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Lead Story
Tamil Nadu at high risk from LTTE?

A major Indian newspaper in a New Delhi datelined report on Friday said that Tamil Nadu continued "to suffer from high risks due to threats from the LTTE."

The Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi has alerted the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to this report that was carried on the front page of the Hindustan Times on Friday.

According to the Hindustan Times, special advisories have been issued to three states - Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar "in the light of specific intelligence inputs."

The Hindustan Times report said that the security of some VVIPs including Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee and Congress President Sonia Gandhi is being tightened following the recent hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft.

The paper, quoting highly placed sources said that there was a perception that the security of Home Minister L. K. Advani was under threat and his security too is being strengthened.

Cops, politicos at loggerheads over terrorist hunt
Friday’s curfew: Gestapo-style operation, says CWC MP

By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Ceylon Workers Congress [CWC] and Colombo police are at loggerheads over the way Friday’s security operation was conducted in Colombo Municipal limits and the Mount Lavinia police division. The Ceylon Workers Congress [CWC] which supports the PA Government yesterday accused the police of carrying out a Gestapo style operation violating people’s right and acting in a manner unfit for law enforcement officers.

However, senior security authorities rejected these allegations saying that they have been forced to conduct tough anti-terrorist operations in view of the spate of recent bomb blasts in the city.

The CWC’s Colombo district MP R. Yogarajan in an interview with The Sunday Island said that well over 1000 men and women detained during the operation were paraded before hooded men, filmed and photographed by plainclothesmen. "The men were ordered to remove their shirts before they were photographed," Yogarajan said claiming that his objections were ignored by officers conducting the ‘operation’.

He said that he had informed CWC’s Arumugam Thondaman of the situation.

Yogarajan had ‘clashed’ with security authorities over their conduct during security operations in the city.

Yogarajan admitted that the operation was necessitated by the December 18 bid to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the subsequent blast outside the Prime Minister’s Office at Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha.

"I don’t object to operations against the LTTE," he said adding that he firmly believes that there was no need to photograph suspects, film them and threat them like war criminals before they are convicted.

Yogarajan said that he visited police stations where men and women were paraded before hooded men. At Maradana there were two hooded men inside a double cab. The detained people were ordered to walk pass them. They had not been given anything to drink or eat, he said adding that at some places tea was provided only after he complained about the conditions under which the suspects were held.

He accused the police of filming him, his vehicle and a few people who accompanied him to a certain police station. "They were hostile," he said saying that did not even to listen to a MP.

Police said approximately 60 persons including 14 women were detained for further questioning. The rest were released at 7 pm on Friday had been requested to appear at there police stations from where they were released, at 7 pm yesterday.

Yogarajan said that the majority of over 1200 people detained were from upcountry areas.

Yogarajan said that he will raise the Friday’s operation when the presidential anti harassment committee headed by Minister Lakshman Jayakody meets tomorrow.

President Kumaratunga last year appointed the committee comprised parliamentarians including CWC’s Yogarajan to inquire into the problems faced by the Tamil community during security operations in any part of the country.

Yogarajan said that the IGP, during the Friday’s operation violated a pledge given to the committee in the presence of President Kumaratunga in mid-December. The IGP, he said promised not to photograph people taken in for questioning unless it was specially necessary to do so.

Asked to comment, senior police and security officials said that they do not enjoy carrying out such operations. "We have been forced to conduct regular operations in view of the LTTE’s threat," a senior officer said adding that the people are blaming them for not conducting big operations before.

"We should have done this before," another officer said adding that the government too should be blamed for interfering in security operations before the December 18 attempt on the president’s life.

Suicide bomber’s mother arrested

By Shamindra Ferdinando
The woman, Arasoli Appuhamy Leelawathie, believed to be the Sinhala mother of the female suicide bomber who exploded herself outside the Prime Minister’s Office last Wednesday had been arrested in the east and brought to Colombo, a senior investigator said yesterday.

Police commandos last week arrested her along with her Tamil husband Anthony Thilakaratnam at Kolavil, Akkaraipattu and took them to a base at Karathivu before moving the couple to Colombo.

"They had been handed over to the Crime Detective Bureau," a senior para-military officer said adding Leelawathie had moved to Akkaraipattu some time ago. "She is from Galle," he said.

The couple had admitted that their 22 year old daughter Yashoda Thilakaratnam had been missing since November 1998. Quoting Leelawathie, police said that the LTTE had asked Thilakaratnam family to hand over their daughter to them on November 8, 1998. However, when the girl was taken an LTTE office in the Akkaraipattu area on that day, she had been asked to come back five days later. The mother had claimed that she had been unable to accompany Yashoda on the second day and she went alone and never returned.

The girl who exploded herself outside the Prime Minister’s Office carried a National Identity Card identifying her as Yashoda Thilakaratnam.

A para-military officer in the east said that there were many Sinhalese married to Tamil men and women in the area. He said that authorities are aware of the involvement of some children of these mixed families in LTTE activity.

However, this is first time where at least one parent of a suicide cadre had been suspected as Sinhalese, he said.

Asked whether the parents had been shown the head of the suicide bomber for identification, police said that the head had been badly damaged. Police intends to construct a ‘head’ similar to the one that of the suicide bomber with the help of eyewitnesses and show it to the parents.

Black Tiger suicide bombers, preferred weapon of rebels

by Amal Jayasinghe
COLOMBO, Jan. 6 (AFP) - For Sri Lanka’s Tiger rebels suicide is a way of life, and their preferred weapon is the suicide bomber. When the third human bomb in as many weeks exploded Wednesday, Colombo was alert to the danger.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) regard their elite Black Tiger suicide squad as a protective armour in their fight for a separate state called Eelam in the island’s northeast.

Authorities were searching for 10 suicide bombers when a woman Black Tiger detonated explosives strapped to her body while she was being searched by a woman constable outside the prime minister’s office on Wednesday.

The Black Tiger who perished also killed 12 others, but may have missed her intended target — possibly the motorcade of a senior government minister.

"We have averted a bigger disaster," a police spokesman declared.

"The alert guards questioned her because of her suspicious behaviour. If not for the security staff, she would have hit her target."

The suicide bombers usually strike with deadly accuracy, although President Chandrika Kumaratunga survived an attack at a political rally on December 18 in which 26 were killed.

Kumaratunga’s life may have been saved by a bullet-proof limousine parked between herself and the bomber.

Although she may lose the sight in her right eye from a shrapnel wound, she has said she was fine otherwise.

Just before Kumaratunga’s rally was bombed, a suicide bomber staged an attack at an opposition rally near here, killing 12 people and wounding more than 40 others. A retired army general was killed in that attack.

The Tigers’ formation of a suicide unit proved a major turning point in the armed struggle for an independent Tamil homeland.

Since a Tiger rebel known as Captain Miller drove an explosives-laden truck into an army camp and killed nearly 40 troopers on July 5, 1987, the list of LTTE suicide attacks has grown steadily.

More and more top-ranking victims have been claimed by Black Tigers over the years despite efforts to step up security around senior political figures and key installations.

The squads claimed their most prominent victim when former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi was killed in May 1991. Two years later, the then Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa was killed by a suicide bomber in Colombo.

In October 1994, Kumaratunga’s main rival for president, Gamini Dissanayake, was killed at a public rally by a suspected female Black Tiger.

Ironically, the Tiger assassination squads have often targeted leaders who proposed or tried to open talks with the LTTE. Kumaratunga held talks with the LTTE in 1994.

After surviving the assassination bid last month, Kumaratunga declared she was the only leader who had lived "to tell the tale" after a Tiger suicide attack. She said she detested Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, but was willing to talk with him to bring peace to the island.

Last July, the LTTE announced it had lost 147 suicide cadres up to the 12th Black Tiger anniversary.

Military commanders say most of the major attacks against army bases in the island’s northeast are led by waves of suicide cadres. The Black Tigers sea-going unit known as "Black Sea Tigers" have also inflicted heavy losses on the Sri Lankan navy.

Suicide is venerated within the LTTE, and members of the Black Tigers see it is a privilege to be chosen for missions.

Ordinary rebels are also encouraged by their leaders to commit suicide by chewing cyanide capsules worn around their necks rather than be captured.

Guerrillas have told visiting journalists they must draw lots to decide who is lucky enough one to join the suicide squad, a terrible image for authorities in Colombo who concede that a committed suicide bomber is one of the hardest threats to defend against.

Liberal Party condemns violence

Liberal Party of Sri Lanka in a statement condemned unequivocally the acts of violence that took place on Wednesday, January 5 in Colombo. The suicide bombing in Flower Road is yet another instance of the tragic waste inherent in terrorist activity. A liberal perspective demands respect for each individual life. ‘We therefore strongly regret and condemn the contempt with which the LTTE now treats its own members as well as ordinary bystanders and purported targets. We extend our deep sympathies to the injured and to the families of all the bereaved.’

‘We also condemn the murder of Kumar Ponnambalam and extend our sympathies to his family. We recall with respect the manner in which he participated in the deliberations that led to the formation of the Democratic People’s Alliance in 1988. Kumar Ponnambalam, together with our late leader Dr. Chanaka Amaratunga, wrote much of the DPA Manifesto on which Mrs. Bandaranaike contested the 1988 Presidential election, and it is a matter of regret that the enlightened policies enunciated in that document were not taken further. In particular Mrs. Bandaranaike’s willingness, as expressed in that manifesto, to restore Article 29 of the Soulbury Constitution, was a very positive symbolic gesture. It is unfortunate that inflammatory criticism led to such gestures being now unthinkable amongst major politicians,’ it said.

In later years Mr. Ponnambalam moved towards perspectives that the Liberal Party deplored, but it nevertheless always found him willing to engage in discussion. His murder diminishes the ranks of those for whom debate rather than violence was the means of making political points. In that respect, it further contributes to the polarization of our society that extremists of all shades desire, and which liberal democrats must strive to avoid, the statement signed by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, President, Liberal Party, stated.

Kumar’s killing politically motivated

The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) yesterday, charged that some politically powerful elements have masterminded the assassination of Tamil Congress leader Kumar Ponnambalam.

Mr. N. Srikantha, a former MP and leader of the TELO in a statement issued yesterday, stated that the late Kumar Ponnambalam was a Tamil leader who raised his voice on behalf of the Tamil people with courage and conviction.

These elements seem to think that by eliminating Tamil politicians who speak fearlessly in defence of the rights of the Tamil people, they could ensure that only puppets and stooges are left out to represent the Tamil people in the political mainstream.

Sri Kantha further stated that the assassination of Ponnambalam was a cold blooded and calculated one. At this juncture we are reminded of the assassination of Ramesh Wadarajah, a member of Parliament representing Jaffna district from the EPDP and the Chief Editor of "Thinamurasu", a popular Tamil weekly, two months ago at Wellawatte in Colombo. We are constrained to believe that there is a sinister design to eliminate all Tamil politicians who are frank and forthright in their views," he further stated.

The TELO has called upon the Tamils to observe today as a day of national mourning as a tribute to Ponnambalam whose cremation takes place at Kanatte this morning.

Bomb victim’s last rights with full police honours

The funeral of Sergeant Rohana Kumara, who served as a bodyguard of UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardana, took place with full police honours in his home town of Yatanwala, Ruwanwella on December 29.

He was critically injured in the bomb attack on the UNP election rally at Ja-Ela on December 18 and was admitted d to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Ragama hospital. Later, he was transferred to the ICU of the Colombo National Hospital, where he died on December 27.

The father of an infant son, Kumara was a brave and conscientious police officer who served as Dr. Jayawardana’s bodyguard for three years.

At a time policemen were reluctant to serve as bodyguards of opposition parliamentarians for fear of being politically victimised, Rohana Kumara came forward to perform his duty in an exemplary manner, Dr. Jayawardana told the ‘Sunday Island’.

He had accompanied the UNP MP to vulnerable Sinhala border villages in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Moneragala and to Tamil refugee camps in Vavuniya, Mannar and Batticaloa where medical clinics were held and basic needs were provided to these suffering people by Dr. Jayawardana. Calling for all assistance to be extended to Kumara’s family, the parliamentarian said that this brave officer answered the call of duty and executed the task he was entrusted with, to the last.

Dr. Jayawardana and his family were present at Rohana Kumara’s funeral. — (SP)

UNP MP denies having discussions with LTTE’ers

UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena has totally denied having any telephone discussion with LTTE’s Thilagar or having talks with the Tigers in the Wanni.

‘I have never been to Wanni without proper permission from the Defence Ministry. President Kumaratunga is the Defence Minister, therefore I have been to Wanni with the consent from the President at every occasion’, the Parliamentarian said in a press statement.

It further stated;

The President made a serious allegations against me on the 3rd January 2000 through the state owned media stating that I have had secret talks with LTTE in Wanni and that I am having discussions through the telephone with Mr. Tilakar. The President made these allegations under the cover of Presidential Immunity. I cannot take legal action against her under the Law of the country. I totally reject and refuse these allegations. I have never had any discussion with LTTE at any given time. I have not had any telephone discussions with Mr. Tilakar These are false and baseless allegations to destroy my political image.

Anyway after my visit to Wanni in 1998 she started making repeated allegations saying that I had secret talks with LTTE in Wanni. I have denied her allegations on several occasions, but she continues to repeat the same allegations. I have given a statement to CID replying this issue.

I was not provided with any officers from the CID or NIB even though I was granted permission again by the Ministry of Defence on the 8th October 1998. If I was planning to have any secret talks with the LTTE will I make such a request to get CID officers to go along with me? It is very unfair and unreasonable to make allegations without finding the exact facts.

I have worked fearlessly and tirelessly for the innocent people of North and East irrespective of their ethnicity even risking my life. The people of this country as well as the International Community are fully aware of my such efforts. I did not get any assistance from the government to do such humanitarian works. I am a human rights activist and a humanitarian worker. I do not have ethnic bars on my humanitarian work

I have tried my level best as a People’s Representative to help those people who are suffering in silence due to ongoing war. When I go to the Sinhalese villages I am labeled as a Sinhala communalist. When I try to help innocent Tamil people I am blamed saying that I have talks with LTTE. The President is trying to gain petty political mileage by making these allegations.

Is it a crime to look into the basic needs of Sri Lankans living in North and East irrespective of their ethnicity? Once again I totally reject and refuse the baseless, unfair and unreasonable allegations made by the President against me.

I leave these facts before the people to judge me".

Desmond denies Daily News report

Mr. Desmond Fernando, PC, has issued a statement denying the Daily News report of January 6 saying that he appeared on MTV and said that the President’s brain had been smashed to smithereens (molay kuduwela) in the bomb blast and that she was unfit to carry out her duties as President any longer.

"I wish to place on record that I did not appear and make a statement in this connection either over MTV or any other television or radio station.

"I did write to the Chief Justice drawing to his attention the relevant constitutional provisions applicable in the event of the President being temporarily unable to perform her functions or to appoint another person to do so, and requesting him to consider acting under these provisions in the best interest of the nation. I, at no stage made any assertion as to the President’s actual condition, a matter which was not within my knowledge, let alone that she was unfit to act or that her brain had been damaged.

"At no stage was I motivated by a desire to advance the candidature of the UNP nominee, as suggested in the news report. I acted solely in what I considered to be the public interest at a time of uncertainty and speculation, both as to the actual situation and as to how it might develop," Fernando said.

The Daily News on Thursday ran a report under a red headline "Pseudo human rights lawyer caught dancing naked ," (italics in the headline) which said that the President had referred to Fernando as a "half witted lawyer" who had appeared on MTV and said that the President’s brain had been smashed to smithereens in the bomb blast, and that she was unfit to carry out her duties as President any longer.

"By making this statement on the eve of the presidential election, Desmond Fernando subtly and surreptitiously implied that the people should not vote for her but Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe," the Daily News said.

The report also said that "many leading lawyers feel that Desmond Fernando’s preposterous behaviour is a slur on the entire legal profession in Sri Lanka."

TELO wants security for Tamil political detainees

by Franklin R. Sathyapalan
TELO has made a public appeal to the government to ensure the security of all Tamil political detainees numbering about 800 held at the new Remand Prison at Kalutara, a spokesman said yesterday.

TELO has further appealed for the transfer of the injured Tamil detainees who are now warded at Nagoda government hospital to Colombo National Hospital.

It has demanded a thorough judicial probe into the attacks on the Tamil political detainees at Kalutara in which two prisoners were killed last Thursday and Friday. 52 detainees and 15 prison guards were injured.

Some of the injured detainees are in a critical condition in consequence of the attack on them at the Nagoda Government Hospital while under treatment.

TELO has demanded that the culprits should be brought to book.

The safety and security of a remanded prisoner is a matter that rests with the prison authorities who hold him and by extension that of the government, the spokesman for TELO added.

Meanwhile, Acting Minister of Justice Dilan Perera said yesterday that the situation had been brought under control.

In fact, we gave them their breakfast last morning and I have directed that a former Superintendent of the New Remand Prison at Kalutara now attached to the detention centre at Kuruwita to go to Kalutara and assist Additional Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Kulatunga.

"We have transferred some of the detainees who were critical to the National Hospital in Colombo. I have requested the Prisons Department to hold its own inquiry into the attack while another inquiry was conducted by the Ministry of Justice.

"As far as I know the situation had gone out of control with some detainees attacking the officials with iron bars, bricks etc. and they had to use force to bring the situation under control.

"According to what I heard the officers had done their duty but after the death of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam the hard-core LTTE detainees had run amok. They had even tried to grab a rifle from an prison official duringthe fight.

"It is true some of them are innocent and they are frustrated when they are detained for long periods without trial.

"We are doing our best to grant them justice and I could say right now that everything is back to normal and they are peaceful," the Acting Minister said.

ICRC allowed to visit injured terrorist suspects

by Shamindra Ferdinando
The government has allowed the ICRC to visit terrorist suspects warded at the National Hospital after receiving injuries in two days of clashes with prison guards at Kalutara New Remand Prison, Sri Lanka’s maximum security jail used to detain LTTE suspects, authorities said yesterday.

ICRC officials yesterday visited seven critically wounded suspects, ICRC Information Officer Harsha Gunawardena said yesterday. "We have been provided with a list containing the names of 44 wounded prisoners," he said adding that 12 prison guards too had been wounded in clashes last Thursday and Friday.

The prison is the home for suspected suicide bombers [Black Tigers], LTTE intelligence wing cadres and many others responsible for dozens of killings.

Two suspects were killed during the incidents. Gunawardene said that one body had been already moved to his home town in the Vavuniya district by the Sri Lanka Red Cross. Arrangements would be made to hand over the other body, he added.

Senior police officials said that clashes were sparked off by hostile action by some of the detained persons. Additional guards were rushed from Welikada prison soon after clashes broke out between the guards at the Kalutara prison, home to approximately 540 terrorist suspects.

The ICRC is expected to visit the government hospital at Nagoda where the majority of the wounded prisoners were warded at. Gunawardene said that they have sought to visit the prison where the incidents took place last week.

The Secretary to the Justice Ministry M. S. Jayasinghe yesterday said that there were no incidents yesterday. He said that approximately 400 detainees would be transferred to Boossa as soon as they complete construction work at the former military detention camp. The ministry decided to transfer all prisoners to Boossa in December 1997, days after clashes between Sinhala and Tamil terrorist suspects led to the death of three Tamils. However, due to delays in carrying out repairs at the Boossa centre, prisoners continued to be at Kalutara.

Tamil politicians have asked for a full probe into the latest deaths at the prison.

Defamation suit against Pushpa Kumara

by V. Varathasuntharam
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pelwatte Sugar Industries and Pelwatte Sugar Distilleries Mahinda Punchi Banda Senanavake has filed a defamation suit in the Colombo District Court against Parliamentarian Jagath Pushpa Kumara allegedly for making statements defamatory of him at a public meeting at Wellawaya.

The plaint filed by the plaintiff through Attorney-at-Law Sarath Upula Fernando stated that he had been a member of the Central Provincial Council from 1993 to l998. He had also been the Basnayaka Nilame of the Pasgama Natha Dewala for a period of ten years. He also unsuccessfully contested the post of Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy twice. He also unsuccessfully contested the Udunuwara seat at the parliamentary election held in 1977, as a candidate of the SLFP.

The petition stated that in the course of addressing a meeting held at Wellawaya on November 18, 1999 in support of the Presidential candidature of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in the presence of an audience of over 10,000 persons, defendant devoted more than half of his speech to attack insult and defame him.

The plaint concluded that the relevant speech tarnished his public image and claimed damages in a sum of Rs. 15,000,000.

The plaint was settled by President’s Counsel E. D. Wickremanayake and Senaka Walgampaya.

Annan to make decision this week
Lanka’s Jayantha Dhanapala won’t run for UNMOVIC post

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to make a decision by January 14 on an executive chairman for a new U.N. weapons inspection agency for Iraq whom the United States on Thursday insisted be someone who strictly enforces council resolutions.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan had a short list for the new chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, that the Security Council authorised in a December 17 resolution.

But diplomats among the five permanent Security Council members, the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China, said they had not yet seen the list. The five nations will approve Annan’s choice before the announcement.

According to U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Washington "must have a person who is a qualified arms control person and will stand for strict enforcement of Security Council resolutions."

He told reporters the U.S. mission to the United Nations had put together a large list of acceptable candidates. But he said "I don’t even know where it stands. Everyone has lists."

The name most frequently mentioned is Pasi Patokallio, a Finnish disarmament expert and its ambassador to Israel and Cyprus. Patokallio, 50, is among the few candidates floated in U.N. corridors who comes from a nation considered neutral on Iraq and acceptable to Western countries as well as Russia.

Ironically Patokallio was a candidate for the post in 1997 when Australian diplomat Richard Butler was selected, with Iraq’s approval, as chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), UNMOVIC’s predecessor. Butler, castigated frequently by Iraq shortly after he began work, ended his term last June.

Patokallio, a career foreign service officer, from 1995 to 1997 was chairman of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference. He was followed in that post by Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, now the U.N. undersecretary-general for disarmament, who has told friends he was not in the running for the UNMOVIC post.

Other candidates believed to be under consideration include Sweden’s John Molander, who worked with UNSCOM at its inception in 1991 and then served on its board of commissioners.

Also mentioned is Brazil’s former U.N. ambassador, Celso Amorim, now at the United Nations in Geneva, who chaired several panels last year on U.N. policy toward Iraq. But diplomats assume he will be opposed by the United States and Britain for lacking a disarmament background.

Additional names floated include: Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina, who served on Amorim’s disarmament panel; South African Abdul Minty, deputy director-general for multilateral affairs in Pretoria’s foreign ministry, and Jaap Ramaker, the Dutch ambassador to Austria, who chaired negotiations that on the nuclear test ban treaty.

Several diplomats said the nationality of the candidate would probably be as important as his qualifications. For this reason, Argentine and Dutch candidates mentioned might be eliminated. Both nations serve on the Security Council and both were supportive of U.S.-British positions on Iraq.

Iraq so far has rejected the return of arms inspectors, which could lead to a suspension of stringent trade sanctions. But the council is setting up the new commission anyway as its first order of business on Iraq since the December 17 resolution..

U.N. arms experts left Baghdad in December 1998 just before the United States and Britain launched airstrikes against Iraq because it had failed to cooperate with the inspectors. They have not been allowed to return since then.

Annan himself has said he was looking for someone like Rolf Ekeus, the Swedish diplomat who headed UNSCOM from 1991 to 1997 and is now ambassador to Washington.

"I would look for a personality who knows about disarmament ... who has good judgment, who has people skills, who can be firm but correct," he told reporters last month.

Thurstanites to celebrate Golden Jubilee

by Chittaranjan de Silva
Thurstanites preparing to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their alma-mater have organised a series of events stretching throughout this year.

"We have decided to invite President Chandrika Kumaratunga to open the new swimming pool donated by Old Thurstanite, Graetian Gunawardena, a library complex and computer laboratory in April, which will be the zenith of our celebrations," Surath Wickramasinghe, Chairman of the Golden Jubilee Committee (GJC) said.

Thurstan College, which was initially named as the Government Senior School at Thurstan Road came into being on January 11, 195O as a trilingual educational institution to cater to the growing demand among children in the country to have a good education, a member of the GJC, Susantha de A. Samaranayake said.

Initially most of the students who entered Thurstan College, were those who were not fortunate enough to enter Royal College. Some of the students, who were sons of parents who held high positions in the country, had failed to enter Royal only by a very narrow margin, had no option but to seek admission to Thurstan, Samaranayake said.

Even though the parents were influential, they did not use that influence to register their children’s names in other prestigious colleges in the country, but rather allowed their offspring to study at Thurstan, he said.

The parents of our generation, by doing so had set a good example to today’s parents, who would go to any length to get their children admitted to the leading schools of the country," he said.

Samaranayake pointed out that Thurstanites have not been handicapped in any way in life, today, by having to study at Thurstan though it lacked an array of facilities that other schools were equipped with.

The Principal of Thurstan College R. M. D. P. Weeratunga said that many of the old Thurstanites have reached top positions in public life and other spheres and in the field of sports despite the shortcomings experienced by them in the past. Not only have Thurstanites excelled in various fields they chose to pursue, but have also helped the school enormously to improve facilities to the young Thurstanites," Weeratunge said with admiration. A former old boy of the College, business tycoon, Kumar Devapura donated a building fully equipped with class rooms worth many millions of rupees recently, he said.

Weeratunga showered praise on Graetian Gunawardena, an old thurstanite who has donated 10 million Rupees to build a swimming pool with infrastructure facilities.

"This contribution by Gunawardena is a beacon to all successful old boy entrepreneurs of any school," the Principal said.

Gunawardena, a successful businessman owning many companies said that it was a privilege for him to make this contribution to the school in which he studied and excelled in sports.

"I am now a grandfather, and I don’t have many responsibilities in life which made it easier for me to make this contribution. I wanted to give back to the school something in return. After all, I studied in this school for more than a decade," Gunawardena said.

Some of the important events which are to take place on January 11 are, an alms giving and the issuing of newspaper supplement organised by the School Development Society (SDS).

The other events to follow are; Founders Day oration by M. D. D. Peiris on January 12.

A blood donation campaign organised by SDS on January 16.

Felicitation of retired long serving teachers by the Junior OBU on January 29.

Exhibition to be held on April 6 , 7 and 8.

Golden Jubilee Formal Dinner on July 1.

Musical Show organised by the Junior OBU on July 29.

Unveiling of the monument to remember Thurstanites who sacrificed their lives for Mother Lanka - Junior OBU on September 25.

Golden Jubilee Dinner Dance organised by the Dance Committee on November 10

The Golden Jubilee Prize Giving and the ceremonial presentation of ‘History of Thurstan from 1950-2000’ on January 11, 2001.

Anuradha on Ancient Civilisation of Sri Lanka

From Sujeeva Nivunhella - our London Corr.
Professor Anuradha Seneviratne, Senior Fellow at School of Oriental and African Studies of University of London, was invited by the Asia House to deliver the first lecture of their programme for the millennium on the Ancient Civilisation of Sri Lanka.

Asia House in London is an important organisation that promotes greater understanding throughout Britain of the distinctive cultures of Asia through its varied programme of cultural activities. The cultural programmes of the Asia House act as a catalyst for closer relationships between the countries of Asia and Europe.

The lecture is titled "The Saffron Robe and the Royal Parasole" and will be held on January 18 at the Linnean Society Hall, at the premises of the Royal Academy of Arts at Piccadilly in London at 6.30 p.m.

The Linnean Society Hall was the venue in which Darwin first delivered his lecture on the evolution theory and therefore it is a historic place. The Linnean Society has issued a picture post card to commemorate the occasion with a picture of Darwin.

Asked by this correspondent for his opinion on the invitation for this lecture, Prof. Seneviratne said that it is no doubt a rare honour for him and the country. But he said that although he brings credit and honour to our motherland by his activities here, he had not forgotten the way he was harassed by not allowing him to come to London to assume this post and it was finally with the intervention of the London University that he was allowed to come. Politics and personal matters must be above academic appointments, he said.

He also said that after his arrival, he has improved the quality and quantity of Sri Lankan Studies at the SOAS and there are about thirty students offering about five courses. He further said that at the time of his arrival there was not a single student offering Sinhala language course and now there are about seventeen students.

Professor Seneviratne’s lecture will be listened to by many distinguished guests including politicians, scholars, businessmen and professionals. Admission fee for the lecture is five pounds.

Sri Lankan herbal product distributor visits Colombo

Professor Dr. Sir Charles McWilliams, a distributor of Baraka oil in the Caribbean was in Colombo to attend the recent World Conference of Alternative Medicine, where at least a hundred countries were represented.

Prof. McWilliams said that he imports large quantities of Baraka oil from a Sri Lankan manufacturer Expolanka Commodities (Pvt.) Ltd., as the demand for the herbal oil is on the increase. People in the West Indies, where Prof. has a very successful practice, are now turning to alternative medicine and he says the demand is explosive. People are demanding non-drug treatment as they have found that herbal remedies have negligible side-effects. Prof. McWilliams, who has gained much fame in the West Indies for non-drug treatment, explained that he caters to about 25percent of the population of the Island and uses no drugs at all. He said that they have a lot of fungal and tropical diseases on the Island and the use of this oil has been particularly useful in treatment of a variety of such skin conditions.

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