by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha

The Asian Human Rights Commission has once again decided to engage in critical generalizations about Sri Lanka, in pursuit of its aim of proving that the government cares nothing about human rights whereas AHRC is the noblest, not to say, the most garrulous, champion of them all. This time it hangs its critique on the UN Day in Support of Victims of Torture, and claims that Sri Lanka is indifferent to torture charges, its principal arguments being that the Ministry of Disaster Management did nothing to commemorate this day, and instead a statement ‘from the spokesman for the ministry manifested the usual lack of political will to deal with the issue of torture’.

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Army chief Sarath Fonseka said on Monday the LTTE had “lost the capability to fight as a conventional force” due to the relentless “overall military strategy” since August 2006.

In an interactive session with members of the Sri Lanka Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) at the Army Headquarters here, Lt. Gen. Fonseka said the Tigers would be reduced to nothing more than a “rag-tag terrorist outfit” in a year’s time.

Colombo, June 30, 2008

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) have lost 9000 cadres in the past two years and is set to lose its conventional fighting capabilities in less than a year, Sri Lanka’s top army officer claimed on Monday.

by Dayan Jayatilleka

In 1987, the Sri Lankan armed forces had the initiative, and if the operation was taken to a finish, the Tigers may have been defeated. Instead, by the second half of the year the Sri Lankan army was in barracks and the Tigers were off the hook. Both Sri Lanka and India paid for that turn of events, leaving only Prabhakaran the beneficiary. That tragic turn of events was made possible by a cluster of factors, ranging from a Sri Lankan foreign policy which departed from our traditional Non-aligned stance and sought to ignore India and ally with the West, to the power of the Tamil Nadu factor upon decision-making in Delhi.

Civil society organisations met with Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe, the Secretary General of SCOPP in the District Secretariats of Batticoloa and Ampara. The purpose of the meetings had was to exchange views and  understand the ground reality as well as working conditions for civil society in Ampara and Batticoloa District and to see how the SCOPP can assist with overcoming any difficulties they face in implementing their work.

Security forces personnel operating in Mannar front made another major breakthrough capturing LTTE's stronghold in Parappakkadanthan, 4Km north of Giant Tank, in Mannar front this noon, June 28.

- DAYAN JAYATILLEKA  

Three recently published scholarly texts from ideologically diverse quarters, give the lie to some assumptions common to most critics of the Sri Lankan state and/or the incumbent administration. These erroneous assumptions concern Sri Lanka’s identity and nation-building project and process, as well as its orientation in the world system. The criticism is that of an errant or aberrant majoritarian ethno-nationalism, and an errant or aberrant international stance which distances us from the West: in short, a deviant domestic policy accompanied by or resulting in a deviant international policy. These cherished critical assumptions constitute the comfort zone of most critics, local and foreign, but are unsupported and indeed utterly contradicted by the latest scholarship from across the political and policy spectrum.  

The Catholic community in Bethlehem, Palestine issuing a statement has urged the leaders of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka to persuade the LTTE to return the statue to its original shrine so that it would be accessible to the devotees who belong to all religions in the island, foreign websites reported.

I like being an optimist given that most of my life has been in the world of business. But my gurus have always said it’s good to stop and take stock of the reality. Go to the details behind the numbers and understand the insights.

By Nilantha Kankanange

Scores of LTTE terrorists were reported killed and 25 bodies recovered after fighting brokeout between troops and LTTE  in general area Chiraddikulama ahead of the Vavuniya defences yesterday (June 26), since 6p.m.

The Periyamadhu village, one of the LTTE's strongholds in Mannar front, captured by the security forces personnel and troops have also gained the full control over 7sq Km patch in Periyamadhu last evening (June 25), the MCNS said.

Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona , Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a public lecture at Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) , Sri Lanka's leading business school under the theme "The Role of International Agreements and Diplomacy in Promoting Sri Lankan Business" on Tuesday (June 24). The Foreign Secretary highlighted Sri Lanka's economic progress even under terrorist threats and the how the country's economy is challenged by anti Sri Lankan propaganda carried out by LTTE and others.

Cabinet granted approval to a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Power and Energy, W.D.J. Seneviratne to select Galgamuwa Village in the Madulla Division, Monaragala District for the implementation of a rural electrification solar project implemented by the Government of Sri Lanka and to authorize and direct the Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA) and other relevant officials to provide a suitable land parcel free of cost and free from encumbrances immediately for the implementation of this project.