- Open
letter to Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe
Anti-terrorism
movement against 'peace talks'
In
an open letter to Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the
National Movement Against Terrorism, took strong
objection to any negotiations with the LTTE and
said among other things that they give notice to
the "UNP, PA, and to all power-hungry
politicians in general that should peace
negotiations with the Tigers be initiated, we
will take whatever steps that are necessary on
behalf of all the people of this country who have
suffered at their hands."The letter was signed by
Lt. Col. Anil Amarasekera and Mr. Aruna
Batuvanthudave on behalf of the movement.
It was reported in the media of
this country recently that you gave an interview
to P. Gurunath, writer in a journal called
'Sanjiv' in the 'Udayan' newspaper published in
Jaffna. It is no secret that 'Udayan' is in fact
the voice of the LTTE. In that interview you have
announced that talks should be re-opened with the
Tigers without any conditions.
You have further announced that
a foreign third party could be employed to
achieve this end. In addition you have announced
that, should you come to power, you would quite
definitely re-open negotiations with the Tigers.
A few days ago you expressed the same idea
enthusiastically in the prescence of Prof. Fraser
from Ireland. It has also been reported that at
the end of this month you will have discussions
with front organisations of the LTTE in Los
Angeles, USA. (full text)
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- Malaysia
retreats from globalisation
Tan Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad,fourth prime minister of Malaysia, has
always been candid and combative. As a mercurial
43 year-old he was expelled from the ruling
party, the United Malay National Organisation
(UMNO) after attacking the government for
failing, as he saw it, to provide for the
indigenous Malay. His expulsion came shortly
after the 1969 general elections (in which he
lost his seat) because of his open criticism of
the then Malay leadership.Later, in his book 'The Malay Dilemma',
Mahathir repeated the charge with a swipe at the
Malays themselves for being fatalistic. The book
sought to determine the causes of the 13 May 1969
riots in Kuala Lumpur and to explain why the
Malays were economically backward. (full text)
- L
E G A L W A T C H
A
legacy from the past
At the end of a week
that saw the commemoration of the birth
anniversary of the late J.R. Jayewardene, one is
constrained to remember the salient features of
his rule which have left a lasting impression on
this country’s political life.
There is a convention in polite society that one
does not speak ill of the dead, and polite news
bulletins have listed "the executive
presidency and the liberalised economy" as
the main innovations for which this veteran
politician will be remembered.
However it could also be said that too many
people have died in Sri Lanka for the conventions
of polite society to matter very much, and we
hope readers will bear with us if this column
makes a few blunter comments, not with a desire
to be vindictive but because many of our present
problems can be traced to the legal and political
legacy of "J.R.". (full text)
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