Army of Sri Lanka : “Sri Lanka is one country in the world that has no terrorist threat” - by Major General (Retd.) Lalin Fernando (04.09.2010 - Asian Tribune)
Over
one year has passed since the epic and annihilating victory of the SL
Forces over the most bestial and formidable terrorists the world has
ever known. While gratefully remembering those who sacrificed their
lives in the struggle and the innocents who were killed, thankfully
peace prevails everywhere.
Peace reigns
There is a wonderful sense of freedom and a complete absence of fear and
dread amongst the public after 30 interminable years. No longer will
brave soldiers and innocent citizens die in the wake of that scourge.
Sadly there has also been a very unfortunate even grievous parting of
the ways amongst the architects of the victory that ended the terrible
menace that afflicted the country. This article is limited only to
suggestions on how the Army could exploit its proved potential to serve
the country even better.
Threat
The army must ensure that the threat of insurgency, guerilla warfare
terrorism and sabotage which afflicted the nation at least 3 times
(1971, 1980-2010 and 1988/9) is never again allowed to resurface.
Neither must conditions be created for outside interference and
involvement as in 1987 or the politically forced induction of
potentially lethal CFAs that the forces despite misgivings were
compelled to accept by base politicians. There are today even more
powerful western oriented foreign elements backed by local 5th columns
mounting new threats. ..................................>>
STF illegally arrest, detain and file fabricated charges against German philanthropist - SL Minister requested Rs.30m; German philanthropist refused (31.08.2010 12:30 AM SLT - Lanka-e-News)
A
German philanthropist staying in Sri Lanka has been illegally arrested
and detained by the officers attached to the Special Task Force (STF) of
the Sri Lanka police on 17 th August, 2010 at Siyambalanduwa. He was
travelling with his son and his companions in the district of
Monaragala. He was detained in the Siyambalanduwa Police Station where
fabricated charges of illegal drug trafficking were filed against him. A
few months before this incident a powerful Minister of the present Sri
Lankan government illegally requested Mr. Michael Kreitmeir to give him
Rs. 30 million towards his election campaign and when Mr. Kreitmeir
refused he was threatened by the Minister. A report on this specific
incident was sent to the German Embassy on 13 March 2010 by the victim. .............................>>
Bravery of soldiers helped prevent holocaust of 300,000 civilians – Jayantha Dhanapala (25.08.2010 - info.gov.lk)
• Former UN Diplomat calls for new protocol to safeguard armed forces fighting terrorism
Retired UN Diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala said the Sri Lankan armed forces
took major risks to avoid a holocaust of 300,000 Tamil civilian deaths
in the last stages of the fight against terrorism when the LTTE kept the
civilians as a human shield. Making a submission at the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at the Lakshman Kadirgamar
Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, he said the
tragedy would have reached an alarming level if the forces had not
exercised restraint in attacks in order to avoid civilian casualties.
Dhanapala, former Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee
said that the international community should adopt a new protocol to
deal with the armed forces battling terrorism spearheaded by non-state
actors. ................................>>
Gov. committed to provide opportunities for all – Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP (23.08.2010 14:50 SLT - info.gov.lk)
‘Evidenced by infrastructural development & targeted investment’
Rapid infrastructural development, accompanied by strategies for
targeted investment, has made clear the commitment of government to
ensuring better opportunities for all, stated Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, MP
at the Public Sitting of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission held at the Lakshman Kadiragmar institute today (23 August
2010).
We need to ensure that human resource development parallels the
tremendous achievements with regard to physical development. We need
also to ensure greater integration of people in the context of equity.
Finally we need to develop confidence in government through ensuring
constant consultation and respect for different perspectives, he
stressed. ................................>>
Reconciliation Commission launched its public sittings to explore ways to prevent recurrence of ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka (12.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Colombo :
People of this country have gone through a traumatic nightmare and have
vanquished the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world. Sri
Lankan forces had vanquished the LTTE over a year ago and now their
primary concern was to consolidate the military victory through
reconciliation, stated Chairman of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission, Mr. C. R. de Silva at the first Public Sitting of the
Commission.
The first Public Sitting of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission was held on Wednesday morning, 11 August, at the Lakshman
Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies.
This was the first sitting of the commission and it was inaugurated with
the reading the Warrant given by President to the Commission, in all
three languages, lighting of the traditional oil lamp by the
Commissioners and an inaugural speech by the Chairman. ................................>>
Sri Lanka War Crimes/Tamil Issue hit US State Department again - by Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune (13.08.2010 - Asiantribune.com)
Washington, D.C. :
While 57 US Congressmen sent a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton expressing doubt about Sri Lanka’s accountability on alleged
human rights violations during the final months of the battle against
separatist Tamil Tigers last year, the congressional letter figured in
the media briefing at the State Department Thursday August 12 while a
question about Sri Lankan Tamil refugees sailing toward Canada.
Meanwhile the Government of Sri Lanka after a lapse of eleven months
issued a statement regarding the August 2009 "Report to Congress on
measures taken by the Government of Sri Lanka and international bodies
to investigate incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, and
evaluating the effectiveness of such efforts" by the Office of War
Crimes Issues of the State Department issued by Ambassador Stephen Rapp. ................................>>
The International “Statesmen”Kofi Annan, Mandela, Tutu and Jimmy Carter, the latest hirelings of the LTTE Diaspora - by Dr Garvin Karunaratne, formerly of the SLAS (10.08.2010 - lankaweb.com)
Kofi
Annan the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Nelson
Mandela the Noble Prize Winner and former President of South Africa,
Desmond Tutu, also a Nobel Prize Winner and the Archibishop of South
Africa and former US President of the USA, Jimmy Carter have raised
their voice in support of the United Nations’ investigation into the
supposed atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Government in
annihilating the terrorist LTTE from Sri Lanka.
They have together accused the Sri Lankan Government of “marginalizing
the ethnic minority Tamils”. They do not know that it was the
Government of Sri Lanka that liberated the Tamils that the LTTE had
incarcerated in the North and the East for close upon three decades.
They fail to understand that the vast majority of the Tamils living in
Sri Lanka were living happily amongst the Sinhala people, enjoying all
the priviledges that the entire population enjoyed. All this while the
Tamils that lived in the LTTE areas were actually incarcerated by
Prabhakaran at the point of the gun to do his bidding. ................................>>
UN panel 'uncalled for' - High Commissioner Kariyawasam (10.08.2010 09:52 SLT - info.gov.lk)
'In
our view, the action by the Secretary-General [establishment of
advisory panel] is uncalled for because usually such procedures should
take place only if member-states request it either through the General
Assembly, the Security Council or through the United Nations Human
Rights Commission. So the Secretary-General setting up a panel to advise
him is not logical, stated Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India,
Prasad Kariyawasam during an interview with the Statesman published on
August 06, 2010.
Speaking on some of the views of Indian Tamil politicians towards Sri
Lanka, the High Commissioner stated that they need to visit Sri Lanka to
view the true situation. ...............................>>
Elders voice on Sri Lanka - by Ben Silva (08.08.2010 - Email)
OPEN LETTER to Former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu
The Leader of THE ELDERS COUNCIL
Dear Desmond Tutu,
Tutu gone ku ku
Sri Lankans have suffered massively and a lot of blood spilt due to
Tamil, racist terrorist violence that produced orphans, regular blowing
to pieces of innocent civilians, smashing the heads of Sinhala babies,
ripping the guts of Sinhala poor pregnant women and so on. Media reports
indicate that LTTE treated captured Soldiers badly. They were savagely
beaten and sometimes electrocuted. They crushed their genitals, also
used to put chillie powder in to their foreskin.
Whilst Tamil terrorism was in full swing Tutu did not open his mouth and
kept his mouth shut. Tutu also appear to ignore natural justice as he
only appear to listen to the Tamil terrorist version of events. It is
shocking and disgraceful that Tutu wants to be the spoke person for the
Tamils that have carried out evil acts mentioned above. Tutu is
shamefully hounding GOSL that defeated terrorism and brought law and
order to the country. Shame on you Tutu. If we allow Tamils to run any
part of Sri Lanka, the above indicates the type of treatment to expect.
After all, the Tamils are credited with the destruction of the Sinhala
civilization. It is shocking, disgusting and pathetic to see Tutu who
fought a bitter war against white racism now supporting Tamil racism and
Tamil imperialism. ................................>>
