Sri Lanka: Time to shake up Sri Lanka’s “business as usual” with India

''   India should prevail upon Rajapaksa for a course correction in keeping with his promises to India on resuming the political process with the Tamil representatives.
   Rajapaksa should be made to address concerns of India and international community on Sri Lanka’s accountability for alleged human rights violations and war crimes articulated in the UNHRC resolutions.

 Col. R. Hariharan

Sri Lanka: Katchatheevu issue has to be revisited by Centre; BJP endorses Jayalalitha's position

Katchatheevu, shown by the arrow

Virtually endorsing the ruling AIADMK’s demand for retrieval of Katchatheevu, BJP on Sunday said the issue of Indian sovereignty over the islet, ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974, has to be revisited.
“The issue of Indian sovereignty over Katchateevu has to be revisited,” BJP general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, who is in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu, told reporters here when asked about his party’s stance on the matter.

Muslim Council wants India to explain its position on ' Muslim Terror' groups in Sri Lanka

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has written to the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo asking him to explain the position of the Indian Government on reports of the existence of Muslim terror groups in Sri Lanka. In the latter which was released to the media today, the President of the Muslim Council N.M. Ameen says Indian and local media reports indicating that India is concerned over the presence of such groups in Sri Lanka will contribute to the hate campaign against Muslims in Sri Lanka.

India fears growth of fundamentalism in Sri Lanka after riots

(Newsweek cover photo)

Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury,

NEW DELHI: Security experts have expressed serious concerns over the recent riots in Sri Lanka, and have stressed the need for Colombo to take steps to control the situation, fearing that riots may be exploited by 'foreign elements' wanting to carry out a terror strikes in southern states of India.  Delhi is equally apprehensive the riots may have been encouraged by elements wanting to create a situation whereby the affected Muslims in Sri Lanka get marginalised and thereby offer a breeding ground for recruiting terror operatives. 

Anti-India Hysteria in Sri Lanka

V Suryanarayan.                                                                

Colombo is witnessing anti-India demonstrations in an unprecedented scale. Chauvinist elements among the Sinhalese demonstrated outside the Indian High Commission, shouted slogans against prime minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa and demanded that India should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.

The demonstration was spearheaded by the National Freedom Front, a chauvinist Sinhala organisation which is a partner in the ruling coalition government.

Protest against PM Modi and CM Jayalalitha in Colombo - Picture story

A protest was held this morning in front of the  Indian High Commission in Colombo against Indian PM Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram , by Sinhala nationalists groups and government supporters. s The protestors carried placards of  ''Modi, dont be a fool''   ''Modi - a asoka or Chola'' ''Modi - dictator or a democrat?'' '' We condemn arm twisting by India''

The protest was organised  against the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s demand to hold a referendum in the North and East and India’s interference in the Sri Lankan internal matter, according tot he media reports.

Photos of the protest published by SL media follows:

Sri Lanka tells India devolving powers to provinces not possible

Modi: what are the options

 PTI

Sri Lanka today said it had made it clear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that devolving police powers to the provinces, including the Tamil-dominated areas, was not possible saying "it has nothing to do with ethnic considerations". G L Peiris, the external affairs minister, was speaking in parliament today apprising the house on the bilateral talks between India and Sri Lanka held in New Delhi last week when President Mahinda Rajapaksa attended the swearing-in of Modi.

Jayalalithaa takes firm stand on Sri Lankan Tamil issue

Jayalalitha: talking tough

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has taken a firm stand on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue despite conciliatory gestures by the Island nation in recent times, including release of Indian fishermen from the jails in that country.  In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday, the chief minister reiterated her stand. She demanded the Centre sponsor a resolution in the UN condemning the genocide in Sri Lanka and to hold all those responsible for it accountable. She said the resolution should demand a referendum among the Tamils in Sri Lanka for the formation of a separate Tamil Eelam.

Jayalalithaa looks forward to improved ties with Centre under Modi; calls on to take action on Sri Lanka

Meeting Modi

While ruling out the entry of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam into the National Democratic Alliance, party chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday kept the door open for support to the Narendra Modi government in the Rajya Sabha, where the alliance does not have the numbers to ensure passage of Bills. After a 50-minute meeting with the Prime Minister, she said the need for a formal association with the NDA did not arise as the alliance had the majority in the Lok Sabha. Asked about the possibility of her party helping the government pass Bills in the Rajya Sabha, she replied: “We will see if that need arises.”

Read the  memorandum

13 amendment and Indian pressure: The Rajapaksa government is apparently in a tight spot

''Last Wednesday Senior Minister and House Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva in a statement said Sri Lanka was a sovereign country and no other country had a right to dictate terms to it. But with the powerful and popular Mr. Modi insisting that urgent action be taken to find a political solution and reconciliation essentially through the implementation of the 13th Amendment plus and beyond, the Rajapaksa government is apparently in a tight spot.''

Press release diplomacy puts Lanka in a mess  - Editorial, Daily Mirror

Govt. doesn't seriously apply itself to tackling N-E problem – Minister Prof. Tissa Vitarana

Five years after the end of the armed conflict in the North and East, legitimate political aspirations of the Tamil speaking people in Sri Lanka still remain to be fulfilled. The newly-elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during his impromptu talks with Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has insisted on the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution as an acceptable solution to the issue.

President Rajapaksa's message to Premier Modi: You can not interfere in our affires

(Sunday Times)

''Just a day after his return to Colombo, President Rajapaksa responded to Premier Modi’s call for the fuller implementation of the 13th Amendment and go beyond. He asked Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva to summon a news conference and declare the UPFA Government’s stand. Minister de Silva said, “The 13th Amendment was forced down on us. We have managed to continue with it. Now there is discussion about its implementation. Earlier, it was about setting up of a Northern Provincial Council. Some said we would not hold elections in the North. Now the NPC is a reality. Now some are calling for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment. There are practical problems in implementing some of the provisions.” ''

Govt. wrong-footed at Modi meeting by  Sunday Times  Political Editor

Modi resets the clock to 13A, (when) will it start ticking in Sri Lanka?

Ministers Siripala & Swaraj

''Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has been in politics long enough to know that after 1983, the internal and the external in Sri Lanka have become inextricable. If anyone is interfering in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs, it is because the Sri Lankan government has externalized its internal affairs. It will not be nice for India to say it, but any Sri Lankan politician with a head on his shoulders must know that India does not need Sri Lanka’s co-operation on anything but it is Sri Lanka who needs India’s co-operation to address its own internal as well as external affairs.''

Rajan Philips

TNA appeals to CM Jayalalitha: Help us to achieve peace based on justice and equality

TNA leader Sampanthan ( The Hindu)

TNA leader Sampanthan writes to TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha

Dear Chief Minister,

I write to you as the leader of the Tamil National Alliance , democratically elected to substantially representate the Tamil People, particularly in the North East of SriLanka, for instance in the last election held in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), despite the election being held under the intimidatory presence and involvement of the armed forces as concluded by both international and local observers, the TNA secure 30 out of 38 seats in the NPC.

Sri Lanka rejects Indian PM's request: 13 A will not be implementd in full

Govt. sticks to PSC despite Indian pressure; . ready to cooperate with India in all fields except internal issues

Close on the heels of a meeting between newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Mahinda Rajapaksa in New Delhi, where the former called for early and full implementation of the 13th Amendment and to go beyond, the government yesterday said that it was only the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that could decide on the matter.

.....And the Rajapaksas will win.- Tisaranee Gunasekara

Rajapaksa in India (file photo)

''If the TNA leaders also place their demands outside this ‘Indian scale’, they will be seen by Delhi as part of the problem and not as part of the solution. Plus they will be giving the Rajapaksas an excellent card to subvert a political solution and maintain status quo. The Rajapaksas’ addictive dependence on China means that someday Modi-India will have to focus on Sri Lanka. If democratic Tamils succumb to the malaise of maximalism, they may miss that historic opportunity. The path to a just and equitable peace will close.
And the Rajapaksas will win.'' 

Tangled Webs by Tisaranee Gunasekara

Sri Lanka Govt. statement silent on Narendra Modi's request to implement 13 A and go beyond

Censored by GoSL

The statement issued by the Government of Sri Lanka on the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Rajapaksa has completely ignored request made by the Indian PM on devolution of powers in Sri Lanka: “Early and full implementation of the 13th Amendment and going beyond would contribute to this process,” Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh quoted Mr. Modi as telling the Sri Lankan President (The Hindu). 

The statement issued by the GoSL is follows: 

President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Modi Meet in New Delhi 

Sri Lanka: Implement 13 A in full and go beyond - Modi tells Rajapaksa

Deliver your  promises to devolve wide powers
to  Tamil-majority regions. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

PM wants more devolution in Sri Lanka

Narendra Modi pushed Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa to deliver on his promises to devolve wide powers to the country’s Tamil-majority regions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa hard, asking for him to deliver on his promises to devolve wide powers to the country’s Tamil-majority regions — a formula called ‘Thirteen-Plus’ that was promised during diplomatic negotiations with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in 2010.

'Modi committed to protect rights of Sri Lankan Tamils'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to protect the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils, Union minister Pon. Radhakrishnan today said.    "Modi is committed to save the life and rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka," Radhakrishnan, who was inducted as a Minister of State in the new government said.
 Replying to a query on the opposition of Tamil parties to the invitation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Modi's swearing-in ceremony, he said the government is concerned about the problems of Tamils and there is no need to fear.
BS

The Modi-BJP outfit is unlikely to be much concerned about Lankan Tamils on its own...

''For Lanka, the important issue is whether the Modi government will increase pressure for the Thirteenth Amendment and more devolution to the North and East. The Manhoman Singh state was weak-kneed and ineffective. True, the Modi-BJP outfit is unlikely to be much concerned about Lankan Tamils on its own, but it will be interesting watch Jayalalitha play her hand, having swept Tamil Nadu. It is unlikely that the government will antagonise Tamil Nadu given its ‘minority’ character. I do not expect Modi to make substantial change to core policy on Lanka which will continue to be run by the mandarins.''

The view from Lanka: A landslide in the bovine-belt by Dr Kumar David