Courtesy Biometric  Update.com

The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) in Sri Lanka is raising concerns about the proposed unique digital identity project (SL-UDI), especially pertaining to the role of a foreign master system integrator (MSI) accountable for the project’s delivery, maintenance, and integration.

A senior DRP official told Biometric Update on Wednesday that the DRP has to be aligned with the 1968 Number 32 Persons Registration Act in the country, which is a law that provides for the registration of all citizens and the issuance of National Identity Cards to eligible individuals, and will not do anything that goes beyond this act.

The Indian National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) is seeking bids from Indian companies to appoint an MSI for this initiative, to collect citizens’ demographic and biometric data, similar to India’s Aadhaar system. At least 40 Indian firms have applied for this.

P.T.G. Perera, the Acting Project Director of Sri Lanka’s electronic national identity card (e-NIC) project, raised 22 specific concerns to the Digital Economy Ministry in a letter. A major issue is that the MSI would have control over sensitive data and profile management, which traditionally falls under the DRP’s IT department, potentially undermining established oversight and data security protocols.

The senior official noted that signing off on this will need the Attorney General’s clearance.

The SL-UDI project is positioned as a basis of Sri Lanka’s digital economy, aiming to provide citizens with a unique digital identifier that enables seamless digital transactions and interactions. However, Perera’s letter highlights several risks, including restricted bidding of the MSI to Indian entities, vague clauses regarding data export, and the potential for data leakage during the data migration process. The MSI’s control over critical security components raises further alarms about data sovereignty.

At this point, we need the roles and responsibilities of the DRP to be clearly outlined. There are concerns about data migration and setting up data centers, etc, which need more clarity. Also, the arbitration process outlined in the bid documents would take place in New Delhi, effectively side-stepping Sri Lanka’s judicial system, while intellectual property rights may remain with the contractor,” the senior official further stressed. The limitation of liability clause poses a major risk, as it limits the contractor’s liability to only 10% of the contract value in cases of data breaches, leaving the Sri Lankan government susceptible to substantial financial losses.

Perera’s letter also notes overlaps with existing systems, such as the e-NIC, and warns that the MSI’s management of IT assets could upset governance and security protocols. Legal frameworks for certain biometric data collection, like iris scans, are still not enabled by law, which is also a setback.

The Supreme Court is set to consider a petition challenging the India-Sri Lanka Memorandum of Understanding related to SL-UDI on October 17, underscoring the ongoing legal and governance challenges surrounding this major digital initiative.

Courtesy The Washington Post

The deadly protests in Nepal that forced the country’s prime minister to resign on Tuesday were a result of long-simmering discontent ignited by the government’s ban on major social media platforms

A protester wearing flak jacket and carrying a shield snatched from a policeman shouts slogans at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal’s government’s various ministries and offices during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

NEW DELHI — The swelling wave of public anger first swept through the island nation of Sri Lanka in 2022 and ousted the president. Two years later, it erupted in Bangladesh as protesters toppled the ruling government. On Monday public fury exploded in Nepal , forcing its prime minister to resign a day after.

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Each protest movement began with a specific grievance that flared up, ending in the rejection of the government or its leaders.

In many ways, the protest movements share a common feature: disillusioned peoples’ resentment against the ruling elite and an entrenched political system they hold responsible for rampant corruption, deepening inequality and economic disparities.

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Often led by young people, the protests have sparked deadly violence and sometimes left behind a political vacuum filled by unelected leaders and a worsening law and order situation.

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A perception of ruling elites as being both corrupt and ineffective at delivering a plausible path forward has created a structural basis for major crises,” said Paul Staniland, a politics professor specializing in South Asia at the University of Chicago.

Nepal’s public fury is largely against the political elite

The youth-led protests in Nepal began on Monday as simmering discontent over years was ignited by the government’s ban on major social media platforms. Many were particularly angry that the children of political leaders seem to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, while most of the population was dealing with economic problems, rising unemployment and widespread corruption.

The unrest has left at least 19 people dead.

Protesters — who have not clearly spelled out their demands apart from rallying under the anti-corruption call — burned the parliament building, presidential house, and residences of several ministers and other politicians. Bending to mounting public pressure, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli reversed the social media ban and quit. However, he will still lead a caretaker government until a new one is in place.

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It is unclear what the new government would look like and whether it will constitute the old political guard. Many Nepalis fear a familiar sequence of bargaining among the same political class they want to overthrow.

Nepal is fraught with frequent political instability and each prime minister’s tenure has lasted just a year or two since the new constitution came into effect in 2015. The country abolished its monarchy in 2006, after a violent uprising that forced its former king to give up his authoritarian rule.

Staniland said the violence could make it much harder to determine who should be in charge or how they should proceed.”

The big question now in Nepal will be whether order can be restored and new, stable political dispensation forged,” he said.

Before Nepal there was Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Those in Nepal looking for answers about its future will not find solace in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The lack of consensus on basic reform demands like elections and anti-corruption mechanisms, and an uncertain road map for the future, have dented the democratic progress in those countries and further exacerbated the problems they face.

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In Bangladesh, student-led protests started with anger against rules that limited the number of civil service jobs based on merit. They morphed into a massive nationwide uprising in July last year that culminated in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests.

Hasina fled to India, and an unelected interim administration, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was installed. He promised to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms.

One year on, Bangladesh remains mired in instability. Politic parties are bickering over election dates. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to vulnerable minority groups by religious hard-liners have surged.

In Sri Lanka, the then-Prime minister Ranil Wickremensignhe took over the country after protesters forced the powerful Rajapaksa clan out in 2022. The country later had a democratic transition of power after Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as president last year. He promised to improve standards of living, clean up government and hold corrupt politicians responsible for their actions.

Almost a year later, Sri Lanka’s problems seem far from over. Its people continue to deal with issues like economic hardships, human rights concerns and foreign-debt default.

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There is no sign of the ideals of change desired by the protesters,” said Veeragathy Thanabalasingham, a Colombo-based political expert.

Wider instability in the region

Recent popular revolts have also rocked other nations in the region.

In Indonesia, deadly protests last week over lawmakers’ perks and the cost of living forced the country’s president to replace key economic and security ministers. The protests have led to the death of at least seven people.

In Myanmar, imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi ’s democratically-elected government was ousted by the military in 2021. Resistance to the military government has grown, and the country is now in the midst of a brutal civil war.

Staniland said while most protests come and go without such dramatic results” as those seen in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the kindling is there for miscalculations and unexpected events to spiral.”

I think Nepal represents the new politics of instability in South Asia,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Commanding Officer of the army camp in Palinagar, a Lieutenant Colonel, has been arrested by the Western Province North Police Crime Division.

He has been arrested for allegedly selling 260 rounds of ammunition used in T-56 rifles for Rs. 650,000 to the underworld criminal figure known as ‘Commando Salintha’, who was recently arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

He is currently in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Police said that the Lieutenant Colonel of the Sri Lanka Army was arrested by officers of the Western Province North Police Crime Division while serving as the commanding officer of the army camp in Palinagar.

It has been revealed that 260 live rounds of ammunition used in T-56 firearms were given by the arrested suspect in two batches of 200 and 60 bullets to the underworld figure, and that he had received a sum of Rs. 650,000 in return for them.

It is also reported that the Lieutenant Colonel had previously served at the Commando Regiment Headquarters in Ganemulla in 2017, where ‘Commando Salintha’ had served under him.

However, it is reported that the arrested army officer was later removed from the regiment due to a disciplinary issue and was assigned to serve in the Light Infantry Regiment.

Courtesy Hiru News

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has arrived at his Carlton House residence in Tangalle, where he was greeted by a large crowd of supporters and well-wishers.

The former president arrived at around 5:00 PM this afternoon, after travelling from his Wijerama official residence.

The crowd, which included Buddhist monks, was so large that he had difficulty entering the house.

Buddhist monks chanted blessings for him, and Venerable Pannarathana of the Tangalle Ran Kothmalu Viharaya and Venerable Dhammawansa of the Dangala Vajiragiri Viharaya delivered special addresses.

During the event, former Member of Parliament Sanjeeva Edirimanna gave a vote of thanks, stating that the people gathered had come from their hearts to see their beloved leader.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ වේදනාවෙන් විජේරාම නිල නිවසෙන් ගිය හැටි ”සර් පරිස්සමෙන් යන්න.. බුදු සරණයි”-Hiru News

Shenali D Waduge

Across Europe (the Colored Revolutions), the Arab world (Arab Spring), and parts of Asia (the Asian Spring”), movements that appeared as spontaneous youth uprisings often bore the fingerprints of external intervention and local opportunism. Genuine grievances existed, but they were amplified and redirected to produce political outcomes that benefited external powers and selfish local elites, while ordinary tax paying citizens bore the cost — little do the youth realize that the very upheavals they ignite often boomerang back upon themselves.

By the time the consequences hit, the youth often realize too late: they have helped destroy their nation, erased its history, saddled it with debt, allowed foreign actors to dictate policies, and lost all control over their own future — the very same youth, taught to ask what’s the use in learning history”, now see their own place in it erased as ‘mischief makers.

Victim countries:

• Europe / Eurasia:Serbia (Otpor), Georgia (Rose), Ukraine (Orange/Maidan), Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Belarus (attempts).

• Middle East / North Africa:Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain.

• Asia:Hong Kong, Thailand, Sri Lanka (2022), Nepal (2024–25), Bangladesh, Indonesia.

The template (how it’s done)

Youth Manipulated Regime-Change Template” — is the operational playbook:

1. Select or create a grievance
   — pick a real or small issue (corruption, new laws, social-media ban, fuel shortages) and portray it as existential for youth/public – build momentum.

• Digital seeding & emotional branding
  — memes, short videos, music, hired influencers and hashtags manufacture outrage. Social media algorithms amplify anger in echo chambers, making dissent appear universal.

• Mobilize youth physically
  — student unions, campus networks, cultural stars and event organizers are used to get people on the street. Attention seeking pop stars, athletes, celebrities and artists glamorize rebellion, making protest look heroic and fashionable.

• Insert a hero” or face
  — an outsider (artist, rapper, local celebrity, or a known personality pumped to popularity as the hero”– Maithripala in 2015) is elevated as the clean” political alternative. Nepal’s case a rapper” emerges.

• Plug in local opportunists seeking political revenge
  — disgruntled elites, corporates, media owners and lobbyists ride the wave to gain contracts, market advantage, or political power.

• External amplification & enabling
  — NGOs, donor networks, media outlets and diplomatic channels amplify the narrative, provide training/funding, and offer political cover. Often, youth leaders were pre-groomed abroad through scholarships, exchange programs, or activist training camps gifted laptops, smart phones etc.

• Escalate to delegitimization
  — sustained protest, targeted attacks on institutions or leaders, and international pressure delegitimize incumbent authority. The hit lists are prepare well in advance.

• Install the preferred outcome
  — forced removals, resignation, caretaker government, or new leadership aligned to external and local stakeholder interests (Bangladesh has Yunus flown from overseas to take over)

Toying with Youth Minds — Psychological Levers

1. Identity & Belonging
2. Young people seek meaning, purpose, and power.
3. Protest culture offers instant identity: I matter, I am part of something big, I am powerful.” offering youth an instant sense of meaning and power without long-term responsibility or even accountability for the violence unleashed.
4. Moral Champions
5. Youth are framed as warriors of justice — good vs evil.”
6. This moral high ground is used to justifyextreme acts, including violence and destruction at times even murder (Sri Lanka murder of a MP & his security), Nepal’s Finance Minister dragged naked across the streets, youth screaming at the faces of armed forces personnel, under the excuse of righteous anger.” this framing allows outsiders to justify funding and media bias under the guise of supporting ‘justice
7. Social Proof
8. Viral videos, trending hashtags, and celebrity endorsements create a bandwagon effect.
9. International media glorifies protest leaders, giving themsuperstar status and amplifying their influence.  illusion of majority support makes dissenters feel isolated or guilty.”
10. UNHRC head Volk Turk’s statement asks the security forces to exercise utmost restraint” – is he asking them to be onlookers & watch State buildings burn to ground and elected leaders burnt alive?
11. Anger + Optics
12. Emotional images (queues, corruption, poverty, repression – Nepali’s emotion was aroused by showing leaders & their families enjoying luxury lifestyles to build envy jealousy & hate) are amplified daily to sustain the protest further
13. Outrage is deliberately stoked faster than reasoned dialogue — youth are fueled by emotions, not analysis.
14. Escalation Inertia
15. Once crowds fill the streets, momentum takes over.
16. Fear of missing out (FOMO) keeps participation growing, even as protests radicalize.
17. Media doesn’t help matters by their 24×7 broadcast – automatically lure others to join and be part of the system change”.
18. Nobody wants to be seen as the one who stayed home – many feeling they may be targeted if they did not take part. Ironically, the system change is a change from national freedom into international fiefdom.

What happens after the riots

1. Economic collapse and who pays
2. Markets flee, investors flee, tourists vanish, foreign reserves drain, credit lines freeze.
3. Ordinary citizens pay: job losses, inflation, shortages, reduced public services, public records burnt or missing,
4. Public officials too scared to work
5. Elites who engineered changefrequently reposition to capture privatized assets; the public bears the cost (bailouts, IMF conditionality). often buying public wealth at fire-sale prices during IMF-driven restructuring
6. Post-protests = Who is now in control & who is now being controlled? – Sri Lanka is today trapped by IMF & international creditors, its Central Bank is now independent & the State has no control over it.

1. Institutional destruction & loss of sovereignty
2. When state institutions (finance, security, judiciary) are destroyed or weakened, external actors impose conditionality (loans, advisors, technical” governance). Violent youth cannot touch them.
3. Sovereignty is replaced by dependency (financial, military, diplomatic).

Youth can never take out their frustrations against them.

1. Destruction of heritage & iconic symbols
2. Attacks or cleansing” of monuments, museums, libraries, court houses erase physical memory and civic identity.

Nation’s history erased by their own. No foreign boots are needed.

• Iconic buildings are targeted not only for symbolic shock but to destroy continuity of law, history and national pride.
• What colonials invaders did – the nation’s youth have duplicated.

1. Digitalization as the new control layer
2. Crises accelerate digital ID, databases, and surveillance systems — usually designed abroad.

Youth have no say to even change.

• These systems embed foreign leverage into national governance.
• Once digitized, records can be monitored, altered, or deleted.
• Protesters become most exposed: their data can be flagged, restricted, or erased with a key stroke.

1. Erasure of protesters & weaponizing records
2. If you become listed” as an enemy (legally or administratively), your digital footprint can be narrowed or removed: bank access restricted, social records wiped, travel blocked, even medications restricted.

What can youth do now – nothing?

• Digital control makes past protests traceable and punishable; it also enables remote control(platform bans, financial blacklists, algorithmic silencing).
• They could take to the streets for a social media ban – if everything is digitally controlled from abroad & social media is removed – how will these youth take out their anger?

Larger motive: why destroy buildings, erase history and push digitalization?

• Destroying symbolssevers links to national memory and weakens civic cohesion — easier to re-model society when people lose a shared past.
• Erasing historiesof radicalized youth or inconvenient movements prevents future mobilization and lets new elites rewrite legitimacy.
• Digitalizationconsolidates state power in technical systems that are controlled or influenced by external tech companies and advisory networks — a convenient lever to monitor, profile, and neutralize dissent remotely.

Together, these actions move a society from a territorial, community-based polity to an environment where behavior is governed by data, algorithms, and third-party platforms controlled overseas — and where rebels can be made invisible on paper and online.

What this means politically & socially

Short term: regime change or strong concessions to external actors and local winners.

Medium term: economic pain, social fragmentation, brain drain, cultural erosion. Media footage is likely to ensure none of these youth are given passports to live or work overseas after they have completed their task.

Long term: digital dependency and reduced civic freedoms — the ability to protest, dissent, or reclaim history is constrained.

The Boomerang Effect

Across continents, the same playbook has been used: manufacture or magnify grievances, mobilize youth, hijack civic outrage, and exploit the aftermath to weaken sovereignty and capture national assets.

But as the world sinks deeper into economic fragility, cultural erosion, and digital dependency, one question remains: what do the architects of these manipulations ultimately seek — and why engineer more chaos when global stability is already collapsing?

By the time the consequences hit, the youth often realize too late: they have helped destroy their nation, erased its history, saddled it with debt, allowed foreign actors to dictate policies, and lost all control over their future.

Ironically, the so-called system change” transforms national freedom into international fiefdom — the youth themselves have given away the keys to their nation.

Sadly, where are the leaders and key participants of these protests?

Across continents, they are seldom seen or heard — never held accountable, and rarely facing the fallout.

Shouldn’t the youth ask themselves:

What have we truly achieved? What have we unleashed?”

Instead of convincing themselves they did the right thing, they now face outcomes far worse than the injustices they accused those they chased out of committing.

This silence of leaders, combined with the very visible consequences for ordinary citizens, exposes the core manipulation: the youth are used as tools, and then abandoned to bear the cost.

Shenali D Waduge

By Rohana R. Wasala

Professor Michael K. Jerryson of Youngstown State University, Ohio, USA,  testified on the subject of ‘Human Rights Concerns in Sri Lanka’ before the ‘Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, House Committee on Foreign Affairs (of the U.S. House of Representatives) on June 20, 2018. While delivering his statement, Jerryson submitted a written testimony into the record. He thanked Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass, and other Members of the Committee  for ‘addressing a very important issue facing Sri Lanka, which is also a larger issue of peace and stability for South and South Asia today’.

The witness described himself as ‘a professor of religious studies at Youngstown State University’ who had ‘worked on Buddhism and violence for over 20 years’ from 1998 until then (2018). He claimed that he had travelled, and done his fieldwork, in Asia. His work involved ‘living and interviewing Buddhist civilians and monks involved in Buddhist-supported violence’ (!). Then he mentioned a list of his then recent publications including his ‘Mongolian Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of the Sangha (Silk Worm, 2008)……….., and ‘Violence and the world’s Religious Traditions (Oxford, 2016).

Jerryson explained that his ‘position’ as a scholar of religion was ‘not to judge a religion or its adherents, but rather to illuminate the ways in which religious values motivate or influence people and social patterns’. He said that, in his work, he ‘found that religion is one of the most undervalued and misunderstood causes for violence and for reconciliation in the contemporary world’. Moving towards his central topic, he identified ‘strong pervasive identifications’ as the basic cause of the current problems in Sri Lanka. Jerryson asserted that for many Sri Lankan Buddhists ‘a true Sri Lankan is a Sinhala Buddhist’.  He arbitrarily concluded that this was ‘a powerful normative influence throughout Sri Lanka’, and that the same social conformity inducing Buddhist influence was found within the larger South and Southeast Asian societies at present. So he avers that ‘the change necessary in Sri Lanka……… requires a systemic shift in the way Sri Lankans identify themselves and their concept of the nation (and, concurrently, patriotism)’. He told the Committee that, while drawing on the information that he gathered from scholars, journalists and NGO workers, he expressed his own (independent) views in his testimony.  

I (RRW) was surprised to find that he mentions my name in a footnote with an extract from an article of mine published in the online news forum Lankaweb/June 17, 2018, that he uses as an example of what he alleges to be ‘Buddhist propaganda’ (something that I would have confidently challenged, had I known it at that time); but I came across Jerryson’s statement quite by chance only a couple of months ago while scouring the internet for any information about a possible letup in the strong bias against Sri Lanka that still persists in Western countries for no other reason than successfully overcoming mindless separatist terrorism in 2009 against their domestic votebank based unholy expectations. 

The footnote number 8 pertains to the following paragraph in the section of the written testimony under the heading ‘The power of Buddhist monks’:

‘The power behind Buddhist propaganda are Sri Lankan Buddhist monks. The more public and vocal conservative monks have stroked (sic) Sinhala Buddhist fears and angers of minority and marginalized identities. This behavior is distinctly modern. Prior to British colonialism (1815 1948), Buddhist monks legitimated Sri Lankan governments; however, they did not directly participate in any political system. This historic role explains the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk’s  symbol as society’s moral foundation. When Buddhist monks publicly speak, they do so not only as religious voices, but also as political moral authorities.’

The footnote (8) is as follows:

‘A recent editorial by Rohana R. Wasala exemplifies this. Rohana writes, Buddhist monks feel compelled to respond to what they perceive as aggressive acts by non-Buddhist religious extremists that adversely affect the rights of the exceptionally tolerant, accommodative Buddhists. Anti-Buddhist propaganda with an academic veneer – III,” LankaWeb, June 11, 2018,…….’

The word ‘this’ at the end of the first sentence here refers to what is said in the paragraph above, beginning ‘The power behind……’ quoted from Jerryson’s attestation. He says there  that Sri Lankan Buddhist monks, through their ‘Buddhist propaganda’, spread fears among Buddhists while at the same time infuriating ‘minority and marginalized identities’. But he argues that this behaviour of the monks is a new development. Jerryson takes a sweeping view of the Buddhist monks’ relationship with the Lankan state before the period of British colonial rule (1815-1948) as one of ‘legitimating’ governments without participating in any political systems. So the alleged new element in Sri Lankan Buddhist monk’s conduct is that they have started interfering in politics fomenting social unrest to the detriment of so-called minorities and marginalised groups. (This implicit allegation is totally false.) He refers to my Lankaweb article cited above, which he erroneously calls ‘an editorial’ (implying misleadingly that I was the Editor of Lankaweb that he probably saw as a pro-Buddhist website carrying out ‘Buddhist propaganda’). The truth about me is that I am not a professional journalist. I can’t be called a freelancer either, for I don’t write for money. It’s only a post-retirement hobby for me. I write about these things purely  because I love my Motherland. Jerryson has arbitrarily let me be taken for the Editor of Lankaweb. I don’t know why he did that. Further, I abandoned religion at age 15 or 16, when I realised that Buddhism is not a religion at all, except in a cultural sense. I may be called a cultural Buddhist. I don’t subscribe to any particular political or economic ideology. But I believe that the secular democratic system of government is most compatible with Buddhist moral and ethical values. 

I must say at this point that everything that Jerryson maintains against Buddhist monks is false. He relies almost exclusively on questionable sources/biased non-Buddhist informants, while taking casual remarks made by persons like Piyadassi Thera and Dilanthe Vithanage who are highly knowledgeable about the issue involving Buddhist monks vs minority religious extremists as serious but false assertions. It is incredible that a professor who claimed to have done over twenty years’ research about the ridiculously implausible subject of ‘Buddhism and violence’ occurring in many Buddhist countries including Sri Lanka, showed so little knowledge of Buddhism, its history in Sri Lanka, and its vital importance for the majority Buddhist Sri Lanka. Shouldn’t the Sinhalese Buddhist community also enjoy the basic human right of freedom of religion. Buddhism co-exists with any other religion provided that extremist adherents of  other religions do not tread on Buddhists’ toes. 

  Jerryson mentions in his affidavit that, in 2013, he participated in a panel discussion with A.R.M. Imtiaz at the Association for Asian Studies (I found that this is a Michigan/USA based academic NGO, and that Imtiaz, a researcher with an impressive array of academic qualifications acquired in the West, had been teaching in the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, but is currently, in 2025, serving as a professor at Delaware Valley University, Pennsylvania, USA). At that discussion, Imtiaz read a paper on ‘the persecution of Sri Lankan Muslims in the post-civil war era’, where he argued that ‘the Sri Lankan flag serves as a harbinger for the Sri Lankan ethno-religious strife throughout the last four decades’ (that is, since 1972, the year that Sri Lanka declared itself an independent sovereign republic completely free from British colonial influence, an epoch making event for all Sri Lankans). ‘In his conference presentation, Imtiyaz explained that the Sinhala Buddhists first turned their sword” to the Sri Lankan Tamils during the 26-year civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, 1983-2009). After the Sinhala Buddhist government conquered the last strongholds of the LTTE, they turned their sword” to the next largest minority in their country: the Sri Lankan Muslims.1 For the last five years,….’ 

I quoted this piece of Imtiaz’s academic brilliance to prove that Jerryson’s testimony about alleged Buddhist propaganda and violence against ‘minority and marginalised identifications’ (there has never been any such problem in Sri Lanka) was not worthy of that august body in America, which claims to the only superpower in the world. Imtiaz’s argument was not original, though probably he didn’t tell Jerryson about it. ‘The lion turning its sword menacingly towards Tamils and Muslims’ meme  was popularly known in Sri Lanka before 2013. When an ordinary Muslim articulated this argument to his Sinhalese friend, the latter retorted: ‘Then let’s ask the government to reverse the picture of the lion, but then, won’t you grumble, saying that the lion is turning its tail-raised backside to Tamils and Muslims?’ 

Incidentally, before I conclude, let me point out a very real form of discrimination or even harassment that the majority Sinhala speakers were or probably still are being subjected to by the powers that be, due to anti- Sinhalese Buddhist prejudice (apparently repeated in Jerryson’s own thesis): the appointment of a local office to keep tabs on Sinhala language FB content during the Yahapalanaya of 2015-2019. The Island newspaper published (Thursday, May 3, 2018) an article by me criticizing this anomaly under the title ‘A local office to monitor FB content: Is it a wise move?’

Following this, I wrote a long article about ‘Anti-Buddhist propaganda with an academic veneer’, which was carried in the online Lankaweb in three installments I, II, and III, respectively on June 5, 8, and 11, 2018. It was prompted by the writing of a similarly ill informed Swedish intellectual

mentioned in the opening paragraph of my ‘Anti-Buddhist propaganda with an academic veneer – I’ published on June 5, 2018, thus:

‘A recent  article titled ‘Why Violent Buddhist Extremists Are Targeting Muslims in Sri Lanka’ by Andreas Johansson of Lund University in Sweden available at ………… is a classic example of the relentless anti-Buddhist propaganda carried on by the Western and allied media outlets for a long time now. Johansson’s inexplicable antipathy towards the Sinhalese Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka is clearly reflected in both the title and the opening paragraph ……’ 

It’s as if Michael K. Jerryson of Youngstown State University, USA, responded to my reply to Andreas Johanson of Lund University in Sweden with a better example of anti-Buddhist propaganda with an academic veneer. 

Whatever social unrest took place in the past in the field of interreligious relations in Sri Lanka, it was not initiated by Buddhists; it was always triggered by non-Buddhist extremists bent on proselytising and on encroaching on the traditional Buddhist religious space. The Tamil Hindu minority faces the same threat from those extremists, who promote separatism and proselytisation, pampered and manipulated by the global geopolitical puppet masters in the Indo-Pacific Ocean region where Sri Lanka is located at such a geostrategically sensitive point. It goes without saying that unity between the religiously nonrigid Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the similarly religiously nonrigid Tamil Hindu minority joined by the non extremist majority of mainstream Christian and Muslim communities is the eminently feasible ideal solution to Sri Lanka’s existing problems, if only our pan-Sri Lankan national political leaders develop the collective will to do so without  unnecessarily succumbing to the temporary regional and global hegemonies that try to exploit our internal divisions and rivalries to their advantage and to our detriment.

Dilrook Kannangara

Too much of a good thing can be toxic. A nation must invest only so much in education that its economy needs and can sustain. Investing too much in education is a sure way to invite disaster. This is the main root cause of violent youth uprisings in South Asia. They all started in universities or started by university students. This happened in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and now Nepal. It will not happen in Maldives, India and Bhutan as these countries don’t waste too much on education compared to other sectors of the country; and their economies are growing faster than the growth of education spending. However, if they too end up spending more on education than their economies can sustain, then they too will collapse into violence. Prior to coming to South Asia, Libya and Tunisia also suffered the same fate due to the same reasons.

According to economic theory, spending on education must be driven by available economic opportunities. Overspend leads to waste and underspend leads to lower productivity. Sri Lanka does not get the benefits of its tertiary education. Most graduates leave the country without making a sufficient contribution back to the nation. The cost of brain drain runs into billions of dollars every year considering the value of their qualifications in their new home countries and is far worse than corruption by politicians.

In other words, poor taxpayers of the nation don’t get anything from their massive investments in educating most doctors, IT professionals, engineers, commerce graduates, etc. Certain other study streams like arts produce little economic worth anyway. Money spent on tertiary education is mostly wasted. Had these funds been kept with taxpayers or invested in tangible investments, the country would have a better economy for everyone to enjoy.

On the other hand, the large university population have their grievances and they often boil over into the public. The poor economy simply cannot meet their expectations. Had the numbers been kept under control, they would not have been able to create such a big impact.

Investing too much in university education has this twin evils – brain drain on one side and unrest on the other. It’s one or the other and both cost the nation dearly.

The Premadasa approach of 1989 to 1993 is not a sustainable approach to manage it. That approach is inconsistent with modern humanitarian and human rights laws and still cannot stop brain drain and the massive loss it creates.

The right approach is to reduce the university intake to a sustainable number that the Sri Lankan economy can sustain (sustainable spend and sustainable brain drain loss) and the number the local economy can take in (employ). Producing Toronto’s doctors at the expense of poor Lankan taxpayers is insane. Compulsory 10 years of local employment or foreign employment as a Sri Lankan taxpayer should be a condition that should be enforced. If both fail, free education should be restricted to schools only as it was originally intended.

Blaming social media is unwise. Social media is an essential element of modern life. It cannot and should not be banned. The switch is elsewhere.

New laws and means should be introduced to handle financiers of violence, financiers of those who engage in violence and financiers who sustain the basic needs of those who engage in violence. These financiers are accustomed to a comfortable life and basic third world military tactics are sufficient to tame them. Democracy should not be allowed to be hijacked through violence.

However, regimes should not instigate violence by indulging in corruption and waste, disregard of public grievances and taking sensible governance for granted. Ultimately it is the fault of the rulers that creates violent uprisings and possibly lead to the end of their regimes.   

National Development Bank PLC

NDB Bank ceremoniously opened its relocated Akkaraipattu branch on 10th September 2025 at its new premises, No. 71, Ampara Road, Akkaraipattu, marking a significant milestone in its continued journey of serving the community.

Originally established in 2015, the Akkaraipattu branch has proudly served its customers for over nine years, supporting families, entrepreneurs, and businesses across the region. The relocation to a more central and accessible location is driven by the Bank’s intention to offer enhanced convenience, modern facilities, and an elevated banking experience to its valued customers.

The opening ceremony was graced by senior representatives of NDB Bank, including the Sanjaya Perera – Senior Vice President, Zeyan Hameed – Vice President, Retail Banking, Brinthapan Selvanayakam – Regional Head North East, Ganga Wanigaratne – Assistant Vice President, Operations – Trade Finance, Payments & Settlements, Vinjaya Jayasinghe – AVP Head of Branch Operations, and Bahar Nayan – Head of Islamic Banking, alongside distinguished scholars, staff and esteemed customers.

Speaking at the event, the Sanjaya Perera of NDB Bank stated, This relocation represents not only a new beginning for the Akkaraipattu branch but also a renewed commitment to the people of this region. We are proud to bring enhanced facilities and a modernised banking experience closer to our customers, while also taking an inclusive step forward with the establishment of a dedicated Islamic Banking Unit under NDB Shareek. Our vision is to remain a trusted financial partner for individuals, families, and businesses in Akkaraipattu and beyond.”

Additionally the event also ceremoniously acknowledge the first customers to the new branch under Leasing, Deposits, Credit Cards, Araliya, Fixed Deposits, Business Banking (SMEs) and shipa Children’s Savings.

Additionally, the event ceremoniously acknowledged the first customers to the new branch across several key banking services, including Leasing, Deposits, Credit Cards, Araliya Savings, Fixed Deposits, Business Banking (SMEs), and Shipa Children’s Savings

The relocated Akkaraipattu branch stands ready to serve individuals, families, and businesses across the region with the reliability, innovation, and excellence synonymous with NDB.

NDB Bank is the fourth-largest listed commercial bank in Sri Lanka. The Bank was named Sri Lanka’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025 and was awarded Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Domestic Project Finance Bank of the Year by Asian Banking and Finance Magazine (Singapore) Awards 2024. NDB is the parent company of the NDB Group, comprising capital market subsidiary companies, together forming a unique banking and capital market services group. The Bank is committed to empowering the nation and its people through meaningful financial and advisory services powered by digital banking solutions.

By Lt Gen A B Shivane, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd)  Courtesy The Week

The upheavals across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal may not be isolated incidents but part of a larger “regional rhythm of a Tsunami” in South Asia

Protesters celebrate at the parliament building after it was set on fire during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal | AP

South Asia is once again in the eye of the storm. What we are witnessing is not a collection of separate crises but a regional rhythm of a Tsunami. The past few years have produced strikingly similar upheavals. In Sri Lanka, the economic collapse of 2022 brought citizens onto the streets in fury, chasing the once invincible Rajapaksa clan from power. In Bangladesh, the 2024 student-led revolt against discriminatory job quotas snowballed into a nationwide uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s long dominance, ending with her exit from Dhaka. In Nepal, the riots of 2025 began with a social media ban but quickly spiralled into a revolt against corruption, privilege, and Chinese-leaning governance, forcing Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign. Corruption, arrogance, and dynastic privilege have created the conditions. The energy of the young has supplied the spark. And in the shadows, the competing toolkits of Washington and Beijing have ensured that no uprising remains entirely domestic. Each country carries its own cracks. A detailed analysis connects the dots.

Sri Lanka showed the first tremor. The Rajapaksas built their dominance on wartime victory and family control. By 2022, they were undone by empty fuel stations, runaway inflation, and an economy wrecked by debt. People who had never imagined storming state buildings did exactly that. For many, it was not politics but survival: how to cook, how to find medicine, how to keep children in school. The collapse exposed the scale of Chinese lending that had trapped the island, forced India to scramble with credit lines and fuel, and gave Washington a chance to call out Beijing’s ambitions in the Indian Ocean. The slogans on the streets, however, were simpler. They were about anger at theft, rage at privilege, and the right to live with dignity.

Bangladesh followed two years later. Student protests over unfair job quotas seemed at first a contained issue. Within weeks, it had become a full-scale rejection of Sheikh Hasina’s long rule. The state answered with bullets. Over a thousand were killed. Yet the violence did not frighten the young into silence. It deepened their determination and turned the movement into a national revolt. Hasina’s tilt towards China had already irritated Washington, and many in Dhaka saw signs of American encouragement. NGOs and activist networks with external links played their part. India, meanwhile, was caught in an awkward position. For New Delhi, Hasina had been a known acquaintance, a partner it could work with despite her Chinese connections. Her fall left uncertainty on India’s eastern frontier and the prospect of instability spilling across a long and porous border.

Nepal’s storm came in 2025. The trigger was almost absurd in its pettiness: a government order to block Western social media platforms while sparing Chinese ones. To a generation that lives, trades, and earns online, this was an assault on survival. Within hours, it became something much larger. The slogan against nepo kids captured the mood of a country tired of elites who monopolised every opportunity. The state chose repression. Nineteen people were killed, hundreds were injured, but the pressure broke Oli’s government. Here, too, suspicion of outside influence spread quickly. Washington had no patience for Oli’s tilt to Beijing, while China bristled at every American-funded project in Kathmandu. For the United States, Nepal has become part of its anti-China and South Asian footprint calculus. The Millennium Challenge Corporation and broader development aid provided Washington with a foothold in South Asia at a time when Chinese influence was expanding rapidly. US-backed NGOs like ‘Hami Nepal’ gave channelised momentum to the protests. For the youth in Nepal, it was a revolt for dignity. For rival powers, it was another round of their contest.

Placing these three upheavals tells us something more serious. The triggers may differ, but the structure is the same. Weak institutions, corruption without consequence, dynastic capture of politics, and a generation that refuses to remain silent. What makes the moment different from earlier decades is the centrality of youth. They are not marching under old banners of ideology or monarchy. They are marching with smartphones in hand, mobilising through hashtags, demanding jobs and fairness. This is both the region’s strength and its danger. When engaged, they are the source of renewal. When excluded, they become combustible.

Big powers understand this better than local elites. That is why American aid programmes, scholarships, and US-funded NGOs are not just altruism but instruments. That is why Beijing ties infrastructure, loans, and digital platforms to its strategy. Each sees South Asia’s young generation as a constituency to capture. The result is that every domestic protest quickly becomes entangled with outside rivalry. Sri Lanka’s debt became a story of Chinese ports. Bangladesh’s revolt was read as Washington’s pushback. Nepal’s riots were described as the new fault line of the great power rivalry. The region’s citizens want dignity. The outside powers want leverage.

India’s position is the hardest of all. It cannot escape the consequences of unrest around it. Sri Lanka lies across vital sea lanes. Bangladesh shares rivers, borders, and migration flows. Nepal is bound to India by geography and culture. Instability in any of these places reaches India’s own doorstep. Yet heavy-handedness brings its own costs. Past interventions in Nepal and Sri Lanka have left scars. Nationalist politics thrives on suspicion of Indian overreach. New Delhi must remain engaged, but it must not smother. It has to speak to the aspirations of South Asia’s young directly through education, connectivity, and start-up opportunities, while also acting as a steady partner in crises.

Also read

• Why ‘Gen Z’ protesters of Nepal want Sushika Karki as the head of interim government
• Darkest chapter in modern Nepal? With breakdown of law and order, governance, public security, the nation faces uncertainty
• India blocks Nepalis at border amid escaped prisoner fears: Report
• Indian tourist stranded in Nepal asks for help as ‘mob torched hotel’: Nepal Army orders curfew as ‘unruly groups infiltrate protests’

The deeper question is whether these upheavals represent the painful birth of more accountable democracies or whether they mark the beginning of cycles of revolt and repression. The Rajapaksas are gone, but Sri Lanka’s finances remain fragile. Hasina has fallen, but Dhaka is unsettled. Oli resigned, but Nepal’s politics remains paralysed. The societies remain fragile unless faultlines of corruption, demographic change, exclusion and unemployment are not addressed, and nations transition to healthier democracies with little space for external powers to exploit faultlines for their vested agenda. But if despair hardens further, the region may move beyond protest into radicalisation. South Asia has lived through insurgencies before. There is no guarantee it will not happen again.

What we see today is a region at an inflexion point. Youthful energy can drive reform if leaders listen, or it can turn destructive if ignored. External actors can choose to stabilise or continue to exploit fragility. India can be either resented as overbearing or respected as a partner, depending on how it plays its hand. The storm over South Asia has already toppled leaders who thought themselves unassailable. Whether it now clears into renewal or sinks into cycles of unrest will depend on choices made in the years ahead. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal show that the storm clouds are not lifting. The next flashpoint in South Asia may be only a spark away.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.

Courtesy India Today

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has emerged as Gen Z’s top choice for Nepal’s head of interim government after over 5,000 young people backed her during a nationwide virtual meeting.

Nepal’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has emerged as the leading choice of Gen Z after more than 5,000 young people joined a virtual meeting to choose the head of the country’s interim government, following violent protests against a now-withdrawn social media ban.

The online discussion focused on possible candidates for the top post. While Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah was initially viewed as the favourite, participants said he did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him.

“Since he did not take our calls, the discussion shifted to other names. The most support has gone to Sushila Karki,” a Gen Z representative was quoted as saying by Nepali media.

Karki had earlier been approached with the proposal and reportedly asked for at least 1,000 written signatures as a show of support. According to sources, she has now secured over 2,500 signatures, exceeding the demand.

Although Karki emerged as the leading contender, several other prominent names were discussed in the virtual meeting. Participants mentioned Kulman Ghising, the chief of Nepal Electricity Authority, along with youth leader Sagar Dhakal and Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang.

A YouTuber, Random Nepali, also drew considerable backing. However, he said he would only step forward if no other figure accepted the position.

However, it is still a long way to go. If Sushila Karki accepts the proposal, experts in Nepal say she would first meet Army Chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel, followed by seeking approval from President Ram Chandra Poudel.

This comes after Gen Z-led protests against corruption and a now-withdrawn social media ban turned violent, killing at least 30 people. Protesters clashed with security forces on Monday, torching the Parliament House, the President’s Office, the Prime Minister’s residence, party headquarters, and homes of senior leaders.

Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, wife of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, was attacked when protesters stormed their Kathmandu residence. The unrest has seen widespread arson, vandalism, and assaults as anger mounts against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s government.

WHO IS SUSHILA KARKI?

Sushila Karki, now 72, holds a distinguished place in Nepal’s history as the first woman to serve as Chief Justice. She was appointed in 2016 by then-President Bidya Devi Bhandari on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council led by then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Karki began her professional journey as a teacher before entering the judiciary, where she built a reputation as a fearless, competent, and incorruptible figure.

She was part of the 2006 Constitutional Drafting Committee and was appointed as an ad-hoc Supreme Court justice in 2009, becoming permanent the following year. In 2016, she briefly served as Acting Chief Justice before formally taking the top post.

Courtesy India Today

The Nepal Army, led by General Ashok Raj Sigdel and his regional commanders, has assumed control of Kathmandu and key districts after Gen Z-led protests toppled the KP Sharma Oli government.

As Nepal reels from violent protests that forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign and flee the country, the Nepal Army has stepped into the breach, taking control of key locations including Tribhuvan International Airport and Singhdurbar. The intervention is being led by the Army’s top commanders, whose strategic deployment aims to restore calm and secure vital infrastructure of the country.

At the helm is Army Chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel, whose career spans command of the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, tenure as Director of Military Operations, and service as Vice Chief of Army Staff. A trusted figure in Nepal’s security apparatus, General Sigdel was also conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army, highlighting the close military ties between the two nations.

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Since the unrest began, he has personally overseen nationwide security operations and appealed to protesters to resolve disputes through dialogue rather than violence.

Supporting him are three regional commanders managing ground operations: Major General Bigyan Dev Pandey at Western Command, Major General Binaya Bikram Rana at Central Command, and Major General Santosh Kumar Dhakal at Eastern Command. Each has been tasked with safeguarding critical areas, preventing further vandalism, and ensuring the safety of citizens amidst ongoing unrest.

The army deployed troops early Wednesday to enforce restrictions across Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and other cities, securing government buildings, political offices, and national infrastructure. Firefighters were called in to control blazes at the Parliament, the President’s Office, the PM’s residence, and homes of senior leaders, which were set on fire by protesters.

Earlier in the day, streets of the capital city Kathmandu remained largely deserted as residents complied with orders to stay indoors. Only a few residents ventured out, primarily to stock up on daily essentials.

According to sources, the Indian Foreign Ministry, intelligence agencies, and Army are maintaining close contact with Nepal’s top military leadership to help stabilise the situation. The intervention by General Sigdel and his commanders underscored both the severity of the security vacuum left by the Oli government’s collapse and the Army’s central role in shaping the country’s immediate future.

PM Oli resigned soon after hundreds of protesters stormed his office, demanding accountability for the deaths of at least 22 people during Monday’s Gen Z-led demonstrations against corruption and the government’s short-lived social media ban.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Viral videos on TikTok and Instagram have contrasted the lavish lifestyles of political families — involving designer clothes, foreign travel and luxury cars — with the harsh realities faced by young people, including unemployment and forced migration

Deadly protests in Nepal have so far claimed the lives of at least 19 protesters. What began as an outrage towards a government-imposed ban on at least 26 social media platforms has dragged the country towards a state of anarchy. 

On Sept. 29, 2024, the Nepali Supreme Court ordered all social-media platforms in Nepal to register before operating so that authorities could monitor undesirable content,” with the text of the court verdict made public in August 2025. While platforms such as TikTok had already registered, several other platforms ignored this order. When the deadline passed, the government banned many social media platforms including Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. 

But while these platforms were being banned, a trend emerged on TikTok exposing lavish lifestyles of Nepokids. Nepali citizens took to platforms like TikTok and Reddit to post images and videos of the children of political leaders, including those of former Prime Ministers and ministers. The focus of these protests were to expose broader corruption. But what began as a peaceful protest escalated to an angry riot when the government deployed a heavy security presence in the protest area. 

Today, a state of anarchy prevails in a country that is otherwise yearning for change. But analysts opine that it had also become an opportune moment for monarchist groups to campaign for the return of the royal family, while some parties are making it an opportunity to release corrupt individuals who have already been imprisoned. 

Viral videos on TikTok and Instagram have contrasted the lavish lifestyles of political families — involving designer clothes, foreign travel and luxury cars — with the harsh realities faced by young people, including unemployment and forced migration. The slogans have become symbolic of a deeper frustration with inequality, as protesters compare the lives of the elite with those of everyday citizens. Similar protests were seen in Bangladesh in July 2024, which resulted in the ever-so-powerful Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country, abruptly ending a 15-year rule. 

This trend of exposing lifestyles of ‘Nepo kids’ is a lesson for all political families in South Asia. There was a time when nepo kids ruled Sri Lanka with the blessings of their kith and kin in powerful positions. One kid even tried to open the door of a plane during a flight! There were those who  engaged in drunk driving like a habit, and some who were caught but eventually bailed out for hit and run cases — to name a few. There are several other examples of how taxpayers’ money was wasted by nepo kids which compelled the majority of the populace to take to the streets during the aragalaya.

The prevailing disparity of wealth distribution has created a widening gap that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. High cost of living and other social indicators aggravate this disparity further. Wealth is concentrated among higher rungs of society while it never trickles down to the working class. Endless cycles of debt, heavy expenses and no savings have encouraged those at the lower rungs of society to opt for various kinds of contract labour.

Today, people have become fed-up of Nepo kids and their antics. The age of going after popular political rhetoric seems to be fading away. With more awareness, it seems that the people, especially the youth or Gen Z are demanding for transparency, equality, accountability and justice. Perhaps the time is right for Sri Lanka to tread along this path and usher in a clean culture of politics.

Courtesy Hiru News

Parliamentarian Ramanathan Archchuna has announced that he will travel to Geneva next week to file a complaint against Speaker Jagath Wickremaratne and Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

According to the MP, he was denied the opportunity to speak in Parliament for nearly a month and a half, from March 19 to May 9, without any valid reason.

He stated that this interference with his right to freedom of speech in Parliament is the basis of his complaint.

The MP claims the Speaker decided to prevent him from speaking in response to a complaint from Minister Bimal Ratnayake.

He had previously raised the issue as a matter of privilege with the Privileges Committee, which, according to him, found him to be innocent.

With evidence of the injustice done to him and the findings of the Privileges Committee, the MP says he will now take his case to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

He also mentioned that he has already filed a complaint with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and will visit their office in Geneva to provide further details on the matter.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

රටේ ආර්ථිකයට මරුම මරු  පහරකි දැවැන්ත ට්‍රැෆික් ප්‍රශ්නය. මිනිසුන්ගේ වැයවෙන කාලය, නිරපරාදේ දහනය වන ඉන්ධන පමණක් නොවේ මිනිසුන්ගේ මානසිකත්වය පවා එය නිසා පිරිහේ. සංචාරකයෝ/ආයෝජකයෝ  ඒමද අඩු විය හැකියි.

පැය ගණන් කාර්/බස්  ඇතුලේ ට්‍රැෆික් එකට හිරවී තම වටිනා කාලය නිරපරාදේ වැය කර ගන්නේ මේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාමේ කර්තව්‍යට කෙලින්ම උරදී සිටින රටේ වැඩ කරන ජනතාවයි.

එනම්, ට්‍රැෆික් නිසා වන පලදායීතාවයේ පිරිහීම රටේ ආර්ථික උන්නතියට ඍජු පහරකි.

සතියේ දිනවල බොරැල්ල හන්දියේ තද ට්‍රැෆික් එකට විනාඩි 10  හෝ ඊට වැඩි වෙලාවක් හසුවෙනවාමයි.

ට්‍රැෆික් තද වූ විට පෙව්මන්ට් උඩින් මෝටර් සයිකල් පැදවීම අද සාමාන්‍ය දෙයක් වී ඇත. මෙය පොලීසියද ගණන් නොගනී. මෙයින් පදික වේදිකාවේ ගමන් කරන්නාගේ ජීවිතය තදබල අනතුරේය.  

අද පාපැදියකින් (පුෂ් බයිසිකලයක්) මහා පාරේ පැද ගෙන යනවා කියනුයේ නිසැකයෙන්ම මරුවාට අත වැනීමකි. එදා පාරවල් පුරා පාපැදි පිරී තිබුණි.  අද දියුණු රටවල තත්ත්වය නම් මෙයයි.  ඒ රටවල නගර ඇතුලේ මිනිස්සු පාපැදි පාවිච්චි කරත්; ඒ සඳහා වෙනම මාර්ග සාදා තිබේ.

පොදුවේ ගත් කල ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පාරවල් ඉතා පටුය. මේ පාරවල් පළල් කිරීම, මාර්ග පද්ධතිය දික් කිරීම, නව පාරවල් හැදීම, ගුවන් පාලම් වැනි බොහෝ දේ අපි කර ඇතත් ට්‍රැෆික් තදබදය නම් අඩුවී නැත.

සුද්දා ගොස්  දැන් අවුරුදු 80කට ආසන්නයි.  පාරවල්වල දුවන   රථ සංඛ්‍යාව නම් සුද්දා ගියාට පසු දස දහස් ගුණයකින් වැඩි වී ඇතත් රටේ පාරවල තත්ත්වය දස දහස් ගුණයකින් කෙසේ වෙතත් සිය ගුණයකින් වත් වැඩි දියුණු වී නැත.

ලොකු බස් අප රටේ ඉතා පටු පාරවලට කොහෙත්ම ඔරොත්තු නොදේ. බොහෝ  පාරවල  බස් දෙකක් මාරු වෙන්නේ නූලක වැනි ඉඩක් තබා.  වාහන අනතුරුවලට හොඳම අවස්ථාවක්.

දියුණු රටවල මෙවැනි දේට ඉඩ නොදේ.  

ලොකු බස් අනතුරක් සිදු වූ විට තුවාල වෙන්නේ හෝ මැරෙන්නේ පොඩි වාහනේ යන අය සහ පාරේ ගමන් කරන්නන්.

ලොකු බස් රියදුරන් නිතර මුළු පාරම අල්ලා ගනිමින්, කන් අඩි පැලෙන හෝන් ගසමින්, බසය තුල අනවශ්‍ය සින්දු අධික  ශබ්ධයෙන් වාදනය කරමින්, සිතු සිතු තැන නතර කරමින් අපට කෝචෝක් කරමින් බස් එලවන්නේ අනතුරක් වුවත් ඔවුනට වන ශරීර හානිය ඉතා අවම බව දන්නා නිසයි.

ලොකු බස් මහජනයා විශාල ලෙස ගැවසෙන පටු මාර්ගවල අධික වේගයෙන් යයි. බොහෝවිට ත්‍රි විලර්ස්/පොඩි ඇල්ටෝ වගේ වාහන  කුඩු පට්ටම් වෙලා යාමට මේක හේතුවක්.

එදා පොඩි බස් නම් දීවේ  නම් (මගී 26, 35, 42 වැනි) ගැරඬි ඇල්ල (මැයි 2025), ගිය සතියේ වූ රවාණා ඇල්ල අති බිහිසුණු බස් අනතුරු සිදු නොවනු ඇත. විශාල මගීන් සංඛ්‍යාවක් මිය ගියහ.

බහුතරය බස් වලින් ගමන් කරන අපේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බස් මගී ප්‍රවාහනය සඳහා රජය විසින් යොදවා ඇති බස් ප්‍රමාණය ඉතා අල්පයි – ඇත්තෙන්ම මෙය ආපස්සට ගමන් කිරීමක්.

සාඩින් වගේ පිරිච්ච බස් එකක හිටගෙන යන මඟින් හිතනවා ඇති අනේ මේ මම පෙර ආත්මේ කල පවක්ද විඳින්නේ කියලා.

බස් මගී ප්‍රවාහනය වැනි අති වැදගත් කර්තව්‍යයක මුලික වගකීම පෞද්ගලික අංශයට පවරා ආණ්ඩුව හාන්සි පුටුවට වී බලා නොසිටිය යුතුයි. පුද්ගලික අංශයේ මුලික අරමුණ උපරිම ලාභ ලැබීමයි. රජය වැඩි බර කරට ගත යුතුවාක් පමණක් නොව මගී හිතකාමී ප්‍රතිපත්තියක්  උඩ වැඩ කල යුතුයි. 

රාත්‍රී 8න් වීතර පසු මේ රටේ බස් ධාවනයක් (දුර ගමන් සේවා නොවේ) නැති තරම්ය.  අඩුව පුරවන්න ත්‍රී විල් හොඳ සේවයක් කරයි, ඒත් කීදෙනාටද ඒවාට ගෙවීමට මුදල් තිබෙන්නේ?

යු ටියුබ් කරුවන් කෑ ගැසුවාට, 155 බස් සේවය රජය විසින් පසුගියදා නැවත පිහිටු වීම ඉතාම හොඳ දෙයකි. අනෙක් අභාවයට ගිය බස් මාර්ගද නැවත ස්ථාපිත කළ යුතුයි.

එදා, රාත්‍රී 930 චිත්‍රපටය බලා අවසන් වූ විට පවා ගෙදර යාමට බස් තිබුනි – CTB පමණක් තිබුණු කාලේ – 1980 පෙර.

JRගේ පුද්ගලික බස් හඳුන්වා දීම (1978) MH මොහොමඩ් සමඟින් CTB මුළුමනින්ම වාගේ මරා දැමිය.

අක්කර සිය ගණනක් විශාල වූ, බස් දහස් ගණනක් තිබු  වේරහැර CTB  ඩිපෝව අද කෝ?

හිටපු හොඳ ලංගම සභාපතිවරයෙකි – අනිල් මුණසිංහ. ඔහු බස් රථවල ගමන් කළේය.

අද මගී ප්‍රවාහන ප්‍රතිපත්තියට මුල් තැන දෙන බවට පෙනෙන්නේ බස් මගියා සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම වෙනුවට ප්‍රය්වට් බස් හිමියා සුරක්ෂිත කිරීමටය කියා පෙනේ.

පෞද්ගලික බස් මඟී කාල සටහන් සාදන විට ඒ අය හදන්නේ සෑම බස් එකක්ම පුරවන විදියේ කාල සටහන්.  මේ කාල සටහන් හදන විට බස් මඟී සමිතිද එකතු කරගත යුතුයි.

ලොකු බස් භාවිතයේ අවාසිය නම් බස් එකම ලෝඩ් වෙනකම් ඔවුන් තැනින් තැන නවතා සිටීමයි. ගමන පටන් ගත්තාට පසු තැන තැන නවත්වාගෙන සිට – එක ‘කෑල්ලක්’ හරි වැඩියෙන් දා ගැනීමට බලයි. මෙයට බස් මගීන් කියන්නේ කොටනවා කියායි.

තමන් පිටි පස්සෙන් බස් එකක් එනවා දැක්කහම තමා කොටන බස් එක අද්දලා යන්නේ.

මට්ටක්කුලිය බලා යන 178 පුද්ගලික බසයක් කොස්ගස්හන්දියේ විනාඩි 20ක් නතරකර ඉඳ ඇත. ඒ බසයේ සිටි මගීන්ගේ මානසිකත්වය කෙසේ තිබෙන්න ඇද්ද? අද්දා තිබෙන්නේ ලංගම බස් එකක් පිටු පසින් නැවත වූ නිසයි.

මේවා ‘මොනිටර්’ කිරීමට කිසිවෙක් නැත. අඩුම තරමින් මගීන්ට ක්ෂණයකව පැමිණිලි කිරීමට ඒ සඳහාම වෙන්වූ හොට් ලයින් නොම්බරයක් වත් නැත. මගීන්ට SMS පණිවුඩයක් මඟින් බලධාරීන්ට එවලේම දැනුම් දිය හැකියි. – බසය තුල වන අකටයුතු.

එසේ තිබුනා නම්, මගී ප්‍රවාහන අධිකාරියට එවලේම බස් රියදුරු ඇමතිය හැකියි. ගැරඬි ඇල්ල, රවාණා ඇල්ල යළි මතක් වේ.

සමහර තැන්වල විනාඩි 15 – 20 මෙන් නවතා (කොටලා), හැකි  තරම් බසයට නංවා ගැනීමයි පුද්ගලික බස් හිමියාගේ ඒකායන පරමාර්ථය. මේ නිසා හදිසි ගමනාන්තයක් සඳහා බසයට ගොඩ වන්න්නාට එය ඉටු කර ගැනීමට හැකි වන්නේ නැහැ. 

සියළු බස් කාළ සටහනකට දිවිය යුතුයි.

මේ ප්‍රශ්ණ විසඳීමට කිසිම ප්‍රවාහන ඇමතිවරයෙකුට ඒකායන උවමනාවක් තිබුනේ නැත. ඔවුන් බොහෝ බස්/දුම්රිය ප්‍රශ්ණ හඳුනා ගත්තේද නැත.

ප්‍රවාහන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ වැඩ ඉතා අසතුටුදායකයයි කියන්නේ මෙවැනි හේතු නිසයි.

කිසිදා හොඳට වැඩක් කරන්න පුළුවන් දක්ෂයෙකුට ප්‍රවාහන ඇමතිකම ලැබී නැත. විද්‍යාරත්න, වි හේරත්, හේවගේ, නාමල් කරුණාරත්න, ව සමරසිංහ වැනි ප්‍රායෝගිකත්වය පිළිබඳව හොඳ අවබෝධයක් ඇති කෙනෙකුට මේ අමාත්‍යාංශය භාර දිය යුතුයි, නියම ලෙස දියුණු කිරීමට නම්.

පිටරටින් ආ බඩු බොහෝ විට කොළඹ වරාය අංගනයකදී සොරකම් කළේය යන්න පිළිබඳව හදිසි තත්ත්වයක් යටතේ සාකච්චා කිරීමට ඉඩ ප්‍රස්ථාවක් ලබා නොදෙන, හමුවී සාකච්චා කිරීම පිණිස කරන ලද ඉල්ලීම්වලට කිසිදු ප්‍රතිචාරයක් නොදක්වන, ටෙලිෆෝනයටවත් නොඑන දැන් සිටින වරාය ලොක්කාගෙන් ඇති පලය කීම? පොල් පිත්තක් වරායේ සභාපති කරලා දැම්මා නම් මීට වඩා හොඳය.

ලොකු බස්, පොඩි බස් සම්මිශ්‍රණය කර මාර්ගයට දැමිය යුතුයි, එවිට බස් මගියාට වාසියක් සිදුවේ. ලොකු බස් වගේ නොවෙයි පොඩි බස් ඉක්මනට ලෝඩ් කර ගනීමට පුළුවන – ආසන ගණනට.

පසුගියදා ලංගම විසින් ආනයනය කරන ලද රතු පාට පාන් ගෙඩි වැනි මධ්‍යම ප්‍රමාණයේ බස් තමා මේ රටට වැඩියෙන්ම හරියන්නේ. ඒවා නිසා දරුණු සහ සාමාන්‍ය මාර්ග අනතුරු අඩුයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පටු මාර්ග වලට ඒවා අගනෙයි.

කණගාටුව, මේවා වැඩි හරියක් දුවන්නේ උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර වීමයි. මේවා හරියටම හරියන්නේ කඳු සහිත මධ්‍යම පලාතට, නමුත් ලබාදී නැහැ.

ලොකු බස් අධි කඳුරට ධාවනයෙන් (අධික හෙළ/බෑවුම්)  වහාම ඉවත් කර ගත යුතුයි – තවත් දැවැන්ත ජීවිත හානි වීමට කළින්.

වැදගත් ගමන් යන්න, ජෑන්ඩියට ඇඳපු ගෑනු පිරිමි, තෙරපිච්ච බසයක ගොස්, හොඳ පන ගිය පසු  බස් එකෙන් බහින විට අර හිතේ තිබුණු ධනාත්මකභාවය රිනාත්මක බවට මේ රටේ බස් සංස්කෘතිය පත් කර ඇත.   

උදේ කාර්යාලයට ගොස් වැඩ කරන්න පුළුවන් වූ හොඳ මානසිකත්වයක් නොවෙයි, මොටවූ මානසිකත්වයකුයි තෙරපුණු/මිරිකුණු  බස් සහ කෝච්චි වලින් සේවයට  පැමිණෙන අපගේ බොහෝ රාජ්‍ය සහ පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ මහත්ම මහත්මීන්ට  තිබෙන්නේ. ඔවුන්ට දොස් කිව නොහැකියි.  

මැදියම් රෑ වෙනකම් වත් නගරාසන්න බස් සේවා තිබිය යුතුයි, දැන් තිබෙන රෑ 7 ට 8 ට  ඉවරවෙන තත්ත්වය වෙනුවට.  මුල් මාස 6 විතර පාඩුවට දුවන්න වෙයි, නමුත්, මිනිස්සු පුරුදු වුනාට පසු ප්‍රධාන නගරවල  රාත්‍රී මගී ධාවන සේවා ලාභදායි වේවි.

අඟහරුවාදා දවසක උදේ 645ට මාලබෙන් නැග්ග අම්මෙක් බොරැල්ලට එනකොට උදේ 925 වෙලා තියෙනවා. ට්‍රැෆික් නිසා.

ලංගම බස් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයෙන් වැඩි කරන්නේ නැතුව මගී ප්‍රවාහනය දියුණු කිරීමට නොහැක.

නැවතත්, රජයේ මූළික වගකීම මගීන්ගේ සුව පහසුව සැලසීම විනා පෞද්ගලික බස් ධාවකයන්ගේ පදයට නැටීම නොවේ.

පිටකොටුව බස් නැවතුම් පොළ නවීකරණය කිරීමේ රජයේ වැඩ පිළිවෙල ඉතා අගනේය.

චැසිය පහත බස් ගෙන්වීමට රජය හදයි.  මේවා ඉතා මිල අධිකයි. ලාබෙට බස් හුඟක් ගෙන්වමු.  දැන් තිබෙන සහ වැඩිමනත්ම බාගේ බස්. රට සශ්‍රීක වූ කල්හි ඉතා සුඛෝපභෝගී බස් ගෙන්විය හැකියි.

ඉදිරියේදී, ප්‍රයිවෙට් බස් පවා වැඩිපුරම බාගේ බස් විය යුතුයි. මුදලාලිලාට සල්ලි හම්බුකිරීමේ ආසාව පිණිස මහජන ජීවිත බිලි  දිය නොහැක.

මොනවා කීවත් මිනිසුන් කැමති ලංගම බස් එකක යාමටය.  ලංගම බස් වැඩි කලහොත් ප්‍රයිවෙට් බස් වලට වෙනවා ඒ අයගේ සේවයේ ගුණාත්මක භාවය මීට වඩා වැඩි කර ගැනීමට.  

ඉතාම ලාභ දායි මාර්ගයක් වන බොරැල්ල – කොළඹ (103) මාර්ගයේ 2%ක් වත් ලංගම බස් නැත.  හැබැයි පුද්ගලික අය  මගීන් ප්‍රවාහනය කරන්නේ මගීන් බහුල වෙලාවල පමණි.  උදේ 5 පෙර සහ සවස 8න් පසු බෙහෙතකටවත් බස් එකක් හොයා ගන්න අමාරුය. මුළු රටේම තත්ත්වය මේකයි.  රජයේ මගී ප්‍රවාහන  බලධාරීන් නිදිය. නැත්නම් බස් මුදලාලිලාට යට වෙලාය.

තවත් ලාභදායි මාර්ගයක් තමා 138 පිටකොටුව – මහරගම; ලංගම බස් නම් හැබැයි අවමයි.

යාපනයේ බස් සේවය ඉතා ඉහලයි. පුද්ගලික වගේම, පිරිසිඳුවට තබාගන තියෙන  ලංගම බස් බහුලයි.  මිනිස්සු හොඳට ඉඳගෙන යති.

කොළඹ – යාපනය වැඩ කරන සමහර ලංගම බස් වල ඔටෝමැටික් ඉදිරි සහ පසුපස දොරවල්.   කොළඹින් උදේට යන ඉන්ටර්සිටි කෝච්චිය ඉතා කෙටි වෙලාවකින් යාපනයේය. මැදවච්චියෙන් එහා කෝච්චිය ගමන් කරන්නේ අධික වේගයකින්.  මෙය යුරෝපයේ ධාවනය වන දුම්රියක් වැනියි.   සැප පහසුයි, ඉතා හොඳයි. මේ තත්ත්වය මුළු රට පුරාම ඇති කල යුතුයි. රාජධානි සීග්‍රගාමි දුම්රිය සේවයද හොඳයි.

මේ උතුරේ කෝච්චි ගමන් අවසන් කර ගල්කිස්සේ සිට කොළඹ කොටුවට හිස් අතින් ආපසු වේගයෙන් යයි, මොන තරම් පාඩුවක්ද දුම්රිය සේවයට. ඉන්ධනම මොන තරම් ප්‍රමාණයක් නිකං පුළුස්සා දමනවාද?

මේ සියළු දුම්රියන් ගල්කිස්සෙන්, වැල්ලවත්තෙන් නොව කොළඹ කොටුවෙන් පමණක් ආරම්භ කළ යුතුයි.

දුම්රිය සේවය රටේ සැමට එක හා සමානව සාධාරණ විය යුතයි.

සතියේ දවසක හවසට බම්බලපිටිය දුම්රිය ස්ථානයට ගොස් බලන්න දකුණට යන සමුද්‍රදේවී දුම්රිය දෙස. වැඩ ඇරී ගෙදර යන මිනිස්සු – ගුලිවී, පොකුරු පිටින් මැදිරි තුල ඉන්නා  අයුරු සහ සමහරු පාපුවරුවේද යනු දකින විට ඔලුවේ කැරකිල්ල හැදේ. පෙට්ටි ඇතුලේ මිනිස්සු පොදිය හරියට බඹර වදයක් වාගේය.

මලකඩ කෑ දුම්රිය පෙට්ටි තුල සීලිමේ එල්ලෙන පරණ තාලේ තනි බල්බයකින් නික්මෙන  ඉතාම සිහින් එළිය රාත්‍රී අඳුර මැකීමට වෙර දරයි.  නැත්නම් දහස් ගණනක් යන මුළු කෝච්චියම ඝන අඳුරේය. මේ අපේ ගාල්ල බලා දිවෙන රාත්‍රී තැපැල් දුම්රියයි!

දිනපතා ගාල්ල – කොළඹ, කොළබ – ගාල්ල දුම්රියෙන් යන රජයේ සහ පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ සේවකයෝ වෙති.

කොළඹ -බදුල්ල කෝච්චියට රාගම, ගම්පහ, වේයන්ගොඩ, පොල්ගහවෙල වෙත යන මගීන්ට ගොඩවීමට අවසර නොදිය යුතුයි. මන්ද බදුල්ල දක්වා යන මඟීන්ට ආසන පහසුකම් නොලැබීම. කොටුවෙන් නැඟ වේයන්ගොඩින් බසින මගියා අසුන්ගතව යාමත් බදුල්ලට යන මගියා සිට ගෙන යාමේත්  අසාධාරණය දුම්රිය බලධාරීන්ට නොපෙනේ.

මේ තත්ත්වය මේ විෂමතා දුරු කර දියුණු කළහොත් වැඩි වැඩියෙන් මිනිසුන් බදුල්ල දුම්රිය භාවිතා කරනු ඇත. මෙයින් ආදායම වැඩිවේ.

අද, දුර ගමන් සේවා කෝච්චි වල වැඩියෙන්ම තිබෙන්නේ 1වෙනි සහ 2වෙනි පන්තියේ මැදිරිය. දුප්පතා යන 3වෙනි පන්තියේ මැදිරි දමනුයේ ඉතාම සිමීත සංඛ්‍යාවකි. මේවායේ මිනිසුන් හිට ගෙන යති, සමහරවිට පාපුවරුවේ පවා. අද තියෙන්නේ එදා වාමාංශික යයි කියා ගත්, පොඩි මිනිහාට ආදරය කරන අයගේ ආණ්ඩුවක් නේද?

මේ 2025 – ඔඩෙසි යනුවෙන් ඇල්ලට සුද්දන්ට යන අධි සුඛෝපභෝගී  කෝච්චි පෙට්ටි හැදීම සඳහා රත්මලානේ දුම්රිය අංගනයේ 50% – 60% සේවකයන් ඒ කාර්යය සඳහා වෙන්කර ඇත. මේ රටේ සාමාන්‍ය මිනිස්සු (බොහොමයක් මලිමාවට චන්දය දුන්) අවශ්‍ය තරම් කෝච්චි පෙට්ටි නැති කමින් කෝච්චි තුල තෙරපි තෙරපි ගමන් කරත්.  

මේ ඔඩෙසි කෝච්චි පෙට්ටි සැදීම පසෙකලා සාමාන්‍ය ජනයාට යන කෝච්චි පෙට්ටි රත්මලාන අංගනයේ පිළිසකර කල යුතුයි.

මේ ඔඩෙසි කෝච්චිවලට නොනැවතී යාම සඳහා අනෙක් සාමාන්‍ය මගී කෝච්චි බොහෝ වේලාවක් සිග්නල් අවහිර කර දුම්රිය ස්ථානවල නවත්වා තබයි (පොල්ගහවෙලින් ඔබ්බට උඩරට මාර්ගයේ ඇත්තේ තනි රේල් පාරකි). ඉදින්, මේ නිසා අප රටේ මිනිසුන් ප්‍රමාදවී වැඩට ගොස් අනවශ්‍ය ප්‍රශ්ණ වලට පටලැවේ.

ලංගම  බස් ඩ්‍රය්වර්ලා සිටිති – ඒ අයගේ රාජකාරිය යනු බසය පැදවීම පමණක් නොව බස් හෝල්ට් වල බස් එකට නැගීමට බලා සිටින බස් මගීන්වත් නංවා ගැනීම  බව ඒ අයට අමතක වී ඇති බව සමහරවිට පෙනේ.  

(යුරෝපිය) සංචාරකයන්ට අප කරුණා පෙරදැරි සේවයක් ලබා දිය යුතු බව සත්‍යකි. නමුත් මෙයින් අදහස් කරන්නේ නැහැ අප  ඔවුනට වැඳ වැටිය යුතු වැනි සේවයක් ලබා දිය යුතුය කියා.

ඇතැම් රූට් වල, ප්‍රය්වෙට් බස් වල මඟින් උතුරා යාමටත්, ලංගම බස් වල බොහෝ විට එසේ නොවීමටත් හේතුවක් තිබිය යුතුයි නේද?

රෑට මිනිසුන්ට යන්න බස් නැත්තේ (කොළඹ පවා), තවමත් හරියට රටේ යුද්ධය තිබ්බ කාලේ වාගේ.

පුළුවන්නම් මහ නගරවල පාන්දර 2 විතර වෙනකම් වත් බස් සේවයක් තිබුනොත් රෑ වැඩ ඇරිලා සහ රෑ වැඩට යන අයට ඉමහත් පහසුවක්. මොකද ඒ වෙලාවට ත්‍රී විලුත් නැති නිසා.

රෑට බස් ධාවනය කර බලන්න. මාස 6ක් විතර යාවි මිනිස්සුන්ට පුරුදු වෙන්න. ඉන් පසු, කොළඹ නයිට් ලයිෆ් නිකම්ම ඇතිවේවි.

අවුරුද්ද, නත්තල වගේ දවස්වල බස් /දුම්රිය ධාවනය වෙන්නෙම නැත.  ඉස්සර පවුල් පිටින් අවුරුදු දවසේ නෑගම් ගියේ බස් වල. හැමෝටම ත්‍රී වීල් වලට ගෙවන්න සල්ලි නැහැ.

මගී ප්‍රවාහන අධිකාරියේ මහත්තයෙක්ගෙන් පිටකොටුවේ බස් නැවතුම්පොලේදී මෑතක සිංහල අවුරුද්ද දවසක ඇහුවා ‘ඇයි අද බස් එකක්වත්  පිටකොටුවේ ස්ටෑන්ඩ් එකේ නැත්තේ’ කියා. එයා කියනවා ‘සිංහල අවුරුද්ද ලැබූ පසු බස් දාන්නේ නැහැ, මගීන් නැති නිසා’ කියා.  ‘ඉතිං බස් ටිකක් දාලා බලන්නකෝ මගීන් ඉන්නවද නැද්ද බලන්න කියා’ කිවුවහම ඔහු හීන් සීරුවේ මාරු වී ගියේය. 

බස්වල (පුද්ගලික සහ ලංගම) නිකන් යන්න බලන අය සිටීයි – හොඳ දෙයක් නොවෙයි. හොරකම් කිරීමේ නරක පුරුද්දත් මේ අය අපරාදේ ඇති කරගනිත්.

ඉස්සර කාලේ බස් ටිකට් චෙකර්ස්ලා සිටියා. ඔවුන්ට කිවේ ටික්කෝ කියා.

මේ අයව නැවත ලංගම බස් වලට ගෙන ආ යුතුයි. මගීන් පමණක් නොවෙයි ඩ්‍රයිවර්, කොන්දොස්තරලාගේ වැරදි/හොර වැඩත් අහු වෙයි.

කොළඹ කෙටි ගමන් යන අය (උදාහරණයක්, ටවුන් හෝල් ඉඳලා බම්බලපිටියට, නැත්නම් කොම්පඥවිදියේ ඉඳලා කොල්ලුපිටියට) ඇවිදන් යන එක වඩාම හොඳයි. ව්‍යායාමයක් ලැබෙනවා පමනක් නොව තමන්ගේ වාහනය විනාඩි 10ක් විතර ට්‍රැෆික් ලයිට් වල නවත්වාගෙන ඉන්ධන පිච්චීම නවත්තා ගන්නත් පුළුවනි. පාර්කින්, පොලිස්, අන් රියදුරන්ගේ  ප්‍රශ්ණ, මේ කිසිවක් නැහැ පයින් යන කෙනාට.

බස් කොන්දොස්තර කෙනෙකුට ඇත්තේ ඉමහත් වගකීමක්. තම බස් රථයේ ගමන් කරන මඟින් සුරක්ෂිතව ඔවුන්ගේ ගමනාන්තය දක්වා ගෙන ගොස් බැස්සවීමේ  පුළුල්  වගකීම ඔහු සතුයි.  මේවා මේ අය දන්නවාද?  රියදුරු මහතා බසය ආරාක්ෂාකාරි ලෙස පදවිය යුතුයි.

රාවණා ඇල්ලේ බස් කොන්දොස්තර දැන් කියන කථාව ඇත්තද? හොඳින් හිතා බලන්න.

බස්කොන්දොස්තර කෙනෙකෙට ඔහුගේ බස් එක ‘හදන්නත්’ පුළුවන්, ‘මරන්නත්’ පුළුවන්.

කොන්දොස්තර වරු අතර කතාවක් තියෙනවා නියම කොන්දොස්තර කෙනෙක් නම් ඒ අවස්ථාවේ තමන්ගේ බස් එකේ ඉන්න සෑම මගීයෙක්ම බහින තැන දන්නවාය කියලා.

දුර බස් ගමන් සේවාවල රියදුරු මහත්වරුන් බුලත් විට කන්නේ නිදිමත ගතියෙන් වැළකී සිටීමට.  හප හප ඉන්නකොට නින්ද යන්නේ නැති උනාත් ඇඟේ පතේ රුදාව වැඩි වෙනවා.

පාරේ/තැනින් තැන කෙළ ගහන්නේ නැතිව ඒ සඳහා ඔවුන් විසින් භාජනයක් ගෙන යාමට උනන්දු කල යුතුයි.

බස් සේවකයන්ට  (ඩ්‍රය්වර්/කොන්දොස්තර)  ට්‍රිප් එකක් ඉවර වු පසු හොඳ විවේකයක් නොදුන්නොත් මාර්ග අනතුරු වැඩි විය හැකියි. සමහර බස් මුදලාලිලා විවේකයක් දෙන්නෙම නැහැ, හරියට මැෂින් කියලා හිතන්නේ.

දියුණු රටවල කියන්නේ පැය 4 ක් යමෙක් එක දිගටම බසයක්  එලවනවානම් අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම  විනාඩි 10ක වත් විරාමයක් ගත යුතුයි කියායි.

මෙහෙ වගේ නොවෙයි එංගලන්තයේ බස් රථයක ගමන් කිරීමත් සතුටක්. එයා කන්ඩිෂන් කරපු බස් වල මගීන් හිටගෙන යන්නේ ඉතාම කලාතුරකින්. හැමෝටම හොඳ සුවපහසු ආසනයක් ලැබෙනවාමයි.  ඒ රටවල ‘ඉහල’, ‘පහල’ හැම පන්තියකම අය බස් වල යනවා.

මැලේසියාවද  මේ අංශයෙන් අපට වඩා හුඟාක් දියුණුයි – ඉතා සැප පහසු බස් මඟින් සඳහා ඔවුන් යොදවා තිබෙනවා. ටැක්සි සියල්ල  හයිබ්‍රිඩ් වාහන.

ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාවේ නිව් සවුත් වේල්ස් ප්‍රාන්තයේ ඇමති කෙනෙක් හැමදාම නිව් කාසල් ඉඳලා සිඩ්නි වලට කෝච්චියෙන් වැඩට ආවා. වැදගත් දේ කියන්නේ මිනිහා ඒ කාලේ ඒ ප්‍රාන්තයේ ප්‍රවාහන ඇමති.

බස්, කෝච්චි මගීන්ගේ ප්‍රශ්ණ, දුක අවබෝධ කර ගැනීමට නම් ප්‍රවාහන ඇමති ඒවායේ ගමන් කළ යුතු දෙයක්. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නම් කිසිදා සිදු නොවෙන දෙයක්.

කොටුව -රාජගිරිය 103, 171, 144  මාර්ගයේ තව 170, 190, 174 මාර්ග රෑ 8 විතර  පස්සේ බස් ඇත්තෙම නැහැ වගේ නැහැ. ඉතින් කොහොමද රටේ ආර්ථිකය නගා සිටුවන්නේ?

බස් රථයක සෑම මගියෙකුටම සුව පහසු ලෙස හිඳගෙන යන්න පුළුවන්නම් එය බස් මගියාගේ ජයග්‍රහණයයි.  එය ඉෂ්ට කර දිය හැකි නම් එය මාලිමා රජයේ ජයග්‍රහණයයි.

බස් රථයක පොල් පැටේව්වා වගේ මිනිස්සු පීරී ඉතිරි යනවා නම් එය පුද්ගලික බස් රථ හිමියාගේ ජයග්‍රහනයි. මන්ද, ඔහුගේ මල්ල තරවන්නේ එවිටයි.

දිනපතා බස් සහ දුම්රියන් වල යන මගීන් එකතුවී දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් සාදා ඒ මගින් ඔවුන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම්, ප්‍රවාහන  සේවයේ වර්ධනය  සඳහා සටන් කල යුතුයි. බොහෝ මිනිස්සු චන්දය දේවී.

බස් අතර තියෙන තරගය නිසා අහිංසක මගීන්ට අනේක දුක් කරදර වලට බඳුන් වෙන්න වෙනවා. කොටින්ම බස් එක නවත්වන්න ඉස්සෙල්ලා කියනවා බහින්න කියා, ඒ තරමට ඒ අයගේ හදිස්සිය; නමුත් නග්ග ගන්න නම් …

මහ නගරවල බොහෝ මගීන් අද බහින්නේ බස් හෝල්ට් එකේ නොව බස් එක ට්‍රැෆික් වලට නවත්වා ඇති විටයි.  මේ නිසා රිය අනතුරු වලට ලක්වූ බස් මගීන් අනන්තයි.

දුර බස් දෙකක් අතර රේස් තරඟයට බයවී මගදී බැහැපු  (නුවරඑළි නොගොස්, නුවරදී) මාමෙක් ඉන්නවා.

අද අලුතෙන් පුද්ගලික බස් මාර්ග පර්මිට් එකක් ගන්න එක කළුනික සොයනවා වගේ අමාරුයි.  දෙන්නේම නැහැ – පුද්ගලික බස් මාෆියාව මේ රටේ තදින්ම රජ කරනවා.

මේ 2025 – ඒ කියන්නේ 21 වන ශත වර්ෂයේ, මිනිසුන් බස් වල යන්නේ 1970/80 ගණන් වල ගිය විදියටමයි. පාපුවරුවේ එල්ලිලා යාම නම් අඩුයි (යම් දියුණුවක්).

මගී ප්‍රවාහන බලධාරීන්ගේ ඉල්ලක්කය විය යුත්තේ 2028  වනවිට, සෑම බස්/දුම්රිය මගියෙකුටම සුව පහසුව ආසනයක ඉඳ ගෙන යාමට හැකි වන මගී ප්‍රවාහන සේවයක් සකස් කිරීමයි. රජයේ නාස්තිකාර බොරු වියදම් නවතා, දුෂණ, අක්‍රමිකතා, අපරිපාලනය  නැවත්තුවහොත් හෝ හොඳින් පාලනය කල හොත්, මෙය අනිවාර්යයෙන් කරන්න පුළුවන් දෙයක්.

ආණ්ඩු විරෝධී යු ටියුබ් කරුවන්ට බියවී නම් මේ රට දියුණු කරන්න නොහැක.

නගරවල තියෙන වාහන (ට්‍රැෆික්) තදබදයට හොඳම  පිළියමක්  නම් හොඳ මහජන ප්‍රවාහන සේවයක් (බස්/දුම්රිය) තිබීම.  අද මේවා ඉතා පහත් මට්ටමේ නිසා බොහෝ අය මහජන ප්‍රවාහන සේවා, විශේෂයෙන්ම,බස්, පාවිච්චි කරන්නේ නැහැ.  අද  තත්ත්වය වගේ බොහෝ විට හිටගෙන, තදවී,දහඩිය දාගෙන,  ගාට ගාට යන බස් සේවයක් නම් තියෙන්නේ මිනිස්සු බස් වල යන්න පෙලඹේන්නේ  නැහැ, නොගිහින්ම බැරි නම් මිස.

මාර්ග වල අපේ දුම්රිය සේවය උපරිම කාර්යක්ෂමතාවෙන් වැඩ කෙරෙන්නේ නැහැ. රාත්‍රී 8න් විතර පස්සේ පානදුරේ ඉඳන් කොටුව/මරදානට එකම දුම්රියක් වත් වැඩ කරන්නේ නැත. පොල්ගහවෙල දක්වා මාර්ගයත් එහෙමම වගෙයි.

සිඩ්නි, මෙල්බර්න් පැය 24 වාගේම මෙට්‍රෝ දුම්රිය වැඩ කරයි. රෑ 10 පසු මහා ජනතාවක් නැතත් ඒවා දුවන්නේ සීමිතවූ හෝ සේවයක් දුම්රිය මගීන්ට සැලසීමේ අදහසිනි.

මේ මෙට්‍රෝ සේවා ඉතා හොඳින් පවත්වා ගෙන යන ඒවාය. ඉදින්, ඒවා අධික ලාභ ලබයි.

ඉස්සර , 1980/90 මැද  ගණන් වල, මැදියම් රෑ වෙනකම් දුම්රිය මුහුදුබඩ මාර්ගයේ දුම්රිය  දෙපත්තටම දුවනු ලැබීය. දුම්රිය ආරක්ෂක සේවය තර කර හෝ පොලි සියෙන්  ආධාර ලබාගෙන හෝ මේ ‘මැරී ගිය’ රාත්‍රී  දුම්රිය සේවය (දෙපත්තටම  ධාවනය වන) පනගන්වා ගත යුතුයි.

1990 ගණන්වල මාල කඩන්නෙක් පැමිණ රාත්‍රී  අලුත්ගම/පානදුර – කොටුව/මරදාන දුම්රිය සේවය මරා දමනු ලැබීය.  දැන් නැවත මුළුමනින්ම පණ ගැන්වීමට කාලය ඇවිත්.

දකුණු දුම්රිය මුහුදුබඩ මාර්ගයේ රෑ 12 – 1 වගේ විතර  වෙනකම් අඩු තරමින් පැයකට එක් දුම්රියක් හෝ දෙපැත්තටම ධාවනය කරන්නේ නම් මොන තරම් සහනයක් මගීන්ට ලැබේවිද? මන්ද.  ලක්ෂ සංඛ්‍යාත ජනතාවක් මේ දුමිරිය මාර්ගයෙන් සහාය ලබා ගන්නා නිසා.

කැලණිවැලි මාර්ගය – මුළු දවසටම කොළඹ – අවිස්සාවේල්ල දුමිරිය 4යි  හෝ 5යි වැඩ කරන්නේ. මෙවැනි වෙනම දුම්රිය මාර්ගයක් පවත්වා ගැනීමේ තේරුම කුමක්ද? මේ මාර්ගයේ පුවක්පිටියේ පාර හරහා දුම්රිය පාර  දෙතුන් පලකින් ප්‍රධාන පාර හරහා මාරු වෙනවා, මෙය සාදා ගතහොත් (දුම්රිය පාර වාහන යන පාර හරහා නැතුව, කෙලින් යන විදීයට), ඉන්නා  ජනගහනය දිහා බැලුවහොත්, දවසකට දුම්රිය 20කට එහා ධාවනය කරගන්න  පුළුවන් වේවි.  ඉතාම හොඳ ආදායම් මාර්ග රජයට හදා ගන්න පුළුවන්. අද දවසකට දුම්රිය 4 -5 ක් විතරක් ධාවනය කරන වෙනම දුම්රිය මාර්ගයකින් (දුම්රිය ස්ථානම 20 ට වැඩියි), මොන තරම් පාඩුවක් රජයට අත් වෙනවා ඇද්ද?

ඉස්සර කැළණිවැලි දුම්රිය කොළඹ සිට ඕපනායකයට ගමන් කළා, ඒ කියන්නේ යටියන්තොටත් එහා. මේක නතර කලේ ’70- ‘77 සිරිමා රජයයි.  පිස්සු තීරණයක්. ඒ රජයේ හිටපු NM ඇමතිතුමා එවකට යටියන්තොට මන්ත්‍රී.

අද අවිස්සාවේල්ලෙන් එහාට දුම්රිය පීලිත් එක්කම  ගලවලා දා ඇත. විශාල ජනගහනයක් වෙසෙන මේ ප්‍රදේශවල, අපට තියෙන දුම්රිය සම්පතවත් රැක ගන්න බැරි වීම ගැන එකල සිටි පාලකයනට දොස් නැගීම සාධාරණයි.

බස් මගීන්ම වැනියි දුම්රිය මගින්ද  විඳින දුක. දෙගොල්ලම හිරවී, තෙරපුනු ප්‍රවාහන සේවාවන්  තමා පාවිච්චි කරන්නේ මේ 2025 වසරේදීත්.  බොහෝවිට උදේ වැඩට එන්න සහ සවස වැඩ අවසන් වී ගෙදර යන්න තියෙන්නේ ගුණාත්මයෙන් ඉතාම අඩු මගී (බස්/දුම්රිය) ප්‍රවාහන සේවයක්.

කාන්තාවන් බෙහෙවින් දැන් ස්කූටර්, චැලි කදිමෙට පදිනවා. පිරිමි වගේ ‘අස්සෙන්’ දමා යන ගතියක් තවම නම් මේ අය බෝ කරගෙන නැහැ. බොහොම ප්‍රවේශමින් ඒ අය පදින්නේ.

හොඳම ත්‍රීවිල් රියදුරන් පළාත් මට්ටමෙන් සොයා, බලා තෑගී දෙන වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ඇති කළ යුතුයි.

ත්‍රීවිල් අපේ ආර්ථික වර්ධනයට අති මහත් සේවයක් කළා, විශේෂයෙන්ම නගරවල මගී ප්‍රවාහන සේවා දුර්වල නිසා.

බොහොමයක් ත්‍රී වීල් රියදුරු මහතුන් ඉතා හොඳ අය.

ත්‍රීවිල් වලට ස්තුතිවන්ත වෙන්න සාධාරණ මුදලකට ඉක්මනින් ගමනක් යන්න පුළුවන්.

දැන් මෝටර් සයිකල් ටැක්සි සේවා 2ක් මහ නගරවල ඉතා සාර්ථක ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා. ඉතාම හොඳයි.

ත්‍රීවිල් ලියාපදිංචි කර රියදුරාගේ විස්තර ත්‍රිවිලයේ යන මගියාට දකින්නට පුළුවන් ලෙස සකස් කරන වැඩපිළිවෙලක් අවශ්‍යයි. ත්‍රීවිල් මිටරත් නිතර නිතර පරීක්ෂණයට ලක් කල යුතුයි.

ලංකාවේ රියදුරන් බිලාද එලවන්නේ කියා සොයා බලන හොඳ ක්‍රම වේදයක් නැහැ. කටින් වහනය වන මත්පැන් ගඳින් සහ රියැදුරන්ගේ හැසිරීමේ ස්වභාවයෙන්, රතු ඇස් වලින්  මේ නීති විරෝධීන් අල්ලා ගන්න අපහසුයි. මත්පැන් බීපු රියැදුරන් අල්ලන්න උපකරණ කට්ටල අපේ රටේම අඩු වියදමින් නිෂ්පාදනය කරගන්න අපට බැරි ඇයි? නැතිනම්, අහිංසක ජිවිත රැකීම උදෙසා, ඉන්දියාවෙන් හෝ චීනයෙන් අඩු මුදලට ගෙන්වා හෝ   මේ නිතිවිරෝධින් ඇල්ලීම මහා පරිමාණයෙන් කල යුතුයි.

විශේෂ පොලිස් බලකා යොදා සවසට/රෑට වාහන පෝලිමට පැත්තක නවත්වා චෙක් කරන්න ඕන බිමත් රියදුරන් ඇල්ලීමට. දඩ අය කර පමණක් මදි, ලයිසන් කැන්සල් කරන්න ඕන වසරකට හෝ දෙකකටවත්. රජයට කෝටි ගණනින් නව ආදයම් ලබා ගැනීමේ මාර්ගයක්.

රෑට සිදුවෙන රිය අනතුරු බොහෝමයකට හේතුව බිමත් රියදුරන්.

By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham, Courtesy The Morning

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) has many ‘firsts’ in Sri Lanka’s political history. No other political leader has served as Leader of one of the country’s oldest political parties, the United National Party (UNP), for as long as Wickremesinghe. He has been the Leader of his party for more than three decades and was the longest-serving Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

He is the only politician to have served as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister six times and was unlucky enough not to complete those terms even once.

Wickremesinghe is the first political leader in Sri Lanka to be elected as an executive president through a contested election in Parliament and he eventually became the first former President to be arrested and remanded on charges of abuse of power, allegedly having spent public funds for personal use after a political career of almost half a century.

He was accused of misusing State funds to pay for his and his entourage’s expenses during his two-day stay in London on his way back home from official visits to Cuba to attend the G77 Summit and to the US to attend the 78th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023. 

The former President was in London to attend a ceremony in which his wife Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe was awarded an honorary professorship by a British university. It is reported that Prof. Wickramasinghe travelled to the UK with her own money. Wickremesinghe is accused of spending Rs. 16.6 million in State funds on his staff and security personnel during his stay in London.

The former President returned home on Friday, 29 August after a week in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo, where he had been treated for several serious diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, under the supervision of specialist doctors. 

It is not known whether the Government will allow Wickremesinghe to seek treatment abroad. It is noteworthy that the Attorney General did not request the court to impound the former President’s passport to ensure that he does not go abroad.

Opposition show of support

Wickremesinghe’s case will be heard again on 29 October. Since his fate will be decided by the court, it will amount to contempt of the Judiciary if we were to say anything more about it. Although the affair has become a purely legal issue since his arrest on charges of using State funds for personal benefit, it has created a great deal of furore in the political arena.

Politicians who have been very critical of Wickremesinghe in the past have also rallied to show their support and solidarity with him. Leaders of almost all Opposition parties held media conferences justifying his position and saying that one should not differentiate between the Head of State’s personal and official lives. Moreover, they describe the legal action against Wickremesinghe as political victimisation by the National People’s Power (NPP) Government.

While former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga condemned the move against Wickremesinghe as a calculated assault on the country’s democratic values, another former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, described the arrest as political revenge. 

Meanwhile, former President Maithripala Sirisena has called on Opposition parties to unite, forgetting party differences, to defeat the constitutional dictatorship being established by the NPP regime. Among the former Presidents, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the only one who has not publicly commented on the issue. 

Int’l perspective

The Wickremesinghe affair has also sparked a debate about whether there can be a distinction between personal visits and official visits of presidents. Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court that Wickremesinghe had said there could be no such distinction.

Opposition parties have questioned whether President Anura Kumara Dissanayake uses his own vehicle without security personnel when he travels to Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/NPP events and to visit his family members in Anuradhapura.

In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath stated that the President’s travels within the country for personal needs, especially to visit his ailing mother, could never be compared to the former President going abroad. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva dared the Opposition to take the issue to court if it could.

Since Wickremesinghe is reportedly considered to be the most influential and respected current Sri Lankan political leader at the international level, there was a widespread expectation that the US and Western countries in particular would condemn the actions against him and pressure the Government to release him immediately. Nothing like that seems to have happened.

However, there is no doubt that these countries were watching the developments in Sri Lanka carefully. Among those who had publicly spoken on his behalf from abroad are Indian National Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor and former Norwegian peace envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim. They both urged the NPP Government to release Wickremesinghe, saying he had not committed any serious crime.

When Foreign Minister Herath was asked whether there was pressure from the international community, including foreign embassies, regarding the arrest of the former President, he replied that no foreign diplomat or diplomatic organisations had made any remarks. He further said that the international community recognised that the rule of law in Sri Lanka had been applied equitably and honestly, unlike in the past.

Senior UNP leaders briefed various foreign embassies in Colombo on the circumstances that had led to the arrest of the former President and some international organisations had requested them to provide further details about the arrest, party sources said.

Attempts at mobilising support 

It is reported that after returning home from remand (the ICU of the NHSL) former President Wickremesinghe is now keen on forming a broader alliance against the Government by uniting the now-dissipated Opposition parties. The Opposition was hoping to use his arrest to mobilise people against the Government, but the emotional momentum of the voices that arose in his support now seems to have subsided.

It was reported that Wickremesinghe had planned to turn the UNP’s 79th annual convention, which was to have been held yesterday (6), into a major political event to showcase Opposition unity and to invite all former Presidents and Opposition politicians, including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, to attend. It was also planned to shift the convention from the UNP Headquarters Sirikotha to a neutral venue in order to avoid discomfort to leaders of other parties.

In a complete departure from past tradition, this time on the occasion of the UNP’s anniversary, arrangements were to have been made to pay floral tributes to all the past leaders of Sri Lanka including former Prime Ministers S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Dr. N.M. Perera, and D.A. Rajapaksa.

However, at the last moment, considering Wickremesinghe’s health condition, it was announced that the convention had been postponed.

There is a widespread opinion that the Wickremesinghe episode is unlikely to unite Opposition parties and pose a major challenge to the Government. They do not have an acceptable leader with the political clout to lead them to form a broad alliance of Opposition parties. At the same time, an important question is whether Wickremesinghe has become a strong political factor that can help unite the Opposition parties after his arrest. 

Meanwhile, most of today’s Opposition politicians can easily be targeted by the Government for their past misdeeds. Therefore, they are talking about uniting and mobilising people in order to create an atmosphere whereby they can ensure that the Government is not inclined to take legal action against them. It is certainly not possible for such an approach to win the support of the people.

Govt. position 

At the same time, there is criticism that the NPP Government, which has failed to deliver on the promises it made to the people during last year’s national elections, is preoccupied with legal action against members of former regimes in order to divert attention from important issues. It is also believed that Wickremesinghe was taken into custody to check the pulse of the people before going after more popular and powerful political leaders.

Government leaders make declarations about action to be taken against corrupt politicians, showing that they do not heed the warnings of Opposition politicians who accuse the Government of pursuing political vendettas. The Inspector General of Police has said that investigations have commenced to identify those who mobilised protesters at the court premises in support of Wickremesinghe.

President Dissanayake reiterated the Government’s commitment to the implementation of the law in an equitable manner for all citizens, stressing that measures already taken would not be reversed. He said that State money would be recovered from those who misused it, and that those responsible for corruption and abuse would be severely punished. The President has also announced that State-owned houses given to former presidents will be taken back after a new law is passed this month.

At the same time, the Government has announced that other former presidents will also be investigated if complaints of their alleged irregularities are received. Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told the media that investigations would be launched against other former presidents if complaints were received from anyone, saying that the law would be applied equally to all.

A political message? 

There is an important aspect to be noted in the Wickremesinghe affair. He is a leader from one of Sri Lanka’s traditional political families. 

His arrest and the many hours of discomfort he had to endure in court have caused serious anger among Colombo’s elite. There have also been criticisms concerning class animosity in the actions taken against Wickremesinghe, given the humble family backgrounds of the leaders of the NPP and particularly the JVP, including President Dissanayake.

It is obvious that even many of those who dislike Wickremesinghe’s politics and his personality traits are deeply offended by the fact that he was handcuffed and bundled into a prison vehicle like an ordinary criminal. 

There is also a view at some levels of society that the use of a sum of Rs. 16.6 million (a small amount compared to the massive financial corruption that has taken place in Sri Lanka) to attend a ceremony where his wife was honoured for her accomplishments in the academic field, should not have been blown into a serious issue that warranted Wickremesinghe’s arrest. 

Former diplomat and political analyst Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, who has been a fierce critic of Wickremesinghe, said in an article that the true face of President Dissanayake’s administration had been exposed. 

On the issue of the Central Bank bond scam, Dr. Jayatilleka said he did not consider the former President to be above suspicion and added that it would be an insult to one’s own intelligence to believe that Wickremesinghe would have siphoned off Rs. 16.6 million from State funds when he would have received the sum immediately if he had asked his family or friends.

Dr. Jayatilleka further stated that it was impossible for the leaders of the JVP/NPP to differentiate between legality and legitimacy, and that by arresting Wickremesinghe for a relatively weak issue and inflicting discomfort, the Government had demonstrated not only its lack of commitment to social justice, but also the low-mindedness and misplaced fanaticism of its leadership.

A section of the population is also concerned that Sri Lanka, facing an unprecedented economic downturn in its history, should not have arrested and humiliated a senior political leader who took on the mantle of power with political courage and guided its recovery. 

A prominent political columnist wrote that a man who raised the dollar reserves of the Treasury from a low of $ 50 million upon taking office in July 2022 to a high of $ 6 billion upon leaving it in September 2024 was not fit to be arrested for misusing a mere Rs. 16 million ($ 53,000).

Wickremesinghe left the NHSL on 29 August. He was carrying a book, the political memoirs of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, titled ‘Unleashed.’ 

He may have brought the book from home to read during his days in the hospital. And he may also have intended to convey a political message to the Government by displaying a book with such a title. 

While Googling to find details of Johnson’s book, this writer chanced upon a review of the same by The Guardian Associate Editor Martin Kettle under the headline ‘Unleashed by Boris Johnson review – memoirs of a clown.’ The review is introduced as follows: All the fancy verbiage in the world cannot disguise the emptiness at the heart of this self-serving, solipsistic book.”

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody Courtesy The Morning

• This is Part I of a two-part series. The second part will be published in an upcoming issue of The Daily Morning
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• Poverty, racism/discrimination/prejudice, un-encouraging families and physical health issues blamed

Children from the Sri Lankan gypsy community frequently only go to school once or twice a week, or a few days a month with this inconsistent attendance being caused by poverty, racism, discrimination, and prejudice in all their forms, students coming from families that are not encouraging, and physical health-related issues. As a result of this sporadic primary education received, children of the gypsy community in areas such as Siyambalagaswewa have far inferior attitudes/views, abilities, and levels of knowledge in terms of the norm and also compared to children from other communities. 

These findings were made in ‘A comprehensive study on the discontinuity of the primary school education of children in the gypsy community (with special reference to a primary school in Siyambalagaswewa in the Mihinthale education division sector)’ which was authored by D.O. Meththasinghe (attached as an Assistant Lecturer to the National Institute of Social Development’s School of Social Work), and published in the Student Journal of Social Work’s fourth volume’s first issue this month.

Gypsies are nomadic people who don’t own homes, and as a result, travel a lot, living a nomadic life. Palmistry, fishing, luring snakes (usually cobras), teaching monkeys to imitate people, and other hobbies are some of the ways that they make a living. In addition, the language that the gypsies use and the traditions that they follow are also indications that gypsies originate from a different nation. Gypsies, particularly children, speak a language known as ‘Telugu/Telegu’. Gypsies are present not just in Sri Lanka but also in other parts of the world and are descended from these types of people. Gypsies are also known as ‘Roma’. In Telugu, ‘Ahi’ means ‘Cobra’, ‘Kuntika’ means ‘Dancer’, and ‘Ahikuntaka’ means ‘Cobra Dancer’ (R. Bandara’s ‘The ahikuntaka’). 

Anthropologists believe that the origin of the gypsy may be traced back to Southern India. The ‘Koravar tribe’ in Madurai and Pandya might be compared to the gypsies. Linguists argue that their original language, which is connected to the Tamil language spoken in Southern India, has strong linkages to that language (D. Amarasekera’s ‘Sri Lanka society’). As a consequence of this, the gypsy language that is spoken in South India is somewhat analogous to the Telugu language that is spoken by the gypsies in Sri Lanka. Gypsies adhere to the nuclear family system. It is comprised of a collection of families that is formed by the coming together of various different families. There is a person in charge of each of these organisations. When it comes to the organisation as a whole, he is the sole authority figure, and he is the one who makes choices and the one who ensures that justice is served. Some of these people have got into the habit of spending every penny that they make without putting anything away for the future. Also, they are only concerned with the here and the now, rather than the future, which has a similar impact on the children in the gypsy community who are supposed to attend school in order to prepare for the future,” Meththasinghe observed.

Modernisation, urbanisation, and the decreasing availability of land for sustenance have all had an effect on the growth of the gypsy community. The monarchs had previously undertaken a number of different endeavours to both stop the gypsy community from moving about from one location to another and to find a home for them so that they could stay permanently in a single location. According to the Mahaweli Authority, many gypsy families have had the chance to farm their own land since 1980. When the women were given jobs in the export villages, the young males were conscripted to the military. As a direct result of these efforts, which were fruitful, the gypsies soon adapted to the way of life of the regular people and gave up their nomadic way of life.

The Mahakanadarawa Ahikuntaka village, which is managed by the Mihinthale Pradeshiya Sabha and is located on the edge of the Mahakanadarawa Tank, has the following postal address: The New Thelungu/Thelingu village, Seeppukulam, Mihinthale. By 2013, there were around 200 people residing in the village, distributed between 34 households. The history of the village is very recent; in 1999, former Minister S.M. Chandrasena took action to provide the community with permanent housing. A direct result of this was that around 30 dwellings in the village were erected on parcels of land that were 10 perches in size. Before moving to their current location, the people lived in close proximity to the Mahakanadarawa Tank, which is an essential component of their day-to-day lives. After moving to their current location, the people have continued to reside in close proximity to the Mahakanadarawa Tank. This village is home to two of the Ahikuntaka clans which are known to move across Sri Lanka. The majority of the people living in the village identify themselves as ‘Lankan Thelingu’ people and can trace their genealogy back to a community that originally resided in Puttalam. The majority of their money comes from fishing, but the females still put their centuries-old skill to use by reading palms in a variety of public locations in and around the city of Anuradhapura. The original gypsy community, which was situated in the nearby village of Thambuththegama, may have been the source of origin for around six of the families that presently reside in the area. The women continue the age-old practice of reading palms, and the males indulge in pastimes such as the hypnotism of serpents and the training of performing monkeys. These two families place a strong priority on maintaining their separate identities, despite the fact that they live in such close proximity to one another. Each clan thinks that they are superior to the other. However, it also appears that both parties are guilty of breaking some of their traditions as they were traveling along their journey of life. A few of the locals, when queried about their religious views, told that while in the past they had practiced Buddhism, they had subsequently converted to Catholicism. Despite this, it seemed that they were clueless about the specific Catholic church to which they belonged. Several of these individuals stated that they adhered to the teachings of ‘Kali Amma’. This Siyambalagaswewa village is under the control of Clansman Aloysius. He tied the knot with a female who spoke Thelingu, and her name was Thangavelu Kamalawathie. Aloysius claims to be of Sinhalese heritage. There is no evidence that the leader and his partner have ever been legally married, despite the fact that they are presently cohabitating. Both of them have children from prior relationships. The settlements are plagued by a variety of challenges, the most prominent of which is the persistent lack of access to potable water. The closest well is roughly a half mile away from the village, and accessing it may be difficult owing to the wild elephants that roam the area and consume the plants around it. In addition to this, they are not allowed to make use of any of the several forms of public transportation that are accessible in this area. On the buses, they are not well received because they are unclean and they smell,” Meththasinghe observed. The said Siyambalagaswewa Primary School is situated adjacent to the gypsy village. In spite of the fact that the gypsy children lacked essential documentation such as birth certificates and other such records, the school’s principal and the teaching staff have made a number of concessions in order to accept them as students. These children, in comparison to the other children, exhibited behaviours that are not typical of children their age. Their attitudes, talents, and knowledge are all much below average in comparison to other people. The youngsters were progressively exposed, through their teachers and other adults, to standards, customs, habits, and the like. Some individuals received education on basic hygienic procedures, such as the correct way to brush their teeth and use the toilet. In addition to the school community, a number of well-wishers came to help the gypsy children who were enrolled in the school. Yet, it is a very difficult task to get them to abandon their centuries-old customs. They are obligated to preserve the traditions that have been passed down from their parents and elders. For instance, begging, fishing, monkey dancing, and other similar activities continue. In addition, it is part of their tradition to go to areas in which they had other relatives living so that they might perform their rites in the company of those people. In addition to this, they often participate in religious events in Jaffna, Puttalam, Thambuththegama, Mannar, Vavuniya, and Kataragama, which led them to miss a large amount of school. This resulted in substandard attendance at school, consisting of one or two days per week, a few days per month, throughout a school term. As a direct consequence of this, their predicted level of success in terms of attitudes, knowledge, and talents is much lower than that of a typical youngster, as are their habits and customs.

The gypsy community also receives a range of other types of assistance from various government entities. Some of them include the Grama Niladhari, an Economic Development officer from the Divisional Secretariat (DS), a Samurdhi officer, a Social Service officer, an Early Childhood Development officer, and a Child Rights Promotion officer among others. As a result, a strong connection is maintained with the gypsy community. But, it does not appear that their centuries-old customs have any influence on regular school attendance. This has an impact on the society as a whole.

As a direct result of this, the school children of the Siyambalagaswewa village have not paid nearly enough attention to the school children of the gypsy community. Yet, factors like early marriages among female children, frequent fishing practices by males, and snake charming have produced substantial worry among the other school children, which has led to poor school attendance and hate by the village people. The lack of capacity of illiterate individuals to teach children how to lead better lives is a significant obstacle for the society as a whole. This aspect is also a major contributor to the low rate of school attendance. Other than that, there are a few students who are approaching the usual level of outstanding manners that is required of them to a far greater degree than the rest of the students. This indicates the favourable effects that constant attendance at work and engagement with coworkers has on children of all ages. As a direct consequence of this, the qualities of gypsy children and parents who have frequent and significant relationships with members of the Sinhalese community have developed exceptionally well.

School edu. of children in the gypsy community

The values, traditions, norms, beliefs, and practices of the culture in which a child is brought up and reared have a considerable bearing and significant impact on the sense of identity and self that the child develops as an adult. The extended family is the primary means of socialisation in the gypsy society in Sri Lanka (J.C. Berthier’s ‘The socialisation of the gypsy child’). This network provides both mental and physical support to children. There is a great deal of diversity present within gypsy groups; yet, there are some similarities in the ways in which children are traditionally brought up and often raised. This training occurs at a much younger age than the average age of children in the general population. They also rarely subject their children to physical punishment. Traditional community education for children is an essential component of their communities, and through involvement in its daily activities, they are exposed to and acquire the economic, social, linguistic, political, and moral norms of their society in Sri Lanka. Education is considerably different from traditional schooling. Young children generally attend school in extremely competitive, structured environments and settings where each minute and hour of the day are organised and planned around certain academic responsibilities and requirements.

Primary edu. of children in the gypsy community

In gypsy cultures, the primary influences in a child’s life are often their immediate family as well as their extended network of relatives. The culture of the dominant society also has an impact on a child’s perspective, in addition to their family and friends. This assists people in being ready for the social and financial demands of adulthood, such as getting married, maintaining steady work, and beginning a family. They are also given the responsibility of looking after younger children. A child’s sense of freedom is bolstered by the absence of physical punishment. Joking or mocking is employed to induce compliance in children by making them feel awkward or foolish.

From the ages of five to 12, children are considered to be pure and innocent. As a consequence of this, the hygiene-related laws don’t apply to them. A gypsy child, in contrast to an adolescent, has fewer social obligations and less political stature.

Reasons for non-continuing schooling of gypsy children

The process of child socialisation and education is characterised by community education. Children learn to trust themselves and adopt culturally accepted values in a situation where they are encouraged to be self-reliant, are seldom penalised, and significantly contribute to the economic operations of the community. Up until puberty, when young adults take on gender-assigned tasks, childhood is characterised by its relative freedom from societal obligations. Since it teaches them adult verbal and non-verbal communication skills and enables them to participate in community economic activities, a community education assists gypsy children in Sri Lanka in making the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Due to the increasing need for literacy, more people are seeking non-traditional education options for their children. Nonetheless, there are other situations in which children’s requirements are not met by conventional education. Understanding this will be necessary in order to find a solution that works for everyone involved. It is equally important for the future success of gypsy children that fresh programmes be developed to increase the number of gypsy children enrolled in education in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, these efforts must respect people’s rights to self-determination and full involvement in education projects, especially those involving their children. What can be said with certainty however is the vital need for non-educators to recognise the uniqueness of history, language, and culture, and to take action to rectify the imbalances that people face in areas such as education.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Sept. 9 (Daily Mirror) – Russia, in response to the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, said that it sees no reason to raise concerns about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, whose authorities demonstrate their readiness to build mutually respectful cooperation with international human rights mechanisms. 

A Russian representative said that a clear example is the recent visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to this country.

“We note the efforts aimed at bringing national legislation into line with international human rights obligations. Measures are being taken to improve the public administration system. Progress is being made towards national reconciliation. In this context, we welcome the decision of the country’s government in August 2025 to begin developing a new national policy and action plan in this area. Specialised bureaus are functioning in Sri Lanka, as well as the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations.

Against this background, the ongoing attempts to exert political pressure on this sovereign state under far-fetched human rights pretexts are a cause for concern. It is in this context that we consider the HRC resolutions, unsupported by the national authorities, empowering the OHCHR to collect and analyse information on alleged human rights violations for some future judicial processes. Such an approach contradicts the universal principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states. We are convinced that the investigation of any violations and bringing to justice is the exclusive prerogative of the Sri Lankan authorities,” stated the Russian representative.

Courtesy Hiru News

Remittances from Sri Lankan migrant workers have shown significant growth, reaching $5.11 billion in the first eight months of 2025, a 19.3% increase from the same period in the previous year.

This positive trend is expected to continue, with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) projecting total remittances to reach $7 billion by the end of 2025.

This increase in funds is a direct result of a rise in Sri Lankan workers seeking employment abroad, with a total of 212,302 workers having left the country during this period.

The majority of these workers were male, and the top destinations for employment included Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

The SLBFE has also noted a growing interest in East Asian countries, particularly Japan and South Korea.

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Ex secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayake and President SASA 1991-93.

Proposal to set up a Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Institute of Post Graduate Research on Colonial crimes in Sri Lanka and the Global South” at the old Bogambara Prison site.

Mahanuwara. (Kandy) 9.3. 2025.

 A prelude

Bogambara is an ugly vestige of an uncivilized, repressive, inhuman and brutal torcher British Bastille of Sri Lanka, from 1818 to 1948 where the bones of the native victims buried on this ground will bear witness. The first two patriotic national leaders to be beheaded here, were the two national heroes, Keppetipola Disava and Madugalla Disawas on 25th 1818, for leading the historic Uva Wellassa rebellion, the first freedom struggle by the Sinhalese against the British invaders. This was followed by the most uncivilized and barbarous incident that took place here, the murder of Kudapola Thera, by shooting in his robes on 26th August in 1848, under orders by Torrington, the savage white murderer, in spite of strong objections by his own legal adviser, the then Attorney General H.G. Selby, violating all civilized norms of human behavior. Both Brownrigg and Torrington followed the same uncivilized and brutal practices on this spot, in all murders between 1818 to 1850. All these public executions were carried out here in the open air as there was no prison at that time.

It is to be noted here that the charge against all these patriots was treason against the British Crown, whereas all those who were either shot or beheaded, were executed only for rising against the invader, to protect the beloved mother land, where their ancestors had lived and jealously protected for millennia from the inception of human history. These patriots had only risen against a foreign invader to defend their government and the Motherland. By what criterion they called it treason? Was it another synonym for patriotism?

Bogambara prison built in 1877.

This Prison was built on this ground in 1877. Till then all murders were carried out in the open air. Ever since this Bastille of the British was built at the heart of the most Sacred and spiritual heart of the Kandyan Kingdom, it had been used as a torcher house by the British colonial government that had carried on their carnage and imprisonment sprees here until 1948, to satisfy their own savages’ killings with no justice for the native Sinhalese or their heritage at all. Even after they left the shores physically, by handing over the country to their British trained local black white proxy’s, who continued hanging and imprisonment on behalf of their British masters did not come to an end. They also continued to have the colonial prison at Bogambara, for hanging and imprisonment of their own people sentenced under the Roman Dutch law as if we never had a legal system from the beginning of history, without making any attempt to introduce our own legal or a political system. They also continued to have Bogambara Prison at the same place, until rising public agitation against its continuance in front of the Sri Daladaa Maligava, compelled the government to shift it to Pallekele in 2014.  Incidentally it was I who first started that movement by writing an article to the Daily News 29th August 1977, demanding that it should be immediately shifted to Pallekele. In spite of all these oppositions the governments of the so-called independent Sri Lanka continued hanging here, even after declaring it a Republic in 1972, until it was stopped in 1977 temporally. But the prison remained there until it was finally transferred to Pallekele in 2014 at last, as I had suggested in 1977.

In this historical backdrop we all know that the site on which Bogambara prison stands was a place immortalized by the remains of our patriotic ancestors who sacrificed their lives on our behalf to save the motherland from the invaders for posterity. In my opinion, it is therefore a historic place where all Sinhalese should assemble in tens of thousands annually, to pay their homage to the dead, who protected this country for 310 long years (1505-1815) from the enemy, confining three powerful invaders with enormous gunpower to a narrow coastal belt of this Island.

The invaders, having openly violated the Kandyan Convention 1815 in 1818 the uncivilized British murderers    converted this sacred city to a grave yard, where the remains of thousands of our patriotic freedom fighters including Buddhist Monks such as Kudapola Thera and others were brutally executed by beheading, hanging or shooting in public even without trial.  As such Bogambara, in my opinion should be protected as a site of annual moaning of the Sinhala nation cum a national memorial center of the murdered Sinhalese patriots” rather than making it a fool’s merry making paradise, by converting it to a 7-star Hilton, Marriot or Oberoi as some fools have suggested, making the dead to rise from their graves in protest.

Therefore, obviously this is no place suitable for merry making or night life as our politicians and some public officials, who have no vision or a mission at all in their heads for nation building and indulge in promoting crazy tourism, which is a veritable canker  to our economy and culture, as it has already been proved particularly in the Southern and the Eastern parts of the Island, where  Israelist ,Indians, Chinese and even Russians have already taken over the trade in to their own hands, syphoning  all the income to their countries  and thereby depriving this country of its much craved  US $. These negative economic benefits of tourism are in addition to the cultural and social ills that spill down our society, that will one day completely erode the 2566-year-old pristine Sinhala Buddhist civilization from the surface of this Island. Therefore, I call upon all self-serving politicians and officials in this country, who are still suffering from this night mare tourist syndrome, to read Dr Asoka Bandarage’s article Sri Lanka: The Beautiful, Besieged Island” in the Lanka web (3.9.2025.)

It is in this sad and appalling backdrop that I propose to setup a Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Institute of Post Graduate Research on Colonial crimes in Sri Lanka and the Global South” at the old Bogambara Prison site, to attract the attention of the whole world, instead of the mad idea of a tourist hotel.

I give below the reasons for selecting Sri Lanka for this proposed International Institute

Sri Lanka is centrally located on the world map; it is easily accessible to all countries, both by sea and air; it is one of the leading members of the Aon-Aligned Movement (NAM) right from its beginning in 1956 Bandung days; During Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayakaya’s time (1972-1977), in 1971 at her initiation together with Julius Nyerere of Tanganika, got the UN to declare the Indian Ocean Ocen as a peace Zone by United Nations General Assembly resolution. (A/RES/2832(XXVI 1971) This declaration called for great powers to eliminate military bases and weapons from the Indian Ocean and for all states to respect it as a zone, free from military rivalries and weapons of mass destruction. (But it had been violated by UK and subsequently by US by opening up a military base on Diago Garcia, right at the center of the Indian Ocean, with B-2 bombers capable of carrying 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs with a 10,000 km range.US used this base in their recent attack on Ira). I am lost to understand as to why India, as the biggest power in the region is keeping silent on this breach of UN resolution). Again, during her tenure as Chairman of the NAM, 1970/76, she had the NAM meeting in Colombo where 85 NAM leaders had grazed the occasion making it one of the most colorful events in the annals of the NAM.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka was the only country in the world, where British invaders could not conquer by war; (they annexed it in 1815 only by a mutually agreed friendly Convention between two equal Kingdoms by intrigue cleverly hatched by Doily and Brownrigg. It was blatantly and illegally violated by British, as preplanned, on Nov 21st 1818 by a Royal Proclamation, by which the British consolidated their arbitrary power, as if they had captured this country by defeating the Sinhalese by war, completely ignoring the Kandyan Convention which is legally valid even today, as an international Agreement between the Sinhale and the United Kingdom. Brownrigg resorted to the most inhuman and uncivilized methods in this dastardly act, which Daivy in 1821 had described in the following words.  The history of British rule in Sri Lanka after the 1818 rebellion cannot be related without shame. None of the members of the leading families in in the Kandyan country have survived. Smallpox and privations have destroyed those spared by the gun and the sword” In fact it was under this type of proclamations British ruled this country up to1948, under the iron boot.

Thus, the suppression of Kandyans by the British has gone down in world history as one of the most savages and cruel and barbaric operations ever known to man on earth.

Finally, and most importantly, this country was the only country in the world that was not conquered in war by the British, but only by deception and intrigue. Even to get that done three powerful colonial invaders had to fight for 310 years from1505- 1815, where the Sinhalese successfully kept the invaders at bay by keeping them confined to a narrow coastal belt all that time. This indeed was a unique achievement on the part of the Sinhalese in world history.

In this backdrop, I have no doubt that all NAM countries will readily welcome this idea. Such an institution will form a formidable forum for all NAM countries to voice their objections to the neo-colonial agenda of the colonial Atlantic civilizations. It will also open the gates for the whole world to know, how these colonial invaders had destroyed this country in particular and almost all countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East as well for centuries, in general, to enrich their treasuries at home and build up their Empires.

This subjugation was followed by the creation of a network of global colonial dependencies by the colonia powers as sources of cheap raw materials for their industries and markets in order to consolidate their dominance over the so called third world,  they themselves have created for 4 centuries by subjugation, repression,  exploitation,  subordination and murder to perpetuate their western colonial dependency trap at the expense of the so-called Third World or the Global South  as they sometimes call them, a diabolical creation of the Atlantic Civilization of Sea Pirate nations.

 I am confident, once we initiate this project, it could be expanded to attract the interest of all the so-called Global South countries, who had been the victims of colonialism for centuries and continue to be so even at present. The proposed could be developed as the Headquarters of an International Institute of Research on Colonial crimes in the Global South”

 As a first in this step, I suggest we first address a letter to the SRAAC General Secretary and convince him on the advantages of this proposal not only to expose colonial misdoings but also to keep all major powers led by the US, India and China with self-interest at bay, by asserting Sri Lanka as the hub in this pursuit in the Indo Pacific region by uniting the Global South under the banner of the Non Aling Movement. Our next step should be to summoning a joint meeting of the SAARC countries to work out the inter-governmental commitment modalities. The next step should be to summon a meeting of the NAM to build up the joint Global South movement. A strong NAM could even be a challenge to the New World Order that is struggling to be born, where Sri Lanka could be its epicenter.  As Shenali Waduge has correctly asserted such a strategy could even turn Sri Lanka in to a diplomatic, economic, moral hub of the 21st century in a New Brave Modern World and reassert Sri Lanka’s role as a neutral hub of dialogue in the Indo-Pacific. If Sri Lanka takes the lead, it will no longer be a pawn shuffled by others, but the square on which the next game of geopolitics is reset.”

*(A draft of the Proposed Project Report is annexed)

Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon Executive Director/ Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) Sri Lanka

The persistent delay of Provincial Council (PC) elections in Sri Lanka, often attributed to incomplete electoral boundary delimitation, remains a significant concern, as the current government continues this trend. In its 2025 response to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report (A/HRC/60/21), the government reiterated its commitment to holding PC elections once delimitation is finalized. However, since 2017, successive administrations have used the introduction of a new electoral system and delimitation issues as justifications for postponing these elections. The current government, led by the National People’s Power—which vocally opposed delays in local government elections in 2023–2024—has, for nearly a year, followed a similar path, casting doubt on its commitment to timely democratic processes.

Legal and Political Barriers

The inability to conduct PC elections stems from the absence of an updated electoral law, compounded by past political instability that prevented a Prime Minister-led review committee from submitting its delimitation report to Parliament within the stipulated timeframe. If the government is genuinely committed to holding these elections, it could establish a new review committee under the Prime Minister’s leadership, present recommendations to Parliament within two months, and enact the necessary legislation. Should concerns arise about the legality of such a committee, parliamentary approval could resolve the issue. Alternatively, if the government wishes to hold elections under the previous proportional representation system, it could pass legislation with a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

Urgent Need for Electoral Reform

The core obstacle to PC elections is the lack of a clear electoral law, which only Parliament can address. For nearly a year, the government has made no progress on delimitation, echoing the inaction of administrations since 2018 and providing only a superficial response to the OHCHR report. To honor its commitments, Parliament must enact a clear electoral law for Provincial Councils.

Fulfilling Commitments to the UN and India

The government’s 2025 response to the OHCHR reaffirmed its intent to hold PC elections post-delimitation, addressing concerns about implementing the 13th Amendment. India has consistently urged the timely holding of PC elections under the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, which established the PC system to address ethnic tensions. Fulfilling these commitments would enhance Sri Lanka’s international credibility and support reconciliation efforts emphasized by the UN.

Integration with Human Rights Commitments

The OHCHR’s 2025 report (A/HRC/60/21) underscores that holding PC elections is critical to fulfilling Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations, particularly under the 13th Amendment, which promotes devolution to address ethnic and regional grievances. The absence of PC elections since 2018 has hindered reconciliation, especially in the North and East, where devolved governance is vital. By prioritizing elections, the government can demonstrate progress on the UN’s recommendations for accountability, rule of law, and inclusive governance, aligning with commitments to address past violations and impunity.

Challenges with Delimitation

The Delimitation Commission, established in 2015, has been ineffective due to the lack of a clear mandate, leaving unresolved boundary issues related to the police, judiciary, local government bodies, divisional secretariats, village administration units, and sectors such as forest conservation, wildlife, archaeology, and indigenous affairs. A properly empowered National Delimitation Commission is urgently needed to address these challenges in a systematic manner.

Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon

Executive Director/ Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) Sri Lanka
Rajith_tennakoon@yahoo.com

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Sept. 8 (Daily Mirror) – While alleging that two containers comprising raw material used to produce narcotic drugs have been cleared despite prior warnings by foreign intelligence units, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa today urged the government to reveal how they have reached the producers.

There are many issues pertaining to this incident. We understand that foreign intelligence units have warned about these containers. We have been told that these containers have been cleared. Therefore, a number of issues arise with regard to the development. Were the containers subjected to security checks? If so, who conducted the inspections? The government should reveal these details to the country,” Mr. Premadasa said during a meeting he had with a group of ex-MPs.

We would also like to know when these two containers were released. One wonders whether these two containers were among the 323 red-labelled containers which were released earlier this year. Individuals and institutions which were behind this incident must be disclosed,” he said.

At the same time, Mr. Premadasa said recovering consignments of raw material used for producing ‘Ice’, which has become a popular narcotic drug in Sri Lanka, is a positive move.

Police have discovered stocks of chemicals, suspected to be used in the manufacture of the drug ‘Ice’, in Middeniya and Kandana.

Courtesy Adaderana

In a breakthrough that reads like a beacon of hope, Russia has announced that its novel cancer vaccine, Enteromix, has demonstrated 100% efficacy and safety in initial human trials. 

The news highlights the vaccine’s remarkable performance: patients experienced tumour shrinkage and no serious side effects. 

Developed using the same mRNA technology as the COVID-19 vaccines, Enteromix is designed to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells, a safer, more intelligent alternative to traditional treatments like chemotherapy.

This pioneering therapy is personalized for each colorectal cancer patient, offering a custom immunotherapy tailored to an individual’s tumour profile. 

The trials involved 48 volunteers and were conducted by Russia’s National Medical Research Radiological Centre in collaboration with the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology. 

The announcement, made at the 2025 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, frames this Russian cancer vaccine as a potential game-changer in oncology, one step away from regulatory approval by Russia’s Ministry of Health.

Global oncology is watching attentively. If these results are validated through larger, rigorous trials, Enteromix could herald a new era: personalized, effective, and side-effect-light cancer treatment. 

For Indian patients, many of whom face high cancer burdens and variable access to care, such an advancement could be profoundly impactful-provided regulatory and accessibility pathways align.

How Enteromix was developed

Enteromix was born from years of coordinated research by Russia’s National Medical Research Radiological Centre and the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology. 

The vaccine leverages mRNA technology, similar to the platform that enabled rapid COVID-19 vaccine development, to generate a custom immune response against cancer cells. 

The personalized nature of Enteromix means each dose is tailored to the individual’s tumour genomics, a biomarker-driven approach enabled by sophisticated mutation-profiling algorithms.

What sets it apart from other cancer vaccines

Unlike conventional cancer vaccines, which often follow a one-size-fits-many strategy and historically underperform, Enteromix brings two key innovations:

• Fully personalized design: Each vaccine is crafted based on the genetic makeup of an individual’s tumour, improving target specificity and immune engagement.
• mRNA platform: This allows rapid development and scalability, something decades-long efforts in cancer vaccines have lacked. The mRNA-based method can also be adapted for different cancers quickly.

This combination of personalization and agility positions Enteromix at the frontier of therapeutic vaccines, potentially overcoming longstanding challenges in immuno-oncology.

Implications for global and Indian patients

If Enteromix gains regulatory approval and wider validation, its implications are wide-reaching:

• For global patients: A shift from broad, harsh treatments to safer, tailored immunotherapies could reduce side effects and improve outcomes.
• For India: With colorectal and cervical cancer among the leading causes of cancer mortality here, access to an effective, personalized cancer vaccine could transform care, if cost, infrastructure, and regulatory support are in place.

However,caution remains vital. Early trial success doesn’t guarantee long-term efficacy or generalizability, and logistical challenges around personalized mRNA vaccine production and distribution, like cold-chain storage, genomic profiling, must be addressed. 

Collaboration between regulators, healthcare systems, and innovation hubs will determine whether Enteromix remains a promise or becomes a global standard of care.

Source: NDTV

-Agencies 

Courtesy Hiru News

During the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, reiterated Sri Lanka’s rejection of any form of external intervention or mechanism to investigate alleged human rights violations.

Speaking at the session on Monday (08), Minister Herath stated that Sri Lanka’s commitment to the accountability process is exclusively through domestic mechanisms.

He was responding to a report on Sri Lanka presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

The Human Rights Council session, which began today and runs until October 8th, will address various topics, including the protection of human rights for youth, ending violence, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Reports and verbal updates on the human rights situations in several countries, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, and Syria, are also scheduled to be presented.

The High Commissioner’s report on Sri Lanka, which was recently published, claims that the government has failed for years to acknowledge serious human rights violations committed by the military and other security forces.

It also recommends that Sri Lanka sign the Rome Statute, which would give the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over war crimes accusations.

In response, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva stated that Sri Lanka does not recognise the Human Rights Council Resolution 57/1, which the report is based on.

The mission’s statement highlighted Sri Lanka’s continued opposition to external accountability projects, arguing that such initiatives are detrimental to the domestic reconciliation process.

During his visit, Minister Vijitha Herath is also scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with several high-level diplomats.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Japanese government has provided projects worth $3.7 million to improve infectious disease waste management in Sri Lankan government hospitals. Under this initiative, 15 hospitals across all nine provinces will receive medical waste incinerators equipped with temperature control and exhaust gas treatment systems.

The Trincomalee General Hospital has already received the infectious waste management equipment. The project aims to strengthen the country’s infection prevention and control capacity by providing technical training on proper waste management and equipment operation.

Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata stated that a catheterisation laboratory is also expected to be established at the Trincomalee General Hospital within two years, which will further improve the quality of medical services in the Eastern Province and neighbouring areas.

“This project not only provides advanced facilities for infectious disease waste management but also strengthens the capacity of healthcare workers through training in Kaizen, 5S, and TQM methods,” Ambassador Isomata said.

The handover ceremony for the equipment at the Trincomalee General Hospital was attended by Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra, Trincomalee District Parliamentarian Roshan Akmeemana, and JICA Sri Lanka Office Chief Representative Kenji Kuronuma.

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

පලාත් සභා ඡන්ද විමසීම අතුරුදන් කිරීම සඳහා පසුගිය ආණ්ඩු විසින් යොදාගත් ‘සීමා නිර්ණය අවසන් කිරීම’ පිළිබඳ නිදහසකට කාරණයක් ලෙස, වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් ද නැවත යොදා ගැනීම කනගාටුවට කරුණක් බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානාව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් පවසයි. 

මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලයේ (OHCHR) ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාර්තාවට ලිඛිත ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය ‘සීමා නිර්ණය කටයුතු අවසන් වූ පසුව පළාත් සභා ඡන්දය පැවැත්වීමට පියවර ගන්නා බව’ දක්වා ඇත. 2017 සිට පළාත් සභා ඡන්දය කල් දැමීම සඳහා එවකට සිටි රජයන් නව මැතිවරණ ක්‍රමයක් හඳුන්වාදීම සහ සීමා නිර්ණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ‍වන ගැටළුව නිදහසට කරුණක් ලෙස යොදා ගෙන ඇත. පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණය පැවැත්වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් 2023 – 2024 දී තීරණාත්මක විරෝධයක් දැක්වූ ජාතික ජනබලවේගය විසින් පාලනය කරන වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව ද, වසරටක ආසන්න කාලයක් එම මාවතේම ගමන් කරමින් සිටී.

පලාත් සභා දැන් පවත්නා නීතිය අනුව පැවැත්විය නොහැකිව ඇත්තේ,  එවකට පැවති දේශපාලන වියවුල නිසා, අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ගේ සමාලෝචන කමිටුවට මාස දෙකක් තුල සිය වාර්තාව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට නොහැකිවූ නිසාය.  ආණ්ඩුවට පළාත් සභා ඡන්දය පැවැත්වීමට සැබෑ උවමනාවක් තිබේ නම්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරියගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් නව සමාලෝචන කමිටුවක් පත් කර මාස දෙකක් තුල එහි නිර්දේශ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කර සම්මත කර ඡන්දය පැවැත්විය හැකිය. (එවැනි කමිටුවක් නීත්‍යානුකුල නොවේ යැයි රජය සිතන්නේ නම්, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අනුමැතිය සහිතව එය සිදු කළ හැකිය.)  

තාක්ෂණිකව, පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය පැවැත්විය නොහැකිව ඇත්තේ පළාත් සභා සම්බන්ධයෙන්  ‘පවත්නා මැතිවරණය නීතියක් නොමැතිකම’ නිසාය. එයට පිළියම් යෙදිය හැක්කේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පමණී.

පුරා වසරකට ආසන්න කාලයක් පලාත් සභා සීමා නිර්ණයේ ඉදිරි පියවර නොගෙන 2018 සිට පැවති ආණ්ඩු කටයුතු කළ ආකරයෙන්ම කටයුතු කර, මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය වාර්තාවට ඇඟ ගලවා ගැනීමේ ප්‍රතිචාරයක් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් ලබදා දී ඇත. එම පිළිතුර යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත්වීමට නම්, පලාත් සභා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ‘පවත්නා මැතිවරණය නීතියක්’ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මගින් බලාත්මක කළ යුතුය.   පලාත් සභා ඡන්දය පැරණ සමානුපාතික ක්‍රමය යටතේ පැවැත්වීමට ආණ්ඩුව අවශ්‍යතාවයක් ඇති නම්, එය 2/3 බහුතරයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නීති සම්මතයක් මගින් සිදු කළ හැකිය.

2015 දී සීමා නිර්ණය කොමිෂන් සභාව පිහිටවනු ලැබූ නමුත්, එහි කාර්ය භාරය පිළිබඳ ජනවරම (mandate) ලබා දී නැත. එබැවින් කොමිෂන් සභාව එහි මුලික අරමුණ මත ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ නැත. පොලිස්, අධිකරණ, පළාත් පාලන ආයතන, ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් හා ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී වසම්, වන සංරක්ෂන, වන ජීවී, මිනින්දෝරු, ස්වදේශ කටයුතු සීමා නිර්ණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගැටළු රැසක් පවතී. ඒවා මිසඳීම සඳහා විධිමත්ව ස්ථාපනය කළ බලතල හා පහසුකම්  සහිත ජාතික සීමා නිර්ණය කොමිසමක අවශ්‍යතාව පවතින බව ද අවධාරණය කරේ.  

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්
විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.) 2066 Kings Grove Crescent .  Ottawa . Ontario . K1J 6G1 .Canada

7 September 2025

Mr. Volker Turk
UN High Commissioner Human Rights (UNHRC)
Palais Wilson
52 Rue des Paquis
CH1 201, Geneva
Switzerland

Dear High Commissioner Volker Turk:

       Re: What was gained in Human Rights by the end

     of the Tamil Tiger Terrorist separatist Eelam war in Sri Lanka,

     misses the UNHRC’s  Medallion Honour radar.  Not Good!

    ________________________________________________

What was missed by the past High Commissioners, Navanathem Pillay, Zeld Ra’ad Al Hussain and Michelle Bachlet, I sincerely hope that you will correct

during your term as the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Here’s what it is that you all  at UNHRC cannot deny as Fact that with the jaundiced eagerness to label the War winning Sri Lankan armed forces that kicked the butts of the International darlings of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger terrorism who were hell-bent to divide the island into two, calling the Sinhalese -Mothers Kkaki-angels,  criminals.  You at UNHRC missed to honour the Sri Lankan armed forces of another amazing act of Human Rights by providing the Tamil children a life of freedom,who otherwise would have been abducted from homes and schools, and snuffed-dead as Tamil child soldiers..

That was ugly and brutal on your part at UNHRC not to honour every soldier with a Medallion of Honour of Human Rights pinned  on their khaki, blue serge and navy-white uniforms as the Tamil children said in chorus,  at the end of the Eelam War on 19, May 2009:

Brother and Sister soldier

I will no longer be a forced child soldier

I will no longer have to hold a Kalashnikov,

I will no longer have to shoot that AK47,

and I don’t have to kill to survive.

I can now return home

To embrace my Amma and Appa.

Thank you for making me…FREE.

Thank you…thank you…thank you

To all you members of the 

Sri Lanka Armed Forces.”

Nor will we have another poet talk to you at UNHRC

in rhyme as Asoka Weerasinghe did for you all

to comprehend what  we went through in our hearts

and minds as Tamil children of the North of Sri Lanka.

This corpse speaks to me

Still warm and the mouth foams

With his mother’s milk.

A medallion of a misplaced

courage of drying blood

Is stuck to his chest

Where a bullet had pierced

In the assault cracking dark.

I am tired carrying

Around your mother’s tears

Washed with her breast milk

Which were your afternoon feed,

And I see all around you clothes strewn

Hastily like poppy-chested flowers

With eyes of executed children.

The naked truth is that you

Are a Tamil  Tiger” terrorist

Of a war of merciless adult hearts

All safe in jungle bunkers

Marching out the Baby Brigade

To line up as cannon fodder.

The ferris wheel of my eyeballs 

spit out fireworks to light

Up the jungle of stacked match-box coffins

To solicit a late embrace from your Mother

Before you become another number

In the catechism of our Jaffna children.,”

    (from Tears for my Roots by Asoka Weerasinghe)

I ask you Volker Turk stop trying to punish the

Sri Lankan Sinhalese Mothers’ Brigade who  guard

with broom-sticks and ikle brooms their Khaki , Blue Serge

and Navy-white Angels”, who gave them their school

going children as a whole, and not in plywood caskets as puzzles of

heads, limbs, blood-clotted flesh, having him/her blown

to pieces by a Tamil Tiger Claymore mine on their way home from

school.

Don’t you see it, Volker?   Little wonder why the Republican Nikki Haley said that you lot at UNHRC are a cesspool of political bias, and a self serving body that makes a mockery of human rights,.”   How true…how true!

Volker, what did the UNHRC do to save these Tamil kids being abducted and forcibly recruited as child soldiers by the Tamil Tiger terrorists.   You all did sweet nothing.  Right!  But the brave Sri Lankan men in Khaki, blue serge and Navy white gave them the second chance to live.

But you all have the gall and temerity to punish the Sri Lankan Mother’s ‘khaki angels’ who gave the Tamils kid-boys and girls their freedom.  Shish!  What Tosh, Volker!   What saucers of  smelly Gunusskoarl

I hope you will show us Sri Lankans, that your conscience holds a wealth

of Austrian honesty when dealing with Sri Lanka and not maintaining one-sided narratives, legitimizing Tamil Tiger terrorists propaganda while sidelineing Sri Lanka’s amazing Human Rights achievements, as did your past Commissioners Pillay, Zeid and Bachelet.

You ignore the amazing  acts by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces like giving back

20.5 million of their people their right-to-life” which was hijacked for 30-bloody

Years by the Tamil Tiger terrorists…..How can you ignore the amazing act of Human rights by the Sri Lankan soldiers rescuing 295,873 and who were NOT bumped off by the Sri Lankan armed forces, but housed them in a White Tent City, and sustained by feeding them, a million meals a days – breakfasts, lunches and dinners.   How could you ignore such Classic war textbook Acts of Human Rights. And what do they get for their gallantry according  to the grandiose scheme of the UNHRC?,  Eleven (11) UNHRC Resolutions seeking to punish Sri Lanka. What a bunch of cesspool niggardly, putrid International Bullies! That’is what you are…and Nikki Haley got it right.

And you,  Volker Turk, as an honest Austrian, fail to recognize the Sri Lankan

Armed Forces Amazing Glorious Human Rights Acts… you would only insult your good, and honest Austrian people.  And I will not hesitate to Curse you with a rubbishing word…”Boo!”

There you are Volker, Asoka Weerasinghe, a Sri Lankan-Canadian has spoken from his heart.  You lot who are gung-ho, wanting to punish the gallant Sri Lankan soldiers, do not  deserve any kinder words as a Sri Lankan Diplomat would do.

Warmly

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)

 Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka has rarely been treated as a sovereign nation in international geopolitics. Sri Lanka had very few leaders able to read geopolitical shifts well enough to spin it to Sri Lanka’s advantage. Sri Lanka has been positioned as a pawn on the chessboard of great powers. Today, we see another dimension unfold. As tensions sharpen between the United States and India despite their QUAD partnership, Sri Lanka once again finds itself caught in the middle of a rivalry it neither initiated nor controls. Yet, Sri Lanka can play a pivotal role to moot the Indian Ocean as a Region of Peace and realign the Global South towards a nenewed collaborative non-alignment.

QUAD: Partnership or Proxy?

When India joined the QUAD, it was presented as a platform for Indo-Pacific security and prosperity. India was given great prominence as a key ally of the US.

New Delhi, saw it as a chance to claim global stature. This was not what US or West had in mind.

India’s friendship with the US/West with hidden costs:

• India compromised its regional autonomy, opening South Asia and the Indian Ocean to greater Western penetration. India had invited the enemy to Asia.
• Washington never intended India to be an equal partner — only a proxy buffer against China with friendship” serving as a camouflage to fool India/Indians.
• In the process, India weakened the very regional balance it sought to preserve.

As per Modern War Institute: India represents a natural counterbalance in a region where China’s strength, leadership, and boldness are increasing”

Caspian Asper Society: The U.S. is actively encouraging India to counterbalance China’s growing influence by increasing its own investments and security presence in the Indian Ocean.”

While US viewed India as a counter-balance, India wished to use US friendship for bigger goals.

India’s Ideology: Akhand Bharat and Regional Hegemony

With this newly gifted ally” status India leveraged its superior role by presenting the ideology of Akhand Bharat — the dream of a Greater India” extending over South Asia controlled by India. The map exposed India’s ambitions. This cost India its friendship.

Ironically, Tamil Nadu’s own secessionist noise — fueled by Western actors — now turns this map against New Delhi.

• Since independence, India has pursued a hegemonic foreign policy, seeking dominance over Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. The proudly displayed map has now backfired on India with West’s tool in Tamil Nadu calling to merge Sri Lanka in another gameplan controlled by West.
• From military interventions to political interference, New Delhi has historically destabilized its neighborsto ensure they never challenged India and remain destabled so India can call the shots.
• In Sri Lanka, India’s hand was most visible in the creation, training, and arming of the LTTE. Having created the problem, India then posed as the solution — forcing Sri Lanka to sign the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987 and amending the Constitution to divide the nation into nine provinces with a merged North–East. These were not LTTE demands, but India’s leverage solely for its advantage.

This ambition continues today, dressed in the language of regional security” and partnerships.” and India’s national security”.

Ironically, it is India who has undermined its national security by the manipulations it has played.

https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/bangladesh-questions-controversial-akhand-bharat-mural-mea-responds-178478 – Bangladesh questions controversial Akhand Bharath mural & map

https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/7wesmameg8

Sri Lanka’s 2015 Regime Change: A Piece of the Puzzle

Sri Lanka’s 2015 regime change did not occur in isolation. It was part of the West’s Indo-Pacific design: India partnered with US to

• Install Ranil-Maithri regime to power. This was the catalyst of Sri Lanka’s decline negating all the sacrifices to unite the nation and weakening Sri Lanka’s defense & security apparatus that eventually led to Easter Sunday debacle turning Muslim youth into Islamic jihadi terrorists and crippling the economy to tie Sri Lanka to IMF policies.
• The MCC compact, co-sponsorship of UNHRC resolutions, and renewed focus on the Tamil issuewere strategic tools not reforms to tinker with Sri Lanka’s penal code, administrative systems and Parliamentary powers. The linkages forged between Sri Lanka’s Parliament, Public Sector with US & India is evidence of both competing to control & manipulate Sri Lanka’s policy making apparatus with little or no resistence from Sri Lanka.
• The Northern Province was being quietly groomed as a Western-aligned enclave, both to pressure Colombo and to hold the potential of balkanizing India. India pre-empted this by increasing its control over economic-cultural-educational domains via MOUs and backroom deals. These maneuvers would have also added to Washingtons displeasure.

Both the West and India competed for slices of Sri Lanka — aided by Colombo’s short-sighted leaders and pliant bureaucrats.

India’s Miscalculation: Pawn in a Bigger Game

Modi’s ambition to make India a global force blinded New Delhi to a sobering truth:

• The West was never elevating India, only using it temporarily.
• West envisioned India’s role as an enforcer, not leader, in South Asia.
• As India tries to hedge back toward Russia and China, India continues to carry forward its destructive DNA. India remains a key player in obstructing full BRICS integration, its credibility is questioned by both neighbors and partners.

India, has been reduced to a pawn — though on a larger square of the board than Sri Lanka.

While India played pawn, China has steadily expanded economic clout without needing QUAD theatrics.

The US–India Standoff: Sri Lanka in the Crossfire

The emerging rift between Washington and New Delhi leaves Sri Lanka exposed and vulnerable for lack of political leadership, will or beaurocratic advisory solutions

• If India clings to QUAD,, both West & India, will intensify its footprint in Sri Lanka,– both serving their own purposes at the peril of Sri Lanka’s.
• If India leans toward Russia–China, Washington will tighten its hold on Colombo through its Colombo-based pawns to secure an Indian Ocean outpost – what would this mean for Sri Lanka?
• In both cases, Sri Lanka risks becoming a bargaining chip, not a partner.

Yet, Sri Lanka can manipulate the situation to its advantage – only with the correct leaders & proper advisors.

Both US & India have economically trapped Sri Lanka – leaving little room for Sri Lanka to maneuver independently. Petty party politics have hampered any ability for Sri Lanka to forge the correct geopolitical ties that can help Sri Lanka sail through the rough weather.

What the Next 5–10 years could look like 

Scenario 1: India stays with QUAD

• India doubles down on alignment with the US, despite irritants.
• Sri Lanka becomes the testing groundfor India–US joint projects — infrastructure, security cooperation, political influence.
• Colombo loses room for neutrality, pulled deeper into a Western security orbit, with greater UNHRC scrutinyand economic dependency. However, India must view this as a strangulation point impacting India.

Scenario 2: India tilts back to Russia–China

• India recalibrates towards multipolarity, deepening ties with Moscow and Beijing.
• The US then seeks to tighten control over Sri Lankaas its Indian Ocean foothold.
• Sri Lanka risks being militarized by external powers, as a hedge against both India and China.

Colombo is forced into constant balancing, often at the expense of sovereignty. Colombo would seriously need to reassess siphoning of its strategic assets & resources considering these scenarios.

However, Sri Lanka could leverage this to revive BRICS+ links and attract multipolar investment.

Scenario 3: India Plays Strategic Autonomy”

• India tries to walk a middle path, not fully committing to QUAD or BRICS.
• Both the US and China court Sri Lanka aggressively, while India quietly expands economic leverage and its heritage cultural links.
• Sri Lanka becomes a silent battlefield of influence— with overlapping projects, debt traps, and political manipulation — unless Colombo asserts a strong independent strategy.

Emerging Social Undercurrents

This geopolitical game has social spillovers often overlooked:

Anti-Indian sentiment in the West:

• Indian students and professionals face visa rejections (H1B visa tightening, UK migration limits on Indians) and reduced PR pathways. This weakens India’s global brand — and Sri Lanka should observe closely how this shift changes the power equation.
• Rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the West: Both India and Sri Lanka’s Muslim populations are impacted, with anti-Muslim sentiments shaping foreign policy discourse. This may harden Western intervention narratives.
• Sri Lanka’s brain drain returning home: Fired with ambition and skills, returnees will demand bigger stakes in national decision-making. Harnessing them productively could be Sri Lanka’s game-changer.

Sri Lanka’s Hidden Opportunity

Yet within this storm lies an opportunity for Sri Lanka:

• India’s ambitions of Akhand Bharatalienate its neighbors — Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Bhutan are wary of New Delhi’s dominance.
• As India loses credibility in the region, Sri Lanka can position itself as a hub of neutrality, building ties across blocs while resisting absorption into any one camp. Sri Lanka must rejuvenate the non-aligned status & demand the Indian Ocean Region return to its original charter Zone of Peace – Sri Lanka must champion this as a Global South Initiative. Sri Lanka once championed the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace in 1971. Reviving this initiative as part of a Global South narrative would give Colombo both moral and diplomatic leverage
• By exposing India’s record of destabilization — from backing the LTTE to meddling in domestic politics — Colombo can push back against New Delhi’s narrative and reclaim diplomatic leverage.
• By channeling returning talent and asserting independence, Sri Lanka can reset its role in the Indian Ocean.

Pondering the Future

So, we must ask:

• Is Sri Lanka truly important to the West, or merely a means to the endof cornering China and managing India?
• Have we connected the dots between QUAD, regime change, UNHRC resolutions, and foreign-funded projects — all strands of one design?
• Will we continue as a pawn in someone else’s endgame, or finally reclaim our sovereignty in the Indian Ocean?

Sometimes the greatest danger for small nations is not invasion, but manipulation.

India’s dream of Akhand Bharat and Washington’s Indo-Pacific designs are two sides of the same coin — both reduce Sri Lanka to a pawn. But every pawn, if moved wisely, can change the board. The challenge before Sri Lanka is whether we have the vision and courage to make that move.

Given the rising anti-India currents in the West and the erosion of trust in New Delhi’s regional role, India itself should recognize the danger of intrusive international mechanisms. UNHRC Resolution 60/21 against Sri Lanka may appear to target Colombo today, but the precedent it sets will inevitably rebound on India tomorrow. For that reason alone, India must mobilize its diplomatic weight to lobby African/Asian/Latin American/Middle East UNHRC members to vote against this resolution — not out of affection for Sri Lanka, but out of self-preservation for all the members.

That move must be bold and historic: Sri Lanka should convene a new Non-Aligned Zone of Peace” Summit in Colombo. Just as we once championed the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace in 1971, we can revive that call under a Global South framework.

Such a summit would:

• Reassert Sri Lanka’s role as a neutral hub of dialogue in the Indo-Pacific.
• Rally neighbors wary of both Indian hegemony and Western militarization.
• Position Colombo as the moral and diplomatic center for a 21st-century Non-Aligned revival.

If Sri Lanka takes the lead, it will no longer be a pawn shuffled by others, but the square on which the next game of geopolitics is reset.

 Shenali D Waduge

by Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University

The most vulnerable today in our Motherland are the persons and families that live on casual incomes far lower than Rs. 100,000 a month, some who depend on any income that comes their way., with no regular income whatsoever. In the City of Colombo I am personally aware that there are low wage earners who earn only Rs 33,000 a month, also calculated on a daily basis. There are also people who do not have even such an income. Low income people are easily in the lakhs within the City of Colombo. In the rest of Sri Lanka there are many- millions who eke out a living in poverty.

Will it not be ideal to rope them in to some work that provides them with a reasonable income, and the work they do will make something that will reduce imports- a contribution to our national economy. . This unfortunately requires National Planning which we stopped in 1977 .

We do have a country blessed with milk and honey, a country that has a fertile soil assured with rain and a people smart and productive.

I think it is up to us, administrators who did implement programmes of employment creation in the pre 1977 era who happen to be alive today, to provide details of successful programmes that may spur our Peoples Government to action.

The best method of finding incomes for the low waged is by not by giving handouts like Aswesuma; Instead it should be by getting them on the ladder to attend to some task which helps them with some income and also enhance the economy of the country.

Sri Lanka has had a few such schemes. The Janasaviya of President Premadasa did include some measure of training to make the people productive, the idea of my friend, the late Susil Siriwardena, but the scheme stopped abruptly with the untimely death of President Premadasa.

President Chandrika established Samurdhi, giving handouts to the needy and it also included involving a measure of work to be attended to. This effort at times went to the ridiculous extent of getting the beneficiaries to sweep and clear temple premises. Training to make the beneficiaries do something useful was a good attempt. However this aspect is something very difficult to implement was not developed and gradually died down.

Then came Aswesuma by the Government of President Ranil which was purely a donation, more a vote catching device for the forthcoming Presidential election.

It will be ideal to get the people trained to become productive. Someday, I hope this ideal may get some concern and an effort will perhaps be the way ahead. It is a difficult task but the only way ahead.

The other day I was at Nawala going from shop to shop searching for a step ladder made in Sri Lanka and I could not find any. The shops were full of step ladders of all sizes, but they were all imported from countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

To make a step ladder is an easy task and if we cannot make all our step ladders, we are really nuts.

Perhaps we are the only country in the entire world that does not make its own bicycles. In the UK originally there were a few makes of bicycles- – the famous makes like Raleigh, Hercules and Rudge, that once ruled the world. Today, there are a large number of factories making cycles.

It may be a good idea for our new leaders to decide that we will not import what we can make in our country. There will be criticism initially, a scarcity will come up but eventually our entrepreneurs will emerge and the Government has also to create programmes to train people to get into business making such items.. That is the only way ahead.

I have lived for long in the USA and in the UK where silencers for cars of all makes are made locally. When a silencer gives way in the USA or the UK one takes the vehicle to a garage and two quotes are given, one to replace with the original, always at a very high price and it takes a few days as the part has to be ordered from the manufacturer, and another quote for a locally made replica which can be found and installed in a few hours. Everyone opts for the local make. The garage owner orders the part from a local store and it gets delivered in a few hours and gets fitted within another hour. Making silencers for cars finds employment and incomes for many in the USA and the UK.

My real experience of replacing a silencer in Jessore Bangladesh comes in handy to prove that we can easily make our own silencers. I was driving my Toyota Publica, one of the smallest cars one can find, on my trip from Bangladesh to Nepal via India and on the end of the first day at Jessore there was a big bang and the silencer had given way. I limped on to the Jessore town where I stayed the night. The next morning I contacted the District Deputy Director of Youth. (I worked as a Consultant in Youth at that time.) The Deputy Director took my car to a local garage that repaired cars. The car was taken in and a workman got working . He pulled out the old damaged silencer and took it to pieces. He brought a sheet of metal and traced the dismantled pieces, cut them and started welding . Within two hours he completed welding, fixed the silencer and I was on the road. The newly done silencer sounded right and I drove as far as Pokhara in Nepal and back via Calcutta to Dhaka in Bangladesh. The silencer was firm even when I sold the car in two years time.

Also get cracking with fixing up the Department of Small Industry with experts who can advise our small industrialists to get going making every thing we need. Once before 1977 that Department had an expert unit that did wonders in Sri Lanka making all its textiles via Powerlooms and handlooms. I served once as a Deputy Director of Small Industry was once also associated as an administrator for over five years with that unit and can vouch for success. .

One can actually do wonders if only we want to. I must mention that we have entrepreneurs who have a vision and ability.

My mind travels in nostaglia to an incident that did happen when I served as Deputy Director of Small Industries way back in 1970. I was in charge of making allocations of foreign exchange to small industrialists. Kariyawasam the Member of Parliament for Elpitiya met me with a young lad and requested me to give him an allocation of foreign exchange to import small mirrors to enable him to make mirrors for motor vehicles. I immediately called one of my inspectors and told him to inspect and make a recommendation. My inspector fixed up a date for inspection. A few days later the inspector told me that he went to Elpitiya and found that the youth had no factory or even a smithy where he said he made the metal portions of car mirrors. I called Kariyawasam and gave him a piece of my mind for recommending the youth. Kariyawasam was adamant that the youth was a real worker, a youth who would not feign and not do anything wrong. It ended by my fixing an appointment to meet the youth and inspect for myself. Kariyawasam told me to meet the youth near the lorry garage of the Cooperative Union.

I was there in time and met the youth carrying a very heavy bag of metal on his shoulder. I asked the youth to take me to his smithy where he made the metal pieces to fit the mirrors and he took me to the garage where the Cooperative Union lorries were parked. I lay down my tools by the side of my house and make items. I have no money to make a smithy of my own. I told this to your inspector but he never believed it and he did not give me a chance to show how I made items.” he said. He laid down his heavy bag, sat down in a corner, pulled out his metal pieces and as I watched he fitted a jig that was around eighteen inches tall and wide. I touched and shook the jig. It was heavy and very firm. Then he said that he will have to wait till a coop lorry comes in and he can borrow their jack. I yet could not understand what he was going to do, but I was patient as he talked well and assured me of his intentions. A lorry came in. He looked at the driver and said that he would not part with his jack. I waited because his intentions looked good. Another lorry came in and he ran to the driver and borrowed his jack. He immediately got into action -sat down and cut pieces of metal to size, placed it on the jig and using the lorry jack pressed the pieces to shape again and again shoving them in at various angles. . In a few minutes he came up with metal pieces that would take in a mirror. He again sat down and with a file, shore off extra edges and got a metal piece that resembled the metal receptacle of a car mirror. He sat down again and used the file to give it more shape. It was really a marvel- a workman who really did perform something I could never imagine he could. I told him to come to my office the next day when I gave him an allocation to import small mirrors. I rang Kariyawasam and thanked him.

This true story tells us that we can make anything . If only that youth had a lathe he could have made many of our imports. We have a good work force that can be depended on. It is up to us administrators and our politicians to get activated. Sadly – both parties have been in slumber for half a century- since 1977. We have allowed importers to swamp our country with imports that we can easily make.

I can also support this idea with the story of how I established a Crayon Factory at Matara.

In 1971, working for our Motherland as the Government Agent at Matara we were implementing the DDCP- the Divisional Development Councils Programme aimed at establishing industries run by the youth. A large number of small industries sprang up all over the island. In Matara in some two months. I submitted a plan to establish a Seagoing Motorboat factory. It was approved and we built it at Matara and it made some 20 seaworthy fishing motor boats a year. This was a feather in the cap of the newly established Ministry of Plan Implementation headed by Professot HAdeS Gunasekera as the Secretary. He was so highly satisfied that he would no more approve any further industry in my District. I clashed with him again and again but he could not be moved for another industry for my District.

Finally in desperation I took charge. The aim was to plan and establish an industry that will not only be viable but will finally be a major contribution to the country.

It had to be a new industry, an industry making an essential item that we imported.

I had a smart Planning Officer, Vetus Fernando, a graduate in chemistry from the University of Colombo,. Once earlier as the Deputy Director of Small Industry I was in charge of allocating foreign exchange for the imports of essential items for manufacturers and I had inspected an industry making water colours and had seen the process of making water colours. I fed all what I knew about making water colours to my Planning Officer and told him to experiment and find the method of making crayons, an allied item. At that time Sri Lanka imported over ninety five percent of its crayons. I approved the purchase of some items the Planning Officer thought would be necessary for making crayons. The Planning Officer and I , assisted by a science teacher from Rahula College started experimenting at my Residence every evening. In a few days we realized that we wanted equipment and decided to obtain the science lab of Rahula College. I spoke to the Principal Mr Ariyawansa and he readily agreed. I, my Planning Officer, and a few other staff officers of the katcheri and the science teacher from Rahula College were at the science lab, from six in the evening to close upon midnight every working day and tried many experiments to make a crayon and failed even in two months.

Then the Planning Officer came with a brain wave. He thought of taking the crayons we made which were not of good saleable quality to show them to his professors and find advice on making good quality crayons. He went behind the professors and lecturers who had taught him a year ago. None of them wanted to help him in their well equipped laboratory. They had said that they were too busy in teaching and marking answer scripts. He had begged of them again and again on three days. He came back a downhearted and broken down man. However we were not to give in. We started our experiments again at the Rahula College science lab and in around another month found the recipe to make crayons. Then I sat beside him and experimented again and again and found the exact recipe to make a good crayon, Our crayons were fine tuned to be equal to Reeves, the best of the day.

Then I was faced with the task of how to proceed to make crayons. I decided on a cooperative and I selected the cooperative union in the District that I considered best. It was the Morawak Korale Coop Union headed by Sumanapala Dahanayake, the MP for Deniyaya as its President. I had assessed that he would be dependable. Sumanapala readily agreed with the task of commencing a Crayon Factory and carrying it on whatever problems crop up. Though I had no authority, I authorized him to use funds available at his Coop Union . The maverick he was, Sumanapala readily agreed. If we failed both of us stood responsible.

The Planning Officer gave Sumanapala the list of items, gas burners etc that were required and Sumanapala agreed to purchase all those items. He was also to have a place ready for work. Working with the Divisional Secretary for Deniyaya he was to select twenty five youths.

I selected a few officers who had been involved in the experiments we made to make crayons and some six officers moved to Kotapola the next day. I was surprised to see a section of the Kotapola Coop Union cleared for us. The officers set up the gas burners and commenced action. Small quantities of dyes were mixed with paraffin wax etc. and set to boil. One katcheri officer was monitoring each boiler and Vetus the Planning Officer was monitoring moving from boiler to boiler ensuring that the colouring was perfectly mixed and poured into glass moulds . The crayons were left to dry and later dropped into buckets of water checked and scraped if necessary. It was an endless operation, youths being trained on the job by Vetus and a few of us working on a continuous basis. . We snatched a few hours of sleep on a chair at times. GunamTambipillai and a number of other Estate Owners were coming in with sweets and patties and eats of all sorts at various hours and Sumanapala was everywhere. On about the third day Sumanapala was missing for a while and we continued our process of making crayons non stop. His cooperative workers were being trained. Sumanapala later turned up with labels that were pasted onto the crayons and he had also brought printed packets that were folded and pasted. The crayons were checked and put into the packets.

I left for Matara after a few days of continuous work. The other officers of the katcheri- Chandra Silva the District Land Officer, Wimalaratne the Assistant Government Agent, Development Assistant Dayananda Paliakkara and a few others continued working, snatching a few hours rest on a chair.

. Back at my officer the next day I looked through my papers, signed and gave orders on some and went back to Kotapola to join Vetus and others. . The room was half filled and I was happy with the progress. I opened packets collected at random and checked them for quality and was happy that it was all of excellent quality. I joined the work force and noticed that the youths engaged in pouring liquid, boiling and filling into glass tubes looked happy on the job. In two weeks time we filled two large rooms with packets of crayons. It was a non stop twenty four hour a day operation. The youth had mastered the art of making crayons,

I had no authority to establish an industry and somehow the factory and its produce- the crayons had to see the light of day and the crayons had to get marketed. We needed legitimacy and Sumanapala and I decided to take some samples and show them to some dignitaries- Cabinet Ministers, to apprise them of what we have achieved and get them on our side in case the Ministry tried to punish me for going beyond their remit of work.

Sumanapala and I decided to show the crayons first to Mr Subasinghe the Minister for Industries. Both of us knew him, Sumanapala knew of him for long as they were politicians. I first met him when Dr NM Perera had told him- more an order to find me a place in the Small Industries Ministry- when I had been incarcerated in the pool of unwanted administrators for over two months for a reason I never knew. Though I had never done anything wrong we sometimes do get cornered.

We- Sumanapala and I barged into the Minister’s room at the Ministry. He looked at us and greeted us.

We have come to show the crayons we made and we want you to come and open sales.” He opened one packet tearing the cover and scribbled a crayon on a piece of paper.

I cannot believe that we made such fine crayons.”,

Sumanapala said

The GA had found the method of making crayons and we invite you to come. My youths are making crayons at the moment and we need you to open sales.”

I added Please come to the Coop Union at Kotapola. It will be a grand opening of a product we ourselves made.”

You have done great. I will be there tomorrow evening.”

We rushed back to Kotapola and made arrangements for a public meeting to open sales. With that support we opened sales and Coop Crayon was sold even in Colombo.

One problem we faced was to buy dyes in the open market at a high price. I approached the Small Industries Department that provided foreign exchange allocations for small industries, the unit where I had worked a year ago. The Director decided that his funds were not to be used for cooperatives. In my days I would have easily decided positively and allowed an allocation, but his word was final. We were lost but continued the production purchasing dyes in the open market at high prices,.

One day we heard that the Controller of Imports was about to authorize the imports of crayons and Sumanapala and I moved in. We met the Controller of Imports Harry Gunaratne and convinced him that by giving us a small amount of foreign exchange to import dyes to make crayons he could stop the import of crayons. He was convinced but he wanted us to get approval from his boss, the Minister for Imports because such a cross allocation of foreign exchange had never been done earlier. We went immediately to meet Mr Illangaratne, the Minister for Imports and spoke with him. It did not take long to convince him. He not only authorized us an allocation of foreign exchange for importing dyes, but also instructed the Controller of Imports to stop the import of crayons altogether.

We won the day. Minister Ilangaratne was so taken aback with the crayons we produced that he wanted me to establish a Crayon Factory at Kolonnawa, his electorate. He was very adamant and I had to agree to do it. However I told him that I must first see our Crayon Factory at Morawaka fully established as a viable industry. He agreed. I left that Administrative Service about twelve months later. The Crayon Factory was developed to have islandwide sales before I left. Had I not resigned from the Administrative Service I would have had to establish a Crayon Factory at Kolonnawa, as promised.

I left the Administrative Service in April 1973 and Sumanapala and the Government Agent continued the Crayon Factory. It was developed to have island wide sales. This Crayon Factory was so successful that it earned the wrath of President Jayawardena who won the 1977 General Election. In my words:

.  Years later I met A.T.Ariyaratne  an officer of the Administrative Service who had once worked as Deputy Commissioner of Cooperatives and when I stated that I had been GA Matara, he told me that in 1977 he had been sent on a special mission-instructed personally by President Jayawardena, to inspect and audit  Coop Crayon and find some misdeed to punish Sumanapala and to close down the Crayon Factory. He told me that he had spent a few days inspecting and auditing the books but had to report that the industry was run well and that all books were in perfect order. Ariyaratne was not the type of officer who would stoop to create evidence to please someone in authority.

The Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF which was followed by President Jayawardena from 1977 insisted that all Government commercial undertakings should be stopped and the Crayon Factory which was the most successful industry implemented under the DDCProgramme was stopped.

The pristine success of the Crayon Factory, to be commercially viable within the first six months, developed to have islandwide sales indicates what Sri Lanka can achieve if only a sincere attempt is made at developing any import substitution type of industry,.

I can add from my work in Bangladesh to the effect we can find success in attending to ardous tasks in development.

I was working as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth in Bangladesh in 1981.

The Ministry of Youth was training some 40,000 youths in an array of vocations. The training was generally three months in duration and the youths ended their training with a certificate on glossed paper handed over by a dignitary at a well attended occasion. Most of the trained continued unemployed for life.

Then, one night General Ershard of the Bangladesh Army took over the country in a bloodless coup. The Minister for Youth Development had been incarcerated a few days earlier. The Military viewed the work of the Ministry of Youth with scorn and a meeting was held to evaluate the work of the Ministry. The youth training schemes were narrated and supported by the two secretaries of the Ministry The Military leaders looked not satisfied and called on me for my comments. Instead of commenting on the existing programmes, I recommended that we should have an additional programme to create entrepreneurs of the youths that were being trained. I said that we did train the youths in various vocations but dropped them off to fend for themselves. My suggestion was for us to guide the trained youths to become self employed- making entrepreneurs of them.

The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in Bangladesh who was present objected stating that enterprise creation was not something that can be done and said that an ILO project that tried to create entrepreneurs in the earlier three years at Jessore Bangladesh, was a total failure despite obtaining a number of experts from abroad. and had to be closed down as it was not possible to create enterprises. He said that the project was a colossal failure with a massive loss and the Bangladesh Treasury would not undertake such an attempt again. He emphasized that the ILO held the last word on building up industries.

I contested and said that I had successfully created enterprises and jobs in Sri Lanka and that we can build up entrepreneurs. The Secretary to the Treasury vehemently objected and both of us argued for two hours while the Minister for Youth, was listening and making notes. Finally he stopped us arguing, said that I had convinced him and approved my establishing a Youth Self Employment Programme. The Secretary to the Treasury objected stating that he will not provide any funds as he was dead certain that it would end in a failure with a massive loss. I replied even without consulting the two Secretaries of the Ministry with whom I worked, that I did not require a new budget, but will find savings within budgets already approved. The Minister approved my request.

I got cracking the very next day training youth directors and lecturers in concepts of economics on how to identify areas in the economy where there was a need for production, where the youths will make items that are in demand and will be able to readily sell them and create incomes. I trained the staff on how to guide youths who commence even small enterprises. A few youths volunteered to commence with their savings and they were guided almost every day, The task was to build up the abilities of the youths to identify some activity that will bring them an income and work on it- even buy day old chicks which they could buy with the stipend the Ministry paid them for engaging in training and get going with creating incomes. To youths trained in wood work and iron the task was to make a small item that will sell and sell it . To those trained in livestock, it was to buy a chick or a ducking, or a cow and see it grow and lay eggs or provide milk that were sold in the market.

It became a youth movement for every trained youth to make something that would sell and we officials were working with the youths on a day to day basis. The entire staff of the Ministry were trained by me in economics and the youths were guided every day. The parents and elders when they saw their youths getting involved in making something for sale and making an income responded by buying a cow or chicks. They cherished to see their sons and daughters engaging in enterprise creation.

In dress making, the training centres that were closed at four were kept open till ten at night for the youths to use the sewing machines in the training centres and make garments for sale. What they made for sale were sold to bring them an income. Selling was also closely monitored for sales techniques.

By the time I completed my two years service I had trained the staff of the Ministry and all Youth Training Centers on guiding the youths to become entrepreneurs. The Ministry wanted me to continue as the Advisor but due to personal reasons I decided to get back to my family in London.

It was a programme where the abilities of the youths were built up through the process of their engagement in commerce- producing items and selling them. The production process as well as selling the produce was monitored in a manner that built up their abilities.

By March 1983, in eleven months from commencement, , it was found that 283 youths had established their own commercial ventures and had built up heads of cattle and flocks valued at Tk 911,000.00 As much as 223 of them had reached a net income of Tk 369 a month. Of them 83 had reached Tk 500 a month, In Jamalpur, a District which we pioneered as a pilot district, 73 youths were earning a net income of Tk 445 a month all against the ideal of drawing Tk 500 a month.

By August 1983, in sixteen months from the commencement of the Programme as much as 479 earned net incomes of TK 593 a month. We were working with around 2000 youths by the time I left, monitoring them closely.

Members of the Bangladesh Civil Service, trained by me, continued the programme, expanding the 3 Residential Training Centers to 64 by 1997/2002. The Five Year Plan of Bangladesh(1997-2002) states that 596,000 youths were trained in self employment and devotes an evaluation of eight pages to this programme. This is easily the premier self employment programme the world has known.

The Government of Bangladesh Report of 19/2/2011 to the 34 th Session of the IFAD(FAO), one of the funders, states that two million youths have been self employed on this Programme. In four decades 1983 to today, this Programme had created over three million entrepreneurs. It is today the premier self employment creation programme the world has known.

The intrinsic success of the Youth Self Employment Programme to be a world class successful employment creation programme tells us of what can be achieved if only an attempt is made. The Programme was created by me in eighteen months- April 1982 to September 1983 and developed further by members of the Bangladesh Civil Service, trained by me.

Anyone interested for details is requested to contact the Ministry of Youth Development of Bangladesh . A personage that worked with me was Mr Md Asafuddowlah, of the Bangladesh Civil Service, who was the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Development, when I worked there. He later led the Ministry of Youth Development for around five years as its Secretary who now lives in retirement- MrAsaffuddowlah, is now well known as an orator, administrator and musician. He or the Ministry of Youth Development may be contacted for further details by anyone interested.

The achievement of this Youth Self Employment Programme was once hailed by Milinda Moragoda, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador for India, in 2011, in his Manifesto to become the Mayor for Colombo in 2011, he declared that to solve the problem of youth unemployment, he would seek to implement the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which was an amazingly successful scheme introduced to that country by a distinguished son of Sri Lanka, Dr Garvin Karunaratne who served Bangladesh as an international consultant.”(The Nation;11/9/2011)

It is also important to note that the implementation of all these programmes was done with the local currency, the Rupee in Sri Lanka and the Taka in Bangladedsh. This proves that foreign exchange is not required for the implementation. In addition, all these programmes created production that obviated imports. Further the Youth Self Employment Programme even earned foreign exchange for Bangladesh when it received grants from the IFAD of the FAO

Over to our new President, His Excellency Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Will it not be ideal to have similar programmes to create employment and to obviate imports, thereby saving valuable foreign exchange as well as alleviating poverty. This is a task that can easily be accomplished in two years.

If our President dares to approve the implementation of any employment creation programme and if no one undertakes to do it , I will be there to take the responsibility and can assure grand success

.

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D Michigan State University.

former Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh 1981-1983

G.A. Matara , 1971-1973. Member of the Administrative Service

garvin_karunaratne @hotmail.com, 05092025

By Sanjeewa Jayaweera, Courtesy The Island

Only time will tell whether the arrest and remand of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) marks a watershed moment for Sri Lanka. While the courts will ultimately determine whether he is guilty of misusing public funds, the political fallout has already exposed deeper systemic issues.

RW’s arrest highlighted two uncomfortable truths.

First, politicians—regardless of ideology—stand together when one of their own is in trouble. This is particularly so as many of them realize the fate that awaits them. As former MP Ranjan Ramanayake bluntly put it: Malli, egola okkoma yaluwo.”

Second, the class divide between English-speaking Colombo-ites and the rest of the country continues to shape the way we perceive governance and accountability. The call for system change” often ends at the Colombo-ite doorstep—provided their privileges remain untouched.

It was fascinating watching politicians from across the spectrum crowding into the Magistrate’s Court one day and lining up outside the prison the next. A friend watching it all unfold remarked that it would’ve been the perfect moment to push most of them into a large cell, lock it, and throw away the key—because many would struggle to justify their accumulated wealth.

A dangerous precedent

Some argue RW should be excused for any missteps, given his role in stabilizing the economy. If that logic holds, then by the same token, Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa—who ended a decades-long war—should also be forgiven. Others suspect the arrest itself is a political ruse, orchestrated by RW and the President to fool the public.

More disturbing still are attempts to justify the use of public funds for RW’s two-day layover in London by citing age or health concerns—or worse, by claiming an invitation from Wolverhampton University qualifies it as an official visit.” This would be laughable if it weren’t so serious.

No matter the verdict, this moment must spark a national conversation about how public funds are used, whether by presidents, politicians, or bureaucrats.

The culture of privilege

For decades, Sri Lankan politicians have used taxpayer money to fund pleasure trips disguised as official visits. In the 1970s and 1980s, my father, a career foreign service officer, often lamented how the first question politicians asked upon landing abroad was: Where can we shop?” The mission staff then had to plead with airlines for free excess baggage allowances. It’s unlikely much will have changed since then, despite foreign travel being more frequent and possible

In a recent budget speech, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya revealed the following travel expenses of former Presidents:

*Chief Government Whip Nalinda Jayatissa later stated that RW’s 23 overseas trips between 2022 and 2024 cost the state Rs. 1.27 billion, with 426 delegates accompanying him. The difference between the figures is likely due to 2022 costs that the Prime Minister may have excluded.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s extravagance was particularly distasteful and a reflection of how public funds were spent during his term. An example is that an estimated Rs. 100 million was spent on just two trips to Seychelles, one of which included 97 delegates. The benefits that have accrued to the nation from traveling to Seychelles are questionable.

Even Maithripala Sirisena, though less wasteful, made 40 foreign trips over 59 months, with many yielding minimal benefit. During his term, Rs. 180 million was spent on refurbishing his official residence, and a Mercedes-Benz S600 (S-Guard) V12 was purchased—reportedly costing more than the renovation itself.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa managed to squeeze in several foreign visits despite pandemic restrictions.

What makes RW’s case different

RW built a reputation, rightly or wrongly, as Mr. Clean.” It is reported that he has not availed of the duty-free vehicle permits, has chosen to live in a private residence after ceasing to be the president and has even donated his home to Royal College. Then also his home was burnt during the disturbances and according to published information he had not been compensated by the state presumably because he had made no claim. These are certainly not the traits associated with Sri Lankan politicians. However, his propensity to spend public funds, as illustrated below, is troubling and in sync with the behaviour of other politicians.

More broadly, his Rs. 1.27 billion in foreign travel spending came while the country was bankrupt and citizens were skipping meals. In 2022, I questioned in one of my articles why he needed to attend the Queen’s funeral and the King’s coronation. Was it truly necessary for the President to attend in person, or could our High Commissioner in London have sufficed?

In September 2023, RW’s UNGA delegation included Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Rohitha Abeygunawardena neither of whom was a cabinet minister. It was undoubtedly a source of satisfaction for the two individuals at public expense. The average number of delegates who accompanied him on his overseas trips was around 20. The difference in attitude towards spending public money between RW and President Dissanayake (AKD) is evident in the number of delegates they took to India: RW had 23 delegates, while AKD had just five. This contrast speaks volumes.

RW also maintained 39 senior advisors and 67 temporary appointees during his presidency, raising further concerns about financial prudence at a time of national economic crisis.

The aragalaya compensation scandal

Perhaps most galling is the revelation that during RW’s presidency, Rs. 1.12 billion was paid to 43 MPs as compensation for damages during the aragalaya protests. Many of the MPs received well over the Rs. 2.5 million cap. Keheliya Rambukwella, for instance, reportedly received Rs. 95 million. This matter is now before the Supreme Court.

The timing and generosity of these payments reveal a consistent pattern: politicians’ needs are placed above those of the people.

Not just the politicians

It’s not only politicians. Parliament Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne recently launched an investigation into foreign travel by senior parliamentary staff dating back to 2000. Some officials reportedly travelled three times a month, with little relevance to their duties, costing the state millions.

Final thoughts

As a taxpayer, I believe the Rs. 13 million spent on RW’s London stopover (excluding security) was inappropriate and should be reimbursed, as it should be deemed private expenditure. Whether he broke the law is for the courts to decide. But the moral failing is apparent.

This moment must be a turning point. One where presidents, ministers, and public officials are held to a higher standard—not just legally, but ethically. Public funds are not personal property, and financial propriety must become a non-negotiable expectation of public office.

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of any organization or institution with which the author is affiliated).

e-Con e-News

eesrilanka.wordpress.com

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 31 August – 06 September 2025

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In 2021, NATO members sent 21 warships into Asian waters

where they conducted joint operations with all the regional navies

that the USA is trying to pull into alignment against [China]…

– see ee Sovereignty, The EU: Fascism is coming home

The USA’s Pacific War Forces and allied Quad members (Australia, India, & Japan), plus lesser ‘allies’, are participating in Exercise Pacific Angel 2025 from September 8-12, hosted on Sri Lanka’s soils & seas (including Trincomalee!). It is no serendipity perhaps, that on the same day, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is launching ‘sessions’ which threaten to haul Sri Lanka up before the International Criminal Court (ICC). This charade against a member nation has never been asked for by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) or UN Security Council (UNSC, see ee Quotes).

     The US war games will be followed by a US trade team who will visit Colombo in mid-September for talks following up on US threats to impose punitive tariffs on our pre-industrial exports, which go mainly to the US and Europe. Presidential Advisor Duminda Hulangamuwa discloses that a State-Owned Enterprises Bill will be tabled this month, with the government also promising to liquidate 33 public enterprises (including Lanka Cement).

      It has thus come to pass that Sri Lanka is being subjected to such threats and straitjacketing by the scum of the earth (as the poet Bertolt Brecht called the Nazis) now led by England, since their big daddy the US is the one major country that refuses to submit itself to such ‘international’ tribunals. We also should note the media adoration evoked by England’s recent promise of ‘duty-free’ access to some of their markets. Duty free indeed! This cringing obsequious subservience has to do perhaps with the import-export merchant mafia that hold the country’s economy hostage due to their addiction to the fleshpots (markets) of the US & EU. The merchant mafia are therefore beholden to their largesse, as these mercantile agents of underdevelopment also stash their profits in tax hideouts under the watchful eye of the imperialists, instead of investing in modern industrial production here. (see SBD, ee Focus)

     It is in preparation for such September ‘games’ that saw the present Sri Lankan government avoid the large Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Tianjin, China, where the world was given a thrilling glimpse of future possibilities. Then 2 days later, on Sept 3, many world leaders including those of China & Russia & free (DPR)Korea were in full view in Beijing, celebrating the 80^th anniversary of China’s crucial role in smashing Japanese fascism. We must also recall that far more Asians & Africans were killed in those wars than those European imperialist countries, who many colonial troops fought for, would dare admit – even as US leaders claim it is they who have won all world wars! The US has certainly profited from the ‘peace’(s) that followed, even as they have never allowed much peace for much of our world, which has continued to be colonized by other means.

     It is the threat of such a good example, as displayed by China, Russia & free Korea, for other countries to achieve the velocity needed to escape the imperialist orbit, that sees the US and their lesser poodles in Europe & the East escalate their plans to maintain their hegemony, not just through direct warfare but via ‘economic sabotage, social unrest, and psychological attrition’ to attempt ‘gradual internal collapse’ among their perceived main enemies (see ee Quotes, Destabilization…).

     Israel’s (read: the USA’s) air strikes assassinating the Prime Minister of Yemen & other senior civilian ministers last week has been followed by the US declaration of a change of name from the Department of Defence to the Department of War, reverting to its original name from 1776. Recall that England’s Department for War & the Colonies was a cabinet-level position created in 1801, while it was waging war on Sri Lanka. In 1854 it was split into the Department for War and Department for the Colonies. From 1966 it was renamed the Ministry for Commonwealth Affairs; and after 1968 became Ministry for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, renamed Ministry for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development since 2020.

     Thus, we find that ‘Development’ is a direct descendant of ‘War & the Colonies’; ‘development’ being a term suggested by the multinational corporation (MNC) Unilever’s public relations department in the 1950s to replace more direct terminology, at a time of so-called post-colonialism. It is no wonder that under their tutelage, we find so many ministries in Sri Lanka, with ‘development’ in their name. At the same time, the USA now reaches back, to its own genocidal settler colonial origins. (see ee Focus, SBD de Silva’s Political Economy of Underdevelopment)

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• The news this week suggests that the US will move to impose its old Monroe Doctrine over the entire western Atlantic and escalate wars against Venezuela & long-US-blockaded Cuba first. ee goes to press, noting that several of the websites we depend on (eg, Moon of Alabama, Radio Havana)for news with a difference, keep being blocked or hacked. Indeed, we learned this week of the phenomenon of ‘shadow banning’ by US ‘social media’, eg, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, X etc, where posts that contradict the hegemon are hidden away, downplayed or outright blocked unbeknownst to users (see ee Sovereignty, Chinese professor explains why India fails to reach its potential). It is therefore good to record that Nepal has outright & publicly banned such US social media. Let us see how that works out. Meanwhile, due to the opposition by the USA’s Uber, etc, and certain local ‘services’, the Sri Lankan government has again postponed its VAT tax on Digital Services (purportedly even demanded by the USA’s IMF).

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Financial institutions have opened Letters of Credit

(LCs) worth $530mn so far this year

for the importation of ‘over 70,000 vehicles’

(see ee Focus, SL’s Automobile Market: Subliminal

economic bubble? – Adheeb Anwar)

• Another horrific bus crash near tourist-infested Ella, recalls how this ‘mass murder on wheels’ was accelerated by the IMF-guided ‘explosive growth’ of Finance Companies (FCs) after 1977. Adheeb Anwar, in this ee Focus, asks if ‘Sri Lanka is repeating a global mistake?’, as local banks & finance companies are throwing money at people to purchase new vehicles, so as to profit from the interest rates that stem from loans – escalating further debt. It’s not new to Sri Lanka, of course. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) linked this motorized mayhem, post-1977, to the larger banking system providing ‘market space’ to Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFI). The FCs exploited demographics; as bankers financed imports to serve this then burgeoning ‘market’ (see ee 1 Jan 2022, World Bank driving madness on our roads). Meanwhile, as other commentators have pointed out, rather than being subject to the whims and loans of US economic and military policies, IMF, etc, why couldn’t these banks have invested instead in modern industrialization and attendant workers’ skills, and pay off Sri Lanka’s so-called debts?? How much of Presidential Advisor Hulangamuwa’s mention of the need for mechanisation and wage reforms, in the plantations in his media-headlined address to the 171^st annual general meeting (AGM) of the powerful Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA), fell on deaf ears and how much fell on fertile soil is yet to be seen.

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• With all this money being thrown to purchase other countries’ industrial goods, this ee Focus looks at how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has allocated its resources and invested in modern ‘green’ production by coordinating policy between the central government & local authorities.

     In contrast, a ‘politically powerful class‘ of import & export merchants, holds Sri Lanka in thrall to imperialism, in the absence of a state capable of subordinating their trading interests to production capital – this is a major theme in SBD de Silva‘s work. SB saw a profitable congruence, rather than any conflict, between mercantile interests here and industrial & mercantile interests abroad. He provided examples from Japan, as well as the white Dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where English capital invested in modern industry. He contrasted them to, eg, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Turkey, where the foreign exchange assets of colonial governments were invested mostly in government or municipal securities in the metropolis. ee Focus therefore continues reproducing Chapter 1 of de Silva’s The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (PEU). Here SB further takes apart various claims – to plantations being modern & capitalist vs a backward peasant sector – by eminent economists such as DR Snodgrass who wrote extensively on Sri Lanka, as well as Gunnar Myrdal, HW Singer, etc, as well as Sri Lanka’s own (LSSP theoretician) HA de S Gunasekera, and India’s Romesh Dutt famous for his ‘drain theory‘. In contrast, SBD points out that Sri Lanka has large surpluses that are also squandered inside in the country.

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Clearly, with the US offshore procurement (OSP)

& (Military Assistance Program) MAP collectively

equalling between 40-60% of South Korea’s

gross capital formation during the late 1960s,

their significance for the ramping up

of Korea’s industrial ‘takeoff’ was enormous.

(see ee Focus, Chaebol & US MIC)

• ee Focus also continues looking at US-occupied (South) Korea’s industrialization, examining the growth of their Hyundai conglomerate becoming ‘one of the world’s best-known construction and heavy industry companies,’ again through supporting US wars. Yet are these Korean companies, or mere adjuncts of such large US multinationals as the US Halliburton subsidiary Raymond, Morrison-Knudsen, Brown&Root, JAJones (RMK-BR)? 

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‘Fiscal illusion is a term… often used to explain

how governments & fiscal policymakers

navigate budgets in ways that mislead voters,

helping them gain & maintain popularity.’

– see ee Economists, How we are being misled…

• ee Focus also continues our look at New York’s political machinery, through Gustavus Myers’ 1917 History of Tammany Hall, that famous New York ‘charity’. We see how, even as the name of Tammany Hall became an international byword for corruption, its ‘wonderful instinct of self-preservation’ enabled it to rise from the ashes, through its link to New York’s ‘largest and most energetic part of the voting population – the Irish’. Look how it claimed to be ‘a real reform body’ while advancing their old ways and furthering political fortunes. Fiscal illusions, indeed!

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Contents:

September’s US War Games & Fiscal Illusions as Merchants Squander Sri Lanka’s Riches