I remember former Minister of Urban Development who frequently spoke to Advocata and other policy forums about modern urban transport concepts—especially:
Canal / inland water transport
Monorail system
He was Minister of Megapolis & Western Development (2015–2019) and
Previously Minister of Urban Development, Water Supply & Drainage
He was a regular speaker at Advocata, CCC, and policy think-tank and Strong promoter of:
Western Region Megapolis plan
Canal-based passenger transport (Beira Lake, Diyawanna, Kelani canals)
Monorail / LRT concepts
He actively invited private sector proposals
Why my canal transport proposal which was submitted from our shipyard failed
Because
Retired state officers were appointed as project heads
Highly procedural
Risk-averse
Slow decision-making
No empowered Project Delivery Unit (PDU)
Files moved ministry → authority → treasury → line agencies
Conflict between vision and bureaucracy
Minister had ideas
Implementation was controlled by old administrative culture
Private sector marine expertise undervalued
Especially practical shipyard-based solutions like yours
In fact, many canal transport pilot projects were announced but never scaled, precisely because:
No PPP framework
No single accountable authority
From a technical standpoint, canal transport in Colombo is:
Energy efficient
Low land acquisition
Ideal for ageing population and tourists
Compatible with hybrid/electric boats (which you already understand well)
The failure was institutional, not technical.
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Comments Off on Canal Transport Protect Colombo Region
On 28 December 2025, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa arrived at the Masroor Hall shortly after 10:30 am for the concluding session of Jalsa Salana Qadian 2025 from Islamabad, Tilford, UK.
After conveying salaam to those present as well as to viewers connected through MTA, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa invited Nooruddin Nasir Sahib to recite a portion of the Holy Quran (Surah al-Hashr, Ch.59: V.19-25). Mansoor Ahmad Mansoor Sahib read out its Urdu translation. An Urdu poem written by the Promised Messiahas was then presented by Khalid Waleed Sahib.
Thereafter, Huzooraa took to the podium to deliver the concluding address. After tashahhud, ta‘awwuz and the recitation of Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa began his address. A brief summary is presented below:
The Promised Messiahas said:
Do not consider this Jalsa to be equivalent to any ordinary worldly gathering. The fact of the matter is that it is founded upon the pure support of truth and the propagation of Islam. The foundation stone of this Jamaat has been laid by Allah the Almighty Himself, and nations have been readied that will soon come to join its fold.” (Majmu‘ah-e-Ishtiharat [2019], Vol. 1, p. 361)
Huzooraa said that today, we are witnessing that Jalsa Salana gatherings are being held across the world, and just as the Promised Messiahas had foretold, nations are becoming part of these assemblies. The town of Qadian, once unknown to the world, has now become a focal point of global attention. According to the latest information, the current Jalsa includes representation from 37 countries, comprising participants from diverse regions and nations.
Colombo, Dec. 27 (Daily Mirror)- Former Minister Douglas Devananda, who was arrested in connection with an investigation into a missing firearm, has been detained under a 72-hour detention order for further questioning.
Police said he was detained in terms of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Devananda was arrested yesterday in connection with the recovery of a weapon during the interrogation of organised criminal Makandure Madush in 2019.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the firearm had been issued by the Sri Lanka Army to Devananda for his personal security in 2001.
Comments Off on Douglas Devananda detained for 72 hours
Devananda’s arrest is connected to an on-going investigation into the alleged transfer of a firearm to an organised gang criminal
A pistol issued to Devananda had later been found in the possession of underworld gang leader and drug lord ‘Makandure Madush’
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) Chief and Secretary-General, Douglas Devananda became the latest political leader to be arrested in Sri Lanka. The former Jaffna district MP and ex-cabinet minister was arrested by the Police on December 26 (Friday) in Colombo. The ex-minister was initially detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) by the CID and on Sunday he was remanded until January 9, 2026, by the Gampaha Magistrate.
The acting Police Media Spokesman, ASP Minura Senarath told this newspapers that the arrest was connected to an on-going investigation into the alleged transfer of a firearm to an organised gang criminal. It is alleged that a pistol issued to Devananda had later been found in the possession of underworld gang leader and drug lord ‘Makandure Madush’.
The arrest and detention of former Jaffna district MP and present Leader of EPDP Douglas Devananda has been welcomed by people supportive or sympathetic to the LTTE
Devananda was summoned by the Police Criminal Investigation department (CID) to record a statement concerning details of firearms issued to him by the Defence Ministry for his protection during the years of war between the Sri Lankan Armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Devananda was supportive of the Government and the EPDP under his leadership cooperated with the armed forces in a para-military capacity. The LTTE then branded Devananda as a traitor and made several attempts to kill him.
According to informed Tamil sources Devananda had been asked to present himself on December 26 to record a statement concerning firearms issued to him years ago. The ex-minister travelled down to Colombo from Jaffna and presented himself to the CID on Friday. He didn’t suspect that he would be arrested.
Weliweriya
Devananda was quizzed by Police officers attached to the Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation unit of the CID. He was told that a 9 mm handgun had been recovered in a shrub jungle area near a culvert in the Weliweriya area of Gampaha district in the year 2019. The Police had found the concealed weapon due to information supplied by drug kingpin Makandure Madush who was later killed in 2020 under suspicious circumstances.Some months ago the Police launched an intensive, wide-ranging investigation into organised crime and the narcotics trade. It is well known that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared war on the use and trade of narcotics. The JVP led NPP Government headed by the president is fully committed to the elimination of the drug menace.
When the files concerning slain drug lord Madush were re-activated in this regard, it was discovered that the firearm found in Weliweriya bore the serial number of a handgun given to Douglas Devananda in 2001 by the Defence Ministry. Police had then wanted to find out how a gun given officially to Devananda in 2001 went into the possession” of the drug kingpin Makandure Madush.
Devananda was summoned to record a statement clarifying how the weapon given to him had got into the hands of Madush. Devananda however hadn’t been able to provide a satisfactory explanation when being questioned, according to the Police. As a result, the CID arrested him and detained him for 72 hours under a PTA order. He is likely to be produced in courts on Tuesday (Dec 30).
Firearms
According to informed Tamil circles close to Devananda, the EPDP leader had received the 9mm pistol in July 2000 and not 2001. It was part of a mini-arsenal provided to the EPDP for protection against the LTTE. The cache consisted of thirteen T-56 assault rifles and six 9 mm pistols. Subsequently the EPDP had been asked to hand over the firearms issued to them twice.
The first occasion was after the 2002 ceasefire facilitated by Norway. The EPDP reportedly returned their firearms to the Defence ministry. As a result several unarmed EPDP cadres were gunned down by the LTTE during the ceasefire period. The EPDP got firearms after the ceasefire ended and war erupted again.
The second occasion was after the war ended conclusively following the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. The EPDP had returned the arms on a staggered basis to the defence ministry. The firearm in question had also been returned to the Defence Ministry. If the gun was really in Madush’s possession, then it was more likely that the lapse” was by the defence sector” and not the EPDP opined informed Tamil sources.
Tamil Statement
According to these Tamil circles close to the EPDP, former minister Devananda had clearly furnished details of the various arms given to the EPDP by the Defence Ministry. Devananda however had insisted during the interrogation that his statement should be recorded in Tamil. He had pointed out that Tamil was his mother tongue and also an official language. Therefore he was entitled to have his statement recorded in Tamil as his Constitutional right. The CID officers who quizzed Devananda were unable to record the statement in Tamil. It is expected that the 72-hour detention order would enable the statement to be recorded in Tamil.
Makandure Madush
Samarasingha Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush was an underworld gangster and drug lord who was very powerful and politically influential. He relocated to Dubai in 2006 and operated his drug network from there. He was arrested in February 2019 for a drug offence and was deported to Sri Lanka in May 2019. Madush allegedly provided much information regarding his illegal activities and connections to the Police. He is said to have implicated over 80 persons in this regard including top politicians, senior Govt officials and high-ranking Police officers.
In October 2020, Madush was reportedly taken by the Police to a housing scheme in Maligawatte to uncover stashed heroin. According to the ‘official’ version released by the Police, Madush was fired upon by two unknown persons. There was a fire fight when Police retaliated. Madush was allegedly caught in the crossfire and killed. This Police story was disbelieved by many.
It is indeed strange that the Police reactivating inquiries into Madush’s activities should probe the pistol given to Devananda instead of so many other grave matters concerning Madush and possibly incriminate people in powerful positions. Compared to the scale and scope of the drug lord’s illegal activities, the ‘Devananda pistol matter’ seems rather insignificant.
Tigerish elements
The arrest and detention of Devananda has been welcomed by people supportive or sympathetic to the LTTE. Tigerish elements and fellow travellers are flooding social media with anti-Douglas posts and comments. Some You Tubers seem confident that this is the end of Douglas and that the EPDP chief would be behind bars for a long time. Tiger and pro-tiger elements hate Douglas Devananda because he defied the LTTE and fought against them alongside the armed forces. Hence they are agog with joy over Devananda’s present predicament. They are delighted that people like Pillaiyaan and Devananda who fought with the Army against the LTTE are now being arrested and detained.Who then is Devananda and what is the role he played in Sri Lanka’s recent history? I have written about him before and will try to answer the question raised with the aid of earlier writings.
Defiance of Tigers
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Douglas Devananda is in a sense a very unique personality. Douglas displayed a high degree of consistency in opposing the LTTE in the past. In those days the LTTE claimed to be the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils and Devananda tried to counter that claim by projecting the EPDP as the sole alternative in defiance of the tigers.
Douglas had to pay a high price for his bold stance; the LTTE killed numerous comrades and cadres, including his own brother. Furthermore multiple attempts were made on his life. Devananda is the only person who has survived several different assassination attempts by the LTTE. Among these are a full-scale attack with SMGs, grenades and RPGs on his former residence in Colombo 5, a brutal assault by LTTE prisoners in Kalutara jail and two attempts by women suicide bombers at his former ministry in Colombo 3.
Athiaddyk Kuthiyan”
Devananda’s rise to power and office is a fascinating tale. His family hailed originally from Chunnakam, but later moved to Athiaddy in Jaffna town. The LTTE’s poet laureate” Puthuvai Ratnadurai referred to Douglas in his poems as Athiaddy Kuthiyan” (hunk of Athiaddy) Devananda’s father Kathiravelu was a Clerk at the Inland Revenue Department and later became a Staff Officer of the Petroleum Corporation. His mother Maheswary taught at Jaffna Central College.
Devananda’s paternal uncle was the well-known trade unionist and activist K.C. Nythiananda. Devananda spent many years with Nythiananda at 17 Frances Road in Colombo 6. The bachelor Nythiananda virtually adopted Devananda who studied at Colombo Hindu College then. Earlier he was at Jaffna Central College. Devananda was no academic bright light, but learned rudimentary politics from his uncle. Devananda went on to include both Nythiananda’s name and his nom de guerre in the militant movement, Douglas,” as part of his official name later.
The seventies of the 20th Century was a period of political ferment for the Tamils. The old left lost its lustre because of its political cohabitation with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Leftist stalwarts like Nythiananda metamorphosed into Tamil nationalists. The Tamil youth too were getting radicalised. Secession and armed struggle to achieve it was the credo of the youth.
EPRLF
Devananda also was not immune to these currents. He joined the Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students(EROS) and, thanks to his erstwhile Trotskyite mentor, Eliathamby Ratnasabapathy, went to Lebanon and obtained military training with the Palestinians. Devananda acquired the nom de guerre Douglas then. After returning from the Middle East, Devananda along with K. Pathmanabha and others broke away from the EROS and formed its off-shoot the General Union of Students (GUES) followed by the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).
Devananda’s indulgence in pre-1983 militancy was short-lived. He led a not-so-successful robbery of the Thirukkovil Bank in the Amparai District, but was caught in Akkaraippattru when fleeing. Jailed at Welikada, Devananda like Panagoda Maheswaran and others fought tooth and nail to escape death at the hands of Sinhala convicts in July 1983.
PLA Commander
Transferred to Batticaloa, Devananda played a crucial role in engineering the breakout from within. Escaping to India, he underwent Indian arms training too and then formed the Military Wing of the EPRLF the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Douglas was the first PLA Commander.
The PLA’s military track record wasn’t very impressive and its most ambitious project, the 1985 attack under Douglas’s command on the Navy installation at Karainagar, was a disaster. Douglas lost his sister Madhivadani alias Shobha (the first woman cadre to die in combat) as well as his second-in-command Sinnavan among other casualties in the abortive attempt.
Soon sharp differences arose between Devananda the Military Chief and Pathmanabha the Political Commissar of the EPRLF. The movement in practical terms was vertically split. The EPRLF politburo removed Devananda from his post and appointed Gaffoor as Military Commander.
Choolaimedhu
This resulted in Devananda travelling in late 1986 to Chennai (then Madras) to meet Pathmanabha and resolve matters. While Douglas was staying at Choolaimedhu in Chennai, there arose an unsavoury incident where a mob was instigated by interested parties into attacking the EPRLF-backed office, the Eelam People’s Information Centre (EPIC). The EPRLF fired at the mob and an Indian Tamil lawyer was killed. Though not directly involved, Devananda was arrested. Under these circumstances the EPRLF rupture became permanent.
ENDLF
After his release on bail, Devananda’s faction and a PLOTE dissident faction led by Thangarajah alias Paranthan Rajan came together and formed the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF). The Indo-Lanka accord and its aftermath led to this front collapsing. Devananda took up a firm Tamil nationalist stance and condemned New Delhi. Devananda’s position on the Indo-Lanka Accord was very much akin to that of the LTTE then. This assertion of Independence cost Devananda greatly as the pro-Indian Paranthan Rajan ingratiated himself with New Delhi at Devananda’s expense. A friendless Devananda and cadres were left to fend for their own.
EPDP
This phase was perhaps the nadir of Devananda’s politico-military fortunes. He formed the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in Madras, but found himself pathetically short of funds. The EPDP situation then was pitiful. The desperate EPDP was compelled to engage in extortion and kidnapping of Sri Lankan Tamils in Madras to extract money. Devananda was arrested on a kidnapping charge and tasted prison life again. This episode earned him the negative sobriquet ‘Pillaipidikaran’ (Kidnapper) among Tamil circles. After securing a temporary release from prison, Devananda jumped bail and returned to Sri Lanka where he soon dialogued with intelligence officials and struck a deal with Ranjan Wijeratne.
Ranjan Wijeratne
Devananda met with Ranjan Wijeratne, then Deputy Defence Minister under President Ranasinghe Premadasa, for a confidential discussion. Devananda made an offer that the unconventionally dynamic Wijeratne could not refuse. Devananda was prepared to place at the Government’s command the full cooperation and unstinted support of his newly-formed organisation in return for protection and support.
The offer was path-breaking at that time as no Tamil militant organisation had until then come forward to help the main ‘enemy’ directly. An uneasy truce between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was in force then. Devananda however could prove useful if war broke out in the future. It was advantageous to Colombo then to procure the services of Devananda.
Preliminary arrangements were made. The agreement arrived at with the Government then was like manna from heaven to Devananda. It was only some weeks before that he had arrived in Colombo with two comrades from Chennai (then Madras). His political fortunes were at a low ebb. The offer to help the Government was born through desperation. The bold gamble worked and then bloomed successfully after war broke out with the Tigers.
Over 300 cadres
With war erupting in June 1990 between the Government and the Tigers. Devananda was in business. EPDP cadres scattered in several parts of India and Sri Lanka began to converge in Colombo. Devananda also went in for new recruits and dissidents from other groups. Soon he had more than 300 cadres at his disposal. Apart from outright block grants of money by the State, arrangements were also made to pay monthly allowances per cadre. The EPDP also engaged in propaganda for the State in both the print and electronic media.
Devananda was criticised severely then for betraying the Tamil cause and openly collaborating with the enemy. Devananda however maintained some form of independence and autonomous action from the start. It is to Devananda’s credit that he did not let the EPDP deteriorate- devoid of political content- into a stark mercenary outfit alone.
As war progressed, the LTTE withdrew from the islands off the northern peninsula. This was Devananda’s opportunity. Devananda and his boys arrived with food and provisions by sea and set foot after many years in the north. The islands were entrusted to the EPDP’s care by the then UNP Government. This helped the EPDP to establish a strong presence in areas coming under the Kayts constituency.
Life thereafter was on the ascendant for Devananda. Utilising the control he had over the offshore islands, Devananda began transporting seafood to Colombo. A lucrative trade in dried fish was established. The transport of goods to and from the islands were another source of revenue.
Entered Parliament
He next moved into the Parliamentary arena, fielding an Independent list of EPDP and UNP candidates in 1994. The captive voters of the offshore islands ‘cast’ their votes overwhelmingly for Devananda. Since the bulk of Jaffna voters were under LTTE control and therefore could not vote, the EPDP list with about 10,000 votes went on to gain nine seats. Devananda entered Parliament. Thereafter he was elected MP from Jaffna in every election until 2024. He switched sides from the UNP to the SLFP and then to the SLPP.
Devananda has represented Jaffna for 30 years at a stretch in Parliament from 1994 to 2024. He also served as a cabinet minister for 18 years in the years 2000 -2002, 2004-2010, 2010- 2015 and 2019-2024. No Sri Lankan Tamil politician possesses such a record. The unexpected victory of the JVP led NPP in the north in 2024 resulted in Devananda becoming a political casualty. Now he has been arrested and detained. What next for Devananda?
(D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com)
Comments Off on Douglas Devananda who fought with the Sri Lankan Army against the LTTE
by Garvin Karunaratne, GA Matara half a century ago
Our country, Sri Lanka has had a long history of development programs to provide for low income and incomeless people. The best method of finding incomes for the low waged is by getting them on the ladder to attend to some task which helps them creating incomes and also make the country obviate imports.
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 have a plan to 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.
It has so happened that I have been in the forefront of making things in Sri Lanka, I served in the Administrative Service for some seventeen years till 1973..
It may be a good idea for our new leaders to decide that we will not import what we can make in our country. This will save a great deal of foreign exchange.
We can start with step ladders, ladders of all sorts. Stop all imports. There will be a scarcity initially for a few weeks, but we can get activated. Every Divisional Secretary will be charged with implementing one employment creation industry.
My mind travels in nostalgia to an incident that did happen when I served as Deputy Director of Small Industries way back in 1970. Then I happened to be 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 portion of car mirrors. It was a total scam he said. 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, who would not feign. The assuarance 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 bag of metal on his shoulder. It was really a very heavy bag. I asked the youth to take me to his smithy where he made the metal pieces to fit the mirrors and he walked with me to the garage where the Cooperative Union lorries were generally parked. He laid down his heavy bag full of metal pieces, 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. The jig looked 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 sense and assured me of his intentions. A lorry came in. He looked at the driver and said that the driver would not part with his jack. We waited. Another lorry came in and he ran to the driver and borrowed his jack. He 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 a metal piece 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 out of metal.
What we have to do is simple,. Stop the import of everything we can make. It is only the present Government of Anura Kumara that can even think of making that decision. If he dares I will be there to ensure a success.
In my days around half a century ago I was charged with creating employment. I was the GA at Matara. I took over the school science lab of Rahula College after school closes and for three months in the evenings experimented on making a crayon. My Planning Officer was a graduate in chemistry and he was my leader. And in two months time we made crayons that bent and were not suitable. My Planning Officer took it to the Chemistry Department of the University of Colombo where he had graduated a year ago in Chemistry to seek expertise but the dons were too busy teaching and chased him away. He lingered for three days beseeching help again and again and came back down hearted, a lost soul. We were not going to take it lying down. We restarted our experiments and I too made it a point to join our officers every evening after work- we laboured till midnight every working day. . In a month of evening experiments we were lucky to find the method of making a sound crayon.
I then decided that it should be a cooperative and collared Sumanapala Dahanayake, the MP for Deniyaya who was the President of the Morawak Korale Coop Union. My officers around ten of them made a home at Morawaka for two weeks when we with Morawaka youths made crayons to fill two rooms, working day and night with Sumane, all of us breaking rest all night., We then got labels printed and pasted , packets were printed and a saleable CoopCrayon emerged.
This was all done by me and I had no Ministry approval. I dared because I knew Dr NM the Finance Minister and I was certain of his support if I was questioned. Sumane and I decided to obtain approval in a peculiar manner. We took the crayons and showed them to the Minister for Industries, Mr Subasinghe who was mesmerized and agreed to open sales. Both of us rushed back to Morawaka and made arrangements for a public meeting adorned by the attendance of the Minister Subasinghe from whose hands the first sale was done. It was easy to market the crayons. The industry was a success.
We had to buy dyes in the open market and that was at black market prices. We were refused an allocation of foreign exchange for importing it by the Small Industries Department. An year earlier I was in that Department and I had the power then to offer an allocation of forex for any industry. Sumane and I then approached the Minister for Imports Mr Illangaratne who started scribbling with the crayons and ordered the Controller of Imports to give us an allocation to import dyes and also ordered that no imports of crayons should be allowed.
Coop Crayon was sold island wide ftrom 1971 to 1973 when the IMF ordered that all production units should be stopped if they were to offer financial assistance and President Jayawardena caved in.
The stalwart officers were my Planning Officer Vetus Fernando and District Land Officer Chandra Silva. The latter has left this World and must be looking at us from somewhere amused at how we now import crayons. However Vetus is somewhere around and if our Government wants this is a task that can be done. Mind you around fifty youths were making crayons day and night from 1971 to 1977 and
Coop lorries moving them in entire Sri Lanka.
This true story may perhaps move our new saviour Anura Kumara Dissanayake to a process of making all we import thereby creating jobs and alleviating poverty.
Once, way back in 1982 I was the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth in Bangladesh. Then General Ershard took over Bangladesh in one night. Then Air Vice Marshal Aminul Islam the Minister of Laboutr wanted to abolish the Ministry of Sports where I worked as a Consultant, but he wanted my opinion. I suggested that instead of abolishing the Ministry of Sports he should charge the Ministry of Youth to create youth entrepreneurs. The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest official in Bangladesh objected quoting the fact that a United Nations Programme of Creating Employment at Tangail, Bangladesh miserably failed. I argued with him for two hours, with the Hon Minister a silent listener. Finally the Minister stopped us arguing and ordered me to create a self-employment programme. That programme has grown to make over three million youth entrepreneurs and is a coveted continuing development programme today.
Finally I can assure that a Programme of Enterprise Creation can be implemented in every Divisional Secretary area, making items we import. That will help the economy immensely by avoiding imports and creating employment for thousands.
Garvin Karunaratne, Ph,D. Michigan State University
former Government Agent Matara 1971-73
Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth Bangladesh 1983-84
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has called on the government to issue a clear and direct statement regarding the economic damage caused by Cyclone ‘Ditwah’.
The party emphasized that the government should give serious consideration to a recent statement issued by a group of leading international economic experts outlining recommended measures for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the cyclone-induced destruction.
According to the FSP, a group of 121 globally renowned economists, including Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz, recently released a joint statement urging the temporary suspension of Sri Lanka’s external debt repayments in view of the severe damage caused by Cyclone ‘Ditwah’.
The experts noted that Sri Lanka has already secured an additional loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address urgent needs arising from the crisis and is likely to require further borrowing in the future.
In this context, they have called for an immediate suspension of Sri Lanka’s external sovereign debt repayments, along with the initiation of a new debt restructuring process aimed at restoring long-term debt sustainability under the prevailing conditions.
Commenting on the matter, Frontline Socialist Party member Duminda Nagamuwa stated that the government must pay closer attention to the recommendations put forward by the international experts.
He noted that the public statement issued by the 121 economists clearly warns that Sri Lanka will face difficulties in servicing its debt in the coming period.
He further stated that the experts have urged the IMF to grant a debt payment suspension and to reconsider the existing debt agreements.
He further stated, If the government is unwilling to accept what we have been saying domestically, it should at least consider what the world’s most influential economic experts have emphasized.”
Comments Off on FSP urges govt to address economic impact of Cyclone ‘Ditwah’
The Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions (FMETU) has issued a statement warning that media freedom is being completely undermined by the police gaining the power to decide on media content.
The Federation emphasises that police intervention to determine whether a report is “accurate” or not is a direct threat to both democracy and the public’s right to information.
In a statement signed by General Secretary Tharindu Uduwaragedara, the FMETU highlights a dangerous trend: the state machinery using regulatory bodies as tools to suppress media outlets that are not to its liking.
Furthermore, the Federation stresses that police power must not be used to intimidate or suppress media institutions.
The statement concludes by unconditionally condemning such actions.
Comments Off on Police control over media content a grave threat to press freedom: Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions
Raju Lama, President of the SAARC Journalist Forum (SJF), states that he strongly condemns the Sri Lankan government’s attempts to obstruct media freedom and oppose the right to freedom of expression through police intimidation and illegal measures.
Issuing a statement, he points out that the request made by the police regarding a news item recently published by the Hiru Media Network concerning a cannabis raid is a direct attack on independent journalism.
The Central Committee of the SAARC Journalist Forum (SJF) emphasised this by issuing a special statement today (26).
The statement further points out that during the past 15 months, the National People’s Power (NPP) government has shown a disturbing pattern of media suppression.
The announcement also emphasises that although they promised to protect democratic values, they are now showing ‘authoritarian tendencies.
‘The SAARC Journalist Forum calls upon the Sri Lankan government to immediately stop using police-state tactics to silence critics, to protect the constitutional rights of journalists, to ensure editorial independence, and to respect international standards regarding media freedom and media ethics.
Furthermore, through this statement, the SAARC Journalist Forum requests all international human rights organisation and advocates for free speech to stand in solidarity against state interventions in the country’s media sector.
Comments Off on SAARC Journalist Forum strongly condemns Sri Lankan Government’s conduct impacting media freedom
When you are in local government, you are on the ground, and you are looking into the eyes and hearts of the people you are there to serve. It teaches you to listen; it teaches you to be expansive in the people with whom you talk to, and I think that that engagement gives you political judgment – Valerie Jarrett, chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation Local governance is about managing public affairs at the community level, involving local governments, citizens, and organizations in making and implementing decisions for services like roads, sanitation, schools, and parks, aiming to be responsive, efficient, and representative of local needs through participatory processes like budgeting, planning, and service delivery. It decentralizes power, making government closer to people, fostering democracy, and tackling local development issues.
The question is whether local communities participate or have a say in any of the above activities in Sri Lanka. Overall, it appears that elections to local government authorities have become a referendum on the national government and a hot bed for national political battles thereafter. While there may be some local bodies that are engaged in local governance involving local communities, broadly speaking, it appears that there is hardly any engagement with local communities to discuss, identify, agree on local priorities and monitor progress of such agreed priorities. There are no avenues or arrangements for local communities to meet councillors who they have elected and who supposedly represent them.
From all accounts, electing local councils at a huge cost to the taxpayers in the country appears to have been an absolute waste of money. If the elections were about fostering and furthering democracy, and about discussions on local issues, it has been a farce as far as the local communities are concerned as the focus has been about national partisan politics, and nothing to do with local issues.
As the Museum of Australian democracy says, democracy is fundamentally about discussion, often referred to as “government by discussion,” because it relies on consultation, debate, and the free exchange of ideas among citizens to make informed decisions, manage differences, and ensure collective good through peaceful, inclusive dialogue rather than force. This ongoing conversation, requiring active listening and flexible thinking, sustains democratic life by allowing diverse viewpoints to be considered and integrated”.
The overall governance model in Sri Lanka, whether it is at national level, provincial or local government level, does not subscribe to the above ideal, and practice of democracy is more or less limited to a periodic vote to elect a national parliament, provincial councils and local councils. Generally, this exercise too has hardly any direct engagement between those seeking election and those who are voting.
The recent local government elections that were conducted and the way some Councils were formed amply demonstrated the antithesis of what local governance should be, and the ideals of democracy. This has continued judging by subsequent developments in some Councils where budgets were defeated although Councils had been formed with majority support, either by one party or by way of coalitions. The elections themselves were about national politics and not about local issues and subsequent Council formations were based essentially to demonstrate either the popularity of the national policies of the government, or the opposite of it by the Opposition, all in the quest of power rather than service to the local communities.
Looking towards the future, a genuine system change has to occur when it comes to the practice of a truer sense of democracy at all levels of governance.
Hopefully, the new Constitution that is expected to be drafted after a consultative process, and presented for a referendum, will address a key element of democracy that is missing, that is, mechanisms for and the practice of discussion and debate between those seeking election and those who are voting, during elections and thereafter.
In respect of local governance, the following key aspects are highlighted for consideration by the elected local government Councils.
Shifting the emphasis from national issues to local community issues whilst providing avenues for the local communities to engage in discussing national issues.
Providing essential local services such as waste management, coordinating water supply and electricity supply, road maintenance, local government health services such as preventive health services and basic primary health services, developing parks and other recreational facilities, housing, including zonal planning, promoting and providing sports facilities and an efficient library service
Managing resources, enforcement of environmental regulations, and promotion of green initiatives like waste management and renewable energy.
Creating business-friendly environments, support local entrepreneurs, and develop green jobs to boost the local economy and create employment.
Citizen engagement involving residents and community groups in discussions and decisions that affect their lives through regular constituency meetings. Using online/offline methods (meetings, surveys, digital platforms) to involve residents, ensuring accessibility and representation for all groups (e.g., translated materials, accessible venues).
Acting as a link between citizens and the broader provincial and national government, reflecting local interests, points of view and concerns.
The need to develop five-year strategic plans for the local government entity that reflects the community priorities identified through discussions and a consultative process. Such plans should reflect the goals and objectives in respect of the priorities identified, action plans to achieve the objectives, funding estimated and allocated, and a monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the plan. The entities budget has to comprise of an estimated forward budget for 5 years based on the five-year strategic plan, and an annual budget that reflects actual allocations for the financial year. Such forward planning and annual reviews of plans adjusted, financial allocations made, will give a more certain outlook of the entity’s longer-term program of action to the local communities who have been engaged in developing such plans.
Engaging in data driven policy formulations that directly meet community needs, such as tailored housing or transport solutions.
These key aspects could be implemented now, including a mechanism to engage national Parliamentarians in local government entity discussions. The government and the Opposition could nominate and allocate a given number of local government entities to a member of Parliament, for that person/s to attend periodic meetings of the entities so allocated so that national priorities and how they apply to the local government entities and also an exchange of points of view on them may be facilitated through such an engagement. It needs to be mentioned, however, that the purpose of local governance should essentially be to serve the community of each local government entity and that it should not be to further the agenda of national politics and national political parties.
Ideally, there should not be partisan politics and political parties vying for power in local government entities. Members should be elected in their individual capacities and their ability to convince the constituents that they are best suited to serve them. Partisan politics in Sri Lanka has been and still is so divisive and it has not served the citizens of the country as it should have. The divisiveness and the lack of unity amongst the national political parties in the face of the recent worst cyclone disaster experienced in Sri Lanka in living memory amply demonstrates the damage such partisanship has done and still is doing to the country.
A well-functioning local governance model, where community interests and priorities, their participation in contributing to decision making and formulation of policies, will form the bedrock of a grassroots upwards political process. Few people in the National Parliament, Provincial Councils or local government entities should not wear the mantle of being the sole thinkers and decision makers they have conferred on themselves. There is plenty of untapped knowledge and talent in the country and without doubt their engagement in policy settings will greatly benefit the country.
Sri Lanka suffered from and overcame multiple disasters since 1971. However, those helpful conditions are no longer valid after 2009. Post-2009 disasters are difficult or impossible to overcome as a result. The country is yet to overcome the effects of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, economic impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and economic bankruptcy of 2022. For this reason, I hold grave fears over Sri Lanka’s ability to overcome the latest disaster.
The Example of the Industrialist and Factory Fire
If a fire gutters the factory of an industrialist, he would not restore his factory to how it was before. Instead, he will only restore profitable sections of the factory. Machinery that used to produce less profitable or unprofitable stuff will not be replaced. This is because he knows that economic hard times are about to hit him after the fire disaster. If he restores the profitable sections, he is prepared for hard times. Otherwise, he will be staring down bankruptcy.
With a history of budget and trade deficits, Sri Lanka does not have the money for post-disaster recovery. Funds must be rationed and must be used for priority sectors. Otherwise, the whole economy tanks, national security collapses and territorial integrity comes under threat.
Not all communities in Sri Lanka are equally valuable for Sri Lanka. One community is far more valuable than others due to their disproportionate contribution to national security, disaster response, community support operations, blood donation campaigns, tax contribution to the state, counter separatism and counter terrorism campaigns, etc. Protecting and restoring the interests of this single community is the deciding factor in Sri Lanka’s recovery.
In the current context, the tea industry is not helping but is the main cause of the crisis and environmental destruction. Care must be taken not to invite repeat landslides, and worse, by helping the tea industry recover. It’s not worth it.
How Sri Lanka Overcame Disasters Before 2009
For good or bad, before 2009, Sri Lanka prioritized the recovery of its most important community following a disaster. At times others were even disregarded. From around 1975 when violence broke out, it was not possible to help the north and east. It was physically not possible. This actually helped Sri Lanka. All funds were used for the rest of the nation which are far more productive in terms of national security, government taxes and exports. As a result, Sri Lanka quickly recovered.
Over 30 years of war damage of the north and east was not restored until 2010. This meant these funds went to provinces outside the north and east. It sped up the recovery from disasters.
These include the 1971 JVP insurrection, 1973 famine, 1977 riots, late 1970s floods and cyclone, 1978 bombing of AirCeylon passenger plane and resultant impact on tourism, the war from 1975 to 2009, July 1983 incidents, Indian invasion from 1987 to 1990, JVP second insurrection from 1987 to 1990, Gulf War and its impact from 1990 to 1991, collapse of the communist bloc and its impact from 1989 to 1995, a number of natural disasters till 2009, the tsunami of 2004, 1998 to 2000 Asian financial crisis, Tamil terrorist attacks on the airport in 1986, 2001 and 2007, Global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009 and Central Bank and oil refinery bombings of 1995 and 1996. Sri Lanka overcame all these massive disasters with ease. They could have bankrupted Sri Lanka but they didn’t.
It was because all recovery efforts and funds went to the most important community of the country, not by choice but due to facts on the ground. Although PTOMS agreement tried to share post-tsunami reconstruction aid with the north and east, a successful disruption by way of a court ruling avoided that which channeled all funds to the rest of the country. As a result, Sri Lanka, as a nation overcame the disaster with ease.
Following massive JVP and IPKF destruction from 1987 to 1990, many an economist predicted the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy. They seemed correct when the Gulf War erupted in mid-1990 with the invasion of Kuwait which was the biggest source of forex for Sri Lanka then. But the contrary happened – Sri Lankan economy did way better than before. Why? In 1990 Sri Lanka imposed a total economic embargo on the north and parts of the east. As a result, those provinces were denied imported goods. Since those provinces had no exports to lose, the economic embargo and war saved billions of dollars of imports from those areas annually. Not pretty but nationally beneficial.
In fact, the average economic growth rate of Sri Lanka during the 30 plus years of war was way better than the pre-war average economic growth and post-war average economic growth. It’s no accident. A good byproduct of the war was that it forced the government to disproportionately invest in the most valuable community of Sri Lanka, and not equally distribute recovery funds.
Post-2009 Lingering Disasters
However, this changed since 2009. The government spends recovery funds throughout the nation. No discrimination is seen between the most nationally valuable community and other communities. However, available funds are very limited. If they are equally distributed, the productive sections suffer low investment.
This is the main reason why post-2009 disasters linger on. Sri Lanka never really recovered from the 2019 Islamic terror attacks on Easter Sunday. Its impact was put on to the COVID-19 disaster. But 2019 had a poor tourism season after 4/21 attacks for 11 months before COVID lock-downs affected the economy. It also affected post-COVID recovery. A number of airlines stopped servicing Sri Lanka altogether and a US travel warning is still in place. Even the 2016 flood is still haunting Sri Lanka as most of the affected people were not relocated from repeat floods, didn’t receive assistance more than a banana with a printed name and damaged infrastructure was not restored. COVID crisis was the same. While other countries recovered from the crisis by 2021, Sri Lanka continued with repeated economic shrinkage till 2024. The Sri Lankan economy has still not come back to its 2018 value. The 2022 economic crisis is the same. The temporary period of relief is not due to overcoming the crisis but solely because loan repayments were postponed until 2028. Therefore, the crisis is not over yet. Going by this trend, I hold grave fears for Sri Lanka’s recovery from the 2025 cyclone and floods.
Economic realities don’t follow morality, religion or karma. Unless economic realities are addressed or if Sri Lanka is lucky to have them automatically addressed (as happened from 1971 to 2009), economic repercussions will punish the nation.
Comments Off on Post-Disaster Recovery Conditions of the Past No Longer Valid After 2009
Comments Off on ART TV STATION SRI LANKA[12/19/25, 7:27:37 PM] Mano Ramanathan: Sunday art Tv English 7.30 pm to 7.45 pm Sinhala 7.45pm to 8 pm [12/19/25, 7:28:49 PM]
The Instagram post titled “Birth of DRS – Revolution in Cricket” is
a short video reel that discusses the Decision Review System (DRS), highlighting its history, how it has transformed the game, and the technology it uses. The post describes the system as a major innovation that has made cricket fairer and eased pressure on umpires.
Key Details from the Post
DRS Originator: The post mentions that Sri Lanka’s Senaka Weeraratna, a lawyer, is known as the “father of DRS” (originally UDRS) and first suggested the player referral system in a letter to an Australian newspaper in 1997.
Official Introduction: The formal DRS with player reviews was first trialed in a Test match between India and Sri Lanka in 2008 in Colombo.
Technological Impact: The post discusses the reliance on various technologies, such as Hawk-Eye (ball-tracking), UltraEdge/Snickometer (sound analysis), and Hot Spot (infra-red imaging), to ensure accuracy in decisions like LBW and caught-behind appeals.
Cultural Impact: It notes how the system overturned the long-standing principle that the “umpire’s decision was final” and has since been adopted by other sports like international soccer (VAR) and tennis.
MS Dhoni Reference: The post features a common cricket fan sentiment, mentioning that due to his skill in using the reviews, the DRS is often jokingly called the “Dhoni Review System“.
The post suggests that the DRS has fundamentally changed playing styles and tactics, making the game more transparent and reducing obvious errors. For more information, you can watch the original Instagram reel.
Comments Off on “Birth of DRS – Revolution in Cricket”
The environment is not collateral damage. It is a new frontline of hybrid warfare, and defending it is quite literally defending life itself,” — Ruslan Spirin, a Ukrainian diplomat based in Kyiv.[i]
One military official was quoted in Seymour Hersh’s article as saying What’s worse, dropping bombs or rain?” Operation Popeye in Vietnam. [ii]
In 2004 the Christmas/Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 230,000 people hit the same countries that were recently affected by un-natural disasters. At the end of November, 2025 destructive twister storms, floods, and landslides reminiscent of ‘Operation Popeye’, Cloud Seeding weather warfare during the Vietnam War, were manifest in South and Southeast Asia.
The coastal areas of Aceh Province, Sumatra in Indonesia were the worst affected during the 2004 earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the November 2025 floods and landslides. Sri Lanka was the second worst affected in both disasters, with Thailand, Malaysia and South India also affected during both the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2025 Monsoon extending Storms.
Co-incidentally, two days before Cyclone Ditwah arrived in Sri Lanka, a mysterious Ash cloud blew over New Delhi from a Volcanic Explosion in Ethiopia Nov 25, 2025 choking the air seemingly in anticipation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s State visit to India. The Hayli Gubbi volcano apparently blew in the Afar region of Ethiopia after 12,000 years apparently sending an Ash Cloud targeting New Delhi, India or so the story went!
All’s fair in love and climate change?
The Ash Cloud did not discourage the cementing of the Reciprocal Logistics Support Agreement (RELOS) to enhance military cooperation between the two BRICS nations and other trade agreements. RELOS streamlined military logistics support between India and Russia, making joint operations and long-distance missions more efficient and cost-effective for both.
RELOS marked India’s quiet pivot back to its old Cold War friend and ally, away from Washington. The agreement would facilitate the replenishment of essential supplies (fuel, rations, spare parts), enabling continuous, uninterrupted Russian military presence in crucial regions of the Indian Ocean routes that the US had sought to dominate with its European allies, UK, US, Holland former Imperial powers. RELOS would provide berthing facilities for troops, warships, and aircraft during both wartime and peacetime missions
Meanwhile, the Cyclonic storm Diwah that hit Sri Lanka on November 28 aborted the 75th anniversary celebrations of the SL Navy in which Russian, Iranian, Indian, Malaysian, Maldivian, Pakistan, and Bangladeshi naval ships were participating, scheduled for November 30.[iii] Instead search and rescue humanitarian operation got under. Sri Lanka had also recently concluded exerceise with Russian military earlier in the month – Wolverine Path at Maduruoya camp which was subsequently flooded.
The dramatic spate of climate disasters” across the Indian Ocean world from –Ethiopia on the western shores to Indonesia in the East targeting Sri Lanka at the center of the IO, unfolded amid escalating geopolitical tension and quiet tectonic shifts — as India prepared to host Russian President Putin in a state visit on December 4. This was despite US attempts to isolate him and threaten India for buying Russian Oil and Gas.
Were the Operation Popeye –like Cyclonic Twisters that hit South and Southeast Asia on November 28, 2025 (Thanks Giving Day in the United States when folks were on holiday as with the Christmas day tsunami), ‘plausibly deniable’ hybrid economic weather warfare a covert warning to stymie Russia’s entry into the Indian Ocean and upend the rise of Asia and RICs (Russia, India, China)? Another tactic to stave off the crash of an empire with 800 military bases around the world as global power and wealth shift from West to East, North to South in what has been termed the Asian 21st century with the rise of the BRICS?
Co-incidentally, US Special Forces also had intercepted a Chinese ship carrying dual use supplies to Iran off the coast of Sri Lanka in November, much like the apprehending of Oil tankers near Venezuela. It is not clear if Sri Lanka was used for that operation.[iv]
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) South and South East Asia are growth hubs of the world and the twister Ditwah that hit Sri Lanka certainly seemed designed to Make the Economy Scream”.
Like the 2004 Tsunami that crossed the Indian Ocean from East to west with massive destruction, just when the CIA was talking up the threat of China’s String of Pearl habours in the Indian Ocean, the recent pre-monsoon Storm in South and Southeast Asia appeared to present a seamless blend of geoengineering and Geopolitics in an era when the US led NATO war machine aims to ‘Own the Weather’ through Hybrid War masked by empty rhetoric about Human Rights and the ‘rules based order’?
In the wake of the unprecedentedly devastating twister cyclone ‘Ditwah’ that seemed designed to wreck National food security, essential energy and transport infrastructure, and deepen the International Monetary Fund, Eurobond US Dollar debt trap sprung around Sri Lanka that has lost Economic Sovereignty to the Washington Consensus, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker arrived in Sri Lanka December 11, 2025.
During Hooker’s visit US C-301 Hercules Planes that may be used in cloud seeding operations were already in the Sri Lanka’s Air force bases along with 60 US military personnel, purportedly to provide ‘humanitarian aid’.
The presence of US armed forces boots on the ground in Sri Lanka along with experts from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), 5 days before the floods and landslides with US war toys and other equipment were unprecedented and concerning developments to discerning citizens in the historically Non-Aligned nation.
After all, the country had been through a globally networked local ‘ethnic conflict’ that unfold as part of a regional Cold War Proxy that ran for 30 years (1983-2009) between India then allied with Soviet Russia and the Allied powers seeking then as now to control the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean World and military bases in Sri Lanka.
India Pivots to Russia? Weather Warfare as Indian Ocean Countries Unite
Cyclone Ditwah that hit Sri Lanka on November 28 causing massive damage in the country aborted the International Fleet Review (IFR) ceremony to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Navy. The IFR was scheduled for November 30 at South Asia’s busiest port of Colombo.
Naval ships from Iran, India, Russia, Malaysia, Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan were participating in a show of strength of Indian Ocean countries in the Seas of Sri Lanka–reclaiming the Indian Ocean sea lanes from Euro-American Imperial and neocolonial dominance. India had sent two aircraft carriers including its newest on its maiden voyage to Colombo.
The United States which seeks to dominate the Indian Ocean world though the so-called ‘Indo-Pacific’ was not however on the guest list for Colombo’s international fleet review which may explain the devastating tornado-like twister storms that unfolded to Make the Economy Scream”. Russian Troops had recently concluded the Wolverine Path joint training with the Sri Lanka military in Maduru Oya.
Plausible Deniability and Hybrid warfare: Unnatural Natural Disasters:
The same countries that were affected by Operation Popeye-like storms last month, were hit in December 2004 by the Christmas/ boxing day earthquake and tsunami disaster. The tsunami struck Indonesia and Malaysia, key countries that control the Malacca Straits Choke points of the Indian Ocean trade route and Sri Lanka and India at the center of the Ocean. That was when the Central Intelligence Agency was talking up the ‘threat’ posed by the China’s String of Pearls” harbors and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Indian Ocean region.
Weather modification or geoengineering technologies to stage Natural Disasters include the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program on the Ionosphere (HAARP), Directed Energy Weapons (DEW), High Energy Lasers (HEL) Rainmaker drones for cloud seeding operations etc. and are part of the global military business industrial research complex.
As Peter Kaplan[v] noted in at the American Geophysics Union in 1973, there is a new class of environmental weapons having great power, but at the same time, sublety; these are to be the tools of what McDonald refers to as geophysical warfare”. These weapons, which include earthquakes, climate change, altered ocean currents, and tidal waves (or Tsunamis), can be triggered at a great distance from the victim and may be indistinguishable from natural disasters. one line of research that is being intensely pursued is climate modification. The most important work here is done under project Nile Blue” (now called Climate Dynamics” ) which, the Pentagon asserts is necessary because other major world powers have the ability to create modification of climate that might be seriously detrimental to the security of this country” 3.
As Kaplan notes ‘geophysical warfare may be indistinguishable from Natural Disasters’. This is because they are part of Hybrid War, which is plausibly deniable, often invisible, hard to detect because of the use of heat, lasers, sonar etc. and appear to be non-kinetic.
However, the strange path and pattern of destruction by Cyclone Diwah in Sri Lanka point to geoengineering reminiscent of Operation Popeye, weather warfare waged by the United States on Vietnam, and dovetail with geopolitical motives.
Weather Warfare the ENMOD Treaty
The Environmental Modification treaty (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques is an international treaty prohibiting use of technologies to induce environmental damage or destruction.
The ENMOD treaty emerged from concerns in the International Community over weather warfare during the Vietnam war. Specifically, it referenced ‘Operation Popeye’ and the use of Cloud Seeding technology to extend the monsoons and generate storms to flood the Ho Chi Minh trail. Award winning journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story ”Rainmaking is used as a Weapon by the US” in the New York Times In 1972 .[vi]
The ENMOD treaty opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force in October 1978. Subsequently, the Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 would also limit Geoengineering and dual use technologies given significant gaps in understanding of impacts on biodiversity. In simple language the ENMOD treaty prohibits weaponizing the weather, also known as geoengineering, or intentionally manipulating or altering the climateto stage (un)natural disasters.
During the Vietnam war the United States used cloud seeding technics to extend monsoons, flood and ‘drown in mud’ the Viet Cong fighting the American military in South Vietnam to impede their supply chains. This was at the height of the West’s Cold War on Communists and Socialist national independence and de-colonization movements sweeping Indo-China and the Global South.
As the Cold War ran hot in Vietnam and the Indo-China theater, Southeast Asia’s thick tropical forests and inhabitants in were also subject to Chemical and Biological warfare. Agent Orange was used for defoliation and air visibility for US bombing sorties of the Ho Chi Minh trail and have scared generations of Vietnamese. There are high rates of disability cancer and illness in communities along the Ho Chi Minh trail that were subject to Chemical and Bioweapons. Other Cold War operations occurred in Burma.
Before Agent Orange, Napalm or sticky fire”, deoxygenating compound that adheres to and burns on surfaces, creating a conflagration was used during an attack on Berlin in March 1944. It was also widely deployed by the French in the First Indochina War (1946-54), and American forces in the Korean War (1950-53).
Weather as a Force Multiplier: Compounding and Cascading Disasters
Despite the ENMOD treaty banning weather modification for hostile use, research and development in weather modification technologies for Cloud seeding have continued and become increasingly sophisticated. Thus, recently, Rainmaker Technology’s bid to deploy cloud-seeding flares on small drones was met by resistance from the airline pilots union, which has urged the Federal Aviation Administration to consider denying the startup’s request unless it meets stricter safety guidelines. [vii]
Sophisticated Rain Maker drones are also developed and available in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Middle East. Meanwhile, Gaza has been flooded after the Fake Peace accords as the de-population agenda continues.
An important Report Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025” produced in the US Department of Defense that was recently renamed the Department of War, provides extensive and detailed analysis of new weather modification and warfare technologies–with 2025 scenario planning[viii] The report was designed to comply with a directive from the chief of staff of the Air Force to examine the concepts, capabilities, and technologies the United States will require to remain the dominant air and space force in the future” produced in the Department of Defense”. It provides extensive and detailed analysis of weather modification technologies for Over the Horizon (OTH) Full Spectrum Dominance” developed back in 1996 with 2025 scenario planning.
Key Concepts from the Paper include Strategic Advantage: “Owning the weather” means controlling localized weather to create advantages, like fog for cover, rain for disrupting electronics, or clear skies for air ops. Enabling Technologies: The paper highlighted Advanced nonlinear modeling, Computational power, Global sensor networks which no doubt include Elon Musk’s Starlink that recently became operational in Sri Lanka.
It included Weather intervention methods (e.g., carbon dust for precipitation and Stealth Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs, Drones) for dispersal and envisioned manipulating weather for a full spectrum of military needs, from tactical support to strategic communication control while acknowledging the Controversial Nature of weather modification as a high-risk/high-reward endeavor, comparing its potential impact to nuclear power.
The report also refers to the High Altitude Auroral Research Program (HAARP), in Alaska Directed Energy Weapons (DEW), High Altitude Lazar Weapons (HEL), drone use. An operational capabilities matrix lists Precipitation Enhancement, Storm Enhancement, flooding lines of operation, as well as, Precipitation denial, fog and cloud removal to deny concealment, deny fresh water, induce drought etc. By 2025, aerospace forces could use emerging technologies (like advanced modeling, sensors, and weather modification techniques) to shape battlefields by disrupting enemies, offering strategic military dominance through localized weather control. The report outlines a strategy for integrating weather control into military objectives, anticipating potential societal concerns but stressing the strategic necessity of pursuing such capabilities for future warfare, even touching on futuristic ideas like “artificial weather” via nanotechnology. In other words, the use of weather warfare for Global Over the Horizon,-Full Spectrum Dominance.
Geopolitics and Geoengineering: Un-Natural Disasters across the Indian Ocean
While technologies such as cloud seeding date to the 1960s, generating earthquakes and tsunamis with nuclear and hydrogen bomb explosions and experiments were conducted by the US Department of Defense in the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. Bikini Atoll remains contaminated and uninhabitable to date.[ix]
It is possible to discern a pattern of Unnatural climate disasters that dovetail with the use of new technologies for weather warfare at this time across the Indian Ocean sea lanes of communication. An unnatural pattern of Rainmaking disasters across strategic choke points of Indian Ocean trade, energy and submarine data cable routes was apparent when Rainmaking Technologies reminiscent of Operation Popeye seemed to be coordinated.
The November 2025 monsoon Rainmaker storms echoed the December 2004 Christmas/ Boxing day earthquake off the coast of Aceh in North Sumatra, Indonesia that trigged a giant Indian Ocean Tsunami. The same geostrategic countries at choke points of the Indian Ocean maritime trade, energy and submarine data cable routes were hit with unprecedented unnatural disasters: Parts of Sri Lanka, Aceh Province in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, Malaysia and Thailand were devastated by Twister storms reminiscent of Operation Popeye. There was unprecedented damage to food security, energy and transport infrastructure.
Remarkably, less than a week before the Cyclone Ditwah disaster experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) had arrived in the geostrategic island. And, less than two weeks before Ditwah, on November 14, the US embassy in Colombo had announced that, the United States and Sri Lanka had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing and deepening a defense partnership between the Montana National Guard and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces under the Department of War’s State Partnership Program (SPP).
U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung highlighted the significance of the new chapter in U.S.–Sri Lanka defense cooperation with great prescience: From wildfire response and flood relief in Montana to peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts overseas, the Montana National Guard has a proud record of service and professionalism. This partnership with Sri Lanka, reaffirmed through today’s MOU, strengthens our shared resolve for a secure Indo-Pacific—building trust, readiness, and lasting peace through partnership.”
A week after the cyclone Ditwah, C-103 Hercules planes tested in Cloud Seeding landed with US boots on the ground in the Sri Lanka Air force base in a show of force to purportedly provide humanitarian relief”.
Increasingly, we live in a world of Unnatural Natural Disasters, staged Climate crises and Climate Disaster Capitalism, which enable profiting from stricken populations and countries. It is increasingly clear that despite the ENMOD treaty, geoengineering and weather modification also as a Force Multiplier” continues to this date, cascading and compounding economic crises.
Despite mounting evidence of geoengineering and the use of weather warfare technologies the unprecedented damage caused by cyclonic storms named ‘Ditwah’ on November 28 in Sri Lanka was blamed on climate change”, rather than military business industrial complex which is the most environment polluting industry on the planet.
Increasingly, the United Nation’s CoP climate summits have become a front for many distortions and plausibly deniable climate crimes. Indeed, the Anthropocene climate crisis narrative although rejected by the Experts’ Panel of Geologists, seems to provide a perfect alibi for geo-engineered climate crimes, which are part of a new generation of hybrid cyber and weather warfare systems that violate the ENMOD Treaty.
It is puzzling that the various climate activists and NGOs who incessantly target fossil fuel lobbies never call for closure of environment polluting US military bases of which there are 800 around the world and draw down of the single most polluting industry – the military business industrial and research complex.
Like the Caribbean Seas, were the US Monroe Doctrine is at play, the vast Indian Ocean which is the main artery of global energy, trade and submarine data cable flows appears increasingly to be an epicenter of maritime hybrid warfare and geoengineering.
The Caribbean Seas and the islands of Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Puerto Rico have been incessantly subject to deadly storms, earthquakes, and weather warfare in recent decades, and are currently an epicenter of US maritime piracy, including the illegal sinking of so-called drug boats’ as war drums beat for regime change against Venezuela’s President Maduro.
Ever since the Indian Ocean was renamed the American Indo-Pacific” amid Obama’s pivot to Asia to target China, there have been unnatural natural disasters, dramatic geo-engineered environmental crises in geostrategic countries along the Indian Ocean trade, energy and submarine date cable routes.
With the wisdom of hindsight, a pattern of unnatural disasters with geopolitical overtones across the Indian Ocean world are apparent: There is also considerable anecdotal evidence of a high number of apparently geo-engineered disasters occurring in countries and regions with US/NATO military bases/ installations or troops on the ground (e.g. Philippines, Japan). Remarkably and tragically, Palestine’s Gaza strip which is subject to forced migration and ethnic cleansing at this time was also flooded with storms reminiscent of Operation Popeye.
It is to be hoped that peoples of the Indian Ocean trade routes who have been subject to climate crimes may find redress and reparations under the ENMOD treaty for the loss and damage they have suffered.
TO BE CONTINUED: There is no Anthropocene; we are still in the Holocene.
Just as Vesak is slaughter-free, you can make your holiday feast truly noble by choosing a meat-free menu.
Abhaya-dana (Saving Lives): Instead of buying meat, use those funds to save animals from slaughter, such as purchasing a cow or goat and donating it to a sanctuary.
Plant-Based Feasting: Replace traditional roasts with vegan alternatives like stuffed tofu rolls or potato roulades.
Emulate the spirit of Buddhist “Dansal” (giving) by providing for street animals and birds.
Balu-Kaputu Dana: Revive the traditional practice of feeding stray dogs and crows in your neighborhood.
Safe Havens for Birds: Place bird baths and feeders in your garden to provide a sanctuary for local birds during the winter.
Shelter Support: Instead of exchanging physical gifts, make donations to animal rescues like Animal SOS Sri Lanka in your loved ones’ names.
Ethical & Safe Celebrations
Gifts with Purpose: Choose sustainable, vegan products or sponsor an animal through organizations like the Kilung Foundation.
Bird-Safe Decor: Avoid using tinsel or plastic decorations that can be fatal if ingested by birds or pets. Use upcycled paper or wooden ornaments instead.
Conscious Lighting: Be mindful of bright, flashing lights that can disorient nocturnal birds and animals.
By focusing on kindness and protection for all sentient beings, you align the message of the “Prince of Peace” with the Buddhist value of universal compassion.
To celebrate a compassionate Christmas like
Vesak, focus on plant-based feasts, acts of ahimsa (non-harming) like animal release/support, charitable giving, and mindfulness, replacing animal products and loud noise with vegan meals, donating to shelters, creating animal-friendly decor, and embracing quiet reflection to honor universal love, mirroring the compassion central to Buddha’s teachings.
Vegan & Plant-Based Feasting
Veganize Traditions: Create plant-based versions of holiday classics, using tofu/lentils for roasts and dairy-free milk for desserts to avoid animal suffering, notes LankaWeb.
Cruelty-Free Treats: Make cookies and sweets using egg/dairy substitutes, honoring compassion over consumption.
Acts of Compassion (Ahimsa)
Support Animal Shelters: Donate time or resources to local animal rescue organizations instead of buying animals as gifts
Release Animals: Participate in or support initiatives for releasing captive birds or fish, a common practice during festivals like Vesak in places like Vietnam, says en.thaythichtructhaiminh.com.
Advocate for Welfare: Support stronger animal welfare laws, echoing the call for compassionate governance seen during Vesak. The Animal Welfare Bill (Law Commission) needs public support for enactment.
Mindful & Eco-Friendly Celebrations
Nature-Inspired Decor: Decorate with natural elements like branches, leaves, and homemade lanterns (like Vesak lanterns) instead of plastic or animal-derived items, says Mahamegha Magazine.
Quiet Reflection: Emulate the peaceful observance of Vesak by focusing on meditation, chanting, and reflecting on the teachings of kindness and peace rather than noisy festivities.
Share Warmth, Not Meat: Extend the Christmas spirit of love and sharing to all beings, recognizing animals’ desires to live and be with their families, not just to be food, says WeAllSaveTheAnimals (Facebook),.
Connect to Buddhist Principles
Embrace Universal Love: See Christmas as a time to celebrate shared wishes for peace and safety for all creatures, applying the universal compassion found in Buddhist teachings to your festivities.
Make Christmas Merry for all (living beings)
Senaka Weeraratna
Justice for Animals & Nature
Comments Off on Celebrate Christmas but make it harmless towards animals and birds and save lives like during the meaningful Vesak celebrations in Sri Lanka
This is about Lihiniya Boat Builders, a boatyard in Paraliya near Ambalangoda, engaged in building multi-day fiberglass fishing boats.
The owner, Mr. Chanaka, is a young entrepreneur trained at Ocean University. He first worked in the steel sector at my shipyard and later ventured into the FRP (fiberglass) boat-building industry on his own initiative.
I personally visited his yard and clearly observed that:
The yard has technical capability
There is strong potential for growth
What is lacking is state support, not commitment or skill
Key Issues:
The yard urgently needs state assistance, especially financial support without collateral, through the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Industries
He was officially promised replacement IMUL numbers for dilapidated boats removed from Galle Fishery Harbour
Acting on this assurance, he transported the old boats to his yard
However, approval to build the replacement boats is being delayed by the Department of Fisheries
The Director of Fisheries – Galle is reportedly diverting these orders to large, established builders, citing various excuses
Alarmingly, two IMUL numbers originally allocated to this yard were quietly reassigned to another big timer”
This points to apparent corrupt practices within the system
Mr. Chanaka states that he can provide evidence of collusion and unfair treatment.
Appeal:
Under the new government, such small and capable entrepreneurs must be protected and encouraged, not sidelined.
If the fisheries sector is to be truly reformed, the Department must be shaken free of favoritism and corruption.
Dear Hon. Minister,
We, as supporters of fair development and local industry, should stand by and help this young boat builder.
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Comments Off on Support Needed for Small Boat Builders – Paraliya, Ambalangoda
Colombo, Dec 24 (Daily Mirror) – A tourist family visiting Sri Lanka has spoken out about difficulties they faced while trying to extend their visa, calling the process the most painful experience ever.”
The family, known as ‘The Hutchinsons’ on TikTok, had arrived in Sri Lanka under the visa-free scheme and attempted to extend their stay at the Department of Immigration and Emigration in Battaramulla.
The family reported that their online visa extension submission did not generate the expected payment email, forcing them to visit the immigration office in person.
According to the tourist, the office was crowded with long queues and lacked clear guidance or help desks. There’s literally two large queues… everyone is avoiding eye contact, heads down, we can’t tell who works and who doesn’t,” one family member said. They described a confusing process where passports were taken by staff without clear communication, adding to their stress.
After spending three hours at the office, the Hutchinsons finally received their visa extension. That was the most painful experience ever,” they said.
“Wow, what a tough day at the immigration office in Colombo, Sri Lanka! This definitely wasn’t worth the hassle for an extra week here. anyway, all sorted and time to enjoy Christmas,” he shared on TikTok
A group of 120 internationally renowned economists and development experts has issued a joint letter calling for the immediate suspension of Sri Lanka’s debt repayments, citing the devastating impact of recent floods and Cyclone Ditwah.
The group argues that the scale of destruction constitutes a force majeure” event, making it impossible for Sri Lanka to meet IMF-mandated debt repayment obligations without worsening humanitarian suffering.
Speaking exclusively on the initiative, Professor Jayati Ghosh of the University of Massachusetts, one of the lead signatories, said international lenders must fundamentally rethink how sovereign debt contracts operate during large-scale disasters.
This should become standard practice for government borrowers as well. There is something called force majeure a legal term referring to a major event outside your control that prevents repayment,” Ghosh explained.
It can apply to earthquakes, tsunamis, and a whole range of situations where companies take on debt and simply cannot repay. There have been strong arguments that similar provisions should apply to sovereign governments when they face circumstances well beyond their control that severely affect their ability to repay.”
Ghosh said the most immediate solution is a temporary suspension of debt repayments, allowing the country space to respond to the crisis.
There should be a suspension of debt payments until this calamity is dealt with. That does not mean fully resolved, because reconstruction will take several years. But at least during an interim period when the economy is still reeling, people need rehabilitation, essential infrastructure must be rebuilt, and displaced communities must be rehoused debt payments should be suspended.”
Responding to the Sri Lankan government’s request for a US$200 million Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) from the IMF, Ghosh warned that additional borrowing would only deepen the crisis.
The solution to a debt problem is never more debt. Unfortunately, both countries and the IMF forget this. Their aim seems to be to make the country more ‘creditworthy’. But emergency financing or RFIs simply add to the debt burden,” she said.
This is clearly a force majeure event something far beyond the government’s control and it requires a rethinking of the original debt contracts, not more borrowing.”
Ghosh also criticised the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), arguing that it failed to distinguish adequately between foreign-currency debt and domestic debt, creating unrealistic repayment expectations.
The IMF’s own numbers were already very optimistic about Sri Lanka’s ability to repay in foreign exchange because they did not properly separate foreign debt from domestic debt. They lumped everything together,” she said.
Economic growth may occur domestically in Sri Lankan rupees, but that does not automatically generate sufficient US dollars to repay foreign debt. The IMF’s assessment has already proven to be extremely demanding and onerous when it comes to foreign-currency repayments and the disaster has now completely invalidated those assumptions.”
The economists’ letter urges international creditors and the IMF to recognise the extraordinary circumstances facing Sri Lanka and to prioritise humanitarian recovery over rigid debt enforcement.
Comments Off on Answer to debt isn’t more debt…..120 take aim at IMF
Hiru TV has issued a scathing response to the Police Media Division—an entity funded by the public purse—asserting that the division’s recent letter regarding the assault on a police officer involved in a cannabis raid in Embilipitiya constitutes a severe blow to the public’s right to information and democratic principles.
The reply further highlights that the police failed to disclose a crucial piece of evidence, which they had recorded themselves, until Hiru TV broke the story to the nation.
Signed by Tharanga Jayakody, the Deputy Director of News at Hiru TV, the letter emphasises that it is incomprehensible why the police intentionally withheld such vital evidence from both the courts and the media.
Furthermore, the response maintains that, according to the formal complaints and statements made by Police Constable Susantha Hettiarachchi of the Sooriyakanda Police, there is a clear link between the assault he suffered and the cannabis raid he conducted.
Although the Police Media Division claimed in their correspondence that investigations found no such connection, Hiru TV’s letter firmly rejects this stance, stating they possess more than enough evidence and sources to confirm the link exists.
The reply concludes by reiterating that Hiru TV reported on the police’s own evidence in the interest of upholding the public’s fundamental right to information.
This submission seeks judicial guidance on distinguishing between legally binding treaty obligations and non-binding international policy frameworks operationalized in Sri Lanka’s gender-based violence programmes.
The purpose of this submission is not to oppose international engagement, but to seek constitutional and legal clarity on the limits of non-binding international instruments within Sri Lanka’s domestic legal framework.
This appeal is made in public interest, and with full deference to judicial independence, to respectfully request careful judicial distinction between binding legal obligations arising from Sri Lanka’s Constitution and ratified international treaties, and non-binding international policy frameworks, donor-driven guidelines, and UN agency interpretations, workshops and programs that are increasingly invoked in legal and administrative discourse.
Concepts relating to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender-diverse classifications are being introduced through development assistance frameworks, international programme documents, and soft-law instruments, often under the broader headings of gender equality or gender-based violence. While such frameworks may reflect evolving policy positions of certain international actors, they do not arise from any treaty ratified by Sri Lanka, nor have they been enacted by Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
Sri Lanka is party to several core international human rights treaties, including the ICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW, CRC and CAT. None of these treaties contain provisions recognising sexual orientation or gender identity as protected legal categories, nor do they redefine the term woman” from its sex-based meaning as understood at the time of ratification.
Under principles of international law, including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, obligations cannot be expanded beyond the text and intent consented to by the State.
In short, under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Sri Lanka cannot be legally bound by provisions or concepts that it has not expressly consented to through treaty ratification or parliamentary enactment.
As per the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, treaties are binding only to the extent of State consent, as reflected in the treaty text and the original intent of the parties (Articles 26 and 31).
Soft law instruments—such as UN resolutions, UN committee guidelines, and recommendations—do not meet these criteria and therefore are not legally binding obligations.
The incorporation of non-binding interpretative materials — such as UN Human Rights Council resolutions, Special Rapporteur reports, or donor policy documents — into constitutional or statutory interpretation risks bypassing democratic consent and parliamentary authority. Such materials, while informative, do not carry the force of law and cannot impose obligations that are without domestic legislative adoption.
I respectfully submit that the judiciary’s role as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution requires particular caution where external policy frameworks seek to influence the interpretation of fundamental rights, sex-based protections, or statutory schemes such as quotas, safeguards, or affirmative measures enacted specifically under sex-based classification enshrined in Sri Lanka’s constitution & recognized in domestic law.
Policies, guidelines and recommendations issued by international agencies or donors are not laws. They do not have the force of law unless they are adopted into domestic legislation by Parliament. Thus, Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) concepts through non-legislative entities cannot legally alter or expand the rights protected under Sri Lankan law to satisfy international concepts.
The distinction between law and policy, treaty obligation and advocacy, and binding norms and soft law is essential to maintaining constitutional coherence and public confidence in the legal system.
International frameworks and policies cannot override constitutional provisions, statutory protections, or the socio-legal context embedded within Sri Lanka’s constitutional order, including sex-based protections enacted by Parliament. Fundamental rights cannot be re-interpreted through non-binding international policy frameworks.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has affirmed that non-binding international instruments do not possess the force of law unless explicitly passed as domestic legislation.
The judiciary must exercise particular caution in interpreting fundamental rights or statutory schemes when non-binding frameworks—such as UN recommendations or donor guidelines—seek to introduce concepts not adopted into law.
S. S. Cooray v. The Attorney General (1987), the Court emphasized that international treaties or resolutions that have not been domesticated through legislation do not alter the constitutional rights of citizens.
Accordingly, I humbly appeal to the Honourable Courts to clearly distinguish, in relevant proceedings, between:
· Ratified treaty obligations and domestic law which Sri Lanka is bound by on the one hand; and
· Non-binding international guidelines, UN Committee Level recommendations, donor conditionalities, and evolving policy interpretations on the other.
This appeal is made in good faith, in support of judicial clarity, constitutional supremacy, and the principle that legal obligations arise only through consent, law, and due process.
I respectfully, urge the Judicial pillar to re-affirm that only international treaties ratified and incorporated into domestic law can create binding obligations & that soft-law instruments remain non-binding of States.
I thank Your Ladyships and Lordships for your time and for your continued service in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.
I am also attaching evidence of the manner non-binding recommendations are being presented as binding law via internationally funded programs and promoted via internationally funded programs in partnership with State & Private Sector across Sri Lanka, undermining Sri Lanka’s constitution, ratified treaty law and People’s consent given to its Government.
With highest respect,
Shenali Waduge
Documentary Evidence of Non-Binding SOGI / LGBTQIA Programmes
The programmes and policy instruments listed below are presented solely as evidence of operational practice. Their inclusion does not imply legal validity or binding force. None of the instruments listed have been ratified by Sri Lanka, enacted by Parliament, or judicially recognised as sources of enforceable law.
This annex provides documentary evidence showing that UN agencies, donor governments, and INGOs have operational programmes embedding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender-diverse classifications (SOGI/LGBTQI+) into gender equality and gender-based violence. These programmes are non-binding, exceed Sri Lanka’s ratified treaty obligations, and operate independently of domestic law, statutory enactment, or cultural and religious frameworks.
UN & International Agencies
1. UNDP WeBelongAfrica” Programme
UNDP Africa
Description / Evidence:
Programme objectives explicitly support inclusion of LGBTI+ persons in governance and decision-making, addressing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Excerpts:
The project supports inclusive governance by ensuring participation of LGBTI+ persons in decision-making spaces and reducing exclusion based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
UN-supported SGBV and gender frameworks in Sri Lanka operate through inter-ministerial coordination, gender focal points, and cabinet-approved action plans, extending policy language on gender minorities” across multiple ministries without legislative enactment.
Evidence of UN participation in domestic policy planning, introducing non-binding gender identity categories.
Corporate DEI policies promoted through UN and donor frameworks frequently embed sexual orientation and gender identity within workplace harassment, violence prevention, and safe workplace” obligations, despite the absence of such legal categories in Sri Lankan labour law.
7. Plan International SOGIESC Inclusion Programmes
Plan International
Description / Evidence:
Programmes addressing school bullying and community education explicitly include SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, Sex Characteristics) language.
Excerpts:
Activities include training and educational programmes promoting inclusion of SOGIESC individuals in schools and communities.”
Internationally promoted Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) frameworks explicitly integrate gender-based violence (GBV) prevention with instruction on gender norms, sexual diversity, non-discrimination, and concepts relating to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIESC).
These frameworks are promoted as technical guidanceand best practice, not as treaty obligations, and have not been enacted into Sri Lankan law or curriculum through Parliament.
The International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (ITGSE) positions GBV prevention, gender equality, and respect for sexual diversity as interconnected learning objectives within a single comprehensive framework.
Key Elements Relevant to SOGIESC and GBV:
· Prevention of gender-based violence and harmful practices
· Inclusion of sexual orientation and gender diversity under gender” and human rights” education
· In six districts, 554 teachers were trained on comprehensive sexuality education and life skills under UNFPA programmes, as documented in the UNFPA Sri Lanka Annual Report 2022, demonstrating operational implementation of internationally guided CSE content prior to any parliamentary enactment of a local curriculum
Sri Lanka’s current national curriculum does not implement the UN-defined CSE framework in full, nor does any ratified international treaty obligate the State to introduce instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The promotion of CSE incorporating SOGIESC concepts therefore representspolicy advocacy and programme guidance, not binding international law.
This demonstrates how non-binding UN guidance frameworks operate as de facto normative instruments, embedding SOGIESC concepts—particularly under gender-based violence—without parliamentary enactment or constitutional mandate.
9. Operationalisation of SOGIESC through Multi-Ministry Gender and SGBV Frameworks
UN-supported gender equality and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) frameworks in Sri Lanka operate on a multi-sectoral and inter-ministerial basis, involving more than a dozen line ministries.
These frameworks frequently incorporate references to gender minorities,” gender-diverse persons,” or inclusive gender identities” within policy planning, service delivery, and capacity-building initiatives.
Inclusion occurs through:
· National action plans
· Inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms
· Ministry-level gender focal points
· Technical assistance and donor-funded programming
While framed as policy coordination and development assistance, these mechanisms introduce non-legislated gender identity categories across multiple State institutions, without parliamentary enactment or judicial determination.
This demonstrates how non-binding international guidance becomes operationally embedded across the State apparatus, extending beyond ratified treaty obligations and domestic statutory law.
Non-binding soft law cannot be misinterpreted as legally binding as it would undermine the rule of law & lead to confusion & arbitrary administrative actions sans constitutional basis.
The legal protections given to women & other vulnerable groups becomes at risk.
Legal scholars like Professor James Crawford have emphasized that international soft law cannot modify domestic legal rights unless explicitly incorporated into national law, thereby reaffirming the importance of legislative sovereignty.
Corporate / Private Sector DEI Implementation
10. Corporate DEI Frameworks Linking SOGIESC to Gender-Based Violence and Harassment Prevention
Issuers: UNDP, ILO, UN Global Compact, donor governments
Implementers: Private sector entities and multinational corporations
Description / Evidence:
Corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) frameworks promoted by UN agencies and donor partners commonly insert sexual orientation and gender identity within policies addressing workplace harassment, gender-based violence, and safe working environments.
Under these frameworks:
· Gender” is expanded beyond sex-based categories to include identity”
· Harassment or exclusion related to gender identity is treated as a form of gender-based violence that had been explicitly for biological females/males.
· Corporate compliance is linked to ESG standards, SDG alignment, and donor expectations
· These policies operate outside Sri Lanka’s labour law framework, which does not recognise sexual orientation or gender identity as protected legal categories, nor redefine sex-based protections enacted for biological women.
· This illustrates the indirect influence of non-binding international policy frameworks on domestic workplaces.
Your Lordships and Ladyships are respectfully requested to consider the following:
· Courts to reaffirm that only ratified treaties domesticated by Parliament are legally binding.
· Non-binding guidelines, donor policies, UN recommendations, resolutions cannot alter constitutional rights or statutory protections, including sex-based protections for women.
· Courts to issue clarity on interpreting SOGI-related policiesin light of domestic law under ‘gender-based violence”.
All UN/diplomatic programmes and frameworks listed above are non-binding, operate beyond ratified treaty obligations, and have not been incorporated into domestic law.
In the absence of clear judicial guidance, non-binding international programmes are being operationalised within State institutions in a manner that risks inconsistency with existing constitutional and statutory frameworks.
Their operationalisation in Sri Lanka under gender-based violence (GBV) and gender frameworks cannot create new legal obligations, and any interpretation to the contrary risks undermining the Constitution, parliamentary authority and the will of the People.
Comments Off on Appeal to Sri Lanka’s Judiciary: Respectful Submission on the Legal Status of SOGI-Related International Guidelines and Ratified Treaties in Gender-Based violence Law
COLOMBO, December 22, 2025—Cyclone Ditwah, which struck Sri Lanka in late November, has caused an estimated US$4.1 billion in direct physical damage to buildings and contents, agriculture and critical infrastructure, according to a World Bank Group Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) report released today. This damage is equivalent to about 4 percent of Sri Lanka’s GDP.
The cyclone, among the most intense and destructive in Sri Lanka’s recent history, severely affected close to 2 million people and 500,000 families across all 25 districts, disrupting livelihoods, essential services, and the broader economy.
The Sri Lanka GRADEreport provides timely and critical insights to guide the emergency response, recovery planning, and longer-term disaster risk reduction efforts. The assessment uses the World Bank’s rapid, remote, model-based GRADE methodology, which estimates direct economic damage to physical assets. The report does not include losses related to income or production, nor the full costs of recovery and reconstruction.
The estimated US$4.1 billion in direct damage represents a significant shock to affected regions. The Central province was the hardest hit, with damages in Kandy district estimated at $689 million, primarily caused by flooding and to a lesser extent by landslides.
Infrastructure, including roads, bridges, railways and water supply networks, accounts for the largest share of damage, at an estimated $1.735 billion (42 percent of total damages), disrupting connectivity and access to markets and services.
Residential buildings and contents have been heavily affected, with damages totaling an estimated $985 million. The widespread impacts on homes highlight the need to consider building locations, flood control structures and designs that are resilient to high winds and flooding.
Agriculture suffered an estimated $814 million in damage, including to paddy and vegetable crops, subsistence farming, maize, livestock and agriculture infrastructure, as well as damage to inland fishing, posing serious risks to food security and rural livelihoods in already vulnerable communities.
Non-residential buildings (including contents), such as schools, health facilities, businesses, and large industrial facilities and factories located along major rivers and creeks, were also heavily impacted, accounting for $562 million in estimated damages, interrupting education, healthcare delivery, and local economic activity in cyclone-affected areas.
The assessment underscores how pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities—including poverty, limited access to services, and exposure to climate risks—are likely to amplify the cyclone’s impacts and slow recovery, particularly for women, children, older persons and female-headed households. Targeted recovery efforts will be essential to ensure support reaches the most at-risk communities.
As we look closely at the hardest-hit districts, we see that deep-rooted vulnerabilities have left communities especially vulnerable,” said Gevorg Sargsyan, World Bank Group Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives. In Badulla, Kegalle and Puttalam many households were already poor and now face some of the highest losses to homes. In Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, about two in four households are headed by women or older persons. Thousands of women and girls have been displaced or remain in unsafe homes. These realities underscore the need for tailored community-centered recovery efforts that protect those most at risk.”
In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, the World Bank Group has mobilized up to $120 million from ongoing projects to support recovery and help restore essential services and infrastructure—including healthcare, water, education, agriculture, and connectivity—in the areas hit hardest.
While the GRADE report provides a rapid estimate of direct physical damage, recovery and reconstruction needs are expected to significantly exceed these figures. The report highlights the importance of comprehensive recovery strategies that address humanitarian needs, restore livelihoods, strengthen resilient housing and infrastructure, and integrate climate and disaster risk considerations into future development.
The World Bank acknowledges the Government of Sri Lanka’s leadership in completing this assessment. The assessment benefited from close collaboration with the External Resources Department, the Treasury, the National Planning Department, and the Disaster Management Centre.
The World Bank and GRADE
Disasters disproportionately affect the poor and most vulnerable. For over a decade, the World Bank’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) approach has supported more than 54 countries by providing timely, evidence-based assessments to inform decision-making after disasters. Over ten years, GRADE has completed 71 post-disaster assessments worldwide, with subsequent validations confirming approximately 90 percent accuracy when compared to detailed, ground-based assessments.
The GRADE report for Sri Lanka was conducted and financially supported by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Ministry of Finance of Japan, through the World Bank program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries in collaboration with the World Bank.
Comments Off on Damage from Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka Estimated at $4.1 Billion
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday announced India’s decision to offer a reconstruction package of USD 450 million to Sri Lanka post ‘Cyclone Ditwah’.
xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday announced India’s decision to offer a reconstruction package of USD 450 million to Sri Lanka post ‘Cyclone Ditwah’.
At a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Vijitha Herath in Colombo, Jaishankar, who is visiting the island nation as Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said he had this morning met Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka to personally deliver a letter from the Indian leader.
‘’We had a detailed discussion on the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The letter from Prime Minister Modi that I handed over builds on our First Responder role and commits a reconstruction package of $450 million to Sri Lanka. Our talks centred on how expeditiously this commitment can be delivered,’’ he added.
Jaishankar said the assistance package that India has proposed will include USD 350 million in concessional Lines of Credit and USD 100 million in grants.
This package is being finalised in close consultations with the Government of Sri Lanka. ‘’Our assistance will cover sectors worst affected by the cyclone, including: rehabilitation and restoration of road, railway and bridge connectivity; support for construction of houses fully destroyed and partially damaged; support for health and education systems, in particular, those that have been damaged by the cyclone; agriculture, including to address possible shortages in the short and medium term and working towards better disaster response and preparedness,’’ he added.
India, he said, is conscious that work towards mitigating the impact of ”Cyclone Ditwah” on the people of Sri Lanka must be done in the quickest time possible. ‘’We are discussing an effective coordination mechanism for the earliest possible delivery,’’ he added.
Noting that Sri Lanka is a significant tourism economy, the Indian minister assured the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister that India will continue to encourage tourism traffic from the country in that regard. Similarly, an increase in Foreign Direct Investment from India can also boost Sri Lanka’s economy at a critical time.
Jaishankar recalled that India’s relief and assistance mission – Operation Sagar Bandhu – commenced on the very day that Cyclone Ditwah made landfall.
As Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour and in line with India’s ‘’Neighbourhood First’’ and ‘’MAHASAGAR’ policies, it was only natural that India step forward at a time when Sri Lanka faced a crisis, he added.
Comments Off on India announces $450 million relief package for Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) Chief and Secretary-General, Douglas Devananda became the latest political leader to be arrested in Sri Lanka. The former Jaffna district MP and ex-cabinet minister was arrested by the Police on December 26 (Friday) in Colombo. The ex-minister was initially detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) by the CID and on Sunday he was remanded until January 9, 2026, by the Gampaha Magistrate. 
The arrest and detention of former Jaffna district MP and present Leader of EPDP Douglas Devananda has been welcomed by people supportive or sympathetic to the LTTE
