“the most effective thing that many of his people required was practical help to get bicycles and other tools to help them to work and run their country. That was the message of the man who is leading the opposition”.

“I remember (Sampanthan) telling us that he wanted a bicycle for every one of his people, which is his main priority”.

See more British MP’s comments in our feature:

British MPs call for CHOGM boycott at Parliament debate on Sri Lanka (09 January 2013)

Meanwhile, an Indian project to build 50,000 houses, which has been repeatedly stalled after being announced in 2010, has stuttered on to the next phase.

The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka proudly proclaimed that after a “rigorous application of selection processes agreed upon by the two governments”, 8,700 people have been “selected”.

See our post from 2010: The state is the main obstacle to developing Tamil areas (27 December 2010)

Also see our editorial: Leaping tiger or cowering mouse (08 March 2013)

The Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities of Sri Lanka announced that 20000 new houses were under construction to aid low income families.

The new construction phase is part of the 'Colombo city revival programme' which looks to construct 40,117 houses by the end of this year.

The Ministry's active steps to amend living standards in the capital come as disparities in the North-East remain unchanged.

Bangladesh is now India’s largest trade partner in South Asia, replacing Sri Lanka at the top spot, reported The Island on Saturday.

According to the paper, analysts blame the deterioration of the commercial relationship between the two countries on “tariff issues and India’s growing tensions with Sri Lanka over the Tamil question".

It also highlights India’s “better ties” with their western neighbour, which has enabled them to allow concessional tariff rates on textiles from Bangladesh.

"There has been a fair amount of surge in agricultural commodity exports to Bangladesh. Their exports have also increased due to concessions given on textiles. Total trade volumes will be in excess of $5 billion (around INR 273.50 billion) in the current financial year," said a Commerce Ministry official.

"To move to the next phase of economic ties with Sri Lanka is going to be difficult,

"There is no bonhomie between India and Sri Lanka that they would want to push trade relations to the next level."

According to The Island, India’s trade with Bangladesh rose to $4.5 billion from $3.3 billion between April (2012) and January (2013). During the same time period, India’s trade with Sri Lanka however fell from $4.2 billion to $3.5 billion.

The official said that Sri Lanka’s increase of customs duty on cars from India is partly to blame for the drop. The duty on cars is now 200% - 350%, up from 120% - 291% before April last year.

A human rights group in Malaysia has called upon the country to vote against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, as the vote on the US-sponsored resolution at the council draws closer.

Chairman of Suaram, a leading human rights organisation in Malaysia, K. Arumugam said in a press statement,

"Malaysia can’t turn a blind eye to this. We have a vote at the UN Human Rights Council and we must vote in favour of a resolution against Sri Lanka".

He went on to add,

“After the Tamils, the Muslims are now the new targets of attack in Sri Lanka. Malaysia can’t be seen to support a country where Muslims are facing such a situation”.

The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice has demonstrated the growing militarisation in the North-East of the island, by releasing a set of info graphics earlier this week.

The graphics, released on the group's Facebook page, have been shared hundreds of times in the past few days alone.

See their Facebook page here.

A petition by Amnesty International in India, signed by over 1.4 million Indians, has been handed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office on Friday.

"This petition represents the voices of 14 lakh ordinary Indian citizens asking India to play a stronger role in seeking justice in Sri Lanka," said G. Ananthapadmanabhan, the chief executive of Amnesty India.

"This is a demand for an end to the impunity for past and present human rights violations in Sri Lanka," he added.

The petition urges the prime minister to “stand up for justice in Sri Lanka, and act to end the climate of impunity perpetuated by its government”.

It recommended to the Indian government to support an independent international investigation into allegations of crimes committed by Sri Lanka and the LTTE, call for a UN-led mechanism to monitor the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka and urge Sri Lanka to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and stop attacks and intimidation against government critics.

In its editorial on Thursday, The Guardian newspaper, called a row "over the unwisdom of choosing Sri Lanka as host of the next heads of government meeting".

See here. Reproduced in full below:

The Commonwealth is an organisation which normally bumps along well under the radar. What bounces it into prominence is a row. And the Commonwealth has a history of good rows, over issues that matter, like apartheid in South Africa, judicial murder in Nigeria or dictatorship in Zimbabwe, and on which it has been able to make a difference. Such moments make everyone pay attention to a body that many rather lazily think is not that relevant any longer. Few will remember, for instance, that this Monday is Commonwealth Day.

The Commonwealth is about due for another row, and indeed it desperately needs to have one on the unwisdom, weekly becoming more obvious, of choosing Sri Lanka as host for the next heads of government meeting in November this year. Otherwise we may find ourselves in the ludicrous situation of sending the Queen or Prince Charles off to a country which has very serious unresolved human rights charges hanging over it, which has yet to justify executive interference in the judiciary, or has failed to adequately investigate the killing of journalists. When our royals arrive they could therefore be in the unhappy position of giving credit to a gathering from which important countries and close allies, like Canada, may well have chosen to absent themselves. That would be a disaster for them, for Britain, and for the Commonwealth.

Sri Lanka is of course adamant that there can be no question of changing the venue. The Commonwealth secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma, has recently visited Colombo and appears to have extracted assurances from the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on a number of issues. They are weak in that, for example, while there is a commitment to listen to Commonwealth advice on relations between the executive and the judiciary in the future, there is no mention of reconsidering the recent impeachment and dismissal of Sri Lanka's chief justice. They can hardly be regarded as sufficient, especially as Sri Lanka has such a bad record of promising to do things and then failing to do them.

The most vexing aspect is that the Commonwealth has a mechanism specifically created with situations like this in mind. The Ministerial Action Group has in the past been tough-minded, warning, admonishing and suspending countries from the Commonwealth. It has doctrine, from the Harare declaration of 1991 on democracy and human rights, through the Latimer House Principles of 2003 on the separation of powers, to the enhanced CMAG mandate of 2011, to guide it in its work. But the group has been slow and inattentive, and the countries, especially Britain and India, who could have spurred it into the action its title promises, have not yet done so. That needs to start now, before it is too late.

Photograph TamilWin

A Tamil journalist from the newspaper, Valampuri, was attacked in Jaffna on Friday, reports JDS and TamilWin.

The victim, twenty-four year old Stalin, was by Neeravi Street on his way to the Valampuri's office, when a gang of 6 men carrying 'mannvettis' (heavy metal hoes), surrounded him and attacked him.

Stalin, who was left by his attackers on the roadside, was found by passers-by and taken to Jaffna General Hospital, where he is currently admitted with internal injuries.

The attackers are believed to be Sri Lankan military intelligence operatives, reports TamilWin.

Stalin, who used to be a student union leader at Kokuvil Hindu College, has been arrested on previous occasions by Sri Lankan security forces. In 2007, he was arrested alongside other student union leaders from both Kokuvil Hindu College and Jaffna Hindu College. Recently, he has received anonymous threats and was reportedly attacked during protests in Jaffna.

The second draft of a US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka that is to be submitted to the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council currently underway, was circulated today.

See here for full text.

Writing in the Indian Express, James Manor, professor emeritus of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, argues that the venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) later this year must be changed from Sri Lanka, "if the Commonwealth is to retain its well-earned reputation as a force for human decency", adding, "if that meeting is not moved elsewhere, the Commonwealth will abandon its enlightened commitments. Its irresolute secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma, has blocked a change of venue. Because he is a former Indian diplomat, New Delhi will be blamed."

Reproduced in full below:

A message to Colombo

India will soon be blamed — unjustly — for an international catastrophe. Since 1991, the Commonwealth has been a potent force behind the scenes for democracy, rights and human dignity. For example, it has persuaded the leaders of several one-party states to adopt open multi-party systems and it has ensured that leaders who have lost elections do not cling onto power. This admirable record is about to be squandered.

The next Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November is scheduled for Sri Lanka where an abusive government has committed multiple outrages. If that meeting is not moved elsewhere, the Commonwealth will abandon its enlightened commitments. Its irresolute secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma, has blocked a change of venue. Because he is a former Indian diplomat, New Delhi will be blamed.

This is already beginning to happen. Some commentators are saying that India urged Sharma to avoid offending Sri Lanka's leaders because it is anxious about China's growing influence there. It is true that China has invested massively in the island and that in 2011, President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a threatening telephone call to a newspaper editor in an unsuccessful attempt to suppress a report that the Chinese had given him $9 million to be used at his discretion. But India has not tried to restrain the secretary general.

Senior figures in the foreign policy establishment in New Delhi and in Commonwealth circles in London plainly state that India's leaders are exasperated with Sri Lanka's leaders and their brutish actions. India has privately urged the Commonwealth to take a tough line. The timid secretary general has rejected that advice.

New Delhi is especially unhappy about a decision last month by Rajapaksa to break an assurance to Indian leaders to transfer significant powers to elected regional councils, to give the island's Tamil minority some autonomy. Instead, he announced that power would be radically centralised. After that snub to India, when Rajapaksa visited Bodh Gaya and Tirupati last month, no Central government minister met him.

Indian leaders are also well aware of the brutal approach to Tamil non-combatants in the final phase of the civil war in 2009. An investigation by a panel appointed by the UN secretary general described the actions of Sri Lanka's army as "appalling". More recently, an Indian TV channel aired telling evidence from Britain's Channel Four that the 12-year-old son of LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran was shot dead at close range while in the custody of the Sri Lankan army.

The Commonwealth secretary general has meekly expressed hope that the behaviour of the island's leaders will improve, but their actions since the civil war ended have continued to cause grave concern. In response, US President Barack Obama's assistant secretary of state has warned them to take note of the warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Muammar Gaddafi's son for flouting international humanitarian law.

Recently, the chief justice of Sri Lanka's Supreme Court was impeached after rulings that were inconvenient to the executive. This violated Commonwealth commitments to judicial independence. When the International Bar Association protested and tried to send the former chief justice of India, J.S. Verma, to Colombo for discussions, he was denied a visa.

Shadowy groups of armed men continue to abduct, wound and murder opponents of the government. Journalists have frequently been targets. The Sri Lankan ruling party's chief whip told parliament in 2009 that "nine journalists have been killed since 2006, some 27 attacked while five were reported abducted". In 2010, a government minister who had once physically attacked a BBC correspondent said at a public function that "journalists should not write in ways which would ultimately force them to be hanged". Two weeks ago, gunmen burst into the home of a Colombo journalist who had criticised the government and shot him several times, leaving him for dead.

The president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association has stated that "any government that subjects its independent news media to such violent and arbitrary actions has no right to call itself democratic. Sri Lanka doesn't even come close to adhering to the basic principles of the Commonwealth". But it is not only scribes who have suffered. The secretary of the island's Judicial Services Commission was stabbed after alleging that the government was seeking to destroy judicial independence.

Concerns expressed by many international agencies have been dismissed by Sri Lanka's leaders as a concerted effort to spread falsehoods. But this is difficult to believe when we see how many respected institutions are supposedly involved: the Red Cross, the UN, the European Union, the US state department, the US Senate, the Australian and British parliaments, the Commonwealth Journalists Association, BBC World Service, the International Bar Association, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and several other human rights organisations.

To understand the mentality of the island's leaders, consider the statements made by Sri Lanka's defence minister, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (the president's brother) in July 2012 on the telephone to a journalist from the Sunday Leader, an independent newspaper. When the journalist asked if the minister had threatened her, he replied "Yes I threatened you. Your type of journalists are pigs who eat sh*t... You are a sh*t sh*t journalist. A f***ing sh*t... I will put you in jail... People will kill you..." There was much more of this. Foul words were used 22 times in two telephone conversations.

One further, hair-raising prospect should be noted. If the Commonwealth holds its heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka, the island's leaders will coordinate the work of Commonwealth agencies for the next two years — including those that concern themselves with human rights and democracy.

The venue must be changed if the Commonwealth is to retain its well-earned reputation as a force for human decency. If it is not changed, the responsibility will lie with the secretary general and not India's government, even though he is an Indian.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has blasted Sri Lanka, after a group of Indian fishermen were allegedly shot at by the Sri Lankan Navy.

A 40-year-old Indian fishermen was injured after shots were fired by the Sri Lankan Navy, causing extensive damage to their boats and equipment, who claim they were in Indian waters at the time.

The Rameswaram Fishermen's Association president Emiret criticised New Delhi’s "indifference" and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, labelling the constant attacks as an “indirect attempt to intimidate India and browbeat it into not raising its voice".

She went on to say,

"This latest incident of firing by the Sri Lankan Navy clearly indicates that the Sri Lankan Navy wants to create an atmosphere of panic, fear and tension amidst the fishermen of Tamil Nadu who seek to eke out their livelihood peacefully”

“The government of India should not be a silent spectator”

"I am pained to point out that the incidents of apprehension and harassment of innocent Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy have become a regular occurrence in the past few months creating a feeling of insecurity and fear among the fishermen community”

"The Sri Lankan government should be advised to desist from using force against our innocent Indian fishermen who have been fishing in their traditional fishing areas for centuries."

"You are already aware that 16 fishermen of Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) who were fishing in the Gulf of Mannar area were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy and are presently in judicial custody in Sri Lanka"

"The incidents of arrests of fishermen and the recent firing should be viewed as an indirect attempt to intimidate the Government of India and browbeat it into not raising its voice against Sri Lankan atrocities on innocent Sri Lankan Tamilians in the International fora, which is highly unacceptable".

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for political devolution in Sri Lanka to be addressed with a “sense of urgency”, in his address to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying to the debate on the President’s Address, Singh stated,

"Members have raised the issue of human rights violations during the conflict in Sri Lanka and the lack of progress on reconciliation, accountability and political devolution in Sri Lanka. The Government takes the sentiments expressed by Members very seriously. We are firmly of the view that issues of reconciliation and political devolution in Sri Lanka need to be addressed with a sense of urgency."

"We have consistently called upon the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its public commitments for the implementation of the 13th Amendment and for building further on it so as to achieve a meaningful political settlement. We have also urged that elections to the Northern Provincial Council be held at the earliest and have called for effective and time-bound implementation of the constructive recommendations contained in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report."

"This was also the message, Madam, I conveyed to President Rajapaksa during his visit to India in September 2012. We will continue to remain engaged with the Government of Sri Lanka to implement these steps and take forward the process of reconciliation and settlement."