Monthly Archives: May 2013

The Azath Salley Saga: Amplifying a squeak

“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” – ‘The Second Coming’, WB Yeats (1919)
The Asath Sally saga
When Sri Lanka was nominated as host of the Non Aligned Conference and chair of the Non Aligned Movement under Madam Bandaranaike there wasn’t a single dissenting voice within that movement or […]

By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka | Published on May 9, 2013 at 10:42 am

Condemn the unlawful arrest and detention of Azath Salley and call for his immediate release

Statement
May 7, 2013
We the undersigned, vehemently condemn the arrest and detention of Former Deputy Mayor and General Secretary of the
National Unity Alliance (NUA), Azath Salley, by a team of officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), on Thursday, 2 May 2013 morning, and call for his immediate release in […]

By | Published on May 7, 2013 at 8:07 pm

Government must be even-handed in the enforcement of the criminal justice system

The arrest of former Deputy Mayor of Colombo and leader of the newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance Azath Salley under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) highlights the vulnerability of those who stand in opposition to the government on the question of the civil and political rights of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities. […]

By National Press Council | Published on May 7, 2013 at 7:57 pm

The Azad Sally arrest and the radicalisation of Sri Lanka

If Azad Salley is a terrorist in the making, a terrorist who has to be pre-empted by recourse to detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, or a promoter of fanatical, fundamentalist ethno-religious hatred, he comes with the strangest of profiles.
Far from being born into and raised in anything like a backward, fundamentalist, religiously fanatical […]

By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka | Published on May 7, 2013 at 7:53 pm

In the North,the Rajapaksa government is setting in motion a vicious cycle once again

LAND GRABBING
The government has given notice of its plans to acquire lands belonging to private citizens in the North for public purposes that involve national security. The pasting of notices on trees in Valikamam North under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act coincides with preparations for the Northern Provincial Council elections in September this […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on May 7, 2013 at 5:12 am

The Government take over of large extents of people’s land must stop

The government has made moves to acquire over 6381 acres of privately owned land in the Jaffna peninsula, which it says is for a public purpose. The public purpose is presumably for the security forces. The pasting of notices on trees in Valikamam North under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act
coincides with preparations for […]

By National Press Council | Published on May 6, 2013 at 4:24 am

On Azath Salley, NPC Election and the 19th Amendment

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”- Malcolm X (Advice to Youth of Mississippi – 1964)
Azath Salley has been arrested for fomenting religious disharmony by a regime which is providing succour to such proponents of brotherly love as […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara | Published on May 6, 2013 at 4:15 am

From provocateurs to healers: What BBS should do

“I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
The intentions, methodologies and strategies of the Bodhu Bala Sena (Army of Buddhist Power) have so far been most unBuddhistic and
bordering on the pagan and archaic.
The crude and […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on May 4, 2013 at 10:11 pm

Daya Master to the rescue of the Rajapaksas

“It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.” ~ Aristotle quotes
The Government in general and the ruling family in particular, do not show any signs of learning any lesson from history. The local government elections concluded more than two and half years ago on […]

By Vishnuguptha | Published on May 4, 2013 at 12:17 pm

Sri Lanka: Prominent Muslim politician and government critic arrested

A prominent Muslim politician and government critic arrested today in Sri Lanka must be immediately released or charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence, Amnesty International said.
Azad Sally, the leader of Sri Lanka’s newly formed Muslim Tamil National Alliance, was reportedly taken into custody on Thursday morning by the intelligence services for unknown reasons.
Sally has […]

By Amnesty International | Published on May 4, 2013 at 11:38 am