• Turning a blind eye to the blind?

• The notion of sovereignty and federalism

• Expose true nature of LTTE

• Government's challenges

Turning a blind eye to the blind?

Vision impairment as defined by the World Health Organisation is VA worse than 20/60-20/400 in the better eye. According to the census conducted in 2001, there were approximately 69,000 vision impaired persons (VIPs) in the island.

The number is probably higher today. However, for years, the vision impaired had been ignored by society at large and their issues are rarely brought to the limelight.

VIPs face many challenges daily while striving to survive in the modern day rat race. Yet they have somehow overcome many of them with the aid of the white cane and Braille. The biggest challenge that a VIP faces is obtaining and retaining employment.

As any other person, VIPs too have to earn a living. Moreover, they have to incur additional expenses due to their predicament. Presently, VIPs are employed mainly as telephone operators, teachers, handloom weavers etc.

There are many more professions that VIPs could be successful in, for instance, radio announcers and news readers, physiotherapists and counsellors. Given the opportunity, they could even perform well as administrators. All they need is a little bit of assistance and a conducive work place environment.

Unlike in developed countries, the use of the latest technology to make life better for them is at a minimum. This is mainly due to the high cost of such devices.

Yet, the use of these independent living aids would undoubtably make VIPs productive members of the society and would invariably contribute towards the country's economic growth instead of being a liability.

Among the latest independent living aids are speaking tools such as watches, calculators, measuring instruments, speech software for mobile phones which makes it possible for VIPs to send and receive SMSs, screen reader software which transform a PC into a VIP friendly device, text reading systems which read any printed material etc. VIPs could perform many tasks equally well as an average person with the help of th12ese independent living aids.

It must not be forgotten that VIPs only lack sight and not mental capacity.

Thus, it would be much appreciated if the Government takes an initiative to launch a programme to provide deserving VIPs with suitable independent living aids.

It could also encourage local universities to invent such equipment and software as final year projects as most of the available equipment and software do not have Sinhala speech.

It is the responsibility of the Government and the society too to help VIPs reach their fullest potential.

R. S. N. KARUNARATNE, Nugegoda.

The notion of sovereignty and federalism

".. The notion of sovereignty is perfectly compatible with fascism, ethnic cleansing, or genocide and hence was abandoned at the end of world war 11 ....the intervention by foreign powers to protect the democracy in another country is different from imperialism.." says R. Hensman (Daily News, June 13).

She disagrees with JVP for their inability to grasp this notion and advises the JVP to be true democrats. Her position is that the rights of the ethnic Tamils cannot be protected within a unitary state.

We have two questions for her.

1. Why cannot we protect the rights of all Sri Lankans within a unitary form of Government, if necessary, by introducing further amendments to the Sri Lankan constitution?

2. Why should we devolve powers to recognize the Thimpu principles of the racist Tamil agenda?

Will Ms Hensman tell us how and why the majority Sinhalese, Muslims and the Indian Tamils and others should accept the North and the East provinces created by the British as the 'homeland of Sri Lankan Tamils.'

Any proposal for devolving power under a new form should enlighten the Sri Lankans the logic of recognizing this fabricated concept.

Judge C. G. Weeramantry, former Vice President of the ICJ and Professor in Law is of the view that " ...Loose talk of sovereign integrity without a clear understanding of its indispensable attributes can be very damaging".

In his book, 'A Call for National Reawakening' (2005) he further states that following are indispensable attributes of sovereign integrity.

1 Complete Autonomy in Foreign Relations

2 Complete Authority on Territorial Waters and Shipping.

3 Complete Authority over International Frontiers.

4 Complete Authority over Foreign Policy.

5 Complete Authority over All matters of National Security.

6 Complete Control over Armed Forces.

7 Complete Authority over International Treaties.

8 Complete Authority over All Customs and Import Revenues

9 Complete Autonomy over Immigration

10 Responsibility for compliance with International Standards, Procedures

11 Cooperation with International Institutions on Drugs, Terrorism etc.

12 Apex of the Judicial structure to be at the Center

13 Complete international transparency of Human Rights procedure etc.

14 Exchange and Currency Autonomy to be at the Center.

15 Complete Sovereignty over the Airspace in the entire territory

The Justice Weeramantry says that even in a federal structure these attributes of the sovereignty are of the federal state "which is a single and integrated center of power."

While all the proponents of 'devolving' power to solve the LTTE terrorist problem stress on the necessity to recognize Tamil 'rights' or 'aspirations', it is unfortunate that they are very silent about the rights of all other ethnic groups in the island.

It is very easy for Ms Hensman and the likes of her to blame the groups such as the SLFP, the JVP, the MEP or the JHU and others who advocate the retaining of the unitary state on solid logical grounds while supporting the 'federalist' agenda based on Tamil racism.

The critics of the Sri Lankan unitary state must clearly state how the power can be devolved while retaining above attributes in the center. Or should we devolve 'sovereignty ' and pave way for racist separatism?

RANJITH SOYSA, Melbourne.

Expose true nature of LTTE

I am a reader of Daily News and would like to give my appreciation for producing a full page of photographs of the incident in June 16 which reveals the true nature of the LTTE to the world.

To my understanding the Sri Lankan people forget things faster than any other nation in the world.

So I believe that it is part of a journalist's job to make them aware, up date and keep the nation alive on the day-to-day happenings and incidents whatsoever the nature with full reports and also the brief summary of happenings at the Saturday issue.

ENG. WIMAL JAYAKODY, via email.

Government's challenges

Defence spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella has said: "We have two different challenges before us - one is finding a political settlement to the grievances of Tamil community and the other terrorism of the LTTE.

At least now one of our leaders reveals what they themselves have been hiding for the past thirty years. And there too, he carries on with another mistake - what the grievances of the Tamil community (not the politicians) need is an administrative settlement not a political settlement.

Do not hide what your sub-conscious definitely know, tell the world the true story here and get their support to defeat the terrorism of the LTTE and all other challenges will be just cake-walk.

Deshapriya Rajapaksha, Colombo 6.