Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Troops Led to Unearth Two more LTTE Torpedoes

MULLAITTIVU: A METICULOUSLY pre-planned LTTE sea battle that was to be staged against Security Forces by terrorists during the just-ended Eelam War - IV was exposed Monday (29) evening when Task Force-8 troops unearthed two big LTTE torpedoes with their launcher from PUTHUKUDIYIRUPPU area on information provided by a former LTTE cadre.

The two torpedoes, each 26 ft in length and 5 ft 7 inches in circumference remained neatly wrapped in polythene when the troops made this startling recovery. The torpedo’s launcher of 28 ft in length and 5 ft 10 inch in circumference had also been kept buried by Tiger terrorists in the same vicinity to be used at appropriate time.

The manner the torpedoes with their launcher had been safely kept underground in four different pits of about 12 ft in depth affirms the fact that terrorists were patiently marking time for an attack on a ship or any other vessel that were sailing in the seas. Troops found these long bombs that can be exploded under the water when the vessel hits them from four different pits in the same location. One of the warheads of a torpedo has been kept separately dismantled for reasons, best known only for former terrorists.

During the same search, Task Force-8 troops were able to find a complete 130 mm artillery gun sans wheels, probably brought there for some clandestine missions.

Troops on WANNI Humanitarian Operation earlier recovered three more 130 mm barrels from the west of PUTHUKUDIYIRUPPU and the northeast of VISUAMADU, six 130 mm artillery guns from PUTHUKUDIYIRUPPU, ANANDAPURAM, and MULLAITTIVU, including two guns destroyed by the terrorists in VELLAMULLIVAIKKAL.

Old Anandians pay tribute to Defence Secretary




Old Boys Association of Ananda College, Colombo has organized a week long programme to pay tribute to the war heroes who liberated the country from the grip of terrorism.

Chairman of the association, Mr. Manju Fernando yesterday (Jun 29) presented a badge designed for the Ranaviru Week to Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Ministry of Defence. Mr. Rajapaksa is also a past pupil of Ananada. The badge is to worn by all students and the members of the Association during the Ranawiru week. Mr. Lal Dissanayake , principal of Ananda College and Mr. Isuru Samarasinghe , former chairman of the Old Boys Association attended the occasion.

The Old boys Association has also organised a special ceremony to honour the old Anandians in the Armed Services on 3rd July 2009 at the College premises.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Attempted assassination of Defence Secretary: Bomb brought in CARE vehicle

Investigations have revealed that the bomb that was exploded at the Pittala Junction in Kollupitiya targeting Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been brought to Colombo from Kilinochchi in a vehicle belonging to CARE International, an INGO, the Kotahena Police informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court yesterday.

The vehicle and all suspects involved in transporting the bomb have been taken into custody.

The police also produced before Chief Magistrate Nishantha Hapuarachchi a copy of the detention signed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Defence Minister order in respect of Chandrabose Selvachandran alias Michael alias Selvarasa.

Kotahena Police also informed the Court that the Police have detained suspects Sivalingam Arunan, Patmanathan Iiyer Sriskandaraja Sharma and Arunasalam Arumugam Perumal at the Foreshore Police Station for further investigations in connection with this assassination attempt.

While Dharmalingam Dharmadaran and Rasiah Kannan, employees of CARE International have transported the bomb from Kilinochchi to Colombo, Sivalingam Arunan had been looking for a safe place to keep it. When a safe house was found through one of his friends at Rudra Mawatha, Wellawatte the bomb had been transported in a CARE International van and buried there. Later, it was transported to Modera and fixed to the three-wheeler of the suicide cadre Lateef Mohamed Faris.

The other parts that were fixed to the bomb had also been transported to Colombo in the same vehicle belonging to the above INGO.

Police also informed the Court that the vehicle will be handed over to the Government Analyst to obtain a report whether it has transported explosives.

The Magistrate ordered that Ponnasamy Karthigesu who had facilitated the purchase of the three- wheeler used in the suicide blast to be further remanded till July 2009.

CARE International

CARE is a leading international organization operating in more than 65 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

It has more than 14,500 employees worldwide. More than 90 percent CARE International staff are nationals of the countries where it operates.

Courtesy : Daily News

War-risk rating of Sri Lanka for insurance down graded

The Sri Lankan insurance market has received a boost with the Joint Cargo Committee (JCC) London lowering the risk rating from 3.4 to 3.0, following a reassessment of the war risk level currently pertaining in Sri Lanka.

The JCC risk levels are in five categories; 'severe', 'high', 'elevated', 'caution' and 'low risk'; as per the Country Risks Evaluation and Assessment Model (CREAM).

Sri Lanka has also been taken off the 'Air-war/Strikes risk list by the JSS. The currently applicable risks are 'Marine War'. 'Marine Strikes' and 'Ground War Strikes'.

The removal of war risk rating by the JCC follows negotiations initiated by the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka and is in keeping with the prevailing situation following the defeat of the LTTE and terrorism of the country.

Sri Lanka is listed in the Global Cargo Watch List (GCWL) issued by the JCC. Foreign underwriters covering cargo into Colombo use their own discretion in determining risk rates and levying surcharge on goods imported to Sri Lanka, resulting in higher prices for imported goods.

The Joint War Committee has listed Sri Lanka as a 'high risk country' and this too prompts ships carrying cargo to Sri Lanka to be surcharged.

The Insurance Board of Sri Lanka has appointed a committee including representatives of the Insurance Industry to work towards the removal of war risk surcharges as per the war-risk status determinations by the JCC and JWC.

Commander's mother unit salutes its colonel of the regiment

Dedication of soldiers, contribution of their families and support of Media towards the Sri Lanka Army during the Wanni humanitarian operation was once again brought to memory and commended by Commander of the Army General Sarath Fonseka during a military ceremony in Mullaittivu Friday (19) morning.

The special military ceremony was held in Mullaittivu at the first Battalion Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (1 SLSR), to which the Commander himself belongs. It was also meant to appreciate Army Commander's service to the country and also to recognize his competent and laudable leadership which led the Army towards its victory in the end.Troops of the 1 SLSR accorded a Guard of Honour to their Commander who is also the Colonel of the SLSR Regiment.

After addressing all ranks representing 53 and 55 Divisions and Task Force-8 on Vellamullivaikkal beach where Farah-III ship is presently lying, Gen. Sarath Fonseka visited the 59 Division Headquarters in Mullaittivu where he was accorded another Guard of Honour on arrival.

Afterwards Gen. Sarath Fonseka spoke to all Officers and Other Ranks present on the occasion, shared a couple of views with them and appreciated their dedication, shown for the country's liberation.

Addressing media personnel who accompanied him, Army Commander said that soldiers' high morale and perseverance backed the Army's victory against terrorism. Nearly 100,000 new recruits joined the Army, thus raising the strength to some 200,000. He, during his speech, thanked parents, wives, children and loved ones of soldiers' families who inspired their family members to join the Army. A special word of thanks was also attributed to the contribution of the health service sector, particularly the hospital staff and medical personnel who worked tirelessly round the clock to treat soldiers. They prioritized it considering it as a national mission.

The visiting Army Chief underlined that while fighting the war, the Army continued to take part in parades, sports and many other military and national events elsewhere. Army sportsmen secured the trophy for football champions after 23 years, Commander added. Media institutions that imparted strength to the Army reporting factual and accurate information on the war should be praised. Our soldiers' dedication and their achievements during the fighting need to be highly lauded, he noted.

Commander reminded that he performed his duty as Commander of the Army following instructions of his Commander-in-Chief, His Excellency, the President. Before concluding his address, Gen. Sarath Fonseka said that celebration of this victory need to be handed over to the future generation, so that they would be able to assess in correct perspective, giving its deserving value.

Commander Security Forces Headquarters-Mullaittivu Major General Nandana Udawatta, General Officer Commanding (GOC) - 53 Division, Major General Kamal Gunaratne, GOC - 55 Division Brigadier Prasanna Silva - GOC 59 Division Brigadier Chagi Gallage and Commander Task Force-8 - Colonel G.V. Ravipriya were among those who attended the Mullaittivu ceremony.







Monday, June 15, 2009

Wars & Civilian Deaths

The world has seen civil wars, revolutions, coups, insurrections, global wars & now terrorism. All throughout civilians have been affected in some way or the other. What makes modern terrorism more lethal than the varying types of conflicts we have faced historically is that terrorism is almost invisible & the terrorist without the gun becomes more dangerous than the terrorist holding the gun. The point of this discussion aims to look at the historical evidence of wars & conflicts & the deaths therein with particular emphasis on Sri Lanka in the light of the accusations it is facing.

At the offset of this discussion it is imperative to accept that civilian casualty figures for most conflicts are impossible to verify & to categorize into Killed in Action, Would in Action, Died of Wounds, Missing in Action, Prisoner of War etc. Therefore, it must tickle anyone's imagination how the UN derived at their round figures of 6000 dead civilians & pauses to wonder who could have counted the dead amidst the shelling & firing taking place just as much as wonder how credible a newspaper writing from the UK places civilians deaths at 20,000. While every Tamil is not a LTTE Terrorist but every LTTE terrorist is a Tamil & given the Army Commander claiming to have killed over 20,000 terrorists, it could possibly be that this newspaper has conveniently attempted to sell the wrong end of the story.

Having said that we must realize that the 21st century conflicts emerge with a larger framework of associated elements with stakeholders from across the globe participating indirectly or directly in the actual terror that eventually unfolds. Simply put everything is certainly not to be seen in black & white. Understanding these conflicts becomes painstakingly difficult purely because conflicts are hijacked into greater plans by nations & neighboring countries who make use of the terror for their own purposes. It then should come as no surprise how human smuggling, narcotics, illegal arms, NGOs, UN Agencies & even global corporations are all intricately connected to conflicts that exist globally - all helping each other survive in someway or the other. What use is a UN if people lived in peace? What use are NGOs & other humanitarian organizations if there were no conflicts or requirement for peace building etc...This lucrative industry accounts for billions of dollars being siphoned from charitable people into "humanitarian accounts" of which the majority is spent on the luxurious living styles of these people. Why are there demands for NGOs, INGOs to enter IDP camps...they want to take pictures, have these posted on their websites, create a very sad story which appeals to donors who then deposit sums into these accounts & thus secures the livelihoods of these people.

It was only following The Hague conventions of 1899 & 1907 that the first set of international treaties emerged codifying the rules of war. Therefore, militaries & their Governments & even the enemies are bound by a set of international laws. How far these are adhered is questionable & we are yet to see how facets like water boarding & other inhuman means of interrogation adopted by the US Government has been legally upheld & why thus far no actions have been taken against the US. A US Federal Court has forbidden release of these abuse photos on the grounds that it may raise the hate levels against US.

Returning to civilian figures the World War 1 figures are sourced from the US Military Academy & the study done by Col. Vincent J. Esposito. These official figures declared that 42,188,810 from the Allies (Russia, France, US, British Empire, Australia, Italy, Japan, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Serbia, Monte Negro) were committed to war while the Central Powers comprising Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria had committed 65,038,810. The Allies lost 23,029,309 lives while the Central Powers lost 16,007,477 of these numbers 925100 from the Allies died as Prisoners of War or by Disease while the Central Powers lost 1,206, 500 prisoners of war/by disease.

The civilian casualties in World War 2 where the Allies lost 25,410,000 civilians compared to 5,087.000 from Axis powers. In total 30,497,000 civilians had lost their lives in World War 2.

ALLIES

AXIS

Great Britain + Commonwealth

60,000

Germany

3,810,000

France

360,000

Austria

80,000

United States

Minimal

Italy

85,000

USSR

7,700,000

Rumania

465,000

Belgium

90,000

Hungary

280,000

Holland

190,000

Bulgaria

7,000

Norway

Minimal

Finland

Minimal

Poland

5,300,000

Japan

360,000

Greece

80,000

Yugoslavia

1,300,000

Total

5,087,000

Czechoslovakia

330,000

China (from 1937 on)

10,000,000

Total

25,410,000

The Operation Iraqi Freedom by US in 2003 has not come without casualties. A 2007 study by the British Medical Journal "Lancet" claims that 654,965 Iraqi civilians have died. Surprisingly post-Saddam Hussein has resulted in over 190,000 Iraqi casualties & warrants many to wonder what type of "Iraqi Freedom" the US invasion has actually brought about & how far the Iraqi people are "safe". Close upon 40,000 men & women from over 24 countries have also perished with the US & UK figures on top of the list & the US loosing over 5000 military personnel. Unprecedented in the history of US military is the rise in the numbers of mentally ill soldiers most of whom are unable to take up the emotions of being ordered to kill innocent men, women & children & forced to imagine they were targeting "terrorists".

Similarly, the Afghan war which commenced in 2001 & still continues has also claimed an unprecedented loss of life & property with no hope of any abatement in hostilities. The deaths to civilians receive only a mere "apology" from the US Government & no Pillay's or Moons dare to champion any secret dossiers against the US invasions that presently take place in 2 continents responsible for daily deaths upon civilians & this has set about an unhealthy surge in not only anti-American feeling but also an anti-Muslim trend as well.

The following conflicts have all taken place after The Hague convention & therefore it would be interesting to see how far investigations & accountability have taken place for the civilian deaths that have occurred below & again we are brought back to memories of the US & its unethical use of the atomic bombs not once but twice upon Japan's Hiroshima & Nagasaki which killed in an instance over 100,000 innocent people.

  • Congo Free State (1886 - 1908) goes down as the least publicized death toll of the 20th Century with 8,000,000 deaths as a result of colonial brutality. Adam Hochschild (Leopold's Ghost) puts the figure at10million or half the original population.

  • China Nationalist era (1928 - 1937) is said to have accounted for 3,100,000 deaths with 1,000,000 being civilian deaths (Wallechinsky)

  • Korean War (1950 - 1953) has resulted in 2,800,000 deaths. 33,741 Americans killed in battle. At least109,000 people of South Korea had been killed by US in 1949 alone.

  • North Korea (1948) Rummel estimates that the Communist regime had killed 1,293,000 North Koreans & 363,000 South Koreans. The Center for the Advancement of North Korean Human Rights estimates that some 400,000 prisoners died in labor camps since 1972.

  • Rwanda & Burundi (1959 - 1995) the massacres between Hutu & Tutsi's is said to have resulted in1,350,000 deaths.

  • Vietnam War (1965 - 1973) is said to have resulted in 1,700,000 deaths. Lewy states that because of the lack of weapons recovered from many of the dead bodies it is possible that up to 222,000 killed by American troops may have been innocent civilians. Hanson's writings project 50,000 Vietnam civilians killed by indiscriminate US bombings. The My Lai Massacre was committed by U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War on hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians. Such military action, which has the sole purpose of inflicting civilian casualties is illegal under modern rules of war, and may be considered a war crime or crime against humanity.

  • Cambodian Civil War (1970 - 1975) 600,000 is said to have died.

  • Bangladesh (1971) Official estimate is 3million dead but it seems this total is incorrect & the figures are possibly much higher.

  • Indo-Pak war 1991 estimated death tolls by Hartman is 10,633 Indian & 17,000 Pakistani.

  • Cambodia, Khmer Rouge (1975 - 1978) resulted in 1,650,000 deaths during Pol Pot's reign of terror. Elizabeth Becker in When the War was over (1986) puts the total down to 2,000,000 while the US State Dept puts the figure between 1.2million & 1.8million.

  • Mozambique (1975 - 1992) estimated deaths at 1,000,000 killed & 300,000 starved.

  • Afghanistan war (1979 - 2001) involving the Afghan Govt, the Soviets, the Mujahideens & Taliban is said to have claimed 1800,000 lives - the Christian Science Monitor puts the civilians deaths at 400,000 upto the late 1990s.

  • Iran-Iraq war (1980 - 1988) is said to have resulted in 1,000,000 deaths. Iran has acknowledged 130,000 deaths though western analysts say it is likely to be much higher. War Annual puts the numbers as 600,000 Iranians & 400,000 Iraqi's.

  • The Sudan war (1983) was said to have claimed 1,900,000 lives

  • The Congo war (1998) was estimated to have cost the lives of 3,800,000 people (International Rescue Committee study)

There are exponents of the Just War theory & perhaps this merits why in 1999 NATO spokesman Jamie Shea declared "There is always a cost to defeat an evil. It never comes free, unfortunately. But the cost of failure to defeat a great evil is far higher," - this was following 3 separate attacks killing 32 people though NATO insisted the bombings were on "legitimate designated military targets". Juxtapose this with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albrights who was asked whether the over half a million children killed by the [Iraqi] sanctions were "worth it." Her response was: "It's a hard choice, but I think, we, think, it's worth it." [60 Minutes, May 11, 1996] - Did these human rights bodies call for special sessions against NATO or the US, where were the Human Rights Groups, were there diplomatic lobbying to bring these nations & their leaders to task for "crimes against humanity"....During the JVP insurrection first in the 70s & then in the late 80s thousands of young Sinhalese men & women were killed purely to crush the insurrection - not a single human rights body cared to spotlight these & pressure the then Sri Lankan Governments to stop....double standards is the reason why the UN, its bodies & other professing champions of human rights are not taken seriously purely on the grounds that there is no standard or equality to the allegations they make. All allegations must apply equal standards & status to all nations whether influential or less influential if they are being accused of any wrong doing. Moreover, those making the accusations must also have their hands clean from abuse of power, ability to be influenced & be accepted as impartial. Unless & until the world agrees in unison that there are a set of people who are unbiased & impartial - all these accusations should end up in the dustbin of history.

What is relevant to Sri Lanka essentially is that its present Government did not seek war - it did as its predecessors attempt to persuade the LTTE to come into a political solution based of course on their legitimate grievances on behalf of the Tamils. Therefore, the argument that Sri Lanka's military went all out to kill Tamils lacks credibility purely on the grounds that the LTTE enticed the Government into setting its forces upon the LTTE after denying water to over 15,000 farmers who needed water for their livelihood.

For those who enjoy arguing that Sri Lanka's military went on a killing rampage would like to explain why these soldiers risked their own lives carrying the elderly, children & pregnant Tamil mothers to safety & even declaring several cease fires to even allow the LTTE to release injured civilians whom the LTTE had been keeping as human shields.

The world demanded a ceasefire - why to save the Tamil civilians. Where were these civilians - they were amongst the LTTE & being used as human shields. Would it not have been practical to ask the party who was keeping the civilians as human shields to release them instead of a Government being asked to hold fire & given that the Government stopped assaults what guarantee was this that the LTTE would release these people & given that they didn't release them what would these foreign powers propose as their next counter plan? The Government offered several ceasefires with sufficient time to enable all civilians to be released (given the argument that shelling needed to stop for the civilians to move away from the LTTE) & for the LTTE to fight it out with the military. That did not bring the expected results & neither did world Governments exert any pressures on the LTTE to release these civilians. Instead it was seemingly apparent that these foreign governments insisted the military stop its advance as movements were afoot to offer a general amnesty to the LTTE leadership & safe transport to another country. This would have released the 200,000 civilians but then what about this "accountability" factor & why take pains to transfer a killer & his entire troop to safety? For what - is it as a sense of gratitude for their livelihood was taken care of during the LTTE reign? We are well aware that the LTTE is worth USD300million & therefore it is common knowledge that even the Western politicos have been recipients to handouts by the LTTE. What logic does it provide for the thousands Prabakaran & his killing machine have been responsible for throughout 30 years? Where is the JUSTICE?

The Government could have easily used their aerial power & completed the operation within days of identifying where the LTTE leader & his top men were located. That they sent soldiers reveals their commitment to zero civilian casualty. The LTTE is an outfit that first started out as a guerilla movement. All LTTE cadres are not in tiger uniform, many act as normal civilians. Most of these cadres in uniform even had sarongs to quickly change to in order to pretend they were civilians if the armed forces closed in on them. Therefore, it is quite remarkable how the UN can be positive that the round figure totals they disclose are not actually LTTE cadres & what is amazing is how journalists located in the UK can be 100% sure that 20,000 civilians had died. Why do we laugh at these figures....because of the inconsistencies...UN spokesman Gordon Weiss even went so far as to say the Sri Lanka army used white phosperous & eventually had to retract his statement for lack of proof. Did we not say the parties that are supposed to be impartial are actually partial?

Leaving aside all these arguments - if the concern of the world was the civilians caught up in the "no fire zone" it should have been top priority for the UN, US, UK, Norway, Japan & India to have ensured that the LTTE released all civilians being kept by them. The No Fire Zone was created by the Sri Lankan Government & no other & it was meant to have the civilians gather there to enable the armed forces to move them all to safety....it was not the Government who has failed these civilians it is these foreign nations for all they did was put pressure upon a democratic Government whose aim was to crush terror. The fault throughout these years arose in accepting the LTTE & giving them treatment given to political parties when they had not shunned any of their violent ways. None of these western nations other than giving a standard diplomatic statement did anything each time the LTTE planted bombs, killed innocent, sent suicide missions. Instead they came thundering down upon the Government when it was carrying out its final operations while also carrying out a humanitarian exercise. Instead of appreciating that the Government has rescued over 200,000 persons the world prefers to pin blame upon round figure civilian casualties which they cannot prove. Now they are turning upon the humanitarian catastrophe in the IDP camps.

It is no easy logistics feeding 200,000 people 3 meals a day. Just imagine what Pakistan is facing having to feed 2million people? There are different types of people within these camps. If we recall the 1983 riots we would remember how the authorities had a time segregating the Tamil people because tension arose within the camps because of caste issues. The higher castes refused to share the same toilets with the lower castes - even in calamity the Tamils were divided. There are 3000 NGOs in Sri Lanka if each donated a mobile toilet that would make 3000 mobile toilets....is the concern of the people more or their own need to utilize the catastrophe to maximize how best they could raise funds for their organization. During the 2004 tsunami we can recall how many "charitable" people came & walked away with little orphaned children - some to raise as their own (without legal formalities) & others to use as domestics or to be turned into prostitutes. Should we not understand why the Government is curbing the influx of people coming into these camps?

Ban Ki-Moon has again emerged into the picture & is again calling for a "fully accountable inquiry". Keeping to the subject of inquiry we would like to know how far UN officials have been held "accountable" for their role in the sanctions against Iraq on the behest of the US....did UN humanitarian officials realize that sanctions against Iraq would not effect Saddam Hussein at all but instead would make thousands of Iraqi civilians suffer ....5million children are said to have died as a result.....& more over the UN is guilty of the Oil for Food program where plenty of UN officers walked away with money again at the cost of Iraqi civilian life....Were was the "accountability".....we are talking about 5million innocents who died in the 20th century when the UN was supposed to save lives!!! What is this "unacceptably high" civilian casualty statement - Can Moon care to say how many civilian casualties are "acceptable"?

LTTE terrorists & the top 3 tier of their leadership are all no more. The Government is looking after the civilians & that is the relief...rehabilitation is also taking place...the LTTE cadres are now undergoing various rehabilitation programs & will be re-introduced to society when ready, resettlement is also taking place with people taken to new locations....can the world not be a little patient. We still cannot believe this LTTE nightmare 30 year terror is over! We are also alert to the fact that those very parties who helped LTTE terror are now using the humanitarian issue to demand devolution of power. Again we stress what do these people need - only the basics in life but mostly the ability to live in peace....demarcation of territory etc is of no consequence to them or to the majority of Sri Lanka...therefore all these moves for political solutions must take secondary place or no place at all. If the Government can showcase a new initiative to ensure that the needs of the masses in infrastructure, education, healthcare, transport, public service mechanisms, employment will be better looked after - THAT IS ALL THAT THE PUBLIC WISHES FOR....these political solutions suit only the politicians & their cronies & why should Tamil politicians who have not done anything for the Tamil public emerge to now steer a devolved solution...they have not cared to even ensure the civilians were released. Their political parties all carry Eelaam names which mean separatism & until they change these names...they should not be welcomed at all.

Then this reconciliation rhetoric Moon & all others are first advised to ask the Diaspora living abroad to stop their theatrics because at the end of the day they are unlikely to get their PR status now that the country is without terror. Obviously the ones on the streets are those who must be still on the waiting list for residency & now must be more than perturbed that they may have to return. Foreign Governments who have banned the LTTE must question why they continue to allow protestors to carry banned slogans & banned insignia...does this not break their laws?

The first part of the reconciliation is for Tamils to break their own caste differences....the Government declared that the elder & feeble were welcome to go & live with their families. Now most of these people were from areas that the Diaspora shouting abroad had not even been to even heard of...why is it that these elderly still remain in these camps...why are no Tamils coming to take care of them? Did they not shout for their release...what about the NGOs...should they not open up homes & feed these people...& nurse them...why do they just want to enter the camps???? It would also be worthwhile for these foreign nations not to benchmark against how they live. Do they know how many of these civilians have a toilet in their original homes...

Sri Lanka is alert more than ever before. Sri Lanka is a rejuvenated island feeling proud at present for being the only nation to have crushed terrorism & what gives Sri Lanka further pride is that our armed forces have carried out the world's highest humanitarian rescue operation - rescuing over 200,000 from LTTE clutches. It is ironic that instead of accolades Sri Lanka is being treated as the spoiler which makes us wonder whose lives we have spoiled because this Government broke the trend???

Shenali Waduge

Sunday, June 7, 2009

National war heroes' day commemorated

The ceremony to mark the National (War Heroes) Ranaviru Day was held to commemorate the war heroes who paid the supreme sacrifice to safeguard the sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the motherland near the Ranaviru monument at Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte, yesterday (June 07).

His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapakse, the speaker Mr. W.J.M. Loku Bandara, Presidential Secretary Mr. Lalith Weerathunga, Defence Secretary Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera, Commanders of the Tri Forces and the IGP graced the occasion.

Major General W.P.P Fernando, Chairman of Ranaviru Seva Authority welcoming the distinguished guests said the nation is indebted to the war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the motherland.

He further said the commemorative ceremony held yesterday (June 07) before the Ranaviru Monument erected in 2008 is a fitting, tribute to them. Ven Prof Bellanwila Wumalarathana Nayake Thero said this years Ranaviru Commemoration Day is historic because the dreams of the war heroes have become a reality today. The nation today enjoys the real value of their martyrdom. He pointed out the astute leadership of the H.E. the President Mahinda Rajapakse has been the decisive factor in this historiac victory. Though terrorist V. Prabhakaran had said that the defeat of the LTTE was a day dream, the people today rejoice because the Ealam dream has now been shattered, thanks to the leadership of the President Rajapakse and the gallantry of the war heroes, the Ven. Prof. Wimalaratna asserted.

Sri Lakshmikanth Jagadheeshwara, M.H.M.Lafir Mowlawi and Rev. Fr. Sarath Hettiarachchi blessed the war heroes, representing the Hindu, Islam and Christian religions respectively.

A two minute silence was observed in honour of the war heroes. H.E. President Mahinda Rajapakse the Speaker, Defence Secretary, Tri Service commanders and the IGP along with the relatives of the war heroes placed floral tributes at the monument.

Friday, June 5, 2009