Why are they all ganging up on Sri Lanka

EITHER the world is ganging up against Sri Lanka or there is something wrong in the country where President Mahinda Rajapaksa is at the helm of affairs. In recent weeks, the International Commission of Jurists, the Amnesty International, the Human Rights Watch and top UN officials fired salvo after salvo on Sri Lanka, putting the government on the back-foot to defend itself.

The international human rights community’s attacks were too much for a government which is fighting a lone battle against what it calls a ruthless terrorist group which is waging a violent campaign to set up a separate state for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils living in the north and the east.

While the security forces fight a valiant battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and make slow but steady progress in their march towards the rebel heartland, government politicians and diplomats are also fighting an equally tough war to defend the country’s human rights record at world fora. While Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe last week went to Geneva to participate at the annual Human Rights Council sessions where he faced a series of allegations based on case studies and well-compiled reports, International Trade Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris left for Brussels and London on Sunday to plead for duty concessions for our exports.

The concessions granted under the European Union’s GSP+ (Generalised System of Preference) policy to Sri Lanka is up for review and it will be renewed only if the EU is satisfied that the Rajapaksa government is committed to good governance, which includes a commitment to respect human rights.

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The LTTE in Crisis

In the past few weeks there have been many media reports that point to the prevalence of confusion and disarray among the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE/Tigers) in the face of heavy losses inflicted by the armed forces of the Government of Sri Lanka. Apart from many references to injury sustained by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in the course of an aerial bombardment in November 2007, there was some speculation that he may even have died.

[Claims of Prabhakaran’s death may be set to rest after Prabhakaran’s ‘public appearance’ at the funeral of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, P. Sivanesan, in the rebel-held Wanni area, of which the LTTE released photographs on March 9, 2008].

The specificities that embellish these reports, though ignored by spokesmen for the LTTE, have been refuted with disdain by several pro-LTTE writers. Given the questionable credibility of ‘news’ originating from either side of the great divide, it has seldom been possible to sort out the truth from fiction in the stories on the confrontational aspects of the Sri Lankan conflict.

What can, consequently, be attempted is, first, to contextualise the recent surge of media attention on turbulences in the shrinking Tiger habitat of the ‘Vanni’ in northern Sri Lanka, without speculating on whether its leader is dead or dying or hibernating prior to a deadly leap at the jugular, and then, to synthesise the information on what prevails at present, extractable from sources less contaminated by propaganda objectives.

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LTTE lashes out at India for hosting Lankan army chief

The LTTE has criticised India for hosting the Sri Lankan army chief despite the scrapping of a 2002 ceasefire by Colombo, saying such moves will "reinvigorate" the island's military which was carrying out "ethnic genocide" against Tamils.

In a statement circulated here, LTTE said it "strongly condemns" India extending a "state welcome" to the military chief Maj Gen Sarath Fonseka of the "Sinhala State" which has "unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement and has launched widespread military offensives in Tamil homeland."

Despite condemnation of its attempt to seek a military solution, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam alleged that Sri Lanka is continuing its "enormous human rights violations".

Many of the European countries now understand its "hidden motive" and have halted all assistance, it added.

"The Indian State also knows this truth. Yet, while pronouncing that a solution to the Tamil problem must be found through peaceful means, it is giving encouragement to the military approach of the Sinhala State. This can only lead to the intensification of the genocide of the Tamils," it said.

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LTTE links to boat-building a new threat

The Tigers are on the prowl in Kerala backwaters. With the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) outsourcing its boat-building works to the obscure boat-building yards in Kerala, the state government has woken up to a new threat.

The recent incidents in Munambam near Kochi and Azheekkal in Thrissur district in which the authorities have `seized' two boats allegedly being built for the Tigers indicate that the outfit has its presence or agents in Kerala.

Cops from the `Q' Branch of Tamil Nadu with the assistance of the state police on March 6 had seized a halfbuilt boat at a yard in Munambam near Kochi. The boat was seized from Sudhas Marine Engineering, Munambam, a private boat-building yard. The investigation team got a tipoff about the boat building in Kochi when they interrogated the two LTTE sympathisers, both Sri Lankans.

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Breakaway rebel group wins elections in eastern Sri Lanka

A breakaway group of the Tamil rebels won the first local elections held in 14 years in violence-plagued eastern Sri Lanka, election officials said Tuesday, as President Mahinda Rajapaksa hailed the conduct of the polls as a victory for democracy.

The government-backed Thamil Makkal Vidudal Puligal (Tamil People's Liberation Tigers, TMVP), won 72 of 101 seats on nine local councils, the officials said after Monday's voting, the first since the TMVP helped the government drive separatist Tamil guerrillas from the area last year.

The primary battle was for the municipal council in Batticaloa, 240 km east of Colombo, where the TMVP, contesting the elections there under the banner of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), secured 11 of its 19 seats after obtaining 53.77 percent of the 26,331 valid votes, officials said.

Turnout, however, was low as 29,153 people cast ballots when 54,945 were registered to vote in a region that has continued to see violence and intimidation since the departure of the rebels.

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Bajaj emerges as leading motorbike in Sri Lanka

Indian auto giant Bajaj is emerging as the leading motorcycle player in Sri Lanka amidst fierce competition from other global players, according to auto experts.

"Bajaj may be competing more fiercely in maintaining its supremacy in the motorbike segments in India than in Sri Lanka, where it is selling like hot cakes due to fuel efficiency and other factors", the experts said.

"Bajaj Motorcycles, which is catering to all segments of the Sri Lankan market is emerging as a favourite amongst buyers due to its powerful and stylist range of models vis--vis other global players", they added.

Total exports of Bajaj two wheelers to various countries during the first nine months of 2007-08 financial year stood at 3,58,136 vehicles, Bajaj said in a statement.

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Batticaloa District Goes TMVP Way at First-ever Polls In Over Decade

The first ever local government elections in the Batticaloa district show Thamail Makkal Viduthalal Pulikal lead by Sivanesathurai Chanthirakanthan alias Pillaiyan, making a clean sweep in six of the pradeshiya sabhas where results were announced so far. The six sabhas including Batticoloa Municipality went TMVP way and they won them handily.

Contrary to speculation from some quarters, including certain media institutions, no election-related incidents had been reported by the time polls closed today, according to Kinsley Rodrigo of the election-monitoring outfit Peoples' Alliance for Free and Fair Elections - PAFFEREL.

The elections were eagerly awaited by the people of the Eastern Province as they went to the polls showing the country that the newly liberated areas were ready for full-blown democracy. Campaigning was brisk and participation high.

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Official Results,
http://www.news.lk/election_batticaloa/Batticaloa_main.html