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India, caught flatfooted by the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka`s premier, has opened urgent diplomatic and political contacts with the strongman who drew close to China during his previous tenure as president, officials said.

The tear-shaped island, located off the southern tip of India, has become an arena of tussle between New Delhi and Beijing, which has built ports, power stations and highways as part of its Belt and Road Initiative of trade and transport links across Asia.

Rajapaksa had opened up Sri Lanka`s main port to Chinese naval submarines when he was president, which stoked anger in India. His return to power in a surprise move by current President Maithripala Sirisena has drawn concern in New Delhi that China would tighten its grip on the island that lies along busy shipping lanes.

"It is advantage China at the moment," said Srikanth Kondappali, a specialist on India-China ties at New Delhi`s Jawaharlal Nehru University who closely tracks the regional rivalry between the Asian giants. 

He said Beijing had invested in Rajapaksa and in his political constituency of Hambantota in the south of Sri Lanka where it has built a $1.5 billion deep water port, an airport and also planned an industrial zone.

Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday and named Rajapaksa to replace him, breaking up a fragile coalition governing the island.

Wickremesinghe, who was seen as pro-India, said his sacking was illegal and he has maintained that he is still prime minister and had majority support in parliament. 

Sri Lanka is one of a chain of countries where the India-China rivalry is playing out, stretching from Bangladesh, Nepal to the Maldives, where a pro-China leader was voted out in a surprise election result last month that was welcomed by India, the United States and the European Union.

Indian diplomats were in contact with Rajapaksa`s camp, officials in New Delhi said, adding they were ready to do business with the new leader so long as his appointment was in line with the country`s constitution. 

"India will continue to extend our developmental assistance to the people of Sri Lanka," an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Separately, leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s governing Hindu nationalist-led alliance, have reached out to Rajapaksa to promote ties, party sources said. 

PREDATORY 

Seshadri Chari, an RSS leader involved in the track two diplomacy, said he was confident New Delhi and Colombo will work for better relations under the new leadership in Sri Lanka. 

"In the changed geo-political realities, we have to be practical and pragmatic to protect our national self-interest and do better business," he said. The RSS wields influence in the Modi administration and has acted as an unofficial intermediary with some neighbouring countries.

China has in recent years faced criticism that many of its investments in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and other countries run the risk of driving smaller nations into debt and potentially impinge on their sovereignty. 

"We are seeing an international pushback against China`s predatory practices. It can only intensify and in that backdrop it`s hard to see Sri Lanka doling out more projects even under Rajapaksa," said an Indian government source.

China`s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing believes the people and government of Sri Lanka have the wisdom to "appropriately handle" the situation, and China hopes all sides can resolve differences via dialogue, to protect the country`s stability.

Harinda Vidanage, Director of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, a thinktank in Colombo, said Sri Lanka had become a greater strategic prize after the pro-China president of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, lost the election.

"For China, both Sri Lanka and Maldives were very important in their effort to gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean. China to certain extent lost the Maldivian connection when Yameen lost the elections," he said.

Shailesh Kumar, Asia director at the Eurasia group, said the changes in Sri Lanka would benefit China.

"While Beijing lost a pro-Chinese government earlier this month in the Maldives, it will make up ground in South Asia with the change of guard in Sri Lanka," he said, adding that it came as Sri Lanka`s economy was in financial difficulties.

"The decision to bring Rajapaksa back into the mainstream is likely intended to open the flow of Chinese funds, given the close relationship he cultivated with the Chinese leadership."

The security provided to Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera is said to have been removed following an order by President Sirisena.

The move comes after the security of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was removed yesterday

The Minister revealed this on Twitter today.

The speaker of Sri Lanka's parliament has warned of a possible bloodbath if Parliament is not summoned immediately to resolve a deepening political crisis following the president's sacking of the prime minister.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's comments came hours after dismissed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also demanded the reconvening of Parliament, saying he still controls a majority.

President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet on Friday and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Jayasuriye said the crisis should be resolved by Parliament and added that he has already asked Sirisena to summon lawmakers.

He said: "Some are trying to resolve this matter in the streets. If that happens, a bloodbath could occur."

The United States urged Sirisena on Sunday to reconvene Parliament.

(AP)

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena turned out to be a willy fox, contrary to all expectations, and yet he fell into the trap carefully laid by former president and newly-appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, according to informed sources.

Like in 2014-15 when Sirisena ousted pro-China Rajapaksa, he has once again stunned Sri Lanka.

This time though with a bloodless coup against Ranil Wickremesinghe. And when Wickremesinghe refused to step down as prime minister and  sought to prove majority, Sirisena moved fast to suspend the parliament.

Till December 2014, political analysts in Sri Lanka had never thought that Sirisena will betray Rajapaksa. He did that. Until this month, nobody had thought that he was going to betray Wickremesinghe. He did that, but this time in a move orchestrated by Rajapaksa, sources indicated to ET.

The political and constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka is unlikely to end any time soon. Through his hasty and unconstitutional acts, Sirisena seems to have caused damage to his credibility, experts say.

It may be recalled that in December 2014, Sri Lanka’s joint opposition, led by former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga and then leader of opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe had declared that Sirisena would take on incumbent Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.

Sirisena, a mild-mannered senior minister in the Rajapaksa cabinet, quit and crossed over to the opposition to take on the pro-China president. Rajapaksa was stunned.

In a closely fought election, Sirisena defeated Rajapaksa, who tried to cancel the election results, but the move was foiled by army and police chiefs. Rajapaksa stepped down, handing over the charge to Sirisena.

Sirisena appointed Wickremesinghe as the prime minister. The Rajapaksa era was over, so thought many.

A few months later, the Lankan parliament was dissolved. The United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) came together to form a national unity government under Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. It ended last Friday.

In the first two years, both the leaders shared an excellent chemistry and China received a setback.

Media and civil society, who were under constant threat during the Rajapaksa regime, heaved a sigh of relief.

Friday’s developments were set in motion in early 2017. Rajapaksa and MPs close to him exploited and even fuelled the rift. Sirisena and Wickremesinghe differed over several vital issues. They even fought in public over the handling of several domestic issues.

Rajapaksa was successful in driving a wedge between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe, including the conspiracy theory that India was trying to assassinate the president.

When Sirisena was chosen to take on Rajapaksa, the joint opposition had claimed that his personal integrity and mild manners would be their trump card against the incumbent president. Sirisena's Buddhist moorings also helped the opposition dent Rajapaksa's carefully-built Buddhist image.

Wickremesinghe had said that Sirisena was the best choice before them at the time. Even Kumarathunga had expressed faith in Sirisena, who had served in her government before Rajapaksa succeeded her in 2015. (Economic Times)

Failing to gain the necessary support to establish a majority in parliament President Maithripala Sirisena appears to have finally snapped sources say. According to reports the President is said to have suggested the Army be used to forcibly remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from the Temple Trees. However, the decision has failed after Mahinda Rajapaksa who took oaths as Prime Minister today vetoes this suggestion claiming he's not prepared to be responsible for the possible bloodbath that may arise.   

Basil Rajapaksa had advised Mahinda to not support any decision or suggestion that may be politically disadvantaged at this juncture. 

However, in what can only be described as a descent into madness, the President is said to have driven away all his advisors instead deciding to listen to MPs Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila. Weerawansa reported being pressing the President to call in the Army and remove Wickremesinghe from the Temple Trees.

Members of the Colombo diplomatic corps have twice rejected President Maithripala Sirisena's call to meet him, government sources said today. 

It is also reported that there is a possibility of Sri Lanka being slapped with economic and diplomatic sanctions if the government does not take immediate measures to resolve the current constitutional crisis by reconvening parliament.

Leader of the Mahashon Balakaya, Amith Weerasinghe and nine others who were remanded over the race riots that erupted in Digana were granted bail by the Kandy High Court today. 

It is reported that the unconstitutional government has decided to abstain from appointing minorities to top government posts. Furthermore, sources within the government suggest that they are also looking at ways to release all those who have been arrested for instigating mass racial violence since 2015.

MP Vadivel Suresh who yesterday met with Mahinda Rajapaksa is currently at the Temple Trees. He is set to address a press conference announcing his support to Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that they will protest tomorrow against the unconstitutional and undemocratic way in which the Rajapksas' assumed power. 

“We aren’t protesting against the government tomorrow. We are the government. We are protesting against the unconstitutional manner in which they assumed power. They have taken over state media institutions by force and is engaged in fear mongering while making a mockery of our democracy. That is why we are protesting”.

When a journalist asked a question by addressing Ranawaka as Parliamentarian, he had this to say.

“I’m a Minister. I have not been informed officially that I have been removed from my portfolio. Therefore, I am still a Minister. Tell Rajapaksa to leave aside the thuggery of the Vithaarandeniye Ukkuwas’ and the Julyampitiye Amares’ and show up at the parliament.”

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to appoint former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister has raised fears about a return to past abusive practices in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
 
The sudden announcement to sack Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, which he contends violates parliamentary processes and the constitution, was made without informing parliament or the cabinet, the New York-based advocacy organization said.
 
“Rajapaksa’s return to high office without any justice for past crimes raises chilling concerns for human rights in Sri Lanka,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. 

“The current government’s failure to bring justice to victims of war crimes under the Rajapaksa government reopens the door for past abusers to return to their terrible practices.”
 
“The media outlets, rights organizations, and victims’ groups who had been vocal and free from government threats now fear a return to anxiety and fear,” Adams said. “It is critical that governments that helped Sri Lanka’s return to a much more rights-respecting government act to ensure those gains are not lost.”
 
Meanwhile the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom have urged political parties in Sri Lanka to follow the Constitution and refrain from violence. The EU delegation, in a statement, urged Sri Lankan parties to follow the due institutional process and respect freedom of media. 
 
The statement added that the Ambassador of the European Union as well as those of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and the UK, are closely following the events as they are unfolding in the island nation. 
 
The US State Department has said it expects the government of Sri Lanka to uphold its Geneva commitments to human rights, reform, accountability, justice, and reconciliation. (Derana)

Sources within state media organization Lake House claim that various unknown individuals from outside the organization have been brought in to monitor its activities and assist in carrying out its publication duties.

According to sources the individuals claim they are from the Ministry of Mass Media and have been assigned to supervise the organization and are seen working in the editorials of the newspapers despite not being staffers.

On October 26, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This sudden challenge to Sri Lanka's regime blindsided some political observers and members of the international community. To those for whom the political upheaval matters the most, however, it came as no surprise. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa was feared by political opponents, his critics and the Tamil-speaking people on the island during his ten-year reign between 2005-2015. Under his rule, activists, journalists and politicians with opposing views were harassed, intimidated, abducted and even murdered. Now that he is back, activists fear they will once again become open targets for their country's government.

Rajapaksa's brother, Gotabaya, is also expected to return to the political frontline as result of Friday's shakeup. Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as Defence Secretary during his brother's tenure as president and oversaw the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, at the final phases of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the armed movement fighting for Tamil self-determination. Tamil activists are fearful that if he returns to a position of authority, he can once again encourage violent repression of dissident voices.

The Rajapaksa brothers have been plotting for a political comeback since their downfall in 2015. Tamil activists, who say they always knew Rajapaksas would one day return, are now revisiting their safety protocols, switching to secure messaging apps and sharing emergency contact details.

They speak in hushed voices as if someone is listening. They sound uneasy but also resigned to another period of repression, painfully aware of the inevitability of a crackdown that has been so regular since the establishment of the Sri Lankan state 70 years ago.

"Mahinda's [Rajapaksa] return was expected. Despite that, nothing prepared me for the shock and paralysing fear that came when it happened," one woman, who had been participating in protests to locate thousands of Tamils that had disapeared during the decades long Sri Lankan civil war, told me. "We are in fear of our lives," she added.

However, not all Sri Lankans are fearful about the return of the Rajapaksa brothers. Most Sinhala people - who are the majority in Sri Lanka - are not equally bothered by the President's decision to sack the prime minister. Some are even celebrating the change of government the way they celebrated the defeat of the LTTE in 2009. That year Tamils across the country had barricaded themselves inside their homes fearing for their lives, mourning their losses in private, as the rest of the country celebrated a victory that cost tens of thousands of civilian lives.

"In 2009 they lit firecrackers while we hid inside. Today, again they are celebrating while we once again familiarise ourselves with a fear close enough in the past to remember, but, until now, possibly far enough for us to shut away,” the partner of a person disappeared in the civil war told me, as the news broke.

Three years of partial calmThe ousting of Rajapaksa, and the three years of relative stability that followed, allowed for the Tamil people to become more visible in civil spaces in Sri Lanka. The protests by family members of the tens of thousands of Tamils that had disappeared throughout the country's devastating civil war have become a particularly remarkable show of defiance and resistance by the Tamil people. These women-led protests gripped the attention of the Tamil population around the world, sparking solidarity protests and gaining international media coverage. 

Other once-forbidden events, such as commemorations of state-sponsored massacres, have also resurfaced in the last three years, yielding vastly increased numbers of attendance. Last year, over ten thousand Tamils braved the watchful eyes of the ever-present military to attend "Maaveerar Naal" - the Tamil national remembrance day, when the fallen LTTE cadres are remembered. 

However, Tamils in Sri Lanka still faced some discrimination and repression during this period.The coalition government's initial pledges for reform and to provide accountability for the crimes committed by the state during the civil war slowly gave way to rhetoric reminiscent of the Rajapaksa-regime they had displaced, causing Tamils to become increasingly disillusioned. Surveillance, harassment and intimidation of Tamil activists and journalists in Sri Lanka also increased substantially over time. Only last week, the harassment of a prominent Tamil journalist by state forces was highlighted by Reporters Without Borders.

Scared of being targeted for past activismNow that the Rajapaksa brothers are back in power, the threat facing Tamil activists and journalists is more imminent than it has ever been since 2015. Journalists have already begun to self-censor. Some are deleting content from their social media accounts, while others are deleting public accounts altogether. At least one journalist has left the country.

Last year a journalist told me how a prior period of relative peace in 2001 led to many activists being more open in their political resistance, and caused them to eventually become targets of state retribution. "Once the ceasefire broke down, they targeted us," he said. "Many colleagues and friends were killed." After taking advantage of the relative liberalisation experienced so far under Sirisena's presidency and participating in overt political resistance , Tamil activists are now scared history may repeat itself. They fear that their increased visibility in the last three years may cause them to be targeted by the new government or its affiliated groups. 

Today as the supporters of Wickremesinghe and Colombo's liberal elite continue to argue about the legality of Sirisena's actions, and as Rajapaksa loyalists work tirelessly to strengthen their new found grip on power, those most affected by the lengthy conflict, and most vocal in their political dissent, are considering what to do next. But whatever they decide to do, they can't protect themselves from possible state hostility and repression, without some help from the international community.

International responsibilityThroughout Rajapaksa's tenure as president Western powers occasionally asked the Sri Lankan government to demonstrate a clear commitment to human rights and accountability, but they never attached any decisive timelines or punitive actions to these demands. When Rajapaksa was ousted from power and replaced by Sirisena in 2015, most global actors chose to believe the new government's pledges for reform and allowed it to lead any reconciliation and accountability efforts.

Within the same year, a US-backed UN resolution that called for a "hybrid" court involving international judges to investigate the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the war was adopted with Sri Lanka's support. However within months, Sri Lanka began backtracking from its commitments in the resolution - pledging that no foreigners would be allowed to take part in any such mechanism. In turn, the US and other western countries, toned down their demands for a "hybrid court" and supported Sri Lanka's desire to deal with the crimes domestically - a fatal mistake, one that betrayed thousands of Tamils' longing for justice.In the following years, despite concerns raised by Tamils, international actors encouraged Tamil activists and journalists, as well as other dissidents, to participate in state initiatives for reconciliation and to exercise their civil liberties, even though there was no reliable,  structure offering them long-term protection from possible state retribution. This, as we can clearly see now, put even more people at risk.

The justice sought by Tamils is for horrendous violations of international humanitarian law, that preclude any possibility of domestic accountability. The perpetrators of these crimes remain free. And even more worryingly, the politicians that oversaw these crimes are now back in power.

However, it is still not too late for the international community to rectify past mistakes. Sri Lankan authorities have been given an easy ride after committing horrendous crimes so far and the relative stability of the last three years allowed the world to turn a blind eye to ongoing injustices. Now the world can, and should, take action to protect the most vulnerable members of the Sri Lankan society. A message needs to be sent to whoever is in charge of the Sri Lankan government: The state can not get away with the crimes it already committed, and it will not be allowed to commit new ones. 

Any Sri Lankan government should be made to understand that repurcussions will be severe if it refuses to commit to significant reforms and a genuine process of accountability for war crimes. If the international community fails to guarantee this, Tamils of Sri Lanka will inevitably face yet another era of repression, persecution and pain.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.