Tamils in Batticalo like us1

607 ten year olds lost hope in Vanni.

In South we knew how parents of 10 year olds struggle to pass their children at the Grade 5 scholarship exam. You can find out from this below story the difference remain in the South and the North of the same country under a same flag.

Sri Lanka Truth has reported due to the massive displacement and continuing artillery fire by the Sri Lanka military, 607 ten year old, Grade-5 students from Vanni, who registered to sit the scholarship test, failed to appear for the test that was held on Sunday, 17 August 2008. The absentee numbers were obtained from the Zonal Education divisions in Vanni.

The large scale absence for the scholarship test was also caused by the frequent shifting of the test centers as the schools too were forced to displace many times over a few weeks. This caused massive administrative problems in informing the students of the change of locations of the test centers.

Grade-5 students put a great deal of effort to obtain good grades in this scholarship test, since this is the first public test they sit. Failing to do the test will be very disappointing not only to the students but also to the parents.

Tissa may discredit the government, he has a right to do it.

  It is very good if justice will done to the arbitrary detained journalist Tissanayagam. Not only Tissa but a hard core criminal or a black tiger or the prsident, the justice will be the same and nobody will above or below the law. Everbody has a right to credit and discredit a government and we call it as the right to freedom of expression and it is enshrined in our supreme law the 1978 constituition as a Fundemental Right.

BBC has reported the judiciary in Sri Lanka has ordered the police to produce a detained journalist before the courts on 25 August to indict him. Colombo High Court made the order after considering charges produced to the court by Attorney General (AG) against journalist JS Tissainayagam.

The AG has accused the journalist with conspiracy to discredit the government and trying to provoke racism by publishing a magazine 01 June 2006 and 01 January 2007. The accusations are filed under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Emergency Regulations and Sri Lanka Penal Code.

15 people, majority of them police officers, were called by the authorities as witnesses for the case.

It is the first time the authorities have published charges against Mr. Tissanayagam, who was arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) on 06 March.

Sri Lanka government earlier told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that the Sunday Times columnist and the editor of Outreach Lanka website was already charged.

In a letter to HRW on 12 August, head of Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat and Secretary to the Ministry of Human Rights, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, said the journalist was charged on suspicions of having links with the LTTE.

“After investigation, which took time given the delicate nature of the case, he has now been charged,” Prof. Wijesinha’s letter stated.

International human rights watchdogs, including HRW and Amnesty International, and Sri Lankan media watchdogs continuously called for the authorities to charge or release him.