In memory of Darmarathnam Sivaram – 4th death anniversary

Personal notes on the day he was killed

I was at home in Kurunagala after 12 continuous days in Colombo. My wife and I were about to go to bed, having watched a film with the family. It was around 10.45 when we switched off the TV.

My mobile phone rang. It was not unusual to get a call that time of the day.  The last such call also came from a journalist in Puttlam a day before Sinhala and Tamil New Year. On that occasion, a journalist had been remanded on charges of trespassing because he took photographs of a hotel being built being by a powerful politician on the reservation of an important reservoir. The caller wanted the FMM to phone the Inspector in the Head Quarters of the area police and also release a press statement.

On this occasion, it was Buddika on the other side of my phone. His voice trembling, and through it came the fearful message. Sivaram had been abducted some 30 minutes ago. Buddika was FMM activist working part time on monitoring freedom of expression violations. Journalists’ knew Buddhika as the point person of FMM to be contacted in any emergency.

The news of Sivaram’s abduction came as a huge shock. Sivaram alias Taraki was a prominent voice in the Sri Lanka media landscape well over a decade. He was one of the best politico-military commentators on two decade old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, which began on account of unresolved grievances of the Tamil peoples in Sri Lanka and giving birth to one of the most talked about and ruthless armed struggles in Asia, led by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sivaram who hailed from wealthy family in Eastern Sri Lanka, dropped out from university to become a fulltime cadre of leftist radical Tamil militant group called PLOTE in early 80s. He left the movement after some difficult years, got married and settled down in the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, and took to journalism. At the time of his death he was the senior member of editorial board of Tamil Net.

Sivaram was Tamil nationalist with leftist ideals and pushed limits of press freedom in the South of Sri Lanka by expressing, at times, hard line Tamil nationalism in his columns written for an English daily. Widely read and travelled, having first hand experience in the political- military struggle for a separate Tamil home land, Sivaram was intellectually challenging and politically threatening to many exponents of hard line Sinhala – Buddhist groups. He tested, in a way, the tolerance in media discourse by betting his life with the columns he wrote.

Buddhika himself, who phoned me to tell the story of abduction, had become target of hate campaign unleashed by extreme nationalist forces over photographs he took of an anti-LTTE para military group camp he published some two months ago. We all knew Siva as friend and a good news source  and used to ask him whether he is taking precautionary measures against known threats to his personal safety when ever we meet over a glass of bear or a shot of arrack.

Buddhika was at home, 12 km away from Colombo city, where abduction took place. Prasantha and Kusal Perera, two peace activists who was with Siva when he was forcibly abducted had phoned him.  Buddhika in turn was making desperate calls around to see what FMM could do.

The phone rang without respite. The Convener of the FMM, Victor, also had got into act, making calls and looking for any help.

We decided to do two things: Inform those locally and internationally about the abduction as much as possible, and inform his wife to see how we could make a complaint to the police.

FMM entrusted Buddika to inform many people as possible and to contact Sivaram’s house immediately.

Kusal Perera, who was with Siva at the time of abduction, was too terrified to come out of his hideout that night. We contacted a Tamil parliamentarian and asked for help. He promised to get a lawyer to go to Bambalapitiya police if we could get Kusal Perera to give him an eye witness account.

By this time Colombo civil society has come to know that Sivaram was abducted and our phones got jammed with incoming calls. People who called Bambalapitiya police to find out what happened were told that no complain has made to that effect.

A prominent journalist who phoned army commander to inform him about the incident had to explain him who Sivaram was.

The only option left was to get his wife to make a complaint. Again it became difficult to get someone to go there, and it was left Buddhika and two fellow journalist to drive up to  Sivaram’s house by 12.30 mid night to bring her to police station.

Finally a complaint was made.

On the other hand, I was at home sitting at my laptop sending an urgent alert to press freedom organisations world wide. By 11.15 there was an explosion, probably a transformer near by and power went off. Working with candle light first alert went out on 11.57 pm. Batteries in my laptop and mobile was full so I could work through the night.

For the next two hours my computer registered dozens of out going alerts to almost all international press freedom organisations. And they started to call back. Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Boarders, BBC Sinhala, service, Article 19 were among them. Some of them knew Siva personally.

We were hoping that if we could generate enough pressure on whoever abducted him by the morning there might be some chance of saving his life.

Calls keep coming asking for more information until dawn. As the sleepless night passed away Champika Liyanaarachchi from Daily Mirror called me at home around 7.00 in the morning to share our helplessness in face on going political killings.  And to talk about Siva.

She called me back again 30 minutes to tell me the news that we didn’t want to hear. She had over heard that a journalist doing the police round up say some thing like a body had found in Talangama police area. She then saw him hang up. She got him to call back Talangama police to get it confirmed and breaking the news to me said “I hope it is not Sivaram”.

Within few minutes Asanga, a colleague at CPA and Buddhika were at the scene. Then came the confirmation. They had shot him dead. Our second alert, which said that journalist Sivaram found dead, was out on 8.27 am, next day.

Another round of phone calls ensured, radio and television stations carried the news quoting FMM release and Talangama police called me at home to find out the source of our press release.

His body was released to the family by the police and funeral arrangements were decided by them.

A number of most prominent international press freedom organisations issued releases condemning and protesting his death. We too sent out our third release on Siva in just two days.

We felt that it was all over and decided to meet in Colombo to see how best we can pay our last respects. An initiative was already underway to organise a joint protest. A poster was planed, slogans decided and invitations sent from FMM too.

We buried Siva in Batti on 2nd May 2005. It was a simple ceremony. I spoke in Sinhala and appealed to stop all political killings on behalf of Free Media Movement. That was the main slogan we decided upon.

Next day was the International Press Freedom day. Around a thousand people gathered to protest in front of Fort Railway station, Colombo. It became an anti war gathering, more than a press freedom gathering. Journalists, artists, writers, trade unionists, peace and human rights activists, alternative groups were all there.   We displayed out placards, marched peacefully, shouted slogans and held a short meeting. On Sivaram’s name we showed that in order to defend the right to life, peace and democracy, we too could take over the streets, not just extremist groups. That was our tribute to Sivaram.

His killing shows that dark forces are out there lurking for the blood of dissenting voices. Sivaram was not just well known locally. His reputation as a knowledgeable and analytical journalist was international.

At the same time he was a traitor to some others. So he was killed.

The chronology of Free Media Movement’s Freedom of Expression report (3rd May 2004-3rd May 2005) starts with this entry:

May 2004: Sri Lanka Police raided the Colombo home of journalist, Mr. Sivaram Dharmeratnam (‘Taraki’), a political affairs columnist for English and Tamil papers published from Colombo and a member of TamilNet’s editorial board

The report ends with this entry:

April 28 2005, veteran Tamil journalist and editor of the Tamilnet website, D. Sivaram (Taraki) was abducted and killed by unidentified gunmen while he was walking along the Galle Road in Colombo in Colombo.

His death is grim reminder of times we journalists live in.

We are back at work and read many articles of Sivaram on the web, where he has left his footprints. He edited the most sought after website on Sri Lanka and it is a fitting tribute that his memory lives on online.

Sunanda Deshapriya.

06.05.2005

Newspaper to serialise editor’s 58-day ordeal in police custody

(ST 26th April)

The 58 days that Tamil newspaper editor Nadesapillai Vithiyatharan spent in police custody will be the subject of a series of articles in the Sudar Oli, beginning tomorrow.
Vithiyatharan walking free after his release on Friday

Mr. Vithiyatharan was released on Friday by Colombo Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya after the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) failed to provide evidence to support the police allegations against him. The defence counsel argued that the editor should be released.

Mr. Vithiyatharan was arrested on February 26 while attending a family funeral in Mount Lavina. He was charged with helping to co-ordinate the February 20 LTTE air strike on Colombo, in which the Inland Revenue Department building was damaged.

Sudar Oli announced the serialisation on the front page of its Saturday edition. Investigators checking telephone conversations Mr. Vithiyatharan had had on January 20, the day of the LTTE air strike, noted that most of the discussions were innocuous exchanges with local politicians, journalists and overseas-based friends.

The bank accounts of Mr. Vithiyatharan and his wife were also scrutinised by the police. A fundamental rights petition on behalf of Mr. Vithiyatharan will be taken up for hearing in the Supreme Court next week. The petition maintains that the editor had been wrongly and unfairly arrested and detained

Journos’ dreams realized as SLWJA gets new hq.

Poddala Jayantha, general secratary SLWJA

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

A longstanding dream of local journalists became a reality when the foundation stone for the new headquarters of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA) was laid at its government donated land in Maligawatta yesterday.

The foundation stone laying ceremony was conducted by senior newspaper editors at its premises at Pradeepa Mawatha in Maligawatte, which was attended by number of journalists representing various media institutions in the country.

SLWJA General Secretary Poddala Jayantha addressing the gathering said that it was a longstanding dream of the journalists in this country to have its own common office complex which finally became a reality after almost 25 years.

He said the 22 perch block of land was donated to the SLWJA by then President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1985 and was maintained by the association with payment of taxes for five years. After that the competent authorities have failed to pay taxes for 15 years since 1990 and in 2005 it was again taken over by the government.  “When we came into power contesting for the first time in 2005 with a fresh team of competent journalists representing various media institutions, opinions and political ideologies, one of the priorities was to build our very own office”.“ It is only then that we realized that the land had been taken back by the government due to the nonpayment of taxes as well as for leaving the premises empty without building the proposed office complex. We had to ask for it back and that too after we promised to build in one year,” he said.

The next task was to draw blueprints and to complete the other important documents as the only thing we had was the deed to the land. Finding necessary funds for the construction of a new office complex was the subsequent challenge.

It was then we met the proprietor of Harsha International (Pvt) Ltd., Ms. Himani Wijetunga, who readily donated us a sum of Rs.1 million for the construction.

Proposed laws only for new TV stations

FR application challenging TV regulations
By S.S. Selvanayagam (DM)
When the fundamental rights violation applications challenging the controversial-ridden Private Television Broadcasting Stations Regulations came up before the Supreme Court yesterday (27), the court was informed that the earlier regulations were cancelled and  the fresh regulations would only apply for new TV stations.
Senior State Counsel Nerin Pulle appearing for Minister of Mass Media and Information submitted to court that it has been decided not to proceed with the earlier regulations and that new regulations had been formulated with the agreement of all the parties.
The SSC informed court that a new regulation was prepared on April 21, 2009 with the participation of all the parties including TV stations and it will be applicable only to the new TV stations.
In view of the submission, the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Justices Shiranee Tilakawardane and K. Sripavan terminated the proceedings.
The Supreme Court on November 14 had issued an interim order suspending the impugned Regulations of Private Television Broadcasting Stations.
Filing the applications, eleven petitions had challenged that the impugned Regulations of Private Television Broadcasting Stations made by the Minister of Mass Media and Information were in draconian nature.
Centre For Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association, Free Media Movement, MTV Channel, TNL Channel, Derana TV, Sri Lanka Press Institute and Dialog TV in their petitions cited the Minister of Mass Media and Information Anura Priyadharshana and the Attorney General as respondents.
It had violated alleged infringement of the fundamental rights to equality and equal protection of the law as well as the freedom of speech and expression and the freedom to engage in any lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise.
They sought another declaration that the impugned regulations made by the Minister are null and void, singularly and collectively, and wrongful and illegal, and are violative of petitioner’s rights.
Petitioners also asked the court to issue an interim order staying the operation of the impugned regulations pending and final determination of the application.
It alleged that the petitioner and other private television broadcasting stations have been singled out for discriminatory treatment which is antithetic to fundamental notions of equality, equal protection of the law and other related liberties.
J. C. Weliamuna, M. A. Sumanthiran, Viran Corea, Sanjeeva Jayawardena and  Sudath Jayasundara appeared for the petitioners. Senior State Counsel Nerin Pulle appeared for the respondents.

IFJ Welcomes Release of Tamil Editor in Sri Lanka

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) welcomes the release of Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, editor of the Tamil daily newspaper Sudar Oli, after almost two months in detention in Sri Lanka.

Although no charges were laid against Vithyatharan, officials of the Crime Branch of the Sri Lankan police had requested a magistrate’s court on March 18 for an extension of his detention, while his alleged involvement in an insurgent air raid on Colombo on February 20 was investigated.

In ordering the editor’s release on April 24, a court in Colombo took on board the admission by the Crime Branch and other security agencies that there was no evidence linking Vithyatharan with any unlawful activity.

“The IFJ calls on Sri Lanka’s authorities to acknowledge the injustice they have perpetrated against Vithyatharan and to account for their actions,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

Senior government officials, with direct responsibility for the war operations against Tamil insurgents that today are reportedly in their final stages, took a direct interest in the case against Vithyatharan.

Hours after his February 26 arrest, which was conducted in the manner of an abduction while Vithyatharan was attending a family ceremony, the principal spokesman for all Sri Lanka’s national security agencies, including the defence forces, justified it on the grounds that he was a “wanted person”.

In an interview with an Australian news channel just over a fortnight later, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, accused Vithyatharan of “terrorism”. As broadcast over the news channel, Rajapaksa said, “He is involved in recent air attacks and I am telling you if you try to give (a) cover-up for that person you have blood in your hands [...] I am telling you he is a terrorist. He is responsible for coordinating air-attacks in Colombo.”

“The public utterances of senior Sri Lankan officials against Vithyatharan amount to an outrageous attack on his integrity,” White said.

“At the minimum, there must be a public apology from all the officials who have engaged in the campaign of character assassination, at a time when the public mood is fraught and the consequences of loose speech could be fatal.”

The IFJ notes with concern that all government-controlled media – the radio and television channels under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and the newspapers under the Lake House group – have failed to report on Vithyatharan’s unconditional discharge and release.

Sudar Oli editor released

By T. Farook  Tajudeen. (DM, 25th)

A triumphant Sudar Oli editor N. Vithyatharan who was released from detention yesterday told a media conference his case was an instance of justice delayed but not denied.

Mr. Vithyatharan was released after Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya ruled there was no evidence to connect him to the LTTE air attack on the Air Force Headquarters in Colombo in February.

Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) told Court their investigations revealed that the journalist was not connected to any sort of anti government or anti social acts and as such would not proceed with the prosecution and withdrew the complaint against Mr. Vithyatharan.

Counsel K.V. Thavarasa appearing for Mr. Vithyatharan said he was abducted by some unidentified people in a white van on February 25 and later the police told the media they had arrested the journalist to investigate a complaint against him.

The Counsel asked Court to release the journalist as police investigations had not revealed any involvement of his client in the air attack on February.

Mr. Thavarasha said Mr. Vithyatharan had filed a fundamental rights application in the Supreme Court over his unlawful arrest and arbitrary detention by Police.

Mr. Vithyatharan told the media he had to undergo two days of harassment at the hands of his abductors and thereafter two months of suffering due to his detention.

He said he would inform the President and other higher authorities about the ordeal he underwent during the abduction and his detention.

Counsel K.V. Thavarasha with S. Kalupahana and Sudarshani Wellalage Gunaratna appeared for Mr. Vithyatharan.

PAFFREL: People have grown weary of constant barrage of elections

By Yohan Perera and Kelum Bandara (DM)

A leading election monitoring group in Sri Lanka said yesterday the Western Provincial Council election held on Saturday could not be considered a totally free and fair poll.

People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) deputy executive director Rohana Hettiarachchi told Daily Mirror the election was marred by pre election violence where party supporters were killed or threatened and party propaganda offices attacked.

“When these incidents are taken into account this election cannot be considered totally free and fair although the Election Day itself was generally peaceful,” he said.

With regard to the UNP charge that some ballot boxes were changed on the way to the counting centre at D.S. Senanayake Vidyalaya, Mr. Hettiarachchi said there was no clear evidence that such a thing happened.

He said that according to reports received by PAFFREL, opposition party agents were late to arrive at the counting centres.

Mr. Hettiarachchi said 16 complaints had been made to PAFFREL directly and 33 through the multi-party operations unit of which it is a member and one of the common observations was the difficulty faced by some voters to prove their identity to the satisfaction of election officials.

He said there had been an increase in acts of violence, obstacles to campaigning and misuse of state resources by ruling party members when compared with the previous provincial council elections.

PAFFREL said the longer period allowed for campaigning coupled with the level of competition between rival political parties and candidates created a climate for increased violence.

Reporters Without Borders welcomes release of N. Vithyatharan

Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release of editor of the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, N. Vithyatharan, who had been held by police since 26 February 2009, accused of having links with Tamil Tiger rebels.

A court in Colombo today ordered the journalist’s release. The Colombo Criminal Division (CCD) in charge of the investigation, as well as other departments of the police and the military, cleared the journalist for lack of evidence.

Investigators spent two months going through hundreds of phone calls made and received by the journalist. Police also checked his bank accounts without finding any link with the Tamil Tigers. He left the court a free man, accompanied by his lawyer and his wife.

“Why did they need to detain me for two months over completely false accusations?” the editor asked. “All police services and even military secret services cleared me after checking my phone calls and my bank accounts”, he told Reporters Without Borders.

“The decision of the justice system to release N. Vithyatharan is good news which should, we hope, open the way to the release of another Tamil journalist J. S. Tissanayagam, held for more than a year without proof”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

“The fact he has been completely cleared by the security services is very positive. It seems important today that officials, including Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, should accept the consequences, and apologise for the accusations made against the journalist,” the organisation added.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa had said in an interview with Australian SBS television that Vithyatharan was a “terrorist”. “He was implicated in a recent air raid. If you try to shield this person, you will have blood on your hands. And if someone says that he was arrested for his journalistic activities, then he will also have blood on his hands”, the minister, who is the president’s brother, said.

Clear Sinhala win for government with Minorities voting against

At the Western PC elections

Kusal Perera

The much awaited Western Provincial Council Elections were over 24 hours ago and the results have just rolled in for the constituencies in all 03 districts, sans individual preference vote counts that may take another 24 hours (today, Sunday 26 April) or even more. On the face value of the results, the Rajapaksa regime that contested as the UPFA has swept the sheet clean with 64.7% of the votes polled and 68 seats out of the total 104 in the Western Provincial Council. It’s a big win no doubt with the main Opposition the UNP managing only 29.6% of the votes polled and 30 seats. The JVP once again got totally decimated with 2.4% votes giving them just 03 seats from all 03 districts.

In a country where even local government and provincial elections are campaigned for on strictly “national issues” instead of development and other issues relevant to the local and provincial areas, the call for a vote in support of the Rajapaksa regime for eliminating “Tamil terrorism” was the centre stage of this WP elections as it was in all other previous PC elections. This time the call was much stronger with all media crying out loud that the Tamil Tigers have been almost wiped out and this vote for the ruling party at the Western PC elections would be a vote of gratitude to a leadership that saved the nation from Tamil terrorists. Thus the campaign for votes went beyond that of an election campaign and was clearly planted in the Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic campaign this regime organised around the war during the last two and a half years.

The hype that was created in the final push for the remaining patch of land in Mullaitivu, despite its human agony, its human slaughter, mobilised Sinhala Buddhist votes here in the Sinhala majority South, though distancing all minorities from the government. This regime showed it is not so much worried about Minorities. It thus tried to force itself even in the Colombo city area, trying to pull out a victory that would give them an advantage as one that for the first time defeated the United National Party (UNP) in its own traditional stronghold.

Western Province (WP) holds a very important key in showing how the political fate of different political ideologies and political parties fare in the social psyche of Sri Lanka. WP holds or has accumulated over 51% of the countries wealth and thus is the richest of all 09 provinces. Also, the WP has a very cosmopolitan population with a high percentage of Minority ethnicities and religious populations resident in large patches, especially in Colombo. While the two districts Gampaha and Kalutara have 91 and 87 per cent Sinhala populations respectively, Colombo has only a 76 per cent Sinhala population. Colombo has a 13% Tamil and a 10% Muslim population that is a Moor and a Malay population taken together. According to the Colombo District Secretariat, within this Sinhala population of 1.7 million in the district, 13.5% are Catholic and Christian.

These are all factors that had serious implications at this WP elections. While in most constituencies where the Sinhala Buddhist vote dominate, the UPFA polled well over 70% as in Kaduwela (70.1%) and Kesbewa (71.0%) in Colombo district, Horana (75.9%) and Bandaragama (73.3%) in the Kalutara district and then in Attanagalla (72.9%) and Dompe (75.2%) in the Gampaha district. In other constituencies with a good Sinhala majority, the UPFA still managed over 60% of the votes polled as in Kotte (61.9%) and Homagama (66.1%) in Colombo district, Katana (68.8%) and Kelaniya (64.5) in the Gampaha district and in Matugama (67.8%) and Panadura (66.6%) in the Kalutara district.

The trend in voting clearly showed a big shift towards the Rajapaksa regime where the Sinhala Buddhist vote was concerned. Thus even in constituencies like Ja-ela and Wattala where there is a concentration of Catholic and Christian vote, with over 62% and 63% turning out to vote, the UPFA still managed over 58% votes polled. Let’s not forget that here in Sri Lanka, though Christian or Catholic, as a Sinhala voter they have often tried to identify themselves within the anti Tamil hype to look very much Sinhala. A typical inferiority complex in a Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic society. Yet where the Minority voters like Tamils and Muslims increase in their presence as in Dehiwala (51.0%) and Borella (49.9%) the UPFA is seen losing their clout.

This is amply demonstrated in the voting in Colombo city. Here the UPFA loses all 05 constituencies. Colombo the commercial hub with a population of 642,163, Sinhalese make up only 41.4 percent of the city’s population, while Sri Lankan Tamils are 28.9 percent, Moors and Malays total 25.6 percent and Indian Tamils adding another small 2.2 percent. It’s thus 58.6% non Sinhala population as against 41.4% Sinhala in the city of Colombo, a unique demographic pattern in any city outside the N-E provinces.

Therefore, the Sinhala war hype, the agony of the Wanni people, the huge cry against a human carnage unfolding in the Mullaitivu coast, have all played against the otherwise popular Rajapaksa regime. In the 03 electorates Colombo North, Central and West, the Rajapaksa regime could not go beyond 30% and in the remaining 02 constituencies, Colombo East and Borella, they got less than 50% of the votes and lost.

This was despite the Tamil vote in Colombo not going to the polls as strong as it did in previous elections. They had their own reasons for taking this election as one that did not consider them any more as a necessary voter. As one that has any importance in Sri Lankan politics. While the UPFA campaign was a government campaign for winning the war, which obviously left out the Tamil people, all others including the UNP did not take the Tamil voter as an important factor. The UNP shied away from standing with the Tamil people who were being savagely treated in the Wanni. The UNP has not been very clear where they stand on the Tamil conflict with different leaders having different explanations and all leaders in the UNP happy the war is being won – by the “war heroes” as they wish to say. Therefore the Tamil vote that went the UNP way was a “Protest” vote against the Rajapaksa regime and then because the Democratic People’s Front’s 03 Tamil candidates who contested Colombo district in the UNP list campaigned on a platform of their own, led by Mano Ganesan.

So did the Muslim vote. They had their own list fielded by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) led by Rauf Hakeem. There was also the internal clash within the UPFA in Colombo city. Their own Muslim candidates in the city came under goon attacks and were prevented from campaigning. The UPFA thus projected itself as a Sinhala dominated power bloc in Colombo. Therefore in Colombo, the Muslim vote too, either went the UNP way or to the SLMC.

This Western Provincial Council election thus shows a very strong polarisation of the Sri Lankan society along ethno-religious lines. The Sinhala voter has not bothered how it would live in a fast deteriorating economy, with consumer prices flying higher, the rupee gradually losing its buying power, all democratic life brutally suppressed and large lay offs in the private sector due to the financial crunch weighing heavily on their lives, given the promise that the Tamil terrorists would be completely wiped off.

All of it has made the Tamils in particular and the Muslims in general consider this government as one they wouldn’t ever trust. This Western Provincial Council election shows that Minorities therefore as a rule has voted against the Rajapaksa regime, while as a rule the Sinhala Buddhist voter has gelled more with this regime on the war campaign.

It’s now getting more clearer. We are a stubbornly dividing society with Minorities not wanting to have any say in what the Sinhala government does here. The question therefore is, what the future would be, if this trend persists with Colombo governments sticking to their racist politics for Sinhala votes. Not giving the minorities due recognition, but not wanting them to go away either. A dog in the manger no doubt.

Kusal Perera

Vithiyatharan released

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 2009, 09:38 GMT] The Chief Editor of the Tamil daily Sudaroli, Nadesapillai Vithiyatharan, who was ‘abducted’ and later claimed as ‘arrested’ by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Divison on February 26, was released Friday by the Colombo Magistrate Court after the charges against him were dropped. The editor was accused by the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as having known of the LTTE air attack on the city of Colombo in Januray. He was abducted while attending a family funeral at Mount Lavinia on the outskirts of Colombo.