By Udara Soysa from Batticaloa
(http://www.asiantribune.com/show_news.php?id=14528) Photos

The Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tamil Tiger of Eelam agreed to a permanent ceasefire in 2001 as part of the Norwegian initiative to end decades of violence in North East regions of Sri Lanka. This move was happily welcome by Tamils in Amparai and Batticaloa area who were agonized by the prolonged war.

However, the plight of Batticaloa and Amparai Tamils still remains far from “normalcy”.

The systematical elimination of alternative Tamil political parties by LTTE pistol groups in Batticaloa town on the orders from LTTE intelligence Chief Pottu Amman and the intense child recruitment drive, agonized the lives of Tamil in the Eastern region, days after the ceasefire agreement which amounts to placing the people of the region on a daily nightmarish situation with sickening regularity.

LTTE spies quite openly hang out with cell phones. When they spot a target they summon the death squads, who would come promptly on motorcycles or auto rickshaws.

The ground situation in Amparai and Batticaloa areas was dramatically changed with the rebellion of Col. Karuna who demanded regional autonomy and revolted against the LTTE leadership in Wanni.

Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan a.k.a "Col." Karuna alias Karuna Amman was the longest-serving regional commander of the LTTE. The Eastern commander had been in charge of Batticaloa and Amparai districts in the Eastern Province since 1987.

Karuna's complaints about discriminatory treatment of the East by the northern LTTE were real. The two main groups that supported his rebellion were eastern traders and the educated classes, particularly a significant section of the Eastern University. Eastern University north of Batticaloa had been closely watched and controlled by Pottu Amman's Intelligence Wing in a bid to stamp out any show of 'regionalism'. There was at the university a clear show of support for Karuna. Pottu Amman's men in quick succession made attempts on the lives of Acting Dean of the Agriculture faculty, Dr. T. Thiruchelvam, and Government Agent Ratnam Mounagurusamy, who both narrowly escaped, according to University Teachers for Human Rights Jaffna.

Many facts on the assassinations and assassination bids were twisted attributed to the Karuna faction by the LTTE dominated Tamil media in Sri Lanka. However, the ground reality speaks differently.

“ I fear that my son will abducted by the LTTE suspecting him a Karuna supporter, “ said an elderly father who was worried of the safety of his son.

“ Why we Batticaloa Tamils have to live in the agony, we do not want Eelam or Sri Lanka but we need peace “ said another distressed parent.

A teacher of a leading school in Batticaloa told that the neither Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission nor Government of Sri Lanka take adequate steps to protect the lives of the people.

“ LTTE can move freely from house to house killing whoever they want and the Karuna faction will subsequently take revenge. The killing will not end,”he added.

It is further reported that the youths who were earlier disbanded from the LTTE cadres on the orders of Col. Karuna are now seeking to take up arms and join the Karuna’s ranks for survival from the haunting LTTE’s pistol groups, according to another teacher.

Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarians come under heavy criticism for failing to protect the people.

“TNA MP’s need to figure out whether they are working for the LTTE or for the people” said a Tamil government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

- Asian Tribune -

Friends in takingitglobal, we invite you to have a look at!


Journalism VS Propaganda (Ganapati Column) By Kanapathy Uthayamoorty

http://www.asiantruth.com/journalist1.htm

Misdirection of foreign concern on Tamil Struggle in Sri Lanka.- UTHR - J

http://www.asiantruth.com/mis1.htm

A North Korean Perspective By Yong Kyeong Roo

http://www.asiantruth.com/nk.htm



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The Asian Truth is an online research journal highlighting the "spinning," distortion and misinterpretation of news reports and features published in the print media. Our aim is to provide the public with an alternative and more balanced perspective. We are presently focusing on countering extremist propaganda from elements in the Sinhalese, Tamil, Islamic extremist and Christian right-wing media.
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By Udara Soysa
When you're sick and tired of living, you don't have to get into politics to get on a terrorist's hit list - equally free and gratis and equally painful is the death you can experience at the Negombo hospital which notched up its second hit in a row on April 26th.

Nice of them not to seek any political mileage out of this butchering by calling a Press conference and telling the world of their bloody deeds....and it reads like something from Ripley's Believe -it- or -not .

Having made their mark in terrorism by nonchalantly lopping off Sithy Nazeera's leg just over a month ago, the Gestapo from the Negombo Archipelago got on the scent of another victim, their Cloaks and Daggers at the ready. This time around it was a more refined type of kill - and kill they did, just pump her full of the wrong blood group and watch her wax cold in death.

Shiroma Doreen Fernando had not the faintest idea that the blood infused into her veins was to end with her suddenly jack-knifing in spasms that wrung the life out of her...and the white clad Angels of Death, doctors and nurses, would by now have dreamed up another sickening story to hoodwink the public while the late Mrs.Fernando's husband and children remain numbed with shock, unable and unwilling to accept this curse that surges through their senses ..." Amma has died ".

Amma was buried. And is that how it all ends - not with a bang but a whimper? the heart rending whimper of children suddenly left motherless.. of a husband suddenly having just a wedding photograph .. and pain for a memory. ?
But why make a fuss over the death of some woman.

As with Sithy Nazeera's case, one cannot really blame the Health Ministry for not launching an investigation into the death of some non-entity of a woman.

Question is "How much will the doctors offer her husband to sign a document saying it was he who brought the blood from an outside source labelled with his wife's blood group identification."

Can't rightly blame those nice but naïve people over at the Asian Human Rights Commission for sincerely believe they could get an impartial inquiry moving anywhere in this country.

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said in a release today that they had received information regarding the death of a woman, due to a post-surgery transfusion of the incorrect blood type, at the Negombo Base Hospital on 26 April 2005.


Shiroma Doreen Fernando reportedly died due to a transfusion with the incorrect blood type. She was operated to remove swelling from her womb.

"The death of Mrs Fernando is yet another serious case of medical negligence on the part of authorities at the Negombo Base Hospital. On 1 March 2005, doctors at the same hospital mistakenly amputated a woman's healthy leg, after she was admitted for a minor illness.

To date, there has been no investigation or inquiry conducted into the death of Mrs Fernando. The hospital authorities and all others involved in the administration of the incorrect blood type have not been charged. No assistance or compensation has been made available to the victim's family. Her husband is now pursuing the case." stated the release.

AHRC also appealed for immediate measures from the officials on this incident.

However, the Medical Superintend for the Negombo hospital, Dr. Champika Wicramasighe told lankamuslims.com that the hospital is conducting an impartial investigation.

As impartial as the inquiry into Sithy Nazeera's case ?

By Udara Soysa
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has demanded an immediate and urgent inquiry by the authorities into the Sithy Nazeera tragedy.Sithy Nazeera suffered the amputation of a healthy limb because hospital surgical staff did not care to ascertain her identity before the amputation.

"Despite the matter receiving widespread publicity, no inquiries into this incident have yet been conducted either on the basis of criminal negligence by the police or on the basis of the negligence of doctors and the hospital by the health ministry or any other medical authority. Meanwhile, the victim has submitted an affidavit to the Ministry of Healthcare, Nutrition and Uva Wellassa Development, the Inspector General of Police and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, stating the circumstances in which her leg was amputated" the AHRC said in its release.

"Sithy has also made a written complaint to the officer-in-charge of the Negombo Police and the Senior Superintendent of that station. However, despite these formal complaints being made, none of the authorities have yet conducted any inquiry or even visited her to record her statement. Sithy is in no position to walk due to the amputation. She is also still living in a state of shock due to this incident.

In the meantime, two doctors and a police sub inspector attached to the Negombo Police Station have visited Sithy's house twice and stated that if she signs a document the doctors are willing to pay her Rs. 200,000 (USD 2,000), which she has refused. Thereafter, a broker has brought a document written in English, a language she does not understand, asking her to sign it stating that if she does so the doctors are willing to give her some compensation. This too, Sithy has refused to sign. Thus, the only action that has been taken is to bring about pressure on the victim to give up her complaint

In addition, a voluntary organisation helping the victim and a local provincial newspaper have been approached by some doctors trying to discourage them from assisting the victim. The message from the Negombo Hospital authorities has been that if the doctors are criticised for some 'small mistake', they will be discouraged from doing their duties. Such pressure is perceived as an attempt to isolate the victim, who is poor and weak, and thus persuade her to withdraw her complaints." the statement further added.

http://www.lankamuslims.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=458&Itemid=1

To The Attention of the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka
By Dr. Thrishantha Nanayakkara

I believe many Sri Lankans have already read about the mobile robot MURALI (Moratuwa University Robot for Anti-Landmine Intelligence) that was developed by the local researchers to detect landmines. It was a dream of my research group who developed the mobile robot MURALI to present the work in the world's largest robotics conference known as the IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

It is a dream of any researcher in the field of robotics to attend to this conference, because there one gets the opportunity to meet all the leaders in the field and to start strong scientific collaborations with researchers sharing similar interests.

My research paper that I submitted jointly with some other scientists in the Robotics Institute of the Carnegie Mellon University, USA, which is a leader in robotics in the world, was accepted to be presented at the ICRA2005 conference held in Barcelona Spain from 18th - 22nd April, 2005.

While I was a graduate student, I presented research papers in over twenty international conferences. But this time it was different due to two reasons.

One was that this time I represent my own country as a senior lecturer of a State University, and present something that was done on Sri Lankan soil.

The other was that I was supposed to present an advanced robotics application in a real world application of faster and safer landmine detection to change the lives of many those who suffer in the North and the East of my country.

The National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka that funded the research project extended their support by allocating funds to cover my travel to Barcelona.

The University of Moratuwa granted me leave and allocated funds to support the conference registration fees. I reserved air-tickets and lodging in Barcelona. It was only a matter of securing to fly to Barcelona, Spain. I called the Spanish Embassy to see how I can proceed with the Visa application. They recommended me to go through the French embassy because that should logically be the easiest way since the French embassy issues Schengen Visa for France, Spain, and Portugal, whereas, the Spanish high commission has to send my passport to India to get the Visa issued.

Therefore, I had to go through the French embassy. I had all the documents required such as the invitation letters from the conference organizers, letters from the University approving my visit, travel insurance, bank statements, hotel reservation documents, and the fund approval letters from the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka to attend the conference.

While in Japan and the US as a graduate student and a postdoctoral research fellow, securing Visa to attend international conferences was not an issue to worry about, because the officers in those embassies are well educated about the importance of such visits. But I knew that while in Sri Lanka, the case could be different because different embassies treat brown people in different ways due to the ignorance of the Visa officers who are employed in some embassies in Asian countries. But the following story showed me that the process is more than a tough process but one that can end up in a nightmare ruining your future.

I started the process of applying for Visa a little more than one month before I was supposed to leave. Once I went to the French embassy located in the Rosmeid Place around 7 o'clock in the morning. The line was already full. I was told that only fifteen applications are taken everyday. To get into that first fifteen, people have to come early in the morning and wait till 9.30 in the morning. Therefore, the first day was not for me. It reminded me how fair the American embassy was. People could submit applications on arrival and they were issued numbers so that everybody gets an opportunity to submit their applications well ahead in advance.

Next day, I came at 4 o'clock in the morning. Somebody in the line said the first fifteen are already there. This time, I decided to wait till the first fifteen are taken. Around 7 o'clock in the morning the real applicants started to arrive. Most of those who were in the line were a gang that organized to reserve the place at a fee

. Being a researcher in a Government University, I did not feel like paying them to keep a place for me. Instead, I suggested an officer in the embassy to issue numbers to those who were in the line with a legitimate passport. This was not an original idea. That was my experience in the American Embassy. People are not harassed, and the whole process looked far more civilized. Obviously, I had little time to waste in such lines. Waking up in the mid-night and driving to the embassy just to wait in a line of only fifteen to submit the Visa application form at 9.30 in the morning was an utter waste of time. Yet, the officer reminded me that French do not listen to what Sri Lankans’ suggest. But I never wanted to argue. I just made a suggestion a solution to some apparent problem that was the normal practice in the daily life of many of the civilized countries I have been to.

While I was in the embassy, some Europeans came to get some other work done. There was a sharp difference between the way the officers in the embassy treated and talked to them compared to how I was treated. There was a great sense of respect and gentleness in the conversation. It quickly explained me many things. The officers had a racist, discriminative attitude towards Sri Lankans.

No matter how busy the Sri Lankans maybe, they did not seem to care about the pain and their time. They just let them waiting in the line in the hot sun when they could think of a better system. For the officers, those Sri Lankans waiting in the hot sun were no different to the slaves in their colonies. Yet, nobody dared to speak due to the extreme powers the Visa office had to decide one's future. The bad track record of the French embassy escalated the fear and suspicion that they would abuse their sweeping powers to discriminate people.

Consequently, I had to try this painful waiting game three times. On the third day, an officer told us that he would issue numbers the next day and that he would come at 9 o'clock and make sure people get the due opportunity.

On the fourth day, we decided to come as early as possible in the morning. Now I had few friends who faced the same agony several times. We waited in the line. This time, I was within the first 17 people. The officer who promised to come at 9 o'clock, never turned up. No numbers were issued to the people in the line. He had lied us. Anyway, I was taken in around 10 o'clock in the morning and interviewed.

The Visa office was very different from the ones I had seen before. Somebody interviewed me while chatting with about four people who seemed to have paid casual visits to the room. They were just chatting, laughing, and walking around. I was wondering how a Visa officer could concentrate in such an environment. One of them took my passport from the table and turned through the pages and told something in French to others that made all of them laugh.

Then, one asked me whether I had really visited US and Japan. It was not a question to be asked because my student Visa was on the passport. Then, the only person who seemed to be official asked me what the conference was. Then I answered that it is the International Conference of Robotics and Automation 2005. Then she asked me what I was going to present. I said it is about a mobile robot that can walk in a field of landmines to detect them. People in the room treated me with a sarcastic look, as if they did not believe that Sri Lankans could do such research especially while working in Sri Lanka.

Once again, somebody said something in French. Everybody laughed. I was the subject of a big joke. I must compare this situation with the graceful interviews in the American and Japanese embassies that I have experienced. In those embassies, only one officer interviews you in a much focused conversation. You are never laughed at. The whole environment looks far more civilized.

Then, she asked me whether there is any relevance of my presentation in this conference. I thought it was obvious, because the conference had decided to include my paper in the list of presentations. But I patiently explained the relevance of my work to this conference to this senseless lady.

I was asked to submit few missing documents like detailed bank statements for the last three months by 12.30 on the following Monday (11th, April). In the guidelines for Visa applicants, it mentions about documents to prove assets in Sri Lanka. It is only in the interview I was told that I am required to submit detailed bank statements for three months. My documents of land deeds were not what French meant by assets. However, I made sure to submit these documents before the deadline. I was asked to come to collect my passport on the 13th of April.

By then I had purchased tickets to leave on 15th of April. By this time, I had spent more than a month collecting documents and waiting in the world's most amazing line to get within the first fifteen. My head of department in the University knows the nightmare I underwent, because I had to cancel lectures, meetings, and other official duties many times during this month. However, that is what any researcher had to face if he/she decided to return back to Sri Lanka to contribute to the country's image in the world of science. I am aware that the Sri Lankan authorities are doing their best to change this situation.

On 13th April, I went to the French embassy to find that my Visa had been rejected. Amidst all international recognition of the work we had done, amidst all official documents from the University and the National Science Foundation, amidst all invitation letters that quoted web-sites where my name was displayed among the list of invitees, a racist Visa officer could block the massive opportunity for our country and my career. If one wishes to check, please visit the web-site: www.icra2005.org

I asked for the reason why they did not allow me to attend the conference. They refused to explain the reason why my Visa was rejected despite my submission of all those official documents.

Now what happens to all those plans to start new collaborations? What happens to all those opportunities to build new contacts and bring credibility to my country? I was clueless. I called the Dean of the faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa to seek help. As usual, he responded quickly.

The best he could do was to make a request from the consulate general to educate us as to what was wrong in the application, so that we can try again. He had told the consulate general that this conference is of utmost importance to the scientific research program in the University. Yet, the consulate general had refused to give the reason.

The end result of this whole affair of returning to Sri Lanka, carrying out some relevant research, achieving results amidst hardships, getting research papers accepted in recognized international conferences, and securing state sponsorship to attend the conference, was finding myself at a dead end decided by a Visa officer who does not give a reason for rejecting my Visa. If there is nobody in this country who can at least get me the reason why my Visa was rejected, does that mean that the most important decision regarding our scientific programs can be taken by some racist Visa officer? Who is going to pay compensation for the damage they caused to the value of my passport without giving any reason why they did it? Do I have to bear that for trying to work for the country?

Against this racist discriminations and harassments to local scientists who go abroad to popularize local inventions, what can we do? Can we trust the famous international human rights organizations to stand by us? Never! Yet, there are few things that we can do in a peaceful but powerful framework.

First, all scientists in Sri Lanka, let us make this a point to make a new-year resolution to get together to achieve our common dream of making our beautiful, warm country, a prosperous country, by venturing more into advanced research projects that can make a tangible difference in the economy. We should understand that most foreigners will like us to stay dependant, export raw material and slaves, while buying their finished products. Donors will give us fish but never a fishing rod that will make us independent. They know that the way out from this vicious cycle for countries like ours is local research and development that was vibrant in the pre-colonial era. Few civilized countries will support it, but this experience is good evidence that there are foreigners who will use their extreme powers at the point of issuing Visa to block such advancements in a systematic manner.

Second, our Sri Lankan authorities should try their best to support Sri Lankan researchers to organize international research conferences in Sri Lanka, so that our researchers do not have to face harassments from racist embassies. The purpose of hosting more international scientific conferences in Sri Lanka is only to provide enhanced opportunities for local researchers to get an opportunity to mix with other researchers.

An example is the International Conference of Information and Automation ( www.icia2005.mrt.ac.lk) I am organizing together with the IEEE Sri Lanka section to be held in Sri Lanka in December, 2005. Amidst all the enthusiasm shown by the Sri Lankan researchers, I am yet to secure a decent sponsorship to host the conference in Sri Lanka. The Ministries that have a mandate to foster scientific advancement in the country should pay serious attention to supporting this kind of efforts.

Third, we can stimulate a phenomenal rate of regional growth if South Asian researchers come together around common goals. Through a scientific forum like a future "SAARC forum for regional scientific cooperation", we could exchange scientific ideas, collaborate, organize regional scientific conferences, and work together to realize common regional dreams. My colleagues in India used to say that the recent scientific advancements in the region has at least made sure that the future colonialists will think twice before attacking the peace loving people in South Asia. There are many common causes around which we can get together, an elaboration of which is beyond the focus of this article. If the region revives its innovative culture lost during the colonial suppression, our scientists will not have to face any racist discrimination like what I faced at the French Embassy in Sri Lanka. Therefore, I request the foreign ministry to start a dialogue with the SAARC countries to start such a forum. If any of the Excellencies in the SAARC foreign missions reads this article, I humbly request you to take the initiative through your respective Governments.

Finally, I wish to emphasize that I have no intention to disgrace the people in France or the Government of France. I just wanted to raise a voice against apparent abusing of power at the point of issuing Visa to impede the advancement of local research projects. Had the embassy have the slightest desire to help Sri Lanka's scientific advancement, they had ample evidence to check the validity of my application, advice me as to the chances of being rejected before stamping Visa refusal stamp on my passport, because the University and the National Science Foundation, having gone through the relevant documents carefully, had issued me letters recommending the Visa office to issue me Visa. I just have a remote hope that the supreme Sri Lankan authorities will at least make an effort to get me a clarification as to why my Visa application was rejected. I hope I have the right to know that. I hope somebody will do it in the name of Sri Lankan science.

* Dr. Thrishantha Nanayakkara

* Schengen Visa

* www.icra2005.org

* www.icia2005.mrt.ac.lk