Make seven changes to your Constitution: India tells Nepal

Make seven changes to your Constitution: India tells Nepal
These “amendments” have been conveyed to Nepal’s leadership by the Indian government through official channels Ranjit Rae, India’s ambassador to Nepal.

Upset over Nepal’s newly promulgated Constitution, New Delhi wants Kathmandu to carry out “seven amendments” to ensure it is acceptable to the Madhesis and Janjatis, South Block sources told The Indian Express Tuesday. These amendments are at the heart of the protests and violence in Nepal which have left at least 40 dead.

These “amendments” have been conveyed to Nepal’s leadership by the Indian government through official channels — Ranjit Rae, India’s ambassador to Nepal, is in New Delhi for consultations — after South Block reviewed the new Constitution.

The proposed amendments are:

(1)

* Article 63 (3) of the Interim Constitution provided electoral constituencies based on population, geography and special characteristics, “and in the case of Madhes on the basis of percentage of population”. Under this provision, Madhes, with more than 50 per cent of the population, got 50 per cent of seats in Parliament. The latter phrase has been omitted in Article 84 of the new Constitution. “It needs to be re-inserted so that Madhes continues to have electoral constituencies in proportion to its population,” a government source told The Indian Express.

(2)

* In Article 21 of the Interim Constitution, it was mentioned that various groups would have “the right to participate in state structures on the basis of principles of proportional inclusion”. In the new Constitution (Article 42), the word “proportional” has been dropped — Delhi wants it re-inserted.

(3)

* Article 283 of the Constitution states that only citizens by descent will be entitled to hold the posts of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Chairperson of National Assembly, Head of Province, Chief Minister, Speaker of Provincial Assembly and Chief of Security Bodies. This clause is seen as discriminatory for the large number of Madhesis who have acquired citizenship by birth or naturalisation. Delhi says this should be amended to include citizenship by birth or naturalisation.

(4)

* Article 86 of the new Constitution states that National Assembly will comprise 8 members from each of 7 States and 3 nominated members. Madhesi parties want representation in National Assembly to be based on population of the Provinces. This, Delhi says, should be done to address concerns.

(5)

* Five disputed districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Sunsari, Jhapa and Morang: Based on the majority of the population, these districts or parts of them may be included in the neighbouring Madhes Provinces.

(6)

* Article 154 of the Interim Constitution provided for delineation of electoral constituencies every 10 years. This has been increased to 20 years in Article 281 of the new Constitution. Echoing the Madhesi parties, India wants this restored to 10 years.

(7)

* Article 11(6) states that a foreign woman married to a Nepali citizen may acquire naturalised citizenship of Nepal as provided for in a federal law. Madhesi parties want acquisition of naturalised citizenship to be automatic on application. This also finds favour with Delhi.
====================

Sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up counterpart Sushil Koirala on August 25. He appealed to the government, all political parties and the people of Nepal to eschew violence and maintain social harmony.

“During the August 25 phone call, the PM told Koirala that the political leadership of Nepal should resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue with all political parties and through the process of widest possible consultation, including with the public… to strengthen the climate of trust and confidence across and between all sections of society, and arrive at solutions that reflect the will and accommodate the aspirations of all citizens of a richly diverse society within a united, peaceful, stable and prosperous Nepal,” an official said, quoting from a statement of the Ministry of External Affairs.
In the last one month, New Delhi repeatedly asked Kathmandu — this included sending Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar as the PM’s envoy — to accommodate concerns being expressed by Madhesis and Tharus but that did not happen.

Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad told The Indian Express Tuesday: “The situation seems quite difficult in Nepal. The triumvirate of the political parties should realise the enormity of the mistake committed by them. They, simply, will have to address the concerns of Madhesis and Janjatis.”
=================
Editor’s note: 
MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup has reacted to the report: “The article is incorrect. Government of India has not handed over any list of specific Constitutional amendments or changes to the Government of Nepal. Without being prescriptive on specific clauses, and as already stated earlier, we continue to urge that issues on which there are differences should be resolved through dialogue in an atmosphere free from violence, and institutionalised in a manner that would enable broad-based 
ownership and acceptance.”

The reporter replies: The Indian Express has confirmed from its sources that these amendments/changes were communicated by New Delhi to Kathmandu. It stands by the report.

Nepal's Constitutional Crisis Involves Its Giant Neighbors

Nepal's Constitutional Crisis Involves Its Giant Neighbors

Harsh V. Pant

Nepal is hit by constitution crisis – India is viewed as interfering and China expands its influence

 Yale Global, 15 October 2015

LONDON: Nepal has been in turmoil in recent weeks because of the promulgation of a constitution that, according to its critics, discriminates against the Madhesis and the Tharus, who account for 70 percent of the population living in the Terai region bordering India, as well as against the country’s indigenous groups, the Janjatis. These groups, making up nearly half of Nepal’s population, were marginal to the larger constitution-making process, controlled by upper caste elite. The marginalized protest that their political power is reduced with the redrawing of political subdivisions, and the Indian sympathy they enjoy makes their protest part of a greater geopolitical struggle with China, Nepal’s other giant neighbor.

After taking charge last week, the new prime minister of Nepal, Khadga Prasad Oli, had said that normalizing relations with India is a top priority. Yet India is also viewed as a problem, too involved in Nepal’s domestic politics, and China is exploiting Nepalese insecurities vis-à-vis India to serve its own interests. Ongoing disagreements over the constitution will not only mar relations with India, driving the government closer to China, but also challenge Nepal’s transition to a healthy democracy. What could have been a defining moment for Nepal is mired in internal conflict and regional posturing.

The country is still struggling to come to terms with its political evolution. Since 2008 when the king was forced to give up his emergency powers and restore the elected parliament, politics have yet to settle. Fighting between the Maoists and the Nepalese government lasted a decade with an estimated 13,000 lives lost. Fighting ended in 2006 with the signing a peace accord and a framework for moving forward. Immediately following the conflict, there were some promising steps: Legislation was proposed to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission; an interim constitution was adopted in 2007 with the intent of forming a Constituent Assembly; elections to that assembly were held in 2008, and during that year Nepal became a democratic republic with abolition of the monarchy.

The peace process for Nepal has been protracted – with political instability and six prime ministers in six years.

But the peace process has been protracted due to a climate of political instability – the country has had six prime ministers in the last six years. Such turmoil severely limits the country’s recovery, with the most fundamental example being Nepal’s failure to draft a new constitution. The Constituent Assembly was elected in 2008 with a two-year mandate, but this was extended four times as the parties could not agree on the country’s federal structure. The new constitution is a step forward, but once again fails to provide a lasting solution. More than 40 have been killed in protests in the country since August when the draft constitution was made public.

Nepal can ill-afford this crisis especially after April’s devastating earthquake which caused an estimated $10 billion of damage in the $19.6 billion economy and from which the country has yet to fully recover. As of May, China’s post-earthquake aid was nearly double that from India.
Though a number of countries including China welcomed the new constitution after years of impasse, India’s reaction was terse, pointing out “that the situation in several parts of the country bordering India continues to be violent …We urge that issues on which there are differences should be resolved through dialogue in an atmosphere free from violence and intimidation, and institutionalized in a manner that would enable broad-based ownership and acceptance.”

India raised concerns over Nepal’s constitution through back channels to avoid being accused of interfering.

India had raised concerns over Nepal’s constitution through back channels to avoid being accused of interfering with the process. There was a sense that Nepalese parties ignored the concerns, along with a suggestion to delay promulgation for a few days in view of protests.

India conveyed a list of seven amendments to make the constitution amendable for alienated groups living mostly in the Terai region bordering India. The Nepalese government argued that “Nepal’s constitution is better than the Indian constitution” and “the most progressive in South Asia.” Communist leaders in Nepal have taken a strong anti-India line underlining that the new constitution’s promulgation is a “matter of conscience and self-respect” for the Nepalese people and “any act from anywhere that amounts to undermining our sovereignty is not acceptable to the Nepalese.”

Indo-Nepal relations have taken a nosedive with Kathmandu blaming India for growing fuel shortages, implying that India had imposed an informal blockade by not allowing fuel trucks to cross the border into Nepal. New Delhi blamed this disruption on the mass protests. Nepal imports almost all its oil from India, and road links to China through the Himalayas have been blocked since the April earthquake. As tensions with India mounted, China reopened its border with Nepal in Tibet. The disruptions underscore the Himalayan kingdom’s profound economic vulnerability, further inflaming anti-India passions. China is likely to be a beneficiary of this turmoil in India’s periphery.

Political uncertainty in Nepal has fueled anti-Indian sentiment, and China enlarges its presence.

Historically, Nepal has had close ties with India. The political uncertainty in Nepal has fueled anti-Indian sentiments, allowing China to enlarge its presence and even offer financial assistance for drafting the constitution. China overtook India as Nepal’s biggest foreign investor in 2013 with its funding of a $1.6 billion hydropower project – one of country’s biggest outside investments.
Against this backdrop, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Nepal a priority. He visited in August 2014 and also pledged $1 billion for reconstruction after the earthquake. It was the first bilateral visit to Nepal by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. Nepalese polity, cutting across party lines, had welcomed the assumption of power by Modi, with most expressing hope that Nepal would be a beneficiary of his developmental agenda.

The Nepalese parliament invited Modi for an address, the first by a foreign head of state to that body since 1990, and the Nepalese gave him a rousing welcome. Modi’s speech was a graceful reflection on the trials and turbulence that have shaped Indo-Nepalese ties in recent years with a promise of a change of course.

Modi also concluded three memoranda of understanding, including one on the 5600-MW Pancheshwar project, a bi-national hydropower project to be developed in Mahakali River bordering Nepal and India. Most significantly, he promised prompt implementation of Indian projects in Nepal, a cause of needless irritation in this bilateral relationship and viewed as symptomatic of India’s lack of seriousness by most Nepalese. India also promised review of the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship within two years on the basis of recommendations from a group of eminent representatives from both countries.

The Modi government had an opportunity to reshape the contours of New Delhi’s relations with Kathmandu at a time when India seems to be losing ground in Nepal to China. The Himalayan kingdom faces a crisis and blames India for pulling strings from behind the scenes. China has long been suspicious of the Madhesis' sociocultural and economic ties with India as the region has historically been part of India's larger Mithila region.

New Delhi could have better handled this relationship, but ultimately the Nepalese polity must pursue its own resolution. Otherwise, anger and mistrust between the entrenched elites in the valley and marginalized groups will only grow, challenging governance over the long-term. It is crucial for the Nepalese polity to ensure that those who feel left out of the constitution-making process to develop a sense of ownership in the new document. Anti-India sentiment, understandable though it may be, will not resolve the underlying tensions. Nepal must confront those demons on its own, and India should leave its neighbor alone as it works out its own domestic equation.

 Harsh V. Pant is professor of international relations at King's College London and the author of India's Afghan Muddle (HarperCollins).     

India Welcomes Nepal's New Constitution With Blockade!

India Welcomes Nepal's New Constitution With Blockade! 
Nandalal Tiwari

It is an irony that the country which claims to be the largest democracy in the world has rejected the most democratic process to write a constitution. India, Nepal's southern neighbour, has stopped so low as to effectuate an economic blockade following the promulgation of the new constitution through the Constituent Assembly (CA) in Nepal on September 20, 2015. The new constitution was endorsed by over 90 per cent of the total strength of the CA. There was no consensus among the political parties in the CA, but it was near consensus.

Nowhere in the world has any constitution been promulgated by any CA with such majority. Many world powers, including China, USA, France, Japan and Pakistan, welcomed the new constitution. However, India, the colony of the British Raj till 1947, simply took note of it and took an inhuman measure of an unannounced economic blockade to register its dissatisfaction forgetting that Nepal, a country which safeguarded its sovereignty and independence even at the time when the world was divided among the world empires, is a sovereign, independent country.

Blockade not unexpected

In fact, the blockade is not unexpected. The statement of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued just after the promulgation of the new constitution were rife with such threats. Expression of the Indian Foreign Secretary, S. Jaysankar, during his visit to Nepal as a special envoy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued similar threats when he reportedly told the Nepalese leaders: What if India does not welcome the new constitution?

Jaysankar was here, on September 18, after the CA had endorsed the new constitution and the date for the promulgation, Sept 20, had been fixed. He was here to postpone the promulgation so that the demands of the agitating Madhes-based parties were addressed. Three major parties had already called the Madhesi leaders for dialogue, and put on hold the CA process for two days as demanded by them. But no formal dialogue was held as the Madhesi leaders did not reciprocate the major three party's move. Given this, the Nepalese leaders were in no position to postpone the promulgation date and thus bow down before Indian hegemonic pressure.

It has just five months since Nepal was devastated by an earthquake of magnitude 7.6. Many poor people are still waiting for government relief and rehabilitation. And India has imposed an undeclared economic blockade. There is double standard at work. The Indian government has claimed that the economic blockade has not been imposed, however, at the border points, its agencies, the customs offices and Sima Surakshya Bal (SSB), do not allow passage to Nepal-bound containers.

India has used different covers to hide its blockade - that the agitating parties have blocked the entry points. That is totally wrong. The agitating parties decided to stage sit-ins at border points only on Friday, but Nepali containers had been stranded in India for over a week. And except for Birgunj, no sit-in had blocked the road. Moreover, reports said even at Birgunj, cadres of the agitating parties held the sit-in at the no man's land and pelted stone at the Nepali security personnel from Indian soil. Had the agitation in the southern plains blocked the transportation of the goods, they would have been blocked some 40 days ago when the agitation started.

Now, it is clear India has supported the agitation in the southern plains in an open and ugly manner. In this light, India has interfered in Nepal's internal affairs. Now the Indian move has even jeopardised the agitation in Madhes itself. Many have already started saying that the agitation is continuing on the strength of India. Thus, Indian interference and Madhesi agitation have become interconnected. It is upto the Madhesi leaders how they work to detach their movement from the Indian clutch so that the movement for what they say rights can be legitimate and a domestic affair.

This scribe suggests them to remember what Yudhisthira told his brothers when the Kaurav were tied by the Gandharvas in the jungle near where the Pandavas had taken shelter: When outsiders attack us, we all brothers are one, when it is a matter of our right, we are five Pandavas and they are 100 Kauravs.

By imposing an unannounced blockade, Indian rulers have violated their own constitution. Article 51 of the Indian constitution says: maintain just and honourable relations between nations, respect international law and treaty obligations. India has violated the international law on the rights of a landlocked country, it has also crushed the just and honourable relations with Nepal. What wrong did Nepal do to India by promulgating the new constitution?

A blockade or threat of a blockade has been a weapon used by India to impose its interests in Nepal. But the blockade has always added pains to the common people than to the ruling elite. Indian sanctions on Nepal, direct and indirect interference, have fuelled anti-India sentiments in Nepal. And Indian diplomacy has failed in most south Asian countries. With the blockade, Nepalese are having a taste of the Modi government's ‘first neighbourhood’ policy.

No excuse can justify the Indian blockade. But Nepalese leaders cannot be excused for such situation as well. When India imposed a blockade in 1989, these leaders did not protest against it, because they thought it was supportive of their movement against the partyless Panchayat system. At the moment, the Madhesi leaders are repeating the same mistakes. Moreover, they have recently decided to stage sit-ins at the border points as if the common people in the hills are their enemies.

Dialogue

They must know that the blockade will complicate the life of the common people not that of the political elites. On the other hand, the ruling parties including the main opposition UCPN-Maoist, must take urgent steps to hold dialogue with the agitating parties. We have seen the true face and heart of our southern neighbour. We have to take steps to bring a day when any Indian economic blockade will have no impact here. But to bring the day, the government must take the agitating parties into confidence, address their genuine demands and ensure that the new constitution is implemented smoothly. Particularly the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML must be ready to recognise the identity of the Tharus and be ready to ensure a province covering their majority area.

===========

Students protest near the Indian Embassy against the blockade of cargo trucks along the border with India in Kathmandu on Monday. (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

Nepal is angry with India, so it turns off the TV

By Rama Lakshmi September 29

At first India was publicly unhappy with the new constitution that its Himalayan neighbor passed last week. Then Indian trucks carrying cooking fuel, gasoline, salt, sugar and rice stopped crossing the border with Nepal after local protests erupted against the new charter.

The result: There is now a groundswell of anger against India in Nepal, a country still struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake in April that killed over 9,000 people and left tens of thousands more homeless.

The Nepali people are accusing India of punishing them by deliberately blocking the supply of essential goods. What makes matters worse is that the landslides caused by the earthquake have destroyed alternate supply routes from China and increased the landlocked nation’s reliance on imports from India.

People in Nepal are calling it the “unofficial economic blockade by India.”

On Monday, Nepal’s Home Ministry said the country is facing an "emergency" situation in fuel supply. Long lines are a common sight at gas stations across the country. Angry protesters are shouting anti-India slogans on the streets. Nepal’s cable television association has stopped showing 42 Indian news and entertainment channels across the country because of rising anger among the people.

Indian officials say that there is no official embargo and that the truck drivers carrying goods are afraid of going into Nepal because of the violent demonstrations by the ethnic minority groups living in the country's southern plains. The groups, considered close to Indians, are seeking greater political power in the new constitution.

Dozens of people have been killed in the protests. “The reported obstructions are due to unrest, protests and demonstrations on the Nepalese side, by sections of their population,” Vikas Swarup, India’s foreign ministry spokesman, said last week. But analysts in Nepal contest the Indian statement.

The head of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Narayan Man Bijukchhe, said India has declared a “communal war” with Nepal. The former attorney general in Kathmandu, Yubaraj Sangraula, called the lack of supplies “an act of aggression.”

The shortage of fuel and goods has brought back horrific memories for many people in Nepal who suffered an official economic blockade by India in 1989. New Delhi shut down border crossings into Nepal and cut off links to an Indian port after a trade dispute. That blockade lasted 13 months.

Hunger strike by ex-LTTE detainees called off

Hunger strike by ex-LTTE detainees called off
2015-10-17 12:03:18  1  1023
   

The hunger strike launched by suspected ex-LTTE detainees has been called off after the assurance given by the President to set up a mechanism to look into their issues.

Prisons Commissioner General Rohana Pushpakumara said he and opposition leader R. Sampanthan, TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran visited the prisoners at the Magazine Prison in Colombo this morning and informed them that President Maithripala Sirisena had directed the Justice Minister to formulate a mechanism to look into their issues and finish the process between October 31 and November 07.

Mr. Pushpakumara said he would inform the prisoners in Anuradhapura and Bogambara prison too about the decision.

Ex-LTTE cadres detained at the Magazine Prison in Colombo and several other prisons had launched a hunger strike on Monday calling for their release.


Possible release for some Tamil prisoners
2015-10-17 10:06:30  2  1023
   
Some prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) are likely to be released soon in the wake of President Maithripala Sirisena directing that this matter be expedited, Opposition Leader R. Sampathan said yesterday.

He said the President had directed Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe to release some of the prisoners when this matter was referred to him.

Mr. Sampathan told Daily Mirror the minister had referred this matter with the President after a discussing with a TNA delegation.

He said the mentioned prisoners would be released after the legal procedures were attended to.

"However, no relief will be given to those charged with serious offenses," Mr. Sampathan said.

Nearly 150 prisoners detained under the PTA staged a hunger strike from Monday but they are expected to give up the hunger strike today.(Yohan Perera)

விடுதலைப்புலிகளை சரணாகதி அடையக் கோரிய ஒபாமா பிரகடனம்

போர்க்கைதிகளின் விடுதலைப் போர் நான்காம் நாள்

விடுதலைப் போர் நடத்தும் போர்க்கைதிகளின் உடல் நிலை கவலைக்கிடம்

நான்காவது நாளை எட்டியுள்ள `உண்ண மறுப்பு போராட்ட` போராளிகளில் எழுவர் இராணுவ மருத்துவ மனைகளில் அநுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

இந்த நிலையில், நேற்றும் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட ஏழு அரசியல் கைதிகள் உடல் நிலை பாதிக்கப்பட்ட நிலையில், மருத்துவமனைகளில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

14 சிறைச்சாலைகளில் நீண்டகாலமாக தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள 217 அரசியல் கைதிகள் தமது விடுதலையை வலியுறுத்தி கடந்த 12ஆம் நாள் உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தை ஆரம்பித்திருந்தனர்.

எனினும், இவர்களின் விடுதலை தொடர்பாக அரசாங்கம் உரிய நடவடிக்கைகளையோ, முறையான வாக்குறுதிகளையோ எடுக்காத நிலையில், அவர்கள் தொடர்ந்து போராடி வருகின்றனர்.

மருத்துவ பரிசோதனைகளை மேற்கொண்ட மருத்துவர்கள், கைதிகளின் உடல் நிலை பலவீனமடைந்து செல்வதால், நீர் அருந்தும்படி ஆலோசனை வழங்கினர். எனினும் போராளிகள் அதற்கு இணங்கவில்லை.

சிறைச்சாலை ஆணையாளர் ரோகண புஷ்பகுமார மகசின் சிறைச்சாலைக்குச் சென்றும், அமைச்சர் மனோ கணேசனும் மகசின் சிறைச்சாலைக்கு சென்றும்,
தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களான செல்வம் அடைக்கலநாதன், எம்.ஏ.சுமந்திரன் ஆகியோர்  அனுராதபுரம் சிறைச் சாலைக்கு சென்றும்,   விடுதலைக்கான உத்தரவாதத்தை அளிக்காமல் அரச அடிவருடிகளாக , போராட்டத்தை முறியடிக்க எடுத்த பாசாங்கு முயற்சிகள் வெற்றி அளிக்கவில்லை.

போராட்டத்தின் இரண்டாவது நாளான நேற்று முன்தினம் மகசின் சிறைச்சாலையில் நால்வரும் அனுராதபுர சிறைச்சாலையில் ஒருவருமாக, ஐந்து கைதிகளின் உடல் நிலை பாதிக்கப்பட்டு மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தனர்.

நேற்று மகசின் சிறைச்சாலையில் மேலும் ஆறு பேரும் அனுராதபுர சிறைச்சாலையில் ஒருவருமாக  ஏழுபேரின் உடல் நிலை  மோசமடைந்ததையடுத்து மருத்துவ சிகிச்சைக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டனர்.

மகசின் சிறைச்சாலையில் கே.தயாபரன், கே.சிவாஜி, ரி.நேசமுருகன், எஸ்.உமாகரன், பி.மனோகரன், சகாதேவன் ஆகியோரும், அனுராதபுரவில் கே.கோபிநாத்தும் உடல் நிலை பாதிக்கப்பட்டனர்.

அதேவேளை, கைதிகளின் உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டம் குறித்து அமைச்சரவைக் கூட்டத்தில் ஆராயப்பட்டுள்ளதாக, அமைச்சர் மனோ கணேசன் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இதன்போது, உண்ணாவிரதம் இருக்கும் கைதிகள் தொடர்பாக வரும் 20ஆம் நாள் முக்கிய கூட்டம் ஒன்றை நடத்தவுள்ளதாக சிறிலங்கா பிரதமர் ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

தாம் இன்று சிங்கப்பூர் செல்வதாகவும், அங்கிருந்து திரும்பியதும், கைதிகளின் விடுதலை குறித்து ஆராய்வதாகவும் ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார்.

மூன்று நாட்களாக அரசியல் கைதிகள் உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தை
முன்னெடுக்கின்ற போதிலும், சிறிலங்கா அரசாங்கம் தரப்பில் இருந்து பொறுப்பு வாய்ந்த எந்தப் பதிலும் வழங்கப்படாதுள்ளமை கைதிகள், உறவினர்கள், மத்தியில் கடும் அதிருப்தியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

தமிழ் அரசியல் கைதிகளின் விடுதலைக்கு ஆதரவாக நேற்றைய தினம் கொழும்பில் போராட்டம் முன்னெடுக்கப்பட்டது.

நாளை வவுனியா, யாழ்ப்பாணம் உள்ளிட்ட இடங்களில் பெரியளவில் போராட்டங்களை நடத்த ஏற்பாடுகள் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதாக ஊடகச் செய்திகள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன!.

Political prisoners need immediate attention: Ananthy

Tamil political prisoners on hunger strike need immediate attention: Ananthy Sasitharan
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 2015, 23:46 GMT]

Three of more than 200 Tamil political prisoners on fast have fainted on the second day of the hunger strike demanding their release. Vijayakumar Kanthasamy, a father of two, was rushed to medical treatment after he fainted at Anuradhapura prison on Tuesday. Similarly, two prisoners fainted at Magazine prison, informed sources said. “We were expecting a positive response during the Papal visit. Nothing happened. Then came the elections and the talk of good governance. Nothing improved. Now, even after co-sponsoring the resolution in Geneva, we are yet to see any sign of evolution taking place in the mind-set of the Sri Lankan State,” a prisoner on hunger-strike said. Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasistharan has condemned TNA leader R. Sampanthan for not demanding immediate release of the Tamil political prisoners.


“Imagine the situation of the 10-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy who lost their mother Amutha in the genocidal shelling by the Sri Lankan military in March 2009 and they are yet to see their father who has been imprisoned for six years,” Ms Sasitharan told TamilNet. She was talking about the prisoner Vijayakumar, who was fainted during the hunger strike at Anuradhapura prison.

Vijayakumar was released in June 2013, but on the same day, when he was about to walk out from the Sri Lankan court, he was again arrested on another charge by the ‘terrorist investigation division’. Vijayakumar hails from Ampalavan-pokka'nai, a village in the Karaithu’raip-pattu division of Mullaiththeevu district.

“If you look at each and every Tamil political prisoner rotting in the prisons run by the genocidal system, there will be a story similar to that of Vijayakumar. They are even unable to withstand a day or two of hunger strike due to their physical and psychological conditions,” Ananthy Sasitharan, who has been in contact with the prisoners through telephone told TamilNet.

“Many of them have wounds. They have been subjected to continuous torture. On top of that they don't see any judicial process. On one case, the SL prosecutors failed to attend the court continuously for scheduled court proceedings 10 times. But, outside the prisons, there is talk of so-called reconciliation and the comedy of good governance,” she further said adding the prisoners were also suffering from malnutrition and their immune systems were severely weakened. “Therefore, we must demand immediate response before their get further affected by the hunger strike,” the NPC councillor said.

“The prisoners on hunger strike are also suffering from breathing problems as their oxygen intake was poor when their mobility is limited,” she said.

“Rajapaksa's regime has claimed that it had released more than 12,000 former LTTE members. There are more than 300 former LTTE members who are now converted as agents of the SL military. Many more are forced to work as informants. A large number of former LTTE members, especially women, are coerced into slaves at SL military run farms through the so-called Civil Security Division. Sri Lankan military intelligence is behind all these exploitation. No one is talking about them, the NPC councillor blamed the diplomats in Colombo.

“All the countries that backed the resolution in Geneva are answerable to the crimes that continue to take place against Tamils,” she said.

“NPC CM Justice Wigneswaran has demanded immediate action. Even Douglas Devananda of the EPDP demanded general amnesty and release of the Tamil political prisoners. But, sitting in the opposition leader position, our Sampanthan is yet to demand action from the Colombo government,” Ananthy Sasitharan told TamilNet.

ஈழப் போர்க்கைதிகள் போராட்டம்- நாள் மூன்று!

மூன்றாவது நாளை எட்டியது அரசியல் கைதிகளின் போராட்டம் – நான்கு பேர் மருத்துவமனையில்

OCT 14, 2015 | 1:27by கொழும்புச் செய்தியாளர்in செய்திகள்

தமது விடுதலையை வலியுறுத்தி, தமிழ் அரசியல் கைதிகள் ஆரம்பித்த  சாகும் வரையிலான உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டம் இன்று மூன்றாவது நாளை எட்டியுள்ள நிலையில், உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட நான்கு கைதிகளின் உடல்நிலை மோசமடைந்த நிலையில் சிறைச்சாலை மருத்துவமனைகளில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டனர்.

அனுராதபுர சிறைச்சாலையில் உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்ட அம்பலவன் பொக்கணையைச் சேர்ந்த 44 வயதுடைய கந்தசாமி விஜயகுமார் என்ற கைதி மயக்கமுற்ற நிலையில், சிறைச்சாலை மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

மகசின் சிறைச்சாலையில் உண்ணாவிரதம் இருந்த ஏ.ஞானசீலன், ரி.பிரபாகரன், ஷாம் ஆகிய மூன்று கைதிகள் மயக்கமுற்று சிறைச்சாலை மருத்துவமனையில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டனர்.

போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ள அரசியல் கைதிகள் சோர்ந்த நிலையில் இருப்பதாகவும், உடல் பலவீனமடைந்து செல்வதால், நீராகாரத்தையேனும் அருந்துமாறு, பரிசோதனையை மேற்கொண்ட மருத்துவர்கள் ஆலோசனை கூறியுள்ளனர். எனினும் கைதிகள் அதனை நிராகரித்துள்ளனர்.

பயங்கரவாதத் தடுப்புச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் நீண்டகாலமாகத் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் தம்மை, பொதுமன்னிப்பு வழங்கி விடுவிக்க வேண்டுமென வலியுறுத்தி 14 சிறைச்சாலைகளில் உள்ள 237 தமிழ் அரசியல் கைதிகள் உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர்.

நேற்றுமுன்தினம் ஆரம்பமான இந்தப் போராட்டத்தினால், நேற்று மன்னார் மற்றும் வவுனியா நீதிமன்றத்துக்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லப்படவிருந்த கைதிகள் அங்கு அழைத்துச் செல்லப்படவில்லை.

இன்று மூன்றாவது நாளாக அரசியல் கைதிகளின் போராட்டம் தொடரவுள்ளது.

இதற்கிடையே, நேற்று நீண்டகாலமாக தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள தமிழ் அரசியல் கைதிகளின் விபரங்கள் சிறைச்சாலைகளில் அதிகாரிகளால் சேகரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

இவை சிறிலங்கா அதிபருக்கு அனுப்பி வைக்கப்படவுள்ளதாக தகவல்கள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.

அதேவேளை, அரசியல் கைதிகளின் விடுதலையை வலியுறுத்தி நேற்று நல்லூரில் போராட்டம் ஒன்று நடத்தப்பட்டது.

இதில் வடக்கு மாகாணசபையின் உறுப்பினர்கள், மற்றும் யாழ். மாவட்ட நாடாளுமன்ற, உள்ளூராட்சி மன்றப் பிரதிநிதிகள் பலரும் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

இதற்கிடையே, கொழும்பில் இன்று அரசியல் கைதிகளின் விடுதலைக்கு ஆதரவான போராட்டம் ஒன்று நடத்தப்படவுள்ளது.
தகவல்: நன்றி பதிவு ஊடகம்

ஈழப் போர்க்கைதிகளின் விடுதலைக்கு குரல் கொடுப்போம்!

PFLP: Heroic individual resistance actions require popular support, must inspire leadership

PFLP: Heroic individual resistance actions require popular support, must inspire leadership
Oct 09 2015

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine confirmed that the upsurge in individual resistance actions carried out by heroic Palestinian youth throughout the occupied homeland are important operations that must continue, escalate and evolve, and need popular support in the West Bank and Jerusalem in various forms in light of the occupier’s continuous crimes against our people.

 The PFLP emphasized that these resistance actions have taken multiple forms, including resistance with knives; this stems from the resolve and determination of the Palestinian youth to restore their land and their rights of which they are deprived, and their conviction in the justice of their cause.

 The Front said that the Zionist enemy should know that every Palestinian is a potential guerrilla to confront the occupation and the settlements; there is no place to find security or stability as a colonizer. The Palestinian people will not give up their rights until the last drop of blood in their veins.

 The Front also emphasized the need to support these individual actions on an organized level through the immediate call to form a unified national leadership in all areas, to manage and lead this battle and to elevate the level of resistance actions to deal serious blows to the Zionist entity and the settlers. The Front also emphasized the need to embrace the families of the heroic guerrillas, and provide whatever they need to support them, and to defend them from attacks by the occupation.

Statement from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli Jails: Intensify the flames of the uprising

Statement from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli Jails: Intensify the flames of the uprising
Oct 09 2015

Intifada Statement of the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organization in Israeli jails…

To the masses of our people, who are giving so many sacrifices, martyrs, prisoners and wounded, our masses who are continuing and escalating the intifada, confronting the usurper Zionist entity, its soldiers and its settler hordes…to the heroes of stones and Molotov cocktails….our martyred sister Hadeel Hashlamoun…our martyred brothers Diaa Talahmeh, Muhannad Halabi, Fadi Alloun, Hudhaifa Osman and Abdelrahman Obeidullah…our steadfast people in the city of Jerusalem, all of our people on their land in the occupied West Bank resisting..in Gaza..in occupied homeland of 48…in the camps in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq and all parts of the world in diaspora…To the sons of Abu Jihad and Al-Yassin and Al-Hakim and Abu Ali and Shikaki and Al-Qassem, and the long list of the martyrs of our people…

The uprising is escalating in size and continuity, with loyalty to the blood of the martyrs and supporting our steadfastness in Israeli jails, toward victory for the wounded of the homeland. In expression of our rejection of the occupier and its crimes, we in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine branch in Israeli jails issue an urgent appeal:

1) The Palestinian prisoners’ movement in Israeli jails is an integral part of your struggle, and will certainly stand with you and your program of struggle in which the prisoners’ movement will participate in all aspects.

2) The General Secretary, Ahmad Sa’adat, the leader, greets you; he is watching the developments of the mass movement and calls on all hands to rise in confrontation and steadfastness.

3) All of the sectors of our people: Popular committees in the camps and villages, youth, students, women, workers and intellectuals must engage in the continued mass movement against the occupation and the settlers under the banner of the Palestinian flag, to escalate the popular uprising to an overwhelming level, to develop its potential throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem and to ease the pressure of the occupation on the burning areas.

4) Increase the resistance actions and rising to confront the usurper entity, its soldiers, settlers and undercover agents…turn the roads into traps for occupation and settlers…continuing throwing Molotov cocktails and stones…the occupation must live under pressure until forced to concede our rights.

5) There is an urgent need to mobilize all energes and resistance in the battle of the camps, to confront the invasions of occupation forces, closing streets and erecting barricades, preventing them from entering the camps. The camps are an incubator of intifada and the starting point of uprising and resistance to the occupation.

6) The national and Islamic forces must come together immediately to form a unified national leadership with tasks divided in various committees; it is upon themselves to manage the battle of the uprising, maintain its continuity and mass popular character, and to mobilize popular participation in these activities, support the steadfastness of our people and provide for their needs under closure, siege and occupation pressure.

7) Our people will continue in Gaza, in ’48, in the camps and in the Diaspora to take to the street in marches in support of the ongoing rising in Jerusalem in the West Bank, affirming the unity of our national territory and the interrelationship between the components of the Palestinian people.

8) The Palestinian leadership must resolve clearly in public to end all of the obligations of the Oslo accords, end security coordination and economic agreements; the rifles of the security services must protect our people from the occupation and settlers, not suppress our people and arrest them.

9) Universities and schools should take to the squares to rally in support of the popular uprising, with broad participation in its activities, raising the morale of our people.

10) The importance of political and diplomatic struggle to convey the message of our people and their demands to the whole world. This includes raising the files of the Palestinian cause to the United Nations, demanding international protection for our people and condemning the occupation and documenting its crimes against our people and their holy sites before the International Criminal Court.

11) We call on our people, the Arab masses and the progressive forces of the world; the solidarity movement, the global boycott movement, to support the steadfastness of our people and the uprising confronting the occupation, and work to expose the policies and crimes of the occupation on all levela and in all forums, to take to the streets and besiege the embassies of the enemy and provide academic, cultural and economic boycott of the enemy.

To the masses of our people…Onwards toward further confrontation and escalation. Our struggle and our voice is your voice and your resistance. Your struggle is an extension of our steadfastness and battle of wills and struggle of empty stomachs inside the occupation jails.

Long live Palestine, free and Arab from the river to the sea

Long live our victorious uprising

Glory and eternity to the martyrs, Victory to our people

Palestinian Progressive Youth Union: The rising intifada and revolution of the youth

Palestinian Progressive Youth Union: The rising intifada and revolution of the youth
Oct 09 2015

At this time, when hordes of settlers terrorists are invading and rampaging in the streets of the occupied West Bank, while the occupation army surrounds Nablus and Jerusalem with its troops and intelligence agents, storming towns and villages, arise the heroes of Palestine, the finest blossoming of Palestinian youth, struggling on the glorious path of liberation, continuing the call which they have inherited from their parents and grandparents.

It is the message carried by Palestinian youths Diaa Talahmeh, Muhannad Al-Halabi, Fadi Alloun, whose flesh and blood was shed by the occupier and its settler killers, who struggled for Palestine and its people. Diaa revolted, Muhannad sacrificed, Fadi martyred, while Qais al-Saadi and his comrades resisted in Jenin confronting the attack of the occupation. The streets of Jerusalem throb with a new Palestinian pride and honor as the sons and daughters of Issawiya and Jabal Mukabber and all of our city free their rocks, Molotov cocktails and flames from their hands, rebelling with their lives. Nablus, the Mountain of Fire, confronts the occupier and defies its siege, united in its people and their heroism.

This is a battle of freedom and dignity, the battle of all, a battle that shames the occupier and humiliates its army, a battle that rages with the flames of revolution and steadfastness throughout the West Bank, confronting and overcoming those who devalue our lives, steal our land and dignity, and burn our children and our people alive. We are all with you today and it is required that we all do the following:

1. Joining with the heroes of the Palestinian resistance to confront the enemy forces with all forms of weapons and resistance.

2. The formation of committees and popular protection groups, as a popular response to the crimes of the settlers for the protection of our people, villages and farms; not only to defend, but to attack the fascist cowardly settler hordes.

3. Launch the battle in the streets to liberate the occupied West Bank, it is unacceptable that we are banned from our streets while the settlers invade our communities with massive violence.

4. Rallying and demonstrating in Jerusalem, Nablus and everywhere to break the siege on our proud capital and the steadfast Mountain of Fire.

5. Sending our support to the families of the heroes and the martyrs and rally around their families and protect them by all means against attempts by the enemy to demolish their homes.

6. We call on our brothers in the Palestinian security services to join with the resistance and popular committees to defend our people and confront the crimes of the settlers and disobey all orders that call upon them to carry out political arrests and security coordination with the occupation.

7. Universities, schools, institutions, youth centers, women’s unions, neighborhood and popular committees in the villages and camps, sports clubs and our entire people in the camps and in diaspora, one people with one cause, are called upon to join the activities of the popular uprising, to mobilize and harness all of their capacities in support of the uprising and its continuation.

Palestinian Progressive Youth Union

PFLP salutes heroic resistance operation in Jerusalem: the youth uprising continues to surge

PFLP salutes heroic resistance operation in Jerusalem: the youth uprising continues to surge
Oct 04 2015


The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine saluted the heroic resistance action in the occupied city of Jerusalem, carried out by the young martyr Muhannad Halabi of Al-Bireh, saying that this action is again proof that the will of our people is stronger than the tyranny of occupation, and will break the blockade and the chains of security and destruction imposed by the occupier on the sacred city.

The Front views this upsurge in Palestinian resistance operations against the occupation and the settlers, whether organizational or individual, as a confirmation that our people are determined to confront and respond to crimes of the occupation and will not back down from the right to resist and will continue to struggle until the achievement of their objectives.

The Front emphasized that the uprising of youth who are struggling for the sake of the homeland and to defend the Arab identity of Jerusalem, are imposing significant losses on the Zionist enemy and planting fear in the hearts of the occupying soldiers and settlers who are unable to cope with the high courage and spirit of these young people, armed with determination, persistence and the justice of their cause.

The Front called for the youth uprising to continue its strikes on Israeli soldiers and settlers with stones and Molotov cocktails, knives and all within reach of your hands. The enemy is cowardly and cannot bear losses and fears the language of the force of the oppressed.

The Front also salutes the night watch committees that confront the settlers attempting to invade villages and burn trees, calling for more of them to be formed throughout the occupied West Bank to confront the crimes of the occupation and settler terror.

உலகப் படத்தில் இஸ்ரேல் இல்லாதொழிக!

```இஸ்ரேலின் பாதுகாப்புக்கு அச்சுறுத்தலாகி`` பட்டப்பகலில் வெட்டு வெளியில் இஸ்ரேல் படையணியால் சுட்டுச் சாய்க்கப்பட்ட ஒரு பாலஸ்தீன சரித்திரம்.

வீழ்ந்து போன வீரத்தின் விளை நிலமே,

ஈழத்தின் வீர வணக்கம்!

புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்.

பாலஸ்தீனம்:பச்சைப் படுகொலை (ஒளி நாடா)

யார் சம்பந்தன்?

yaar

சம்பந்தன்: கறுமம்! கறுமம்!

தேர்தல் விஞ்ஞாபனத்தை மீறும் `தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட` பிரதிநிதி!





10.The LTTE has for the past two years put up with the violent, surly behavior of the armed forces without impairing the conditions for peace and observing the cease-fire and acting steadfastly and firmly towards the path of peace. Hence, the international community should create the environment by removing the restrictions put in place by certain countries on the LTTE, the authentic sole representatives of the Tamil people, so that they could, with authority, dignity and with equal status conduct talks with the government of Sri Lanka.

◦Accepting LTTE’s leadership as the national leadership of the Tamil Eelam Tamils and the Liberation Tigers as the sole and authentic representatives of the Tamil people, let us devote our full cooperation for the ideals of the Liberation Tigers’ struggle with honesty and steadfastness.

◦Let us endeavor determinedly, collectively as one group, one nation, one country, transcending race and religious differences, under the leadership of the LTTE for a life of liberty, honor and justice for the Tamil people.

◦Let us work side by side with the LTTE, who are fighting for the protection and autonomous life of the Tamil speaking people, for the political initiatives under their leadership.

◦We emphasize that if the Tamil nation’s requests are continued to be rejected, rightful political solution denied and armed aggression and oppressive rule return, based on the doctrine of self-determination, it is an inevitable reality that Tamil sovereignty and independence will be established in the Tamil homeland.

◦We implore our people to identify the selfish, opportunistic packs and gangs that operate in our midst as the enemies and as the tools of the majoritarian chauvinist Sinhala forces against the Tamil nation which seeks an honorable and peaceful life and reject them totally and completely in the upcoming elections.

◦We are sending a clarion call to the Tamil speaking people to unite under one flag and give overwhelming support to the TNA which is contesting (the elections) under the ILANKAI TAMIL ARASU KATCHI’S symbol of house, so as to emphasize the aims of the people of the Tamil Nation, to proclaim again the political resolve of our people, to strengthen further the Tamil nation and to win the political rights of the Tamil speaking people.

TNA's Election Manifesto 2004

ஆனந்த புரத்தில் சுதந்திரம் பெற்றவர்கள்!

அமெரிக்க போர்க்குற்றம்!

ஆப்கான் மருத்துவமனைப் படுகொலை அமெரிக்கா ``தவறுதலாக`` இழைத்த போர்க்குற்றம்!

US Government Accused Of "War Crime" By Doctors Without Borders In Bombing That Killed 22
Tyler Durden's pictureSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 10/05/2015 18:32 -0400

Afghanistan Fail Reality SWIFT

In the aftermath of Saturday's tragic and unprecedented bombing of an Afghanistan hospital by the US air force, one which killed 22 and continued for 30 minutes after mission command has been allegedly notified of the "error" which the US initially claimed was "collateral damage", the Doctors without Borders physician group in charge of operating the hospital has come out swinging and has equated the US bombing of a hospital to engaging in nothing short of a war crime.

According to AFP, "pressure mounted on Washington Monday to come clean over the apparent US airstrike on an Afghan hospital that killed 22, an incident the Pentagon chief said was "confused and complicated" but which medical charity MSF branded a war crime."

MSF general director Christopher Stokes, however, had no intention of waiting:

"Under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed, MSF demands that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted by an independent international body."

Stokes also hit out at claims by Afghan officials that insurgents were using the hospital as a position to target Afghan forces and civilians.

"These statements imply that Afghan and US forces working together decided to raze to the ground a fully functioning hospital with more than 180 staff and patients inside because they claim that members of the Taliban were present," he said.

"This amounts to an admission of a war crime. This utterly contradicts the initial attempts of the US government to minimise the attack as 'collateral damage'."

Others joined in: UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has also called for a full and transparent probe, noting: "An air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime."

To be sure, the US which has done everything in its power in the past week to divert attention to Russian bombardment in Syria as attacks on Syrian "civilians" and "moderate rebels", had a canned response: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter expressed sadness over the "tragic loss of life" but warned that the investigation will not be swift.

"The situation there is confused and complicated so it may take some time to get the facts, but we will get the facts, but we will be full and transparent about sharing them," he told reporters on a flight to Madrid at the start of a European tour.

Then, moments ago after the US government did in fact admit, again, it was at fault, the DwB once again lashes out at the US government with the following statement:

"Today the US government has admitted that it was their airstrike that hit our hospital in Kunduz and killed 22 patients and MSF staff. Their description of the attack keeps changing—from collateral damage, to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government. The reality is the US dropped those bombs. The US hit a huge hospital full of wounded patients and MSF staff. The US military remains responsible for the targets it hits, even though it is part of a coalition. There can be no justification for this horrible attack. With such constant discrepancies in the US and Afghan accounts of what happened, the need for a full transparent independent investigation is ever more critical."
So what is the US response? Why desperately attempt to pivot once again to Russian "war crimes"

More importantly, we fail to find any historical precedent for a Nobel Peace Prize winner having been accused of engaging in war crimes just several short years later.
================

`சாகா சக்தியாய்` இன்னும் ஈழத்தில் உயிர்ப்புள்ள இலக்கியம்!

பருவமடைந்த குழந்தைகளிடமிருந்து!

Obama Accuses Russia of Going After America’s “Good Guy Terrorists”

Obama Accuses Russia of Going After America’s “Good Guy Terrorists”

Amply documented but rarely mentioned in news reports, the ISIS is a creation of US intelligence, recruited, trained and financed by the US and its allies including Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Israel and Jordan.  

Until recently, the ISIS was known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). In 2014, it was renamed the Islamic State (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

Russia is Now Involved in the War on Terrorism

A major turning point in the dynamics of the Syria-Iraq war is unfolding. Russia is now directly involved in the counter-terrorism campaign in coordination with the Syrian and Iraqi governments.

While Washington has acknowledged Moscow’s resolve, Obama is now complaining that the Russians are targeting the “good guy terrorists” who are supported by Washington.

From the Horse’s Mouth According to the Wall Street Journal: Russian Airstrike in Syria Targeted CIA-Backed Rebels, U.S. Officials Say One area hit was location primarily held by rebels receiving funding, arms, training from CIA and allies

One important piece of unspoken information conveyed in this WSJ report is that the CIA is supporting terrorists as a means to triggering “regime change” in Syria, implying the conduct of covert intelligence operations within Syrian territory:

“The U.S. spy agency has been arming and training rebels in Syria since 2013 to fight the Assad regime  

 (WSJ, September 30, 2015 emphasis added, author’s note: covert support to the terrorists was provided from the outset of the war in March 2011)

The above statement is something which is known and documented but which has barely been acknowledged by the mainstream media.

Al Nusra: “Good Guy Terrorists”

While the Pentagon now candidly acknowledges that the CIA is supporting Al Qaeda affiliated groups inside Syria, including Al Nusra, it nonetheless deplores the fact that Russia is allegedly targeting the “good guy terrorists”, who are supported by Washington:

One of the [Russian] airstrikes hit an area primarily held by rebels backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and allied spy services, U.S. officials said, …

Among seven areas that Syrian state media listed as targets of Russian strikes, only one—an area east of the town of Salamiyah in Hama province—has a known presence of Islamic State fighters. The other areas listed are largely dominated by moderate rebel factions or Islamist groups such as Ahrar al-Sham and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.  (WSJ, September 30, 2015 emphasis added)

Affiliated to Al Qaeda, Al Nusra is a US sponsored  ”jihadist” terrorist organization which has been responsible for countless atrocities. Since 2012, AQI and Al Nusra — both supported by US intelligence– have been working hand in glove in various terrorist undertakings within Syria.

In recent developments, the Syrian government has identified its own priority areas for the Russian counter-terrorism air campaign, which consists essentially in targeting Al Nusra.  Al Nusra is described as the terrorist arm of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

While Washington has categorized Al Nusra as a terrorist organization (early 2012), it nonetheless provides support to both Al Nusra and it’s so-called “moderate rebels” in the form of weapons, training, logistical support, recruitment, etc. This support is channeled by America’s Persian Gulf allies, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia as well as through Turkey and Israel.

Ironically, The UN Security Council in a May 2012 decision “blacklisted Syria’s al-Nusra Front as an alias of al-Qaeda in Iraq”, namely the ISIL:a decision that will subject the group to sanctions including an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze, diplomats said.

The US mission to the United Nations said none of the 15 council members objected to adding al-Nusra as an alias of al-Qaeda in Iraq on Thursday.

Al-Nusra, one of the most effective forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad, last month pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. (Al Jazeera, May 2012)

And now Russia is being blamed for targeting a terrorist entity which is not only on the UN Security Council blacklist but which has ties to the Islamic State (ISIS).

What is the significance of these accusations?

While the media narrative acknowledges that Russia has endorsed the counter-terrorism campaign, in practice Russia is (indirectly) fighting the US-NATO coalition  by supporting the Syrian government against the terrorists, who happen to be the foot soldiers of the Western military alliance, with Western mercenaries and military advisers within their ranks. In practice, what Russia is doing is fighting terrorists who are supported by the US.

The forbidden truth is that by providing military aid to both Syria and Iraq, Russia is (indirectly) confronting America.

Moscow will be supporting both countries in their proxy war against the ISIL which is supported by the US and its allies.

Copyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2015

13 வது திருத்தச் சட்டமும் மாகாண சபைகளும்

http://senthanal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/13.html

   எல்லா முகங்களிலும் அறையுங்கள்!                                    

இலங்கையில் இந்திய அமைதிப் படை முற்றம்

13 வது திருத்தச் சட்டமும் 

மாகாண சபைகளும

                                                    புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்

 02-10-2015

Lanka Agrees to Give Powers as Per 13A

Lanka Agrees to Give Powers as Per 13A
By PK Balachandran Published: 02nd October 2015 02:55 AM Last Updated: 02nd October 2015 02:55 AM

COLOMBO: The UN rights council adopted a resolution on Thursday calling for international judges and lawyers to be part of a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka.

While the resolution included measures for rehabilitation and bringing perpetrators of war crimes to justice, it also spoke of the other side.

Not to forget the human rights violations perpetrated by the LTTE, the resolution said that accountability and reconciliation mechanisms should cover the doings of the LTTE also.

On the political plane, the resolution said that the Lankan government has agreed to devolve power to the provinces as per the 13th Amendment of the constitution.

Finally, the resolution requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to give an oral update on the implementation of the resolution in the 32nd session, and a formal report, in the 34th session of the UNHRC.

Lanka Agrees to Judicial Mechanism With Foreign Judges

Lanka Agrees to Judicial Mechanism With Foreign Judges
By P.K.Balachandran Published: 01st October 2015 07:15 PM Last Updated: 01st October 2015 10:15 PM

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has agreed to set up a Special Judicial Mechanism with the participation of Commonwealth and foreign judges, defense lawyers, prosecutors and investigators to try cases of war crimes and other human rights violations in the period between 2002 and 2011.

This was implicit when the Lankan government co-sponsored a US-led resolution on Sri Lanka which pressed for foreign participation in the proposed judicial mechanism, at the 30 th.Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Thursday.

The resolution was passed unanimously, with even China and Pakistan, which had reservations initially, supporting it.

[>>ALSO READ: Devolution Of Power Essential for Reconciliation, India Tells Lanka] N/A

The resolution reaffirmed the importance of participation in a Lankan judicial mechanism, including the Special Counsel’s Office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators.

Co-sponsored by 37 of the 47 members of the council, the resolution said that foreign participation will help uphold the Rule of Law and give confidence in the mechanism among all communities.

It urged the Lankan government to carry out security sector reforms to punish those guilty of committing grave crimes and remove them from service while ensuring that those officers who had conducted themselves with “professionalism and honor” are not hounded.

Lanka has agreed to review the Public Security Ordinance and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act with a view to replacing it with an anti-terror law which will be in line with contemporary international best practices. Colombo has also agreed to sign

and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons Against Forced Disappearances. The Lankan government has consented to review the recently passed Witness Protection Act to remove flaws and weaknesses.

The Lankan government is to establish a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence; an Office of Missing Persons; and an Office for Reparations.

The resolution urged the government to allow each reconciliation mechanism to obtain financial, material and technical assistance from international partners, including the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Not to forget the human rights violations perpetrated by the LTTE, the resolution said that accountability and reconciliation mechanisms should cover the doings of the LTTE also.

On the political plane, the resolution said that the Lankan government has agreed to devolve power to the provinces as per the 13 th.Amendment of the constitution.

Finally, the resolution requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to give an oral update on the implementation of the resolution in the 32 nd session, and a formal report, in the 34 th.session of the UNHRC.

J.V.Stalin : மார்க்சியமும் தேசிய இனப்பிரச்சனையும் - ஆங்கில ஒலிப்பதிவு நூல்

We Cannot Let The Country Be Destroyed: Leader Of The Opposition Mr (IYA) Sampanthan

We Cannot Let The Country Be Destroyed: Leader Of The Opposition
October 1, 2015 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph

Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan addressing a star-studded line up of politicians, including Chandrika Kumartunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe noted that the country’s politicians always should give priority to “Democracy”.

The Tamil National Alliance leader, who has been in the limelight lately said the erosion of democracy will lead to the destruction of the country.

“Sri Lanka should always be a vibrant democracy. We cannot let the country be destroyed. So we should strengthen our democratic institutions and protect democracy as a whole” Sampanthan said.

He made these observation while speaking at the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the Department of Elections held at the BMICH yesterday.

The event was a rare one in the sens it drew some of Sri Lanka’s key political leaders who have been at loggerheads more often than not.

Former President’s Chandrika Kumartunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, R. Sampanthan along with the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya occupied the front row.

“Although Ranil and Mahinda were seen to be chatting together for the most part of the event Chandrika remained silent and even avoided eye contact with her declared enemy Rajapaksa. Fortunately it was Wickremesinghe who was seated next to Rajapaksa followed by Kumaratunga.” an observer told Colombo Telegraph.

Sampanthan went on to say that the Department of Elections should at all times fully honour its commitments in ensuring free and fair elections.

The brooding faces of his front row colleagues showed that they were not impressed by Sampanthan’s sober comments.

Sampanthan undeterred went on to say that although there had been some issues from time to time with regards to election malpractices the Elections Department has conducted its duties in a commendable manner.

Russia begins Syria air strikes in its biggest Mideast intervention in decades

Russia begins Syria air strikes in its biggest Mideast intervention in decades
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON | BY ANDREW OSBORN AND PHIL STEWART

Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, plunging the four-year-old civil war into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to stake out influence in the unstable region.

Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State militants was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground. The attacks also raised the dangerous spectre of Washington and Moscow running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he had directed U.S. military officials to meet with their Russian counterparts "as soon as possible" to discuss ways to make sure they do not come into conflict.

The U.S. State Department said a Russian diplomat in Baghdad notified the United States of the intended air strikes an hour in advance and warned that American aircraft that have been pressing a daily bombing campaign against Islamic State positions should avoid Syrian airspace.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Russian warning was ignored and U.S. air strikes continued on Wednesday.

Putin said he was striking against Islamic State and helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long Russia's closest ally in the region, in this aim.

But Washington is concerned that Moscow is more interested in propping up Assad, who the United States has long held should leave office, than in beating Islamic State. Assad's opponents in the brutal civil war include rebel groups that oppose both him and Islamic State and that are supported by the United States and other Western countries.

The Russian defence ministry said it carried out about 20 flights over Syria, hitting eight Islamic State targets and destroying an Islamic State command post and an operations centre in a mountainous area, Russian agencies reported.

Syrians living in rebel-held areas of Homs province said the Russian air force unleashed a whole new level of devastation on their towns. Jets flying at higher altitudes than the Syrian air force emitted no noise to alert the people below to raids that were reported to have killed at least 33 civilians, including children.

Moscow's intervention means the conflict in Syria has been transformed in a few months from a proxy war, in which outside powers were arming and training mostly Syrians to fight each other, to an international conflict in which the world’s main military powers except China are directly involved in fighting.

Russia joined the United States and its Arab allies, Turkey, France, Iran and Israel in direct intervention, with Britain expected to join soon, if it gets parliamentary approval.

Carter said of the strikes, "It does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces, and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach." ISIL is one of the acronyms for Islamic State, which has seized control of large areas of Syria and Iraq over the past year.

Western-backed Syrian opposition chief Khaled Khoja said the Russian strikes had killed 36 civilians and no rebel fighters, and accused Russia of seeking only to keep Assad in power.

Moscow's move meant that warplanes from both the United States and Russia will be sharing the skies above Syria.

"I'm especially concerned because there has been no real effort by the Russian side to deconflict the Russian air strikes in Syria with the ongoing U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIL," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to the United States.

To "deconflict", in military parlance, is to ensure that, in this case, Russian aircraft do not accidentally clash in any way with Western warplanes.

Reflecting growing tension between the big powers, Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov early on Wednesday to tell him the United States regarded the strikes as dangerous, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Russia was moving to "ramp up" support for Assad, adding, "They've made a significant military investment now in further propping him up."

Sri Lanka war crimes resolution softened before U.N. debate

Sri Lanka war crimes resolution softened before U.N. debate

COLOMBO | BY SHIHAR ANEEZ  REUTERS/ DINUKA LIYANAWATTE

A U.S.-backed resolution at the United Nations that seeks justice for victims of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war has been softened to keep its government on board and allay the concerns of powerful neighbor India, sources say.

The latest draft, expected to be adopted in Geneva on Thursday, fails to specify the powers and role of foreign prosecutors and judges in trying war crimes suspects – a major shortcoming, in the eyes of human rights groups.

They and some diplomats say that reflects the balancing act needed to keep Sri Lanka's new reformist leadership on board while making a credible attempt to end a culture of impunity over what the U.N. calls the mass killings of tens of thousands of people by both sides in the final stages of the conflict.

"Everything now depends on implementation - the text was worded in a very ambiguous way," said Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka analyst at the International Crisis Group.

A judicial process with teeth would hold out a realistic prospect of punishment for senior figures in ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government and military, as well as Tamil Tiger rebels, who waged a bitter final battle in 2009.

The U.N. has estimated that 40,000 people died, many of them civilians, as government forces tightened the noose around a patch of land on the Jaffna Peninsula where Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels were penned in.

But the U.S.-led draft agreed with the Sri Lankan government falls short of explicitly meeting a call by the U.N.'s human rights chief for a special court staffed with international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators.

Such "hybrid" courts have emerged in recent years as a way to deliver justice in places such as East Timor, Kosovo and Sierra Leone against powerful individuals capable of threatening judges or witnesses.

The text instead vaguely affirms the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism of "Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defense lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators".

John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch, said the Sri Lankan government had resisted appointing an independent international prosecutor and a majority of foreign judges.

"Meaningful foreign participation and international monitoring will be needed to prevent local pressure and intimidation from interfering with a fair judicial process," he said.

"SUBSTANCE STILL THERE"

Sri Lanka argues that President Maithripala Sirisena's constructive engagement with the U.N. marks a break with the recalcitrance of Rajapaksa, whom he defeated in a presidential election in January.

Sirisena won backing on Monday from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who endorsed a "credible domestic process" with international support when the two met on the fringes of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

How this would work in practice still needs to be hammered out. "In order to ensure credibility, we of course need some kind of international involvement. But it will be decided after the consultation process," one Sri Lankan official said.

A source familiar with the drafting discussions said the Sri Lankan government wanted to create the impression the resolution had been watered down to placate the majority Sinhala community that formed Rajapaksa's power base.

"The substance is still all there," said the source, who requested anonymity. The U.S. draft is widely expected to be adopted by consensus at the U.N. Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

A Western diplomat in Colombo and a source at the Tamil National Alliance, an opposition political party, said India had been at the forefront of efforts to ensure there was no full international war crimes probe in Sri Lanka.

This included lobbying by India to change the description of judges from "international" to "foreign" in the draft resolution, reflecting concerns that India could one day face a similar judicial reckoning in its disputed territory of Kashmir.

Sources familiar with New Delhi's thinking flatly reject those suggestions, saying the resolution was worded to reflect Sri Lanka's concerns about protecting its sovereignty.

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal, Stephanie Nebehay and Douglas Busvine; editing by Andrew Roche)