Police, army turn terror on Jaffna University students

11/29/2012 Students wearing black bands were staging the protest rally opposite the university main entrance around 11 am when hundreds of police and military personnel attacked them with poles, wires and cables, seriously wounding at least seven of them.

Two Jaffna journalists who were covering the rally were also attacked, while four students were taken into to military custody during the clash.

Academic sources of the Jaffna University told the JDS that the students were “engaged in a peaceful rally to protest the military raid on the ladies hostels on Heores’ Day when the police, military and state intelligence officials unleashed their terror campaign opposite the University entrance”.

“The soldiers involved in the hostel raid on Tuesday were intimidating our students and at lease two female hostel inmates were threatened at gun-point not to commemorate the Heroes’ Day. That’s why our students organised this peaceful protest to condemn their act of terror,” he told JDS over the phone from the University complex.

'A retaliation for remembering'

“The soldiers were angry that students have somehow commemorated their heroes and lit the commemoration lamp despite many threats and intimidation. Today’s attack was nothing but a violent retaliation on the students for remembering their own sisters and brothers. This simply shows that we don’t have freedom even to cry silently in the North-East,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Editor of the Jaffna Uthayan newspaper J. Premananth and Jaffna district MP E. Saravanabavan were attacked by the military intelligence personnel on Tuesday while covering the military raid on the university hostels on Tuesday. Speaking to press in Jaffna he confirmed that they were attacked by military intelligence personnel.

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First Dhamma School in Jaffna to foster harmony

The first Dhamma School in Jaffna will be opened on September 30 to revive Buddhism in the North which suffered neglect under three decades of LTTE terrorism. The Tamil Buddhist Association will conduct the Dhamma School programme in Jaffna. It is hoped the move will lay the foundation to promote religious harmony between all ethnic groups in the Northern Province, Tamil Buddhist Association president A Ravi Kumar said. Jaffna Mayor Logeshwari Pathgunaraja and Divisional Secretary Sundaram Arumageinayagam will open the school. Ven Meegahajandure Siri Wimala Thera of the Jaffna Naga Vihara said due to the LTTE’s dominance during the past 30 years, around 15,000 Tamil Buddhists who had membership of the Tamil Buddhist Association, had given up participating in social activities since the terrorists banned events conducted under a Buddhist theme. “Tamil Buddhists in the North were threatened by the LTTE and all their activities came to a standstill,” the Thera said. “The LTTE inculcated the belief in the minds of the Tamils that the Buddha belongs solely to the Sinhalese. Even today, many Tamils in the North hold on to this misconception and they need to be corrected,” the Thera said. He said the Tamil Buddhist Association works with the World Hindu-Buddhist Association to enhance the living standards of people suffering under many problems. “Starting a Dhamma School in Jaffna will create the proper path to reawaken Buddhism in the North,” the Thera said.

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The UN team has also met Jaffna Bishop Most Rev. Fr. Dr. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Which is quite unfortunate .

Sri Lanka Army has no plans to acquire civilian lands to set up camps, UN team told

Sri Lanka Army has no plans to take over lands belonging to civilians in Jaffna, the major city of the Northern Province as some parties have claimed, the visiting UN team was told. Commander Security Forces Jaffna (SF-J) Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe has told the visiting United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) team that the Army has already handed back a majority of the land to their owners and the owners of other houses the military currently occupying are paid rent until they are released in future. "We have no plan of acquiring civilians' lands to establish military camps in Jaffna. Army has already earmarked government lands for that purpose," he has said "However, the government will acquire some lands needed for the expansion of the Palaly airport and the Kankasanthurai Harbor after paying compensation to legitimate owners," he has added. When the UN team led by Hanny Megally, Chief Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch of OHCHR called on the Commander on Monday (17), he has apprised them of the profile of Jaffna, history of the separatist conflict and devastation caused by the LTTE to the lives and property. Speaking of reducing troop presence in the peninsula, General Hathurusinghe has said that a large number of soldiers recruited for the Army to fight the three-decade long war have to be housed in the country and Jaffna is also a part of the country. Nevertheless, the number of troops present in Jaffna is much lesser comparing to some districts in the southern part of the island, he has noted. He has told the OHCHR officials that the Army has launched a number of community welfare programs soon after the country was liberated. Livelihood activities for Ex-LTTE combatants, housing project for destitute families, scholarships for students from low-income families are a few among them. Megally has expressed his appreciation to the SF-J Commander for educating them with a comprehensive presentation on the present situation in Jaffna and for their commitment to achieve a sustainable peace. The team is to offer advice and technical assistance to the government on implementing the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) as required by the US-sponsored UN resolution adopted at the 19th session of UNHRC on March 22 this year. The UN team has also met Jaffna Bishop Most Rev. Fr. Dr. Thomas Saundaranayagam and the Government Agent S. Arumainayagam during their stay in Jaffna.

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Sri Lanka was miles away from India as like Myanmar

China signs Lanka visa, trade deals

China signs 16 agreements with Sri Lanka, ranging from visa exemption and marine development to economic and technology cooperation, and promises to expand investment and increase imports from the South Asian country. Experts said the expanded cooperation demonstrates deepened political trust, and will help make Sri Lanka "Asia's miracle" in terms of economic growth. The two countries have agreed that holders of diplomatic and service passports of the other country will be exempt from visa requirements. Cooperation on marine development and management, and economic and technological cooperation, will be boosted. Other agreements include favorable loans offered by Chinese banks to some major infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka and cooperation on telecommunication and railway system renovation. No details of these agreements have been revealed. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and visitor Wu Bangguo, China's top legislator, witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreements. Wu arrived in Colombo on Saturday to start the first ever visit by the chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee. Wu is also the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Sri Lanka since the island nation ended longtime civil war with the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas three years ago. During a meeting with Rajapakse on Monday, Wu said China will continue to adopt various measures to increase imports from Sri Lanka and will encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in the country. He proposed the two countries maintain and expand cooperation in infrastructure construction and will expand collaboration in new sectors such as marine scientific research, climate change, disaster prevention and relief, animal husbandry, agriculture product processing, bio-energy and tourism. Commenting on concerns that China is attempting to increase its influence over South Asia by expanding cooperation with Sri Lanka, Sun Shihai, president of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, said Chinese assistance to Sri Lanka does not negatively affect a third party. He said that with the development of globalization, China and South Asian countries will engage in more communication and cooperation, which will have global benefits. Rajapakse said Sri Lanka is now devoted to becoming "Asia's miracle" and there is a great need for infrastructure construction and the training of professionals. He said the country welcomes Chinese investment and would like to offer favorable policies for big infrastructure projects such as the railway, ports and power generation stations. Since the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels three years ago, the country has undergone rapid development. It recorded a strong GDP growth of 8 percent in 2010 and 8.3 percent in 2011, according to official figures. The Sino-Sri Lankan bilateral trade volume reached $3.14 billion in 2011 - up 49.8 percent year-on-year, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China also remains involved in almost all the large-scale projects under construction in Sri Lanka. Some of the biggest projects financed by China include a $1.3 billion coal power plant on the northwestern shore and a host of other investments in the south including a $1.2 billion port and a $209 million airport, according to figures from the Chinese government. China has also pledged $760 million to improve the country's road network and is heavily involved in highway construction. Hu Shisheng, an expert on South Asian studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Sino-Sri Lankan cooperation has a broad spectrum, and the visa exemption policy shows the deepened political trust between the two countries. After the civil war, Sri Lanka urgently needs to rebuild its infrastructure, which offers great opportunities for China, while China also seeks to increase overseas investment, so both countries have a strong will to cooperate, Hu said. Sirimal Abeyratne, head of the economics department in the University of Colombo, said he is upbeat about the benefits of Wu's visit not just on political grounds but also on economic cooperation. Abeyratne said the Sri Lankan government should work toward the expansion of trade between the two countries and not simply depend on loans in order to make the economic growth of the country sustainable. He noted that Sri Lanka's exports to China correspond to 1 percent of the island's total trade. "Trade between the two countries is still at an early stage but is very important given the size and depth of China's market. Relations need to expand beyond investment and loans. Then it would be enormously beneficial for Sri Lanka," he told Xinhua News Agency.

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India promises IT Park for Sri Lanka

Visiting Indian Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh yesterday said the economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and India is at a peak level and the benefits should go to both countries. He said India is interested in setting up a modern IT park in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan professionals' service can be obtained for it. Ramesh made these observations when he met Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the latter's ministry on Thursday. The two ministers reviewed the progress of the ongoing development projects initiated with Indian financial assistance and agreed they are progressing and are within the expected time schedule. They decided to expedite preparatory work on the Sampur power project and complete it within the next few months and start construction in September. Minister Ramesh communicated the interest of major Indian IT companies to set up an IT park in Sri Lanka, with modern facilities to serve the regional and international markets. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa decided to have a special Sri Lanka promotion programme for India. Ramesh proposed Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Hydrabad and Kochin as sites for the promotional programme. The visiting Indian Minister inquired about the rehabilitation, reconstruction and economic development projects in the North. He requested Sri Lanka to produce exportable agriculture products as India has a big market for them. Minister Rajapaksa said the government has taken steps to develop education in the Northern Province. Eighty nine schools were reconstructed and 70 are under reconstruction.

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