Monthly archive

Kosh Raj Koirala – Asian Tribune Correspondent in Nepal

Two opposition parties—Nepali Congress (NC) and Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP)—and ruling coalition partner CPN-UML in the Nepal’s parliament have objected to the formation of State Restructuring Commission. The parties decided to protest the government decision to form the commission formed without forging consensus with parties as stated in Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and committed repeatedly by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to start a politics of consensus.

By Shenali Waduge

In attempting to understand the conflict in Sri Lanka it is of great relevance that we ascertain the exact status quo given to the LTTE. At times-freedom fighters & at times terrorist leaves little hope to categorize exactly where we ought to place the LTTE especially so when despite a ban by 33 nations LTTE offices remain openly operational in these very countries. What we all know in essence is that the LTTE desires a separate state - what we need to really evaluate is whether the LTTE’s desire for a separate state through terror is the same aspiration shared by the 80million world Tamils?

M.A. Kader- Asian Tribune Correspondent in Bangladesh

Bangladesh government on Monday postponed the scheduled announcement of the appointment of war crime probe agency and prosecutors as it was yet to finalise the investigating and prosecution teams for the trial of war crimes, state minister for law Quamrul Islam told reporters on Monday at the law ministry. Qamrul said the government was yet to finalise the investigating and prosecuting teams for trial. But a final decision will come in this regard after the return of law minister Shafique Ahmed.

The State Bank of Pakistan on Monday cut its discount rate, the key policy rate, by 100 basis points to 14 per cent for the rest of the fiscal year ending on June 30. While announcing the monetary policy for the third-quarter of the current fiscal year in a press conference here, SBP Governor, Salim Raza disclosed this. Inflation eased to a yearly 19.07 per cent in March from a record high of 25.3 per cent in August. Raza said inflation was expected to come down to about 14 per cent in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending on June 30. Next year, it was expected to be eight per cent, he said.

By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune

Muthavel Karunanidhi, known widely as the "Chanakya" of Dravidian politics, has backtracked on LTTE. On Sunday he called Prabhakaran a good friend and not a terrorist. He also said LTTE did not start as a terror group it has become now. But on Monday, he clarified these remarks, which have brought relief to the Congress even as Vaiko dubbed him as a traitor to Tamil cause and his bitter rival, Jayalalithaa Jayaram of AIADMK publicly taunted Sonia Gandhi, saying ‘Why Rajiv’s widow is silent on Karunanidhi’. Appearing before a host of TV cameras in Chennai, Tamil Nadu chief minister said, ‘I never said LTTE is not a terror group. We cannot forgive the LTTE for killing Rajiv Gandhi. Sriperumbudur cannot be forgotten’.

Canadian Tamils have told the Government of Sri Lanka not to bow down to the pressures exerted by the international community. Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy has urged Sri Lanka to reject all NGOs and multinational supervision on Sri Lankan soil and allow only state mechanism to oversee the welfare of the Internally Displaced People (IDP). "We believe the NGOs pose a threat to democratic governance and a challenge to the National interest." The Peace organization of the Tamils in Canada said, "We request our political leadership to protect Sri Lanka's Sovereignty!" Freedom is not free, it comes with a price. We demand that our Government to honor the sacrifices of our brave soldiers who laid their lives and shed their blood to protect Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty and freedom."

Professor Laksiri Fernando - University of Colombo

It is difficult to generalize, but at least in the case of Sri Lanka it is clear that Western hypocrisy has strengthened terrorism. The most recent example is the way that they have behaved on the issue of rescuing Tamil civilians from the 'no fire zone.' It has in fact been an arduous task for the Sri Lankan government to circumvent the Western pressure and finally act decisively without allowing the LTTE to regroup and restart their acts of terror under the proposed 'ceasefire' by some of the Western governments. The 20th of April will go into the history of at least this country as the Government of Sri Lanka could 'say no' to the Western 'advice' and decided to rescue the Tamil civilians on its own against the LTTE terror.

The UN Secretary-General welcomes the escape by tens of thousands of civilians from the conflict zone in Northeastern Sri Lanka over the last three days. While the departure of civilians to safer areas is welcome news, he remains deeply concerned about the circumstances of the civilians that remain in the conflict zone and the potential for large-scale casualties. He deplores the continued use of heavy weapons in the vicinity of civilians, and the use of force by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in preventing the departure of civilians from the conflict zone.