yet, you and I have the choice of ENDING this strife forever - by standing up for the injustices we see around us of today.... -Full Story- (https:/audioboo.fm/ - 06/01/14)

Some religious customs and the human body
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
Introduction The editors of Colombo Telegraph asked me to respond to the “comments” made by its readers to my essay titled, “Sinhala women without Sinhalization power.” I consider it my public duty to do this even though most comments are nonsense (noise) by anonymous people who think CT is another website like the Tamilnet (located in Canada?). I think I am the only person writing to CT about the discrimination faced by the Sinhala Buddhists in Sri Lanka both before and after 1948, and so far my essays are the only evidence CT has to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/01/14)

ELECTIONS IN BANGLADESH
ALI SUKHANVER
More than 20 people died and more than 200 poling stations burnt to ashes; that is what happened there in Bangladesh on the Election Day. The opposition party BNP remained all aloof from the election process Today Bangladesh is passing through the ever worst phase of its history. The recent elections have changed the peaceful scenario of this heaven-like country into a blazing inferno. Mahfuz Sadique of BBC News, Dhaka reported on the 5th of January, ‘The trickle of voters never turned into the long queues Bangladeshi elections are known for. Voters who did turn up had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/01/14)

Sri Lankan Tamils – Learn Lessons from what happened to Sudan
Shenali D Waduge
 Is it just a coincidence that virtually all the world’s current conflicts finds its roots to either British divide or rule policies or the policies of other European colonial rulers! Sudan’s case is no different. It is time people woke up to realities. The handful of nations being used as the big bullies in a new wave of military interventions on the pretext of solving conflicts devise their plans irrespective of religion, ethnicity, race but solely on realizing profit through plunder. Leaders and their stooges are mere puppets in a game that today is being carved... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

2014 Surely Has A New Dawn For Sri Lanka The Replendent Isle ~ Our Beautiful Homeland, Thanks To The Vision Of Our Pragmatic President.
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial,
January 4th  2014 Hopefully the troubles of the recent past are over permanently and Sri Lanka has a new dawn for progress and prosperity thanks mainly to the vision of our pragmatic President and his team of administrators who have done the once embattled nation proud. Much to the chagrin and envy of Sri Lanka's adversaries and enemies and despite multi pronged attacks from various quarters both internally as well as externally, determined to drag her down, the progress in development, the restoration of a normal order, peace, harmony  and embellishment of a land renowned... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

An Open Letter To Stephen J. Rapp, US “Ambassador-at-Large” For “War Crimes”
Janaka Yagirala
Dear Mr. Rapp,  It is with great pleasure that I welcome your planned visit to my country. If you are coming to Sri Lanka as the Brand Ambassador for (US) War Crimes (much like Michael Jordan, George Clooney or Leonardo DiCaprio are brand ambassadors for various products) you are more than welcome. Indeed, the US has a long and proud history of innovative war crimes.  Take for example the ingenious war crime of Jeffery Amherst, the Crown Governor of Virginia from 1759-1768 who managed to eradicate an entire continent of Native Americans by secretly giving them blankets... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

MR.PUTIN, FOLLOW SRI LANKA PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA IN DEALING WITH TERRORISTS
 Malin Abeyatunge
 Russian PM Putin didn’t mince his words when he in his New Year Message to the nation said that “quote Dear friends, we bow our heads in front of the victims of the terrible acts of terror. I am sure we will toughly and consistently continue to fight against terrorists until their total destruction" unquote.   He made this statement when  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday threatened "terrorists" with total destruction after twin suicide strikes claimed 34 lives and raised alarm over security at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. A bombing at the main railway station of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

Canadian MP denies house arrest claims during Lankan visit
Vijayani Edirisinghe Courtesy The Daily News
Canadian MP Rathika Sitsabaisen who is on a visit to Sri Lanka denied media and website reports that she has been placed under house arrest in the Jaffna Peninsula by Police or some Security Forces wing as completely false and baseless. She had made this denial in a statement made to Immigration and Emigration Department Intelligence officers in Mullaitivu on December 2. Sitsabaisen who also contacted Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera over telephone from Mullaitivu in the presence of these... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/01/14)

Christianity dominates United Nations, concludes study
Maria Tadeo
Christianity dominates the United Nations and a more inclusive system must be introduced at the world peace-making organisation, according to a new study.The report Religious NGOs and The United Nations found that Christian NGOs are overrepresented at the UN in comparison to other religious groups.... -Full Story- (independent.co.uk - 04/01/14)

Who killed whom in Sri Lanka?
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Bruce Haig, former deputy High Commissioner of Australia to Sri Lanka, is back again doing what he normally does: demonizing Sri Lanka, his bête noir. (Canberra Times – 2/1/2014) This time he is quoting the Second Session of the Peoples' Tribunal on Sri Lanka which sat in Bremen in December 2013. He is a part of the lobby that regurgitates today what the Tamil propagandists had said yesterday. According to Haig, the Peoples’ Tribunal report consists of ex-parte statements of thirty witnesses without being cross-checked for veracity.  This is not the first time that reports... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

Sri Lanka’s defeat of LTTE Terrorism : Did Tamils want LTTE eliminated?
Shenali D Waduge
There is one question that if honestly answered would provide the only solution to burying the past and getting on with the future and that is for Tamils to finally ask themselves whether they are happy the LTTE is no more and whether they want to continue to be part of plots to resurrect a terror period that some are working towards achieving? Did the Tamils not want the LTTE eliminated? Was the country mistaken to think that the Tamils wanted LTTE eliminated? Was it only the low castes that had no life under LTTE because... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

Rathika Sitsabaiesan, MP
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .Canada
3 January 2014 Hon. Tom Mulcair, MP,  Leader of the New Democratic Party of  Canada Leader of the Opposition Party of  Canada House of Commons, Ottawa Dear Tom Mulcair: Re: Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP MP for Scarborough-Rouge River Enough is enough. This MP of yours has embarrassed you, your party and Canada with her illegal Gong-Show antics trying to hurt Sri Lanka and not giving Sri Lanka’s Peace, after 30 years of Tamil Tiger blood letting, a chance. The time has finally arrived for you to rap her knuckles and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

R. Sitsabaiesan's Illegal Conduct & False Claims to Get Publicity
Ira de Silva London, Ontario Canada
Hon. T. Mulcair Leader of the Opposition House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario.  Dear Sir: I am writing to bring to your attention the illegal, questionable conduct of your M.P. Ms. R. Sitsabaiesan.  It illustrates the ignorance, arrogance and depths to which Canadian parliamentarians will stoop in their efforts to get a few hundred votes of the Tamils in the Toronto area. These are the same Canadians who supported and still support the LTTE terrorist's goal of dividing Sri Lanka by stunts such as Rathka's who used LTTE media to make false accusations and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

What has happened to the service quality of Kapruka.com?
Anjalika Silva USA
 Just like everything else about Sri Lankan businesses, all the hoopla is only till they start making money.  Now that all the awards have been received and they are global, the quality has gone down so badly, I have no words to describe their attitude to customer service.  I was one of the first customers to support and promote www.kapruka.com to Sri Lankans and Americans who visit Sri Lanka from the US.  Flowers, cakes, wedding gifts, mobile phone top up, funeral wreaths, even gifts of jewelry were ordered through Kapruka and it worked fine.  No longer... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

Aspartic Acid Story
By, Dr. Nishan Wijesinha (Specialist Consultant) MIS Services Colombo 3
Aspartic acid, also known as L-aspartate, is medically proved to help promote a robust metabolism, and it is generally used to treat fatigue and depression. Aspartic acid plays an important role in the citric acid cycle, or Krebs cycle, during which other amino acids and biochemicals, such as asparagine, arginine, lysine, methionine, threonine, and isoleucine are synthesized. Aspartic acid gets its reputation as a treatment for chronic fatigue from the crucial role it plays in generating cellular energy. Aspartic acid moves the coenzyme Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH)... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/01/14)

Sri Lanka’s War had Witnesses : Indian Journalist B. Murali Reddy
Shenali D Waduge
Firstly Sri Lanka’s war did have witnesses. The witnesses were however NOT – Gordon Weiss, Francis Harrison, Channel 4, the Darusman Panel, Charles Petrie and a whole list of others who have promoted themselves as witnesses when they are not because they were never inside the war zone. They were only passing between themselves a version they have contrived that fits well within a different agenda that has nothing to do with what they claim it is. Questioning their credibility further is their sources – who happen to all be pro-LTTE. However, there was a witness... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/01/14)

A Comparison: Allied Forces treatment of German POWs and Sri Lankas’ Armed Forces treatment of Terrorist LTTE
By Shenali D Waduge
 World War 2 took place over 70 years ago but Geneva Conventions did exist and the Allies were signatory to the Conventions. The Nazi soldiers were all members of the German army though Germany did not declare war on Allied Forces – the Allies declared war on Germany. In Sri Lanka’s case LTTE are classified as terrorists banned by 32 nations and do not enjoy Geneva Rights under the conventions terminologies.. LTTE terrorism had lasted 3 decades with none of the foreign recipes for peace delivering any peace to the nation. 30 years of failure... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Exposed: Tamil Plan to Revive the LTTE and Blame the Government
- Kumar Moses
LTTE was comprehensively defeated in the beaches of the Nanthikadal Lagoon on May 18, 2009. Thanks to the last weeks of war, Sri Lanka remains safe from bombs, terror assassinations and other terrorist activities for over four and a half years. Emergency Regulations have been lifted for the longest period of time. As war killed an average 4,000 people on conservative estimates, each year from 1983 to 2009, winning the war in 2009 saved 4,000 lives each passing year. However, LTTE is not dead in Canada, Australia, India, USA, Norway and the UK. Fearing the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Tamil Eelam aspirants must ask how ‘Liberated’ the people of Kosovo are?
Shenali D Waduge
The lies to create Kosovo’s ‘independence’ are many. Allegation that 225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59 were missing or presumed dead was made by US Ambassador-at-large David Scheffer. It was an invention. In 2000, the International War Crimes Tribunal announced that the final count of bodies found in Kosovo's "mass graves" was just 2108. This included Serbs, Roma, and those killed by the West’s allies, the Kosovo Liberation Front. The allegation of dead bodies finds startling resemblance to the 40,000-125,000 figures making center stage for war crimes charges against Sri Lanka – enroute... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Rathika Sitsabaesan MP for Scarborough-Rouge River
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
2 January 2014 The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Dear Editor: I am not sure why all this fuss is about in your news item “Sri Lanka warns MP possible arrest.”   The MP concerned is the Tamil-Canadian Rathika Sitsabaesan, the NDP  Parliamentarian for Scarborough-Rouge River where the majority of her constituents are Tamils. Whether she is a Canadian MP or not is insignificant to the Sri Lankan Police and Army who are the guardians of the sovereignty of that island nation.   None of them would have recognized her... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Canadian MP Rathika in hot water over Jaffna episode
by Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy Island
Jaffna born Canadian MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan is likely to face disciplinary action back at home for falsely claiming that she had been placed under house arrest in northern Sri Lanka. Canada based sources told The Island that the New Democratic Party (NDP) MP had caused chaos while being on a private visit to Jaffna. NDP leader Thomas Mulcair went to the extent of phoning Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Ottawa Chitranganee Wagiswara to inquire about Sitsabaiesan’s safety and security. Immigration authorities yesterday told the visiting MP as she was here on a tourist visa she shouldn’t... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Rathika Sitsabaiesan Sri Lanka saga
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
2 January 2014 Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP MP, for Scarborough-Rouge River, Ontario  House of Commons, Ottawa 2 January 2014. Dear Rathika: You surprised me when I read your statement in ColomboPage and later in the National Post “……., but subjected to political intimidation.  I was warned I could be subject to arrest and deportation, as several Commonwealth MPs from New Zealand and Australia recently faced.”  Wrong! That was not “political intimidation”, Rathika, it was a lesson given to you free of charge by the Police and Immigration personnel... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

News report stating that MP Rathika Sitsabaesan is under house arrest in Sri Lanka
Mahinda Gunasekera  Agincourt, Ontario, Canada
The Editor Toronto Star  Dear Editor, News report stating that MP Rathika Sitsabaesan is under house arrest in Sri Lanka I refer to the news report carried on page A2 of today’s edition stating that Ms. Rathika Sitsabaesan, MP for Scarborough-Rouge River is being held under house arrest in Sri Lanka.  Your report cites one Thasan Ganeshalingam who is said to be the President of the NDP’s Riding Association as the source for the story based on his not having received a response to a text message sent by him to the MP who... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

RATHIKA WHO?
The Daily News Editorial
L' affaire Rathika Sithsabeisan turned out to be no affair at all. This Canadian National Democratic party MP was apparently in Jaffna and it seems that nobody knew or cared until some diabolically motivated element informed the Canadian media that she had been placed under house arrest in Jaffna. Sithsabeisan it does seem, had contravened visa conditions -- as she had entered the country as a tourist but engaged in what can only be described as political activity. But, nobody had decided to place... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Life Abroad – Part 60 Not forgetting the old country
Dr.Tilak Fernando
The gradual inflow of Sri Lankans into the UK continued from late 1950 in the form of students, visitors, professionals on work permits and anyone who qualified for an official entry permit to come into Britain. From 1970s onwards the pattern changed where the influx began to increase by coinciding with several internal problems in Sri Lanka which gave rise to a new concept of seeking refuge in the UK. Dawning Wherever there is a large congregation of people in any land, the social intercourse will automatically lead towards formation of groups. In... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees yesterday
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran met President Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning (02 January) at Temple Trees. The President’s Office press release stated that both parties discussed some practical problems prevailing in the North and the ways and means relating to administration at the discussion. The Chief Minister and the President had a cordial discussion and also exchanged pleasantries at the meeting.   Secretary to President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to Cabinet Sumith Abeysinghe, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. P.B. Jayasundara and representing Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/01/14)

Protests in India after police try to forcibly cremate body of twice raped, burnt 16yo girl
RT
Thousands took to the streets in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata shocked by the death of a 16 year old girl who succumbed to her injuries after being brutally gang raped and set on fire in three separate attacks. Several men raped the 16 year old on October 26 near her family’s home in Madhyagram town, about 25 kilometers north of Kolkata, police said. The following day she filed a complaint to the police and on the way back home she was raped again. According to the victim’s family, she was raped by the same men.... -Full Story- (rt.com - 02/01/14)

US the biggest threat to world peace in 2013 – poll
RT
The US has been voted as the most significant threat to world peace in a survey across 68 different countries. Anti-American sentiment was not only recorded in antagonistic countries, but also in many allied NATO partners like Turkey and Greece. A global survey conducted by the Worldwide Independent Network and Gallup at the end of 2013 revealed strong animosity towards the US’s role as the world’s policeman. Citizens across over 60 nations were asked: “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?”... -Full Story- (rt.com - 02/01/14)

They come from Jaffna He comes from Colombo
Gomin Dayasri -Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Tuesday, 31 December 2013 02:52 A9- the road from Jaffna to Colombo is rapidly improving – surface and surroundings- as hundreds from the South travel to the North and are greeted by the northern traders as the mainstay of their sale. Northerners travel in greater numbers to the South in ease and spends more. Life in Jaffna meanders without stress in tranquil surroundings these days with its stoic inhabitants having experienced heavy storms before; welcome the ensuing peace. They are baffled on the postures of those for whom they... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

The fog of war in Sri Lanka
By Michael Roberts and Padraig Colman
Reporting of the civil war in Sri Lanka has tended to distort various aspects of the violence that ensued, particularly in terms of the number of civilian casualties and the causes of their deaths. Although Western media have been critical of both sides in the conflict between the Sinhala-dominated government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), they tend to see Tamils (and thus the LTTE) as underdogs. Sri Lankan Tamils have been emigrating since the fifties. There is a substantial body of intelligent and prosperous Tamils abroad alienated... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

Sinhala women without Sinhalization power
C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.
Wigneswaran’s mouth             I know two Sinhala women who married Tamils, both without the approval of their Sinhala parents that one could perhaps describe as love is blind kind of eloping.  In one case the Tamil side decided to have a Hindu marriage ceremony. It began with a private Hindu custom of bathing the naked body of the bride by the groom’s close relatives. I am not sure if this was done because the bride was a Sinhala Buddhist. This Hindu marriage, however, did not prevent her from functioning as a Buddhist, if she so... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

False Information Regarding "House Arrest" of R. Sitsabaiesan by GOSL
Ira de Silva Canada
Ms. Shelley Whiting High Commissioner for Canada in Sri Lanka Canadian High Commission 33A, 5th Lane, Kollupitiya   Colombo, Sri Lanka   Attention: High Commissioner Shelley Whiting   Dear Madam,   I wrote to you earlier regarding the incorrect information from your mission regarding Mr. Obhrai's visit to Sri Lanka in November for the Commonwealth summit as well as the fiasco of the wreath with different messages in three languages. I have not had the courtesy of a reply from you as yet. To refresh your memory, it was incorrect that you were denied a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

Afghanistan’s Changing Scenario
By Afshain Afzal
Washington is in real fix as the bloody war on terror on Afghanistan and pockets of Pakistan has only earned insult and humiliating defeat to US and allies at the hands of handful of Mujahideen. It also attracted a lot of criticism back home. The people of United States want to inquire from their generals and intelligence heads where the piles of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan are, which still remained undiscovered?  Over 12 years of illegal intrusion in Afghanistan, which resulted in killing of over 1.5 million men, women and children... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

Economic giants sail in Indian Ocean
By Madura Ranwala Courtesy Island
Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage, delivering the keynote address at the Marine Conversation Conference held at the BMICH recently, said, the history was repeating itself as the country had stepped into an era of renaissance with Indian Ocean becoming the key ocean in the 21st century. He stressed that the country was faced with the problem of Indian fishermen poaching in the post conflict era and banned fishing methods being employed by the fishers. The Navy Commander said: "We had the ship building capability and repair capability and we became the centre of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

Who was Senarath ? A response
by Prof. A. V. Suraweera Courtesy Island
I read though the query raised by my friend Tissa Devendra(17. 12. 2013), with interest as I always do in respect of all his contributions to The Island. In my Introduction to the critical Edition of the Rajavaliya (first published in 1976) and also its English translation, I have discussed as far as possible the historical contents of the text which included the accounts of the Udarata rulers. Even as a student of Sinhala Literature (and not a historian), I was intrigued for the reason that the Rajavaliya, complicated as it is,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

War Crime:Urgent need for reappraisal of Go SL's response-An opportunity to highlight origins of eelam terror
By Shamindra Ferdinando
There is something common in Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Nisha Desai Biswal, now in their early thirties. Both left their countries of birth as toddlers along with their families, seeking better lives in the West. Rathika and Nisha had been just five and six years of age, respectively, when their families migrated. Jaffna-born Rathika’s family moved to Canada in the mid 80s. Both had achieved important milestones in their lives; Rathika is now a Canadian MP, while Nisha, from rural India recently succeeded Robert O Blake as US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

Britain’s can of worms
The Island Editorial
December 30, 2013, 8:03 pm
The British government is planning to declassify some documents pertaining to private talks between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war, according to a news item we publish in today’s World View section. This move is aimed at facilitating the publication of the much-delayed Chilcot report on Britain’s involvement in that conflict, we are told. It is more than ten years since the conclusion of the Iraq war and Britain has not yet made public the findings of its inquiry... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

After smoking, a high-fat diet is the second most lethal habit.
Dr Hector Perera        London
All foods are comprised of essential components of or macronutrients, fat, proteins and carbohydrates. These diets are based on research that indicates high carbohydrate consumption increases level of insulin in the blood. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body to convert food into energy in the form of glucose or sugar. High insulin levels have been linked to medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus type 2, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. These diseases are all part a syndrome called Insulin Resistance Syndrome or Syndrome X.  According to researchers and medical evidences, high-fat, high-sugar foods not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/01/14)

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