Tamils in Australia gathered at Pongu Thamil (Tamil upsurge)events in Melbourne and Sydney over the weekend of 5 and 6 July to lend their voices to the global show of Tamil solidarity.

“Let the International Community hold a referendum to get the will of Eelam Tamils for an independent homeland if it is not convinced of their sentiments shown explicitly through the events of Pongu Thamil all over the world. Australia supported such a referendum in East Timor,” said Tamil National Alliance MP, M. K. Shivajilingam, when he came to address the Pongu Thamil event held at Sydney on Sunday July 6.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Gnanam Sivathamby, a former principal said that the International community is ignorant of the fact who are the terrorists and who are the terrorized in Sri Lanka.

"We do not want war. The Tamils are a peace-loving people. We want a peaceful solution. But, we want peace with justice and freedom", said a young member who spoke at the event.

"We have witnessed too much discrimination, too much blood shed and too little justice. It is too late and we have come too far to compromise on Tamil Eelam" spoke another young member.

Over 3000 Tamil Australians gathered at Mason Park in Sydney Sunday afternoon for the event, which was largely organized and addressed by the Tamil youth of Australia.

Many of those who attended were clad in red and yellow and carried pictures of the LTTE leader V. Pirapaharan.

A similar event was held in Melbourne on Saturday at which over a thousand Tamils gathered in Federation Square. The event included traditional Tamil dancing, music and speeches on the Tamil people’s struggle for self-determination in Sri Lanka.

Mahenda Rajah, president of the Eelam Tamil Association of Victoria, outlined the oppression of the Tamil’s in Sri Lanka. He described the state-sponsored “colonisation” schemes, where Sinhalese settlers were placed in traditionally Tamil areas with the aim of making Tamils a minority, told of the decision to make Sinhala the sole official language of Sri Lanka, and described other state measures that discriminate against Tamils in “employment, economy, education and every other area of life”.

Peaceful protests have been met by violent repression. Rajah said: “Tamils have been subjected to intimidation, torture, rape, unlawful imprisonment … There have also been cases of targeted killings of Tamil members of parliament, journalists, human rights activists, religious and community leaders, and civilians who speak out against the human rights violations of the Sri Lankan government and armed forces.”

Referring to the formation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Rajah said, “Tamils were forced to defend themselves” against the violence. The LTTE had been willing to negotiate with the Sri Lankan government and a peace agreement was signed in February 2002, but the government later withdrew from it.

Rajah urged people to “support us to achieve a lasting negotiated political solution” that would “establish a recognised homeland for the Tamils with full autonomy”.

Other speakers at the Pongu Thamil event included Bishop Hilton Deakin, retired Uniting Church minister Richard Wootton, Tamil radio broadcaster Anthony Gration, aid worker Jason Thomas, Margarita Windisch from the Socialist Alliance and Green Left Weekly, and visiting TNA MP M. K. Shivajilingam.

LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirapaharan participated in the Black Tigers commemoration day events held in Vanni on July 5.

356 Black Tigers have laid down their lives, 254 of them in sea operations, during the last 21 years since 05 July 1987, when the first Black Tiger Captain Miller, drove an explosive laden truck on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops garrisoned at Nelliyadi Central College in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna, the LTTE said.

Last year, Black Tiger commandos stormed the Sri Lankan airbase in Anudradhapura in LTTE's first combined Black Tiger and Tamil Eelam Air Force attack, destroying more than 10 aircraft.

LTTE's media unit released edited photos of LTTE leader paying homage to Black Tigers who died in their missions.

Senior Commanders of the LTTE and other Black Tigers were present with Pirapaharan at an undisclosed location in Vanni.

76 of the 254 Black Sea Tigers who have died were female commandos. 81 male and 71 female Black Tiger commandos have died in ground operations.

Six music albums were published by the head of the LTTE Intelligence Wing S. Poddu, Special Commander of the Sea Tigers Col. Soosai, Head of LTTE's Military Intelligence Ratnam, Political Head B. Nadesan, Head of LTTE's military academies Col. Aathavan and a commander of the Sea Tigers Naren in the event, Tiger officials told media in Vanni.

The ever increasing military expenses from the long dragging war combined with poor economic policies and record commodity prices has hit the already teetering Sri Lankan economy hard.

Recently released figures show the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling whilst inflation continuing to rise to record levels. Government budget deficit widened as the cost of defence, oil and food rose sharply whilst share holders pulled out of the fledgling stock market and tourists cancelled trips to the island.

Record inflation

Consumer prices in Sri Lanka hit 26.2% in May from a year earlier, after increasing 25 percent in April, on higher food and energy costs. According to HSBC Global Research, Sri Lanka has the highest annual inflation in Asia

“Even by its own history, inflation in Sri Lanka is on the high side.” the international bank said in a report titled ‘Sri Lanka Inflation: How high will it go?’ published on May 15.

Whilst the report said a large part of the increase in inflation can be explained by surging global commodity prices as Sri Lanka is a net importer of food and oil, it also blamed poor economic management the island’s economic woes.

Pointing to a history of high inflation, averaging around 11% year-on-year since 1990 the report suggested that policy management has not been consistently successful in controlling price pressures in the economy.

The report further added that “inflation is going to remain elevated for some time,” and any fall will only materialize in the second half of 2009, provided international commodity prices level off and “the Central Bank of Sri Lanka achieves its aggressive reserve money growth targets for 2008.”

Budget deficit

The record inflation is driven by food and energy costs.

Sri Lanka has been struggling to pay high global oil prices, which have hit levels above $145 this month compared with the island's 2008 budget estimate of $85 per barrel.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) this week said the oil price alone would increase the country's trade deficit by $500 million to $4.47 billion this year.

"The overall deficit increased to 93.4 billion rupees ($867.4 million) from 74.3 billion rupees due to increased public investments," the treasury said in the report.

The treasury report further added the deficit from its operating activities in the first five months had surged to 23.4 billion rupees ($217.3 million) from last year's 11.62 billion rupees.

"The main reason for the deviation was the shortfall of revenue receipts," it said

In addition to the sky high commodity prices, the spiraling defence expenses have also taken a toll on the Sri Lankan economy.  The government allocated around 18 percent of its 925.1 billion rupees budget this year to defence spending, after quitting an internationally brokered ceasefire and pledging to destroy the LTTE.

Sri Lanka's economic outlook ``depends critically'' on an end to the island's 25-year civil war, according to the International Monetary Fund.

GDP growth slows

The growth in Gross Domestic Product also dropped by 1.4% to 6.2% in the first quarter compared with 7.6 percent in the fourth quarter, less than the median forecast of 6.4 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.

``Growth is slowing due to the impacts of the worsening security situation on business confidence and high inflation increasing costs for companies,'' said Vajira Premawardhana, head of research at Lanka Orix Securities Pvt. in Colombo.

Poor Rating

There was further bad news for Sri Lanka from credit rating agencies as Standard and Poor's warned last month it was at risk of a downgrade from its current B+ rating, while Fitch Ratings said it was concerned over Sri Lanka's increasing foreign commercial borrowings.

The government's external debt totaled $15.3 billion at the end of May, a $180 million increase from end 2007, the report showed, while its total debt rose to 3,328.8 billion rupees by the end of April, up 18.1 percent from a year earlier.

"The government should curtail its spending," said Chirantha Caldera, a currency dealer at Commercial Bank of Ceylon.

"If your revenue is coming down, and your defence expenditure is escalating, then curtailing spending on capital expenditure like infrastructure should be there," Caldera said, adding the government risked further stoking inflation which was running at an annual 28.2 percent in June.

Shares fall

Sri Lankan shares saw their a ninth consecutive fall last week as worries about the economy and a long-running civil war with Tamil Tigers kept investors out of the market.

The Colombo All-Share index fell 3.37 points to 2,401.17, its lowest close since January 21. The market has fallen 10.8 percent from an 11-month high on April 23.

"Economic and war worries are the main reason for the fall," said Hussain Ghani, assistant director at Asia Securities.

"Investors are waiting for a market-pushing news, but unfortunately nothing has happened. If this situation continues, even better corporate results for the last quarter will also not boost the market."

Sentiment on the corporate sector has been hit by poor economic data.

Fall in tourism

Sri Lanka attracted fewer holidaymakers in June, the island's main tourism promotion authority said Friday, blaming the drop in the number of visitors on the country's ongoing ethnic conflict

Arrivals in June fell 9.3 percent to 27,960 from 30,810 reported a year earlier and totalled 224,363 in the first half of 2008, down 0.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, Sri Lanka Tourism said.

The number of visitors from Britain and Germany -- both key markets -- fell five percent each in June to 5,304 and 1,317 respectively over the same period a year earlier.

The number of leisure travellers from neighbouring India declined 28.8 percent in June to 5,664, as against the same period last year.

"It's the conflict that is keeping tourists away. There are frequent bomb attacks and it is natural they would be cautious to travel here," an official from the tourism authority said.

Many countries in the west have cautioned their nationals against travelling to Sri Lanka, where fighting between government troops and Tamil Tigers has escalated since the start of the year.

Tourism is the fourth biggest revenue generator for Sri Lanka's 27-billion-dollar economy, behind remittances from expatriate workers, clothing and tea exports.

LTTE's political wing chief, V Nadesan in a telephonic interview to Times Now television, said Priyanka Vadhra's visit to the Vellore prison to meet Nalini a few months ago was a "humanitarian gesture."

"This visit was a purely humanitarian gesture. Nothing else."

Asked about the petition filed by Nalini, sentenced to life in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking premature release, Nadesan said the LTTE believed that holistic changes will take place .

"We firmly believe holistic changes will take place and Indian government will recognize the legitimate aspirations of Tamil people and their freedom struggle," said Nadesan.

“And Nalini's release will start the holistic change."

The LTTE, which was indicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, continues to be banned in India.

Facing a concerted military offensive by the Sri Lankan army in its stronghold of Jaffna peninsula, Nadesan expressed readiness for ceasefire and peace talks with the island government.

Nadesan said that the LTTE was ready for a ceasefire. He accused the Sri Lankan government of "abrogating" the six-year-long ceasefire which came to an end early this year.

37-year-old Nalini had moved the Court after her plea for release on the ground of good conduct and having completed over 17 years in jail was rejected by the Tamil Nadu government. 

Nalini was initially sentenced to death along with her husband Murugan, and two others. Her sentence was later commuted to life following an appeal by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Prior to Nalini's petition seeking early release, Rajiv Gandhi's daughter Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra met her at the Vellore Central Prison in March, 2008. 

SETTING aside domestic Tamil sensitivities, the Indian government appears to have involved itself in a full-fledged proxy war in Sri Lanka.

While claiming to have adopted a hands-off policy with regard to its neighbour’s continuing ethnic conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the forces of the Sinhalese government, India is extending the latter its covert support.

This was revealed by Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, last week during an interaction with members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Colombo.

“Eight hundred of our officers are trained (in India) every year; free of cost,” Fonseka is reported to have said. “India gives them an allowance for the duration of their courses there. The support from India is huge.”

Fonseka’s remarks came on the heels of a high-level Indian delegation’s visit to Colombo at a time when the government troops and the LTTE are locked in a fierce battle in northern Sri Lanka.

The Indian officials’ trip was kept a close secret. According to media reports, even the Lankan foreign ministry came to know about the visit of India’s national security adviser, MK Narayanan, defence secretary Vijay Singh, and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon only hours after they landed in Colombo on an Indian Air Force plane.

Fonseka, who survived an assassination attempt last year, has vowed to achieve a military victory against the LTTE. His confidence stems from his military success against the Tigers in the Eastern provinces last year and covert Indian support to his war efforts.

Fonseka, President Mahinda Rajapakse and his brother and defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse together form the powerful Colombo triumvirate that advocates a military solution to the ethnic strife that has claimed over 70,000 lives in the last three decades. In March, Fonseka made a six-day state visit to India, during which he met with top defence officials.

Military relations between India and Sri Lanka have developed over recent years even though the two countries have not entered any formal cooperation agreement. While many in Delhi support such an agreement, it has not seen the light of day due to stiff opposition from political parties in Tamil Nadu.

At present, however, India appears to have cast aside all neutrality in the Tamil-Sinhala conflict, and adopted a policy best encapsulated by an unnamed military officer to a news agency on the eve of Fonseka’s Delhi visit: “India wants to ensure that the Sri Lankan army maintains its upper hand over the LTTE.”

India’s training of Sri Lankan army personnel has never been officially confirmed by either country, until Fonseka’s boast last week. More details of the military cooperation are, however, emerging.

According to a July 1 report in The Times of India, in 2008-2009 alone, over 500 Lankan army personnel are to be trained in Indian institutions like the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram and the School of Artillery at Devlali in Maharashtra.

According to the report, about 100 gentlemen cadets will receive training at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, 39 officers at the College of Military Engineering at Pune, 15 in the School of Artillery at Devlali, 29 in the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre at Ahmednagar, 25 in the College of Materials Management at Jabalpur, 30 in the Electronics and Mechanical Engineering School at Vadodara, and 14 at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering at Mhow.

Support does not stop at training alone. India has been supplying ‘defensive’ military equipment to Sri Lanka, including the indigenouslymanufactured Indra radars.

Officially, India claims it does not supply offensive weapons to Sri Lanka, but there are strong possibilities of a secret arrangement being in place already.

However, in June last year, when MK Narayanan publicly cautioned Sri Lanka against purchasing arms from China and Pakistan, he also said it could approach India for any help it required. Narayanan’s statement could have meant only one thing, that India was ready to meet Sri Lanka’s arms demands.

India’s relations with Sri Lanka is seen by many from the perspective of the Chinese geopolitical strategy in the region. Sri Lanka has moved closer to China in recent years, and Rajapakse, who came to power in 2005, has been particularly adept at playing the China card against India.

Sri Lanka figures prominently in Chinese naval strategy, being part of China’s “string of pearls” (or strategic bases) starting from the South China Sea and extending through the Strait of Malacca, Indian Ocean and on to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs.

Security experts like B. Raman, a former additional secretary of the Government of India, have been expressing concern about the Chinese threat. In a recent column, Raman noted: “The semi-permanent presence, which the Chinese are getting in Sri Lanka, will bring them within monitoring distance of India’s fast-breeder reactor complex at Kalpakkam near Chennai, the Russian aided Koodankulam nuclear power reactor complex in southern Tamil Nadu and India’s space establishments in Kerala.”

While India’s need to counter this threat is beyond doubt, sections of those sympathetic to the Lankan Tamil cause see striking similarities in the present developments to the situation in the 1980s, in the run-up to the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord in 1987.

In that period, the then Sri Lankan president, JR Jayawardene, got India embroiled into fighting the LTTE. The consequences of that flawed intervention, and the immense suffering it caused Tamils at the hands of the Indian army, are yet to be erased from the bruised memories of Tamils all over the world.

Discontent over the Centre’s policies in Sri Lanka continues to simmer in Tamil Nadu, with various parties urging the Indian government to stop military aid to the country.

The LTTE has also made appeals. Following Fonseka’s visit to Delhi in March, the outfit issued a statement against India’s growing military aid to Sri Lanka, saying: “While proclaiming that a solution to the Tamil problem must be found through peaceful means, India is giving encouragement to the military approach of the Sinhala State. This can only lead to the intensification of the genocide against the Tamils.”

A pro-LTTE Sri Lankan Tamil MP said recently, “We are optimistic even during this darkest hour. The Sri Lankan government will ditch India in favour of the Chinese in due course. Then India will have to change its policy and support the Tamils as Indira Gandhi did during her time.”

Whatever may be the future twists and turns in South Asia’s highly unpredictable diplomatic world, as of now India cannot disown responsibility for its part in the Eelam tragedy.

Striking a sharp contrast to Colombo's portrayal of Eelam struggle as a terrorist issue, Frances Stewart, the director of the Oxford based Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE), looks at the crisis as a case of inequalities in political power between the Tamils and Sinhalese.

In an interview that appeared in Human Rights Tribune, on Thursday, she said: "Horizontal inequalities have political, economic, social and cultural dimensions… Inequalities in political power, which are very important, where one group may have total dominance of the political system, and another group does not have any access, which is the situation more or less in Sri Lanka."

Ms. Stewart said it while answering to a question posed by IPS correspondent Michael Deibert, who interviewed her in relation to a publication of CRISE, 'Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict: Understanding Group Violence in Multi-Ethnic Societies', which is going to be released shortly.

CRISE, directed by Ms. Stewart is a Development Research Centre within Oxford University, supported by the British Government Department for International Development (DFID).

Answering another question on steps that should be taken by governments and international institutions to address these inequalities and prevent conflict in the future, she said:

"This issue has been surpassingly neglected by the international community. If you look at the normal policies that we advocate, such as democracy, saying that countries have to be democratic and they have to have many parties, we don’t think about the implications between groups."

"Democracy can lead to quite a dangerous situation in a multi-ethnic society unless you accompany it with policies to protect groups. If you have one group that is in a majority, they can really suppress the freedoms of a minority group," she said.

"On the political side, what it requires is recognition of the importance of distributing power across groups and not having exclusive power."

A CRISE working paper by Ms. Stewart, titled "Horizontal Inequalities: A Neglected Dimension of Development," available at the Centre's website, reveals that the research was based on nine case studies, ranging from Africa and Asia to Latin America.

The paper says that Horizontal Inequality has provoked a spectrum of political reaction, including severe and long-lasting violent conflict (Uganda, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Northern Ireland), less severe rebellion (Chiapas), coups (Fiji), periodic riots and criminality (the US), occasional racial riots (Malaysia) and a high level of criminality (Brazil).

"Where ethnic identities coincide with economic/social ones, social instability of one sort of another is likely –ethnicity does become a mobilising agent, and as this happens the ethnic divisions are enhanced. Sri Lanka is a powerful example; Chiapas another," is one of the conclusions found in the working paper.

However, the main problem in the development analysis of the CRISE research is its basis that Tamils were better placed in development than the Sinhalese under the British rule, said a Sri Lankan development analyst in Colombo when contacted by TamilNet.

The CRISE paper places Sri Lanka along with Malaysia, South Africa, and Uganda and says these are situations where the politically powerful represent the relatively deprived.

The paper argues that the government policies to bridge the gap in Sri Lanka provoked serious violence because the policies were culturally (language policy) and economically invasive and because of the geographic concentration of Tamils in the Northeast, facilitating a demand for independence unlike the case of the Indians in Fiji.

The paper also compares and contrasts Sri Lanka and Malaysia:

"Both apparently started in a similar situation, with the political majority at an economic disadvantage, but while attempts to correct this situation in Malaysia were successful, they actually provoked war in Sri Lanka."

The paper continues with statistics in education and government employment in Sri Lanka and argues that government policies to bring in horizontal equality by reverting the better position held by Tamils earlier, were successful, but provoked crisis.

But, according to the Colombo analyst, the better position held earlier by Tamils in education and government service, doesn't mean that they were better developed. This is again falling a prey to the sophisticated propaganda of the Sri Lankan state to justify its genocidal programme. Not only the international study groups, but even some Colombo-centric Tamil intellectuals have taken the bait, he said.

"Education and government service never meant an economy for Tamils in their own land and never helped the accumulation of capital in the Tamil areas."

"Economic autonomy last prevailed in the Tamil areas only under the Dutch. At that time, there were Eelam Tamils who were able to compete with officials of the Dutch East India Company in getting the pearl-diving contracts."

The British period marked a decline and eventual disappearance of the foreign trade of Tamils. "The plantation based economy of the British helped only the accumulation of capital in Colombo and made Tamils to depend on it," he observed.

The ports and communication infrastructure of the Tamil regions, which were vital for development, were neglected under the British.

"For instance, while railway was introduced to southern Sri Lanka in 1864, it came to Jaffna only in 1905. The coastal highways linking the Tamil areas were never developed. Even the Jaffna - Colombo coastal route was abandoned in British times."

Observing further, he said that there was no urbanisation in Tamil areas under the British.

The last population influx to Tamil areas was only under the Dutch, if the Sinhala colonisation schemes are not counted. "The fact that people were moving out from Tamil areas and urban centres since British times only indicate that there was no development."

Talking on education as an index of development, he said that education in Tamil areas were actually developed by the American Mission, whom the British wanted to downplay at that time by sending them off to a region, which was not in their priority.

The kind of education that was developed first by the missionaries and later by the native schools, helped a middle-class formation, produced professionals and was the only option for livelihood, but this was never translated into a sound basis for the development of the Eelam Tamil region, he opined.

"It is a myth that the Tamils were the favourites of the rulers and received advantages under the British. Anyone, who doubts it should read the British government assessment of Ceylon communities in the Donoughmore report of 1928. The coastal Sinhalese were assessed as the most progressive community and not surprisingly independent Ceylon was transferred to them in 1948."

"Had the Tamils been 'the developed' and the 'favourites,' they would have seen Eelam in British time itself," said the Colombo based analyst, who doesn't wish to be named due to the naive ban on TamilNet and the prevailing security situation for journalists and academics in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government and the main opposition parties on the island ended up disputing whether a general strike in the capital on July 10 had been a success or not.

While Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said that the token strike it launched with the support of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) on Thursday was a success, the Sri Lanka government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed in the parliament that the strike ended in 'utter failure' due to lack of support from the working class.

Sri Lankan public sector unions, backed by the opposition parties, threatened to cripple all state services in a July 10 general strike for a pay increase, but the government said it could not meet their demands without hurting its war effort.

Speaking before Thursday’s strike, union officials said a majority of the country's 1.2 million public sector employees would participate in the strike, which is expected to hit government services from transport to health, after a requested salary increase of 5,000 rupees ($46.4) a month was rejected.

"The trade unions will definitely go ahead with the planned strike, despite suppressing acts by the government," said K.D. Lalkantha, president of the All Ceylon Trade Union Federation and an opposition parliamentarian representing the JVP.

"Cost of living is rising rapidly and the state sector employees are unable to live with their present salaries. But the government has failed to grant a better salary increase."

Last week the government offered a 1,000 rupees-a-month pay increase for state employees, but the trade unions rejected the hike as "grossly inadequate".

High oil and food prices have caused Sri Lanka's cost of living to rise rapidly, while the International Monetary Fund and analysts have also blamed high state expenditure for stoking inflation.

Annual consumer price inflation rose to 28.2 percent in June, its highest since the current index began in 2003.

In an effort to stave off the strike the Sri Lankan government argued that the trade union action would help the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella commenting on the strike said the government could not increase public sector salaries without damaging its ability to fight a civil war against the LTTE.

"We don't have provisions in the 2008 budget for such an increase. We would need an extra 50-60 billion rupees ($465-555 million) for the rest of the year," he said.

"What you can cut is the defence expenditure. But we will not cut defence expenditure at this decisive moment." 

In the capital posters sprung up overnight saying the strike would benefit the LTTE.

Earlier Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament that the strike would demoralise the security forces who have made significant gains in the war front by recapturing some of the LTTE-controlled areas in the north.

However the JVP rejected claims that the strike would impact the war.

Addressing the picket, JVP rail union leader Sumathipala Manawadu made clear that the JVP unions would bend over backwards to ensure that the strike did not affect the war.

“We are not against the war. We were the people that supported it directly. We donated blood for the war. We gave one day’s wage for the war. We are ready to sacrifice everything for the war. It is false to say that the one-day strike will be an obstacle to the war. Are not the war operations being waged on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays?” he said.

The government was also accused of fear mongering in its attempt to scuttle the one-day strike as it claimed to have information that the LTTE could set off bombs in the South during the week of the strike.

At a press conference on July 7, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that the LTTE would launch a major attack to mark “Black July”—the vicious anti-Tamil pogroms in July 1983.

“In such a situation would it be reasonable to call workers out?” he said. “We have received information and it is our duty to protect the state institutions”.

Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa who was also present at the media conference, accused the trade unions of calling the strike to undermine military gains in the war. “Some elements in the opposition want to reverse what the security forces have so far achieved,” he declared.

As part of the campaign of intimidation, the military and police have boosted their numbers, particularly in the capital and surrounding suburbs. Over the past week, the security forces intensified their cordon-and-search dragnets in largely Tamil areas.

Lakshman Hullugalle, director of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), warned in the Island on Monday that “special security measures would be in place countrywide... to meet any security contingency” caused by the strike. Hullugalle specifically identified “terrorist attacks” and “attempts to intimidate employees who report for work” as actions that would be targetted.

In the North, the general strike organised by public sector workers fizzled out without any significant impact on the daily activities of the public following threats from the Sri Lankan army (SLA).

Though tension prevailed in the peninsula in the morning, the situation turned normal late morning, with a heavy intimidatory presence of SLA troops spread across the peninsula.

The troops fanning out across the province warned Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) officials across the peninsula that the services should be operated as usual. As a result normal services resumed after 7:00 a.m.

The troops from the various military camps in the peninsula visited the schools in their vicinity cautioning the principals to make sure that all students attend school Thursday. The principals were told to submit complete details of the teachers and students who failed to be present Thursday.

In addition SLA officials contacted all Heads of departments and Government corporations in North over the phone asking them to furnish details of those who failed to report for duty.

The JVP hoped up to 200,000 public servants of the 1.1 million government sector employees would strike, crippling transport, health, port and the education sectors.

However, according to government sources most services were operational without a serious disruption.

A heated argument ensued between the parliamentarians of the government and the opposition whether the strike was successful or not.

JVP trade union leader K.D. Lalkantha claimed that 70 percent of the teachers and medical staff attached to the trade union and 60 percent of the railway employees participated in the strike.

But, UPFA parliamentarians demanded the JVP trade union leader resign his parliamentary seat claiming that the strike has failed.

Lalkantha had challenged in parliament Wednesday that he would resign the post of National Trade Union Centre and his parliamentary seat if the token strike failed.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Estate Workers Trade Union of the UNP announced that ninety percent of the plantation workers joined the token strike.

Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), one of the trade unions representing the plantation workers and an ally of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance government disputed the claim.

On Thursday, traffic in Colombo was lighter than usual but cars and buses still filled the roads. Independent sources said in Colombo that about forty percent of the workforce participated in the token strike and others reported for work.

Attempted German bargain

Der Spiegel, a renowned German weekly news magazine, in its 23 June edition, revealed that the Sri Lanka government and the permanent representative of the government of Germany in New York agreed in February to a deal prior to the voting in U.N. General Assembly in May, where Germany would vote for Sri Lanka's re-election to the Human Rights Council, and Sri Lanka in turn will vote for German seat in the Security Council in 2010. The paper said Germany's deal with the Human Rights violator Sri Lanka was 'indelicate', despite Sri Lanka's defeat in the race. "In order to be included again in the Security Council of the United Nations, the [German] government is obviously willing to pay any price necessary," the paper said. "The deal is very fiery because Sri Lanka has aggravating accusations of violating Human Rights," Der Spiegel said. It cited Human Rights Watch's listing of 99 cases in March, that dealt with the disappearance or kidnapping of Tamil civilians, Human Rights officials and journalists with alleged involvement of the Sri Lankan forces. The German foreign office had refused to comment on the deal, according to the weekly. (TamilNet)

Four killed in bus attack

Four people were killed and 25 injured when armed men opened indiscriminate fire at a moving passenger bus in the southern town of Buttala, south-east of Colombo, Friday, July 11. The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus, belonging to Monaragala depot, was plying from Buttala to Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) and was attacked at Galge. "A group of gunmen hiding by the side of the road near Buttala raked the passing civilian bus with gunfire," news agency Associated Press quoted military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara as saying. "The bus driver sped through the ambush, only stopping when he reached safety," he said. Defence officials, who blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) for the attack, said the gunmen were hiding in the forests on either sides of the road and opened fire as the vehicle came within firing range. Military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told media the gunmen took advantage of the fact that large swathes of the area are covered in forests. The day after the attack, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in a joint cordon and search operation conducted along Buttala-Kathirkaamam road arrested six Tamil civilians.

Civilians wounded in air raid

At least four civilians were wounded at Vaddakkachchi on Sunday July 6 when two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a residential area twice. Maniyar Sellathamby, 67, and Rooban, 24, were among the seriously wounded in the air raid. A day later, SLAF bombers targeted Iyakkachchi village, 15 km southeast of Mukamaalai in Jaffna peninsula. A 50-year-old father of five was wounded in his stomach. Another civilian, Sellaththurai Kamal, a father of two, was wounded, on Tuesday July 8, when two SLAF bombers attacked Kugnchupparanthan and the adjacent paddy fields along Paranthan - Poonakari (Pooneryn) road. The SLAF fighter jets dropped bombs while he was watering his paddy field. Medical sources at Kilinochchi hospital said the doctors were struggling to avoid amputation of his left leg as he was badly wounded below the knee. The TamilNet correspondent who visited the attack site in Kugnchupparanthan said that the bombardment has caused extensive damage to the agricultural lands in the 5th canal. (TamilNet)

Journalists under attack

Sri Lankan journalists are facing increasing attacks over their reporting of the conflict, according to Amnesty International. Hundreds of local reporters and cameramen protested outside Rajapaksa's home earlier this month demanding an end to a spate of killings and assaults on journalists, Agence France- Presse reported. Some journalists fear a crackdown if the victory promised by the government doesn't materialize. “The media has come under very staunch criticism for expressing views which are not of the government,” said defence correspondent Iqbal Athas. “Anybody who doesn't tow the line is called a traitor. You can draw the inference on what's going to come.” A journalist and member of the British High Commission staff were assaulted in Colombo last week. The U.S. embassy condemned the attack and other recent violence against journalists. Alleged human rights violations against journalists by the government are being “blown totally out of proportion,” a government official said. The sources of such allegations are largely non-governmental agencies with LTTE sympathies, he added. (Bloomberg)

British Commission employee attacked

A British High Commission employee and a journalist were assaulted in Sri Lanka on June 30, prompting media groups to say they feared it was the latest in a series of attacks against journalists. A Sri Lankan attached to the commission and a defence journalist at the Sri Lanka Press Institute were attacked by a group in their car in the capital Colombo, witnesses said. Both were wounded but hospital workers said they were not in danger. The High Commissioner condemned the "despicable act" and urged the government to bring those responsible to justice. "We will be working with the authorities to do everything that we can, to make sure that happens," Peter Hayes said at the private hospital where they were being treated. Journalist and media rights groups say the government has done little to stop the violation of media freedom and attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka. "This is related to the suppression of media," said Sunanda Deshapriya of the Free Media Movement. "We hope the government will do something to stop this. If government can't do that, we should hold government responsible for the attack." (Mirror) 

Sri Lanka's government needs to deliver on its vow to cripple the Tamil Tigers this year or lose support for a conflict that is slowing economic growth, defense analysts said as labour unions planned a general strike.

“People say they'll suffer the hardships as long as the government can finish the war,” said Iqbal Athas, a Colombo-based correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) “military machine has yet to be badly dented” and the group may have at least 10,000 fighters.

President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government pledged to defeat the LTTE in the northern Wanni region this year after evicting them from the east a year ago.

The Tamil Tigers operate from jungle bases in the north, where they repulsed a major army offensive in the late 1990s.

Pressure on the government to negotiate with the Tamil Tigers may build if military operations stall.

Workers in ports, transport and agriculture were among those striking over cost of living increases after consumer prices in the capital, Colombo, rose the most in at least four years and at the fastest pace in Asia.

The war is weighing on the economy, Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said at a business forum.

The International Monetary Fund has said the nation's economic outlook “depends critically” on an end to the civil war.

Economic growth slowed for the first time in a year in the first quarter as the escalating violence, including bomb attacks in Colombo, curbed spending, while consumer prices in Colombo rose 28.2 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics department said at the end of last month.

“People are expecting the war to be over sooner rather than later,” said Pramod De Silva, editor-in-chief of the state-run Daily News.

“They will welcome either a military or a political solution as soon as possible.”

The military's efforts to control “terrorism” in the north have allowed people in the south to consider strike action, Rajapaksa said in comments, the newspaper reported.

Some groups are using the stoppage to “gain political mileage,” he said.

Losing control of Eastern Province was the worst defeat suffered by the LTTE in its 25-year struggle for a Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island nation.

The Tigers will have a hard time regaining the region, Athas said.

The Tamil Tigers are confined to just two northern districts in Wanni, Sri Lanka's Defense Affairs Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said in a telephone interview from Colombo.

The government is on course to delivering a major blow to the “terrorists” this year, he said.

“Everything is going according to our strategies and plans.”

The Tamil Tigers have lost the ability to fight as a conventional army after being weakened by recent government offensives, Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said earlier this month. The military is making progress toward eliminating the Tigers by mid-2009, he told reporters.

The war may have reached a stalemate, said Athas.

Attacks are on the rise in all three “cleared” eastern districts, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Amparai, and the Tamil Tigers have been “periodically” targeting the northern Jaffna peninsula, mostly under the government's control.

The Tamil Tigers have also launched attacks in the Sinhalese-dominated south of the island, demonstrating that they can operate deep within government territory.

Last year, the Tamil Tigers showed they had developed an air capability, using light aircraft to bomb a military base near Sri Lanka's main international airport. The air wing consists of five propeller-driven aircraft, the military says.

The military has targeted Tamil Tiger leaders since taking over the Eastern Province, killing the group's political chief.

The LTTE accuses the air force of bombing civilian areas and says the land and air attacks amount to genocide.

The LTTE said last September that any peace process must be based on a homeland for the Tamil people, in the same way the ethnic-Albanian majority in the former Serbian province of Kosovo gained independence.

A political ally of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has admitted abducting a businessman in Batticaloa leading to renewed tension in the region.

Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) admitted the party 'arrested' three people including the missing businessman, Devadasan Sureshkumar.

However, in an interview with BBC Tamil Service, EPDP councillor Arumailingam rejected accusations that he is still under their custody.

Mr. Sureshkumar was 'abducted' by a group of EPDP members came in a white van, his wife Vijitha Devadasan told BBC Sandeshaya.

An EPDP cadre, Ravi, was questioning Mr. Devadasan at the EPDP office and two others, Vijaya and Segar, promised to release him by 7pm, she added.

“We waited until 10 pm under a tree. When we went there at about 5am, we were told that my husband ran away at about 8pm,” she told BBCSinhala.com.

Councillor Arumailingam says three arrested in Chenkalady, on charges of throwing stones at EPDP vehicles, were later released.

He accused the three including Mr. Devadasan, of being members of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), a charge denied by his wife.

 “We have no connection whatsoever with any organisation. We do not know why he was taken away," she said.

The EPDP members prevented them from lodging a complaint with the police or approaching Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel, she added.

The TMVP is currently led by Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai chandrakanthan (Pillayan).

Minister Douglas Devananda is the leader of the EPDP.

Both the EPDP and TMVP are political allies of Rajapaksa administration.

It is unlawful for anybody apart from the police, to arrest or manhandle people in Sri Lanka.

However, both the TMVP and EPDP have admitted 'arresting' and 'abducting' civilians during recent weeks.

The TMVP is accused by international watchdogs of gross human rights violations including child recruitment.

Is China doing a Myanmar in Sri Lanka by capitalising on the policy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa of diversifying Sri Lanka's geo-political options even while professing close friendship with India? 

2.  That seems to have been one of the concerns of the Government of India, which prompted a two-day visit to Sri Lanka by a team of senior advisers of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh consisting of Shri M. K. Narayanan, the National Security Adviser, Shri Shivsankar Menon, the Foreign Secretary, and Shri Vijay Singh, the Defence Secretary, on June 20 and 21, 2008, for talks with Mr. Rajapaksa and senior Sri Lankan officials and important Tamil leaders. 

3. Officially, the visit was projected as a return visit to reciprocate a similar high-level visit to New Delhi in September last by a Sri Lankan delegation headed by Mr. Gothbaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, and as a preparatory visit before the forthcoming 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) to be held at Colombo from July 27 to August 3, 2008. 

4. Originally, the summit was to have been held at Kandy where the security-related problems would have been less than in Colombo. In March last, the Sri Lankan Government decided to have it in Colombo since, in its view, the infrastructure at Kandy would have been inadequate to host the summit.  The shifting of the venue to Colombo has enhanced the security concerns of India. 

5. Sri Lanka had successfully hosted the 6th SAARC summit at Colombo in 1991 and the 10th in 1998 and had provided effective security to the leaders of the participating countries. The 15th summit will be held at a time when a large number of the Sri Lankan security forces are engaged in an operation to re-capture the control of the Northern Province from the LTTE. Facing increasing pressure from the security forces, the LTTE has stepped up attacks with explosives on soft targets in areas in and around Colombo. Moreover, its bringing into action its planes for air strikes since March last year and the inability of the Sri Lankan security forces to identify where these planes are kept and wherefrom the air attacks are being launched and to intercept them have made the pre-summit security scenario in Colombo worrisome.

6. While the LTTE is unlikely to target the summit or its participants, the summit could provide it with an opportunity to create drama in order to prove its prowess and disprove the claims of the Government that the LTTE has been weakened beyond recovery. Will the Sri Lankan security forces be in a position to provide effective security to all the participants in general and to the Indian Prime Minister in particular? One of the purposes of the visit of the Indian team seems to have been to make an assessment in answer to this question.

7. Another purpose seems to have been to assess the implications to India of Mr. Rajapaksa's policy of bringing in other external state actors into Sri Lanka in order to give Sri Lanka a more geo-political wriggle room. In the past, India had to worry only about China, Pakistan and the US. Now, Mr. Rajapaksa has started courting Iran, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Iran has started playing an important role in the oil refining sector and it is only a question of time before it starts demanding a role in the retail sale of oil, a sector in which the Indian Oil Corporation presently has a pre-eminent role. To counter the fears of the US and the Sunni Arab states over his flirting with Iran, he has also been trying to bring in Saudi Arabia in the oil sector. Malaysia emerged last year as the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka.  As a result of his moves, India is likely to find its political and economic influence in Sri Lanka gradually shrinking. 

8. In view of India's  improving relations with the US, it is not concerned as it would have been in the past over the increasing US activities in Sri Lanka and the increasing interest of the US Pacific Command in Sri Lanka. The US Navy is eyeing Colombo as a fall-back option in case the continuing use of the Karachi port for logistics and other purposes becomes difficult in view of the anti-US feelings in Pakistan. Presently, India is not highly concerned with the growing economic ties between Sri Lanka and Malaysia either. It can live with it. 

9. What India is concerned is over the increasing activities of China and Pakistan, the entry of Iran and the expected entry of Saudi Arabia into Sri Lanka. While Pakistan's relations with Sri Lanka are largely focussed on military supplies and training, China's relations have greater strategic implications for India----covering military supplies and training, the construction of a modern port at Hambantota in the South and oil exploration in the Mannar area. The expected semi-permanent stationing of an increasing number of Chinese experts in these areas for carrying out these projects will add to the concerns of the Indian security bureaucracy. 

10. The action of the Government of Myanmar in allowing the Chinese to have a semi-permanent presence in the Coco Islands brought the Chinese within monitoring distance of India's space establishments on the Eastern coast. The semi-permanent presence, which the Chinese are now getting in Sri Lanka, will bring them within monitoring distance of India's fast-breeder reactor complex at Kalpakam near Chennai, the Russian-aided Koodankulam nuclear power reactor complex in southern Tamil Nadu and India's space establishments in Kerala. 

11. Reporting on the visit of the senior Indian officials to Colombo, the "Times of India" of June 23, 2008, quoted an unnamed senior Indian official in New Delhi as stating as follows: "The story of Myanmar is being repeated in Sri Lanka. China is already all over the island nation, with a flurry of arms deals, oil exploration and construction projects like the Hambantota port." 

12. The "Times of India" also reported as follows: "Colombo has signed a US $ 37.6 million deal with the Beijing-based Poly Technologies for a wide variety of arms, ammunition, mortars and bombs. Sri Lanka is also getting some Chinese Jian-7 fighters, JY 11-3D air surveillance radars, armoured personnel carriers, T-56 assault rifles ( a copy of AK-47), machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and missiles." 

13. The work on the Hambantota port is progressing fast with typical Chinese efficiency. Sri Lankan sources assert that it will be only a commercial port and not a potential naval base. One has to wait and see. 

14.  The Hambantota port construction is estimated to cost US $ one billion to be lent by the Exim Bank of China. The entire project is expected to be completed in 15 years in four phases. The first phase of construction, which was started in October, 2007, is estimated to cost US $450 million. The entire project, inter alia,   provides for the construction of a gas-fired power plant project, a ship repair unit, a container repair unit, an oil refinery and a bunkering terminal. The bunkering terminal, which   is expected to be completed in 39 months, provides for the terminal to handle up to 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) of oil products a year. 

15.The "Daily News" of Sri Lanka reported on June 19, 2008, as follows: ' A project proposal sent by the China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation for building the bunkering facility and tank farm at the Hambantota harbour has been approved by the project committee and the cabinet-appointed negotiations committee.  "The total value of the project would be $76.5 million and it would be completed by 2010.A set of fuel tanks, bunkering facilities, aviation fuel storage facilities and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage facilities will be built under  the project at Hambantota, about 230 km south of Colombo. The media has also reported that although the Hambantota port was initially planned as a service and industrial port, it is expected to be developed as a trans-shipment port at a later stage to handle 20 million containers per year.

16.  Neither India nor China has so far started oil/gas exploration work in the one block each in the Mannar area awarded to them by the Rajapaksa Government without bidding as a gesture of goodwill. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which was offered the block allotted to India without bidding, said in September last that it was not interested in the assigned block, due to low prospectivity and the fact that Sri Lanka was asking for a big bonus in return for this gesture.  The Sri Lankan Government said it would negotiate with the ONGC for a new oil block with greater prospectivity. It is not known whether the Chinese are satisfied with the block offered to them without bidding and, if so, when they would start the exploration. 

17.  Foreign oil companies have not so far been enthusiastic over the prospects of finding oil/gas in exploitable quantities in the Mannar area. Earlier this year, the Sri Lankan Government invited bids for three blocks. Of these, block No 1, which extends over an area of 3,338.10 square kilometers and is nearest to India, received bids from ONGC Videsh, Cairn India, and Niko Resources of Cyprus. ONGC Videsh is a subsidiary of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India.Cairn India, is 69 per cent owned by Cairn Energy of London, which has been active in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.Canada-based Niko Resources is active in Canada, India and Bangladesh. Block No. 2 received bids from both Cairn India and Niko Resources while Block 3, the largest being 4,126.51 sq. km in size, received a bid only from Niko. None of these blocks received any bid from China. The Sri Lankan Government announced on June 6, 2008, that after evaluation it has decided to accept the bid of Cairn India for block No. 1 and invited it to send its representatives to Colombo for negotiations. Fresh bids are to be invited for the other two blocks. The rules stipulate that for each block there should be a minimum of three bids before evaluation. 

18.  In response to an invitation issued by President  Rajapaksa  during his visit  to Teheran in November, 2007. President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran paid a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka on April 28 and 29, 2008.Since last year, Sri Lanka has been facing economic difficulties due to the drying-up of economic assistance from countries of the European Union (EU) such as Germany because of what they perceive as the indifferent attitude of the Rajapaksa Government to complaints regarding the violation of the human rights of the Tamils and its refusal to seek a political solution to the problem.  Instead of succumbing to the EU pressure on the subject, the Rajapaksa Government turned for increased assistance to other countries such as China and Iran, which did not raise human rights issues as a condition for such assistance. Assistance from Iran was of crucial importance to Sri Lanka because of the Government's inability to pay for its increasingly costly oil imports.  The Government of Ahmadinejad readily agreed to provide oil  at concessional rates to Sri Lanka and to train a small team of officers of the Sri Lankan Army and intelligence in Iran. It also agreed to provide a low-interest loan to Sri Lanka to enable it to purchase defence-related equipment from China and Pakistan. In addition, it agreed to invest US $ 1.5 billion in energy-related projects in Sri Lanka. One of these projects is for the production of hydel power and the other to double the capacity of an existing oil refinery in Sri Lanka. Work on the construction of the hydel project started during Mr. Ahmadinejad's visit. Iranian engineers have already been preparing the project report for doubling the capacity of the refinery and for modifying it to enable it to refine in future Iranian crude to be supplied at concessional rates. The existing capacity is 50,000 barrels a day. 

19.  Mr. Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie, Sri Lanka's Minister for Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development, visited Riyadh in Saudi Arabia towards the end of March,2008. He announced at Riyadh on March 23, 2008, that Saudi Arabia had agreed to train Sri Lankans in the field of exploration and refining of oil in the island. He told the media at Riyadh: “We had fruitful discussions with my counterpart here and we are happy that the Kingdom has agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka in areas of mutual interests in the field of oil supply, exploration and investments.  We have plans to improve our refining capacity from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels a day and getting Saudi expertise for the proposed expansion will facilitate the successful implementation of the project. Sri Lanka needs a cracker to convert crude into diesel and petrol which would cost the government some $400 million. I have requested my counterpart to recommend that the OPEC Fund assist us in the purchase of this plant." 

20.  Sri Lanka presently gets 70 per cent of its oil from Iran, 10 per cent from Saudi Arabia and 20 per cent from Malaysia and other countries.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retired), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies)

Popular NorthEast sportsman and Jaffna Schools Sport Association (JSSA) secretary during late 70's, Mr. T. K. Vilvarajah passed away Sunday June 22 in Ottawa, Canada after a brief illness.

Mr. Vilvarajah served as vice president of Jaffna Amateur Athletic Association during 1993-1996, and was known as the best starter for track events at a national level.

He was also instrumental in developing and training sports officials in track and field in Jaffna district.

He was born at Changkaanai in Jaffna district and had his primary and higher education in Jaffna College. Later, he completed his teachers training college diploma and joined the teaching profession.

Mr. Vilvarajah taught at Parameswara College (present Jaffan campus) and Muthuthamby Mahavidiyalayam from 1972 till he retired in 1982.

He also excelled in soccer and later became a popular referee.

Mr. Vilvarajah’s brother, the late Mr. Tharmarajah, excelled in field hockey and played for the Sri Lankan national team.

The National Freedom Front (NFF), the breakaway faction of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), and the Thamil Makkal Vidudalai Pulligal (TMVP) have formed a political alliance to contest future elections together and cooperate in other matters.

The NFF, led by JVP dissident Wimal Weerawansa, and TMVP leader and Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrankanthan agreed on June 28 to the formation of the alliance after talks at the NFF office in Battaramulla.

"We have the power in provincial level, the NFF have power in Parliament. We joined hands to march ahead in the democratic process. Today, the East is experiencing the dividends of democracy and we are happy to cooperate with the NFF to further the democratic cause," Chandrakanthan told press immediately after the meeting, reported The Island newspaper.

Chandrakanthan told The Sunday Times that in future elections the two sides will contest together and that further discussions will be held between the two sides on political co-operation. “It may be provincial elections or parliamentary elections that we contest together,” he said.

"This is the first of a series of talks between our two parties in seeking a political alliance. We are so happy that the first round was very successful. We would meet again and would conduct several rounds of talks aiming at political cooperation. Both parties agreed to further strengthen our ties," Weerawansa said.

The NFF was represented by Wimal Weerawansa, NFF General Secretary MP Nandana Gunatilake, MPs Anjan Umma, Mohommed Musammil, Central Committee member Raja Gunaratne, and NFF National Organizer Kamal Deshapriya. The TMVP delegation comprised CM Chandrakanthan, TMVP Coordinating Secretary Azad Moulana and CM’s interpreter G. Rahul.

Weerawansa at the end of the talks pinned a miniature national flag on Chandrakanthan’s shirt and said: "This is our present."

Chandrakanthan said Weerawansa, during the run up to eastern provincial council elections last month, had defended his party’s position of continuing to carry arms and contest elections.

“We have an obligation to support his party,” he added.

Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, said they also hoped to have discussions with other parties who wished to join this alliance.

NFF General Secretary Nandana Gunatillake said the cooperation with the TMVP would help to establish democracy in the east while the two sides would work together in future elections.

Gunatillake said that since the TMVP had entered the political mainstream, the NFF had discussed ways and means of helping the TMVP to develop the east.

“All parties should understand our position. We expect people to understand the reality,” Chandrakanthan said in response to a question as to why TMVP members continue to carry weapons.