Creeping Talibanization in Sri Lanka - Prof. David

Noting several trends in Sri Lanka point to "early steps in [reaching for] totality of power," Prof Kumar David in a column in the weekend edition of "The Island" asserts that the cultural control exercised by the current Rajapakse regime are no different to those of "the Mullahs of Teheran and the iconoclastic Taliban fundamentalists." Prof. David summarizes the views of six lawyers expressed at a Lawyers’ Press Conference organised by the Platform for Freedom (PfF) early August where one notes that the scene is set for ever expanding authoritarianism as Sri Lanka's President flagrantly violates the "supreme law, the public [is] apathetic and the judiciary [is] powerless," and another points to the holding of 300,000 people "against their will, in defiance of local and international law" as "obscene infringement of the constitution."

Professor Kumar David

Full text of the article follows:

State bureaucrats, and the political hypocrites at whose behest they function, are telling us what films to watch, what music to listen to, what to drink and smoke, what animals to torture, and instructing our lawyers what clients they dare appear for. Have they gone mad? No not at all, they are perfectly sober and cynical. These are but early steps in assimilating a totality of power; better known as totalitarianism. Cultural control by the Mullahs of Teheran and the iconoclastic Taliban fundamentalists are forerunners of culture control as a means of exercising political power.
Historically, hypocritical prudery – a cover-up for vileness in the private lives of the power elite – go back to the Borgia Popes, and further back to the mad Caligula who made his horse a Senator (now don’t say its better than having jackasses in parliament and cabinet), or the paedophile emperor Tiberius who had children perform unspeakable abominations as he swam naked in the pool. Rodrigo Borgia was a Cardinal and later Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) and while in these offices he fathered a number of children by his mistress Vannozza Catanei. Conversely, the wise emperor Dharma Asoka never sought totalitarian control of the minds and freedoms of his people.
I do not need to dwell on corruption in public life in Sri Lanka, and profanity in private life, links to the drug underworld, and the drift to political absolutism. Understandably then, reactivation of the draconian press council is entirely for the purpose of controlling dissent.

Six lawyers speak out
"The erosion of the rule of law has been a process, continuing at a steadily worsening pace. First it was white vans and abductions but the majority took little note since the victims were a minority community, then it was journalists and editors, then lawyers came under threat, and now scores of common "criminals" are being bumped off by the police – who knows the truth; how many personal scores are being settled" said leading Kandy lawyer and LSSP PB member Lal Wijenayake speaking at a Lawyers’ Press Conference organised by the Platform for Freedom (PfF) at the National Library Auditorium on 4 August. Alleged criminals held in police custody are taken in handcuffs to a remote location, suddenly, as if by magic, hand grenades and T-56 assault rifles materialise in the hands of the criminal "forcing the police to gun him down in self-defence" like a dog. The lie is of Gobblesian proportions. Wijenayake thinks that between 50 and 70 may have been eliminated in cold blood. Off the record the police say summary extrajudicial execution is necessary because the legal process is too slow and criminals escape via loopholes in the law.
"Now that this trend has taken hold, remember nobody is safe; you may be the next in line and the reason may well be something you never foresaw" warns Wijenayake. A day after he spoke Nipuna Ramanayake a student at the Information Technology Institute was abducted, allegedly by the son of a Senior Superintendent of Police and taken to the SSP’s home where he was beaten mercilessly for several hours (Daily Mirror 6 August, front page). Then an attempt to force him to sign a false statement at the Crime Division office of the Dematatgoda police station mercifully misfired with the timely arrival of his parents. What does the IGP say? "No comment". What has the President done? No comment from me! Lal Wijenayake could well have added: ‘Not even your sons and daughters are safe any longer from uniformed thugs masquerading as officers of the law.’
Six lawyers spoke at the Press Conference which was a model of brevity and clarity. Each took seven or eight minutes and made an incisive presentation on topics related to creeping dictatorship. President’s Council Srinath Perera dealt with the threat published on the website of the Ministry of Defence against a team of lawyers. The case is a private plaint filed by the Secretary to the Defence Ministry, Gotabhaya Rajapakse (the President’s brother), against the Editor and owners of the Sunday Leader newspaper. The Ministry, in contempt of judicial process, published a statement describing the lawyers appearing for the defence as "traitors"!
In Perera’s view this amounts to three simultaneous blows aimed at demolishing the rule of law. Firstly it was a violation of the constitutional right of a citizen to a fair trial and representation by counsel; second it was an attack on the bar and on the ability of lawyers to work without intimidation. Third and most insidious, it is a warning to the judge hearing the case that he had better be careful - if the verdict goes against the Defence Secretary, the implication is clear; the judge has sided with national traitors. The sanctity of the courts is being flagrantly, openly and unashamedly violated on a never before seen scale by agencies of the Sri Lankan state.
The lawyers expressed their disappointment with the Bar Association which has been supine in the face of these threats. The public is largely apathetic to creeping dictatorship, still basking in the glory of war victory. Many professional bodies including the Bar Association are spineless, cowed down in fear of the Executive. The Vasudevas, firebrands of old, are now domesticated presidential lapdogs. These are sad and dangerous times for those who believe that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance". The all powerful executive does not care a damn: ‘We do as we damn well like, what the hell can any of you do about it!"
Chandra Kumarage, a lawyer with a pro-left (LSSP) and one time pro-PA background, described the long fight for human rights that had made this country, if not a model, at least an example of a society where the rule of law had some space. He dealt with the period when Mahinda Rajapakse, as a lawyer and an opposition politician, had been with human rights agitations and taken briefs to HR commissions overseas. Now all this was being reversed on Rajapakse’s watch as President of the Republic, said Kumarage.
Sudarshan Gunawardena, lawyer and PfF convenor, believes that despite the end of the war the government will not return democratic rights to the people; instead gross violations will continue and take new forms. The moral is clear; it is up to the people to come forward and boldly take back their rights, there is no other way. Nanny-state sponsored displays of priggishness, cultural fascism, threats to impose prohibition of alcohol by 2015, and religious leaders stooging political masters, all constitute a cultural assault to supplement the slide to totalitarianism.
Infringing common rights
J. C. Weliamuna, another PfF convenor, discussed the breakdown of the constitutional framework. In this lawyer’s view the functioning of the executive in defiance of the provisions of the 17-th Amendment is grossly illegal. When the President is in flagrant violation of the supreme law, the public apathetic and the judiciary powerless, the scene is set for ever expanding authoritarianism. Mercifully, however, a few sections of society are beginning to stir; artists and film makers are infuriated by the impending ban on adult’s only films soon to be imposed by the nanny state. The state cleverly convolutes adult themes with pornography to inflame gullible public opinion. The Taliban and the Mullahs of Teheran convolute artistic licence with paedophilia and lechery; that is the stock in trade of cultural fascists on the road to totalitarianism.
K. S. Ratnavale, who has appeared in many human rights related cases, turned the spotlight on the IDP camps calling them the largest concentration camps in the history of the world. I am not too sure whether they earn the title largest, but concentration camps they are. Between two and three hundred thousand people are held against their will, in defiance of local and international law, and in an obscene infringement of the constitution. Hundreds of thousands have been in illegal detention for three months, in effect hostages of a minority race, hostages of the state. As for their release, nothing that is said by any official source can be believed.
Xenophobia and the traitor image
Zimbabwe is an extreme case where xenophobia served to undermine human rights. There was a change from liberal democratic values to an authoritarian and xenophobic ideology; an attack on ‘Western style’ human rights values, and an attack on colonialism and imperialism for past atrocities. The critique found some popular support since it was linked to the aftermath of a racist regime. TV and the press were mobilised and opposition politicians, parties, journalists and newspaper editors were branded as traitors and paid the price.
Circumstances in Lanka are not yet as dreadful but there is a distinct turning away from human rights values, denigrating them as a Western post-colonial imposition. There is a not so subtle effort to conceal the universal applicability of human rights. Xenophobia is underlined by a turn in foreign policy that speaks approvingly of friendship with China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia. The logic is that these governments provided arms and diplomatic support during the war while the West took a more nuanced view; proscribing the LTTE and freezing its assets and access to arms, but also making war crimes allegations and raising human rights concerns. This did not pan out well with the regime since the new friends did not raise such embarrassing concerns.
I do not object to the government turning to China and elsewhere in addition to the West for development aid, investment and markets as a part of a strategy of economic diversification. The problem is when this turn takes a twist in relation to human rights. Unfortunately there are no human rights traditions and independent civil society organisations in those countries with which the democratic left or bourgeois liberals can form links. Hence continuing emphasis on lines of contact with peoples and institutions tested in the human rights arena is necessary. The peoples’ movements and civil rights organisations in Western democracies have strengths that can be crucial allies in Lanka’s struggle against totalitarianism.

Tamils in Jaffna long for normality

JAFFNA, SRI LANKA // The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) may claim it won a crucial election in the minority Tamil-dominated town of Jaffna, but frustrated residents say the government is far from being able to provide peace with dignity.

“It is a long way before people will get their freedom and peace. We want to be treated with dignity, not live like second-class citizens,” said a retired lawyer who, like many others who spoke to The National, did not want to be named.
From journalists, public officials and businessmen to the ordinary man on the street, residents of this town, once the seat of Tamil nationalism and the cry for a separate homeland, are reluctant to speak to the media for fear of upsetting the authorities.
At the nearby Nallur Hindu temple, which this month is expecting Tamil expatriates from across the world for its annual festival, devotees were uneasy even talking about the festival, its origins and significance. “Please don’t quote me,” said a young man going towards the temple.
Hindus are the majority community in Jaffna, which has a small Christian and Muslim population. Across Sri Lanka, Tamils, who represent 12 per cent of the population, are mostly Hindus.
While the end of the war in May this year brought relief to many Sri Lankans, the life of the Jaffna resident has not changed much apart from the end of food shortages.
Hundreds of troops are spread across the northern region, there are some items still banned in Jaffna, and going to Colombo, about 400 kilometres to the south, is a bureaucratic nightmare.
They charge us 19,500 rupees (Dh623) per return flight for a one hour journey [one way] when it probably costs the same to go to Malaysia and back from Colombo,” said an angry resident. Travel to Jaffna is mainly possible through two or three daily flights by a private airline, and for the past two weeks, the air force, which has been operating commercial flights.

Travel is still restricted along the main north-south motorway, which is open now mostly for military transport. A few passenger buses and goods lorries are allowed on the road, with security checks taking a long time.
A trader said it takes as long as eight hours to travel from Colombo to Jaffna by car.
“Lorries are held up sometimes for three days at security checkpoints further south of Jaffna. Often these lorries, which carry fruits and vegetables, arrive here with rotting or spoilt stuff,” he said.
Another shopkeeper said transporting goods by lorry cost 100,000 rupees per journey compared with 10,000 rupees in 2002-03 when the road was open without restriction during peace talks between the government and Tamil rebels.
However, with lorries carrying consumer goods into Jaffna, compared to goods being transported by ship during wartime, essentials and other goods are available and in some cases, like medicines, cheaper than in Colombo.
“The drug companies want to capture this market. So they are offering huge discounts which we are passing to the consumers,” said a pharmacy owner.
In the first polls held since the Tamil rebels were defeated by government troops, the ruling party won elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council. However, the win by the UPFA, which claimed that the victory reflected faith in the government by Tamils, was largely due to the presence of the government minister and former rebel commander Douglas Devananda.
Mr Devananda, whose party supports the government, told the media yesterday, two days after the election, that his party would have won a bigger victory if he had his way.
He said it should not be perceived as a victory for the government, which faces many problems. High among them is reforming an education system that is in shambles. A once-proud system – Jaffna district had the best results after Colombo in any secondary examinations – has been shattered by the war.
Education officials here say Jaffna, part of the northern province, which is at the bottom among Sri Lanka’s nine provinces, now ranks 18th among 25 districts.
“We have not only lost infrastructure but also skilled people. Dozens of teachers have gone abroad due to the war and it’s hard to get replacements,” a senior official said.
Teachers are also unable to get updated on new teaching methods and school curriculum as the training and workshops are held in Colombo, which for most of the past three to four years has been inaccessible.

IDPs swimming in human excreta

Torrential rains in Vavuniya Friday burst temporary sewage pipes, destroyed make-shift shelters and trapped thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) interned in Menik Farm in Vavuniya causing many of them to undergo severe difficulties as rain waters filled with sewage matter, maggots and human excreta rose in tents sheltering some 20,000 IDPs.

Reports reaching The Sunday Leader yesterday said that IDPs particularly in Zone 3 and Zone 4 of Menik Farm were seriously affected as poorly constructed drainage pipes caused severe flooding within the area.
The situation caused panic and while turmoil raged the Government moved in additional military personnel fearing large numbers of IDPs would escape the barbed wire camps.
The Sunday Leader has over the last three months consistently highlighted serious concerns raised by humanitarian agencies who pointed out that flooding was possible in these camps due to badly constructed drainage and sewer pipes.
Jeevan Thiyagarajah, Head of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) told The Sunday Leader that apart from inadequate sanitation facilities and tents meant for an emergency only would also collapse in the event of heavy rains. “My predictions have been proved right,” he said last evening.
Thiyagarajah in fact two months ago threatened court action if the tents were not de-congested.
Government officials yesterday confirmed that of some 20,000 IDPs facing this horrendous situation only around 1,000 had been relocated to other locations within Menik Farm.
Vavuniya Government Agent, P.S.M. Charles told The Sunday Leader that around 400 people in Zone 4 of Menik Farm were on low level grounds and faced more risks than the others in the camp.
“Around 1,000 persons have been shifted to locations within the camp premises. The problem in Zone 4 is that the drainage system could not be completed on time. These 400 persons are on lower level ground. Therefore, they face more problems and would have to be shifted to another location if rain continues,” she said yesterday.
She said the government continued to supply them with food and essential items.
Meanwhile, TNA Wanni District Parliamentarian Sivasakthi Anandan told The Sunday Leader that he had received calls from displaced persons on the issue. “IDPs especially in Zone 4 have been shifted to locations within the camp. I am not aware of the actual number,” he said. “In other zones too, those who live on lower level grounds face similar problems.”

A view from behind the barbed wire

Interview with our Canadian colleague Denise Otis, a UNHCR Canada legal officer who just returned from serving on UNHCR's Emergency Response Team in Sri Lanka. The interview is published by Embassy Magazine, Canada's influential foreign policy newspaper which has a weekly readership of over 60,000 and has become a must-read among politicians, top bureaucrats, political staffers, diplomats and academics.


by Jeff Davis
During the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war, the island nation's government barred the media and other observers from entering the war zone. As a result, first-hand accounts of the conditions facing the hundreds of thousands of Tamils forced to flee their homes, and later interned in internally displaced peoples (IDP) camps, were practically non-existent.
But on the ground during the final weeks of intense fighting was Denise Otis, a Canadian employed at the Montreal office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. After 15 years representing mostly asylum seekers before the Immigration and Refugee Board, Ms. Otis joined the UNHCR as a legal officer in 2004. Eager for field experience, Ms. Otis volunteered for the UNHCR's emergency roster team, and after some training in Sweden, spent May and June among Sri Lanka's internally displaced Tamils.
Last week, Embassy spoke with Ms. Otis about her experiences. This is an edited transcript of her reflections on her time in Vavuniya, a town which swelled with internally displaced peoples in the war's aftermath:
When you were dealing with the IDPs near the end of the conflict, what were they telling you? What state were they in?
"We were not alone there, of course. There were many organizations, and it was a huge operation at the very beginning because these people were coming down to the checkpoint called Omanti. At this spot the people were registered, a very brief registration, and sent to camps.
"And so at that checkpoint, [Doctors Without Borders] was present, and trying to cover the cases they could monitor.... One important task for UNHCR was what we call presence protection, to be there and observe what's happening. We were visible with our T-shirts and caps, and we were allowed to be present to monitor what was going on.
"[The IDPs] had just left courageously, they were survivors of war. They were in bad shape. They had been under fire for a few months, and some of them had practically lived in bunkers. Some of them were injured; they had been victims of shelling. They were all extremely tired. They also had had problems of access to food.
"I myself witnessed the case of a young boy-my boy's age, an 11-year-old-who was dehydrated and they were going to lose him, but they finally fortunately succeeded in resuscitating him. It was something very [deeply moving] to witness.
"At the beginning, a lot of people were sent to schools and community centres in Vavuniya City. Because the arrivals were sudden, it was very difficult half the time to establish proper camps and so on.
"The first protection that you try to give people is for their lives, so you need shelter and food and so on. UNHCR, in terms of shelter, had, thanks to donations, sufficient shelters, mainly tents, to protect those people at the beginning. But it was huge numbers of displaced...in total at the beginning about 280,000 people.
"So obviously, at the beginning the authorities, including the army, were taken a bit off guard because of all the displacements and what it meant in terms of sheltering. You have to remember, we were in a context of war, and obviously the LTTE cadre, the combatants, were also among those people who were being displaced. So the Sri Lankan army wanted to make sure that the combatants would be apart from the civilians. So there was a screening process going on at this particular checkpoint."
Broadly speaking, how did the Sri Lankan army treat the IDPs?
"We were very much constrained as humanitarians, we were not allowed on roads before eight o'clock and after six o'clock pm, for security reasons.
"When we were there we did not, generally speaking, see any mistreatment. But the bottom line is...that they are encircled by barbed wire. Generally speaking, there is no freedom of movement, which is one of the basic principles applied to internally displaced peoples. There is a [UNHCR] guideline that exists on IDPs, and it's very clear that the very first principle of these guidelines is freedom of movement.
"In Sri Lanka, many people had been displaced in the past, including when the tsunami took place. And I saw some of these settlements of people who had been displaced in 1998, and these people had never been constrained, never been submitted to confinement like that.
"The main reason given by the government, and I think UNHCR understood the fact, that because of the context, the government thought it was better for security reasons to confine those people. But the situation is that they are still confined."
What are some of the things that stick out clearest in your mind about the situation in those camps?
"Well it's heavily militarized around the camps. At the beginning the army was also in the camps, but they were eventually replaced by civilians. I think this was also thanks to advocacy from UNHCR, because that's another principle: the camps cannot be militarized.
"Nevertheless, it's still militarized outside, but inside now it's civilians, which is a good improvement. But it was a first impression, that that was a bit contrary to the principles.
"Of course the fact that the people are confined is something that catches the attention. It's barbed wire and you see kids, old age people, and so on. Now, I have to tell you that the government of Sri Lanka has established rules where people 60 and above and the kids 10 and below were allowed, according to various rules and procedures, to leave the camps. So a certain number have been released, but Vavuniya is a small town. The infrastructure did not necessarily exist, but they did their best to have those people find a place to live."
Has any progress been made?
"The basic rights have to come through. Sanitation, water, etcetera. And now I know they have made a lot of efforts in order for the kids to have access to education. They also made efforts to decongest those huge camps where too many people were jammed at the beginning. Now they put them in other camps.
"They have the intention to resettle, meaning they will be sent back to where they came from, but because of the war situation, the demining, the operation can still take some time."
Why are they still in the camps?
"It's not that all the territory has been mined, but it's risky to send them back to where they come from, that's the reason that's given.
"So for the moment, they're trying their best, I guess, to make sure people are fed, but the problem remains they are confined, and that's something UNHCR is advocating [against]. In Pakistan, people were sent also to their families, people who could not do otherwise, they are in camps, but are free to move, and they have the option to go."
I understand there are a number of Canadians are among the IDPs. How are they?
"I must admit when I was there I didn't know about [those Canadians]. I heard about it afterward. But the fact is yes, there are.
"Some [foreign] people had been in the areas, because they attended a funeral, or were on holidays or were coming from a wedding or whatever, and were caught in the situation and so they found themselves in the camps. That's pretty unfortunate.
"The monsoon season is coming, and that's something I dread for them, because they are in tents and when it rains, it rains...and there's no flooring. When I was there, there was a half hour rain and it was a total disaster."
Do you think peace is in the cards now for Sri Lanka?
"The people want it, right. The Tamils, the ones I talked to, want to do like everyone else: be in peace, raise their kids peacefully and be able to go out in the evening. War is war, and at one point you just want to be at peace. That's what they want, most of them."
It seems to me that the main thing where the Sri Lankan government is falling afoul here is the freedom of movement issues.
"That's a big issue, yes. Because it's the basis of guidelines on IDPs and it's also a principle that is in the Declaration of Human Rights. It's not out of the blue, it's really the fundamentals of international law, and we have the mandate and the duty to repeat it, here and everywhere."

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7UWMG4?OpenDocument

Sri Lanka call to free refugees

Two of Sri Lanka's most senior Roman Catholic clergy have spoken out against the continued detention of nearly 300,000 Tamil war refugees.




The Archbishop of Colombo and the Bishop of Jaffna were addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims at a shrine close to camps housing the refugees.



Jaffna bishop Thomas Saundaranayagam, himself a Tamil, said the refugees were being held "like prisoners".



The government says they have to be vetted for links to the Tamil Tigers.



Government forces defeated the Tamil Tigers in their last stronghold in the north earlier this year, bringing the country's civil war to an end.



Sri Lanka's Roman Catholics revere the statue of Our Lady of Madhu at the shrine in north-west Sri Lanka and 15 August is a major festival.
This is the first time since 2005 that the government has given permission for Catholics to visit the shrine in large numbers. Until last year the area was controlled by the Tamil Tigers. The warring sides used to make arrangements to allow pilgrims to visit on 15 August.
'Behind barbed wire'

The BBC's Charles Haviland is in Madhu and says well over 100,000 pilgrims have visited the shrine in recent days.
In his sermon, the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith from the majority Sinhalese community, said this was a beautiful occasion.

However he said it would have been more so had the people of this area being held in camps been able to come, he said, referring to the lack of Tamils.
Bishop Saundaranayagam said most local people were "confined to camps, behind barbed wire fences, like prisoners".
Father Joe Xavier, who has officiated at this shrine for 15 years through war, ceasefire and peace, estimated that as many as 90% of the devotees this year were Sinhalese people who generally could not visit during the long years of Tamil Tiger control.
He said that many Tamils were being held in camps, while others did not want to come this year.
"When we are talking to them they feel their feelings are being hurt," Father Joe said. "When our brothers and sisters are now in the camp we just cannot come and celebrate the feast here."
The main Menik Farm refugee camp is very close by.
Our correspondent says that although security has been tight for the Madhu festival, President Mahinda Rajapaksa cancelled his planned visit out of security concerns.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8202993.stm

assistance and the attached strings

Palaly has been receiving some attention in the news recently. Last week, in a move cementing relations between two neighbouring countries, India reportedly made a payment of Rs. 117 million to the Sri Lankan Government, for runway rehabilitation at Palaly.

It appears, however, that this project has been in the works for quite some time.
Former Secretary of Defence, Austin Fernando, reveals in his book My Belly Is White, that the runway rehabilitation was considered essential by the SLAF Commander, even during Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure.
The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) noticed that, especially after the introduction of heavier aircraft into the Palaly airstrip, many vital aircraft components were damaged. This posed serious flight safety risks, and replacing the parts was expensive. Private operators, flying after the ceasefire agreement came into effect, reported similar problems. The SLAF Commander had asked for assistance to more or less redo the air base, according to Fernando.
Lack of funding
However, as Fernando observed, there was a severe lack of funding to get this project off the ground. The cost of this project would be around USD 5 million, hardly small change. He petitioned the Treasury, and when this failed, turned to the idea of foreign assistance.
The arrangement at the time was for a company under the Ministry of Highways to do the work, Fernando revealed. This company would be supervised jointly by the SLAF and a local consultant attached to the Road Development Authority (RDA). Quality control would be the responsibility of the Project Management Group of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The parties involved hoped to finish the entire job within 11 months. It was to be in two phases. The first phase constituted resurfacing the runway, constructing drains and replacing the airfield lighting systems. The second would be resurfacing the other taxi tracks and aprons.
It was suggested that the Indian Government finance this project as a grant to the Sri Lankan Government.
Money with conditions
However it was at this point that Captain M. Gopinath, Defence Attaché of the Indian High Commission of Colombo, approached Fernando.
It appeared that the money India was willing to provide came with certain conditions.
The first request was that any further work on the runway should first be entrusted to India before considering any other country for assistance. This was not an unreasonable requirement. In fact Fernando wrote that considering the dire need for funding, he thought the government would be happy to comply with this request.
The second was that no other country be allowed to carry out a military operation from the Palaly runway, and the third that India be allowed to use the runway upon request.
India had legitimate security concerns in mind preventing countries such as, say, Pakistan from using the runway. However, what this effectively amounted to was that no other country could use the runway without India first agreeing to it. That in turn could mean that Sri Lanka might only have India to depend on in the event of an air attack on Jaffna. It was a tug-of-war between the need for sovereignty and the need to maintain good diplomatic ties with India.
“A soft intervention by a Gulliver could be heavy for a Lilliputian!” wrote Fernando on this dilemma. It appeared that others agreed with him. After discussions Fernando was told by Former Defence Minister Tilak Marapone that the Prime Minister at that time, Ranil Wickremesinghe, had decided that if India continued to insist on these conditions, they would use Sri Lankan funds instead. Wickremesinghe thought the money came at too high a price.
Series of letters
It was a series of letters between the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J. R. Jayewardene that saved the day. A letter written by Jayewardene pledged that foreign military and intelligence personnel would not be employed in a manner prejudicial to Indo-Sri Lankan relations. It also said that no ports would be made available for military use by any other country in a manner prejudicial to Indian interests. There was hope that the Indo-Lanka treaty would be enough to satisfy the Indian Government, and Marapone intimated that Former Minister Milinda Moragoda would speak to the Indian High Commissioner to finalise the agreement.
However, before this was finalised, Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga “grabbed the Ministry of Defence on constitutional grounds,” as Fernando puts it, and he was relieved of his post.
Whether India was satisfied with the Indo-Lanka Treaty or not is unknown, though Fernando wrote that from what information he had, the arrangement followed the terms Wickremesinghe had sought.
If India did indeed agree to forward a total of USD 5 million for runway rehabilitation, it would be a huge step in improving relations between the two countries. One can only hope that this time, there were no strings attached.

India’s help for Lanka’s LTTE-freed areas

NEW DELHI: With de-mining of north Sri Lanka gaining momentum, India is sending a team of agriculture experts there to assist in activation of farming in the areas that have been freed from the LTTE control.

The team, to be led by a crop scientist of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), is expected to travel to Sri Lanka by the end of this month.
The agriculture experts will assess the soil condition, irrigation facilities and weather conditions among other aspects to determine how farming could be started in the areas freed from LTTE control, sources told PTI here.
The timing of the visit has been chosen in view of the coming crop season.
The team will determine requirements for activation of farming in those areas so that follow-up assistance could be extended by India which is set for a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction agenda in the Tamil-dominated areas, they said.
The government has also roped in noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and he is being consulted in the effort to activate farming in north Sri Lanka.
Activation of farming activities is one of the first steps aimed at providing livelihood to locals.
The effort to start farming coincides with the progress being made in de-mining by India of the areas that have been freed from LTTE control.
Four Indian teams, each comprising 50 experts, are currently engaged in clearing north Sri Lanka of mines that had been planted by fleeing LTTE.
India will also be helping in resurrection of railway network in north Sri Lanka that has been damaged during LTTE control of the area. The two countries are discussing the specific projects that India can take up in this regard.
At the same time, a temporary hospital operated by India in Vavuniya is being wound up after six months of service.
The 100-bedded hospital that was set up soon after the war between the Sri Lankan army and LTTE got over, has treated nearly 27,000 patients.
India is also undertaking reconstruction activities in Sri Lanka's Eastern province, which too is Tamil-dominated.
Among the projects are a rail-bus service which has been started with vehicles being provided by India.

A 500-MW power plant, set up in Trincomalee through collaboration between India and Sri Lanka, is also expected to be started next month.

Lankan Oil Investment Modified

An agreement between Iran and Sri Lanka for the expansion of Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery has been altered due to Sri Lanka's inability to meet the stipulated conditions.

Sri Lanka will pay its share of the project in installments over the period of construction, Moj News Agency wrote.
Authoritative sources said that in the original agreement, the Sri Lankan government had made a commitment of 30 percent of $1.47 billion project upfront. It subsequently said it could not raise the required funds.
The project aims at doubling the production capacity of the oil refinery near Colombo from 50,000 barrels per day to 100,000 bpd.
Sri Lanka has greatly benefited from Iran making available what diplomatic sources called $700 million in cash to purchase oil.

Indian Navy a big challenge for China?

CHENNAI: Though China has been engaged in developing three ports at Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan thus encircling India, the weak area for the country today is the Indian Navy, Naval Chief of Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said here on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters here at a function held at Chennai Port on Thursday, the Admiral said, “The Chinese efforts and help to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Myanmar to build ports in their countries were a part of its strategy to get a foothold in the ocean, but one has to understand the fact that it is not so easy for them (China) to come inside the Indian Ocean where our navy has better presence.” On a question about India being encircled by Chinese-sponsored ports in its Asian neighbourhood, Mehta said that Beijing was building such dependency ports as part of its strategy to have a strong footing in the ocean in future. While reacting to his reported statement on China-India comparison a few days ago, Mehta said, “During the intellectual discussion a few days ago, I spoke about several national security issues there but the media picked my China-related statement only.” Strongly discounting the number game with China, Admiral Mehta said, “It’s not that you have 50 ships, I have 50 ships. I may have 10 ships which are much smarter and better and let us do that.” To a query on the recent detention of North Korean cargo ship MV Musan near Hutbay in South Andaman, Mehta said that no full details were available at this point of time. “But with North Korea, we have to be doubly sure. But prima facie, it looks like the ship got some genuine cargo which was destined for Iraq,” he said. However, he added that the ship was being towed to Kakinada Port and different agencies would investigate the matter there