Author: TELO Admin

The Indian Naval Ship (INS) ‘Delhi’ arrived at the Port of Trincomalee on a formal visit this morning (15th January 2023). The visiting ship was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in compliance with naval traditions.

INS ‘Delhi’ is a 163.2m long Destroyer manned by a crew of 390 and the ship is commanded by Captain Shiraz Husain Azad.

In the meantime, the Commanding Officer of INS is scheduled to call on Commander Eastern Naval Area and Commandant Volunteer Naval Force, Rear Admiral Dammika Kumara on 16th January at the Eastern Naval Command Headquarters. During the ship’s stay, the crew will take part in several programmes organized by the Sri Lanka Navy, with a view to promoting cooperation and goodwill between two navies. They are also expected to go on a sightseeing excursion in Trincomalee.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka Navy personnel will engage in a training visit onboard INS ‘Delhi’. Concluding the visit, INS ‘Delhi’ will depart the island on 17th January.

British leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer has raised concern over the continued persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka in his Thai Pongal message and stressed the need for accountability and justice.

Whilst celebrating the harvest festival, Starmer also stressed that now is a time “to remember the sacrifices made by the Tamil people for self-determination, peace, and justice in Sri Lanka”.

He goes on to state his deep concern over “the ongoing economic crisis, persecution of the Tamil people, and the political instability in Sri Lanka”.

Stammer’s statement comes in advance of the fourth Universal Periodic Review Cycle of the United Nations Human Rights Council during which Sri Lanka’s human rights record will come under scrutiny. The latest report by the UN High Commissioner raises concerns over the lack of progress on issues of accountability and notes a worrying trend of militarisation.

Starmer stressed that “the British government has a clear responsibility to ensure that the Sri Lankan government to ensure that the Sri Lankan government can no longer delay supporting justice and accountability”.

He concluded his statement by emphasising that “the Labour Party will continue to work with the Tamil Community to call for justice and human rights”.
Celebrating Thai Pongal Sen Kandiah, Chair of Tamils for Labour stated:

“In this special day for Tamil People around the world, we welcome the message from the Leader of the Labour Party recognising the sacrifices made by the Tamil people for self-determination and justice. His call for the current British Government to act should result in sanctioning the Sri Lankan Government political leaders and officials by Britain as happened in Canada few days back”

Iniya Pongal Nalvazhthukkal! On behalf of the Labour Party, sending best wishes and a happy, bountiful Thai Pongal to Tamils celebrating here and around the world. pic.twitter.com/VZE5OkbIXY

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 14, 2023

The ulterior motives of China’s geopolitical and diplomatic moves in relation to Sri Lanka over the years now seems to be exposed to the world in the light of the fact that the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo has hastily announced his decision to meet with the Maha Nayaka Theros of both the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters in Kandy this week with convoys of food items purported as relief assistance under the current economic crisis.

This hastily arranged ‘food relief’ that has not been forthcoming in the past months and years despite repeated requests is now to reach the hands of the Venerable Maha Nayaka Theros at a time when the Maha Nayaka Theros have just returned from Bodh Gaya in India where the five year International Bhikkhu Exchange programme was launched with the participation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as one of the chief participants and also the participation of the Maha Nayaka Theros of the three Nikyas of the Sri Lankan Maha Sangha.

On that occasion, the Sri Lankan Maha Sangha had an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for discussions on Buddhist religious topics and the Maha Nayaka Theros had reiterated on their invitation to His Holiness to visit Sri Lanka in the immediate future. So, it is obvious that the motive behind this sudden meeting and offer of the Chinese Ambassador is nothing other than an indirect pressure on the Maha Nayaka Theros to desist from inviting His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Maha Nayaka Theros and the Sri Lankan Maha Sangha have been desperate for food relief to be provided to the down-trodden and crisis-affected people of the central province over the last one and a half years and after making direct requests to China, they were disappointed since there were no signs of any food relief from China arriving.

They lately visited Bodh Gaya to take part in the International Bhikkhu Exchange Programme at Bodh Gaya on December 27, 2022, with the Mahanayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter, as the chief guest and they met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for discussions on religious matters.

They also discussed the Sri Lankan economic crisis after renewing their invitation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to visit Sri Lanka with strong hopes and anticipation that his visit would have the salutary result of thousands of tourists from the Buddhist world visiting Sri Lanka as religious tourists and, furthermore, many of his followers who are affluent and are heads of multinational companies would invest in Sri Lanka in an effort to boost the fallen economy of this Buddhist land and help us bounce back. And at this very moment, China is hurrying to meet the Maha Nayaka Theros with convoys of food relief obviously to dissuade them from inviting the Dalai Lama to Sri Lanka.

There were very good signals that the followers of the Dalai Lama in the Buddhist countries, especially in the Western countries, demonstrated a tendency to invest in Sri Lanka and also there was clear signs that religious tourists in their thousands would come as tourists to Sr Lanka after the Dalai Lama’s visit.

Every genuine Buddhist strongly believes that the Maha Sangha will fall prey to the conspiracy of China. This is how China wants to help Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will slash its army by a third to 135,000 personnel by next year and to 100,000 by 2030, the state minister of defence said on Friday, as the country tries to cut costs in the face of its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.

“Military spending is basically state-borne expenditure which indirectly stimulates and opens avenues for economic growth by way of assuring national and human security,” Premitha Bandara Thennakoon said in a statement.

The aim of the move is to create a “technically and tactically sound and well-balanced” defence force by 2030, Thennakoon said.

The size of Sri Lanka’s armed forces peaked between 2017 and 2019, with 317,000 personnel, according to World Bank data, higher even than that during the 25 year-long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that ended in 2009.

The share of the defence sector in Sri Lanka’s total expenditure peaked in 2021, at 2.31 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), but fell to 2.03 percent last year, according to Colombo-based think tank Verite Research.

(Reuters)

Three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) partners broke away yesterday to form a new five-party alliance that will contest the upcoming local council elections in the North and East.

The Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), and the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), all of which had contested under the TNA, will be part of the new alliance.

The other two parties in the alliance are the Democratic Crusaders’ Party (DCP), formed by former LTTE cadres, and the Tamil National Party (TNP). The agreement forming the alliance was signed at Thinnaveli in Jaffna yesterday by Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF), Selvam Adaikkalanathan (TELO), Dharmalingam Sithadthan (PLOTE), Sivanandan Navindra (DCP) and N. Srikantha (TNP).

The Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) led by Parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran and former Jaffna Mayor M. Manivannan was also involved in the discussions regarding the alliance. However, they walked out of the talks on Friday following a dispute over the logo and the post of the General Secretary of the new alliance.

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the main constituent party of the TNA, was not involved in the discussions as it has decided to contest the local government election separately under its house symbol.

Sources said the new alliance plans to field candidates in both the Northern and Eastern provinces at the upcoming local polls. Talks on the logo of the new alliance continued yesterday.