Colombo: Mrs. Kumarathunga says the govt. is "obsessed against" Bandaranaikes
The former president of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumarathunga, has accused the government of completely forgetting the legacy of the word’s first woman prime minister.
The younger daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike told BBC Sinhala service that the government have an "obsession against" the Bandaranaike family.
She said the government could still celebrate the 50 anniversary of "the Sri Lankan achievement" of voting the first ever woman PM in July 1960.
"She was not remembered except for ordinary people. The government of her won party -my party also – neither the party nor the government did anything at all to remember her or her achievement. I think it is very petty minded and it is disgusting," Mrs. Kumarathunga said.
"She put us on the world map. She was a leader of the Non Aligned Movement, she took leadership in many other international negotiations."
Sri Lanka’s first woman executive president says that the greatest legacy of her mother is that Mrs. Bandaranaike worked hard to strengthen democracy in the island. Activists say her appointment paved the way for more women to play leading roles in the world
"She was a very sincere and strong democrat. At no point in her political career did she condone any anti-democratic actions."
Mrs. Kumarathunga refused to comment whether she would once again enter active politics.
"Mrs. Bandaranaike’s appointment opened doors for "thousands of women across the globe to follow her footsteps," a statement issued by Visaka Dharmadasa, Chairperson of Association of War Affected Women said.
Celebrations will be held throughout the year to "encourage women around the world to enter in to the realm of politics," it said.
Rosie Senanayake, opposition MP for Colombo district, told BBC Sandeshaya that Sri Lanka has failed to improve the representation of women from the early twentieth century despite producing the first ever woman prime minister in the world.
"Sri Lanka being the first country in the region to introduce universal suffrage still only has about 4.5 percent of women in the parliament," she told the BBC days before the 08 April parliamentary elections. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/07/100723_women_politics.shtml
2. Intel agencies to bust International LTTE terror racket: Defence Ministry
Sri Lankan Intel agencies have unearthed vital information into remaining LTTE international terror activists engaged in human trafficking, arms smuggling and financial frauds bases in East Asia, Western Europe, Canada and Africa.
According to reports, Sri Lankan Intel agencies & the INTERPOL has joined forces in a coordinated effort to bust the foreign based LTTE international terror network. The Sri Lankan government has come to the realization that unless LTTE’s foreign based terror network is nabbed, there can be no end to terrorist activities in the country and in the South Asian region. For this purpose, Sri Lankan intelligence services have stepped-up fresh anti-terror operations to pin-down most wanted LTTE terror sleuths. The Intel agencies are optimistic of cooperation by the concerned governments in which the terror suspects are identified to be in self-exile.
According to reports, officials are moving ahead more than just tight scrutiny on Sivarasa Pirundaban alias Achchudan alias Suresh, Bahitharan alias Bhavi, Narendran Rathnasabapathi alias Naren, Ganeshruban alias Ruban and Ponnaiah Anandarajah alias Aiyya alias Rajah and a few more LTTE activists who are connected to arms procurement, transshipping while poising as businessmen.
A recent recovery made by the Sri Lankan military intelligence at Visuamdu into some highly classified documents and diary notes of Castro once head of LTTE’s international wing has provided much light into the terror outfit overseas based operatives and clandestine funding agencies. This includes a number of documents related to LTTE investments and transactions connected to LTTE shipping operations and business ventures overseas. www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20100723_03
3. Sri Lankan journalist’s disappearance remains unexplained
New York, July 23, 2010—Six months after the unexplained disappearance of Sri Lankan journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Eknelygoda, the government has refused to offer any assistance or provide answers to his wife, Sandhya. The government’s attitude is a clear indicator of the anti-media polices of President Mahindra Rajapaksa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Eknelygoda, a political reporter and cartoonist for Lanka eNews, disappeared on the night of January 24, two days before the presidential elections that gave the incumbent president a sweeping victory that will keep him power for six more years.
“The media under Rajapaksa have been under tremendous pressure,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The government’s silence over Prageeth Eknelygoda’s disappearance represents the continuation of policies that have allowed journalists killers’ to go unprosecuted, and driven scores of others into exile. The government must offer Sandhya Eknelygoda all its support in finding her husband.”
Sandhya Eknelygoda told CPJ she last saw her husband when he left for work around 7:30 a.m. on the morning of January 24. Since then, repeated visits to police stations, appeals to members of parliament, and personal requests to Rajapaksa and other members of his government have been met with silence. (Sandhya Eknelygoda’s wife wrote an entry for the CPJ Blog about her husband’s case. A slide show of his cartoons can be seen here.)
With no answers forthcoming from the government, Sandhya Eknelygoda says she will start organizing prayer vigils at temples across the country. The first will be at the Kaali Amma Kovil Hindu temple in Colombo at 5 p.m. Saturday.
In a report released in May, In Sri Lanka, no peace dividend for press, CPJ highlighted Eknelygoda’s case, noting that even with the end of Sri Lanka’s war with Tamil rebels, repression of independent media has not eased, and journalists still face violence, harassment, and detention.
CPJ’s Journalists Assistance program counts more than 40 Sri Lankan journalists living outside of the country who left out of fear for their safety. http://cpj.org/2010/07/still-no-explanation-for-sri-lankan-journalists-di.php
4. Millions ‘homeless’ in Sri Lanka
Colombo: Over one million families in Sri Lanka are homeless, a leading opposition parliamentarian has said.
Sajith Premadasa, the son of former President R Premadasa, also accused the government of trying to recollect loans –which was annulled by his father’s government – from poor house owners.
“This government is so bankrupt that it is even struggling to pay salaries of Housing Development Authority workers,” the United National Party MP told journalists in Colombo.
President Premadasa launched a special programme to build a million homes for the poor.
The initiative has offered a roof to many poor homeless families but there hasn’t been a similar larger scale house building programme since then.
Sajith Premadasa, MP, adds that 11,000 families who lost their homes in devastating Asian tsunami are still living in refugee camps.
He also accused the government of having no proper initiative to build houses for the war displaced (IDPs) in the north and the east.
The Indian government, Mr. Premadasa said, is offering money to NGOs to build houses for the IDPs, as a result. www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/07/printable/100723_lanka_homeless.shtml
