The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought information about suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members from Sri Lanka under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) as part of the probe into the seizure of five AK 47 rifles from a foreign vessel off the Kerala coast in March this year.

The agency has also invoked various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case, the New Indian Express reported.

It was on March 18 this year that a Sri Lankan fishing vessel, Ravihanshi, was intercepted by the Coast Guard from which 300kg of heroin, five AK 47 rifles and 1,000 pieces of ammunition were seized. The Narcotics Control Bureau registered a case first following the seizure of heroin and arrested six crew members — all Sri Lankan nationals.

The case related to the seizure of AK 47 rifles and ammunition was first registered at Vizhinjam police station which was later taken over by NIA. The national agency has so far arrested 15 persons of whom 10 are from Sri Lanka including three staying illegally in India.

During the probe, NIA found links of the accused with LTTE and that the smuggling of drugs and weapons was part of an attempt to revive the proscribed terrorist organisation. It was also found that many LTTE activists in Sri Lanka are behind the incident.

While claiming that the Government came under local and foreign pressure to hold Provincial Council elections, resulting in the decision to hold the same under Proportionate Representation (PR) system, Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader Mano Ganesan said that it is not possible to hold elections under Mixed system.

“If the elections are to be held in a mixed system, the demarcation of boundaries has to be redefined. This is a long term process,” Ganesan explained in a statement.

He noted that to prevent delaying the elections further, the Government and the Opposition agreed to hold the election on the PR system, but this is a temporary agreement.

“Therefore, electoral reforms will continue. The next meeting of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) will be held on the 22nd of this month,” he stated.

The TPA Leader further said “If we try to change the electoral system at this point, it would only lead to greater delays. Therefore, we stood our ground that the elections must be held and as a result, the Government and the Opposition were able to come to an agreement at the PSC meeting,” he said.

Ganesan noted that at the PSC meeting, the Government members had earlier demanded the Mixed system and rejected the Proportional system.

“We opposed this position because it was intended to push aside smaller parties which chose the path of democracy with alternative policies, and to jeopardize the parliamentary and provincial representations of the minority parties representing their communities scattered throughout the country,” he pointed out.

Parties including the SJB and JVP supported the position for Proportional system. “Tamil Progressive Alliance, Tamil National Alliance, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress are also of the view that the proportional system should not be changed,” Ganesan noted.

He said that he had also conducted discussions with the leaders of the smaller parties in the Government regarding this and they too exerted pressure on the Government.

Parliament and Provincial Councils are institutions that discuss bills at the national and provincial levels. Therefore, Ganesan noted that there is no need for MPs to represent local electorates.

However, he said that the local Government council members who are responsible for the day to day needs of the people, including water, electricity and roads, need to represent local wards.

“Therefore, our stance is that the Parliament and the Provincial Councils do not need the mixed system to pick members to represent local electorates. But as for the LG bodies there is a need for members representing local wards.”

Also, Ganesan noted that a wrong notion has been created in the country against the preferential voting system. He said a preferential vote is the pinnacle of democracy. The preferential voting system rescues prospective voters from casting their votes only to the candidate nominated by the party hierarchies.

“At the time of voting for their preferred party, every voter is given the “democratic freedom” to choose the candidate of their choice by preferential vote. We need to understand this clearly. In view of the all-powerful executive presidency that was further strengthened by the 20th amendment to the constitution, we propose the Parliament, Provincial Councils shall be elected by a total proportional electoral system that would ensure representation room for all ethnic and social segments of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the Parliament and PCs shall act as “Check and Balance Apparatuses parallel with executive presidency in the interests of democracy,” he concluded.

Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, including former cadre of the defunct LTTE concerned, say probe agencies

The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, including some former cadre of the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), are “seriously concerned” over the large-scale and long-term investments by the Chinese Government in Sri Lanka, Indian intelligence agencies have said.

In a note to States, a Central agency referred to a conclave of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora held in London recently and said the delegates felt that India had not taken it seriously to safeguard the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils and even lost its influence over the island nation. The conclave was convinced that the fate of the Sri Lankan Tamils would be in jeopardy if the Chinese established their presence in northern Sri Lanka.

Contact with Beijing

Noting that “inaction” on the part of the Government of India had paved the way for China to gain prominence in Sri Lanka, the conclave decided to take all out efforts to establish contact with the Chinese Government to create a political and economic base for Sri Lankan Tamils.

“They assume that the Chinese will welcome such initiatives as it would assist them in northern Sri Lanka to have a hassle-free presence, besides facilitate them in their stance against India,” the note on security preparedness said, adding that the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora was deploying its global resources to tap Chinese intellectuals to gain a groundswell of opinion favouring their efforts. However, the conclave had strong dissenters to the strategy as they believed that the Sri Lankan Tamils would lose the support of the Indian Tamils.

Adding to the Central inputs, Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police (DGP) C. Sylendra Babu wrote to the Commissioners/Superintendents of Police (SPs) on reliable information about the LTTE remnants regrouping and holding meetings near Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai “very often”. The alert was given days before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested former LTTE intelligence operative Satkunam, alias Sabesa, 47, on charges of indulging in drug trafficking with international links and also funding the revival of the defunct organisation in Sri Lanka. Materials seized from his premises in Valasaravakkam, Iyyappathangal, etc., revealed evidence of a huge transfer of money to his contacts in Sri Lanka, investigators said.

At the meetings held in Chennai, the participants chalked out strategies for further course of action in the backdrop of the developments relating to the increasing presence of Chinese defence personnel in Sri Lanka. Since the Chinese presence in the neighbourhood could pose a threat to India, the DGP called for enhanced surveillance along the coastal districts.

The State intelligence, relying on the Central agency inputs, said some radicalised Muslims were brought from Pakistan and Turkey by senior Sri Lankan political leaders and made to settle in Batticaloa, Mutur and Kalpatti. They had started madrasas to spread their ideology in eastern Sri Lanka and had planned to infiltrate into India, police sources told The Hindu on Sunday.

Former Election Commission member Jeevan Thiyagarajah has been sworn in as the new Governor of the Northern Province.

Mr. Thiyagarajah took oath before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo today (11), the President’s Media Division said.

He will be replacing Mrs. P S M Charles, who has been serving in the position since December 30, 2019.

Last week, Mr. Thiyagarajah confirmed that he accepted the request extended by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to be appointed as the Northern Province Governor and that he would step down from his post as a member of the Election Commission in order to take up the new position.

He had been appointed as a member of the Election Commission on December 03, 2020.

Former Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Executive Director Thushan Gunawardena has lodged a complaint with the Kirulapone Police on 10 October regarding an incident where a group of persons had arrived at his house in a white van on 7 October.

Gunawardena recently resigned from the said post, claiming that he had to face various political influences and threats while attempting to carry out the duties of the CAA independently.

Speaking to The Morning yesterday (11), he said that the incident is definitely related to his previous job (CAA Executive Director) and that therefore, a complaint was lodged with the Kirulapone Police on 10 October requesting an investigation into the incident.

Elaborating on the incident, Gunawardena noted: “I was away from Colombo on 7 October. That morning, three or four people have come in a white van and searched for my house. A woman in the neighbourhood had seen one of those persons in the van get out of the vehicle and say: ‘This is the house’.” According to him, the said woman had informed her husband about the incident who had in turn informed him (Gunawardena) of the incident.

“Accordingly, on the evening of 10 October and yesterday morning, the Police came and investigated the matter. They also investigated the closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of nearby houses,” he noted.

Adding that he has no intention of gaining security or any other privilege, Gunawardena emphasised, however, that not only him but everyone else should have a safe environment to live in and express their opinions. “People have the right to hold different opinions and no one can take it away. However, unfortunately, the country is moving towards a different direction now.”

Meanwhile, he had previously lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), claiming that he had received various threats when carrying out duties as the CAA Executive Director.

However, when questioned as to whether he has been informed by the CID of any progress into the investigations into those threats, Gunawardena said that no investigation, according to his knowledge, has been carried out into the said complaint filed on 30 July 2021. “Everything related to the threats, such as phone numbers, WhatsApp numbers, and screenshots, was given to the CID, but so far no investigation has been carried out,” he added.

He further alleged: “The complaint lodged by Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana regarding a statement I made was taken up promptly. When considering these incidents, it is very clear that certain politicians are manipulating these things.”

When queried about the allegation made by Thushan Gunawardena that the CID has not yet carried out an investigation into the complaint he lodged on 30 July, Public Security Ministry Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Jagath Alwis said that there would be no room for such threats. He further said that necessary steps would be taken after inquiring from the CID in this regard.

He further added: “But he also gives all these stories to the newspapers. He first gives the information about the death threats to the newspapers. Therefore, we also have doubts as to whether this is a propaganda campaign. People with more reasonable issues lodge complaints and remain silent.”

Adding that there were more important issues in the country, Alwis said that the Public Security Ministry was trying its best to look into issues such as terrorism and religious extremism. “While doing so, we look at these things as well. Tell him not to panic. The situation in the country is not that bad.”

Gunawardena recently resigned from the said post claiming that he was under pressure from politicians in carrying out the activities of the CAA independently.

Gunawardena also said that he had received the first call about the much talked-about garlic scam and the involvement of several Lanka Sathosa officials in the incident, after which he had received various pressures and even death threats to resign from his post due to his intervention in investigating the matter.

He further revealed that some agreements were to be signed between the CAA and traders and companies that import wheat flour, sugar, and cement in a way which is adverse for the CAA and the consumers. “If those agreements were signed, it would have been very disadvantageous to the CAA, and therefore, I didn’t sign them. My signature is essential for them to be signed; however, I opposed signing such agreements,” he explained.

What was supposed to be a meeting scheduled for an hour stretched for 90 minutes, as visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday. A visiting Foreign Secretary is not usually granted a meeting with a Head of State, but given the importance of bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka, all protocol was set aside for a meeting fixed when the President had hardly the time to unpack his bags from a visit to the United Nations and an extended visit to the United States of America.
The discussion, which occurred on the final day of Shringla’s own whirlwind three-day official visit to the island, would have lasted even longer had the President not had to chair the meeting of the National Security Council scheduled for that afternoon. Still, the meeting between India’s topmost diplomat and the President saw them cover a wide range of issues.

“The President was very gracious and generous with his time,” Shringla told the Sunday Times just before he headed back to New Delhi, adding that they discussed the entire range of the relationship between the two countries during the meeting. He was complimentary, too, saying the Sri Lankan President has “great vision and great plans” to take the relationship between the two countries forward. “It’s very reassuring to know that it involves forward momentum in many areas that are there and at the same time, I think the two sides are closely engaged in ensuring that we reach the conclusions we want to reach for the mutual benefit for the people of both our countries,” he added.

That was diplomacy oozing out of the Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College graduate. He set the stage for his visit by telling this newspaper in an exclusive interview prior to his visit that “We have full confidence in the depth of our mutually beneficial millennia-old multifaceted relations with Sri Lanka, and also in the wisdom of Sri Lanka and its people to take decisions in the best interest of our shared ethos and values”.

The position on 13th Amendment

The media statement issued by the Indian High Commission at the conclusion of the visit buttressed the Foreign Secretary’s position stating that during his meeting with the President, the Foreign Secretary “underscored the importance India attaches to expeditiously taking forward mutually beneficial projects, including proposals to enhance air and sea connectivity between India and Sri Lanka.” It added that Shringla thanked the President for his guidance and close cooperation in the defence and security sphere. “Further, he reiterated India’s position on complete implementation of the provisions under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, including devolution of powers and the holding of Provincial Council elections at the earliest”.

The statement issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD), however, had a different take of the meeting. It did not contradict the Indian version of the talks, but it gave the Sri Lankan version, which the Indian release missed out. Taken side by side, it pointed to a considerable gulf between New Delhi and Colombo regarding the “complete implementation” of the 13th Amendment. It noted that the President “pointed out the urgent need to understand the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the 13th Amendment and act accordingly”. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led Government has always been steadfast in its insistence that ‘complete implementation’ of the 13th Amendment (13A), especially with regard to devolving land and police powers to the Provincial Councils (PCs), is not something it is prepared to do. Indeed, some hardline sections within the SLPP coalition would rather abolish the PCs altogether, echoing the sentiments of a mass majority of the country that believe the PC system serves neither man nor beast and is a ‘white elephant’ as an administrative tool.

Tamil political parties had pressed for India to prevail on the Government to hold the PC elections and commit itself to the ‘complete implementation’ of 13A. Shringla held separate meetings with delegations of the northern-based Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by the veteran MP for Trincomalee, R. Sampanthan and the more Colombo-based Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) led by Mano Ganesan.

On Sunday, Shringla headed to Jaffna as part of his scheduled visit to four districts across the country. The other districts included Trincomalee, Galle and Kandy.

In Jaffna, he inspected the Indian Cultural Centre, constructed adjacent to Jaffna Public Library under a generous Indian grant of Rs 1.2 billion. The state-of-the-art multi-complex consists of an auditorium, a cultural museum and a learning centre.

After his brief inspection tour, Secretary Shringla told the local media that the cultural centre would be declared open soon and the Indian Government will bear the cost of the maintenance for five years. The announcement came after concerns were raised in certain quarters as to who is going to maintain it since the Jaffna Municipal Council lacked the resources and cadre force.

Officials attached to the South Block of India’s Ministry of External Affairs where separate desks are maintained for South Asian matters is working towards facilitating the visit of Indian Premier Narendra Modi for the opening ceremony of the complex. The groundwork for this development is already underway with TNA Leader R. Sampanthan recently extending an invitation to the Indian Premier to visit the North. One wonders if that is the usual protocol because an invitation to a foreign Head of Government, one might think, ought to go from his counterpart.

Thereafter, the visiting Secretary attended a dinner organised at Thinnai Hotel with a select group of twelve individuals. They included the outgoing Northern lady Governor P.S.M. Charles, senior administrative officers, political leaders and academics. The list of attendees was prepared by the office of the Consulate General of India in Jaffna.

Among them was also Ahila Ilankai Thamil Congress (AITC) leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam who was critical of the 13th Amendment and India’s role during the final phases of the war. Mr Ponnambalam, however, stressed that “we will not give any space that would jeopardise the national security of India”. This assurance came in the wake of the increasing presence of China in the North and East with road development works and other infrastructure development activities in recent times.

As other political leaders went on with the usual rhetoric of pressuring the Government for the full implementation of the 13A, going beyond i.e. 13+ to reach a lasting solution to the ‘ethnic conflict’ and the pending Provincial Council elections, Ponnambalam refrained from raising any issues related to 13A but highlighted another political development.

In the past, the AITC repeatedly maintained that it could not consider 13A as a solution to the ethnic conflict and had even rejected it outright. The party also refused to contest PC elections.

He said the current Government which came to power on a nationalist platform is not interested in building an inclusive, multicultural society but it is becoming more exclusively focused on one particular community while drawing examples of India’s experience of accommodating minority communities in its state governance.

However, in Colombo, the Tamil parties were in for a rude shock when Foreign Secretary Shringla all but told them to take their arguments to the Government of Sri Lanka. He stopped short of telling them not to keep complaining to India, in what political analysts have noted was a rather lukewarm approach by New Delhi to arguing the TNA’s or even the TPA’s case for PCs leaving the issue to be worked out by Colombo without so much as India’s pressure. Delhi has found itself in a difficulty in devolving powers to the periphery, especially in the state of Kashmir where it revoked Article 370 of its own Constitution stripping the local politicians of the state autonomy. To promote devolution elsewhere while cramping it at home was to be accused of duplicity.

As Shringla was meeting the President, Public Services, Provincial Councils & Local Government Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon was telling Parliament that he did not personally believe that the prevailing environment was conducive towards holding PC elections. He said this in answer to a question raised by Samagi Jana Balawageya’s (SJB) Anuradhapura District parliamentarian Rohana Bandara.

Mr Bandara told the Minister that while the Government was claiming on the one hand that it lacked funds, it was also calling for proposals from people’s representatives regarding large scale development projects to be undertaken in their respective areas. He asked whether this meant that the Government was intending to hold either PC or Local Government elections next year. The Opposition MP asked the minister to clarify which poll would come first and under which electoral system. While saying he did not believe the current environment was conducive for PC elections, the minister said all parties should get together to decide on when the polls (whichever one) would be held, and under which system.

The Sunday Times reported late last month that MPs presiding over District Development Committees and their deputies, former provincial council members and sitting local council members were to be allocated funds for development projects in their respective electorates. The funds would be allocated for projects which could be completed within a year. This gave an indication that the Government was preparing for a PC or local council election.

While the Provincial Councils Minister may say the environment was not conducive for PC elections, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa told the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Election Law Reforms on Friday that the polls would be held under the proportional representation (PR) system in the first quarter of 2022. This corroborates the decision to distribute a decentralised budget mainly to ruling party members to prepare for an election come early 2022.

TPA Leader Mano Ganesan tweeted that the Minister had agreed to this at the PSC meeting that afternoon. Both, Basil Rajapaksa and Ganesan are members of the PSC. Whether the Finance Minister’s comments to the PSC are a direct result of the Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit is unknown, but given that India has been at least for the record pushing for the conduct of PC polls at the earliest opportunity, there can be no doubt that the Government choir was singing in different tunes.

While the Finance Minister has now seemingly given a commitment to a parliamentary committee on behalf of the Government to hold PC elections next year, there are still some issues to be addressed. For starters, Parliament will have to amend the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act, No.17 of 2017. This is because Parliament rejected the report of the Delimitation Committee for the delimitation of electorates in Provincial Councils in 2018. In the division that was taken, no votes were cast in favour while 139 votes were against it. The report was required to be approved by a majority of two-thirds voting in its favour.

Given this situation, legal opinion is clear. The polls cannot be held unless the relevant sections of the Act are amended to allow PC elections to be held either under a new system or the old system at least as an interim measure. Election Commission Chairman Nimal G. Punchihewa says the Attorney General’s Department is also of the view that Parliament will need to amend the Act to remove legal obstacles that stand in the way of holding the polls. “The EC stands ready to hold the polls, provided that the legislature acts to remove the legal obstacles,” says he.