Firazul Fouz, Stop BBS

6th May, 2013
Public Statement
Condemn the Unlawful Arrest and Detention of Azath Salley and Call for his Immediate Release
We the undersigned, vehemently condemn the arrest of Former Deputy Mayor and Founder Leader of the National United Front (NUF), Azath Salley, by a team of officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), on Thursday, 2nd May 2013 morning, and call for his immediate release, in the absence of any demonstrable evidence.
Mr. Salley was arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and it has been now reported that he has been placed under detention for further interrogation by the TID for 3 months under Section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. Section 2(1)(h) states that a person has committed an offence under the PTA “….by words either spoken or intended to be read or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise causes or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill-will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups…”
The unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Salley is in a context where there have been increasing attacks and threats against minorities, a growing spate of incidents of religious intolerance and clamping down of critics of the Government and dissent on the whole. Mr. Salley has been a vocal critic of the extremist group Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) and the anti–Muslim activities of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), and has been actively involved in efforts to initiate legal action against both groups. He has also promoted minorities to unite against the racist rhetoric and action of such groups. In addition, Mr. Salley has been publicly critical of the indirect support given to these elements by the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. On 24 April 2013, in an interview to the Tamil Nadu bi-weekly magazine “Junior Vikatan, Mr. Salley is alleged to have said that “the Muslims too should launch an armed struggle against the state in the same manner in which Tamils conducted a campaign earlier…(and) that such a struggle would commence once necessary arms are procured.” Mr. Salley has later written to the magazine stating that he was misquoted with a retraction printed by the magazine on 4 May 2013.
Mr. Salley has been on a fast since his arrest on 2 May in protest against his unjust arrest and demanding his release. Since his arrest, he has been moved from the 4th Floor of the CID to the National Hospital as he had collapsed due to lack of food, water and medication. There are concerns his condition can deteriorate if not urgently addressed as he is a diabetic and in need of medication. He was initially refused visitors including visits from his immediate family and lawyers, and was warded under heavy police guard. It is now reported that regardless of medical concerns, Mr. Salley has been moved back to the 4th Floor of the CID.
Regardless of Mr. Salley’s political positions, we are deeply concerned with the treatment meted towards him which seems to be a result of his position against hate propaganda and opposition to extremist groups. While we recognize the rights of the State to investigate hate speech and other
actions aimed at inciting communal disharmony, we wish to highlight the lack of fair and due process on the part of the State in the unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Salley.
We also note the speed with which the Government and its agents acted on the arrest of Mr. Salley based on a misquoted interview. This is in a context of an increasing number of instances of hate speech and violence in Sri Lanka, with evidence publicly available identifying the perpetrators. Unfortunately, such incidents have not been independently investigated and perpetrators brought to account. Sadly, this incident is yet another reminder that the Government has resorted to strong arm tactics to silence and harass critics, while turning a blind eye when actual incidents of violence occurs. It is of serious concern as to the reasons for this unlawful arrest and the detention of Mr. Salley and sends a chilling reminder to all critics of the Government of reprisals. We believe the charges against Mr. Salley are baseless and politically motivated, and call for his immediate release.

The motion was brought to the campaign’s annual conference in Milton Keynes on April 25th by Belfast Metropolitan College. Manoj Kumar, an Indian Tamil and the former president of Middlesex University Students Union, gave a speech introducing the motion and describing the violence and racism faced by Tamil people in Sri Lanka driven by its dictatorial government. Opposition arguments that the Campaign should avoid getting involved in “political” matters were rebuffed by Edmund Schluessel of Cardiff University, who reminded the conference that the International Campaign had a long history of facing outward and reaching out to students facing crisis around the world. The motion passed easily with around 40 of the 55 delegates voting in favour.

NUS already has policy on many crisis spots around the world, and is currently campaigning to free student activist Maxwell Dlamini from imprisonment and torture in Swaziland. Dlamini is the former president of the Swaziland National Union of Students and is being held by Swaziland’s monarchy as a result of his political activities. The debate on Tamil Solidarity was the first time NUS has considered the question of Sri Lanka, and the International Students’ Campaign’s decision will become part of national policy at NUS’s next conference.

Full Text of the motion

International Students Conference Believes:
1. Many reports, including from the UN, have exposed what amounted to a genocidal war against Tamilspeaking
people in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
2. The repressive Sri Lankan government is trampling democratic rights
3. Freedom of speech – opposition politicians, trade unionists, civil rights campaigners, and journalists
continue to face repression and severe restrictions remain in place on the media.
4. Freedom of assembly – access to Tamil-speaking areas is strictly controlled and freedom of assembly does
not exist.
5. Workers’ rights – the establishment of so-called ‘free-trade zones’ is leading to the super-exploitation of
labour, without trade union and other rights. The Sri Lankan government is brutally anti-union.
6. The right to a decent life – public services are being privatised, and workers’ conditions are being attacked
across the board. A military ‘land grab’ of the Tamil-speaking areas comparable to the settlement of
Palestinian land is also taking place. This will also facilitate rapid commercialisation of the island’s resources.
7. The Tamil diaspora, including thousands of students, has shown tremendous determination in its struggle
8. Tamil Solidarity’s platform includes demands for an independent war crimes investigation consisting of
representatives accountable to workers poor people from all communities, chosen by them and observed by
international trade union and human rights organisations. Support for independent trade unions with full
trade union rights, free from intimidation and state interference; and defence of the right to selfdetermination
which means support for a mass movement of Tamil workers and poor for the right to
determine their own future. Full and equal rights of any minorities to be guaranteed in all areas.
International Students Conference Resolves:
9. To affirm its solidarity with Tamil-speaking and all oppressed people in struggle in Sri Lanka
10. To publicise the activity of Tamil Solidarity and other events organised by the Tamil community in defence
of their rights.
11. To support the development of independent trade unions in Sri Lanka and to help monitor the conditions
in the free-trade zones
12. To affiliate to Tamil Solidarity and actively support their work

Tamils in Bristol organized a public gathering today, 27th April 2013,
Saturday at 10 am in Bristol City Centre, UK supporting the Tamilnadu
Student protests demanding referendum for a free Tamil Eelam. More than 60
Tamils from across Bristol gathered at the event with a good presence of
women and children.

Tamils from TN and Eelam joined shoulders to raise their united voice in
support of a free Tamil Eelam. They shouted slogans supporting the student
protests and seconding the demands put forward by the students including a
referendum for free Tamil Eelam, international investigation against
SriLanka and economic ban on SriLanka for its Tamil genocide.

The participants created awareness among the British public by distributing
handouts that explain the brutality of the SriLankan regime and the need
for creating a free Tamil Eelam. People coming from various parts of the
world expressed keen interest in this matter by carefully reading the
handouts and by enquiring the activists about further details.

The organizers said that the event was organized as a part of their long
campaign to convert this interest and awareness of the British public into
active support for the creation of Tamil Eelam. They also expressed their
plans to carry out further protests to press the Common Wealth nations to
boycott SriLanka from the Heads of Common Wealth nations meet (to be held
in November) and also move the venue out of genocidal SriLanka.

The participants displayed placards condemning the global powers such as
India, UN, US and China which deliberately muddle up the Tamil Eelam
liberation struggle for their own geopolitical profits. A part of them,
tied black bands covering their mouth depicting the way their rights were
being trampled upon by these powers.

The organizers hope that this event will pass on great encouragement to the
fighting TN Tamil students and also pave way for renewed protests across
various cities in UK.

Warm Regards,

Sooriya Prakash Thangaswamy (UK)
தமிழக மாணவர்களின் தன்னெழுச்சி போராட்டங்களுக்கு உலகெங்கும் பெருகி வரும்
ஆதரவின் ஒரு பகுதியாக இன்று 27 ஏப்ரல், சனிக்கிழமை (27-04-2013) காலை 10 மணிக்கு
இங்கிலாந்தின் பிரிஸ்டல் நகரின் மையப்பகுதியில் ஒரு பொதுமக்கள் ஒன்றுகூடல்
நடைபெற்றது. இந்நிகழ்வை, அமைப்புகளை கடந்த தமிழ் மக்கள் தன்னார்வமாக
ஒருங்கிணைத்தனர்.

இதில் சுமார் 60 க்கும் மேற்பட்ட பிரிஸ்டல் வாழ் தமிழர்கள் குடும்பங்களோடு
கலந்து கொண்டனர். பிரிஸ்டல் நகரில் வாழும் தாயக தமிழர்களும், ஈழத்தமிழர்களும்
(குறிப்பாக பெண்களும், குழந்தைகளும்) கலந்து கொண்டு தோளோடு தோள் நின்று தமிழீழ
விடுதலைக்காக ஒருமித்த குரலில் முழக்கங்களை எழுப்பினர். இதில் தமிழக மாணவர்
போராட்டத்தை ஆதரித்தும், மாணவர்களின் கோரிக்கைகளுக்கு வலு சேர்க்கும்
விதமாகவும் முழக்கங்கள் எழுப்பினர்.

இந்த ஒன்றுகூடலில் தமிழீழ மக்கள் மீது இனவெறி இலங்கை அரசு நடத்திவரும்
மாபெரும் இன அழிப்பு போரின் உக்கிரத்தையும், இலங்கை ராணுவத்தின்
வக்கிரத்தையும் விளக்கும் துண்டறிக்கைகளை பொதுமக்களுக்கு (ஆங்கிலத்தில்)
விநியோகித்து, இந்த பிரச்சனை குறித்த விழிப்புணர்வை உண்டாக்கினர்.

பல நாடுகளை சேர்ந்த பொதுமக்கள் இந்த துண்டறிக்கைகளை ஆர்வமுடன் வாங்கி
படித்தும், செயற்பாட்டாளர்களிடம் விளக்கங்கள் கேட்டும் விபரங்களை தெரிந்து
கொண்டனர். இங்கிலாந்து மக்களிடம் தமிழீழம் குறித்து நிலவும் இந்த பரவலான
விழிப்புணர்வையும், ஆர்வத்தையும் தொடர் பிரசாரத்தின் மூலமாக நேரடி களநிலை
ஆதரவாக மாற்றும் திட்டத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியாக இதை செய்ததாக நிகழ்ச்சி
அமைப்பாளர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர். வரும் நவம்பர் மாதம் நடைபெறவுள்ள காமன் வெல்த்
மாநாடு இலங்கையில் நடைபெறாமல் தடுக்க தொடர் போராட்டங்களில் ஈடுபடப்போவதாகவும்
அவர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

தங்களது புவிசார் அரசியல் சுயநலங்களுக்காக தமிழீழ விடுதலையில் குழப்பங்களை
விளைவிக்கும் இந்தியா, அமேரிக்கா, ஐநா, சீனா போன்ற பன்னாட்டு சக்திகளை
அம்பலப்படுத்தும் விதமாக பதாகைகளை ஏந்தி நின்றனர். ஒரு பகுதி தமிழர்கள் வாயில்
கறுப்பு துணி கட்டிக்கொண்டு தங்கள் உரிமைகள் ஓசையின்றி ஒடுக்கப்படுவதை
சித்தரித்தனர்.

பிரிஸ்டல் நகரில் நடைபெற்ற இந்த தன்னேழுச்சியானது தமிழக மாணவர்
போராட்டங்களுக்கு பெரிய ஊக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தும் என்றும், இங்கிலாந்தின் பல
நகரங்களுக்கும் பரவும் என்றும் எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

In 2010 parliament accepted a compromise motion from Labour left John McDonnell to undertake research, which has now been published. Outrageously, during the recent parliamentary debate, ministers led by Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister, Jo Swinson, continued to claim there is insufficient evidence of the extent of caste discrimination.

Not only has ample evidence been uncovered by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), hundreds of victims of this horrendous discrimination were standing right outside parliament at the time. Further devastating testimonials have been reported in the press.

The NIESR research showed caste-based discrimination in schools and workplaces in Britain. In one incident a student was refused entry to a school. There are many complaints of upper-caste carers refusing to provide care for oppressed-caste patients.

Recently the tribunal case of Vijay Begraj, a victim of caste discrimination at work, was thrown out as the judge was given information that she claimed could have impaired her ability to provide an ‘impartial’ judgement. During the case stones were thrown at the house of the director of Castewatch UK who gave evidence.

There have even been murders related to mixed caste marriages in the past and mixed couples who want to marry still receive death threats. But the government refuses to take action.

While caste oppression can be largely invisible to wider society, it causes enormous pain to those subjected to it. An estimated 400,000 ‘low-caste’ people live in Britain. Swinson and those who opposed the amendment argued for education rather than legislation – but both are necessary.

Caste is a remnant of feudalism, where society was divided into hierarchical groups. People are forced to assume their caste by birth. Marriage between different castes is forbidden. Hinduism acts as the backbone in preserving the caste system but it is also defended by those who enjoy the resulting privileges, such as those from the upper caste and those who use caste division to advance and defend their own interests. Although caste discrimination is illegal in India, hundreds of low- or oppressed-caste people suffer it every day.

The debate revealed that the government, in defence of the status quo, is working closely with the very organisations that fuel caste oppression – the Hindu Council UK, the Hindu Forum of Britain and other organisations that are led by high-caste Hindus.

The managing director of the Hindu Council UK, Anil Bhanot, claimed that the “caste phenomenon here has now evolved into more of a clan system” and “there is no discrimination in this”. He asks “how can such a clubbing together of people be other than a healthy and cohesive force in society?”. This indirect argument for segregation has also been used by successive governments in Britain.

Soon after New Labour came to power in 1997 it promoted academies and faith schools – in reality steps towards the privatisation of education. A report earlier this year from the Academies Commission warned that the Con-Dem government’s acceleration of this process risks segregation amongst students.

But the Hindu elite seized the opportunity. The Krishna Avanti Primary, the first Hindu school in Britain, claims to promote “responsible lifestyles through a vegetarian diet, a curriculum that integrates yoga and meditation, and a built environment that actively fosters environmental concern… by drawing on the teachings of Krishna Chaitanya” and it claims to achieve “spontaneous relationship with the divine (Krishna)”. But given many oppressed-caste people pray to a different Hindu deity, this makes the school exclusive to the higher castes.

While claiming they do not practice ‘untouchability’, the Hindu Council defends it. A Hindu Council statement attacks those who criticise untouchability in Britain while ignoring similar practices in their own countries. Incredibly they claim that: “There are now record levels of homeless people in the UK, who are analogous with the outcasts of Indian society. British menial workers seldom interact socially with those of the higher echelons”.

Conservative MP, Alok Sharma, who defends academisation, privatisation and privileged schooling, also defends the Hindu Council vehemently. He argues that “class discrimination exists, as do other forms of discrimination, but we follow other approaches for those, rather than legislation”.

The accusation that class discrimination is often confused with caste discrimination is used by the Hindu elite to gain support. In Britain they rely on the ruling class’s ignorance of South Indian society, portraying Hinduism as a monolithic religion and India as a country of Hindus.

Atrocities committed by British imperialism in South Asia have been used to argue that no one from Britain has a right to meddle in the affairs of Asian people in Britain. This is combined with the idea that ‘immigrant communities’ should have a certain level of autonomy. In reality this means that an often conservative and right-wing leadership of these communities is consciously promoted by the main parties, New Labour in particular. This has provided ‘stewards’ to shepherd what Labour sees as reliable block votes from them and to hold back resistance to the discrimination that working class and poor black and Asian people suffer in Britain.

However Dalits and other oppressed caste people in Britain have begun to raise their voices and to protest against the promotion of upper-caste Hindus by the government. The growing protest has pushed some Labour politicians to act, at least paying lip-service to their cause.

Neither the Equality Bill nor any anti-racist laws in Britain cover caste discrimination, leaving victims unable to challenge it legally. Outlawing caste discrimination would encourage victims to come forward as happened after the outlawing of race discrimination.

However, as in the case of legislation against racism, a law in itself will not change conditions and prevent discrimination. In fact there is no doubt that the ruling class will continue their collaboration with what is really a feudal elite in each ‘community’, promoting inequality for their own economic and electoral interests.

In relation to the investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence 20 years ago, the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, and Vijay Begraj’s tribunal, the police and justice system have not delivered satisfactory outcomes. As the parliamentary debate showed, human rights will not generally take precedence over class interests for the defenders of capitalism. The Con-Dem government will vigorously defend their allies, the Hindu elite and their businesses, including the profit-making temples and faith schools.

Those who are fighting against caste domination must unite with their allies such as trade unionists, organised students and socialists. Tamil Solidarity supports the fightback of the Dalits and all other oppressed castes.  

TU Senan

By Frances Harrison

Published by Portobello Books, 2012, £14.99

Reviewed by Manny Thain

This book recounts the horrific experiences of Tamils in the last few months of the conflict between Sri Lankan armed forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory on 18 May 2009. Frances Harrison, a BBC correspondent in Sri Lanka for a number of years, describes her book as follows: “It is not a history of the whole war… It is an account of the victory from the perspective of the defeated.”

Each chapter tells the story of a particular individual and his or her closest family. As their stories run concurrently, and follow people forced down a narrow corridor of northeast Sri Lanka, the narrative can be repetitive. It is harrowing and hard to stomach, but it does drive home the hellish conditions as the Tamils struggled desperately to flee the carnage. It emphasises the relentless, murderous offensive by the Sri Lankan armed forces – and the subsequent merciless, systematic repression of the Tamil population. It also points to the failed strategy of the Tamil Tigers who, for a number of years, controlled the north-eastern quarter of the island.

Despite their grim, heart-rending stories, the book is at its best when quoting directly from the Tamils. There is little analysis, although there are a couple of pages of useful facts at the end of each chapter.

Harrison begins with the United Nations withdrawing its aid workers from the war zone, under orders from the Sri Lankan regime, in September 2008. For many Tamils, this was seen as the turning point. It meant there were no international agencies or journalists in the area to report on the massacres or intervene.

The UN consistently danced to the Sri Lankan regime’s tune. In mid-April 2009, the UN secretary-general praised Rajapaksa’s regime for observing a temporary truce – when Tamils were cowering from incoming shells. The UN Security Council allowed a £1.2 billion International Monetary Fund loan to Sri Lanka to go ahead at the end of April, as the war entered its most brutal stage.

At the start of the offensive, people fled their homes with whatever they could carry, loading up tractors, rickshaws or motorbikes with food, spare clothes, tools, blankets, photo albums, radios, laptops. Under the relentless bombardment, they were forced into and through a succession of small villages, and into designated, so-called ‘no-fire zones’. Their possessions got fewer and fewer. Monsoon rains lashed down. Crops could not be harvested. The regime controlled the food supplies, sending in a fraction of what was needed. By February 2009 there were no vegetables on sale, by March no fish. A bag of rice could cost a car. Saris were turned into sandbags.

Even here there were great acts of solidarity. ‘Korben’ (not his real name), a wheelchair bound charity worker, recounts how fishermen, who spent hours trying to land a catch amid the bombardments and navy patrols, would give away half the fish to the injured.

Food was hard to get even for those with a bit of money, like Korben. He had savings in the LTTE’s Bank of Tamil Eelam. In a surreal episode, Korben explains how the bank continued to function out of a hut, made of sandbags and coconut-tree trunks, on the narrow spit of sand onto which they had all been corralled. The bank staff had print-outs of the customer accounts and, according to Korben, they disbursed money very quickly to those in credit.

As the Sri Lankan armed forces advanced, the Tamils were herded into the ‘no-fire zones’, where they were shelled and bombed, trapped between the army and the LTTE. The numbers of injured soared. The bloated corpses of human beings lay side-by-side with dead cattle. Doctors in makeshift field hospitals were reduced to using butchers’ knives to amputate children’s limbs, without anaesthetic.

A doctor, ‘Niron’, estimates that 2,000 shells landed on or around Uddayarkattu hospital as fighting intensified at the end of January 2009. Whenever they relocated the field hospital, they painted a red cross on the roof, and GPS coordinates were forwarded to the Red Cross to pass on to the Sri Lankan army. Every time, they were bombed – deliberately targeted. Others describe ‘heaps’ of wounded women and children when a queue for milk powder was shelled. Most estimates for the total of Tamils killed range from 40,000 to 100,000.

After the final battles (16/17 May), tens of thousands of people were desperately trying to surrender. Families became separated in the panic. They had to cross a lagoon, up to their chins in water, wading past dead bodies. Once across, they were forced into queues, to be checked by armed forces personnel and masked Tamil rebels who had switched sides. Their job was to identify LTTE fighters but others, such as doctors, were seen as important witnesses who also had to be silenced. It was a completely arbitrary procedure.

A massive camp, Manik Farm, had been set up and it quickly swelled to become the largest refugee camp in the world, holding 282,000 Tamils. It was run with UN aid and international money. Huge posters of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers were displayed all over the site, grinning down at the defeated.

Conditions in the camp were unimaginably bad, with negligible healthcare, and starvation rations of rotten vegetables, the soya meal crawling with weevils. There was no sanitation to speak of. Gang-rape by Sri Lankan troops was commonplace. People were in a state of absolute terror, struggling to stay alive, too afraid to speak out.

International aid agencies and a small number of local charities were permitted only the most restricted access. Journalists were only allowed in for occasional, carefully choreographed guided tours. Some people were able to bribe their way out with the help of friends or relatives from outside but that, too, was fraught with danger, often involving travel to the capital, Colombo, then arranging flights out. All the while, there was the risk of being picked up by the Criminal Investigation Department or paramilitary forces which acted with impunity.

In Harrison’s concluding chapter, she points out that the Sri Lankan military has grown by 100,000 troops since the end of the war. It has taken over land and businesses in the north and east, which is now a militarised zone with one Sri Lankan soldier for every eleven citizens. People from the Sinhalese majority are being brought in to settle traditionally Tamil areas.

The US Agency for International Development reported that 89% of Tamil families did not have a single member with a job or income in the northeast. In Kilinochchi, a former LTTE stronghold, a quarter of families live on less than half the official poverty line. Secret detention sites operate in the region. Torture and rape have persisted. Sri Lanka comes second in the world in the number of disappearances – after Iraq.

A UN panel of experts recommended a review of the UN’s actions during the war, and that it should hold its own investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka. It has done neither. Major-general Shavendra Silva, a brigade commander in the final offensive, has been made deputy ambassador to the UN. This gives him immunity from prosecution. The UN deploys Sri Lankan troops around the world as peacekeepers. In other words, the UN has effectively endorsed Rajapaksa’s genocidal policies, and backs his corrupt, nepotistic regime. Is an utter betrayal of Tamil-speaking people the world over.

Meanwhile, the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka has worsened. In fact, the conditions which have fuelled their despair, bitterness and anger – and which led to the failed strategy of guerrilla warfare in the past – remain.

The recent growth and actions of Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force, BBS) in Lanka is very alarming. BBS is an extreme right-wing group headed by chauvinist Buddhist monks. Its general secretary Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero is particularly notorious and a known extremist.

This group has been formed at precisely the moment when the dictatorship of the Rajapaksa family fears it is beginning to lose its support base. Until now the Sri Lankan government has had attempted to hide the brutal massacre that took place during the end of the decades-long war in May 2009.

In particular the reality of the war crimes committed by the government has been hidden from the Sinhala population in the south. Chauvinist forces hailed the President as a saviour of the ‘Buddhist land’ and the ‘king’ who united the country. These Sinhala chauvinist forces tried to create a base for unconditional support for the Rajapaksa family’s rule.

However, the impact of the victory mania was limited given the lack of accompanying economic gains for the majority of the poor masses. The government, faced with a slowdown in the economy, combined with growing international exposure of its war crimes, is attempting to strengthen its grip by other means.

The defence budget has sky-rocketed. More money is allocated to defence now than during the war period. They have introduced military control into various aspects of society, including the education sector.

Democratic rights in general are under huge attack. Freedom of speech is massively threatened. This has led to a certain backlash. The current regime is beginning to lose support among the intellectuals, journalists, etc.

At the same time the government policy of privatisation, particularly in the education sector, has also created opposition among students and workers. Price hikes, particularly the fuel price increase, adds to the frustration of working people. The era of the beginning of the end of the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime has opened. How rapidly it falls will be determined by how much momentum the opposition can gather. However, the government is taking decisive steps too.

The regime needs a bogus enemy in the hope that fear-mongering and scapegoating, on top of increasing military control, will keep the population in line. For the Mahinda Rajapaksa family losing their grip on state affairs is seen as fatal. For them increasingly dictatorial methods are the only way to maintain their grip. To retain support they are attempting to further strengthen the support of the Sinhala chauvinist base.

Some believe that the BBS was actually set up by the government. Whether this is true or not there are significant links with the government which became public when the defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeared as a chief guest to open the Buddhist leadership academy created by the BBS. Gotabaya claimed he realised BBS’s “timely importance”! In a massive rally held in Maharagama in February this year the BBS claimed: “This is a government created by Sinhala Buddhists and it must remain Sinhala Buddhist.”

 The BBS represents the most horrendous form of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism – raising it to the level of fascism in its ideology. If it is able to develop, its growth could strengthen the Rajapaksa regime and cause splits between the various communities. Its growth could create the elements of civil war.

With state endorsement BBS has already attacked shops, journalists, and passengers on the buses. Police stood by and watched when a BBC journalist was harassed while trying to report from their rally.

Attacks on Muslims

The BBS is creating a base for organised mob attacks on the non-Sinhala population and their property. Its general secretary warned: “Don’t make us take the law into our hands.” He gave a chilling call to its members at the Maharagama rally: “From today onwards, each of you must become an unofficial civilian police force against Muslim extremism. These so-called democrats are destroying the Sinhala race.” It was a blatant attempt to whip up a racist mob to attack Muslims and to build support for undemocratic regime.

A media report said: “Muslim shop owners in Narammala in the Kurunegala district received letters threatening them with death if they fail to vacate their places of business by 31 March.” This is also the date the BBS gave as a deadline by which the government must ban Halal food certification. There are reports that the police are removing the Halal mark themselves as they claim it will take three years if the manufacturers have to do it themselves.

One aspect that makes this group particularly pernicious is the elements of populism in the midst of the poison – similar to far-right groups the world over. They link their attacks on Muslims to the horrendous conditions suffered by Sinhala workers, especially women, in theMiddle East. They offer no solution to these workers who often endure slave-like circumstances in countries such aSaudi Arabiaand elsewhere. Of course poor Muslims, workers inSri Lankabear no responsibility for the suffering of these super-exploited workers.

Any campaign that opposes BBS must also put forward a positive programme of demands for decent jobs, no privatisation and cuts in wages and investment in public services, ie a programme that if realised would remove the factors which pressure women to travel across the world to work and suffer. That means standing for the democratic right to organise in trade unions and to strike to force employers and the government to provide decent jobs, pay and conditions.

 Lessons of history

Since 2009 Tamil Solidarity has pointed out on a number of occasions that the government will go for the Tamil-speaking Muslim population as their next target. It must be remembered that the history of modern Sinhala chauvinism began with Anagarika Dharmapala leading a mob attack against Tamil-speaking Muslims. In 1915, during the 100th anniversary of the Kandyan convention of 1815, a racist mob unleashed its attack on the Muslim population. The BBS, which quotes the Kandyan convention in its material, is following the same methods. This attack was then extended against the hill country Tamils, then Tamils in the North and East. Similarly the recent attack against the Muslim population is not just against them, it will be extended to others soon.

We should also note that the majority of Muslims live in the poorest areas in the east of the island. They have been forced to rely on some corrupted Muslim leaders and politicians, even to win basic rights and somewhat improved conditions. The undefended Muslim population will be further driven into the hands of these so-called “Muslim leaders” who do not represent the genuine interest of poor Muslims. Attacks on the Muslim population will provide ample opportunity for these politicians to further their grip and negotiate their own gains with government, using the Muslim masses vote as bait. This will further alienate the Muslim population.

There is also a history of repression of Muslims by the so-called Tamil leaders, elites and politicians. Brutal treatment of Muslims at the hands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the 1990s has not been completely forgotten. The forceful expulsion of Muslims from the North led to the creation of refugee camps and reduced the living standards of many families who continue to suffer to this day.

The Sri Lankan government used this as part of their case for the genocidal campaign against Tamils and to justify the massacre of LTTE cadres. To this day the expulsion of the Muslims has not been taken up properly by the Tamil leadership. Despite the apology from the LTTE leadership and wider acknowledgement of the gross abuse, genuine steps were not made to fight for justice and to bridge the gap between these two communities.

The TNA only seems to be fuelling the prejudice of the most backward layer rather than confronting it. A number of TNA leaders share the ideals of their political ancestors, such as Ponnambalam Ramanathan, who defended Anagarika Dharmapala and his family after they attacked Tamil-speaking Muslims and ransacked their properties!

This government-sponsored initiative to organise a racist mob – and plan to unleash racist attacks on the Muslim population – is very much linked to its aim to grab land, property and business from these communities. This is part of the government’s wider planned landgrab operation and militarisation. So the attack on the Muslim community must be understood as an attack on Tamils, and the working and poor masses as a whole.

Today we have the advantage of knowing this history and should not repeat the same mistakes. We should build a united struggle against the chauvinist force that is developing. If this force is allowed to develop it will not only destroy the lives of the minority Muslim population, but will demolish the fundamental rights and conditions for all working and poor people. This force will reduce the ability of the masses to conduct an effective fightback against the dictatorial regime. This is why we must oppose BBS vehemently and we should unite the best campaigners in all communities to oppose it.

All trade union must immediately condemn the actions of BBS and take steps to inform its members of the dangers of BBS.

Civil societies in the south as well as in the north and east along with all the Diaspora groups should denounce the BBS publicly and camping to counter their influence.

We demand that:

1.     All attacks on the Muslim community must be stopped immediately

2. We defend the right and support the building of multi-ethnic democratic defence bodies against the mob attacks provoked by the BBS and the repression of the state, especially in the areas of the Muslim communities. We fight for full democratic rights and workers’ rights including the freedom to form trade unions and parties to defend their economic and political interests.

3.     Militarisation and the land grab must stop immediately with a complete cessation of any use of paramilitary forces

4.     All those held in interim refugee camps should be given compensation and allowed to return to their homes. Adequate compensation, assessed by a genuinely democratic and representative committee, should be given to those affected by the expulsion from the north and those who suffered during the war

5.     The poor conditions in Muslim populated parts of the east are not acceptable. Adequate investment must be made immediately to improve housing unemployment conditions

6.     The right of an individual to practice any religion or none to be respected, with protection for minority rights in all areas

Some resources to read

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2013/03/bodu-bala-sena-and-boru-fake-police.html

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2013/03/gotabhaya-rajapaksa-and-his-bala-sena.html

http://groundviews.org/2013/03/19/bodu-bala-sena-a-threat-to-sri-lankas-future/

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/02/18/sri-lanka-buddhists-stir-controversy-call-for-sinhala-domination-47822.html

http://www.ft.lk/2013/02/18/this-is-a-sinhala-country-sinhala-government-bodu-bala-sena/

http://kwelos.tripod.com/bodu_bala_sena.htm

Both English language and Tamil services broadcast via the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) have been stopped with immediate effect.

The BBC took similar action in 2009 when its services were also disrupted.

Audiences in Sri Lanka can continue to listen to the BBC on shortwave and via its online services.

The Sri Lankan authorities have not so far commented on the announcement.

BBC World Service Director Peter Horrocks announced the suspension on Tuesday.

“We regret the disruption in service to our loyal audiences in Sri Lanka, but such targeted interference in our programmes is a serious breach of trust with those audiences, which the BBC cannot allow,” he said.

“We spoke to SLBC last week about interference that took place on 16-18 March and warned them they were in breach of their broadcasting agreement.

“Further disruption on Monday 25 March has left the BBC with no alternative but to suspend the service with immediate effect.”

Mr Horrocks said that if the SLBC had specific complaints about any BBC output “they should take them up with us, as we have invited them to do, and not interfere directly with broadcasts in ways that are unacceptable to the BBC and misleading to our audiences”.

“Small country, too many problems” – Thinesh.

On the 18^th March 2013 at 10 a.m., three young Tamil men began a nil by mouth campaign outside the High Commission of India in Aldwych, London. Thiraavidan, Thinesh and Denespalan (‘Denes’) started their activist campaign at a time when the United Nations were due to pass a resolution on Sri Lanka and mass protests began sweeping through Tamil Nadu in India. Among their demands, the three activists ask for an independent investigation in Sri Lanka following allegations of war crimes in 2009, a referendum for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka, the details of missing civilians and combatants to be released, an immediate end to Sinhalese settlements in the Northern and Eastern Province in Sri Lanka and the withdrawal of occupying security forces and destruction of places of worship in these areas. They are also fighting for the right to self-determination of the Tamil people, in other words, their right to choose whether they want a separate state.

As a potentially significant political player in the global arena, the Indian Government have an opportunity to help strengthen the UN resolution on Sri Lanka and see the activists’ demands met, yet India stands accused of weakening the UN resolution by modifying demands set by the US in an original draft.

But moving away from the political intricacies which surround Sri Lanka and perhaps surmounting them, are the personal stories of the three young men camped out on a small piece of pavement in London. After all, it is only after stories and evidence of gross human rights violations and sacrifice that many people began to pay attention to the little island they call Sri Lanka.

Whilst conversing with Denes, it becomes apparent that he has lost 12 members of his family – 11 dead and 1 missing. But this isn’t about numbers – this is about 3 brothers, a sister (Akka), a dad (Appa), an uncle (Chithappa) and his entire family. Each family member was lost during the course of the ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka, from 1991 to 2009. And so Denes sits calmly in front of High Commission of India, shaking the hands of those who approach him and offering a smile and even the warmth of his quilt. Thinesh and Thiraavidan are equally mild-mannered and willing to share their experiences. Thinesh describes leaving Sri Lanka 7 years ago and arriving in London, only to receive a phone call a short while after, informing him of the death of a loved one – a 16 year old girl. He describes his frustration, ‘Why are people coming, looking and not doing?’. 4 years after the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, these frustrations seem valid and are shared by many.

Thiraavidan, Thinesh and Denes who are now on the 4^th day of their campaign, still refuse to take food or water. All they ask for is support, from anyone and everyone but especially young people – people like them. It is clear that well-wishers lift their spirits during this precarious time and this valuable and life-giving support will become more crucial in the coming days and weeks.

http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/wordpress/wordpress/?p=687

Solidarity with young people fighting war crimes in Sri Lanka!
Posted on March 20, 2013
Paul Callanan, Youth Fight for Jobs national organiser says

“Youth Fight for Jobs stands in solidarity with all young people fighting for their rights around the world. It is important we support the student uprising in Tamil Nadu against attempts by the USA to use the UN to prop up and disguise the horrors committed by Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa brutal regime.”

Come to the protest outside US embassy today!
In Solidarity with Tamil Nadu students – In Protest against the US led resolution
Mass demo outside US embassy – Wednesday 20 March, from 4pm-6pm, 24 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 2LQ. Nearest station is Marble Arch tube