ජෙනරාල් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා General Sarath Fonseka

07.03.2013. ජෙනරාල් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මැතිතුමා සහභාගී වු විශේෂ "සටන" වැඩසටහන  
Video Discussion with General Sarath Fonseka on Sirasa TV "Satana" on 07.03.2013.

Dayan Jayatilleka From Geneva to Sri Lanka

A national icon has been ripped off for personal favorations. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka is an indispensable Firewall for Sri Lanka.

He defended Sri Lanka against unintended Human Rights violations, anti-Sri Lanka propaganda in the international frontline. He lead and won UNHRC debate on war crime charges against Sri Lanka during last stage of war against LTTE terrorism, later he was sacked by the same government he defended. The war could continue untll end thanks to the work done by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka and team at UNHRC. There was enormous pressure to Sri Lanka at last stage of war. He blocked all threats and gave opportunity for our soldiers to totally wipe out LTTE leadership.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka is a part of Sri Lankan victory against terrorism. What we now need is to reorganize the corrupted (political) system. Thank you Dr. Dayan, and Prof. Rajiva for the tremendous job at UNHRC in Geneva!

Dr. Dayans termination is a huge mistake and an embarrasment to Sri Lanka.

When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right!

Belly Dance & Cultural Taboos

Belly dance is a social dance that heals body, souls and minds. War torn Sri Lanka needs a social comfort & economic development. After defeat of terrorism of 30 years Sri Lanka is facing challenges of stengthning ethnic harmony, eradication of discrimination (on gender, class, sexuality, power), corruption and taboos. Dark clouds and stormy days have passed-by, the silver lining yet to come above Sri Lanka. Since Mahinda Rajapakse came to power, Sri Lanka is heading right direction victoriously with minor short comings which exaggerated by west, especially last two months on war, UNHRC, world politics, economy, lives of Sri Lankans. We should not forget the areas we can improve on human rights concerns, human rights, discrimination on ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, abuses, intimidations etc.

Sri Lanka needs re-organization of civil administration system with zero tolerance to corruption and strengthening of legal system. There should not be any room for double standards, hypocrisies, taboos, and politicization. A true freedom to all people in all aspects including freedom of speech and discrimination free society (beliefs, ethnicity, religion, gender, class, sexual identity).

Sri Lanka needs a change in traditional thinking. Globalization is standing at the door step of Sri Lanka, discussions and debates on socio-cultural issues necessary than ever to stimulate peace & development of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka needs development of infrastructures, cities, re-organization of inefficient civil institutes that have negative impact on development. Roads, transport, communication, and digital communitation, computer literacy which can contribute rocket speed development are needed to be modernized with help from Asian giants like Russia, China, Japan and India if necessary. Dealing with India and Europe must be cautious. We should not be disconnected from west Europe but be vigilant and absorb them.

Sri Lanka legal system has to be broad minded, ensuring cultural harmony, respecting different political and religion views. The age of consent in Sri Lanka is 18 year or above, but a man and woman above 18yrs cant check-in to a hotel room unless they have a marriage certificate. A boy and a girl above 18 cant have sex before marriage and individual's feelings controlled by government. Some release sexual tensions in either public transport or in an abandoned street or a temple as a result of sexual oppression. Youths have to explore sex secretly. If they found staying in hotels, they will be arrested and treated as criminals. A survey conducted by the Health Ministry placed the average age of sexual debut for males at 15.3 for males and for females at 14.4 (in Sri Lanka) while France have an average age of 17.5 and 17.2 for men and women respectively. Better results could be achieved by proper sex education. One can argue our culture doesnt permit sexual acts, but youths curiosity have enormous threatened the society.

Our needs have changed along with civilization, digitalization and time has come to have discussions and debates on current issues such as taboos, social issues and human rights with all concerned parties in a constructive way. Sri Lanka and its people cannot be isolated from rest of the world with regard to life styles, democracy and development. Sri Lanka should be a model of democracy and freedom, the cream of buddhism.

Ayurvedic health centres can be promoted and should be used to heal and rejuvenate people which are often raided by police. Why should we think adult entertainment should be banned? Why not having that at least for people who have imbalanced hormones so rest can live in harmony (rather than oppresed by religion). I am not suggesting an immitaion of west but when you see life-styles of people, they are oppressed from taboos. Massage parlours, casinos, Karaoke bars are money springs for corrupted police officers. The entertainment industry have stood still for the last 30 years.

Government must implement a national health monitoring system to ensure prevention of spread of sexually transmitted diseases, unexpected pregnancy for risk groups and bring them under control not by corrupted police officers who raid hotels and other places but by medical officers and health clinics implemented island wide. There must be sexual awareness programmes through media and schools, so people can be prevented from falling to danger.

People are sent to jail often just because smoking a cigarette or visiting a club. But serial murderers and criminals are free on the streets. They are arrested (some cases have evidences) but are bailled out and continue threatening society. Those are the things that have to be tackeled; making sure cities are safe, vilages are safe, streets are safe, homes are safe for people. We need crime free society in Sri Lanka. We have battered for 30 years from war. Now time for people to enjoy life, while education and development continue. Smoking is banned in public but no smoking zones provided in public areas, deliberate violation of rights of smokers.

Tourism industry can contribute rapid development of Sri Lanka enormously than any other industry. Tourism in Sri Lanka must be given as a priority, and need huge investments for development of accessess to main cities and meet the expectations of tourists who come to Sri Lanka. Most come for sun, beach and cultural interests. Our beaches should be clean, free of criminal beach boys and disturbing vendors, possibly provided with identities. Safety of tourists and Sri Lankans has to be strengthened by police. Police should be tourist friendly. More tourist attractions, entertainment, such as nude beaches (a trend for nature loving people should not be mistaken with sexbeaches), theme parks, shopping malls, cultural events, site scenes, tours, travel agents, national and internal cuisines, clean entertaining clubs & pubs, spas with traditional and international standards should be available. So, more tourists will be attracted. Culture should not be collided with tourism but should give an added value to tourism.

Entertainments such as Belly dancing consider as an adult entertainment in Sri Lanka, but it is socializing event in middle-eastern cultures and western cultures. Costume of Belly dance make it a seductive or social dance performed either by women or men which is characterized by hip swaying and contracting of the stomach muscles. People are forced to look away the beauty of the world. A beauty for one peson can be disgusting for another. But what we need to realize is life has lot to offer, explore and enjoy rather than doing samething from one generation to another. We need a change, a change just like Mahinda Rajapakse and Barack Obama have already shown.

Lessons from Sri Lanka - Washinton Times

Defeating the enemy on the battlefield
By Peter Leitner and Rajika Jayatilake | Monday, June 22, 2009

Sri Lanka recently emerged victorious from one of the world's longest-running conflicts, once termed an "unwinnable" war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers.

The LTTE is considered one of the deadliest terrorist groups, having invented the concept of the modern-day suicide bomber and carried out the murder of two sitting heads of state. In addition, the Tamil Tigers pioneered use of female suicide bombers, homemade minisubmarines, ultralight aircraft and "warehouse ships" pre-positioned on the high seas to resupply terrorist operations on shore.

These homegrown terrorists held Sri Lanka hostage through brutal acts of terror for almost three decades, demanding a separate state for ethnic Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka while building a vast global terror network.

Many more than 70,000 people were killed and at least 300,000 wounded. In U.S. terms, that would be the equivalent of 1.25 million dead Americans with 4.3 million wounded. The human suffering and economic dislocation is staggering yet is somehow ignored consistently by those abroad who profess to cherish democracy and the dignity of man.

As the self-appointed global leader in the war on terrorism, the United States could learn some significant lessons from Sri Lanka's victory. Here are our top nine:

• Perhaps the most important lesson is the debunking of the widely held belief that terrorism cannot be quelled militarily. The Sri Lankan military demonstrated that professionalism, strategy, discipline and unswerving commitment can beat terrorism.

All too often, the greatest obstacle to military success is the starry-eyed interference by third parties insisting that only diplomacy and negotiation can bring a true end to terror-based conflicts. History has demonstrated repeatedly, and Sri Lanka has just underscored, that negotiation is doomed in the face of an implacable enemy with an absolutist agenda seeking to create change by ruthless use of force.

• Terrorist outfits are highly opportunistic. They excel in politically manipulating third countries as they engage in hollow cease-fire arrangements to buy time, regroup, rearm and initiate surprise offensives. Even in defeat, terrorist operations may continue by initiating violence inside nations that house their exiles and their remaining power base.

• The terrorist support structure dies hard. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger terrorists were, and still are, backed by an extraordinarily sophisticated, wealthy and highly educated business and professional class. Actively preventing ex-patriot supporters of defeated terrorist organizations from funding, supplying or otherwise supporting the creation of follow-on entities that will resume the violence -- albeit under different names, with different faces -- must cap victory on the battlefield.

This means, in the Sri Lankan case, that the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth are the front-line states in ensuring that their territories will not be used to reignite LTTE's failed but extraordinarily bloody terrorism.

• Terrorist movements rely upon the apathy of third countries toward the suffering that groups operating on their soil cause in distant nations. The hypocritical and self-serving attitude apparent in the commonly expressed "they are engaged only in fundraising here, not violence" not only rationalizes inaction, but also cripples international support for counterterrorism moves deemed vital to host nation interests.

• Even the most sophisticated and creative terror organizations make bad decisions and demonstrate self-defeating behavior. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE operatives in India brought a profound backlash that saw India effectively bar its soil from being used as a staging area for operations inside Sri Lanka. Once denied physical sanctuary in neighboring countries for combatants, logistics and training activities, terror/insurgent movements are severely crippled.

• Historical animosities do not yield to the wide-eyed "split the difference" mentality that is the hallmark of Western diplomatic and political naivete. Such an approach alienates all parties to a conflict and results in self-deception while exposing the incompetent middleman's own population to attack. Conflicts rooted in history are complex and should not be reduced to simplistic equations.

• If elected Western leaders actually believe their own rhetoric that all civilized nations must cooperate in this global war on terror, they must actively support the anti-terrorist initiatives of fellow democracies around the world. Ideological movements, religious cults, political insurgencies and cults of personality that employ terror to push their agenda should be eradicated as quickly, as universally and as completely as possible.

Even leaders who hold fast to "pragmatism" as a political creed need to be reminded that the incubation and development of terrorist activity in far-off lands will come back to haunt their own citizens sooner rather than later. The Tamil Tigers' terrorist activities went largely ignored by the West for decades. But the techniques they developed have killed thousands in unrelated terror attacks around the world.

For instance, use of "boat bombs" was copied by terrorists in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden Harbor. Western ambivalence toward this long-running tragedy has been costly.

• Sri Lanka's war was complex and challenging, spawning several dimensions of terrorist activity. The war was fought on the ground in Sri Lanka, while propaganda and funds for weapons were handled by LTTE supporters living in the West, and weapons were acquired from Southeast Asia and Central Europe. Although the United States designated the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997, it was not until November 2007 that it banned the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization as an LTTE front organization. Until then, in the guise of charity, LTTE activists were collecting funds and transferring them to the Tiger war chest. Canada proscribed the LTTE in April 2006 and banned the World Tamil Movement (WTM) in June 2008. The banning of these front organizations was a major blow to LTTE terrorist operations.

• Even after the unequivocal military defeat of the LTTE, its overseas supporters defiantly keep the separatist dream alive despite annihilation of most of LTTE's leadership and the death of founder Velupillai Prabhakaran. If unchecked, they may well transform that dream once again into virulent terrorism, and this time, the Eelam War may well be fought locally - by the diaspora in the West.

Peter Leitner is president of the Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center and previously served for 31 years in various national security positions. Rajika Jayatilake is a communications specialist with expertise in international media and public relations.