News

The rash decision of the Police to evict the northern and eastern Tamils from their lodgings in Colombo has provoked a backlash from the international community. United States and Norway are among the first to condemn this move. The Supreme Court too has suspended the Police action. NGOs and leading political parties have protested vehemently against this move. Condemning the forced removal of Tamils from Colombo United States said: “Such measures violate the Sri Lankan Constitution’s guarantee that every citizen has the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence within Sri Lanka.

Dr. Kim HowellsAmidst rising tensions the Dr Kim Howells, British Foreign Office Minister, is due to visit Sri Lanka on 11 June. He will meet President Mahinda Rajapakse to discuss recent developments in Sri Lanka. Dr Howells will also meet government representatives, opposition leaders and civil society representatives, says a press release issued by the British High commission in Colombo. Dr Howells will take the opportunity to discuss with his interlocutors in Sri Lanka the effects of the continuing conflict in the country. The British government remains committed to helping the people of Sri Lanka find a sustainable peace.

By G.S.Bhargava - Syndicate Features

Losing A. P. J. Abul Kalam as Head of State will be like shedding one’s soul. In 1939, when the British Labour Party expelled Sir Stafford Cripps for supporting ‘united front’ with the Communists, it was said the party had blown its brains out. Here the nation is the victim and the cost the more precious soul. Dr. Kalam ranks with Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Dr.Zakir Husain among greatest Indian Presidents. In the case of both Dr. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Husain we were denied second terms of their moral and intellectual leadership. (In fact, Zakir Sa’ab had died in harness) Dr. Kalam had been keen to return to his pedagogic life after his term would expire in about a month. It was thus a surprise when he was said to have assented to stay for another stint without conditions like prior national consensus.

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court issued the order following a petition filed by Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a non-profit organization which argued that yesterday's Tamil eviction action was a violation of basic human rights. The Police Inspector General Victor Perera and four Officers in Charge of police stations have now been restrained from carrying out any eviction, pending the court hearing. The court will now hear the case on June 22. More than 500 minority Tamils from the North and East residing at lodges and rests houses in Colombo were evicted and deported in 50 buses back to their native places in North & East on June 7.