militarisation

by Mangala Samaraweera The ineptitude of the present regime in the face of intensifying and relentless international pressure is driving Sri Lanka further and further into isolation and is likely to have devastating effects for this country’s prospects for rebuilding and reconciliation in the post-conflict phase. The release of the Channel 4 documentary on Sri Lanka, […]

ITUC to agitate membership protest, demands Govt. immediately withdraw Pension Fund BillAn international grouping of trade unions has vehemently hit out at the recent unrest at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (KFTZ) that left a worker killed and scores injured, calling upon its 300 plus membership to launch individual protests against the Government of Sri […]

TAMILS TREATED AS ABOROGINES IN LANKA NOWVeerasingham Anandasangaree, the TULF president and  a long standing Tamil politician  was perhaps the most vocal critic of the LTTE,  among the old school Tamil political leadership, even during the hey days of the LTTE. Anandasangaree, once hailed by the government, as a ‘moderate’ Tamil voice, now cautions that […]

“We still live under military rule. Unless the President takes any action, we will seriously think about co-operating with the government on anything. The military should not interfere in such political matters.  Only, the police must be empowered to do so.” – TNA 17 June 2011/By Kelum BandaraThe Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today sought intervention […]

15 June 2011 / Despite having a court order preventing civilians in the North from being forcefully registered, groups of Army men in civics have taken photographs of people in the Kalviyamkadu area in the North and obtained details regarding their families.The Army men in civics visited residences in Kalviyamkadu on the 13th to photograph […]

Great controversy and concern surrounds the ‘leadership’ training programme designed by the Ministry of Defence for under graduate students, conducted in around 28 military installations around the country. As the Young Researchers Collective recently noted on Groundviews, “Although the government has stated that this will be a leadership training program rather than a military training […]

The 18th Amendment, we were told, would make the President more accountable to Parliament. The Editorial of the Sunday Observer noted back in the day, By making it mandatory for the President to attend Parliament at least once in three months to answer questions by MPs, the 18th Amendment has not only made a vital […]

13 June 2011/ by Nirmalan DhasIn General, The imposition of this leadership training program or any training program on the human community – with the exception of programs that train people to resist programming – is likely to interfere with the free evolutionary development of human being and therefore deserves to be resisted.The education system […]

9th June 2011The decision in the Supreme Court dismissing, without stating reasons, all the petitions against the programme, has made it all the more important to have a public discussion on its relevance and impact on the university system.  The Friday Forum expresses its deep concern in regard to both the manner in which this […]

Navraj Parthiban /29 September 2010Sinhalization efforts now take place targeting the Hindu temples of Vanni. Buddha statues which have started the invasion of targeting the lands of Vanni are more like the modern invading army of Mahinda Rajapaksa.Sinhalization efforts now take place targeting the Hindu temples of Vanni. Buddha statues which have started the invasion […]

The funeral of Roshane, the FTZ worker took place Saturday the 4th of June. It was well planned by the government, Not challenged by any means by the TUC ( Trade union congress ) and Opposition Political parties.The Catholic church played a good role supporting and in defence of the government. The church and specially […]

09 June 2011All ministers and parliamentarians from the Ampaa’rai district seem to collaborate with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and they have no backbones to challenge the injustice done to Tamil and Muslim people based on ethnic, religious and language basis by the Colombo government, said Mr. P. Selvarajah, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian representing […]

09 June 2011,More than three hundred youths of both sexes have been reported disappeared after abduction in the Batticaloa district since the eastern province was brought under the control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said Mr.P. Selvarasa, district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian during the debate on the extending the State of Emergency for […]

What can be said from the outset is not the fact that the seminar was not the resounding success that it was portrayed by some parties, nor was it a dismal failure. The seminar was a mixed bag. 3 Jun, 2011 Shakya Lahiru Pathmalal From the 31st of April to the 2nd of May I […]

uni lecturers get more than high govt. officers’ In an interview with LAKBIMAnEWS, Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayaka said that leadership training is not military training. “This is training that is specifically geared to improve the students’ leadership skills and help positive thinking. There is a reason for subjecting these students to a […]

2011-06-07Army lawyers who do not appear for suspect army personnel in any case, had violated tradition by appearing for the army personnel accused of assaulting the Matara District judge creating a bad precedent, a senior army officer said.The case against the assault of Matara District Judge Saman Kumara was concluded in the Matara courts yesterday. […]

07 June 2011Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police on Monday conducted house to house search in Trincomalee city and its suburbs. The SL military was checking household lists to find out whether any outsiders were staying in the city. Outsiders found staying with the members of families are questioned about their details and reasons […]

A worker was killed and hundreds more sustained injuries after police attacked the protestPowerful trade unions in Sri Lanka are calling for the immediate removal of military from the Katunayaka Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Anton Marcus of the Joint Trade Union Alliance (JTUA) also urged the government to withdraw plans to establish a High Security […]

The overriding experience of Tamils has been a discriminatory system and injustice. Those responsible for what may be called war crimes and the worst types of human rights abuses have never been punished. The few cases of massacres, disappearances, torture, rape, custodial killings, mass graves that have been investigated and brought to light have not […]

4 June 2011 / by Ranga Jayasuriya Omanthai, the former entry point to the then Tiger controlled areas of the Wanni has now been given new Sinhala terminology. The name board of the newly opened railway station there identifies the town as Omantha. Overwhelmingly Tamil residents in the area are not impressed.In the heart of […]

Those who gave illegal orders still at large 04.June.2011, Lanka e news is in receipt of clear palpable evidence that on the 30th , the day the Katunayake free trade zone protests were staged , the police not only targeted the protestors on the streets but also the workers within the factories when they went […]

SRI Lanka deployed heavily-armed troops around the country’s main free-trade zone on Friday as tension mounted ahead of the weekend funeral of a factory worker shot dead by police, officials said.Soldiers were placed in the Katunayake zone, just next to the country’s only international airport where a range of international companies from India, Japan, China […]

This is a tad confusing, since the US Ambassador at the time, going by this cable, did not seem to share the defence attache’s suspicion that the offers of surrender were ” a bit suspect anyway, and they tended to vary in content hour by hour, day by day.” The on-going ‘Defeating Terrorism: The Sri […]

by Melani Manel PereraClashes occurred on Monday when workers were protesting against a draft law that would not guarantee a lifetime retirement pension. Three people are said to have died in the incident.Police used tear gas and prevented wounded from being evacuated to hospitals.Catholic priests and human rights activists have firmly slammed the brutal police […]

Roshain Shanaka who received gun shot wounds during the protest against the proposed pension bill had died in Ragama hospital.The worker was in Intensive Care since he was shot during the clashes on Monday. Several police officers were also wounded as a result of retaliation by the protesting workers.Earlier Sri Lanka police chief, Mahinda Balasuriya, […]

We were allowed to proceed after a Tamil speaking person from the army in civil attire was allowed to sit among us and under the condition that copies of the presentations should be given to him. Soldiers were moving around the hall peeping in on the meeting. As we left, our names, identity card numbers […]

May 30, 2011 Sri Lanka is to hold an international seminar starting Tuesday to share lessons on its bloody defeat of Tamil rebels, but major nations have declined to send delegations amid war crime allegations.The island’s government said the massive military offensive that finally defeated the Tamil Tigers two years ago was a victory over terrorism, […]

Trade unions have threatened to go on a general strike at several Free Trade Zones in the country if the police fail to release some garment factory workers arrested today following a protest.Trade union activist and JVP member Wasantha Samarasinghe told reporters that the police will be given a deadline to release all those arrested […]

Outdoor thrills and hazards give edge to pre-campus leadership training at Army camps. Nadia Fazlulhaq reportsWild elephants, snakes and ravenous mosquitoes are some of the natural challenges that university students have had to face in their first week of leadership training at Army camps around the country. Hardly five days into their training and students, followed […]

28 May 2011 /by Tisaranee Gunasekara “When an opponent says, ‘I will not come over to your side’, I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already’” Hitler (Speech in November 1933)According to the Education Secretary, principals will have to undergo ‘Leadership training’ at the Rantambe camp: “If the Principal is weak that will be […]