BBC News – Sri Lanka crowd attacks Muslim warehouse in Colombo

Several people have been injured in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, when Buddhist monks led hundreds in an assault on a Muslim-owned clothing warehouse.

Buddhist monks were filmed throwing stones at the storage centre of popular garment chain Fashion Bug in a suburb of the capital on Thursday night.

Police told AFP news agency that forces had been deployed to guard the area.

The attack comes as hard-line Buddhist groups step up a campaign against the lifestyles of Muslims.

The development comes four years after the army in the mainly Sinhalese Buddhist country defeated Tamil separatists.

During Sri Lanka’s bitter civil war the Muslims – a small Tamil-speaking minority, about 9% of the population – kept a low profile, but many now fear that ethnic majority hard-liners are trying to target them.

The BBC’s Charles Haviland in Colombo said the monks led a crowd which quickly swelled to about 500, yelling insults against the shop’s Muslim owners and rounding on journalists seeking to cover the events.

Five or six were injured, including a cameraman who needed stitches.

Eyewitnesses said the police stood and watched although after the trouble spread they brought it under control.

“We have deployed extra units of STR (Special Task Force commandos) and police to guard the area,” police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

“The situation was brought under control within a few hours,” he said, adding that no arrests had been made.

Television footage showed broken glass and clothing from the warehouse strewn in the street.

Hard-line Buddhist groups led by monks also sent around a text this week urging people to boycott Muslim shops when stocking up for the forthcoming Sri Lankan New Year festival.

After some Muslim groups called a strike in protest against a growing Buddhist campaign against their lifestyle, including halal food classification, a hard-line Buddhist party in the governing coalition issued a statement saying:

“Sinhalese Buddhists should be determined to teach such Muslim extremists a lesson that they will never forget”.

The assault comes a day after police set up a hot-line to tackle complaints about anyone “inciting religious or racial hatred hatred”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21973292

For background information also read :

Hardline Buddhists targeting Sri Lanka’s Muslims

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21840600

The Hindu – India for impartial probe in Sri Lanka

K. Balchand

New Delhi, 15 March 2013. Amid the diplomatic parleys to chalk out India’s stand at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has categorically said the stress will be on an impartial and transparent enquiry into allegations of atrocities against them.

Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha on Friday in response to the anguish of the DMK and the AIADMK that the students’ agitation in Tamil Nadu protesting the alleged genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka might get out of control, Mr. Khurshid said India was in the process of deciding on the resolution to be adopted at the UNHRC meeting.

Enunciating the process undertaken to finalise the resolution, the Minister pointed out the efforts at engaging all member-countries in pursuit of the government’s commitment for a life of dignity and equality to Tamils in Sri Lanka. That had been the objective of the resolution last year, he pointed out, adding the government would do whatever was needed.

“The government is committed and whatever steps are needed will be taken,” Mr. Khurshid asserted.

He promised to get back to the House and inform the members of the government‘s stand as and when finalised.

Apart from a life of dignity and equality for Tamils, New Delhi would also insist on accountability and fair participation.

Both the DMK and the AIADMK insisted that the government move its own resolution at the UNHRC meeting.

Emphasising that the students were on the streets in Tamil Nadu, DMK leader Tiruchi Siva demanded that the government at least support the U.N. resolution and condemn the war crimes and institute an impartial international inquiry into the instances of human rights violations.

AIADMK apprehensive

AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan expressed apprehension that efforts were on to dilute the resolution. He warned that such an action would be unacceptable to the people of Tamil Nadu.

The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha by T.R. Baalu (DMK) and M. Thambi Durai (AIADMK).

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-for-impartial-probe-in-sri-lanka/article4512299.ece

The Tribune – Pardhan Mantri Manmohan Singh : Sri Lankan Tamils and taking on the BJP in Rajya Sabha

Tamils must live with dignity in Lanka: PM

Girja Shankar Kaura, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 8. Expressing concern over the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made it clear that political reconciliation is a must for calm in that country and said India would strive to ensure dignity and self respect for the ethnic minority.

“It will be our effort to work with the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that the Tamil population in Sri Lanka is given a chance to lead a life of dignity and self respect as equal citizens of that country,” Manmohan Singh said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.

The PM said the Lankan Government must talk to the Tamil leadership and political reconciliation was a must to bring lasting peace there to resolve the Tamils’ issue.

“There are problems in Sri Lanka. We have been worried about the fate of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. It has been our effort to deal with the Government of Sri Lanka. There must be political reconciliation. Without national reconciliation, the situation cannot remain calm. The Sri Lankan Government must, therefore, take the initiative to talk to the Tamil leadership in Sri Lanka,” Singh said.

PM takes on BJP in Rajya Sabha

Picking up from where he had left in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh again launched a frontal attack on the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, particularly Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley saying “men of envy” disparage everything.

Manmohan Singh, while expressing confidence that growth would bounce back to 7-8 per cent, urged the Opposition to be more objective in assessing the work of the government.

Taking on Jaitley, the Prime Minister said, “I agree with Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley saying that country needs a growth of 7-8 per cent to get rid of poverty. I would like to remind this House that this is precisely the intention of the UPA government.” (With PTI inputs)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130309/main4.htm

The Asian Age – All thunder, no rain: PM to BJP

Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 7 March 2013. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in his element in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as he hit out at the BJP for belittling the achievements of the UPA government, saying that party would meet the same fate in the 2014 elections that it did in 2004 and 2009.

In an apparent rejoinder to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s description of the Congress as “termites” and calling him a “night watchman” at the BJP’s recent national council meeting here, Dr Singh said while it hurled the “choicest abuse” against the Congress leadership, he would not reply in “that language”, saying “our performance is the best judge”.

But he added: “Jo garajte hain wo baraste nahi hain (thunderous clouds do not bring rain)” Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, the Prime Minister spoke at length on several issues: the economy, on keeping India’s options open on the United States resolution against Sri Lanka at UNHCR, ties with Pakistan and the Maldives situation.

Dr Singh exuded confidence that the slowdown in the economy will not last and the country will return to 7-8 per cent growth in next two years.

Deftly using Urdu and Hindi couplets and proverbs, the soft-spoken Dr Singh took potshots at L.K. Advani, saying the BJP lost in 2004 after its “India Shining” campaign and faced defeat again in 2009 when it pitted the “iron man” against “the lamb that Manmohan Singh is”.

“I am confident the people will again elect us in the next election based on our performance,” the Prime Minister said amid repeated thunderous applause from the treasury benches.

http://www.asianage.com/india/all-thunder-no-rain-pm-bjp-016

Dawn – Manmohan Singh says Pakistan not doing enough against terrorists

From our correspondent

New Delhi, 7 March 2013. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that India was continuing to talk to Pakistan to normalise ties, but the latter was faltering on its part of the bargain with regard to terrorism.

Addressing the Lok Sabha where he berated the Bharatiya Janata Party for using foul language against him and his party, Dr Singh drew a rosy picture of his domestic and foreign policy measures.

“Our dialogue with Pakistan continues in order to normalise our relations: promote bilateral cooperation and people-to-people contacts; and resolve outstanding issues,” Dr Singh said towards the end of his speech before winning a key vote on government’s policies. He described the recent flare-up on the Line of Control as a negative influence on the dialogue process.

“Progress has been possible in some areas like trade and people-to-people contacts. But incidents such as the barbaric manner in which two Indian soldiers were killed on the Line of Control in January vitiate the atmosphere and cast a shadow on the bilateral dialogue process.

“Further, we are yet to see tangible progress in dismantling the terrorism infrastructure in Pakistan and in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack of November 2008. Normal, good-neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan — free from the threat of violence, and enhanced bilateral economic cooperation — would be in our mutual interest. We also expect Pakistan to take steps to create a conducive environment to take the process of normalisation forward,” Dr Singh said.

India has an abiding interest in a stable, strong, united, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan, which is no longer a safe haven for terrorism.

“As Afghanistan undergoes political, economic and security transitions in 2014 and beyond, we will continue to help build Afghan capabilities to evolve peacefully and fight terrorism and extremism,” the prime minister said.

The Indian government is under pressure from its Tamil deputies to support a US-led resolution against Sri Lanka’s human rights record against Jaffna Tamils. The prime minister hedged his bets on how India would vote.

“As regards the issue of a draft resolution expected to be tabled by the United States at the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, our decision will depend on the substance of the final text tabled in the council. We will, however, be guided by our consistent position that we support proposals that seek to advance the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self respect.”

Responding to concerns raised by the deputies on the alleged threat India faces from China, Dr Singh played down the issue.

“In my view, there is enough space in the world today for both countries to achieve their developmental aspirations.

While we do have differences over the border issue, since 1988 we have evolved mechanisms to address the issue and to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border.”

http://dawn.com/2013/03/07/singh-says-pakistan-not-doing-enough-against-terrorists/

BBC News – Tamil deportations from UK blocked by London High Court

Thursday, 28 February 2013. The High Court in London has blocked the deportation of a group of failed Tamil asylum seekers scheduled to be sent back to Sri Lanka on Thursday.

The ruling means they will be able to remain in the UK pending investigations into their contention that they will be tortured if they are made to return.

The UK Border Agency told the BBC that it was “disappointed” by the ruling, and that it would appeal.

Human rights groups say some Tamils sent back earlier had been tortured.

They say that in some cases they were subjected to abuse because of their alleged links to separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. The Sri Lankan government denies this.

Sri Lanka’s civil war came to an end in 2009, after 26 years of conflict and up to 100,000 casualties as the Tamil Tigers fought for independence.

‘Fallen prey to lies’

It is believed to be the first time that a UK courts has blocked the deportation of a group of Tamils to Sri Lanka, although many individuals over the last 18 months have won last-minute court injunctions preventing their return.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, the Border Agency said the ruling did “not represent a blanket ban on returns to Sri Lanka”.

However lawyers for Tamils under threat of deportation insist that it has wider implications, because it applies to all other failed Tamil asylum seekers – including those in detention – meaning none can be removed at present.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has accused the Sri Lankan government of abuses, including killing former Tamil Tigers and political opponents.

On Wednesday, Sri Lankan envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe accused Ms Pillay of bias in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Mr Samarasinghe said his country had “fallen prey to lies” spread by former rebels.

Correspondents say his criticisms reflect government sensitivities over Sri Lanka’s rights record ahead of Colombo hosting a summit of British Commonwealth countries in November. Campaigners are calling for it to be boycotted.

On Tuesday Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, accused Sri Lankan security forces of committing crimes of sexual violence against ethnic Tamils in custody.

Sri Lanka’s government also dismissed the report as “lies”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21610953

The Hindu – ‘Probe sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka’

Human Rights Watch’s report to be released on Monday

J. Balaji

New Delhi, 22 February 2013. Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global human rights organisation, has sought an international investigation into reports of sexual violence, rape, third degree torture against Tamil women and men carried out by the Sri Lankan security forces to get confessions from those suspected to have links with the then Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The HRW, which has prepared a 140-page report, “‘We Will Teach You a Lesson’: Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces,” which is to be released on Monday, provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006 to 2012 in both official and secret detention centres throughout Sri Lanka.

While widespread rape in custody occurred during the armed conflict (with LTTE) that ended in May 2009, “HRW found that politically motivated sexual violence by the military and police continues to the present.” HRW Asia Director Brad Adams claimed: “The Sri Lankan security forces have committed untold numbers of rapes of Tamil men and women in custody. These are not just wartime atrocities but continue to the present, putting every Tamil man/woman arrested for suspected LTTE involvement at serious risk.”

Mr. Adams said the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) should direct the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct an independent international investigation. “The government’s response to allegations of sexual violence by its security forces has been dismissive, deeming them ‘fake’ or ‘pro-LTTE propaganda.’ It’s not clear who in the government knew about these horrific crimes. But the government’s failure to take action against these ongoing abuses is further evidence of the need for an international investigation,” he said.

Victims’ accounts

Quoting from the accounts of a 31-year-old Tamil woman who was picked up from her Colombo house by CID personnel in November 2011, the HRW said: “I was taken to the fourth floor of the CID office in Colombo. I was not given any food or water. The next day, the officials, who included a uniformed armed official, photographed me, took my fingerprints, and made me sign on a blank sheet of paper.

They told me that they had all my husband’s details and kept asking me to disclose his whereabouts. When I told them my husband was abroad, they continued to accuse him of supporting the LTTE. I was beaten with many objects. I was burned with a cigarette during questioning. I was slapped around and beaten with a sand-filled pipe. Throughout the beatings, they asked me for my husband’s details.

I was raped one night. Two men came to my room in civilian clothes. They ripped my clothes and both raped me.

They spoke Sinhala so I could not understand anything. It was dark so I couldn’t see their faces clearly.”

Another 23-year-old male youth, caught in August 2012, said: “They removed my blindfold [and] I found myself in a room where four other men were present. I was tied to a chair and questioned about my links to the LTTE and the reason for my recent travel abroad. They stripped me and started beating me. I was beaten with electric wires, burned with cigarettes and suffocated with a petrol-infused polythene bag.

Later that night, I was left in a smaller room. I was raped on three consecutive days. The first night, one man came alone and anally raped me. The second and third night, two men came to my room. They anally raped me and also forced me to have oral sex with them. I signed a confession admitting my links with the LTTE after the rapes.”

Yet another youth, who surrendered before the security forces in May 2009, said: “Two officials held my arms back [while] a third official held my penis and inserted a metal rod inside. They inserted small metal balls inside my penis.

These had to be surgically removed after I escaped from the country.” A medical report corroborates his account, said HRW.

The rights body alleged that the victims also described being beaten, hung by their arms, partially asphyxiated and burned with cigarettes. None of those who spoke to HRW had access to legal counsel, family members, or doctors while they were detained. Most said that they signed a confession in the hope that the abuse would stop, though the torture, including rape, often continued. The individuals interviewed were not formally released but rather allowed to “escape” after a relative paid the authorities a bribe.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/probe-sexual-violence-against-tamils-in-sri-lanka/article4439922.ece

BBC News – Sri Lanka Leader reporter Faraz Shauketaly shot

Saturday, 16 February 2013. A reporter from a newspaper in Sri Lanka has been shot by a group of unidentified men at his home on the outskirts of the capital Colombo.

Sunday Leader journalist Faraz Shauketaly was rushed to hospital after being shot in the neck.

A doctor who treated Mr Shauketaly at the hospital told the BBC’s Azzam Ameen in Colombo the journalist was now out of danger.

Sri Lankan police say an investigation into the shooting is under way.

Mr Shauketaly uses his home as a guest house in Mount Lavinia; one of the residents heard his screams after the shooting late on Friday night and drove him to hospital.

He was transferred to the private clinic where a doctor told the BBC the bullet had been successfully removed.

Another resident of the guest-house told the BBC: “Faraz said to us in the morning that his life was in danger, we didn’t see the people but I guess they may have shot at him from his window.”

Anti-establishment paper

Four years ago, the Sunday Leader’s editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was shot dead by a group of masked men on motorbikes.

The case, which has never been solved, highlighted the dismal state of press freedom in the country, analysts said.

The investigative, anti-establishment newspaper had riled the authorities and continued to do so after his death. But last July the near-bankrupt Leader was bought by a well-connected businessman.

In September the then-editor, Frederica Jansz, said he had sacked her for not toeing his political line. She then fled abroad citing fresh death threats.

Under a new editor, Sakunthala Perera, the paper has issued retractions of past articles and has lost some of its most outspoken columnists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21482317

The Hindu – ‘Rajapaksa trying to erase Tamils in Sri Lanka’

Chennai, 8 February 2013.  DMK president Karunanidhi on Friday said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not only trying to obliterate Tamils in the island nation but also their culture, tradition and the Tamil language itself.

Leading a massive protest held by Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation (TESO) against the President’s India visit, Mr. Karunanidhi said: “Rajapaksa is trying to erase not only the Tamils in Sri Lanka but also the Tamil language.”

Mr. Karunanidhi said the Sri Lankan government was changing the names of villages with Tamil names to that of Sinhalese.

He said the protest was being held to teach Mr. Rajapaksa a “lesson”.

Thousands of cadres belonging to DMK, VCK and other Tamil outfits and their leaders participated in the protest wearing black shirts.

Around 30 members of VCK party were taken into custody near the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border for holding protests.

In Hosur, members of various Tamil outfits were taken into custody for protesting on the railway tracks.

Lawyers in Villupuram, Dindugul and Sivaganga boycotted the courts opposing Mr. Rajapaksa’s visit and burnt his effigies.

Protests were also held in Tirupati, where prohibitory orders were imposed, and in New Delhi.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/rajapaksa-trying-to-erase-tamils-in-sri-lanka/article4393006.ece?homepage=true

The Hindu – Narayanasamy blames Tamil Nadu government for fishermen’s plight

Puducherry, 1 January 2013. Union Minister of State V. Narayanasamy today blamed the Tamil Nadu government for its “inaction” to facilitate a dialogue between Indian fishermen and their counterparts in Sri Lanka.

Though the External Affairs Ministry Secretary had written twice to the Tamil Nadu government recently for a dialogue to ensure protection of fishermen, the State government had not shown any response to the Centre’s initiative, Minister of State in the PMO Narayanasamy said.

Only through an agreement between the leaders of Tamil Nadu fishermen outfits and their counterparts in the Island Republic could the present hardships being faced by fishermen of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu be brought to an end, he told reporters in Puducherry.

Emphasising the need to demarcate the zones within which the fishermen of the State and Sri Lanka could carry on their avocation, the Secretary to the External Affairs Ministry had written twice to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary for the dialogue. “No response has, however, been shown by the Tamil Nadu government so far to these communications,” he said.

Replying to a question on the UPA’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr. Narayanasamy said as far as Congress was concerned, party leader Sonia Gandhi was the ultimate authority to decide on the matter, though there were several persons eligible to become the Prime Minister.

“Let us not indulge in any discussion now,” he said.

Mr. Narayanasamy claimed that the UPA had never shown political considerations between Congress ruled and non-Congress ruled States in allocation of funds for the implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes.

He said Uttar Pradesh was earmarked Rs. 3,500 crore for implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme. Tamil Nadu came next in the allocation of funds as it had been earmarked Rs. 3000 crore for the scheme.

“The Centre holds the scales even and funds are earmarked as per provisions in the Constitution, decisions taken at the National Development Council and in keeping with the approval of the Planning Commission,” he said.

Mr. Narayanasamy said a team of officials of the Comptroller and Auditor General would visit Puducherry soon to ascertain the reasons for “diversion” of funds from one department to another.

“Such diversion of funds cannot be done without prior approval of the Planning Commission but this is taking place in Puducherry as a routine affair”, he alleged. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/narayanasamy-blames-tn-govt-for-fishermens-plight/article4261812.ece