Lankan Tamils commemorate death anniversary of civil war victims

Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated Northern province on Wednesday commemorated the civilians who died during the civil war between the LTTE and the army. The ceremony was held on the 7th anniversary of the end of the three-decade long brutal conflict, with chief minister CV Wigneswaran asserting that "not everyone who died during the war was a terrorist."

Addressing a ceremony held at Vellamullivaikkal, in the northeastern Mullaitivu district, Wigneswaran said, "We are here to commemorate the civilians. It is necessary to seek out what happened to these people, since a lot of civilians lost their lives due to the war."

Wigneswaran said that those in the South of the country interpreted the commemoration ceremony as a "tribute to the terrorists", who were killed during the conflict.

A five-minute silence was observed in memory of the victims as well as religious observances.

A similar commemoration was also held at Jaffna University.

The government has banned the commemoration of the fallen LTTE cadres in the conflict and it remains a banned terrorist organisation in Sri Lanka.

Government forces killed the Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on 18 May 2009, after a brutal military crackdown, and put an end to the 37-year conflict, which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives.

President Maithripala Sirisena took power in January 2015 promising reconciliation and a reduction in the military's involvement in public life and pledging that those guilty of war crimes would be held accountable.

The new government has abandoned a controversial military "victory" parade and has instead gone in for a more sombre remembrance ceremony to mark the day.

Earlier, parades celebrated the victory of the Sinhalese military over the minority Tamils, who were banned from remembering their dead as commemoration of fallen rebels was thought anti-state.

In Rajapakse’s defeat, some lessons for Malaysian politicians

Sri Lankan popular strongman Mahinda Rajapakse surprisingly lost the country's presidential elections two days ago while pursuing a third term in office – much to the joy of the South Asian island nation.

He lost with 47.6% of the vote, while his opponent, former health minister and ally Maithripala Sirisena took 51.3% of the vote.

If those numbers are familiar, it is because those are nearly the same numbers as the split between the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the 2013 general election in Malaysia.

More importantly, the fall of Rajapakse in Sri Lanka offers a lesson for Malaysia: that the very powerful and those who intimidate their opponents and the press, apart from advocating censorship – ultimately lose.

Rajapakse was Sri Lanka's hero who ended the 26-year civil war with the minority Tamil population in 2009 and after two terms in office with three brothers also holding key posts in the government – decided to change the law allowing unlimited terms as president.

Using the economy as a key driver in the Indian Ocean island, his government imposed censorship and hounded both opposition politicians and journalists to prevent dissent to his rule.

Rajapakse, who first came to power in 2005, was last elected in 2010 when he defeated his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who was later jailed on charges of implicating the government in war crimes.

According to the BBC, his critics said he became increasingly authoritarian and failed to tackle the legacy of Sri Lanka's civil war, which left the Tamil areas in the north impoverished and embittered. While the circumstance with Malaysia is different, his brand of politics is all too similar to Malaysians.

The licensed mass media in Malaysia paint a picture of a popular government but in cyberspace, dissent and criticism hog online media and social media sites that has now led Putrajaya to bring back a retired civil servant to head its communications regulatory agency.

In public universities, academics and students are routinely reminded not to get involved in political activities while the colonial-era Sedition Act is now the preferred law to silence dissent.

This from a government that has lost further ground in the 2013 elections from the 2008 elections where PR first denied BN its traditional two-thirds parliamentary super-majority.

The BN government had also used the economy as a bait, planning economic and government transformation programmes together with direct cash aid but only gained 47% of the popular vote in 2013.

Perhaps BN can learn from what contributed to Rajapakse's defeat and if it does not, it might just share the former Sri Lankan president's fate in the next general election. – January 11, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/in-rajapakses-defeat-some-lessons-for-malaysian-politicians#sthash.X6Bh4Dmv.dpuf

Rajapakse defeated by Tamil and Muslim votes

COMMENT Mahinda Rajapakse despite his nationalist appeal lost his bid for a third-term presidency in Sri Lanka. He gained 47.58 percent of votes whereas his former colleague and recently turned opponent, Maithripala Sirisena, obtained 51.28 percent of votes. It was a surprise for Sri Lankans as well as for outsiders. Many believed that there was nothing to stop Rajapakse from going for his third term in the elections held on 8 Jan 2015.

Sirisena, who quit his post in the cabinet of Rajapakse in November last year, had been doing his homework for some time. Eventually, just before the elections, he teamed up with Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the United National Party (UNP); Chandrika Kumaratunga, the former president of Sri Lanka; the former chief justice Shirani Bandaranaike; and other prominent leaders to form a loose coalition to unseat Rajapakse. Rajapakse said that Sirisena “stabbed” him from the rear!

There was a common thinking in Rajapakse’s close circles that the incumbent might not face much difficulty in the contest and given the expected solid support from the Sinhala south, the gains that might accrue from Tamil and Muslim communities to Sirisena could be easily offset.

But alas, this was not what happened. Rajapakse not only lost the support of Tamils and Muslims but also from the majority of the Sinhalese. In the north central of the country and other places of Sinhala concentrations, Sirisena obtained the support of the voters. In Tamil areas such as Vanni, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Ampara, and Batticola, voter turnout averaged 75 percent, much higher than previous elections. In the Muslim areas of Puttalam, Ampara, Colombo, and others, voters shied away from Rajapakse to vote for Sirisena.

Amongst Tamils, although there were urgings to boycott the presidential elections, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which controls the northern province, took the stand that it would urge Tamils to vote against Rajapakse by supporting Sirisena. It is not that Tamils thought that Sirisena would be able to address their problems, they felt that by voting against the “known enemy”, they might be registering their protest vote for the knowledge of the international community.

The urging for boycott by some Tamil diaspora organisations, although well-intended, failed to appreciate the historic choice available to Tamils and how they could exercise their democratic right in a small measure to bring about long-term desired changes in the country.

Muslim dilemma in Sri Lanka

The Muslims being a smaller minority than the Tamils always faced a dilemma as how to respond to changes in the country dominated by the Buddhist majority Sinhalese. For a long time, despite the injustices meted out to them by the Sinhala racist governments, the Sri Lankan Muslim community, given the division in the leadership, invariably went along with the ruling Sinhala elite. In the course of time, they had to pay dearly for their blind loyalty.

During the Rajapakse administration, Muslim communities were especially targeted for attacks by Sinhala Buddhist extremist organisation such as Bodu Bala Sena. In a recent attack against Muslims in an outskirt of Colombo by Bodu Bala Sena, a Muslim woman deeply affected by the wanton attacks against the Muslim community said that if LTTE leader Prahbakaran was alive, the Muslims would not have to face such cruel and inhumane acts.

Given the kind of attacks against Muslims, two main organisations, the All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Sri Lankan Muslim Congress withdrew their support from Rajapakse’s coalition to support Sirisena. With the entry of these two, a stage was set for  the  mobilisation of Muslim support for  Sirisena. Muslims in Colombo, Puttalam, Ampara, and Batticola overwhelmingly supported Sirisena.

For Tamils and Muslims, Sirisena had nothing to offer in terms of getting their support. However, his campaign for democracy, ending corruption, cancelling the licences of two big casinos, and for the restoration of a two-term presidency, must have attracted Tamils and Muslims to a limited extent. Nonetheless, it should be clear to Sirisena and his new friends that without the support of the Tamils and Muslims, he would not have won the presidency, given the power of incumbency.

Rajapakse faced two surmountable problems that plagued his administrations. First was the problem of putting his family and close friends in high posts in the government. His two brothers – Basil and Gotabhaya – occupy senior posts in the government. Basil is the senior presidential advisor and Gotabhaya is the defence secretary, equivalent to the post of minister of defence. Three members of parliament from the south are his family members. It is said that his family members are in charge of five ministries that control 70 percent of the national budget.

Nepotism and cronyism notwithstanding, the second major problem of Rajapakse was the abolishment of the two-term presidency, as enshrined in the constitution. Rajapakse was two-terms in his office and decided to call for elections on Jan 8, 2015, to go for his third term. However, before this ,he used his parliamentary majority to bring about an amendment (18^th amendment) to the constitution to allow himself to go for a third term.

As a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court, the incumbent president could call elections two years ahead of schedule. This was what Rajapakse did to gain power, but was vehemently opposed by the country’s Bar Association, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court Shirani Bandaranaike, and members of the opposition. Subsequently, Rajapakse impeached the chief justice and removed her from the office. Sirisena has promised that if he becomes the president, he would rehabilitate both Sarath Fonseka, who fell out of favour with Rajapakse, and Shirani Bandaranaike.

Wise move to take on Rajapakse

Sirisena will be next president of Sri Lanka. He won the elections not because he promised the heaven, but rather circumstances were much more favourable for him to take on Rajapakse. In fact, he was probably intelligent enough to realise that Rajapakse, despite his nationalistic credentials, was becoming a liability to the Sinhala people, especially the elites.

The criticisms from international human rights organisations about the way he conducted the war, the manner in which thousands of innocent Tamils were murdered, the continuing harassment of Tamils, disappearance of innocent people, land grab in Tamil areas, the attack against minorities, and other undemocratic and oppressive acts have made Rajapakse very unpopular in the civilised world.

Moreover, Rajapakse’s close association with China and Pakistan has alienated the Indian establishment to some extent. In fact, in the last few years after the end of civil war and with little or no development to address genuine Tamil concerns in the north and east, countries like India have been thinking of pursuing the option of regime change.

Given the fact that Sri Lanka falls without the orbit of India’s geopolitical sphere of influence, Rajapakse's regime has become an embarrassment to India. Even after the defeat of the LTTE in the bloody war, Rajapakse has not shown interest in addressing long-standing Tamil concerns. On the contrary, the end of civil war has meant not the end of misery of the Tamil people but the continuation of acts of oppression. Under these circumstances, Sri Lanka has shown no interest in advancing the option of federalism as envisaged in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1887.

While there is nothing by way development for Tamils, Rajapakse has sought to check Indian influence by giving a free hand to China and Pakistan. It was China’s economic and development assistance that has resulted in the building of ports and other major projects in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, allowing access to Chinese submarines to dock in Sri Lankan seaports has not gone well with India.

India might not have directly interfered in the electoral process, but its ubiquitous intelligence agencies are active and it might not be too incorrect even to tentatively suggest that India probably extended its intelligent arm to support the loose coalition of Sirisena, Wickramesinghe, and Kumaratunga!

Sirisena is no angel

The victory of Sirisena might have brought joy and happiness to some sections of the Tamil Diaspora. Fine, getting rid of “butcher” Rajapakse was something that Tamils in the north and east, victims of the 30-year war, desired. But Tamils having fought many Sinhala regimes in the past only know too well that Sirisena is no angel. In his campaign, he promised nothing to Tamils; he merely said that if elected, he would call for a more independent investigation to address Tamil human rights grievances.

There was nothing to address the concerns of the Muslims as well. Let us not forget, Sirisena was acting defence minister for the Rajapakse government during the height of civil war and before he parted company, was the secretary of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and former health minister.

In other words, why he departed suddenly to challenge Rajapakse would remain a mystery for some time to come. Apparently, in one of the interviews, he said that he lost confidence with Rajapakse as far back as 2006, but why then did he remain so long as his predecessor’s close confidante? While the TNA did the right thing to ask Tamils to vote in the elections, this should not be interpreted as support for Sirisena. Rather it was a protest vote against Rajapakse.

In the Tamil circles, there is also the lingering fear that their participation in the electoral process might dilute their pursuit of a separate country of Eelam. In the last few months or so, Tamil diaspora organisations such as the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam based in United States have urged a referendum for Tamils whether they wish to opt for separate country or be part of the Sri Lankan political establishment.

Similarly, the Penang Tamil conference in November 2014, among its resolutions, called on the United Nations to conduct a referendum among Eelam Tamil regarding their political future. The history of estranged relations between Tamils and Sinhalese provided the grounds for the LTTE to take up armed struggle in 1977 for the pursuit of separate state.

Although the armed struggle has ceased, the option of separate state has gained ground, more at the political and diplomatic levels. So, if Tamil organisations called for the boycott of the recent elections, then this boycott must be understood in the larger backdrop of relationship between two principled nations, the failure of passive resistance, the move to take up arms, and finally, the urgings for international human rights investigation.

The ouster of Rajapakse was a good thing for Sri Lanka. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, was one of the leaders who responded early by congratulating Sirisena on his victory and extended invitation to visit India. India must be glad that a major embarrassment in the south has been removed democratically. British Prime Minister Cameron not only congratulated Sirisena, but asked him to allow for the unimpeded international investigation into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

It is hoped that the interest of democracy, justice and human rights, Sirisena takes up the challenges that were not addressed but swept under the carpet by Rajapakse.

---

P RAMASAMY is Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.
 

Jika kerajaan sokong Sri Lanka, kami sokong Israel

Di mana maruah Najib sebagai seorang Islam apabila ada rakyat Sri Lanka beragama Islam turut ditindas di sana?

PETALING JAYA: Masyarakat Tamil Malaysia akan terus membenci kepimpinan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak jika beliau terus menyokong tindak-tanduk kerajaan Sri Lanka, kata Presiden Tamilar Progressive Team, A Kalaimugilan.

Tamilar Progressive Team, sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan isu pendidikan dan hak asasi manusia.

Kalaimugilan bertanya kenapa kepimpinan Najib dan kerajaan Barisan Nasional melihat Liberation of Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE) sebagai pengganas, sedangkan kerajaan Sri Lanka menghadapi pelbagai tuduhan pembunuhan etnik Tamil atau jenayah perang.

“Kenapa kerajaan masih menjemput Setiausaha Pertahanan Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Adik Presiden Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa) dalam satu majlis yang diadakan di Putrajaya beberapa hari lalu?

“Gotabaya kata LTTE terlibat dalam pengedaran dadah dan pengganas.

“Boleh tak Najib membuktikan dakwaan ini?

“Di Malaysia di kalangan masyarakat India 90 peratus adalah penyokong LTTE , termasuk saya sekali.

“Kami pernah menganjurkan pelbagai program termasuk ”Hari Pahlawan LTTE”.

“Kalau betul LTTE pengganas, kenapa kerajaan tidak mendakwa saya di mahkamah kerana menganjurkan program sedemikian? tanya Kalaimugilan.

Kalaimugilan berkata LTTE adalah pejuang bangsa Tamil dan juga wakil masyarakat Tamil sedunia.

“Najib sebagai pemimpin Islam dan memimpin sebuah negara majoriti Islam tidak ada perasaankah apabila masyarakat Islam di Sri Lanka turut ditindas oleh kerajaan Sri Lanka?

“Di mana maruah Najib sebagai seorang Islam apabila ada rakyat Sri Lanka beragama Islam turut ditindas di sana.

“Kalau kerajaan terus menyokong tindakan kerajaan Sri Lanka, maka kami akan menyokong kerajaan Israel.

“Kami akan menjemput Presiden Israel untuk program-program kami atau kami akan menyertai majlis-majlis dianjurkan oleh kerajaan Israel di luar Malaysia,” kata Kalaimughilan.

Kalaimugilan berkata sokongan masyarakat Tamil di Malaysia kepada LTTE samalah seperti mana sokongan masyarakat Melayu Islam Malaysia kepada pejuang Hamas di Palestin.

‘What was Sri Lankan minister doing here’

DAP leaders have criticised the government, particularly MIC leaders, for allowing the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary into the country.

KUALA LUMPUR: Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy criticised MIC leaders today for keeping mum on Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to Malaysia, especially when the island state had killed 150,000 Tamils.

Gothabaya had told Malaysia to be wary of Tamil terrorists in the country.

Ramasamy criticised Gothabaya for making the statement at a forum organised by the Defence Ministry last week. The report was carried by a daily in India, The Hindu.

“I’m baffled by Gothabaya’s statement. Since the Tamil Tigers are not present in Malaysia, we can assume that the phrase was used to refer to local Tamil community, said Ramasamy in a press statement today.

He said Gothabaya’s visit was an embarassment to Malaysian Indians because the Sri Lankan government had killed nearly 150,000 Tamils in the island in its 26-year military campaign which ended in 2009.

Gothabaya is the brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

DAP MP M Kulasegaran urged the government to explain the motive of Gothabaya’s visit to Malaysia.

“Why did our government keep his visit a secret?” he asked.

Sungkai state assemblyman A Sivanesan criticised MIC president G Palanivel and his deputy, Dr S Subramaniam, for keeping mum on the matter.

“I am sure Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam are aware of Gothabaya’s visit since it must have been discussed in the Cabinet meeting.

“Being ministers representing the Indians, the duo should have objected to the decision,” he said.

Dalai Lama praised the pattern of Coexistence in Hindu majority India. While he urges China to learn this coexistence, why he is silent about the Hindu-Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka?

Dalai Lama Asks China to Learn from India’s model of coexistence. But, why he is silent about the Hindu-Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist Country?

Upananda Brahmachari | Shillong | 7 Feb 2014:: On 3rd February in his first holy visit to North Eastern India, the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness Dalai Lama said, China should learn from India the practice of harmonious co-existence of different people, languages and lifestyles.

“They should learn from India, which has apart from different regions, different people, different languages, different scripts and different lifestyles. Yet they all live harmoniously,” the Dalai Lama said while addressing the sixth convocation ceremony of the Martin Christian Luther University here at Shillong.

The spiritual leader, who visited Meghalaya for the first time since he made India his home, termed his adopted country as “wonderful and very nice” to live in.

He likened the country to the United Nations in its embracing a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religion society, while blaming Chinese hardliners for infusing hatred against people living in Tibet. “We are not seeking separation from China. We belong to China with common interests and common economic development,” HH Dalai Lama emphasized.

“Modern India is multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-racial. It is like the United Nations. I feel the greatness of India. Its people are harmless, and it is an example to the rest of the world as people are living together happily,” the Buddhist spiritual leader and the Nobel Peace laureate said.

Claiming to be a disciple of Gandhi’s principle of non-violence, the spiritual leader said he nursed a hope that India’s “concept of peaceful living” would make a better Asia and in turn make a better world.

“Over 3,000 years ago, India had the concept of Ahimsa (non-violence). Because of that it commands respect,” he said, adding that India was the living example of religious tolerance and culture.

His Holiness Dalai Lama holds the highest position in contemporary Buddhist order, he is the messenger of peace and ahimsha as propounded by lord Buddha and also the Nobel Peace laureate. HH Dalai Lama is also a living founder member of VHP established in 1964. We never put any question about his honor and wisdom to shower the peace and good to the mankind.

After reaching Bharat on 30 March 1959 at Bomdila (Arunachal Pradesh) he felt secured in his life long exile after being thwarted from his seat of Tibet by the then tyrannic Communist Govt of China.

In his long experience of exile in India, His Holiness Dalai Lama definitely perceives the greatness and generosity of Bharat and her people. And HH Dalai Lama must not disagree that this coexistence, harmony, liberty and the trend of respects to others are only possible as the majority people here have granted this unique and imparallel culture as a basic tenets of Hindu faith and life-style. And for this Hindu spirituality and majority everybody can stay, grow and glow in a very Hindu environment. Any challenge or charter against this Hinduness of this land can move this country towards an Islamic fatal, Christian debacle or a Communist blaze without any option.

But, never could I remember any statement HH Dalai Lama to protect this Hinduness of this land under attack in the recent past.

The Dalai Lama went to Shillong to attend a function of a Christian College, the authority of which, i.e. the Missionaries and Evangelic groups promote huge conversion of Hindus-Buddhists in North East. Christians have made the major portion of the NE as just opposite to the Indian Culture. The NE Christian people do tolerate any Hindu or Indian-ness in that region. HH Dalai Lama did not address this important matter to request the Christian missionaries to stop their conversion agenda.

HH Dalai Lama asks China to restore peace and liberty in Tibet through a practice of Indian tradition and culture of coexistence in China.

But, is it not right to be implemented the same practice of Indian coexistence in Sri Lanka too?

Sri Lanka has its Buddha Sasana. And under this Buddha Sasana, it is told a largest genocide of Tamil-Hindus were occurred there through various operations be inhuman ruling parties in SL.

Various International bodies, UN, Amnesty, dignified Tamil bodies and Hindu Existence Forum have condemned the Hindu-Tamil Genocide in SL. But is not a concern of Buddha Sasana, as if.

While HH Dalai Lama speaks against Chaina rightly for making a peaceful coexistence of everybody in Tibet and China, He cannot be silent about Sri Lanka where the simple existence of Tamil-Hindu people are now positioned before the peace canon of Rajapakshe under a very inhumane stand against the non-Buddhist people in Sri Lanka.

HH Dalai Lama please hear the appeal of victimized Tamil-Hindu people of Sri Lanka for sending a strong message to the rulers of Sri Lanka to stop barbaric activities upon the Tamil –Hindu people in SL.

If HH Dalai Lama thinks that Hindu-Buddhist unity is a must to survive these two oldest faiths against the threats of Christianity, Islam and Communism, he must condemn the Hindu-Tamil Genocide in SL and convey the same message of coexistence of Indian pattern to Sri Lankan rulers, as he already conveyed to China.

Ramasamy to speak on genocide in Sri Lanka

Penang's deputy chief minister vows to keep fighting for Tamil self-determination

PETALING JAYA: Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy will take his fight for Sri Lankan Tamils to Britain at the end of this month with a paper he will present at a conference organised by the British Tamils Forum (BTF).

He told FMT he would speak on “structural genocide” in Sri Lanka as his contribution to the international conference, which will focus on the allegation that the government in Colombo is engaged in grabbing land owned by Tamils.

He said the act of uprooting a community from its traditional lands was a form of genocide.

He affirmed that the issue of Tamil rights in Sri Lanka was close to his heart and vowed that he would continue to speak out on it on the international platform.

He said the Malaysian government could not be depended on to champion the rights of displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka because “it is run by a bunch of cowards.”

Ramasamy sits in the six-member Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was this committee that produced the blueprint of LTTE’s proposal for an interim self-governing authority in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka. It was submitted to the Sri Lankan government in 2003, when the civil war in that country was still raging.

The war, which began in 1983, came to an end in May 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE.

“Since then,” Ramasamy said, “the Sri Lankan government has not committed itself to reconciliation.”

Referring to the theme of this month’s conference, he said it was unfortunate that the issue of land grabs in Sri Lanka had not received the press coverage it deserved.

“Putting a Buddhist temple on a Hindu temple, even though not physically but culturally and geographically, is part of structural genocide,” he said.

He maintained that the only way to resolve the Sri Lanka issue was to grant the Tamils the right to govern themselves in a state separate from the Singhalese-majority country.

“The Tamils should have an independent state,” he said. “ It’s impossible for the two races to stay together.”

IGP: We’ll act against LTTE supporters

The IGP said the police will act against LTTE supporters who tried to glorify Tamil Tigers leader V Prabakaran.

PETALING JAYS: The Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) is banned in Malaysia and the police will act against its supporters who carried out activities in support of the movement, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said today.

Khalid said Malaysia was part of the United Nations and had to comply with the resolutions made by the world body.

“We will also take action against supporters who try to glorify LTTE leader V Prabakharan,” he said after launching a new integrated reporting system i-SPAA (Sistem Pemantaun Aduan Awam).

Khalid said he was also aware that some LTTE supporters had large photos of Prabakaran in their homes.

He said so far police had detained a man and were looking for six others involved in the gathering in Kulim last Saturday to mark the LTTE leader’s birthday.

Yesterday, Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran urged the IGP to state publicly whether LTTE was a banned movement in Malaysia.

Kulasegaran had said he was puzzled because the IGP might have been wrongly advised and did not comprehend the meaning of freedom fighters.

The DAP vice-chairman also added that about 80,000 innocent Tamils had been killed in the civil war.

White Van Stories - reporting on Sri Lanka's disappeared

The making of White Van Stories was not a scripted journey. It was rather mystical. Maybe my constant urge to tell stories that otherwise had been forgotten pointed me towards that direction.
by Leena Manmekalai, director of White Van Stories

I was furious when I learned from my civil society activist friends in Sri Lanka that their attempts to mobilise families of the disappeared for the street protests had been crushed every time by the authorities.

Life instinct

When the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillai visited Sri Lanka in August this year, families were fully geared to make their voices heard. I volunteered with a team of activists when they held pocket meetings in Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochi, Mullivaickal and Mullaitheevu.

I met almost five hundred families whose members were abducted or taken for enquiry or who surrendered in the last stage of war in 2009. They told me horror stories of how family members were picked by snatch squads in white vans and had never been seen again.

The howls and tears of the families in despair started haunting me. But it was their sheer resilience, hope, apathy and perseverance that restored my faith in humanity.
What I found in them was not death instinct but life instinct. I decided to walk their hard path to justice in an effort to find out how can a human being just disappear?
Families told me how enforced disappearance victims do not disappear willingly or by accident.

Extraordinary bravery

I filmed the historical protests of the families of the disappeared in Jaffna and Colombo who were asking for justice, truth and reparation, declaring "No Peace" until their loved ones return. And I followed seven women who shared their stories across the east, south and north provinces.

Access was incredibly challenging. North of Sri Lanka is heavily militarized and this is a story that had been largely impenetrable to the media as enforced disappearances also include journalists who are considered even slightly critical of state and its policies.

Ultimately the film had to be made under severe vigilance and intimidation by the Lankan military.

On one occasion I was asked to leave the country and on another detained for hours of questioning at a check post where they confiscated our tapes and denied us permission to film.

I had to free myself of the paranoia of danger to continue filming. I felt I had nothing to lose compared to the magnitude of injustice faced by the families in my film describing their eternal search for their beloved.

White Van Stories is testament to the extraordinary bravery of desperate families speaking out in the face of unthinkable adversity.

White Van Stories, the story of the disappeared in Sri Lanka, is on Channel 4 News on Thursday 14 November 2013 at 7pm.

David Cameron on Sri Lanka in the Commons - video

David Cameron makes a statement on Sri Lanka in the Commons, having last week insisted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa hold an independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes in the country.

Why Najib didn't boycott CHOGM in Sri Lanka

KTemoc Konsiders  
Some Malaysians and NGOs had urged PM Najib to boycott the recent CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Sri Lanka to show Malaysia's concerns over (allegations of) Sri Lanka's human rights abuses by its military during and after the country's 26-year old civil war which ended in May 2009.

What was this civil war then?
Most Malaysians know or at least have heard of it. It started as an armed insurrection in July 1983 by the separatist group Tamil Tigers against the Sri Lankan government. Its origin lies in the usual story of the ketuanan ('supremacy', but contextually 'racial supremacy') of one bangsa (race) and its acute marginalization of another.

In more than one way, from language to citizenship issues coupled with ketuanan institutionalized racism affecting miscellaneous aspects such as discrimination against the Tamils in university admissions, the Sri Lankan acrimonious socio-political-economic problem mirrored that of Malaysia's.
Because of this, the Sri Lankan Tamils wanted to bring about a forced but alas for them, failed separation from the Singhalese controlled state. 'Twas to be an unilateral secession, so to speak, of the north and eastern (Tamil populated) parts of the Island State from the rest of Singalese dominated Sri Lanka.
The aim of the Tamils was to form an independent state of Tamil Eelam, a home for Sri Lankan Tamils and members of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora (note: not Indian Tamil Diaspora, wakakaka), in short, a serious kind of SARSI, where in the confrontational pursuit of this, several thousands of lives were lost on both sides during the conflict, including those of PM Rajiv Gandhi* of India and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, .

Rajiv Gandhi

* Though Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide 'human bomb' in Tamilnadu at Sriperumbudur village, 30 miles from Chennai, investigation after his death showed that the assassination was ordered by Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Tamil Tigers. Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa was also killed in the same way, by a Tigers' suicide bomber.
* I believe that the origin of terrorism and assassination by suicide 'human bombs' started with the Tigers. The Japanese kamikaze aeroplane and mini submarine attacks against the Americans were in a different category altogether, not as acts of terrorism per se but desperate 'final' acts of defence of the Japanese homeland.
The civil war ended officially on 19 May 2006, a day after Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed by Sri Lankan troops.

green areas claimed by various groups of Tamil separatists

During the war the protagonists on both sides committed human rights abuses, many of which were alleged to be war crimes. The Tigers were notorious in this respect though it's difficult to say which side was worse in their criminal violations.
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora has been a major financial and powerful political backer (in lobbying Western powers) of the secession for a Tamil Eelam, and thus also of the Tamil Tigers.
It would not be far fetched to say the accusations of alleged war crimes or human rights abuses directed against the Sri Lankan military today have in large part been 'pushed' by the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora.
Incidentally the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora includes the Sri Lankan Tamil Malaysians but not those descended from Indian Tamils (including those from the central highlands of Sri Lanka) - sorry lah, wakakaka.

Malaysian Tamil 'Ceylonese' wedding

Mind, this didn't mean our own Sri Lankan Tamils had actively backed the Tigers or would have wanted to stay in the would-be Tamil Eelam, but I personally suspect they probably would have lots of sympathy for the Tamil Eelam separatists.
I wonder whether the Sri Lankan Tamils in Malaysia are still referred to by Indian Tamils as, I believe derogatorily, Panamkottai, wakakaka, though I understand the Sri Lankan Tamils (not just those in Malaysia) prefer to be identified as Ceylonese or Jaffnese, rather than Tamils.
This lamentable race-class-caste consciousness is probably due to the Sri Lankan Tamils, sorry I mean, Ceylonese wakakaka, preferring to, or rather, insisting on differentiating themselves from Indian Tamils, whom they consider from a historical viewpoint as of 'common labourer' stock (coolie? wakakaka) in contrast to their own and far more prestigious 2000 year old 'nobler'(?) pedigree, as descendants of the people of ancient Jaffna Kingdom. 

a Jaffna King
ampun tuanku or ampu tuan? wakakaka

It's known in Malaysia that their snobbery extends to looking down on Indian (non-Ceylonese) Tamils, particularly in areas such as cross-marriages, almost an impossibility. I recall a Indian Tamil (non-Ceylonese, wakakaka) mate of mine, who had the hots for a Panamkottai sweetie, but in their romance encountered umpteen zillion barriers, all from her family. Mind you, he was a doctor, a prestigious profession among Indians and a prospective and highly desirable son-in-law for Indian families, yet sweetie's Ceylonese (wakakaka) family's silly belief in their superior-ketuanan heritage rejected my matey's request for their daughter's hand.

Anyway, only the PM of two Commonwealth members, namely India and Canada, did not attend the Commonwealth summit meeting in Colombo, although they sent their respective delegations to Colombo.

Just more than a week ago, Tamil Nadu's chief minister J Jayalalithaa and the state assembly passed a resolution demanding that India completely boycott CHOGM, but alas for those Aneh's, India sent her external affairs minister and his team.

Thus the calls to boycott CHOGM in Colombo had limited appeal among Commonwealth leaders.

I don't like to sound cynical but my guess is that the Canadian PM's reason for personally boycotting the 2013 CHOGM has a lot to do with the significant Indian community among its citizenry, therefore he was no doubt playing to the Canadian domestic gallery.

have to use a Canadian Bhai photo as I couldn't get one with Canadian Tamils, wakakaka 

Similarly, the Indian PM (and his ruling Indian Congress Party) has been obviously wary of the voters in Tamilnadu, not that he or Congress has forgotten it was the Tigers who murdered PM Rajiv Gandhi, the late hubby of Sonia Gandhi, the lady who's the real power behind the Indian Congress Party.

Incidentally, the Indian PM in boycotting the Colombo CHOGM was a damn bloody hypocrite as the Indian government had directly helped Sri Lanka in finishing off the Tigers - read my post Tamil Tigers mauled by Indian government? in which I wrote:

The people in Tamilnadu and the Tamil Diaspora (including those in Malaysia) have been outraged at what they see as the Indian government’s treacherous act of fratricide, but it's hardly likely the Congress Party-led Indian government would be sweet to the Tigers, bearing in mind Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia, is the real power in Congress!

Now really, given this background and the lack of appeal towards the numerous calls to boycott CHOGM, how could one expect PM Najib to join in the boycott?

A second factor would be about an even handed approach to the vexatious problem of the Sri Lankan civil war, namely, human rights abuse.

Okay, this contentious issue behind the boycott calls, namely, allegations of human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan military, is no doubt important. But for Najib to boycott the event would show Sri Lankans that Malaysia deplores their military's excesses, but unfairly, not our fair sense of outrage towards the excesses of the Tamil Tigers and their suporters too, which had killed, maimed and destroyed the lives of not only many Singhalese families but also those of many Sri Lankan Tamils who were pro government.

Yup, the Tamil Tigers had been equally as guilty as, if not worse than the Sri Lanka military, in committing such alleged human rights abuses, so how would a Commonwealth nation (or its PM) boycotting the Sri Lankan organized CHOGM show an even handed and constructive approach to dealing with the issue of human rights abuse in that country?

I believe Australian Foreign Minister, Julia Bishop, said the more constructive words, that it was better to engage with Sri Lanka on the issue.
She stated, ''I have been having ongoing discussions with the Sri Lankan government and I have encouraged all member nations of the Commonwealth to attend the … meeting to engage with Sri Lanka on these issues rather than isolate Sri Lanka."
But wait, there is another far more important reason for Najib not to boycott CHOGM. It's the issue of the Tamil ... ooops ... sorry, wakakaka, Ceylonese intended secession.
Secession? Man, for a start that's a f**king no-no for Najib or any Malaysian PM to support, directly or indirectly, because that's a bloody dirty word in Malaysia - now go wash your mouth, wakakaka.
And to know why, read my KTemoc Konsider's post Will Sabah secede?

Therefore, there is no f**king blooming way a PM of Malaysia would ever show support for whatever issue, including alleged human rights abuses, when the musty malodorous mephitic secession (failed or otherwise) lurks like the proverbial doggie bola in the background.
Now, Aneh Ah Jib Gor certainly has far more Tamils than Stephen Harper (PM of Canada) to appease on the domestic political front, but despite or in spite of this, there's a snowflake's chance in burning hell he would ever support his tambee or tangechee fixed deposits(?), wakakaka, in opposing Colombo, no, not when the Ceylonese or if you like, Tamils had attempted to secede from Sri Lanka.
Rightly or wrongly there's no way Najib wants to 'encourage' blokes like dear Jeffery boy, or anyone else wakakaka, by planting the idea that it's okay to have a local version of Tamil Eelam in our backyard.

look like Malaysians but certainly smarter and better looking than those threadbare badly dressed MCP insurgents, wakakaka

‘Najib’s CHOGM trip – to help Sri Lanka’

Najib's participation in CHOGM was justified by Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin as Malaysia's efforts in assisting Sri Lanka resolve their problems.

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin today justified Malaysia’s participation in the Commonwealth Head Of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) summit held in Sri Lanka as a method to resolve the problem plaguing the island state.

“Malaysia is part of a Commonwealth committee working together to push for balanced development. We have agreed to set this agenda as part of Sri Lanka’s post 2015 development.”

“It is about CHOGM in Sri Lanka not CHOGM on Sri Lanka,” he said.

Hamzah who is also Larut MP said this was the method used to resolve the Sri Lanka issues, post 2015.

He made the clarification during a committee level debate on development expenditure matters.

M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh – Barat) earlier questioned the government’s rationale for attending CHOGM despite calls from various parties for Malaysia to boycott the event.

The DAP leader asked whether Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had raised concerns and highlighted the issue of human rights violations to his Sri Lanka counterpart, President Mahendra Rajapakse, during CHOGM.

“Has the PM spoken about the human rights issues which is a core value of the Commonwealth?” he asked.

He said that apart from the 100,000 ehtnic Tamil minorities who were killed during the Sri Lankan civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan Army, over a period of 20 years. About 200,000 Malays and Muslim minorities were equally affected by the civil war in the northern region of the country.

The violation of human rights was highlighted by British Prime Minister David Cameron while Kenya and Canada proceeded to boycott the summit.

IBAHRI Commonwealth Conference in Sri Lanka cancelled

As reproduced from 

​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​here.

13/11/2013

Following the Sri Lankan authorities’ action last week of revoking visas for speakers of an 

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International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) delegation to attend the conference ‘Making Commonwealth Values a Reality’, the event has now been cancelled.

The co-hosted IBAHRI and Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Conference, scheduled to take place on 13 November 2013 in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, ahead of the start of the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), will now instead take the form of a press conference in Thailand.

In collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the IBAHRI will host a press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday 14 November 2013 (10h30 – 12h00 (ICT); 03h30 – 05h00 (GMT); 09h00 – 10h30 (IST)). The event will be streamed live via this link 

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http://www.ustream.tv/channel/fcct-live to the international community and will include a specially recorded message from the UN Special Rapporteur Gabriela Knaul. Speakers Will include Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, barrister and first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers; Sadakat Kadri, barrister and IBAHRI 2013 Sri Lanka mission rapporteur; and Alex Wilks, IBAHRI Senior Programme Lawyer. Sheila Varadan, International Legal Advisor, South Asia Programme, ICJ, will chair.

Mark Ellis, International Bar Association (IBA) Executive Director said, ‘It is extremely disappointing, although not surprising, that the Government of Sri Lanka would revoke previously issued visas in order to prevent open debate. The salient question is why block a conference intended to enrich the CHOGM discussions?’ He added, ‘The cancelled Conference presented a valuable opportunity to discuss the role of the Commonwealth in upholding the rule of law today. The Sri Lankan Government’s actions highlight the pressing and urgent need for the Commonwealth to be reformed so that it can engage meaningfully on human rights and the rule of law.’

More than 200 lawyers and diplomats were registered to attend the joint IBAHRI and BASL Conference to discuss the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in the Commonwealth as a whole and to contribute to, and inform, the discussions of Commonwealth officials, diplomats and civil society members during the CHOGM. However, government actions created a hostile environment making it impossible to hold a fruitful exchange on Commonwealth values.

Sternford Moyo, IBAHRI Co-Chair commented, ‘In view of recent Sri Lankan government statements to the media and the current climate in the country, the IBAHRI fully understands and supports the Bar Association of Sri Lanka’s decision to cancel the Conference. Further, we consider any criticism directed at the Bar Association of Sri Lanka for planning to co-host the Conference to be reprehensible.’

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

The conference had been planned for several months, with visas issued for IBAHRI delegates through the BASL in accordance with the procedure indicated to it by officials of the High Commission of Sri Lanka in London. On 28th August 2013, the following ETA visas were issued by the Controller of Immigration:

130826PG1218467 - 130826PM1504191 - Gabriela Knaul

130826PG1218467 - 130826PM1504192 - Paramasothi Cumaraswamy

130826PG1218467 - 130826PM1504189 - Alexander Jeffrey Wilks

Journalists wanting to attend the press conference in Bangkok should send an email to 

​

sheila.varadan@icj.org

Read IBA Senior Reporter Rebecca Lowe’s recent article: Sri Lanka bans human rights delegates from major Commonwealth meeting

For further information please contact:

Romana St. Matthew - Daniel

Press Office

International Bar Association

Mobile: +44 (0)7940 731 915

Direct Line: +44 (0)20 7842 0094

Main Office: +44 (0)20 7842 0090

Fax:+44 (0)20 7842 0091

E-mail: romana.daniel@int-bar.org

Website: www.ibanet.org

Najib's 'nambikei' crashes with Sri Lanka trip

A vexed business leader believes that Najib Abdul Razak suffers from post-election amnesia where he forgets that he is the prime minister for all Malaysians.

Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba) president P Sivakumar's diagnosis is based on Najib's decision to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Sri Lanka.

Also coming under fire was MIC president G Palanivel, who Sivakumar suggested should resign over this matter.

"The Tamils make up 70 percent of the Indian community in Malaysia, and yet the prime minister did not pay heed to the urgings to boycott the meeting in Sri Lanka.

"Tamil people have been massacred in Sri Lanka... it is an act of genocide. Najib should have been more sensitive to and respectful of the feelings of the Tamil community.

"But for our prime minister, who repeatedly called on the Indian community to have nambikei (trust) in him prior to the polls, economics took precedence," Sivakumar told Malaysiakini.

He pointed out that the issue in Sri Lanka was not merely a concern for Tamils, but for all Malaysians who respected human rights.

He reminded Najib that giving out hampers and handouts during election season did not make a leader.

"The true mark of a leader is one who listens to the people," Sivakumar added.

However, he said, the Indian community too deserved this snub for supporting BN in the last general election.

"This is what you get for blind support. Hopefully, the community has learned a lesson and will show their frustration in the next general election," he added.

As for Palanivel, Sivakumar said the MIC president must state his stand now that the prime minister had refused to listen to him.

"If I was the MIC president, I would resign. You (Palanivel) said you would raise the matter in the cabinet, what happened to that?

"So what are you going to do now? This is a disrespect to the Indian community, and nambikei has gone down the drain," he added.

'Najib has betrayed our trust'
Also taking Najib and MIC to task was Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (Mipas) secretary-general S Barathidasan.

"Najib asked the Indian community to have nambikei in him, but he has betrayed our trust. So many memoranda were sent and protests held, but he ignored them.

"The Indian community should punish him and BN in the next election," he said.

Barathidasan (right) said if the government could take a strong stand with regard to the plight of Muslims in southern Thailand, Palestine and Myanmar, why not for the Tamils in Sri Lanka?

"As a Muslim leader, are you supposed to only defend Muslims? Aren’t the Tamils in Sri Lanka humans as well? Furthermore, there are thousands of Tamil Muslims in Sri Lanka who also suffered," he added.

As for MIC, Barathidasan stopped short of condemning the BN component party as irrelevant.

"What is the point of claiming to be  the representative of the Indian community when it is the NGOs that have to fight and do all the work?" he asked.

Najib, who is leading the Malaysian delegation for CHOGM, will be engaged in a packed programme.

He and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, will also attend a state banquet hosted by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

British PM David Cameron meets Tamils in Jaffna; Sri Lanka fumes at CHOGM

  COLOMBO: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron made an historic visit Friday to Sri Lanka's former warzone, stealing the spotlight from a Commonwealth summit after the host, President Mahinda Rajapakse, warned against passing judgment on his country's past.

Only hours after the summit opened in Colombo, Cameron flew into the northern Jaffna region where some 100,000 people lost their lives in fighting between Tamil rebels and troops from the majority Sinhalese government.

Several women who lost relatives during the war tried to hurl themselves in front of Cameron's motorcade as he became the first foreign leader to visit Jaffna since the former British colony gained independence in 1948.

Clutching photos of their missing loved ones, they screamed "We Want Justice" before the premier sped away.

He later toured the offices of a Tamil newspaper whose printing presses have been torched several times, including in April this year, and which has lost five staff in attacks since Rajapakse came to power in 2005.

"This is going to make a very lasting impression on me. That is something you don't forget," Cameron told journalists at "Uthayan" (Sun) daily where the portraits of slain staff line the walls.

"But it's only when you see it with your own eyes, it really brings home just how much you're suffering."

MV Kaanamylnathan, the paper's editor, said Cameron visit was a chance to publicise the region's plight.

"Everyone is pretending that everything is okay, that Tamils have equal rights but it's not true," he told AFP in Jaffna.

"This needs to be told to the international world." The landmark visit overshadowed the start of a three-day summit which was meant to be a chance for Rajapakse, a Sinhalese nationalist who oversaw the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, to showcase Sri Lanka's revival.

But after refusing to bow to demands for an independent investigation into the end of the conflict, he has been confronted by a public relations disaster, including a string of boycotts.

Cameron flew out of Colombo shortly after Rajapakse said in an opening speech warned his fellow leaders of trying to impose their own "bilateral agendas".

"If the Commonwealth is to remain relevant to its member countries, the association must respond to the needs of its people and not turn into a punitive or judgmental body," he said in a speech ahead of the formal opening of the summit by Britain's Prince Charles.

Since the war, the economy has enjoyed growth rates of up to 8.2 per cent and more than one million tourists visited Sri Lanka last year — a new record.

But the legacy of the war continues to poison Rajapakse's relations with the international community.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the first to announce a boycott after his government said the summit was akin to "accommodating evil" while his Mauritian counterpart Navin Chandra Ramgoolam — due to host the next one — is also refusing to attend.

Even India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is staying away, preferring to antagonise a neighbour rather than offend Tamil voters ahead of next year's elections.

The agenda for the three-day summit includes sessions on debt restructuring and climate change.

But Rajapakse spent the build-up fending off allegations that his troops were responsible for the death of some 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final weeks of the war.

During an impassioned speech, the 67-year-old leader said his regime deserved credit for ending the conflict.

"We asserted the greatest human right — the right to life," he said. "In the last four years there has not been one single terrorism-related incident in Sri Lanka."

The Jaffna peninsula, home to around 800,000 Tamils, was the main battleground of the war and its towns and villages are now littered with shelled-out buildings. Some 30,000 people still live in refugee camps.

Although provincial elections were held in Jaffna in September, they fell well short of Tamil demands for more autonomy.

Cameron spoke with the new chief minister of Jaffna, CV Wigneswaran, for about 30 minutes at the town's library as dozens of women who still don't know what happened to their loved ones demonstrated outside.

At the last summit in 2011 in Perth, Commonwealth leaders drew up a charter of common values which committed members to respecting human rights.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the Commonwealth's outgoing chair, acknowledged Sri Lanka was emerging from a troubled past and said its people could take heart from how South Africa had come through darker times.

"Sri Lanka's willingness to host this Commonwealth shows its commitment to democratic pluralism and freedom based on law and ought to reassure all its citizens that just as today is better than yesterday, tomorrow will be better than today," he said.

"So we are here to praise as much as to judge." Prince Charles, who is representing his mother Queen Elizabeth II, said the Sri Lankan people had "confronted great adversity," as he also recalled the devastating impact on the island of the 2004 tsunami.

CHOGM Listens To Malaysia's View - Najib

From Leslean Arshad

Najib was given the opportunity to intervene in two discussion sessions with leaders of Commonwealth countries on "Growth with Equity, Inclusive Development" and dialogue with youth leaders.

During the discussion session on " Growth with Equity, Inclusive Development," he shared Malaysia's development philosophy of "growth with equity" where it is inclusive, without marginalising any group.

He told Malaysian journalists here on Friday that equitable development should be used as a foundation for Commonwealth member countries.

The Commonwealth is seeing imbalance development with 48 member countries categorised as developing, 14 countries as 'least developing' and 31 countries as 'small and valnerable.'

"As a nation, we (Malaysia) believe in the market economy.. but market economy cannot distribute wealth fairly and equitably. The government has to intervene but the intervention does not reject the fundamental market economy."

During the intervention, he shared Malaysia's success in reducing poverty, raising social mobility based on the democratisation of education and a growing middle class.

While in the dialogue with youth leaders, Najib shared the '5E' concept to empower young people in the country's development via engagement, empowerment, employment, education and entreprenuership.

"The chairman responded to the '5E' by calling on youth leaders to respond to all the 'E' mentioned," he said.
COLOMBO, (Sri Lanka), Nov 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's view on equitable development and empowering youths expressed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has drawn the attention of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013, here on Friday.

Why shouldn’t Najib attend CHOGM?

Najib is pressured to miss the CHOGM Summit in Sri Lanka but are we missing the forest for the trees?
COMMENT

There is much rumpus made surrounding the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this year, regionally and internationally. Voices of displeasure and concerns have surfaced since the meeting will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka; where war atrocities have occurred against the ethnic Tamils.

Back here, Najib is being pressured by various organisations be it political or non-governmental to give a miss to the meeting since his attendance will be deemed as consenting to the war crimes that inflicted death, pain and misery to civilians. Najib has been bashed and even accused to be acting in a criminal manner for agreeing to be in Colombo.

The CHOGM 2013 Summit will be hosted for the first time in an Asian country in 24 years; and unfortunately has been riddled with unease and tension among some participating countries. Canada has retracted its participation while India is sending its foreign minister instead of the prime minister.

Should Malaysia follow suit at the eleventh hour?

Observing the trend of events and non committal stance taken by our government, Malaysia will definitely not back down. Currently, the Commonwealth comprises of 53 independent states working together in the common interests of their citizens for development, democracy and peace.

And why should Malaysia back out just because some disgruntled pockets of society? Yes, there is no denying in every possible term that human rights were violated. Innocent lives were lost. Many civilians were limped, raped, maimed, injured and tortured when the Sri Lankan military launched its offensive to rid its soil of any Tamil Tigers, leading to the ill-famed Sri Lankan civil war from 1983 until 2009.

Sri Lanka was practically torn apart to shreds during this period. Its economy, political and social fabric were in tatters and shreds. In plain terminology, it was disgusting to the highest degree and must be condemned in the harshest possible manner.

Nevertheless in all wars, it takes more than one party to be guilty. Have we not forgotten the fact that the Tamil Tigers had also recruited child soldiers in their camps? Some reports have claimed that at the end of the hostilities, nearly 600 child soldiers surrendered themselves to the Sri Lankan military. The Tamil Tigers also behaved in demonic proportions by violating all humanity in their pursuit for a separate and independent territory.

This is not an issue of which party is guiltier in committing crime and atrocities. Both were wronged from their perspectives and both reacted in a manner that suffered the innocent, the children, women, elderly and even the unborn.

Nevertheless is boycotting the CHOGM ever going to change history? Definitely not, but it may send a message out there that Malaysia denounces their past acts. That is about all we can achieve. Is it enough?

Will the Malaysian Indians and in specific Tamilians take the matter further to concretize their stand and sever all economic, touristic and social ties with Sri Lanka immediately if Najib concurs with their demands?

Cans of dead worms

Please do not be hyper-critical and a hypocrite on the same breath. All those opposing our participation to the Colombo CHOGM should reflect on grounds of fairness and equality.

This is not about Najib or Malaysia. This is about human idiosyncrasies and their political motives and maneuvering.

Why have we conveniently forgotten the terrors committed by the Japanese Army during World War II (WWII)? Was the Japanese kind to us when they invaded Malaya then?

The younger generations seems incognizant of the facts of WWII; but ask any living soul today that went through the horrors of the WWII; they will never forgive the Japanese till end of time.

But today, almost every human on earth deals with Japan directly or indirectly, have meetings there, and even boast about how the Japanese have evolved human technology. Why are these groups who are against Malaysia’s participation in Colombo do not raise issues with the Japanese?

The Japanese Kempetei or also known as “Military Police Corps”, arrested civilians and their brutality was particularly notorious in many occupied territories including Malaya.

What about North Korea and their atrocities?

Until today the North Korean regime is cruel to its people. The people of North Korea are in essence living in fear daily. Thousands if not millions of their children are starving even as this article is being written. Families from North Korea separated from South Korea yearn to see their relatives till death but their wishes are not met.

Amusingly its official name is “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” but is run with an iron fist under the dictatorship of one man; often described as “totalitarian and Stalinist.” Are we kidding ourselves with the Sri Lanka CHOGM and making fools in the international media?

Why were there no protests and kicking when an established and esteemed college university in Kuala Lumpur conferred one of their highest honours to the North Korean leader?

Let us not isolate incidents and open cans of dead worms. The world has forgotten the very essence of atrocities carried out by the British, Americans and Germans.

Our colonial masters, Britain broke every rule known to mankind for human rights when they were propagating their righteousness on the world. If only Mahatma Gandhi was alive to tell us more.

Malaysians are nothing short of mocking themselves in asking Najib to boycott the Colombo CHOGM. Let us put issues right not on racially or politically skewed agendas. CHOGM just does not fit the ideals.

Narinder Singh is a FMT team member.

Kula: Sri Lankan killings gravely concern Tamils here

DAP national vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran told a conference of diaspora Tamils in Mauritius last week that opposition parties and NGOs in Malaysia were relentless in pressing the government to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka that begins on Friday.

The Ipoh Barat MP said Malaysian support for the boycott would go a long way in bringing across to the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa the gravity of international concerns over human rights abuses in the country during the civil war there (1983-2011) and in its immediate aftermath.

Thus far, the Canadian and Indian governments have announced that their heads won't be attending CHOGM because of rights abuses that have gone unpunished in Sri Lanka.

Kulasegaran (left) told the conference that Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council which made it incumbent on it to reject a policy of non-interference when grave human rights abuses had occurred within a national jurisdiction.

"Last year, the president of Sri Lanka was invited to speak at an Islamic conference in Malaysia. There was a hue and cry on the president's intended visit to speak. Later this invitation was cancelled and he called off his visit," Kulasegaran told his Mauritian listeners.

However, the DAP legislator noted that the Malaysian government did not sustain this apparent protest over human rights abuses in Sri Lanka when it yielded to Sri Lankan pressure to harass NGO activist Lena Hendry, who was responsible for screening the acclaimed documentary 'No Fire Zone - The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka', a graphic film on the atrocities committed in the final phase of the civil war in that country that ended in May 2011.

KL bowing to Colombo's pressure

Kulasegaran told the conference that the issue of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka was of big concern to Tamil Malaysians.

"I was present (during the raid on the screening of the documentary) and it looked as if the government was bowing to Sri Lankan Embassy pressure," he said.

Kulasegaran said he had called for the dropping of charges preferred by the Malaysian government against Lena (left) and others involved in screening of the documentary.

The federal lawmaker also informed the conference that Tamil language and culture was set for continuity in Malaysia, where he said 60 percent of parents sent their children to Tamil schools for primary education.

He also said that poverty was rampant among the eight percent of the Malaysian population of 28 million who were Indians, mainly of Tamil origin.

Efforts to advance their socioeconomic condition suffered from a lack government aid and from a paucity of opportunities for the community to acquire tertiary academic and technical education, Kulasegaran added.