Politics - A high turnover business !!!

Ever wondered why the politicians are very anxious about winning the election. Is it for Power ? Is it for serving the country? Is it for serving the peope ? Is is for fame ? although certain percentage of politicians are falling in this category, more than 90% of politicians are not falling in these categories. then why they are very anxious about winning?

It is for Money !!!

Look at the amount each candidate and party spending for the election.. The amount is huge and unimaginable. The EC rules of having limitation of expense is just a rule.. thats all.. who cares about EC :-)

For becoming a MLA, the person has to spend atleast 1 Crore rupees. For becoming MP, one has to spend few crores. What they will get out of spending this huge money ?

They are entering into a new business called "Politics", so they are just investing during the election.. and they will get the business returns after winning. From these politicians, we cannot expect other than earning money for what they already spent !!!!

Smart Politicians !!!

Politicians have 3 Manthras !!!

1) What to Tell/Do
2) When to Tell/Do
3) How to Tell/Do

If you take all the examples happened during the last General elections you can understand how smart these politicians are to make the people fool.

Jayalalitha says - She will be sending Indian army to Srilanka to create separate country called Eelam....

Karunanithi - was in Fasting after everything over in srilanka...

Ramadoss - Claiming the EVM is faulty and manipulated, the reason for their loss...

Thangabalu - says Congress is doing everything to save Tamils in Srilanka..

EVKS Elangovan asking "Who is Muthukumar"..

Manmohan says BJP spliting the country on communal basis..

Modi says he is the "Sachin" of politics ...

How smart are these politicians !!!!

No beard : Supreme court tells Muslim student !!!

Supreme Court has rejected the plea of a Muslim student in a Christian missionary school that he be allowed to sport a beard to conform with his religious beliefs.

Justice Markandeya Katju, in delivering the judgment on behalf of a bench of the court two days ago, said: “I am secularist. We should strike a balance between rights and personal beliefs. We cannot overstretch secularism.”

The judge added: “We don’t want Talibans (sic) in the country.

“Tomorrow, a girl student may come and say that she wants to wear a burqa. Can we allow it?”

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had earlier dismissed the student’s plea.

The student maintained that every citizen was entitled to follow his religious principles and that no one should stop him from doing so in a secular country like India.

When his counsel, Mr. B.A. Khan, a Muslim, argued that sporting a beard was an indispensable part of Islam, the judge pointedly noted: “But you don’t sport a beard.”

The court said that if the student was not interested in following the rules of the school, he had the option of joining another institution.

‘You can join some other institution if you do not want to observe the rules. But you can’t ask the school to change the rules for you,’ the judge said.

The country’s Supreme Court is currently hearing a petition by Muslim airman Mohammed Zubair, who is challenging a ‘confidential order’ of the Indian Air Force (IAF) which prohibits Muslim personnel from sporting beards.

The Delhi High Court had earlier dismissed his plea.

The government had, in response to a notice from the court, justified the order, saying it was “issued in the interest of cohesiveness in a combatant force like the IAF and also keeping in view the security implications”.

It also said the policy was “secular in character”.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court last year dismissed a similar petition by two Muslim air force personnel who had sought permission to grow beards while in service.

Pakistan's 60 nukes directed toward India: US report

Pakistan which has about 60 nuclear warheads, primarily targeted towards India, is continuing production of fissile material for weapons and adding to its production facilities and delivery vehicles, a US Congressional report has said.

The latest report by Congressional Research Service (CRS) -- a research wing of the US Congress which prepares reports for lawmakers -- comes a validation to recent statements and media reports that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear arsenal.

"Pakistan's nuclear arsenal consists of approximately 60 nuclear warheads. It continues fissile material production for weapons and is adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles," said the report "Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security issues", which was released to the media on Thursday.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Congressional hearing on May 14 had said that the US has "evidence" that Pakistan is expanding its nuclear arsenal. A similar report was also published in The New York Times early this month.

Pakistan stores its warheads unassembled with the fissile core separate from non-nuclear explosives, and these are stored separately from their delivery vehicles, it said.
Pakistan does not have a stated nuclear policy, but its "minimum credible deterrent" is thought to be primarily a resistance to conventional military action by India.

"Deterring India's nuclear weapons and augmenting Pakistan's inferior conventional forces are widely believed to be the primary motivation for Islamabad's nuclear arsenal," the CRS said.

The report further states that Islamabad gained technology from many sources including uranium enrichment technology from Europe and blueprints for a small nuclear weapon and missile technology from China.

Pakistan's nuclear warheads use an implosion design with a solid core of highly enriched uranium, about 15-20 kg per warhead and "Islamabad continues to produce about 100 kg of highly enriched uranium for weapons every year," the report said.

Referring to expansion of Khushab plutonium production reactor -- by adding two additional heavy water reactors with Chinese help -- the report said: "the continued expansion of the complex and production of weapons materials could indicate plans to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal in near future."

The CRS said even as Pakistani officials have maintained that they have already determined the arsenal size needed for minimum nuclear deterrence and they will not engage in an arms race with India, all indications were otherwise.

Sri Lanka wins at the UNHRC !!!

The Sri Lankan government scored a victory at the UNHRC, yesterday, as the expanded draft resolution, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, was adopted with 29 votes in favour.

“The decisive victory at this crucial time, just 10 days after the end of the war, sends a very positive message, as it shows the endorsement of the international community of Sri Lanka’s efforts to resolve the humanitarian challenges in the aftermath of the conflict,” said Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

The original draft co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, titled: “Assistance to Sri Lanka in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,” was expanded from 17 paragraphs to 29 paragraphs in order to promote consensus among UNHRC members.

The resolution highlights Sri Lanka’s continued commitment towards the resettlement of IDPs and the rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers and ex-combatants within a national framework, and its commitment to an inclusive political solution to ensure sustainable peace.
However, twelve countries, including the EU, Mexico, Japan and Chile, voted against the resolution, while 6 countries abstained.

Dayan Jayathilaka, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UN, in Geneva, said that this expanded resolution provided “the best synthesis of the sentiments of the Human Rights Council.”

“This resolution is not a hurrah for Sri Lanka, it is a sober document. It is a bridge between Sri Lanka and the world, and between Sri Lanka’s present and its future,” he said; adding that, “it sought to represent the maximum possible consensus. We have sought to make this the highest common denominator of the concerns of the Council with regard to Sri Lanka.”

The opposing countries, which included members of the EU, Japan, Mexico and Chile, among others, expressed reservations about several limitations in the adopted resolution.“This expanded resolution fails to call on the government of Sri Lanka to have an effective and independent inquiry into the violation of human rights and international humanitarian laws, nor does it address the problems faced by human rights defenders and journalists due to the lack of freedom of expression. It does not address the need for unhindered access to humanitarian agencies to the displaced and does not include a follow-up by the Council or a mechanism for the UN High Commissioner’s office for Human Rights to independently monitor the human rights situation in Sri Lanka,” said the German envoy to the UNHRC, speaking on behalf of the EU members.

In the meantime, Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry Secretary Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe raised the need for international humanitarian agencies to work in collaboration with local NGOs.

“We need to build our own capacity and we intend to do so, we would welcome the assistance of the UN but we would monitor and make sure that is not a cascading effect of people who are making money from us,” he said.

“We want NGOs who bring aid -- and many have done a wonderful job -- but we also don’t want people sitting around and begging for the crumbs from the rich man’s table that should go our poor citizens,” he said.

Members of the non-aligned movement (excepting Chile) the African group and the Organization of Islamic Countries alleged that the move to call a special UN Human Rights Council session on Sri Lanka showed the double standards of the West when probing human rights violations.
“We hope that the UNHRC would also put equal emphasis to other conflicts in Asia or the Middle East, where the US army drone hit 2% of their targets with a rate of 98% of collateral losses,” said the Algerian Envoy to the UNHRC.

“This showed that this special session was distorted by double standards which hinder its universality,” he added.

UNhRC expresses concerns over overcrowding in IDP camps
The envoy of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns about the impact of overcrowding in the 41 camps for the 300,000 internally displaced at the special session on Sri Lanka at the second plenary session of the UN Human rights Council (UNHRC).

“We calls upon the government to maintain the civilian nature of the sites and to ensure that law and order are maintained by the civilian Police,” the UNHCR envoy said. The UN High Commission for Refugees also urged for a timeline for the restoration of the freedom of movement for those detained in IDP camps, to establish a time bound screening policy for former combatants and to place them in facilities separate from civilians.

The UNHCR welcomed the governments move to allow 1,500 internally displaced who were either above the age of 60 or who had special needs to move out of camps.However, it urged the government to widen the criteria that allowed IDPs to be released from camps.

LTTE’s Thamilini in custody !!!

The LTTE’s women’s political wing head Subramaniam Shivathai, alias Thamilini, was taken into custody yesterday, by a special police team, at the IDP camp in Vavuniya, while she was in the camp with her mother and sister, a senior police officer said.

Thamilini had come to the government controlled area with the people escaping from Puthumathalan which was a No Fire Zone at the time. She had told the police that she threw away her cyanide capsule and her pistol and passed off as a displaced person.

Thamilini’s mother, Subramaniam Gowri Wijayaraja and a sister Maheshwari had also come with her.

Another sister, Santhilan, had been killed in 1998, during a clash with the security forces in Paranthan.

Thamilini and her family members had not been recognised by anyone when they lived with the others before they were sent to the camp in Vavuniya.

Thamilini had been a student at Paranthan Hindu College up to the ‘O’ Level and had studied for the ‘A’ Level at the Central College of Kilinochchi. she had joined the LTTE in 1991, after listening to a lecture by the LTTE, and received battle training in a camp in Nirveli. For some time she had been put in charge of a coir mill and a farm in the Kilali area. During interrogations she had disclosed that she was attached to Thamilchelvam’s office.

When Nesmia, the previous head of LTTE Women’s Wing,- was killed in a clash with the army in Muhamalai, Thamilini had been appointed in her place. Her LTTE registration number was 1736.Thamilini was the name given her by the LTTE.

Special police intelligence officers and army investigators are continuing interrogations.

Prabhakaran’s parents in IDP camp - SL President !!!

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said at last evening’s Cabinet meeting that the parents of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran were living in a newly set up welfare camp in Vavuniya -- together with the relatives of other LTTE leaders.

Cabinet discussed the present conditions in the welfare camps and villages, and the measures to be taken to improve them. The President instructed the ministers to speed up action to attend to the humanitarian needs of the displaced civilians. He said that action had been taken to construct 2000 permanent toilets in these camps (in place of the portable toilets) for these people.The President also emphasised the need to send more health workers to these camps. He noted that doctors were reluctant to be based permanently in the camps to treat the sick in the camps.

He said he would be compelled, therefore, to send at least nurses to the camps to attend
to needs such as blood transfusions and taking of blood pressure.
He said he had wanted to deploy doctors who had completed their internship; but the Government Medical Officers’ Association had objected to their being sent before their registration.

The President pointed out that the government could not wait till all these problems were sorted out and, therefore, urgent steps would be taken to address the health needs of these people.
During the Cabinet meeting, he also contacted Attorney General Mohan Peiris, who was in Geneva, to inquire about the progress made at the UN Human Rights Council session on Sri Lanka. He instructed Mr. Peiris not to agree to any proposal to set up a UN Human Rights -monitoring mission here.

Mr. Peiris had reportedly informed him that Sri Lanka would be able to secure a majority at the session.

Sri Lanka: UN Rights Council Fails Victims !!!

The United Nations Human Rights Council on May 27 passed a deeply flawed resolution on Sri Lanka that ignores calls for an international investigation into alleged abuses during recent fighting and other pressing human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said today. The council held a special session on May 26 and 27, 2009, on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, a week after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by government forces.

"The Human Rights Council did not even express its concern for the hundreds of thousands of people facing indefinite detention in government camps," said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "The council ignored urgent needs and wasted an important chance to promote human rights."

The resolution passed with 29 votes in favor, 12 against, and 6 abstentions. It largely commends the Sri Lankan government for its current policies and fails to address serious allegations of violations of human rights and humanitarian law by government forces, focusing only on the abuses committed by the LTTE.

"It is deeply disappointing that a majority of the Human Rights Council decided to focus on praising a government whose forces have been responsible for the repeated indiscriminate shelling of civilians," said de Rivero. "These states blocked a message to the government that it needs to hear, to ensure access to displaced civilians and uphold human rights standards. They undermined the very purpose of the council."

A majority of council members - including China, South Africa, and Uruguay - ignored the call for accountability and justice for victims by the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay. Instead, the resolution adopted reaffirms the principle of non-interference in the domestic jurisdiction of states, a step backward for the Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said.

During the special session, Pillay called for an independent international investigation into violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the recent fighting, including those specifically responsible. UN estimates say that more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting in Sri Lanka since late January 2009.

"The images of terrified and emaciated women, men, and children fleeing the battle zone ought to be etched in our collective memory," Pillay said. "They must spur us into action."

The rejected resolution deplored abuses by both government forces and the LTTE, urged the government to cooperate fully with humanitarian organizations and to provide protection to civilians and displaced persons, and made an appeal to the Sri Lankan government to respect media freedom and investigate attacks against journalists and human rights defenders. It also called on the UN high commissioner for human rights to keep the council informed about the situation on the ground.

Human Rights Watch said that Brazil, Cuba, India, and Pakistan led efforts to prevent the passage of a stronger resolution that was put forward by the 17 members of the council that convened the Special Session: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom.

Human Rights Watch in particular commended Argentina, Chile, the Czech Republic, Mauritius, Mexico, and Switzerland for their efforts on behalf of a stronger resolution.
"These nations negotiated hard to uphold the council's mandate to respond effectively to human rights emergencies," de Rivero said. "It is regrettable that they were not supported by the majority."

Human Rights Watch said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had regrettably undercut efforts to produce a strong resolution with his recent comments in Sri Lanka. Ban publicly praised the government for "doing its utmost" and for its "tremendous efforts," while accepting government assurances, repeatedly broken in the past, that it would ensure humanitarian access to civilians in need.

Ban also distanced himself from strong language used in April by the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, who warned that the fighting in Sri Lanka could result in a "bloodbath." Unlike Pillay, Ban also failed to press for an international inquiry.
"Secretary-General Ban shares the blame for the Human Rights Council's poor showing on Sri Lanka," de Rivero said. "This adds to a crisis in confidence in UN bodies to speak out clearly on pressing human rights issues."

LTTE defeat in Srilanka !!!

Cleavages and consensus are simultaneously present in all societies at all times. Though the civilized men have condemned conflict throughout the ages, yet we have not been able to avoid the conflicts. The armed struggle in Sri Lanka is a story of one of such conflicts. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural polity. It is a country of 22 million people. The population of Sinhalese constitutes 18 million and that of Tamils 4 million. Sinhalese are concentrated in the central, western and southern provinces of the island. They are mostly Buddhist and follow a culture rooted in Buddhism. Tamils form the second largest community and are divided into Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils.

The main causes of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka are the denial of fair share in power, demographic aggression by another rival community backed by the central state and use of state coercion etc. The language conflict flared up in the 1950 became a springboard for ethnic conflict. In 1956 Sinhala Only Act was passed which recognized Sinhalese as the only official language of the country. Before late 1960 Tamils enjoyed a share higher than their population ratio in all sectors.
But after the imposition of Sinhala Only Act because of the lack of efficiency in Sinhala language they were automatically excluded from the services. So the economic grievances of the Tamils also played a role in sharpening this ethnic conflict. Tamils felt discriminated against Sinhalese in all sectors. This economic alienation of the Tamils was deepened by the major economic projects which were located only in Sinhalese dominated areas and benefited mainly the Sinhalese population.

The issue of power sharing also became a factor in this conflict. Sinhalese, who were in majority, wanted unitary system in the country while the Tamils were in favour of federal form of government. The Tamils wanted autonomy in predominantly dominated Tamil areas. Two attempts were made in 1957 and 1968 to reach an agreement on this point but all efforts failed because of Sinhalese stubbornness. From 1983 to 1987 there was a phase of violent conflict between the Tamils and Sinhalese dominated government, which resulted in the killings of almost 8000 people. In 1987 Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) went to Sri Lanka in order to disarm the Tamils but was withdrawn in 1990. This abortive effort brought death to almost 1200 Indian soldiers. From 1990 to 1995 there was another conflict in which more than 19000 people were bumped off.

In order to take revenge for Indian involvement in Sri Lanka these Tamil Tigers killed Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991 in a suicide attack. Later they killed serving president of Sri Lanka, Premasada, on May 1, 1993. On December 18, 1999 they assassinated another President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kuma.

LTTE has emerged as a very formidable force within a very limited period of time. It is a well-organized and well-disciplined outfit. Before the 1983 LTTE had only 33 members which grew to 1500 to 2500 hardcore members in 1985 to 1986 to 6000 in 1992 and to 15000 in 1995.
There were various factors which caused this rapid recruitment e.g., insecurity caused by riots, security forces actions and mass displacement of civilians in 1996. The role of women in the struggle of LTTE has remained very important throughout the last three decades. Almost 28 per cent of LTTE casualties are of women. Its members usually carry cyanide capsules around their neck with a standard LTTE order to swallow if their capture is imminent. Since the withdrawal of Indian forces from Sri Lanka in 1990, Norway has stepped in to mediate outstanding issues between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Norway has no biased opinion or any ulterior motive in this conflict.

The only motive one might attribute to it is the honour of being a successful mediator in international politics. There were six rounds of talks between LTTE and Sri Lankan government. The most important achievement of these six rounds of talks was Oslo agreement on federal solution of the Tamil problems. However after seven months of talks, the LTTE suspended the talks on April 21, 2003.

In 2002, a ceasefire was agreed which lasted till the end of last year. Then the Sri Lankan government decided to finish off the Tigers. Since then an operation was going on against LTTE in which army had notched great successes. LTTE was restricted to an area of 3.5 square mile coastal strip. However on May 17, the Tamil Tigers conceded defeat after 30-years old war as they decided to silence their guns.

The LTTE leader Prabakharan has committed suicide along with some of his close aides. Eqbal Ahmed said The struggles for justice and peace may be protracted but they are rarely lost. This is a very critical moment in the history of Sri Lanka where its government really has to take some sagacious steps. Instead of repeating the old mistake its government should concede the demands of these Tamil Tigers and try to integrate them in the main political step.

Individuals quarrel and then make it up. Wars are fought but again treaties are signed for the establishment of peace. Nietzsche, a famous philosopher, said that values can also originate from their opposites. Peace is inherent in the very nature of conflict, yet great mistakes too are always committed on the marrow of great victories. Any small mistake on the part of Sri Lankan government may lead the country towards another conflict in the decades to come.

Tamils urge 'fatherland' India not to back Sri Lanka !!!

The Tamil diaspora in Canada has joined Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in pleading with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to not support a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council in support of Sri Lanka.

The draft resolution by India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and others 'commends' Colombo for dealing with the problem of displaced people and seeks international support for it.

The resolution is in response to another resolution, backed by 30-odd Western nations, which calls for investigations into human rights violations by both Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers during the civil war.

In his letter to the prime minister, Karunanidhi has said: 'Though there is on one side a question of interfering in the internal affairs of a country, which would affect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, Sri Lanka should be treated as a special case.

'It is widely believed by millions of Tamils spread across the world that the draft resolution now presented by the Sri Lankan Government to the United Nations Human Rights Council is largely against the interests of Sri Lankan Tamils and hence I kindly request you to take appropriate decision in this regard, having in mind the sentiments of the Sri Lankan Tamils and their future welfare.'

Calling India their 'fatherland', Tamil Canadians Tuesday said New Delhi's support for the resolution 'absolving Sri Lanka of its war crimes' was shocking for their community worldwide.
'The military phase of the Tamil struggle has come to a halt. Time has come for India to be the voice of the voiceless Tamils,' said Canadian Tamil Congress spokesman David Poopalapillai.
'Talking about the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and the past is irrelevant now. It is a new era in our history.

'It is hurting us that our fatherland - and the nation that preached the Gandhian principles of justice to the world - is holding hands with the violators of human rights. Fatherland (India) should reach out to its Tamil kids and embrace them,' he added.

Poopalapillai said the Tamil community understood India's compulsions. 'But the least New Delhi can do for us is to stay neutral, not support Sri Lanka,' he pleaded.

No Victory in Sri Lanka !!!

Even after declaring victory in Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war, the country’s leaders seem unable to distinguish between the enemy — the brutal but apparently vanquished Tamil Tiger separatists — and innocent bystanders. Despite appeals from Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, and from others, the government has not given international aid organizations full access to government-run camps, where an estimated 280,000 civilians are said to be in desperate need of food, water and medical care.

The Tamil Tigers have a history of using civilians as human shields and the government claims it must screen out rebels hiding in the camps. But aid workers suspect other motives, including a desire to deny access to witnesses who may have seen abuses by government forces. In the last months of the fighting, President Mahinda Rajapaksa callously rejected international pleas for a cease-fire to let civilians escape the war zone, while his troops shelled the area.

We support the call by Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, for an international investigation into possible war crimes committed by both sides. The United Nations Human Rights Council is debating the issue this week in Geneva.

After killing most of the rebels, including the Tigers’ ruthless leader, the government is now offering reconciliation with the Tamil minority. We hope this is more than just lip service.

It must be prepared to forge a political settlement that gives Tamil civilians, who make up about 12 percent of the population, more autonomy in provinces where historically they have lived. It must also end all abuses, including restrictions on movement, and politically motivated killings. And it must work swiftly to resettle civilians back in their villages.

The government has asked for international help to rebuild. Foreign donors should make clear that any support is dependent on an agreement to open up the camps to international aid workers.

Some experts fear that President Rajapaksa and his government view all Tamils — long oppressed by the Sinhalese majority — as supporters of the Tigers. Most were driven to the guerrillas as a desperation move after decades of abuse. Until the government treats all of its citizens fairly, there is no chance for the peace that President Rajapaksa has promised his country.

SL Govt. ready for DNA test as Prabha is cremated !!!

Government has retained samples of body-parts of Liberation Tigers (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran for DNA tests before he was cremated on Wednesday in Mullaitivu.

Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday that the Government was prepared to conduct a DNA test should the necessity arise. “The defence establishment, however, has no doubts that he is dead,” he said.

Minister Rambukwella said the fate of Prabhakaran’s wife and two younger children remained a mystery. “It is not clear if they were caught up in the battle or residing overseas,” he said.
Details of how Prabhakaran, the man who waged a separatist war for two and half decades, met with his death are still trickling in.

No doubt, it’s him, says the government Reports that he was trapped in the fast disappearing No Fire Zone emerged last Monday. The next morning Army officials declared he had died and his body was found near Vellaimullivaikal. Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said Prabhakaran was found dead after 250 other guerrilllas had been killed as soldiers captured their last enclave, the No-Fire or Civilian Safety Zone on the Mullaitivu coast.

Video and still photographs of Prabhakaran were released later on Tuesday. To authenticate its claims that the LTTE leader had in fact died, the Ministry of Defence flew one of Prabhakaran’s erstwhile comrade-in-arms and now minister, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan. He was earlier LTTE’s Eastern Commander and reneged from the group over differences with his then leader.
Mr. Muralitharan alias Col. Karuna said he could confirm that the body was that of Prabhakaran. He said identification for him was easy from a scar on his leg. He had observed this scar during his long years of association with Prabhakaran.

LTTE spokesman Daya Master, who had earlier surrendered to the Army, also accompanied Muralitharan to the spot where his body was found. He agreed with the view that the body was that of his one time leader.

Army Commander Sarath Fonseka told reporters on Friday that the body of Prabhakaran was cremated on the beach, near the location where it was found. He said his ashes were thrown thereafter to the Indian Ocean. “I was delighted to hear he had been killed,” he added.

Army sources said they believed Prabhakaran fell after commandos carried out an attack on Monday night. “It was a rainy night. After gun battles, the commandos moved to engage in another task and did not know that Prabhakaran had fallen dead,” one source said. The body was found on Tuesday morning by troops of the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment.

Address the root cause of the issue : Indian Foreign Minister to Srilanka !!!

India’s new Foreign Minister said yesterday that Sri Lanka should now address the root cause of the problems of Tamils and offer a solution that would include effective devolution of power to all communities within the country's constitution.

"It is our view that as the conventional conflict in Sri Lanka comes to an end, this is a moment when the root causes of that conflict will have to be addressed,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in a brief interaction with the media.

Mr. Krishna, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and former Maharashtra Governor, said measures should include political steps towards the effective devolution of power within the Sri Lankan constitution so that Sri Lankans of all communities, including the Tamils, could feel at home and lead lives of dignity of their own free will.

"India will work with the people and government of Sri Lanka to provide relief to those affected by the tragic conflict and to rapidly rehabilitate those who have been displaced bringing normalcy to their lives as soon as possible," said Mr. Krishna who was also a minister during the regimes of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

India and China backs Srilanka !!!

Fourteen countries, including India have praised Sri Lanka for winning the war against a “terrorist group” and come together to support Sri Lanka counter charges of violating human rights law – a subject which comes up for discussion at a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on Tuesday.

Signatories to a resolution titled “Assistance to Sri Lanka in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights,” to be placed before the special session include India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Philippines, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

The special session has been convened at the request of 17 of the 47 members of UN’s Human Rights Council. These countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Britain.

Charges have been made both against the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

They are accused of killing, wittingly or unwittingly, thousands of civilians, including women and children, despite several appeals by the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations to observe a no-fire zone in the conflict areas.

The move to penalise both the government and the LTTE has been initiated primarily by the European Union. "It is hoped that the holding of this special session will contribute towards the cause of peace," HRC president Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi was quoted as saying.

The HRC has hled only 10 previous special sessions relating, among others, to Palestine, Lebanon, Darfur, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to a statement by the Geneva-based U.N. Watch on Friday, Sri Lanka has "preempted scrutiny" by the Human Rights Council by submitting its own resolution, supported by its allies. The resolution praises Sri Lanka for winning the war against a "terrorist group" and calls for funding by the international community.

Meanwhile, several international human rights and humanitarian agencies are raising concerns about restricted access to civilians and the government's insistence on a limited international role.

The U.N. and international aid groups have been granted limited access to the areas in and around the conflict zone, leaving them unable to confirm the status of the internally displaced people already in camps and to deliver much needed assistance.

"We hope all civilians are out of the conflict zone. It is hard to be absolutely sure," said U.N. under-secretary-general John Holmes, the world body's chief humanitarian coordinator.

"Whenever access is denied we are concerned. There were promises made that were never fulfilled. I think our main concern is to help the people who have got out," he told reporters Wednesday.

Jaffna Library: "The burning was a cultural genocide" !!!

Australia's Dateline reports on Jaffna Library:

REPORTER: Amos Roberts

Every building and every monument in Jaffna has been scarred by battle - None more than the town's public library. Although the physical damage has now been repaired, what happened to this beautiful building nearly 30 years ago helped spark Sri Lanka's civil war. Locals treat the library with reverence, almost as though it was some kind of temple - visitors are required to remove their shoes before entering. This is one of the library's oldest users. Sabaratnam started borrowing books from Jaffna's first public library almost 60 years ago - His membership number - 471.

REPORTER: You were one of the first members, weren't you? When did you first join the library?

SABARATNAM: 1951, I became a member.

REPORTER: So that's 58 years now?

SABARATNAM: 60 years! After that new building was put up, I was here almost a weekly regular visitor. Thousands of books and especially the latest magazines - 'Times Literary Supplement', London 'Times', 'The Hindu' - all these are collected here. So I was so happy. We had a wonderful time.

When it was built, the library was one of the largest in Asia and a source of enormous pride for the Tamil community. But its golden age came to an abrupt end in 1981. At the end of May, rioting broke out after the shooting of three Sinhalese police at a Tamil political rally. Tamil houses, shops and offices were all torched in revenge and there were reports that police were among the rioters. Then Jaffna's most-loved building was set alight.

C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM, FORMER MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER: I was able to see the library going up in flames. So my feeling was that we are losing a treasure.

When former municipal commissioner Sivagnanum went to investigate, he says police stopped him.

C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM: I was threatened, and if I refused to abide by the orders I may be harmed or I may even be shot, he said.

97,000 books were destroyed, including many irreplaceable manuscripts written on palm leaves. The Tamil community's cultural treasures went up in smoke, leaving only a lasting bitterness and anger.

C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM: Seeing those collections in flames, and realising that the whole thing can not be retrieved, it was terrible trauma in my mind when I was standing and looking at this. It was really a cultural genocide. The burning was a cultural genocide.
In a recent Tamil documentary, Sri Lanka's former foreign minister said that Sinhalese also felt the library's loss.

MANGALA SAMARAWEERA, FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER: This was not only a blow to the Tamil people and the Tamil intellectuals. It was a blow to the whole country because it was one of our national prides - having such a library in Sri Lanka. So burning this library, I would say was a massive psychological blow to our whole country.

Rebuilding started the following year, but the library soon found itself on the frontline of a civil war, used as a sanctuary by Tamil rebels under constant attack by the army. It was finally abandoned in 1985.

SABARATNAM: When the library was shuttered and there was no-one, I used to wander along and think of the old days when it was the intellectual centre for all of us.

KPOAYSIVAM, HINDU SCHOLAR: This is one of my books - it is a religious book.
Kopaysivam is a Hindu scholar and the author of several books held by the library.
REPORTER: Oh, so this is you!

He's thrilled the library was re-opened in 2003. Now a new generation is finally getting the chance to discover Jaffna's public library.

KPOAYSIVAM (Translation): This is called the archives, old newspapers from the old days… as well as magazines, are kept here. Collected and safely preserved.
The Sri Lankan government of the time said it rebuilt the library according to the original plans as an act of reconciliation.

MANGALA SAMARAWEERA: Restoration and renovation of the library was basically a symbolic gesture, I would say. That was a way of Chandrika Kumaratunga's government as well as the people of Sri Lanka saying, we are very sorry for what happened.
But the restoration turned out to be controversial. Many local Tamils felt it was an attempt to literally whitewash the past. They thought the ruined library should have been left as a memorial.

C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM: They had made a clear, planned effort to eradicate the historic event of destroying the library in 1981.

But the wounds are not all from the past. The ongoing war and tense political climate mean Jaffna feels like an occupied city. The new library suffers as a result - it's in the middle of a high-security zone, ringed by army checkpoints, and for many locals it's not worth the time and hassle to get here.

C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM: The place has lost its importance due to the conflict. It has come to a certain place of oblivion in a way.

KPOAYSIVAM (Translation): Go and get one book each, you can get them here or there, any book you like.

But unlike their parents, today's children seem less enthralled by old books than they are by new machines.

LIBRARIAN (Translation): The librarian says kids must read for an hour… before using the computers, but they stare at us impatiently. Games… that is what they want. How long can we keep shouting at the kids? When the librarian comes and asks me if they have read yet, I say yes. I tell them “The books are laughing at you.”

REPORTER: How do the books that are here compare to what was in the library before?
C.V.K. SIVAGNANUM: You know, there are latest books both from India and other places and all the books are there. That is conceded. But the historical record of the Tamil community, collected from the elder people, senior people, and our ancestors who lived here, are no more. Our cultural heritage is not available.

Prabhakaran's wife, daughter dead?

The slain LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran's wife and daughter as well as his top commander Pottu Amman have died in the Sri Lankan conflict, the Tigers' international spokesman S Pathmanathan has told the rebel supremo's former ally Karuna Amman.

Colonel Karuna, the LTTE commander of the Eastern region before he fell out with Prabhakaran in 2004, said that LTTE's International Relations head Pathmanathan has claimed that the wife and daughter of Prabhakaran were dead.

"But I cannot confirm this personally... If they were in the no-fire zone, they could not have escaped," Karuna, now a federal minister, said.

The slain Tiger supremo's wife Mathivathani and daughter Duwarka were earlier believed to have fled to Europe as the conflict intensified in Sri Lanka's north.

Sri Lankan army has not yet found their bodies or revealed any information about them. The whereabouts of Prabhakaran's 13-year-old son Balachandran are also not known.

Asked what he felt on the death of Prabhakaran, Karuna said he thought about the nearly one lakh people who had died and huge amounts of property that was wasted because of Prabhakaran and the military conflict run by him for years.

"I only thought this man was not accepting a political solution," Karuna told visiting newsmen.

Mark of Respect for Our Supreme Leader, The Indestructible Flame of Freedom !!!

Statement by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Head of International Relations-LTTE:

We announce today, with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader and supreme commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan Government on the 17th of May 2009. We share the sorrow and despair of all the Tamils in Sri Lanka, The Diaspora and the Tamil speaking people of the world.

For over three decades, our leader was the heart and soul and the symbol of hope, pride and determination for the whole nation of people of Tamil Eelam. He conceptualized, created and conducted the most disciplined and incorruptible organization that ever represented a nation of people. He had the courage to take on all obstacles and adversity and engineered social change to go hand in hand with the awakening of his people. The LTTE grew into the most formidable force built on the unimaginable sacrifices of its freedom fighters. Our leader gave it the strategic foresight and military direction on land, sea and sea. Through his recognition and acknowledgement he created the women’s wing and established the equality of their status and role in the community.

His love for his people, the Diaspora and the Tamils world over was overwhelming and selfless.
Since the failure of the peace process and the escalation of the war forced upon the Tamil people, the LTTE was faced to confront the Sri Lankan military that was supported by the world powers. This deliberate bias and position taken by the international community severely weakened the military position of the LTTE. Our leader confronted this threat without any hesitation.

He would not waver in his desire to be with his people and fight for his people till the end. In spite of the numerous pleas from his senior commanders, he refused to leave his people and along with his fellow freedom fighters perished in combat with the Sri Lankan forces. His final request was for the struggle to continue until we achieved the freedom for his people.

Our leader epitomized the freedom struggle of our people. He raised it to a level never before seen. He defined the Tamil spirit and was worshipped by his people. His sacrifices for his people are immense and incomparable. His legend and the historical status as the Greatest Tamil Leader ever are indestructible. He will forever remain the father of our nation. He leaves behind the flame of freedom and the spirit in each and every Tamil. It is our undivided duty to keep the flame burning until the freedom for the Tamils are achieved.

We have declared the week beginning Monday, 25 May 2009, as a week of official mourning paying tribute for the supreme sacrifice by our beloved leader. During this week let us celebrate his supreme sacrifice and his contribution to the betterment of the Tamil world. Let us also mark the sacrifices of all the commanders, freedom fighters and the civilians who also laid down their lives. We humbly request that the Tamil people world over to show utmost respect and restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief.

As we mark the life of our beloved leader let us also resolve that we will re-affirm our commitment to the goals espoused by him – dignity, equality and the right to self-determination of our people.

Thank you.
Yours sincerely,

Selvarasa Pathmanathan Head of International Relations -LTTE

Sri Lanka To Enlist 100,000 to Army !!!

Sri Lanka's military said it plans to enlist at least 100,000 more soldiers to head off any resurgence of the separatist Tamil Tigers, who were routed by government forces last week to end a quarter century of civil war.

The troop buildup comes amid concern that remnants of the rebel group living abroad may try to resurrect it under new leadership, army commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a television interview Monday.

"There may be people abroad trying to promote a new leader and stage a comeback ," Fonseka told state-run Independent Television Network. "Our strength is 200,000 and it will become 300,000 soon. It will not be easy for them to build up a terror group as they did before."

The army killed all of the rebels' front-line and second-level military leaders including rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and destroyed the Tigers' political and administrative leadership, crippling the group, Fonseka said.

Some 22,000 rebel fighters were killed in the last phase of fighting that started in 2006 and another 9,000 rebel fighters surrendered to the army, Fonseka said. Still, one prominent rebel leader remains at large

Selvarasa Pathmanathan, a smuggling mastermind sought by Interpol.

After killing the rebel leaders, soldiers are now going after a number of suicide bombers believed hiding in capital, Colombo, and other ethnic Sinhalese-majority towns. There are also smaller rebel teams in jungles, Fonseka said.

Fonseka called on more men to enlist in order to keep the rebels from rebuilding.

"We like to see young men joining us more quickly," he said. "We don't mind enlisting even 10,000 a month; we need a lot more soldiers to reach our goal."

Sri Lanka announced Monday it would hold elections for two key town councils in the war-torn north.

Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon said the government would start with elections to the Jaffna and Vavuniya town councils. Both those areas lay just outside the de facto state the rebels had controlled in the north.

Jaffna is considered the cultural center of the ethnic Tamil minority on whose behalf the Tamil Tigers fought.

Tennakoon said these would be the first local elections in the area since 1998 and called them "the first step toward ensuring the democratic rights of the people in the north."

The elections commission will soon announce the date of the poll.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said he now intends to negotiate a political compromise to address the Tamils' grievances.

The recent war victories have boosted the popularity of Rajapaksa's coalition the United People's Freedom Alliance which has swept recent elections for provincial assemblies.

Non-Violence : Tiger's New Hope!!!

Its official now: the Tamil Tigers have pledged to give up violence which they inherited and embraced from the Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976. Tamil leaders in the diaspora – the last refuge of Prabhakaranist politics wrapped in the Tiger flag – are urging their followers to focus their energies now in “re-mandating the Vadukoddai Resolution through unblemished popular politics.” (TamilNet Sunday May 24, 2009). Sivarasa Pathmanathan (KP), the last remaining Tiger spokesman, has confirmed this in a signed statement.

BBC News (Sunday, May 24, 2009) also announced that Pathmanathan in a telephone interview had said: “Prabhakaran had died on 17 May but did not give details of the circumstances. Mr Pathmanathan said the Tigers would now use non-violent methods to fight for the rights of Tamils. "We have already announced that we have given up violence and agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve the rights for the Tamil (self) determination of our people," he said. The BBC added: “The statement called on Tamils all over the world to "restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief".

This statement comes a bit too late for the 70,000 Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and non-Sri Lankans like Rajiv Gandhi who died as a result of the violence declared unilaterally in the Vadukoddai Resolution. Nevertheless, it is most welcome even at this late stage because there is no alternative to peace for any productive political process.

The timing of this statement is also significant: it has come simultaneously with the admission by the Tiger loyalists that Prabhakaran is dead. After all, he was their chosen instrument of violence and no one is there in the horizon to take on his role. Besides, without another Prabhakaran there is no future for violent Tamil politics. He was the epitome of the most brutal violence that reduced his own people to subhuman levels. He was the evil genius that came out of the womb of Jaffna. With the whole world denouncing Tamil violence the only way to redeem the Tamils and regain their lost image in the eyes of the world is to renounce violence.

Ending of violence is also a pragmatic approach to the future of Tamil politics that had gone astray and landed in a dead-end. With the Sri Lankan forces positioned now as the most effective military outfit to combat peripheral violence challenging the centre it will be suicidal once again for any minority leadership to go down the failed path of Prabhakaran.

Besides, returning to violence would have been counter-productive to the Tigers (or whatever is left of it) because it will not take them anywhere near the goal of a separate state. Prabhakaran had failed to deliver his promise even when he was at the peak of his power. What chances have the Tiger loyalists to achieve it after he was defeated? Hopefully, Pathmanathan’s statement is a sign that the Tamils do not want to make the same mistake twice. It also amounts to an admission of the fact that Tamil violence has been a failure, though a new rhetoric is being manufactured once again to elevate Prabhakaran into mythic proportions of an “incomparable leader who did not abandon the people to the last”.

On the positive side, if total peace dawns with this statement, then it would remove all excuses for the so-called international community (IC) to poke their unwanted fingers in the Sri Lankan pie. The fear was that hidden Tigers would resort to sporadic violence targeting strategic political, economic and military targets to keep the ghost of Prabhakaran alive and kicking. But if the statement of Pathmanathan, the anointed legatee of Prabhakaran, is to be taken seriously then the foreseeable future has the potential to open up an era of peace and prosperity equaling, if not surpassing, that of Singapore.

The combined pool of multicultural talent, as demonstrated in the Sri Lankan cricket team, is hard to beat. Most of all, the war-weary Tamils, who had faced the brunt of this futile war, will derive maximum benefits from peace. Returning to normalcy, after leading nomadic lives in make-shift camps alone would be a blessing without having to sacrifice their children or their blood for an elusive dream. It also reassures the rest of the nation that their nightmare is over. It will put an end to the common fear that though the Tigers were defeated they will continue to carry on a subterranean warfare through hit-and-run violence.

This commitment to non-violence, if true, should guarantee President Rajapakse the breathing space he needs for bringing the nation together through reconciliation and rebuilding of the war-torn nation.

Though the comprehensive defeat of the Tigers and the latest statement that Tamil politics intends to return to the democratic stream adopting non-violent parliamentary processes augurs well for the future there is still a menacing threat in the Tamil agenda as stated by the various spokespersons.

The war-weary nation will hope that it will not come to that. The nation can heave a sigh of great relief in hearing the words of Pathmanathan who says that they “have given up violence and agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve the rights for the Tamil (self) determination of our people." This is the icing topping the victory cake of President Mahinda Rajapakse. This is a direct result of his pulling out the claws and the teeth of the Tigers. By de-territorializing and de-militarizing the Tigers he has taken away the option of violence available to them and re-directed Tamil politics to return to parliamentary non-violence – a principle which was abandoned when the Jaffna elite passed the infamous Vadukoddai Resolution.

So it can be argued that after the first great victory of defeating the Tigers militarily, the deflecting of Tamil politics into non-violence is the second great victory of President Mahinda Rajapakse. This reversal of Tamil politics could have come only as a result of the total liquidation of the Tiger leadership and its killing machine. The Security Forces that chopped the head off left no room for the tail to wag. The total annihilation of the Tiger leadership, the destruction of the pseudo-state of Eelam, the deprivation of their claims to territory, the decimation of the Tiger cadres, and the demolition of their killing machine along with its military hardware had delivered the final blow to Tamil violence, leaving no room for them to return to the gory (not glory) days of violence.

The promise of Tigers to return to the democratic stream is another proof of the capacity of the Sri Lankan state to weather violent storms. First President Ranasinghe Premadasa crushed decisively the fascist terrorists of the south when the Sri Lankan forces captured Rohana Wijeweera, the JVP leader. Once the head was decapitated the tail returned to parliamentary politics. President Mahinda Rajapakse has won even a greater victory in defeating the fascist terrorists of the north. He crushed not only the head of the Tamil Tigers but the entire killing machine, leaving hardly any ammunition in their armoury to wage a war.

We are Overjoyed that LTTE is finished : Muralidaran's Family !!!

Sri Lanka's ace spinner Muttiah Muralidaran, also known as Murali, often found himself in the spotlight as a Tamilian in the Sinhala-dominated Sri Lankan national cricket team, in the ethnically divided nation. Now, even as Sri Lanka opens a new chapter in its history, with the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Prabhakaran killed and Lanka being declared terror free, Murali's family is celebrating like many in Sri Lanka.

Murali's brother Muttiah Sasidaran said from Colombo, "Obviously we are happy, in fact, overjoyed. This is a great victory for the country and the entire nation is celebrating. This triumph will bring economic growth for us, spur investment and prove a catalyst for development," Sasidaran added, saying, "The future is bright for Sri Lanka."

It is cricket though that the family focuses on and they are doubly pleased at what the end of terrorism in Lanka means for cricket in the nation. Doubts were recently raised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lawyers (after the PCB was denied rights for co-hosting the World Cup 2011, along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh).

"The security situation in Sri Lanka is serious," the PCB's British lawyer Mark Gay had written in a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on May 8. "The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Tamil Tigers, are engaged in a long running armed insurgency against the Sri Lankan authorities. There have been more frequent targets of attacks. Some hotels in Colombo are situated near such locations," Mark Gay's letter had said.

"Now, all such doubts vanish and we can successfully host the World Cup in 2011. Why only cricket, any game, any sport can now be held in any part of the country," said an elated Sasidaran. Murali is scheduled to return on Tuesday (May 26) in Sri Lanka after participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings in South Africa.

Muralidaran's Indian wife Madhi could not be contacted in South Africa where she was with her husband and son (Naren) for the IPL. "Had the IPL been held in India, Madhi would have also gone to her motherland," said Sasidaran.

Murali has seen the ugly face of terrorism upfront. The cricketer, whose deadly doosra claimed so many scalps, escaped along with other team members when Islamic extremists opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricketer’s bus in Pakistan on March 3.

Cannot Accept Tiger's offer : Srilanka !!!

Sri Lanka rejects Tigers' offer Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is the president's brother Sri Lanka's defence secretary has rejected the Tamil Tigers' offer to enter a democratic process after their military defeat by government forces.

In an interview with the BBC, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the LTTE rebels could not be trusted to give up "terrorism".

The rebels had said they would give up violence after their leader was killed in recent fighting in the north-east.

Later on Tuesday the UN Human Rights Council meets to discuss how to provide aid to thousands of displaced people.

The special session in Geneva will consider two resolutions.

The first, proposed by Switzerland and backed by European countries, calls for aid agencies to be given unimpeded access to all those in need, including the 300,000 people housed in government-run camps.

The UN has complained that the government has been blocking humanitarian aid.

The second resolution, from Sri Lanka itself, supported by China and India, calls on the UN to co-operate with the Sri Lankan government in providing humanitarian aid.

It also asks the international community for financial support to rebuild the country.

Democratic process
Mr Rajapaksa - the most senior civilian official in charge of the war against the Tamil Tigers - told the BBC in a wide-ranging telephone interview that he was "not interested in LTTE at all."
He said: "I do not believe the LTTE can enter a democratic process after years of their violent activities." He added that there were "enough democratic Tamil political parties in the country" to represent the Tamil minority.

On Sunday, speaking to the BBC's Tamil service, senior rebel spokesman Selvarasa Pathmanathan said they would now use non-violent methods to fight for the rights of the Tamils and had agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve their aims.

Mr Rajapaksa also said the work of government forces was not yet over as they had to recover weapons hidden by the LTTE in the northern and eastern regions.

Security checks will be eased once normality gradually returns to the country Gotabhaya RajapaksaDefence secretary "Some people think that the army's task is over... it is not. The entire area has to be de-mined and then we have to look for any remnants of the LTTE hiding in the jungles," Mr Rajapaksa said.

He has also appealed to Western nations to dismantle the LTTE's overseas network and hand over their local leaders, who he said were trying to purchase arms and ammunition for the group.

On reports of intrusive checks against Tamils in the capital Colombo in recent weeks, Mr Rajapaksa said the Tamil community was not being singled out.

He said everyone - including government officials and politicians - was being stopped at checkpoints for security reasons.

"It is not our aim to continue with these security procedures. These checks will be eased once normality gradually returns to the country," he said.

The Tigers' defeat has almost brought to an end their 26-year fight for a separate Tamil homeland.

Most of the senior leadership of the Tamil Tigers is thought to have been killed in fighting with government forces in recent weeks.

About 280,000 Sri Lankan civilians have been displaced, posing a huge problem for the government and the international aid agencies.

Only a few days ago, visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had called for a process of national reconciliation that would fully address the legitimate aspirations of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

India takes tough stand on North Korean nuclear test !!

India reacted strongly against North Korea's nuclear test on Monday, indicating that it would take a more tough position on international non-proliferation issues.

In a statement issued soon after he assumed office on Monday morning, new foreign minister S M Krishna said, "For the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to conduct such a test in violation of its international commitments would be unfortunate. Like others in the international community we are concerned at the adverse effect on peace and security in that region of such tests."

India's tough stand on North Korea is in line with new thinking in the Manmohan Singh government that India would be more upfront on non-proliferation issues, particularly as these are expected to be uppermost in the Obama administration.

While the test could see an upsurge in the demand to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in the US, strategic analysts here also believe that the reverse argument could equally be applied -- that since there are rogue nuclear countries like North Korea, nobody could actually foreclose the testing option. What India would also like to see is more global pressure on China on this issue, because both North Korea and Pakistan trace their nuclear weapons to Chinese proliferation.

Post nuclear deal, India has adopted a more robust stand on CTBT, and been more proactive in linking nuclear disarmament to the treaty. Laying out its policy recently, the PM's special envoy on nuclear issues, Shyam Saran, told an influential think tank in Washington that "India has been a consistent votary of a CTBT but did not sign the CTBT as it eventually emerged because it was not explicitly linked to the goal of nuclear disarmament."

"For India, this was crucial since it was not acceptable to legitimize, in any way, a permanent division between nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states," he said. The CTBT, he said, was pushed through the Conference on Disarmament rather than UN General Assembly, to override Indian objections as was the provision to increase pressure on this country insisting that India's signature was necessary for CTBT to come into force.

The North Korean test, said Indian officials, is part of a dangerous trend -- Pakistan is seen to be ramping up its nuclear weapons capability, Iran is reportedly inching closer to a nuclear weapon, and now North Korea sprang back into the equation, after weeks of throwing out inspectors, missile tests and strong language.

Strategic analyst K Subrahmanyam said, "So long as nuclear weapons grow and are a currency of power, there will be North Koreas, which will deem themselves immune from international punishment when they are armed with such weapons."

North Korea's test should put China in a spot, because as the hermit kingdom's strongest benefactor, China is virtually presiding over North Korea's nuclear evolution. The North Korean nuclear weapon, like the Pakistani, is Chinese in origin. Over the years, China has not only continued its proliferation activities to Pakistan, but has prevented North Korea from coming under more serious international steps.

Killing of Sikh Leader Sets Off Riots in India !!!

Riots erupted across the Punjab region of India on Monday in response to the killing of a leader of a Sikh sect who died after an attack on a temple in Vienna on Sunday.

Police officials said the rioters smashed cars and set fire to empty trains, snarling road and train traffic through one of the most prosperous provinces of India. At least one person in Punjab was killed and a curfew was imposed in four towns after a day of violent protests followed the attack at the temple in Vienna. At the temple, six young Sikh men armed with guns and knives had stormed into a hall where two visiting sect leaders and hundreds of worshipers had gathered, said S. R. Heer, a senior official at the sect’s hospital and school in Jalandhar, a large provincial town in Punjab.

One of the leaders, Guru Sant Rama Nand, died of his wounds, and the other, Sant Niranjan Dass, was in stable condition following surgery, Mr. Heer said.

The two men were the leaders of the Ravidass sect, Sikhs who revere a saint of the same name believed to have been born in the 15th century to a family of leather workers, considered “untouchables,” or outcastes, and known today as Dalits.

Though the bloodshed happened a continent away, word carried by text messages and cellphone calls from the vast community of Sikhs in Europe arrived in Punjab almost instantly. The rioting quickly followed.

Television stations in India beamed images of sect members parading through the streets of Punjab with swords, metal rods and sharpened sticks aloft. The rioters smashed cars and set fire to empty trains, snarling road and train traffic through one of the most prosperous provinces of India, police officials said. Bank machines, car dealerships and buses were destroyed.

In Vienna, 16 people were wounded in the melee that followed the attack, The Associated Press reported.

“We are dealing with a very tense situation,” said Kuldeep Singh, deputy inspector general of the police in Jalandhar, one of the worst-hit towns.

The army fanned out to quell the violence, and top officials of the government, which was elected this month, called for calm.

“Sikhism preaches tolerance and harmony,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, said in a statement. “I appeal to all sections of the people in Punjab to abjure violence and maintain peace.”

In principle, Sikhism rejects caste divisions; one of its main tenets is the equality of all believers. But the existence of caste-based sects within Sikhism illustrates how tenacious divisions that have existed for millennia can be.

The motive of the attackers at the Vienna temple is unclear. Some mainstream Sikhs disapprove of the religious practices of the Ravidass members, who worship their own saints. Mainstream Sikhism reveres only its holy book, known as the Guru Granth Sahib. But these theological disputes have rarely provoked violence between sects.

Though vastly diminished, discrimination against Dalits remains a force in everyday life among Sikhs in the countryside, said Surinder Jodhka, a sociologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

But, Mr. Jodhka said, Dalits have successfully integrated themselves into mainstream Sikh society, and violent caste conflicts are unusual. Punjab has one of the highest percentages of Dalits, and like Dalits from other Indian states, they have climbed the social ladder by venturing out of their villages to work, earn and remake themselves.

Many Dalit Sikhs, devotees of the Ravidass sect, started migrating to Europe in the 1960s, helped set up Ravidass temples, known as gurdwaras, and hosted preachers from Punjab, for whom Europe and North America became crucial fund-raising bases.

UN Human Rights Activists - Please see these picturs !!!

Will Restrict Aid Until Rebels Screened out - Srilanka !!!

Sri Lanka said Sunday it would not allow aid workers complete access to civilians who remain held in camps after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers until rebels hiding among the refugees had been weeded out.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to one camp housing 200,000 Tamils, had called for his staff to be given "unhindered access" to those displaced in the decades-long war that ended a week ago.

Ban, who toured the Menik Farm facility on Saturday, described the conditions as overcrowded and the detained civilians as "badly in need of food, water and sanitation."

The government responded to his appeal for aid agencies to be permitted to help by saying that "as conditions improved, especially with regard to security, there would be no objections to such assistance."

President Mahinda Rajapakse's statement warned of "the likely presence of Tamil Tiger infiltrators among the large numbers who had come to the government areas."

The government describes the camps as "welfare villages" and says it wants to resettle all displaced civilians as soon as possible, but Tamil activists say they are "concentration camps" with inmates penned in behind barbed wire.

During his visit, Ban urged Rajapakse to probe alleged human rights violations committed during the defeat of the Tamil separatists, a joint statement on Sunday said.

The government responded warily to Ban's request, promising only to "take measures to address those grievances."

Between 80,000 to 100,000 people died in years of fighting between government troops and Tamil separatists, who were battling for an independent homeland on the Sinhalese majority island.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said both the military and the Tigers may have been guilty of war crimes, and campaign groups have condemned the army for indiscriminate shelling of civilians.

Rajapakse has robustly rejected all allegations of war crimes since his troops' victory, which came after he ignored the UN's repeated calls for a ceasefire.

About 300,000 Tamils abandoned their homes and waded through swamps and jungle to flee the violence, only to be herded into the spartan state-run camps.

"I'm very moved after what I have seen. I've seen so many wounded," the secretary general said after inspecting the mass of makeshift corrugated iron shacks and tents.

The government was "doing its utmost best" but it lacked the necessary resources, Ban later told reporters.

"With this in mind, the UN can help," he said. "The UN must be given immediate unhindered access to the camps, the overcrowding must end and there should be special programmes for pregnant mothers and children."

Aid agencies have complained that even the limited access they had to the detained Tamils had been cut off in recent days.

The Red Cross said on Thursday the government had stopped it from delivering desperately needed food to the Menik Farm camp, where it said people were still arriving after enduring "unimaginable hardship."

The UN chief flew by helicopter over the battlefields in the northeast of Sri Lanka on Saturday, observing a desolate landscape of craters, burnt-out vehicles and charred buildings.

Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tigers' founder and leader who was killed in the last days of fighting, was cremated near where he died, army chief Sarath Fonseka said on Sunday.

"We cremated the body in the same area and threw the ashes into the ocean," Fonseka told the Sunday Rivira newspaper.

"Even before Prabhakaran was killed, I knew we had won the war but I was overjoyed when I had confirmation of his death."

The government broadcast footage of Prabhakaran's body on Tuesday after a pro-rebel website said he was still alive.

Cannot allow full access to Tamil camps: Srilanka to UN Secretary General !!!

Sri Lanka's president on Sunday rejected a call by the U.N. secretary-general to lift restrictions on aid delivery to overcrowded displacement camps, saying the army must first finish screening the hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's statement came in response to an appeal by Ban Ki-moon during a 24-hour visit to Sri Lanka for unfettered access for aid agencies to the camps, where nearly 300,000 Tamils were herded during the final stages of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

The government proclaimed victory last week in the 25-year insurgency by the rebels, formally called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who sought to create an independent Tamil nation in Sri Lanka's north and east.

Ban's hurried visit was intended to press the government to ease what aid agencies described as a humanitarian crisis in the camps, with inadequate food supplies and reports of epidemics because of improper sanitation.

But Rajapaksa said security had to be assured "in view of the likely presence of LTTE infiltrators" among the refugees. "As conditions improved, especially with regard to security, there would be no objections to such assistance, from organizations that were genuinely interested in the well being" of the displaced Tamils, he said.

The wording appeared to reflect widespread mistrust among many Sri Lankans who believe some humanitarian agencies have a pro-Tamil political agenda.

The bluntness of the president's statement contrasted with the milder tone of a joint communique with Ban, released almost simultaneously.

In that statement, Ban said the U.N. would continue providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced people, and Rajapaksa promised to "continue to provide access to humanitarian agencies."

After visiting the barbed wire-enclosed Manik Farm camp Saturday, Ban described conditions as "very, very difficult. It's a real challenge." He said the government lacked the resources to deal with the problem, but that the U.N. could fill the gaps.

"It was a very sobering visit, very sad, very moving," he said.

Civilians told Ban they had escaped the war zone after coming under intense shelling from both the rebels and the government.

"We ran for our lives from the shelling in the north," said one man who gave his name as Krishnathurai. "It was coming from both sides, the Tamil Tigers and the military, and we were stuck in the middle."

Ban then flew over the former battle ground to see for himself, and saw a wasteland of scorched earth, shell craters and burned-out vehicles and tent camps.

The government has denied firing heavy weapons into an area that had been densely populated with civilians who had been kept their against their will by the rebels. But the helicopter tour given by the military to Ban and a group of journalists revealed widespread devastation.

In the joint statement, the government pledged to rebuild democracy in territory recaptured from the rebels and to reintegrate child soldiers conscripted into the rebel army.

Ban and Rajapaksa acknowledged the government "faces many immediate and long-term challenges" in providing relief, resettlement and reconciliation with the northern Tamils.
Rajapaksa said the government was committed to rebuilding democratic institutions and electoral politics in the north.

Until the latest army offensive, the Tamil Tigers had run a de facto government in roughly one-third of the island, with their own police force, courts, tax system and bureaucracy.

The rebels typically recruited at least one child from each family for their military force.

Rajapaksa pledged to work with UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, to reintegrate those child soldiers into society.

In the last week Rajapaksa has made repeated gestures to the Tamils, who comprise 18 percent of the country's 20 million people, promising equal rights and unity. Tamils complain of systematic discrimination and harassment.

On Sunday, the president reiterated his plan to resurrect a long-dormant 13th constitutional amendment which would strengthen provincial administrations and allow a greater degree of autonomy to ethnic Tamil majority regions. The amendment was part of an Indian-brokered peace deal in 1987, but the rebels rejected the offer saying the powers it gave were inadequate.
Ban welcomed the government's plan to dismantle the displacement camps and to return the bulk of the Tamils to their original homes before the end of the year, and called on donor countries to provide financing.

Rajapaksa said the return of the refugees was contingent on clearing land mines from the areas, and asked for international assistance.