Two days later on Tuesday morning, the LTTE told the TamilNet website that they had destroyed a Sri Lanka Army battle tank in Muhamalai. When we contacted the military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, he insisted that there was no fighting in Muhamalai, and denied that a tank had been destroyed, telling us that "it appeared on a pro-LTTE website, therefore it is wrong."

Hours later, senior military sources confirmed that a T-55 battle tank had been completely destroyed, most likely by an anti-vehicle rocket propelled grenade. The four crew members were injured and being treated at Palaly, we were told. The military top brass already had plans afoot to salvage the tank, which can now be used on various Chinthana political parades, so its destruction could be denied.

Army officials also told us in the strictest of confidence, that battles were raging on the northern front. With no way to verify the truth of the matter before the print deadline of The Morning Leader on Tuesday night, we decided to report the loss of the tank on its own, and call it a day.

On Wednesday morning, at 7:34 am, the Defence Ministry website published a story on its website headlined "LTTE offensive attempt thrashed: 52 LTTE killed, many injured – Jaffna." The story spoke of a completed battle, in which the army had advanced 500 metres into LTTE lines. It said 38 soldiers had died and 84 had been injured. Some of the injured, the article said, had been airlifted to Colombo.

The editorial offices of The Sunday Leader are in close proximity to the Ratmalana Air Force Base, where flights to and from the Jaffna peninsula operate. Throughout Wednesday, ambulances screeched down the roads to Colombo from the Ratmalana airbase. One of our staffers on his way home to Colombo from Ratmalana on Wednesday afternoon, counted no less than 20 ambulances screeching past his vehicle.

Odd, he thought to himself, if the northern battles ‘are over.’ At 4:30 pm Wednesday, TamilNet published a story. The LTTE had told TamilNet that over 150 soldiers had been killed by the Tigers, who had over-run the army’s northern defence lines. LTTE Military Spokesman Marshall Ilanthirayan issued a press statement at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with similar facts and figures.

Over Wednesday night, TamilNet added photographs to their story along with more details. The photographs showed row upon row of dead bodies, which they claimed were army soldiers killed. One picture showed 18 soldiers sprawled on a floor. Other photographs were shown along trenches in what looked like forward defence lines, with more bodies of soldiers.

The photographs are too gruesome to reproduce on these pages. There is a snag however about the pictures claimed to be taken on the army’s "front line" by the Tigers. All the photographs are taken at an angle across the length of the trenches, so it was not possible to see the positions that the Tigers claimed the army were pushed back to. Whether this is due to photographic negligence or "evil terrorist propaganda," we do not know.

Once the photographs were released by TamilNet early Thursday morning however, the Defence Ministry report of Wednesday morning claiming 52 dead Tigers, had... disappeared! It had vanished. Luckily a copy of it was saved by this newspaper for statistical purposes before it was deleted. The story was replaced by one saying "Over 150 killed: LTTE beaten off as troops capture defence positions — Jaffna."

What is it with the LTTE and Defence Ministry and this figure of 150? Past the headline however, the Defence Ministry report was absolute gibberish. It began by saying that over 100 LTTE cadres were killed (not 150 as in the headline). The second paragraph however says that the "latest information" indicates that "81 terrorists were killed."

The story updated the count of army personnel killed to 43 and the number of injured to 120. Later that morning the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) held a press briefing and declared that 33 soldiers were "missing in action." Hours after the press briefing, the LTTE handed over 28 bodies of dead soldiers to the ICRC. That settled the missing in action question.

Following that minor embarrassment, the Defence Ministry was quick to add a couple of pictures to the above ‘150 killed’ news report, showing six dead LTTE cadres and some captured weapons. These bodies were dumped at the Jaffna Hospital by the army.

CNN reported later on Thursday, quoting senior military officers, that the hostilities were started by the army, who were ordered to advance up to the LTTE defence lines. Call it a coincidence but they advanced 500m to the defence line, according to CNN, before the LTTE began the counter-attack that filled up hospitals and body bags.

At the MCNS briefing, Government Spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella stated that the battle had begun "in the wee hours of Tuesday morning." Brigadier Nanayakkara also chipped in and unashamedly ‘verified’ that the attack took place on Tuesday morning. This is the complete opposite of what Nanayakkara told us Tuesday evening.

He categorically stated to us that there was no fighting at all on Tuesday (22) morning. He lied. Was it due to security reasons? Perhaps the military did not want anyone to know that a battle had taken place on Tuesday morning. Anyone, except the LTTE that is, for it might compromise ‘security’ should anyone except the Tigers know what’s going on.

"Security" these days it seems, is not the security of the ‘common man’ the ‘sons of the soil,’ the valiant soldiers, or the ‘motherland’ but the security/survival of the Rajapakse government. There are two unforgivable flaws in the upper echelons of the defence establishment.

Firstly, they lie to the people, regularly, and secondly their motives are predominantly political, and barely military in nature. The lies are pumped out irrespective of whether it is over the number of soldiers killed in battle, the number of LTTE cadres killed in a battle, the number of LTTE cadres remaining to be killed, or the time-frame for finishing the war. Every estimate for all these figures, given by the military over the last several months, has been proven untrue, time and time again.

Last week alone, the military claimed to have killed over 350 LTTE cadres, thus taking the Tiger death toll for 2008 past 3,360. If this killing spree continues, there will be over 10,000 "terrorists" killed this year. At this rate of extermination, the new target of ‘5,000 terrorists’ dead to win the war will be met by mid-June. The emphasis on the ‘t’ word is not to doubt that the LTTE are ruthless terrorists, for that they are. The question is, who are all these LTTE casualties?

Was it a ‘weakened,’ ‘ill-equipped’ band of rebels on their ‘last throngs’ that last week in a battle under 12 hours managed to blow up a battle tank, kill over 100 soldiers and flood the Palaly and Colombo hospitals with casualties?

Yet as the news of the LTTE attack reached Colombo, we must ask what action the defence authorities took to stabilise the situation. Did they tell the people the truth about what had happened? Were airstrikes conducted on the well identified LTTE defence lines as the battle raged? Did a single Rajapakse visit any of the injured soldiers in hospital for a show of solidarity? No, no, and surprises never cease, no.

Instead, Army Headquarters issued a circular banning former Army Chief of Staff, Major General Janaka Perera (retired) from visiting army camps. The circular also forbids army officers from having "links" with General Perera. His crime, according to Army Headquarters is undermining the "recent military victories" and praising the LTTE’s activities.

A joke can only go so far without ceasing to be funny. The army commander seems to be having an identity crisis if he thinks General Perera would sing the LTTE tune. General Sarath Fonseka need not be reminded that it was not Janaka Perera who, when the LTTE attacked Elephant Pass in 2000, was stationed in Jaffna and radioed Colombo desperately seeking a Navy Dvora to rush him safely home.

It was Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera who landed in Palaly to rescue Jaffna in 2000 at a time when the LTTE positions were far closer to the town than they are now. Chaos reigned in the entire peninsula at the time, and he had pledged before his departure to either save the peninsula or be "buried with it." Flashback to January 28 this year. Fonseka and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse were to land in Palaly for a military ceremony. A few minutes before they were to land, some LTTE shells fell around the Palaly runway, and Rajapakse ordered the pilot to turn tail and head back home.

We don’t mean to call them cowards, but precisely what right do men of such making have, to ban a decorated war hero of Janaka Perera’s calibre from associating army officers for "security reasons"? The reason is simple. While the Chinthana minions can exercise their stranglehold on the media, the only way to insulate the troops from the possibility of a seasoned officer such as Maj. Gen. Perera apprising them of the ground realities they face (read: "spreading separatist terrorist propaganda") was to keep him out of sight and mind!

This is the latest step that the government has taken in its campaign to swamp Sri Lanka in misinformation, bartering the lives of innocent, loyal soldiers, and the plight of the poor, purely for its own survival.

And they know they can get away with it too, for, the ‘war effort’ is directed equally at the independent media as it is in the FDLs of Muhamalai. The Sunday Leader at great risk will however continue to highlight the fibs, as will its sister papers The Morning Leader and Irudina.

Standard Newspapers was driven into the ground last year because the Rajapakses were cross that Tiran Alles spilt the beans on the multi-million rupee pact with Pirapaharan. Our own printing press was razed to the ground after the second hearing of the budget. The Defence Ministry is "in the view" that the Daily Mirror Editor, Champika Liyanarachchi, is a terrorist sympathiser.

The Daily Mirror, said the Defence Ministry website on March 21, was "attempting to draw out vital military secrets for the terrorist group it works for." In the same vein Sunday Times Defence Columnist Iqbal Athas is a "traitor to the nation" and the same newspaper’s columnist J. Tissainayagam is still in shackles at the TID.

Meanwhile Lt. Gen. Fonseka’s most recent estimate for the number of LTTE cadres remaining, publicised in February, was 5,000. In the same spirit that he has authorised an amnesty for army deserters, we shall grant him one too. It is time to forget that Fonseka said in May 2007 that there were only 4,000 LTTE cadres left and that should 2,000 be slain they would be finished.

Let’s put behind us also, the fact that six months later after claiming to have killed over 2,500, the Tigers were not "finished" but in fact, had a fighting strength of 3,000. Six weeks later, having claimed nearly 900 Tigers killed, the Army Commander claimed that there were 5,000 cadres remaining. Having highlighted these facts for the third week in a row, it is time to give it a rest — for now.

The wretched lies spun by the defence establishment this week alone bury all those past blunders far from the reach of infamy. Those same Benz-driving bureaucrats who accused Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera of trying to brainwash the families of soldiers, were ready to call up 28 of those same families and knowingly lie to them by saying their sons and fathers were "missing in action" before the LTTE handed their bodies over to the ICRC.

Abraham Lincoln famously warned all such creatures that all the people can be fooled but only some of the time. Yet the events atop the blood soaked soil of Muhamalai, followed by the desperate attempts by the government to hush up the truth show more enthusiasm from the Rajapakses and their cronies like the MCNS to heed the teachings of Adolf Hitler.

It was the fascist dictator who proposed (while waging World War II) that "the great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." The multitude of lies we were all asked to swallow over last week’s fiasco finally laid bare the level of conning that the Rajapakses feel they can get away with. As long as the public and the media at large continue to dance to their tune, they have little reason to shun the advice of Hitler and turn to the warnings of Lincoln.

This has scant little to do with siding with the terrorists, demoralising the troops, being anti-nationalist or any of the other reflexive, canned defence lines that this government uses to shield itself against criticism. There is no reason for us to expect the LTTE to tell the truth, and there is little they have to answer for. Terrorists will be terrorists, who would expect more?

The people of Sri Lanka elected the UPFA in 2004, and Mahinda Rajapakse in 2005. The brothers have spoken no end of the 2005 election victory as a "mandate" from the people to wipe out the LTTE. They didn’t read the small print — there was more to that mandate. The people of Sri Lanka, whether it be the well heeled of Colombo, the farmers of Hambantota, the soldiers in Mannar, or their families in Anuradhapura, deserve to be told the truth.

Of course anyone can say that there is enormous support to win the war against the LTTE. Yet this support is tied to the government’s promise that the war can be won with minimum effort this year or the next. Every statistic of Tigers killed and remaining, map of ‘red’ and ‘blue’ areas, and bull’s waste deadline that the public has been fed since the northern campaign began, has had the objective of keeping up the marketing ‘hype’ for the war among the target market: those who want the LTTE to perish.

People have good reason to wish the LTTE away. Over 500,000 families have lost loved ones to Tiger violence. To toy on their vulnerability, loss and desire for justice, in order to fuel a war for political means is disgusting. It is the equivalent of Disney putting advertisements into their cartoons telling children "If your parents don’t buy you this toy, they don’t love you."

‘Improbi hominis est mendacio fallere,’ said the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero in the 1st century BC: It is the act of a bad man to deceive by falsehood. It is time for the Sith Lord behind all this deception and falsehood, Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, to find the spine to come clean to the public on the cost (in blood) and timescale of his glorious military campaign.

If said spine is not forthcoming, perhaps a quick adjustment on the leather-coated lumbar support of the new Rs. 44 million Mercedes S350L would come in handy for the General. The contrast in his luxury over the grief endured by 100+ mourning families of servicemen this week might cause his conscience to come clean. We won’t hold our breath.

The incapacity of the government to deal with the impending food crisis with the island’s staple food, rice, becoming scarce due to multiple reasons was best demonstrated when Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Minister Maithripala Sirisena recently claimed that the government would introduce firmer laws if the prevailing regulations on the current price control prove insufficient to break the rice monopoly in the market.

That statement alone, coming from the Minister in charge creates enough doubts in the minds of the citizens as to whether Sri Lanka could actually deal with the domino effect of market monopolies, insufficient local production, losses caused by destroyed paddy cultivations and reduced opportunities for rice imports.

Sirisena has also claimed that there would be no change in the government’s stance with regard to the price control introduced for rice. According to him, the price controls were introduced to provide relief to the consumers.

Sirisena has also said that the country would not experience a rice scarcity as there was sufficient stocks to meet the country’s demand and that no one will be allowed to hoard rice any more. But the reality somehow appears to be different to the picture painted by the Minister.

Meanwhile, IGP Victor Perera requested wholesale dealers of rice to keep their businesses open as the government has imposed a price ceiling on the commodity.

The IGP said that the law would be strictly enforced against errant dealers, and that consumers could lodge complaints with the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) or with the nearest police station.

The CAA and the police are to launch islandwide raids to apprehend traders who sell rice at prices higher than the maximum rates announced by the government.

The Attorney General has advised the government that magisterial courts could impose a maximum Rs. 100,000 fine and a six-month imprisonment to first-time offenders who have hoarded or violated the price ceiling. The sentence will be doubled for second-time offenders.

The rice forfeited from errant traders will be marketed and the income thus earned will be credited to the CAA fund.

However, rice wholesalers, mill owners and farmers have been at loggerheads since the government decided to introduce a price ceiling for rice.

Early last week, farmers in Polonnaruwa had reportedly refused to sell their produce after traders reduced their buying rates to Rs. 30 per kilo of samba and Rs. 24 for nadu.

According to the farmers, the selling rate for samba and nadu was Rs. 42 and Rs. 32 respectively before the New Year.

Following the government’s decision to impose a price ceiling for rice, farmers became hesitant to sell their produce at the lower rates offered by the mill owners and wholesalers.

Rice wholesalers and mill owners argued that it was not practical to reduce prices overnight. Business at the Maradagahamula rice wholesale market came to a standstill following the government’s decision.

According to wholesalers, the ad- hoc decision of the government has brought the rice market to a standstill. They also charged that the decision would also have an adverse impact on the farmers, as they would not receive a decent price for their produce.

The controlled price of a sack of samba rice (65 kg) is Rs. 4,030 whereas the price at which it was purchased was Rs. 5,400 according to traders. Rice was sold sparingly at some boutiques on Friday. At one, a kilo of samba was sold at Rs. 85, a kilo of nadu or brown rice was Rs. 70 and a kilo of rathu kekulu was Rs.65. The owner said he was selling at controlled prices while suffering a loss.

The traders have said that they were unable to sell the existing stocks at the controlled prices since mill owners fixed the prices and if the existing stocks were sold at the new controlled prices, they would suffer heavy losses. They have said that they would have to suffer a loss of Rs. 1,000 on each sack of rice purchased before the New Year.

However, traders eventually agreed to sell rice at the ceiling price. Last week rice was sold at the revised prices. According to traders, the sales were made even though losses were incurred.

The rice stocks of the Pettah traders were sold within a day under the new prices.

Traders were then hit by a new problem — the lack of stocks.

According to sources the delay in rice reaching the Pettah market was due to a delay created by the mill owners.

It was said that the mill owners had adopted delaying tactics to limit the flow of rice to the market, which would create another shortage. This shortage is expected to increase rice prices.

It has also been alleged that the main mill owners never participate at any of the discussions initiated by the government to resolve the rice crisis, as the government supported them.

"Millers are also going directly to the retailers now since they could earn a bigger margin by selling directly to the retailers," sources said.

Another issue with regard to the ceiling prices was the low price fixed for samba.

According to sources, mill owners have to bear an extra cost to polish and clean the samba before sending it to the market. Hence, mill owners have now started to send in kekulu, rice that does not cost much to clean.

However, Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunawardena denied that the mill owners were delaying in sending rice to the market.

"Mill owners have now started their normal work routine after the New Year holidays. Nipuna produces close to 200,000 mt. of samba a day," he explained. Nipuna of course is produced by Minister Sirisena’s brother.

Gunawardena also said that it was not practical for millers to hoard rice as rice from the next harvest as well as the quota of rice to be imported from Myanmar was going to flood the market soon.

"If they hold on to rice, it will be their loss," he said.

Gunawardena said that the CAA was also in the process of checking rice warehouses in the Polonnaruwa District to see if rice was being hidden.

He however agreed that wholesalers were now being sidelined as the mill owners sold their produce direct to the retailers.

"Wholesalers have been affected, but they are involved in trading other goods as well so it won’t make such an impact. However, we want relief for the consumers and that has been granted now," Gunawardena said.

As fate would have it, the ‘Granary of the East’ is on the verge of starvation. Gone is the proud legacy of a self-sufficed nation, with Raja Rata meeting the island’s rice production and exporting the excess.

Forget the excess, there is not enough to sell. The farmers, millers and wholesalers are all having a field day battling it out while consumers suffer.

Gone too is the blasphemous claim of today’s administration to replace the Dutch introduced bread with our ancient staple — rice. Rice today is scarce than bread and both remain unaffordable to many.

Amidst hiding of rice stocks further intensifying the crisis and selling at prices that exceed certified prices, the government has imposed strict penalties in a bid to bring the situation under control.

The newly imposed penalties include a fine not exceeding Rs.100,000, six months imprisonment or both.

Further, over priced or hoarded stocks would be confiscated by the government and will be sold with the funds being credited to the account of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA).

Top police officers confirmed that islandwide raids have commenced following the new stipulations and that offenders should be produced before a magistrate. The raids would be carried out by the police together with the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA).

The fines also vary according to the type of hoarding or overselling done. The penalty for a private establishment/dealer will be between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 100,000 according to the provisions of the Consumer Authority Act.

Other establishments and persons will have to pay a fine ranging between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 10,000.

The Act is also replete with provisions to double the penalty in the event an offender commits the offence more than once.

Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary, Dr. R. M. K Ratnayake said that from last Monday (21) when the regulations were introduced, police had launched a series of raids together with CAA officials.

While the government moved to introduce regulations to control prices and prevent hoarding, others had their own ways and means of dealing with the rice crisis.

Some of the popular supermarkets in and around Colombo have begun to ration the sale of rice. The approved quantity is one kilo per customer.

Some supermarkets, according to CAA officials have commenced offering 5 kg. rice packs for purchasing, for those who spent more than Rs. 1,000 on other goods.

As opposed to the supermarkets’ handling of the rice crisis, small hotels and restaurants presented a pathetic sight last week. With rathu kekulu rice simply taken off the menu, only certain types of rice popular with the working masses were available at these places.

In the meantime, Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunawardena assures that there would not be a rice crisis and pledges the support of the World Food Programme (WFP).